28 28 worshippers die in Anambra stampede

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Attempt to burn PDP office in Kano aborted compound ablaze.”

Sunday Vanguard recalled a similar attack penultimate week when hoodlums penetrated a function holding inside the secretariat and unleashed mayhem on party members leaving scores injured , while properties were vandalized.

Wada spoke further: “The sound generated by the fire attracted neighbours who came out en-mass to give the suspected arsonists a wild chase while some put out the fire and therefore saved our secretariat”.

The botched arson came on the heels of rally by the party to welcome the chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Hassan Kafayos, and his

BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD

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ECURITY consciousness among Kano residents paid off yesterday morning as neighbours to PDP secretariat located at Gyadi Gydai quarters of Kano metropolis foiled an attempt by unknown persons to burn down the rented edifice.

Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Muhammad Wada, told reporters: “At about today, some persons successfully gained entrance into the compound of our secretariat located at Gyadi- Gyadi , armed with disused tyres, and set the only parked vehicle inside the

members to the city already taken over by the police and other security agents .

The leadership of

Caretaker Committee was inaugurated in Abuja by the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,

some weeks ago following the expiration of tenure of the Adamu Sumaila-led executives.

The action of the

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State [3rd left] in a group photograph with the members of the Presidential Committee on National Conference, during their visit to the Lagos House,Ikeja. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

national leadership of the PDP attracted condemnation by elected PDP ward and local government chairmen who described the steps as unconstitutional and usurpation of power “employing reckless approach”.

Meanwhile, the police denied the arson on the Kano PDP describing it as a rumour.

The state Commissioner of Police, Musa AbdulSalam Daura, in a telephone interview denied the alleged arson, stressing that “the heavy presence of police in the city was in line with proactive steps taking to ensure a hitch free outing the party organized for the formal visit of top party official to the state”.

28 worshippers die in Anambra stampede well as two siblings of the governor, was said to have left the crusade ground around 3.30am, before the tragedy.

Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report blamed the stampede on the governor. The report quoted eye witnesses as saying the stampede occurred when Obi started campaigning for his gubernatorial candidate and there were shouts of disapproval, causing his security aides to fire tear gas into the crowd.

But Obi, who said, yesterday, that he was heart-broken by the event, said he went home after the crusade satisfied on the rewarding spiritual encounter, only to get the news later.

He consoled all those affected one way or the other and said those responsible would be punished if found or God will punish them if not found.

The governor said: “When the spiritual director gave me the opportunity to speak, I noticed something unusual

Continued from page 1 of people, but the one that was held yesterday on the Feast of All Saints turned tragic.

An estimated 100,000 worshippers reportedly attended the crusade because, besides coinciding with the Feast of All Saints, it was also the first Saturday of the month.

Apart from the dead 25 whose bodies were said to have been deposited at Immaculate Heart Hospital and Maternity, Nkpor and Charles Borromew Hospital, Onitsha, several others, who sustained various degrees of injuries, are receiving treatment in various hospitals in Onitsha.

Governor Peter Obi, who attended the crusade in company of 10 persons, including the National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, the candidate of the party in the November 16 governorship election, Chief Willie Obiano, as

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as I saw people carrying the posters of politicians at the adoration ground.

“I have been going for the crusade there and, on this occasion, I stayed for six hours and left. Our vehicles were parked two kilometres away and this is a place people have been visiting for a long time without any incident.

“It was later that I heard what happened and we are working hard with security agencies to find out those behind the incident. A holy place should not be a place for playing politics.”

At the time the stampede occurred, many worshippers said they thought the governor and his entourage were still at the crusade, not knowing that he and his entourage had left the area two hours earlier.

An eye witness, Mr. Abuchi Ifebuzo, 31, told Sunday Vanguard at the premises of Crown Hospital, Nkpor where he and some of the injured persons were receiving treatment, that the crusade closed at about 5:08 am yesterday and, as the people were attempting to leave the ground, there was a stampede and people were falling on each other.

According to him, trouble started shortly after the event, when some people started shouting “fire’ fire, fire,” adding that, in the confusion that ensued, the worshippers started scampering for safety and, in the process, began to fall on each other.

Another eye witness at St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, Chinenye Etinanma, who said he came to visit her sister who was equally a victim, said she escaped because they were the first set that encountered some people carrying the placards of politicians at the adoration ground.

While some of the worshippers attributed what happened to sabotage, alleging that

some people raised false alarm of fire, others believed it was an act of God as the people were already on their way out when the stampede h a p p e n e d .

At the two morgues at Immaculate Heart Hospital and Borromew Hospital where the bodies were deposited, many people were seen wailing and crying uncontrollably following the loss of their dear ones.

A woman, who refused to give her name, said her mother was among the dead, adding that her father died only two months ago.

There were however some of the victims who were thought to have died, but regained consciousness later and were either driven home, or admitted into the hospital for further t r e a t m e n t .

Following the development, Governor Obi cancelled all his

engagements for yesterday.

Some of the events he had planned for the day included a governorship campaign rally at Nsugbe, the home town of the governorship candidate of PDP, Chief Tony Nwoye, a live radio programme, flag- off of some road projects, inspection of ongoing shopping mall at Onitsha and the on-going stadium at Awka.

The governor was among the first group of persons to visit the scene of the incident and the various hospitals in company of two police Deputy Inspectors General, DIGs, visiting the state, Mr. Philemon Leha and Kachi Udoji, and the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bala Nassarawa.

Sunday Vanguard could not speak with the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Centre, Obinma, as he was said to have gone to brief the

Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev Valerian Okeke.

Obinma was also said to have visited the wounded in hospital.

Coordinator of the centre, Bro Achebe Nnadi, who was busy entertaining questions from people, said the problem was caused by a group of people who started shouting ‘fire, fire’ when there was none.

Meantime, Obi has directed that the names of all the wounded persons be compiled, although he could not say immediately if the state government was going to pick their hospital bills.

The governor also visited the Archbishop of Onitsha over the matter, although what they discussed was not made public.

He also said that a panel of enquiry would be set up immediately to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the incident.

Akhigbe’s body arrives today

*Ex-CGS to be given national burial *Clark pays tributes

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI & HENRY UMORU

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HE Nigerian Navy y e s t e r d a y confirmed that the remains of the former Chief of the General Staff (CGS), Vice Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, who died of throat cancer in an American hospital, last week, will arrive the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos today aboard a chartered aircraft direct from the US. Sunday Vanguard gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan directed officials of the Nigerian embassy in Washington to ensure that the former number two citizen, who, along with

former military head of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar, midwived the current democratic dispensation, was accorded the honour of a nationalist.

The body of Akhigbe, who was also a former Chief of the Naval Staff and a former military governor of Lagos and Ondo states, and who hailed from Fugar in Etsako Central local government area of Edo State, on arrival in Lagos, is expected to be flown to Edo State where he will lie in state before a ceremonial national burial.

It was gathered that Lagos and Ondo states would honour the former CGS. Meanwhile, South-south leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has described Akhigbe as

a great democrat.

In a condolence message, yesterday, the elder statesman, who noted that the South-south and Nigeria had lost a great leader with the passage of Akhigbe, said, “The sad news of the death of a gallant Soldier, Admiral Mike Okhai-Akhigbe came to us as a rude shock and most devastating.

“Though we were not unaware of the state of his ill- health which kept him away from Nigeria for a long time and intact, I visited him in company of Alabo Graham Douglas and my wife at his residence in London. We were happy that he was recovering and intact he came down to the gate to receive us and also saw us down when we were l e a v i n g ” .

PAGE 6 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

PHCN HANDOVER: How Jonathan averted shut-down of power industry *Payment of workers’ terminal benefits to end on or before Nov 30 *No worker‘ll be retrenched without full benefit

BY VICTOR AHIUMAYOUNG

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UT for the lastminute agreement between the Federal Government and the organised labour in the power industry over pending labour issues especially payment of terminal benefits to workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, the nation would have been in total darkness today.

Ahead of the hand-over, the organized labour, under the umbrella of National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, had directed workers to withdraw their services from any unit(s) in the event of further provocation by armed military personnel desperate to take over PHCN installations to avoid confrontations from 1 November, 2013.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that security reports indicated dire consequences should the workers be allowed to shut-down the sector.

In fact, it was gathered that some military apologists in the presidency had advised full military deployment to PHCN facilities to keep the workers off and ensure a smooth handover.

However, industrial relations experts in government were said to have advised against militarilisation of industrial relations matter with labour in the power sector especially at this critical time, warning that it would worsen the situation as workers could embark on sit-at-home action leaving the facilities un-attended to, which could damage the system.

Sources in the Presidency revealed that wise counsel prevailed and government opted for negotiation.

At the meeting held, Thursday night, it was agreed that payment of severance benefits to workers would be concluded on or before November ending and no worker would be retrenched without full payment of his or her terminal benefit.

One of the labour leaders at the meeting told Sunday Vanguard on the condition of anonymity: “We have reached an agreement

with the Federal Government on the outstanding issues pending over the handover of PHCN assets to investors. It was agreed that payment of terminal benefits including pensions will be concluded on or before November 30. It was also agreed that that no worker will exit until her or his severance benefit is fully paid. Following that, we have directed workers to continue with their normal duties until there is a contrary directive.”

On Wednesday, NUEE had, in a statement by its General Secretary, Comrade Joseph Ajaero, said: “We are worried over the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) desperate moves to physically handover PHCN facilities to the investors without conclusively resolving labour and labour related issues. This plan negates the agreement we had with government/BPE that all the issues would be resolved before physical handover.

“For clarity, the gratuity payments have only about 68% made while no member of staff has received a dime of the position funds savings into his/her Retirement Savings Account (RSA) as at today. Those that retired from service since 2011 have not received their benefits totalling about N19 billion. The differences of the short fall of the Terminal Benefits from June 30, 2012 till date have not been considered for payment.

The biometrically captured

and considered casuals’ appointment has not been addressed. The question of 10% equity shareholding by the workers as statutorily provided has not been given attention.

“Part of the agreement which stipulates that “A training and Counselling programme shall be organized for workers before disengagement in order to enlighten them on business and investment opportunities in line with international best practice” has been flagrantly violated by government, while less than 50% of union deductions have been remitted. In the midst of all these outstanding issues, it is unfair and unthinkable for the BPE to insist on the 1st Nov. 2013 physical handover.”

“While we appreciate and sympathize with the core investors, we ask for their understanding and those of the Nigerian public in our pursuit to ensure a seamless transition. We are resolute on receiving every kobo owed us as we are sure such liabilities will not be borne by the new investors unless there is commitment to that effect from them.

By this statement, we urge all workers of PHCN to withdraw their services from any unit(s) in the event of further provocation by armed military personnel desperate to take over PHCN installations. This is to avoid confrontations with these ‘troops’ from 1st of November, 2013.”

Gov. Peter Obi(1st right) , with Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Bala Nassarawa(1st left), briefing DIGs of Police P I Leha (2nd left) and Kachi Udoji (2nd right) who visited Adoration Grounds, scene of yesterday’s stampede that killed 28.

*The Adoration Grounds yesterday.

Delta Speaker escapes assassination

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HE Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, yesterday, at Obomkpa in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, emerged unhurt after an assassination attempt.

However, locally made canon contraptions, which triggered the explosion, critically injured a female aide to one of the Speaker ’s associates.

Ochei, on a routine

familiarisation and thank-you tour of his Aniocha North Constituency, had barely finished exchanging pleasantries with his supporters at the Eke Market square venue, when a loud explosion and its attendant smoke threw the crowd into pandemonium.

According to an eyewitness, the Speaker had not taken his seat immediately on arrival, as he was busy

2 dead as Osun warring communities are deserted

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE, Osogbo

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5 days after a bloody communal clash between Oba Ile and Oba Oke communities in Olorunda local government area of Osun State which saw the palace of the Oloba of Oba Oke, Oba Adams Iyiola, being burnt by irate youths allegedly from Oba Ile, the two communities have been deserted for fear of being arrested or reprisal attack.

Social and economic activities in the two communities are yet to be restored after the mayhem in which two people were feared dead.

Oba Oke was said to

have suffered more losses as its monarch’s palace and many buildings including places of worship were razed or badly damaged.

When our correspondent visited the area, yesterday, the two communities

were a ghost of themselves with stern looking security agents all over the place.

The two neighbours because enemies after youths from Oba Ile celebrating their annual Oro festival allegedly invaded

Oba Oke and unleashed terror.

Speaking with out correspondent during his visit, Oba Iyiola, at a place where he was taking refuge, said what he lost during the crisis was in excess of 30 million naira.

exchanging greetings when the canon, ignited and propelled from the rear on trajectory to his seat on the front row, was inhibited by chairs which, even though were shattered, provided some cushioning effect.

It was also gathered that the explosives were wrapped in white satin materials, which made detection impossible, as the chairs and tables were also decorated in white materials.

The victim, whose left ankle was badly injured, was immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, but referred to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital Oghara for further medical attention.

She was said to be in stable condition just as doctors were battling to avert amputation.

Our vision to resolve N-Delta crisis — Bisina

BY EMMA AMAIZE

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ROM the oil city of Warri, Delta State, a leading NGO, LiteAfrica, plans, as part of its strategic vision, to draw on the lessons learned from its various interventions in NigerDelta crisis, to resolve conflict situations,

facilitate good governance, community and human development in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.

Founder and Executive Director of Lite-Africa, formerly Niger -Delta Professionals for D e v e l o p m e n t , NIDPRODEV, Mr. Joel

Bisina, stated this at the unveiling of its corporate headquarters, at the weekend, in Effurun, Delta State.

Speaking at the ceremony, chaired by a Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, who is chairman of Lite-Africa’s Board of Trustees, Prof

Isaac Albert and Executive Director of the Institute of Human Rights and Democratic Studies, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin, who is also a member of the board, Bisina said the NigerDelta crisis resolution model employed by the group worked.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013— PAGE 7

A cross section of Vanguard Co-Operative Executives and Lagos State representatives after the 10th Vanguard Media Staff (APAPA) Co-Operative MultiPurpose Society AGM held at the Vanguard premises in Lagos yesterday. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye

From left; Ini Onuk, CEO Thistlepraxis Consulting; Ivan Pino, Communications Director, llorent y Cuenca, Spain; and Roberto Romero, CSR Manager, GE Ecuador; at the 2013 World Summit on Social Responsibility, held in Quito, Ecuador.

Enugu LG poll: Houses burnt, many wounded

BY TONY EDIKE, Enugu nugu State Governor Sullivan Chime has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of yesterday ’s local government elections in the state even as reports from Isiuzo local government area said some houses were burnt while some persons sustained machete cuts following a clash between supporters of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. The elections generally witnessed low turn out of voters in the 17 local government areas of the state as voters shunned the polls since only the PDP had candidates.

The violence in Isiuzo and voters apathy notwithstanding, Chime said the elections marked yet another milestone in the quest by the state to entrench democracy and good governance at the grassroot level Chime, speaking shortly after casting his vote at Premier School Udi, said the conduct of the elections, the fourth since the inception of his administration in 2007, were worthy of emulation.

He attributed the low turn out of voters to the fact all the chairmanship and most of the councillorship candidates were running

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unopposed.

Also speaking to reporters, the Country Director, World Youth Peace Mission, Abuja, Chief Boniface Okafor, who was in Enugu with his team to monitor the elections, observed that the exercise was free an fair.

Meanwhile, reports from Isiuzo said that violence erupted in the council which had been under tension following an at-

tempt by APGA to stop the elections on account of alleged wrongful disqualification of its chairmanship candidate.

It was learnt that some houses were burnt at Umualor ward while some persons were wounded. Unconfirmed reports said the police made some arrests.

At Ikem Umuaram polling centre, an APGA agent, who identified himself as Monday, said

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PEX Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and some Igbo leaders have commended Abia State Governor, Chief Theordore Orji, for approving the reabsorption non-indigenes, who were sacked 50 months ago.

In August 2011, 2,604 civil servants, mostly from neighbouring Igbo states, were asked to go back to their states and seek employment

the FRCN phone-in programme monitoring the elections to complain of the alleged move to rig the councillorship election against the APGA candidate.

Meanwhile, the state chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Engr. Vita Abba, has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the local government elections saying the process was transparent.

Attacks on polio immunization workers: Jonathan ask ed tto o suspend planned visit b es asked byy Bill Gat Gates

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

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o avoid a repeat of what happened when suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked some health workers on polio immunization which led to the death of some of them in Kano State early this year, a northern group has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to put on hold the planned visit of polio eradication advocate, Bill Gates, to Nigeria.

The group, Arewa Coalition for Save The Child Initiative, in a petition to Jonathan, expressed fear that the intended publicity and fanfare that would be accorded the visit of Gates will endanger the lives of more polio workers in the North. Co-ordinator of the coalition, Mohammed

Dahiru, argued in the petition that though, the planned visit was with good intention but the timing was wrong, and, therefore, asked Mr President to “cancel this visit because it may heighten tension and create fear amongst the administrators of the vaccines on children. “ “You would recall that in February this year ten health workers on polio immunization round were shot dead in Kano while three were killed in Borno State. The dreaded Boko

in a move that pitted the Abia governor against his neighbours.

In a fresh move to reposition the state’s economy, the State Executive Council last Thursday voted for a waiver to employ civil servants and non-indigenes, who were disengaged from the state’s civil service in 2011.

To be effect to the decision, the Governor, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Ajunwa, inaugurated a committee headed by the

Haram sect issued a statement claiming and justifying this irresponsible act”, Dahiru told the president. “Subsequently the exercise was suspended for one month.

These reversed the drive, gains and successes recorded in previous years. It was a major setback. Besides, Boko Haram, in claiming responsibility for the attack on the revered Emir of Kano also cited, among other reasons, his support for immunization of children in his emirate.

Thank Almighty Allah, the monarch survived.

“Thereafter, Borno and Yobe states have witnessed attacks on schools and the killing of children therein, highway ambush and massive killings, isolated but deadly attacks on villages and boarder settlements. There are volumes of cases though the security forces have tried to contain and repel some.

“All these have ripple effects on immunization and the eradication of polio in the country”.

BOKO HARAM

30 killed in fresh Adamawa ambush

BY NDAHI MARAMA Maiduguri

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bridegroom, family members and friends were said to be among 30 persons killed yesterday in

Ohanaeze, Igbo leaders hail Orji over Head of Service Barr non-indigenes re-absorption state’s G.C. Adiele, Chief of Staff to

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

he was asked by security agents, officials of Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, ENSIEC, and some PDP stalwarts to disappear from the polling booth or would be dealth with.

He alleged that he watched how some suspected PDP members collected electoral materials and zoomed off in a Mercedes Benz car and he promptly called

Governor, Mr. Cosmos Ndukwe, Commissioner for Education and Commissioner for Youth Development, to work out modalities for a successful employment service.

Reacting to the development yesterday, Ohanaeze Publicity Secretary, Dr Joe Nwaorgu said: “It is very welcome. We thank Governor Orji. He had been seen as one who did wrong against Ndigbo. It takes a man to do the right thing after doing wrong.

an attack by insurgents believed to be members of Boko Haram in Michika local government area of Adamawa State.

The victims, eye witnesses said , were returning from a wedding Fatiha in Michika town when they ran into an ambush laid by the insurgents.

The incident, it was learnt, happened along BamaBanki -Firgi highway.

One of the eye witnesses, a motorist, told our correspondent, in Maiduguri, Borno State capital “ I travelled on AdamawaMichika BamaMaiduguri road. When we reached a place in the Firgi area, we saw many bodies many of which were riddled with bullets while some were covered in blood having been slaughtered beside the road. My passengers advised we

should return to Michika, but I told them God was in control”.

A source in one of the federal owned hospitals in Maiduguri said: “We have received the bodies of over 30 people suspected to have been killed while coming from a wedding Fatiha as most of them wore same wedding uniforms (Anko in Hausa) on Saturday evening, but we are are yet to ascertain who are those behind such a deadly attack”.

Spokesman for the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Lt. Colonel Mohammed Dole, and the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Gideon Jubrin could not be reached for confirmation of the attack at the time of going to press.

Lagos PDP Women Vanguard launches co-operative society

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o men have been challenged to empower themselves with entrepreneurship skills and as much education as they can get to be relevant in nation building, as only independent and responsible individuals can make impact.

Mrs Abiola Folami Ada, President of Lagos PDP Women Vanguard, said this at the launching of a multipurpose co-operative society and adult education programme for members of PDP Women Vanguard in Lagos.

Ada said that the group organises seminars, workshops, and holds training programmes among others to empower women. She said that the launch of the adult education programme would further empower beneficiaries. Her words: “The Women Vanguard training centre has graduated over 50 women. We are teaching ourselves to be independent and responsible. Only with such standing that we easily access micro-credits facilities.” She noted that it became necessary to launch a co-operative society for members of Lagos PDP Women Vanguard so that access to micro-credit can be made easier.

Seun Olagunju Is TCN GM

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of broadcaster, Mrs. Seun Olagunju, as the General Manager, Public Affairs of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Until her appointment, Olagunju, a graduate of communication and language arts, University of Ibadan, was the Head of Business Desk of the (NTA) as well as anchor of prime news bulletins. In the course of her career, she won multiple national and international awards, including the Nigeria Media Merit Award(which she has won five times). She is also a member of many professional bodies, including the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigerian Society of International Law, Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM) and the Institute of Corporate Administration.

PAGE 8—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

RIGHT OF REPLY

BY JASPER AYODEJI

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UR attention has been drawn to an article en titled, ‘’The Scandal In Aviation’’, written by one Obi Nwakanma, a columnist in your newspaper. In the write up, he wrote things that were not only deeply malicious and untrue but were also clearly defamatory and were designed to mislead the public and impugn the character and integrity of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who is our client and a respected and well-known public figure. Chief Fani-Kayode was not only the Minister of Culture and Tourism under the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, he was also presidential spokesman to Obasanjo for a number of years and later appointed Minister of Aviation. We are not in the least bit concerned about the columnist’s opinions about Chief Fani-Kayode or anyone else but what we take strong objection to are his pernicious lies, his mendacious fabrications and the continuous free expression of his malevolent and hate-filled disposition towards our client. We shall take this opportunity to point out the fact that this is the second time that your columnist has maligned and libelled Chief FaniKayode, the first time being a few months ago during the Igbo/Yoruba debate in which he made some very disparaging remarks about him. Yet it did not stop there. On Sunday, the 27th of October, we woke up to discover that Nwakanma had done it again by writing the essay that is presently under consideration. His obsession with Chief Fani-Kayode is truly larger than life. He is so filled with venom and hate that he has continued his worthless diatribe against a man that has not only served his country well but that has also saved lives by stopping crashes in the aviation sector when he was Minister.

In journalism we are told ‘’opinion is cheap but facts are sacred’’. Yet Nwankanma seems to have forgetten that principle or, in the case of Chief FaniKayode, he has recklessly thrown it out of the window. Not only is he vulgar and uncouth in all his ways but he is also given to telling fat lies and indulging in vicious mendacities.

In his latest swipe at Chief Fani-Kayode, he wrote, inter alia, that Stella Oduah, the embattled Minister of Aviation, had ‘’become the object of a certain Mr. Fani-Kayode’s eyes and lust for the ethnic other (meaning the Igbos)’’. He went further by writing ‘’whispered hints suggested that it all had to do with Oduah raining on FFK’s Bicourtney parade or some unfinished business involving certain personal interests at aviation’’. He ended it by writing, ‘’in all these Oduah managed to shrug off her adversaries and seemed rather coy about it. Note-when she recently laughed off Fani-Kayode and told him to get off whatever he must be smoking’’.

‘Smoking’ These are Obi Nwakanma’s words and the innuendo is clear for the world to see. We shall not take it lightly and Mr. Nwakanma will be put to the strictest test and proof of Chief FaniKayode’s ‘’smoking’’ anything when he offered his counsel to Stella Oduah or at any other time. Such malicious and baseless assertions and slurs are best reserved for usage by motor park touts and school yard

Re: The Scandal In Aviation

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That plane belonged to another close friend and the report cleared that friend of any wrongdoing. Yet FaniKayode refused to endorse it because, according to him, the report did not go far enough and did not explain the cause of the fire that brought down the plane

*Fani-Kayode bullies and certainly not by a columnist of one of the most respected newspapers in Nigeria and on the African continent.

Not only was our client not ‘’smoking’’ anything when he offered his counsel to Oduah and to the president but he answered Oduah, in his characteristically eloquent manner, by telling her that the only influence that he was under when he advised her to resign and when he called for her sack was the influence of the Holy Spirit. Subsequent events may well have proved that to be true ever since that call.

As if this was not bad enough then came the second lie from

Should Chief Fani-Kayode have declined from going to the Ministry of Aviation when he was redeployed there by President Obasanjo simply because Babalakin is a stakeholder in that sector? The truth is that Chief Fani-Kayode was as hard on Babalakin as he was on everyone else when he went to aviation and it is on record that he actually closed down the airlines of two of his closest friends because they did not meet up to safety standards. Till today, those two airlines have not flown again. He also refused to accept and endorse the newly created AIB Accident Interim Report of the 2005 Bellview

In journalism we are told ‘’opinion is cheap but facts are sacred’’. Yet Nwankanma seems to have forgetten that principle or, in the case of Chief Fani-Kayode, he has recklessly thrown it out of the window. Not only is he vulgar and uncouth in all his ways but he is also given to telling fat lies and indulging in vicious mendacities Obi Nwakanma and perhaps the most grievious and damaging lie of all. The suggestion that Chief Fani-Kayode has any business connections or interests in the aviation industry with Bicourtney or any other company or persons is another of his baseless fabrications and a manifestation of his fanciful and reckless imagination. The truth is that there is absolutely no link between Chief FaniKayode and Bicourtney other than the fact that Dr. Wale Babalakin, who is the Chairman of Bicourtney, is a family and childhood friend to Chief FaniKayode and that they went to Cambridge University together.

Dr. Babalakin’s law firm are also lawyers to Chief Fani-Kayode and this is a matter of public knowledge. One wonders how and when such a proximate association and deep friendship, which has spanned over a period of 35 years, can possibly translate into having business interests with one another in aviation or elsewhere or how it can possibly be described as a crime or viewed with suspicion?

crash which was presented to him by the pioneer CEO of the AIB Engineer Oduselu in 2007.

That plane belonged to another close friend and the report cleared that friend of any wrongdoing. Yet Fani-Kayode refused to endorse it because, according to him, the report did not go far enough and did not explain the cause of the fire that brought down the plane. So much for Chief Fani-Kayode bending the rules for his friends or helping them out. He had every opportunity to do that but he refused to do so and instead treated them with the same level of caution, discipline and professionalism that he treated everyone else. As a matter of fact, that was the secret of his success. For anyone that knows him and knows the way he operates to suggest otherwise is utter and complete madness and they are either being malicious or are plain ignorant. One really does wonder how these sick minds think and the truth is that Nwaknama must be in a position to prove this in court if he can.

Business interests For the record, we repeat that Chief Fani-Kayode has no business interests in aviation, no interests in Bicourtney or any other company that does business in aviation and no reason to call for the resignation of Stella Oduah other than the fact that, under her watch, no less than 200 people have been killed in six air crashes in the space of two years. Three months after she assumed office, helicopters and planes started dropping from the sky and they have not stopped since. This is a matter of concern for anyone that is not only sensitive and responsible but especially so for someone who once ran the same Ministry and who put a stop to the terrible cycle of plane crashes that took place in the one year before he came in. Lest some have forgotten let us restate the facts. During that one year before Chief Fani-Kayode was redepolyed to the Ministry of Aviation, no less than five crashes occurred and no less than 453 people were killed. It was a period of sheer horror in which the aviation sector was not only in a state of disarray but also in a state of emergency. Everyone was scared to fly in Nigeria at the time, airline operators were cutting corners, the oversight agencies were not doing their jobs properly and morale in the sector was very low. Chief FaniKayode came in, acted with a firm hand and military precision, reformed the sector, made everyone sit up, put a stop to the crashes, won the confidence of the public to fly in Nigeria again and for the seven months that he was there not one person died from our skies. Sadly three months after he left and President Obasanjo’s tenure ran out, the reforms and strict safety measures that he put in place were jettisoned by the incoming administration and the crashes began again. There is no other Minister of Aviation in the last 11 years in our country that has had no loss of life under his or her watch other than Chief Fani-Kayode. This is a fact and this remains so even though some of those Ministers were only in aviation for three or four months. It makes perfect sense for a man with a clean and wholesome safety record like that to speak out and offer some counsel to the authorities and to criticise the government when people are being killed in crashes in our skies. This is made all the more so when the Minister of that sector had the

effrontery to tell the Nigerian people that such crashes were ‘’acts of God that were inevitable’’.

Insensitivity Frankly the columnist has shown the insensitivity of a beast and the tendency of the proverbial blind ostrich that has stuck it’s head in the ground and sees nothing if he can suggest for one minute that Chief Fani-Kayode’s call for Oduah’s resignation was borne out of anything but a deep sense of patriotism, compassion and genuine concern for the safety of Nigerian fliers. The suggestion that such counsel came due to any imaginary business interests in aviation or any antiIgbo sentiment or ‘’lust for the other ’’ (whatever that may mean) is not only balderdash but it reflects the kind of gutterinfested and filthy mind that Nwakanma and those who commissioned him to do this dirty job must have. Even more pitiable is his suggestion that Oduah ‘’laughed the matter off ’’. If that is what Nwakanma calls laughing, then perhaps he needs to go back to school. Stella Oduah was visibly shaken and emotionally wounded by Fani-Kayode’s call for her resignation. More importantly, he publicly challenged her to a live television debate on both his tenure and hers, and ever since that challenge, Oduah has kept silent. If her record was so good and Fani-Kayode’s so bad ,why should this be so? Other than directing her minions, consultants and staff to be writing tendentious, disingenuous and libellous essays in the newspapers about Chief Fani-Kayode, most of which make little sense and bear no logic, Oduah has kept silent.

Yet things are not getting any better in the aviation sector itself. In fact, they are getting worse. Shortly after the altercation between the two of them, there was a collision between two planes in Lagos airport and then, as if God, Himself wanted to expose the Minister ’s deals in aviation, the 1.6 million USD car scandal broke.

Since then every single rightthinking Nigerian (apart from a few die-hard loyalists who hail from her Igbo stock, her staff at the Ministry and her numerous consultants) have echoed and supported Fani-Kayode’s call.

It is my honest opinion that Nwakanma himself is in serious need of some kind of counseling or prayer otherwise he would be more alive to the dangers of flying in Nigeria under the watch of Stella Oduah. Her sheer incompetence has not just led to the death of almost 200 people in two years but it has also resulted in the uncovering of the greatest car scam in the history of Nigeria. One would have thought that Nwakanma would focus on that rather than use his ever-malicious column and poisonous pen to malign and disparage those that he hates with such deep passion.

Let us hope that when the next crash occurs that Obi Nwakanma and his family are not on the plane or in the helicopter.

That is my prayer for him and his loved ones. He ended his column by asserting that the entire aviation sector under Oduah ‘’stinks’’.Many will agree with him on that. What he may not appreciate is the fact that his column ‘’stinks’’ almost as badly. *Ayodeji is a legal practitioner.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 9

"Oh Lord, if all Supplications and wailings in Jerusalem is not enough ...here we go again!"

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

Greedy politicians and our economy Dear Sir,

I

T is very sad and regrettable that since the 70s till date, our country has been relentlessly milked to death as one fat cow by dishonest civil servants, greedy and selfish ruling class, oil thieves and dubious businessmen to such an extent that this present political dispensation will now have shortfall in the revenues accruing to our national coffers, leading to the reduction in the federal allocations to states for which our governors are crying out!

Let the truth be told, if those in the corridors of power and others in positions of trust since the 70s till date, were not bitten by the bug to acquire wealth far above one’s legitimate earnings from our common patrimony for their generations yet unborn, our country would have been fully developed with state-of-the-art hospitals, first class educational institutions at all levels, modern and efficient transport system, constant supply of electricity, water, job opportunities for our youths and other basic necessities of life.

But alas, the reverse has been the case, as our youths have turned to violent crimes and insurgency, culminating in the general insecurity of lives and property in all parts of our country, because the greedy Nigerians

who have cornered our country ’s wealth, would not allow it to trickle down to them through the provision of jobs to make their lives worth living and to give them a sense of belonging!

Why are they buying bullet proof vehicles, moving with armed police

escorts and being given round the clock protection by security agencies in their offices and houses, if they are not afraid of their lives and those of their families? This is food for thought for them to better the lot of the masses, in order that they would enjoy their stupendous wealth in peace and sleep

with their two eyes closed without shaking!

Ifeka Okonkwo Plot 44, Ahocol Housing Estate, Phase II, GRA, Awka

ASUU should call off the strike Dear Sir,

O

N the on going ASUU strike, one will like to add a voice to the call on these lecturers to go back to work without further delay.

This position is hinged on the simple fact that ASUU ought to have insisted on the immediate implimentation of the agreement as soon as it was signed in 2009. You do not agree with one party in 2009 and expect another party to implement same in 2013- four years after. If implimentation commenced in 2009, succeeding governments will be left with no alternative than to follow suit.

Again, the prevailing conditions and economic variables in 2009 may have altered fundamentally in 2013.

That government is a continuum is pure academic, I must add.

I also align myself with NANS completely. Apart from recycling 20 year old notes every academic session what else do our academics really do?

Marked scripts get missing, results are never released in a timely fashion, students routinely pay for marks etc etc. The rot is endless. 500, 700 or 800 Billion Naira from government will not alter the system because it is a tradition that is entrenched with a few exceptions. Is the so called meagre

government funding also responsible for all these and more?

ASUU, please go back to work and put your house in order.

Frank Oluku 29, Boundary Road, GRA, Benin. 08181916081

An appeal to Amnesty Office Dear Sir,

P

ERMIT me to use this medium to appeal to the to Amnesty office, Abuja, and His Exellency Mr President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to ensure the payment of Amnesty delegates their monthly allowance.

Why has the office not paid the Amnesty delegates their monthly allowance, which is N65,000, into their Obubra Account. This appeal becomes important because despite opening the

account, majority of the Amnesty delegates that under-went this programme are not receiving this money.

We, the Amnesty delegates appeal for this N65,000 to be paid into the Obubra Account for the sake of peace and unity of Nigeria, especially for the 2015 election.

The delegates will be grateful if this request is favourable considered and approved.

Dailayefa Austine, Niger Delta Amnesty Delegates 08064306956

PAGE 10 —SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

be the last person to cast aspersions at Princess Oduah.

Where, at any rate, were they when Petroleum Development Trust Fund, PDTF, money was used to purchase a Peugeot 607, for a woman of easy virtue contrary to the provisions of the Decree which established the Fund?

It is in my book. What is the difference between that and “Oduahgate”?

Prominent among the stories in the PUNCH of that day was one titled: PRESIDENTIAL FLEET LARGER THAN THREE DOMESTIC AIRLINES. It then went on to inform us that the Nigerian presidential fleet had more planes than those of Germany, Brit-

left prison almost destitute in 1998. That did not stop him from sending a request to the National Assembly in 1999 for a jet which was superior to what the Queen of England, not born shoeless, uses. That also did not stop him from giving N10 billion for Poverty Alleviation Programme, PAP, for which there has been no account till today. From the same PDTF account Obasanjo paid N300 million for the registration of a company in Nigeria; a task which could have been undertaken by any “Charge and Bail” for two million and he would consider himself overpaid. I cannot recollect Fani-Kayode or anyone else in his cabinet raising

objections and going to the press to denounce it. Apparently something is either good or bad depending on whether you serve in the government involved or not. We are sick and tired of the self-righteousness of OBJ’s people.

The truth is Obasanjo designed the template for the waste and fraud and it was supported and funded by the PDP-controlled National Assembly; partly because all the Senate Presidents, the party’s National Chairmen and other officials, close to the corridors of power, also use the planes for vainglorious reasons.

The crash of a presidential helicopter, which took the lives of the former National Security Adviser and a Governor, while running kabukabu errand for Jonathan’s Senior Special Adviser, is a clear testimony to uses for which this mammoth fleet has been established and retained. A President of Nigeria can only use one aircraft at a time and not everyday; so why have ten? Don’t ask Jonathan alone that question, ask Obasanjo as well.

He started it.

That N9.2 billion per annum is spent on running costs of the PRESIDENTIAL AIRLINE is also stale news. What Nigerians need to know are the opportunity costs of the N9.2 billion, to which the “don’t give a damn” PDP presidents have subjected Nigerians. They were, of course, ably supported by David Mark as two-time Senate President and his predecessors in office. To the best of my knowledge, no single Senate President or Speaker of the House had ever objected to the maintenance of a large fleet. They had faithfully budgeted for them – as members of a cabal are supposed to do for OGA. Why stop at planes alone, if we want to root out official waste and corruption completely. We should also ask how many cars are in

dent, is above the law. The fragrant lady does have very vocal supporters, her home town grown and proud supporters,who maintain that no one should touch their own or remove her from office .

The Igbo Progressives Union (IPU) held a peaceful but loud protest that their princess had done

because of her success hence why the purchase of two bullet-proof cars by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

As usual, her kinsmen have missed the point; that the procurement is wholly irregular and she has to explain why it was purchased for her in the first place. They praised her work at the helm for turning round the fortune of aviation (that is highly debatable).

Instead, her kinsmen led

by High Chief George Nwabueze stood in defence of their daughter of the soil, exonerating her from any wrong doing in the purchase of the cars. They stated that she had made enemies as a result of her diligence so it explains why she had to have two bullet proof top of the range bullet proof cars . They failed to explained or mention that the procurement was highly suspect and illegal.

So if she is the boss at the top the bucks stops with her and therefore she has a case to answer.

About time people stop playing region politics and face the facts that when someone is wrong it is wrong to support them because they are the daughter of soil.

The Chairperson of the inquiry panel, Ms Jumoke Okoya-Thomas accused the

minister of shunning 12 invitations previously extended to her by the committee, explained that the Public Procurement Act clearly spelt out the penalty for any breach. In the Section 58 (5) of the Act states: "Any persons, who, while carrying out his duties as an officer of the Bureau or any procuring entity who contravenes any provision of this Act, commits an offence and is liable to a conviction of cumulative punishment of (a) a term of imprisonment of not less than five calendar years without any option of fines and (b) summary dismissal from government services".

The facts are there for all to see and Okoya-Thomas dismissed the explanation by the NCAA that the cars were procured through a lease agreement and pointed out that no government official or agency could claim to be ignorant of the provisions of the Act. The Princess should be allowed to face the due process of the law and have their day to explain their actions.

The blind sentiment of her supporter is typical of the illness that plagues us as people. The spokesman said:"This is a woman that has given the aviation sector a new face since she came into office. Today, our airports can compete with airports in foreign coun-

You deserve the insults of don’t give a damn government - 1

T

1999 elections, which brought Obasanjo to power for the second time were still to be ratified by INEC, the President-elect granted an interview to CNN – because for OBJ, charity begins abroad, not at home.

Asked what would be his top priorities, he declared, with feigned sincerity, that he would reduce poverty and fight corruption to a standstill. Instead, he left more Nigerian living in poverty than he met in 1999 and headed what is believed to be the most corrupt government in history.

He has since April 2010, when Jonathan became President, emerged as President-Emeritus giving advice, even when not asked and often the wrong ones when asked. If a man is known by the company he keeps, a President can also be judged by the type of advisers he chooses. Judged strictly on his own two top priorities – poverty alleviation and corruption eradication – Obasanjo was a failure. And he failed because instead of eradicating corruption he fostered it.

Fish rots from the head; as most people who grew up along the waterways know. The PDP has been led by people who “don’t give a damn”, about Nigerians, to use the words of the current President – Goodluck Jonathan. They have also appointed into top office, mostly people who are clones of themselves. The truth is; bad leaders cannot

It is not over until this lady sings.....

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed." - Mahatma Gandhi OMEONE once asked the Ameri can actor, Will Smith the best advice his father ever gave him, he said that he told him that everything in moderation, that he could not drive more than one car at a time.

