Terror attacks timed to frustrate Jonathan - FG

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Terror attacks timed to frustrate Jonathan — FG

BY JIDE AJANI

T

he Federal Government of Nigeria has declared that there is a disturbing nexus between major terror attacks in the country and the development landmarks of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

A pattern, the government said, has emerged whereby almost always when there is need to collectively celebrate an important landmark recorded by it, appears to be the time when the insurgents find pleasure in attacking and making their statement of terror.

Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, made this claim in Lagos during an interview.

Maku lamented that what had been happening in the past two years was that terrorism had taken the front pages and deprived the country of news of development and social issues.

He said it was becoming very disturbing that “anytime the current administration had cause to celebrate an achievement, bombs explode to distract Nigerians and portray the government in bad light.

“I can tell you”, he continued, “that almost every milestone recorded by this government is accompanied by bomb blasts,” pointing at the World Economic Forum which was preceded by bomb attacks in Abuja, and the widely acclaimed Ekiti State governorship election victory of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,” as examples.

The Minister said “immediately we announced the re-basing of our economy and it was now confirmed that Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa, there were bombs at Chibok.

Immediately they learnt we were going to hold

the World Economic Forum, WEF, there were bombs in Abuja and its environs to make sure that Nigeria does not get the economic benefits of hosting the World Economic Forum and to discourage the world from coming here

so as to make the attack the center point of international and local media…

“We also noticed that immediately after our victory in Ekiti, the bombs started raining again.”

He then concluded

that, “there is a correlation between the exposure of development efforts in the media and the insecurity in the northern part of the country.

“That is why most times I have continued to insist that the media should

From left: Guest Speaker, Craig Smith; INEC Chairman, Prof Jega; President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Mrs Bunmi Oke; Vice-President (AAAN), Kelechi Nwosu; and Chief Victor Umeh; at the International Seminar on Political Advertising, Perception Building and Voter Education, held, yesterday in Abuja.

have a change of strategy, I wouldn’t say change of attitude.

Because, as you know, with terrorism, once its takes hold, it takes very long for it to be dealt with. Because the terrorists themselves are looking for the opportunity to be exposed, to sell their ideology, to use the media to frighten the society, to give themselves some invincible image, so they keep doing those strikes mainly because they want those headlines to be celebrated, they want the society to be afraid,” he said.

He again lamented that terrorism has exploited the liberal tendencies of democracy and free press to sell its own ideology to the world, and “I believe frankly that the media should, side by side, while reporting incidence of terror attacks, where they unfortunately occur, focus on development and deepening of our democracy. That is the only way we can defeat them.”

Police uncover fresh plans to bomb Abuja

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

T

HE police, y e s t e r d a y, issued a security alert warning of a plot to attack commuter buses in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

by Boko Haram.

A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police,

Frank Mba, said, “Credible intelligence reports at the disposal of the Nigeria Police indicate that terrorists have perfected a plot to carry out attacks on the Abuja transport sector”.

The alarm came months after terror attacks on Nyanya motor park, close to Abuja, which claimed scores of lives.

The police statement said the foiled attacks were intended to cause panic amongst Abuja residents and visitors alike, saying they were planned to be perpetrated through suicide bombings, or through the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) concealed in luggage, bags, cans, and other receptacles.

“The Police High Command therefore, while ordering FCT Commissioner of Police in particular

and other CPs in adjoining states to beefup security at major parks around Abuja and environs, enjoins the general public, particularly those within and outside the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to be roundly vigilant and report any suspicious persons, objects, movements or activities to the security forces without delay ”, the statement said.

It continued: “Meanwhile, the police authorities enjoined citizens not to panic as the Security Forces are working round the clock to neutralize and effectively deal with the threat”.

“As part of additional efforts at forestalling the attacks and strengthening security around the transport sector, the Police High Command has called on the management of Motor-parks to ensure that travellers and

workers’ safety comes first.

“It charges them to constantly conduct regular and routine scanning of their environments while insisting on carrying out a thorough search on passengers and their bags as well as vehicles entering and leaving their parks.

“It also advises that such searches must have the active participation of the passengers involved and warns that any item or luggage unaccompanied by any passenger must be rejected outright and should not be allowed into the vehicle.

“Passengers are also enjoined to be on the lookout for any passenger, who might come in with luggage but will attempt to disembark without such luggage.

“While operators of motor parks are strongly advised to discourage overnight parking of

vehicles at motor parks, particularly by unknown persons, the Police authorities further advise motor park workers to reduce congestion at the parks by disallowing the indiscriminate parking of private cars, tricycles and motorcycles at the precincts of motor parks.

“In addition the Police High Command advises that the general public in other places outside the motor parks should also monitor their environments as the terrorists may likely shift attention having known that their plots have been uncovered.

“In the meantime, the police can be reached on the following hot lines: FCT Police Control Room - 07057337653, Force Intelligence Bureau Operations Room 0 8 1 3 9 3 7 9 2 4 5 , 08075650624 and National Emergency Line -112”.

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President Jonathan applauds Soyinka’s glorious life of service to the arts, Nigeria and mankind associates, for his glorious life of On the happy occasion R E S I D E N T Jonathan, “as he enters friends, P Goodluck Ebele the world’s highly readers and fans across service to the arts, his of the Nobel laureate’s Jonathan has revered octogenarians the world in giving nation and mankind at 80th birthday, President congratulated Nigeria’s most famous living literary giant and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as he attains the landmark age of 80 years today.

According to

and very special people who have made very significant and indelible contributions to their countries and humanity, the President, in the statement, joined Prof.

Soyinka, his family,

thanks to God Almighty

large.

Jonathan applauded his

From L: Hafsat Abiola, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Dr. Joe Odumakin during one of his many crusades to create a better world for all as pointed out by President Jonathan

life-long dedication and i n d e f a t i g a b l e commitment to using his acclaimed genius and talents, not only in the service of the arts, but also for the promotion of democracy, good governance and respect for human rights in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.

The President assured Prof. Soyinka that he will always be celebrated and honoured by his proud countrymen, women and children for his famed literary works and for his exemplary career which has inspired others to take up a life of selfless service to humanity.

He wished Prof.

Soyinka very happy 80th birthday celebrations and prayed that God Almighty will grant him many more years of good health and strength to continue with his devotion to making the world a better place for his people and all who live in it.

ADAMAWA: Nyako, in last-minute move to survive, meets lawmakers *Probe panel ends sitting *He must go, PDP stakeholders insist

BY UMAR YUSUF

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HE seven-man panel investigating the “allegation of gross misconduct” levelled against Gov Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and his deputy, Mr Bala Ngilari, by the state House of Assembly concluded its public sitting, yesterday.

The panel, which commenced sitting on Friday, rounded off with only the complainant (Adamawa Assembly) appearing before it to state its case against the respondents (governor and his deputy) who failed to appear on the grounds that they had not been served with the notice of impeachment.

The panel, after waiting in vain for the representatives of Nyako and Ngilari, went ahead to watch a video clip tendered as exhibit and also cross examined the only witnessed presented by the House, Mr Wafarninyi Theman.

Counsel to the Assembly at yesterday’s sitting, Hussaini Maidawa and Leonard Nzadon, who led Theman in evidence, concluded their presentations by urging the panel to take their applications against the governor and deputy governor as a proven case of the allegations raised against them.

In his response, the Chairman of the panel,

Mallam Buba Kaigama, said the committee would take its time to go over the presentations and other evidence provided by the Assembly objectively and come out with its position.

Meanwhile, strong indications emerged, yesterday, that the rumored consultations between the Adamawa lawmakers, and the executive arm over the impeachment move against Nyako and his deputy might be in vain despite the intervention of religious leaders, traditional rulers, and prominent Nigerians.

A Special Adviser to Adamawa State Government, Mr. PP Elisha, speaking with journalists, yesterday, said all efforts to resolve the crisis was being truncated by the PDP stakeholders hell bent on removing Nyako through illegal means.

He said in their desperation to ensure that the impeachment plot scaled through, the PDP stakeholders issued a threat to sack any of its members that may retrace his step from the impeachment process despite the fact that the governor exonerated President Goodluck Jonathan who is the national leader of PDP from the exercise.

“The whole impeachment move is being staged managed

by the so-called Adamawa PDP stakeholders who are trying to draw President Goodluk Jonathan into a thing he knew nothing of.”

Elisha added that in his bid to ensure that peace reigned in Adamawa, Nyako was not leaving any stone unturned as he had gone back to Abuja to renew negotiations with the lawmakers as he could never be intimidated by the antics of the PDP

stakeholders.

“Not minding the antics of the so-called PDP stakeholders, Governor Nyako has moved to Abuja in order to continue consultations with the lawmakers as he was keen to see to the resolution of the impasse,” he said.

He added that if the lawmakers removed Nyako unconstitutionally, the government will challenge the process of removal.

Murdered victim’s family cries for justice

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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HE Olara-Aja (traditional leader) of Ubeji, Chief T V A Nikaghanri, has called on the Inspector General of Police, IGP, and the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, to help bring to book hoodlums who allegedly murdered his son, Boyowa Nikaghari, last month, when the leadership crisis rocking the Warri South Area community got fatal.

On June 22, rampaging armed youths reportedly broke through the fence into Nikaghanri’s compound and shot two of his sons, Boyowa and Destiny, who are receiving medical attention while

their eldest brother, Tuoyo, also caught in the attack, escaped unhurt.

In a petition to the IGP through, David Ezonebi Iseru, his counsel, Nikaghanri said the death of his son is connected with the struggle for his position.

Tuoyo alleged army involvement in the attack saying, “Soldiers in Ubeji have not been honest in the matter. The authority at 3 Battalion, Effurun summoned both parties and warned against crisis. But three uniformed soldiers were watching when the hoodlums broke in, shot Boyowa and Destiny.

Boyowa took bullets in the heart and is now lying at the Warri Central Hospital Mortuary.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 7

L-R: Head, Corporate Communications, High Value Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Ebi Atawodi; Chair of Judges, Sarah Ladipo Manyika; and Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher at a press conference to unveil the Patrons and Judges for the 2nd edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature, which held at Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Confab stalemate: Why Jonathan won’t intervene

BY SONI DANIEL, Northern Region Editor

T

HE Presidency does not intend to intervene in the near stalemate that enveloped the National Conference following a sharp disagreement between northern and southern delegates over derivation revenue.

The delegates are spoiling for war over the attempt by the North to block further increase of derivation revenue from 13 percent to 18 percent for oil-bearing states and a further five percent for national disasters.

While the North wants the five percent to be set aside for the war-ravaged Northeast Zone and other parts of the region affected by insurgency, the Southern delegates want the fund to be applied to all parts of the country affected by natural disasters.

The sharp disagreement has held down proceedings for several days with the northern delegates calling for a vote on the matter or a retention of the status quo.

Some northern delegates have even threatened to back out of the conference to register their dissatisfaction with the leadership’s handling of the report of the Devolution of Power Committee, which is headed by former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Victor Attah.

There were high hopes that President Goodluck Jonathan would wade into the stalemate and direct the leadership on the way forward so that the conference would not be disrupted like the 2005 Political Reforms Conference, which was jettisoned by delegates midway into the proceedings as a result of fears that then President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to use and secure a third term in office.

But a source close to the Presidency told Sunday Vanguard last night that Jonathan would not intervene in the face off so as not to be seen as unduly interfering with the

proceedings.

The source pointed out that Jonathan does not have any special interest to protect or advance as speculated by some politicians in certain quarters.

The source said that the President does not want to be seen as trying to influence any aspect of the nation’s life being debated by the conferees. ”I can tell you that Mr. President has not directly or indirectly tried to tele-guide the conference. His interest is to see how the delegates can resolve the issues at

stake by themselves,” a senior presidency source said.

The source pointed out that to prove the President’s sincerity and honesty, he has not met with the leadership of the confab to dictate to them the direction they should take in the discharge of the national assignment since they started their proceedings. ”Let me tell you that the President only met twice with the officials of the national conference before they started deliberations and those meetings were to make it clear to them that

L-R: Mr. Chuddy Oduenyi, Metro PRO; Eugene Okoro, Metro Treasurer; Sir. Patrick Ikemefuna, immediate past Lagos Metropolitan Grand Knight, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos (middle); Engr. Charles Mbelede, Lagos Metropolitan Grand Knight, Don Eze, Metro Secretary and William Adebisi, Metro Chancellor, during the visit of the executive members of Lagos Metropolitan Council of the Order of the Knights of Saint Mulumba (KSM) to the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos. he had no preconceived position or interest regarding the conference. ”The President is ready to abide by whatever outcome the conference throws up in the interest of Nigeria,” the top official explained.

When contacted on Saturday, the Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications, of the National Conference, Mr. Akpadem James, told Sunday Vanguard that the seeming disagreement among delegates would be resolved amicably in the interest of the nation.

James stated that most of the delegates, who would have met to resolve the controversial issues had made travel plans before the date of the meeting was announced.

Osun 2014: APC’s assassination claim is cheap propaganda — Omisore campaign

BY DAPO AKINREFON

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HE Omisore C a m p a i g n Organisation has distanced itself from the allegation leveled against the PDP candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, that he intended to assassinate four APC chieftains in Osun State.

He described the allegation as cheap propaganda that will not sell.

Speaking with Sunday Vanguard, its Director, Media and Publicity, Prince Diran Odeyemi, faulted the statement credited to the APC. He said: “Of recent, it was reported that some hired assassins went to Iyiola Omisore’s house in Lagos where one of them was killed.

In fact, they entered his bedroom and we cried out loud that there was a murder attempt on his life.

We suspect some APC leaders in Osun State because Omisore has been a thorn in their flesh. We know our members they want to kill before the election. Their style now is that they accuse their opponents of what they intend to do.”

Odeyemi went on: “We are not surprised that they came out with a list that some people wanted to kill their leaders. Why do we need to kill them? Who has the State Boys? As I am talking to you,

they have sewn over 1,000 uniforms and they have distributed 200. So if anybody is talking of killing, they are the ones who want to kill. You can mark their statements because there was a time Aregbesola said blood will flow in Osun if they should lose the August 9 election and Omisore replied him that his ambition is not worth the

blood of anyone.

“The truth of the matter is that that is the style of the APC, they accuse their opponents of what they want to do. If they have genuine reasons, let them disclose their source to security agencies , let them investigate and make arrest.

If not, they should know that this propaganda cannot help them.”

ASUP suspends 10-month-old strike

By DAYO ADESULU

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CADEMIC Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has suspended its 10- month-old strike.

This was disclosed by the President of the union, Dr Chibuzor Asomugha, yesterday, after their National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja.

Speaking with Sunday Vanguard on telephone, he said, “Our National Executive Council (NEC) met today and resolved to suspend the strike for three months starting from Tuesday next (this) week.”

Asomugha explained that the strike suspension was to allow the new Education Minister, Alhaji Abrahim Shekarau, study their demands and take appropriate action.

He, therefore, urged

polytechnics students and lecturers to report in school on Tuesday for lecture.

The ASUP leader said: “The decision to call off the strike is in consonance with the demand of the new Minister of Education, Alhaji Abrahim Shekarau, to allow him study our demands.

“All ASUP is asking for is that government makes commitment on when and how the issues will be resolved.” He did not state whether the Federal Government has however made any commitment before the suspension of the strike.

ASUP went on the strike on October 4, 2013 to press the Federal Government to accede to its 13-point demands which include the release of the White Paper on the Visitation to Federal Polytechnics.

Obi served Anambra well — Cleric

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HE Catholic Bishop of Nnewi, Most Rev. Hilary Okeke, said Nigeria would be a better place if those that governed states imbibed the spirit of the former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi. The bishop said this yesterday during the ordination of 12 new priests at St. Mary Catholic Church, Ukpor.

The bishop who called on the new priests to imbibe the virtues of Christ in Christian witnessing, said that Mr. Peter Obi as the Governor of Anambra State, lived his life daily in a manner that was worthy of emulation. “He does not eat as if he will die tomorrow and does not build

castles as if he will live forever and this is a lesson for all of us,” the Bishop said.

Similarly, the Anglican Bishop of Ihiala, Most Rev. Dr. Raphael Okafor, during the first session of the Second Synod of the Diocese at St. Andrew Church, Lilu, yesterday, thanked the former governor for the true leadership he provided to Anambra State in spite of the evil plans of enemies of progress.

In his response, Mr. Peter Obi said that whatever he achieved was through the abiding grace of God and the partnership with, and support of the Church in the State.

Erosion control: Kogi seeks FG’s support

BY BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO, Lokoja

G

OVERNOR Idris Wada of Kogi State has solicited the support of the Federal Government towards controlling the erosion and other environmental devastations affecting some areas in the state.

The governor similarly called on the Federal Ministry of Environment to assist the state in constructing shoreline structures along Kabawa and Koton karfe area of the state.

Capt Wada stated this yesterday at the closing ceremony of the 2014 National Environmental Sanitation Day held in Lokoja, with the theme: “My Environment, My Health”; organized by the Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with Kogi State Government.

The Governor who disclosed that the effect of climate change, occasioned by poor sanitation habits, is fast catching up with the nation; described Kogi State as worst hit by climate change due to its closeness to the shoreline.

Igbide monarch clocks 40 on the throne

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HE traditional ruler of Igbide Kingdom in Isoko South Local Government of Delta State, His Royal Majesty Edward Obukeni 1, the Ovie of Igbide clocks 40 on the throne.

Arraignments are in top gear for the celebration of his 40th anniversary as the ceremony comes up Saturday July 19 at the Eru Primary Schoolfield, Igbide which will be chaired by Retired Major General Paul Omu while the Executive Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan is expected to be the Special Guest of Honour.

Ovie Obukeni who ascended the throne in July 1974 while in his 30s will use the occasion to confer chieftaincy titles on notable

personalities within and outside his Kingdom.

Meanwhile, a Lagos-based media consultant and prominent son of Igbide Kingdom, Sir Odafe Othihiwa, described Ovie Obukeni’s reign as peaceful and development oriented.

His Royal Majesty Edward Obukeni 1

PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014

BRIEFS

2015: Youths must prepare for governance — PDP •Says no room for godfatherism

BY HENRY UMORU, Abuja

A

From left: Prophet (Dr.) Samson Ayorinde, the spiritual leader and General Overseer of World Evangelism Bible Church (WEBIC) with Prophet Ezekiel Folorunso Amusan, and Prophetess Mercy Ayorinde, wife of the General Overseer of WEBIC, during the consecration service of the prophetelect at the International Headquarters of WEBIC in Ogudu-Ojota Area of Lagos.

Security agencies behind oil theft in Nigeria — Sen. Ikisikpo BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU, Abuja

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HAIRMAN, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Senator Clever Marcus Ikisikpo, has accused security agents of being behind most of the oil theft as well as oil leakages in the country.

Ikisikpo, who represents Bayelsa East Senatorial District, also said Boko Haram insurgency would end when north-

ern emirs and leaders of thought come together and call the youths to order even as he accused security agencies of collaborating with terrorists to wreak havoc on the country.

Speaking in an interview in Abuja, he faulted the report that Nigeria ranks top in global crude oil theft even as he accused security agencies and the Customs Service of having hands in crude oil theft

in the country.

He said, “You see one of the problems is sincerity in government. If you have an agency or ministry and everybody is sincere and transparent, we should be able to block these leakages.

Now, within the territorial waters, we have the navy, the Customs and other agencies working, but how sincere are they? Some of these Customs and naval officers are also involved.

“So, if you are given security and you leave the work of security to involve yourself with those who are making loopholes to occur, how do you think we would be able to account for all that is going on within the crude oil sector?

“So, most of the security people are really involved with respect to oil theft that is happening within our territorial waters.”

Why I’m not running for any office in 2015 — Imoke

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ROSS River State gov ernor, Senator Liyel Imoke, has offered explanation on his decision not to seek any elective office in 2015.

Speaking at a public lecture organised by Destiny Group to mark his 53th birthday at the Cultural Centre, Calabar, Imoke said it is only leaders who feel insecure and looking for where to hide after leaving office that think of the next elective office while they are still in their current position.

“As the end of my term as governor continues to count, I look forward to it with joy and satisfaction. I will leave with peace and utmost satisfaction. A lot of people keep asking me, ‘Oga, are you not going to

contest for an election when you leave as governor?’ I tell them that I will leave office with so much peace and satisfaction that I will not contemplate running for another office. It is only those who are insecure and are looking for where to hide that plot for the next office even when they are yet to serve out their current term, ” he s t a t e d .

Stressing the need for leaders to build a new generation of leaders, the governor said: “I strongly believe that as leaders, if there is one thing we must do as a matter of deliberate policy is to build a new generation of leaders. If we keep moving from or running in one office to the other without creating op-

portunities for a younger or a new generation, then society will never evolve and there will be no purposeful leadership.”

Imoke, who reechoed the decision of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone the governorship in the 2015 election to the Northern Senatorial District,

charged the people to look for someone who will give them purposeful leaders h i p .

“As we collectively look for our new governor from the Northern Senatorial District, we must do so in the hope that he or she will give us purposeful leadership and development.”

HEAD of 2015 general elections, national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP disclosed yesterday that it has concluded plans to move for 30 percent affirmation for youths in elective positions, just as it stressed that there was no room for godfatherism to seek for any position.

Speaking during an interface session with a group of young intellectuals under the aegis of “ Rethink Nigeria “ in Abuja, PDP National Youth Leader, Ab-

dullahi MaiBasira who noted that the PDP does not in any way stand for godfatherism within the ambit of the constitution, however urged the youths to prepare themselves for elective positions ahead of 2015.

According to him, the youths must first identify with the PDP as a platform for realising their political aspirations, adding that there was a conscious effort by the present National Working Committee, NWC to change the issue of gerontocracy as seen in the change of a youth leader who was old to a very young person.

Niger PDP names candidate in Senate bye-election

BY WOLE MOSADOMI, Minna

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HE Niger State chap ter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has announced former deputy governor of the state, Dr. Shem Nuhu Zagbayi as the consensus flag bearer to replace late Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta in the upcoming Senatorial election yet to be announced by INEC. This decision was taken by stakeholders of the party from the Niger East Senatorial district where late Senator Kuta represented after an emergency meeting held yesterday.

Vice chairman of the state

PDP, Barrister Tanko Beji who made the declaration in Minna yesterday said the stakeholders rooted for the former deputy governor after series of meetings on whom to replace late Kuta.

He said though INEC has not announced a date for the election, we believe in preparing ahead and having our candidate ahead of the announcement by INEC. According to him, “if INEC decides to hold the election tomorrow, our flag bearer has been chosen and he is in person of Dr. Shem Zagbayi Nuhu, who was the immediate past deputy governor of the state”.

Knights of St. Mulumba, Lekki elects new officers

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RC. Johnny Ngona di has been re-elected as the Grand Knight of the Lekki Sub council of the Knights of the Order of St Mulumba. Worthy Brother Anthony Idigbe, (SAN) was elected as the Deputy Grand Knight; Worthy Brother Dominic Nkwopara was elected as Secretary; Other elected officials include: Advocate, Wor-

thy Brother Peter Unuode; Chancellor, Worthy Eddy Okolie; Treasurer, Worthy Brother Obinna Anyanwu; Financial Secretary, Worthy Brother Peter Iwegbu; Auditor, Worthy Brother Laz Iloka; Physician, Worthy Brother Emmanuel Odey (appointed); Warden, Worthy Brother Nicholas Ananyi.

No way for portfolio investors in Bayelsa — Dickson

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA, Yenagoa

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AYELSA State gover nor, Seriake Dickson, says the maiden Bayelsa Investment and Economic Forum scheduled to hold in Yenagoa between 16th -

18th July, 2014 is aimed at showcasing the economic potentials of the state.

Describing the forum as part of his administration’s vision to build a strong, thriving, competitive economy and make Bayelsa State a model and an African economic success, the

governor called on the investors to avail themselves the opportunities.

His words, “It will be my singular honour to welcome you to the ‘Glory of all lands’ as we showcase the vast investment potentials and opportunities in our dear state.”

Expressing his administration’s readiness to collaborate with investors at ensuring to ensure the success of their businesses in the state, Dickson disclosed that his administration would not encourage portfolio investors.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 9

All letters bearing writers' names and full addresses should be typed and forwarded to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, Kirikiri Canal, P. M. B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E-mail: sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com

PDP versus APC: What the youths must know before 2015 Dear Sir,

A

S the 2015 general election is gradually drawing closer, the Political Turf of Nigeria is buzzing with interesting activities.

The politicking gets more exciting and complicated with every passing day, as the nation witnesses the bitter sides of the quest for power and relevance by the desperate politicians by these two major opposition parties.

In a bid to either acquire or retain power, the nation has witnessed different dramas, ranging from the appointment of Emir of Kano to the Chibok school girls, the crying first lady to the sweeping of Mr. President’s leg in some states.

In my view, PDP and APC are birds of a feather; at best they are a conclave of men with divergent ideologies who are only united in either political parties for ephemeral gains especially towards the fortcoming political seasons.

Thus, as the election year draws closer, these political parties are busy strategizing to ensure that their primary objectives are achieved not minding the implication it might cause in the nearest future.

As expected, the youths, especially the unemployed have started yielding to their demands. Now, every discussion on facebook and other social networks are centered on PDP and APC, thus turning friends to enemies. The tongues are waggling, tempers are flaring and drums of disaffection and resentment are louder than we have

known it in this country.

If this new dimension are anything to go by, then the next general election would degenerate into a bloody affairs. Instead of addressing issues and convincing the masses, the two political parties are busy backbiting and sabotaging each other.

The youths of this country should be aware of these men whose selfish in-

terest stands taller than the selfless interest. We should ‘shine our eyes’ and shun all the temptation of these political turfs. We have been used enough.

Chikelue Fidelis Chinyeaka writes in from Enugwu-Agidi, Anambra State

What does our government do for its citizens?

Dear Sir,

T

ONY Ubani, a sports Editor who is covering the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil for Vanguard Newspapers, after seeing how the rulers of that country have developed their country and what they have done for their people, lamented that our so-called rulers could not do likewise for our country and its citizenry!

In view of his lamentation, I want to state categorically that the era of good governance, selfless service to our fatherland and accountability, ended

with the demise of the 1st Republic on 15/1/66. Since the 70s till date, it has been looting spree of our national coffers by those at the helm of the affairs of our country, either through the barrel of the gun or ballot box with the active connivance of unscrupulous civil servants, culminating in the underdevelopment and backwardness of our country due to the insatiable greed and penchant for acquisition of primitive wealth from our common patrimony for their generations yet unborn, by these unpatriotic Nigerians!

When will our politicians stop feed-

ing fat on the resources of our country? They have acquired so much wealth from our resources that they could easily afford their trip to Brazil to watch the FIFA World Cup finals and not at government expense.

It is shameful that our politicians will travel to somewhere like Brazil and come back without learning a single lesson from the sacrifices and effort of leaders of such countries toward the development of their country.

Ifeka Okonkwo, Plot 44, Ahocol Housing Estate, Phase 11 GRA, Awka

PAGE 10 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

Assessing the performance of govs and presidents – My way (2)

Osun: Let the people decide!

"The measure of a man is what he does with power." -Plato "Those who profess to favour freedom and yet depreciate agitation are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." -- Frederick Douglass

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y father was not too pleased when I wrote that I wish I was from Osun. For those that read my page you know that I find the Ogbeni's leadership inspiring and refreshing.

Ogbeni puts his opinion of leadership so well when he said, "Indeed, it is my belief that leadership offers a golden opportunity to serve the people and bring improvements to bear on their lives and existence. I also do hold onto the view that leadership is a core pillar

upon which a viable and successful human society can be built. And that "Indeed leadership is all about rendering service to the people and this".

He continues to create opportunities for all the people of Osun to access education, health and employment. He has laid down a strong foundation and the people can see and feel the difference. This is not a party politics but a call to other states to emulate the Aregbesola's administration. I have always nailed my colours to the mast. When something works and works well, it is important to admit and admire the process and that is what I do.

With well over half of the Nigerian population unemployed, poverty is higher than it has ever been, administrations and the government have promised to improve our lot and they have consistently let us down and not delivered.

The administration has employed the highest number of civil servants in any other states in the country. So, here is an administration that does ex-

the 36 states into seven leagues. The first league has only one state – Lagos. Even though it does

The state with the largest revenue allocation, Rivers, receives three times what Yobe, Abia and Taraba collect and over four times the amount sent to the poorest state in Nigeria, Nassarawa. Yet, because of our constitution, they all pay the same salaries to their workers at various levels

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not reveive the largest allocation from the Federation Account, the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, is so huge, it actually collects about ten times what Nassarawa receives every month. Obvious;ly, nobody can seriously compare Fashola with Al-Makura based on projects completed. Abia State is lodged between

and Anambra; 6, Cross River, Zamfara, Yobe, Abia, Taraba and Enugu, 7; Kwara, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Plateau, Gombe and Nasarawa.

actly what it set out to do. It did more and beyond to improve the lives of its people.

One of the few in the country that has consistently improved and laid down solid structures and sound governance. This is essential in order to get the country working again.

Margaret Thatcher was once asked what was her government's top priority, without hesitation she said “Education, education and education". Education is the key. That is exactly what Ogbeni's administration has done. Making educa-

achs they say. No point sending children to school on any empty stomach. So they offer free nutritious meals so that the children’s bodies are optimise for learning and development.

The programme's sublime quality is that it considers every aspect of the health of the children as the programme also includes the de-worming programme and distribution of free uniforms and school materials. This means that every child is equal at the point of entry. As a result of all these innovations, the school attendance has im-

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ERMIT me to try my hands at some elementary philosophy borrowed from Philosophy 1a, which I read as an undergraduate in 1964. It goes like this “Facts and truth are not always synonymous; but, anything claiming to be the truth must contain elements of fact(s) which are indisputable.” To assess the performance of Presidents and governors, especially governors, let me present some facts which might help us; even if our emotions forbid us from accepting them.

First fact, what a governor can achieve is heavily influenced by the resources available to

him/her. To that extent all our governors are not operating with the same quantum of resources made available to them.

The state with the largest revenue allocation, Rivers, receives three times what Yobe, Abia and Taraba collect and over four times the amount sent to the poorest state in Nigeria, Nassarawa. Yet, because of our constitution, they all pay the same salaries to their workers at various levels.

Clearly, it makes no sense to compare the richest states with the poorest and proclaim someone THE GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR simply because he has the funds to construct flyovers which might not even be needed by his people. So, for the sake of those who might be following the accusations and claims of those with political vested interests, which induce them to deliberately mislead others, permit me to classify

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“The endless variety of the human mind prevents any truth from presenting itself in the same way to any two persons.” Leo Tolstoy,1828-1910, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 255.

Akwa Ibom and Rivers – each of which receives more than four times what accrues to God’s Own State. Every Abia State governor can only look with envy as his neighbours complete in one year projects for which his state must save four years to undertake.

Below is the table.

1. Lagos State; 2, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa and Kano; 3, Katsina, Oyo, Kaduna, Borno, Ondo, and Niger; 4, Imo, Jigawa, Benue, Bauchi, Sokoto and Osun; 5, Adamawa, Kebbi, Ogun, Edo, Kogi

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bviously, an ob jective analyst and commentator, embarking on appraising a governor, must consult this table and find where the state

When something works and works well, it is important to admit and admire the process and that is what I do

tion free at the point of entry means more children are educated. This means that the future of Osun is brighter as more children are given the opportunity to better their lot. They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the people bear witness to the changes in the state. In the Ogbeni, the people of Osun have witnessed a committed and hard-working governor who is willing to work for the interest of its people.

