SALLAH: Red alert nationwide

2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

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4 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

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6—Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

My father was a gambler, drug addict — Godogodo zMy mother died of sickle cell anaemia zGodogodo coordinated Ogun bullion van robbery—Suspect

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

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AGOS — NOTORIOUS South-West robbery czar, Abiodun Ogunjobi, aka, Godogodo, has said that lack of parental care was responsible for his becoming a deadly robber.

Godogodo who has terrorized the zone for over 14 years, leading most bank robberies and other deadly operations, told Vanguard, yesterday, during an interview at the state Police Command headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos, that his parents abandoned him at an early age to fend for himself.

The 36-year-old man, who spoke in emotional laden voice, said he was the eldest of the children and his mother who he said was a sickler, died from her sickness.

on their own to rob and when they are arrested they will tell the police that they are my boys.

“I can’t lie anymore, I have been arrested. All I want is for the police to give me a second chance.

I will assist them arrest all the robbers in Lagos and SouthWest.”

Godogodo coordinated Ogun, Kwara robberies —Suspect

Meantime, a suspected robber, Felix Sunday, aka, K Money, who took part in two bank robberies in Kwara State and a bullion van robbery, in Ogun State, this year has said that Godogodo coordinated the robberies.

Sunday, who was arrested March 2013, after a deadly robbery attack at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where he and members of his gang killed two po-

licemen and carted away huge sums of money from bureau de change operators at the airport, told Vanguard that on January 2013, Godogodo and his right hand man, Odun Paul, led them to rob in Oro town, Kwara State.

“We were 12 in number and we went for that operation with eight AK-47 rifles. We struck at the banks around 5pm that day and we started shooting indiscrimi-

My father was a wayward man

“My father was a wayward man.

He was a drug addict and a gambler. My mother was a sickler and she died after giving birth to my youngest brother.

“But my father, who got married to another woman, didn’t bother to take care of me. As a little child I struggled through primary school, picking bottles, iron and rubber from refuse dump.

“The little money I made from it was what I used in paying my school fees in primary school and after I graduated I went into the business of robbery fully.

“As a little boy I was sleeping on the street and my father didn’t care. All he cared about was to gamble away his money and take drugs.

“Gradually I started stealing and when I got of age I started robbing people at Katangura market, Iyana-Ipaja, but in 1999, I was arrested and sent to prison for fighting and when I came back some of the boys who were operating with me then had become big time robbers. I joined them and in one of our operations, I was shot in the eyes by some vigilante men that accosted us in Ogun State and I ended up losing one of my eyes.

“I would say after that incident I became tough and very careful.

I don’t socialise, drink, smoke or go after women. I saw those things as weakness that could give out a tough man.

I have 3 children from 3 women

“I have three children from three women. I ran away from my other wives because the police wanted to use them to arrest me.

“I also want to make it clear that I didn't participate in all the robbery operations the police are accusing me of. People like me because I am not greedy, I make sure everybody gets their own share after a successful operation.

“Some of these boys also go out

The compound where Godogodo was arrested.

nately. People ran away for safety and a member of the gang who is a dynamite expert blew open the bank doors with dynamite.

“We went into FirstBank and carted away all the money in it and afterwards we struck at the opposite bank and did the same.

“Nobody was killed in that operation because we operated unchallenged, after which we drove to Ondo State where we shared our loot.

“I got N500,000 as my share and I was happy.

"Few weeks after that operation, Godogodo called us for a bullion van operation. We attacked the van along Ijebu-Ode Sagamu Road in Ogun State and opened fire on the van which was not armoured.

“We over-powered the policemen and took over the van containing both local and foreign currencies and we shared it.

“Godogodo was a source of inspiration to all of us and whenever we had him around in an operation, we don’t fear the police.

“He had the ability to confront the police and overpower them.

We didn’t know he was going to be arrested this easily. He has boasted severally that he is going to kill a lot of policemen whenever they come for him and he did not care dying before his arrest. I don’t know how the police did it but Godogodo is tough.”

Police sergeant dismissed for demanding N25,000 bribe from motorist ...after 21 yrs in service

BY EVELYN USMAN

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AGOS — THE orderly room trial of a Police Sergeant, Chris Omeleze, attached to the Lagos State Traffic Division, Ikeja STD, caught on video demanding bribe from a motorists, Tuesday, was concluded yesterday.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the sergeant with Force number 192954 who had served 21 years, was subsequently dismissed from the Police Force, as he was reportedly found guilty at the end of the trial.

The panel, as gathered, found Omaleze guilty of misconduct.

The sergeant was reported to have arrested a motorist who was returning from the airport, for contravening traffic rules. He was said to have entered the vehicle, threatening to take the motorist who was with a female passenger to the station.

However, along the line, he reportedly demanded N25,000 from the motorist for the release of the vehicle. But the motorist offered N2000, pleading that he had only N500 on him, an offer the policeman refused.

But unknown to him, the negotiation was being recorded on video.

The motorist was said to have

been taken to the entrance of the station where the sergeant continued the negotiation, claiming that he was not the only one involved.

All entreaties by the motorist and the passenger who were on their way to Ajah fell on deaf ears as the sergeant demanded more.

Later that day, the video clip

went viral on social media, prompting the Inspector-General of Police to direct the Lagos State Police Command to fish out the policeman and carry out an orderly room trial on him.

The video clip, as gathered, was used during the trial where the sergeant was said to have been dumb founded and appealed to

Chris Omeleze, the dismissed Police sergeant

be given a second chance.

Contacted on phone, spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the dismissal.

She stated: “Yes, he has been dismissed, expressing the Force disappointment of the sergeant’s misconduct. She urged members of the public to help flush out bad eggs from the force by reporting related cases to Police with evidence.

A transcript of

the negotiation for a bribe as shown on the video clip went thus:

The negotiation Policeman: Once we enter this compound now (police station), I no go follow you talk.

Motorist (pleading): I don’t have N25,000.

Policeman: Ok. Talk better thing now, make you go your way, make you go your Osborne Motorist: (protests again) I don’t have more than N2,000 Policeman: Ok (sighed). Oh... ( q u i e t ) .

Motorist: If you want to help me, must I pay N25k?

Policeman: I know sir, I know you cannot raise N25,000. But talk something reasonable Motorist: (Female passenger) I told you I just got my ticket now.

You want me to show you. My ticket is in the car.

Policeman: Wait now… What you are saying is very far… Add something reasonable to that. Make you go your way. I know there is no how you can raise N25k; a guy like you.

Motorist: Oga, a man like me… oga Policeman: And moreover, I am

Continues on Page 7

Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013—7

Police sergeant dismissed for demanding N25,000 bribe

Youths protest killing of colleague by policeman zAs Lagos Police begin manhunt for killer cop

BY EVELYN USMAN

Continues from page 6

not working alone.Look, if you enter this compound (police station), you will pay bigger money.

Motorist: You know I won’t stand on that ground and risk saying bigger amount when I don’t have. I don’t have…

Policeman: I am not working alone Motorist: I don’t live here. I came here to collect something. I have N500 on me. If I cannot at least… I’m going to Ajah. I’m coming back to airport tomorrow. How do you want me to do it?

Motorist (female): I’ve told you .. should I show you my ticket?

Policeman: Wait… No be $50, $20 and other dollars dey with you?

Motorist: (female): I have told you I’m paying for excess luggage. That was why I offered you…

Policeman: All that $50 – you want to use for excess luggage… you dey speak grammar; by the time when speak (sic) no dey for two of us, you go see my own. Add something to that money.

Motorist: I don’t have Policeman: You don’t have ….(sighed) pause…

Motorist: So you cannot help me because I cannot put small money to it….. to that N2,000 (silence for some moments) Policeman: I have related to you like my own y o u n g b r o t h e r, l i ke a friend…

Motorist: Have I not spoken to you like a man, to tell you what I have?

Policeman: If it is possible from that side.. you think I will still be inside here? (the car) Motorist: You think I will waste my time here if I have more money?

Po l i c e m a n : I ’ m n o t working alone, if I am, even if it is N1,000 I will collect from you and go.

(Policeman picks his mobile phone and calls a colleague named Wasiu and reported that the SUV that he arrested was not ready for a deal; that he should tell Oga to ‘book it’ “He told me N2,000,” he reported to the said Wasiu.

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AGOS— AGGRIEVED youths numbering over a hundred, yesterday, took over the Chief Sunny Egbede Close, Diamond Estate in Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos, location of the company manned by the mobile policeman who allegedly shot a barber dead and injured three others, protesting the death of one of their own.

The youths said to have made bonfire in the close, demanded the arrest of the mobile Policeman identified as Corporal Mohammed Abubakar, attached to Mopol 17, Ondo State.

Their presence sent fears down the spines of staff of the company who remained inside while the protest lasted. For fear of the unknown, the company was said to have contacted policemen from the Area ‘E’ Command, FESTAC Town, who arrived the scene to calm the protesting youths and at the same time prevented them from carrying out any damage.

Eye witnesses said one of the management staff of the company who addressed the protesting youths demanded for relatives of those affected, particularly those of the deceased, identified simply as Bright, apparently to settle with them.

It reportedly took the intervention of the policemen to disperse the protesting youths after arriving at a conclusion with the management of the company.

Meanwhile, the alleged killer cop was reportedly still on the run, yesterday. Although the visibly angry Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Umar Manko was said to have launched a man

hunt for Corporal Abubakar.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the CP who had on several occasions warned his men against indiscriminate shootings, threatening to deal decisively with anyone found culpable, had contacted the the MOPOL 17 Squadron Commander, with a view to ascertaining the whereabouts of the fleeing cop.

Vanguard also gathered that investigation into the killer cop’s mission in Lagos was ongoing and the circumstance that led to the tragic incident.

However, when Vanguard contacted MOPOL 17 Squadron in Akure, Ondo State, it was gathered that Corporal Ibrahim was deplored on special duty to Lagos. On whether he was deplored specifically to the company in Diamond Sstate remained a question to be answered by the concerned authorities.

The collapsed two-storey building. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke

Two-storey building collapses in Port Harcourt zAs hit-and-run driver kills sanitation staff

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ORT HARCOURT— A twostorey building under construction on Akpajo Road, Elelenwo caved in yesterday morning.

Eye witnesses who spoke to Vanguard said some of the builders were about resuming for the

day's job when the incident occurred. However, no life was lost.

At press time, the gate to the premises was under lock and key.

The workers could not be traced for comment.

Those who spoke said poor mixing of the concrete used for the

decking and the pillars were largely responsible for the ugly development. They also blamed the 10mm iron rods used for the decking instead of 16mm.

In another development, a hit and run driver allegedly knocked down one of the ladies engaged

by the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Agency to sweep major roads in Port Harcourt.

She was reportedly killed, yesterday morning around Market Junction on Aba road. Vanguard gathered that driver immediately sped off after the incident.

One killed, two injured as hunters shoot vigilantes in error

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OKOJA—IT was a case of the hunter being hunted in Yagba West Local Government Area, Kogi State, Monday, as one of two sets of vigilante groups deployed to a crime zone fell to the bullets of another who mistook their colleagues for robbers, leaving one dead and two others badly wounded.

Eye witness accounts of the tragedy which occurred between Okunran and Okoloke communities were unanimous that the incident followed a tip-off that highway robbers were operating along Egbe-Pategi federal road, dispossessing travellers of valuables.

Following the tip-off, it was gathered that a distress call from the local vigilantes in Okoloke was made to the local government council, which responded by mobilizing more vigilantes from

neighbouring Odo-Ere, the council headquarters and Egbe, the commercial nerve centre of the council, for reinforcement.

A team of vigilantes, numbering 12, immediately reported to the police divisional office at OdoEre before embarking on the rescue mission.

Confirming the incident, Media Assistant to Governor Idris Wada on Research and Documentation, Mr Ralph Agbana, who hails from the council, told newsmen that as part of their strategies, the local government vigilantes, on arrival at the scene, decided to split into two groups of six preparatory to engaging the robbers.

He said: “On their way, they met a car driven by one of the victims of the robbers who narrated his ordeal to them, confirming that the men of the underworld were

still operating.

A group of vigilantes then entered the car towards the scene.

But as soon as the robbers sighted the car they had robbed, they took to their heels.

The vigilantes came down and fired at the robbers but their efforts were too late as they all disappeared into the bushes.

As the vigilantes re-strategized to ambush the robbers, another set of six hunters from Okoloke, joining forces with the vigilantes to dislodge the robbers but who claimed ignorance of the deployment of vigilantes from the local government, opened fire on the local government vigilantes who were caught off-guard.

One of the victims, whose name was given as Abayomi Sunday, was said to have died instantly from bullets that hit him on the head.

Two of his colleagues, whose names were given as Bamidele Olayemi and Dele Asebiobirin, however, survived with bullet wounds on their leg and thigh and are said to be responding to treatment at the ECWA Hospital, Egbe.

Vice chairman of the council, Hon Omoniyi Adeyemi, also confirmed the incident, saying five of the unregistered hunters who allegedly opened fire on the vigilantes have been arrested and are being detained at the Divisional Police Office, Odo-Ere, while a sixth suspect was still at large.

The council chief further disclosed that although the shooters were identified as hunters who claimed to have joined in the onslaught against the robbers as volunteers, they were not members of the official vigilante group recognized by the council authorities.

Vanguard , THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013— 9

Crisis looms in APC over presidential ticket zNobody can stop Buhari from contesting— Fasakin

BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

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BUJA—THERE were in dications, yesterday, that the newly-registered All Progressives Congress, APC, might have run into a political storm over who to field as its presidential candidate in the 2015 election.

Vanguard gathered that while the party is seriously considering a younger but popular northern politician to fly its presidential flag, one of the founding leaders of APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), has said that he would not step down for any other.

The decision by Buhari to contest again in 2015 is said to have unsettled key leaders of the party, who are reported to have agreed in principle to concede the presidential slot to younger members of the party.

A Senator, on the platform of APC, told Vanguard in Abuja that the new party was

taken aback by the former Congress for Progressive Change, CPC’s presidential candidate’s decision to jettison a gentleman agreement and run in 2015.

‘Gentleman agreement’

The lawmaker, who is a ranking officer in the National As-

sembly, told Vanguard that the former leader ’s ambition was at variance with an earlier understanding that neither Buhari nor Asiwaju Tinubu, who are regarded as the principal promoters of APC, would run for any elective office in order to give the new party the ‘semblance of a new beginning.’

