State of the nation: OBJ, IBB reach out to past heads of state, others

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SUNDAY Vanguard , AUGUST 5, 2012

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PAGE 4—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

GENERAL SPEAKS TO GENERAL

Accept defeat, Abbe tells Airhiavbere

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM former Defense Min ister and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State General Godwin Abbe, yesterday, described the party’s decision to challenge the result of the just concluded governorship election in the state as unpopular.

The PDP chieftain, who spoke during an interview on the Independent Television, Benin City, admonished the candidate of his party, General

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Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (2nd left), Hon Patrick Obahiaghon (middle) and Prince Umoru Inusa-Umoru, Aidonogie of South-Ibie designate, during the governor's visit to Inusa-Umoru's palace recently.

Martins, Okogie’s successor: Pray God to make for me the shoes of my size

BY OLAYINKA LATONA progress and development of the church to continue.

He said that he has ISTORY was made confidence in God that yesterday at Catho- He will see him through. lic Archdiocese of Lagos “Please pray God to as Archbishop Alfred make for me shoes of my Adewale Martins was in- own size, so as to make stalled at the Holy Cross me walk well rather than Cathedral. He is the the shoes of my predefourth to be so consecrat- cessors which are extra ed. large for me to wear ”.

The installation, made The new Archbishop

by Archbishop Augustine urged all hands to be on Kasujja, the representa- deck and charged each tive of Pope Benedict one placed on the soil of XVI, was attended by Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, 30 bishops and Archbishops from various dioceses, hundreds of Catholic priest, among several other dignitaries.

IFE of the Governor In his speech, Kasujja of Ogun State, Mrs. urged the new Archbish- Olufunso Amosun, at Ibara op of Lagos not to rest his Prison Command, in oarse but rather continue Abeokuta identified with the good work from where innates and counselled his predecessor stopped. them to always look unto While delivering his ser- God no matter the situamon, the Archbishop of tion.

Benin City, Bishop AuAccording to her, prisons gustine Akubeze, ad- are meant to ensure rehavised Martins to contin- bilitation, reformation and ue from where his prede- reintegration of the innates cessor, Anthony Cardinal back into the society. “No Okogie, stopped. He matter the circumstance, advised the new Arch- we should not lose hope bishop to have faith and but look unto God”, Mrs. confidence in God, say- Amosun said. ing evangelisation work She explained that simin Lagos is challenging.. ilar visits were made by Speaking at the occa- members of the Spouses of sion, Martins called on Ogun State Government Nigerians to pray for him Functionaries Association to succeed in his new of- (SOSGFA) to prisons and fice. other less privileged Announcing that he homes in the state to eswholeheartedly accept tablish a relationship with the responsibility of his the less privileged and new appointment, Marknow how they could be tins called on all faithful assisted. in the Archdiocese to “Our visit is not a carniwork in harmony and val jamboree and it is not unity with him for the

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the church to do something new and extraordinary for the growth of the Archdiocese.

Why I confronted govt — Okogie The former Archdiocesan Bishop, Okogie, in his remarks, expressed appreciation to the church members for their cooperation in the 39 years he spent as the Archbishop of Lagos.

The cleric explained

that he was confrontational with the civil authorities because they failed to discharge their responsibilities to the masses, especially the poor. Okogie said that he wanted to ensure that government give good governance to the masses.

He thanked the civilian administration for returning mission schools which were taken over by the military in the 1970s.

Charles Airhiavbere, to accept the outcome of the election and support Governor Adams Oshiomhole in providing dividends of democracy to the people of Edo State. Abbe, who described the election as one of the most credible in the history of the country, urged his party members to work towards future elections by ensuring unity in the PDP. The former minister, speaking on telephone from the United States, where, according to him, he is receiving medical check up, stated: “I was told my party had gone to court to challenge the governorship election. You see, I just want to advise that my brother Charles Airhiavbere should join

Tambuwa, NSA in Sokoto over bomb attack

BY ABDALLAH E-KUREBE PEAKER of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, says the hitherto peaceful nature of Sokoto has been tampered with by the recent bomb attack launched by suicide bombers at the Zone 10 police headquarters.

He made the assertion

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High number of prison inmates alarms Amosun’s wife W going to be a one-off thing, rather it is an opportunity for us to assess the situation on ground across the less privileged places in the state.”

She expressed concerns over the alarming number of innates waiting trial and promised to highlight this fact to the governor in order to bring succour to needy innates.

“We have responsibilities to assist our innates.

It is alarming to know that out of 757 innates at Ibara Prison Command, 537 innates are on awaiting trial list,” she said.

‘Why we need ICT in school curricula’

BY CALEB ANANSINA non-governmental organization known as Basic Information and Communication System (BCIS-NIIT) has pledged to provide necessary support for the successful implementation of the proposed Federal Government Rural Information Technology Centres to be built across the country, just as it advocated the inclusion of information communication technology (ICT) in primary and secondary school curricula.

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The General Manager of BCIS-NIIT, Halima Umar, who spoke on the organization’s 13th scholarship programme in Abuja, noted that skill acquisition is the only antidote to youth unemployment in Nigeria and it could be acquired through ICT. She said, already the organization was providing scholarship for over ten million Nigerians across the federation on ICT, to enhance the government’s initiatives on job creation.

Umar expressed readiness of the body to partner with govern-

hands with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to build our state, while I also advise him to start working towards 2016.

“If anybody advises my party and Charles about the petition to tribunal, it is uncalled for, because the election has been adjudged the fairest and freest in recent times in this country”.

In a related development, the member representing Orhiomwon II constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Patrick Aisowieren, also advised the PDP candidate in the Edo gubernatorial poll to join hands with the Action Congress of Nigeria and Oshiomhole in building a new state.

ment to improve the capacity of its workforce, especially the Ministry of Women Affairs to ensure more participation of female in ICT programme across the country.

According to her, “What we are doing is to support and encouraging government in setting up the capacity building centers and Rural Information Centres, to bring ICT education to the grassroots.

We know that the future of tomorrow lies in technology.”

yesterday when he led a delegation of the National Assembly members from Sokoto and the National Security Adviser to President Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki to government to commiserate with the government and people of the state.

According to the Speaker, “We are all concerned and worried about how the hitherto peaceful nature of Sokoto was tampered with by the attack. The incident is very unfortunate.”

Ondo 2012: ‘The PDP candidate has edge’ HIEFTAIN of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State, Chief Fredrick Lijoka Ayodele, has urged the people of the state to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Ayodele, who hails from Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state, in a chat with journalists, yesterday, stated that the people of Ondo are tired of labouring in vain, assuring that the PDP big umbrella is very much open to cover all of them. According to him, the only developmental projects the Ondo people are enjoying today are the ones instituted by the PDP administration led by Olusegun Agagu as governor. He added that the PDP is challenging the Labour Party to tell the world what it has done in Ondo for the past three and a half years.

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012 — PAGE 5

On impeachment threat we stand —Reps

BY SONI DANIEL & DEMOLA AKINYEMI

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The newly wedded couple Mr & Mrs Kayode Awogboro flanked by the brides parents Chief & Mrs Oscar Ibru, during the traditional marriage ceremony between former Miss Makashe Ibru,daughter of Chief & Mrs Oscar Ibru and Kayode Awogboro, son of Chief and Mrs. Oluwole Awogboro at the TBS, Lagos. Photo: Shola Oyelese.

ESPITE spirited efforts by the Executive to douse rising tension over the shoddy implementation of the 2012 budget, the House of Representatives insists that its resolution on the Appropriation Act stands.

The House, at its plenary on July 19, 2012, resolved to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan if his administration does not achieve 100 percent implementation of the budget by September.

Rattled by the action, the executive arm of government has engaged in moves to appease the lawmakers, including the latest attempt by the Aviation Minister to ferry some of the lawmakers abroad on investment tour, which they promptly rejected.

Speaking Sunday Vanguard, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, insisted that its July 19, resolution had not changed despite the explanations by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

OBJ, IBB reach out to past heads of state Continued from page 1

be extended to cover other national leaders of thought in the country.

Though Sunday Vanguard was not told the modalities that would be used to “determine how the leaders of thought would be selected”, it was nonetheless suggested that “both men are reaching across the broad spectrum of Nigeria’s leadership cadre with a view to finding lasting solutions to the plethora of highly combustible issues confronting the present administration”.

Possibly, according to what was suggested by information made available by a very dependable source close to both men, the inaugural meeting of the leaders, expected to hold immediately after this month of Ramadan, “may crystallize into a new body whose mandate would go beyond solving the immediate challenges confronting Nigeria”.

AKINYEMI ON NATIONAL EMINENT PERSONS GROUP, NEPG Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, had told Sunday Vanguard in September 2010, at

the height of the zoning crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that “time has become ripe for Nigeria to have a NATIONAL EMINENT PERSONS GROUP, NEPG”.

According to Akinyemi, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard again yesterday, “The proposal I made in 2010 is today very much relevant because the time has come for Nigeria to have such a body. You would recall that in an interview with you in May, I reminded you of the same idea which would go a long way to help resolve some of the problems confronting the government of the day; as well as some of the perennial challenges that are becoming a part of Nigeria’s crises-laden life”.

He continued: “Such a body would be completely apolitical and would operate separately and distinctly from the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATES, NCS. In the NCS, you have state governors and past leaders some of whom have openly shown their preference for political platforms and as such, some of the arguments and discussions aat the NCS would likely be shaped by party positions.

“But a NATIONAL EMINENT

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PERSONS GROUP would be constituted in such a way that political cleavages would not be brought in since almost all the leaders in such a body would not be known to have political affiliations. These leaders would also be the ones to go back to their respective communities to preach peace as well and give a feed back to the body on the potential issues that are likely going to create larger national crises. Though it would be advisory, such a body is likely to go very far because it would be divorced from the day to day politicking that seems to becloud everything we try to do in this country”.

On Obasanjo and Babangida’s peace initiative, Professor Akinyemi said “any initiative at a time like this for peace to reign in the country makes a lot of sense”.

WHY PEACE MOVE MAY HIT BRICK WALL In separate interviews with some national leaders, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that whereas the move initiated by Obasanjo and Babangida is a welcome one at a time of national crises like this, the “down side is that it did not enjoy broad consensus”.

A two-time minister from North West Nigeria, who insisted on talking on condition of anonymity, said: “I think both men know what they are trying to do but they should have involved past leaders like General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, Ernest Shonekan and General Abdulsalam Abubakar. If they had collectively issued that statement of last Sunday, it would have carried more weight.

“The two leaders are known members of the PDP. “One had served for eight years as President while the other attempted to get the party ’s ticket on two separate occasions. Now, when the two men come out to issue a statement on the state of the nation and the need for peace, is it not their party that is at the centre of governance? The roles of the two men while they were leaders, when looked into critically, can not be divorced in any way – just as roles played by all past leaders - from the present

state of affairs in the country”.

Another very vocal Second Republic legislator told Sunday Vanguard that “they should have broadened the scope of their move. It would sound funny if you now begin to say Buhari or Shagari has joined forces with both men to seek peace.

BROADENING OF SCOPE As if mindful of the sentiments voiced by those concerned about the stature of Obasanjo and Babangida, a source close to both men said: “Moves are already on and contact being made with past leaders.

“Both leaders know that the challenges confronting Nigeria today require all hands to be on deck and they suggested that in their statement of last Sunday.

“Yes, a tree can not make a forest and that is why they are also reaching out. What is wrong in a peace initiative? This is Nigeria and whatever people do, some are bound to find faults.

The country needs all hands to be on deck now”.

Last Sunday, both former presidents had issued a statement raising concerns about the state of the nation and all but said the present administration was clueless. They advised that President Goodluck Jonathan should scale up his efforts (SEE STORY OF THE WEEK).

Mohammed said that since the resolution was adopted at plenary, another resolution was needed to change the position of the lawmakers.

The House spokesman said, “One thing is very clear from all the things they have said: the budget has been abysmally implemented and we are not happy about it.

“It is alright for some to say that we have soft pedaled on the matter but let them wait for our members to resume. No member of the House can override a resolution and there is nothing anyone can do until another resolution is adopted on the matter.”

The Senate also summoned the finance minister and grilled her for over three hours last Thursday on the budget implementation.

But what appeared as a reprieve came the way of the minister when Senate President David Mark declared that the ‘rift’ between the lawmakers and the executive had been exaggerated and called for restraint.

Mark said what the ordinary Nigerian needs is food on his table and not the percentage of budget implementation.

We are guiding the executive – Mustapher Meanwhile the ViceChairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Up stream), Hon. Moshood Mustapha, who represents Ilorin West/Asa federal constituency, says the legislature was only guiding the executive on how the budget should be implemented in issuing the impeachment threat, adding that budget implementation should not be selective.

Mustapha, who said that party affiliation and legislative duties should be separated, explained that PDP members in the National Assembly were not out to rock the boat “but to ensure that already budgeted infrastructure and projects in their respective constituencies are executed by the executive”.

On the security challenges facing the county, he said that the Boko Haram insurgency is a domestic problem that is alien to the country, saying that the problem should be solved by Nigerians t h e m s e l v e s .

While advocating dialogue to resolve the imbroglio, the legislator cautioned Nigerians against making inflammatory statements on the issue, “so that the present security problem does not lead to disintegration”.

PDP to reconcile OBJ, Anenih, Gbenga Daniel, others

BY HENRY UMORU

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ETERMINED to save the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from its crises, the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has set in motion plans to reconcile two former Chairmen of Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Tony Anenih.

Tukur will also mediate between Obasanjo, ex- Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and other stake holders in Ogun who had disagreement ahead of the 2011 PDP primary election and subsequently the gubernatorial election that eventually led to the emergence of Senator Ibikunle Amosun of the Action Congress of Nigeria,

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Speaking with journalists, in Abuja, yesterday, the PDP boss disclosed that the party will, immediately after the Ramadan fast, begin what he termed a reconciliation tour of the six geopolitical zones of the Federation.

According to him, during the tour, the party will use as its ‘ Bible’ the recommendations of Dr. Alex Ekwueme’ Committee on peace and reconciliation. The report had recommended that the party should embrace all the members who left the PDP for one reason or the other over the years for peace to reign in the PDP and, by extension, the country.

He explained that the move was

Continues on page 6

PAGE 6—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Pirates attack ship off Nigeria, kidnap four foreigners

BY TONY NWANKWO, WITH AGENCY REPORTS

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Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State(left), during the inspection of the proposed Agulu Lake Resort with Arc. Innocent Okpanun.

IRATES attacked a ship being used by an oil servicing company in the waters off southeastern Nigeria yesterday, killing two Nigerian naval guards and kidnapping four foreigners, the Navy and the boat’s shipping firm said.

“An oil servicing company was attacked by gunmen. We lost two of our men and four expatriates were abducted, one Malaysian, one Iranian,” Navy spokesman Commodore Kabir Aliyu said, adding that a Thai and an Indonesian were also taken.

He said the attack took place around 33 nautical

miles off the coast of Bonny, Nigeria’s main oil export terminal.

Netherlands-based Sea Trucks Group, whose boat Jascon was attacked, confirmed that four of its staff had been seized and that two other security guards were also wounded

Ayo Babalola University part time students change status

BY DAYO JOHNSON

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OSEPH Ayo B a b a l o l a University (JABU)

Evah condoles with Uduaghan over mother-in-law’s death

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The site of a collapsed three-story building at 4 Ekere Street in Rumubiakani, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke

OORDINATOR of Ijaw Monitoring Group, IMG, Comrade Joseph Evah, has condoled with Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan on the death of his mother-n-law, Madam Rebecca Ayomike.

The Ijaw leader, in a condolence message,

Lagos harps on voluntary compliance with new road traffic law .

Outlaws “Agberos” at motorparks

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI AND MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

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ARELY 48 hours after Governor B a b a t u n d e Fashola of Lagos State signed the new road traffic law, in the renewed effort to ensure sanity on roads, the state government has placed a ban on the activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, particularly, motor park touts across the state.

Similarly, the state government, while appealing to motorists and other road users to comply with the new traffic law without being forced, vowed to commence an aggressive enforcement on motorists and other road users not authorized to use sirens in the state.

While making further clarification on the new road traffic law at an interministerial press briefing at Alausa, Ikeja, at the weekend, the state Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, said the transport union activities had been restricted to offices and no longer on the roads.

Also at the briefing were the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice,

Ade Ipaye, and other senior ranking officers in the Ministry of Transportation.

Opeifa explained that the decision to have proper traffic management was to ensure safety of residents in the state, hence the need for motorists and other road

users to comply with the regulations voluntarily without any course for enforcement in their own interest. He affirmed that the aim of the state government was not to make it a money making

venture but the need to protect lives and property of the innocent citizens.

According to Opeifa, collection of tolls from motorists along the road and bus stops by any union had also been regulated.

in the attack.

“The two remaining injured security personnel are now in Port Harcourt hospital for treatment,” spokeswoman Corrie van Kessel said in a statement.

“Sea Trucks Group is making every effort to find out where the kidnappers”.

described the death of Madam Ayomike as painful and a great loss not only to the entire Delta State.

“There is no doubt that Madam Rebecca’s death has left a vacuum in her immediate and extended family, especially at a time her daughter, the first lady relied on her godly counsel to formulate her pet programmes for the vulnerable and the underprivileged in our dear state”.

Comrade Evah, who was the publicity secretary of Ijaw National Congress, INC, urged the Delta State First Lady not to depart from the good counsel of her mother, adding that her late mother ’s exemplary life should continue to be a guide to her in her efforts to put smile in the faces of the less privileged in the state.

Ikeji Arakeji, Osun State has converted the over 3,600 students affected by the directive of the National University Commission (NUC) in its part time programmes to full time.

Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Sola Fajana, said that over 72 percent of the students had earlier been converted to full-time between March to April.

This they did by registering with JAMB for the conversion.

He however said those who were not able to register for one reason or the other would have their school fee r e f u n d e d .

Fajana said the university is equipped with standard infrastructure and committed to bringing a standard to education to save the future of the nation.

Speaking on the suspended license, the vice chancellor said an agreement had earlier been reached with the NUC that the students in the part-time programmes should be allowed to graduate before the programme is scrapped.

Ondo 2012: Mega Party Adopts Mimiko

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HE Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) has adopted Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the Labour Party candidate in the October 20th gubernatorial election in Ondo State, as its flag bearer for the election.

This was the high point of the SDMP’s state congress held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.The party said the decision was taken as a result of the monumental achievements recorded in the state by the incumbent governor.

According to a communiqué signed by the party ’s state chairman, Hon. Korede Duyile, and secretary, Mr Bayo Fajemilusi after the congress, the party promised to work at all levels towards the victory of Mimiko at the gubernatorial election without losing its identity.

Calling for the evolvement of a working relationship with Mimiko

and the Labour Party, the party applauded its efforts both at the state and national levels towards evolving a strong party capable of taking over the Federal government

through the ballot box soonest.

The congress noted and resolved that “bearing in mind the rate of development in the state in the last three and a half

years , there is need to cooperate with the incumbent Governor to ensure that the rate would not only continue but be improved upon”.

PDP to reconcile OBJ, Anenih, Gbenga Daniel, others Continued from page 5 designed to drive his programme of reconciliation of all members of the party which was unanimously adopted at the last meeting of the National Executive Committee of the PDP in Abuja.

Tukur, who noted that the membership of the tour will be drawn from the Board of Trustees (BOT), the National Working Committee and the High Powered Advisory Committee (HPAC),

inaugurated at Wadata House this year, said that each zone will be made up of nine members comprising three from the BOT, one from the NWC, three from the HPAC and two others.

Alsmost all the state chapters of the party have issues especially after the congresses where various executives emerged.

The party has pre and post congress crises in some states including Ogun where the party is split between Obasanjo and Gbenga Daniel

factions, while a raging crisis in Edo is between some members who are asking the Dan Orbih-led party to resign, alleging that he was the reason why the PDP lost the gubernatorial election to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of the ACN. Also in Anambra State, an Abuja High Court has sacked the Oguebigo-led state executive and ordered a fresh congress, while in Yobe, a High Court has directed the party to use its internal machinery to reconcile the party.

Delta Spor ts Commission boss loses mum

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ADAM Rebecca A y o m i k e (Alagbokun) is dead.

Madam Ayomike, who passed on last week, is the mother of Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick, Chairman, Delta State Sports Commission.

Funeral program starts on the 9 th at the First Baptist Church GRA Wa rri with final internment on the 12th .

Late Madam Rebecca Ayomike

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 7 INSTALLATION OF HIS GRACE, MOST REVEREND ALFRED ADEWALE MARTINS AS THE ARCHBISHOP OF LAGOS

From left: HRM Oba Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland; Prof. Barth Nnaji, Minister of Power & Steel, representing President Goodluck Jonathan; Archbishop Augustine Kasujja,Papal Nuncio to Nigeria; His Eminence Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos; His Grace, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of Lagos; President of Catholic Bishop of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama and Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos during the ceremony, yesterday. Photos by Biodun Ogunleye.

From right: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Dame Akran, representative of Mrs Bimbola Fashola and Prof. Barth Nnaji, Minister of Power & Steel, who r e p r e s e n t e d President Goodluck Jonathan.

Chief Molade Okoya Thomas (left) and HRM Oba Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland.

From right: Roy Gregg, Chief Mrs Nana Okunribido and Mrs Maria Aleladia.

From left: Past President, Rotary Club of Maryland, Ikeja, District 9110, Rotary International, Rotn. Austine Eneduwa-George, past president Olawale Akintunde, Charter president, Tunde Olaniyan, past president Henry Akinyele, immediate past president, Rotn. Yemi Arigbabu and past president Suleiman Mufutau at the installation of Rotn. Rosemary Ifeonye as the 2012/ 2013 Rotary year president of the club held at the Planet One, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos.

From right: Chief Sena Anthony, Mrs Dupe Akindele and Chief Folarin Williams.

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PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Life Is A Tragedy For Those Who Feel, And A Comedy For Those Who Think —JEAN DE LA BRUYERE

Femi Falana left me at the mercy of judges —Funmi,wife Funmi Falana is the wife of renown lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN. She speaks on her life as a legal practitioner and issues in the profession. Specifically, she shares her first experience in court with her husband.

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verybody knows you are the wife of Lagos Lawyer Femi Falana. But from your own viewpoint, who is Mrs Funmi Falana?

I trained as a lawyer —and everything about me:the school I attended,my family, where I was born,my marriage;and I have the zeal to defend the right of the masses. Everything combined to make me what I am today.

How did you meet your husband, Femi Falana(SAN)?

I can’t remember. How does that affect the suffering masses. A lot of people are dying everyday,and you are asking how I met my husband.

Why don’t you ask me about the society?

What have you to say about the society?

My concern is that so many people are dying,and some people are stealing money.

Look at what happened in Port Harcourt,Rivers State recently;as many as 96 people died. There are so many senseless deaths that could have been averted if we have responsible and responsive government. They would have evacuated everything before people came to scoop the fuel, at least the people did not come immediately to scoop the product.

The appointment of First Lady Patience Jonathan as permanent secretary is condemnable. Permanent secretary is a career position and executive. Mrs Jonathan stopped working since 1999;and I learnt she was on Sabbatical and she was brought to head a portfolio.

Is she going to jumble the job— in Bayelsa and Abuja at the same time?This is just a ploy to siphon government money.

Does that suggest that the First Lady will shuttle between Abuja,perform her function quote and unquote, and in Yenagoa where she is expected to sit behind her desk

and perform the duties of a permanent secretary? It is only in Nigeria that such thing will happen;are we in Banana Republic?In America,will you ask Mrs Obama to be in Chicago Illinois and in White House?

A new Chief Justice for the federation has just been appointed, and she is a woman.

How do you assess the appointment?

I commend the appointment of Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar. It shows that women are coming up in Nigeria,and this is the first time a woman is appointed the Chief Justice Nigeria. In 1981,the same woman was made the Chief Judge in Kano, they said it was unIslamic to put a woman in a position of leadership,and she was transferred to Portugal. She spent 17 or 19 years marking time at the Court of Appeal just because she is a woman.

Thank God she was able to wait until the right time she was remembered for such

,

By Simeon Ndaji

Let us talk about the strangest thing that happened to you?

I can’t remember any strange thing. So many strange things are happening in Nigeria that will not happen in a civilised country. That a First Lady is made permanent secretary is strange in a civilised country, and it is only in Nigeria that it can happen. An Army General was butchered under the bridge while people were passing, and, up till now, nobody has come up with any clue, is that not strange? A lawmaker allegedly took a bribe of $500,000 cash, and he put some in his pocket,some in his cap—is this not strange?

Are there no strange things you have encountered in your life or your legal career?

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he first day I appeared in court several years ago;it was in Appeal Court,and my Principal(Femi Falana) was to lead me, but suddenly , he went to the toilet and the case was called in his absence; I felt like the ground should open and swallow me because I did not know how to go about it. However, I managed to summon courage to talk... .There was another strange thing that happened in 1990 when the SSS people

I commend the appointment of Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar. It shows that women are coming up in Nigeria,and this is the first time a woman is appointed the Chief Justice of Nigeria

appointment. We also condemn the ploy of government then not to make her the Chief Judge of Kano State. That same woman is heading the judiciary of the whole country today. We know from her antecedents that she is incorruptible and upright. We hope she is going to sanitise the judiciary. This appointment is coming at a time the judiciary is at the lowest ebb,and people are almost losing confidence in the organ of government. We believe she will carry her uprightness to the judiciary,lift the image of this arm of government,and chase out the bad eggs.

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kidnapped my husband very early in the morning and dumped him at Epe and threatened him not to criticise government again,and Dr Beko Ransome Kuti was dumped at Badagry Road,and he was warned as well.

Some other time they came to arrest my husband,and we went to the media to shout and he was released. Another time they came, I told my husband this time you’re not going anywhere. I locked him in the room and refused to allow them to take him away and, while I shouted people gathered in support, and the SSS people ran away. It is very

Funmi Falana...I saved my husband from the SSS. funny.

Do you agree with the claim that Nigeria is neck deep in corruption?

Corruption has become an epidemic in our society, from the top to bottom. This is really sad. The problem is that, today, corruption has become a norm. But, worse still, is that the cankerworm has affected our justice system;.from the leadership— they are so corrupt to the extent that this anomaly has become a norm. It is all over...even in the Ministry of Justice; movement of files from office to office cannot be divorced from corruption.

Every segment of the society, the various arms of government—the Executive, the House of Assembly and parastatals, is affected by the menace. Look at the Farouk Lawan and Femi Otedola saga.

We thought Farouk is a man of integrity, and that holds until he clears himself of the bribery saga.However,the giver and taker are both guilty. Those so accused should be investigated and subsequently charged. The bribery claim should be investigated,and Farouk and Otedola charged.

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hat does the future hold for Nigeria?

To have a better future, we must rise up to fight corruption.

The leadership,policy makers,the press,the police,and the entire people of Nigeria must be involved in this crusade against corruption.Those caught in corrupt practices should be prosecuted and corrupt judges rooted out.

However,the case of Farouk case should not be rushed, rather it should be properly investigated. It is sad that people can put in so much and we are getting so little. We have no choice, the struggle continues.

You mean Nigerians are adopting corruption as a way of life?

No! I disagree. The problem is poverty! Nigerians protest even when the police try to extort money from them.

How come we are classified among the most corrupt nations in the world ?

Our leaders are very greedy and selfish. Others may blame their attitude on poverty. It is not poverty. Our country is so richly endowed with natural and human resources; yet we suffer so much.

How can we eradicate corruption ?

We are so corrupt. Some said corruption was copied from the Western world. I don’t believe corruption is alien.

Looking at what is happening in our society today, you wake up one morning and, all of a sudden, somebody becomes rich over-night.

Nobody will ask him questions about this sudden wealth,rather he is celebrated in his community, and even in the larger society.

It was not so in those days.

People will ask questions about your sudden riches. We must start from somewhere.

We must introduce societal ethics, moral studies in the school curricular; teach African values and norms.

Start the process of reorientation in our children.

I attended Missionary Catholic School, and we were taught moral studies. This is how we can begin the process of eradicating corruption in our society.

This panacea is a long term solution.

What about the short term solution ?

We have to change the bad system to move forward. One day, a leader may come to wipe out corruption, and proffer a lasting solution... Every Nigerian should be determined to root out corruption. People found guilty of corruption should go to jail. EFCC should be more serious to carry out investigation and to prosecute offenders.

The masses, the press (most importantly) should be serious in doing their job.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012 , PAGE 9

BY JIDE AJANI

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hat would it take for President Good luck Jonathan to appreciate the enormity of contemporary challenges confronting his administration?

Discuss!

For a demure demeanour President and Commanderin-Chief who rode to power on a crest of massive goodwill, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is today saddled with a plethora of issues that are on their steam packed with the capacity to impede a smooth running of his administration. Yet, on a weekly basis, there appears to be no clue on how to stem the tide; rather, it has become one-aweek bungling.

For those who still ask why there appears to be a stasis, the very seeds of incapacity and shambolism were foisted on President Jonathan by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Now, having completely sent the wrong signal about zoning and insisting on the candidate that would become the Speaker of the House of Representatives last year, former President Obasanjo it was who went for broke when he attempted to impose a speaker of South West geo-political extraction from a list of just six members,

It can not be said again that it is early days yet in the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (a little over a year in office) but his level of entanglement in sundry issues is assuming a legendary and embarrassing level. This report traces the many issues – some needless, others foisted by necessity; yet some totally pedestrian and ridiculous – that the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan has allowed to weigh heavily on its capacity to deliver on good governance. in a House of 360, on the nation.

The attempt failed woefully as the young Turks in the House re-wrote the zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by electing a Speaker from the North West zone.

But that was not the only issue in President Jonathan’s early days.

He dropped the hint of his favourable disposition for a

Okonjo Iweala

single term of five or seven years for elected public office holders in the executive arm, as against the four years, two terms as enshrined in the 1999 constitution. The timing of that presentation, barely a month after being sworn into office was not only wrong but insensitive. That generated its own heat.

The latest is the entanglement of the Presidency on the budget implementation.

Ibrahim Babangida

Waffling between deceptive statements and outright lies, Minister of Finance and coordinating minister in charge of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is now fond of mis-representing facts, earlier declared that 56% of the 2012 budget had been implemented, but what is turning out is that the actual implementation is just about 11%.

Even in the face of the realization that this was just in three months which represents a quarter, when you quadruple the 11% in three months, what Nigerians would be left with would be 4 4 % . Yet, considered, a N1.56trillion budgetary allocation, with a N404billion funds release, of which N324billion is cash backed; and of the N324billion cash backed, 56% of it has been utilized (N184billion); the actual 2012 budget implementation would stand at between 11% and 12%. The question to ask is: Why would the

Presidency, through OkonjoIweala, go to town claiming that 56% of the 2012 budget has been implemented? That was how the nation was swindled on the issue of subsidy. That is why the tango between the House and President Jonathan over budget implementation would not go away But away from the budget controversy, the joint statement issued, last Sunday, by the duo of former Presidents Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, as a wake up call to President Jonathan, sums up the general frustrations of Nigerians.

To start with, it calls to question the level of degeneracy of the administration much so that it is now an Obasanjo who spent 139months, spanning 11years plus as head of state and Babangida, who spent 96 months spanning eight years, with the attendant crises that followed, are the ones now counseling President Jonathan that “efforts are scaled up to be more involving and inclusive. In this regard, whatever robust security measures are put in place to contain the situation, as is normal in such circumstances they must be complemented with an equally intensive process of community involvement.”

Continues on page 10

N PAGE 10 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

The hard choices facing Goodluck Jonathan the number of needless controversies that he allows to distract his attention. Some are choreographed, others are foisted, but most are self-inflicted (See Box).

From the issue of second term, to the way he manages the First Lady, as well as the issues surrounding his PDP, President Jonathan should disembark from his demure posturing. And whereas he once declared that he would not operate as a bully-president, it is high time the generality of Nigerians begin to see in him a man they can look up to; enough of being entangled in matters transient and pedestrian.

Continued from page 9

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basanjo and Babangida said: “Uunfolding events in our dear motherland, Nigeria, over the last few years are threatening to unravel the nearly a century old labour of our founding fathers and subsequent generations in building a strong, united, peaceful nation that can accommodate and cater for the needs and aspirations of our diverse communities. ‘’Internecine crises are raging across the land unabated with damaging consequences on the social, political and economic life of the nation. And in the process untold hardships are being visited on all citizens in one form or another on a daily basis. The loss of innocent lives being expe-

Late Umaru Yar'Adua rienced by the day across the nation is simply unbearable.

Currently, the nation is gripped by a regime of fear and uncertainty that virtually all citizens have difficulties going about their normal day to day lives without great anxiety and trepidation. This cannot be allowed to continue! ‘’A deeply worrying trend that is emerging from this terrible situation is that a pervasive cynicism is beginning to set in, so much so that millions of true Nigerian patriots are starting to question the platform upon which the unity of this country rests. This is simply untenable. The people of this country must not allow whatever sense of frustration, fear and despair we are experiencing now to supersede our hopes for a collective destiny which lies in our continued existence as a

ENTANGLEMENT APLENTY *Controversy over 2015 and single term of five or seven years *Controversy over non-attendance of a session at the CHOGM *Subsidy scam and Otedola/Lawangate *PIB and fake online version: By who? For what purpose! *First Lady as Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State *Tenure elongation and pursuit of amendment to the constitution *Insecurity and firing of Azazi *Jetting out of the country in moments of serious national crises *The now infamous “I don’t give a damn” comment on public declaration of assets *Involvement of President’s people in illegal collection of subsidy funds *Turai Yar ’Adua/Patience Jonathan tango over land *Budget and impeachment threat *Inaccurate information about budget implementation from presidency *Now IBB and Obasanjo virtually accused his administration of being clueless

Late MKO Abiola

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Memories of what Obasanjo’s eight -year rule as civilian president left behind are still fresh; for Babangida, had he not become a victim of forces and allowed MKO Abiola’s victory to stand, Nigeria, perhaps, may have become a better country.

