No to 6-yr single term for president, govs— ACF, Afenifere

...towards a better life for the people

**

VOL. 25: NO. 61874

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

N150

BOOK PRESENTATION From right: Prof. Emevwo Biakolo, Dean, SMC, Pan-African University; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President; Dr Christopher Kolade, former Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom; Mr Pascal Dozie, Chairman of the occasion and Dr Oba Otudeko, Chairman Honeywell Nig PLC and book presenter, during the presentation of the book on Dr Christopher Kolade at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

No to 6-yr single term for president, govs — ACF, Afenifere •It's in line with our desire — Ohanaeze •Minimum wage to be decentralised COLUMNISTS:

DONU KOGBARA Food for Thought

•P.17

ADISA ADELEYE Peeping into the realm of economic —P.48 nationalism C M Y K

FARE DISPARITY

BY FOREIGN AIRLINES:

Why it •P.42 persists

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, EMEKA MAMAH, TONY EDIKE & LUKA BINNIYAT

L

AGOS—THE sixyear single term for President, Vice President, governors and their deputies being pro-

London court dismisses •P.9 Ibori's appeal RIVERS LAWMAKERS:

Sagay, Aturu David-West, others slam Rivers PDP•P.8

posed by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, has been rejected by the Arewa Consultative Forum and the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere.

They argued that it will not only encourage corruption but will also discourage good perform-

Continues on page 5

Mr & Mrs

2 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 3

C M Y K

4 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 3, 2013—5

POCKET CARTOON

ously without suspicion of the deputy plotting to succeed his principal.

ACF rejects proposal

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CONVENTION Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State (M) reading relevant verses from the Holy Bible, during the 100th Session of the Nigerian Baptist Convention at the Holy Ghost Dominion Convention Centre, Osogbo, Osun State. He is assisted by President Nigeria Baptist Convention, Rev. Supo Ayokunle(left) and Rev. Uche Enyioha.

No to 6-yr single term for president, govs —ACF, Afenifere Continues from page 1 ance in public office.

Their counterpart in the South-East, Ohanaeze, which articulates the socio-cultural views of Ndigbo, is however in full support of the recom-

mendation, saying it is in line with the desire of Ndigbo.

In the committee’s recommendations which would bar President Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent first term gov-

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

You can lead at any level, leadership is about performance, not position. If you take people where they would not have gone by themselves... you are leading.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

A

S unique as we all are, a lot of us want the same things. We want to shake up our current less-than-fulfilling lives. We want to be happier, more loving, forgiving and connected with the people around us. So, we make decisions (“I’m going to hang out with happy people!”) and we strive for markers of that accomplishment.)—Brene Brown Brené Brown, speaker and author has spent the last 12 years figuring out what keeps us from living—despite our best efforts—the kind of wholehearted, fully involved existences that we’re trying to lead. It turns out that a lot of the assumptions we hold so dear and we believe will turn around everything are...well...just plain wrong.

She summarises aptly, for example, contrary to what most of us think: “Belonging is not fitting in.

In fact, fitting in is the greatest barrier to belonging. Fitting in, I’ve discovered during the past decade of research, is assessing situations and groups of people, then twisting yourself into a human pretzel in order to get them to let you hang out with them. Belongingis something else entirely — it’s showing up and letting yourself be seen and known as you really are”.

Many of us suffer from this split between who we are and who we present to the world in order to be accepted. But we’re not letting ourselves be known, and this kind of incongruent living is soul draining.

ernors from re-contesting their positions in the 2015 election, incumbent Vice-President and deputy governors are also to be precluded from elections to succeed their principals under the sixyear single term, Vanguard has learnt.

Details of the Senate committee’s recommendations obtained by Vanguard, yesterday, also showed that the offices of the Minister of Justice and that of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation would be split to insulate the Attorney-General from political influence of the appointing president.

Also to be split is the office of the AccountantGeneral of the Federation, from which would be carved out a functional office of the Accountant-General of the Federation which would see the latter restricted to handling accounts of the Federal Government.

Besides, a number of other constitutional items now held as being on the exclusive legislative list including railways and minimum wage would be carved out to a concurrent legislative list, Vanguard learnt.

The proposal to decentralize the present national minimum wage is to allow different states

to fix wages in line with their endowments.

It was also gathered that members of the committee have also agreed to give full autonomy to the state houses of assembly and put the State Independent Electoral Commissions on first line charge, just as democratically elected local government councils.

However, the proposal for a six-year single tenure for executive office holders, yesterday, generated strong emotions among the dominant cultural groups in the country. The proposal, which according to senators is aimed at stifling the often cantankerous campaign for second term, it was learnt, would also stop the vice-president and deputy governors from contesting election to succeed their sitting principals.

“The only way a vicepresident or deputy governor can succeed his principal is through death or removal from office and once he or she enters that office, he cannot run for election for that office,” a source told Vanguard yesterday.

It was learnt that the proviso is directed at ensuring that presidents and their vice-presidents and governors and their deputies work harmoni-

ACF, in rejecting the sixyear single tenure for presidents and governors, said the system would not only encourage corruption, but also discourages performance in public office.

National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Mr Anthony Sani, made this known in a statement, yesterday, in which he pointed out that the system would not advance the cause of good governance.

The statement read: "The attention of ACF has been drawn to the reported recommendations by the Senate for provision in the constitution for a single tenure of six years for presidents and governors. Such a provision would be counter-productive, precisely because it cannot further the cause of good governance that goes with purposeful leadership, especially when regard is paid to the fact that it lacks the basic elements of motivation and incentives needed in any management of human affairs for performance.

"In the single tenure system, there are no incentives, motivation and reward that can inspire for excellent performance. And this has to do with the fact that the good, the not-so-good and the feckless leaders, are grouped together in the same hall without any distinction.

Such a practice cannot deliver on good governance. That may explain why most countries in the world practice multiple tenure systems which enable leaders to aspire for excellence in the hope of reward by way of re-election."

It's not acceptable —Afenifere Stating the objection of Afenifere to the six-year single tenure proposal, the Publicity Secretary of the socio-cultural group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said: "Afenifere rejects it and if you are talking of a single tenure, it should not be more than four years and deputies need to succeed their bosses since they are not the ones on top of the ticket.

“But to say one tenure of six years and to benefit the incumbents, I think that is tenure elongation and it is not acceptable to us and I think six years is too long to put up with a bad government. If you have a bad government, the hope of changing it in four years is better than waiting for six years. So, we are opposed to it, we object to it, we are for the current four year renewable tenure but if they are insisting on one term, it should not be more than four years.”

It's in line with our desire —Ohanaeze Ohanaeze, however, strongly expressed its support for the proposal.

Reacting to the proposal, Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu said that the measure, if adopted, would ensure peace and progress as well as eliminate inherent injustices in the country.

He said: “This is in keeping with the submission of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to the Constitution Review Committee. We want a six-year single tenure for the president and it should be rotational among the six geopolitical zones. That is our submission to the Constitution Review Committee and we stand by that.”

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Director docked for alleged N64m theft

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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AGOS— A DIRECTOR with the Kebbi State, Ministry of Finance, Yahyah Saidu Andarai, and one Farouk Abubarka Uduli, were yesterday, arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before an Ikeja High Court for allegedly stealing N64 million belonging to Coscharis Motors Ltd. The suspects and others at large who were charged before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, are facing a 27count charge of conspiracy, fraud and stealing preferred against them by the EFCC. The defendants were said to have converted the said sum to their personal use being the proceed of AX motorcycles, property of Coscharis Motors entrusted to them on behalf of Jega National Union of Local Government Employees of Kebbi State.

While the second defendant was only charged with a twocount charge, the first defendant was charged with a 27count charge.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.

Onigbanjo, however granted the two defendants bail in the sum of N2million, with two sureties in like sum.

LWC apologises over unwholesome water supply

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AGOS — LAGOS Water Corporation, LWC, has apologised to the general public, particularly the residents of Ikate, Surulere in Lagos over the supply of coloured water in the area recently.

In a statement by the Corporation’s Executive Director Operations, Mr. ‘Deji Johnson, the unwholesome water was discharged during the test- running of the newly constructed two million gallons/day mini waterworks which is designed to increase water supply to the people of the area.

While expressing regret over the incident, Johnson assured the people of Ikate that Lagos Water Corporation would ensure that such occurrence is avoided in future.

Three die, as SUV plunges into river

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA & EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

Y

ENAGOA — A SPORTS Utility Van, SUV, Wednesday, plunged into the Orashi river, Mbiama at the Rivers State end of the EastWest road bordering Bayelsa in the Ahoada West Local Government Area, killing three of its occupants.

Th sole survivor, Mrs Joy Nnieh-Okunnu, National Coordinator of Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project, HYPREP, sustained serious injuries and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

It was learnt that the black Mercedes Benz SUV, G55 model with four occupants was on a high speed and attempted to overtake a Mazda 626 salon car when the disaster struck.

The vehicle, Vanguard learnt, was heading to Port Harcourt.

The badly damaged SUV and deceased persons were removed from the river by sympathizers and sand diggers who rushed to the aid of the victims.

However, the three reportedly died before help could reach them.

Men of the Federal Road Safety Commission and Ni-

The mangled SUV. geria Security and Civil Defence Corps had difficult time controlling the gridlock caused by crash.

Mr. Peter Atama, one of the local divers who searched for

the victims said: “The accident took place in the morning on the bridge. The victims had already spent about 10 minutes in the water before we started searching. We were able to get

one lady alive.

“We recovered the lifeless bodies of the remaining three who were confirmed dead at an Ahoada Hospital in Rivers State.”

Suspects' absence stalls GUO Transport boss’ kidnap case

O

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

NITSHA — AN Onitsha High Court in Anambra State, presided over by Justice Chudi Nwankwo has adjourned further hearing to Monday, in a charge preferred against seven suspected kidnappers of an Onitsha-based transport magnet and Managing Director of G.U.O. Transport Limited, Chief G. U. Okeke.

The accused persons, Emeka Eze, Chukwudi Agu, Chinonso Maduka, Kelechi Okafor, Ndubuisi Ogbuji, Anthony Okafor and Alexander Onyinanya, were arraigned before an Onitsha Chief Magistrate Court in 2009 and remanded in prison custody for allegedly kidnapping Okeke in the premises

of the All Saints Cathedral Anglican Church, Onitsha on August 9, 2009 after a church serv-

ice.

Before the case was called up, Tuesday, none of the accused

NAFDAC officials destroying fake products, in Makurdi, the Benue State, yesterday.

persons was brought to the court and on enquiry, the prison officials told the complainant that there was no vehicle to convey them.

When eventually the case was called up, the prosecution counsel, Mr Chris Ajugwe, informed the court of what transpired between the prison officials and the complainant in terms of bringing the accused persons to the court and the presiding Judge, Justice Nwankwo adjourned the matter to May 6, for hearing.

Another High Court in Onitsha, presided over by Justice Pete Obiora had in October, last year, turned down an application for bail filed by Alexander Onyinanya, the seventh accused person in the kidnap saga.

Police arrest chief, 5 others over murder in Ebonyi

A

BY PETER OKUTU

BAKALIKI — EBONYI State Police Command, yesterday, said it had arrested six suspects in connection with the murder of one Chikaudili Okrouga, 30, at Okposi Development Centre in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Addressing newsmen at the Command Headquarters in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, Sylvester Igbo, said the suspects were arrested on April 30, 2013, two days after the murder, adding that the deceased was allegedly buried after being murdered.

The suspects are: Chief Okoroafor Onu, 60; Nnamdi Chukwu, 24; Ikenta Samuel, 38; Nwani Ogo, 68;

Nnaemeka Chukwu, 30 and Gabriel Anu, 68.

According to the police spokesman, the command was able to establish the spot where the deceased was buried in a village in Okposi community, adding that efforts were on to exhume the corpse for a post-mortem analysis.

“The suspects allegedly buried the deceased in a bush in the village and the spot has

been discovered. It was alleged that the chief directed youths of the area to beat up the deceased which eventually led to his death.

“Upon investigation, the chief said that he ordered the attack on the deceased because he (Okrouga) was mentally ill. However, we are still investigating the matter and after that the suspects will be charged to court.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—7

Pregnant women, nursing mothers among 183 suspects arrested in Lagos

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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AGOS — MEN of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences, yesterday, arrested 183 suspected criminals in two separate operations.

The operation became necessary following increasing cases of robbery, rape, among other crimes.

The suspects who were said to have been rounded up at Oshodi and Mafoluku areas of the state, are currently being detained at Alausa detention camp pending their trial before a magistrate court.

According to the source, 170 suspected hoodlums, mostly youths, were arrested at Oshodi, 13 were arrested at an abandoned pit toilet building at Mafoluku after a tip-off that the public toilet was being used by suspected hoodlums as hideout.

The toilet was later demolished by the taskforce.

Also, of the 170 hoodlums arrested at Oshodi, 19 of them are females, including two pregnant teenagers and three nursing mothers.

The taskforce, fully armed and with a Black Maria van, stormed Oshodi around 1.00 am and arrested the suspects while some were said to have escaped.

Chairman of the taskforce, Chief Superintendent of Police, Bayo Sulaiman, while confirming the arrests, said 46 of the suspects had been arrested and jailed in the

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

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The suspects past.

According to him, their cases will be treated differently, stressing that of the 170 hoodlums arrested, 20 were under-aged boys and eight girls.

Taskforce boss, however, explained that the under-aged suspects would be taken to the state’s Remand Homes for re-orientation and change of attitude.

According to Sulaimon, “we

B

ENIN CITY— THE Department of the State Security, DSS, yesterday, paraded nine suspected kidnappers and robbers including those who killed one of their staff in Benin City, last year.

The Director of the DSS in Edo State, Mr Bello Tukur Bakori, who paraded the suspects before Governor Adams Oshiomhole described four of the suspected kidnappers as dare-devil that have terrorized the state since 2009.

Among the robbers is one said to be a specialist in demobilizing vehicles that have trackers.

He said: “They are the gang that killed our staff and participated in the kidnap of an NNPC staff and a former Works Commissioner. Since their arrest, kidnapping has gone down in Edo State.”

The leader of the gang, Festus Idoro, who said he is from Delta State, confessed to the crime, disclosing how they made over N20 million from ransom.

Governor Oshiomhole who commended officers and men of the DSS who arrested the suspects expressed shock over the confessions of the suspects, say-

stormed an abandoned toilet at Mafoluku area of the state after a tip-off, in the process, 13 suspected criminals were arrested while two had been set free after they were found to be innocent during screening."

Terrorists destroy public buildings, telecom masts in Borno

BY NDAHI MARAMA

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AIDUGURI — GUNMEN in their hundreds in a convoy of 50 Hilux vans attacked

Marte Local Government Area of Borno State, yesterday evening, where they succeeded in burning down all public buildings like schools, hospitals/clinics, police stations and all telecommunica-

9 kidnap suspects, alleged killers of DSS officer paraded

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

Attempted murder on Lagos judge: Defence counsel's absence stalls trial

ing: “Some of them have jobs so they cannot say it was unemployment that made them go into kidnapping or armed robbery.

“No matter what we may say, our law enforcement agents are working and I want to urge the

media to give publicity to this kind of success.

“The challenge of security in this nation is a serious one and I want all of us to keep politics apart and to tackle our security challenges."

Four suspects remanded over Yahoo-Yahoo in Umuahia

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BY ANAYO OKOLI

MUAHIA — FOUR suspects were, yesterday, remanded at the Afara Prisons on the orders of an Umuahia Magistrate Court for forging and using the website of Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to defraud foreigners.

Their arrest and subsequent arraignment followed a petition to the Department of State Security by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology that its website was forged and being used to defraud some foreign nationals.

The suspects are Chukwuma Nwaogu, 30; Okechi Nwaobia Michael, 33; Ifeanyi Dan Nwaubani, 27 and Chigozie Richard.

They were said to have defrauded Polish, Slovak, Indian, Korean and Croatian citizens of various sums of money.

According to the Abia State Director of DSS, Mr. Matthew Obodoechi, the suspects were arrested at 22, Nwaekwe Street, World Bank Housing Estate in Aba. The suspects were alleged to be working in collaboration with one Fred Chigozie, based in Malaysia who received the money from the victims and remitted their share of the fraudulent proceeds to them.

When they were arraigned before the Magistrate court, they were remanded in the prison because the court has no jurisdiction over the matter.

tions masts in the council headquarters.

Marte is about 150 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital which also shares borders with Baga and Chad Republic. It is also an epicentre of Boko Haram sect which had witnessed series of attacks and bombings.

A top police officer in Marte said: “The gunmen invaded the town at about 4p.m with over 50 Hilux 4-wheel drive vehicles armed with sophisticated weapons, chanting Allahu Akbar, meaning (God is Great) and started throwing Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, at all public structures without being challenged by security operatives.”

Another reliable source said: “Apart from the Lake Chad Development site, no other public structure remained standing in the town as all of them have been destroyed by the terrorists.”

Our correspondent gathered that the suspected terrorists had after the Baga carnage, issued a warning that Marte town would be their next target of attack.

No life was, however, lost as the terrorists had warned those working in the public buildings in the town to vacate before they struck.

Contacted, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Yuguda Abdullahi and his image maker, DSP Gideon Jubrin's phones rang several times without response, but a top security officer who did not want his name mentioned confirmed the incident.

AGOS — TRIAL of a com mercial bus driver, Mr. Kasali Quadri, for attempting to kill a Lagos High Court judge, Justice E. Adebajo, was stalled, yesterday, following the absence of his counsel.

The case which is before Justice Christopher Balogun of Lagos High Court in Igbosere, which was adjourned for ruling on bail application and substantive hearing of trial, could not go on but the complainant (Justice Adebajo) was present in court.

Quadri is facing a one-count charge of attempted murder proffered against him by the state, but had pleaded not guilty to the charge.The defendant’s counsel, Oludare Falana and Solomon Kehinde, both of the Falana and Falana’s Chambers, had told the court that the defendant had been in detention for the past one year for a mere traffic offence.

Delta Police demolish kidnappers' dens

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

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SABA— DELTA State Po lice Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, said the command had so far demolished five buildings used by kidnappers as their operational bases and cells where their victims were kept in unlawful custody while demanding ransom.

He also announced that 139 suspected robbers/kidnappers were arrested and 29 of such suspects killed during gun battles, while 331 ammunition were recovered between January and April this year.

The commissioner of Police who stated this while briefing newsmen in Asaba, yesterday, also paraded an army corporal attached to 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze at the state police command, Asaba for alleged gun-running, among several suspects in their net.

According to him, “in furtherance of its avowed intention to take the battle to the dens of kidnappers, Delta State police command with the full backing of the state government has commenced demolitions of identified operational bases and cells of kidnappers."

8—Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Baga massacre: ACN rejects preliminary reports

BY EMEKA MAMAH

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HE Action Congress of Ni geria, ACN, has rejected preliminary reports submitted by both the military high command and NEMA on the Baga tragedy, saying that available and verifiable evidence had "shown that investigation that produced the reports was everything but thorough.’’

In a statement signed by the the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party called for urgent and independent investigation into the incident which occurred on April 16, 2013 ‘’to establish the truth, instead of an apparently shoddy investigation.’’

Mohammed said, ‘’those who carried out that investigation apparently discountenanced the fact that in today’s world, nothing is hidden. Thanks to the satellite imagery released

by Human Rights Watch, HRW, on Wednesday, the world is now aware of the massive devastation that occurred in Baga. It is actually worse than what has been reported! ’’The satellite images support the conclusion by the rights group that 2,275 buildings were destroyed in the clashes.

They also seem to support the statements credited to the Senator representing the area, Lawan Maina, who put the death toll at 220.

"Contrast this to NEMA’s conclusion that far less than 1,000 homes were destroyed, or the military high command’s finding that only 36 people were killed, and it becomes glaring that something is wrong somewhere. ’The Nigerian media, now the whipping boy of an increasingly edgy administration, has come under fire for reporting the massive killings and devastation. But those criticizing the Nigerian media should endeavour to follow the international media’s reportage of the events in Baga to see that the local media is not just crying wolf.’’

According to the ACN, ‘’Nigeria would have been spared the global opprobrium resulting from the Baga tragedy, had the government and the military carried out a more diligent investigation of the incidents instead of acting in a defensive manner and trivializing the destruction wrought in Baga by saying most of the destroyed houses were made of thatched roofs anyway, as if it was a sin to live in such structures.’’

Sagay, David-West, Aturu flay PDP's declaration of Rivers House seats vacant

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR & DAPO AKINREFON

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ROMINENT civil rights ac tivists, yesterday, described as laughable and illegal the decision of the new executive of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State to declare the seats of 27 members of the House of Assembly vacant.

Besides, the combatants in Rivers State were warned that their actions could pose a danger to the nation’s democracy given what was described as the reckless abuse of due procedure.

Among those who spoke were leading constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN, erstwhile Minister of Petroleum Affairs, Prof. Tam David-West, leading civil rights activist, Bamidele Aturu and member of the House of Representatives, Peterside Dakuku.

They were in agreement that the PDP state executive lacked the power to declare the seats of the 27 members in the House of Assembly vacant Responding, Prof. Sagay said the suspension by the party in the state did not bar the lawmakers from carrying out their legislative functions, describing the action as an act of intimidation on those perceived to be against the president’s re-election plans.

He said: “It does not affect their status as legislators. It has absolutely no effect at all. All that happened is that, if the suspension remains, they cannot be sponsored in any election by the PDP.” Affirming that the members were not in any way threatened by the suspension, he said: “The whole thing is part of the intimidation to terrorise anyone who is seen not to support the president’s second term ambition. I don’t think this sort of tactics is going to get us anywhere”.

Speaking on the development, Prof. David-West said: “I have been following this issue for some time and what is happening in Rivers State should distress any responsible Rivers person or Nigerian. Governor Amaechi has not done any wrong that we know, if he has done any wrong, let them come up with it.

"He is doing very well in Rivers State and he is popular. Now, the question is: Can the state executive suspend elected members and declare their seats vacant? That should be done by the Central Working Committee of the party after proper investigation. This is causing unnecessary destabilization in Riv-

VISIT—President, International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze (left); and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, during his visit in Abuja, yesterday.

ers State because Amaechi is doing well.”

Continuing, he said “If you have any party problem, must everybody in the state suffer because not everybody in the state is a member of the PDP. Do they have the power to declare seats of lawmakers vacant? These are elected members, they do not have the power to do that.

Though they are suspended from the party, but they are still members of the House of Assembly. The party cannot remove them. They are still lawmakers of Rivers state. It is just that, they are no longer members of the party. The whole episode is disturbing to me. The seats were given to them by the electorate who elected them.”

Civil rights activist and lawyer, Aturu on his part described the assertion credited to Obuah as laughable even as he warned the political class not to destroy the nation’s democracy.

“That is a huge joke, the party cannot declare the seat of a lawmaker vacant under the constitution, that is a huge and very laughable development and I don’t think anyone should take that seriously because the procedure for declaring a seat vacant does not include a political party waking up and then declaring the seat of its members vacant.

“They have no role to play as far as I am concerned, I think that is something that should be ignored.”

Warning on the threat to the nation’s democracy from the political class, he said: “But I think that these politicians are trying to overheat the system and I think we need to warn them to desist from these care-

less behaviour, these reckless acts because if they bring down this democracy they will have themselves to blame because this kind of development is really

worrisome. Some people just wake up and they begin to behave as if they are a law unto themselves. I think this culture of impunity is becoming too much.”

PIB takes front burner at 2013 OTC in Houston zAlison-Madueke to deliver keynote address

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HE proposed oil industry re form law currently before the National Assembly for legislative action would form the focal point of global discourse at the forth coming 2013 Offshore Technology Conference, OTC, billed for Houston, Texas, United States from May 6 to 9, 2013.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke, is billed to deliver the keynote address at the global oil and gas conference.

Receiving a delegation of top management of ExxonMobil Nigeria, led by its Managing Director/Chairman, Mr. Mark Ward, Alison-Madueke noted that apart from offering a platform for the propagation of the central objective of the PIB, the OTC serves as platform for indigenous operators to up the ante on technology trends in the industry.

The minister said: “The OTC being one of the world’s foremost gatherings in technology as far as the oil and gas industry is concerned, clearly sets the pace in what happens on the technology front and this is a highly technology driven industry.

"Participation in the OTC gives us a lot of understanding, provide platform for knowledge

transfer and above all exposure for our indigenous operators".

The minister stated that the experience garnered over the years had impacted positively on the productivity and general output of indigenous operators and service providers.

Presenting her with the mantle to deliver the keynote address, Ward showered encomiums on the minister for her sterling leadership of the industry in Nigeria.

This year’s OTC keynote address is being sponsored by ExxonMobil.

Ward said: “We are here to formally present the minister with the keynote address at the Offshore Technology Conference.

The OTC is one of the most renowned conferences in the World.

As a company we are looking for who can describe some of the opportunities that exist in the world, especially in the African Continent".

Founded in 1969, the OTC is held annually in Houston’s Reliant Centre and it is the offshore oil and gas industry’s foremost event for the development of hydrocarbon resources in the areas of drilling, environmental protection, exploration, production development, innovation and technology.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—9

BY EMMA UJAH, ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF & DAPO AKINREFON ORMER President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, Dr Christopher Kolade, yesterday, bickered over the SURE-P initiative of the Federal Government.

While Chief Obasanjo said he did not believe in the SURE-P, Dr Kolade, said he believed in it.

They spoke at the presentation of lectures delivered over the years

by Dr Christopher Kolade titled ‘Kolade’s Canons’, at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Lagos.

Obasanjo, who was special guest at the book launch, lampooned the SURE-P, saying it was an initiative he did not understand.

The former president said though he did not have an inkling on what the SURE-P was all about, the chairman of the programme has given satisfactory explanation about why he took up the appointment.

Said he: “I have said it publicly and I will never stop saying it that his service as the High Commissioner to Britain at the time he agreed to be exported, made tremendous impact and helped me and my administration. I don’t know about SURE-P. People come to me but I have not sent anybody to you. I have got many people who have come to me and said ‘send me to Christopher Kolade, he is in charge of the SURE-P’. I don’t know what is SURE-P. "When he (Kolade) was celebrating his 80th birthday, those who had misgivings about him taking up that assignment challenged him and he gave satisfactory explanation. If he does not give it, those of us who have complaints, won’t understand.

"I am a complainant about the situation in my country. If we don’t feel concerned about what is bad, you would not have brought about what is good. You have to be able to identify what is not right and complain about it and speak about it. Don’t just complain and speak, try and prescribe the alternative.

You know whatsoever you do in this country, I will support you".

Commending the former Nigerian High Commissioner to England for assisting his administration, Obasanjo described him as a gift not only to Nigeria but also to humanity.

He said: “I will never be tired of showing up on anything that concerns Christopher Kolade. Kolade said I cannot be here and not be heard and I said well, I won’t say much but I will just concur with what everybody has said. But when I told him that ‘you may not like what I would say’, then he warned me that he would speak after me.

F

I believe in SURE-P — Kolade In his defence, Dr Kolade disagreed with the former president just as he expressed optimism that the SURE-P initiative was a programme he believed in.

Obasanjo, Kolade bicker over SURE-P zAs Okonjo-Iweala orders payment of stipend to interns Kolade said “The SURE-P matter is not a matter for today. If I am still in SURE-P, it means I believe in SURE-P, which means I don’t agree with the person you are quoting.

"All the lectures I have delivered all points to the direction of how we can improve our country. How can we do better with what we have, Nigeria has a lot of resources and a lot of potentials, but we don’t seem to be doing too well.

"In all my career, I noticed that I was driven by this passion to see what we can do to better the situation in our country. All the speeches and lectures I have given, have the same objectives on how we can improve.”

Roll call at the occasion Notable personalities present at the book presentation include chairman of the Honeywell Group, Mr Oba Otudeko; former Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc, Mr Pascal Dozie, Vice Chancellor of the Pan-African University, Professor Juan Elegido; Bishop George Bako; Mr Fola Adeola, Professor Emevwo Biakolo and Owo born business magnate, Otunba Johnson Fasawe among others.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has ordered immediate payment of stipends to interns under the Graduate Internship Scheme, GIS, of the Subsidy Re-investment Programme, SURE-P. She gave the directive when she co-launched the GIS of the SURE-P with its Chairman, Dr. Christopher Kolade, in Abuja, The directive came on the hills of complaints by some interns who said they were not being paid their monthly stipend of N18, 600.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had called for a frank discussion on all issues with a view to ensuring that interns received full benefits of the programme in terms of their welfare, as well as, skill acquisition and mentoring to make them either better employable by the private sector or opt out for entrepreneurial endeavours.

She said: “I am happy that you have spoken up. This is why we are holding this stakeholders interaction to enable us have a feedback upon which necessary actions can be taken to ensure that the programme achieves the purpose for which it was intended.

“All those who have not received their stipends should list their names and their firms to enable the secretariat follow-up

CONFAB—From left: Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga; Vice-President Namadi Sambo; and PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur at the opening of Canada-Nigeria investment conference in Toronto, Canada, yesterday.

immediately. Latest within a week all such interns must be paid”.

The minister noted that about 1.8 million employable individuals were entering the nation’s labour market annually and that with youth unemployment put at about 37 per cent, the figure as unacceptable and required concerted efforts by both public and private sector operators to address the challenge.

According to her, the GIS was targeting 50, 000 youths of ages 18-40 and that the group which

formed a critical mass for the desired accelerated economic development of the nation could not be ignored.

She appealed to private sector operators to collaborate with the Federal Government with a view to making a successes of each of the programmes targeting employment generation in all sectors.

Also speaking, Dr. Kolade urged all well-meaning Nigerian individuals and corporate organisations, to borrow a leaf

from the employment generation programmes of the Federal Government to save the youths from the streets in the overall interests of the society and the future of the nation.

He challenged corporate organisations to see the scheme as a new window to broaden their Corporate Social Responsibilities, CSRs, by accepting as many interns as they can and providing regular jobs or mentoring them enough to become entrepreneurs.

Money laundering: London court dismisses Ibori's appeal over reduced sentence

BY MICHAEL EBOH

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ORMER Delta State Gover nor, James Ibori’s attempt to have his sentence reduced was dismissed by a London court, yesterday, saying that Ibori’s appeal lacked merit.