The lawmaker said: “Our earlier thinking was that the two leaders (Buhari and Tinubu) should provide leadership for the new party and groom an acceptable candidate that will beat Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan, because from all indications, PDP will present him.

“By our calculations, a younger and vibrant politician should run as our candidate so as to give PDP a good fight.

“But from the way things are, we are stuck between telling Buhari, outright, not to run and allowing him to continue with some ripple effects coming our way later.”

Watching Tambuwal

TRAFFIC: Traffic build-up along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Diran Oshe.

WAEC releases May/June results, withholds 112,865

BY DAYO ADESULU & LAJU ARENYEKA

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AGOS—OUT of the 1, 671, 188 candidates that sat for this year’s May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examinations, WASSCE, 615,123 representing 36.74 percent, got below five credits.

The Head of Nigeria National Office, of West African Examinations Council, WAEC, Mr. Charles Eguridu announced this at a press briefing in Lagos yesterday.

Eguridu said that the council was “unable to provide statistics of those who obtained credit and above in five subjects, including Maths and English at this time, because many candidates in the NorthEastern part of the country have partial results at the mo-

ment.

“This is due to security challenges encountered during the examinations, particularly the loss of scripts.”

He said that the level of performance increased considerably when compared with that of last year.

It will be recalled that three WAEC personnel were brutally murdered by unknown gunmen on their way from Yola to Maiduguri during the conduct of the last examinations.

Eguridu assured that the council was collaborating with security agents to avoid the recurrence of such a tragedy in the future.

He said that the results of 112,865 candidates, representing 6.75 percent were

being withheld in connection with various cases of examination malpractice.

According to him, “such cases are being investigated, and reports of the investigations will be presented to the Nigerian Examinations Committee, NEC, of the council in due course for consideration.”

Statistics

Of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, 889,636 candidates (53.23%), obtained six credits and above; 1,074,065 candidates (64.26%) obtained five credits and above.

1,225,591 candidates (73.33%) obtained credit and above in four subjects, while 1,353,273 candidates (80.97%) obtained credit and above in three subjects.

A total of 1,465,581 candidates obtained credit and above in two subjects. Although 1,689,188 candidates registered, only 1,671,268, comprising 920,416 males and 750,852 females, sat for the examinations.

1,543,683 candidates (91.38%) have their results fully released, while 145,505 candidates (8.62%) have a few of their subjects being processed.

A total of 2,176 cases of multiple entries were discovered during the processing of the results.

Eguridu said that in line with the Council’s regulation, the entire results of all candidates who are guilty of this act would be cancelled.

WAEC has also extended the closing date for registration for the November/December 2013 WASSCE (Private) period to Tuesday August 20.

The source confirmed that APC was already working on the possibility of drafting the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, into the new party with a view to presenting him as the party’s candidate in 2015.

He said some APC leaders were working on Tambuwal because of his age, acceptability across party lines and the fact that he hails from the North-West with the highest voting population in Nigeria.

However, former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct CPC, Rotimi Fasakin, said on Tuesday that there was no time Buhari entered into any agreement with anybody not to run as a presidential candidate in 2015.

Fasakin said: “Nobody can stop the former head of state from testing his popularity at APC’s presidential primary.”

Fasakin described the purported arrangement whereby Buhari and Tinubu were made to jettison whatever ambitions they had as a ruse.

He said: “The said arrangement is mere propaganda to stop Buhari from testing his popularity again in 2015. But I can tell you that it will not work.

“Let me tell you, come 2015, General Buhari will participate at the APC presidential primary and nobody can stop him. I repeat, he will contest and no one can stop him from doing so.”

10—Vanguard , THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Lions clubs governor condoles NUJ

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HE LIONS clubs International District 404B Nigeria Governor, Lion Yinka Bolarinwa, sent a condolence message to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, over the loss of some of its members in a ghastly motor accident on the Ife/ Ilesha road en route Ibadan and Lagos from Abuja after a meeting of confederation of their chapels.

Lion Bolarinwa in a statement by the Lions Clubs Director of comm u n i c a t i o n s , Adegboyega Ogunosun, said he was worried about the wanton loss of lives on Nigerian roads.

He called on all three tiers of government to evolve more proactive road maintenance strategy and culture while stepping up their road safety campaign, advocacy and promulgation of enabling laws where need be.

According to him, “part of the responsibilities of our governments, is the guarantee of the entire citizens’ safety from all sources of dangers, such as road accident that has claimed many vibrant lives untimely.”

He added that the death of NUJ members from Ibadan and Lagos chapters was a loss to the entire nation.

Jonathan pays condolence visit to Fashola

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI & MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

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R E S I D E N T G O O D L U C K Jonathan, yesterday, paid a condolence visit to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, over the death of his father, Pa Ademola Fashola.

Pa Fashola, 80, died Monday after a brief illness.

Jonathan was was accompanied by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ministers of Petroleum, Information, Trade and Investment Sports and Chairman of National Sports Commission, NSC, Mr. Muhammed Adoke; Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke , M r. Labaran Maku, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, respectively.

The Chief Imam of Abuja, Central Mosque, Alhaji Musa Muhammed, who was in the presidential team, led the prayer session at the State

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RADE UNION Congress of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday called on both Lagos State Government and its Anambra State counterpart, not to allow the purported “deportation” of some indigenes of Anrambra State to degenerate into a crisis, especially now that the political terrain was charged.

TUC in a statement by its President and Secretary General, Bobboi Kaigama and Musa Lawal, respectively, said it was concerned by the daily reports in national dailies on the issue.

According to the statement, “the reason why we make this case is that all Nigerians irrespective of state of origin have the right to live wherever they feel provided they do not break the statutory law of the land.

before they departing this world.”

Also, former Minister of Fed-

eral Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Nasru-el-Rufai, paid a condolence visit to Fashola.

...More messages

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EANWHILE, A member of the National Assembly, Alhaji Yakubu Balogun and former DeputyGovernor of the state, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan, yesterday, commiserated with the governor over the death of his father .

Sosan, in a statement, said “Even though he gave up at the age of 80, his demise is painful as we have lost a true, honest, steadfast, committed and highly dependable elderstatesman whose contributions to the growth of modern Lagos through strong sup-

‘Deportation’: TUC sues for peace between Lagos and Anambra

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

House, Marina, during the short visit.

Speaking, President Jonathan described the death of Pa Fashola, as very sad, saying, “I know that this is the period that we need his presence, most especially, as a parent that will assist one in handling a number of responsibilities. That was why I told my Chief of Staff that we must pay a visit to the Governor, his wife and the entire family.

“It is a sad event for you (Fashola) to have lost your father at this point. But we must also thank God for the life that he had lived. We were indeed happy that your father though he had left us at a very painful moment, he also lived a fulfilled life.

“He lived to maturity. But most especially, he had been able to replace himself tenfold before departing. You (Fashola) and your siblings are still with us. So many people didn’t have the opportunity of replacing themselves

As has been the case, there is hardly any part of the world where you do not have people from different tribes, states and countries living together.

Migration did not start today and it may never end.

“Already, many people are raising eye-brows over the ‘deportation’. For them no matter what Lagos State government calls it -whether integration, relocation, repatriation or ‘deportation’, the fact remains that every Nigerian be it Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa has the constitutional right to live anywhere in the country.

“The Congress is of the opinion that governor Babatunde Fashola and Governor Peter Obi should shun insinuations from their supporters, come together as brothers and colleagues to see how the issue can be amicably resolved.”

port and advice, is legendary.

“Pa Fashola even at that age was a man no one would want to lose, especially at a time like this.

“I therefore, on behalf of myself and my family send our condolences to Governor Babtunde Raji Fashola on this great loss, while we pray that the Almighty Allah would give both the immediate and extended families and Lagosians the fortitude to bear the loss.”

She urged the governor and former boss, “who I was privileged to work with in life to, please, take solace in the fact that Papa had lived a fulfilled life and should not allow his demise to demoralise him from delivering democratic dividends to the people of the state.”

On his part, Balogun said, “Pa Fashola was a great man who spoke the truth at all times, with fear of God as his watchword.”

Balogun, who represents Lagos Island Federal Constituency II in the House of Representatives, said Pa Fashola would be greatly missed by all.

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Don Etiebet, in a condolence message, said: “May the soul of Pa Ademola Fashola rest in perfect peace and while we mourn the loss of the pillar of strength and the foundation of achievements and focus of His Excellency, we pray that Almighty God will give him the grace to withstand the irreparable loss with fortitude.”

Last minutes shopping for the Eid-Fitri at the Oshodi Busstop, yesterday. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye

Loss Of Document This is to inform the general public of the loss of Deed of Conveyance for a plot of land with survey plan of SOSA / LA2172/97 situated at Omi-Eye Area, Ibereko,Badagry, belonging to Mr Smart Oghene Oderhohwo is now missing.

All efforts to trace the said document proved abortive.

If found Please contact Badagry Police station or the undersigned: Mr Smart Oghene Oderhohwo 08054130014, 08037163759.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 —13

C M Y K

14—Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

JTF relaxes curfew in Potiskum town

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HE Military Joint Task Force, JTF, in Yobe State has relaxed the 24-hour curfew earlier imposed on Potiskum town.

A statement issued by the spokesman of the Task Force in the state, Captain Eli Lazarus said the relaxation of the curfew wis sequel to the completion of the operation carried out within Potiskum metropolis.

It, however, said the 10:00pm to 6:00am curfew across the state is still in force and appreciates the patience and cooperation of residents throughout the period of the 24 hours curfew imposed on the town.

“Upon the completion of special operations in Potiskum town, the Joint Task Force relaxes the 24 hours curfew imposed on the town recently with effect from today (Wednesday 7 August 2013).

“However, the earlier curfew imposed on the state which commences from 10 O’clock in the evening to 6 O’clock in the morning is still in force” The statement also wishes the Muslim community a happy Eid-El-Fitr celebration.

120 of every 1,000 children in FCT die at birth

BY LAIDE AKINBOADE

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BUJA— THE Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, yesterday, said 120 of every 1,000 children born in the FCT die at birth as 425 of every 100,000 women that give birth in the territory lose their lives in the process of delivery.

Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCT administration, Dr Demola Onakomaiya, disclosed when the Minister of State, FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, inaugurated the Ministerial Committee on Rejuvenating Primary HealthCare System in FCT. Onakomaiya said the development, which was a fallout of the failure of primary health facilities in the territory, had prompted the FCTA to declare a state of emergency in the sector.

PDP clears Uba, Anenih, Ukachukwu, 10 others for Anambra guber primaries zAs committee disqualifies Tony Nwoye, 3 others

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—AHEAD of the August 24 Anambra State primary election of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the leadership of the party, yesterday, cleared the following aspirants to contest the election.

They are Senators Andy Uba and Emmanuel Anosike Obi; Chief Iyom Josephine Anenih; Dr. Obinna Uzoh; Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu; Mr Mike Oloye; Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo; Chief Ugochukwu Okeke; Amb. Jerry Ugokwe; Patrick Nduka Ugbomo; Agape Ifunanyachukwu DikeKramer; Dr. Alex Obiogbolu; Charles Odunukwe; and Walter Ubaka Okeke while four aspirants who paid N11 million for the expression of interest and nomination forms were disqualified.

Vanguard gathered that the Ambassador Aminu Wali-led Screening Committee for Anambra State did not clear Tony Nwoye; Onwuanyi Afamefuna Damian; Sylvester Okonkwo and Ugochukwu Okeke.

A source told Vanguard that the aspirants did not scale through based on what the committee termed irregularities in the documentation of tax papers.

Other members of the Screening Committee were former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs Biodun Olujimi; Mohammed Umaru Kumalia; former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Austin Okpala and Casmir Ugwu.

The aspirants, the source said, would appeal their disqualification before the screening appeal panel, headed by former governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, just as they will appear tomorrow to pay another N180, 000.

Other members of the appeal panel are the National Zonal Chairmen of PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu; Alhaji Yusuf Ayitogu; Senator Girgiri Lawan; Sen. Ibrahim Kazaure; Dr. Steve Oru and Chief Ishola Filani.

Others are Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (rtd); Sen. Teslim Folarin; Dauda Birma; Nuhu Zagbayi; Nicholas Amande and Mao Ohuabunwa to serve as Secretary.

It will be recalled that aspirants who submitted and appeared before the screening committee on Tuesday were Senators Andy Uba and Emmanuel Anosike Obi; Chief Iyom Josephine Anenih; Dr. Obinna Uzoh; Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu; Barrister Mike Oloye; Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo; Chief Ugochukwu Okeke; Amb. Jerry Ugokwe; Sylvester Okonkwo; Tony Nwoye; Patrick Nduka Ugbomo;

Agape Ifunanyachukwu DikeKramer; Dr. Alex Obiogbolu; Charles Odunukwe; Onwuanyi Afamefuna Damian

and Walter Ubaka Okeke.

Those who picked forms and did not return were Eucharia Azodo; Donatus Okonkwo;

Chukwuka Onyema; Adimachukwu Calista; Chinyere Udemba; Ikeobasi Mokelu; Linda Chuba Ikepeazu, among others.

VISIT—From left: Vanguard Regional Editor North, Mr Soni Daniel; Director of Treasury, Mrs Oparaocha Ifeyinwa; Director General, Citizens Network for Peace and Development, CNPD, Comrade Peter Dressman and Vanguard Abuja Bureau Chief, Mr Emma Ujah, during a visit by Citizens Network for Peace and Development to Vanguard's Abuja office.

Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013—15

Jonathan, Mark, Tambuwal, Govs canvass unity at Sallah

BY BEN AGANDE, HENRY UMORU, DAYO JOHNSON, ANAYO OKOLI & JOSEPH ERUNKE

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN & HENRY UMORU

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BUJA — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and governors, yesterday, in their Sallah messages stressed the need for Nigerians to unite and build a virile and progressive nation.

The President also urged elected officials to avoid overheating the polity with unnecessary ethnic and political intrigues, and give the highest priority to fulfilling promises of better living conditions for the electorate first, before turning their minds to plans and permutations for future elections.

In his Sallah message to the nation, President Jonathan thanked Muslims in the country who responded to calls by him and other leaders for special prayers during Ramadan for peace, security and progress in Nigeria.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: “President Jonathan seizes the opportunity of the Eidel-Fitri to reassure Nigerians of his resolute commitment to overcoming distractions and delivering on his promise of good governance and national transformation.

Jonathan assures Nigerians "The President assures Nigerians that his administration will continue working tirelessly to build on the firm foundations for sustainable national development which it has already established in key areas such as public infrastructure, power supply, roads, transportation, aviation, agriculture, education, healthcare, youth employment and electoral reform".