While their concerns are indeed needed at a time of national stress, the signs remain ominous. With the insurgency in the North along with the ethno-religious killings in Plateau State, the tango with the House, the perception in some quarters that governance is becoming irrelevant in the lives of many Nigerians, talks about national conference, resurgence in the Niger Delta and the continuing crude oil theft, President Jonathan should indeed scale up.

The real danger confronting his administration is the number of needless controversies that he allows to distract his attention

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nation. For us, and we believe for millions of other Nigerians, the continued unity of this nation is not only priceless but non-negotiable”.

The baggage being carried

by President Jonathan is largely made up of the perception challenge that was created for him during the dying days of Yar’Adua.

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ever in the history of Nigeria has a President suffered so much unfounded ignominy in the hands of citizens.

Well, President Jonathan should, by now, come to terms with the realization that all things are working together based on the orchestration of some politicians whose eyes are firmly focused on 2015.

As an executive president, there are quite a number of things President Jonathan can do and should be doing to tackle the myriad of challenges confronting his administration. This is about power politics. The real danger confronting his administration is

Whenever Obasanjo speaks, doom looms *Rattled the Babangida administration when he declared that SAP (Structural Adjustment Pogramme) must have human face and milk of human kindness. The then Lagos State military governor, Okhai Mike Akhigbe, responded by saying Obasanjo’s comments were ranting of a frustrated farmer. *At the height of the confusion that occasioned the June 12, 1993 presidential election annulment and the seeming unwillingness of then military President, Babangida, to relinquish power, Obasanjo described the situation as one where Babangida represented a bull in a Chinaware shop and needed to be goaded to leave and not by force – soon afterwards, Babangida gave the famous stepping aside speech. *The same Obasanjo, while scheming to be Head of Interim National Government, HING, declared in far away southern Africa that Abiola was not the messiah *Sani Abacha may have been wiser and smarter.

Just as Obasanjo began to run his mouth against that junta, Abacha had him entrapped and tried for coup plotting, before he could cause more havoc. The tribunal judgment was for Obasanjo’s execution but he was given a life sentence. But for Abacha’s death, may be Nigeria may have been spared the tragedy that Obasanjo’s action wrought during his eight-year rule as president and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. *When in December 2009 Obasanjo returned from Saudi Arabia where then convalescing Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was, the former made a public statement admonishing Yar ’Adua to resign if he couldn’t continue to operate as President and Commander-in-Chief – indeed, Obasanjo had just been allowed to visit the sick Yar’Adua in hospital. If the family had known that Obasanjo would turn round to embarrass Yar ’Adua, perhaps Turai Yar ’Adua would not have consented to his having access to him.

National Dialogue: SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012 , PAGE 11

MR Tony Uranta, the Executive Secretary of the National Summit Group, believes the agitation for the convening of a National Conference to address the anomalies in the country is imperative. To the Niger Delta activist, “there must be dialogue on the state level, there must also be dialogue on the regional level, and, more importantly, there must be dialogue on the national level”. He bares his mind on other burning national issues. Excerpts:

Why Jonathan must heed national dialogue call — Uranta tion, in words like ‘ we want this reform’s report to serve as a foundation in the event of people coming together to dialogue in the future’. I see it as a very strong likelihood that people will dialogue in the future and it means that Mr. President himself seems to be on the same page with the majority of Nigerians.

Whether dialogue is necessary or not is therefore no longer in doubt; the question now is, who bells the cat; who is to convene a national dialogue that all

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ECENTLY, the National Summit Group’s (NSG) Steering Committee was inaugurated. As the Executive Secretary, what is the next line of action?

As you rightly noted that it was recently inaugurated, and went a step further to elect its National Working Committee (NWC), chaired by Alhaji Tanko Yakassai; with members like Sir Arthur Nwankwo, Chief Aid Ogbia, Mrs. Ganiat Fawehinmi, Professor Pat Utomi, Obong Victor Attah, Chief Frederick Fasehun, Ms. Ene Ede, Alhaji Gambo Jimeta, Mr. Denzil Kentebe, Mrs. Charity Shekari, Mr. Wale Okunniyi, Chief Nnia Nwodo, Alhaji Mohammed Bunu, and Miss Tare Yeri.

Numerous others are serving in sub-committees or in liaison with the NWC. They include Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, Mrs. Roz Ben-Okagbue, Alhaji Bala Zakka, Senator Ben Birabi, Mrs. Sotonye Toby-Fulton, Senator Ewa Henshaw, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, and Ms. Toyosi Akerele.

Why I named the last set is because it is a mix now of both old people and young ones, and this represents virtually all sectors of Nigeria.

After the inauguration, there have been NWC meetings in Lagos and Abuja, and another one is going to be held probably next weekend. At these meetings, we received goodwill and solidarity messages from numerous people (in and outside

Uranta of government), whose names I will not mention here because we have not been empowered to do so; but we know that, publicly, and independently, General Ibrahim Babangida, former Military President has thrown his weight behind a national dialogue, as has, of course, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the UNDEDSS (which is the umbrella body of all of the Niger Delta) and the Middle-Belt Forum all making case for a national dialogue.

We have endorsement from even state governors that were initially averse to it. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives have all agreed that dialogue is the way forward.

And, in fact, Mr. President himself, tacitly, endorsed national dialogue while receiving the report of the Belgore committee set up to review or to propose reforms for a standard constitu-

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BY DAPO AKINREFON

We have to settle some of these fundamental issues of who is a Nigerian. Where is he a Nigerian?

What are our rights and responsibilities as Nigerians?

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Nigerians will respect; when, how, and where?

In fact, everybody is now saying Boko Haram has to come to a dialogue table. Even the new National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, is talking about reaching out to talk with them, that is what we are saying: “talk” is the key; because the more we talk, the more we understand one another and the less likely we are to jump into wrong conclusions about each other’s intentions or ambitions.

And so the more likely it is for

Nigeria to remain a united, peaceful country, that can now proceed under Goodluck Jonathan (or, in the future, under other leaders) to experience positive and sustainable transformation truly inside-out, and not a re-branding outsidein; a transformation that will lead us to a healthy, united, progressive and prosperous country made up of contented, fulfilled and wealthy Nigerians living together as brethren as much as is humanly possible.

We have noted, sadly, lately the killings in Plateau State which were not even about Boko Haram but that of indigeneship. What is your take on this?

Well, I will like to make a distinction between Boko Haram and the issues of the Plateau.

The issues of the Plateau have existed for over 50 years and there has been wrangling on the ground.

Today, in America, a second generation American, of Kenyan origin, is President. If he were to come to Nigeria and be a twentieth generation Yorubaborn in Calabar, the likelihood that he will win even a local government election is very minimal. This should not be, and it was not always like this!

In the 1950s, a Fulani was elected the Mayor of Enugu, a predominantly Igbo city and the great Zik of Africa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, nearly became Premier of the Western Region, running against a great Yoruba leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo!

We cannot continue this way.

Fulani slaughtering Berom, and vice versa, in Plateau State! We have to settle some of these fundamental issues of who is a Nigerian. Where is he a Nigerian?

What are our rights and responsibilities as Nigerians?

Just as we have to ask who is the Nigerian youth? The Nigerian constitution does not mention youths at all, except when it talks about the National Youth Service Corps. So, for example, the people are now being told that whether your children would be killed or not, you must send them into areas

of danger. I consider this as very highly irresponsible of the government; even if it is a decision that comes from the Federal Executive Council headed by Mr. President, it is a very big error, it is in fact a big insult and it is like commanding us to send our children to die. ut having said that, why are people even at risk of death B to this level? It reminds me of Iraq, where people were being blown up in places of worship? It reminds me of Afghanistan and Iran! Now, we are not Palestine, Iraq, Iran.

They (some mad men!) are trying to import that madness that happened in those places into Nigeria. That madness must not be allowed, it must not be condoned, it must be crushed by the security forces.

Albeit, if possible, it could also be engaged; that is, the people inspiring, sponsoring them have to be engaged. There must be reasons behind it, what is the reason? What are they grieving about? If there is a grievance, let them talk. Let them dialogue!

There must be dialogue on the state level, there must also be dialogue on the regional level, and, more importantly, there must be dialogue on the national level.

Yes, Boko Haram (whilst it must not be dealt with, with kid gloves!) has to be approached and talked to. I was of the popular view before that we must not dialogue at all with Boko Haram, but the continuous hatred and killings that have been going on have made it imperative that somebody needs to talk with them; and it must be somebody that they trust.

Don’t forget that when Olusegun Obasanjo went to Maiduguri to talk to Baba Fugar, they did not trust that Obasanjo had their interest at heart, hence they killed Baba Fugar! So, we must be sure that whosoever we push forward to talk or to find out what their grievances are, are people that they trust, they will be sincere with, and people who will be able to tell us the truth and be able to relay our own position as a nation, as government, back to them candidly.

Should former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida be the ones advising President Goodluck Jonathan on governance?

By Alaine Elizabeth, Hamzat Oluwasayo and Ann Mamilor Micheal Emiko Agboghoroma: T beats my imagination that the two former rulers could issue a joint state ment on the current state of insecurity in the country, while also urging Nigerians not to lose hope, give in to frustration, fear or despair as a result of the rising cases of terrorism in the country occasioned by the activities of the Islamic group, BokoHaram. Both ex-rulers do not have any justification to advise Nigerians on the best way to move the country forward because they were the initiators of the failed state called Nigeria.

Obasanjo as a democratically elected president ran an inept regime and, by the time he left office, Nigeria had to grapple with corruption, bad roads, epileptic power supply and total breakdown of infrastructure. Babangida in his own case should just shut his mouth as Nigerians are wiser and understand his antics and body language.

During his regime, he underdeveloped the country with his introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)

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that impoverished Nigerians. Under his administration, corruption thrived, while morality and discipline were thrown to the dogs. Obasanjo and Babangida are pretenders and should not be taken serious because they never meant well for the country when they were in power. President Goodluck Jonathan should listen to the masses who voted him into power.

Miss Adaugo Iroajanma: Jonathan was once a vice president, so he is supposed to have known the state of the country before he became president. Though I think it is not a bad idea for Obasanjo and Babangida to advise the president as they all have seen the crucial state of the country, when you look at the situation of things, you will agree that the president is not performing and I believe most people are unhappy about insecurity in the country which has become a nightmare.

Mr. Hamzat I don’t think they are in the right position to advise Jonathan. Babangida was one of the most unpopular leaders Nigeria ever had. His administration allegedly institutionalised fraud, annulled one of the freest

and fairest elections Nigeria has ever had, engaged in political detention, extra-judicial killings and so on.

Obasanjo is basically a dictator. One unique thing about them is that they both had long tenures to fix the country, but they failed woefully.

Their prescriptions to Jonathan will definitely yield the same wrong results.

Mr. Adedayo Durojaiye No, I don’t think they should be advising Jonathan. Obasanjo and Babangida did their best during their tenures, but we want Nigeria to be better than how it was years back. Besides, military and democracy rulership are entirely different from each other, so why should Jonathan seek advice from Obasanjo or Babangida? I believe there is still hope for Nigeria,no matter what.

Adeoye Hamzat

Adaugo Iroajanma

Funmilola Olukoya: I doubt if they can do better than the president is doing.

Somto Mceze: They should not be the ones that should be advising President Jonathan because they didn’t do well during their time. They both presided over the moral and financial ruination of Nigeria which gave rise to current vices.

Michael Agboghoroma

PAGE 12 — SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

How PDP created the environment for Boko Haram to thrive, by Senator Yar’Adua In this interview, Senator Sadik Abubakar Yar’Adua speaks on a wide range of issues including alleged corruption in the National Assembly and the way out of the Boko Haram logjam in the northern part of the country. Excerpts:

through the House of Representatives. When you go through the House of Representatives, it makes it easier for you when you come to the Senate. Like I said, it is not easy for you to say that when you have 360 people, they must all conduct themselves in an approvable manner. You will certainly have either issues of morality, or financial prudence or any other issue.

Because the composition of the House of Representatives is in most cases made of younger members compared to the Senate, you find that people may not behave in a certain manner. I know that right from the time of Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba when I was in opposition because of what was happening, you discover that most of the issues were the making of the press.

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Senator Sadik Abubakar Yaradua...America is a stronger country than Nigeria; so if you try to show strength when you do not have the strength, it does not make sense

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ou were in the House of Representatives be fore being voted into the Senate. How is the new experience?

There are quite a lot of differences between the House and the Senate. In the Senate, you treat all matters with a lot of caution and diligence because people know that those in the Senate are people who will have to weigh a lot of things before they take decisions. In the House, it was different because when we came in, we were much younger and therefore we took things as they came. We were more mil-

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By Ben Agande

It appears the new National Security Adviser is introducing new approaches to the problem.

I also believe that dialogue is the best answer to any human problem

itant. We had an executive led by a former military dictator who was not used to the bureaucracy of democratic institutions. In the military, he did not have to talk to anyone before he took decisions. But he had to consult the parliament to get approval before he did things. So it was a little bit dif-

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ferent. When you look at the size of the two chambers, the House has 360 members meaning that the shades of opinions and views would be quite larger than the Senate where you have 109 members.

That would make decisionmaking a little bit easier (in the Senate) because trying to ag-

gregate the views of 109 people is much easier than 360 people. In the House of Representatives, you have representations from communities or ethnic nationalities. In the Senate, you have a senator representing different ethnic nationalities. The approach is certainly different.

What has continued to dog the House of Representatives is the issue of corruption.

When you hear such stories, do you sometimes regret that you were a member of that chamber?

I have no regret whatsoever for being a member of the House of Representatives. I feel proud to have passed

or instance, in the case of former Speaker Patricia Etteh, she never did anything wrong. She did not take any money. All the money that was alleged to have been embezzled, she never took any money out. But because some members were more interested in removing her from office, they concocted stories and sold them to the press and the press sold that to Nigerians.

No newspaper really conducted any investigation to unearth the truth about those allegations. I had expected the press to be more thorough in its reportage of those allegations.

The security situation in Nigeria has become very challenging especially in the North where the economy has been grounded because of the activities of the Boko Haram sect. In your opinion, what is the best way of handling this?

Honestly I am not happy with the way things are being handled by government.

It appears the new National Security Adviser is introducing new approaches to the problem. I also believe that dialogue is the best answer to any human problem. As long as you don’t dialogue, you cannot find solution because it is only by dialoguing that you can understand the problems of people. If you do not dialogue, you will have problems. We should not be behaving like the United States of America. America is a stronger country than Nigeria; so if you try to show strength when you do not have the strength, it does not make sense.

As far as I am concerned, what is happening to the country is the creation of the Peoples Democratic Party. The Continues on page 13

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012— PAGE 13

of these things are not made public but I know of people from both sides who have been talking and appealing to both parties about the need for peaceful co-existence.

When the Boko Haram problem started in the North, when you go to mosques, people were not talking about peace because initially the impression was that those who were doing it were part of the marginalized people in the North.

But later when the bombings of churches started, every mosque you go to you see people offering special prayers for peace in Nigeria. Before now, all you hear pastors saying was that they are killing Christians. But now, they pray for peace. For anybody to say that the northern leadership has failed, it is not correct. They were doing their best to ensure that there is peace in the land.

It is not always very easy to see immediate impact. It is easy to destroy but very difficult to build.

Senator Yaradua...There are many Nigerians roaming the streets for years without jobs and the government has not come out with any policy as to how it wants to tackle unemployment in the country

‘The way forward is for Nigerians to rise up against the PDP’ Continued from page 12

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he PDP has created the enabling environment for criminal and terrorist acts and militant acts to take place. It was when the politicians took over in 1999 that we began to see militants, we have seen kidnappings in the eastern part of the country and the surge of armed robbery all over Nigeria. We have seen militancy in the Niger Delta and now the issues in the north. It is only in the last thirteen years that all these things

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former National Security Adviser, NSA, said it even though he just scratched the surface. The reality is that the PDP created it. If they did not do so directly, they created the enabling environment for people to operate the way they are operating because they have denied people access to Nigeria’s national wealth. In the last thirteen years, what has the PDP done to Nigeria?

Have they changed the ways of doing things in government? They have not. Most of the governors are in office to make money. We have seen some who came in without anything and are now among the richest Nigerians.

The leaders of that party are the people desecrating Nigeria; so we have to stop them from doing what they are doing. By 2015, all Nigerians should come out and sweep the PDP away

have been happening because the environment is there.

There are many Nigerians roaming the streets for years without jobs and the government has not come out with any policy as to how it wants to tackle unemployment in the country. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. If people don’t have food to eat, they don’t have jobs to do, they will be vulnerable. I am not saying these should be the excuses but the PDP has created the situation for such activities to take place in the country.

The way forward is for Nigerians to rise up against the PDP and vote them out from head to toe. Let’s change the PDP and bring those who are serious about good governance which, in this case, I believe are the Congress for

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Progressive Change, CPC, and the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. That is a way of politicizing the matter.

I am not trying to politicize anything. I am just saying the truth. If a political party has failed to provide proper leadership, what you do is change the party during election. That is the way forward. Change the PDP and you will see whether these things will take place again. The CPC and the ACN will address the issues in a more robust manner. We will tackle these problems. We will tackle poverty. We will go for eradication not reduction of poverty. Some of our governors have demonstrated that. Go to Nassarawa State for example and see what our governor is doing. Go to Lagos State and

see what the ACN governor is doing. Go to Edo State and see what the ACN governor is doing. We will look at ways to improve the living conditions of Nigerians. These are things that our alliance will pursue.

The President of the Senate, David Mark, recently accused political leaders in the North of failing to address the issue of Boko Haram. As one of the leaders in the North, is blaming the PDP not escapist? Have northern leaders done enough to check the menace of Boko Haram?

In the first place, I totally disagree with that allusion. I know that the North has tried as much as possible and I think that is what the Sultan of Sokoto told the Senate President and all of us that there are things that must not be made public because of their serious nature. The northern leaders, both Christians and Muslims, are working. If they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing, do you think we would have survived these massacres that have happened? If the Christian and Muslim Leaders in the North were not working, we would have been at war by now. That is the truth. Some

D

o you see Nigeria sur viving all these prob-

lems?

I can assure you that Nigeria will survive but there are things that Nigerians need to do and one of these is to ensure that the PDP is no more in power from the ward level to the national level. Let’s forget about religion, let’s forget about ethnicity. What we need to do is to remove the PDP. Once we remove the PDP and we elect a government that is responsive, people who care about the people of Nigeria, then the sky will be the limit.

We have come a long way as a people. I am a Muslim but one of my best friends is a Christian from the south east. He knows everything about my family and I know a lot about his family. I cannot just think of us being in different countries and I know there are millions of Nigerians like me. But we have to remove the creator of these problems and the creator of these problems is the PDP. The leaders of that party are the people desecrating Nigeria; so we have to stop them from doing what they are doing. By 2015, all Nigerians should come out and sweep the PDP away. The people of Katsina State are seeing the impact of change because, before now, the PDP was in total control but now, the PDP is only controlling the state but at the national level it is the CPC and people are seeing the impact.

The government has woken up because it needs to be relevant. That is the kind of thing that Nigeria needs to do.

PAGE 14—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

We are more united for Igbo presidency in 2015 —Sen Okonkwo *‘APGA crisis not about anybody’s ambition’

BY CHARLES KUMOLU SENATOR Annie Okonkwo, until recently, was a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, before he defected to All Progressive Grand Alliance,APGA. He is the President of C21, an Igbo socio-political organisation. In this interview, he argues that for Igbo presidency to be a reality in 2015, the people of the South East must stop being used to scuttle the common agenda of the region. He also notes that if the region failed to get additional state from the on-going constitution review, the Federal Government should be ready to allocate revenue on zonal basis. Excerpts:

C M Y K

what is happening in this country is not normal. We cannot pretend that every thing is okay. Boko Haram is not only affecting the north, it is affecting the whole country. For instance, we are talking about direct foreign investment, but with the situation in the country, foreign investors would not like to come to Nigeria after hearing about the activities of Boko Haram. It is just like asking someone to go to Afghanistan or Iraq. Boko Haram has caused more damage to the country. So, we need to sit down and discuss. You remember what happened when militants in the Niger Delta rose up in agitation, the government discussed with them and they were given amnesty. Today there is peace in that region. I still think that we must sit down and agree on how we can live.

I want to know if there is any partnership between C-21 and other Igbo socio-political groups like Ohanaeze and AkaIkenga because these groups have also been at the forefront of the agitation for Igbo political relevance?

Yes, there is, because C-21 is allencompassing. Some members of Ohaneze and Aka-Ikenga are members of C-21. But our group has force and would be more forceful in our agitation. We want to change the approach that had been employed in the past in the quest for sociopolitical relevance of the region.

We are carrying all concerned members of the South East along. It is no longer a lip service thing, we are going about this now with more vigour and determination.

There has been agitation for more states for the South East.

Right now, the constitution amendment committee of the National Assembly is going round. What is your group doing in trying to reach out to other Igbo groups on this and is Igbo presidency in 2015 achievable?

It is a big challenge to us, because there are two things that we want to happen from the review. The first one is that there must be parity of states in each of the zones. A lot of people may try to kick against it, but South East needs one more state. If they are not going to create another additional state for the region, then the revenue accruable to this country must be shared on the basis of the six geo-political zones. So, each zone can now divide it among its component

,

There were reports in the media recently that you alongside Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and other notable South East indigenes, floated a new pan-Igbo sociopolitical organisation. Can we know what informed this decision and what the platform, C-21, seeks to achieve?

C21 was formed to reposition the Igbo man in the mainstream of the politics of Nigeria. A lot of people are saying that we are marginalised; indeed, we are. We are nowhere in the scheme of things today. We are no where in the executive and the legislature.

And we are going no where with this kind of position. So our people believe that there is an urgent need for us to come together and re-strategise. The group is all-encompassing, because very notable people are involved. We started by seeking the face of God, we believe that with God all things are possible.

That is why we have the Chairman of South East CAN and other religious groups as part of the association. Many people may be calling for the disintegration of this country, but we in C-21 believe that the more united we are, the more greatness we can achieve. We can see that Europe is trying to be united, while America is united already, so we also must unite in order to achieve greatness as a nation. We need to fashion out a situation whereby everybody would have a sense of belonging in the country and not a society where a particular tribe would believe that they are more privileged than other regions. We as Nigerians, at this moment, should combine our strength and weaknesses, so that we can stay together. That is what C-21 stands for. We still want to make sure that no zone is relegated to the background in Nigerian affairs.

You said Nigeria stands to achieve more as one, yet there are people advocating that we should sit down and dialogue on how this union can continue.

Also in the north, the agitation

by Boko Haram is different.

How do we reconcile all these in view of your advocacy for unit in diversity ?

The truth about the current state of the country is that we need to sit down and discuss. And some will say that we already have elected people in the National Assembly who can do that. But the bottom line is that

are strategizing. It is only fair that somebody from the South East is given the opportunity.

You spoke about two options and it is a constitutional issue, because the constitution did not state that revenue should be shared on zonal basis?

I want you to realise that Igbo are every where in this country,

Senator Annie Okonkwo states. We can no longer accept this disparity. People should not take the South East for granted because we have been quiet in the past. This time, it is either we get one more state like other regions or they share the revenue based on the six geo-political zones. People will be thinking that we are not taking the 2015 agenda serious, but the truth is that we are more united for Igbo presidency in 2015 under C-21.

We would go round and talk to other zones to make them realise that we deserve the presidency in 2015. That is why I said that we

We want to change the approach that had been employed in the past in the quest for socio-political relevance of the region

,

more than any other ethnic group. Our reach covers every part of the country. It will be a shocker for anyone that will think that were not reaching out.

The first and important aspect of the agenda is to ensure that our people are united, which we have done and are still doing. It is easy now to get other zones to support our agenda, because we are the only tribe that is every where. For instance, the Igbo constitute about forty percent of the population in Lagos today.

What we are saying is that we

should speak with one voice and C-21 has provided that platform.

Yes, I agree that the state thing is constitutional, but the truth is that the South East deserves one more state and we are in the process of amending the constitution and these are the points we would put before them.

If they don’t agree, there would be options.

Do you think that the current crisis rocking All Progressive Peoples Party, APGA, which to a lot of people is an Igbo political party even though it is not theoretically, would have a negative effect on the quest for Igbo presidency in 2015?

As far as I am concerned, APGA is passing through restructuring and repositioning. What is happening now is part of transformation and it remains a strong party to contend with now and come 2015.There are some people who do not want APGA to survive, but that has failed because the party is waxing stronger. It is unfortunate for them that we have got C-21 that is ready to rescue and reposition APGA. I want to reassure you that APGA will be a party to beat in this country. The crisis in APGA does not have to do with anybody ambition. Like I said, some people are not happy with the progress the party is making.

People can have ambition but that does not mean that they will all fly the party’s flag during elections.There is a stage that one gets to in life and he will decide to embrace a particular cause. My major concern is how we can become very relevant in the mainstream of Nigerian politics.

Friends Africa mobilises leaders for health results

By LAJA THOMAS

T

HAT Africa is being weighed down by the three pandemics of HIV / AIDS, TB and malaria is no longer news. In truth, according to The Global Fund Regional Results – 2011 Africa Report, it is said that Africa suffers every year from a disproportionate loss of its women and children from preventable causes. In 2009, an estimated 22.1 million adults and children were living with HIV in Africa (two-thirds of the global prevalence), and 1.3 million AIDS-related deaths (nearly three-quarters of the global total). In the same year, the region had an estimated 2.8 million new cases of TB and 176 million cases of malaria.

This is inspite of the fact that the 2010 African Union Heads of State Summit focused on ‘Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa, which was a clear demonstration of Africa’s commitment to health especially those of mothers and children Recently, the 19 th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) held in Addis Ababa, with the theme: “Boosting Intra-African Trade”.

For a discerning mind, it is heart-warming that our leaders have now drawn a connection between trade and health; thus, putting it at the centre of Africa’s policy on regional integration; since poor spending on health results in poor health of the

L- R: His Excellency, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, former president of Ghana, Dr. John Tesha, Executive Secretary of the Africa Forum of Former Heads of States, His Excellency, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, former president of Zambia, His Excellency Nicephore Soglo, former president of the Republic of Benin, His Excellency Karl Offmann, former president of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr. Richard Kasesela, East Africa Regional Representative, Friends Africa, at the Friends Africa during the AU Summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia population. Without a healthy population, nations cannot adequately produce goods and services to trade.

However, during the AU Ordinary Session, Friends Africa, which has over the years vigorously orchestrated the fight against these three deadly diseases, hosted a “side event,” the Forum for Former African Heads of State and Government and African Institutions commonly referred to as Africa Forum.

Friends of the Global Fund Africa (Friends Africa) is a panAfrican non-governmental organization founded in 2006 with the goal to mobilize strategic political support for the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis

through multi-sectoral advocacy, documentation and education. Friends Africa rightly used the summit to advocate for continued domestic financing for health by African governments to attain 2015 Millennium Development Goals and to continue to raise public awareness on three related issues: agriculture, food and nutrition, energy, security, and fundamentally combating the HIV and AIDS pandemic, as well as tuberculosis and malaria in Africa.

The prelude to the event is the Africa Champions for Health Campaign by Friends Africa.

The African Champions for Health is a campaign involving a select number of distinguished Former African Heads of State.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 15

I remain the symbol of the PDP in Ogun —Gbenga Daniel

BY DAPO AKINREFON SINCE leaving office in 2011, former of governor Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has been in the eye of the storm. So many allegations have been leveled against him.

OGD, as he is fondly called, recently opened up to select journalists at his Maryland office on the allegations.

He declares that he remains a reference point as far as Ogun politics is concerned. On his relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he explains that though it is cordial, he disagrees with him on some issues. He bares his mind on the recent land allocation in Ogun, noting that the state government is out to witch-hunt him.

HAT is your position on the recent allegation leveled against your administration regarding land allocation in Ogun State?

I don’t have any issue with anybody. When I finally decided to respond, do you know what I call what is happening in Ogun State? I call it a tragic-comedy; it is a tragic series. The problem with our country is that we don’t respect leadership. Like I said to people, before we recover, it will take a long time because the state was going at a very fast pace and the whole process has been halted. I can’t say that everything I did was correct or right. But you can’t also tell me that everything I did was wrong.

I built three stadia; they said they were white elephant projects.

All the commissions that were set up in Ogun State were set up to look into the activities of government between 2003 and 2011. Was there no government before 2003? The Truth Commission that was set up in the state was to look at human right abuses between 2003 and 2011.

All the various commissions that were set up were looking at Ogun State under the OGD administration.

That is a hostile investigation because if you really want to take land administration in Ogun state, why don’t you start from 2000 if you want to restrict yourself to the civilian administration, if you don’t want to go into the military era because civilian administration started in 1999.

May be in the process of doing that, you will discover that there were things that happened between 1999 and 2003. That is why I say that what is happening in Ogun is tragic comedy.

In any case, the only law guiding land use in this country is the Land Use Act and the Land Use Act is very clear. There is no issue of third party meandering in the process of land use and land application; and the only authority that can interpret the Land Use Act is the court of law or a court of competent jurisdiction as the lawyers will

W

Otunba Gbenga Daniel put it.

I have been reliably informed that the only condition where any governor has any right to meddle in any matter of land is when it is being revoked for public purpose: what they call in the public interest. So, this thing that the Ogun State government is celebrating is a daily occurrence everywhere.

My statutory responsibility is to give effect to the Bureau on Lands. You don’t need to see me as governor to get your C of O (Certificate of Occupancy). The Bureau prepares it, they do the survey, they vet it and once they are persuaded that it is ready for signature, they bring it, I sign; those were the things we did. Why is it that thing we did nicely becomes an issue?

But did you acquire any personal land in Ogun State while you were governor?

Sure I did. The land that I have in Shagamu was acquired from Ogun State. You think there is something bad in that?

Was any of the land you bought revoked?

The governor has revoked everything, even the ones that are not personal, that belong to companies have been revoked.

What was your internally generated revenue like when you were governor?

When I came in, IGR was about N100 million and, by the time I left, it was about N1 billion.

More than 60 per cent of that came from land charges. Despite the discount, we were still able to move land income from about N50 million to N700 million per month.

Having said all these, what is your reaction to the allegations leveled against you by the state government?

Between you and I, there is too much deceit. You know I went through a lot especially in what the media bring out and, like someone said, he believes what he reads. Sometimes, I have opened newspapers and I have seen fictions written about me.

I had a policy while I was in government and it was: Forget about what they are writing, go and do your work, your work will speak for you. It is not quite true.

We did the work but the work is not speaking for us. Also, because people are not used to anything good from government; when they see a good government, they cannot even hold on to it.

The reason is not too farfetched probably because we have not been lucky enough to have good leaders; we also don’t have capacity to hold on to a good one when we find it. It is clear now that everybody in history, who has tried to do something good, has been brought down.

You have been alleged to have looted the treasury of Ogun State. Do you think the EFCC has a case and did you steal Ogun money?

Because there is a case in court, I can’t answer that question. The much I can tell you and I have repeated it several times and I am still standing on it, there is no single dime of Ogun State money that is missing, to the best of my knowledge.

What is your relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo?

I think the relationship is good; we don’t have any personal issue.

We may have disagreements in principle because we are probably two strong people. He is older and more experienced but I also have a few strong views about how this country should be run and on that we may disagree.

I have no regrets about that.

Who is right and who is wrong, time will tell but if it is what we have seen in the last few decades,

,

*‘ My relationship with Obasanjo’

something definitely has not been done right in this country.

And if you say by extension who has been the major players, he (Obasanjo) cannot excuse himself. I am not a terrible man but a principled man.

Until our people learn to stand

PDP is deluding itself with the games they are playing, whether they understand the implication or not

,

by the correct things, there cannot be progress. I have forgiven everybody. What happened to Ogun State people was that they were hook winked and the media have complications there.

PDP or PPN, which party do you belong to?

I am an elder statesman.

Talking seriously, today, in Ogun State, maybe that is also part of the problem, I have a large number of followers in PDP, in PPN and also in ACN. If you ask me how, I will explain. First, PDP is deluding itself with the games they are playing, whether they understand the implication or

not. I am the only thing that PDP can use as reference in governance in Ogun State. I am the single symbol of PDP in the state because, for eight years, I ran Ogun State with the PDP flag; and all the jobs that I did, I did them with the banner of the PDP. So, if the PDP cannot see it that way, they are just jokers.

The PDP today is exactly the PDP when I got into it in 2001.

Lackluster, without any capacity to win any elections, I moved into it and it was like an exodus and I brought a large number of people from the Alliance for Democracy at that time into the PDP. We won the election in 2003.

In 2003, out of the 26 House members, we had 25, AD had one. Even when Osoba was governor, out of the 20 local governments, out of the 26 House of Assembly members, the AD had 18, PDP had some and ANPP had some. But, in 2003, we won the election fair and square; we had local government elections, we won them fair and square and, by the grace of God, I led the elections. In 2007, despite the hullabaloo which you in the media were writing because it had no bearing with what was happening at home, I led the campaign, we won the elections. Ogun State was one of the few states that did not lose a seat in the court under my care.

