KIDNAP OF SHETTIMA ALI MONGUNO-Boko Haram amnesty C'ttee

C M Y K

PAGE 2 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013 — PAGE 3

PAGE 4 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013 — PAGE 5

Boko Haram Amnesty Committee in crucial talks

Continued from page 1 country will be meeting tomorrow for crucial talks.

The meeting would be its first major engagement since inauguration penultimate Wednesday.

It has 60 days to complete its assignment.

Tomorrow ’s meeting, which, though had been scheduled before Friday’s kidnapping of the elder statesman, “has only become more urgent and very crucial in the light of the kidnapping of an 87year old man”, one of the committee members told Sunday Vanguard at the weekend.

And whereas it has been independently verified by Sunday Vanguard that members of the committee are yet to make any form of contact with members of the dreaded Ahlan Sunnah Lid Da’waati wal Jihad Yaanaa (brothers), popularly known as Boko Haram, a leader and spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, maintained that this should not give anybody cause for concern.

However, National President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, expressed doubt that the committee may achieve success.

His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri (I), with HRH, Rev. Augustine Jatu, the Osu of Kalu, Nasarawa State, during the celebration of the Warri monarch’s 26th anniversary yesterday. Photos: Akpokona Omafuaire. more respected members of the committee with broad national disposition, “a national plan would be drawn up by the secretariat of the committee and all members would be expected to look at it thoroughly and add or subtract, all with a view to ensuring that the larger interest of Nigeria is served and served well.

“Mind you, there are three very major issues at the heart of what is expected of the committee. Nigerians need to be educated on what we are expected to do”.

Sunday Vanguard discovered that the three “major issues at the heart” of the committee’s work start with the process of dialogue, disarmament and then followed by amnesty.

The second issue, investigations revealed, “is the type of package that would be worked out for the victims of the insurgency”.

In this category of victims are widows, orphans, traders, as well as institutional orphans domiciled in churches and mosques.

The committee members would also be very

COMMITTEE’S PLAN

F

rom separate interviews with members of the committee, Sunday Vanguard discovered that the meeting slated for tomorrow would take the “for m of a preliminary stock taking”.

It was learnt that “those who had been given light assignments immediately after inauguration would be expected to report back to the committee at tomorrow’s meeting”.

There were also indications that the committee would be looking beyond the issue of insurgency in the North; before making initial contact with the Boko Haram group.

According to one of the

SOLUTION T

A

M

A S

T

U

T E

Y

B

W A

L

I

A

E

D

T

S

A

C

O

O

E G

L

U

A

M

A

O

E

T

N

A

I

G

S

D

A

T

L A

K

I

L

D

N

T

N

O

O

N

N

T

G

U

L

L

L

O

L

M A

M

L

A

K

O

T

S

P L

G

Y

A

B

O

N

O O

E

E

T

E

S

A T

Y

Y

I

E

K

S

P

S

S

E

E

M

R

D

D

O

D A

I

R

E

A O

O

E

H A

V

E

T

L

S

X

W L

S

X

O S

L

A

O

H

H E

U

A

R

D

O V

O

N

E N

O

Y

S

“mindful of those who have relocated from the areas of insurgency back to their villages and states of origin”. To this end, according to a member of the Amnesty Committee “ we would be working closely with state and local governments, in liaison with civil society groups just so the compensation package would not go into the pockets of state governors and council chairmen.”

He continued: “The third core issue would be the engagement of a process that would lead to the preparation of a blueprint that we hope, honestly, would stop a recurrence of insurgency in any part of the country.

“This would mean creating an anti-poverty master plan for Nigeria because the issue of poverty is not a northern problem; it is a national problem that requires a national approach.”

Asked why nothing much has been heard on the activities of the group after 12 days of inauguration, Sunday Vanguard was told that “the work of the committee is not meant to be celebrated on the pages of newspapers but must be effective in the pursuit of peace. Of what value would our efforts be if newspapers report it on a daily basis while the problem persists?

“Tomorrow ’s meeting becomes more crucial because of the kidnap, in Borno, of an elder statesman. That singular act would make people appreciate the enormity of the task we have at hand”.

U T M O S T CONFIDENTIALITY

T

he NEF is optimistic that the committee would achieve its mandate of successfully dialoguing with the sect and restoring peace to the North.

The spokesman for the body, which actually set in motion the accelerated facilitation of the Amnesty Committee, Ango Abdullahi, said it was too early for Nigerians to judge whether the panel had established contact with the sect leadership with a view to achieving its goal.

“I believe they still have

From right: Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, Chief Otimeyin Adams and others at the ceremony. n a i r a .

Ibrahim spoke as Goverover two months to do their sect leaders. To that extent, work and they should be the Jonathan government nor Kashim Shettima of given that support and is merely wasting public Borno State left Maiduguri for Abuja to brief cooperation to do just funds.

“We believe that govern- President Goodluck that”, the former ViceChancellor of Ahmadu ment raised the committee Jonathan on the inciBello University (ABU) principally to win the sup- d e n t . stated. port of the members and Ibrahim spoke to news“But my appeal to them enable them reach out to men on telephone, yesis that the panel should the North so as to win their terday. ensure some level of confidentiality for those who want to come out and sign up for amnesty. We all pray that this phase of atrocity staring the North in the face should become a thing of the past before long.”

OUR FEARS, BY AYCF

R

eacting to the development, AYCF leader, Shettima, said he doubted the ability of the Amnesty Committee to perform the task set before it, pointing out that government made a serious blunder in the appointment of the panelists.

The members, he said, are not people trusted by Boko Haram leaders and will only end up dashing the hopes of the people.

Shettima said, “There are certain persons in the North that the sect respects and will be ready to listen to at any time. Government should have sought them out and saddled them with the assignment. ”The whole Boko Haram crisis will not end until government arrests some very powerful politicians in Borno State and bring to justice all those who took part in the killing of the leader of the sect, Yusuf Mohammed.”

ENDING VIOLENCE QUIETLY nother source, familiar with what has been going on in the North since the Boko Haram Amnesty Committee was inaugurated by Jonathan on April 24, pointed out that it would be an uphill task for the members to win the support of the sect to accomplish its assignment.

The source said: “To be very honest with you, the Amnesty Committee members cannot achieve the required peace because, in the first place, they cannot even reach the

A

support for President Jonathan’s 2015 re-election and not for ending the violence in the North.

“Now, if you doubt what I am telling you, ask any of the members of the Amnesty Committee to go to Maiduguri or Damaturu and discuss with Boko Haram members even for a second. They cannot and will never try that because the sect has no respect for the members put on the panel by the president.

“The government must have made a mistake by taking a political step in order to solve a problem that should have been handled with tact by sending people who have the ears of the sect leaders and members to dialogue with them before coming out with a committee.

“These people know and respect some persons; we believe government should have relied on this group of people to work out the modalities for ending the violence quietly. Now, with the kind of media attention that has preceded its formation, fear and distrust have been built into the whole process and the purpose defeated”.

Anxiety over Monguno’s health

...whereabouts still u n k n o w n

Meanwhile, Alhaji Baba Ibrahim, secretary to the kidnapped Borno elder statesman and former Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Shettima Ali Monguno, yesterday, said the whereabouts of his principal remained unknown, even as he denied that the kidnappers had communicated with the family and demanded ransom running into millions of

T

he elder statesman, who is the Chairman of Borno Elders Forum, a strong agitator for the withdrawal of JTF troops from Borno and also at the forefront of the call to grant amnesty to Boko Haram, was, on Friday, after performing his Juma’at prayers in Mafoni mosque in Maiduguri, kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram.

Monguno’s secretary said, “As I am talking to you now, nobody or group has contacted the family for ransom, and the speculation that the kidnappers have freed Dr. Monguno is unfounded. ” We are still praying to Allah (God) that whoever is/are involved in this act should please free this innocent old man”.

Borno State Police Commissioner, Mr. Yuguda Abdullahi, and the Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman, Leuitenant Colonel Sagir Musa, could not be reached on the abduction as their phones rang without response.

Governor Shettima, also, yesterday, expressed concern that the elder statesman may be without drugs made of food supplements said to have been Monguno’s companions in the last twenty years.

The governor ’s adviser on communications, Alhaji Isa Umar Gusau, said information reaching his principal through family members indicated he was concerned that, given his age, Monguno should eat less food and take more supplements.

PAGE 6—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

OYO MAYHEM: Why my party members were attacked, by Ladoja

BY BASHIR ADEFAKA

F

OLLOWING the Thursday attack on members of the Oyo State opposition party, the Accord, by people purportedly sponsored by the state government, leaders of party have lampooned the state government and the ruling ACN for their denial of involvement in the violence. They accused the state ACN of intolerance of the opposition.

The party stalwarts, including the leader, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard during a meeting in Ibadan, yesterday, said the violence against their members and declaration programme

was not the first. They accused the government and its party of resorting to mayhem to silence them because they were jittery by the progress of Accord.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his party immediately after the

violence had denied their involvement in it even as the governor stressed that his administration would not hesitate to visit the full weight of the law on anyone who breaches the peace of the state.

Ladoja wanted the

governor to prove his innocence on the attack which happened at Olomi, Oluyole, saying perpetrators were escorted to the venue of the programme by two vehicles of the state government-controlled security outfit, Operation Burst.

Glo X - Factor excitement in Kumasi

A

S the X-Factor audition train zoomed into Kumasi, Ghana, yesterday, scores of contestants, who trooped out on the platform, commended Glo for its people oriented programmes that offer unlimited platforms for turning dreams into reality.

The contestants, who thronged the Golden Tulip Hotel, venue of the audition held in Ghana’s second largest city of Kumasi, implored the telecommunication giant not to relent in bringing joy to the people as they tried to outperform each other to progress to the next round.

The star prize for X-

Factor is $150,000 and Sony music recording contract.

They noted that Glo had become a household name in Ghana because of the strategic support for the Black Stars, the Ghana Premier League, the Supporters Club and its pocket friendly rates backed by excellent service on the network.

Young Citizens’ peace agenda

T

HE Young Citizens of Nigeria, a nongovernment organisation, has proposed Federal to the Government it’s plan to host “Peace and Unity”programme in the six geo-political zones of the country.

In a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan by its National President, Peter Uche Lotobi, and Secretary General, Mrs Ruth Erihri, the NGO said the programme will

commence from Abuja.

The group, while appealing for support from the Presidency and other well meaning Nigerians, stated that the capital intensive programme, if assisted in carrying it out, will put a stop to violent crimes and insurgency in the country.

They commended their patron and former head of state, Gen. A.A. Abubakar, for his support.

MCJ Patrons

M

OVEMENT for Change through

Justice (MCJ), a human right crusader, has announced of Supol Ekpeghere Ibe, a divisional police officer; Chief Barrister Albert Olovo; and Prince Chris

Nwankwo, the chairman of Royalgate Konsult Int’l, as its patrons.

In a statement signed by its National Secretary, Comrade Mark Clark, MCJ said the decision was reached during its recent annual National Executive Committee meeting held in Lagos.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013 — PAGE 7

L-R: President, United Nations Women (National Committee) in Canada, Ms Almas Jiwani, Wife of the Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun and Partner/Consultant, ABN Global Events, Mr. Charles Chikezie during the 2013 Distinguished Women Advancement Forum-Millennium Development Goals Award given to Mrs. Amosun for her projects anchored on the actualisation of MDGs in Johannesburg, South Africa...weekend

•Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama, listening to Chief Charles Obule on his story of recovery from ill health when Utuama paid condolence visit to the Obule family over the death of former Sapele LG Chairman Andrew Obule.

4 killed in Kogi election violence, 28 others in Taraba, Adamawa

BY UMAR YUSUF & BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO, with agency report

A

T least 25 people were killed in violent clashes, at the weekend, between Christian and Muslim mobs in Taraba State, prompting a round-the-clock curfew, an aid worker has said.

This happened as gunmen suspected to be armed robbers killed three persons in Yola, Adamawa State capital.

The toll of the weekend violence reached 32 after local government elections in Kogi State left four, including an aspirant, dead.

“We have recovered 20 bodies from the violence so far,” the Taraba aid workers said about the Friday unrest in the town of Wukari, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the state capital Jalingo.

“We are still going round the town in search of more bodies,” he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media about death tolls.

Authorities have imposed a curfew in the area following the bloody clashes, officials said.

Local residents said the violence erupted when the funeral procession of a traditional chief from the predominantly Christian Jukun ethnic group marched through a Muslim neighbourhood chanting slogans, which Muslims viewed as an act of provocation.

Tensions have been on the rise in the mostly Christian town of Wukari since February, when a dispute over the use of a football pitch between Muslim and Christian soccer teams set off sectarian riots that claimed

several lives.

In the Adamawa incident, the three victim were killed at a popular shopping centre in Vinikland along the every busy Yola – Mubi Road.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen earlier robbed an NNPC Mega Filling Station and another private filling station before they proceeded to the shopping centre.

According to the eyewitnesses, the gunmen drove to the filling stations and the shopping centre in a Peugeot 406 car as they pretended to be customers before carrying out their operations.

At the two petrol stations, it was gathered that their sales for the day were carted away by the gunmen.

Two of the victims of the incident at the shopping centre were said to be to staffers of a new generation bank in Adamawa, though this could not be ascertained at press time.

Following the incident, the ever busy Yola – Mubi Road linking Borno, Yobe and other parts of the North East sub-region was cordoned by a joint military operation.

It was not clear whether arrests were made, though the state police command confirmed the robbery incident.

Kogi: Polls violence In Kogi State, yesterday, violence marred council polls in some local government areas with four persons reported dead and an election office razed.

A councillorship aspirant in Awo Ward 1 in Ojoku District of Ankpa, Adonis Omeh, one of the victims, was, on Friday night, allegedly shot at

close range by unknown assailants. Omeh, who allegedly contested the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in the ward with two others, was said to be returning from a meeting with party members when he met his untimely death.

Reports from Odu Ward 1 in Dekina Local Government said two persons were killed during a clash between PDP and ACN supporters over distribution of electoral materials.

The identities of the victims (both from the governor’s ward) could not be ascertained.

At Alloma, former Governor Abubakar Audu’s home town, Mr John Okpanachi, a youth leader, was allegedly shot dead by assailants in police uniform for challenging them over non-receipt of electoral materials.

The assailants were said to have also abducted the ACN councillorship candidate in the area, Mallam Danjuma Yunusa, along side some youths who were thrown into their vans and driven away.

Confirming the incidents, Kogi Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Amadi Nwaneri, said only one person was killed in Dekina and was yet to get the reports on the Awo and Alloma killings.

In MopaMuro, the Deputy Governor’s Local Government, elections were marred by people suspected to be members of the opposition who stalled the polls till noon.

The Deputy Governor, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, said: “From Friday night the opposition were playing out their words to stop the elections. For six hours

this morning, they were causing riot and beating people. We had to call for (police) reinforcement before they could allow materials to be used. You can go to the hospital to access for yourself ”.

One of the victims, Mr. Juwon Elekula, who is the NULGE secretary and was to serve as presiding Officer, said he was dealt machete blows on the head when he insisted to

conduct the elections.

Election office razed The state Independent Electoral Commission office in Bassa local government area of the state along with election materials were burnt by unidentified party supporters on Friday night.

Dino’s arrest The spokesperson for the opposition in Kogi,

Dino Melaye, was arrested on the eve of election but released four hours later.

Dino, leading a protest from the G.R.A, Lokoja, was accosted at the Kogi Hotel Roundabout and apprehended by security personnel shortly after addressing a press conference stating the opposition’s stand to boycott the council polls.

Edo monarch threatens to drag judge before NJC

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

T

HE Aidonogie of South Ibie clan, in Edo State, Alhaji Aliu Danesi, has threatened to petition the National Judicial Council (NJC) over Justice E. Ikpomnwen’s ruling on the kingship of the clan, after he accused the judge of bias in the libel suit instituted by him.

The monarch had filed a libel suit against Prof. I. Bello-Iman, Chief Shaibu Imogore, Chief Dirisu Ekhalefo, Chief Zubiri Momodu and Alhaji Jafara Saliu, after he alleged that the defendants libeled him by petitioning the Edo State Commissioner of Police accusing him (Danesi) of hiring assassins to go after some certain persons in the community.

In his judgment, however, Justice E. Ikponmwen of the Benin High Court said Danesi, had no right to institute the suit in the first place since the Court of Appeal had deposed him as Aidonogie.

But the monarch, who is the Edo government rec-

ognized Aidonogie, narrated that “the Court of Appeal judgment which the judge referred to was delivered in 2003 and the action before her was instituted in December 2000”.

He explained that the Court of Appeal judgment did not depose him but

only said that the state House of Assembly should amend the law as regards the kingship of South Ibie by replacing the issue of eldest surviving son of any of the ruling houses and replacing it with any capable man in the family.

Students task Jonathan on N-Delta

N

IGER Delta stu dents have asked President Goodluck Jonathan to reverse the negelct the oil-rich region suffered in the past.

Speaking under the aegis of the National Association of Niger Delta Students (NANDS), they thanked the president for the “good work he is doing”.

NANDS national president, Comrade Omonefe, stated this at the investiture of Mr Johnbull Edema, an activist, a philanthropist and a business mogul as the “Pillar of the Niger-Delta Struggle.”

While presenting the award to the recipient, the

National Vice President of NANDS, Comrade Christopher Onojaja, who represented the President, said Edema’s choice for the award was in recognition of his contribution to the Niger Delta liberation struggle.

Responding, Edema, who is also the National Youths President of Deghele Youths (IYE DESCENDANTS), and managing director of Demack Merchant Ltd, said the award had challenged him to continue to contribute to the development of the economy of his locality. The receipient said it was a well deserving award.

PAGE 8—SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

TRIBUTE

For Pini Jason - Who stood for something

BY IKEDDY ISIGUZO, Chairman Editorial Board

E

VEN with the mortality of humans being well founded, there are people you would hardly think about that way.

Pini Jason Onyegbaduo who passed on yesterday belonged to that class.

He brought pristine joy to others through sheer garb and grasp of the written word.

He traversed all subjects and handled them with calm efficiency. With him, you knew where he stood. He argued his points to a precision that left no doubts. It was difficult to fault his logic, which he honed to a glittering destination in a discussion.

It would seem he was comfortable taking on every issue. Sometimes you wondered who he supported. It did not appear to matter as much as the illumination he brought to matters.

Only on Tuesday, he wrote his farewell column, A letter to Yushau Shuaib, mostly advice to a young civil servant, who thought he was being persecuted because he was a writer.

Pini drawing from his experience in 1976, when he worked as a Customs officer, but wrote for Lagos Weekend with his pen name, told Yushau there were service rules that had to be obeyed.

The tributes are flowing, laced with the sadness that the unexpectedness of death visits on mortals. His readers

Late Pini Jason waiting for another Tuesday encounter with him, never thought of him dying, not with the youth that bubbled through his writings at 65.

I met Pini at a party he hosted for my classmate iheanyi Agada in his Lagos residence in 1982.

It was a memorable night filled with fun memories of us dancing endlessly to the tunes of those days – Rock Da Boat (Forests), the gamut of Whispers, Shalama, Delegation, and Jimmy Cliff who was migrating from reggae to funk.

The hit of the night was Eddy Grant’s Walking On The Sunshine. Eddie Iroh, Pini’s boss friend executed the dance with dexterous steps. The number was repeated to

the delight of all.

“What am I hearing about Pini, ” Iroh asked when I called yesterday.

“It is really sad? Was he ill? What happened?,” he asked. Pini died was all I knew.

I borne the burden of letting Agada who now lives in the United States know that Pini was gone.

It was simply incredulous for him, the same reaction I had when I was told.

Pini eased from his Customs job into full time journalism, writing mostly for foreign-based publications before gaining total followership at home. He was with The Week, Nduka Obiagbena’s news magazine that debuted in 1986. Then he started his own

publication The Examiner.

His weekly contributions to Vanguard would be what most would remember. He handled issues with a candour that challenged positions. He often left an impression on whoever read him.

At the height of military rule, a curious press law was in the offing which would have made a formal training in journalism mandatory for practitioners. The target was columnists like Pini.

At 45, quietly trained at the Times Journalism Institute, to beat his adversaries to whatever they were planning.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha expressed his sadness in long drawn

sighs before adding, “It is a big loss. I never knew he was down.”

“Nigeria has lost one of its most focused thinkers and prodigious journalists. His death would leave a big hole that is difficult to fill in Vanguard, a newspaper that greatly benefited from his wit and skill ,” Garba Shehu, Fellow and former President, Nigeria Guild of Editor said. Charles Kalu of Radio Continental said, “We have lost yet another great mind.

Another journalism Iroko has fallen. He stamped his feet on the sands of time.”

His deep mind was a recurring in the tributes.

Dr. Josef Bel-Molokwu of the School of Media and Communication, PanAfrican University said of Pini, “It is always sad to learn of the demise of great minds like Jason Onyegbaduo, known more by his nom de plume Pini Jason. He was the quintessential writer, whose biggest quality to me was his unequivocal style. You always knew what position he took on any issue, never prevaricating.”

“He belonged to the dying age of fearless journalism and was one of the precious few who were resolute with the pen in shaping policy and providing direction ,” Godwin Adindu, media aide to the Abia State Governor said.

“It is sad. Just sad ,” Paul Odili, a communications aide to the Delta State Governor, who also worked for

Vanguard said.

Editor of Daily Independent Ikechukwu Amaechi shared his sadness through questions. “Was he sick.

Was it an accident. How come we didn’t hear anything but his death?

Has it been confirmed? ” Joe Ajaero, Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, who once worked for Vanguard, mourned Pini thus, “ What a loss at a time we are mourning Achebe. Pini was an artistic writer who devoted his prowess to fighting inverted totalitarianism. The liberal class has lost a dependable ally. This is another sun set in the East. Good night Pini.”

“His exit is bound to create an unquantifiable vacuum in the area of informed commentary in Nigerian journalism.

What a great loss. What a seminal mind. We will miss his arresting humour and his roaring laughter. An engaging mind has left us ,” stated Amaze Obi, Editorial Board Chairman of The Sun, who served with Pini in the Ikedi Ohakim administration in Imo State.

Much has been made of that service. Harsh criticism followed it, but Pini defended his decisions ably during and after his involvement with government.

Pini stood for his convictions. It was easier to deal with him so long as you were ready to debate issues until their distracting debris were cleared.

Adieu Pini.

.... Presidency, Fashola, Obi, editors mourn Continues from page 1 commitment to public good. Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola said the death was an irreparable loss.

His Anambra State counterpart, Mr Peter Obi, said the deceased was one of Nigeria’s finest journalists.

General Manager, Publication/Editor-inChief of Vanguard, Mr Gbenga Adefaye, described Jason as a Nigerian who dreamt excellence and a wholesome regeneration of our nation.

Vanguard Editor, Mr Mideno Bayagbon, said the late veteran journalist embodied “the best in journalism.”

Dele Adetiba said Jason had a way with words.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Abati, said, “I am sorry to hear of the death of Pini Jason, a very decent man. His attitude to life was always positive. He wrote columns that were set apart by their clarity, thoughtfulness, sound knowledge and commitment to public

good. We have lost another true defender of the people’s interests.

He will be sorely missed by the Nigerian media family, and particularly his numerous readers.

My best wishes to his family”.

Obi, who spoke from the US, said the death of Jason was one death in which part of him died.

The governor described the deceased as one of the finest journalists who earned respect through hard work.

He condoled with the Imo State governor, the pen fraternity and his

family, and prayed God to grant Jason eternal rest.

Adefaye said: “Chief Pini Jason Onyegbadue, was that indelible part of the Vanguard character who worked for a better Nigeria with every talent in him before his death yesterday. An unpretentious humanist, you always knew where you stood with Pini.

Fair, broadminded as he was analytical, Pini was the Nigerian who dreamt excellence and a wholesome regeneration of our nation even as we

are hunted by pettiness, ethnicity and cronyism.

He will be sorely missed even as Vanguard may find it difficult to replace him. Rest in peace Chief and may your dream for Nigeria come through.”

In his own tribute, Bayagbon said: “It seems so unbelievable that Pini Jason, one of the most lucid voices in our quest for a greater Nigeria and indeed a greater Africa, is dead. Just like that? It shows how ephemeral life is, how illogical our inordinate materialistic ambitions are. Pini embodied the best in

journalism. At the Vanguard family, we will sorely miss his friendly but matured voice and humaneness”.

Adetiba, in a statement, said, “This is a big shock. Jason had a way with words. Beyond words, he had a progressive mind but zero ego. He was incredibly courteous almost to the point of deference. Pity, we just lost a 32-carat gentleman”.

Jason was a special adviser to a former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013 — PAGE 9

Controversy dogs Afam bid again

BY LEKAN BILESANMI

T

HE re-bid for the sale of Afam Generation Plant by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is enmeshed in controversy following the evaluation of the technical bids submitted on 15 April, 2013.

It is alleged that some vested interests, in their bid to pre-determine the winner of the plant, had put in a place a scheme to manipulate reputable bidders with the potentials to post high purchase price

out of the bid to pave the way for their acquisition of the facility.

It was reliably learnt that, at the end of the initial evaluation, all but one of the bidding firms were disqualified, thus paving the way for a single bidder.

Some strong bidders who scored highly were said to have been eliminated on questionable grounds.

At the last count, sources said no less than seven petitions had been received

by BPE over the evaluation process.

Red Cross warns Lagosians ahead of heavy rains

BY BOSE ADELAJA

N

IGERIAN Red Cross Society, Lagos State branch has called on Lagosians to take proactive measures to avert flooding especially now that the rainy season is gathering momentum.

At a one-day event on flood mitigation campaign which took place at St. Paul’s detachment, Mushin, the organisation warned residents to desist from disposing refuse in unathorised places, building on water ways, allowing children to walk during heavy rains and blockage of drainage.

Programme Coordinator for Mushin Zone, Mr. Sunday Adeneye, said the event was necessary to sensitise residents on disasters associated with rainy season so that they are not caught unawares.

At the occasion which was used to decorate Mushin local government C.D.C. Chairman, Alhaji Rasheed Abolade, as the patron of the association, principal environmental health officer of the local government, Sanitarian Yemitan Adedayo, urged government to checkmate the influx of people into Lagos metropolis to prevent overcrowding.

Considering the controversy that dogged the previous bid which consumed the former Minister of Power, experts said the BPE ought to have been more thorough with the bid.

“Again, looking at the great potentials of Afam Plant, it would have been expected that it would have served the greater interest of the government and Nigerian people to have as many bidders as possible to increase the chances of an enhanced value for the Afam Plant since the bid will go to the highest bidder”, one of the experts said.

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State (2nd left) with the Presidents of Anambra People in the USA (ASAUSA), Allison Anadi (2nd right); Jimmy Asiegbu (1st right) and Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, immediate Past President, at the peace meeting organized for the reconciliation of warring factions of the Association by Governor Obi in the USA, yesterday.

Rift between Nyako, Jubril Aminu deepens •PDP may expel gov, if ...

BY JIDE AJANI & SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

T

HE national leader ship of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may expel Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State over a pending election in the state.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that Nyako, con-

cerned about the fate of his candidate and the lost PDP ticket, had asked his supporters to vote for the opposition candidate.

The PDP leadership, it was learnt, threatened to expel him if he carried out his threat.

Meanwhile, the rift between Nyako and his godfather, Prof Jubril Aminu, deepened, as the governor said he was too busy to be distracted by Aminu’s allegation of non-performance.

Nyako asked the former petroleum minister to leave him alone to concentrate on the mandate given him by the Adamawa people to transform

the agrarian state.

Aminu had said, in an exclusive interview with Sunday Vanguard, that Nyako had failed the state with poor leadership, which had not been able to produce democracy dividends for the people.

The former minister said the failure of the governor was partly his own fault, having worked with other stakeholders to make him governor.

But, yesterday, Nyako fired back at Aminu, saying he had done much to transform the state from where he met it.

The governor, who reacted through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Ahmed Sajoh, pointed out that although the

former minister was entitled to his opinion on the affairs of the state, Nyako would not waste his time to join issues with him.

The governor said he was too busy with the task of developing the state to be distracted by the antics of those who did not see anything good in the state.

He noted, “We are happy that Allah has used us to bring progress to the people Adamawa State.

But we are not yet contented. We pray for Allah’s guidance to still achieve more. We mean well for the people and we shall continue to provide them dividends of leadership as long as we have a subsisting mandate”.

Police shoot 3 robbery suspects dead in Oyo

BY OLA AJAYI, Ibadan

N

EMESIS caught up with a six-man armed robbery gang in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, yesterday, as policemen gunned three of them down and arrested others.

They were said to have successfully robbed an operator of bureau de change at Sabo area of the city.

The robbers reportedly stormed the area, which is predominantly Hausa, around 5pm and started shooting sporadically.

They were said to have arrived on motorcycles and held the place hostage before the tide of things turned against them.

An eye witness said the robbers collected two bags containing money and wanted to escap.But, the bureau de change operators blocked all roads leading to the area. ”When they could not use bikes, they threw one of the bags away and ran towards Adamasingba.

The people gave them a hot chase. Police then arrived and surrounded the area and shot three of

them dead.”

Sunday Vanguard also gathered that the robbers, in order to cover their tracks and share the loot alone, killed the informant

who told them about the money exchange.

Oyo State Police Public Relations, DSP Olabisi Ilobanafor, confirmed the story.

Gov Fayemi names new deputy

BY GBENGA AIYIBI

E

KITI State Gover nor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has forwarded the name of Chairperson of the State’s Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prof Modupe Adelabu, to the state House of Assembly for consideration as deputy

governor.

Fayemi, in a letter dated May 3, 2013, and addressed to the Speaker of the Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, requested the House to consider Adelabu in the bid to fill the vacant position following the death of the former deputy governor, Mrs Funmilayo Olayinka, on April 6.

NPA lauded over Warri Port

T

HE Grassroot Coalition for Goodluck Jonathan, GCGJ, a proJonathan political pressure group, has commended the Port Manger, Nigeria Ports Authority, Warri, Obumneme Onuenyenwa, for rehabilitating the Warri Port.

National President of the group, Comrade Gabriel Akpude, who led members of the group on tour of facilities at the Warri Port, expressed satisfaction with

the resurgence of economic activities at the port.

Akpude, noted that the Port is presently wearing a new look, adding that the Port Manager has been working tirelessly towards bringing back its lost glory.

He therefore appealed to the federal government to provide more funds to the management of Warri Port to enable them complete the ongoing projects.

PAGE 10 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

Fed Govt misappropriated N1.52tr in 11 years – 1

Big Brother is watching “The Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” - Thomas Jefferson

I

do not think much of our progress in rela tion to crime fighting and justice. And the federal government then goes and throws the proverbial spanner in the works and proved me right. If Nigerians regularly compile crime statistics, they will be staggered by how much crime is committed in our country on a daily basis and it shows no signs of abating.

We have all been directly or know someone who has been a victim of crime.

Shockingly, it has become the given that crime happens and then people just get on with life, until it happens again. In a civil society one would expect that the government would try in reducing the alarming rates of crime that is blighting the lives of its citizens, you would have hoped that it would be a priority. No, not

us. It seems that the powers that be do not care much for the ordinary Nigerians.

Here in the UK, there are more cameras per person than anywhere in the world.

In fact, camera surveillance has become an integral part of the government’s crime prevention strategy. It has proved a valueable device in terms of safety and security. Well, to an extent. There is disquiet feeling of invasion of privacy and human rights violation but you cannot put a price on safety. In London, it is estimated that five hundred thousand CCTV cameras are in operation.

So, why in Nigeria is life so cheap and why is there always a complication when addressing the needs of the citizens?

One would have thought the use of recording of criminal activities will prevent crimes from occurring; that it will be welcomed and encouraged; that it will serve as a deterrent due to a fear of being caught.

So when Governor Baba-

tions.

By my own reckoning, the three presidents of Nigeria, all PDP, since 1999, between them had misappropriated over N12 trillion – about one quarter of it since 2010 when Jonathan

VICTIMS OF BOKO HARAM: SUICIDE BOMBER – 2 “It aint the things you

The typical suicide bomber is now receiving part of his rewards here on earth – including several nonvirgins he is bedding at will.

,

“The more you look; the less you see”. Professor Peller; the magician.

Gitto Construction is one company most Nigerians should not forget in a hurry. It made headlines last year by building a cathedral in Otuoke, Bayelsa State. Certainly, it was pure coincidence that Otuoke is President Jonathan’s village. The cathedral was es-

don’t know that cause the problem; it’s things you think you know that aint so”.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882.(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 117).

Anyone still operating on the belief that the suicide bomber is a fundamentalist who has been persuaded to sacrifice his life, in exchange for a sublime afterlife, including twelve virgins to bed, can go and discard that idea. The typical suicide bomber is now receiving part of his rewards here on earth – including several non-virgins he is bedding at will. The theory

tunde Fashola declared in 2009, that his administration intends to install 10,000 cameras to reduce crime in the State, hope sprang eternal. His rationale is very pragmatic and practical; in a state with eighteen million citizens and only 33,000 police force (and an ineffectual force at that). The State needed surveillance equipment to assist with policing the streets.

He said: “No matter how much we try to increase the number of policemen, we cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result”.

deserve to feel safe and secure.

So now big FG have flexed its muscles and stalled the Lagos Safe City Project, a scheme aimed at providing 10,000 solarpowered closed circuit cameras all over the metropolis.

Their lame excuse that Lagos was going to be in the first phase of the project means nothing and they seem not to expand on the move.

So we are talking of a lot of equipment costing billions of Naira, laying fallow.

So their talk be political

took over. That is almost treasonable…

To be continued……

GITTO CONSTRUCTION COMPANY CONNECTION

,

F

ROM mid-2010 un til the last Sunday before the 2011 elections, a major campaign was carried on these pages.

The message was simple; even a five year old could understand it – don’t vote for PDP and don’t vote for Jonathan. Yet the majority of Nigerian voters, some of them highly respected people, went out to vote for Jonathan not PDP. The advice to my “Fellow Countrymen” (“How many fools make up “My Fellow Countrymen”, asked Thomas Carlyle), was based on some of the findings included in my book, PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED – which will soon be reprinted and issued. In it, the PDP government led by former President Obasanjo was pointedly accused of misappropriating close to N8 trillion while the government was deceiving Nigerians and the world that it was fighting corruption.

