Fuel tanker fire razes Lagos community

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 62414

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N150

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Fuel tanker fire razes Lagos community

By Olasunkanmi Akani & Bose Adelaja

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•14 injured,34 buildings, 44 shops, 21 vehicles burnt •We'll help victims get back to business — AMBODE •N8bn fraud: Six CBN officials remanded in prison 11

AGOS—NO fewer than 14 people were injured, while property worth millions of naira were destroyed, yesterday, in Lagos as a tanker laden with 33,000 litres of petrol fell off Iyana-Ipaja bridge, resulting in an explosion which triggered a fire that raged for about 10 hours.

Affected property include a popular recording company, Remi Odus; electrical cables, Continues on Page 5

Suicide bomber kills 25 in Borno abattoir

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Ndigbo ‘ll never suffer under Buhari’s administration — Moghalu Fire—Scene of the explosion and the crowd. Photos: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor and Kehinde Gbadamosi. More pix on Page 52.

Buhari set to name Chief of Staff, other senior aides today 10 COLUMNISTS: Remaining on a theme Buhari and the awake through a Reflections President Buhari's unfinished business great revolution in inaugural speech •P.19 of governance •P.19 •P.17

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She's keen to have his love •P.39 child

ide ns I e Se

Mr & Mrs

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

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POCKET CARTOON

MEETING: President Muhammadu Buhari with service chiefs in Abuja, yesterday. Standing is National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki(retd).

Fuel tanker fire razes Lagos community Continues from Page 1 34 buildings, 44 shops, six tricycles and 22 vehicles, among others.

The incident happened around 1a.m. when the tanker which was moving from Agege end of the road lost control and fell off the bridge at Iyana-Ipaja, spilling its contents which spread to five adjoining streets on the axis.

There were conflicting accounts about the cause of the incident which some people attributed to fatigue on the part of the driver, while others said it was caused by brake failure.

State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has since visited the scene of the inferno, pledging to look into the situation.

The affected areas included Adebayo, Jafojo, Oremeji, Abule Oki, Ipaja Road and Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Eye witnesses’ accounts said both the tanker driver and his conductor escaped unhurt, while 14 others sustained minor injuries and were treated and discharged by medics of the Lagos State Ambulance Services, LASAMBUS.

Area Boys on the prowl While the inferno lasted, some street urchins, popularly known as area boys, took advantage of the situation to loot several shops, carting away valuables.

The arrival of law enforcement agents, however, restored order in the area.

One of the victims, Remi Odus, who spoke with Vanguard , lamented that the incident was sudden and

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

If you have nothing nice to say about a person, then do not say a thing— Bambi

W

E show love by demonstrating our actions to others, and one way to do this, is to show appreciation. Always help others to build their dream castles. These are aspirations and goals that we all pursue. Help another understand their divinity through your uplifting actions but remember there is a thin line that separates you too, for freedom to be, it comes with responsibility. Be nice and people will be nice, be friendly and people will be friendly.

Look at the fine qualities in your fellow man... and you too will radiate those virtues. Do not try to influence others deliberately or through subtle means to dislike or hate another.

Build solid foundation through your actions and imbibe attributes that will uplift you. Love comes only to those who give love. And even if you know all these already, just practice it more. Life is a Journey. We get the best ride through our most uplifting actions.

could send the victims out of business.

“Many of us stocked our shops with goods before the close of work, unknown to us that tragedy will occur.

Millions of Naira have been lost and the tanker driver is nowhere to be found," he said.

Other traders wept profusely at the scene, counting their losses.

A tricyclist (Okada rider), identified as Sina, said he got his tricycle on hire purchase and was yet to complete payment when the incident occurred.

“If I knew an inferno will occur, I would have parked my ‘keke’ (tricycle) in another place. I have not even paid up to 1/4 of the money and now I am left without hope,” he lamented.

Director, Lagos State Fire Services, Mr. Fadipe, and South West Information Officer, National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, who were also at the scene of the incident, said no life was lost, but Fadipe said 14 people sustained minor injuries and had been treated.

The traffic situation in the area was light as motorists stayed off the axis for some time until normalcy was restored.

In a related development, tragedy was averted at Magbon, Badagry, when another tanker laden with 33, 000 litres of petrol was said to have collided with a truck, spilling its content on the road. The

incident which occurred overnight, was jointly handled by the state fire services and other stakeholders.

Ambode pledges support

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, who visited the scene of the accident promised to compensate those who lost property and assist them get back to their normal businesses soonest.

The governor, who inspected the affected areas, was accompanied by the State Police Commissioner, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, and the permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Special Duties, Dr Aderemi Desalu, and Home Affairs, Mrs. Grace Oladimeji.

Ambode assured that as soon as he receives the report of the accident, his administration would within the next 48 hours do something positive to ensure that life returns to normal for victims.

He said: “As at 1a.m. this morning, a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of petrol fell from Ipaja Bridge and spilled all its contents within the environs of Ipaja, covering almost five streets here. In the last four hours, all our emergency agencies have been effectively on ground and we have been able to manage and control consequences of what 33,000 litres of petrol would have done to this neighbourhood.

“We would ensure that all those who have lost

properties and their shops are compensated; we would quickly find a way to help them get back to their normal business lives. I will receive the report of the fire incident in the next 48 hours and we would ensure that we do something positively to ensure that lives can return to normal.”

He added that at the last count, all the emergency agencies have reported that everything has been put under control, adding that two other similar incidents were recorded in Badagry and Ojo town overnight.

While thanking God that no life was lost, Ambode said the incidents have shown more reasons why tanker drivers must re-examine their operations because, according to him, the state government cannot afford to continue losing precious lives and properties to indiscipline on the part of tanker drivers.

“It would also mean that our tanker drivers have to start to do something about their operations. We cannot continue to record losses of lives and properties because our tanker drivers are not disciplined”, the governor said.

The Executive Secretary of Agbado/ Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, Famoyiran, commended the governor, the state Police Commissioner and the emergency agencies for their timely intervention which he said saved the community from serious damage.

Eyewitnesses' account

Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports on the cause of the Iyana-Ipaja accident. One account revealed that the tanker with number plate KJA 238 XN, veered off the

Iyana-Ipaja Bridge after experiencing brake failure. The report said the tanker exploded 40 minutes after the accident.

Another account had it that a haulage vehicle, whose driver was avoiding arrest by the Police, collided with a broken-down tanker on the Iyana-Ipaja Bridge and veered off the bridge.

Though at press time, it was uncertain what ignited the fire but Mr. Michael Adedayo, a resident, said that the fire was ignited at Bakare Jafojo Street where the content had spilled to.

He said: “I do not know when the accident occurred but the tanker driver and the night security officials raised alarm to alert the residents of the possible havoc. Few minutes after this, the explosion occurred from the Bakare Jafojo Street. When we came out, the entire community was enveloped in thick black smoke. Seeing this, none of us could wait to extinguish the fire. We had to wait for the state fire service officials,” he added.

Another resident, Miss Taiwo Odewale, lamented that the inferno would have been avoided if the fire service officials had arrived earlier.

LASEMA

Confirming the loss of property as well as the impact of the explosion, Head of Operations, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, L ASEMA, Mr. Femi Giwa, said that 14 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries but “ were treated at the scene by the health officials attached to Lagos State Ambulance Service, LASAMBUS and d i s c h a r g e d immediately.”

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Snakes, frogs, other reptiles packaged as gifts for lepers

By Wole Mosadomi

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INNA—THE lives of people with leprosy in Niger State are daily being exposed to further danger as the rich in the society now throw at them on the highway frogs and other dangerous reptiles packaged as gifts.

The leprosy patients had had to take themselves to the highway to beg for alms for survival due to abandonment by governments at all levels.

Operation Manager of Leprosy Mission Nigeria, Dr. Pius Ogbu Sunday, told journalists during a training for media practitioners on Reducing Leprosy Related Stigma and Discrimination that snakes, frogs and other dangerous reptiles were being packaged in Bagco bags as gifts to people affected with leprosy on the highways where they begged.

He said: “These people that have virtually turned beggars on the highways in a desperate move to survive. ‘’ Eventually, they have had their problems compounded by being given these dangerous gifts and LMN continues to wonder what these “good Samaritans” are up to. ‘’Because of these frequent sad developments, these afflicted leprosy patients are now becoming more agitated

and becoming scared when approached to be given gifts, they have no alternative than to collect such gifts for survival but they are becoming more careful while receiving such gifts. ‘’What they do now is that after collecting any gift wrapped in Bagco bags or any other container, such containers are kept at a distance. ‘’They watch the container from far for a couple of hours and after being convinced of the safety, such bags are picked” He noted that people afflicted with leprosy had been living a pathetic life in the country in the past years, lamenting that all the tiers of government in the country had paid little or no attention to their plight.

Dr Sunday noted that specialised hospitals built for them had become dilapidated, adding that they had to hit the highways begging to survive.

Flood At ile-ise Bus-stop on Agbado Crossing, Ogun State, after the heavy down-pour, due to the bad portion of the road, yesterady. Photo; Akeem Salau

3 feared dead, 10 caterpillars burnt as gunmen invade Orient Petroleum refinery

By Vincent Ujumadu

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WKA—THREE persons were feared dead and property worth millions of naira, including 10 caterpillars and houses, were destroyed when

gunmen suspected to be from Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State invaded the facilities of the controversial Orient Petroleum Resources at Aguleri Otu in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The three dead persons were staff of the oil company, while several others injured in attack are receiving treatment in hospitals.

Orient Petroleum, commissioned by former President Goodluck Jonathan in

Mother of 7, ex-soldier’s wife arrested with hard drugs inside private part ....We went into drug because our husbands abandoned us —Suspects

By Evelyn Usman & Daniel Eteghe

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PERATIVES OF National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, arrested two housewives for ingesting about 2.635 kilogrammes of cocaine and hiding some quantity in their underwear and private part.

They arrested by the operatives while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to China.

One of the suspects, Mrs. Alaka Deburah Uzoma, 47, was found with 1.180 kilogrammes of cocaine as she inserted 260 grammes of substance in her private part and also ingested 60 wraps weighing 920 grammes.

The second suspect, Mrs. Chukwujekwu Chinyere Priscilla, a 45 years old housewife, was caught with 1.455 kilogrammes of cocaine as she packed 59 wraps on her body, inserted one parcel

weighing 1.285 kilogrammes in her vagina and ingested ten wraps weighing 170 grams.

Recounting her ordeal, Mrs. Chukwujekwu Chinyere Priscilla said she wanted to establish herself financially to take care of her children, stressing that was the major reason she got involved in smuggling drug.

“I am married to a soldier but he abandoned me ten years ago when he retired from the Army. I got married early because there was no money for me to further my studies after my primary education. ‘’Since then, my life has been sorrowful. I sell female clothes and shoes to take care of my children. I met a man at the market who promised to assist me in my business by making me an importer. This was how we began to talk on phone. ‘’He gives me recharge cards and money to sustain myself.

It was the day I was to travel that he told me that I will take drugs to China. He took me to a hotel where I was given the drugs and six thousand

dollars to buy my goods in China. ‘’I could only swallow ten wraps, so I forced some in my vagina and packed others in my underwear.”

The second suspects, Mrs. Alaka Deborah Uzoma, also said that her husband abandoned her with seven children.

“I sell female bags and shoes to sustain myself and my children. My husband left me in 2005 and since then, I have been facing several challenges. I took loan to travel to China and in the process, I incurred huge debt which compounded my problems.

“At a point, I had no money for food, school fees and even house rent. This was what made me to smuggle drugs. I swallowed 59 wraps of drugs all through the night because of 6,000 dollars. ‘’I also packed some in my underwear and one in my vagina. It was a terrible experience. I feel so sad that I have to end up this way as a Christian,” she lamented.

Speaking on the arrest, NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, said the suspects were desperate drug traffickers, having to ingest and insert drugs in their vagina.

Mr. Umar said: “These women are curiously desperate for ingesting drugs, packing some on their bodies and inserting in their vagina.”

Meanwhile, chairman of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, said the action of the women was disgraceful, adding that it was better they were caught in Nigeria instead of China where there was capital punishment for drug trafficking.

“It is good that the drugs were detected here by our officials because China has capital punishment for drug trafficking. ‘’This arrest has saved them from death and the country from embarrassment. Their action was utterly disgraceful because as mothers they ought to show good example for their children to emulate,” Giade said.

He said the suspects would soon be charged to court for drug smuggling.

2012, had been in dispute between the neighbouring communities in Kogi and Anambra states, with both sides laying claims to ownership of the oil rich land.

The armed men said to number about 200, according to an eye witness, stormed the petroleum facility at about noon, taking the workers and security men attached to the facility unawares.

They were said to have assaulted every person in sight, while the entire offices, operational and personal vehicles, buildings, generating sets and other official and private properties in the premises of the petroleum company were destroyed.

The eyewitness said the surprising thing was that the large number of security operatives permanently stationed at the refinery, were not present at the time of the attack..

Chief Abel Emezi for burial

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HIEF ABEL Emezi of Umuosoro Nnono Oboro, Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, is dead, aged 101.

Wake-keep holds on Friday, June 5, 2015 at his residence, Umuosoro Nnono Oboro, with interment on June 6, body leaves Awomukwu Mortuary for his residence followed by interment at his compound.

He is survived by children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Late Chief Emezi

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—7

Five confirmed dead after eating dog meat in Rivers

By Davies Iheamnachor

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T least five persons have been confirmed dead at Woji, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, after eating dog meat from a popular inn in the area.

The mysterious death has raised tension in the community as people have begun to question the tragic result that has followed the eating of dog meat alleged to have been cooked by one Friday Dickson, popularly called Etiaba.

Vanguard gathered that Etiaba had been in the area for a long time, running an inn where he cooks only dog meat in Mini-Woji Road at Woji Town.

Mr Brain Ogbondah, a member of the community, revealed that five people who ate the dog meat prepared by Etiaba, among others, had been confirmed dead some hours after eating the dog

meat.

He said the situation has mounted tension in the community, resulting in an

emergency meeting by the council of chiefs and elders, with a view to locating other members of the community

who also ate the dog meat.

He said the suspect fled the community after the five people were confirmed dead.

LOADED: Okada rider carrying a passanger with heavy load on Apapa Oshodi Expressway in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola (Photo Editor)

Imo Poly Rector shuns summons to Okija shrine

By Chidi Nkwopara

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WERRI—THE Rector of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Rev. Fr. Wence Madu, who was recently summoned to Okija Shrine in respect of complaints made against him by some staff of the institution, has said he would never respond to the invitation.

Fr. Madu, while speaking to the press in Owerri, also confirmed that he received another letter last week from operators of the shrine to remind him of the earlier summons.

“As a Catholic priest, I am a priest of the highest deity. It is absurd for me to honour an invitation from a lower deity,” Fr. Madu said.

While noting that anybody who had issues with him or the institution should follow all legitimate procedures in pursuing his grievances, the Rector also said he could not maltreat or preside over injustice as a priest.

“The origin of the letter is a ripple effect of what I am doing to deal with the issue of fake results that is everywhere and to stop the lecturers in their extortion, which has sadly become a widespread way of life in the institution,” Fr. Madu explained.

The Rector disclosed that some people had been sent to the institution’s disciplinary committee, stressing that they

were already afraid that they might lose their jobs.

“The council was a bit lenient last week when they met and stepped down some of the lecturers.

‘’This is why they are resorting to panic measures to intimidate the authorities,” Fr. Madu added.

He affirmed that he would

not be deterred from his quest to sanitize the institution, with a view to ensuring quality teaching and learning in the polytechnic.

Banker crushed to death by BRT bus

By Bose Adelaja

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banker, Segun Ajisebutu, was yesterday crushed by a BRT bus at Palmgrove bus-stop, Lagos, while dashing across the BRT lane.

The incident reportedly occurred around 6am, under Palmgrove pedestrian bridge when the victim was going to his place of work, a new generation bank.

Segun was neatly dressed in shirt and trousers with a tie to match when he was knocked down on the Palmgrove/Jibowu axis of the BRT lane and he died on the spot.

The accident was said to have resulted in traffic gridlock which took over the BRT lane for hours until the arrival of law enforcement agents who restored normalcy.

The body was laid on the service lane where he was later identified through some documents found on him.

The development was also announced on a radio station where one of his relatives got wind of the situation and contacted other relatives.

One of the victim’s relatives who identified himself as Lekan, told Vanguard in a telephone conversation: “He was a promising guy and I spoke with him on phone last Sunday when he gave me an assignment to be collected on Friday. It was sad to

hear the announcement of his death on radio this morning (yesterday),” Segun, a father of two from Ondo State, was said to be in his early 30s when he met his untimely death and the body had been deposited in a morgue.

Man docked over alleged $30,000 fraud

By Jane Echewodo

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AGOS—A 47-year-old man, Abdullahi Ismaila Mubarak, has been arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate Court for allegedly obtaining $30,000 by false pretence.

The defendant, with no fixed address, is facing a threecount charge of obtaining and stealing preferred against him by the police.

The prosecutor, E.I. Nnamonu, ASP, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence on February 4, 2015, at Oke Odo pleasure, Abule- Egba, Lagos.

He said the defendant obtained the sum from

Mrs.Temitope Kalejaiye under the pretext of changing the dollars to naira which he did not do.

According to the presecutor, the offence is punishable under Section 312(a)(b) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge against him and Chief Magistrate A.O Komolafe granted him bail in the sum of N5,000,000, with two sureties who must show evidence of three years tax payment and a verifiable home address.

She adjourned the case till July 9, 2015.

Man arraigned for allegedly causing injury to Perm Sec

By Bartholomew Madukwe

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LUNWA Edozie, 29, was yesterday arraigned before an Oshodi Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly causing injury to the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr. Modele Oshunkiyesi, in an official vehicle.

Edozie, whose address is unknown, was accused of driving a Honda Pilot Jeep in a negligent manner.

He was said to have driven against traffic and consequently rammed into a Toyota Avensis in which Oshunkiyesi was an occupant.

The accused is facing a two-count charge of negligent driving brought against him by the police.

One of the charge read: “That you Olunwa Edozie ‘m’ on May 23, 2015, at about 2200hrs along Apapa Oshodi Expressway, inward Mile 2, being the driver in charge of a Honda Pilot Jeep Reg. No. LSR 883 DH, did drive same in a negligent manner by driving against traffic and consequently rammed into a Toyota Avensis salon car Reg. No. LA 082 A08, an official vehicle of the Ministry of Health, Lagos State, valued at N7 million, critically damaged it in the process.”

Police prosecutor, Cpl. Kehinde Olatunde, informed the court that the offence was contrary to and punishable under section 28 (1) (A) Cap 172 Vol. 7 of Road Traffic Law, Laws of Lagos State Nigeria 2004.

However, when the charge was read to the accused before Magistrate Akeem Fashola, he pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Fashola granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000, with one surety who must be a blood relation and had paid tax for three years.

Fashola ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody till perfection of his bail and adjourned the case to June 29, for mention.

8—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

We'll provide conducive atmosphere for emergence of NASS leadership —APC zAs NWC meets Buhari

By Ben Agande

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BUJA — THE All Progressive Congress, APC, yesterday, said it will provide a conducive atmosphere for its members in the National Assembly to elect its officers.

National Chairman of the party, John Odigie Oyegun, disclosed this after leading members of the National Working Committee of the party to a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Chief Oyegun, the NWC met with President Buhari to assure him of their unalloyed support and loyalty.

On the emergence of the leadership of the National Assembly, the APC chairman assured that there would be no crisis in the choice of leaders of the National Assembly.

He said: “There will be no crisis, I want to give you that assurance. We are very conscious of the fact that the National Assembly is a separate arm of government and the constitution provides that they are the ones responsible for electing their officers. All we have to do is provide for them a conducive environment of doing just that.”

He said he led his colleagues in the National Working Committee to pay their respects to the President.

“We have not done so before now because we wanted the event to move to the ultimate climax which is his installation as President and Commander-in-Chief and that has occurred. So we just came here to felicitate with him, pledge our loyalty, determination to work with him through thick and thin.

That he can always depend on the party that he used as a platform to become President of this great nation.

“We noted the fact that expectations are extremely high and that the public expects a totally new dawn.

On that score, we told him we are with you, Mr. President you will succeed because the entire party will be galvanized as one man behind you to ensure that days into this presidency that Nigerians will indeed see that things are changing."

Boko Haram: Military set to move command centre to Maiduguri

By Ben Agande

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BUJA — THE Military High Command is set to move its command centre to Maiduguri, Borno State in compliance with the presidential directive.

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, who spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting between the service chiefs and President Muhammadu Buhari said the meeting provided the service chiefs an opportunity to brief the Commander in Chief on the general security situation in the country.

According to the Naval Chief, the directive by the Commander-in-Chief that the Command Centre of the military be moved to Maiduguri must be obeyed with dispatch.

He said: “Since he was inaugurated as our commander-in-chief, this is the first time that we are formally meeting him to give general security briefing of the country. We have been able to provide insights into the security situation of Nigeria.

“Specifically on Boko Haram, with the level of successes being recorded, we want to maintain the tempo and sustain it until they are routed out.

“On the command centre, we will go back and work on it. Soon it will be carried out, it is a Presidential directive, it must be carried out, and we must do that as quickly as possible.”

The Chief of Naval Staff appealed to Nigerians to continue to provide intelligence to the military to enhance the success of the war against Boko Haram.

He said: “All Nigerians should continue to support the military and provide us with the needed intelligence.

Their movements and suspicious movement should be reported to the police, of course the police will make that available to us. You know as we continue to put pressure on them, in the Sambisa area, they will try to run away from there and then create further problems, using improvised explosives devices.

“Like I told you, we are sustaining the tempo and the successes we have recoded so far, we want to continue to maintain that and if there is any suggested solutions that requires amendments or alteration of

what we’re doing, why not?

Most especially the more they give us the intelligence, the better.”

The service chiefs, who arrived at the Defence House a few minutes to noon, immediately went into the meeting with the President.

The National Security

Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) had arrived the Defence House few minutes before the service chiefs.

The Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Air Staff as well as the Inspector General of Police were led into the meeting by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air

Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.

Vanguard gathered that the service chiefs briefed President Buhari on the fight against Boko Haram and also provided talking points for him as he meets with the Presidents of Niger and Chad respectively today and tomorrow.

VISIT: Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State (right) welcoming Mr. Michael Galway of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation when he visited the Governor in Sokoto, yesterday.

Nigerians expect too much from Buhari —DFID zCalls for participation of more women in politics

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

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BUJA — THE Department for International Development, DFID, Nigeria, yesterday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure prompt fulfilment of the promises he made to Nigerians during his electioneering campaigns.

DFID, a department of the government of the United Kingdom, is responsible for administering overseas aid, however noted that Nigerians expect too much from the new administration.

Speaking at a pre-inaugural retreat for newly elected members of the National Assembly organised by Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC, in conjunction with Senators Forum, head of DFID in Nigeria, Mr. Ben Mellor, insisted that the eyes of the world are currently focused on Nigeria.

More women in politics

While imploring Buhari to encourage the participation of more women in his administration, Mellor

observed that whereas there are 29 per cent of women currently in the UK parliament, he decried that only four per cent of the new members of the House of Representatives in Nigeria are women, with seven percent of them in the Senate.

He said: “Getting more women into politics should also be a priority for Nigeria.

The cameras of the world are on Nigeria at this critical time.”

Responsive and accountable govt

Meanwhile, DFID yesterday urged the new lawmakers to champion the struggle for a more responsive and accountable government in the country.

The federal lawmakers were further charged to play individual and collective roles towards putting the administration of President Buhari on check at all times.

Though Mellor lauded the outgoing lawmakers for their successful passage of key legislations like the Administration of Criminal

Justice Bill and the Pension Reform Bill, which he said would greatly improve the welfare of Nigerians, he maintained that there are still many areas yearning for legislative attention.

“It is very disappointing that there are still hundreds of Bills awaiting second reading at both the Senate and the House, that is an area of improvement for the country to move forward,” Mellor said.

He tasked the new lawmakers to mount serious checks and balances on the executive arm of the government, saying the country deserves “a more purposeful, inclusive and responsive legislative organ.”

Earlier in his welcome remark, Executive Director of PLAC, Mr. Clement Nwankwo, said the retreat was aimed at helping the new lawmakers to fully understand the importance of effective legislation for nationbuilding.

The retreat which had the theme, ‘Building Synergy with CSOs, Media and Constituents’, was chaired by the Chairman of Senators Forum, Senator Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—9

Buhari seeks Senate’s approval to appoint 15 advisers May head Petroleum Ministry

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke

As Senate congratulates him, Osinbajo

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BUJA — PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate seeking approval to appoint 15 Special Advisers.

This came as indications emerged, yesterday, that the President is likely to head the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in the emerging cabinet, rather than trust anyone else with the source of most of Nigeria’s revenue, his associates said.

Buhari, in the letter which was his first to the Senate after his inauguration, explained that the request was in line with Section 151 (2-3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The letter, which was signed

by Buhari and addressed to the Senate President, David Mark and read at the plenary, explained that the 15 Special Advisers would help him carry out his constitutional roles as the President and Commanderin-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The letter stated: “Pursuant to the provision of Section 151 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which confers on me to appoint Special Advisers to assist me in the performance of my functions.

“I write to request for your kind consideration and approval of the distinguished members of the Senate of the Federal Republic to appoint Fifteen (15) Advisers as prescribed in Section 151 (23) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)."

Senate congratulates Buhari, Osinbajo Meanwhile, the Senate has congratulated President Buhari and the Vice-President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo for their inauguration, saying the Red Chamber will identify with their administration for the interest of the citizenry.

Commenting on the motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba and co-sponsored by other Senators, Senate President Mark also commended Nigerians for accepting the outcome of the general elections that ushered new leadership.

Mark said: “If the followers didn’t accept (the results of the elections) the story would have been different today. For the first time in the history of this country, we discovered that the Presidential election is not before any tribunal.

“I think that is a milestone

From left, Adams Jagaba, Zakari Mohammed, Mukhtar Betara, Mustapha Dawaki, Aisha Dukku, Yakubu Dogara, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State and Babangida Mahuta, when members of the 8th Assembly Consolidation Project of Dogara visited Masari in Katsina, yesterday.

in our democratic process and we must acknowledge that it is a mark of statesmanship and a demonstration of the acceptance of the will of the people because election is not done by just one individual, election is done by all of us who are members of the various constituencies.

“It is not just enough to congratulate President Buhari, I think we should also congratulate the former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who willingly conceded defeat and followed the announcement with a telephone call to President Buhari and also appealed to his members to accept that as the verdict from the people.

“But sometimes the followers go overboard either out of excitement or whatever reasons. I also ran into a group of hooligans when I was coming to the stadium and they damaged my windscreen.

“That certainly was not an act that was approved by anybody. I think with time we will improve and learn to understand that power can move from one political party to the other.”

On some of the Senators that have emerged as governors in their various states, Senator Mark said that instead of looking at the development as progress, in his view it was even going backward.

Backward movement According to him, “For our colleagues who have gone to become governor, my position is different. I think

going from the Senate to becoming a governor is not a movement forward but a movement backward.

“Well, if you decide to move backward to sacrifice to work for your people, then we should also congratulate them. But I think from the Senate we should look upwards, but in spite of that, some of our colleagues have gone to the states to assist in bringing development to their states, so I congratulate them also.”

Senator Ita Enang said that the change in leadership from

a ruling party to the opposition party was an indication that democracy has been consolidated in the country and that the people have confidence in the legislature.

Buhari to head Ministry of Petroleum Meanwhile, according to one of Buhari’s long-standing associates who spoke on condition of anomymity, Nigeria’s oil sector is so dirty that nobody’s hands are clean enough to do the “surgical

changes” needed. Another political associate said: “He will do it. It would be stupid to give that position to anyone else.”

According to the first source, Buhari has still not settled on his cabinet and has laughed off media speculation about figures he will appoint. Joking with friends as he read out a newspaper article that mentioned possible names: “They have picked my ministers for me. Have I even told you who I want?”

“It’s going to be a lean government, I doubt he’ll have 42 ministries like Jonathan but he must have at least 36 (for the number of states) as prescribed by the constitution, though it does not specify whether they have to be senior or junior,” an adviser in the ruling APC party told Reuters.

The new administration had not yet gone through reports on Jonathan’s handover notes on policy, the adviser said.

“There is a huge body of proposals being bandied around the place,” the advisor said, adding that Buhari plans to let the N60 billion a year amnesty programme end in December as scheduled to save money and it is unclear what he will fund in its place.

He has also made it clear that he wants to revamp Nigeria’s refining sector, which declined while the country became dependent on imports for fuel.

“He’s emotionally attached to the refineries because he built some of them. He wants them to start functioning again,” the APC source said.

N15bn fund: Nyako returns to EFCC for further interrogation

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

A

BUJA — FORMER Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, returned to the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday for further interrogation over the alleged laundering of N15 billion when he held sway in the state.

The embattled politician was grilled for over 10 hours on Monday and released late in the night but ordered by the anti-graft agency to report back yesterday morning.

Nyako reported as early as 10 a.m. yesterday and is helping his interrogators with information relating to the way he spent the resources of the state between 2007 and July last year when he was

impeached.

Vanguard learnt the former governor might be granted bail on self recognition to go home and return on a set date preparatory to his arraignment.

It was gathered that upon his arrival at the agency’s office, Nyako was asked to list his property—houses, cars, plots of land and cash balance as at the time he left office and how he acquired them.

A source in EFCC said the anti-graft agency had made progress in the investigation into the case, which would soon be pushed to the court, since other witnesses had earlier made useful information available to the agency.

“Don’t forget that we had earlier interrogated Nyako’s son and other top officials in the government of Nyako who had made useful statements to us. We will naturally arraign them in court once

we are through with the investigation.

“Nyako is still with us and we may allow him to go after being interrogated today (yesterday), a top source in the agency, told our correspondent.

But a source close to Nyako revealed that EFCC was merely trying to build a case over nothing given the fact that the manager of the one of the third generation banks, who was forced to implicate the former governor in the said money laundering matter had since died.

The source accused EFCC of deliberately inviting and detaining the former governor for over 10 hours to stop the heroic welcome reception that was planned for him in Yola on Monday by his supporters and admirers.

“We don’t believe that the EFCC has any serious case against Nyako,” the source said yesterday.

10—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

We've served Kashamu notice of extradition to US — NDLEA zI wasn't served any letter — Kashamu

By Evelyn Usman & Daud Olatunji

A

BEOKUTA—THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday said it had served a notice on Senator-elect of Ogun East, Prince Buruji Kashamu for his extradition to the United States of America.

However, in a swift reaction, Kashamu denied being served any extradition letter, describing NDLEA’s claim as false. He explained that a copy of the process was dropped in his counsel’s Lagos office Monday, assuring that it would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

The NDLEA, in a statement by its Head, Public Affairs, Mitchell Ofoyeju and made available to newsmen disclosed that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation has made a fresh application to the chief judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking Kashamu’s extradition to the US to answer charges on alleged drug trafficking.

He said the agency served the notice of the suit officially on Kashamu on June 1, 2015.

Ofoyeju noted that the application made to the Federal High Court Chief Judge by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation for Kashamu’s extradition to the US was in accordance with the Extradition Act CAP, E25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (as modified by Extradition Act Modification Order, 2014).

According to the NDLEA statement, “In an application made to the Chief Judge, Federal High Court, Abuja in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/479/2015, the office

of the Attorney General of the Federation is seeking the extradition of Buruji Kashamu to answer alleged drug trafficking charges.

“This is in line with the Extradition Act CAP, E25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (as modified by Extradition Act Modification Order, 2014). The notice of the suit was officially served on Kashamu by the NDLEA on 1st of June 2015.”

Meanwhile, the NDLEA has said that the House of Representatives has commended the Agency for the bold step it has taken in the extradition case involving the senator-elect.

The NDLEA said that the letter of commendation which was signed by the Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes Mr Jagaba Adams Jagaba stated that the Agency’s action would “go a long way in building the confidence of the international community in our country.”

I was not served any extradition letter — Kashamu

Counsel to Kashamu, Ajibola Oluyede, however, warned the NDLEA to stay away from the extradition process, saying that it had no role to play in current proceedings, until a warrant of arrest was issued by the court.

According to him, the agency had no role to play in the extradition proceedings, noting that only the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice could initiate extradition proceedings, after receiving a request by an order directed to the court to take over the matter.

Oluyede said: “It is the court that will decide whether a warrant of arrest is necessary. It is the court that will consider all the evidence provided by the United States to see whether it satisfies the onus of proof and that it establishes that the person sough is the person that actually participated in the offence alleged."

L

AGOS — THE shape and faces to the Muhammadu Buhari administration will begin to unfold today baring any last minute change of mind by the president, Vanguard has learnt.

