POWER: FG invests 2.74trn in 16 years

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 62489

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Troops intercept Boko Obasanjo in another Haram drug suppliers secret meeting 16

with Buhari

POWER: FG invests N2.74trn in 16 years •Military regimes crippled power sector — IGALI •About 2,000 defunct NEPA staff yet to be paid

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By Henry Umoru

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BUJA—THE Senate was told, yesterday, that the Federal Government has invested a N2.74 trillion in Nigeria’s power sector over the last 16 years (1999 to date).

The investments were made during the regimes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo; his successor, late President Umaru Yar ’Adua, and President Goodluck Continues on Page 5

DONU KOGBARA: DAY 10

Mr & Mrs

VISIT—President Muhammadu Buhari (L) and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, after a closed-door meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

COLUMNISTS: The fourth estate: Mass Media and tribalism •P.17

C M Y K

A Silver Jubilee dream of Delta •P.19 State

When Igbo women celebrated August meeting in style See Inside

BPE orders Enugu DISCO to hands off Aba, Ariaria assets 9

2— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—3

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4— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—5

POCKET CARTOON

DECLARATION: Immediate past President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan(2nd left); making a remark while his Wife, Patience(3rd left); former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha(right) and Kingsley Otuaro, Deputy Governor of Delta State, (left), watch at the declaration of Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State to run for a second term, yesterday, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

POWER: FG invests N2.74trn in 16 years Continues from page 1 Jonathan.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, and the Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC, Mr. James Olotu, disclosed this before a Senate Adhoc Committee probing the power sector from 1999 till date.

Furthermore, Olotu revealed that contrary to popular belief, the National Integrated Power Projects, NIPPs, which gulped about $8.23 billion or N1.64 trillion were actually being funded from the Excess Crude Account, rather than from ministerial provisions.

Power in military era

Speaking further, Ambassador Igali told the Senate that former military Heads of state, who ruled

the country from the overthrow of former President Shehu Shagari, up to 1999, when democracy was reinstituted, crippled the power sector.

According to Igali, this is because the successive regimes not only failed to recruit the relevant engineers for 19 years, but also failed to invest in the power sector during their reigns.

He disclosed that out of the 79 power generation units, only 19 were functioning at that time, adding that no new power plant was constructed from 1991 to 1999.

He recalled that the last plant, Shiroro was built in 1991, long before the emergence of Obasanjo as president in 1999, adding that consequently, the power sector depreciated rapidly due to lack of consistent investment and funding until Obasanjo began the power reforms.

IT'S UP TO YOU

BY AYO ADIO HATEVER it is in your life you want to achieve, fine a way to start small and then start today. A year from now you may wish you had started today— Karen Lamb. It’s up to you.

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TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

When life says No! It means Yes! Some other time, when life says Rejection! It means Acceptance some other place —Take Heart Quotes O matter what you’re experiencing, life is beautiful. One should love, laugh, and take time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the scenery while unfolding your own story and journey through life…but mostly to be grateful! Live in the present, don’t let it slip away unobserved and unseized with worry about the future, which is unformed, or ruminate about the past which is gone.

Let go of intrusive memories that do not uplift and tune in to your higher self for inner peace.

N

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE

D

ONT love the one who is beautiful for the world, love the one who makes your world beautiful .

Democracy brought improvement

Igali said further: “When democracy came, the government inherited the sector that had not made capital investment for a long time and not a single engineer was recruited in 19 years.

Despite the effort at investment by government, we have not been able to invest in a consistent manner in the power sector.

“Investment from government and the private sector must go up gradually but consistently, as fluctuation will not help our economic development. I do know that despite government’s effort at funding the power sector, the nation continues to experience epileptic power supply.

However, it takes time to stabilise.”

He equally recalled that when Obasanjo came to power in 1999, electricity generation capacity was a mere 1,750 MW, noting that in view of the volume of investment required, the Ministry had to bring in the private sector which resulted into a reasonable improvement from what it used to be.

Funds appropriation

Igali further disclosed that despite the sector’s need, budgetary votes were seldom released fully, noting that the country cannot realise the full benefit of any investment in power unless the value chain elements – generation, transmission and distribution were also revamped.

He gave a breakdown of the appropriation and money released from

1999 to 2015 as follows: 1999 - N11.206 billion a p p r o p r i a t e d , N6.698billion released; 2000 - N59.064billion appropriated, N49,785 billion released;  2001 - N103. 397 billion appropriated, N70.927 billion released; 2002 - N54.647billion appropriated, N41.196 billion released; 2003 - N55.583billion a p p r o p r i a t e d , N5.207billion released; 2004 - N54.647billion appropriated, N54.

647billion released; 2005 - N90.283 billion appropriated, N71.889 billion released; 2006 - N74.308 billion appropriated, N74. 3 billion released; 2007 - N100 billion appropriated, N99.8 billion released; 2008 - N156 billion appropriated, N112 billion released; 2009 - N89. 5 billion appropriated, N87billion released; 2010 - N172 billion appropriated, N70 billion released; 2011 - N125 billion appropriated, N61 billion released; 2012 - N197. 9 billion appropriated, N53.

5billion released;  2013- N146 billion appropriated, N49 billion released; 2014 - N69.8 billion appropriated, N48 billion released; and, 2015 - N5. 240billion appropriated, no money released yet.

However, he said that it was only in 2009 that the power sector witnessed a full appropriation, adding that the annual net funding shortfall ranged from 22 per cent to 67 per cent.

Intervention funds

According to Igali, about N155 billion intervention fund was released to the Ministry for the Multi-Year Tariff Order, MYTO, to cushion the effects of the shortfalls in expenditure for the power sector between 2009 and 2013.

The funds were given for a period of five years.

A breakdown of the interventions funds are as follows: 2009 - N30.8 billion; 2010 -N43.2 billion; 2011 - N37.0 billion; 2012 - N11.5 billion; and, 2013 - N32.6 billion.

Outstanding labour issues

Speaking on the defunct National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, the Permanent Secretary, who noted that every aspect of power has been sold, except for the transmission units, said that about 2,000 workers

were yet to be paid off.

He noted that many who claimed to be staff of NEPA do not have valid documents, adding that parts of the proceeds from the privatisation exercise were used to settle labour claims of over 46,000 workers by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE. He said the payments were made through the office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the National Pensions Commission.

Electricity operations

Speaking on the high cost of operations in the power sector, Igali who noted that a healthy infrastructure expansion programme required continual investment, said that about “60% 70% is the typical utility debt to equity profile.

Infrastructure projects should be fully funded over a three-year budget cycle.

“Typical Capital Cost (based on a 200:1 Naira/ USD exchange rate), Gas processing plant N30 N40 billion; each Gas pipeline N12 million per inch per km; Generation N200 million per MW; Double circuit 330 kV transmission line: N85million per km; Double circuit 132 kV transmission line N80million per km; Transmission transformer N16 million per MVA; Single circuit 33 kV distribution line N6.5million per km; Single circuit 11 kV distribution line: N6million per km; and Distribution transformer N2.5million - N6 million each.”

No witch-hunting

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abubakar Kyari, APC, Borno North, insisted that the exercise was not to witch-hunt anybody, but a fact finding one in the interest of Nigeria.

Expected to appear before the Committee today are the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC;

Bureau of Public Enterprises; BPE; Power Generating Companies, GENCOs and Power Distributing Companies, DISCOs. It would be recalled that Senate President Bukola Saraki, had last month announced a 13-man adhoc Committee to carry out a holistic investigation into the management of funds appropriated to the power sector from the Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration to date.

Senator Saraki had urged members of the committee to consider their reputation and integrity and come up with a report that would be acceptable to Nigerians.

He lamented that a lot of money had been spent on the sector with no results, while Nigeria is still faced with the challenge of power supply.

The committee was also saddled with the responsibility of looking into irregularities in the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN and to inadvertently probe how the Obasanjo, Umaru Yar‘adua and Jonathan administrations managed funds allocated to the sector.

It was charged with the task of looking into the entire power value chain including generation, transmission and distribution with a view to identifying what the problems in the sector are.

Saraki who noted at the inauguration of the committee three weeks ago that the task before the panel is huge, had however frowned at the continued absence of regular supply of electricity despite the country ’s huge investments in the sector.

Kyari, in his remarks during the inauguration detailed the nature of the investigation his committee is saddled with,saying, “ to have a close look at the entire power value chain (generation, transmission and distribution) calls for review of our policies in order to obtain optimum performances across the board.

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Police arrest 5 bank robbery suspects in Yola

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By Umar Yusuf

O L A — A DA M AWA State police command has arrested five suspects in connection with frequent bank robberies in Yola, the state capital, in recent times.

It will be recalled that no fewer than three new generation banks had their customers robbed of huge amounts of money in day light robberies in the last two weeks.

Irked by the ugly development, the police command advised the public to be on the alert whenever they were transacting businesses within bank premises.

The command’s spokesman, Othman Abubakar, DSP, who dislcosed this in a statement, said: “We wish to alert the public that bank robbery is on the increase within Yola metropolis.

“The command is, hereby, advising the public to be on the alert whenever they are transacting business within bank premises and even beyond.’’

Man docked for impersonating Customs Deputy C-G

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By Onozure Dania

AGOS—A 26-year-old fraudster, Alao Christian Akojime, who impersonated the Deputy ComptrollerGeneral of Nigerian Customs Service, Peter Akande, was yesterday arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate's Court for alleged fraud.

The defendant, who was docked before Magistrate F. F. George, is facing a fourcount charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretense and impersonation preferred against him by the police.

The prosecutor, Inspector Haruna Ibrahim, told the court that the defendant and others still at large, committed the alleged offences on August 12, 2015, in Lagos.

He said Akojime obtained the sum of N33,300 from one Samuel Eze on the pretext of helping him get recruited into the Nigerian Customs Service.

Another 26 killed in Zamfara flood G

By Salisu Maradun

USAU—IN less than 72 hours after over 20 people lost their lives as a result of heavy downpour in Gusau, Zamfara State, another 26 people have also died in a similar circumstance in the state.

The tragedy happened at Janbako town in Maradun local government of the state, where people were said to have been trapped in their homes and killed by flood which trailed the rain.

Over 200 houses were also reportedly destroyed, while properties worth millions of naira were washed away by the flood.

When Vanguard visited the area yesterday, the community was bereft of its bustling status as it was completely deserted by the residents.

Some survivors were also seen weeping over the loss of their beloved ones and properties.

All other roads linking the town with its neighbours were submerged and washed away by the flood.

Some of the victims, according to findings by Vanguard, have since taken refuge in communities not affected by the flood.

Others were seen preparing makeshift houses to settle in

before any assistance come their way.

Vanguard also gathered that a number of the residents sustained injuries in an effort to escape the rain which lasted nine hours.

Officials of the state Emergency

Management Agency, ZEMA, have since arrived the town to ascertain the level of loss, and other damage the flood may have caused, with a view to assisting the victims.

Although the governor of the

state was away when the tragedy happened, his deputy, Mallam Wakkala, directed that the victims be given all necessary assistance they deserved, and prayed God to prevent a recurrence.

The well where a 10-year-old girl drowned in Mafoluku, Oshodi area of Lagos.

Cult clash claims 2 in Ughelli As Police arrest 30 cultists in another Delta community

By Brisibe Perez & Ochuko Akuopha

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GHELLI—TWO persons were yesterday confirmed dead as a result of an ensuing battle between two rival cult groups in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli Local Government Area of Delta State.

This came as 30 cultists were arrested in another Delta community, Irri, following Police crackdown on cultism in Isoko Local Government Area.

Though details of victims of Ughelli cult clash could not be confirmed at press time, one of them, simply identified as Baddest, was killed with a battle axe on Monday, along Orobase

Street, while the second was shot dead on Sunday at Ekrejebor axis of Ughelli.

Giving graphic details of the attack on Baddest, a witness who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his assailants numbering five, shot him severally.

It was learned that when he failed to succumb to the gun shots, his assailants inflicted deep cuts on him with battle axes and other weapons.

A source further disclosed that Baddest died from cuts sustained in the attack, as efforts were on to rush him to the hospital for medical attention.

Confirming the incident, a senior police officer attached to Ughelli ‘A’ Police Station disclosed

that investigation into the incident was ongoing, saying the police were on top of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Police in Delta State yesterday arrested 30 persons at Irri in Isoko South Local Government Area for their alleged involvement in cult activities.

It was learned that the suspects who were members of various cult groups in the community, were arrested at about 3.30 am in a clampdown on cultists in the area.

Sources said those arrested included a cultist who had renounced his membership of a cult group after series of threat messages to him.

“He was in Police custody and because he renounced membership of his cult group, his

cult members were after him and they wanted to kill him, so he raised an alarm. ‘’He was the one that identified the cultists and over 30 of them were arrested,” a source who spoke on condition of anonymity told journalists.

Reacting to the arrests, the chairman of Irri Community Development Committee, Mr. Goddey Igorigo, condemned cultism in the area and said the community was putting machinery in place to stamp out the menace.

Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Celestina Kalu, confirmed the arrests, saying the Police had commenced investigation into the matter.

Why we couldn't rescue 10-year-old Eniola from drowning —EYE WITNESS

By Abdul-Lateef Ligali & Ebere Aham

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AGOS—“ËNIOLA would have been alive had help come on time.” This was the statement that greeted the arrival of Vanguard yesterday, at 11 Atanda Street, Mafoluku, Lagos, where a 10year-old girl reportedly fell inside a well while playing on Monday.

Vanguard had reported that the girl, Eniola Shodipo, came

to spend the summer holiday with a family in the area.

However, on that fateful day, she was reportedly playing with other children in front of the building, when she lost balance while running and fell inside the well.

Although everyone kept sealed lips on what happened but a neighbour who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Vanguard that some Hausa men refused to go for

her rescue when contacted.

The neighbour said: “One of them who managed to come insisted that the police must be contacted before he would go inside the well. We begged him to go that we would stand by him if trouble comes. By the time he reluctantly agreed and entered inside the well, the girl had drowned. It took him over ten minutes of search before he got the location

Eniola was. She was rushed to a private hospital around here when she was brought out. But unfortunately, she was confirmed dead.

A woman who claimed to be a relative to the deceased, said: “The bereaved family has decided to leave everything to God. The family does not want people coming to ask what happened. It is a sad occurrence no doubt but there is nothing anyone can do to bring Eniola back.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—7

Hunger pushed me into crime —ROBBERY SUSPECT

By Abdul-Lateef Ligai & Ebere Afam

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AGOS—A robbery suspect, yesterday, met his waterloo, following attempt by an angry mob to lynch him at Berger Yard, along Apapa/Oshodi Express way.

The suspect, it was gathered, sneaked into a park under the bridge where second hand cars were kept at about 5.30am. He reportedly detached the side mirrors of one of the SUVs, unknown to him that guards had sighted him.

The guards were said to have blocked all exit points, apparently to prevent him from escaping, before they raised the alarm.

The suspect was said to have used the vehicles as means of escape, but was sighted by a Mobile policeman attached to one of the companies nearby who rushed to the scene on hearing the alarm. He shot the suspect in the leg.

Attempt by the policeman to take the suspect to the station failed as a mob descended on the robber. The mob, put an unused tyre round the suspect’s neck in an attempt to set him ablaze.

An eye witness said the suspect spoke in Igbo language begging the mob to spare his life and attributed his indulgence to hunger.

An eye witness who gave his

name simply as Kelechi, said: "The suspect would have been set ablaze but for the timely intervention of a Police team. He said he was from Mbaise in Imo State and pleaded with the mob to spare him since they were from same region. He said he stole because of hunger. When asked how much he intended to sell the mirror, he said N5,000,whereas

you can’t get it less than N15,000 in the market.

"This is not the first time we have been experiencing such thing here. Sometimes, one will leave a car intact only to return next day to discover that the side mirrors and other parts had disappeared. What we did was to increase the number of guards at the different parks.”

Man docked for possessing fake currencies in Lagos

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By Jane Echewodo

AGOS—A 20-year-old man, Chikezie Chukwu, has been arraigned before an Ebute-Metta Magistrate's Court over alleged stealing and unlawful possession of fake currencies.

The defendant committed the alleged offence on August 22, 2015, at 2nd Junction, Governor’s road, Ikotun, Lagos.

He was arraigned on a fourcount charge bordering on felony to wit: conspiracy, obtaining goods by false pretence, stealing,

and unlawful possession of fake currencies.

Chuwkwu, a secondary school drop-out and a casual labourer at Igando market, allegedly obtained goods worth N70,000 from one Mrs Esther Ojetokun, a trader on August 22, at Second Junction, Governor’s Road, Ikotun, Lagos where she sells provisions.

The complainant said that sometime in June, she received two young customers in her provisions shop and that they purchased goods worth N70, 000.

The robbery suspect caught vandalising a vehicle in Lagos.

Cholera claims 10 in Anambra A

By Vincent Ujumadu

WKA—TROUBLED Amansea in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, where about 48 dead bodies were dumped in its Ezu River in 2013 by unknown persons, is in the news again as 10 persons have been feared dead as a result of cholera outbreak and other water borne diseases in the area.

The people of the community were also worried that their gods might have been angry since the dumping of the corpses, alleging that no fewer than 20 motor accidents had been recorded near the Ezu River Bridge since the dumping incident.

According to the village head of Amaowele village, who is also a member of Igwe’s cabinet at Amansea, Chief Benjamin Onoania, the people are unhappy that Anambra State government had failed to fulfil its promise of sinking a borehole for them, after the dumping of the corpses in their only source of water supply in 2013.

Onoania said that though they stopped using water from Ezu River for some time after the incident, they were left with no choice than to resort to the

water from the river since there was no alternative.

He added that the resultant effect was the recent outbreak of cholera which experts attributed to water-borne diseases.

He also claimed that the gods were angry because they were not appeased after the dumping of the corpses, which was why, he stated, there had

been frequent motor accidents near the river.

He said that one of such accidents occurred recently in his own compound during which a bus rammed into his gate, broke into the compound and destroyed a shop.

He said: “The bus knocked down two people who were rushed to the Nnamdi

Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi where they were treated.

“These signs show that the gods are not happy. I am in danger, especially since the bus ran into my compound because the gods say that I have not done anything as the representative of the village in the Igwe’s council, to appease the gods.”

ICPC declares civil servant wanted over N36.2m fraud

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By Caleb Ayansina

B U J A — T H E Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has declared a staff of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Joseph Tony Ogah, wanted for defrauding the Federal Government to the tune of N36.2 million.

Ogah, an indigene of Idah, Kogi State, was part of a crime syndicate that defrauded the Federal Ministry of Environment.

The Commissioner, Public Enlightenment of the ICPC, Mrs Rasheedat Okoduwa, confirmed to Vanguard that the suspect had absconded from his working place since July, when he got the wind that the commission was on his trail.

Okoduwa in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, maintained that “Preliminary findings by ICPC revealed that the syndicate used a company called Soft Alliance Disco Limited to pay huge salary arrears totalling N36,194,636.00 to fictitious staff on the payment platform of the Ministry of Environment.

“Ogah, 38 years old, allegedly, in connivance with the others perpetrated and benefited from the fraud as N9.4 million was paid into his account with the United Bank for Africa, UBA. “A statement of accounts obtained from UBA revealed that the money was drawn from the Ministry of Environment and paid into the account (1006521816) belonging to Ogah.

8-year-old boy kidnapped from school, exchanged for N51,000 goods in Lagos Suspect arrested, remanded in prison

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By Evelyn Usman

AGOS—ATTEMPT by a middle-aged man to exchange an eight-year-old kidnapped boy with goods worth N51,000 in Surulere area of Lagos, has been foiled , following his arrest, Monday.

The suspect, identified as Jonathan Cooker, reportedly kidnapped the primary school pupil (names withheld) who was returning from a summer coaching in a school located around Lawrence road.

Thereafter, he reportedly took the boy to a provision store located on Cole Street and ordered for crates of soft drinks worth N51,000.

Instead of paying, he was said to have told the shop owner that

he would be leaving his younger brother (kidnapped boy) behind, to get money from the house. The unsuspecting shop owner obliged him and gave the crates

of soft drinks to him.

But the bubble burst after a passer-by who identified the little boy asked what he was doing in the shop. At that moment, Cooker

reportedly increased his pace in a bid to escape from the scene . But he was immediately apprehended when the little boy told the passer-by that he was picked by a stranger.

....As Police parade kidnap, robbery suspects in Kogi

By Boluwaji Obahapo

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OKOJA—KOGI State police command yesterday paraded eight armed robbery suspects and kidnapper who were arrested at different locations in the state.

Parading the suspects at the State Police Headquarters, the Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the Police were on red alert to rid the state of criminal activities.

“Gone are the days criminal

elements perpetrated evils and got away with it. Police will go after all criminal elements in the state to make it a safe haven for residents of the state,’’ he said.

Ojukwu said the armed robbery suspects were arrested after information revealed that the suspects were coming to block the Eika-Itakpe highway bye pass to rob as usual.

He said: “The SARS operatives team ambushed them and

arrested two of them while others escaped. But those that earlier escaped the arrest were rearrested from their criminal hide out.”

The CP, who said all the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the investigations were concluded, said the Police were also fast-tracking their acts to apprehend those behind the recent political killings at Ejule, in the eastern flank of the state.

8—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

60,000 construction workers lose jobs in 4 months

By Oboh Agbonkhese

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AGOS—OVER 60,000 workers in the construction sector have lost their jobs in the past four months, signifying a massive break in infrastructure development, which has been described as unfair on the workers who voted in a Federal Government that promised to protect their interests.

This was the position of the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, NUCECFWW, at a briefing in Lagos yesterday.

According to Mr. Amechi Asugwuni, President-General of the union, development was on hold in the country and if government wants to remain true to its promise of creating jobs, it will make infrastructure development part of its war against corruption and a first step is to reactivate all roads and rail construction projects, which multiplier effects will boost the economy.

He said: “We urge the Federal Government to, among other moves, set up a monitoring committee that will ensure implementation of projects according to specifications and stop prospective employees from forcing workers to sign anti-unionization agreements.”

HOSTCOM BRIEFING: From left— National Director, Clergymen of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, Primate Dr. Moses Ogbodogbo; National Chairman, Prince Mike Emuh; Edo State Chairman, HOSTCOM, Prince Sam Igbineweka, and Bayelsa State Chairman, HOSTCOM, Chief Bob Nabena, at the briefing on modal refineries, oil pipeline surveillance and gas flaring, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Host communities, foreign investors plan 10 refineries Give oil companies 30-day ultimatum on gas flaring

By Michael Eboh & Grace Udofia

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BUJA—OIL producing communities in the country, under the auspices of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, yesterday, disclosed that they have entered into an agreement with a number of foreign investors from Germany, United States of America among others, to build 10 modular refineries in Nigeria.

This is an improvement on its initial plan to build a single modular refinery in one of the oil-producing states.

Speaking at its national conference in Abuja, Mr. Mike Emuh, National Chairman,

HostCom, said that funding for the 10 modular refineries would be provided solely by the foreign investors, while the refineries would be constructed in all oilproducing states.

He, however, blamed the delay in the commencement of the project on issues surrounding licensing and cost and sources of crude oil supply to the refineries.

Need for licence

He said: “We are, therefore, calling on the Federal Government to grant our foreign partners licenses and all necessary cooperation for the smooth take off of these modular refineries that will be financed wholly by our foreign

partners.”

Emuh further bemoaned the continuous flaring of gas by oil companies in the country, stating that HostCom has, therefore, issued a 30day ultimatum to all international oil companies, IOCs, operating in the country to stop gas flaring or face the wrath of the communities.

He lamented the fact that Nigeria still ranks among countries with the highest rate of gas flaring in the world, while Federal Government had shown lack of commitment in addressing the issue.

He stated that oil and gas prospecting companies in the country had stopped paying

Buhari orders review of foreign missions

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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BUJA—PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a review of Nigeria’s foreign missions with a view to pruning down the number and improving the quality of services.

To this end, a presidential committee would be formed do carry out a holistic exercise on the foreign missions.

Currently, the country has 119 foreign missions, which President Buhari said would be too expensive to maintain due to the economic downturn.

The President, who gave the order after he was briefed on the activities of the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs by the Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Bulus Lolo, and other officials of the ministry, said that it would be counterproductive operating missions all over the world “ with dilapidated facilities and demoralized staff” when the need for some of the missions was questionable.

He said: “Let us keep only what we can manage. We cannot afford much for now.

There’s no point pretending.”

The President also called for the record of former government officials and other persons, who were still in possession of diplomatic and official passports after leaving office, saying that his

administration will take necessary action against them.

Buhari said: “Something has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country. Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of negative acts. We need to do something about it.”

On foreign policy

Earlier, Ambassador Lolo told President Buhari that the challenges facing the ministry included the absence of a foreign service commission, poor funding of foreign missions, policy inconsistencies and training deficiencies, among others.

Lolo highlighted the

activities of the mission and why it was necessary to prune down the number of embassies abroad.

He also stressed the need to review the country ’s foreign policy, saying that the last time a comprehensive report was done on that was 29 years ago.

He said: “I underlined the fact that the activities of the ministries are largely 75 percent outside the country and 25 percent domestic.

“Although we do 25 percent of our work at home, foreign policy derives from domestic policy. There is, therefore, a close nexus between country ’s domestic and foreign policy.”

penalties for gas flaring since 2008, while the Federal Government is yet to remit about N1.3 trillion gas flare penalty in the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to host communities.

Demand gas flaring money

To this end, Emuh called on all oil and gas companies in the country to immediately commence the remittance of their gas flare penalties to the accounts of HostCom. He said: “We are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to instruct CBN to release the accumulated gas flare money that belongs to HostCom paid by IOCs through the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. “To this end, we hereby advise all oil and gas prospecting companies in Nigeria to resume payment of the gas flaring penalty levy that has been stopped since 2008, directly to HostCom account immediately.

“Furthermore, we give a 30-day ultimatum to all IOCs to stop gas flaring nationwide forthwith or face the consequences.”

Emuh also called on the Federal Government to cede oil pipeline surveillance to host communities, as this will help check oil theft, bunkering, illegal refineries and pipeline vandalization.

He said: “Host communities are the owners of the oil and gas and we know the people who vandalize the pipelines.

“We know those who lift the oil from the vessel; we know those who operate these illegal refineries. The only solution is to give it to the host communities; our boys will take care of it.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—9

More dismissed soldiers beg Buhari for reinstatement

By Ikenna Asomba

F

OLLOWING the decision of Federal Government to reinstate 3,032 officers and soldiers, who were dismissed from the Nigerian Army last year by the General CourtMartial set up by military authorities, three groups of officers and soldiers, yesterday, appealed to President Buhari to extend the gesture to them.

The groups, according to their counsel, Mr. Femi Falana

(SAN), in a petition addressed to the Chief of Army Staff, are the 70 soldiers convicted and sentenced to death in September and December 2014 by two General CourtsMartial, whose findings have not been confirmed; scores of officers and soldiers convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment by General Courts-Martial, and senior officers and soldiers currently being prosecuted in Special and General Courts-Martial in

Lagos and Abuja.

The petition said: “The convicts and suspects undergoing trial are alleged to have committed mutiny, cowardly behaviour, loss of equipment, failure to perform military duties and sundry offences.

“In the course of the concluded trials, it was established that the said offences arose from the negligence of the authorities to provide adequate weapons for the armed forces in line with Section 217 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.

“In other words, the only

‘offence’ proved against the convicts by the prosecution was that they had the temerity to ask for weapons to fight the war on terror.”

References to ex-CDS, ex-NSA's comments

They made reference to recent disclosure by the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Barde (retd) that the Armed Forces led by him lacked the equipment to fight the insurgents and the admission by the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki

CAPACITY BUILDING: From left— Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Deaconess Joan Ayo; Head of Federal Civil Service, Mr. Danladi Kifasi; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Lawal; Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mahmood Mohammed, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during the launch of capacity building programmes for public servants at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja. PHOTO: Abayomi Adeshida.

BPE orders Enugu DISCO to hands off Aba, Ariaria assets

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HE Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, has ordered Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, to hand over the disputed Ring Fenced Islands at Aba and Ariaria, in Abia State, to Afrigem Integrated Utilities Limited.

The assets were recently sold to Afrigem by Geometric Power Limited and Aba Power Limited, which hitherto owned majority stakes in them.

However, in a quick reaction, the EEDC terminated the lease agreement, citing breaches by Geometric and Aba Power. It has also gone ahead to explore other means to assert its right.

Aba Power and Geometric Power have, in trying to excise the ring-fenced islands at Aba and Ariaria from EEDC, argued that an existing agreement with the Federal Government gives it ownership of those portions of the South-East electricity distribution market.

Enugu DISCO, on the other hand, has continuously affirmed

… as EEDC faults order, petitions VP its rightful ownership of the Aba distribution, noting that the Aba area, Owerri-Nta, Osisi Oma, Ogbor Hill, Factory Road, and Port Harcourt Road in Aba, Abia State, with its assets, are all integral part of the Enugu DISCO coverage and cannot be excised.

Ownership transfer

The BPE’s decision appears to have stoked the controversy between the EEDC, and Geometric and Aba Power.

While BPE may have ordered the Enugu DISCO to hand over the disputed areas to Afrigem, there are however no clear indication that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, approved the ownership transfer between Aba Power/ Geometric Power and Afrigem.

There are allegations that

Aba Power and Geometric Power owe AMCON N70 billion, but sold its stake to Afrigem for N35 billion.

Managing Director, EEDC, Mr. Robert Dickerman, argued that Geometric’s assignment of its interests to Afrigem without his company’s knowledge or consent is a breach of the Lease Agreement.

Confirming the emergence of Afrigem as its new investor, Aba Power Limited, in a letter

by Agatha Nnaji, a director, said: “We acknowledge with thanks receipt of the various letters from the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, and our new investors, Afrigem Integrated Utilities Limited, all dated 12 August, wherein you unequivocally

stated BPE’s firm stand and decision to uphold the contents of the Lease Agreement and the Supplemental Lease Agreement.”

EEDC takes case to Presidency

Dissatisfied with the BPE’s decision, Enugu DISCO has taken the matter to the Vice President, who supervises the privatization programme as Chairman of National Council on Privatization, NCP. The electricity company, among others, asked for the withdrawal of BPE’s letter dated, August 24, for the handover of the Abia-Ariaria section of EEDC network to Afrigem, in observance of the Rule of Law, pending the determination of the case by the Court of Appeal.

(retd), that the arms and ammunition ordered by the Federal Government would soon be delivered to the armed forces.

They said: “Since the Armed Forces were not equipped to defend the territorial integrity of the nation, the convicts did not commit mutiny or any offence whatsoever in demanding for adequate weapons to fight the insurgents.

“In fact, the dismissed 3,002 officers and soldiers who have just been reinstated by the military authorities were also alleged to have engaged in mutinous acts for refusing to commit suicide by fighting the terrorists without weapons.

“In view of the grave injustice which informed the conviction and sentences passed on the officers and soldiers by the Courts-Martial, we make a passionate appeal to the Army Council and the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah, not to confirm the iniquitous findings.

“But for some inexplicable reasons, the findings were not reviewed as the record of proceedings of the CourtsMartial were not transmitted within 60 days from the date of the verdict.

“Thus, by refusing to confirm and promulgate the findings the convicts have been denied the opportunity to file any appeal against the convictions and sentences at the Court of Appeal in line with Section 175 of the Armed Forces Act. “From the facts and circumstances of this case, the ingredients of the offence of mutiny were not proved beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.

Issues raised

“The Courts-Martial erred in law in convicting the accused soldiers of mutiny for protesting against the avoidable deaths of their colleagues in the hands of the insurgents (who have stronger fire power), the non-payment of operational allowances, hunger, failure of the military authorities to provide training and adequate military hardware.

“Having rightly pardoned and reabsorbed the dismissed officers and soldiers into the Army, it is our submission that others who were tried and convicted for allegedly committing the same offence ought to have their conviction and sentences set aside to pave way for their reinstatement.

“In the same vein, the CourtsMartial, which are sitting should be disbanded while the charges pending against officers and soldiers should be withdrawn without any further delay.

“Our submission is premised on Section 42 of the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right of such convicts and suspects to freedom from discrimination.”

10 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Agagu memorial lecture holds

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HE Second edition of the Annual Memorial Lecture in honour of the late former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, has been slated for Sunday, September, 13, 2015, at The Civic Centre on Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to the Board of Trustees of the Olusegun Agagu Foundation, the keynote address at the exclusive event, which will be under the chairmanship of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, will be delivered by former Prime Minister of Togo, Mr. Edem Kodjo, who was also a former Secretary-General of the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU now the African Union).

The Address by Mr. Kodjo, who is the current President of PAX AFRICANA and a member of the African Union’s (AU) Panel of the Wise, will centre on the topic: “Resource, Policy and Economics’’, and admittance to the event will be strictly by invitation, the organisers said.

BSN's Bible reading takes off

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HIS year ’s edition of Marathon Bible Reading organised by the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) has kicked off at All Saints Anglican Church, Oshodi, Lagos.

The General Secretary of BSN, Dare Ajiboye said the event is scheduled to hold from Monday 7th to Friday 11th of September, 2015 from 9.00am to 5.00pm daily in 42 different reading centres across Lagos State.

Ajiboye said: “Participants will have a three-fold joy by participating; they will have joy of reading the Bible in their languages, help someone else hear the Word of God in a new way and join others in continuous reading of the Bible. ''Admission into the programme is free and over the years we have recorded miracles including healing during this programme. ''Also the entire Bible has been read over and over again within five days in the course of the programme in some of the reading centres.”

C M Y K

Ambode approves 2,500 Cs of O

By Dapo Akinrefon

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AGOS—GOVERNOR Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State yesterday approved the immediate release of 2,500 Certificates of Occupancy, Cs of O, to property owners across the state from today.

Executive Secretary in the Lands Bureau, Mr Olukayode Ogunnubi who disclosed this, said the development was in line with the governor’s effort to clear the backlog of Cs of O from the previous administration.

He said, “A clear distinction must be made that the present government wants Lagosians to maximise the economic benefits derivable from ownership of properties as evidenced by obtaining their legal titles.

“That’s what we are trying to achieve and that’s the reason why the governor decided to clear all the backlog. Now we do not have pending Cs of O on our table,” he said.

Ogunnubi said the advantage of the recent development will enable owners to leverage on the C of O as collateral to obtain loans

from financial institutions for business activities.

“This will also contribute to the growth of the state’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP and ultimately the development of the economy of the state,” he said.

He said; ‘’Going forward, Governor Ambode intends to ensure that the process of applying and getting the copy of the C of O is not only less cumbersome but treated within the stipulated time.