Two justices of the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in London dismissed Ibori’s appeal, thereby affirming the 13 year prison term handed the former governor for money laundering, stealing and embezzling of $250 million belonging to Delta State between 1999 and 2007.

Ibori who was not present at the court, was April last year sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Southwark Crown Court in London for his role in the embezzlement of about $250 million of Delta State’s funds. His supporters, however, thronged the court premises, calling for his freedom.

Scotland Yard declared that during his two terms as governor, Ibori “systematically stole funds

from the public purse, secreting them in bank accounts across the world" Ibori had in February last year, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to money laundering and obtaining a property transfer by deception.

He also admitted to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to make false instruments, and one count of money laundering linked to a $37 million share fraud surrounding the sale of shares in Nigerian company, V-Mobile.

“Ibori deliberately and systematically defrauded the people whose interests he had been elected to represent”, said Sue Patten, head of Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service central fraud group.

Also speaking, Britain’s International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said, “Corruption was a cancer in the developing world and the sentence sent a strong message to people eying Britain as a refuge for their crimes.

“We are committed to rooting out corruption wherever it is undermining development, and we will help bring its perpetrators like Ibori to justice and return stolen funds to help the world’s poorest.”

He was arrested in 2010 in Dubai and then extradited to London for trial but as his trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court was about to begin, Chief Ibori changed his plea to guilty and admitted stealing money from Delta State and laundering it in London through a number of offshore companies.

Following Mr Ibori’s plea, the Metropolitan Police spokesman, Paul Whatmore told the court that: “We will now be actively seeking the confiscation of all of his stolen assets so they can be repatriated for the benefit of the people of Delta State.”

Prosecutor Sasha Wass described Ibori’s tenure as governor of Delta State as a time of wide-scale theft, fraud and corruption.

10—Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

US still in partnership with NA

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BUJA—UNITED States Government has denied reports that it has withdrawn its military assistance to Nigeria over various human rights violations by Nigerian security forces, particularly the military which is currently engulfed in a controversy over the killing of dozens and destruction of hundreds of residences in Baga, Borno State, during a clash with members of the Boko Haram.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, was said to have made the announcement at a private meeting with about 10 members of the human rights community in Nigeria, yesterday.

LAF dedicates new book to charity

L

EKE Alder Foundation, LAF, has dedicated Leke Alder’s latest book, Novus, to charity. Novus is the Latin word for new.

The novel, an e-Book, which was released, yesterday, is a business development story about a young entrepreneur named Don, who is desirous of starting a business but has no idea how to go about it.

LAF's founder, Mr. Leke Alder, said the book was borne out of his desire to make business knowledge available to everyone.

Transition

M

AMA Elizabeth Falana, 82, is dead. Wake keep will hold on Friday, May 3, at her residence in Itunmolipa Quarters, Eyindi, Ijebu-Ife. Interment is next day at the church burial ground after a Church service at Louis Catholic Church Ijebu-Ife at 10a.m.

She is survived by children and grand children.

Late Mama Falana.

VISIT: From left— Rt. Hon. Alderman Roger Gifford, Lord Mayor of the City of London; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Mr. Peter Carter, Deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, during the Lord Mayor's visit to Governor Fashola in Lagos. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

Lagos begins prosecution of kidnappers

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

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AGOS State AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, yesterday, said that the state would begin the prosecution of cases of suspected kidnappers arrested in the state from May 16.

Lamenting the upsurge in kidnapping cases in the state, Ipaye said the government would leave no stone unturned to send a strong signal to would-be kidnappers that Lagos State had zero tolerance for criminals.

He spoke at the monthly briefing by his ministry on criminal justice administration in the state.

Ipaye, who did not disclose

the names of those so far arrested, said he would personally take charge of the prosecution of the suspects due to the concern government had for the security of residents.

He also said although the government was not happy over the spate of kidnap cases in the state, he was happy that the suspects were usually apprehended on each occasion.

EPUTY Governor of La gos State, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has cautioned against subjecting autistic children to any form of discrimination.

She spoke in Lagos at an event organised by Patrick Speech & Languages Centre, aimed at demystifying the neuro-developmental disorder, whose cause remains unknown.

Adefulire, who spoke through the State Director, Child Development, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, said with adequate love, support and consistent therapy, children with autism could regain normalcy and be relevant to society.

Proprietress of the centre, Mrs. Dotun Akande, enjoined organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to join in the

"In the next few days, you will see me in court with the first set of persons accused of kidnapping and this will be a continuous exercise.”

On the activities of his ministry in the last few months, Ipaye said the office of the Director for Public Prosecution, DPP, concluded and obtained judgments in 13 cases between January and March this year.

NMA tells govs to end doctors' casualisation day, appealed to government engaged to put an end to docBY CHIOMA OBINNA

N

IGERIAN Medical Association, NMA, yester-

Lagos Dep Gov makes case for autistic children

D

He said Lagosians must be cautious on the type of company they usually keep, to avoid unwarranted cases of kidnap.

He said: “I want to assure the public that Lagos State is one place where kidnappers are actually arrested.

"We are giving the police and all the other security agencies full support and this is yielding results.

campaign towards increasing awareness on autism to ensure better understanding of the disorder and, therefore, reduce discrimination.

at all levels to end casualisation of doctors’s employment in the country.

Speaking in Lagos, President of NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, specifically, urged Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State to stop the casualisation of doctors in the state.

It would be recalled that Lagos State Government had in 2012 employed about 373 medical doctors as locum doctors (casual workers).

The state explained then that the locum doctors were

tors' strike in the state.

However, Enabulele, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the 53rd Annual General Conference/Delegates Meeting of NMA, urged all state governments yet to implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, especially Lagos, to do so without further delay.

He described the ongoing war on professionalism and hierarchical order in the country’s health sector as “Pull The Doctor Down Syndrome, PTDDS.

PCHN debunks report of electrocuted man

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

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ANAGEMENT of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, Ikeja Distribution Company, has debunked media reports that an electricity pole caused the death of an unnamed individual in Lagos during a recent downpour, saying the report “is not the true representation of the situation.”

It was reported that during the downpour, no fewer than

five electric poles belonging to PHCN collapsed around Central Business District, CBD, in Ikeja, Acme Road, one of which allegedly caused the death of unnamed person.

Management of Ikeja DISCO, in a statement by the Assistant General Manager, Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, admitted that there was a heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning within Lagos metropolis on April 18 that led to the destruction of 34 power instal-

lations and houses, but denied any death caused by the electric poles.

Adeyanju said: “Rehabilitation work was completed and power was restored to the area on Wednesday, April 24.

"The photograph attached to the story must have been taken within 24 hours of the collapse of the poles, as flashflood and bare conductor, long removed, could still be seen in the photograph, which is not the true reflection of the present situation.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—11

BY DAYO JOHNSON

NSCDC nabs 6 with adulterated fuel in Ondo

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KURE—SECURITY has been beefed up in Akure, Ondo State capital, ahead of today’s delivery of judgment by the Election Petition Tribunal sitting over the October 20 governorship election in the state.

The Justice Andovar Kaka-led three-member tribunal had, Wednesday, communicated to the three parties— Labour Party, LP; Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN— that the judgment will be delivered today.

Security operatives were noticed in strategic places across the Akure metropolis, while the tribunal venue, the High Court in Akure, is being manned by both plain clothe policemen and members of the State Security Service SSS. Speaking with newsmen in Akure, police authorities said that they had deployed a sizeable number of policemen to strategic areas in the state capital ahead of the judgment.

Police image-maker in the state, Wole Ogodo, said in Akure that the Police Command was not going to take any chance, hence the beefing up of security in case of any eventualities from politicians.

Ogodo said that the police are up to the task and would not tolerate any break down of law and order.

He appealed to the people of the state to go about their nor-

BY DAYO JOHNSON

A

LECTURE: From left— Otunba Bimbola Ashiru, Ogun State Commissioner for Commerce and Indusry; Mr. Mike Omeri, DG, National Orientation Agency, NOA, and Dr. Ausbeth Ajagu, President, Governing Council, AES Excellence Club, at the club's business lecture and luncheon in Lagos. PHOTO: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

Security beefed up, tension rises as tribunal rules on Ondo guber mal businesses and that there was not cause for alarm.

Police statement

The state Police Command, in a statement in Akure, entitled The need to maintain peace during and after the election tribunal judgment,

said: “Ondo State Police Command wishes to use this medium to assure the good and peace-loving people of Ondo State of adequate protection during and after the election tribunal jugdment coming up today.

“The command enjoins the

Border war looms between Ogun, Oyo villages

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA—CHAIRMAN, Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, Sulaiman Adebayo, has raised an alarm over incessant attacks on some villages in the local government by unidentified people from neighbouring Oyo State.

The council boss, who spoke during a courtesy visit by the state Commandant of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Aboluwoye Ebenezer, to his local government, yesterday, disclosed that the council had just got a court verdict ceding some villages from Oyo State to Odeda Local Government.

Vanguard checks revealed that there had been controver-

sies over some portions of land in Bakatari, a border area between Ogun and Oyo states, which was resolved in favour of Ogun State.

Adebayo said: “Some of the villagers are threatened by the people from Oyo State. Our people are being molested, threatened and even lost property. I want the security agencies to take necessary steps towards resolving that.”

Students shut Ekiti varsity over new fee policy

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

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DO-EKITI—WITH the intro duction of a no-fee no-lecture policy by the management of Ekiti State University, EKSU, the students in their hundreds, yesterday, staged a protest that paralysed activities at the 31year-old state university.

The aggrieved students, who were, however, not violent during the protest, gathered as early as 6.30am, shutting down the university’s main gate, while the staff had to turn back to prevent being embarrassed by them.

During the protest, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof.

Dipo Aina, and other principal officers, who had resumed for duty in their respective offices, were said to have been smuggled out of the campus by the

university security officials in a Toyota Hiace Hilux bus.

The timely intervention of stern-looking policemen and officials of the Civil Defence Corps, who arrived the cam-

pus in about 10 Hilux vans, saved the situation.

The students made bonfires and used sarcastic songs to deride the state government.

political class to take the judgment with the spirit of sportsmanship.

“However, in discharge of our lawful duties, the police will not hesitate to ruthlessly deal with anybody who foments trouble in any guise on account of the judgment.”

6 SANs, 180 days, 101 witness

Meantime, palpable fear and anxiety have gripped ACN and the PDP, the petitioners, and the respondent, the ruling LP, as to where the pendulum will finally swing.

During the 180 days legal gymnastics, the petitioners and the respondents slugged it out with the PDP candidate, Olusola Oke, calling 45 witnesses; ACN candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, calling 42, while the first respondent, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, invited 14 witnesses.

Six Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SANs, led by the former NBA President, Chief Oluwole Olanipekun, stood in for Dr. Mimiko, while Akeredolu had Chief Akin Olujimi and Oke had Mr. Patrick Ikueto.

... as Babcock debunks report of fees increment

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

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RESIDENT and ViceChancellor of Babcock University, BU, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Prof. James Makinde, has dismissed reports that the school management has increased tuition fees.

He said that the misinformation about increment had been traced to an unsigned and unofficial notice posted on

some notice boards in the university campus, which leaked to one of the online media.

While drawing attention to the institution’s 11th convocation billed for June 2, yesterday, Makinde said: “Our attention has been drawn to some misinformation and misrepresentation of the university’s fees as posted on some blogs.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the average fee at BU is

N630,500 and this covers tuition, accommodation, feeding and medical insurance.

“Law is N763,000 as against the reported N2 million posted on the blogs. Accounting is N763,000 as against the reported N1.5 million reported.

“Medicine is N2 million, as against the reported N3 million, while Nursing is N763,000, as against the reported N1 million. There are no hidden charges outside these.”

KURE—SIX persons have been arrested by Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, with three trucks containing adulterated fuel along Benin-Ore road in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.

A Volvo saloon car, loaded with 45 kegs of 30 litres of adulterated fuel was equally impounded by men of the command.

Speaking while parading the suspects, state Commandant of the Corps, Mr. Waheed Poopola, said the three trucks, each of which contained 33,000 litres of adulterated fuel, were impounded.

Poopola said: “Our boys arrested the trucks and one other car along BeninOre road.

“They initially said the fuel was genuine but we later discovered that they were adulterated.”

Amosun petitioned over judicial appointment

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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ELIGIOUS groups, under the aegis of Ogun State Muslim Youths Joint Action Committee, in a petition addressed to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, alleged that Muslim lawyers in the state Ministry of Justice were being frustrated out of service, when they were due to be appointed as judge.

The petition, signed by National Council of Muslim Youth Organisation, NACOMYO; Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, MSSN, and Islamic Foundation Academy, IFA, said: “It has been observed that since the inception of the Ogun State Judiciary after the creation of the state in 1976, except Gabsiu Demola Bakre, a Muslim, who was appointed a Judge around 1988, all the judges and Chief Judges of the state High Court are Christians.”

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Onicha-Ugbo Patriotic Union elects exco

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N 18-member executive has been elected to run the affairs of Onicha-Ugbo Patriotic Union, OPU, for the next two years.

The election, which had in attendance delegates from the various branches and affiliate organisations of the union worldwide, was held at the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, HRM Obi Victor Chukwumalieze I , with Chief Azuka Monye emerging as the new President General of the union.

Others elected unopposed were Mr. Tony Bioseh, Vice-President; Jerry Ilugo, Secretary General; Mrs. Ijeoma Udomi, Assistant Secretary; Jude Kifordu, 2nd Assistant Secretary. Others were Mr. Emma Fejokwu, Publicity Secretary; Mr. Frank Asimonye, Assistant Publicity Secretary; Protuce Okwechime, Treasurer and Ufoh Nwawolo, Financial Secretary.

Pa Kojo Unuafomakpo for burial May 11

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A Kojo Vincent Unuafomakpo, Marine Engineer and music promoter, who died on November 10, 2012, aged 82, will be buried on May 11, 2013 at Pa Kojo’s Compound, Ator Quarters, Okwagbe.

Funeral service will take place at Baptist Church, St. Vincent College, Okwagbe. Reception will hold at St. Vincent College Okwagbe, with outing service at Baptist Church next day.

He is survived by widows, 27 children, 37 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren, among whom are Mrs. Akpobevughe Tiyoyo, Sir Henry Aphurhi Kojo, Group Managing Director, Qualiseve Ltd., Lagos; Chief S. E. Jovi, brother, Chairman, Jovi Garden Hotels, Udu.

Late Pa Unuafomakpo

Ikwerre leaders to wade into Amaechi, Wike feud

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARCOURT— LEADERS in Ikwerre ethnic nationality have promised to wade into the differences between two prominent Ikwerre sons, Governor Chibuike Amaechi and his erstwhile, Chief of Staff, now Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

Speaking shortly after he was elected, National President, Ekere Ikwerre, a pan Ikwerre non-political organisation, Engr. Dacoster OrluAkwu, who was a former Commissioner of Works and Transport in the state, said the new leadership of the body would wade into the crisis between the two political leaders of Ikwerre ethnic nationality with a view to resolving their differences.

Ahead of a meeting of the body, Orlu-Akwu pleaded with Governor Amaechi and Wike to sheath their swords, adding that those fuelling the embers of disunity between the two should desist

forthwith.

He urged all Ikwerre sons and daughters to unite and work for the interest of Ikwerre and the entire state.

Others in the executive are the

National Vice President, Port Harcourt, Arthur Kalagbor,Chief Sunny Dike; National Vice President, Obio Akpor Local Government Area and Prince

BRIEFING: Pastor Olawale Dada, Light House Assembly; Pastor Paul Ogedengbe, Regional Coordinator, West Africa, Congress WBN; Pastor Faith Praiz, Resource Centre and Pastor Yinka Olugbodi, The Fortress Church, at a media interactive session on the forth coming Congress WBN Nigeria Apostolic Reformation Conference,in Lagos.

Rivers students pledge support for Amaechi ...vow to stand against injustice

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARCOURT— NATIONAL Union of Rivers State Students, NURSS, has urged Governor Chibuike Amaechi to disregard efforts by some mischievous politicians to distract his administration from delivering the dividends democracy to the people of the state.

Speaking during a solidarity rally to Government House, Port Harcourt, president of the body, Warmete Awoloye, said students of the state would not cordon any

act of injustice against the administration of Governor Amaechi.

The students, who spoke against the backdrop of political developments within Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, said they would continue to identify with the government of the day for its visionary leadership.

They harped on the achievements of the Amaechi administration in the areas of education, health and other sectors of the state.

“Rivers State students will not allow injustice in the state, we will not allow detractors. We are appealing to Governor Amaechi

not to be distracted, but be focused on his development strides. We are giving the governor our unflinching support. I want to vouch that students will remain peaceful in Rivers State,” Awoloye said.

Incoming NURSS President, Lucky Chukwuladi and Leader, Joint Campuses Committee of National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Rivers State Chapter, Lar Amabu, pledged the loyalty of Rivers students to Governor Amaechi's administration.

Chukwuladi said, “We came out to say we are in total support of Amaechi's government."

Labour Day in Edo: Oshiomhole pardons 20 sacked teachers ers and they will resume by

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—EDO State governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has recalled 20 teachers, who were sacked October last year for absenteeism. He also announced the recall of Education Secretaries in the local governments, who were also relieved of their duties due to negligence.

The governor said that he was granting the sacked workers pardon in the spirit

Charles Beke, National Vice President, Emohua Local Government Area.

It will be recalled that Governor Amaechi, during his undergraduate days, was a president of the body.

of the worker’s day celebration.

He said that he had no regret appointing a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment outside the civil service, noting that the decision was made in the interest of the people of the state and the ministry in particular.

Oshiomhole, who addressed the workers, said: “In the spirit of our 101 years of organised labour, in the spirit of our movement, in the spirit of our labour ancestors and in the spirit of May Day, I will order the commissioner to recall all the teach-

next week. I should be worried about the children of Edo people just as I should be worried about my children.

“In my second term, we are going to rebuild more schools, recruit more teachers, so that for every subject in our schools, we have qualified teachers.”

On his decision to appoint Major Loye as Permanent Secretary, the governor , said “I am not a cheap politician. I want to be a leader, who is conscious of tomorrow."

Delta LGs urged to key into govt's investment programmes

BY HUGO ODIOGOR ENIOR Special Adviser to Delta State Governor, Mr. Goerge Orogun, has called on local government areas in the state, to key into the state government’s investment programmes in order to benefit people at the grassroots.

Orogun gave the charge at Aniocha-North Local Government Area secretariat, IseeleUku, during his ongoing familiarisation visits to the 25 councils of the state.

Represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Israel Kwode, Orogun informed the council chairman that the visit was to acquaint him with the investment potentials of the council, as a way towards a better Delta beyond oil.

He noted that the government of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, was keen on ensuring that its citizens, particularly those in the rural areas were assisted with investments, in the areas of agriculture, tourism and oil and gas.

Responding, the council chairman, represented by the Secretary to the Council, Mr Theophilus Onwuka, thanked the visiting team for the initiative to find viable investments potentials in the councils.

S

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—13

GOVERNOR MIMIKO'S VISIT TO LATE CHIEF BAYO AKINNOLA'S FAMILY

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (4th right); his wife, Olukemi (3rd right); widow of Late Lisa of Ondo Kingdom, Chief Mrs Olufunmbi Akinnola (6th left); daughter of the deceased/Minister of Communications andTechnology, Omobola Johnson (5th left) and other children, during the governor’s condolence visit to the family of the late Lisa of Ondo Kingdom, High Chief Bayo Akinnola, in Ondo town, Tuesday.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko (middle); Dr Dayo Adeyanju, former Commissioner for Health, and others.

Senate hearing on petition against transfer of oil blocks fails to hold

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HE hearing on a petition against the alleged transfer of four oil blocs reportedly valued at N58.9 trillion to a private company scheduled to hold in the Senate yesterday, failed to hold.

The scheduled hearing was on a petition by four Delta State communities against the alleged covert transfer of production rights in four oil blocs OML 26. 30, 34 and 42 to a private company, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited.

The hearing to have held under the aegis of the Senate Committee on Petroleum, Upstream, however, failed to hold, following the absence of the petitioners.

The petitioners in a letter to the Senator Paulker Emmanuel-led Committee on Petroleum, Upstream said yesterday was not convenient for them given what they said were engagements earlier fixed.

C M Y K

From right: Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Mrs Olufunmbi Akinnola (widow), and Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson (daughter).

From left, Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson; Chief Mrs Olufunmbi Akinnola (widow); Governor Olusegun Mimiko, his wife, Olukemi; Akinyinka Akinnola and Akinkunmi Akinnola, sons of the deceased.

From right, Akinyinka Akinnola; Governor Olusegun Mimiko, his wife, Olukemi, and Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson.

Press Freedom Day: Editors want govts to correct misconception of media T HE Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, yesterday called on the Federal Government to correct its misconception about the mass media as the world celebrates the 2013 Press Freedom Day today.

The United Nations set aside every May 3 as World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness on the importance of freedom of expression.

In a statement in Lagos, the NGE said that succes-

sive administrations in Nigeria had treated the media with suspicion, instead of regarding it as an ally in national development.

The statement by the President of the guild, Mr Femi Adesina, noted that Nigeria’s robust and vibrant media had a history of commitment to noble causes, and played key roles in the struggle for independence, democratic rule, social justice and human rights.

“Today, the media is still in the vanguard of upholding all that

is noble, just, fair and would rebound to the progress of the nation,” it stated.

It regretted that recent developments had reinforced the uneasy relationship that often existed between the Federal Government and the media.

“We urge the government to resist anything that might bear the slightest semblance to a curtailment of the freedom of the press. The media parades professionals, who are passionate and committed

Court upholds powers of N'Assembly to legislate on political parties' nomination of candidates

BY INNOCENT ANABA

A

FEDERAL High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, upheld the powers of the National Assembly to legislate on how political parties nominate candidates for elections.

The court declined to invalidate Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

The section states procedure for the conduct of primaries by political parties seeking to nominate candidates for elections.

Trial judge, Justice Okechukwu Okeke, held that the

exercise of the National Assembly’s regulatory powers as contained in Section 228 of the 1999 Constitution gave rise to the enactment of the Electoral Act, adding that all the sections/provisions of the Electoral Act apply to all political parties in Nigeria equally and without any discrimination.

Delivering judgment in a suit

by Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, which had sued the National Assembly and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, seeking a declaration that the provisions of Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) were inconsistent with the provisions of section 4 and 228 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended),

the court held that the conduct of election into political offices was INEC’s exclusive duty.

“In doing so, there must be order. Section 87 is to ensure that there is a level-playing ground for all Nigerians. It is not targeted at the plaintiff only. There is no merit in this application and it is hereby dismissed. There shall be no order as to cost,” the court said.

ACN had argued that the provision, being inconsistent, it was therefore “ultra vires (beyond the powers of) the National Assembly, null and void to the extent of their inconsistency.”

to the growth and development of the country on all fronts, and they do not deserve to be hounded, repressed or harassed.

“If there are inadvertent infractions of the rules, we expect nothing but the strictest form of conformity to due process and the rule of law in addressing such,” it said.

The guild also said that the Nigerian media was groaning under high cost of production inputs, and appealed to the government to use the opportunity of the Day to appraise how it could make life easier for the media.

It pledged that Nigerian editors would continue to give their best to engender cohesion and harmony in the polity.

“We will always uphold socially responsible acts and practices, and play to the hilt, our roles as partners in progress toward building a country where no man is oppressed, intimidated or harassed. Free press means free expression, and our country needs such to develop and hold its own in the comity of nations.

“The line between press freedom and repression is quite thin, and eternal vigilance is needed at all times," it added.

14—Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Stop lamenting, confront insecurity, El - Rufai tells Jonathan

BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North & CHRIS OCHAIYI

Enugu denies rumour of Chime’s death

BY TONY EDIKE

E

NUGU—ENUGU State government, yesterday, denied the rumoured death of Governor Sullivan Chime, saying he was in good health.

State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks

Ugwuoke, told Vanguard when contacted on the widespread rumour that Governor Chime passed on in India on Wednesday, that the rumour which he described as baseless, was the handiwork of mischief makers.

Fresh anxiety mounted in the

state, yesterday, on account of the speculation as many concerned citizens put calls across to media houses to confirm if what they were hearing about the governor was true.

They cited the reports posted on the social media network,

A

BUJA — FORMER minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday asked President Goodluck Jonathan to stop lamenting over the deteriorating security situation in the country, but to take appropriate steps to tackle the menace.

El-Rufai spoke with V a n g u a r d correspondents in response to the lamentation by Jonathan that Nigeria was passing through a challenging security phase in its nationhood.

The President spoke at the grand finale of the 2013 Police Week celebrations at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

Jonathan had noted, “This is quite a trying moment for this country in terms of security. A number of our police officers have lost their lives while serving their fatherland. We have challenges from the South to the North and from the East to the West."

From left: Mr. Eugene Odo, Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly; Dr.Theo Okonkwo, Chairman, Enugu Coalition of Business and Professional Associations (ECOBPA), and Mr. Ozo Onyia, Vice Chairman, during the visit of ECOBPA to the House, yesterday.

$3m bribery scam: Court decides Farouk, Emenalo’s fate May 10

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

BUJA — JUSTICE Mudashiru Oniyangi of an Abuja High Court at Maitama, yesterday, slated May 10 to rule on an application that was filed

Church bombing: Release me from detention, Kabiru Sokoto begs court …as Judge transfers him back to SSS custody

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

BUJA — ALLEGED mastermind of the Christmas Day bomb blast that killed about 44 persons and wounded 75 others at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church at Madalla, Niger State, in 2011, Kabiru Umar, a.k.a Kabiru Sokoto, yesterday, begged a Federal High Court in Abuja to release him on bail pending the determination of the charge against him.

Sokoto made the plea on a day he accused authorities of the Kuje Prison where he was remanded on April 19, by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, of denying him access to his lawyer.

The accused person, who is answering to a two-count terrorism charge that was preferred against him by the Federal Government, told the court that he was kept C M Y K

Facebook, by some unnamed persons which triggered the rumour and sought to authenticate the reports.

Vanguard learnt that peddlers of the rumour were now being sought by security operatives who have already obtained the Personal Identification Number (PIN) of the perpetrator on Facebook website.

The governor, who was seen in Enugu, Wednesday, was said to have travelled to Abuja same day on an undisclosed mission.

Ugwuoke described the news of the death of the governor as unfounded as the “governor was hale and hearty.”

He said the governor had no business, health issue or any reason whatsoever to travel to India, vowing that the government would get to the root of the rumour to unmask those behind the incessant posts of such baseless reports on the Internet.

A member of the opposition Save Enugu Group (SEG), Ray Nnaji, in sharp reaction to the rumour, asked the public to ignore it as it was posted by mischief makers.

incommunicado at the prison, a situation, he said, has hampered his ability to package his defence.

Consequently, Justice Ademola, yesterday, ordered his immediate transfer to the custody of the Department of State Security, DSS, pending hearing on his bail application which was fixed for May 6.

It will be recalled that though the alleged kingpin of the Boko Haram Islamic sect was initially docked before the high court on May 20, he could not take his plea on that day owing to his inability to secure a lawyer to stand in his defence.

However, on April 19, he pleaded not guilty to the charge, even as the lawyer he eventually contracted, Mr. Adamu Ibrahim, urged the court to grant him bail, a request that was refused by the trial judge who ordered him to file a formal application.

before him by former Chairman and Secretary of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy probe, Farouk Lawal and Mr. Boniface Emenalo, seeking to quash the corruption charge against them.

The embattled lawmakers, who are answering to a sevencount criminal charge that was entered against them by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in their

consolidated application, begged the court to terminate their trial.

The duo contended that the anti-graft agency failed to adduce any credible evidence to warrant their prosecution.

ICPC had alleged that they demanded and collected bribe from the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, Femi Otedola, as an inducement to remove the name of his company from the report of the House of Reps' Ad-hoc

committee on Monitoring of fuel subsidy regime.

However, the accused persons had on February 1, pleaded not guilty to the charge and subsequently spent seven days at Kuje Prison where the court remanded them till their bail application was granted.

Meanwhile, the case could not hold yesterday as planned owing to the absence of the trial Judge who is bereaved.

Obi betrayed my late father — Ojukwu Jr

BY ENYIM ENYIM

O

NITSHA — EMEKA, first son of late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, yesterday, accused Governor Peter Obi of betraying his father, following the continued crisis in All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA.

Emeka, who spoke at Nnewi, Anambra State, further alleged that while pockets of crises in APGA lingered when his father was alive, he did all he could to resolve the problem only for the governor to upturn the ideologies and ambitions of the party as pronounced by his father in death.

Emeka, who spoke with reporters while addressing Nnewi North chapter of APGA, noted that the governor chose to personalise the

party and annihilate the real grass-roots members of the party only to bring in strangers who he wanted to do his bidding.

“I resigned as commissioner in Governor Peter Obi’s government and some people felt that I should not do that.

“Today, those people have got me vindicated. There are several irregularities that I saw then that made me leave the government of Peter Obi. “What my father had in mind for APGA is not what is happening now. Ezeigbo had a vision of a party like APGA which is poised towards accommodating all and sundry and giving Ndigbo a voice in the comity of states.

“But when my father died, Governor Peter Obi chose to carry out his own agenda to the detriment of the party.

“May be he was waiting for my father to die so that he can take APGA to where he wanted and do whatever he wanted with it.

“Today, we have crisis that is man made and it all boils down to who will succeed him. But he is not fit to carry the members along and that is why we are in this situation.”

He condemned the crisis between national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh and Obi, saying Victor Umeh had continued to fight and protect all that his late father planned and anticipated for APGA. “Victor Umeh has been a steadfast fighter for APGA and for this Igbo cause. He risked his life, spent his money and invested his time for APGA.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 —15

FG withdraws felony charge against Leadership reporters

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

From left: Sen. Alkali Fajere, representative of Senate President; Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC National Chairman, and Mr. Simon Arabo, representative of the Speaker, House of Representatives, at INEC national retreat on the review of constituencies, in Enugu, yesterday

Abuja land dispute: Turai floors Patience in court …as First Lady vows to go on appeal

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

BUJA — THE cold war between two Nigerian “first-ladies”, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan and wife of late President Umar Musa Yar ’Adua, Turai, over a juicy plot of land in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, reached its feverish heights yesterday.