Today, mine is no longer a lone voice in the wilderness. Even the PDP controlled National Assembly, in-

cluding Senators from other political parties, had finally confirmed some, and only some, of the charges that I have been making. By the admission of the Senator Ahmed Lawan’s Committee, all PDP presidents – Obasanjo, Yar ’Adua and Jonathan – had not only approved the misappropriation of public funds, they have committed what, in other democracies, would be impeachable offences.

The only difference between the Senate Committee report and mine is one of degree not of fact. We both agree Nigerians were robbed by their presidents.

While the Senate Committee had limited its searchlight to Special Funds Accounts, my inquiry covers all aspects of government operations – especially those associated with oil/ gas revenue and the way they are disbursed; as opposed to the way the law prescribes. I am sure a wider probe will reveal more criminal misappropriation of public funds by these guys. The truth is, all our presidents have been handling funds entrusted to them in the most irresponsible and criminal way. All the Ministers of Finance should join them in any inquiry arising from this report. They too were/are just disgraceful. They colluded in all these misappropria-

,

“Fish rots from the head”, “The Senate yesterday condemned the alleged misappropriation and abuse of N1,518,871.357,425.64 by the Federal Government”.

THE NATION, Wednesday, May 1, 2013.

timated to cost N2 billion.

Chicken change for a President’s gift.

Gitto is in the news again – for N2 billion. That was the amount of loan granted to God knows who; to pay Gitto out of the N1.52 trillion our three presidents, Obasanjo, Yar ’Adua and Jonathan, “misappropriated” since 2002. What on earth did Gitto do for the N2 billion? Wait.

What goes round; comes round, abi?

So, why in Nigeria is life so cheap and why is there always a complication when addressing the needs of the citizens?

“In an information technology-driven world, we have to be counted as one of those states and communities which will adopt best practices. Cameras, sensors, tracking devices are the nerve centre of these facilities that would assist men and officers of the police force, fire service among others to do their duty much more effectively.”

The governor is right and the people of Lagos

,

but what do I know? The big FG always proves me right.

Not that old chestnut....

“One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”- Plato So here we go again, the same old, tragic-comedy has reared its ugly head and raucous now ensue in Oyo politics. Why are people surprised that the accord between the Governor of

was blown when female suicide bombers emerged.

When I asked a fundamentalist Muslim teacher, “what is the promised reward for female suicide bombers, would they also bed twelve tall, young and handsome men in heaven?”, he was totally stumped. Are we now to believe there are people dying for nothing?

The decline in the number of “volunteers” is linked with the slow but growing awareness among the potential candidates that they are embarking on a journey of no return. And that it is best to have your fun here on earth. Some have run away after enjoying themselves and shrinking from self-destruction.

Is the suicide bomber a villain or a victim? The shocking answer is: he is both. For those he annihilates or maims he is a villain; for those who send him on his deadly errand, he is a victim.

From fairly reliable sources, I was able to piece together some information about the Boko Haram organization structure. But, permit me if that information, still incomplete, cannot be provided now. However, one particular group of people in the structure, perhaps the most dreaded, suicide bombers, now, has a profile.

Almost invariably, they are not part of the main organization. In fact, if they don’t die in their mission, they cannot provide a lot of useful information about the rest of the faction of Boko Haram which has engaged them. First thing is; they are people with nothing to lose. Second, they must have some driving experience. Otherwise they are trained to drive cars

with automatic transmissions – which are easier to master. Third, they are recruited a few weeks before they are sent on the deadly errand – sometimes without being told they are carrying explosives in the car.

Fourth, they are promised a lot of money – at least a “fortune” to them. Some of the money is given to them to spend for days, before the attack, while being drilled about the targets and the mission. The balance is promised to them after successfully accomplishing their mission. Sometimes, they are told to nominate the beneficiaries –if they die. Naively, they select one of their recruiters.

That they carry out the attacks is what makes them villains. That they trust their recruiters, absolutely, is what makes them victims. They never return to collect the balance; and, beneficiaries nominated are never contacted to claim the balance. Security officers in the region might make more progress by being on the look-out for former destitute who suddenly start spending freely....

THANKS SIR SEGUN GEORGE, KSJ. PRESIDENT ICOBA 58-62 SET Dear Segun let me on behalf of our Igbobi College class, 58-62, alive and departed, express our collective gratitude for the leadership you provided by making the 50th anniversary of our graduation from Igbobi possible. In every aspect of our national lives, Nigerians need leaders who, like you, believe in achievements instead of excuses. We respect and appreciate you. Personally, I doff my hat. Thank you, Sir. V i s i t : www.delesobowale.com

Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi and the former State governor, Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja has taken a turn for the worse?

In Oyo State, many saw the acrimony between Governor Abiola Ajimobi and Senator Rashidi Ladoja c o m i n g .

It has been brewing for some time, when the present governor won in 2011 by a slim margin over the then ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State. Necessity means that in order to have a workable House of Assembly he formed an alliance with the Ladoja led Accord Party. For a while it was good; there was stability in the House of Assembly. The pact between the Governor and Ladoja of the Accord Party was to cement the political coalition. In turn, it meant that some of the Accord members were absorbed into the Ajimobi administration, until now when they were unceremoniously booted out for undermining the administration. Those that have been privy to the marriage of convenience said that Ladoja had not help matters, by being publicly dismissive of the Ajimobi’s administration. There was a time that the two were politically good friends and it helped unify many factions and that is no mean feat in Oyo State!

The cracks were there and occasionally there were glimpses of it where

there were deliberate leaks to the media and as they say politics is one of the dirtiest occupations alongside other oldest professions.

Some would agree that they can tell the difference between the two.

This bad blood runs deep, despite the fact that they are cousins from their Olugbesan, Oke Agbeni root; this quarrel goes much deeper than that. The bad feelings is contagious and this can be traced right back to Adedibu’s era.

Adedibu held tight political reins and it is believed that he was seen as the king maker at a cost. It was thought he held the reins of government and belived so much in his hype as the king maker. This I tell you have got a lot to do with greed and it has been the way political favours were returned. My father wrote in his article, titled ‘The barricade for democracy’: “It is a surprise that Rasheed associated with Adedibu at all. Two instances why he should not have done what he did: one of the instances he (Rasheed) himself quoted was “after we had our quarrel in 1994 and we wanted to make up in 2002, he came to see me and he said :Rasheed, the possibility of matters going the sticky end at the centre of the Western Region crisis was the greed for power from the centre; in the thick of this one is a similar greed”.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 11

Nigeria. In fact that would by far be a better posture for the Army than engaging in commonplace methods of operations or indeed in mundane assignments such

as the manning of election venues. The latter can only attract to our Army, a negative public perception of a group that is unwittingly used by one group of politicians against the other.

Incidentally, this standpoint has already been vindicated as the nation’s largest political party openly chastised the Army a few days ago, on its deployment of soldiers to the recent local elections in Edo State.

At a press conference in Abuja last week, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Olisa Metuh called on the Military High Command to investigate the role of the Brigade Commander of the Nigerian Army in Benin City for allegedly using the Military against the PDP during the elections. It is important to recognize that the allegation arose simply because rather than embrace technology, Nigeria prefers to remain in the analogue regime where security personnel are used to manually secure an election process. This explains why the conduct of elections in Nigeria usually takes the same form as the prosecution of civil war. At the recent edo local elections, the Police proudly announced the deployment of 5000 of its personnel to secure the elections - a figure that is probably more than the total number of law enforcement personnel put in use in that area alone, during the Nigerian civil war.

Meanwhile an election is not a battle but a game

which is supposed to be open only to players and not fighters. In earnest, best practices in the management of elections have proven that only modern technology can effectively combat electoral malpractices.

It cannot be otherwise in Nigeria.

Indeed, any nation can easily benefit from the several merits of a computerized election process. First, it disallows multiple registration of voters because under the scheme, no one can register more than once anywhere in the country.

Second, no person who is not a registered voter can vote at an election. Put differently, no person can successfully use another person’s voter ’s card to vote.

Third, no voter can vote twice because any ballot thumb printed by any person who had earlier voted would be automatically rejected. Such a safety valve would no doubt discourage many deliberate lapses such as the lateness of materials to voting centres as it would no longer be necessary to spend ample time and energy to protect some supposed sensitive documents. Whether it is an election or a census exercise, it is only technology that can facilitate a hitch free and credible operation. This is because it is only technology that can nullify political interference which Festus Odimegwu; Chairman of our Population Commission recently identified as a major obstacle to the attainment of a hitch free exercise

The argument of Nigeria’s political class that the nation’s literacy rate is too low to withstand the adoption of modern technologies is only self serving.

Many so called uneducated citizens are currently enjoying on-line banking services while a larger number uses GSM phones with ease. Didn’t we hear the other day of plans by the Minister of Agriculture to provide a large number of telephone lines to rural farmers? The truth therefore is that many unserious bodies have a phobia for technology. Recent findings of a concerned Nigerian-Temitope Famutimi, who visited the websites of some government departments, are instructive here. According to the researcher, while that of the Ministry of Power says “website under construction”, the latest information in the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to do with Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary Celebration in October 2012.

In 2004, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) fixed 2015 as the deadline for every nation in the globe to transit from analogue to digital broadcasting. Many nations picked dates ahead of 2015 to complete theirs. Nigeria fixed 2012. As at today, one year after its chosen date, not much has happened beyond the selection of committees to study the subject. When then will Nigeria begin to embrace modern technology?

dings and description of spousal relationship as a sacrament will increase the possibility of happy marriage, without realising that there are no guarantees anywhere that even with the best of intentions a marriage conducted in total compliance with religious teachings will last.

In addition, many people delude themselves that romantic love alone is enough to sustain marriage. Romantic love is a wayward emotion that on its own cannot sustain a serious relationship on a long-term basis necessary for marriage. Thus, misconceptions about marriage even

economic and intellectual emancipation of women, among other factors. Therefore, a philosophical investigation of marriage is necessary to promote a levelheaded appreciation of the entailments of marital relationship, dispel illusions about matrimony, and enlighten those already wedded to improve their practice of marriage.

To kick-start our analysis, let us formally define marriage. According to the informative entry on the subject in Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, marriage is a legally accepted relationship between an adult male and female that entails certain rights and obligations. This definition is valid to some extent, but it is too narrow and reflects the Christian practice of marriage dominant in western countries. It is a dangerous delusion to presume, as Christians do,

African communities before the cultural and economic colonisation of Africa by the European powers. In traditional Africa, it was a symbol of affluence for a man to marry more than one woman, and more children meant more hands to work in the farm.

Now, because of westernisation (especially the spread of Christianity), coupled with urbanisation and changes in people's ideas of parenthood and appropriate size of a nuclear family, monogamy is supplanting other marriage patterns across the world, to the extent that most marriages contracted in towns and cities are between single males and females.

The traditional conception of marriage excludes homosexual couples, and although cohabitation is becoming increasingly accepted particularly among the youths and is now the usual prelude to marriage, people still differentiate between living together and a ''proper" wedding and marriage. In the Bible, Jesus reportedly said, in Matthew 19:4, that ''he who made them at the beginning made them male and female...for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.''

Apparently, Jesus was quoting the passage in Genesis 2: 24: he consolidated the theological interpretation of marriage by proclaiming, in Matthew 19: 6, that "what God had joined together let no man put asunder." The Islamic viewpoint is, not surprisingly, identical with the Christian perspective, given that both

Christianity and Islam are Abrahamic religions. The Quran 7:189 proclaims that: "He [Allah] it is who created you from a single soul, and therefrom did make his mate that he might take rest in her". The religious view of marriage is part of traditional African culture also. Of course, theological explanation of the provenance of marital relationship is untenable.

To begin with, marriage is completely explainable in terms of the biological, emotional, intellectual, economic, and cultural factors, such that it is superfluous to import anything supernatural for its justification.

In otherwords, marriage is not an extraordinary social institution or phenomenon: it is well within the capabilities of human beings and does not require the postulation of a divine originator. The impressive literature on the origins and evolution of marriage contains elaborate descriptions of various forms of marriage practiced by people in different societies at different times. Frederick Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa, and Bertrand Russell's Marriage and Morals and so on strongly indicate that marriage is the culmination of a long process of trial and error as people grappled with the problem of relatedness. Thus, marriage embodies the culturally conditioned hopes, fears and aspirations of humans as a-being-withothers.

TO BE CONTINUED.

When will Nigeria cease to be an analogue nation? the travelers in the usually long queues around it.

Today, many of the several 4-lane streets in our beautiful capital city- Abuja have, for security reasons, been converted to one-lane streets. While the Army may think that the policy can curtail the easy movement of criminals; a public analyst is free to see the policy decision as akin to that of a man who decides to blind himself so as not to see his

,

L

AST month, Joe my cousin, who is al ways frightened of the Military called me on phone to warn me never again to offend, in his words, “dangerous persons and institutions like the Army”. His call came one day after I delivered a rather combative paper at a military conference in Lagos. He sternly asked me: what do you know about security that makes you think you can publicly criticize the Army? While agreeing that I know just a little about warfare, I opined that professionalism in military operations is a different subject from public perception of what the Army does or chooses not to do.

For instance, whatever is the opinion of the Army on issues such as the use of road blocks on our highways to combat crime, they are rather obsolete to me.

In earnest, we – laymen have a right to imagine that anyone who chooses to inflict collective fear could in fact easily blast with a bomb, all those managing a road block as well as all

strategies and emulate societies which use modern technology to detect and arrest heinous crimes.

There is however, an unconfirmed story that one signals officer of the Nigerian Army in Lagos has designed a kind of close circuit television with which activities in a place as far as Kaduna can be monitored from Abuja. If this is true, perhaps then it is the Army that would propel technology in

Many nations picked dates ahead of 2015 to complete theirs. Nigeria fixed 2012. As at today, one year after its chosen date, not much has happened beyond the selection of committees to study the subject

enemies. How then, does he see his friends? I then concluded my response to Cousin Joe that my concern is for Nigeria to follow the times, dump stone-age

,

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

I

T is virtually impossi ble to know exactly the number of marriages that take place all over the world daily or weekly. What is certain is that an overwhelming majority of men and women still consider it appropriate to formalise their close relationships one way or another through wedlock. Paradoxically, given the tremendous socio-economic, cultural, and ideational changes that occurred globally since the scientific and technological revolutions of the 20th century, divorce has increased exponentially from what it was in previous times when break up of marriage, except on the ground of fornication, was thought to be a grievous sin punishable by God. In recent years, several western countries have legitimised homosexual or homoerotic union, due mainly to the increasing recognition that serious expression of human sexuality and the need for intimacy and companionship transcends traditional, religionapproved, man-woman polarity, and that the choice of marriage partner is fundamentally a personal decision in which the community or state should not in-

terfere. Most African countries are yet to key into the homoerotic world, because they are still rotating within the strong gravitational field of antiquated religions, especially traditional African religion, Christianity, and Islam.

Last year the Nigerian senate instead of tackling the hydra-headed challenges confronting the country mischievously passed a bill outlawing homoerotic relationships. At any rate, whatever mode is permitted in a given society marriage remains a very important social institution, and it is clear that it would continue in various forms as long as committed personal relationships satisfy some of the deepest physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs of human beings.

The fundamental problem with marriage is that most people go into it without a scientific understanding and appreciation of the law of unintended effects, together with the precariousness and uncertainties that permeate human existence. For instance, religionists tend to think that the mere recitation of certain texts from their favourite scripture during wed-

,

Facts and fallacies about marriage (1)

Marriage is not an extraordinary social institution or phenomenon: it is well within the capabilities of human beings and does not require the postulation of a divine originator

among professional marriage counsellors are legion.

People are still repeating avoidable mistakes in marriage because they hardly pay attention to research findings in the last few decades, which conclusively establish that traditional conceptions of marriage are breaking down under the weight of new knowledge, industrialisation and the

,

that monogamy is the divinely approved model of marriage.

There are other legitimate forms of marriage including group marriage, polyandry, and polygamy.

Several variables determine the type of marriage prevalent in a given society; however, the economic structure and religious beliefs are fundamental. Polygamy was widespread in

PAGE 12 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

Task Force had massed following intelligence that established serious Boko Haram activity in Baga, and the engagement was fierce. By the end of the operation most of Baga lay in ruins with the Red Cross reporting about 185 dead civilians in what has been described as a massacre.

Nigeria is neither an imperial government over Baga, nor are the Boko Haram doves modeling civic peace. Baga can be compared more appropriately to Umuechem, Odi or Zaki Biam

,

The senator representing Borno North in the Nigerian senate, Senator Ma’aji, put it quite pointedly during a senate session: “I stand before you today a very sad man. My zone, the Borno North Senatorial district, is today a no-goarea for normal operations of the government and for that matter, my normal, regular civil con-

Hello Again...

T

HE paths we take in life are often not of our choosing and sometimes we reach destinations we never set out to. Vanguard has been a staple of my world for what will shortly be a decade come December and it’s been interesting. I have made fast friends, met many people, been complimented, criticised, insulted and even threatened! My idea was to write for a decade and move on but it almost feels like a marriage now and I don't believe in divorce so I will continue to possibly entertain or irritate for a few more decades! I apologise for my abrupt departure for a while but some wires were crossed and were just recently straightened to make a reunion possible. I am beyond honoured by the friendship of the readers who called

duct; be it business or social. My hometown of Baga is today in total ruins, with between 180 and 200 human lives lost and numerous other unaccounted, 2,000 homes, 62 cars and 284 motor cycles and tons and tons of food stuff destroyed.”

This heartfelt lament registers for us, the

,

T

HE Nigerian mil itary operation in Baga has drawn very severe criticism from many quarters for the extent of brutality unleashed in that town in the fight against terrorism. The “Baga massacre” as it is now generally described was supposed to be a targeted operation. According to Nigerian military sources, the operation itself was a tri-national action comprising of Nigerien, Chadian, and the Nigerian Defense Forces, to root out Boko Haram terrorists who had massed in this area by the Lake Chad.

The Nigerian Joint Task Force on Terrorism has been engaged in fierce battles with the Boko Haram which has basically adopted guerilla tactics; attacking and sliding back into the shadows, mixing with civilian populations in safe houses that seem to traverse the entire old Kanem Bornu axis where the Islamic movement seems to have established its most serious operational activities. According to Military Spokesman, Brigadier Chris Olukolade, two battalions of the Joint

and sent messages during my brief hiatus; I am also floored by the generosity of spirit of my publisher and the kindness of my editor. (I appreciate all the concessions).

L

ately my vision has been enlarged by how little I am in the scheme of things. I don't know whether I am the only person alive who feels insignificant and unimportant especially when you consider the big issues the world faces. Sometimes watching war, death, earthquakes, famine and so many evils makes my desires and personal prayers inconsequential. Lately I have found myself praying the prayer of petulance! I get down on my knees and ask God to pay attention to me. I ask to be remembered because I sometimes feel forgotten and

depth of anguish that flows out of this tragedy which has once again put a spotlight on the methods and operational doctrine of the Nigerian Armed Forces in war zones or in zones of slippery insurgency. The senator compared Baga to the “Udi massacres” – the killing of mineworkers at the Udi mines in Enugu in 1949 by the co-

I ask for some "me time"; a time when I am divine priority. I guess it’s the nature of man to always want attention but lately I seem to crave a double dose of love from the Most High. It’s not a small world; it’s a big, humongous one and I am just a small creature needing validation.

I

am watching televi sion in between writing this article and my daughter demands we change from one of the news channels because they only make you scared and sad. I looked into her eyes and her expression mirrors mine; horror and fear. A man is charged with killing a 5year old girl in England and he admits killing her but claims he has no idea what he did with her body!! Last week I was appalled at the gang rape of another 5-year old girl in India and worse still horrified to find a 7-year old girl raped repeatedly right here in Lagos. Abomination is becoming com-

sion under him. The Asaba killings, in which all males from the age of fifteen were brought out to the public square – the Ogbo Ogonogo in Asaba in 1968 – and executed, is one more vicious and undying stories of that war, recorded by Emma Okocha’s unforgettable account in Blood on the Niger; it requires no further elaboration; or the slaughter of innocent and unarmed worshippers in Onitsha who had sought refuge in the Apostolic church but killed by the Federal Forces as they arrived the city.

Conflicts bring out the beasts in us, because very frequently, the reports of the actions of Nigerian soldiers in these places come swelling with rivers of blood.

Nigerians only snap their fingers in disgust but life continues without repercussion for the perpetrators of atrocities.

Baga has joined in that history and narrative of unnecessary military atrocities perpetrated, not by an army of occupation, but by a National Defense Force which should treat their compatriots with respect and dignity, but who have learned to treat them rather as the scum of the earth. There’s need of course at this point, to note that the Nigerian Armed Forces dispute the figures and the description circulated around their operational outcome. In his operational report, Brigadier Austin Edokpayi, Mili-

tary Commander of the Joint Task Forces claimed that “one soldier was killed, five were injured while 30 Boko Haram terrorists lost their lives, as five were arrested with many escaping with bullet wounds.” In his words “ Only five civilians” lost their lives. Every civilian death is cause for worry and must be investigated. President Jonathan has rightly ordered a probe, but that probe must probe deeper into the more important issues: the operational doctrine and action of Nigerian Armed Forces. In the current era, the sworn forces – the military and the police – must be held at the highest levels of responsibility in the ways they treat civilian populations especially in situations of conflict.

But more important, perhaps it is time to reassess the strategies of engagement with Boko Haram. Because it is a shadowy insurgent force, the use of frontline military action seems to me counter-productive.

A special Task Force ought to be trained with the capability also of mingling with the crowd and in the woods in as asymmetric a fashion as the Boko Harm fighters . This Task Force must be light, mobile, and equally shadowy and equipped with the latest technologies. It should develop greater targeted capabilities that would reduce the formal military presence of the Nigerian Army.

mon place and evil is everywhere. It is killing hope, fostering fear and making us all smaller. Is it any wonder that all I can think of is making myself the centre of attention of the Most High against the backdrop of all these negative vibes?

couraging. He had noticed how tired, burdened and overwhelmed I had been lately and expressed his concern.

When the physical manifestation of that spiritual shift began my spirit was lifted. I have the attention I so crave and I am renewed and rejuvenated. I don't think the world is a better and safer place but I am beginning to feel like a toddler who is seated on her father's shoulders. The view is much better from

ditional worship, a catholic yogi, a protestant, an atheist and myself a born again Christian. Only at the Vanguard could you assemble such a mixed bag of flammables!! I respect the right of belief of everyone and while I hold fast to my own truth, I try to respect even those views that run contrary to mine. I found all opinions mildly amusing except for that of the one person whose response to everyone else was disdain despite seemingly having the least knowledge or even wisdom for that matter. Rebellion is not attractive in middle age and one can only pray for enlightenment for those whose eyes have been blinded by the gods of the world and pure undiluted ignorance.

S

o I guess if anyone was looking to me for some cheer in the weeks I was awol; they needn't have bothered.

Against this backdrop of dwindling glee; I started

,

Baga and the beast in us

lonial administration. I should certainly point out the incongruity of that parallelism: Udi was the action of an imperialist colonial government responding with force against the colonized workers right and their peaceful protest for more freedoms and resistance against colonial domination.

Nigeria is neither an imperial government over Baga, nor are the Boko Haram doves modeling civic peace. Baga can be compared more appropriately to Umuechem, Odi or Zaki Biam. In these places the Nigerian military registered itself as a brutal force with extremely scorched-earth methods that make very little distinction between a civilian population and an armed population. It is the “attack-and-follow” method which brooks no respite for any living thing in sight.

Just kill, and get it over with; ask questions later.

It is a method which took root with the Nigerian civil war when military commanders ordered or partook in atrocities without consequence.

Two most emblematic examples include, Benjamin Adekunle who boasted that he made no distinctions of his targets, “ we shoot everything that is moving and everything that is not moving” – his boastful ways of painting the rather gory pictures of the atrocities of the Third Marine Commando Divi-

Abomination is becoming common place and evil is everywhere. It is killing hope, fostering fear and making us all smaller

,

saying some prayers and made it a point to ask for God's attention at all times (I am a student in the School of Disciples, so I have a new understanding of prayer). I was sure I felt a shift in the spiritual climate but like all things spiritual; its just one person's perception. I shared my thoughts with my better half and he was very en-

up here and it feels a tad more secure.

A

t the Vanguard can teen over lunch on Monday I enjoyed an interesting argument. It was an explosive discourse on religion and modes of worship. At the table was a Christian who believed in ancestral worship, another Christian who dabbled in tra-

S

o here we go again or should that be here I am again! I initially was glad to rest my pen; I didn't think I had anything more to say, write or share but I am told otherwise. The world may be big and I may feel like a grain of sand but then aren't we all? It's never a bad thing to reach out and rub minds; to offer words of comfort and encouragement; to share experiences and ideas. So hello, yet again!

SUND AY SUNDA

Last week would not be the first time that the Public Accounts Committee, PAC, of the Senate would unearth massive reckless spending on the part of the executive arm of government.

Since 2001, that committee of the Senate had always investigated and reported that huge sums of money were being frittered away. The funds, in trillions, were recklessly mismanaged by the Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan administrations.

This report chronicles the massive mismanagement of funds since 1999 as captured by the Senate and concludes that, on account of this, Nigeria’s moment of development may still be light years away.

A

S part of the plot, there had to be power outage. Therefore, the Senate Chambers that morning was thrown into darkness.

That was part of the strategy.

It was June 18, 2002, a Tuesday, when the Senate attempted to do the right thing.

Its Public Accounts Committee, PAC, headed by Senator Idris Abubakar, had compiled a list of infractions by Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, then President and Commander-in-Chief.

These infractions bordered on alleged mismanagement of state funds. The nation had hoped that the Senate would be ruthlessly decisive but that curious power outage that morning set the engagement back. After a bout of shouting by the pro and antiObasanjo elements, the Senate went into an executive session to discuss the matter. T h e p l a n k s o f t h e discussions were the results of the intense scrutiny of Obasanjo’s budgetary performance as well as the whereabouts of funds representing proceeds from the sale of some government parastatals.

What the Idris Abubakar Committee

NIGERIA’S PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

The curse of mismanagement of funds •How billions are spent without being accounted for

found was shocking.

From budgetary underperformance to extra-budgetary expenditures along with cash disappearances from the treasury, running into hundreds of billions, it was the report of the PAC that indeed set the tone for the attempted impeachment of Obasanjo as President and Commander-in-Chief in 2002.

Fast forward to April, 30, 2013, another Tuesday, some 11 years after.

Senator Ahmed Lawan of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, is the chairman of the PAC of this Senate and when he presented the report of his committee’s work, senators were left with mouth wide open.

,

BY JIDE AJANI

Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PPA AGE 13

The nation had hoped that the Senate would be ruthlessly decisive but that curious power outage that morning set the engagement back

,

FINDINGS OF AHMED LAWAN’S COMMITTEE Some Special Funds Accounts, comprising Development of Natural Resources Account; Derivation and Ecology Account; and Stabilization Account, are maintained by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Lawan, in his submission, said his committee discovered that recklessness had been the name of the game since 2002 (to 2012).

The misappropriation, misapplication and reckless spending were done by the governments of Obasanjo, the late Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua and incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.

The committee discovered that releases from the Accounts were made for purposes not related in any way particular to what the accounts were designed to achieve.

A breakdown of the report shows N 7 1 0 , 4 8 9 , 4 9 4 , 9 6 0 . 6 , N149,881,359,210 and N191,780,136,241 as amounts reportedly misused by the three administrations in the Derivation and Ecology Account; Development of Natural Resources Account and Stabilization Account respectively.

Within the period under review, the committee found out that the sum of one trillion, five hundred and eighteen billion, eight hundred and seventy one million, three hundred and fifty seven thousand, four hundred and twenty six naira, sixty four kobo (N1, 518, 871, 357, 426) represented accrual to the special funds accounts.

The sum of one trillion, two hundred and thirty five billion, one hundred and sixty six million, seven hundred and eighty one thousand, three hundred and forty seven naira, fifty two kobo (N1, 235, 166, 781, 347. 52) was the total payment from the accounts.

Also, five hundred and eighty billion, nineteen million, six hundred and eighty two thousand, seven hundred

Continues on page 15

PAGE 14—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

We should have followed the funds -Senate President David Mar k , PDP Mark PDP,, Benue South he problem of the funds is that, aside lack of guidelines, we have also, through committees responsible, not taken pains to oversight how the funds are utilized. That is truly an indictment of the National Assembly; it is a wake-up call on us to do our work properly.

If we have been following the funds since 2002, the issue would have been addressed earlier. It is right to look at these ones to see how the disbursements relate to areas they were disbursed. In all, we share in the blame on these disbursements.

We urge the committees to go back and look at those ones that were not misapplied and find out those who have paid back the loans and those that have not paid back. Also those who have taken loans from it should be asked to pay back.

THE CURSE OF MISMANAGEMENT OF FUNDS

T

David

Mark

Ike

Ekweremadu

Victor

Ndoma –Egba

Ahmed

Lawan

Funds operation grossly abused – or Ahmed La w an, ANPP obe Senator Law ANPP,, Y Yobe Senat North he operation of the Natural Resources Account is grossly abused because several releases under this account were not related to the intendment of the account.

Out of a total of N329, 329, 745, 916 Abubakar Yar’Adua  Abdul Ningi Smart Adeyemi Olubunmi Adetunmbi granted as loan, N200, 585, 790, 991.

64 is still outstanding under the Natural Resources Account; under the then to build abattoirs. That is the crux of the matter.

We must not, under any guise, sweep under the Derivation and Ecology Account, a Most of them, according to the report of the commitcarpet these findings. Going forward, this chamtotal of N61, 000, 000, 000.00 was granted tee, indeed all of them, have not been recovered. ber must have to add a committee to make sure as loan leaving an outstanding of N30, 000, I would like to ask this committee whether they that the loans, which were collected, are refund000, 000.00. made contact with the beneficiaries of these loans ed, and, where there is a breach, such persons Several approvals made from the Special just to hear their own side to be sure that these must be brought to book by being prosecuted.

Funds Accounts do not conform to the monies were not repaid. Because if they were This impunity is ongoing; it has not stopped, purposes for which the funds were estabrepaid, it becomes another kettle of fish what bebecause, even in 2011, we could see the impunity lished; and there were no operational came of the monies. by the coordinating minister. That means the guidelines for the administration, regulaThis committee will need to do further work to trend continues. tions, approvals and procedures for the ensure that they hear from the other side of the release of money from such funds. divide or this matter be referred to the EFCC or There was inadequate oversight Also noted that loans granted from the ICPC to do further investigation. Because for us to – Senat or Smar ogi W es Senator Smartt Ade Adeyy emi, PDP PDP,, K Kogi Wes estt accounts have not been paid back several sit here and watch such amount of money go down his is rascality of the executive.

We should years after such loans were granted. the drain, it means that we are abdicating our invite our colleagues who chaired the There are no guidelines for disburseresponsibilities. relevant committees on why they didn’t do ments. But during the public hearing, the adequate oversight. committee asked the permanent secretary, We run opaque public finances – Senate Ministry of Finance, how he would define Leader or Ndoma –Egba, PDP er Leader,, Vict Victor PDP,, Cross Riv River Govt has abused public trust – Senator Special Funds Accounts. And he said that Central Olubunmi Adetunmbi, ACN, Ekiti North is a discretionary account; and what that ll the misapplications of funds carried out by he document was enough for Jonathan to means is that they can do whatever they the executive in the Special Funds Accounts take up the challenge and probe Obasanjo. want with it. But, again, there are docusince 2002 are clear attestations to an opaque public The issue is an abuse of public trust, nobody is ments of the Ministry of Finance indicating finances in Nigeria where, for now, transparency above the law.

It may not necessarily be an issue clearly the purpose for each of these three and accountability are rules not adhered to, in of fraud, but an abuse of process as governance accounts and the beneficiaries, so it is not a anyway, by the executive arm of government. requires process. discretionary account but there are no We have failed. How come we allowed such huge The government has abused the trust the public guidelines. sums to be spent without guidelines? Perhaps, we has for it. Nobody should be above the law or As the Senate Majority Leader stated, we need to invite our former colleagues who headed below the law. The truth is that these funds have are also at fault. We should have legislation committees that were supposed to oversight the been earmarked for specific purposes and we and we should spell out guidelines. accounts. were told what they have been put into use. When My conclusion is that our public finances are budget is debated without magnifying lenses put EFCC should wade in – Deputy Senate opaque, our money misapplied; it did not start today on the revenue side, there is a problem. A report President Ik e Ekw eremadu, PDP Ike Ekweremadu, PDP,, Enugu and it has endured because the National Assembly of this nature provides the platform for interWest is indifferent and complicit. This is one occasion I presidential engagement. n an event where the monies have not will agree that we have failed in our responsibility. been recovered, the Senate should Funds must be further probed – Senator invite the EFCC and ICPC to wade into the Findings must not be swept under carpert – Abubakar Sadiq Y ar’Adua, CPC, K atsina Yar’Adua, Katsina matter, as failure to do so would be interDeputy Majority Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, Central preted by the public as the National AssemPDP hi Central who doubles as Deputy PDP,, Bauc Bauchi et the problem be sent to the ICPC and bly abdicating its responsibilities.

Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts EFCC for investigation because we have to Section 8(82) of the constitution says no his is sheer executive recklessness and the even look at the utilization of the funds. The money shall be withdrawn from the ConsoliNational Assembly indifferent to it.

Kastina State airport was constructed by Colonel dated Revenue Fund of the federation It is a combination of their own personal issues, Madaki and only four point five meters runway except to meet expenditure. those who collect the loans and those who are given. was constructed.

So what is said to have been In this situation, we have seen where We, as Nigerian citizens and lawmakers, this is spent is false and the sixteen billion that was sent monies meant for Ecological Fund are being about our own collective intelligence. to the directorate on pilgrims misapplied. used to develop airports, to build malls and

T

T

A

T

I

T

L

SUNDAY

Vanguard , MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 15

THE CURSE OF MISMANAGEMENT OF FUNDS

and thirty eight naira (N580, 019, 682, 738) was released as loan; and three hundred and forty seven billion, nine hundred and ninety seven million, five hundred and eighty three thousand, and eight naira and forty one kobo (N347, 997, 583, 008.41) yet to be recovered from various beneficiaries.