“So once we have any new applicant for C of O, the governor’s mandate is to ensure

that he signs it within the 90 days tenure. Once you make your payment, we start the processing.

Let me also report that we are going in the way of electronic-C of O fully (e-C of O). All the ones he signed are also e-C of O. “In a nutshell, the idea is to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and this is what the governor intends to achieve in line with his commitment to make life simple and easy for the people”.

“This is a standard milestone as the last time such was witnessed was during the era of the first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande”, he said.

Ogunnubi said the list of the 2500 Cs of O signed by governor Ambode yesterday will be published today.

...Group hails gov’s 100 days

VISIT: Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State (middle), flanked by the General Officer Commanding, GOC 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Henry Edet (left) and the Commander 9 Mechanized Brigade, Brigadier General Ahmed Mohammed Sabo during a courtesy call on the Governor by the officers, at Lagos House, Ikeja, yesterday.

Lagos goes tough on street trading, traffic law Allays fears on influx of terrorists

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

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AGOS—GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State yesterday presided over the monthly security council meeting at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, with an assurance that the council will intensify its enforcement against street trading as well as ensure that the Road Traffic Law is enforced to the letter.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the meeting discussed various issues bordering on street trading, robbery in traffic, influx of elements being taken as Boko Haram and some other issues, with a way to finding lasting solution.

“The meeting looked holistically at what transpired in the state in the past one month with a view of finding lasting solution. For instance, we discussed issues on street trading, robbery in traffic, influx of elements suspected to be Boko Haram noticed in the metropolis in the past few days”, Owoseni said.

The Police Commissioner also assured that the section of the Traffic Law as it related to restriction of movement of trailers and articulated vehicles between the hours of 6am to 9pm will be enforced in a manner that will not impede commercial activities in the state.

He however said that Section 2(1) of the law exempts trucks conveying petroleum products and passenger vehicles.

He said the meeting has resolved to enforce laws against

street trading, most especially the truck drivers complying with the existing laws.

“We shall ensure we enforce the law, most especially with the truck drivers complying with the extant laws and also ensure that extant laws on street trading is enforced, with regards to that we looked at human element in enforcing the law”, he said.

He added that aside from enforcements, the council also decided to embark upon sensitization and public enlightenment as a strategy to dissuade members of the public from patronizing street traders.

Meantime, a civil society organization, the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate, CPPM, has described the first 100 days in office of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode as richly rewarding, saying the governor has exemplified excellence inn governance since assumption of office.

The group in a congratulatory message to the governor which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday and signed by its Chairman, Nelson Ekujumi said Ambode just like his predecessors has followed in the tradition of responsibility, responsiveness and focused administration like his predecessors in setting the pace for delivering on his campaign promises and democratic dividends to the people.

Fuji artiste, Saheed Osupa performs at Warike’s opening

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HE opening ceremony of Warike Hotel and Suites and Club W will be performed on Friday Sept 11 at Plots 3-8 Warike close off Alhaji Tolani Bakare street, Abijo Ibeju Lekki on the Lekki Epe expressway, Lagos.

King of fuji music, Saheed Osupa will perform at the ceremony, which will start by 10 pm till dawn.

ACCIDENTS: NEMA appeals for safety consciousness

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AGOS—THE National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has appealed for safety consciousness among the populace following the death of three under-aged persons in different circumstances in Lagos on Monday.

The NEMA Coordinator in charge of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States, Dr Bandele Onimode, made the appeal when he reacted to the incidents in Lagos yesterday.

A six-year-old boy, Isaiah

Bamidele, died when two boats collided at Egan in Igando/ Ikotun Local Council Development Area.

Eyewitness account said one of the boats was coming from Totowu in Ogun State while the latter just took off from Egan and late Bamidele was travelling in the boat from Egan.

It was learnt that local divers, recovered the body of the boy shortly after the accident.

Both boats were said to be carrying 17 passengers each, when the accident happened at

about 1:20 p.m.

The family of the deceased are said to have since buried the corpse.

In another development, a 16year-old boy has died in a fire incident in Lekki Area of the state.

The NEMA Public Relations Officer, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said the fire gutted a duplex at No. 35c Ajiran Road, Agungi, Lekki in Eti-Osa Local Government Area in the early hours of Monday.

The cause of the inferno was not immediately known.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 11

OONI: Giesi ruling house submits six names

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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SOGBO—THE Giesi ruling house, one of the four recognised ruling houses in Ile-Ife, on Monday submitted the names of short-listed princes jostling to occupy the stool of the Ooni to the kingmakers of the town.

Secretary of the family, Prince Adekunle Adelowo said yesterday that the names of the qualified princes were handed over to the kingmakers, led by the Obalufe of Ife, Oba Folorunso Omisakin.

According to him: ‘’Six out of the 31 princes from Giesi ruling house that submitted their letters of intention made the final list sent to the kingmakers on Monday.''

He gave the names of the qualified princes as Aderemi Adelowo, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Adegboyega Coker, Taiwo Ogunleye, Adetunji Ogunwusi and Okinawa Ologbenla.

He explained that the candidates emerged after several layers of screening conducted by the family to ensure that the best becomes the next Ooni of Ife. Adekunle added that: “To get to where we are now, we need to

set some criteria. One, the preferred candidate must be at least 50 years in age, not an under-aged person. The pedigree of the person is also very crucial.

“The person must have a good name among the people. He must understand the Ife people; understand Ife as a spiritual head of the Yoruba and the candidate must have full identity of the culture, religion and the people's tradition,” he added.

Speaking on the final names sent to the kingmakers, one of the successful candidates from the ruling house, Prince Aderemi Adelowo expressed confidence in the kingmakers to pick the best of the six princes.

Another contestant to the throne, Ahmed Adewoyin, a lawyer, stated that only a genuine transparent consultation with Ifa Oracle and tradition during Ooni’s selection process would bring peace to the town.

He said each of the royal houses aspiring to the stool of Ooni must be represented by a representative with knowledge of Ifa oracle as an observer at the time and point of such consultation to select the best three.

Lafogido ruling house‘ll not concede right Contrary to speculations from certain quarters, the Lafogido ruling House of Ile-Ife in Osun State has not conceded the vacant stool of the Ooni of Ife to the Giesi Ruling house or any other ruling house.

In a statement released by head of the ruling house, Sooko Adeleke Adewoyin, the

Osun tertiary teachers warn Aregbesola against pay cut

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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SOGBO—ACADEMIC staff in Osun State government-owned tertiary institutions, have warned the state government over its alleged plans to cut their salaries.

The workers under the aegies of the Council of Academic Staff Unions of Osun State-owned Tertiary Institutions, CASUOSTI, in a statement issued in Osogbo, said for the months of January and February this year, they were paid a lesser amount in

Declare your assets, Ekiti APC tells Fayose

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HE All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti State, has urged Governor Ayodele Fayose to declare his assets 10 months after its earlier call on the governor to follow his predecessor, Governor Kayode Fayemi, who publicly declared his assets.

Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement said the call became imperative against

the background of earlier calls for the governor to declare his assets.

“The governor must seize the opportunity of declaring his assets to douse speculations of his alleged diversion of the state resources to his private enterprises abroad.

“It is curious that he has not abused President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi

FG lauds Aregbesola’s educational schemes

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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SOGBO—THE F e d e r a l Government yesterday said the implementation and execution of educational programmes of the governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola can equal any facility found in the United States of America.

The Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Dr. Dikko Suleiman said this at the flag-off ceremony for the distribution of plastic desks and chairs to schools in Osun by the Federal Government and UBEC at the Local Authority Government Middle School in Ayetoro, Osogbo.

Dikko, represented by his C M Y K

deputy, Dr. Yakubu Gambo, stated that the choice of Osun for the flagoff ceremony by the Federal Government was borne out of the desire to reward hard work and the dedication to delivery of democratic dividends to the electorates by Governor Aregbesola.

Osinbajo after they declared their assets. Fayose’s loud silence on the President in this case is curious because the governor has never seen anything good in whatever the President does,” Olatunbosun said.

Tasking the governor to act now to restore confidence in Ekiti people for accountable governance, he said open declaration of assets would shame the critics of the governor who always accused him of alleged funds diversion to private use.

Urging the governor to follow Buhari’s footstep, Olatunbosun said APC might have no option than taking legal action to force the governor to declare his assets.

“We will stop at nothing to make sure that Fayose declares his assets openly so that we could remind him if he leaves any of his assets undeclared,” he stated.

Stakeholders should pay for education in Ekiti – SUMMIT

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

A

DO-EKITI—THE Ekiti State Education summit 2015 has declared that funding of education should not be left to government alone but all stakeholders in the state must play a critical role with cost sharing arrangement.

Lafogido Ruling House “does not intend to and will never concede its right” to any other ruling house.

The statement added that contrary to the rumours making the rounds, the only authentic chieftaincy declaration of the Ooni of Ife chieftaincy title is the one gazetted in 1957, saying that there is no other one that can serve as reference on the Ooni of Ife chieftancy stool.

The state Deputy Governor, Dr. Kolapo Olusola, who read the resolution of the one-day summit tagged ‘restoring the lost glory’ which was held yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, said Entrepreneurship Education would be given a priority at primary and secondary levels in the state.

salary to what they have on their pay slip.

CASUOSTI in its statement signed by the chairman, Lasisi Jimoh, secretary, Olusegun Lana and PRO, Dotun Omisore, the unions decried the antics of the state government, describing it as 'demoralizing and discouragement towards academic improvement.'

The unions stated that they were the least paid and most taxed among all the federal and state polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria, noting that they do not deserve pay cut.

Ogun judiciary appoints 3 new magistrates

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B E O K U TA — THREE new Magistrates have been appointed by the Ogun State Judiciary to ensure the smooth administration of justice in the state.

The Magistrates are Sotayo Sotunde Seni, Orekoya Ibunkun Oluwa and Olusanya Oluseyi.

Speaking at the ceremony held in her office, the State Chief Judge, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade said the appointment of the new Magistrates was aimed at reinforcing the magistracy in order to bring quick and fair justice closer to the people in the state.

He noted that the appointments was as a result of painstaking exercise of recruiting new magistrates to complement the efforts of a formidable team of magistrates and jurists in the state in accordance with the high standard for which the state judiciary was known.

12—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Donu regains freedom soon —RIVERS POLICE BOSS

By Jimitota Onoyume

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ORT HARCOURT— RIVERS State Police Commissioner, Mr Musa Kimo, yesterday, said that he was anxious to see the release of kidnapped Vanguard columnist, Donu Kogbara.

Speaking at the state Police headquarters, he said that he did not want to disclose details of efforts so far made by his command on the issue, expressing strong hope that she would soon regain her freedom.

“Let me assure you (the media) and Donu's family that we are doing all that is possible to rescue her to reunite with her family. We are more worried than you on this issue. But we will not disclose details of our operations to the media,” he said.

Kogbara was abducted on August 30 at her Nkpogu residence in Port Harcourt. The Police Commissioner said his men have intensified efforts to rescue her.

Similarly, Chairperson, Ijaw Mothers Union, Doris MacDaniels, has condemned Donu Kogbara's abduction, saying those behind it should release her unconditionally.

“Ijaw mothers are very pained by this ugly incident. It is scary.

Before now, we thought women were protected. Wherever she is,

we believe she is all right.

God whom we all serve will ensure she is safe and released unhurt.

“Those behind this should leave women out of it. I don’t pray anybody goes through this, whether man or woman, but they should please leave women out of this because we are the weaker vessels. It is worse when a woman is kidnapped because the home is shut down completely. As Ijaw mothers, we beg the

kidnappers to release her as she is a mother, a woman and a weak vessel. They should please release her,” she pleaded.

Also, Chairman, Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, Mr Ikpokpo Itiako, has joined in the call for Ms Kogbara's release.

Itiako, who lamented the abduction in a statement, said he was deeply saddened by the incident. He said he had read Kogbara for several years

in the Vanguard.

Ikpokpo appealed to those holding her against her wish to release her unconditionally, stressing that she should be spared the trauma of abduction.

“I have read Kogbara in the Vanguard newspaper for years. I am deeply touched by her abduction. I appeal to those behind it to release her unconditionally. She does not deserve this from her fellow countrymen.”

VISIT: Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State (7th right); State Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Nseobong Umanah (middle); Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo (6th left) and executive members of IPMAN, during a courtesy visit to the governor at Government House, Uyo.

Edo 2016: No gang up by Binis against Oshiomhole —Idahosa

By Simon Ebegbulem

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ENIN—A Chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State and Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Political Matters, Chief Charles Idahosa, yesterday, said that it was untrue that the Binis were ganging up against the governor as regards the candidate of the APC in the 2016 governorship election.

He said: “What the people are saying in consultation with the governor is that they will pick a Bini man that will represent the interests of everybody. There is no way a governor of this state can emerge without the input of Governor Oshiomhole. One, what are we going to campaign with? It is Oshiomhole’s works.

Secondly, Oshiomhole will lead the campaign. Let nobody deceive himself, all the elections we have won in Edo State were because of Oshiomhole's credibility and integrity. The ordinary people believe in him, so he is very important in the whole arrangement.”

Idahosa, who ran against Oshiomhole in the 2007 C M Y K

governorship primaries of the then ACN, warned that any Bini leader ganging up against Oshiomhole will be making a serious mistake. He

addressed journalists on activities to mark his 62nd birthday.

He said: “The governor told us publicly many times that he

owes the Bini’s a lot for the support they gave him and that he will ensure that a Bini man becomes the governor and we are very happy."

Ijaw group faults freezing of Tompolo's accounts

By Emma Amaize

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SABA—IJAW People Development Initiative, IPDI, a non-governmental organisation in Delta State, yesterday, described the freezing of the accounts of two companies allegedly owned by ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, by the Buhari administration as an act of lawlessness.

IPDI, in a statement by its national president, Mr. Austin Ozobo, said that the Federal Government duly awarded contracts to the companies and Tompolo neither breached the contracts nor abandoned them to warrant freezing of the accounts.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, reportedly froze the accounts of Mieka Divers Limited and Global West Vessels Limited,

purportedly linked with fraudulent activities in the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, under its ex-Director General, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi.

IPDI said, “The freezing of Tompolo’s companies' accounts by the Federal Government is unlawful because Tompolo is not under any investigation, therefore, there was no reason for his accounts to be frozen."

Don’t relent in anti-corruption war, Delta NLC bribery and corruption urges Buhari Chairman of NLC in the state, against in his first 100 days in office,

By Festus Ahon

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SABA—DELTA State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to relent in his efforts to bring those who looted the treasury of the country to book.

Mr David Ofoeyeno, who briefed newsmen in Asaba after the 2nd State Executive Council, SEC, meeting of the union, said the union will assist the President in monitoring all monetary transactions in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs in the state.

Commending President Buahari for waging the war

he also applauded the President for the way he has distinguished himself in the handling of the country’s finances.

Ofoeyeno lauded President Buhari’s directive to ministries and parastatals to open a sole account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Delta Assembly confirms 8 commissioner nominees

By Festus Ahon

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SABA—DELTA State House of Assembly, yesterday, cleared and confirmed eight nominees, who were forwarded to the House by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for appointment as commissioners and members of the State Executive Council.

Okowa, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 192 (2) of the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria had on August 25, forwarded the names of eight nominees, now commissioners designate, to the Assembly, bringing the number of commissioners appointed so far by his administration to 20.

Those screened and confirmed include Chief Henry Sakpra, Mr Mofe Pirah, Mr Asupa Forteta, Chief Dan Okenyi, Mr Chika Ossai, Chief David Edevbie, Mr Jude Sinebe and Mr Patrick Ukah.

Meanwhile, the Speaker, Mr Monday Igbuya, who presided over the sitting read out the names of additional five nominees for appointment as commissioners and members of the State Executive Council.

The new nominees include; Mr Peter Mrakpo, Mr Bright Edejewho, Karo Ilolo, Nicholas Azinge and Ernest Ogwuezi.

Igbuya directed the five new nominees to submit before Monday next week, 35 copies of their curriculum vitae and appear for screening on September 15, 2015.

CORRIGENDUM

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N page 43 of Vanguard of Monday, September 7, 2015, it was published that Mr. Phillp Gbasin is Executive Director, Social Services, in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC. Although, Mr. Gbasin was inaugurated as an executive director, we have since discovered that the Delta State Government has not assigned portfolios to the executive directors.

The publication is without prejudice to what the Government intends to do.

The error is regretted.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—13

Why Dickson should be re-elected, by Jonathan, Alamieyeseigha, others

By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio

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E N A G O A — COMMERCIAL and governmental activities were, yesterday, brought to a stand still as Bayelsans besieged the Samson Siasia Stadium to witness the formal declaration of Governor Seriake Dickson to run for a second term in the forthcoming governorship election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The occasion attracted prominent Bayelsa elders and top PDP members led by chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Chief Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Deputy Governors of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro; Abia, Chris Akomas; Ebonyi, Kelechi Igwe and Kogi, Yomi Awoniyi, among others.

The former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was accompanied by his wife, Dame Patience , who received a thunderous applause when her name was mentioned.

Dr. Jonathan said though his decision to endorse the second

bid of Governor Dickson had attracted reactions through bulk SMS in circulation, his decision was based on the four points conviction that the incumbent had performed in the areas of prompt workers’ salary payment, proper management of state resources without recourse to borrowing, improved infrastructural development and road constructions.

He said, “I have stayed in government for 16years. I stayed with Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha for six years and stayed in the Presidency for another six years. And in all those years, I think I know much about what some state governors have done.

“I may not know all that the state governors have done and I also may not know all they have not done, but I know what pains the people.

When Dickson told me that he wants to declare for second term, I said he should do it. As I said he should do it, some people were asking me questions through bulk SMS. “But I want to tell him that

I will also be here when he is presented with the flag of the party. One of the things worrying the Federal Government is the issue of workers’ salaries owed by the states. Dickson has done well in that aspect. Another issue is that of the borrowing.

Dickson has done well. On infrastructure and development, Dickson has tried.”

In his goodwill message, the Ondo State governor and the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Chief Mimiko, said that the decision to call for Dickson reelection was based on noticeable development in the state, more so when you have a governor that has lifted his people, there was need for him to return.

“Some people are Abuja based giants and newspapers giants in terms of politics. Dickson is a man of accomplishment,” he said.

He added that the meeting of the PDP Governors Forum, held on Monday night, also dwelled on the rising and dangerous incursions made

by the All Progressive Congress, APC, led administration into the PDP controlled states of the South-South.

“The South-South people cannot allow the APC to trample on the states. More than 50 per cent of the governors in APC are products of the PDP. For us in the PDP, we have not shaking. We know that the truth will come out one day,” he said.

Also speaking, former governor of the state, Chief Alamieyeseigha described the gathering of PDP stalwarts at the event as an indication of the victory for the party come December 5.

The event, according to him, was nothing but a preelectoral victory celebration for the party.

In his declaration, Governor Dickson said that the decision to run for second term was a call for his team of administrators to re-dedicate themselves to the stability and development of the state.

According to him, “Some

people came here sometime ago to say that the PDP is finished in Bayelsa, the gathering here today (yesterday) shows that the PDP is in charge of the state.

Of all the political offices in the state, the opposition party has only one at the state Assembly.

“Out of all the 105 councillors, they have none. From 1999 till date, we have four governors serving and three are still in PDP. Only one went astray. It shows that this is an unshakeable party. Bayelsa has no room for any other party. The other party has no message for us.

“It is not because they have a federal might behind them, but because we have you, the people of the state. The good news is that they are not on ground in the state and they are not our match. The good news is that unknown to them, they are another arm of the PDP. After their primaries, we will appoint for them interim party executive committee and we will shut them down gradually,” he added.

PDP GOVERNORSHIP RALLY IN BAYELSA STATE

Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan (2nd from left); his wife, Patience (3rd from left); former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (right) and Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, Deputy Governor of Delta State.

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State (left); Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan (4th left); Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, Deputy Governor of Delta State (3rd right) and Chief & Mrs. Deipreye Alamieyesegha.

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Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and his wife

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (right) and former President Goodluck Jonathan, at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, during Seriake Dickson’s declaration for second term.

14—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

JP Morgan's bond index phases out Nigeria

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IGERIA WILL be phased out of JP Morgan’s Government Bond Index (GBI-EM) by the end of October, the bank said on Tuesday, after warning that currency controls were making bond market transactions too complex to meet its rules.

When the naira, was weakened by the global plunge in oil prices, Nigeria first used its currency reserves to try to stabilise it, then resorted to market controls as pressure persisted.

The JP Morgan index has around $210 billion in assets under management benchmarked to it. That benchmarking supports investor demand for the bonds in the index.

JP Morgan’s decision to phase Nigeria out of its index, which many investors track, marks the conclusion of a process initiated in January. Some bonds will be removed by the end of September and the rest by the end of October, JP Morgan said.

Earlier, it had said that to stay in the index, Nigeria would have to restore liquidity to its currency market in a way that allowed foreign investors tracking the index to conduct transactions with minimal hurdles. Nigeria became the second African country after South Africa to be listed in JP Morgan’s emerging government bond index, in October 2012.

ANTI-CORRUPTION PROTEST: NLC releases

5-point demands

BY Victor Ahiuma-Young

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HEAD OF tomorrow’s nationwide anti-corruption and high cost of governance protest, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday, released no fewer than five point demands.

The demand are that “all funds identified to had been illegally

taken from public treasury be traced and recovered to the last kobo, and perpetrators prosecuted, establishment of special anti-corruption courts to try corruption cases in the country, realising that those who have looted our treasury have become adept at using loopholes in the procedures of regular courts to delay and in several

cases subvert the cause of justice, it is our firm belief that the enactment of special anti-graft courts akin to the electoral tribunals, complete with timeframe within which cases once started are to be concluded, will give a renewed impetus to the fight against corruption and for this to become a reality, the executive and the National Assembly must work

CONFERENCE: From left: Prof. Lai Oso, Prof. Chudey Pride and Prof. Idowu Shobowale at the Association of Communication Scholars of Nigeria's annual conference in Ikeja, Lagos.

FG to make funds available for growth of SMEs —Osinbajo

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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BUJA—VICE president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday that the federal government would help the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises raise funds through “well planned concessionary funding initiatives” to develop their business.

The Vice President disclosed this at the SME Financing Conference in Abuja yesterday.

The conference with the them: “Bridging the Nigerian SME Funding Gap’ was organized by the NigerianAmerican Chamber of Commerce, Kaduna State Chapter and the Economic Affairs Section of the United States Embassy.

According to Professor Osinbajo, “SMEs are grossly undeserved in terms of low cost financing. There are several reasons why this may be so. These include how to deal with the sheer scale of numbers of SMEs that need to access concessionary funds in order to make an appreciable impact.”

Osinbajo remarked that working through different cooperatives and trade organizations credit can reach the large numbers.

A statement from Mr. Laolu Akande, the media aide to the vice president, stated that Osinbajo said that importance of financing SMEs has never been lost on the governments, but for lack of access to affordable loans, adding that several deliberate and sustained financial initiatives have been put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria except that SMEs still remain grossly undeserved.

The Vice President also listed Cooperatives, Market-women and Trade groups, Artisans, start-up companies as veritable partners to be engaged towards the creation of wealth with overall goal of boosting job creation and ultimately economic growth and development.

“This would be the main focus of our engagement with SME sector. We

ATE HON. Grace Ojike of Egwudinagu Amachi, Abakalike Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, will be buried at her family compound in Amachi on September 11, 2015, ater a vigil mass at her hometown, Egwudinagu Amachi tomorrow.

Lying in state at her family compound will hold before the interment in her home town.

Sen Nnaji opens defence at NASS Tribunal

By Francis Igata

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NUGU—THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator representing Enugu-East Senatorial District, Senator Gil Nnaji, yesterday, opened defence at the National Assembly Tribunal sitting in Enugu with a principal witness, whose signature and date on the result sheet showed March 28, while his evidence in the court revealed that collation started in wee hours of March 29.

Former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of the Peoples Democratic Change, PDC, is challenging the declaration of Nnaji as winner of the poll by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The declaration had elicited widespread protest in Enugu metropolis.

Ebe Eric Chidiebere, Collation Agent for PDP in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area, who took the witness box, confirmed the certified true copies of the Voters Registers used in the Late Hon. Ojike election.

Hon. Ojike's final journey

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together to give us the necessary laws for an enduring fight to defeat this national malaise.

Others are “ review and strengthen our anti-corruption laws, and provide for stringent punishment for looters, to serve as deterrent, that the Professor Itse Sagay Presidential advisory committee on corruption to comb all our anti-graft legislations and make the appropriate recommendations for their tightening for effective fight against corruption, the anti-graft agencies should as a matter of urgency extends their search light to the other two tiers of government; the States and Local Governments, as it is a commonly known fact that the level of impunity and lack of accountability at these levels is even more brazen than at the Federal level and the declaration of assets as demonstrated by Mr. President and Vice President is a moral demand by Nigeria workers; we call on all public and political office holders to declare publicly their assets.”

At a briefing yesterday in Abuja, factional President of NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said “we call for the appointment of anti-graft judges provided for in the ICPC Act, which is supposed to be for each of the 36 States of the Federation to exclusively handle corruption related cases only. Thus far, from available records, it is only in Lagos State that we have such dedicated court.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—15

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16—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

NAFDAC mops up blindness chemical in Adamawa ...recovers 19, 000 pieces

By Chioma Obinna

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LARMED BY the wrong use of Chlorhexidine digluconate which caused blindness in some babies in Adamawa and Yobe States, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has commenced a mop-up of the product to avoid further harm.

Chlorhexidine digluconate manufactured by Galentic Pharma, India, is licensed for use in Nigeria as an antiseptic gel to be applied to newborn’s cord stump to prevent infection.

At a briefing in Lagos to announce the 2015 NAFDAC SUMMEX, Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said already over 19,000 pieces of the products had been recovered from the various Primary Health Centres in the two states where the drug was distributed as part of delivery packs for mothers.

The Director General warned that henceforth, all agencies bringing in drugs either for public health intervention or otherwise must go through the appropriate channels before distribution.

Orhii who blamed the incident on ignorance on the part of mothers, explained that the product was originally brought in by one of the country’s partners to assist mothers to prevent umbilical cord infection.

Insisting that the drug was not registered by NAFDAC in Nigeria, he said appropriate sanction would be meted to persons, who distributed the drug without the right information to the innocent women.

The Director-General assured that the product was not yet in the market but was brought in for

a special programme, saying “investigations have shown that the product is not yet in the market. Appropriate sanction will be taken against who distributed these products to mothers without

educating them.”

In another development, NAFDAC, is organising the 2015 edition of the annual summit and exhibition tagged “NAFDAC SUMMEX”

DONATION: President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Rev. Felix Omobude, during a visit to the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp in Edo State, yesterday, where the PFN donated N2 million to the IDPs.

Troops intercept Boko Haram drug suppliers

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OLLOWING THE directives by the Army Headquarters to troops in the North East for a painstaking search of motorists and cargoes, troops of the 3 Division Nigerian Army have intercepted and arrested some kingpins and foot soldiers of suppliers of Boko Haram terrorists with hard drugs and other stimulants. A statement

signed by Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said the terrorists were arrested between Depchi and Geidam, in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State The statement added that the arrested persons were also engaged in the supply of fuel in addition to hard drugs such as

UN, FG, others partner on women’s access to ICT

By Funmi Olasupo

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BUJA—AS part of efforts to boost gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria, National Centre for Women Development, NCWD, is partnering United Nations and Intel Corporation, to train no fewer than 25 Nigerian women on utilization of digital services and e-services to enhance small scale businesses.

The training, on the platform of UN women project tagged, ‘Promoting Women and Girls Access to ICT and the Internet,’ is to enhance digital literacy and the use of ICTs among women and girls to promote their businesses.

Speaking in Abuja, yesterday, the Director General NCWD, Lady Onyeka Onwenu, said the C M Y K

Director- General of the Agency said the three-day summit slated for October 13 to 15, would be a convergence of all stakeholders on the platform of NAFDAC.

training was also about skills and empowering women to make them economically independent, in a world of huge opportunities where ICT sector was the backbone of every business.

According to her: “The programme is a Train the Trainees, TOT, on Technology and Entreprene- urship for women in Nigeria.

"We are making efforts to push for a wider narrative and vision

where African women’s issues should go and we believe that when you empower a woman, you empower a nation.

"During the programme, participants will be taken through different topics, comprising the Role of ICT in Business, Internet usage for business, social media, web design and hosting, online marketing of products and services.”

Cannabis (Indian Hemp), Chlorofone substance (AKA Madaran suck and die) and Tramol, amongst others.

According to the statement, “sometimes ago we reported that ironically most of the Boko Haram terrorists captured by Nigerian military cannot read the Holy Qur’an, some of them cannot even recite the first chapterSuratuh Al-Fatiha and yet they claimed they wanted to establish an ‘Islamic State’. “When the Nigerian military captured their bases and training camps, they never found Qur’an or other Islamic books, what were mostly found were ammunitions, local charms, condoms and all sort of drugs including sex enhancing ones in their enclaves. The arrest of these drug suppliers has reinforced that fact, more so as they have been making very useful statements.

APC chieftain rationalizes Buhari’s appointments

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ARRI—LAWYER and All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain in Delta State, Jesutega Onokpasa, has called on Nigerians to patiently await President Buhari’s ministerial list and other key appointments “rather than hasten to pass a verdict on the President’s panNigerian credentials or

detribalized orientation.”

Addressing newsmen, yesterday, in Warri, Onokpasa claimed that “the appointments so far made by the President can be interpreted more from the perspective of putting together elements of a core anti-corruption team, rather than the concentration of power in the North.”

He assured Nigerians that Buhari remained the quintessential Nigerian patriot, and that the President’s anticorruption team when constituted, and appointments of other key players, “the inner core of Team Buhari, will reflect a panNigerian bent never before witnessed in the nation.”

Obasanjo in another secret meeting with Buhari

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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BUJA—FOR the second time in two months, former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday held a secret meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. The first meeting was held at the official residence of the president earlier last month.

The Tuesday meeting which lasted over an hour was also held behind closed doors in the President’s office.

Obasanjo who wore a flowing white gown ( Agbada ) refused to speak with State House Correspondents on his mission to the presidential villa despite all entreaties.

It is however believed that the ex-president’s visit may not be unconnected to his mission to Guinea Bissau where he served as a special envoy to President Buhari in the country’s political crisis.

It will be recalled that Obasanjo at the instance of President Buhari had gone to restore constitutional order following the dismissal of the Prime Minister, Mr. Domingos Simoes Pereira and his cabinet by President Jose Mario Vaz recently.

Engr Odusoga is dead

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NGR. KAYODE Odusoga is dead, aged 76.

A devout Christian and community leader, he was the President, Old Boys Association of Methodist Boys High School, Ibadan branch until his death.

His commendation service at the Cathedral Church of St. James, the Great, Oke Bola, Ibadan, will take place on September 11, to be followed by interment at Ijebu Ode, on September 12.

He is survived by his wife, Olabisi, children and grand children.

Late Engr. Kayode

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 17

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IGERIAN media is gradually shaped by sensationalism and simplification: publications appeal to people’s “lower instincts” and this “dumbing down” in which politicians are wiling accomplices as I said last week, is fraught with xenophobia and ethnic claims. I am increasingly worried by the persistent and damning inability to see things for what they are, to be rational and perceive reality without sentiment (or greed), thus perverting Nigerian judgement and the media.

Many of you will recall “Booboo corner”, a programme presented by veteran broadcaster Kehinde Young-Harry of the NTA. It proposed a weekly assessment of the news and most of all, its coverage; pointing out, in an insightful yet fun manner, some of the ridiculousness behind many would-be journalistic statements.

It’s a shame Nigeria has become so stilted, so sycophantic that very few people would be willing to engage in such an exercise today. We in the media have become too fond of “executive governors” (what does that even mean, a governor is already the head of the executive branch of government, why the hyperbolic title?) and “Alhaji-DrChief-Prince-Engineer-Elders” to want to tell anyone the truth, let alone ourselves.

Gone are the days of “simply mister ”. In an interview, renowned human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo was asked a very strange, bigotry tainted question about why Mr. Keyamo supported Buhari, despite being from the South-South himself. How a journalist, the critical thinker par excellence would ask such a pedestrian, narrow-minded, intolerant question and not be sanctioned by an editor is beyond me.

Chauvinism and intolerance So what if some Nigerians think in those terms? It is up to those who know better (or should know better) to educate and correct them. If in the US a journalist asked a White politician why he supported Barack Obama despite his being Black, we would call the whole affair racist and there is no place for chauvinism and intolerance in today’s public discourse. Unless you’re Donald Trump (a more entrepreneurially successful or refined Ayo Fayose, for those looking for his Nigerian equivalent).

We claim we want change but some of us are clearly either uncomfortable with the reality of said change or incapable of it. All of the noise about President Buhari’s choice of chief of staff and secretary to the government of the federation, amounts to our simplistic and corrupt understanding of governance: in the past, such positions were key to the awarding of lucrative contracts to politically connected people.

It was thus very important under the PDP for various factions to have “their” man in place. That we speak of these positions in ethnic terms points to the fact that the Nigerian state still awards

tprincewill@yahoo.co.uk

The fourth estate: Mass media and tribalism

Vice President Yemi Osibajo

President Muhammadu Buhari positions not based on merit but on who one knows and most importantly, where one is from.

However, this never benefits the common man: no matter where the SGF or chief of staff to the President is from, year in, year out, Nigerians know the same injustice and hardship. Any gifts, contracts and patronage go to the same set of already rich people whether it’s amongst the Igbos, Hausas, Yorubas, etc.

The village man in Anambra or Delta must realise that even if the SGF or chief of staff were from “his place” he wouldn’t help him in any way. He would first settle his family and friends. So wouldn’t we rather competent, intelligent people, irrespective of their ethnic group, were appointed in all positions, men and women who will work for all Nigerians, not just one tribe?

Unfortunately, like cannon fodder in times of old, the political elite uses the uncouth, injudicious ideas of the unenlightened masses to trick them into fighting their battles for things that have no real incidence on the common man’s

life. The SGF’s function is very political and as such, must be filled by people the President trusts, irrespective of their ethnicity, unless we want Buhari to spend four years of his private conversations and activities being mysteriously leaked to his political enemies so that they in turn, spend four years bickering and fighting him, rather than all actors helping him solve the problems we elected him to rid

us of. In fact, it was Buhari’s refusal to do things as Nigerian presidents have always done, that is, use meddling, intimidation and strong-arm tactics, that enabled Saraki become Senate President. Had he picked his own preferred candidate (which let me remind you, goes against the constitutionally prescribed independence of the legislative arm of government), his relationship with the House

would certainly have been smoother and we would probably have Ministers appointed and approved by the Senate, by now.