Senate President, David Mark, again reiterated the urgent need for Nigerians to unite and build a stronger country.

Senator Mark, who commended Muslim faithful for their steadfastness and prayers, especially during the fasting period for the sustenance of peace and unity in the country, stressed the need for harmonious relationship and mutual coexistence between and among different ethnic groups in the country.

Mark, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said: “The Almighty God did not make mistake by

No bad blood with Jonathan — IBB

PRAYER—Imam Yunus Kehinde; Chief Imam/Missioner N.U.D World-wide leading the prayer, while from left: Mr. Kunle Olayemi, Vice Chairman, NUJ; Dr. Abdul Raheem Oloyo; Rector, Federal Poly, Ilaro and Dr. Tajudeen Yusuf, Senior lecturer, UNILAG, Akoka, Lagos, at a special prayer organised by the Correspondent's Chapel of Ogun State Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, for the soul of the three journalists who died in a motor accident at Ilesha, Osun State. Photo: Wumi Akinola.

putting different ethnics and religious groups together to form a one united nation call Nigeria, It is therefore incumbent on all of us to work towards the peace and unity that would engendered progress in the country.

Let us walk towards achieving peaceeful co-existence — Mark “We have come a long way as a people bounded by common destiny; we can do better by being our brothers’ keeper at all times and make our society a better place for all.

“All hands must, therefore, be on deck to stop these ugly trends of violence and crisis of various degrees that have tended to tear our nation apart.”

He pleaded with Nigerians to join hands with government in the implementation of policies and programmes, adding that development could only thrive in an atmosphere of peace and cooperation.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, urged Nigerians to promote attributes that unite the country, rather than laying emphasis on seemingly divisive tendencies among the various ethnic and religious groups in the country.

Tambuwal appeals to leaders to close ranks In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam,

Tambuwal appealed to leaders to close ranks and work for the unity and progress of the nation.

He said the devotion and sacrifices made by Muslims in the last 30 days should be replicated in every day lives, adding that the month-long period of self-restraint should serve as reminder of people’s commitment to the nation and humanity.

The speaker stated: “The same way we all remembered the less fortunate and those afflicted by poverty and disease during Ramadan. I implore us to carry over those attributes to our engagements after Ramadan.

“Only by so doing can we truly say we have imbibed the teachings of the Holy month into our every day lives”.

While congratulating Nigerians, especially Muslims, for witnessing this year’s Eidel-Fitri, the speaker said the House of Representatives would strive for the unity, peace and development of the country.

Orji calls for prayers Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State urged Muslims to use the period to reflect on the teachings of Prophet Mohammed which centred on love, sacrifice and peace.

The governor said what Nigeria needed now was peace and unity and urged Muslims in the country to use the occasion to pray for peace.

He said to achieve the peace and unity, everyone in Nigeria, including Muslims and nonMuslims, must be ready to make sacrifices for the nation to witness development and progress.

He assured that his government would continue to provide security for indigenes and non- indigenes in the state.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the Nigerian project — Mimiko Governor Olusegun Mimiko urged Muslims to ensure that they put the good lessons of Ramadan to use so that their obedience to the divine instruction to obey the Ramadan could be rewarded by God. Governor Mimiko also calls for more dedication to the Nigeria project by all and sundry “so that the labour of our heroes past and present shall not be in vain” He urged the nation to take advantage of the just concluded holy month of Ramadan to usher in a new era into the country, devoid of conflict, blood letting and every traces of evil.

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State said: "I rejoice with Muslims, especially in Anambra State at the occasion of the Eidel-Fitri.

He said: "Times like this call for sharing of love through charity and compassion. It also calls for understanding and devotion to the progress and development of our dear state.

"May the joy of the celebration bring us into greater love with one another.""

BUJA—FORMER Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, yesterday, rebuffed insinuations of bad blood between him and President Goodluck Jonathan, asserting that there was never a time he turned the President away from having breakfast in his house.

Babangida said in a statement that the newspaper report alleging that he turned President Jonathan away from coming to his house to have the early morning breakfast before the commencement of the Islamic fast was entirely wrong.

President Jonathan had last Tuesday, through a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Rueben Abati, equally refuted the story and demanded an apology.

Emphasizing his respect and reverence for the office of the President and the person of President Jonathan, General Babangida said he was more than willing to have any meeting with him for the purpose of nation building.

He said: “There was no time that the President requested for a breakfast meeting with General IBB, let alone turned down by the former President.

“Former President IBB had visited President Goodluck Jonathan more than twice since his assumption of office, meetings which afforded the two leaders the opportunity to brainstorm on the challenges confronting the country.

“It is, therefore, very unfair to the persons of former President General Ibrahim Babangida and President Goodluck Jonathan to be portrayed as if there was bad blood between them.

“Having served this country before and knowing the enormity of the challenges of governance, General Ibrahim Babangida will be more than willing to have unconditional breakfast meeting or any other meeting for that matter with the President and Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“While General IBB will be looking forward to any of such invitation now and in the near future, it is important and appropriate on the part of the media to always cross-check their facts correctly before going around town with sensational headlines at the detriment of bona fide citizens of Nigeria, especially that of the President".

n Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013— 17

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radiological equipment came from GE; it had over 20 consultants covering most areas of medicine. If Namadi Sambo’s specialist hospital comes on board, how functional will it become, with the epileptic power supply. And are we not better off investing in preventive, primary health care than the prestigious, money-consuming curative levels?

Vice President Namadi Sambo's Islamic Development Bank loan

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ARLY this week, reports emerged that Vice President Namadi Sambo, on behalf of the Federal Government, had “sought the support of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the provision of about $450M to expand the power transmission system to wheel up to 20, 000 megawatts of electricity ”. Namadi Sambo made the demand during a courtesy visit by the IDB President, Dr. Ahmed Ali, in Saudi Arabia, where the vice president is performing Umrah, the lesser hajj. Dr. Ali who received a list of other requests from the vice president, revealed that the bank had approved three of five projects that Nigeria submitted. These are the construction of four new science secondary schools in Kaduna state worth $17.9M; construction of a 300bed specialist hospital in Kaduna state at $43.15M; and the Zaria water supply project worth $81.0M. All are in Sambo’s home state.

It is interesting that monies are being sourced for projects, ostensibly to improve the quality of lives of Nigerians. We have the negative experience in the recent past of foreign loans that were badly applied for which our country suffered dire consequences. Kaduna is my second home, so I follow its development issues very keenly. The numbers crunching around the IDB loan reveals that the devil is always in the detail, with these foreign loans and what they are meant to finance. A good friend pointed this out to me during the week and I will like to share it. The IDB loan will construct four new science secondary schools at $17.9M. At today’s official CBN rate of N155.25 to the USD, that translates to about N2.778B. Divided by four, the number of schools to be built, each school will cost about N694, 743. 750M. The professionals in the construction industry need to explain and justify these costs; but more poignantly, from the cost element, how many graduate teachers in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology are there to employ in Kaduna state for these schools? And is thought given to that vital component of the project? These schools are to be located around the

According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Kaduna is only second to Lagos in the level of foreign indebtedness at $215. 68m, as at 2012. We must now add to that, Namadi Sambo’s new IDB debt of $142. 050m.

Those who know how these things work, say there are dangers ahead: the international price of oil can drop; the theft of oil in the Niger Delta may assume a worse dimension

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state, but how will laboratories run where there is no regular electricity supply? If they use generators how do they guarantee regular supply of

Vice President Namadi Sambo diesel and what is the cost component for diesel supply?

The second interrogation relates to the construction of a 300-bed specialist hospital at $43.15M; which is N6.7B. In Kaduna State, ABU Teaching Hospital is already located in Shika, in Namadi Sambo’s hometown of Zaria. The Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital is being upgraded into a teaching hospital for the Kaduna State University. With two teaching hospitals in the state, what’s the reason for a third specialist hospital? Besides, there is also the 200-bed 44 Military Reference Hospital in Kaduna. It was upgraded to UN standard by General Abdulrahman Danbazau, former Chief of Army Staff. In addition to provision of health services to members of our armed forces, the hospital is open to civilians. There is even provision for a Presidential Wing, rather like a hospital within a hospital. All

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he third item is the Zaria water supply project at $81M or N17.9B. The project has gone on for a very long time and it is interesting that people allege that the vice president’s company is the contractor for the water project! The money is actually the capital component of the project, without much thought going into the recurrent cost that will be incurred, long after the capital spending has been done. Let me point out as a matter of interest, that according to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Kaduna is only second to Lagos in the level of foreign indebtedness at $215. 68M, as at 2012. We must now add to that, Namadi Sambo’s new IDB debt of $142. 050M. Those who know how these things work, say there are dangers ahead: the international price of oil can drop; the theft of oil in the Niger Delta may assume a worse dimension, especially with Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke saying not much can be done to find restitution for twenty years; Nigeria’s dollar revenue can drop, while the CBN might be unable to support the naira, with serious consequences for dollar denominated loans, such as Namadi Sambo’s IDB loan. Then there is the huge domestic debt profile too.

How will Kaduna state cope? Namadi Sambo will be long gone from the scene but the consequences will be there into the future. We must give ourselves the pause about these foreign loans and projects they are incurred for. In truth, these problems are nationwide. In my other home, Kwara state, in the eight years of Bukola Saraki, billions of naira went into appropriations for the Ilorin water supply project and till today, the jury is out about how much water has come out of our taps! We in dire straits indeed!

Let us teach our children History

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DON'T know if it is apocryphal, but I read that students in Ikenne, the Ogun state homestead of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were asked what they knew about the nationalist and one of the greatest politicians and administrators Nigeria ever had. Most of the children answered that the Obafemi they knew was the football player, Obafemi Martins, not Chief Obafemi Awolowo! That story conveys vividly, the tragedy of a country that has conspired against its own best interest, by dropping or relegating utterly, the teaching of history, in the school system. At which point this happened, I cannot exactly recall, but it crept upon us, against some frightening backdrops. Imperialism beginning to intervene to influence the curricular of studies in neo-colonial countries like Nigeria, by the mid1980s, during military dictatorship. They launched a frontal attack on subjects that reinforced antiimperialist consciousness, and history was one of them. It should be recalled that from the 1940s, pioneering African historians like Prof. Kenneth Dike; Prof. Cheikh Anta Diop and others, had made African history very much a part of the struggle for our African identities in the struggle against colonialism. The African Personality and his traditions, including the oral traditions; the peopling and construction of the African continent; the empires; the struggle to master nature within the settings of Africa, entered the terrain of history, much against the racist stereotypes of colonial historiography.

In the end colonialism retreated from the scene, to be replaced by neocolonialism. The imperialist C M Y K

countries needed to retain their hegemony in Africa and the minds of Africans has always been a contested terrain, in terms of the knowledge these minds are exposed to. An assertive knowledge of history is not in the long-term interest of capitalist exploitation in Africa. So an offensive was launched on history and other subjects that create African personalities conscious of and proud in their history. The citizen and African patriot endanger the imperialist agenda.

They want zombies and unthinking consumers of the products of the imperialist world. They want Africans enamoured of Kentucky Fried Chickens; who enjoy holidaying at Disney world in Orland, Florida, not Africans hacking back to the grandeurs of Africa’s past to recreate them in the new, historical conditions. They introduced a disdain for history as a subject, substituting with the nebulous subject called “Social Studies”. Today, most Departments of History in Nigerian universities survive only in combination with “International Studies”; and very few students enroll to study history. Yet, this is a country that had a remarkable tradition of world-class, Africanist historians: Prof. Kenneth Dike; Prof. Ade Ajayi; Prof.

Afigbo; Prof. Fred Omu; Prof. Alayande; Prof.

Abdullahi Smith; Prof. Balogun; Dr. Yusufu Bala Usman; Prof. Ade Obayemi, to mention just a few!

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oday about 75 percent of our population is un der the age of 35. Please check online chat rooms to gauge the depth of ignorance about Nigeria and its peoples. We are doing a great disservice to Nigeria’s future with an educational system that does not make history a compulsory subject right through

the school system; for our children to take courses in Nigerian, West African, African and World history, right from primary schools. It doesn’t matter what course of study the student is specialising in, he/she must take these compulsory electives. When one doesn’t know where he is coming from, he cannot make a correct judgment of where he is headed. It is the same for a country. Our children must be given a rich diet of historical knowledge to orient them into the world they are growing into. Where there is surety about history and profound knowledge and pride in its course, children will grow into their world with remarkable confidence.

I face this problem of the disappearance of history in my role in parenting my children. My forefathers were scholars who wrote history, in the Arabic language. I try to help my children to understand the historical forces that moulded and brought us to where we have arrived today. Every family faces the same problem today in our country. In my case, I combine the oral traditions handed over to me, with trying to encourage interest in a systematic appreciation of history so that my children can at least understand and appreciate their heritage and grow up as proud citizens of Nigeria, Africa and the world of the Twenty-First Century. But the individual effort like mine can only go that far. It is the duty of the Nigerian state to provide education for our children, which reinstates the teaching and valorization of history. I hope the consciousness will spread like veldt fire and all parents in Nigeria will demand the teaching of Nigeria, African and World history as compulsory subjects for all children in the Nigerian school system. That is the right way to go!

18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 WITH the November 16 2013 governorship election about 103 days away, Anambra State political atmosphere has become turbocharged. The state’s hordes of money bag politicians have started deploying their arsenals into the race in which so far about 45 aspirants have emerged.

Last week’s reconciliation of feuding All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leaders – Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, as well as the recent registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) – have raised the stakes for the polls.

Anambra citizens deserve a violence-free, fair and credible election. The successor of Governor Peter Obi must be determined by the electorate through the ballot box. Every vote must be made to count.

Given the great upheavals of the past three terms, the onus is on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the political parties, politicians, candidates, security agencies and the citizenry to ensure a hitchfree exercise.

The political parties must avoid imposition of

Towards cred bll po polll a d credible cred b in mb n Anambra An m ba candidates or situations where a party has two lists of candidates for a position, which often leads to long and tortuous litigations with the constituents being the losers.

Most federal lawmakers from Anambra, in the last 12 years, have won or lost their seats through the law courts on account of deepseated intra- and inter-party crises occasioned by feuding factions in the parties and deeply flawed elections.

Anambra has the unenviable record of having produced five governors in the last 14 years.

Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju of the PDP left after serving a term of four years in 2003.