Their uncanny rivalry, which has exposed the country to public ridicule within the international circles, deepened after an Abuja High Court, presided over by Justice Peter Affen, declared that the disputed land where the incumbent “first-lady ”, Patience, recently hosted her

counterparts from other African countries, belonged to Turai Yar’Adua.

In his judgment, Justice Affen maintained that the Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, acted illegally when he revoked the Certificate of Occupancy for the land originally allocated to a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, “The Registered Trustee of Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, WYEF”, a pet project initiated by Turai, and re-awarded it to Patience Jonathan for the construction of a secretariat of the “First Ladies Peace Mission.”

According to the judge, “the

said plot No. 1347 Cadastral Zone AOO, Central Business District, Abuja, was originally allocated to the plaintiff (WYEF) for the building of a public institution, a vocational training center, in-line with the provision of section 28(1) of the Land Use Act. “The vocational center is for public purpose and the title deed of the disputed land cannot just be revoked on the premise of over-riding public interest.

“Public interest is not limited to the purpose of government alone, the purported revocation stands precariously, if at all it stands.

“Any revocation in the

Strip Oshiomhole of CON honour — PDP to Jonathan

.I find it laughable — Oshiomhole

BY HENRY UMORU

A

BUJA — THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP yesterday urged President Goodluck to strip Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, he gave to him in 2011.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Chairman, Edo State chapter of PDP,

Chief Dan Orbih, said the move had become imperative against the backdrop of alleged age falsification by the governor on year of birth, adding that Oshiomhole was 61 years old and not 60 as celebrated.

The PDP also said it had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to investigate the mat-

Aragbaiye dies at 90

M

ADAM COMFORT Folake Aragbaiye, 90, is dead.

She died on Sunday, April 28, 2013, in Owo, Ondo State.

She is survived by children and grandchildren, among whom, is Mr. Bola Aragbaiye, former Press Secretary to the late Ondo State governor, Chief Adekunle Ajasin.

C M Y K

ter to establish whether or not a case of alleged perjury had been committed by the governor.

“In a similar event at his inauguration for his second term in 2012, his citation with April 4, 1953, as date of birth, was also read in his presence and the presence of Edo State chief judge.”

But reacting, Governor Oshiomhole, who described the call by Orbih that

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU President Jonathan should de-robe him of the CON honour BUJA —A coalition of Civil So as laughable, said ciety Organisations, CSOs, in Orbih was only try- the country has petitioned the House ing to be relevant of Representatives over the recent and get board ap- grounding of the aircraft belonging pointment from the to Rivers State government by the President.

Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA. It also faulted alleged claims by

CSOs petition Reps over Rivers aircraft, want NAMA, NCAA investigated

A

Late Comfort Aragbaiye

exercise of the power of the Minister under the Land Use Act must be within the confine or tenets of section 28(1) of the Act. More so, the defendant woefully failed to adduce evidence to support its claims of overriding public interest.

“Consequently, I uphold the submissions of the plaintiffs counsel and declare that the said revocation was done in bad-faith and is hereby nullified,” the judge added.

Reacting through her lawyer, Mrs Ima Okpongete , Mrs. Jonathan, contended that the presiding judge erred in law by returning the land to the former first lady, contrary to overriding public interest.

She said: “We are not satisfied with this judgment and we are going to appeal against it immediately.”

It will be recalled that in a bid to save the country from embarrassment over the lingering land dispute, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, earlier begged the court to allow him broker an out-of-court settlement deal for the warring “firstladies”.

BUJA — BARELY 72-hours after the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court released two Leadership Newspaper reporters, Tony Amokeodo and Chibuzor Ukaibe, accused of forging a document purported to have emanated from the Presidency, the Federal Government, yesterday, withdrew the charge it entered against them.

Justice Ademola Adeniyi had, Tuesday, released the accused persons on bail shortly after they pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge that was preferred against them, though he compelled them to deposit N500, 000 each as well as provide two sureties.

Though the court fixed May 16 to begin hearing on the substantive case, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, yesterday, applied to terminate the case.

The application came even as counsel to the Leadership Group limited, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, filed a preliminary objection, contending that the court was bereft of the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter as it was constituted, arguing that the charge only bordered on forgery and not to any loss of revenue by the Federal Government, saying such matter ought not to have been filed before the federal high court.

the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, that the clearance approval given for the aircraft had expired, asking the nation’s lower legislative house to investigate the two federal agencies.

The CSOs specifically called on the House of Representatives to set up an adhoc committee to investigate NAMA and NCAA, alleging that the action taken by the two federal agencies was political.

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

VP Sambo in Canada, seeks support for Nigeria

V

ICE President Namadi Sambo, yesterday, in Ottawa urged the Canadian Government to support Nigeria’s drive for economic prosperity.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice President Namadi Sambo, Alhaji Umar Sani, said this in a statement in Abuja.

Sambo is in Canada for the Canada-Nigeria Investment Conference holding in Toronto from yesterday to Saturday, May 4.

According to the statement, Sambo made the appeal at a meeting he held with the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Mr Ed Fast, at the Canadian Parliamentary building in Ottawa.

The Vice President also reportedly used the opportunity to inform the Canadian minister of details of “Nigeria’s journey to prosperity.”

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No going back on strike, ASUP declares A

BUJA—THE Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, yesterday, said it would not go back on its indefinite strike until the federal and state governments meet its demands.

Mr Chibuzor Asomugha, the National President of ASUP, who reiterated the union’s stand on the issue, while briefing newsmen in Abuja, said the action had become inevitable because only one of its demands had been partially met.

The union which issued a 21-day ultimatum on March 25, is asking the government to look into many of its demands. Among other things the union is calling for the release of white paper on the visitation panel to federal polytechnics.

The ultimatum expired on April 22, with the subsequent declaration of a one-week warning strike and an indefinite strike on April 29.

Asomugha said the polytechnic sector in the country’s educational system had groaned under a myriad

of problems for long, adding that this had hampered the creation of “a viable platform for the sector to grow”.

He said: “We are faced with feeble and moribund infrastructure on our campuses, with no serious challenge to motivate research and learning.

Government’s budgetary provisions for the polytechnic

sector in Nigeria reflect a deep neglect of the sector. The indicators of this abysmal neglect are as strong as reflected in the 2012 budget.

“As I address you today, only one of our demands, that is, the constitution of Governing Councils has been partially met. There is no genuine effort towards addressing the rest,

beyond bureaucratic rhetoric.”

Asomugha said it had become very difficult for the union to appreciate government’s sincere commitment in handling the problems in spite of repeated notices and appeals, adding that government could have tackled the issues involved before “we embarked on indefinite strike”.

ABU to admit 50,000 students in 10 years

K

ADUNA —AHMADU Bello University, ABU, Zaria, plans to raise the number of students being admitted into the institution from 6,000 to 50,000 over the next 10 years, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, has said.

A statement signed by Alhaji Garba Kumo, Principal Assistant Registrar, Public Affairs, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Zaria, yesterday, said part of the plan was the introduction of distance learning programme.

It quoted the vice chancellor as having disclosed this during the Annual Public Lecture of the Faculty of Education held at the Samaru main campus of the university.

The statement said: “The only solution to the limited admission spaces in ABU is through embarking on distance learning programme.”

It also listed other measures to include the provision of infrastructure and ICT facilities, adding: “In the next five to ten years, ABU will be able to increase its admission space from 6,000 to 50,000

students annually.”

The statement also said that the guest speaker at the lecture, Prof. Aminu MohammedDorayi, had in a paper entitled “Open and Distance Education in Nigeria: An overview and prospects,” enumerated the successes recorded in distance learning programmes in developed countries.

According to him, it has brought about speedy development in various counties, adding that it will provide practical solution to the problem of accessing quality tertiary education in the country.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 17

U

CHE Igwe is a doctoral researcher at Sussex University in the UK. He is attached to the university’s Centre For The Study of Corruption and has just sent me an article that he recently wrote, partly as a response to the Presidency’s claim that widespread speculations about Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 plans are not only riddled with falsehoods but are unnecessary distractions.

Igwe’s article is titled “2015 and Jonathan’s Ostrich Game” and its contents were so thought-provoking that I’m reproducing some excerpts on this page. “…When exposed to danger, the ostrich usually escapes by burying its head under the sand while exposing its huge body….[and] those who play the ostrich game refuse to face painful facts and unpleasant truths… “…As a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

President Goodluck Jonathan

Food for thought strategists should seek an NGF that is more open to the views and aspirations of the Nigerian people. He needs an objective channel to feel the pulse of the people….[and should not] intrude into the right of free association of the governors… “…One other blunder comes from the alleged interference of the Presidency in the affairs of the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party. Since the controversial ruling that ousted the executive members of the state chapter…fingers have been pointing at the Presidency. Although some of

avoidable political battles… “… Can the Presidency sustain the current onslaught of harassing and hounding any person with contrary views until all Nigerians are instilled with fear? How long will Nigeria survive under the

, C M Y K

,

these remain at the level of speculations, such ‘rumours’ are very unhealthy for a President who is posturing that he is not yet thinking about 2015… “…The hasty inauguration of the new executive by the national secretariat makes many observers tilt to the suspicion that it was in obedience to the orders from the ‘Oga at the top’…to whittle down the state governor’s influence at home. One will think that President Jonathan currently should enjoy some goodwill in Rivers State. Such goodwill could diminish if he (or his proxy) is seen to be meddling unnecessarily in

current democratic authoritarianism?... “…Someone should tell the President that…he may be the one distracting himself by chasing shadows….[and] that what Nigerians want to see are new jobs created,

security improvements, stable power supply, infrastructural expansion and enhancement of their livelihoods…not just promises…”.

Vanguard readers’ reactions to these comments will be much-appreciated. Please kindly tell me whether you agree or disagree with some or all of Igwe’s remarks.

My take on the Rivers State drama

As a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is the constitutional right of the President to vie for another term in office

it is the constitutional right of the President to vie for another term in office…But what many people are worried about are the tactics that he is deploying… “…One of these deplorable tactics can be seen in his interference in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF. In the absence of a viable opposition and constructive dissent, the NGF is seen by many observers to have provided Nigerians with an alternative platform to debate national issues… “…Instead of stampeding the governors [and trying to] “select” a leader on their behalf, Jonathan and his

Governor Amaechi

A

lot of people have contacted me to express surprise or disapproval about the fact that I have not made any comments about this burning issue in this column.

“You are a known supporter of Governor Amaechi and have never come across as someone who is afraid of speaking her mind, so why aren’t you defending Amaechi in his hour of need?” asked one puzzled Anambrarian gentleman, who

e-mailed me last weekend to say that he is extremely concerned about the m u c h publicised tensions between my Governor, Mr President and s o m e disgruntled R i v e r s indigenes, including the Minister of State for Education.

Queries about my apparent cowardice and fencesitting have been echoed by so many other onlookers that I feel obliged to explain my uncharacteristic silence.

The truth is that I am in a very difficult position because I am close to Amaechi AND some of his opponents. And I feel like a pig in the middle.

I keep hoping that I will wake up and discover that the terrible bitterness that has

turned various senior Niger Deltan brothers and sisters into implacable enemies – and is making our region look embarrassingly divided and politically immature - was just a bad dream. And that everything is, in fact, hunky dory.

But I must say that I honestly believe that even though Amaechi isn’t perfect, he is much nicer and much more capable than most of those guys in the Villa and has been treated very shoddily for no good reason. And I will expand on this theme at a later date if no reconciliation materialises in the near future.

Responses to: donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk or to 0802 747 6458 (texts only). PLEASE KINDLY NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY REQUEST ANONYMITY, YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE PUBLISHED IN VANGUARD, WITH YOUR NAMES AND NUMBERS OR EMAIL ADDRESSES ATTACHED.

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 3, 2013 ANY discussions about the killings M in Baga, Borno State totally miss the point. The contentions are more about the

number of people killed, rather than wondering if soldiers complied with rules of engagements for such operations.

Initial figures of 185 people caused enough outrage. Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, who represents Borno North Senatorial District, where Baga, a fishing settlement on the shores of Lake Chad is, said his visit revealed 228 fresh graves, 4,000 houses destroyed.

Government figures are less than 35 people killed. Nigeria doubtlessly has to protect itself from terrorists, within the law.

The indisputable facts are that a joint military operation of Nigeria, Niger and Chad took place in Baga. People died, properties were destroyed. The details are in dispute. The central explanation is that security agencies took the fight against terrorists to Baga, 200 kilometres outside Maiduguri.

“I visited the four grave sites before arriving at the number of residents killed in

Missing the Baga point Baga. At Wayah graveyard, I counted 130 fresh graves, while at the Arewa Cemetery, 60 people were buried by relations.

The Magumeri graveyard had 60 fresh graves,” Lawan explained his figures. The military insists its enquiries did not reveal mass graves in Baga.

None of the presentations is conclusive.

Fresh graves do not conclusively prove bodies are buried in them. The military’s claim that it did not find mass graves does not mean there is none. The truth lies somewhere.

Government’s lax attitudes to massacres and genocides have endured through the years. Odi, in Bayelsa State, was reduced to rubbles in November 1999 as soldiers bombarded the place after 12 policemen were killed. When former Senate Presi-

dent Chuba Okadigbo visited Odi he said, “I am shocked. There is nothing to say, as there is nobody to speak with." Zaki Biam in Benue State followed two years later.

In his widely published valedictory, Major Paul Okutimo, who led the Internal Task Force on Security in Ogoniland, in 1994 boasted to journalists that he was a specialist trained in over 200 ways of elimination.

His Ogoni account: “We surround the town at night. The machine gun with 500 rounds will open up. When four or five like that open up and then we are throwing grenades, what do you think people are going to do? And we have already put roadblock on the main road; we drive the people into the bush with nothing except pants and wrappers they are using that night.”

He, like others at Umuchem, where protesting youth were killed in 1990, has not been made to account. Security agencies operate above the law. Until they become accountable, Baga would be another footnote in a long list of abuses.

OPINION

BY ABDULLAHI GARBA

I

N the typical Nigerian fashion, the political scene gets more charged with desperation and desperadoes as the election year approaches and there are all the signs that general elections fever has since gripped the nation. It is, however, most unfortunate to observe that President Goodluck Jonathan is being literally roped into the feverish frenzy despite his best efforts to insulate himself from the plague lest he gets distracted from the onerous task of leadership and fulfilment of his allimportant Transformation Agenda.

From mischievous tales about his “interest” in the 2015 elections to the fabrication of ridiculous schemes and plots to associate the President with the so-called campaigns of desperate politicians with greedy eyes on 2015 elective offices, people just won’t leave the President alone to keep his attention focussed on his on-going commitment to the development and progress of Nigeria. If the President should decide to concern himself with his future political agenda which he has every right and opportunity to do, I can bet my last naira that there will be even more hullabaloo about how he is less interested in the prevailing challenges facing the country!

The President must, however, maintain his position of placing greater priority on steering the ship of state through the turbulent seas of security challenges, C M Y K

Leave the President alone political provocation and indeed attainment of the laudable objectives of his much welcomed Transformation Agenda, especially in the power and other vital infrastructural sectors. There is justification to associate the propaganda targeting Mr President’s 2015 prospects with the desperation of the so-called opposition parties to literally jump over the Aso Villa fence and occupy the Presidency by hook, crook and subterfuge.

There is after all no denying that the political opposition in Nigeria has never been as desperate and diabolical as they have been since the breath-taking emergence of President Jonathan who they had been casually under-rating. It must be admitted that President Jonathan delivered the dreaded uppercut of boxing champions to the seemingly towering contenders and left them rattled and dazed as he confidently and popularly consolidated his unambiguous election mandate. He was able to successfully secure the reins of power and steady the nation on the path of positive transformation before the opposition politicians regained the capacity for mischief.

The fact that none of the existing political parties in Nigeria considered themselves capable of challenging the Goodluck

Phenomenon on their own speaks volumes of the intimidating political clout that Mr President has mustered by delivering sincere, sober but sound and successful leadership acumen. The so-called APC alliance of dalliance is nothing but a rickety contraption temporarily carrying strange bedfellows to their imaginary rendezvous with political power. The same inordinate ambition that brought them together will eventually trash their agenda because none of their leaders can really afford to drop naked ambition when the chips are down.

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his notwithstanding, the desperadoes of the APC continue to come up with all sorts of schemes and plots designed to create the false impression that everyone else is as desperate as they are about grabbing power and that President Jonathan cannot keep his eye on the leadership ball because he too is preoccupied with 2015. Nothing could be further from the truth! As all patriotic Nigerians can testify, with the prevailing situation of the country and the transparent genuineness of President Goodluck Jonathan’s oft-stated determination to bring the nation out of its quandary into a new dawn of transformed progressive outlook, there is simply no time for thinking of an

election that is two years away.

That apart, President Jonathan is too politically intelligent to abandon the task of superintending over the affairs of the nation, ensuring the successful attainment of the acclaimed Transformation Agenda and going the extra mile to maintain the internal security and peaceful coexistence of Nigerians. These are the very potent ingredients of any meaningful investment in the future which no other politician in Nigeria, least of all in the rusted ranks of the opposition, can ever lay claim to without actually being in power. In other words, it is desperate opposition politicians who have a problem of presenting a credible trackrecord and an impressive score-sheet that Nigerian voters can rely on in deciding who the best candidate is.

Yes, we should leave President Jonathan alone to remain focussed on his on-going national assignment for which he has a popular mandate to pursue for an initial fouryear tenure that takes him triumphantly to 2015. As he has promised, we are already witnessing remarkable progress in several moribund sectors of the economy, whether we mean the resuscitation of the railways, the revitalization of the power sector or the positive response to the nagging problems of leadership Nigeria has faced before his divine emergence. *Mr. Garba, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 19

,

Resilience building as panacea The United Nations should for food insecurity

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ESILIENCE’ has become the buzzword in international development circles in recent times. The ability to withstand adversity and bounce back is a simple definition of this word. The meaning in international development parlance is not different, but it is only a little bit profound and amenable to wide application. It is currently a subject of high profile debate in several institutions.

This ubiquitous word resonated again in a recent report on the international humanitarian response to the 2012 West Africa Sahel food crisis. This report is in form of a briefing paper by the international relief and development agency, Oxfam, on the assessment of the response to the food crisis. The report has Elise Ford, Oxfam’s Sahel Humanitarian Policy & Advocacy Lead as the author. Entitled: ‘Learning the Lessons? Assessing the response to the 2012 food crisis in the Sahel to build resilience for the future’, the report in the main underscores the imperative for “all actors to seek to develop a deeper understanding of what makes poor people more vulnerable to shocks and stresses and what builds their resilience”. Before the crisis, many families had not recovered from

the previous crises. A situation, the report says, contributes to relatively small shocks having huge impact.

The Sahel region of West Africa, which includes the northern fringes of Nigeria, is known for its ecosystem fragility. The extreme aridity of this zone, including desertification, exacerbated and complicated by climate variability, necessitates the search for coping and adaptation mechanisms to reduce the vulnerability of the inhabitant communities. It is also noteworthy that behind this adversity lies great potentials to drive development if only ingenious strategies are developed.

The report acknowledged that the response in 2012 was better than the previous ones in 2005, 2008 and 2010 but there were still some ‘critical shortcomings’.

There were some overlooked deepseated inequalities that made some families more vulnerable than others. “We must learn from the 2012 experience to better prevent and manage future crises,” the report said. It recommended that agencies and institutions should profit from the momentum around the concept of resilience to further understand how to make responses more effective.

An assessment of the intervention of governments, donors and

,

agencies showed what the report called ‘mixed performance’. While early warning signs were there, the various bodies were not in agreement as to the severity of the crisis. Several meetings held by development agencies in the beginning of 2012 simply acknowledged that the indicators were there but the extent and gravity of the impending crisis were hazy. The only thing that was common knowledge was that humanitarian and development agencies were to brace up for increased activity owing to envisaged critical food insufficiency in the region. The previous year had witnessed erratic and insufficient rainfalls and harvests were poor as a consequence. Agriculture is largely, if not totally, rain-fed in the region.

A

part from the weakened capacity of actors, especially the governments as a result of

Hurricane Nebo: Power sector's new spirit

BY SUNNY IGBOANUGO

T

HERE is a particular local saying that when a child is crying and pointing in a particular direction, it is either the mother or father is there.

When the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Ositadimma Nebo, stood before the Senate earlier this year to declare that he was going to exorcise the demons in the power sector, it immediately made headlines in the media.

Of course, it had to, because this line of thought was completely new. Nobody before him had openly pursued it. If they contemplated it, they never brought it to the public space. That Nebo has blazed this trail is not surprising.

He possesses what many of his ilks lack, or overlook. It is strange that many people who have gone through the academic mills and acquired the first-grade credentials he has, soon abandon the most essential and crucial part – God. Many of them even begin to delude themselves and commit the most atrocious infamy and sacrilege of declaring with their mouth that there is no God, while others, at best, pay half-hearted heed to His existence and dictates.

That, of course, is one of the major fundamentals the former Vice Chancellor of two federal universities, is bringing to the table, which, rather than serving as a footnote, is likely to define his era in his present job and from there create the template for Nigeria to leapfrog into the future of greatness that has become so elusive in the past, but which everybody, including its enemies, believe is waiting right at the next bend.

It was the same talisman that Nebo used to end the many years of rot at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, which, before his arrival, was already gaining notoriety for its version of being a theatre of war and bloodshed that many of the nation’s tertiary

institutions have become in recent years, due to students’ cultism. Who didn’t hear that the menace grew so high that Nebo’s predecessor, Prof. Ginigeme Mbanefo, was actually kidnapped and for some days, became game for the unconscionable elements? Who didn’t hear of the killing of 15 students in the university in 2003 or how a former dean was butchered thereafter?

What magic did Nebo apply to ensure that his five-year tenure, from June 2004 to June 2009, led to a totally different story in the university, not only in infrastructural development but total eradication of cultism?

Of course, his story at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, evokes a similar sentiment. There, he practically squeezed water out of stone in his attempt to build a first class institution that would train the body and mind of Nigerians constantly in search of quality education, such as the likes of the Minister had. Needless to say that he was still at this project when his new appointment came.

This streak of successes, where many have failed, can only mean one thing – that Nebo does not only possess the credentials to achieve his goals, but applies them with a rare single-mindedness.

That is why, he must therefore, be taken seriously when he said that he is going to succeed in the power sector and deliver on President Goodluck Jonathan’s promise of making Nigerians enjoy constant electricity during his tenure. That is why those he has been pointing at since his coming on board as the spoilers, must not only think seriously about their options, but become wiser and more prudent with their ideas of doing things the old way.

In fact, he has recently restated what he said at the Senate screening again and again that it has become a kind of peculiar mantra.

Reading the riot act for the umpteenth time, in a television programme, the Minister

,

BY PADDY EZEALA

be mobilised to render more support to programmes aimed at building the resilience of vulnerable communities

inadequate and untimely funding, there were political factors that militated against effective response. The presidential election in Senegal overshadowed the onset of the crisis in the first quarter of the year 2012. The government could not acknowledge the ugly situation for fear of losing political grounds. The ruling party lost in the election anyway and the new government was quick to acknowledge the crisis in April.

But disaster had already set in. In Mali serious political instability even complicated the crisis.

Despite the fact that the response in 2012 was better than the previous ones, there were still many families that did not receive assistance. While many out of the 18 million people affected across nine countries in the region received nutritional assistance in some way, it is on record that more than five million people did not receive the seeds, tools and fertilizer needed to plant for the next harvest.

To get things right, there is need to recognise that the crisis is not over. According to the report, there are over 10 million people that still need help. In other words, food crisis is simply a momentary escalation of a perennial situation of food insufficiency. Communities should be assisted to build their resilience effectively and be in a position to withstand future crises.

There is need for investment in smallholder agriculture, local and national food reserves and social protection programmes. There should be proper understanding of degrees of vulnerability so that support is targeted at the poorest or weakest. Capacity of local

Nebo may not be as virulent in his resolve to end their (cabals) reign; but to obdurately remain a clog in the wheel of progress, could become a recipe for their doom

,

accentuated the fresh impetus thus: "We are setting up a very robust monitoring device.

One thing I can assure you is that all leakages will be plugged. It's not going to be business as usual. The legacy that we have now will not tolerate the so-called Nigerian factor and leakages. It is time for everybody to know that it is no longer business as usual.

If anyone wants to continue in the old games, then we will hold them accountable. I can assure you that we have put in place a solid mechanism to ensure that when government puts in funds somewhere, government gets a concomitant, good, quality work that it has paid for.”

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ebo lamented how a cabal had grown out of some people seized by evil forces. These people, who he described as powerful, would not want the Nigerian power sector to heal because of their proclivity to benefit from the suffering of the people by absconding with funds they obtained for specific power projects.

“I mean, it is all too obvious that lots of funds have gone into the sector but in some areas, you don’t see a concomitant development in the sector; so there are problems within and without. There is the issue of Nigerian factor, cartels that feel that once there is power, they lose their own businesses,” he added.

Reiterating his resolve to solve the problem, Nebo, who said he was equally

actors should be strengthened and regional bodies made to live up to their responsibilities with regard to the prevention and management of future crises.

West Africa is bedeviled by mass poverty and the situation in the Sahel part of the region is compounded by the fragile ecosystem. Amazingly the map of political instability and weak governance structures in West Africa is almost the same as that of the Sahel. There is need for more serious actions to tackle the issue of recurrent food crises in the region.

The report, therefore, recommends that all actors should, as it were, be riding on the crest of the current wave of resilience. The United Nations should be mobilised to render more support to programmes aimed at building the resilience of vulnerable communities. All actors should develop a deeper understanding of what makes poor people more vulnerable to shocks and stresses.

There should be more effective food crisis analyses to guide measures aimed at addressing its root causes within a context where the dividing line between humanitarianism and development is blurred.

Governments and regional organisations must be committed to delivering pro-poor development strategies while donors should fast-track the development of resilience strategies. * Mr. Ezeala is Regional Sanyaolu Communication & Campaign Coordinator for an international relief agency in Dakar, Senegal.

troubled, vowed to do everything required to ensure that the present crisis is resolved in favour of Nigerians.

And this resolution, according to him would mean a robust economy, where the giant will wake up again; where virtually the about 70 per cent or more of all the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, that have died in Nigeria would wake up again; where barbing, hairdressing, vulcanising, welding businesses and the likes, would be alive and well; where Nigerians would go back to work earn their living honestly and as a result, reduce all the vices currently plaguing the nation as a due to idleness and absence of alternatives; where the big businesses like the telecommunication companies would cut down operation costs by half, because they would no longer rely on diesel, thus producing competitive goods and services.

It is a common saying in Nigeria that only a tree will hear that it would be cut down and still stand in one place. A human being would shift grounds. Is it not time for this cabal to rethink its position? Indeed, many people have actually argued that cabals are not necessarily bad by their name, but in what they do. They insist that most developed economies have their own versions of cabals, which corner all the big contracts and businesses, make huge profits, but still deliver.

Perhaps, Nebo may not be as virulent in his resolve to end their reign if the Nigerian version would try this option. But to obdurately remain a clog in the wheel of progress, could become a recipe for their doom.

Most of the big empires in America today, which have established foundations to help humanity, according to some history, were actually bandits, involved in all manner of crimes. They had to give up, do a rethink and turn a new leaf when the time was up for them.

A similar wind is blowing in Nigeria today.

The momentum is so fierce it will certainly destroy all obstacles on the way.

It is hurricane Nebo.

*Mr. Igboanugo, a journalist,wrote from Lagos.

20—Vanguard , FRIDAY FRIDAY,, MAY 3 , 2013

Sand dealers, Police clash: Many questions, few answers *Some family members of the slain corps members at the remembrance event

The driver of the intercepted tipper. INSET: One of the victims on his hospital bed

BY BOSE ADELAJA

I

T began as a minor faceoff which soon turned violent, leaving four people, including a policeman, severely injured. The fracas which occurred on Friday April 12, 2013 involved some policemen attached to Ijede Division and some sand dealers in Agura area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.

The incident led to the arrest of a couple and the chairman of the sand dealers association who was later granted bail after paying an undisclosed amount of money. The couple, on their part, were charged to the court while the four victims are presently receiving treatment in various hospitals.

Problem started around 11am when a fully loaded tipper was flagged down by some policemen at Ebute area of Agura.

Identity of passengers The police men, all in mufti except one, were said to be inside a private car heading towards a local dredging site when they met the tipper which apart from the driver had eight passengers on board.

When queried by the police men on the identity of passengers, the tipper driver was said to have informed that they were mostly youths in the area who were going for their breakfast at a nearby bus-stop.

Vanguard Metro gathered that the driver of the vehicle was arrested and put in the private car. This infuriated the youths who swooped on the car and forcefully tried to prevent the

officers from driving off. The resultant clash soon turned violent, with the police men shooting sporadically, ostensibly to ward off further attacks.

At the end of the day, three youths were injured by gun-

shots and one policeman was beaten into coma. It took some time before peace returned to the area.

A house wife (names withheld) whose husband was a member of the sand dealers

association was also beaten by the policemen for taking sides with the youths and she was later taken into custody when she went in company of the chairman of the sand dealers to incident the matter at Ijede division. However, both of them were arrested by the Police who also went in search of her husband. The chairman was granted bail a couple of days later but the couple has been taken to court.

When VM visited the United Sand Dealers Association, Agura branch, it discovered that the parent body had not identified with it over the crisis as the branch was said not to have been remitting its monthly dues. VM also visited two of the hospitals where the victims were receiving treatment but the doctors prevented them

from granting an interview on the account that they were severely injured and this could increase their pains.

When VM visited Agura tipper garage, there was little or no activities there. A source hinted that some executive members of the association have been arrested by the Police, while the driver of the intercepted vehicle was still receiving treatment in a private hospital.

Also, the incident has affected activities among the sand dealers as some of their members have fled the area for fear of being arrested by the Police.

When VM visited Area N Command, a Police officer who pleaded anonymity said the policemen were on illegal duty as the dredging area was under Imota division.

For eight despairing women, a life-line from Freedom

By UJU MBANUSI

F

REEDOM Founda tion, a non-governmental organisation with a mandate of pioneering social reformation on drug addicted victims and commercial sex workers across the nation, has expressed hope of establishing at least 1000 ladies by next year.

The Organisation’s programme director, Mrs Helen Nwabuoku, made the disclosure during the graduation ceremony of eight despairing women in different vocational Graduands brandish their certificates skills at the organisation’s skills acquisition Foundation has, since inception, centre, Lekki, Lagos.