But he chose to stick to the letter of the law, which didn’t pay him.

He was betrayed by unscrupulous, power-hungry men and slighted by illogical masses for, in essence, doing the right thing. Now, we criticise him again for proving he learnt his lesson: he is populating his office with people he trusts and can vouch for personally. That few in the media can either see or understand this and therefore join in the debasing of our public discourse and commentary by speaking only in ethnic terms, worries me.

Frustrated politicians One can no longer tell the difference between angry, frustrated politicians and some finger-puppet journalists who parrot what these men say. Our media presents politicians in basic black and white terms while paradoxically asking politicians to show complexity and fulfill a balancing act between competing ethnic interests, rather than call for a new social contract: is a postethnic minded Nigeria possible?

Where one is judged solely on the basis of one’s output?

Ironically, the “fourth estate” also refers to lawyers, whom French philosopher Montaigne says, sell justice to the rich, to the detriment of the poor who cannot afford to bribe their way to a favourable verdict. I hope that during the court cases which will invariably follow the probes, journalists will stand up for the people they are meant to educate and inform and not defend corruption based on ethnic sentiments or imagined witch hunts.

Asset declaration

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NSURPRISINGLY, most state governors (including newly elected ones) have refused to make their asset declaration forms public, unlike our Commander-in-Chief and his deputy.

Many had no private business before seeking elective office and can therefore not justify the huge amounts they are now in possession of. I was surprised by people obsessing over the individual worth of the homes the

Vice-President declared: what does it really matter (beyond satisfying our voyeuristic, jealous, tendencies?) so long as we know the number of houses? In fact, a public declaration is not a constitutional requisite so long as the information is available to the Code of Conduct bureau.

No matter how “rich” we erroneously believe Buhari and Osinbajo to be, they are nowhere as wealthy as the Sarakis,

Obasanjos, Atikus or even Jonathans of this world: imagine them making their assets public!

Either way, it is not wealth in itself that is the problem, it is stolen wealth that is unacceptable. Also, if Aisha Buhari is at some point forced to declare her assets (even though she is not an elected official) then it would be interesting to compare what Patience Jonathan has now to what she owned before her husband became president or even governor.

Traffic laws and Sen. Akpabio Our media presents politicians in basic black and white terms while paradoxically asking politicians to show complexity and fulfill a balancing act between competing ethnic interests, rather than call for a new social contract

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OTH humanists and sycophants thank God he is alive. But one must wonder why he didn’t use the “state of the art”, “first of its kind” hospital he built in Akwa Ibom after his accident.

His “uncommon transformation” clearly was not so uncommon by Nigerian standards: on paper governors are God’s gift to their states. In reality, it’s another matter entirely. As for reports his convoy ignored a red light, thus prompting the accident, government convoys are known

to be particularly reckless, as their owners believe they are above the laws of the land. The Sheriff, as I said last week, is simply biding his time: Justice and equality will return to Nigeria.

•Godswill Akpabio

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

18— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 CANCER is the world’s number one killer disease. One third of the world’s 7.3 billion people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) predicts that the worldwide burden of cancer is set to double over the next five years, and that over the next 15 years, one in every two persons will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

It is the most expensive disorder to treat i n the short-term, and also the most expensive long-term sickness. Every year, over the last decade, the economic toll of cancer has cost an estimated US$1 trillion – about 1.5 percent of the world’s annual GDP. In Nigeria, this chronic illness with often severe effects is a potential death sentence. There is hardly anybody who doesn’t know somebody who has either died of, or is suffering from it. Current-

Combating the cancer scourge ly, 100,000 new cases are reported every year with very few having access to treatment because there are just a few functional cancer centres in the country.

The World Health Organisation statistics on the cancer situation in Nigeria reveals that more than two million Nigerians have some form of invasive cancer, an estimated 100,000 are diagnosed annually, of which at least 80,000 die, making cancer one of the nation’s highest causes of death.

This is equivalent to 240 Nigerians every day or 10 Nigerians every hour, dying from cancer.

Apart from the prohibitive cost of cancer treatment, most patients present themselves late at the hospital, when little or nothing can be done to help them.

The death of many high profile figures from cancer should be a wake-up call for government to be more committed to addressing the rising incidence and cost of cancer in Nigeria. To combat the menace, an intensive communitybased mass cer vical cancer screening campaign is desirable.

Nigerians cannot afford the cost of cancer care. When it strikes, even the rich become beggars.

Cancer management must be recognised as team work and government must take the lead. Cancer control must be centrally coordinated and the Federal Ministry of Health must take up that role.

Government should admit that cancer is now an issue of primary health concern and a major cause of premature death of Nigerians irrespective of age, sex, or social class. They should take the bull by the horn by equipping public hospitals and medical centres with effective diagnostic capability to quickly detect and treat cancer infections.

The apex government should recognise the urgent need for the institution of a policy for mandatory free annual screening checks at local, state and national levels and put in place long-overdue comprehensive world class centres for cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

OPINION

Ojuelegba as a metaphor

By Tayo Ogunbiyi

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ATE Afro beat maestro, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, means different things to diverse people. While some people see him as a gifted musician, others see him as a social nuisance who lured many unsuspecting people to embrace anti-social ways of life. Many others see Fela as a revolutionary who had a liberating message for his largely naïve and oppressed people. Despite this varied perception of Fela, one thing that is, however, incontrovertible is that he provided a voice for the voiceless people in his country and, indeed, in the African continent. He dared the government with the intent of liberating the oppressed. He was incarcerated several times for this, but he was never cowed. Fela was an enigma of a sort.

His music was his weapon. With it, he fought many military and civilian dictators and their collaborators to a standstill. When Fela sang, powerful men in the society simply ran for cover.

One of his ever green songs, ‘Confusion Break Bone’, aptly interprets the confused state of postcolonial Lagos and its dearth of basic infrastructure and visionary leadership in the days of military disctatorship. In the song, Fela illustrates the hard situations of post-colonial Lagos. This was artistically epitomised by his reference to the chaos at Ojuelegba, a complex Lagos neighbourhood with awful social and spiritual existence almost akin to that of Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah.

During this period, Ojuelegba

metaphorically captured the image of pandemonium. In those days, at Ojuelegba, right in the scorching and highly torturous Lagos sun, lots of vehicles trying to connect various parts of the metropolis would be stranded for hours in the typically irritating Lagos traffic jam, popularly referred to as ‘go slow’ in local parlance. It was always a gory sight with many motorists blaring horns at the same time; cursing and hissing at the sight of the utterly bewildering Ojuelegba confusion.

It was this chaotic situation that Fela, perhaps Africa’s most revolutionary singer, attempted to exploit as a metaphor for confusion in Nigeria.

Years after Fela symbolically drew attention to Ojuelegba as a satire for confusion in the country; the once highly notorious and riotous neighbourhood was in the news again.

Unsurprisingly, it is for the wrong reason. A few days ago, Lagosians were stunned by the news that a heavy-duty lorry carrying a huge container fell off the Ojuelegba Bridge, landing on a Nissan saloon car and another Sports Utility Vehicle, SUV, sentencing three people in the process to inopportune demise.

The event, which occurred in the afternoon, allegedly created serious pandemonium typical of Fela’s Ojuelegba as motorists along the route reportedly ditched their vehicles and took to their heels.

Understandably, this state of affairs gave rise to more confusion that subsequently resulted into several accidents, with fleeing motorists

and commuters sustaining varying degrees of injuries in the process. According to eye witness accounts, the container might have fallen off because it was not latched. But, the account of the Federal Road Safety Corps differs as the Corps Lagos State Sector Commander, Mr. Hyginus Omeje, insisted that the container was latched because it fell alongside the flat belt on which it was hooked.

Whichever way, the Ojuelegba event is sadly a reflection of the careless disposition of Nigerians to the issue of safety and sanctity of human life. The concept of the sanctity of life is anchored on the sacred nature of life, and the fact that nothing should be spared in order to guarantee the safety of life. Unfortunately, we have reached a level in our nation where human life actually means so little to us. We have little or no regard for universally accepted safety procedures and measures. In our clime, people die needlessly on a daily basis and in clearly avoidable circumstances. All we care about is how to amass more and more wealth.

We have reached a level in our nation where human life actually means so little to us; we have little or no regard for universally accepted safety procedures and measures

The typical Nigerian’s predisposition to amassing wealth, even at the cost of human life, is quit legendary.

Our roads are filled with vehicles that are nothing but merchants of death. Articulated vehicles with outdated tires daily ply our roads while law enforcement officials, who should apprehend them, having already compromised their oath of office, simply look the other side. It is only in our clime that a well oiled fake drug industry could operate undeterred and with irritating audacity. Since the fake drugs barons understand the average Nigerian’s craze for money, whether bloody or bleeding, they would always be in business.

The cost of the Ojuelegba incident is obviously enormous. It resulted in pains and preventable deaths, wasted time, money and other valuables while it also led to the damage of public infrastructure. It is, therefore, for these reasons that it is disheartening to know that most of such incidents are not acts of God, as some would ignorantly want to affirm, but rather the products of human errors, carelessness and institutional failure. Indeed, most of such incidents could have been avoided if those involved had been more safety conscious.

Typically, in the next few days, several traffic and safety enforcement officials would be unusually active on our roads, trying to ‘enforce’ safety and traffic regulations.

Unless we embrace rational acts, Fela’s Ojuelegba would continue to be a sad reminder of our wacky decision, as a people, to embrace insanity.

•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 19 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com

Another reason Buhari is the right man for now

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ESS than 48 hours before he clocked his hundredth day in office, Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria since May 29, 2015 and his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, publicly declared their assets. Both men had made the pre-election pledge to declare their assets publicly not later than their first hundred days in office. Questions about what this administration had achieved in the last one hundred days aside issuance of warnings to probe all cases of corruption against members of the Goodluck Jonathan administration had lately dominated media discussion. Many Nigerians have been asking to know in specific terms what the Buhari administration has achieved in one hundred days. They had questioned the administration’s claim to probity and questioned further its level of preparedness to govern in the face of its failure to set up its cabinet and, very significantly, the latest in the series of appointments the president had made which were overwhelmingly skewed in favour of the north.

Critics of the administration saw the appointments as clear proof of what they had all along

criticized about the person and style of Muhammadu Buhari: a bigoted, self righteous parochialism by a man incapable of trusting people outside his immediate enclave.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party and their sympathisers saw their opportunity to make their dig at the Buhari administration and seized the moment with both hands.

Matters seemed momentarily compounded after the APC, through its spokespersons and other members of the party, disowned a purported covenant between the party and Nigerians in which the former documented what the administration hoped to achieve by its one hundredth day in office. The appointment episode and the backlash from it threatened to end the honeymoon between Buhari and the people in a dirty, unanticipated divorce.

Criticism of the last set of appointments must no doubt count as the worst the administration has so far faced since May 29.

This column had last week questioned the rationale for the appointments announced two weeks ago. I had in that piece highlighted what I thought was

wrong about the appointments and cautioned against a growing tendency to ignore the voice of the people. The president’s reputed modesty and his perceived dislike of corruption and corrupt enrichment by public servants, I had said, were his main recommendations to the voting public, more than any pretensions to messianic omniscience. Perhaps it was in recognition of the disenchantment caused by the said one-sided appointments and the growing feeling that the new government was beginning to renege on its electoral promises even before it had started executing them- perhaps it was to stem the tide of criticisms that followed all of this that the presidency publicly declared the assets of both the president and vice president, even before the Code of Conduct Bureau had finished verifying the claims made in the asset declaration documents deposited with it.

The assets declared showed that both Buhari and Osinbajo are men of relatively modest means.

The case of President Buhari was particularly revealing of his kind of person. The worth of his assets, although not in the league of paupers’, falls far short of what would ordinarily be

Whether listed or given by ‘declaration’ the true worth of the declared assets can be ascertained by any interested person

A Silver Jubilee dream of Delta State th N the 27 of August next year, Delta State will be 25 years old. Carved in 1991 out of the old Bendel State, formerly Mid-West Region, Deltans may be forgiven for feeling that their state is a much riper half-a-century-and-two years old. As heirs of the pace-setting Western Region of which they were part until 1963, they hanker after visionary governance which places service over self and enduring development over money-sharing contract bazaars. Moreover, as MidWesterners, they were proud beneficiaries of the first fruits of the struggles of minorities for self-determination in the fledgling Nigerian nation. In a sense, Dennis Osadebey House, the seat of its government, is a monument to the sort of micro-nationalist struggles aimed at fulfilling the promise of federalism in a multi-ethnic nation-state.

Indeed, it is remarkable that before becoming a leader of the movement for, and then premier of, Mid-West, Osadebey was leader of opposition in the Western Region parliament. The governing Action Group enjoyed the reputation of a dynamic and forward looking party whose welfarist and rapid modernisation programmes were a model of postcolonial transformation. Osadebey’s opposition role is best seen, then, as having been in vital service to democracy, which makes all too glaring the anomaly of one political tendency’s strangle-hold on the governance of his eventual home state, Delta. The Peoples Democratic Party’s power monopoly has been nothing short of a heart attack to the “Big Heart” state, as it has been to the country. The vulgar notion of power for its brute sake and

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obscene self-enrichment has become the ethos of the state’s politics. I have sometimes wondered if this lamentable outcome is not attributable to the absence of a principled and charismatic political personage, commanding the loyalty and respect of the majority by dint of unwavering commitment to the collective good.

For other than the 22 months of Felix Ibru’s inaugural stint, Delta’s governors have had their tutelage entirely under military administrators. For good measure, the state was created by General Babangida , arch-enemy of democracy and self-confessed evil genius — in a manner that managed to displease even the most ardent agitators. Many swear that Babangida had intended it as a gift to his wife who came from Asaba. It was as if the gravitas that attended the creation of Mid-West had exhausted itself and all that was left for the heirs of Osadebey, Jereton Mariere, James Ekpre Otobo, among others, was comic mimicry.

Thus, for all its oil and gas, its highly trained and sophisticated indigenes, Delta State has one of the most uninspiring histories of governance. So much so that it can hardly justify the grossly inadequate but still considerable 13 percent derivation funds it receives as an oil producing state. Nothing, I think, demonstrates the abject state of Delta

It is time Deltans embraced change for a renewal of their best dreams

ascribed to not just a former head of state but one who had had the rare fortune of being in charge of the lucrative petroleum ministry as early as in the 1970s and later as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, in charge of disbursing the huge fund that was under the control of the PTF. This former oil czar and long time player in the oil industry has, according to his declared assets, no oil wells to his name nor is he connected to any company with interests in the oil industry. His main assets consist in heads of cattle, sheep, farms and a number of houses, some of them mud structures inherited from family members or built with loans from banks. He has N30 million in his only bank account (none outside Nigeria), and this with one of the most conservative banks in the country. This is genuinely remarkable in a country where public office is another word for corrupt and primitive enrichment. Osinbajo is more or less in the same category as Buhari even though he owns a domiciliary dollar account and a three bedroom building in the United Kingdom.

The combined assets of both men are worth less than what some lowly officer corners for themselves in some ‘juicy’ parastatal or government ministry. Compared to many public office holders, much less politicians at even council levels, the two most powerful Nigerians today look somewhat like refugee cases. The net worth of their assets does not leave one wondering about the source of the assets nor does it induce nightmares. Rather it proclaims both men, Buhari especially, as the right people to lead Nigeria for now- after the depraved looting of members of the last administration. Buhari and Osinbajo’s declaration of their

more than the b l i g h t e d condition of Warri, its commercial capital. Since my school days at Federal Government College, the city has been in rapid decline.

Today, it looks more and more like a vast undrained swamp in the peak of the rainy season than a city, or a town recovering from a decadelong war, or an open refuse dump (God, its unsanitary streets!), or all three things at once. Sadly, one can say the same thing of Sapele, Delta’s first commercial capital in the heyday of African Timber and Plywood and rubber plantations, not to mention Asaba whose capital status consists only of tawdry hotels and bank branches established for government funds.

And then there is that constant reminder of Delta’s sorry state: the permanently-under-construction AsabaUghelli dual-carriage way, at one of whose many diversion roadblocks I nearly smashed myself to death earlier this year on the way to the University of Benin’s Law Class of ‘89’s silver jubilee dinner.

What ought to be a showpiece state road linking the political capital with the commercial and industrial corridor of Ughelli-Warri-Sapele, is, alas, an utter embarrassment — not to mention the humiliation of an airport now downgraded by the civil aviation authorities to a mere airfield.

Obviously, some good things have been done in the state. I’m hard-pressed, however, to find much to applaud beyond, say, Governor Uduaghan’s schools rehabilitation and remodelling

assets would to some extent turn attention away from criticisms of the skewed appointments of their administration. But the greater benefit of their action is the message it sends out to Nigerians that public office is not about self interest. Nor should anyone leave such office richer than an Aliko Dangote.

Both Buhari and Osinbajo have been in public office. But they did not loot the place blind. This makes it all the more clearer that Buhari is the right man for now and the best to take on those burglars of our common wealth.

He has nothing to expect from them, nor can he be afraid of losing or missing anything now at 73 that he did not miss or lose before now. If a former head of state who has occupied some of the most influential offices in the corridors of power in the last forty years possesses no more than what Buhari has declared, then nobody who has served this country in any capacity in the last forty years should have far more than him except such could show they had been involved in very lucrative and corruptionfree private business. Otherwise, the air of suspicion swirls around them.

It is the job of the opposition in a democracy to ask searching questions and expect answers to some if not all of them. To that extent, we shall bear with Olisa Metuh and the PDP even as they go about trying to find fault with the president’s claim concerning his declared assets. What I will murmur against is Mr. Metuh’s splitting of air about what he called a mere listing of assets as opposed to an actual declaration of the worth of the assets.

Whether listed or given by ‘declaration’ the true worth of the declared assets can be ascertained by any interested person.

programme (“Rebuilding Our Schools Brick by Brick” (Vanguard, 12 December 2012). Still education in the state is in tatters, as I can testify on the strength of a writing workshop for secondary school students in Warri that I led with support from the International Institute of Education in February last year. The state-owned university ought to be one of the best in Africa but couldn’t be ranked with a good community college in the United States. I am almost always brought to tears by the desolate condition of its Oleh campus, by the fact that its Law and Engineering faculties remain deservingly disaccredited.

But back to the point. The spirit of oppositional politics which militates against stagnation is sorely needed in Delta State. The personalities that have held the state in thrall in the last sixteen years have nothing more to offer. Their governing clique is too bound to the past and compromised, has grown too incestuous, to inspire hope. The change desperately needed can come only from outside the vicious circle of the PDP’s freewheeling I-don’t-give-a-damn philosophy. Simply put, it is time Deltans embraced change for a renewal of their th best dreams. Else, their state’s 50 anniversary will be as dismal, as bereft of th cheer, as the 25 .

20—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Aba residents, motorists groan under bad roads, traffic jams

By Ugochukwu Alaribe, Aba

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OR residents and motorists in Aba, the commercial nerve-centre of Abia State, transportation in and out of the city has been a nightmare in the last three months. Reason? The ongoing rehabilitation of some roads in the city has inflicted untold hardship on them.

Many parts of the city have been blocked either with debris de-silted from overflowing drainage channels or earth moving equipment by construction companies handling road rehabilitation works. Some roads like Umuojima, Umule, Ukaegbu, Umuola, Kamalu and Omni have been blocked and made impassable to motorists.

The dilapidated state of roads in the city has often caused articulated vehicles like trucks to fall as they attempted to negotiate bad spots. Last week, a truck carrying empty beer bottles had, while negotiating a bad portion at the Ngwa High School area, fallen on a tricycle and a Toyota Sienna.

Resulting impact Five persons were sent to their untimely graves from the resulting impact. Another crash was also recorded at Port Harcourt Road as a truck fell at a bad portion of the road and injured three pedestrians.

From one area of the city to another, it has been tales of woe due to traffic jams occasioned by bad roads. A cross-section of residents who spoke to Vanguard Metro, VM, lamented that they now spend several hours on the road daily due to traffic jams caused by bad roads in all parts of the city.

From Aba/Owerri Road to Osisioma Ngwa Junction, Faulks Road to Ukwu Mango, Umule to Tonimas Junction, Ukaegbu/ Umuola roads to Obikabia Junction, the situation has caused untold hardships to motorists and commuters in Aba. A typical gridlock along Aba—Owerri road caused by the construction of drainage channels, most times stretches up to two kilometres with motorists and pedestrians unable to move. On a particular occasion, the state Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, was trapped in traffic jam at the Aba-Owerri Road. It took several minutes before his security details could clear the road for him as he sat in C M Y K

his car waving at residents.

Even the St. Paul Road which now serves as alternative route to the scary Aba/Owerri Road, a worse form of gridlock is now being experienced as stones used to fill it have been washed away.

The Port Harcourt and Aba Ikot Ekpene roads which are two of the three major entry routes into Aba, have developed deep gullies and now compete with the nearby Imo River as they are completely flooded.

Commuters now have to disembark at one end of the road, wade through flood water and trek a distance before boarding another taxi or bus to get to their destinations. As at the time VM visited the dilapidated Port Harcourt and Ikot Ekpene roads, tricycle operators were seen making brisk businesses as they now collect N70 from the Aba main motor park to the flooded area at Uratta, while the commuter finds his way through the flood to the next ‘bus stop’ where he pays another N100 to take him to the flyover junction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway. It is the same with commuters going to Onicha Ngwa, Ohanze and Ikot Ekpene, Uyo and other towns in Akwa Ibom State.

Due to the bad state of some of the entry points and link roads such as Faulks to Ukwu Mango/ Ariaria, Umule and Umuojima to the Enugu –Port Harcourt expressway, Aba-Owerri Road which is the only motorable route has become a ‘no go area’ because of the ongoing construction of gutters. A resident of Igwebuike Street, Ohabiam, along Port Harcourt road,

*Flood-covered Ehere Road Michael Nwankwo, urged Gov. Ikpeazu to make haste to fix the bad roads in the area as businesses have closed shop while the area has been cut off from other parts of the city.

The situation has also been made worse by the deplorable condition of some streets which would have served as alternative routes. In some of the areas, the streets have been cut-off from the main roads because of the broken down culverts and bad roads.

Broken down culverts A bus driver plying the Aba Motor Park to Osisioma Ngwa junction who gave his name as Chikodi Eze told VM that the ongoing construction of gutters along the road causing heavy gridlock has affected their businesses as they hardly make

good returns at the end of the day.

According to him: “You can be held in this traffic jam for more than one hour. It is affecting us badly because sometimes our passengers will choose to disembark and trek over to a point where they can board another bus. We are appealing to the construction company handling the road to finish the project in good time to end our sufferings.”

VM also observed that most vehicles develop faults due to prolonged gridlock in these areas, while transport fares have gone up. Commuters now pay N120 from N60 for a trip from Osisioma Ngwa Junction to Aba Motor Park, while Ngwa Road to Tonimas now cost N100 from N60. A trip from Opobo junction to Obikabia junction in Ogbor Hill, now cost N100 from N50 as the tricycle operators pass

A cross-section of residents lamented that they now spend several hours on the road daily due to traffic jams caused by bad roads in all parts of the city Traffic jam along Aba-Owerri road.

through waterside to Omoba Road since the Ukaegbu , Ehere and Umuola roads are no longer passable. Reacting to the situation, Gov. Ikpeazu, has expressed his sympathy to the people of Aba over the gridlock being experienced by motorists and other road users on the AbaOwerri Road, stressing that it is due to rehabilitation of roads in the state.

Ikpeazu who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Godwin Adindu, appealed to the residents of the city and commuters to endure the temporary inconveniences as the rehabilitation work would soon be completed. He stated that as a resident of Aba, he personally goes through the traffic hurdles everyday and do appreciate the suffering of the people, adding that the sacrifice has to be made once and for all for the good of all.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 21

Kaduna govt, container firm sign deal on dry port

By Godwin Oritse & Adebisi Adekanbi

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HE Kaduna State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Inland Containers Nigeria Limited (ICNL) to operate a dry port in Kaduna.

Disclosing this to newsmen, Managing Director of Inland Containers, Mr Ismail Yusuf, said that the collaboration will further decongest the ports in Lagos while generating more revenue for both the Federal and Kaduna State governments.

Yusuf also disclosed that the Kaduna dry port has started offering skeletal services, adding that the port facility will commence full operation before the end of the year.

It will be recalled that ICNL was one of the six inland container port facilities that were recently gazetted by the Federal Government to operates port services across

the country.

According to Yusuf, the commencement of the Kaduna dry port will see to the movement of about 29,000 containers from the seaports on an annual basis.

He said that the Kaduna dry port is a destination port that importers can consign their cargoes to while also serving as a port for transit goods going to Niger and other landlocked countries.

He explained that when the Inland Container Depots are up and running, the pressure on the seaports will be reduced and congestion will also be eliminated.

Lasting solution “This is part of the Federal Government’s effort with Inland Containers Nigeria Limited to provide lasting solution to the congestion in Apapa Ports and extension of port

CEREMONY: From left : Mr. Tunji Kazeem, Head, Enterprise Risk Management, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, NSE; Mr. Emmanuel N. Nnorom- President/CEO, Transcorp Plc and Mrs Dupe Olusola Managing Director/CEO, Teragro Commodities Limited, at Closing Gong Ceremony at the exchange. activities to the hinterlands.”

He said that ICNL was also holding talks with the management of the Nigerian

Railway Corporation on ways of moving containers up north by rail. He explained that ICNL was still

discussing rates and the numbers of containers that will be transported to the Kaduna dry port on a weekly basis.

Stakeholders oppose CBN’s time limit on complaints’ resolution

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gin to run in the case of fraud or mistake of the defendant, until the plaintiff has discovered the fraud or mistake. However, CBN’s six-year time-limit for complaints and claim of refund for overcharging implies that except bank customers discover the fraud or mistake of banks in not complying with their obligations and overcharging their customers within six years, the bank customer will lose his right to complain and the bank can keep the $3,080.00 84.00 money overcharged the customer. $10.51 -0.08 Mr. Gbadebo Olatokunbo, a leading investors’ rights activ$46.88 -0.28 ist, said the apex bank should not place any 41.00 0.20 time limit as this would amount aiding CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL the banks to shortchDOLLAR 196 196.5 197 ange the customers.

POUNDS 307.0732 307.8566 308.6399 “The issue of time limEURO 216.4232 216.9753 217.5274 it should not be there FRANC 201.2114 201.7247 202.238 as most bank customYEN 1.5761 1.5801 1.5841 ers don’t even know CFA 0.3113 0.3213 0.3313 WAUA 273.6312 274.3293 275.0273 when the banks are RENMINBI 30.6433 30.7219 30.8005 overcharging and RIYAL 52.2402 52.3735 52.5067 deducting their monSDR 274.0472 274.7463 275.4454 ey. Putting any time KRONA 28.9902 29.0642 29.1381 limit is uncalled for; CBN Exchange Rate as at 08/ 09 /15 once a customer dis-

TAKEHOLDERS have criticised attempts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put a time frame within which bank customers can bring in complaints of overcharging and claim of refund.

Sections 57 (1)(a) & (b) and Section 58 of the Limitation Act, provide that time does not be-

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covers overcharging or excessive deduction, then he should be able to get refund no matter how long, even if it is 12 years,” Olatokunbo said. He related a personal experience with a bank that deducted certain charges from a retirees’ group account where he was a member, without any previous consent from the group.

Mr Adeleke Abayomi, a customer of a top-five bank, said the time limit was a disservice to banks’ customers, noting that the complainants should be able to get refund in as much as the offending bank is still operational.

Other stakeholders argued that when any bank unlawfully debits the customer’s account and takes away money thereby depriving the customer the use of it, it amounts to stealing, stressing that the action amounted to an economic crime that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should investigate.

They pointed out that when these unlawful actions are perpetrated by banks with the connivance of government officials at a particular time, “for any pecuniary benefit of such government officials, it will amount to aiding and abetting a crime.

Bank officials

Once a customer discovers overcharging or excessive deduction, then he should be able to get refund no matter how long

“Therefore setting a time limit like CBN has done is really dangerous and it will shelter, encourage and protect the perpetrators of these crimes – bankers and government officials - because we all know that some elected officials have two terms of four years each, that is eight years. Therefore an elected official may connive with bank officials to fleece the government coffers with excessive charges on facilities (shared with the bank) in the first two-years of his tenure, knowing that his immu-

nity will cover him during his tenure and when he has left office and his immunity has expired, CBN’s time limit will continue his protection. They said the cases over which the CBN is interfering, or seeks to be legislating, such as excess interest charges; excess management fees charges; excess Team Loan Repayment charges; fees charged above Bankers tariffs; excess charges on restructured team loans; excess penal interest charges and excess COT charges, among others, amount to civil wrongs, criminal offences and constitutional breaches of the rights of their customers, which are already covered and addressed in the Constitution.

As they stated, “it is a civil wrong and amounts to breach of contract if these charges are not in accordance with the terms of the facilities granted the customer. It is criminal in many ways as it amounts to an offence of stealing under the Criminal Code Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,” pointing out that a person who fraudulently takes anything capable of being stolen, or fraudulently converts to his own use or to the use of any other person anything capable of being stolen, is said to steal that thing.

22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Many of these state governors are well made after they leave office, while workers in their states are left to wallow in penury, which is tantamount to man’s inhumanity to man

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No airline should operate without insurance — NCRIB T

HE Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB, has called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to ensure that no airline operator is allowed to operate without adequate insurance cover.

President of the NCRIB, Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu said that adequate insurance will guarantee that in case of any unfortunate incident, the bereaved families will have something to fall back on.

Shoderu said, “Barely a month ago, the pendulum of disaster swings again into aviation industry where four people including a pilot were confirmed dead and other passengers on board sustained injury of different magnitude in an ill fated Sikosky 76 helicopter owned

by Bristow Helicopter Nigeria Limited.

“It is of grave concern to us not only because we are humane, but also that we are into business of risk taking.

We beckon on the leadership of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), as a matter of urgency to ensure that crashes of air craft in Nigeria becomes a thing of the past. They should also ensure that no airline operator is allowed to operate without adequate insurance cover.

Adequate insurance will guarantee that in case of any unfortunate incident, the bereaved families will have

There are almost six compulsory insurance policies that have been highlighted by our regulator; we need government support and baking to enforce them something to fall back on. On our part as insurance brokers, we have taken our awareness campaign to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON). I like to report to you that we have had meeting with the representative of the Association and a further meeting is to be rescheduled for a later date, not only with AON, but also other professional bodies in the aviation industry, to ensure that the mechanism of risk taking provided by law is strictly adhered, to avoid double tragedy for the families of victims,” Shoderu stated.

INSURAN State governments should implement the contributory pension scheme - PenCom Stories by Rosemary Onuoha

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HERE is need for state governments to implement the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, in their various states to enable the workers have a good retirement life.

According to the Head, Research & Corporate Strategy Department, of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, Mr. Umaru Farouk Aminu, the Pension Reform Act, 2014 mandates states and local governments to implement the CPS. Aminu noted that 26 states have enacted the pension reform law while only seven states have commenced full implementation.

Also, Managing Director of Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Wilson Ideva, said that there is need for state and local governments to implement the CPS and put an end to the trend where only the governors are assured of pension benefits when they leave office.

Ideva said, “Many of these state governors are well made after they leave office, while workers in their states are left to wallow in penury, which is tantamount to man’s inhumanity to man.

According to Ideva, the action or inaction of state

governments that have not yet signed the CPS into Law is inhibiting the domestication of the scheme in the states, while companies, local or foreign and even multinationals that have failed to adopt the scheme are endangering the future of the mostly Nigerian staff.

On the challenges facing the CPS in Nigeria, Ideva said that lack of adequate public awareness is a major challenge confronting the scheme.

He said, “This lack of awareness is even noticeable among the supposedly enlightened in the society. This situation is an offshoot of the initial skepticism that greeted

The Pension Reform Act, 2014 mandates states and local governments to implement the CPS

the pension reform in 2004. The old scheme had virtually collapsed; accumulating a deficit of more than two trillion Naira and cases of corruption were rampant. The word ‘Pension’ as a consequence acquired a pejorative connotation.

“It is against this backdrop that pension operators are now saddled with the responsibility of clearing this cobweb of ignorance about the workings of the new scheme.

Pension scheme Premium Pension Limited has been consistent in the call for increased public awareness on the scheme. The new pension scheme has gone through the teething stages and has come to stay. It is working but there is still enormous work to be done to address some observed challenges and ensure that all intended objectives are achieved.

“As it stands today, the CPS is arguably the most conspicuous and indelible legacy of the Federal Government in the past decade. This is largely because of the positive impact it has had on retirees since the scheme became fully operational,” Ideva said.

Federal might Shoderu therefore called on government to also throw its federal might behind the entrenchment of insurance policies not only in aviation industry but all other sectors, adding “There are almost six compulsory insurance policies that have been highlighted by our regulator; we need government support and baking to enforce them. It is of common knowledge that incumbent administration will not tolerate corruption of any sort, I like to say that avoidance of compulsory insurances is high level of corruption, therefore, it must be included in the ongoing fight against corruption.”

The NCRIB President also said that investigation reveals that sales of fake insurance certificates, especially, third party motor insurance, is still a thriving business across the country, adding, “It is disheartening.

It is worrisome because, this criminal attitude is being perpetrated under the nose of individuals saddled with the responsibility to entrench discipline and integrity.

Government should also partner insurance industry to enforce all the compulsory insurances.

Send comments & enquiries to insuranceandyou@yahoo.com C M Y K

From left: Assistant Brand & Promotion Executive, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr. Adewusi Oluwatosin; Managing Director, Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola; Marketing Assistant, Mrs Abioye Morenikeji; Chief Executive Officer, Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation, Mr Olumide Oyedeji; Brand Support Officer, Honeywell Pasta, Mrs Nnenna Uche Anuforo and Senior Brand Manager HFMP, Mr. Lanre Da-Silva, during Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp 2015, at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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CE & YOU

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Companies, local or foreign and even multinationals that have failed to adopt the scheme are endangering the future of the mostly Nigerian staff

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Ladipo-Ajayi advocates prosecution of group life insurance defaulters

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BRIEFING – From left: Head, Business Development and Sales, AIICO Pensions, Mr. Godwin Igbanoi; Head Research and Corporate Strategy, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Dr. Umaru Farouk Aminu; President, National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO), Mr. Modestus Anaesoronye; and Head, Corporate Communications, Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Paddy Ezeala, at the Annual General Meeting(AGM) of NAIPCO in Lagos

NICON to sell assets to offset debt N

ICON Insurance Limited is reportedly selling N20 billion worth of its assets in a move to meet the insurer’s financial obligations and convert into cash assets that are no longer useful to the

company.