Among those to be named are the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF and personal staff of the president and the vice-president.

Yesterday, the president requested the Senate to approve 15 special advisers for him.

Meanwhile, the delay in the announcement of senior officials of the new administration, it was learnt yesterday, flowed from the delay by the former officials of Goodluck Jonathan administration in forwarding their handover notes to the transition committee constituted by Buhari.

Sources close to the President

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

L

AGOS—LAGOS State Governor, Mr Akiwunmi Ambode, yesterday, tasked workers to adopt a change of attitude in the discharge of duties just as he assured the state civil servants of his administration’s commitment to upgrading their welfare.

Ambode gave the charge at a forum with the state civil servants, held at the Adeyemi Bero Hall, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

It will be recalled that Ambode had last weekend met with the body of Permanent Secretaries in the state, reiterating that the state civil service would drive the change and the continuity which he intends to put in place in the next four years.

Ambode advised public servants to align with his administration's vision with diligence with all sense of purpose.

He said he expected all public servants to resume work as early as possible saying "what matters is the quality of service put into the work.”

SYNAGOGUE: Court fixes July 8 for judgement BRIEFING: From left; National Secretary, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Niyi Fadaju, 2nd Vice President, NIESV, Mr. Rowland Abonta, and President, NIESV, Olorogun James Omeru, during a briefing on asset declaration by the Code of Conduct Bureau to public officers in Abuja.

Buhari set to name Chief of Staff, SGF, other aides today

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

Ambode tasks civil servants on work ethics

and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, disclosed yesterday that the president would make known the senior officials of his government today. Besides the Chief of Staff and SGF, other officials to be named may include the Special Adviser to the National Assembly, Political Adviser among senior aides of the president.

“The announcements will be made today baring a last minute change of decision,” a source privy to the development told Vanguard last night even as he added that the president’s scheduled trip to Niger and Chad may be the only factors that may delay the announcement.

Meanwhile, a senior associate of the president yesterday traced the delay in the announcement of the president’s senior aides to the

delay in the transmission of the handover notes by the Jonathan officials to the transition team constituted by Buhari ahead of his inauguration.

“All we have been doing since Friday is poring over these notes. This is because you need

to know the position of things before you delegate the appropriate personnel to any establishment of government,” a source privy to the ongoing developments told Vanguard last night.

DPAN counsels Buhari on probe of past misdeeds and current Emir of Kano,

L

By Ikenna Asomba

AGOS—A NonG o v e r n m e n t a l Organisation, Due Process Advocates of Nigeria, DPAN, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to shun any urge to probe misdeeds of the past government, describing it as waste of precious time and resources.

Reacting to the reported advice from the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that the CBN and the NNPC should be probed, DPAN’s National President, Tajudeen Atunwase Kudu, in a statement said, “President Buhari is expected to hit the ground running by kick starting his programmes for Nigeria.”

According to him, if the President should start probing when he is supposed to be putting things right in the country, he may spend the next two years grubbing in the dark.

By Abdulwahab Abdulah & Bartholomew Madukwe

L

AGOS—THE Coroner 's Inquest into the collapse of a guest house on September 12, 2014 at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, yesterday fixed July 8 to deliver its findings as it drew curtains on the proceedings.

The presiding coroner judge, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe fixed the date after parties in the matter submitted their final written addresses to the coroner's court to justify their positions on what led to the collapse of the building which claimed over 116 lives, who were mainly foreigners from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The coroner's court which sat for over eight months was set up by the Lagos State Government in line with the Coroner Law of Lagos State to unravel the cause of the building collapse, identify the victims and how they died.

Moments after the building collapsed, the church had claimed it was as a result of some external factors, which it linked to a strange aircraft that hovered above the building shortly before it collapsed.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 11

I'm one-man army against APC —FAYOSE A

Gbenga Aribiyi

DO EKITI— GOVERNOR Ayodele Fayose yesterday affirmed that he is a one man army who cannot be overwhelmed by alleged machinations of the outgoing legislators of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the State House of Assembly.

Receiving national officers of the PDP in his office in Ado Ekiti, the governor insisted he was firmly on ground even as he warned that the country must not be turned into a one party state.

The assertions came amid reports of the abortion of the planned movement into the state by the APC legislators yesterday. Vanguard learned that the buses conveying the legislators were turned back at the Igbara Oke boundary between Ondo and Ekiti States yesterday.

Nonetheless, supporters of Fayose continued to lay siege to the premises of the House throughout yesterday in an apparent bid to stop the legislators from entering the chambers.

Luxury buses belonging to the state government were used to block all the major roads leading to the legislative complex and only selected vehicles were allowed to pass through a side of

the road.

Stern looking policemen also mounted blockades to screen pedestrians and motorists entering the assembly complex.

Welcoming the PDP national leaders to the state, Fayose said the people of the state, who voted him as their governor in June 21,2014 are solidly behind him.

Speaking earlier, the acting national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, denied ever appealing to the 19 APC lawmakers not to impeach the governor.

He said the PDP only advised the lawmakers to follow due process and the rule of law in their engagements towards the governor.

Others in the delegation included the National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, National Auditor, Mr. Fatai Adeyanju, among others.

Fayose said the visit was apt and timely and noted that the party’s bigwigs had demonstrated their avowed stand to defend the country’s democracy from being

Seized textile materials: Market women drag Customs to Ogun Assembly

debased.

He said: “We will not allow them (the APC lawmakers) to trample on the constitution. That the country is witnessing peace today is a collaborative effort between former President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP. The PDP is united after the loss at the election and we are gradually picking the pieces together.

“But we are assuring you that we are solidly on ground.

You know it will get to a stage when the people will act like the Constitution themselves."

A

B E O K U TA — TEXTILE traders in Itoku market in Abeokuta have taken their complaints over the seizure of their textile materials by officials of the Nigerian Customs Service in the state to the Ogun State House of Assembly.

Leader of the market women, Chief Alimot Akamo while briefing members of the Assembly at a workshop held for the members-elect of the Assembly, lamented that, Customs officials were frustrating them with the incessant seizure of their goods which she said were usually procured from Kano.

Chief Akamo, who led some of her members to the workshop which was organised by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission, DAWN, appealed to the lawmakers to "rescue us from huge debts as a result of illegal seizure of our goods by the customs."

The Area Controller of the Customs in Ogun State, Comptroller Haruna Memudu, however, said that the fabrics were smuggled into Nigeria by Chinese merchants fromneighbouringcountriesinto warehouses in Kano from where they were bought and taken to the Itoku Market by traders from the state for resale.

ARRAIGNED: Some of the suspected CBN officials and others on arrival for arraingement at a Federal High Court in Ibadan, yesterday, by the EFCC over their alleged involvement in tN8 billion currency fraud. Photo: Dare Fasube.

....Writes Buhari, wants privilege to nominate minister A

Gbenga Aribiyi

DO EKITI—EKITI State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose has formally written a letter to President Mohammadu Buhari requesting that he should nominate the minister to represent the state in the President’s cabinet.

In a letter he personally signed dated 31st May 2015, Fayose said his request was based on the constitutional provision that every state in the federation would have its representative in the Federal Executive Council, FEC. The governor, according to the letter said that though, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had produced all members of the National Assembly and House of Assembly seats in the state, he said if his request is granted, it would assist Buhari in running an all inclusive government.

“I shall be happy to nominate a worthy and competent professional who can always oblige your Excellency and your cabinet the benefit of a second opinion

in the serious business of governance”.

He noted that he wrote the letter based on the declaration made by the President that he would put the overall interest of the

country above every other.

The governor added that his request was on the strength of Section 147 sub (2) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which states that

By Daud Olatuji

2. Any appointment to the office of the Minister of the government of the Federation shall if the nomination of any such person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.

ALLEGED DIVERSION OF N8BN MUTILATED BANK NOTES:

6 CBN officials remanded in prison

I

Ola Ajayi

BADAN—A Federal High Court in Ibadan yesterday remanded six officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria and three others in Agodi prison for alleged conversion of mutilated N8 billion pending the hearing of their application for bail.

The accused persons were arraigned over allegations of conspiracy, diversion and stealing of N8bn mutilated currency which they ought to have destroyed.

At the sitting of the court yesterday which was presided over by Justice Ayo Emmanuel, the charges against the accused persons were alleged conversion of N10m mutilated

currency of N1,000 denomination and not N80 billion that was earlier reported.

According to the charges, the accused persons did not carry out the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, by allegedly substituting the mutilated money with newspapers cut to its size, thereby subverting the apex bank’s effort at reducing dirty money in circulation.

They were arraigned on a fivecount charge which they all pleaded not guilty to. The accused persons include Patience Okoro Eye, Afolabi Olufemi Johnson, Ilori Adekunke Sunday, Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Muniru Adeola, and Fatai Adedokun Yusuff, Salami Ibrahim

, Odiah Emmanuel, Toogun Kayode Phillips. Roy Akinsiku and Sobowale O. were said to be at large.

Though, counsel to the accused persons made oral bail applications, which the EFCC prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, opposed, the Judge ordered all of them to be remanded in prison custody till June 9 when their bail applications will be heard.

Other counsel of the anticorruption commission include Sunday Aborisade, Rotimi Oye, Adebayo Ojo, O.M. Atoyebi, Sola Olanibiire, while the accused persons were represented by K.A. Lawal, Bolam Alabi, A.O. Ajayi, Otunba

Olayinka Bolanle, and B.B.M. Ashie of Olalekan Ojo’s Chambers.

According to the charge sheet, the accused persons “on or about 5th August, 2014 in Ibadan within the jurisdiction of this honourable court have by virtue of abuse of your office being employees of Central Bank of Nigeria contributed to the economic adversity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when you destroyed a box marked “Counted Audited Dirty” filled with newspapers in place of a box containing N10m of N1,000 denomination, and which activity led to the increase of money in circulation which the briquetting exercise of CBN was intended to control."

12—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, June 3, 2015

Okowa gets transition report, assures Deltans of empowerment

By Festus Ahon

A

SABA—GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has received the report of the transition committee and assured that his administration will empower Deltans.

The governor, who received the report from the chairman of the committee, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, at Government House, Asaba, with chairmen of sub-committees and their secretaries in attendance, observed that the report of the committee would provide a guide towards the quick achievement of his five-point agenda for Deltans.

Okowa who listed his fivepoint agenda to include strategic wealth creation initiatives and provision of jobs for all; meaningful peace building platforms aimed at political/social stability; agricultural reforms and industrialization; relevant health and education policies and transformed environment through massive urban renewal, SMART said: “We have set out to build a more united and prosperous Delta State.”

He thanked members of the

transition committee for their commitment towards providing a road-map for his administration, disclosing that one of the surest ways of empowering the people was through job opportunities but noted that the civil service was saturated.

Okowa assured that Deltans will be trained and empowered to be entrepreneurs, saying:

“Deltans should be patient with us and be committed to the development of our state.

We are committed to good governance and we will work hard to deliver on our electoral promises.”

He pledged to partner Deltans and “people who will come to work in Delta State for the development of our state.”

Earlier, Prof. Oyovbaire

said: “Although our findings highlight a rather disturbing outlook in the revenues and financial assets of the state, we believe that, if properly considered, approved and implemented, our recommendations will certainly provide valuable basis and platforms for recovery and subsequent enhancement of revenue and resource profiles of the state’s economy and good governance.”

INSPECTION: Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State (right) explaining some points to the Administrator of St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, Rev. Fr. Charles Essien during an inspection visit to the hospital, in Uyo yesterday.

New members battle for principal positions in Edo Assembly

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

ENIN—THE 15 newly elected members of the Edo State House of Assembly are

Madam Anolu for burial

spoiling for war with the nine reelected members, following the decision of the re-elected members to occupy the entire principal offices since they are now ranking members of the House.

Okowa urged to rebuild Okerenkoko

T

HE funeral rites for Mrs Victoria Anolu (nee Edebor), aged 75, of Ekpoma, begin tomorrow with Christian wake keep at Ihumudumu Road, Ujemen Ekpoma, Edo State.

She will be buried on June 5 after a funeral mass at St. Paul's Catholic Church, Ujemen Ekpoma, and guests will be entertained on June 6 at Ujemen Primary school Ekpoma Edo State.

She is servived by six children.

Late Mrs Victoria Anolu

But the newly elected members, who are 15 in number opposed the move, insisting that they will not contest the position of the Speaker, which it was learnt, Governor Adams Oshiomhole had earlier encouraged the incoming lawmakers to consider the

By Akpokona Omafuaire

W

ARRI—DELTA State Government has been urged to consider rebuilding dilapidated Okerenkoko community of Gbaramatu Kindgom in Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state which was destroyed by the Joint Task Force, JTF, during clash with former agitators.

Mr Ernest Bebenimibo, S e c r e t a r y, Okerenkoko F e d e r a t e d Community and also C h a i r m a n , Gbaramatu Ward, while congratulating the new government in the state, commended

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for appointing Kingsley Otuaro from his ward as his Deputy Governor.

According to him, “Now that a new government is in place, we plead that Okerenkoko be rebuilt."

member representing Esan Central, Mr Victor Edoror as Speaker designate.

Out of the 24 member House, the All Progressives Congress, APC has 21 while Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has three Edoror is Deputy Speaker in the outgoing Assembly following the impeachment of the former Deputy Speaker, Festus Ebea during the crisis between the APC lawmakers and their PDP counterpart. It was gathered that the governor gave the advice to ensure that the Speaker goes to the Central, the Majority Leader is expected to come from Edo North while the Deputy Speaker will come from Edo South.

Ijaws bemoan threat of extinction from oil spillages

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y

E N AG OA — ELDERS and chiefs of Ijaw ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta have expressed worry over the devastating effects of oil and gas explorations in oil bearing communities, warning that Ijaw communities were at the verge of extinction.

The elders and chiefs drawn from over 78 clans in Ijaw nation, under the umbrella body of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, lamented that the oil and gas bearing communities suffer the deleterious effects of oil and gas exploration and exploitation lamenting the inability of the Nigerian state to address the concomitant negative impacts on the health, economy, culture and environment of their people.

The Ijaw nation, in a communique in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, after a twoday pan Ijaw stakeholders summit on The Ijaw Agenda beyond May 29, 2015, said the threat from the destructive effects of the oil and gas exploration was gradually eliminating the environment and the physical resource for the development and survival of the Ijaw ethnic nationality.

The communiqué was signedby over 24 elders including the President of the INC, Boma Obuoforibo, the first military administrator of the old Rivers State, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, the first civilian Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and Emeritus Professor Ebiegberi Alagoa.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—13

Wike directs perm secs to produce 18 months account details G

OVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has directed permanent secretaries in the state to produce full account details of their ministries‘ expenditure in the last 18 months.

The governor also advised the permanent secretaries to shun partisan politics as career civil servants, saying that the roles some of them played in the closing days of the immediate past administration were politically motivated.

Addressing permanent secretaries during a meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday, Wike regretted that some of them helped the immediate past administration to illegally withdraw funds from the state government coffers even up till May 28, 2015.

He said : “I want full details and printouts of every ministry’s account in the last 18 months. I will not accept any handover note without accompanying account details.

“The past government was coming to a close and some of you were busy signing cheques on May 26, 27 and 28. On May 28, the Transition Committee called most of you and you refused to cooperate because they told you I would not be

sworn-in.”

The governor noted that he will not witch-hunt any civil servant irrespective of his/her role in the electioneering period, but said that no civil servant would be allowed to sabotage the efforts of his administration.

He urged the permanent secretaries to work with his administration to revive the

state and put back smile on the faces of the people.

“Those of you who want to work with us to develop Rivers State will get the necessary support. You are career civil servants and not politicians. As civil servants, don’t play the role of politicians,” he said.

Wike pointed out that the back-dated employments and indiscriminate issuance of

certificates of occupancy by the immediate past administration would be revisited.

He directed the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Survey to produce the relevant land documents for examination.

The permanent secretaries were led to the meeting by the Head of Service, Mr Samuel LongJohn.

SERVICE OF SONGS: From left: Onyinyechi Ezeh, Azubuike Ezeh, Nkasi Ezeh, Christopher Ezeh (jnr), Chief Christopher Ezeh, Adaeze Nwagwu, Ejimofor Nwagwu , Chinefu Ezeh, Ejigbo Ezeh and Tochukwu Ezeh, during the service of songs in memory of late Mrs. Rose Ezeh, wife of Chairman, Board of Directors, Fidelity Bank Plc. at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre. Onikan Lagos.

Cooperate with Buhari, Tony Momoh pleads with N-Deltans

By Chris Ochayi

A

BUJA—A former Minister of Information and All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain, Prince Tony Momoh, yesterday, pleaded with the people of the Niger Delta region to cooperate with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to ensure speedy actualisation of its dream for critical infrastructure development in the region.

Prince Momoh, in Abuja at the talkshop entitled, President Muhammadu Buhari, Change Agenda and the Niger Delta Struggles, organised by Gatekeepers Foundation, Change Ambassadors of Nigeria and Niger Delta Media Professionals, said that Buhari was the only Nigerian prepared to lead the country since independence, adding: “Buhari shared in the sufferings of all Nigerians.

“We need the cooperation of the Niger Delta region for the development of Nigeria. We need their cooperation to succeed. We are all Nigerians and Nigerians are those who will work together to actualise

C M Y K

God’s plan for Nigeria to be what it will be in the next few years. And all the geo-political zones of which Niger Delta is one must be involved. Not one of them can dissociate themselves from this plan.

“And so, the Niger Delta

where I come from, must see themselves as part and parcel of Nigeria, that it is the only federation standing among all those packaged in the last century. All of them have collapsed. American predicted the collapse of Nigeria by

2015. Nigeria has not collapsed. In fact, with the coming of Buhari, he is the only president since 1960 who prepared himself to be president and contested for presidency in 2003, 2007, 2011 and has won in 2015.”

Delta PPEB deducts over N13m from teachers salaries for absenteeism

By Festus Ahon

A

SABA—CHAIRMAN of Delta State Post Primary Education Board, PPEB, Mrs Orode Imevbore, has said that over N13 million had been deducted from the teaching and non-teaching staff of the board on account of absenteeism to instil discipline in the workers.

Imevbore in a chat with newsmen said the N13 million had been paid into the state government coffers, adding that the board will reward hardworking teachers and “sanction the bad eggs among them.”

She said the board under her headship has set up a

Compliance Task Force on June 19, 2014 with the mandate to monitor absenteeism and misbehaviour of some teachers in order to raise the standard of teaching and learning in secondary schools across the state.

Imevbore said a proper documented process for the promotion of staff especially senior staff had been put in place with a well articulated policy document that defines the various rules and guidelines to be followed and considered in the promotion and appointment of personnel in the PPEB. On Dr Emmanuel

Uduaghan’s administration, she said the former governor did well in all spheres, adding that he (Uduaghan) left behind a legacy of massive infrastructural development across the state.

Oshiomhole appoints 12 new perm secs

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

E N I N — GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has approved the appointment of 12 permanent secretaries, including Mr Lucky Wasa, the former chief press secretary to former Governor Lucky Igbinedion.

Mr Wasa who is from Akoko Edo, was also former chief press secretary to late Navy Captain Anthony Onyearugbulem, former military governor of the state. He is one of the longest serving chief press secretaries in the country before he was appointed a director in the Ministry of Information and now permanent secretary.

The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in the state led by Desmond Agbama, hailed his appointment by the governor, saying: “At last, the governor of Edo State is succeeding in addressing the marginalizing of persons by successive governments who have given their best in the services of the state.”

Others appointed, in the statement by the Secretary to the state Government, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, include D.I. Dania, A.E. Okoh, Dr M. Agberior, A.O. Idanwekai, O.S. Uhunmwangho and C.I. Aviele.

Others are A.I. Omoruyi, P.O. Aibueku, M.A. Ikoghode, Dr C. Aibaogun and M.O. Omozeghian.

According to the statement, the appointment takes immediate effect. The permanent secretaries will be sworn in by the governor on Monday.

14 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

How APC supporters attacked me on my way to Buhari’s inauguration—Mark

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke

A

BUJA—-SENATE President, David Mark, yesterday, revealed that unknown to many people, he was attacked by supporters of the All Progressives Congress, APC, while on his way to the Eagles Square, to attend the inauguration of General Muhammadu Buhari, following his victory in the March 28 presidential election.

Senator Mark, who condemned the action of those he called “hooligans”, said it was against the spirit of peaceful transition from the then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to an opposition party, the APC. The Senate President spoke while commenting on a similar submission made by Senator Boluwaji

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Kunlere, PDP, Ondo South, on physical assaults visited on some politicians across the country last Friday, during inauguration ceremonies for new governors across the country.

Kunlere had, in his contribution to a motion seeking the Senate to congratulate President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on their successful and peaceful assumption of office last Friday, drawn the attention of senators to attacks meted out to some politicians at some of the inauguration ceremonies in some states level by followers and supporters of those being inaugurated.

The motion was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, PDP, Cross River Central and 101 other senators.

INVESTITURE: Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (2nd left); the 51st President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, Otunba Olufemi Deru (2nd right); Immediate Past President of ICAN, Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu (left), and the Registrar/Chief Executive of ICAN, Rotimi Omotoso, during the investiture of Otunba Deru, yesterday.

SENATE PRESIDENCY: Senator-elect,

Nwaoboshi endorses Saraki P

ORT HARCOURT— THE ambition of Senator Bukola Saraki to become the next Senate President has been endorsed by the incoming senator for Delta North Senatorial District, Chief

Peter Nwaoboshi.

Speaking with journalists on the sideline of the one day retreat for senators-elect and members-elect in PortHarcourt last Monday, Nwaoboshi described Senator Saraki as the most detribalized legislator and having the best administrative experience among the contenders for the office of Senate President.

“We must quit playing with mundane things. At this point in our national history and in the bid to further entrench the ethos of democracy, as it concerns the Principle of Separation of Power, we all agreed that competent and capable hands must be elected or put in position of authority.

“Senator Saraki is the most qualified to occupy the seat of the Senate President.

He is a detribalized Nigerian. He was once a chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and in that position, he was able to hold the various governors from different political parties together.

“He is not somebody that anybody can just pick up and dictate to. This means he will not allow any external force to dictate to us in the Senate. He has done it before, even in Kwara State.

“If you remember, there was a time the younger sister wanted to run for the governorship seat but Saraki put his feet down and said, ‘no. For the sake of justice and equity, I will not be in support of that’.

“Yes, he might have stepped on the toes of his father and later reconciled with him. But the fact is that he is a man who is able to stand on his own. We don’t want a legislature that will

be controlled from the outside.

“Of course, when he sits in the midst of former governors, they will also give him respect, himself having been a former governor. Nowadays, the governors everywhere seem to want to hijack the structure of the party and every other thing. But no governor will look at him with contempt because he was there for eight years”, he said.

Citing Saraki’s pedigree, he said: “You have to look at the people we learnt he is contesting with. We have to ask what has been their position on some burning national issues. For example, what is their disposition to the people in the South-South? What is their disposition to other religions across the country?

“What we want is somebody who is a true Nigerian; somebody who is capable and competent and of course, we want somebody who can stand and defend the

independence of the legislature”, he said.

Meanwhile, the aspiration of the former two-term governor of Kwara State was said to have received a boost at the Port-Harcourt retreat of PDP senators-elect as he was said to have been endorsed by 30 PDP senators-elect.

“I can authoritatively tell you that some of us, numbering 30, met with Senator Saraki here, at Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, on Sunday and the subject of our meeting was the issue of the Senate Presidency.

“As things stand, Saraki is likely to emerge as the successor of Senator David Mark. Even at the retreat today (Monday), Saraki remained the main issue among our colleagues.

“About 80 per cent of the senators present are supporting him. I can tell you that the whole SouthSouth, for example, is supporting him. Those who wanted to discuss him negatively are jittery as he had won over those gathered in Port Harcourt”, the source said.

Rice import duty scammers may refund N25bn

By Emman Ovuakporie

A

BUJA—THE House of Representatives adhoc committee on Rice Quota and Duty Payments on rice imports has recommended that all importers involved in the alleged import duty scam should refund N25billion into the Federal Government's coffers.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the committee also recommended that the Nigeria Customs Service,

NCS, should seal off the warehouses of the importers.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUN E 3, 2015 —15

LAUNCH: From left, Managing Director\CEO, Bank of Industry, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa; Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises, SMES, Mr. Waaheed Olagunju, and Divisional Head, SMES, Mr. Abdul Mohammed, during the launch of Bank of Industry, BOI, SMES digital products, in Lagos.

ONITSHA FUEL TANKER FIRE LATEST: Pathologists commence forensic tests for possible identification of burnt victims

By Nwabueze Okonkwo

O

NITSHA —PATHOLOGISTS from government hospitals in Anambra S.tate yesterday commenced forensic laboratory tests on all the burnt corpses of those who died during last Sunday’s fire that sparked off when a tanker laden with 33,000 litres of fuel developed brake failure and rammed into Asaba Motor Park at Upper Iweka in Onitsha and exploded.

This came as Chief Consultant-inCharge of Onitsha General Hospital, Dr. Mercy Ebelechukwu, confirmed that 43 persons died in the inferno, while only six sustained serious injuries.

However, Onitsha Newspaper Distributors Directors Association, ONDDA, claimed that it lost about five of its members to the inferno, while one sustained a minor injury and had been discharged from the hospital.

A visit to the General Hospital, Onitsha, yesterday showed that the pathologists who were too busy to speak to newsmen, were seen at the morgue carrying out the forensic lab tests on the heap of burnt corpses.

One of the pathologists who was seen in front of the morgue as he was entering a car to drive out, pleaded

who were rushed to Menax private hospital, of which one had been discharged.

She said it was imperative to quote the real casualty figures to prevent fraudsters from defrauding the state government which had agreed to bankroll the hospital bills of all the injured ones, adding that in the case of compensation, some people might come up to start claiming that they had relations, based on the inflated figures.

She expressed the fears that the situation might lead to mass burial as most of the corpses were burnt beyond recognition and had already started decomposing to the extent that if more time was wasted, diseases might spread to the entire General Hospital premises, in spite of the chemical contents being poured on the corpses to curtail the odour.

Meanwhile, immediate past Chairman of ONDDA, Chief Christian Ikpe, gave the names of their dead members as Ifeanyi and Ifeoma working under Chuks Newspaper Agency, while the other vendor simply known as Local Man died with his wife and child at the scene.

According to him, one other vendor simply known as Obura, sustained injury but was treated in the hospital and discharged.

Ikpe called on the state government not only to assist the bereaved families with financial aid because they died in essential services, but also provide employment opportunities tanker accident which later led to a seri- for the youths who out of ous fire incident in the commercial city. no jobs, joined the vending He, however, urged all those who lost their business and its attendant loved ones to take heart, even as he prayed risks. for the repose of the victims' souls.

At Toronto Hospital, He renewed his position on the need to Onitsha, the Chief Medical have in place parks for heavy duty vehicles Director, Dr. Emeka Eze, across the country, which according to him, admitted that Governor will not only enhance smooth flow of traffic Willie Obiano actually but also prevent future recurrence of such directed them to give tragic incidents. medical attention to the The oil magnate also revealed that it was injured victims at the an early realization of that fact that made expense of the state him to construct a park for heavy duty government, adding that vehicles in Lagos which he noted would they were doing their best. bring respite to motorists when utilized.

with newsmen to exercise patience and wait for him as he was going out to look for dentists to perform their own part of the forensic tests, since the corpses were gradually decomposing..

Speaking to newsmen in her office, the Chief Consultant-In-Charge of Onitsha General Hospital, Dr. Mercy Ebelechukwu, said she was surprised that the Red Cross and other groups were dishing out inflated figures of the casualty to the public.

According to her, 22 corpses were brought to the General Hospital morgue on the fateful day, while 20 other corpses remained at Toronto hospital morgue.

She added that of the seven injured ones, one more died on the way to Anambra State University Teaching Hospital, Awka, and the corpse was brought back to General Hospital morgue to bring the figure of corpses at the General Hospital Morgue to 23.

Dr. Ebelechukwu further explained that of the 20 corpses deposited at Toronto Hospital morgue, 12 were moved to General Hospital morgue to bring the total figure now to 35, while the remaining eight were still in the Toronto morgue.

She said of the remaining six injured at Toronto, one was transferred to Awka Teaching Hospital on Monday, apart from three other injured ones

ONITSHA TANKER: Ifeanyi Ubah

condoles with families of victims

F

ORMER NATIONAL Coordinator of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah has condoled the families of last Sunday tanker fire incident at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, Anambra State.

In a statement issued at the corporate headquarters of the international Non Governmental Organization, NGO, in Abuja, Dr. Ubah described the fire disaster as a national tragedy and condoled with the government and people of Anambra state, pointing out that the incident was a very unfortunate one.

He expressed sadness over the heavy loss of lives and property caused by the C M Y K

16 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 17

I

OFTEN feel as if we, in Nigeria, are stuck in a debtor’s prison. Before many of us are even born, to a certain extent, we owe debts which we must repay. Our very lives and livelihoods we often owe to other people who have the unequivocal power to decide, much like gods, who will be allowed to go further, who will prosper and who won’t based on arbitrary rules. This all begins because individualism is not acceptable in the Nigerian society. Everybody belongs to somebody (everyone is someone’s “boy” in Nigeria) and everyone comes from somewhere and must grow to represent the interest of a people or of a particular place (i.e. tribe). Everyone must answer to someone, in the Nigerian context, as free will and independence are neither encouraged nor often accepted.

So one finds that, even over the course of generations, some people and families are indebted to others much like vassals to the feudal lords of old. Nowhere is this truer than in Nigerian politics: the term “godfather” in our society is one which needs no introduction.

Yet, here comes a man who says: “I belong to everybody, I belong to nobody” and the crowd went wild, for obvious reasons. It was as if with that short sentence he had paid all our debts, virtually liberated us from prison and enabled us to resume a productive life, where we would not be asked to continuously sacrifice whereas those who have the power to make us see good times would carry on, as usual. The weight of our past debts has crushed our possibilities: every one of our leaders mortgaged our futures in order to gain something for themselves, yet, here comes a man who has not posed himself as a creditor, as someone who is ready to collect, to build himself and his fortune on our own hard work.

I am impressed by the man, President Buhari (how good it feels to drop the “elect”!). But I wasn’t so impressed by the inauguration.

Such a momentous occasion which demonstrated the true strength of “people power” versus the

Many in Nigeria will not survive this revolution; I am not only talking about the politicians, I am talking about the people in this society whose only call to fame is perhaps proximity to power, or a tainted name

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tprincewill@yahoo.co.uk

part of me feels this might be our last chance to get it right: dangerous men and women still walk free among us, waiting for the goodwill that brought us all together to dissipate so they can carry on with their misdeeds. We must not allow it. We can’t survive more years of injustice.

Whenever I think of Nigeria, there are a few quotes I remember. I discovered this one

by James Russell Lowell in a speech by MLK:

Remaining awake through a great revolution

“Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, Yet that scaffold sways the future, And behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above his own.”

all Nigerians to benefit and prosper, irrespective of “who their father is”. We must all remain awake throughout this revolution, play our part to help guide and accompany change: expectations are high and rightly so, but we as a people must be up to the challenge.

Are we ready for change?

To “stay awake”, we must broaden our vision and perspectives: MLK spoke about brotherhood. He said “live together as brothers or perish together as fools”. Nowhere is this truer than in Nigeria.

Sectarian violence, politically motivated conflicts, senseless divisions have ruined us. A

Let us remain awake in extraordinary times: believe you were born to a generation of change. We all have the power to become our best selves and to be worthy of Nigeria. That voice we search for to take on this country’s challenges and right the many wrongs that have made us victims, can often be found within ourselves. We must give ourselves to the struggle of changing Nigeria, now that we have the opportunity to do so. We must not retreat into letting some other people, some other time decide for us: this is how we made it into the debtor’s prison in the first place.

The Nigeria Governor’s Forum

I •President Muhammadu Buhari ineluctability of incumbency and the influence of the political elite, would have warranted something finer, something that 20 years from now we could watch and still get goosebumps from, and even learn from. John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, or closer to us, Barack Obama’s, inspired and galvanised their country, ushering in a new era. That is what I expected of Buhari’s speech, but it seems many of our Nigerian brand of speech writers do not possess the magic their foreign counterparts so easily yield as we continue to recycle the same hands who are not always capable of delivering, because they, who are from another time entirely, do not fully grasp the “newness” of the moment. I recently came across a commencement speech Martin Luther KingJr gave in 1965 at Oberlin University in Ohio, called “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” and it gave me a lot to think about as we in Nigeria hopefully enter a new epoch.