The graduands, she explained, were touched many lives through commubrought as victims of sexual and emo- nity transformation. At the end of their tional abuse, with some of them ad- vocational training, each of the women gets an opportunity to practise her dicted to liquor and hard drugs.

But through consistent care and re- craft with a local partner organisation habilitation, as well as education and either in an internship or in permaempowerment activities, she said they nent job.

“Our target populations are the sowould be leaving the centre equipped cially and economically-disadvanto begin a new life as productive memtaged and vulnerable men, women bers of society.

Explaining that the organisation and children within our society, all of was established with the mandate of whom have the right to be protected systematically transforming the lives against poverty and the right to acof women through a series of rehabil- cess basic social services, such as editation, education and empowerment ucation and health. We believe that all programmes, she said: “Freedom individuals have the right to partici-

pate fully in the process of governance, the right to equal development, as well as the right to enjoy access to vital resources and the basic necessities of life”.

She, therefore, admonished the graduands to remember all they learnt while at the centre, with a view to projecting themselves as good ambassadors anywhere they find themselves.

She expressed the organisation’s hope to expand its reach to at least 1000 girls in the next two years. To actualize her vision, Nwabuoku called on government and eminent Nigerians to come to their aid through financial supports, volunteers and mentoring.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 21

CAC to increase registration fee for limited liability companies

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

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HE Corporate Affairs Com mission, CAC, said that it is considering an upward review of the fees required for registration of Limited Liability companies in the country.

The Commission will also in the course of time enforce registration of business names for owners of small businesses scattered across the country.

The newly appointed Chairman of the Commission, Otunba Funso Lawal, gave the hint when he paid a courtesy visit to the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and to also ring the closing bell, as part of his familiarisation tour of some key institutions and ministries in the country.

He said that the increment became necessary due to the need to rake in more revenue to pursue the Commission’s drive of providing its customers with better and efficient services.

He said, “We are improving our services; we are trying to provide more services and we want to ensure that we are more efficient. All these things come at a cost. So, even though with the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, we will continue to encourage them, with some other companies like Limited Liability companies, they might see a slight increase, but it should not be significant.”

“We are part of the federal government’s transformation agenda to ensure that we encourage small and medium scale enterprises, and we want to ensure that we encourage such companies to do business in Nigeria and at

such, we will ensure that we do the necessary things to make sure that the cost of doing business is reduced,” he added.

On the Commission’s planned enforcement of registration for informal busi-

nesses, Lawal said, “Our Public Affairs Department will to go out and appeal to them on the registration of their businesses. But the fact remains that they don’t have to register as limited liability companies, they can register just

their business names. All around here, Idumonta, Oyingbo and Lagos Island, there are a lot of companies, but people are not ready to register, they just put their name and we are going out to talk to them and try to ensure that they are registered.”

From left: Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange,NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Chief of Staff/Head, Corporate Division, NSE, Mr. Bola Adeeko; Chairman, Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Otunba Funso Lawal and Executive Director, Business Development, NSE, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri at the bell ringing ceremony of the commission at the NSE.

Nigeria signs MoU with China on skills, technology transfer

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU, SAINTJERRY NJOKU & VERA SAM-ANYAGAFU

T

HE Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment and Sanshui District Bureau of Economy, Science and Technology Development Promotion in China have signed a Memorandum of Un1.15 derstanding, MoU to 134.75 facilitate the transfer of skills and 2,322.00 -13.00 technologies.

The MoU includes a 17.7 0.21 trade cooperation agreement between many of the factories sited at the industrial 102.34 -1.47 park within the Sanshui Economic De93.38 -1.12 velopment Zones and Nigeria with a promCURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING ise by many of the processing industries DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 155.75 to open offices in POUNDS 239.6923 240.4667 241.2412 Nigeria before the end EURO 202.3975 203.0515 203.7054 of the year.

FRANC 165.3489 165.8831 166.4174 The Minister of State YEN 1.5878 1.593 1.5981 for Trade and InvestCFA 0.2896 0.2996 0.3096 WAUA 232.367 233.1178 233.8686 ment, Dr. Samuel RENMINBI 25.0993 25.1808 25.2624 Ortom, signed the RIYA 41.2623 41.3956 41.5289 MoU when he led a KRONA 27.141 27.2287 27.3164 trade delegation to the SDR 233.5178 234.2723 235.0268 Shanghai province in China.

CBN Exchange rate as at 02/05/2013 “We are looking at

areas where we have comparative and competitive advantage and the areas where we have the raw materials in abundance and lack the technology,” he said.

The minister, who noted that plans to achieve technologically sound industrialised Nigeria remained unwavering led other Nigerian industrialists including representatives from one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous companies, DOYIN Groups, Padson Industries Ltd and members from Nigeria Trade Office in Shanghai to attend the business meeting, which was organised by a group known as “Africa Investment Net.” Chinese delegation was on the other hand led by Mr. William Wang, a former director in the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to discuss partnership and business collaborations with leading Chinese companies covering constructions, processing, utilities and agricultural technologies among others.

Dr. Ortom, who was accompanied by Nigerian ambassador to China, H.E. Aminu Wali, said that the country is willing to accept as many investors coming to invest in Nigeria as possible.

He said: “I believe a lot of good things will come out of this, more especially at a time the Nigerian government is looking forward for investment in all sectors of the economy and we are willing to accept all investors coming from China for investment purposes.

“This is what my ministry is doing, to provide for an enabling and conducive environment for investments. This, I believe will go a long way in strengthening the NigeriaChina relationship.”

In response, the chief facilitator of the business meeting, Mr. Williams Wang said: “This event is just the beginning of activities which will be held

by Africa Investment Net this year to promote investment in Nigeria.

“We want to provide a platform for the matchmaking of projects between Nigeria and China so that Chinese investors will get more information about the investment environment in Nigeria.

“Through years of study and investigation, we think that Nigeria is one of the African countries which has the greatest potentials of development, and also has biggest comparatives of economy with China.”

FG tightens regulation to discourage illegal mining

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

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HE Federal Government is set to tighten its regulatory frameworks aimed at minimising illegal mining activities in the country.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Linus Awute, who stated this in an interview with Vanguard, asserted that the government is strengthening regulatory instruments to encourage diversification of the economy through the sector.

“The diversification of the economy is aimed at moving away from oil resource dependence, and the minerals and metals sector have been identified as one of the key sectors through which the economy can be diversified.

And we, as a ministry being the custodian of that sector, have considered it worthy to strengthen our regulatory instruments, and to also see the extent to which we can internalise the legal framework that has been developed to back the activities of the sector,” he said.

Awute noted that what has been promoting illegal mining is the granting of licences to those who lack the capacity to survive in the business.

“The only thing that has promoted illegal mining in recent times is where some people who have acquired licences to do business in a particular cadastral unit, at the end of the day, didn’t prove to have the capacity to do that business. So, that creates a loophole for the encroachment of those who can go in, scratch the ground and do other things and then get something out of it and then at the cost of the environment without any royalty accruing to government.

“But what we are doing now is to ensure that those with mineral titles and are not doing anything with them are brought to face the full wrath of the law, which is nothing other than the revocation of their licences and when that happens, the licences will be issued to anyone who has the capacity, the financial capacity as well as a minimum work plan with a given timeline to do what he is supposed to do,” he said.

The permanent secretary further noted that government has established a special intervention fund to address the financial needs of investors in the mining sector.

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 201 3

E-dividend: Shareholders threaten legal action against registrars, coys

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

A

S criticisms continue to mount over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s decision to direct registrars to stop forwarding dividend warrants to shareholders that fail to give their bank details to them, some shareholders have said that they will take legal action against any registrar or quoted company that dares to implement the directive.

They noted that SEC needs to step up its enlightenment campaign to encourage those that are still foot-dragging to embrace e-dividend, instead of taking a pound of flesh off innocent shareholders over her fracas with the National Assembly members.

Reacting, Mr. Boniface Okezie, President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, PSAN, told Vanguard that some institutional investors still prefer to have their dividend posted to them in hard copies.

Though he said that the importance of e-dividend cannot be underestimated, he stated that the SEC does not have the power to direct companies to stop paying dividend to shareholders.

“That directive is better thrown into the dust bin. Nobody should listen to the SEC as far this directive is concerned. In fact, SEC has no power under CAMA to give such order. Any registrar that listens to SEC in this regard is putting itself into trouble, because they are gong to face a lot of litigation from us,” he said.

“The law of CAMA clearly stated that dividends should be sent to shareholders through warrants and that act of CAMA has not been amended. So, until that law is amended, SEC has no right to direct that shareholders should not be paid their dividend. If the SEC Dg wants to amend that section of CAMA, she should go through the National Assembly,” he emphasised.

Also speaking, Sir Sunny Nwosu, National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, ISAN, said, “If that directive is implemented, it will elicit a lot of legal issues from shareholders. Let me say that if that happens, I will sue the company that fails to pay my dividend because I don’t have any business with SEC. We didn’t buy shares from SEC; we bought shares from companies, so SEC does not have the right to stop dividends from being paid. SEC has no right to make such law.”

“If you go through the calendar of quoted companies, you find out that their annual general meetings fall within May and

June, and June 3rd is barely one month from now and SEC is coming out with this directive now. So, whose interest is SEC really protecting,” he queried.

He regretted that all attempts

by shareholders to make the apex regulator and the CBN start accepting dividends into savings account has not yielded any result, adding that unless the law that stated that unclaimed divi-

dends becomes status barred after 12 years, is amended, shareholders would resist imposition of sanctions over noncompliance with e-dividend payment requirement.

BRIEF FBN Holdings records 306% profit growth in 2012 *Proposes N1 dividend

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM & CHINEDU IBEABUCHI

BN Holdings Plc said its profit after tax increased F by 306 percent to N75.7 bil-

From left: Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Dr. Demola Sogunle; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Akwa Ibom State Mr. Offiong Udoffe; Head, Benefits Administration, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Mrs. Bunmi DayoOlagunju, and Head, Business Development, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Mrs. Nike Bajomo, at the official opening of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited’s office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Diamond Bank shareholders endorse $ 750m capital raising … Increases share capital to N15bn

BY BABAJIDE KOMALAFE & PETER EGWUATU

S

HAREHOLDERS of Diamond Bank Plc have endorsed the Board of Directors’ proposal to raise $750,000,000 additional capital in order to enhance the bank’s working capital and finance business development initiatives.

The shareholders also approved the bank’s proposal to raise its authorised share capital from N10 billion to N15 billion by the creation of additional 10 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, ranking paripasu in all respects with its existing ordinary shares.

Addressing shareholders at the 22nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), Chairman of the bank, Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Achebe, said “Diamond Bank has bounced back to profitability following the significant write-offs we had to do in 2011 to clean up our books and reposition the bank.”

In his comment at the meeting, the Group Managing Director of the

Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, commended the shareholders for their loyalty and support.

According to him, “It would not be better to declare dividend and still come back to seek more capital from our shareholders. Our focus is to optimise balance sheet efficiency while increasing returns and minimise risks, all within the context of financial intermediation, which is our primary mandate.”

He further explained that the bank has divested from five of its subsidiaries according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s directives, but noted that step has been taken to recapitalise few of the subsidiaries like Diamond Bank Benin and the Pension Fund firm.

He said: “We will open more branches in many new locations this year especially in under –represented markets with strong economic fundamentals and where our services will be a strong agent for growth. Internationally, on March 26, 2013, we concluded the acquisition and took over control of a niche bank in UK. This underscores our

intention for a two pronged approach, acquisition and organic growth, to expansion.”

In their comments at the AGM, shareholders unanimously tasked the Board of the Bank to ensure that dividend is declared next year.

Sir Sunny Nwosu, National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), who spoke the minds of members at the meeting, commended the bank for bouncing back to profitability. According to him, “We shareholders expect that you will give us dividend next year having returned to profitability. We thank the Staff, management and Board for the improved performance.

Dr. Farouk Umar, Chairman, Advancement for the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, equally commended the bank for its impressive performance as it posted profit before tax (PBT) of N27.5billion and profit after tax (PAT) of N22.1 billion from a loss position of N18billion and N13 billion in 2011 respectively.

lion in its financial year ended 31st December 2012 from N18.6 billion recorded in 2011.

Its 2012 financial results released within the week to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, showed that the profit before tax increased by 158.5 percent year-on-year to N92.7 billion from N35.8 billion in 2011, benefiting from revenue growth, lower impairment charges and income from discontinued operations.

FBN Holdings proposed payment of N1.00 per share dividend to its shareholders.

The Group’s tax expense came in at N17.0 billion, marginally lower by1.1 percent from the prior year. This translated into an effective tax rate of 18.4 percent, which is significantly lower than the 48 percent recorded in 2011.

Its total assets increased by 11.4 percent to N3.2 trillion from N2.9 trillion in 2011, largely on the back of growth in deposits and, to lesser extent, retained earnings.

Its gross earnings grew yearon-year by 31.4 percent to N359.8 billion and was primarily driven by interest income from loans and advances of 32 percent, as well as investment securities growth of 92 percent.

FBN Group’s net interest income grew by 27.8 percent to N225.2 billion as against N176.2 billion in 2011, benefiting from healthy growth in interest income given the higher interest rate environment. However, this growth was tempered by a significant rise of 69 percent in interest expense over the period.

Its operating expenses rose by 31.6 percent to close at N192.2 billion year-on-year from N146.1 billion in 2011.

This was on the back of growth in personnel costs by 19.6 percent, regulatory costs in relation to AMCON and NDIC growth by 33.7 percent as well as business maintenance and expansion costs rising by 25 per cent, which represented 35.8 per cent, 8.6 per cent and 24.3 per cent respectively of total operating expenses.

Commenting on the results, Bello Maccido, Chief Executive officer of FBN Holdings said: “I am pleased to present the maiden results of FBN Holdings following its restructuring as non-operational holding company with oversight of four major business groups, namely: Commercial Banking, Investment Banking and Asset Management, Insurance and Other Financial Services.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 23

Exporters urge US to make success of AGOA in Nigeria STORIES

BY DANIEL GUMM

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IGERIAN exporters have urged the United States of America, USA to make the African Growth Opportunity Act, AGOA, a success by coming to Nigeria to invest.

At an interactive meeting with the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, in Lagos, Nigerian exporters categorically told the visiting US Committee members that that there were some limitations on Nigerian exporters exporting to the US market, insisting that the challenges faced by Nigerians while exploring the US market had been enormous.

The US delegation made up of both the Republicans and Democrats explained that

their committee was in Nigeria to acquaint themselves with challenges and constraints faced by Nigerian exporters that was preventing black Africa’s most populous nation from taking advantage of AGOA and report back tothe US House.

Stakeholders listed high cost of freight from Nigeria to the US as well as the US non-recognition of NAFDAC as a very unfair decision of the American government, a decision which automatically makes Nigerian products to the US uncompetitive in their market.

They explained that they were unhappy over the situation, whereby Nigerian products are subjected to double inspection in the U S, after such products had

been inspected here in Nigeria, adding that it should henceforth be corrected immediately.

A cross-section of stakeholders was of the view that in order for Nigeria to benefit from the AGOA, the US should come and invest in Nigeria and “show us the Standard.”

Stakeholders told the US delegates that what they doing by recommending standards for Nigerian products is nothing but change in formulation since those products did not originate from the US in the first place.

The leader of delegates, Nilmini Rubin, Senior Adviser, United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, made a commitment that she would be going back with Nigerian complaints.

VISIT — From left: Mrs. Evelyn Obidike, Acting Zonal Controller, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Lagos, making her remarks and Nilmini Rubin, Senior Adviser, United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and leader of delegation.

Nigerian youths for agribusiness conference 2013

T

HE New Face of Agriculture in Nigeria will be unfolded soon as the Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria, CASON, will be he date for the conference would soon be announced to hold within the months of June to August 2013 annoucd a major programme for the youth that would involve making agribusiness attractive, real, appealing and practical to Nigerian youths.

The event, exclusively packaged for Nigerian youths to include conference, expert training, field trip, exhibition of agric businesses and technologies.

About 1,500 Nigerian youths will be attending the conference, which makes it about the largest gathering of youths for agriculture.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is doing a

whole lot to revive agribusiness in Nigeria under the Agricultural Transformation agenda (ATA), including the recapitaliation of the Bank of Agriculture for better funding to unlock financing to the agricultural sector in Nigeria, said Mr. Sontonye Anga, CASONCoordinator.

He said that CASON is currently developing a national data base for Nigerian youths interested in agriculture.

This database would be made available to policy makers, donor agencies and government at all levels as it makes for easy access to youths interested in agribusiness nationwide and the database would reach the one million target by end of 2013.

The CASON youth

empowerment database is designed to help the Nigerian youths. He illustrated with the name of the first person on the database: a female, from Osun State aged 21 years, the database has all her details including phone number and email, thereby making access to her very simple.

The database was borne out of the need for a centralised resource that captures Nigerian youths interested in, or already in agriculture and help them access agribusiness solutions, opportunities, information and support.

He acknowledged the University of Lagos as the most prestigious university located in Lagos State, where the youth conference would hold and that the collaboration and support of UNILAG would be most appreciated.

FINANCING CASHEW — From left: Mr. Charles Polet (AIMS Ltd), A. B. Mohammed, Mr. Judson Welsh (AIMS Ltd), Ayeka Olarotimi (NCAN), Mrs. Adaeze Ebegbulem (Snr. Mgr. NEXIM Bank),Mr. Sotonye Anga (Chairman, Local Organising Committee, NEXIM & NCAN Cashew Finance Forum 2013), Rev. Ifeanyi C. Nwade (representing the MD, NEXIM Bank), Mr. Tola Faseru (President, NCAN), Mr. Olowo Sunkanmi (Ecobank), Mr. Abel Ajala (Ecobank), Mr. Saliu Alasa (Vice President, NCAN), and Mr. John Olota (Vice President, NCAN).

‘Reserve retail trade for Nigerians’

T

HE National President of Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (CMDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero has urged the Federal Government to reserve the small scale retail activity, petty trading and hawking, exclusively for Nigerian indigenous operator.

By so doing, Nigeria will create wealth and boost domestic invesment, he noted.

The CMDLCA boss explained that the Nigerian small scale and retail trade “is seriously experiencing foreign dominance through the total control of the manufacturing, distribution, retailing and hawking of trade goods in Nigerian market.”

Amiwero said that foreign nationals now controlled the total trading chain including retail

and hawking, “ which portents great danger to the economy on the domestic retail front, employment and wealth creation.”

“The foreign nationals, who are moving into our retail trade and hawking business, are exposed to foreign capitals and better economic climate, whose activities are creating serious impact in our trading environment by reducing the active involvement of Nigerians in retail and hawking that should be reserved for Nigeria indigenous operators.”

He advised the Nigerian authorities to borrow a leaf from the Ghanaian Investment Promotion Act 478 of 1994 which protects the domestic investment environment.

The objective, according to Amiwero, is to promote investment in the

economy and initiate measures that will enhance the investment climate for both Ghanaian and non-Ghanaians companies.

Section 18 of the act specifically states: “The enterprises specified in the schedule are reserved for citizens and shall not be undertaken by a person who is not a citizen 1.The sale of anything whatsoever in a market, petty trading, hawking or selling from kiosk.

2. Operation of taxi service and car hire service. (A non-Ghanaian may undertake this service where there is a minimum fleet of 10 new vehicles).

3. All aspect of pool betting business and lotteries, except football pools.

4. Operation of beauty saloons and barber shops.

Nigeria needs international shipping code for maritime trade — UMAR

T

HE Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, has said that safe navigation is required in line with International Shipping and Ports Security Code (ISPS) for efficient maritime trade in the country.

Mr. Umar made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at the inauguration of the newly-reconstituted competent Pilotage Boards within the four compulsory Pilotage Districts of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

The ISPS is an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Conven-

tion (1974/1988) on minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and government agencies.

Having come into force in 2004, it prescribes responsibilities to governments, shipping companies and port/facility personnel to "detect security threats and take preventive measures against security incidents affecting ships or port facilities used in international trade.

Umar explained that safe navigation was required in line with the

ISPS because a greater volume of imports and exports was conveyed through the ports.

He said that due to the importance of the ports to the development of the Nigerian economy, international maritime trade could not be overemphasised.

He recalled that the tenure of the former pilotage board of the four pilotage districts appointed in 2006 by his predecessor had lapsed and there was a need to reconstitute another one.

24—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

TREBLE CHANCE Liverpool Sunderland West Ham Huddersfield Hull Nottm For Clyde Queens Pk Burnley Sevilla

v Everton v Stoke v Newcastle v Barnsley v Cardiff v Leicester v Stirling A. v Peterhead v Ipswich v Espanyol

SOCCER TIPS Jose Mourinho has dropped a hint that he is on his way back to England THE Real Madrid boss admitted he is hated in Spain and insisted: “I want to be where people love me to be.

“I know in England I am loved by the fans, the media, some clubs and especially one. In Spain the situation is different because some people hate me.”

Mourinho spoke out following his side’s Champions League semi-final exit to Borussia Dortmund.

The Special One has been linked with a return to Stamford Bridge next season. And when asked if he will remain in Madrid he replied: “Maybe not.”

Mourinho, who has one year left on his Real contract, insisted he will make a decision on his future after speaking with president Florentino Perez at the end of this season.

He added: “It’s difficult to make a decision because I like this club.

“I like the president and we have built a team that is ready to do big things.

“I haven’t made a decision yet because I have a contract and I respect the club and the president.

“It’s why I want to win the Copa del Rey final and finish second in the league. .

“I want to sit down with my president, my friend, and decide the best for me. At the end of the season I will speak.”

Mourinho, 50, managed Chelsea from June 2004 until September 2007, when he left after falling out with Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

He remains Chelsea’s most successful manager with two Premier League titles and three LATE domestic cup triumphs.

But Mourinho’s comments will almost TIPS certainly put more than one Premier League club on alert.

Manchester City are another possible destination for him.

Real’s 2-0 semi-final second-leg triumph at the Bernabeu could not stop Dortmund booking their place in the Wembley final with a 4-3 aggregate win.

Late goals from Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos were not enough — then Mourinho blasted English ref Howard Webb for not sending off Dortmund’s Mats Hummels.

The ball hit the Borussia star’s hand as he slipped on the edge of the area and Mourinho insisted: “I am very disappointed with one of my favourite refs.

“In that moment he was not a referee, EXCELLENT he was a human being.

“He thought, ‘If I give a red card to Liverpool 7 Hummels, he will miss the final’.”

FOUR HOMES

1 X 3 X 8 X 9 PAIR FOUR AWAYS 19 7 X 23X 28 X X 29 20 PERMUTATION 2 X 6 X 10 X AVOID 14X 18 X 20 25 TIPS RISKY 44 34 X 36 X 45 CREDIT Sevilla Zaragoza Valencia Celta Vigo Queen's Pk Clyde Clyde Annan

2 2 Sunderland 2 West Ham 3 Burnley 3 Huddersfid 3 Hull 3 Nottm For 3 Sheff Wed

7 7 5 5 5 5 5

Zidane: Bale price won't deter bidders THE Real Madrid director of football believes that suitors will be willing to pay 60 million pounds for the Welshman, whom he feels can make the difference for a club.

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS WEEK 42 F.A cla ys Premier ship .A.. Bar Barcla clays Premiership 1 Fulham 2 Liverpool 3 Man Utd. 4 Norwich 5 Q.P.R. 6 Sunderland 7 Swansea 8 Tottenham 9 West Brom 10 West Ham

.

v Reading 1X v Everton XX v Chelsea 1 v Aston V. X1 v Arsenal 2 v Stoke XX v Man City 2 v South'pton 1 v Wigan 1 v Newcastle XX

NPower Football Championship 11Birmingham 12 Bolton 13 Brighton 14 Burnley 15 Charlton 16 Crystal P. 17 Derby 18 Huddersfield 19 Hull 20 Nottm For 21 Sheff Wed 22 Watford

v Blackburn v Blackpool v Wolves v Ipswich v Bristol C v Peterboro v Millwall v Barnsley v Cardiff v Leicester v Middlesbro v Leeds

1 1 1 XX 1 1 1X XX XX XX 2X 1

Scottish League Division On

23 Dumbarton 24 Dunfermline 25 Falkirk 26 Hamilton 27 Livingston

v Partick 2 v Airdrie 1 v Morton X1 v Cowdenb'th 1 v Raith X1

Scottish League DivisionT wo DivisionTw 28 Albion R. 29 Arbroath 30 East Fife 31 Forfar 32 Stenhus'muir

v Queen O' Sth v Alloa v Brechin . v Ayr Utd. v Stranraer

2 2 2 1 1

Scottish League Division Three

33 Annan 34 Clyde 35 Elgin 36 Queens Pk 37 Rangers .

v Montrose v Stirling A. v E Stirling A. v Peterhead v Berwick

Spanish La Liga

38 Barcelona 39 Celta Vigo 40 Deportivo 41 Getafe 42 Granada 43 Mallorca 44 R.Madrid 45 Sevilla 46 Valencia 47 Zaragoza

v R. Betis.

1 v Ath Bilbao X2 v Ath Madrid 2 v R. Sociedad 2 v Malaga 2 v Levante 2 v Valladolid 1 v Espanyol XX v Osasuna 1X v R. Vollecano2X

Italian Serie A

48 Flerintina 49 Napoli

2X XX 1 XX 1

v Roma v Inter Milan

1 1

2 6 18 34

Revised Pairs 2 x 6, 18 x 19 20 x 34, 36 x 45

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 25

26 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 27

Ex-fiancée, Keturah claims ‘Jim Iyke Unscripted’ show is fake

BY CHARLES MGBOLU

T

he credibility of “Jim Iyke Unscripted” reality TV show may soon fade into oblivion if the news making the rounds gets any bigger than this as a Jenny Garcia who claims to be Keturah Hamilton (Jim Iyke’s supposed Fiancée) publicist has come out to claim that her client’s involvement in the show had been a fake all along.

Jim Iyke’s Unscripted reality show had opened in the first week of it’s airing with a bang as viewing ratings jumped immediately following the smoking hot episode which saw Keturah really mad at Jim Iyke whom she accused of consistently flirting with girls to her own embarrassment.

Critics of the show had quickly switched sides immediately after seeing the episode; calling it a burst of fresh air coming straight from Nollywood.

However, Jenny via a statement circulating like wild fire online says, Keturah only acted out a well written script like a good Nollywood actress.

The statement reads in part, “Keturah Hamilton, Model, Actress, and ExFiancée of Jim Iyke is ready to tell the real story after the Jim Iyke Unscripted show that was aired on April 17, 2013.”

“In a world where reality shows are the “In-thing” and bad behaviour becomes the A.M. topic to cover, leave it to Jim Iyke Unscripted or better said the “Scripted” show to deliver real life drama. The episode that aired on April 17, 2013, did not disappoint the viewers who were glued to their TV’s watching Keturah Hamilton’s role that was nonetheless excellent! She was really able to bring her character to the next level of entertainment.”

Keturah had acted out an edgy script of jealousy and rage towards Jim Iyke, that C M Y K

I N S I D E:

I won’t mind becoming a Pastor Gordons ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Terry G denies fighting with AY.com AMAA: What

celebrities wore

to the event

•Jim Iyke & Keturah

was delivered as well as any actress in Hollywood. She was so good that even her fans were astonished to see how well she acted and was able to challenge Jim on his bad behaviour. Boldly, Jim gave Keturah the opportunity to exit the reality show based on the controversial episode.

Even though a pre-recorded version of “Kiss and Makeup” is yet to be aired, Keturah already had made her decision.

In the meantime, Jim Iyke

and Keturah Hamilton are no longer together because in reality, Jim’s bad boy behaviour was just too overwhelming for the reality show star. Keturah has decided to move on to the bigger and better things that her heart has long been looking to do. She quotes, “I wish Jim well on his show and hope that he matures into the man I always wanted him to be!”

Parental guide Balancing love between kids and mobiles

28—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Pastor Paul Adefarasin called me to anchor the experience programme.

I anchored the experience which had an audience of about 500,000 people. It was an explosion. I was also asked to do comedy which I did, that was how God lifted me.

I won’t mind becoming a Pastor —Gordons

Gordons

‘Moving the ministry to the permanent site’ is a joke known by all and sundry.

It implies a shift, an improvement, a change of level. It is a phrase that explains Gordons’ 13 years journey from grass to grace, from being relatively unknown to being an acecomedian that cracks jokes to Heads of States. At the peak of his career at the Vanguard Personality of the Year Awards,which held last month, Weekend Groove caught up with this renowned comedian. In this interview, Gordons speaks on comedy, music and the woman in his life.

I

t seems like all your jokes have a Christian background?

It is not like all my jokes have a Christian background, but I always try to keep them clean. When you bring religion into it, it checks you. It’s not just because I’m a Christian, but I believe that any opportunity given to me to speak should be an opportunity to bless others. By cracking Christian jokes, people already know that I am a Christian, since I am aware of that, when I want to misfire, it acts as a deterrent to me.

Getting inspiration on Moving the ministry to the permanent site?

It has been a common saying in churches, For example when a church wants to move from the hotel or tent where they are staying to their own property. I like that phrase a lot because it signals progress, a movement from one stage of life to the other. It is prophetically moving from where you are to where you ought to be.

Are you thinking about going into the ministry?

I cannot say for now. Anything can C M Y K

happen. If God gives me a call, I won’t reject it, because rejecting the call of God is to kill yourself. So, if God tells me now that he wants me to be a pastor, I cannot reject it. If I reject the call of God, where will I run to?

Many people first knew you as a musician, have you abandoned music?

I still do music. I actually have something I’m working on in the studio now. Music will always be a part of me.

Even now, I can’t pick what I love more between music and comedy; I have passion for both. It’s just that God in his infinite mercy has a way of opening

,

BY BENJAMIN NJOKU AND LAJUARENYEKA

W

hen did you have your breakthrough?

My big break came in 2005, even though I started entertainment in1992.

This interview cannot contain all the struggles I went through during that time. But what I will say is that it was not funny at all. When I was going through all my struggles, it never occurred to me that I would one day stand before the crème de la crème of society. It was in 2005, I came into Lagos. I came in to do an album, and when I finished the album, it attracted a lot of attention. A lot of people liked my songs. It was around that time that

I once cracked a joke in Port Harcourt and I was booed out of stage. When you encounter that kind of thing, you go back home and get back to work

doors for people in places that he deems fit. And I have had a lot of open doors in comedy. When you have open doors like that, you get to follow that path for a while and that is what I am doing now.