He has single handedly transformed his state and its people. He has produced results for all to see. The feeding programme is a master stroke after all the army matches on its stom-

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proved exponentially and more teachers are recruited to deal with the demand, Osun government spends more than N3 billion annually on its home-grown elementary school feeding, O'Meal. N600 million was spent on about 3,000 community caterers as well as transportation fare to the various schools. As result of the feeding programme, there has been an increase in the enrolment of children and decrease in absenteeism. The meal programme employs local people; farmers, butchers, fishermen and trained women meal supervisors.

You raise the most vulnerable up then everyone bene-

stands in comparison with any other state. In my travels throughout Nigeria, I have reached the conclusion that the governors who have been most prudent in their use of financial resources are, invariably, those in lower half of categories two to seven. And, they belong to all the political parties – APC, APGA, Labour and PDP. Over time, I will present those governors who, in my opinion, had performed best, based on the criteria of food first, health next, education third and infrastructure a distant fourth.

SAM NDA-ISAIAH BILLBOARDS ALL OVER ABUJA. “History does not repeat itself; man does.” Professor Barbara Tuchmann.

David versus Goliath is a story familiar to all of us – Christians and Muslims alike. And, it had endeared most of us to vastly underrated underdogs who dare to step into the arena to do battle with established champions. Many of us old enough to remember, would recollect how The Greatest, legendary Mohammed Ali, became the world heavyweight champion by taking on the dreaded Sonny Liston – who dispatched his opponents in less than five rounds.

Nobody gave Ali, then Cassius Clay, a chance.

But, the rest is history. In politics, nobody also fits. Osun has made big strides and other states should take a leaf from the Ogbeni's book. Over the pond, the O'Meals programme has been recognised and earned the international recommendation and support of the Londonbased Partnership for Child Development (PCD). And so it should be.

The O'Yes youth pro gramme has trained young people by providing and equipping them with employability skills. The standard of instilling good work ethic is highly motivational because it again espouses pride, confidence, self-esteem, motivation and respect for the environment, good health and ownership in their state. The young people now have a promising future; they are equipped and are able to actively participate in nation building. Unlike, other parts of the country, in Osun the young are part of the planning and at the core of the programme.

They are not excluded and disenfranchised. The distribution of OPON IMO (Tablet of Knowledge) to high school pupils is now established and this will bring the young to compete with other young people in the world.

So what motivates the Ogbeni? He said: "The improvement of the lots of the people of Osun was therefore a strong motivation for my seeking office and a paramount object of the deployment of my talents.

Thus, as a leader I constantly seek for ways of bringing about progress and advancement for my people

gave Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer and Governor of Georgia State a chance to become President of the USA. Well, he did.

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am Nda-Isaiah, Publisher and former Chairman of the LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNMENT newspapers. He is also the Kakaki Nupe of Nupeland. In his first ever foray into politics, as a candidate, the “David” from Nupeland is taking on, not only one but, several “Goliaths” – both within the All Progressive Congress, APC, and the only “Goliath” in the PDP (let’s face it PDP has only one candidate) – all at once. Some of his supporters had mounted billboards on his behalf in strategic places in Abuja. Be on the lookout for them at the following places: Personally, I love under dogs – those who, against all odds and the dictates of conventional wisdom, have the guts to challenge society with new and big ideas. Trust me; I have a ring side seat for this contest, as long as it lasts. You will read the truth, and the whole truth, about it here. Area boys love fights, and the President, I know this is great.

Visit: www.delesobowale.com or Visit: www.facebook.com/ biolasobowale in every area of their lives".

We can no longer use our young as political hoodlums, thugs and professional vagrants and unemployable. We should not allow our young to be ignored for the selfish ambition of the seasoned political kleptomaniacs.

With August 9th governorship election approaching, I know that the people of Osun will follow their conscience. They cannot afford to do otherwise as their future and that of their young depend on it.

I do hope that we get the American style public debate going with Aregbesola and Senator Iyiola Omisore; it will be interesting to hear both out and let the people of Osun decide.

Happy 75th Birthday Dad!

Here is wishing my father, Kolawole Adio Animasaun a happy 75th birthday. I am wishing you joy, good health and contentment.

Whenever I ask my dad, why he is content, he answers; it is the love of Allah. You cannot argue with that, can you?

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have." -- Socrates

*Denrele was not very sure that I said she wished she was from Osun. Because my forebear was from Iwo. I made sure of that in my biography- 1939. My great, great grandmother was a princess of Iwo. She was from Yafoye compound.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE — 11

them that the man at the top can capably implement what he proposes and constantly insists upon is a better leadership quality. It can indeed evoke confidence in the staff as well as make them handle issues against the backdrop of what they see of their leaders. I congratulate Moham-

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was pleasantly sur prised to stumble into a television documentary during the week which featured Mohammed D. Abubakar, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) functioning as a traffic warden. Unfortunately, I did not get to watch the entire episode but the two short scenes I saw made salient points. In one case, he was portrayed directing the free flow of traffic at a busy location. In the other scene, he sat behind the counter in a typical police station attending with uncommon attention to public complaints. In both cases, Abubakar carried himself with candour and displayed traits of trained, competent and dutiful policemen of the developed world.

It is difficult to fault the decision of the IGP to embrace the old adage which says that examples are better than precepts. It is of course not enough to deliver daily sermons designed to put operatives in shape and in line; rather, showing

his documentary producers to make copies for all police formations for reference purposes. He should also evolve a practical course on it at the Police College where the documentary can be studied and examinations organized on the different processes and procedures therein. In addition, the experiment should not be an adhoc affair; instead it should be integrated into the segment on police ethics. To sustain it, the IGP should play the

The truth is that Nigeria has much to gain if the Chief Executives of our public institutions have the necessary cognate experience and expertise that can make them enjoy the professional confidence of their work force

med Abubakar for taking supervision to the point of assignment and creating for his institution, some semblance of uniformity in operations and a unity of direction.

Abubakar should order

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role at least once a month and schedule all his immediate deputies and assistants as well as Commissioners of Police in the states to take their turns in the assignment. One obvious gain of the device is that it

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

Notes on the origin and nature of religion (3)

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HE things we long for, or dream about, sometimes correspond to an object in reality - for example, the glass of water we obtained in a dream - and sometimes not - for example paradise on earth. A belief constitutes an illusion when a wish-fulfilment is a prominent factor in its motivation. Wishfulfilment, according to Freud, is the activity of imagining an appropriate tension-reducing object. Usually, wishes arise in times of need; one wishes by imagining an object in the past that satisfied the need in question, by remembering a formerly satisfying object.

Freud posits that religious ideas are fulfilments of the oldest, strongest and most urgent wishes of humankind. However, the teachings of religion are derived neither from systematic and rigorous experience of matters they speak of nor from serious thinking on such matters; instead, they are illusions rooted in human imagination.

Concerning the future of religion, Freud thinks that enlightened reason will eventually displace religion. He holds that religion, grounded on repression and functioning as compulsion, has served humanity well in restraining instinct and, in particular,

human violence. Now, time is ripe for replacing irrational workings of repression by the rational operation of the intellect. Full disclosure in self-awareness of the underlying unconscious psychological underpinnings of faith will eliminate religious worship. Freud optimistically envisages the end of religion for humanity's sake through the liberation of human powers currently in bondage to repression: human proclivity for religion will disappear through intellectual sophistication and scientific knowledge.

Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic approach rightly highlights the psychological underpinnings of religion. It offers a plausible account of why most religions conceive God as a father and of why people tend to become more religious in times of difficulty.

Yet, his general theory of human life, including religion, as an intra-psychic struggle between instinctive drives, the ego, and the superego is too simplistic and overly positivistic. It is a metaphysical assumption, an act of faith without solid scientific support. In addition, although Freud was essentially correct in drawing attention to the wish-fulfilment and compulsive character of religion, his exposition is in-

complete. Just as there are immature, sick religions, there are also mature, healthy ones. For instance, Abrahamic religions, especially as practiced by masses, conform to Freud's analysis, whereas Buddhism preached and practiced by its founder Siddhartha Gautama represents a healthy form of religious consciousness.

Theological explanations trace the provenance and nature of religion to human nature itself, which purportedly has a religious dimension. St. Augustine of Hippo, for instance, argues that there is an irresistible desire for the infinite which makes the human heart restless. The restless and irresistible quest for the infinite or God manifests in different forms of religion.

In his thought-provoking book, Confessions, Augustine addresses God thus, "You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

The Italian theologian, P. Rossano, maintains that the emptiness and insecurity at the core of our being is a psychological manifestation of the human spirit's search for the infinite spirit.

At first glance it would appear, given the universality of religion, that indeed human beings are ineradicably religious, that the

while, drink tea, receive visitors and get summoned by the relevant committees of the legislature to negotiate oversight functions. Thereafter, they spend the rest of the day paying compliments at different sections of what in Nigeria is known as parent ministry-an office from where the minister of the sector operates. The point to be made is that all those in authority are not likely to summon the IGP on the days he is known to be functioning as traffic warden or desk officer in one police station especially in faraway difficult terrains of Nigeria. Here, personal experience illuminates this point because in my days in office, every person in authority avoided me each time i moved away from the comfort zone of Director General of NTA to serve as a ‘devastating’ presenter of the station’s network interview programme-Point Blank.

It would thus be nice to see how far the police can sustain the Abubakar innovation. It is likely to be tedious to accomplish but like in all human endeavours, nothing is impossible.

In any case, the assignment happens routinely in many sectors. I remember vividly some outstanding university vice chancellors who still keep some hours of lectures in their original fields of specialization. What the police requires is the determination and the will to succeed. To start with, a few hours of Abubakar serving as a traffic warden can

hardly make the average traffic warden have the same job satisfaction as the IGP. The reasons are not hard to find. In the documentary that I watched, the IGP was chauffer driven from his experimental duty post of traffic warden to being a desk officer at a local station. Those upon whom such functions fall as a routine have to start the day with the pain of how to get to work. They are also kept there for hours longer than the labour code prescribes. Secondly, until we see the IGP directing traffic in the rain, many operatives are not likely to remember his example or even the precepts. Put differently, the average Nigerian policeman is in dire need of substantive motivation.

A few suggestions would do. A typical police barracks need not have the unending face of a slum. Our policemen are citizens too and would love to live well.

The Nigeria Police should thus not remain the poorest paid in Africa. We should stop the dehumanizing policy in which too many policemen in Nigeria are into mundane guard duties devoid of intelligence gathering. As this column once opined, the Ministry of Police Affairs in addition to the Police Council as well as a Police Service Commission constitutes too many cooks in the police kitchen. They are a veritable distraction to effective policing

phenomenon of religion is innate. Yet, research findings in relevant humanistic studies such as psychology, anthropology, sociology, philosophy and linguistics strongly indicate that environmental factors are crucial determinants of behavioural dispositions previously thought to be innate in humans. Thus, the apparent innateness of religious consciousness is actually the by-product of the subliminal interplay of both phylogenetically programmed instincts and socio-cultural influences from childhood to adulthood. Moreover, that humanity has an irresistible quest for something (God, immortality, etc.) does not entail existence of the object or state of affairs it is so ardently seeks. There is nothing logically contra-

that religion is based primarily and mainly on fear - fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death, fear of the unknown. Further, because fear is the parent of cruelty, Russell affirms, "it is no wonder if cruelty and religion has gone hand-in-hand." Having given primacy to the emotional factor regarding the origin and nature of religion, he suggests that we should stand on our own feet and look honestly at the world its good and bad facts, its beauties and ugliness. We should see the world as it is, and boldly conquer it with our intelligence, not by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. Russell's views are well taken, although it should be pointed out that a mature benign religion like Buddhism, which makes non-

sciousness, rationality and imagination, - new dispositions that transcend the capacity for instrumental thinking of even the cleverest primates - the human species needed a frame of orientation and an object of devotion in order to survive.

It follows that religion is one of the approaches used by humans to cope successfully with the daunting challenges of living in a complex, and oftentimes hostile, world.

Religion answers the need in most people for an existential map of the world and object of devotion in other to integrate their energies in one direction, transcend their isolated existence, with all its uncertainties and insecurities, and give meaning to their lives.

According to Fromm, there is a nexus between religion, socio-economic structure, and character structure.

However, just as there are individual exceptions to the dominant social character, there are also individual exceptions to the dominant religious character. In all, Fromm has a positive attitude towards religion; he sees it as necessitated by the very nature of human existence on earth. But he laments the perversion of genuine religion in its experiential subjective sense by sham Christianity.

Our brief notes on the origin and nature of religion has established beyond reasonable doubt that religion is a human creation, which should help people live better and fulfil their potentials for happiness and productivity. Therefore, it is an inexcusable aberration when fanatics and religious bigots sacrifice human lives in the pretext of fighting for God. CONCLUDED.

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Inspector General of Police as a Traffic Warden

can bring dignity to police functions with every lowly placed operative doing his work with joy since the high and the mighty are seen to possess a similar productivity disposition.

The nation has so much to gain if government can direct other Chief Executives to emulate Abubakar’s example. If this is done, there would be ample reduction in the current trend where novices are imposed on institutions on the basis of prescriptive criteria such as place of origin, sex, religion etc. Not too long ago, a friend narrated his experience when he sought to dissuade government from appointing the most junior director in his organization to become its Chief Executive. According to the story, he was told that the inexperienced director would learn! Of course that will take us nowhere near the 200 most developed economies in countless years. The truth is that Nigeria has much to gain if the Chief Executives of our public institutions have the necessary cognate experience and expertise that can make them enjoy the professional confidence of their work force. Otherwise, we may continue to have institutions who as a result of inept leadership contribute nothing to the nation’s development We are also likely to have executives whose functions would remain the same in every organization namely: to read a few newspapers, watch television for a

Full disclosure in self-awareness of the underlying unconscious psychological underpinnings of faith will eliminate religious worship

dictory in asserting that the objects of religious belief are illusory. Given the absence of well-established evidence, it is very likely that God, immortality of the soul and other items of religious devotion are nonexistent creations of our fertile imagination invented to serve the interests of believers. Hence, aside from the consoling effect it has on believers, the purported quest for union with the infinite is ultimately futile.

Bertrand Russell, my exemplar of what a philosopher should be, was extremely interested in religion. In his book, Why I am not a Christian, he posits

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violence a cardinal principle or doctrine, abhors cruelty and dehumanising worship of deities.

We now consider the theory of religion propounded

by Erich Fromm, a noted psychoanalytic philosopher. Fromm proposes that religion came into bring as a result of the basic conditions of human existence, which is characterised by minimum determination of behaviour by instinct and maximum development of the brain, particularly the neocortex. Lacking the capacity to act in a manner completely determined by instincts while possessing the capacity for self-con-

PAGE 12 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014

Fifty-four sham states will not the federation make

Living by grace

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HE world that we live in is chang ing, times are hard and there is no candy floss way to sweeten it. The entire world has been in the vice grip of a punishing recession and terrorism has added a new and bitter twist to hardship. There is no cocoon that insulates anyone from pain and inside every single one of us is a saint and sinner; circumstances determine which is predominant! I am amazed at how resilient the human spirit is and even more encouraged by just how much adversity and tragedy we can overcome. I have noticed that anytime I say something will never happen because I couldn’t possibly survive it or stand it, that exact thing occurs in even more horrific dimensions!! See what I mean

by God’s sense of humour! It's like daring fate!! You say you couldn’t possibly take a particular blow and wham!!! It slams you right in the face as if to say, I dare you not to sur-

vive!!! A look at any news bulletin will confirm that the human spirit can survive in almost impossible situations and conditions; you may not get what you want but you get what you need; even in war torn situations you get what you need; survival would then depend on the toss of a divine coin if my divine humour theory is plausible! Surviving the times is only possible by grace alone.

A lot of people have tried to gauge the survival quotient by strength but then how would one explain the mighty and powerful failing tests that the weak and puny pass!

Strength has little to do with surviving adversity; some tests have little to do with brawn, other have even less to with the brain, and the simple minded stands as much chance of survival as the genius!! Grace is the difference between annihilation and survival. The issue at stake for most of us is survival, in a world where costs of living are rising and earnings are

public leaders who speak on behalf of their constituents must have a longer view than most; it is called vision; and this confab is a visioning process; in a sense a place where the possible ideas for the greater transformation of Nigeria out to happen. But the proposal to create nineteen new states is in-

Those pushing for more states are putting old wine in new bottles. It will not solve the problems, but would rather complicate Nigeria’s already fragile structure

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sane and unrealistic. It lacks vision. I might resort to the argument that Nigeria, which is slightly more than twice the size of the state of California in the United States, should compare itself to the United States – that vast behemoth – which has only fifty states. Or that Canada, with 9.98 million square kilometers all told, has only 10 states and 3 provinces, or that the Indian federation, covering an area of approximately 3.28 million square kilometers and with the second

unique solution must not be unique for the mere reason of uniqueness. Let us note that Nigeria came into being as an amalgamation of about 300 unique ethnicities, some of whom have actually, officially, gone into extinction. There is no current sociological map of Nigeria that can point to the existence of the over 360 ethnic groups that were welded together to formalize the Nigerian nation.

The argument by ethnic purists for a preservation of these unique ethnic

diminishing, strength is almost irrelevant, our ability to adapt is. It used to be that people cut their coat according to their size but that was before, the reality of our present situation is that you cut your coat according to the material available; size has nothing to do with it. Being good is no immunity against evil and as frustrating as it is, bad people don’t always get what they deserve but still we trudge

nique; it sure beats jumping off a bridge!!

Others develop emotional muscles and even brawn from adversity and go on even more battle ready for what lies ahead; they are the minority, the heroes of their time, we can’t all be Mandela!! The rest of us go through life trying to survive, tasting joy, sometimes triumph, sometimes failure but all in all we get by.

Last week really had to be one of the toughest weeks I have had in a couple of years!! I had so many commitments that even superman would have balked at my diary!

I was juggling expectations and appointments and even by my own as-

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dominate the debate. We assume that the documents produced out of this Assembly would be subject to a plebiscite that would allow Nigerians to fully participate in the adoption of the full principles under current discussion in the Confab. Some of the discussions have tended to treat the Nigerian malaise with the same unremitting medicine that have neither solved nor provided alternatives to solving the Nigerian national question. Some of the current decisions adopted by the Confab may in fact further complicate the construct of the Nigerian federation.

One of the justifiably psychotic proposals currently adopted by the conferees is the decision to create nineteen new states out of the current federation. This will bring Nigeria, should it happen, to a federation of fifty-four states. Just the thought of this is ridiculous. In the theatre of nations, two fundamental principles ought to govern the conduct of those called to lead: one, they must act in the highest public interests, in such a way to advance the highest possibility of prosperity for the land and the greatest well-being of the people, and two,

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doubt very much that a majority of Nigeri ans are tuned in to the goings on at the National Conference. A lot of Nigerians still regard it with some distrust. For one, it was constituted without the consent or input of the voting public; the citizens of Nigeria.

Many of those who are currently discussing Nigeria in this so-called National conference have been at the roots of the Nigerian crisis and have been key catalysts in the decline of the Nigerian state. Some have such serious credibility deficits that any grounds on which they stand with regards to the transformation of Nigeria should be probed for verity. Many Nigerians think that this conference is not clearly representative of the aspiration of Nigerians for a true constitutional conference that would ensure the true national reform agenda that would place Nigerians on the path, once again, to true sovereignty and progress.

The current conference is at best, seen as a distraction from the real issues affecting public governance in Nigeria. It is important however for Nigerians to pay real attention to the matters which currently

largest population in the world of about 1.2 billion people speaking over 10,000 indigenous or ethnic languages, is still a federal union of 29 states and 7 Union Territories.

The last of these states, Telangana, was created only just recently in June 2014 following a plebiscite in the last Indian federal elections. But it would be such a familiar thing to draw these comparisons, and there might be some who would say, the firewood in a peoples’ forest cooks their food, and talk about authentic and unique Nigerian situations and pressures. But while that essential fact of Nigeria’s unique condition might be true, its

Being good is no immunity against evil and as frustrating as it is, bad people don’t always get what they deserve

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on doing the best that we can most of the time!

Some people get hit by some of life’s blows and choose to survive by cloaking themselves in bitterness; they may be dour and no fun but no one can deny that it’s a legitimate survival tech-

sessment I was failing.

Getting back on a strict exercise regime that I had abandoned for a few months meant I was also aching all over and for some strange reason I always seemed to be stuck in traffic when I was very hungry. Like most

identities at the grounds of Nigerian federalism may make sense if these ethnicities still exist. But the more important question is the use of fifty-four federal states. The drivers of this search for new states were the delegation from the South-East led by General Ike Nwachukwu.

It is a blind and retrogressive move. Let me again remind South-Easterners that they went to war in 1967 to preserve their region; that they fought a war because Gowon broke the East into three new states without consultation and without regard to the unique needs of the region.

In 1957, the Willinks commission had considered the question of state creation and the minority question in the East and arrived at the clear conclusion that it would be counter-productive to create a new region out of the East, and given the contiguity of the ethnic boundaries in the old Eastern region, it was both impractical, and in the longrun unsustainable. The various boundary clashes in the states of what was once the Eastern Region is a testimony to that, and is bound to be exacerbated with new states and new boundary delineations. But even on a more practical level: these proposed new states are unviable. There are already too many states which do not have the resources beyond the federal grants, to run on their own steam.

The proposed new states will not be economically viable, but will be a drain on the current resources of the land. They will create new state bureaucracies; a new administrative

bulge that would neither represent nor serve the interest of real people nor be of any use to the people in the long term. The movers for these new states are not looking at the interest of the general population, but of a narrow, elite interest in which the sole purpose of government in Nigeria is simply sharing the offices of the land. It is not about creating productive economic and social centers that would absorb and expand the energy and initiative of people. It is about who gets appointed to federal posts; how many legislators, how much federal grant to be shared; how many of the preferment of the center is accruable to the individual rather than how much of the nation can be brought together to create powerful political and economic synergies. The South-East has often made the argument for zonal parity. But let us consider this: the South East is only five of the seven states in which the Igbo already have viable claims. But how much of these have been transformed into powerful economies? That ought be the question. There is clear evidence that the break-up of Nigeria into too many unviable states has reduced the capacity of the federating states and created a powerful center.

Nigeria does not need 54 states. It needs at the very most, eight productive and sufficient regions.

Those pushing for more states are putting old wine in new bottles. It will not solve the problems, but would rather complicate Nigeria’s already fragile structure.

people in the world I am operating in survival mode, if Jesus tarries, I will need to do so to ride out the storm. Lately I have expended a lot of my time in the ministry of encouragement as I think that is a tonic we all need at the moment, the good thing about that is I also find myself very encouraged when I encourage others. like everyone I am in the active pursuit of happiness and I pray for a prosperity that is all encompassing, That would be peace in the world, abundance in every area and even more love, more grace.

One of the ironies of last week was the chance encounter I had with an acquaintance I hadn’t spoken to in ages. After the normal niceties, I learnt she had been looking for me, She needed to ask me some things and she began by asking me how come the downturn had not affected me and how I coped. I didn’t really understand so I asked her to explain what she meant by coping!! She said she had kept a casual tab on my progress over the years and wondered where I got the energy to do everything and be on top of it all! I wouldn’t have classed myself as on top of it all in any way but God gives the grace that make all things look easy even when they are not.

She had been looking at me for confirmation of

the perceived utter fulfilment she thought I enjoyed and I just laughed!

Success is relative and God has been extremely kind and generous but one must concede that no body has it easy or perfect, I certainly don’t!

Life as a working wife and mother was getting overwhelming and she wanted to know how other women were surviving.

The grass really is greener on the other side as I could not imagine someone as accomplished as her feeling unfulfilled and inadequate but I could understand sometimes being overwhelmed by responsibility and obligations! I could not honestly say that i was doing any better than she was but I have what she doesn’t; hope. I believe hope is a by product of grace. That encounter was helpful as it lightened my mood and gave me an opportunity to share the good news of the gospel. The truth is that God gives grace even to those of us who feel battle scarred and bone weary and it is that grace that we need to survive the times. Do I think things will get better? Yes, definitely, the tide always comes back in and no matter how hard things get we need to lean on the grace of God, drink some life giving and hope boosting tonic of prayer and praise.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, —PAGE 13

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D I VA S R E V E L AT I O N :

What we look out for in men

By KEHINDE AJOSE

Just like any other girl next door, our divas have specific qualities they look out for in a man they intend to marry. While some want their knights in shining armour to be tall, dark and handsome, some, on the other hand, only look to men who could take them to cloud nine and meet their sexual needs.

However, for others it is ‘no romance without finance’ as they place their personal comfort above every other need. Meet some

A lot of men lie so much, I like men who tell the truth — Harmony

EMIKE Ekwe known as Harmony has begun to find her feet in the Nigerian music industry, not only by releasing songs that are attracting great appeal from music lovers but also by promoting herself as a brand that is bound to make the difference in the industry.

The sexy damsel who doesn’t mince words when it comes to expressing her thoughts and opinions, in a recent interview with Vanguard’s showtime said:’ “I could kiss, I could let a guy touch my boobs, I could let a guy smack my ass, I can kiss a girl, like wet kiss in a music video, if that is what the script says” In the same vein, the seductively pretty songstress gave us a hint on her kind of man, saying she likes men with good hearts.

“I like men with good hearts. I like men with very big hearts. I like men who tell the truth. A lot of men lie so much because they want to get down and I keep saying to myself, you do not have to lie that much because you want to get down. If she wants to get down, she wants to, but you don’t have to tell so much lies to a girl. Just go straight to the point ’ she advised.

If he doesn’t satisfy me in bed, I will make him work harder — Adebimpe Akintunde T

HE light-skinned talented actress and movie producer who is known for her roles in Yoruba movies isn’t shy about her admiration for tall guys. The Wasilat Coded star says: “I admire tall, handsome and dark guys. I am not attracted to lightskinned guys. I look out for someone who is reserved and Godly. These days when you say I want a God-fearing man, people will be like : You wanna marry pastor? Even if he is not a God-fearing person, you have to teach him the ways of God .Those are the traits I look out for in a man. If he doesn’t satisfy me in bed I will make him work harder ”

I look out for a man who will love the totality of who I am — Annette Cookey

A

rmed with a strong vocal range, sex appeal and attitude, Annette isn’t afraid to flaunt her killer curves.

The Project Fame West Africa star says, her kind of man must love her totally.

“I don’t really have a spec for men really. Some will say they prefer light-skinned men, while many others will say they prefer darkskinned men, the list goes on and on. A man who will love the totality of who I am, who is God-fearing is who I am looking for. He should have good looks, and should be able to sing at least a little. He should also be tall and romantic; one who will make me laugh regardless of the colour or his skin” ,she said.

PAGE 14 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014

He has to be rich

By KEHINDE AJOSE

— Cynthia Morgan

What we look out for in men

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ynthia Ikponmwenosa Morgan is no longer a rookie looking to make a name in the music industry. The Dancehall artiste who broke into the music industry with her hit song:’ Don’t break my heart’ has shown she has what it takes to be a winner in her own neck of the wood.

Effervescent Morgan is as unapologetic as they come and she isn’t all worked up on how she is seen or heard.

In an interview with Saturday Vanguard she revealed that her kind of man has to possess a fat bank account. She puts it this way: “He has to be rich, for me he just has to be rich. There just has to be a connection between the both of us

I can’t date a man who is not good in bed — Seyi Edun B

udding Nollywood actress Seyi Edun popu larly known as’ Eja nla’ is straightforward about her kind of man. According to the beautiful role interpreter, she loves a man with a good heart, someone who thrills her every day “I look out for a Godly man, someone who is not extremely handsome, not too ugly, and not extremely rich.

A man with a good heart thrills me any day. He has to love me for whom I am and not just necessarily because of my physical assets. He also has to support my career and be willing to go the extra mile for me. I can’t date a man who is not good in bed because if you date him because of his money, you will end up cheating on him, and that’s bad” she explained.

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I want my man to be handsome — Beverly Naya

HE hot and fiercely beautiful British-bred Beverly Naya, is climbing the ladder of fame as fast as her legs can carry her. She has featured in many blockbusters to be rightly regarded as one of the up and coming stars to take over from the Genevieves and the Omotolas of the movie industry. Though not on the wild side, Beverly, in a chat with Vanguard recently let off a bit about herself and what makes her tick, including painting a picture of the kind of man that may have the key to her heart.

“I will be lying to myself if I say I don’t want him to be handsome. I want my man to be handsome.

Any woman that says otherwise is lying to herself.

You have to find him attractive because that is important .He has to be ambitious, he has to be driven, God fearing, a gentleman, just someone who knows how to treat a woman and make her feel she is a queen.” she said.

It would be recalled that Beverly admitted she was mostly bullied throughout her formative years and said she lived in fear of the opposite sex. But not anymore, as the Brandy look-like has come of age and ready to take on anybody or anything to get she wants. At least, she said that much in a recent post on Instagram.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 15

I grow fonder of Tuface everyday —Annie Macaulay

Neighbour catches Florence Johnson stark naked?

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fter six chil dren, it seems there is no end to Tuface’s propensity to making children. At least if he doesn’t have any great plans in the works, his Nollywood better-half certainly has ideas as she recently owned up in an interview that she would love to have more children for the music star.

Annie’s soliloquy on Instagram on Thursday confirms that her romantic feelings for her hubby are still very much as amorous as ever. I grow fonder of you everyday, my love, she declared with smug picture of the husband.

F

inding Goodluck star, Florence Johnson has said she is a bit fussy about how she is seen and perceived. And even declared that she doesn’t feel so cool flaunting her big boobs. So, one could imagine just what it would mean to the Nollywood being caught off guard and naked.

“Oh Lord!!!!! That VERY awkward moment you’re in your house and feeling so cool and free and you’re stark NAKED, you step into your kitchen to get some fruits and then you suddenly realize your neighbor is standing right there in his own kitchen staring at you from the windows, and he then gives you a WICKED smile before turning away. Huh???? #Sad #Miserable #Angry #Embarrassed #Feellikeshootingsomebody #Arrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh I feel like entering the ground right NOW!!! “ she blurted on her Facebook page on Friday.

Charly Boy paints Oguta red with daughter

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averick entertainner, the Area Father, Charly Boy Oputa has been taking care of family business in Oguta, Imo State, seeing to it that his late father, legal icon, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa got a befitting ascension ceremony to the great beyond. And what a great job he has made of it!

Continously, the superstar has been sharing pictures of events, rightly cataloguing the special moments on his Instagram page.

On Thursday he shared a picture of himself and daughter having a joyride

Hajia Liz Anjorin shows off bikini body in a convertble sports car through the streets of Oguta town.

ny of Anjorin converted to Islam, ma hen popular Yor uba actress, Liz stood s res act the but f, e and disbelie her fans welcomed it with outrag to dy rea ’t isn she n isio well-thought out dec her ground, declaring it was a go back on. recently are s that surfaced on the Internet But some pictures of the actres lity time in qua et qui a s was shown having anything but Islamic. The actres an still wom this , ber em eria for sure. Rem Nig in not ch bea e som on ini bik may be just a one-off caper. goes around in her Hijab. This

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Banke Adewunmi acquires Porsche Cayenne

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eautiful light-skinned Yoruba actress, Banke Adewunmi must be eating out of a honey jar these days. Even though she is not a household name yet, the actress has done wonderfully well by herself.

She recently acquired a Porsche Cayenne sports car that must have set her back by some millions. No wonder she was proud to say she wouldn’t sleep with anybody for a movie role. Could she be making a living elsewhere?

PAGE 16 — SUNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, JULY 13, 2014

TRIBUTE The homeboy, Mike Omeri, @ 50

Mike Omeri

BY MARK ELAYO

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HIS year is remarkable for our group of boys who hail from Keana, in Nassarawa State. Some of our boys are reaching the age of 50, the point many of us will take time to reflect on our lives in the past five decades.