IN THE BEGINNING Perhaps, the collapse of the facilities of the National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, in March 2000, created the impetus for the first scrutiny of the release and movement of funds from the treasury. Mind you, the collapse led to nationwide blackout for two days.

Going through some records of the Senate, last week, Sunday Vanguard discovered that Abubakar ’s PAC launched an investigation into how a supplementary Appropriation Act in 1999, which provided NEPA with N2.3billion, was spent.

The PAC, at that time, believed that the Ministry of Power, having received the funds, did not act appropriately.

The Power Minister at that time was Chief Bola Ige. Abubakar ’s Committee found out that “on November 2, 1999, N2,335,191,380.00 was credited by Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN, into the account of the Ministry of Power and Steel, account number 23320308867-4 at UBA, Abuja”, and that “on November 11, 1999, the funds were transferred to a call-deposit account at Afribank at six percent interest per annum. The funds were left there till April 1, 2000, whereupon it was paid over to NEPA through cheque No 00001 of Afribank dated March 22, 2000, for N2,334,651,380.50.

The average interest rate at that time for six months was at least 13% but what the ministry claimed it got was just about five per cent. The committee found out that the ministry lost about N100,000,000:00 in the process. But that was just a tip of the iceberg.

It was after the inquest into how the Power and Steel Ministry operated that Abubakar’s PAC was mandated to carry out a wider investigation into Obasanjo’s observance of the Appropriation Act, 2002. But, because everything revolves round politics, some senators decided to use the committee’s activities as a form of vendetta against Obasanjo.

Therefore, a report submitted by PAC alleged that Obasanjo did not follow the Appropriation Act procedures as required by law.

It said, for instance, that capital expenditure estimate for 2002 was

,

Continued from page 13

Abubakar’s Committee found that £97,858,833.25 was paid into the account.

It had generated an interest of £5,066,317.99 as at September 31, 2000.

The sum of £100,000,000.00 was deposited by the Central Bank in an interest yielding account with NHBC in London

,

N360,755,193,057 and recurrent expenditure estimate was N227,781,141,433 whereas N239,450,900,000 was released as capital expenditure and N350,078,000,000 was released for recurrent expenditure. It also noted that only about 60 percent of the budget was released as capital expenditure for 2001, while 25 percent of the budget allocation was released for recurrent spending for 2002. The committee observed that though N486,705,107,107 was approved by the National Assembly as capital expenditure, only N128,416,341,000 had been released and without the required cash backing.

That was not all.

Abubakar ’s Committee also wanted to know the whereabouts of the N15,344,000,000, realised as deposit for the sale of NITEL; N250,000,000,000 from the sale of crude oil; N144,000,000,000 proceeds on the sales of Global System of Mobile Communications, GSM, licences, which were alleged not to have been reflected in the Federation Account as well as N107 billion borrowed from “Ways and Means,” to fund the recurrent bill by 50 percent.

It further charged that Obasanjo granted $10 million to the government of Niger Republic without appropriation and without legislatures’ approval; that he breached the constitution by granting an interest-free-loan of N1.456 billion to the Ghana police in April, 2002,

without National Assembly endorsement. The committee became aghast when it discovered this, wondering that Obasanjo could do that when Nigeria was still grappling from nationwide strikes by Nigeria Police for non-payment of their entitlements.

A response from the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters said that the Abubakar Committee report was riddled with unsubstantiated allegations. The statement said “the Presidency did not overspend its recurrent budget but, in fact, showed an unspent balance of N80.669 million for the year 2002.

Contrary to the allegation of over-expenditure of N31 billion, the Appropriation Act 2000, as amended, approved a recurrent expenditure of N19.256 billion, while overall expenditure amounted to N19.175 billion,” among others.

MISMANAGING ABACHA LOOT Upon scrutiny, Abubakar ’s PAC discovered that there were irregularities regarding the loot recovered from General Sani Abacha’s family.

The committee claimed that the money recovered was not paid into the treasury; that the funds were kept in some dedicated accounts - except for the Naira content.

Of about $774 million in the dollar account at that time, $500 million was invested in Bank of International Settlement, Basle. Of the 102 million Pounds in the Pound Sterling Account, £100 million was invested in HSBC. The committee discovered that the recovered funds accounts were handled by the CBN, acting under the dictates of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The accounts are in three categories.

The Dollar Account is designated FGN “F” US$ account, domiciled with bank of International Settlement Basle; the Great Britain Pound Account designated GPB ‘F’ account, with Bank of International Settlement Basle; and the Naira account with the CBN. One of the startling discov eries made by the committee showed that, as at September 31, 2000, a total sum of $774, 623,340.05 had been paid into the Dollar Account.

The committee also confirmed that several expenditures had been made with the recovered funds at different times. For instance, $47,907,404.56 was paid to the Federal Ministry of Education on June 8, 1999. Another N4.5 billion (representing the sum converted into Naira) was credited directly into the National Primary Education Commission account N0.

3871837898 at Union Bank Nigeria plc and distributed to the states and the FCT. According to the findings, $27.6 million was also paid into the Federation Account as approved by the president on July 9, 1999. This was also converted to Naira and paid to the states and local governments. The committee found that governments of other African countries also benefited from the recovered Abacha loot. That was where the money for the government of Niger Republic emanated - $10 million on the directive of Obasanjo, the instruction which was conveyed by the Finance Minister on October 22, 1999, and promptly paid by the Accountant-General of the Federation.

By the same token, $1 million of the recovered loot was discovered to have been paid to the Special Services Unit of the Presidency on June 30, 2000 – details for the expenditure were not given to the committee.

Then there was a Pound Sterling Account. On this, Abubakar ’s Committee found that £97,858,833.25 was paid into the account. It had generated an interest of £5,066,317.99 as at September 31, 2000. The sum of £100,000,000.00 was deposited by the Central Bank in an interest yielding account with NHBC in London. The fund available in the account, the committee report insists, was £102,925,201.24.

These were the days Nigeria’s finances were in the millions of dollars.

Today, the funds are in their billions of dollars and, with it, mega-billion wastes and mis-management.

THE CURSE Whereas the Nolan Committee of the British Parliament, in 1995, stated that the “main principles of public life are selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership”, the leadership in Nigeria has twisted the concept.

Some senators, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, pointed out that most of the misapplication of the funds were directed at the re-election of Obasanjo in 2003; the failed Third Term Agenda of the same leader; the 2007 election of Yar’Adua; and the 2011 election of President Jonathan.Indeed, the Lawan Committee may hit a stone wall.

Just like the PACs before it, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that “nothing meaningful may come out of this report.

“Can you imagine, for instance”, an embittered senator told Sunday Vanguard, “that this is not the first time that the Senate would be treated to this absurd way of wasting money; yet, no one has ever been brought to book?

“When the Senate Leader said the report is an indictment on the Senate for not doing its job well, he forgot that the reckless extra-budgetary expenditure that went into subsidy in 2011 was never authorized by the National Assembly yet President Jonathan went ahead to approve monies beyond the N200billion allocated. The subsidy money ballooned to over one trillion naira. What did the Senate do to the executive or those who engaged in that extra-budgetary act?”.

Part of the problem, according to discoveries made by Sunday Vanguard, is that there are no laid down procedures for the release of funds from these Special Accounts.

“The President and his Finance Minister treat the Special Accounts as Contingency Funds, another form of security vote from where expenditures are made without recourse to the National Assembly”, a senator said Nigerians await how the Senate would handle the massive reckless spending of Nigeria’s funds by the three administrations.

PAGE 16 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

J

ubril Aminu’s name rings a bell within and outside Nigeria. The reason is simple: he has served for over 40 years in many strategic positions in Nigeria and abroad, making history in many instances. Although he studied medicine and rose to the zenith of the profession as a professor, Aminu has repeatedly been saddled with critical political assignments in other sectors of the Nigerian economy by both civilian and military heads of state. He served as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Petroleum Resources Minister, Education Minister, Ambassador to the United States of America and a senator before retiring from public service in 2011. In this interview, Aminu confesses: “I’ve never lobbied for any of the posts I’ve occupied in life and the records are there”.

Excerpts: Where have you been for a while now?

I am retired and resting. If you are asking me about politics, I am in the People’s Democratic

Party, PDP, and a member of the party’s Board of Trustees. When they call me, I go and, if they need my advice, I give.

Are you happy playing that role?

Yes, I am happy doing that. What else can I do again?

,

BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH AND KAYODE AJALA

I resigned from the government…because I was being hunted by people because of oil scarcity. At every point, they attacked the President, the oil minister and the GMD of NNPC

,

Do I reduce my age? I cannot. So, I have to thank God for what He has used me to do and where I am today.

But Adamawa, your home state, is embroiled in a self-inflicted crisis where the governor is on one side and the PDP National Chairman is on the other. Why

have you not intervened as an elder to resolve the crisis?

Some of what is happening in Adamawa today is my fault because we put Governor Nyako there. But Nyako is not good enough. The state is not moving forward. We don’t know what he has been doing with our resources and not much has happened under him. Some of us believe he should go and he does not like that and almost all of us, who were responsible for his emergence, are uncomfortable with his style of leadership largely because the state is going backward. In fact, I may say that it is the most backward in terms of development and even younger states have overtaken Adamawa. You can see younger states like Taraba, Gombe, Yobe. So the people are asking us, what did you people send to us?

And we have no answer to give. The man has failed woefully to change the state in any form.

That is the problem. Bamanga Tukur was elected the National Chairman of our great party, but he comes from our state. Nyako does not want Tukur at all and he did everything to stop him from being elected. The only luck Tukur had was that the President wanted him as the Party Chairman.

Continues on page 17

SUNDAY

Vanguard ,

MAY 5,, 2013, PAGE 17

Scrapping of JAMB will create problems Nyako opposed Tukur at every turn.

He has been using the Governors’ Forum to oppose Bamanga.

But many believe that the problem with Tukur is that he wants his son to take over from Nyako while he remains PDP National Chairman No, that may not work the way they think. Tukur’s son has been trying over the years to become Adamawa’s governor without success. In 2007, he tried and I don’t think Tukur can succeed to impose his son on Adamawa because a lot of people also want to be there. The present governor also wants to impose his son as well. He (Nyako) has already made him (son) the leader of the youths in the state and has given him security and protection to drive around the state as an anointed candidate.

Where does Abubakar Atiku, the former VP, stand in all of these?

I think it would be difficult for Atiku to influence anything in the state as a former Vice President. He has his own problems too. You remember that at a time he wanted me to be recalled from the Senate and so on. But what I know is that there are so many strong and powerful politicians in Adamawa that you cannot just hoodwink to do your own bidding. So, I doubt if Atiku can wield any significant influence in the on-going political situation in the state. But he is doing well. I don’t know how much he is doing, but we wish him well. I don’t think he still has the clout to influence things politically as he used to do when he was the Vice President of Nigeria.

What is really your problem with governors in Nigeria? he governors are against all of us and the President. They appointed all the NWC members in PDP. They have organised to stop the government from doing what is right for this country. You can see that they have organised to stop anything functioning in Nigeria without them.

This is what is happening. As an elder seeing the role they are playing in national politics, I had to speak out.

They are imposing things on the rest of us. The problem with the governors is that they meet regularly and have their way by threatening the President that they would not support him for a second term. They form another tier of government. You can’t do that because it is wrong. They must realise and be told that, as governors, their first responsibility is to their states. Many of the states are in a parlous state and their governors are moving about in Abuja trying to fight the Federal Government in a needless war.

Number one, they have stopped the local government from functioning.

They decide what amount to give to the local governments under their control. They decide what the LGA chairman should spend, up to the last kobo. It is a complete negation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and they must be told so in clear terms to desist forthwith from

T

C M Y K

such unholy practice in the interest of the country and its people. But they keep on doing it with impunity.

Secondly, there is no way of calling the governors to order because they have swallowed their Houses of Assembly and no one can call them to order. Nobody gets any job or appointment at the state or national level without the approval of the governors. Even elections into the National Assembly are controlled by governors. So they have super powers and nothing gets to anybody except the governor approves same.

And now they want to extend their power to the President. They want to dictate to him what he should and should not do when it is not their right to do so. This is not right and that is not what the Constitution envisaged. This is not the federal system we hope to get.

So how do we get out of this mess? o, the Constitution was defective from the beginning. I was a member of the Constituent Assembly. We should not have given anybody any form of immunity. We should have controlled the access of public officers to public funds as is the case in other parts of the world. A governor can take up to a billion naira directly from the treasury just by summoning the Accountant General to make the fund available to him without anyone stopping him. How can you do that? No control system seems to be working in this country. Is it your money? In America, they went to the Congress looking for bailout and the lawmakers asked how many

N

,

Continued from page 16

Jubril Aminu... I distributed oil blocs around the country as much as I could. defective in that instance?

You think that if you try it - reduction of their powers through constitution amendment - the governors would allow it? They would spend every kobo to stop it from sailing through.

They would threaten the lawmakers not to pass it. We need a completely new constitutional provision to get things working in this country. I have come to the conclusion that any constitutional amendment in this country would not work except we go all out to get a new one written. We have to write a new one to remove objectionable clauses to save Nigeria from chaos.

The governors would spend every kobo to stop it from sailing through.

They would threaten the lawmakers not to pass it. We need completely new constitutional provisions to get things working in this country

of them came with private jets and almost all of them did so. And they said no, we cannot give bailout with public funds. And everyone went back to look at other options to revive the economy. But there is no accountability in this country.

Everything has gone haywire. There is no control of public funds at all in the country and it is very painful.

How can you just allow governors to be buying jets and flying about doing nothing for the people who elected them into office? This is wrong and there is no control of public funds because everything is in the hands of the governor who cannot be impeached or prosecuted because of immunity.

This means the Constitution is

,

But who will write it given the fact that the National Assembly believes that there is no need for a National Conference since they are already in place?

The PDP is the party with the majority and they can write it. But there is a problem. When you finish from the NASS, you still have to go to the states to get the approval of two thirds of the Houses of Assembly.

That is why I said that immunity should be removed and stringent laws put in place to restrain unhindered access by public officers to public funds.

So are you saying that the NGF does not have a place in the polity?

It has no place in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is

only a platform for governors to advise themselves on issues of their states and not to access powers of the Federal Government or to give them the latitude to challenge the President. They have abandoned the joint services they are allowed to undertake for something they are not authorised to do. If you find out, a lot of these things have not been done. They don’t do any of these. The most important thing they do is to be challenging President Jonathan daily.

But they may accuse you of being a sympathizer of President Jonathan given the way you are speaking in his favour?

I would be very happy if President Jonathan considers me as one of his supporters. There is no single gesture of this government about me. When they were campaigning in Adamawa, I did not follow them because I knew that Governor Nyako would be the chief host. I could not have gone with them to dignify a governor who has failed to perform since being elected into office.

What do you think about the clamour by the North that presidency should return to it in 2015? am not worried. We must stop talking about where somebody is coming from and insist on the ability to deliver. We have seen them over the years. When I was insisting that Nyako should be governor, he had all the credentials but he has failed to deliver.

I

So, in 2015, you don’t care who becomes president?

I care very much whether it is Jonathan, Benjamin, Toyo or Ishaku.

What the nation needs most is the ability to perform and solve the myriads of challenges confronting us as a nation and not where the person comes from. That is my position.

Are you pleased with the granting of amnesty to Boko Haram?

I am in support of dialogue and not Continues on page 18

PAGE 18—SUNDAY

Vanguard ,

MAY 5,, 2013

refresh and return to my practice as a professor of medicine and I even got a job there. Then before I returned, President Shehu Shagari appointed me as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri. I finished the first term and was on the second when one morning Joshua Dogonyaro was speaking saying they had sacked Buhari; and Babangida said I should come and serve as minister. For seven years, I was in the government. When I left, I went to my house and people from my constituency came and insisted I must go and represent them. So you can see, I have never lobbied for any post in life. Whenever they dissolved cabinet, I disappeared and I have never lobbied for anything.

’Why Nyako is fighting Tukur’

You also presided over the education ministry. What do you think is wrong with our education system? he problem is that nobody has ever sat down to look at the problems holistically. We have more numbers than the money put in place to adequately cater for the education sector. We cannot succeed.

When I was minister of education, I spread money and amenities to all sectors - federal and states’ schools to ensure that people had access to education. We formed the Primary Education Commission and the Federal Government was responsible for paying 65 percent of the teachers’ salaries and the move was well applauded by the Nigerian Union of Teachers. Now, if you want to know how bad the situation is, teachers don’t get their pay as and when due. In those days, teachers got their pay on time but they killed the arrangement I put in place just as I left. Even as I was doing that, they were abusing me that I was working for the North. But the truth is that all parts of Nigeria benefited from the programmes we put in place. We even had a programme to take care of educationally disadvantaged states in the North and South at the time.

T

Jubril Aminu... I would be very happy if President Jonathan considers me as one of his supporters

granting blind amnesty to people. We must have made mistake with what happened in the Niger Delta, where people just said, ‘oh we have given you amnesty. How much money do you want for your transport and maintenance of yourself ’, and they named their price and the money was given and the people went away with the money. Look, amnesty must be preceded by dialogue and determination of the crimes committed against the state and the punishment that should follow such crimes. We should not just make amnesty look like a child’s play.

To require amnesty means that one has committed a crime, which necessitates investigation and determination of the nature of punishment to be given according to the law. But for the sake of peace, the state may then decide to pardon them and avert the punishment.

So, we need dialogue. The court or tribunal cannot bring out the issues that dialogue can bring. So we need to dialogue with the people before amnesty. You cannot just grant amnesty without talking with the people involved.

Northern governors are opposed to the passage of the PIB, arguing that it would increase poverty in the North. Do you share this view?

Yes, indeed, it will aggravate poverty all over the country and not in the North alone for obvious reasons. I think the money is not going to the coffers of government. That money is going to some people’s pockets. That is why I say that money must be properly controlled. The money would be wasted. It is the same thing I say about what they talk about Excess Crude Account. We should not even have a benchmark for oil. A benchmark is simply to allow room for some people to determine how much they can steal from the budget yearly.

A benchmark is just an incitement.

As someone who had presided C M Y K

over the nation’s oil industry, what do you think is wrong with the sector? t is all mismanagement. Simple, it is just lack of control and punishment for mismanagement and corruption. This is irresponsible. Are we the only country with money? I never heard of oil ministers keeping lions in their houses. You hear a Nigerian caught with a huge amount of money and nothing is done. This country is suffering from its children. If every mother is being treated by her children the way Nigeria is being treated by us, no woman will agree to have a child.

I

So, what do we do?

We pray for the country.

How should we run this country for

at NNPC, whenever I left the office, I left my desk with the hope that it might be the last day. In Islam, every prayer you offer, do it as if it is the last prayer. I left office on a Thursday or Friday. My office was in Lagos but the seat of government was in Abuja. I resigned from the government but because I had resigned, I did not go to the office. I just asked my secretary to go and pack my things. I had to leave because I was being hunted by people because of oil scarcity. At every point, they attacked the President, the oil minister and the GMD of NNPC. I was afraid somehow but not that I was afraid of death. That was why I had to resign and leave. Death can come at any time, so I was not afraid of dying.

What makes you happy?

I am happy to be a Muslim because

,

Continued from page 17

When people do not have something to do, they want to give the impression they are doing something. JAMB was formed with a lot thinking to remove multiple challenges in the system of education in Nigeria

us to make progress?

We made a mistake in choosing the presidential system (of government) because we took only the sweet part and ignored the bitter part. It was the same thing we did with the Udoji reforms. We must begin to think of what we can do for Nigeria and stop thinking of how to loot the treasury.

We must be willing to apply the right sanctions to those who commit crimes.

How many oil blocs did you get as oil minister?

I distributed oil blocs around the country as much as I could. To me, it was just a day’s job. Every day I was

,

they don’t care too much about the world. My advice to all Nigerians is to put their faith in God. God is in control of everything. I have my children, relatives and friends.

Do you miss medicine?

I miss it dearly. I tell you something. I have never looked for any of the jobs I have been given in life. I was doing my medicine happily in Ibadan, when I was asked to come and head the National Universities Commission and I said ‘I don’t know anything about the NUC’. Just as the military was going, I resigned from the NUC and went to Washington to

How do you feel about the planned scrapping of JAMB, which was started during your tenure as education minister?

When people do not have something to do, they want to give the impression they are doing something. JAMB was formed with a lot thinking to remove multiple challenges in the system of education in Nigeria. JAMB was formed in order to remove a number of roadblocks that were militating against the growth of education.

Among other things, it was to remove tribalism in the admission of students into tertiary institutions and pave the way for a standard method of enrolling students into the universities and colleges. We centralized all that. It was not perfect but we achieved some form of national leverage. If you work in the education or oil sector, you will begin to understand how selfish the Nigerian elite are. So JAMB was to remove primordial considerations in admitting students. So, no matter what, JAMB should not be scrapped. If JAMB is not performing well, there are many ways to restructure it to bring it to optimum level and not to scrap it.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013 — PAGE 19

Lai Mohammed

Plot to use pipeline contract to destabilize S/West, by Lai Mohammed A

LHAJI Lai Mohammed is not new when it comes t o c r i t i c i s i n g Fe d e r a l Government policies. As the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of the Nigeria, ACN, he ensures his party is a strong opposition voice in the country. In this interview, he says though expectations from the proposed All Progressive Congress, APC, are high, leaders of the merger will not let Nigerians down. He explains that General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, leaders of the ACN and Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, respectively, have made sacrifices in furtherance of the merger.

Excerpts: What inspired the book you just launched?

I did not set out to launch a book. I set out to make public intervention via press releases, interviews on behalf of my party because, from 2006 upwards, whether it was ACD, whether it was AC or ACN, we take seriously our role as an opposition political party in the country. Even at a time when, in terms of dominance in government, we were not really the main opposition party, we still believed that we needed to be heard, we wanted

A P C: Buhari, Tinubu have made sacrifices Speaks on book on ACN to keep the government on its toes; we needed to make issues out of non-issues as a responsible opposition party.

I f y o u r e m e m b e r, i n 2006, we were not, by any means, the dominant party because we had only one state; that was Lagos; ANPP had about five states and, by 2007, we had only one state, PPA had two and ANPP had five. But even then, I am happy to say we refused to be part of the Government of National Unity because one of the important roles of the opposition is to refuse to be drafted and absorbed by the government of the day.

You will remember that the idea of the Government of National Unity was well touted and promoted under the late Umaru Yar ’Adua. It was quite tempting especially for a party like ours that had only Lagos State. But I thank God and the leadership of our party that we refused and became an opposition party than becoming part of the Government of National Unity. Fortunately, from that one state, we got our mandate in the courts and won Edo, Ekiti and Osun; and, by the end of

2010, we already had four states and we became unarguably the major opposition party.

Therefore, what I did was to issue press releases intervening, giving the position of the opposition, analysing government acts. But, over time, people came to me and said it was

,

By DAPO AKINREFON

party adopted the All Progressive Congress, APC, as its new political platform, people will like to know what is new about the opposition. Wouldn’t it be wise to abandon the business of opposition should this APC experiment fail; or what do you think?

We did not form ACN be-

You want us to suffer again for another four years after 2015? That is why we say that our mission is to rescue Nigeria. It is not about me, Tinubu or Buhari

important I put all these in book form; that started about a year ago. We were quite surprised that we had done so much work over such a long period of time and it covers a wide range of issues such as rule of law, equity and justice, role of the judiciary, electoral integrity, roles of the military and policing a democracy.

Some weeks ago, your

,

cause we wanted to be in the opposition, we formed the ACN because we wanted to be in government. But having first formed the Alliance for Democracy, AD, Action Congress, AC, and ACN and we are going into the APC, it is because we have come to realise that in our own clime here where we have bad governance, where there is poverty, opposition parties standing alone, on their own, will

simply die. We have facts to show this. In 1999, the two opposition parties then, APP and AD, had fifteen states; by 2003, the two of them combined had only eight. By 2007, it got worse, AC had one while the ANPP had five.

So, it was clear to us then that if we did not come together, we would go into extinction. In a country where there is poverty, the first casualty is integrity, people can no longer vote according to what they believe.

So, we came to the conclusion that if we must dislodge PDP, we must come together. We decided to approach other opposition parties, we started it in 2006, but it did not work, we tried again in 2010, it still did not work. But the difference in this one is in three-fold. Firstly, this is the first time in the history of this country that there is going to be a merger. All we have been trying before had been alliances and cooperation.

Secondly is the fact that this time around, it appears that there is a meeting of minds and a consensus among the major political parties that the time is ripe. We started in good time and I am happy to say that

Continues on page 20

PAGE 20 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

Some people are saying this merger would still run into stormy waters when the time for presenting candidates for election comes?

Nobody has ever said the merger will go on smoothly without any challenges. But so far, we are glad to say that Nigerians did not give the merger a chance. I remember the doom sayers said we will not agree on a common name, we did; they said the logo issue was going to scatter us, we came up with a common logo; we have the constitution, a manifesto and we have met INEC’s requirements. The beauty of it is that all the decisions were agreed upon without ever resorting to votes, it was always through consensus.

We are confident that God, knowing what our real motives are, will also help us through the issue of nominations.

Everybody knows that nominations and selection will unravel the merger and, not only that, it is going to have weight because I know the sheer amount of work that is going behind the scene, the sheer amount of confidence building and the huge capacity for sacrifices from the promoters of this merger arrangement.

Can you confirm that Buhari and Tinubu have agreed to bury their ambitions?

This is not about Buhari, it is not about Tinubu. Let me tell you that the history of Nigeria will be incomplete without the mention of these two gentlemen. I can tell you the sacrifices they have made to get us this far, but when we get to the issue of who is going to run or not, we will cross that bridge. You are not going to ambush us here because politics is not like that, it is very dynamic. Two years to election is too long for us to start committing ourselves.

The PDP in Lagos State has alleged that it was robbed of victory in some local governments in recent polls.

How do you react and do you think the PDP can wrest power from the ruling ACN in 2015?

Generally, I don’t respond to issues emanating from the states because, basically, under our constitution, each state has its own executive and they have their own spokesperson. But what I know about elections is that there is nowhere in the world where they don’t give room for the aggrieved party to

Lai Mohammed

You keep saying Jonathan has not done anything since becoming president.

Many people will disagree with you on that. Is it possible for a president not to have done anything in over three years and there would be no Arab-style

‘Buhari & Tinubu have made sacrifices’ revolution?

I want you to show me in Nigeria or tell me, given the resources available to us in Nigeria, given the abundant resources at our disposal that he has done a lot to merit commendation. What are the resources available to us?

What we lose in oil theft is about 200,000 barrels per day

For those who want to tell us that Jonathan has done well, is it in the area of security?

We are talking about insecurity, Boko Haram and unemployment.

Everyday our tankers, due to bad roads, roast people like chickens, our roads are unsafe

,

- that is equivalent to the oil production of Gabon. That will show you the kind of resources we are wasting.

No president has been given the kind of overwhelming vote that they claimed in the last election. Today in the National Assembly, PDP has over 60 per cent of all the members, so what prevents them from running a good government?

Now, for those who want to tell us that Jonathan has done well, is it in the area of security? We are talking about insecurity, Boko Haram and unemployment. Everyday our tankers, due to bad roads, roast people like chickens, our roads are unsafe; the education system has gone down. Now, tell me which area you can score the president high? Look at the SURE-P

programme, what are they doing with it? They are sharing it. Many people do not understand this SURE-P. What we call SURE-P today is actually what the government is supposed to make by increasing the pump price of fuel.

When the money is made, it is divided: 52 per cent goes to the Federal Government, 28 to the states, 10 per cent to local governments. The money collected for intervention is given to PDP agents and we have been able to prove that in eleven states, the so called coordinators of the SURE-P are the same coordinators of the Jonathan campaign in 2011 and nobody has faulted us so far.

Tell me where anybody should applaud this government.

Why did your party deem it fit to support amnesty for Boko Haram?

Long before anybody, we understood the whole phenomenon of the Boko Haram insurgency. For you to treat a disease, you must understand the disease itself.

What is Boko Haram itself?

Boko Haram is the local reaction of a people who perceive injustice, hardship and corruption and bad government in their own locality. They started by fighting corruption, but why don’t we look at the causes of Boko Haram rather than the way Boko Haram is being manifested?

Unfortunately for the government, they presented Boko Haram as a Muslim conflict, of course it is not. I can tell you too that most victims of Boko Haram are Muslims, how do you justify that? Anybody that says Boko Haram is a North and South dichotomy is incorrect because for months, Boko Haram never struck outside the North. We seem to forget that the catalyst to this Boko Haram, which was the extra-judicial killing of their leader Yusuf, took place under Yar’Adua and not under Jonathan.

Now what do you do if you have an insurgency in your own country, you need to talk to them. For more than 18 months, we have advocated that government needs to engage the Boko Haram, we had not even spoken about amnesty then. Let us know what they are asking for. It is sad for anybody to take an extreme position and say we are not going to talk to extremists or terrorists.

,

as of today, that wheel of progress is irreversible. Within a month of these conventions, INEC will give us the go ahead to become APC. Now, if you are telling us that if it does not work, we should abandon it. If it does not work, we are not the one to suffer for it but Nigeria because I do not see how we can continue in the corruption and ineptitude that goes on everyday. You want us to suffer again for another four years after 2015? That is why we say that our mission is to rescue Nigeria. It is not about me, Tinubu or Buhari.

challenges results of elections.

The PDP was given the opportunity to state its case. I think I will leave it to the courts to decide whether anybody was robbed or not robbed. As for the chances of the PDP in Lagos State, I can say that they have little or no chances at all. What are they going to tell the people? Is it what they are doing at the federal level?

Is it the corruption or the insecurity? What are they going to tell Nigerians that they should prefer them to the ACN? Lagos State in particular has witnessed phenomenal transformation in the last 12 years. Can the PDP say the same thing?

,

Continued from page 19

Until we start looking at Boko Haram from an impersonal view, either as a northerner or as a southerner, we will not be able to solve the problem

,

It is on record that we in the ACN, when we had similar situation in the Niger Delta, we were the one to first advocate for the creation of a Niger Delta Ministry. For more than two years that the Boko Haram insurgency has been on, have we been able to solve the crisis? Until we start looking at Boko Haram from an impersonal view, either as a northerner or as a southerner, we will not be able to solve the problem.

How do you see the contracting of pipeline security to individuals in the South West?

It is completely wrong. We in ACN disagree with the intention of the Federal Government to give a multibillion naira contract to

monitor pipelines in the South West to a particular organisation on the grounds that we know also that the intention of government is to ask that organisation to use the proceeds of that contract to promote a rival political party in the South West.

Not that alone, under that scheme, about 35,000 youths will be employed ostensibly to monitor the pipeline, but will be ready hands in 2015 to destabilize the polity. So, we came and said that is wrong.

Any Nigerian has the right to be given a contract anywhere; any Nigerian also has a right to form a party, but when government now gives one group a contract for the sole purpose that they use the proceeds to form a political party and also use the proceeds to destabilize the polity, we say no. People have forgotten that more than two years ago, our party also protested to the handing over of the maritime economy of Nigeria to Tompolo’s company.

What we are saying about Dr Fredrick Fasehun is not that he has no right to be given a contract or that he has no right to promote a political party.

What we are saying is that if we get no money from the Federal Government to fund our party, then the Federal Government cannot use our resources to destabilize us.

That is our position. They said after all the Niger Delta militants have been given contracts, we said yes but they have not formed political parties to destabilize us.

Do you still have confidence in INEC? No. No matter the intentions of INEC, until they introduce bio-metrics that will eliminate multiple voting and give integrity to our electoral system, we won’t trust them.

It is not about the person of INEC, we must assist them by giving them the right instrument to conduct elections. We are going to campaign vigorously that biometrics that will make sure that it is Lai Mohammed and my finger print that is voting and that, if I vote twice, it will be cancelled.

SUNDAY

Vanguard ,

PRIEST ON POWER OF POVERTY

for mega city. We can build a conducive abode in this transient world.

On technology and Western culture

‘We cannot uproot the poor to make way for mega city’

In the West, children can rise to success through technology, but also technological stress can kill people. Many people are using drugs, playing rock music that bypassed the conscience. They are talking about gay marriage. The Western world has something to learn from us and also we have something to learn from them, example, our own spirituality and way of solving problems by dialogue, not by guns.

The Church is the hope of the poor, not to be a mirage however. With election of the new Pope, having a simple life style with wealth of pastoral experience, he may ask citizens of the world to adopt a new life style of simplicity taking cognizance of the poor.

By Emmanuel Edukugho

G

etting to SS. Joachim and Anne Catholic Church, Meiran Parish, Lagos, in a low lying uneven, rough terrain with undulating natural features, on the outskirts of Lagos metropolis was nerve–racking.

The Very Reverend Monsignor Livinus Ukah had been in the Lord’s vineyard for some long time when he was working in the Justice Department and Peace Commission of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) at the time His Eminence, retired Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie was the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). While there, in the Archdiocese of Lagos, he was conducting masses, helping parish priests in different churches due to acute shortage of priests until he was posted as a parish priest of St. Kizito Catholic Church, Iju, Lagos.

A builder and mobiliser, he transformed the relatively obscure St. Kizito Church into an ultra-modern, magnificent church complex which drew several people to begin to worship there.

Impressed by his development drive, Okogie again sent him to SS. Joachim and Anne, Meiran to open up the place which presently has two outstations under his parish.

These are: St. Anthony Catholic Church, Agbelekale and St. Livinus Catholic Church, Rimax Estate.

Ukah had his university education in Ottawa, Canada, a consummate writer and author of several books, was orready we have two out stations dained about 30 years ago of this church. and has travelled both locally I want to thank His Emiand globally. nence, Anthony Cardinal OkHe has penchant for helpogie, in discovering the kind ing the poor and the marginof person I am and putting me alised citizenry who are bearin challenging places to touch ing the brunt of economic subthe lives of the poor. jugation by the ruling elite Poverty is so intimidating in and the capitalist class.