Dr Chris Ngige, who wanted to go the Senate,

was drafted in by godfathers and he won a controversial election in 2003 on PDP’s platform. He later fell out with his godfathers a few weeks into his sojourn at the Government House. He was abducted at a stage, making him the first and only governor to be abducted in Nigeria. His reign was cut short by the law courts, which declared Peter Obi of APGA as the real winner of the 2003 election.

Obi took over in March 2006 with a PDPdominated House of Assembly. At a stage, he was impeached by the House and his deputy, Lady Virgy Etiaba, was sworn-in as governor.

Obi recovered his seat through the Supreme Court, which declared his removal as illegal.

Obi was also made to vacate his seat for about 10 days in 2007 after Dr Andy Uba of the PDP was declared the winner of the 2007 elections.

He, however, returned to his seat via a Supreme Court ruling that his first term would end in 2010 and not 2007.

Anambra citizens would be saved the agony of this topsy-turvy electoral path with the attendant drawback on good governance if all stakeholders ensure a credible election in November.

OPINION

BY KENNETH IMANSUANGBON

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GE, according to the British great philosopher, Mark Twain is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. For Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih and his family, friends, well-wishers even enemies across the globe, it matters because Anenih is now an octogenarian. This is a no mean feat in a continent where the average lifespan of a man is less than 45 years. For a man who was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he steadily and diligently braved all odds to be who he is today, which is nothing but an eloquent testimony of God’s grace and reward for selfless service to humanity.

As a growing young child in UzenemaArue vilage in Uromi, Edo State, Anenih joined his parents in their rubber plantation which was major occupation in the region then. Not deterred by enormous challenges in the society, he had his primary education at Government School now Okpujie Primary School also in Uromi between 1944 and 1949. By 1951 he joined the Nigeria Police Force in Benin City and also diligently studied at home and obtained the GCE ‘O’ Level as well as ‘A’ Level. His professional commitment in the Police gave him the opportunity to attend the Nigeria Police College in Ikeja and other professional trainings outside the shores of the country. Due to the confidence the Police authorities reposed in him, he was chosen above other colleagues to serve as a Police Orderly to the First Governor General of Nigeria, the late Dr. Nnamdi

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neni The The quintessential q ntess ntess t al al and great Anenih: neni d great e @ 8 leader 80 Azikiwe.

Before his retirement from the Nigeria Police as a Commissioner, Anenih had made an indelible mark in the Force.

Though the Nigeria Police as it is today may be a far cry from the dream police, Anenih and colleagues paid their creditable dues before their retirement, a reason for which the history of the Force cannot be complete without mentioning Anenih’s immense contribution.

A man with a Midas touch, his foray into the murky waters of Nigerian politics has largely been a success story due to his immense achievements. Believing so much in the words of the great writer, Jim Rohn, that “whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness - great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy”, Anenih’s entry into the political scene since the Second Republic has been characterized with selfless service to humanity not only to his people in Edo but to Nigerians across the divide. That was the reason he was not desirous of contesting for the political office of a governor or President, even when it was obvious that he would win.

Rather, in the interest of the generality of the people, he has always remained in the background to play the fatherly role to all and sundry. It is clear that in the country today, he appears to be one of most sought

for politicians, not because of his financial strength or deep pocket, but because of his immeasurable experience and wisdom.

No wonder as the State Chairman of National Party of Nigeria, NPN, between 1981and 1983, Anenih worked tirelessly and convincingly for the election of Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia as the civilian governor of the then Bendel State.

Describing Anenih as an encyclopedia of the polity called Nigeria is not far from the truth. That was why every successive government in the country has always found in him a reliable, experienced, nationalistic, detribalized, dependable and resourceful Nigerian in building and rebuilding the country for better.

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aving held and still holding various key positions, there is no doubt that Anenih has built bridges not only across the country, but around the globe like no other Nigerian politician of his age and class. He has established himself as an icon in Nigeria’s politics and democracy, a development that has endeared him to Nigerians from different walks of life.

With the return of democracy in the country in 1999, he was among the foundation members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and has played and has continued to play major roles in shaping the political space even as an

octogenarian. In the face of all odds, he has consistently kept faith with the people, God and his political party, even when the party has lost the governorship seat to the opposition party in his home state, Edo, due to some internal squabbles in the party instigated by outsiders in 2007.

A trail blazer all his life, Anenih by this lives according to the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson that: “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”. His remarkable achievements, especially in the area of human empowerment, peace promotion, dialogue and unity in diversity, speak volume of him, and are all there for posterity to see and verify.

He never believed or subscribed to political harlotry as is the case with most Nigerian politicians. Anenih has always remained steadfast and committed to his party ideologies and principles. That was the reason when the position of the Chiarman Board of Trustees, BoT, of our great party, the PDP became vacant following Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s resignation, all the members, including the Presidency, without hesitation moved for Anenih as the candidate for the plum position.

That position, he has used and still using to stabilize our great party in the face of the daunting challenges in the country’s polity.

At 80, Anenih is still trudging on undeterred and unruffled. Happy birthday our leader and many more years ahead. *Mr. Imansuangbon, a lawyer, wrote from Abuja.

0 Vanguard a n u rrd d, an 20—

G THURSDAY, THURSDAY T , A AUGUST 8 , 2013

Pa Awolesi’s home and site of the mast under construction. Photo: Bose Adelaja

TUSSLE WITH OMO-ONILES:

Man kills friend over telecom mast in Lagos B

EFORE his untimely death penultimate weekend, Alhaji Taiwo Awolesi lived for two years in an uncompleted bungalow on No 25 Mohammed Ajayi close, Sabo, Ikorodu. Although he was among the first set of people to own a piece of land in the area, he was unable to erect a structure on the land until two years ago when he parked to the uncompleted building even as work was ongoing.

About a year ago after Pa Awolesi moved into the apartment, he sublet a room, while he occupied one. But the building which is the least developed in the close is now deserted, no thanks to his sudden demise.

The apartment lacks basic facilities like kitchen, toilet and bathrom as well as other structures meant to make life comfortable for the occupants who are compelled to answer the call of nature at a nearby bush.

In the neighbourhood, Pa Awolesi was known for his simplicity although he was referred to as a ‘ghost’ as residents were unable to trace his background. Also, some claimed he was a lone ranger as they could not ascertain whether he was married or not. Apart from his male tenant, no other person was C M Y K

traceable to Pa Awolesi during his life time.

Fortune seemingly smiled on him some months ago when a telecommunications companyshowed interest in his remaining piece of land to erect its mast. The request was welcomed by this octogenarian who immediately entered into negotiation with the company

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BY BOSE ADELAJA

was lurking around the corner.

Around 12 noon of that fateful day, some miscreants popularlly called ‘Omo-Oniles’ invaded the project site, unleashing terror on those present.

Upon arrival, they stopped the ongoing work and seized some construction tools. They also took theoctogenarianhostage, demand-

These Omo-Oniles often take the law into their hands not minding the consequence; and many have been sent to their early graves as a result of this

which picked Friday July 26, 2013 to start the construction of the base where the mast will be erected.

After money running into millions of Naira reportedly changed hands, necessary building materials and construction workers were mobilised to the site. Apart from the telecommunication mast, plans were also in top gear to construct a soak-way pit for the uncompleted building.

At the commencement of the project, Pa Awolesi’s joy knew no bounds; even neighbours were happy for him as they sang his praise, thanking God on his behalf. But unknown to all tragedy

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ing for a percentage of the sale of a portion of the land to the telecom company. They warned of dire consequences if their demand was not met.

At this juncture, Pa Awolesi sensed danger and made entreaties to the hoodlums but this fell on deaf ears. Not knowing the next line of action, the confused octogenarian ran to a friend, a cemetery guard, Pa Segun Salami, for succour. Pa Salami arrived the scene with a locally made gun. But tragically the bullet of the the first shot he fired went straight to Pa Awolesi’s chest and he slumped and died on the spot.

Confusion immediately reigned and a crowd was attracted to the scene. Thereafter the Police at SagamuroadDivisionwas intimated of the development and the DivisionalPoliceOfficer, DPO, Sunny Akaeze, led his men to the scene. They promptly arrested the suspect and deposited the victim’s corpse at the morgue.

Meantime, investigations into thematter is still on-going, though the case has since been trans-

ferred to the Criminal Investigative Department, CID, Panti.

A Police source informed that the suspect claimed he fired the shot to scare the miscreants but ended up hitting Pa Awolesi.

When VanguardMetrovisited the scene, the deceased’s home was deserted, while work on the project appeared to have been suspended.

At the community, Pa Awolesi’s tragic killing has stirred outrage as residents continue to rain curses on the Omo-Oniles. Some of them also blamed the development on the failure of the Lagos State government for its failure to curb the excesses of the OmoOniles.

According to a trader, Madam Teniola Badmus, there is need for the State government to come to the aid of residents. ‘’These OmoOniles often take the law into their hands not minding the consequence; and many have been sent to their early graves as a result of this. They usually attack people building houses with dangerous weapons, demanding huge amounts of money from their victims. So government should immediately call them to order,’’ she submitted.

Another resident, a widow who pleaded anonymity, said the tragedy was one of several to happen in the community. ‘’I remember when our roof was leaking and we decided to give it a facelift; the Omo-Oniles invaded our compound to stop the project. However, God gave me victory at the end.

Forget about what transpired on Pa Awolesi’s land, the truth is that the Lagos State government is to be blamed for Pa Awolesi’s death,’’ she said.

Long wait for BRT: ‘Lagos Connect’ e-ticketing to the rescue

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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AST week, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, represented by his deputy, Joke OrelopeAdefulire, formally kicked off the “Lagos Connect”, an electronic payment card to replace payment of physical cash on the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT. The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority LAMATA, is the regulator of BRT scheme.

Managing Director, LAMATA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, said that government was not unaware of the challenges that commuters using the current BRT system were experiencing, but has taken serious steps to ensure the restoration of efficient and effective service delivery on the system and increase its capacity.

LAMATA, in collaboration with operators had earlier

disclosed plans to introduce 50 new buses, and 100 refurbished serviceable vehicles to the present fleet of BRT buses by the end of the third quarter of this year, even as it announced a restructuring of operations management team aimed at further ensuring effectiveness and efficiency.

Lagos connect e-ticketing, is the latest technological innovation the government has introduced in collaboration with the private sector into the public transportation system in the state. Powered by e-Purse Systems, a Lagos based technological solutions provider.

The smart card, which allows commuters who patronise the services of the BRT payment option, is aimed at reducing the scramble often witnessed at the various bus shelters and the stress of waiting in long queues for paper ticket on the BRT corridor.

22 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

IFC to float N160bn bond to support Nigeria’s capital market

BY PETER EGWUATU

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From left: Director, Lagos State Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Lanre Adeniyi; Group Managing Director, ARTEE Industries Ltd., Mr. Haresh Kaswani; Group Head, Retail Banking Group, FirstBank of Nigeria Ltd., Mr. Tunde Owolabi and MD/CEO, I-ONE-C, Mr. Kelechi Dozie at the recently concluded BusinessDay Retail Conference.

Africa is most business confident region —ACCA, IMA survey

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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FRICA has emerged the most business-confident region in the world, in the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).

GECS is the largest quarterly economic survey of accountants in the world, gauging the views of ACCA and IMA finance professionals working at the coal face of businesses.

The results for the second quarter (Q2) showed that the Sub-Saharan African region had managed to cope with the inflation and volatile flows of funds that challenged policymakers in late 2012.

A number of other factors combined to give the region a major confidence boost in the second quarter. Just 32 per cent of respondents from Africa’s business

community are now reporting a loss of confidence, down from 40 per cent in early 2013, while 41 per cent reported confidence gains, up seven percentage points from the previous quarter. Perceptions of the economic recovery in general have shot up, with 60 per cent reporting an optimistic outlook, up from 51 per cent.

Emmanouil Schizas, senior economic analyst at ACCA and editor of the GEC Survey, commented: “Globally, this is not a recovery for everyone, but for significant parts of the world it looks like the real thing.

If this new found dynamism persists beyond a couple of quarters it could build its own momentum independent of monetary policy. And looking at Africa, it has reclaimed its place as the most confident of the major world economic regions.

“Despite continued positive news about the global and national economies, the GECS business confidence index has only just about inched in the right direction. After a surge in business confidence in Q1 that was perhaps a little premature, confidence levels are now in line with fundamentals.

“What is encouraging is that the marginal improvement in global business dynamism in early 2013 has now accelerated across all measures of investment, orders and employment. Employment in particular is recovering quickly and is now stronger than at any point in the last two years.”

Africa spokesperson – Jamil Ampomah , Director - Sub Saharan Africa ACCA said: “While this is a massive continent, GECS’s findings resonate across the whole of Africa; the worst challenges of late 2012 appear to have been overcome.

Investment in capital and people among African businesses remained stable over the first half of the year.

Demand and cash-flow pressures eased significantly in Q2 2013, after rising unevenly for about a year.

CBN, banks take cashless campaign to Ogun

BY PETER EGWUATU

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HE Bankers’ Committee has taken the cashless policy campaign to Ogun state to enlighten the people on the use and benefits of the initiative.

The scheme, which was introduced to Lagos, a year ago, was extended to Ogun, Kano, Anambra and Abia States as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on July 1.

The initiative, which has entered its second phase, saw the CBN and bank officials staging road shows in six delineated zones (Ilaro, Mowe/Ibafo, Ota, Abeokuta, Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode) in Ogun state, to create awareness on how to use different payment channels such as

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Automated Teller Machines(ATMs),Point of Sales (PoS), and money transfers.

According to a statement from the Bankers’ Committee, the six-day activities saw market men and women, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) among others, being education on how to transact business electronically.

The enlightenment programme, according to the statement, was for six days, commencing from July 22 to 27, 2013. The daily programme was divided into two segments -the stakeholders’ forum, which involved the various stakeholders and the town storming/ neighborhood activation in

all six delineated zones.

“It was indeed a very interactive session across boards as bankers were on hand to throw more light on the puzzles in the mind of stakeholders,” the statement added.

Two brand ambassadors –Mama G-Patience Ozokwo and Mr Latin Bolaji Amusan, added life the event by thrilling the stakeholders with rib-cracking jokes on the cashless policy.

The cashless policy, whose implementation began in Lagos in January, last year, is aimed at reducing the dominance of cash in the system.

NTERNATIONAL Finance Corpration, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, yesterday disclosed that it is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC) in Nigeria to float $ 1 billion ( N160 billion ) the first longterm, local-currency bond programe in the country.