On Monday, it will be the turn of Mike Omeri, Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to seize the spotlight to tell the story of our struggles at the glorious dawn of post- civil war Nigeria, Though he has chosen to make it a completely quiet one, for very good reasons, life for many us has been really interesting, The reason for the quiet day is reflective of the mindset of many of our people in that generation. It is the Ramadan period of fasting when true Muslims seek Allah’s forgiveness through prayers and long fasting.

Therefore, throwing any party at this time does not fit into the mould cast several years ago in Maiduguri, where he grew up and went to school.

Secondly, Omeri, as the spokesman of government on the insurgency in some parts of the country, should not be seen to be celebrating when the Chibok girls are still out there in the cold grip of a ruthless sect, that is busy setting back the advances of our civilization. Like his birthday mates, Miss Malala of Pakistan and the late amazon, Dora Akunyili, would want, this is the occasion to put more pressure on the ruthless group to listen to the world call and release the girls.

Omeri story is fairly simple to tell. But it reflects the opportunities

Omeri story is fairly simple to tell. But it reflects the opportunities of those days, the limitations of Nigeria and aspirations of our generation of those days, the limitations of Nigeria and aspirations of our generation. The story starts in Mubi, in today’s Adamawa State where he was born and named Michael Omeri AgboOmeri, though a native of Keana, Nasarawa State.

Son of a former police officer, he had his education in various parts of the North-east, completing his primary education at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Maiduguri from 1970 to 1977. Between 1977 and 1982, he was at Government Technical College, Gindiri and Government Teacher ’s College, Zawan before proceeding to the University of Maiduguri, graduating with a Bachelor ’s of Arts Degree in Mass Communication with Second Class (Honours), Upper Division in 1988.

In his quest for further education, he went to Kenya in 1990 and obtained a Certificate in Information, Education and Communication (IEC) from the Centre for African Family Studies.

In 1992, he obtained a Master’s of Arts Degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Faculty of Law, University of Jos. Omeri has served the nation in several

capacities. From being a class teacher at Keana South Primary School to being an industrial relations officer at Jos Steel Rolling Company, he rose through the ranks of the Parenthood Federation of Nigeria to become the State Manager of the organization in Plateau State.

He was Director of Press Affairs of old Plateau State. He was a p p o i n t e d Commissioner, Ministry of Social Development, Youths and Sports, Nasarawa State from 1996 to 1997 and later Commissioner, Ministry of Information, Youths and Culture, Nasarawa State in November 1997.

In February 1998, he was appointed Nasarawa State Commissioner of Works, Housing and Transport. Between 1999 and 2003, he worked for the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria as Public Relations Manager; Nasarawa State Controller; and Secretariat Manager at the Head Office in Abuja.

He worked as a Partner Consultant, Poly/ Investment with Gulf of Guinea Consulting Ltd, Abuja from 2005 to 2008 before he was appointed Special Adviser to the Senate President on Political and Governmental Matters in 2008, a position he held till 2011. It was in recognition of his meritorious service to the nation and his wealth of experience that President Goodluck Jonathan, on the 16th of January, 2012 appointed him Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA).

A holder of the traditional chieftaincy titles of Obowu of Keana and Egben Weda of Ogori Land, Omeri has left nothing to chance in repositioning the NOA for the full actualization of the agency’s mandate.

What will be story of the future as Omeri starts the journey of another 50 years in service to our fatherland?

My projection is that because of him and others like him, the story of our nation in the next generation will that of transformation. Happy birthday, the Obowu. * Elayo is a prince of the Keana.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 17

EDO HOUSE OF WAR Will the police, G9 bow to court?

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

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HAT has happened in Edo State in the past one month could be likened to the popular saying that when two elephants fight, is the grass suffers. The political gladiators in the state have been at war even though, unlike other states where the governorship election is expected to hold in 2015, Edo guber race will come up in 2016. But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, which strenghtened with the entrance of some former All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders such as Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, intends to create an environment that could assist in ousting Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s APC in 2016.

APC’s problem started with internal crisis after those who lost out during the party ’s registration and the subsequent congresses of the party engaged Oshiomhole in war of words, accusing the governor of manipulating the exercise with a view to rendering their various ambitions impotent.

The crisis led to the defection of some of the leaders to the PDP, after they met with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja. Four APC lawmakers, Jude Ise-Idehen, Friday Ogierakhi, Rasaq Momoh and Patrick Osayinmen, were among those who defected to the PDP with Ize-Iyamu. With this number, the PDP lawmakers became eight in the 24 member-House of Assembly.

The situation gave the PDP in Edo, led by Chief Dan Orbih, the hope that it can dismantle the Oshiomhiole political machinery after all. And with Ize-Iyamu who has been in APC and back to PDP where he was during the tenure of Governor Lucky Igbinedion as Secretary to the State Government (SSG), on the side of the PDP, it is expected that they will want to test the political dexterity of Oshiomhole who is equally equipped with powerful politicians such as his deputy, Dr Pius Odubu, his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Charles Idahosa, Osarodion Ogie and many others.

Incidentally, Ogie, who is currently the Commissioner for Works in the state, was secretary of Grace Group, formed by Ize-Iyamu, under which platform he used to fix Chief Tony Anenih’s PDP during the tenure of Igbinedion. Ironically, Ogie, a

• Uyi Igbe

• Gov Adams Oshiomhole

very calm politician, that operates under ground, similar to Ize-Iyamu’s political style, may have been the one used

by Oshiomhole to fix Ize Iyamu out of APC. However, the battle line for the soul of the state was drawn after the four lawmakers and their leaders dumped the APC for the PDP. Shortly after their defection, rumours of N50million bribe to the lawmakers with a view to impeaching the governor spread like wild fire. But the lawmakers debunked the allegation and volunteered to take an oath at the palace of the Benin monarch, just as they challenged Oshiomhole to “swear with his children” that they received N50million. But the battle ground shifted to the House of Assembly and, of course, Oshiomhole has his 15 APC die hard loyalists led by the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, the Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu and the Chairman House Committee on Information, Kabiru Adjoto, to check the daring PDP legislators. Fearing that their seats may be declared vacant by the APC dominated House following their defection to the PDP, three of the lawmakers: Ise-Idehen, Osayinmen and Ogierhaki, approached the Federal High Court in Benin on May 9, in suit No FHC/B/CS/48/ 14, wherein they sought and obtained an ex-parte order of interim injunction restraining the Speaker and the legislative arm of government from declaring their seats vacant and/or suspending them pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

The said motion on notice was subsequently argued and, on June 6, Justice A. M. Liman of the Federal

High Court, whilst granting an injunction restraining the Speaker and the House from declaring the seats of the applicants vacant, however refused the prayer for an injunction restraining the applicants from being suspended by the House.

On June 9, the House suspended the four defected members for an indefinite

for the PDP lawmakers, they have the mobile policemen brought from Abuja and neighbouring states to protect them. They always drove into the complex in a bus with heavily armed mobile policemen. And following their refusal to comply with the suspension order, the leadership of the House went to the High Court where they

Shortly after their defection, rumours of N50million bribe to the lawmakers with a view to impeaching the governor spread like wild fire. But the lawmakers debunked the allegation and volunteered to take an oath at the palace of the Benin monarch, just as they challenged Oshiomhole to “swear with his children” that they received N50million period for misconduct. But the suspended members, led by the then Deputy Speaker, Ebea, described the suspension as illegal, saying it was a with hunt because they joined the PDP and vowed not to obey the suspension. Heavy security was mounted at Ring Road area where the Assembly complex is located and environs making road users and businesses in the heart of Benin City to suffer.

Edo State Commissioner of Police, Foluso Adebanjo, temporarily relocated to the Assembly complex.

Unfortunately for the PDP lawmakers, some youths and women solidly behind the governor kept vigil around the Assembly waiting for an opportunity to pounce on the suspended lawmakers. Luckily

got an injunction restraining the four, the Edo Police Command and the AIG Zone 5, from entering the Assembly complex. But the lawmakers described the injunction as fake and even threatened to beat up the court bailiff who served them the order at the gate of Assembly.

Following the destruction of some parts of the Assembly complex, the House decided to move to the old Assembly complex at the Government House, Benin-City to conduct proceedings. On Monday, July 7, the suspended Deputy Speaker, Ebea, was impeached by 16 members of the House.

But his defection to the PDP in the heat of the crisis took the number of the PDP lawmakers in the House to nine. The

lawmaker representing Esan Central constituency, Victor Edoror, emerged as new Deputy Speaker.

But while the Assembly complex renovation was still on, the PDP lawmakers, aided by the police, on July 7, allegedly broke into the place where they sat. When the APC lawmakers came, the police refused them entry. The PDP lawmakers threatened journalists mainly from the print media not to come in or, according to one of them, “we will ask the police to throw you across the fence”. As if that was not enough, the police chased away workers of the Assembly and those working on the renovation work. The officer leading them even threatened to shoot Speaker Igbe if he tried to challenge their mission.

But the angry APC lawmakers stormed out and challenged the police officer to shoot all of them. As the argument between the APC lawmakers and the policemen raged on, the impeached Deputy Speaker of the House, Ebea, described the complex, renovation as illegal, saying it was an attempt by the APC to stop them from sitting. “Besides the renovation was not in the budget. And I am the chairman of the House Committee on Tenders Board and no body contacted me about the renovation”, he said.

The PDP lawmakers insisted that the House should return to the status quo ante or there will be no peace. However, while the 15 APC lawmakers now sit at the old Assembly complex, the nine PDP legislators sit at the Ring Road complex which is currently without roof due to the ongoing renovation work.

Reacting to the situation in a Continues on page 18

PAGE 18—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014

EDO HOUSE OF WAR Will the police, G9 bow to court?

Continued from page 17 press conference, last Wednesday, Speaker Igbe said, “It is instructive that in their arrogance and boastful manner these renegade PDP legislators, actively supported (rather unfortunately) by the police, have been cheered on by PDP leaders and godfathers who have openly boasted of their federal might and presidential connections. As legitimate representatives of the people of Edo State, as responsible law makers, and as peace loving citizens; we have no wish to see our state turned into a battle field where the PDP and their agents seek to gain by force, intimidation and threats the political victory they couldn’t secure in open, free and fair electoral contests conducted serially over the past seven years across Edo State.

We wholeheartedly condemn the

continuing display of naked aggression and power show by those who believe that they control the organs of state power.

We urge the Inspector General of Police to call his officers and men to order and ask all concerned to note that the only legitimate authority for the resolution of all disputes is the Judiciary whose orders and directives must be scrupulously enforced by “all persons and authorities” in Nigeria”., Also reacting to the situation at Assembly when he received over 2000 youths across Edo who paid him a solidary visit, Oshiomhole, who declared as uncharitable the refusal by the suspended lawmakers to obey the court order, warned that market women and youths of the state may assist the police in enforcing the court order if the situation does not change.

Appeal Court blow However, after failing to obey the injunction slammed on them by the Benin High Court, the four suspended lawmakers ran to the Appeal Court in Benin seeking an order for a stay of execution on the injunction restraining them from entering the Assembly premises. The Appeal Court ruling came, last Thursday, and it turned out a major blow for the Edo PDP and its embattled lawmakers. The court dismissed the application for stay of execution.

Hon Justice Morounkeji Ogunwunmiju, who read the ruling on behalf of two other judges, ruled that “the said suspended members could not seek any relief from the Court of Appeal while they were in contempt or disobedience of the Order of the High Court.”

Ogunwunmiju said a party in contempt of a positive order of court cannot be allowed to seek

or obtain any relief from the Court while the contempt persists.

The court further held that a party who believes that an order against him was made without jurisdiction is still bound to obey same until it is set aside. The court was of the opinion that the application for stay of execution was premature as the four suspended legislators should have allowed the High Court to hear and determine the motion on notice rather than rushing to the Appeal Court.

Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the PDP lawmakers, Fred Orbih (SAN), said they will study the judgment and react appropriately.

Ken Mozia (SAN), counsel to Speaker Igbe and Edo Assembly, described the ruling as a good omen for democracy.

“Now the court has said that they have a duty to obey the order of the court restraining them from going to the premises and that you cannot be in disobedience of the court order and you come to taunt the court because perhaps you think that order was not made validly”, Mazia said.

“The effect of it is that the order restraining them is now re-

emphasised and there is no further bar to the continuation of the committal proceedings against them as long as they remain in contempt. That is the purport of this ruling. It is up to the police authorities to decide how they want to be remembered. “They have a duty to comply with the law.

The High Court has spoken, they did not comply. Now, the Court of Appeal has removed every vestige of justification that they may have.

Now they have been told in clear terms that the parties restrained must comply with the order, let us see what they will do.

“The police is supposed to maintain order and enforce court orders. Incidentally the police are part of the parties restrained, so they cannot feign ignorance of it.

But if they choose to continue to block the Speaker and others from accessing their offices and allow a faction to go and sit, it is up to them; every body has a choice to make. I believe the police are reasonable people. This is the Court of Appeal and I believe that the police will not deliberately disobey the implications of this order which is to say that the order must be complied with”.

The Uduaghan poverty-reduction lesson for other states, by Hon. Tebite *’My third term bid’

BY FESTUS AHON OLOROGUN Taleb Tebite is the member representing Ughelli South Constituency in Delta State House of Assembly. He is a native of Okpare-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.

In this interview, Tebite speaks on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration and his development initiatives.

Excerpts: How has Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan touched the life of the poor in Delta?

Before now, poverty played a major role in the life of the people in Delta State. And as you are aware, it is caused by many factors which include corruption, greed, indiscipline and lack of patriotism by inept political leaders.

The policies, programmes and projects articulated by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan are targeted at poverty reduction.

The many macro and micro projects by the governor direct bearing on the lives of the people in health, security and in particular poverty reduction, job and wealth creation. They provide ample evidence which stimulates a catalyst for agricultural revolution being a fundamental pre-condition for economic development. Candidly, poverty reduction is a major key to development.

The operational coverage is fair, universal, transparent and equitable. The distribution and utilization of available resources are equitable. There is no discrimination or apathy on the part of government officials and the citizenry. Youth restiveness, joblessness and issues associated with insecurity have correspondingly declined.

Governor Uduaghan apparently knows how to get things properly done, is versed in modern management practices, well groomed and is an emotionally intelligent individual. Delta, in terms of poverty reduction, policy and

The distribution and utilisation of available resources are equitable. There is no discrimination or apathy on the part of government officials and the citizenry visible projects on poverty reduction, represents good governance in Nigeria. Other states should emulate Delta. This policy must be sustained and the regular execution of vital projects must be consistently reinforced. The good news is that good governance in a democracy is dynamic, pro-active, allows free participation, and advocates freedom of choice and the right to seek power by all qualified people. Indeed, the general development of Delta and Nigeria and the real progress of Nigerians will be quickly achieved from the well-being of Nigerian people as a result of good policies, serious poverty reduction, improved levels of health, opportunities for employment by earning a fair reward (wages) for labour, access to qualitative education and adequate security for lives and property. The actualization of the inspirational programmes and projects in Delta in poverty reduction by the governor for poverty alleviation has made his achievements attestable, real, tangible, visible and ubiquitous.

There is this saying that there water everywhere in Delta but none to drink. What is your view on this?

That is not true because over 400 water projects are fully functional in virtually all the

communities in the state. The state government has spent a huge amount of money on the maintenance of several water schemes across the state.

A lawmaker supposed to oversight the executive arm.

Why is it that you are always commending Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who happens to be the head of the executive arm?

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is not only the head of the executive arm but the number one citizen of this state in terms of administration, so he deserves all the support. And as a representative of my people I have their mandate to praise the governor when he is doing well so that we can get more. So I will continue to praise him for doing what is right for the state and Ughelli South local government.

If he is not a performer I stand to be challenged. A man that has done all that and still doing, you are asking me why I am singing his praise? I can go to any length to sing his praises. There is nothing wrong for me to sing praises of Governor Uduaghan’s developmental strides in Delta. I do not want to join issues with people who are anti-developmental. This governor means well for his people, and I have said it repeatedly that by the time he completes his tenure by ending well and strong, people will come to appreciate this man ‘Emmanuel’, as the name implies, ‘God is with us’, and the people of Ughelli South Local Government Area that I represent will forever remain grateful to the administration. Don’t forget, he gave us the deputy governor, commissioners, SSA and several other appointments too numerous to mention. So, I am singing his praises based on the performances on ground, which you can see everywhere in the state.

There is this insinuation that you have succumbed to run for third term in order to satisfy the clamour of majority of your con-

Olorogun Taleb Tebite stituents who urged you to run?

It became obvious to me that majority of my constituents wanted me to run for a third term, especially after they held a meeting in the council area where a vote of confidence was passed on me for delivering democracy dividends. So it gives me joy when people say ‘Olorogun Taleb Tebite, we want you again’. What else do you want me to say rather than to thank God for my modest way of living? I stand for my people and if these same people are saying that they want me, what else than to say yes to their clarion call for me to run for third term. I seek development and progress for my people because we are in a democratic era. And for you to enjoy democracy, you must have to do things for your people. And that is why I say yes!

Despite the fact that they said I have performed well, I feel there is need to do more. I want to do more and I need the support of government to do more for my people. Thank God I have Deputy Governor Amos Agbe Utuama from my local government area, I appreciate him for all he has been doing for us. I also want to thank Governor Uduaghan, the State PDP chairman, Barr. Peter Nwaboshi and our father, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, for mak-

ing the party one and stronger.

And I want to say that whoever Governor Uduaghan will support for governor come 2015 is where I will pitch my political tent.

People talk about zoning. Has there been zoning of appointive and elective positions in your local government area?

There had never been any time in my local government area when the issue of zoning was discussed. I have been in the House for two terms now, I have never heard of it. There could be agitations but not to the knowledge of members and leaders of the local government area. Even during the days of the Mokpos, Omonemus and Ewheridos of blessed memory, he (the late Ewherido) contested the local government chairmanship with Dr. A. P Fovie, a great man of high repute. They fought gallantly for it and, at the end, Fovie defeated Ewherido, and the late Senator Pius Ewherido went to the drawing board and contested strongly with the late Matthew Alibor, and Ewherido defeated Alibor from the Ughievwen axis. In my own election, Hon. Jacob Tone contested against me and even took me to court. Is Hon. Tone not an Ughievwen man?

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 19

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D

r Walton Liverpool is the Ex ecutive Secretary, Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board.

In this interview with Jimitota Onoyume, he speaks on why Governor Seriake Dickson ordered that the primary school attended by President Goodluck Jonathan in Otuoke, Bayelsa State be rebuilt. He dismisses the allegation by some members of his board that he operates as a sole administrator.

It is like there is in-fighting in the Bayelsa SUBEB. What is the problem really?

We came on board on August 6, 2012.

And when the governor was sworn-in, he declared a state of emergency in the education sector. There have been massive infrastructural development in the school system in the state. The governor started by paying N1.8 billion as counterpart fund for 2011 and 2012.

Equivalent amount was brought from the Federal Government amounting to N3.6 billion.

With that we started construction. We constructed 200 head masters quarters from SUBEB fund and another 200 from the Ministry of Education. This is across the state. It is two-bedroom flats for the headmasters and there is also provision for teachers in the apartment who may wish to reside there.

We have also renovated over 400 primary schools across the state. We have the mega school projects awarded by the previous administration in 2011 but none of them was executed. People got contract awards. Some started up to DPC level and ran away. Now we have completed 20 out of the 25 mega school projects.

We have three per local government.

But Yenagoa being the state capital has seven of the schools slated for the area.

People call me all sorts of names that I am running the place like a sole administrator. I want to use this opportunity to say that all they are saying is not correct.

Those saying that are doing so out of ignorance, including some of my board members. There is a difference between part-time board and a full time board. Before now the board was full time with an Executive Chairman and a Secretary, but when this government came on board, to enhance efficiency, it decided to change the law to have an Executive secretary in the board while other members will be part time. And this has yielded fruitful result. The Executive Secretary is the Chief Accounting Officer of the board and is in charge of the day to day running of the place while the other board members are part-time members. They come when there is board meeting. The Executive Secretary of the board implements decisions taken at the board meetings.

Some of the members want to be like full time board members which is not provided for by the law. This is why I am accused of running the office like mine.

They want a situation where if I want to query a teacher for not going to work I should take permission from them which is not so because I have the right to query a teacher and stop the salary of a teacher that abandon his or her duty post. These are the things I do and they quarrel with it. The board has met so far for 14 times.

The minutes are there. If we have emergency I can summon emergency meetings. I am not the Chairman that presides over the meetings. I only brief the meetings on our activities. For the fact that I run the office for a period of three or four months before we meet I must brief the meeting on what had been done which is mandatory. This briefing I do make some

The President’s school being rebuilt. Inset: Dr. Walton Liverpool

Inside President Jonathan’s primary school •The problem with Bayelsa SUBEB board members,

by Liverpool, Executive Secretary It is not true that pupils are sitting on bare floor to learn. The day I visited the school, there were extra seats packed in a room say I only come to brief.

What happened to the State School 1, Otuoke, the primary school attended by President Goodluck Jonathan?

The governor directed that the school be pulled down and a new one built.

They are de-roofing now and work has started. The governor also directed that this time the school should be a storey building. About three weeks ago I supplied 200 chairs and tables to the school.

It is not true that pupils are sitting on bare floor to learn. The day I visited the school, there were extra seats packed in a room. In Otuoke we have a mega project where they have 23 toilets in a school.

There is toilet in the president’s school but it is bad. It is located behind the class rooms. With the instruction the governor gave now, anything needed in the school will be there. We have

made arrangement to build teachers’ quarters in the school. The school was never abandoned. Asbestos is used for the ceiling of the classrooms. Children play ball as you know, so they broke some of the schools roofing sheets. Most of the doors and windows of the school are also broken because they are made of wood. That the newspapers published the state of the school made the governor to say they should pull it down. By the time they finish renovation of the school, it will be one of the best in the country. That photograph you saw in that paper of the school was arranged. No child sits on the floor in Otuoke schools.

We have cases of teachers in rural areas not going to work. How do you deal with this situation?

Rural area schools cannot have the same number of teachers with urban schools. There are more students in urban schools. It is one teacher to 35 students in primary schools; we post teachers by ratio. There are some schools with just 80 pupils in some villages.

From the creation of Bayelsa till now, no recruitment has been made at the primary school level. It is just recently that the governor said he wanted to employ. The problem is only at the primary school level. There are migrant fishermen schools with only four pupils.

For my sector, teachers in the rural areas are enough because we don’t have much population in the rural areas.

There are teachers in Yenagoa who will not go to work for six months. And when I hear, I stop their salaries. Some are in Lagos, Port Harcourt. Then when ever they don’t see bank alerts they appear.

When they come I force them to go back to work before I order release of their salaries. I am performing my legitimate

functions. Even the public service rule says that any civil servant who absconds from duty for three days without permission is tantamount to dismissal. But we don’t do that. We only sanction yet some people say a chief executive officer does not have the power to sanction an erring staff. I was a pioneer member of the board when I was state Chairman of NUT and have also been Secretary of the board before I came in now as Executive Secretary.

So nobody can tell me about SUPEB. Some of the members are bankers appointed into the board.

The problem my board members have is that they want to run the board with me as full time members. They wanted me to even assign offices to them which the law did not make provision for. It is only full time board members that have such offices.

I was in Abuja for meeting. While I was there,I got calls that Chairman had summoned a meeting. It is not her duty.

She is supposed to direct me to summon a meeting. I had to ask if she was summoning the meeting as a personal meeting because a part time Chairman cannot summon a meeting and sign.

Rather she directs me to do. I have had 14 different awards since I assumed office in appreciation of what we area doing.

When we came on board, Bayelsa was the least performing state in the whole country, it was 37th in ranking as at August 2012. But under me it has moved from that 37th position to 10th in the country. By the grace of God, we are looking at 1st to 3rd because we are doing more things. By the time we finish our projects, I don’t see any state that will beat us.

PAGE 20— SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

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‘They gave us new kidneys’ •Beneficiaries’ testimonies on Ondo Medical Village

BY ESAN FASUA

G

OT kidney problem?

Don’t hop into that US/Europe-bound plane. Go to Ondo! Yes, the Kidney Care Centre located within the Medical Village, Laje, Ondo, Ondo State.

Learn from the many mighty men who have fallen in this clime, in search of elusive cure in foreign lands.

Established in 2013, the centre is blazing the trail in kidney care by producing the first renal dietician in Nigeria, and it is the only dialyses centre for both HIV and hepatitis patients in the country.

The facilities are simply unbelievable. When you land in the Medical Village, amazement gives way to stupefaction, and stupefaction to joy. Why? The charges, as pointed out by the state Commissioner for Information, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, are “ridiculously cheap for kidney patient to enable them live a fulfilled life.” This is because kidney care has already been heavily subsidized by Ondo State government. The emphasis is Life More Abundant, the Obafemi Awolowo way. On parade are eminently qualified personnel, including Dr Akinfaderin D.A and Kolawole O.J of the National Postgraduate College of Medicine; Drs A.N Fasanu and Adewale O.S of the West Africa College of Physicians, Dr Adebayo of the West Africa College of Surgeons. The centre operates an exchange programme where its staff would go abroad to be trained. What is more? Your services are needed if you are a cardiologist, a neurologist, a chemical pathologist, or an urologist.

From the consulting room, to the health information department, conference room, female ward (10-bed facility), male ward, call room, laboratory, lounge, dialysis points, control room (for education), blood bank, isolation dialysis unit and the VIP suite, medicine ward

(80-bed), renal kitchen and general kitchen, it is a world of classy facilities. A patient, Ayeku Oluwole, testified to the efficiency of the centre’s staff : “They’re taking good care of me. Kidney problem is very hard but they are really trying. I went home last week and returned. The doctors have really tried.

What they have done for me is like giving me new kidneys. In fact, all the workers in this hospital are very good.”

Another patient, Mr Godwin Anoke, concurred in Pidgin English: “They take care of me very well o, because, according to them, when I came here, I didn’t even know myself. I didn’t know I was here. It was after four days that I discovered that I was in hospital.

My body is very, very fine now. Even this morning, I have gone out more than three times. Mr Governor himself came here the day before yesterday. I don dey spend almost seven days here now. By the grace of God, small time now, I go go home.

From right: Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Dayo Adeyanju(with microphone), showing the Senate President David Mark the facilities at the Ondo Medical Village where the kidney centre is situated, as Governor Olusegun Mimiko watches.

When many people have pains, they use pain relievers. At the end of a day’s work, many go to the chemist for over-the-counter drugs, leaving adverse effects on their kidneys. And there is also the question of lifestyle, particularly dieting. Many Nigerians love the intestines of animals, which research has shown to contain abnormal fat and thus cause kidney diseases.

There is also cigarette smoking. That is why the hospital staff visit communities and look for the risk factors, collecting and analyzing data, and coun-

Many Nigerians love the intestines of animals, which research has shown to contain abnormal fat and thus cause kidney diseases Dr Akinbodewa Akinwumi, the Chief Medical Director of the Kidney Care Centre, explained that the place is a highly specialized centre with a three-pronged focus: one, primary prevention of kidney diseases, meaning outreach, community screening for markers of chronic kidney disease, and also risk factors such as hypertension. It is involved in pure awareness, counseling and search for those things that can cause kidney diseases: things like the use of drugs in irrational ways.

seling people.

But then, the main function of the hospital:, for those who already have the kidney disease, it must make prompt and accurate diagnosis, to give prompt and accurate treatment. Still, dialysis, interestingly, is not a major work of the nephrology hospital but a subsection of it, which explains why the hospital is called Kidney Care Centre. Then the third focus of the hospital, which is linked to the first, is research. And that’s where it collaborates with other

centres home and abroad. .

The staff include doctors, nurses (general nurses and dialysis nurses); dieticians, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, medical lab scientists, health information managers, who come into play when the centre gathers data through research.

Indeed, since it started admission on March 13, it has recorded 39 admissions and conducted over 80 dialysis sessions, with a total of 105 patients The patronage, according to Akinbodewa, “has been wonderful.” He added, “If you look at the sessions on dialysis, over 80 has been done in just over six weeks, roughly at the rate of two sessions per day, for a centre that is just starting. When you look at the progression, it is likely going to escalate over the next few months. In fact, as it is, we had to write the government to post more staff here.”

On the parts of Ondo State that are not easily accessible, Akinbodewa said: “We have a list that we’ve drawn up (with the map of Ondo State), dividing the state into senatorial districts. If you look at the map, Ondo town is like the centre, strategically located; so if you want to move south or east, you can do so. This hospital is strategically located for outreach. From each senatorial district, we pick two local government areas periodically (quarterly), so that we can cover the state within a year.

Ondo State is probably the only state in Nigeria that has data on all its indigenes.

That’s our goal.”

The hospital has not been commissioned yet, but it has already recorded landmarks. Indeed, as the CMD quipped: “The Medical Village is designed for one purpose: medical tourism. That is why you find that the facilities you see here are second to none in Nigeria. In the standards of operation and personnel, it is also second to none. Our doctors here are not just medical officers. Two of our doctors are members of the Postgraduate College of Nigeria, some are members of the West African College of Physicians. It is a confidence booster that these are not just general practitioners, but also specialists in training. There are two consultant nephrologists here, we have three dieticians, two social workers, two clinical psychologists.

Now, that’s peculiar because the care of the kidney patients is under the auspices of a team and the team is made up of the nephrologists, renal dieticians. It is important to note that this is the centre where we have produced the first renal dietician in Nigeria. That’s significant because at the last Nigerian Association of Nephrology meeting, she joined the association and she’s already working on kidney patients. Next year, by the grace of God, she will be making presentations at that association.”

A visit to the centre will change your perception of kidney care in Nigeria.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 21

Mandela’s invisible hand is with us — Graca Machel, widow * Speaks on Mandiba, women and newborns

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE Graca Machel needs no introduction. Her commitment and leadership achievements to maternal and child health stand her out from the crowd.

A humanitarian, renowned international advocate for women’s and children’s rights, and a social and political activist, Graca is an icon.

She is the only woman in global history to have been First Lady of two countries.

She was First Lady of Mozambique from 1975 to 1986 and the First Lady of South Africa from 1998 to 1999.

She has also been widowed twice. She is widow of former Mozambican President Samora Machel, and also widow of former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

Ranked among the top 100 women, activists and campaigners and the top 100 most influential people, Graca is a key player in the post2015 development agenda.

Currently she is Chair of the Partnership for Maternal and Newborn Child Health, PMNCH, Board.

In a recent encounter with the legendary activist, Graca spoke about salient issues of maternal and newborn health. It was on June 30, 2014, during the opening of the PMNCH 2014 meeting in Sandton, Johannesburg. She also opened up on her late husband, Nelson Mandela, for the first time in public.

Since the late sage passed on, Graca had maintained a stoic silence.

There was never a doubt she loved her husband and loved him deeply.

Even in the bid to achieve the MDGs, she truly cared for the world’s icon, and was with him till the end.

FIRST TIME OUT “This is the first time I stand on a stage like this after what has been the most disheartening event of my life. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you and thank you,” she began.

Graca said her thanks was particularly to the millions of children who took the trouble to write to Madiba while he was sick and to the millions of people who took the trouble to pray in every corner of the globe for him to be better.

*Mandela and Machel MESSAGES FOR MANDELA “We received countless messages of love kindness and appreciation for his love.

Finally when he passed on, I’m told, that literarily every TV station focused on his life and legacy. I know if Madiba had been here, he would have said thank you to every single gesture that was made on his behalf.”

Expressing thanks, appreciation and value for them all, she remarked: “I want to thank the world for him and also to thank everybody on my own behalf. Of course he was under my own level of love and support, yet so much valued your love as well. I’m thanking everybody in this country, in Africa, and all over the world.