And then, Obasanjo decided he wanted to take over the party.

All our people who in 2011 the PDP got frustrated, a large number of them decided that they were going to run on the platform of the PPN. And so, we went to the elections, PDP got a technical knock out, they were completely disgraced. PPN did not get much; they had only three weeks to campaign anyway. I ran Ogun State for eight years and we ran a transition without bloodshed. I think that is the beauty of democracy. The last time I spoke to (Governor) Amosun was the night of the 2011 elections and the other time I saw him was when he came unceremoniously to my father ’s burial.

Between Suswan and the two opposition professors

BY PETER DURU

E

ARLY July, a Makurdi Federal High Court delivered a ruling which dismissed the suit of the former PDP governorship aspirant at the last general elections, Mr. Terver Kakih, who challenged the victory of Governor Gabriel Suswam, thereby finally halting the over one year sequence of protracted litigation against the election of the governor.

The said judgement came a month after the Supreme Court also threw out a consolidated suit filed by the defeated Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, candidate at that election and his ANPP counterpart, Professors Steve Ugba and Daniel Saror respectively, and, by so doing, confirmed Suswam as duly elected.

Before the Supreme Court ruling, in January, the Justice Halima Mohammed-led Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi had keyed into an earlier ruling of the Supreme to dismiss Ugba’s and Saror ’s petitions on the premise that the 180 days constitutionally prescribed for the adjudication of all electoral matters had elapsed.

But undaunted by the ruling of the tribunal, Ugba and Saror approached the Supreme Court in their quest to seek a leverage that would avail them a platform to unseat Suswam.

It was not to be, as the apex court confirmed an earlier ruling of the lower tribunal by dismissing

the appeal on the grounds that the action had been overtaken by the 180 days within which all litigation and disputes arising from the general elections ought to be dispensed with, as prescribed by law.

While these series of legal scrimmage lingered, a dichotomy of two major political camps, the proSuswam and the opposition block, took the centre stage in a fierce political battle to sway public opinion and sympathy in Benue.

This development created deep animosity between the two blocks, at such a magnitude never before seen in the political history of the state.

As the tussle dilly-dallied, the opposition relied heavily on its propaganda machine to rattle the government and also win and sustain the sympathy of it’s followers while the Suswam camp depended on its subtle appeal to the people to remain calm and supportive of its cause.

Indeed, a major attraction of the barrage of litigation against the outcome of the last governorship election in Benue was the judgement of the Makurdi Federal High Court presided over by Justice Marcel Awokulekein which finally put to rest allegations of certificate forgery leveled against the Benue governor by his political rivals since none has indicated interest to approach the appellate court for further adjudication in the matter.

In that litigation, Kakih had premised his action, among

others, on the allegation that Suswam parades forged WAEC certificates on which basis he stood disqualified to seek any elective position.

The former PDP aspirant contended that the party primaries that threw up Suswam as the party ’s candidate was skewed and lacking transparency.

Delivering judgement in the matter, Justice Awokulekein described the suit as “frivolous, vexatious, unmeritorious and lacking in merit”.

He lashed at the plaintiff and his witnesses for presenting prototype, hearsay and opinionated evidence before the court which he said were inadmissible in law.

Reacting to the verdict, counsel to Suswam, Jubrin Okutekpa SAN, said it was victory for justice, adding that it has finally brought to an end the demeaning rumors and phantom allegations of certificate forgery leveled against his client.

In another reaction, a former classmate of the governor at the School of Basic Studies Makurdi and currently the Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Solomon Wombo, said the allegation of certificate forgery which the opposition harped on was a calculated attempt to smear and demean the personality of Suswam in the eyes of Nigerians.

PAGE 16—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

debbiemoments@gmail.com

Nigerians, the cookie is crumbling (2) Certainly, those who wrote the 1999 Constitution are partly to blame for its inadequacies which allow agbata e kee politicians to exploit the masses.

F

or instance, the pro vision which stipulates a two-chambered legislature at the centre on a permanent basis is an unimaginative cloning of the American system which is inappropriate for our developmen-

Nigerians should consider radical measures such as “Occupy the National Assembly” to force politicians to do the right thing

tal needs at this time.

Moreover, it permits jobless politicians, failed business people and unsuccessful professionals to have easy access to billions of naira for doing practically nothing.

Bear in mind that, if stripped of the unnecessary razzmatazz and glamour associated with political office, the contribution of a senator or house member to national development is far less than that of a primary

Moving on

O

NE of the sto ries that I find most educational in the Bible is that of Lot’s wife. It is not a long tale but the wisdom in it is swift and sure. Their old life, home and even friends were doomed and they were given an opportunity to escape death. They were fleeing from Armageddon but she still could not let go of yesterday for the sake of tomorrow, she gave up her future to look back at her past. That one glimpse cost her dearly; she went down in history as the pillar of salt; her past had effectively put paid to her future!! I have major trust issues and tend to trust only what I know, so if I had been lot’s wife, it is safe to say I would have been salt!! I would have found it excruciating to let go of a safe environment for the unknown, even if it was better. I think people

are like birds, we build a little nest wherever we go and we get so comfortable, we carry a bit of it with us even when we leave or are kicked out!

I

school teacher. Yet, the unjust income distribution system in Nigeria is such that the total annual emolument of a federal legislator can pay the salaries of up to two hundred teachers. Now, in America investigative journalists and the general public are seriously interested in, and probe deeply, the antecedents of those aspiring for political positions, including the legislature; they

n the course of one’s life, it is possible to carry love for different people in our hearts for long periods of time. So what is my point? A lot of us are caught in the vice grip of the past and it is disturbing our future!! To begin a new life effectively it is important to close the chapter of the old one. For a completely new beginning in a relationship or friendship, some feelings, some ghosts and some people have to be exorcised by all means necessary! Experience is a tool of knowledge but emotional lethargy is the suicide of unions. It should be the standard advice in the manual for those about to commit!!

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also pressurise government officials found wanting to quit office. In Nigeria the situation is completely different. In fact, investigative journalism necessary for exposing the sordid backgrounds of federal legislators in Nigeria is virtually nonexistent, with the result that all manner of scallywags, fraudsters and people of low mentality are “elected” into the National Assembly.

Given this background,

Don’t look back; face the future squarely without any baggage.

I remember a term in the university, very crude but often true. It was the “Okafor ’s law”. I would break it down but it is still as vulgar and tasteless as it sounded then. The gist is that ex lovers always rebound and end up beneath the sheets!! Emotional ties are more diffi-

,

,

S

OMETIME ago, when Sanusi La mido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, asserted that the National Assembly appropriates to itself 25 percent of the total overhead budget of federal government, our dishonourable legislators offered self-serving tendentious arguments to explain away their wicked brigandage of the national treasury.

Personally, despite the colossal wealth immorally amassed by the socalled representatives of Nigerians, I do not have an iota of respect for them. Everyone knows that if a forensic cost-benefit analysis of what the country has spent since May 29, 1999 on the Senate and House of Representatives vis-à-vis their contribution to national development, the result would be very damning indeed, for it would reveal that our National Assembly ranks among the biggest white elephants in the world.

There is no doubt that the federal legislature is brimming with corruption notwithstanding the futile posturing of David Mark, Aminu Tambuwal, Ike Ekweremadu, Emeka Ihedioha and other pigs in our legislative Animal Farm.

the alarming level of indiscipline, deceit and corruption in the Senate and House of Representatives should not surprise anyone.

In that regard, the best thing to do is to scrap the House of Representatives so that the three senators representing each state would have enough job to do, with proper oversight to ensure that absurdities such as constituency allowances and other avenues of stealing money are eliminated. Of course, left to the current over-paid and over-pampered legislators, the necessary reforms that would produce a slimmer, cost- effective and efficient legislature will never be undertaken.

T

herefore Nigerians should consider radical measures such as “Occupy the National Assembly” to force politicians to do the right thing. Moral decay in the executive and legislative arms of government has penetrated the judiciary also. The most glaring instantiation of this relates to the vicissitudes of former Delta State governor, James Ibori, who was “beatified” by courts in Nigeria but was jailed in Britain for money laundering and corruption.

The Ibori saga, together with many other frivolous injunctions and judgments in cases involving former state governors, business tycoons and managing directors of failed companies and banks, indicate that Nigeria’s judiciary is experiencing severe crisis of values which must be that there is only one love for an entire life time? It is possible to have residual feelings from past relationships; the heart is not a machine that can be switched on or off at will.

Lying about them and pretending such feelings don't exist is dangerous; they need to be confronted, acknowledged and put in a place where those feelings don't affect new ones and destroy new loves!! I wander how true it is that most wedding days begin with a yearning for lost loves!! That seems so sad to me; why yearn for what is gone when you could embrace what you have? It's expensive to

The sad truth is that true love is always close by but we miss it because we are looking back or straining our imaginations to catch a glimpse of what is at best a mirage

cult to cut than the physical; you can move out but how easy is it to move on?

Most of us want to end up with the “love of our life”, but who is to say

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look back as we could lose the future; the glory is never in the past!!

The truth is, some relationships end through

no fault of those involved; life deals some

addressed expeditiously.

Avaricious senior lawyers and sloppy prosecution by various law enforcement agencies are partly responsible for this situation. Nevertheless, the bulk of the blame must go to cash-and-carry judges and magistrates who are used by agbata e kee politicians as instruments for entrenching elephantine corruption in Nigeria. If our country was China, the United States and Britain, for instance, former heads of state, governors, ministers and other prominent politicians and chief executives of critical socio-political and economic institutions would be in jail for corruption and abuse of office. But Nigeria is yet to evolve into a society where VIPs are compelled to face justice like ordinary citizens.

T

hus the question arises: is the judiciary truly the last hope of the common man in Nigeria? The candid answer is a resounding No! Instead Nigerian courts have become the last refuge for kleptomaniacs who employ retinues of senior advocates to subvert the course of justice.

It is shameful that some magistrates and judges eagerly sentence a petty thief to five years imprisonment for stealing one hundred thousand naira whereas former governors who stole billions in different currencies are rewarded with perpetual injunctions against prosecution! That is not all: in some cases VIP thieves are asked to pay ridiculously low fines for

blows that are fatal. It is my belief that the past is often clouded with nostalgia and as such creates heroes out of villains or paradises out of what was probably just a codependency formed by habit!! In some cases, the pain of heartbreak also doesn’t make for closure when a relationship ends. No one likes rejection, It’s often a question of pride and I know some people who have done all they can to recapture old love only to find that they did not want it after all! Moving on is a sermon I preached to a young friend of mine not too long ago. she was pressing the pause button on what could be a beautiful relationship in the hope that the one who rejected her would return. I should add here that I am deeply distrustful of those people who can cause someone heartbreak arbitrarily.

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f we were all com pletely truthful, we would admit to having residues of emotions for past friends and lovers.

The thing to never forget is that we are not who we were back then. We evolve emotionally, physically and spiritually. My views on life, love and God are completely different from a decade ago; life has changed me

corrupt enrichment.

From our brief phenomenology of the three arms of government in the preceding paragraphs, it can be inferred that the cookie called Nigeria baked

by Lord Lugard and his cohorts in 1914 is crumbling.

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he future is bleak due to the shameless character of our ruling elite. In countries where members of the ruling class have both a sense of shame and feeling of dignity, top government officials voluntarily resign the moment there is serious allegation of serious misconduct against them.

Even when a manmade or natural mishap (for example, an air crash) occurs, the overall boss of the relevant ministry would resign and apologise to the people. In Japan, prime ministers have resigned just because the economy did not meet expectations. In Nigeria, no matter how serious the allegation of disgraceful misconduct might be, no matter the degree of disaster, the minister in charge would sit tight in his or her position as if nothing has happened: in the worst case scenario, he or she would be moved to another ministry by the president. To repeat again, albeit with some modification, if Nigeria was China, the ministers of petroleum resources, aviation, internal affairs and other ministries where things have really fallen apart so to speak would have voluntarily resigned.

TO BE CONCLUDED. and will continue to do so. It makes me completely unsuitable for whoever has feelings for the girl I was at 25; I am not her. I don't think love is some euphoric emotion that is anti reality. If you love someone; you must be able to explain why; otherwise you are just fantasising.There are values and qualities that cause love to grow, looks are just to attract.

Love requires some form of reciprocity to thrive otherwise its obsession or stalking!! The sad truth is that true love is always close by but we miss it because we are looking back or straining our imaginations to catch a glimpse of what is at best a mirage.

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oving on in my view is the right decision after any ending, even in business...

Hanging on to a lost love or relationship or even association is at best just sad. Its a time waster and no one should ever waste time. Its okay to take time to heal and get over disappointment, loss or rejection. Healing truly be gins when we say

goodbye and move on. I really like the Johnny Walker advert that says "Just keep walking", I would add with your head up and shoulders high; move on..

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 17

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“bread basket” – petroleum sector…..

NIGERIANS; YOU DESERVE THE INSULT –3 “Every country gets the government it deserves”. Joseph de Maistre, 1753-1821.

Robbing Turai to pay Patience.

A group of, mostly idle, wives of African Presidents gathered in Abuja last week Wednesday, July 25, 2012, to lay the foundation of what they call the African First Ladies Peace Centre. Representing several banana and banga soup republics, they failed to notice that there is no such gathering of elected officials’ wives on another continent – where the people left the Dark Ages eight hundred years ago. Except for the generous application of skin toners; our African freeloaders would all be dark – appropriate color for those who still live in the twelfth century.

What was of interest to me was the fact that the parcel of land, on which the Centre is to be built, had once been allocated to the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, a pet NGO of Mrs Turai Yar’Adua – the widow of the late President. Now, providentially the wife of the transient, but incumbent President, could find no other parcel of land in the whole of Abuja but the one already given to her predecessor in office. That, to me, is not a peaceful gesture. It is, indeed, an outrageous insult. But, then, Nigerians deserve the insult. “Elect a joker and you get a lot of jokes”; especially bad ones. Every Ananias eventually mates with a Sapphira.

In the haste to grab what was already given to a predecessor in office, it never occurred to the present occupant of the inner bedroom at Aso Rock that she might be establishing a precedent which might come to haunt her and her husband – who must know about the deal.

She must go one day; another will take over. Will the parcel of land change hands again?

Just in case you are wondering why the presidents’ wives were not addressed as “first ladies”, the matter is simple.

There is no such title in our constitution. Any idiot who likes can invest anyone with any title, but they should not expect me to join in the foolishness. I know only one first lady – that is my wife (and don’t ask me which one).

YOUNG MUSLIM AUTHOR

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“If your children are not better than you; then you must have fathered them in vain”. Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910.

HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has finally opened the cases on the fuel subsidy fraud. Let me hasten to state that none of the accused persons is presumed guilty on this page. Guilt or innocence will be determined by the law courts. However, it is pertinent to observe that if less than two hundred people, out of a population estimated at 167 million, mostly fools, are picked out for investigation and prosecution they could not have been too far from the scenes of the crimes that might have been committed. Whether they were active participants or inadvertent victims is what the evidence will show. Nobody will mention Dele Sobowale in any scandal.

At any rate, I am not so much interested in the alleged culprits themselves as what some of them represent in modern Nigeria – since the First Republic. They represent the small group of families which since 1960 have been operating in the system of the ruling classes – north and south.

And who continue to pass the privileges, they routinely abuse, to their off-springs from one generation to the next. In the second part of my book PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, a whole chapter will be devoted to those families who have been dipping their hands into the public till ceaselessly since the 1960s and 1970s till today. They do it either through political appointments as Ministers, Governors, Commissioners, top executives of major parastatals or Presidential advisers or by engaging in businesses which are almost totally government-dependent.

When that fails, they become top functionaries of the ruling political party at Federal and State levels. And, it is not just the NPC, NPN, and now PDP politicians who are engaged in this game of permanently feeding from the public treasury in one form or another. When part two of the book finally gets published the names of families, including so called “Progressives”, in the Southwest, for instance, topping the list of “I-chop-thenmy-pickin-chop” will astonish Nigerians.

It is still going on right under our noses.

Public service has elided into family-service everywhere. Even when regimes change, one discovers that the new owners of the manor just want to replace the outgoing people with their own set of “come and eat” gang.

To be quite candid, I was not shocked to note that the off-springs of a former (Christian) and an incumbent, (Muslim) National Chairmen of the PDP were there on the list. Neither was it surprising that the son of a Southwest, Muslim leader and PDP financier, appeared on the charge sheet. Perhaps the place to start is the Yoruba leader to illustrate the point.

Decree 53 was the last decree signed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, in May 1999. It listed the loot recovered from Abacha and family as well as the National Security Adviser – Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo. The only southern name was that of the Southwest leader. He was credited with N100 million loot found in his possession. Abubakar left, Obasanjo came in and made all the noise about fighting corruption and gave the impression that it was only the Abacha family that was caught with their hands in the till. Nothing was said about “our brother ”. Now, the son of a Yoruba, who is also a leader, is being accused of subsidy fraud. The less said about the Chairman of the party the better. It will appear that nobody can be National, or even, State Chairman of the PDP, who, if he were to be thoroughly investigated, would not change his designer clothes for Prison-designed uniform. And I have evidence to back that up. But now the children are taking over; they have apparently gone to the biggest

The wife of the transient, but incumbent, President, could find no other parcel of land in the whole of Abuja but the one already given to her predecessor in office. That, to me, is not a peaceful gesture

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NEEDS SPONSORSHIP TO PUBLISH The title of the book is A-Z WORD: from the Quran. I personally read and edited it and will recommend it to all our brothers of both faiths since it is written in English. We need to reach across the religious lines to save our nation. The problem is finance. If I have the funds, I would have paid for copies to be printed. Can you help?

Any amount will be appreciated. If you can assist, please get in touch.

I wish all Muslims a fruitful Ramadan and many more years on earth.

Amen!

Inspiring a generation - An Olympic dream I’ve learned that people will forget what will be joined by three women’s events: you said, people will forget what you did, women’s Fly, women’s Middle, and but people will never forget how you women’s Light and women football. made them feel. – Maya Angelou The World champion 800m runner, Caster Semenya, looked defiant carth N the 27 of July, all eyes were rying the South African flag after on London. How could they top a long absence from international the Bejing opening four years ear- sport over her gender. Fellow lier? The pride of England was at stake and South African, Oscar Pistorius, nickboy, did we know it. Billions watched named ‘Blade Runner’, the double amaround the world when the Red Arrows jet putee has been selected to run in the formation flew across the stadium spew- 400m and the 4x 400m and in doing so ing the red, white and blue of the Union will become the first double amputee Jack. The Brits usually are known for ever to compete at the games. their stiff upper lip and are not known to The message of 2012, centrally based blow their own trumpet. on the youth and the older generation The opening ceremony reflected a handing over the reins of the future of departure from self deprecation and the the Olympics. Call it what you may, but theme of the London 2012 Games was it is an important message that will there for all to see; inspiration, youth and ensure that the younger generation is urban transformation. It was a ceremony motivated and inspired to excel in ‘for everyone’; the multi-culturalism was ap- their future endeavours. It was parent in the number of ethnicities’ repre- about inclusiveness, individuality, insentation. It was one of celebration and the tegrity, ingenuity and introspection. contributions the UK has made to the world The national team match past had through innovation and revolution as well their respective country rep or head givas the creativity and exuberance of British ing voices of encouragement from the people. side lines. The Queen of Spain, Michelle Some of the references were lost in trans- Obama amongst many, were rooting lation and without a prior knowledge of for their respective national teams. It British eccentricity and off centre sense of was a shame that the Nigerian team did not have anyone in the enclosure to support them. The Nigerian team looked resplendent in their green white green outfit.

My 23 year old son, who was not hot on the Olympics sent me a text: “It was awesome to feel patriotic, fantastic show, still smiling!” I could not have put it better myself.

After the games, when the dust would have settled, then the real work would begin. The legacy of the game is to generate the East end area. Majority of the young ones are not working, in education or in employment than any other area in London. It is planned that the athletes’ village would be affordable homes for the local people.

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Chips of the old block: The next generation takes over -1

Majority of the young ones are not working, in education or in employment than any other area in London. It is planned that the athletes’ village would be affordable homes for the local people

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humour. It appeared to some as whimsical .

For me the coup of the evening was when the actor, playing James Bond, went into Buckingham palace to escort the Queen to the games. I mean, that was epic. The Queen, followed in the step of her great grandfather who opened the 1906 London Olympics and her father , the London 1948 Olympics and now the Queen, in 2012.

I may have let the cat out of the bag but the queen and 007 did not actually jump out of the helicopter and parachuted into the stadium. They hired stunt doubles. The Artistic director, Oscar-winning film Director, Danny Boyle, whose vision took the observers through history, music and social innovation that Britain shared with the world. There is the NHS, a medical marvel which is free to all at the point of delivery.

The relatives of Emily Pankhurst, the leader of the women Suffragettes, took part and women around the world owe her a debt of gratitude as she fought for equal rights for women. Brunei, Darussalam, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have, for the first time, included female athletes in their ranks.

There was Sir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who invented the World Wide Web. Sir Paul McCartney performed the Hey Jude and we sang along at home and in the stadium.

The spectacular finale of the event saw the Olympic Cauldron, formed of 205 copper petals representing the competing nations coming together in London for the Games, ignited by seven young torchbearers nominated by Britain’s past and present Olympic and sporting greats.

For the first time at an Olympic Games, the 10 men’s Boxing events at London 2012

he nearby shopping mall would provide jobs and the recreational T facilities will transform the area. In this recession-filled times, London has been able to bring some feelgood factor; the wedding, the Queens Jubilee and then the Olympics. International visitors’ visiting the capital are astounded by the approachability of the British.

The events have been a confidence booster, a money puller, the visitors are spending money and this hopefully will in the medium term provide jobs for the unemployed and the youths. I don’t know how long the feel-good factor will end but while it is here, I bet we will ride the wave.

Volunteering may be a foreign concept in Nigeria, but in the UK it is this unpaid, altruistic group of people who gave their time to oil the wheels of good causes and ensure inclusiveness.

I once approached some big wigs in Nigeria that I wanted to train volunteers to help people have access to health and social care in deprived areas in a southern state. The response was not encouraging and I have not given up. I do believe that we should give our time to help those unfortunate than us without much fanfare.

It seems that most Nigerians do not want to give something for nothing.

The 2012 Olympics could not have happened if it not for the volunteers.

Nigeria has a long way to go when it comes to altruism. They say “the measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members”.

I find the present crop of government officials in Nigeria, so gauche and crass in the way they display their ill-gotten wealth in the midst of such grinding poverty.

PAGE 18—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Hooligans in government ly develop into no less than eight lanes. If per chance it happens to be one of our handful of four-lane roads commonly called express, about 16 lanes would be formed in the twinkle of an eye making it exceedingly difficult to determine at a traffic hold-up, which vehicles that are facing each other are going to which direction. Thus, what Governor Fashola did on that fateful day, was to stop the military officers from opening up one of the imaginary lanes.

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N Tuesday July 17 2012, Governor Fashola of Lagos State publicly scolded, two military officers for driving on the dedicated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane in Marina, Lagos. Many people who commented on the story condemned the conduct of the officers and expressed delight that the Governor did not allow them to get away with the offence. I agree with the sentiments. However, I am unable to agree with those who saw the episode as a reflection of the conduct of a typical military operative thereby indicting our Armed Forces as a whole.

Such a general condemnation is not only unfair to the large number of decent military personnel in the country but also misses the real issue at stake. It is simplistic to see what the military officers did as a reflection of the behavior of a typical soldier when in reality it is that of the average member of a society which has a high level of indiscipline. It is indeed a common feature in the daily lives of Nigerians who are all involuntarily impatient on a permanent basis. This is why each time a hold-up occurs on any Nigerian road which is usually a onelane road; it would sudden-

ernor harkens to their expectation, our fear is that he may eventually discover that he has entered into an endless game. One thing which is certain is that he would catch many offenders by the day because the indiscipline of the misuse of our roads is at par with that of corruption and both are perhaps two sides of a game that virtually everyone plays well in Nigeria. In other words, the more, a culprit is caught, the more are those standing by to try their luck. We just hope that the Governor would not be

Sometimes, the environmental noise caused by sirens and the recklessness of official vehicle drivers still occur even when the big men are not in the vehicles

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ollowing the Gover nor ’s pledge that he would ensure a strict compliance with the BRT scheme, many people are probably looking forward to seeing him take time-off occasionally to deal with lawless road users as he did with the officers. If the Gov-

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broken hearted the day he finds the culprit to be the entourage of his deputy. We are however encouraged by his firm stand which suggests that some sanity may come to Lagos roads shortly. Oh yes, it is likely to happen in Lagos but where else? Anyone who has Abu-

The Obasanjo/Babangida compromise ment, and potential grounds to mass revolt. The executive council under the leadership of the president is conceived to be a team.

Government is in that sense like a team sport. The team makes the best use of individual talents and skills but in a cognate and organic way. The president is the captain of the team, and his leadership is vital in sustaining team morale. Any slip by an individual member of the team leads to disaster. So, Edwin Clark is right in alerting Nigerians to the potential situation of dissonance in the presidential team under the leadership of President Jonathan.

At this critical stage of its development, Nigeria needs a first class team; a coherent team; but it also needs bold leadership to inspire the team. It must take the effective leadership of President Jonathan to evaluate his team of ministers and spot those who are disloyal and subversive.

The constitution gives him the powerful leeway of choosing his own team. Indeed in a presidential system, unlike in a parliamentary democracy which offers a range of freedoms and autonomy to the ministers of government who are equally parliamentarians, the ministers serve at the pleasure of the executive president.

There is no collective responsibility. All achievements and all failures belong to the president. It is thus up to the president to retain the services of those ministers whom Mr. Clark, though unable or unwilling to name, are disloyal to the administration. It is a feckless complaint as far as one is concerned.

It is basically up to President Jonathan to keep or dispense with the services of

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N Wednesday, this past week, Mr. Ed win Clark, the prominent leader of the Ijaw ethnic group in Nigeria and close confidante of President Goodluck Jonathan took a steady look at matters affecting the nation as the guest speaker at the 2nd “ State of the Federation Lecture” of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in Abuja.

Among the issues he raised was the question of loyalty – ministerial loyalty to the president of federation – a situation which Mr. Clark found both disturbing and critical. Of course it ought to be a source of worry, and a situation dangerous to the health of this federation if the ministers of government are subversive and disloyal to the president.

Their sworn oath of allegiance is to the president and the constitution of the Republic.

If indeed, as Mr. Clark alleges, certain ministers of government prove themselves disloyal to the aims and aspirations of the government under the current president, they put to risk the mandate of the presidency, and its capacity to effectively deliver services to the Nigerian people. Such a situation leads naturally to national disenchant-

ja in mind would need to think twice. This is because despite the city’s numerous wide lanes, there are big but lawless men who now and again violently push the rest of us – commoners - off the road, to enable them arrive at their destination in a new Olympic Games record time for car racing.

Sometimes, the environmental noise caused by sirens and the recklessness of official vehicle drivers still occur even when the big men are not in the vehicles.

Thus in Abuja as in some other cities, there are many undesirable elements in government who show that they are in power not only on the roads, but through a number of diversified channels. This appears to be the best way to visualize the alleged display of hooliganism in Government House Ado Ekiti about a month ago.

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ccording to uncontro verted media reports, two Managers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Ado-Ekiti were manhandled by one of the aides of the Ekiti State governor and some security men attached to the Government House in Ado Ekiti. The Managers -Messrs, Julius Ige, in charge of Marketing and Ilori Kayode Brown, Head of Public Relations - were reportedly abducted in the night of Friday June 29 and ‘brutally’ held till 1.15am of the next day because PHCN disconnected power supply to the Government House over repeatedly demanded but unpaid electricity bills. PHCN claimed that before the power supply to government house was disEbele Jonathan, possibly ministers loyal and working for other interests outside of this government, whose aim is to make Jonathan look weak, incapable, listless and without direction. There is intrigue at play, claims Mr. Clark, by those interests who wish to force Nigeria on the path of hysteria by making the nation “ungovernable” under Jonathan, whom they have dubbed, “a drunken fisherman and a weakling unfit to govern.”

Edwin Clark did not pull punches. He specifically mentions two former military Heads of State from the Northern parts of this federation: Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida. “Let them publicly condemn Boko Haram if they are sincere” Edwin Clark

The level of corruption under the Babangida and Obasanjo administrations, which indeed are the roots of Nigeria’s national moral and security crisis, is without compare

(dis)loyal ministers. Beyond that, at any rate, is what Mr. Clark conceives to be “disloyalty.” Is it that some of these ministers do not agree with the president’s in-council decisions? Is it that they are the ones bold enough to argue with the president on policy differences? Disagreement at an ethical level does not constitute “disloyalty.” Yet indeed, one knows exactly what Edwin Clark is driving at. He is basically pointing to the presence of “moles” in the administration of President

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declared to these men.

Clark has raised the first public challenge to two people critical to the development of Nigeria’s national security challenges.

Clark’s challenge is critical because it comes at the very backdrops of the recent “Ramadan letter ” written jointly by Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo and Mr. Ibrahim Babangida, two Generals of the Nigerian Army and former Heads of state of Nigeria. President Obasanjo and General Babangida

connected, it wrote to the state Commissioner of Police and the Director of the State Security Service, informing them of the plan to cut electricity supply to the place. The company also claimed that the leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) the ruling party in the state was similarly notified. The story was not denied by any of the three sources. An unnamed official of the state government who reportedly denied the accusation that the PHCN Managers were manhandled, was however silent on their late night forceful arrest by nonlaw enforcement personnel of the state government.

The explanation by the unnamed spokesman that the state government was not indebted to the PHCN having cleared a lot of debts inherited from its predecessor; did not address the charge of unpaid N15 million debt representing four months of electricity supplied to the state government.

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tricity to anybody including government involves a contract of service in which one of the contracting parties should not be physically subjugated by the other. Disputations by the parties can only in a democracy be resolved through the due process of law and not through brigandage. Governor Kayode Fayemi by training and disposition knows these principles better than the rest of us making it regretful that the conflict came out of his Ekiti state. We just hope, Fayemi has quietly resolved it because the episode should not happen even in a state like Bauchi that is overwhelmed by thousands of idle special assistants. For enlightened Ekiti, it is completely deplorable. We therefore call on the state government if it has not done so, to pay its debt, apologise to the PHCN for the wrongful imprisonment and manhandling of their two Managers and most importantly discipline its officials who perpetrated the shameful act.

n immediate com mentary in this column on the subject was stalled by the reaction of the opposition political party in the state which tended to politicize the subject. We had also hoped that the government would quickly redress its behaviour. But with silence as the preferred option after one month, it is time to pronounce our concurrence with those who think that the state government officials involved in the fracas are not better than hoodlums and to also become more apprehensive of the call for state police. The supply of elec-

t is however important to also underscore PHCN’s contributory negligence in the matter. This is because, if the company had taken advantage of technology and installed pre-paid metres for all its customers, to owe it would have been virtually impossible since the supply of electricity would have rested on the inanimate option of how much credit is in a metre at any point . We hope that the new owners of PHCN would move to premise its management on best practices in its industry.

jointly reaffirmed the belief in the continued existence of Nigeria and the need to close grounds in their letter. I should of course say that as letters of compromise go, the Obasanjo/Babangida letter to Nigerians is a declaration of hoary intent but carries no moral force. Why? We must go back to the issues raised by Edwin Clark, himself, not exactly an innocent bystander in the serial ruin of Nigeria since January 1966. But as Edwin Clark declares, Boko Haram and sundry matters did not begin with Goodluck Jonathan (although it is now up to him to deal with it. That’s why he is president). Insecurity did not begin with him.

The level of corruption under the Babangida and Obasanjo administrations, which indeed are the roots of Nigeria’s national moral and security crisis, is without compare. It might simply, finally be that Boko Haram is the beginning of the revolt of ordinary people, who have seen the utter desiccation and looting of Nigeria by the military and civilian oligarchy we call the Nigerian elite. Under Obasanjo’s second administration alone, we have had such “high profile” cases of alleged looting of the public treasury that includes Jigawa’s Saminu Turaki, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti, Enugu’s Chimaroke Nnamani, Abia’s Orji Uzo Kalu, and others including Adamu Abdullahi, James Ibori, Jolly Nyame, Babalola Aborishade, Femi Fani-Kayode, Boni Haruna, Joshua Dariye, Attahiru Baffarawa, and many others, whose activities have

enervated the Nigerian state but the cases against them have been stymied at the tribunals. But these are a tip of the iceberg. General Obasanjo and his own personal interests have yet to be fully and effectively investigated, neither have Nigerians forgotten or have been given full accounting of the years of piracy under the BabangidaAbacha duet or relay of infamy under which Nigeria lost every modicum of national purpose and integrity.

It feels therefore like a mockery of Nigerians when the two Generals – very central to the Nigerian situation today – write a “Ramadan letter ” talking pumpkins to Nigerians.

Poverty and corruption is the legacy of their service to Nigeria. Poverty leads to destitution and destitution leads to disillusion, and national disillusion is the greatest security threat to Nigeria today. True, some may be mining the core of that disillusion to create the situation of rapid discontent and ungovernability a true challenge to the nation - but to deal with this question, Nigeria needs a different compromise; different and bolder than contained in the Ramadan letters of two complicit Generals. Something which Edwin Clark said in his lecture on the state of the federation is quite apt in that regard: President Jonathan should as a matter of urgency compel the National Assembly to convoke the National Conference as a way of discussing all the issues threatening Nigeria today. This is the historical imperative.