In an address to the members of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Managing Director of the company, Mr. Bayode Samuel announced that N10

billion ($50 million) of the company ’s assets will be disposed before December of this year while the other N10 billion will be sold later.

The decision to dispose of the assets came after the federal

Drought losses to top $8 billion: Aon Benfield

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LOBAL economic losses from drought will surpass current estimates of $8 billion ($11.39 billion) as El Nino continues to strengthen, Impact Forecasting warns.

The Aon Benfield subsidiary’s monthly report on natural disasters says severe drought conditions persisted in western regions of the US, with economic losses expected to reach at least $3 billion ($4.27 billion).

Drought conditions also affected eastern Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Central America last month, with combined economic losses of more than $US2.6 billion ($3.7 billion) in Romania, the Czech Republic, and Poland.

“As we continue to see the prospect of El Nino becoming one of the strongest in decades, more and more impacts will be apparent around the world,” Impact

Forecasting Associate Director and Meteorologist Steve Bowen said.

Also last month Super Typhoon Soudelor caused economic losses of $US3.2 billion ($4.56 billion) as it crossed Saipan, part of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific, Taiwan and China. Soudelor was followed by Typhoon Goni, which hit the Philippines, the Korean peninsula, and Japan, killing 70 people and damaging tens of thousands of homes.

Heavy monsoon rains killed hundreds throughout Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Wildfires hit western US, Canada’s British Columbia and southern and central Europe, with costs soaring well beyond $US1 billion ($1.42 billion) globally.

Heatwave conditions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa killed at least 125 people.

government-owned insurer found out that the said assets were no longer useful to the company.

Converting the assets into cash will also allow Nicon Insurance to meet some of its obligations, including the payment of outstanding claims to its clients.

The company currently has an outstanding claims of N466 million.

“We will use it to expand our operations get first hand IT, pay all outstanding claims and commissions, improve staff welfare, buy operational assets like new vehicles and new operational issues, those are the things needed by modern insurance companies that is responsive to clients need; so it will help you to respond almost immediately to your clients need,” Samuel said.

ANAGING Director of LASACO Assurance Plc, Mr. Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, has suggested the prosecution of employers who failed to provide group life insurance cover for their employees.

Ladipo-Ajayi, who stated this at the Insurance Industry Consultative Forum (IICC) conference in Abuja, recently noted that no one has been prosecuted for non-compliance to group life insurance, despite the new Pension Reform Act, 2014 which stipulated severe sanctions for employers that fail to take up life insurance cover for their employees.

He said the PRA 2014 provides that “Every employer shall maintain a Group Life Insurance policy in favour of each employee for a minimum of three times the annual emolument of employees and that premium shall be paid not later than the date of commencement of the cover.”

Commencement of cover He also said section 6b of the Act equally states that an employer that fails, refuses or omits to make payments when due shall be liable for payment of claims arising from the death of such employee for failing to arrange life insurance cover, he added that this provision has not only helped to reinvigorate the work force within the industry, but has also enhanced profitability.

He however, regretted that majority of the employers in the private sector have not adhered to the law.

According to him, “It is my recommendation that there should be more effective monitoring/control by the regulators against defaulters.

For instance, no legal action has been instituted against employers that fail to take group life insurance policy for their staff. Violators of the law should be sanctioned to discourage others from defaulting. The enforcement of the five compulsory insurances will certainly help in deepening the market,” he said.

24 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Change and its consequences (2) DR. AKINTOLA OMIGBODUN omigbodunaa@yahoo.com THE strength of our national economy has been based on revenues from crude oil sales and there have been significant drops in these revenues in recent

times. There is the belief in some quarters that revenues from crude oil sales are not moneys we worked for and so there should not be any fuss made about the disappearance of these revenues. However, we often have the situation in which these revenues are used to further

impoverish the people and I will give the example of rice farmers in the past and now in 2015.

In the middle of February 1981, I spent some time in the Bida A g r i c u l t u r a l Development Project area in Niger State. Rice

cultivation was the dominant agricultural activity in the area and for the 1980 – 1985 period, there was a plan with the primary objective of increasing agricultural production, raising farm incomes to improve the welfare and living standards of the farming population.

Rice cultivation involves land preparation, planting, fertiliser application, weeding, h a r v e s t i n g , transportation, storage and threshing. These activities usually start between May and September while harvesting is carried out

between November and February and the estimated labour usage was put at 169 man days per hectare cultivated.

My visit was in furtherance of a study of rice milling in the area.

There was the need to establish at village/ community level modern rice mills for the production of parboiled rice. The mills were to be simple in design, small in scope and labour intensive in use. As we travelled from one village/community to the next, we were faced with field after field of rice crop that had been left to rot unharvested.

The number of

households engaged in farming in the area was put at about 60,000 and these households were brought to these d i s a s t r o u s circumstances through inappropriate government action.

The civilian government that came into office in October 1979 had embarked on a questionable scheme of rice importation that squandered the country ’s foreign exchange earnings and at the same time brought rice farmers to ruin within one planting season. What we found very distressing at the time was that the farmers did not understand that their plight was as a result of government policy.

More recently, the national rice policy had the overall objective that there would be self sufficiency in rice production by 2016.

There has been put in place a dual tariff that favoured domestic rice producers over rice traders. A supply gap of 782,000 metric tones of rice was identified in 2014 and import quotas allocated to 16 existing rice mills.

Existing rice mills There have been reports that actual imports were substantially in excess of the quotas and there have also been allegations of unpaid customs duties. Rice farmers should have carried out their planting activities between May and this month with the harvesting of the crop completed by February 2016. Would the excess imports create a situation in which farmers would have their crops unharvested by February 2016?

The previous week in this column, we noted that in June 1984 a team of Catholic bishops at a meeting with the then Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, stated that our leaders should be made to account for their stewardship. Going forward, we must have government give account of all revenues and we must ensure that these revenues are not applied in such a manner as to discourage domestic production, especially agricultural production.

C M Y K

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—25

Buhari's appointments, the constitution and worries of Igbo leaders of thought (2) This is the concluding part of this discourse which was first published in Vanguard yesterday. Prof. Nwabueze anchors his argument on the fact that the constitution requires conformance with the principles of justice, social justice and equality in the administration of government because it cannot arouse in its

By Ben Nwabueze members a strong enough feeling T is universally accepted that of loyalty and allegiance. discrimination based solely Injustice not only alienates the on the grounds specified in the individual’s loyalty, what is Bill of Rights (s. 42) is altogether worse, it also arouses him to irrational and is, therefore, not disaffection. An individual, reasonably justifiable in a denied recognition by society, constitutional democracy. cannot but feel alienated and Rationale for requiring disaffected. “Justice,” wrote conformance with the principles James Madison, “is not only the of justice, social justice and end of government, it is the end equality in the administration of of civil society. It ever has been government. Professor Lord and ever will be pursued until it Bryce has articulated the place of be obtained or until liberty be lost equality as a pre-supposition in the pursuit.” James Madison, (though not a constitutive The Federalist, No. 25, ed.

Clinton Rositer (1961). Unjust element) of democracy.

“Democracy”, he writes in his action by the state as between the book, Modern Democracies, vol racial, ethnic and religious groups 2 (1920), page 674, “is supposed comprised in it (i.e. the state) is to be the product and the of far greater concern. guardian both of Equality and Liberty, being so consecrated by Greater its relationship to both these concern precious possessions as to be almost above criticism..”

This is because of its tendency The importance of justice in to generate greater bitter human society is perhaps best resentment and to provoke more illustrated by considering the violent social conflicts than unjust feelings aroused in us by treatment of individuals. By injustice. Whereas justice is a cold concentrating in the North nearly virtue that evokes no feeling, 80 per cent of his 31 strategic injustice or unfairness arouses appointments and by excluding intense fury in us, as we get the South-East completely, a heated up and indignant about feeling of alienation, of not being it. “Indignation, which is the wanted, may have been created conceptually appropriate on the part of those so disadvantaged or excluded. A feeling of alienation may grow into that of disaffection or disloyalty. But it is perhaps social justice more than individual justice that bears more significantly upon the maintenance of the unity and coherence of society.

As Honore has observed, “modern social and economic developments have made it clear that PROF. BEN NWABUEZE individual justice….is only a partial and incomplete response to injustice, expresses, form of justice.” This perhaps as its etymology shows, a sense accounts for the shift in emphasis of not being regarded as worthy since the 19th century from of consideration. Injustice analysis of individual justice to betokens an absence of respect, that of social justice. and manifests a lack of concern.”

The glaring injustice of the Lucas, On Justice (1980), p.7. For present-day economic order, both this reason, the occurrence of domestic and international, the injustice, especially if it is on a cry of the underprivileged for wide scale, immediately puts the protection and the demands of the “unity and coherence of society individual on the state for welfare under strain.” Lucas, op. cit., p. 4 services have compelled attention Justice is thus rightly regarded being increasingly focused on the as the “bond of society,” Lucas, need and importance of social op. cit., p. 18, the “cornerstone of justice and away from issues of human togetherness.” Oputa, individual justice that once Lecture on Justice. It is the dominated it, and which condition in which the individual characterised the order of society can feel able “to identify with governed by classical liberalism. society, feel at one with it, and The concept of social justice has accept its rulings.” Lucas, op. cit., indeed conquered the public p. 1. An unjust society cannot imagination. “Almost every claim maintain its unity and cohesion, for government action on behalf

I

C M Y K

principle of e q u a l treatment of citizens (or the n o n discrimination principle) in t h e administration of government The equal treatment of citizens by the Nigeria state or freedom from President Buhari u n f a i r between discrimination guaranteed in of particular groups is advanced discrimination in its name, and if it can be made individuals on grounds section 42(1) of the Constitution to appear that a certain measure considered unfair. It says that a is among the rights that constitute is demanded by social justice, citizen of Nigeria of a particular the essence of the concept of opposition to it will rapidly community, ethnic group, place human rights because it rests weaken. People may dispute of origin, sex, religion or political upon our common humanity as whether or not the particular opinion shall not, whether living human beings, with a body measure is required by social expressly by, or in the practical and a soul, the ability to breathe, justice, but that this is the application of, any law in force in think, speak, move about and to standard which ought to guide the country or any executive or act, and a capacity for emotions political action…..is hardly ever administrative action of and sensations. Every human questioned. In consequence, government, be subjected to being feels pain, anguish and there are today probably no disabilities or restrictions, or be happiness, and is endowed with political movements or politicians accorded any privilege or a conscience that enables him to who do not readily appeal to advantage which are not applied judge between right and wrong, ‘social justice’ in support of the to citizens of Nigeria of other and to form beliefs, just like particular measures which they communities, ethnic groups, everyone else. advocate”: F.A. Hayek, The places of origin, sex, religion or Mirage of Social Justice (1976), political opinions if such Common disabilities, restrictions, privilege human nature p. 65.

Commands of the constitution or advantage are imposed or requiring conformance with the accorded by reason only that the The differences which principle of equal treatment of individual affected is such a undoubtedly exist between citizens (or the principle of non- person, (Sex was made a individuals because of differences discrimination) in the prohibited ground only since in physical, intellectual and will administration of government: 1979.) power – “rights,” which, to quote The words “restrictions” and Lord Bryce again, “nature has Under chapter 4 of our Constitution guaranteeing the “advantage” appearing in the bestowed on some and denied to fundamental rights of persons, the provision call for special notice. others” James Bryce, Modern state is enjoined not to violate or They are words of wide import, Democracies, vol. 1 (1920), p. 70, contravene the fundamental and carry the scope of the are only differences of degree, rights of life, dignity of the human provision far beyond what is which leave unaffected our basic person, personal liberty, freedom implied by the words common human nature. of thought, conscience and “disabilities” and “privilege”. The Because of our basic common religion, freedom of expression latter are essentially terms of art. human nature, all citizens have and the press, peaceful assembly Disability connotes “an incapacity more or less the same need for and association and freedom of for the full enjoyment of ordinary the security of their person and legal rights”, while privilege property, for justice in their movement. something dispute with others, for peace and The emphasis in the guarantee implies is on the word “every”, which approximating to a legal right, order, for happiness, the good life means all persons equally, such, for instance, as the non- and for welfare care generally, for regardless of their station in life liability of members of the obedience to the laws on the part or standing in society, whether National Assembly for words of all, and the protection of their poor or rich, powerful or spoken during the proceedings basic human rights. inconsequential, of lowly or noble of the Assembly.

The rationale for the state to treat birth, etc. The basis of the all citizens equally arises partly guarantee is that the dignity and Social from our common humanity as sacredness of the human person practice human beings with the very same entitle all persons to equal respect basic need noted above, and for all those attributes that make The words “restrictions” and partly from the need to avoid the up the human personality – life “advantage”, on the other hand, incidence of unfairness in the itself, intellect and thought, are not so limited in their import. administration of government, conscience and feeling, To come within the prohibition, except where such is reasonably movement and speech. however, a restriction or justifiable in a democratic society.

The examination herein focuses advantage, equally as a disability If the state is the product of a specially on section 42 prohibiting or privilege, must stem from some social contract, then, all citizens law or some executive or should count equally in relation administrative action of to it. In this view, a democratic government. Discrimination state is an organization in which based solely on some social the relationship of all members to practice, such as the it is on equal terms, whether it discriminatory rules or practices pertains to the conferment of of social clubs or other wholly rights, the imposition of By concentrating in private associations, is thus not obligations, the security of lives within the ambit of the prohibition. and property, the administration the North nearly 80 But law in the context of the of justice, the distribution of social per cent of his 31 provision seems to embrace amenities or the exercise of legislation as well as the common legislative and executive power strategic customary law and Islamic generally. appointments and by law, The actions of President Buhari law. Accordingly, any rules of the excluding the South- latter are unconstitutional and since his assumption of office void to the extent that they seem to fly in the face of the East completely, a discriminate between citizens on necessity for equal treatment of feeling of alienation, any of the prohibited grounds. citizens regardless of differences The rules of Sharia law in ethnicity and in their religious of not being wanted, discriminating against non- and political affiliations , and of may have been Moslems are thus impeachable the compelling rationale for the as unconstitutional. Rationale for principle of equal treatment as created requiring conformance with the articulated above.

26 —

V ANGU ARD, WEDNESD AY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 VANGU ANGUARD, WEDNESDA

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 27

DIARY 3rd AFICTA Submit Theme: (ICT: Lighting the way to development and prosperity across Africa), September 1- 3, 2015.

4th PARKTONIA PROTEA HOTEL, Johanessburg, South Africa.

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015 Cape Town, South Africa November 8-12, 2015

Preview DRONE IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Beyond the control of Pesticides, drones have entered civilian life through police surveillance. Commercial farmers are increasingly looking into innovative ways that these E- agricultural equipment can be used for agricultural purposes, particularly for early signs of disease detection and aerial imaging of fields for farmers, aside application of pesticides alone.

C M Y K

If you ask the Senior Manager, Accenture Nigeria, Mr Tolu Akinluyi, there is nothing wrong with fair competition in the industry. As a matter of fact, it is competition that actually makes the customer the king - a cliché that is always common in business relations but almost becoming a mirage considering the sharp practices that have permeated business transactions across the world.

However, from his perspectives on the Nigerian technology business, while competition has made the Nigerian customer king, it is ironically hurting the industry as well, giving the impression that the only difference between six and half a dozen is just semantics.

Recently when Hi-Tech sought his opinion on general prospects of the Nigerian telecommunications market, these are the illustrations he gave to support his opinion that the market is suffering and smiling at the same time.

•Tolu Akinluyi

Competition helps, hurts telecoms industry—AKINLUYI

By Prince Osuagwu

T

ELECOM market outlook: Let me begin this way: A colleague of mine recently bought a smartphone. On a limited budget, he was able to find an excellent phone with a sharp 5.5inch display, 32 GB storage, and an 8 MP camera, running the latest version of Android for a little over $100.

I spent a few minutes looking at the device and marvelling at the fantastic value for money, and it hit me – consumers have never had it better, but telecoms companies have never been under more pressure.

Mobile device Samsung - the world’s largest mobile device manufacturer recently recorded a 37.6% drop in profits, due to competitive pressures. Even with a global brand and large advertising revenues, it has become extremely difficult for Samsung to compete with over 100 different mobile device manufacturers all struggling for market share and profitability and this is only part of the story.

How Android spurns competition: There are four main smartphone software platforms –

Apple iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry. According to Gartner, of these platforms, Android owns over 83% market share, while iOS owns about 13% market share. The Android platform is owned by Google, and is provided free of charge to handset manufacturers to use on their devices.

Consumers are therefore spoilt for choice, as manufacturers are stuck in a race to the bottom on price

I N S I D E

This has made it relatively easy for manufacturers to enter the market, as Google manages the platform and has created an attractive and profitable ecosystem for application developers to deliver their content to subscribers.

Google in turn makes money from this platform using an advertising supported model.

Most of the smartphone devices sold by Samsung run on the Android platform,they therefore have to compete for market share with over 100 device manufacturers and can only distinguish themselves on hardware specifications, and to a limited extent on software customisation and services.

Consumers are therefore spoilt for choice, as manufacturers are stuck in a race to the bottom on price. Even Apple with its unique combination of hardware, software and services, and sky

Innjoo Fire-Plus, Halo solve battery problem for users PAGE 27

high profitability, recently suffered a share price drop when it announced record-breakingyet-lower-than-expected sales and revenue figures.

Apparently, investors are concerned about Apple’s growth prospects in light of current market dynamics. This is in spite of the fact that Apple already makes over 90% of all profits in the entire smartphone industry, leaving all other operators to struggle for just 7% of smartphone profits, going by Forbes report.

Telecoms operators struggle: Telecoms operators and service providers are also facing similar struggles globally. Traditional operator revenue streams (voice telephony and SMS) are declining and will continue to do so. In the near future, Cisco predicts that voice will make up less than 10% of total mobile Continues on page 29

CAPITAL FLIGHT: NOTAP comes hard on illegal foreign repatriation of funds PAGE 28

28 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Making twitter pages profitable

By Agbolade Omowole

M

OST people are building professional networks via social media lately. Many, however, scratch their head when it comes to using twitter to improve profit margin. Using Facebook effectively does not guarantee one will make it big on Twitter. Here are seven tips for optimizing your twitter business page.

Research your market: Your goal is to create positive virtual experiences on social media. When people come to your page, what happens?

What’s the feeling like?

Making people feel better goes a long way. You can even massage their ego.

The first rule is to clearly define your target audience. Once you have defined that, then research the people they follow on twitter.

Find out what type of tweets they retweet. Find out their style of interaction: formal, informal or semi formal.

Get endorsement from influencers: Influencers on twitter are people who get atleast

two retweets, mentions and/or favourites on each tweet. End users will begin to trust your brand once influencers begin to tweet about your brand.

When influencers give positive testimonials about your brand, your target audience will start listening to you. Experts suggest that influence on Twitter is based on how often someone is retweeted or mentioned.

Perfect your profile: Your twitter profile is a mini resume.

People may read it before making the final decision to follow you or not. It is therefore important to make the right first impression with your twitter profile.

You have to communicate your strong points. There has to be something catchy in your profile.

You may include keywords in your profile.

Keywords will make your twitter page rank higher in search engines. Another thing you can include is a famous hashtag.

Tweeting: Quality is better than quantity on twitter. Most people have a lot of irrelevant tweets on their news feed.

They are looking for quality tweet that will help solve t h e i r problems.

Ideally, your content should be planned in advance and

should have a goal. Before tweeting, ask yourself: what do I want to achieve with this tweet?

The things to avoid when tweeting are excessive selling and promotions.

Nobody cares about your products/ services. What they care about are their problems. Your goal when tweeting is to show how your products/services can solve their problems.

Keep It Short and Simple

Innjoo fireplus

The maximum number of characters for each tweet is 140. Experts say it is better to use just 120 characters. That has at least two advantages. The first, people can add their own comment when retweeting. The second, they can use the traditional RT method of retweeting. If your characters are already 140, they can’t achieve that.

Plan your tweets The best way to plan your tweets is to use a service from a website or software. Popular platforms for scheduling tweets include hootsuite, buffer, futuretweets, and tweetdeck.

Getting followers This is perhaps the most important part. There’s no point planning your tweets, crafting a stunning profile and all that if you have no followers.

Don’t assume people will see you on twitter and follow you. Promote your twitter page. Other ways to go about it are to: promote your twitter handle via blog posts and websites, include your twitter page in your email signature, promote it on all your printed materials, mention people in your tweets, use trending hashtags, break news, incentivitize followers, and throw a contest with lots of give always.

E-ID card goes on Smartphones seeing reasons to be in the new world than their previous ways OBILITY is the new face of manual services delivery. of business. This has Just last week, the National become the era where services Identity Management are provided on the mobile Commission, NIMC, phone, social media and related announced that it has platforms for easy assessment. concluded plans to provide preAny company or government enrolment services of National department that does not follow Identity Numbers, NIN, on the trend would be left behind smartphones. and ofcourse a lot of General Manager, Corporate government agencies are Communications, NIMC, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar said that the step was taken to ease the sign-up process for Nigerians.

He said that the national identity manager believes that this initiative will help to decongest the enrolment centres as well as ensure that citizens enrol at their convenience as the deadline date draws nearer.

“We will ensure that citizens can start their enrolment using their smart phones, a development that would ensure that in the next couple of months, citizens, of all ages, would have completed their Mobile ID card

By Richard Udofia

M

Innjoo Fire-Plus, Halo solve battery problem for users

demographic enrolment before they proceed to NIMC enrolment centres for their biometric data

By Jonah Nwokpoku

C

HINESE smartphone maker, InnJoo, has added new range of smartphones, the Innjoo Fire Plus and the Innjoo Halo with focus on elongated battery life.

The 5.0 inch Halo comes with a 3,200mAh battery while 5.5-inch Fire Plus is equipped with 3,600 mAh batteries and enables fast charge. Both smartphones are customised for the Nigeria market with longer battery life.

Speaking at the unveiling of the devices in Lagos, Managing Director of Innjoo, Robert Liang said: “To provide the most competitive product with consideration to the market requirement in the best time is the core of our strategy to establish leadership in this market. After months of research, InnJoo knows that Nigeria is one of the most populated countries in Africa but only about 40 per cent of the population is connected to the energy grid.

Smartphone users The need to constantly recharge has caused a great deal of troubles to the smartphone users or the people who have been considering getting a smartphone so far. This is what we took into account to improve the situation with these new smartphones.”

InnJoo Halo is equipped with 3,200mAh battery and powered by high energy density technology.

It can keep the smartphone under one-day full operation, 15 hours phone call, even for 300 hours stand-by time. With the 5 inch HD IPS display and a 5MP rear and 2 MP front camera, it ensures a good image display and browsing effect.

Halo also comes with a built-in 1GB RAM and internal storage of 8GB which can be further expanded to 32GB via microSD card.

StarTimes innovates with add-on bouquets for viewers higher bouquets - World Football

By Favour Anthony

S

PORT enthusiast subscribers on StarTimes digital TV platform can now access and enjoy more sports channels and programs on their Digital TV bouquet without having to upgrade to a higher bouquet.

This is as the Paytv service provider has announced the launch of two new add-on bouquets called Sports Play and Sports Plus, specially designed for sport enthusiasts on the basic and classic packages on the Digital Terrestrial (DTT) and on the Smart package for Digital Satellite (DTH).

For StarTimes Subscribers on Basic bouquet who currently

watch Sports Focus, they now have an opportunity to request and watch 2 more sports channels, Sports Arena and Sports Life, on higher bouquets by activating the Sports Play addon bundle While for Subscribers on Classic bouquet who currently watch Sports Arena, they now have an opportunity to request and watch 3 more sports channels there were on higher bouquets.

These included World Football, Sports Premium and Sports Life.

Also, subscribers on the Smart package for Digital Satellite (DTH) can also activate the Sports Plus add-on bundle with N1200 extra to enjoy 3 more sports channels hitherto on

DH, Sports Premium HD and Sports Life.

Public Relations Manager, NTA Star TV Network StarTimes, Mr. Israel Bolaji, who confirmed the new developments added that the additional bouquets option demonstrates StarTimes Nigeria’s commitment to offering innovative and exciting pay television options by giving sports lovers more premium sport in the Basic, Classic and Smart range of bouquet options across both DTT and DTH platforms.

StarTimes recently signed 5year deal to broadcast the German Bundesliga men football league and a 3-year deal for the Italian Serie A football league exclusively.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 29

CAPITAL FLIGHT: NOTAP comes hard on illegal foreign repatriation of funds

By Emmanuel Elebeke

I

N an apparent move to reinvigorate its statutory role as the regulator of foreign technology and promotion of local content, the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has struck a deal with the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) on how to plug all leakages in the regulation of technology inflow into the country’s economy.

This is coming after the FRCN hinted that through its findings that most companies operating in Nigeria, especially the multinationals are engaging in illegal profit accruals without due approval by the NOTAP. The two government agencies expressed worry that such action has led to short

changing the government in getting the actual percent of all the remittances due to it from profits usually declared by the affected companies in each financial year.

Worried by this ugly trend, the two agencies said they are prepared ever than before to nip in the bud, all identified leakages in revenue remittances and bring every company found culpable in this illicit act to justice, in line with the Act that established NOTAP. According to them, Nigeria loses billions of naira annually via this illegal means of stashing of funds and felt that nothing would change the practice if drastic action is not taken now to arrest the trend.

Speaking on this development, the Acting Director General of NOTAP, Dr. Dan-Azumi Ibrahim, decried

such illegal approvals by some companies and said Notap was expected to register every agreement between all operating companies and the technical counterparts before any remittances could be made to their mother companies.

“We have a guideline on how we do our registration. We are guided by forex manual from the CBN. So, whatever is not covered within the Forex manual of the CBN, we don’t give it.

Unless we register an agreement, a Nigerian company may not be able to pay to a technical partner outside the country through a bank. When we register, we issue certificate. It is this certificate that they present to CBN and enable them remit money to their technical partners” he added.

‘Competition helps, hurts telecoms industry same time’ Continues from page 27

traffic.Subscribers are increasingly turning to cheaper over-the- top (OTT) alternatives such as WhatsApp and Skype, to make calls and send messages. These OTT players have typically lower entry costs but global reach, and pose a significant challenge to existing telecoms operators. For example, the total number of mobile VoIP minutes is expected to grow from 15 billion in 2010 to 471 billion in 2015 (Juniper Research).

Furthermore, Telecoms subscribers now have much higher expectations from their providers, and telecoms operators are scrambling to find waysof providing differentiated customer service to address the needs of their subscribers, to avoid losing them to rivals - especially now that technology has reduced the hurdles of switching between telecoms providers.

Data drives growth Almost all Telecoms operators are therefore looking to data services to drive growth.

However, the competition for provision of data services is fierce, especially since this strategy puts them in direct competition with traditional internet service providers in many cases.

Telecoms operators and service providers therefore now face pressures from both sides as well.

Traditional revenue streams are drying up due to competition from OTT players amongst other factors, and there is increased competition in new areas of interest. The scenario is also causing a race to the bottom on price for telecoms services.

Competition is supposed to be a good thing for consumers. It is

meant to create a situation in which they get the best value for goods and services. At the moment, consumers have never had it better – they can choose their devices from an increasing list of manufacturers at constantly decreasing prices, choose their connectivity from a bouquet of offers with constantly decreasing prices, and choose their applications from a collection of low cost or free options. However, at some point this competition could turn out to be a poisoned chalice. What happens if device manufacturers and telecoms operators continue going out of business? Now that consumers’ appetite has been whet, is it sustainable to continue to expect prices to drop?

Should regulators be doing more to ensure an even playing field? Should governments do anything to protect their companies from global competition? Should the principles of free markets be allowed to prevail?

A lot of difficult questions need to be asked and answered in the global telecoms industry – and these questions equally to the local industry.

For example, the Nigerian Communications Commission

Consumers have never had it better – they can choose their devices from an increasing list of manufacturers at constantly decreasing prices

(NCC) has issued 4G licenses to wireless internet providers to ensure that Nigerian subscribers have access to affordable data services. However, licenses have not yet been made available for auction to mobile operators.

These operators face increasing pressure as traditional revenue streams are being eroded by OTT players for example, and this erosion is encouraged by the presence of these new wireless internet service providers. As a result, these mobile operators may not be able to compete effectively as they have to use their limited spectrum to provide the quality of service (QoS) guarantees that traditional voice services demand, whilst trying to compete against providers who do not have this challenge.OTT players such as WhatsApp do not have a physical presence in most countries in which their services are used, and therefore do not pay taxes or provide jobs in those countries. Again whilst consumers benefit from better and cheaper services, what happens if mobile operators, who have paid millions of dollars in license fees, and spent millions more on equipment begin to shed jobs? What happens if tax revenues from these mobile operators decrease?

Healthy balance needed: Much as competition can be a very useful tool in providing value to consumers, it can also create scenarios which undermine the benefits it is meant to provide. Ensuring a vibrant telecoms sector must include maintaining a healthy balance between competitive policies to provide value for consumers, and policies aimed at ensuring that companies can continue to thrive and provide jobs, benefits to shareholders, as well as tax revenue.

30— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 31

32—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

NGO takes campaign against Vitiligo to schools Page 4

VOL. 1 NO 43

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

A typical celebration of August Meeting by gorgeously dressed Igbo women

When Igbo women celebrated August meeting in style

By Vincent Ujumadu

A

WKA—ACROSS Igbo land, the annual mothers congresses are held in the month of August which witnesses massive home-coming of Igbo women to their marital rural home towns. There, they are expected to unite with their rural-based colleagues for community development purposes.

These meetings truly typify the rise of women as a social force and their conscious pursuit of development.

But, how truly participatory are they?

Although the meetings are conceived to unite the womenfolk and to address issues of land dispute, marital disputes, family problems, and community development, to some of these women, the popular August Meeting practised in Igbo land has become a period for women to fleece their husbands.

Many Igbo have argued that although the ideals of the meeting are commendable, most women now use it as a means to rip off their husbands, thereby creating problems in the family.

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Ichie Nwapkuno, who lives in Lagos, said some women now see it as a period to show off affluence and material prosperity.

•"Some of our wives think it is a time for them to flaunt financial muscle with reckless abandon, thereby pushing less financially blessed ones among them to do very unthinkable things just to meet up.

Marriages and businesses "August Meetings have broken many homes and ruined marriages and businesses," he said. •A pentecostal pastor of Igbo descent opined that most women engage in untoward acts during this period just to go with the bandwagon.

•"You know how vain some women are. Every woman likes to meet up with others. Nobody wishes to be intimidated by other women. Both the poor and the rich wish to meet up with the fashion of the time. And for them, they must meet up. Women care about their looks and if their husbands cannot provide for what they want, some will start to look elsewhere just to satisfy

themselves, thereby causing problems in the house.

•"Many of them would go to the extent of stealing, prostituting, and doing all sorts of evil, just to meet up with others. Many borrow money, clothes, some

One of the paramount reasons for August Meeting is to fashion out ways to see that God’s family (the church) is streamlined to work in harmony as one family of God, to inculcate in their children the respect to God Almighty and our Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, in whose name the August Meeting is rooted

other things in their bid to meet up, and thereby disgracing their husbands," the pastor said.

•At August meetings, women compete with one another to know who will wear the best clothes, handbags, shoes, earrings, necklace and so on.

Women don’t joke with this and that is very bad.

Are you aware some women have abandoned their homes or threatened to leave their husbands in a bid to force them to part with money to enable them attend the meeting?•Indeed, •August Meeting•has a critical mandate in Igbo political affairs and represents the socio-economic and cultural development initiative of women.

Cultural development In some communities, the church has been involved to make August Meeting more formidable.

In an interview she granted last year, a woman leader Mrs. Anthonia Chukwuneta, said that one of the paramount reasons for August Meeting is to fashion out

ways to see that God’s family (the church) is streamlined in the best interest of God, that is, to work in harmony as one family of God. She also said it was an opportunity to inculcate in their children the respect for and following of God Almighty and our Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary in whose name the August Meeting is rooted.

Mrs. Chukwuneta further stated that it was on the church’s directive in commemoration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary body and soul on August 15. It started through the order of Pope John XII, that the period be observed thus to accord the Blessed Virgin Mary special honour as someone who lived a virtuous life while on earth; did the will of God, nurtured our Lord Jesus Christ who brought salvation to the whole world. So we are following her example to train our children in the love and fear of God and honour to the Blessed Mother, to be useful citizens.

She stated that August Meeting is observed in the whole universe, explaining that it was the Pope in Rome that started it.

It is not observed in Igbo land alone.

Wealth of knowledge Mrs. Chukwuneta also stated that August Meeting embraces every married and wedded woman; there is no exemption, adding that although in some places, women are divided into groups to avoid putting a strain on the women participating in the meeting every year as their number grew tremendously.

She debunked allegations that what they go to August Meeting to do is to exhibit wealth and attire, explaining that it might be so in the past.

Our church leaders in their wealth of knowledge, discovered not everyone of them is with such motive, hence they ordered that such meeting be attended in the Diocesan uniform to avoid such tendencies and to ensure that what we do is what we are expected to do.

Explaining when in the month of August the meeting should kick off, she said that it is according to the agreement or arrangement of the various towns or dioceses.

Some commence theirs in the first, second or third week of August. Nnewi diocese meeting is in the second week of August.

Then Orlu, first week, Owerri Archdiocese, third week. It depends on the area one comes from.

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

In Imo, it’s a swinging August for women

•Umuada Ndi-igbo In Diaspora, United States of America. (USA)

By Chidi Nkwopara

W

OMEN'S August Meeting has no doubt, become a yearly ritual.

It is not too clear who actually mooted the idea of gathering women every August, in Imo State and got the ball rolling, but the month has also turned to be a significant period in the calendar of the Igbo of the South East geo-political zone of Nigeria.

A school of thought has it that August Meeting originated from church meetings arranged and attended by women in Igboland. These women, it was believed, had the intention of participating fully in the development of the church and welfare of priests.

South East Voice also gathered that with the passage

of time, this initial intentions later snowballed into an allembracing outing for women.

The content and programme equally shifted from a purely religious one to a social, economic activity and development of the human infrastructure.

Human infrastructure Seminars, workshops, exhibitions, health and pep talks, physical exercises, cultural dances, conflict resolutions and peace building exercises are some of the very prominent activities of the women during the August Meeting.

Following the prominence and priority attached to this meeting, Igbo women now use it to discuss and fashion out

ways of developing themselves, their respective families and transforming their communities.

From all intents and purposes, August Meeting is, therefore, a genuine clarion call made by women to themselves, to constructively build their homes and communities, as well as transform themselves.

It is a time they engage their husbands, children, homes, towns and the society positively.