“On behalf of our family, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, we say thank you. It is appropriate to do it while we are discussing women and children who have been so close to his heart and it was when he turned 90, addressing a crowd in London, he already told each one of us that now, it is in our hands.

“So I want to say while we are doing this on our own behalf, we are also having an invisible hand that is supporting our efforts. Because that is a gathering and a partnership he would very much want to support and work with.”

UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP On the PMNCH agenda,

which she described as a unique partnership, Graca said she joined it in the belief that when we care enough to act together we can achieve better results and a greater impact.

“Partnerships have helped us halve the number of children under-fives who die from largely preventable diseases each year and almost halved the number of children out of school.”

In her view, it has taken almost 25 years to achieve the current level of success.

“But it is not good enough.

There are still six million

generations and physical, political and social gaps of our nations.

“We see these preventable tragedies day after day. The contribution this partnership can make in making the world a better place, is the responsibility of each and every one of us. As we gather, we draw on the lessons learned from the MDGs to date, we strategise on what we must do in the 500 days ahead remaining to realise the MDGs and in the vision of the UN Secretary General, every woman every child initiative.

So I want to say while we are doing this on our own behalf, we are also having an invisible hand that is supporting our efforts. Because that is a gathering and a partnership he would very much want to support and work with children dying each year from preventable diseases.

Education is important for good health and wellbeing, yet there are still 60 million children out of school.”

GENDER DISPARITY She argued that what we can only describe as an epidemic of violence against girls and women across the globe is creating a gender disparity that undermines future

“We continue to build consensus for our transition from the MDGs to new development agenda that ensure that women, newborns, children and adolescents are at center of our post 2015 framework.”

She said, using learning from the MDGs to strengthen impact in proudut to launch at this forum, the Every newborn action plan and the Countdown 2014 Report: “This is our vision around the

continuum of care, putting necessary focus on quality of care at birth. The 5.5 million deaths and stillbirths occurring every year make up the single largest group of deaths in the unfinished MDG agenda.

“With all our knowledge, technology, resources, that we have at hand, how on earth can we continue to allow the youngest and most vulnerable of our societies to die as if they do not count?”

Graca explained that the plan uses home-grown knowledge and experience to address what needs to be done by whom and how. In her view, partnership is at the heart of the plan developed by more than 50 organisations, using evidence to lead advocacy putting a spotlight on the most urgent issues and promoting accountability.

“Today we can achieve a world in which there are no preventable deaths of newborns, where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth celebrated and women, babies and children survive, thrive and reach gainful potential.”

Her insight into the Countdown 2015 Report is revealing.

It contains good news, and the unfinished businesses on maternal and newborn health. “There is too much of that for us to continue with business as usual. Less than half of the countries will achieve MDGs 4 and 5 as well as highlights the inequities and means of reaching the unreached.”

Nevertheless, Graca sees more determination in the world working together to end preventable deaths and promote healthy life.

“We have 500 days to reach the MDGs, to build on the leadership such as high impact health investments, family planning, nutrition, promotion of adolescent health, among others. We need to keep the new development framework as people centered. We should make it a reality in our lives, countries and regions. We have to create that social; pact, to save every single life possible in every country, nobody should be left behind. It is my hope that when we go back home we will focus on how each of us will make a real difference everyday.

We must do more and do better. Each of as individuals, organisations and as collective actors, must push, and push and push some more.

We still have 500 days to make a difference, everyday counts, every action counts, every life counts. We have achieved a great deal but there is so much more to do.

We need more action because every action counts.”

PAGE 22— SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

Email: vanguardwoman@gmail.com

...roadside food vendors have to be taught, in very simple terms, how to handle food

Why I preach food safety

that’s to show that a good caterer doesn’t have to be a graduate. I’m not an advocate for shutting down roadside food joints but for teaching vendors because they have to survive.

—Kehinde Daniel, Kots Catering boss

Alternatives

A cooler is a vehicle for transporting food from point A to B. When you get to point B, you have to transfer the food into serving dishes or some equipment that produce heat, to keep the food hot. Food safety awareness in Nigeria so poor that we even see people hawking food inside plastic containers under the heat. That food has been compromised already. This applies also to fruits. The rule says you must keep hot food hot and cold food cold.

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

A

food safety consultant with experience spanning over 30 decades in hotel and catering services, Mrs.Kehinde Daniel believes that the myriad of problems bugging the health of Nigerians stem from ignorance concerning food safety. A Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, UK, Nigerian Chapter, Kehinde who is Managing Director, Kots Catering Nigeria Limited, tells us more in this interview.

Passion for hospitality management

F

ROM my secondary school days, I knew I wanted to work in the hospitality industry. So, my first stint was at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos where I was an apprentice for six months. I thereafter went to England where I studied Hospitality Management for four years. I worked abroad for another two years before coming to do my national youth service in Nigeria.

Then, I decided I was going into the catering arm of the industry to make a difference and change things as much as I can.

Loopholes in catering services

I’ve worked for over 30 years and now, I believe it’s time to give back because I see there’s so much to learn and implement. In my company for example, we constantly train our workers.

What I am therefore doing now is extending this training to bigger establishments so as to reach out to more people.

There’s a lot to be done in the industry.

Poor food handling

The basic rule is that food must be prepared under hygienic condition and in hygienic ways for human consumption. But if you look around, you will be disappointed by the way people go about with food services. There are certain rules and processes to be followed, which are easy to implement though they might involve some expenses. Once imbibed

*Kehinde

though, things soon become cheap.

Roadside food

A lot of people die from food poisoning and nobody is curious about the reasons, such as the ingestion of unclean food or water. I’m an advocate for roadside food vendors because as Nigerians, it has become part of our heritage. Beside, people say they’re tastier.

We however need to teach these vendors proper hygiene, such as why they should wear clean clothes, cook in clean environments, keep utensils clean and make sure food is covered

and hot at all times.

There’re so many things they still need to understand.

Wrong use of food coolers

For instance, they store food in coolers. You can cook a clean food but the handling of that food can cause contamination. They keep opening and closing the coolers, thereby reducing the heat. But what

do bacteria need to grow?

Food, warmth and moisture!

So, everything inside those coolers therefore become perfect for bacteria growth.

And once the food cools down, they multiply. That’s one way of promoting food poisoning. So, roadside food vendors have to be taught, in very simple terms, how to handle food. This can be done in whatever language they understand. I employ cooks at different level and

Skills acquisition, talent discovery headline DP women convention

BY PRISCA SAM-DURU

A

LL is now set for the take-off of the Divine Palace International Women Convention tagged “The Prudent Woman” which is slated for the last week of August this year.

The Women Convention, according to the Ministry’s women leader, Pastor (Mrs) Ijeoma Maduekesi, is being organised as part of the divine mandate handed over to the Senior Pastor of the Church which was to “preach the word of deliverance to all nation and prepare the saints for heaven.” By this, she noted that the church decided that each year, there will be conventions designed to

help individuals discover their God given potentials.

Pastor Maduekesi disclosed that the ministry will be “bringing speakers that will speak to women on how to manage their homes, relationship with their husbands, live better lives and affect people in their societies positively. They will be given lessons on how to raise children who will not become problems to the nation.”

She explained that the programme “Will feature seminars and empowerment workshops for the unemployed. They will be taught different skills.

Proverbs says a virtuous woman takes care of her home. So, you will discover that we are in a difficult time in our country and most

women who are graduates are without jobs. Instead of them wasting precious time in search of jobs that may never come, they will be taught how to bake or make small chops, make soaps and detergents, antiseptics and, something to make themselves less dependent.

Also those that require help to start-off will be assisted.”

“We will also engage them in dance, drama and music.

That way, those with talents can have a sense of direction instead of just sitting down and complaining.”

Maduekesi said, adding, “The Church is in full expectation because in previous conventions, God has been wonderful, as evident in the testimonies of participants. Sinners were also converted.”

Succour underway for vulnerable kids

BY ANINO AGANBI & OGECHI OSUAGWU

A

Germany-based charity organisation, Adesuwa, has concluded plans to bring succor to the lives of vulnerable children in Lagos State.

According to Britta Bayerl, an executive of the organisation, Adesuwa will give health education and provide emotional support, alongside catering for the physical needs of the children.

"Currently, we are working with over 500 children in Ogun State. We also give health education and provide them with emotional support.

"This, we also do in a number of countries abroad.

Also, we pay for their school expenses. Our members go to schools and educate the children as well as their parents on Africa and Nigeria in particular. The goal is to build bridges between cultures and to help people abroad understand the traditions and life in Nigeria, especially the good aspects.

"What anybody can do to save the world is to leave their mark in their own little corner and that's what we at Adesuwa are out to do. Adesuwa was founded in Germany after Jennifer Maags, who chaired the organization in 2007", Britta said.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 23

08112662589

Is a call-girl a woman who hates poverty more than sin?

T

ALKS of your body being sa cred have, over the years, turned into something being likened to a lone voice in the wilderness that has gone hoarse. We all once knew of prostitutes as women who looked glamorous in the nights, when the lights were dim but looked like well-groomed death’s heads in the mornings.

But what tags do you pin on them today? (You get them from the lower to the upper classes, the difference really is the package).

Over the years, I’ve come across daring descriptions of prostitution and the reason more women happily rake in the dough with their “money-for-hand back for ground” tactics that I thought I would share some of these views with you this week.

“For the single woman in the 21st century ”, opined Liz, a 32-year-old model, “sex has become so empty and essentially so commercial a transaction (in the wake of the sexual revolution) that her position is tantamount to that of a whore; for a woman who likes to write or do photography or make designer clothes to have to work eight-to

five is a form of prostitution. A sort of slavery to her earning power - and she does it without batting an eye.

“What, I ask you, is wrong with renting your body for two or three shifts per week, when the alternative is a fortyhour-a-week job that makes you so burned out that all you can do is to come home and watch TV at the end of the day?

A call-girl is simply a woman who hates poverty more than she hates sin. I can think of a lot of jobs that are considerably more degrading than sharing an enjoyable evening with an attractive, successful man who is delighted to have you with him and is willing to pay you Naira for your company.

“What runs like a current through all these portraits of the ‘general hooker’ is an idea that society has somehow betrayed the middle-class woman by failing to provide her with a lucrative outlet for her talents. The economic options for women today are not all that extensive. Even for university graduates, it is shameful how few jobs pay adequately in entrylevel positions, particularly if a woman has a liberal education. Some-

how, it is this angry disenchantment with the way things are that turns a lot of women into a sort of ‘avenging angels’.

They seem to be saying: Since society has given us the wrong tools - or the wrong priorities we’re going to misuse what we have: that will really put a spoke in the wheel!”

A ‘professional’ who confessed she couldn’t help herself, couldn’t help enjoying the feeling of power (over men) that sleeping with a man gives her, said that being a pro is just like being a darn good actress: “That’s what is so nice about it” , she said. “You don’t have to feel any-

thing, you don’t have to care about anything. You just lead them by the ring in their nose in the direction that they think they want to go in. You get a lot of money out of them in as short a time as possible and you control it and you call the shots and I always feel just great afterwards.

The slogan these days seem to be join your smart sisters: make money in your sleep!”

Some years back, an American ‘Madam’ who used to run a sin house called Cachet had her ‘gold mine’ raided. After she got busted, she wrote of “the college graduates from stable, upper-middle-class homes” who

worked for her at Cachet.

“Suzanne worked for us between Redcliff and medical school. Barbara, who has a degree in Journalism, joined Cachet after working as an intern for her congressman.

During the day, Alexia was the manager of an American branch of a German business, but at night ... “ According to her: “The new age prostitute has a bank balance instead of an analyst, and a pocket calculator instead of burden of inferiority and guilt ... Prostitution should be legitimized as a perfect reasonable career option for today’s middle-class woman. , Prostitution dates be-

yond the Biblical era when Jesus dared Mary’s accusers to cast the first stone if they weren’t sinners themselves. A rose by any other name might smell just as sweet, but a prostitute who “makes money from her sleep” smells of something rotten. Someone sneered recently that: “Every housewife who reluctantly gives in to her husband’s overtures or fake orgasm for the sake of peace in the matrimonial home is selling her body; only she’s not getting paid for it. She gets other forms of ‘ remunerations’ though .. .”

But surely, there is a small peace of mind in a woman who has only one ‘buyer ’ than one with numerous customers?

The latter will always live with the nightmare of going to any social gathering and mentally ticking off the number of men she has frolicked with. like someone rightly observes: “By making the figure of the prostitute a mouth-piece for society’s worst values and hypocrites (the very things that were created to stand against) we are sort of giving her a heart of gold - which she can never have.

08052201867(Text Only)

Exercise to relieve stress

E

VEN the journey home has con tributed its share in the overall tiredness of the work day. What with all the anxiety over the slow-moving traffic.

Once home you probably go straight to the kitchen for a snack or collapse into a chair for some television viewing.

You are just too tired.

Now, just as there is the need to start off the day with energy-releasing exercises so there is the need to wind down after work.

A fruit to assuage hunger while dinner gets ready is okay. What will not do is a poor combination of food groups which will only put even more stress on your back and exhaust you even more. Another thing, digestion is not helped when eating is done while one is nervous or excited. We must always

try to induce a feeling of calmness in ourselves before settling down for a meal.

For some people a little vigorous exercise does the good job of dispelling work-time worries and providing a new burst of energy. For those not in the mood for energetic work-outs, some stretches like the plough pose, the head-to-knee pose which rely mainly on the forces of gravity such that all you do is assume the posture, take it easy and breathe. No one is asking you to be a Jumping Jack Flash for fifteen minutes. A little mercy on your fatigued body.

But I tell you what. You will be sweetly surprised to find out that simple mild stretching exercises like those mentioned are improving the way you look and feel. And the practice of the dead man’s pose, for say fif-

teen minutes after these exercises will spell astonishing repose of body and mind.

The practice of proper winding down will even set up the body for a good night’s sleep. Or you will find you are not too tired to tango as the case may be!

What stretching does

for you * Stress relief: In a difficult situation your body resorts to the ‘fight of flight’ response, contracting muscles in readiness. The situation gets over but you forget to relax the muscles.

Gradually, this tenseness to stress becomes the norm so that you do not even notice that you are tense. With tension there is a restriction in movement and a loss of youthful agility. * More energy: In contraction muscles cost you

*Exercise for the small of the back

a lot of energy. Once you learn to replace contraction with relaxation of your muscles you save energy for better things. * Improve your digestion: Your internal organs are held in place by muscles. When your muscles are well-toned, they provide better support thereby assisting the functioning of all vital organs. * Better your body tone: Muscles work in antagonistic pains, when one is contracted the other is relaxed. When a muscle is always tensed the antagonist becomes flaccid and bulgy resulting in undesirable physical distortions such as a bulging belly and thighs and sagging bottom. Relax tensed muscles and the flaccid ones will have a chance to tone-up and your overall body tone will improve. * Return of youth grace: With a toning up of weak

muscles and getting rid of extraneous muscle tension there is an improvement in the alignment of your skeletal system. This improved posture means you move with a lot more grace and ease. Here is a ‘hump’ and ‘dip’ exercise for the small of the back.

Kneel down with the hand on the floor without moving the body forward or backward, breathe in dipping the waist till the small of the back is hollow and at the same time raise your head. Breathing out raise the waist drawing in the stomach and dropping the head. Repeat consecutively 4 to 5 times. While you sit on the heels lean forward and support the head on the fists, placed one on the other.

Never you neglect the condition of your spine.

Keep it supple and flexible - always.

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

PAGE 24 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

I could happily trottle his first wife!

F

AMILY birthdays at Daniella’s par ents-in-Iaw ’s house are mandatory but lively ‘affairs, with all the children and grand-children present to wish either Taleb, the patriarch of the family or Evia his wife happy birthday.

“Right from the beginning, I’d found these reunions terrifying,” confessed Daniella. “As time passed through, and my marriage to Franklyn passed the five-year mark, I began to relax, hoping my place as the second wife of my inlaw’s only son was finally established. So you can imagine how distraught I was when Taleb celebrated his birthday and I got a shocker. I was sitting next to the buffet table when my father-inlaw poured himself another generous glass of brandy then asked: “can you pass the plate of chicken Esther?”

Everybody sort of froze for a while. Everyone knows ‘Esther’ is not my name. That it is the name of Franklyn’s first wife.

An embarrassed laugh erupted from a guest and Gift, my sister-in-law, quickly grabbed the chicken bowl and passed it on to her dad. Then Franklyn asked if anyone wanted more wine in rather a loud voice. I have known Franklyn and his family for more than eight years. It pains me to admit it, but such blunders - and they happened more than once still leave me feeling distressed.

“Maybe I should be more generous to Taleb who is just over 70 and can be forgetful. But we visit his house regularly and I help his wife with decorating the house from time to time. I also take him out to my doctor’s once in a while, so

the very least he can do is remember my name.

Sadly, my name is not the name which passes my in-law ’s lips the most. It is Esther ’s. At that birthday, she was again the ghost at the table, warming her way into a family gathering at which she had no place.

“Can the ghost of a first wife ever be exorcised?

When I first came across pictures of Franklyn and Esther together, my heart sank. Flicking through album after photo album, I began to compare her relationship with Franklyn to mine. They were married for nine years and I wondered how I could possibly compete. As I flicked through, they went from boyfriend and girl friend to happily married couple, before becoming the proud parents of a daughter, and then a son - both now in their 20s.

To my envious eyes, they seemed the perfect family.

“I have never dared delve too far into the reasons why she and Franklyn split, but they got together when young and it seems they simply grew apart. It would give me a bit smug victory if Esther was fat, frumpy and past her prime, but she isn’t. Even though she was 15 years older than me, she’s tall, carried her age well and is a university [professor.

She has also guarded her friendship with my husband’s sister, Gift, staying in such contact with her that I could never hope to form my own bond.

“And what does my dear husband have to say about it? Very little.

Though I know I am the love of his life, he is reluctant to take his family to task over Esther and her seemingly privileged

Y

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

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

True friend

Dear Loverboy, a true friend can make anot- her feel happy; like his pal whatever their differences. A

status. How does that make me feel? Disappointed and, once in a while, very nearly murderous! A couple of years ago, when my stepdaughter graduated, .She was all over the place. She made sure she sat everywhere my husband and I sat. Afterall, the graduand is her daughter! She was already seated when we arrived. As soon as we did, she shook my hand and kissed Franklyn on the cheek. It was embarrassing for me.

“After the ceremony, a heavy silence hung between my husband and I on our way home and it took until the next day for me to pluck up the courage to ask if he’d known beforehand that Esther would be there. He said he’d known nothing about it, and we later found out his parents did not tell us because they knew I wouldn’t have gone.

“So the next year, when her son graduated, I told Franklyn I wouldn’t attend if Esther would be

there, and I didn’t. You see, it’s not Esther’s good looks or intellect that really irritates me. She has something I will never have. She gave birth to, and raised his children.

And it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that after years of fertility treatment, I might never have his child. My stepchildren, though lovely, are the product of their marriage. They mean my husbands life will forever be entwined with his exwife’s. I look to the future, to weddings, christenings and grandchildren, and shrink with misery when I think how Esther will dominate them. Sadly, I have no alternative but to avoid them.

“I am constantly reminded of Esther’s status as ‘mother ’ and ‘first wife’ whenever my stepchildren come to stay.

When they visit, their mother often phones. She sends cards and presents which the children must hand over to be passed on to their grand parents.

Esther remarried several

true shares things equally; understands, or tries to understand; gives or helps without being asked. A true friend supports you through bad times; wants what's best for you, not only what's best for himself. Darling, you 've always been a caring and supportive friend and lover. In a world so full of anger, hatred and malice, every one two himself, it's damn too rare to find 'real' friend like you! nobianyor2005@gmail.com

Care for her

If she doesn’t text you It's because she’s waiting for you to text her If she walks away from you madly Follow her

years after she split from Franklyn, but two years ago, her second husband left her. Guess who consoled her during this ordeal? My in-laws!

“While Franklyn sympathises, he tries to keep the peace. I sometimes asked how he would feel if my parents discussed my ex-husband in his company. His response is logical but cuts me to the quick. ‘Why would they talk about your ex?’ he asks. ‘You don’t have children so there’s no reason for him to continue to play any part in your life.’ Slowly, I have come to realise that the ghost of my husband’s oh-so perfect first wife will not go away. I may resent and regret that fact, but I know she will be in my marriage for the rest of my life. I only hope we can survive her presence.”

Unpaid Labour! (Humour) A man arrived home from work to find absolute chaos. As he walked up the garden path he

fell over toys, strewn all over the ground and a broken bottle on the doorstep. Inside, the living room was in uproar. The two small children had up-ended the furniture and pushed over the television. The carpet had food all over it plus an overturned vase of flowers and split glasses of milk. The kitchen was even worse. Dirty dishes covered every work surface, the fridge had been left open so it had defrosted and the cat was sitting on the table eating left-over food.

“Qh no!” he gasped. He was really worried that something had happened to his wife. He raced up the stairs two at a time and rushed into the bedroom. There, sitting up in bed was his wife, reading a book and eating chocolate. “What’s going on?” he asked. “I thought you must be ill”. “Oh no,” she replied, “but when you come in every day and ask me what I did ... well today, I didn’t.”

Hit-and-run Monster?

(Humour} Seeing that the road was clear in both directions, the man began to cross on the zebra crossing. Suddenly, from out of the blue, a car appeared from nowhere and knocked him to the ground. As it sped off, he heard a witch’s cackle.

The man picked himself up as a policeman rushed over to check that he was alright. “Can you tell me anything about the incident?” he asked.

“Did you get a look at the driver?” “I didn’t need to,” he said wearily, “it was my wife.” “But how do you know?” “I’d know that chilling laugh anywhere.”

If she's quiet Ask her what’s wrong If she ignores you Give her your attention If she pushes you away Pull her BACK If you see her crying Wipe her tears & hold her If she says go away Just go close to her & give her a hug If she asks you why you do this Tell her whole heartly with unlimited smiles on your face "Because I love you and I cannot live with-

out you...

Krispiration Onunaku 08032988826/08184844015.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 25

AMID ADAMAWA’S THICKENING IMPEACHMENT PLOT

Gov Murtala Nyako’s many sins! action was more of a shot on the foot.

They argue that it would have been a wise political undertaking for him to remain in the PDP and confront his adversaries with his army of foot soldiers both in the House of Assembly and the party than to jump ship and float alone as a leper.

According to those who really understand the politics of the state, it was immature for Nyako to have left the PDP for the APC leaving behind his deputy, James Bala Ngilari, and virtually all the state lawmakers in the PDP. It is that political indiscretion by the governor that his avowed political enemies have carefully exploited to, not only cage Nyako but have also successfully exploit to get an upper hand in the move to send him packing from the Government House only a year to the end of the administration.

Beyond the miscalculation by Nyako, he is accused of not carrying along all the political actors in the state and not very enthusiastic in paying ‘gratis’ to those who matter in the state politics.

One source painted a scenario that has come back to haunt Nyako as a plague. He is said to have rejected all entreaties to pay a once-off huge sum of money to members of the state House of Assembly or grant them selfaccounting status as what obtains in

Murtala Nyako

BY SONI DANIEL, Northern Region Editor

E

vents that shaped the political landscape in Yola, the Adama wa State capital, in the last two weeks, are apt for a blockbuster. Yes, as the dramatic persona, including top-raking politicians from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PD) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), soldiers, lawmakers and judicial workers took their epic performance to hotels, clubs, courtrooms and the streets of Yola. The mission was clear and the goal unmistakable: Get the common foe, Murtala Hammanyero Nyako, out of the Government House and replace him with one of their own.

Nyako, who retired as an Admiral from the Nigerian Navy and had held fort as the Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff before going into full time commercial farming, can be said to be the architect of his own misfortune.

Baba Mai Mangoro, a coinage from the fact that he remains the highest and most successful mango farmer in Nigeria, must have unwittingly boxed

himself into the political doldrums that he’s currently battling to extricate himself. Nyako is the one who plunged himself from his exalted comfort zone to the current nauseating dilemma that may suddenly sweep him off the political radar into oblivion.

Although the governor has fought many battles and still nurses a scar of the Nigerian civil war on his leg, he has displayed tactless optimism in the way he has played politics with his fellow compatriots, among them ravenous hawks, traitors posing as friends in the corridors of power, and above all, his tactless decision to jump ship from his former party (the PDP) to the APC last December. Of all the atrocities that he is deemed to have committed, the single act of crossing from the PDP to the APC appears to have been his greatest ruination, opening the flanks for his opponents to attack him from all fronts. Even though those who are close to Nyako readily justify his exit from the PDP to the APC, given the irreconcilable differences between him and the former National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, others, who understand the situation better, believe his

Although the governor has fought many battles and still nurses a scar of the Nigerian civil war on his leg, he has displayed tactless optimism in the way he has played politics with his fellow compatriots, among them ravenous hawks, traitors posing as friends in the corridors of power, and above all, his tactless decision to jump ship from his former party (the PDP) to the APC last December many assemblies in the country so as to enjoy lasting peace with the members but he bluntly refused, arguing that the state did not have such amount to spend on a particular set of people.

Separating state from family Nyako was actively presiding over a state, whose legislators were constant-

ly ‘starved’ of all the freebies that their counterparts from other states take for granted. He might as well been incurring the wrath of his political opponents by not separating members of his family from the affairs of the state, thereby inadvertently playing into their hands.

The governor’s cup became full last week when the Adamawa lawmakers, who had perfected their plans to remove him from office through impeachment for sundry offences, some not worth bearing, raised a seven-man panel to probe his administration.

Apart from raising 20 strong allegations of misdeeds against Nyako, the House of Assembly members refused to budge when the court ruled that they should personally serve the governor the impeachment notice instead of doing so through substituted means, which the Supreme Court had decidedly cited as non-service in two clear cases. The acting Chief Judge, Ambrose Mammadi, had told the lawmakers that they either complied with his order to serve the governor and his deputy as stipulated by law or be ready to face his wrath by the time they would want him to raise an investigative panel against the governor and his deputy. But it was a stunning volta-face, penultimate Friday, when the same judge inexplicably caused to be announced on public radio and television stations the names of seven persons to probe the governor without waiting for them to personally serve the governor. Since the committee came into existence, many dramatic events have continued to be unfolded in its bid to get cracking with its assignment. First hurdle on its path was the inability to secure a safe venue to conduct its affairs.

Under a tight security provided by armed soldiers, who also provided unsolicited protection to the acting CJ Mammadi until he had set up the committee, the men sat in the comfort arena of the J and J Hotel, Yola for only a day. The owners raised the alarm on the second day that its fortunes were dwindling as a result of the unusual heavy presence of armed soldiers. The members were left with no option than to relocate. Leaving the hotel was easier than securing another facility for its meeting following the seeming resentment that the committee was getting from the people, as they began to suspect that the military was being deployed to stampede the House of Assembly and the CJ to evict Nyako from the Government House.

That might largely explain why it became difficult for the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, the Nigeria Union of Teachers and many other groups to open their offices for the probe panelists to conduct their affairs.

One after the other, the groups rejected offers from the House of Assembly for them to accommodate the panelists and the resentment seemed to surge as the days went by.

Plea for mercy Whether the investigating panel will be fair to Nyako or not, the mindset of his political opponents is that he should go down fast and forever.

Nyako, looking forlorn like an orphan abandoned by its foster parents, is not, however, lying low. Already left in the cold by those who had once stood by him and even passed a vote of confidence on him when they were expected to ditch him, Nyako is beginning to rethink some of his past deeds and

Continues on page 26

PAGE 26 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

ADAMAWA IMPEACHMENT SAGA

WHY NOBODY CAN SAVE NYAKO,

BY EX-MINISTER HONG *SAYS EMBATTLED GOV IS A LIABILITY TO APC

BY JIMOH BABATUNDE Dr Aliyu Idi Hong is a young man who is not afraid to call a spade a spade. As one time Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State before the 2007 general elections, he was not scared to take on the big names in the party.

He was later appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, later Health before berthing at the Foreign Affairs.

In this interview, Hong bares his mind on the crisis in Adamawa, justifying the action of the House of Assembly in serving the sitting governor an impeachment notice.

On the notice of impeachment served Governor Nyako by the House of Assembly One would have no moral rectitude to disapprove what the House of Assembly in Adamawa State is doing because what they are doing now is part of their constitutional responsibilities. One of such responsibilities is to check the excesses of the governor otherwise it

would become a monarchical system or dictatorship where the governor would act or behave anyhow he likes. That is the reason, in their wisdom, the framers of our Constitution gave the powers to check the excesses of the governor to the assembly. If in their own judgement the governor has grossly infringed on the constitutional provisions, the Constitution has empowered the house to impeach him or his deputy. So, first and foremost, the House of Assembly is performing its constitutional responsibility and those of us outside who do not have a clear picture of the situation or access to the privileged information that the House has, should not be in a hurry to either castigate or condemn their action because they are being paid to carry out this function in the interest of the state.

And to some of us who are citizens of Adamawa State and also watchers of events in the state, this impeachment is coming too late or belated because we have complained severally about the poor performance of the governor, his constitutional infringements, but nobody listened to us. But as the wise people would say, it is better late than

Dr Aliyu Idi Hong never. And I can tell you that the people of Adamawa share the lawmakers views and position on this matter and support them.

Many people think the impeachment has to do with Nyako’s movement to APC

I don’t share this view because he is not the only one who has defected from the PDP to the APC. How about Rotimi Amaechi, Musa Kwankanso or Wamakko? He is not the only governor who has defected from the PDP but you cannot say the same of the other governors.

This is local politics and local action; it is the House of Assembly that has embarked on this action; not the party or ordinary person on the street. The Constitution empowers the House to check the excesses of the governor and that is exactly what they are doing now.

It is like the National Assembly is empowered to check the excesses of the president so that whatever decision he takes is consistent with the Constitution and financial and administrative regulation of our civil service. But, unfortunately, in Adamawa, this has completely been flouted because the governor doesn’t know if the Constitution exists, the governor doesn’t know if financial regulations exist and he doesn’t know if there is an administrative regulation that ought to guide his actions. And, most importantly, the governor and his family are ruling the state as if there would be no tomorrow and there is no accountability. But they have forgotten that the House of Assembly is empowered statutorily to check them. So, I don’t know why you could say it is because he joined APC. But for those who are complaining, let them come and answer those few allegations which the House has adduced as the reasons for their impeachment call. I think any rational person who knows how the state operates and what is available in the state, knows that the charges that the House has put

Continues on page 27

Gov Murtala Nyako’s many sins!

Continued from page 25 perhaps make amends, as the clock ticks for his ouster.

Last Monday, he was reported to have visited President Goodluck Jonathan with two former heads of state to plead for mercy but the meeting did not turn out well in his favour as the president reportedly gave the visitors an impossible condition for the governor to fulfill.

Jonathan, who is still nursing the wounds inflicted on him by Nyako’s repugnant letter to northern governors accusing him of committing genocide in the region in the name of fighting terrorism, asked him to first withdraw the offensive correspondence and publicly apologise to him or be ready to go down.

Although feeling the heat of the ongoing impeachment process, the former naval chief, bluntly told Jonathan, he was ready to resign rather than recant his missive. But he is reported to have made some overtures to the members of the House of Assembly, who once had a good time with him and enjoyed his fatherly support in many ways before parting ways.

As part of the effort to find a truce and stand down the impeachment, the governor held series of meetings with some of the lawmakers in Abuja for most part of last week before returning to Yola on Thursday morning. Although he did not win the support of all the members to withdraw their support for his impeachment, he, however, got some ray of hope after the parley, which

reviewed some of the issues that gave rise to the impeachment and what should be done to bring about peace.