MLK said: “There are all too many people who, in some

great period of social change, fail to achieve the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands. There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution”. Many in Nigeria will not survive this revolution. I am not only talking about the politicians, I am talking about the people, in this society, whose only call to fame is perhaps proximity to power, or a tainted name. The time when gangsters, thieves and murderers, despoilers of the common good will be allowed to lord it over decent, hard working Nigerians, unlike what has been allowed to happen previously, is over. I am sorry if you don’t believe this: you’re in for a rude awakening. The colonisation of some Nigerians, the mental slavery based on who-has-the-most-money will come to an end in this generation if Buhari is able to empower people with a vision that goes beyond lining their pockets. Quoting Victor Hugo, MLK said there is nothing more powerful in all the world than an idea whose time has come: I hope it is finally time for vision and for the democratisation of economic opportunity, a time for

WAS relieved by reports that President Buhari informed governors seeking to recommend ministerial candidates that, constitutionally, he was under no obligation to listen. What, in effect, is the point of the Nigeria Governors Forum? A governor is the elected chief executive of a state; there is no Constitutional mention of anybody or forum from which governors can seek to influence federal decisions. Yet another aberration successive PDP governments created and

which now seems to have taken root in our political system. This, in essence, explains the worry some Nigerians express in the capacity of the APC to deliver change if the same people and the same actions that were part of the problem before,are simply allowed to continue. I doubt it, where Buhari is concerned. But many of the structural and institutional reasons why we can’t seem to move forward will need to be brought to his attention.

EFCC’s independence

I

T was reported that the EFCC Chairman claimed his agency was starved of funds, hence why it could not prosecute high profile offenders. Shockingly, it was also said that the EFCC, a supposedly independent body, had to check with the Presidency before any investigations could begin.

President Buhari is playing the poker game of a lifetime and will have to strike an incredible balance between recovering funds we desperately need and setting a precedent. Those thinking he will spend his four years in office prosecuting corrupt officials and therefore have no real impact misunderstand the

workings of government: if our agencies are allowed to be independent, then the executive will be free to focus on development. Let’s take a page from the US Attorney General’s playbook: Obama is not personally prosecuting FIFA. The Internal Revenue Service, IRS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, are.

Tabia Princewill is a strategic communications consultant and public policy analyst. She is also the co-host and executive producer of a talk show, WALK THE TALK which airs on Channels TV.

18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 AFTER one year of legal mishmash, Wasila Umar, regained her freedom: she allegedly killed her husband, his three friends, and injured others. She was 14. Wise men in her community in Gaya Local Government Area of Kano State found her a husband.

Tragedy struck 17 days into her forced marriage. Wasila reportedly poisoned the food she served her husband – she wanted her freedom.

She did not reckon with the camaraderie her community shares during meal times. Her husband’s friends who ate the food were also victims of the poison.

Her story is pathetic and reflects a revolt of children in forced marriages.

Their guardians think they have no opinion, but they have. Wasila wanted education; nobody listened to her. “ I have never enjoyed the opportunity of going to Islamic school

Freedom For Wasila or acquiring Western education. My father forced me into this mess by stubbornly forcing me into a relationship I was not prepared to live in,” she said of the marriage to her 35-year-old husband, Sani.

Kano State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Musa Majia, had then said, “The case has been referred to appropriate authorities for the next line of action.

I am assuring you that Wasila would appear in court soon because we have limitation on the number of days we can keep a suspect no matter the

perceived weakness of the case or the personality involved”.

Wasila, who confessed to the crime, became dramatic in court. She was incoherent after the charges were read. Pressure mounted on the Kano State Government to free her. The trial continued.

Section 29 (4) (a) of the 1999 Constitution, states, “full age” means the age of eighteen years and above; (b) any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.” Those who married off Wasila at 14 broke the law. The law did not

punish them.

The Child’s Rights Act of 2003 prohibits child marriages and betrothals. In Section 21, any marriage contracted by anyone less than 18 years is invalid. Under Section 22: “(1) No parent, guardian or any other person shall betroth a child to any person”. Both provisions are in the Criminal and Penal Codes, though they are hardly enforced.

Wasila’s belated release does not amount to obedience of the law. She should not have been married in the first place, being a child. How would she cope with the trauma of her ordeal? Would the State provide the professional care she needs?

What happens to millions of other endangered children, some in similar marriages and others destined for them? Wasila, tragically, gave them a voice. We should not wait for another Wasila to free our children.

OPINION Change and illusion of sitting on the fence

By Gerald Azike

A

S our nation, Nigeria, undergoes a political watershed in her history with the first transfer of power from an incumbent to the opposition, the concept of CHANGE has assumed a new position in the psyche of Nigerians. It is now seen as the bedrock of that metamorphosis. It all began when the All Progressives Congress, APC, the party of the new President, crested to victory on the slogan of change as the vehicle that will dismantle the present dystopia to usher in a new Eldorado. While the cymbal of change is today clanging in all the nooks and crannies of our nation, one question that has not yet been answered is the type of change that will recreate the New Nigeria.

An honest appraisal of post-victory posturing does not provide any lead in that direction. In fact, the manner with which the slogan has been bandied reduces it to the sole responsibility of the new President.

Will it ever be possible without a concurrent contribution from every citizen as its catalyst? No doubt, the President is the first and most important protagonist in this regard; yet, he alone cannot be the game changer in the epic battle for our national rejuvenation. The demon of expectation that seems to possess us has projected an illusion of a change that will

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be solely externally induced by the President. What a mirage!

It was Heraclitus, the Pre-Socratic philosopher, who first brought the notion of change into the history of rationality when he used the concept to counter Parmenides’ permanency of Being.

According to him: “Nothing is permanent; everything is in flux since by cosmic rule everything changes. It is a unity relating everything and the locus of vital order of all reality. Life is like a river in which one can never step into the same current twice”. If one is to pause a little to consider this reasoning, two realities stare one in the face. One is the character of allinclusiveness that marks the concept of change, which for example, is represented here in the metaphor of the non-divisible nature of the river. The other character is the continuous nature of change

One must argue that for any meaningful change to happen, it must be allinclusive and continuous

exemplified in the metaphor of constant flux that logically counters Parmenides’ “vibrant statis”. To extrapolate this idea to the present situation of Nigeria as regards the current crave for change, one must argue that for any meaningful change to happen, it must be all-inclusive and continuous. In other words, it must be the preoccupation of all and not the exclusive reserve of the new President.

Unless all are involved, nothing will happen no matter how we think otherwise.

For a start, nature has been generous enough to offer us a mock example in the organogram of a bee colony. The survival of the bees in any colony is largely dependent upon the collective warmth and intricate structure of their colony and hive. Without delving into an analysis of this complex natural phenomenon, the success of any change in Nigeria must replicate this network.

Buhari is the Queen-bee since he is the centre hub of our new Nigerian project.

Other government functionaries must be the scout-bees whose jobs will be to reinvent new and efficient ways of managing our different ministries and departments to generate new results. Each one of us then must be the worker-bee in contributing our individual effort for the intended change. While this unity is being forged, the second aspect of the change is no less important, and that is its continuity.

Change, by its nature as Heraclitus made us to understand, must necessarily be continuous. The Orwellian lesson of the animal farm in his novel is a good reminder of the danger of slack. When the animals wrought the epic change of dispossessing Mr. Jones of the Manor Farm, which by right belonged to them, they thought that their victory would be perpetually sealed by destiny. They neither worked together nor remained vigilant to protect their newfound change until the pig,Napoleon, became their new tormentor, and finally handed them over back to their old tormentors as Manor farm.

Therefore, to actualise the change of building a new Nigeria, all hands must be on deck. We may begin from a few areas. First, there is an urgent need to recalibrate our individual mental thought patterns as Nigerians. Our new categories of thought must include the aphorism “things must be done right for Nigeria to change and succeed”. This demands that the existential question of the meaning of life must be settled for a start. It is a sine-qua-non for a new Nigeria since the manner with which we lead our lives is an answer to an already posed question, what is the meaning of life?

Everything we do in life is an answer to this question even when we are not conscious of it. Is the essence of life for me all about pleasure and comfort, or is there something more?

Continues tomorrow on pg 18 Rev. Fr. Azike wrote from Rome, Italy

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—19 —19 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com

Buhari and the unfinished business of governance

W

HEN in December 1983 Muhammadu Buhari took over as Nigeria’s Head of State in a military coup that ended the fouryear rule of Shehu Shagari, his regime signalled a return to the authoritarian dictates of military politics after a hiatus of just four years. The no-nonsense rule that Buhari and his stern deputy, Tunde Idiagbon, established was supposedly modelled on the equally no-nonsense regime of Murtala Mohammed that had been terminated nearly a decade before. While the Mohammed regime ended on a bloody note one February morning in 1976, the Buhari/Idiagbon junta had a better but no less fateful expiration after 20 enervating months. It was one of the most dreaded regimes that Nigeria would know up to that time.

But it nevertheless came to grief and its nemesis was the August 27, 1985 coupists, led by Ibrahim Babangida. Buhari, virtually retired for the day, was at prayers when Babangida’s messengers came knocking. He

asked to be allowed to finish his prayers, telling his unwanted visitors they needed no more than a bullet (should it become necessary to give the entire episode a ghastly turn) to complete their dreadful mission.

He was thereafter led away and he would not again be heard from in public for three years, period during which only close family members could see him. He was not even allowed to pay his last respects to his mother who died while he was in detention.

After the time in detention, Buhari returned apparently with a great sense of injury. He kept away from the press for a long while. His icy distance and, perhaps, contempt for the press would gradually thaw over the years. Following this, he sought (or was sought) to give his own side of the story between him and those who shoved him out of office. He granted one or two widely reported press interviews, including the one with The News (?) in which he famously talked about a ‘fifth columnist’, the mole

in his regime whose mortal blow eventually brought that government to its knees. With his semi-reclusive lifestyle, before and after this interview, Buhari both cut and presented the picture of a wronged man who desired an opportunity to show Nigerians his true person.

The putsch that led to his ouster, in my reading of his thoughts, gave him no room to show Nigerians the real person behind the stern exterior. This probably was the catalyst for his urge, which over the years became a determination (some might say obsession) to return to public life. It was probably at the root of his decision to enter the race to become Nigeria’s president. Three times he sought this office before his latest attempt, and three times he was rebuffed at the polls. His determination would pay off at the fourth attempt which turned the tide in his favour, thanks to the strategic alliance between his party and the Action Congress of Nigeria.

Looking at Buhari today and the tortuous route he took to arrive at his present position, one cannot

The Buhari of 2015 is a more altered individual that is set to govern an even more altered space than he presided over as a military ruler until 1985

Reflections on a theme in President Buhari’s Inaugural speech

O

N Friday May 29, our so-called Democracy Day (October 1 to me), I was at Tafawa Balewa Square to witness the swearing-in of Mr Akinwunmin Ambode as the 14th governor of Lagos State. I went with a sizable number of fellow old students of Federal Government College, Warri, Ambode’s alma mater, equally delighted to mark the ascension of a product of the unity schools to the governance of the most cosmopolitan and unifying city in a country cleft to the marrow by tribal sentiments and the atavistic fears they stir. Throughout the ceremony of change of guards, a rousing point of which was the loud ovation at outgoing Governor Fashola’s entry and when he delivered his handing-over speech, I kept imagining the scene of even greater pomp and pageantry in Abuja where Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Prof.Yemi Osinbajo were taking their oaths.

It had been a little difficult deciding where to be, Lagos or Abuja, but knowing the press would give a full account of goings-on in the federal capital, I gladly reported to the meeting point front of the National Museum at Onikan for the short walk to the old centre of legislative power. And as soon as I could, I read Buhari’s speech, the primary document of his promise to the nation as president. I read it more for assurances that he would be true to his promises during the campaigns than for anything new he might say. An inaugural speech is not where I expect an in-coming president to lay out his programme. The broad vision and framework would do for me; better if also exhortatory or inspiring.

There would be time enough for the detailed policy and governance things to follow.

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As readers of this column will know, I saw the prospect of change through Buhari not so much from the material angle but the psychological. This is a bit woolly, so let me explain, in the hope that at the very least my column of April 8, 2015 entitled “Buhari and Jonathan: Character as Destiny ” makes my argument clearer. In my opinion, our malaise grew to a terminal point over the years because as a people we had lost spirit. It may be nebulous to speak of “the soul of a nation”, but there can be no doubt that our sense of collective being, often expressed as national consciousness, had reached its lowest point since independence. National consciousness is a function of the history, values and aspirations that define citizenship of a political space, of peoplehood in the era of the nation-state.

Whatever their shortcomings, our founding fathers were driven by a lofty

Whatever their shortcomings, our founding fathers were driven by a lofty national consciousness

but conclude that he is a man on a mission, one who thinks he has an unfinished business awaiting his attention. This is the best way to explain his consistency in offering himself to Nigerians for service.

The Buhari of 2015 is a more altered individual that is set to govern an even more altered space than he presided over as a military ruler until 1985. He seems a more mature and dignified individual who views everything with the detached air of one who has learned from experience. His attitude bespeaks that of somebody who has ‘seen it all’, and only now sits back in bemused silence watching and waiting to see how things would turn out.

His return to power at this point of near total chaos and social anomie might have been Godordained. He landed after the visitation of locusts, a profligate and reprobate cohort of rulers whose excesses can only be erased by the principled modesty of the newly-inaugurated president and his deputy. Buhari came from an era when military personnel still had some sense of the value of proportion and were yet to cross the red line of rectitude that thrusts the succeeding generation of rulers into the epicentre of corruption.

It cannot be expected that Buhari would be allowed the level of modesty that he may desire both on account of his age and the expectations of Nigerians in these very austere times. But how hugely does his simple image aboard an aircrcaft or at 10 Downing Street contrasts with that of even the hangers-on of ministers, their aides and other VIPs of a recently bygone dispensation.

n a t i o n a l consciousness.

Indeed, it was the only basis on which they fought for independence from colonial Britain, since there was no prior nation called Nigeria until Lord Lugard’s conjuration of 1914.

Thus, while they chafed at the nation’s uninspiring birth, they were nevertheless pragmatic, and even visionary, enough to understand that our destiny was far brighter as Nigerians than as citizens of 400 odd nationalities or subjects of the kings and other traditional potentates of the time.

Yet, oddly enough, the farther away from our original ethnic and primordial state of existence, the more tribal and atavistic we got. With the common foreign enemy gone, and no strong shared politico-cultural institutions or ties to bind us, the struggle—or the “dream,” as that great theorist of decolonisation, Frantz Fanon, rightly put it—became merely that of taking the coloniser’s place, of “possession—all manner of possession.” In short, of primitive accumulation. The idea of nation-building and civic responsibility was abandoned. As I argued in a much earlier column “The Federal Republic of No-Man’s Land” (The Guardian, 28 March 2011), Nigeria became to successive power-mongers a foreign, unoccupied land, to be looted and the spoils brought home to our real political domiciles—the ethnic community. A nation stuck in that soul-deadening structure of thinking, feeling and participating in government needs exorcism, a reawakening to first order principles.

This expression of modesty is not and cannot be a PR stunt by a former head of state, a 73-year-old who had once been a military leader- at a time when such leaders had total and unquestioned control of their domain. Their every word, including the very mundane and banal, had the immediate effect of law. What then would he want to achieve now by pretending to be modest? False modesty, therefore, cannot be the object of Buhari in travelling light and generally maintaining an austere outlook. His must be a genuine attempt at reorienting Nigerians from the emptily ostentatious ways of our recent past. Nigerians need the vitamins of honest, dedicated leaders to stir them in the desired direction of attitudinal change.

Nigerians would need more than the personal modesty of one man to stem the tide of unemployment or the ravages of insecurity. They would need more than mere sloganeering to put food on their tables or provide electricity round the clock.

Indeed, they would need more than the promises of a leader who proclaims his connectedness to everyone and no one group in particular. But without the gravitas of personal example, as set especially by their leaders, Nigerians would remain caught in a time warp, bound to their wasteful past. This is the reason we all must support Buhari’s subtle acceptance of the equality of all Nigerians and his vote for change from a wasteful past to a future of modest and, hopefully, honest leadership. Travel well, Buhari!

It was in this light that the passage in which the sentence, “We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism”, appears to detain me more than any other in the inaugural speech. It points, I think, to the proper platform for the task of salvaging our battered country. Without hope, despair takes over the heart. Yet, there is no place more dangerous than the heart of a desperate man or woman, one who believes there is nothing to live for or uphold anymore and so everything to die for,desecrate or destroy. Hopelessness and despair lie at the roots of much of what menaces us today. I will end, then, with a slightly redacted version of that passage: “At home we face enormous challenges.

Insecurity, pervasive corruption. . . unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages . . . We are going to tackle them head on.. .. We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism.

We can fix our problems. In recent times, Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our mission. Our founding fathers . . . worked to establish certain standards of governance. They might have differed in their methods or tactics or details, but they were united in establishing a viable and progressive country. Some of their successors behaved like spoilt children breaking everything and bringing disorder to the house.”

Yes, we can solve our problems. May the President find the will to stay true to this vision.

20—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

The change we need

By Ebele Orakpo

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•Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele (middle), with students of Government College, Epe, Ketu which won the Spirit of Lagos Schools Challenge

In the Spirit of Lagos, a reward for exemplary lifestyle

By Bose Adelaja

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AGOS has been variousy described as ‘no man’s land’, ‘mini-Nigeria’ or the ‘commercial nerve centre’ of the country. Many pundits, however, believe that these descriptions are immaterial; what matters is the spirit behind the name and how residents of the city relate with one another.

Created on May 27, 1967, Lagos which prides itself as the “Centre of Excellence and economic capital of Nigeria”, is home to millions of Nigerians from all the ethnic nationalities.

Many people who reside outside the city believe that your bread is already baked once you come to Lagos. This may be the reason for the daily influx of people from neighbouring countries and other parts of Nigeria into the city.

The uncontrolled influx of people led to a plethora of social vices being perpetrated on a daily basis by hoodlums and miscreants. Instead of being the centre of excellence, Lagos acquired the notoriety as the centre of filth.

In a bid to bring attitudinal change that will usher in sanity into the system, the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, introduced the Kick against Indiscipline, KAI; the Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and several environment related task forces.

Aligning with the government’s efforts to restore sanity into the polity, a group which goes by the name Spirit of Lagos, decided to introduce a reward system to honour those who help to make Lagos a more liveable place. The group’s l

Project Director, Mr. Olaniyi Omotoso said his body is campaigning for attitudinal change to restore, share and protect positive values, while encouraging good behaviours among residents of the city.

The group which is barely two years old organised the first ever Citizens Day Awards on Wednesday May 27, 2015. The day which is designated as Children’s Day , was specially chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the creation of Lagos State.

The award ceremony was designed in partnership with the state government to acknowledge Lagos citizens who excelled in different fields of human endeavour. They (awards) came in different categories, ranging from business/corporate award, public service, individual\community and school challenge.

Among the awardees was Mr. Ganiyu Isaiah Aliu who worked in the Health and Safety division of the Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA. Aliu was said to have contributed significantly to the drastic reduction in health hazards and accidents recorded by those who work on the highways.

In the same vein, Elepete Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Ikorodu which voluntarily generates power for its community, was rewarded for this gesture which was made possible through the purchase of transformers and 50 spans of high

Instead of being the centre of excellence, Lagos acquired the notoriety as the centre of filth

and low-tension cables. The LCDA is also actively engaged in the repair and maintenance of its local roads.

Other awardees were Mr. Bolajoko Fadipe who takes care of the monthly meals of over 3,000 Lagosians and Christiana Ebun who provides scholarship and organises free career seminars to youths in Bariga and Shomolu.

Government Junior and Senior Colleges, Ketu\Epe emerged the winner of the 2015 Schools’ Challenges for instituting a project to develop a positive attitude to communal (government) property.

The project aims at minimising losses arising from damaged school furniture, thereby saving money for the school.

The Chairman, Spirit of Lagos Project Committee, Mr. Ben Akabueze, said the awardees were nominated by Lagosians, vetted by a panel of judges and returned to the public who decided on the final nominees.

Also speaking at the event, former Governor Fashola who used the opportunity to unveil the ’Wall of Fame’ declared May, 27 ‘Lagos Day’. According to him, the day will be incorporated into the Children’s Day activities but will not be observed as a workfree day. He stated that a society that fails to recognise exemplary people will find it difficult to produce heroes. “I hope my successor will find this worthy to continue and build upon,” he requested.

The former governor also proposed what he called “Governor ’s award” for people like Miss Josephine Agwu, an airport cleaner who found $28,000 and other foreign currencies totaling about N12m and returned them to the owner and founder of Hearts of Gold Orphanage, Mrs Adedoyin Adelaja.

HE change we seek must start and end with us. We always look for change from outside, that is not the way to go,” said Ify, a commuter in the Tin- Can-bound commuter vehicle.

“Don’t expect President Muhammadu Buhari and his team to perform magic,” said Bola.

“Ah, we expect nothing less oo. After all, they made all the promises with their eyes wide open. Nobody forced them to make promises they knew would be very difficult to fulfil; so since they have made promises, they have to fulfil them,” said Fred.

“Gbam! No long story. Nigerians are in a hurry to see results,” said Peter.

“Reality check number 1! If we, as individuals refuse to change, nothing will change. So first of all, we must begin the change from ourselves. We must change our mindsets and attitudes,” said Ify. “But Buhari did it before and I believe he can do it again,” said Peter.

“Yes, he did it with an iron fist backed by decrees but this time around, we are in democracy and it is a different ball game altogether. The typical human being, especially the Nigerian variety, will only change by use of force; you know: threats, guns, whips, etc. If you intend to change him by laws, you are wasting your time. So that is why Buhari’s method worked 30 years ago as a military head of state but today, I only pray he gets all the cooperation he will need from the people to succeed, “ said Agnes.

“As I said earlier, the change you desire starts with you. If we as individuals will play by the rule and do the right things in our little corners, we will be able to get the desired result. As an individual, do you do your job diligently or you lie, cheat and cut corners? To us, those are not part of the huge monster called corruption.

What time are you supposed to resume at work and at what time do you get there? You resume at 8.00am and you get there at 9.00am but sign 7.58am anyway. Is that not part of the corruption?” asked Ify. Continuing, she said: “As the adage says, little, little drops make the mighty ocean. So if we can change in our little ways, I believe strongly that Nigeria will change.”

“Do you perform your duty and expect gratification at the end without which you may refuse to do your duty the next time and hoping Nigeria will be corruption-free? You see, it’s always easy to accuse others of corruption; yet, we are doing the exact thing albeit on a smaller scale.

“So if we look at the nitty-gritty of corruption, we are all guilty so we should all repent. If individuals change, families will change and then communities will change, towns will change, states will change and ultimately, Nigeria will change,” said Agnes.

“Instead of criticising Buhari, we should all join hands to help him succeed,” counselled Bola.

“See hypocrisy. So now we should be patient and support him? Did he extend such to his predecessors? No! So with the same measure he and his party measured to others, will we measure to him; so they should all get ready,” said Fred, adding: “I actually heard one of the most ardent abusers of GEJ saying we should be patient as GEJ gave him the handover notes just a few days ago so he needs time to study them.”

“Oh really? He’s been around long enough to know what is wrong with Nigeria and he should have mapped out strategies of tackling them by now, so what are we saying? “ asked Agnes.

“My own na to siddon look,” joked Peter.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

— 21

Interswitch considers IPO in London, Lagos for expansion

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BUSINESS PARTNER DAY: From left: Mr. Ojei Charles, Director, Enterprise Business, Samsung Electronics West Africa; Mr. Andre De Meyer, Director, Samsung Africa Business to Business Division; Ms. Agwu Jovita, Business Manager, Cloud Display, Samsung Electronics West Africa; Mr. Bola Adisa, CEO, IDC, West Africa and Mr. Marco De Vries, Business Development Manager, Africa, Samsung Electronics West Africa at the Samsung Business Partner Day, 2015 Edition in Lagos.

Lagos suffers 40% rental property shortfall

By Jonah Nwokpoku

A

study conducted by Nigeria’s online real estate marketplace, Lamudi.com.ng has shown that supply of rental apartments in Lagos falls short by 40 per cent.

Entitled: “The Lamudi Quarterly Barometer for Lagos’ the report which was for the period between January and March, 2015, was based entirely on data on properties listed on the Lamudi platform by a network of real estate agents and property developers as well as data on search inquiries carried out by property seekers.

The Lamudi website boasts of over 125,000 visits monthly and over 30,000 property listings.

The report showed that in terms of demand, over 70 per cent of property searches were for rental property, as

$133.30 $3,108.00

$12.39

$64.91

3.50 55.00

0.14

0.03

60.45 CURRENCY

BUYING

0.25

CENTRAL

DOLLAR 196 196.5 POUNDS 298.04 298.8005 EURO 214. 1929 2147395 FRANC 207.3764 207.9056 YEN 1.579 1.583 CFA 0.3086 0.3186 WAUA 271.8459 272.5395 RENMINBI 31.6014 31.6825 RIYAL 52.2505 52.3839 KRONA 28.7174 28.7906 SDR 272.057 272.7512

197 299.561 215.286 208.4348 1.587 0.3286 273.2332 31.7636 52.5172 28.8639 273.4454

CBN Exchange Rate as at 2/ 06 /15

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against 30 per cent supply, indicating a 40 per cent gap between demand and supply. According to the data, the average selling price of available residential property across Lagos for the first quarter of 2015 was N13.4 million (per bedroom), while the average rental price per bedroom was N694, 000.

The report which highlighted real estate market trends across the twenty local governments of the state showed that the demand pressures on available housing in the central districts of Lagos Mainland far outstripped the rest of the city.

According to data: “Lagos Mainland LGA has the highest market pressure for housing with demand outstripping supply by 18 per cent, followed by Surulere with 10 per cent; In terms of rental property, Yaba had the highest demand pressure on both houses and flats by 15 and 30 per cents respectively. This is followed by Lekki with 13 per cent demand and 29 per cent supply.

“Ajah in Etiosa local government has the highest demand on flats to buy by7.5 per cent, while Lekki has the highest demand pressure on houses to buy with 6.5 per cent. Ikoyi comes second in demand pressure in both categories by 7 and 6 per cents respectively. In terms of raw search volumes, Lekki is the most sought after

Ikorodu is the district most sought after for land purchases with 12 per cent of overall demand for land, however the highest market pressure for land purchases is in Ogudu

location for both rental and property purchases, followed by Ikeja in both categories.

“Ikorodu is the district most sought after for land purchases with 12 per cent of overall demand for land, however the highest market pressure for land purchases is in Ogudu.”

The report also noted that rental price patterns across Lagos generally mirror sales prices with a few notable exceptions.

It noted that, “The relatively high average rental price (N694, 000 per bedroom) for Lagos is skewed towards the high availability of overpriced rental stock in Lagos Island and Eti-Osa LGAs. Lekki in particular, is overpriced for rentals, potentially a sign of speculative pricing for low demand housing stock rather than an actual lack of available housing stock.

Mushin, Ikotun and Badagry surprisingly made it into the top ten most expensive neighbourhoods to rent in Lagos.”

The Lamudi’s report highlights the wide disparities in property prices that exist across Lagos. The average sales price for available property in Lagos Island was N46m per bedroom, more than three times the Lagos median sales price. In comparison, the average sales prices in the southern Lagos outskirts of Badagry and Ojo were below N2.5 million per bedroom, less than a fifth of the Lagos median price.

Commenting on the report at the unveiling before newsmen in Lagos, Lamudi’s Managing Director, Obi Ejimofo said the report is Lamudi’s contribution to bringing pragmatism to the Lagos real estate market.

“We feel it is important for all stakeholders in this sector, whether buyers, sellers or investors to understand the more granular dynamics of supply and demand in Lagos. This report is our contribution to greater transparency and will hopefully guide more data-driven investment decisions which should ultimately result in a more efficient property market in Lagos.”

nterswitch Ltd., which processes payments for banks and owns a brand of debit cards in Nigeria, is considering initial public offerings in London and Lagos next year as it plans an expansion into new African markets.

The company has discussed share sales with banks including Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd. and may choose advisers for a transaction within a few months, Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Elegbe said.

“We’re looking at doing an IPO,” Elegbe, 43, who founded Interswitch in 2002, said in an interview in Lagos on May 28. “We’re looking at the U.K. and Nigeria. Our industry is one that investors love. They understand it, especially in places like the U.K.” Interswitch, which operates in five African countriesandownsVerve,aNigerianprovider of debit cards, would be the second company from the country to sell ordinary shares in bothLondonandLagosafterSeplatPetroleum Development Co.’s dual listing in April last year. The London Stock Exchange has more than120listedAfricancompaniesandexpects about five Nigerian offerings over the next year, Ibukun Adebayo, co-head of emergingprimary markets, said last month.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index has gained 14 percent over the past three months after falling 16 percent last year before elections and as sliding oil prices hit Africa’s largest crude producer. The measure fell 0.3 percent as of 1:42 p.m. in Lagos on Monday.

Interswitch is about 70 percent-held by London-based private equity group Helios Investment Partners LLP, South Africa’s Adlevo Capital Managers LLC and the InternationalFinanceCorp.,aunitoftheWorld Bank, according to Elegbe. There’s no guarantee of an IPO and the owners may instead decide to sell their holdings to a company, said Elegbe, who is also a shareholder.

‘Bigger Scale’ Helios bought 52 percent of Interswitch for $96 million in Dec. 2010, according to its website.

Interswitch has grown rapidly since then amid a proliferation of automated tellermachines and point of sale devices in Nigeria and it may look to use any capital it raises to fund further expansion, Elegbe said, declining to disclose the company’s revenues or profits.

“We’re a very liquid company,” he said. “But that’s not to say that if we go to the stock exchange we can’t achieve things a lot faster and on a bigger scale.”

Interswitch would be the first Nigerian technology business to list in the U.K., accordingtoElegbe.Localcompetitorsinclude E-Tranzact International Plc, which has a market value of 14.2 billion naira ($71 million).

While Nigeria is “by far” Interswitch’s biggestmarket,italsohasoperationsinKenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Gambia, according to Elegbe. The company plans to move into Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana, he said.

22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

The truth is, it’s always a struggle when you lose someone you love. But your emotional struggles don’t need to be compounded by financial difficulties

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Two worldwide reinsurers perform worse in Q1 2015

By Favour Nnabugwu

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WO out of 18 publicly traded worldwide reinsurers performed worse first quarter of 2015 than the overallmarket, according to A.M. Best, an international rating agency in its special report on reinsurance subsector.

In the report the agency said. “In fact, the group of all followed public company’s return during 1Q15 was an average share price increase of 8.3 per cent versus the market total return of 0.4% for the same time period.”

The report signed by Dr. Edem Kuenyehia, Associate Director, Market Development & Communication of A.M. Best states that only one had negative performance during the first quarter of 2015 and only two ratings firm said in the agency special report last week.

The report said that ‘management teams indicated that they remain disciplined and will continue to reduce their books of business as necessary. For many, the readjustment of their reinsurance books of business continued during the first quarter, particularly for property CAT. Portfolios continue to be more weighted toward primary business given that pricing continues to be relatively more attractive and access to the business easier than on the reinsurance side.”

Some reinsurers, however, did indicate that pricing pressures and competition is becoming more pronounced on the primary side and that it is becoming more challenging to find good profitable business, the report said. “Companies agree that 2015 will remain challenging and will lead to an even more careful approach to risk selection and likely more M&A deals as some struggle to stay relevant in the market.”

For publicly traded reinsurance companies, including Swiss Re, Munich Re, SCOR and Hannover Re, stock prices ended Q1 2015 “well above the overall market, driven by the continued benign loss environment and strong performance by the large four European companies,” The reinsurance industry remains challenging, with Jan. 1 and April 1, 2015 renewal pricing continuing to decline in the double digits and commissions rising in the low- to mid-single digits. “The expectation remains that reinsurance pricing overall will remain under pressure in 2015 given continued pressures from alternative capital and the lack of any price changing event over the past few years,” the report said.

In 2014, US$8.8 billion had been issued in CAT bonds alone, representing a 15% growth from 2013.

“Thus far in 2015, $4.0 billion in CAT bonds have been issued,” the report said. “Given the current market environment, reinsurance and retro pricing is expected to remain under pressure going forward.

The intensified competition in property reinsurance and CAT continues to spill over to other lines of reinsurance as companies attempt to expand their product offerings and global presence.

This, in turn, continues to put upward pressure on ceding commissions on quota share placements and leading to more multiyear contracts, broader contract terms and increased signings on aggregate covers.

These conditions are likely to remain throughout the year absent any major event.”

As favourable reserve releases start to diminish and companies are under pressure to deliver underwriting profits, the need for a wider footprint and broader scale become fundamental for companies competing in the current market, A.M. Best said. “For 2015, returns are expected to get increasingly more challenging if capital continues to enter the market, reserve releases decline, pricing continues to soften in the double digits and cedents continue to retain a larger portion of their business,” the report concluded.