For the President of Udo Diri Ndom Umuoyima, Mrs. Edith Achodo, “August Meeting is a gathering where we effectively utilize relationships and informal networks that ultimately lead to the achievement of our common goals.”

Mrs. Achodo affirmed that women have been able to

achieve great strides through August Meetings, pointing out that women are celebrated, empowered financially, equipped spiritually and socially, while also their health

Women are constantly reminded of their roles as good mothers and charged with the responsibility of sustaining their Godgiven responsibilities

enhanced.

“This meeting has truly helped us to foster harmony, unity and peace, which are necessary ingredients for development in any community. Through this meeting, women are mentored by their more experienced colleagues to adopt healthy marital and parental relationships,” Mrs. Achodo said.

Reflecting also on the purpose of August Meeting, the President General of Udodiri Ndom Owere, Mrs. Ifeoma Anokwu, said that “apart from instituting development projects, we assign roles to women that will ultimately grow collaboration and team work for the achievement of common goals.”

Common goals Continuing, Mrs. Anokwu said that women are constantly reminded of their roles as good mothers and charged with the responsibility of sustaining their God-given responsibilities.

“We normally caution ourselves against unruly and negative behaviours that sadly debase womanhood. We remind ourselves that we are not only the builders of society, but also the companions of our husbands and children. We also challenge ourselves to remain focused and forge ahead, despite varying challenges of life and living,” Mrs. Anokwu said.

August meeting and its crisis By Valentine Obienyem (Opinion)

M

YTHS AND legends, no matter our views about them, play important role in the explanation of phenomena, especially the inexplicable ones. The origin of some words in human vocabulary could be traced to myths and legends. Think of words such as •pyrrhic victory, Achilles heel,•pandora's box,• •Hobson•choice,•swords of Damocles, etc. But are we not digressing? What, some will ask, is the relationship between the month -August- and the recall of ageless myths.

It should be noted that months of the year have their own peculiar myths that seek to explain their etymology. It is with greatest reluctance that one is venturing into this explanation, convinced that C M Y K

some shallow Christians will be tempted to reject these months as having pagan connotations.

January, for example, is said to be named from Janus, god of doorways and beginnings.

March, research says, represents the god of war, Mars.

August! August! August!

This is the eight month of the Gregorian Calender now in general use. It has 31 days.

Latin adjective It corresponds, historians say, to the sixth month of the early Roman Republic calender, called sixtilis until 8BC, when it was renamed in honour of Augustus Caesar, the then Emperor of Rome.

Augustus, in turn, is a Latin adjective derived from the verb augere (to make greater), and the word carries the connotations of majesty and

grandeur, still associated with the month.

August is an important month as testified by diverse events that occurred and still do in that month. Important Catholic holy day of Obligation, the feast of the Assumption, is celebrated on August 15.

August 14 was the month in which the great powers declared war on one another in World War 1. The United States of America dropped the atomic bomb, code-named Little Boy and Fat Man, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 respectively.

In our local scene, many important events in Nigeria occur in August. Some parts of the country have already started experiencing a break in rainfall, otherwise called August break. Have you pondered on why August is used to describe important and cherished visitors/events?

Hence we talk about August event, August visitor, August

this and that.

August is particularly dear to the Igbo because it symbolizes fertility. The beginning of the harvest season, when farmers reap the rewards of their hardwork, made manifest by the fer-

The concept of •August Meeting•has fast fallen into disrepute that one is tempted to re-baptize it •August Crisis.•Truly, the crisis that August Meeting•engenders rages on to a degree painfully unmendable

tility of the earth. This explains why New Yam Festival, among most Igbo towns, takes place in that month - August.

Plans are in top gear, I am told, to have a single date for the new yam celebration among the Igbo.

August, again, is seriously being considered.

August, in another sense, signifies unity and community development. Just like the farmer gathers the produce of his farm together, Igbo, including their womenfolk, try to gather themselves together for the purposes of renewing the bonds of unity.

Disputes are settled among women. Serious breach of discipline and familial duties are sanctioned with the aim of discouraging such in future.

Fines are imposed on recalcitrant ones even as well-behaved ones are encouraged.

These, in a nutshell, explain the reasons behind August Continues on page 3

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 3

By Anayo Okoli

U

M UA H I A — T H E Annual Women August General Meeting in the South East geo-political zone has turned out to be a major catalyst for rural development in many communities in the zone.

Begun some years back as a mere women's gathering to interact and know one another due largely to the entrepreneurial mobility of the people from the zone which makes them settle in all nooks and crannies of the country. So the women in their wisdom designed this annual general meeting to be a forum where they return in mass to get together, know and visit one another.

But over the years the meeting metamorphosed to become a major event across the communities in the entire South East zone. It had turned to a much more useful forum, a forum for rural development initiatives, change catalyst for peace and unity.

Peace and unity In some states, like Abia, the meeting had developed to the level that it is now being coordinated by the government through the Office of the Governor’s wife. In some states some non-governmental organizations, NGOs, work closely with these women groups to fight some ills of the society, especially the archaic and harmful practices against women, particularly widows being witnessed in some parts of Igbo communities.

Besides, the women have engaged in development projects in their various communities such as building/ renovation of community health centres, schools, civic centres

Women dancing in uniformed attires, purposely to eradicate display of material opulence by some women

It’s a catalyst for rural devt in Abia and town halls, among others.

The women during the period organize education and enlightenment sessions on

The greatest impact of the August Meeting is that it has created some NGOs crusading against some harmful traditional and cultural practices against women, especially widows

health challenges such as child maternity, diarrhoea and other epidemic as well as resolve disputes in their communities, especially between traditional rulers and town union leadership which in most cases frustrate rural developments.

Perhaps, one greatest impact of the August Meeting is that it has created some NGOs crusading against some harmful traditional and cultural practices against women, especially widows. In some communities in the zone, women are made to suffer untold hardship on the death of their husbands. Some of them are made to lose their legal inheritance, some are made to undergo and observe some obscene and unnatural practices and stay indoors for

upwards of one year, mourning the dead.

Through this annual meeting, the women have been able to have some of these harmful practices changed.

Though it is not yet Uhuru for widows, the meeting has made inroads and is indeed still working hard to abolish all the harmful practices against women.

Harmful practices Last month, the wife of Abia State governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu, after declaring open the central women meeting in Umuahia, the state capital, went round some of the communities to address their gathering on the

need for peace, unity and contribution to rural development.

Addressing the Ibeku Egwu Asa Women, Mrs. Ikpeazu commended them for their mobilization role during the last elections in the state and urged them to continue to give the government support.

She told them that they are an important arm of the progressive union which contributes towards the development of communities and urban centres.

Also addressing the Ngwa la Ukwa women, Mrs. Ikpeazu urged them to support Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, saying the administra tion is gender sensitive and assured that the interest of women would be well represented.

August Meeting and its crisis Continues from page 2 Meeting, which Igbo women highly cherish and look forward to every year. But like most human ideas that were primarily borne out of the need to enhance civilization, the concept of •August Meeting•has fast fallen into disrepute that one is tempted to re-baptize it •August Crisis.•Truly, the crisis that August Meeting•engenders rages on to a degree painfully unmendable.

We may find it hard to believe, but it is true, that women do the unthinkable in the name of preparing for August meeting.•Outrageous things, only metaphysically explicable, are often associated

with that day due proximately, to power tussle.

Very soon, as happens every year, stories will be told of husbands who get into trouble with their wives for being unable to provide them with the necessary equipage – new cars, expensive clothes, designers hand-bags and shoes, headgears, among other things – needed for August show off. Some women, are even foolish enough to travel home for •August Meeting in defiance of their husbands.

Stories abound of such women whose husbands asked to stay back as punishment for their disobedience. The irony of the entire thing is that these women travel longingly for the

August Meeting not because of their •gutility value•but to display the latest fashion in town and to make the less privileged to talk about them.

Daily characteristics Here, a woman who had participated in many of these meetings takes us behind the scenes and into the daily characteristics of these meetings. • "Honestly, we do not achieve much as we are supposed to.

To women, it is principally a time to show off. Watching what some women wear to the meeting, you cannot, but believe that they are

showcases of their husbands' prosperity. This urge to outclass one another in gorgeous accoutrements was the reason women now attend in uniform. Even at that, shoes, rings, hair-do, bangles, other jewels are still seen as opportunities to outclass•one another.

"Noticeable is the fact that the more gorgeously dressed women are often the ones that contribute least to the meeting.

"Only to be feared at long range, any close interaction with them," the woman that took us behind the scene continues, •"shows that what they lack in intellectual power is what they actively seek to conceal by external

posturings.• "Originally, August represented majesty and grandeur. It is about those acts that are truly ennobling.

"One of the greatest exemplifications of the month is encapsulated in the Igbo women annual •August Meeting.•Conceived as a forum to enhance the greatness of the Igbo nation, the concept is gradually being corrupted due to what can easily be referred to as worldliness and the misplacement of value.

"Let us all join hands in advising our women to go back to the ideals of August Meeting for the greater glory of the Igbo nation and humanity."

•Obienyem writes from Awka

4 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Group moves to fight moral decadence in Nigeria ...plans summit to encourage religious tolerance

By Vincent Ujumadu

A

WKA—WORRIED by the increasing moral decadence in the country, an international Non Governmental Organization, NGO, the Association for Moral Education, has set machinery in motion for a campaign that is aimed at bringing Nigerians closer to God. The association was formed in the United States of America, USA, in 1976, but it berthed in Nigeria last year as its 34th member. Since then, the promoters have been working hard to get the attention of stakeholders for the purpose of fighting the decadence and bridging religious gap among Nigerians.

Coordinator of the association in Nigeria, Reverend Sister

Mary Jude-Therese Nwodo told reporters in Awka that a national conference on moral rearmament, which will take place in Awka, Anambra State next week, will bring together people of diverse religions and government officials, to brainstorm on the way forward for a peaceful and united Nigeria.

Way forward Essentially, the summit, expected to attract delegates from all the 36 states and the Abuja, as well as from some foreign countries, is to create awareness with a view to imparting ideal morals on Nigerians so that they would

discourage those issues that tend to divide the people.

According to Sister Nwodo, the association is partnering

Coordinator of the association in Nigeria, Reverend Sister Nwodo attributed the downward slide in moral education in the country to the forceful take-over of missionary schools by government in Nigeria

with the National Teachers Institute, NTI, Kaduna, as well as all educational institutions in the country and the Anambra State Ministry of Education to ensure the success of the summit.

Those expected to present papers at the summit include the former executive secretary of Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council, Professor Godswill Obioma, the director general of NTI, Dr. Aminu Sheriff and former Commissioner for Education in Anambra State, Professor Leornard Moghalu, among others.

Nwodo attributed the downward slide in moral education in the country to the

forceful take-over of missionary schools by government, adding that from her interaction with some of the country's leaders, there was the general concern to emphasize moral education in Nigeria.

She said: Before the government take-over of missionary schools, moral education was part of the curriculum.

However, it became a burden on the missionaries on how to continue with moral education under government ownership of schools and that was why the return of the schools to the missionaries was seen as a positive development."

NGO takes campaign against Vitiligo to schools prayers to God to remove the disease from her body miraculously.

According to her, the turnaround came when her pastor lifted her spirit when he declared publicly during a service that “no matter how you are, be happy because you are special in God’s eyes; there is no better you than you.

She said further: “That word hit me and from there I braced up to face the challenge. I summoned up courage and started looking for ways to reach out to other people with such a challenge to join forces with them as a way of support and encouragement. I was determined that despite the Vitiligo disease, I could still be what God wanted me to be.

In the course of creating

•Miss Ogo Maduewesi during a seminar at the National Secondary School, Nnewi in Anambra State

By Vincent Ujumadu

A

WKA—VITILIGO is a skin disorder that comes with patches on the body. It causes loss of skin colour and those suffering from it try as much as possible to hide themselves from the public. Indeed, it is becoming rampant among the people in the South Eastern part of Nigeria and unfortunately, many people in the area, who are ignorant of the disease, attribute it to a curse from perceived enemies.

To create awareness about the disease, a non-governmental organization, NGO, based in Anambra State decided to take the campaign to secondary schools, to enable people living with Vitiligo know how to handle the disorder.

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awareness about the Vitiligo disorder, Maduewesi took the campaign to other states in the South East and some African countries, including South Africa and Kenya.

While interacting with the students in her alma mater in Nnewi, including those living with the disorder, who came from various parts of the state, she urged them not to run away from people with Vitiligo, assuring them that it was a non-contagious skin discoloration that can happen to anybody whether black or white.

Though the disease has no known cure, she said that to maintain a relief, the person living with the disease is encouraged to take Vitamin B supplements with folic acid.

Consumption of fruits But to the surprise of the promoter of the NGO, Miss Ogo Maduewesi, most of those contacted to attend a seminar at the National Secondary School, Nnewi in Anambra State, on how to manage the disorder, failed to grab the opportunity.

Opportunity to mock Their fear, many of those with the disease told South East Voice, was that attending such a gathering would expose them, thereby giving their enemies the opportunity to mock them the more.

Maduewesi, who has been with Vitiligo for ten years, said she was highly disillusioned when she started noticing the patches all

over her body, adding that it can happen to anybody irrespective of age, sex or status in the society.

She said: “I didn’t know anything about Vitiligo until I woke up on June, 25, 2005 and saw a big white patch on one side of my mouth, face, hair and hand.

I was scared and worried at first because I couldn’t understand what it was. I then went to the hospital where it dawned on me that it has no cure. It was hard for me living with it because people laughed and mocked at me. To most people, the patches were as a result of applying bleaching agents on my body, but I was not in the habit of applying any bleaching cream As the shame became unbearable, Maduewesi said she started frequenting churches for

Though the disease has no known cure, she said that she observed relief in her case with some of the white patches disappearing from her hand and some parts of her face after she developed the habit of high consumption of fruits and vegetables both blended and raw

She, however, said that she observed relief in her case with some of the white patches disappearing from her hand and some parts of her face after she developed the habit of high consumption of fruits and vegetables both blended and raw. The recommended vegetables include pumpkin, bitter leaf and spinach.

Many people, who were at the ceremony at Nnewi, said it was an eye-opener, adding that the impression they had was that it was a contagious and deadly disease that could kill easily. As one of the teachers in the school said, Ogo Maduewesi needs to be encouraged by government to take this awareness campaign to all the schools in the state and even beyond.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 5

Chidi Ugwu, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and former Vice Chancellor of the Enugu State University of Technology, ESUT and Consultant to UNDP as well as various state governments on development of sustainable cities, in this interview, spoke on development of sustainable cities in Nigeria and the need to check rural – urban drift, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to address housing deficit in Nigeria, among other issues. Excerpt:

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

W

ORKING experience in Nigeria I joined the Enugu State University of Science and Technology and have served as Head of Department, Dean of the faculty, Dean of Postgraduate School, and Director of school planning as well as the Vice Chancellor of the university. Currently I am a contract staff of the university, a consultant to United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, on developing sustainable cities, a consultant to the Enugu State government on master planning, and also a consultant to the Ebonyi State government.

Building sustainable cities in Nigeria As it is in Nigeria, our cities are not sustainable because the rural areas are under-developed with little presence of social amenities, thereby resulting in the mass exodus of rural dwellers to urban areas which on their own have become overcrowded. In UNDP, our focus is building cities where such problems highlighted above are minimized.

Take for instance, at the university where I was in charge of physical development, I would tell the management of the institution what plot of land was suitable for a particular project.

have refused to go back to the villages because there are no electricity supply, no clean water, no motorable roads, and so on.

Sustainable cities are cities that are planned with indices with population growth in mind How has lack of sustainable cities affected Nigeria’s growth?

When the number of people in our cities exceeds what that city could take, the cost of living will become very high and near unattainable; this leads to the indiscriminate location of houses on drainages, and places that are mapped out as roads. As a result of the over-crowded nature of the town, employment opportunities become much fewer than the people in search of them. This promotes corruption such as employment scams.

Now when people, especially university graduates, remain unemployed for a protracted period, crime becomes very alluring. Take for instance, why would a three-bedroom apartment rent go for about N2 million in Abuja metropolis when there are rural communities which still sell a plot of land for less than N2, 000? Unfortunately, even in the rural communities there are several taboos going on unchecked as regards the land

Danger to the economy This tells you that there are lands suitable for building roads while there are those meant for agriculture, but it seems Nigeria has no knowledge of these facts, leading to indiscriminate locations of projects. This portends great danger to the economy of the nation.

According to the dictates of my profession, which is also the practice in notable countries of the world, urban and regional planning begins by planning and developing the rural communities, taking government closer to the people.

This is what previous governments neglected that President Muhammadu Buhari should look into. As it is in Nigeria, our rural communities have been associated with under-development; people C M Y K

We should start looking upwards like other nations. By looking upwards I mean conserving the little land available by erecting skyscrapers that could contain more offices, homes and banks

•Prof Ugwu

Buhari needs to address housing deficit — PROF UGWU use, but these are areas I believe the President should address. Under President Buhari, I am optimistic that small scale industries will move towards rural areas so that these places will open up the way for the change that All Progressives Congress, APC, has promised; particularly the incidence of rural-urban migration needs to be checked.

What should be done to address housing deficit in Nigeria?

To solve the housing deficit in Nigeria, we have to revert to due process in the area of urban planning. For instance when you take a look at our housing estates, you will discover that all the houses look alike, this should not be, rather our estates ought to accommodate all classes of people beginning from families that would want a duplex, a bungalow, a threebedroom flat and even a single room space.

Take a look at several estates built by government for civil servants all over the country, most of them are unoccupied because the houses were not built according to their specific needs. If you ask me, government is not supposed to invest in housing, but to provide conducive environment for banks, insurance and

individuals to invest in the housing sector. At this time of our nation, we should have realized that land is not an infinite commodity; we should start looking upwards like other nations. By looking upwards I mean conserving the little land available by erecting skyscrapers that could contain more offices, homes and banks The task before President Buhari As a country, we need to flush out corruption from the housing sector, we need to clear up all those houses built on drainages and ensure all our drainage systems are unblocked, otherwise we will keep seeing intense flooding like the ones that took place under the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan which saw billions of property and agriculture lost.

Property and agriculture We need to review the Land Use Act. State governments and individuals have continued to acquire lands for personal gains under the guise that it was meant for commercial purposes.

Very important, we need to take a look at the inheritance of land as practised in most traditions

in our country; I think it needs to be erased, it has giving birth to a whole lot of bloodletting between families and communities.

Confidence in President Buhari’s administration Since 2003, Buhari has been in the race for the presidency, I have never voted for him, but in 2015, I decided voting for him against President Goodluck Jonathan was the proper thing to do and my reason was that for a man of his age to tirelessly seek the presidency and spend enormous resources in the process, starting all over again after being rigged out, such a person must have been motivated by a good purpose.

So I voted for him at the presidential elections. Now, I have faith in him because I see him as a much disciplined Nigerian. I urge him to heed to the dictates of urban and regional planning in order to bring change to the entire housing sector. The corruption that has infested the housing sector needs someone like Buhari to tackle. The selling off of government lands by government officials needs to stop. Nigerians need to know that houses should not be built on drainages. They also need to know that we can build our own Dubai here in Nigeria.

6 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

UNICEF, NOA mobilize against female genital mutilation

By Chidi Nkwopara

T

HE UNITED Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF, in collaboration with Imo State office of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, has organized a sensitization workshop in Ikeduru local government area of the state, geared towards exposing the dangers of female genital mutilation. The venue was Ikeduru Local Government Council Headquarters, Iho, and attendance was impressive.

Apart from the participants, carefully selected resource persons were drawn from reputable organizations affiliated to UNICEF, non-governmental support groups, the NOA, Ministry of Health, State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Child Protection Network, Child Rights Advocacy Consultants, Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Information and Strategy.

Delivering a keynote address, the State NOA Director, Mr. Virus Ekeocha, recalled with glee that the United Nations General assembly had passed a resolution to support government, communities, girls and women concerned, towards the abandonment of female genital mutilation.

According to the Imo NOA boss, the World Health Organization, WHO, defined female genital mutilation as all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organ for non-medical reasons. Often, instruments used are crude and unsterilized, thereby endangering the women's health.

Female genital mutilation Mr. Ekeocha disclosed that there are about six states in Nigeria that still practice female genital mutilation, including Imo State, stressing that UNICEF and NOA decided to move the sensitization programme to Ikeduru because it was among the few local council areas of the state, with high prevalence rate of the femLe genital mutilation practice.

“Some of the major reasons for the persistence of female genital mutilation in Nigerian communities are rooted in culture and tradition. This has regrettably done more harm than good and this is why we are trying to positively engage the stakeholders in Imo communities with a view to shifting these ugly social norms”, Ekeocha said.

C M Y K

On why UNICEF and NOA decided to adopt this technique, apart from just enforcing the existing laws, Mr. Ekeocha explained that it was a very critical component for the crusade to eradicate female genital mutilation in Nigeria.

A resource person from a non-governmental UNICEF assisted body, Mr. Benjamin Mbakwem, identified four times of genital mutilation and the dangers associated with.

“They include severe bleeding, shock, leakage of urine and faeces, complications at childbirth, mental failure. It must also be said that circumcision or female genital mutilation ameliorates promiscuity”, Mbakwem said.

While Mbakwem argued that promiscuity largely stems from orientation rather than the non-tampering with the female genitals, Mrs. Thecular Ejionye, of the State Ministry of Health, was of the opinion that female circumcision constitutes violence against women and urged future generations to stoutly resist the culture.

sultant, Mr. Vitalis Ekwem, extensively quoted from the Child Rights Law of 2004, the 1999 Constitution and other relevant documents to lend credence to the crusade against the female genital mutilation.

South East Voice recalls that

royal fathers, who are the custodians of the people’s culture and tradition, civil society groups, faith based organizations, youth groups, religious leaders, teachers, women groups, town union executives and other stakeholders, were

part of the exercise.

One of the highlights of the workshop was a resolution in favour of the abandonment of female genital mutilation, but whether this resolution would be carried out to the letter remains a matter for speculation.

Relevant documents Speaking also, a Child Rights Advocate and UNICEF Con-

Crude and unsterilized instruments are often used, endangering the women's health

How Imufu community vigilante head was shot

By Francis Igata

E

NUGU—THE family of Chukwudi Omeh, who was the head of Imufu Community Neighborhood Watch Group, in Enugu-Ezike,IgboEze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, has cried to relevant authorities, seeking justice over the alleged killing of their brother in the line of duty.

Omeh allegedly met his untimely death last March following a distress call from a neighbour not knowing it was a booby trap.

Victim's younger brother narrates Amandi Omeh, younger brother to the deceased, who wept uncontrollably as he spoke to South-East Voice, revealed that the incident, allegedly perpetrated by one John Eke, was said to be a reprisal over an unfinished business.

According to Amandi: "My brother was at his residence when he received a distress call from John Eke's wife, Uzor, telling him to come to

a case have agreed to settle, has infiltrated this matter.

"The Enugu Department of Public Prosecution, DPP, called us last week. When I got there, the man in charge brandished a document showing that there was an agreement between us and the culprits for settlement out of court. There was no such agreement and there will be none because justice should be seen to take its cause.

"We are now afraid that the police may have been compromised. We are increasingly worried that there will be no diligent prosecution in this matter. That is why we are crying out for intervention from relevant authorities to forestal John Eke's bail without the wheels of justice rolling to logical conclusion.

his rescue following the beating from her husband, John.

"He immediately left what he was doing and rushed to the scene.

One seeing Chukwudi, John quickly pulled his gun and shot him, claiming he was a trespasser at his residence.

"John and wife were arrested, detained at Enugu Police command where they were subsequently arraigned before a magistrate's court and remanded in Enugu Prison.

Our worry is that the incident happened at Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area.

Locus for jurisdiction What is obtainable is that the police should have arraigned them in an Nsukka Magistrate's Court where there is locus for jurisdiction.

"He should have been remanded in Nsukka prison, not Enugu where the incident happened. Now, our fear is that a syndicate within the police that specializes in fronting and forging papers on the pretence that parties to

Police mute

Late Chukwudi Omeh

South-East Voice entreaties to the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, DSP, for reaction on the matter, was futile as no response came from a text message sent to him at the time of filing this report.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 7

Agony of Abians living with cataracts, glaucoma

By Ikenna Asomba

A

FTER SEVERAL years of battling with eye-defects such as cataract, glaucoma, reprieve indeed came the way of no fewer than 20 indigent indigenes of Abia State, as they benefited from a free eye surgery put up by the Abia State Towns Union Association (ASTUA), in collaboration with the Ophthalmology unit of MeCure Healthcare Limited.

One of the beneficiaries, Caroline Ugoala who disclosed that she has been battling cataract since 2012, following the spike of a broom that mistakenly poked her right eye, while she was sweeping her compound in Ikwuano, her hometown, said it has been hell for her, before she got wind of the operation exercise from one of the leaders of her clan’s union.

Another hospital Ugoala in an emotionladened voice said: “At the early stage of my problem in 2012, I visited the Isolo General Hospital, which referred me to another hospital. After the screening, I was diagnosed to have cataract, but I couldn’t afford the N150, 000 demanded for the operation. After all I tried to get money from friends, relations and my church, to no avail. The burden was too much that I had to retire hopelessly to the village with my husband.

“But as God may have it, just last Monday, I got a surprise call from one of our leaders, who asked me to take the next available bus to Lagos for the operation. As I speak to you, the process has started. I have been given some drugs but asked to come back because my blood pressure is still high.”

Similarly, Matthew Dike, another patient whose cataract

THE TEAM

Editor: Emeka Mamah - Enugu (08033218645; email: emekemamah@yahoo.com) Anayo Okoli, Umuahia Vincent Ujumadu, Awka Austin Ogwuda, Awka Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri Peter Okutu , Abakaliki Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Nnewi

Francis Igata, Enugu Nwabueze Okonkwo, Onitsha

Ugochukwu Alaribe, Aba Enyim Enyim, Onitsha Chinoso Alozie, Owerri Obialunamma Nwadiogbu, Amawbia Eric Ugbor, Aba C M Y K

Cyril Ugochukwu (middle), who had his cataracts removed in an operation, with members of the ASTUA leadership.

developed to glaucoma, lauded the initiative by the leadership of ASTUA to come to his plights.

Dike, a former employee of a Lagos-based Cream manufacturing company, who narrated his ordeal, said he had been working for over three years when he had the eye-defect in 2011, as a result of industrial accident. According to him, he had to resign from work on February 2, 2015, in order to take care of himself.

He said: “Since 2011, that I suffered an industrial accident on my right eye, I never took it very serious, but was managing it to work, until last year that my right eyes started sealing up. After sometime, it started affecting my left-eye also. But on getting a hint of

this initiative by ASTUA, I seized the opportunity to be here.

Damage to the right eye After the ophthalmologist in Me-Cure Hospital did a screening of my eyes, he confirmed that glaucoma has completely damaged my right eye, adding that it’s already having an effect on my left-eye. This was how the process of the surgery on my eyes began,” said Dike.

Cyril Ugochukwu, cataract patient, whose eye surgery has been completed and has been placed on post-surgical treatment expressed joy and thanked the ASTUA leadership, for coming up with the

initiative to benefit indigent Abians living with several eyedefects.

“I have just gone for cataract surgery, which I noticed last year, when the ASTUA leadership brought ophthalmologists from the Me-Cure Hospital to come and carry-out eye-screening tests on us. That day, they diagnosed that I have cataract.

This is something that normally should cost me a whooping sum of N180, 000, but I have just undergone surgery for cataract free. I’m indeed optimistic that having carried out this surgery, my pains of

Dominion City Church alleviates widows plight

By Peter Okutu

A

BAKALIKI—IT is no longer news that the plight of widows has over the years become enormous and complicated considering the socio-economic situation facing the country at this time.

Some widows are often times neglected by their own children and even the relatives.

However, in a bid to alleviate the poor conditions of widows in the state, the Dominion City Church in Abakaliki decided to embark on a welfare project for them in the state.

The event which is meant to be a weekly exercise, witnessed the in flock of widows into the Church last weekend which

claimed to have taken care of both their physical and spiritual needs.

The widows who were drawn from Ntezi-Aba community among other areas of the state were offered free feeding, bags of rice and clothing among other provisions just as their children were also feted.

Speaking with South East Voice, Pastor Chika Ovuta of Dominion City, Ebonyi State said the church decided to embark on the project so as to reach out to different categories of persons in the society.

One of the widows, Mrs. Ukama Nwanyim, expressed happiness over the recognition given to them and asked God to bless the church abundantly

At the early stage of my problem in 2012, I visited the Isolo General Hospital, which referred me to another hospital.

After the screening, I was diagnosed to have cataract, but I couldn’t afford the N150, 000 demanded for the operation

living with this eye-defect is over,” said elated Ugochukwu.

Earlier, President of the ASTUA, Mr. EmmanuelAnthony Ekwuribe said: “The free eye surgery we are having today for Abia indigenes in Lagos began last year, when one of our own in conjunction with Me-Cure Hospital brought ophthalmologists to our meeting venue in Okota, Lagos, to do a free eye-clinic for our people. After then, scores of our members were chosen at random for free eye surgery.

Free eye surgery Although there were other related cases that were treated on the spot at that time and discharged.

“We all know it costs over N150, 000 to do an eye surgery, but as part of our efforts to give our members a sense of belonging, that’s why we have packaged this initiative for them, in collaboration with the Ophthalmology unit of Me-Cure Healthcare Limited. It’s the first of its kind, since 1991, when the union was founded,” he said.

Similarly, Secretary of ASTUA, Mr. Kenrry Henry, who said the initiative is part of efforts to complement the efforts of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, in healthcare delivery, affirmed that the union has plans to take the exercise to Abia State, where it hopes to partner with the state government and other interested stakeholders, to hold free eye-clinic and surgery in the three Senatorial zones of the state.

8 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

By Vincent Ujumadu

E

NUGU—WITH the amendment of the 2015 Appropriation Bill by the Enugu State House of Assembly,residents and motorists plying the Enugu road in Nsukka which is hitherto, waterlogged, forcing motorists to use single lane occasioned by non existence of drainage channels, will soon heave a sigh of relief.

The Ugwuanyi-led administration had in its maiden tour,earmarked the road,among others, to receive urgent attention from government following the pivotal role it plays to the expansion of the socio-economic growth in the rural areas that formed the thrust of the administration's top agenda.

South-East Voice investigations on the road showed that lack of drainage channels along the two flanks of the road had forced rain water to remain perpetually on the road even as residential and business premises were submerged.

Further checks revealed that residential and business houses were built on drainage or waterways channels which blocked the passage of rain water each time it rained on the road.

The situation had lead to total decay of the road accessories, deepened yawning craters along the road just as properties have been lost as hapless residents resign to faith.

Respite under way for motorists plying Enugu road - Nsukka Road; construction of 3.6km Nike Lake Road; 5km Airport Roundabout/Orie Emene/Eke Obinagu Road; 2km Okutu/ Odoru Road; 1.5km 9th Mile/ Nsukka Road and 9th Mile/ Onitsha Road Bypass; 10.8km Opi/Nsukka Road; Installation of Streetlights along Opi-Nsukka Road and construction/Rehabilitation of Nsukka Urban Roads.

Ogige market leader elated

Nsukka Market Traders Association Chairman,Festus Chibuike the people of Enugu State According to the amended budget, allocations were adjusted to accommodate the

eight new projects that were hitherto not included earlier.

The new projects are the construction of 2km Nike

The Chairman, Ogige Market Traders Association,second largest market in Enugu State,Mr. Festus Chibuike noted that the move by the Ugwuanyi administration to construct major roads in Nsukka urban which incudes Enugu road will not only give the town a face lift,but also attract investors into the University town.

Chibuike said,"We are glad

the government of the day has taken the bold step to rehabilitate roads in Nsukka under despair. The Enugu road in question leads to the Ogige main market which is the second largest market in the state.

"If constructed,it will no doubt, attract investors into the University town and bring it par with its contemporaries nationwide. We will also give government the much needed support to actualize its aims.

"We learnt we may be forced to relocate to a new area earmarked for traders called the Ikpa Market to enable government remove properties and wares that may obstruct the construction exercise.

"We are ready to partner with government in any area to better our collective lot as a people especially now that our brother,Ugwuanyi,is in the saddle."

Due process on re-allocation The House passed into law, the amended, revised, appropriation bill,2015, of N9,878,419,200.00 (nine billion eight hundred and seventy eight million, four hundred and nineteen thousand two hundred naira, presented to them by the state government.

The bill tagged "Enugu State of Nigeria Amendment (revised) Appropriation Bill, 2015" as moved by the leader of the House, Hon. Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, is to make way for internal re-allocation of resources in the existing budget of over N96.735 billion as passed by the previous administration of former Governor Sullivan Chime to enable the government embark on important development projects in the state.

The need for the amendment arose following Ugwuanyi's resolve to walk the talk by enunciating eight new projects that would have direct impact on the welfare of C M Y K

Commissioner for Education, Anambra State, Prof. Kate Omenugha (4th left) and members of the State’s Education Family, during the Opening Ceremony of 2015 Capacity Building Retreat for Principals of Public Secondary Schools, at Madonna Renewal Centre, Nkpor.

Obiano charges principals on creativity

G

OVERNOR WILLIE Obiano of Anambra State has charged principals of Secondary Schools in the state to imbibe creativity and passion in their work as school administrators.

Obiano who gave this charge while declaring open a seven-day Capacity Building Retreat for Schools Principals, organized by the state’s Post-Primary Schools Service Commission

(PPSSC), at Madonna Renewal Center Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area, tasked them to drive the new 2015/2016 academic session school calendar released by the Ministry of Education.

The calendar is billed to run between Monday, September 14 and Friday, December 14, 2015.

The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Prof.

Kate Omenugha, however, commended the PPSSC for its pro-activeness in the management of the state-owned schools, even as he urged them to continue to support and complement government’s efforts to providing world class education for school children in the state.

Earlier, the Chairman of PPSSC, Lady Joy Ulasi, stated that the retreat with the theme, 'Updating and Reaffirming Quality in School

Administration, Teaching and learning,' was to ensure quality assurance in all public secondary schools.

Ulasi said that Governor Obiano has, within less than two years introduced safe school initiative, furnished PPSSC Office Complex and initiated several measures aimed at ensuring effective teaching and learning in schools, including remote schools.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 33

34—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 35

36—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

VANGU ARD, WEDNESD A Y, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 —37 ANGUARD, WEDNESDA

His wife came to my house to threaten me I

Mum has no idea I still see dad Dear Bunmi, MY DAD left mum for another woman early in the year and she was devastated. The three children, of whom I’m the eldest, were in shock. Even so, I didn’t want to cut him off. So, I’ve been seeing my dad in his office behind my mum’s back.