Apparently out of the seeming light at the end of the tunnel, Nyako rushed to Yola and immediately inaugurated the chairmen and secretaries of 37 Development Area Authorities, DAA, which had been set up several years back but did not have heads to run them.

The non-inauguration of the officials, most of who were selected by lawmakers, formed part of the sore points between Nyako and the House of Assembly.

New calculations The embattled governor may come out of the murky water with some scars that may make him wiser as a politician and begin to learn how to relate better with fellow compatriots.

He may also have a leeway because those who packaged the impeachment with some hope of achieving higher rewards may not after all be so lucky to go home with any laurel. The Speaker, Ahmadu Fintiri, who hails from the same Magadali Local Government Area with the Deputy Governor, Bala Ngilari, might have discovered late in the day that the forces in Abuja would not allow the deputy governor to be swept away with Nyako and pave the way for him to take over as the governor.

If Nyako does not go down with Ngilari, it also means that Fintiri will have to step down as Speaker once Ngilari takes over as governor as two

Murtala Nyako of them from same LGA cannot hold court as governor and speaker at the same time.

Similarly, it has become clear to the traditional rulers that easing out the Adamawa governor could spell doom for the entire state, which has been on the edge of ethno-religious tensions for some time. For that reason, the eight first class royal fathers met, on Tuesday, and asked the aggrieved lawmakers to take it easy with Nyako.

They did not ask them to go ahead with the impeachment or not.

As the gloom rises over Nyako’s head, the PDP issued a statement, commending the lawmakers for taking the

step to impeach the governor and pave the way for one of its own to take over the reins of governance.

Whether Nyako succeeds to ward off the raging storm against him or not, it will be written in history someday that he came, saw but did not successfully conquer because of the haste with which he jumped ship and treated serious political issues as if he was merely feeding his cows or tending his mango farm, which has fetched him both fortune and fame at home and abroad.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 27

Continued from page 26

PDP has more formidable followership and stakeholders and we are more united than them; we would win the 2015 election.

forward are even conservative. Because if you go through the details of what is happening in the state, you will know that the governor should have been impeached a long time ago and not now.

On the court asking the House of Assembly to stay action I think this is an abuse of due process.

Are you saying that the House of Assembly has no constitutional responsibility to impeach a governor? That is their statutory responsibility and I think the court action is part of the effrontery people use to still due process in this country. I think it is even not fair for somebody to restrain a statutory body of government that has constitutional responsibility to carry out certain function or resort to legalism to stop the performance of such function. I think what should have been fair in this case is for people to allow the process to go on and see how it ends. Because I don’t think that the House is even in a hurry to impeach, otherwise they would have simply done so on the day the charges of impeachment were brought against him. But there is a provision for him to answer these charges and there is a panel set up by the Chief Judge of the state to go through these charges and if in their wisdom these questions that the members of the House have asked have been clearly and properly answered by the governor, there would be no impeachment. So why would you be in a hurry to quash the process or afraid if you know that your books are clean?

You should allow the process to go on.

One can not really fathom how the whole saga would play out. One can only say that the ultimate decision is in the hands of the House of Assembly and those other institutions that are supposed to participate in the process. The House has given him notice of impeachment and they have brought charges; so it is now left for the governor and his deputy to answer these charges and if they answer them clearly to the satisfaction of the assembly there would be no impeachment. Maybe these are phantom charges or they are not unfounded or there are other things that may have happened that the members of the House of Assembly are not too aware of, it is for the governor to answer these things clearly and correctly to them. But it is not fair for anybody to bring legalism to it and try to hamper the whole process. This is a constitutional process and should be allowed to take its course.

On the chances of PDP in the state come 2015 based on this impeachment saga The fact that the governor has defected to another political party doesn’t mean that he has any clout to win election.

For the records, this is a sitting governor and there was a by-election in his own local government and the PDP fielded a candidate in another political party and we defeated him one hundred percent. And, again for the record, the fact that Nyako defected to the APC doesn’t mean that Adamawa is an APC state. Everybody knows that Adamawa is a PDP state right from inception and it would continue to be like that. Nyako didn’t defect to the APC with other members of the House or National Assembly. You can see how weak he is.

He is not like other governors because there are other governors who are in total control but he is not. 99% of the stakeholders in the state are still in the PDP. Nyako alone and his small group defected and some of them are even negotiating and pleading that we bear with them for the meantime, because they are just concerned about their monthly salary and that when the time comes they would come back home to the PDP. Nyako

Dr Aliyu Idi Hong

WHY NOBODY CAN SAVE NYAKO, BY EXMINISTER HONG knows this because his commissioners, local government chairmen and advisers are saying this and are identifying with us and because we don’t have money to pay them their salaries for the time being they are saying we should give them time.

said it severally that APC was dead on arrival with the defection of Nyako to the party. It has helped us solve two problems.

One, we have sent away a bad product; two, he has helped us in killing the goodwill of the APC, because APC would

The fact that the governor has defected to another political party doesn’t mean that he has any clout to win election. For the records, this is a sitting governor and there was a byelection in his own local government and the PDP fielded a candidate in another political party and we defeated him one hundred percent. And, again for the record, the fact that Nyako defected to the APC doesn’t mean that Adamawa is an APC state How about Atiku Abubakar?

Well, the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, is perhaps the only major stakeholder but Nyako has completely blocked Atiku in the APC. Atiku is the APC stakeholder at the national level and not in Adamawa because he has no space there. Come to think of it, Atiku is a national figure who is aspiring to become the president and therefore, won’t waste his time looking after Adamawa when he has 36 states of the country to contend with. In fact, I have

had been a formidable opposition in Adamawa. But with the coming of Nyako there, you can see that all the supporters and stakeholders of the APC there have all made a u–turn and returned to the PDP. This is exactly what would play out in 2015. APC would not win a single ward come 2015 election in Adamawa. Write it down, because, as far as this current arrangement is concerned and if it subsists till 2015, Atiku would be busy with the national election, Nyako had already lost the goodwill of Adamawa State people, both the elite and at the grassroots. The

If the PDP will not implode with everyone in the state gravitating to it I think it is a fear that some people entertain but I really don’t bother myself with that because a beautiful bride would naturally attract different suitors and that is what PDP has become in Adamawa. You could see that some of the major stakeholders in the APC have abandoned their own wagon and joined us and some of them are even hoping to contest election. That is fine but there is a constitutional provision because PDP is a party of rules, law and order. As a new entrant in the party, you have to take a minimum of two years before you can contest an election, but if the party, in its own wisdom, has seen that they have no better material to win an election, they will give you a waiver to stand for the election. And if you are a member, once you quit, the party says clearly that you have to queue behind others who have remained there. And as long as the PDP would abide by its rules and laws and follow the rules and allow due process to take place, I think it would be easier to solve this problem. PDP knows it has to provide for due process and level playing field otherwise it is courting problem. We know ourselves, we know our capabilities and we know everybody’s intent. As long as this thing plays out very well, we know that we would be able to accommodate our various interests.

His take on the Ekiti election won by the PDP? It is a sign of good things to come in the PDP. It tells you that Nigerians have started seeing what most of us major stakeholders of the party had seen over the years that the PDP is the party of the country, it is the party of everyone, it is the party where everybody has an equal stake depending on your capability and your strength. I am happy and everybody is happy that the West has started to see again that there are assets in the PDP and they have started moving back. Thank God that we have a very credible candidate and the people of Ekiti have seen the reason to invest in him. They have voted for him and they have voted for the PDP and I am confident that you would see how events would unfold in the 2015 elections.

Don’t forget that not too long ago, the PDP was controlling the West except Lagos State. It was due to change of events and we lost out. But today we are retracing out steps, and, come to think of it, who owns the West more than the PDP when we have major stakeholders including the former president of the country from the South West?

If the feat can be repeated in Osun election We are very hopeful. The hope is that, one, the president has guaranteed one man one vote, and two, we have confidence that Osun people would see that PDP has done well nationally and that the PDP has also done well in Ekiti and they have seen the trend. So if nothing fundamentally goes wrong we are quite hopeful that we would win in Osun.

On his political ambition Well, I am still consulting but I have already expressed my intent to be a contender in the 2015 governorship election in Adamawa State. I have shown interest, I am broadening my consultation and negotiation and also building my vision and aspirations for the state.

PAGE 28 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

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BY CHARLES KUMOLU

AD the major players in the British political system in the 14th century and the framers of the 1776 Constitution of Massachusetts lived till this moment, their verdicts on Nigeria’s political culture would be damning.

Even the country’s political actors would not be spared of the wrath of these men of ages, whose wisdom created a precedent whereby political wars between the three arms of government are settled without firing a single gunshot.

Through conscious efforts, these ancient political players in Europe and America introduced impeachment as a mechanism for bringing charges against an official of the state with a view to removing the person from office if found guilty.

Like the application and practice of other aspects of presidential and parliamentary democracy in Nigeria, the usage of the inherent impeachment powers has become a threat to the institutions it was meant to protect.

With the impeachment of Alhaji Balarabe Musa as the second republic governor of Kaduna State heralding the gale of impeachments in the country, impeachment has become a political tool for witch-hunting of enemies or as an instrument of intimidation used to coerce stubborn governors to the negotiation table for political gains.

An understanding of successful and failed impeachments since 1999 confirmed the argument that the impeachments across the land have established that political actors are bereft of proper understanding of the meaning and purpose of removing a public official from office.

Dieprieye Alamesiagha Had the misappropriation of public funds by elected officials not assumed an alarming rate, allegations of financial recklessness, upon which a former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alameyesigha’s impeachment was premised, would have been generally dismissed. But in a country where corruption is endemic and on its way to becoming, institutionalized, only the man without sin can cast the first stone.

As governor of Bayelsa State at the peak of the Niger Delta crisis and the offshore/ onshore dichotomy agitation, Alameyesigha was popular as a result of the mediatory roles he played.

Known as the Governor General of the Ijaw nation, Alamiyesigha’s parting of ways with former President Olusegun Obasanjo signalled the beginning of his end as governor.

Given that Obasanjo is known for vindictive tendency and display of imperial powers as President, Alamieyesigha’s claim that his impeachment was midwifed by the then presidency was not in doubt.

The various roles played by the Federal Government in that saga also corroborated the former governor’s stance.

To the chagrin of the world, the FG meddled in the affairs of the state by deploying its financial and institutional might to ensure Alamieyesigha’s removal.

Many, who kicked against the FG’s role, maintained that their grouse was not informed by the manner of financial allegations against Alameyiesigha, but that the powers that be Abuja midwived the process and ensured that Bayelsa State House of Assembly impeached the governor by all means in Yenagoa under heavy security.

That episode, however, laid the foundation for subsequent usage of the federal might to remove or intimidate any state governor, who did not dance to the presidency’s tune on many issues.

Joshua Dariye Like the typical Nigerian politician, Chief Joshua Dariye was never far from controversy when he governed Plateau State. He was always in the news for the wrong reasons. Whether he was responsible for the wrong things is another angle to the Dariye story.

Coming to international limelight as a

IMPEACHMENT AS A CRUDE WEAPON: The Nigerian experience

Top to bottom: From left, Diepreye Solomon Alamieyeseigha - betrayed by his then deputy, Goodluck Jonathan; Joshua Dariye, later found to have been illegally impeached after his tenure; Peter Obi and Rasheed Ladoja, illegally impeached but reinstated by the courts; Ayo Fayose, removed in a gangland manner; Rotimi Amaechi - an attempt to crudely remove suffered a blow and embarrassed the Presidency; Chris Ngige, abducted and bruised but the attempt to remove him failed

result of his arrest for money laundering in Britain made him an easy prey for the then presidency that had earlier sacked him in an unconstitutional manner.

Banking on allegations of financial impropriety against the governor, the House of Assembly embarked on impeaching Dariye.

While few members of the Plateau State House of Assembly were intent on having him impeached, others in the majority and stakeholders in the state were vehemently opposed to the move.

But in a manner depicting the disregard for the rule of law, which hallmarked that era, a five-man House of Assembly group impeached Dariye on November 13, 2006.

But for the support of the FG, the sack would not have been possible given that the number of those who impeached the Plateau governor fell short of the constitutional requirement.

After a series of appeals he was reinstated as governor in May before the end of his tenure Peter Obi When the then Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, hosted the then President Obasanjo during a state visit, hardly did he know that Obasanjo came to predict his(Obi) exit from Government House.

In his usual pontifical manner, the former president had told Obi to forget reelection in 2007 if he did not join the PDP because he (Obasanjo) would not support a non-PDP member.

And true to Obasanjo’s postulations, a day after the visit, Obi was impeached on November 2, 2006, after seven months in office.

The lawmakers had reportedly met with representatives of Obasanjo in Asaba , Delta State and then accompanied to Awka by heavy security provided by the police Mobile Unit. The House of Assembly members arrived Awka at at 5:00 am and began sitting afterwards. The received the report of a panel of investigation set up to investigate the governor and, after deliberating for about an hour, decided to impeach the governor,

Peter Obi. Although Obi was eventually returned to office by the judiciary, analysts believe that his ouster would not have materialsed without the support of the PDP, led federal government.

Rashidi Ladoja This is the story of Alhaji Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja.

“Collecting N65 million as security vote every month. You know that governors don’t account for security vote. He was to give me N15 million of that every month.

He reneged. Later it was reduced to N10 million. Yet he did not give me,” the late Chief Lamidi Adebibu complained about Ladoja, who he reportedly made governor.

Dismissing Adedibu’s claims, Ladoja denied reaching any agreement with the octogenarian.

He said: ‘’We did not reach any agreement about sharing money. When he asked me about his own share, I asked him under which account should I put it... The understanding of both of us of what governance is supposed to be differs. The difference is that I see governance as service while he sees it as business.’’

With the claim and counter claim setting the stage for Ladoja’s eventual impeachment, the scenario sadly depicted how petty political differences could remotely become an impeachable offence.

To observers, the removal with the active connivance of the federal might was connected to Obasanjo’s third term agenda, which Ladoja, an ally of the then embattled Vice President Abubakar Atiku, opposed.

While the law required 20 legislators to carry out the impeachment, 18 lawmakers met over the recommendations of a panel of inquiry and impeached the governor.

The December 7, 2006, reinstatement of Ladoja by the Supreme Court reaffirmed the general notion that he was impeached through hooliganism, political rascality, killing and maiming among others.

Ayo Fayose With allegations of financial misconduct

and murder leveled against him, the then Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose found himself fighting both seen and unseen enemies in a bitter political war that turned comic at a stage. Fayose, a former ally of Obasanjo, fell out with the former president, making Obasanjo to deploy the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, against him.

With the various illegalities on the part of Ekiti State legislators during the days leading to the impeachment still fresh in the minds of many, what followed could pass for a Nollywood script.

The removal of Fayose and his deputy, Mrs Biodun Olujimi, on October 6, 2006, heralded the drama, while the assumption of office by the state speaker, Friday Aderemi, made the crisis more hilarious.

However, the failure to heed the instruction of the presidency to impeach only Fayose and spare the deputy, Olujimi, Obasanjo declared that there was a breakdown of law and order in the state and declared a state of emergency, and appointed Brig-Gen. Adetunji Olurin (rtd) as the sole administrator of the state on October 19, 2006.

Rotimi Amaechi: Nearly impeached Though Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was already in the black books of the presidency before he contested for the leadership of the Nigerian Governors Forum,NGF, against the wish of his party, his victory at the NGF polls further incurred the wrath of his traducers.

His hurried suspension from the PDP triggered the expectation that those behind his travails would resort to impeachment. And some lawmakers in the state House of Assembly did not prove pundits wrong, as the House was thrown into crisis in July when some members attempted to impeach the Speaker and subsequently Amaechi, leading to a row that led to fisticuffs and the take over of the assembly’s duties by the House of Representatives. In the saga, the presidency had been in state of denial as to its alleged role in the matter, but the manner in which some institutions of the state were deployed to assist anti-Amaechi lawmakers, persons and groups punctured the denials.

That Amaechi survived the orchestrated onslaughts does not mean that the crisis did not rub-off on governance in the state.

Chris Ngige But for the connivance of the presidency during Obasanjo’s administration, Nigerians would not have witnessed the brazen disregard for democratic process displayed by Chief Chris Uba in his attempt to have the then Anambra Governor Chris Nigige sacked.

SUNDAY, Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 29

Namadi Sambo commissions estates in Enugu

V

ice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Arc. Muhammad Namadi Sambo was a guest of governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime on Friday.

Highpoint of his visit inlcuded the commisioning of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria-Elim estate.

Important dignitaries as well as other indigenes of the state graced the occasion.

From left, Executive Director Loans Production/ Securities Issuance and Market Development of FMBN Bola Ogunsola and Executive Director Policy and Strategy/Loans Set Up/ Payoff, Mike Nwogbo.

L-R: Estate Developer, Surveyor (Rev.) Ugochukwu Chime, Managing Director/CEO, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Mr Gimba Ya’u Kumo, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi, Vice President Namadi Sambo and the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime.

Traditional rulers arriving for the event.

Masters of Ceremony at the event: From left; Flora Ojukwu of Radio Nigeria, Omotayo Omotosho former DG NTDC and Umar Azare.

Members of staff of FMBN.

Edo State Dep. Gov bags NBA award

D

eputy Governor of Edo State, Dr Pius Odubu was last weekend conferred with the Nigerian Bar Association, Benin Branch, Merit Award.

The occasion held in Benin-City was attended by his family, including the wife, Endurance and colleagues, as well as well-wishers. in a well attended ceremony in the city.

L-R: The Benin Branch chairman of the NBA, Barr.Oriane Akere presenting the Award to Dr Pius Odubu.

R-L: Dr Odubu and wife, Endurance, being congratulated by a friend

L-R: Deaconess Endurance Odubu, wife of the Deputy Governor, Barr Oriane Akere, Benin Branch NBA Chairman, Dr Odubu and a guest

Ocean Crest celebrates Mar tin LLuther uther Jr Martin Jr..

T

he students of Ocean Crest, Lekki, Lagos wowed a crowd made up of their parents, teachers and members of the public when they performed various musical acts to celebrate the lives and times of late American social activist, Martin Luther Jr and some music legends like Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Mariam Makeba, Michael Jackson and Bob Marley.

Students of Ocean Crest School, performing a musical act.

Parents, watching with rapt attention.

PAGE 30—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 31

PAGE 32 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan

N3 BILLION LARGESSE FOR NOLLYWOOD

How President Jonathan’s cash gift is being shared *An insider’s detailed account

I

BY ZIK ZULU OKAFOR

still remember the ecstasy that greeted the announcement of the grant. That historic Saturday, March 3, 2013, will surely remain imperishable in the life of Nollywood.

It was a gaily evening inside the State House, Marina, Lagos. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, sat in the midst of an expectant Nollywood crowd. It was a rendezvous of everybody that was somebody in Nollywood.

Even the most elusive man, in Nollywood, Kenneth Nnebue, the inspiration to the very industry being celebrated was present. It was the first time a Nigerian President would be sitting with Nollywood practitioners for a dinner just to say, “hey guys, you have done well; I appreciate your contribution to job creation in this country”.

President Jonathan was hosting Nollywood to celebrate with them 20 years of the home video industry. He had demonstrated an unshaking love and recognition for Nollywood. He had earlier in 2010 announced a $200 Million loan for the creative industry. But collateral clogs had made it practically impossible for practitioners to access the loan managed by the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM).

But this evening in this finest hour for Nollywood, the President decided to demonstrate his love further. If the loan was interpreted to be political because election was drawing close, he was now a bonafide President, not canvassing for votes.

And so, having treated Nollywood to some delicious meal plus a fabulous patriotic song performed by Timi Dakolo, the President of the world’s most populous black nation, Dr. Jonathan literarily sent even the roof of the State

“Nna, how we go share this money? Is the cash here,” a producer teased.

But the President soon provided the answer. “This grant will be managed by the Ministry of Finance under the supervision of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy” House flying as he announced a grant of N3 billion for Nollywood. Celebration! Jubilation! Wow! Wow! Wow! Nollywood went wild. This is no loan! This is ‘dash’. A gift! A grant!

Right there and then, questions, apprehension, fear followed. Who will receive the money? How will it be shared?

“Nna, how we go share this money?

Is the cash here,” a producer teased.

But the President soon provided the answer. “This grant will be managed by the Ministry of Finance under the supervision of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Honourable Minister of Finance

and Coordinating Minister of the Economy”.

The mention of Okonjo-Iweala added to the joy of the practitioners. This was one minister that had spoken so eloquently of Nollywood. She had spoken unequivocally on many occasions about the capacity and capability of our motion picture industry to create jobs.

She believes that if Nollywood is given support and properly managed, it could be a major contributor to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

She is therefore a loyal advocate of Nollywood. Above all, Nollywood sees her as an exemplary government official with an untrammeled integrity.

And, so, Nollywood felt safe, sure that in a matter of weeks, the money would be in their pockets. It was not to be. It will turn out a long, tortuous journey through the wilderness, a grinding odyssey to a grant.

GLIMPSES OF THE GRANT: HOPE RISING On Saturday, April 27, 2013, some Nollywood practitioners vowed they smelt their money. They could see it and almost touch it, they said. And the reason for this is simple. The Honourable Minister of Finance, Dr. OkonjoIweala, and the Honourable Minister of Culture, Tourism and Strategy, High Chief, Edem Duke, who was the second Minister appointed by President Jonathan to join in the fund’s management, had gathered them once again. This time, it was at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. Over 60 practitioners but essentially heads of guilds, associations, and generally stake holders gathered in this arena of hope.

The much awaited money now seemed available. The ministers had come to

consult the owners of the money to know how to ‘share’ it.

“I swear, I can smell this money ”, an old practitioner enthused; ecstatic that in a matter of days, he would have his share. “What we have come here to do is to continue the initiative of Mr. President in trying to support our creative arts industry, particularly Nollywood”, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala opened up.

“The idea is to recognise the talent in this industry and the fact that it is a generator of jobs for our young people. As you know, the industry has generated over 200,000 direct jobs, one million indirect jobs, US$250 million, equivalent in value and we believe that we could double and triple all these, if government has some supportive measure to help the industry ”, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said with candour to the delight of Nollywood.

The minister finally revealed that she and her team had been brainstorming on how Nollywood would use its money. They came to the conclusion that the grant should be put into Distribution, Capacity Building and Film Production. Script writing was to be part of film production.

They needed to seek Nollywood’s opinion in order to move forward.

Apart from some little suggestions, the practitioners were in consensus that the two ministers and their team had done a good job.

But the questions in the inner recesses of the practitioners’ minds remained, “ where is the money? When are we getting it?”

AND THE WAITING BEGINS

Continues on page 33

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13 , 2014, PAGE 33

How President Jonathan’s cash gift is being shared Continued from page 32

By August, 2013, my office as President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) had come under permanent siege. “When is this money going to come? Or have they spent it like they do in Nigeria? Is this money real or a mirage? How long are we going to wait?”, So many questions rained as producers became impatient. Many actually accused me of ineffective representation.

“You are not pushing enough. Go to Abuja and bring our money. Tell those people the money is for Nollywood and not for government officials”, they fired. This grant almost cost me my reelection as AMP President in January 2014. But with the inestimable wisdom of hindsight many of them are beginning to realise that the corrosive attack directed at my office was absolutely unnecessary as grants usually come with snail speed. Importantly this was despite the fact that application for capacity Building Fund had opened.

But I understood their plight and aggressive quest for the grant. With their own meagre resources, they seem to have reached the limit of possibilities.

Nollywood therefore needed this splendour of Aso Rock generosity and hospitality, even if a drop in the ocean, to re-oil the wheel of their checquered professional journey. Here was an industry they created with sheer grit and granite will, an industry that has changed Nigeria’s story and image abroad; yet an industry that past leaders have paid only scant attention and lip service. Only President Jonathan has turned his promise into possibilities and these practitioners do not want to hear stories about this grant. And, as long as they have not seen the money in the vaults of their banks, as long as this grant remains something of a mystery, they needed to keep the pressure, if nothing else, to crack the carapace of the fund managers’ conscience. That way, they believe, the grant managers would understand the crucible they have been through to create an industry that now seems to offer its viewers laughter and pleasure at the expense of these oracles of zest - the content creators.

ON- LINE APPLICATION AND THE UPROAR THAT FOLLOWED The month of July 2013 heralded the arrival of ‘Jonathan’s money’, in Nollywood’s lingo. The N300 million earmarked for Capacity Building was ready.

Nollywood could now apply online for the fund and it was open till the end of December 2013. By February, 2014, the N700 million fund for Film Production was also ready and open for application.

This, ordinarily, should speak joy to Nollywood’s ears and minds. But this was not to be. The forms especially that for Film Production, was complex, complicated and intricate. Here was a people that their whole life is governed by caprice and their trade by whim. Now they had to cope with this acidic test of dealing meticulously with forms. It was a tedious examination for many a practitioner. Some had to hire consultants to overleap this intellectual and indeed highbrow hurdle. Not even a seminar held by the fund managers on the filling of the forms could bring any succour.

But the worst crisis came with submission of the applications. Apart from the acknowledgement of successful submission of the first phase of the application, which is in fact an automatic response from a programmed computer, many did not receive the form for the second phase which is like the semi-final round to the fund acquisition. There was uproar. As the AMP president, my office was once again besieged by producers. They want to know why the Project Act Nollywood managers

Dr. Okonjo Iweala had failed to reach them. They wanted me to reach Dr. Supo Olusi, Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister of Finance and the man saddled with the responsibility of dealing with Nollywood on this much awaited fund and issues arising from it.

Sadly, no one could reach Dr. Olusi.

None had his phone number except one of the guilds’ heads. But he was hoarding this ‘all important’ number. In response to my request to get this number he seemed to have ‘colonised’, he told me he needed the man’s approval and later called to say Dr. Olusi would call me. He never did. Many started wondering whether Project Act Nollywood had become a mystique that only the initiates could access. I finally reached through phone a lady in Dr Olusi’s office who explained that some of the forms were not properly filled while some had clear errors. She still wouldn’t give me Olusi’s number. I couldn’t spare her a bit of my caustic tongue. But it had also become clear to me that equipment failures in their office must have complicated the problems. For instance, some forms duly filled and sent to their office online

Edem Duke was nothing surprising about him.

We then brought the uproar in Nollywood to his attention. The complicated film-fund form and the awaited fund for Capacity Building. Specifically, we told him of the many practitioners that have been given admissions in US Universities for three weeks intensive training but are yet to receive funds from Project Act Nollywood. We also stressed in crystal language Nollywood practitioners’ determination to get the N10 million Film production fund. Having told him about Nollywood practitioners’ rough and tough road to creating an industry, we made it known to him that this money, to some, “is not a matter of life and death.

It is more than that”.

Dr Olusi was precise though with some understanding. Having explained that they were working assiduously on the applications and trying to correct the errors and mistakes from Nollywood and perhaps his office, he shocked us with the news that the N300 million set aside for capacity

This grant does not hold a financial revolution for Nollywood, but it could rev the sound of change and begin the reconstruction of a promise, the journey of history that Nollywood encapsulates got there with some sections blank. Twice this writer had to correct his own form and that became a testament to the failures of equipment in some cases. But more problems kept springing up and it was becoming a horrendous challenge. Since we could not reach Olusi on phone, we decided to take our problem to his office.

A kind member of my association was, however, able to finally, and to our infinite joy, obtain Olusi’s number from an Abuja based friend and gave it to us. We, at long last, reached the seemingly elusive Olusi on phone and most surprisingly he gave us an appointment without any qualms.

THE ABUJA MEETING I arrived the Ministry of Finance with a strong lawyer, Barrister Sam Kargbo, who is also a member of my association. The Dr Olusi we met, again to our utmost surprise, came across a delightful character, hospitable, business-like, no fuss, no semantics, his language within the precincts of civility, devoid of unnecessary preambles. He gave us his call card with his phone numbers without any hesitation. In fact, he was only a surprise because there

building had been exhausted.

We sat mouth agape. With all the guilds in Nollywood, only the Directors Guild, about 28 of them, had been sent to the US for training and each had a total of US$6000 for tuition, ticket, accommodation and welfare. So, where has all the money gone to? What happens to all the members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, the largest guild in Nollywood? What will be the fate of over 60 producers who have been given admission for their training and many more still waiting? What about the editors, the cinematographers?

Dr. Olusi was not about to answer the salient questions that cascaded our heat oppressed mind. His words were concise. “We are going to publish how your money was spent. The money is for Nollywood and we will spend it only on Nollywood practitioners and projects”.

His words spoken with granite cast conviction and confidence sounded to us more like sophistry and poetics of pseudo tradition, that made our ears tingle. He then told us that he had advised that since we are very passion-

ate about the capacity building, we should apply for additional fund to be injected into that segment of the project from the budget for distribution. It was an advice that Nollywood easily bought. All the guilds’ heads have since jointly written to the Minister of Culture and Tourism on this development as directed. And so the waiting game, like their histrionics calling, is once again being acted out even as I write this piece.

Phone calls continued to come and the same questions again and again – where is the money? Some asked if the directors’ trip to USA was a mere facade. What exactly is holding the money?

AT LAST, THE FILM PRODUC TION FUND! On the cloudy evening of Friday, July 4, I received a call from our National Financial Secretary. “Presido, she said excitedly, the money don land o!”. What do you mean, I quarried amidst laughter.

Chinasa Joy Onyechere, our ever buoyant and sprightly Fin Sec then told me that some of our members had just received mails inviting them to come physically for an interview on the Film Production Fund. This is the final stage. Once you appear and successfully defend the form you filled, then you are in business. The ‘Jonathan cash’, ‘GEJ’s largesse’, whatever you call it will be yours.

The ball is now in everyone’s court. It has been one long dizzying walk to a place called hope. This grant does not hold a financial revolution for Nollywood, but it could rev the sound of change and begin the reconstruction of a promise, the journey of history that Nollywood encapsulates.

And that is why President Jonathan will have a hallowed place when the story of Nollywood is told. It is that uncommon tale of silent mystery; a story of an industry, started by ordinary people for ordinary Nigerians; but an industry that is today not only an African pride but a stunning subject matter the world over. The President has made the very first audacious move, ever, by a Nigerian leader to give Nollywood a nudge up the ladder of hope. We urge our trusted ally, Dr Okonjo-Iweala therefore to assure the success and survival of this initiative even as we believe that she, with the President’s support, could do more for this authentic Nigerian brand- Nollywood!

*Zik Zulu Okafor, award winning journalist, scholar and President of AMP, lives in Lagos.

PAGE 34—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13 , 2014

Hostile operating environment killing the manufacturing sector — DG, LCCI *Says there is disconnect between economy size and the people’s welfare *‘The benefit of biometric authentication of bank customers’

BY UDEME CLEMENT

Mr. Mudashiru Yusuf, an economist, is the Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). He speaks on the nation’s economy.

The performance of any sector can only be as good as the business environment permits. For instance, an economy will get the kind of investment it deserves. As you can see Nigeria’s economy is currently dominated by buying and selling

W

hat is your take on the monetary policy of bi ometric authentication of bank customers introduced by the apex bank?

I believe biometric authentication of bank customers, especially in the area of fingerprinting, is a good monetary policy. This is because with biometric authentication, deposit banks are expected to capture biometric details of all customers nationwide, including fingerprints. When fully implemented, the policy will address issues associated with personal identification numbers theft in the system. It will also enhance security of transactions in the financial sector, because no two persons have the same biometric data. The issue of forgery and fraud in the system will be tackled with this policy. It will further promote financial inclusion, as many people who are not educated can do transactions by finger-printing. This policy is an improvement on what obtains in the financial system now.

As an economist, what measures will you advise the new governor of CBN to put in place to fast track growth in the industrial sector?