“The market could possibly experience lower ROEs and an uptick in combined ratios as commission expenses continue to increase and premiums continue to declines in 2015.”

Send comments & enquiries to insuranceandyou@yahoo.com

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,

INSURAN How to figure out if you need insurance

By Rosemary Onuoha

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O figure out if you need life insurance, you need to think through the worst-case scenario. If you died tomorrow, how would your loved ones fare financially? Would they have the money to pay for your final expenses (e.g., funeral costs, medical bills, taxes, debts, lawyers’ fees, etc.)? Would they be able to meet ongoing living expenses like the rent or mortgage, food, clothing, transportation costs, healthcare, etc? What about long-range financial goals?

Without your contribution to the household, would your surviving spouse be able to save enough money to put the kids through college or retire comfortably?

The truth is, it’s always a struggle when you lose someone you love. But your emotional struggles don’t need to be compounded by financial difficulties. Life insurance helps make sure that the people you care about will be provided for financially, even if you’re not there to care for them yourself.

Life insurance becomes increasingly important when you get married or have children. Typically, a death is not only emotionally difficult, but the loss of a significant source of income can leave your loved ones facing an additional financial burden.

Life insurance is often just an afterthought after more rewarding financial obligations are taken care of, but it is one of the most important. If you don’t have enough life insurance, you could put your family in a

GAINERS FOR EQUITIES

LOSERS FOR EQUITIES

difficult situation upon your death.

When you need life insurance

If you don’t have a spouse or any dependents, you may not need much, if any life insurance at all. In this situation, when you pass on, you probably aren’t leaving anyone behind that relied on your income. Even so, you may still want some very basic coverage to ease the family’s pain by covering final funeral expenses.

Life insurance should be purchased if you are considering starting a family.

Your rates will be cheaper now than when you get older and your future children will be depending on your income. If you have a family that depends on you, you need life insurance now.

For young single adults, the reason a single adult would typically need life insurance would be to pay for their own funeral costs or if they help support an elderly parent or other person they may care for financially. Otherwise, if one has other sources of money for a funeral and has no other persons that depend on their income then life insurance would not be a

If you have a family that depends on you, you need life insurance now

necessity.

Things to consider

What immediate financial expenses will your family face upon your death? How much of your salary is required to meet your current expenses?

If you were to die tomorrow, how long would your dependents need financial support? How much, if any, would you want to leave behind to fund your child’s education, giving to charities, or leave an inheritance?

Consider your needs

There is no right or wrong answer to how much insurance you need as your values and goals will ultimately determine what is right for you. For some people this could mean enough coverage so that their spouse would never have to work again, while for others it may mean just enough to pay off outstanding debts. Whatever you decide, your loved ones will appreciate it in the unfortunate event that it is needed. If you die during your earning years, your family could suffer a severe economic loss as a result of losing your current and future income. Unfortunately, your family would still have to pay its regular bills, the mortgage, and outstanding debts, and perhaps even continue saving for college and retirement. Unless you’re independently wealthy, achieving these goals may be virtually impossible for your family with the loss of your steady income. Life insurance offers a way for your family to continue living comfortably and without worry.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

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CE & YOU

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There is no right or wrong answer to how much insurance you need as your values and goals will ultimately determine what is right for you

,

'Nigerian insurance sector becoming toast of foreign investors’

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From left: Babs Ogunwole, President Nigeria Basketball Federation, Lagos Chapter; Adewunmi Ogunsanya, Chairman, MultiChoice Nigeria and Martin Mabutho, General Manager, Marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria during the launch of Lagos Islanders floor and first ever home play of any club side in DStv Basketball League in Nigeria held at Landmark Center, Oniru, Victoria Island Lagos.

Swiss Re in talks for Nigerian acquisition to tap African growth

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wiss Re AG, which has had an African presence for more than 60 years, said it’s in talks with Nigerian insurers to buy minority stakes and benefit from growth in the continent’s largest economy.

“We’d like to have more investments in places like Nigeria,” Frank O’Neill, Swiss Re’s chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa, said Tuesday in an interview before the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town.

“The challenge is that the valuations are rich. We’re looking for the right kind of partners at a price that makes sense. We’re at an early stage in talks, but we’re positive on the market opportunities.”

Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, bought a minority stake in Kenya’s Apollo Investments Ltd. from buyout firm

LeapFrog Investments in October. Kenya is one of seven focus markets in Africa for Zurich-based Swiss Re, with the others including Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique and Angola.

While Swiss Re already reinsures companies in all of its target markets, it wants direct stakes in insurers to benefit from African growth rates that are higher than developed nations. SubSaharan African economies are expected to grow by an average 4.5 percent in 2015, rising to 5.1 percent next year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Nigeria’s growth rate is forecast to be 4.8 percent this year.

“The direct investments aren’t about having a footprint, it’s to benefit from the growth in primary

insurance,” O’Neill said.

“Africa is very attractive from a return perspective. The investments also give us a seat on the board and on-the ground-experience. We want more of them in the region.”

The Kenyan investment was the first of its kind in Africa for Swiss Re. The company may target as many as three minority investments in Kenya and Nigeria, according to O’Neill, and it will continue to work with LeapFrog to identify any opportunities that arise when the private equity firm exits investments in Africa.

“Africa is very small in the Swiss Re context, but it punches above its weight in terms of how management see the future potential,” he said.

“The chairman has told us to show our commitment to Africa.”

OW insurance penetration rates, good growth prospects, a relatively stable political climate and an improving regulatory landscape, is making Nigeria a country of interest to foreign investors seeking to capitalise on untapped insurance demand, A.M Best has said.

In its report titled, ‘Nigeria’s Insurance Sector Faces Economic Challenges, but New Government Improves Prospects,’ A.M Best noted that new insurance licenses are no longer being issued, owing to the high number of insurers operating in the relatively small sector, hence any prospects entering the market would have to do so through the acquisition of existing insurance entities.

The report said, “Additionally, domestic players are increasingly reassessing their strategies to achieve rapid growth and are likely to consider consolidation as a means to achieve further expansion. In the past two years, the industry has witnessed the entrance of a number of foreign players into the market. Meanwhile, the number of insurers in the industry has shrunk over the past 20 years, much of which was a result of NAICOM’s increase in minimum capital requirements in 2007 that saw participant numbers reduce to 49 from 97 in 2005.

“A.M. Best believes that consolidation is likely to continue, abetted by the entrance of foreign investors seeking global expansion to diversify their business.

For domestic insurers, this enables them to utilise international practices and technical expertise, further aligning the Nigerian market with that of the global operating environment.

However, international investors targeting Nigeria will need to remain mindful of the inherent challenges overshadowing the insurance market, including the uncertain economic environment. While the existing retail portfolios of domestic players may be considered attractive as these lines of business are relatively untapped, significant investment is required to establish strong distribution channels to enable insurers to build sufficient scale. This will require investors to have a long-term view of their positions in the market.

Furthermore, the low, albeit improving, level of transparency in the market is likely to be a hurdle in undertaking sufficient due diligence on potential acquisition targets.

24 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

The new electricity tariffs from July 2015

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INAUGURATION: From left: Immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the Chairman, Candel Company Limited, Mr. Charles Anudu, his wife Mrs. Fidelma Anudu, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce & Industry, Mrs. Olushola Oworu and the Managing Director, Candel Company Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Kattie at the inauguration of the Candel Agrochemical Plant at the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos on Tuesday.

Vitafoam profit rises by 11.8%

By Peter Egwuatu

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itafoam Nigeria Plc has explained that its performance in 2014 was impressive as its profit went up by 11.8 per cent.

Speaking to the capital market community during the company ’s fact behind its financial figures for 2014, the acting Group Managing Director, Mr. TaiwoAdeniyi said that the company would continue to sustain its culture of ensuring shareholder value.

Adeniyi noted that Vitafoam Nigeria Plc has the largest foam manufacturing and distribution network which facilitates just in time delivery of finished products throughout West African Sub region. He explained that despite the inclement operating environment, the company’s gross profit was up by 5.4 per cent to N5.4 billion while profit after tax rose by 11.8 per cent to N435 million.

Meanwhile, the company has proposed a gross dividend of N246 million and a bonus share

of one for every five shares held for approval by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting scheduled for this month.

Adeniyi attributed the strong performance to the following critical success factors: professional and dedicated staff, processes and procedures, internal efficiencies, operational innovation and creativity and timely execution of strategic plan.

Commenting on the company ’s competitive advantage, Adeniyi identified what he described as tail winds thus: strong brand equity (Vitafoam and Vono), strong assets base, national spread of sales channels, best in class operational facilities, economies of scale, pioneer advantage including establishment of vitapur and other subsidiaries and pacesetter advantage. He explained that manufacturers in Nigeria are contending with persistent terrorist activities in the North, unpredictable political environment, high cost of financing operations, unstable government policies, lack of

enabling infrastructures, products adulteration and volatile and increasing cost of chemicals. Adeniyi assured the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Management and stockbrokers that the company would continue to provide information timely in line with the Exchange’s Post Listing requirements.

Stockbrokers commended the company for its outstanding performance and advised the management to sustain its culture of ensuring shareholder value.

Prior to the presentation of the facts behind the figures, Vitafoam’s management paid a courtesy visit to the management of The Exchange where developmental issues were discussed.

Also, the Vitafoam’s management visited the trading floor where Adeniyi commended the stockbrokers for their appreciation of the company’s performance. He closed the trading by ringing the closing bell.

Stanbic IBTC wins first prize in corporate citizens awards

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n recognition of its strict adherence to corporate governance ethics, Stanbic IBTC Bank has won the first prize in the maiden edition of the Corporate Citizen Awards. Organized by the Corporate Affairs Commission, the award is designed to recognize and reward corporate entities that have consistently adhered to applicable bylaws under the auspices of CAC and conducted business in Nigeria to the highest standards of responsible corporate practice.

To win the ‘Best Complying Company of the Year’ award, which was presented at a formal ceremony at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, recently, Stanbic IBTC Bank was selected ahead of a strong field of competitors from the financial services industry.

Expressing joy on this achievement, Chief C M Y K

Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, stated that it represents a powerful endorsement of the strength of Nigeria’s financial services sector, the quality of its regulatory framework, as well as of Stanbic IBTC’scomprehensive and globally bench-marked framework on best practice. She said the Stanbic IBTC Group is guided by the vision of making a real difference in providing financial services in Nigeria.

Stanbic IBTC Bank is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Holdings belongs, is the largest African bank by assets and earnings.

he Nigerian Electricity July 2015. The energy charge Regulatory Commission, will be N14.50 per kWh in 2016, NERC, has issued new N13.88 per kWh in 2017 and electricity tariffs that became N12.85 per kWh in 2018. For effective for commercial and Eko DISCO, the fixed monthly industrial consumers from 1 charge for residential R2 April 2015 and that would category is N750 in 2015, N900 become effective for residential in 2016, N1,080 in 2017 and consumers from 1 July 2015. N1,296 in 2018. The energy The new tariffs are in the charge will rise from N12.87 per Multi-Year Tariff Order, MYTO, kWh to N18.75 per kWh, an 2.1 for the period 1 April 2015 increase of 45 per cent, on 1 July to December 2018 and they 2015. The energy charge will be replace the tariffs in MYTO 2 N18.01 per kWh in 2016, N19.39 for the period 1 June 2012 to per kWh in 2017 and N16.42 per 31 May 2017. kWh in 2018.

The charges are in two parts, The new tariff increases reflect there is a fixed monthly charge the repayments of loans granted and there is a charge for to all the DISCOS by the Central electricity consumption, the Bank of Nigeria. The loans energy charge, which is amount to N30.72 billion for measured in kiloWatt-hour, Benin DISCO, N27.16 billion for kWh. We give below the Ibadan DISCO, N11.70 billion charges for residential for Ikeja DISCO and N6.86 consumers using billion for Eko single phase or DISCO. Interest three phase charged on the The charges meters, category loans is 11 per cent are in two R2. Charges are and repayments given for four parts, there is a are to be made electricity fixed monthly between 2016 and distribution 2014. There are charge and companies, bound to be strong there is a DISCOs, namely protests when these Benin DISCO, charge for increases are Ibadan DISCO, implemented and electricity Ikeja DISCO and consumption, this may be one of Eko DISCO. the reasons why the energy For Benin NERC has finally charge, which accepted that the DISCO, the fixed monthly charge is measured in issuance of for residential R2 kiloWatt-hour, estimated bills by category is N750 DISCOs must be kWh in 2015, N900 in swiftly brought to an 2016, N1080 in end.

2017 and N1296 in 2018. The NERC has recently energy charge will rise from acknowledged that the DISCOs N12.54 per kWh to N18.46 per are not doing enough to provide kWh, an increase of 47 per meters for their unmetered cent, on 1 July 2015. The customers. NERC indicated that energy charge will be N17.02 although the Credited Advanced per kWh in 2016, N18.23 per Payment for Meter kWh in 2017 and N15.23 per Implementation, CAPMI, was kWh in 2018. For Ibadan introduced such that customers DISCO, the fixed monthly can provide DISCOs with funds charge for residential R2 for the acquisition of meters, the category is N625 in 2015, N750 DISCOs have not shown in 2016, N900 in 2017 and enough commitment to N1,080 in 2018. The energy providing their customers with charge will rise from N14.23 meters. NERC therefore per kWh to N18.00 per kWh, proposes to issue an order an increase of 26 per cent, on stipulating the maximum 1 July 2015. The energy charge amount any unmetered will be N17.36 per kWh in customer would pay to the 2016, N19.60 per kWh in 2017 DISCO that provides him/her and N17.93 per kWh in 2018. electricity services. I believe that For Ikeja DISCO, the fixed an estimated bill should not monthly charge for residential exceed 200kWh in a month and R2 category is N750 in 2015, if the DISCO believes the N900 in 2016, N1,080 in 2017 customer uses more than 200kWh and N1,296 in 2018. The energy per month, the DISCO should charge will rise from N13.61 as a priority provide the kWh to N14.96 per kWh on 1 customer with a meter.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 —25

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26—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

DIARY zICT

Africa Cape Town, South Africa July 15-16, 2015

Preview Goodluck Jonathan, former president

President Muhammadu Buhari

Jonathan’s ICT scorecard; Buhari's challenge

By Emmanuel Elebeke

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eing hailed as the world’s most flexible camera mount, the Gekkopod’s flexible legs can provide support on a wide range of surfaces.

The GekkoPod’s bendable legs are made of a siliconcoated rubber and tipped with raised bumps to improve its gripping abilities. The legs can be wrapped around a branch or set of handlebars as well as arranged into a handy, tabletop tripod, and mounts are available to support smartphones, GoPros and conventional, screw-mount cameras. The Gekkopod has already exceeded its funding goal on Kickstarter.

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ooking at the score card of the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, particularly in the Information and communi-cations technology, ICT sector, it may not be farfetched why industry practitioners are asking President Muhammadu Buhari, to fight hard to sustain the legacies if not significantly improve upon them.

Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda of 2011-2015 was a blueprint to propel Nigeria towards the attainment of Vision 20:2020. But of importance to the agenda was Nigeria’s ability to leverage and harness ICTs for national growth and development.

Creation of ComTech ministry The former President hit the ground running with the creation of the Ministry of Communications Technology in 2011, to foster a knowledge based economy and information society in Nigeria.

Other areas of the ministry were to facilitate universal, ubiquitous and

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Battle for NCS Presidency: Pre-election polls favour Uwaje PAGE 27

cost effective access to communications infrastructure throughout the country.

Following its creation, the Ministry focused on four priority areas of: infrastructure development, inclusive develop-ment, local content and IT in government.

According to the immediate past Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the use of telecommunications and ICTs suddenly became a lifestyle of many Nigerians both young and old with increased adoption and use of ICT to automate some operations and processes of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies under Jonathan’s watch.

She also said the Ministry implemented two flagship projects namely: the Government Services Portal (GSP) and the Government Contact Centre (GCC), to enable citizens and other stakeholders have access to government services that are provided by various MDAs through a single window technology.

Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda of 2011-2015 was a blueprint to propel Nigeria towards the attainment of Vision 20:2020

Contribution to GDP

‘No going back in technology deployment for future elections’ PAGE 29

The Nigerian ICT industry made Nigeria one of the fastest growing economies in the world and ICT infrastructure presented the foundation on which many economic services were delivered.

Nigerian ICT industry in 2011 contributed 5.46 per cent to the nation’s GDP and an estimated 4.8 million jobs.

In the same year, there was fragmented IT sector with small domestic players made up of approximately 350 companies.

Domestic value added in key areas was sub-optimal and it was characterized by consumer preference for global brands and high levels of importation of inputs and finished products.

In addition, over $360 million was transferred out in purchase and maintenance of software on products and services within the year.

However, in 2014, a snapshot of the industry showed a much different picture. ICT became a critical sector and ranked with power, oil and gas.

The industry contributed 9.58 per cent to GDP in quarter 3 of 2014 and further enabled other parts of the economy.

The improved environment assured by the former President helped in creating local companies such as: Wakanow, Jumia, Paga, Konga, i-Sec, iRoko TV and others which added values to the economy.

The Nigerian telecom sector today is rated as one of the fastest growing sector in the world and continues to attract significant foreign Direct Continues on page 29

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—27

Vibe Web plans digital marketing growth acceleration conference

By Emeka Aginam

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Battle for NCS Presidency: Pre-election polls favour Uwaje

y Friday, July 22, 2015, members of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, will head to the polls in Akure, Ondo State during the international conference EDICATED digital marketing to elect the IT icon that will steer consultancy firm, Vibe Web Solutions the ship of the society for the next Limited, has expressed readiness to two years. organise digital marketing growth Whoever wins would become acceleration conference 2015.

President of the umbrella The conference Convener, Mr. Tobi organization of all Information Asehinde said that having worked with Technology Professionals, Interest organizations in countries like Nigeria, Groups and Stakeholders in Kenya, Ghana, United Kingdom and United Nigeria.

States, with both corporate clients and Early poll indicators have governmental bodies, said that the revealed one very clear direction.

Conference is aimed at exposing participants The historical significance of this to modern tools of marketing in the digital election will not be lost on several era.

NCS members as this will be the Asehinde, is also the founder of first contest in which the finddigitaltools.com and smedigitalhub.com, Contestants including Chris added that “the main focus of the conference Uwaje, Immediate Past President of scheduled for Friday, 19th June 2015 at ISPON, Vice President of NCS, Prof Protea Hotel, Ikoyi Westwood, Lagos, is to Gani Aderomu, Director, ICT provide insights on how businesses can grow Center at the Obafemi Awolowo their customer base and revenue using University, Ife, OAU, and , Sam digital marketing.

Juwe, former 1st Vice President of •Chris Uwaje “It is a full-day conference that will be neatly Technology Association of packed with practical insights on smart NCS techniques, clever strategies, useful tools, Chris Uwaje, according to industry watchers Nigeria, ITAN, President of of Software is favored to win and become the next President Institute as well as lots of learning, sharing and of NCS, based on the antecedents of his Practitioners of Nigeria, networking opportunities. We would like to enormous and proven contributions to the ISPON, champion of IT Policy explore what works and doesn’t work in blue print in 2001 among Nigerian IT Ecosystem. actual real-life projects with you. That’s why The fine lines between the three contestants others. the conference will be focused on practical had already been drawn, according to industry takeaways, workflows and hands-on insights.

More strategies to rebuild sources and professional opinion on the caliber The goal is that we will deliver tangible, ICT ecosystem N100 billion of people vying for the post of NCS president. actionable points you can use right away.

But in reality, it will be a straight contest as startup transformation fund We will save you a tremendous amount of Meanwhile, amongst others industry watchers have predicted that Uwaje, trial and error, time and money”. from his manifesto, ahead of the the German trained IT priest will win the battle “Already a lot of serious and smart business giving his wealth of experience and pedigree election to be held during owners and marketing executives as well as the12th edition of the NCS in the industry. business development managers that are International Conference, As the battle for the NCS Presidency eager to grow their business have registered intensifies, early opinion by the stakeholders Uwaje said that N100 billion for this great opportunity to learn how to grow in the Nigerian ICT ecosystem suggests that budget was needed as a their business digitally. Some of the Uwaje , a prominent performer at the national startup ICT transformation delegates are coming from Stanbic IBTC, IT Domain, has all it takes to win contest having agenda for the e-Knowledge UAC Plc, BestMan Games, Boulos made his marks as the President of Information Ecosystem.

Enterprises Limited, Sunsteel Industries According to him, nothing Limited and many more” short of this amount will work, if the nation wants to see the big picture and engage national rebirth with Technology Retooling process.

By Agbolade Omowole @iamagbolade For Uwaje , who has never mixed IT with politics, there was urgent need to retool and restructure the Nigeria IT Ecosystem for Innovation and EARNING is a journey, and not a and incentives to fans on Twitter to validate his competitiveness. destination. I attended the New Media authority.

“To jumpstart the Retooling Conference organized by Tosin Olori When you give people a hand, they will find process, there is need to Supergal at the Terra Kulture event center it easy to give you their heart. When Don Jazzy establish a National IT Litmus in Lagos, and listen to various topics related tell his fans to jump, they do just that because package with a seed fund of to social media. I will be sharing what I learnt he has mastered the art of giving. at the event with you.

Have a Marketing and Public Relations Team.

The speaker is Adekoya Adetola, and he Experts say that Doing business without talked about building an entertainment advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark.

Our duty is to brand on social media. His 4 tips are: You know what you are doing but nobody else Build yourself a brand: The speaker talks empower does. about popular entertainment brands. “We The most important investments for artiste are them to have the bad guys’ brand – Pdiddy, and Rick innovation and marketing. Innovation means Ross, the pop star brand – Wizkid and Chris doing things differently. The extra you add to innovate and Brown, and the Street Disciple Brand – Da your ordinary performance will make it become create.

Grin, Olamide and Meek Miils.” extra-ordinary.

Building a brand helps to define who you According to Hubspot, 92% of marketers in Therefore, are in the entertainment industry. If you are 2014 claimed that social media marketing was NCS will an artiste, you must clearly define what you important for their business, with 80% indicating want people to think about when your name their efforts increased traffic to their websites. refocus its is mentioned. Once people know what you And according to Social Media Examiner, 97% strategy by stand for, then you have to be available. of marketers are currently participating in social Be Accessible: The way to connect with media—but 85% of participants aren’t sure what putting the fans on social media is to be available every social media tools are the best to use. other minute. The speaker cited DonJazzy youths in the A report published by Texas Tech University, as one of the most accessible Nigerian brands who engage on social media channels driver’s seat of celebrity on social media. enjoy higher loyalty from their customers. The Do Giveaways. People like free things. the National report concludes “Companies should take Giving fans free gift on social media helps advantage of the tools social media gives them IT Ecosystem to build your credibility. The speaker cited when it comes to connecting with their Don Jazzy who is adept at giving away gifts audience.

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N100 Billion Naira ($500 million), to restructure and empower the acceleration of employment creation from the potential resources, capacities, capabilities and competitiveness in the Nigeria IT Profession and Industry”, he added.

Local content imperative: According to Uwaje, there is an urgent need to ensure that the Nigerian Local Content ACT 2010 is implemented vigorously not only in Oil and Gas, but at all levels of ICT and by extension, a special protection provided for the patronage of Software Nigeria.

Currently, we cannot compete in heavy industries but in the IT knowledge and services industry. According to the recent UNCTAD Year 2013 Report on Software development for developing countries, the software domain represents perhaps the last opportunity for developing countries to accelerate their global competitiveness for future survivability, he explained.

Youth IT Forum, quarterly IT bazaar That the IT mind of Uwaje is working like a time-clock is attested by his program for Nigerian Youth.

For Uwaje who is always passionate about youth empowerment, by retooling the industry, said priority attention must be paid to youth IT forum.

All over the world, according to him, the Youth, digital natives are collectively recognized as the rightful owners of IT. “Our duty is to empower them to innovate and create.

Therefore, NCS will refocus its strategy by putting the youths in the driver ’s seat of the National IT Ecosystem – and by extension, making them the accelerator in the IT engine room.

“This translates to mounting a National IT Innovation Olympiad via the vehicle of National IT Hackathon and indeed celebrating their creativity through a public IT Bazaar – tabled quarterly.

“Historically, youths have always been at the centre of communication technologies which have played a key role in the development of human societies. Nowhere is this influence more evident than in the current information revolution.

“This has led to new bodies of knowledge such as BioInformatics, Nano-Technology Megatronics and so on.

Therefore, the Nigerian Youth must be granted unrestricted access to assert themselves in championing IT innovation for national development at all levels”, he explained.

28 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Airtel launches MPLS for Enterprise Customers

By Laju Iren

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From left: General Manager, EMC West Africa, Mr. Nicholas Travers; Managing Director, EMC, Levant and Emerging Africa Region, Mr. Nazim Fraijat; Chairman, Zinox Group, Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh; Executive Director, Technology Distributions, Mr. Etiene Etukudoh and Distribution Manager, EMC Emerging Africa Region, Mr. Ashraf Helmy at the official launch of the partnership between EMC and TD, in Lagos.

TD, EMC partner to drive technological innovation

By Laju Iren

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HE recently consummated partnership between global data storage giants EMC and Technology Distributions, biggest ICT distributors in Sub-Saharan Africa has been heralded as a strategic initiative which will positively enhance technological innovation across the continent.

Making this assertion at the official launch of the partnership between both companies on Tuesday, Managing Director, EMC, Levant and Emerging Africa Region, Mr. Nazim Fraijat, posited that the addition of TD to EMC’s Global Business Partner Programme is in line with the organization’s desire

to deepen the pace of technological innovation and diffusion in the West African sub-region and on the continent as a whole.

Fraijat said: “We are happy to officially welcome Technology Distributions into our Business Partner Programme. Our delight further stems from TD’s status as one of the biggest and most structured ICT distributors in Nigeria and the West African region as a whole. In view of our desire to make further inroads into Sub-Saharan Africa, we are confident that this partnership with TD will undoubtedly accelerate the rate of access to the wide range of innovative solutions that EMC is known for world-wide.”

Also speaking at the launch,

General Manager, EMC West Africa, Mr. Nicholas Travers said that EMC which is already a renowned global leader in the storage and IT field, also retains a key interest in West Africa and Nigeria in particular.

In his view, this interest is justified by the short space of time in which EMC has expanded its operations in Nigeria, going from having a single employee in 1999 to employing about 45 staff at present, while maintaining offices in Nigeria and the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

While lending his voice to the landmark partnership, Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo-Stan Ekeh noted that the pact with EMC serves to reaffirm TD’s prime position as the major driver of

technological revolution in Africa.

Ekeh, who commended EMC’s exponential growth after just six years of operations in Nigeria, also encouraged solution providers and resellers to take advantage of the unique opportunity offered by the partnership to grow their businesses.

“TD has maintained its position as the leader of the ICT distributor space over the years despite strong competition in the market place. This is why we see this partnership with EMC as strategic as it will go a long way to expand access to technology on the continent, especially considering the status of EMC as a major player in the global IT scene.

Y’ello 21 days of care casts beam on digital education

By Laju Iren

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ver since MTN Nigeria began its annual Corporate Social Responsibility programme, Y’ello 21 days of care in 2007, the company’s helping hands have been extended to improving the health sector, preserving the environment, helping the less privileged, and a host of other activities. For MTN Nigeria however, almost no other sector has received as much attention from this programme as the education sector. It was not a surprise therefore, that when the 2015 edition was launched at the MTN golden plaza in Lagos on Monday, the focus was again on education.

Chief Executive Officer, MTNN, Michael Ikpoki, speaking on the theme: ‘Investing in Education for All,’ said that the company considers it “important to increase and consolidate on our efforts to contribute to our nation’s educational sector,

especially in the area of digital learning. Indeed, as limited access to quality education continues to plague Africa’s growth and development, the role of digital learning brings to the table immediate, diverse and customized access to world-class education and beyond that, a multiplicity of opportunities for advancement.”

Ikpoki is not alone in the belief that digital learning will solve the many challenges bedeviling the education sector in Nigeria. With the country failing to meet the 2015 deadline for the Education For All- Millennium Development Goal, EFA-MDG, experts have in recent times championed the digital way as an opportunity to overcome the issues of access to and quality of education across the country.

Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Services Executive at MTNN also lent his voice to the campain. “We think that education is fundamental to the growth of any economy and

cannot be over-emphasized.

That is why we focus year in, year out on education. But this year, we are taking it up a notch and going digital. We are going to use what is primarily our core business to drive the objectives of the Federal Government with regards to education.”

During these 21 days, staff volunteers at MTNN will establish digital learning facilities in libraries in twelve schools nationwide; organise

This initiative is yet another way we demonstrate our commitment as an organization to corporate social responsibility.

book reading sessions for students across the country; embark on the Train the Teacher Project as well as the Y’ello Tutor Project among others.

Continuing Ikpoki said: “This initiative is yet another way we demonstrate our commitment as an organization to corporate social responsibility. Over the next 21 days, we will show through various community building activities which our employees will engage in; activities which underscore our recognition of the support of the various communities in which we operate and our commitment to improving and transforming these same communities.”

The launch of the Y’ello 21 days of care 2015 was a funfilled event which featured an in-house quiz competition anchored by the host of the television show, ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ Mr. Frank Edoho. Musician and MTN Brand Ambassador Iyanya, was also on ground to entertain the audience.

N a bid to enhance connectivity options for its corporate customers, telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has launched a secure Multiprotocol Label Switching, MPLS, network.

The network, which is aimed at facilitating superior and cost effective branch connectivity both locally and globally, combines the intelligence of private Internet Protocol (IP) routing with the added performance of label switching.

The company said MPLS was designed to enable Enterprise customers with multiple branches to communicate with other employees and branches seamlessly.

Speaking on the service, Segun Ogunsanya, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, said: “this is another innovative service which clearly defines Airtel’s commitment to provide cutting edge technology to empower Enterprise customers to perform optimally.”

According to him, the service is one of the outcomes of the Telco’s investment in technology and capacity building, and will enable the company offer more sophisticated IP based connectivity solutions to corporate organisations in Nigeria.

Micro Station opens Ibadan outlet, unveils loyalty Scheme

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n line with its commitment to deepening access to affordable and cutting-edge mobile devices, Micro Station Limited, a leading telecoms and mobile devices retailing firm in the country, has opened its Ibadan retail outlet.

The new state-of-the-art retail outlet offers a one-stop shop where Nigerians can meet all their telecommunications and computing needs.

Before now, existing Micro Station outlets in Victoria Island, Otigba Street in Computer Village, Awolowo Way in Ikeja, Oshogbo; Ikorodu, Mushin and SangoOtta, as well as at the Kodesho Road, Ikeja have continued to serve the company’s growing customers in the area of access to affordable, stylish and demand-meeting devices.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 29

Re-thinking capability readiness of the public service zLessons from Minister Omobola Johnson

BY TUNJI OLAOPA Excerpts from address by Dr. Tunji Olaopa, Permanent Secretary, Fed. Min. of Communication Technology at the Valedictory Ceremony in honour of Dr. (Mrs.) Omobola Johnson, pioneer Hon. Minister of Communication Technology held on the 27th May, 2015 in Abuja.

I have been pretty hard as a civil service reform conceptual worker on my colleagues on our inability to rise above conventional bureaucratic standards when we have to work with bosses who came in with some best practice knowledge, skills and competence that we could leverage to enhance our practices. In 2011, the FGN, in a bid to respond to the global imperative to connect to the evolving information/ knowledge society, made a crucial decision to establish the Ministry of Communication Technology out of the existing Ministry of Information and Communication. The FGN took a further critical step in hunting for and

zDr. Omobola Johnson appointing an ICT core professional in the person of Dr (Mrs) Omobola Johnson as the Ministry’s pioneer Hon. Minister.

As Dr Johnson is taking a deserved and glorious exit as cabinet Minister of the outgoing administration, what does her tenure and achievements tell us about the policyadministration nexus in the civil service as well as the governance of the MDAs? As a Minister, the Ministry of Communication Technology literarily became, in my view, a huge

laboratory for her to distil her critical professional ideas, processes and institutional commitment and insights. Some of her achievements would include but not limited to: zPioneer Minister of Communication Technology responsible for setting up the structure of the Ministry. zDevelopment of a holistic National ICT Policy that seamlessly integrated its telecoms, postal and IT components. z Involvement of the ICT/Telecoms industry in policy formulation and feedback through annual Stakeholder workshop. zEstablishment and sustenance of National Council on Communication Technology, to ensure inclusiveness of the States in National ICT adoption and developmental efforts. zReinvigorating of a rather challenged NIPOST to make it more relevant in an IT age and more viable through the financial inclusion partnership with CBN to drive cashless policy. zImplementation of the National ICT Infrastructure Backbone (NICTIB)

through the $US100m China EXIM bank loan. zInitiation and implementation of a ‘Whole-ofGovernment’ approach in ICT/e-Government - this received a UN Public Service award in 2013. zDeveloping and obtaining presidential approval for a National Broadband Plan (20132018). zDevelopment of a National e-Government Master Plan. zStandardization of the websites of Federal Government Ministries and agencies. z Adoption of the ‘.gov.ng’ domain name across Federal and state governments. zCreation and adoption of “@fedcs.gov.ng “ email address system for all Civil Servants. zCreation of the Council of Heads of ICT of Federal Government MDAs to engender unity of purpose in implementation of ICT budgets within the FGN. zImproved penetration of Telecommunications and Internet services to rural and underserved areas through the targetContinues on Page 30

Jonathan’s scorecard in ICT, challenge to Buhari Continues from page 26 Investment, FDI. FDI alone brought additional $6 billion into the economy between 2011 and 2013.