Nigeria as the level of poverIn this encounter Ukah ty is very high, no wonder bares his mind on what he many people cut corners to termed as “power of poverty”. overcome poverty, engaging in corrupt practices. The poor The location of this church have become part of injustice seems remote and accessing when paw-paw, banana, orit, given the bad and erosionanges are made to ripe preravaged roads is a difficult maturely and sold to consumexperience for a visitor. What ers, while cups (olodo) used is being done in this respect? by traders to sell rice or beans We thank God, Governor are manipulated and tinkered Babatunde Fashola is conwith to cheat unsuspecting structing a road from Meiran customers. to the hinterland. Very soon , Who are to be blamed for the people, with the complecorruption? tion of the new road, would I think politicians are to be be infested with urbanisation blamed for corruption. Every and city values as infrastrucperson wants to own a car at ture, street lights, schools, the expense of spiritual recreational facilities, hotels growth. Young people don’t are likely to spring up. Alwant to work hard to earn

MAY 5,, 2013, PAGE 21

Ukah...Equal distribution of the national wealth can help to alleviate poverty

I see what loneliness can do in a community where there are no factories, where people have no jobs, when one gets N1,000 a day, he praises God

,

their living legitimately.

The negative impact of technology on youths is enormous. Now we have cyber crimes as people can do business and cheat people overseas. Technology that made white people rich is the same technology that is creating problem for us – black people.

We are just mere consumers of western technology, acting as sales managers for foreign made products. Hence we (black people) can explain more the technology we didn’t create and not indigenous to us more than the white people.

How can we tackle the problem of poverty in this country?

There are three suggestions which I think can drastically reduce poverty in Nigeria.

(1)An equal distribution of the national wealth can help to alleviate poverty.

(2)Curbing/checking unnecessary accumulation of wealth which tends to create pover-

ty.

(3)Rich people should make proper use of their wealth to create industries and businesses for employment of the masses.

The poor who are sick need good treatment. Our health facilities are grossly inadequate, while there should be good environment and cheap food for all.

As regards housing, shelter is important for human beings and when people are driven away from where they are living before, making them to wander from place to place.

A family of five displaced creates confusion in the family – scattered all over, children going to different places which has become common in Nigeria today.

People have complained about their shelter destroyed by governments, street hawking prohibited and petty traders displaced from their small shops – all these are adding to the high level of poverty among the ordinary citizens.

It is impossible for our cities to be like those in European countries and US without sufficient public-private investments and the authorities helping the poor, making them to survive. We cannot uproot the poor to make way

How do you see loneliness in relation to poverty?

I see what loneliness can do in a community where there are no factories, where people have no jobs, when one gets N1,000 a day, he praises God. I see growing pain and anger hurts and woundedness caused by poverty. I see people who cannot pay house rents. I see the cries and pains of children looking straight to their parents – a sign that they are hungry.

Imagine the helpless parents without skill to find a job and even if they find anyhow, do they bear the greedy employers who have no fear of God to understand the situation of the employees? I also see the agony of helplessness in the face of terrifying evil.

When people come for offertory, I watch them dancing almost grudgingly, seduced by the music and songs from the choir managing to put on some smiles and dropping their widow’s mite and then returning to their seats without hope of getting something tomorrow. And I ask myself, how can I receive when they are not sure of tomorrow? All they give are given back to the poor and the less privileged who need the money most as they throng the church later because they see the Church as their last hope. There is poverty in the land.

We know we are not destined to be poor but it is the system and the social arrangement that caused it.

,

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY VANGUARD , MAY 5, 2013

My sister says he dated her!

Dear Rebecca am a girl of 17 in love with a boy of 19 who is a businessman in my village. I live in Lagos. We have both promised to get married in future.

When I travelled to my village, my eldest sister told me she had gone out with my boyfriend before in the past, and as such, I should stop seeing him as it would not speak well of the two of us to have been dated by the same boy. When I asked my boyfriend, he denied it all. I am so confused and don’t know how to break off the engagement. I love this boy and I do not want to leave him. I want to marry him.

Thank you.

Worried girl, Lagos.

I

REPL Y REPLY

I

understand how you feel about this relationship, but the question is, are both of you ready to settle down in marriage now?

At 17 and 19, I don’t think you are mature emotionally and strong enough financially for that. Actually, you should have no special boyfriend now, but should have several boys as friends. This would

give you the opportunity to study boys and then know the sort that you would like for a partner later.

Since your boyfriend has not approached your people for your hand in marriage and he has not performed any engagement ceremony with you, you cannot consider yourself engaged to him. A verbal promise between two teenagers cannot be a bond. Your sister has a point. It is embarrassing for both of you to have the same boy as boyfriend, one after the other.

But you can just be a friend to the boy. After-all, you live in Lagos and he lives in your home town,. so, stop all talk of marriage and tell him that you should just be friends because you are both too young to consider marriage now. Tell your sister not to worry, and that he is only a friend. Have other boys as friends and don’t worry if he has other girls as friends.

As you get to understand boys and their ways, you may discover that this boy is not the type you want for a husband. On the hand, if he turns out to be your ideal man when you are both looking for partners, there is nothing wrong then if you marry each

other .

After all, he was not a husband to your sister, and anyway their brief relationship would be very much in the past then. You did not say anything about study and training for a trade or career. How are you going to look after yourself and contribute to the running of the home in future? That is more important now than boyfriend.

What is this other lady to him?

Dear Rebecca

I

am a girl of 23 years, a student of computer science. I am into a relationship with a guy of 30 who is about to finish his masters in law this year.

I really love him and he also claimed to love me and tries to let me know this, though I was warned by my friends and his friends not to love or trust him. They cautioned that he would use me and then drop me, as he is a play boy.

I told them that I am a play girl too. Though he claims to love me, but he always gives excuses for not calling me. There is a lady I always meet any time I am at his place on

a visit. He would ignore her and sleep out, or in the guest room. There was a time I went to his house, I did not inform him that I would be coming, on getting there, I met this same lady waiting for him, then his brother informed me that my boyfriend has travelled for over a week now. That the lady also came in his absence.

Though he has never ignored me for another lady and he gives me my respect as a woman but I don’t understand him any more. Aunty, I am fed up, I want a relationship that will lead to marriage. Please advise me on what to do.

Thanks Nancy.

REPL Y REPLY

How do I avoid getting pregnant?

Dear Rebecca

I

am a seventeen year old girl in love with a business man. We have promised to marry in future. My question is, is it necessary for me to visit him and if I do, must he make love to me?

If I started my menstruation on the 7th of a month and ends on the 10th on what day can I have sex? What medicine can I take to prevent pregnancy?

Uchendu Imo State.

REPL Y REPLY

Y

ou seem to think that it is your duty to have sex

with whoever is your boyfriend. It isn’t. You don’t have to visit him if your mind tells you not to . As for sex, it is best for your own self-respect, to have it with a man who you are legally married to..

You should not have sex with a man simply because he has promised to marry you in future.

There is no guarantee that he will keep his promise, and not to leave you for another girl when he feels like. You would become like an old football if you allow men to use you as they like. So be prepared to refuse to have sex with men until your wedding night, or, at least you’ve had the traditional wedding, which our culture recog-

nizes as a proper wedding..

Before starting to have sex you should know a lot about contraceptives for men and for women, for the prevention of pregnancy and also for reducing the risks of contracting venereal diseases, which one can have through sex, and which could make both men and women infertile.

I advise strongly that you don’t have sex now, so, there’s no need to ask for safe period. Reserve your body for the man you will marry.

Don’t be lured into fornication by smooth-talking boyfriends. Abstaining from sex brings peace of mind.

T

here is no doubt that you matter to this man at present, although it is hard to tell whether is is for the sex you allow him, or it is because you are the ideal lady he wants

to marry. It seems you have not been having any meaningful dialogue with him, and this is strange, considering the fact that you have been dating for 2 years now. What exactly have your conversations been about when you visit him?

Is it just sex and sweet nothings? Why haven’t you asked him what the other lady means to him?

In your lengthy mail, you said that he ignores her when you are around, and is affectionate with you in her presence, and that you would both go out and leave her there. That should send warning signals to you that there is something fishy between him and her.

You didn’t say anything about the lady’s reaction on seeing you.

Could it be that there’s an understanding between them that, whatever he does with other girls, she is his choice for marriage?

I know of a case where

I advise you ask your boyfriend who the other lady is, and where your relationship is leading to. If there is no satisfactory answer, leave him

a man who had a brother and a sister living with him, kept on telling his girlfriend of several years who used to spend the night regularly in his house, that he loved her and would marry her when his financial situation got better. They even attended the same church.

When the lady clocked 30 and he still wasn’t ready for marriage, she had to end the relationship and shortly afterwards she married another suitor that she had been rejecting because of the man.

The former boyfriend told her that she should have continued waiting for him as he was almost ready for marriage . The lady said she was alright with the man she had married, and was expecting a baby for. She was very surprised six months later when she heard that, that very man had married the school girl living with him who he had said was his sister! Apparently he was already married traditionally to the girl, and was using the other lady to satisfy his sex urge while waiting for his fiancee to complete her studies!.

I advise you ask your boyfriend who the other lady is, and where your relationship is leading to. If there is no satisfactory answer, leave him.

You’re still very young and there should be no desperation about getting married. It’s always best to ask God to choose a marital partner for you.

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

SUNDAY Vanguard , MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 23

When to hide your happiness from your disgruntled friends!

W

E all have our share .of foulweather friends.

But are you one yourself?

Your career is grinding to a halt, the man you once termed “the best thing that ever happened to me” has found lasting bliss with another woman and your good friend is driving you insane giving you a blow-by-blow account of her life with her new foundland. So, when another good friend called, weeping heart-breakingly because the father of her child (you never liked him anyway) wants ‘space’ , you feel a glimmer of relief - no matter how tiny. You thank your stars you’re not the only one asking “why me” all the time. Ini, remember her? A good friend who never allowed the grass to grow under her feet; who in spite of being married, boasts of an impressive array of “shock absorbers”. She met this politician on a flight to London, struck a relationship with him and gloated about how what was supposed to be a fling had blown into an intimate relationship. A few weeks ago, she came bounding down my drive way.

“I’ve called things off with chief”, she fumed as soon as she settled down. She looked more angry than heart-broken. “This man’s appetite for sex is insatiable. And there is no day you don’t find him with different types of women or hear about his escapade with

these so-called society women.” But what was her problem? She was not looking for a husband, and chief was over-generous.

She also knew the type of lover the poor man was before she plunged into a relationship with him.

“Money is not everything”, she told me, rolling her eyes. “I was at a party last week when the news started making the rounds that one of our so-calledmoney-miss road celebrities had tested positive to the AIDS virus. Not only that, most of his flashy wives also tested positive. The only lucky escapee is the first wife he virtually abandoned in order to sew his belated wild oats with these fortune hunters he acquired as wives. When I finally saw chief, I requested we should start using condom. He looked at me as if I’ d suggested he robs a bank. ‘What for?’ he sneered. ‘Use a condom at my age? You told me you didn’t want my children, so why should I now be wearing a silly contraceptive because I want to have sex with you. ‘ “Talk about being ccrude.

I patiently explained to him about the rampant spread of AIDS and the shocking news of this ‘socialite’ s prediccament. ~What has that got to do with us?’ , he wanted to know. I had to remind him of his penchant for chasing anything in

skirt. That all my children were still young and I would love to see them married”.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced that feeling of warm smugness when a close friend confides in us. After all, it’s nice that you’re the one they chose to turn to, the one they trusted with their secret, and the one whose advice they all valued the most.

It’s tlattering; it makes you feel needed and secure.

I don’t really ask my friends to come to me with their problems and certainly don’t encourage them to feel bad. But I’m a good listener and I genuinely care for my friends. And, let’s face it, listening to everyone else’s problems makes me forget my own. I consoled Ini the best I could, assuring her she would soon find a replacement. As I saw her to her car, I was dying to

give Lilian a blow-by-blow account of Ini’s current dilemma.

Lilian, is an incurable gossip - just like me. When I walked into her sitting room, her stepson, late Ayoka’s son was running around the living room, a picture of health and mischief. His sister was being taken care of by the nanny.

But the little boy was adorable. How children quickly forget? Her mum might be dead, but he was quite unaware of this as he snuggled up to Lilian. Her mothering instinct must have kicked in as she cuddled the boy - who looked really contented and trusting.

Lilian listened enraptured as I told her of Ini’s resolve to chuck her politician lover. “‘Serves her right”, Lilian said, “ when I was having problems with Rex (her husband) I went to her

for sympathy because you were away for a week then.

Instead, she gave me regular accounts of the wonderful time she was having with her beau. I was really depressed at the time and hearing how happy she was didn’t help. I really needed her sympathy but she was in another planet. Now that her perfect chief has turned into a monster, she would soon be needing my sympathy. But I’m not like her. I won’t pay her back in her own coin by being indifferent to her pain. I’ve never liked that pompous oaf and I say good riddance to him!” You can then imagine how embarrassed I felt when Ini came strutting into my office a few days later with her seemingly disease infested chief! I’d met him a couple of times.

An intelligent man, he had a really aloof look, but this

tinle, he tried to be friendly.

He offered to give us lunch.

As a manied woman, Ini daren’t go out to lunch with him alone; that was where I came in, the perfect excuse if she was spotted. It was inevitable that our discussion finally centred on Ini’s refusal to have sex with him condomless.

Sounding really wounded, he told me he wasn’t a promiscuous man and had always been careful as to whom he went to bed with. “Your friend is a good indication of my taste.

Now, would you say she could be an AIDS victim?”

The fact still remains he has lots of lovers, upping the risk of AIDS - but I didn’t tell him this. I told him to take things easy that Ini would soon come round to his way of solving the simple problem that now threatened to break their relationship.

The next time I saw her, I told her that one of Lilian’s friends who had a well stocked pharmaceutical shop in one of the shopping malls on Victoria Island now sold female condoms.

“What do they look like?”

Ini wanted to know. “Will chief notice I’m wearing one and would it give total protection against any disease?” How would I know?

I wasn’t the one selling the stuff and I’d never used one either. All she had to do was be patient until Lilian took us to this pharmacist friend of hers.

08052201867(Text Only)

Shake up when you wake up

O

H, we all feel stiff upon walk ing up in the morning. Just so you do not strain muscles in the corse of the day, the best thing to do is to get yourself into a habit that will limber you up.

You can start this limbering stuff even while in bed.

The body may rebel. But with an iron will the body will follow suit.

I tell my students like my teacher taught me; do not over strain the body.

The idea is to do a little every day as against doing too much too shortly.

Keeping fit is not meant to drain you. It is meant to arouse the latent energies in you.

There is more to life than just keeping fit. For C M Y K

instance, you have to make a living. I do not see how .. tired person can go through the day when they have already been exhausted by exercise.

Too much of everything is kbad for you – exercise included!

Moderation is the key.

Now lets try the following

* Press up breathing

The Rocking TECHNIQUE: Sit on your buttocks and cluthh the back of both knees with your hands. Now thrust both legs forwards and backwards and do that pretty last keep on with this thrusting and drawing without stopping for a count to 5 or 10 depending on your

staming.

PRAISE BRIEFLY and repeat.

BENEFITS The posture helps in working out the aims, the abdominal region and the hamstrings.

Press up breathing TECHNIQUE: Lie flat on your belly and place your hands at the same level as your shoulders, but just a little way from them. Now, with your toes pointing down, breathe in deeply and hoist your whole body up without stretching up your elbows completely.

Stay in this position for a slow count to 10. Bring down your whole body to the floor. Relax and repeat for another time or yet another. Whatever you do, do not exhaust yourself.

You will build up strength as you go on from day to day.

* Double leg raise

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

P AGE 24 —SUNDAY Vanguard , MAY 5 , 2013

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

The ruthless conman who proposed marriage!

S

OME men just love having ba bies. Married or single, they relish the joy of fatherhood no matter how often it happens to them. It doesn’t matter either who the mother of such babies are: lowly or well bred, single or divorced. Reginald is one of such men.

A seemingly successful businessman, aren’t they all?, he warmed his way into Sussana’s heart.

Sussana, an event planner has always come in handy whenever an event crops up amongst her friends with whom she’s become somewhat close over the years. In her late 30s and a divorced mother of two, Reginald was her regular bootlegger whatever the choice of wine and no matter how rare - he always delivered. And his stock was genuine too, giving Sussana’s outfit real credibility)making her one of the most sought after by the wellheeled. Then she made the mistake of mixing business with pleasure.

“Reginald is a couple of years older than I am”, she told me, “but I never had any romantic thought about him because he always had his wedding ring on, my ex never bothered wearing his and I had a lot of respect for men who did.

“When he invited me to dinner, I declined because he was married.

He grinned roguishly at my excuse. ‘I’m divorced’, he said flippantly, “but I keep my wedding band on to ward off customers who might want to throw themselves at me!’ How cheeky can you get! That was how our relationship started. It was common knowledge that he came from a large and rich family, and that his recently deceased father

left. behind a lot of money and property. He was expected to become quite comfortable when his dad’s estate was shared. But I didn’t ask him any of this - I had my own money. I was just happy to have a man around most of the time and we went everywhere together. Once in a while, I heard tales of his ex-lovers but they had nothing to do with me they were in the past.

“Then he started talking about us getting married and wanting to have a child by me. I was already approaching 40 with my two kids doing really well. I’d forgotten all about having more children but he was quite persuasive. I promised to give it a go, convinced getting pregnant might not be that easy at my age. But I got pregnant within six months of trying and Reggy was quite ecstatic - it was as if he’d never had children before. He’d confessed he was married twice and had six children - so seven for him and three for me couldn’t be that bad!

“It was his idea that we get married before the baby arrived. It was to be a modest one but I would have to cough out the money until his inheritance came through. No problem, I assured him as I splashed on money for clothes for bridesmaids and suits for Reggy and his best man.

Promising to bring a fat cheque very soon, he ordered the hall of his .club for the wedding reception and asked the kitchen staff to handle special catering for some guests. We were discussing costs when one of the staff approached us to plead that her niece should handle the designer cake. I wrote a

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"

Great love

True love is liking someone despite their faults, loving someone despite their ugliness. True love never fades like fresh leaves, it never evaporates

cheque for the deposits, convinced I would soon get my money back.

“Days to the wedding, Reggy still didn’t have access to his money. He became jittery and aggressive but kept on assuring me he would get the money. Shortly after, he had a stroke, becoming wobbly as he slurred his words. I was worried. After he left the hospital, I insisted we postpone the wedding until after I had the baby, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. The show must go on, he said. Then he had a second stroke this time, the whole right side of his face was drooping and limp. The doctors said his blood pressure was too high and that caused his stroke. I was terrified but he pulled through the second time. ((Two weeks to the wedding, he said he had to travel home to convince some members of his family who were already fed up with his always getting married and refused to attend. That was the last I saw of him. When he didn’t pick my calls for days, I called his only rela-

tive I knew that lived on the outskirt of town. He told me he hadn’t heard from him for a while but he would try and see if he could get him at his mum’s where he often stayed when he went home. His mum? He told me he lost his mum ages ago! He’d already told me she was dead, that a chunk of his inheritance would be from her estate. Was it all a pack of lies? With heart thumping, I asked him what happened to Reggy’s wife. He told me she too was quite fed up with his deceit and wanted him for the maintenance allowance for their two children!

‘You know he’s been married three- times and have 14 children?’ he asked me. ‘Some from his marriages and others from some of his relationships’’ He’s still legally married and has a small inheritance from his dad, but he had used it for some of the kids’ fees ages ago.”

With the birth of my baby looming, I was in shock. I fell sobbing on

like water, it never stops like an heavy rain, it can't be hidden. True love is endless, immeasurable, it forgives. You can't force someone to love you, all you can do is become someone who can be loved, the rest is up to them. If they love you they will stay, if they don't, please, let them go. What will be yours will be.

Romantique Angel.

Romantiqueangel@gmail.com, 08026618663

My finest!

I'm looking for a friend who would be closer to me than my shadow. Someone who wouldn't leave me in the lurch but will be stoical in the face of hardship, hug me in my filth, hold on when others let go, stand by me when the rots set in, someone I can tag along with and also call my bees knees. I think I have found no one but you. You are my finest!

K.C. emeraldson4u@yahoo.com

my bed. What had I gotten myself into? Then it dawned on me I had a wedding to cancel, and with that went several thousands of naira of my own money. The most embarrassing aspect was telling my children they both liked Reggy and had come to see him as a father figure.

“After I had our daughter, he sent me a text saying how sorry he was.

I quickly rang his mobile and this time, he answered. ‘It’s true I’m still married,’ he admitted.

“But I really love you maybe that’s why I did get carried away by the wedding plans. Don’t worry, I will pay you back when I collect outstanding debts from my customers. ‘My only purpose now is to redeem my image and get you back. .. ‘ Who did he think I was? The largest dent really is to my confidence. Reggy’s love for me felt so real. How could he have made me look such a fool with an innocent child to take care of alone?”

Who does the hatchet job? (Humour) One by one, the managers of a company were called into the CEO’s office until only the newest, most junior manager was left sitting nervously outside. Finally, it was his turn to be summoned.

He walked into the office to find the CEO and the 12 senior managers seated solemnly around a polished oak table. Addressing the junior manager, the CEO asked:”Young man, have you ever slept with Miss Jones, the company secretary?” “What? certainly not!”

“Are you absolutely sure?” the CEO persisted. “Absolutely. 1 swear 1 have never laid one finger on her.”

“And you would swear that on the Bible?” “I would swear on the Bible that 1 have never had a sexual relationship with Miss Jones.”

Later, on returning from the convention, the CEO was seething. ‘Why the hell did you write me a one-hour speech?” he raged. “Half the audience began to walk out long before I’d finished.

What a mess!”

Robertson was baffled.

“But 1 did write you a twenty-minute speech sir!” he asserted. “1 also gave you the two extra copies you asked for ... “ Dumb CEO? (Humour) Later, on returning from the convention, the CEO was seething. ‘Why the hell did you write me a one-hour speech?” he raged. “Half the audience began to walk out long before I’d finished.

What a mess!”

Robertson was baffled.

“But 1 did write you a twenty-minute speech sir!” he asserted. “1 also gave you the two extra copies you asked for ... “

0813 625 1188

My lady

You might not be as beautiful as Jackie Apiah, you might not be a talented as Asa, you might not be as sophisticated as Genevieve Nnaji. But still, you remain my best. I love you more than your imagination.

Omorville Umoru omorville@gmail.com,08062486549

My woman

Someone asked what makes people happy. Some said wealth, some said fame, some said power, others said wisdom. I was just thinking about this while you walked in, I smiled... This makes me happy.

Your presence and thought of you gives me excess joy. What a wonderful world. I love you so much.

Kelechi Ndubisi kconeofafrica@gmail.com, 08032900530

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013—PAGE 25

Hacker stuns Gov Uduaghan … clones his phone to solicit for favour from DELSU VC

office now, so, I will be a little busy, what is the development?”

Arubayi replied: “HE, d request came late. D College of Health Sciences Academic Board with the external examiners in attendance had met and approved d results. Suspect failed d two courses with scores of 48 and 46 in pharmacology and pathology respectively.

When d results are submitted to me for approval, I will upgrade 48 to 50 with a resit in pathology.

I ve an understanding with d provost that d resit will be conducted in two months time and that will be taken care off (sic). He will not repeat any year and will move with all his other classmates that passed to the 500 level. Sir, this is how far we have been able to handle matter.”

Suspicion

BY EMMA AMAIZE

F

OR some months, tongues have been wagging in Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, over an allegation that a 400-level medical student hacked into the phone of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who is also the Visitor to the institution, and sent a text message to the Vice Chancellor, Prof Eric Arubayi, to ensure that he obtains credits in pharmacology and pathology courses, which he failed.

The matter had been a subject of hush-hush discussions in the citadel of learning with the academic community divided on the intriguing plots that seemed to be unfolding daily. Some persons are alleging attempts to coverup the scandal and had vowed to expose it.

Three-time victim

What is, however, unambiguous from Sunday Vanguard’s investigation is that hackers were beginning to take more than a passing interest in the cell phones of Uduaghan.

It started with his Airtel n u m b e r, s o m e y e a r s a g o .

When the game was exposed, they went for one of his MTN lines. Never tired, they hacked into his e m a i l a d d r e s s a n d , n o w, they are back to another of his MTN lines.

In all the cases, the governor ’s compromised numbers were used to send text messages. The extent of the damage caused Uduaghan by the hackers, at press time, had not been ascertained by security agents.

C M Y K

Contrived July, 2012, ed unambigously, “I am in a meeting” and the use of exposed January, 2013 What, however, makes the DELSU case unique is the innovation that was brought into it. The clever plot was contrived in July, 2012, but was not uncovered until January, this year, when the vice chancellor showed the text message to the governor in Asaba.

But,nearly three months after the case was reported to the police, the matter was still dragging.

It started on July 24, 2012 when Arubayi received a text message from the number he

Anenih’s name was for Arubayi to act swiftly, knowing the ranking of the Edo politician in the country and Uduaghan’s closeness to him.

Arubayi made efforts to call the governor , but to no avail.

He confirmed to Sunday Vanguard that he initially believed the message was from Uduaghan. In his reply, he said, “HE (meaning His Excellency), we still need d name of d student concerned. I had wanted the details of my discussion with the provost with

With the stunned expression on Uduaghan’s face and the way he looked at Arubayi when he read the text message, supposedly from him, for the first time, six months after, January 28, 2013, in Asaba, the vice -chancellor did not need anybody to tell him the message did not emanate from the governor saved as Uduaghan 1 in his phone. The message read: “My able VC, Chief Tony Anenih called me in respect of one boy that just wrote pathology and pharmacology exam in 400 level medicine, My able Prof, I want you to ensure the boy passes, you know I cannot afford to disappoint Chief Tony Anenih. I am in a meeting.

These are the details: CHS/04/ 05/88406.”

Whoever sent the text message knew the vice chancellor would call the governor to verify the authenticity, so he stat-

you sir.”

The quick reply from the other end was: “The name is (name withheld). My able VC, all I want is the boy to pass.

Chief Tony Anenih has been calling.” The vice chancellor again stated, “HE, sir, I ‘ve made some contacts on d issue and need to feed u back on the progress made on the matter at your earliest convenience.”

It was clear Arubayi still did not know he was dealing with a fraudster, who replied thus: “Ok, my amiable VC, Enugu State Governor just arrived my

The provost , John OhajuObodo, however, smelt a rat about a week after the affair when he received a text message, purportedly from the governor, informing him of his appointment by the government as chairman of an influential committee. He called Uduaghan two weeks after and, providentially, he answered , but when he inquired about the appointment, the governor told him there was nothing like that. And he quickly alerted the vice chancellor to personallycontact the governor on the hacking affair.

Apparently, the author(s) of the scam thought the provost might raise dust over the examination score and so, the text message to him was another invention to divert his attention, but it backfired.

With the stunned expression on Uduaghan’s face and the way he looked at Arubayi when he read the text message, supposedly from him, for the first time, six months after, January 28, 2013, in Asaba, the vice -chancellor did not need anybody to tell him the message did not emanate from the governor.

Arubayi said, in his statement to the police, “I decided that I will not delete the messages until I have audience with the governor. This opportunity came on Monday, on 28th of January, 2013, at about 11.20 am. When I showed the text messages to the governor, he read through it with shock and surprise and denied that he ever sent such messages.

“He directed that the suspected student should be arrrested and handed over to the police for investigations and prosecution…”

‘I ‘m innocent’

The VC returned to Abraka and summoned the student who flatly denied the hacking. All the same, he was handed over to the police.

The suspect, in his statement

to the police, on January 29, said he was taken from Oghara , where he went for a seminar on internal medicine, to Abraka after the provost called him out and directed that the college secretary should take him in the school bus to Abraka.

His words, “I got to the VC’s office and he called my name and I admitted. He said I should come inside. The next thing the VC said was to open his phone and read some text messages stating that he should use his power to pass me in pharmacology and pathology and that the text message is from the governor, which I don’t have idea of.”

It ‘s cyber crime- VC

Sunday Vanguard met Arubayi in his office in Abraka on Monday.

He admitted receiving the text messages on July 24, 2012 and showed them to Sunday Vanguard. He spoke on how he had been careful not to delete any of the text message since the last nine months.

The vice chancellor said, “The boy knows that the governor uses capital letters when he sends me text messages and that is what he used, he must have studied the pattern and he also used the words, My amiable VC, my able VC like the governor is wont to.”

Arubayi, however, explained that it was the standard regulation in the university, once approved by the relevant authorities, based on the total performance, to round up scores between 45-49 to 50 and so, the scores of the suspect and about five other students, which fell within the bracket in pharmacology, w e r e rounded up to 50.

In the case of pathology, he said it was not possible to round up the scores within the bracket because resit examination had already been fixed and the affected students had to resit for the course.

According to him, “No single person approves results in the university, so it is not a case of the vice chancellor did anything, the scores that were rounded up to 50 for the affected students were approved by the appropriate organs and the one that was not approved, it was also stated clearly that those affected have to go for resit.

“It is a cyber crime, this should be an EFCC issue, we are talking about somebody who hacked into the governor’s phone to commit a criminal act.

We have reported the matter to the police and waiting for them to do their job.”

He said the institution, on its part, set up a disciplinary committee to look into the breach of matriculation oath by the student, but, up till Monday when Sunday Vanguard visited, the student had not appeared before the committee the three times meetings were convened.

The fourth time was Tuesday, April 30.

PAGE 26—SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

Murder at carnival zTeenager killed after being stabbed by friend zPolice arrest three, seize celebration cow

BY BOSE ADELAJA

T

he youths were in a celebration mood and all was set for the 2013 carnival that was billed for Saturday, April 27 in Ilata-Ota, Ogun State. Days before, the town wore a new look and the town was well lit up, courtesy of the youths who had used everything at their disposal to ensure a successful carnival.

Also, the event committee had received donations from friends, well wishers and notable figures in the town. Unlike previous events, the 2013 edition was to feature notable artists and philanthropists who had given their consent to attend the event.

To make the occasion a co-

lourful one, the youths purchased ‘aso-ebi’, and contacted a caterer who had assisted to purchase a cow. But the event never took place. Instead, a conflict took place on the eve of the carnival which sent a teenager Azees Salako to his early grave. Problem started when the youths engaged some local drummers for a pre-event celebration on Friday April 26, where meetings were held after which all converged at a spot for celebration. According to an eye witness account, local gin and cannabis were freely served and some of the celebrants became drunk and there was division of interest.

Before anybody knew it, two teenagers, Azeez, and his

friend, Kayode, were engaged in an argument which resulted in fisticuffs and Kayode ‘overpowered’. While this lasted, there were solidarity songs from Azeez’s supporters and Kayode was demoralised.

In order to vent his anger, he went for a broken bottle and stabbed Azzez. The victim slumped and began to bleed.

The youths disappeared one after the other and the victim was left in the pool of his own blood to die. An eye witness, Mr. Akintunde Ajani, told Sunday Vanguard Azeez’s mother warned him not to attend the pre-event celebration but he turned deaf ears to the warning.

The incident was reported at

The cow for the carnival in police Sango division and some officers arrived the scene but the youths had fled leaving behind the corpse and the cow meant to be slaughtered on the D-day.

The police took the cow into custody and also packed some chairs meant for the event although investigation into the matter is ongoing and suspects arrested.

Contacted, the spokesperson for Olota of Ota, Prince Ade-

custody

niran Ogunneye, blamed the development on lack of proper upbringing and broken homes.

Confirming the incident, Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, told Sunday Vanguard investigation was ongoing. ‘’We have three suspects with us at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Eleweran for investigation,” he stated.

Cross River sets own education standard

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

A

t the inception of Senator Liyel Imoke ad ministration in Cross River State in 2007, the education sector was on the edge of a precipice. A lot had obviously gone wrong with thesector following neglect. But consistent innovation and remodeling injected into the sector these past six years have not only breathed new life into it but also ensured an enduring turn around.

Conscious of the critical role education plays as a catalyst for economic transformation and socio –political advancement, focus was placed on repositioning the sector. From the basic formative level, which is the primary, through to the secondary stage up to the tertiary level, comprehensive, rather than isolated transformation process, was adopted through the institution of a threepronged approach to rejuvenate the sector.

The first stage was to assess the level of decay and adopt strategies towards combating the problems. A process, named Needs Assessment , was instituted and seventy five percent of the schools across the state, primary, secondary and tertiary, were visited and monitored for six months to collate data and information on the state of affairs and the measures to bring each school back to life. When the report came out, it was so depressing that when Imoke went through it, he was said to have been livid. But without apportioning blame to any single individual or administration, he went straight to w o r k .

The three-way process adopted to tackle the problems in the sector are : Infrastructural Development, Capacity Building and Discipline. This led to the conceptualisation of a standard peculiar to the

Senator Liyel Imoke state where every primary school must have modern edifices, well designed classrooms, each with the capacity to sit at least 35 pupils or students, fully equipped with modern desks , resource room, library, assembly hall for extracurricular activities, teachers room, and a laboratory for basic sciences. At the secondary level, each school, apart from the modern edifices and standard classrooms, must have a fully stocked library, equipped laboratory for ICT and functional laboratory for each of the three major science subjects: chemistry, biology and physics.

The infrastructure in schools such as the buildings, desks, instructional and learning facilities such as laboratories libraries were rehabilitated or installed while, on capacity building, training was adopted with every teacher in the state school sys-

tem made to benefit through workshops and seminars while those without the prerequisite teaching qualifications were mandated to acquire same as the National Certificate in Education ( NCE) became the minimum standard for teaching in primary schools while first degree became the minimum for teaching in secondary schools.

On discipline, measures were adopted beginning from the local government level through zone up to the ministry.

The provision of a full complement of these model facilities in both primary and secondary schools was spread across the state.

In recognition of the fact that Brazil, which, some few decades past, was seen as a developing nation, has, through the use of e-learning, developed its technology and infrastructure, the state sought to pattern its educational system along that line by adopting e-learning.

Each school was provided with an e-learning laboratory fully equipped with computers, internet facilities and every teacher in the state provided with a laptop. As efforts were made to imbue the teachers with the appropriate skills so they could teach the students, the state went into partnership with a private company, Educom India, to train the teachers on computer skills acquisition and maintenance.

With e-learning taking place in schools across the state, Cross River State has become one of the first that is approaching e-learning in a holistic manner. “The whole idea and essence is to ensure that a child that passes through secondary school in Cross River State should have acquired basic computer skills and in the next three years this target will be attained.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 27

Tales from freed prison inmates

I killed my brother heeding mystery voice — Woman zWe bore our child in jail - Couple

Freed inmates: Elizabeth Sampsom (l) and Taiwo Alatishe

BY ONOZURE DANIA

T

he tales coming from some in-mates of Kir ikiri Prisons, just released by the Lagos State Chief judge, Justice Ayotunde Philips, are heart touching.