Reduction in interest rate, which is a problem affecting enterprises, affecting their capacity for growth and job creation. If he can do it as promised in his agenda, it will stimulate tangible growth in the sector. He needs to address short tenure of funds in the financial system, as over 80 per cent of funds in the banking system are funds not more than one year tenure for manufacturing, industry and solid material. We need funds that are more than one year tenure to en-

Mr. Mudashiru Yusuf hance greater productivity in the sector.

He can do this through collaboration with the National Pension Commission, as the Pension fund is estimated at about N4trillion now. Getting this money into banking industry will improve availability of funds in the financial system. He should ensure that the system is more supportive of economic development because, commercial banks are driven primarily by profits.

So, where overwhelming motivation is profit, development issues will continue to suffer.

Therefore, CBN should shape the activities in financial sector to support large scale economic growth and development, especially in the manufacturing sector. The new CBN boss needs to reserve the autonomy of the apex bank, without necessarily being confrontational. He must be firmed to ensure that the autonomy of CBN is not eroded.

As a stakeholder in the industrial sector, what do you think are the economic implications of the increase in electricity tariff announced by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently?

Well, increase in power tariff does not sufficiently take into account the sensibility of consumers. The reason being that you can’t increase power tariff at a time when the quality of the service is declining. This can happen in a monopoly situation. The fact is that power tariff has been programmed to increase irrespective of the quality of service, which is not good enough. One can only hope that the situation will improve with time. As for economic implications, it will lead to increase in operating cost of businesses. Infact, there are instances where some operators of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) opted to be permanently on their own generators,

because they complained of being compelled to pay for power they did not consume.

How do you reconcile the high poverty rate as well as the unemployment crisis in Nigeria with the recent rebasing of the economy as the biggest in the West African sub-region?

The size of the economy is different from the welfare of the people. For example, it is like a family that is rich, yet some members of the same family are not living comfortably. What we witness in Nigeria’s economy is a reflection of structural defects as well as the issue of profound inequality. The major sectors of the economy that are delivering some of the goods are sectors which are not really creating many jobs. These sectors have very little local value addition. Some of them include oil and gas as well as telecommunications. Agriculture as a sector has very low productivity. The manufacturing sector is heavily dependent on imports, while the oil and gas is dominated by export of crude oil.

The economy has very weak inter-sectoral linkages. Over 80 per cent of goods we consume are imported. These are some of the reasons for the disconnection between the Gross Domestic Prod-

uct (GDP) size and the GDP growth with the welfare of the people. The GDP can only impact on welfare if the citizens themselves are significantly involved in the process of generating the GDP. This is what the concept of inclusiveness is all about. The small businesses that create over 80 per cent of the jobs account for less than 10 per cent of the total credit from the financial system.

The economy itself, especially at the level of SMEs, is constrained by low productivity because of the unfavourable investment climate. Aside from that, the structure of government’s spending is such that cannot impact significantly on the welfare of the people. Spending on health, education and other infrastructures is clearly not commensurate with the strategic importance of these sectors. Greater spending in these areas can go a long way in reducing poverty in the country.

Therefore, the structure of government’s spending at all levels is also a major factor in the current poverty situation in the system.

What will you describe as the major achievements of the industrial sector after 15 years of democratic rule?

The performance of any sector can only be as good as the business environment permits. For instance, an economy will get the kind of investment it deserves. As you can see Nigeria’s economy is currently dominated by buying and selling. This is so because of the risk of failure in manufacturing, especially following the challenges facing the sector at present. There are many industrialists today who are lamenting their decision of going into manufacturing, because the challenges are overwhelming.

Investors by nature want to succeed but their success has been limited by the operating environment. Their success has also been limited by unfavourable investment climate, poor infrastructure, high cost of funds, hostile regulatory institutions, policy inconsistency, influx of cheap imported products, poor ethical standards and corruption in the system. Billing problems and power theft also constitute serious challenges. There are serious funding issues across the entire value chain of the power sector of Nigeria’s economy.

African Industries Group donates truck to Ogun

T

OP members of the man agement of African Indus tries Group have been explaining why they made a donation of a Mitsubishi truck to Ogun State government to assist in the environmental protection of the citizenry.

Speaking with journalists immediately after the presentation which was received on behalf of the state by the Head of Service in the state, Mrs Modupe Adekunle, Executive Director of African Industries Group, Barrister Uche Iwuamadi said the company “is not new to corporate philanthropy.”

“We have been involved in various corporate responsibility programmes in the past. We have factories in Ogijo and Agbara and have in the past provided boreholes and other social amenities for some communities in

Ogun,”she added.

“African Industries promotes and encourages economic, social and educational development within their communities while giving active support to local initiatives. In fact CSR is an integral component of our business strategy and the group has been continuously working towards improving the quality of life for the underprivileged sections of our society in our areas of operation. The economic implications of our operations and investment on the overall economy of Nigeria and the local community are very significant.

The group runs a hospital in Nigeria to take care of medical needs of the employees and the local community. The medical team visits each industrial site for regular health check-ups.

L-R,Mr Richpal Singh, Director, Mr Sanjay Kumar, CEO African Foundries, Barrister Uche Iwuamadi Executive Director African Industries Group and Mr Mike Aderemi, Head of Corporate Affairs, during the presentation to OGEPA

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13 , 2014, PAGE 35

BY UDEME CLEMENT

Akpan Ekpo, a professor of economics, is Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM). He speaks on the controversy surrounding the new monetary policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the increase in minimum paid-up capital requirement for the operators of Bureau De Change (BDCs), from N10 million to N35 million.

S an economic expert, how do you describe the new monetary policy by the CBN on BDC operators?

To start with, the move by the CBN is to sanitise the foreign exchange market by curbing the nefarious activities of some Bureau De Change (BDC) operators which I believe is a good initiative. However, I want to look at the policy from two fronts. The first is that the minimum capital requirement of N25million for BDC operators, as announced by the apex bank, is too high. If you look at everything they have to pay, it is almost N60million. Secondly, the time given to them to raise the money is too short.

Looking at the capital requirement and the limited time they have to raise the money, what are the economic implications?

My worry is that Nigeria’s economy may experience scarcity of forex if the situation is not properly handled. The reason being that, some operators of BDC who are not able to raise the minimum capital may simply go underground and continue to operate illegally, while others would just merge and operate in smaller units. As such, there may be scarcity of forex in the system, which could automatically make the exchange rate to go up in the short/medium term, but, in the long-run, everything may stabilise.

The Governor of CBN on assumption of office said he would focus on bringing down interest rate to enhance

NEW CBN POLICY ON BDCs

Forex scarcity looms — Prof Ekpo My worry is that Nigeria’s economy may experience scarcity of forex if the situation is not properly handled. The reason being that, some operators of BDC who are not able to raise the minimum capital may simply go underground and continue to operate illegally

A

Akpan Ekpo....Why should CBN be the only organisation giving dollars to BDCs? rapid industrial development. Now the apex bank is suddenly going into regulation of BDC, while the expectation of many people is on reduction of interest rate to stimulate investments. Don’t you think the CBN is derailing from the most important issue in the economy?

Well, the reality is that CBN does a lot of serious research before coming up with any monetary policy. So, the new guideline on BDC may be based on such work. The monetary authority must have decided to regulate the activities of BDC because it is important for economic growth and development. But the question is, why should CBN be the only organisation giving Dollars to BDC? For me, lending rate being brought down is a

major issue in the economy not BDC. I hope the move by CBN is not an attempt to drive local BDC operators out of business to allow only few major banks do forex. If that happens, it could create monopoly in the system. I hope this new policy would not result into that, because what many people, especially investors want to see is how CBN tackles the challenge of high interest rate to boost investments in various sectors of the economy, in order to create jobs.

Are you saying that the CBN is the only place BDC operators get Dollar from?

At present, BDC operators in Nigeria only buy bulk Dollars from the apex bank, whereas in other countries, anybody could sell forex and get his commission. It means BDC

operating in other countries could get forex from other sources, aside from the apex bank. So, the CBN should ensure flexibility in the system by allowing flexibility from where BDC get their forex, because BDC is important part of our financial system.

Another challenge is that Nigeria’s foreign exchange is driven by crude oil export but if the economy is diversified, we would get forex from other sectors. So, they should help to diversify the economy by supporting local industries to produce more goods for export, to earn more forex. Developing non-oil export subsector is very crucial because curtailing forex activities unnecessarily may create scarcity in the system.

As an economic expert, are

you satisfied with the financial details in budget 2014?

For me, budgeting in this country is simply a nightmare.

The reason being that, the necessary requirements in terms of theoretical as well as practical framework of budgeting appear very good on paper, but during implementation, the entire budget is in disarray. For instance, 2014 appropriation bill was passed was into law about six months into the year, which means two quarters of the economy was not reviewed in the budget.

The economic implication is that the theme of the document, ‘Inclusive Growth and Job Creation’, equally lost six months of actualisation. Judging from the analysis in the financial document, it is clear that the rate of inequality is on the increase, with just 20 per cent of the population of over 160million benefiting from the resources in Nigeria.

Our economy is characterised by overlapping budget implementation as no budget cycle in this country ends on December 31, rather, the cycle usually ends in March of the new fiscal year. Obviously, the output loss within the six months lost in capital implementation of the 2014 appropriation bill has negative impact on economic growth and development.

Rust-Oleum: Firm to empower graduates

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

I

C Alpha Bravo Nigeria Limited, the firm with the franchise to distribute Rust-Oleum paint aerosols in West Africa, is rolling out a self-empowerment scheme for graduates who will be trained

on how to use the products for professional purposes.

Speaking at the unveiling of the products in Lagos, Mr Victor Adewumi, IC Alpha Bravo Nigeria Limited CEO, explained that the products are formulated to reduce preparation time, reduce application time, reduce downtime and lengthen the lifespan of domestic and industrial assets.

“Rust-Oleum products are aimed at professionals and consumers with a do-it-yourself passion, thereby saving the cost of application especially for the maintenance and beautification of residential

environments. This products come in handy aerosols which produces instant results when sprayed on an equipment that is becoming rust or on a leaking pipe. They are affordable and come in over 7000 products which we are introducing gradually to the Nigerian market. The exposure of materials and objects to fluctuating weather and working conditions means requirement of effective protection against premature damage and expensive replacement, so instead of having to call an artisan to fix that little job, with Rust-Oleum aerosols, you can easily get it done yourself in a few minutes. Rust- Oleum paints do not only come in aerosols, they are also available in conventional paint buckets for industrial use”, the CEO said.

Adewumi explained that the

products are eco-friendly and non-toxic with guarantee to last up to five years, the products also come with security

features which makes it difficult to adulterate. “The products are environment friendly such that you don’t have to

L-r: Managing Director, IC Alpha Bravo Nigeria Ltd., Victor Adewumi, Sales representative, Emike Akinyede and Media Consultant, Wale Williams, at the presentation of Rostoleum products in Lagos.

vacate your office when a RustOleum paint is being sprayed because they are odourless, the products are also pocket friendly. The Rust- Oleum brand also have anti-slip products which prevents slippery in homes and offices, they also have automotive brands which prevents rust and scratches.

For instance, there is the antiscratch product for automobiles which prevents scratches from staying on your car, this product is colourless so it won’t change the colour of your car”, he explained.

Some of the products on the stable of the company include Rust- Oleum spray paints which comes in over 70 colours, leakseal, neverwet, floor coatings, glow in dark paint, epoxy shield floor paint, counter coating, primers, wood finishes, stripping paint, cabinet transformation among others.

PAGE 36 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

nast or gym enthusiast and your flexibility is not in doubt, or a pervert who loves masochism, you'd better not try any of these positions below. But if you are comfortable and free with your partner and communication between you two are incredible, you may try them out for just for the fun of it.

The BB Shakedown The B.B. Shakedown is perhaps the most strenuous sexual position known to man. Many argue this title belongs to the Italian Chandelier, but in reality,

hanging must also support her own body as she does a upward pelvic thrust against gravity. Dare to try it out if you care!

The bridge The Bridge sex position falls more into the category of Sexercise sex position than super-pleasurable sex. This is because it’s quite strenuous for you to perform for more than a minute or two, not unless you have super muscles.

For the bridge, you need to get into the ‘crab’ position used

the B.B. Shakedown requires the most physical exertion of any sex position.

For this position, the man supports himself on the floor with only one hand (two if he must) as the female latches on to his body in the missionary position, but her back is not touching the ground, so she is only hanging on by her arms and legs.

The man begins to do push ups with the woman attached to him, and humping him at the same time. For both man and woman, this is not for the lilylivered as the man must support both his own and the woman's weight, while the woman

in gymnastics. This means, the woman will be on all fours like in the doggy style, but she is flipped 180 degrees, such that her back will be facing the ground or bed and her hands supporting her weight behind her.

The man will then go on his knees between the woman's legs while facing her. He then enters and puts his hands on her thighs to help pull her towards him each time he thrusts. Unfortunately, for the woman in this position, you will be spending most of your time trying to keep your balance, than enjoying yourself. You'll need to be super

strong to be able to do any thrusting, so, it's best to just concentrate on positioning your hands and feet in the most comfortable position you can.

The man needs to understand how uncomfortable this position is for the woman so he needs to go gently too.

The wheelbarrow This sex position is a complete workout, though it reminds one of the childhood games of playing wheelbarrow. In this position, both partners need good arm strength as well as thigh muscles. Here, the woman supports herself with her arms on the ground while the man holds her legs up to his waist from behind.

This is where the name is derived from . The wheelbarrow, also known as the Hoover manoeuvre sex position ensures that the guy is more likely to hit the G-spot. You can add more spice to it by going on a walk around your home as you hit it off. Just be prepared for the aftermath.

The Ballerina The Ballerina sex position is one of those really exotic ones that 95% of ladies will just never be able to perform. This is simply down to the issue of flexibility as this is a strenuous sex position even for guys. The woman balances all her weight on one leg with the other extended in the air while the man enters her enters her standing up.

To really get a grip of this position, you both need to start by facing each other while standing. To make it less painful, place your raised leg on your guy's shoulder as you balance on the other and move up really close to connect. For me, this sounds almost impossible unless you are some rubber flexible gymnast. Otherwise, the pain from

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Dare to try these out?

By Yetunde Arebi

H

i, For most regular couples, having sex involves about three to four basic positions max, the Missionary, the Spoon, and perhaps the Cowgirl and the Doggy combined. Many of us are held back by various reasons to not want to indulge in anything too risky or that may leave us too vulnerable. Inhibitions and beliefs playing major roles in this.

Many of us also believe that sex is therapeutic courtesy of various research works from experts in the field of human sexuality. It helps to release toxins, relieve pain, tension, promotes good health, boosts immunity and helps us relax and sleep.

However, there are some sex positions that are not likely to help in achieving some of the good things listed above. In fact, they are more likely to cause you serious pains, injury or a visit to the emergency room if care is not taken. I found quite a number of them ridiculous, funny, and even difficult to imagine anyone engaged in.

While many of us love adventure and are willing to try new things, I doubt if getting banged while standing on your head, or on one foot will count for stress or pain relieving sex rather than pain inducing one. Unless you are a professional acrobat, gym-

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DISCLAIMER!

this position can make you a patient at the emergency unit afterwards. If you are adventurous and desires to try it out, please go gently until you get a grip of things.

Lotus In this position, both the couple must have great thigh muscle strength and stamina.

This is because sex positions that involves sitting, standing and kneeling can be quiet nerve breaking and tricky to perform. In the lotus, the man is sitting upright and the woman is sitting on top of him with her legs wrapped around his waist. Though this is a very great position for intimacy and kissing, the lotus takes a lot of strength and energy especially on the part of the woman to achieve a steady rhythm. If you wish to up your heart rate and burn up some calories, this is another fantastic position.

Viennese Oyster In the Viennese Oyster position, the woman lays on her back with her lower back and legs raised all the way up so that her ankles are crossed behind her own head. Surely this needs a lot of flexibility indeed. The position will expose the woman's vital area to her partner who now strides her from the top.

The man also needs to use his hands to support his own weight so that he does not place his entire weight on the woman. If this happens, her spines may be sacrificed.

Auch!

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 37

Abuja’s stinking streets!

BY FUNMI OLASUPO

A

BUJA, the nation’s capital city, may pride itself as one of the fast growing cities in the world with architectural master piece and magnificent edifices but, in terms of environmental sanitation, there is nothing to write home about.

A walk through major streets in highbrow areas like Jabi, Utako, Maitama, Garki, among others in Abuja, leaves you wondering if you are actually in a city.

The reasons are not farfetched. The influx of people into Abuja has overstretched the toilet infrastructure.

Even then, many people trooping into the FCT have no legitimate homes, hence they are forced to take shelter in uncompleted buildings, motor parks, markets, abandoned vehicles, makeshift structures, among others.

As they must inevitably answer the call of nature, these people resort to the unwholesome act of indiscriminate defecation, the result of which is the eyesore in the city.

The worst scenario is that one can hardly breathe fresh air as the ambiance is often polluted with the foul stench from feaces and urine that now litter the nooks and crannies of Abuja.

To think that such an eyesore is now common place even within the city and the relevant authority in charge of environmental sanitation within the FCT, Abuja Enviromental Protection Board, AEPB, seems not to be on top of the situation, is

unheard of as observers have noted.

A cross-section of FCT residents who spoke to Sunday Vanguard over the issue blamed the AEPB for the menace that now poses serious threat to their health.

Omoniyi Marcus, a journalist, said: “Government should be blamed for increased wastes that litter our street, especially faeces in public places.

“Apart from its inability to provide public toilets in the city, government has allowed all comers into the city without putting a mechanism in place to checkmate environmental abuse,” he said.

Marcus said AEPB officials are mainly running after prostitutes, hawkers on the streets, which is not bad, but less attention is being paid to sanitation by the officials. ”We must comply with the city’s master plan if we want things to work well. This is our country’s capital. The capital was brought to Abuja because of social ills, part of which was the environmental challenge, which characterized the former capital, Lagos.”

Another resident, Mr. Emeka Onuoha, an engineer, advised government to set up mobile courts to try and punish anyone caught urinating or passing excreta in the public.

He, however, slammed government for not building public toilets in the city. ”Apart from Wuse Market and some other few markets in Abuja, I am not aware if there is any place in the FCT where one could see public toilet.

“As human beings, we must pass out waste. And when

there is no place provided for you to do so, will you not go ahead and do that where available?”.

Mohammed Umar, an artisan, also resident in Abuja, blamed the problem on lack of values among Nigerians. According to him, if the citizens are disciplined, no matter the level of failure on the part of government to provide basic amenities for the population, they will not do what is not socially acceptable.

His words: “All the time, we keep blaming government for what we are responsible for.

It is not good to urinate in public places; neither is it ideal to pass excreta there.

engaging in such habits.

Come to think of it, among these people that are even saying government does not provide toilets in public places, are those who don’t have same in the houses where they live.”

Worried by the ugly state of sanitation in Abuja, the Minister of State, FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, recently called for disciplinary action to be taken against any official or individual flouting the laws on environmental sanitation in the FCT. She gave the order during an Area Council sanitation meeting in her office.

Akinjide declared the restoration of sanity into

A cross-section of FCT residents who spoke to Sunday Vanguard over the issue blamed the AEPB for the menace that now poses serious threat to their health.

But, our people have been brainwashed by civilization that they are turning everything upside down. It is not their fault; it is government’s.

“If some of them have been brought to maybe, media houses like television, and openly embarrassed for doing that, including other related punishments, our people will be deterred from

“deplorable environment conditions” of FCT. The meeting, she said, was conveyed to fashion out modalities for total sanitation of the territory “in line with the express directive of President Goodluck Jonathan.” The minister charged the FCT Area Council Chairmen to redouble their efforts in ensuring a sustainable clean

and healthy environment in their respective areas, stressing that there would be a performance indicator to score their performance level.

In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, the Head of Information, AEPB, Mr. Joe Ukairo, blamed the act on attitudes of Nigerians.

Ukairo said: “Providing a million toilets cannot solve the problem of indiscriminate defecation and urination in the FCT because it is an attitude thing.”

Admitting the inadequacy of public toilets in Abuja metropolis, he said: “We quite know that the available ones may not be adequate because of the influx of people into the FCT. “The demography of FCT is now challenging because a lot of people are trooping into the FCT and these must not be translated negatively. “The AEBP, as a regulatory agency, is partnering with private individuals because government funding is dwindling, so government cannot handle it alone. We are partnering under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) to make public toilets available. He added, “In the whole world, there is no where you will just put sanitary waste in every available space but there are designated areas within a workable distance all over the world but it appears that what people want is that, in front of their houses, let there be public convenience; it cannot work that way.” He appealed to the private sector to partner with the agency in order to tackle the lingering menace in the FCT.

PAGE 38— SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

CALEB AYANSINA

T

HE living condition of about three million people living in Zhipe community in Karu Local Area Council of Nasarawa State is pathetic.

Zhipe, in the axis of Karshi, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is less than one hour’s drive to Abuja, the nation’s capital, but its inhabitants are too far from civilization. There is nothing on ground in the community to show the presence of Karu LGA not to talk of Nasarawa State government.

The road connecting the community to Karshi is nothing to write home about, let alone a healthcare centre.

There is no bore-hole; the only source of water for the people is a stream, where both human and animals drink from.

The only infrastructure in Zhipe community is the Jijipe Community Primary School of about six dilapidated classrooms that, in normal circumstances, should have been demolished, to avoid it collapsing on the pupils.

Sunday Vanguard’s visit to the community revealed that the people had been long abandoned by government.

They are only remembered during election period when promises are made by politicians never to be fulfilled.

The head of the community, the EsuZhipe, Alhaji Allhassan Muhammadu, in an interview, said they had been neglected because of their political affiliation.

Muhammadu maintained that the current administration in the state is led by the All Progressive Congress (APC), and that, because his people

People, animals drink from same stream here – Abuja suburb community head

Miss FCT Tourism with Zhipe children chose to follow People Democratic Party (PDP), the authorities refused to listen to their yearnings.

“We don’t have water; no good road, as you can see our road yourself, when you were coming. No water, we drink from the same stream where cows and sheep drink from. As big as this community is, there is no single borehole. Anytime we talk to the people at the local council, they don’t take action,”he stated.

“The only thing that is here is that

primary school you see at the entrance. The school is not a good place for learning. What can somebody learn under that condition, where the building is almost collapsing? We have appealed to government but nothing is being done up till now.

“My people are struggling to survive, there is no electricity, we are farmers and to even get to town to sell our farm produce is a problem. Help us to tell government to come and

DIKKO: The life of Danfodio’s grandson, the BBC broadcaster and a mathematician

BY LUKA BINNIYAT, KADUNA

T

HE late vocal politician, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, was the great grandson of Sultan Aliyu Babba, the consolidator of the Caliphate who summoned the first conference for four empires. They are that of Ghana, Songhai and Fulani, his family claimed. ”Alhaji Umaru Dikko, therefore, is the sixth direct descendant of the Islamic scholar and reformer, Shehu Usman Danfodio, the founder of the Usumaniya Dynasty, or the Sokoto Caliphate”, the bio data of Dikko, released by his family, said.

He was, therefore, honoured with revered Zazzau title of Turaki Babba, in accordance with his feudal, Islamic aristocratic root.

But Dikko could have been a celebrated academic had he taken that path going by his precocious nature as a school pupil.

One year after enrolling into Kaduna Elementary School in 1946, little Dikko was promoted doubly to spend only two years instead of the usual four.

He arrived Zaria Middle School in 1948, to complete another three years of schooling to qualify him for secondary school entrance. But he was so outstanding that after spending only 11 months, he sat for the entrance examination and passed. He enrolled into Barewa College, one of the premier post-primary schools of the

North at that time. After six years in Barewa College, Dikko came out with Grade 1 in his Cambridge School Certificate Examination. An all round science student, he entered the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology. Zaria, with the aim of becoming an engineer but abruptly changed his mind and became a broadcaster with the BBC. Again he sat for arts subjects, alien from his science background and passed his GCE Advanced Level, with distinctions in two subjects while working with the BBC In apparent conflict with himself, he dumped broadcasting after five years and enrolled to read mathematics at the Birkbeck College University of London in 1962, graduating in 1965 as the best graduating student of his faculty.

Upon his return to Nigeria that year, he was appointed into a senior cadre position in the Northern Nigeria government. When the military terminated the first civilian governments of Nigeria in 1966, Dikko was appointed the Commissioner of Finance, Economic Planning, Trade and Industry, North Central State, now Kaduna and Katsina States.

That marked Dikko’s steady rise in the public sector, holding plum positions, until 1977, when he was elected into the National Constituent Assembly to represent Kaduna and Birnin Gwari.

help us.”

Also the PDP Youth Leader in Karshi 2 Ward, Karu LGA, Amos Musa, explained that the problem they faced is insincerity from those at the helm of the affairs at the state and local government levels.

The youth in the community can either farm or ride motorcycle popularly known as ‘Okada’, with little education, as those who have the zeal to further their education beyond primary school have to go to another village, Takalafia, for postprimary school education.

The challenges in Zhipe, no doubt, compelled Miss FCT Tourism, Cynthia Adegwe Uyo, and Miss FCT Niger Delta, Tokoni Esther Atin, to focus their pet projects on ‘Improving Girl Child Education’ and ‘Caring for Elderly in the Society’ respectively.

The duo, in partnership with the United Care for Women Initiative (UCAWIN), a non-government organisation, tried to bring succour to the inhabitants by donating relief materials to them.

Cynthia said, “I’m here in Zhipe community because my project is based on the girl-child, I’m here to sensitise them about their right to education, to make them understand that they have potentials and qualities to stand right in the society irrespective of gender.

“The real definition of girl inspired by me; the G stands for guard, that is to help guard them in the society so they can go through the right direction. I stands for inspire to help inspire them so they can know they have qualities and dignity.

R stands for respect because I noticed that in our society today people don’t really respect these girls, but I want to tell the society that they are meant to be respected like the male children. L stands for love, they deserved to be loved and cared for.”

On her own part, Atin said: “I am here in this community to reach out to the elderly ones because people have forgotten them as are the ones that brought us up, they are the ones that trained us, but when they grow old they are forgotten.

“No health care, no water, no clothing, no necessary amenities. I am here to see in any little way we can help them, to let their voice be heard and be spoken about.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 39

BY SONI DANIEL, NORTHERN Region Editor A former Special Adviser to Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State on Niger Delta, Mr. Jude Tabai, in this interview, defends the steps taken by President Jonathan to tackle insurgency and re-position Nigeria, contending that those who facilitated the emergence of Boko Haram for political reasons should rise up and find an answer to the monster rather than blaming Jonathan for their atrocities.

Boko Haram: Stop blaming Jonathan for the lapses of northern politicians —Jude Tabai

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hat steps do you think the Federal Government should take to end insurgency in the North-east?

First we need to know who the Boko Haram elements are and what they want to achieve. In one breath, they claim to be fighting to convert all Nigerians into Islam; in another, we are

seeing the sect being effectively used by politicians to wage a political war. Boko Haram came in courtesy of some politicians, who made it popular. Don’t forget that the situation in Borno before now was similar to that in the Niger Delta under a certain governor, who wanted to use the boys for political reason. Young men were carrying guns all over the place and threatening those perceived to be against the interest of the governor.

So, I want to believe that for us to get a solution to the insurgency, those who were in charge in Borno when the sect started its activities should be brought in to help government find solution to the problem.

What else should be done by government?

It is wrong for people to assume that Boko Haram is faceless and cannot be brought to its knees. There are people who know the sect leaders and members; these people are not ghosts, they are living among the natives of the state and they have relatives, who should speak out. They should be called upon to name and shame those involved in this despicable act that is claiming innocent lives on daily basis. I believe that once their people rise up against them, the Boko Haram crisis would be over. For instance, in the Niger Delta, I know how we went about it. Borno State capital, Maiduguri, is calm today because the people stood up and said they would not allow the sect to flourish in the city. This has been possible because the people knew who the attackers were and they came out and said ‘enough is enough’. The people should identify the protagonists and deal with them with the aid of security agencies.

How do you deal with

Mr. Jude Tabai the insurgents if you cannot identify them?

We did it in the Niger Delta and it can be done in the Northeast. I think what we did in the Niger Delta was that when the military came in, we assisted them to get to where the boys were and, secondly, every military man transferred to a place is a stranger. There is no way the military can succeed without the aid of an insider.

And that is why we are saying that the people of the North-east are the best solution to the insurgency in the area.

Some people are blaming the Federal Government for being slow in responding to the crisis especially the abduction of the over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, which the government did not initially believe.

I don’t believe that government doubted the abduction in Chibok. But let me say that kidnapping as we speak can sometimes be stage managed and it can be real.

We have some instances where parents kidnap their own children and vice versa.

But the issue of Chibok is that it is odd for a state to be depending on the Federal Government on the issue of abduction that happened in a state. What is the governor of the state as the chief security officer of the state doing?

The kidnapping in the Niger Delta was for ransom while the current one is for religious purpose, apparently to spite the government of the day.

In the Niger Delta, expatriates were kidnapped on daily basis. Whether you are kidnapping for money or religion, I want to tell you that there is always a link between the people and the kidnappers because the kidnappers are not strangers.

How does a governor,

who is not controlling the security agencies like the police and the army, tackle insurgency?

In Rivers State, when insurgency was raging, it was the governors who spearheaded the efforts to bring the militancy to an end. Some of the governors like Amaechi adopted firefor-fire approach while Sylva adopted the soft approach to end the crisis. What I am saying is that the governor of the state must rise up and help in finding the Chibok girls. These approaches worked for us and it can also be used to address the situation in the North-east.

They should not come and tell us that the Boko Haram members are faceless. It is not acceptable; the governors of the areas must stand up and assist the Federal Government in finding a lasting solution to the problems in their domains.

They should not wait for the Federal Government to come and do what they are supposed to do because the government in Abuja does not know who a Boko Haram member is in Borno, Yobe or Adamawa more than the locals in those places. This is where the mistake is. Once the people are ready to fish out the elements, it will be easy to end the crisis.

But these states are under state of emergency and cannot do anything to stop the soldiers and the police deployed to their states In that case, the federal government should declare a full state of emergency dismantling all the democratic structures to enable the security agencies take full control of the affected states.

As things are now, we want to know who to hold responsible. What I am saying is that the country is in crisis and we should all stand up to proffer solutions to the current of insurgency.

Some people blame the opposition for the crisis. Is this also your own view?

It is unfair if elder statesmen can go about threatening government and nothing is done about it. Nigerians should be interested in asking what has been done to those politicians who issued the threat in 2011 but instead of doing that they are busy blaming Jonathan.

Jonathan is just one person who cannot solve all the problems by himself without the support and cooperation of all Nigerians.

Are you satisfied with the steps so far taken by the Presidency to address insurgency?

From my assessment, the president has done its own but but the actions must be stronger and sustained. And the President must be careful with the people he is dealing with because right now every action taken by him is being turned into politics by the opposition. How do you blame the president when he sent soldiers to quell the insurgency and the opposition is turning round to accuse him of committing genocide in the North? This is a very dangerous and cruel accusation. Why should this happen at a time of national upheaval? Even if you don’t like the president, you should at least give him the respect for the patriotic actions he has taken to save this country from being

problem, let us do it at the party level and leave out the common man. The killing is too much and I suspect it is all about 2015. Fulani herdsmen now on the rampage are perhaps doing all that because of the 2015 election.

But Nigerians expect the president to be firm in tackling these issues. Do you think he has courageously responded to his duties?

The president’s disposition is tied to his respect for human rights and the rule of law. He is using the best and most peaceful approach to issues and we believe it is working for us in the Niger Delta. As we speak now, if the president moves against those who are accusing him, they would be the same people to accuse him of genocide. I would not encourage him to take any decision that would portray him as a southern president out to kill northerners. That is why I think that his calm and friendly approach to issues suits the moment in which we have found ourselves. That is why I cannot blame him for being calm and calculated in his actions.