Speaking at the Nigerian Debt Capital Markets Conference hosted

by Securities and Exchange Commission and IFC in partnership of Pension Commission(PENCOM), the Vice President of IFC, Mr. Jingdong Hua, said “The program will allow IFC to issue a series of local-currency bonds totaling up to $1 billion, to deepen domestic capital markets and support private sector development in Nigeria.”

According to him, “ Nigeria is a leader in the implementation of the IFC Pan African Domestic Medium Term Note Programme. The program enables IFC to raise long-term, local-currency funding for private sector development in the region. A vibrant, local-currency capital market is essential for any country to achieve its full economic potential, and a cornerstone of our strategy to help countries achieve sustainable growth. Our desire to put in place a programme for regular naira-denominated issuances reflects IFC’s commitment to the domestic capital markets in Nigeria, and our growing investment to support private sector development in the country.”

Continuing, the IFC boss said, IFC has identified that infrastructure, especially power is key constraint to private sector development.

In her remark, the Director General of SEC, Arunma Oteh, noted that IFC’s committed portfolio in Nigeria stands at $1.5 billion, the largest country portfolio in Africa and the eighth-largest globally.

According to her, “SEC has spearheaded a number of reforms to accelerate the development of Nigeria’s domestic capital markets, and the IFC program is an important contribution to these efforts,” said Arunma Oteh, “It will enable regular domestic issuances by an international, triple-A rated issuer, expanding the opportunities for investors and increasing access to localcurrency finance for Nigerian businesses ” she added.

It will be recalled that In February 2013, IFC issued the first local-currency bond by a non-resident issuer in Nigeria, raising 12 billion naira ($76.3 million). IFC issues bonds as part of its regular programme of raising funds for private sector development, and to support the development of domestic capital markets. In many cases IFC is the first, or among the first non-resident issuers.

24 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

A gents g ts lament l m n systems system breakdown br kdown kdow n

BY GODWIN ORITSE

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USTOMS licensed agents have decried incessant breakdown of server at the Tin-Can Island port, a development that sometimes make cargoes run into unnecessary demurrage.

The agents suspect sabotage on the part of the information technology firm contracted to assist the Customs in its reform process.

Speaking to Vanguard at the just concluded one day colloquium organised by the Maritime Reporters Congress of Nigeria (MARCON), former Chairman of the Association of Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Mr. Kayode Farinto said that the trend of system breakdown is not new.

Farinto stated that the issue of sabotage cannot be ruled out as the Information Technology consultant is wary of the fact that its contract is running out adding it must do every thing possible to remain relevant.

The former ANLCA boss explained that because of the continuous system failure, duty payments are not reflected in the Customs systems sometimes for days.

He disclosed that the server at Tin-Can port will breakdown and remain down for three to four days..

Speaking in similar vein, the Secretary General of the National Approved Government Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Mr. Increase Uche said that system failure is a daily occurrence. The Technical Supervisor of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Tin-Can Island Port Command Nasiru Isiyaku said that the breakdown of the server is sabotage adding that the frequency of system failure is too high for comfort.

Mr. Chris Osunkwo, the Command Public Relatiion officer said that the situation is only experienced when there is heavy rain fall or strong wind.

Osunkwo also explained that it is at such times that duty payments are not reflected because such payments hang until they drop into Customs system.

Ministry not neglecting maritime sector — Hassan Bello

BY GODFREY BIVBERE

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XECUTIVE Secre tary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, has said that the reported neglect of the maritime sector by the Ministry of Transport was untrue. He, however, stressed that all the parastatals under it were well covered in terms of policies and direction.

The NSC boss told Vanguard in Lagos that the ministry has always adopted a comprehensive and holistic approach because of the multi-model nature of transportation.

Hassan said: “The Ministry is not neglecting any sector in policies, policy implementation, project promotion, supervision and co-ordination. Ministry of Transport has always adopted a comprehensive and holistic approach because it is aware of the multi-modal concept of transportation that is: carriage of goods or passengers, or offering services through various modes.

The ministry is focused on the integration of these modes.”

He noted that the ministry was working towards achieving seamless transportation system through the integration of various modes of transport. He pointed out that no area was given preference unlesse there was particular emphasis at the time.

Explaining the nature of connectivity of the various modes of transportation, the Shippers’ Council helmsman noted that “What happens in one mode affects the other(s).

Goods are transported largely by sea and pass many avenues before they reach the destination of shippers. “Transportation by sea could be the

principal mode, but you have other modes of transport like linkage (rail), road and inland waterways. That is why the ministry is emphasising or

giving attention to the rail because the rail carries bulk of the cargo and at very cheap or reasonable cost.” On monitoring of the activities of terminal operators, he said the efficiency of the terminal op-

COLLOQUIUM : The Customs Area Controller of the Apapa Customs Command, Mr. Charles Epowei Edike (m) discussing with the Customs Public Relations Officer Mr. Adewale Adeniyi a Deputy Comptroller at the just concluded colloquium organized by the MARCON in Lagos. On the left is President of the Maritime Reporters Congress of Nigeria (MARCON) Mr. Ismail Aniemu

Agents blame scanners for rerouting of cargoes at Tin Can

BY GODFREY BIVBERE

I

MPORTERS and their agents are running away from scanning of consignments following insistence that such scanned cargoes be subjected to 100 per cent examination at Tin-can Island Container Terminal (TICT).

Disclosing this to Van-

guard, the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed CustomsAgents (NCMDLCA), noted that the new trend is forcing importers to pay more for such consignments.

Speaking on behalf of the group, National Secretary, Uchu Block, said that TICT was the worst among other terminals at

Tin-can.

Block pointed out that most of the goods that are scanned at the facility are referred back for physical examination resulting in about 10 to 12 days further delay.

Giving an example of a recent situation, Block said a client imported a 20 foot container of Completely Knocked Down

MAN okays use of DSME HP gas system

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AEWOO Ship building & Ma rine Engineering has announced a patent licence agreement with MAN Diesel & Turbo for use of the DSME high pressurefueled gas supply (HPFGS) system.

Under the terms of the contract, details of which are being kept confidential, MAN will use DSME’s HP-FGS system patents and licences for its two-stroke LNG propulsion based commercial vessel projects.

DSME believes this to be a significant develop-

erators fell within the scope/purview of the Council but stressed that terminal operators were operating in someone else’s house (their landlord being the Nigerian Ports Authority).

ment in gas fuelled ship technology, as with a claimed 80% market share, MAN Diesel & Turbo enjoys a leading position in large twostroke marine engines.

As the first orders for twostroke marine engines using LNG fuel have been for MAN’s ME-GI engines, DSME says that “this patent contract is expected to bring out great ripple effects to related industries.”

Although the ME-GI has been available for over 10 years, its high pressure gas compressor

system was too bulky and too power-hungry to make it viable for ship power applications.

DSME says the development of the high pressure pump-based fuel system, offering a radical improvement in efficient use of power and space, has made dual-fuelled two-stroke engines into a realistic commercial proposition. DSME developed and patented its system in 2007, and now, with increased interest in LNG as ship fuel, the company believes the combination of its gas fuel

system and MAN’s twostroke technology will open the gateway to more dual-fuelled two-stroke orders from the commercial shipbuilding industry.

The DSME technology has been successfully used on MAN’s ME-GI test engine in Copenhagen, and is being supplied to NASSCO in the USA for the MAN ME-GI engines for the first LNG-powered container ships, being built for TOTE to a design by DSME subsidiary DSEC.

(CKD) suit cases that came in through TICT. He explained that the container was routed for scanning and after it was done, the result showed that there was discrepancy because of the zip and other components of the item.

The NCMDLCA scribe further noted that the container spent extra 10 days at the port before physical examination was performed on it while the importer had to pay N30,000 more than the duty on the consignment as terminal operator and shipping company charges.

When contacted, Richard Akinbosotu, Commercial Manager of the company refused to comment. Instead he referred Vanguard to the office of the Managing Director, Mr Yahuda Kotik, who was said to have travelled out of the country.

His personal assistant who spoke with Vanguard only provided a telephone number that did not work.

26— Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

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We’re determined to rid LASU of rots —Prof. Obafunwa

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

T

he Vice-Chancellor of La-gos State University, Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa has expressed optimism and determination to eradicate what he termed the many years of rot in the university, which ranks the first amongst state universities and 11th amongst all the universities in Nigeria (National Universities Commission 2013 ranking).

Before now, many a visitor familiar with the university will attest to the fact that it was plagued by rot in every area. LASU in the last 27 years was a far-cry from what a citadel of learning should be, even though its Faculty of Law was rated the best in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa but LASU-Law was deaccredited in 2009 by the

NUC over poor standards in academic and infrastructural facilities.

It is against this backdrop that Obafunwa alongside some principal officers of the university conducted journalists round some of the facilities to reveal the ongoing academic and infrastructural facelift in the school. This, he noted was not without the support of the state government led by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

Donkey years of rot Prior to November 1, 2011, when Obafunwa was ratified the 7th ViceChancellor by government and the Governing Council, LASU had the problem of inadequate lecture halls which led to a situation where students had to stand to receive lectures.

The science laboratories were not spared as kerosene stoves became

bunsen burners.

The constant unrest, maiming and killings orchestrated by cultist groups in the school made LASU a safe haven for cultists. The reckless disruption of the institution’s academic calendar by local chapters of staff unions like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU), NonAcademic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) was a devastating tide that needed to be stemmed.

And Obafunwa came Assuming the coveted Vice- Chancellorship position, having been twotime Provost of the university ’s College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja, Obafunwa confessed that the new mandate was no tea party.

According to him, his fears were basically hinged upon the deep rots that have bedeviled the regular and external systems of the university for so many years.

These cut across the immeasurable backlogs of results and certificates of students which even extended to 1999/ 2000 academic session in both systems; the deep corruption in the university that had encouraged embezzlement, misappropriation and misapplication of funds meant to improve standards of the university; the high number of ghost workers especially in the external system and poor quality of teaching staff.

On assumption of office, Obafunwa lamented that he had to contend with the backlog of salary arrears owed the teaching and non-teaching staff,

quick release of results; provision of state-of-theart teaching facilities across the departments of the school; re-accreditation of de-accredited courses; putting in place laudable infrastructural projects and in all, a stable academic calendar for two sessions running.

•Prof. John Obafunwa which might spur them to down their tools at any moment, thereby disrupting the university’s academic calendar.

Deeply bothered by these, the Forensic Pathologist said his transformation agenda was hinged upon basic laudable infrastructural and academic blueprints, whilst canvassing the support of government, staff and students in achieving them all.

In less than two years, LASU is on the verge of priding itself as an institution which has set the pace of getting its academic potentials right.

During the tour of facilities, it was confirmed to Vanguard Learning that the current administration has gotten it right in major areas such as e-course registration for students; e-transact for students and staff; eresults/academic profiles for students;

Academic facelift The administration launched a “novelty” eregistration system for students to register their semester courses without hitches. Also, through this giant move, the era where students had to form long queues to collect registration pins has been eradicated.

“We launched an epayment model for tuition fees which received encomiums from students and staff as it has been declared efficient and easy.

“Lecturers are now more responsible with the marking of examination scripts, doublechecking of marked scripts, uploading and corrections, unlike in the past when malfeasance was the order of the day. Presently, the current result-uploading system known as DPU doesn’t allow the alteration of grades after the about two weeks of grace given for marking and uploading of results after every semester examination.

Imoke commends Airtel’s educational development

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HE Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, has commended Airtel Nigeria for playing a crucial role in the development of primary education across the country.

Speaking at the commissioning of thre Presbyterian Primary School 2, Ediba, Abi LGA, Cross River State, Imoke, represented by the state Commissioner for Education, Professor Offiong E. Offiong, thanked Airtel for transforming the school and donating to the pupils and teachers of the school.

“Airtel’s Adopt-a-School programme is one laudable venture designed to impact positively on the academic lives of our children. This

collaborative effort by Airtel Nigeria is indeed a much cherished one that will go a long way to assist the state government realize its vision for the education sector.

Airtel’s CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, represented by the Regional Operations Director, South Region, Godfrey Efeurhobo, said Airtel is committed to its strategic partnerships with governments and organizations to uplift the standard of primary education in the country.

“Without a doubt, quality education offers children the best opportunity in life to realise their dreams of becoming leaders of tomorrow.

BY DAYO ADESULU

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HE former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Olufemi Bamiro has emphasized the need for universities to be quality agents by building excellence and also called for prudent management of resources by university administrators.

Delivering his keynote address titiled; Tertiary Education Administration in the 21st Century: The ideals, the reality and the prospect at the 5th Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, Registry annual lecture at the Hilltop auditorium of the institution said; “Every university strives to develop its staff to meet current world trends; this is achievable through periodic and constant staff development.

Speaking further, Prof. Bamiro said to build a world class

university, there should be a triangular relationship between the government (owner of the universities), the academic (producer of graduates) and the industry (end-users of the products). This will help to build the economy better.

In his opening address, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola said the university system and industries cannot do without each other. While the former rigorously engages in teaching and research and produces workforce and innovators, the latter appropriates the products of the former to make profit.

Thus, there is a need for continuous synergy by the two. He further said that there is always a mutuality of benefits as the growing businesses of industrial concern become beneficial to the university system as they plough back part of their profits

into research and other mutually beneficial operators of tertiary institutions.

In her welcome address, the Registrar, Dr. (Mrs.) Modupe Ajayi acknowledged with deep gratitude the presence of both, Prof. Bamiro and Mr. Owofemi. Dr. (Mrs.) Ajayi also underscored the vision of taking FUTA to the market place as part of the reason d’être for the choice of the Guest Lecturer.

She said; “We have an entrepreneurial component from which issues of symbiotic productive and result-oriented collaboration between the ‘town’ and ‘gown’ will be addressed.

Having the duo of Professor Bamiro and Mr. Owofemi around us today confirms to us that there is a lot of hope and dividend in bringing the academic and entrepreneurs together.”

*From left: Mr. Tope Ashiwaju, Public Relations Manager, Dufil Prima Food's Plc; Mr. Fadare Olumuyiwa Akande, student of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, one of the beneficiaries, receiving cheque from Mr. Deepak Singhal, MD/CEO, Dufil Prima Foods Plc and Dr. Oluseye Onabonjo, senior lecturer, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, during the presentation of cheque to the Indomie MSC Nutrition Scholarship, in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

Fidson rewards 250 students in 2yrs

By PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

F

IDSON Healthcare Plc, through its Astymin brand said it has in two years rewarded 250 pupils of various schools in Nigeria courtesy Astymin Brilliance Reward, ABR scheme.