Broadband Internet With the increasing demand for interconnection of networks across the globe, the former Minister informed that the administration initiated a strategic plan to get all Nigerian cities connected with broadband as key to this initiative. As a result, many state governments are already keying into the plan, which aimed to make broadband ubiquitous across the country .

To facilitate, the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) approved the allocation of portions of the radio frequency spectrum to the N i g e r i a n Communications Commission for auction to eligible operators to enable them deploy broadband services in the country.

Education In the education sector, the administration declared Nigerian students a priority demographic and through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) rolled out targeted initiatives such as

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collaboration with the Ministry of education and World Bank Step-B in deployment of fibre-optic to universities and affiliated medical colleges, research and education networks.

Under this initiative, 1.4 million students in 27 federal universities were connected via NgREN ; 3.4 million Polytechnic students were due to be connected by end of 2015 in second phase. Still under education, 1,552 secondary schools were equipped with ICT tools and 1,458,880 students estimated to have been introduced to ICTs through this programme. This is in addition to 271 IT centres established by the administration and tertiary institutions Access Projects, set up in six federal universities across the country.

In the same vein, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) conducted a wholly Computer Based Test (CBT) against the usual paper-based test for over a million students.

With this novel initiative, candidates accessed their results minutes after, eliminating the usual delays associated with the release of JAMB results. eGovernment

Until the creation of the Ministry of Communication Technology in 2011, Nigeria was sitting at the bottom of the global e g o v e r n m e n t development ranking.

With the effort made by the administration in 2014, Nigeria moved to 21 positions in egovernment in terms of using ICT in governance with the objective of enhancing service delivery and good governance within MDAs, leading to accountability and transparency in official government transparency and business with citizens and the public in general.

Telecom sector The Nigerian telecoms industry grew in leaps and bounds over the last four years. The industry statistics shows that Nigeria’s telephone subscription which is dominated mainly by mobile lines is now over 148 million connected lines less than 100 million in 2010 with teledensity of 96 per cent less than 46 per cent in 2010.

Similarly, there was significant growth in the use of internet within a short period. Nigeria today recorded internet growth from 11 per cent in 2013 to 52 per cent in 2014 alone and currently has 29 per

cent share of internet usage in the African continent.

Innovations driven by telecoms and ICTs In the past four years, sthe country has witnessed changes and innovations in the way the people transact business in many sectors of the economy.

This was evidenced by the deployment of the electronic wallet (e-Wallet) system, through which Nigerian farmers are now able to make payments for subsidized farm inputs with their mobile phones. e-Commerce It is on record that eCommerce experienced unprecedented boom within this period in view, making Nigerians and foreigners alike exchanging goods and services, reducing cost of travelling and other risks involved.

Programmes and Initiatives The government through the ministry came up with initiatives aimed at encouraging young, talented Nigerians to develop softwares and applications of local players and companies to enable job and wealth creation.

30 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Re-thinking capability readiness of the public service Continues from Page 29 ed focus of the implementation of the USPF. z Adoption of an Agreed User Policy (AUP) and global Service Level Agreement (SLA) for the shared ICT services by Galaxy Backbone. z Implementation of various E-Government projects such as - Government Services Portal (GSP), Government Contact Centre (GCC) etc. z Digitization of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) memo zInitiation of the Girls’ in ICT program consisting of the - “Digital Girls’ Club”; “1,000 Girls Training” and “Smart Women Initiative” - this program received International recognition by receiving an award at the ITU plenipotentiary in 2014. zMicro works training Online Jobs Initiative in collaboration with Rockefeller Foundation (grant of US$ 650,000).

One of the lessons for the civil service to learn from the harvests of technocrats in government taking a reference from Dr. Johnson’s tenure is this: It is not just enough to inject technocrats with

C M Y K

professional expertise and commitment into the public service through technocrats in governments and consultancy services.

What becomes highly essential is to also find a way of institutionalising their professionalism and core expertise into a pool of reform ideas and strategies to be deployed regularly into policy architecture that the civil service requires for its continual modernisation.

This suggests that there are on-going operations and management action research competencies and work being undertaken on a day-today basis (as the management services department used to do) in the civil service, to interrogate some of these learning and practical experiences.

How prepared our administrative frameworks is to tap into a technocratic professional skills and convert expertise inside and outside of the service to vision, vision to strategies, and strategies into policies, programmes and activities, especially within the governance and operations of the MDAs therefore remains

zDr. Tunji Olaopa a seminal question for public service reform managers and champions.

MDAs and the PolicyAdministration Interface in Nigeria’s Public Service The challenges facing the Nigerian Civil Service is multifaceted and complex. If I am permitted a crude summary, I will identify the lack of the institutional readiness of the civil service system in Nigeria, especially to the modernising imperative, as the chief culprit. In essence, the capability readiness of the MDAs,

or in precise terms, their managerial response and adjustment capacity, are less than what is required for institutional performance optimality.

The civil service is built on the framework of smooth, responsive and productive relationships between the various components of the administrative system, especially at its highest levels. Our major concern here is the relationship and context of responsibilities between the Minister and the permanent secretary. The Minister-Per manent Secretary model therefore requires that a minister must have a highly talented and motivated team of civil servants that will deliver the professional inputs required for high performance. On the other hand, the civil servants under a proactive permanent secretary also need an ingenious and motivated minister who understand his/her brief and is committed to pursuing the complex trajectory of policy reform to achieve it. Such successful interaction is backstopped by a critical mix of three interaction models—the traditional

model which require that the minister maintain policy oversight while the permanent secretary implement; the adversarial model which projects the conflicts that is bound to characterise the relationship between policy and administration; and the community model which portrays the relationship between the two as being motivated by shared contractual obligation that binds them together in success or failure.

In the absence of administrative capacity that could match their creative ingenuity, we invariably operate with our one-model-fits-all, thus forcing resultsoriented Ministers to have to set up parallel structures which invariably work in competition rather than to reinforce civil service closed operation system.

The challenge here is that anyone, ministers and permanent secretaries alike, working within the context of the MDAs must note that these organisations are dynamic entities that must respond to local and global trends and best practices.

There is also a message here for future ministers bringing into the MDAs strong technocratic competence and best practices knowledge, not to regurgitate the old tradition of indifference to the challenge and necessity of institution

building. This critical requirement in terms of creating core competences also makes it inevitable that the public service must also become more innovative in harnessing the competences of expert outsiders brought in by the Ministers to enhance the civil service overall institutional capacity.

The long standing performance constraining factors and structural weaknesses in each sector that is documented after deep-seated capability review should form briefing notes to new Ministers and Permanent Secretaries on resumption as critical working assumptions on which to define praxis Managerial system and operational requirements in performance terms needs to be benchmarked for MDAs, while Permanent Secretaries should be reoriented and specifically inducted into their requirements and working when appointed.

Once again, and on behalf of everybody at MCT, we will like to congratulate Dr (Mrs) Omobola Johnson on a successful and achievement-filled tenure as the Hon. Minister for Communication Technology. We also sincerely hope that the lesson of that tenure will constitute a platform for even deeper transformation of the Nigerian Civil Service.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—31

Olawale, 20, seeks N10m for bone marrow transplant

By Esther Onyegbula

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OR the parents of 20-yearold Olawale Kareem, a cancer patient, who is lying critically ill at the private ward of Good Tiding Hospital, Lagos, the quest for medical care for him has been a long and wearisome two-year journey with no end in sight.

From the time Kareem was diagnosed of leukaemia (blood cancer), precisely in October 2013 his parents have known no peace. The journey which began from a private hospital in Ikotun area of Lagos from where he was referred to Isolo General Hospital has taken them to several hospitals in the state.

After several diagnostic tests, Olawale began his chemotherapy which went on for months in different phases, at a point he went into remission.

Just last month, he has done five-day chemotherapy and expected to do one day chemotherapy this month.

Today, the bad news is that latest test conducted before the fiveday chemotherapy session showed that his condition has relapsed and the cancer was back in full force. With the latest discovery, unless something urgent is done, the dream of Olawale to become a human kinetics may not come to pass.

Olawale, a final year student of Physical Education Biology at the Adeniran Ogunsanya

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• Olawale Kareem on his hospital bed.

College of Education, Ijanikin, before he was diagnosed of cancer. To remedy the situation, the medical doctors handling his case said at this stage, the only option is to perform a stem cell transplant which will cost between 9 to N10 million.

Unfortunately, the procedure will not be done in Nigeria.

Narrating their ordeal, Olawale’s mother, Folashade, who said the doctors have advised that the only option for his treatment was a transplant said: “My husband and I have spent over N5 million for his chemotherapy. Initially, we thought it was something that

My husband and I have spent over N5 million for his chemotherapy.

We need assistance from the good people of Nigeria

we could take care of but right now he needs help and he needs it urgently. We need assistance from the good people of Nigeria, the Federal government and the State governments to rescue my son.” Folashade, a fashion designer added that “I can count the number of times I slept in our house at 19 Otitokoro Street,Ikotun since he was diagnosed of cancer., the agony and misery of watching him pass through so much pain has been very frustrating.”

If you are touched by the plights of Olawale Kareem, you can reach Kareem on 08023330350 or GTB account details: Kareem Olawale, Acct Number: 0171294409.

Doctors urged to unite health professionals

By Chioma Obinna

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passionate plea has been made to medical doctors in the health sector to play a leadership role as head of the medical team with a view to ensuring harmony among all health workers and above all better medical outcomes in the management of patients.

Also, the need to build effective public health infrastructure in the country has been identified as a major factor in ensuring effective disease prevention, diagnosis and management.

Former Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris made the plea in Lagos during a send forth ceremony in his honour organised by the members of the Association of General Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, where cream of medical doctors took turns to eulogise him for his achievements in the state ministry of health.

Idris who noted that patients are always at the receiving end when doctors fail to play their leadership role said: “As doctors,

Adadevoh, other Ebola heroes to be honoured at NHEA

we are supposed to be playing leadership role but we don’t seem to be doing that. Playing leadership role does not mean that we should boss our people.

We have to embrace every other person as part of that team.

“It is not easy to do but we cannot succeed as doctors if we have to be putting other health workers at a disadvantage.

“This is my plea. As leaders in the health sector there are certain things we have to do even if we have to stoop to conquer.”

Idris who noted that there are serious infrastructure challenges in the health sector especially at the national level, identified the need to build a proper public infrastructure that would enable the country prevent, diagnose and treat any kind of disease.

He cited the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak as an episode that brought to the fore the need for Nigerian government to build a proper public health infrastructure. “People talk of international health security, what does that mean? As a nation, we must be in a position of providing something that can protect us and

be able to prevent any form of disease, whether it is an epidemic or growing disease. If we cannot prevent, we must be able to diagnose. Having diagnosed we must be able to treat and react appropriately. That is the essence of national health security.”

Calling on private practitioners to embrace public private partnership, PPP, he said: “As doctors I believe we are ready for it. In any normal country it is the private sector that runs the health sector and government provides the basic services and the environment for the private sector to thrive.”

Definition of roles Corroborating his views, Former Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Prof Akin Osibogun, said to put an end to the rivalry among health workers, there is need to define people’s responsibility and reduce the politicisation of service delivery.

“There should be job description for every cadre so that

everybody knows their responsibility clearly. The politicisation is because of the role of government in direct service provision. Once jobs are clearly defined, the debate will become unnecessary. Why don’t we have strike in the United States every day? There are nurses, pharmacists and doctors there even in the United Kingdom, we have all the professionals why are we not having disputes there?”

On his part, Chairman, Lagos State Association of General Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, Dr Adeyeye Arigbabuwo said the leadership role of the doctor is not negotiable.

“We are in support of NHIS which will invariably usher in universal health coverage. We know that out of pocket payment is fading out. So we must encourage any initiative that will talk about health insurance.

“I will expect the new government to sustain, build and make better any health projects of the outgoing government and whatever area observed as shortcomings, they can drop them or modify them.”

ATE Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh and other healthcare workers who personally sacrificed their lives to ensure the containment of Ebola in Nigeria will be honoured at the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards, NHEA. Adadevoh, alongside other medical team handled the initial case of Ebola in Nigeria. The award is recognition for their efforts in quick containment and control of the dreaded virus.

Their dedication and sacrifice for the greater good of the nation is inspirational and deserves the honour that will be bestowed on them.

Disclosing this in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of Global Health Project and Resources and Programme Director of NHEA, Dr. Wale Alabi, said: “Dr. Adadevoh and her colleagues deserve to be celebrated for their noble role. The late doctor’s courage saved the lives of many people.”

In a related development, the NHEA jury of reputable professionals is expected to announce the nominees for the various categories on June 15, 2015, after which voting will commence and winners will be announced at a grand ballroom ceremony billed to hold June 26, 2015 in Lagos.

Already, over 80 organisations and individuals have been nominated.

Laughing gas to remain for use in theaters

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DEBATE at this year's Euroanaesthesia meeting in Berlin will focus on whether laughing gas (nitrous oxide) should be banned from the operating room.

The debate coincides with an article on the "Current place of nitrous oxide in clinical practice" published in the European Journal of Anaesthesiology, that concludes there is "no clinically relevant evidence for the withdrawal of nitrous oxide from the armamentarium of anaesthesia practice or procedural sedation."

In the debate, Professor Rolf Rossaint, University Hospital Aachen, Germany, will say he believes nitrous oxide should be banned. "Whereas 30 years ago, nearly every general anaesthesia procedure was performed with nitrous oxide as an adjuvant, a steady decline of its use over the last 15 years has been observed.

32 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

How Buhari can develop Nigerian sports •Analysis

BY JUDE OPARA, ABUJA

•Blessing Oborodudu

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any sports analysts have been making comments on what they believe the just inaugurated government of President Mohamadu Buhari should do to further develop sports in the country.

There is also another group that has expressed displeasure that the President allegedly failed to make any comments regarding the place of sports under his administration.

The place of sports in the development of a nation cannot be emphasized and Nigeria being a country that is faced with worrisome youth unemployment can use the sports sector to effectively engage most of the young ones.

Interestingly, while sports participation serves as entertainment, it has also become a huge business hence any government that truly wants to achieve in the area of human capital development must not ignore the sports sector.

The present administration has at different times expressed its readiness to invest in the affairs of the Nigerian youth. That is a good thought but it must be

C M Y K

•Buhari have contributed in the electoral victory of the government. We saw all manners of people brought to sports and at the end of the day most of them ended up causing more problems than they could solve.

SPORTS MINISTERS A critical look at the performance of the over 12 sports ministers in the last 16 years will reveal only one or two

•Okagbare

matched by a concerted action and the mere rhetoric of governments.

Having said that, it is also important to ex-ray the performance of sports under the previous administrations at least beginning from 1999 when the country returned to civil rule.

From the time of former President Obasanjo to the immediate past government of President Jonathan, sports was used mainly as a place to send party loyalists who may

To effectively achieve this, the federal government under President Buhari must work assiduously to ensure that schools sports returned in our secondary schools

of them who contentiously worked to develop the sector.

The rest of them were only interested in how much they will make from the system.

They descended to the level of travelling for every international meet just to pocket estacodes.

In fact the era of the immediate past Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo could pass as one of the worst moments of Nigerian sports may be, not because he did not want to develop the sector but it was glaring that he was even more interested in the politics of his home state, Rivers than the affairs of the N S C .

Unfortunately, the sector got it hotter with the appointment of Hon. G b e n g a Elegbeleye another career politician who like his boss was always on the road to Ondo State his own home state as the Director General.

In the past, when the DG who used to be a professional from the Commission used to cushion the effects of the failings of the Minister either by omission or commission but in the past one year, the story was different as both Danagogo and

Elegbeleye seemed to have competed in who will ‘deliver’ their political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) better in their respective states.

Now that the present administration is contemplating cutting the cost of running the government by reducing the number of ministers, I am of the view

•Quadiri

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 33

that one area where there should be no minister is the NSC. Today we have a seasoned sports professional as the DG and I believe it will be better for the sector if he is given the task of running the NSC with his colleagues who have been the ones that are the technocrats that pilot the affairs of the place. All that the ministers do is to give approvals for the release of funds and their numerous travels.

To further buttress the argument that the NSC may not be in need of a minister whether the person was a sports personality or not is the record of the former president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Engr.

Sani Ndanusa who was also a minister during the period under review. When Ndanusa was appointed, many people hailed it because having been the president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) they said it was the best appointment but unfortunately, Ndanusa was not remarkably different from is other colleagues.

FACILITIES Nigeria from Calabar to Maiduguri is blessed with energetic young men and women who are potential world beaters in different sporting activities only if the right atmosphere and infrastructures were provided for them to train and be well equipped.

Interestingly all the different parts of the country have one sporting area they have comparative advantage over others. In the South East and Edo/Delta is where you find the best of footballers. The South South region with its aquatic nature can provide the best swimmers while the long distance runners can be groomed from the North given the hilly nature of the area. It is on record that the best table tennis players have always come from the South West.

The country can do better by concentrating these training facilities in the areas where they will be most effective.

Already the NSC has over the years created Zonal Centres for the purpose of taking sports development to the grassroots so it will be easier for the new administration to effectively equip these centres so as to bring out C M Y K

the best of athletes from them.

If not for the unfortunate culture of corruption and lack of proper maintenance culture, the country would have benefited more from building these training facilities in the country instead of spending huge sums of money for oversees trainings because more Nigerians will then have the opportunity of training with them with the resultant positive cost benefit analysis.

But with the expected renewed vigor in the fight against corruption and dereliction of duty, reestablishing these training facilities may be the right way to go because we are now sure all things being equal, that officials of the NSC will now think more of the overall interest of the nation instead of how much they will pocket by taking a few athletes abroad for training.

CATCH THEM YOUNG All over the world, sporting activities belong to the young ones because what a young man of 20 can do may not be easy for a man of 40 to do.

Therefore if the country must reclaim her glory in the international sporting sector, efforts must be made to fish out the young and talented youths that abound across the country.

To effectively achieve this, the federal government under President Buhari must work assiduously to ensure that schools sports returned in our secondary schools. The NSC and the Ministry of Education should be encouraged to revive the usual inter-house sports which in the past helped the country to discover most of the best legs that won her laurels in the past.

The likes of Mary Onyeali, Falilat Ogunkoya, Henry Nwosu to mention but a few were all products of schools sports and there is nothing that says that the country cannot discover even better athletes from our different secondary schools across the country.

Truly, the benefit of developing sports in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized.

Sports is one sector that plays a lot of roles in the lives of the people because while it serves as a means of entertainment it equally helps one to keep fit as well serving as a huge business that attracts a lot of money to everybody involved in it.

The issue of youth restiveness that is ravaging parts of the country today can be curtailed drastically using sports because it is only giving that much more would be achieved if the same energy that is invested in negativity was channeled towards sporting activities.

Siasia set for Cong o test ead coach of Niger ia’s Under-23

H

•Siasia

team, Sa is not worried abou t the prospect of fa mson Siasia the third qualifyin cing Congo in g ro 2016 Olympic Gam und of the men’s football event of th es e Nigeria’s Dream Te . am XI drew bye in the and will now mee t Ghana’s conque penultimate round penultimate roun rors, Congo in th d of qualifying for the Olympics in Ri e Janeiro. o de Siasia was coach of Nigeria’s men’s 2008 Olympics in fo Beijing and is relis otball team at the battle with Congo. hing the upcomin g “Siasia knew that we would face eith in this round and er Ghana or Cong he had no particu o lar preference. N that Congo has qu ow alified, he is prepar ed for the challeng spokesman of the e,” team, Timi Ebikag boro said.

Siasia recently ca lled up 30 home-ba ahead of the tie ag se ainst Congo and Eb d players to camp that a second list ikagboro explaine woul d “There are two lis d be made public this month. ts. To be honest, a included in (the 30 bulk of the player -man list) are com s prised of players coach (Siasia) has the not seen play him self.

Flying Eagles vow to bounce back F

lying Eagles led by skipper Musa Mohammed have vowed that they will get their U-20 World Cup campaign back on track with a win in tomorrow’s Group E clash against North Korea after a loss to Brazil.

The African champions fell 4-2 to five-time champions Brazil in their opening group game on Monday.

“We wish to apologise to Nigerians that we •Mohammed lost to Brazil, but we will make it up against North Korea. We will win on Thursday (tomorrow),” said skipper Mohammed.

“We have spoken to ourselves and you will see the result in our next game.”

Manchester City starlet Kelechi Iheanacho said he expects a tougher resistance from the Koreans after they also lost their opening game 5-1 to Hungary.

•Falcons

e x c e l l e n t s t r u c t u r e compared with the African champions but Falcons can remedy the shortcoming with the abundant talents in its fold.

“Sweden have been consistent as a result of sound programme and structure in place over the period.

“This is quite opposite in our own case but we have abundant talent but no programme as well as structure.

“However, I believe Falcons can go in there to make all of us proud against Sweden.

“The encounter is certain to be tough but if they get their acts perfectly right they won’t have difficulties handling the side.

‘Falcons good to go against Sweden’

F

ormer Super Falcons head coach, Sam Okpodu believes the side stand good chance against the Scandinavian giants, Sweden.

Falcons will kick start their title account at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada against Sweden next Monday in Winnipeg.

Okpodu said though the Scandinavian side have

Lille swoop on Chelsea ace Omeruo

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erve Renard’s first major signing as Lille new coach could well be Nigeria defender Kenneth Omeruo.

Sources close to the Ligue 1 club have informed that Renard has swung into action immediately to shore up his new team ahead of the new season by compiling his list of transfer targets.

And one of his top targets is the 21-year-old Omeruo, who has caught the eye of Renard since the AFCON 2013 when the Super Eagles brushed the Frenchman’s Zambia on their way to winning a third continental title.

It would be recalled that the Nigeria central defender still does not have a future at Stamford Bridge after going on loan to first Dutch club ADO Den Haag and most recently Middlesbrough.

“Renard has already made contacts to sign Omeruo and already Lille are in pole position to sign the player,” revealed the source close to the French club.

“But it is not yet known whether this would be a permanent deal or a loan.”

34—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Aisha Buhari

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t’s the height of the political season, and it is no wonder it was a week of first ladies. Inaugurations across the federation threw up some of the most smashing first ladies ever. One of them, of course, was the wife of the president Pa Mohammadu Buhari, who turned up at Eagle square making the trendiest fashionistas wish they were Moslem. Naturally, the Nigerian cyberspace is breaking.

More where that came from, hopefully.

Patience Jonathan

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he outgoing Nigerian First Lady was absent at the inauguration ceremony of Muhammadu Buhari as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria last week, and who would take notice but the Nigerian blogosphere, who has come up with a hundred and one reasons for her absence.

While some attribute it to emotional distress, some say the former First Lady had important things to attend to in Otueke. Commentators generally think she sent a bad signal, but she’ll be missed, for sure.

Assisat Oshoala

Kate Henshaw

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ongratulations went viral last week for Nigerian winner of the maiden BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2015. At just 20 she’s been to the FIFA U20 World cup, African Women (senior) championship and now in her first senior FIFA World cup assignment in Canada.

Assisat Lamina Oshoala MON is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays for Liverpool Ladies. She was the best player and highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Born October 9, 1994 in Ikorodu, she has also been CAF Female Player of the Year as well as CAF Youth Player of the Year.

T

his diva has been trending on the Nigerian blogosphere alongside the others as she was a n n o u n c e d Nollywood’s richest lady. Born in Cross River State, Kate has received multiple awards during her career.

Her approximate net worth has been put at 77 million Naira or $0.44 million.

Blogosphere is not impressed.

Chimamanda Adichie

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lso trending is Nigerian storyteller turned public speaker who addressed a group of girls at the speech : Forget about likeability. think that what our society teaches young girls — and I think that it’s something that’s quite difficult for even older women, self-confessed feminists, to shrug off — is this idea that likeability is an essential part of the space you occupy in the world. That you’re supposed to twist yourself into shapes to make yourself likeable. That you’re supposed to kind of hold back sometimes, pull back. Don’t quite say, don’t be too pushy … because you have to be likeable. And I say that is bullshit.

Commentators are generally not feeling the feminist Chimamanda

C M Y K

CaitynlyJennJn ere,nfonrmeerrly

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ai tl , is finally a known as Bruce hailed for le he is woman and whi e country of his th in e e his courag ian blogospher birth, the Niger t and pity. us is spewing disg eeted its latest tw Vanity Fair n. starring Caitly cover this week, pany an article. m Her photos acco th e w eb si te , to g in d or A cc t movingly abou Jenner speaks her journey: my deathbed If I was lying on secret and this and I had kept ything about it, an d never ever di ng, ing there sayi I would be ly ur entire life.

You just blew yo

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—35

Economy determines growth of a business —Tsolaye Inone, CEO Pencakes

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nternationally, women encouraged to stop being sitting ducks and apply their skills in improving themselves. This has spurred a lot of women to put their backs into making their business a success.

Mrs Tsolaye Inone, CEO Pencakes is one of such taking the world of catering beyond the norm as it is no longer about just knowing how to bake, but being able to make a difference with other bakers. In her chat with Women In Business, she tells more.

By Anino Aganbi

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s a business woman, how has the economic situation in Nigeria improved your business?

The economic situation in any given country could either make or mar your business. For the growth and well being of any business, the state of the economy determines the financial state of families and their willingness to spend on wants as well as their basic needs. This in turn would lead to either an increase or decrease in the demand for cake and pastries. The increase in price of flour, sugar and other confectionaries would determine the cost of your product. I would not say because there is an increase in these things I should make inferior cakes and pastries.

Doing this might bring financial profit to me but will destroy my

business at the long run as people would begin to doubt what I put out there.

Why did you choose to catering?

I grew up with my Grandmother who was a caterer. Having learnt a lot from helping out, I realized I loved baking. As an undergraduate, I baked for fun of it. I started out by baking for my family, improved on myself and realized I could make a career out of it. I did not make a career of it until I started raising my family. I had a lot of support and encouragement from my spouse. It was not an easy venture because back then, I would bake late into the night.

It still happens though.

Would you say your childhood had a big impact on the type of business you chose?

Definitely! Helping out seemed like hard work as a child but it quickly be-

My other passion would have to be running an NGO. It has been my desire to be a ray of hope for the less privileged.

I believe we are called to be God's arm to others C M Y K

•Tsolaye Inone

came a passion. My grandmother was this type of person who when she wakes up by 5 a.m. to begin baking, would expect you to be awake as well regardless of your age or size.

There was no such thing as she’s too little or her hands are too weak or she’s just a child.

Interestingly enough, she was never this kind of person who molly cuddled you. Looking at it from the perspective of a child, I saw it as cruelty but at the end of the day, that hard work paid off.

What was the idea behind pencakes?

I am a God driven woman.

When I sought God’s face for a business name he reminded me of how the Pentecost experience empowered the disciples to do things they could not do by their own strength. So the ‘Pen’ gets its origin from Pentecost.

If given the opportunity to go into any other line of business, what would it be?

My other passion would have to be running an NGO. It has been my desire to be a ray of hope for the less privileged.

I believe we are called to be

Gods arm to others.

How do you hope to improve your business?

I am working towards opening my own bakery which will cater to client’s way beyond the borders of my state of residence. The look on individual faces when they taste something unique would be a sight to behold. Then it would not just be a matter of how much you spent on a cake or a pastry but who did this exceptional job.

Right now, my business speaks for itself; although there is always room for improvement.

What challenges have you been able to get over as a business woman?

Challenges for each business differ. They may range from delayed arrival of equipment (especially when they need to be imported) to damage of items du ring transportation due to bad roads, to logistics or electricity.

It could be shortage of funds or a host of others. Although there are challenges that affect generally affect all business.

Where do you see your business going in the nearest fu-

ture….?

I keep striving for greater heights so my greatest achievement cannot be pinpointed. Today’s Glory is tomorrow’s history. I am not one who usually does a forecast. I believe strongly that God who made it possible for me to start up will see me through.

As an SME owner, what can the government do to improve small scaled business?

The input of any government in the small scale business sector would give room for these businesses to grow. It is not just about making allowance for loans which by the time you are paying back, you would barely be able to make ends meet. Encouraging women to start a business would go a long way in improving the economy of the nation and the growth of the home. A massive improvement in the power sector will reduce our running cost and make our businesses more productive.

Advice to upcoming business women….

Be bold to follow your passion.

The satisfaction you get from building a business from something you love is immeasurable. Strive for excellence in everything you do.

36—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Hard times are PDP: truly here Some leaders of the former ruling party are not oblivious of the distress and danger of fighting from the trenches

From left: Senate President, Sen. David Mark; his Deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu; and the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike at a one-day retreat by PDP National Assembly Members Elect in Port Harcourt on Monday

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

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NYONE in doubt of how the vicissitudes of life have hit the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP should have seen the arrangements for the one day retreat of the party’s elected members into the forthcoming National Assembly.

The retreat in Port-Harcourt involving senators-elect and members-elect into the 8th National Assembly was held in Port-Harcourt on Monday, June 1, 2015 and was remarkably the first official outing for the new governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike and the handful of the PDP governors inaugurated the previous Friday.

The occasion would have been the first outing for former President Goodluck Jonathan since his retreat from Abuja last Friday, but the former president did not turn up.

Among the governors who came besides the host governor, Wike, were Governors Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, Ifanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu, while Chief Dave Umahi of Ebonyi represented by his deputy.

For Governor Dankwambo, he has become like a rare or endangered item, being the only PDP governor serving a second term.

However, everything about the retreat, from the timing, venue, packaging, duration, theme and the attendance reflected the hard times that have hit the political party that once boasted that it would dominate the Nigerian polity for an unbroken 60 years in the first instance.

In respect of timing, the retreat was like an afterthought after the exciting but controversial two-day retreat organised by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC for its senators-elect and members-elect in Abuja. The

C M Y K

two day retreat held for each of the two set of legislators by the APC in Abuja in the opinion of some observers may have ended in an anti-climax given the fact that the understated reason of getting a consensus on the new leadership for each of the two chambers was not realised. However, that did not take away the fact that the two day retreat for each set of legislators by the APC had its glitz, grandeur and gambles.

However, the event by the PDP was seemingly an afterthought reportedly spearheaded by one of the outgoing principal officers on the platform of the party in one of the chambers of the National Assembly.

Though the acting national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus was present for the one day event, there was every indication that the party officers were there merely as officials more than the organisers that they should have been.

The venue of the meeting also showed how far the PDP that once boasted of being the second unifying factor in Nigeria after the security services has been seemingly reduced to a sectional enclave strong only in the South-South and Southeast regions of the country.

Few months ago only few would have imagined the PDP holding a national retreat and taking it to Port-Harcourt.

However, now with almost 80%

of its elected legislators coming from the South-South and Southeast, it looked feasible for the party to save already diminished funds in finding a central location for the majority of the returning members and Port-Harcourt seemed feasible.

Even more, the party has only four governors outside the South-South and Southeast; Taraba, Gombe, Ondo and Ekiti.

Taraba and Gombe were far from the base of the majority of the conferees while Ekiti now in the eye of the storm upon the issues around Governor Ayo Fayose was simply not under

Members of Parliament have always been the springboard for their parties’ return to power each time they suffered defeat.

The PDP lawmakers in the 8th National Assembly should hold the ruling APC accountable on each of its campaign promises

consideration. For whatever reason, Ondo was also ruled out.

The harshness of the times was reflected by the fact that unlike the APC, which hosted its elected members in the two chambers to separate two day functions, the PDP restricted its outing to a one day affair with the members elected to the two chambers put together.

The retreat with the theme: “The role of the opposition in facilitating development and good governance” was especially apt and was reflective of the promise by the party to present a formidable opposition to the ruling APC. The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who was reportedly one of the rallying points in organising the conference said the party ’s members in the forthcoming National Assembly must hold the APC accountable to its promises including the release of Chibok girls, creation of two million jobs every year among others.

"Members of Parliament have always been the springboard for their parties’ return to power each time they suffered defeat.

The PDP lawmakers in the 8th National Assembly should hold the ruling APC accountable on each of its campaign promises.