I am seeing political insurgency and not different from what happened in the Niger Delta. When Shekau was talking on Youtube, he was busy calling the president’s name and we were wondering why he was doing that. He said Nigerians were protesting against the abduction of the girls but the opposition came back to say the protest was against the President. So, where are we heading to?

Given the problems we have should Jonathan contest in 2015?

We did it in the Niger Delta and it can be done in the Northeast. I think what we did in the Niger Delta was that when the military came in, we assisted them to get to where the boys were destroyed by malevolent elements masquerading as Boko Haram insurgents. If you don’t like the president, wait for him at the polls and vote him out and stop shedding blood. The opposition has been involved in some of these ugly situations by celebrating deaths and it is very unfortunate. Why celebrate the killings of human beings?

Why celebrate bloodshed?

This is wicked politics which should not be encouraged.

Muslims and Christians have been more divided in this country than ever before because of the current state of insurgency. How do we make progress quarrelling every day? If politics is our

Jonathan as a Nigerian has the right to contest and it would be very unfair for anyone to try to stop him from contesting in 2015. If you don’t want him to be president in 2015 the best way is to campaign against him at the poll. But it is unacceptable for anyone to incite bombing and killings just to give Jonathan a bad name as being incompetent and clueless all because you want to give him a bad name so as to lose the election. It

will never and can never work in this country. And we the people of the Niger Delta will not fold our arms and allow him to be pushed away just like that.

PAGE 40— SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014

By Sam Eyoboka and Olayinka Latona

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IOLENCE linked to Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, known by its Hausa name, Boko Har?m, and with foothold in north eastern Nigeria, north Cameroon and Niger Republic, has left at least 12,000 people dead, 8,000 people crippled while several thousands have been displaced. Founded by a former Borno State native, Alhaji Mohammed Yusuf, in 2002, the organization seeks to establish a “pure” Islamic state ruled, thus an end to what it deems as the westernization of Nigeria.

Nigerian Muslim leaders have condemned the group and its ideology.

Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum and governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, said, “Islam is known to be a religion of peace and does not accept violence and crime in any form” and that Boko Har?m does not represent Islam.

In a similar development, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’adu Abubakar III, the spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims, called the sect “anti-Islamic” and “an embarrassment to Islam”.

The Coalition of Muslim Clerics in Nigeria (CMCN) the Islamist group’s members to disarm and embrace peace. Boko Haram has ignored these appeals and intensified its terror campaign giving rise to the speculation that either the military is ill-equipped to stop it or the group has infiltrated the rank and file of the armed forces.

The abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State and the interception of about 33 mini-buses in Abia State suspected to be carrying hundreds of the Islamist group’s members have necessitated concerned Nigerians committing time and resources to seek peace in the nation and suggesting ways to put an end to the Boko Har?mn terror.

Mr. Zanna Bukar Mustapha, who owns a Maiduguri-based foundation, The Future Prowess, said leaders of Boko Haram belong to a movement with headquarters in the Islamic holy land and the best way to end the insurgency therefore is to involve clerics from Saudi Arabia.

He is sceptical about the involvement of the US and other western powers in the attempt to end the insurgency.

The best way to end the terror, he said, is to bring clerics from outside Nigeria “who are of the same faith, who may have a better understanding of the faith which the insurgents believe in, so that they can sit with them”. Mustapha explained, “These clerics can find a way of engaging them, not with arms but academically, because they have very superior arguments in judgment, in knowledge and in what the doctrine stands for.

“Muhammed Yusuf, (Abubakar) Shekau and all the rest are of the movement. And when you talk of the movement, you have to go to Saudi Arabia to get them. When you get them, you can find an international organization to organize advanced contact that will bring the movement’s members in Saudi Arabia to go to the prisons and meet the insurgents held by the Federal Government.

A former Head of State and convener of Nigeria Prays, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), likened the Boko Haram terror to the Nigerian Civil War of 6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970, when several

WAR-TIME LEADER’S SOLUTION TO BOKO HARAM

The crucial options before Jonathan —Gowon •‘Politicising terror attacks may create new problems’ •The three Muslim groups who can broker truce, by Pastor Oritsejafor

•Gowon

•Oritsejafor

Nigerians, even in the military, believed that the war ,which claimed over one million lives, would end within 48 hours, but that was not to be.

One of such military officers who believed that Nigeria could overrun Biafra within 48 hours was Gen. Hassan Katsina. Addressing newsmen in Lagos, Gowon urged Nigerians, especially opposition politicians who use every opportunity to berate President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the security threat, to “remember the problem we had during the civil war”. The war time Nigeria leader went on: “Of course, everybody was saying they were expecting it to be resolved within 48 hours. Gen Hassan said that we were going to finish it in 48 hours. ”Of course there’s nobody who is responsible who won’t feel concerned about the problems we are having in the country presently; especially the security problems.

No matter how weak the opposition is, you can be rest assured that it takes a very long time before we are able to resolve the problem”.

He, however, assured that the president is doing everything he could. “Of course he’s had some disappointment from what we’ve had either because of lack of expertise from the security forces to deal with the situation; but one thing I know is that we who are the good will overcome the evil that is there at the moment. And I want to assure the people of Nigeria that the president has to employ all manner of methods of dealing with it. ”Yes, you use force where it is necessary, but you also use diplomacy where it is also possible to resolve the issue,” Gowon said, adding that he was in Kano where the state government was organizing separate interactive sessions with Christian leaders, pastors, bishos, as well as did the same thing with the Muslim. ”So they approached us (Nigeria Prays) if we could do the same thing

for the Christian group but I said I would prefer that we have the meeting of the two religious groups: Islam and Christianity, so that if we couls frankly talk to each other in order to deal with this particular problem because the problem that we found is that the group that is terrorizing the rest of the country do it in the name of Islam. The Islam that we have in the country, in the north or in the west or in any other part of the country, certainly, will not contribute to the very hostile activity that this other group is doing,” the former leader stated.

‘Giving Islam a bad name’ He enjoined Muslim leaders to be more proactive, saying: “I think they are giving Islam a very bad name and image, and it is the duty of the Muslim brothers to do something about it. If we can join hands together to see if we can convince the other group that what they are doing is not in the interest of Islam or in the interest of the country, they should think of their approach. So all sorts of efforts are being made at various levels: at the heads of state level, at the state level, religious level to stop terror.”

The only thing we must try not to do, Gowon pointed out, is to take this problem as a political issue because, once you do that, you will be making a mistake and creating

problems for the whole country. So it must not be politicized. “For example, the case of the Chibok girls, it is very sad that some people are trying to use it to blame the president that he is doing nothing about it and they are trying to use politics in order to denigrate the president. It could happen from the other side; and I can assure you that it is wrong if anybody from the other side is criticizing the leadership in that role”, the former Head of State said. ”Let us look at this thing together in the interest of the country. Let us not look at it as a religious thing, let us not look at it as a political thing but as a problem that affects all of us. And we must all put our heads together in order to deal with that particular problem”.

Speaking earlier in the same vein after receiving an award from the

*Boko Haram militants

Bible Society of Nigeria, National President of Christian Association, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who expressed joy at the award, said it’s good if outsiders honour “but when your own people honor you, it means a lot more because it’s much more difficult for your own people to recognize anything to honoring you because they are your people”.

Oritsejafor used the opportunity to appeal to Muslim leaders to engage the insurgents to bring about the unity and peace that our founding fathers fought for.

According to him, Ramadan is one of the pillars of the Islamic faith, and “I want to believe that it is a season that they value so much. And if they value it, then we also value it with them. I think it is a good time for us to make a passionate appeal to them in love. ”We cannot be against them. They are our brothers. We must work together to make this nation great.

We must work together. We don’t have a choice, God put us here together. But at the same time, one of the things that we must do in Nigeria is to tell the truth no matter how painful it sounds. Truth is always the best. The bible says you can’t work against the truth, you can only work for the truth. And what is the truth?

”Boko Haram is an ideology; look at what has happened in Iraq, now an Islamic state has been declared. That is exactly what a lot of these groups are doing all over the world. That’s their aim. This is the first one they have come out to actualize. And that is the aim of Boko Haram, to declare an Islamic state”.

He maintained that but for God, and the gallant Nigerian military, they would have done it in Borno State. “They would have declared Borno an Islamic state by now and from there it will be a base to launch out. But somehow they’ve not been able to do it and that’s the annoyance that they have because that’s what they want to do”, the CAN leader said.

‘Solution lies with three groups’ ”That is why we are appealing that just telling us that they are not Muslims is not good enough because it is the Quran they use, they quote it all the time. So you have to match it with a superior ideology of argument. It has been taken to an intellectual level and, from what I hear, they love to discuss the Quran, they love to discuss the doctrines in the Quran. I don’t know anything about the Quran, they won’t listen to me. So we are appealing to Muslim clerics, Muslim traditional rulers, and Muslim political leaders. These three groups should come together and look at all these doctrines and pick amongst them those that these boys respect because they know them and still respect some of them.

Pick them and send them to these people so that they can sit with them and openly, prayerfully, by superior argument begin to change their mind. ”I met a group in Abuja who were sharing something with me, they said that there’s one Muslim leader, he’s late now, that when Muhammed Yusuf was still the leader, he sent for him and he came to meet him in Kaduna and he was asking him saying ‘which is the Haram?

Is it the language? Are you saying now that other languages are inferior to Kanuri because you are Kanuri?’ He said, ‘what about the SUV you drove to me meet here, is that Haram? What about the gold wristwatch you are wearing, is that Haram?’ And he began to show him some of these things. According to what they told me, they said when he finished, he begged the cleric saying ‘I’m so sorry, please forgive me. I will go back and try and convince my people’. ”Obviously, Yusuf didn’t succeed in convincing his Boko Haram members but you can see that by superior argument, the Muslim leader was able to calm him down.

I believe that there are those of them who can do it. If they do that, we will be heading towards solution to this problem.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 41

DERIVATION:

North's conspiracy versus South's resistance

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

A

t its twilight, the 2014 National Conference in Abuja heads for the precipice. Read the account of a week long stalemated session on resource control and derivation principle.

It was originally meant to be a National Intervention Fund, but they called it a National Intervention Fund for North East, North West and North Central.

This is, for now, the impression a presentation made by an elder statesman to the ongoing 2014 National Conference, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, on Wednesday, has created. The presentation followed the deliberation by an intervention committee christened “Elders’ Committee” set up by the leadership of the conference to work out a consensus on the contentious and vexatious oil derivation principle and percentage for the Niger Delta states.

The setting up of the Elders Committee became pertinent following anticipated imbroglio on the report of the conference’s Devolution of Power Committee which recommended the retention of the status quo ante, that is, the 13 percent derivation enjoyed by the oil producing states of the Niger Delta.

The submission of the main report of the committee a few weeks ago witnessed a minority report by Ms. Annkio Briggs, a member of the committee and Federal Government delegate to the conference. She had protested that she was not a signatory to the main report of the committee which resource ownership, control and derivation principle. But the conference traditionally jettisoned her minority report, saying it wasn’t in its totem to accept minority reports and went ahead with discussion on the reports of the rest 19 committees of the conference.

Meanwhile, aware of the volatility of the issues contained in the main report of the Devolution of Power Committee, the conference leadership, in its wisdom, scheduled the report of the committee as the last to be discussed. Now, done with others, it was obligated to open talks on the recommendations of Devolution of P.ower Committee.

But how would it have proceeded amid thunderous agitations and threats by Niger Delta/ South South

delegates who insisted on a substantial increase of the derivation fund from 13 percent otherwise the battle will return to the creeks?

Therefore, in a bid to broker a truce, chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd), set up the Elders Committee on Tuesday. This was, however, after the delegates had waited with bated breath on Monday for the commencement of debate on the report.

The membership of the Elders Committee cut across the six geopolitical zones of the country featuring three delegates each. But it later got enlarged following protest by delegates on the platform of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, Organized Labour, women groups and professional bodies, among others.

The members are Bashir Dalhatu; Dr. Fatima Lami Adamu; IGP Ibrahim Coomasie for North West Zone; Mohammed Kumalia; Kashim Imam; Adamu Maina Waziri for North East; Senator Iyorchia Ayu; Prof.

Ibrahim Gambari; Prof. Jerry Gana for North Central; Gen. Alani Akinrinade and Dr. Kunle Olajide for South West.

Others are Chief Edwin Clark, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga for South-South; Gen. Ike Nwachukwu; Prof. Anya O. Anya and Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife for South East.

Bombshell On Tuesday, many had anticipated that the Consensus Committee would end its assignment. But that was not to be. The discussion sprawled into the next day, Wednesday.

But just when the patience of many delegates upon waiting for the outcome of the meeting of the 37 “wise men” was about wearing out, the `Elders’ made a sudden entry into the hall.

Time was about 2.45 pm when the leader, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, an elder statesman from the South-east, and others came in from the caucus meeting.

Recognized, Nwachukwu told the house that a delegate on the platform of elder statesmen category, Prof.

Ibrahim Gambari, would read the position of the Elders Consensus Committee.

Gambari, who presented the report at about 2.50 pm,

said: “After two days and two nights, here is what we arrived at: We arrived at this conclusions and in doing that among us, there have been shift of positions on the parts of the two positions already taken by our members in the spirit of compromise and putting Nigeria first and above the interest of our respective zones and constituencies, recognising that status quo is not sustainable. We have always felt that anytime we reduce our discussion to our village level, primordial level, state level, zonal level, we are likely to run into problem.

“Now one pole began with the position that was embodied in the recommendations of the Committee on Devolution of Powers all the way from 13% to 15% to 17% and not less than 18%. Another position shifted from the high figure of 100%, 50% to 21.5% to 20% and finally to not less than 18% to be reviewed every 10 years.

“Therefore, this group adopted a position and to recommend to the plenary not less than 18% as the derivation formula but the group did not end there. As a package, we propose two recommendations: One, for 5% revenue allocation to be made for solid minerals development; we know we are over-relying on oil and the time has come to pay attention to other resources throughout the country.

“The second and perhaps much more urgent is that we have recommended a new fund to be established which we will call Fund for Stabilisation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, 5% of revenue allocation, principally for the North-East, North-West and the North Central.

“These recommendations, if endorsed, will be reflected in the Revenue Allocation Act. We have also recommended that what is happening now is not the problem of NorthEast but that of Nigeria but more dramatically in the North-East. We have also recommended broadly a safeguard and mechanism to ensure that monies go to those who need them most and to also enhance production of mineral resources that our country is endowed with.

“Finally, in reaching this conclusion, this group is only motivated by one thing which is just to provide an avenue to reach consensus rather than voting, we do not believe that voting will really move us forward.”

Continues on page 43

PAGE 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

AS CONFAB ENDS: How Kutigi, Akinyemi handled the North/South divide

BY HENRY UMORU, Assistant Political Editor The National Conference, an assemblage of 492 Nigerians, after three months of its original time frame with additional one month, would round off in four days time having completed the main assignment of plenary, committee work and voting on the recommendations of the committees.

President Goodluck Jonathan, as part of the moves to expand the space for political and social discourse; determine the future of Nigeria and create a new political direction for Nigeria, on 17 March, 2014 inaugurated the National Conference.

Besides the 492 delegates, there are six principal officers namely: Conference Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi; his deputy, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi; Secretary, Mrs. Valerie Azinge; Assistant Secretary, Conference Proceedings, Dr. Akilu Indabawa; Assistant Secretary, Finance and Administration, Prof.

Mahmood Yakubu; and Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications, Akpandem James.

Before the Kutigi-led National Conference, Jonathan, on Monday, 7 October, 2013, put in place the Senator Femi Okurounmu-led 13- member Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue as a foundation to the conference.

At the end of its three-month exercise of brainstorming, the Okuruonmu committee, in January, submitted its 69-page report. Barely two months after the submission of the report, Jonathan nominated Kutigi as Chairman of the National Conference, alongside Akinyemi as Vice Chairman. Consequently, the president rolled out 492 names as delegates. The list was made up of 37 elder statesmen, one each from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, nominated by the president; retired military and security personnel from each of the armed forces, the police, the State Security Service and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency; traditional rulers, two per zone and one from the FCT; retired civil servants, one from each geo- political zone and the FCT; NLC and TUC LEADERSHIP whose nomination must reflect the The conference itself was a test of geo- political zones and gender leadership on the part of Kutigi and balance; the organised private sector Akinyemi. with two nominations from NECA, The first major challenge they MAN, NACCIMA, NESG; the media, handled was the adoption of 70% professional bodies; women organisamajority vote benchmark, just as the tions; youth organisations, people with issue almost marred the conference. disability, among others.

The bone of contention was whether Some of the big names as delegates voting pattern should be by two third, include the South-south leader, Chief three quarter or 75% of delegates. A Edwin Clark; Dr. Tunji Braithwaite; group of ‘50-wise men’ was put in Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Chief Richard place and the matter was resolved.

Akinjide; Chief Olu Falae; Erelu As the conference continued, humour Olusola Obada; General Ike adopted by Kutigi helped to relief Nwachukwu; Achike Udenwa; Chief tension especially when delegates Olusegun Osoba; Nduka Obaigbena; resorted to threats. In one instance, Chief Raymond Dokpesi; Senator Jim the Lamido of Adamawa, Nwobodo; Chief Mike Ahamba, Muhammadu Barkido Mustapha, SAN; Senator Azu Agboti; Chief Peter during plenary, told other delegates Odili; King Alfred Diete Spiff; Prof. that he would pack his luggage and Jerry Gana; Gen. Jonathan Temlong; whatever he had to join his kith and Prof. Jubril Aminu; Alhaji Ahmadu kin in Cameroon, but Kutigi and Adamu Muazu; Arc. Ibrahim Bunu; Akinyemi placated him.

General A. B. Mamman; General Kutigi and Akinyemi had very firm Alani Akinrinade (rtd; former Senate control of plenary; they did not give Presidents Adolphus Wabara, Iyorchia room for critics to achieve their Ayu; Ken Nnamani; Chief Mike mischief on the rumoured secret Ozekhome, SAN; Commodore agenda on the conference.

Olabode George, rtd; General Zamani Even when a delegate, Ishaq Lekwot (rtd); Gen Jerry T. Useni (rtd); Modibbo Kawu, raised a point of order Sen Daisy Danjuma, Charles that there were publications that Edosomwan, SAN and Ambassador Akinyemi was lobbying northern Hassan Adamu. delegates to smuggle in a new

The first major challenge they handled was the adoption of 70% majority vote benchmark, just as the issue almost marred the conference

Constitution, in their transparent manner, Kutigi asked his deputy to explain his own side of the story.

They understood the fact that they were leading people of different ages and backgrounds.

The confab leadership was able to handle the North and South divide by ignoring distractive points of order when voting on reports and recommendations commenced and they did not also give room for reversal of decisions reached.

To buttress the good leadership approach of Akinyemi, the Lamido of Adamawa, Mustapha, conferred on him the traditional title of Hasken Adamawa, meaning the light of Adamawa Kingdom.

According to Mustapha, in a letter to Akinyemi, the title was given to him due to the fairness, fearlessness, justness and firmness which he, the Lamido, witnessed during his three months of participating in the plenary of the National Conference.

THORNY ISSUES Twenty committees were set up by the leadership of the conference, namely: Devolution of Powers, National Security; Environment; Politics and Governance; Political Restructuring and Forms of Government; Social Sector; Transportation; Science Technology and Development; Agriculture; Civil Society, Labour and Sports; Public Service; Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters; Political Parties and Electoral Matters; Land Tenure and National Boundaries; Economy, Trade and Investment; Energy; Religion; Public Finance and Revenue; Immigration and Related Matters as well as Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reform.

After weeks of brainstorming at the committee level which took place with memoranda from the public, summoning of ministers, heads of parastatals, government agencies, among others, the delegates churned out reports. In the last few weeks, the reports and recommendations were subjected to debates, votes, approval and adoption with the conference, at the end, dealing with very thorny issues.

Some very thorny issues the conference dealt with include power rotation between the North and South.

Another was immunity for elected public officers.

The conference threw out the contentious issue of 6- year single tenure for president, governors; it

created additional state for the Southeast as well as additional 18 states for the six zones with a zone getting three new states each, just as it reverted to the old National Anthem as against the present one.

The conference also voted in favour of Modified Presidential System of Government which combines the parliamentary and presidential systems.

Under the proposal, the president elected under the new system shall exercise full responsibility for his government and shall select ministers, not more than 18 of them, from the six geo-political zones of the country.

On local government administration, the conference voted that states should own their own constitutions while the functions of local governments as contained in Schedule 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) have been transferred to the states subject to the power of the state Houses of Assembly to add or reduce the said functions of the local governments.

Delegates also approved the establishment of special courts like those to handle cases involving corrupt practices.

It was also agreed that hence forth anybody arraigned before the court by EFCC, ICPC and by any law enforcement agencies, the accused person will be regarded as guilty, unlike the present situation where he is innocent until proven guilty.

On the issue of state police, as controversial as it appears to be, a decision was taken that those who want it should have it.

The conference agreed that there will no sponsoring of Christian and Muslim pilgrimages to the holy lands, just as it resolved that churches and mosques will now pay tax to government.

After weeks of controversy over whether or not the Land Use Act be removed from the Constitution, the conference resolved to retain the law.

The conference also agreed that lawmaking should be on part- time basis.

There is succour for people living with disabilities as delegates voted that government at all levels should grant allowance to them which will be equivalent of government workers on grade level 06 as that would enable them employ aides to assist them carry out domestic activities.

Recommendation on the creation of a separate Foreign Service Commission was unanimously accepted by delegates.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 43

Continued from page 41 Flood of protests Gambari had hardly finished his speech, when protests erupted on the floor. The bone of contention was that Gambari betrayed the committee and smuggled in “North-west and North-central” as beneficiaries of the 5 % National Intervention Fund. With this, the conference became instantaneously polarized.

Essentially, most delegates did not have any qualms with the new offer of 18 % from the current 13 percent even though there are still some vestiges of agitations to jerk it up to 50%. Also, there was no issue on the agreed 5% mapped out by the committee for the development of solid mineral resources across the country.

Many did not also pick holes with the proposed 5% National Intervention Fund for national emergencies across the federation. Not even with the idea of starting off with North-east where insurgency has reached its apogee. But tempers flared up mainly over a perceived, conscious attempt to make the 5% an exclusive right or reserve of the North as there was no mention of Southeast, South-south and South-west.

Consequential effects By limiting the use of the Intervention Fund to the North, there is now an inferred thievery by the North which is seen to wanting to make the rest of the country to pay for a seemingly self-inflicted devastation in the North-east. Many delegates argued that insurgency has not yet abated in the zone despite the huge among of money spent in the last three years. In the reckoning of the delegates, what Gambari’s move has now achieved is to resurrect unpleasant debates over a chronology of misfortunes and fates suffered by other parts of the country which were not caused by them just as many said that assimilating such a proposal would naturally prompt an unusual quest for zonal and ethnic violence with a view to always draw from the national treasury.

Why North adopted 5% Take it or leave it, the North is wise. Even though the region does not have oil, they know the huge earnings accruing from it.

And so, for them to recant their earlier stand that there would be no additional percentage to 13 percent, they must have something coming their way in the spirit of give and take. And so, their take is the juicy 5 % Intervention Fund.

Jonathan’s rehabilitation fund/campaign strategy versus southern position President Goodluck Jonathan is not a delegate to the conference but it does appear he is working in tandem with the North to rehabilitate the zone starting with the North-east. If all goes well, the President would be formally inaugurating a special fund called Boko Haram Victims Support Fund on July 16. Already, N30bn has been earmarked for the fund.

But the gesture might prompt a problem between the president and his brothers in the South.

Hot words over 5 % rehabilitation deal Some delegates bared their minds on the issue of rehabilitating the Boko Haram ravaged North-east.

Compensate South-east over civil war killings— Group Captain Joseph Orji, first Military Governor of Gombe State and Federal Government delegate to the National Conference As you have noticed that in the past two or three days, the conference had been, I should say, bedeviled with the decision on derivation and other associated issues.

The Committee for Power Devolution

*The conference in session

North's conspiracy versus South's resistance recommended 13% for Niger Delta. That, in other words, means keeping the statu quo ante and further recommended 5% special fund for the development of solid minerals and other viable ventures like agriculture across the country. Those recommendations were considered on merit. For the 5% special fund, everybody hailed it. Then the issue of derivation which the Niger Delta and quite a lot of conference delegates thought should have been an improvement on their current status of 13% derivation. This of course divided the conference and it would appear that the polarization now is along North and South dichotomy which is a bit worrisome. My take on this issue is that first of all, we must all concede that what is at stake which is petroleum products belong to Nigeria. They are located there and for other states, we are just there taking part because of one family structure kind of. We are all Nigerians and to a reasonable extent lay claim to anything in Nigeria by further description or analysis. There was an earlier recommendation of 5% for development of solid minerals. To my mind, it is good. That will enable other states to develop what they have over a given period but the bone of contention was the insertion of another 5% tagged fund for rehabilitation and it was made to be exclusive for the three zones in the North: North-east, Northcentral and North-west. It didn’t go down well with other zones. For instance, Southeast: what do we have to tell our people because civil war was fought there for 30 months? There was a lot of destruction, human and material. I can’t remember any of such compensation or big chunk set aside for the rehabilitation of the people since the end of the civil war. Second, it is unfortunate that this has been going on and led to Boko Haram. The Boko Haram issue is a bad omen. While we still trace the origin and who may have caused this, there are equivalent carnages in the South. So, what I am saying in effect is if 5% should be set aside for such rehabilitation, all the zones should benefit from it.

that sat down and decided to destroy the North-east. As we sympathize with innocent lives that are being lost, with people whose homes, farms are being destroyed by Boko Haram, we hope that as government has set up the N30 billion fund to compensate the victims, it should also remember that there are victims of past atrocities who are still suffering today. Some of them, almost 20 years after, are suffering in Rivers State where the military came and killed people and destroyed property in communities. In Odi, Bayelsa State, the Supreme Court has actually given judgment that compensation should be paid to the

We will resist it—Annkio Briggs, Niger Delta activist and Federal Government delegate

We have agreed on everything, It is just the issue of English, nomenclature, the wording of who shall benefit from the intervention fund. What we said is that the 5% intervention that will now be coming from the Federal Government account will be available for intervention activities starting from North-east where the problems are now and should be available to any other part of Nigeria that faces similar problem.

Since we started the discussion of devolution of power, it has become clearer to the South-south people in this conference that the intention is not to understand our position. The intention is not to allow us to have access to our resources. That is the intention from the word go and we are going to resist it. It is even unbelievable to hear that the Federal Government has given N30 billion to a committee to begin the rehabilitation of the North-east. I am sympathetic to what the people of the North-east are going through but what is happening to them is not the responsibility of Nigerians. It is not collective Nigerians

fund for insurgency, to cater for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas, say so. Don’t go and create a fund for the whole country. If you want to go and create a fund for the whole country, create one, Call it whatever name you want, but don’t create a fund in the name of Boko Haram insurgency to rehabilitate people and you make it a nationwide thing and then it will be another slush fund. In the last 3 years, how much has been voted for to fight Boko Haram, N3trn. What is the status of the insurgency vis-a-vis the counter insurgency? Nothing to write home about. Two hundred and seventy something girls are missing.

It will encourage insurgency— Comrade Yinka Odumakin, South-west delegate

By limiting the use of the Intervention Fund to the North, there is now an inferred thievery by the North which is seen as wanting to make the rest of the country to pay for a seemingly selfinflicted devastation in the North-east people. Federal Government has not floated funds to pay.

Every zone should have access to the 5% fund—Chief Sergeant Awuse, Southsouth delegate

Restrict it to North—Hon. Mohammed Kumalia, a former member of the House of Representatives and North-east delegate The way forward is: if you are creating a

It is vexatious to ask for 5 percent for Boko Haram devastation when the insurgency has not abated. It amounts to the glorification of insurgency. The net effect of this is that other regions are being encouraged to start insurgency in order to access the fund. No sane country should promote this kind of absurdity.

The meeting of the “50 wise men”/ what to expect from tomorrow There were insinuations on Thursday that the North’s last line of defence in the event of its anticipated eventual loss on the 5% debate would be the cancellation of the added percentage on derivation. Feelers say it may also adopt a voting mechanism which has never been done in all recommendations taken so far. Ultimately, they may push for a redo of all decisions which however is not likely to fly. This is in view of the fact that a delegate representing Yobe State, Engr. Buba Galadima; another delegate representing Borno State, Dr. Haruna Yerima; a member of the `Elders Committee’ and delegate from the North-west, amidst dissenting voices at the Thursday plenary, stated that the document circulated by Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, which contained the original recommendation of the committee, was not supported by them, opting for a vote.

Last line Many keen observers of the proceedings of the National Conference believe that some rich decisions that will further the cause of Nigeria have been made and that any attempt to thwart them because of the unyielding stand of some persons would mean taking the country back to the trenches. What this means, therefore, would be that the country is not capable of charting a new forward. While this argument lasts, it is left to be seen whether such would be the case in the conference that has only four days to wind up.

Page 44, SUNDAY Vanguard, July 13, 2014,

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Celebrating the Ambassador-at-Large

T

HE recent appointment and induction of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as Ambassador-at-Large by President Goodluck Jonathan did not come to many Nigerians as a surprise. Nigerians could not have been taken aback by this rather novel appointment given Tukur ’s rich political, economic, business and international profile.

The appointment is especially significant against the backdrop that it is the second time a Nigerian leader has inducted someone as an Ambassador-at-Large. The first such appointment took place during the First Republic when the Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, appointed one of our most colourful politicians and wordsmith of egregious proportion, Late Dr. K.O. Mbadiwe, the first ever Ambassador-at-Large.

No such position was created throughout the many decades of Military interregnum and Military incursion in the country’s political firmament.

Not even the short-lived administration of Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari bestowed such honour on anybody. The same can also be said of the govern-

Tukur as a global villager ment of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It is therefore, a milestone in the history of Nigeria’s political development that another Ambassador-at-Large has been appointed more than 50 years after the first appointment.

Holders of the office are usually distinguished citizens

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VIEWPOINT

BY PRINCE OLIVER OKPALA

It is an office reserved for statesmen and men of integrity, patriotism, nationalism and industry

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whose records of past service to the nation are impeccable.

It is an office reserved for statesmen and men of integrity, patriotism, nationalism and industry.

This is why Jonathan must be hailed for re-creating this very important political and diplomatic office. It is well thought-out and it is a testimony to the president’s determination and great efforts to

reposition this country in the comity of nations. It is a proof that the Federal Government is desirous of making the international community feel the pulse of Nigeria. By this appointment, a signal is being sent to the international community that Nigeria wants to be part and parcel of the globalization process. It is sufficient evidence that Nigeria is part of the global village which the entire World has transformed to.

An Ambassador-at-Large is expected to stand in for the president in world affairs. He is the middle man between the president and the international community. He is a bridge-builder of sorts in the international sphere.

This piece is not only aimed at the celebration of the position but also the exaltation of the occupant of the position.

It is refreshing that the position has been resuscitated. But it is more exhilarating that Jonathan found Tukur fit and worthy to occupy the same.

Tukur is a man who could be said to be a global citizen or, more appropriately, a global villager as he has been described in a book written in his honour. He is a man of destiny who has seen it all. He is an international businessman,

an administrator, a politician and a statesman. He served in the maritime industry and later rose to become a General Manager in the Nigeria Ports Authority. From there, he ventured into politics in 1983 and was nominated to run for the governorship of the then Gongola State under the platform of the National Party of Nigeria.