How I wish Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi had such advice, she might have not have got herself in this mess, evading questions from the senate and the people.

GEJ has distanced himself from her and bowed to public pressure. The speculations are rife as to why the lady and the president still made the travel to Israel when she was under investigation. It seems comprehensible that the president remains present and in close proximity to the scan-

S

dal. Stella should have been told to stay home and face the music after all she was not needed to sign the bilateral agreement. So will she make herself available and will the president publicly declare that she does so? The lady is riding the coat tails of her kinsmen and supporters to claw her way back to the top. Despite several demands to explain herself she refuses to appear or give reasons for her absence. One can only read meaning for her absence as insolent and arrogant to say the least.

It has become a very public affair and it is going to get ugly. The princess is suddenly evasive hiding behind trip to Israel instead of getting ready her brief, she is stalling for time and support from some quarters. About time she faced the music and understand that no one ,even the presi-

be comfortable with selfless public servants. Incidentally, when I read in the papers, criticism of Jonathan’s administration by the likes of Fani-Kayode and Dr Ezekwesili, what passes through my mind is that this is a case of the kettle calling the pot black. FaniKayode, like his predecessor in the office of the Ministry of Aviation, is still facing corruption charges.

Until exonerated, he should

,

“Every country has the government it deserves”, Joseph de Maistre, August 15, 1811.

HE PUNCH of Wednesday Octo ber 23, 2013 was for me particularly remarkable. Its reports - regular columns and opinions - summarized all Nigerians need to know about the government they overwhelmingly elected in 2011.

Many long term readers of this column would recall my strident calls for Nigerians to massively reject the PDP, including Jonathan, at the polls. My reason was simple. Based on information at my command, some of which was published in my book, PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, Nigeria could never get out of the mess in which we are stuck as long as the PDP, as presently constituted, is in power at the centre. And, by power, I mean the legislature as well as the Presidency.

I continue to recollect how even highly intelligent persons, the professors of ASUU, and others, just as intelligent but not wise, allowed themselves to be persuaded that Jonathan could head a political party remarkably different in style from the one Obasanjo headed. And, let me hasten to add that, Obasanjo headed what some believe to be the most corrupt government in Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. Some of the evidence is there in that book.

Even as the votes for the

ain, Netherlands, and other larger economies of the world. If that was supposed to be a reflection on President Jonathan, the author of that and the writer of another piece titled A PRESIDENT’S FLEETING FANCY were telling us stale stories and they were putting the blame only on Jonathan when the origin remains untouched. Like a doctor, treating symptoms instead of the causes of diseases, they would not go very far.

To start with Jonathan was not the originator of large presidential fleets.

One commentator said to me that he did not expect a man who confessed to going to school shoeless to engage in such profligacy.

I had to remind him that Obasanjo, who was the originator of large presidential fleets, which did not disturb Fani-Kayode or Dr Oby, was also born poor, and he

The truth is Obasanjo designed the template for the waste and fraud and it was supported and funded by the PDP-controlled National Assembly

,

We cannot and do not know how to openly accuse one of our own even when they have been misappropriating funds from our commonwealth

,

nothing wrong and she should be allowed to carry on at her post .According to them, she has done a sterling job of turning round the fortune of aviation in Nigeria that the whole kafuffle is a ruse to get her out of the way come 2015 and the mischief makers are digging because of her closeness to GEJ. They said she had made so many enemies

,

the Presidential fleet, the models and costs. Nigerians will again be astonished by how much gap there is between their President, leader of one of the poorest nations on earth and those of the USA, Germany, China, Japan, Brazil and even South Africa. Aso Rock is like the parking lot of a luxury car dealer. Out of our three civilian Presidents since 1999, the most prudent, Yar’Adua, was ironically the only one of noble birth. The other two, born poor, had not spared a thought for how many poor people can be helped by their prodigal spending on frivolities.

The day before Wednesday ’s stories, which includes comments about Madam Aviation’s cars, procured at outrageous prices, PUNCH had informed us about N3 billion being spent by the Federal Capital Authority, FCA, to build houses for National Assembly leaders whose remunerations had been monetized after Obasanjo (again, you say!), unilaterally sold off the houses that were provided for them to the occupants. Tucked in that story was another scandal authored by OBJ. The former Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, was allowed to go away with his own palatial residence for a paltry N45 million. He now lets it out for N40 million per annum. Perhaps, it was another coincidence that Bankole and Obasanjo are both PDP members from Abeokuta. Perhaps!

But, where else does a patriotic President sell off his country’s property at less than the market price and where else does a patriotic Speaker buy the same knowing that the nation is being cheated out of funds needed for the seventy per cent poor? Where else?

Read more about universities in VANGUARD on Thursdays.

Pls visit: www.delesobowale.com tries. Before she came to office, we were hearing about international airport but today, it has become a reality in Igbo land. We are ready to swim and sink with her," We cannot and do not know how to openly accuse one of our own even when they have been misappropriating funds from our commonwealth. So the people of Ogbaru led by their High Chief, Nwabueze, is convinced that the princess has done no wrong but that she has been set upon because of the 2015 presidential elections! I wish these people give Nigerians some credit.

So, while the lady makes elaborate evasion excuses that she is in Israel to sign a bilateral agreement which also coincides with GEJ's visit to Israel. There was no sign of her being instrumental in the actual signing, that was done by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri.

So what was our lady doing then in Israel then that she could have come home to face the panel of committee. The committee, headed by Mrs. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, has had to postpone the hearing through a statement on last Monday and explained that it will give time for all involved to prepare their briefs.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 11

Who is the latest Mr. Fix it? warranted the postponement of elections in the affected polling stations in the city, the electoral body “successfully” conducted elections in far-away polling centres –some of them over 100 kilometres from the same Benin City! We ought to ask who fixed those elections and whether the system threw up a

,

O

N April 20, 2013, the Edo State Electoral Commission held local government elections in the state.

Several radio and television stations were replete with disturbing reports by election observers of how the electoral body performed worse than the old infamous Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO). It is hard to forget FEDECO which in 1983 conducted elections in which the ruling party- the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) won more votes than were available and also emerged victorious in centres where elections did not hold. This was what prompted this column to imagine earlier that FEDECO which was dissolved in 1983 must have resurrected in Benin City, 30 years after and got renamed the Edo State Electoral Commission.

In the Edo local elections, voting materials got to many polling stations in Benin City, the state capitalthe same city from where the electoral body operates as late as between 4 and 5pm. Whereas such lateness

undisputed strong holds.

Indeed, some 10 months earlier, during the governorship election in the state, the ACN fixing machine turned the federal government security apparatus against its acclaimed owner. It was much longer that the PDP began to question the role of the army

It is thus difficult to identify Mr. Fix it because he is a member of a syndicate made up of INEC, Politicians, Traditional institutions, Law enforcement agencies and the Judiciary

new election magician, more popularly known in Nigeria as “Mr. Fix It”. We suspect that the new rigging device may have taken Chief Tony Anenih generally called the leader in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by surprise as his party reportedly “lost” in many of its previously

,

brigade commander in Benin in elections in the state.

So, who is this new Mr. Fix it in the heartbeat of the nation that can defeat the largest political party in Africa even in the polling booth of the leader? Analysts were still pondering over this question when another opportunity for a

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

08116759758

Nigerian history and the morbid obsession with national unity (7) group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and so on.

On the strength of the above, there is no doubt that Northerners committed genocide against Ndigbo in the 1960s, which they eventually took to a higher level during the civil war.

More concretely, If the massacres in Asaba, Owerri, Ameke-Item and other Biafran communities; the relentless and inhuman strafing of hospitals, schools, farms, residential quarters, refugee camps and other non-military targets by the federal forces which killed over half a million people; operation "starve Biafrans to death"; and the cumulative death of over two million people do not constitute genocide, then genocide has never occurred since human beings evolved on earth.

Besides, in my humble opinion, if there is an iota of justice in this world, members of the Nigerian armed forces who are still alive today and who committed heinous atrocities against civilians during the war, particularly children, must reap the karmic effects of their wickedness.

Keep in mind that on the surface, Gen. Gowon's declaration of "No Victor, No Vanquished" was a commendable magnanimous and humanitarian gesture.

But to ascertain Gowon's true intent, that conciliatory statement must be juxtaposed with the dehumanising anti-Igbo policies he implemented afterwards, which were akin to dropping

,

C

OL. Ojukwu pro claimed the Repub lic of Biafra on May 30, 1967; but instead of Awolowo fulfilling his position to lead Western region out of Nigeria if the East secedes, he accepted appointment into Lt. Gowon's Executive Council as Vice-Chairman and Federal Commissioner for Finance, and asked the Yoruba to support Gowon fully.

Gowon was deposed by a military coup on July 29, 1975, exactly nine years after the revenge coup in which Ironsi, Fajuyi and scores of Igbo military officers were murdered. Anyway, during the war, Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and other hardliners in Gowon's cabinet enthusiastically supported starvation as a weapon of war against Biafrans.

Those who argue that there was no genocide against Biafrans should go and read Article Two of the United Nations Convention on Genocide, adopted on December 9, 1948, which defines it as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such." Genocidal acts enumerated by the Convention include, inter alia, killing of members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the

more forensic analysis presented itself on Tuesday October 22, 2013. This time, the contest was for the office of the chairman of Esan North East Local Government- a contest that had been put off twice ostensibly because the man targeted to win could not hence the re-run election on October 22.

To the amazement of many, the ruling party in the State was announced as the winner thereby defeating the PDP again. This time however, it was not too difficult to identify the new Mr. Fix it. Who announced the results? Where, when and how was it done when the returning officer was allegedly missing? The story was that while some voters, party supporters, polling agents, election monitors were waiting anxiously at the venue of the event, the Edo FEDECO chairman himself declared a winner in far- away Benin City. From the history of elections in the country, Edo was just being more proactive than others. The situation in Kwara was more intriguing.

Before the edo magic, Kwara had adopted the FEDECO posture to fix elections in Offa. According to the media, results from all 12 council wards in the area had revealed that the All Progressive Congress (APC) swept 11 of the 12 wards while the PDP got just one ward. The results were reportedly signed by officers of the Kwara State Electoral body in the

wards; as well as by agents of all the parties and security agents and the general testimony was that all was well. In no time, political party agents, security teams and election observers who gathered at the local government collation centre in Offa could no longer find the Returning Officer who by law should announce the final results. The job was concluded by the chairman of the Kwara FEDECO himself although no one knew the source of his own figures.

In the elections held in other areas of the state in October 2013, Kwara FEDECO recorded 300, 000 votes over and above the turn-out of the 2011 elections in the state and allegedly allocated majority of the “votes” to the ruling nPDP. The lesson for the nation particularly the police is that closing nPDP secretariats here and there cannot stop the fixing of elections by incumbents and other powerful groups.

But why is it so easy to fix Nigerian elections? One immediate answer comes from Anambra state where a governorship election is due in 2 weeks. According to reports from Awka, politicians are allegedly procuring voters’ cards at the rate of N5000 each in several communities in the state. Many people are said to be trooping from different parts of the state to locations like Anambra East local government area where the market is said to be booming. One main rea-

son why the rumour is likely to be believed is that the registration of voters was poorly done in Anambra. It will be recalled that during the exercise, 4 registration centres were ‘discovered’ in Nziko forest at Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area of the state.

Although the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state Professor Onukogu was supposedly shocked to see the ghost centres located at a shrine in the deep forest, he never explained how such important election facilities were distributed without his own knowledge. Can those who took election machines into the forest not fix elections?

They can because in the Ondo governorship election in October 2012, it was proved that several unlawful names were injected into the voters’ register.

Such unlawful names are often used to massively thumb-print voters’ cards as was done in the Adamawa re-run governorship election where INEC distributed 200 instead of 1000 ballot boxes in Thukudou/Sukufu/Zar wards of the state. At the end of the day, there were results from all the 1, 000 ballot boxes including those not distributed! One politician was actually caught with 6 ballot boxes inside his house.

It is thus difficult to identify Mr. Fix it because he is a member of a syndicate made up of INEC, Politicians, Traditional institutions, Law enforcement agencies and the Judiciary.

and humanitarian organisations that supported Biafra. Furthermore, it nullified bank accounts operated by Biafrans, and approved a paltry sum of twenty pounds for each Biafran depositor of the Nigerian currency, irrespective of the amount in his or her account. Concerning that, Achebe wryly remarked, "if there was ever a measure put in place to stunt, or even obliterate the economy of a people, this was it." To be candid, no objective observer who personally witnessed the pogroms by Northerners in the 1950s and 60s against Ndigbo and the wanton destruction of lives and prop-

eration of semi-autonomous regions suddenly change strategy, to the extent of overwhelmingly backing the use of military force to compel Eastern region to remain in Nigeria?

As a corollary, why was Lt. Col. Gowon who on August 1, 1966 wanted to announce secession of Northern Nigeria less than a year afterwards eager to kill and destroy to "keep Nigeria one"?

What is actually responsible for Gowon's hasty decision to employ military force less than two months after the East seceded, without really allowing enough time for exploring and exhausting peaceful alternatives? Why did Britain and the United States of America, self-styled bastions of liberty and democracy, support Nigeria instead of the fledgling Republic of Biafra, considering that the latter was necessitated by the urgent desire of Easterners to assert their right to selfpreservation and self-determination in the face of atrocious human rights abuses?

After the war, what prevented Gen. Gowon's administration from harnessing the creative ingenuity of Biafran scientists, engineers and technologists for industrial and technological advancement of the country?

How can the Igbo be truly integrated into Nigeria when there is a deliberate unofficial policy dating back to Gowon's government of concealing embarrassing truths about the war, and plain refusal to deal with the question of genocide against Biafrans? If indeed the civil war was meant to keep Nigeria one, why did successive military administrations deliberately mismanage the issue of abandoned property and deploy devious boundary adjustments to emasculate Igboland by ceding a rea-

sonable number of communities in Igbo speaking states to non-Igbo states?

Why is it that despite the havoc done to the concept of 'One Nigeria' by pachydermatous ethnic irredentists and religious zealots from 1950 to 1967 many influential politicians are still using the same warped logic of ethnic and religious exclusiveness in their quest for elective positions?

I will explore answers to these questions sometime in the future. Suffice it to say, however, that given the scientific and technological ingenuity displayed by Biafran engineers and scientists, collapse of the secessionist attempt robbed Black Africa the opportunity of hosting a truly self-reliant and virile nation which could have seriously challenged the white supremacist fallacies of Western imperialism. Now, forty-three years after the guns went silent, the troubling conclusion from our very brief sketch of Nigerian history, I am afraid, is that Nigerians, especially the ruling elite, have yet to learn appropriate lessons from the mistakes of our past leaders.

The centrifugal forces which precipitated the crises that eventually led to the civil war are still there, suggesting that our leaders, because of greed, blindness to the lessons of history and sheer stupidity are repeating the very mistakes that almost destroyed the country. Some armchair critics might conclude that I am an Igbo irredentist trying to scratch old wounds. Of course, I am an authentic Igboman - nwa afo Igbo, to be precise. Still, my aim is not to project Ndigbo as a people without blemish or portray Northerners as devils.

TO BE CONCLUDED.

During the war, Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and other hardliners in Gowon's cabinet enthusiastically supported starvation as a weapon of war against Biafrans

an opponent on the ground during a fight and putting sand into his mouth to finally humiliate him. After the collapse of Biafra, the former Eastern region was, according to Prof. Achebe, "a vast smouldering rubble".

Thousands of Biafrans were dying because of diseases and starvation. Yet, Gen. Gowon and some shylocks in his cabinet still wanted to extract their pound of flesh from the defeated and emaciated Biafrans. Hence, instead of accelerating rehabilitation and reconstruction of the devastated region, the federal government rejected both human and material assistance from countries

,

erty in Biafra by the Nigerian military during the war, or reads about them in well-researched historical source materials, would blame the Igbo and their immediate neighbours for believing strongly that Northerners wanted to conquer and subjugate them perpetually. Sometimes when I think about the causes of the Biafran war and its tearful devastating repercussions on Igboland, some perplexing questions pop up in my mind with pulsating urgency.

First, why did Northern leaders who for several years had been threatening secession and at the peace conference of 1966 initially supported the idea that Nigeria should be a confed-

PAGE 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Umuahians meet in New Jersey for the annual Umuahia convention.

Vin – a steady hand on the wheel – left Umuahia to finishing school in France early in our last term in Umuahia in 1982.

From France, he came to the United States, studied Computer Science and moved on from the digital world to Real Estate Brokerage in Davenport, Florida. He has not been to Umuahia since and is unable to process the horrifying stories and image of decay that keeps coming out of Umuahia. In a terse, preconvention statement about his inabili-

,

Over the years dedicated Umuahia oldboys have tried to use their private resources to prop up the school and supplement government spending, but this mode of intervention has proved both ineffective and limited

ty to join the convention, Dr. Warwick Onyeama (class of 1956) son of the late Judge Charles Daddy Onyeama (’35) of the World Court wrote with regret that he has resolved that “the school in which I grew up is no more.” In other words, the Government College Umuahia no longer exists for him. That part is true and increasingly so for many an Umuahian.

Various administrations since the late 1980s, and some might even say, since Ukpabi Asika’s education reform in the post war East Central State, carried out under no less than the Umuahian Cambridge and Harvard educated Dr. Offia Wali, under whom this great school had been in a relay of trusts had ensured its imponderable waste. Current education policy by the Abia state gov-

Expectations

I

T can be disheartening when one's expectations are cut off! Over the years I have tried not to want something so badly I become desperate or frustrated. I have also found that enterprise and negotiation work better when one is dispassionate and logical; passion in negotiation most times just convey desperation to others. The best bargaining tool is always a cold and even disparaging exterior; it says that one is willing to walk away from several other options. Its even better when one truly believes that, it is the gospel truth. There is always a better deal, always a better option, only failures pin all their hopes on just one deal, one expectation. I grew up the child of a fantastic negotiator. My mom was a contractor who could make a profit out of anything. I have had 18 years experience in retail, I am my mother's daughter; just as tough, my siblings say a lot tougher.

No one knows it all, in the school of life there is no graduate. This past year I ate humble pie in a transaction and I was livid. Retail is all about location; you can offer diamonds at a dime a dozen and not have a single customer if you are in the wrong location. I had been discontented with a prime location I had and had been eager to move.

I was sought out by a familiar face and

an agent who seemed to be an answer to my prayers. They showed me a building that was the right size, right place and right price; I was salivating in excitement. I struck what I believed to be a fair deal for all parties but I forgot the golden rule in my excitement. I got carried away by my passion and conceded many things that were costly and foolish; desperation.

The second mistake was letting cash change hands when there were still a few consultations pending the final agreement. In my mind I had prayed about it, confirmed my agents had authority to lease, I had been given the keys and I had raised the sum needed. It should have been fine or so I expected.

A

round that period I had to travel and be with a friend having chemotherapy so I couldn't finish execution but I had a team well in place. I was really excited about this new possibility and didn't think it could fall through but that is exactly what happened.

Within the few days I was out of the country, the mother of all family feuds broke out between the siblings who had inherited the said building and I was out of money and location. Weeks became months and I eventually pulled out of the lease. The desperation wore

,

83 still puts many a young man to shame with his stamina and love of life.It must be all that cricket – and his age defying wife, Arunne Ethel Momah. At Umuahia, we were taught to work and to play. We danced that Friday at the Odudua Lounge, on Newark’s Central Avenue, a rather sketchy part of town, but not the worse for wear.By the next morning, it was up early and to business.

This year ’s convention was themed around tributes to the novelist Chinua Achebe, our distinguished old boy who died this past March; and a review of the state of the old school, and the question of whether old Umuahians should forthwith withdraw further financial and material relationship with the school given its current reality, off, the excitement faded at the thought of becoming a pawn between Cains and Abels. To say I was disappointed was putting it mildly but good business is also knowing when to walk away. I learnt a new level of humility and I endured some conversations that in the old days would have brought out a side of me confined to history; old man behaviour is not acceptable when one is crucified with Christ.

All prayers are answered but we aren't

,

A

NNUALLY, for the past decade, the alumni of the Government College Umuahia in the United States and Canada meet under the auspices of the Government College Umuahia Old boys Association, the GCUOBA-USA, to discuss the situation of their alma mater, find possible solutions, generally keep the flag flying, and while they are at it, loosen their collars a bit. These are very busy men and they come with their equally busy spouses – those honorary and graceful Umuahians we call “ young girls” perhaps because they defy gravity and age - who have been pillars of support for both the old school and their alumhusbands.

Some in fact are not only wives, but also are mothers of “Umuahians.” They too have as great an interest and as much a concern for the fate and situation of what has generally been regarded as a great and pre-eminent school. As Ihuoma Nkele, an Attorney and herself alum of the equally prestigious Queens College, Lagos, and spouse of the Umuahian Onyema Nkele did once poignantly say: “ we have an obligation to build and keep these schools. If our children don’t go there; maybe our grandkids would. It is called continuity.

All good things continue…” Umuahia and its peer schools – Kings, Ibadan, Barewa, Ughelli, Owerri, Afikpo, Keffi, Bida - were truly, very good places. They were schools at the crucial foundation of Nigeria’s modernity. But the situation at Umuahia presently reflects a sad fact: what we touch as Nigerians, we turn to dust. It is profoundly inexplicable. This sad fact was on my mind when, out of a need to see a bit of the American landscape, I drove with my friend and classmate, Vin Onyrimba, from Florida to New Jersey

ernment – its current Trustees - will be the final nail to the coffin. This year, the Umuahians met at the Ramada International in Newark, just off the turnpike. The New Jersey/New York Chapter of the GCUOBA-USA, under the able hands of the Attorneys Charles Chikezie and Don Egbuchulam, Dr. Chuks Ibeku, Dan Okengwu, and Moses Ukejianya, an Architect in New York City, had laid the grounds. Umuahians from across the US and Canada had defied the brooding weather, and gathered. A repast that Friday evening in the hospitality suite allowed us to count our numbers: Eneli, not present, Nwariaku and Jide Oji, Kevin Uwazurike, Denis Onwualu, Randy Nduka, U.K Obasi, Morgan Ukaegbu, Stan Ikem Okoye, Egbonye, Fidelis Umeh…and many such were inexorably absent. Yet there was the unmistakable Umuahian conviviality with the good number present led by the indefatigable Christian Chike Momah ( class of ’44), our grand patron, who at

The day we stop expecting improvement in life is in my view the day we die; the day we give up. This year is rounding up, just but a few weeks left and I am still so expectant, still so very hopeful and that is my moral

,

always pleased when God says no; I know I was not amused. I made my disappointment known in prayers and petitioned heaven for the right location. Fast forward to a few more weeks and a real expectation, a God expectation happened. A location I had not even considered became available and the move was seamless. I paid less than I offered for the first place and was given all the time and authority to make all the structural changes I wanted. I actually started to thank God for say-

which seemed quite precisely the fundamental question before us. Discussion was brisk.

The School report detailed a very complex situation. Over the years dedicated Umuahia oldboys have tried to use their private resources to prop up the school and supplement government spending, but this mode of intervention has proved both ineffective and limited. It has resulted in ambivalence: clearly, the current education policy in Abia state has totally stripped Umuahia of its special status and also long erased its original or foundational mission as a selective English-type boarding school.Umuahia alumni in Nigeria are as moved to try a final push to finding an alternative governance model that would restore the school to its hallowed past, and guide its possible future. Dr. Emma Okafor, physician, and now quondam President, steered the meeting magnificently to a close, on the following terms: a six-man task force comprising Udobi Ikeji,Onyema Nkele, Enyi Kanu, Dr. Marcaulay Onuigbo, Professor Emeka Aniagolu and I was nominated to liaise with a Nigerian contact group led by Emeka Ifezulike and Okey Eneleamah, to perfect a usable Public Trust framework for Umuahia.

The GCUOBA-USA also resolved to stop forthwith all financial investments in the school and hold all contributions in trust pending further development.

It was an election year, and Umuahians elected a new executive committee led by God. Okoji and comprising Emeka Aniagolu, Ali Talib, Kingsley Umezurike, Chuks Ibeku,Chuma Mmeje and Ofo Iheanacho, to steer the affairs of GCUOBA-USA for the next two years. Then came the evening reception and tributes for Achebe: his old classmate C.C. Momah set the tone by going down memory lane; I read an excerpt from his collection of poems, Emeka Aniaogolu read from his last memoir, There Was A Country, and a special guest, Achebe’s niece, the physician and novelist of Onaedo, Dr. Ngozi Achebe, gave a scintillating tribute to her uncle. And thereafter, we truly freed our stiff collars and partied as only Umuahians know how, and laced our boots for Texas, next year. ing no to my initial prayer and realised that my expectations had not been cut off, they had been re-routed. I didn't have to leave my promised land for a barren one; I stayed in my old building but in a better unit, big, spacious and beautiful. I have been feeling so humbled by God's grace toward me lately, especially when I am in that location that was the right one and only just a wall away.

S

o is there a moral to this story you wonder? Maybe and maybe not.

Being a Christian I am persuaded that a Higher power had my back all along; after all there are a lot more advantages to my present situation. On the other hand a good case can be made for resilience; the ability to keep going after every disappointment; an enlarged vision that isn't clouded by defeat. The Bible says the gifts of God are without repentance and add no sorrow and that is my testimony. This particular gift has given and will continue to give; that is my expectation; it's a God expectation.

I have had many disappointments, many mistakes, missteps and even defeats in my life. They have been the tutors in a life where overcoming one challenge almost immediately leads to an even tougher challenge. Expectations have been raised, expectations have been dashed. Some were borne of ambition, others necessity, some have been borne of need, others of desperation but all were necessary in this journey we call life. The day we stop expecting improvement in life is in my view the day we die; the day we give up. This year is rounding up, just but a few weeks left and I am still so expectant, still so very hopeful and that is my moral. Grace makes expectation a thing of beauty, a gift of mercy and where ever or what ever they lead to is a lesson taught or a blessing gained.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 13

ODUAH GATE

Inside story of Aviation Minister’s survival battle

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE & LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

T

he much talked about N255million BMW B7 series bullet proof cars allegedly bought by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, took a twist on Thursday as the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, who is at the centre of the controversy, said the cars were not purchased for her.

Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation probing the matter had to adjust their sitting positions.

Her words:”As you all are aware, what necessitated this public hearing were the events that followed a false and malicious online publication that I had compelled the NCAA to purchase for me 2 nos BMW bullet proof cars at the cost of $1.6million. ”Let me state emphatically that from

“

Let me state emphatically that from the onset that the allegation concerning the purchase of the 2 nos bullet proof cars for me by the NCAA is false in its entirety

the onset that the allegation concerning the purchase of the 2 nos bullet proof cars for me by the NCAA is false in its entirety. “

Genesis

Wednesday, the Committee sat for the second time and more revela-

tions were made by the Customs, First Bank, the lenders and Coscharis Motors which supplied the cars.

The amoured cars were three contrary to the claim that two were bought. They did not arrive the port of Lagos alone but in the company of 300 other cars that were bought at the same time. And contrary to reports that the two controversial vehicles came in the name of Oduah, they originally came in the name of Lagos State Government.

And you ask for what purpose? It was principally for the 18th National Sports Festival, Eko 2012, held last year in Lagos.

This came from the testimony by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) which made its presentations before the Committee. The Customs got authorization from the Ministry of Finance and Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) respectively to waive import duties on the cars.

Consequently, N10, 133,505.74 import duty was waived.

Said the Deputy ComptrollerGeneral of Customs, DCG, Manasseh Daniel Jatau, who represented the Customs C-G, Abdulahi Dikko, at the public hearing: “The N10 million import duty payable on the 300 vehicles meant for Eko 2012 Festival was used to clear the armoured cars.

“If the two armoured cars were for Lagos State Government in 2012, how then did it get to NCAA?”

Coscharis Motors

Enter Cosharis Motors. Anyone who knows the Chairman of Cosharis Motors, Mr. Cosmos Maduka, will admit that he is a businessman. And as a business man, he understands only three words: Money, goods and services.

His stock in trade are cars, mostly exotic and sophisticated, Maduka cleared the armored cars. Anyone who heard him testify at the hearing noticed the passion with which he spoke. He started off telling how sincere he was. He told the world that due process was followed but the questions put up by the members of the Committee cast aspersions on the genuiness of the process.

For instance, the Committee put it to Maduka that the current price of the vehicle shouldn’t have ordinarily exceeded N50 million each. Cos-

Continues on page 14

PAGE 14—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Continued from page 13 charis outrightly rejected it, saying that could never be the case with BMW B7 series anywhere in the world.

But in a bid to state the fact, Maduka revealed that the NCAA demanded a jerk up of the prices of the controversial vehicles from what the company had submitted earlier.

According to him, “NCAA told us that the initial price is not proper.”

In an attempt to further justify the cost of the prices of the cars, Josiah Samuel, the Managing Director of the motor company, who accompanied the Chairman to the hearing, pleaded to play a demonstration video of the cars to show how cozy and exotic they were.

But he was denied the opportunity on the grounds of time and irrelevance of the video.

Correspondences

Most Nigerians would be at a loss of how cars originally purchased on behalf of the Lagos State Government for the 2012 18th National Sports Festival later got to NCAA. But explaining the controversy, Maduka said that the delay his company encountered when it sought clearance from the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, upon the demand by NCAA made it necessary to sell the cars to the agency.

But the Committee insisted that Coscharis deceived the public and the government by saying that the cars were bought for NCAA when actually they were purchased on behalf of Lagos State Government for which it got import duty waiver.

The Committee accused the company of ripping Nigerians off. According to it, the change in the prices of the vehicle from the initial amount of N70 million to N127.5 million even when Coscharis had admitted that it got waivers from government not to pay Customs duty cast aspersion on the company’s position on the prices.

The hearing later took a dramatic turn when the Committee found that the vehicles supplied were of different types.

For instance, a member of the Committee and spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Zakari Mohammed, said the chassis of one of the vehicles inspected by a delegation from House was DW68011.

He argued that the number differed from what Coscharis gave in its correspondences with the Office of the NSA and other stakeholders.

The company denied the claim.

Coscharis quoted the chasis numbers as DW68044 and DW68432 respectively. It promised to send the NSA certificate on the cars to the Committee.

We entered a loan agreement not lease—First Bank First Bank of Nigeria Plc rejected the claim by NCAA that the agreement it had on the cars was a lease and not loan.

Oduah

Inside story of Aviation Minister’s survival battle Group Head, Retail Services of the bank, Seyi Oyefeso, told the Committee that it released the money after a certificate of the delivery of the cars was made available to it from NCAA. After reading her 12-page presentation, Rep Zakari Lafia Mohammed asked Oduah (Aviation Minister) whether it was a loan or lease that her agency obtained from FBN. She said it was the same thing, lease or auto loan. According to her the interest NCAA would pay would still be below N240million at the end of the year.

On whether she acted within the ambit of the law in giving approval beyond N100 million , she said she approved the money and asked the NCAA to do the needful.

What is the needful?

The Committee and the minister disagreed on what needful means.

Mohammed took on the Aviation Minister, saying the needful means a go ahead to implement.

Oduah said, ‘No, you are wrong on that; needful does not mean full approval. “ The NCAA DG, Folu Akinkuotu, was asked whether he did the needful, he said he was not incharge when the order was given for the purchase.

The permanent secretary of the Aviation Ministry, George Ossi, was tackled for misleading the minister by not appropriately advising her.

The Committee said the permanent secretary ought to have asked the NCAA to do the right thing.

Ossi claimed that due diligence ought to have been done by the

“

The permanent secretary claimed that due diligence ought to have been done by the agency before applying for the approval.

He claimed that he was not available at the time everything happened agency before applying for the approval.

He claimed that he was not available at the time everything happened .

The DG said he would have followed the Procurement Act if he was the one the directive was given to do the needful.

Akinkuotu said the then acting DG, Joyce Daniel Nkemakolam, ought to explain why he did not do that.

Interpretation

Nkemakolam said he interpreted the directive to mean to go through it in line with the Procurement Act. According to him, he did the due diligence but had a mindset that he was within the budget limit.

When asked why he didn’t do due diligence to ensure that it was in tandem with the procurement law, he said he thought since the agency had

got the approval of the National Assembly, there was no need for such diligence.

He was asked why he initiated a memo to approve 54 vehicles when what the National Assembly approved 25.

The former acting NCAA DG was reminded that what was approved was N240million and not N643million.

He was asked whether the NCAA Board sought approval of the president for the car deal. Nkemakolam said he was working on the mindset that he was within the approved limit.

He said that what NCAA discussed with First Bank was a lease. He was asked the date the Board of NCAA approved the loan facility. He said that NCAA had interview Board.

When asked how many trainings he organised for NCAA staff , he said he relied on experts.

He said that his mindset has always being that they did not exceed the amount approved.

The drama continued with Rep Manwe asking the former DG of NCAA to disclose who uses the controversial bullet proof cars since the minister bluntly confessed that they were not bought for her use.

Minutes passed before he could provide an answer. And when he finally found his voice, he said, “Anybody can use the vehicles when they are in the pool. They are operational vehicles.”

But the lawmaker wouldn’t give up.

He continued with a rider to the question. ”Do you mean that a messenger or a cleaner in the agency can use the cars?”

At this juncture, the hearing room went into dead silence with the DG losing his voice.

And when he found it, he answered :”That category of vehicles are for VIPs which include the Minister, including you, honorable.”

Laughter erupted in the hall.

Manwe asked again, “Can we have the log book of the movement of the car?” The former acting DG answered, “ I am not a transport officer. I don’t know whether they are still keeping those log books.”

When it now became obvious that the erstwhile acting DG had been exhausted, the lawmakers mandated the agency to bring the man who received the vehicles at the point of delivery by Coscharis Motors.

The hearing came to a close.

In her closing remarks, the Committee chairperson, Onyejeocha, assured Nigerians that justice would be done. ”Facts speak for themselves. We have tried to listen to people: Coscharis, the Minister, NCAA, First Bank , BPP and Customs, and we have their submissions with us. We will consider what we have to see whether it is in line with the extant laws and financial regulations,” she said.

“We assure everyone and all Nigerian that we will do justice to this hearing.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 15

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

Why, like my father, I treat Igbo like my people — Princess Adenrele Ogunsanya Princess Adenrele Adeniran Ogunsanya became a card carrying member of National Council of Nigeria and Cameroun, NCNC, when she was seven years old. Her iconic father, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, was a chieftain of the party, and she learnt at a very young age to be different, as most of her friends came from Action Group families.

Still a consummate politician, she is the Secretary General of Lagos State Women’s Forum and former Secretary to Lagos State Government during Governor Babatunde Fashola’s first term , making her a very important figure in the inclusion of women in politics in the country at large.

She chats with Morenike Taire about Lagos, change and contemporary politics. ling for? But we have gotten to that stage. If we have imbibed all their other ways, we must know that we will get to like them one way or the other. We have to sit down and do total analysing of each problem. We are not doing it right. We need to start to investigate well. I still believe there is going to be change because people have been set in a certain way, Okada was thrown out of fear of people being hurt. I know that we need normal transport and I am sure that will be addressed.

Even with paying tax, we find it so difficult because we haven’t been paying. Years and years ago, I could be guilty of the same thing. I understand that the economy is bad but sometimes we have to go through hard times for things to get better. We are not all about corruption. Let’s go and make sure we give change a soft landing.

,,

There’s a lot of concernand we share that concernover the fragile state of peace and stability in the country vis-à-vis the ethnic tension that we have been seeing. Is it a valid concern or something that politicians are just using to their advantage?

Let me talk about Lagos. I think it’s a cause for concern when certain people want to use it for political reasons.

Nigeria already has enough problems.

Don’t you think we are being a tad too careful about that? And I will give you an instance. In July, the David Mark-led Senate cited this concern as the reason for allowing the controversial marital age thing to remain in the Constitution. How can a balance be struck between this quest for ethnic peace and our everyday realities?

It’s about time Nigeria sits back. Each area has its own reality in the sense that when you look at countries like Japan and China, Korea and other countries that are doing well, they have certain aspects of their culture that they maintain and have managed to balance out well. We are beginning to lose sight of those parts. There are little things that make society work that we put aside and we want to be completely Western. We have to sit down and analyse well. The child marriage thing, for anybody that is not from that area , you can’t blame them.

We look at it as wrong and I think it’s wrong. It’s wrong from the perspective of what has been happening to a lot of young girls. But when we do major changes, we have to be extremely careful; we don’t consult well. We don’t even counsel. When we see in the Western world people being counselled, we say what do they need counsel-

* Adenrele...Surprised to hear D’bang’s song at Harrods my faith and it can’t change?’ Where does that fit in?

That is where I think counselling comes in because of what has happened to many young ladies.

They’ve done horrible things to themselves and they have problems that they carry for the rest of their lives.

lenges is to give states more power. The needs of one state differ from another and the state knows what it needs best.

Take socio-political ethnic groups such as OPC, Arewa and the rest of them.

They are good as long they don’t get violent. They have played their roles. As long as we don’t play them up

It’s about time Nigeria sits back. Each area has its own reality in the sense that when you look at countries like Japan and China, Korea and other countries that are doing well, they have certain aspects of their culture that they maintain and have managed to balance out well

Let me digress a little. You have made an analogy between tax payment and Okada. You pay tax when you make profit. I think it’s a totally different thing from transportation which is an essential service.

I do know that provision for more transport is in the pipeline. The light rail is in the pipeline. We are beginning to adjust.

What then happens when religion is brought into it and someone says, ‘this is

Was it much better when we had regional governments or is there anything we should borrow from that?

There are lots of things that the Federal Government is handling that really should be handled by the states.

There is clamour for various things like state police that really should be in the hands of the states. Maybe I am a bit biased but I like the parliamentary system. The only solution to our chal-

against each other.

Can we say one thing that we all have in common or are we really just a geographical expression?

The biggest unifier of Nigeria has been football, but that is on the light side.

We are Africans and we should also remember that our being together is much better than for us to break up into small banana republics.

We would not be able to command the same respect.

Nigeria is still looked upon

as one of the biggest countries in Africa, particularly on the west coast and we are more or less the leader so if we do break up, it will not be a good thing.

At the time of the civil war, the whole country was united against secession but now Nigerians seem to be more comfortable with the idea of everyone going its separate ways.

I think we say it when we are angry. I don’t think it’s a deep down thing. We have mixed too much. I am from Ikorodu and there has been a ruling house there for almost two centuries. A lot of people have even brought their parents here because of insecurity. What makes Lagos tick is the diversity.

Do not go to Marina and say it’s no man’s land. I like Lagos as it is. I am sixty five.

When I was five or seven, there were people whose families are still here. This is their home, but remember that there are genuine indigenes. Lagos people like enjoyment.

I was surprised to walk into Harrods (London supermarket) to hear D’Banj’s song being played. Those are things we should be proud of. We have a wonderful

Continues on page 16

PAGE 16— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

Adenrele Ogunsanya: Lagos needs to be accorded special status

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Continues from page 15 vibrant youth who have a lot to offer. We should also have a succession plan. That is why our founding fathers were always nurturing someone to come up but now we have a youth leader that is 65 yet we have young people with better ideas that can move us forward. We want to die in a position. We want to be this and that. We have people saying, “anything you want to offer me, just anything, I will take…”

It seems now more of a resource driven venture on the individual as well as on the national level…

It’s no longer chop I chop; it’s now chop I chop I chop.

Give us a Peek into your political future I just want to be in politics.

It is not position I am after; I am after a better Nigeria. I am no longer a chick but I love politics, it is like a game of cards, not as vicious as it is now. What is important at the end of the day is the people.

The prevailing notion seems to be that the role of women in the whole thing is to support, etc.

I was watching the convention of a political party and when the women started dancing I wanted to say ‘go and sit down jare’. To be honest women have been short changed regardless of how many women they now display in the cabinet. The majority of them are not the real politicians. We see a lot of women but some are representing themselves. We are the best mobilizers. We do most of the work and at the end of the day they give us women leader and they feel they have filled the quota. They give us the same exams (with men) and we excel. The problem is that we ourselves we don’t help each other. They don’t think of the issues that concern women. There are some people in the Senate that carry about women’s issues but fail to address them. We have still not got it right. We are the ones left at home with the children.