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 19

She left me because I refused intimacy!

Dear Rebecca

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AM 19 and she is 17. We are both still virgins.

One day she asked me to de-flower her but I refused.

Then she threatened that if I don’t oblige her, she would have to find another boy who’s willing to have sex with her.

We then broke up, but now I want her back in my life. Her condition for us getting back together is still that I must have sex with her. I have never had sex before . What do I do?

Mebi, Aba.

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Y advice is that you re main a virgin until you understand more about your body and its functions, and you know much about sex, venereal diseases and contraceptives. I am glad that you refused to have sex with that girl.

The poor girl obviously knows nothing about love-making, and she’s been hearing her friends talk about sex, so, she felt she just have to experience it. If she actually knows the risks involved, if you ask for sex, she would refuse; at least for as long as she can. It is normal for young people to be curious about sex, and they may want to experiment, but it is important for them to understand the risks that go with sex, whether you’re married or not.

A married per son

shouldn’t commit adultery, because apart from breaking his/her marital vows and showing that his/her home and marriage don’t mean anything to him/her, there’s the risk of contracting venereal diseases and coming home to infect the spouse. Also, that straying may bring another man’s child or another woman’s child into the union. This would complicate matters and could lead to great distress and a possible break-up.

Sex by unmarried young people, apart from the risk of sex-related diseases, can lead to unwanted pregnancy and likely abortion which may lead to the death of the girl if it was badly carried out, or it may cause a damage, which may make the girl unable to have children later. Hav-

ing babies early can disturb and disrupt young people’s education and future career. Sex is best had in a committed relationship like marriage.

This brings peace of mind because of all that has been listed above. Sex is not the fun that people think it is, when had just anyhow.

When next you see this girl, tell her all I’ve said about pre-marital sex.

Add that it’s in a girl’s interest to keep her virginity until she’s properly married. Otherwise she would lose her self-re-

spect when she has to sleep with all the boys who date her, and who would go to spread the news that she’s an easylay, and sexually promiscuous. Boys would then flock around her so that they too would ‘taste’ When she’s, and dump her. Getting married would be difficult as no man wants to be married to a ‘loose’ woman.

Your major concern now should be your studies, and future career, however, so devote most of

your time to that. Advise her to do that too.

This relationship seems one-sided!

Dear Rebecca

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AM 28, she is 23. I have introduced myself to her family.

I work in a company while she is waiting to either get a job or go back to do her HND. She portrays some good traits that have endeared her to me and I compliment her on these too.

However, I noticed that she hardly bothers to visit me in spite of my visits to her house. On the few occasions she called at my place or office, it is usually short with the excuse that her guardians monitors her movement.

I am well known in her house and my intention, I have declared to them.

They receive me well anytime I call at her place so I don’t believe they will ask her not to visit me.

I am bothered as I don’t know what she is up to.

In spite of my tight work schedule and the long distance between our residences, I make it a point to see her every other day. Once, I stayed away from her for a week, thinking she would come looking for me.

She didn’t and I had to resume seeing her. She explained that she knew I was alright because she had informants who tell her about me. I have kept away for over a week again and she is yet to come look for me. Auntie, what do I do? I’m mature and I don’t want to waste my time.

Jamilu Adamawa State.

REPLY

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HE course of love and co urtship is never smooth all the time. There are always

bumps of discouragement and disappointment along the way and it takes patience, understanding and the grace of God, for the relationship, even a loving union to be successful.

You will have to exercise much patience if you are convinced that you love this girl, and she loves you and you think that she is the type of lady that you want for a wife.

The fact that she sometimes calls to see you, even though for a short time, shows that she is interested in you. It is normal for parents or guardians to be watchful and strict over a girl’s movement so that she does not become foolish over boys and become promiscuous or even pregnant thereby inviting abortion and all the danger attached to it. Also, parental control and monitoring brings a girl respect which will attract responsible suitors. I’’m sure you would not want to marry a girl who could stay indefinitely with you while visiting, or, could even stay the night with you. At first you might welcome a girl with such freedom, but only as a girlfriend. For a wife, you would want a girl who you would sweat a little before having her with you; a girl under responsible authority and who boys cannot see or have anyhow.

This girl’s people may be nice to you and welcome you to their place, but if you have not actually taken formal steps to ask for her hand in marriage, they cannot permit her to visit you.

Mentioning your intention to marry her does make you her fiance. If they allow you to visit her every man who says he wants to marry her, she would acquire a bad name as someone who sleeps around even though she doesn’t. Also, you said that she has plans to get a job or go for HND. This

means settling down and marriage are not on her plate right now, as she is not committed to any man, even you. Keeping away from her is not the right way of finding out how she cares. It is not even fair since she is not on her own yet and cannot control her movement.

There’s no mention of written or verbal communication in your mail. What about mobile phones to call or text each other? If she doesn’t have one, you may consider getting her one, if you can afford to. That would make daily communication much easier and possible.

I suggest you make up your mind about what you want

from the relationship. If it is still marriage, go propose to her. If she accepts, then ask your people to go see her people with drinks, to tell them your intention. I’m sure they will accept you. Together, you and the girl will plan the future i.e. when you will get married; whether she should work a bit, get married, have a kid, then do HND full time or part time.

Or, forget about further education and settle into a job or marriage.

If she rejects your marriage proposal, don’t get upset.

You will find another girl to court and marry. The important thing now is that you should make a move in order to know how you stand

with her.

Also, at only 28, there should be no rush on your part to tie the knot. So, have several responsible young ladies as friends, so that you can have the opportunity to study and understand girls more. These are not your girlfriends, just friends, and that should be something that is understood between you, as they would have other boys in their lives.

Their presence in your life will give you a wider choice in knowing the sort of woman you would want to marry in the end. They would be useful in analyzing what you don’t understand about girls.

Can’t find her!

Dear Rebecca

I

AM 21 years old in love with an 18 year old girl. We met last year during a club meeting in her school. Unfortunately, they moved to a new house and I have not been able to locate her since then. She’s a loving and caring friend.

What do I do to find her?

REPLY

T

HE problem with many young peo ple is that they see a romantic relationship where there is none, and they nurse it in their mind when the object of their affection is yet to know. You did not state whether or not this girl is aware of your interest in her and if she too is in love with you.

If she is a loving and caring friend of yours, she would have let you know they were moving

and would have given you the new address. If she is not allowed male visitors in the house, she would have told you, and suggested you communicate by gs m. To move houses without telling you means she doesn’t see your relationship as a romantic one, or one which necessitates visits or regular contact.

She probably sees you as a casual male acquaintance, and that’s probably why you don’t have her gsm number.

You may not agree with me, but for self respect, a man should consider carefully his friendship with a girl and how she reacts to him, before pursuing her for a romantic relationship or declaring that she is his girlfriend.

Some boys consider any girl who is friendly with them their girlfriend and

they would begin to exhibit anger and jealousy when they see her with other boys. This is why some girls are downright rude to some boys who want to be friends with them, so that such boys do not exhibit ownership of them. To trace this girl’s address, I suggest you ask her school mates and get her telephone number.

If she’s left there, you can send her a casual note through them, asking after her health and studies, etc. include your address and telephone number, so that if she is interested in contacting you, she can do so. Don’t place a lot of hope in her coming to you.

Meanwhile, make friends with other girls around you while you concentrate on whatever you’re doing about your future career.

•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

PAGE 20 —

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5 , 2012

0808 066 0660 (Texts only!)

Would you believe this naughty set-up?!

A

lot of goodies can be guaranteed your love life if you have age on your side. Take Temisan for instance. In her mid 20s, she wants for nothing, has a job to die for and her love life couldn’t be more adventurous. “A lot of my friends seem to be shocked that I’m openly dating two men, who also happen to be friends,” she bragged when I asked her if she had any plans of getting married soon. Obviously she doesn’t. She continued: “Others joke that I’m just greedy, and I think deep down, they ’re just jealous. They should be too.

I first met Kweku and Tony two years ago, when we all served in the same state.

“We all shared the same sarcastic humour and were mad about trying all the local canteens for tasty home-cooked meals. Soon we’d become an inseparable trio. From day one, I fancied Kweku - tall handsome and carefree he was always thumbing his nose at authority. He’d also get drunk from our canteen trips and made us laugh even more. His rebellious streak really turned me on. Tony, on the other hand, was shorter and stockier - he was also

good fun but he had an inner depth that Kweku lacked.

“We’d all carried on as if we’d just stay friends for ever. But one night, drinking with Kweku in his one-room apartment after one of our meals, he joked and asked: ‘What would you say if I kissed you?’ I was shocked at how aroused the question got me. But I played it cool, shrugged and teased: ‘I’d say you just did!’ He didn’t need further prompting. We were all over each other in seconds. We were sitting on his single bed anyway and there we stayed making love with the telly still blaring in the background. He wasn’t what you would call a considerate lover. He was demanding without being romantic but the sex was amazing.

A

fterwards, he just got up to get us more drinks and started chatting away as if nothing happened. It was obvious he was making his position clear - the sex was fun but he wasn’t looking for anything more from me. The next few days, I was disappointed and angry with him. Had he used me?

Confused, I decided to confide in Tony. We were

few days after, I slept with Tony again and days later, it was Kweku’s turn.

W

at the office canteen when I casually let it slip I’d slept with Kweku. He was gobsmacked. He recovered quickly though and instead of offering advice, he just raised an eyebrow. “So what would you say if I kissed you?” he smiled. Now it was my turn to be gobsmacked. But then I thought, why not? Tony was as sexy as Kweku in his own way.

“I’d say exactly the same,’ I replied. We decided to go to my place after work and he was the total opposite of Kweku. He was very romantic and after making

Toning up the pelvic region close to the Crotch as much as possible. Do the same with the other leg.

Now you should have both soles of the feet

,

T

WO of the best postures for im proving the pelvic area in yoga are the Heels-to-Crotch pose and the Spread Eagle.

The benefits of the stretching and toning of the abductor muscles that run along the inner thighs include preparing the pelvic floor for case of birth in women and improved manly vigor in the menfolk.

Other benefits are increased flexibility to the spine helping to reduce back fatigue and backache.

The Heels-to-Crotch in particular, also contributes to the suppleness of the hip, knee and ankle joints.

Digestion and elimination are both improved.

Let’s consider first, The Heels-to-Crotch pose.

Technique: Sit straight with the legs stretched out in front of you.

Now, bend first one knee placing the bent leg on the floor with the heel

There is improved blood circulation to the back and abdomen benefitting the kidneys and bladder and helping to deal with urinary disorders

ture is to flop the legs up and down at the knees like the wings of a bird in flight, a few times before holding the legs down in the final pose.

Your breathing should be relaxed and rhythmic.

Stay in the pose for some 10 to 15 seconds. Relax andn repeat.

Benefits: Both deep and super-

love, we lay cuddled up.

We were so comfortable with each other it was magic. It was then it dawned on me I had to do what Kweku had done to me - make it very clear that it couldn’t go further. ‘You’re a wonderful guy and the sex was good. But I’m not after a relationship’’, I told him.

He just laughed and shrugged. ‘It was nice though, wasn’t it?’ he said. When Kweku eventually figured out what was going on, he was stunned. He then became excited by the unconventional love triumph. They both had

few days later, when we all met at our favourite canteen, I was a bit embarrassed, but it soon passed. In fact, sitting there with my two gorgeous friends, knowing I’d bedded them both, made me feel amazingly sexy. And it was clear the men were not bothered by the ‘competition’. Instead, they both seemed pretty proud of being part of such a naughty set-up - and definitely up for more. A

ficial muscles of the inner thighs are intensely stretched toning muscles and ligaments of the pelvis, encouraging the health of the whole pelvic area.

There is improved blood circulation to the back and abdomen benefitting the kidneys and bladder and helping to deal with urinary disorders.

A daily practice of this pose hinders the onset of

varicose veins and is said to reduce the harshness of labour pains.

It helps check nocturnal emissions and increases sexual staying power in men.

The Spread Eagle Technique: Sitting erect spread out the legs as far apart as possible placing the hands on the shines.

Breathe normally and stay in the posture for as long as you can.

nothing to lose. On the contrary, they got to have sex with no strings attached.

A

e eventually re turned to Lagos and continued as friends.

Now, I still happily flirt between my boys every few days. There are unspoken rules that have developed between us.

We would never have a threesome. That would just be too weired. And we always have safe sex.

If Tony wants to meet me when I’ve already promised to see Kweku - or vice versa - then I’m always honest. ‘Ok, have fun! ‘ they’ll just say and laugh. ‘Do you fancy coming round tomorrow instead?’

“Maybe you think I’m naive, and that both men are taking advantage of me. I’m not. It’s great for me too. I’m still young and love the freedom of being single. But I still get sex on top whenever I want it. And it’s with my two best friends. So, tell me. What could be better than that?” When I asked her what would happen if both of them had regular girlfriends, she just shrugged. “I might be the one to get hitched first and they would just have to take it on the chin!”

A variant is to lower the trunk dropping the forehead to the floor and clutching the feet with the corresponding hands.

Benefits: The Spread Eagle tones the muscles of the inner thighs those of the back and stomach as well as the arms.

It is said to increase the digestive fire thereby eliminating indigestion and constipation.

,

touching and begin to lower both legs till the knees are either on the floor or very close with the hands holding down the feet.

Note: A warn up to this pos-

* The Spread Eagle

Yoga classes at 32 Ademola Adetokunbo Victoria Island, Lagos, 9.10am on Saturdays * Heels-to-Crotch

SUNDAY Vanguard , AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 21

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Falling in love with the wrong partner can ruin you for life!

I

T is common place nowadays to decry the men as malechauvinist pigs who go round hurting girls, creating havoc and irresponsibility by leaving a trail of broken hearts behind them,” so wrote Abbey, a thoroughly bitter man in his mid-forties and, according to him, “still hurting.” He continues: ‘This picture has always irked me. Some women simply do not think of men as people who can get hurt and be damaged by life just like themselves. True, men don’t get pregnant, but in some ways, men are far more vulnerable to damage than ‘ women - the irony being that this vulnerability is often dismissed in the phrase, ‘the fragile male ego’ as if it were something rather pathetic, not worthy of sympathetic consideration. Because men are not expected to get hurt, or at least not supposed to start crying about it, many women can be infinitely more cruel than any man.

Maybe there is some tiny mitigation in the fact that they may genuinely not understand the damage they have done precisely as a result of all the cliches of the situation.

“Which brings, me to my case. Many years ago, in my first year in the university, I underwent a set back which effects are still with me.

I had the misfortune to fall for a girl a few years older than myself; we call her Bukky. She was plump, nubile, engaged to a man back home, but fond of entertaining herself with extra talents closer at hand, finding a three-month separation from her man something of a bore and frustration.

I was slim and goodlooking and she evidently felt that I merited her attention. She led me on eagerly, something I

did not object to. I was young and romantic, exceptionally innocent and thought that love was something spiritual and poetic. Perhaps, that in itself seemed precious, but it was a classic piece of female chauvinism to find such qualities touching and attractive in a girl,. but a little comic in a man.

“The result was that I courted her very slowly by standard. Finding me to be unsatisfactory, she jilted me rather quickly, and found someone preferable. I cannot really object to this, though I have to reflect that in the same situation, a man would be expected to be patient and understanding.

She had led me to love her, then ditched me when she got bored - an ordinary scenario I do accept, and it would be tedious to keep whining about it. f it has stopped there, I I would, no doubt, have had very little to complain about... Unfortunately, that was not the line she took. I realise now, as I did not realise then, that her attitude was a classic case of sour grapes. She certainly did not love me, but it evidently irritated her that I was so inexperienced that I had failed to provide what she wanted at a plain earthy level, even after a few weeks of courtship.

“Her method was very simple. Over a period of nearly two years, she sought to humiliate me with her jokes, innuendoes, hints and nudges to the benefit of her associate. The remarks she made were innocent enough in isolation. ‘Abbey leads women on and then disappoints them,’ she said.

‘It’s all platonic between Abbey and myself,’ (as if poor Abbey was capable of...). ‘Abbey would, if he could, but he can’t.’

“To cap it all, an acquaintance of mine made a suitably casual remark implying that he took it for granted that I was sexually

Y

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

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

My woman!

My love please pray with me. Our father, who art in heaven, you said in your word that he that finds a wife finds a good thing. Lord, I have the woman of

impotent. I was gutted. If only women have the remotest conception of the immense humiliation it is for a man to be seen to be sexually deficient. fter I left the university, A I fell in love with another girl, who’s beautiful, sweet, everything I could have wished in a girl. We got engaged, but I was still haunted by the past insinuations. What happened next might be regarded as a joke by some people with a certain sense of humour, though I suffered the torment of being unable to satisfy the girl sexually. She was kind, sympathetic, and said, ‘it doesn’t matter, darling’, three months after, she jilted me, having found some-one else.

“Shortly after this massive blow to my sexual life, I ran into Bukky at a wedding reception. This was some five years after we left the university. She looked different and was with her husband. She was wearing a more glamorous hair-style and had lost weight - wearing one of these gears that do wonders for a woman’s cleavage.

“I wanted the ground to open and swallow me up. I was on my own but she completely ignored me, even when she stood next to me at the drinks corner. I was shocked by the look of contempt on her face and was too shaken to approach her.

I was really upset that shy could ignore me like that as we had obviously been close once. I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I left.

“Since that little episode, I have resigned to being impotent and remaining so. I realise that a lot of people reading this will be inclined to snigger in just the same way, and for the same reasons that others have.

There is no point at all in denying that impotence is funny; deliciously funny, to all but the victim himself ... “ First Impression Counts “ When we meet someone for the first time, our brains pick up a range of essential visual information such as their age, what they are wearing and their expression,” says psychologist, Dr. Ann Demearais. “This all happenss very quickly, particularly with facial expressions. We are hot-wired to pick up anything that might be a threat to us. So, we immediately notice if someone is scowling and back off.

She says that what you do and say next is vital - it could colour someone’s impression of you permanently. Accord-

my life, my missing rib. Please God don't ever allow me to lose her, water our love so that it can grow like a tree planted by the bank of a river, let our love last forever, please God, let her reciprocate this feelings of mine. I love her with my life, please protect her for me. I love you baby.

Kelechi Ndubisi kconeofafrica@gmail.com, 08032900530

Love, the misused word Don't go for looks,they can deceive, don't go for wealth,even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile,because it takes only a smile to make a dark seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Collins Godswill

ingly to her, “ we all like to think that we are good judges of character. If we see someone for the first time when they are upset or angry, we’ want their behaviours to support what we think about them. If they ’re happy when we meet them the next time, we don’t pay them much attention because it doesn’t fit in with what we first thought.”

So, what are the most important things to remember when you’re walking into a party where you don’t know anyone, or stepping in front of an interview panel for that all-important job? “Reassemble yourself before you walk into the room,” she says.

“Take five minutes to compose yourself. If you’re stressed from a difficult journey, your face will reflect that. Take a moment to pull yourself up to your full height. Be happy in your own skin. Raise your head. But don’t put your head up too much or people will get the impression of arrogance.

Relax your facial muscles - many of us frown without realizing it.

Look pleasant and put some eneregy into your walk and you’re halfway there.

“It’s very important to be ‘other-oriented’. This means you can make the person you’re speaking to feel better about themselves. Make them feel fun and interesting to be with. Make them laugh a little and put them in a good mood. They’re more likely to remember that than what you’re wearing!”

The power of laughter: It not only feels great but laughter is good for your health too. A few hearty guffaws can boost your immune system and help you fight off coughs and colds. Laughter can also help lower blood pressure. People with a good sense of humour also seem to weather life’s challenges far more robustly than those who only see the worst in things.

T

here are many rea sons to make sure we have some laughter in our lives. One of the best is that it can help us make friends. When we laugh with others, we share our happiness with them and an understanding that we think the same way. Search out people with a similar sense of humour to you and you can look forward to hours of fun. Even if you feel you were born without a funny bone in your body, you can develop humour. Instead of being gloomy, aim to see the funny side of things.

Watch others who have a great sense of humour.

What makes them so amusing? Chances are, it’s their take on life rather than a memory full of good jokes. Try to look at life the way they do for a day. Ifyou haven’t laughed in a while, borrow a funny video, spend more time with people who are willing to laugh, learn a few good one-liners and delight in other people’s laughter.

lins2all@yahoo.com 08061124846

My Dear Blessing My love, you are mine! I promise to love you with all my heart, I want your love and blessings be merciful as you promised. I pondered the direction of my life and turned to follow your love. I will hurry without delay to love you. Evil people try to drag me to cheat on you, but I am firmly anchored to your love. I rise at midnight to think our love. My love, your unfailing love has filled my heart. I Promise my love, I swear by the sun and the moon that I will not interrupt our love.

Emma Mine 07051037749 Delta State

PAGE 22—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

"If all the retired Generals were sincere with you, I don't need COMMITTEES to solve your problems!"

MAILBAG

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

NYSC: Matching the vision with the mission Dear Sir,

T

HE National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, was a post-war nation building scheme that was set up by the then Head of State, the retired General Yakubu Gowon. Its main purpose was to integrate rapidly the various ethnic groups in Nigeria; that is, to exterminate ethnic distrust which, in the first place was responsible for the civil war that engulfed the country towards the end of the 1960s.

Till the moment, mutual ethnic distrust has continued to ravage Nigeria - necessitating a re-evaluation of the ideal of this noble scheme as one of the notabe and noticeable packages of bonding Nigeria and Nigerians.

After almost 40 years of activating the NYSC programme,and with several millions of Nigerian graduates from virtually every tongue in the country gone through the scheme, how come its anticipated dividends seem so elusive? What factors have apparently tugged at, and is pulling down the arm of the scheme? Let us find some that are deeply lodged inside the workings of the scheme.

Instead of integration with communities that they are deployed to, one finds our corps members more secluded and detached from these communities. For example, they fail to mix with locals and members of host communities in order to understand them more on a personal level, except on Community Development Service (CDS) whereupon, after such bimonthly service they dash back to their lodges. They denounce the local diets of the host communities, make no attempts to learn their languages or ways, and generally raise their noses up in the air.

In addition, there is the subconscious orientation of mutual suspicion

imbibed from current national security challenges and self defence drills that they undergo in the orietation camps, and rumours of unusual things happening abroad in the country that they hear, have contributed in breeding ethnic distrust.

Moreover, inappropriate deployment of corps members has greatly contributed to the present growing spectre of ethnic distrust by young and older graduates of Nigeria. The relevance of postings to realistically

enact and realise the mission of national integration lies in culturally integrating service places - cultural melting places. These are where results can be achieved. The NYSC authorities should, as a matter of utmost importance, begin a programme of posting corps members to such socio-cultural places as traditional palaces, mosques, churches, customary courts, traditional farm settlements, local governments-owned markets, and army barracks mammy

markets, amongst others. These are places where irrespective of language or ethnic stock Nigerians work and live as one.

Furthermore, corps members should be encouraged to marry persons from the communities where they served.

Governments and NYSC should give service awards for this, backed with finance and other stimulants.

Pastor Emmanuel Ifie, Warri, Delta State. emmanuel.ifie@yahoo.com

Neglect of Uhrobo nation by the Federal Government Dear Sir,

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's administration has not been fair to Uhrobo nation after the massive support he got from them in Delta State and all over country.

The Uhrobo people are the 5th largest ethic group in Nigeria. They are good people, law-abiding and peace-loving wherever they find themselves. It is on this note that I am appealing to the Federal Government to include them in the building of this great nation.

Late Pa Benjamin Okumagba in one of his interviews with AIT, 2004, said that a southerner will emerge as president of Nigeria after 2007 election, which has come to pass but the one who saw it coming, to my surprise has not benefited from this administration. There is no federal government's project going on in Delta State.

The only federal institution(FUPRE) that is given to the people has been abandoned because of lack of funds. The people are not being carried along in this administration and it has impacted

negatively on the Urhobo nation.

I appeal to Mr President to include the Uhrobo people in his administration because we are all

Niger-Deltans.

Miss Mercy Onajite Kakogbe, Uniport, Port Harcourt.

08037719648.

Let's dialogue with the cabal Dear Sir,

T

HE situation in Nigeria today in respect of corruption in the three tiers of government is very embarrassing. It is now honorable to be corrupt and fraudulent. Funny enough, corruption is now hereditary, hence it's not surprising that the children of past and present leaders are involved in the fuel subsidy scandal.

After all the revelations from fuel subsidy probe, that Nigerians were paying for what they did not consume, the cabal still refused to reverse the fuel price. The NNPC sells kerosene to the cabal at 41 naira per litre, but the cabal sells to the masses at 150 naira per litre unchallenged. The cabal also makes Nigerians pay for PHCN

energy supply even if they did not consume any, a fixed amount must be paid. The tariff by PHCN introduced recently by the cabal is no longer affordable. The NLC, TUC,CLO, CSO, human right lawyers, etc., have all remained inactive in these circumstances.

Since democracy cannot solve this unholy behaviour of the cabal, the last option for us now is to dialogue with them to end this hostility on Nigerians, being treated like orphans. The venue for such dialogue should be Eagle Square where the governed and those governing should reach an agreement.

The governed should make publications in the dailies and media houses on a particular date and time.

Pastor Emmanuel Osabuohien, 08072832484

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 23

Sex and the teenager

T

HERE is a notion es pecially amongst adult males in our society that it is riskier to train a girlchild than a boy-child, due to teenage pregnancy. Most Nigerian parents unlike their counterparts abroad may not worry about hard drug and prescription drugs and many other issues that affect teenagers everywhere since they feel there is no visible threat especially from their immediate neighborhood on their children. Cultism, tobacco and drug addiction may not be as popular as we may believe but they are present more than ever before in our secondary schools. Experts say teenage pregnancy is due to irresponsible sexual activity or poor contraception. Some young people may become pregnant due to rape, while others may choose to have a baby on purpose. Educating your young teenager early enough on the consequences of teenage pregnancy as well making her know that she has the power to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is key to reducing the menace of teenage pregnancy in our society.

Regardless of the reasons for becoming a parent, teen-parenting involves a unique set of tensions and issues.

1. Household Issues Most teenagers live with their parents, so when the teenager now becomes a parent herself, relationship issues can develop between the young person and his or her parents. If the unmarried teen-parent is unable to move out from his /her parents home, a decision is needed on how everyone will live and the baby will grow up.

This ultimately affects daily care, babysitting and the freedom to the teenparent.

Another household issue is if the teen-parent will marry, continue in that relationship or separate. Some may take the step of marriage prematurely, while others may never truly own the responsibility of working together to parent their child.

2. Financial Issues Teen parents deal with the difficult challenge of parenting at an early age without sufficient income. The expenses of caring for a baby are numerous and unending and this is why unmarried teen mothers would always fall back to their parents to support them and their babies as long as possible and which creates even more issues within the extended family . If not, most teenmothers would live in penury and their children die due to lack of food, shelter and health care.

3. Social Issues Teen-parents most times suffer from social tension due to isolation by their friends as well as others in the community. Many people may struggle with this from a religious or moral perspective, while others consider the psychological and sociological implications of the newborn’s upbringing.

Another problem that a teen-parent has to face is decreased marriage proposals from single men who may not wish to marry her as a single mother. These issues could result in resentment from the teen-parent toward her child and result into depression.

4. Educational Issues

, Educating your young teenager early enough on the consequences of teenage pregnancy as well making her know that she has the power to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is key to reducing the menace of teenage pregnancy in our society

,

Caring for a baby and trying to get an education can be stressful on any teen. The cost of education is another factor that the teen may now be unprepared to face especially when the parent refuses to support her. Since a degree is often required for a well-paying job, young people will feel an increased pressure to graduate, while maintaining the tension of daily parenting.

Maturity Issues Teenage parenting comes with heavy responsibility of feeding, educating, sheltering and caring for a young life.

According to a study by the National Institute of Health, the human brain is not fully formed until 25 years old, including a region that inhibits reckless behavior. The maturity required in caring for a newborn or a growing toddler may not be inherent in the teenager.

The need to love and be loved increases each day from the age of 11, talking and sharing with our teenagers on what is right and wrong in their relationship could be helpful. The teenage years is a trying period for both the teenager and his parents and therefore parents need to be more involved with what their children are passing through, and the earlier parents start relating with their children on these issues the better.

PAGE 24—SUNDAY VANGUARD,AUGUST 5, 2012

State police here? Are we mature enough for that?

View-Point

E

ARLY, the other Friday, a relation sent some novels to me through her middle-aged driver, who had been working for her and the husband for some time, and was deemed an honest and responsible person. While acknowledging receipt of the novels, I told my relation that she was lucky to have such a sober driver. She then told me that he lives on the outskirts of Lagos and that he resumes work at 5.30 a.m, Monday to Saturday.

“Helen, he’s quite a find. We’re lucky to have him. He’s so dependable. He lives on the outskirts of Lagos, yet he resumes work at 5.30 a.m., Monday to Saturday.” Then the crisis.

Mid day the next day, my relation rang frantically to say that her driver’s wife had rung to report that he had not returned home from work the previous night, and still hadn’t shown up that morning. His mobile phone was switched off too. There was much concern all round, as we all prayed that he would be found unharmed. Relief came on Saturday evening when he rang to say he had finally got back home. What happened?

He said that as he was alighting from the bus on his street the previous evening at about 7 o’clock, the Police suddenly appeared and rounded up everyone in sight, saying they were wandering and should come and clear themselves at the Police station that they were not criminals. Protests that he was returning from work and that he lived on that street fell on deaf ears. He and some of the others brought out their ID cards, but the law-enforcement officers were not interested. They were all carted off to the police station where their mobile phones were taken from them, and they were locked up in a cell. He said it was only on Saturday evening they were handed back their mobile phones, and told to call their friends and relations to come bail them out. He called his brother who brought the three thousand naira that was demanded for his bail, and he was released.

When I narrated this story to a colleague, she told me that only some days before, her brother-in-law who works for a company in Apapa, went with two colleagues during their break to have lunch in a buka. The police swooped on the bukas in that area, arresting everyone in sight, claiming that they were investigating the case of an expatriate who had just been robbed of his briefcase in another area of Apapa.

These are no strange occurences in this country of ours.

For several years now, some notable Nigerians have been calling for State Police to be established.

The call re-surfaced recently when we heard in the news that the Police in Jos couldn’t act to stop the killings there the other week, because the boss who should give the go ahead couldn’t be reached in Abuja where he operates from.

It was reasoned that the situation could have been contained if there were State Police, and command given at State level for the Police to move in.

For sanity in defence and law and order, it makes sense that there should be laid down rules which must be strictly followed to the letter while quelling riots and uprisings. This is important so that the law-enforcement agencies do not overstep the boundaries in their zeal to do their work, and thereby worsen the problem.

In some western countries like the United States of America, you have State Police, and every state is responsible for security in its area. This means that the command to handle a crisis by the law

and order within a state, and defending its residents.

But the big question is, can this brand of police do their work without fear or favour in this country?

Will the Nigerian factor not set in, as they observe ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tunes’?

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Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor

police force should owe its allegiance to the country, not to ‘those who put us there!’ That’s why in a truly democratic setting, no-one is above the law, and anyone who flouts the law, no matter how highly placed, gets arrested, and the law takes its course.

Will the ruling political party in a state not use the State Police to oppress its opponents/enemies?

Will political parties in power not consider it their own private army

for waging war on all and sundry?

To the point that card-carrying members would use the State Police to settle private and personal scores?

The rest of us would then have to cower and be reduced to a shivering mass, as we see our human rights trampled upon and eroded by this type of Police Force. Life would become a nightmare; more than it is now where people could get arrested for merely walking on the streets, or standing outside their house.

I’m not saying that having State Police should be condemned. It definitely can be helpful if handled with a lot of discipline and maturity, and with the right training. We don’t want a situation where states begin to wage war on one another; thereby hastening the country’s disintegration.

The big question is, can this brand of police do their work without fear or favour in this country? Will the Nigerian factor not set in, as they observe ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tunes’? enforcement agency is promptly at hand and there’s no need to get clearance from the central government before going into action.

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f what we heard/read is true, that the officer to give the go-ahead to combat a crisis, operates from Abuja, and could not be reached at such a desperate time, then our country is in grave danger. It means we are exposed to all sorts of attacks, from within and without!

I’m not an expert on combatting criminal activities and quelling uprisings and riots, but thinking like a lay person, it just doesn’t make sense that there could be moments when such an important officer cannot be reached! An officer who’s in total charge of giving the order on our security should be on top of the job and should be available for communication/ consultation 24/7. If for any reason this is not possible, there should be a credible deputy who would be able to step in at a second’s notice. The position is a tough one which involves a high sense of responsibility and loyalty to the nation, not to an ethnic group, a political party, or, an individual. Let’s hope that that reason we read/heard for the delay in containing that Jos crisis isn’t true.

Now back to the issue of having State Police. I’m afraid I don’t have much hope of this improving security in any part of the country, or making the Police become really the friend of our citizens, as they have in their slogan. On the surface, it seems the ideal solution to ensuring law

ANARKALI FROCKS FASHION 2012. IN PAKISTAN edesibabes.com

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 25

‘Everything was wrong with Lagos collapsed building’ *Where is the landlord?, tenants ask

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ugust 1, 2012 may have come and gone, but it left in its trail wanton destruction of properties and outright displacement of families resident in a threestorey building which collapsed at 3, Anikantamo, Adeniji Adele area of Lagos.