Of the lot, the story of a couple, Bassey Ude, 35, and Comfort, 32, who had their first child, Emmanuel, now one year and five months old in the prisons, stands out. The theft of jewelries by the wife was the genesis of trouble for the young couple. According to the

husband, it was just like a movie when he was arrested by the police to answer for the offence that was committed by his wife. He revealed that indeed his wife stole the jewelries where she earned a living as a house help, but the stolen items were immediately returned after the discovery by the owner.

It was Comfort , who was first released, that brought to the notice of the Chief Judge the plight of her husband.

The wife said she stole the jewelries from her employer,

adding that she could not say how much it cost but her husband was arrested alongside her.

She added that she returned the jewelries but the employer still went to report the matter to the police and they came to arrest her and her husband.

“To God who made me, I returned all the gold (the pieces of jewelries) to my madam.

But she went to report the matter to the police to punish me and my husband,” Comfort said. The husband, Bassey, who claimed to be a caterer,

said the incident happened on March 5, 2011, when his wife stole the jewelries and showed them to him.

They were both taken to the prisons 15 days after, he said, adding that while they were there for over two years, the wife gave birth to their son whom he only met in court when their case came up for mention.

An overjoyed Ude said he would go back to his employer, a guest house in Adeniji Jones area of Ikeja, for reinstatement, but that if he was turned back, he would ask for the arrears of his salary. He added that as a caterer, he could be on his own.

“If they don’t take me, I will try and be on my own. I have learnt my lessons, crime is not good,” he said.

Another inmate released, an estate surveyor and valuer, Taiwo Alatishe, 46, narrated his jail experience for five years for paying the proceeds from a house he sold into a wrong bank account (N25 million). He said that he was a member of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers of Nigeria but that his name was de-listed form their register after the incident.

His family members and friends deserted him because of the problem.

Alatishe said that he was arrested in November 26, 2008 and spent two months at the state CID, Panti, Yaba before his arraignment in court.

According to him his case suffered 76 adjournments

while he remained in detention. “The last time I was in court was April 13, 2013 at court number 7, at Ikeja Magistrate Court before Magistrate Rasak Davis.”

He said that he didn’t know he would be released adding that there was joy inside of him that he could not explain.

On what he learnt in prison, he said God opened his spiritual eyes to see some hidden potentials in him, adding that he would go to a Bible College and start pastoral work.

Another inmate freed by the Lagos CJ, 49 year old Elizabeth Sampson, narrated her own story of how she got into prison for hearing a strange voice which ordered her to go and burn her own blood brother to death.

Sampson, who was tearful, while narrating her story, said she could not explain how it happened as all she could say was that she heard a voice and obeyed the voice until she was shown pictures of what happened to her late brother, Mr. Isaac, apparently murdered.

According to the woman, who had been in Kirikiri since 2010, she only followed the voice until when she was taken to the prisons.

The former inmate said she learnt so many things in jail which she could use to lead a good life. One of the prison warders kept saying she was going to miss one freed inmate simply identified as Elizabeth because she was a very good teacher.

The Kwara tourism destination move

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI, Ilorin

T

he Kwara State administra tion of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is putting tourism in the front burner as a major source of revenue for government.

Therefore,in his efforts to provide a conducive environment for investors to come to the state, Ahmed has concluded plans to explore the potentials in tourism to increase the internally generated revenue (IGR).

According to him, with the monthly federal allocations which put Kwara State third from the least paid among the thirty six states of the federation,he would leave no stone unturned to increase the IGR to a level that the government would least reckon with the allocations as its source of revenue.

The tourism policy thrust of the government, according to the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communications, Dr

Muideen Akorede, includes to speedily intervene and ameliorate destitution with a view to re integrating the destitute into the society and to promote the diverse rich culture, arts and crafts of the state to complement tourism development. This, Akorede said, is geared towards making the state a foremost tourist destination in Nigeria attracting foreign and domestic tourists.The strategic framework to be employed to achieve the target include staging cultural carnivals, comprehensive renovation and upgrading of facilities in the state cultural centre, capacity building and provision of costume.

Others are,provision of materials for the cultural troupe, identification and upgrading of indigenous art and craft work, identification of tourist sites, involvement of private sector in the development of tourism, provision of incentives to investors in the tourism sector, recruitment of professional personnel, enlightenment and sensitization programmes on the importance of tourism

*Oyedele Adetula (l) with two others at one of the tourist site and adequate budgetary provision for the tourism sector. To achieve these objectives, the governor mandated the Office of Tourism and Culture Development to employ all possible means to see that tourism takes its place in the drive for economic growth in the state. The newly appointed Special Assistant to the Governor on Culture and Tourism Development, Mr. Oyedele Adetula, has commenced inspection of all tourist centres across Kwara. The sites

visited are the Owu Falls, one of Nigeria’s highest water falls, situated in Owa Onire, Isin Local Government Area, the Esie Stone Images Museum, at Esie, Ifelodun Local Government Area, Imoleboja Rock Shelter in Ekiti/Irepodun Local Government Area, Aso-Oke Weaving Center, Okuta Ilorin (ancient historical stone), Dada Pottery and Okelele Hide and Skin local industry in Ilorin.

28—SUNDAY, Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

Panac he as Y emi Emik o’s son w eds anache Yemi Emiko’s weds

L

ast weekend would remain memorable for Prince Yemi Emiko, a Prince of Warri kingdom and his entire household as his son, Kelly took to the altar, his fiancée, former Miss Ifeoma Emana Edet from Calabar Municipality in Cross Rivers State.

The engagement ceremony took place on Friday at Havilah Hall of Events, in Ikeja while the ‘White’ wedding held at the Redeemed Christian Church of Christ, Sanctuary Parish, in Surulere followed by reception at the KFA Event Centre in Lekki on Saturday. Many eminent personalities graced the occasion. Photos by Biodun Ogunleye.

The couple, Prince & Mrs Ebiyemi Kelly, signing the marriage register

Dedication of memorial church hall

T

he Odusote family of Owu-Ijebu have reawaken the memories of their late matriarch, Patience Ajoke Odusote (nee Ajayi) when they dedicated a ‘memorial church hall’ at St. Michael Anglican Church, Owu-Ijebu, Ogun State to immortalise her. The occasion soon became a celebration which drew the presence of who’s who from the State. Photos by Lamidi Bamidele

The couple, flanked by Prince Ebiyemi Emiko, groom’s father and wife, Princess Kate Emiko L-R:Mrs Bolaji Oye; Mr Sunday Odusote; Prince Kehinde Odusote; Sister Leigh Gilkey; Mrs Funmi Ayo-Ddugbesan; Mrs Alaba Pinneiro and Arch Damilare Adeyemi

R-L: Groom’s dad, Prince Yemi Emiko, Prince Ikenwoli Emiko,Dr Andrew Ayu,Hon (Mrs) Irene Imilar and Mrs Eunice Akinkuolie

L-R:Mrs Esther Fregene, Mrs O . Biola and Mrs Mary Faka

T

L-R:Mr & Mrs Ajijala Rone-Orugbo, Engr Emmanuel Adokpaye, Engr Alex Neyin and Engr. Ben Atseyinku

L-R: Mr. Etikerentse, Dr. Eyesan and groom’s dad, Prince Yemi Emiko

L-R:The Alakija of ikija, Oba Anthony Kayode Alakija appreciating Prince kehinde Odusote, Baba Ijo of St Michael Anglican church, Owu-Ijeb

L-R:Mrs Funmi Ayo-Odugbesan; Mr B Agoro; Mr Olatokunbo Ayo-Odugbesan and Miss Ololade Ayo-Odugbesan

Tope Akinlo eds Olanre waju K arun wi Akinloyye w weds Olanrew Karun arunwi

he Akinloye and Karunwi families became one recently when their children, Olubolarinwa Temitope Akinloye and Olanrewaju Adebiyi Karunwi, tied the nuptial knots. The union,sealed at the Redeemed Christian of God (Christ Church Parish), Oworonsoki, Lagos, was attended by family members and friends. Photos by Akeem Salau

L-R:Mr &Mrs Karunwi, groom’s parents with the couple , Mr & Mrs Olarenwaju Adebiyi Karunwi

The couple;Mr and Mrs Olanrewaju Karunwi

L-R:Mr Segun Akinloye & Mrs Yetunde Akinloye, bride’s parents, with the couple.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013 —29

Enthronement of Delta S tat e Dep. Go es daught er in w edloc k Adedeji as Bishop of Stat tate Govv. giv gives daughter wedloc edlock he quiet town of Otu-Jeremi, Ughelli in Delta State became a Mecca of sort on Thursday as eminent est West personalities from the state converged for the traditional wedding of the daughter of the Lagos W Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama. The Deputy Governor’s daughter, Fejiro Utuama, was handed

T

to Chief and Mrs Tunde Smooth, the parents of the groom. Photos by Akpokona Omafuaire

From Left: Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, Chief of Naval Staff; Prof. Amos Utuama, Deputy Gov., Delta State, Chief Peter Nwaboashi, Delta State PDP Chiarman, and Dr. Nelly Utuama.

L-R:Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, Speaker DTHA, his wife and Senator James Manager.

The newly wedded, Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Smooth.

I

t is no longer news that the person who has taken over from Rt. Revd.( Dr) Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, as the Bishop of Lagos West is Rt. Revd. James Adedeji. The enthronement of the new Bishop took place at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church, Ikeja GRA and it was a fanfare as important dignitaries joined in the celebration. Photos by Diran Oshe

L- R:The Most Revd. & Mrs. E. Adebola Ademowo, (Rtd),former Bishop of Lagos, Mrs Titi Laoye - Tomori, Deputy Gov. of Osun State , Rt. Revd.( Dr) Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, former Bishop of Lagos West , the New Bishop, Lagos West, Rt. Revd. & Mrs James Adedeji, Deputy Gov. of Lagos State , Mrs Joke OrelopeAdefulire, and Most Revd ( Prof ) Adeboyo Akinde , Bishop of Lagos & Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos

L-R:Chief Tunde Smooth, groom's dad, Mr. Edwin Smooth, groom and Mrs. Tunde Smooth, groom's mum

L- R: Chief John Adeyemi , Mrs Titi Laoye Tomori, Deputy Gov. of Osun State, and Deputy Gov. of Lagos State, Mrs Joke Orelope- Adefuluire

R-L:Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, former Minister of Police Affairs and a guest.

S

From Left; Pa William Dudu, Mrs. Victoria Dudu, Chief Gift Sokoh, and Mr. Bayo Olulusi.

Sunda o the altar Sundayy Eze goes tto

unday Eze of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Airport Command, Lagos took former Miss Martina Ani to the altar at St. Simon Anglican Church, Omor, Anambra State.

The couple: Mr. and Mrs. Sunday Eze.

The couple, flanked by friends and relations

L- R: Mr. Adesegun, Lagos State Head of Service and Justice O. Ilori

L- R: Mrs Teju Akinsulire, Synod Lady Secretary, Lagos West with Otunba & Mrs Bimbo Ashiru

PAGE 30 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 31

C M Y K

PAGE 32— SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

Re: Bakassi, our history & future

I

read somewhere the other year, that the past helps us define, not only the present, but the future as well. Documenting the past is very important to the human life, hence millions of books exist to help us know about the past, learn from it, and use the knowledge to improve the present and the future.

Where would we be without books on faith, like the Bible, the Koran, etc., to help us on our pilgrimage here on earth? Similarly, documentation of events and people in our families, nation and the world, encourage us to do things to improve our lives, our nation, and the world, in any way we can.

In western countries, History is so important that the government, corporate bodies and wealthy individuals fund the work and researches of Historians. Sometimes, money is bequeathed to them in Wills by individuals who appreciate History, to help them with their work and researches, which are well-preserved in government archives and libraries.

Now, Nigeria, being the most populous black nation in the world, is important in the sub-region and in Africa. As a leading oil producer, it is of global importance too.

People of my generation were fed with the history of Nigeria, West Africa, Africa, and other countries with ties with our race and continent, from an early age. We were quite conversant with the major events/people that defined our nation.

Sadly, there isn’t much to indicate these days, that we have active Historians who are documenting important national events. The late Dr. (Mrs.) Nina Mba of the University of Lagos, an Australian married to a Nigerian, was a notable Historian who wrote several books on Nigeria e.g., The Aba Women’s Riot. There’s of course, our very own Historian of note, Chief (Mrs.) Prof. Bolanle Awe, who was

C M Y K

View-Point

Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor

Have you ever heard of any activity which suggests that we have Historians who are doing researches and documenting events in the country? Yet, History is taught as a subject in the higher institutions of learning in the country. It all ends in the classroom teaching

Members of the Cross River State House of Assembly, took to the streets in a last minute effort to save Bakassi Peninsula from finally being ceded to Cameroun.(Iset): Signpost of Bakassi local government.

director of African Studies at the University of Ibadan, a humble and hardworking activist, who in retirement is still very interested in the preservation of our culture and history.

There must be other notable Historians around the country, but just how much are they involved in recording notable events in the country? Where can their works be found, and how adequately are they being funded in their researches and documentation? Are there textbooks on the history of Nigeria and Africa in use in our schools? How much of our history are our young people taught?

Some of our readers showed much concern about our write-up on Bakassi, but the grouse of many was its loss to Cameroon.. That shows, to some extent, the lack of interest of this generation, in History. Who can blame them? They probably were never taught History in all the educational institutions they attended!

‘God bless you for the write-up on Bakassi and history. It gives me some bother that our educational system seems to be doing away with History. Do we not need past History to make a better future? - Lorine Onyiwe, Journalist.’

‘Dear Mrs. Ovbiagele, the loss of the Bakassi penisular showed weakness on the part of the various governments we’ve been having. The matter should have been resolved immediately after we attained independence. Our colonial masters had no right to cede any part of our nation to another nation under an agreement with another colonial master, as if they were dealing with cattle. Our founding fathers should have gone to the International Court back then to protest. - Mrs. C. Inyang, Calabar.’

‘Aunty Helen, good day. With regards to Bakassi, Our History & Future, Historians in Nigeria of today, are only keen on documenting frivolous political events, and amorous misadventures of leaders, etc., not important happenings that define our country. - Celeste, mnse.’

‘Madam, have you ever heard of any activity which suggests that we have Historians who are doing researches and documenting events in the country? Yet, History is taught as a subject in the higher institutions of learning in the country. It all ends in the classroom teaching. What we have on the streets are some individual efforts to present various events in book form, for their own profit. I doubt if there’s anything commissioned by the Min-

istry of Arts and Culture for our museums and libraries; not to mention text books on History for primary and secondary schools. - Bode, Ibadan.’

‘Nigeria shouldn’t have agreed to hand over Bakassi to the Cameroon just like that. The indigenes are part and parcel of Cross River State people. Land cases, especially this one which involved a whole clan, are not disposed of, so quickly.

Whoever signed Bakassi off in the past is an enemy of our nation. We shouldn’t regard the matter a closed issue. - Patrick, Lagos.’

‘Ma, I too have wondered about the documentation of events in this country. Whose responsibility is it?

We have renowned novelists, but one hardly hears of Historians and their researches. How will the future generation know of the intrigues taking place in Nigeria at present? Will they have to resort to the archives of newspapers or what? I think the various levels of governments should take note of this and act in the best interests of Nigeria. Films based on important national events should be made too, for posterity, like it’s done in western countries. Segun, Obalende, Lagos.’

‘Madam Helen, who will document? Do we still have active Historians? Or is it the department of Archives that is non-functional? I saw that of my State on television when a new SSG paid a visit there.

It was a sorry sight, and the staff who received him told him that things were like that because they lack personnel to run the place. I’m sure it would be the same story in all the States in Nigeria. Are you not aware that History as a subject is becoming extinct? It’s not offered in secondary schools anymore. The lecturers who were employed to teach History in most universities now teach a course with the fancy name – International Studies & Diplomacy – as our children no longer pick History as a course of study. How can they when they were never taught History? Dr. Uyi, O.E., Educationist, Edo State.’

‘Why cry over split milk? Bakassi is gone. Let the matter rest. Not all the documentation in the world can restore it to Nigeria. We acted foolishly all these years when we treated the matter with kid gloves. - Sunday, Abuja.’

‘You were wrong in your Vanguard write-up ‘Bakassi, our history and the future’, of April 14th, 2003, about Sardauna province in the northern part of Nigeria, deciding to join the Cameroon. In a referendum, it opted to stay in Nigeria, and is the present Adamawa State. Regards – E.C. Ilozulu’.

We thank all those who sent in their views on the subject.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 33

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

D

r.(Mrs.)Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi is an activist of note within and outside Nigeria. The Executive Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre- WARDC, in this interview, among other issues, she suggests the need for a gender struggle that is less elitist and which would easily accommodate the rural women who largely constitute the female population in Nigeria.

What’s your general assessment of women’s movement in Nigeria so far?

A

part from organising seminars and workshops, we need to mobilise the movement in such a way that we’ll have one voice. As it is in N i g e r i a p r e s e n t l y, t h e women’s movement seems t o l a c k s o l i d a r i t y. F o r example, while majority of the women’s movement were clamouring for a change in the language of the constitution during the call for memoranda on the amendment of the constitution, the National Council of Wo m e n Societies-NCWS came up to talk about the need to create an Office of the F i r s t L a d y. I s t h a t a priority for women? But that was made a big issue and was almost overshadowing every other issue that was supposed to be on the agenda. So, we need a more common agenda. If you look at countries like SouthAfrica, Uganda, e t c . , you’ll find that they have a common a g e n d a and are all aware that they have a five point demand as women.

to achieve domestic violence laws in some states. We’ve been able to achieve some laws on maternal health and also have the National Gender Po l i c y signed and adopted by the Nigerian government, among other things.

To d a y, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is talking about the need to ensure that we have at least 30% women directors in the banking sector; that’s a landmark! Gradually, we are beginning to have some kind of enabling environment. What we now need to do to address the issue of discrimination of women in rural areas is to organise movements that can help us assert our powers. Most of our struggles have been very elitist. We need to move from that elite point of view to a view that that

can be said to be the people’s voice and that can cut across social levels.

What’s WARDC doing to decentralise the struggle?

We believe in o r g a n i s i n g . We h a v e paralegals who work in the grassroots communities, so, we’re trying to set up accountability forums and women’s groups in grassroots communities, which can develop to assert some of the rights we’re concerned about.

Nigerian women are famous for refusing to engage the law when their rights are violated; how cooperative have they been with the

presence of these specially designed laws achieved in recent years?

It’s unfortunate because the root of the problem is that the system itself is not cooperative on gender issues. That’s why you find women and girls being mocked at police stations where they go to report cases like rape! We need to sanitise the system so that more women could come out b o l d l y. F o r c a s e s l i k e rape, we also need to sensitize women on what to do after a rape because many of them often wash away the evidence before they get to where they could get help.

I understand this is because of stigmatisation, but we really need to outgrow this.

H o w e v e r, we expected that people would have become

t n e m e v o m s ’ n s e e, k d c o m y i Wo igeria lar.AbioliaviAstk D r act — N in aritygende d i l o s

,

Despite this show of division, how would you say our women have fared in the last hundred years?

I would say we’ve really tried.

We participated actively in Nigeria’s independence though our voices and roles have not been properly recorded. We’ve moved from where we were to a better position.

It hasn’t been rosy, but we’re trying. In terms of politics, we’ve not been able to achieve most of our desires; our constitution is still very rigid and less sensitive to our issues.

Between 1999 and now however, we’ve been able

The problem with government is that when they make laws, they don’t take steps to also inform people about it. Even for us as civil society, we’re guilty of not popularising these laws

,

(07036819426)

familiar with the Domestic Vi o l e n c e L a w i n L a g o s State by now for example, but the reverse is the case.

The problem with government is that when they make laws, they don’t take steps to also inform people about it. Even for us a s c i v i l s o c i e t y, w e ’ r e guilty of not popularising these laws. Recently, the Lagos state government did an abridged version of the Domestic Violence Law to be able to reach as many people as possible, and that was a good step. I however think they need to take more steps by writing it in local languages so that more people can read and understand, and by also talking about it on radio. Unfortunately, a lot of people are not aware of the existence of some of these laws; that’s why they don’t use them. However, as civil societies, we have our own constraints because we rely so much on donor funding for our work. There’s economic collapse everywhere, and in the west where the money is coming from, there is a major challenge.

So, grants are not coming and this has restricted the efficiency of the civil s o c i e t y. A l s o , w e r e a l l y n e e d t o b u i l d c a p a c i t y.

There are several young girls and women out there who can do more than what we as civil society can do.

We need to mentor them!

S a d l y, m e n t o r i n g i s lacking amongst our women, even in the corporate workplace.

PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND VISION 20:2020

*2013 Budget not pro-poor — Professor of Economics

BY UDEME CLEMENT

T

President Goodluck Jonathan

Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman

Okonjo-Iweala

Prof. Akpan Ekpo

transformed. Nigeria had signed several bilateral agreements with other countries, but, unfortunately, Nigerians are not getting the full benefits of signing all these agreements at the moment”.

Speaking on-line with Sunday Vanguard in the same vein, from Washington, DC, on the sidelines of the World

,

HE pronouncement by the Minister of National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, that the realisation of the Vision 20:2020 by Nigeria is under probability has revealed the reality on the rate of growth in the country. While many economic experts explained that the framework and strategies for economic growth and development in Nigeria for over three decades have been that of alignment and realignment, policy inconsistency and poor implementation, others said that government must diversify the economy into non-oil export sector to prevent over dependent on oil.

Usman, while giving insight into the growth rate in the economy from 2009 fiscal year, revealed that the target by Nigeria to be counted among the top 20 developed economies in the world by 2020 may not be realised following the poor state of the power sector and other environmental factors militating against rapid economic transformation.

“When government started the documentation of Vision 20:2020 in 2009 economic year, to be among the top 20 economies in the world, where were we in 2009? We were number 44. By the end of 2011, we were number 36, this is progress. We have made tremendous progress. I don’t want any of you to meet me in 2020 and say you were the one who told us that we are going to be among the top 20 economies. What I am saying is that, even if we are not among the top 20 by that time, we were number 44 in 2009. If by 2020 we are number 25, I will be a very proud man. The reason is because we are consciously moving and doing all the necessary things to move up there.

“The document is not saying we must be there. What it is saying is that,” the minister said, if we get there, then these are the actions we need to take as a country. We must do this and that in governance, in human development and infrastructure. That is what the document is saying and we are actually taking those steps.

And if we are, what progress are we making? During the military, planning was relegated. So, for more than 30 years, we neglected the power sector, which is very vital to economic development.

However, the Federal Government is putting measures in place to transform the power sector, just the way the telecom sector has been

confirmed that, a World Bank team will visit Nigeria to deepen assistance in the areas of energy and infrastructure, among others. This is a welcome development because once we fix the energy and infrastructure challenges, the Nigerian economy will grow and generate employment. It should be

The growth rate currently does not connote economic development, given the high rate of unemployment and 70 per cent incidence of poverty in Nigeria .

So, government should make concerted efforts to accelerate tangible growth in the economy

Bank/IMF annual meeting, Akpan Ekpo, a professor of economics and the current Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, said, “Government should invest massively in the housing subsector and agriculture to ensure relative full employment, especially for the youths.

“Also, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a meeting with the Bank,

,

important to properly engage the Bank, so that its intervention results in a winwin situation to ensure economic benefits for Nigeria . The Coordinating Minister briefed Nigerians working in the Bretton Woods institution on developments in the Nigerian economy.”

Giving statistics on the growth rate in the economy, Ekpo, who was also exchairman, Ministerial Advisory Committee, Federal Ministry of Finance and member of the Monetary Policy

Committee, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), explained, “The current rate of unemployment in Nigeria stands at 23.9 per cent. This implies that Nigerians over the ages of 17 willing and able to work are not employed. It is even higher among youths because the rate is estimated at about 60 per cent. Now, the question is, Why is our economy growing at seven per cent without creating jobs? It means, what we are experiencing now is a jobless growth in terms of impact in the labour market. It is very sad because unemployment has spread even to the rural areas across the country. The reality is that unemployment in Nigeria has reached a crisis situation. In 2004, the official rate of unemployment was 13.4 per cent. In 2006, it rose to 14.6 per cent and 21 per cent in 2010/2011. These figures are for the national level.

“If you look at the state level, almost all the states in Nigeria suffer high level of unemployment. For instance, in 2009, the following states recorded high composite unemployment rate, Bayelsa 38.4 percent, Katsina 37.3 per cent, Bauchi 37.2 per cent, Akwa Ibom 34.1 per cent, Gombe 32.1 per cent, Adamawa 29.4 per cent, Kano 27.6 per cent, Yobe 27.3, Taraba 26.8 per cent, Jigawa 27.5 per cent, Federal Capital Territory 21.5 percent and Imo 20.8 per cent. No state in Nigeria has 5 per cent and below unemployment rate, which is the bench mark of relative full employment in the economy. “ Nigeria must, as a matter of urgency, build a solid and dynamic economy in order to fully optimise the benefits of globalisation and reposition itself strategically to avert any unforeseen global economic crisis in the future. China, for example, has built a strong economy with a manufacturing sector that is very active, and has become a reference point.

Nigeria should also reposition its economy to attract Direct Foreign Investments (DFIs) and generate more revenue, rather than depending only on revenue from oil, where we do not control the market price and demand. The apex bank is doing a lot in the areas of infrastructure and power, but CBN should also ensure that high lending rate is reduced to enhance optimum growth in the industrial sector. In doing so, human capital development must be of paramount concern while attention must also be given to the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to enhance rapid economic growth and development”.

On the 2013 budget, he said, “The 2013 appropriation bill is not pro-poor. It should have been useful to state the items

or provide specifics on how the budget can help the poor, especially to curtail the rising poverty rate in the country.

Another disturbing trend is that, according to the MediumTerm Expenditure Framework (MTEF) MTEF & FSP in 2013, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be 3.3 per cent. It will increase to 4.6 per cent in 2015 while building and construction will contribute 1.3 per cent and 1.8 per cent to GDP by 2013 and 2015. The figures are not encouraging if Nigeria ’s economy is to experience structural transformation to achieve the Vision 2020 target.

The growth rate currently does not connote economic development, given the high rates of unemployment and 70 per cent incidence of poverty in Nigeria . So, government should make concerted effort to accelerate tangible growth in the economy”.

Nigeria’s population in poverty 1980: 17.1 million 1985: 34.7 million 1992: 39.2 million 1996: 67.1 million 2004: 68.7 million 2010: 112.47 million Source: National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

Delta youths rap FG over OMLs sale

Y

OUTH presidents of the five oil and gas producing ethnic nationalities in Delta State, have vowed to confront the federal government over alleged illegal sale of the oil mining leases, OMLs, in the state by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company NPDC. A statement issued after their meeting in Warri, and signed

by Comrade Benson Erewa (Itsekiri), Comrade Clifford Atijere (Ijaw), Comrade Lucky Sorhue (Urhobo), Comrade Ejabulor Austine (Isoko) and Comrade Enujeke Sunday (Ndokwa), they accused the federal government and SPDC of shortchanging the host communities by not granting the oil bearing communities the right of first refusal in the sale of the Oil Mining Leases in Delta State.

According to them, the OMLs should be immediately reversed and allocated to indigenes from the host communities based on the federal character principle act, for the sake of peace and justice, just as they condemned the 80% oil blocs allocated to northerners to the detriment of Niger Deltans.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 35

Jonathan should own and drive the PIB project—Majoroh

BY PETER EGWUATU Chief Oghenovo Charles Majoroh, former President of the African Union of Architects, is also a past president of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. Back home, he is the first Deputy President General of the Urhobo Progressive Union. In this interview with Peter Egwuatu, Majoroh, who recently marked his 67th birthday, xrays the security challenges facing the country and the developments in the Niger Delta with particular reference to the Urhobo nation. Excerpts:

W

Chief Oghenovo Majoroh....Flimsy reasons are being used to punch holes in the passage of the bill. particularly given the ever changing balance between the cost of production and the cost of sales the USA pushes for new energy sources and creative forms of renewable energy for the same shrinking market.

Discussion on this very strategic bill should be shifted from the narrow confines of the

,

HAT’S your take on the Petroleum Industry Bill? How can the nation move the oil sector forward; as northern lawmakers continue to resist the 10 per cent royalty to the host communities in the Niger Delta?

There are five major blocs or interests currently highlighted in the unfortunate face-off: The petroleum industry experts who see the old regime for exploiting our petroleum resources as outdated, inimical to the environment and skewed unfavourably to the advantage of the I.O.C; the northern elements who do not have oil and consider anything that may benefit the oil producing areas as an issue that must be opposed even if there are profound benefits for the generality of Nigerians; the international oil companies who want the status quo ante to remain; the new oil finds in several parts of Africa which are being used to pressure Nigeria’s production and marketing prospects to remain stagnant; and; the increased production in America (from “fracking”) which used to be our main market now, putting a downward pressure on Nigerian’s sales and demand.

Many flimsy reasons are being used to punch holes in the passage of the bill, foremost of which is the 10% provision for oil producing communities.

Whereas this is strictly meant to be taken from the profit after tax of the oil companies, therefore, it has no impact on the distributable pool available to all parts of Nigeria. The vociferous refusal of the northern elements to pass this bill simply because of that provision can only be attributable to primordial envy rather than economic issues.

There is an urgent need for concerted persuasion of the “refusniks” on this important bill. They need to be told about the overall benefits to the economy and the common good and the dangers inherent in not passing this bill on time

Fortunately, it is not justice denied, as the wheels of justice grind slowly but surely.

Honestly, the kind of military mindset that resulted in the Odi invasion and massacre must be expunged from our democracy permanently.

Never again must this kind of military rascality be tolerated in our country without clear

The vociferous refusal of the northern elements to pass this bill simply because of that provision can only be attributable to primordial envy rather than economic issues. There is an urgent need for concerted persuasion of the “refusniks” on this important bill

National Assembly to the wider plains of the people and constituents who have not been influenced by the intense lobby of the international oil companies(OICs). It calls for a national debate spearheaded by the leadership of all strata of our country, to be kicked off

by Mr. President himself. He must own the PIB project, and not pretend to be an uninterested observer.

How do you see the award of N36.7bn compensation to the Odi community in Bayelsa State by the High Court over the military invasion of the village during the Obasanjo administration? How do you think the money should be utilized?

The N36.7 billion compensation to the Odi community is justice delayed.

,

accountability and reprobation.

Unfortunately, so many years of military dictatorship in our country has practically militarized our political structures and culture. We all therefore have a collective responsibility to eradicate these military vestiges and impunities from our d e m o c r a c y .

The money should be managed directly by the people of Odi themselves for the exclusive reconstruction of the town and the rehabilitation of the citizens of Odi. Would you say the establishment of the Ministry of Niger Delta and NDDC has helped to fulfill the aspirations and yearnings of the people of the Niger Delta?

The spirit behind the idea is novel and well-meaning. But

the organs have been politicized and peopled by persons who have not taken the assignment with the required vigour and aggression it requires. People should look back and remember that these interventionist organs derive their being from the findings of the Willinks report of 1958 which, over five decades ago, recognized the need to treat this watery part of Nigeria with special care and attention.

A constant reminder should be in place at the swearing-in of all senior officers for the ministry and NDDC to imbibe the vigour and sense of urgency their tasks require.

In essence, there have been some successes, but the conflicting roles of state govt, LGA, federal ministries and these agencies have not been properly streamlined. The yearnings and aspirations of the Niger Delta have been partly fulfilled and will be further improved upon when the “contra-tendencies” are streamlined.

How do you react to the Federal Government’s amnesty programme and the 2014 terminal date set by government?

Are you comfortable with the idea of putting an end to the programme now with the fragile peace in the region?

The amnesty programme has greatly influenced the reign of peace in the Niger Delta and taken a whole generation of youths and able-bodied men out of the creeks and into the productive sector of our c o m m u n i t i e s .

I do not know what made the 2014 deadline necessary, but, surely, until the goals of the amnesty programme are substantially met (particularly the training and re-absorption of the fighters into the mainstream of society), setting a specific terminal date may be counterproductive.

If however this date is based on purely financial considerations, then the cost benefits of the amnesty should be weighed against the probable oil production losses as well as absence of the existing peace in that region.

When you replay the

Urhobo nation of your teen years and place it side by side with the present day Urhobo, in terms of socio-political development and national recognition, what emotions come to you? Where do you think we got it wrong or missed the mark?

An organization of 80 years ought to have a much more organized plan for succession so that this should no longer be an issue. We need a reaffirmation of our understanding of the vision enshrined in our constitution, more strategic thinking based on relevant data collation and analysis; elimination of unnecessary internal squabbles and a more open, collective and inclusive decision making process.

There seems to be growing threat from our ethnic neighbours against our political survival in Delta State, and at the centre? As a top national executive of the UPU, what has been the response of the UPU to this threat?

The threats and challenges are more internal than external. There has been a concerted reaching out effort in the UPU to our neighbours to form bridges for mutual benefit for the future.

The recent past political experiences have been bad for us and the UPU will in due time find ingenious ways, working with all stakeholders to fashion a way out of the tunnel for this generation of Urhobo and the next. No more details for now.

Few years ago, you advised Urhobo to come out with a road map and to create machinery for discussing the way forward and to bring together divergent groups in Urhobo land? Has this been achieved? What role would you play or have played towards this?

I still believe in what I postulated at that time.

Particularly on the need for the creation of institutions and systems which should be in place to make the leadership more impersonal, such that incoming leadership should see and continue to execute a road map set up by previous occupants of positions in the o r g a n i z a t i o n .

From left: Innocent Oboh, Head of Marketing, Intercontinental Distillers; Akin Adeoya, Chairman, Prince of Anthony Hotel , a brand of Hotel 1960, and Chioma Alonge, Brand Manager, Veleta Fruit Wine at the Salsa Sunday Dance in Lagos

PAGE 36—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

NEXIM BANK and other matters M

growth/development, political economy as a diplomatic tool and higher rating among world development institutions.

4. A growthdriver positioned to empower Nigerians for creativity, industrialization, entrepreneurship drive and profitable resource engagement for export trade.