The ABR is the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR initiative to reward graduating pupils of various schools who performed brilliantly in their academics.

Speaking at the 2013 edition of the scheme in Lagos, the Sales & Marketing Director, Olugbenga Olayeye said; “It is noteworthy that having pulled through successfully for two consecutive years, in the spirit of continuous improvement; we have decided to improve on this year’s experience in terms of number, content and quality.

We have added more schools and expanded the coverage to two more states of the federation bringing the number of participating schools to 200 spanning six states - Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Delta and Enugu states.

“In the last two years, we

have rewarded over 250 pupils from different schools, and have admitted them into the Astymin Hall of Fame - a platform we have provided to foster friendship, networking and knowledge sharing amongst these kids.

Award: A cross Section of qualify and deserving candidates, receiving G.C.E forms from Ayanre Youth Development and Empowerment Committee, as part of the association empowerment programme for youths in the Ayanre community Assciation in Olorunda L.C.D.A of Lagos State

How badly badly do do you you want want it? it?

T

here was a young boy who was a fan of a football legend, Jim Brown. He had a dream of becoming a star like his hero some day. But there was something “ridiculous” about this boy and his dream. This young boy was born into a run-down section of San Francisco.

He was crippled by rickets due to malnutrition.

At the age of six his legs had become permanently bowed and his calves so atrophied that his nickname was “pencil legs”. In spite of his profound limitations, the young lad dared to dream and believed in his dream.

This young boy did not have a dime to attend football games. Whenever Jim Brown played, he would wait outside the stadium until the maintenance crew opened the gate in the fourth quarter. He would get into the stadium and be engrossed in the balance of the game.

At age 13 the youngster walked into an ice cream parlour after the football game, astonishingly he saw his idol, Jim Brown. He approached the football star and said, “Mr. Brown, I’m your biggest fan”.

Graciously, Brown thanked him. He persisted, “Mr. Brown you know what? Brown turned to him and said, “what is it son?” he continued, “I know every record you’ve ever set, every touchdown you’ve ever scored”. Jim Brown smiled and said “That’s great” and returned to his conversation. If you thought that the young boy was done, you are wrong.

“Mr. Brown” he pressed on, Jim Brown turned to him yet again. This time the youngster gazed deep into his eyes with a burning passion so great that Brown could

,

Don tasks varsity administrators on prudent mgt of resources

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People who have decided to make the most of themselves by concentrating their thoughts on a definite and an all consuming desire to emerge a champion in the game of life

,

feel it and said, “Mr. Brown, one day I’m going to break everyone of your records”. The football legend smiled and said “that’s great kid. What’s your name?” The boy replied, “Orenthal, Sir, Orenthal James Simpson”.

Anthony Robbins observed, “Know that the only limit to what you can have in life is the size of your imagination and the level of your commitment to make it real.” The world could not stop the impoverished young boy afflicted with rickets from becoming a football legend. Guess what?

Donald Curtis O. J. Simpson broke all of Jim Brown’s records and set some new ones of his own.

How badly do you want to win the game of life? Do you come up with enough reasons for not accomplishing your dreams? Are you afraid of rejection, ridicule or success?

Are you working aimlessly without thought and direction?

Do you have a vague hope that someday fortune will drop on your laps? If the answers are in the affirmative, then you are playing the game of life to lose.

People who play to win the game of life are regular, everyday people with a difference; those who have decided to make the most of themselves by concentrating their thoughts on a definite and an all consuming desire to emerge a champion in the game of life.

These class of people are clear about who they are; what they want and where they are going and they won’t settle for anything less. People in the winning class are prepared to stake even their very existence to accomplish their worthwhile dreams.

Championship demands a champion mentality; motivation, dedication and desire. Amateur requires an amateur mentality; motivation, dedication and desire. The thin line that separates the champions from the amateurs is what they are willing to give up in order to go up.

Champions have the trademark of setting goals and making plans and they work their plans. Opportunities are attracted to those with intensified desire because they are prepared for it. Knowledge and experience is what raises ordinary ability to win in championships.

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gba koba oba sues ssues Ekiti Ek iti AG over er jjudiciar udi ciary funding fun din g Agbak

By DAYO BENSON

F

ORMER President, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olisa Agbakoba SAN, has filed a suit against Ekiti State Attorney General, over non payment of the state’s judiciary Consolidated Revenue Fund directly to the head of the judiciary, contrary to Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

In a suit filed through an originating summon, at the Ekiti State High Court, the plaintiff, who is a Life Bencher, joined the Ekiti State House of Assembly and the state’s Chief Judge as second and third defendants respectively.

Specifically, Agbakoba is asking the court to compel the Ekiti State Government to comply with the provisions of Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that monies standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the heads of court concerned.

Additionally, the plaintiff, who was also a one time chairman of judiciary committee of the NBA, is seeking a perpetual injunction against the defendants from all practices on judiciary funding which he claimed runs contrary to Section 121 (3) CFRN 1999, to wit, submitting judiciary’s estimates to the executive and release of the judiciary’s fund in warrants by the executive instead of directly to the heads of courts.

In a 16-paragraph affidavit and a written address in support of the originating summon, the plaintiff inter alia averred that, “Judiciary does not have sufficient funds to operate optimally as envisaged under the CFRN 1999. The judiciary

depends on the executive for its budget and release of funds, which undermines the independence of the judiciary and courage of judges as there is constant need to survive.

“In furtherance of my desire to support and strengthen the judicial system, I conducted a compliance audit of state

judiciaries across Nigeria and discovered that the Ekiti state government is in breach of Section 121(3) 1999 Constitution which provides that monies standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the heads of court concerned. “I observed

that contrary to the intendment of CFRN 1999, the Ekiti state executive arm controls the budget of the Ekiti state judicial arm, includes it in the State Annual Appropriation Bill and sends to the House of Assembly for appropriation.

“I know as fact that the funds standing to the credit of the Ekiti state

judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State are not paid directly to the 3rd defendant. The 3rd defendant is paid in warrants. The funds are not received directly as stipulated in S 121 (3) CFRN 1999. “ I am aware that the proper thing is for the Governor to prepare the estimates of the minis-

tries, departments and agencies under his control into an Appropriation Bill and lay before the State House of Assembly, the Judiciary prepares its own estimates and it is charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State.”

However, the defendants are yet to respond and no date has been fixed for hearing.

Chronicle of Al-Mustapha’s 14-year trial

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

M

R Richard Akinno la is a Human Rights activist, whose passion for good governance in the country is unfathomable. He was described by Justice Habeeb Abiru of Lagos State High Court as “conscience of the Nation”. However, his prolific writings have gathered more ground in the defence of the Rights and dignity of man.

In a 99-page book titled, “A Travesty of Justice: The Acquittal of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and others over the murder of Kudirat Abiola,” Akinnola chronicled the 14-year trial of Kudirat’s murder case, wife of presumed winner of June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

According to Akinnola: “As a matter of fact, in the first year of the trial, there were 49 adjournments, all at the instances of the defence. This is perhaps, one of the longest criminal trials in the anal of such cases in Nigeria.

That a case can drag on for fourteen years!”

He explained that there were three different sets of cases, which are, the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, the attempted assassination of

•Major Hamza Al-Mustapha Alex Ibru, late publisher of Guardian, and the attempted assassination of Mr Abraham Adesanya, late NADECO/Afenifere leader. While the latter was not disposed off, the other two were.

“Interestingly, while in normal clime, it is the accused person that wants speedy dispensation of justice, particularly when the accused is in custody, strangely, this trial was unduly prolonged by the accused persons as part of their strategy to unduly politicize the case and win public sympathy to the erroneous impression that the trial had dragged

on for too long” Akinnola stated.

The activist pointed out that the accused persons were in 1999, first brought before the Chief Magistrate court, Ikeja, Lagos presided over by Paul Gbogodo. They were charged with conspiracy and murder of Kudirat Abiola on June 4, 1996.

The prosecutor was a policeman, Mr Nuhu Ribadu, who later became the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC).

How the first judge to preside over the matter pulled out Akinnola noted that in the year 2000, the ac-

cused persons were subsequently charged before a Lagos High Court, presided over by Justice Christopher Segun, then Chief Judge of the State.

He added: “But the feathers of controversy soon began to fly as soon as the case began.

Unknown to the judge that a major strategy of the defence was to frustrate the trial and make it political, the judge made a slip of tongue which the defence latched on.

“At the commencement of the trial, the lead defence counsel, Mr Clement Akpamgbo (now late) had applied orally to the judge to allow the accused persons sit down in the dock, an application which Justice Segun turned down by saying ‘No! No! What kind of application is that? I cannot allow criminals to sit at my court.’

“Mr J.B. Daudu SAN, counsel to one of the accused persons, Mohammed Abacha, son of the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, latched on this by raising allegations of bias against the judge for calling his clients ‘criminals’, and asked the judge to disqualify himself from presiding over the case. Justice

Segun, in a short ruling, did not hesitate to wash his hands off the case, reassigning the case as the Chief Judge to Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun (now of the Supreme Court).”

The trial before justice Kekere-Ekun Akinnola stressed: “The trial before Justice Kekere-Ekun commenced smoothly with the prosecution, Fola ArthurWorrey (now executive secretary, Lagos State Security Trust Fund). The accused persons all pleaded not guilty. For the defence was no less formidable as led by Akpamgbo, Daudu, Yakubu Mikayu, Bala Ibn Na’Allah and Kaloma Ali. “The proceedings before Justice Kekere-Ekun soon ran into a stormy weather as Daudu again brought an application asking the court to discharge Abacha from the trial. The application was predicated on the ground that the charge of accessory after the fact of murder preferred against Abacha could not stand since the charge of murder had not been proven.

“After listening to all the arguments, Justice Kekere-Ekun overruled Daudu. Dissatisfied, Daudu tenaciously pursed the application to the court of appeal and the Supreme Court where he eventually got his request in a very controversial decision.

“The apex court of July 11, 2002 gave the verdict in favour of Abacha, discharging him from the trial. It should be noted that while Daudu was pursing Abaha’s application at the appellate court, he brought an application before the trial court for stay of proceedings, pending the determination of his application at the higher courts.

0 VANGUARD, AN AR D THURSDAY, U ST 8 3 40— AUGUST 8, 2013

What’s age got to do with it?

O

UR print, electronic and social media have in the past couple of days been heavily inundated with disputation concerning recent proceedings at the National Assembly.

What can immediately be said without equivocation is that the Senate did not vote to vary the age of marriage nor did it legitimize child marriage. Rather, what appears to have angered many Nigerians arose from a consideration by Senate, of the ‘age for renunciation of citizenship’, having regard to the provisions of section 29 of the constitution of the Federation of Nigeria, 1999 (hereafter, ‘the Constitution’).

For the avoidance of doubt, section 29 of the Constitution provides as follows: (1) Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the manner prescribed for the renunciation (2) The President shall cause the declaration made in subsection (1) of this section to be registered and upon such registration, shall cease to be a citizen of Nigeria. (3) The President may withhold the registration of any declaration made under subsection (1) of this section if- (a) the declaration is made during any war in which Nigeria is physically involved; or (b) in his opinion, it is otherwise contrary to public policy.

(4) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section- (a) “full age” means the age of eighteen years and above; (b) any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age. Thus far, it is very clear that the raging controversy has arisen from section 29(4)(b) of the Constitution which in plain language states that any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.

What the law is in this jurisdiction is that any provisions in a statute or other piece of legislation which is in subsections, must be read as a whole and not piecemeal. [See Inakoju v. Adeleke]. In that connection, it is

legitimate to interprete section 29(4)(b) to mean that for the purpose of renunciation of citizenship, any person who wishes to take that monumental step must not be less than 18 years.

Should that citizen be married, then she will be deemed to be of full age should she express the desire renounce her Nigerian citizenship by making the declaration in the manner prescribed for the renunciation. By way of clarification, it is necessary to state that the word ‘deemed’ in section 29 (4)(b) is a term of art which has over the years, been interpreted over and over again. For instance, in Barrister Paul Ubom & Anor. v.

Nseyen Anderson Anaka (1999) 6 NWLR (pt.605) 99, the Calabar Division of the Court of Appeal, interpreted the word ‘deem’ to mean ‘to hold, consider, adjudge, believe, condemn, determine, treat as if, construe’.

In that case, the piece of legislation which fell for construction was section 83 (2) of the defunct Local Government (Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 36 of 1998 which provid-

•Awa Kalu ed that the person whose election is complained of is in this Decree referred to as the respondent, but if the petition complains of the conduct of an electoral officer, a presiding officer, a returning officer or any other person who took part in the conduct of an

necessary party. The court, in the final result, held that “where an election petition complains of the conduct of a returning officer, he shall for all purposes be deemed to be a respondent.

,

BY AWA KALU, SAN

If they have the objective of true federalism, they will not be going in the direction of actually destroying it

election, the electoral officer, presiding officer, a returning officer or that other person shall for the purpose of this Decree be deemed to be a respondent and shall be joined in the election petition as a

,

The effect of nonjoinder of a returning officer where allegations of misconduct are made against him is that proof of the misconduct will not be entertained by the tribunal in the absence

of the joinder. Such nonjoinder is a fundamental vice which renders all allegations made against the officers unproved”. A more direct interpretation of the word ‘deem’ was provided very recently by the apex court, the Supreme Court, in Orji v. D.T.M. (Nig) Ltd., (2009) 18 NWLR (pt.1173) 467. In that case, two sections of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) which contained the word ‘deem’ had to be construed. Section 79 (1) of CAMA provides that.

The subscribers of the memorandum of a company shall be deemed to have agreed to become members of the company, and on its registration shall be entered as members in its register of members’.

The other section, that is section 223(3) of CAMA is to the effect that ‘Any meeting called, held and conducted in accordance with an order under subsection (1) of this section, shall for all purposes be deemed to be a meeting of the company or of the board of directors duly called, held and conducted’. In the light of these provisions, the Supreme Court held that ‘A deeming provision in a statute is a provision

which makes supposition. The deeming provision is intended to enlarge the meaning of a particular word or to include matters which otherwise may or may not fall within the main provision.

For example when a person is deemed to be something, the only meaning possible is that though he is not in reality that something, the act of parliament requires him to be treated as if he were’.

Tobi J.S.C specifically elaborated on the meaning of ‘deem’ when he said: ‘In my humble view, a deeming provision in a statute is more of a caricature than anything. It is also more of a camouflage than anything. The word, in short, stands in the place of a reality. And a deeming provision in a section of a statute will always operate in the absence of the real provision; it cannot operate side by side with the real provision. In other words, both the real and deemed provision, cannot be in the same section dealing with the same subject matter. In such a situation, a supposed deeming provision will give way to the real provision.”