But, it’s getting more difficult to cover up as some of their mutual friends have seen me

with dad. Should I tell her what I’ve been up to?

Orode, by e-mail Dear Orode, You’re right to keep in touch with your dad. Yes, he is in the wrong over what he did, but you still care for him and he still cares for you. It may be difficult for your mum to accept what you’re doing, but she should not

be asking you to choose between her and your dad. or s ould you feel that you have to hide the contact.

Own up. As you suspected, it’s bound to come out anyway and your mum will feel even worse if she hears it from someone else.

Offer lots of reassurances that you love her when you eventually tell her.

We want to explore the thrills of sex in risky places Dear Bunmi, Y WIFE and I love sex, but we are getting bored by routine sex. She recently came across an article that outlined the thrill of outdoor sex and we’re now thinking of trying sex where it is forbidden -like the beach or a toilet where we might be discovered.

We don’t really want to get caught, mind you, we just want the thrill of it. Do you have any tips?

Augustus, by e-mail.

M

Dear Augustus, You know, and I know (and most important, the police know) that having sex outside, in public view, is illegal. It’s a case of weighing up the possible pleasure against possible embarrassment or arrest. Not being able to control your surroundings is all part of the thrill, but not everyone will be as entranced at the sight of your bottom pumping up and down as you will be.

Personally, I think it’s safer to be caught by some friends in their toilet at a particularly boozy party than to be caught by a

policeman with your pants down on the beach! It’s fine to try it on a plane under a blanket if there’s no one sitting next to you and the cabin lights are off. Ditto under the table at a restaurant if the table-cloth is floor length.

But getting it on in a public toilet is a no DO. Remember you use these experiences only to be

My wife and I love sex, but we are getting bored by routine sex. ...we’re now thinking of trying sex where it is forbidden -like the beach or a toilet where we might be discovered. Any tips!?

She was jilted and wants me back!

She was quite nasty about the Dear Bunmi, FEW MONTHS ago, the girl I’d been going out with for almost two years, whom I was on the verge of asking to be my wife, suddenly dumped me for a new manager in her office. I felt gutted as I loved her so much.

Marriage has made his demands bizarre!

Dear Bunmi, Y PROBLEM is my husband. Before we got married, he was very decent and a gentleman. Since we got married, however, he has turned into what can best be described as an animal. He likes to have sexual intercourse in unusual and perverted ways. Although we have a very comfortable bed, he likes to take me on a hard floor.

He asks me to suck him. I want to please him in this, but the thing is so large, it always makes me gag! I never ask him to do anything abnormal, so why has he turned into something I now fear? It has got to a point where I hate making love with him. I have even thought of running away.

Uche, by e-mail.

M

aroused rather than satisfied. If you’re having semi-public sex, push clothes aside rather than remove them and choose a position you could unwind from if caught. And, don’t forget to zip up after. Many have gotten away with the deed, but being caught by buttons done up in the wrong hole.

Dear Uche, Why don’t you tell your husband how you feel about his sexual demands. They are not as abnormal as you think, but you have to enjoy doing them together to make them fulfilling.

Discuss the techniques you particularly fancy with him and try and meet his needs half-way too.

Now that you are married, don’t expect him to be as cautious as when you were courting. The love you share should see you through problems you think are abnormal.

Don’t run away from perceived problems only to be confronted by real sexual perverts. What goes on behind closed doors between consenting adults is mostly healthy.

break-up, flaunting the new man’s eligibility in my face.

Unfortunately for her, he was married, but didn’t let on. Now, his wife has come back from abroad with their two children and my ex- is devastated.

She’s now trying to crawl back, but it is too late. She threw what we had away for a bit of excitement. Besides, my friends and relatives who witnessed how shamelessly she had treated me said I shouldn’t have anything to do with her. But she maintains she loves me - how could she love me and hurt me so much?

Olisa, by e-mail.

Dear Olisa, The question you want to ask yourself is: Do you still lover her?

Sbe has betrayed you so horribly, but then people do crazy things when they’re infatuated. She says she still loves you, but do you believe her? Friends and relations have nothing to do with who you decide to settle with in future. If you believe she’s really learnt her lesson, then take each day as it comes.

Your pride is hurt, of course, but only time will tell to what extent you can trust her again.

Dear Bunmi, AM a single mother of two.

I broke up with my husband ages ago, but we are still good friends because of the children.

I soon went into a relationship with a man, who though married, told me he was unhappy as his wife was a lousy cook and a spoilt brat. Because her father is rich, she’s become almost uncontrollable and it is almost pathetic to watch this man of influence eat my meals with relish.

After four years together, his wife found out about us and had the nerve to come to my house to accuse me of husbandsnatching! She really had a nerve! I told her husband to call her to order. It takes two to tango and you can’t really snatch a man who is happy in his marriage or what do you think?

Ndidi, by e-mail

Dear Ndidi, IT's a known fact that wives who’ve found out a cheating husband often display more anger with the other woman than with the cheat himself. This is often a defensive strategy, an attempt to locate the problem somewhere else and not in the wife’s marriage. It can also be that having a rival the wife can hate is preferable to feelings of betrayal.

More wives express a need to come face to face with the other women than husbands do. As

wives who’ve found out a cheating husband often display more anger with the other woman than with the cheat himself. ...Wives who’d been cheated on fail to take a hard look at their marriage ...Mistresses should take a hard look at the love-triangle they’re enmeshed in and decide if it is what they really want. sad as it is that when wives who’d been cheated on fail to take a hard look at their marriage, mistresses should take a hard look at the lovetriangle they’re enmeshed in and decide if it is what they really want.

He is too full of himself Dear Bunmi, TURNED 50 recently and started a relationship with a man in the same age bracket. I am a widow and he’s never been married in spite of his having kids. He said he’s not the marrying type, but admits he finds it puzzling the way women react to him.

We met at a party and as he toasted me, two women tried to get his attention. It was obvious that he knew them, but he ignored them. Later when he took me home, he bragged that another woman had tried to pick him up, but he told her he was with me.

This has set a pattern for what happens whenever we go out.

I’d gone to get meals for us at a party once and before I came back, he was already on the dance floor.

When he came back and I protested, he said the woman asked him to dance.

He then asked me if l did not notice how far away he’d held her. He is always taking women to his flat although he claims nothing happened. It’s obvious he’s a womaniser though he tells me it is only me he wants. Can he be trusted?

I

Gina, by e-mail Dear Gina, You’re welcome to the intensely competitive world of 50-plus dating! Your boy-friend is having the time of his life. As women age, the number of suitable partners available to them diminishes. As men age too, they dye their hair, grow impotent; for hustling younger women. Any man left standing is a catch and women will flock to him.

Your man may exaggerate the attention he receives to emphasise his attractiveness to women, boost his ego and send the signal that if you don’t grab him other women will. Your man is enjoying a ‘second change’ youth in which, instead of running after women, they’re doing the running.

The question really is whether you two are suited and capable of making a complete commitment to each other. So, ask him questions you’Il like answers to, so you could discover whether or not he can offer the type of relationship you crave. If you want to take him as he is, however, I’m afraid you have to turn a blind eye to his flirting.

Share your problems and release your burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

38 — WEDNESDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

I'll tackle cult-related gang wars in Lagos — CP FATAI OWOSENI AFTER he was named the new Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, recently, many people felt an unknown crime fighter was coming on saddle. In fact, some concluded that the new man will definitely operate on a strange terrain little knowing that an eagle has landed. The new police boss in the state, Commissioner of Police, Fatai Ajani Oweseni, has an intimidating resume and background, having traversed almost all the nooks and crannies of the country doing police work. This is coupled with sterling achievements he recorded during his postings overseas. These he has brought to bear in Lagos, reputed not be an easy beat to police. He spoke with our Crime Editor, EMMA NNADOZIE. Excerpts:

W

HEN you were a n n o u n c e d Commissioner of Police, Lagos State command, what was your immediate reaction, taking cognizance of the fact that Lagos is a very volatile state?

As with every other posting, every police duty comes with its own peculiar challenges.

When the posting to Lagos came, I was like we are going onto the field, we have been part of what is happening in Force Headquarters in broad view of what is going on in the country and Lagos state.

To also come and work in the field and put into practice some of the ideas that we have gained working with senior officers, and under their guidance at Force Headquarters, it's like coming to put them into practice in the state.

How do you view the challenges ahead generally?

There are always challenges in the world all over.

Looking at the challenges In every assignment you have, there will always be challenges.

So, while looking at the challenges, I also have the attitude that they are not insurmountable.

What should Lagosians expect from you in terms of fighting crime, and with what new innovations?

Policing worldwide is changing strategies and the methods with which policing is carried out around the world are changing.

It is more of being pro-active now as the Inspector-General of Police has rolled out the policy thrust of his own administration. It is about more engagement and partnership with non-state actors and members of the community in policing the country. It is more about deploying technology to address the issues of crime and criminality. It is more of

intelligence-based policing, intelligence-based investigation and knowledge-based policing. It is not about fire-brigade approach, it is about looking at trends of crime, studying them, analyzing them, and addressing with other stakeholders, identifying the root causes and how these root causes can be addressed with other non-state actors in preventing crime. It is all about making sure that we get our facts right before we react. It is all about diligently investigating cases that we cannot prevent; that is the focus.

Diligent investigation That is what we have been working on. When I took over, I said I would focus more on preventive measures and I stuck to that and when you prevent, you have less crime. While preventing, one of the things that we do to get to the grass roots is to carry the members of the public, the non- state actors along in our policing strategy, to get their input and improving on police visibility, improving on the response time.

Where we cannot prevent and it happens, improving response time to incidents that are reported, and ensuring that measures are put in place for quick detection and diligent investigation, and ensuring successful prosecution of cases and, of course, getting involved with members of the community, sensitizing them on how they can support us, and what they can do to reduce crime and criminality.

In practical terms, could you appraise what you have done so far?

It has been some six weeks now.

We have focused on traffic management because that is one of the major challenges the command and state government are facing. We have tried to put more of our personnel especially,

during peak periods on the road for traffic management in collaboration with other traffic management agencies like the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, etc. I have also had a lot of engagement with members of the public, interacting with them because that is one of the ways we promote community policing.

Getting to hear from them, what their concerns are and how we can jointly address these concerns. I have also embarked on improving police visibility by getting our patrol vehicles on the roads. Another major problem that we have encountered is the issue of robbing motorists in traffic.

It is a gradual process but we have tried as much as possible to reduce it and I believe that within a short time, we should be able to eradicate it completely because we have been able to put in place more policemen in order to give confidence to motorists.

In the areas where these things are endemic, Oshodi Bridge, and Ojota, Mile Two, we have been putting more policemen around there. With the latest

When I took over, I said I would focus more on preventive measures and I stuck to that and when you prevent, you have less crime

CP Fatai Owoseni

empowerment by the Lagos State Government that has given us motorcycles, we are deploying these motorcycles on these roads to check this menace of robbing people on the highways.

Of course, engaging the personnel in discussion and reorienting them, in trying to change their attitude in other to make sure that what they do are within the ambits of the law and police regulations and, of course, the laws of the country. Those ones that have corrupt tendencies, we have been checking them. I have been going round personally and we have operatives on the road. The Xsquad is equally up and doing.

While we are doing that, the present management of the Force is also taking their welfare into consideration.

Addressing welfare That is why a whole lot of measures have been put in place to ensure that their welfare is addressed. If you deploy people on patrol, at least, you give them some relative comfort in terms of making provisions for rations for them, even if it is ordinary bottle water for them to carry along.

That is what the InspectorGeneral of Police introduced, which is what we are replicating here to ensure that we don’t allow them to resort to self-help in fuelling their patrol vans. The IG has been making provision for that. We have also tried to strengthen our internal oversight control on personnel that run foul of the police regulations. The Public Complaints Bureau has been strengthened by putting a Chief Superintendent of Police with integrity. He also has a legal background as a lawyer to be addressing complaints by the

public. That is to ensure that personnel that are found wanting in one way or the other and combined to that, to put it into place for alternate dispute resolution which the present management of the force is adopting to reduce incidence of cases that are otherwise not criminal but can lead to a breach of peace such as land cases.

You talked about prevention, but there are certain situations that you cannot prevent, like this Boko Haram issue now, DSS says Boko Haram is in Lagos.

What measures are you putting in place to safeguard the people of Lagos?

The DSS have said that, the Police have not said that. Let’s hope that the DSS probably has its reasons for saying that there is Boko Haram in Lagos.

So, you are already taking preventive measures?

We have been doing that and we will continue to do that. I have personally met with the residents and home owners in Festac.

Residents and home owners We distributed pamphlets to them. We briefed them on personal security. We told them about the menace of okada riders and street hawkers. These are people groups which some criminal elements can infiltrate.

What are you going to do about human right abuses, torture inside the cells especially at the Special Anti-robbery sections.

I have not recorded such cases, but like I have told you, we have strengthened our internal mechanism in Lagos State. We have used external mechanism in organizing the kind of orientation programme at the training school,

Continues on page 39

WEDNESDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 39

I'll tackle cult-related gang wars in Lagos — CP Fatai Owoseni Continues from page 38

We have used external mechanism in organizing the kind of orientation programme at the training school, because we believe that it is not just about punitive measures or taking policemen who have infracted on people’s right

because we believe that it is not just about punitive measures or tackling policemen who have infringed on people’s rights, it is not about reducing their ranks but ,making them to know what is good.

After we might have managed the matter, we send them to training school to learn about human rights and ensure that they are corrected. We are also working on getting psychologists to talk to them. Every human being has some sort of madness which can manifest at times and, of course, the society is already heated up.

An average person in Lagos is charged because of the pressure, the social and economic thing and domestic problems; you don’t know what the man encountered before he left his house.

That is why I want to use this medium to appeal to members of the public, who are policemen, our children, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, husbands and wives. The policeman is from the society.

Traditional rulers They are recommended by the traditional rulers and the local government chairman attests to the form that the policeman completed before they join the police. It is something that we have to do together.

In the recent past, you must have been briefed about daredevil armed robbers that attacked from the creeks. Twice, they devastated Lagos.

Though, there were claims of arrest, Lagosians are afraid that they may strike again. What are you doing about it?

Crime cannot be completely eradicated. Lagos with its size, its 21 million people, with the number of policemen and logistic challenges we have and with increased number of migration to Lagos, it is only a place where you don’t have human activities that you would say that they don’t have crimes at all.

So, what we have been doing in other to see that we prevent such is engaging people. I have met with private jetty owners.

They see these people while they come and go. I have also engaged especially with banks by interactions, by raising the awareness and security consciousness, how to quickly alert the police when they notice anything happening.

We have also engaged our special anti-robbery squads as well, on the need to change strategies to address some of these issues. I have met with the chief security officers of oil companies, multinationals and C M Y K

CP Fatai Owoseni the embassies. We are all working together in order to hatch strategy and prevent such from happening again. If they happen again, to have effective response to such attacks.

Those are the things that we are doing; coupled with raids on different identified criminal hideouts including abandoned buildings, abandoned vehicles on the roads where some of these criminals keep the weapons with which they operate. We will sustain that raiding and I believe that with all that, we will be able to come on top of such situations.

Fighting crime now is not about the numbers of guns or ammunition that you have.

Marine police One of the most potent tools missing nowadays is information. In fact, good credible information is even better. Our marine police are also popping their activities in doing patrols. We don’t have enough boats but the few they have, they have been sustaining patrols on the waterways.

Let’s talk about cult wars, it looks like community policing has failed in that area?

I will disagree with that; they are reducing. I have positively

engaged with members of the community in some of those areas, including the chairmen of local governments. They have given us credible information, information they have withheld before. In Bariga, Fadeyi, Mushin, and last week alone at Idi-Oro, two were arrested with machetes.

In Ikorodu, we arrested some with axes. Just yesterday, one of the notorious cultists was arrested by the Area commander in Ogudu and in the course of investigations, they found out that this particular person has been arrested before and because of the fact that we want to observe human rights, he was given administrative bail, and his file sent to DPP and the DPP’s advice came for him to be prosecuted for murder and since then, they have not been able to lay hands on him.

Another notorious one that always operate around Fadeyi and Shomolu was also arrested.

We have sustained our raids on them. We picked quite a lot and we have been taking them to court. We have been looking at those of them that have hands in previous murder cases in the state.

Because one of the things that people complain about is that they know that the police actually

arrest felons, but when they arrest, these people do come back. We don’t have control over the judiciary. The judiciary will do their work, they sentence them to jail terms or whatever and they come back to commit. But we are working on that because there are some of them that actually have links with previous unresolved murder cases, some capital offences which is why we do a profiling of them. I have engaged landlords, community leaders, people on the street, some of them are coming up with credible facts and some send me SMS.

Phone number My number is in the public domain — 08023265021 — and to people that you know things are changing now, we also have platforms on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and, in fact, if things are happening they can put it there.

I am assuring everybody that as we read these things, we will respond.

What is your response to allegations that some policemen fuel gang wars?

That is why I told you that we have strengthened our internal oversight mechanism by empowering the X-squad and the provost to identify those miscreants in uniform and we will make sure that with your help — some of you know them — we will get them out of the service and out of uniform. The police with its size, even in a a family of about seven or ten you have deviants. So, if you take the size of the police you will find some of those deviants. We will use this platform to also appeal to the

public that when recommending people to join the Police Force during recruitment, also be truthful to for God's sake. There is no Baale or Kabiyesi (traditional rulers) that has ever written on a form to say that this person you want to employ is a troublesome person, some are even assisting them in forging their age to join the Police. You can see that all of us have a hand in some of these things. So people should help us to also get rid of that.

Recently, the President spoke about CCTV to curb crime. I know we used to have it here, what is the state of the CCTV? An evaluation of that system has been done, and the Lagos State Government is working on that, not just on this but to improve on it. An elaborate system is being planned to cover Lagos state. By the time it is rolled out very soon, the governor will be talking about it.

Business owners I want to think that Lagos will be the first to have such a system and in addition to that, everyone will say in the UK and in the US this is how they do things. We have been encouraging private business owners, especially banks, it doesn’t cost much to install CCTV. An example of where that has helped us to diffuse tension, was about two or three weeks ago at Bariga where there was this killing.

There was a car laden with bomb in front of GT bank. What the police did was that the Area commander went there and was able to activate the CCTV footage, found that a woman with two of her children went to the bank premises, just parked and left. This raised security consciousness in people because the bank had private security operatives who were not aware that such a thing was happening. It was from the CCTV that we were able to find out that the security guard was sleeping in the back of the car.

From there, we were also able to get the woman because the Area commander now had to get IED experts to look at the car. We took the car to the station. CCTV helped us to know somehow the figure of the person and the woman showed up and it seemed as if she was just distressed, in her distress, she looked for the most convenient place to put her car.

Unfortunately, the security guard of the company did not challenge her, he was not even there when this woman parked her car.

Are you aware that your men have nicknamed you CP human right?

I am happy to hear that. That is to also let you know that we are trying our best to ensure that we do things in accordance with the law and to also make sure that the rule of law comes to play.

40—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

APOINTMENTS: It’s too

early to judge Buhari — Aliyu, APC National Woman Leader NATIONAL Woman Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu in this interview, flays allegations of lopsided appointments against President Muhammadu Buhari as misplaced, adding that the President is a key believer in the Federal Character Principle. Excerpts:

By Charles Kumolu

W

HAT is your assessment of your party’s 100 days in power at the federal level?

He has been impressive. We are witnessing significant improvements in virtually all aspects of our life. Look at power for instance. Just a few months back most parts of this country barely enjoyed electricity supply regardless of whether or not we paid electricity bills.

But today, virtually all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria enjoy improved power supply.

Also the refineries are now operating close to their respective maximum capacities, when hitherto we were made to believe they would never work again.

Filling Stations now sell at the stipulated pump price of petroleum products as against ripping off hapless and helpless Nigerians. The Anti corruption crusade is taking firm roots across the country in spite of attempts to frustrate it.

On single treasury account The treasury single account will go a long way in blocking the leakages in the system and enthroning accountability and probity in the public sector. The assets of our President and Vice President were published in line with their promise to Nigerians.

Security forces You can also see the renewed sense of responsibility and dedication on the part of our security forces from the military to the police. It’s indeed a restoration of those basics which the decades of misrule had made us believe were unattainable luxuries. And this is just the beginning.

What is your reaction to allegations that the president has not reflected federal character in his appointments?

In my opinion, it is rather premature in the life of this administration to make such assertions. He will cater for the needs of all parts of this country in the fullness of time. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Nigeria is so diverse, over 200 ethnic groups. There are competent and honest Nigerians in all parts of this country.

In any case The President

In my opinion, it is rather premature in the life of this administration to make such assertions. He will cater for the needs of all parts of this country in the fullness of time. Let’s give him the benefit of doubt

himself alluded to the issue of federal character when he said even if he wanted to sideline any part of the country the law would not permit him. There are still plenty of appointments he is going to make and for a government that is set to appoint on merit and ethical

•Aliyu: We're witnessing significant improvements balance, there is no doubt that the best of the best will emerge from all quarters.

Does your party have a chance in the Kogi State governorship election?

It has never been brighter.

The wind of change which swept across Nigeria earlier this year has not abated. The people of Kogi State deserve better than the back to back PDP administrations they have had.

The PDP leadership in the state has not been beneficial to the

people. The primaries have come and gone, we must now go into the elections as a united front. The people are ready to go out and vote massively for the APC and even the opposition can sense it, hence their jittery and restlessness.

You were recently elected the President of the Council of African Political Parties (women wing) in the Republic of Sudan.

Of what significance will that be to Nigeria?

The Council of African Political Parties is an umbrella body of the Political parties or associations across Africa. I was chosen to represent APC, which happens to be the ruling party in Nigeria today and it was a rollercoaster experience.

Everything happened so fast.

I was encouraged by my peers from other countries to give it a shot as according to them I was eminently qualified for the position which had only just become vacant.

Ambode’s 100 days eventful, resourceful — BAYEWU

By Dapo Akinrefon

Mr Kamal Ayinde Bayewu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was a senatorial aspirant for Lagos West Senatorial District in the last general election. In this interview Bayewu speaks on the first 100 days of the Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration in Lagos.

Excerpts: OW will you describe the first 100 days of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in Lagos?

It has been eventful and resourceful because some of the things that he has put in place, on the long run will be of immense benefit to the state.

He has been able to take care of the elderly ones in terms of payment of their pensions. He has been able to look at the health sector in terms of provision of equipment like well-equipped ambulances and creation of emergency centres in case of accidents.

A number of tragedies have happened in Lagos and the governor promptly attended to them while also assuring the victims of government support.

That is the hallmark of a good leader.

H

•Bayewu But there are concerns over the failure of the governor to appoint commissioners 100 days after assumption of office.

That is exactly what Lagosians voted for. We voted for continuity.

So, being an experienced man, who has been part of the government of Lagos State, he knows what to do.

The governor is doing some internal restructuring, he needs to put certain things in place before the appointment of his commissioners. The governor must have a blueprint that the commissioners will work on. They can’t just come in and start working immediately. By the

time the governor is done with the blueprint, I am sure the cabinet will be in place. But I want to assure Lagosians that the governor will appoint the very best to work with him, people who share his dreams and vision for Lagos.

People with integrity, who are ready to render selfless service with competence that will translate to a better society.

What steps do you think the governor has taken to improve on the economy of Lagos State in the last 100 days?

As at now I can even see that through some things he has done, he has been reducing the cost of governance. Not in terms of non- appointment of commissioners. But there are some things that he is doing now that in my calculation will save Lagos State about N31million per month.

And the process is still ongoing in terms of the restructuring that he has done within the ministries, commissions and various boards. Recently, he gave an order that all agencies of governments operating in private houses where they are paying exorbitant fees as rents should move to the state secretariat where there are enough offices to accommodate

them. That shows a governor who has his thinking cap on. Do you know how much will be saved and be used to provide amenities for Lagosians through that channel alone? These are cost saving measures that Ambode has put in place.

Capital projects If you look again, he is also trying to expand the base of our revenue and with that one, I see us having more revenue and less cost. That will mean that a lot of money will be available for capital projects.

The governor has secured victory at the Election Petition Tribunal and at the Appeal Court but the PDP has approached the Supreme Court. Do you see anything changing at the apex court?

I know that the PDP will still meet the same waterloo at the Supreme Court. If you look at the premise upon which Ambode won both at the tribunal and at the appeal court, the law will not change at the Supreme Court.

But I expect that the PDP should sheathe their sword, come together and let us think of how we can move Lagos state to the next level.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—41

Ayade’s active first 100 days 2015: KOGI DECIDES I have not declared support for Audu — Bello

By Emmanuel Unah

D

RAWING parallels in the dynamics in administration between Professor Ben Ayade, the Cross River State governor and Senator Liyel Imoke, the immediate past governor, Ayade’s administrative style as observed in the past one hundred days seemingly points towards a marked departure from the past Whilst Imoke had a mature, sedate, laidback and one -step at- a –time approach to governance, Professor Ayade is clearly toeing a populist even if business-like path.

His drive to fast track his developmental agenda came to the surface minutes after he was sworn in to office when he announced that he would within the first 100 days in •Ayade office flag off the construction of a 250 kilometre super highway linking a new sea port at Akpabuyo in the southern part of the state to the Obudu Ranch Resort in the northern part of the state on build, operate and transfer basis.

Within the same period too, he also promised the commencement of construction of a new seaport in the state to take bigger vessels since the existing Calabar Port channel cannot take big ships.

The sign of Ayade’s businesslike approach to governance was given on 2nd June, his first day in office. As early as 7 am, he was on his desk and after waiting for about two hours with majority of workers yet to show up for work, he ordered the security men to shut the governor’s office gate. When he came out at 10am, he told the “stranded” workers to either sit up or be flushed out of the state civil service as there is a new order in the state.

He said the government would endeavour to pay salaries on the 25th of every month but tasked the workers to reciprocate the gesture by being dedicated to their duties.

Permanent secretaries He ordered permanent secretaries in all the ministries and departments in the state to open time books and ensure that they rule off everyone who signs after 8 am to enable the authorities know who the late comers are. Since the order, “the not on seat”, phrase which was a familiar refrain in most government offices is now almost nonexistent as everyone reports for work at the right time and stay till close of work.

During a visit to the Cross River State Water Board headquarters in Calabar he upbraided the management and staff for the epileptic water supply and demanded an immediate change in the situation.

Since his visit, residents of the city now enjoy regular water supply.

The beauty of the city which was once messed up by heaps of garbage is gradually being regained as the shoddy evacuation of refuse by the contractors handling refuse disposal. The governor had threatened to revoke and split the contracts should the situation fail to

By Kingsley Fanwo

A

My choice of signature projects is based on the understanding of Cross River State as a land enormously blessed that has been tottering for so long which we have to make a break from improve and since the threat, the rubbish bins are now regularly evacuated.

In pursuit of funding for his “signature projects” which include a garment factory, 250 kilometre super highway, cement factory, seaport that are expected to guzzle billion of dollars, Professor Ayade went off on two weeks tour of two European nations, Germany and Spain.

In Germany, he signed quality control agreement with a group of partners for the construction of the super highway while in Spain, he sourced for technical partners to work as “staff on the payroll of Cross River State government for the construction of the seaport and cement factory”.

Asked on what informed his choice of signature projects, the governor told Vanguard: “My choice of signature projects is based on the understanding of Cross River State as a land enormously blessed that has been tottering for so long which we have to make a break from and articulate our role in the world through a realisable business model by reducing all those high sounding terminologies to simple basic processes for development”.

He said he sought elective office to improve lives and to add value to the lives of the people of the state and as well develop infrastructure.

Already, recruitment has started for widows to work at the garment factory and another one thousand to serve as green police to oversee the state’s vast forest resources. Sill on efforts to mitigate the low income earners from poverty, Ayade has announced their exemption from taxation. Those earning below N30,000 monthly in the private and public sectors will no longer pay taxes.

LHAJI Yahaya Bello, runner-up in the APC governorship primary has distanced himself from a press statement claiming that he had ordered the collapse of his political structure into that of the APC candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu.

Bello told Vanguard that the statement credited to one Muktar Atima who claimed to be his media aide was not the true reflection of his political mind set. He also dissociated himself from anyone claiming to be his media aide.

“Like thousands of other Kogites, Muktar Atima is one of my supporters.

In as much as I appreciate the support of Kogi people, we cannot allow our emotions to bury the need for projecting issues through designated institutions.

New Direction is a movement that I am only opportune to lead. It has grown beyond Yahaya Bello and when we are through with our consultations, we shall speak to the press.

“I have not mandated anyone to negotiate with any political group on behalf of New Direction nor ask anyone to collapse our structure into any other.

One thing is clear: I will keep giving all my support to the president of our nation who is my mentor. I will also continue to respect the national and state leadership of our great party”, he said.

•Bello Fair Plus, as Yahaya Bello is fondly called, pledged his continued support to the development of Kogi State.

“My dream of a new and better Kogi State is too strong to be washed away by the tides of August 29. I hold on to my dream of a Kogi where youths and women are empowered, where the capital city and major cities are renewed, where agriculture and education become models for others, where healthcare and infrastructures are comparable to those in first rated nations. I won’t allow this dream to be slaughtered by those who are weaker than our collective will”, he said.

Those working against Wada don’t mean well — GROUP

By Kingsley Fanwo HEAD of the September 10, 2015 PDP governorship primary, a political advocacy group, Team Kogi 2016 has called on delegates to secure the future of Kogi PDP through the endorsement of the governor as the party’s candidate.

Rising from its extra-ordinary meeting in Lokoja, Monday, the group said the party is only guaranteed of victory if Wada is nominated as its party candidate.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the group highlighted the

A

•Wada

achievements of the governor to include youths and women empowerment, agricultural revolution, education renewal, tourism and quality healthcare delivery.

“In the past three and a half years, Gov. Idris Wada has rekindled our hope in a greater Kogi State. His decision to complete all ongoing projects by the previous administration is a plausible feat.

Through YAD4KOGI and the various programs by his wife, thousands of youths and women have been empowered to be wealth creators.

“The Teaching Hospital located at the Kogi State University and the bold step to resolve accommodation challenges in all Kogi State-owned higher institutions of learning have shown where Kogi wants to be in terms of education. The governor has also turned some schools across the state to model schools with world class structures and facilities.

“With the endorsement of Wada and the disposition of PDP leaders to power rotation in the state, it is imperative to note that Echocho’s candidature runs foul of the spirit of continuity, consolidation and equity. If Kogi people are rejecting Audu because of his corruption charges, what mileage can PDP record since the APC candidate’s in-law, Echocho, is also answering questions over Afribank.”

42— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 43

44— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 , 2015—45

Nigeria sliding into dictatorship under Buhari —PDP GOVS A-IBOM GOVT HOUSE INVASION:

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y

ENAGOA—THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Governors, yesterday, lamented that Nigeria was sliding into dictatorship under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Rising from its meeting held at the Bayelsa State Governor ’s office, Yenagoa, the governors under the auspices of the PDP Governors Forum condemned the invasion of Akwa Ibom State Government House by operatives of the Department of the State Services, DSS. The PDP governors led by their chairman and Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Olusegun Mimiko, in a communiqué, said that the invasion was against the spirit, ethos, values and fundamental tenets of democratic norms and tradition, more so with the existence of a duly elected and sworn in governor of the state.

He said: “We insist that the trend must stop henceforth.

No democracy survives without a viable opposition in

any part of the world and we must also remember to remind the All Progressives Congress, APC that they are the real beneficiaries of the liberal democratic ethos of the PDP. “We again advise the DSS to preoccupy itself with the task of ensuring internal security and desist from daily intimidation of members of

the opposition. We implore the international community, the civil society organisations and human rights activists to call the APC-led Federal Government to order and to insist that it respects the well entrenched democratic tradition.

“We all have a duty to prevent what looks to us like a steady slide of this country into dictatorship.”

Mimiko, who said that the PDP governors were alarmed and shocked by such desecration, noting that it was an assault on democracy.

He said that what happened in Akwa Ibom State posed serious danger to the country’s fledgling democracy.

AGM: From left: Finance Director, UPDC Plc, Mrs. Sade Ogunde, Managing Director, Mr. Hakeem Ogunniran, Chairman, Mr. Larry Ettah, and Company Secretary, Mr. Godwin Samuel, at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, yesterday.

NAFDAC impounds N40m counterfeit drugs in Delta A

By Festus Ahon

S A B A — N AT I O N A L Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has impounded assorted counterfeit drugs worth over N40 million in Asaba, Delta State and also apprehended a 32- year-old man suspected to be the owner.

The suspect, identified as Mr Paul Eli, was arrested at his residence in Asaba, where he was reportedly packaging the counterfeit drugs with mobile authentication number to make it appear as genuine to the unsuspecting patients.

The drugs found in his 3bedroom apartment, where he operates from include Maloxine, Lumatem (antimaleria drugs), LOFNAC (for body pains relief), Buscomac (for stomach pain relief) and Rysovin (anti-fungal drug) alongside already printed mobile authentication numbers.

Eli, a graduate of Management Science from the University of Nigeria, Nnsuka, told newsmen, said that he had been in the business for over one year, adding that he does the packaging of the drugs after receiving them from his business associate, whom he simply named as Achubuike in Lagos but denied knowledge of the drugs being fake.

Disclosing that he

distributes the drugs in Sabogari area, Kano through his business partner, Chubuike, the suspect said the drugs were being imported from India by his partner in Lagos. He added that

the drugs seen in his possession were slightly above N1 million as against NAFDAC assessment of over N40 million.

On the whereabout of his family, he said he was not married,

adding that he gets the drugs through waybill and also distributes same through waybill. He said the drugs were yet to be tested to ascertain their authenticity.

POLLUTION: SPDC seeks long term solution

in Ogoniland

P

By Jimitota Onoyume

ORT HARCOURT—SHELL Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, has called for a long term sustainable solution to problems of environmental pollution in Ogoniland.

Speaking at a one-day special engagement session for international media organisation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, General Manager, Sustainable Development and Community Relations of the oil company, Mr Igo Weli said merely embarking on a technical cleanup exercise

of environmental contamination areas will not bring about the desired result.

He called for collaboration among stakeholders at all levels towards achieving a sustainable and enduring solution to the problem.

According to him, the collaborative effort should among other things bring an end to attacks on oil facilities, crude oil theft, illegal refining, noting that they were largely responsible for environmental pollution.

He said that the position of the firm was a reflection of the United

Nations Environment Programme recommendation on the area, which harped on coordinated and collaborative action for all stakeholders.

He hailed steps so far taken by the Federal Government to fastback implementation of the report and response of various segments of the society.

He assured that the oil company will be ready to work at the speed of the government in playing its role in the implementation of the recommendations.