5. A launch pad for Nigeria’s industrialization 6. A stimulant for e m p l o y m e n t generation and p r o f i t a b l e engagement of our growing youth population 7. An institution fully funded for its

President Goodluck Jonathan all and ever y stakeholder.

Brands post profit, and will only remain in business when they keep posting profit.

Brands live on good character, upright attributes and operate within certain regulations.

They are expected to live by certain enduring values by which expectations are anticipated.

As a rule, brands are honest to themselves. I am very sure the brand described above is not the type the former Information Minister had n mind when she was routing for a RE-BRANDED NIGERIA. If she were a professional brand Manager like we are here, she would not have taken that route in the first place. Rather, she would have been gathering men are women with the intellectual capacity of building a BRAND out of Nigeria.

The conceptualization of economic growth and development policies as captured in Vision 2020 (and the preceding visions), through to the anticipation and establishment of structures such as our Development Fund Institutions (DFIs) - Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and our Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM Bank) brought a glimmer of hope for those of us who have always wished for prosperous Nigeria. When the present administration thought-up youth empowerment initiatives such as the YouWIN and the strategic interventionist SURE-P, we further strengthened our hope; hope for a nation with a largely employed youth, a Nigeria of enormous economic opportunities, a nation inching towards industrialization, a nation where human capacity is profitably engaged, a nation protected from external

economic aggression, a nation positioned to take full advantage of its abundant natural resources, a nation that will begin to move from the status of a consumer (where everything we consume is imported) to that of a producer/manufacturer.

Unfortunately, all of these initiatives and investments are just not yielding results worthy of a good report. At best, they post ‘ results’ not commensurate with the investment put into them. – not one of them. We at MC&A DIGEST will soon invest in looking at the SURE-P

,

O D E R N - D AY p o l i t i c a l leadership is 70% about BUSINESS. ModernState Nations are run on operating models exactly same as profit-driven/marketfocused Corporate Bodies.

Even at that, the BUSINESS of governance, poses more challenges because its leadership is, in addition to the objective of wealth creation, charged with the additional responsibility of governing the business environment for regular brands - including the multi-national and global players. Nation-state rulers are, in today ’s world, expected to be intellectually and mentally equipped and focused on designing policies/ regulations and laws that will enable profitable engagement for businesses led by the private sector initiative with potentials to drive micro and macro-economic growth – the good of the given NATION. Modern-day political power or leadership is no longer focused on the traditional and conventional: rule of force, by force. It is no longer about material gains for self (and group). It is old fashioned for anybody or group of persons to assume personal leadership for self-aggrandizement (I really hate using that word, because it was so badly abused during the Shagari/ NPN years), because the gains are more for the modern-day political leader. He/she does not need to steal because the wealth his/her leadership bring forth enriches all, and super-broaden the personal financial and material gains of the leadership.

What I call corporate corruption (unreasonable quest for personal wealth owing to greed from among a given leadership) propels total confusion, anarchy, criminality and societal breakdown. It also bring about self-deceit, professional compromises, unproductivity, stealing and enables a population of liars. That explains why even those that should advise the leadership by reason of their professional calling, and office, go about deceiving the leader because they also want to be so rich, they become ‘celebrities’.

Nations are now considered brands by reason of the new trend in governance. Brands are defined offers with clear identity, driven by creativity and strength of character for competitive advantages versus competing brands at the market place, for profit.

Brands are led by purposeful investors and professionals, accountable to every stakeholder, including the consumer at the market place, open to scrutiny for performance auditing. Brands exist for the common good of

roles and set economic growth stimulation objective.

Our findings with NEXIM Bank brought to fore the need for system appraisal. Nigeria is a country truly endowed with immense natural and human resources, with enviable growth potentials but stiffened by system not given to thoroughness and beneficial prioritization.

Intellectuals committed to helping this nation grow must begin to help the system think through the confusion we are entangled in now.

Our position is that NEXIM Bank is an institution well intentioned, peopled by

Our findings with NEXIM Bank brought to fore the need for system appraisal. Nigeria is a country truly endowed with immense natural and human resources, with enviable growth potentials but stiffened by system not given to thoroughness and beneficial prioritization

initiative for strategic reasons.

But we had concerned ourselves with NEXIM BANK (Nigerian Export-Import Bank). The pre-observatory hypothetical position was one of an institution with the following attributes: 1. A strategic masterstroke with enormous potentials 2. An institution focused on national economic growth and development 3. An institution capable of driving the nation’s pride among comity of nations in the area of national economic

,

dedicated professionals, focused on efficient operation, but compromised by inadequate FUNDING. Our attention was drawn to the bank by complaints from investors with export trade potentials.

Prospective exporters have been frustrated from their dream and industry because their hopes were dashed. But the true position with NEXIM Bank is one of virtual inability to meet demands due to nonavailability of funds. Several applications are passed after due process of pains-taking

verifications and careful background checks. More are still being processed, yet only a handful of fundable applications are seen through, in the face meager funds.

EXIM (Export-Import) Banks are modern-day international institutions for global international relations, with special focus on exportimport trade for national socioeconomic development. The focused and growth-driven nations expend huge resources for growth and development drive through their EXIM banks, as a policy.

Presently, China is aggressively engaging her nationals for advantages in countries like ours that are yet to connect with the emerging trend. So, through their EXIM banks, they fund manufacturing concerns in our economy that will directly benefit their local market (to our disadvantages) but one cannot blame them because since we have refused to fund our potentials, these more discerning nations now fund them for our own advantages.

So, while our NEXIM pile up applications, countries like China provide some of these potentials the funds through agreements that will keep us perpetually importing nation (while we have our own NEXIM).

We at MC&A DIGEST will continue our study of the working of NEXIM BANK as our contribution towards the properly focusing the nation’s economic development initiative, by investing our intellectual property, as we invite other capable and interested Nigerians to do. We shall, in our subsequent writeup on this bank, we shall do a careful articulation of the many obstacles working against the institution’s effective discharge of its functions, juxtaposing our findings with the structure and funding policy operative in similar institutions in other nations – for all to see.

Until then, however, we leave our political leadership, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance with this poser: can Nigerian ExportImport Bank achieve much (considering its mandate) with its present share capital of N50bn? As at today, the United States Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) has the mission of supporting U.S. jobs through exports. It currently is operating with a lending cap of $120 billion. Under provisions of its Congressional charter the cap will gradually increase to $140 billion over the next three years as the Bank complies with certain requirements; the increase will enable the Bank to strengthen U.S. businesses and support an additional 1.3 million jobs.

SUNDAY

Vanguard , MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 37

The devastating flood submerged houses

‘We got only N1,000 aid to rebuild houses washed away by floods’ *Hunger, loss of pregnancies, strange illnesses as victims battle post-flood pains *Anambra govt: We are focused on response to natural disasters

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

S

unday Vanguard visited hard-hit communities such as Abilibaose, Atani in Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state and found that life had changed for the worse for the people. Hundreds of those rendered homeless continued to battle strange illnesses. Dozens of women who lost their pregnancies were yet to recover. Malaria, bites from snakes and insects were palpable.

Okechukwu Emodi was in dire straits.

A victim of the flood that ravaged the area, last year, the business man from Abilibaose Atani, was bedridden, no thanks to a strange sickness that had taken over his life. Unable to walk and with his condition deteriorating by the day, a wheel barrow was his only means of moving around.

Okechukwu’s ailment defied treatment.

Pushed to the limit, Okechukwu turned to assistance from a herbal practitioner.

He swore that since he commenced treatment from the herbal doctor, there had been remarkable improvement.

His story was one of sorrow and anguish. He relived the story with regret.

“I lost everything I have laboured for all my life in the same flood that has kept me like this.

To date, I cannot explain what happened to my legs. I still cannot move them. My family is seriously affected. All our food was swept away, that is why we are suffering today,” he stated.

The victim further narrated: “The flood started gradually and we thought that after a few days, it will subside, but how wrong we were! At a point, moving out of the village became pretty difficult. Along C M Y K

,

The impact of the 2012 flood disaster which ravaged communities in Nigeria lingers. In Anambra State where 53 communities were affected, victims continue to relive the sad experience.

several farmers were attacked by strange, painful illnesses affecting the back, knees and joints. We were using kerosene and some herbal mixture to treat the pains. Mosquitoes, snakes, scorpions and flies multiplied

,

the line, I became sick and there was nothing my wife and my children could do.

“When the flood increased, forcing people to move out, things became difficult.

My bad legs made things worse. It was then that my wife managed to move me from the house with a wheel barrow because I could no longer walk. We left the village to one of the camps at Holy Trinity Cathedral Onitsha where we were fed by the church with support from the state government until the flood stopped. “The most painful thing is that I could not arrange anything due to my ill health. My house was flooded. We lost clothes, electronics, farm lands and my old house was reduced to rubbles by the flood. The bus I was using for commercial purpose was also swept away. To date, nobody has been able to recover it.”

For Okechukwu, life in the refugee camp can never be compared to life in one’s home. “Even though we felt relieved then, in the camp, no one can say all is well because we still lack some things but we have no choice than to manage.

“For instance, it is not what you will want to eat that you will be given, but the little that is given at least goes a long way to help. Again, if you are sick in the camp, you are on your own. There were no doctors or nurses around. It is your business to find a your way to hospital”.

Okechukwu, who had a thriving farming business before the floods came, appealed to the state government to help him and other victims of the flood with loans.

Asked if he had received anything from the state government, he said, “The state government, after the camping period, gave us maize, dawa and garri and N5, 000.”

Another victim, Mrs. Caroline Ezuike, a farmer and mother of seven, also lost all she had to the disaster. Caroline, who resides with her husband and children at the Oko farmers’ camp, recalled how the flood swept away their crops among other things.

“It is very painful. What we cultivate is okro and vegetable, but now the water has destroyed our farms. We are hopeless.”

Saying some women put to bed in boats as they escaped from the flood, she said that, at a point, many occupants of the camp became afraid.

According to her, due to the flood, several farmers were attacked by strange, painful illnesses affecting the back, knees and joints.

“We were using kerosene and some herbal mixture to treat the pains.

Mosquitoes, snakes, scorpions and flies multiplied but all that stopped after the flood”.

Caroline regretted that the area had not felt government presence. “No government official has visited this camp”, she said, appealing to the state government and donor agencies to come to their aid as the camp needs school and hospital.

Plight of women, children The flood submerged many health facilities in the area. Several months after, many of the health centres remained unoperational.

Apart from their bad condition, the cen-

tres had no facilities and drugs.

To keep the centres running, the staff contributes money to purchase frequently used drugs.

When Sunday Vanguard contacted the Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Mr. Lawrence Ikeako, his response went like this: “I am not directly in charge of the primary health centres but call me concerning anything about secondary and tertiary facilities in the state. I must thank you for the observation. It is under the care of local government”.

In a telephone conversation, the state Commissioner for Local Government, Mrs. Azuka Enemuo, said she could not discuss the matter on phone and, therefore, invited this reporter to book an appointment for a visit.

From Atani 1 PHC to Obodo - Otu PHC to Umuem 11, down to Community Reproductive Referral Health Centre UNFPA Assisted Project, Oroma Etiti- Anam, Anambra West Local Government, it was the same story of no drugs and equipment submerged by flood.

At the Community Reproductive Referral Health Centre UNFPA Assisted Project, Oroma Etiti Anam located in Anambra West Local Government Area, the impact of the flood was glaring.

The items destroyed by the flood included vaccine storage system, solar energy, refrigerator, delivery beds, weights, generator, tables, chairs, drugs and case files.

The only thing salvaged was the blood pressure apparatus.

A nurse at the centre, Ngozi Umeze, said : “We could not saved anything because more than 10 people were staying in a room. We were not able to move some of the properties because you needed to have a place to stay first before you could think of packing loads. Most of the people in the village survived, thanks to the high rise areas in the village. A large number of people did not go to camp but moved to those high rise areas. The marks at the wall will tell you exactly what we went through.” Stating that government was yet to respond to their appeals, Ngozi la-

Continues on page 38

PAGE 38—SUNDAY

Vanguard ,

MAY 5, 2013

Govt: ‘We are focused on response to natural disasters’ Continued from page 37

C M Y K

A set of triplets delivered in one of Anambra flood camps.

The President General of Umuem - Anam, Mr, Edwin Udunze, who facilitated the visit to the health centres, also decried their state.

“Some of the hospitals lost all their equipment. You have seen where the flood stopped on the wall of the buildings; you could see that no none of us knew that it was going to be that bad. We were expecting that the flood will stop under two or three days. All equipment in the hospitals and health centres were submerged and destroyed.”

He further alleged that most of the centres were collecting money for malaria drugs provided free of charge by government.

Udunze, who also noted that sand flies increased, the community after the flood, called on government to supply enough medications to the health centres and see that the drugs are managed well. “The community can set up a committee that will ensure that those drugs are well used,” Udunze said.

,

mented that lack of drugs in the health centre was affecting treatment of women and children in the area. “Since the flood, we have been having more cases of malaria especially in pregnant women and children. It is sad that the government has not done anything since the flood stopped.

We have reported and reported but we have not got any response.”

She hinted that the drugs being used for treatments were bought from the money the staff contributed.

Asked about the normal free treatment usually given to children and pregnant women, she said: “Before now, there were treatments we offered for free but most treatments are paid for now apart from immunization.

The only treatment we give free is tetanus injection.”

At Obodo - Otu PHC, it was discovered that the flood affected the whole building. The flood was said to have reached the ceiling of the health centre.

Narrating the victims’ harrowing experience, Victoria Okeke, also a nurse, said: “The flood destroyed everything. Due to the high level of the water, it affected the ceiling and the floors. Now, the whole building is a writeoff.

“We have been appealing to government to repair the centre, but we are yet to receive any response. We are just tired. You could see with your eyes that this place is not supposed to be called a health centre any more.”

Okeke lamented that the condition of the health centre was no longer conducive for obstetric deliveries.

“To keep the centre running, we borrowed some things from the village. Everything got spoilt in the flood. Now we buy drugs in addition to the ACTs the local government supplied to treat people.

“We still participate in immunisation and, because we do not have solar to store the vaccines, what we do is to go to Umueze-Anam and carry vaccines on daily basis. We no longer have drugs permanently in the store.”

Like others, she appealed to the state government to come to their aid. “We want them to come and see the building first hand. We also need some equipment. Since we have mosquitoes and flies around here, we need mosquito nets and malaria drugs. We are just here to while away time.

“We need urgent renovation. The present condition of the health centre is not right. We have no cleaner, no security personnel, and, most especially, drugs to continue treatments.

We need delivery beds, tables, nets, chairs, solar for drugs and vaccine storage system.”

At Atani 1, in Ogabaru Local Government Area, a staffer of the hospital, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard under anonymity, stated: “Although the flood did not affect the building of the health centre apart from the fence and the quarters, we have not been having drugs.

As we speak now, we do not have a single drug. We have been writing to the local government to supply us with drugs, up till now nothing has been done.”

She recalled that the last stock of drugs they had was after the flood. “After the flood, the state government supplied us with some ACTs following the increase in malaria cases. The government also brought some drugs for children but the drugs did not go round and we stopped when the drug got finished.”

A 76-year-old woman, Oriaku Akueze, who described the flood as unfortunate, said poor people in the community no longer had access to healthcare due the condition of the health centre.

Recalling that the flood claimed her 2,000 tubers of yam, she urged government to step up efforts towards renovating the centre.

Eze Nwaozekwe Okeke, Igwe Ukwu 1 of Oroma Etiti, told Sunday Vanguard the community had sent a save-our-soul to government to repair the health centre in the area but was yet to receive response. “We have appealed to government for assistance. Another major problem is hunger. Our children can no longer go to school. Many parents borrowed money to put their children back in school while some children are still home for lack of fund. We need drugs in the health centre.”

claiming that they were yet to feel the impact.

More worrisome is the fact that if the farmers did not farm this year, there may be food scarcity.

The Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, said the state had expended N400 million out of the N500 million received from the Federal Government Flood Relief Funds on the victims.

Nonetheless, there were complaints of how some of the food items (trailer bags of rice) meant for the flood victims were diverted.

“What was blown in the air was not properly distributed to the flood victims. What got to the victims was very minute, insignificant amount of money which could go nowhere to ameliorate the plight of the people.

Imagine hearing of billions budgeted for these flood victims. We are disappointed to see that some people went home with N500, N2, 000 and N1000 only. What can N1000 or N2, 000 or N500 effect a change on some-

A 76-year-old woman, Oriaku Akueze, who described the flood as unfortunate It has remained a season of complaints in all the 53 communities under the six local governments of the state affected by the flood

Farmers in trouble Farmers affected flood in the state were yet to come to terms with the fact that their dream of farming this season may be a mirage unless there is urgent and significant assistance from government.

Four months into the farming season, many of the affected farmers were still to clear their farms. The flood, which most of the indigenes described as mysterious, left them with nothing to fall back on.

It has remained a season of complaints in all the 53 communities under the six local governments of the state affected by the flood.

From the eight communities of Atani in Ogbaru local government viz; Odekpe, Idemili, Ohita, Atani, Akili Osuzu, Akili Ogidi, Uchuchu, Ami-Umuzu, Ogbakuba, to Oroma Etiti in Anambra West Local Government Area, thousands of farm lands, houses, properties were said to have been swept away by the flood. The riverine areas of Anambra State, precisely Ogbaru and Anambra West Local Government Areas, are predominately farmers.

For decades, the people of the area have depended largely on farming as a means of livelihood. They produce cassava, maize, rice and yam. In the past, an individual farmer in the area could boost of over 5,000 barns of yam. Unfortunately, since after the flood, many of them cannot boost of even a yam seed.

Following the closure of the camps, there have been reports of interventions by various agencies and government. While the government has been applauded over the billions of naira earmarked for the flood affected communities, the victims, particularly farmers, are

,

body who has lost his building and yam bans and all the natural storage facilities used in storing his or her farm products because we are the riverine and our major occupation is farming,” Chief Fredrick Mbanefo Olise, the Oga of Atani, told Sunday Vanguard.

The chief spoke through his personal assistant, Mr. Osemeka Oduoh from Abilibaose, Atani.

“We have been left to our own fate. A lot of fraud was committed with these items before they got to their destination. When they actually do for actual distribution, you discovered that what was getting to the victim was very insignificant. It is just like a child’s play.

“There isn’t enough capital to start farming again. We no longer have money to buy yam seeds, cassava stems amongst others. There is need to support the victims.”

According to him, scores of agencies made donations but those things were not properly distributed.

“Our children are no longer in school. Go to the primary schools and see what I am telling you. In a class of 20, after the flood, they are now about10 because the remaining 10 cannot come to school because of lack of school fees. There is no money. Clothing becomes very difficult. Most of the children look haggard in the villages and yet what is echoed in the media is that a lot of money has been given to flood victims and materials transported to the victims. Where are the materials?”

Worst flood in 82 years In Oroma Etiti, His Royal Highness, Eze Nwaozekwe Okeke, Igwe Ukwu 1, who told Sunday Vanguard that he had never seen the kind of flood in his entire 82 years in the com-

munity, said the worst hits among the farmers are those who cultivate rice in the area as they were not able to save even a grain.

“The flood destroyed our farm lands, cassava, rice, maize, cocoa yam.

The water entered into my house. Fishes swarm into my house. My car was submerged.

I was going out of the village to see where we could park it, but we were caught up by the flood and we left it there till date.” Confirming that the Anambra government brought some money, he said it was far from solving their problems as some people got just N1,000 which could replace their yam seeds and houses. “There is serious hunger in the land. Many people lost their houses and N1,000 cannot rebuild those houses.”

Government: ‘We remain focused in our response to natural disasters’ Anambra SSG, Obaze, told Sunday Vanguard that the state received N500 million from the Federal Government Flood Relief Funds and that N400 million had been given out to those in the affected areas.

“On our own, we have spent N132 million of state funds,” he said. According to him, the next tranche of relief funds will be targeted at industries, manufacturing and micro finance institutions that gave out loans to farmers.

We recently amortized the loans owed by the Ogwu Aniocha Farmers’ Cooperative to the Chukwuneye Micro Finance Firm to the tune of N8million.”

“On preparation for possible reoccurrence of the flood, he said: “We flagged off our early warning flood advisory on April 11, 2013. We are consulting with NEMA, SEMA and the Army on contingency plans for the 2013 flood season. We are looking at quick yielding seedlings that could be harvested before the flood.”

He dismissed the allegations of discrimination in the treatment of the flood victims. “Relief materials were given out to those affected by the floods that had been identified previously. Those who only surfaced after, the fact is that they evidently had problems and complaints. There may be one or two genuine cases of omission, but those are infinitesimal.

There were three communities that said they were omitted, Ifite-Aguleri, Uli, Ifite-Enugu.

We are revisiting their claims.”

Continuing, he said: “Over all, we in Anambra State remain focused and energetic in our response to such natural disasters. The total of projects (broken down into sectors and local governments) amount to N26, 995,000.

This figure is exactly N4,000,000 higher as a result of the inclusion of the actual rehabilitation costs and ongoing reconstruction contract in the works (roads) sector, which was not captured in our earlier report.”

Telephone chat with the Commissioner for Local Government, Mrs Azuka Enemuo Commissioner: Where are you?

Reporter: I am back in Lagos.

Commissioner: You have to come back.

Reporter: For now I don’t know when I will be able to book an appointment.

Commissioner: No, for anybody who works under this administration, it is not the routine expectation of booking an appointment, you see you called and I picked it even not knowing the number. What you should do is to send me a text of who you are so that I will record it.

Again, you also send a text of any time you wish to come around, I am now inviting you at my own expense and I will make myself available and take you around the health centers. You cannot base your report on propaganda. It is not something we can discharge on phone.

Reporter: It’s not propaganda because I visited all these areas.

Commissioner: It is Its alright, you are free to make your conclusion on what you saw but I know that good journalism would always take into consideration how it was before now and after, so if you are phoning me to say yes or no, that’s not good journalism.

When you say you have only just left and, as a government official, for any person you come to the government office, and you procure the information you need. Or you can get my phone number on the internet. Your NUJ chairman works in my office, you should have called him.

There are so many ways you can use to get my number. Phoning me on speculation is not the best approach. You can go ahead and write what you want to write.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 39

C M Y K

PAGE 40—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE — 41

PAGE 42—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

Reps chart path to Peoples’ Constitution *Our report reflects the will of Nigerians – Ihedioha

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

Joy Emordi

Emeka Ihedioha

National Council of Women Societies, NCWS, National Association of Nigeria Students, NANS, among others.

The critical stage of collation of the results involved representatives of all stakeholders at the secretariat of the committee, just as the process was monitored by the media.

The issues The results showed the voting pattern on all the

,

FOR a process that generated little or no enthusiasm from inception across the county, the current public interest in the amendment of the 1999 Constitution appears to be defeating the initial doubts that trailed the exercise.

This development is not unconnected with the display of uncommon determination by the National Assembly Assembly to give the nation a Peoples’ Constitution.

The House of Representatives is not leaving anything to chance in its efforts towards providing a more acceptable Constitution.

In this regard, the House embarked on activities like working retreat and presentation of the collated results of the people’s public sessions among others.

The Constitution review process in the House is under the guidance of the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, who is the adhoc committee chairman.

The committee held a retreat last year in Port Harcourt to lay a foundation for its work.

The retreat attracted presentations and submissions by intellectuals, civil society groups, political interest groups, professional associations and labour just to mention a few.

The event produced a communique which outlined key areas of focus and framework of action for the Constitution review process. And the committee subsequently called for and received over 200 memoranda from diverse interest groups and members of the general public.

Investigations revealed that from the memos received, the committee formulated a 43item template of issues/ questions which covered the crux of the amendments Nigerians yearn for in the Constitution.

On the strength of this, the grassroots were involved in Peoples Public Sessions held across the 360 federal constituencies in the country on Nov. 10, 2012.

The sessions, which have been hailed as the most inclusive approach to Constitution making in the history of Nigeria, attracted stakeholders like the Nigeria Labour Congress ,NLC , Trade Union Congress,TUC, Nigerian Bar Association,NBA, Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Academic Staff Union of Universities,ASUU, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ,

the Constitution as another tier of government?

Others included: Should indigeneship of an area be defined to include persons who have resided in an area for a continuous long period, and therefore entitled to accruing rights, duties and privileges? Should the aspects of the Constitution related to the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter II which deal with political, economic, social,

The Deputy Speaker said the results presented represented “the voice of the Nigerian people who have expressed their views on what changes they would like to see in any amendment being made to the national legal grundnorm – the Constitution of Nigeria

issues itemized in the template for voting by Nigerians during the sessions in their constituencies.

Nevertheless, the questions that were voted on at the session were: Should Section 8 of the Constitution be amended to remove the ambiguities in the process for creation of more states?Should the 6 geo-political zones be recognised in the Constitution for administrative purposes only? Should the 6 geopolitical zones be included in

,

educational and cultural objectives be made justifiable or enforceable like the Fundamental Human Rights in Chapter IV. ‘We have reflected the views of Nigerians’ Checks revealed that the initiative and the progress recorded on the Constitution review in the House was not unconnected with the leadership qualities of the Deputy Speaker, whose working relationship with Speaker Aminu

Waziri Tambuwal appears to be the type of tonic the house needs.

Confirming this at the forum, Ihedioha said the views on various issues outlined in the review of the Constitution had been fully reflected in the report of the Peoples’ Public Sessions.

The Deputy Speaker said the results presented represented “the voice of the Nigerian people who have expressed their views on what changes they would like to see in any amendment being made to the national legal grundnorm– the Constitution of Nigeria.”

Accordingly, he said that deliberations at the nationwide sessions were free, robust, and participatory, adding that Nigerians spoke their minds without hindrance.

“This process may not be perfect, but I dare say that it is the first time in the history of this country that Nigerians at the grassroots have been made part of the Constitution review process in a practical and transparent manner,” he added.

In addition, he said, ‘’we promised Nigerians that we shall be transparent and accountable. Indeed we made a commitment to do things differently in our Legislative Agenda, unveiled at the beginning of the 7th House of Representatives. This public presentation is a fulfillment of this commitment and promise.

‘We have responded as best as we can within the limits of the constitutional and legal

framework to the demands of Nigerians for greater voice and involvement in the Constitution amendment process.”

Ihedioha called on all Nigerians to be vigilant and follow through the rest of the exercise to ensure that their views and positions remain respected.

The Deputy Speaker stated that the process will involve presentation and consideration of bills, harmonization with the Senate Committee on the Constitution Review and interface with the state legislatures for concurrence on the issues.

Further checks showed that the public presentation was in keeping with the promise made by Ihedioha that the House will make the process of the Public Sessions, and the entire exercise transparent, inclusive and accountable to the people.

Commending the House, Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Sen. Joy Emordi, said the entire process and the outcome was historic and unique, adding that the results duly addressed calls for a sovereign national conference.

Similarly, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, Head of the West African Office of the Ford Foundation, commended the House , saying the collation of the peoples’ views on the Constitution is a step in the right direction.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 43

Rivers: Odili boys at war!

BY JIMITOTA ONYUME

T

Dr. Peter Odili (Mentor)

Gov Amaechi...humbled?

sometime ago, that his leadership of the House would continue to accord recognition to Ake as the Rivers PDP Chairman, a stand the state chapter of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, also took. Though they all conceded to the effort already in court to reverse the Abuja High Court verdict which installed Obuah as Chairman, they have continued to fault the judgment, describing it as a travesty of justice. ALGON dragged its position on the judgment further when it said it was part of a grand design to create an atmosphere that would lead to a declaration of a state of emergency in the state.

Mayor of Port Harcourt, Chimbuko Akarolo, who read an address by the local government chairmen issued under the aegis of ALGON, Rivers State chapter, said the court verdict was part of a grand design by a group of individuals to rupture the peace in the state.

The Chairmen alleged a plot to create an environment that would warrant declaration of a state of emergency with a view to illegally remove Amaechi as governor.

In an address signed by the trio of Chimbuko Akarolo, Chairman of the body / Mayor of Port Harcourt; Edward Pepple, Publicity Secretary/ Chairman, Bonny local government; and Ojukaye Flag-Amakiri, Chairman, Asaritoru local government/ Secretary of the group, they opined that the alleged boundary dispute between the state and its Bayelsa counterpart was also part of the scheme to instigate declaration of emergency rule in the state.

Amaechi, who also flayed the Abuja court verdict, called for urgent intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Murktar, and viewed the judgment as a miscarriage of justice.

The governor, who spoke through his deputy, Engr Tele

Ikiru, at Government House, Port Harcourt when thousands of Rivers people paid him a solidarity visit, said it was shocking that the court declared Obuah and Mr. Ibibia Opuene Walter who were allegedly not part of the PDP congress that elected the Chairman and Secretary respectively of the state chapter.

Continuing, he said the action of the court amounted to the desecration of the temple of justice.

The governor appealed to members of the party in the state to be law abiding.

“I think as a nation one area we should not allow mud to go into is the judiciary. As a nation one area we should not allow to become a thing of play is the judiciary. The temple of justice has been desecrated. Nigeria arise, Nigeria arise. If we do not rise, we will lose our country.

As a nation, any day we allow the temple of justice to be desecrated we’ll lose our

,

HE battle between Governor Chibuike Amaechi and his erstwhile Chief of Staff, who is now the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, over who controls Rivers State politics, has continued to assume different dimensions. The two main actors in the battle were principal actors during the time of former governor of the state, Dr Peter Odili.

Amaechi was Special Adviser to Odili when the latter was deputy governor in the old Rivers State under the tenure of former Governor Rufus Ada George.

When Odili emerged the governor of the present Rivers State, he sponsored Amaechi to the state House of Assembly where he rose to become two-time Speaker.

As Speaker, Amaechi was largely perceived as a stabilising factor for the Odili administration because there was hardly any friction between the House and the executive arm.

On his part, Wike was a twotime Chairman of Obio Akpor local government area when Odili was governor. H e climbed to the position of National Chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON. Also, the deposed chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Godspower Ake, was National Vice Chair man, South South and Special Adviser to Odili while Mr Felix Obuah, aka Go Round, who recently secured an Abuja High Court judgement that ousted Ake and installed him as Chairman of the state PDP, was Chairman, Ogba Egbema Ndoni local government area, ONELGA. Although the Odili political structure started caving in at the twilight of his last term in office, hardly did any keen political observer imagine that the remnants of the empire would engage in a major battle of this nature.

Many are asking if the former governor is indifferent to the war by his boys. In the last three weeks, the battle has dominated discourse in several quarters.

There have been claims and counter claims over the leadership of the PDP in Rivers State. Although until the Abuja High Court judgment is vacated, Obua remains the chairman of the PDP in the state,. this means that the party is in firm grip of Wike. But groups loyal to Amaechi have consistently pledged their loyalty to Ake as their Chairman.

Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Otelemaba Amachree, told newsmen,

Mr. Wike...his master's voice The state Chairman of the PDP, Obuah, handed the state lawmakers 48 hours to rescind the suspension or face sanction from the party. At the expiration of the ultimatum, the PDP announced the suspension of 27 members of the House.

They included the Speaker and all other principal members of the House.

Meantime, Leader of the House, Hon Chidi Lloyd, said the suspension was an action in nullity because the members earlier secured an injunction from the High Court of Rivers State restraining the party and its executives from carrying out such action.

Justice Sika Aprioku, in his verdict, restrained the defendants: Obuah, his Secretary, Opuene, and the PDP from declaring the claimants seats, i.e. the 27 lawmakers, vacant and applying to the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, to replace the claimants as

Although the Odili political structure started caving in at the twilight of his last term in office, hardly did any keen political observer imagine that the remnants of the empire would engage in a major battle of this nature

,

country”, he said.

“Any day a poor man cannot go to the court and state his case and get justice that country is lost”.

The heat generated by the sack of the Ake-led PDP was still on when the Rivers House of Assembly suspended the Chairman, his vice and the seventeen councilors of Obio Akpor local government area over allegations of abuse of public funds and breach of security. Wike had been Chairman of the local government. The action of the House triggered a reaction from the state chapter of the PDP loyal to the Minister of State.

members of the Rivers House, pending hearing and determination of the motion on notice. The matter comes up on Monday. ?In the heat of all these came the news of the grounding of the Rivers government aircraft and the argument over the ownership of the Bombardier BD 700 Global Express jet. While the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, alleged that the aircraft belonged to Bank of Utah Trustee of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America, the Rivers government affirmed its ownership, saying it was only registered as a US aircraft “in

the first instance to preserve value and provide ease of operation and sourcing of available pilots”.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, who gave the explanation in a statement, s a i d , “ To qualify for N registration, operator must be a US citizen hence RVSG entered into a trust with Bank of Utah Inc, a bank that specializes in aircraft trust.

“The relationship between the state government and Bank of Utah is that of a trustor and trustee. All N registered aircraft enjoy the privileges of a US citizen, Trust agreement for the purpose of N registration is common in the aviation industry”.

Continuing, the Commissioner said the aircraft was not the only one in the country with N registration, adding that the aircraft had been operating in the country since October last year.

Meantime, the Speaker of the Rivers House, Amachree, said the parliament had uncovered a plot to smuggle a mace into the House to impeach Amaechi. According to him, the alleged game plan was to first throw him out as Speaker and then go ahead to sack the governor.

“Furthermore, there are strong indications that some persons have been detailed exclusively to create systemic collapse of security in the state, putting lives and property in danger ”, the Speaker said.

Although the PDP in the state denied the allegation the following day, speculations were rife that impeachment was likely part of the script of the new leadership of the party in the state.

Obuah told newsmen that he was out to unite the party and work with the governor to achieve development in the 23 local government areas of the state.

Is what is happening part of the agenda of the new leadership of the Rivers PDP to create an atmosphere of chaos for the declaration of emergency rule in the state?

Will the new leadership orchestrate a probe of the Amaechi administration with a view to impeaching the governor through the House of Assembly? These and many more are the questions on the lips of many people.

Already the party has handed Amaechi 48 hours ultimatum to explain the allegations around the ownership of the Rivers aircraft that has now been grounded by the Federal Government. It is not clear if the explanation made on the ownership of the aircraft by the state government through its Commissioner for Information and Communications served the demand of the party.

This is truly not the best of times for the Odili Boys as the fight seems to be getting messier.

PAGE 44 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 45

FOR THE RECORD The challenges of governance and devt in Lagos A

Gov. Babatunde Fashola

government, this fund has been further endowed by private businesses and individuals in the state. Anyone can contribute.