The affected building, which used to house about 30 families, is today demolished.

When Sunday Vanguard visited the site at the weekend, the displaced families were seen trying to sort out the remains of their properties from the rubbles.

But, unfortunately, most of them could not salvage much.

Many of the victims, C M Y K

bemoaned their losses while others placed their hands on their heads and cast a blank stare at everyone, apparently thinking of how to start life all over again.

While this was going on, some residents of the area blamed occupants of the affected building for failing to take the right step until the collapse happened.

Everything, according to one of the residents, was wrong with the building.

For instance, it was discovered to be sandwiched between two buildings; a four -storey to the left and three storey to the right,thereby obstructing ventilation into the

building.

As a result, the apartments in the house were always dark prompting the residents to always put the lights on. Even when there was power failure, the occupants reportedly either used candles or lamps during the day and at night. And anytime they walked through the staircase, the residents reportedly did so with the aid of torch lights and mobile phone lights, failure which they could stumble.

Although some of the occupants said they were planning to pack out of the building at the expiration of their rent, that was never to be as their worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday.

But for providence, the number of the dead and injured would have been high

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By EVELYN USMAN, BOSE ADELAJA and DEOLA ADENUGA

I have lived here for some years now. When we were made to understand that the house had cracks on it, I started looking for accommodation.

Already I have seen one and was contemplating paying on Friday (last week) when the incident occurred on Wednesday

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had most of them not left for their respective places of work when the building went down.

Had it occurred on a weekend, when most of them usually stay indoors, several lives would have no doubt perished.

Whereas the occupants expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost, at the same time they lamented that they lost every thing they have labored for.

One of the victims, who identified herself simply as Mama Basira, said: “I have lived here for some years now.

When we were made to understand that the house had cracks on it, I started looking for accommodation. Already I have seen one and was contemplating paying on Friday (last week) when the incident occurred on Wednesday. My challenge now is that I really do not know where to go from here. Even though I am grateful to have survived, I have lost all,including the money I Continues on page 26

PAGE 26—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

Country News

‘Everything was wrong with Lagos collapsed building’ Continued from page 25

in my life time. Now , I am left without clothes, money and even a roof over my head.

Where do I go from here?”

Unable to control his emotion, one of the victims simply identified as Mr. Ben,

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wanted to use to pay for the accommodation I saw.”

Another victim, Mama Alimo, placed her palms on her chin and shook her head intermittently.

When approached, she said she was going about her daily sales at Idumota market when news of a collapsed building filtered in. “ I did not know it was our building because we were only told it happened around Adeniji Adele. I was contacted on the phone by a relatives and when I rushed there, I saw the house I slept in the previous night in rubbles. My relative who live around got here before me but could not salvage anything”. Asked if she was aware of the poor condition of the building, she replied, “My sister, I have already paid before I realised it and was waiting for my rent to expire. Many of us were making efforts to rent another accommodation.”

As for Mama Ishola, she kept ransacking some of the properties that were salvaged from the debris, apparently looking for those which belonged to her family. But then, she was not composed as she kept talking to herself.

At a point, she exclaimed, “Aye mi o.... ( Ah, my life!) where do I start from now? I have never prayed for a tragedy like this to befall me

burst into tears, lamenting that he had to pass the night at the site, as he had no relative around.

At that point, some of them began to ask about the whereabouts of their landlord,

I have never prayed for a tragedy like this to befall me in my life time. Now , I am left without clothes, money and even a roof over my head.

Where do I go from here?

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Teacher laments: My woman twice aborted pregnancy for her lover under my roof

By ADEOLA ADENUGA

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r. Bamidele Adeniji, a secondary school teacher, told Agege Grade A Customary Court that his wife, Bisola, was unfaithful to him so much so that she aborted pregnancy on two occasions for her lover while they were living together as husband and wife.

The 37-year-old man said he was aware the first time his wife got pregnant for her lover, but he decided not to let his family members know of it to avoid being ridiculed. He, however, said his father got to know of the second pregnancy when he

overheard a pharmacist living not too far from their house discussing the matter with somebody and it later generated controversy that almost sent her packing.

He informed the court that he began to suspect his wife when she started dictating to him the time she would allow him to have sex. The wife, according to him, said he could only have sex with her once in a month with condom.

In her submission, Bisola informed the court that her husband denied her access to their only child, and this did not go down well with her.

Speaking in the same vein, the wife’s counsel, Adekunle

Ajasa, claimed that the husband changed the location of the child, and also instructed his teacher not to allow her mother to see her.

He also told the court that there was threat to his client‘s (Bisola) life, saying his client would not want the matter be settled amicably. The counsel added that Bisola is a trader and has enough time to take care of the child.

While delivering judgment, the court president, Mr. Emmanuel Shokunle, said the evidence before the court revealed that the union had broken down irretrievably. He therefore dissolved the marriage.

whom they identified as Baba Lukmon. Infact, one of them could who could not control his anger threatened to descend on him should he appear there. ‘’If one has witnessed the anger of Sango, he will never dear to offend him”, the visibly angry tenant said.

A mild drama unfolded at

the collapsed building site when some of the tenants said renovation had begun before the building collapsed, a statement that sparked off an argument, with some saying bricklayers were only brought the day the incident occurred.

But the landlord has reportedly gone underground since the incident occurred.

‘I nearly lost my manhood to my wife’

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA tomary court sitting 32-year-old man told a Lagos cus d his gen ital and in Ike ja tha t his wif e gra bbe threatened to cut it with a knife. ka would have carried le Richard claimed that Janet Udu awo Kol tion of neigbours who heard his out her threat but for the interven distress call. blesome and never took her Kolawole alleged that Janet was trou that their union is blessed ing add marital responsibilities seriously, with a child. most was that his wife always He said that what gave him concern usually led to quarrels. starved him of sex, a situation that n court, Kolawole brought a ope While giving evidence in the his genital to buttress his claim, photogragh showing a deep cut on use those in attendance wanted and this almost caused commotion, beca to have a glimpse. riage and grant him custody He urged the court to dissolve the mar of the only child of the union. rt that Kolawole was fond of sex In her defence, the wife told the cou whenever she denied him. such that he always picked quarrel for forgiveness, but he insisted him She said that she had begged that the marriage must be dissolved. olved the marriage and ordered The president, Mr. S. K Hussaian, diss 26,000 Naira, and custody of the husband to compensate Janet with the child was granted to the wife.

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SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 27

Country News

By DANIEL EBIMOMI

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INSIDE ‘ THE COTONOU’ IN ONDO

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he spectacle is breathtaking. A sea of vehicles of different brands. There is virtually no brand of vehicle that you don’t find here. The vehicles range from cars to the sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and trucks.

One striking feature of the sight is that there is no haphazard arrangement of vehicles. The environment is sparkling neat and you are tempted to think you are out of Nigeria. But this is not only Nigeria but also a site along Ilesha-Owo Road in Akure, Ondo State capital.

Welcome to the Akure International Auto Market. In terms of the volume of vehicles on display for sale, it compares with the Cotonou, Benin Republic Auto Market where many Nigerians find convenient to buy their vehicles.

The only difference is that whereas the Cotonou market is situated in the port, the Akure market is an ultra modern market along a busy highway, and complete with mindboggling facilities. On one side is the banking section; you also have the police and fire stations.

The site is well lit and the taps run.Toilets are everywhere and well kept. There is a spare parts section where you can buy vehicle accessories. There is a mechanics section to get people to fix faults in vehicles.The auto mart did not just come into being. It is only a part of the urban renewal programme of the Dr. Olusegun Mimiko administration of Ondo State.

According to the DirectorGeneral of the Ondo State Direct Labour Agency, Mrs.Suara, a town planner, whose office was the brain behind the facility, the motive for building the auto market was two fold: removing the car sellers from the streets, in line with government urban renewal policy and making the plying of their trade comfortable. She traced the genesis to the advent of the Mimiko administration when cars were sold everywhere on the streets, especially in Akure, the state capital. “The scenario was unsightly”, the DLA boss said .Suara narrated: “We found that cars were being sold everywhere on the streets. So we sat down and looked inwardly that if you want to buy a car, you don’t just wake up and give your child money to go to the market and buy it; you plan. So why can’t we plan where people sell cars, especially when it will serve the interest of our urban renewal programme, and also ease the stress of the auto traders as they would now carry out their

Now you see people from Ekiti, Osun, Kwara, Edo coming to the Akure auto market to buy cars rather than going to Lagos or Cotonou because there is no kind of cars that you don’t find there

cars rather than going to Lagos or Cotonou because there is no kind of cars that you don’t find there”. The urban renewal programme of the Mimiko government does not end with the removal of the auto sellers from the streets. Traders of all sorts are also being removed from the streets to purpose-built markets across Ondo State until the last trader has been taken care of.

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business in a conducive atmosphere while those who also want to buy will know it is the one stop place that they have to go to procure their vehicles?

“So we planned to have our first purpose built auto mart”. Suara noted that the Cotonou auto mart is not planned. “But in our own auto mart, you see cars, well arranged in rows, offices, you see the spare parts section where you can buy the accessories, the mechanics workshop, the fire station, the police station; the banking section, the public toilets”. The DLA boss is excited that the auto mart has eradicated on-street trading of autos in Akure. “All those cars hitherto displayed on the streets haphazardly and made our streets ugly are now within the auto mart”, she stressed. Suara added: “Now you see people from Ekiti, Osun, Kwara, Edo coming to the Akure auto market to buy

HEART CARING MARKETS

he markets built by the Mimiko regime are in four categories: Neighbourhood, city, regional and international. The DLA boss told the story of the Mimiko markets tagged, the Caring Heart Markets: “When this administration came on board, we found that on-street trading was predominating the communities and we wanted to ensure that the environment was beautified and attractive to investors from other places; so we decided to focus on urban renewal. We had to rehabilitate all on-street traders. So we started by constructing markets.

We took off the people along Adekunle Ajasin Road, popularly known as NEPA Road.

That place before the Mimiko administration came was known for perishable goods. “So when this administration came, we said, what can we do to take care of these people? And we saw a land that was being used as a refuse dumping site. We reclaimed the land and put it in order and we put our first Heart

Caring Neighbourhood Market there. Presently, the market is about three years old and looking as new as ever, and it has accommodated all the onstreet traders. “Today, the road is free and the people are under a conducive environment. The market has 240 shops. The benchmark for the market construction was N52 million by the DLA. The project would have cost some N80million had it been contracted out. Even then, we spent N44million at the end of the day which means we further saved N8million. And we asked ourselves, why are some markets not functional? Why are they being abandoned? Why would people leave inside the market and come to sell on the streets? So we looked at this and found that the people want to be very accessible. They want the people that want to buy to see their goods. So, professionally, we decided to introduce roads within our markets in ci rculatory manner. We ensure that all goods are accessible and that has really helped our traders.

“That was the first step we took by constructing the first neighbourhood market and that led to the DLA constructing more markets. We had Isikan Market, Afunbiowo Market, we went to Ikare and did a Regional Market; we went to Okitipupa and did another regional market, did another in Ore and then did the international market in Igbokoda. We added Ondo International Market and Igbara-Oke Market. “In the markets, we have facilities where people can charge their

handsets, listen to the radio, we have canteens, public toilets, adequate parking spaces, solar light 24/7, solar powered boreholes. The markets are now sustainable and functional”.

The shops are loaded but how affordable? Suara has the answer: “These shops are given to people free of charge, the traders don’t buy forms not to talk of paying for the shops, the allocation that I did in Ikare, I even went with a photographer to snap the traders passports so that I don’t put unnecessary burden on them. But in the city, to ensure the sustainability, the traders pay N25 per day for the cleaning and maintenance of the complex. That is N750 only per month for the iopen stall; for the lock up shops,it is N1,500.

“Outside the city, it is about N20.

Even in the auto mart, as big as it is, it is about N35 per day per trader. So nobody can complain that the shops are not affordable.

Even the people that we give the shops to, there was the initial fear of not being able to pay, because they thought we were cajoling them, but the first neighbourhood market at NEPA is three years old”.

‘AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING’

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way from markets, the Mimiko administration has also built an ultra modern motor part in Akure to consolidate the urban renewal scheme. The branch secretary of the Akure central of the NURTW, Mr. Muyiwa Ogunsuyi, described the facility as the best in this part of the world. Many users, especially the passengers, agree. Indeed, the motor park has a waiting room that you may confuse with the ariport terminal building. Air conditioned, the waiting room has rows of seats as you have them at the airport terminal building. This is respite for passengers who ordinarily will have to stay outside and at the mercy of the weather while waiting to board a vehicle. The waiting room has a ticketing section and offices for the NURTW officials. Suara said that whereas the motor park is the Mimiko administration’s project, it was not built by the DLA. “In DLA, we construct directly without engaging contractors but the motor park was constructed through contract. This administration is in a hurry to deliver the dividends of democracy. That is why the DLA came into being.

We are not undermining the contractors because we have enough contracts for them. That motor park was constructed through contract”, the governor’s aide said.

PAGE 28 —SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

SUNDAY Vanguard, JAUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 29

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 31

Oil theft, terrorism: How to contain the two monsters,

by General Olanrewaju Major-General Tajudeen Adeniyi Olanrewaju (rtd) seldom speaks. The Lagos prince, who made his marks in the nation’s defence sector as Commander, Corps of Artillery; General Officer Commanding (GOC), Three Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos; member, Provisional Ruling Council (PRC); was Chairman, Presidential Review Committee on the General Abisoye Panel report on the reforms of the NNPC and left the stage as Minister of Communications. When confronted by Sunday Vanguard with questions bordering on his views regarding the current complications in the oil and gas sector of the nation’s economy and national security challenges, he had no choice but to speak. Excerpts:

BY BASHIRADEFAKA

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Maj-Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd)....Oil is the cash cow of the country at the moment .

We have to protect our oil and gas industry and sector. We cannot be losing $170 billion on oil theft and at the same time spending $170 billion to import (refined) oil. How do you expect our economy to grow? Oil is the cash cow of the country at the moment and nothing can be too much for government to invest in protecting it against oil thieves, bunkerers or external aggression.

Take for instance the 2012 Olympics, the games are starting and Britain is devoting heavy security to protecting the people coming for the games because they know that any failure of the games will affect their prestige and economy.

I am saying that there is need for the use of combined forces of a rmy, navy, air force in protecting the country’s onshore and offshore and then I’m calling for the establishment of Petroleum Regulatory Authority (PRA) and Pipelines Protection Authority (PPA) to handle the regulation, technical and security control of the oil industry, and both should be placed under direct supervision of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki. I know his antecedents and I can comfortably tell you that he has the liver to face the challenges headlong.

This has become necessary because, from the look of things, it is clear that solving the problem of security in the area is beyond concessioning. And we have to protect this country against 2015. The NSA should take note.

What form will the PRA and PPA take should they now be considered by the present administration being that it looks like hungry for solution to the many challenges in the oil sector that is the cash cow of the nation?

That PRA as advocated by me

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IL theft has become a major problem in the petroleum sector and Shell Company has raised the alarm over the problem. As a man once in the saddle, what exactly do you think is responsible?

There is a structural defect within the oil sector and lack of authority. But as far back as 1991, I think the General Abisoye Panel said we were losing 150,000 barrels per day which was about one billion dollars. That was before this Shell outcry which now says we have lost at least 170 billion dollars so far. And the problems as identified by Abisoye Panel: one is the issue of DPR, Department of Petroleum Resources. DPR used to be what you call the NNPC now. It was under the ministry but it was later on removed. The second problem is that we have not been able to turn the NNPC into a blue-chip company because of this structural defect.

Now in the NNPC, according to Abisoye Panel, it was agreed that there should be a department called Petroleum Inspectorate Agency (PIA), which is supposed to be in charge of technical and security control of the oil sector in order to avoid oil theft.

At that time, it was identified that in the upstream, it (oil theft) was caused by understatement of accounts and over invoicing; then statistics manipulation.

That means the crude oil that we claim to have sold out, there is different between the oil they buy from us and where was the difference? It was in oil leakage, oil theft. That was as far back as 1991 as identified by General Abisoye Panel.

Now the downstream, which is the pipelines that they blow all around and the incapacitation of our oil refineries so that they don’t work, which led to our importation of oil. And when we start importing now, the same problem we are still having diversion of fuel, bunkering, understatement of accounts, over invoicing and the oil subsidy scam we currently have in our hands. That is the downstream problem and that is the reason the PIA was recommended by the Abisoye Panel to be established.

As far as I am concerned, there are many dimensions to the nation’s security challenges but there are solutions if we want to.

Oil theft that is being cried about is one of the major causes.

mention of that here. How should the security control by the advocated authorities go?

I am suggesting that by the security control, there should be a National Task Force (NTF), just like it is in India and it is supposed to be a combination of the navy, the airforce, the army and of course the police.

And it should be a special trained force just like America trained the Air Marshal following Al-Qaeda 9/11 bombing. There was nothing like Air Marshal before then, that problem faced by the United States prompted the need for that professional forces and that means you have to develop human capital and you have to be specific. Not just to say navy, even the navy you are raising into the NTF has to be trained for that particular purpose and once that is done, they are supposed to be placed under direct supervision of the National Security Adviser.

It is not what the President is doing presently awarding the contract of that security to a foreign firm by concession.

Are you saying concessioning the maritime security like it has been done is not part of the way to solve the problem?

Concession, well, solving the problem is beyond concessioning the way it has been done. And this is because oil is the heartbeat of our nation’s economy as of now and wherever oil is located, it is a military target when there is war. And most of them are on our territorial waters, which is one of the main objectives of the Army; to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and so, when you expose that to a foreign firm, it becomes very dangerous. That is what we are saying. If you are exposing us to external aggression, you are exposing our economy to the foreign people …Instead of that, we should protect our own territory by ourselves because, that is the heartbeat of the economy.

And when you look at the leakages in the oil and the money they have, the next thing they do is to control the political power of that country. That is what they are doing now.

Whether they give you an oilrig …..whether you are doing understatement, these people are scattered all over Nigeria…..

So wherever the ill-gotten money from the oil theft reaches, it is used to perpetuate political power. That is one of the

We have to protect our oil and gas industry and sector. We cannot be losing $170 billion on oil theft and at the same time spending $170 billion to import (refined) oil

should be like a commission or an authority for them to be able to enforce like the EFCC so that they can arrest and prosecute.

From that angle, the PRA and PPA are there, you know; statutory, technical and security control. The technical control is just to block the over invoicing and understatement of accounts and statistic manipulations both in the downstream and the upstream. That means you need somebody from the Ministry of Trade for waste and balance so that we can know how much oil is going out; we need somebody from the Ministry of Finance and we need somebody from all these ministries; those are in charge of technical control. You know they do auditing from outside and that is the only thing that can block it.

More important to this discussion is the security of the oil sector and you have made

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problems we have in Nigeria.

If you talk about Libya itself, it is all about oil money in Libya, which made Gaddaffi stay. And because the money was so much, Gaddaffi was in Mali, he was in Somalia, he was in Uganda and he was giving them foreign loans; even up to the one in France which we all heard about. Oil money! It’s like having drug money in South America and Mexico and they come up to topple the government. That is why the country (Nigeria) is shaking and so there is need for us to block that aspect. And by the time you block that aspect (oil theft), I’m sure you are blocking terrorism directly or indirectly.

What you are saying in essence is that oil theft is responsible for the insecurity that we suffer presently as a nation. Is that right?

Yes! And you should block it

because that is where the activities are. That is why if you ask INEC, they will tell you that it is the money politics that is happening in Nigeria.

You were so particular about NSA brazing up for the business of tackling the problem under discussion.

What is it particularly that informs that position of yours?

Let me now talk more about why the NSA should brace up.

You see, the collapse of Ghadaffi was why those fundamentalists migrated from Libya and Islamic State has been declared in Mali so that, from Libya, people are migrating with arms and ammunitions to cause Bok Haram. That is the assumption.

There are people that are trained with arms and ammunitions in Nigeria and so the NSA should look at it in those two ways. If that is the case, he has to be proactive. What you have as Boko Haram in the North is what you have as militancy in the South; the banditry, the robbery, the kidnapping and it is the same urban terrorism.

So these people can migrate to anywhere. The arms are coming from all the borders and people are making money from it just like the subsidy money. You have to look at that side and tackle it from the source.

Tackling the ar ms and ammunitions importation from the source means going into the countries of source and fight or what are you suggesting in the light of international laws?

America did four things: it first of all sensitised the people. Apart from the Al-Qaeda that came first, you have not heard of any bomb explosion and, if there is, it would be by a Nigerian. So America sensitised the people by propaganda and, after the propaganda, they updated their technology and developed human capital. The moment they identified the source of what was threatening lives of their citizens and security in their country, George Bush left his country without regard for any international law and entered Afghanistan and Iraq. When you are doing this kind of thing, people don’t look at international laws. In Kenya now, they have entered Somalia because they know that is where these people are coming from, to bomb their country! What America is using is diplomacy.

If you want to use the United Nations you use them; if you want to use NATO, you use NATO all in the name of fighting terrorism.

And in the case of Nigeria, and the NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, should take note, once you have been able to identify that the many security challenges Nigeria is facing as a nation and as a people is being fuelled by arms and ammunitions from certain countries outside Nigeria, you should go for those countries wherever they are! If you want to use ECOWAS, use ECOWAS; if you want to use the AU, go ahead. But it must be spelt out here that in this kind of situation, you don’t respect any international law. When you say you are respecting international law, diplomacy can take over. If you tell Mali that, “Look, these people that are bombing my country are in your country”, you advance there. That is what America is doing and that is why America is safe right now.

So I don’t see any reason that Nigeria will know that these socalled Boko Haram people are coming from Mali to bomb its country and it will not invade Mali. In actual fact, by pursuing and blocking them you are creating fear into them.

If you look at all the people doing this Boko Haram, they cannot be more than two thousand people and these are people holding about 150 million Nigerians into ransom!

PAGE 32—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

LEST WE FORGET: Advertising 101 W

ranking (including diplomatic influence on global issues and events), such transfer-earnings for the host countries are not recorded as such. Na wa!

So, for us at MC&A DIGEST, we appreciate those Nigerians who, by their direct and /or indirect involvement, have caused the establishment of manufacturing concerns in this economy. They have stimulated

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E think we should side with the opposites of consumers this time. If for nothing else we need to appreciate the initiative and guts of investors. So much is put into the process of decision making for maximum returns than build one factory for the manufacture of noodles. What happens to those moneyspinning real estate opportunities in Nigeria, Dubai, London, etc? Nigerians are responsible investment, beyond profit, especially when it comes to the production of consumer goods/products.

The options open to the group of individuals that invests in the production of noodles (in Nigeria market) are legion.

Plenty of Nigerian money bags would rather invest in quick return investment options with immediate for the rapid development in cities such as Accra, London, Dubai etc., as a result of their investment in real estate.

With such investment one is sure of optimal returns in real sense. The fear of revocation of CofOs does not arise, rents are paid promptly without default, the entire system is hugely rewarding.

Beyond the financial reward, such investments are sure store of wealth for the owners.

Far from government probe in the guise of EFCC or ICPC and the likes, such investments are protected from scrutiny by the host government that constantly looks at the bottom-line for their economies. So when you begin to consider the wealth of a nation from the stand point of macro-economic growth indicators, such protective economies post enviable results. They come across as countries on steady growth. Who cares if Swiss Banks keep monies stolen from most third world countries? By the time you are computing the GDP of a country like Ghana, for instance, where is the place of Foreign Direct Investment FDI - (from Nigeria/Nigerians whether stolen or legally acquired).

The opposite of the investment opportunities stated above is the REAL COST of such investment decisions, to the origination countries of nationals that would rather be selfish in their investment decisions for whatever reason. The capital flight occasioned by such decisions resonates in international growth ranking to the disadvantage of the home-countries. By the time wealth of nations is being considered for various purposes of international

management. The primary objective for this write-up is to bring to fore those professional imperatives that are key and basic for successful and profitable brands management that have been grossly compromised in today's environment.

We are committed to setting the right agenda for new entrants into

The primary objective for this writeup is to bring to fore those professional imperatives that are key and basic for successful and profitable brands management that have been grossly compromised in today's environment

macro and micro economic growth, provided employment and strengthened the nation's economy for international competition. We consider them as having made the right choice between opportunity cost and real cost. They are making a remarkable sacrifice for nation-building.

Therefore, it is imperative that such investments are properly managed for the good of one and all.

For the purpose of this discourse, we shall concern ourselves with products and brands requiring of professional brands

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brands management profession, on the one hand, and to remind old professionals of those professional imperatives that are compromised in modern day practice, of grave consequences.

We once asked on this page WHO MANAGES YOUR BRAND? The reason for that question was to stimulate employers of brand managers towards proper consideration of the options open to them in the process of engaging related consultants.

Remember we have mentioned somewhere above, that the

overall objective for the special consideration is to care for the good of one and all, by carefully considering those professional practices that will complement the efforts of investors towards building a better (consumer environment). How else can we be of help if we do not point out the danger spots to avoid wastages/failures on the part of investors?

For this reason, we shall exray the ideal ADVERTISING AGENCY (as brand management consultants are commonly referred in this environment).

The classification is on its own an abuse because it does not carefully indicate who the brands manager is. But we shall leave that for discussion in the future.

A large number of players in the brands management market today are mere business men. They neither have the prerequisite nor professional experience to sopractice. Due to the liberal nature of the highly intellectual profession, it is being abused by infiltrators (which is one of the many troubles practitioners have to deal with, in their relationship with Advertising Practitioner Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Advertising Agency Association of Nigeria (AAAN). These bunch of untrained service providers seem to enjoy absolute freedom to run rough-shod, compromising the ethics and principles of the profession.

They anchor on the simple task

of media buying, running there-on to make all kinds of compromises that questions the efficacy or relevance of brands management practitioners.

Tr ue professionals are looking forward to that day when the regulatory associations and government institutions will help sanitise the industry.

To appreciate the havoc caused by these people, let's look at the crucial areas of an ideal brand management team, in relation to effective brands management, as follows; THE CREATIVE PROCESS the professionals appreciate the importance of taking the client's brief through a strategic session designed to critically consider every little detail including the givebrand's world, its market, its target audience, et al. The strategic inquest also includes studying the activities of competition, with a view to identifying the given brand's market potentials, through the scientific and revealing SWOT analysis.

After this stage of brand investigation, the process moves towards agreeing the creative session where strategic direction is taken.

This stage is largely determined by the successful conclusion of the brand investigation with findings tested against the background of scientific methods. The results are verifiable by any independent enquirer because the method is universal.

By the time the creative direction is derived from the strategic planning, the ideal agency is ready to go further into interpreting the findings into words and pictures which are generally referred to as adverts. Simple as the creative process is narrated, my colleagues in the profession knows a whole lot of work requiring of intellectual and professional challenges and competence has been compressed in there, for the purpose of this discourse.

In a nutshell, the final creative products in reaction to any given brief must be good enough to properly position the given brand, create the desired brand image for such brand, address the needs of the target market, effectively connect with the target market, to elicit trial and repurchase action. ( T o continue next week) “To all our Muslim Readers, we salute your resolution and commitment to the will of ALLAH and wish you all the best of the season.

RAMADAN KAREEM�

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 33

Serving as Rotary club president opened my eyes to the level of poverty in Nigeria—Rotn Kefe Mrs.Kefe Adedibu is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Satellite Town, Lagos. In a chat with Vista Woman recently, she recounted her experiences as a club president, including how she had to juggle the task with her business and family life. A graduate of English from Delta State University, Kefe operates an event management company known as APHEM Solutions. Enjoy!!

By JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA HEN I joined the club, I was very reserved. But serving as a secretary, vice president and then as the president, has taught me how to handle various tasks and different individuals.

During my tenure, the Rotary Club of Satellite Town was able to execute a number of projects. One of such was the building and commissioning of two public toilets at the Rotary Park in Satellite Town. This was to enable shop owners and operators around the area keep the environment free from human waste.

With assistance from our district, District 9110, we sank a borehole at Ade Oshodi area of Ijegun Egba. The community is already enjoying the facility.

We participated in the last polio plus immunization exercise that was carried out in Lagos State.

The Rotary Club of Satellite Town was one of the sixty-two clubs that participated in the two-day health programme carried out by the Rotary Family Health Day committee of Rotary International. There, we attended to hundreds of patients who had one health issue or the other. That event also created an awareness in me to the spate of poverty in Nigeria which is becoming increasingly alarming. I noticed a lot of families who came with their babies that had been sick for a long time but could not go to a hospital due to lack of funds. I wonder what would have happened to those families if we had not organized that Health Day. In terms of membership development, our club also inducted seven new members.

During the 2011/2012 Rotary year, the club also received two prestigious a w a r d s ; Achievement Award and E x c e l l e n t Leadership Award.

I’m happy that through the support of my executives and club members, I was able to achieve all that I set out to achieve. On a scale of one to ten, I will score myself nine.

After this incredibly memorable year, I am

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more than happy to hand over the responsibilities of our club to the incoming President, Rotn Imoh Gabriel Usoro, whom I’m sure would take the club to greater heights.

I joined the Rotary Club of Satellite seven years ago during the tenure of my husband who was the club president then. Naturally, I love giving and helping people with the little I have, and that is the tenet of Rotary.

Kefe

When I took over the reins of office last year, my business had to suffer a little because I had to be fully involved in activities organized by the district. My home did not really suffer because my husband has always been very understanding. Most times, we plan things together. Whenever I’m not around, he does his best to be there for the children. presently run my own event management company called APHEM Solutions. I was trained in event management even before I decided to take it up as a full-time employment. I already had a university degree at that time and was working with a firm. I however felt uncomfortable about not having enough time for my baby who was still very little.

Also, I noticed that I had passion for event management. Presently, I also train and organize ushers.

I always tell people to learn to think outside the box rather than depend solely on their university degrees for employment all the time. I believe you can make money from whatever creative and honest activity you set your hands to do.

If you’ve decided on something to do on your own, simply engage first in a feasibility study. Above all, you must have the passion.

These days, even guys are earning a living from making women’s hair! There are a lot of things people could earn a living from in this country.

However, I want to call on our government to improve electricity supply in this country.’

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I noticed a lot of families who came with their babies that had been sick for a long time but could not go to a hospital due to lack of funds

C M Y K

PAGE 34— SUNDAY

VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Why there is no compromising the CBN autonomy – Dep Gov Lemo *Says it is unconstitutional to pay excess crude money in dollars *’How we are protecting Nigerians against unscrupulous bankers’

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

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HAT is your view on the proposed plan to remove the autonomy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the National Assembly?

It is not so much about my view but the best practice. I will talk more about best practice because my view doesn’t matter here. After all I am a public officer, an employee of the federal government and I serve Nigerians. So if I tell you my view, I will be self-centered.

All over the world we have central banks,with different kinds of autonomy, but when you talk about financial authority, there are also different types like instrument authority, financial autonomy, you even have autonomy in terms of the appointment of the central bank governor.

The financial autonomy of the central bank is not in doubt; the most important thing is that the central bank should get enough instrument to carry out its autonomy in terms of price stability and other things the bank is expected to do.

About the financial autonomy, there is a global survey of central banks, and it appears that about four countries do not have financial autonomy. In other words, these are the central banks that have their budgets approved by authorities other than their boards, may be by the parliament or the executives have issue in with their economy.

I can’t remember all the four countries but one of them is Zimbabwe. And if you look at Zimbabwe as an economy, is it such an economy that Nigeria wants to copy? Is it a success story that we look up to replicating? Is it a case study that we are happy about?

But when you look at the champions like the Bank of England, the Reserve Bank of South Africa, Bank of Ghana e.t.c, all of them have financial autonomy. Now, they have put this bill across to the National Assembly. And let me also tell you, people should not

Mr. Tunde Lemo blame or castigate the National Assembly for coming up with the possibility in the sense that they have the responsibility to make laws for common good. And anytime they look at issues, we should actually empathize with them and look at where they are reasoning from.

To them, what is important is transparency and accountability and so we are both on the same page regarding that, but I think where we differ is how can this be achieved. Can this be achieved only by having an institution that would subordinate in financing to some other institutions other than the institution set up by law?

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Since the proposal to remove the autonomy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the National Assembly was mooted, following the CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s seemingly inflammatory comments on national issues and controversial actions, a lot of attention has been turned to the administration of the apex bank, The CBN Deputy Governor, Mr. Tunde Lemo, in this interview, gives some insight into the dangers inherent in the move. He also bares his mind on the operation of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria and the fight against corruption. Excerpts:

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But what the National Assembly has done is good in the sense that they had the option of doing the first reading and second reading but they said they wanted to hear what the public would say. We had the public hearing and there was no dissenting voice because everybody that came and participated said that we would be better off by having a central bank that has financial autonomy.

The National Assembly has done well in my view by exposing it to the public, by having an open discussion so that we can all air our views about the operations of the central bank.

Has the recent discussion by the National Assembly brought more auditors and inquiries from different quarters to the smooth operation of the central bank?

Let talk about the process of appointment of the auditors. Like I said, our auditors are grade one.