When there is no food the man can go out, have a bottle of beer , eat at his friend’s and come back home and frown as if he’s not eaten anything; but the mother will be struggling with the children. There are good fathers too but that is a very rare thing. To be honest, we are short-changed. It is women who sell out. I think Mrs Sarah Jibril only got one vote when she contested the PDP presidential primary which means she voted for herself and that was a very painful thing because people should at least made a statement that this is a woman . We don’t show solidarity for one another.

Tell us your thoughts on your new party, the APC. People with strong charac-

If Ibos misunderstand me, then they are not getting it right because they are my people. But Lagos is where I am from

ters should play it down a little and accommodate. You must give and you must take. It will be a wonderful party at the end of the day if we just learn to be accommodating and let go of certain things.

A lot of people for this particular reason do not believe the union will work…

They are entitled to believe what they want to believe but I am in APC and I think it will work. There are certain people in it who are focused.

Is the party constitution a living thing or is it set in stone?

There must be some agreement before it can become the constitution of the party. Maybe so far everybody is satisfied with it.

I don’t think any constitution should be set when you are evolving. I am sure it will play out well.

With all these new things happening and your vast experience, how do you predict 2015 will play out?

It will be an interesting time. I hope it will be a time for change. The bottom line is we shouldn’t live in an illusion that it is business as usual. I have never seen a nation that would have

lasted so long with all the things that go on in it.

Nigerians are just fantastic people. They are very resilient. I even strongly believe that if we had proper electricity Nigerians would have just got on with it and not even look back. You know a lot of cottage industries fell by the wayside. I pray there won’t be violence. I really pray hard because the signs are there.

What kind of signs?

Well, you know what I mean.

You mean people coming forward and saying if so and so does not win…

We must be wary of them and we must take cognisance of them.

We must be prepared.

The

place is already like time bomb. Let us hope we disengage the bomb before it goes off and I am sure Nigerians are capable of doing that. We’ve been in situations that are just amazing and we keep going on. We need to change also because we need to have a good image because we are part of the global village.

A lot of people are disenchanted with the ACN government in Lagos now Disenchanted, how?

Well, like we had discussed before, multiple taxation…

I don’t think Lagos State intentionally multitaxes anybody, and if you feel any discontent it’s easy to go to the tax office and lay your complaint since that avenue is open. I don’t think the intention is to multi tax for no reason.

We make a lot of fuss. I, too, at first would complain because I had to cough out money.

The governor is not God, he can’t do everything. He’s done all he could do, we wish he could do

much more and there are things that people don’t even take notice of that have been corrected. Administrative things and lots of things to make things easier. When people say elitist I just shrug my shoulders and I say you can’t please the whole world.

Still there are certain policies that have rubbed whole blocs of the voting populace the wrong way. Of course there is the Lekki tolling, there is the fee hike in LASU (Lagos State University) It boils down to what I’ve been saying. It’s for a reason.

If you want good value we must pay the correct price.

Maybe the people of Lagos should join the government in clamouring for a special status for Lagos State. People from the different corners in Nigeria are in Lagos here.

It’s a heavy load to carry. My home town (Ikorodu), every second, someone is bringing in furniture and the number of people on the street....

And they had a big fashion show there the other week…

My area is a really indigenous area It won’t be for long!

But we don’t tell people that. We are open minded. If we are so magnanimous and accommodating, something should come to us too. They should give us our due. I am not saying everybody who is not from Lagos should leave.

That’s what makes Lagos. I have Ibos who are like my blood and it won’t change.

It’s a legacy, people make fun of us that we like these people but we do and will continue to like them and they also did well for us. My dad did well for them and they also returned it. What I am saying is they shouldn’t refer to Lagos as a No Man’s Land. They don’t send people back at hospitals.

They don’t ask where are you from? If Ibos misunderstand me, then they are not getting it right because they are my people. But Lagos is where I am from. You know they say because you want to eat the best meat, then you will start calling a cow, broda? We are indigenes of this place.

It’s a bit like the United Kingdom…

Yes, they are very territorial about their own area but other people live there. The English are about their own area and they can be very snooty about it. So are the Welsh. But when it comes to a war they get together but it is clear where each and every individual stands. If you to Chicago on Saint Patrick ’s Day you would think you were in Ireland. They still identify with home. They don’t say we now have American citizenship they are no longer Irish.

Like in Liberia They met indigenous people there and till today it is clear who the indigenes are and they have that politics going on.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 17

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

Ritual items everywhere!

•Skulls, ancient cowries, even tortoise

•Juju prophetesses speak on their customers

sacrifice to deities which they connect to, including Ogun, Olokun,Yemoja, all of which investigations showed still have active priests watching as gatemen in their (the gods) continuous existence.

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*Madam Christianah Oliha ... I am a juju worshipper

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ome of these sacrifices are believed to be capable of appeasing the ancestors or the gods of the land. In other instances, sacrifices have been made to bring or stop rain depending on the situation.

Situations have been seen in the past where celebrants who have invested heavily in coming ceremonies including burial, birthday parties, call traditionalists to offer sacrifice to avert rain during the occasions. In such instances, curious observers can see at a corner of a big party or event people making wood fire and pouring palm oil and local gin to seek the face of the gods and avert rain. We have the Osun Oshogbo festival in

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ELICS of normal life in time past are much sought after in s a c r i f i c i a l preparations. Some of these objects and materials, to the uninitiated, are very hard to come by. To the uninitiated, seeing a tortoise could probably be at the zoo, but for those who indulge in sacrificial practices, they know where exactly to go, they know the right market and they know the right people to call on.

The traditional Oliha and Ekiosa markets in Benin City are the right places to go if one needs those rare animals, native chalks, coins and several other materials which have spent over two hundred years. Feathers of rare birds like ostrich, sparrow and even vulture, all of which have different connotations, as investigations revealed, you can get in these markets also.

Things that were hitherto used as means of exchange in the days of old including cowries have now become ingredients of sacrificial preparations. Invariably, earthen pots serve as vessel for the preparations. Earthen pots are still very popular in Benin because they keep food steamy. Local restaurants serve delicacies like black soup, banga soup or even pepper soup in earthen pots.

Whereas earthen pots play major role in the preparation of several sacrifices performed by traditionalists, these sacrifices are kept mainly in junctions because they believe that many legs cross such places.

The practice continues among Binis, according to a resident. “The practice is still very relevant here, basically, because we love our tradition which includes sacrifices”, he boasted. There was a time Bishop Margaret Idahosa of Church of God Mission was asked to comment on the proliferation of churches in Benin City, and she said, “Is it not better we have that than the usual sacrifices we see in the streets?”

Investigations revealed some of the reasons people resort to the agelong practice of sacrifice include protection, search for luck, down turn in circumstance.

Others do it to seek the face of the gods against conditions such as bareness, stagnation or to even ward off evil or unpalatable situations. On a collective note, individuals or groups gather to make sacrifice like in cases of annual festivals such as the Igue festival in Benin Kingdom or other customary or periodic ones.

GOD’S (KEMWINKEMWIN) MARKET

o further buttress the import of these deities and sacrifices in Benin Kingdom and even other parts of the country, the people of Ikhuenebo in Uhumwonde Local Government Area of Edo State, recently, vowed never to

Some of these sacrifices are believed to be capable of appeasing the ancestors or the gods of the land. In other instances, sacrifices have been made to bring or stop rain depending on the situation

Osun State, the Olokun festival in the South-west and even in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which all serve as pointer that people are still enmeshed in sacrificial offerings, if not obligations. Elsewhere people

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cede any of their shrines to the people of Iguomo. Iguomo had claimed that the land, where over twenty shrines are located in Ikhuenebo community, belongs to them. The chief priest of Ikhuenobo, Chief

Enawakponmwhem Aighobahi, who took Sunday Vanguard round the shrines, said they will rather die than give up the shrines.

He narrated, “Our shrines were founded by Oba Ewuare the Great who led Benin Kingdom from 1440-1473.

Where I am standing now, Oba Ewuare is the founder of this Okwuainebenaka shrine.

This shrine is number two in the hierarchy of all Okwaihe in Ikwe. We have been here since over one thousand years ago, we are not strangers. You can see the structure of the shrine. I am the Ohen; among the top 16 Ohen chief priests, I am the second in hierarchy.

The senior one is at Ewiekoyu.

I am a descendant of Ohiobonikwe on that lineage because the title is hereditary.

So it came to us as a shock that Iguomo community said that the whole of Ikhuobo land belongs to them”.

One could see that the community had not relented in their efforts to give the gods what belongs to them through daily sacrifices.

This observation led Sunday Vanguard to Kemwinkemwin market, as the line where the sacrificial materials is called in Oliha and Ekiosa markets.

Continues on page 33

PAGE 18— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

, s e i r w o c t n e i c n a , Skulls e r e h w y r e v e e s i o t tor performing juju, you can also use it for cooking medicine”.

When Sunday Vanguard tried to find out whether she goes to church, she asserted: “I am not a Christian. I am a juju worshipper. Not that I don’t believe in God, I do. A clean mind serves God. My intentions are good toward men and women; I don’t feel hatred for anybody. I will not see a rich man and be angry with him. I feel the pains of others and I will always beg God to assist them.

I am not a devil, I worship juju.

My mind is even cleaner than the so-called Christians who attend church every Sunday.

Juju worshipping is our tradition and you are punished when you do evil to an innocent person”.

Continued from page 32

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hat about native chalk.

What is it used for?

“Native chalk (Orhue) is used for juju dance; it can be ground and eaten. When you grind it, you put it in your hand and use it to praise God. Whether you go to church or you serve juju, when you pour it out in your hand, you add salt to it and you use it to praise God to guide you and your family.

What about cowries?

“Ikpigho (cowries) are used to worship Olokun. We use them for good things, we don’t throw them away. You can use them for Orunmila (god served with

*Madam Rose Omorodion ... I am a river goddess white clothes), you can use it for Sángo, and you can also use it to plant evil.

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ow long have these things been in exist-

ence?

“It has been long, over two hundred years. I grew up to meet them. When I was growing up, Anini (Benin coin used those days for transactions) was used to buy things. Initially, cowries were being used for transaction. From the cowries, we started using Anini. It was the Anini that I grew up to meet.

From Anini, we moved to Ekpini. All of them are here. From Ekpini, we started using Kobo.

Cowries were used for transaction during the time of my forefathers.

Alligator pepper “It is used when one wants to perform a juju ceremony. Alligator pepper mixed with Afòr, native chalk (Òrhue) and ash (Emuè) is used to clean abomination. With native pepper, you use it to cleanse yourself before you start the juju ceremony. This is what was applicable in the days of old. You grind the native chalk, put your leg on it and count six, take it round your neck which signifies cleansing before entering inside for the main juju ceremony ”.

Asked when she started the business, Madam Oliha explained that she was into yam and goat business before she “entered the juju properties (Kèmwinkèmwin) business and so far it has favoured me and my family”. She continued: “This business has been good

for me. It has improved the life of my children, it has given me all I require in life. People started the business before most of us, our mothers were in this market before they died but today it is our turn. I have spent over 15 years in the business”.

Explaining some of the materials in her shop, she said: “This is the head of a goat used for sacrifice. This is the head of a

Jehovah’s Witnesses t Ekiosa market, Kèmwinkèmwin blossoms too. Madam Rose Omorodion, who declared that she was a juju priestess, started by narrating the history of the market. According to her: “Ekiosa market started with the Jehovah’s Witnesses; this was where they built their church when they came to Benin and that is why it is called Ekiosa meaning God’s market. When they left, we came here and started selling provisions, yam, plantain, beans, rice and this our business also started. The

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The visit was quite revealing.

Sunday Vanguard went with a Bini interpreter, Ogieva Oyemwenosa, because those who deal in these materials are elderly women who are traditionalists and don’t speak English. It was learnt that the materials are used for sacrifices both for good and evil, while those who deal in them are also pure traditionalists who worship different gods. Walking round Kémwinkémwin could be scary because you see the skulls of monkey, owl, pigeon, sparrow, hyena, live tortoise and their skulls too. Any customer around the line definitely came to buy one sacrificial object or another. Foreigners also come from Europe and America to purchase these things because Sunday Vanguard was informed that some white people also worship Olokun (river goddess).

At the Kemwinkemwin line of Oliha market, 76-year-old Madam Christianah Oliha explained some of the materials to Sunday Vanguard: “What I am holding now are the Azáolokun, Adá and the Ebèn, used for worshipping Olokun.

This one is Uleko, someone that has had his bath with juju is the one that wears it. I have taken that bath, so I am free to wear it.

I am a real juju woman, a river goddess. So I can be called upon at any time if Sango is troubling someone. I can heal the person. I can also deal with people that are being troubled by the river, I can bath the person and it will stop

bush meat (Akwághá), it can cure epilepsy. This is called Akwá. This one is medicinal; it can be used to cure people uffering from pile and cough when burnt”. Asked what the clothes in her shop represent, she said: “The red is for worshipping Satan or Olokun. If you want to worship Olokun, it is the dark red that you will use to sew a very big skirt and shirt (Bulukú). For Sango (god of thunder), you take both the red and white. For Ogun, you add the red; black and white together in sewing the skirt and shirt.

The broken eggs are used for child bearing while the native pot is used for bathing when

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market started like that before government came to build it for us; then it caught fire. We did not know what caused the fire but this is the second time they are building the market. This is the Kémwinkémwin line of Ekiosa market; it is a place where you can find the things of the old including the native pot (Ákhá).

The native pot can be used to worship Olokun which we serve in the river. This one is the statue of the Olokun (displaying it to Sunday Vanguard), called Aza. This one is the white man’s money while the other one is the cowrie used for business transaction in the days of old.

After the cowrie, we had the coin. So we said the cowrie cannot be destroyed because of its importance and we decided to keep it. This one is Unién. You can use it to cook and it is also medicinal. This one is the statue of Sángo (Ukiisángo). The other one here is Ekò. It is chewed when a man or woman’s stomach is hot, especially pregnant women. We have the olden days knife used in the shrine of Orumila. We use the tortoise to prepare serious juju medicine”.

Asked why she took to this trade which is against the Christian faith, Madam Omorodion declared she had no apologies being a juju priestess. “I am a real juju woman, a river goddess. So I can be called upon at any time if Sango is troubling someone.

I can heal the person. I can also deal with people that are being troubled by the river, I can bath the person and it will stop. Traditional healing of river spirit which is called Ogbanje by others is better than what they do in churches.

If we traditionalists want to bath a child from the river, we fetch some leaves, squeeze them together and use it to bath the child. When I was a child, I used to die every day due to spirit. But when an old man from Kokori was invited, he bathed me and showed me how to deal with the river goddess after he said I am a goddess from the river. I became okay and since that time I have never been sick and I am over 60 years now. I have the powers today and that is why I help people with similar problem.

Some people come from abroad for help, I bath them and when they go back they are never sick again.” Asked to react to the comment that the tortoise is a powerful animal for rituals, she stated: “Yes. Even when a person is cursed

by Ogun to die, the tortoise can be used to relieve the person from that curse because, since the tortoise is a tricky animal, the curse on that person is averted by the tortoise”.

On her part, Madam Mary Erhese told Sunday Vanguard that that the materials they sell also help in preparing rituals for Benin sons and daughters who travel abroad. Her words: “There are mothers who come to us for help for their children who travelled and have not reached their destination.

They will come to us to give them materials and, when we do, before one month, that child will get to where he or she is going”..

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 19

By BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com

We quit movie acting to save our marriage Nollywood ar,, Ok Okey Ogunjiofor —N ollywood ssttar ey Ogunjiof or

’Wife rejected Tinsel role’ Born in Ameibu Ebenato, Imo State, Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, a.k.a Paulo, is the producer of the film ‘Living in Bondage’ that gave birth to the present day Nigerian movie industry. He got married to his loving wife, Glory, also an actress and a model, about eighteen years and the marriage has been blessed with four children; three boys and a girl. He takes us through the story of his marriage. this lady. Immediately, I told him I wasn’t going to give her a ride because she happened to be the same lady I proposed to, and she refused after much pleading, I changed my mind and we commenced the journey. I

sat in my 130 Mercedes Benz while she rode in my Toyota Corolla. Our agreement was for her to alight at Ihiala while we divert to Orlu. Unfortunately, due to heavy traffic on the way, we got to Ihiala at

about 9 pm but she didn’t have the courage to continue her journey to Owerri that night. I told her I wasn’t going to take her to Owerri and I didn’t want her to get hurt or raped along the line or even run into armed robbers.

Following my insistence, she thought I was still angry with her because she rejected my marriage proposal. But I was only being reasonable.

As a result, we concluded that we should first get to my place while I off-load my belongings before one of my drivers would take her to Owerri that night. She agreed and when we reached my house, we started removing my belongings from the vehicle. One of my younger

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How I met my wife The story of how I met my wife has been a very long standing public document. I grew up in Owerri where my parents worked as civil servants. Her parents also lived in the same neigbhourhood. But I didn’t notice her while growing up because we were not age mates. As luck would it, when I relocated to Lagos, and ventured into film making, I ran into her at a wedding ceremony.

She was the chief bride’s maid at the wedding while I was the groom’s best man. At the wedding, we greeted casually and left without any special feeling or attraction towards each other. I only asked her if she had another sister because she came to the wedding with someone and she answered in the affirmative. However, after about a few months, I met her on movie set in Lagos.

I walked up to her as she recognised me. In the process, I told her I would want to spend the rest of my life with her. That’s how blunt I was. I didn’t ask for an opportunity to court her. Then she was popular in her own right. She was a model and had appeared in many calendars, magazines. Though I was popular too, not as much as she was. At that moment, she felt I just wanted to take advantage of her because of her popularity. I actually felt her beauty contributed to the reason she felt that way. We all know it’s quite easy for a beautiful woman to look down on anybody. And for such a beautiful person, you expect that she should have seen so many high class personalities who you may not be able to match in terms of material things.

I walked away when she bluntly told me she wasn’t interested in marrying me. Somehow, after about six months, a friend whom I didn’t know was her cousin, Nkoyo Bassey, asked me to give his sister a ride on my way to Owerri for Christmas. At that time, I had two cars. The following day, while I was set for the journey, Nkoyo showed up with

to alight from the vehicle and took her into our house. My mother insisted she must pass the night in our house.

Later that night, while my father was interrogating her,he discovered that she was the daughter of an old friend. Shockingly, my mother asked me why I had not brought her to them. But I made them understand that we both had nothing going on and that I had also told her my intention to marry her but she refused. My father asked her if it was true and she said yes, explaining that she felt I wasn’t serious. She thought I wanted to take advantage of her. So, my father concluded that we would all accompany her to Owerri the next day. Getting there, the next day was a day of re-union between both parents. That was how we started our friendship and all.

And by the next Easter celebration, we were living together as husband and wife. We have been married for 19 years now and we are .blessed with three boys and a girl. Our first son will be eighteen in January.

Destiny brought us together Destiny actually brought us together. It is something that God had prepared. You can imagine our different cultures and backgrounds. If I don’t tell you she is from Akwa-Ibom State, you won’t know.

Model and actress She featured in so many movies and soap operas including Sakobi, Candle Light, Rough

It is something that God had prepared. You can imagine our different cultures and backgrounds.

If I don’t tell you she is from AkwaIbom State, you won’t know

Okechukwu and Glory Ogunjiofor

brothers ran to my parents and whispered to them that the reason one of the vehicles was going to Owerri that night was because I was giving a woman a ride. Prior to this time, my parents had been looking for a wife for me.

So, many a time, I had rejected some of the ladies they brought for me.

So, my mother was happy when she ran out and saw the lady sitting in the vehicle. She asked her

Edges and many others. She was also invited to feature in the M-net produced “Tinsel.”

She has branded a lot of pharmaceutical products as a model.

Stopping her from acting Not at all. I didn’t stop her, rather, when I stopped acting, she felt there was no need for her to continue. The reason is simple. After considering the lifestyle of those in the public domain, I told myself that something is wrong with marriage and stardom. This is because marriage is an eternal purpose from God and it is a perennial relationship. And if you allow flesh or emotions that you are unable to manage to creep into that marriage, you will ruin a divine and eternal purpose of God by minutes of emotional attachment that you cannot even account for.

PAGE 20—SUND AY V ANGU ARD, NO VEMBER 3, 2013 20—SUNDA VANGU ANGUARD, NOVEMBER

Email: vanguardwoman@gmail.com (08054650907- SMS only)

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

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Consequences

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ccording to the report, a pregnancy can have immediate and lasting consequences for a girl’s health, education and income-earning potential.

Practical examples of this popularly abound across Nigeria where early marriage is subtly backed by the 1999 Constitution’s citizenship renunciation section which weirdly states that ‘any woman who is married is deemed to be of full age’ even after defining ‘full age’ as age eighteen and above.

In Zamfara State where early marriage was a dominant tradition, the education of girls suffered untimely death. Though the state seems to have repented, the relics of this tradition remains as notable women in the state happen to be nonindigenes!

"We have only two female permanent secretaries and both of them are not from Zamfara State. The two female executive secretaries we have are also not from my state! Also, majority of our school principals are also

The gloom y future of Nigeria's f e populatio maleworries …as UN over n motherhood in childhood

women married into the state!

Now, we have a continuing education programme by the state government which is helping our women who were half educated prior to marriage. They are now being trained and engaged in the community mid-wifery programme”, Zainab Nuhu Maru, Director of Administration for Special Assignments, Government House, Zamfara State, told Vista Woman, VM.

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EALTHWISE also, the risk of maternal death for mothers under 15 in lowand middle-income countries is double that of older females; and this younger group faces significantly higher rates of obstetric fistulae than their older peers as well.

“Virtually all patients in our Vesico Vagina Fistula-VVF centres were children who later on were abandoned by their so-called husbands”, Zainab remarked.

Same applies to Katsina State where the state government is saddled with the job of investing heavily in the rehabilitation of VVF victims, most of whom are from neighbouring states, as revealed by Hajia Talatu

Nasir, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Women Affairs, Katsina.

Acknowledging that halting the healthy transition of girls from childhood to adulthood not only diminishes the child but also hinders national development and human

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ABI was exceptionally brilliant and never missed the first position in class. By age 11, she was already in JSS2. Even the blind could form a glimpse of her future. “She’s got a bright future ahead!”, everyone always remarked.

She however was about resuming JSS3 when she was forced to kiss education farewell became she was going to be married to 34year-old man. Few months later, 12-year-old Rabi, a baby, was carrying another baby inside of her. By the ninth month, Rabi, now about age 13, again kissed the earth farewell due to severe complications during child birth, and in less than eight months, her husband took another wife.

That was no fiction! It is the lot of 70,000 adolescent girls who die annually from complications from pregnancy and childbirth around the world. Back home in Nigeria, it is the lot of 28 per cent of girls, as revealed by the UN Population Fund’s State of the World Population Report 2013 only few days ago.

Girls under the age of 15 account for more than a quarter – about 2m of 7.3m annually – of new adolescent mothers and this number could rise to more than 3m by 2030, the report titled Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy revealed.

Shokingly, 90 per cent of these births occur within a union or a marriage!

by God should not achieve the purpose for which he or she was created”.

Way forward

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here are 580 million adolescent girls in the world and four out of five of them live in developing

Approaches should begin to account for the circumstances and societal pressures that conspire against adolescent girls and make motherhood a likely outcome of their transition from childhood to adulthood

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capital, Leader, Africa Economic Policy Development Initiative, one-time Minister for Education and World Bank Vice-President, Oby Ezekwesili, said, during the heat of Nigeria’s recent childmarriage argument that “No nation can achieve economic development by ignoring the education of its female population - which early marriage naturally hinders.

Though some selfishly tie the phenomenon to religion, we all know that no religion desires that anybody created

countries. Investing in them today will unleash their full potential to shape humanity’s future because when a girl becomes pregnant, whether in or out of marriage, her present and future change radically, and rarely for the better. Her education may end, her job prospects evaporate, and her vulnerabilities to poverty, exclusion and dependency multiply, explained Dr Babatunde Osotimehin United Nations UnderSecretary-General and

Executive Director, United Nations Fund for Population Activities-UNFPA “The real measure of success—or failure—of governments, development agencies, civil society and communities is how well or poorly we respond to the needs of this neglected group because adolescent pregnancy is intertwined with issues of human rights.

“A pregnant girl who is pressured or forced to leave school, for example, is denied her right to education. A girl who is forbidden from accessing contraception or even information about preventing a pregnancy is denied her right to health.

Conversely, a girl who is able to enjoy her right to education and stays in school is less likely to become pregnant than her counterpart who drops out or is forced out. The enjoyment of one right thus puts her in a better position to enjoy others. From a human rights perspective therefore, a girl who becomes pregnant— regardless of the circumstances or reasons—is one whose rights are undermined.

“Investments in human capital are critical to protecting these rights. Such investments not only help girls realize their full potential but are also part of a government’s responsibility for protecting the rights of girls and complying with human rights treaties and instruments, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and with international agreements, including the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.

“The international community is developing a new sustainable development agenda to succeed the Millennium Declaration and its associated Millennium Development Goals after 2015.

Governments committed to reducing the number of adolescent pregnancies should therefore also be committed to ensuring that the needs, challenges, aspirations, vulnerabilities and rights of adolescents, especially girls, are fully considered in this new development agenda.

“Approaches should begin to account for the circumstances and societal pressures that conspire against adolescent girls and make motherhood a likely outcome of their transition from childhood to adulthood because when a young girl is forced into marriage, for example, she rarely has a say in whether, when or how often she will become pregnant. Therefore, governments, civil society, communities and the international community must do more to protect girls and support their safe and healthy transition to adulthood”, Osotimehin said.

SUND AY V ANGU ARD, NO VEMBER 3, 2013, SUNDA VANGU ANGUARD, NOVEMBER

P AGE 21 PA

Email: vanguardwoman@gmail.com (08054650907- SMS only)

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member of All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPS) and Co-ordinator of Forum of African Women Educationalist (FAWE), Katsina State chapter, Hajia Talatu Nasir is the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Katsina State. If you need anything from her and you seem to be making no head way, just bring up the issue of the girl-child and women and you are likely to get a bonus on your request.

That is how passionate she is on anything that has to do with the female.

She says, in this interview, that women are being empowered, like never before, to enable them contribute to the development of Katsina State. Enjoy!

How does your ministry key into Governor Shehu Shema’s agenda of transforming the lives of women?

Katsina State Ministry of Women Affairs oversees everything that has to do with women. Whatever concerns women in any of the other ministries, be it agriculture, empowerment, education, be rest assured that the women affairs ministry will be involved.

This is because women are seen as the bedrock of the society. That is the reason Katsina is like paradise for women. Women are enjoying more here than men. When the governor was elected in 2007, he promised to uplift the image of women, he promised to support women and that is exactly what is happening now. The first thing the governor did, together with the Service to Humanity Foundation run by his wife, Dr Fatimah, we had trainings and workshops for women, because Dr Fatimah felt that it was better to teach women how to fish rather than giving them fish all the time. The Women Affairs Ministry also collaborated with the Service to Humanity and other NGOs to do trainings for women in different areas of farm produce so that they could stand on their own. Her Excellency gave out seedlings so that participating women could start planting themselves.

They were also taught how to make powder and extraction of oil and other

Women are the bedrock of any society — Nasir, Perm Sec Women Affairs, Katsina

Hajia

*Nasir... Women must be empowered things. After this, government provided funds with which the ministry bought some engines. One In order to imof the engines can extract one tonne of groundnut oil a prove the level of day. And we distributed it education of the free of charge including girl-child, govtake- off grants. And that is ernment estabwhy if you visit some villages, you see Moringa lished the girlplants child school, everywhere. After that, we moved to arts and craft. We separate from the started teaching conventional one, women these to accelerate the skills because, as we all know, it is not everybody education of the that wants to go into girl-child farming, just as it is not everyone that will go into arts and craft. So these women were taken to the state’s arts and craft village, recently, he was asking for which is a model for more of the bed other states, to learn how to sheets. Many of our make bags, shoes. These women now make the bed bags and shoes are so good sheets for a living. There are that they are in high some who are into demand. perfumes, air freshener, children wears, gowns; you What has been will think the wears are the response of people to made abroad. There are the new era for women? some who were taught the Most encouraging. engineering part of For instance, when the GSM, they can Minister of repair phones now; there Information came here the are some who are into other time on Good poultry, tie and dye. You will Governance Tour and saw marvel at the Adire clothes the kind of bed they make. They are also sheets these women were into painting. And let me making, he liked them and shock you; do you know even took some home. that these women are part of When I saw him in Abuja

,

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

,

those who paint government establishments? The Shema administration made it a policy such that these youngable men and women produce the paint and it is this paint that we now use to paint government establishments. Go to the Government House, the paint you see on the wall was manufactured by these boys and girls. Meanwhile after all the trainings, they are provided with funds to start on their own.

Beyond that, this ministry also purchases equipment for them so that they can take off properly.

And those who benefit more from this largesse of government are women in the rural areas. During the International Women’s Day celebrations last year, Dr Fatimah invited the cooperative societies in all the 34 local government areas of the state and provided six tricycles popularly called Keke NAPEP to eight groups in each local government area including those with HIV. On the spot, she also provided three kinds of machines for groundnut frying, grinding and oil extraction. She crowned it all with N50, 000 to each of them. Now we have groundnut centre in each of the local government areas of the state. When you

are making groundnut oil, there is something they call slut which is more of waste product. Dr Fatimah brought in experts who turned the waste product to wealth such that they could now make soap out of it. Maternal mortality is reducing because the ministry is actively involved together with Service to Humanity to see that all the factors bringing about high maternal mortality are checked. Her excellency introduced traditional birth attendants in the state.

We went round to look for these birth attendants and trained them in the modern way of taking delivery.

There are those with sickle cell anaemia. Two sets of people are affected: children who are the direct victims and their mothers who suffer the brunt. The Service to Humanity organisation established three clinics mainly for these victims in all three senatorial districts: Katsina, Funtua and Daura. They receive free drugs and crutches for those who are physically challenged. This intervention of Her Excellency is even attracting victims to these hospitals especially from Niger Republic and the neighbouring states.

How is the state government affecting the lives of females in the education sector?

In Katsina State, education, at all levels, is free. In order to improve the level of education of the girl –child, government established the girl- child school, separate from the conventional one, to accelerate the education of the girl-child. This is in line with MDGs policy that there should be exclusive schools for girls.

There is one school each for girls in all the local government areas of the state which means the schools are nearer to them and has increased the enrolment of girls in the state. There is also the issue of scholarship for girls even to study outside the country. We have our girls in Sudan, UK and other countries, studying different courses.

PAGE 22 —SUNDAY

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Sunday Reminiscences THE SAP, SFEM STORY

Managers of Nigeria’s economy have lost focus — Chu Okongwu • ‘ IBB’s economic policies were misunderstood’ •’I went round world capitals begging for debt relief’ D

r Sonny Chu Okongwu, an economist, minister of national planning, 1985-1986; and minister of finance, 19861990; under the Babangida administration, in this second part of his interview, speaks on the Babangida regime’s economic policies which, according to him, were misunderstood; the decay of the last 14 years; and how to rearrange the social framework of Nigeria.

So, what has changed since you left government?

Well, a lot has changed. There a so much decay of infrastructure, decay of organizations, public organizations. You do require organizations to carry out policies and sub-policies for production or whatever it is. These are decayed.

The key organization for formulating government policies, the civil service, I think, is fair. The decay is much more since the last 14 years. There is complete disarray in the policing mechanisms. The police, the control agencies measurement agencies, all these are decayed.

In the absence of national and policing enforcement mechanisms, we cannot make progress.

So, all these have happened since we left. Inflation spiral has gone on.

When we introduced the SecondTier Foreign Exchange Market, SFEM, the Naira was 3.76 something to the dollar and people were crying then, and I said, ‘ well, if you manage your economy well, you will be lucky if it does not get to 100 or 150 or 200 to the dollar.’ But the Naira has continued to depreciate, notwithstanding the fact that it has actually been supported. We created a fairly level playing ground for people.

That was the objective of the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, for which we had been so maligned… and for which SFEM was the core. But that playing ground has been so too pork-marked that things are now over-turned. People are making money for nothing; by not working. We are concerned with unemployment.

There are too many unemployed people walking around. There are small and medium scale activities through various pockets. There was NERFUND, export promotion loans, agricultural and housing stimulation loans but these have now become idle. Producers are having hard times, they cannot produce. They are too constrained. The typical producer or economic agent will tell you how he is over pressed by wrong policies. Private producers succeed despite the obstructive nature of public policies, but progress would have been made not with the aid of government but through confrontation of adverse public

policies. The poor allocation of resources between production, management, maintenance and personal consumption has been aggravated.

Personnel emoluments of public officers consume a larger share of public revenue leaving little or nothing for capital development and, combined with instrument of rent as means of distribution, there is downward trend. And promotion of mediocrity has continued. So, I think I see major problems ahead. There was major characterization of essential problems that has gone on since my time because we also had problems during my time, financial difficulties; policy difficulties but things have become much worse since. My first budget was based on $13 per barrel and we tried to increase and enhance savings through non-oil exports and we were successful. We received letters of commendation from those monitoring the s c h e m e s .

The US Ambassador, the British High Commissioner and so on and so forth were thanking us for

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By EMEKA MAMAH

*Okongwu ... Inflation spiral has gone on

When we introduced the Second-Tier Foreign Exchange Market, SFEM, the Naira was 3.76 something to the dollar and people were crying then, and I said, ‘well, if you manage your economy well, you will be lucky if it does not get to 100 or 150 or 200 to the dollar.’ But the Naira has continued to depreciate, notwithstanding the fact that it has actually been supported

,

the progress we were making.

The growth rate was high from 1985 till 1990; it was 5.6 percent or so of real growth rate. It was fine for a then distressed economy.

Why was it that a lot of people misunderstood the government with these progresses as you are pointing out?

There were two essential factors I would admit. First is ignorance.

There is a new policy and people are afraid of new things. You have to sell a new thing or new idea properly to them. That is a big job and, perhaps, we didn’t although there was a debate and Nigerians opted for the SAP option, but maybe we would have been adept at selling the new policy. Two, there are interested parties always for any policy; those who benefit from the old regime and want to maintain that regime and those you are trying to help who do not know the new regime coming and may be convinced by the beneficiaries to oppose the new policy. I think that was a critical factor in our situation. All the organs of publicity, propaganda would have been brought to bear on SAP to serve to educate the people. It was something local. Despite the fact that we hear the World Bank is happy with our interest rate, that is rubbish. It was like carrying interest rate to America and pricing; interest rate is an American concept, rubbish. We wanted a standard model. If you

read the policy which my colleagues and I wrote, you would find out that the small industries were there as the key to the democratization of the process.

This was a serious matter. The erstwhile corruption induced by the import licencing regime seems to have been forgotten. To abolish or minimize that was one of the objectives of the reform and we did it very successfully. Import licencing regime was abolished and everybody gave credit to that administration. I don’t think Nigerians will accept the reintroduction of import licence anymore.

You don’t think so? don’t think so. This was a period where everybody had to queue for essential commodities? Where people will buy licences from second hand, third hand, up to fifth hand and they will be defrauded because the licences were not in their names. That was pure rent as we see in the oil sector now because, the so-called oil magnates are purely renting. So, to abolish that was a big achievement and to democratize the economic framework, so that, for the first time, true Nigerians, not the brief case town dwellers or magnates in the towns who can influence policies better, with their connections, but all Nigerians who want to

I

produce or engage in productive enterprises could produce; that was wonderful and I was very delighted. For this, nobody would fault the administration and to do so in circumstances of extreme financial constraint that we had… I remember that oil was sometimes sold at $10 or $11 a barrel and we were begging people to come and buy. And we had external debt burden, so this constraint was something... I spent my time going round the world’s financial capitals, begging, and talking, pleading for debt relief or re-negotiations. There were some write-offs but not enough. That was a problem. I think from 1989 to 1990, we had this response to the pressure that was brought to bear on the administration to expand and expand. I said no, please stay on, but it was expanded and the consequence was there. Inflation spiral came up.

But now ...we have spiraling inflation that has affected interest rate reaching up to 22 from 17 percent; then 23, 26. You can’t borrow in anticipation, you can’t produce r in anticipation in these circumstances, more so that corruption that was in the door of import licencing agencies has now been moved to the Central Bank.

That is where we are now. Some aspects of some agencies like the PPMC that are supposed to deal with pricing; you know the recent revelations and I don’t want to dwell more on that. So, I think our effort was a bold frontal attack on a problem that existed but wasn’t sustained, it was not operated right to the end and I think there was a policy disarray because the regime decided to surrender, not surrender but to accede to the pressure and these were interested people; people who were interested in the failure of these policies.

This is not whether you can buy your goods at N720 but whether

y o u produce ground nut oil and take your product officially to the American market and compete or compete globally. Let Nigeria be highly competitive so that the country is friendly to capital, both domestic and foreign.

But because of failure in this regard, it is not surprising that your motor vehicle hopes have gone down, you can’t even produce tyres. I hear that Dunlop has left Nigeria. ANAMMCO is here but not functioning.

None of the motor vehicle assembly plants that were set up with public funds has lived up to expectation. Let me be clear because I want us to… It is not because they are public-private enterprises but because of the environment and lack of robust and sustainable policies.

Like NEPA, it is not because you sell it to the private sector. They sold these to private pockets. It is a very primitive way of approaching a problem. That doesn’t solve the problem. I would like to dwell extensively on that later. The other thing is, I think, they have lost focus too. I don’t know where to begin. The framework is frightening. There is no place called economy in the society, as you know. The economy is not distinct, it is only conceptually distinct. It is everywhere in the society, but the society itself is in a very bad shape to say the least. The society is disorderly, extremely disorderly.

It is disorganised entirely. There is no concept of purpose. So, you think you have had economic progress, economic production or investment; foreign or local.

But we have the cummulation of … because of the disorderliness.

That makes it hard for some of the so-called economic managers because they can’t manage anything... We have to reclassify society. Society has to be re-arranged to be peaceful, orderly and oriented towards production.

Where society is peaceful and where the main means of recompense or distribution is right, then it is okay. But where unearned income or man-know- man or, in lay man’s sense, there is corruption or when you get large income that you have not earned, then nobody will readily engage in productive endeavour. Or there will no quest by the vast majority to be educated to earn more. This, I am afraid is the type of situation that we have now. The disarray in the society has been magnifying. We have come to a stage that dance season has been brought to the centre stage or the social arena. Mediocrity, all sorts of things are in vogue rather than excellence, hard work and productive endeavour. Let me give you one example. There is no power or current here. If you leave here and go to Cross River State, you’ll find that the outage or lack of power on the average has been calculated to be some 80 or 90 per cent all the time.

What is the producer supposed to do with that situation? Just to down tools? If you’re doing iron smelting and you require uninterrupted power, you can’t do that. So it is not surprising that we do not produce anything except, maybe, crude petroleum.

And because of means of distribution, we discriminate against ourselves in favour of foreign goods. There are policies that you use to encourage domestic production, by looking inwards to do things that are good for the economy. We do the wrong things that bring economic burden.

SUNDAY Vanguard , NOVEMBER 3 , 2013, P AGE 23

Holding on to your lover’s letters could be dangerous

M

OST dearest”, the letter read.

“I will call you my lady because that is what you are. Your breasts, your thighs, the way your eyes seemed to scream across the room, bidding me to seduce you, pulling me erect, drawing me, like moth before the flame, towards fire and abandon - are all the things about you. I touched you -No. Before I’d even touched you, before I’d even seen you, I felt the presence of you.

It was as if hands, many hands on fire and invisible, were running through my hair, across my skin, lower and lower, encircling my maleness I turned and you were walking towards me, smiling; your body, glowing through the confines of your dress, enfolding me in you.