One of the most touching contributions has come from a school. The children donated their pocket monies and asked the principal to hand it to me at the Trust’s annual meeting where we present the accounts to the public.

It was a comparatively small gesture but it was huge in terms of self-sacrifice and a sense of duty. Through the fund, crucial equipment needed by the state police command has been procured and made available to fight crime. Beyond that it has also allowed the state to build their capacity with innovative and training and modernised policing techniques.

It has helped to democratise our police to the grassroots even if some people still play ostrich about the merits of state policing.

The Fund has enabled us to reduce violent crimes by over 80%. We went for 2 years without any crime during Christmas and other festive periods.

We went for 2 years with no reported bank robbery attempts in the state. We have lately suffered a few bank robbery attempts but none has been successful.

I don’t know any city or state with our population size that has our security record in any part of the world That leads me to the third challenge, unemployment.

How to ensure that 21 million people are gainfully employed?

LASTMA, skill acquisition centres, Agric – YES initiative, ENTRIDA, Services parties emerging middle class, catering, rental, music, event place, fashion Other Challenges: (i) Waste management (ii) Housing (iii) Education They are no different from what any Governor in America is dealing with.

But perhaps the crux of the matter is which Government should do more? The State or the Federal?

The argument arises even here - and the debate was fierce in the last election - about whether the current Federal Government’s desire for large government is not imposing too large a cost on the tax payers of America.

In my country the debate has

an origin quite different from the cost of government alone.

It is based on our post-colonial history where we had three semiautonomous regions and the central government.

Each of the regions kept the bulk of their resources and contributed to the central government to enable it to carry out its national responsibilities.

The system was not without its problems. But we had stable electricity. We had more food – enough to eat and enough to export. Illiteracy levels were higher but there was evidence to show that it was being addressed.

Our universities had more learning in them and acquired a respectable reputation.

It was a Golden Age for our country. But things started to fall apart and we quickly began to lose our lustre. The military

,

S far as I know, many countries that have opted for a federal system of government have done so because it is the best known system for managing diversity; whether of tribes, nationalities, religion, ethnicity or language.

In this sense, this country and my country, especially my state, Lagos, are no different.

Lagos shares many similarities with New York: as former federal capitals, as current commercial capitals, as melting pots of different people from different walks of life.

Where would our two countries be without the diversity of their immigrant population? An immigrant population whose skills and financial resource help to keep the wheels of development turning.

I will let you ponder over these thoughts, and move to the content of my speech.

As I mentioned, I have been asked to speak about the challenges of governance and development in Lagos. In as much as I am a thoroughbred Lagosian, becoming governor has put me on a path of rediscovery; a path which yields new surprises at every turn.

In my view, the challenges of governance in Lagos are really no different from the challenges of governing any other megacity. And make no mistake, with an estimated population of 21 million; Lagos is as mega as they come. Keep that figure in mind as I will keep coming back to it.

When I was growing up in the 1970s Lagos had a population of around 2 million. So that represents a tenfold expansion in about 40 years. Lagos has an annual growth rate of about 5%.

So I suppose the first major challenge is the population boom; rapid urbanisation and how we have dealt with it over the years.

Unfortunately the two decades that followed the 70s were characterised by lack of infrastructure development.

By the time we returned to democracy in 1999, the population had mushroomed without a corresponding rise in terms of development, especially the necessary infrastructure like roads, schools, hospitals, malls, and those things that support daily life and should be taken for granted.

We had to act. And we had to act fast.Lagos has always stood as a magnet, a factory of dreams and aspirations for many Nigerians.So even as the infrastructure was not improved, the population kept rising, people kept pouring in.

Transportation improvement (Light rail, ferry services, expanded road network) More kids so more schools. *** Headache for others a migraine for Lagos The second major challenge is security.

21 million people remember!

We have to keep them all safe.

We have to keep them safe from themselves. We have to keep them safe from the bad eggs of society, of which every country unfortunately has its own fair share.

When I was elected six years ago, we had to make some tough decisions on how we wanted to maintain peace and security in the state.

To restore a sense of order, we set up the Lagos State Security Trust Fund. Aside from a regular commitment from the

different path. It lives largely on the revenue it raises by itself.

70% of its N499 Billion ($3.2 Billion) budget for year 2013 and the preceding years have been self-generated.

The Federal Government’s monthly allocations only account for 30% of Lagos’ annual resources-to-budget cost.

In order to maintain this financial hold, the Federal Government keeps 52% of the nation’s resources.

The states, all 36 of them, get a 26% share between them.

The 774 local governments, including the 37 created by Lagos, share only 20.2% of the country’s revenue amongst them.

The debate therefore is not only about the cost of such a large government but also about its effectiveness.

The Primary Health Care Centres, where newborn babies get vaccinated and immunised against disease, are not in the capital but within the 774 (plus 37) local governments.

Can the money held in large supply at the centre reach them in time and in good quantity before they die?

The primary schools, which are the foundations of early learning, are also in these local governments. (In Lagos there are 1,001 of such primary schools) The impact of a behemoth Federal Government is no less exacting on the transport system in a sub-optimal way.

In Lagos the Local Governments have 6,415 roads, the state government has 3,028 and the Federal Government has only 117.

Yet the Local Governments have only their share of 20.2% (shared with 717 others) and the states have only their share of 26% (shared with 35 other states) of national revenues to fix these roads.

I don’t know any city or state with our population size that has our security record in any part of the world

came in and unified the regions and things have never been quite the same since.

Although we have a “Federal Government” the constitution was written by the military.

So we have state courts where judges are picked by the Federal Government.We have state legislators but no state police to enforce the laws they make.There are no state prisons so we rely on Federal officers to police our states and keep convicted persons away from law abiding citizens.

We have Federal Traffic Safety Officers to issue Driver’s Licences to drivers in the state and also seek to regulate municipal traffic inside the states.

Many states cannot control their sources of finance such as local taxes on consumption, lotteries and hotels. (city and state taxes for drinks in new york) The Federal Government holds on to these at worst; or encroaches upon them at the best.

Consequently all states get monthly allocations from the Federal Government, and the majority have few alternative sources of funding.

Lagos, of course, has chosen a

,

Remember the Federal Government owns the least number of roads. Yet she keeps 52% - the lion’s share of the Federal resources.

How efficiently therefore can the Nigerian Governmental system provide roads that are so critical to prosperity for her people?

These are the structural challenges of Government that we must overcome.

They sum up the demand for a truer federal union that is being demanded by the 36 state governors in terms of fiscal and political federalism.

I associate myself with this demand in its entirety.

The realization of these demands on their own, may not necessarily leapfrog us into ElDorado. But without them the journey will be tortuous.

If they materialise they liberate the possibilities that lie inherent in the diverse capacities that the Nigerian states and local governments are blessed with.

In that event, the Federal Government will not be without authority or responsibility. But in my view it will be better able to co-ordinate the diversities for

mutual prosperity. While these challenges exist we are not folding our arms and twiddling our thumbs.

On the contrary we have become more determined in Lagos and more resourceful: Tax Reforms and more tax payers 10 MCCs and 57 Flagship PHCs Lagos State Public Works Corporation Let me conclude now by saying that whilst we contend with these challenges and struggle to build infrastructure, our most enduring infrastructure will be the one we build in people’sminds, especially the next generation.

This is why we have committed time and resources to rebuild our education. We are seeing results in the right direction but the journey is still long.

However even long journeys can be punctuated by delightful pit stops. One such encouraging pit-stop came via a text message from the ViceChancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU).

I must point out that LASU is the state owned university, different from the federal owned university of Lagos also in our state. They are our older, and if I must say for the time being, our more illustrious cousins.

The message from the ViceChancellor was that LASU has been ranked 11th amongst all the universities in Nigeria. We are the only state owned university in this ranking.

But this is not our destination.

Our destination in the short term is to be the best in Nigeria. In the medium term to be the best in Africa and in the long term to be the best in the world.

That process has already started. We are already building affiliations for LASU across the world. Nothing would please me more than to establish such an affiliation with this school and the John Hopkins University. It would have made this trip really worth making.

Conclusion I will only now ask you to put everything I have said into perspective. If at any point I sounded like I spoke from a place of contentment then that was certainly not my intention.

The truth is that all we have done is to lay down a marker for the sort of state we are trying to build.

If I can claim any success, it is that the dream I have always had for Lagos is now no longer just a picture in my head – it has taken manifestation into something more tangible. And more importantly, it has become a shared dream.

I would like to express, once more, my gratitude for being asked to speak in such esteemed company. I appreciate the time you have devoted to being here and hope to welcome you as visitors to Lagos in the near future.

Thank you for listening.

Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) Governor of Lagos BEING TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS E X C E L L E N C Y, T H E GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STAT E , M R . B A B ATUNDE R A J I FA S H O L A ( S A N ) AT T H E PAUL H. NITZE SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON D.C, UNITED STAT E S O N APRIL 26TH 2013

PAGE 46 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

UNIBEN and the appointment of varsities officials – The real issues

BY CHRIS AZEBAMWAN VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The need to balance all factors in the appointment of VCs

I

read an article on the ap pointment of varsities of ficials published on Friday 26th April, 2013 with cynic amusement. One would be tempted to dismiss the writer’s work as that of a paid hatchet man if the issue he raised was not so important to our national discourse. At first glance, the writer appeared to be on track as he chronicled the ethnic and tribal backgrounds of Nigerian university CEOs. Unfortunately, what would otherwise have been thought provoking discourse veered away from its central theme and became tainted as it zeroed in on the University of Benin and the appointment process that

brought in the current vice chancellor. Had he taken pains to do research instead of just mouthing the words of his sponsors, he would have realized that the agitation for the appointment of an indigene as vice chancellor in 2009 was not a tribal orchestration. The university community both academic and non-academic and the larger host-community felt that nearly 40 years after its establishment such a demand was not only long over-due but its non-realization would amount to a travesty of justice.

As the writer pointed out, tribal consideration had rightly or wrongly come into play in the appointment of university top shots. One expected the writer to ask why it took so long for the Benin people to get what was rightly due to it. The Benin has over the years produced eminent and world renowned scholars and administrators that were suitably qualified to head universities.

Since the founding of University of Ibadan in 1948, only

Benin has over the years produced world renowed scholars and administrators that were suitably qualified to head

,

VIEWPOINT

On the broader issue of university administration and appointment to its top slot, there is no gain saying the fact that universities, apart from being centres of excellence, are also centres of development of their host community

,

universities. And since the founding of University of Ibadan, only one Benin man Prof.

E.U.

Emovon has headed a university (Jos) before the emergence of Prof. O.G. Oshodin in 2009. On the issue of the score rating of the applicants in 2009, I am not aware that Oyekanmi was a member of the selection panel and I am also not aware that the records of the selection process have become public records. For the record, the selection process of a vice chancellor is an intricate act of balancing competing interests with the ultimate aim of selecting the best man for the job. The process must conclude in such a manner that the university does not become dysfunctional thereafter. The UNIBEN Council, in its wisdom, did just that in 2009 when it recommended Oshodin to the Visitor for appointment as vice chancellor. Unfortunately for his detractors, no amount of mudslinging and/or denigration can mar the unmatched and unparalleled record of his achievements since he assumed the mantle of leader-

ship. He has completely revamped all sectors of the university and arrested the infrastructural decay and rot that had set in. Even some of his predecessors in office have attested to this.

On the broader issue of university administration and appointment to its top slot, there is no gain saying the fact that universities, apart from being centres of excellence, are also centres of development of their host community. The interaction of the academia with its social-economic environment may best be served by a leadership that has its roots and a stake in that community. It is my humble submission that so long as there is no death of top quality candidates amongst the indigenes to fill such vacancies, the interest of the university and its host community would best be served by appointing their sons to these positions. * Azebamwan is a past president of SUG of UNIBEN and a public affairs commentator.

A defining moment for land swap programme

BY EMMA AGU VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Everybody is a winner in the new initiative to develop Abuja

I

F FCT Minister Senator Bala Mohammed has carved a niche for himself for bluntness, his performance at Friday’s town hall meeting on the land for infrastructure programme (land swap, for short) would pass for the epitome of courage. The four-hour event was remarkable not only for the brutal frankness that pervaded the exercise but the fact that it demonstrated the sincerity of the Jonathan administration in enthroning true democracy in Nigeria.

The crux of the matter is the novel land swap programme, an ingenuous arrangement whereby private sector organizations take the responsibility for providing infrastructure in a district in exchange for land. In adopting the system, variants of which have been used to turn cities in Europe, Asia and America into architectural wonders, the Mohammed-led FCT administration was motivated by the desire to leap-frog the development of

Abuja while side-stepping the acute shortage of funds that had stunted the city’s growth.

Trouble, however, was lurking as the vast expanse of land to be acquired for the project entailed the displacement of natives. It was these groups who, predictably, turned the town hall meeting into fireworks of sorts. One would have thought that the minister was going to be drowned by the flurry of invectives from the angry natives who unanimously lambasted successive governments for allegedly grabbing their land while reneging on promises of compensation.

From Abubakar Yakubu, the Chairman, Ketti-Waru Youths Forum who fired the first salvo to the mercurial and populist Pastor Jeji Danladi, President of Original Inhabitants Development Association (OIDA), a common denominator among the indigenes was the tendency to treat Abuja as a no-man’s land, a position that was supported by many other speakers.

They lamented the taking over of their farmlands which were subsequently turned over to ‘strangers’ who in turn made a fortune by speculating on the lands. What emerged from the meeting was that but for the FCT administration’s foresight in pressing on with the town hall meeting, the revolutionary land swap project would have become an unfortunate victim

of the rage of the indigenes.

But on a day that particularistic nationalism threatened to snowball into an ethnic cauldron, the FCT minister, in a bold and measured nationalistic response, reminded the audience that Abuja was a creation of the constitution designed to accommodate all Nigerians. To the claim that FCT natives were never consulted before decisions concerning them were made, he agreed but said the town hall

,

VIEWPOINT

been paid to the natives, he reminded them that the problem spanning 37 years could not be resolved in under two years and to the allegation that the land swap project was a predatory vehicle to fleece the natives of their commonwealth, he assured that they would have the first offer in the employment that would drive the massive construction work to provide engineering infrastructure at the 15 project sites.

It can be said without equivocation that Friday’s town hall meeting was a defining moment for the land swap programme. If it was a contest, it is safe to say that there was no loser. Everybody was a winner

meeting signaled the desire to redress the slight; to the argument that the original residents were dispossessed without remedy, he posited that the interest of project affected people (PAP) had been factored into the overall plan of the project; to the argument that compensation had not

,

In all, it was indeed a grand performance by all. Were the people impressed? Without any hesitation, I would say yes. And that is where we need to draw some lessons from the town hall meeting. From side comments within the venue, it could be deduced that, by con-

fronting the problem headlong, the FCT leadership had, while bolstering the integrity of the process, succeeded in scoring a major victory by bridging the communication gap between it and the people. But is that not the essence of democracy? Mohammed wasted no time in reminding the audience that people-participation stood out as a defining characteristic of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

But one thing is clear: going forward, it will be very difficult for any self-serving individual or group, feasting on the ignorance of the people, to try to derail the programme, not when the minister had promised to set up an all-inclusive committee to study the submission of Abubakar and other speakers at the town hall meeting.

It can be said without equivocation that Friday’s town hall meeting was a defining moment for the land swap programme. If it was a contest, it is safe to say that there was no loser. Everybody was a winner; Mohammed and his FCT management team witnessed first-hand the very deep reservations of the natives who in turn demonstrated practical recognition of the vision, passion and sincerity of the minister and his team. · Agu is resident in Abuja.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 47

Boko Haram: Amnesty can work

BY LEKAN OLADEJO VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The merit in clemency to insurgents

T

HE issue of granting of amnesty to members of the Boko Haram has been on the front burner of national discourse since the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Saad Abubakar III, proposed it to the Federal Government, several weeks ago.

Picking up the call from the Sultan, the elders of Borno State saw an opportunity to translate it into a demand when President Goodluck Jonathan visited Borno and Yobe States on March 8. The elders said they could no longer bear the killing of innocent citizens and the wanton of destruction of properties by sect members. They also lamented that reprisal attacks against the insurgents by the multinational military joint task force had not effectively curtailed their dastardly acts; rather more innocent citizens had lost their lives in the crossfire. So if granting amnesty to the sect would bring peace, let

it be.

Although Jonathan’s polite, albeit conditional rejection of their amnesty demand did not go down well with the Borno and Yobe States’ stakeholders, events that followed indicate that they later realized that the president had a valid point.

Jonathan had said that he could not grant amnesty to a group of people who engaged in murdering fellow citizens in cold blood and under cover, without provocation, adding that he could not grant amnesty to ghosts. Besides, the president explained that no government worth its salt will treat, with kid gloves, a remorseless group attacking and killing security officers.

The realization of the import of the president’s statement led to further consultations on the amnesty issue and the involvement of the entire leadership of the northern part of Nigeria, including the Northern Elders Forum, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Traditional Rulers Council and the Northern Governors Forum, which, at various times, took the matter up with Jonathan, following which he decided to set up a committee to look into the possibility of granting amnesty to

the insurgents.

The president deserves commendation for taking this decision in the search for peace.

It must have been a hard decision for him considering the fact that the issues he raised at his interactive sessions with the stakeholders of Borno and Yobe States have not been re-

,

VIEWPOINT

Let us try the amnesty initiative and see how it goes. It can work if all of us are determined to make it work and play our respective roles to assist the government

,

solved.

The attacks on innocent citizens and security forces by the insurgents have not abated.

Sadly, the reported rejection of the proposed amnesty by some leaders of the sect un-

derscores, rather than allay, the fears expressed by the president. Against this backdrop, the amnesty proposal seems to be a shot in the dark but Jonathan’s decision to try it, by setting up the committee, remains a bold step with clearly good intentions.

From all indications, this bold step is a popular one because it was informed by popular demand from stakeholders. In fact, the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Muazu Babangidda Aliyu of Niger Sate, has expressed the determination of the northern governors to ensure that the amnesty gesture succeeds, noting that the wanton destruction of lives and property had crippled the economy of the northern states and paralyzed socio-economic activities in the region.

However, some individuals and groups have opposed the amnesty proposal and they can hardly been faulted. They include the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), whose members constitute a considerable proportion of the victims of Boko Haram’s gun raids and bomb attacks. Expectedly CAN cites the unrepentant and remorseless attitude of the sect’s leaders as

well as the irreparable losses suffered by victims’ families as reason the sect should not be granted amnesty.

The concerns expressed by CAN are genuine but the point is that, at this stage of the crisis, are there better options for restoration of peace than amnesty? At one time, the Jonathan administration was accuse of being too soft and indecisive on the Boko Haram issue by those who felt the military option would stop the insurgency.

Let us try the amnesty initiative and see how it goes. It can work if all of us are determined to make it work and play our respective roles to assist the government. Fortunately, some notable Nigerian leaders such as former heads of state- Generals Yakubu Gowon and Muhammad Buhari - have risen to the occasion by endorsing the bold step taken by Jonathan on the issue. Let us emulate Buhari who has put aside his political difference with the current administration to support this new hope of ridding the nation of the Boko Haram mena c e . *Oladejo is of 82 Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

Adieu Adunni!

BY SESAN AKINOLA TRIBUTE IN BRIEF In remembrance of an amazon

T

HURSDAY, 3rd of May, 2012 remains the sad dest day of my life, it was the fateful day death took the love of my life away.

Although she had been ill for some time and diagnosed with cancer of the liver at the University College Hospital (U.C.H) Ibadan where she had been on admission twelve days earlier, when she finally passed on, I felt numbed, devastated and emotionally drained. As I stepped into the ward in the morning of that day, I did so, in spite of her worsening condition, full of hope that I would meet her on that same bed to which she had been confined and that she would still be able to talk to me. Alas, it was not to be!

On arriving at the last door leading to the ward, the first sign that something had gone terribly wrong was the instruction from a nurse who apparently had been positioned at the door like a sentry to watch my arrival that I should remain at the door pending further instructions from the Nursing Sister on duty. Since

most of the nurses in the ward now knew me from previous interactions with them, I instinctively knew something was amiss. However something in me still rejected the speculation that my wife of thirty two years could be gone!

I didn’t have to be kept waiting for long in the realm of speculations as two or three minutes later, the Nursing Sister appeared at the door and asked me to follow her to her office beside the ward.

When we arrived her office and she offered me a seat I literally collapsed into the chair because even before uttering a word and looking straight into her eyes I knew my wife who meant the world to me had gone. In a subdued tone, she went on to announce how my wife breathed her last and, in that instant, although she went on probably trying to express her condolences, the room reeled before my eyes and it took a firm grip on the arm of the chair I was sitting on to keep me from losing consciousness. “Where is her corpse”was the first question that came out of my mouth in a voice so husky I could hardly recognize as my own, whereupon the nurse led me on groggy legs to the ward where my beloved wife lay lifeless with her face covered with a blanket. It took all the courage I could muster to ask her to lift the blanket to enable me

engineered my steps and brought me and my wife together thereby bringing about a tremendous turning point in my life. Before that propitious meeting, I had been a happygo-lucky person who was only enjoying himself with the fair

,

TRIB UTE TRIBUTE

Late Mrs Adunni Akinola see her face for even at that point everything still seemed like a dream to me and it was after I saw her face that the reality of her death finally hit me like a thunderbolt. That moment when I had to come to terms with reality marked the painful terminal point of love, romance and marriage that spanned about 33 years.

I met the love of my life and my wife on the 28th of December, 1979. I was a 23-year-old brand new lawyer having just been called to the Nigerian Bar a few months earlier and basking in the euphoria of that achievement I considered it appropriate to flaunt my newly acquired professional status and celebrate it with my kith and kin in my home town, Ido-Ekiti. It was while having good time that God himself

More remarkable is the fact that, in spite of my obvious shortcomings, she was continually willing to accommodate and tolerate me

,

sex and saw marriage only as a distant event.

Not only was she pretty, comely and graceful, she had all the qualities I wanted in a wife. A modern but not sophisticated lady of 22 years of age, she was born in Omu-Aran, a backwater of Kwara State and she was just beginning to enjoy the city life of Ilorin when fate brought us together.

My National Youth Service which I began a few months earlier also went a long way to concretize our romance began and, by the end of my service year, we became inseparable and we were seeing each other at least every fort-

night.

An amazing woman, she was a human dynamo and resourcefulness personified and a few months before our wedding on December 4, 1982, she relocated to Ibadan and moved in with me.

Thus began a marriage of almost 30 years which transformed my entire life in a way no other thing or person could have done, and more remarkable is the fact that, in spite of my obvious shortcomings, she was continually willing to accommodate and tolerate me.

Indeed until that recognition of the painful reality of her death in that ward on 3rd May, 2012, it never occurred to me that Adunni my darling one could die! It was as though she was immortal, even in a literal sense! Well the truth is, she died but she will forever live in my heart and in the hearts of her children who she dearly loved and doted on and whose interest she would do anything to promote and protect.

Adieu my loving wife, sleep on till we meet to part no more.

My children-Tomide, Funmilayo, Deji and I and those whose lives you touched by your remarkably pleasant nature will continue to have evergreen memory of you.

*Akinola is a Barrister and lives in Ado-Ekiti.

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

MAY DAY: Be more sensitive to workers' welfare, Martins urges FG

BY SAM EYOBOKA

T

HE Federal Gov ernment has been urged to be more sensitive to the welfare of Nigerian workers by creating an enabling environment that would adequately reward productivity and uphold the dignity of all workers.

Making this call in his Labour Day's message, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most. Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, in a release signed by the Director of Social Communications, Msgr.

Gabriel Osu, tasked the government on the need to be more proactive in providing employment for Nigerian youths and ensuring that Nigerian

workers are well provided for through prompt payment of their pensions and gratuities after their retirement.

He frowned at the recent monumental fraud uncovered in the management of the nation’s pension scheme and wondered why the government, through the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary have been foot-dragging for long in bringing to justice those implicated in the pension scam.

According to Archbishop Martins, the government’s reluctance in bringing to justice those who have allegedly plunged the long-suffering Nigerian workers into untold hardship by siphoning their collec-

tive pension and gratuities was capable of ridiculing its much touted commitment to fighting corruption to a standstill.

"At a time like this, I want to join all people of goodwill to congratulate our workers and all the labour unions. I also urge the government to look more into their welfare so that we can have a more viable and proactive workforce needed to move our economy forward. But it does not end there.

"For us to progress and become one of the 20 industrialized nations of the world, it is imperative that all the clogs in the wheel of progress of the Nigerian workers must be addressed decisively so that the fre-

*Mr. Greg Enahoro of St. Michael's Catholic Church, Lafiaji, Lagos, recently held a thanksgiving mass to mark his company's 20th anniversary. Pix shows the celebrant in suit flanked by the parish priest, Msgr. Gabriel Osu (c), wife of the celebrant (3rd r), Msgr. Anthony Obanla (2nd l) and other priests after the mass.

quent incidences of strike would become a thing of the past," the cleric advised.

While commending the government’s commitment to ensuring steady supply of electricity

By WOLE MOSADOMI

M

INNA--N I G E R State governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu has given approval for the immediate recruitment of Christian Religious teachers to commence the teaching of the subject in all public schools in the state.

Besides, proprietors of all private schools in the state have also been directed to re-introduce religious studies into their curriculum.

The teaching of Christian religious studies had been tactically suspended in all public schools in the state during the last administration under the guise that there were no qualified CRK teachers in the state.

However, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Niger state chapter, Rev. Dauda Maigari during a courtesy visit to the state governor with his members raised the issue on the need to recruit CRK teachers whom he said are readily available to

It's legalising terrorism, Christian youths tell Jonathan

A

“would have been given more muscles to deal with Christian youths”, who in the North had all along been marginalized by the same advocates of the pardon.

Dolly therefore appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan “not to be cowed by politicians and few misfits and naturally rebellious persons in the North, who are attempting to use the Boko haram insurgency as a bait to correct what they have failed to do, while they were in power”.

He noted that those citing injustice, poverty and unemployment to justify the violence by the sect were not sincere, wonder-

ing if the poverty and unemployment were peculiar to Muslims in the North alone.

According to him, “are Christian youths in the North and indeed all over Nigeria not affected by growing unemployment, injustice and poverty?

Would President Jonathan accede to requests for amnesty from MASSOB, OPC, Middle Belt and other groups with legitimate complaints against the Federal Government, if tomorrow they pick up arms to advance their causes?"

The cleric added that “the Federal Government should be prepared to face perhaps more dead-

the job security of the workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria are resolved amicably to ensure a seamless transition to the new owners of transmission companies.

Gov orders Christian religious studies back to Niger schools

BOKO HARAM AMNESTY: BUJA – THE Youth Wing, Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN), and Anglican Youth Fellowship, Nigeria have warned that the proposed amnesty to the deaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram by the Federal Government is nothing but the legalisation of terrorism in the country, reports CALEB ANYANSINA. President of YOWICAN, Dr. Simon Dolly and the president of AYF, Wuse Archdeaconry Council, Barrister Isaac Harrison, speaking at different fora in Abuja, explained that granting amnesty to Boko Haram

through the privatization of the power sector, the Archbishop called on the Minister of Labour and Productivity, and other relevant agencies to ensure that outstanding issues bordering on

ly and sophisticated response, if amnesty is granted “to willful murderers masquerading as political and religious insurgents, who do not respect the basic tenets of humanity and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

YOWICAN was of the view that the government should consolidate on the progress made so far by security operatives by arresting political leaders whose utterances and actions have implicated them. He maintained that “it is injustice if Almajari schools are built for the Muslim youths alone and funded by tax payers' money."

take up the appointments.

Addressing journalists at the end of its weekly Executive Council meeting in Minna, the state Head of Service, Barrister Abass Bello said the governor has graciously approved the recruitment of 259 Christian Religious knowledge teachers for all public schools in the state.

The Head of service explained that the CRK teachers will form part of the 6,000 unemployed graduates to be recruited immediately out of the 17,000 graduates that registered for the Graduate Engagement Scheme.

Barrister Bello said out of the 6000 to be employed, about 1000 of them would be made to teach Christian and Islamic religious knowledge as part of the steps taken by the state government to bring back morals into the youths.

“The state government has taken this step as a deliberate way of restoring morality and discipline back into the youths as a way of denouncing crime and toeing the path of peace,”

he explained.

He said all the 6000 successful will undergo 3 months training during which the University and Higher National Diploma holders will be paid N10,000 monthly allowance while those with Diploma and National Certificate in Education (NCE) will also receive N8000 monthly before being formerly absorbed under the civil service rules.

It was reliably gathered that most of the 6000 underlisted will be posted to various schools to teach while others will be engaged in agriculture.

“Both Christians and Muslims in the various schools will be encouraged to study both religion in order to have an insight of the two religions as a way appreciating the religions and one another in future,” the Head of Service remarked.

According to him the students may not even sit for either of the two papers in their WAEC and NECO examinations but just make them have the knowledge of the two religions.

Congress WBN hosts confab

C

ONGRESS WBN (C-WBN) a faith-based or ganization said it has completed plans to host a reformation conference in Nigeria as part of its efforts on effecting individual as well as national transformation, reports WILLIAM JIMOH. Briefing journalists on the event, the Regional Coordinator, West Africa C-WBN, Paul OluseyiOgedengbe said the event will hold between May 23 and 25 this year at the Events Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

According to Ogedengbe, the event will be attended by Christians, Christian leaders, including people from all walks of life and those interested in the reformation power of the word of God with emphasis on Christ's mandate of bringing the Church into maturity and to the path of actualization of the unity of the Faith.

This 3-day conference will be presided over by Dr. Noel Woodroffe, the president/apostolic leader who functions out of the primary base in the Caribbean.

C-WBN is a faith-based organization affecting human, social and national transformation through the propagation of clearly defined moral, ethical, and values-based principles, patterns, and approaches.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 49

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT TITHING BANANAS

A

S far as many pastors are con cerned, the most important scripture of all is not to be found in the word of Jesus.

Neither is it even in the New Testament. That scripture says: “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’” (Malachi 3:10).

This scripture is drummed repeatedly into Christians on Sundays. However, the only time Jesus mentioned tithing in scripture, he pointed out that it was not a weighty matter of the law. (Matthew 23:23). Hebrews says people only receive tithes “according to the law.” (Hebrews 7:5). It then insists tithing (and everything else under the law) has been annulled: “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless.” (Hebrews 7:18-19). Nevertheless, mercenary pastors continue to insist on the payment of tithes.

According to the scriptures, money is not acceptable as tithe, it has to be food-crops or livestock

Latter-day Pharisees Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for keeping part instead of the whole law.

(Matthew 23:23). That is what tithecollecting pastors do today. If we insist our congregants must pay tithes, we must also insist that they keep the rest of the law. James says: “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10). Therefore, if we insist on tithing, we should also refrain from eating pork. We should stone adulterers, execute homosexuals, kill Sabbath violators and restore blood-sacrifices.

Tithe-collecting pastors counter this by maintaining the payment of tithes pre-dated the law. Here Abraham is cited as the cardinal example of someone who paid tithes before the promulgation of the Law of Moses, as did Jacob, his grandson. However, such arguments are disingenuous.

Before the law, tithing was at best an example but not a commandment.

Moreover, pastors fail to mention that Abraham only tithed once in his lifetime. When he did, he did not even tithe his own money: he tithed the spoils of war. He gave 10 per cent of the plunder he took when he rescued Lot to Melchisedec, king of Salem.

But then he did not even keep the rest but returned it (all 90 per cent) to the king of Sodom.

For his part, Jacob also tithed only once. He did this in a “let’s make a deal” arrangement he offered to God: “Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and

of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you.’” (Genesis 28:2022). This kind of deal about accepting God only under certain self-serving conditions should certainly not be a term of reference for any serious believer.

Lies upon lies The first lie pastors tell Christians is what some have referred to as “the eleventh commandment:” “Thou shalt pay thy tithes to thy local church.”

But the bible says no such thing. The storehouse of Malachi was not a church. It was a place where food was kept.

Pastors hide from church-members the fact that money was not acceptable as tithe. The tithe was a tenth of the seed and fruit of the land and of the animals which ate of the land. (Leviticus 27:30-32). That is why God says: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be FOOD in my house.” (Malachi 3:10). He does not say “that there may be MONEY in my house.” The food was used to feed the Levites, the poor, widows, orphans and strangers.

Pastors also conveniently fail to teach the biblical tithe. The principles of tithing were not laid down by Malachi. They were laid down by Moses. The study of Moses’ guidelines quickly reveals that the biblical tithe has no application whatsoever to Christians and is mischievously violated by tithe-collecting pastors today.

According to the Law of Moses, the tithe was divided into three allocations. The first year, it was given to the Levite. The second year, it was given to widows, orphans and the poor. The third year, it was eaten in the company of the faithful before the Lord as thanksgiving for his faithfulness. (Deuteronomy 14:22-28). In the seventh year, there was no planting and no reaping and therefore no tithing.

So the next time your pastor asks you to pay tithe, ask him about the seventh-year reprieve. Also ask him if you can give your tithe to the orphanage, or bring it as food items to be eaten in church. Believe me; he will not agree with you because it is your money he is after.

Inapplicability of tithes Tithing was only applicable to Jews and to the land of Israel. When large populations of Jews lived in Babylon, Ammon, Moab, Egypt, and Syria, these lands became tithe-able lands.

WHY DO WE FAST? However, tithes were not acceptable from strictly Gentile lands. So you need to ask your pastor how come he is collecting tithes in Nigeria.

Servants or slaves who worked on the land did not tithe because the land did not belong to them. Since only agricultural and animal resources were included, a fisherman gave no tithe of his fisheries. Neither did a miner or a carpenter pay tithes, nor anyone from the various professional occupations. So if you are not a farmer or a keeper of livestock, tell your 419 pastor tithing is biblically inapplicable to you.

M

oreover, the only people authorised to receive tithes were the Levites. (Hebrews 7:5).

So if your Pastor is a “tithe-collector,” ask him if he happens to be a Jew. Remind him that, even though a Jew, Jesus could not receive the tithe because he was not from the tribe of Levi but from that of Judah.