Erstwhile chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who was also the party’s governorship candidate in the Adamawa State, however,

affirmed that the party must purge itself of its bad attitudes if it would mount a reasonable challenge to the APC. “But to keep government on its toes, ensure fiscal discipline, minimise corruption in the system and ensure strict compliance to appropriation and due process laws, the guard – here, you the legislators, have to go to equity with clean hands. You must demonstrate personal will and commitment to be above board if you really want to checkmate others.”

The incoming lawmakers in their communiqué released at the end of the day resolved that they would shun defection, speak with one voice, and benchmark the activities of the APC to the benefit of Nigerians.

In an eight-point communiqué issued at the end of its retreat, members of the Forum of PDP National Assembly Members-elect said they also undertook to “provide the nation with a healthy, robust, vigilant, and responsible opposition, to promote democratic good governance, and development”.

The communiqué notes that PDP leaders and Governors attended the retreat en masse and promised to avail their contingent to the 8th National Assembly all necessary support and cooperate with other critical stakeholders to provide a responsible and effective opposition in the polity.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—37

POST-ELECTORAL FALL-OUT:

Bayelsa in the eye of the storm

By Lindsay Barrett

T

HE consequences of the h i s t o r i c a l l y unprecedented result of Nigeria’s recent Presidential contest will reverberate for years to come in various sectors of the national polity, but in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of the incumbent ruling party ’s candidate issues arising from the circumstance will probably be felt most keenly in former President Goodluck Jonathan’s home base of Bayelsa State.

This is especially so because President Jonathan’s base had remained steadfastly supportive of him and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the polls.

Bucking the national trend the state gave the party full endorsement in the Presidential and National Assembly elections and an overwhelming mandate in the State Assembly elections a fortnight later.

State Governor Henry Seriake Dickson rallied the electorate behind what was characterised in the campaign as “the Presidential imperative” and recorded an almost complete rout of opposition challenges thus giving the President and the PDP a resounding victory in the state.

However, in the aftermath of the voting, serious cracks have appeared in the facade of the party’s unity both at the national and the local levels.

At both levels some key figures in the party have been accused of acting in ways that were inimical to the party’s interest.

In Bayelsa State in particular there had been a breakdown of trust between the substantive Chairman and members of the State Executive even before the polls.

The State Executive Council had recommended the suspension of the Chairman, Retired Col. Sam Inokoba, barely a month before the elections and raised serious complaints against his conduct of affairs, especially where financial probity and cooperation with the Governor over the selection of candidates was concerned.

This was not, however, the only cause for dissension that raised its head within the party after the elections. It was also alleged that a number of key members in some communities were promoting an agenda that they claimed was supported by the “First Lady ”Dame Patience Jonathan, which ran counter to Governor Dickson’s perception of what was best for the party in the state.

As a result even though the party received a resounding endorsement from the electorate the spectre of internal conflicts arising in the near future has dominated the deliberations of the leadership in the follow-up to the electoral exercise.

Any disciplinary action contemplated against those who have been accused of anti-party activities has to aim to achieve meaningful renewal for the party rather than generating further bitterness

(Photo left)-Bayelsa State Governor Henry Seriake Dickson (left) receives former President Goodluck Jonathan (right) in the latter’s hometown of Otuoke as he returned home on Democracy Day. Picture by Lindsay Barrett.

(Photo right)- Women of Bayelsa came out in their thousands to welcome Goodluck Jonathan back home.

Picture by Lindsay Barrett.

The Deputy Chairman of the party Barrister Serena Dokubo who has been designated Acting Chairman set up a disciplinary committee to look into the allegations and determine actions to be taken either to remedy the situation or sanction recalcitrant members of the party.

Barrister Dokubo emerged as Acting Chairman in circumstances that have been aggravated by the challenge being mounted in the state by the APC under the leadership of the immediate past Governor of the State Chief Timipre Sylva.

While Sylva is from the same Brass Local Government Area as Dokubo they hail from different State Assembly constituencies.

However, of only two nonPDP members elected to the 24-seat Assembly so far one is an APC member loyal to

Sylva but representing Dokubo’s constituency.

Inconclusive results in Sylva’s constituency and one constituency in the President’s Ogbia LGA are to be rerun in early June.

Barrister Dokubo’s appointment to head the party is his first major political role in the state since he chaired the impeachment committee that removed former Governor D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha in 2006, thus paving the way for the ascent of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to the Governorship and eventually the Presidency.

While these connections might not explain his involvement in the present scheme of things many observers feel that his emergence reflects Governor Dickson’s determination to seize control of the party machinery.

He is regarded as a close

associate and loyal supporter of the Governor ’s agenda, and an experienced technocrat whose mandate is to renew the party structure to sustain public support in spite of recent setbacks.

In order to ensure that his administration can sustain the momentum of development with which he commenced against the challenge of a revitalised opposition Governor Dickson now has to look beyond the mobilisation of electoral support for the President as the rationale for retaining popular support.

This is relevant because he needs a second term to consolidate his strategy, and due to the circumstances in which he wrested the PDP ticket from his predecessor he will be facing a new electoral contest in early 2016.

Whereas the previous contests took place in an atmosphere of unassailable PDP impregnability the presence of Sylva in the hierarchy of the new ruling party at the Federal level suggests that there is some basis for expecting a more formidable challenge in any future tournament.

However several knowledgeable political observers in the state believe that the APC must contend with the public perception of under-achievement and irresponsibility that surfaced in the Sylva era. The opposition party itself will therefore be faced with the same challenge that the PDP is faced with of building a credible new structure if it is to overcome its previous absence as a genuine factor in the state.

Continues on page 38

38—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

(Photo left)-Acting party Chairman, Barrister Serena Dokubo (left in top hat) accompanied by party leaders including Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Retired Rear-Admiral John Gboribiogha Jonah, (right) gather to welcome former President Jonathan in Yenagoa.

Picture by Lindsay Barrett.

POST-ELECTORAL FALL-OUT:

Bayelsa in the eye of the storm Continues on page 37 The emergence of internal dissent and division in the Bayelsa State chapter of the PDP must be assessed in the context of this challenge.

Any disciplinary action contemplated against those who have been accused of anti-party activities has to aim to achieve meaningful renewal for the party rather than generating further bitterness.

With this in mind some observers have suggested that the party’s decision-making process over post-electoral recriminations must be undertaken in the spirit of reconciliation and with former President Jonathan’s own views being taken into consideration.

In one particular instance this consideration is of paramount importance since, surprisingly, one of the most prominent of those who have been accused of anti-party activities is actually one of the most important and longestserving party functionaries, Senator Emmanuel Paulker.

Senator Paulker’s return to office for a third term was regarded as a sign of the party’s impregnable strength in the stateas well as having

been touted as being the wish of the President.

In the aftermath of the polls though there have been numerous reports in national and local media suggesting that serious differences exist between the state’s senior

Senatorial champion and the machinery established by the Governor. Senator Paulker ’s seniority in the party and the National Assembly means that differences between him and his party can only undermine the solidarity of purpose that

the PDP needs to exhibit in by the June 12th imbroglio in any confrontation with the 1993.

Since then his pedigree as APC in state-based a political organiser in politicking.

Bayelsa State has been in the The emergence of some new ascendancy and he was state figures from Bayelsa State on Chairman of the party when the national stage as a Dr. Jonathan was elevated to consequence of the PDP’s the Vice-Presidency and was overwhelming state-wide thus placed in a position to victory in the polls has given eventually occupy the highest the party reason to hope that, even in opposition, it will be office in the land.

Although Diri is emerging in regarded as an effective elective office on the national advocate of Bayelsa State’s scene for the first time, he had cause. been an effective and active Two notable instances, the participant in the Ijaw protest victories of Fred Agbedi, a movement that fought to former state Chairman of the protect the interests of party and the immediate past Political Adviser to Governor communities from which the Dickson, and DouyeDiri the nation’s main economic immediate past Principal resource, oil and gas, is drawn. He evolved from this Executive Secretary to the Governor in contesting for seats in the House of Representatives, have placed experienced and seasoned political operatives at the centre.

While neither of these highly effective political gladiators might have expected that they would be serving in the opposition camp they are both well versed in adversarial politics and steeped in the (Photo right)-Former Governor defensive tactics Timipre Sylva; back in the necessary to reckoning for leadership of the represent the state as the arrowhead of the APC. interests of the Picture by Lindsay Barrett. underdog.

Fred Agbedi is actually returning to the to become an important National Assembly for a grass-roots mobiliser for the second time having been PDP in the state and was its elected to the seat from Rivers most effective Commissioner State during the term of the of Youths and Sports to date. government that was aborted

A capital ‘No' to an all-North Senate Presidency

By Zacchaeus Adebayo

T

HE event of Saturday, May 23 in which some All Progressives Congress, APC, Senators-elect abandoned the retreat organised for them by their party in Abuja to announce the adoption of two northern Senators as President and Deputy Senate President is a big goof. The action of the Senate Unity Forum, as the group is called, is strange, insensitive, overtly reprehensible, and bereft of a sound sense of history.

While it has always been the norm to give every part of the country a sense of belonging right from the days of the nation’s founding fathers to the present era, this Senate ‘Unity’ Forum believes key offices in the three arms of government could be occupied as follows: President Muhammadu Buhari (North West), Senate President Ahmed Lawan (North East), Deputy Senate President George Akume (North Central), Deputy Speaker (North West), Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon.

Justice Mahmoud Mohammed (North East), President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, ( North East), and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Auta (North Central). Simply put, they are proposing a Federal Government of Northern Nigeria. This is thoughtless and obscene.

Moreover, the APC must be reminded that it is gambling away its goodwill so fast and its lack of sense of justice and equity could be the straw that might break its back. Even with all of its excesses, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, never ever went this far. In 2011 when the party did not do well at all in the National Assembly elections in the South West, the party still zoned the House Speakership to them. Although that plan did not materialize, it at least tried to give the people a sense of belonging.

Concerning the Senate in particular, I am deeply surprised that the APC leaders are playing the ostrich, burying their heads in the sand of greed and

power-grab instead of taking a realistic evaluation of the situation. One, APC is inheriting a highly fragmented country flowing from 2015 general election.

More than anything, it needs to show some sense of sacrifice to be able to weld the whole country together. Two, with 59 Senators (that, minus late Senator Zanna) against PDP’s 49, the APC cannot just do what it likes with the Senate because it does not enjoy the kind of majority PDP used to enjoy.

Therefore, I thought a party that genuinely cares for Nigeria beyond merely grabbing the levers of power, a party that wants stability in the National Assembly would have looked the way of the PDP in the South-East or SouthSouth in its search for a Deputy Senate President. Some would wonder if the PDP itself could have been that magnanimous. One can’t be too sure, but that is the reasonable thing to do in this circumstance. That is also why Nigerians elected APC- to change the way we do things.

•Adebayo writes from Ibadan.

VANGU ARD, WEDNESD A Y, JUNE 3, 2015—39 ANGUARD, WEDNESDA

Why do I wee during sex?

She’s keen on having his love child

Dear Bunmi, My daughter is 25 and has a good job. She’s been seeing a married man from her university days. I’ve told her over and over to end the relationship but she won’t. I’m tired of comforting her whenever he lets her down or

changes their plan so he can be with his family.

He tells my daughter that he’s not happy at home, as his marriage is in name only. Yet in the years they ’ve been together, he has had two more children with his wife.

He says he loves my daughter and would love her

Can exercise improve my libido?

Dear Bunmi, You’ve always encouraged female readers in your column to do pelvic floor exercises to improve their enjoyment of sex, but you haven’t mentioned exercises for men.

Could we benefit from any?

How? I’m sure a lot of men will be interested.

Tayo, by e-mail.

Dear Tayo, Would you believe that men too would also benefit from pelvic floor exercises? To have

a better sex life, strengthening the pubococcygens (PC muscles) can help you hold back from ejaculating prematurely and also gives stronger climaxes.

The exercises ar e easy.

Experts advise you tighten your bottom muscles for a few seconds, then relax.

Also, when you’re having a wee, you should try to stop midstream, then restart. Both exercises should be done six times, several times a day.

After a few weeks, you’ll notice the difference.

The answer is simple— don’t have sex in that position. Tell your man it stimulates you in the wrong way (which is perfectly true, although not in the way he might think!) and you’d prefer other positions

to have his children. What kind of an arrangement is that for a young woman? This man is 43, much older than she is, but she seems grateful just to have the odd night or weekend away with him. Surely, she deserves something better?

Pauline, by e-mail.

Dear Pauline, Women in your daughter’s shoes delude themselves into believing that, no matter how highly improbable and unsatisfactory the proposition may be, their cheating married men will one day abandon their wives and children to be with them, or settle for the next best thing by being single mothers.

What they fail to face is the fact that they have permitted themselves to become sexual playthings of men who enjoy having a wife as well as a girlfriend, and who don’t wish to lose either.

Apart from letting your daughter know that she will not find self-respect or happiness while she continues to sleep with another woman’s husband, she would be denying this man’s family the love and affection that rightly belong to them.

If your daughter refuses to listen, short of telling this man’s wife about his affair so as to end his selfish game, all you could do is wait for the affair to burn out.

If she decides to have a love child, again, that is her decision. No matter what happens, you should be there when things come crashing around her ears if she fails to listen to your advice.

My second wife’s being left out of my daughter’s wedding Dear Bunmi, My ex-wife moved out of our matrimonial home six years ago because she discovered I had a child by my long-term mistress. I’ve since married this lady and we have two more children.

I’ve always been close to the four children I had with my first wife, and was glad when my first daughter brought her fiancé for a visit and my blessing.

Now the wedding invitation has arrived with only my name on it. My new wife has refused to attend uninvited and has told me I had her blessings to attend; that it would be a bit uncomfortable for her to show

up at my daughter’s wedding since she was the reason the marriage broke up.

But I’m absolutely livid by this snob. After all, I would be shelling out a chunk of the wedding expenses. What do you suggest I do?

Saheed, by e-mail.

Dear Saheed, I can understand your first family’s viewpoint— they’re still bitter about the break-up of your first marriage and it’s obvious they don’t want to acknowledge the new wife.

As a matter of fact, they don’t feel too comfortable about her.

Your daughter would obviously prefer only her own mum and

dad at her wedding and wouldn’t want a “scarlet woman” guests might point at.

To save face, why not get in touch with your daughter, whom you seem to get along, with and assure her you would be at the wedding? Tell her that your wife wouldn’t be able to attend because she has a commitment on that day, but sends her best wishes.

That way, you make the point that in your view, she ought to have been invited, but you allow everyone to save face by her not turning up.

Then put all your efforts into making the wedding day a wonderful occasion for your daughter.

Dear Bunmi, I’ve just met a fantastic boyfriend who is a good lover.

The problem is that twice now, I’ve had a wee during sex. I’ve also noticed that this only happens whenever we have sex in the missionary position.

As you can imagine, it is really embarrassing. My man hasn’t noticed yet though I’m sure it’ll be a matter of time before he notices.

Susie, by e-mail.

Dear Susie, Don’t be embarrassed and

don’t panic! What is probably happening is that having sex in the missionary position is pressing on your bladder, forcing you to let go.

The answer is simple— don’t have sex in that position. Tell your man it stimulates you in the wrong way (which is perfectly true, although not in the way he might think!) and you’d prefer other positions.

When you’ve been going out for long, and are more relaxed with him, you can admit the truth if you like. For now, just avoid the problem.

...when you’re having a wee, you should try to stop midstream, then restart. Both exercises should be done six times, several times a day

My son wants me to get on with my life!

Dear Bunmi, I lost my husband suddenly last year when he had a heart attack and since then, I’d been so lonely. We did most things together as most people in my situation would want to be around family.

Our daughter lives abroad, leaving only our son, who lives fairly close to me with his family. I’ve been spending a lot of time with him—or tried to, at least. He was good to start with, but now he’s hinting, not too subtly, that I need to get out more.

Why is he behaving like this?

I am 54.

Abigail, by e-mail.

Dear Abigail, It looks as if your son feels it’s not good for you to be so clingy after a year of mourning the loss of your husband. It’s certainly great to have a family around, but sticking only with people you know limits you to a very drab life.

I agree with your son— at your age you need to move on with your life. It’s time to find new friends and interests.

What about your old friends— surely they would give their support too? I’m sure your husband wouldn’t want you to mope for long— so be brave and make a fresh start.

She was a two-faced friend Dear Bunmi, Some months back, I told my friend that I heard a particular company I was interested in had a vacancy and I intended to apply. She seemed really interested in the details and I thought she was just being nice.

I applied for the job and didn’t even get short-listed.

When I saw my friend again, I told her how the interview went. It was then she told me she also applied for the job too— and got it!

I was so shocked that I let her know what I thought of her in no uncertain terms. But she told me she’d done nothing wrong. But I think she’s behaved outrageously. What do you think?

Kate, by e-mail.

Dear Kate, What your friend did is a betrayal of trust. Whether or not she had a right to apply for the job, if she’d been totally innocent, she would have told you what she was doing. The fact that she kept quiet about it means she knew she was wrong.

Her getting the job now looks as if you weren’t good enough.

I wouldn’t trust this friend of yours in future. The only way forward is to end the friendship. Only, don’t start to mistrust every potential friend.

Most people would either have steered clear or been open with you about what they were doing. So keep on trusting. It isn’t worth losing your human nature over one friend’s bad behaviour.

Share your problems and release your burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

40— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Headless body of 23-year-old missing girl found inside ritualists’ den

By Esther Onyegbula

T

HE shocking discovery of a den of ritual killers at Unity and Peace Estate, along Itele-Lafenwa Road, Ota in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, has exposed killers of Precious Omorodion Iyekoetin.

The decomposing body of the 23-year-old orphan was seen inside the den after her relatives made futile efforts to locate her whereabouts.

It was discovered along with that of another female victim following police investigation of a report by a victim who escaped from the den.

The escaped victim, a 28year-old lady whose identity is being kept secret by Police for security reasons, was abducted and kept in an uncompleted building in the estate.

Crime Alert learnt that young Precious left her twin sister, Constance, in their residence at Oguntalu Street, Iyamerun in Lagos and travelled to Ilisan in Ogun State, to visit their cousin. She travelled on April 4, 2015.

After spending about a week, she allegedly called Constance that she was on her way back to Lagos. Later, she called again that she was with one Muyiwa who she had earlier met in Lagos, and who had promised to help her get a job.

Crime Alert gathered that prior to her travelling, Precious reportedly met Muyiwa some time between February and March this year, in a commercial bus in Lagos, and he claimed he works in a subsidiary of Dangote Group located at Apapa.

Before alighting at her bus stop, Muyiwa wooed her, but she refused since she knew nothing about him. She told him that she wasn’t interested in any relationship, but needed a job to enable her further her education.

Muyiwa then promised to assist her get a job, so they exchanged phone numbers.

Still grasping with the startling discovery of her sister ’s corpse, Constance said: “Sometime around the first week of April, Muyiwa called my sister, Precious, and requested for her curriculum vitae (CV). Unfortunately, she was not at home. She then called me to take her CV to Muyiwa at our bus-stop in Merun, which I did. That was the first and only time I saw this Muyiwa. Before then, my sister had told me about how she met him in a commercial bus on her way back from work, how he asked her out, and how he pledged to assist her secure a job when she told him she wasn’t interested in having a relationship with him.

“While in Ilisan, she called to inform me that Muyiwa asked her to come for an interview, but that she told him she wasn’t in Lagos, and that she would come back after the elections. Surprisingly, she called again that Thursday, April 9, that she was coming to Lagos. I was expecting her since the

The discovery was made possible by the escape of the 28-year-old lady, who had been kept in an uncompleted building in the estate

zKilled: Late Precious Omorodion Iyekoetin journey is about two hours. I called at about 1: 30pm; she told me that she had sent me a message on whatsapp.

When I checked the message, she said she was already with Muyiwa at a construction site in Lafenwa, Unity & Peace Estate, Ota and that she would be coming soon.”

The grieving twin sister continued: “I guess she wasn’t able to reach me again because my phone battery was flat. After charging and switching on my phone at about 7:34 p.m., I received a text message from her which read: ‘I am at the airport, going to Spain. I will call you when I get there.

I love you, my lovely sister.’

“Immediately I read the text, I started calling her, because I knew the message wasn’t from her; but her phone was switched off. All efforts to reach her were not possible.

Since we are orphans, I called our relations to tell them what had happened and that my sister was missing. Then we

reported the case to the police.”

Crime Alert gathered that the search for Precious continued till detectives of the Ogun State Police Command uncovered the suspected ritual killers’ den in Unity & Peace Estate, Ota, Ogun State.

The discovery was made possible by the escape of the 28-year-old lady, who had been kept in an uncompleted building in the estate, bound hands and feet.

According to Crime Alert investigations, the lady was said to have been abducted, blindfolded, gagged and dumped in the den. She was reportedly told by her captors that they would come for her in the night of the following day. But she was said to have struggled to free herself and rolled towards the entrance of the building. It was learnt that some passers-by in the area saw her and came to her rescue.

Policemen from the Itele Police Station, who were later

invited to the scene, were said to have cordoned off the area.

When policemen combed the surroundings of the uncompleted building, decomposing bodies of two female victims were said to have been found. Suspected bones of other victims also littered the place.

Unfortunately, one of the decomposing bodies of the two female victims found at the den was later identified as Precious, four days after she had been reported missing.

Crime Alert gathered that the policemen had arrested the owner of the building, while the suspected ritual killers were said to be at large.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident. He also confirmed that two decomposing bodies, including that of Precious, and some human skeletons were discovered in the den.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 —41

By Hugor Odiogor

F

or Mr. Pius Ikem, a 68year-old subsistence farmer from Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State, his life in the sleepy town of IsseleAsagba in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, has become a nightmare.

His ordeal which began on the fateful day of December 18, 2014, is still unravelling.

Mr. Ikem, a father of nine children, is a farmer. He bought cassava crop from his colleague, Kenneth Elom, 32, also a farmer from Ezamgbo, in Ebonyi state.

Both of them live in IsseleAzagba and farm at Utulu.

They had gone to the farm to harvest the cassava crop which Elom sold to Ikem but unknown to them, a group of young men from OgwashiUku,wielding guns and other dangerous weapons, were waiting for anybody that would enter the farm at Utulu which they claimed belonged to Ogwashi-Uku. According to Mr. Ikem, one Francis (surname withheld) led the group that seized him and began manhandling him. It was in the process that Mr. Ikem was asked whether he wanted it “short-sleeve or long-sleeve,” like it was in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Before the old man could respond, he was wrestled to the ground and a whiff of the cutlass descended on his right hand.

While Ikem was dying, the cultists gleefully laughed at him and callously left him to bleed to death. A much younger Kenneth Elom succeeded in running away to escape getting similar treatment.

But from his hiding place, he could hear the leader of the group calling one Collins, and telling him what was happening.

Kenneth said Francis, the leader of the gang, and another member who was identified as Iwendi, were relaying the situation report to one community chief who was believed to have ordered the operation. As the cultists left the scene of the incident, some sympathizers, mainly farmers, came forward to assist Mr. Ikem to Onicha-Olona police station to report the case and subsequently, to the hospital for treatment.

The situation was not helped as the Police insisted on his getting a medical report and the fact that there was strike in the public health sector.

Subsequently, he was taken to a private health facility at Issele-Uku,Goodnews Hospital, where he stayed for one month and incurred a bill of N250,000. He has additional N84,000 on medicals to save his life. For a man of his age and income, this was a tall order. At the time of this report, the Police at Onicha-Olona had not taken up the case. The cultists walked away.

Another victim of this reign of terror was Mr. Victor Ojika whose right eye was plucked

Land grabbing: Rampaging cultists kill, maim at will zOgwashi-Uku, Azagba people cry for justice

zOjika: Lost an eye out on February 14, 2014, by the same cult group.

He is a small-scale businessman dealing in jewelries and fashion items.

His crime was that, on that fateful day, he was found at Utulu market, where he had gone to sell his wares.

Mr. Ojika, who hails from Oguta in Imo State, always recalled memories of pains and dehumanization that was visited on him. According to him, the cultists came to Utulu market in six cars, carrying all kinds of offensive weapons such as pumpaction guns, cutlasses, sticks, etc. They accosted him and accused him of being one of the Issele-Azagba youths.

He denied their charges and showed the items he had brought to the market to sell.

His explanation did not go down well with the cultists who descended heavily on him and gave him a beating.

Said Ojika: “They threatened to kill me and dragged me to the bush.

They released gun shots sporadically to prevent people from intervening. In the process, one of them placed a phone call to one of their members called Francis (surname withheld) after which he struck my left eye with cutlass and blinded me.

"While the fracas was going on, the same Francis placed a phone call to one Collins (surname withheld) to report the incident to him. It was on the instruction of the same Collins that I was taken to the State CID, Asaba, which ordered that I should be put in the cell without treating my injured eye."

zIkem: Right arm chopped off The action, according to him, provoked a protest from inmates of the cell and they became unruly and began to raise alarm that Ojika may die from the bleeding.

“This forced the police to take me to the General Hospital at Okwe for medical attention.”

Ojika continued: “The matter became more intriguing when I was charged to court for attempted murder which was a plot to rope me into a crime I did not know anything about. I stayed in prison custody for nine months until pressures from human rights lawyers and activists, caused the magistrate to order my release because I had nothing to do with the crime I was accused of.”

Similarly, there is the case of a third year Computer Science student of Delta State

The cult group is allegedly under the sponsorship of a sub traditional title chief who has been responsible for the criminal activities of these cultists

University, Mr. Peter Emeka Ejiofor, who was not fortunate to live to tell his own story. He and his nephew, Mordi Eneweazu, were killed in their father's farm in September last year, when they resisted encroachment by the land grabbers at Agidiase/ Ogbe Ofu villages of Ogwashi-Uku and the adjoining lands that extends up to Issele-Azagba and Otulu area — the theatre of conflict.

Investigtions revealed that lands in these areas have become hot cakes for land grabbers as urban development pushed upwards from Asaba, the state capital. Crime Alert learnt that in the past two years, many young people have been killed or maimed in the incidents of cult-related violence orchestrated by land grabbers.

Similarly, commencement of works on the second Niger Bridge has pushed up the desire by youths in the capital territory and adjoining towns to become engaged in the culture of ”Ego dino shia”, which literally means there is money in the bush.

This has become an attractive pre-occupation for youths and greedy elders engaged in the sale and resale of lands. Anybody who stands in their way becomes a target for elimination.

Rights lawyer and anticorruption activist, Mr. Charles Ogbolie told Crime Alert: "There has been an increase in incidents of kidnapping, armed robbery, unlawful killings and illegal possession

of firearms in the contentious areas where people are being dispossessed of their properties.

"The cult group is under the sponsorship of a subtraditional titled chief who has been responsible for the criminal activities of these cultists, ranging from armed robbery, killing and maiming of their victims, kidnapping, dispossession of properties etc. of their victims."

In his March 29, 2015, petition addressed to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, Ogbolie, listed among these crimes, the cases of Mr. Ikem whose hand was chopped off and Mr. Ojika who lost an eye. He said at this point, Mr. Ikem will rely on public-spirited Nigerians to raise money for his medical bills and to support his young family.

He alleged that a community chief whose controversial claim to one of the sub-titles is the mastermind of the activities of cult groups terrorizing Ogwashi-Uku. Issele-Azagba and Otulu areas of Delta State.

At the Ogwashi Uku Police station, Crime Alert learned that a new DPO, Mr. P. Yunase was recently posted to the town to check the menace of cultists whose reign of terror is paralysing the once peaceful communities.

Delta State Commissioner of Police Mr. Alkali Baba Usman, who confirmed the arrest, said that the arrest of the suspected cultists is part of the total crackdown on criminal gangs in the state.

They are alleged to be involved in acts of kidnapping, murder and maiming of villagers who resisted their acts of intimidation.

The CP said similar arrests had been made at Aladja and Uwvie. According to Baba Usman, “We have succeeded as we have made a lot of arrests and we are still going ahead with the clampdown on the fleeing cultists in all parts of the State.”

Vanguard learned that the arrest of the masterminds was effected by a special squad from Force Headquarters Abuja, where they were taken for questioning but the arrest of 15 members of the gang was carried out by a combined team of military and policemen. Mr. Vitalis Ibe, the DCO at Ogwashi Uku who led the operation that resulted in the arrest some of the cultists, said indigenes of the town were relieved by the arrest of these criminals but they are “full of apprehensions about other members who are at large and are still rampaging the area even without their leaders."

42—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Cross River gov scraps weekly exco meeting

By Emma Una

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ALABAR—GOVERNOR Ben Ayade of Cross River State has scrapped the weekly Executive Council meeting, where the governor and his deputy meet with commissioners, special advisers and permanent secretaries to review the activities of government in the state.

Governor Ayade, who announced the scrapping of the meeting at a closed-door meeting with permanent secretaries in the state public and civil service, yesterday, directed that in place of the weekly exco meeting, there will be a monthly interactive session in the Executive Council Chambers.

The governor, at the meeting with the permanent secretaries, also scrapped the anti-deforestation taskforce put in place by his predecessor to checkmate the illegal logging of forest reserves in the state for which the United Nations had granted $600 million for the carbond credit accruing from the forest reserves.

Buhari urged to cut cost of governance in 100 days

By Emma Amaize

A

S A B A — EXECUTIVE Director of Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged, CENTREP, in Delta State, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to cut down the cost of governance and deregulate the downstream oil sector of the economy within his first 100 days in office.

Ikimi, in a statement yesterday, said: “We believe that the above would sanitize the petroleum industry and eliminate fake subsidy payments by the Federal Government, which sometimes runs into trillions of naira.

“Other long term measures that should be taken by the Federal Government to eliminate persistent fuel scarcity nationwide should include the renovation of all our comatose refineries, the provision of a good road network and a sound railway system for easy distribution of petroleum products by marketers."

Ayade who did not proffer an alternative solution to the illegal logging, simply said: “Government has approved the disbandment of the Task

Force on Illegal Logging in the state while all offenders are to be fully prosecuted without delay."

He also directed that refuse

disposal should be done only at nights from 11 p.m., to 5 a.m., to keep the environment in the state clean.

FUPRE VC gets host communities' support to attain varsity's vision

By Egufe Yafugborhi

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EXHIBITION: Former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Chukwemeka Ezeife (2nd right), inspecting an exhibition titled Echoes of Good Air with other dignitaries in Abuja yesterday.

Emerhor makes case for N-Delta development

By Onoja Innocent

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ELTA State All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in the 2015 general elections, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, has said that there was need for the Federal Government to deliberately focus on youth development in the Niger Delta, so as to sustain peace, security and economic development of the region.

Director of O’tega Media Campaign Communication,

Dr. Fred Latimore, in a statement, said that at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Emerhor told the President that the people of the Niger Delta, especially Delta State, look up to his administration to address the injustice of the past administration by doing the needful to bring economic prosperity to the state and the Niger Delta region.

He urged the President to pay special attention to the welfare and training of

repentant militants in the region to drastically reduce restiveness and push up oil production for increased revenue generation.

APC Delta State delegation to the inauguration of President Buhari was courtesy of Emerhor.

Addressing party faithful, state party Chairman, Prophet Jones Erue urged members not to relent in their efforts at ensuring that the APC in Delta State becomes more formidable.

Edo family threatens to sue oil firm over alleged trespass

By Gabriel Enogholase

B

E N I N — T H E Aghedo family of Ologbo, in Ikpoba/Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, has accused Dubril Oil Plc of encroaching on their land and planning to pay compensation to some faceless individuals in the community without obtaining necessary legal authority by way of legal acquisition or valid lease from them.

However, attempt by Vanguard to reach the company ’s spokesman, Mr. Clement Seweje, for his reaction failed as he did not pick calls to his phone.

The family in a letter to the Managing Director of Dubril Oil Plc through their counsel,

Olayiwola Afolabi, insisted that in the event that the company fails to treat their latest correspondence, it would have no alternative than to institute a legal action against the company and pursue the criminal prosecution of all the agents of the company involved in the illegal destruction of their property.

The Aghedo family explained that the said land was well delineated and properly represented in the documents of title covering it, insisting that it holds the expanse of land as individual holders distinct and separated from the community, adding that in no way whatsoever is the land under any form of communal holding or ownership.

It added that for several decades

beginning from when the said parcel of land was acquired in 1961 up to the point of Dubril Oil Plc's encroachment, the family has been in peaceful and undisturbed possession of the said land carrying out farming activities.

“However, it came to our client’s notice sometime in April, 2014 that your company had forcefully entered the land unlawfully on the pretext of having acquired the land from the Ologbo community, prompting the massive excavation of the land and bulldozing of our economic trees.

“The said expanse of land has documents indicating the purchase and evidencing the active possession and occupation of the land by our client’s family," he said.

ARRI—VICE Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun, FUPRE, Prof.