“We talked, sipping our drinks and exchanging pleasantries, whilst our bodies engaged in a conversation of their own. I came without touching you. And later, in the bed (our love nest), I was aware of nothing except your breath across my face, your lips upon my flesh and the feel of your body locked tight against me. I slept -and in my sleep I dreamt of you .... “ The letter nearly burnt holes in my hand - it was that scorching. If, for a

minute you readers think I was the one being ‘seduced’ by such lustily crafted letter, then, you are wrong. What I had in my hands was a photocopy of the original letter purportedly written to a married woman by a close relation of mine.

The wronged husband had phoned me about this startling discovery, threatening mayhem!

“You mean Kunle (my relation) wrote a letter to your wife.” I asked incredulously as he read the letter on the phone, “and your wife brought it to your matrimonial home?” “I’Il send you a copy so you could believe,” he snapped and banged the phone. I’d hardly finished reading the letter when my phone rang again. “You tell that randy goat relation of yours that he’s had his last affair ”, threatened Lateef, the wronged husband. “And I have lots more incriminating letters. I intend to start embarrassing him by sending them to some of these soft-sells. By the time I’m through with him, he would run a mile anytime he comes close to another person’s wife”. I phoned Kunle, my letter-writing relative. He was quite unrepentant when I told him why I phoned. “So I wrote love letters,” he

sneered, “is that such a crime?”

“But you are married and the so-called love letters, were to another man’s wife. Not only that, the silly adulterer had more or less chronicled all your escapades in her diary - the days you gave her money, the :first time you made love to her and such silly nonsense! She even referred to you as her one-and-only!” “Well, doesn’t that tell you something?” Kunle said almost proudly. “If my letters hadn’t touched her where it mattered, she wouldn’t have kept them, not to mention her taking them to her matrimonial home! That husband of hers is a poor excuse of a hus-

band. Instead of him to harness his energy into making enough money for his family, he goes about the house looking for evidence of his wife’s unfaithfulness. Well, if you look for something hard enough, you’ll find it! You know where he found those letters? Inside a packet of sanitary towels where his wife had hidden them! I mean, how low can you sink?

“He’s phoned me here too and you should hear the names he called me.

He promised to send copies of my letters to my wife and I promised him I would embarrass him by sending copies of the letters his wife wrote to his friends. I

warned him he wouldn’t like to read what his wife had to say about his sexual prowess. I also told him that if he as much as made the mistake of sending his wife out of their matrimonial home, he would never call her his wife again. That shut him up and he hung up.”

Today writing love letters is almost a forgotten art.

We prefer to convey our passions in person. Or, if our love is away, by telephone or send a card or an e-mail. And the nearest most of us get to actually writing is a few hastily scribbled endearments on the bottom of a Christmas or birthday card or funny abbreviated texts on the mobile. “Yet love letters can enrich our lives,” confesses a die-hard romantic.

“They give an added dimension to our current love affairs, they help us conjure up lovers who have moved on, and if our latest flame has left us feeling bitter, we can always use them to blackmail or embarrass the bugger!”

But love letters to a married lover, giving lurid details of what you’d done with each other and lots more other things you intend to do, is taking romance on a dangerous bend! :’ As I write, the dust has settled somewhat on the loveletter saga, but I am sure the rippling effect will soon sur-

face. The best way to cover an affair? Get rid of the evidence: At least that’s what Tinu said. She always does.

A happily married legal practitioner, she told me of the day her bit-on-the side called at her office to personally drop an item she requested his driver to bring, she told me. “I was at a loose end and just thought I would pop in myself ”, he said, handing me a letter he’d already written which he intended the driver to give me. I read the note, amused at the quick jokes in it and promptly tore it to shreds in his presence. Force of habit. Only, I should have waited for him to conveniently leave before I tore his letter. “Why are you tearing my note to pieces?” he asked, puzzled and hurt.

“I’m sorry dear,” I said smoothly. “I’d been shredding some memos since I came in. I did it out of reflex!” I’m sure he didn’t buy the story, but what could he do? Ask me to put back the jig-saw puzzle?” To you philanderers reading this, the best way to conduct an affair is to always get rid of the evidence. A fling is not meant to last but documented evidence does.

So, shred those letters, use those gifts if you conveniently can and give away or sell the ones you can’t. A word is sufficient for the wise!

08052201867(Text Only)

Rid your body of stiffness R

IDDING the body of stiffness will improve health and restore youth. Nature intended the body to be supple and flexible. That, explains why children are born that way.

But we get careless with our body management and we become prone to all kinds of ailments.

How can we expect to have well-being with such neglect?

But the body is quick to recover if we help it along with exercise.

Yoga with its emphasis on suppleness ensure that practitioners maintain youth right into ripe old age.

The Reed and Head to knee postures help the body regain an appreciable degree of flexibility.

THE REED TECHNIQUE: Standing with feet close toC M Y K

gether clasp the hands and raise them overhead as you take in a deep breath. Tilt the body to the left, breathe out and count to ten. By this time you should be breathing normally. Take in another deep breath and return to the upright position drop the hands by your side. Rest awhile and repeat on both sides.

HEAD TO KNEES (STANDING) TECHNIQUE: Stand with feet close together.

Take a deep breath, raise the hands overhead and breathing out, drop the trunk with palms flat on the floor beside the feet with head as close to the knees as possible. Stay in the position for about 10 seconds. Return to the upright position. Rest briefly and repeat.

This exercise brings flexibility to the spine.

The hamstrings get a great work-out and the abdominal organs are massaged cutting conditions like constipation and indigestion.

THE COBRA TECHNIQUE: Lying flat on your belly, arrange the hands beside the shoulders. Take a deep breath and lift up the trunk but don’t straighten up the elbows

completely.

Breathe normally and stay in the posture for about 5 to 10 seconds and then return the trunk to the floor. Rest for a little while and repeat.

BENEFITS: The Cobra knocks out the rust of stiffness from the spines.

It helps to expand the lungs.

It is of great help to asthmatics.

* The Reed

* The Cobbra

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

PAGE 24—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Female adulterers? Men would not stand for such nonsense - Readers!

W

HY is it that I al ways get agree able pats on the back whenever I urged men to be the devils they think is their right to be; and stones of reproach whenever I pointed out that women too are not totally infallible?

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about top female executives and how they coped with sex away from the office. You should see the fire-and-brimstone letters that poured in even without any invitation for readers’ comments!

Here is an example sent in by Godwin: DearBunmi, (I don’t know how really ‘dear’ that ‘dear’ is) I read your article on how top female executives cope with sex away from home and I was shocked. If you wrote that article to infuriate a segment of the Nigerian society or to create a sensation, it is most unfortunate.

“I did not think the day would come in my time when I will pick up a Nigerian newspaper and a columnist will be propagating extra-marital sex with total abandon. Granted, the society is becoming more and more permissive considering the fact that there are many things women and men can do today and nobody will bat an eyelid, but I do not believe it is a sign of mental and national progress when a respecte4 columnist like you pick up your pen and write: “IS IT SELFISH FOR A CAREER WOMAN NOT TO NEED A MAN when men now have more serious fears about wives whose sources of income they are not sure of?” (the serious fears referred to here are armed robbery and drugs trafficking as mentioned in the said article).

I am of the calculated opinion that Nigeria is heading for an unprecedented era of moral decadence if articles like the one you wrote continue to be printed in our national dai-

lies. I have always looked at your photograph placed on that column and thought, “now, there is a really responsible woman behind those glasses.” I don’t think so any more..

I learnt a long time ago that looks could be deceptive, but never was that realisation more emphasied than when I read your article.

I happen to be married with two kids to a woman who is in a position of responsibility in one of our parastatals. She is a woman I respect and love very much. A model woman, housewife and mother. So when I talk, I am not talking like a male chauvinist.

I do not encourage extramarital sex for both sexes and neither does God. I wonder how God must have felt when you finished writing that article . .?

Please, Bunmi, I like your face, I like your articles. I had an impression of a totally different you. That image was shattered, but I believe it may be amended with time. To many Nigerians, your articles have been sources of inspiration.

Many Nigerian women are looking for someone to emulate, whose thoughts they can echo and many have found that person in you. I wonder just how many women who were in the valley of decision about adultery have finally decided to take the plunge and “do it” after reading your articles.

I could go on analysing your article and possibly list the dangers of extra marital sex resulting in broken homes, psychological guilt, distrust, promiscuous children and transmission of venereal diseases, but suffice it to say that that article is a negative contribution to the marriage institution in Nigeria.

Please, Bunmi, I refuse to believe that adulterers of both sexes have finally found an ally, a voice and a crusader in you”.

Y

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

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

Dear blessing,

He who dwells in the secret place of your heart shall abide under the shadow of your love.

For crying out loud! All I did in that article was state the views of people who found that such an exercise fulfilled a barren portion of their emotions.

Why Gbolahan thought he had to crucify me for this and even call me names is entirely beyond understanding. I try as much as possible to state facts as they happen in the society without voicing personal opinions in my articles.

The next reader could have been preaching at me from the pulpit. He wrote: “I read your piece on: Is it selfish for a career woman not to need a man?” on 18/ 8/13, and to say the least, I wonder what type of legacy we are bequeathing to our younger generation.

‘Firstly, it may be a game, and an interesting one for women to join the sexual orgies at the upper echelon, but the end is more frustrating in the sense that a woman who engages in such, stands a good chance of losing her husband of youth and remain lonely in the end. . In the frantic search for a ground, the woman damages her psyche (?) and degenerates in the moral stabilising role she is to play in her home; thereby indoctrinating her children with the disastrous conse-

quences of unwanted children.

“The other most critical point is the fact that it is highly indecent for a (married) woman to have sexual relationship with another man. The Bible calls it a ‘sin’ and our conscience maintains it is a ‘sin’ and the Bible says ‘there is no peace for the wicked’. A woman who enjoys such extra marital relationship only takes happiness as ‘beer on the rocks syndrome’. The real inward peace is not there. In the real sense, there is no joy in it,’ it is a momentary ecstatic influence and all such relationship ends with a bigger scar; in the end the woman sees herself a more crazy being to have allowed herself to be drawn in the first instance.

The romantic love fire kindled early in man and die quickly while woman respond slowly but last longer. This even increases the capacity of men to cope with”bigger aspect of the ‘fun’ than women. In all cases, women stand on the receiving end of the sexual br utality.

Women should exercise

I will say of you, my love, that you're my refuge and my fortress; in you will I lay my heart and love.

I shall not be afraid of girls by night, nor those that walk by day. Nor the bad boys that walk in darkness nor of the prostitutes that lay waste at noonday.

A thousand girls may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand; but I shall not fall for anyone, but have confident in your love.

Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of my love for you. I love you.

Mine Emma 07051037749 Ughelli, Delta State.

caution in their vengeful spirit of joining the lustful club that some men belong. What women should do is to treasure their possession in terms of the home, the children and with patience, love and hard work by backing the husband of their youth. Because it is in their hand only that they are safe. The erosional effect of un-abated sexual warfare has its most devastating effect on women and corrodes easily the womanhood in an uncomparable rate with men. This leaves you with a life of perpetual drugist - to enjoy the temporal life in the sea of pains, terminating with the obvious ‘hell’ of which the sin perpetuates.

A word is enough for the wise”. Babu, by e-mail Phew! I really stirred the honet’s nest there, didn’t I? If all the predicted woes promised female adulterers were to come true, what would happen to their male partners?

For every guilty woman, there are ten married men dangling the bait and it takes two to tango.

Are you hooked on alcohol and dying to stop?

“You may not have a fullblown physical dependence on alcohol, where you get the shakes if you don’t have alcohol,” say Professor Paul Wallace, a chief medical adviser for the Charity Drinkaware.

“But if you can’t settle down to a night in front of the TV without a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge, or you find that a day without alcohol becomes difficult, you could be dependent.”

So how do you know when you’ve gone over the top? According to recommended guidelines, a woman should stick with 2-3 units a day (i.e. l75ml glass of 13% wine) whilst men’s limit is 3-4 units a day (11/2 pints of 4% beer). A unit is 10ml of alcohol. One unit is equal to 1/2 medium glass of

If a man,

13% wine; or 1/2 pint of 4% beer or one measure (25ml) of 40% spirits. It takes your body one hour to process one unit of alcohol, but that can differ according to your height, weight and sex .. The more you drink, the longer it takes for your body to process the alcohol.

“If you drink regularly,” says the Prof., “ your body starts to build up a tolerance to alcohol, the same as it does with any drug.

The more you consume, the: more your body gets used to it. But you can reverse the trend by having alcohol breaks, which will make it easier to cut back.” Two main reasons given for cutting down now are:You’ll look better and lose weight. Cutting down means a drop in calories and weight.

You’ll be Healthier. Alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors for disease and death. A lot of people in their forties are now at risk of death from liver disease (most alcohol related), which has few warning signs.

So why do we get hang overs? According to renowned pharmacists, all sorts go on in your body when you drink alcohol.

Alcohol contains metabolites, which have toxic effects on your body ’s organs, triggering low blood sugar, dizziness, nausea and mood swings. Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance caused by drinking can make you feel thirsty, tired, headachy, hot and sweaty too. • Quick fixes for your hangover include; taking soluble paracetamol for headache, body ache and temperature; ask your pharmacist for an anti-sickness medicine containing domperidone; boost your energy levels with a B Complex, Vitamin C and Zinc supplement.

If a man understands the depth of a woman’s love for him he can never cheat her physically or emotionally.

If a man loves you with his heart and soul no woman can take him away from you. He will remain loyal and committed to you if he is emotionally and soulfully connected to you in every way . But if your man still leaves you for another woman just sit back and relax because he never was yours in the first place…

Chris Onunaku dekris4real@gmail.com 08032988826/08184844015.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 25

BY EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, South-South

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RS. Rose Dolore Ironsi, a housewife, has been crying since October 10 when news came to her that her daughter, 25 –year-old Miss Radah Emuobosan Elise Agbaje, a microbiology graduate of Delta State University, Abraka, was killed by suspected cultists in Agbor.

Radah was allegedly murdered by her assailants, suspected to be from the College of Education, Agbor, in the house of her aunt, at about 2.00 am, while she was on the same bed sleeping with another girl.

According to the grieving mother, “Radah, who made second class upper, collected her result, penultimate Friday, and went to show her father the result on Monday and she was here (Agbor) to show my younger brother.”

Mrs. Ironsi, who is not satisfied with the story that her daughter was killed by armed robbers, said, “I accosted the girl and she said the incident started at about 2am of Thursday.

She said there were two assailants.

She said they were beating them. I asked her if they were beating them with gun, she said no, that they were flogging them.”

She alleged that the girl collaborated with the two men, suspected to be cultists, before they killed her daughter.

On the whereabouts of her younger sister and husband on the day of the incident, she said, “My sister was in Warri. She works at Uvwie Local Government Council.

She has just transferred to Agbor, so she came to Warri to pick up some documents she will submit in her office in Agbor.

The husband was on call that night, he works with the Central Hospital, Agbor. He is Dr. Henry Okodaso.”

Mrs. Ironsi continued with her narration, “The girl was living with my younger sister and she said she sustained injuries on her hand, which were not visible but my daughter was stabbed all over her

MURDER AATT MIDNIGHT

‘Cultists stab’ lady, 25, to death, week after graduation

Victim’s mother, Mrs.Rose Ironsi, seeks justice

face. Her eyes were crushed. Her jaw was broken; they used a weapon to attack her in the chest. In short, it was a scene nobody should behold.”

“I questioned her and discovered that her story was not true. Her story was not coherent.

She will say one thing now; the next minute she is saying another thing.

When I started interrogating her, she

became uncomfortable and, before you know it, she had spoken with her father and her father sent people to come and pick her to their place.”

“When I started questioning her on how they had been living, if something was wrong, I found out that both of them fought on October 1 in the house over two boys the girl had been calling behind my sister.”

Family abandons suspected chur obber in prison hurcch rrobber

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

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Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar u Manko

ne of the three suspects stand ing trial over the robbery attack on the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Kingdom Parish, Ijegun-Ikotun, Lagos, early this year, will continue to stay in prison custody pending the trial. It was gathered that the family of the suspect declined to secure his bail, having warned him to desist from alleged criminal activities.

The two other suspects, Waidi Folorunso and Wasiu Olusola, would however continue to enjoy the bail conditions granted them by the court.

At the resumed trial of their matter, on October 21, an Ikeja magistrate court, presided over by Mrs Sule Hamza, fixed December 2 for the trial of the suspects. The police had arraigned the suspects on a one count charge of robbery of breaking into the Redeemed Church. Police prosecutor, Romon Unuigbe, alleged that the defendants stole musical instruments and other valuable items from the church. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge. Magistrate Hamza ordered Theophilus to be remanded in Kirikiri Prisons.

On how the police have been handling the matter, she said, “They treated it lightly, initially; I was not happy about what I was getting. I knew it was not a robbery case. I knew my daughter was murdered.

On Sunday, I decided to seek legal help. After that, they told me to go back to the police. Because of my two months old baby, I had to call her father and explained to him what I found out; the description of two suspects fits the description of the two young men that my sister saw with the girl in her department, just two weeks back.”

A police officer at Agbor confirmed that all the parties in the case, including the girl, doctor and her wife, were invited to the police station on October 21, after which the matter would be transferred to Asaba.

Delta State police spokesman, Mr. Lucky Uyabame, told Sunday Vanguard, on phone, that the case was transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Asaba, on Wednesday, while the girl who slept with Fadah the night she was murdered had been arrested for interrogation .

PAGE 26— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

08116759757

‘Over 80 percent of our our truc trucks ks are not road worthy’

BY OBOH AGBONKHESE IT looks like the Federal and Lagos State governments have given up on regulating truckers.

General traffic rules still apply.

The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Transport, is thinking of giving the mandate to a body to restore sanity at the ports. For now, it is an all-comers’ affair. We all travel abroad and see the orderliness in ports. Here, it is terrible.

Who is guilty?

The authorities, over the years, have not deemed it fit to regulate trucking. This should not be so. For instance, if you send Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIO, after these trucks, virtually all of them will be impounded.

Over 80 percent of the trucks are in bad shape. Nobody seems bordered.

This sub-sector is peculiarly private sector-driven. But most of these truckers do not have the financial backing to acquire good trucks. A trucker should have a comfort zone, but since he is not sure of how many trips he can make in a week with the bad truck, he cannot prepare a business plan that can convince a banker to invest.

Who takes the blame for these bad trucks getting into Nigeria?

It is just the way we do business in Nigeria; bribery and corruption. The money that would have gone into improving the business is used for underthe-table transactions. Before a trucker gets to the loading point, he has spent about half of the profit he is going to make.

Now, for how long will trucking continue in this format?

For a little while more. AMATO is rebranding the business.

Rebranding? That word. How? In February this year, the Minister of Transport organised a meeting with stakeholders in the business. The purpose was for all to table their challenges,

S

and then he gave one month for everyone to come up with what the government can do to solve these problems. In March we reconvened. But before the meeting started, an investor, Multi Trade Ltd., approached AMATO with a wonderful proposal: provision of a 5,000capacity truck park and 2,000 new Mack trucks for AMATO members on a long term hire purchase plan. 2,000 to start with.

When the proposal was presented at the meeting, it was applauded and all interested truckers were to register with AMATO as the platform from accessing the facility. Part of the decisions reached at that meeting was that truckers should professionalise and consolidate.

The next day, I, as AMATO’s consultant, went to see things

haring roads with container-laden trucks is a constant source of worry to motorists. In Lagos, where Oshodi-Apapa Expressway leads to the ports, truckers constitute authorities unto themselves, and chaos is the result. So when Chief Chris Orode talks of rebranding the trucking business, everyone should listen and hope. In 2005, when the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa, MOWCA, decided to set up a specialised bank for the sub-sector, Orode headed the team that toured 17 of the 25 MOWCA countries. The chartered accountant’s 19 years experience in the Maritime Shippers’ Council came to bear. His team’s feasibility study impressed the organisation. The headquarters was to be located in Nigeria and former President Umaru Yar’Adua ordered the then Transport Minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, to ensure the bank takes off. That was in February 2009. The bank has remained on paper only, due to what Orode says is “the Nigerian factor,” while billions of naira the United Nations Trade and Development, UNTAD, Code assures on such a venture is lost to capital flight. And he has been consulting for Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, since February 4, 2011.

for myself. I saw the documents and the site. Aulic Ltd. holds the concession to Trade Fair Complex, but was thinking of what to do with an expanse of land until Multi Trade came into the picture. So MultiAulic manages the space.

How far has development gone on the land and truck deal?

Ninety percent on both. Right now, 120 new trucks are ready to roll out. What we are doing is to discuss with the Federal and Lagos state governments on how work on the LagosBadagry Expressway, at least to the Complex’s point, can be fast tracked. Secondly, the present entry and exit points in the complex cannot be used by trucks. New ones will be created.

As soon as these are taken care

of, we will kick off. AMATO has sent messages to all stakeholders, intimating them of the details of the coming rebranding of trucking business in Nigeria.

Now, what are the indices of this rebranding?

Everything will be etransaction. This will render the man that collects N5,000 before allowing a truck into the ports irrelevant. A call up system between the ports and Multi-Aulic truck terminal will be used to determine the number of trucks that moves at any given time. Apart from regulating movement between the terminal and the ports, movement from the ports to destinations will also be regulated. Furthermore, the Federal Government is building a transit terminal.

The time to eat new yam in Igbo community

BY BASHIR ADEFAKA

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he Achalla community in An ambra State wore a new look, recently, when very eminent people from across the eastern state thronged the Awka North Local Government headquarters to celebrate this year ’s Ewaji, new yam festival.

Achalla, a kingdom ruled by the Uthoko Na Eze and a paramount ruler, Igwe Ezeoba Alex Nwokedi is one of the communities that observe the new yam festival.

Ewaji is a very big annual event that people of the kingdom have set aside as a forum for rekindling peace, unity and charting the way forward for the community and this year ’s celebration of it was not an exception. The king’s own day of the weeklong event to celebrate was the grand finale, held in the at the event arena of the 200-year Uthoko palace, on Thursday October 3.

Very early in the morning, the community was already agog as youths held a massive demonstra-

tion to herald the new yam festival.

There were different kinds of masquerades like the Isaka (the like of Lagos Igunu ko); Jele, Oganachi and others moving round the community.

Yam is eaten by people in most communities anytime of the year. But to the Achalla people, before the eating of new yam begins, there is a procedure. The procedure comes in form of Ewaji.

Explaining how the yam festival is celebrated, a palace staff said Oganachi masquerade is usually the first to come out four days to the king’s yam festival calling on the people of Achalla and the eight sub-communities under it that it was time for people to begin to eat yam.

“Oganachi took place four days before Igwe festival that is taking place today.

It happened in a big way calling on Achalla people that they can now eat new yam. After that title holders alive, called Ozo-dindu, do their own festival and the dead title holders (the Ozo-nwulaun) do their own the next day”, he said. “After the king’s yam festival, people kill goats for their respective dead fathers and mothers who were title hold-

ers but are dead. It is a must for everybody to do so. This is a general sacrifice that every affected person does and it is followed by another event when all men go and buy Ogodi-Igbaoku (gifts) for their wives showing appreciation to them for taking good care of them (husbands) during the planting season”.

After the preliminaries, the main occasion, which is the celebration of the king’s yam festival, took off with roasted yam meal served with vegetable soup. All occupants of and visitors to the palace were served no other food than the meal. Thereafter, cows were slaughtered to prepare pounded yam served in the afternoon.

On ground to receive homages was the king, Igwe Nwokedi, assisted by his heir, Mr. Akan Nwokedi, a lawyer and senior red cap members of his cabinet.

It was a day packed with all sorts of amusements, cultural performances , masquerade dance, offerings of yam by titled chiefs, here four tubers each by each title chief and any amount by non-title members of the community. Many of them, in addition, came with rams, others wine and others, money.

Again, drivers will be given reorientation, and any truck under this scheme will carry a Multi Trade-AMATO sticker and tracker. The trucks will be arriving in batches of 200 and owners of very old trucks will be the first beneficiaries of the new ones. Gradually, we will arrive at the point where only road-worthy trucks will ply our roads. AMATO is working with the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC; Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, the Police and VIO. So one day you will wake up to see the chaos occasioned by trucks gone.

Even the Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, was overwhelmed with what he saw on ground.

With this kind of layout, the ports will be the real transit base it ought to be and not warehouses. Goods should not exceed one week at the ports.

There are other companies in Apapa whose logistics are impeccable. So we can do it.

But there seem to be dissenting tunes from some transport unions.

If you mean the Joint Council of Seaport Truckers, JCOST, it is a body that is convened by all truckers’ associations when there is an issue to address.

AMATO carried members of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, and National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, along. At least, those that ply the ports.

In fact, there was a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU. There was also a joint press conference.

The responses were good until some “big boys” outside Lagos felt left out. That was when the “crisis” began. Right now, the MoU is not worth the paper it was written on. It has been jettisoned. Whoever wants to benefit from the rebranding process must register with AMATO.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 27

08116759757

BY EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, South-South

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KPANAM community, the country home of the late Major General Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, leader of the first Nigerian military coup, located in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, has not known peace since 2010 following the offensive launched by a gang of land speculators, kidnappers and gunmen.

Elders, women and youths are the mercy of the gang with some security agents allegedly giving them cover. Members of the gang, without visible means of livelihood, are reportedly living big. Reports say they own buildings and luxurious cars purchased from the proceeds of land illegally sold.

On May 13, 2013, the community, in a letter, from its secretary, Prince Ken Young, to the Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, said it was under siege by the gang threatening to kidnap, commit arson and murder anybody that challenges them over their activities.

Until recently when Aduba allegedly put his foot down on the matter, a police team from Abuja was allegedly using the office of the Inspector General of Police to obstruct investigations into the matter. Sunday Vanguard, however, learnt that police authorities have asked the team to hands off the matter for the police in the state. A leader of the community, who confirmed the arrest of some of the gangsters, said, “Remnants of the gang are still holding sway. The remaining leaders are training new boys in a bid to continue harassing the people.”

The Acting Diokpa of Obodogwugwu and Unmuomake , Okpanam, Ogbueshi P.K. Obanya, Diokpa of Ogbeowele village, Mr. Eric Nwabuoku, Acting Diokpa of Umudigba, Ogbueshi Ugo Okocha, Ikwele of Okpanam, Wilson Nwanze, Diokpa of Umuchim, Mr. D.D. Amadi and other elders of the community, who spoke to our reporter, said the ‘militants’ had not only seized the land belonging to the community, which they were selling to non-indigenes, but were also stopping natives from accessing their farmlands.

Sources said that before May 13, when the community alerted the Delta State Commissioner of Police, the gang, heavily armed with dangerous weapons to wit: guns, battle axes, cutlasses and iron rods, was preventing indigenes from going to their farmlands, while they brought surveyors to split the community land into plots.

It is common knowledge in Okpanam that if you buy land in the community without passing through the gang, you will have himself to blame, as the boys would spell trouble for you unless you settle them. But if you buy through them, they would provide security for you to build your house.

Following incursion into the community’s land, the community leaders alleged that, in April, 2010, they hired a surveyor and a bulldozer to partition the area known as Enugwu-Egbu, Phase II after the completion and distribution of Phase 1 of Obodogwugwu land, but the armed gang destroyed about 1,000 beacons

Nzeogwu’s kinsmen under siege

Chevron releases funds for community projects

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure

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*One of the parcels of land in dispute. Inset: Damaged car laid in Obodogwugwu land and razed the bulldozer.

They said the ‘militants’ invaded the house of the chairman of the Land Committee, Hon. Chibueze Aniemeka, aka Piro, May 25, 2012, at about 1.00 am and burnt his vehicle parked in front of his house and also his restaurant.

The chairman said the boys boasted they had warned him to hands off the Land Committee and he refused, and so anything that happened to him, he should take it like that.

According to another elder, Ogbueshi Obanya, “The boys were illegally selling communal land, including those previously acquired by Delta State government, but now returned to the community and, presently, they have threatened to elim-

inate the elders and youths, who are loyal to constituted authority in the community.”

The community’s solicitor, Ewere Odiase Esq, in a letter to the Inspector General of Police, said, “These culprits who have acquired monstrous sums of money from illegal sale of communal land have manipulated the police on several occasions to prevent investigation and prosecution.” In a petition, dated 28 August, 2012, also to the Inspector General of Police, Chief M.N. Dunkwu told the police boss that some policemen were conspiring with the boys to frustrate police investigation.

Sunday Vanguard was reliably informed that one of the key suspects told the police, when he was arrested, that the land, which the community was accusing him of

hijacking, actually belonged to him, and that it was acquired from his father, who is a native of Obodogwugwu.

A police source in Asaba said, “The tension in Okpanam over the land matter has defused since the police authorities ordered the Abuja team, which was interfering in the matter, to leave the investigation to the police in Delta State. Even the mercenaries that were recruited, I know they would have left the place because, for some time now, the community has not reported any fresh case.”

But, a community leader told Sunday Vanguard, “There is still tension, we are just being careful because we do not know who is who among the policemen. We do not know who to confide in, but it is true that some of the boys have been arrested”.

HEVRON Nigeria Limited has released N800million for the implementation of infrastructure and non infrastructure projects in the oil rich Ilaje Communities in Ondo State.

Chevron General Manager.

Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Deji Haastrup said this in Akure, at the Annual General Meeting of the Ilaje Regional Development Committee (IRDC)over the weekend.

The projects, according to him, include Science laboratory, Multi Purpose halls, concrete and wooden foot bridges, housing projects skill acquisition scheme, and donation of books to secondary schools. Haastrup who expressed confidence in the leadership of IRDC said they are to train 100 youths including women, furnishing of two halls at Awoye and Molutehin in vocation programs. He noted that most of the projects have been completed and commissioned. The Chairman of IRDC Prince Jackson Nomiye said over 30 projects have been executed and many handed over to beneficial communities.

When masquer ades begged oover ver breas tf eeding masquerades breastf tfeeding

BY EMMA UNA

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asquerade dance troops, drama renditions, pep talks were employed by officials of Cross River State Health Ministry and UNICEF to persuade mothers to exclusively feed their babies with breast milk for the first six months of their lives.

A large crowd of mothers, most of them teenagers giving birth for the first time, brought from the villages of Bakassi and Akpabuyo in the outskirts of Calabar, the Cross River State capital, were entertained with scintillating dance steps by beautiful masquerades. Along with this was special dramatic displays and alluring

*Nursing mothers ...`Give babies breast milk’ song rendition by nurses to en- ations. The young mothers courage them to feed their ba- were advised not to allow the bies with breast milk for the first men share the breast with the six months of their lives to keep babies while they are breast feeding. “Even if you are not them healthy and strong.

The women, some fearful that lactating, kindly allow your baby their breast would sag and no and not your husband to suck it longer attractive to their inoder not to give you wound men, were advised to consid- which could expose the infant er the health of their babies to infection”. Professor Angela beyond all other consider- Oyo Ita, Cross River State

Health Commissioner, told the women while flagging- off the 2013 Breast Feeding Week at Akpabuyo local government area of the state that men sharing their breasts while they are breast feeding could inflict wound on the breasts and if the “mother is HIV positive, the likelihood is the infection could be passed on to the innocent because that would expose him to the infection”. Represented by the Director Nutrition of the Ministry of Health, Mrs Regina Adie, the Health Commissioner said it was important for the young mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding because it had been proven that beast milk contains 80% water and 20% minerals that are essential for the child’s growth.

PAGE 28—SUNDAY, Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Nigeria’s District Grand Lodge mar ks cent enar marks centenar enaryy CENTENARY anniversary celebration of the District Grand Lodge of Nigeria was held at Eko Hotel and Suites from October 25- 27, 2013. Members from far and wide graced the landmark occasion. The occasion in pictures:

Olorogun Moses Taiga, the District Grand Master, observing the procession of the Order of the Grand Lodge.

L-R:H.E. V.W. John Agyekum Kufour, past President of Ghana, HRH Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe and MW Pro Grand Master, Peter Geoffrey Lowndes.

Bro Busola Holloway, District Grand, Director of Ceremonies, leading other members during a procession.

District Grand Master, Olorogun Moses Taiga, leading a procession out of the hall.

R-L: Pro Grand Master, Peter Geoffrey Lowndes, HRH Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe (behind), District Grand Master, Olorogun Moses Taiga, and the District Sword Bearer.

Star Win & Shine re turns tto o Lagos returns The Star Win and Shine Promo raffle draw was recently held at the Royal Water Parks bar in Okota. Once again n u m e r o u s consumers won prizes ranging from N100,000 and N50,000 cash prizes, to BlackBerry phones, 32 inch TV sets, home theatres, Blackberry phones, authentic jerseys, carpets and many more.

Winners of DVDs, home theatres with Gbenga Adeyinka, the presenter

Wedding A UK-based Mr Sixtus Anogwi wedded his heartthrob Amarachi at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Oke-Afa Isolo,recently

Winners of Blackberry phones, flaunting their prizes.

Gleeful cash prize winner, displaying his winnings

Winners of carpets, displaying their prizes

Mr Sixtus Anogwi and Amarachi. Behind the new couple are the officiating priest, Rev Fr. Leo Ukwuani OSJ, Chief Nnamdi Onukwuba and Rev Fr. Eustace Okorie.

SUNDAY, Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013 — PAGE 29

Isheri Lions install President MEMBERS of Isheri Platinum Lions Club came out in pomp and pride recently for the investiture of Lion Kayode Adewoyin as the President of the Club for the 2013/2014 Lionistic year. Other officers for the Club were also installed.

Highlights of the occasion include fund-raising for execution of projects but the climax of the day came when the Club lay the foundation stone for the proposed eye care centre for the entire community. The ceremony held at Isheri.Photos by Biodun Ogunleye

Peter Obe goes home amid eulogies

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he remains of ace photographer/journalist Peter Oyeyemi Obe were on Friday, October 25, 2013 committed to mother earth in his country home Igbara-Oke, Ondo State.

Hundreds of people trooped to the St Paul’s Anglican Church venue of the funeral service to bid him farewell.

The late Peter Obe started his career when he joined the then Daily Times in 1953 as a press photographer and at the same time a freelance photographer for the Agence France Press, AFP, and Reuters . He was aged 83 when he died on September 1 this year.

Photos by Dare Fasube

Lion Ben Eboreime, Lion Kayode Adewoyin been decorated by Outgoing President Lion Ladi Fagbenja.

L-R:Lion Taiwo Akinlaja, Lion Prince Ademola Odubanjo and Lion Bayo Olodo.

Mr Dolapo Obe, son , Mrs Folake Olawuyi, daughter, Mrs Janet Mopelola Obe, wife and Mr Olufemi Obe, son.

L-R:Otunba Suleiman Akinjobi, Borokinni Isheri Olofin and Chief Azeez Madamidola, the Awise of Isheri Olofin.

Madam Shobande goes home

Mr Charles Gerald, Lion Shola Obi-Okeke,Ms Temitope Olajide and Lion Titi Onafeko.

Sensitization campaign

The burial of Madam Morilat Ayinka Shobande (nee Soaga) in pictures: From left: Chief Joseph Olofin, Chief James Olagbaye, Chief Oye Ajayi and Chief Kayode Kotun representing the Olowa of Igbara-Oke.

From right: Alhaji Jelili Okewole, Ogun State Local Government Service Commission, Governor Senator Ibikunle Amosu and the son of the deceased, Chief Taiwo Adeboye Shobande.

L-R: Leo Omolara Olabande, Yaba Leo Club; Leo Arinola Nosiru, Region 1 Director, 404A and Leo Tolani Eminirekan, Ilupeju Leo Club, during a sensitization campaign against child abuse and child labour held in Lagos, recently.

From left: Mr. Dele Alake, a former CommisThe two daughters of the deceased, Mrs. Kehinde sional for Information and Strategy, Lagos State, Oludipe and Mrs. Kudirat Famuyiwa; Iyalode of and Chief Taiwo Shobande.

Yorubaland, Chief (Mrs.) Alaba O. Lawson, and Chief Taiwo Adeboye Shobande.

L-R: Mr Afolabi Obe , son, Mr Gboyega Obe, son, and Chief Francis Obe, brother.

L-R:Mr Tunji Oguntuase, Mr Bayo Shoaga and Mr Kayode Komolafe of This Day Newspapers

PAGE 30 — SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 31

PAGE 32—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

FOREIGN RESERVE AT NINE MONTHS LOW

‘We may be compelled to devalue the Naira if ...’

Looking at the trend in the stock market, what are your expectations from the regulators so as to bring back investors confidence?

Beyond their regulatory functions, they should maintain a zero tolerance for infraction, the issue of enforcing reporting time- line, sanctioning those operators and quoted companies that run foul of the regulation so as to maintain the highest level of integrity in the market. Also, there is need for improvement in traded platform, introducing more products so that people would have the right of having their products to be traded in the market. These are some of the things that the regulators can do.

On macro economic policies, there is little they can do in that respect or what happens to the global economy but, if we can align our market to international best standards, investors would have confidence buying or selling products in the market and, to that extent, that would help stabilize the market and further boost investors confidence.

BY AKOMA CHINWEOKE

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently reiterated its resolve to defend the value of the Naira. This came against the backdrop of the claim that Nigeria‘s external reserve has dropped by 0.92 percent to $46.39 billion within the period under review. However, latest figures from the apex bank show that the external reserve has further dropped to nine months low at $45.08bn. In this interview, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, Managing Director/CEO, Cowry Asset Management Limited and a member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, speaks on why Nigeria should monitor the rate of the depreciation of its reserve so that the economy doesn’t get to a point where it would be compelled to devalue.

HAT do you consider as a W major challenge in the Capital market ?

The major challenge in the capital market is the economic direction of the larger economy.

Of course, the capital market mirrors what happen in the larger market or the larger economy. If you look at the economy in recent time, the price of oil has been above 100 dollars but our production has been declining.

The major challenge we have is that we are having a lot of shut-in because it is either those that are involved in the stealing of oil vandalize the pipelines or steal oil. In the budget, we made provision for 2.5-3 million barrels per day but production has been below 2 million barrels per day and that has really affected the earnings. So, because of that, we have seen a decline in our foreign reserve and once your foreign reserve declines to a certain point, you may find out that foreign investors would not be comfortable with your instruments because they want to be sure that when they sell their instruments, they would be able to convert the proceeds into dollar. Of course above 46 billion dollars in our foreign reserve today, we are still in a comfortable position but if the decline continues, foreign investors would be worried. Other factors that would determine the direction of the equity market would be what policies the Monetary Policy Committee makes. In the recent past, the committee came up with 50 percent policy which affected the liquidity of the bank and also reduced the earning asset of the banks because the banks have to stabilize more deposits to the Central Bank than they used to do.

So, with a reduction in their earning asset and higher cost of borrowing because they have to pay higher interest rates to be able to attract commercial deposits, it simply means that it would reflect in their profit and loss account at the end of the financial year. So, that effect on the profit and loss account would also reflect in the price of equity and also determine their attractiveness as

Naira under threat? an instrument for both local and foreign investors. And what happens in the US particularly as it relates to the situation in the Federal Reserve on quantitative easing is very crucial . Right now, they have taken a decision that they are not going to stop on quantitative easing . So, they would continue to buy assets or bail of 85 billion dollars monthly thereby injecting it back into the entire global economy and then that would also affect an emerging market like Nigeria. But if eventually they come up and decide to stay back with the quantitative easing, then that would also affect the equity market. So, there are three factors that could pose a threat to the equity market . They are the general direction as it relates to foreign exchange earnings, the position of the Monetary Policy Committee as it relates to interest rate and the global economy as it relates to availability of cheap money for pension managers to invest in assets and money market. In this case, we are talking about whether the US Federal Reserve would continue with quantitative easing or step out of it.

Many are of the view that the Naira should be depreciated but the CBN has said there is no need for that. What is your view?