Secondus allays fears over alleged plot to rig Balyesa gov poll successful candidate to run an

Y

ENAGOA—THE acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, has allayed fears over the purported plan by the opposition to rig the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Secondus who spoke at a PDP stakeholders meeting and dinner, held at the Banquet Hall, Government House in Yenagoa,

effective campaigns in all parts explained that the national of the state. working committee and other He said: “We have what it organs of the party would put in takes to mount enough pressure place all necessary machineries to on the Federal Government in ensure a free and fair electoral such a way that the process.

Independent National Electoral Secondus assured aspirants, who Commission, INEC cannot rig are jostling for the party’s ticket of us out. Not even the Police can the PDP leadership resolve to do that because the Police and conduct a credible and zero Army belong to the Federal expenses primary election in the GovernmentandnottheAPC.Sothey state and thereafter, support the cannot be used to rig us out."

100 DAYS: LG boss lauds Wike on performance

P

By Gbenga Oke

ORT HARCOURT— THE Caretaker Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Rivers State, Mr Sunny Bekanwah has described the 100 days of Governor Nyesom Wike in office as laudable.

He also said that Wike as the governor has breathed development and hope to the entire Rivers State.

Speaking with Vanguard, yesterday, he said that with the action of Governor Wike in the first 100days, he has shown that he will turn around the fortunes of the state especially with his harmonious working relationship with the entire youths of Rivers State.

He said: “Governor Wike’s 100 days in office has showcased varieties of developmental projects such as housing, health care, security of life and property, operation zero pot holes, employment, empowerment, completion of projects that were abandoned by previous governments."

Okaruefe bags Delta Role Model Award

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S A B A — I N recognition of his efforts in providing critical infrastructure, and creating jobs for the unemployed persons in the society, Vice Chairman of Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, Chief Ralph Okaruefe, has bagged the Delta Role Model Award based on proven track record, integrity in business, and youth empowerment.

Organiser of the award, Comrade Donaldson, while presenting the award to Okaruefe, said he (Okaruefe) bagged the award because of his o u t s t a n d i n g accomplishment in tackling the problems of unemployment in the state as well as his commitment to alleviating the plight of the ordinary people at the grassroots.

He commended Okaruefe for providing jobs and starter packages to the youths and also for keying into the diversification of the Delta State’s economy through the Delta Beyond Oil initiative.

46—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Labour unity, masses' interests our priority —Ajaero faction of NLC

Land owners protest against Adapalm Plantation managers

By Victor AhiumaYoung

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JAERO FACTION of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has said it remains committed to ensuring that the Congress comes out of its current crisis and leaves behind old imperfections to serve Nigerian workers and the downtrodden masses.

It equally reiterated its commitment to the reconciliation effort as a divided movement undermines cohesion and solidarity which remains labour's bedrock and driving force and; jeopardizes workers’ interests The faction in a statement by its Acting General Secretary, P.O.Orere, commended the labour veterans who provided the platform for the reconciliation of both factions (Ayuba Wabba and Joe Ajaero) following the crisis arising from the Congress’ 11th delegates Conference held in Abuja, saying “we appreciate the efforts of the first President of the congress, Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, and Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Comrade SOZ Ejorfor, Comrade Ero Philips and Alhaji Ali Chiroma amongst others. History will positively acknowledge their sacrifices in bringing the two leaderships of NLC together to forge a common front.

According to the statement, “The most significant aspect of the reconciliation is that both parties have resolved to come together to work for a united NLC. Both comrades Ayuba Wabba and Joe Ajaero offered good leadership that made it possible for the two parties to sit together and talk and come up with a win-win formulae that satisfied all. However the point cannot be over-stated; the crisis is not over until all issues at stake are comradely resolved in the spirit of the reconciliation.

Critical to the Abuja Understanding is that we must all emphasize collective leadership

By Chidi Nkwopara

O

W E R R I — AGGRIEVED land owners of land harboruing government owned Adapalm Plantation, have sealed the main gate of the establishment, calling for the immediate sack of Roche Nigeria Limited, managing plantation.

The landowners not only accused Roche management of inhuman treatment, but claimed also that the Company had failed to respect the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, it freely entered into with them.

Narrating their grievance to newsmen at the scene of the protest, a spokesman of the group, Mr. Kenneth Amajuoyi accused Roche of not being a sincere investor, saying “there is nothing to show for the four years the Company managed the establishment.

The Company is simply not a sincere investor. They are only good at hiring and firing staff.”

Answering a question, Mr. Amajuoyi fumed: “There has not been any turn-around maintenance, despite all the claims made by the company management. While the workers have not been paid in the past nine months, the company has equally withheld the entitlements of landlords and this has brought undue hardship on the people.”

that goes with collective responsibilities to the working class we all represent.

“We were therefore enjoined to revisit the events of the recent times with a view to offering clear remedies for the abuse of the rules of the Congress. It was emphasized that we must learn to respect our constitutional rules and return to core values and ethics of the labour movement.

NLC demands for equity in the larger society so it must also come

out with clean hands always. A 7-person Committee was set up to promote inclusiveness headed by the pioneer President of NLC, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu with 3 persons drawn from each of the two parties. The Committee will look at all aspects of our work with a view of promoting shared responsibilities and inclusiveness. This Committee does not have a time limit and has neither been formally constituted nor have they started

work as planned because of some understandable reasons.

The statement added that “it was also resolved that a joint Central Working Committee, CWC, meeting of the NLC should hold soonest to chart the way forward. There was a consensus that we should not engage in unnecessary litigation.

Accordingly, all cases in court are to be withdrawn forthwith unconditionally.

Organized Privator Sector lists factor militating against industrial devt

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

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NEWI—ORGANIZED Private Sector, OPS, has listed insecurity, poor and high electricity bills, substandard products, multiple levies and taxation, among others, as the main challenges facing industrial development and hindering jobs creation in Nigeria, especially in South East geo-political zone.

In a welcome address by the Executive Director of Dozzy Group of Companies, Lady Adaora Chukwudozie, to a delegation of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN led

by it President Dr. Frank Jacobs, who visited the company, as part of their familiarization and interactive tour of member companies to know some of their problems, she said “The consequences of the directive is that industrialists in the country particularly the South East have to make provision for their personal security and that of the expatriates working for them, the cost implication of it is undoubtedly huge and is a disincentive to investment. It is no longer secret that our markets are flooded with imported cheap and sub-standard products, the

most affected are lubricants, fruit juice, soaps and detergents, toothpastes and toiletries.

The importation of these products is great disincentive to investment and also an act of economic sabotage to the nation."

Responding, Dr Jacobs said “We are going to do a letter to the Presidency and to the I.G.P on the implication of carrying out that pronouncement; it is highly against our members and will expose us to the activities of hoodlums who before now have been terrorizing us and our families.”

Abia gov's wife admonishes women not to sacrifice home responsibility

By Anayo Okoli

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MUAHIA—THE wife of Abia State Governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu, has admonished women not to sacrifice their role and responsibility at home in pursuit of their careers.

Mrs. Ikpeazu reminded women of the need to give their children proper moral upbringing.

Mrs. Ikpeazu who spoke during the 2015 Convention of the Christ Ascension Church of

Nigeria Good Women International Fellowship, held at the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, NINLAN, Aba, Abia State, emphasized the need for proper family upbringing of children, noting "the need for women to give their children proper spiritual training so that they will not be carried away by the mundane things of life.”

Earlier, immediate past deputy Governor of Enugu State, Rev. Ifeanyichukwu Nwoye, urged women to always seek God’s face

so that they could “rule their world in knowledge, wisdom and love.”

The National president of the Good Women Fellowship, Mrs. Nyenji Madike, thanked the wife of the Governor for attending the programme despite her tight schedule.

She used the opportunity to inform the governor’s wife of their adult skill acquisition programme through which she said they had trained a lot of women in basic literacy and artisan skills.

By Bartholomew Madukwe (08102479985) nwamad@yahoo.com

PEOPLE SPEAK

On President Buhari’s 100 days in office?

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ell, what I can say about President Muhammadu Buhari’s 100 days is that I am feeling the impact of governance now than before. What we had before was government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite. -Mrs. Lynn Carson, Worker

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he people of Central and Northern towns of Cross River are yet to feel the impact of the change as we have been without power supply since February 2015. We use this opportunity to call on Mr. President to bring change to us here.

-Mr. Sonny Okachi, Businessman

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cannot believe, since I went to Kaduna till my return, the light did not even shake for one minute.

In some areas, when the light goes off while you are ironing your clothes, before you remove the iron, the light comes back. -Mr. Yusuf Abdullahi, Worker

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uhari has not done anything or investment in power or refineries. So whatever noticed improvement could not be due to his government. Government is not run on propaganda. Buhari should get down to serious business of governance. -Mr. Lucky Okoh, Businessman

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igerians seem to for get that Buhari promised to declare his assets publicly within his first 100 days and will have his vice and all his appointees do the same.

Today, he has kept that promise? -Mr. Femi Igwe, Worker

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here is nothing significant about Buhari’s 100 days in office.

During these 100 days, Buhari will be remembered for moving round in circles.

Those who voted him into power must be full of regrets by now. -Mr. Ajiboye Sunday, Music Director

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 47

Jigawa college receives N2bn TETFUND intervention fund

By Aliyu Dangida

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UTSE—THE Provost of Jigawa State College of Education, Gumel, Dr. Dahiru Abdulkadir, has said the institution received special intervention fund from TETFUND worth N2 billion in the last six years.

Speaking on his achievements in office, Dr. Abdulkadir said the fund was meant for the execution of projects, manpower development and capacity building of the college’s lecturers.

‘The intervention funds has assisted in one way or the other towards uplifting both the academic and infrastructural development of the college,” he said.

He said that among the projects executed were rehabilitation and construction of hostels, classrooms and 200 and 300 capacity lecture halls, rehabilitation of science laboratories and expansion of e-library to 2,000 seaters.

Others include building of five schools, which include school of Art and Social Science, Education, Languages, and Vocational and Technical Education.

N4BN LOAN: Bauchi lawmakers move against Gov Abubakar

By Suzan Edeh

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AUCHI—BARELY four months of the All Progressives Congress, APC administration in Bauchi State, indications have emerged that there all is not well between the executive and legislative arms of government, following an allegation of N4 billion loan collected by Governor Mohammed Abubakar.

A reliable source in state House of Assembly said on the governor’s assumption of office, he collected the said loan when both the state assembly and the state executive council were yet to be constituted.

It was gathered that apparently miffed by this development, the governor allegedly dodged the lawmakers in a meeting on the matter.

It was further gathered that the lawmakers are allegedly scheming to impeach the governor, despite the intervention of the state chairman of APC. One of the principal officers of the state assembly who did not want his name in print, said the governor had committed an impeachable offence to have collected such a loan as well as his journey to Czech Republic, adding that these actions undermined the

AWARD: Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State receiving an award of excellence from the Chairman, Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON), Kogi State chapter, Comrade Dominic Ondeku, at a workshop for head teachers in the state. principles of good governance.

He stressed that the state House of Assembly had made frantic efforts to convene a meeting with the governor, but to no avail as the governor was allegedly dodging them.

“As I’m talking to you now, we can no longer fold our arms and watch the governor contravene the democratic norms regarding the

Benue, Taraba govs move to check cross-border crisis ...Set up joint military-police patrol team

By Peter Duru

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AKURDI—BENUE State governor, Samuel Ortom, and his Taraba counterpart, Darius Ishaku, have announced the setting up of a joint MilitaryPolice patrol team from the two states to intensify security surveillance and stem the unending crisis at their borders.

Both governors also agreed to establish a joint Benue-Taraba Peace Committee to monitor potential threats to peace in the affected areas.

These were part of resolutions reached at the end of the joint Benue-Taraba security meeting held yesterday in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

The decisions of the governors, which were read by Samuel Ortom, included the creation of ranches in designated areas as a long term measure to reduce conflict between farmers and herdsmen in both states in order to encourage peaceful co-existence among the two groups.

“We also agreed to establish agroallied Industries to absorb the teeming youths of the States so as to discourage idleness. We have also urged the traditional rulers in both states to create a platform of

interaction to enhance peaceful coexistence in their domain.

“Besides, we also urged individuals or communities that have found themselves in both states to submit themselves to the authorities and respect the rules

and tenets states in addition to providing relief materials to internally displaced persons as an interim measure at cushioning their hardship,” Governor Ortom added.

The meeting was attended by traditional rulers and militia leaders from both states.

functions of the three arms of government.

“The governor had told the house that the outgoing Assembly approved the loan on May 29, which was the day the governor was sworn into office,” he said Unconfirmed reports further disclosed that the governor had allegedly offered N15 million to each of the lawmaker to sweep the matter under the carpet.

But Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly, Kawuwa Shehu Damina, debunked the allegation, saying there was no rift between the legislative and the executive arms of government.

He said there was never a time the legislators were approached to collect any sum in a bid to bury an attempt to impeach the governor and attributed same to the saboteurs of APC administration.

NMA seeks review of NHIS

By Chioma Obinna

mandatory health insurance for the people, adding that this ITH only coverage of 4 would help to achieve universal percent in 10 years, the health coverage.

Nigerian Medical Association, “NHIS has not achieved the NMA, has called for a total review of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, saying it had failed to achieve its objectives.

According to the NMA, only four percent coverage had been achieved by the scheme in the last

By Bartholomew ten years.

Madukwe Briefing journalists in Lagos on the group’s ongoing Annual S part of measures to General Meeting in Lagos, the equip beauty chairman, Lagos State chapter of NMA, Dr. Tope Ojo, also expressed professionals with latest concern over the deplorable trends, techniques and condition of infrastructure and updates in the cosmetic amenities in the country and industry, Beauty Africa would urged the President to holistically hold a three-day exhibition look at issues of trade dispute and and conference in Lagos.

The event would offer a mix settlements in all sectors.

Ojo called on the federal of educational skills training government to establish a and a series of high quality

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set agenda since inception till date as a large majority of Nigerians still lack access to decent and affordable healthcare,” he said.

African beauty professionals storm Lagos for training, networking

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workshops designed to assist in building the African industrial capacity in the beauty sector.

The conference and exhibition would hold from October 7-9, 2015, at Eko International Convention & Exhibition Center, Lagos.

Beauty Africa Exhibition & Conference, in its second year, would provide a strategic platform to establish successful partnerships in the beauty industry within Nigeria and beyond.

New Niger CP talks tough, declares war on criminals

By Wole Mosadomi

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INNA—THE new Commissioner of Police in Niger State, Abubakar Marafa, has declared total war on criminals in the state, advising them to leave the state before the long arm of the law caught up with them.

Marafa, who gave the warning while officially taking over from his predecessor, Mr. Olusola Amore, at the Police headquarters, Minna yesterday, particularly declared total war on armed robbers, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and youth gangsterism, adding that there would be no hiding place for such criminals.

Marafa, who was posted from Osun State to Niger declared: “This is not an empty threat. Go and find out from Osun State how I dealt with criminals there and how I made the entire state safe for the entire residents and I am going to replicate the same thing here and even better to make the state crime-free.”

He promised to build on the solid foundation already laid by his predecessor and called on his officers and men to join hands with him to tackle the challenges ahead.

The commissioner also called on the people to cooperate with him by way of giving useful information that could easily lead to the success of winning the battle against criminals.

48—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Michelle Obama

Melania Trump D

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E A N W H I L E Michelle Obama’s style is suddenly being called into question in the wake of the appearance of Melania Trump on the political scene.

But skeptics say Mrs. Trump’s mere existence is a problem for the republicans, after they just spent seven years attacking Michelle Obama for not being “classy” enough.

Melania, a former model, has posed for some racy photos in past years. If Donald does become the republican nominee, the party suddenly has a problem.

A commentator writes: After all, republican leaders have made a concerted effort to paint current First Lady Michelle Obama as being somehow not up to the standards of past First Ladies.

Of course that criticism has never been based in anything beyond trying to make conservative voters uncomfortable with the idea of a black First Lady. Their chosen code-phrase for her has routinely been “not classy enough.” And now the republicans have a frontrunner whose wife has spent years posing seminaked.

Donu Kogbara T

HE Nigerian blogosphere has been jolted by news of the abduction of Vanguard columnist and broadcaster, Donu Kogbara, who was kidnapped in front of her house in the Nkpogu area of Port Harcourt penultimate weekend by armed men in police uniforms, who drove in a Honda CRV mid-sized sports utility vehicle.

Her mother was said to be in the house when Kogbara was kidnapped.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident and said investigations were underway to ensure her safe rescue.

He however expressed concern that the hoodlums wore police uniforms in their operation.

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We too are suspicious because we have gathered that the abductors were in police uniforms and used a private jeep. We (the police) do not operate like that.

We are investigating the matter and hope to rescue her s a f e l y , Muhammad said.

Kogbara is a highly regarded writer and broadcaster and has a weekly column in Vanguard Newspapers. She is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of African Access Limited, a public relations outfit and a socio-political crusader.

ONALD Trump doesn’t even have the Republican Presidential nomination yet, but

blogosphere can’t stop talking about how his wife Melania Trump would make a “perfect”

Olabisi Kolawole

Kosovo 2004, Liberia 2006 and at the DPKO UNHQ, New York 2007. She is a member of the pool of investigators assisting the office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the investigations of Sexual and GenderBased Violence as international crimes.

Besides her core academic trainings and attainments, Ag. ACP Kolawole attended several professional Police courses within and outside the country mostly on terrorism, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Investigations as well as Public Relations.

She is a member of a number of organisations and associations such as; Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), International Federation of Women Lawyers

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IGERIA Police has appointed its first Female Police Public Relations Officer ,PPRO and her appointment has been ratified by the Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase.

A graduate of Nigeria Police Academy and lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002, she attended University of Leicester, United Kingdom where she obtained a Masters degree in Police Leadership and Management (PLM).

At national level she has held several positions including Legal Adviser, Administration officer, Intelligence officer and Force Gender Adviser among others. At the international level, she served in the following United Nations Missions; in East-Timor 2000,

First Lady with the Slovenianborn model already being compared to Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

Trump himself said of the 45year-old former model , She’ll make a very beautiful first lady, I can tell you. And a great first lady. She’s got a great heart.

What’s more, even though his wife Melania has been very quiet so far, Donald hints that the public will be hearing a whole lot more of her in the coming weeks.

She is a very confident person. he noted. She’s got a great style, and she would be an amazing first lady with heart.

With Donald Trump leading in the presidential polls, America’s gearing up for its hottest First Lady ever.

Someone said, if The Donald were to become The Commander-in-Chief, his lovely third wife Melania Trump is bound to leave perennial baddies Vladimir Putin and the Ayatollahs wanting to reach out and touch America!

(FIDA),International Association of Women Police (IAWP), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), United Nations Women Police Network.

Until her appointment as the Force Public Relations Officer, Ag. ACP Kolawole was the Deputy Director of the Directorate of Peacekeeping and the Police Force Gender Adviser.

Bolanle Ambode T

Meanwhile Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, condemned Kogbara’s kidnapping, saying the government was committed to ensuring the safety of all residents of the state.

By God’s grace, she will be released in good health.

HE Nigerian cyberspace has been recently awash by portraits of the new Lagos State first lady B o l a n l e Ambode, who was photographed by t r e n d y photographer TY B e l l o .

Blogosphere approves

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 49

50—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

From left—Chairperson, Oke-Ero Local Government Area, Hajia Aminat Yusuf; new Oloota of Odo-Owa, Oba Joshua Oluwatoba Adeyemi, and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, during the presentation of 2nd Class Staff of Office to Oba Adeyemi.

NAFDAC: From left— President, Milestone Marketing Ltd., Mr. Jide Fowode; Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, and Pharm Titilope Owolabi, Director, Drug Evaluation and Research, NAFDAC, at a briefing on its summits scheduled October 13 to 15, in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Biodun Ogunleye.

AIRTEL RISING STARS: Regional Operations Director, Lagos, Airtel, Mr. Oladokun Oye (right) being introduced to Team Lagos at the national finals of Airtel Rising Stars Season 5 U-17 football tournament in Lagos.

ETISALAT CLIQFEST: From left— Specialist, Dealer Sales, Etisalat Nigeria, Yusuf Yusuf; CliqFest laptop winner, Agboola Ridwan; Specialist, Youth Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Michael Nwoseh; another winner, Maryam Umar, and Etisalat Experience Centre Manager, Sokoto, Mohammed Tanko, during prize presentation at Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto.

PRESENTATION:

Hyacinth; Mr. Omodiale Paul, legal practitioner, and Mr. Akinleye Waheed, all Babcock University lecturers, at a training on new digital content authoring tools

by WiniGroup-IVETEC at the institution's campus premises in Ogun State.

ICSAN: From left—Council member, Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria, ICSAN, Yomi Adebayo; President/Chairman, Governing Council, Nat Ofo, and Acting Registrar/CE0, Nkechi Onyenso, at a briefing to announce ICSAN's forthcoming annual conference in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Biodun Ogunleye.

USN PRODUCTS: From left—Mikado/USN Products Sales representative, Mr. John Abhumen; Vivian Ozoma; a customer, Mr. Gbenga Bamkefa, and Mikado/USN Trade Marketing Manager, Mr. Adewale Osiyemi, at the ongoing USN products activation at the newly-opened Festival Mall in Festac Town, Lagos. PHOTO: Diran Oshe.

INVESTITURE: From left— President-elect/ Treasurer 2015-2016, Rotn.

Riliwanu Maliki; Chairman, Public Image, Rotn. Innocent Abu; new President, 2015-2016 Rotary Club of Igando, Rotarian Otunba Adebayo Akin-Omotuyi; Assistant Secretary, Rotn. Patricia Nwabuwa, and immediate past President / Rotary Foundation Chairman, Rotarian Ori Adeyemo, during the investiture of Otunba Akin-Omotuyi as the 6th President of Rotary Club of Igando, Lagos.

PHOTO: Diran Oshe.

BABCOCK LECTURERS: From left— Dr. Ochei John; Dr. Effedua

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—51

doctor@lagospainclinic.com

Protecting the public from ‘bad’ doctors

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EDICINE has always held a pride of place among other professions in Nigeria.

After all, the early explorers, Mungo Park and David Livingstone were doctors. Even before then, doctors came to "Nigeria" from Portugal and aboard slave ships in 1472. Early records show that a Medical Examining Board listed Dutch, Danish and British doctors on a

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register in 1789. The first hospitals then were the Sacred Heart in Abeokuta (1865) and St. Margarets (1898) in Calabar; both of the Catholic Mission.

Colonial Era: In the colonial era, regulation was done by a Medical Disciplinary Board of the Colonial Department of Health and linked to the UKs General Medical Council Register. On December 18th 1963, the Federal Pa r l i a ment of the new Republic established t h e

Nigerian Medical Council to regulate medicine and dentistry in the country. This new NMC did not hold its first meeting until October 24th 1964 (in the Federal Ministry of Health-FMOHBoardroom) with Dr SO Awoliyi as its first President.

In 1988, by Military Decree 23, it transformed into the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). It wasn't until 1992 that clinical pathology ( pathology, heamatology, microbiology, parasitology, chemical pathology, immunology and virology), homeopathy and alternative medicine (naturopathy, acupuncture, and osteopathy) were added to its mandate.

Since the arrest of a fake doctor who had masqueraded within the FMOH for years, the subject of monitoring and regulation of the nations health sector has come to the fore. Let me say from the outset, having worked in many fine healthcare facilities overseas and here at home, that our doctors, Nigeria (trained) doctors, are among the best in the world. They excel in all specialties and are generally held in high regard.

Expectations: Doctors that fall short of expectations in many develo p e d healthcare systems can be caught early, rehabilitated and or

disciplined. Those whose actions border on criminality face the Law of the Land. Equally, there are institutions that defend and support doctors against frivolous and undeserved accusations.

Such Medical Protection and Defense Unions have begun surfacing in Nigeria, a sign of a developing health system.

The statutory body that serves to protect the public andpolice the professionals is the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health.

It is mandated to :Regulate training in medicine, dentistry and alternative medicine in Nigeria. regulate medical, dental and alternative medicine practice in Nigeria. Regulate and control of laboratory medicine in Nigeria.

Determine the knowledge and skills of these professionals (and specialists). Aside from the "fake doctor" headlines, MDCN has implemented many positive developments since inception. My registration process was satisfactory. The staff were cordial, helpful and accessible.

Infrastructure: But there is still a lot to do. Inadequate human and material infrastructure is not the only malady faced by healthcare professionals in Nigeria. There are problems regarding training and subsequent transition of junior doctors from housemanship into residency programmes.

There are problems with protecting the public from the substandard , unethical and sometimes illegal services of a small minority. As we move

forward with a change in governance in 2015, the MDCN may need to: Reeducate and refocus its staff on its vision and mission. Educate and refocus the public on its role in their protection.

Stakeholders: Educate and refocus its stakeholders (doctors, dentists, alternative practitioners, lab scientists) on statutory expectations from them, and their expectations from the MDCN. Decentralise its activities to improve efficiency. Institute a selfaudit of its successes and shortcomings. Ensure adequate funding from government, international organizations, philanthropists as well as its own internally generated revenue.

Expand and enhance IT in implementation of its functions – revenue collection, registration, international and long distance support, information dissemination, database management. Produce Good Practice and Fitness-to-Practice Guides for all its stakeholders.

Capture a greater percentage of qualified registrants and simplify the process. Intensify regulation and monitoring of Continuous Professional Development for all stakeholders. ensure a sound legal backbone. MDCN is an organisation that we must take seriously. The Federal Government needs to provide worldstandard healthcare services for Nigerians, protect the public, and (with cognizance of infrastructural deficits) regulate and monitor the practices and practitioners appropriately.

52 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

By Ed Dove

“Nigeria lost two points and found a son”

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arl Ikeme was the un likely star man on Saturday as Nigeria stumbled to a 0-0 draw with Tanzania in 2017 Cup of Nations qualification.

In light of Sunday Oliseh’s comments when he took over as the Super Eagles coach, the identity of the national side’s star man is almost laughably ironic.

When the former Nigeria midfielder took the reins of the West African giants, he revealed the changes he would make to differentiate his reign from the unhappy dirge that Stephen Keshi’s time in charge of the team had become.

One of the decrees he unveiled was that only players from top leagues around the world would be considered for call-ups.

“At the moment there has been a lot of talk as regards the fact that we have decided that first division players are the players that we found eligible to serve our country. We feel the best has to play for us and the best in any country play in the first division.”

They were comments that proved divisive among the Nigerian fanbase. Surely, Oliseh’s decision was partially (at least) populist propaganda, aimed at getting supporters on board and setting himself apart from what had gone before.

“We no longer accept this mediocrity,” he almost urged, “we want only the best for Nigeria from now on.” It’s an easy sentiment to get on board with, and many of you did.

But what exactly constituted a ‘top league’? Would Oliseh eschew players from the Spanish second tier, for example, over those playing their trade in the Maltese Premier

•Ikeme

The irony of Ikeme’s emergence League?

“Only the best for Nigeria,” many of you retorted, but is the Chinese top flight really any better than the German 2.

Bundesliga?

Oliseh backtracked on—or at least qualified—his comments with his first squad, which included Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, not playing, of course, in a toptier division.

Culled from Goal.com

•Olise •Eagles Team

Musa not concerned with Pharaohs A

hmed Musa wants team focus ahead Nigeria final four games in Group G of 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying.

Musa who captained the Super Eagles in the absence of goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama in Saturday ’s 2017 Afcon qualifying game away to Tanzania says only “total focus” will see the three-time African champions book a ticket for the finals in Gabon.

“We have to focus on ourselves and not what our group opponents do,” the CSKA Moscow man said in a press conference on Monday.

Egypt have already installed themselves as first favourites to claim the Group’s sole automatic qualifying ticket following convincing wins over Tanzania and Chad-sides the Super Eagles struggled against.

Musa however claims his teammates are not concerned with how the Pharaohs fare in their group matches.

Egbe a t t E s y a gles, S e a E n th a t s o m o e p o m e , I fe ltence played h a g t e a s th , h “ In ve the ere jittery Don’t lo players w nfidence, some gas e a re o he t c nu

withou q u ic k ly. T a w a y to o ou have new peoples ll a b one en y te a m normal wh r the first. Even old hope n a ti o n a l has told is fo r re e e e b th o rm e r th e g ut tog r, Etta E e th e se ad days b goalkeepe to d e s p a ir b e c a u s t do have b e y w il l o v e rc o m e a t e o b n th s t b e c a u se h time,” he said. former N ig e ri a n a g le s C o u ld n o unday things witho featured for the w e rr i S u p e r E saying that Coach S uce a Egbe, w u N a ti o n a le o f O rged Tanzania, l has room to prodountry u w il c st e h th se fy li Iw u a n y a n Eagles in his Days ding a O to quali N a ti o n s in ly n g il o u in t b o ly n F n of te o and team g th e ic a n C u p concentra etition Oliseh to -f ie ld a n d m a k inwords, fo r th e A fralso play the comp agles id E s tr o n g m re lethal, as in his made 2017 but e Taifa Stars and in Dar attack mo good engine room p la y proper. Tht a goalless draw liseh’s we need a b lo c k e rs re li a b le e th a t played ou last weekend in O g eyem in a rc la fo a S u p o f b a lln d a tt a c k in g fo rc ler, es u t th e g as hand m a k e rs aals. first outin so m e q u a rt e rs a b o good in s w ro scores go e a lw a y s h a d li s e h b ne nces. o a h h v O p c a le y h ’s a te y d tr n e n o u W coun is a iddle who spoke . S o , If S But Egbe, ave to accept there g to d e fe n d e rstes on making the m ill be w in h a y concentr the front sharp, we n s ti ll said, “We in charge who is tr time to a d c n n d a e a e m e W d ln s. soli new ticket. our game am. He wil p la c e . w in n in g Egypt and get the to win mould a te c ti o n a l te a m in tween overtake planning essential n o u g h p u t a fu n e have time in be layers However, e a d . T h e re a re e d th e Thanks, w him to give new pa p p e d g a m e s a h g iv e u s p o in ts a nd games for a lu a te o u r m o re c io n s .” v is e c e , d e c g a m e s to on ticket,” he state h is spa nd make qualificati p la y e rs a

By Eddie A

•Musa “We followed (Egypt’s) game against Chad (on Sunday) but we are not under any pressure.

“It was a good game for them because they won 5-1 but for us, we are only thinking about the two games we will play against them both at home and away.

“We don’t have to think about Egypt but concentrate on ourselves.

“We have the quality and we believe in our coaches. Hopefully, we can do it and make our country proud,” he said.

Nigeria have amassed four points from their first two games in 2017 Afcon qualifying after beating Chad 2-0 on match day one and drawing 0-0 with Tanzania on match day two.

F

kalo

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 53

AAG: Oghenekaro talks tough ahead of Ghana Clash

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ream Team forward, Etebor Oghenekaro, has revealed that the Nigeria U-23 side are ready to battle the Black Meteors in their All African Games opening fixture.

The defending champions, Ghana will hope to beat the Samson Siasia’s men after their barren draw against Senegal in their opening fixture.

Etebor admitted that the Black Meteors are a very strong side but insisted that they are tactically and psychologically ready to subdue their west African neighbours.

Coach Samson Siasia’s team will kick start their campaign in the tournament against defending champions Ghana after their opening day opponents Egypt pulled out.

Both nations have met at this stage four times, with Nigeria claiming victories on two occasions, Ghana won once and they drew a game.

Their first meeting was an Olympic Games qualifier in July 2007 when Nigeria won 3-2.

•Di Maria

•Fellaini

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Muniru Muse Under-12 Tourney: Jokers Stars, White Sand Angels emerge champions

By Solomon Nwoke

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OKERS Stars FC and White Sand Angels of Iru have emerged the boys and girls champions of this year’s

•Cristiano

•Ancelotti

“My money’s on Cristiano for top scorer”

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arlo AncelottiisReal Madridthrough and through. The club left its mark on the Italian just as he did on them, especially on the dressing room. The players had his back until the very end. Most of them were sad to see him go, especially Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese was the player who pushed most to keep him at the club.

With the decision to sack him already made, a photo - Ronaldo with his arm around Carlo in the dressing room after the last game of the campaign - with the message “Great coach and amazing person. Hope we work together next season” was the star’s personal protest and a demonstration of just how close they were.

With that in mind, it is only natural that Ancelotti - talking to China’s Sina Sports should have showed his support for the Portuguese star, who had his best season in front of goal under the Italian at Real Madrid.

He also had kind words for his replacement in the Bernabéu dugout, Rafa Benítez.

Ancelotti is convinced that Cristiano will again outscore his rivals “I have no doubt about Cristiano Ronaldo, despite him failing to find the net in Real Madrid’s first two games of the season. I know Cristiano really well, and if I were a gambling man, I’d bet on him to be La Liga’s top scorer this term. He notched up 61 goals under me last year. It was incredible. Only the greatest players in the history of the game can boast those kinds of stats. Spain is really lucky to have both Messi and him playing football there”.

Man United top list of money-wasters

Muniru Muse Under-12 and Under-15 boys and girls football Championship which marked its fifth edition.

Ayo Akodu set the pace for the Jokers in the second half of the match when he mesmerised the Nice Babes’defence to score a beautiful goal in the final of the championship which drew out large soccer spectators to Campos Mini Stadium, Ajele, Lagos. Few minutes later, his striking partner, Adebayo Joshua increased the tally to give their side a 2-0 lead before Nice Babes replied with a lone goal through Ibrahim Fuade to bring the final scoreline to 2-

1 in favour of the Jokers In the same vein, the White Sand Angels beat their counterparts, Santos FC with the same margin 2-1 to emerge the champions of the female category.

Both winners in the male and female categories pocketed the Star prize of N250,000 and a giant trophy each for their impressive outing while the runners up pocketed the sum of N150,000 each for their effort.

Sanni Toyosi emerged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award just as Omowuyi Abidoye clinched that of the female category.

The head coach of Joker Stars, Joseph Azuka said “ I am happy that we came first, my boys made me proud and I want to say a very big thank you to the organizer of this tournament”.

anchester United are guilty of wast ing the most money on transfers with the now-departed Angel Di Maria and Marouane Fellani the two biggest flops, according to a transfer survey.

The Soccerex Transfer Review studied the value of Premier League players signed within the past three years who failed to play 50 per cent of their club’s total minutes last season. Premier League clubs spent £885.85m on new players this summer – a 14 per cent rise on last year.