When you grade audit firms, you grade them by their level of professionalism and their international reach. We have what we call top (4) four of all these audit firms and they are the ones that are auditing the central bank. Not only that, they did it in such a way that we have a rigorous process

What we are telling the banks is that they don’t charge their customers anything they have not negotiated with their customers

on’t forget that our board is appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and confirmed by the Senate. So there is legislative input , there is executive autonomy in terms of who appointed who? And they are very credible people that are appointed on merit, who then superintends over the central bank in terms of approval of budget etc.

So there are already checks regulating how you operate?

There is sufficient internal governance that is robust enough to address this, but, beyond that, there are other checks like having the accounts audited by external auditors-the best two external audit firms are our auditors.

The central bank is the only institution that must produce audited accounts within two months of the year. By the end of February, by our law, we should present our audited accounts to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We even suggested that if twice a year is not enough, we can be going quarterly, so that they can look at our books and ask questions.

That is the only way we can be free from political judgments and decisions when it comes to running the economy.

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before bringing those auditors.

They all gave their recommendations and the final approval of all these auditors are directly from the President. So it is not even our discussion. When you look at the process, it is very tedious and flawless.

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he auditor general of the fed eration also generally sent terms to even look at our operations and they also report to the National Assembly on their findings. We have various channels by which our activities are monitored.

People have advocated for the monthly excess crude account to be paid in dollars because this will enable high volume of dollars in the market thereby stabilizing the naira. Do you see the CBN doing so in the near future?

It is outside the scope of the central bank. We are the banker to the government. But don’t forget the constitution matters. This is my personnel view not that of the central bank. It is in our constitution that the currency is naira, even if we have foreign exchange, the constitution says that thet proceeds should be distributed in naira.

Even if it is done in dollars since the expenditure is in naira, there

will still be need to bring it to the central bank in the foreign exchange market. So, at the end of the day, it still comes back to naira. Why should dollar be circulated in Nigeria, when the medium of exchange is naira? We should be patriotic enough to spend our currency which is the naira.

There are claims that AMCON is forcing banks to sell not only non-performing loans but also

performing loans. Why is it so?

Will it not cripple the banks?

AMCON doesn’t give a non-performing loan. If you read the Act that set up AMCON, its duties are very clear. It is a bank that specializes in dealing with bad loans. AMCON should deal with non performing loan with a few exception and that is in the case with the central bank of Nigeria where we look at some concentration; in other words, we look into the loan operation of the banks.

And there is a customer own different bank so such may be good today but because the amount is very large relative to the banks’ capital, there is a concentration problem which then means that if there is not a problem today, there will be one tomorrow.

In order to remove such concentration, we have two to three of such amounts that are to be transferred to AMCON, so that we

Continues on page 36

Apapa concessionaire suppor ts green-field port development

BY UDEME CLEMENT

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HE Managing the Director, APM Terminals Apapa Limited, Mr. Dallas Hampton, says the container TEUs at the ports in Lagos is expected to hit 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the next six years.

He made this known while delivering a paper titled, An overview of the Nigerian Ports’ Location as a Major Determinant of the Greenfield Port Success in Nigeria’, at the First Nigerian Green Ports Development Summit, organised by Golden Edge Consult Limited in collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos.

Speaking through the company’s Media Advisor, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, he explained that, the maximum capacity the ports and Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in Lagos can accommodate 2.2 million TEUs, adding that Lagos ports made up of both Lagos Port Complex Apapa and Tincan Island Port Complex are already congested and rely heavily on ICDs. He said, “ Lagos ports alone handle 90 per cent of the cargo in and out of Nigeria . A new port is needed to keep up with the demand for capacity as the existing ports are surrounded by the city and cannot be further expanded.

New port development will give investors the opportunity to choose

optimal geographical location, terminal design and layout plus processes. The natural location, the supporting infrastructure and the support of stakeholders are important in a Greenfield port. In choosing the location of a Greenfield port, the factors that must be considered include natural deepwater and harbour, supporting navigational channels with commensurate draft”.

He continued, “Other factors include lower risk of encroachment of city development in the immediate future, connection to multimodal infrastructure for evacuation of cargo by road, rail and barge, government support to the investors with policies that will protect investments, presence of adequate supporting services and review of cargo clearance processes to support faster cargo evacuation to reduce dwell time.

Some investors are already looking at areas like Lekki, Badagry, Olokola and Ogogoro for Greenfield port development.

APM Terminals as a port developer is not averse to seeking new opportunities in Nigeria under the right conditions. The concession of the Apapa container to APM Terminals in 2006 has enhanced efficiency at the port and eliminated congestion and vessel queue thereby saving the Nigerian economy $200 million annually, collected by shipping lines as congestion surcharge before the concession”.

From left: Mr. Ladipo Rufai, Director, CMC Connect, Mr. Akin Opeodu, Chairman, Board of Director, CMC Connect and Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okusanya at the comapny’s 15 th Annual General Meeting(AGM) Held in Lagos . Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 35

Vision 20:2020 remains a roadmap to economic prosperity, by Ode Chief Alache Ode, Diaspora and Development Expert and former university lecture in the UK, is currently the Technical Adviser on Monitoring and Evaluation to Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, National Planning Minister. He provides some insight into Vision 20:2020.

Nigerians and the right to be angry IGERIANS are right to be angry but they must see the modest changes being made.

Many Nigerians may be right to feel concerned that things could work better in the country. But in some cases, people may have been probably too angry to even see the signs of humble, earnest and diligent work as well as results already being achieved on the economic space by dedicated public officers in this administration; an indication that the desired change has come.

Deep rooted economic problems The point has to be made that the problems of this economy are deep-rooted and wrought over time and this administration, not being populated by miracle workers, cannot claim that it could instantly wish away the age-old distortions in the system.

But the truth is that the government of the day has embraced a paradigm shift by demonstrating that it has the determination, disposition and capacity to do things differently, and bring about change and needed economic growth and strategic development.

One can actually understand the frustrations of Nigerians when they describe the ‘revelation’ on the high number of uncompleted projects across the country as “a metaphor of futility and fiasco.” But they should realize that even that piece of information in itself, has a positive ring to it. The Jonathan administration in pursuance of its Transformation Agenda, had conducted an audit of all the federal government projects in the country that had been awarded over several years under different administrations, and has determined to prioritise the key ones for completion. This is the first time that a government of the day would carry out a comprehensive assessment of existing contracts and close its doors against the award of new contracts, to enable it concentrate its efforts on completing old ones.

This is in deed, in line with the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda which has occasioned the comprehensive reforms going on in different sectors towards infrastructural renewal, promoting sustainable development and the growth of the nation’s economy.

The revolution in agriculture One of the areas that are undergoing total revolution is agriculture.

Here, the Federal Government is continuing with its strategic plans to transform the sector along the value chain, to achieve food security, boost exports and create mass employment.

Similarly there are far-reaching reforms going on in other sectors like power, education and health, where efforts are geared towards effective manpower develop-

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,

BY CHIEF ALACHE ODE

Recent data posted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put Nigeria as the third fastest growing economy in the world, after China and India

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ment, improving healthcare delivery and boosting industrialisation along the lines of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).What we can’t run away from is the fact that there is palpable anger, apathy or even antagonism in the people’s appreciation of government policies, no matter how well intentioned.

This is understandable, given that Nigerians had become so accustomed to failed promises in the past, that they are at best, skeptical with the introduction of any new economic agenda.

Letting Nigerians down in the past We are all aware of how such former plans as the millennium Vision which promised shelter, food and prosperity for all by 2000 as well as Vision 2010 fell through and ended up as mere catchphrases.

New lease of life with clearly articulated strategic long term plan But the truth is that this country has turned the corner with a clearly articulated strategic long term plan whose implementation processes are already being diligently pursued by the Jonathan administration.

People should endeavour to judge on their own merit, the gains of the economic agenda of the Jonathan administration.

Despite the consistency maintained by this government in regularly defining the link between the Nigeria Vision 2020, and the Transformation agenda, some people are wrong to still choose to insist that the former had been “abandoned or substituted” with the later. There is no doubt that with the Government’s mind trained on the strategic long term development goals as enshrined in the Vision 20: 2020, there is also the need to focus on medium term priorities that are critical the national growth. Suffice it to say that both the first National Implementation Plan and the Transformation Agenda which terminates in 2015 serve as important build up to 2020.

The difference between NIP and Transformation Agenda The difference is that while the NIP is national, incorporating the plans of the lower tiers of government, the Transformation Agenda represents the key policies, programmes and projects to be pursued by the Jonathan administration (2011-2015). Both, moreover, are firmly rooted in the Vision 20:2020.

It goes without saying that both are medium term plans which are driving the on going radical reforms, especially in the road, ag-

Dr. Okonjo Iweala riculture and power sectors designed to open the floodgates for massive opportunities in investments, entrepreneurship and job creation. In a nutshell both programmes are focusing on the key issues of good governance, physical infrastructure and human capital development which are the supporting planks for the economy in the bid to grow it to one of the top 20 economies by GDP ratio.

How Mr. President has been wooing foreign investors The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan reiterated this connection when he told Korean investors in Seoul recently that every policy and programme being put in place by his administration was aimed at achieving the country’s dream of realising its Vision 20:2020 – to be among the 20 top economies in the world in the next 20 years.

Why Nigerians should not be deceived by missing the issues Some people mix the issues when in one breathe they describe Vision 2020 as “unimaginative and drab recycling of programmes developed elsewhere,” and in another, admitted that the late President Umar Yar ’Adua while inaugurating the programme, “ commissioned a study group comprising 1,000 experts working for over nine months” to produce a draft of Nigeria’s Vision 2020.”

To set the record straight, moreover, over 5, 000 Nigerians worked over a six-month period to produce the Vision 20:2020 blueprint. As the co-ordinating arm and the pivot of the government’s economic planning, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is already playing a major role towards the effective implementation of the Transfor mation Agenda and the Vision 20:2020.

It is common knowledge that under the leadership of Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, National Planning Minister, the Commission had spearheaded Nigeria’s return to strategic development planning after about three decades of allowing the economy to drift in the wilderness without a clear, long term, growth and development trajectory.

Promoting transparency and accountability To promote transparency and accountability, the NPC has also developed key performance indicators [KPIs] for all the MDAs, under its Monitoring & Evaluation function, to facilitate the effective tracking of performance.

It is the first time such would happen in Nigeria. The performance tracking is also focused on service delivery to the Nigerian peo-

ple. Unlike in the past where performance is based on how much has been spent (budget) or the items provided (output), the focus is on outcomes delivered to Nigerians-measured by such indicators reduction in material and child mortality, reduction in the illiteracy rate, number of hours of electricity provided, reduction in PHCN system collapse, etc.

Along this line, the NPC in July 2011 carried out the first-ever public presentation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the performance of the federal MDAs as at December 2010. To deepen this development, the Commission is just about releasing the report of evaluation of the performance of the MDAs in 2011. One other radical measure that would promote accountability in public office is the development of a performance contract charter to bind all the ministers and heads of parastatals to their mandates and set goals.

Nigeria’s global GDP ranking Many analysts are impressed that Nigeria’s global GDP ranking has been improving over the years due to improved fundamentals stemming from the implementation of the Transformation Agenda, Nigeria’s ranking, on the basis of nominal GDP edged up from 44th position when the journey started in 2009 to a remarkable ranking among the top 40 last year. On the basis of purchasing power parity, which eliminates the effects of exchange rate variations in the prices of goods and services across countries, Nigeria’s GDP ranking edged up from 37 in 2009 to 35 in 2010; a development that gives hope to the target of Nigeria ranking among the top 20 economies by 2020.

As we conduct a dispassionate assessment of economic performance in recent times, you cannot but admit that there are gaps requiring improvement especially in the already identified areas of infrastructure. But it would amount to torturing the truth, if we fail to point out that the prevailing macroeconomic fundamentals look strong.

The manifest progress Nigeria is making It is instructive that, while growth in the developed and many emerging markets (including the ones Nigeria seeks to overtake) has remained either static or continues to regress, Nigeria’s economy has main-

tained a robust growth trajectory, averaging 8% in the last three years. Recent data posted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put Nigeria as the third fastest growing economy in the world, after China and India, as a result of the growth of the nation’s economy from 6.9 per cent in 2009 to 7.4 per cent this year; a development that also strongly raises the hope of achieving the Vision 2020.

Recently, a reputable business newspaper reported that Nigeria’s expected rebasing of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year, to better reflect the structure of the economy, may catapult it to the 30th largest economy in the world, just behind South Africa ($422 billion), Austria ($425 billion) and Argentina ($435 billion) from its current 40th position.

The paper added that it would increasingly make Nigeria an investment destination and boost consumer stocks with a great potential to increase GDP per c a p i t a .

In explaining the need for the exercise, the paper stated that most governments overhaul GDP calculations every few years to reflect changes in output and consumption, such as mobile phones and internet usage, “but Nigeria has not done so since 1990, suggesting that the previous GDP framework underestimated economic activities.”

These are obviously sound indicators that are attracting positive international attention and receiving rave reviews globally, as pointers to better days ahead. The point has to be made that Nigeria has actually leaped from its former unenviable status of a nogo area for investors to a clement terrain recently described by the US-EXIM Bank Chief Executive Officer as the world’s “best kept secret for investment.”

Nigeria’s business profile is being revised upwards Furthermore, many international analysts and rating agencies, including Fitch, have continued to upgrade and positively revise the country’s business profile. What is currently lacking is the appreciation and buy-in of the elite and a section of the media. In other emerging economies where similar programmes are succeeding, there exists manifest citizen enthusiasm towards owning the Vision, with people from all walks of life assuming their roles towards its implemen tation.Those who would prefer to remain in the old order of ad hoc approach to economic planning should realise that there is wisdom in the good old maxim, which says that where there is no vision, the people or organisation will perish.

Minister of Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson (left); and Mr Olusola Teniola, Chief Operating Officer, Phase 3 Telecoms receiving an award from the Minister during the Africa Information Society merit award in Lagos.

PAGE 36— SUNDAY

VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Much ado about Arunma Oteh

BY UDEME CLEMENT

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ORE than two weeks after the recall of the suspended Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh, by President Goodluck Jonathan, reactions are still trailing the action of the Federal Government. While some staff of the Commission, lawmakers, civil rights activists and stakeholders in the capital market questioned the recall, government stressed that Oteh was not indicted for fraud or any form of criminal breach.

Indeed, there are divergent opinions about the return of Oteh.

Some stakeholders said the forces against her are those resistant to positive changes and administrative transparency she brought to bear in the

Mr. Charles Akinsete Commission, even as they stressed that Oteh was not in charge of SEC when Nigerian lost its investments in the stock market collapse. According to them, she must be allowed to discharge her duties without intimidation. The counter position frowned at Jonathan’s decision to recall the SEC’s DG notwithstanding the suspension slammed on her by Board of SEC on June 12 over allegations of misappropriation of funds realised from Project 50, an event organised by SEC in 2011. They alleged that government’s action shows no regard for rule of law and was designed to pre-empt the Reps investigation of SEC. Also, some lawmaker’s faulted Oteh’s recall when investigation into the allegations against her had not been concluded, emphasising that the integrity of the stock market must be

Ms Arunma Oteh

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Goodluck Jonathan

Oteh was never indicted for fraud or any form of criminal breach. That could be the reason government recalled her to office

protected to build investors confidence in the market.

The Role of Ad Hoc Committee: The Ad Hoc Committee on the Near-Collapse of the Capital Market had indicted Oteh over matters relating to SEC and recommended the termination of her appointment, arguing that the appointment breached existing laws as she did not possess the requisite 15 years experience in capital market operations. The panel also

‘How we are protecting Nigerians’ Continues on page 34 don’t send the banks back to where they were three years ago.

And, of course, doing that, we are also coming up with rules around concentration; you know the maximum amount you can give to a certain party, when you have a large borrower, what should be the safeguard, e.t.c. but because this one abounds in the global financial meltdown, they are in the capacity of the central bank.

It is not the duty of AMCON to be after good loan, its duty is to deal with bad loan.

We don’t regulate bank’s charges, we use to have what we call bankers tariff in those days before deregulation. Now under the bankers tariff regime, you add those charges to the charge in the book and, with that, the bank has no flexibility.

They have the charges according to what we have in the tariff. But we move away from that about six years ago when we changed it to bankers committee, consisting of the banks themselves under the supervision of the central bank.

And they come together and look at the various activities of every banking product and charges.

They then come up with a range of charges; the minimum and the maximum. And it is those broad ranges of charges that are now being reviewed in the light of the new. You know the economy is dynamic? And the ways of doing business have changed too.

It is time for those ranges of services to be reviewed in the light of the emerging trend in banking and commerce. And that is what is being reviewed and banks should still negotiate their fees.

What we are telling the banks is that they don’t charge their customers anything they have not negotiated with their customers. And it must be contained in their offer letters, if they are giving them credit, if the interest rate is “X”, they should put it there.

So the CBN now has a department that deals with client’s grievances?

We are very sensitive to customers’ protection, which made us to set-up a department that will look at customers’ grievances. We have the customer protection department now that will ensure that banks don’t cheat their customers. And customers are now being told that should there be any disagreement or a bank taking advantage of you, report to customers’ protection department. But first report to the concerned bank’s management, it may be one small boy that is trying to be smart.

I’m a manager of men and I believe so much in getting the best from them by assisting them to be the best they can be. When you work with me and I supervise you, I look at both your areas of strength and weakness and support you to deal with your areas of weakness as well dipping your area of strength. So I believe so much in participatory management by getting my subordinates

Mr David Adonri

participate in the decision making processes.

I believe in leading by example.

I will not give anybody what I myself cannot do.

In what way do you feel that the CBN can assist the government’s fight against corruption?

We should work hard and should support government policies to make sure that we bring back accountability. All of us must work to kill corruption as government is working hard to fight corruption, we all must work with government if they must be successful in this war because if we don’t kill corruption in the country, corruption will kill us.

I’m happy that the President is holding the bull by the horns by even having a good approach to it. Just few days ago, he met with the three arms of government to fashion out how to achieve their aims.

The coordinating minister of the economy recently confirmed that they now have sufficient information, to deal with oil thieves particularly those who have been fingered to be having a hand in the fuel subsidy issue the hand of the law will surely catch up with them.

All of us should fight corruption in our little corners. We should also work against all forms of violence in the country, not only the Boko Haram but all problems in the various communities. Just like the United States, we should be bound together to be able to fight all these social problems.

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alleged that Oteh showed incompetence in the management of human and material resources.

Oteh’s encounter with House Committee on Capital Market: Oteh’s trouble began on March 15, 2012 after her encounter with the House Committee. The embattled DG shocked the public when she confronted Honourable Herman Hembe, the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, accusing him of soliciting for N44 million from SEC. Thus, while Oteh, in a case that is still pending in court, alleged that some members of the Committee demanded for the money to have the probe live on television, which amounted to bribery and corruption, the Committee accused the Commission of making the gesture, even as Hembe strongly denied the allegation.

Oteh’s appointment/ controversy: Before her appointment as SEC DG, Oteh worked with African Development Bank, which she joined in 1992. She was nominated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua for confirmation in July 2009 but she was not confirmed until January 2010. The reason being that the National Assembly said that the DG of the Commission must

have 15 years experience in the capital market, and that she did not possess such experience. As such, it took the House about six months to confirm Oteh’s nomination.

Her internal control mechanism/professionalism: The DG took over when the capital market was almost going under. She removed the Director General of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSC), Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, and embarked on human capital reforms. Oteh moved to ensure that the SEC staff possess the right qualification in economics, law, accounting and other related fields. The initiative brought about the recruitment of about 52 professionals in accounting, economics and law. Also, other non-core staff of the Commission were sent on capacity building programmes designed to convert them into the mainstream operations of SEC. Reinstatement/reactions: Some financial experts who spoke with Sunday Business explained that Oteh has a sound academic background and she is capable of running the Commission, stressing that the allegations against her emanated from her zeal to reposition and upgrade the regulatory powers of SEC. Mr. Silas Udoh, a lawyer and the national co-ordinator, Centre for Societal Values and Development: To start with, Oteh was never indicted for fraud or any form of criminal breach. That could be the reason government recalled her to office. The reality is that in our laws, anyone who is being accused of any offence is not condemned until he or she is found guilty. Even at that, if I were in Oteh’s position, I would simply throw in the towel and resign honourably because the pressure is over whelming.

Managing Director of Lambeth Trust & Investment Company Limited, Mr David Adonri, Government is her employer and the reinstatement by her employer shows clearly that government is satisfied with her competence.

Mr. Charles Akinsete, a financial analyst and the First Vice Chairman, Nigerian Association of Industrial Pharmacists (NAIP)-It is sad that this type of thing is happening in our country. Well, this is what we should expect from the government of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Her recall was not the right to do at that point in time. Government should have at least waited for the out come of the report from the House Committee before recalling her back to the Commission. It is unfortunate and government should tell Nigerians the reason for the decision. It also shows that the organs of government are not working in synergy.

From left: Governor Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State , Dr Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade &Investment, and Mrs Olusola Senapon Oworu, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce &Industry, during the opening ceremony of the Eko Expo 2012, and Lekki Free Zone Investment Forum, Organised by Lagos State, at Lekki, Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 37 sion to embark on massive demolition of illegal structures in the communities before the end of the year.

Meanwhile youths under the aegis of Joint Youth Indigenous Communities of Apo Resettlement Site, at a recent press briefing, urged the FCDA to revoke all commercial plots in the resettlement area meant for indigenes or face unpleasant action from the community.

Christopher Zaka, who spoke on behalf of the youths, explained that their threat was borne out of the failure of the FCTA to settle the problem faced by the resettled indigenes. He wondered why the FCDA also allocated parks, gardens and plots to individuals that are not indigenes and called on government to revoke those allocations. In addition, the youths demanded cash payment for crops, economic trees and replacement of farmlands to farmers in the communities.

Those evacuated in the 1980s to give way to development of Usuma Dam, Wuse, Maitama, Three Arms Zone, Central Business Area and Garki, according to him, are wallowing in worse forms of poverty in Ushafa, Kubwa and New Wuse.

N150BILLION NEEDED FOR COMPENSATION

Abuja ancestral villages bow to urbanization

BY Favour Nnabugwu

FCTA

insists on demolition

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Abuja Master Plan could be an indirect way to intimidate the FCT to do what is not proper,” Okechukwu said.

He said that N2.6 billion was spent on the Apo housing project, while N6.1 billion and N2 billion was spent on the Shere-Galiwyi and Wasa projects respectively.

According to the director, “The Apo resettlement houses are ready, while those in ShereGaluwyi and Wasa has recorded over 70 percent completion”.

Okechukwu said that the FCT indigenes along the Airport Road will be relocated to Wasa community, and advised the FCT Gbagyi indigenes to embrace dialogue, patience and understanding to move the nation forward.

H

e said, “The resettle ment of the original inhabitants of Apo has commenced in earnest in Apo resettlement site. Also there are 877 houses meant to accommodate the original inhabitants of Garki, Akpanjenya and Apo villages.

“The Galuwyi/ Shere resettlement site is meant to accommodate 12 communities of Jabi Samuel, Jabi Yakubu, Utako, Kpadna, Mabushi, Gishiri, Kado 1 and II; others are Magajipe, Zhilu, Maje etc. The progress of physical construction work is at 75% completion covering an area of about 9,000 hectares of land. The buildings are expected to be in a neighbour-

hood system where each neighbourhood is expected to retain its traditional institution as well as chieftaincy allegiance.

“The next one is Wasa resettlement scheme which is expected to accommodate original inhabitants along the airport axis. These are Karomanjiji, Kuchingoro, Chika, Aleita, Piwoyi. The progress of work is about 56%” He said the department had carried out a good number of relocation of inhabitants in Kuchiko, Gidan Mangoro, Pegi

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he optimism of Abuja indigenes to have their villages transformed and integrated into the Abuja Master Plan under an urban renewal programme is fast turning into a nightmare. Disagreements over compensation and resettlement of the indigenes by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have resulted in a number of protests and court cases.

The Department of Resettlement and Compensation of the FCTA, charged with the responsibilities of policy formulation, guidelines and implementation of resettlement schemes and the payment of compensation, works with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Development Control and Land Administration with three divisions: Valuation and Compensation; Planning and Resettlement and Monitoring and Logistics.

The most recent in the league of compensation and resettlement were Apo, Galuwyi/ Shere and Wasa.

The director of resettlement and compensation at the FCTA, Mr. Kenneth Okechukwu, who had always sued for peaceful resolution of every dispute pertaining to compensation and resettlement, said that the FCTA had done its best to resettle and compensate the original land owners in the city and should be commended rather than chastised.

He said the cost of building those three resettlement projects at Apo, Wasa and Galuwyi/Shere stood at N10.5billion while infrastructure such as road, electricity, water, clinics, schools, market and motor parks gulped N5billion.

He assured that no house of original inhabitants would be demolished until they were resettled. He, however, admitted that the department was aware of the numerous complaints from the indigenes and that it was working hard to address genuine concerns of the people. “I don’t think there is need for introduction of violence or for them to be threatening violence because that

council will on the other hand accommodate squatter settlers from Jiwa Chiefdom within Kuje Area Council of the FCT while Yangoji situated within Kwali Area Council will take care of squatter settlers from the Airport axis of Chika, Aleita, Piwoyi, Kuchingoro and Karomanjiji.

Aside the disagreements surrounding compensation and resettlement, FCTA has its hands full as thousands of property owners in Abuja stand the risk of having their hard earned properties demol-

The cost of building those three resettlement projects at Apo, Wasa and Galuwyi/Shere stood at N10.5billion while infrastructure such as roads, electricity, water, clinics, schools, market and motor parks gulped N5billion

and Yangoji.

Kuchiko, he said, is a relocation scheme meant to accommodate squatter settlers from Jabi Samuel, Jabi Yakubu, Maje, Utako, Kpadna, Majajipe, Mabushi, Gishiri etc.

Kuchiko is located in Bwari just after Law School whilst Gidan Mangoro is meant to accommodate settlers from AngwarMada behind Mogadishu Barracks formerly known as Abacha Barracks.

Pegi situated in Kuje area

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ished. The FCTA Development Control Department has lined up 19 communities for demolition. Those affected in the communities are the ones that erected illegal structures in Idu, Karmo, Dape, Tasha, Gwagwa, Saburi, Zauda, Jahi and Gishiri, while other areas include Mabushi, Mpape, Kuchigoro, Chika, Aleita, Piwoyi, Lugbe, Pyakassa, Tudun Wada, Dei-Dei and Guzape.

The department said there was no going back on the deci-

e in Greater Gbagyi De velopment Initiative (GG-DIN) and Alubu Peoples Rights Initiative (APRI), on behalf of indigenous people of the FCT, hereby cry out to your excellency, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to rescue us from a prolonged structural and systematic impoverishment, disempowerment and potentially annihilating scheme, “Zaka said.

“He continued: Since 1976 when our ancestral homelands were sacrificed for a befitting federal capital worthy of the pride of all Nigerians, we have borne huge amounts of inexplicable deprivations of our rights arising from policy inconsistency and failures as well as urbanization and in-migration. All of these have reduced our settlements to slums and decapitated our livelihoods and overall wellbeing.

“We had hoped that by providing this model of peaceful, patriotic enduring response rather than the popular options of unleashing retaliatory violence, serial sabotage and even organized criminality in compelling acceptable resolution of communitygovernment differences and disagreement over the unjust acquisition or use of people’s resources for national development; we would be much appreciated and handsomely reciprocated”.

“It has been so worrisome to observe and most difficult to douse the pulsating restiveness amongst our youths who watch as their ancestral lands are being decimated, forcibly taken away and merchandised to other Nigerians to erect mansions or selling them for millions of Naira.

PAGE 38—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Briefs

Women seek God’s intervention in Nigeria Stories by Joseph Erunke

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isturbed not only by the unending security problems in some parts of Nigeria but also what they described as “alarming poverty rate in the country in spite of its abundant natural resources”, Christian women in Africa have urged fervent prayers for God to find permanent solution.

The African women, under the aegis, “Apostolic Women Network”, who are currently undergoing a four-day Continental Women Leadership Summit in Abuja, on the way

FCTA threatens to close motor parks

BY Favour Nnabugwu

T

he Federal Capital Ter ritory Administration (FCTA) says it will shut down any motor-park in the FCTA where its officials are attacked while on its sensitization campaign on the mini-bus route operations even as it shifted the commencement of the policy to October 2012.

Secretary, Transport Secretariat, Engr. Jonathan Ivoke,

said this when he received members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in his office who visited to seek an extension of the implementation date of the mini-bus route service.

Ivoke, who expressed his displeasure at the behaviour of members of NURTW recently at the Mombassa motor park when they almost disrupted a sensitisation campaign, said that “though administration of Senator Bala Mohammed

Conductor lands in prison for snatching phone

By Caleb Ayansina A bus conductor is cooling off in Kuje Prison, following his conviction by an Abuja Magistrate Court for snatching a Nokia phone belonging to one Chinedu Ani of Gosa Abuja.

Bunmi Onabanjo, 20, of Aco Estate along Air Port Road, Abuja, was arraigned by the police on a one-count charge of theft contrary to section 288 of the penal code law.

The accused pleaded guilty and was subsequently convicted by the court by Magistrate Njideka Duru.

The Magistrate sentenced the convict to one month imprisonment without an option of fine.

She also ordered him to return the phone to the complainant or pay the monetary value of N15,000, failure to do so, according to the Magistrate, will attract another three months jail term.

Tailor convicted for pick-pocketing

By Caleb Ayansina A 25-year-old tailor in Abuja has been sentenced to two months imprisonment by an Abuja Magistrate Court for attempting to pick the pocket of a worshipper at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church Maitama Abuja. Abdullahi Aliyu of Mabushi Abuja pleaded guilty to the offence, contrary to section 95 of the penal code law and was convicted by the court after a summary trial. The Presiding Magistrate, Ann Akobi who sentenced the convict to two months jail, however, gave him the option of fine of N1,000.

is a listening one, any licensed operator that attacks FCTA official who is assigned the responsibilities to sensitise the drivers and the public would have their parks closed down.”

Ivoke ,however, advised members of the mini-bus union to join together to migrate to high capacity buses for their operations as the FCT intends to reduce drastically the number of mini-buses operating within the city, adding that the FCTA would facilitate their access to soft loans from the Urban Development Bank (UDB ) and private financiers.

The Secretary also reminded them that the biometric data capturing of every driver operating in the FCT is on course, noting that it is imperative that every bus and taxi driver is captured for the safety and security of both the drivers and the public.

He enjoined the operators to be law abiding and added that the FCTA is not out to deny anybody of his legitimate earning in FCT. He maintained that the Transportation Secretariat must execute its mandate, part of which is the new minibus route policy.

He further stated that when the Bus Mass Transit is fully implemented, the congestion in the city would be drastically reduced.

The Secretary NURTW FCT Chapter, Alh. Umar Abubakar, thanked the Secretary for Transportation for the administration`s response to the plight of the drivers and pledged the members continuous support for the policy of the administration.

out of the issues, said they were losing sleep because they and their children were at the receiving end.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the programme, the organisation’s Nigerian coordinator, Dr Pamela Eze Uzomaka, said the essence of the summit was to bring women all over Africa together with a view to seeking the face of God for the end to the hardship bedeviling Nigeria. ”There is no denying the fact that women and their children are at the receiving end of insecurity and poverty in the Nigeria”, she emphasized.

Worshippers defend pastor on trial over teenage molestation

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orshippers of Mountain Movers Fire Ministries have risen in support of their senior pastor, Apostle Basil Princewill, who is currently standing trial in a Chief Magistrate Court, Nyanya, Abuja, over allegation of involvement in procuring and molesting teenage members of the church.

The church members came out to exonerate their pastor, saying he was not somebody

of unquestionable character to have engaged in what he was standing trial in court.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, through their Assistant Pastors, Pastor Mrs Julie Odey and Rev. Moses Onuoha, the members of the church said Princewill was wrongly accused for the acts just as they said his ordeal was traceable to those against the fast growth of the church.

Youths charged on self development

By Favour Nnabugwu

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ecretary, Federal Capital Territory Social Development Secretariat, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, has called on youths to take the challenge of developing themselves for the improvement of their personal lives and contribution to nation-building.

She said this at the FCT youth interactive forum held under the theme: “Partnering for a sustainable youth develop-

ment.”

She said government has been burdened with responsibilities catering for the various interests of the country with the youth population being at the centre of it all pointing out: “We cannot do everything but we will try our best to empower the youth.

Come up with viable idea and we look at it and see the way forward for youth in the country and the FCT where we are.”

Transport Ministry workers protest poor welfare

By Caleb Ayansina

S

taff of the Federal Min istry of Transport, on Tuesday, grounded all activities the ministry’s headquarters, in Abuja, as they staged a peaceful protest over the non- implementation of 2012 training programme and poor welfare package.

The Joint Union Council (JUC) of the ministry also demanded the removal of the Director of Human Resources, DHR, Federal Ministry of Transport, Mrs. Aisha Mo-

hammed.

The workers, who shut down the ministry for several hours, chanted solidarity songs and carried placards with various inscriptions including: ‘DHR must go’, ‘Mrs Mohammed must go’, ‘stop delaying files’.

The workers alleged that whenever there was circular from the Head of Service to the ministry to forward names of junior staffs for training, the management staff always take it over thereby preventing the junior staff from training opportunities.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 39

In defence of Abuja women

BY BEN AGANDE

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EPRIEVE may be on the way

for Abuja women who have been at the receiving end of alleged harassment by men of the Nigeria Police and Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), as a nongovernmental organisation, Lawyers Alert Association, has dragged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation, among others, to court to enforce the fundamental human rights of women in the FCT. It would be recalled that following the announcement by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board that prostitution is illegal in the Federal Capital Territory, scores of women, some of them innocent, have been arrested on the grounds that they were ‘soliciting’ for men, especially when found in the evening unaccompanied by men.