I was until recently an apostle of the fact that the Naira should be depreciated so as to conserve our foreign reserve but I think Nigerians have come to appreciate the position of the CBN governor when he said that the impact of the devaluation of the Naira would lead to imported inflation and would not have any impact on our export nor would it reduce our import. What that means is that our import is price inelastic but ,even if the prices go up, Nigerians would still import

what they are importing today .

So, we are not going to reduce the volume of importation because there are no local substitutes. Therefore, the appropriate thing for the CBN to do is to maintain a stability rate so that you can also maintain a stable price but the key thing here is that there should be a kind of balancing act . If also the reserve drops to a certain level, it becomes very difficult for Nigeria to meet its payment obligations and the Naira would be devalued. I think both the monetary policy managers and the fiscal authorities would have to continue to gauge this and try to strike a balance at what rate the Naira should be exchanged so that the rate of depletion of the foreign reserve does not drop to a grievous level because, if that

Mr. Johnson Chukwu we are compelled to devalue. But the key thing is that we need to restructure the economy and make it a producing economy.

We need to increase the value

If you devalue to a particular level and your reserve is very low, it would actually do more harm to the economy than if you have a guided devaluation that the economic factors can support happens, foreign investors would become worried and stop bringing in money and the demand they make on the country’s reserve would be so enormous that we would have no choice than to devalue our currency. Now, if you devalue to a particular level and your reserve is very low, it would actually do more harm to the economy than if you have a guided devaluation that the economic factors can support . I appreciate the argument of the CBN governor but my take is that we should monitor the rate of the depreciation of the reserve so that we don’t get to a point where

chain for those products we produce, the raw materials . Take for instance the issue of crude, there is no country that would produce crude and import refined products. But here we are exporting our foreign exchange and importing a higher cost of refined products that we could have refined here. I equally appreciate what the Minister for Agriculture is doing in terms of increasing the value chain in the agricultural sector . I think that such improvement we should replicate along all the products that we have comparative advantage in producing the raw materials.

With so much crises in the global economy and other challenges facing our economy, as an insider, would you say the stock market is still solid and competitive?

Yes, if you look at the market, the Nigerian market is still earning one of the best returns .

We are even doing better than we have done in recent times. The market has been doing more than 28 percent return from January till date and that is quite impressive. Today, I don’t know of any other market that gives you 28 percent return on investment in recent years on a consistent basis and we are saying that if we apply the right basket of instrument in the Nigerian stock market, we would enjoy more than 28 percent return on investments not to talk of when you have a smart selection of stocks, it can be more than that.

So, in terms of returns and market efficiency, I think the Nigerian stock market has not done badly.

What is the outlook of the market for the rest of the year?

I think the market is going to see some level of quietness in the month October . I do not see an aggressive bull run in October. I rather think there is going to be a mixed bargain hunting because prices may drop to very attractive levels. So, investors should focus in buying instruments with strong underlying fundamentals.

This is not the time to patronize what could be speculative stock.

Investors should focus on those stocks that have very strong fundamentals so that if, in the short run, the market prices do not reflect parameters, they are sure, in the long run, their investment would give them very positive returns. So, in periods of uncertainty, investors should focus on stocks that have strong fundamentals.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 33

Between Soludo’s Vision and Sanusi’s Bravery

BY ROBERTS ORYA

IN July 2014, it will be ten years since Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, a brilliant academic-cum-development expert, former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and now a politician, initiated the banking industry consolidation agenda.

The following month will make it five years since Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, an accomplished banker and current CBN Governor, launched the most audacious intervention and reform of the banking industry. Over this period, Nigerian banks have shown considerable abilities to raise capital, compete fairly and sometimes unprofessionally, become flag-bearers of the resurging economy locally and internationally, inflate incredible bubbles in the capital market, and provide a platform for talented professionals (with a sizeable number of them returnee Nigerians in the diaspora) to express their skills. What’s more; Nigerian banks, since the introduction of the reforms, have increased credit to the private sector. They have demonstrated weak capacity for good corporate governance, disclosure and risk management. And their directors and senior management have continued to hobnob with thepowers-that-be, in continuation of the time-tested strategy for winning public sector deposit.

The aggregate effect of the good, the bad and the ugly sides to the banking landscape since July 2004 is that the industry has been positively transformed. Nigerian banks are way ahead of where they used to be ten years ago.

Regulatory reforms have not been solely responsible for the significant change in the banking industry. Technology, product innovation, new approaches to service delivery and international framework agreements around access to financial services, especially by the unbanked and under-banked, have all contributed to this transformation.

But without the interventionist reforms, it is doubtful Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) would have been able to seize the new opportunities that have emerged, or attracted the partnerships that have revolutionized delivery of financial services in our country today; a country where some people still insist, against evidence, that nothing works.

Thus, the Nigerian banking industry provides important evidence that institutional and industrial transformation can occur in Nigeria. Indeed, they are occurring; even if the pace is rather slow and the magnitude still yearning for up-scaling Some of the manufacturing projects which Nigerian Export – Import Bank (NEXIM Bank) has funded are part of the larger industrial transformation that is happening in the country today. It will take strong indifference or outright disinformation, for whatever reason, to insist that these things are not happening. Large-scale socio-economic transformation in Nigeria is a reasonable expectation as a result of the oases of change we are seeing already in the regulatory and

market

space.

Transformation The banking industry transformation has not been fortuitous. The recapitalizationcum-consolidation programme was by design. It was powered by a bold vision and commitment to deliver on the economic potentials of the countr y.

Significantly, the two epochal regulatory regimes that have brought about the transformation of the Nigerian banks have asserted the virility of the domestic economy, with the banks being important fronts for expressing t h i s .

Today, quite unlike what it was ten years ago, the Nigerian banking sector commands attention anywhere. Some South African banking franchises have been hovering over the Nigerian banking landscape for more than four years, looking for opportunities for acquisitions. In January 2007, (just over one year after the mandatory recapitalization programme was concluded), a Nigerian whollyowned indigenous banking franchise – Guaranty Trust Bank – successfully issued $300 million Eurobond (which was oversubscribed by $221 million), and later became the first African bank to list its security on the London Stock Exchange. Against previous lack of access to the international capital market, several Nigeria banks have raised funds and are planning to do so in the global markets. Nigerian banks are now very strategic to

objectives were achieved, by and largely. On the minimum capital requirement, most of the surviving banks basically used it as a stepping stone.

Several Nigerian banks now have ten-fold the baseline capital.

Whereas the existing 89 banks in 2004 had struggled to meet N2 billion m a n d a t o r y capitalization, the shareholders’ fund of Nigerian banks grew to N2.37 trillion in 2012.

The debate is welcome and Roberts Orya ongoing as to whether or not the policy target that savings buffer and increase in the the banks would use their bigger country’s foreign reserves during capital bases to leverage funding the golden era of fiscal of real sector growth has been management in Nigeria before the achieved. This debate ensues not crisis. And Nigerian banks seemed because bank credit to to have been primed to withstand manufacturing and agriculture has the crisis. They had raised their stagnated at the levels they were capital base and made some before introduction of the reforms. progress with mobilization of lowBut expectation on the scale of the cost deposit. Therefore, when impact the reforms would have on through worsening domestic fiscal real sector funding is what has terrain and the international trade been at issue. Similarly, in a links, Nigerian banks became progressive fashion, governance of exposed to the crisis, yet they were the banks seems to have improved able to hold their ground for some over these years, even though we time. had to navigate through a period While the global financial crisis of infractions on banking rules and lingered, and irrespective of the e t h i c s . amelioration of its effects on the Nigerian banking industry through Of all the gains of the 2004 reforms, direct and indirect external linkages, the domestic capital market bubble which was inflated by speculative foreign portfolio investment and margin lending by the banks went burst. Following this, the bubble in the credit market, which was built by risk concentration in oil and gas lending and sheer delinquent credit behaviour by senior management of some of the banks, worsened the effect of poor risk management practices, and all this combined to bring the Nigerian it was the unforeseen benefit that mega banks into precarious became most significant in global conditions. context. Two years af ter the Cover up conclusion of the regulatory It may as well be taken as part recapitalization programme, a of the crisis management debilitating financial crisis, which framework. No central bank later morphed into an economic governor around the world came crisis, broke out on the global clean on the level of impact the market. Those who prognosticated crisis was having on their that the crisis would not affect economies and banks. For our own Nigeria because the domestic dear Soludo, full disclosure on the economy was not correlated to the shape of the mega banks he global financial market simply got midwifed would be self-negating, it wrong. Their analyses focused and therefore a dilemma. Many on the distribution channels of the observers alleged cover-up of the toxic credit assets that emanated rot in some of the banks, mainly from U.S. banks which particularly because the then CBN threatened to drag global market Governor was seen to be quite to the abyss with the institutions close to the bank CEOs. The kind that conned the world through of very sensible policy option manipulative financial wizardry. Soludo took with regard to Shock management of the local currency But linkages through the – allowing gradual depreciation of commodity market transmitted the naira instead of devaluation of the shock to Nigeria. The price of it as part of the crisis response – crude oil dramatically collapsed was seen to be lacking when it from $147 per barrel in July 2007, concerned the required to under $40 per barrel in January intervention to clean the banking 2009. The effect on the fiscal system and rein in the (criminal) terrain in Nigeria was predictably excesses of some of the bank negative. It could have been C E O s . worse; but for the prudence which It was in the middle of this saw creation of a domestic dilemma that Prof. Soludo’s term

The aggregate effect of the good, the bad and the ugly sides to the banking landscape since July 2004 is that the industry has been positively transformed.

Nigerian banks are way ahead of where they used to be ten years ago the distribution of retail credit products by multinational financial institutions, especially card issuers. Even at current levels of integration into the global payment system, Nigerians are tapping into global eCommerce; the payment subsector has been transformed and has provided the impetus for the CBN to launch the Cashless Policy. All these were beyond contemplation for the preJune 2004 Nigerian banks, which were marginal even within Africa.

But today, a Nigerian bank – United Bank for Africa – has subsidiaries in 19 African c o u n t r i e s .

Outcomes The 2004 consolidation agenda envisioned and targeted certain outcomes. The more generally known was the N25 billion minimum capital base for any bank that intended to operate beyond December 2005, the deadline for the recapitalization exercise. Embedded in the regulatory capital requirement was the consolidation of the industry from 89 banks to preferred 25 maximum. The two

of five years expired in June 2009.

His successor, who definitely had insider knowledge of the undercurrent of the banking system (himself chief executive in one of Nigeria’s biggest banks), wasted no time in choosing to save the banks from systemic collapse, instead of preservation of the legacy of his predecessor, which allegedly had included micro-managing the liquidity problem in some of the banks in the wake of the crisis.

Nine banks In one brave move, Sanusi intervened in nine banks. He sacked bank CEOs and a bunch of other directors, to the bewilderment of Nigerians who were used to lack of exercise of this regulatory power by previous CBN governors. As the audit he commissioned necessitated, N620 billion was propositionally injected into the intervened banks at the first instance. Sanusi worked with law enforcement agencies to ensure that bank directors who had been indicted with criminal infractions were prosecuted. He insisted shareholders’ value was eroded by the malfeasance in the banks. With this, he quite rightly refused to accept “privatization” of profit by bank directors and dumping losses on taxpayers. His approach to the bailout of the banks was quite unlike the circumstantial redefinition of capitalism in the West whereby their bailout programmes imposed serious moral hazard on the system. CEOs of imperiled institutions in the U.S. nevertheless flew into Washington DC in their private jets to receive bailout fund for their badly run, failed institutions. Sanusi’s stance was antithetical to this. Instead of a bogus interventional benevolence, his approach seems to be more credible and quite capable of deterring future bad behaviours by bank directors.

Widening the scope of his intervention from merely addressing capital impairment, Sanusi went on to accentuate risk management. Introduction of macroprudential frameworks for risk management addressed the psychology of the market to the reality that individual banks, especially the ones big enough to be of systemic importance, were not islands unto themselves. They also posed systemic risks to the entire banking system. Had dissolution of such big banks including Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and Afribank been uncontrolled, they could have dragged down the entire banking system, and thus push much higher the cost of resolution of the c r i s i s .

‘Bad bank’ Philosophically, the Sanusi-led CBN intervention simply chose to do what had to be done. It facilitated the “bad bank”; the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, to purchase bad loans from the banks and thus help to clean their balance sheets and protect their mega bank status.

Orya is Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Expor t – I m p o r t Bank.

PAGE 34—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

The sustainability business model alternative, by CEOs BYADEOLAADENUGA

T

HE future success of businesses is hinged on sustainability business model, Chief Executive Officers have said in a new survey by Accenture and the UN Global C o m p a c t .

Corporate Sustainability is a business approach that creates long-term consumer and employee value by not only creating a strategy aimed towards the natural environment, but taking into consideration every dimension of how a business operates in the social, cultural, and economic environment. It can also be referred to as a business strategy that drives l o n g - t e r m corporate growth and profitability by mandating the inclusion of environmental and social issues in the business model.

“CEOs around the world are starting to see the shape of a new era of sustainability coming into view. In the context of rising global competition, technological change and the most serious economic downturn in nearly a century, corporate commitment to the principles of sustainability remains strong throughout the world: 93 per cent of CEOs see sustainability as i m p o r t a n t to their company ’s future success”, Accenture said in a UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO r e p o r t , entitled, ‘A New Era of Sustainability in the Utilities i n d u s t r y ’ .

The utilities industry is one of the most regulated in the world. The clarity of the future regulatory landscape is a critical element in strategic planning for utilities companies, and the impact of governmental intervention can be fundamental to their success.

In the utilities industry, where environmental issues have long been of fundamental importance, 68 per cent of CEOs believe that sustainability will be ‘ very important’ to their success—the highest of any industry in the study.

“Although the survey of these leading companies cannot claim to be representative of the wider business community, we believe that the insights from those companies committed to integrating environmental, social and governance issues into core business bring a unique perspective, not only on the opportunities provided by sustainability, but also on the scale of the challenge ahead” the firm said.

With this in mind, the firm says it aimed throughout not to advance its own point of view— even where it was surprised by results—but, wherever possible, to report the ‘raw’ data, opinions and case studies from the survey and from interviews with CEOs. Nearly 1,000 CEOs, business leaders, members of civil society and academic experts have contributed to what is the largest CEO survey on sustainability of its kind to date. The global geographic and industry

coverage of contributing CEOs further provided unique insights into the challenges and opportunities of the coming d e c a d e .

While the CEOs believe strongly in the importance of sustainability, and are committed to integrating environmental, social and governance issues into their dayto-day operations, they see many challenges ahead in truly embedding sustainability into core business.

Most immediately, CEOs see challenges internally in managing competing strategic priorities and the complexities of integration. Although many leading companies believe that sustainability issues are already integrated into their strategic thinking, they perceive a greater challenge in embedding these issues into their day-to-day operations, especially through supply chains and subsidiaries.

While sustainability has clearly become part and parcel of how many businesses operate, it has yet to permeate all elements of core business—that is, into capabilities, processes and systems. In particular, the difficulty of implementation, especially across supply chains and subsidiaries, is seen by CEOs as the top barrier to the full integration of sustainability.

Fifty-four per cent of CEOs surveyed feel that this tipping point is only a decade away, and

80 per cent believe it will occur within 15 years. The CEOs acknowledge that a new generation of leadership, and concerted efforts to shape the corporate culture to support the goals of sustainability, would underpin success in the new era.

In other words, today’s business environment provides a multitude of new challenges to manage, but also significant o p p o r t u n i t i e s .

In order to overcome these challenges and accelerate a tipping point in the integration of sustainability into core business, CEOs believe that a number of ‘must-have’ conditions need to be put in place.

These include creating a clearer and more positive regulatory environment for sustainability, generating new knowledge, skills and mind sets for sustainable development, actively shaping consumer and customer awareness, attitudes and needs, among others.

The prospect of government intervention, such as stringent regulations on carbon emissions, for example, may threaten the viability of utilities that are heavily dependent on coal burning technologies, and may introduce uncertainty into decisions around capital allocation, especially in regard to investments in renewable technologies.

While it is clear that CEOs

believe strongly in the importance of sustainability, and are committed to integrating environmental, social and governance issues into their day-to-day operations, they see many challenges ahead in truly embedding sustainability into core business.

“We hope that this first-hand voice of Global Compact CEOs will help to shape the conversation on corporate sustainability over the coming years, and we believe that we

can, together, set out a compelling collective vision for the future of the global e c o n o m y ” .

“As we look ahead, we recognize the scale of the challenges that we face—but also recognize the huge potential of the Global Compact as a unique platform for engaging the economy ’s most powerful force. If that potential is unleashed, we can build the necessary foundations of a new era of sustainability” the firm said.

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State (right) signing an agreement, while Robert Jennings, President, Lincoln University looks on, during the Governor ’s visit to the University.

UBA comprehensive income hits N48.74 Billion U

NITED Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has released its nine months financial results weekend, showing a significant 26.7% growth in loan portfolio, as the bank positions to take advantage of emerging opportunities in Nigeria ’s fast growing economy.

The nine months results put the bank’s new loan portfolio position at N870.4 billion as at September 2013, representing a 26.7% increase on N687.4 billion on the bank’s loan portfolio for full year of 2012.

Explaining the significant growth in the Group’s loan portfolio, Phillips Oduoza, Group Managing Director, said the growth was “In line with our guidance for loan growth. We increased our exposure to the power, upstream oil and gas and telecoms sectors of the economy ”.

UBA played actively in the financing of big ticket deals, especially in the power sector recently, with potential long term impact on the bank’s future profitability. Some of the major deals UBA actively participated in include taking up $120m (N19.44bn) of the financing in respect of Transcorp Ughelli Power Plant.

The bank also acted as Mandated Lead Arranger, underwriting the entire facility

of $122m (N20bn) for Kann Utilities’ acquisition of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, financing the payment of 75% acquisition of 60% equity stake in Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company while the bank also threw its financial weight behind Aura Energy for the Acquisition of Jos Electricity Distribution Company, acting as the lead arranger for N9.6 billion loan to finance the payment of 75% of Aura’s 60% equity stake in Jos Electricity Distribution Company. “ We firmly believe that the effect of the asset creation decisions we have taken this quarter will have a sustained impact on our revenue growth” Oduoza explained in a statement from the bank.

The impact on revenues is already being seen as the bank announced gross earnings of N188 billion, representing 12.5% increase from N167.1 billion in the same period of last year while riding on the back of the expansion in loan book, interest income rose 18.8% to N133 billion from N112 billion.

Oduoza says the “Results for the quarter reflect strong contributions from UBA’s Corporate Banking as shown in the increase in interest income generated from loan

growth from Corporate Banking Division and from African Commercial Banking Groups” Also customer confidence in the Group’s brand continues to soar as total deposits rose 22.1% to N2.17 trillion.

Explaining the significant increase in deposits, Ugochukwu Nwaghodoh, Chief Finance Officer of the UBA Group said, “The bank was able to effectively leverage its branch network in Nigeria and across eighteen countries in Africa to generate cheap deposit” The bank is already seeing some of the benefits of its positioning with a significant 28.5% increase in total comprehensive income for the period to N48.74billion, compared with N37.92billion in the same period of last year.

A profit of N43.4billion was achieved for the period, representing an increase of 2.8% over the N42.2billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year.

There was also significant increase in other key performance indicators with total assets rising by 13.5% to N2.58 trillion from N2.27 trillion while total equity rose 17.2% to N225.6 billion from N192.5billion.

“Our bank remains resilient and our focus is on delivering a set of full year results that

will be able to adequately reward our shareholders. We are already reaping the benefits of operating an African strategy that is anchored on our in-depth knowledge of every market we operate in”. Oduoza said.

Oduoza also assured that UBA remains focused and committed to achieving set targets for 2013 “especially, our long term aspirations of being the leading financial services institution in Africa”, explaining that “Project Alpha”, which details UBA’s strategic intent to take advantage of Africa’s fast growing economy to boost the bank’s growth, “ is beginning to bear the expected results as we are now reaping the benefits of delivering an improved customer experience and improved electronic banking platform to our various customer segments”.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) is Africa’s global bank with operations in 19 African countries including Nigeria , as well as offices in New York , London and Paris providing broad-based banking services to over seven (7) million customers. The Group offers a bouquet of banking services and products designed to meet the specific banking needs of its diverse multi-cultural and multi-lingual customer base in three uniquely different continents.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 35

Jonathan, Amaechi feud will end — Bozimo Says you don’t correct anomaly by destroying PDP On Confab: ‘We can’t bypass National Assembly’

BY HENRY UMORU

C

hief Gordon Bozimo is from Bayelsa State. A member, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) since 2000, he was the Chairman, Board of Nigerian Agricultural Bank and now Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). In this interview, he speaks on the PDP crisis in Rivers State, President Goodluck Jonathan for 2015, the proposed National Dialogue and the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC), among other issues affecting the country.

How do you view the crisis which has been rocking your party in recent times especially since the emergence of Bamanga Tukur as the National Chairman and the walkout by seven aggrieved governors during the special national convention of the party at the Eagle Square?

The PDP crisis is not unusual considering the size and the interest in the polity. It is expected that at one point or the other, there must be divergence and what is happening in PDP has happened before in some other parties. Even in the First Republic, it happened; in the Second Republic it happened. So it is not strange. My take is that, at a point, those who are saying they want certain things corrected within the party would realize that they don’t correct by destroying the party; you correct things by discussions, exchange of ideas and I believe that before long, they will come back so that issues will be ironed out at the round table.

Many in the opposition camp in the PDP do believe that the President’s ambition for reelection for 2015 is at the root of the crisis in PDP. Do you share this view?

That is the worst excuse: for somebody to say a Nigerian should not run for office and that is the reason they are fighting, so to say. It is a constitutional matter. If it is within his constitutional right to contest, so be it. Where to stop him is the primaries; we are in the same party; if you believe that the candidature is not acceptable to you, you stop him at the primaries. But to say the president should not contest, it sounds odd because there is no reason whatsoever; and, if we believe in party politics, you must remove sectional interest and look at it as a party issue. If in PDP you have ten candidates running for position, you are free to support who you want to, but you cannot disenfranchise one because you think you don’t like him or because you feel his continuation as president may not benefit you; therefore, you must not allow him to contest.

*Bozimo...Where is the pact barring Jonathan in 2015?

Other reasons-like saying the party is high-handed and so onthose are the issues we can sit down and discuss.

style that they may be complaining about, but the substance, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.

What about the issue of an agreement by President Jonathan that he would serve for a single term?

Where is the agreement? The president has told you that whoever has the agreement should bring it. Governor Aliyu, who said he has the agreement, the president has challenged him; if you have the agreement bring it. We have not seen any agreement. Those of us from the South-south, we feel angered when we read such things.

Still on the crisis bedeviling the PDP, some of the PDP governors have accused the National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur , of high-handedness. Do you really think Bamanga is running the party well the way it ought to be?

Well, it is an issue of style. No two individuals are the Same.

Bamanga’s style may be different from other chairmen’s styles; it is a party, we have a constitution. If you don’t want Bamanga to be chairman, you go to the convention and remove him. You cannot say you must remove Bamanga as chairman before there would be peace.

How do you remove him? Was he appointed by the president?

He became chairman through a convention and it is either a special convention convened for that purpose or you wait for the annual convention where you can remove a chairman.

Are you satisfied with what the BoT under the chair of Chief Tony Anenih, is doing to resolve this crisis?

The BoT is an advisory body.

On the crisis, you can see the role the Chairman of the BoT has been playing from day one. He represents the BoT in all the meetings that have been going on and other members are coopted from time to time to assist.

So, the BoT is doing what it is set up to do.

So, asking Bamanga to be removed, who will remove him?

If you don’t like somebody the way he works in a party, you use the organs that are recognised to effect a change. You cannot do it any other way because if you try it, you will create more problems.

Don’t forget Bamanga is a much older person. He has been a minister, governor; now he is chairman of the party. You must be fair to him that he has experience, but his style, when you look at the governors, these are young people who are about his children’s age. Perhaps, it is the

oppositions parties in Nigeria today can defeat the PDP; the reason being that you have strange bedfellows coming together and that marriage has to be tested first before you know the strength of that union. We are watching them.

The APC elements are saying your president is weak and not performing. How do you defend Mr. President?

That again has to do with style.

The president has told Nigerians that he is not a General or Pharaoh. So, give him time and you will see results. It is that time they don’t want to give him. You

The president has told you that whoever has the agreement should bring it. Governor Aliyu, who said he has the agreement, the president has challenged him; if you have the agreement bring it. We have not seen any agreement We go to executive committee meetings and all that, but we don’t vote because we are there as the conscience of the party and so, we should not be seen as supporting A or B and it is that same role that the BoT has been playing in the party: helping to stabilize and Chief Anenih is doing all that; despite his age, he is doing it very effectively.

As a member of the BoT, are you worried that there is a merger of political parties to form APC to wrest power from the PDP? We don’t see that as a threat.

When you have a common fold, it is very easy to come together.

Now they fuse, when they start sharing offices, when they start going to nominations; that is when you will test the strength of the APC. We like a credible opposition; any genuine politician should welcome credible opposition not as a threat, but it will make you work harder and I believe that no amount of aggregation of

and I know that to transform this country is not a one-day affair.

There are some presidents that will start with propaganda from day one. But if you want to do the real thing, it will take time.

The president told you he will give you credible elections; so far, nobody will deny the fact that the elections supervised by this present administration are much better, not perfect, but much better than previous elections and God’s willing as time goes, it will get better. We are talking about power; we know that previous administrations spent billions of naira and we did not move one inch until he took over and made it his number one preoccupation and we can see we are moving somewhere. He has said that by 2014, you will see a marked difference and we see that he is moving in that direction. This country is large and every aspect atrophied for now: is it education, health? Just

name it! A president is coming in, even if you take one of the sectors as your cardinal concern, it will take you time, and don’t forget Nigerians resist change.

To me, to say that the president is not performing, it is their opinion. But from what we see on ground, we see a situation where the president is taking his time but unfortunately we distract him from day one as he came him: the election violence (in some parts of the country); after that, Boko Haram came.

The distractions are many, but despite that, we have seen some measures of improvement in most of the sectors, but I think we are also impatient as a nation; we believe that in one year, he should be able to solve the problems. It is not that easy; even to collect data for you to implement something, it takes more than a year. So, I believe that the assertion that the president has not performed is not correct.

Is there any worry at all that the perception of the opposition will affect him come 2015?

I don’t think so because it is politics. APC people say they will bring a candidate from the North; we are likely to have a candidate from the South; so, we slug it out. Not everybody in the North will support that. So, I think it will be a fair contest. We are not worried at all.

How do you relate with the allege conspiratorial alliance that one of your own, Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi, has gone into with some elements from the North with a view to short-circuiting Jonathan in his re- election bid?

Like I said, these are internal party problems and I think the PDP has the capacity to absorb them. Amaechi is our brother, son and no matter what happens, at the end of the day, we must reconcile. I am very positive about that. It is all politics. It is a game of interest; so at the end of the day, we shall find a solution and PDP will come out stronger and people will be surprised. So, when we say it is a family affair, people laugh at us

Continues on page 36

PAGE 36 — SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013,

`Y ou don’t correct anomaly b `You byy destr oying PDP destro PDP’’

*Bozimo...APC is no threat Continued from page 35 that everything we say is a family affair because there is no way the Rivers State governor and the president who is from Bayelsa will fight for too long. We must find a way to resolve it and it will happen and I am very confident about that.

But the stand-off it has lasted for over five months and there has not been any sign of reconciliation in sight. We have next year, and you are saying that there is no worry about it…

In politics, nothing is too long for something to happen.

Everything can change in one day. Don’t underestimate that. We are talking of hours, you can change what you have been doing for the past three years; a one-day meeting can resolve everything. I don’t think it has taken long for the issues to be resolved. It is interest. As you get along, what you thought is your interest may not be realizable; you adjust and the other person will do the same thing. At a point, we all know the tipping points and that is the way politics goes. When you have not realized that what you are doing is possible, you keep on fighting for it. But as a realist because we are not gamblers, it comes to a point where you also know that at this point, it may not be possible. So the act of the possible which is politics now comes in. I believe strongly that we will find an accommodation.

Still on Rivers, you will agree that the polity there is being overheated with governance almost grounded. What is the way forward?

The way forward is still dialogue. All parties should sheathe their sword, sit down and discuss where they can meet one another and I think the party at the national level is of that view.

It is one PDP; we don’t have two PDPs. So, under that PDP, whatever interests that are there, we can sit down and sort them out. So, whatever has transpired before, it doesn’t matter; but to go forward, we have to sit down as one PDP. So, in this case, what should your governor, Seriake Dickson, who is chairing the reconciliation committee of the party do?

The reconciliation is an ongoing process. The issues are

many and it is all over the country; so, if that is also assigned to him by the National Working Committee, of course, he will go into it.

But what I am saying is that the way forward is for all of them to sit down one on one, iron out their differences; then, we can find a common ground to continue.

What is your take on the proposed National Dialogue?

What we mean by unity is not negotiable, let us recognize the problem and find a solution within the context of the Nigerian nation.

The problems are there; we want to bring them out but nobody should say because of the problems we want to opt out of Nigeria because that is a different dimension all together.

So, this conference is meant for us to x-ray the things that are creating problems in the polity and find a solution as a nation.

The APC leaders are opposed to taking the outcome of it to the National Assembly because the National Assembly has not been able to fashion out a new Constitution for the country and that taking it back to the National Assembly is like killing the outcome. How do you react to this?

It is not for National Assembly to debate, we are not going to send what we have done for them to go and discuss it; they will enact it into law. It is also more or less like a new Constitution or major constitutional amendment if you want to call it that way and it is the National Assembly that can do that because, after you have met and agreed, it has to go to the National Assembly either as an Executive Bill containing all the decisions and the National Assembly will enact it into law.

Looking at the procedure, no bill will come to theNational Assembly without being debated…

Let us be fair. You have a conference of ethnic nationalities in this country; now this goes to a referendum; the result of the referendum is received; it will now go to the National Assembly for them to enact it. The National Assembly is not expected to debate it clause by clause, then send to committee. That is not what is expected. If you remove them, how do you make them into your

Constitution after you finish the conference? What do you do with the papers? If it has to be a law, it will be passed through the National Assembly. Let us not be carried away by these things. You have a government in place, a legislature in place and they have a role to play which is to legitimize whatever we have agreed because the power to make laws resides with the legislature. So, whatever you have agreed, if you want to legitimize it, it must go to the National Assembly as a new Constitution. That is what the president is saying. The president is not saying whatever you decide is subjected to debate in the National Assembly, but you know it is politics; they quote you out of context, they own all the papers and they start shouting all over Nigeria and confusing Nigerians. If not, there is nothing strange about that unless if, for instance, there is scenario where it is a Sovereign National Conference, in that case, both legislature and everybody is off.

You have to dissolve the legislature to assume the sovereignty; when you finish either by proclamation of some leaders, it becomes law. But it is convenient for them to quote it out of context and leave it for the president to come and explain again what he meant. In fact, some have said the statement alone has destroyed the credibility of the conference but it is not true.

You said the unity of the country is not negotiable. What

because the Federal Government has not given approval. Ondo State should be able to bring investors to explore their bitumen, sell it and pay taxes to the Federal Government. Fiscal federalism will change the whole thing and the question of everybody wants a university, this and that will vanish. You will now do only what you know you can carry.

Then the Federal Government interfering in every little thing will stop because where will the money come from? It will reverse virtually the way we run this country and I think that will solve most of the problems. The unity we are talking about, when people feel cheated, then the unity is threatened. Today in this country, every section feels cheated. The majority, they have their own long list of grievances; minority have their own long list of grievances.

Is it the Yorubas, the Northerners, the South-East or the South-South, they will tell you the way they have been badly treated. So, this conference will be an opportunity for us to look at these things eyeball to eyeball and if we agree to retain the federal system, it will even affect the type of legislature we are running. Do we still retain the presidential system? If the answer is no, what is the alternative?

There are many alternatives because even in parliamentary, you can talk of part-time

So, when we say it is a family affair, people laugh at us that everything we say is a family affair because there is no way the Rivers State governor and the president who is from Bayelsa will fight for too long would be your proposition along that line so that the federating units can be carried along?

That is why I said there are a lot of issues hanging that if not addressed now, we will have serious problems. We have to readdress the issue of fiscal federalism; there are certain minimum requirements in the federation. Are we practising them now? The answer is no.

What we are practising is a unitary system, but we call it federal system and once we agree now to operate a truly federal system, a number of issues that are creating problems will just vanish because that automati cally will revisit the exclusive list in such a way that what is federal is only what will be federal. It will also now ensure that states will look within to raise money to run their states; that will give more autonomy to the states to go outside and look for money; for instance, somebody was telling me the other day that Ondo State has bitumen but up till now they have not been able to export

legislators to cut down the cost of governance.

The ASUU strike is lingering.

What is the real problem and can the ice be thawed?

I think it is the issue of confidence. From ASUU perspective, they believe that the Federal Government has been promising without keeping their promises. From the perspective of government, yes, previous government came into agreement with you to pay X,Y,Z amount but as it stands today the government cannot afford that amount, you cannot give what you cannot afford and for now, this is what we can afford and I think it is only fair for ASUU: one, they can try and get confirmation whether actually the government can afford those trillions of naira they are asking for. If truly we are in problem economically, it is only fair for ASUU to take what the government has proposed and go further to extract other commitments from government over what is still outstanding but to say everything or nothing; then, it is a problem because you cannot give what you don’t have.

We all know the Minister of Finance has been shouting how the economy is going down in terms of availability of fund.

States governments are crying that their allocations are coming late and those are signs. So, my own take on that is that ASUU should take what government has offered now and extract other commitments over the balance so that the children can go back to school.

What are you bringing to the Board of the NYSC? What I am bringing in is my experience. I have been around for sometime. I have served in a number of places and I think that the NYSC needs retooling but again it has to do with funding.

The original concept stands; it helps the integration of the youths but the number, on the average, is about 300,000 corps members for the three batches but when the scheme started, I think they were dealing with some 5,000 to 6,000.

Now you have 300,000; so the logistics problems are monumental. When you have corps members in camps, when they finish, they know that is when the problem starts; so, some of them will prefer to continue in youth service for another one year if that will give them a chance of getting a job. So, the issue of unemployment is a big problem.

The incentives for the corps members to put in their best are not there. At the board level, we have tried to look at what we can do in terms of entrepreneurship, in terms of employers of labour retaining some of these corps members at the end of their service years. And hopefully, the government will begin to create employment opportunities in other sectors to absorb this excess manpower. Also the surroundings in the camps, we feel, should be upgraded and that is the responsibility of State Governments because they own the camps. So, we are engaging the state governments where they don’t have permanent orientation to try and put up one so that the place can be well secured and basic facilities like water and light are provided to make life a little bit easier for the corps members. So, we go on oversight function any time they are on camp to see what is on ground and engagethe governors on such issues. For now that is where we are.

You are from Bayelsa State, oil producing State, you were chairing Nigeria Agricultural Bank… Would you say we are really getting it right especially at the State level in terms of focus on revenue generation visà-vis focus on agriculture through diversification of interests?

If we talk of agriculture generally, if you listen to Minister of Agriculture when he presented his open performance effort, you will notice that a lot is going on.

And hopefully in the next one or two years, you will begin to see results. From the bank up till when I left the bank, we were still expecting the bank to be recapitalized.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 37

Jonathan is keeping faith with Nigerians — Okupe

Looking at the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan in the last two years that he has been steering the affairs of the nation, the programmes and projects that he has initiated in the transformation agenda, can you say he has justified the mandate given to him?

The answer is resounding yes. It is not being sycophantic; these are things that we can prove. I have said before and I am saying it again; never in the history of this nation, indeed of Africa including North and South of the Sahara has a president of a country two years after assuming office achieved so much in such a short time. It is unprecedented. Now, what are the things that Jonathan promised? He promised electoral reform. Anybody in Nigeria will readily concede to him that he has done what he promised he would do in that area. He has also given personal commitment to free and fair election. He sang a song ‘one man one vote, one woman one vote, one youth one vote ’ and that has been the pattern of elections we have seen conducted under his watch. Under his watch, his party has competed in elections and has lost and he has congratulated the winners.

He has not used or abused his office or tried to influence the electoral managers in any way. When he said he would deliver on electoral reform and that he was going to improve the electoral system in the country, some people doubted it in view of experiences in our recent past. But now,elections have become more meaningful, the results more acceptable and we are all happy for that.

Topical also on his agenda is power reform. When this administration came about, we were generating about 2,800 MW and it was not steady. What did Jonathan do? Unlike everybody that has preceded him, he attacked the problem head on, intellectually and professionally by putting up a road map.

When somebody puts up a road map, you can benchmark him whether he is achieving

what he said he will do. In two years, the power generation has doubled. By the power road map, we are supposed to be producing between 18,00020,000 MW by 2018 or so. In the sector, there were a couple of challenges. One is power generation. There was also a major problem with the NIPP projects on which the preceding governments spent billions of dollars and they were all moribund and comatose. It was Goodluck Jonathan’s administration that brought things back and recovered them from total collapse. Now the ten NIPP projects that he inherited at various stages of coma and non-functionality and all that have been completed. Before they were completed, it was anticipated that there will be major issue with gas supplies because all of them are powered by gas turbines. So, immediately also Mr President declared emergency in the gas sector and government seriously worked hard to redesign the gas infrastructure, improved and increased the quantum of gas available to these power plants. The gas infrastructure was totally misaligned from the power plants. This took a lot of efforts and a lot of money, but today it is a success story.

That is on the issue of

,,

D

r Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, in this interview, dismisses the claim that his principal has not performed

*Doyin Okupe...Our banks are like diaspora banks national agencies and multilateral organizations that it was done seamlessly and in accordance to the world best practice. A major achievement of this administration is the successful completion of the privatization programme..In the banking sector, which most people also tend to gloss over; before this administration came, the sector was in a collapsible form and there was a lot of financial uncertainty. The United States of America spent trillions of dollars; Europe spent trillions of dollars and pounds to reform the financial sector,

Because of sincerity of purpose and lack of intention to amass wealth unnecessarily or introduce corruption into the process, Nigeria has recorded one of the largest sectoral privatizations in the world

power.Now we then go to the issue of privatization of the power sector. This is something that was started in 2005 and this is 2013; that is eight years. There was no headway, there was no clear-cut direction, no assurance that the project itself would not crash along the way until Goodluck Jonathan came. Because of sincerity of purpose and lack of intention to amass wealth unnecessarily or introduce corruption into the process, Nigeria has recorded one of the largest sectoral privatizations in the world. It involved a figure of over 3 billion U.S. dollars and it has been done and commended by various inter-

but Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has been able to reform and stabilize our financial sector with minimum cost to government. Today, our banks are like diaspora banks, they are virtually all over Africa and now, they are also invading Europe. This is because of the fiscal and monetary policies that this administration put in place and the strict adherence to regulations, ensuring that there are no slips. That is why today we have banks that have backbones, banks that are solid, banks that can take part in the financing of mega projects both within and outside Nigeria.

In agriculture, let me give you typical examples. When this administration came, it was difficult to get one kilogramme of cotton seed anywhere in the country. We were importing 5.2million tons of rice yearly. Sorghum and maize production were totally in decline. But what do you have today, two years down the line? Nine out of 18 ginneries that had died in the North have been revitalized.

That means new acreages of cotton farms have been cultivated, we now have large acreages of sorghum also produced in the North and rice also is being produced at a very high rate. And by 2015 we are also likely to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production.

The Bank of Agriculture is being totally refocused and repackaged to be able to lend money to farmers at about 5-6% interest rate per annum. If people go to borrow money in banks at 30 or 35 per cent interest rate there is no agricultural product you will embark on that it will be profitable and that is why farming is difficult in Nigeria, that is why younger people are not going into farming, that is why farming cannot go beyond sustenance level. But if it is possible for you to take loan from a bank and all you are paying is just 5 or 6, even if your total return was 20%, you have about 14% to go home with, which is enough for you and your family to live on. Our export commodities like cocoa, which we used to do about 250,000 metric tons a year, by 2014, that would have doubled to about 500,000 metric tons in one year.