Akaehomen Ibhadode, has expressed confidence in the commitment of host communities to support the institution to attain its vision of being among the best in the world.

Addressing newsmen yesterday, at the Senate Chambers on his vision to advance the development of the oil and gas specialised university, Prof.

Ibhadode announced a departure from his predecessors' posture whose tenures had witnessed antagonism towards the host communities.

He said: “I have taken over for just about four weeks and I have gone round to see the communities. From the Ovie of Uvwie to the leaders of the immediate hosts, Ugbomro and Iteregbe communities, I can tell you from my interactions that the communities want to see that this university succeeds.”

From his strength, w e a k n e s s e s , opportunities and threats analysis of the institution anchored on the vision of making the varsity rank among the best 500 globally, the VC said FUPRE needs more structures such as laboratories and classrooms, promising that in the next one year, the skylines will change.

He also stressed the need to “Strengthen our faculties with more professors, not only from within Nigeria, but looking across borders,” for increased capacity to provide sustainable quality training for students of the institution.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 43

NBA urges President Buhari to beam anti-corruption search light on judiciary, police

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

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NEWI—ONITSHA branch of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct his government’s anti-corruption crusade to the judiciary and the Nigerian Police.

According to the NBA, "the two institutions touch the daily lives of the citizens and if are properly directed and guided, will positively impact on the lives of the people."

The NBA in a statement, yesterday, issued by its Chairman Mr. Chuikwudi Obieze, said: “It has become very imperative for the present administration of President Buhari, to beam its anti corruption search light on the two institution in the country because they will make or mar the country”.

It expressed satisfaction with the President Buhari’s inaugural speech, adding that he will ensure the independence of the Judiciary, as stipulated in the constitution of Nigeria.

“We note further the President’s pledge to ensure, within the limits of his constitutional powers, that the states of the Federation do comply with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as it affects the independence of the Judiciary,” he said.

While also congratulating President Buhari and his Vice, Professor Yemi Oshibanjo, for their inauguration, the NBA said: “Ensuring the independence of the judiciary

will make way for virile, strong and active judiciary that Nigerians and the international community will have confidence in.

“The recent strike action of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSON, to press for the implementation of the judgment of the Federal High Court, with respect to the independence of the judiciary, would not have been necessary, if the states of the Federation, pay heed to the stipulations of the constitution.

“It is our humble view that President Buhari has a lot to do, to convincing the various state Governments, to comply with the constitution of Nigeria, as the strike actions by JUSON, does not augur well for the citizens, who have matters pending in all strata of Courts.”

The Onitsha NBA also reminded the present

government of the need to revive and restructure the power sector, adding that if Nigeria attained at least fifty percent sufficiency in power supply, the western world will not compete with the country.

“The new administration should ensure that all existing Federal Roads in the country are completely overhauled, so that the lives of the citizens that ply the roads will be saved and the stress the go through the roads, are reduced and possibly removed,” said the NBA. On the Nigerian police whose image has terribly been destroyed by a few disgruntled elements within the force, the NBA said President Buhari needed to overhaul it, and prevail on the Inspector General of Police, the Police Service Commission, IGP to weed out the bad eggs destroying the police.

Declare state of emergency on Aba waste management, group tell Ikpeazu

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

A

BA—ABA, Abia State, unit of the Civil Liberties Organization, CLO, has called on Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to declare a state of emergency on waste management in the city.

The group said this had become necessary to avert the looming epidemic which might break out over heaps of refuse littering most parts of the city.

CLO in a statement by the chairman, Dr. Charles Chinekezi, lamented that the situation had constituted a nuisance and serious health hazards to residents of the city.

It called on the governor to use his experience as a former general manager of the state environmental protection agency to develop a better waste management strategy in the state.

“CLO is worried over the heaps of refuse which have

taken over roads and streets in Aba. The city is stinking; in some area, refuse has blocked roads and motorists can no longer pass through. ‘’We are worried over the health hazards this situation pose to residents; it is surely a looming epidemic. The refuse disposal system has gone from bad to worse; something must be urgently done to avert this danger. ‘’We are calling on Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to declare a state of emergency on refuse disposal in Aba,” he said.

The group, which commended the governor for awarding the contract for the rehabilitation of seven roads in Aba, urged him to prioritize waste management in his plans to change the face of the city.

Vanguard reports that the governor had promised a more pro-active way of tackling waste disposal and management in Aba through a door-to-door collection approach.

Ekwunife condoles with Onitsha tanker fire victims

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ENATOR-ELECT FOR Anambra Central senatorial zone, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, yesterday, condoled with the families of those who lost their lives in last Sunday’s tanker inferno.

The tanker which crashed into Asaba Motor Park at the Upper Iweka end of Onitsha, claimed 70 lives.

Ekwunife, who is a sitting member representing Anaocha, Dunukofia, Njikeoka Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, described the accident as a national calamity.

The lawmaker, who cut short

her official engagement to inspect the carnage at Upper Iweka, expressed sadness over the loss of lives and property.

She promised to ensure a legislation that would put an end to unnecessary loss of lives and property on the highways by lorry and heavy duty vehicles was passed when the 8th National Assembly resumed.

“It is unfortunate that we continue to lose our loved ones in such careless and difficult situations. ‘’I want to express my deepest condolence to the

families that lost their loved ones in the ugly incident and pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased. ‘’I am going to make legislation alongside fellow senators-elect, to put an end to such horrible, careless and avoidable accidents on Nigerian roads,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Ekwunife has congratulated the EditorIn-Chief and Managing Director of The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Femi Adesina on his appointment as the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu

Buhari.

The lawmaker in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Emmanuel Uzor, described Mr. Adesina as the true face of journalism, anchored on truth and fairness.

Describing Mr. Adesina as a man with courage and conscience to work, and love for total unity of the country, Ekwunife expressed optimism that Mr. Adesina would replicate his Midas touch in The Sun newspapers in his new office, and wished him well in his office as presidential spokesman.

By Bartholomew Madukwe (08102479985) nwamad@yahoo.com

PEOPLE SPEAK

Message to Muhammadu Buhari as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

M

r. President should try to unite our Christian brothers, sisters and our Muslim brothers and sisters. We should know that we all were created by God, there is no need of shedding blood. It is good for all of us to live in unity. -Mr. Emeka Chigborogu, Businessman

W

e, Nigerians, are happy that Buhari is our President, and hoping to experience significant contributions as he has promised. We love you Mr. President (BUHARI). May God help him to lead Nigerians and Nigeria well. Mr. Cletus Inebere, Student

S

ay Buhari, say Nigeria for better government.

God bless you my President, the only problem Nigeria has is corruption. If you can tackle it head-long, Nigeria will be great again.

If corruption is eradicated, everybody will be doing the needful. -Mr. Hammed Kola, Student

f we want a better Nigeria it is our duty to pray for our leaders. Long live our beloved country, Nigeria. I wish you best of luck, say Baba to Nigerians. I will now officially designate our new President as PMB instead of the GMB. -Mr. Akinyemi Olushina, Self Employed

I

T

he journey of 1,000km begins with a step and you have made a step in the right direction.

May God help tne President to match action with words and we should all do everything possible to assist in moving the country forward. -Miss Nenye Chinenye, Worker

S

alute!Time of politics and propaganda is over; now he is the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Fed Rep of Nigeria.

Mr. President should not condone the same corruption he is hailed to combat.

-Miss Anasithesia Ezeka, Worker

44—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

My administration inherited N125bn debt, says new Bauchi gov B

By Suzan Edeh

AUCHI—GOVERNOR of Bauchi State, Muhammed Abubakar has said that his administration inherited external and domestic debts totalling over N125 billion from the outgoing administration of Mallam Isa Yuguda in the state.

Abubakar spoke in his maiden broadcast to the people of the state yesterday, adding that domestic loan amounted to N48.7 billion , while foreign loan inherited is $87 million (about N18.9 billion).

A breakdown of the liabilities include contractual liabilities N41.6 billion; retired workers’ gratuity arrears - N7.7 billion and gratuity arrears for local government workers- N6.9 billion.

Apart from these debts, salary arrears for civil servants from January 2015 to date amounted to N1.7 billion.

The governor said that from available records so far, a total of N864 billion excluding ecological fund accrued to the state in the last eight years.

He said that his administration would give top priority to agriculture, education, health, water, tourism among other social sectors for the progress of the state.

Abubakar who assured his

administration’s determination to ensure the availability of fertilizers for farmers in the state, said currently the state had less than 1,800 tonnes of the commodity which was grossly inadequate for the next farming season.

On last year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, the governor said

his administration would pay the outstanding N572 million accommodation subsidy for pilgrims which it inherited, while unpaid workers salaries would also be settled soon.

He said that his government needed N5.2 billion to settle workers salaries for April and May, 2015. He announced the

dissolution of all local government caretaker committees and all boards of government parastatals with immediate effect. Abubakar then asked the former local government caretaker committee chairmen to hand over affairs of their councils to heads of personnel of the local governments.

MEDICAL OUTREACH: From right: Mrs. Christy Carew, Media Relation, NACA\SURE-P, Dr. Emmanuel Al-Hassan, Dirtector, Partnerships Coordination, National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, and a patient, during the NACA and SURE-P free medical outreach, at Kairo Market, Oshodi in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

APC senatorial candidate accuses INEC of denying him access to election materials M

By Peter Duru

AKURDI—THE defeated All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate during the Benue South Senatorial District election, Mr. Daniel Onje has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of allegedly denying him the right to inspect the materials used in the conduct of the election, thereby frustrating his petition against the election of the Senate President, Senator David Mark..

Onje is challenging the reelection of Senator Mark at the Legislative Houses Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Makurdi.

At the resumed hearing on the matter yesterday, his counsel, Adetunji Oso told the tribunal that, “ we had applied since April 14, 2015 for inspection of materials used during the election, but regrettably, INEC has not given us the desired cooperation.”

He sought the court’s order to compel the commission to allow his client access to the materials.

In his response, counsel to

INEC, Godwin Manswa, complained that owing to the enormity of the materials involved, it had been hectic to make them available to the petitioner but promised that the commission would avail the petitioner with the needed materials.

In her ruling, the tribunal

Chairman, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu adjourned further hearing on the matter to June 12, 2015.

Meantime, the immediate past Governor of Benue State, Mr. Gabriel Suswam has withdrawn his petition challenging the election of Senator Barnabas Gemade.

Counsel to Suswam, Mr Andrew Wombo who sought the withdrawal through an application told the court that, “my client has decided to withdraw the case in the interest of peace and harmony of the society.”

Wombo then prayed the tribunal to grant the request without any costs

Kadpoly teachers down tools

By Agaju Madugba

K

ADUNA—THE Kaduna Polytechnic branch of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has embarked on work-to-rule action, protesting what it described as infrastructural decay in the institution as well as unwholesome treatment of its members.

“Infrastructural decay has taken a huge toll on us and our prospects of contributing more to our nation’s development are underutilized,” the union said yesterday at a press conference in Kaduna.

According to the ASUP branch chairman, Musa Ibrahim, the school is grossly underfunded and contended further that, “our present status has defied immediate remedies.”

According to him, “we have declared a work-torule action for three days beginning from today (yesterday).

“Our members will make appearance in class but will not teach.

“If our grievances are not addressed, we shall proceed on a three-day warning strike after which we shall declare a total shutdown, should the need arise “Out of over 10 critical areas where we have found our management wanting, the contentious excess workload allowance, in particular, is not beyond the management’s immediate intervention."

Pharmacists task Edo APC leaders on Oshiomhole's successor

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ENIN CITY—THE Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, in Edo State, has urged the leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria, APC, in the state to ensure that whoever succeeds Governor Adams Oshiomhole, must be one that has the capacity to sustain the developmental strides of the governor and improves on it.

The state chairman of the PSN, Christopher Iyare stated this during an advocacy visit of the 1988 set of Immaculate Conception College Old-boys Association meeting in Benin City, yesterday.

He pointed out that the state had witnessed tremendous development in the past six years and warned that the people of

the state may go back to the dark days if the leadership of the APC compromised credibility and track records when picking Oshiomhole’s successor.

His words: “The Oshiomholeled administration has created the enabling environment for businesses to flourish in the state

apart from the monumental infrastructural development the state has witnessed. So we must continue in this progressive light and that is why we want to appeal to the leadership of the APC to ensure that they pick the right person as Oshiomhole’s successor so that this

developmental strides will continue in the state.

“They should not compromise credibility in picking Oshiomhole’s successor because the state cannot afford to destroy the positive impact already made by this administration in the interest of the people of this state.”

Soyinka to deliver 3rd Kwara varsity convocation university which would take lecture and guardians of the 732 place at the weekend.

I

By Demola Akinyemi

LORIN—THE Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University, Professor Abdulrasheed Na’Allah has said that the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, would deliver the third convocation lecture of the university on Saturday.

Na’ Allah also asked parents

graduating students who would graduate not to bother to search for employment for them because they had been successfully taught entrepreneurial skills to enable them not only to be self employed but be employers of labour.

Na’Allah spoke at a media briefing to herald the third convocation ceremony of the

Speaking at the university in Malete, he said that the institution had produced six first class graduates in Information and Communication Technology, ICT, and Pure and Applied Science, adding that three first class graduates came from ICT and Pure and Applied Sciences each.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 —45

PRESENTATION: From left: Managing Director, WaveTek Nigeria Limited, Mr Ken Spann; CFO, WaveTek, Mr Joseph Aborowa; Chairman, WaveTek, Mr Mike Olajide; AGM Sales, WaveTek, Mrs Nehita Fashe; Senior Manager, Access Transmission Planning, MTN, Mr Segun Salami; and CTO, WaveTek, Mr Williams Uwhojega at the public presentation of E-band 70/80 GHz spectrum, in Lagos

PRESENTATION: Senior Marketing Associate, Dapo Osobu (left); Marketing Associate, Emmanuel Ebanehita (middle), both of Bestman Games at the presentation of Monopoly Boards to 2015 Batch ‘A’ Stream I corps members who won the Mini Monopoly Tournament, during their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Orientation Course, in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos.

COMMISSIONING: From left: Alado of Adoland HRM, Oba Lateef Adeyinka; OniIjanikin of Ijanikin, Oba Momodu Ashafa; Vice Chairman PCRC, Chief L. M. Otokila; DPO, SP Robinson Eregare and Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Kayode Aderanti during the commissioning of the Ijanikin Police division ultra modern multipurpose hall built by SP Robinson Eregare.

APAPA FAMILY GCGT: From left: Pastor Supo Oluwasakin, Senior Pastor, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Hope Hall; Great Egere, winner, God’s Children Great Talent (GCGT) Season 4; Olurunsuyi Praise Oluwakemi, winner, GCGT Season 5; and Samuel Ekeh, winner, GCGT Season 4 at the grand finale of the RCCG Apapa Family GCGT Season 5, in Lagos.

SUMMIT: From left:: Chairperson, Association for Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria, Prof. Ifeoma Okoye; representative of the Anambra State Governor, Dr. Joe Akabuike; and Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, during the 3rd Nigerian Annual Clinical Trial Summit in Lagos. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

INAUGURATION: From right: Amb. Karo Ekewenu, UN Ambassaador on MDGS, Monday Igbuya, Majority Leader, Delta State House of Assemblyelect representing Sapele Constituency; Prince Eric Oharisi and Chief Sherrif Oborevwori, Delta State House of Assembly-elect representing Okpe Constituency during the inauguration of Senetor Ifeanyi Okowa at the cenotaph, Asaba Delta State.

INDUCTION:

ICAN President, Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu (left) congratulating Overall Best Qualifying candidate for the year, Mr. Ayinde Idris Adewole, during the induction ceremony of new members, in Lagos.

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CONVENTION: Europe and Asia Rep, Christ Healing Evangelical Church, Pastor Adegboyega Talabi (right), his wife, Prophetess Mabel (2nd right) with guest preachers and others at the 2015 International Convention of the church at Loburo, Mowe Camp Ground, Ogun State.

46— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

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50 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

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52—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Tanker explosion at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos

Scene of tanker explosion, at Iyana Ipaja, Lagos, yesterday. Photos: Joe Akintola (Photo Editor), Bunmi Azeez & Kehinde Gbadamosi

Some of the burnt shops.

Some of the vehicles touched by the explosion

One of the shop owners, crying after the tragedy.

From left,: Mr. Kayode Aderanti, Lagos State Commissioner of Police; Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, and Mr. Aderemi Desalu, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Special Duites, at the scene of tanker explosion.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—53

ka Eyobo m a S By

RCCG Apapa Family impacting lives through EXCEL

By Sam Eyoboka

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T’S gratifying to note that the Nigerian church is steadily and gradually embracing the apostolicl philosophy of accepting voluntary donations from the haves in the society and therefrom making provision for the needy in the society.

Apart from being a veritable instrument of evangelism, philanthropy has come to be regarded as a strong tool to reestablish commitment to God that is invisible to human beings.

Early Christians adopted a concept of charity that impacts on humanity believing that many of Jesus Christ’s teachings emphasize the role of caring for the poor in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 25:3540).

Hostorians had it that the Black Church has been a core institution for the AfricanAmerican philanthropy, in that the Black Church does not only serve as a faith-based house of worship, but it also facilitates organized philanthropic efforts including meeting spiritual, psychological, financial, educational and basic humanitarian such as food, housing and shelter needs. Black churches were also known to have involved themeselves in organizing and providing volunteers to the community and in civil and human rights activism.

Majority of Black churches are said to be community focused, committed to helping the inner city, and are owned and operated by Black Americans.

Author of Black Philanthropy, The Potential and Limits of Private Generisoty in a Civil Society’, James A. Joseph had this to say about the Black Church: “African-Americans connection to the Black Church is directly linked to the overriding belief among the AfricanAmericans that service to God is linked to service to humanity.”

Impacting the Nigerian society

Taking a cue from the teachings of Jesus Christ, a few churches in Nigeria, recognizing that politicians and their governments, being human do not have the capacity to solve the army of societal challenges, have been impacting the Nigerian society with the provision of several relevant social amenities.

Some churches go to the extent of alleviating poverty among the army of poor unemployed Nigerians, some of whom had no alternative than to take to criminal activities to provide food on their family tables.

Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, Pastor-in-Charge, RCCG, Region 20 The number of such churches putting a smile on the face of Nigerians is, however, still ridiculously low, as many Nigerians are daily outraged by reports of Nigerian churches proposing to establish universities in different parts of the country while others are even attempting to open schools in the UK, USA and other European capitals.

The inaugural EXCEL Conference

In 2008, the Apapa Family of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, today comprising over 1,500 parishes in Africa, USA, Europe, Asia and Oceania, held its inaugural EXCEL Conference in collaboration with the Lagos State government and other public sector institutions in establishing projects in healthcare, education, infrastructure, citizen welfare and capacity building as a trigger for change.

The Apapa Family with headquarters at RCCG (City of David parish), Victoria Island, Lagos has through this tool of social intervention, with emphasis on transforming lives, restoring dignity and reforming the society, impacted and transformed many lives in Nigeria regardless of faith, while giving meaning to them.

Over the years, the theme of the EXCEL conference, according to the newly elevated Pastor-in-Charge, RCCG, Region 20, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, has been “a vehicle which the church uses to illuminate the society” and each of them has centered on changing the society for better, stressing that Christ is the master changer and as such, the church should be at the forefront of it.

He maintained that the annual programme has formed the focal point, where the church, once a year, come together and review the works

they have done and restrategize for the coming year, adding, “looking back down the line, one will discover that Apapa Family is synonymous with positive change.”

Starting from the inaugural theme, “Regrouping to Relaunch” in 2008 to “Impacting your World” in 2009, “Leading Change” the next year, “Impact Through Service” in 2011, “Change Catalyst” in 2012, “Be the Change” in 2013 and “Signs of Change” last year, the church has impacted tremendously in different facets of the society.

Activities

These activities, the RCCG Region 20 Pastor listed to include among others, drilling of 10 water boreholes for Nigerian Police barracks at Alausa, Mopol 22 barracks and Mopol 20, Area F in 2008; operations of facial tumors, cleft lips, cleft palates and cataracts alongside the operators of Mercy Ship, a 67-bed hospital on a ship which berthed at Cotonou in Republic of Benin in 2009, with an endowment of N50 million Professorial Chair in Mathematics in honour of the General Over-

Change has dividend and gives a lot of influence. It is high time the society began to reap the dividends of change

seer, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye at the University of Lagos, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Ife and another N48 million one at the University of Ibadan, spanning across three years.

He also mentioned that the church fed 100,000 people through A Can Can Make A Dofference Programme, (ACCMAD), adding that for several years, this feeding programme has provided weekly Sunday meals for over two million people in Lagos metropolis at a cost of over N250 million.

Others included the establishment of the Healing Stripes Cancer Screening and Diagnostic Centre in Surulere, which has screened over 100,000 people at subsidized rates and setting up of a dialysis centre which has also conducted over 560 dialysis with over 100 free sessions; acquiring of three intensive care mobile clinics through their women group, Arise Women at the cost of N72 million, which takes healthcare to unreached communities in the state; feeding over two million people in Lagos metropolis and now also in Ibadan every Sunday; installation of solar-powered lighting for five streets in Mushin and Navy Town Road in Kirikiri Warders’ Barracks.

With this year’s EXCEL coming up on Sunday at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos with a theme, “Riding on the Wings of Change”, Iluyomade noted that this year ’s programmes will be a consolidation of the previous activities of the organisation. He stated that change has dividend and gives a lot of influence, adding that it is high time the society begins to reap the dividends of change.

Iluyomade, who combines his ministry with his practice as a lawyer, further disclosed that apart from the free food and medical check-up which will be given to the attendees at the event, the church will equip 500 public primary schools’ library across the 57 Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) in Lagos State before the year runs out, as part of its corporate social responsibility and its contribution to the nation’s development and in their resolve to keep stretching the horizons of social impact and change across the nation.

He stated that their drive comes from Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion which states that “everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed on it”, adding that change cannot happen unless there is someone by the side to provoke it.

Involve the youths in church programmes, Akinde urges

By Bose Adelaja

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HE Diocesan Bishop of Lagos, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Adebayo Dada Akinde has called on the church to integrate the youths into its activities and holistic life of the clifeguard, saying this will bridge generational gap between the adults and the youths.

He also tasked the youths to rise up to the challenge of making inspiring contribution to nation building, stressing that the future and unity of the country rest on their hands.

Akinde gave the advice while delivering the presidential charge at the third session of the Third Synod with theme "Teach the youths today and fashion the future" which took place at All Saints Anglican Church, Montegomery Road, Yaba, Lagos, stressing that doing so will enable the young ones withstand the onslaught of cultures bent on indoctrinating them with secular values.

According to the cleric, most of the causalities concerning the loss of Nigerian youths occur because they were not grounded in the Christian doctrine especially by their parents and the church.

Cleric charges Buhari on youth unemployment

By Ediri Ejoh & Mildred Ibrahim

T

HE Visioner/Founder, Wil son Badejo Foundation (WBF), Rev. (Dr.) Wilson Badejo has advised the new Muhammadu Buhari administration to prioritise the tackling of youth unemployment, hunger and poverty, noting that they are destructive tendencies which portend a bleak future for the country.

Badejo, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos, to herald the 2015 WBF 8th Annual Lecture Series scheduled for June 9 to commemorate his 68th birthday, noted that it has become imperative to correct the neglect of the past, where Nigerian youths are often regarded as leaders of tomorrow.

He said: “I remember vividly the declaration of a former Nigerian leader who said that Nigeria’s problem was not how to make wealth but how to spend the resources in the country. Then, Nigeria had no credit against her rather we were in the position to pay salaries of civil servants in other countries, notably, the Republic of Benin, Togo and Trinidad and Tobago. Today, the story line is different, Nogerian civil servants and pensioners are being owed salaries for upward of six to seven months.”

54—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

SEC orders registrars to return unpaid dividends to companies L

By Rosemary Onuoha

AGOS—The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, yesterday ordered all registrars of public companies to return all unclaimed dividends, which have been in their custody for fifteen (15) months and above, to the paying companies.

In a circular to all capital market registrars released yesterday, SEC mandated them to file evidence of remittance with the Commission not later than June 30, 2015.

The capital market regulator also warned that failure to comply with the directive shall attract appropriate sanctions without further recourse.

Unclaimed dividends refer to dividends payable to shareholders but have not been accessed by the beneficiaries for a period of not less than 12 months.

Unofficial figures from SEC showed that the value of unclaimed dividends by investors in the Nigerian capital market at the end of

last year was N70 billion.

Experts have blamed the rising amount of unclaimed dividends on the challenges facing the postal system in the country, ignorance on the part of shareholders or when

they changed their forwarding addresses without informing the registrars of companies they invested in; thus, making them to be unable to receive dividend warrants.

Another contributing factor

is a situation where companies declared dividends at the end of the year but did not give the registrars the necessary cash backing to ensure that the dividends were disbursed to shareholders.

From left: Media Planning Specialist, MTN Nigeria, John Akharume with three lucky customers; Enyinna Adango, Aliyu Maureen, and Madubata Chibuzor, during the arrival of 20 subscribers from Jerusalem, for this year’s pilgrimage, sponsored by MTN, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Contracts awarded under my leadership within NIMASA Act, Omatseye insists

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By Innocent Anaba

AGOS—FORMER Managing Director of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Raymond Omatseye, yesterday, insisted that the contract awarded by the agency under his leadership was within the threshold allowed by NIMASA Act. Omatseye, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an

amended 27-counts charge of contract splitting and bid rigging to the tune of N1.5 billion before a Federal High Court, denied suggestion by the prosecuting counsel, Mr Godwin Obla, SAN, that the contracts contained in exhibit PD16 A-Y, were above the threshold.

The case is before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia.

Omatseye had in his evidence-in-chief, told the court that he was being persecuted for refusing to

withdraw a case by NIMASA against the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, as ordered by the immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammad Adoke, SAN. At continuation of crossexamination, yesterday, prosecution had referred the former NIMASA DG to his statement to the EFCC marked exhibit PD1; the Procurement Act marked exhibit PD5 and LPOs marked exhibit PD16 A-Y. Suggesting to Omatseye, during cross-examination that the LPOS in PD16 A-Y failed the state other works to be done other that the supply of items, the accused said some other documents were missing

from the documents in exhibit PD16 A-Y. Omatseye, who responded to the question posed to him by the prosecution, pointed out that his signature has to be on every file document brought to him for approval.

Insisting that some documents in exhibit PD16AY, before the court were missing, the former DG told the court for a file to be complete, his signature has to be on that file six times. “My Lord, I had mentioned in my earlier statement that for a file

ICAN canvasses removal of subsidy

By Providence Obuh

L

AGOS—THE Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, yesterday, advised the newly inaugurated President Muhammadu Buhari administration to remove all perceived or imaginary subsidy which has been a source of huge leakage in the nation’s economy.

ICAN made its position known during the investiture of Otunba Olufemi Deru as the 51st President of the Institute.

In his inaugural speech at the investiture, Deru, who is a former President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, said that the institute will continue to support government with its professional knowledge and skills in the fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing.

According to him: “These are challenging times in the affairs of our nation when all men of goodwill including accounting professionals must stand up and be counted in the arduous task of rebuilding the fabrics of the nation. We must take the bull by the horn as a nation by taking those hard decisions that will positively impact the welfare of the citizens."

Buhari must act pan-African —ISSA AREMU

By Oboh Agbonkhese

L

AGOS—PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been told that to properly position the country in the struggle for African liberation and to lead a renewed panAfricanism, he must think global and act local.

Mr. Issa Aremu, Chairman, Industrial Global Union, SubSahara Africa, made the call at an event to mark Africa Day, May 29, by National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, in Lagos.

Aremu, who is also the General Secretary of NUTGTWN and factional Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, said: “Buhari must, however, with equal energy, think and act African and indeed global.”

He said now was the chance for the President to make history, adding “late General Murtala Muhammed almost single-handedly roused Africa to action over Southern African liberation with the famous Africa-has-come-ofage speech. Africa today begs for quotable leaders.”

Aremu said to beat the challenges of production and distribution in Africa, there was need for bigger economy of scale, which is only possible with economic integration and a United States of Africa.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 55

Maiduguri abattoir blast kills 25, wounds 37 others

By Ndahi Marama

M

AIDUGURI—BARELY 24 hours after the Gambouru bomb blast in Borno State, a suspected Boko Haram bomber, yesterday,

detonated an Improvised Explosive Device, IED, at the Maiduguri cattle market abattoir, killing over 15 butchers and injuring 23 others at about 11.15am.

The suspect, according to

an eyewitness, Kareem Waksa, disguised as a local medicine and herbal seller with pro-President Buhari music being played to distract people’s attention from arresting him, before

AGM: From left: Mr. Mike Alexander, Director, Mr. Austin Avuru, CEO, Dr. ABC Orjiako, Chairman, and Dr. Marian Kachikwu, Company Secretary, all of Seplat Petroleum Development Company, at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, yesterday.

detonating the explosives in the midst of hundreds of butchers at the abattoir.

“Some people underrated the suspect, because as he continued to attract passersby and butchers, by selling medicine and herbs right from the abattoir entrance to the butchers’ meat tables to detonate the explosive strapped to his chest,” Waksa said.

He said the suspect’s residence in Maiduguri, is known, and the butchers association of cattle market will identify other suspects behind the bombing of the abattoir.

“We know the suspect, and we will not leave any stone unturned to fish out other people behind the bombing of abattoir that killed over two dozen butchers, customers and two women at the kiosks,” he stated.

The Nigerian Red Cross and rescue volunteers also evacuated 25 bodies with the transportation of 35 injured people to the hospital for treatment at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, UMTH, and the state’s Specialist H o s p i t a l , Maiduguri.

Borno State Police Commissioner, Mr. Aderemi Opadokun, ordered the condoning off of the abattoir and meat market to prevent further attacks and looting by miscreants.

“The security situation is under control, as the scene has been condoned off. A suspected suicide bomber at Kasuwan Shanu in Maiduguri at about 11:30hrs, yesterday, invaded the market shouting Sai Buhari in Hausa language and dancing in the market where he detonated explosives, IEDs, strapped on his body when people had gathered around him.

"Four persons died including the suicide bomber in the explosion, while eight others sustained injuries. Men were mobilized to the scene, corpses/injured persons were evacauted to the hospital, investigation in progress” the CP said in a text message sent to our Correspondent.

The cattle market was recently attacked by Boko Haram militants, with the killing of nine people, while 16 others were hospitalized in various Maiduguri hospitals and clinics.

Similarly, another suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber also blew himself up at the intersection of Biu junction on Monday.

Military sources also said yesterday that the suspect attempted to enter Biu to cause more havoc to lives and property.

Ericsson tests 5G networks in US, Sweden

By Emeka Aginam

L

AGOS—ALTHOUGH the next generation of mobile networking, known as 5G, is not expected to be commercially available until 2020, Ericsson has already demonstrated its technology feat with the recent live 5G test networks in Sweden and the United States of America, saying that it would boost the future of wireless technology.

Ericsson’s latest 5G technology breakthrough provides a way to deliver drop-free, higher capacity mobile connections for both people and things, while making the most of available spectrum.

While the 5G innovation doubles mobile data speeds with no additional spectrum, Ericsson said it would also allow mobile

operators, eco-system partners, academia, the media and analysts to experience the future of wireless.

Speaking on the latest innovation, Chair Professor of Wireless Communications and Head of the Centre for Telecommunications Research, CTR, King’s College, London, Mischa Dohler said: “Highspeed, highly reliable mobile networks are foundational to the tactile internet and the internet of skills that it will enable.

“The results that are being achieved in Ericsson’s live 5G test networks have much faster data rates, more resilient connections and squeezing capacity out of spectrum are all critical to unleashing the new use cases that will drive 5G.”

56 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 , 2015

Obama confident of his legacy, advises GOP

Chinese cruise boat with 458 aboard sinks R

ESCUERS pulled six survivors to safety after hearing cries for help yesterday from inside a capsized cruise ship that went down overnight in a storm on China’s Yangtze River with 458 people aboard, most of them elderly, state broadcaster CCTV said.

At least other 12 people are known to have survived, including the captain and chief engineer, and five people were confirmed dead in the accident late Monday during a cruise from Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing, the broadcaster said.

Search teams heard people calling out from within the partially submerged ship when they climbed aboard the upside-down hull, CCTV

reported more than 12 hours after the ship went down in Hubei Province about 9:38 p.m. Footage from the broadcaster showed rescuers in orange life vests climbing on the upside-

down hull, with one of them lying down tapping a hammer and listening for a response, then gesturing downward.

Divers later pulled out at least one survivor, a 65year-old woman, from

inside the overturned hull, CCTV said. Then, rescuers reported an additional five people rescued, though no details were given on those rescues, which brought the total number people who reached safety to 18.

•Rescue workers pulling out survivors.