Court awards N35m against bank for breach of contract

BY ONOZURE DANIA

A

LAGOS High Court, sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square Court Complex, has ordered Union Bank of Nigeria Plc to pay the sum of US$ 217,381.05 or its naira equivalent at the current exchange rate to one of it customers, Prince Nwokocha Ezikpe and his company Felimex Nigeria Limited, being the total sum of money debited from the claimant’s account by the bank and was not remitted to their foreign business partners.

The court presided over

by Justice Morenike Obadina, in its judgment, in Suit No LD/1092/2008, the court held that the claimants had established their entitlement to the reliefs sought as the funds which were debited from their account with the Union Bank, meant for remittance to the Central

Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and on to their foreign partners, were not remitted. The money was supposed to be payments for the series of transactions between the claimants and their foreign business partners.

In addition to the payment of the aforementioned sum by the bank to the claimants, the court also awarded the sum of N3 million as general damages against Union Bank for breach of contract.Furthermore, the court held that the claimants are entitled to the statutory post judgment interest and was therefore awarded 10 per cent interest on the judgment sum from the date of the judgment until the entire sum is liquidated.

However, the court refused the claimants’ claim for pre-judgment interest at the rate of 19 percent per annum from

May 1982 until final liquidation of the debt on the ground adding that the claim was not pleaded neither was there

evidence in support of the claim.Reviewing the arguments and submissions of counsel to the parties, Justice Obadina

held that Union Bank did not supply any documentary proof from its own record on the remittance of the funds to the Central Bank of Nigeria .

Falana threatens lawsuit against coy over N.358bn debt OAAN, which was copied claims contained in your

BY WAHAB ABDULAH

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AGOS lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has threatened legal action over the alleged N358,497,500.00 billion owed eight members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, OAAN, by Vixen Enterprises Limited.

To this end, a seven day-ultimatum has been issued to the company to pay up the sum, following which they will file an action in court to recover the debt.In a letter by Falana and Falana chambers on behalf of the Outdoor Advertisement Agency of Nigeria,

to Mrs Gladys Talabi, Executive Director, Legal Services, Globacom Ltd., titled, “Demand for the payment of 358,497,500.00 being indebtedness to some members of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, OAAN,” the advertisers claimed that Vixen allegedly refused to pay the money in spite of repeated demands.

Already, the management of Vixen has responded to the letter. In a response dated July 31, 2013 and signed by an authorised signatory, (without a name), read in part: “Reference your letter dated 29 July, 2013 in respect of the above, we have evaluated the

letter and wish to request for some time to situate the claims in perspective and revert to you as appropriate.”

The companies which allegedly carried out the advertising services for Vixen on behalf of an indigenous communication firm, Globalcom Nigeria are : Nigeria Advertising Services Limited, Great Grace Communication Limited, Media Link, Francis Stillwaters Nigeria Limited and Tripple A Outdoor Limited.

Others are KOK Visibility Edge Limited, De Signplast Nigeria Limited and Charella Nigeria Limited.

ANG RS A U VANGUARD, THURSDAY,AUGUST 8, 2013—41

Phantom ‘Child Marriage Bill’: Much ado about a false alarm

BY UCHE ANICHEKWU

F

OR about two weeks now, the nation has been caught in another hysteria. At the centre of it is a phantom “Child Marriage Bill” supposedly passed by the Senate.

Like most matters at the heart of many national frenzies and umbrages in the past, this one too turned out to be another bout of ignorance, mischief, hypocrisy, and professional ineptitude in defence of a false alarm.

Indeed, the penchant of some of us for the bandwagon often leaves us too gullible. It can only compare to that of the Roman plebians in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” who are easily swayed into rampage.

Take for instance the encounter of the Roman mob with a man named Cinna. In response to their numerous questions, he answers, “Truly, my name is Cinna”. “Tear him to pieces; he is a conspirator”, one of them yells.

“I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet,” he cries out. Not in the mood to reason, another member of the mob insists “Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses”.

Even when he pleads that “I am not Cinna the conspirator”, another citizen insists that “It is no matter, his name’s

Cinna”. The poor man is lynched for Caesar’s death he knows nothing about.

In real life, the Romans’ fondness for entertainment was so intense that the popularity of successive emperors depended greatly on their ability to stage violent entertainments. Bloody combats in the amphitheatres by gladiators were the opium of the masses.

The salutation “Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant” (Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you) as elaborated in Suetonius’ work, “De Vita Caesarum” (The Life of the Caesars), leaves no one in doubt that the amphitheatre was a abattoir. But it didn’t matter to the Romans. The bloodier the merrier- so long as they got entertained.

Likewise, the way some of us willfully promote lies and ignorance, it does not seem people give a damn whose character is assassinated.

However, after reading the comments of a former Minister, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili when the Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN) visited the Senate President, Senator David Mark, one cannot but excuse the masses. She said: “Our society is yet rudimentary in people completely following

talks about. It then goes further to state that “The Senate, on Wednesday, proposed to change that provision to ‘a woman is deemed to be of full age once she is married’, irrespective of the age she did so.”

This too is false and fallacious.

In her widely published piece which gives graphic details of the Deputy Senate Pre sad impacts of underage sident, Ike Ekweremadu marriage on Northern Nigeria, Maryam Uwais, a rights activist issues of legislation, and wife of the former issues of the constituChief Justice of Nigeria tion. And so many says: “It should be people assumed that there was some new Bill pointed out, however, that several media that was being disreports on the constitucussed in the Senate where the Senators were tional review debate at the Senate give the given the right to marry impression that underunder-aged children. It age marriage has been wasn’t the case.” endorsed by the Senate Nevertheless, the Chambers. Facts are same cannot be said of that S.29 of the 1979 those who ought to Constitution permits a know better, but went Nigerian citizen of ‘full ahead to willfully put age’ to renounce his or events in the Senate concerning Section 29 of her citizenship by declaration in a prethe Constitution out of scribed manner, for context. One of such which purpose ‘full age’ opprobrious comments was stated to be 18 was an editorial by one years and above. The of Nigeria’s leading subsection also provides national dailies entitled that, ‘any woman who is “Shameless Senate” married shall be published on Wednesdeemed to be of full day, June 22, 2013. The age’. In its current editorial reads in part: efforts to review the “Under Section 29 (4a Constitution, the Senate and 4b) of the ConstituCommittee had detertion, a woman shall not mined that the particube qualified for marlar subsection should be riage until she is 18 deleted, basically years of age.” This is because citizenship has certainly not what that no bearing on gender, part of the Constitution

as for example, voting, the right to drive a car, possess a weapon or such similar social interactions that are evolving or are germane to a democratic Nation.”

Indeed, Section 29 Subsection 1 provides that “Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.” Subsection 4, which is the bone of contention, provides that “For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section. (a) “full age” means the age of eighteen years and above; (b) any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.” The Constitution is specific as to the ONLY purpose Subsection 4(b) can serve- that is strictly for the purposes of subsection 1 or renunciation of citizenship.

This fact is supported by the position paper presented by GECORN (comprising people like Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Mrs Maryam Uwais, and Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina) during the said visit to the Senate President while the matter raged. It reads in part: “At the moment of birth, the first gift every Nigerian receives from

Required proof for criminal allegations in election petition (2)

BY AKINTAYO IWILADE

L

IKE we argued earlier, the strict rule was developed to ensure “only guilty persons are convicted by the State”.

Therefore, it is the end goal of a proceeding that should ordinarily determine the standard of proof to be applied. The ‘strict rule’ ought only to apply where the end goal of a proceeding seeks conviction of a citizen by the State and not where the end goal is a pursuit of compensatory damages, injunctive/restorative reliefs, declarations, restitutive orders etc; such as are often sought in civil and election petition proceedings respectively.

Sound logic is therefore diminished when a

Plaintiff, Claimant or Petitioner is required (just to obtain compensatory damages, injunctive/ restorative reliefs, declarations etc), to demonstrate the wholesome prosecutorial powers of the State to arrest, gather, investigate and even confiscate required ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt evidence’. It becomes more untenable when it is considered that such Plaintiff, Claimant or Petitioner hardly ever possesses the supportive privileges and ‘investigative infrastructure’ available, often exclusively, to the State.

Accordingly, it betrays uneven and illogical justice to impose the onerous ‘proof beyond

Akintayo Iwilade reasonable doubt’ evidential burden on aspects of such proceedings, in which different outcomes, other than the conviction sought by the State in criminal proceedings, are what is being sought.

From the decisions in Torti v. Ukpabi (1984) 1 SCNLR 214, Nwobodo v Onoh (1984) 1 SC 1, Omoboriowo v. Ajasin

(1984) 1 SC 1 etc; to the recent cases involving Buhari v Obasanjo (2005) 13 NWLR (pt. 941) pg 1 at 182, Agagu v Mimiko (2009) All FWLR (pt. 462) 1122 at 1167-1168 and many others, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and all Lower Tribunals have left no one in doubt of the state of the Law on the standard of proof required to judicially verify criminal allegations made in Election Petitions throughout Nigeria. The standard is, and remains, that ‘criminal allegations made in Election Petitions must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and; where an Election Petition is founded solely on such criminal allegations and there

happens to be a wanting in the stated statutory standard of proof, the petition cannot succeed’.

That is the state of the Law today, and it remains firmly so and continually enforceable, except, and until set-aside by an Act of Parliament.

That being the State of the Law, it is posited that there is no logical jurisprudential foundation to support or justify the continued application and imposition of such onerous evidential burden on Election Petitions. A dynamic reversal of the current Law, through concerted legislative and jurisprudential rethinking, is highly desirable.

It must be adequately

To be continued

the state is citizenship.

To protect this sacred gift of citizenship, we advocate for the deletion of section 29 (4) (b) of the 1999 Constitution. It is the desire of all Nigerians, who treasure our citizenship, to remove this provision that provides that young Nigerian girls, who are not old enough to vote or to obtain a driver’s licence, are somehow old enough to renounce their citizenship… Citizenship is and must remain genderneutral and safeguarded from any cultural, religious or social interpretations or connotations.”

Although the Senate’s efforts at removing this subsection unfortunately failed, it deserves some credit for proposing the removal. Ironically, the recommendation to delete it did not come from the hordes of “activists” seeking to become heroes of a phantom campaign.

Yes, the Senate, through the Ekweremadu Committee, fished out this subsection that has been in the Constitution since 1979 by itself and slated it for deletion.

The Deputy President of the Senate who chairs the Senate Committee on Constitution Review left no one in doubt of rationale. He said: “Section 29(4)(b) was recommended for deletion because the Committee considered it discriminatory. Section 29(4)(a) has already defined “full age” for purposes of citizenship renunciation as age eighteen and above. We considered it gender discriminatory and imbalance to place the man and woman on different scales in matters of citizenship renunciation…. As such, it was recommended for deletion, but could not pass eventually.”

In essence, sad as it were that Section 29(4)(b) could not be deleted, it does not give any one any legal backing to marry a girl of less than 18 years as if offends the provisions of the Child Rights Act (also passed by the much profaned National Assembly). The current “activism” should instead be directed at getting States that are yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act to do so.

Anichukwu is Special Adviser Media to the Deputy Senate President

Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013—43

Orji commiserates with Fashola, NUJ

Labour shuts Union Homes over sack of 300 workers

BY KELECHI AZUBUIKE

N

IGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, and its affiliate, Association of Senior Staff of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions, ASSBIFI, workers and other activists, have shut the operations of Union Homes Plc over alleged unprocedural sack of 300 workers and breach of collective agreement.

According to the aggrieved labour leaders, the management of the company had in the past five months unjustly terminated 300 workers, while over 100 others were forced to resign.

They demanded, among others, immediate payment of legacy funds to individual Staff Retirement Savings Accounts, RSA, with different Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs. Immediate withdrawal of termination letters from staff unjustly removed to be placed by withdrawal of service or disengagement letters; immediate payment of redundancy benefits to staff whose employments were unjustly terminated; immediate payment of correctly calculated gratuity benefits to all staff unjustly terminated and forced to resign their appointments.

Man arraigned for alleged theft, fraud

BY IJEOMA NATHANIEL

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AGOS—A man, Oluwalusi Akin, was yesterday, arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrates Court sitting in Ikega for allegedly deceptively representing Oando Marketing Plc in the buying and selling of oil products worth N 2,523, 640.

The suspect, docked before Magistrate E. A Fabanwo, is facing a three-count charge of theft and fraud preferred against him by the police.

Police Prosecutor, Barth Nwaokenye ASP, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence in March, 2012 at Oando Marketing Plc, Toyin Street, Ikeja.

He said the defendant did obtain AGO diesel products from one Adeniyi Ige and deceptively issue him a fake GTBANK cheque.

BY ANAYO OKOLI

U Gov Theodore Orji of Abia state (right) receiving a keynote address from the chairman, Tomato Dealers relief market, Ahiaeke, Elder Emeka Onyemere when they visited the governor in Umuahia.

Leventis boosts Sino-Nigerian trade as Foton trucks hit market

BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

O

NE of the country’s leading automobile companies, Leventis Motors, has launched into the Nigeria market Foton trucks, its new range of products.

The development is a further boost to the trade relations between Nigeria and China, especially against the backdrop of President Goodluck Jonathan's recent visit to China.

The trucks, which comes in two variations, namely Light Duty Trucks, LDT, and Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks, M&HDT, are a product of Foton-Daimler joint

venture, which had been a successful story in China, its home country.

Sales Manager, Leventis Motors, Mr. Ashish Kumar, said the trucks were widely accepted globally, adding that its launch in Nigeria offered an optimal solution to the transportation needs in the country.

According to him, the company introduced the trucks into Nigeria, based on its deep understanding of the market.

Kumar said: “Foton trucks meet all safety norms, including frontal crash, roof crush and rear wall strength.

Some of the variants are also

fitted with ABS to ensure the safety of the crew and goods. All these come with the economy of very good fuel mileage”.

Speaking in a similar vein, the company’s Manager, Service, Mr. Vilas Bhurke, said the trucks carried 24-month/100,000 warranty, backed by comprehensive spareparts and service network across the country.

He said: "We, at Leventis Motors, believe that total customer satisfaction is only achieved when a good quality vehicle is supported by attentive and responsive customer care and after sales service and support".