In one particular

incident that provoked outrage in the Federal Capital Territory, a banker had parked her car and went into a shopping mall to pick a few things. As she came out of the car, she was ‘arrested’ by men of the AEPB and the police; bundled into their pick- up van and was detained for two days before her employers intervened and got her released. Victims have been made to suffer untold indignities, including alleged rape by police men who arrest them for the mere fact that they venture to go out at night unaccompanied by men!

Worried by the harassment of the women folk because of the mere fact of their feminity, Lawyers Alert Association, led

by Barrister Rommy Mom, instituted a case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an “order of perpetual injunction against the defendants to restrain them from the act of arrest of women in Abuja at night on suspicion of prostitution, as such action is without legal basis, unconstitutional, discriminatory and a violation of the human rights of women in Abuja”.

In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, Mom noted that, apart from challenge faced by women generally, African women have suffered several cultural and social violation and inequality which hampered their development. He appealed to the court to “send a clear signal that men in authority should not further seek to institutionalise this by passage of arbitrary orders and laws that will entrench these practices”, that have kept women in perpetual oppression.

In an originating summon, the plaintiff noted that the issues for determination was “whether the incessant harassment, intimidation and arrest of women in Abuja at night on suspicion of prostitution is not only unconstitutional but also a violation of women’s human rights”.

Quoting relevant sections of the constitution to buttress his point, Mom posited: “Movement is closely tied to liberty as women can constitutionally move freely in Nigeria whether in the day time or night time. Nothing

differentiates the day and night for a particular set of citizens to be targeted at nights for arrest on being sighted. This is discriminatory and violates section 42(1) of the 1999 constitution”.

He argued further: “For women in Abuja to be subjected to arrest, purely on

the grounds of their sex/ gender at night in Abuja is discriminatory as men can and do move about without any molestation or harassment. We implore the court to note that these restrictions are pursuant to the executive orders of the 1st Defendant (Hon. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory).

“It is clearly therefore without any basis for the directive of the 1st defendant, a male, to subject women to domination by men, where men can conduct their businesses and other chores at nights without any fear of molestation,

but women cannot, owing to fears of arrest and intimidation by agents of the 2nd and 3rd defendants (Commissioner of Police FCT and the Inspector General of Police respectively)”.

On the argument that women being arrested is based on the war against prostitution in the FCT, the plaintiff noted: “Prostitution involves very direct act of soliciting. It is our submission that whatever law the defendants are premising their actions on violates the supremacy of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999'.

Jonathan urged to ignore calls for NDDC MD's sack The Niger Delta activist, their reasons, but that the

T

HE Niger Delta Ethnic Oil P r o d u c i n g

Stakeholders Forum, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to disregard calls made by groups and some individuals to sack the Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mr. Chris Oboh.

Chief Michael Johnny, who made the call at a meeting of the forum, yesterday at his residence, said, such calls could distract the entire board of NDDC, as there is need for all stakeholders to give the Managing Director and the entire board, the needed support and cooperation to succeed.

noted that those who are calling for the sacking of the Mr Oboh may have

present board of NDDC is doing well in the execution of projects.

DTHA Speaker gets commendation

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HE Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Mr Victor Ochei, has been commended for his quality leadership in piloting the affairs of the House within the short period in office.

The remark was made at a conference in Warri by Mr. Chris Eriyamremu, a youth leader in Ughelli North, who said the Speaker has performed beyond expectation for providing a cordial atmosphere

in the House, noted that the House within the period of one year has made remarkable achievements.

He also commended members of the House, irrespective of their political parties, for their maturity,advising the state executive and legislature to sustain the cordial relationship presently existing between them, as such will ensure speedy delivery of the dividends of democracy to Deltans.

PAGE 40 —SUNDAY

Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

In her speech at the fifth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2012) at Georgia Institute in March 2012, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the Minister of Communication Technology,

ICT is crucial for inclusive devt —Johnson, Communication Technology Minister on professionalism in government

stated: “The mobile phone, indeed any mobile device with internet access, can become or has become more than an instrument of communication. This seeming plaything for the more affluent has now become an instrument of development, and inclusive development at that”.

Johnson, a passionate advocate of ICT’s power to bridge the digital and poverty divide and enable inclusive development across all levels, is one of the professionals behind the success of public policy in Nigeria. The Minister, who has the quality and depth of a thorough professional required to manage public service in a growing economy like Nigeria’s, holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Manchester and a master’s degree in digital electronics from King’s College, London. Prior to her appointment as Minister, Omobola was nearing completion of a doctorate at Cranfield University, focused on corporate leadership practices in emerging markets.

She joined Accenture, an international management consulting firm in 1985 and was there for twenty five years (five years as Country Managing Director). She is also the founding Chairperson and member of Board of Tr ustees of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ). In this chat, Johnson explains the role of the ministry in alleviating poverty, the challenges facing the one year old ministry, the opportunities that abound and what the ministry is doing to enhance the country’s development among other things.

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ROM your own point of view, why do government policies fail to achieve their goal?

A lot of things have been said about policy implementation in the country. We have a lot of very good policies, but the challenge comes when it gets to execution and execution is about capacity, it is about staying power, sustainability and of course funding. I think these are the areas where we could do with some improvement in policy implementation, but overall as a country we have very good policies.

The challenges that are facing the nation are enormous, the role of ICT in national development is quite challenging. Since coming on board, what steps have you taken so far at making sure that ICT of today meaningfully impacts Nigeria’s development?

I think first of all ICT is already contributing to the country ’s growth. I think what we need to do is to accelerate that contribution to national development. More recently, studies on socio-economic development are showing that ICT not only has an impact on development but is actually a necessary and required ingredient for development.

Adoption of ICTs lead to development in social, health, education and business sectors.

At the Ministry, we are presenting the general policy

Mrs. Omobola Johnson....We are promoting e-governance. direction, policy intervention and creating the enabling environment for inclusive development in Nigeria. For example, we are facilitating the buildout of a robust, ubiquitous and cost effective broadband network aimed at increasing

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Speaks

increase in domestic value added to the ICT industry. The MCT is working to ensure that made/assembled in Nigeria brands are more favourably positioned to achieve our national objectives of job creation, domestic value added and growth in the

The NCC is monitoring KPIs of operators and the level of compliance by the operators very closely to ensure that service quality delivery is attained in the sector

broadband penetration within the country from 6% to about 20 - 25% by 2015. Broadband or fast access to the internet is a key success factor for national socioeconomic development.

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e are setting up incubation centers geared towards facilitating an enabling environment to promote software development. Before the end of the year, two incubation centers, one in Abuja and the other in Tinapa, Calabar, will be on stream to increase the skills and capabilities of software developers and the commercial viability and quality of software developed in Nigeria The centres will unleash the creativity of our young people in both software and hardware.

Imagine what will happen if these young people can produce the software required in banking, security and telecommunications.

The Ministry is also in the process of developing a national internet based portal that will facilitate easy access to government information such that by December 2014, every single Federal Government MDA will have a functioning information websites domiciled on the portal.

We are working on local content guidelines that will be issued in Q4 of 2012, that will result in an

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ICT industry.

There is also the issue of e-governance?

Also to promote egovernance, the Ministry by the end of the first quarter of 2013 will set up a 250 seat contact centre that would foster government-to-citizen engagement. These are primarily call centres that citizens can call to obtain information about government services. For citizens that have access to the internet, accurate and up to date information will also be available on websites as well as some of the forms that are required to procure government services. We will pilot one centre before the end of the year or early 2013. The success of these initiatives will mean that regardless of where you live in Nigeria, how much you earn, how educated you are, you will have access to similar levels of basic government services.

On the business side, what we are looking at now is local content, how do we improve the participation of Nigerians within the ICT industry? I think the opportunities are enormous. Imagine the benefits of broadband educatio n- in the area of e learning, health-telemedicine, patient data collection and health records access, to the business community-wider customer and supplier base for SME’s, Agriculture -

create access to information on good cultivation practices for farmers as well as access to market prices, removal of intermediaries etc What are you doing to ensure that the benefits of GSM is not truncated due to bad services?

Phones has taken a life of its own; really and truly. As each day goes by, voice penetration gets deeper and demand for data increases.

The voice segment is the first revolution; the second is data. The focus of the ministry now is around the second revolution which is data. When l say data, l mean broadband: that is what we are focusing on right now. We have a lot of internet capacity on our sea shores. What we are working on right now is how to get that capacity to all of Nigeria at reasonable costs and to the satisfaction of every Nigerian.

Data is critical to enabling developments in education, in health, in business and in agriculture. The ICT policy is being finalised and will provide the overarching direction for the ICT industry. It also includes the expected result in the industry when the policy is fully implemented; and implementation ofcourse means working with NCC, infrastructure providers and other stakeholders. onsumers are not happy at the quality of service being provided by telecoms operators.

What is the ministry doing about this as the supervising ministry?

It is a case of the demand. The quality of service is like this because we don’t have adequate infrastructure for the amount of traffic that operators are carrying. This has an effect on what is going on. There are issues that network providers are facing in providing infrastructure. Issues like vandalisation of infrastructure, multiple taxation, right of way etc. What we have been doing in the ministry is to remove some of these bottlenecks inhibiting infrastructure provision such that impediments to infrastructure provision is removed.

One of the steps that we have taken and which will ultimately address poor quality of service in the telecoms industry is the issuance of new Right of Way (RoW) guidelines in collaboration with the Ministry of Works that will henceforth guide the laying of fibre cables on federal highways in the country. We are also currently working with the Ministry of Environment on modalities that will ensure that Base Stations are no longer closed down. But while we do all of these the network operators also have to invest in the upgrade of their networks to carry the increased voice and data traffic that we expect.

The NCC is monitoring KPIs of operators and the level of compliance by the operators very closely to ensure that service quality delivery is attained in the sector.

UN sees ICT as tool to fight poverty, how is the ministry helping to achieve this task of using ICT to fight poverty?

The way you fight poverty is to educate and create jobs. Look at what is happening right now. The way you leverage ICT for educa-

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tion matters in poverty eradication. Quality of education depends on where you are living. If you look at health: how do we fight poverty in health? It’s possible if ICT infrastructure is leveraged. We know of telemedicinequalified doctors can stay in urban areas and do the diagnoses of people in the rural areas where qualified doctors are lacking.

Jobs can also be created with ICTs. Rural ICT centers are a tool for facilitating entrepreneurship.

These centers can serve as a means of entrepreneurship for individuals in communities and provide services for the benefit of people in the community.

What is the role of the ministry in the transformation agenda of the government?

If you look at the centrality of the transformation agenda, it is premised on job and wealth creation. ICT provides a tremendous opportunity for Nigeria to create new kinds of jobs especially for our young people. It also provides a clear opportunity for the diversification of our economy.

Today the Ict sector is growing at about 30% and is contributing 5.4% of GDP. With execution of the right policies, especially local content this growth can be sustained and contribution to GDP increased. n the last one year now, what has been your achievement so far in telecommunications?

Let me say that it is just not about telecommunication. This is the ministry of ICT. Firstly, the ministry was created and it started on the 17th of July last year. The ministry is functioning and running. What we have done in the last 12 months is articulate the first national ICT policy, after a harmonisation and finalisation process that will soon be concluded. In government’s strategic intent for ICT, we have identified seven key result areas that we are prioritizing between now and 2015. These include; cost reduction and transparency in governance; a ubiquitous and cost effective national ICT infrastructure; a multi-faceted strategy that enables equitable access to the infrastructure; citizen engagement and convenient delivery of government information and strong support for the development of education, health, agriculture and financial services on the ICT infrastructure. We are promoting Skills development initiatives to sustain the industry and ICT entrepreneurship and innovation have been identified as a core requirement for the development of a strong and vibrant ICT industry.

We are working on what I call the next revolution -software and data. Software in the sense that we have, 90 million subscribers who need applications. Internally within government, in the last one year, we have been working to leverage technology to reduce the cost of governance and increase the transparency of governance. Thus a 250 citizen call center will be up and running by the end of the year to facilitate the provision of government services to the people. We have commenced the process of re-engineering a number of processes in a few key Ministries before they are put online. These initiatves should serve to reduce the cost of and ensure the effectiveness of governance. There is no doubt that if you put more information online, it is a more efficient government you will have. We are in the process of doubling broadband penetration from its current level so that the number of Nigerians with access to the internet will be more than doubled by 2015. Currently 45 Million Nigerians or approximately 28% of our population have access to the internet. In the last one year, we have been working on reforming NIPOST to transform it into an enabler of financial and digital inclusion.

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 41

Edo: The triumph of truth

BY GODWIN SOGOLO VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The false accusations ahead of the Edo gubernatorial election.

HERE is a local adage that falsehood may reign for twenty years but it will only take one day for the truth to overthrow it. The validity of this adage has been proved over and again but those who peddle falsehood appear to be oblivious to this truism.

This was amply demonstrated during the campaigns leading to the recent governorship election in Edo State.

The campaigns were characterized by bitter exchanges, mudslinging and character assassinations. The two major parties in the election, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), used every available trick of campaigning to discredit each other in the eyes of the electorate.

However, there was a

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remarkable difference in campaign style between the two parties. Whereas the PDP focused largely on the failures and inadequacies of the ACN government and the hypocrisy of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the ACN chose a more aggressive strategy of creating the impression that the PDP was a party of election riggers, looters, criminals and even murderers.

The ACN campaign machinery relentlessly demonized the PDP and its leaders. One cheap way in which this was done was that of associating the PDP with the violence and blood-letting that took place in the State in the immediate pre-election period. The aim was to create the impression that the PDP was desperate to wrest power from the ACN and would, therefore, do anything to attain this goal.

The first in this attempt to scandalize the PDP was the way in which the accident involving the convoy of Oshiomhole, in which three journalists lost their lives, was presented to the public. The story was calibrated to read that

an attempt was made to kill the governor. The second was the claim by the state Commissioner for information, Mr. Louis Odion, that he was trailed by men in a black jeep and his residence invaded by would-be assassins, after he had been allegedly threatened by Chief Tony Anenih in front of the palace of the Oba of Ben-

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VIEWPOINT

the mastermind of the plot to forcibly take over power in Edo State.

In the case of Louis Odion, the culpability of Anenih was taken for granted and, indiscreetly, advertised to the public.

It was clear that for the ACN, Anenih, acting through his agent, was behind the violence and assassination in Edo

The ACN tried, strenuously, to convince the public that the PDP had a hand in the assassination

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in.

Indeed, the attempt at demonization was consolidated in the aftermath of the assassination of the Private Secretary to Oshiomhole. The ACN tried, strenuously, to convince the public that the PDP had a hand in the assassination. While, in these accusations, the ACN talked publicly about the PDP, the main target of the accusation was Anenih whom they had branded and relentlessly assailed as the evil godfather and

State. Fortunately for Anenih, police investigations into the most serious of the incidents (the convoy accident and the assassination of Oshiomhole’s Private Secretary) have shown that no political conspiracy was involved.

The governor’s convoy accident, according to the report, was the result of an unfortunate collision with a lorry owned and driven by card-carrying members of the ACN. In the matter of the assassination of the

Private Secretary, the State Security Service (SSS) has, after thorough investigations, arrested six suspects who have confessed to have killed the man in the course of robbing him. It is not unlikely that were the police to thoroughly investigate the alarm raised by Odion, they would have reached a similar conclusion.

These major revelations have shown that Anenih was a victim of a vicious campaign of calumny.

They show clearly that he is totally innocent of all the accusations that Oshiomhole and his associates leveled against him. We now know that Anenih never planned, either singly or with other persons, to commit any act of violence in Edo State or anywhere for that matter.

He was simply targeted for a campaign of defamation and character assassination because he was, without doubt, the most powerful political figure in Edo State.

Fact is Anenih towers above every other politician in the state, including the governor himself.

His massive network of

contacts across the country, his national political influence and his close association with all Nigerian presidents in the last 33 years stand him out as a statesman of monumental proportions.

He posed a great threat to the ACN. It was, therefore, not surprising that no effort was spared to malign him in a desperate attempt to diminish his political stature.

The truth of what happened during the July 14, 2012 governorship election will soon come out.

Great statesmen like Anenih will always be the targets of those who, by praising them, seek political advantage and those, who by maligning them, seek public attention. While there is no anti-dote to this malaise, there is an armour of protection in integrity, honesty, humaneness and Godly-devotion. Chief Tony Akhakon Anenih has survived all his travails and will continue to survive them because he has all these virtues in abundance. ·Sogolo lives in Abuja.

Osun PDP: Enough of this political banditry

BY ABIODUN OLADEJO

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF A state governor and the opposition challenge

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cannot but agree in its totality with the philosophical submission of Eman Robb who, mindful of evil doers, declared, in a strong worded phrase, that “ rumours are carried by haters, spread by fools and accepted by idiots”.

Probably Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the governor of the State of Osun, had foreseen that this poisonous fish will intermittently rear its ugly head in a murky political waters of our society as he postulated few years ago in one of the media interviews that “ when you add falsehood to criminality, one gets odium”. In the last few weeks, there have been the intrigues, political misdemeanor, fraud, backbiting, backlash, manipulation and political chicanery cum She-

nanigans polluting the serene atmosphere in the land of Omoluabi.

Political observers must have summarized without prejudice that decorum can never be traced in the political map of PDP as their trade mark is inglorious rascalitity and do-or-die mentality. It is a tragedy that in the 21st century of our political engagement, a monumental falsehood of

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VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT

and fighting a lost war without witnessing any battle or having any army battalion.In a civilized society, when a government official erred in discharging his civic responsibilities, such official should be dragged to court for justice to take its rightful position instead of causing pandemonium in the media. I have been following keenly the vitu-

When a government official erred in discharging his civic responsibilities, such official should be dragged to court for justice to take its rightful position instead of causing pandemonium in the media

this magnitude can be perpetrated by any political party. These evil perpetrators are finding blindly what is not missing; they are shouting without any sonorous voice; crying profusely without shedding tears

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peration and it is evident from their accusations that they are suffering from deadly heart diseases which can be diagnosed as ENVY, HAT RED, GREED and AVARICE. Despite all the black-

mail and uncouth attitude of the opposition, I recommend that Ogbeni should be happy in the front of people who don’t like him as liking them will catapult and scatter them into their political canal.Enveloped with inquisitiveness and excited to be on a fact- finding mission, I cocooned myself to a scientific research in a political laboratory equipped with sophisticated apparatus as to why the Osun opposition party is waging a war of calumny and I found with empirical analysis three good reasons: (1) They see Gov.Aregbe as a threat because he is a master planner and an ideologue. (2) They hate themselves since they are suddenly jobless and (3) They want to be like him- a governor with a vision that sees governance, according to Edmund Burke, a British philosopher “as a contrivance of wisdom to satisfy people’s needs”. My findings also revealed that those in the opposition know at the back of

their minds that Rauf is a political progenitor of Oranmiyan bravery, and, a field marshall at the political army formations.

However, inasmuch as the majority of the people know their antics and tactics, I charge Ogbeni to remain focused as a leader ’s greatest challenge is how to deal with the multitude of people oblivious to the obvious.

Based on this, I gently soothe his heart with creamy balm aiming at the pleasant effect that he will wax stronger in his constitutional obligations of dumbfounding transformation of Osun State. I also bring this good tiding that he should be resolute and dynamic in the challenges ahead as the difficulties of life are intended to make us better- and not bitter. In addition, I enjoin Ogbeni to put these noise makers into the political zoo or forest where their leopards known for not wanting to change their spots would continue to live in the snake Island. This is also

in conjunction with the Zairean proverb which says, “ Wood may remain years in the water but it will never become a crocodile”.

Objectively,as any right thinking person must lampoon and pooh pooh this grandiose design to cause religious commotion and to ignite intolerant political fireworks in the State of Osun, I join millions of his supporters all over the world to condemn in its totality this unnecessary and unwarranted persecution and provocation of our performing governor.

The opposition has failed in the ploy to destabilise the state and to distract Ogbeni from good governance with the sadness of heart that its outdated missiles will always miss the target.

His systematic calculation and dogged determination to make the state worthy of emulation and living will throw the camp of his enemies into disarray. OSUN TI DARA!!!

•Oladejo (Atayese) lives in Vienna, Austria.

Contribution of not more than 1,200 words should be sent to sundayvanguard@yahoo.com

PAGE 42 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

CAC marks 7 years of God’s goodness

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HRIST Apostolic Church, Word of Power Centre, Itire, Lagos, recently rolled out drums to mark its seventh anniversary. The one week event which ended with a thanksgiving service was attended by members who hilariously praised God for His faithfulness, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. The pastor in charge, Johnson Jegede attributed the church’s growth to God’s goodness, adding that it is been God’s grace that has sustained the church.

Jegede recalled the early beginnings of the church, stating that there had been several challenges but God had seen us through all.

Said he: “God has sustained us thus far and we are really grateful for what He is doing with and through us. The foundation stands sure, fferent parts of the world, sta- despite all the challenges." ting, however, that a number He also called on ministers of the participants will stay at of God in the country to impact the main auditorium which positi-vely on their members will serve as the venue of the through teaching the convention.

Continued on Page 45

6 million expected at RCCG's 60th Convention

By SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA BOUT six million people from different parts of the world are expected to attend the 60th annual convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, which expected to open tomorrow at the Redemption Camp on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Theme: ‘Come up higher.’

Ministering will be the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye with several other anointed ministers.

This year’s convention will also mark the 60th anniversary of the church. The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, was established in 1952 by late Pa Josiah Akindayomi who was born in July 1909 into the Akindayomi family of Ondo State. RCCG is reputed to be the fastest growing church in the world with many branches all over the world.

It is headed by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, a man named by influential American Newsweek Magazine as ‘One of The World’s 50 Most Powerful People’ and who led the preSummit prayers at the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations at the Headquarters in New York in 1999.

The 60th annual convention is expected to feature a variety of events including the ordination of deacons, assistant pastors, pastors, graduation of Bible College students, seminars on different topics, plenary sessions and special events that will be of benefit to all and sundry.

There will be sing ministrations from different groups, cultural dances and dramas to spice up the week long event.

Speaking in an interview, the manager in charge of the camp, Pastor A.F. Elufowoju said the church had made deliberate effort to ensure the security of lives and property during the week long event, maintaining that security personnel will be deployed by the Lagos and Ogun states commands.

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While urging participants to make use of the numerous car parks in the camp, the camp manager assured motorists that a combined effort of the Federal Road Safety Corps drawn from both Lagos and Ogun states and volunteers from the church who been adequately trained, will ensure smooth flow of traffic on the busy expressway.

He, however, urged motorists to obey instructions of the traffic managers to avoid undue delays on the road, adding that adequate arrangements have also been put in place for participants’ convenience throughout the duration of the convention, noting that the number of toilets around the Holy Ghost Arena, venue of the annual spiritual fiesta has increased to over 400.

Similarly, he noted that in addition to generators that are scattered all around the camp, there are two noiseless turbines with the capacity to run on any kind of fuel, and do the job of six 1,000 KVA gener-

ators.

According to the camp manager, the only major challenge facing the church is how to accommodate the huge number of people coming from di-

TRAINING—From right: Vice Chairman of Corporate Social Reponsibility, RCCG Lagos Province 12, Pastor Dele Olatunji, Pastor Olufemi Adebiyi, Pastor-in-charge of the Province, Pastor C.A.F Obasa and another minister of God during the Provincial Entrepreneurship Development Training programme recently.

How RCCG became the 1st Pentecostal Church in Israel---Adeboye

By SAM EYOBOKA ESPITE a multidimensional war against the Christian Church worldwide, it is still spreading its tentacles into several unimaginable territories to the amazement of those who would rather see the Church go under.

Apart from several souls being won for Christ at every opportunity, the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, made a startling revelation Sunday of how RCCG became the first Pentecostal church to establish a parish in Israel in February 1996.

Preaching a short sermon titled; ‘A new thing’, at the Victory House parish of the church in Festac Town, Lagos, the 70-

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year preacher with his wife, Pastor Folu in tow, narrated how he was ridiculed for daring to conceive the idea of planting a Pentecostal Church in Israel.

Adeboye took over the mantle of leadership of the RCCG in 1981 when the church was not well known but has taken it to greater heights with presence in over a 100 countries, including more than 14,000 parishes in Nigeria.

The erstwhile mathematics lecturer at both the University of Lagos and the University of Ilorin, known for his tremendous humility, has consistently stated that his aim is to put a church within five minutes of every person on Earth.

According to him, when the idea of a parish in Israel came to him, he decided to write a

formal application which he personally delivered to the Israeli authorities through the Ambassador at the Nigerian Embassy, 34, Gordon Street, Tel Aviv.

“When I presented the letter to the Nigerian ambassador, he laughed for a very long time and when he finished he asked me if I knew that the US is the greatest friend of the Nation of Israel and I said yes,” Adeboye stated, noting that the ambassador discouraged him, saying if Israeli authorities will allow Pentecostal churches in their domain, American churches would have been the first.

“The ambassador,” he continued “said if the Israeli Government deny American churches permission to establish branches in Israel, how on

earth do you imagine that they would accept an application from a Nigerian church?”

At that point, only a handful of orthodox churches, including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and perhaps the Baptist Church were allowed in the Jewish country.

“When God does something new, people will begin to see what has never been seen before. I told the ambassador, 'Sir, my own will be different.

Just help me submit the application.' He took the application and submitted it and six months later the authorities concerned granted the permission,” he told the jubilant crowd of worshippers at the church.

The church now has about four parishes in Israel.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012--- PAGE 43

MY CHURCH IS BIGGER THAN YOURS HEY contradict the counsel of the Lord without batting their eyelids. They plant church parishes like supermarkets in every street-corner. They build cathedrals and church monuments like World Trade Centres, each one striving to be the biggest and most splendiferous in the universe. They gather thousands, even millions, of “ worshippers” in front of television-cameras every so often on the mountains of Kilimanjaro. They are the new spiritual superstars; the mega-pastors of the mega-churches.

In this conceit, my former church, Redeemed, takes the cake.

While Redeemed’s emphasis on branch-networking and exponential growth might be a wonderful policy for a fast-food chain, as a framework for a Christian organisation, it has tended to produce halfbaked pastors who exhibit flagrant disregard for godly propriety.

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Carnal growth

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n the world today, success in “churchianity ” is measured by the size of the congregation and not by changed lives. Accordingly, highfalutin mega-pastors have finetuned church-growth strategies. It’s all a question of numbers, numbers and more numbers.

Numbers determine

how much money is fleeced from the flock.

Numbers determine the extent of pastoral control and captivity of men.

When pastors meet, the unspoken question is “how big is your church?” The answer determines social status.

Like Mordecai to Haman, the mini-pastors are required to bow down to the mega-pastors.

Men like Pastor Sunday Adelaja of Embassy of God Church, Kiev, Ukraine even maintain God gave them the specific mandate to establish mega-churches. Adelaja claims God told him: “I am about to raise up a mega-church in Europe, at this end time and I am calling people who will establish those churches.

Some people have already responded to my call. Your destiny and that of millions of other people depend on whether or not you will obey me. The primary assignment is to raise up a mega-church.”

However, God does not raise up churches: He has only one church. He does not ask men to build churches for Him. Jesus says: “I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18). Moreover, God despises what men esteem. (Luke 16:15).

Therefore, He generally prefers the mini to the mega. He says: “Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the roar of the

The popularity of a church is eloquent testimony of failure and not of success seas.” (Isaiah 17:12).

Jesus identifies God’s flock as little, as opposed to large. He says: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32).

Thus, Zechariah asks rhetorically: “Who has despised the day of small things?”

(Zechariah 4:10).

Kingdom dynamics

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ndeed, according to Jesus’ kingdom dy namics, the popularity of a church is eloquent testimony of failure and not of success. Jesus told his disciples: “The world would love you if you belonged to it; but you don't- for I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you.”

(John 15:19). However, the world loves today’s mega-pastors. Nothing rubbished Pastor Adeboye’s ministry more than Newsweek’s declaration that he is one of the world’s most respected men. Jesus says: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26).

The wisdom of God is contrarian, “she calls aloud in the street; she raises her voice in the

public squares.” (Proverbs 1:20). “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” (Psalm 33:1617).

When applied to our vainglorious megachurches, this means no man is saved by the size of a church, neither are the wicked delivered by the great charisma of a pastor. When we play the numbers game in churches, we are guilty of trusting in the multitude of our mighty men.

(Hosea 10:13). “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but

by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain?

Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!’”

(Zechariah 4:6-7).

One of the great mountains before Zerubbabel was Solomon’s temple.

Those charged with rebuilding it were intimidated that the new temple would not have the splendour and majesty of the old. But God is not concerned with size and other externalities.

Through Haggai, he

ECURITY forces in Lagos State and indeed other parts of the country have been urged to be more vigilant and concerned about the

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Osu decries rising wave of kidnapping

CAC marks

DO YOU KNOW?

*Continued from Pg 44 undiluted Word of God, shun materialism and always pray for those in leadership positions.

Speaking on the theme; “Moving on to perfection”, the guest speaker, Prophet Ayilara Yemi, urged Christians to imbibe Christ-like characters, adding that it is the will of God for Christians to be perfect. Yemi further urged Christians to trust God for greater visitations because "God is not th-rough with the business of changing lives for the better."

*Catholics vs Protestants

rising wave of kidnapping of innocent persons in the country.

Director, Social Commu-

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nications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, in a statement, called for an

ULY 4, 1844: FEARING violence from Catho lic-hating Protestants on the national holiday, the Irish militia took up positions in front of the Catholic church in the Southwalk neighborhood of Philadelphia. When the angry Protestant crowd showed up, as expected, the militia opened fire, killing two and wounding four.

This time the Protestants had superior fire power, though, trucking in two cannons that they set up at two corners of Christian Street, firing up the street and killing two Catholics. The ever resourceful Irish then responded with a cannon of their own, and for several hours the entire city echoed with cannon and musket fire, with a final carnage count of two dead Catholics, 23 wounded Catholics, 10 dead Protestants, and 20 wounded Protestants.

Oh yeah, what they were fighting over is: Which Bible should be read in the schools?

intensive police investigation into the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric and a popular NTA presenter, Alhaji Razaq Gawat. He pointed out

notes that, in spite of its physical shortcomings, “the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former.”

(Haggai 2:9). Before Zerubbabel, the great mountain of Solomon’s temple would become a plain.

When the disciples extolled the splendour of the Jerusalem temple to Jesus, he replied: “All these buildings will be knocked down, with not one stone left on top of another!” (Matthew 24: 2). The same fate awaits the magnificent cathedrals of today. However, the real temple of God, the body of Jesus, remains impregnable. Jesus said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

(John 2:19).

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N old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side

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n the kingdom of God, it is the stone the builders reject that becomes the headstone. (Psalm 118:22).

This prophecy is bad news for mega-churches and their mega-pastors because it predicts they will ultimately be rejected. According to Jesus, the first will become last and the last first.

(Mark 10:31). So today’s “first-class” pastors and their majestic churches will eventually be humbled.

Isaiah says: “every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.” (Isaiah 40:4). This indicates that, in the day of the Lord, we are likely to discover that the big church is small in the sight of the Lord and the small church is big. Megachurch “ wanna-be's” readily sacrifice the doctrine of Christ on the altar of the imperatives for a large following. But we are not called to empirebuilding but to right-

hy are Chris tians still so sin ful? Why is so little of the character of Christ evident in the churches? One major reason is that too much emphasis is placed on numerical growth and too little on spiritual growth. Indeed, the messages that promote numerical growth often impede spiritual growth.

Everywhere, pastors are engaged in churchplanting, for the primary purpose of increasing their dominion and finances. The outcome is the mushrooming of churches that are impressive to men, but contemptible to God. Isaiah warns: “Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, therefore you will plant pleasant plants and set out foreign seedlings; in the day you will make your plant to grow, and in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; but the harvest will be a heap of ruins in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.” (Isaiah 17:1011).

that it was shameful and disheartening that the cleric could disappear in daylight without any trace. He also called on law abiding citizens to assist the police, stressing that the centre for excellence cannot afford to

be bedeviled by criminals and kidnappers.

Osu called on all Lagosians, particularly parents to be watchful over their children and wards, adding that they need to support security forces in combating crime.

God’s verdict

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DO YOUR KNOW PREACHER'S DYING WISH

eousness. Indeed, Jesus says to popular megachurches across the ages: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1).

David got into trouble with God when he became preoccupied with size. When pride moved him to conduct a census in Israel in order to glory in the size of his kingdom, God responded by decimating it with pestilence which killed 70,000 men. (2 Samuel 24:115). Jesus himself was not the product of a big “church,” but of little Bethlehem Ephrathah.

(Micah 5:2).

*Send jokes to: sameyoboka@yahoo.com

of the bed.

The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling.

For a time, no one said anything.

Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly

liked either of them.

They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avaricious behavior that made them squirm in their seats.

Finally, the banker said, “Preacher, why did you ask us to come?”

The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly: “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go.”