One thing about comedy is that I can say what I want to say, and reach as many people as possible. But I do not think music is like that. when I do music, it is gospel or natural songs.

What is your take on the comedy industry?

We are still growing. We are not where we should be, we do not have a governing body yet, and I think that is very essential. The industry is becoming more lucrative and challenging. The money is good, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

,

Tell us about your failures?

It is impossible to see a man who is successful that has never failed before. Sometimes, you crack a joke and you expect people to laugh, but it doesn’t turn out that way. For example I’ve cracked a joke about Dana airways before, and the management was very angry with me. I’ve also cracked a joke about our electricity problem, and I did not know that the Minister of Mines and Power was in that meeting. He collected the microphone from my hand. It was an open embarrassment. I once cracked a joke in Port Harcourt and I was booed out of stage. When you encounter that kind of thing, you go back home and get back to work. Such things don’t really happen as much as they used to because I’m a bit older in the game now. When you mature in some things, you know what to avoid.

What about Gordon’s comedy clinic?

I still do Gordon’s comedy clinic. I did one in Asaba recently. From Asaba, we’ll move on to Port Harcout, Uyo and Calabar. It is about entertaining the unentertained. It seems like everybody is looking up to Lagos for entertainment, but it is the same people that are entertaining people everywhere.

We don’t hear much about your family life I have been married for eleven years and I have four children. I got married on the 23rd of March, 2002. My family is not in the public eye because I have to separate them from my job. Whenever you’re doing something good, women will always follow you. But your ability to say “This thing seems good, but something bad might come out of it.”

Saying no to women has become an everyday thing. For people like us, we prepared before we came. We prepared against what we were going to face, we were not surprised, because we had handled them spiritually, so to handle such things physically was not a problem at all.

W

here do you get your inspiration?

I read a lot. I would hardly go through any airport without buying a book. I read to broaden my horizons. I watch other comedians too, especially foreign ones such as Steve Harvey and Chris Rock. I also pray because God is the giver of inspiration.

What are things people don’t know about you?

A lot of people don’t know that I’m married and some people don’t believe that I have travelled abroad.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 29

Terry G denies fighting with AY.com

BY OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI

C

ontrary to rumours making the rounds that Terry G and AY.com recently had a fight during Terry ’s birthday party where blows were exchanged; several bottles broken and people injured while trying to separate the fight , Terry G has refuted the rumour, saying that such incident never happened.

Terry made the clarification while speaking with WG on the matter. According to Terry G, “although there was indeed a birthday party at my house, nothing like that ever happened.”

According to him, AY.Com was not at his party. He stressed the story was the handiwork of his detractors and jobless bloggers.

“AY didn’t come to my birthday party and he doesn’t even know where I live.

Terry G

Please disregard the story because it’s the work of my enemies and bloggers who want to feast on innocent people like me.”

Earlier in the week, the internet was awash with gist that AY.Com who went to celebrate with Terry G on his recently celebrated birthday, landed in hot water when Terry G suddenly pounced on him. According to the story, because of the age-long battle between the two on copyright issue, where AY.Com accused Terry G of stealing his song, upon sighting AY.Com at his residence, the Ginger Master decided to take his pound of flesh by throwing caution to the wind on his birthday. And as a man to the core, AY also put up a tough front but the ‘fire’ was quenched by friends who immediately dragged AY out of Terry’s compound.

Prince Orji drops “Divine Touch”

By Olayinka Ajayi

T

he ever green gospel artiste, Prince Obina Orji has released a new album titled, “Divine Touch.” The 9-track album is an anointing laced songs that will inspire Christians to stay committed to their faith in Jesus.

In a chat with WG during the week, the soloist said, “my main purpose of releasing this album is to lift the souls of those distracted by worldly things, and get them inspired by listening to mind blowing spiritual songs that will keep them in faith.”

He however, admonished emerging artistes to remain focused as Nigerian gospel music is currently making waves abroad. Some of the tracks contained in the album include, Olu Oma, Umuchineke, Nime Jesus, Jehovah Jireh, Chimekela among others.

Wizkid returns to EME A

fter a renegotiation of contracts, pop star Ayo ‘ Wizkid ‘ Balogun and Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) are back in business.

Wizkid has been seen with label mates, Shaydee and DJ Xclusive in Benin Republic where they all performed at a show early last month and then, Banky W had been called on stage by Wizkid at a recently held Five Star Music Festival put together by another pop singer KCEE WG gathered that Wizkid will go on with his Star Boy label as he has announced the signing of two different production units – UK based Nigerian Maleek Berry and Lagos based duo Legendary Beatz.

Banky & Wizkid

Str8 Up Hip-hop honours Sasha P, Weird MC

BY OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI

Weird MC

T

he just concluded April edition of Str8 Up Hip-hop was not only a gathering of female Hip-hop acts and their fans, but also a convergence of their male counterparts who came out to support the hardworking female musicians.

The event which was hosted by the amazing Toni Payne was exciting from start to finish as the attendees were treated to a sumptuous and unadulterated hip-hop meal consisting of B-Girl showcase, graffiti, freestyle sessions and battle emcee sessions won by the defending champion, Yung Soss.

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Sasha p Outstanding performances

by Butafly, Splash, Thelma and Kiss, captivating spoken word by Dolapo, impressive DJing by DJ Lambogini and DJ OZ all contributed to the unforgettable Ladies First experience. The large

turnout no doubt indicated that women in the Hip-hop scene are truly appreciated and loved by the men counterparts.

Str8 Up Hip-hop honoured veteran rappers, Sasha P and Weird MC for their selfless

contributions to the growth of hip-hop in Nigeria. It is safe to say that the veterans earned more respect by their unmatched performances at the event. Sasha P performed some of her classic songs including her timeless hit ‘Adara’ while Weird MC gave an electrifying performance of her smashing hit song remix “Ijo Ya’ amongst other classic tunes, In her appreciation speech, Weird MC said, “When I started out, we were very few female artists compared to what we have now. The effort of upcoming female artistes in Nigeria is commendable and I encourage them to keep pressing forward in their

pursuits even with more determination and resilience.”

Also, the first ever Nigerian female DJ, Late DJ Lokshai was honoured in recognition of her status as a bonafide hip-hop pioneer. A financial donation was presented to her daughter, Jadesola. A very touching documentary which was put together by Buckwyld Media Production chronicled the exploits of the late DJ and her unwavering determination to put female DJs in the limelight.

Celebrities who were present to celebrate the Hip-hop ladies included 2face Idibia, Eva Alordiah, Cynthia Morgan, Mr Raw, M-Thrill, DJ Humility among others.

30—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Nigerian women have cause to celeberate — Folorunsho Alakija

L

AST Saturday, the Banquet Hall of the Eko Hotel& Suites was filled to capacity as the first lady joined other prominent women to celeberate 100 years of Nigerian women.The event which was largely sponspred by Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija’s Famafa Oil had the who is who in Nigeria present.

AMAA: What

celebrities wore

to the event

By YEMISI SULEIMAN

A

frica’s biggest movie night brought out some of the brightest stars and fashion. The event was the 9th edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA 2013) held at the Glory Hall Cultural Centre Yenagoa Bayelsa State. It was an evening that celebrated the brightest talents in Africa and the Diaspora.

High points of the event was the Lifetime Achievement Awards segment, given to Nollywood’s veterans; Tunde Kelani, Chief Eddi Ugbomah, Sir Ositadinma Okeke Oguno (Ossy Affason), Ayuko Badu and Chief Pete Edochie, for their role in the growth of the movie industry. Also, Special Recognition of Pillars of Nollywood went to Emem Isong, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Kenneth Okonkwo and Film/Video Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN). While the Special Jury Award went to Ninah’s Dairy (Cameroon).

The event was punctuated with musical performances by the likes of Waje, Timi Dakolo, South African dance troupe, the Bayelsa State cultural troupe and Mr. Flavor. See some of the stylish women and men that graced the evening, and the dresses they wore.

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Below is the speech by Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija Congratulations for a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate 100 years of our nation’s existence!

Congratulations to our womenfolk who are here today to celebrate Nigerian Women.

As a woman, I feel deeply privileged to have the opportunity to be a part of it all. As sponsors, our company FAMFA Oil Ltd, is highly honoured to be able to lend its support to this 2-day National Conference and Special Dinner. Through the leadership of our Chairman, Mr. Modupe Alakija, I and our four Executive Directors, we decided to seize this rare opportunity to identify with our nation and most especially, the celebration of our womenfolk.

It is pertinent for us to congratulate our President, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for his vision and wisdom in recognizing the need for Nigerians to celebrate this special milestone in our history.

One hundred years of our existence is an ideal point in time to look back and reflect on how we are doing.

Some may say why are we celebrating and what is there to celebrate? But, I tell you it is only those who celebrate the Lord, our Creator, for what He has done in the past that can be blessed with more. Our country is a land of many opportunities and one flowing with milk and honey.

Nigeria cannot be where it is today or where it will get to in another 100 years without US: the WOMEN! My fellow women, am I right or wrong? Let’s face facts, it is said that ‘it takes two to tango’ so, we ask for the support of our men. We seek their support to accomplish much more in the next one hundred years.

Over these past years, our women have achieved landmark successes which I ask that you allow me to take you through some for just a few minutes: •The first female PHD holder in Nigeria, Professor Grace Alele Williams, emerged 50 years ago in 1963 and went on to become the first woman to head a University in Nigeria. She became the first female Vice Chancellor in the University of Benin) •It was yet a woman, Chief (Mrs.) Stella Okoli who set up one of our nation’s largest indigenous pharmaceutical industries.

•In sports and in every decade, our womenfolk made their mark and even earned Nigeria its very first Olympic gold medal in 1999. Our female football team won the African Championship more times than any other African team and continue to out-perform all the other male national teams put together.

•In the field of Information Technology, Mrs. Florence Seriki of Omatek Computers Limited, pioneered a computer assembly plant.

•Today a woman, Justice Mariam Aloma Muhktar heads the judiciary as Chief Justice of Nigeria for the first time.

•Our first female Rear Admiral, Itunu Hotonu, an Engineer who was rejected by the Army but celebrated by the Navy has emerged not just in Nigeria but Africa as a whole.

•The late Dr. (Mrs.) Maryam Babangida in 1987 instituted, through her husband’s support, the Better Life Programme for Rural Women. Many locally made goods by these rural women found their way into export afterwards. It was also through her initiative that the Office of the First Lady was constituted and wives of Governors initiated and developed pet projects for the increased development and productivity of the Nigerian woman.

•Also, our current First Lady, Dr. (Mrs.) Patience Goodluck Jonathan, has, through the support of her husband, achieved a feat never to be forgotten in the history of Nigeria through the 35% affirmative action for women. Her Women for Change Initiative thereby enabled women take their place in key positions of Government.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

— 31

32 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

With PRINCE OSUAGWU princeosuagwu@gmail.com 08050498513

e d i u g n l a e t e n w e t e b Par e v o l g s n t i e c g n d a l a g Ba e l i b o m d n kids a F

ellow parents, please re mind me if there is anywhere in the world where the love for your gadgets outweighs that you have on your wards. Yet, it doesn’t take from the fact that our devices particularly the mobile phones have become so intimate and more or less a confidant. We feel safer now to have impor-

tant and confidential information about us on the mobile phones now than any other place and I doubt if anyone would want such information mistakenly deleted.

However, that is what happens when the kids have unlimited access to your mobile phones. The dilemma however is that you can’t totally keep your wards away from your gadgets in this information age, else you make them tim-

Baby playing with iPhone

Be warned!

Your phone can give you away

N

orton, the AntiVirus arm of internet security giants, Symantec has just released a new report based on the study it conducted on mobile users in the Middle East and Africa, revealing that almost two out of five online adults in the regions suffer mobile cybercrime The report said that consumers in these regions rely on their mobiles to surf the net and carry out activities ranging from downloading apps, shop-

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ping, to making payments.

Norton however claimed to find out that nearly nine out of ten online adults or approximately 87 percent adults in the Middle East and Africa are mobile device users, of which, 78 percent are using them to access the Internet.

Looking at it from all ramifications, the report is stating the obvious. In this constantly connected world, people are relying more and more on

Baby using iPad id and pay for it later in life.

So, the wisest thing is to balance the love. Check the influence of your gadgets on your wards and control how your kids access your mobiles.

If you have an iPhone, it’s a lot easier to do this.

There’s a feature in the new iOS 6 software update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch which can temporarily lock down an app, freezing all the hardware buttons including the Home button. The software lets you draw zones on the screen that won’t react to taps or swipes.

It is known as the Guided Access. The feature works on any iPhone or iPad that has

been updated to iOS 6. Once updated, the user can turn it on from the Settings menu.

their mobile phones and tablets to navigate, share, socialize and shop.

But the worrying aspect of the report is the realisation, according to Norton’s Kara Rawden, that this lot go on without either caution or precaution, thereby exposing many to danger. Rawden noted that “ what many consumers may not realise is exactly how much of their personal and private information is up for grabs should these devices be compromised, lost or stolen”.

Considering the sensitive nature of data that is accessible from personal mobile devices, Norton advised that consumers need to take some basic, yet easy, precautions to protect their data it from falling into the wrong hands.

Downlaod apps from secure sources only As people expand their online lives through mobile devices, many are not taking steps to secure their device and the content it contains.

Nearly one in four mobile device users in the Middle East and Africa admit to not always downloading applications from trustworthy sources while close to three in ten indicated that they do not use secure payment methods

when making purchases from their mobile device, leaving their sensitive information such as credit card details vulnerable.

This is dangerous and to forestall the implications mobile users must ensure that applications are downloaded from sources they can trust.

Password your personal data More than one-quarter of adult respondents, admitted to not using a password to help protect their personal data. In the event of theft or loss, a treasure trove of personal information stored on the device can potentially be accessed including personal emails, a possible gateway to other sensitive information such as work correspondence and documents, passwords for other online accounts and bank statements.

It is always advisable to take precautionary measures, including always pass- wording your data.

Here’s how to baby proof your phone using the Guided Access *On your iPhone or iPad home screen, tap Settings, General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap Accessibility. *Scroll down from this page again to the Learning section, tap Guided Access and then switch it on. *Now, open the app that you want to babyproof and click three times on the Home key.

Immediately, the app will freeze and a frame of Guided

Access controls should appear.

Here, draw a circle anywhere on the screen to disable taps or swipes in a specific area.

Once you’ve drawn your circles, you can drag or resize them with your fingertips. * At the bottom of the screen, you can switch off touch and motion input altogether, or tap the Options button on the iPhone to reveal those settings.

After all these, tap the blue Start button in the top-right corner of the screen and your wards can never get access to your secured applications. then let your tyke loose.

Meanwhile, you can turn off Guided Access mode by tripleclicking the Home key again.

Install mobile security

Incidentally, many consumers know how important it is to protect their computer from the wide range of threats they can encounter when online and off, yet forget that same provisions also need to be taken to secure Internet-connected mobile devices that are just as vulnerable to cybercriminals.

By installing mobile security software which protects against malicious online threats and enables you to lock, locate and wipe your device remotely, you can secure your personal life from potential intruders.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 33

What every Nigerian must know about Guinea worm

•As ofMay 1, 2013, the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis had certified 192 countries and territories, free of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm) transmission.

Nigeria, a former Guinea worm endemic country is next in line for certification

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

G

UINEA worm disease, also known as dracunculiasis, is a parasitic infection caused by the nematode roundworm parasite Dracunculus medenisis.

Guinea worm disease is contracted when people ingest drinking water from stagnant sources containing copepods (commonly referred to as water fleas) that harbor infective Guinea worm larvae.

LUTH graduates 316

T

HE Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH has graduated 316 medical students from eight schools. The schools are school of nursing, Midwifery, medical laboratory sciences, health information management, medical and psychiatry social work, postbasic nursing, community health officers’ training programme and basic dental nursing.

Presenting the graduands during the 2012 Joint Graduation ceremony of the Hospital’s Schools and Training Programme, the Chief Medical Director, Professor Akin Osibogun said they have been equipped with skills and professional knowledge to enable them deliver quality professional services.

Guest of Honour, Professor B. Akande noted that the new system of care is gradually emphasizing on prevention and outpatient care as opposed to hospitalization, adding that all levels of care will eventually lead to community based nursing.

Nigeria is on the verge of attaining recognition as a World Health Organisation, WHO, certified guinea worm-free country.

Over the last couple of decades, the Nigeria Guineaworm Eradication Programme, NIGEP, has been pushing eradication efforts to the extent that over the last 52 weeks, no verifiable case of the disease has been reported.

Following a series of effective health education, water purification and carrier control programmes, no recurrence of the disease has been recorded since the last reported guinea worm case in November 2008.

In 1988, there were 21 guinea worm endemic countries. To date just three countries are guinea worm endemic in the entire world. They are Ethiopia (least endemic), Mali and South Sudan (most endemic).

Thirteen countries have completely stopped transmission.

They include Benin Republic 2004, Burkina Faso - 2006; Chad - 1998 (isolated outbreak 2010/ 2011); Cote d'lvoire - 2006 and Ghana - 2010.

Others are Kenya - 1994;

Mauritania - 2004; Niger 2008; Nigeria - 2008; Sudan - 2002; Togo - 2006 and Uganda 2003.

Countries already certified by WHO as guinea worm free nations are Cameroon - 2007; Central African Republic 2007; India - 2000; Pakistan 1996; Senegal - 2004 and Yemen - 2004.

In June, the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication is visiting Nigeria to assess the surveillance and reporting efforts, as well as verify and confirm the claim of the absence of indigenous dracunculiasis transmission, prior to certification.

As of 1 May 2013, the Commission had certified 192 countries and territories, including 180 WHO Member States, as free of dracunculiasis transmission. Depending on the outcome of the assessment, the commission recommends to WHO which formerly endemic countries should be declared free of transmission, i.e., certified as free of the disease.

Pfizer, FMOH, WHO confront hypertension

T

HE prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria and its impact on the workforce segment came to the fore recently when Pfizer Nigeria partnered the Federal Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, WHO, and other stakeholders to raise awareness against the menace on this year’s World Health Day with the theme “Hypertension”.

While the FMOH leveraged on the day with activities to raise awareness on hypertension and to encourage citizens and other stakeholders to prevent and control the modern epidemic, the WHO emphasised on regular blood pressure screenings to detect and treat the emergency Emphasising Pfizer’s commitment to the campaign against hypertension, Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Pfizer Nigeria and East Africa region, NEAR Mrs. Margaret Olele, said the company remains committed in reducing the prevalence and is cur-

rently doing so through its Cardiovascular, CV, portfolio and cardiovascular screenings of thousands of people over the past five years.

“More importantly, Pfizer partners with medical stakeholders through our cardiovascular summits. The summit is an educational platform for healthcare practitioners to engage in a robust discussion on latest trends in cardiovascular diseases and its management.

“It is part of Pfizer’s contribution to the advancement of medical knowledge and patient care in Nigeria and the East Africa Region by keeping healthcare professionals aware of the new trends in medicine.

Earlier in the year, a cardiovascular Summit Scientific Advisory board meeting was held with the purpose of overseeing the plan for the cardiovascular Summit coming up later in the year in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

NAFDAC refutes alleged attack on DG

T

HE National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has denied media reports alleging that its Director General, Dr. Paul Orhii was mobbed by irate youths in Makurdi over location of dump site for destruction of seized fake and substandard drugs.

A statement by the Acting Director Special Duties, Abubakar Jimoh, asserted that Orhii, who is being tipped to succeed Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, was never attacked as alleged. He described the report as “a figment of imagination of the reporter” and “a fabrication which never happened” in the first place.

In the statement, Jimoh said: “The attention of NAFDAC has been drawn to a politically motivated story that the NAFDAC DG was attacked in Benue State over protests on the destruction of counterfeit drugs in their area.

NAFDAC categorically refutes the story of the attack and the smashing of cars as tissues of lies and figment of the reporter’s imagination.

“The false report could have been a politically premeditated by disgruntled elements to attack Dr Orhii who is being pressurized to run for the Benue State Gubernatorial seat in 2015.

“NAFDAC is deeply shocked that its harmless efforts to rid the country of counterfeit drugs through routine seizure and destruction of spurious medicines have been hijacked by unscrupulous elements to settle cheap political plans.

“The Agency will not treat the false report with kid gloves as the appropriate law enforcement agency is being approached to investigate the motive behind the development,” Jimoh argued.

“Our assertion is predicated on the fact that the DG and the members of the newly inaugurated NAFDAC Governing Board and other top management staff who were headed to the destruction site had a tip off of the protesting youths and never got to the destruction site not to talk of being attacked,” he remarked.

34—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

New visa policy will boost Nigeria tourism—Robaix He has kept faith with his childhood dreams of being an hotelier, today, Mr Richard ROBAIX, is the General Manager of the First Ibis Hotel in Nigeria, Ibis Lagos Airport.

Robaix has over 30years experience in the hospitality industry working in different parts of the world. He has spent seven of those years here in Nigeria working for major hotels.

In this interview with JIMOH BABATUNDE, he talks about the hospitality industry, the tourism industry and concluding that the new visa policy will boost the country’s tourism.

Here is an excerpt .

W

hy he came into hospitality sector From my childhood I have always happy to serve and please people, and happy to work in the hospitality industry. I would have gone to the tourism industry or hospitality industry like hotel or restaurant and finally I ended up in hotel which could afford me to realize my dreams of serving people and travel around.

I have wide experience travelling around as I worked for international branded hotels , I worked in Europe, Africa, Middle East and South America as well as working on Cruise ships in far East , Caribbean , Northern Europe , middle East . I travelled a lot On training he had When I finished my Baccalaureate , I joined an hotel school in Switzerland where I got my diploma after two and half years and later Centre International de Glion Diploma (MBA), Hospitality Administration/Management .

On his experience in the sector Great. I always say that if I have to choose again, I will choose the same job. I love my job, I like it, I am passionate about it .

You meet different people, you meet different customers , you deal with different staff, you need to train the staff . what I love in the sector is that you can use your abilities to train people about different brands.

Each brand is different, but I don•ft believe in the fact that to smile you must belong to a five star or two star. Any star you need to smile, you need to

welcome customers.

On the hospitality sector in Nigeria There are lots of potentials in the hospitality and tourism sector in Nigeria , lots of hotels just opened recently and more will open soon, but there are also much more potentials as many airlines are coming into Nigeria.

These airlines will bring in new customers. I heard that the country is entering new era in terms of visa, as visitor can apply online for Nigeria visa and the visa will be delivered at the airport to you.

This will be very good for tourism and it will encourage the tourism industry as well as hospitality sector in Nigeria.

On tourist destinations in the country I will say that I travelled more when I was here between 1992 and 1994 than now.

Tourist attractions I have been to tourist attractions in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Badagry , but unfortunately, I have not been to Obudu Cattle Ranch, Tinapa in Cross Rivers as well Yankari Games park which I learnt are nice destinations.

I am in the process of visiting these tourist destinations soon.

On if the hotel is business or leisure We are more business oriented hotel than leisure, despite we having beautiful swimming pool in a quiet environment and other leisure facilities. The hotel provides a restaurant that is open 24hrs a day , we have a bar that is

•Robaix opened 24 hours.

We have all the features a business traveller needs and to crown it, we are in a convenient location as the hotel is located 5 minutes away from the International Airport. All the rooms and Public areas are equipped with WIFI internet access. The buffet breakfast is served daily in our restaurant. Our restaurant will serve exquisite international and local cuisine delicacies.

On the patronage of the hotel in the last two years We have enjoyed good patronage, first we have to be known, because Ibis Airport in Nigeria is the first of its kind.

We are Ibis in Nigeria, but we are as any Ibis Hotel anywhere in the world. Ibis has 1600 hotels worldwide and we are proud to say that customers are not disappointed in coming to us. We have a name and

Tsogo in 00 million in Mozambique, Nigeria invvests US$1 US$100

T

SOGO Sun Group has revealed that US$100 million will be injected into two hotel projects in Mozambique and Nigeria as part of its growth strategy.

The group CEO, Marcel von Aulock, said the project in Nigeria involves the acquisition of an approximate 75% stake in Ikoyi Hotels Limited, the holding company of the Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel in Lagos.

He explained that the group investment, including loan funding, will be approximately US$70 million.

The acquisition is subject to several conditions precedent including

regulatory approvals. Shareholders will be notified once these have been fulfilled and the Acquisition becomes effective.

Von Aulock added This acquisition will cement our presence within the fast growing and progressive Nigerian economy as well as provide a base from which to expand our operations in Nigeria.

While noting that the investments totaling US$100 million for both projects in Africa will be funded through a combination of existing offshore cash and new US$?based borrowing facilities, he said the group will spend US$30 million to expand

its hotel in Mozambique, the Southern Sun Maputo.

The investment in Mozambique will involve a complete refurbishment of the existing 158 room hotel, including the bedrooms and public areas as well as an expansion of the restaurant, the addition of 110 new hotel rooms as well as new conferencing facilities.

The Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel is centrally located with convenient access to prime business nodes in Lagos and comprises 195 guest rooms and suites, a restaurant, business centre as well as meeting room facilities. The hotel also has additional land available for future expansion.

well known for that, so when guests come to us at Ibis, we offer friendliness and value for money.

On the challenges running the hotel The greatest challenge was training of the staff in the sense that we needed to employ green horns as staff as most of them are new in the industry, those who are not new they needed to adapt to the Ibis product. At Ibis we are multi computer, multi task as a receptionist can work in the restaurant, a restaurant staff can go to the house keeping to make up rooms. We are proud to say that our staff are well trained, very well adapted and multi task, which is good advantage compared to other hotels.

Our style is very simple, but here simplicity does not mean mediocrity. Simplicity also means to be efficient. So, training of the staff and the turnover of the staff has been a major challenge. To keep our staff has been a challenge.

On the products We are rated three stars, we have rooms with some facilities, we provide what will make our customers and guests comfortable.

We are in the process of changing our beds now. Ibis worldwide has decided to change all the hotels•f bed to what is called sweet beds by Ibis, which is a comfortable bed by the end of June. We have started the process here as 50% of our rooms have been changed and we will meet up before June ending for the entire change. Like, I said the product is all the time moving up.

Vanguard Vanguard,,

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

— 35

YOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 GEMINI; Good luck will knock at your door. Although it is good to plan ahead, you have to take advantage of now that presented good opportunities.

CANCER; Keeping both your personal and other people secrets will do you lots of good today. Then tomorrow is your big day; prepare yourself accordingly.

LEO; Here is a day when your closeness to the influential people can be source of assistance to both yourself in particular and your group in general. And then your love life is getting better. Exhibit maturity.

VIRGO; Take your health more seriously than before.

However that is not to say you have to ignore your responsibilities at work. Respect your senior colleagues.

LIBRA; The influence looks more favourable to you now. You will certainly become more enterprising to the betterment of your cause. Right now nobody can ignore you.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

A

great thinker once wrote that words are the forerunner of our action. People first hear us talk before they see us act our talk. It is what we say that first captures their attention and ensure that they give us au-

Talking to people dience.

You may be a great actor but if you are not able to market your skill you will have a scanty audience. And if you are a leader, if you can’t communicate your

intention, chances are that you will have a very low followership. This is where ability to speak and communicate appropriately comes in. It is not enough to know it,

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye”

the question is can you convince people that you know it?

Talking to people is a skill everyone of us should develop. The leader, the marketer, the politician, the manager etc. we all need the skill.

Think about it!

By Lanre Kehinde

SCORPIO; Those of you who are more observant within your base of operation will have more to gain.

Prepare to take good advice from the veterans within your base.

SAGITTARIUS; Although your personal ideas are very reliable and capable of bringing success, you will need to be as co-operative as possible to achieve your desire.

CAPRICORN; It is important you take your sources of making money very seriously. Both hard work and element of luck will work favourably for you.

AQUARIUS; Influence of the Moon will encourage you to become a little bit aggressive; here is a day when your leadership ability will assist many.

PISCES; The Moon placement can force agitation on the minds of some of you but if keep your head above the cloudy atmosphere you will not have anything to fear.

ARIES; Young-at-heart Librans may be greatly excited today and for the next few weeks; if you take good decision on your love life you will enjoy it.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

TAURUS; Here is an ambitious day for many of you.

The more practical you are about your reasonable desire the better for your cause. Be more family minded.

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

Good health for me?

Dear Joshua, I have never gone through any major sickness since I was born but it is always good to know, especially as people are saying that those that do not fall-sick often can die the very first time such happen. Can they be right? Please tell me about my financial prospects.

Jumai Sokoto.

Dear Jumai, They are wrong. And you have no cause to fear. Actually my findings here pointed to your hard beginning-health wise. If you ask your parents they would tell you much than you think you know about yourself YOUR HEALTH Leo and Scorpio that hosted your natal Sun and Moon are members of few strongest Star signs available (when talking of health/life and death). Thus you are well endowed.

Although as both the Sun and Moon were at loggerheads when you were born you must have gone through some tough times health-wise, especially when you were younger, very great ability of Scorpio to survive and good aspects the planets enjoyed during your birth hour are indications of good health for you. And as your age advances so also your health will continue to improve.

Then concentration of many heavenly bodies in health related Virgo is another pointers to good health. However that is not to say you will go through adulthood life without any health related challenges but when they come you have what it takes to survive and be back on the road to sound health.

What to watch out for include TOOTHACHE, the chest/ back, stomach and at very advanced age may come circulatory system related challenge. Being a female Scorpio born person always pay good attention to gynaecological related ailments and fever is common in this part of the world.

But then all ailments mentioned here are mere warnings (although to be taken seriously) nothing fatalistic please!!!!

YOUR FINANCE Although you can be generous, kind and loving you are not the extravagant type. Thus you are reliable and can make success of your family purse. You are practical analyst with respect for your family dignity, therefore putting aside money for raining days comes natural to you Occasionally you think that money don’t come as faster as desired by you but it comes eventually after a few lesson. Luckily for you Libra that hosted your natal planet of desire (Mars) is money and partnership/marrige related.