On transportation, for over two decades, the railway sys-

tem was paralyzed. In two years, what do we have? The major axial rail transport highways, Lagos-Kano, about 1,300 kilometers have been totally refurbished and the volume of passengers have grown to about a million passengers per day. I’m aware .

In terms of road, many roads that have been previously abandoned before this administration came in: the LagosBenin road or Shagamu-Ore as they call it, totally impassible. Various segments of the road have been reconstructed and it is now almost perfectly done with money from SUREP. Now, the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road is more than 50% done.

This is supposed to be completed in 2014. The East-West Road is now nearing 60% completion and, of recent, Mr. President went and kicked off the refurbishing and the redesigning of the new, befitting express road from Lagos to Ibadan. This is not to talk about the Kano-Maiduguri road and the second Niger Bridge.

When you come to the economy, it is something that one has to be proud of that we have one of the highest growth rates in the world; I think we are second or third to China and maybe another country. Definitely, we are the first in Africa.

Let me just take you up on the issue of insecurity because people have been saying that it should have been one of the primary challenges that he should have confronted headlong. But the security situation has not improved much.

What barometers are you us-

Continues on page 38

PAGE 38— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

’Nigeria is among the world’s fastest growing economy’

,,

Continued from page 37 ing to judge that the security situation has not been improved? When Boko Haram insurgency started, it engulfed eleven states in the federation. Today, as I am talking to you, Boko Haram activities are restricted to only two states of the federation; Yobe, which is more recent, and Borno.

That in itself is a major breakthrough. I have read history and I have read issues concerning insurgency worldwide and I am telling you, there is nowhere in the whole world and in world history from British IRA to Vietnam, to Tamil Tigers to Malaysia to even the Maghreb and Somalia; there is nowhere in the world where insurgency has been contained so rapidly. I am telling you, it is like the power of God that is working in this country. It is unbelievable that all these things can be packaged in two years.

It is absolutely unimaginable, from eleven states, it has reduced to two, from every Sunday, it has now reduced to once in a while. Unfortunately, it is still devastating but that is the nature of insurgencies.

So, it is not correct to say insecurity is not controlled. Insecurity has been seriously curtailed.

If you compare these figures of economic growth with rising unemployment and worsening poverty, can you justify your conclusion of sterling performance in the economy?

Social economy is a dynamic thing. Ten years ago, our population was not 165million.

Ten years ago, our intake to schools and universities and graduates that are coming out are not the same. Nigeria grows at an average birth rate of about 3-3.5% per annum.

What am I trying to tell you?

That means in ten years, we are increasing by about 35%.

So, if you say that ten years ago, we were about 140million, or graduate production was say, 100,000; today, it is a different thing, that means it is 135,000. There is a dynamism, things are not static and we are coming from an economy that was moribund, that was not working, so, there is bound to appear some increase. It is a false increase, it is an increase that is brought about from years of malfunctioning of the system.

As far as this administration is concerned, this government is doing a lot in terms of generation of employment. Let me also tell you, it is not something that is extremely desirable, youth unemployment today is almost a global phenomenon because whether you like it or not, most economies in the world are just emerging and they have not even really reached there yet. I heard the IMF President, Christiane Largarde said recently that the world is in a situation of economic transition. We

When you come to the economy, it is something that one has to be proud of that we have one of the highest growth rates in the world; I think we are second or third to China and maybe another country

are not there yet, Nigeria cannot be different but I can say that we are different in the sense that we are doing better than most African countries.

Our growth rate is better than Japan, America, Britain, and if you also now look at our debt to GDP ratio, is definitely better than any of those, including South Africa. We are not near them at all, we are doing much better, all we need in this country is to follow the leader, support the government. For the first time we have a government that is visionary, that has set for itself goals and it is achieving them.

We just need some degree of patience; we are going to get there.

You have tried to put the security situation front in perspective, can you also do that for this other related security issue of oil theft?

Oil theft is another major challenge that this administration is facing. The dimension at which it is now is something surely worrisome but that too is being tackled. If you look at it, it is a complex

interplay. I was at Chatham House some two weeks ago because they wrote a report on oil theft in Nigeria. I met the editor of that write-up and they themselves explained that it is such a complex thing that it will require the cooperation of both the local authorities, the business community and the western world.

It is not just a Nigerian affair.

But I believe that government is challenging it, I am aware.

I saw the M.D. of the NNPC the other day, saying that they have acquired about twentythree vessels to combat this.

The Navy, also have acquired some vessels and on a daily basis, oil thieves are being caught. It is another challenge but we will

*Okupe ... Oil theft is a major challenge

get over it. It is a very serious challenge, I am not undermining it and we are going to get over it.

Are you aware of the perception that that problem has been made even more complex by the fact that there has been a kind of lack of will on the part of the president because of maybe where it is happening?

There are various sentiments in Nigeria. We have in Nigeria a very powerful and vociferous opposition who will hang anything on the President. If the wind is not blowing on Bar Beach, it must have been caused by some policies that Jonathan did or did not do. We have just given you a catalog of the achievements of this administration under the leadership of this gentleman.

This obviously is a man that is desirous of achieving results. How can you achieve results without money? This is something that I know personally that bleeds his heart. You set for yourself goals that you want to achieve and you have been doing so well, now, this phenomenon crops in and they say there is lack of will. Which will? Is it the will to perform or the will to harm yourself and your name? This is a Nigerian syndrome and we are so used to it that we are unperturbed and undisturbed by such innuendoes. The president is focused, he will deliver what he says he will deliver and I am sure that like Boko Haram, like insurgency, this issue of oil theft will also be dealt

with.

Do you feel that the administration is fulfilling the promises made by the president?

I am so proud of being part and parcel of this administration and when I say that, I say it with all sense of responsibility. I have been around for a while, I have been in the political scene for over thirty years. I have been around corridors of power for some decades and I am telling you that this is still the best of times in my own assessment.

On the National Dialogue the president is organising, I was wondering, what is the imperative of this undertaking at a time when he has so much on his plate and General Election is just another year away?

That is what I hate to hear, that election is just another year away. Does Nigeria exist just because of election? Was Nigeria amalgamated in 1914 because an election was coming? What is the purpose of conducting an election and putting people in offices and they are unable to perform or that the system works against them. How can people perform when the elites have not united or agreed to be a nation? This is just the desperate ploy of politicians who think that all that is important is to do an election, to win an office, whether I am able to perform or not, if I am able to get some money, good luck to me.

Nigeria is much more than that. The interest of Nigeria is by far more than the political process itself and it is almost a devilish proposition for people to say that when an election is just around the corner, what election? The situation in the country today is so lopsided and people continue to clamor.

We cannot move no matter the intention, no matter the zeal of the leader, if we are not in whole. A car that the back tire is not there, the boot is falling, whether the engine is good or not, can that car move? The car cannot move no matter the dexterity of the driver or the perfection of the engine with which it is working. The various parts of this country today, it is only the greatest liar of all time who will say that most parts of the country today are okay. They are not. So, the issue of election has nothing to do with the confab and there is no better time than now to have this confab.

Let us dialogue, let us see how far we can go. Rome was not built in a day. Maybe this confab will move us so far. We are moving. A nation has an indeterminate lifetime. Nigeria is not going to end tomorrow or in 2015. Do not listen to these politicians who tell you election is just next tear as if 2015 is the most important year. 2015 will come and go just like 1999 came and went, just like 1960 came and went.

However, Nigeria must remain, but we are concerned about what type of Nigeria we allow to remain for our people.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 39

.... CRIME AND NATIONAL SECURITY

BOKO HARAM ATTACKS ON CIVILIAN TARGETS

Army plans more pre-emptive pre-emptive strikes

By KINGSLEY OMONOBI, Abuja

F

OLLOWING the May 14 declara tion of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States by President Goodluck Jonathan and the deployment of special teams of the armed forces, the police and the Department of State Security Service, DSS, to quell what clearly was an attempt to breach the territorial integrity of the nation, the long traumatized people of the Northeast can now heave a sigh of relief.

The plan of the Boko Haram Islamist group, as intelligence has shown lately, was to launch a jihadist type invasion on the North, impose Islamic law and customs and subsequently divide the country.

The sect had captured and was controlling about thirteen local governments across the three states, hoisted its flags and collecting tax as shown by intelligence materials about its activities over a period of time.

In the bid to sustain plot and expand its frontiers, it acquired such sophisticated weapons like IEDs making devices, AK 47 rifles, GPMGs, anti-aircraft guns and long range surface to air guns while several training camps like those of Sambisa and Gwoza forests became headquarters of its operations, recruitment and training.

Emboldened by the fear its activities created in the minds of the people, it embarked on a raiding spree of banks and financial institutions in the three states for cash; police stations, military checkpoints, customs and immigration offices where arms and ammunition were carted away after killing officers on duty.

As a result of the military onslaught that dislodged its camps and training bases, the erstwhile JTF operation was taken over by the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army which has so far taken the battle to the grassroots where it is hurting the insurgents the most.

To fight back, the insurgents have resulted to sporadic asymmetric attacks on certain soft targets like schools, places of worship, markets and village squares among others to paint a picture of relevance.

As a way of working to curtail the new tactic of launching isolated attacks on soft targets to try to feign relevance, the army authorities recently deployed additional troops that were recalled from the peace support operations in Mali to join the internal security operations.

In fact the international community recently came to terms with the magnitude of the atrocities committed and the mass murder perpetrated by

*Troops combing the North-east for insurgents

To fight back, the insurgents have resulted to sporadic asymmetric attacks on certain soft targets like schools, places of worship, markets and village squares among others to paint a picture of relevance

the Boko Haram insurgents on innocent and harmless civilians when the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted the group as a murderous terrorist organization saying its leaders and members will face charges of crime against humanity if arrested.

And in its continued bid to inspire confidence and puncture the ploy of the insurgents,, the army has come out to explain that the recent upsurge in Boko Haram attacks on civilian targets in Borno and Yobe states were ploys to show relevance since the various Special Operations Battalion, opened up in the nooks and crannies of the North-east, have restricted the freedom with which they attacked government assets, security establishments and places of worship.

Speaking against the backdrop of the insurgents still attacking and killing people in spite of the heavy deployment of troops to the area, Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru, said, “We must understand that the insurgents are not a static group that you can wipe out in one operation. They are highly fluid, mobile and troops react at any point they attack.

“We should note that in as much as

troops are determined and are on the trail of these terrorists, there is no silver bullet panacea to stop insurgency anywhere in the world.

“The truth is that we have opened up a lot of Special Operations Battalions in the North-east, which is why the insurgents are going for civilians and soft targets. Through these battalions, the military have restricted their attacks on their primary targets and there is collaboration among security agencies in this regard”.

Recalling that on October 19, 2013, some insurgents using rocket propelled grenades and AK47 rifles fired into Gamboru-Ngala, Attahiru said, “Troops deployed at that location promptly engaged the terrorists. In the ensuing fire fight, a couple of the terrorists were killed, as others fled into Fotokol in Cameroon. The Cameroon authorities were promptly intimated of the development. ”On October 20, 2013, information from our Special Operations Battalions indicated that a group of insurgents mounted a snap road block along Dikwa-Gamboru Ngala road axis, thereby waylaying peasants shooting them. “A vehicle conveying food stuff was seized and four civilians were killed while two others were injured.

Similarly, two privately owned fuel tankers were set ablaze. Troops from the SOB pursued the attackers and five were killed”.

Commenting on the fact that many of the insurgents run across the border after wreaking havoc, Attahiru noted that at the appropriate government levels, steps were being taken to address that challenge pointing out that the recent onslaught against the sect in Cameroon was a consequence of cooperation and intelligence sharing.

E xpatiating on the planned re cruitment of 9, 000 soldiers by the Nigerian Army, he said, “First of all, recruitment is a normal process in the service. With or without insurgency, we recruit personnel. However, the insurgency means we must up our game. Also, the fact that we are now in the UN Security Council means we may be much more involved in peacekeeping operations”.

On the allegation that soldiers drafted

into the Boko Haram epicentre of battle from Mali to Borno were short-changed by as much as N320, 000 per soldier, Attahiru said, “The information is a product of a gross distortion of facts by a few disgruntled soldiers and some mischievous elements of the media. ”For the avoidance of doubt, troops of 333 artillery regiment were rotated from MINUSMA Peace Keeping Mission in Mali in May 2013. This was occasioned by a patriotic call to duty based on heightened security situation in the North-east.

It is to be noted that elements of the unit are currently in Mali, as an attempt to withdraw totally from the mission area would have created a void which may need to be filled by other troops contributing countries. ”As at the time of their withdrawal, troops were fully paid all their subsistence allowances while operational allowances were to be paid to them and the authorities had fully debriefed the unit, taking into consideration the outstanding operations allowance accruing to all troops of the unit.

“Suffice it to mention that troops were fully briefed as to when the full payment will be effected. However, few mischievous elements working in tandem with some online media chose through deliberate falsehood to misinform the public”.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that it was in a bid to pre-empt and stop further attacks and killing of civilians, that the General Officer Commanding 7 Division, Major General Obida Ethnan, acting on intelligence reports, ordered the Special Operations Battalion in Damaturu to attack and destroy the Boko Haram camps in Galangi and Limanti villages in Kapa local government area of Borno State.

It was however not a tea party as the insurgents tried to fight back in a coordinated manner but met a well prepared and organized bunch in the Nigerian Army supported by air force helicopter gunships. At the end of hostilities, over 100 insurgents met there waterloo.

To prevent innocent civilian casualties running into stray bullets in the current strategy of going after the insurgents in their local hideouts, the army authorities imposed a 24 hour curfew in Yobe state.

There appears to be success recorded by the Nigerian defence forces.

PAGE 40— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

.... CRIME AND NATIONAL SECURITY

By EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, SouthSouth & FESTUS AHON

T

HE anxiety, in Uwheru community, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, on Wednesday, October 23, when Sunday Vanguard visited, was palpable. Apart from some residents, who still went about their business with foreboding, many residents had fled the town.

Some months ago, it was rampaging Fulani herdsmen that scared the daylight out of Uwheru residents, but, this time, the air of insecurity is from within.

TROUBLE IN DELTA COMMUNITY:

One dead, Commissioner stabbed, 12 houses destroyed *Victims recount nightmares * Police clash over take-over of suspects

Internal warfare

Soldiers patrol

By Wednesday night, a source said military men were deployed in the community following a report that some persons planned to cause further mayhem.

Our source said, “Soldiers patrolled the community on Wednesday night, but I do not know what is happening there as I am speaking to you today (Thursday)”.

Fresh attack

On Friday, six days after the October 19 invasion, an armed gang struck again, injuring four persons, Julius Inyevwe, Moto Onyo, Arire Ajinome and Lucky.

Police Area Commander, Ughelli, Mr. Awotunde Aworisola, confirmed that the victims were rushed to the

* Vehicle (l) and house vandalised during crisis Central Hospital, Ughelli, saying policemen had been deployed to the community and the situation was under control.

Power struggle

The principal actors in the power game that had drawn blood also want to install the president general of the community.

The protracted political leadership struggle in the community assumed a nerveracking dimension, September 7, when Commissioner Muoboghare was stabbed by irate youths at the Ughelli North Local Government Area secretariat of the People’s

,

Some influential sons of the community, embroiled in a fierce struggle for power, had resorted to lawlessness, stabbing the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof Patrick Muoboghare, last month, killing Mr. George Imiti, the brother of a councilor, vandalizing houses and property, in a chain of events that has made the community volatile.

Among the belongings destroyed by some mercenaries allegedly working for one of the camps were a house and Toyota Corolla car belonging to Mr. Pioneer Ogagamuero, PDP chairman in Uwheru ward, house and property of a councilor, Hon. Festus Orumana, and the house of Mr. Julius Inyevwe, his mother’s house and a beer parlour.

Also destroyed was a house belonging to Obukowho Ekpewru, house and beer parlor of Ogboru Egbine, Akperi Ikpepu’s house and property of Onyo Imoto, Ifi Paul, Wilson Umukoro, provision store of Margaret Ogbe and two houses/beer parlor of Boga Isaac Ogbe.

How I escaped death - PDP chair Recounting his ordeal to Sunday Vanguard in his hiding place, Ogagamuero, Uwheru PDP chair, said he was in his house in Erovie quarters of the community when he saw a group of persons coming tin his direction.

“I had to hide myself in a plantain plantation and, with the help of the security light that was on, I was able recognize some of them. They asked about my whereabouts from my wife and elder brother and they told them that I was not at home.

They now said somebody told

They came in two cars with their number plates covered. I did not know if police officers were among them. My Toyota Corolla car that I parked outside my house was vandalized. Some of the louvers in my house were smashed. The attackers they were carrying AK 47 rifles

Democratic Party, PDP, over a supposed plot to alter the Uwheru ward executive list, said to have been from Abuja.

Mr. Clement Osieta, Special Adviser to Delta State Governor on Community Relations, who lost his job subsequently, was fingered as the mastermind of the attack on the Commissioner, which he denied.

But the problem exacerbated, October 19, after what was described as a nocturnal counter- attack on the supporters of Osieta, allegedly orchestrated by a rival group.

,

them that I was in and they asked my wife to open the door, which she did not oblige. They forced the door open and searched my house but they did not see me”, he said.

“They destroyed all my property and took away N100, 000, which I gave to my wife to keep. They also took away my compact disc. My brother asked them why they were looking for me and they called the name of the person that sent them, saying I was among those that assaulted him the day they went for congress.

“They came in two cars with

their plate numbers covered. I did not know if police officers were among them. My Toyota Corolla car that I parked outside my house was vandalized. Some of the louvers in my house were smashed and they were carrying AK 47 rifles with pump action. They were like assassins because they were not with police officers.

“Immediately they left, I heard announcements that anybody that is a follower of Osieta should leave the community, and that the person who sent them gave them authority to kill anyone of them found around. My wife and children ran away and I managed to leave the community”.

They murdered my brother - Orumana Another victim, Hon Festus Orumana, Transition Committee member of the Ughelli North Local Government Council, said he was not at home when the incident occurred. He said he heard that a politician sent some group of persons to “ vandalize my father ’s compound and this group of persons earlier murdered my brother, Imiti George Ebruphiyor.”

Mrs. Regina Inyevwe , also a victim, said he had closed from her shop where she sells assorted drinks when, at about 1 am, she heard gunshots and some persons singing war songs towards her residence.

“After sometime, I heard a noise as if they were breaking a window. They later came to

my apartment and broke my door and went away. Later, my brother came to my place to say they destroyed my drinking parlor and my mother in-law’s doors. Property worth about N300, 000 were destroyed in my shop. My husband, Julius, is a follower of Osieta,” she said.

They destroyed everything in my guest house – Ogbe Isaac Ogbe, alias Boge, a victim, said, “On 19th October, 2013, I opened my guest house, and invited guests. The celebration was on with my guests drinking and dancing when, at about 2am, we started hearing gun shots. After sometime, a large crowd of persons came out of the other side of the road, heavily armed with guns, cutlasses and battle axes.

“They were still shooting when they got to my guest house and my guests started to run away. Immediately, they started destroying everything.

I suspect that two of the persons that came with the boys were police officers and one of them alleged that I was among those who attacked a politician and they started beating me.

“Being the first day I opened the guest house, I could not withstand the destruction of my properties and I said the best thing for me to do was to die.

They were many boys among them but I could recognize a few of them.

“The person I suspected is a policeman now told me that if he got someone who could

Continues on page 41

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 41

.... CRIME AND NATIONAL SECURITY

C

omrade Victor Akinola, Director, ICT, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Lagos, was a senior lecturer and former National Publicity Secretar y, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU). A social critic and public affairs analyst, Akinola bares his mind on insecurity, the Boko Haram insurgency and the leadership question in the country.

Why are there still killings in the country after declaration of emergency rule by President Goodluck Jonathan?

The state of emergency seemed not working absolutely because the states affected – Yobe, Borno and Adamawa – are not really under emergency rule as we saw it in the 1960s when emergency rule was declared in the old Western Region, and also when former President Oluegun declared a state of emergency in some states during his tenure.

This time around, some basic things were not done as the governors are left in office.

However, we all know that the governors of the states where Boko Haram operates, killing people, bombing and so on were not able to handle the problem effectively, hence the declaration of emergency rule.

What do you think should have been done in the first place?

The first thing would have been to remove the governors, and bring in

‘Why emergency rule in N-East seems not to be working’

,

By EMMANUEL EDUKUGHO

Nigeria must show concern for the welfare of the people. We should have better roads, good medicare, jobs, efficient power supply, security, adequate housing, cheap food, etc.

,

people without interest in the social millieu of that problem.

It is time that the nation should work critically on the welfare of the people. This will ensure the general good of the nation – social, economic, political and cultural tolerance and accommodation.

Partisan politics may be okay but it is horrible to say the least. Everything is criticised because you want to wrest political power. It is not good for us as a nation. We should learn to tolerate each other and share common aspiration.

We must try to avoid violence in settling issues.

We have seen that violence has not eased despite the military operation. How long would this continue?

It shows that the problem is in the structure. We should have a total re-engineering of

*Comrade Victor Akinola the structure. For now, the structure is tolerant to the perpetrators of violence.

Anything you are bringing should be completely different from what is currently on the ground.

Nigeria must show concern for the welfare of the people.

We should have better roads, good medicare, jobs, efficient power supply, security, adequate housing, cheap food, etc.

Government has to devote attention the well-being and welfare of the citizens and endeavour to make people become their brothers keepers. With this, we will have respect for human lives, respect for ourselves, respect for government and respect for law and order.

We must be humane in our dealings with one another. If

effective security is not in place, it is because of corruption. Most of the governors have reportedly put the security vote into their, private pockets.

Some get over N60m monthly as security vote. And most of them don’t spend the security vote for the purpose meant for. Rather, they lodge the money in their foreign accounts, go to

Dubai on shopping spree.

And because of the process through which leaders are elected in Nigeria, it will be difficult to have a crop of patriotic, honest and sincere leaders.

In other words, the situation hopeless.

I don’t want to think so. But love for the nation or people, welfare of the citizens, security of lives and properties are not there.

Military rule went so deep that it has now affected our democracy.

We don’t have tr ue democracy yet. Over 70% of the nation’s budget is spent on recurrent expenditure.

This is not healthy for a developing country. Wrong and right are clearly different.

Even the academics are not helping the situation.

Legislators are given constituency allowances that are not accounted for.

The Boko Haram problem and other social violence are derived from bad governance and leadership style over the years because Nigeria had been run with poor sense of community service. People are deprived of their rights. There is lack of moderation. Instead of politics for the welfare of people, it’s politics for the bourgeosie.

No patriotism.

Politics is built around persons in power only who enjoy security. Nigeria is blessed with huge resources but mismanaged.

The Boko Haram sect may be aggrieved by this situation, hence the violence unleashed in some parts of the North.

If there had been social justice, welfarism, maybe the ethnic, religious conflicts won’t happen. If the citizens are well catered for, we won’t have sub-standard people.

Government has failed to integrate the people everywhere. People are not taken care of. So any small money can induce them to forment trouble.

Corruption is widespread among the political leadership. Contracts are given to politicians who sub let them to the actual contractors after taking 50% of the cost upfront.

What is your parting shot?

Government should administer the country with love and not embezzle public funds. Our should be more accommodating, selfless and committed to the welfare of citizens.

One dead, Commissioner stabbed, 1 2 houses destr oyed 12 destro Continued from page 40 testify that I was among those who attacked the politician, I would be arrested. They called one Mitaire Aragba, younger brother of Hon. Igho Arhagba, who with one Okaro Umukoro said I was not among those who attacked the politician”, Ogbe said.

“I then asked them the reason they were destroying my property and they told me it was because I am an in-law to Hon Clement Osieta, because he is having an affair with my sister. They also said another reason was that I voted for APC in the last Senate bye -election and one of them , Akpobome, hit me with a battle axe.”

“Property worth N687, 000 were destroyed and they also made away with N67,000 that

was with my wife. They stole the handsets of those that were with me and also destroyed the musical instruments of the DJ”.

They stole my N800, 000 - Market woman

Another victim, Mrs. Meg Ogbe, said, “I was sleeping in my house in our family compound when they got to my place at about 2am shooting and destroying all the windows in the compound. They also went to my store in the compound hitting the door violently and I went out with my daughter through the back door thinking they were armed robbers.”

“Later, I noticed that some of them were boys of a big man in the community. They were carrying guns and cutlasses and they destroyed everything.

They also took away N800,000 market day meeting money that was given to me to keep as well as all the money from my sales that day.”

Mrs. Ogbe said the villagers know the person that sent the boys to carry out the attack, adding, “but, I don’t have any problem with him. That is why I am calling on government to look into this matter and punish those who came to attack us. I am also calling on government to help me by assisting me with the money that was stolen.”

Investigation

It was gathered that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, ordered investigation into the attack on the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education and some persons were arrested. A

senior police officer confirmed: “We have completed investigations into the attack and the suspects charged to court.”

He, however, said that there was a petition to the Commissioner over the killing of one George Imiti, which he ordered the State Investigation Bureau, SIB, to carry out a preliminary investigation and report back to him.

Clash over takeover of suspects

While Aduba was abroad on official assignment, a police team from Abuja reportedly came to take over investigation of the matter following a petition to the IGP by the complainant against the manner the police in the state were handling the murder.

It was gathered that about four persons were arrested by the Special Investigation Bureau, SIB, in connection with Ithe murder and five others by the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS. A source said the suspects detained by SIB and SARS in Asaba and their case files were handed over to the Abuja team following a signal and directive to the state command from the office of Deputy Inspector General of Police, SCID. The Abuja team detained the suspects afresh at the SCID, Asaba, but a senior police officer explained to Sunday Vanguard that the standing directive of the IGP was that Delta State Police Command should carry out full investigation into the matter.

PAGE 42— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE IMBROGLIO

Between Gov Oshiomhole and Col Nyiam *The imperatives of resource control, by South-south leaders

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

T

he South -south sitting of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference/Dialogue, held on Monday in Benin-City, Edo State, has come and gone but its ripples will probably continue reverberate long after the event. What will likely be remembered most was the unruly behaviour of one of the committee members whose action almost disrupted an exercise meant to seek the input of Nigerians in the search for a system that will be agreeable to everyone in a nation touted as the giant of Africa.

With the age- long agitation for resource control by the people of the Niger Delta and other germane issues resurfacing at the conference when members of the Senator Femi Okurounmu-led committee took time to collate opinions from the zone, the mid-session outburst by Col Tony Nyiam (rtd), nearly put a clog in the wheel of the exercise. However, who is who in the Niger Delta attended the pre-confab meeting. The leaders include Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, the Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, Senator Francis Okpozo, Chief Diette Spiff, Maj.Gen. Patrick Aziza, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, Barr Edward Ekpoko (Itsekiri leader), Rear Admiral Peter Eluma, Chief Benjamin Elue, Chief Clark Gbenewei, Chief Dennis Oturo, former Governor Diepreye Alamesiegha, Chief Emmanuel Okumagba and Comrade Paul Bebenimibo.

Return of oil and gas resources

op of the submissions made T by oil and gas producing communities in 10 states of the country included demand for total control of their oil and gas resources. The states are Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Abia, Imo and Anambra. In their memoranda submitted to the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, they said:”It is pertinent to emphasize that, we the oil and gas producing communities of Nigeria want to have total control of the oil and gas resources found in our lands and rivers. We stand for total resource control in any form and structure of government, parliamentary, presidential or regional government which Nigerians may eventually adopt. The Federal Government of Nigeria and Nigerians have been most insensitive to the agitation of the oil and gas producing communities to have

Col Tony Nyiam Governor Adams Oshiomhole

As much as I wish you well, I just want to say that I have no faith in this process and I do not think it was necessary at all control in the management and use of the oil and gas resources”. The oil and gas producing communities traced their three decades struggles which led to the 13 percent derivation provision in the Constitution, but lamented that the Federal Government was paying the derivation fund to the producing state governments to the exclusion of the actual oil and gas producing communities in violation of two mandatory provisions of the 1999 Constitution, Section 162(2) and the principle of separation of powers”. For 13 years now, the

Federal Government, in collaboration with the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the Federal Ministry of Finance, has continued to pay 13 percent derivation fund to the state governments, leaving the actual oil and gas producing communities who are the legitimate and exclusive beneficiaries of the 13 percent derivation fund in ravaging poverty, hunger and penury”, the oil producing communities said.

They alluded to the United States of America from where Nigeria copied its presidential system of government and said what obtains there was strict adherence to fiscal federalism, where the owners are allowed to manage and exploit their resources and pay taxes to the central government. ”We in Nigeria, the oil and gas producing communities, want to seize this opportunity of the National Dialogue offer to ask for the return of our oil and gas resources to the original owners so that we can exploit, manage our resources and pay tax to the Federal Government”, they said. The Isoko Consultative Forum(ICF), in its memorandum, backed total resource control for oil and gas producing communities. It also demanded for the creation of two additional local governments for the Isoko people.

Others who submitted memoranda include the Ijaw National Council, Urhobo Progress Union, Benin Forum, Ijaws of Gbaramatu, Itsekiri

Leaders of Thought, Isoko Development Union and Midwest Consultative Forum. While the ethnic groups agreed that state governors should not be allowed to nominate delegates for the conference, the representatives from Bayelsa State argued that governors must be allowed to select delegates since they will still be the ones to sponsor the delegates for the conference. There was a rowdy session when a second Ijaw group, Ijaws from Gbaramatu Kingdom, was called to make its presentation after the Ijaw National Council submitted its memoranda. Other ethnic nationalities protested, arguing that the committee members were accommodating all Ijaw groups with many linking what appeared successive permission for presentation by the Ijaw groups to the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan is from the area. The protest, led to a facesaving submission by the next Ijaw speaker who, after mounting the podium, said he agreed with the earlier submission by the Ijaw National Council.

‘No faith in this process’

hile different groups W were making their presentations, Governor

Oshiomhole walked into the hall at about 3pm and members of the high table arranged a seat for him. The governor sat for about 15 minutes and there was signal that the governor was to leave the hall shortly to

attend other state matters.

Committee chairman, Senator Okunrounmu, told the audience the comrade governor will be allowed to make his contribution before leaving. Oshiomhole, in the course of his presentation, expressed doubt about the success of the whole excercise, asserting that it might be another waste of public resources. The governor, who made it clear that he was only expressing his personal opinion like any other Nigerian including those that had spoken before him, said, the lack of an agenda for the National Dialogue presupposes it will lead no where. He said: ““I will be surprised if anything changes. Sincerely, I have no business to deceive or mislead anyone. I believe that the outcome of this conference will not be different from that of other conferences we have had in the past. All I owe Nigeria now is to speak my mind. It could be error of my head but certainly not of my heart. As much as I wish you well, I just want to say that I have no faith in this process and I do not think it was necessary at all. I am unable to find any basis to give me some illusion that this exercise will not be different from the others. And I honestly think that in terms of the private sector, when a country keeps debating how we can live together that cannot be one of the basis on which the outside community will invest in Nigeria. They may well wait until we know how we want to live in Nigeria”.

He lamented that 53 years after independence, Nigerians still prefer to look at themselves from their ethnic origin rather than being Nigerians, saying, “For me, I am just a Nigerian. I do not think that more than hundred years when we have set aside billions of naira to celebrate centenary celebrating the fact of our amalgamation of the North and South of Nigeria, and we have lived together as one country for over a hundred years, and we have gone through independence, we have been free for 53 years and we are coming back to ask the question, how could we be there? I think Nigeria needs to address very serious issues.

“When I see eminent Nigerians discussing this issue, I am sure they know that Nigeria’s problem is not this politics of sharing, which the National Dialogue is all about, who is getting what, who has this natural endowment, who should do this or not do this. This is the act of perfecting poverty. The real challenge is getting Nigeria back to production.

Continues on page 43

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 43

Be tw een Go Betw tween Govv Oshiomhole and Col Nyiam

me”.

Continued from page 42

ut countering his state B ment the state government in a statement signed by the

The real challenge is creating industrial base and this cannot be resolved through conferences. We have moved from parliamentary system in our own wisdom to the presidential system. We have test-run it and it was aborted by the military and it has re-incarnated in the present form. Nigeria does need a serious reflection about how to return to those core values that made Nigeria work before.

Those healthy competition between the governments, visit the whole question of attitude and, unless that changes, I do not see how any dialogue can work”.

Abuses

ut while the governor was B still on his feet, one of the committee members at the high

table, Tony Nyiam, got up in an attempt to stop him from continuing with his presentation. He was simultaneously joined by some people in the crowd believed to be of Ijaw extraction. Nyiam was shouting at the top of his voice asking Oshiomhole to sit down, while the committee members made frantic effort to prevail on Nyiam to cease his outburst.

The governor stood bemused as he watched Nyiam point hands at him insisting that the former stop his address while Ijaw youths at the hall rained abuses on the governor. Shortly after, Oshiomhole left the hall and wished the committee well in its job.

Apology

ollowing the uproar, the F leadership of the committee apologized to the governor,

expressing disappointment with Nyiam’s action. According to a letter of apology, entitled “Dialogue Committee condemns unruly behaviour” it said: the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue wants to put it on record that we noted the sad incident at today’s (Monday’s) interactive session with Nigerians from the South-south held in Benin-City, Edo State. The committee wishes to state its unequivocal commitment and that of its members to the principles of democratic discourse. Although we take special exception to the unruly conduct of one of our members who joined the crowd in shouting down the Comrade Governor of Edo State, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, while he was giving his remarks, the session continued and ended peacefully.” The committee continued, in the letter dated October 28, 2013, “We want to emphasize that the committee will listen to all shades of opinions in the areas of its mandates and will not henceforth condone the kind of unacceptable behavior we witnessed in Benin-City. The committee wishes to express its sincere appreciation to the government and people of Edo State for providing support to the committee in its assignment

Dr Sani Indabawa, Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue (m), restraining Col Tony Nyiam at the Benin-City sitting

in the state.” Sunday Vanguard learnt that Nyiam resigned his membership that night following pressure from committee members but it was later learnt that he decided to seek an audience with the president before knowing what to do. It was gathered that his alleged resignation made him not to attend the sitting of the committee in Enugu.

Nyiam’s attitude elicited reactions from participants. An Ijaw leader Chief Dennis Otuaro, and Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, said Oshiomhole should not have attended the meeting since he earlier met with the committee members.

“The meeting was called for those who are ready for the conference not those who said it will not work. People came to submit memoranda and not to kick against the committee. Yes we shouted at the governor because we felt that he came to disrupt the meeting. What he meant was that we should not have sat there and we said no”, they said. But the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, Edo Youths and a former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, declared Nyiam’s action as disrespectful and called for his removal from the committee.

According to Esogban, “I want to call on the President to remove Nyiam because he almost set the whole place on fire. He misbehaved and we want to advise the president, if he wants to succeed, to replace such a person. If because he is a member of the committee and one cannot air his views, people cannot express their views freely due to his arrogance, it means he is not fit to partake in the business of this nature. His attitude almost destroyed the entire proceedings and it is shocking that such reaction came from a member of the committee”.

On his part, Oyegun said, “Those who initiated the conference, if they mean well

for our country, should know that this is an exercise with many contrary views. But if before we are even starting the conference, a member of the team is losing his cool and his balance, then it shows that those who initiated it don’t mean well and they have their own objective. Nyiam is not qualified to be a member of that committee and it is good he resigned”.

But while the governor was still on his feet, one of the committee members at the high table, Tony Nyiam, got up in an attempt to stop him from continuing with his presentation My grouse, by Nyiam

ut Nyiam, who defended his action, alleged that B Oshiomhole spoke with the

committee members as if they were kindergarten when they visited his office.

According to him, ‘’With that background, he now came to the venue after the Benin Development Forum spoke.

He came late and, after listening, he asked for intervention. He took the micro phone and then

decided to repeat the lecturing and treating people like students and castigating the Federal Government and more offensive to me is that he was talking down on the elders there that the idea of them coming together was a waste of time. One talking down on people is contrary to the philosophy of our people, we had former governor there, elders, traditional rulers. Second, when we are in an interactive session with the people, it is not for a governor to come and take over the stage and start grandstanding.

This is a governor that spoke for over 40 minutes when we were with him. This idea of governors trying to run down the President, a governor abusing the office of the President to make insinuations against the Presidency, to criticise peoples ability for self expression, is unacceptable. So when people started booing the governor, I went to the chairman to remind him about the rules of our committee and the chairman said we should give him chance to continue. He carried on with his derogatory remarks and it was at that point I then said no, not again. When I said that, his aides tried to come at me, but when I suspected that one was at my back I stood up, I sat down through out.

Not long after, a group of thugs came towards the table, it was then that the SSS people advised that my life was not safe and I was taken away for safety. The Director of SSS raised security around us, the Commissioner of Police came to see me and they brought security. The police drove us all through out of Edo State because of fear of attack. So contrary to what they said that I mobilized thugs, it is not true, it is Edo people that protected

‘Lack of respect’

Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Peter Okhiria, said: “We wonder when Col Nyiam became the president’s spokesman as to want to drag the president’s name into his shameful act. We are however not surprised, going by his antecedents. The Benin incident was just another manifestation of Nyiam’s lack of respect for constituted authority and his love for disunity.Even as an officer in such a disciplined profession as the Nigerian Army, Nyiam stood out like sore thumb and his naked ambition for power led to the death of many officers and men who owned up and faced the sentence for treason, but where was Nyiam?

He took to his heels rather than face the consequence for his action, like all cowards do.

Nyiam said Governor Adams Oshiomhole was “talking down on the people”. We wonder when airing one’s opinion or saying “I believe that the outcome of this conference will not be different from that of other conferences we have had in the past” means talking down on the people, Nyiam deserves our pity. He might still be hallucinating thinking he is an army officer who must be obeyed. We recognize that no military officer worth his salt would openly disagree with a superior or a Governor at a forum such as the one in Benin City. e find it interesting that Col Nyiam has exposed W the undercurrent motive of the

conference which has also confirmed Governor Oshiomhole’s initial fears about viability, necessity and desirability of same. In as much as we believe that Nigeria is in dire straits. The governor insists that a talkshop with no agenda is not necessary at this time”.

On its part, the Conference of Registered Political Parties (CRPP), in a statement by its chairman, Dr Samson Isibor, said Nyiam’s action was the height of executive rascalty and impunity that “has now become the other of the day in the PDP”.

Elder statesman, Senator Francis Okpozo, who was at the venue, also reacted. His words: “Both of them are our brothers but I believe that as the governor of a state, Nyiam is supposed to give him the respect to speak his mind”. The Africa Network for Environment and Economic, ANEEJ, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to sack and order the prosecution of Nyiam, for shouting down the governor. The ANEEJ statement, signed by its President, Rev David Ugolor, said it was sad that “such character was exhibited by a retired military officer who knows the sensitivity of the office of a governor”.

The Media Adviser to the Governor, Kaseem Afegbua said the state government will send a petition to President Jonathan.

PAGE 44— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

PDP CRISIS’ SPILLOVER TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Why people thought Reps wanted to impeach President Jonathan — Hon. Azubuike *We had challenges resolving Oyerinde murder, Capital Oil issues

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North, & Levinus Nwabughiogu

Hon. Charles Uzo Azubuike likely going to be because it is like a truth panel.

Can you mention some of the petitions you have handled and which one was most challenging to you and your members?

We have over 2,000 petitions pending. We have done over 300.

Many of them, of course, involve people in top positions and many of them arise from the impunity in the system; from inability of certain privileged people to know the difference between their persons and their offices and they would want to overreach themselves. We have had some challenging cases. One of them was the Oyerinde (slain aide to the Edo governor) case because it was controversial.