PAGE 44---SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

Jonathan is a war time president ----Rev. Ladi Thompson REVEREND Oladimeji (Ladi) Thompson is the founder/Senior Pastor of Lagos-based Living Waters Unlimited Church, and the international co-ordinator of Macedonian Initiative, a non-government, non-denominational organization established to provide succour to Christians persecuted because of their belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. Lately, the security consultant has assumed the office of a Special Adviser to the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, on Anti-terrorism and Security Matters. In this interview with SAM EYOBOKA, Rev. Thompson outlines the serious security challenges currently threatening the corporate existence of the nation and how best the Jonathan Administration can tackle same. Excerpts…

Where is Nigeria now security wise?

E are at a point in Nigeria where if we need-ed wisdom before, we need double now.

From the colonial times till today, the city of Kaduna has been the heartbeat of northern Nigeria and the spiritual barometer of our national development.

From colonial era till today, Kaduna dictated the pace of the country.

People who cannot read the progression of terror will not know how alarming what happened in Kaduna recently is. They asked Albert Eistein that if you have a big problem and you have one hour to solve it, what would you do? And his response was that he would spend 50 to 55 minutes understanding the problem and then spend five minutes fixing it. Nigeria wants to spend 55 minutes fixing the problem after thinking for five minutes.

It is clear that this Federal Government does not have the people who have the good capture of what the problem really is in Nigeria and because of that it is making matters worse everytime.

For many years church elders have been able to restrain Christian youths from retaliating; each

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time they see their homes wasted, their relatives killed. Youth connotes energy; restiveness, aggression. It is a miracle that CAN, for so many years, have been able to calm its youths.

When injustice continues on a perpetual basis, it becomes difficult when the justice system fails to deliver justice, when the life of every citizen cannot be assured, when your freedom of choice of religion cannot be protected anymore within a country, it becomes almost imperative that the youths will get to a

There’s war going on...

What has happened in Jonathan’s case is that he has refused to acknowledge that there’s war in Nigeria breaking point where elders can no longer control them. And once that development starts and it is not checked, we can

*TODAY IN HISTORY (August 5) 1570: Spanish Jesuits led by Fray Batista Segura arrived in the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia, for the purpose of converting the American Indians to Christianity. (Unfortunately, six months later, the entire group was massacred by the very Indians they had come to evangelize.)

1604: Baptism of John Eliot, American "apostle to the Indians." His evangelistic zeal led in 1649 to establishing the (missionary) Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England.

1869: Birth of Grant C. Tullar, American Methodist evangelist and music publisher. He is remembered today for composing the tune to the hymn, Face to Face with Christ My Savior.

1961: The South American country of Bolivia adopted a new constitution that separated the powers of Church and the State.

*Rev. Ladi Thompson

kiss Nigeria goodbye because the reprisal to the bombing of churches, if it spreads from Kaduna to other states, nobody will win. We will all be losers. And if Nigeria is destroyed, the hope of Africa is destroyed.

What is your solution to the challenge?

Two important things that we need is that the Christian quality of Nigeria must be reorganized to be able to put pressure on the Federal Government so that when it wants to make appointments that affect it, when it wants to do anything that will affect the future of this nation, there need to be consultation between the presi-

dent and the leadership of 90 million plus Christians. Why will the president of a country not think it necessary to consult with the spiritual head of about 100 million Christians?

Number one; Christian youths need to be taught something very clear that even though they have energy, they need wisdom. They must understand that in Christianity, death is not a punctuation mark that ends a sentence. It is more of a coma that signifies a pause before you launch into eternal life.

When the energy of youths is now expanded in a direction of reprisals that include the kill-

ing of people, the youth must be made to know that when emotions finally cool down, whatever they have done has consequences.

Number two: There is a directive from Heaven on how a Christian is to conduct his life in the midst of non-Christians.

Ordinarily we shouldn’t be talking about death to youths, but the ineptitude and the inability of political leadership to cap what is going on in Nigeria is accelerating the rate at which Nigeria is approaching its meltdown. If Christian youths are properly taught, since we know that for us as Christians, to die is gain and to live is Christ,

we find that nobody living can use death to threaten us.

So when I hear that some Boko Haram are threatening Christians, you don’t threaten Christians with death, we are not afraid of death. There are weapons we use to overcome; one of them is that we don’t fear our lives unto death. We already have assurance of eternal life.

It’s a shame on any church elder to hide behind the youths. The problem of Nigeria right now is not a problem for youths to solve. For us, death is just a pause that launches us into eternal life but to Boko Haram life is an endless pain with a painful end. They are misguided.

That does not mean that there will be no occasion for Christian youths to arise to the defence of the values of human worth in Nigeria; but in order to do that, there are procedures that Church leadership must follow.

Let it be made known that the concept of war is a reality in Christianity, because the Bible tells us that there’s a time for peace and a time for war. So let nobody think that Christian thinking precludes the concept of war.

The elders must separate persecution and war.

What is happening in northern Nigeria right now is war. What is happening in some parts of southern Nigeria now is persecution.

In the event of war, there’s a process by which Church elders, instead of hiding behind youths, must come out and prove that the political structure has failed and is incapable of protecting lives of non-Muslims and protecting our fundamental rights to choose our religion.

If the Church leadership has a proper understanding of the spiritual aspect, the moment a Continued on Page 45

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012--- PAGE 45

Jonathan is a war time president Continued from Page 44 declaration of war is made, the mobilization of youths becomes legal, because Romans 13 tells us that government is placed by God and the Bible says they should not carry the sword in vain. How do we know if they’ve carried the sword in vain? The same government that paid N100 million to the family of a man who butchered Christians in thousands, is the one has not been able to get a single conviction even when the crimes against Chritians are in millions.

We had a meeting with Gombe State governor, Danjuma Goje.

Under his watch, as chief security officer of Gombe, a woman called Christiana Oluwasesan was butchered to death by students in her school, Government State Secondary School. Lawyers wrote the governor, the state commissioner of police and every time the court attempts to seat on the issue, the governor would claim that the security situation was not conducive.

We were forced to file the case in Yola, but we were referred back to Gombe. You see the hide-and-seek game.

When we eventually began to talk, the governor said he would pay a discretionary sum to the family to just say sorry.

And I said, wait a minute, somebody ’s daughter was killed, they attempted to kill her child and you are talking about discretionary sum. As a consultant, I want to know what you mean by discretionary sum. Some of his commissioners now said; maybe N4 million or N5 million. I objected! A punitive sum nothing less than N150 million must be paid to the Oluwasesan family from the Gombe State coffers. When that is done, the government will ensure that people’s lives must not be wasted on the basis of religious crimes.

The CAN president, in his last warning to the Nigerian president, said the youths are getting tired, elders are trying their best to restrain them, but when justice is denied, frustration will find an outlet and at that point, nobody should hold the elders responsible because elders tried their best to restrain the youths.

What should we be looking at?

The government has appointed a new national security adviser. Was CAN consulted?

They appointed an Inspector General of Police that was indicted in the persecution of non-Muslims in the country.

The new NSA, who is he?

Where’s he from? What Nigeria needs right now is a con-

----Rev. Thompson

*Rev. Ladi Thompson

Let it be made known that the concept of war is a reality in Christianity, because the Bible tells us that there’s a time for peace and a time for war sensus builder; somebody who, irrespective of whether you are Christian or Muslim, understands equity justly and fearfully. In other countries of the world where this problem showed up, thinking, intelligent and courageous leaders recognized that this was not just an attack against one religion or the other; it is an attack against the sovereignty of the nation.

Is Nigeria at war?

In reality, Jonathan is a war time president. There’s war going on. What has happened in Jonathan’s case is that he has refused to acknowledge that there’s war in Nigeria. In the incident of 9-11, you can situate Nigeria into USA 55 times over. Four incidents in four different American locations; there have been Islamic attacks in 300 places in Nigeria. When American wise men sat down, checked what was going on, they declared that a new type of war was being waged against the sovereignty of the nation.

So, the reason why things are going from bad to worse is because we need a president with a heart of a lion and with the ability of an army general to preside in war times.

Secondly, nobody has urged the president to wage war on an external enemy; he is being asked to recognize war just as Britain, US Spain India and many nations of the world recognized that there is a new type of war. For every single day that Nigeria refuses to acknowledge that this is a nation at war, we are moving closer and closer to a shameful end of a nation that was designed by God to be the

pride of Africa.

Is the government inept?

In the area of security, this government has proved itself not only inept, but it appears as if they want to create a new record. The measure of civilization in any nation is derived from the value of human worth. As you look around you in every aspect of Nigeria, what is the value of one Nigerian life? The life of one Briton is equivalent to that of 250 Nigerians and the life of

Sudan, like Nigeria, refused to recognize that there was war...

May I tell you that it was only when three million nonMuslims died in Sudan, that the problem was recognized one American is equivalent to the lives of 160 Nigerians.

Where security is not guaranteed, the government does not understand what it is playing with. Every country where the people lose faith in the criminal justice system and justice delivery was perceived to be poor, every one of those countries ended up in a break down of law and order to the point that medical doctors, judges, lawyers were queuing

up for food in the aftermath of violence.

When it comes to the area of security, the government has done badly.

In fairness, the government did not create the problem which has been there since the 1950s when we were practicing a constitution that was forced on us as a nation. The point is, through the years, Nigeria needed a consensus leader who will make things better, but somehow such has eluded us. So with every successful generation, the matter has gotten worse. But it apparently looks as if the harvest of ineptitude is now coming and this government is probably going to go down in history as one of the worst in Nigeria; not necessarily because they are actually the worst but because somehow, fate positioned them at the time the meltdown of Nigeria began to increase.

Of all the things that devalue life in Nigeria, the worst of all is this war. And the painful part of this war is the fear of death which is more effective than death itself. The truth is that Plateau State has been damaged to a point where no sensible investor, local or foreign, will be man enough to go and start a business. What the government doesn’t realize is that this is one of the tools of this new kind of war.

We must let people know that there’s a difference between Islamism and Islam.

I said again and again that this government is an embarrassment because it has put a lot of unnecessary pressure upon Muslims. Not every Muslim is a terrorist. And when the government does not

separate those who are Islamists from the Islamic faith, what the government has done is to put pressure unnecessarily on Muslims.

Few months ago in Kano State, some Boko Haram leaders were arrested but nobody wanted to look at the facts that we must give credit to the person at the root of that problem.

There was a Muslim, Mohammed Alli, who was approached

by Boko Haram for the use of his Honda Accord for suicide bombing, but he refused.

Based on his refusal, they killed the prominent Shi'ite leader and civil servant in his Kano home on May 11. That man is one of those who should be receiving national awards.

As a Muslim, he said no, you can't use my car for suicide bombing. He resisted evil to the point of death. He was killed.

What this government demonstrated is that this man died in vain. Mohammed Alli gave his life for the unity of this country. I’ve not heard that government is compensating Mohammed Alli's family or anybody giving him any national award. It is men like that who should be encouraged, but instead what has this government done?

By refusing to acknowledge war which many nations have acknowledged; it is putting such men under pressure. We know many Muslims who would not want to kill anybody. They will not support all this nonsense.

The country has no value for human life. If you ask me, that man should be decorated with a post-humus honour.

This will make you understand clearly that the government is clueless. Who will not honour people like that, so that they can have the respect for the Muslim population.

There are Islamic moles that have penetrated different areas of our national life and institutions. Some will work to prevent moves that can solve the problem. The president has acknowledged this publicly but after that, what did he tell us? He’s always making speeches.

Everybody thought that a man who grew up in such poverty, will defend the fatherless, will help the poor; but what are we seeing now? It’s the contrary.

Sudan, like Nigeria, refused to recognize that there was war. May I tell you that it was only when three million nonMuslims died in Sudan, that the problem was recognized.

With the way this president is playing in the hands of Boko Haram, it’s not impossible that he may even support the election of a Boko Haram president after him and then Nigeria will go through the same scenario. GOD FORBID!

PAGE 46 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012

chimeena@yahoo.com

BY MCPHILIPS NWACHUKWU

INTERVIEW

E

kanpou Enewaridideke, presi dent, Ijaw People Congress is a writer and an activist. Educated at Delta State University , Abraka, where he obtained a degree in English, the Ijaw born writer- activist has written across literary genres and won important literary prizes. His works are steeped in the geography of the Delta region and address with admirable penchant issues that bother on social injustice as well as political, cultural and economic marginalities.

In this interview, he shares his views about how the structure of national imbalance fuels his precarious journey into the dual engagement of writing and activism.

Ekanpou Enewaridideke

Writing is solid platform for extension of activism —Enewaridideke abundant crude deposit in the region that produces the wealth of the nation.

The Ijaws and many other nationalities in the Niger Delta region are perpetually exploited by the government at different levels and the exploring and prospecting oil companies. Even some of my own people occasionally found in relevant positions are active part of this convoluted corporate marginalisation dance.

My people therefore need orientation that will lead to the interment of the virus of individual moral and official decay – in fact, a total value re-orientation. I am critical of the insensitivity of both the unpatriotic attitude of some of my people in positions of authority and the Nigerian Federal Government.

And where the Nigerian Government cannot develop my people in the Niger Delta in proportion to the revenue from the area, my people should be allowed to codify their own ethos, values and creeds of independent existence without any recourse to war.

Let the independence of my people wear the colour of willing co-operative divorce between tired couple in Nigeria – each limited to his or her own resources derivable from toiling – without macabre dance of annexation, expansionism and irredentism.

Take for instance, one of your recent offerings: The Wanted Man in Camp Four. It smells heavily of recent activities of the Niger Delta militants. How do you expect readers to

,

You have written quite profusely in recent time. Where do you drive your energy from ?

My writing revolves around my people – their deprivations, strivings, longings, culture, occupations, idiosyncrasies, philosophy, convictions, creeds, preoccupations, joys and sorrows – the whole gamut of their experiences.

My people are located in a territory where they are daily exploited, devastated and degraded by their supposed protective forces of nurture.

Thrown upon this territory through an inexorable force of authority, I drive my creative energy from the locality, the territory, the terrain and the environment of my people which I endeavor to take on for creative analysis of their daily experiences and sufferings.

Many readers would think that your literary interventions appear too factual and may find it difficult to draw a line between fact and fiction in your work. How do you respond to this claim?

Any literary journey or voyage moves from fiction to fact or reality. Creative dissolution of fiction produces fact or reality. This dissolution process bears resemblance to spiritual alchemy in mysticism because of some form of transmutation occurs.

A creative process devoid of transmutation — probably from base elements to gold – is laughable and directionless. Fictionalisation is a creative realignment, distortion of reality towards the production of another reality or fact that readers can easily relate to happenings in their environment.

Fictionalisation is a process through which the reality avidly sought by the artist is attained. We need fiction to produce reality or fact. Fiction does not produce fiction just as fact does not produce fact.

It is only fiction which produces reality or fact. And it is the product of fiction clearly distilled as fact or reality we need to regenerate mankind. I am sure this alchemical-like creative dissolution of fiction into fact can be located in my works with ease.

To me any creative work is incomplete without this metamorphosis between fiction and fact. It is the evolution of the fictional piece into reality or fact that plagues, suffocates and destabilises corrupt authorities.

Your works appear interlaced with the geography of your environment and most of the time, the politics of marginality. What statements are you trying to make ?

I have long made my statements. My people in the Niger Delta are developmentally backward despite

My people therefore need orientation that will lead to the interment of the virus of individual moral and official decay

Then, my dramatic recreation is a huge success bearing in mind the responsibilities of a writer to his own society of sojourn. Characteristically, a writer should be ready to lead his own people to the Promised land; he or she should be the voice, vision, direction, hope, liberator, historian, motivator, teacher and of course, light of his own community.

In times of adversity, the writer should claim the responsibility of saving his people from perceived agents of pulverization by pointing the way forward. This is what I have succeeded in doing in my play.

My position here is to re-echo Prof.

Wole Soyinka who says that: ‘When the writer in his own society can no longer function as conscience… The artist has always functioned in African society as the record of the mores and experiences of his society and as the voice of vision in his own time. It is for him to respond to the essence of himself ’.

For the foreign reader, the play will make a marvellous reading. But how do you expect the Nigerian reader, who is part of this disturbing history to respond to it ?

I feel honoured, justified by your thesis that The Wanted man in Camp Four will claim marvelous readership in the hands of foreigners. You seem to posit that Nigerian readers may not enjoy my play because they are familiar with the materials deployed. I dare puncture this claim. Is Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart not about the experiences of the Igbos in the colonial days? Does familiarity with the materials of Things fall Apart hamper enjoyment of the book? The qualities that make a literary work enjoyable and unputdownable are universal. As long as there is an amazing skillfulness in the handling of the plot, language, theme and the total design of the play, it is bound to be enjoyed by the readers across the divide.

If my own play The Wanted Man in Camp Four is likely to move the foreign readers, it will also snake its way through the minds of the Nigerian readers because the standards for assessment of literary works are universal.

Writers always, characteristically throw back at you familiar materials but creatively refined to teach lessons.

You are also an activist. Do you see the platform of writing as an extension of your activism?

Y

,

qualify such a factual account as a literary dramatic recreation ?

My recent play, The Wanted Man In Camp Four exhumes and throws back at you recognisable reverberating echoes of the struggle of freedom fighters, sometimes, whimsically demonised with criminal intent as militants in murderous official quarters.

es. An activist daily stages a dance of reform based on certain treasured ideals. An activist envisions a world where things assume colours bound to guarantee progressive harmony for all the components or occupants of the secular space.

The activist barks when there is a threat to the secular space. In doing this, the activist drives nourishment from functional viable progress-consolidated ideology – an ideology he places over and above the exploitative policies of the oppressive authorities.

He or she pursues his cherished ideals devotedly geared towards the emancipation of the masses. Similarly, the writer questions the man-made undulations around him and imaginatively creates the framework to actualise his vision of society.

So writing is a solid platform for extension of activism because writing empowers the activist to build permanent creative structures bound to guide and shelter the masses against the ravages of the oppressive juggernauts and lead them to the HEAVEN of the artist’s conception.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012, PAGE 47

chimeena@yahoo.com

Nigeria wins Medals at World Choir Olympics Apart from A winning

,

Nigerian choir, the Lagos City Chorale directed by the Maestro, Sir Emeka Nwokedi bagged three Silver medals at the just concluded 7th World Choir Games held in Cincinnati, Ohio USA from 4th - 14th July, 2012.

The 7th World Choir competition was hosted by the art-loving city of Cincinnati in Ohio State of the United States of America. For the twelve days the completion lasted, the City was literally turned to a global stage for a beautiful display and showcasing of world cultures.

The internal choral game attracted about three hundred and sixty-five international choirs from 65 countries, which participated with mirth and glee in the choral music Olympics with the aim of fostering peace and the unity in the world.

At the event, different countries displayed their cultures in costumes, musical instruments, dance, folklore and singing in their indigenous languages. There were also sufficient cultural exchanges as over fifteen thousand participants mingled together exchanging pleasantries, musical notes and co-competing in various categories.

It was fun galore.

The opening ceremonies were

laurels, Lagos City Chorale was truly Nigeria’s Cultural ambassador in everyway

,

Members of the Lagos City Chorale displaying the medal award won in the competition preceded by colourful procession of National day, the Star Sprangled pating nations as their flags were participating nations mostly in their Banner (America’s National Anthem) hoisted in the arena. national colours from Duke Energy was sung as a mark of honour. This Other opening activities include Centre to US Bank Arena, the venue was followed by presentation of flag opening speech by the President of and anthem of the World Choir Games Interkultur and World Choir Games, of the ceremonies.

The event coinciding with America’s followed by a roll call of the partici- Gunter Titsch, welcome speech by Mark Mallory, the Mayor of Cincinnati, ringing of the peace bell and a rendition of the official song of World Choir Games: “I can” by Kirk Franklin’.

The Lagos City Chorale representing Nigeria and the multi-cultural city of Lagos contested in three categories in the champions competition. These are the folklore, the musica sacra (sacred writers, who have made a name for

BY JAPHET ALAKAM music) and mixed chamber choir. creative writing at George Mason themselves in creative writing.

Their effort was rewarded with three University, Virginia, USA, Sally Keith The event featured readings by the WORKSHOP silver medals, one in each category. . workshop participants and their They also performed in two friendship At a colourful closing ceremony held t was another credit for the at the Ocean View restaurant, Victoria handlers. They read from their works concerts and participated in the to the delight of the audience.

Tonye Fedility Bank’s International Island, Lagos, the writers commended colourful parades of participating Creative Writing workshop as it the bank for their intervention in Willie-Pepple read I may never pass nations in very colourful national this way again, Bokuru Julius read closed for the 2012 edition with the creative writing in the country. dress. graduation of about 27 budding writers In his remarks at the occasion, the Portrait of pain while Michaela Moye, Their procession was specially Benedictus Nwachukwu also read drawn from different parts of the Managing Director and CEO of the acknowledged with cheers and their poems, all works from the country. standing ovation from Cincinnatians bank, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, expressed workshop. th The workshop, the 5 session of its delight at the yearly training which his who turned out in their thousands editions held on the theme, The Write bank embarked upon in order to boost To garnish the closing ceremony with along the route to cheer-up visiting unforgettable memory, the facilitators Way To Greatness. It was facilitated Nigerian writing through the were equally called upon to read from choirs. by three international writers workshop. comprising of : Helon Habila, the first He commended the contributions of their works. While Nigeria’s Helon Cultural Ambassador Nigerian writer to win the Caine Prize Nigeria’s born Habila towards the Habila read from his new novel, Oil on Water, Keith read a poetic piece for African Writing, Aminatta Forna, the success of the training workshop for part from winning laurels, Lagos Sierra Leonean writer, who won the writers and described the three from her collection, Dwelling Songs.

City Chorale was truly Nigeria’s And Forna read prose piece from To 2011 Common Wealth Prize for Best writers for this year’s workshop as a Cultural ambassador in everyway.

Book and the American professor of team of accomplished and focused the Memory of Love.

Their song renditions and various Forna disclosed that she took the workshop participants on non-fiction costumes were embodiment of writing because of the growing Nigerian culture.

Each of their outings drew the influence of that genre of writing and stressed the need for African writers attention of inquisitive participants to focus attention on creative non- from other countries who sought to know where they came from. fiction, as it has become the main thing Thousands of participants and in Western world.

Cincinnatians sought to take pictures with the Nigerian group especially in ally Keith who came all the way from America commended Fidelity their green-white aso oke costumes.

Many other countries of the world Bank for its efforts towards the promotion of creative writing in may have understood clearly the poNigeria. She also read a poem from tency of choral music in uplifting and one of her collections, titled Wailing defining their culture and also as an agent of cultural integration and global song The event was attended by many unity.

Hence a country like China came to writers including: Odia Ofeimun, Tade Ipadeola, Toni Kan, Emman Usman the world’s choir games with 71 Shehu, Maxim Uzuator, 2012 Caine different choirs in different categories, Prize winner for African Writing , USA had over 50 Choirs, South Africa Rotimi Babatunde, Jude Dibia, Lagos came with 6 different choirs (mostly From left. Odia Ofeimun, Aminatta Forna, Reginald Ihejiahi,(MD Fidelity ANA chairman, Daggar Tolar, Jumoke university choirs), and each choir had up to 100 members.

Bank) Sally Keith and Helon Habila at the end of the workshop Verissimo, Deji Toye and others.

Day Fidelity Bank closes creative writing workshop

I

A

S

C M Y K

PAGE 48 —

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5 , 2012

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 5, 2012—49

Spirit of love

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SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

SUNDAY Vanguard, August 5 , 2012 —51

PAGE 52 —

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5 , 2012

SUNDAY Vanguard, August 5 , 2012 — 53

Wind whisks away U.S. flag IMBLEDON is well-known for its unpredictable weather, with rain interrupting play an all-too regular fixture at the annual grand slam tennis tournament.

But the club, which is hosting Olympic tennis, came unstuck on Saturday because of wind as a sharp gust whipped the U.S. flag off its rail midwomen’s singles victory ceremony to a gasp from the 15,000 capacity Centre Court crowd.

Gold medal winner Serena Williams, who moments earlier had been beaming with delight as the stars and stripes were hoisted to the sound of the U.S. national anthem, looked momentarily bemused as the flag fluttered to the floor. ”It was so windy I was surprised they didn’t all fall off,” she said. “I was so in the moment of just seeing my family and the medal.”

It is not the first flag fiasco for London 2012 organizers, with the South Korean flag shown on a video screen when North Korea’s women’s soccer team met Colombia in Glasgow last week.

W

Obiekwe rues Marathon ouster A S the London 2012 Olympics women marathon is decided, Nigeria’s previously listed entry Esther Obiekwe continues to lament her ouster from the race due to injury.

She would have made history by becoming the first Nigerian non-professional athlete to participate in the Games, but after straining her ankle in an off-field incident, she was withdrawn from the event.

“As the only amateur slated for this race my sole aim is to depict the Olympic slogan which is

to “inspire a generation,” said the running banker.

Obiekwe who has participated in several of the world marathon majors as the sole Nigerian representative, including Berlin and Boston Marathons. She was tapped by Athletics Federation of Nigeria as an exempt (non qualified) participant in the marathon, and she with Diamond Bank personally financed her travel and participation as an exempt athlete meaning AFN bore non of the costs.

Nigeria's Uhunoma Osazuwa competes in the women's heptathlon long jump qualifications at the athletics event of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 4, 2012 in London.

AFP PHOTO

PAGE 54 —

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5 , 2012 —55

Athletics jams up London HAT track and field is the premier sport at the Olympics is not in doubt.

Everybody here in Lon-

T

don appreciated this message Friday when athletics started.

The roads leading to the Olympic Stadium were heavy with traffic and the trains to the Tratford Station were jammed up.

Security at the Olympics has always been a priority since the Munich experience when Israeli athletes were attacked. Cars and other vehicles are not allowed near the games venues and fans trek long distances to venues. Trekking the long distances from the train station to the venues has become a carnival of some sort and the hundreds of thousands of fans enjoy it, displaying colours of their countries and creating some funny scenes.

Only designated buses like the ones that carry athletes are allowed to the v e n u e s .

For the fans it was getting to the Tradford Station that was the problem on Friday.

Track and field attracted more than 80 thousand

spectators for the morning event and about same number for the evening events. And there were hundreds of thousands of fans who visited the other venues within the huge Olympic Park. The Tratford Train Station was jammed up and at a point passengers going there were told to change to other lines, stop at Westham and make the remaining journey by walking to the Olympic Park. This reporter was part of them. Track and Field has started and everybody feeling it. IAAF President, Lamine Jack was happy that athletics is still the king of the Olympics and thanked the fans for their support and love for the the sport.

Their tremendous cheering has been a great delight to all here especially the buffs of the sport and everybody is yearning for more actions.

POWERING ON.....(From L) Jamaica's Asafa Powell, Churandy Martina of The Netherlands and Nigeria's Obinna Metu run during the men's 100m heats on August 4. AFP PHOTO

Serena overpowers Sharapova for gold S ERENA Williams continued her amazing form by beating Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win gold at the London Olympics yesterday.

The 14-times grand slam winner only dropped one game in the women’s final at Wimbledon, meaning she has only lost 17 in the entire tournament.

Wimbledon champion Williams, who is now on a 17-match winning streak, won the first set 6-0 and the second 6-1.

The 30-year-old had won the last seven matches she played against Sharapova.

Williams finished the match with two aces, asserting her utter dominance.

Her victory today matched her 6-1 6-0 win over another Russian, Vera Zvonareva, in the

Amaechi fumbles in 400m hurdles MAECHI Morton of Nigeria last night failed to complete the 400m hurdles semi finals. He pulled out of the race with about 150m left.

A

third round.

She jumped up and down with delight as she clinched the Olympic title.

The American, 30, has lost just five games in the three Olympic finals she has won: 2000 Sydney doubles, 2008 Beijing doubles and 2012 London singles.

Sharapova, 25, was competing in her first Olympic Games and received enthusiastic support from the crowd.

One fan shouted: “Maria, I still want to marry you” as defeat looked imminent.

Runners test positive for testosterone Russian cyclist and a Colombian sprinter have become the latest athletes to test positive to banned substances at the London Olympics. The International Olympic Committee announced that Victoria Baranova, who was due to compete today (Sunday, 11:00 GMT) in the women’s sprint, tested positive for testosterone.

The substance was detected in a urine sample provided three days before the Olympic open-

A

Serena

Dream Team survives Lithuanian scare T

EAM USA held on to beat Lithuania 99-94 in Group A play at the Basketball Arena in London.

After the three quarters of play, the Americans’ lead was just six (78-72).

The two teams battled back and forth for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter until Miami Heat forward LeBron James and Team USA took over.

The Americans went on a 10-2 run, keyed by seven points from James, to create a gap with Lithuania. James

would finish with 20 points.

The Americans strug-

gled on both ends of the f l o o r.

On defence, Team USA

allowed Lithuania to shoot 54 per cent from the field.

ing ceremony.

The 22-year-old has now been excluded from competition and will be sent home.

Egwero, Metu crash Continued from bac kpage The Nigerian returned a time of 10.38secs, while Bolt clocked 10.09.

Next to follow Oghene out of the 100m was Metu, whose 10.35secs in the heat 5 was only good enough to guarantee him a fifth place finish while another Jamaican, Asafa Powell easily won the race in 10.04secs. Completing the Nigerian disaster was Emelizie, who finished fifth in heat 6 with a time of 10.22secs but was unable to break into the next round of the event. Despite his ouster, Emelizie would feel good about the time that he returned, which represents a personal best for the 24 yearold emerging track star.

Jamaica’s Yohan Blake won the heat with a time of 10.00secs. US sprinter, Justin Gatlin recorded the fastest time in the heats held yesterday with a time of 9.97secs.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 5, 2012

100m: Egwero, Metu, Emelizie crash Nigeria’s trio of Obinna Metu, Ogho Oghene-Egwero and Peter Emelizie yesterday crashed out in the first round of the men’s 100m at the ongoing London Olympics

In what represents a sorry state of men’s athletics in Nigeria, the trio were unable to meet the qualifying standard in their respective heats.

First to fail was Oghene-Egw-

ero, who finished sixth in heat four, won by world record holder and defending Olympic champion, Usain Bolt.

Continues on page 55

Okagbare fails, Nigeria’s dream crashes ...As Fraser-Pryce wins 100m HELLY-ANN Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica last night defended her 100m Olympics title with an astonishing 10.75secs as Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria finished last with 11.01secs in a star-studded final at a packed Olympic Stadium in London.

With high hopes that she was going to get Nigeria’s first medal at the Games,, Okagbare, who ran a personal best of 10.92 in the semifinals held earlier on, failed when it mattered most against her impressive competitors. Cameliter Jeter of US finished second in a time of 10.78, representing a second best while another Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica clocked 10.81 to claim the bronze.

At the mixed zone, Okagbare, who cast doubts over her 100m race, did not talk to the media but said that her legs were paining her as she walked past. She started showing signs of this in her semifinal race which started on a slow pace but recovered to win. But in the final race, her poor start was well exploited by her rivals who left her reeling in the last place

S

WINNER ... Jamaica's Shelly-Ann FraserPryce crosses the finish line first ahead of others in the women's 100m final on august 4 in london. AFP PHOTO

MEDALS TABLE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Country USA China Great Britain Korea Republic France Germany Italy Kazakhstan DPR Korea Russian Netherlands South Africa New Zealand Japan Cuba Hungary Poland Ukraine Australia Romania

Gold 26 25 14 9 8 5 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1

Silver 12 16 7 3 6 9 5 0 0 15 1 1 0 10 2 1 1 0 11 4

Bronze 14 12 8 5 8 6 3 0 1 9 4 0 4 12 1 2 1 4 7 2

Total 52 53 29 17 22 20 13 5 5 27 8 4 7 24 5 5 4 6 19 7

Amaechi fumbles in 400m hurdles — pg 55 Runners test positive for testosterone — Pg 55 1

2

3

QUARTER FINAL RESULTS MEN’S FOOTBALL Japan Mexico Brazil

France Canada 4

5

10 11 13

14 15

17

18

19

20

21

23 24 25

26

27 28

30

31

32

33

34 35

37

0 2 2

TOMORROW

9

12

Egypt Senegal Honduras

WOMEN’S S/FINAL FIXTURES

7 8

3 4 3

36 38

vs vs

Japan USA

ACROSS 1. Nigerian state (5) 3. African river (7) 7. Near-extinct animal (5) 8. Roof part (5) 9. Greek alphabet (3) 10. Supplement (3) 12. Widespread (4) 14. Replies (7) 16 17. Let (5) 19. Limbo (3) 20. Donkey (3) 22 21. Cots (4) 24. Pitcher (4) 26. Reverential fear (3) 27. Goal (3) 28. Peruses (5) 29 30. Sure (7) 34. Eleven (4) 35. Flying mammal (3) 37. Unwell (3) 38. Hausa boy’s name (5) 39. .Possessor (5) 40. Wearing away (7) 41. Commonplace (5) 6

5.00pm 7.45 pm

DOWN 1. Prevents (6) 2. Church part (4) 3. Queen Amina’s old city (5) 4. Anchors (5) 5. Bird of prey (5) 6. Notions (5 11. Niger-Delta tribe (8) 13. Zealous (5) 15. Nigerian state (8) 16. Bar (3) 18. Vital liquld (5) 21. Animal (5) 22. Therefore (2) 23. Exist (2) 25. Misery (3) 29. Polluted (6) 30. Earnestly wish for (5) 31. Wireless (5) 32. Excuse (5) 33. Synthetic fabric (5) 36. Pie (4)

39 40

41

SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE

5

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