Thus money will find it way into your life either personally or via joint efforts between you and your husband

VIRGINIA

Commen3

dadadekola@yahoo.com

by Lawrence Akapa

36—Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

‘DPP's suspension of Ewherido, others a ruse'

Uduaghan absorbs 1,072 casual workers

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA & FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—THE leader ship of Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, in Delta Central Senatorial District, yesterday, described the purported suspension of Senator Pius Ewherido, acting National Chairman of the

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

G

O V E R N O R E m m a n u e l Uduaghan of Delta State has announced the absorption of 1,072 casual workers into the state workforce in fulfillment of his promise made to workers at last May Day rally, which has been hailed as a special May Day gift.

The absorption of the casual workers came few hours to this year’s May Day celebration, which was announced by the Director of Information, Mr. Paul Osahor.

He said: “The regularisation of appointments is in fulfillment of the governor’s earlier promise to workers and this has put an end to the issue of casualisation in Delta State public service.

“With this gesture, workers in the state are advised to be more dedicated to duty, productive and innovative.”

party, Chief Olisaemeka Akamukali and others, from the party as a ruse and complete sham.

It will be recalled that after its emergency meeting in Asaba, Wednesday, the state chapter of DPP announced the suspension of Ewherido, Akamukali and other top party members for alleged anti-party activities.

In a statement by its Chairman, Chief Tony Ezeagwu and

two others, the suspended members were accused of holding what they described as “kangaroo” national convention of the party in Abuja, Monday, in a bid to cement alliance with All Progressives Congress, APC. However, Ewheriodo, in a telephone interview, said: “The suspension is a huge joke. It is a torn party. There are factions.

We agreed to join APC but some of them started to renege.

No militant camp 'll be allowed in N/Delta— JTF

BY EMMA ARUBI

W

A R R I — M I L I TA N T camps will not be allowed again anywhere in the Niger Delta region, just as the leadership of any community, where illegal bunkering is being carried out, will suffer the full wrath of the military.

Commander, 4 Brigade Headquarters, Benin City, Edo State, Brig. Gen. Pat Akem, made these disclosure, yesterday, at the 3 Battalion Barracks, Effurun, Delta State, during the launching of 12 Toyota Hilux patrol vans, donated by Delta State Government to assist the army in combating kidnappings, robberies and other crimes in the state.

He said that the deployment of the Quick Response Group,

FUPRE MoU splits Delta community

T

HE Unuevworo of Ugbomro community in Delta State, Chief Ambrose Olughor, has insisted that the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, FUPRE, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with its immediate host, Ugbomro community, and not the entire Uvwie Kingdom.

Olughor, who spoke at his palace in Ugbomro, said that Federal Government sited FUPRE in Ugbomro because the community

voluntarily gave almost all their farmlands for the establishment of the university.

The monarch said: “FUPRE is located in Ugbomro. The university will sign an MoU with Ugbomro.

“The people of Ugbomro shall resist any plot by the traditional institution of Uvwie kingdom to lure the management of FUPRE to sign MoU with the entire Uvwie Kingdom.”

to flash points in parts of the state was part of the resolution taken at a security meeting with the state governor.

He appealed to Deltans and persons of goodwill to volunteer credible information that will lead to the arrest of criminals in their neighbourhood to make the state peaceful for resi-

dents, businesses and investors alike.

He said: “Security is every bodies’ business. We expect the host communities to co-operate with the soldiers by divulging credible intelligence to us, so that we can tackle cases before they degenerate into security problem for all of us.”

Labour faults Dickson on workers' sack

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA ENAGOA—LABOUR leaders in Bayelsa State have faulted the state government's dismissal, demotion and suspension of teachers, describing the action as arbitrary.

Bayelsa chapters of Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, said though the administration had put in place a functional educational system in the state, the wrongful dismissal, demotion and suspension of teachers by the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, should be stopped.

Chairperson of the state NLC, Mrs. Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, in Yenagoa during the May Day celebration, described SUBEB’s action as arbitrary, warning that same could impede the functional education system in the state.

Y

Koko-Obiyai lamented the massive and gross under-development of the state Niger Delta University, Amassoma, with no capital project being embarked upon by government.

ANEEJ seeks workers' partnership

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—EXECUTIVE Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, has called on Nigerian workers to collaborate with civil society groups with a view to accessing what Nigerian political parties were doing as the country moves forward democratically.

Ugolor, in Benin as part of

activities to mark this year’s workers day, noted that Nigerian workers must not wait until they were paid their salaries.

He said they should be able to know where there are threats to democracy and the rule of law in the country.

He said: “It is our business to know what happens in any of these political parties because if the political parties are not healthy and are not ruled properly, it is a threat to the country's democracy."

By Bartholomew Madukwe

PEOPLE SPEAK

08102479985

“So why are they fuming that we have gone to APC? Those of us who want to join APC have joined them.”

Addressing newsmen, yesterday, Vice Chairmen of the party in the state, Chief Henry Olori, described those behind the suspension as those opposed to the merger with other opposition parties under APC. Olori said: “Let us make it clear that from the onset, the purported suspension is a nullity as events had already overtaken the actions of these inconsequential elements within our great party.

“In March, the National Executive Committee of the party met in Abuja and took a decision to join the merger.”

He said series of meetings were held with leaders of APC, which culminated in the special convention of the party held on April 30 in Abuja.

Olori added: “DPP has never won a councillorship position in Delta State until Senator Ewherido joined the party in 2010.

“At the end of the 2011 polls, DPP had a Senator, two House of Representatives members, nine state House of Assembly members and there was no limit as regards the prospect of DPP taking over Delta State.”

(nwamad@yahoo.com)

What's your take on rotational presidency?(6)

I

T is not in our constitution and same will not favour our politics. I believe that eligible candidates should come out and contest for elective posts. The people can then cast their votes. That is what democracy is all about.— Mr. Olayeye Olusegun, Teacher.

R

O TAT I O N A L presidency is not worth the trouble in Nigeria. Among whom will it be rotated?

What the parties are doing with democracy today is still what we are going to have if we rotate the office of the president.— Miss Ijebor Mary, Trader.

I

think it should be rotated because Nigeria has various tribes and ethnic groups.

If you take a look at the Niger Delta, you will see that they are the minority group. But thank God, today the President is from there.— Mr. Kazeem Ogunyinka, Teacher.

I

will support rotational presidency because the office should not be for the majority ethnic groups alone.

Let the minority also be given a chance. I believe that it is not just the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa that should become president in this country.— Miss Diji Bukola, Student.

I

am not in support of rotational presidency because it will not produce the best person to rule this country.

Someone may be brought in from a zone and that person may not possess what it takes to rule a country such as ours.— Mr. Adeshina Adegoke, Teacher.

R

OTATION of that office will give us the chance to know the mindset of the various zones. I think it is right for us to understand what we want for this country, then decide how we want it ruled. That is my reason of supporting rotational presidency.— Miss Grace Kpossu, Teacher.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—37

Monarch tasks politicians on community health insurance

BY VICTORIA OJEME

T

HE Otaru of Auchi Kingdom, Edo State, HRH Aliru Momoh, has tasked politicians to invest more in community health care.

Speaking at the launch of Community Based Social Health Insurance Scheme, CBSHIP, in Auchi, Momoh said: “Insurance scheme for health is a primary duty for everybody, especially politicians, and it is a priority for advancing the country. This scheme will prevent cases of communicable diseases, and reduce maternal and child mortality.”

He called on Auchi community to take advantage of the scheme, in order to prevent communicable and non-communicable diseases.

The monarch described the scheme as a symbol of excellence in governance, as it was peopleoriented.

“What the NHIS is doing is laudable. Meeting the health needs of a people is paramount to all. This scheme is commendable,” he added.

Emmanuel Sifo is dead

T

HE Sifo family of Agbasa, Warri, and the Mkpodu family of Ugbuwangwe, Warri, Delta State, have announced the passage of their son, brother, nephew, husband, father, grandfather, greatgrandfather, uncle and cousin, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbu Sifo, at the age of 79.

He passed away in his sleep on April 27, 2013, at the Bristol Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Late Mr. Emmanuel Sifo C M Y K

Youths lock out Auchi Poly Rector, others

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—YOUTHS in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, under the aegis of Auchi Youths for Initiative, AYI, yesterday, locked out staff of Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, for several hours in protest over alleged marginalisation of indigenes of the host community by the management of the institution in employment opportunities.

The youths were demanding that out of the 200 positions available, they should be given 80 slots in the ongoing employment exercise in the polytechnic, noting that the 15 slots allocated to the host community was inadequate.

Reacting to the allegation, the management of the Polytechnic, said no particular number of slots had been allotted to the community, explaining that due process was being followed in the employment exercise.

The youths, who stormed the polytechnic at 6am, locked the Central Administrative Building of the polytechnic, thereby, preventing the Rector and other key

officials of the polytechnic from gaining access to their offices.

Spokesman and secretary of the group, Mr. Mathias Braimah, alleged that the management of the polytechnic had marginalised the host community in the past five years, adding that they

had also been denied contracts in the institution.

But spokesman of the Polytechnic, Mr. Mustapha, said that the youths were either ignorant of the employment procedures or were being used by detractors, who are not happy with the prevailing peace in the Polytechnic.

INAUGURATION: From left: Governors Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State; Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe; Country Representative, UNDP and Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Arch. Dahiru Ishaku, at the recent inauguration of National Council on Niger Delta, in Akwa Ibom State.

Families of fallen heroes to be rewarded

BY EVELYN USMAN

P

LANS have been con cluded to reward families of security agents, who lost their lives in the course of carrying out their constitutional duties. This is with a view to encouraging others, especially now that the country is faced with security challenges to put in their best.

The initiative is being undertaken by Crown Media Limited in collaboration with Soundz and Meknitz Limited, with support from TVE, a subsidiary of Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, Van-

guard Media Limited and The Nation newspapers.

Briefing journalists during the unveiling of the maiden award in Lagos, Managing Director, Crown Media Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Nwabuokwu, explained that aside recognising efforts of the fallen heroes, the award was also to acknowledge security agencies, corporate organisation, state governments and individuals that had shown exceptional commitment to security of lives and property in Nigeria.

He noted that often times, while citizens are busy with their legitimate duties, security operatives, though

trained to fight crime, were out there providing security to the nation by either fighting or chasing criminals at the risks of their lives.

Many of them, he lamented, are killed in the process while others are maimed, without their gallantry given due recognition like their counterparts in other countries. He explained that the objective of the award, tagged ‘Nigerian Security merit Award’ slated for July 17, in Abuja, “ is to inspire bravery and diligence among officers, as this will make them go the extra mile and to put in their best while performing their jobs."

Delta destroys illegal structures to check flood

BY EMMA ARUBI & FESTUS AHON G H E L L I — D E LT A State Government has embarked on the destruction of illegal structures blocking water channels in Warri and Effurun. It also vowed not to spare any illegal structure on water channels in the state.

State Commissioner for Environment, Chief Frank Omare, yesterday, said the decision was part of the state government's effort to guard against serious flooding in the state, with the coming of

U

He said: “This is a federal institution. While we follow procedures, we also acknowledge the fact that federal character exits when carrying out employment. For one to work here, he has to be qualified. we have no particular individual or interest group to satisfy.”

the rainy season.

Noting that the decision was in line with the prediction of Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, that there would be more rainfall this year, he said over eight buildings, including a church and a shopping plaza, had been demolished in the exercise, which commenced on April 21, in Warri and its environs.

Omare said: “Six buildings were, weekend, demolished on the water channel that runs from Igbudu Market

through Lower Erejuwa in Warri, in the ongoing opening up of natural waterways and drainages. No fewer than 40 houses will go down by the time the exercise is concluded across the state.

“One of the six buildings with more than six lock up stalls, at the Spare Parts Market on Lower Erejuwa Road was brought down while the remaining five suffered serious damages.”

He vowed that any building on water channels would be brought down.

Delta to phase out lay men from District Customary Courts

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA—A BILL seeking to outlaw the appointment of laymen as presidents of District Customary Courts in State, is underway and when passed into law, the over 44 laymen, who sit as presidents of the courts in the state will be replaced with qualified legal practitioners.

The Bill, known as Delta State Customary Courts (Amendment Bill 2013), has passed through second reading and sent to the House Committee on Rules, Business, Legal and Judicial Matters, for more legislative input.

The committee was given two weeks to submit its report to the House for further consideration.

The Bill, when passed, will make it mandatory for lawyers to be appointed as president of District Customary Courts, whose position “shall be similar to and not less favourable than, the terms and conditions of service of a Magistrate grade II employed in the service of the state.”

38—Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Govt not anti-labour — Anambra SSG

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

From left: Justice Alpha Belgore, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN); Justice Amina Augie, Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Lagos; Mr. John Cross, guest lecturer/First Vice President of Mirabaud Private Bank, Geneva, and Director in-Charge of Africa, and Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), Managing Partner, Punuka Attorneys and Solicitors, during the 2013 Punuka Annual Lecture with the theme: 'Wealth Management and Succession Planning, Best Practice, Anti-Corruption Compliance and Red Flags,' at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

FCTA suspends appointment of 15 district heads by Abaji Area Council

BY LAIDE AKINBOADE

A

BUJA — THE Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has ordered the suspension of the appointment of 15 district heads by Abaji Area Council over nonapproval from FCTA. Minister of State for FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, in a letter to the Executive Chairman of Abaji Area Council, Yahaya Mohammed, stated that the 15 district heads were created without recourse to approval of FCT Administration.

She, therefore, directed the Abaji Area Council chairman to suspend forthwith the appointment of the district heads until further notice.

The letter read in part: “The FCT Administration has equally recognised ...such appointments within the jurisdiction of area council as enshrined in their bye laws."

“However, in all matters of appointment of district/community heads, the FCT Administration’s approval must be sought before such appointments are made by any area council.

WKA — THE government of Anambra State is not antilabour and would continue to do everything posible to give workers a sense of belonging, Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, has said.

Obaze, who represented Governor Peter Obi at Workers’ Day rally in Awka, described as disconcerting, a situation where some members of organised labour showed clear disregard for courtesy and due process to government leadership.

Women in Oil Initiative debunks scam allegation …fires Abati, seeks apology

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

W

OMEN IN Oil Initiative (WIO), yesterday, debunked allegations from the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, portraying it as scam.

The group has called for an apology, therefore saying the issue of gender inequality was one of the cardinal points of the millennium development goals, MDGs. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Chairman, New Nation and founder, WIO Initiative, Mr. Charles Dukwe, said the initiative was borne out of the President’s call for private sector and Nigerians in Diaspora to complement government policies with innovative solutions as the way forward for the country.

Dukwe described the allegations to be shocking, saying, “I was appalled as I watched you talk about this initiative. Should you have made the least of enquiries, you would have known that we have never presented this initiative as speaking for the

President, but always as a private sector response to his policy.

"Should you have exercised a few minutes due diligence, you would have known that we have brought more public awareness to the 35 per cent affirmative policy than all government efforts combined.”

Mr. Dukwe, who left Nigeria for university education in the United States of America, said: “I brought in so many innovative private sector ideas that can bridge the development divide between our dear country and the United States of America and began to take these ideas to the most important segments of the society for the masses at the grassroots.”

Meanwhile, WIO with a vision to empower women to impact on their immediate societies, curbing prostitution and need for gender equality in Nigeria, has staff strength of about 5,000 and over 40,000 women subscribed to its initiative.

It would be recalled that Abati had said in a statement: “There are probably a thousand of one of such scams

because that is precisely what it is. It is a scam and they may be lessons put there like this particular case, using the President’s name in vain, duping people and claiming that they have the President’s approval.”

Workers protest sack by Abia govt at May Day rally in Enugu ...as Imo indigenes sacked by same govt parade in Owerri

BY TONY EDIKE/CHIDI NKWOPARA

E

NUGU—SOME civil servants disengaged by Abia State government last year for being non-indigenes of the state, Wednesday, took their protest to Enugu State government during the May Day rally with a plea to get them reabsorbed without further delay.

This came on a day scores of individuals who witnessed this year ’s May Day in Owerri, virtually fought back tears as over 100 persons recently sacked by Abia State government took their case to public dormain.

Two of the affected Enugu

NULGE urges Ebonyi govt to revisit minimum wage issue

A

BAKALIKI—EBONYI State chapter of National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, yesterday, urged the state government to revisit the minimum wage issue for the state’s workers.

Chief Leonard Nkah, the state Chairman of the union, made the appeal in Abakaliki while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“The government should

implement the full payment of the wage in the spirit of the Minimum Wage Act and not the technical letter attached to it.

“The government should stop its present implementation mode that only increases the wage of the least paid worker and not other levels of the workforce.

“This would greatly boost the morale of the workers and enhance their productivity,” he

Obaze said: “Labour creates wealth and wealth sustains the nation. We salute and honour all workers in our state, our nation and indeed, worldwide.

“Acceptably, government and labour may not have a perfect relationship, but it is a working and cordial relationship, which underlines the symbiotic relations.

“Nonetheless, there are clear obligations on the part of government and on the part of labour. Both sides must do their parts, thus ensuring cooperation and sustaining the bond of performance between them. This government is not anti-labour. ”Addressing the multidimensional challenges we face requires a studied and evolving process, for the responses to be concrete and sustainable.

“Accordingly, the Anambra State government is paying the prescribed minimum wage and has made N70 million available for the recapitalisation of the workers."

said.

According to him, the government should also address the issue of council workers whose Consolidated Health Salary Structure, CONHESS, wages were recently stopped.

“It is our belief that anybody working in health institutions and related departments in the councils, should enjoy CONHESS on the basis of the work they do and the certificates they possess.

indigenes dressed in black attire participated in the march past in a dramatic style at Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, and were cheered by hundreds of participants who expressed sympathy with them for losing their jobs in the states they had resided for many years.

NYCN expresses concern over polls

T

HE CONTROVERSIES surrounding the election of new national officers to oversee activities of the National Youth Council of Nigeria may be far from over if information at our disposal is anything to go by.

An official of the Lagos State Ministry of Works who is believed to be working for a stalwart of PDP in South-West and is bent on installing a particular candidate loyal to the party at the forth-coming congress disclosed this to Vanguard.

Concerned youths and stakeholders said the glitch in holding their congress and the politicking were unnecessary and against the wishes of millions of youths.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—39

BRIEFING—From left: Dr. Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Public Health; Dr. Jide Idris, Commissioner for Health; Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, Commissioner for Information and Strategy; and Mrs. Ronke Osho, Director Press and Public Relations, during the 2013 annual ministerial briefing by the Lagos State Ministry of Health, at the Press Centre Alausa, Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos.

Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

COMMISSIONING—Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola; Registrar, Mrs Modupe Ajayi with pupils and teachers of FUTA staff school at the commissioning of a brand new bus purchased for the use of the staff school by the University.

ENDOWMENT—From left: Mr Samuel Bassey, Chairman, Education Committee, Akwa Ibom State Community in Lagos, AKISCOM; Prince Elijah Ifot, AKISCOM President, Lagos; and Mr Blessed Ekpenyong, Public Relations Officer during a briefing on the forth-coming launch of Education Endowment Fund by AKISCOM, in Lagos.

FORUM— From left: Funmi Ajayi, Head, Scholastica; Ademola Adeshina, Head, Face of Testing, FOT; Nkechi Enechukwu, Head, Marketing Communication, all of Dragnet Solutions Limited, at the Dragnet exhibition stand during the 5th Special Human Resources Forum organized by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, CIPM, in Lagos.

C M Y K

BRIEFING—From right: Mr Mark Bickerton, Director, London Metropolitan University U.K; Mrs Lebari Edo-Ukpong, Director, London Metropolitan University Nigeria Office; and Mr Seun Adeniyi, Executive Admin Officer, London Metropolitan University Nigeria Office, during a briefing by the university in Ikoyi, Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

WORKSHOP—From left: Recruitment Administrative Manager, Mrs. Alice Ameobi; Company Learning Manager, Mr. Niyi Alabi, both of Nigerian Breweries Plc and Managing Director, Vision and Talent International, Mr. Paul Uduk during a workshop organized by Vision and Talent International in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

WORKERS' DAY—Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Lady Valerie Ebe (middle); Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Comrade Udo Kierian Akpan (left); and State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Unyime Usoro (right), during the 2013 Workers’ Day celebration at the Uyo Township Stadium.

Executive Secretary, Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board, Mr Peter Amromanoh (left); and Mr Dele Martins, during presentation of award.

DONATION— From left: General Manager, Air Conditioning and Energy Solutions, LG Electronics West Africa operations, Mr Junhwa Jeong; Corporate Marketing Manager, LG Electronics West Africa operations, Mr Rajesh Agnihotri; and Managing Director, Fouani Nigeria Limited, Mr Mohammed Fouani, during donation of anti-mosquito air conditioners and treated mosquito nets to IdiAyunre Community Health Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State.

40—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Don't eat dead birds, Kogi gov warns citizens

FUTA urges NGOs to partner varsities on educational advancement

L

AGOS—THE Fed eral University of Technology, Akure, has called on non-governmental organizations to partner with universities to advance education in Africa. The Deputy ViceChancellor (Academic), Professor Adedayo Fasakin who addressed a team from Computer Aid International, a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organization with regional headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, expressed the need for partnership between educational institutions and local and international companies of relevance in the drive for equitable global development.

Professor Fasakin who received the Regional Programme Coordinator, Martha Gatheru on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, noted that the world had long become a global village in which Information Communication Technology (ICT) and computers are inevitable.

Medical Guild counsels govt on health care delivery service

L

AGOS—THE Lagos State chapter of Medical Guild has charged governments at all levels to invest positively in the health care delivery service to adequately accelerate socio-economic and political stability.

The group made the charge during health screening mission exercise, sponsored by the Guild at the IgandoIkotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.

The Guild urged the state government to update health care facilities in the state with a view to surmounting the global challenges to alleviate the problems of the masses.

By BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO

L

DECAMPED—Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed (2nd left)and Senator Bukola Saraki (3rd left) welcoming decampees of the Action Congress of Nigeria from Ilorin South Local Government Area of the state led by the Secretary, Mohammed Dele Belgore Forum, Abdulazeez Kazim to the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, in Ilorin.

NAFDAC destroys N400m fake products in Makurdi

BY PETER DURU

M

AKURDI—THE Na tional Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, yesterday in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, destroyed substandard, fake and adulterated medicines, food and other regulated products valued at over N400million.

In his speech during the exercise, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii said that the materials destroyed were seized by various NAFDAC establishments in the North central zone of the country, even as the expired drugs were voluntarily handed over to NAFDAC by state Ministries of Health and other stakeholders in the zone.

He, however, lamented that “drug faking is an act of economic sabotage and terrorism against public health, hence I urge Nigerians, religious and community leaders as well as traditional rulers to all stand up and lend support to the fight against the canker worm.”

Orhii further said that the management of NAFDAC would continue to be proactive in taking measures that would ensure the eradication of the menace of substandard, counterfeit, spurious and fake regulated products in the country.

According to him, NAFDAC would continue to sustain the onslaught against fakers of food and drugs in the country through

“collaboration with other regulatory agencies and stakeholders, increased surveillance and enforcement operations in our ports, borders and identified routes used by smugglers.

“Our Cutting Edge Technology, deployed in the fight against counterfeiters are yielding tremendous results; we can boldly say that we are the first Medicine Regu-

latory Authority in the world to deploy the use of the TRUSCAN equipment to identify counterfeit medicines in the field.

“The deployment of Mobile Authentication System, Minilab and Black Eye have also greatly contributed to a significant drop in the percentage of fake and counterfeit medicines in circulation in the country."

Kebbi NLC lauds govt over N18,000 minimum wage

BY SAAWUA TERZUNGWE

B

IRNIN-KEBBI— THE Kebbi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has praised the state government for implementing the N18,000 minimum wage for workers in the state.

The NLC, however, regretted the non-payment of annual increment of workers in the last three consecutive years.

Speaking on the occasion of workers day celebration in Birnin Kebbi Wednesday, the state Chairman of the congress, Sadiq Ka’oje, said that annual increment was supposed to be carried out at the beginning of every year and appealed to the state government to review its pension scheme from 12 per cent to 15 per cent as well as pay the three years arrears of the annual salary in-

crement.

Ka’oje also appealed to the government to pay the arrears of minimum wage from March 2012 to March, 2013 to local government staff and primary school teachers in the state.

He also called on the state government to provide operational vehicles and power generating sets for the state TV and radio stations just as he emphasized the need for the government to look into the issue of National Housing fund for workers in the state.

Furthermore, the NLC Chairman asked the state government to expedite action towards the building of the state NLC secretariat to enhance performance. He expressed delight with the government for putting in place key infrastructural facilities that would improve the living condition of the masses.

OKOJA—KOGI State Governor, Captain Idris Wada has advised indigenes of the state to avoid eating dead birds within the next few months, warning that such dead birds would have been killed by the dangerous chemicals emanating from pesticides sprayed by the government on rice farms across the state.

Wada who gave the advice yesterday while flagging off the aerial control of quiller birds, grasshoppers and pests for the accelerated rice farm scattered in nine local governments of the state said a lot of dead birds will surface withing the next few months which the people should not wash for eating. ”I urge my people to resist from eating fallen birds. Actually there would be many of them and they may look good to the eyes, but the chemical used in killing them can cause cancer and other types of diseases that are harmful to humans health.”

....Teachers to enjoy N18,000 minimum wage in Sokoto

BY ABDALLAH ELKUREBE

S

OKOTO —PRI MARY school teachers across the 23 local governments of Sokoto State are to enjoy the new national minimum wage of N18,000, Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko has announced.

Wamakko said in Sokoto Wednesday that the state government had concluded arrangements to effect payment of the new wage. ”The delay in implementing the new wage , is regrettable but the payment will commence soon as the verification exercise had been concluded.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 41

42—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

•British Airways: Why do they charge higher fares ?

FARE DISPARITY BY FOREIGN AIRLINES:

Why it persists T

HE issue of fare disparity by foreign airline operating in Nigeria has once again come to the front burner as Nigerians who travelled recently on these foreign airlines complained bitterly about paying higher fares than their fellow passengers from Ghana, for instance, on the same flight.

Investigation by Vanguard revealed that as at April 19th, 2013, passengers travelling on First Class of British Airways from Abuja, Nigeria, to London, Heathrow Airport pay 9,548.25 US Dollars, while another passenger travelling from Ghana on the same First Class, same plane to London Heathrow Airport will pay 4,970.55 US Dollars. Similarly, passenger on Business Class on the same British Airways from Abuja , Nigeria, to London Heathrow pays 4,708.80, US Dollars while another passenger from Ghana on the same Business Class, will pay 2,920.55 US Dollars.

This fares disparity is practiced by other foreign airline like KLMAir France, Lufthansa, Emirate Airline, amongst others. What could be responsible for these higher fares paid by passengers travelling from Nigeria ? Vanguard findings show that despite cry by Nigerians and Nigerian Aviation agencies this fare disparity persist because some of the causes are still there and not properly addressed. And most importantly, the issue has not be revisited since the last public sitting by Senate committee on Aviation.

It will be recalled that Nigeria Government, through the Aviation Ministry, had on March 25, 2012, issued the offending airlines a 30-day ultimatum to address this disparity or face been ban from operating in Nigeria. The ultimatum expired and after Senate Committee on Aviation public sitting on the issue, the airlines still stuck to the offensive fares..

While the storm on fare disparity raged, some of the affected foreign airlines were silent on the issue. But the British Airways was quite vocal, saying its fares are determined by the forces of demand and supply.

British Airways Country manager for Nigeria, Mr Kolawole Olayinka, had said at the public sitting that it was unfortunate and sad that the issue of airfare disparity and profitability was

,

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

airlines come in. Let more airlines fly into Nigeria many more times.

Our skies are closed. Open up the skies and let more airlines come in.”

British Airways position on this issue has not changed. In a telephone interview, Mr Olayinka, told Vanguard that the disparity in fares between passengers going to London from Accra , Ghana and those travelling from Lagos to London is now minimal . He said since market forces determine the prices of goods and services, British Airways places the interest and satisfaction of its customers first. That is why its fares are competitive. He further said the operating environment must be taken into consideration when discussing fare disparity.

Other factors like market size, demand for premium and economy tickets must also be considered.

Our prices are competitive. Our concern is customer’s satisfaction. We try to give our customers best services and at the end of each flight, we want them to say: thank you

being discussed. He told the senators that prices are determined by market forces of demand and supply and not by legislation.

He said: “But that aside, you did not actually tell us which laws were violated. I am a Nigerian and as a Nigerian, I will do everything possible where prices can come down, but we only need to do one thing. Prices are determined by the forces of demand and supply; let more

,

Mr Olayinka said “ It is market forces that determine prices. We are in a free market economy.

Government do not and cannot fix fares. Our fares change with the seasons. You cannot expect airfares for summer, when there is rush by holiday makers, to be the same like during winter. These seasons determine prices. Our prices are competitive. Our concern is customer’s satisfaction. We try to give our customers best services and at the end of each

flight, we want them to say: thank you “.

Last year, when the controversy was on and the Senate Committee on Aviation was sitting, Senate President, David Mark, had said the return of the nation’s national carrier would create employment opportunities for Nigerians as well as restore some level of competition which will eventually reduce prices.

Ultimatum to foreign airlines An Aviation Consultant, Mr Chris Aligbe also contributed to the debate when the Aviation Minister gave the foreign airlines ultimatum to address the fare disparity. He said the “ Minister was now speaking the minds of Nigeria-based passengers who were usually extorted whenever they flew in foreign airlines. With the ultimatum given by the minister, the Federal Government is taking the issue of disparity in fares paid by passengers from Nigeria seriously. The Federal Government is now showing concern about the plight of Nigerians and others who opt to fly with foreign airlines,” Reacting also to the Minister’s 30-day ultimatum to foreign airlines to cut down fares or face ban, British Airways had said it was wrong for the Nigerian government to have based its conclusion only on distance and geographical location in its assessment of fares charged in Nigeria and Ghana. Explaining the reasons for fare disparity between Nigeria and Ghana, the airline told the Senate aviation

committee that : “Nigeria and Ghana differ substantially in terms of demand mix. The market in Ghana is smaller than Nigeria and has lower premium traffic as a proportion of total traffic.

“Premium passengers in Nigeria tend to book closer to the date of travel which results in higher fares, and once revenue management principles are applied, British Airways allocates a number of seats to each fare class and cheaper fares are available for bookings made in advance of the travel date but these will necessarily be limited to ensure that there are still seats available for purchase closer to the date of travel. “ This will, therefore, have an impact on prices, as it would do in any high demand/capacity restricted market .The capacity stipulated under the ASA for Ghana, unlike for Nigeria, has not been reached and in any case, the government of Ghana has already shown a willingness to move towards an ‘open skies’ policy with no restrictions on frequencies in order for the economy of Ghana to benefit from the fast growing aviation market.