The SSS investigated the incident and arrived at a conclusion with a set of suspects; the police investigated the same matter and arrived at a conclusion with another set of suspects. And if you read the stories, both of them were detailed enough and could secure conviction in court. And a body of civil society groups now petitioned, complaining of incompetence and miscarriage of justice against the police. In that case, the police institution was on trial. And either at the beginning or midway, there was politics in it. We saw a situation where people wanted to take advantage of a criminal incident to overreact themselves politically. Of course, you will recall that that was the case where the Office of the Attorney-General confessed on national television because that

hearing was fully covered by the media, that it was confused. And for us it was a very sad comment that on a legal issue, the Office of AG will confess in public that they are confused. Well, that statement was made by the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution who came to represent the AG. The next morning, the AG wrote a two-

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His concerns for his job at the National Assembly stands tall.

And he appears unperturbed ventilating his feelings irrespective of how provocative they might be. F or For over one hour hour,, Hon. Charles Uzo Azubuike, a lawyer of 22 years standing, a former Deputy Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly and now now,, Chairman, House Committee on Public P etitions, speaks to Petitions, Sunday V anguar d in a no Vanguar anguard holds-bar r ed inter view view..

Amongst other controversial national issues, Azubuike says challenges threatening the unity of Nigeria make National Confab necessary.

Excerpts: Presiding over the House of Representatives Committee on Public P etitions must be Petitions risky due to very sensitive national issues you handle.

How comfortable are you doing this kind of job?

I feel happy to have been given the privilege to chair the House Committee on Public Petitions. The mandate of the Committee is to consider all petitions laid on the floor of the House and advise on the next step or the proper decision to make. In that circumstance, my role is investigative and advisory. Being investigative, from the onset, I and all members of the Committee conditioned our minds to be open in listening to all parties. We have no final say because our findings and recommendations are subject to the approval of the House of 360 members in the Committee of the whole. And if the findings and recommendations are not in line with the facts collected and collated from the investigative hearing, definitely, the logic will break and the House will reject the recommendations and that will be a kind of humiliation to the Committee. Knowing that, the Committee has a duty to make convincing recommendations that will come in form of recommendations, we have no choice that to be open, transparent, very forthright and objective. In such environment, we have not had experience of any threat of any sort from any body.

All parties that appear before us, before they leave, make what we call parting comments and all their comments always draw tears of joy from eyes They express satisfaction with our sense of justice, with our appreciation of issues and most times, before they leave, both parties already know what our recommendations are

Once you are able to identify and isolate the political influence in the matter, you come to terms with the facts. One happy thing about it is that the real murderers were in the net of the security agencies.

The problem now was how to separate them because the challenge was, who assassinated Oyerinde? And in the net they had people who all had evidence of murders previously. And you know, one crime leads unto another, one song leads unto another song and one friend another friend. This is how criminality flows. So, we were able to untie it. There was no need for the confusion in the Office of the AG because the Security Agencies Act is there. The Police Act is there.

And the agencies have their jurisdictions. In the first instance, whose primary duty is it to investigate a state crime? That is the issue. Then if you have the agency that has a key role to play, then other agencies have to collaborate and provide support.

You cannot have two of them working on the same pedestal. I ordered and within four days, there was that cooperation.

So, have the real murders been unmasked?

All of them are there. What brought the confusion was that one of the suspects confessed to the police that they did the murder at the instance of David Ugolor.

And police now started investigating on the theory of assassination instead of robbery

Once you are able to identify and isolate the political influence in the matter, you come to terms with the facts. One happy thing about it is that the real murderers were in the net of the security agencies

page letter I will call an apology for what the officer said dissociating himself from it and stating his position. In fact, he stated that he had initiated disciplinary proceedings against that officer. He said that the office of the AG could not be confused on legal issues. That will tell you how knotty that issue was. But if you had the privilege of listening to the police and SSS, you may not be able to run away from that blunder which the officer made.

So, it was the most knotty matter we ever had but its resolution was very simple.

Has it been resolved?

Well, my Committee has submitted a report to the House.

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but even the charge they had was robbery. The preliminary charge they brought to court and SSS on their own said, ‘look, it is not murder, it is robbery ’. So, that brought the twist on the side of the police. And the politics that came into it was that somebody now said, ‘okay’, in the police station where David Ugolor was detained, the entry of his detention predated the date of the incident and a gun one of them confessed that they used; in the police diary, that gun was registered before the date of the incident’. But that shows complicity in the stations because Ugolor was there (at the hearing) and confirmed he was never arrested and never detained

by the police before this date in connection with any other crime.

And therefore, it becomes a crime for anybody to go and claim that police released somebody in their custody to come and do the assassination and they took him back. The police were deceived by the confession of a criminal and the confession of a hypocrite. So, we recommended that the police should not rely on that confession. They should allow Ugolor to go but, if they have other facts implicating, they could go ahead and investigate and not rely on the confession of a criminal because even in law, the confession of a co-accused cannot convict another accused. It needs collaboration. That is how we untied that knotty matter.

We also had the Capital Oil controversy. That one came with its twists too. The respondents were Access Bank, Coscharis and Aig-Imuokuede. Aig-Imuokuede had dual personalities in that matter. He was Chair man, Presidential Task Force on Oil Subsidy and he was the Managing Director of Access Bank at the time Capital Oil took facility from Access Bank to go and procure petroleum products. So, he granted the loan and he was on the other side to stop payment for the product purportedly (quote) procured and also using the same opportunity to secure repayment of the loan secured - remember that what brought the matter before us was the seizure of all assets of Capital Oil. And in Nigeria , there will always be pressure. That was a great challenge. I had pressure from every where, from even the members of my Committee who didn’t believe it was possible for you to handle such a matter without making profit. And I said I will not have anything to do with any of the parties. I will not even read their briefs and that is my procedure in my Committee. I don’t read the briefs they submit before coming for hearing. We stay there, you present the matter; I will ask my foolish questions along with other people and everybody will know that you didn’t know anything about it. By the time I am convinced and the other people are also convinced on where the case is going. The result is that many of the cases; we just report to the House for formality, the parties stay there and reconcile. Sometimes, you see a party will get up and weep and apologize to the person he petitioned against right before us because the truth has come out to

Continues on page 45

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 45

APC will gain in the S-East from Okorocha’s achievements — Nick Oparandudu These are things people never really experienced in this part of the country, and it’s unlikely that people will see all these and look in another direction. So for anybody to upstage this government, you must provide a superior proposition and I don’t think the opposition is in a position to do this.

BY MIKE EBONUGWO

Mr. Nick Oparandudu was the Commissioner for Works and Transport in the dissolved cabinet of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, but made a return when the cabinet was reconstituted. In this interview, he argues that although his principal, elected on the platform of APGA has moved with his supporters to the newly registered APC, this will not hurt his political clout and fortune in the state because, when the chips are down, his achievements and the tremendous support he enjoys among the people will speak for him.

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Mr. Nick Oparandudu governor who has made all these possible. I believe that in the coming elections, Governor Okorocha will run clearly and completely on his own credentials; on the basis of his own performance and what we have seen. And those who think it is yet time to talk about ethnicity and religion will all be disappointed in the sense that Imo people have seen what he has achieved and what he can do. I think that is what will count.

Having said so, I have no doubt in my mind that His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha would succeed or the APC as a party would succeed in Imo State based on what people have seen; the infrastructure that have been provided, the free education in place. I mean, that will be the basis for the next election. I don’t think Imo people will easily forget or ignore a government that has literally transformed the rural areas, provided a network of roads, unsurpassed in that part of the country. The government

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OCHAS Okorocha won an election to become the governor of Imo State on the platform of APGA. But today he is an All Progressive Congress governor, the only one in the South-east.

What does this transition portend for him and his party in Imo State given the prevailing sentiment in the South-east that the APC is essentially a Southwest-cum-North-west dominated party?

I think the most important thing is that over the past two years, regardless of what anybody says, including those in the opposition, one thing that is gradually being acknowledged is the fact that Gov Okorocha has raised the bar of governance in Imo State. In terms of delivering democracy dividends, he has done more than his predecessors.

And having said so, and I believe Imo people are no fools, it will be most unlikely for them to see what he has achieved in terms of infrastructure provisions, in terms of the schools that are being built, in terms of the hospitals that are being built, and so on and so forth....and they now begin to talk about anything different from the party and the

This is the only governor in the Southeast of Nigeria who has done a lot in terms of protecting the interest of Igbos outside Igboland.

Yes, sentiments have some roles to play in politics.

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that has provided new schools and hospital, free education and so on. A government that has been able for the first time in the history of Imo State cleared the pension arrears. And has up to date remained current in the payment of salaries and entitlements of civil servants.

How do you deal with the sentiment that the APC cannot protect the interest of Imo or Igbo people?

I will agree that sentiments play a role. But at the end of the day, the people are looking at deliverables in the governance process. And what we’re saying is that given the experience of Imo people in the past 14 years, given what the first administration did in eight years, the next one did in four years and what has been done by this administration in two years plus, it’s very unlikely that such sentiments will hold in Imo State.

For instance, if you take the average woman in the village, a widow or the poor civil servant or the poor trader or teacher who have four children in Imo State University, it means that this government is subsidising their livelihood to the tune of N400,000 because every student of Imo State University is on free education.

I hear some people quarrel about the style of my principal.

But when it comes to delivering concrete dividends of democracy...what touches the people: free education, good roads, schools, hospitals, I don’t think anyone can fault him. I can tell you Imo people are no fools, they are very intelligent; they know where their interests lie.

And I can assure you that in the fullness of time and when 2015 comes, it’s very likely they will want to continue with the good thing they have already experienced.

There were criticisms from some quarters directed at Okorocha for failing to speak out during the Igbo deportation saga. Don’t you think this will hurt him politically?

If you’re talking about the public position, I don’t know what his excellency may have done. But at the point this thing was happening, he was outside the country. The fact that you didn’t hear him say something openly or publicly does not mean that he did not take a position on the matter. In any case, this is the only governor in the South-east of Nigeria who has done a lot in terms of protecting the interest of Igbos outside Igboland.

Yes, sentiments have some roles to play in politics. But I think at the end of the day reason will take precedence. You talk about deportation of Igbos from Lagos.

I think it was a crisis that was contrived to mislead through the handling of the matter. So, it was a matter that was badly handled.

There’s no reason for Igbos and Yorubas to be enemies. I stayed in Lagos for a very long time. And I count as my friend several Yorubas and I know there are many Yorubas who count Igbos as their friends. I think beyond everything we should not fan the embers of ethnicity because those things will do us no good. At the end of the day we’re the same people, one people.

Some of these people who spoke on the matter refused to complain not too long ago when a governor in Abia State expelled all non-Abia citizens from the civil service of the state . It also happened in Enugu some years back when the governor expelled all non-Enugu citizens from the civil service of the state. But the point I want make is that the governor of Imo State remains resolutely interested in the cause of Igbos wherever they are. When the Ladipo Market incident happened, he intervened. There was even a case involving Igbo pharmaceutical traders in Kano; he had to go to Kano to intervene.

All these helped to calm down frayed nerves.

‘We had challenges resolving Oyerinde murder, Capital Oil issues’ Continued from page 44 to the table. We are not technical in our approach. You may be talking and you say something that is not correct, we stop you the way we do it in our native place and the truth will be on the table. Two weeks ago, it was the SSS that dismissed wrongfully their staff. They came for the hearing because SSS is a very disciplined organization and the security agencies we have in Nigeria have respect for democracy. I want to tell you that they cooperate more with us than the people even in political offices. As the SSS was coming for the hearing, they came with a letter reinstating the man they sacked. A man from Cross River cried because he was in court for over 20 years with FCDA and he now came here. FCDA is a regular respondent before us and each time they come, they come prepared and when that one came they knew they had no answer to the man’s petitions, they came with alternative allocation because they revoked his land

without due process but for public interest. So, they came there with a replacement which was higher in value, bigger in size and the man never believed that such is possible. We make sure that the lowly placed is not oppressed. We also make sure that the lowly placed does not abuse the privilege of having the men of prominence embark on an engagement with them.

Let’s take you to some other contemporary issues. At the peak of the PDP crisis which, of course, spread to the House, speculations were rife that Speaker Tambuwal on one plank would be impeached. On the other plank, it was the President Goodluck Jonathan.

We understand you are close to the House leadership. Was there a time such a thing came up in the House?

These were speculations by people who wanted to bring heat into the polity and into the National Assembly; on one hand, they said the National Assembly was going to impeach the Speaker and the President of the

Senate; on another, they said the National Assembly was warming up to impeach the President. And there was no basis for that. I was at the center of this development even before we went on recess. We saw a certain drift in our party and we saw the difficulties of certain leaderships in steering certain programmes and policies through because of the composition of the House itself and the incoherence among the PDP members in the House, so we floated what we called the PDP Patriots Forum. In that forum, we came together and said we had a duty to protect the policies of our party in the chambers. It has even moved to something bigger. We have moved from the Patriots to the Unity Forum. But what we did first was to awaken that consciousness among the PDP members that we are PDP. The leadership of the House is PDP. The executive is PDP. Progammes and policies of the executive should be able to sail here. We saw there was a communication gap between the PDP leadership

in the House and the executive. A situation where polices will come to the House without even the knowledge of Hon. Molikat Akande who is the PDP leader and considering that she didn’t have prior notice, she wasn’t in a position to mobilize the PDP members to be aware and so, when such matters come, each man talks from his head. And we said we were not going to allow that drift again. We now built a channel by which we will reach the leadership of the executive and the leadership of the House.

The Speaker fully supported. He is a PDP member. He was the one taking the punches on the PDP failure of the House to work coherently. The legislative house is a volatile place. To impeach the executive, you need to first issue notice of allegation of gross misconduct which the executive has 14 days to respond to. That one needs one- third of the members and, thereafter, whether or not they respond, you now bring a motion to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct.

That one needs two-third of the

members and when that one is passed, the Chief Justice will be mandated to set up an investigative panel of seven members and that panel has three months to complete its investigations and report back to the House and the House, if they find the allegations to be true, you need two-third members of the House to adopt that report.

Once you adopt it, the officer stands automatically removed.

So, you see that there is latitude for the man you want to impeach to run around. The same with the judiciary. But in the case of the presiding officers of the legislature, they have no security of tenure. In the first instance, the chief executive of the executive, as he is elected, he is elected with a definite term. The chief executive of the legislative has no tenure. He lives from day to day subject to good conduct; good behaviors in the eyes of the members. There is no procedure.

No protocols for the removal of a Speaker or any presiding officer. All you need is two-third of the members.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

PRA YER W ARRIOR VS KIDNAPPERS: I escaped af PRAYER WARRIOR aftter God put my captors to sleep – 76-yr-old woman •Our deities set confusion among the abductors — Community leader

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ARELY 24 hours after 76-year-old Mrs. Otiti Esegba, a former idol worshipper, abducted by a five-man kidnap gang, Monday, at her countr y home, Akperhe , Olomu kingdom, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, miraculously escaped from the den of the kidnapgang, there is controversy over how she got away.

While Mrs. Esegba and her son, who is also the Managing Director of Ben-Segba Technical Services, Ekpan, near Warri, Delta State, Mr. Bernard Esegba, attributed her escape to the Almighty God, who answered her prayer, an Akperhe community leader, Mr. Oyibo Onovovwere, said she was delivered by Odju and Iviewokor deities.

Onovovwere asserted, “When we heard the news, people went to pour libation to Odju and Iviewokor deities, people prayed for the gods to cause Overen (confusion) in the midst of the kidnappers, we were confident that there will be confusion amongst the kidnappers. ”The deities have been very potent in causing confusion whenever there is problem.

Kidnapping has never taken place here before; the deities are very potent at times of need. We are happy that they responded,” he said.

But, Mrs. Esegba repudiated the claim, saying she was delivered by the Living God, Jehovah, who her pastor preached in the church, sent an angel to release Peter from the prison, where he was sleeping and bound in chains.

Her story: “I was worshipping idol through Igbe religion. I had been very religious and forthright. But I got converted four months ago. The pressure from my children on the need to serve the living God became irresistible. I converted to Christianity at the Flock of Christ Mission in Akperhe. I got baptized, Friday, last week.

Said, “I have now known the true God and how to worship Him. So when the boys kidnapped me, I was muttering rayers because I was scared and I was telling myself, ‘is this how I am going to die with nobody to know where my corpse is?’

“I didn’t even know what

kidnapping is. So after they opened my eyes in the uncompleted building they took me to, I pleaded with them not to kill me, that I will give them money, but they refused. They said they wanted big money and that it was only my son that could pay them that kind of money.

“All the while, I was praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I prayed that He should help me, He should prove that He is God. I prayed that help should come. I asked God to send His angels just as He did to Peter, Paul and Silas.

My pastor taught us that God did so in the Bible. I cannot read or write but I was taught that God can do miracles, I believed the word of God and prayed God to accomplish His word.

“When they took me to the hut inside the forest, I continued to pray, mosquitoes were biting me, and one of the boys pulled his shirt for me to drive away the mosquitoes. I continued in prayers.

Immediately, three of the five kidnappers said they were going away to kidnap other people.”

Snoring kidnappers Mrs. Esegba went on: “After sometime, the two other left to keep watch over me started to doze. I was about leaving but one of them saw me and

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EMMA AMAIZE, REGIONAL EDITOR, SOUTH-SOUTH AND AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

“She was blindfolded and taken to the den, where God scripted her escape” Monarch enraged Traditional ruler of Olomu kingdom, HRM R. L. Ogbon, told Sunday Vanguard: “The kidnapping is condemnable in its entirety, this is a taboo, it is unacceptable. I thank God that she escaped. I am going to call a meeting of all the communities, the Olomu vigilante and communities’ vigilante in the kingdom; they must be coordinated to forestall a recurrence.”

*Esegba... Some people refused to help me after I fled from abductors. other women, who out of fear refused to help me. I went on looking back if the boys were coming until I met a fisherman with his equipment on Okada, I told him my story and begged him to help me. He took me to his house.

“It was he who told me I was in Oviri-Olomu. At his home, I discovered that his wife was my relative; she gave me clothes to . “Thereafter, the man called my people and later I was taken to the police station.From there, I was taken to hospital for treatment because I was beaten, they

When they took me to the hut inside the forest, I continued to pray, mosquitoes were biting me, and one of the boys pulled his shirt for me to drive away the mosquitoes. I continued in prayers. Immediately, three of the five kidnappers said they were going away to kidnap other people

threatened to shoot me, I lied that I wanted to ease myself, so I stayed. I went on praying again. I was hopeful that God will do something. The next moment, they were snoring and I knew God had done it and it was the time to escape.”

Good Samaritan “I started tip-toeing away.

After some time, I started to run. I was weak, but all of a sudden, I had power again and I was running as I could. I followed a farm road and met a woman going to the farm; she refused to help me, maybe because I was almost naked, I continued to run. I met two

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punched my mouth when I tried to shout, I have pains all over my body from the beating.”

’Our gods did it’ But former spokesman of Akperhe community, Mr. Onovovwere, who attributed Mrs. Esegba’s escape to the community ’s Odju and Iviewokor deities, said the Esegba family was lucky that the gods intervened.

Speaking at the Esegba family home where a celebration party was thrown for Mama’s great escape, Onovowere told the family patriarch, “Mr. Esegba, you are a very luck y man. Your

children are also lucky, Akperhe community is lucky too. ”When I heard the news, people went to pour libation to the Odju and Iviewokor deities, people prayed for the Overen powers to raise confusion in the midst of the kidnappers, we were confident that there will be confusion amongst the kidnappers. ”Overen has been very potent in causing confusion whenever there is problem.

Kidnapping has never taken place here before; the deities are very potent at times of need. We are happy, God is the utmost.”

The community leader added, “I want to say also that if any of our youths is involved in this kidnap, he will be caught before the Thanksgiving Day, he will die mysteriously, and our community does not accept criminality. The deities as instituted by our ancestors forbid all evil works.”

How she was abducted “Mrs. Esegba was forcefully taken away from her home by her abductors after breaking into her house at about 2.00 am. They broke the door and two heavily armed men stormed into the house and seized her,” a villager told Sunday Vanguard. ”Three others also armed joined them and ransacked the house, took her jewelries, George wrappers and several thousands of naira. They also beat her with guns. Thereafter she was dragged into one of the waiting Okada brought by the kidnap gang.

’Town in confusion’ Eldest son of the victim, Engr.

Benard Esegba, said, “I was in Lagos on Monday morning when I received a call from one of my relatives, Mr. Ighotemurue Efeni, saying that my mother was suspected to have been kidnapped and the town was in confusion. ”I immediately placed a call to my Bishop, His Holiness, Miyerijesu, my cousin, Engr.

Isaac Omafuaire, president general of my town, and the councilor representing us that my mother was kidnapped. I also called the Ughelli vigilante through Mr. Ufuoma Akpodiete to swing into action, which they did. ”Immediately, I left Lagos.

On my way, I was called that they had found her. When I arrived, I went to the hospital where she was receiving treatment as she was in a bad shape, she was bruised and injured.”

Insider’s job President General of Akperhe community, Chief Felix Osiaje, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard before Mrs. Esegba escaped from her captors, said, “This is an insider’s job, no stranger can come into my community to do this devilish act, there is an insider involved in this thing.

I am happy that she escaped but I am going to the village to find a solution to this act.”

Beef up vigilante Political Adviser to Deputy Governor of Delta State, Chief Joe Unuame, who hails from the area, expressed shock at the incident. He said, “Have kidnappers reached Akperhe?

This is alien, it is not in our blood, and it is very strange that such thing can take place in Akperhe. But I am happy she is found now.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 47

By TONY EDIKE, Enugu

T

he University of Nigeria

Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku/Ozalla Enugu began in the early 20th century as a general Hospital for Africans built by the colonial administrators.

It later metamorphosed into a General Hospital on the attainment of Nigeria’s independence in the 1960s. However, at the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970, the then government of East Central State transformed it into a Specialist Hospital. By Decree number 23 of 1974, the Federal Military Government took over the hospital, but left the management in the hands of the Council of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The UNTH became independent in July 1976 with the appointment of autonomous Management Board and has remained in that capacity till date and operating under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Health.

Permanent site

The physical constraints at the hospital’s old site in Enugu made it impossible for expansion. Hence, the then Federal Military Government gave approval for the construction of a new complex for the Teaching Hospital at Ituku/ Ozalla. Today, the new site of the UNTH is permanent and fully functional.

All services hitherto rendered at the old site were moved to the permanent site with effect from 8 January, 2007.

The UNTH has broad objectives of service, teaching and research.

The hospital achieves these through provision of in – patient and out – patient services through highly trained staff, provision of clinical materials and training as well as equipment for research, provision of teaching facilities for training of students and other persons in the health delivery team and conduct and promotion of research on all matters pertaining to health. There are nine training schools/programmes in the hospital viz: the School of Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Laboratory Science, Nurse Anesthetists, Community Health Officers programme, Post-Basic Ophthalmic Nursing. Others are Peri – Operative Nursing, Cardiothoracic Nursing and School of Health Information Management.

The movement to the permanent site was carried out under Dr. Anthony Mbah, the Chief Medical Director (CMD). The hospital encountered many challenges at the permanent site; while some were surmounted, many continued until the incumbent CMD, Dr. Christopher Amah, took over on May 17, 2011.

Before then, Amah, a pediatric surgeon, had served as Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee, CMAC, of the hospital. The CMD, who completed his second year in office in May this year, recently reviewed the progress so far made by UNTH under his regime. “I met a hospital that was bankrupt with a huge debt burden bedeviling it due to poor funding, very wide incomeexpenditure imbalance”, he said.

“In terms of clinical services, delivery was very low both in volume and quality. A lot of clinical departments had lost accreditation for training of specialists due to lack of essential equipment in those departments.

UNTH and its open heart surgery feat Our radiotherapy equipment, the only one meant to serve the entire South-east and South-south geopolitical zones installed by the Federal Government through VAMED Project, was yet to work since it was installed in 2006.

Again, an oxygen generating plant installed to make the hospital self sufficient in oxygen supply to the hospital was also not functional.

There was nothing like Amenity/ Private Ward in the hospital for patients that require such facilities.

The hospital’s internal road network was in a state of dilapidation and disrepair”.

The CMD further disclosed that at the time he took over the management of the hospital, many of the staff unions were on strike and the morale of workers was very low. “Above all, the signature project for which the UNTH was known and designated a National Centre of Excellence – The Open Heart Surgery, and other sophisticated cardiothoracic surgeries, were abandoned for over 10 years. In fact, before the hospital relocated to the permanent site at Ituku Ozalla, the Centre of Excellence had packed up. The attitude of workers to their duties was very poor and this adversely affected the level of service delivery,” he added.

Assumption of office

Amah and his team reviewed the situation and resolved to embark on measures aimed at rebranding the hospital.

The management had to embark on a visit to all departments and units to make the workers buy into its vision of turning around the UNTH. These efforts paid off as the management has achieved remarkable improvements in many areas even though, according to the CMD, “it is not yet uhuru”. The evidence is the increased turnout of patients in the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department, General Outpatient Department, Specialists Outpatient Clinics, among others.

The number of daily clinical attendance has more than doubled and the hospital now operates in

full capacity and sometimes under pressure especially in the Accident and Emergency Department where there are inadequate bed spaces due to overflow of patients.

Most of the patients accessing services at the hospital come from its catchment areas including the south eastern states and neighbouring states of Southsouth zone and the Middle Belt.

Patients mostly access critical services like cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, pediatric surgery and other rare areas not

earned the UNTH the status of National Centre of Excellence in cardiothoracic surgery and medicine some years back, was abandoned for almost 10 years.

The Amah administration has now provided a dedicated facility for resumption of open heart surgery.

This was done with internally generated revenue in collaboration with international partners, The VOOM Foundation USA, as well as equipment support from Education Trust Fund, ETF, from the parent University of

This super specialized art, which earned the UNTH the status of National Centre of Excellence in cardiothoracic surgery and medicine some years back, was abandoned for almost 10 years available in hospitals within the regions.

Amah and his team also rehabilitated most of the internal roads within the UNTH. The roads were asphalted through funds generated internally.

There are also projects funded through capital budgetary appropriation. According to the CMD, these include a two-storey administrative block, building for Open Heart Surgery and other sophisticated cardiothoracic surgeries and medicine. Others are building for Nuclear Medicine and other Ionized Radiation Therapy, building for Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, Post-Basic Nursing programmes among others.

The radiotherapy facility, installed in the hospital since 2007 but never put to use due to vandalisation and other reasons, has now been rehabilitated and put to use; it is the only one available in the South-east and South-south for the treatment of cancers.

The abandoned oxygen generating plant was modernized and put to use.

Open Heart Surgery

This super specialized art, which

Nigeria. The UNTH resumed the abandoned open heart surgery in March 2013.

About 25 patients were said to have benefited from open heart surgery conducted by a team of foreign and local health experts at UNTH. Open heart surgery was first conducted in UNTH in 1974 by a team of foreign and local experts led by the late Professor F.A. Udekwu and that was the first ever in Black Sub-Saharan Africa.

Many more open heart surgery was done in UNTH including the Kanu Nwankwo Heart Foundation of 2003. Thereafter it was suspended due largely to the movement of the hospital to its permanent site which had no facility for it until Amah administration broke the jinx in March this year. This was done in line with the Jonathan administration’s quest to stem medical tourism overseas by Nigerians estimated to have gulped N250 billion annually.

The open heart surgery is highly subsidized. For instance, open heart surgery that costs over N2 million overseas, is performed by UNTH at less than N500,000. This has been made possible through the contributions of the hospital’s international collaborators and philanthropy of some well-

meaning Nigerians.

An open heart medical mission has been slated for December. In addition to the team from VOOM Foundation, the International Children Heart Foundation is going to launch a Pediatric Open Heart Surgery programme at UNTH, the first of its kind in Nigeria, Amah disclosed.

Already, VOOM Foundation has done three missions and they were rated as very successful and it has returned Nigeria once again on the list of countries in Africa and the world where open heart surgery carried out and this is acknowledged as a major effort in curbing medical tourism out of the country.

The Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who commissioned the Open Heart Surgery/Intensive Care Unit facility at UNTH in March and witnessed one of the surgical operations, was appreciative of the efforts and had pledged government’s support to the hospital.

Testimonies

One of the beneficiaries of the open heart surgery conducted in March, a journalist, Mr. Ihemegbunem Okafor, showered praises on UNTH for the excellent medical services he received and declared that, with the modern sophisticated medical equipment acquired by the hospital, “UNTH is on track as the National Cardiothoracic Center of Excellence.” Okafor, diagnosed to have tumour called myxoma in one of his heart chambers, is one of the 25 patients that had been successfully operated by experts at the hospital.

“I was admitted on March 18, 2013, I had no choice of a ward of residence but I was allocated a suite at the private suites where I stayed till I was discharged on March 27, 2013. While on admission, I was in good hands to the extent that the dieticians took record of my choice of food. My suite had everything to make me comfortable. There was a refrigerator, a cable television, an air conditioner and a ceiling fan.

The windows and doors had mosquito nettings while there was a standby electric generator that supplied light anytime there was public power failure.

“One week after I was admitted, the doctors confirmed me fit for the operation and, on March 20, 2013 I was wheeled into the ultra modern cardiothoracic theatre.

The theatre has the state-of-the art equipment that can compare with the best anywhere in the world. The consultants, doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists and physiotherapists, true and dedicated professionals, successfully carried out an open heart surgery on me on March 20.

After the surgery, I was wheeled into the Thoracic Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The Chief Medical Director, Dr. Christopher Amah, personally congratulated me on my successful surgery.

“At the ICU, I was treated like a new born baby and all the medical personnel handled me with utmost care like a fragile object. The physiotherapists were on hand to teach me how to walk again.

With the help of God, the quality of care and medication I received at the ICU helped me to recover quickly and four days after the surgery, I was moved back to the private suite. The nurses at the private suites celebrated my return to the ward with shouts of Alleluia and praises to God.

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

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HEN man im agines God, he sees him carnally strictly in terms of his power and might.

But when God manifested himself in the flesh, he came as a meek and lowly suffering servant. Isaiah foresaw Jesus as: “a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.”

(Isaiah 53:2). Therefore, he wonders if anyone would believe his report.

The prime expression of God in Christ is not his power but his love. Thus, while others say God is powerful: the disciple of Jesus says God is love. (I John 4:8).

Powerful love Power is a key expression of the Law of Moses.

This is often demonstrated through retributive justice: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Exodus 21:24). But Jesus reveals that force is not that powerful; but that love is the most powerful force of all.

A man can put a gun to our head, and still fail to obtain from us our most prized possessions because they are kept in our hearts. But when we are overwhelmed by love, we give everything; holding nothing back.

Thus, God asks the believer in the confidence of his expressed love for us: “My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26).

We obey because we are overwhelmed by God’s love. John says: “We love him because he first loved us.” (I John 4:19).

THE IMPERATIVE TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES How does Jesus love?

Let us listen to him: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13). Therefore, we must love by laying down our lives for others. We must not fall into the Christian confusion that Jesus laid down his life to take away our sins. He laid down his life for us, in order to show us we must lay down our lives for others. The example Jesus says he set for us preceded Calvary; so this is not about Jesus dying for our sins on the cross.

We lay down our lives for others by serving them.

The Good Shepherd Jesus says: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." (John 10:11).

Paul and his disciples have caused Christians to misunderstand this simple statement. A shepherd does not die for the sheep: he lives for the sheep. A dead shepherd is of no use to the sheep.

But a living shepherd leads them to green pastures.

Jesus laid down his life for us as our shepherd, in order to show us we must lay down our lives for others Jesus, the good shepherd, does not die for the sheep. Nevertheless, he gives his life for them.

Jesus is talking here about the life of the shepherd and not about his death. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep in the sense that his entire life is devoted to taking care of them.

Without a doubt, it is far more difficult to live for the sheep than to die for them.

Jesus' crucifixion was a one-time event, but his priesthood as our shepherd is everlasting. Jesus remains our shepherd today and he is still giving his life for us. The enemy decided to kill the shepherd so that the sheep would scatter.

(Zechariah 13:7); but God countered and neutralised this by raising him from the dead, never to die again.

As our good shepherd, Jesus should be emulated by his flock. How are we to follow him in the giving of his life? Is he asking for his disciples to

Eze Ofoegbu hosts new yam festival

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HE traditional ruler of Umudiawa Kingdom, Umuahia in Abia State, Eze Nnamdi Ofoegbu, recently held the annual thanksgiving service cum new yam festival at his Umudiawa Kingdom Palace ground with fanfare with council members as well as

political leaders and associates from all walks of life in attendance.

Speaking at the occasion, Eze Ofoegbu said the occasion was organised to glorify God for the gift of life and bountiful harvests from the beginning of the year, noting that God had been faithful to him as a

person and his kingdom.

"God has been merciful, hence we’re giving back to Him glory for the bountiful harvest of this year and to implore Him for a more prosperous years ahead," he stated.

Eze Ofoegbu, who is also the national chairman of the Association of Christian Traditional

Police Superintendent consecrated bishop

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RETIRED Chief Superintendent of Police, Udom Etim Ukpong was recently in Sapele, Delta State, consecrated bishop of Christ Revival Evangelical Mission, reports FREDRICK OKOPIE. According to the officiating minister, Archbishop Simon Oni-Onibere of Grace Way Church, newly consecrated Bishop Ukpong is an upright man who shunned several temptations in his

profession and opted for a soul winning business.

“Bishop Ukpong was a decent police officer who instead of engaging in unlawful activities on the way, was winning souls for God’s Kingdom.

Ukpong is a plain man who I am proud of and I present him to the Body of Christ and the entire world as my son,” the archbishop stated.

In his reaction, Bishop Ukpong expresed delight over the consecrat-

ion and enthronement, describing the occasion as divine grace.

He promised that with the elevation to the bishopric office in Body of Christ, he will be propelled to kingdom expansion more than ever before while building more network for his ministry globally. Bishop Ukpong said he voluntarily retired from the Nigeria Police Force after attaining the rank of a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP.

be killed? No! He is asking us to love others by living a life of service. He says: “Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave---just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

(Matthew 20:27-28). Jesus is asking that we also give our lives as a ransom for others.

This shows the cross of Jesus was fundamentally his incarnation and not just his crucifixion. His cross was in laying down his life in heaven in order to come to earth as a man to show us the way of salvation. Jesus says: "My Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:17-18).

The "life" Jesus laid down was surely the spiritual, and not the physical, life. Jesus teaches that the physical life is Rulers of Nigeria, ACTRN, used the ocassion to pray for peace of the country, even as he enjoined the political class to shun anything that would jeopardise the peace and tranquility of the country.

He also urged politicians across the country, to support President Goodluck Jonathan's second term bid, "particularly since the Niger Delta has always supported leaders from

inconsequential: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matthew 10: 28). The physical life was taken from him against his will: “Not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42). But no one took his divine (eternal) life from him. He voluntarily relinquished it in heaven in order to take up a mortal life on earth. After his earthly death and resurrection, he took up again his heavenly life.

Love by works Following this example of Jesus, we don’t love by faith. We love by works: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good.” (Acts 10:38). “I don’t do anything bad to him.” That is not love. Do you do anything good for him? “No matter how hard I try, he just continues to insult me.” Don’t give up. Love does not stop to love. Jesus says: “When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants.

We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:10).

Someone wrote me and other zones of the federation."

Highlight of the ceremony was the sharing of a roasted yam to all present as Eze Ofoegbu led the way to formally eat the yam while fellow traditional rulers and chiefs from his community followed suit amidst wild jubilation. There was a mountain of yam at the palace and everyone who attended the ceremony went home with at least a tuber.

*Eze Nnamdi Ofoegbu (c), joined by HRM Phillip Ajomiwe, Ndu of Oriendu, Umuahia and HRM Eze O.C.N. Chukwu praying over the new yam.

said: “My life seems to be without meaning. I don’t know God’s purpose for my life.” It is always impossible to know God’s purpose for us when we are self-centred. But once we concentrate on others, we have a purpose. Love is the greatest purpose of all, for God so loved the world. Our great purpose in every relationship is to love. So doing, we fulfil Christ’s mandate. God told Abraham: “I will bless you and you will be a blessing.” In every situation, we must position ourselves as a blessing.

Our assignment in life is to serve others, even as Christ served the world.

There is so much pain in this world. This is a world of sin and of sickness. It is a world of trouble and of turmoil. Our role is not to add to the evil, of which there is a surplus. Our role is to add to the good, of which there is a deficit. If goodness and mercy are following us around, then we should have a lot of goodness and mercy to dole out to others.

John says: “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (I John 3:1416).

Daystar holds confab

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HE annual Excellence in Leadership Conference (ELC) hosted

by Pastors Sam and Nike Adeyemi will hold in Lagos from Wed-nesday to Friday.

Theme: "Corruption free leadership; key to personal and national success".

It is aimed at impacting participants with proven strategies and principles that will create the much needed change in our nation and Africa as a whole.

Not only that, participants will take away from the conference new ideas resources and the confidence that will help them navigate the days that are ahead of them.

Eleven world class speakers (who have proven results in their chosen field) including Joke Silva, Fela Durotoye, Paul Enenche and Chika Chukwumerije will speak at the general and leadership revealed sessions of the conference.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 49

Lessons from the Festival of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) Religion, and worldly affairs prosper together when political rules are qualified by moral principles, and they suffer when moral principles are qualified by political expedience.Prof. Lamin Sanneh

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HIS article is carefully and specially written for Nigerian Muslims and Christians who desire and are willing and available to stick their neck out for the unity and even development of this nation. Today, many Nigerians are scarred by the level of the negative use of religion being perpetrated by so-called religious leaders who for the sake of being advantaged, favoured and financially buoyant are campaigning for women and men of their religious profession to be in power or remain in power. As a former archbishop of Canterbury once wisely cautioned: “he who gets married to the fashion of the day will become a widow when that fashion is no longer current”.

Eid Al-Adha as a challenge to Nigerian Muslims and Christians

This festival our Muslim neighbours have just celebrated is popularly called Eid al Akbar “Baban Sallah” in Hausa. Scripturally, it is named Eid al-adha (the festival of sacrifice) from the story in Q37:100-113 with a similar but more detailed narration in Gen. 22:1-19 in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The eid is in commemoration of the obedience of Father Abraham (Ibrahim) who obeyed God – the Almighty (Ala- Ta ‘ala), sought the cooperation of his only son (not named in the Q, but traditionally believed to be Isma’il (the older of the two sons – Ishaq was yet to be born then according to Islamic tradition). It is this spirit of obedience of Abraham that gives one of the two key lessons to the three Abrahamic religions in this story.

The second lesson from this episode is the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his only son to God who, in the first place gave him that child. It is to commemorate this lesson that our Muslim

neighbours sacrifice a ram for sharing during this annual eid.

For the survival of Nigeria – we seize this festive occasion to call on all our Religious, Traditional and Political Leaders to fear God, speak the truth, encourage respect and celebrate our different interpretations of common scriptural incidents in our Books.

Religious Leaders are reminded that they will give an account to God of all their promotion of enmity between Christians and Muslims in this Country. We challenge and call on them to be humble enough to go and learn productive ways of interpreting their scriptures and get some education in the religion of their neighbours of a different religious persuasion. The silence of Religious Leaders in the face of the promotion of blatant corruption, dubious and deceptive interpretation of scriptures, the fanning of the embers of hatred and bitterness for those outside their religious community will only lead this country to self destruction.

Traditional Leaders. We remind our Traditional leaders that Abraham is

,

BY JOSIAH IDOWUFEARON

*Josiah Idowu-Fearon faiths within his territory.

The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (pbh), found himself in a pluralistic city of Madina with – Jews, Christians, the ansar (who invited him from the city of Makka) and the almuhajirun (who accompanied him from Makka to Madina). He governed all as a community with the concept of Ummatun Wahidatun (one community) with a Code of Conduct

Religious Leaders are reminded that they will give an account to God of all their promotion of enmity between Christians and Muslims in this Country

revered among the three Abrahamic faiths, we therefore call on our traditional leaders in our country to be fathers to all religious communities and be obedient to God who has called them to lead his people.

