SUNDAY VANGUARD, MAY 13, 2012 — PAGE 7
Gov’s wife rescues 150 abandoned children BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU, Calabar
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IFE of Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke, says one of her pet projects, Mother Against Child Abandonment, MACA, rescued over 150 abandoned children. Speaking on the awards, including Tourism Personality of the year 2011, bestowed on her at different times between 2010 and 2012 for her service to humanity, Mrs. Imoke said MACA was established to take care of abandoned babies and teenage pregnant girls who have been kicked out of their homes. She said, “MACA takes in vulnerable teenage girls that get pregnant, because they get pregnant and are kicked out
of their home, so they have the babies and dump them. So we bring them in and counsel them, teach them skills to live independently forever and we encourage them to go back into society and make something of themselves.” She expressed gratitude for the organizations that found her worthy for the awards, and said she and her team remained committed to deploying their resources and time to shaping the lives of people who God created but, for one reason or the other, found themselves in difficult circumstances. Speaking after presenting the Tourism Personality Award to the First Lady, the Project Director of African Quarterly Magazine, Mr. Ikechi Uko, said the threat of insecurity in the country and other troubled parts
of the world had not directly affected tourism development. Uko said that the rationale behind the award was the efforts of the governor ’s wife towards the development of tourism in the countr y, adding that the award was normally given to a best person or product that has the best impact in a particular year. He said that for 2011 there were different people and products, adding that the best tourism product out of Nigeria was Carnival Calabar with the governor’s wife being the driving spirit behind it. According to him, “The Carnival Festival was the best tourism product out of Nigeria in 2011. I can tell you from experience because I attend all the festivals in the country.”
AMB. GABRIEL OLUSANYA’S BURIAL
Dr. Olaoluwa Olusanya (left) and mother, Mrs Megan Rose Olusanya during the funeral service for late Prof (Amb.) Gabriel Olakunle Olusanya at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos yesterday. Photos: Biodun Ogunleye
Fuel subsidy probe: ‘It’s unfair for Nigerians to pay N97’ BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin
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INORITY Whip of the House of Representatives, Mr Samson Osagie, yesterday, declared that Nigerians do not deserve to pay N97 per liter of fuel, saying that the alleged fraud uncovered by the House perpetrated by the operators of the nation’s oil industry, especially the down stream sector, was a declaration of war on Nigerians. Osagie, representing Uhumwonde/Orhiomnwon Federal Constituency of Edo State, vowed that the House would not rest on its oars until the Federal Government implements its recommendations on reforms in the sector. His words: “Most of the recommendations we have made are recommendations for reforms in the sector. And some of them, those reform strategies are already being put in place. All we can say is that we will continue to monitor the implementation of those recommendations. It will be impossible for me to predict how Nigerians and the House of Representatives that are on the same page
on this matter, will react if government refuses to listen to the voice of the people as spoken by the House of Representatives. “The president knows how critical this sector is. For us and for most Nigerians, I believe that Nigerians have no business paying N97 for fuel given the level of corruption that we have exposed. Because what is simply happening is that the down stream sector was highly abused, a lot of our resources were taken away
under circumstances that were questionable. “Imagine one of the items in the report, where, from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, N999 million was paid 128 times, amounting to N127 billion. These are things we can sleep over. Whether it is PPPRA, whether it is the CBN or the Office of the AG, we have said that this is what happened. We have a collective duty both Nigerians and government to find out what these payments were meant for”.
Dr K.B. David-West (left) and Prof. J.P Clark during the burial service.
‘We don’t want a repeat of the 1983 violence in Ondo’ digbos, the Mbadiwes, let BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure
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HEAD of the gov ernorship election in Ondo State, the immediate
Izon warns against threat of violence in Delta the wrath of the elders of BY FESTUS AHON, Ughelli
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OORDINATOR of Delta State Izon Communities, Chief Bare Etolor, yesterday, warned youths of Ijaw ethnic nationality against issuing out threat to any ethnic group and perpetrating violence in the state. Giving the warning in a statement, Etolor said any youth or group found issuing threat to an other ethnic group would incur
Izon council. Noting that such erring persons, group or community would not enjoy the support and sympathy of Izon people, he condemned acts aimed at that could possibly lead to another round of ethnic crisis in the state, “be it in the water-ways or on land.” Etolor, who is the immediate past chairman, Izon council of Elders in the state, recalled that “the last celebration of the 20th Year Anniversary of the creation of Delta State,
held at Bomadi, an Ijaw town, almost all the ethinic groups, including Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ijaw and others participated in the boat regatta. The event was peaceful and interesting. “Those who have political misunderstanding with their representatives in government should settle their grievances with government,” saying that the Izon council of traditional rulers were shocked over the action of some persons who wanted to cause chaos recently in the state.”
past Secretary to State Government (SSG), Hon Isaac Kekemeke, has warned against heating up of the polity. Instead, he advised politicians from the political parties to work together for the development of the state and not for selfish interests. Kekemeke spoke in Akure during the award presentation ceremony of the 5th edition of the Hon D. I Kekemeke essay competition for secondary school students in Ondo State. ”We don’t want a repeat of the 1983 violence in the state, we can work together if we don’t have ulterior motive, we don’t need violence,” he stated. ”What we need in the state is people who can speak, people who have ideas, who can speak with the market women, youths and the masses. “Let us replace the Oka-
us stop using thugs, let there be peaceful politics, our people deserve peace and not violence”. Kekemeke said the essay competition was to provide a platform for students to meet elderly people that had achieved in their fields. He expressed delight that the programme was yielding the desired result as the celebrated best student in West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Tolulope Falokun, was a star prize winner of the competition. Also speaking, the state Education Commissioner, Hon Aderemi Olatubora, said the state was making progress in the education sector. Master Adejoro Adeboye of Greater Tomorrow International College, Arigidi Akoko came first in the JSS category while Ayodele Abiola of Aquinas College Akure came first in the SSS category.