The report concluded that United’s rarelyused players amounted to the most expensive in the division with over £117million of talent left rotting on the sidelines for much of last season. Heading that list was Argentina playmaker Di Maria, who arrived from Real Madrid for £59.7m. The 27-year-old signed a five-year deal last August and made an encouraging start to life at Old Trafford scoring three league goals in his first five games, but his form dipped badly soon after and he failed to score again in the league after October 2014. He made 27 Premier League appearances for Louis Van Gaal and missed more than half of his team’s playing time and was last month sold to Paris Saint-Germain for £44million – a near £16million loss.

1. Manchester United £117m 2. Tottenham £100m 3. Manchester City £53.3m 4. Liverpool £50.4m 5. Arsenal £34.3 6. Chelsea £32.8m

I’ll recover from France jeers, insists Giroud •Giroud

A

From left: Sponsor.Senator Muniru Muse U-12/U-15 Boys and Girls Cup 2015 Senator Oluremi Tinubu , Captain,White Sand Angel,Sadiat Adebayo,Captain,Jokers Star,Mbarak Salam, Lagos State First lady, Mrs Bolanle Ambode and the initiator, Muniru Muse Cup, Senator. Muniru Muse at the Muniru Muse u-12/U-15 Boys and Girls Cup 2015 Closing Ceremony in Lagos On sunday..

rsenal striker Olivier Giroud insists he has the “mental strength to bounce back” after being booed by France fans in Monday’s 2-1 victory over Serbia.

Gunners frontman Giroud was given a lone striking role by les Blues coach Didier Deschamps, with Karim Benzema left on the bench.

Unfortunately for the Arsenal striker, he failed to take advantage of the opportunity and missed a number of presentable chances. Both at half-time and when Giroud was substituted, he received whistles, jeers and boos.

A brace from PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi gave France a 2-1 win, with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring for Serbia.

However the headlines were taken by Giroud, who has scored one goal for club and country this season. Pressure is mounting on him at international level, with Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Martial pushing for his place. At least he doesn’t have that kind of competition at club level.

54 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

UN to Europe: Guarantee to relocate 200,000 refugees

Kenyan men caught with suspected mall bomb

T

T

HE United Nations has called on European states to guarantee relocation for 200,000 refugees, as record numbers flee to the continent from war-torn nations.

U N H C R spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Europe is a “wealthy” continent that could manage the numbers of people coming in.

The UN official said European Union countries needed to form a plan where it was mandatory for member states to accept refugees.

“There should be EU-led mega-reception centres established in Greece, in Italy and also in Hungary - whereby the people arriving could go to these centres and be received in decent humane conditions, and apply for asylum” Fleming said.

She added that under the current system, countries on Europe’s frontier were being “overburdened”.

C M Y K

•Children wearing face masks play table football during a sandstorm in Homs [Reuters]

Pope relaxes Catholic remarriage rules

P

OPE Francis has unveiled reforms intended to make it easier for Roman Catholics to get annulments and remarry within the Church.

Catholicism does not recognise divorce and teaches marriage is a lifelong commitment.

In order to separate, Catholics must have their marriage annulled by showing it was flawed from the outset. The radical

reforms allow access to procedures free of charge and fast-track decisions.

Until now the procedures have been seen as arcane, expensive and bureaucratic.

Catholics seeking an annulment previously needed approval from two Church tribunals. The reforms will reduce this to oneandremovetherequirement ofautomaticappeal.Anappealwill stillbepossibleifoneoftheparties requestsit.

HREE men have been arrested at a shopping centre in Kenya’s capital with a suspected explosive device, which has since been detonated in a controlled explosion, police say.

The Garden City Mall, one of the biggest shopping centres in the city, has also been evacuated.

One of the men refused to be searched by security guards and was overpowered in a scuffle, a witness said.

In 2013, al-Shabab gunmen killed 67 shoppers at the city’s Westgate mall.

Police spokesman George Kinoti told the BBC that the three men in custody were all Kenyans and the explosives were discovered in one of their bags.

“The situation is under [the] absolute control of our security agencies and the entire country is under multi-agency surveillance,” he said.

The BBC’s Alastair Leithead in Nairobi says it

is believed to have been a small explosive device with a battery and a mobile phone attached, which could have been used as a trigger.

A statement from Garden City Mall quoted the governor of Nairobi Evans Kidero as saying it would reopen on Wednesday morning.

Mr Kidero also thanked the local police and mall employees for their “swift handling and containment of the situation.”

ICC rejects Gbagbo’s appeal for release

A

PPEAL judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have rejected a request by ex-Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo for temporary release on health grounds.

The 70-year-old denies charges of murder, rape, attempted murder and persecution in the wake of disputed presidential polls in 2010.

Some 3,000 people were killed in unrest after he refused to accept defeat.

He was arrested in April

2011 and his trial is due to start on 10 November.

“The appeals chamber found that it was not unreasonable for the trial chamber to find the existence of Mr Gbagbo’s support network posed a risk to abscond or obstruct investigation,” Reuters quotes Tuesday ’s ICC ruling as saying.

Mr Gbagbo is the first former head of state to be detained by the ICC, although Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia

and Liberia’s Charles Taylor were tried by special courts in The Hague.

His wife, Simone Gbagbo, is serving a 20year jail term in Ivory Coast for her role in the violence that followed her husband’s defeat in the presidential run-off.

The ICC’s request to transfer her to The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity has been rejected by the Ivorian government.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 —55 YOUR LUCK TODAY

LEISURE

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 ARIES: The more self assertive you are the better but then it is important you don’t take things and people for granted. Be wise.

TAURUS: ALTHOUGH there seem to be an air of understanding within your working arena today, tomorrow may turn the whole thing the other way.

GEMINI: HERE is an exciting day that will climax tomorrow. After a long time, others will see how passionate you can be even in love. Don’t gamble, please.

CANCER: IF your desire is to make money today, you will need to be less emotional and prepare for domestic challenges tomorrow. Enjoy your love life.

LEO: GOOD relationship between the Moon and other Planets will bring you good opportunities. Be less argumentative and take your love life more seriously.

VIRGO: THIS is your day when things will go according to your plans. Financial success indicated but if you wait till tomorrow, opposition’ll bring disappointment.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

R

IGHT from ages man has continued to look for ways of clothing his nakedness. Nakedness does not just mean not wearing clothes alone. It includes covering our evil deeds,

God is watching wicked acts, ways and sins etc.

As it was the days of the biblical Adam and Eve, so it is today.

When we commit heinous crime, we run for

TERROR MUDA

cover under the stone, under the water and under the dark, hoping and praying that we will not be caught.

We live a lie. We forget that air bear wit-

in “Scavenger Elite”

ness to our cruel act; the sun by our shadow takes our photograph, and our conscience convicts us daily.

Beware, God is watching. Your sins will find you out.

Think about it!

By Lanre Kehinde

LIBRA: THE Moon encourages you to be as assertive as possible but you will need to expect certain level of opposition. Try to be more friendly.

SCORPIO: HAPPENINGS within your working arena should be taken more seriously now or else, avoidable trouble would start tomorrow. Again, it’s important you are more practical about your health. Be more loving.

SAGITTARIUS: EVEN, if friends and others are helpful and pledging loyalty today, they may be forced and get on your nerve tomorrow. Be graceful in your expression.

CAPRICORN: WHATEVER can lead to avoidable trouble tomorrow, either at home or along your career/ business lines, should be well taken care of today. Be very open.

AQUARIUS: YOUR best bet today is to seek important co-operation of influential people and that of your spouse/partner. The more legal conscious you are, the better for you.

PISCES: IF others want you to conclude an important financial transactions that can possibly be done today, you’ll need to say no and go ahead as tomorrow may not be as conducive as today.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in “HEY’

By Andy Akman

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

What is my immediate future?

Dear Joshua, I am interested in what you are doing. Please tell me what I should expect concerning my immediate future. Would I succeed in business ?

George, Lagos.

Dear George, Few years back you have started a very longer (years) great cycle of success and happiness, and this year you will be moving closer to the peak of the said cycle. What are ahead of you between now and the month of August 2015. If you utilise those sub-periods and your lucky dates you would be successful.

Similar to your immediate past (two week) period. Good opportunities to assert yourself will come your way but the Stars are saying tarry a while till your next period that will prove tremendously fortunate for you.

That is not to say the business world have to be avoided but whatever will need higher degrees of positive luck should be delayed till next month when the heavens will smile broadly at you. During this period you will have more to gain if you take your younger subordinates seriously so also your personal new ideas on the best ways to successfully forge ahead in the business world, especially during the last two weeks of the period Ironically the same last two weeks called for carefulness while handling spiritual related issues, so also behind-the-sceneactivities. Then a particular member of your opposite sex may be looking for a man she would like to lure into secret affairs; it is better for her to get such elsewhere so that one will not run into avoidable troubles.

Major emphasis will be on MONEY, YOUR INITIATIVE, TRAVELLING, CONTROVERSY and very important LOVE AFFAIRS. This is your first most fortunate period of the end of year 2015 which must be fully utilised.

MONEY will come in where you expect it and from unexpected sources too. If there are times when element of luck is needed to succeed, this is one of such periods; actually British Astrologer will say go for sweepstakes (like lotteries, lotto, pool betting and the like) and truly you can win. With romantic Venus in your Star Sign, important matters-of-theheart should be taken very seriously. Whatever your posture, nature will have it’s way and you will give in to enjoy your love life; members of your opposite sex will be willing to assist you now, either for romantic interest or otherwise.

Yes all your new ideas you have recently been keeping to yourself can be executed and rightly expect success. There are more likely to be some form of controversies, especially during the last two weeks of the period but you just have to do away with sentiment and remain focused on the best way you can better your business cause because if you carve-in to emotion, unworthy competitors would painfully take advantage of your labour. God forbid!!!

Here under are your personalised lucky dates and dates to beware of. On your lucky dates try to maximise your gains on one hand and or the other hand, try your best possible to avoid trouble and/or loss during those dates to beware of.

But take note that there is nothing to worry about concerning dates to beware of because, they are mere warnings.

VIRGINIA

HOME & ABROAD

dadadekola@yahoo.com

By Lawrence Akapa

56— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

C M Y K

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—57

YESSO Coordinator, others eulogize Wada

By BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO

L

OKOJA—KOGI State Coordinator of Youth Empowerment and Social Service Operation, YESSO, Noah Aliru, has eulogized Governor Idris Wada for his passion to uplift the status of youths and women in the state.

Aliru, who stated this at the commissioning of YESSO office equipment and utility vehicles yesterday, said the governor’s drive for the youths had brought an overall development of human capital in the state.

He said: “I wish to thank the governor for his passion to positively change the fortune of Kogi youths, which are visibly seen in programmes and projects of his administration such as Youth Advancement for Kogi, YAD4KOGI, KOICA Centre, G-WAEC, YOUWIN and YESSO.”

Nyako’s former aide, Sajoh sworn in as Commissioner in Adamawa

El-Rufai abolishes admission form fees in Kaduna

By Luka Binniyat

K

ADUNA—GOVERNOR Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, yesterday, announced the abolition of fees paid for forms and their processing by prospective students of public tertiary institutions in the state.

State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Shehu UsmanAdamu, who spoke to journalists shortly after the cabinet meeting at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, said: “All state government-owned tertiary institutions have been directed to stop payments for admission forms and for the processing of the forms for all

OLA—GOVERNOR Muhammadu Jibrilla of Adamawa State, yesterday, swore in former Director of Press to former Governor Murtala Nyako as Commissioner for Information.

Sajoh’s swearing in followed weeks of intense political lobbying over the failure of the state House of Assembly to reject or affirm his nomination as commissioner. However, the Assembly succumbed to pressures and finally cleared him on Monday.

In his remark, the governor stated that the appointment of Sajoh was purely on merit, noting that hitherto, he never had Sajoh in mind.

He said, however, that following consistent appeals by people on him to appoint Sajoh, based on his track record, he had no alternative than to make him part of his team.

He urged the

official quarters within six months to give way for other occupants.”

Meanwhile, State Executive Council, SEC, has approved a draft Fiscal Responsibility Bill.

Commissioner for Finance, Suleiman Kwari, who disclosed this after the meeting, said the Bill was designed to help protect the state from fiscal indiscipline and reform public financial management in the state.

He said: “The absence of a guiding framework for fiscal policy by previous governments had made the state become one of the most indebted in the country.”

E

NGR. Foluseke Somolu is dead. He died August 24, 2005, aged 69 years.

Engr. Somolu served former Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Yar ’Adua, as Senior Special Assistant on Power Sector Reforms and Coordinator, National Integrated Power Project, NIPP. He is survived by widow, Dr. Olatokunbo Somolu; two children, Mrs Oreoluwa Lesi and Mr. Seke Somolu (Jnr); grandchildren; and elder siblings.

Burial

PHARMACY WEEK: From left— Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, congratulating his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam after administering oath of office to the aide at Government House, Sokoto...Tuesday

Benue tribunal upholds PDP Rep's election

By Umar Yusuf

Y

tertiary schools in Kaduna State with immediate effect.

“Under no condition should prospective students be subjected to buying scratch cards for admission forms or pay processing fees in any of the state-owned higher schools.

“Admission into higher institutions should not be treated as a revenue source, hence, government decision to abolish the fees.

“The governor has also directed that all non-teaching occupants of school quarters vacate the premises within 90 days.

“Teachers transferred to other schools must vacate their

Engr Somolu dies at 69

By Peter Duru

M

AKURDI—THE Legislative Houses Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, has upheld the election of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, House of Representatives member for Oju/Obi Federal constituency, Mr. Samson Okwu.

Okwu’s victory at the last general election was challenged by the defeated All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Etukwu Onah, who alleged that the poll was marred by irregularities.

Delivering judgement yesterday, Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Mosunmola Dipeola, noted that the petitioner failed in law to substantially prove that the election was marred by irregularities and not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.

She further held that the testimony of most of the petitioner’s witnesses were contradictory, adding that they

were based on mere hearsay, which could not be relied upon in law.

She said: “The burden to prove that an election was not done in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act rested on the petitioner, but

on a balance of probability, he has failed to prove noncompliance in the election.

“I hold that this petition failed and is, hereby, dismissed. I, therefore, award cost of N50,000 to Samson Okwu and PDP.”

E

LDER Apollos Akuneseokwu of Umu Okwumba, Otulu, in Oru-West LGA, Imo State, aged 84, is dead. He died June 29.

A statement by Mr. Kelechi Amaeze on behalf of the family said the body leaves St. Demians Hospital, Okporo Orlu, for a service of songs at his compound at Otulu today.

Lying in state and burial is tomorrow, while thanksgiving and welcoming of friends is Friday.

Plateau Senator commends Buhari, Lalong’s efforts

By Marie-Therese Nanlong

J

OS—THE Senator representing Plateau South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Jeremiah Useni, has said President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Simon Lalong’s first 100 days in office have recorded some successes.

Senator Useni, in a statement in Jos yesterday, stated that President Buhari and Governor Lalong were engaging new approach to tackle insecurity in the NorthEast and Plateau State.

He expressed confidence that the renewed efforts would yield results in curbing

insurgency.

His words: “Here in Plateau State, it is of great importance to highlight the fact that within the first 100 days of

Lalong’s administration, efforts have been made to reunite the good people of the state irrespective of religious, ethnic and party affiliation.”

Okolugbo lauds Gov Wike

S

IR Kenny Okolugbo has congratulated the people of Rivers State on the first 100 days in office of Governor Nyesom Wike.

He said the completion of the 1,200-seater lecture theatre of the Faculty of Law, Rivers State University of Science and Technology; Iriobe Housing Estate, Abonnema Obonoma link road, Eleme/Onne junctions,

among other ongoing projects, clearly make Governor Wike the most performing governor.

Sir Kenny said: “The dedication to the infrastructural development of the state is an inspiration to upcoming leaders like us.

“The distraction of the tribunal and the paucity of funds with the dwindling oil prices did not deter the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led government from performing.”

58— Vanguard,

WEDNESDAY 5 WEDNESDAY,, SEPTEMBER 9, 201 2015

AS NIGERIA AWAITS RELEASE OF WATER FROM LAGDO DAM:

Flood disaster looms

By Mike Ebonugwo, Jude Njoku, Favour Nnabugwu, Peter Duru & Funmi Olasupo

T

HIS indeed is a time to be dreaded for Nigerians living in states and communities along the River Benue following the recent warning by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, of the danger of heavy flooding as Cameroun prepares to release excess water from the Ladgo dam.

A release quoting the Director General, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, informed that “the Cameroonian authorities in Garuoa have indicated that between now and November 2015 there would be routine release of water from the Lagdo dam due to excessive amount of water presently contained in the dam”.

Sani Sidi, therefore, warned “ all those living around the dam and along River Benue in Garoua up to Nigeria side should be alert and be ready for evacuation in case of possible flooding”. To this effect, governors of the affected states, state emergency management agencies, first respondents and relevant authorities were enjoined not only to alert communities at risk, but also make adequate preparation for possible evacuation of such endangered communities.

The warning had immediately

triggered off alarming echoes of the tragedy in September 2012 when flood arising from water released from the dam swept through some states in Nigeria wreaking untold havoc, with several lives lost and hundreds displaced.

The development had prompted Nigeria to send a highpowered delegation to Yaounde in 2013 to confer with the Camerounian authorities and to demand a commitment from them on how to arrest the worrisome situation, especially as the downstream areas of the dam in Nigeria had been experiencing periodic flooding.

37 communities, claimed 27 lives and displaced 34, 393 persons, amongst others.

“Three persons were reported dead and over 25,000(persons) were displaced; property worth billions of naira in Makurdi, and seven local governmnt areas in Benue State were lost.

“Persistent torrential rainfall and compelling release of water from Lagdo, Kainji and Jebba dams led to massive flooding of

Periodic flooding Then Nigerian Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, who led the delegation, informed that 49 Nigerians had lost their lives as she painted a graphic, but disturbing statistics and profile of the devastation which periodic flooding arising from the release of water from the dam had caused Nigeria. She did not stop there.

“As at December 14, 2012, the total number of Internally Displaced Persons in Adamawa State was 949 while 45, 253 structures were destroyed.

“The devastating flood in Taraba State, which affected about

All those living around the dam and along River Benue in Garoua up to Nigeria side should be alert and be ready for evacuation

335 communities in nine LGAs of Kogi State, including Ajaokuta, Bassa, Lokoja, Kogi, Omala, Idah, Ibaji, Igalamela and Ofu. “The flood affected 72,725 people in the state, 19 lost their lives; 30, 709(persons) were displaced and disruption of businesses and livelihoods brought down infrastructure and public institutions,” she was quoted as saying.

The meeting between the Nigerian delegation and the Camerounian authorities eventually led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two nations. A key point of this was that the two countries agreed to share information on rainfall and how to manage excess water without leading to flood disasters.

The agreement also entailed that before releasing water from the dam, Cameroun was to give early warning to enable Nigeria put in place proactive measure to prevent destruction of lives and properties.

It was in compliance with this agreement that the Camerounian authorities duly informed their Nigerian counterpart of their intention to release water from the dam this time around.

We’re ready to curtail flood — Federal Ministry of Environment Reacting to the latest warning, the Federal Ministry of Environment, through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Nana Fatima Mede, informed that six states are most likely to be adversely affected, warning that the

predicted massive rains and release of excess water from the dam would pose serious threat to Nigerians if action is not taken.

She said: “The impending gradual release of excess water from Lagdo Dam by our neighbouring country, Cameroun, which they have hinted could take place anytime soon, and the massive rains in the coming months pose serious threats to lives and property. The states that are likely to be affected are Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi, Benue, and Kogi.

Massive rains “On a general scale, the massive rains are also expected to cause flooding in many parts of the country. River flooding will affect Sokoto Rima, Niger, Benue and Anambra states. Coastal flooding resulting from sea level rise and tidal surges will likely occur in Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Lagos states.

“Flash floods could be experienced in some urban locations such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Birnin Kebbi, Ibadan and other towns along the country’s coastline.

“In extreme cases, state governments and local authorities should prepare to evacuate residents. Public places should be designated and prepared for any eventuality. The Ministry has already called for emergency meeting of stakeholders to discuss on elaborate strategies for tackling the impending flood.”

Continues on page page 59

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY 5 —59 WEDNESDAY,, SEPTEMBER 9, 201 2015

Nigeria awaits release of water from Lagdo Dam

Continues from page 58 She appealed to Nigerians living along flood plains to take immediate actions by clearing their drainage channels, culverts and canals.

They were also asked to prepare for relocation to areas considered to be safe and remain at an alert for any sad occurrence.

She also pleaded with states, local governments, churches, mosques, traditional rulers and community-based organisations to sensitise their people to ensure preventive steps are taken to avoid unnecessary loss of lives and property.

Mede said the Federal Government is determined to put in place flood prevention and mitigation measures such as construction of reservoirs and drainage channels as well as sensitisation of people living along flood plains to ensure a conducive environment for sustainable socioeconomic development of the country.

Further preparation Speaking on the preparedness of the Federal Government, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Musa Istifanus, said the Ministry has collaborated with Ministry of Environment, NEMA, and all the state governments likely to be affected by the flood. Istifanus also maintained that the Ministry has given maps of possible maximum point of where the water will reach to each of the affected states for further preparation “We actually gave maps of possible maximum point of where this water will reach or is expected to reach to the governments of the states where the water will reach along the

way, starting from Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Anambara, Delta and Bayelsa.”

Mr Istifanus explained further that NEMA has developed its strategies based on how to settle the people in temporary locations so that immediately after the flooding they can return to their communities.

“In that case we will have extra tent which is not very convenient for such things. Some of them will even be allocated to National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, camps,” Istifanus said.

The Permanent Secretary also explained that the Ministry has already embarked on measures to control flood into the River Basin as it has completed the Kashimila Dam.

Water quantity “We have started controlling the water flooding into the River Basin because we recently completed the construction of the Kashimila Dam which takes off 30 per cent of the water quantity that will flow into the Benue Basin,” Istifanus stated.

Kogi to relocate residents: However, some of the affected states have already issued quit notice to residents of flood-prone areas. In the fore front of this is Kogi State. The Deputy Governor, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi , gave the order in Lokoja, the state capital, after the meeting of the State Flood Management Committee of which he is the chairman. He said that the state government was prepared to handle any negative effects from flooding that might occur this year.

Awoniyi, who said the State Flood Management Standing Committee had identified nine local governments of Ibaji, Bassa, Idah, Lokoja, Kogi,

Ajaokuta, Omala, Ofu and Igalamela Odolu that could be affected by the predicted flooding, said adequate preparations had been made to cushion any side effect.

He appealed to residents of the areas to be affected to move from their domains, bearing in mind the devastating 2012 flooding.

Awoniyi said: “We understand the anxiety arising from the increase in water level in some other states; but I can assure that the Kogi State government is now better prepared to handle the predicted flooding. The 2012 incident which was the first of its kind has taught us what we needed to do.

“We have made provision to embark on immediate sensitisation to all the expected LGAs where the flood will affect; the television and radio jingles will still continue to inform the people; the state is also going to meet with the community leaders, traditional rulers, and other relevant stakeholders to tell them how we intend to manage the

State governments and local authorities should prepare to evacuate residents; the Ministry has already called for emergency meeting of stakeholders to discuss on elaborate strategies for tackling the impending flood

flooding. We will involve the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, the Red Cross on their expected roles to help mitigate the effects of the flood,” he said.

Awoniyi stressed further that the State would identify and set up IDPs camps, saying that unlike the 2012 episode, schools would not be used.

Benue puts measures in place Another state that is taking the flood alert seriously is Benue.

This is for obvious reason. Three years ago, Benue State was seriously on the receiving end of the sudden surge of the river following the release of excess water from Ladgo dam in Cameroun. The implication was that many parts of the state were left flooded.

The devastating flood swept away farmlands and rendered many homeless. Apart from that, more than 10,000 homes were submerged for more than two weeks. In fact, it left more than 10,000 hectares of farm land flooded and the streets of Makurdi town occupied by crocodiles, amongst other dangerous creeping creatures.

Benue State, being a host of the River Benue, which is the longest tributary of the River Niger, with a length of about 673 miles (1,083 km) remains vulnerable in the event of a surge and eventual flooding of communities. So, following the recent flood alert from NEMA, the state government said it has already taken action to avert a possible repeat of the 2012 experience.

Speaking recently in a stateowned radio programme, monitored in Makurdi, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Water Resources and

Environment, Nathaniel Alaaga, maintained that the state government had put measures in place to forestall the possible flooding of parts of the state in the event of any heavy downpour or rise in the water levels of the River Benue. Alaaga said: “Some of the measures include the construction of drainage channels by the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi and the opening up of water channels in parts of the state.”

The Permanent Secretary who cautioned residents against the dumping of refuse on water channels also sued for the cooperation and assistance of the Federal Government in tackling the menace.

However, recent developments in parts of the state where several homes were submerged after heavy downpours have left many communities and families worried considering the early warnings by the NEMA, NIMET and NESREA of the prospect of flooding in parts of the country.

Just few days back, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, requested the Federal Government to construct buffer dams on Rivers Benue and Katsina-Ala as a solution to the perennial flooding along the banks of the two rivers.

Perenial flooding The Governor made the request when a delegation from the Federal Ministry of Environment, led by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Nana Mede, paid a courtesy call on him in Makurdi. Ortom also appealed for the completion of the Idye and Demekpe basin canals as well as construction of what he described as mega drainage channels in the three major towns of the state and also the sustenance of the release of ecological funds to states to help them confront the challenge.

According to him, the impact of the money released in the aftermath of the last flood disaster in the state had not been felt because much of it was diverted and no measure was put in place to address the problems of those displaced by the flood.

He disclosed that the state executive council had set up a committee to make emergency arrangements to contain the impending disaster and identify areas where people had blocked drainages and other water channels for subsequent relocation.

Earlier, Mrs. Mede had listed dumping of solid wastes in drainage and water channels as well as construction of houses on the channels as major causes of flooding and urged the state government to sensitise the people to desist from such habits.

She noted however, that the dredging of River Benue would be part of a permanent solution to the flooding in Makurdi.

To be concluded

60— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 61

Okagbare banned from Rio Niger result ‘ll boost Eagles morale – Chukwu Olympics E

RSTWHILE Super Eagles head coach, Christain Chukwu believes Super Eagles 2-0 win against Niger Republic in a friendly encounter on yesterday will serve as a morale booster ahead of their next African Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt.

The former African champions were far from convincing in their first game under Sunday Oliseh against Tanzania last Saturday, escaping with a point despite the hosts dominating for most part of the game.

After watching the Eagles beat the Mena

BY BEN EFE, Brazzaville, Congo

F

OLLOWING her decision to skip the 2015 All Africa Games, the National Sports Commission and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria have placed a ban on sprinter, Blessing Okagbare; excluding her from representing the country, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

Okagbare, had a dismal outing at the IAAF World championships in Beijing, China. She claimed that injury forced her out of the competition, where Nigerians expected her to win a medal having run the third fastest time of the season in the 100m.

After the Beijing meet, Okagbare told officials of the AFN not to expect her in Congo. But amazingly, she showed up in Zurich, full of life and energy. She ran 10.98 seconds in the Diamond League, much to the chagrin of athletics officials who gave her the benefit of the doubt because of her purported injury.

The NSC and the AFN examined the circumstances bordering her decision to dock the AAG, and came to the conclusion to deny the athlete any chance of appearing in next year’s Olympics.

Mikel, Moses must fight for shirts – Oliseh

BY JACOB AJOM

•Mikel

Eagles lack midfield leader – Ikpeba

N

IGERIA Football Federation technical committee member, Victor Ikpeba, believes the new-look Super Eagles team need a leader in midfield.

The Eagles struggled to find their rhythm against Tanzania in Dar Es Salaam with the trio of Obiora Nwankwo, Izunna Ugochukwu and Lukman Haruna in midfield, and were not

Oliseh

Continues from BP

than what the Eagles displayed in Tanzania at the weekend.

They played more like a team and battled for every ball.

Ahmed Musa gave Nigeria the lead after 11 minutes from the penalty spot after Antony Ujah was upended on his way to goal inside the box.

However, Nigeria had to wait till five minutes from the end of the game for Moses Simon to make the game safe when he fired home off a misplaced pass by a Niger defender.

There were several positives to take away from this Eagles outing - FC Taraba midfielder Usman Mohammed shone on his Eagles

courtesy of strikes by Ahmed Musa and Moses Simon, Chukwu said that the win has put the team in a good stead ahead of their next game against Egypt.

“It was disappointing to see the Super Eagles labour so hard without making any meaningful impact against Tanzania last weekend.” Chukwu said.

“But I believe this win against Niger is good for the morale of the team.

“They face a massive task against Egypt in their next qualifying game and need to go into that game in confident mood.”

debut, skipper Ahmed Musa and later Moses Simon cruised on the left flank.

It was a contest as Niger gave everything including some rough tactics so as to get a result in this encounter.

Russia-based winger Amadou Mountari was also outstanding for the visitors as he kept Solomon Kwambe on his toes until the Warri Wolves ace was replaced late on.

Nigeria attacked from the onset, but their opponents held their own even if sometimes they dished out the rough stuff to the likes of Rabiu Ibrahim.

In the 28 minute, Sylvester Igbonu, who had a decent game, had

much better against Niger.

Former Nigeria forward Ikpeba urged the technical crew to recall some tested players to beef up the squad for subsequent games.

“No doubt I was not impressed that the Eagles failed to perform but I still think if the Eagles play to Oliseh’s philosophy they can rise

his shot off Ahmed Musa’s pass blocked for a corner kick.

Ahmed Musa scored in the 33rd minute, but the Ghanaian referee David Laryea cancelled it for offside.

Three minutes to the interval, Ahmed Musa found Igbonu inside the box, but his first touch let him down.

Emenike had the ball in the net in the 75th minute but it was ruled offside.

Substitute Moses Simon also threatened when he came on, but his decision-making was often faulty.

And in the dying moments of the match, Sunshine Stars Prince Aggreh was not decisive when he found himself free inside the Niger box.

again.

“Oliseh’s midfield still needs a leader and he alone will find that missing piece that can make his team play swift and compact football,” Ikpeba said on SuperSport TV.

S

UPER Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh has given kudos to his team for pulling an encouraging 2-0 win over Niger in an international friendly played at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt yesterday.

Speaking after the match, which was

Nigeria Ghana rivalry Continues from BP opening day opponents Egypt pulled out.

Both nations have met at this stage four times, with Nigeria claiming victories on two occasions, Ghana won once and they drew a game.

Their first meeting was an Olympic Games qualifier in July 2007 when Nigeria won 3-2.

The second meeting was the return leg in November 2007 which ended in goalless draw for Nigeria to book a place at Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Incidentally, both matches were tinkered

by Siasia.

They clashed again in the AAG in June 2011 which Nigeria won 3-1, while the last meeting was the return leg in July 2011 which Ghana won 2-0 to deny Nigeria qualification for 2011 AAG. Nigeria’s Dream Team

VI will be hoping to start the competition on a winning note against an arch rivals Ghana, who were lucky to hold a very lively Senegal to a goalless draw at the weekend.

Dream Team forward Etebor Oghenekaro said they are ready to battle the Black Meteors.

“We are fully prepared for the game, we are going for victory and by His grace, we will get the victory,” said the Warri Wolves star.

“Ghana are always tough against Nigeria, we are not bothered as we are ready for them. I am calling on Nigerians to support and pray for us wholeheartedly, we won’t disappoint them.”

Nigeria, who won the AAG gold in 1973 as host, will be counting on an attack led by Junior Ajayi and Turkey-based Umar Aminu after the likes of Godwin Saviour were not released by their European clubs.

watched by a scanty crowd but beamed live by Super Sport, the coach said, “the team have shown great improvement. There are signs of improvement as we now recover quickly after losing the ball and add more pressure when attacking. What we need do now is how to handle the ball much longer.”

The coach praised the lads for the level of understanding exhibited, particularly, in the midfield where Taraba FC star, Usman Mohammed operated from and hoped they will build from there.

“He is a very good player and I hope he will continue in that stride.

Today’s performance was better than what we saw in Dar es Salaam because we had just two days of training before our trip.

We will have to do more.”

Oliseh said the team was still open to the likes of John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and any other player who was not party to the Tanzania and Niger matches. “Yes, they are still part of our plans.

As you can see, these boys playing now have definitely gathered some points so those who want to displace them would have to fight for shirts.

They have to show the hunger to play for Nigeria. “Everyone here is replaceable. Only Nigeria cannot be replaced. I retired and people are still playing for the country. Nobody is indispensable.”

62— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—63

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

AAG: Nigeria, Ghana renew rivalry T

Eagles 2 Niger 0:

Niger result ‘ll boost Eagles morale – Chukwu

HE enduring rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana in football will be renewed on Wednesday when their U23 teams clash in a 2015 All Africa Games match in Brazzaville.

Coach Samson Siasia’s team will kick start their campaign in the tournament against defending champions Ghana after their Continues on Page 61

Eagles lack midfield leader – Ikpeba Details inside

Mikel, Moses must fight for shirts – Oliseh

Oliseh heaves sigh of relief S

UPER Eagles defeated Niger 2-0 in a friendly in Port Harcourt on Tuesday to hand coach Sunday Oliseh his first win in charge of Nigeria.

It was most certainly an improved showing

Continues on Page 61

•Oliseh

•Okagbare

Okagbare banned from Rio Olympics QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S PUZZLE

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Blond (4) 4 Rotter (3) 6 Acid (4) 9 Imitate (3) 10 Length (8) 11 Knife (4) 14 Obscure (3) 16 Cabin (5) 19 Debased (8) 21 Cap (5) 23 Crippled (8) 24 Live (5) 27 Number (3) 31 Shock (4) 33 Outer (8) 34 Fasten (3) 35 Caribou (4) 36 Cushion (3) 37 Consider (4)

DOWN 2 Greedy (4) 3 Ceremony (4) 4 Restricted (8) 5 Intense (4) 6 Flavour (5) 7 Fitting (3) 8 Respond (5) 12 Bordered (5) 13 Astound (5) 14 Fish (3) 15 Deserve (5) 17 Answer (5) 18 Useful (5) 20 Abandoned (8) 22 Brown (3) 25 Penned (5) 26 Subsequently (5) 28 Assist (4) 29 Poke (4) 30 Secure (4) 32 Untruth (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Ardent 5, Berate 8, Adhesive 9, Oral 10, Cos 12, Glass 15, Sag 17, War 18, Use 19, Ode 20, Other 21, Nip 22, Emu 23, Gas 24, Set 26, Pence 29, End 33, Sham 34, Splendid 35, Bridge 36, Outlet.

DOWN: 2, Radio 3, Even 4, Trial 5, Bless 6, Room 7, Tiara 10, Cross 11, Sweet 12, Group 13, Ashen 14, Surge 15, Sense 16, Gaped 25, Ether 27, Ensue 28, Cello 30, Noise 31, Amid 32, Unit.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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