The trick, of course, is for pastors today to claim we are “Levites.” If your pastor is one such dissembler, ask him if he lives as a Levite. Remind him that Levites had no land and did not have private property. Ask him also how he knows he is from the tribe of Levi, which happens to be one of the lost tribes of Israel. Point out to him that even Jewish rabbis don’t claim to be Levites today because all Jewish genealogical records were lost with the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, ensuring that it is no longer possible to ascertain the true identity of Levites.

Therefore, if Jews no longer tithe because the Levites are a lost tribe, how can Christian pastors collect tithes when we are not even Jewish, how much more Levites?

If Jewish rabbis, whose terms of reference remain the Old Testament no longer collect tithes, then pastors who insist Christians are under a New Testament have no business doing so.

The conclusion then is inescapable. Every pastor who collects tithes is nothing but “a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1).

“IS not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6-7).

Y

OU may be asking questions, why do we have to fast? Must we fast before God will do something about the matter we are praying about? What about me, will my fast make a difference? Yes, it will, if you do it faithfully, wholeheartedly unto God. Meanwhile, let me give you 10 out of several reasons why we fast unto the Lord. This is to help you engage in this important spiritual exercise, with clear focus, for maximum result.

1. We fast for personal revival. When you see that you no longer worship, pray, serve with fervency as you need to, it is time to seek the Lord so He can revive, and restore your soul. (Psalm 23:1-3).

2. We fast in order to humble our souls before the Lord. Hear what David, the great king of Israel, said; “I humbled my soul with fasting” (Psalm 35:13).

3. We fast to determine the mind of God on a crucial matter, to hear the voice of God clearly and to obtain a definite directive. This was what the early Church did in Acts of the Apostles. See Acts 13:1-2.

4. We fast to prepare spiritually for a major assignment. Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the law. Jesus fasted for 40 days before commencing His ministry. Paul and Barnabas fasted and prayed before starting their missionary journey.

5. We fast to ask for an uncommon release of God’s power, grace and glory, over a meeting, an appointment, and events that we consider critical (Acts 13: 3).

6. We fast to request for God’s specific help over a situation that gives us concern. Ezra declared a fast so they could have the help of the Lord against the enemy in their way as they journeyed back to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:21-23).

7. We fast to avert imminent judgment and calamity. That was what the people of Nineveh did.

God had sent His prophet, Jonah, to warn them of impending judgement. They fasted and prayed to God, and the judgment was averted. See Jonah 3.

8. We fast to deal with very desperate situations.

Esther was facing a desperate situation. Israel was to be wiped out. But the people of God prayed with fasting and the decree was superseded by another, which favoured Esther and her people (Esther 8:4 -10).

9. We fast to deal with certain critical, demonic problem, in order to secure a breakthrough. Jesus our Lord referred to certain kind of problems that do not go but by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29).

10. We fast when we are so led by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:14).

ECWA kicks against amnesty for Boko Haram

P

RESIDENT of Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA, Rev. Jeremiah Gado is opposed to the proposed amnesty offer for members of the Boko Haram sect, saying that the Federal Government is playing with fire by going ahead with the proposal, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. Speaking at the official dedication of an ultramodern auditorium for the ECWA Musin English church, Gado described the move as an “insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians and a great betrayal of our trust.”

The cleric said instead of granting amnesty to the sect, Federal Government should compensate all victims of the Boko Haram attacks, stating that justice must never be sacrificed on the altar of forgiveness.

PAGE 50—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5 5, 2013

chimeena@yahoo.com 08056180157

Moremi Ajaasoro: A Tragedy of Love T

A

Members of Moremi cast switch to the narrator played

by Sunkanmi Adebayo accompanied by mournful citizens of Ile-Ife. Onwards, the play transcends to a flashback where the audience captured the beginning of the love tale.

The stage manager, Anike Alli-Hakeem made good effects of its lighting by dimming the lights during mournful scenes and lighting up the stage in stronger scenes. The costumes used were mostly traditional attire peculiar to the Yoruba tribe.

A fog effect was also used to signify the presence of Esimirin, the god of Ile-Ife. The play’s director, Wole Oguntokun really scouted for the best cast to bring action into this drama. Ajike, Moremi’s best friend which was played by Barbara Babarinsa stole the show away with her funny antics and undying devotion to her friend. Though quite a talker, she was admirable in her acts, and knew when to portray the expected character.

T

he lead character Moremi, which was played by Jumoke Ladi Bello, was also a strong one.

Described as a brave young woman, one would expect the contemporary outright stubborn nature attached to bravery but in this case, Moremi was a blend of gentility, bravery and wisdom. For instance, she cleverly deceived her best friend Ajike and escaped

,

rue test of love they say is sacrifice and in times of war, sacrifice is an important rudiment of victory.

This is well captured in Wole Oguntokun’s premiere of the theatre play ‘ Legend of Moremi Ajaasoro ’ in conjunction with MUSON. Set in the ancient kingdom of Ile-Ife, the play narrates the brave sacrifice of a young woman’s undying love for her husband and his people.

Originally from Offa, Moremi’s heart easily warmed to the people of Ile-Ife. The play is plotted on the premises of the tragedy that plagued Moremi after she discovered the secrets of the Ugbo people who raided and terrorized the people of IleIfe. The revelation of their secret weaponry by Moremi led to their defeat. Though warned by her beloved husband, Oranmiyan not to carry out her espionage plans, Moremi sought the help of the gods with a promise to make a costly sacrifice if victorious. She allowed herself to be captured by the Ugbo warriors during one of their raids and would later be the wife of the king of Igbo.

After the people of Ile-Ife conquered their longtime enemies, Moremi returned to the Esimirin shrine to fulfil her promise to the gods. It never occurred to her that the gods would demand for her only son Ela. Thus, till date, Edi festival is celebrated in Ile-Ife as a hopeful wish that Ela, the son of Moremi would return someday to reap the fruits of her labour. Shown at the MUSON centre recently, Renegade theatre’s efforts to celebrate one of the festival deities in the Yoruba kingdom was not a complete waste as the play lived up to its expectations.

The stage was appropriately set in a traditional design, setting the mood for the audience to travel back in time and relive the sacrifices made by a courageous woman. The transition from each scene was seamless carrying the audience along in its crescendo pace.

Starting off with the rabble rouser played by Precious Anyanwu who bickered endlessly to the annoyance of his fellow soldiers, was a bit lengthy and could have been boring if not for the quick

spirits who could not be defeated, not until Moremi returned with the secrets of the Ugbo marauders. This clearly depicts the fearful nature of mankind caused by naivety sometimes.

Renegade theatre’s efforts to celebrate one of the festival deities in the Yoruba kingdom was not a complete waste as the play lived up to its expectations

,

into the battle field where she could easily be captured by the invisible Ugbo raiders. The audience was left to their imagination on how the Ugbo raiders defeated the people of Ile-Ife as only cries of defeat and victory could be heard, accompanied by vibrant dancing or mournful singing.

Oranmiyan (Rotimi Fakunle), Moremi’s husband on the other hand was a gentle warrior. Though very loving, he was highly strict and exudes this when he reprimanded Ajike for allowing his queen to leave the palace unguarded.

He was a loving husband to his

wife and a fearless commander in the battle field.

However, a weaker character in the cast was the king of Ugbo played by Austine Onuoha. As a terror to the people of Ile-Ife, one expected a very callous being or intimidating character.

Despite this, he was still able to play his part well in his gentle manner.

The play drew themes from friendship, loyalty, sacrifice and ignorance as well. The people of Ile-Ife were mystified by the mask wearing of the Ugbo people, assuming that they were

jike’s demise in the play was a very touchy one and rendered justice to the subject matter: love and sacrifice. In an attempt to save her friend from being caught by the Ugbo soldiers, Ajike had to stay back in the palace, pretending to be Moremi while her friend escaped to her beloved land, Ile-ife.

Another interesting feature of the cast are the Ile-Ife citizens. The synergy exuded by these characters was simply impeccable. They really executed the traditional approach of the director through their protestations and victory chanting. The music and dance performances by these characters were entertaining to say the least.

As much as the cumulative scenes reached its peak with the defeat of the Ugbo raiders after Moremi’s return to IleIfe, the narrator quickly snatched this feeling of happily -ever-after by announcing Moremi’s promise to Esimirin. A gleeful Moremi is seen dancing excitedly in the shrine as she presents gifts to the gods in appreciation of her victory only to be reminded of the demand of Esimirin of something very dear to her through a playback if she returns successfully from her sojourn. A heartbroken Moremi is consoled by her fellow women as she watched painfully as her only son Ela, is being kidnapped by the servant of death to Esimirin.

This provoked a feeling of compassion and pity from the audience, and served as a wicked reminder of the wishes of mankind and the costly price they have to pay.

On Monument day, FG seeks support for heritage preservation

BY CALEB AYANSINA NITED Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) set aside April 18 of every year, as the International Day for Monuments and Sites with the sole aim of raising awareness about the diversity and vulnerability of the world’s built monuments and heritage sites, and the efforts required to protect and conserve them.

The theme for this year celebration; ‘The Heritage of Education ‘ compels the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) to focus on built heritage

U

that have contributed to the development of education through various forms of learning and academic archival institutions such as schools, universities and libraries.

The celebration in Nigeria featured the pictorial exhibition that focused on six prominent and earliest educational institutions from the six geo-political zones of the country.

Therefore, the need to ensure proper maintenance of these institutions compelled the Federal Government to call on corporate bodies as well as individuals to join hands in creating awareness for monuments conservation and sites preservation.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 51

Kakadu: The musical narrative of Nigeria’s past

A dramatic display by the cast during the preview of Kakadu

I

T is going to be an all round entertainment for lovers of theatre, dance, drama and music, especially lovers of old high life tunes as Playhouse Initiative led by Uche Nwokedi is set to relive past musical glory with Kakadu-The Musical, a unique dance drama that captures the real essence of old Lagos night life when people from different ethnic groups converged and enjoyed with one another.

According to the organisers ‘“KAKADU the Musical” is Nigeria’s story in a nutshell. Set in the famous Lagos night club of the sixties, named Kakadu- a place where all the musical greats of Nigeria performed at one time, or the other.

Infinite possibilities

‘Kakadu the Musical is a

metaphor for Nigeria at ‘’a time when the possibilities were infinite”. It is a story told through both the drama of the period and the “lens” of the music of the time.” The dance drama which is coming at the right time with a

,

By JAPHET ALAKAM

MUSON, Lagos.

The story line is simple, set in the popular Lagos night club of the sixties, called Kakadu located in Alagomeji area of Yaba, which is the hub of the social life where people who love life would meet

The story line is simple, set in the popular Lagos night club of the sixties, called Kakadu located in Alagomeji area of Yaba, which is the hub of the social life where people who love life would meet

lot of lessons, is produced by Uche Nwokedi and directed by Kanayo Omo of the Black Wing productions.

The play is scheduled to premieres on Thursday May 9 2013 at the AGIP Recital Hall,

,

in the evenings to gossip, drink, eat and generally discuss the Nigeria of their dream.

It was a place many great minds shared their optimism for a greater Nigeria. It is the soul and night life of Lagos and it

represents the vision and dream of the country where everyone that comes to Lagos from different places and background go to at some point to be initiated into Lagos, or qualify to become a Lagosian. It is a place of pilgrimage and it served that purpose until the war broke and Kakadu never recovers.

The well researched play features a cast strength of about 60, made up of professional and upcoming artists. They include Nobert Young, Tina Mba, Haji Bello, Zara Udofia Ejor and other upcoming artists. In Kakadu: The Musical, which can be seen as the first creative work of its kind judging from its quality, the audience will see and experience a skilful conflation of the postindependence Nigeria in the 1960s serenaded by an oppositely historical multi-genre repertoire of music, dance and

drama from Nigeria and the Diaspora .

It is a well rounded play and the story line can be described as the ideal artistic outing that the country deserves at this time when the unity of the country is threatened due to activities of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram and other ethnic militias.

It reflects some of the core elements the country have lost like love , peace, our innocence, communal life, unity, while urging the present leaders to think about them.

With great music in the backdrop, the audience is billed to take a journey into the life of multi-ethnic Nigeria which constitute a bulk of the cast just as it is a representation of the core message of the unity in diversity.

Kakadu is not just a musical play, it is a musical journey that tells

Group lauds Mutu

A

Niger Delta pressure group, Delta Force M o v e m e n t Worldwide,DFMW, has vowed support for the re-election bid of Hon. Nicholas Mutu whom the body held out as “a model for democracy dividends delivery”.

In a statement, Comrades Ebigba Omoun and Prince Nelson Gomeromo, President and Secretary-General, respectively, said DFMW was impressed by the roads, water, electricity projects and the scholarship scheme influenced/sponsored by Hon. Mutu, reportedly eyeing re-

election as member representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency.

The group urged political office holders like the Ministers for Niger Delta Affairs and Petroleum Minister, Elder Godsday Orubebe and Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke respectively to strive to satisfy the people’s yearnings to enhance their standard of living.

“We urge politicians of Niger Delta stock to beware of the Arab spring. We cannot tolerate any longer the era of economic genocide on the people with impunity!”, the group warned.

Nigerian shines at International Theatre Festival in Sudan

I

T was a moment of glory for Nigeria as young Mr. Charles Okeoghene Etubiebi put up a superlative stage performance at an international theatre festival that recently took place in Sudan, East Africa, to emerge the overall best male actor of the festival.

The festival known as the Al Bugaa International Theatre Festival which was organized in collaboration with the International Theatre Institute (ITI), Paris, took place from March27 (World Theatre Day) to April 4 in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

At the event, drama troupes from over seven countries including the USA and Egypt participated at the festival. The three-man Nigerian troupe, privately sponsored, known as Theatre Emissary and led by Mr. Taiwo Afolabi presented a

play titled, “Two Characters Undefined”.

The Nigerian Ambassador to Sudan, Haliru Sodongi Shuaibi was glad to receive the Nigeria troupe on their arrival in the Sudanese capital.

Journey of life “Two Characters Undefined” is an absurdist play written by Paul Ugbede, a young Nigerian playwrite. The play tells the story of two characters, Ratty (played by Charles Okeoghene Etubiebi) and Phil (played by Samson OKlobia).

They are supposed to be on a journey of life but somehow, they both cannot go through the door standing between them and their future. Not that they cannot actually go through the door, but they are

being distracted . Ratty is busy trying to catch his shadow while Phil is busy fiddling with plenty of empty cans he is carrying.

According to Afolabi, who is the artistic director of Theatre Emissary, the play reflects the thematic concept that is full of life and humor just as it captures with imageries, the reality of our existence.

A Nigerian, Tayo Hamzat, working with an international organization in Khartoum who was at the Al Bugaa festival, commenting on the internet, described the Nigerian presentation as an epic play that should be performed around the world. “These young Nigerian actors are a bundle of talents that people all around the world should see,” he said.

The performance of Theatre Emissary was so captivating that in spite of the language

barrier, the largely Arabic audience that watched the play was so thrilled and overwhelmed with excitement.

The Al Bugaa award winner,

Charles Etubiebi, who hails from Delta State is a theatre arts graduate of the University of Jos, Plateau State.

Recipient of the award in a group photograph with Nigerian ambassador to Sudan

52, SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE

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

Luxury bus emergency exits : A call on FRSC Dear Sir,

W

HEN accidents occur on our roads, some factors impede the attempts to rescue lives.

There are several factors militating against rescue operations but these two factors stated below.

One of the factors is non use of emergency exits. My heart bled profusedly as I watched the picture of an accident along Benin\Ore road recently involving a luxury bus and others where the bus was burnt to ashes together with the passengers therein; 80 humans were burnt beyond recognition. The most painful aspect is that these people could be have been saved, but people stood by and watched helplessly as their fellow humans were reduced to ashes within minutes.

The manufacturers of these buses made about four emergency exits,but over the years that I’ve travelled in these luxury buses, nobody has ever bothered to show the passengers how the doors are opened to evacuate people during accidents. The bus companies, their drivers and conductors deliberately ignore this allimportant duty they owe their passengers, and allow lives to be wasted time and time again.They know what to do but for whatever reason

known to them they refuse, and the authorities who, fortunately or otherwise do not use the buses, but see the destruction of lives on our roads, as usual, look the other way.

I call on the FRSC to make it mandatory for all luxury buses to demonstrate the use of the exits before each bus takes off.

Another problem hindering rescue

operation is construction of iron bars across bus windows This makes rescue operation very difficult during accidents. Our buses are turned to cages with iron rods.

When serious accidents occur and people are trapped inside, all openings in the bus are used to pull victims out; but the bus owners weld iron rods across the bus windows thereby

making it impossible to break through the windows and rescue victims.

This is a clarion call on the Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC), to please take necessary steps to urgently address the above issues to bring unnecessary destruction of lives to an end.

Nathaniel Ngerem ngeremnath@yahoo.com

DELSUTH is strong, patients' friendly Dear Sir,

W

E wish to refer to some media report that the Delta State University Teaching Hospital is dying and state that the entire story was the figment of the writer's imagination.

In as much as we cannot speak for the hospital,we as stakeholders in the teaching hospital, hereby debunk the alleged non-chalant attitude of the staff. A visit to the hospital will show that the new hospital is progressing rapidly with the state-of-the-art equipment which are adequately and effectively operated by the staff of the hospital.

It is the normal practice the world

over that the different clinics within a standard hospital have visiting days apart from the emergency wards that can also call doctors who are not on duty.

In an establishment as big as DELSUTH,management meeting are prerequisite for best management of the hospital. This is to ensure that best practices are observed instead of a one man show management style. It is a cheap blackmail or media misinformation to say that because management meetings are held to chart the way forward address the challenges facing the hospital, then patients are abandoned. The hospital has feedback boxes where complaints can be sent to the management. So we feel that if there was a genuine

observation, it would have been routed through it instead of indulging in media propaganda for a hidden agenda.

Finally, we declare our total support to the management of the hospital led by the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Leslie Akporiaye and his chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Dr. Abraham Kevwe Inikori for their tireless efforts in managing the young and the dynamic medical professionals, other staff and the sophisticated equipment provided by the government of Delta State for the advancement of the hospital.

Comrade Sylvester Ogunge, Sapele, Delta State

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013, PAGE 53

VIEWPOINT

BY RASHEED OJIKUTU

T

HESE are indeed hard times for the nation. At no other time in its chequered history has it become so glaring that the country’s knees could buckle at the slightest push. From 1960 to date, the political class has demonstrated immense irresponsibility towards the wellbeing of the nation with dire consequences as are witnessed in all facets of our national life today.

The soothing balm to our self –inflicted wound may not come from realignment of political forces whose aims and objectives are for expansion of politico-economic empire rather than the collective comfort of the people of Nigeria. It is worse to know that we are wanting in the midst of abundance and thirsty despite the fact that we are submerged. It is more damning to know that, for inexplicable reasons, we refused to imbibe the myriads of solutions to our problems and instead chose to continue to tread dangerously the path of self-destruction. In Nigeria, followers are bad, leaders are worse.

Though the focus is on the Federal Government, we all know that there are at least

In search of leadership seven political parties running the affairs of Nigeria almost independently at one level or the other, yet, there is no state in the country that has been transformed enough since 1999 ( a period of fourteen years) to give adequate comfort to its people. The PDP, ACN, APGA, ANPP, CPC,LABOUR are all like psychiatric patients with incurable brain wave. Each of them is bedevilled by bickering, internal strife and rancour to the extent that one would wonder if the curse of the ‘towering Babel ‘ is not being re-enacted in every facet of our national life. Our external debt is skyrocketing due to the mismanagement of funds by the states rather than the Federal Government.

People, through unreasonable demand borne out of sheer ignorance, make governance difficult while leaders take delight in the naivety of the followers to institutionalize ignorance, poverty, hunger and general mental enslavement of the people. Our national psyche is better appreciated on our roads as everybody tries to rush home on time thereby preventing all from getting home on time. The

Nigerian people, like the buffalo and zebra in the forest, are very many, yet few lions devour them individually because of their indifference to the plight of the present victim. Helpless, docile and stupid until the next victim is

,

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Nigerian followers are bad, leaders are worse

For a nation that is a century old, it is unthinkable that every approaching election would signal a threat to its existence

,

mauled and consumed by the lion. The cycle continues with no hope in sight that the families of the buffalo or zebra will

appreciate the fact that it is not sufficient to walk together on the field but that each individual could only survive by showing concern about the plight of a neighbour, an act that would lead to collective survival strategy. Nigerian leaders, like the lions, are conscious of these facts and, therefore, act with impunity knowing that the people are a breed of toothless bulldogs.

For a nation that is a century old, it is unthinkable that every approaching election would signal a threat to its existence.

After 1999, we were told that 2003 would see to the breakup of the country, same was re-enacted in 2007, 2011 and now 2015. The indication in all these is that there is yet a nation called Nigeria because if a nation is so fragile that its existence is easily negotiable, then such a nation should go back to the drawing board.

Unfortunately, we know the solutions. We know that we cannot continue to survive as a nation if we refuse to re-negotiate the structure of the nation and its government.

Our leaders refuse to let us grow as they instil fear into us on every issue that is taken for granted in other countries. We

cannot hold referendum because ‘it would break the nation’. We cannot have state police because ‘it will break up Nigeria’. We cannot have a conference of ethnic nationalities because ‘it will break the nation’. We cannot even redraw our own constitution because of its capability of dividing us. Worse still, we cannot refine our own constitution.

Despite the acknowledgement by all and sundry that we run one of the most expensive governments in the world, our leaders refuse to permit a change of system to one that will refresh the tired body of the nation.. In other words, the tales of woes continue unabated while those who feel cheated and short changed unleash terror on the land to drive home the point that nobody is a monopolist of violence. Be it psychological violence, as waged on the people by governments at all levels, or physical, as waged by Boko Haram, MEND, Delta Frontier Force e.t.c., religious institutions litter the face of the country with godlessness adjacent.

Like babies crying for attention, leaders, from time to time, deliberately fuel tension and overheat the polity with unguarded utterances that are capable of being tried as treason. In these entire melees, the ordinary Nigerian forges ahead as if nothing is amiss, waiting like the children of Israel for the Messiah.

*Ojikutu a professor, is of University of Lagos Faculty of Business Administration.

54 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 5, 2013

I

F there is one thing that gives me joy since I started sports journalism, it is meeting and interacting with three of the most successful members of the Green Eagles squad of the late 70s and early 80s who have gone ahead to carve a niche for themselves in Nigeria.

These men are Barrister Adokie Amiesimaka, Chief Patrick Ekeji and Chief Segun Odegbami who made their name as members of the Green Eagles of that era. I admire them mostly because after their career in the Eagles, they went ahead to succeed where most of their predecessors and contemporaries failed.

The reason being because they backed their football skills with education, which is the key to development as an individual or as a nation.

Take Amiesimaka, for example he was not only a successful player, winning the Nations Cup in 1980, he became a football administrator with Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt. Outside football, he was one time Attorney General and

Great Eagles they all are Commissioner for Justice in his native Rivers State.

As a football administrator, he had problems with those running the game at the national level because of his knack for saying the truth and unearthing every anomaly he notices. His stand on the use of over aged players for age grade competitions has earned him abuses from the impostors running our game all the time. As a private man he runs a successful business.

Chief Ekeji, who also played alongside Amiesimaka and Odegbami did however, not make the final team that won the 1980 Nations Cup, not because he was not good enough to make the team but for another reason outside of the pitch. A victim of trying to help students of the NIS with his knowledge of the

game in the classroom, I learnt.

After his playing career, Chief Ekeji didn’t stop reading and today he holds a Masters degree and a Ph.D, all in sports management related courses. This, no doubt, helped him a great deal as an administrator of repute who was clearly misunderstood by those who chose to hate him.Till date, he holds the record of being the only sports man or woman to have risen to the zenith of sports administration, becoming the Director General of the National Sports Commission, a position he retired from last month.

To appreciate his effort to revive Nigeria’s sports he met at almost comatose level, he was last week given a grand retirement reception in Ilorin by the Ministry of

Sports under the leadership of debonair minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who praised him and appealed to Ekeji to put his experiences in a book form for posterity.

The minister, who is also the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, NSC is now shopping for a good replacement for Chief Ekeji so that the plan the NSC has put in place to move sports to the next level does not go down the drain.

Next is my name sake and one whose magical feet and mastery of football earned him the sobriquet ‘Mathematical’ from ace commentator, late Ernest Okonkwo.

Chief Patrick Olusegun Odegbami is a name that rings a bell except in the ears of his detractors who have laboured over the years to undermine his achievement and prevent him from contributing to the progress and development of the game of football.

He contributed im-

mensely to Nigeria winning her first Nations Cup in 1980. An engineer by profession, Chief Odegbami who is also a writer and poet, has also contributed to football managerially through Shooting Stars of Ibadan and was a one time member of the NFA Board. Again, he too was misunderstood by those whose interest is purely for the gains they can make rather than the growth of football.

When his ideas were not being accepted and he was also blocked from becoming Chairman of the NFA in order to add value to Nigeria’s football, he withdrew into his cocoon, to do what he can to help football and footballers. Today, he runs a football school and together with NNPC and Shell, organises grassroot football through the NNPC/Shell Cup for Secondary Schools from where talents are churned out yearly.

Only last Thursday in Lagos, Chief Odegbami

added another feather to his cap, launching a book, Me, Football and More.

He has put down his experiences that could help propel Nigeria’s football to the desired level. No wonder, respected industrialist, Chief Gamaliel Onosode spoke eloquently about Odegbami’s attributes as a good footballer and one who can add more value to football in Nigeria at the ceremony. When people who are stakeholders of the game said so, the impostors called them names. Now an outsider in Onosode has said it again but will they listen?

These three Nigerians I have discussed here are the pride of the game of football and sports in general. They are very much available for Nigeria to benefit from. Enough of recycling mediocres to satisfy the greed of a few Nigerians. They are still strong to be given one or two things to do, either for sports or other sectors of the Nigerian economy. I may be misunderstood again but I have said my mind and I hope Nigeria listens.

Resolve LMC, league clubs row now, Usman tells NFF

BY EDDIE AKALONU

F

ORMER Nigeria Football League, NFL board-member, Sani Usman has called on the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF to quickly resolve niggling conflict between clubs and the Nigeria League management Company.

He made the call on the heels of failed attempts at forging an agreement between the club owners and the management committee.

Alhaji Usman, who was also a past chairman of premier side, Kano Pillars reminded NFF of the need to invoke it’s rules in a manner that is reasonable, stating that, “if an NFF action is the cause of current crisis rocking football, for sake of peace, let NFF retrace it’s steps to calm nerves, in addition to ensuring smooth running of the game, mutual understanding and for progress. Role conflict in management of the Nigeria professional league is the issue, as restive club managers and proprietors have raised arguments

against the legality of the top hierarchy called LMC.” Continuing, The former NFL boardmember,who advised parties to the dispute not to under-estimate or overlook issues raised on all sides. He took a guess into why acrimony runs in the veins of parties.

“Obviously, there are people in the LMC who the clubs see as alien to them in football affairs.

That is understandable.

But it beholds on NFF to do a good job of marketing it’s views and intentions to stakeholders in a manner not seen as an imposition. So. NFF should still continue process of dialogue with parties, listen to their grievances, sell it’s own position to those not convinced yet until it can find an acceptable solution,” he said.

Alhaji Sani observed there was a marked contrast in personnel and role between the current LMC board and then NFL board saying that “ it was the clubs who in 2003 in agreement with

NFA, and the honourable Minster, nominated the members who ensured the introduction of the Premier league in operation now. Clubs supported that board to succeed and that was why the premier league took off smoothly and stayed even to date.

“We need a board to run the league in the same manner that clubs must be there for the league to make reasonable sense and impact,” he said, adding “but such board in my view should be acceptable to the clubs for football to move to the next level.”

FIGHT TO FINISH … Nigeria Premier League action between Rangers and Warri Wolves. The management of the league has mired in controversy.

Lesh set for Children’s Day tennis

T

OWARDS boosting tennis development, management of Lesh Tennis Club has concluded plans for a one day kids tennis clinic at the University of Lagos Tennis Courts come May 27, 2013.

According to Segun Leshi who is the coordinator of the club said beside tennis for kids of

between 3 to 16 years, a lot of excitement would be available as they organize the programme tagged “catch them young” come May 27.

She said seasoned coaches would teach the young kids basics of tennis at Unilag sports complex courts.

“It is our own way of providing fun for tennis

kids on children’s day amidst good music and other entertainments,” began Segun Leshi who is a university of Lagos graduate and a product of the National Institution for Sports (NIS) Lagos.

“Tennis is a very special sport and kids exposed to it on time stand a bright chance of ruling

the tennis world. At Lesh tennis club, it is our resolve to discover and nurture such talents to star dom,” added Leshi who appealed to corporate groups to partner Lesh tennis club in shaping future tennis stars, she also confirmed that the Nigeria Tennis Federation is fully behind her dream of producing future tennis stars at tender age.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013 — PAGE 55

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MAY 5, 2013

Rangers crash out of CAF Champions League

R

ANGERS of Enugu yesterday failed to get the result that will send them into the group stages of the CAF Champions League as they fell 3-1 to Recreativo Libolo of Angola. Rangers needed a score draw, but their hopes were dimmed in the 17th

minute when Henry Camara put the hosts ahead with a free-kick. Libolo extended their lead in the 33rd minute with a strike

by Dario who was allowed too much space by the Rangers defenders.

However at the break Rangers fought back as

Masai makes hey at Okpekpe road race

Nations Cup hero, Sunday Mba who eventually made the trip pulled one back in the 57th minute.

All hopes by Rangers to equalise evaporated when Chibuzor Madu felled a goal-bound Libolo attacker Vado. Dario made no mistake from the spot.

“I am very happy with my performance against Recreativo and God crowned my effort with a great goal,” Mba said.

•Oshiomhole comes 131st

BY PATRICK OMORODION

K

ENYA’S Moses Masai made history as the first athlete to win the Okpekpe road race, which was held yesterday in Okpekpe, Edo State.

The 10km race, which was ran on a hilly and sandy course saw Masai returning the time of 29.

39 seconds to win the 10,000 dollars first prize.

He was tailed by Timothy Troitich of Uganda with 29.44 seconds while Yusuf Biwott of Kenya came third with 29.50 seconds.

In the Nigerian runners category, Lawrence Osheku came first to win the N100,000 at stake, Moses Edetanien was second, while Victor Yimlang was third. They won N75, 000 and N50,000 respectively.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State who also participated in the race alongside the Minister of Sports, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi and other VIPs including top Nollywood

actors came 131st with a time of 59 minutes, 3 seconds.

The Governor, against the advise by organisers to compete in the VIP race which covered only 2.5km ran the whole length of the 10,000 metres to the consternation of everyone.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Abdullahi expressed delight with the outcome of the race. He thanked the government of Edo State for the wonderful work they have done in rural development.

“I must commend you for the sincere energy and commitment which you have demonstrated and also for the vision of this event. We will continue to cherish the connection you have brought between rural development and sports and that falls squarely within our mission for mass participation in sports. I will continue to argue that it is not all the time that the purpose of sports is for medals or for podium success or global excellence,” he noted.

CHAMPION’S DELIGHT …. Moses Maisi, winner of the maiden Okpekpe road race enjoying the moment with sports journalists.

Man U. vs Chelsea: Fergie, Benitez in war of words T

HE long-running feud between Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson took a new twist when the Chelsea boss questioned if his rival had underachieved in Europe.

Benitez and Chelsea will attempt to win or at least snatch a point at Old Trafford where there will be a party mood with the United fans already celebrating the club’s 13th title under Fergie.

While Sir Alex was claiming the Spaniard has an obsession with his CV, the Chelsea boss aimed a shot towards Manchester when he posed the question:

Should United have done more in Europe?

While the Blues chief accepts United have been the “most consistent” side in the country this season he suggested they are not, by any means, the stand-out team.

And in a side-swipe towards the man he feels has publicly belittled him in almost a decade of rivalry, Benitez suggested the United boss has not translated his position of financial dominance into a record of European achievement.

“He’s a top manager and when you are with a top side and you have had more money than anyone for

RESULTS Norwich Swansea Tottenham West Brom West Ham QPR Valencia Granada Real Madrid Frankfurt Hannover Bremen Dortmund

1 0 1 2 0 0 4 1 4 3 2 2 1

Aston Villa Man City Southampton Wigan Newcastle Arsenal Osasuna Malaga Valladolid Dusseldorf Mainz Hoffenheim Bayern Munich

2 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 3 1 2 2 1

years then you can keep winning and you can keep talking.

“But when you play against another top side, in Europe, it’s always more difficult. Should United have done more in Europe? I don’t know. You have more experience than me in England. I think that it’s a top

side and a top manager and that’s it. We will leave it there.”

Asked if he had ever enjoyed a game against his old foe, Benitez swiftly recalled Liverpool’s 4-1 win at Old Trafford in 2009, before turning to the intensely personal nature of their difficult relationship.

Today’s Premiership matches ENGLAND Liverpool Man Utd SPAIN Mallorca Sevilla FC Barcelona

v v

Man City Chelsea

4pm 4pm

v v v

Levante Espanyol Real Betis

11pm 6pm 8pm

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. House of Reps Speaker (8) 5. Assistant (4) 7. Praise (5) 8. Upright (4) 9. Lantern (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 15. Exclamation (2) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 18. Agent (3) 20. Glitters (6) 24. Forward (5) 25. Nigerian state (6) 27. Boring tool (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 31. Perform (2) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 36. Vow (4) 38. Musical quality (4) 39. Inclination (5) 40. Eager (4) 41. Damages (8)

DOWN 1. Sample (5) 2. Niger state town (4) 3. Observe (5) 4. Lecture (6) 5. Everyone (3) 6. Use (6) 10. Inquires (4) 12. Carpet (3) 14. Colour (6) 15. Resistance unit (3) 17. Coax (4) 19. Rollicked (6) 21. Hatchet (3) 22. Satisfied (4) 23. Nigerian state (3) 26. Cry of derision (3) 27 . African country (6) 28. Endure (4) 29. Child (3) 30. Spoke (6) 31. Adorn (5) 33. Baking chambers (5) 35. Asterisk (4) 37. Possessed (3)

SOLUTION on page 15

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa.

Advert Dept: :01- 7924470; Hotline: 01- 4707189; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail website: sundayvanguard@yahoo.com, editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com. Advert:advert@vanguardngr.com.

Internet: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: JIDE AJANI. All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

C M Y K