Gorbachev reforms: Russians reflect on glasnost, perestroika Second

A

FEW months after the politburo chose him as Soviet supremo in early 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev halted his cortege in downtown Leningrad for an impromptu walkabout that signalled change was in the air.

Emerging from his government limousine, the then 54-year-old Communist party boss from southern Russia strode over to talk to a crowd of shocked passersby — shattering protocol that kept Kremlin bigwigs

away from average people.

But Gorbachev was doing more than just distancing himself from his older and more aloof predecessors — he was gearing up to launch a process of change that would, unintentionally, open the floodgates that led to the collapse of the USSR. “Comrades, it seems that we really do need reforms,” Gorbachev told the crowd that day.

“Are you going to be closer to the people?” one

I

scourge of terrorism themselves,” he said.

“After four years of resistance and perseverance, the plan of the enemies of Syria who thought they could dominate it within a few months has fallen apart,” government website www.dolat.ir quoted him as saying.

“The government and nation of Iran will stand by the government and nation of Syria till the end.”

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, echoed the president’s comments in his own talks with Lahham.

“Syria is the front line of defence of Islamic lands against... an unbridled wave of takfiri (Sunni extremist) terrorism and

RESIDENT Barack Obama is not shy about defining his achievements and casting them in the most positive light, yet he is loath to talk about his “legacy.”

But on Monday Obama offered a rare glimpse at how he wants history to judge his presidency, letting the “L’’ word cross his lips as he touted the U.S. economic recovery, his health care law and his foreign policy.

Obama’s personal assessment, offered during a question-andanswer session with young Southeast Asian leaders at the White House, came not only as Obama moves toward the final 20 months of his presidency, but also as his tenure is coming under increasing fire from the growing list of Republican presidential candidates.

Asked how he would want the world to remember him, he

S

weakening it would bring about... an uncontrollable situation for all neighbouring and regional countries,” state media quoted him as saying.

Tehran has provided arms, military advisers and financial support to its Damascus ally in its battle against the four-year-old rebellion that has increasingly become dominated by jihadists of both IS and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

Leaders of the US coalition that has been waging an air war against IS in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq were meeting on Tuesday to review strategy after a string of recent advances by the jihadists.

elbows’ in sea dispute

U

S President Barack Obama has weighed in on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, urging regional powers, particularly China, to respect the law and stop “throwing elbows.”

As several Asian regional powers face off over maritime borders, Obama warned about disregard for existing laws and a move away from established ways of resolving disputes.

“If you start losing that approach, and suddenly conflicts arise and claims are made based on how big the country is or how powerful its navy is instead of based on law, then I think Asia

•Obama replied grinning, “Fondly, I hope.”

At first he seemed ready to demur on the broader question, saying, “I have a lot of work still to do before I start looking backward.”

But then he plunged forward. “Obviously there are things that I’ve been proud of,” he said.

He first cited the economic crisis he faced upon assuming office in 2009. “It was hard, but we ended up avoiding a terrible depression,” he said. And he credited U.S. leadership, in part, for helping avoid a worse international economic crisis.

British EU exit could provoke new Scottish independence vote: Sturgeon

w o m a n COTLAND’S asked.

First Minister “How much Nicola Sturgeon told Britcloser can I ish Prime Minister David g e t ? ” Cameron on Tuesday that Gorbachev he could provoke another replied to independence vote if he laughter. failed to secure Britain’s Very soon continued EU membership the slogans of because Edinburgh sees “perestroika” its future in Europe. (restructuring) In a speech setting out a n d •Former Soviet leader Mikhail the stark differences be“glasnost” Gorbachev pictured at a presentation tween the Scottish and the (openness) of his new book “After the Kremlin” British governments’ posiwere on the in a bookstore in Moscow last year. tions on the European lips of people Union, Sturgeon said a across the vast empire.

Obama warns China against ‘throwing

Iran slams Arabs, West on Syria RANIAN President Hassan Rouhani accused Arab and Western governments of miscalculating in their backing for Syrian rebels as the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group gathered in Paris yesterday.

Speaking at a reception for Syria’s visiting parliament speaker Jihad al-Lahham, Rouhani renewed Tehran’s longstanding accusation that it was those governments’ support for armed insurgency against its Damascus ally that had led to the rise of the jihadists.

“Unfortunately some countries miscalculated and thought that terrorist groups would be a means for them to achieve their objectives, whereas sooner or later they were always going to be affected by the

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will be less prosperous and the Pacific region will be less prosperous,” he said.

The United States does not hold any territorial claims in the South China Sea, Obama added. But as a “Pa c i f i c p o w e r ” Wa s h i n g t o n has vocally called on China and other nations to end reclamation.

His administration has vowed to continue sending military aircraft and ships to the tense region to protect navigation rights.

“We think that land r e c l a m a t i o n , aggressive actions by any party in that area are counterproductive,” said Obama.

British exit from the bloc would lead to a backlash against London.

“My message to David Cameron is: you don’t want to create the conditions for another independence referendum,” she told EU diplomats and officials at an event in Brussels.

“We must be part of the European Union. If Scotland were to be taken out of Europe despite voting as a nation to have remained, it would provoke a strong backlash,” she said.

Greece calls on lenders to accept ‘realistic’ reform plan

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REECE has sent creditors a “comprehensive” and “ realistic” package of reforms for consideration and is calling on Europe’s leaders to accept it so that a long-awaited deal can be struck, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said yesterday.

Tsipras said the proposal was sent to EU and IMF lenders on Monday night, without elaborating on its contents. A Greek official said it was submitted in time for a late-night meeting in Berlin between the leaders of Germany, France, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to discuss Greece’s

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 , 2015 — 57

Egyptian court delays Morsi's sentencing A

N Egyptian court yesterday postponed its final ruling on ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who was sentenced to death along with dozens more over a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising.

The court said that, on June 16, it would also announce its verdict against Morsi and 18 other defendants in a separate case of espionage.

On May 16, Morsi and more than 100 others were sentenced to death for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the uprising more than four years ago that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak.

The sentence was referred to the mufti, the government interpreter of Islamic law who plays an advisory role, and a final ruling had been scheduled for Tuesday.

The mufti’s advice is never made public.

Judge Shabaan el-Shamy said the final ruling in the jailbreak case will now come on June 16, “as the court has to complete its deliberations on the opinion of the mufti which was received only this morning.”

That ruling can still be appealed.

Morsi, in a caged dock and wearing the blue uniform of a convict after already being sentenced in another case to 20 years for

inciting violence, raised his fists in defiance before being escorted from the courtroom.

Elected in 2012, Morsi ruled for just a year before mass protests spurred the military to overthrow him in July 2013.

He was among dozens of Islamist leaders detained amid a crackdown in which hundreds of his supporters were killed.

Morsi, 64, was in prison when the anti-Mubarak uprising erupted on January 25, 2011, having been rounded up along with other Brotherhood leaders a few days previously.

On January 28, protesters fuelled by police abuses torched police stations across Egypt, allowing thousands of prisoners to escape when the force all but collapsed.

Morsi and 34 others were also tried in a separate case of espionage.

B

URKINA Faso President Michel Kafando said yesterday it was essential that the country’s new leaders, to be elected in October, draft a new constitution and submit it for referendum.

“It is absolutely necessary that there is a change in the constitution” and that the text be put to the people in a referendum, Kafando said in an interview with AFP during a visit to France.

The president, appointed as interim head of state following the tumultuous fall of the long-serving Blaise Compaore in

F

OLLOWING through on a threat, House Republicans on Tuesday proposed cutting the State Department’s budget to protest its slow response in producing documents related to the investigation of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

The House Appropriations Committee said a budget plan for the State Department withholds nearly $700 million — or 15 percent of the agency’s operational funds — until “requirements related to proper management of Freedom of Information Act and electronic communications are met.”

The chairman of the Benghazi panel, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, and other Republicans have complained that the State Department has

•Mohamed Morsi

Bashir wants dialogue with West as new term starts S

UDAN is open to dialogue with Western nations, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said yesterday, in an unusually conciliatory message from a leader who is wanted on genocide charges and

Burkina president says country needs new constitution

•Michel Kafando

Benghazi attack: Republicans moves to punish State Dept

October, also denied rumours that voting for the new government will be postponed.

He said the parliamentary and presidential elections will be held as planned on October 11, and that the transition period will not be prolonged.

“We are keeping the October 11 date,” he said.

Given the duration of the transition, which will end with the elections, Kafando said he does not expect the process of drafting a new constitution to be easy.

whose country has suffered from years of economic sanctions.

Speaking at the start of a new presidential term that extends his quarter century in power, Bashir, 71, also appealed for national unity as he grapples with rebellions and dwindling oil revenues following South Sudan’s 2011 secession.

Sudan has long labored under a raft of U.N. and bilateral sanctions, including from the United States. Bashir also faces charges at the International Criminal Court that he masterminded genocide and other atrocities in his campaign to crush a revolt in the Darfur region. He has denied all the charges.

“Sudan will seek, God willing, and with an open heart, to continue dialogue with Western countries in order for relations to return to normal,” Bashir told parliament after a swearingin ceremony attended by regional African and Arab leaders.

“I will be, God willing, a

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mission (UNMEER) Abdou Dieng warned in a statement that the unrest had “jeopardised the treatment of people with the Ebola virus”.

“I call upon all the people of Guinea to support and collaborate with national and international stakeholders in the fight against Ebola,” he said.

The statement noted that

delayed providing emails and other documents involving former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and some of her top staffers.

Gowdy and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., threatened last month to withhold some State Department spending to ensure that officials move more quickly to comply with the committee’s requests for documents.

A spokeswoman for the Appropriations panel said the budget plan withholds funds until State develops and implements a plan to reduce a backlog of FOIA and congressional requests.

Meningitis epidemic kills 545 in Niger — WHO

A •Hassan al-Bashir president for all. There is no difference between those who voted for us and those who didn’t, between those who participated and those who boycotted (the election),” Bashir said.

“This is a right guaranteed to all,” he told the lawmakers and foreign dignitaries, who included Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Political analysts responded skeptically to Bashir’s call for talks with the West. “(He will have to) give up his old vision that brought him Western enmity because Western countries have firm positions on issues on which there is disagreement (with Sudan),” said Ahmed Hassan al-Jak, a professor at Khartoum University.

Unrest Guinea hinders Ebola response—UN HE head of the UN mission on Ebola in Guinea on Monday said violence in the west of the country “jeopar-dised” the fight against the deadly virus.

Around 60 people have been arrested as a result of unrest in the past week, according to local authorities and residents.

The head of the UN

•Clinton

unrest in the country had led to public buildings being damaged, an ambulance being burned and added that “Ebola response partners were attacked”.

Justice Minister Cheick Sako meanwhile denied reports published last week that police arrested six people who used a taxi to transport a dead Ebola victim wearing sunglasses

to make him look as though he were alive.

In a statement, the minister slammed “the rumour that an Ebola patient, dressed up for the journey, was stopped by the security services”.

The infected man had in fact travelled to a village in western Guinea for treatment and died on the way back, the minister said.

N epidemic of meningitis has killed 545 people in Niger, out of 8,234 people who caught the disease, but has now peaked, the World Health Organization, said on Tuesday.

The WHO had said that the epidemic was worrying and unprecedented because it was a strain not normally found in Africa and the appropriate vaccine was in short supply. In early May, cases were tripling every two weeks. But the number of new cases slowed in the second half of May amid a vaccination campaign in affected areas.

The spread of the disease peaked in the week to May 10, when there were 2,189 cases and 132 deaths. In the last week of the month there were 264 cases and 8 deaths, WHO spokesman Cory Couillard said in an emailed response to Reuters.

Meningitis is common across the “meningitis belt” from Senegal to Ethiopia in the dry season between December and June. A 2009 outbreak caused more than 80,000 cases, and more than 200,000 cases, including 20,000 deaths, in 1996–1997.

58 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Blatter resigns S

EPP Blatter has sensa tionally quit amid the bribery scandal that has consumed FIFA. In an astonishing announcement at FIFA HQ in Zurich, Blatter revealed that he is walking away after 17 years as the most powerful man in football.

Speaking at a news conference in Zurich, Blatter said he would remain in his position until a special election can be held to appoint his successor.

Domenico Scala, the chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee, said an election would be held sometime between December 2015 and March 2016, during which time FIFA will vet candidates.

Blatter was just reelected to a fifth term as president at the FIFA Congress on Friday, two days after a crisis erupted and seven officials were arrested in Zurich as part of a United States Department of Justice corruption investigation.

Blatter spoke in French but FIFA later published a copy of his speech in English.

“FIFA needs a profound overhaul,” Blatter said, according to FIFA’s translation. “While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football — the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA. “Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate [as president] at an extraordinary elective congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA president until that election.”

Blatter is currently under the microscope as the FBI investigate whether bribes were authorised by the world

•Jerome Valcke (left) President Sepp Blatter governing body.

Speaking on Tuesday, Blatter said: ‘I have thoroughly considered and thought about my presidency and the last 40 years in my life. These years were closely related to FIFA and the wonderful sport of football. I appreciate and love FIFA more than anything else.

‘I only want to do the best for FIFA and my institution. I decided to stand again as the best option for football. The elections are closed but the challenges we face haven’t come to and end.

Fifa needs restructuring.

Although fifa have given me a new mandate, it doesn’t seem to be supported by everyone fans, clubs. Those who inspire FIFA like we do.

‘This is why we will cause a process, it will be held to. I will continue to exercise my function as president at FIFA until next time. The new elections will be held until in Mexico.

‘I will not stand of course and I am free from the constraints of an election. I will be free to focus on an election.

‘I am very much linked to FIFA and its interests which are very dear to me. I repeat what counts most to me is the insitution fifa and football

Keshi continued from B/P Goalkeepers Daniel Akpeyi and Ikechukwu Ezenwa.Defenders Azubuike Egwuekwe, Solomon Kwambe and Chima Akas. Midfielder Bright Onyedikachi, Strikers Gbolahan Salami and Okechukwu Gabriel.

Making the announcement on Tuesday,Keshi said the retained players would be joined by the fifteen

invited foreign based professionals for the final phase of preparations for Nigeria’s opening 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Kaduna next weekend.

He urged the players who failed to make the cut not to be discouraged but to work harder to keep themselves among the pool of players that could be called up for future national team assignments.

around the world. Thank you very much for your kind attention.’

It comes on the day FIFA was plunged into fresh turmoil after an explosive letter appeared to contradict its claims that Sepp Blatter’s righthand man was not involved in the payment of an alleged $10million bribe.

The payment is at the heart of an FBI probe which claims the money was given to disgraced former vice-president Jack Warner and his deputy Chuck Blazer in return for them voting for the 2010 World Cup to be played in South Africa.

Secretary general Jerome Valcke was last night suspected of signing off the payment, but FIFA issued a statement robustly denying he had any involvement.

They insisted it was instead authorised by Julio Grondona, the former finance chief and Blatter’s long-time ally who died last year.

However, just an hour later, a letter from the South African Football Association emerged that appeared to blow apart those claims.

The letter, from South African FA president Molefi Oliphant, was addressed to Valcke and asked for the payment to be withheld from World Cup funds and paid instead to Warner to support football in the

Caribbean.

It contains detailed instructions for the payment.

The letter, dated March 4, 2008, states: ‘Dear Mr Valcke ‘In view of the decision by the South African government that an amount of USD 10million from the organising committee’s future operational budget funding and thereafter advances the amount to the Diaspora Legacy Programme.

‘In addition, SAFA requests that the Diaspora Legacy Programme be administered and implemented directly by the President of CONCACAF who shall act as a fiduciary of the Fund.

‘SAFA therefore confirms that: ‘1. FIFA shall withhold USD 10million from the organising committee’s future operational budget funding in order to finance the Diaspora Legacy Programme, thereby reducing the organising committee’s overall budget from USD 423million to USD 413 million.

‘2. The Diaspora Legacy Programme shall be administered and implemented directly by the President of CONCACAF who shall act as a fiduciary of the Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund of USD 10million.

‘Yours faithfully, Dr M Oliphant.’

The payment is at the heart of the FIFA bribery scandal – a US justice department indictment of 18 people on corruption charges says the money was paid to Warner and his deputy Chuck Blazer in return for them voting for the 2010 World Cup to be played in South Africa.

According to the US indictment, the money was siphoned off into Warner ’s personal accounts and he paid $750,000 of a promised $1million to Blazer.

FIFA insisted Valcke nor any other senior management figure was involved.

A previous FIFA statement said: ‘The

Germany continued from B/P on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to go down that route of a boycott - that won’t accomplish anything,” Niersbach said in an interview.

“We don’t want to get into a situation like with boxing where there are several parallel

associations.

That doesn’t work.”

Following Sepp Blatter ’s re-election as Fifa’s president last week, the Football Association’s chairman, Greg Dyke, said his organisation would support any boycott led

by Uefa, the sport’s European federation.

payments totalling USD 10million were authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee and executed in accordance with the organisation regulations of FIFA. ‘FIFA did not incur any costs as a result of South Africa’s request because the funds belonged to the LOC. ‘Both the LOC and SAFA adhered to the necessary formalities for the budgetary amendment.’

The FIFA statement follows a New York Times report that American law enforcement officials believe Valcke transferred the money in 2008 to accounts controlled by Warner.

FIFA reacted to the letter insisting the finance committee made the final approval, not Valcke.

A FIFA spokesperson said via email: ‘The letter is consistent to our statement where we underlined that the FIFA Finance Committee made the final approval.

‘In general, the FIFA Secretary General is the recipient of all letters and requests to the administration and acts in accordance with FIFA’s regulations.

‘We would like to reiterate that neither the Secretary General Jerome Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the Diaspora project.’

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has denied his government paid bribes to secure the World Cup. The allegation threatens to tarnish a 2010 World Cup which Blatter has claimed as a defining achievement of his 17-year reign.

The 79-year-old Blatter, who won re-election Friday for a fifth term despite the scandal, denied being the unidentified highranking official named in the indictment as having ‘caused’ the payment.

‘Definitely that is not me,’ Blatter said at a news conference on Saturday.

Warner, a former FIFA vice president, is among 14 FIFA officials and corporate executives charged by the U.S. Department of Justice last Wednesday with running a criminal enterprise that involved more than $150 million in bribes.

Warner left jail in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday after he was granted bail and immediately turned on Blatter.

‘Why are there no

investigations in Asia, or in Europe?’ Warner asked German magazine Stern in an interview released on Monday.

‘Why are there no investigations into Sepp Blatter? No other person has brought so much shame and disgrace on FIFA.’ A court transcript released on Monday said that Warner ’s son, Daryan Warner, secretly agreed in 2013 to cooperate with U.S. authorities and to admit to participating in a World Cup ticketreselling scheme.

Like his brother Daryll, Daryan had agreed to assist U.S. authorities as part of separate plea deals.

Following Blatter’s reelection as FIFA president, the English Football Association’s chairman Greg Dyke said his organization would support any boycott led

by UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations.

English Football Association board member Heather Rabbatts said she was withdrawing from FIFA’s task force against racism and discrimination with immediate effect.

But Germany yesterday said it does not want a boycott of World Cup tournaments.

President of the German Football Association, Wolfgang Niersbach, said: ‘We don’t want to go down that route of a boycott – that won’t accomplish anything.

‘We don’t want to get into a situation like with boxing where there are several parallel associations. That doesn’t work.’

The fallout also continued this week for the South American regional body, known as CONMEBOL, and the North American region, known as CONCACAF. The scandal threatens the marquee Centennial Copa America tournament, due to be played in the United States next June.

The indictment detailed a $110 million bribe scheme for the event and named officials from three marketing firms which own the broadcasting rights.

Nicolas Leoz, an 86year-old former CONMEBOL president and long-time FIFA executive committee member, was ordered under house arrest in Paraguay.

The foreign ministry confirmed a request from the United States Embassy for Leoz’s arrest and to seek his extradition.

The seven men detained in Zurich are fighting extradition.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 59

F/Eagles

FIFA U-20 WC:

Continues from BP

Ghana upset Argentina A

RGENTINA pretournament favourites to win Group B, are facing an early exit after they lost 3-2 to Ghana in an exciting Fifa Under-20 World Cup match in Wellington.

Argentina, who boast a side laced with promising players, including senior international Emanuel Mammana, have been one of the biggest disappointments during the early stages of the tournament.

They were held to a 2-2 draw against Panama in their opening match on Saturday and were then upset by a Ghanaian side who played with unlimited passion.

With their fans banging drums in the stands and waving flags, their team delivered the level of football that matched their supporters for enthusiasm.

Argentina had their chances and Angel Correa and Tomas Martinez were a constant threat but Gha-

na found a way to cope.

Goals to Benjamin Tetteh and Clifford Aboagye either side of halftime helped the African side establish a healthy advantage.

Yaw Yeboah, who is on the books of English giants Manchester City, delivered the decisive blow with a 69th-minute penalty.

Giovanni Simeone, son of Argentine legend Diego Simeone, pulled one back with ten minutes left and when Emiliano Buendia scored in the 90th minute, it was all hands to the pump for Ghana but they held on for a valuable win.

If Argentina want to progress from pool play they will need to beat Austria on Friday in their final match, while Ghana will meet Panama in their final group contest.

Ghana and Austria both have four competition points, while Panama and Argentina each have one.

FULL BLAST. ..Samuel Tetteh (C) of Ghana dribbles the ball with Emiliano Buendia and Facundo Monteseirin of Argentina. AFP

Nigeria must beat N. Korea, Hungary, Ugbade insists

F

LYING Eagles as sistant coach, Uduka Ugbade has admitted that the Nigeria’s U-20 side are condemned to win their two remaining group E games against North Korea and Hungary on Thursday and Saturday respectively.

The African Youth Champions were beaten 4-2 by Brazil in their group opener on Monday morning.

Ugbade revealed that they will stick by Joshua Enaholo, to boost his confidence despite allowing cheap goals that led to the defeat of the African Champions.

“We are condemned to win our next game against North Korea and Hungary after losing to Brazil.”

“We will not drop Iheanacho and Success because we lost.”

“Even the biggest goalkeepers make blunder, we have to encourage him and he will still start the next game” “This wasn’t what we planned for but stage freight rubbed us off our plans.”

We don’t have a plan other than to draw the first blood against North Korea to keep the team in the campaign.

be risked as the African champions go for broke against a team, who crashed 5-1 to Hungary in their opening group game in New Zealand.

Bernard Bulbwa may now be considered ahead of Success to partner Taiwo Awoniyi in attack, while Enyimba star Kingsley Sokari is most likely to be picked ahead of Iheanacho as the free agent in midfield.

Defensive midfielder Akinjide Idowu could well take the place of Ifeanyi Matthew, who is nursing a foot injury from the Brazil showdown.

Idowu is expected to bring his untiring marking prowess into the midfield, which was sorely missing in the Brazil match.

Coach Manu will keep faith with first-choice goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo despite his howlers gifted Brazil victory on Monday.

Enaholo has already dismissed his blunders, insisting it was a bad day in the office and he will now focus on the next game against Korea.

French Open: Wawrinka kicks out Federer R

BYE-BYE PARIS .... Roger Federer signing out of the French Open.

Safarova, Ivanovic sail through L UCIE Safarova and her belting backhand proved a potent weapon at the French Open on Tuesday as the Czech bulldozed her way into the semi-finals with a 7-6 (3) 6-3 win over Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.

A day after knocking out 2014 champion Maria Sharapova, the 13th seed weathered the gusting winds swirling through Court Suzanne Lenglen and the powerful groundstrokes of her opponent to reach the last four in Paris for the first time.

A backhand crosscourt winner from Safarova ended a high-quality first set and she wrapped up victory with another blazing backhand down the line.

Safarova, bidding to become the first lefthander to land the women’s title at Roland Garros since Monica Seles in 1992, will face 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic for a place in Saturday’s semi-final.

“I am excited and ready,” a beaming Safarova said courtside.

Ivanovic was at her brilliant, aggressive best

as the seventh seed swept aside Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday to storm into the French Open semifinals.

The Serb, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2008, shrugged off the windy conditions to set up a meeting with Czech Lucie Safarova.

Ivanovic arrived at the tournament on the back of a mediocre claycourt season, losing in the first round in Stuttgart, the third round in Madrid and the second round in Rome.

OGER Federer was knocked out of the French Open at the quarter-final stage on Tuesday, falling in three sets to fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, the eighth seed, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Federer, the second seed and 2009 champion at Roland Garros, had only ever lost twice in 18 previous meetings with his compatriot but was well beaten on a windy Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Wawrinka, through to his first ever French Open semi-final, will face the winner of Tuesday’s other quarter-final

Safarova

between Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori and home hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 14th seed.

Wawrinka kept Federer on his toes, not giving the latter any room

to break his serve. The third set eventually progressed into the tiebreak where Wawrinka sealed the match to send Federer crashing.

Nadal: I am ready for Djokovic

R

AFAEL Nadal, who will face world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, says he’s shed some nerves that he experienced during his first few events of the season.

Nadal has won Roland Garros nine times, and has beaten Djokovic there six times, including in last year ’s final. However, Nadal has struggled this season, winning only one tournament when he took the title at Buenos Aires in February.

Now, he says he is feeling better, having lost one set in his first four matches at Roland Garros. “I have been playing a little bit more up and down talking about overall,” Nadal said. “Playing with nerves for some moments. That’s the real thing. But since Monte Carlo, if I am honest saying that—in Miami, for example, I say it after the press conference I was

anxious. I was probably not ready to compete well with that nerves that I had there.”

“In Rome I didn’t play not one match, not one bad match [where he fell in the quarterfinals against Stan Wawrinka]. I lost a match that probably I should win, but I lost. But competing well with no nerves, positive attitude.”

Nadal, who has only lost once at Roland Garros since he began playing the event in 2005, said that he has made mental adjustments to his game.

“I think my dynamic changed a lot, and I am enjoying again on court because I’m able to play more days with calm,” Nadal said. “And enjoy on court and ultimately winning, is feel yourself ready to compete and feel yourself with that calm that gives you the possibility to compete well. I think I am doing better now. “

60 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Champions League Final Countdown

Messi is ‘an alien that dedicates himself to playing with humans’ says Buffon H

E may be a former World Cup winner and European Footballer of the Year but Gianluigi Buffon is not above being worried by the opposition and in particular Lionel Messi.

The man thought by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world comes up against probably the best player in the world when Juventus meet Barcelona in the Champions League final on Saturday and Buffon was unstinting in his praise of the Argentinian striker.

“Messi is an alien that dedicates himself to playing with humans,” the Juve captain said. “The only hope is that this Saturday he will be from earth, like the rest of us.”

Buffon went further, suggesting that the Barça strike force of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez was “the strongest in the world” although he hinted that the traditional qualities of Italian defending might be enough to nullify their threat.

“We will try to use our weapons, not to stop them but to limit their danger,” he said.

Barça have twice before met Italian sides in the European Cup final, defeating Sampdoria via a Ronald Koeman goal at Wembley in 1992, but losing 4-0 to Milan in 1994.

•Buffon

Lichtsteiner: No fear against Barça S

TEPHAN Lichtsteiner insists Juventus will approach the Champions League final against Barcelona with ‘absolutely no fear’.

The Old Lady are looking to win the trophy for

Tevez hard to stop—Pique

B

ARCELONA defender Gerard Pique describes Juventus as ‘very strong’ and admits Carlos Tevez is ‘hard to stop’.

The Spanish international played alongside Tevez at Manchester United, and will renew acquaintances

•Messi

on Saturday in the Champions League final.

“We’re convinced we can win the treble, but we’re keeping our feet on the ground,” Pique told Mundo Deportivo.

“We know that Juventus are a difficult opponent to deal with, everyone is making us favourites, but we know it will be difficult on the pitch.

the first time since 1996 when they face the Blaugrana on Saturday, having lost their last three finals.

“It’s not just about how we move in defence,” Lichtsteiner explained at the club’s media day.

“How we move as a team will count. We come in with a lot of respect, because Barcelona are strong, but with absolutely no fear, just as with Real [Madrid]. “[Lionel] Messi is one of the best players in the history of football, but we’ve played against [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Gareth] Bale and [Karim] Benzema.

“We hope to have another great game like in the semi-final.”

S

•Lichtsteiner

Xavi: Barça want the treble

X

•Tevez

AVI Hernandez wants to end his Barcelona career with a win over Juventus in the Champions League final. The Spanish international has played over 750 games for the Catalan side, much of them alongside Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta, and he addressed the media today with his midfield partners.

“I hope to end my career

here with a victory in a game like this one,” Xavi told reporters.

“We’re aiming for the treble, because we’ve always been taught to win here.

“I’m proud to have shared so much with these two lads [Busquets and Iniesta], and tomorrow we’ll fight this last battle together, against a solid team in Juventus.”

Busquets expecting Juve battle

‘Juventus have great quality’

B

ARCELONA Coach Luis Enrique says Juventus ‘have great qualities’ and isn’t focusing solely on Andrea Pirlo.

The former Roma boss will face off against the Old

Lady in the Champions League final in four days time, and spoke about the game at the Blaugrana’s media day.

“The Bianconeri have had a great season,” En-

ERGIO Busquests is ready for a battle against Juventus in the Champions League final, warning of the Italians’ midfield quality.

Barca meet the Italian champions in Berlin on Saturday and Busquets was asked at a Press conference about the players he will be up against.

“It’s a hard game, but it is a Champions League final. Both Juve and we know what it takes. It will be very hard,” he said, AS reports.

“They have a very strong midfield and will pose a tough battle.

“We’ll have to get hold of possession and develop from there. Their defence is very good. Arturo Vidal is tireless.”

Busquets was also asked if Lionel Messi could score a goal against Juve similar to the one he plundered in the Copa del Rey final, after Giorgio Chiellini suggested he couldn’t. rique told reporters.

“We know them well, and we already know that they have great qualities.

“I’m concerned about all of the Juve players, they have a strong team, with big players. They have a lot of quality players, not just Pirlo.''

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 61

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62 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 — 63

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015 '

Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate [as president] at an extraordinary elective congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA president until that election.

Many faces of Joseph Sepp Blatter

Blatter resigns!

Page 58

Keshi retains 8 Home Eagles for Chad

FIFA U-20 W/Cup:

Garba drops Iheanacho, Success

C

UPER Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has retained eight home based players in camp ahead of the June 13 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad.

The players retained are:

OACH Manu Garba is expected to axe Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success, who started against Brazil on Monday, for a must-win U-20 World Cup match against Korea tomorrow.

Injured Ifeanyi Matthew may also not

Continues on Page 58

Continues on Page 59

S

Tomorrow's Matches Group B Nigeria Hungary Group F Hunduras Germany Results Myanmar Austria N/Zealand Argentina

v v

Korea DPR Brazil

5am 8 am

v v

Fiji Uzbekistan

5 am 8 am

0 2 0 2

Ukraine Panama USA Ghana

6 1 4 3

WALKING AWAY — Blatter

Germany will not boycott World Cup over Fifa corruption claims

G

ERMANY does not want a boycott of the 2018 World Cup, the president of the

German Football Association, Wolfgang Niersbach, told Reuters Continues on Page 58

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S ANSWERS YESTERDAY'S

ACROSS 4 Devil (5) 7 Hymn-book (6) 9 Seed-case (3) 10 Free (3) 12 Darkness (5) 13 Dross (4) 15 Lament (5) 17 Rest (6) 19 Employed (4) 20 View (5) 22 Faucet (3) 24 Deceived (7) 27 Through (3) 28 Shabby (5) 31 Region (4) 33 Diminished (6) 35 Biscuit (5) 37 Tug (4) 38 Fragment (5) 39 Immerse (3) 41 Clef (3) 42 Erase (6) 43 Stuck (5)

DOWN 1 Essay (6) 2 Tainted (6) 3 Conflict (3) 4 Ballad (4) 5 Farewell (5) 6 Attained (8) 8 Swimming-pool (4) 11 Agitated (9) 14 Repair (4) 16 Peruse (4) 18 Glance (4) 21 Ecclesiastical (8) 23 Plague (4) 25 Petal (4) 26 Intense (4) 29 Elicited (6) 30 Shouted (6) 32 Watchful (5) 34 Parched (4) 36 Imitated (4) 40 Enclosure (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Dial 4, New 6, Soar 9, Orb 10, Converse 11, Neon 14, Eat 16, Acute 19, Uplift 21, Tonic 23, remained 24, Terce 27, Tip 31, Case 33, Initiate 34, Lea 35, Star 36, Ash 37, Copy.

DOWN: 2, Iron 3, Live 4, Narrator 5, Whet 6, Sonic 7, Ore 8, About 12, Duvet 13, Clear 14, Eft 15, Tenet 17, Using 18, Exude 20, Diminish 22, Cap 25, Exalt 26, Clear 28, Diva 29, Disc 30, Step 32, Sea.

How to Play Sudoku

P

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

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

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

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