Open skies policy “ An open skies policy will also attract other airlines to operate new services to Ghana, in the knowledge they will be able to increase services to match demand in the future, helping Accra to develop an aviation hub for West Africa.”

British Airways said also that it not true that all of its fares on the Lagos/London and/or Abuja/ London routes were higher than those on the Accra/London route, adding that it offers 40 different fares on Lagos- London route.

The airline said “Our fare offering on the Nigeria-London routes is extensive. In total, on the Continues on page 43

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 43

•Princess Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation

Nigerian aviation a world of good by ensuring the fastgrowing market in Nigeria is better served by sufficient capacity to meet demand by greatly increasing permitted frequencies under the terms of the BASA. “This would be the best way to ensure that fares remain competitive, that Nigerian passengers’ demand for seats are met and that the Nigerian economy is not disadvantaged by lack of aviation connectivity with the rest of the world.”

It was also revealed during the sitting that the UK government had been asking for increased capacity for its carriers operating in Nigeria, adding that the Federal Gov-

•President Goodluck Jonathan

Why foreign airlines fare disparity persists Lagos-London route, British Airways offers up to 40 different fares across all classes of travel at any one time, each with different conditions such as dates for travel, pre-booking periods and length of stay, which are designed to meet the needs of different passengers. In addition, we have many special offers throughout the year.

Cheapest economy fare “ Our cheapest Lagos-London Club class fare is currently $3507 ($3147 ex Abuja) which compares to the cheapest Accra -London Club fare of $2956, a difference of only $551 ($191 for Abuja), of which $227 is made up of higher Nigerian tax compared to Ghana.

So the relative fare from Abuja is actually cheaper than Accra, and only $324 more expensive from Lagos once additional Nigerian tax is taken into account. “ The cheapest economy fare from Lagos to London is $1051 and $999 from Abuja compared to the cheapest economy fare of $1,164 from Accra to London. In short, many of our Lagos and Abuja economy fares are either cheaper or only marginally higher than fares from Accra despite the problems of constrained capacity out of Nigeria. “ The main reason premium fares from Nigeria are higher than those comparable fares from Ghana is attributable to capacity restrictions, brought about by current frequency restrictions on air services under the terms of the UK/Nigeria Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA. Under the BASA, UK designated airlines are unable to operate more than 21 services per week between the UK and Nigeria. UK airlines have

always operated the full number of services allowed under the bilateral ASA. On the other hand, Nigerian carriers, which are also permitted to operate up to 21 services per week between Nigeria and the UK have not taken up their permitted frequencies. “ It should be noted in this context that in the period from 1999 to date, the frequency restriction has only been increased by four services per week for each side, which has not met the growth of passengers in the same period. As a consequence, there is excess demand for premium seats on British Airways, resulting in very high load factors and, inevitably higher prices as BA seeks to ration seats in order to ensure that seats are available for our Nigerian late-booking premium passengers.

Premium passengers “As Premium capacity in particular is so constrained, if British Airways were to artificially suppress premium fares, important customer benefits, in the form of (1) late availability of seats; and (2) fully flexible tickets, would effectively be removed from the market and passengers would be unable to travel in their cabin of choice or make changes as may be required by their business needs. “ By contrast, pursuant to the terms of the UK/Ghana Air Services Agreement, there is still available capacity and frequencies in order to grow services further to meet market demand.

“British Airways is thus able to offer lower premium fares to stimulate the premium market, in full knowledge that we will nearly always be able to offer lateavailable premium seats for sale.

This is not the case in the constrained Nigerian market.

“All passengers travelling from Nigeria to the UK have a choice of both direct and indirect services. Passengers wishing to travel on direct services between Lagos and London have a choice of three airlines, namely British Airways, Arik Air and Virgin Atlantic.

“Passengers have further choice of indirect services with many European carriers such as Air France, KLM and Lufthansa, as well as other African and Middle Eastern airlines. British Airways competes fairly with all these carriers, and in choosing to book British Airways as opposed to the other available carriers, Nigerian passengers have concluded that British Airways represents at that time the most competitive and/or suitable option for their journey.

Olayinka, who represented the airline, said passengers have a free choice “Similarly, passengers have a free choice as to whether they pay more to travel in our premium cabins rather than in our economy cabin.

Competitive industry Each premium cabin offers an increased level of enhanced service which British Airways prices accordingly.

“We emphase that it is the passenger who must have the choice of which airline he or she travels on and at which level of service he or she wishes to pay for, which can only be achieved by a competitive industry. Rather than artificially suppressing fares, which have already been set according to a fair and competitive market in a deregulated environment like Nigeria, the Aviation Committee will do

ernment was yet to respond to the demand. The airline said it had operated air services between Nigeria and the UK in full conformity with the BASA between both countries.

It said: “As mutually agreed by the UK and the Nigerian governments at bilateral talks in November 2011, the UK CAA is already undertaking an independent study of fares between the UK and Nigeria, and both governments agreed to await the outcome of that study in mid 2012.

This is the correct procedure to follow under international law, which pertains to the BASA as it

,

Continues from page 42

ernment has no rights to ban foreign airlines, arguing that the airlines were private enterprises, whose operations were determined by market forces.

“It is not correct to state that all of BA’s fares on the Lagos/ London and/or Abuja/London routes are higher than those on the Accra/London route.

In reaching this conclusion it appears that the highest premium fares from Lagos have been directly compared to the lowest premium fares from Accra.

Furthermore, no analysis has been given to economy fares, which account for by far the larger portion of our sales in Nigeria.”

The airline said: “British Airways is fully legally compliant with the requirements of the Air Services Agreement between the UK and Nigeria.

Commercial dispute We remain committed to Nigeria and continue to serve the country with daily flights to Lagos and Abuja. We have been flying there for more than 75 years and pride ourselves on offering competitive fares, a choice of products and connections to our Nigerian customers. All of our fares are set on a sound commercial basis and remain fully competitive with other carriers in the region including Arik Air.” The advise of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru might suffice at this point. He told the committee that they should not allow what he described as commercial dispute degenerate into diplomatic row.

He said: “It should be a commercial discussion and not

To book British Airways as opposed to the other available carriers, Nigerian passengers have concluded that British Airways represents the most competitive and/or suitable option for their journey

is an international treaty between the UK and Nigeria. British Airways remains committed to Nigeria and continues to serve the country and its people with daily flights to Lagos and Abuja.

“The comfort of our customers is of utmost importance to us, they are the very reason we remain in business, we are proud and delighted that we are able to offer a choice of different competitive fares, a choice of products and connections to our Nigerian customers.”

The British government has also reacted to the controversy.

British High Commission spokesman said any ban on British carriers would erode the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Britain. This was followed by a declaration by the Deputy High Commissioner, Giles Lever, that the federal gov-

,

dispute. What we have is a commercial dispute and what we see happening now is a failure of regulatory agencies to do their jobs. If the regulatory agencies had done their job very well, we would not have got to this stage.

There is no justification for the rip off that Nigerians are going through.”

Although Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, in her remarks also described the disparity as exploitative and bad after the public sitting, nothing has been heard again about fare disparity. She had said then : “Nigeria supports profitable operations when the profits are reasonable but rejects exploitation and unreasonable excessive profiteering by exploiting her people.

We are still on this issue and your voice from the Senate is welcome.”

44 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3 2013—45

Governors should not challenge the president — Dickson GOVERNOR Serikae Dickson’s ascent to the governorship of Bayelsa State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was a remarkable journey in ideological transformation. The pioneer state chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, he had the unique distinction of being the only AD chairman in the SouthSouth to produce federal legislators in 1999, which was a reflection of his grasp of the political dynamics of his state. Dickson was, however, to change parties to the PDP following the enthronement of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as governor in 2005 and eventually turning into one of the most steadfast loyalists of Dr. Jonathan. It was no surprise that he was in late 2011 called upon to be the frontman in the onslaught against the Timipire Sylva tendency that at that time held sway in Bayelsa. Following his victory in the gubernatorial elections, Governor Dickson has made a show of flaunting his socialist credentials and inclinations in the sphere of governance. In this interview with newsmen, he asserts that his new home in the PDP is not averse to progressive thinking. Excerpts:

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

W

HAT are the challenges you are being confronted with?

The challenges are enormous and we knew in this state that things are not right but I underestimated the magnitude – the absence of governmental structures, the absence, if you like, even of core values.

What is your position on the issue of amnesty for Boko Haram insurgent group?

On the issue of amnesty, I want to commend the President for his large heartedness in proposing amnesty, even for Boko Haram members. Of course we all know that Boko Haram, whatever is driving them is very different from the factors that gave rise to the situation that we had here in the Niger Delta.

Political leadership

Insurgency in the Niger Delta

•Dickson: Governors should govern their states and leave the President alone President has done well by proposing amnesty. Let that not be the excuse for not getting all hands on deck to address that issue.

What is your position on the brewing crisis within your party, the PDP, especially in the face of the ongoing merger of opposition and birth of the APC? What you are seeing as tension at the end of the day, will resolve itself. On the APC, I want use this opportunity to urge the leaders of the opposition to work hard to bring about a virile, effective and viable opposition; an opposition that will play by the rule, an opposition that will be in a position to confront the ruling party in a market place of ideas and vision.

We are looking look forward to virile debates on various

issues; on economy, on national security. If they are viable as a party we want to engage then and let us see the alternative viewpoints that are contending for the minds and hearts of our people beyond issues of religion, ethnicity and zoning – that’s the whole debate. The whole political engagement is all about grandstanding, manipulation, positioning and it sickens me, really. So, for me, and I’m not speaking for my party, for me, I’d be very happy to see a very virile, effective and well organised opposition because a democracy without an opposition is dictatorship democracy must have viable opposition.

In this state, with what we are doing, I cannot for example be scared of strong opposition party; in fact, I had looked

forward to an opposition party.

Instead of rumours, blackmail and propaganda, I look

,

Whereas the insurgency in the Niger Delta was founded on economic issues – issues that had to do with rights and deprivation of rights, the one in Boko Haram is religious fundamentalist, so there is a clear distinction and even with that the President has come up with amnesty, I think as a result of the calls by some leaders in the affected areas so that amnesty can be given and they want to see whether that can make the difference, so we have to encourage that. I think we should give it a chance.

Though those who say amnesty should not be extended to Boko Haram members also have a very strong point on account of the mindless and criminal, despicable and wanton destruction of properties and lives.

And even now, from what we are reading, they seem to say they have not done anything wrong and they are rejecting amnesty but on the part of the leader of a country, I think the

for the PDP; I don’t see any reason why anybody in the PDP is supposed to be scared of the APC. We just need to focus on what we are doing and at the end of the day, if the electoral process is free and fair; Mr. President has always promised Nigerians that, Nigerians will decide who occupies the power.

Why do you think the PDP came up with the PDP Governors’ Forum?

Look, let me also make it clear; governors’ forum is primarily a mechanism for peer review of governors who are equal. You do not have to be a member of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to be a governor, is it?

The Governors’ is not and should not be a platform for control of national politics, because we are not elected to run the country. I don’t how many of you agree with me?

We, as governors are elected to manage our states. So the Governors’ Forum cannot be allowed to go on as a trade union.

Of course, that is wrong! What has happened is that people are taking advantage of the development and discontent in our system to manipulate it to suit their individual whims and caprices.

But what is wrong is wrong!

Look at the United States Governors’ Forum where we even copied it from, you don’t see Governors’ Forum there coming to tell Obama what he should and what he should not do.

We are provincial players, governors because our mandate is to lead our states, not to run the federation. Those

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria cannot have misunderstanding with a provincial player as a governor of Rivers State

forward to an engagement – an organised opposition that can confront us and then present an alternative vision. We have to develop that tradition in this country. It is not there now.

With all due respect, even if you not careful, we will descend to a situation that even respected national newspaper will just be like a political pamphlet. Let us have virile political parties that will contest ideas. But for me as a person; I’m not a spokesman

,

who have a mandate to run the federation are the President, Vice President, the elected members of our national assembly and the political leadership of the parties.

Those are the people who have a platform. And if as a governor, I have any strong view on things that go on at the federal level, we have avenues; informal, formal – we have the National Economic Council. Over the years, I think Continues on page 47

46—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Ogun LGAs:

Cat and mouse

LOCAL governments were at one time autonomous in Ogun State, but not so anymore as they have become platforms for political domination by successive governors

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

I

N the period between 1999 and 2003 when Aremo Olusegun Osoba was governor of Ogun State the chairmen of the 20 local government areas were allowed relative liberty in their affairs.

Osoba who governed on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, AD ensured that his party won all the local governments in the election conducted during his governorship.

It was further observed that, many of the local governments executed big projects such as building of shopping complexes, construction of roads, provision of social amenities among others.

In fact, there was no strike action in any of the local governments for the four- year tenure of Chief Osoba.

However, Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s emergence introduced a new style into the governance of the local governments, which according to him was to change the face of governance as he took more interest in the affairs of the local governments.

Using the Joint Allocation Committee, JAC the Daniel administration made provisions for redistribution of local government funds in a way that all the local governments received

Damning verdict

•Amosun: Having the last laugh especially on the re-distribution of Federal allocation.

While it retained JAC changed the policy of equal allocation, but, the policy of suppression which incapacitated the governments at the grassroots may not have abated.

,

Once Amosun came on board in 2011, he inaugurated caretaker committees into the local governments which governed the councils for nine months before he conducted a controversial election which brought mostly his loyalists to the councils

the same amount irrespective of size or other consideration.

Like his predecessor, Daniel also ensured his party won all the seats. He, however, went more, as his administration in some cases brought local government sovereignty directly under the whims of the governor.

For instance, he at separate times removed the Chairmen of Abeokuta South, Ijebu NorthEast and Ijebu East for allegedly disloyalty.

Local governments in that period completely lost their autonomy during following the overbearing influence the state government wielded on the third tier of government.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun who succeeded Daniel in 2011 on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN rubbished the policy of his predecessor

want to go and do this.

It is not surprising that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the State would describe the local governments as an extension of the governor’s office.

Speaking on the rot in the local governments in the state, said the local governments under Amosun lack vibrancy and performance.

“Local government administration is nothing to write home about,” the PDP’s Director of Organisation, Mr. Segun Sowunmi said in an interview.

“The Chairmen appear to be operating as caretaker Chairmen and Ogun State never had it so bad like this,” he added.

and councillors were playing cat and mouse as the councillors were reported to be fond of issuing queries to the chairmen and sometimes threatening to oust the chairmen from office.

,

Once Amosun came on board in 2011, he inaugurated caretaker committees into the local governments which governed the councils for nine months before he conducted a controversial election which brought mostly his loyalists to the councils.

The governor did not only ensure that his party, ACN won all the seats, but also played a fast one on some ACN leaders as it emerged that mostly core loyalists of the governor were picked for the election. The action helped to balance the power equilibrium given that none of Amosun’s loyalists who came with him into the ACN got the party’s ticket for the state legislative election in 2011.

Few months after the local government election, it was common tale that the chairmen

Ogun state Inevitably, the state government intervened by organising a one day workshop for all the 236 Councillors where they were cautioned on their excesses.

Speaking at the workshop Amosun cautioned the councillors to operate within their bounds.

“I want you to challenge within your power not outside your power. It is not within your power to now say you are querying your chairman, how? It is not. It is just like one commissioner now says they want to query me, to do what?

“Your responsibility, when the chairman brings the budget, makes sure this is what he said he want to do. You can’t allocate the money. It is the responsibility of the local government chairman and not yours now say where you

The People’s Party of Nigeria PPN, in the state also gave a damming verdict on the performance of the local governments under Amosun.

The party’s director of organization, Mr. Deji Kalejaiye said “the present local government system is nothing but an extension of governor’s satellite office. “Not only financially crippled to patch potholes in the local governments, they are also financially incapacitated to do any projects.”

“We don’t have local governments, the Chairmen were appointed by the governor,” the PPN official said.

But, the State Chairman of All L o c a l Governments of N i g e r i a , ALGON, Mr. Rotimi Rahman exonerated Governor Amosun from the woes of the third tier of government in the state.

“You will not expect anything short of that from opposition. Not a penny out of what comes from Federal Government is deducted by Governor Amosun,” he said.

“The system we met on ground was that all the allocations were taken by the government. But, when Governor Amosun came on board, he stopped it. He insisted that the sharing formula should be based on ratio”, he said.

President of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE in the State, Mr.Oluseyi Tajudeen said “ the distributable allocation to local governments from JAC is not enough to pay salaries , let alone for the running cost and projects.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—47

Kebbi: Central control THE local governments in Kebbi State are virtually run as appendages of the state government with the party in control at the state government dictating the pace and policy at the grassroots.

have continued to criticise the way democracy is being operated in the state and especially at the local government level describing the election as not being free and fair.

WHEN Gov. Saidu Dankigari came to Despite varied accounts of infrastructure power in 2007 he was expected to sustain development by the Dakingari administration, the political structure handed over to him it is generally known that there is no equivalent by his predecessor and political benefactor, growth in Senator Adamu Aliero. t h e But, however, as the new governor settled political down, so did the taste of political maturity independence grow in him. It was as such of the not surprising that the structure and system democratic in the 21 local governments he inherited structures from Aliero became a sacrificial lamb. at the The first local government election l o c a l conducted by the Dankigari administration government was on the 23rd of February, 2008. level.

Following that, the Kebbi State Indeed, Independent Electoral Commission, the state KESIEC announced 5th of June, 2010, for government the conduct of elections to replace those is known elected in 2008 following the early to have dissolution of the LG councils. The direct dissolution was upon perceived political control differences that emerged following the over all political combat between Dakingari and t h e Aliero, given that a number of Aliero’s men •Dakingari: In full control democratic were among those elected in the 2008 Kebbi state structures election. a n d The elections, however, did not hold as institutions at the local government levels and main opposition at that time, the Congress scheduled by KESIEC due to political determines to a large extent, which projects for Progressive Change, CPC won control turbulence and crisis within the two should be executed by the local authorities and of four wards -one in Birnin Kebbi local factions in the People’s Democratic Party, who becomes the chairman or councilor at any government, two in Augie and one in PDP, and also because of a court injunction time.

Aliero. The State Chairman of Accord, restraining KESIEC from conducting the Comrade Ahmed Bunza, director of Centre Alhaji Mohammed Sani Abdullahi and the elections. for Development of Democracy, Birnin Kebbi State Secretary of the CPC, Barrister Sole administrators as such guided the condemns the system of local government Shehu Mashal in separate remarks flayed conduct of the until the 15th of September, administration as warped. what they described as the 2012, when KESIEC under the leadership “We have a very warped view of democracy marginalization of opposition parties at the of Hajiya Ada Sani Ka’oje conducted the as it relates to local government administration. third tier. election for a new set of Chairmen and The issue of joint account is just one out of With the above results of the councilors. All 21 local government several other issues tormenting local elections announced by the KESIEC boss chairmanship seats were won by the PDP government administration in Nigeria Hajiya Ada Sani Ka’oje, the oppostion which also took 221 council wards. The including Kebbi State.

Others are; the issue of political interference, economic strangulation and democratic liberalization. There is governors and others, even parties.

Continues from page 45 need for local councilors have associations.

What has happened over the what has happened, particularly in government autonomy What is your stance on the years is that governors of the PDP the PDP and it is very unfortunate, in terms of finance, faceoff between the president and who became chairmen of the that the focus on the Governors’ politics, sociology and Governor Amaechi?

Governors’ Forum all attempted to Forum is as a result of some even the economy”.

You press people should not use it as a platform for playing developments in the PDP. It is Former deputy equate a provincial player with national politics – a platform for unfortunate that it is rubbing off on governor of the state elected President of the Federal occupying national political space. the governors from the opposition and national Republic.

It is wrong! It shouldn’t be allowed! organizing secretary of The President of the Federal That’s why the idea of the PDP the All Nigeria Republic of Nigeria cannot have Governors’ Forum became People’s Party, ANPP, misunderstanding with a necessary. But you see, because for Alhaji Suleiman provincial player as a governor of now there is manipulation of facts Mohammed Argungu Rivers State or any other governor and our institutions are not yet also debunked the for that matter. I don’t know how strong enough, including the media situation. “It is in the you came by that – that is why we – you are doing a very good job but interest of the governor must be careful because you are not yet strong enough. that determines who also very important players in our You see things being manipulated becomes the Chairman democracy. As governors, we are as if anybody is disturbing anybody, of a particular local elected to run our states, no more instead of saying no, this thing you government and – no less. If you want the mandate guys are doing is wrong. People are Councillor for a to run Nigeria, you contest an saying as if “there is a crisis and particular ward in election for it. Don’t do it through somebody does not want somebody, Kebbi. The state the back door. If you want to be a no! g o v e r n m e n t The Governors’ Forum is simply leader of oppositions, you go the determines projects to opposition. What is happening is a peer review mechanism; no more, be awarded and that people are taking advantage no less! PDP governors have the executed at the local of our weak institutions and our right to have their own group government level.” because the associative right is a fledgling democracy. first love in a democracy! ACN Bayelsa state

BY SAAWUA TERZUNGWE

Governors should not challenge the president — Dickson

48—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

T

HE other day a friend gave me as Easter gift, a Chinese made Electric/Solar Lantern. After charging, the magical lantern could provide an uninterrupted brightness for at least eight hours.

I carefully examined this wonderful object but found little or no difference from the crude kerosene lamps which my late father and his late friend, Pius Chukwu were bringing from Onitsha in the 1940s and 1950s to Jos. There was a thriving trade in manufactured items, though in crude form, between the Northern and the Eastern parts of the country before the civil war (1967 – 70), of which the ‘local lantern’ formed a significant part. If the manufacturing epic has continued to the present time, those crude manufactured items of the past by Awka Smiths could have been refined into admirable consumer commodities now imported into the country.

This brings me into the cleverness of the Chinese who have now dominated the Nigerian markets in all its ramifications. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no Nigerian home without the presence of Chinese items, either as kitchen appliances or electronic equipment. China has totally replaced Britain, Japan or Taiwan as Nigeria’s exporter of consumer goods.

Unfortunately, those commodities could easily be provided locally under a favorable atmosphere.

It was at the point of crying ‘havoc’ on the onslaught of Chinese manufactured goods on our domestic market that I came upon an article in ‘African Spotlight’ by our own, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank Governor, (son of a former Ambassador to China and grandson of a former Emir of Kano).

In his ‘Africa Must Get Real About Chinese Ties’, Mallam Sanusi notes that “Nigeria, a country with a large domestic market of more than 160m people spends huge resources importing consumer goods from China that should be produced locally.

We buy textile, fabric, barter goods,

07059197616

Peeping into the realm of economic nationalism tomato paste, starch, furniture, electronics, building materials and plastic goods. I could go on. The Chinese, on the other hand, buy Nigeria’s crude oil. In much of Africa, they have set up huge mining operations. They have also built infrastructure. But with exceptions, they have done so using equipment and labour imported from home, without transferring skills to local communities.

So China takes her primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence of colonialism”. Many analysts will agree, this is also another form of imperialism.

But having known the facts, what is the solution? You can trust our bold but controversial Central Bank Governor.

He notes that, ‘Africa must recognize that China – like the US, Russia, Britain, Brazil and the rest – is in Africa not for African interest but its own’. The romance must be replaced by hard – nosed economic thinking’.

He advised also that ‘we must not only produce locally goods in which we can build comparative advantage, but also actively fight off Chinese imports promoted by predatory policies’. It should be agreed that Lamido Sanusi’s logic is flawless on its face value.

Don Etim: Accomplishing

Akpabio’s transformation agenda

BY TONY NYONG

G

OVERNOR Godswill Akpabio has understandably won several awards on account of what is now dubbed the uncommon touch he has brought to the transformation of the road network in the state and the capital city, Uyo in particular.

When Akwa Ibom State was created on September 23, 1987

by General Ibrahim Babangida, Uyo was just a small township, and it was possible to count the number of roads within the ancient town on your finger tips.

The few major roads were single lanes and included among others Oron road, Aka road, Aka-Etinan road, Ikot Ekpene road, Nnwaniba road, Aka-Itiam road, Barracks road, Old Itu road, and Ikpa road.

Some of the streets that were tarred were Nepa Line, Nyong Essien Street, Gibbs Street, Iboko, Udo Otung Ubo, Udo Umana, Enwe, Nsit Street, Nsetip, Paul Bassey, and Utang among others. The road network continued to have the same outlook though with

It should also to be remembered that many economists have reminded us of economic exploitation embedded in colonialism and imperialism and have suggested forms of self-sufficiency in certain aspects of our economic life. The plaintive cries of many economic reformers have been drowned in the sorrows of neglect and irresponsibility of various governments.

However, it looks as things might change for the better if those thought to be at the corridors of power seem to be seeing clearer those things blocking avenues to development. But this was not the first time that Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi would speak his mind on many issues of economic and political developments. His address at the 2nd General Dr. Yakubu Gowon Distinguished Annual Lecture, was an exhaustive examination of Leadership and its impact on economic development of the people.

In that Gowon Lecture, the Central Bank Governor, perhaps in the mood of his real personality – brave and outspoken – noted that, ‘you will agree with me that it is appalling to observe that five decades after Nigeria’s independence, our nation has remained beleaguered with the challenges of

leadership, particularly those involved with selfless and unflinching desire to steer the course of development and national unity’ .

Mallam Sanusi examined the impact of leaders of China, Malaysia, Singapore on the development of economic fortunes of their countries.

They were able to introduce pro-poor, pro-growth and pro-employment policies and at the same time, maintained macro-economic stability which impacted positively on improved living standard of their people.

Mallam Sanusi was also unhappy that the huge inflows from oil have not been effectively harnessed to ensure a compressive diversification of the economy. Apart from the endemic disease of corruption which has not shown any cure, the other problem is, ‘abuse and manipulation of ethnic relationship by leaders in authority by way of nepotism, tribalism and religious bigotry’ .

Whatever opinion one may have on the Central Bank Governor, one is bound to respect his courage and his attitude to bare his mind on crucial issues of the time. Most of his views on the Nigerian economy, though not strange to some of us, seem radical though his mindset may be conservative. His radical mind seems to be cast in the conservative mould of ‘classical economics’.

Nigeria needs to be able to feed herself, the country should be able to produce those gods whose comparative natural advantages are noted; the country should utilize its oil resources to grow its economy. Nigeria should start to think seriously about economic survival by adopting principles of economic nationalism, called common sense economics.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi called for ‘leadership that should be inspiringly creative and resolutely courageous’.

But such leadership should know that the growth of the economy could not be sustained in an atmosphere of tightened monetary policy of the Central Bank.

•Akpabio some little touches here and there under previous administrations until the launch of the uncommon transformation by the Akpabio administration.

Akpabio has been aided in his efforts by several aides, but one of them, Chief Don Etim is worth pointing out.

Chief Don Etim has been able

to aggregate both the aspirations of the governor and that of the people in such a way that bears meaning and value to the ordinary people of the state, following very strictly, the programmes and policies of the governor, clinically diagnosing the functions of the Works Ministry that there is no stone left unturned in changing the previous pitiable road infrastructure of the State to quality and standard roads, that the citizenry were only privileged to see on televisions, and when they travelled out of the country.

While Uyo was the most important town as at 1987, other places that had semblance of infrastructure were Ikot Ekpene, Abak, Oron, Ikot Abasi, Eket and Etinan.

Apart from the few roads that passed through these small towns, today, 26 years later, Uyo has become one of the best cities in Nigeria. Although there are still villagers, there is no longer a village, as there are neat roads with traffic lights all over.

The sheer spate of completion

of the roads in most cases have been so shocking, that the public cannot fail to notice the contrast between the official sluggishness of the previous Works Commissioners, and the emboldened efforts of Mr. Don Etim in delivering the services to the State.

Source of attraction From Etim Ekpo to Abak, Ika to Oruk Anam, Ikot Ekpene to Ini, Eket to Oron, Ikot Abasi to Etinan, Ibesikpo Asutan to Nsit Ubium, Nsit Ibom to Onna, and Essien Udim to Obot Akara, and all over the State, it is all a reminder of a lost world, and an almost vanished communities, until its glory and source of attraction was restored by the Works Commissioner. He has provided a test of how Akwa Ibom State can change, and the rest of the world has continued to marvel at the road transformation.

Although Akpabio has been criticized for paying high bills for the development of

infrastructure in the State, the consolation is that there are tangible proofs that the funds have been utilized for the purposes for which they were meant. Some State governors pay billions for projects that do not get executed and nobody questions them.

A salute to the State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Don Etim, is, therefore, a fitting testimony of his dogged pursuit of his transparency and service, and is reflective of his strength of character which has rubbed off positively on the administration of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

The qualities are also the very hallmarks that have made him to be an acceptable advocate of the masses within and outside the State.

As a change agent personified, Etim has presided over the Ministry of Works that dwells extensively on physical projects and as one imbued with insight and as a stickler for excellence, he has set for himself the task of interpreting the dream of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 49

A

T least three people were killed in a foiled coup attempt in Chad, the foreign minister said yesterday, and several arrested over the plot in the chronically unstable former French colony.

Security services had for months been monitoring “a group of individuals who were preparing a plot against the state’s institutions” and swooped on one of their meetings in the capital on Wednesday, Moussa Faki said.

Some of them “responded by firing on the security forces. One officer was shot dead and in response two members of the group were gunned down. The others

Chadian coup attempt claims 4 lives were arrested,” Faki said on the sidelines of a meeting in Brazzaville.

A police source told AFP earlier on Thursday that “several” people had been killed and around 15 others injured in a shootout between security forces and the alleged conspirators on the outskirts of N’Djamena a day earlier.

Speaking before the foreign ministry update, some police sources spoke of six deaths, while others claimed eight were killed in the incident, “three of whom were security forces”.

The government serving

under President Idriss Deby Itno, who himself came to power in a 1990 coup, on Wednesday said a “small group” had been planning “a destabilisation plot” while police and opposition sources said one of the detainees was an opposition lawmaker.

A police source said soldiers and civilians also took part in the alleged plot.

The situation appeared calm in the Chadian capital on Thursday, with residents going about their usual day-to-day activities.