Nigeria is a very mixed country; every part of the country has a mixture of tribes and religions. An Emir, from the Abrahamic example is a father to all even though he is a Muslim. So also, a Traditional Chief – though a Christian is not a Chief of the Christians alone but a Chief and Father to those of other

,

giving every group its freedom. Like Abraham, the Prophet of Islam was obedient and sacrificed his own ambition to the will of God who created the community.

To our Political Leaders – we call on them, for the sake of our survival especially in Arewa as Ummatun Wahidatun, to reflect very carefully on the lesson of sacrifice Abraham is teaching us all from the story of the sacrifice of his son mentioned above.

The north today is crying for leadership –the late Sardauna of Sokoto played

his part – it is about time our politicians stopped using his name without following his principles. Sardauna practiced equity, he believed and demonstrated the spirit of sacrifice by not amassing personal wealth, he spread development equitably and treated northerners as one without any segment of the region feeling left out. He was not perfect but, he did all he could to live sacrificially for the survival of Arewa. Unfortunately, today Arewa is in need of leaders who are willing to sacrifice their small ambition of wanting to be leaders at all levels, join hands with all – Christian and Muslim of Arewa extraction and build one community – Ummatun Wahidatun as the prophet of Islam did. Our politicians must, from the story behind eid al-adha stop, reflect and, like Abraham, give up what they see as most costly to them and work for the unity of Arewa and the peace of this nation. Similarly, all Muslims and Christians seeking political leadership roles in our country must, as believers in the teachings of their scriptures, sacrifice their ambitions like Abraham for the unity, survival and development of Nigerians.

To my own constituency, the religious, I challenge everyone to – remember that on the Day of Judgment, God is going to ask us to give an account of what we taught those whose spiritual responsibilities he has entrusted into our hands!

There is too much unhealthy relationship between reli-

gious and political leaders in Nigeria today, it must stop if this country is to survive the impending dangers ahead.

Learning from the experience of a Maliki Mufti of the Republic of Senegal, we counsel: Religious leaders should, as a matter of policy avoid any offer that would be tantamount to political sponsorship. Courtesy, should be accorded while concession to collaborating with political office is to be avoided or shunned. Religious leaders should, as a matter of courtesy be willing to make their peace with political territoriality but less willing to collapse religion into such territoriality.

There is a large body of material in both Christian and Muslim traditions to support a public role for religion without requiring theocratic rule. Religious leaders in Nigeria must not use CAN and SCIA to indirectly introduce theocracy into governance in a democratic country like Nigeria. Unfortunately, the way religious leaders today in Nigeria are hobnobbing with political leaders is very worrying. Here is a witty aphorism on the point being made: “ The best of the rulers is he who keeps company with men of ( religious) learning, and the worst of the learned men is he who keeps the society of the king” ( Sufyan Thauri in “The Book of Governance for kings”).

Professor Sanneh comments on this saying: “ Religion, and worldly affairs prosper together when political rules are qualified by moral principles, and they suffer when moral principles are qualified by political expedience”.

Our religious leaders who, today are hobnobbing with those in power need to take these words of wisdom very seriously.

I call on all religious leaders to stop simony – today pilgrimages, prayer vigils are being held to attract politicians in high places for money. Eid aladha is an opportunity to reflect, ask for forgiveness and then decide to live sacrificially and obediently for Nigeria to survive!

*Josiah Idowu-Fearon Ph.D (ABU) Bishop of Kaduna (Anglican Communion)

PAGE 50—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013 08056402376

McPhillips Nw ac hukwu, fformer ormer Vanguard’s Ar ts Edit or Nwac achukwu, Arts Editor laid tto o rest

BY JAPHET ALAKAM BURIAL

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he serene community of Umuhu, Okwuato, Aboh Mbaise in Imo State witnessed unusual visitors last week as people from all walks of life deferred the bad roads and converged at the community to pay their last respect to a cerebral writer, poet, critic, a lion and former Arts Editor of Vanguard Newspaper, late MacPhillips Onwuka Nwachukwu.

The remains of Nwachukwu who died on September, 29, after suffering from a choking cough, was finally laid to rest on

*Mrs Tina Nwachukwu,(widow) paying her last respect to the deceased

Ogbo Nguru mortuary around 9.00 am was received with a 21 gun salute, at his family

,

His death was a rude shock to the family as they did not expect it, moreover, he died without fulfilling some of his dreams for his family

September 26th, at his home town, Umuhu Okwuato, Aboh Mbaise in Imo State.

The remains which left

,

house at exactly 10 am. The body laid in state for about 30 minutes before it was taken to the St Gregory Catholic

Church, Umuhu, where Mass was held in his honour.

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peaking at the church service, the officiating minister, Rev. Father Chisom Odilanma, urged Nigerians to endeavour to live a worthy life, saying death is an inevitable end. According to him, death is not something money can be used to avert, otherwise Mcphilips would have been saved by Vanguard and his colleagues.

He, however, regretted that

Mcphilips died at a time when his community needed his service. The Catholic priest prayed that God will raise another Mcphilips for the community. ”Mcphilips died at a time he would have been useful to his community, especially in the area of using his pen to expose to the world how their community has been neglected by the state government,” he said.

After the church service, the remains was taken to his family house where it was committed to mother earth at 12.50 pm amid tears. It was an emotion laden moment as many cried as they remembered the fond memories of the life he lived, the stories he told and the principles he stood for.

Speaking about his death, Mcphilip’s mentor, Professor Osuagwu, who described him as a very lovely and ambitious young man lamented that his death has created a vacuum in his life. “ we have lost somebody whose value could not be measured.”

For Nze Chima Onyemekwalam, Mcphilips’ uncle, his death was a rude

shock to the family as they did not expect it. Also, he regreted that the deceased died without fulfilling some of his dreams for his immediate family.

E

meka Iwu, chairman of Ezuhu family meeting Lagos branch described his death as a big blow to the community. “It has created a very big vacuum and it will take us many years to fill.” He added Hundreds of people came out to give McPhillips a befitting farewell. Among them were Oji Onoko, who represented the Director of the National Gallery of Art; Shuaibu Hussein, who represented the Artistic Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria; and Professor Nwachukwu Agbada, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Abia State University. Others were, a team from Vanguard media Ltd led by the Corporate Affairs Manager,Mr. Victor Omoregie, representatives of Art Writers, 1994/95 set of University of Nigeria Nsukka, friends, relatives and others.

Corruption re-echoes on stage, places Nigeria in focus DRAMA

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AGOSIANS who gathered at the Agip Recital Hall of the Muson Center Lagos, for the stage performance of Echoes From the Lagoon, a play written by Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi OFR, witnessed two spell binding shows that left the audience, engulfed in a hilarious atmosphere, through out the evening.

Echoes from the Lagoon, staged last Saturday as one of the events held during the just concluded 2013 Muson Festival in Lagos, which was culture laden and as educating as it was entertaining, placed Nigeria under the prism.

The play which is one of Gbadamosi’s earliest books, was first premiered at the J K Randle Hall, Lagos on the 6th September, 1972 by the Phoenix Playgroup and was first published in December, 1973

by Onibonoje Press, Ibadan.

Chief Gbadamosi’s play as Directed by Dr Tunji, in all ramification, is as relevant at the time it was written as it is till date. What is perhaps the only difference is that the au-

thor wrote from the standpoint of the prevailing circumstances at the period it was written. It is however, regrettable that after not less than 40 years of authoring the book, those factors that undermined the nation as dramatically enumerated by the award winning author and Economist, rather than being tackled by successive governments, have greatly transformed into huge monsters, currently rocking every sector in the country.

The humour laden performance, featured Hafiz Ayetoro popularly known as Saka, who played the role of Ten-Ten; Nollywood A-lister,

,

By PRISCA SAM-DURU

possible with money.

It also exposes the huge gulf that exists between the rich and the poor and more importantly, makes a salient statement that some Nigerians may have been born with the monster called corruption, in their genes.

Stage props were aesthetically put together to depict two separate families, inhabited by individuals on two distinctive levels of existence.

The actors’ costume was well on point as it took the audience down memory lane to

The play is satirical of the Lagos metropolis in particular, and also, exposes the high rate of moral decadence in the country

Nobert Young (Chief Erinla), Joke Muyiwa( mama Tanko), Ola Rotimi Fakunle was Tanko, while Laide Adeyiga acted as comfort.

The play is satirical of the Lagos metropolis in particular, and also,exposes the high rate of moral decadence in the country where it is widely believed that nothing is im-

,

the time the play was written as the Erinla’s, the rich, appear gorgeous while the Arowolo’s whose standard of living is in sharp contrast to that of the Erinla’s, who live in shack.

Fate brings both families together through the poor youngster Tanko Arowolo and Comfort Erinla the rich girl.

A scene from Echoes from the Lagoon And surprisingly, it is seen here that behind the glamour, the rich unfortunately, wishes to be poor and vice versa. Their meeting however, theatrically exposes the dark secrets that most rich individuals harbour especially in the area of wishing they could experience the kind of peace of mind that the poor man enjoys. They both take their chance encounter further as we see Tanko, spending days alone with Comfort, resulting into pregnancy. Tanko enlists in the army after several fruitless search for job. He returns later not just with huge disappointment as always, but with a battered leg. After everything in his life fails,

Tanko’s only hope of success, that is his baby, is aborted under durex by Chief Erinla who offers a whooping 5 thousand Pounds cash to Tanko, so he gets out of his daughter’s life.

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he play in every theatrical sense, is still very meaningful as it raises angry voice against looting of public funds, poverty, unemployment, corruption, etc.

Biodun Batik and his band who appeared radiant in their old school attire, supplied highlife tunes of yesteryears which were played as musical interlude before each scene was ushered in, to portray the home of the rich and the poor

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013, PAGE 51

Most Nigerians can still afford new cars — Innoson Motors boss

BY JUDITH UFFORD

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R. Innocent Chukwuma is the Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Co. Ltd, the first indigenous vehicle manufacturing plant in Nigeria.

The vehicles manufactured by his firm range from cars to trucks, SUVs, compactors, etc. Now, the company has made in-road into Ghana, Sierra Leone, Chad, Niger, Togo.

Meeting Chukwuma in his expansive office at Emene, a suburb of Enugu metropolis, one is amazed at his simplicity.

Besides automobile, he also has vast interest in plastics and refuse bin manufacturing. In this interview, he shares his inspiration and vision of every African owning a new car, rather than foreigners using Africa as a dumping ground for used vehicles. Excerpts:

A

S the first indigenous motor manufacturer in Nigeria, how has the market been?

As the first indigenous motor manufacturing company in Nigeria, I wanted to prove that Nigerians can do it and it has been proved. Today, Innoson Motors is seen everywhere in the country. Our vehicles are seen everywhere in Nigeria, and that gives me joy.

What inspired you to venture into this area, considering the numerous challenges in the manufacturing sector?

What got me into the motor manufacturing is that I saw Nigerians falling back on second-hand (Tokunbo) vehicles everywhere, and, because of my experience in the auto industry, I decided to venture into manufacturing to ensure that Nigerians go back to the days of driving new vehicles instead of old ones. In fact, they turned Nigeria into a dumping ground for old vehicles, but I am glad today Nigerians are buying new vehicles once again.

I know it was the high price of new vehicles that made Nigerians to resort to patronizing old vehicles, but since we decided to manufacture vehicles here, the price is affordable, and our people can drive new vehicles.

Power, that is, electricity, is a major factor in your business.

How are you coping with power generation?

When we started, power output was about twenty percent from the national grid, but, today, we have about seventy to eighty percent. So there is a lot of improvement with this government.

With this development, our industry will develop rapidly. We are so happy with the present government and what they are doing in the power sector.

Do you think you can meet local demands of vehicles in Nigeria, because we hear that instances abound when the company has not been able to meet demand. The factory was set up to sell to the entire Africa continent and not Nigeria alone.

So, in the near future, I’m sure we will take over the motor business in Africa. This, of course, is with the support of Nigerians.

In which African countries are your vehicles being driven presently? If you watched television recently, when there was crisis in Chad Republic, it was my pick up vehicle brand that the Nigerian Army used for the operation. In Ghana and Sierra Leone, my vehicles are all over the place. Some African countries use my vehicles. So, in the near future, my vehicles will go round Africa.

The Federal Government has directed MDAs to patronize locally made vehicles and other goods. Are you getting the

tyre plant at Enugu.

How durable are your vehicles and how can customers access the spare parts across Africa?

Spare parts can be accessed at any of our spare parts shop. But if there is difficulty, a call to us and we will direct the individual to the particular shop in any local government where the customer is. Because I have been in automotive industry for a long time, I have a lot of experience about spare parts and know how to deal with the issue of scarcity.

Does this means there are also mechanics who are experienced in repairing your vehicles?

Yes, we are training mechanics to deploy them to all parts of the country; to have experience in fixing our vehicles. In the near future, we will build a mechanic school in the factory, so that we train people: mechanics, electricians, and they will be everywhere. So anybody that we train will know about motor vehicles anywhere he is

As the first indigenous motor manufacturing company in Nigeria, I wanted to prove that Nigerians can do it and it has been proved expected patronage from them?

There is good intention in the Federal Government’s directive, but sometimes some ministries would prefer Toyota that they have used for fifty years. They prefer the brands they have been using for so long. They don’t try made-in-Nigeria, but most of the ministries are using made-inNigeria and they are happy with the products.

What is your company’s rating in the auto industry? When we started, not many gave us a chance in the day. In fact, so many people did not believe that it will work, but, today, they can attest to the fact that it’s working. People from other countries are coming to copy what I did to replicate it in their own country.

How many Nigerians have been employed?

We have a total of 7,400 Nigerians working in the factory.

I have four factories in Nigeria.

I have a motor manufacturing company, plastic manufacturing company, tyre manufacturing company and motor spare parts manufacturing company.

Are they based in Nnewi?

No, I have motor and motorcycle plant in Nnewi, and plastic plant in Enugu. I have

established. He can establish on his own, and he can work in any company. We are building something like school to train people; the young ones, so that they will be able to maintain motor vehicles anywhere they are.

Do you intend to partner with Science Equipment Development Institute at Akwuke Enugu?

We will partner with them when we are ready.

How were you able to pack 20 units into one container?

Because of my experience in spare parts, I knocked it down and brought them here, and arranged mechanics to assemble them, to couple them manually.

The first five containers I brought in took me about three months to sell. I went back and brought another ten containers which took me about one month.

I went and brought twenty containers and it took one week, and when I brought fifty containers, people were now paying in advance before they landed.

There was a time I was bringing 200 containers of motorcycles every month and spread them across Nigeria.

Because of that idea, my own price was cheaper by 40%, before other people saw what I

Dr. Innocent Chukwuma was doing and followed suit.

That is why today, motorcycle price crashed to N60, 000 from a high of N150, 000 in the past.

It was in the course of doing this that I discovered that there are a lot of plastics in a motorcycle, and that is one of the reasons I set up a plastic plant to produce the plastics components locally. These are some of the things I did to bring down the cost of motorcycle to about N60,000. Today, nobody thinks of buying second hand motorcycle anymore in Nigeria.

Everybody wants to buy new one because new one is cheap, and I am going to do the same thing with motor vehicles.

In the near future, you find out that all these “Tokunbo” vehicles in Nigeria will not work out as people will prefer the new ones.

With the support of Nigerians, we will see that we will be there.

Today, we are importing engines; we are importing certain components for motor manufacturing, but after sometimes, we will make them

here. With the support of Nigerians and the government we will make everything here, then Nigeria will be the first in Africa to manufacture full made in Nigeria vehicles.

How much has the Federal Government given to you? The Federal and State Governments have given me support, and with all the support, I believe we will make it.

Do you produce industrial dust bins and how far is the patronage among government establishments?

I produce industrial dust bins, and even the ones they use in Ghana were produced here, but sometimes Nigerians don’t believe in made-in-Nigeria. They will prefer to buy from Germany.

We have tried hard to convince government to understand that the ones we produce here and the ones they produce in Germany are the same material and the same equipment but it’s hard for them to understand.

Delta guber: Group backs Ijaw

By Jimitota Onoyume

A

group, Ijaw Grassroots Initiative, has called on Ijaw in Delta State to be actively involved in the drive to install an Ijaw son as governor of the state.

The group said it was regrettable to note that some prominent Ijaw sons and daughters were seen endorsing people from other areas in the state to take over from Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. “Are we not entitled to be the governor of our state?,” the group queried.

President of the group, Mr. Francis Ijawfeni said, the Ijaw should unite to pursue a common political goal which should be to ensure that an Ijaw becomes governor of the state come 2015.

Mr. Francis who lauded the

effort of a group, Delta Youths, based in Port Harcourt, said it had been at the forefront of the struggle to see that an Ijaw man becomes governor of the state in 2015.

He also advised Ijaw sons and daughters to emulate what Delta youths based in Port Harcourt led

by Fullpower Bussa is doing.”

This is what I expect our Ijaw brothers to be doing. “ Continuing, Mr. Francis said, Ijaw should not forget that they have worked for the Urhobo, Itsekiri, Anioma and other ethnic groups to be governors and deputy governors at different times in our state. “This should be the time for the Ijaw nation to come out and fight for the position of governor”, he said. “ This is our time. We should not allow some persons to sell our chance of being governor of our state”, Francis added. .

PAGE 52—SUNDAY

VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013,

I Love You It could be quite tragic to lose your love.

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013—53

Mourinho pins Chelsea’s rise on players F

RANK Lampard and John Obi Mikel last week claimed the squad was developing a winning mentality this season following Jose Mourinho’s return to the club for a second period in charge.

Last season, the club became focused more on securing a top four finish rather than winning the championship but Mourinho insists the improvements have come from within the squad.

“I was not here to feel it last season,” said the Portuguese. “I just think that you can only do things when the players are open for that.

“You can try and try but if the players are not open to your ideas, you fight and fight but at the end of the day you can’t do it.

“If we are living a positive moment, I think it’s up to them. I do my best to try to help but the players are working in a fantastic way.”

The return to form of striker Fernando Torres has been one of the features of Chelsea’s recent run.

The Spain forward capped a man of the match display against Manchester City last weekend with the winning goal, his first in the Premier League this season, after impressing in the Champions League against Schalke.

But Mourinho said: “I did nothing. I do what I always do, trying to get the best out of my players in a very normal way.

“Fernando is responsible for his self-motivation and selfcommitment and the way he is working every day. I don’t think Fernando is a kid that will be influenced by these wins. I want him to be stable and not be too worried about proving himself or scoring or not scoring. Just work for the team.”

Mourinho, meanwhile, believes Bertrand Traore can make an early impact at the club after signing a four-and-a-half year deal this week. The Burkina Faso

Y

•Mourinho midfielder - who was previously with Association Jeunes Espoirs De Bobo-Dioulasso - was prevented from joining the club on a permanent basis until his 18th birthday but featured on their pre-season tour to Asia.

And Mourinho said: “I wanted to take him in pre-season to have

a look at him for 2 or 3 weeks in front of important crowds like the 60 or 70,000 we had in Asia.

“We have a kid that in our opinion is one of the best talents of his age. He was doing that in pre-season against nice opposition but he was making an impact. He has been playing in

hisnationalteamsince16andAfrican national teams are good sides, especiallyBurkinaFasoastheyhave some talented players. “He has a stable mentality. He comes from a family of footballers - his father and brother - so it is his natural habitat.

Good players have no age. He is ready to make an impact.”

AYA Toure has been accused of lying about being racially abused in Moscow by CSKA managing director Roman Babaev, who stated the midfielder was acting in revenge of Russia beating England to host the World Cup in 2018.

Toure was subjected to abuse from the stands during Manchester City’s recent Champions League win over CSKA. As a result, UEFA’s control and disciplinary body ordered the partial closure of Moscow’s Arena Khimki stadium for their next Champions League game against Bayern Munich on November 27.

However, reports in the Daily Mail and The Sun indicate Babeav suggested the English press had encouraged Toure to speak on the issue.

“The mood of vengeance among the English for having lost out to Russia influenced the case,” Babeav said.

“After the match the British journalists encouraged Yaya Toure and other Manchester City players to expand on the theme.

“The English just can’t accept they lost to our country in a fair fight. We don’t believe racist behaviour by our fans has been proven.”

World Cup qualifier: Ghana warns FIFA on Black Star’s safety in Cairo G

HANA has warned FIFA that it will be held responsible if something happens to their delegation to Egypt for this month’s World Cup playoff against the Pharaohs.

The world governing body approved the volatile Cairo as the venue of the second-leg match despite protests from the

Ghana FA (GFA) over the security situation in Egypt. The GFA wanted the match to be played at a neutral venue because of the growing turmoil in Egypt following the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi.

That is because football has not been played in the country over the past two years before spectators because of the fear of

violence erupting during matches. Egypt have played all their qualifying World Cup matches behind closed doors which prompted Ghana to request for the change of the venue for the 19 November match.

However, FIFA rejected Ghana’s request saving the the country will be safe for the Black

MTN celebrates Lagos Street Soccer champions C

HAMPIONS, of various categories of this year’s edition, of the MTN Lagos Street Soccer tournament, were last Tuesday, hosted to a reception at the Prince of Anthony Hotel, Anthony Village, Lagos.

The event, which had in attendance MTN officials, staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Sports, members of the Local Organising Committee, LCDA Chairmen, Commissioners, honourable members of the House of Assembly, sports fans and families of winners, was organised to celebrate with the winners of the Male U-15 and the Female categories of the championship, ABS Street of Mosan Okunola LCDA, Folarin Gbadebo Street of Ojokoro and Triumph Football Academy, of Lagos West Island, respectively.

Speaking at the event, MTN’s Event and Sponsorship Manager,

Toure lied to avenge England’s World Cup loss —CSKA boss

Mr. Dola Bamgboye, explained why the company is always in the forefront of discovering and nurturing talents from around the country.

In his words “MTN has, over the years, tilted its passion towards unearthing future stars, in various sectors, including music, entertainment, ICT and sports, across the nation and we are pleased to discover another set of soccer stars. These winners are now our ambassadors and we will make sure, through this platform that they get to global fame.”

SpeakingabouttheU-15category champions, Mr. Bamgboye said that the young stars, with their soccer artistry and prowess, will, in no distant time, be part of the nation’s U-17 national team. “I want to assure all present, at this August occasion, that we are presenting to you, future stars of Nigerian football

and I am proud to say that they are our ambassadors” he declared.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the MTN Lagos Street Soccer, Local Organising Committee, Mr. Deji

Aladegbemi, while congratulating the winners, commended MTN Nigeria for supporting the tournament that recorded a massive turn-out and with over 800 teams showing interest.

Senior Manager Sales, South-South/South-East, MTN, Mr Innocent Entonu, (left) presenting a trophy to the team captain of Lagos Line (Main Market), this year’s champions of the Onitsha Traders Cup

Stars and their supporters to travel for the match.

Now Ghana FA chief Kwesi Nyantakyi has warned the world governing body that it will be held responsible if any member of their delegation is harmed in Egypt. “We will hold FIFA responsible because it is FIFA who owns the competition,” Ghana FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi said.

“And FIFA has relied on the advice of the government of Egypt to sanction the match and so if any mishap occurs FIFA must be held responsible and no one else.”

Nyantakyi said the GFA was surprised by Wednesday’s FIFA ruling to approve the match for Cairo given the prevailing turbulence in the north African country.

“When FIFA ruled that the match should go on in Cairo we were a bit surprised considering the security situation in the country,” Nyantakyi said.

“But they took the decision based on the acceptance of the guarantees by the Egyptian government.”

The Black Stars won the first leg by 6-1 in Kumasi on October 15, while the return leg has been fixed for November 19 in Cairo.

The winner of the tie will qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

PAGE 54— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Malagu walks where athletes fear to tread N

BY BEN EFE

IGERIAN athletics have never been short of talents. The frustration here is that only a few squeeze through the bottle-neck and Sarah Malagu is one athlete who not only wants to beat the odds, she has chosen a discipline which is unheralded in the country and she is seriously working to making a name in it.

On this particular day at the National Stadium in Lagos, where she trains with other athletes, Malagu was grimacing in pain as she went through her training routine with her coach. There was minor bleeding from a bruise on her knee as she moved her waist on the concrete floor from side to side. The coach explained that she needed the flexibility, if she had to do well in her event.

But Malagu beamed with a smile when she was asked after training why she took up the walk race, an event the Athletics Federation of Nigeria had always paid little attention to, due to the fact that they have no athletes with world standard performances.

However, after winning bronze at the African Youth Athletics Championships in Warri, Delta State and also followed up with another bronze at the African Junior Championships in Mauritius, Malagu, it seems, has won new converts to the walk race at the AFN. This include technical director, Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama “Everyone wants to do the sprints but I do not want to join the bandwagon,” said Malagu who only took to athletics three years ago.

“I love taking up challenges and based on my performances so far, I know that I will go far,” said the athlete who will turn 18 next year.

She had her first ever international experience at the AYAC in Warri, Delta State.

She was denied the the gold and silver by Ethiopia’s Demoze Tege Gebretsadeke and Abate Wale respectively in the 5km Walk. And at the African Junior, there was a remarkable improvement in her timing even as she settled for another bronze this time she was pushed to the third position by Benti Asakale of Ethiopia and South African Anel Opsthuizen. Malagu finished at 26:16.53 seconds compared to the 30:20.88 she did in Warri.

Buoyed by that outing Malagu is dreaming big. She is looking forward to making the 2014 Commonwealth Games, this is with the hope of making history like Fatima Yusuf, who won a gold at the 1990 Auckland Games at 17

2014 National Festival: Cross River promises to deliver

C

•Waiting to exhale …. Sarah Malagu nursing hope of winning a world title in walking years of age. “By God’s grace, I want to be in the Commonwealth Games and have a better performance. I am not scared of the other established athletes I will compete with. “Everybody have their training plan and it depends on how you train. No athlete is better than the other, it is the training that makes the difference and I am getting the best of training. “I have the

confidence that if I train well, I will be in the team and will do well at the Games. I am getting the best of training Apart from the Commonwealth Games, Malagu is looking forward to making her Olympics debut at the 2016 Games in Rio. Tall dreams that might be, the petite athlete has her father as a motivation. Moses Malagu represented Nigeria at the

Barcelona Olympic Games in the boxing event. And he has been doing a lot of talking to his daughter. My dad was very proud of me when I came back from Mauritius with a bronze.

He wasn’t surprised at it because he always believed that I can do better. He would always tell me to have a lion heart when I am competing and I am motivated to be at the Olympics just like him.

Lagos classic will expose talents — Fatayi Williams S

WIMMING Federation of Nigeria (SFN) president, Babatunde Fatayi-Williams stated that the forth-coming Lagos State Swimming Classics billed for November 7-10 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium will enable swimming officials to access budding talents in the State.

According to FatayiWilliams, the tournament which will be staged in

conjunction with the state government will feature international swimmers and secondary school students.

“It is a tournament that aims at exposing budding talents as well as discovering new ones.

“The schools category is targeted at grassroots swimmers,” he said.

On the selection of participants for the classics,

Fatayi-Williams said Nigerian swimmers for the event were selected on the basis of their performance at a recent Chief of Naval Staff Open Swimming Championship in Delta.

“We are looking forward to the tournament and due to the successes recorded at the justconcluded chess and table tennis classics, we expect a very successful tournament.”

ROSS River deputy governor, Efiok Cobham stated that the State is ready to host a memorable National Sports Festival to mark the 100 years of Nigeria as a nation.

Mr. Cobham who was speaking in Abuja during the inauguration of the 24-man Main organising Committee by by Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi stated that Cross River was ready to deliver a sports fiesta that will make the entire country proud adding that it was an honour for Cross River to host the event in 2014.

“It is a coincidence as it is happening in the 100th year of our existence as a united Nigeria. So, it carries with it a lot of responsibility,” said Cobhams who vice-Chairman of the MOC Cobham, however, solicited for the co-operation of all sports stakeholders to make the festival tagged “the Paradise Games” a success.

Mr. Abdullahi in his remarks stated that the festival was now open to all Nigerians irrespective of their professional status.

“At the closing ceremony of the 18th edition of the festival in Lagos last December, I stated that the NSF was no longer fulfilling the basic objectives which necessitated its establishment in 1973.

“This development made it imperative for us to review the Objectives, Rules and Organisation of the festival.

“The outcome of the review gave rise to the establishment of the National Youth Games (NYG) and the opening up of the NSF to enable elite athletes participate in the games,” Abdullahi said.

NSC director-general, Gbenga Elegbeleye, who is also the MOC Chairman, assured that the committee would strive to surpass the achievements of the 18th edition.

He further assured that the quality of the festival would be commensurate with the standard of the elite athletes who are expected to join from now onwards.

Elegbeleye said the 2014 NSF would be unique as it would also mark the 100 years of the amalgamation of Nigeria.

“The MOC will work closely with the LOC of the festival to make sure it is an important segment of the country ’s centenary celebrations.

“I have no doubt that Calabar is one of the best host cities in the country today, looking at what the government of Cross River has been doing to Nigerian sports.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 3, 2013—55

Serena can’t slow down in 2014 — Coach S

ERENA Williams’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou says the world number one can do even better next year.

Williams retained the WTA Championships on Sunday, her 11th title of the season, to improve her 2013 record to 78 wins with only four defeats.

“We’ve spoken about 2014 already with goals to do better than this year because I think it is possible,” Mouratoglou told BBC Sport.

“If we keep this mentality I don’t see any reason why she would slow down.”

American Williams, who came from behind to beat Li Na in three sets in Istanbul, has won 20 more matches this season than she has ever managed previously.

As well as winning 25 sets by a 6-0 margin, the 17-time Grand Slam winner has also become the first woman to win more than $10m

(£6.19m) prize money in a single season.

“She loves playing tennis, she loves winning, she wants to

stay number one, she wants to keep on winning - and she wants to be better,” added Mouratoglou.

WENTY FIVE private universities will converge on Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU) in Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State for the 5th edition of the Nigeria Private University Games Association, NPUGA slated for December 14 to 22, 2013.

President of the Local Organizing Committee, LOC of the private university games, Tunde Akinola, who said this in Akure, noted that 2,000 students would participate in the competition, adding that 10 different sports will be competed for.

These include football,basketball, volleyball,swimming, Athletics, chess, scrabble,tennis,table tennis and badminton in which the 25 universities

25 private varsities set for NPUGA Games

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure will be struggling for honours in the sevenday event that will attract the creme-de-la-creme of the society.

Akinola, who is also the National President of NPUGA, said the aim of the Games is to help the nation discover talents among the students of the private universities.

He said the previous editions of the Games had produced outstanding athletes who have represented the country in various fields of sporting activities.

The organizers however solicited for govern-

ment support by extending it’s financial assistance and subvention to private university games as being done to public universities in the country.

Akinola stated that the LOC of the hosting institution (JABU) has assured that all the facilities for the Games are in good condition, saying two venues will be used for the sporting events.

He said,” the NPUGA committee is making efforts to ensure that the Games are hitch free. We want to assure all our stakeholders that this year ’s edition shall be better than the previous ones”.

LMC v Club Owners: Lagos SWAN calls for caution

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HE Lagos State Chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), has called on club owners and managers in the Nigerian Premier Football League to exercise caution on the issue of the tenure and mandate of the League Management Company, advising that any attempt to frustrate or abort the on-going reforms would throw the

•Serena Williams

Thumbs up LMC, congrats Pillars When Honourable Nduka Irabor was appointed to help revive the ailing Nigeria Premier League, many if not all the clubs in the land, never wanted to support him. Feeling he has come to deny them what they enjoyed in the past, freedom.

Freedom to owe players several months of salaries and unpaid sign-on fees. Freedom to harass match officials and television crews at match venues and freedom to transfer players illegally to foreign clubs without recourse to either the league management or the parent body, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF. These clubs never bothered whether they earned anything from

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their participation in the league as long as their owners, the various state governments doled out millions every year in the running of the clubs.

These millions were also most times unaccounted for.

The league was also run without sponsors after Globacom had issues with the authorities, mainly in the area of not getting the required mileage from their sponsorship. When Irabor told them that things will change for them in a short time, they never believed him.

Being a man of his words, the Chairman of the League Management Company first surprised the clubs when he announced a share of N10 million each for all the clubs from the sponsorship

money. Instead of appreciating the LMC for the new dawn, some of them complained that they should have earned more.

But a patient and focused Irabor wouldn’t be deterred as he continued his drive to get the league out of the woods. He told them that money from the television rights which was never disclosed would be put on the table when the rights issue is finally settled.

He also ensured that boardroom points which was the practice in the past became history while clubs were also punished for hooliganism by their fans. Some decisions were taken and clubs were punished by asking that some controversial matches be replayed.

But the NFF’s Organising and Disciplinary Committee, did the unimaginable and returned everybody to the boardroom era.

Thank God for the Appeals Committee which prevailed and stuck to the LMC’s decision for a replay.

The league has ended well and and all parties smiled home happy for their positions. To crown it all, the LMC came out with a novel reward of money for the participants, a departure from the past when it was ‘’to your tents O Israel’ at the end of the season.

For the O&D bribery scandal, the NFF must look into it and punish whoever is guilty to serve as a deterrent to those who may be habouring the idea of repeating the same show of shame that retards our football.

For Kano Pillars, I say congratulations for being the first side from up north to win the league back to back. Last year, critics said they won controversially but an encore this year shows that they truly deserved to be champions.

league and Nigerian domestic football back into the dark recesses from which it has just been salvaged.

The Lagos SWAN statement jointly signed by its chairman, Fred Edoreh, and secretary, Emma Njoku, is in reaction to the communique issued at a meeting of some club owners and managers in Abuja, Wednesday, purportedly dismissing the LMC. What remains for the government of Kano State now is to support the club financially so that they begin early preparation for the 2014 African Champions League. The coaching crew should also up their know-how, as technique and tactics are what count most at this stage of football.

However, the euphoria of a successful league was almost cut short when the club owners came out of their meeting during the week to say that it was time for the Iraborled LMC to close shop and allow them time to conduct elections and elect their own officers to run the league’s affairs.

The NFF felt it was a slap on its face because the LMC the club owners were talking about was its own creation, to safe football in the land. And pronto, the president, Aminu Maigari, from far away UAE where he is boosting the morale of rampaging Golden Eaglets told the club owners to sheathe their swords because they have no powers to stop the LMC from continuing in office.

The statement read: “We are a bit disturbed with the call, so early in the day, for the dissolution of the League Management Company when it is working so hard to re-invent the Nigerian Premier League system and is steadily achieving laudable results and inspiring the confidence of both the public and existing and potential investors.

The Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi, who midwifed the idea of an LMC to solve the myriad of litigation that threatened to tear the game apart, added his voice to the issue, supporting the stance of Maigari that it was only the NFF that could decide the fate of the LMC. If the club owners were satisfied with the way the LMC conducted the league and joyfully joined in sharing the largesse it brought from the title sponsorship, it was rather ironical that the same body would be calling for the sack of the LMC. On the other hand, they shouldn’t have put the cart before the horse, a meeting with the parent body, the NFF, could have been a much more better approach.

One is not saying the LMC should carry on forever. Everyone serious stakeholder should have given the LMC the support to consolidate on the gains recorded after which a gradual transition would have been planned to herald a new era for football

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Beating Ethiopia my priority, not FIFA awards — Keshi

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for the 2013 FIFA Coach of the Year award.

Against all odds, Keshi won the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa and he is one match away from qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup and football analysts believe that he deserves a mention for his effort at reviving a Super Eagles on the slope of decline.

“Honestly I don’t want to bother myself with such because it is no big deal. I don’t know how they agreed on who qualifies to be nominated or what criteria were used in the process of nomination. That’s why I say it is no big deal not being nominated.

“The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Ethiopia comes first for me. It is very important for me, the players, the FA and the country. We won the first leg in RESULTS Addis Ababa which was good for us but there’s still Nigeria 2 Uruguay 0 Argentina 2 Cote d’Ivoire 1 the second leg to play for.

Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0 So the job is just only halfFulham 1 Man Utd 3 way done.

Hull 1 Sunderland 0 “At the same time, I’m Man City 7 Norwich 0 also thinking of next year’s Arsenal 2 Liverpool 0 Nations Cup for players TACKLE... Golden Eaglets’ Aliyu Abubakar (l) attempts to block Uruguayan striker Kevin Mendez during yesterday’s quarter based in the league. Honfinal match at the Sharjar Stadium in Sharjah, UAE. The Eaglets won 2-0 to cruise into the semi final where they will meet group estly we have a lot of work to do on the team between mates, Mexico. Photo: Courtesy fifa.com now and when that competition starts. But for now let’s concentrate on the game against Ethiopia,” said the coach.

Meanwhile Ethiopians are keeping their dream of making the World Cup alive. The country’s forTRIKER Taiwo claim to the title. And their fully in charge of their guayan side, whose strateign affairs minister Tedros to score the opener to the Awoniyi last night fans, who thronged Shar- destiny. They next play powered the Golden Ea- jah in their thousands, Sweden in the semifinal on egy last night appeared admiration of the fans and Adhanom said they hope to be to contain the Ea- coach Manu Garba. They to create an upset in Calglets into the semifinal of were left chorusing the Tuesday in Dubai. glets from getting into their Eaglets had chances after abar on November 16. the FIFA U-17 World Cup name The last time both teams half of the field. that to increase their lead holding in the United Arab of Awoniyi, who scored two clashed in a group fixture, But the Eaglets, as they but they fluffed their Emirates, as his two goals goals in either half of the it ended in a thrilling 3-3 have done throughout condemned Uruguay to a match. draw, with the Swedes their campaign here, were chances.

With the minutes ticking 2-0 defeat in a quarterfiHis first, an 18th minute pushing the Eaglets to the nal match held in Shar- strike, was a beauty and a wall. But the Nigerians not going to allow for that away, Awoniyi came up as they switched styles jah. genuine contender for one responded in suit, show- and mounted pressure on again, after on-rushing Kelechi Iheanacho beat a After scoring 18 goals in of the goals of the compe- ing their character of not their foes, who seemed the four matches, the goals tition. going down without a content to holding back the defender and flicked a pass to him, with his secdid not come aplenty for Though it may not go as fight.

Nigerians from scoring. ond goal of the night in the Eaglets, who despite a vintage performance, To get to the semis, they After holding the Ea- the 79th minute to kill off having ample scoring credit must be given to the were made to earn their chances, seemed to forget Nigerian boys, who have passage by a cagey Uru- glets for 17 minutes, the Uruguayan challenge.

Awoniyi beat his marker to wear their scoring boots shown that they mean •Keshi on a day that their south business here. They are 1 2 3 4 5 6 American opponents, also gunning for their fourth CROSS WORD PUZZLE failed to create attacking bite of the title, which will ACROSS DOWN chances. be a record.

7 8 1.Nobel-winning Arch1.Sleeping vision (5) On a night that the EaThe ouster of Brazil, has bishop (7-4) 2.Possessor (5) 9 glets did not look their made the Eaglets run here 5.Sailor (3) 3.Tax (4) 7.Consumed (5) vintage best, they still did one of the best. They are 4.Depressing (9) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 8.Domesticates (5) 5.Argentinian dance (5) enough to lay a serious 9.Ovum (3) UPER Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi has said that beating Ethiopia and qualifying for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil was all he thinks about and not making the list of nominees

FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP: Awoniyi’s brace powers Eaglets into semifinal S

10.Electricity counting gadgets (6) 13.Highlander (4) 15.Poem (3) 17.One that contests (9) 20.Nigerian tribe (5) 22.Cereal (5) 24.Demoted (9) 27.Pig’s pen (3) 29.No one (4) 30.Sulks (6) 33.Away (3) 35.Presses (5) 36.Till (5) 37. Swine (3) 38. “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” (11)

6.Wash lightly (5) 11.Greek letter (3) 12.Distress call (1-1-1) 14.English boy’s name (5) 16.Obstacle (3) 17.Bovine animal (3) 18.Mindfulness (9) 19.Alarm (5) 21.Help (3) 23.Village house (3) 25.Gnome (3) 26.Vast age (3) 27.Condescend (5) 28.Youthful (5) 31.Circular (5) 32.Trades (5) 34.Old Russian King (4)

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