S-West PDP hails Gov Dickson's c'ttee over Ekiti crisis

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HE Chief Ishola Filani-led caretaker committee of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South West has hailed Governor Seriake Dickson’s National Reconciliation Committee for resolving the crisis that engulfed Ekiti State chapter of the party.

In a statement by the Zonal Publicity Secretary, Mr Waheed Lawal, the party expressed its gratitude to the national leadership of the party for its foresight and wisdom in setting up the Dickson committee.

It also commended the committee for “the mature and exemplary way it has been going about its assignment without fear or favour, especially as it relates to Ekiti State.”

The party said it was gratifying that the Dickson-led committee aligned with its decision reversing actions taken by the two sides to the crisis.

The party said: “It bears eloquent testimony to the impartiality of the

zonal and national leadership of the party” .

It urged leaders and members of the party to close ranks and work as a united entity now that the crisis has been resolved, adding that “there is no victor, no vanquished.”

While noting that all the other pending internal issues within the state chapter of the party will be amicably resolved by the leaders, it appealed to stakeholders to go all out and mobilise for the PDP so as to come top in the 2014 governorship elections.

MUAHIA—ABIA State governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has commiserated with Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State over the death of his father, Pa Ademola Fashola.

He also condoled with the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, on the death of its officers in a car crash last week.

Orji, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, urged Governor Fashola to take heart as death was a necessary end for every mortal.

Orji, who described the late octogenarian as a respected community leader who lived a life of emulation, urged his Lagos State counterpart to continue to sustain the legacies of his late father.

Commiserating with the NUJ over the death of some of its members in a ghastly motor accident in Osun State, the governor described the accident as tragic and devastating.

Orji, who described the three late NUJ officials as highly dedicated, committed and highly professional in the discharge of their duties as journalists while alive, said their death had created a vacuum in the pen profession.

He, however, noted that no one could question God on why he called those who died in the crash, and urged the families of the deceased to bear their great loss with fortitude.

He prayed God to grant their souls eternal rest.

He urged Nigerians to keep praying for the protection of NUJ members whose job remained challenging and tasking.

2015: We 'll stop APC in South East—Igbo youths

BY ANAYO OKOLI

U

MUAHIA—THE youth wing of Igbo Socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has vowed to stop the All Progressives Congress, APC, from winning elections in the South East geo-political zone in 2015.

Rising from a meeting in Enugu, Ohanaeze youths advised the APC to concentrate in the North and South-West as

the South-East zone was a no go area for the party.

Organising Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, who spoke on the resolution adopted at the meeting, said Igbo youths would never be associated with a political party that had exhibited ethnic and religious bias as the APC. According to him, the Yoruba/ Hausa alliance which the new

party epitomizes has never favoured Ndigbo since independence and cautioned Ndigbo against embracing the party.

Isiguzoro said: “APC should therefore concentrate in the North and West. We (Ohanaeze youths) will make sure that APC does not win even a councillorship seat in the South-East.

“The party was formed out of acrimony. We will not tolerate any gang up in the South-East”.

46— Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

C M Y K

48—Vanguard , THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Salvation Army elects Swiss-British commissioner as 20th General

Fed College of Alternative Medicine not illegal — Provost

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AGOS—THE Fed eral College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (FEDCAM) in IsheriOlofin, Lagos is not an illegal School.

This was contained in a statement issued in Lagos, yesterday, by the National Association of Physicians and Complementary Alternative Medicine (NACAPAM) and signed by the provost of the college, Dr. Idowu Ogunkoya.

NACAPAM insists, therefore, that the Medicine and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has no reason whatsoever to close down the college.

The college was reportedly closed down last weekend by the HOD Inspectorate of MDCN, Dr. Henry Okwuokenye, alleging that Dr. Ogunkoya had no practice license to act as the provost and that there was no accreditation of faculty and curriculum of training for the school.

But reacting to the abrupt closure of the college, FEDCAM said that Dr. Okwuokenye was informed about the school’s operations, activities and purpose.

NACAPAM said: "The Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (FEDCAM), was set up for the purpose of training people for traditional and natural medicine and not to award degrees or doctorate degrees."

School proprietor counsels young school leavers

BY OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI

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AGOS—YOUNG school leavers have been advised to use their education to grab opportunities that could make them contribute positively to the development of the country and mankind.

Proprietor of Royal Group of schools, Pastor Christian Ekeh, gave the advice during the school's 11th Valedictory service held at the school premises in PapaAjao, Mushin.

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MEETING—From left: Chairman, National Pligrims Welfare Board, Kaduna State, Bishop Buba Lamido; Bishop Emmanuel S. Makurues, Executive Secretary, National Christian Pligrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Okpara and Secretary of the welfare board, Rev. Joe Yari at a meeting in Kaduna, yesterday. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

Eid-il-Fitr : Borno Gov tasks Muslims on peace

BY NDAHI MARAMA

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AIDUGURI —GOV ERNOR Kashim Shettima of Borno State, has called on Muslims in the state to use the spirit of the just concluded Ramadan fast and marking of Eid-il-Fitr to contribute to the efforts at ensuring and sustaining peace in the state.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Isa Gusau, yesterday, Governor Shettima said his administration was determined, to continually work with relevant stakeholders to sustain peace in the state and advised citizens to perform roles that will stabilise the State.

According to him, ”we thank Allah for the successful completion of the Ramadan fast and for the Eid festival. We also thank our good citizens who must have devoted their times to offering prayers for the attainment of peace in Borno and the rest of Nigeria. Their prayers are being answered because peace is evidently returning to the state even though we have had some recent incidents.

"The Government is encouraged by the fact that citizens have remained undaunted despite the incidents as they are speedily returning to hitherto deserted areas. We will remain rooted in our commitment to work for the attainment of peace in our dear Borno State and Nigeria at large. We are bound by constitutional, moral and spir-

itual obligations to ensure the safety of our citizens and their property and we shall continue to hold these obligations.

"We, however, need to continue support of our dear citizens whose roles in our desperate search for peace is crucial. “ We will need our citizens to remain dedicated in prayers, cooperative with security bodies, communally vigilant; we urge parents to carry on with guiding their children and wards to be of good and lawful behaviours; we urge citizens to avoid spreading of rumour which can cause false alarms that could lead to general panic and breaches of security while we should all promote

peace through making reasonable utterances in private discussions and public discourse.

"We should at all times realise, that the search for peace is a shared obligation between leaders and the led since peace is basic to our continued existence as individuals and as a society. We must never be deterred by incidents because there is no alternative to the return of peace. I pray that we celebrate the Sallah in peace and harmony. I call on all of us to be kind to our neighbours, relatives, friends and the needy by extending gestures to them in the spirit behind the Ramadan and the Eid-il-fitr.

We must be our brother ’s keepers to attract compassion from our creator and fellow humans from whom we may also find ourselves in need. “

A G O S — S A LVA TION Army has elected Commissioner André Cox, a Swiss-British, as the 20th General of the church and charity. He replaces General Linda Bond who retired recently.

The election took place at High Council which saw 117 of the Salvation Army ’s senior leaders from around the world gather outside London for the sacred task of choosing the next international leader.

The General accepted his new responsibility in a spirit of humility, saying that, irrespective of the rank he held, he had not moved away from his original calling to officership – to be God’s servant and to proclaim the gospel.

General Cox shares his ministry with his wife, Commissioner Silvia Cox, who is the World President of Women’s Ministries. Together General and Commissioner Cox will lead the 1.5 million strong worldwide church of The Salvation Army.

On being announced as The Salvation Army’s 20th General, the new international leader told more than 10,000 people from around the world watching via a live webcast that he was thankful to God but aware of the “awesome task that has been placed upon our shoulders. I pray that The Salvation Army will be known for being a force for good in the world"

AUTO CRASH: NLC commiserates with NUJ

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AGOS—NIGERIA La bour Congress, NLC, has sent a letter of condolence to Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, over the tragic death of three of its members last Friday in a ghastly motor accident.

NLC in a letter by its Acting General Secretary, Chris Uyot in Abuja, addressed to the NUJ President, Garba Mohammed, said: “It is with a heart laden with sorrow, but total submission to the will of God that we write to condole with you on behalf of the Nigeria Labour Con-

gress on the tragic death of executives and members of your union on Ibadan -Akure Express Way. Their death is one too many in similar circumstances as well as leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It is both a sad commentary on our road infrastructure and our driving culture.

“Comrade President, the tragic and painful loss of Comrades Kafayat Odunsi, Adolphus Okonkwo and Tunde Olawanike, is not only suggestive of the increasing dangers to which journalists are exposed, but underscores

the need to have comprehensive insurance cover and welfare package for members.You have been at the forefront of securing advantages for members as well as raising the practice bar. I have no doubt in my mind that you will pursue to a logical end issues pertaining to the protection of members.”

It added that “may their gentle souls rest in peace, and may God give you, their families and friends the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Please do convey to their families our heart-felt condolences.”

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Artists set to define artistic identity •as 12 finalists emerge for NAC finals

After the retreat, finalists will also use four months to execute their final project before tGrand Finale and Judging Ceremony which will take place on 24, 2013 , Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Mrs Emete Tonukari, NB’s CRS/Sustainability Manager,Nigerian Breweries said that Nigeria Breweries has

been partnering with the African Artists’ Foundation to organise the National Art Competition for six consecutive years. And that the competition is part of an effort to encourage and promote the development of creativity, arts and artists in Nigeria. ‘’Nigerian Breweries recognises that arts play an important role in strengthening cultural values in any society. This sponsorship remains only part of a broad initiative to support arts development in Nigeria, as well as the development of talents in various fields of endeavor.’’ she added On his part, AAF director, Azu Nwagbogu said that AAF is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of contemporary African art. The Foundation serves a significant role in art and academic communities through organizing art exhibitions, festivals, competitions, residencies, and workshops with the aim of unearthing and developing talent, creating societal awareness, and providing a platform to express creativity.

The National Art Competition is proudly sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc, coordinated by Artists’ Foundation (AAF) supported by 24 and Bogobiri Guest House.

Media Partners include Vanguard Media Ltd, Mania Magazine, and The Beat 99.9 FM.

live, she has a troubled home front. Her husband is crippled and her sexuality is questionable, as she derives pleasure and is sexually attracted to other women.

She becomes the gateway from her family’s squalor and poverty. Cleopatra is being sold out by her parents to a 72 years old Otunba whose wealth leads them out of poverty.

Her union is bereft of love and care, and she decides A scene from the drama series to get the love and affection she desires in the waiting her landlord, destroying her mararms of her lover(the dude she riage, and having an affair with is supposed to get married her friend’s husband. On the to).She dares to bring him to her other hand, Peace is the born husband’s house claiming he is again, bible quoting wife who her cousin. doesn’t pay attention to her husLoveth’s quest for material ac- band’s sexual needs. This made quisition led her to sleeping with him an easy prey for Loveth.

The themes of infidelity, hypocrisy, distrust, and hatred are being amplified in this drama series. Aside from the noticeable characterization and continuity flaws, this production manages to be exceptional in its delivery and depth.

A painting by Nigerian born Bimbo Adenuga

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BY JAPHET ALAKAM

O many, especially parents who discourage their wards from taking visual art as a profession, recent developments within the art terrain is a pointer to them that art is capable of turning people into millionaires.

Apart from raking in millions from sale of art works during art auctions, three millionaires will emerge as the Nigerian Breweries and African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) get set to reward three lucky winners of the 2013 National Art Competition.

Announcing the twelve finalists for the sixth annual National Art Competition in Lagos last week, the organisers disclosed that it is going to be naira rain

for the winners as the first prize winner will go home with Two million naira(N2M).The first runner up will get N1.5M while the second runner up will get one million naira (N1m).

According to them, the National Art Competition aims to promote the development of contemporary African art and raise awareness of social issues through the use of creative artistic expression.

This year, over a hundred entries were received from all geopolitical zones in Nigeria and twelve finalists were selected by the artist selection committee, led

by El Anatsui. The 12 that will jostle for the prizes are:Karimah Ashadu, Alayande Ayanwale, Chidinma Nnorom Chinke,

Mary Edoga Chioma, Sesu Tilley-Gyado, Taiye Idahor, Erasmus Onyishi, Olanrewaju Tejuoso, Felicia Okpara Tochukwu, Victoria Udondian, the artist duo Chuka Ejorh & Olamide Udo-Udoma, and the artist duo Halima Abubakar & Zemaye Okediji.

Working on the theme “IDENTITY: Who Do You Think You Are?”, the artistswill explore their views on the relationship between individual and collective identity in Nigeria today and also examine the role of art as a vehicle for social change. The artists will through the theme contribute to the ongoing debate in Nigeria about the value and function of our national identity: do

we identify ourselves with our state of origin, or do we accept the communities in which we reside, embracing them as our home?

What are our anxieties about our perceived status in society and how has globalization and social media boosted or influenced this status?

The organisers also disclosed that as part of efforts to equip, develop ideas and the message of their work, the finalists were engaged in an Artist Retreat atArt GalleryIkoyi, Lagos between 29 - August 2, 2013 where they had the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other and participate in workshops by leading artists, scholars, and practitioners in their fields.

Final project

Lekki wives: The dust in the diamond L

EKKI Wives is a drama se ries written, produced, and directed by Blessing Effiom Egbe.

She has amazingly carved a niche for herself in the crowded Nigerian movie industry. The sensational actress cum model who is a theatre arts graduate is a breath of fresh air in Nollywood setting out to push the envelope in her movie productions. Her movie’ Two Brides and a Baby’ got twelve nominations from the revered Nollywood awards The Best Of Nollywood(B.O.N) A few minutes spent watching her new flick Lekki Wives and I got stuck by the freshness and technical appropriateness of the story. Starring the likes of Adaora Ukoh-Miranda, Keira HewatchPeace,Katherine Obiang-Uju,Kiki Omeli-Loveth, and Chinonso Young-Cleopatra. Lekki is a high

brow location in Lagos synonymous with wealth, power, and ostentatious lifestyles. Everything seems picture perfect for the Lekki wives on the outside, but behind the glitter and glamour they parade, is stench and the struggle to live life on their own terms.

It’s certainly a thrill to see Uju(Catherine Obiang), the renowned on air personality come alive in the interpretation of her role. Uju is the odd one, the fish out of water amongst the Lekki wives .She is desperate to keep up with the joneses and lead a successful life. Even though she acquires all the trappings of a Lekki babe, her fake lifestyle and quirkiness came to the open.

Miranda is the loud mouth amongst them. Despite the near flawless lifestyle she pretends to

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