“A small group of ill-

intentioned individuals attempted to carry out a destabilisation plot against the institutions of the republic,” the

government said in a statement Wednesday.

It added that the army had “neutralised” the group and that the

arrested ringleaders had been handed over to prosecutors for investigation.

‘Somali famine killed 260,000 people’

N

EARLY 260,000 people died during the famine that hit Somalia from 2010 to 2012, a study has showed, as half of them were children under the age of five, says the report by the UN food agency and the US-

funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

The number of deaths was higher than the estimated 220,000 people who died during the 1992 famine.

The crisis was caused by a severe drought,

Assad forces recapture Homs to secure the corridor.

F

ORCES loyal to President Bashar alAssad retook a central district in the city of Homs yesterday , driving a wedge between two isolated pockets of rebel resistance in Syria’s third largest city, fighters and activists said.

The recapture of Wadi alSayeh, which links the besieged rebel stronghold in Khalidiyah to the opposition-held old city, appears to be part of a series of carefully focused counter-offensives that mark a shift from the indiscriminate campaigns earlier in the two-year-old conflict.

Homs is a link in the corridor connecting Assad’s Damascus powerbase with the traditional Mediterranean heartland of his minority Alawite community. It was an early center of the mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against four decades of Assad family rule.

Following recent gains in rural areas around Homs, Assad’s forces surrounded the towns of Baida and Maqreb on the road to the coastal city of Banias on Thursday, activists said, the latest stage in a campaign

They also seized Qaysa town on the eastern edge of Damascus, part of a steady move north from airport on the city’s southeastern edge which would create a line of control locking down the eastern approaches to the city and close off weapons supplies from the Jordanian border.

worsened by conflict between rival groups fighting for power.

UN Food and A g r i c u l t u r e Organisation (FAO) senior economist Mark Smulders said the “true enormity of this human tragedy” had emerged for the first time from the study, done jointly with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net).

“By nature, estimating mortality in emergencies is an imprecise science, but given the quantity and quality of data that were available, we are confident in the strength of the study,” said Fews Net official Chris Hillbruner.

Bomb suspect’s buddies covered for him, say federal prosecutors

A

laptop, some empty fireworks and a jar of Vaseline landed three friends of Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in jail Wednesday, charged with trying to throw investigators off their buddy’s trail.

Those were the items federal prosecutors said Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos took from Tsarnaev’s dorm room at the University of MassachusettsDartmouth in the hours after the FBI released photos of Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, the

suspects in the marathon bombings. According to FBI affidavits, they quickly recognized their friend from the pictures.

When Kadyrbayev texted his friend to tell him “he looked like the suspect on television,” Tsarnaev texted back “lol” and added, “come to my room and take whatever you want,” the affidavit states.

Phillipos, Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev went to the room, where Kadyrbayev noticed a backpack containing fireworks that had been “opened and emptied of powder,” according to the affidavit.

•Chadians besiege the Parliament building in N’Djamena.

American gets 15 years sentence for espionage in N/Korea

N

ORTH Korea y e s t e r d a y sentenced U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years hard labor for what it said were crimes against the state, a move that will likely see him used as a bargaining chip in talks with Washington.

Bae, 44, was born in South Korea but is a naturalized American citizen and attended the University of Oregon.

According to U.S. media, he most recently

lived in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood.

A North Korean defector said Bae will likely serve his sentence in a special facility for foreigners, not in one of the repressive state’s forced labor camps. More than 200,000 people are incarcerated in these camps, beaten and starved, sometimes to death, according to human rights groups.

Bae’s sentencing comes after two months of

sabre-rattling by Pyongyang that saw North Korea threaten both the United States and South Korea with nuclear war.

Former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson, who has made numerous trips to North Korea that included efforts to free detained Americans, in a statement said Bae’s case should not become entangled in the current U.S.-North Korea impasse.

Global youth unemployment tops discussion at OYW summit in S/Africa

BY EMEKA AGINAM

G

LOBAL youth unemployment will be tops on the agenda of the One Young World Summit taking place in South Africa later this year.

Other issues to be discussed, according to the African Director of One Young World Catherine Peter who was in Nigeria recently will include education, global business, human rights, leadership, governance, sustainable development and transparency.

Peter has said with optimism that Nigeria is a powerhouse on the African continent, saying that young leaders from Nigeria have an

important role to play at One Young World summit.

Running in its fourth year, One Young World is a charity that hosts an annual summit, bringing together 1,300 exceptional young people to find solutions to local, regional and global challenges. While 2013 marks the first time Africa plays host to a One Young World summit, Peter who was in Nigeria recently to meet partners said that, “Nigeria is a powerhouse on the African continent, therefore it’s crucial the country sends a strong delegation to the first ever African-hosted One Young World summit.

“One Young World is all

about impact and encouraging leaders of the future from all industries to drive tangible change when they return home from the summit”.

Delegates from 190 countries, she said are set to attend the 2013 summit, giving One Young World its widest global representation to date.

It would be recalled that 183 countries were represented at the 2012 Summit in Pittsburgh, USA, including a delegation from Nigeria.

One Young World is a charity that stages an annual Summit, bringing together the brightest young people from around the world.

50 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—51

Telecoms market: The shape of things to come ANALYSIS

BY ADEKUNLE ADEKOYA

O

broadband/ internet access, and wholesale leased lines and transmission capacity).

The regulator noted that “MTN and Glo jointly control about 62 per cent of the public terrestrial transmission infrastructure which is a bottleneck resource in the provision of voice and data services. There are concerns that operators playing in the wholesale and retail sub segments of these markets have the leverage to “squeeze” the margins of their competitors who are also their customers.”

As a result, NCC designated GLO and MTN “as joint dominant operators in the wholesale leased lines and transmission capacity sub segment of this market.”

N Sunday, the telecommunications regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission, posted a document on its portal entitled Determination of Dominance in Selected Communications Markets. In the document, it established the basis for the determination of dominance in the communication market, which it said is in line with exercise of its regulatory function “to ensure fair competition in all sectors of the Nigerian communications industry” (Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA 2003) “as a result of which in June 2012 it embarked on a Study of the Assessment of the Level of Competition in Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.”

The outcome of the study is the document cited above.

The document identified six major segments - Mobile voice, Fixed voice, Fixed data, Mobile data, Upstream, and Downstream. In its assessment of competition in these segments, NCC designated MTN Nigeria a dominant operator in the Mobile Voice segment with 44 per cent marNCC Executive Vice Chairman, Eugene Juwah ket share of subscribers.

NCC said: “The mobile voice market is not effectively competitive In respect of this, both GLO and MTN and is still highly concentrated with an shall be required to comply with the folHHI (Herfindahl Hirschman Index) of lowing: 3063. a) Price cap//price floor: The CommisMTN has a 44 per cent market share of sion will come up with a price cap for subscribers within this market. There is also wholesale services and price floor for rea wide differential (of about 300 per cent) tail services, and subject to periodic rebetween on net and off net calls and this is view. indicative of the likely establishment of a b) Accounting separation: The Commiscalling club for MTN subscribers.” sion will immediately enforce and impleFurther, the regulator also designated ment Accounting Separation on the joint both MTN Nigeria and Glo as joint dom- dominant operators. inant operators in the wholesales leased c) Submission of required details: The lines and transmission capacity sub-seg- Commission may require any of the joint ment of the upstream market. Both MTN dominant operators to submit details on and Glo have substantial investments in specific aspects of its operations from time broadband; MTN has WACS while Glo has to time ass the need arises. The implicaGlo 1. tions of these resolutions by the regulator are not far-fetched.

One, it becomes clear that the telecoms Issue of regulator is moving into management regcompetition ulation of the telecoms firms concerned.

To address the issue of competition, the By demanding and enforcing accounting NCC resolved that the Dominant Opera- separation, the books of the telcos will now tor in the Mobile Voice market, in this case, be subject to scrutiny by the regulator, and MTN Nigeria, shall be required to adhere pertinent questions raised, where they arise. to the following obligations: This will have the positive effect of deepa) Accounting separation: The Commission will immediately enforce and imple- ening good corporate governance practice ment accounting separation on the domi- where it already exists, and instituting it where it is presently lacking. It is a red nant operator; b) Collapse of on-net and off-net retail card for telcos where decision making protariffs: The differential between the on- cesses are vertical and centralised. net and off-net retail tariffs will be imme- On the other hand, the price cap and price diately collapsed. The tariff for on-net and floor for wholesale services and retail ofoff-net will be the same, and subject to ferings that the regulator plans to introduce will have a salutory effect on the pricperiodic review; and c) Submission of required details: The ing of services in the industry. More imCommission may require the dominant op- portantly, it signifies a new regime where erator to submit details on specific aspects market forces only will no longer deterof its operations from time to time as the mine prices. In other words, price control need arises in the upstream segment of will become part of the regulatory activithe market (comprising spectrum, tower ties and hopefully, exploitative tariffs will sites, network equipment, wholesale disappear.

52 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

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NZEI—I,

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 53

Vanguard CLASSIFIED

Yekini was Nigeria's greatest — Siasia F

ORMER Nigeria coach Samson Siasia has described Rashidi Yekini as the country ’s greatest football star ever.

Yekini died on May 4 2012 and at a memorial lecture and book launch in Ibadan on Thursday, Siasia paid a glowing tribute to Nigeria’s alltime record goals scorer. ”Rashidi Yekini was the best player Nigeria ever produced,” remarked Siasia.

“He was the player who qualified Nigeria to our first-ever World Cup, scored Nigeria’s firstever goal in the World Cup and won the highest goal scorer at the Nations Cup, he will always be there in my heart.

“I was not there when he was buried, but when I got a call from his lawyer, I said to myself that this is an opportunity to pay my last respect to him.

“The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) need to do something for him because this was the player who made history for our country and he needs to be honoured.

We need to honour our heroes who have done the country proud in one way or the other.”

However, Siasia, who played alongside the legendary star for several years in the Super Eagles, expressed disappointment with the poor attendance at the memorial lecture in honour of the prolific striker with many of his colleagues conspicuously absent.

He said, “Most of our colleagues are not here to honour the late Rashidi Yekini who served his fatherland. ”I learnt about this programme some weeks ago and I found my way here to honour my friend, who always made things happen on the field. This was an avenue to honour the player I played alongside 10 years ago.

“I didn’t know much about him because we were not very close except we are on the field or inside bus, where he used to crack jokes and make people laugh.''

C M Y K

•Late Yekini

Barca: End of an era

N

EWSPAPERS in Madrid yesterday proclaimed the end of the road for Barcelona’s imperious era after Bayern Munich completed a ruthless 7-0 aggregate Champions League semifinal victory at the Camp Nou. “The tie may already have been resolved after the 4-0 thrashing Bayern handed out in the first leg, but the Barca fans at least hoped for a dignified exit from Europe that in the end was only visible on the impressive mosaic held up by supporters before the game began,” AS wrote.

“Barca have reached the end of a path that was glorious. They have lived the best era of their history. They will win the league, they will continue to win titles and their current model should remain, but if what happened on Wednesday was a casting to decide who is and who is not worth keeping for the future, the club will need

to hire every removal company in Barcelona to help with the clearout.”

Madrid’s El País is equally brutal: “Barcelona is now an unrecognisable team in victory or defeat. The worst symptom was ultimately not to play Lionel Messi, but Messi knows that Bayern would have won anyway. The performance yesterday was unforgivable from a club of the greatness of Barcelona.”

Only the Barcelonabased Sport, the Camp Nou’s closest media ally, attempts to defend the performance: “Barça, martyred by injuries and

very, very fair of forces in this final stretch of the season, were not just a little tired at this point.

The symptoms of physical and mental exhaustion shown against rivals like Madrid in the Copa del Rey have been shown in a much more stark way against an energetic Bayern.”

The verdict on Bayern’s performance and what it means for German football is clearly evident.

“At Wembley, we will see the first all-German final in Champions League history,” Marca said.

“Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich have fired Germany back to the top of the European football pyramid.”

The German tabloid Hamburger Morgenpost agrees and is in no doubt about the significance of the week’s results: “The Spaniards were disenchanted in the semifinals. The two best teams in Europe come from the Bundesliga in its 50th anniversary year – it is a changing of the guard.”

'This is wh ep lef t' whyy P Pep left'

need “ DtoECISIONS be made,” said

Gerard Piqué after the match ended, without letting his pulse of 180 affect his ability to reflect as he stood in front of the ‘Canal Plus’ microphone, as if he had been coming to the

conclusion for a while. It was the same conclusion that Pep Guardiola reached when he decided to bid farewell to a club and a group of players who had given him everything.

The Spanish coach left because he could see

that what happened against Bayern Munich was going to happen sooner or later, whether against the Germans or against an inferior opponent like PSG. Guardiola was sure of it, as long as the team was not given a face-lift.

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54 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Delta State Federation Cup final will be a carnival — Amaju HE Warri City Stadium will wear a carnival-like atmosphere as football and music will hold sway, come Sunday 5th May, during the final of the Delta State Federations Cup. The Federations Cup which before now was known as the Challenge Cup, is the most glamorous and protected tournament in the calendar of the Delta State Football Association.

The Delta State FA under Amaju Melvin Pinnick, reputed for her prowess in organization, showmanship and private – sector initiatives, has the longest football sponsorship deal in Nigeria with Ecobank (formerly Oceanic Bank), as this edition marks the 14th year of their relationship.

According to Pinnick, this year’s edition would witness the presentation of awards to individuals who have contributed immensely to the development of Sports

S

in Delta State and Nigeria.

The recipients include veteran sports columnist, Mr. Paul Bassey (Football Personality Award), Pa John Ojidoh (Evergreen Award), Dr. John Oganwu (Lifetime Achievement Award) Ignatius Ajuonoma (Sports Journalist of the year) and Jibril Aku, MD of Ecobank (DFA Platinum Award) Others include Senforce Insurance Brokers (DFA Brand Award), Hon. Victor Ochei (DFA Selfless Service Award), and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, CON (DFA Diamond Award).

The afternoon would be spiced with live musical performance by Nigerian known artistes, Tiwa Savage and Davido.

Information gathered on good authority has indicated that the grand finale of the federations cup which would feature a match between Warri Wolves, a premier clubside locking horns with an amateur side, J. Atete will be beamed live on DSTV Supersports Channel beginning from 3pm.

INCE Dr. (Chief) Patrick Ekeji’s retirement was announced two weeks ago, there have been mixed reactions from many people on how he ran the National Sports Commission (NSC) in his capacity as director-general which began in 2009 and ended in April 2013.

The Director General, normally should be the engine room of sports in the country, the sports minister being a political appointee. The Presidency, however takes critical decisions on matters relating to funding and leaves administration of sports for NSC. The recent comments and interviews published in the Vangaurd Online (April 24 & April 26, 2013) respectively especially from the former Rivers State Attorney-General Adokiye Amiesimaka and former NFA Chairman Kojo Williams, both harsh critics of Ekeji and the National Sports Commission (NSC), have caught my attention. As a consequence, I was compelled to share my views on some of the salient points raised by Amiesimaka and Williams. Sports development, administration and coaching are complex and complicated undertakings in Nigeria.

To begin with, I agree with Amiesimaka that “Nigeria will continue to fail under the sports ministry” system.

We can learn one or two things from the National Universities Commission’s structure and framework.

Amiesimaka believed strongly that the National Sports Commission as it is now has no legal, moral and legislative authority to function effectively.

I also agree with Williams that “the standard of African football is low” and that we have a “mediocre league.” To rebuild our sports infrastructure including coaching and administration, Williams argues that we need “a philosophy of football development, a philosophy that takes us from youth U-10, U-15, U17, U-20 to the senior nation team.” Since Minister Bolaji Abdullahi took over before the London Olympics, he has made pronouncements about changes and adjustments that offer promise but offendS seasoned stakeholders because of lack of stiff action. One of such announcements is the newly formed NASCOM designed to address the concerns raised by Amiesimaka and Williams.

C M Y K

BY EVELYN USMAN

W

IFE of the Chief of Naval Staff and President of Naval Officers Wives Association, NOWA, Vivian Ezeoba, yesterday in Lagos, called on Nigerian women to engage themselves in regular exercises.

Ezeoba made the call while briefing journalists on the 1st NOWA Present Golf Tournament which began yesterday at the Dolphin Golf club, Navy Town, Lagos.

She described golf as a game associated with discipline, explaining that the initiative to stage a golf tournament was taken in order to bring to-

gether professional golfers from all over the country, as well as afford members of NOWA the opportunity to become professional golfers like their counterparts in other countries.

According to Ezeoba, the tournament which is the first of its kind in the history of the Nigerian Navy, was aimed among other things, “to keep members of the association fit and healthy.” She therefore called on Nigerian women to always exercise themselves, reminding them that “ if we make exercise part of our life style, our families will be better for it.”

Goalkeeper dies in his sleep

C

•Warri Wolves players celebrating a goal in a league match.

Patrick Ekeji and the future of the NSC

BY DR. SADIG ABDULLAHI, Florida, USA

,

T

NOWA president urges women to engage in exercise

Two weeks before he retired I had the opportunity to spend a week with him in Abuja to learn more about the challenges facing sports development in Nigeria.

,

Amiesimaka said that Ekeji failed to develop sports.

He said “look at the various sports federations, see the way they were set up, see the way they are run, see the way they are funded.” Furthermore, he said that “I am disappointed that he [Ekeji] had an opportunity, a golden opportunity to make a mark for himself but he failed to do so because he was too conscious of the interests of those around him.”

Williams is reserving judgment on Ekeji. Both Amiesmaka and Williams have interacted extensively with Ekeji and can pass judgment. For example, since the London 2012 Olympics debacle, the Nigeria sports community including the federal government, has been attempting to find lasting solutions to the problems facing sports especially the problems facing elite athletes in international competitions. In October 2012, the Federal Government organized the first National Sport Retreat 2012. Before the retreat, Chairmen of both the Senate and House Committees on Sports organized hearing and workshops to signal a new thinking and a new commitment to sports. Even the Senate President David Mark, who now has a stadium in his name in his state, made strong statements in support of a new direction.

For me, Chief Ekeji is not the problem of sports development. In America where individualism thrives, one person can make a big impact. In Nigeria, the

ROATIAN goal keeper Ivan Turina has died of suspected heart failure, aged just 32.

The stopper was firstchoice at Swedish club AIK, for whom he had

played 89 times, having signed from Dinamo Zagreb in 2010.

Turina was found in his home near Stockholm having apparently died in his sleep. No foul play is suspected at this time.

success of a team is shared by the whole. Ask Siasia and now Keshi. The problem may well be in our political, socio-cultural, and the lack of a middle class to provide the financial base for sports development, as seen in developed nations. Ekeji’s primary responsibility was not to develop sports but to administer and provide enabling policies and guidelines, focus and direction. He seemed to have achieved that. The main problems remains the overly politicized, overly corrupt, overly ineptitude of the technical team including coaches, and overly insensitive sports administrators, who parade themselves as “know it all and do it all.”

But I am encouraged when the NSC announced the creation of the High Performance Sports Directorate. This will perhaps be one of the legacies of Chief Ekeji. If done well the directorate may be the catalyst needed to begin the true transformation of sports in Nigeria. To have a lasting positive effect, the directorate must create a system, structure, framework, and process that should be holistic, qualitative, and integrative. NSC has also announced that six elite sports will be properly developed and funded, and will be run through the directorate. NSC has begun the process of identifying high and performance directors to help prepare young and talented athletes compete exceptionally in regional and international competitions.

Since 2009, I have been in contact with Chief Ekeji and we have been sharing ideas, information and discussing how Nigerians in Diaspora can contribute to national sports development. Two weeks before he retired I had the opportunity to spend a week with him in Abuja to learn more about the challenges facing sports development in Nigeria.

The High Performance Sports Directorate, another pronouncement of the minister Abdullahi, may well be a game changing strategy. This is the creation of Chief Ekeji. If all goes well, Chief Ekeji will be positioned to make substantial contribution in real terms in his retirement. I am expected to be part of the new vision.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 55

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08053068728

the federal government and begin to do a few little things on our own. When we get it right, they may key in. Let’s begin to provide little services and do things that may breath life into our sports in our communities and see if our leaders could be influenced to think positively.

Can a school principal insist on some standards for their Inter House Sports Competitions? an all states organise Secondary School Games from Local Government to State level? Can our schools hire coaches to train their athletes? Can parents take note of the huge money in sports and encourage their children who have talents in sports to take to sports? Can the ministry of education in every state insist on schools having play grounds before they can be registered? Can we have sports departments in ministries of education for the purposes of keeping data on student athletes and other professional services that can boost sports programmes in schools? How can we read about athletes earning over a $100,000 for a 100m race with all other expenses paid and we don’t want to develop sports? How can we read about footballers earning up to $200,000 a week and we sit down here waiting for government to lead the way? Why are we denying our children a share of the billions sports stakes every year? Our governments have been failing us and I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Those ogas at the top won’t do much for us. Government was not in charge of sports at the time Porbeni ran in secondary school with a puma spike shoe and earned scholarship here and there more than 40 years ago. I paid N5,000 for my last son to partake in their inter house sports last term. Can we hold Inter House Sports every term and if all students pay N5,000 for that, the schools may hire coaches and run good sports programmes that may produce worthy athletes. So, can we begin to do the little things that may matter? The scholarships are still there in America if we can produce the talents?

American universities are still ready to offer scholarships to student athletes but they can’t find qualified ones any more. Let Parents/ Teachers Associations begin to do some little things in the schools. Even suggesting ideas is enough contribution.

Let’s help ourselves because government officials will continue to fail us.

Self interest will continue to take the better part of them. I believe we can begin to change and lead the way for our children to partake in sharing the billions of money sports throws up every year. Let’s invest in sports. It will pay us to do so.

C

The little things that matter taken over reason.

But do we continue to celebrate our past and continue to lament about our present conditions without doing something about it? We know that one of our major problems is lack of merit in appointments, otherwise, the man in charge of secondary school games would

Can the ministry of education in every state insist on schools having play grounds before they can be registered?

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EBRUARY 2013: Seigha Porbeni called me from Port Harcourt where he was watching the last Secondary School Games and lamented this way: ‘’Onochie, more than 40 years ago I competed as a student in this country wearing puma spike shoes.

Today, our students are running barefooted. What’s happening?’’

I think that most readers of this column can answer Porbeni, a veteran in track and field.

Porbeni himself knew what the problem was but I guess that he just wanted to share his sad experience with me.

I may be repeating myself if I say that what is happening in our sports is a reflection of the state of our polity – rot in many areas. Porbeni knew that 40 years ago, athletes could not have protested against high standards set to make them improve as they did last week in Benin. Porbeni could as well say that more than 20 years ago, he drove from Lagos to Benin in three hours, the same distance that takes more than five hours today due to the poor state of the road. 40 years ago, pipe born water flowed where we have wells and boreholes now. 40 years ago, you got a job on leaving school. 40 years ago the standard of education was higher than what it is today. Standards have fallen in almost all sectors, not only sports.

At the time Porbeni was talking about, Nigeria could boast of many competitions among schools. The system to develop athletes was there. Porbeni enjoyed sports scholarship from secondary school to the university level at the time. Which schools in Nigeria now offer scholarship to worthy athletes? Last year, Stephen Keshi visited his former Primary School in Lagos and discovered that a building now stood on the field that produced him. It is so in many schools today. I would always refer to my beloved Government College Umuahia. We had four soccer fields with a hockey pitch, two tennis courts, a standard track and field ground (different from the soccer pitches), a cricket oval, basketball court and a golf course at the masters quarters. That was one secondary school in Nigeria then. The madness extended beyond sports. The land housing the zoo in Enugu where, as kids, we visited, has been sold out and houses now occupy our once famous Enugu zoo. It’s same with so many estates in Nigeria where the original plan accommodated gardens or parks for recreational activities. FESTAC in Lagos is one. I was among those who played football at Polo Park in Enugu. That’s where you have Shoprite Mall now. The madness is everywhere. No respect for nature, recreation or GREEN life. Madness has

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have insisted on some standards. Many who have served as sports commissioners and ministers of sports would have never been so appointed. eadership has always failed Nigeria in all areas including sports. We returned from the London Olympics and made so much noise about our failure that the Federal Government held a sports retreat in Abuja. But as I write today, there’s no programme to elicit hope. No action to match their words. My advise today is for us to begin to do some little things that may help us. Let’s not rely on our leaders and those who run our sports at the national level. Let’s forget

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Chelsea must pay £12m to free Mourinho from Real Madrid

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OMAN Abramovich will have to pay as much as £12million to bring Jose Mourinho back to Chelsea.

The Real Madrid coach inserted a break clause in the four-year contract he signed at the Bernabeu last summer after he won La Liga.

Mourinho’s contract runs until 2016, but

Man U post a record turnover of £91.7 million

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ANCHESTER United posted a record third-quarter turnover of £91.7million in figures released to the New York Stock Exchange today.

United also outlined an increase of 52.2 per cent in sponsorship revenue and have adjusted expectations of overall annual income to £360million. United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: “Each of our three primary sectors - commercial, broadcasting and matchday - delivered strong top-line gains.

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Chelsea may have to pay Madrid up to a year of that to bring him back to Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho claimed he will be leaving the Spanish club after they were beaten in the Champions League semi-final for the third successive year.

He had a gentleman’s

Continues from B/P from well meaning Nigerians, especially, the Nigeria Football Federation we wish to state, for the avoidance of doubt, that Sunday Mba remains a player of Warri Wolves and all financial and federating rights remain with Warri Wolves.”

The club went further to say that what it was doing was “in the interest of the nation and also, not to put the

agreement with Madrid president Florentino Perez that he could walk away from his contract without financial compensation if they went on to win their 10th European Cup. Instead Chelsea will have to negotiate Mourinho’s release from the world’s biggest football club if

Mba career of Mba in jeopardy.”

The release letter was signed by the Secreatary of the club, Lawrence Omowho and sent to the Nigeria Football Federation.

However, Rangers flew out to Angola for a Champions League tie Thursday without Super Eagles Afcon star Sunday Mba and Emeka Ezeh due to a passport hassle.

Both players were on

Abramovich decides to appoint him.

Chelsea, who were turned down by Mourinho when they made an approach last summer, have the Portuguese coach in their sights, even though Abramovich paid £18m to get rid of him and his staff in 2007.

•Mourinho

Emenalo Continues from B/P the final 18-man squad for this Saturday ’s Champions league third round second leg match against Recreativo Libolo, but they were dropped at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos Thursday afternoon after the German embassy could not release their passports submitted earlier by the NFF for Eagles training tour of Germany.

adamant the midfielder, who was expected to equal or break Bobby Tambling’s Blues goals record of 202 against Basel last night will not be offered a new deal.

Lampard had been hoping to hear from his former boss Mourinho, but there has been no contact.

It’s thought Lampard, 34, who is mulling over offers from Manchester United and LA Galaxy, will wait to see if Mourinho can change Abramovich’s mind.

But it seems Mourinho does not want to get on the wrong side of Abramovich by making too many early demands.

Incoming players – and Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk is top of his list – are of more immediate concern to the Portuguese.

Interim boss Rafa Benitez was asked yesterday how he felt about his rival’s constant hints at returning to Chelsea this summer.

“Each one has his way,” said Benitez. “My way is to concentrate on the next game. That’s it.”

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

I-N-S-I-D-E

In Emenalo I trust — Abramovich

Onochie Anibeze P.55

ROMAN Abramovich has shown Chelsea manager-in-waiting Jose Mourinho who’s the boss by refusing to axe one of his key men at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho wanted the Blues’ technical director Michael Emenalo – the eyes and ears of Abramovich – to be dismissed prior to his return.

But Starsport can reveal the 47-year-old Nigerian exinternational has been told his job is safe, even when the departing Real Madrid boss returns to London this summer.

In another development that shows the

Sadiq Abdullahi defends Ekeji — P.54

•Emenalo

PUZZLE

Continues on Page 55

Wolv es free Mba ffor or C AF olves CAF Champions League ...But Rangers travel without him

A

FTER a crucial meeting which ended at about 11am Thursday, the Management of Warri Wolves Football Club decided to give embattled Nigerian Afcon 2013 hero, Sunday Mba a provisional release to Rangers International Football

Club so he can play this weekend’s CAF Champions League match against Angola.

In a statement signed by the Media officer of the club, Moses Etu, The Management said, “having actually listened to the pleas

Continues on Page 55

•Mba

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

power of Abramovich, Mourinho has made no attempt to contact Blues star Frank Lampard.

Russian billionaire Abramovich seems

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Niche (6) 5 Jumped (6) 9 Drug (5) 10 Mutilate (6) 11 Torn (6) 12 Liability (5) 14 Tender (4) 17 Defective (3) 18 Present (4) 20 Javelin (5) 22 Assessed (5) 23 Undershirt (7) 24 Heaped (5) 26 Danger (5) 29 Tart (4) 30 Limb (3) 32 Fruit (4) 33 Foot-lever (5) 35 Twisted (6) 36 Liking (6) 37 Heron (5) 38 Entertain (6) 39 Guard (6)

DOWN 1 Careless (6) 2 Middle (6) 3 Peddled (4) 4 Rate (5) 5 Sensational (5) 6 Discharge (4) 7 Marionette (6) 8 Evaded (6) 13 Botched (7) 15 Eye-related (5) 16 Relaxed (5) 18 Loathed (5) 19 Send (5) 21 Free (3) 22 Material (3) 24 Clergyman (6) 25 Alive (6) 27 Devastate (6) 28 Myth (6) 30 Shelf (5) 31 Yawned (5) 33 Rind (4) 34 Tardy (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

How to Play Sudoku

ACROSS: 4, Speak 7, Absorb 9, For 10, Bed 12, Minor 13, Tour 15, Ailed 17, Refuse 19, Edam 20, Steer 22, Pep 24, Debased 27, Tor 28, React 31, Mess 33, Rising 35, Teeth 37, Team 38, Shred 39, Yet 41, Rig 42, Dulcet 43, Grant.

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 1, Cactus 2, Assure 3, Orb 4, Some 5, Pride 6, Aromatic 8, Beau 11, Disparity 14, Reed 16, Leas 18, Fret 21, Together 23, Peri 25. Bore 26. Dent 29, Agency 30, Tomato 32, Stern 34, Shed 36, Edit 40, Tun.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

P

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

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

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

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