He won the election and was elected as the second civilian governor of Gongola State. He was in office as governor when the military seized the reins of power in December 1983.

Therefore, he went into business. His business blossomed and grew in leaps and bounds.

He also internationalized his business.

His business was so successful nationally and internationally that he became the Chairman of African Business Roundtable, an umbrella organization of African Businessmen.

In the 90s, he left his business to answer the national call. He was appointed a Minister by the late General Sani Abacha. When the latter reneged on the plan to hand over to a democratically elected government, Tukur was among those who opposed continued military rule. He

was a member of the G-39 who openly berated military rule at a time it was risky to raise a voice against the powers-thatbe. It was this group that successfully drove the agitation for return to democratic rule.

The same group midwifed the Peoples Democratic Party. In a special way, Tukur is one of the founding fathers of republican democracy in place in the country.

He has served the country in various capacities. As a founding member of the PDP, he has contributed to the success of the party nationwide. He was perhaps the most active National Chairman of the party till date. He is presently the Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Railway Corporation.

In all, the restoration of the position of Ambassador-atLarge is salubrious to Nigerian’s international policy and politics. That the mantle has fallen on Tukur to hold the position is a catharsis to the Federal Government’s quest to place the country in her true place in the international map.

Truly, the cap fits. Therefore, much is expected of him to deliver Nigeria to the world at large, and, by so doing, instigate rapid international investment, both from foreign governments and private businessmen in Nigeria.

The task may be daunting but Tukur will surely prove his mettle and deliver. * Okpala is a political analyst

APC and the imminence of defeat in Osun T

HE Ekiti election of June 21 has come and gone, yet the APC, comprehensively defeated at the polls, has been behaving like the ostrich, citing some imaginary evidence of “photocromic” rigging or intimidation of voters by the presence of armed security agents as the cause of its misfortune.

The governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has been the loudest proponent of the thesis that APC did not lose the Ekiti election. He went further to boast that the outcome of the forthcoming elections in Osun would prove him right.

Every objective and rational observer of the Ekiti political scene prior to the election knew that Governor Kayode Fayemi, who was the APC candidate in the poll was spending his last days in officer and that Ayo Fayose would emerge victorious.

The APC in its folly was confident that its propaganda would hoodwink the people and make them vote en-masse for Fayemi whose achievements are more on the pages of newspapers and television than in any part of Ekiti.

Now that the chickens have come home to roost, even the rabid pro-APC columnists of sympathisers have started to analyse Fayemi’s original sins

– bordering on lack of sincerity, accountability or transparency and his preoccupation with the fanning of his own ego and that of the clique that surrounded him.

Aregbesola’s sins are more grievous and more unpardonable.

A critical analysis of these transgressions point in the direction of another comprehensive defeat for Aregbesola and the APC on August 9.

Osun people are no fools and are witnesses to the demolition of houses, shops and property (without due compensation) by the Aregbesola government.

They are also witnesses to the total destruction of the educational system through whacky and wrong-headed policies by a man whose claim to education is at best tenuous. The consequence has been declining performance by Osun students in public examinations, yet Aregbesola insists that his policies are the best for the education sector.

The reckless acquisition of loans to finance phantom and inflated projects have left Osun in a state of financial asphyxia and when it dawned on the APC apparatchik that non-payments of months of arrears of salaries will jeopardise the party’s electoral chances in Osun, they hurriedly went to secure another round of loans at very exorbitant rate of interest to pay months of arrears owed teachers, civil servants and the O-

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VIEWPOINT

BY BIOLA ADEKOLA VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Why the PDP will win poll

Osun people are no fools and are witnesses to the demolition of houses, shops and property (without due compensation) by the Aregbesola government

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YES employees whose own arrears run into about nine months.

They are presently looking for more loans to pay pensioners.

An already heavily-indebted Osun will be further impoverished by an additional burden of hurriedly-contracted loan agreements.

The Omisore Campaign Organisation is happy that workers are being paid money owed them but we are absolutely sure that Osun people are not deceived by the sudden “feelgood” and “wooing” tactics of the Aregbesola administration.

They are aware that the APC government in Osun has shown itself to be anti-people in the four years it occupied the seat of power.

Unless they want a return to

the days of government by deceit and propaganda, they will not vote for Aregbesola’s continued occupation of Abere.

Till date, no one except Aregbesola himself knows the true state of indebtedness of Osun.

Governor Aregbesola and his aides have not been able to give in any written document or interview, an account of how much Osun is owing creditors.

When asked, they’ve always dismissed Omisore’s figure as false and yet failed to provide the true figure of the state’s indebtedness.

Who is fooling who?

Infrastructural development that is not matched by raising the people’s standard of living and providing food, clothing and shelter is untenable and anti-human.

In Osun today, Ogbeni and his cronies have starteddistributing rice and money to people as if that will stop their ultimate rejection by an overwhelming majority of state voters for whom life has been made more difficult by four years of imposed selfish, misguided and misdirected anti-people policies of Ogbeni.

What is even more baffling is the usual noticeable discrepancy between the gargantuan amount spent and the questionable end-product of such investment. For example, it recently announced that it invested N2.3 billion in the construction of the Aiyegbaju market in Osogbo.

Earlier, it announced that it pumped N3.6billion annually into its school feeding programme; N8billion into the illfated “Opon- Imo” project; N27 billion into hospitals renovation project (which is yet to be accomplished); acquired a helicopter (in a relatively crimefree state) for area surveillance and “quick emergency response” at a cost yet to be disclosed; spent N10billion on rehabilitation of intra-city roads many of which are either 0.16km (Fagbewesa – Odi Olowo junction, Ebenezer Hotel road) or 0.85km Balogun Biro/Oke Baale road in Osogbo).

In addition, a whopping sum of N4.5billion was spent on the Eastern bye-pass road in Osogbo named after Oba Adesoji Aderemi while a humongous N20billion has been sunk into the 45km Osogbo/Ila Odo road.

Clearly, Osun people can see the wide discrepancy between close to N100billion already spent on road construction and the reality of inter and intra-city impassable roads that they have to contend with.

Our final word for Aregbesola is that the clouds of his defeat in Osun are gathered and neither his propaganda machine nor his “State Boys” or his recent pretentious populist gestures can stop the rain of his imminent defeat at the polls on August 9. *Adekola, a political analysts, lives in Lagos.

SUNDAY Vanguard, July 13, 2014, — Page 45

R

ECENT quiet of many credible contributors and commentators on national discourse must be as a result of the confusing state of the nation where multifaceted incredulous events unfold at unprecedented rates. In fact, most incidents in Nigeria, today, leave the mouth agape with saliva dripping almost uncontrollably from the lower lips that have lost their elastic grip as a result of shock. The most disenchanting aspect of the gory situation is the somewhat indifference of those saddled with the responsibility of managing the order of the state and the attendant buck passing across the three tiers of government and their agencies. It is disheartening that so much ugliness has pervaded the land, while, at the end of every disaster, which of course is largely man made, national leaders , some irresponsibly, dish out semantics in place of actions that should be backed by competencies to, at least, show that they are firmly in control of state machineries.

It is becoming obvious that social misfits and miscreants

VIEWPOINT

BY EMBALE JONATHAN VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Who the cap fits to represent Delta constituency

W

E have already been regaled with reports about insinuations from a section of politicians and their disciples in the Bomadi/Patani federal constituency advocating for fresh hand in the constituency ’s representative in the green chambers come 2015.

Their argument, however, is that, the incumbent, Nicholas Mutu, who is from the Bomadi axis of the constituency, had since the inception of democracy in 1999 occupied the position.

Thus, in what they described as you chop I chop syndrome, it is time a fresh hand comes on board to do the chopping, and when given the opportunity, in my view, will not be in the best interest of a people who have been ravaged by underdevelopment, educational backwardness, lack of a central hospital to meet the health needs of the people in the constituency, to say the least. This is because, “history ”, they say, “ repeats itself ”. Development in Ijaw land has in the past been dislodged by

NIGERIA: The gods are not at peace have hijacked the mace of office, thereby wedging the national vehicle to a dangerous bottomless pit. In Nigeria today, impunity reigns supreme to the extent that anything can happen to anybody, anywhere, at any time with no direct preventive measures from the government as represented by its security outfits. Granted that the entire human race is embattled by terroristic activities, yet, citizens of other nations are not left to be guillotined at will by the dastardly activities of a few angry elements.

Nigeria needs sustainable maintenance governmental structure that would guarantee its continued existence, lest the current waves as unleashed by Boko-Haram, kidnappers, ritualists, armed robbers, assassins and other anti-societal elements sink the ship of the nation. It is gradually becoming evident that the security of the citizenry can no longer be guaranteed.

War, skirmishes and battles are as old as the first existence of man on earth but despite its attendant viciousness, warriors still have and obey some rules of engagement. I was in England in the 1980s when the Irish Republican Army unleashed terror on their country,

In Nigeria today, impunity reigns supreme to the extent that anything can happen to anybody, anywhere, at any time with no direct preventive measures from the government as represented by its security outfits

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with more intense attention on London. It is worthy of note that no bomb would be detonated by the disgruntled group without the police being pre-warned and this was being done to minimise the casualties. Granted that the group is more enlightened, more civil, and more humane than the Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda’Awati Wal Jihad group ( i.e Boko Haram), that does not preclude the Nigerian dissidents from knowing that slaughtering of five-yearold school children and innocent people walking around town for daily sustenance is

the height of callousness, which cannot be justified by any known human parameter.

It is discomforting that state governors and members of the opposition, whose political parties also control some state and whose portfolios include maintenance of law and order, are eager to put the blame for insecurity on the door-step of the Federal Government of Nigeria, while all that is required is for all hands to be on deck to find a permanent, feasible and enduring solution to the social menace.

In all these, Nigerian elites of all divide behave like Nero, fiddling, while Nigeria burns.

Religious leaders are the worst, talking and placing irresponsible advertorial in the papers to defend the right of members of their creed to live.

What does it matter if the individual just killed is a Muslim or Christian or a pagan?

Afterall, a life is a life?. When did religion become the yardstick for determining whether a man should live or die? We should be reminded that those who planted bomb in a motorpark in Nyanya in Abuja, did not take a head-count to know the demographic details of the victims before killing and maiming them. In all scrip-

tures, including those of the pagans, man is enjoined not to kill. Despite our advantage over other animals, religion still forbids us from killing them anyhow not to talk of humans.

Nigeria is a country without positive orientation, a nation whose leaders are mere ‘fancy-talkers ‘with noise adjacent and yet, nothing to show our willingness to align with the aspiration of the world human community on civilised standard of conduct and behaviour.

Otherwise, with the enormous security challenges facing Nigeria, most organised societies of the world would have embarked on massive enlightenment campaign to sensitize the citizenry to the need to collectively fight the scourge through vigilance and information sharing. Citizens would have been properly briefed on the methods and operational mode of Boko Haram and what to watch-out for overall safety of all and sundry. Knowing that if all cobwebs strung together, they would tie the elephant.

It is time to act decisively.

*Ojikutu, a professor, is of the Faculty of Administration, University of Lagos.

The 2015 race in Bomadi/Patani the you chop I chop mentality.

To this end, this group of politicians is going all out in their bid to rouse the passive public including the malicious manipulation of truth on the altar of deceit to suit their agenda as part of the intrigues to gain public sympathy and relevance in public office.

In a brief but general term, their argument can be taken, at best, at face value. This is on the grounds that much as it lacks merit, broadness and soundness, it is self-limiting as a campaign strategy.

This group championing fresh hand in the Bomadi/ Patani federal constituency only locates change in the person occupying the office, while losing sight of the fundamental principle of change in the actual sense of the word, in a socio-economic/ political setting. Downplaying the dynamics of change amounts to intellectual poverty; throwing overboard meritocracy and the enthronement of mediocres.

Change in itself is far reaching, and change is holistic.

Bomadi local government area being the mother local government from where Pa-

tani was carved out in 1997 had had leaders in the past.

It was headquarters of the then Western Ijaw Division up to 1975 when it assumed local government headquarters after the political reforms of that year. Thus, leaders have come and gone. Some of the old generation politicians in the local government still hold sway today. They are regarded as the king makers in the constituency. Yet, the overall development of the region had been at its lowest ebb. There was an apparent disconnect between the political class and the people. It was an era of political apathy when the people of the region lost confidence in this set of politicians and the government of the day to meet their yearnings and aspirations.

That confidence was resuscitated and shored up when democratic governance was adopted in 1999 as the best form of government for Nigeria and Nigerians.

Indeed Mutu, whose political prowess is self-evident in terms of concrete achievements, was on hand to give a touch of quality representation in fashion-

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VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The need to collectively fight Boko Haram

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VIEWPOINT

BY RASHEED OJIKUTU

That confidence was resuscitated and shored up when democratic governance was adopted in 1999 as the best form of government for Nigeria and Nigerians

,

ing out genuine development of the region. The people of the constituency feel the presence of government coming closer to them. He has substantially stimulated the socio-economic activities of the region for the people to be self-dependent through the various empowerment programmes he puts in place.

Implicit in Mutu’s determination to usher in radical change is to inspire the people and to connect the future for sustainable development, which has been one of the cardinal points in making the electorate to experience dividends of democracy.

In fulfilling his mandate, Mutu vigorously pursues the upliftment of humanity using the instrument of government at his disposal to increase the quality of life of the downtrodden living in rural communities — a feat that makes the legislator a household name in the constituency. His achievements as has been stated above are self-evident and at best, complement the Transformation Agenda of the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in transforming the grassroots.

Hence, it is no surprise the constituency is calling on Mutu to return to the green chambers come 2015 for what he represents in the Bomadi/Patani federal constituency in the country ’s current democratic dispensation. All well-meaning people of the constituency should join hands to give this distinguished lawmaker total support, for total transformation.

Embale, a political affairs analyst, is resident in Bomadi, Delta State. embalejonathan@yahoo.com 08060123169/08087664614

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014 sameyoboka@yahoo.com

08023145567 (sms only)

Boko Haram can't Islamise Nigeria---Pastor James

By SAM EYOBOKA

statement made by Gen. Mohammadu Buhari after the 2011 elections. Do you sub-scribe to that?

No I don’t. He may have encouraged it; but I believe that this Boko Haram thing was on even before he made that statement if I recall very well. So what he said may have encouraged and emboldened them; but I don’t think they can hide under that excuse. So they should do well to stop it.

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ENERAL Overseer of Glory Christian Ministries, Rev. Iruofagha S. James has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to make haste and address the growing rate insurgency in the country before it throws this country into something none of us would want to see.

Addressing newsmen at the end of his church's annual programme tagged; 'The Power to Win', Rev. James wondered if the perpetrators are aware that the mutual suspicion that was aroused by the Nigerian Civil War has not faded off, stressing that for whatever reason they are doing this, be it religious or political, we don’t know; but it is arousing some similar feelings of tribal hatred.

"Innocent people who don’t deserve to die are just dying. People are being killed. These are things you can’t repair.

We are talking about human lives. On the long run, the threat it portends for the unity of the country is my greatest concern. It really worries me because these bombings today seem to be restricted to a particular part of the country. What if they succeed in going to other parts of the country?" he said.

"Those of us who are old enough to see some of these things," he argued, "take place don’t want to see some of these things repeat themselves. I pray that they will arrive at some kind of understanding soon and stop terrorism.

I think the threat to the unity of the country is greater at this time more than any other time I know."

According to him, the most potent weapon is for the Christians to continue to pray for these things to stop, noting "I pray that a quick solution is arrived at for the sake of the unity of this country.

Nobody wants to see a country like this fall apart. A big country like this, which country can contain us? No country will be able to receive us."

He therefore advised the leaders of this country to be able to find out exactly what needs to be done and do it quickly, adding "the consequence of this thing is going to be far wider than whatever it is that they are doing. And once that thing breaks out from that zone into the rest part of this country, it’s God that can save us."

Going by what some people said some few weeks ago that amnesty should be given, do you support that?

The amnesty issue is a very delicate issue. I subscribe to that version that was enunciated by the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. He said something to the effect that amnesty without justice is no amnesty. There are some people who are downright criminals and are in whatever pursuit for whatever they are looking for have done a lot of damage.

If amnesty is going to take care of the insurgency and the killings, what are you going to do to the people who have lost lives and families and businesses?

How will they be taken care of? What kind of amnesty are you going to give to them? I think this particular case is more complicated than we know.

I thank God for President Goodluck

*Dr. Iruofagha S. James Jonathan, one leader that I respect.

Thank God for his peace-loving demeanor. I think, however, that in this particular case amnesty must be matched with other kinds of acts not directed only to the militants but also to the victims of the militants. That is the only way true amnesty in this case can be administered because you cannot ignore those who have become the victims.

There are Nigerians who believe that Boko Haram activities rose after a

Do you think Boko Haram is fighting a religious war?

I believe whoever that is at the root of it could be using religion to prosecute their purpose. Like others do, I will not want to dabble into something I don’t know about. I’m not a Muslim and I’ve never been one. But I think it's obvious and that is what other Muslim leaders should be concerned about. We have our own work in Christendom. It’s still our job to put our house in order. There could be religious undertone. People could be using religion. And I will ask that the Muslim leaders take care of that while we take care of our own. Our own house too is in disorder.

Is there is any doubt about the mission of Boko Haram? Abubakar Shekau has not hidden his intentions.

He has always said it that they want to Islamize this nation....

Personally, and I pray I’m wrong, but I think that young man, Abubakar Shekau is not to be taken seriously. I don’t have any drop of regard for him because I don’t believe in whatever he is saying and he will not succeed. I stand firmly on that. He will never succeed. Let all of the Muslims gather together in this country, they will not succeed in Islamizing this country. It will never happen.

Sir, I am worried about this optimism.

Studies have shown that most towns in the Bible are today in Iraq, Turkey and other Islamic nations. We are saying here that it can never happen in Nigeria but a few days ago we heard 33 buses loaded with suspected Boko Haram operatives on their way to Port Harcourt were accosted in Abia State.

Only God knows what would have happened to our oil installations...

In our faith called Christianity, one of the foundational thing is faith. The Bible says without faith, it is impossible to please God. You’ve got to believe in the power of God that has control over the power of the spread of Islam. Islamism can only go as far as God Himself allows.

Yes we need to watch out. Yes we cannot be relaxed, and say this is never going to happen. Because there are some religions that do not only believe in the power of their God but in the power of their guns to advance it.

Catholic ministers advised to remain steadfast in their vocation … as SERRA club fetes Priests

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ATHOLIC Priests and Reli gious have been charged to remain steadfast in their vocation and walk steadily on the path of Christ, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. The call was made by Rev. Father Anthony Fadiaro, guest speaker at an annual dinner with Priests & Religious organised by SERRA Club of Maryland at McGovern Hall, St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos.

Speaking on the topic: “You did not choose me, I choose you”, the priest reminded the priests and other participants that it was God in His infinite mercy and love who first chose them.

Describing vocation as a special calling, Father Fadiaro urged the priests not to be pompous of their achievements but rather ascribe all glory to God and follow Him wholeheartedly.

He explained that it is a privilege to be chosen and called into the office of priesthood therefore they should love, take Christ's cross and follow Him, adding that there is no room for turning back once you put your hand on the plough.

Continuing, the priest stressed the need for every child of God to bear godly fruits in their different calling, explaining that any Christian who refuses to bear fruits will be cut down

by God.

Appreciating SERRA Club of Maryland for giving generously towards fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious life, the minister of God called on Catholic faithful to pray often and fervently for their priests so that they would be able to discharge

the spiritual and pastoral duties as desired by God who had called them.

The special guest of honour at the occasion, Chief Olu-mide Adebiyi, applauded the good gesture of the organisation for being a channel of blessing for the priests' vocation.

...Lagos Catholics plan cultural fiesta

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OR the promotion of evangelism through culture and drama, the Directorate of Social Communications of Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos has perfected plans to host the 2014 cultural and drama festival, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. The programme titled; Lagos Archdiocesan Cultural and Drama Festival, LACDRAFEST 2014, is aimed at showcase Christ to the world.

Unveiling the 2014 edition of LACDRAFEST themed: “The Family as a domestic church”, the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Monsignor Gabriel Osu explained that the vision behind LACDRAFEST is to create an army of well trained and talented artistes who would use their knowledge and skills to communicate Christ to a diversified

audience within and outside the church.

Calling on well meaning Nigerians to support the programme financially, Osu further explained that the festival will serve as a springboard for the identification of artistes that would represent the archdiocese at the Festival of Catholic artistes and entertainers, FESTICATET, scheduled to hold by October in Abuja.

“There will be representatives of the various parishes competing at the zonal levels while the zonal leaders would compete at the archdiocesan level. Lots of attractive prizes would be out for grabs,” he said. The chairman, LOC of LACDRAFEST Mr. Tony Agbugba explained that aside from discovering new talents through the programme, it will further foster unity among families, church and society at large.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 47

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Kinsman-redeemer Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer. He is the door by which we escape from bondage to eternal life. He is the gate by which we pass from death to life. Jesus says: “(God) has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors.” (Luke 4:18).

Men are imprisoned by our sins. But God is not our jailer.

God says: “Which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves.” (Isaiah 50:1). We are the ones who sell

PASTORS ARE JESUS KILLERS ourselves into bondage; and we sell ourselves to men and not to God. We are also held in bondage because of our ignorance. God says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6). Therefore, Jesus promises to provide the knowledge that opens the prison-doors to those in captivity. He says: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32).

Jesus redeems us from the wicked. God says: “Among my people are found wicked men; they lie in wait as one who sets snares; they set a trap; they catch men.” (Jeremiah 5:26).

Wicked men, acting knowingly or unknowingly as the agents of the devil, hold other men in bondage to sin.

Therefore, Jesus gives charge to the redeemed to redeem others: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.” (Matthew 10:16-17).

Ferocious wolves It is important to determine the precise identity of those wolves that are of the utmost concern to Jesus here. According to him, they are “ferocious” although in “sheep’s clothing.”

(Matthew 7:15). They have

Church must be involved in choosing political leaders — Cleric

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HEAD of the 2015 general elections, Christians have been called upon to be involved in the various political processes leading to the emergence of candiates for political offices at every level, reports BOSE ADELAJA. National President of Centre for Righteous Living, CRIL, a Christian-based non-governmental organization, Rev. Solomon Adegbolagun made this call at the formal inaugural lecture of the Lagos Centre Division of the body in Lagos.

Delivering a speech titled; “Because we are involved,” the cleric said: “Money must not be allowed to play a role in the process, and anyone who spends too much money must be disqualified. Leaders must not accept gifts from candidates and politicians must not be invited to churches to donate money.”

Rev. Adegbolagun who is also the chairman of Lagos State Pilgrims Welfare Board, however, expressed his stand against campaign for a Christian governor in Lagos, arguing; “if the Church has done her homework and come out with a candidate before the party primaries the party leaders of such candidates could be called for a meeting.”

Earlier, Rev. Adegbolagun had stated the political neutrality of Centre for Righteous Living, noting that “the Centre has no link or relationship with any political party,” explaining that CRIL is a non–partisan and an unbiased Christian outfit whose main concern is to wake up the Church to her civic responsibility and encourage her to fully participate in governance.

“We are in this match to shine the light of the glory of Christ into the darkness of our governance, also in sending disciples into governance to show the world how best to manage God’s resources put at our domain, for the overall benefits of all and not for a few to corner,“ he emphasised.

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ESUS is our redeemer.

But from whom exactly does he redeem us?

Does it make sense to presume he redeems us from God? Some terrorists kidnapped a rich man’s children and held them hostage; asking for a ransom before they could be released? When the incident was reported in the press, they said it was their father who kidnapped them. That is ludicrous. It only shows the press is controlled by the kidnappers.

A father does not kidnap his own children, demand a ransom for their release and then pay the ransom himself to himself. God is not the wicked one who holds men hostage. But he is the loving Father who ransoms his children. “For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion.” (Jeremiah 31:11-12).

It is the devil who keeps men in bondage. It is Jesus who comes to set the captives free.

Jesus says: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28).

It is these pastors that decided to sacrifice Jesus. And their descendants are the pastors currently running our churches

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their own synagogues and even refer to Jesus as “Lord.”

But this means nothing. Jesus says: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:20-21).

That means today they will be Christians, for Christians are the ones who proclaim Jesus as Lord. Indeed, these wolves are most likely to be the pastors of our churches. Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10).

What the thief steals, kills and destroys is our very relationship with God. Jesus reveals that God himself is defined by the resurrection of that destroyed relationship. (John 11: 25). Jesus is the giver of the life of eternal fellowship with God. Thus, Jesus declares: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10).

The key people who steal God from our hearts are our priests

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HE Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, national youth affairs has concluded plans to hold its annual youth summit this month at the National Stadium, Lagos, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. Briefing newsmen at the Redemption Camp, the Special Assistant to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye on Administration/Personnel, Pastor Johnson Odesola and Director of Media & Public Relations, RCCG, National Youth Affairs, Pastor Femi Enogbokan said the two-day youth summit designed to stir the greatness in the Nigerian youths is scheduled for July 1819.

Pastor Odesola, the convener of the annual youth summit, said there was a need for the nation’s youths to be repositioned to become change agents.

He said this could only be achieved if there was attitudinal and behavioural transformation and value re-orientation of the

and pastors. They are the ones who are determined to displace God and become the gods of our lives. They are the ones who fill our heads with false notions about God. They use the name of God to rob us blind.

They use religion to turn us into zombies. “They are as greedy as dogs, never satisfied. They are stupid pastors, all following their own path, all of them intent on personal gain.”

(Isaiah 56:11).

Jesus’ life is the ransom given to redeem us from these pastors who shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for they won't enter or let others enter.” (Matthew 23:13). Jesus himself was hounded by these evil men. It was these men: the chief priests and the scribes; the pastors and bishops and popes of Jesus’ day, who plotted against him and handed him over to the Roman authorities to be killed. (Mark 10:3234).

Jesus killers Then and now, it is these pastors that are the thieves and the robbers of God in our lives.

Then and now, it is these pastors that are Jesus killers. It is these pastors that decided to sacrifice Jesus. And their descendants are the pastors currently running our churches.

Jesus endangered the exalted positions of these evil men.

He subjected them to ridicule.

He provided original interpretations of the Law of Moses contrary to theirs. He disrupted

their sacrificial system in the temple. Moreover, God backed up his words with great signs and wonders. The priests and the pastors reasoned that if Jesus’ ministry was not terminated with extreme prejudice, they would soon lose their privileged status in society.

They were convinced that if Jesus was not silenced, all the people they had kept in spiritual bondage would be set at liberty. The more Jesus preached, the more people came to see the light. The more he preached, the more he opened prison doors. The more he preached, the less regard the people had for their pastors. Therefore, they had to kill him in order to protect their selfish interests.

After he died, they put the people back into captivity by claiming he died for their sins.

In truth, they killed him in the bid to cover their own sins.

They reasoned that a dead Jesus would cease to be a threat to their churches of lies and falsehood. But then God confounded their plans by raising Jesus gloriously from the dead.

Whose report?

Jesus healed a sick man by telling him to get up and carry his bed. However, the priests said it is unlawful to carry a bed on the Sabbath. Whose report should he believe? The redeemed must believe the report of the Lord. It is the Lord who ransoms us from the power of the grave; and redeems us from death. (Hosea 13:14). Therefore the healed of the Lord should beware of the hypocrisy of those who now sit in Moses’ seat.

Jesus warns: “Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:3-4).

RCCG Ignites Youth young population.

The cleric said: “To get the change we desire is to get our youths repositioned and tell them what they carry which they may not know and then ignite the vision and to start doing something new at the helm of affairs which will reposition our country in a better way.”

“The Redeemed Christian Church of God wants to ignite the positive vision in the minds of our youths, we want Nigerian youths to fulfill God’s

ordained purpose for their lives,” he said, adding “we are expecting about 5,000 youths from all over Nigeria. It is an interdenominational and interreligious programme,” he further explained.

Highlights of the event, Pastor Enigbikan said, include an empowerment programme, career and spiritual talk, health talk, marriage and sex relationship, music, dance, drama amongst other things that are of interest to youths.

Church holds 3 conventions in 3 months

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IVINE Palace International Church (DPIC) a.k.a Royal Assembly, Festac Town, Lagos, has perfected plans to host Singles, Women as well as the Men conventions within three months, reports PRISCA SAM-DURU. While the singles’ convention is scheduled for the last week of July, the women’s confab will commence last week of August and the men would hold theirs in September. Speaking ahead of the conventions, the Senior Pastor of DPIC, Rev. Ifeanyi Maduekesi disclosed that the series of conventions are line with the resolve of the church to give different networks in the ministry, opportunity to express themselves and to discover their gifts and talents.

PAGE 48 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014,

GSMA mhealth: Providing succor to over 15.5m pregnant women

BY EMEKA AGINAM

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espite poor medical in fras tructure, Africa’s health is improving slowly by the day as fewer mothers die in pregnancy and childbirth.

But with the recent launch of mobile health live saving services

by GSMA with other stakeholders in the ecosystem, there are positive signals that the livelihood of addressable market of about 15.5 million pregnant women and mothers with children under five years of age .across African continent will improve.

Meanwhile, in a new study produced and published by the GSMA recently, it was revealed that the market for mobile health services will be valued at more than $23 billion by 2017 with opportunities for mobile operators around the world to capitalize on the demand growing by the day.

The GSMA mHealth Programme delivers sustainable mHealth solutions that extend the reach and quality of healthcare while reducing costs.

GSMA’s Mobile for Development mHealth programme launched recently in partnership with Samsung, MTN, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, (UNAIDS) and other players across the industry.

Initial launch partners for the initiative include Gemalto, Hello D o c t o r, L i f e s a v e r, M o b e n z i , Mobilium, MTN, Omega Diagnostics and Samsung.

The capacity building programme, according to Craig

Frederick, Programme Director for the mHealth Mobile for Development GSMA in an exclusive interview with Vanguard will have a particular focus on nutrition, across Sub-Saharan Africa.

He disclosed that there are a total annual addressable market of 15.5 million pregnant women and mothers with children under five years of age .

From September 2014, services, he disclosed will be launched jointly in seven African countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

The second pilot program which will commence in 2015, according to him, will incorporate additional partners and services and will address four more countries: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Collectively, the partnership will reduce barriers to handset ownership and connectivity for consumers and health workers by committing to offer discounted Samsung handsets and tablets to consumers and health workers across Africa, provide access to the Samsung ecosystem (e.g. music, video and other value-added services) to be used as an incentive to drive

health usage, pre-embed a Smart Health application that provides a range of professional applications, information and services on 80 million Samsung handsets, leverage existing and new MTN SIMs to allow free access to health content, health registration and data collection via the Smart Health application, provide simplified access to MTN mobile money, advertising and billing capabilities; and make innovative diagnostics like the Omega Diagnostics Visitect HIV CD4 point of care solution more affordable and accessible via mobile integration.

Nokia battles mobile ecosystem with Lumia 630 dual SIM

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lthough there is a growing competition in the mobile phone ecosystem, Lumia 630 series seems to be catching up with competition as a result of its dual SIM advantage in the Windows platform With the latest Windows phone 8.1 and a QuardCore processor, the new Nokia Lumia 630 delivers an unrivaled smartphone experience with new posts, events, chat and photos on stunning 45' display.

The Lumia device is built with a 1.2 GHz Quad Core Snapdragon Processor which makes it super fast and delivers fast, uncompromised social experiences. It also boasts of a bold 4.5" clear black screen.

Updated with the new notifi-

cation centre called the action centre, the device allows users to simply swipe from the top to the bottom giving users quick access to Calls, e-Mails, App updates as well as the word flow keyboard which is regarded as the fastest and most personal shape writing keyboard.

Battle for low end market: The smart device is also the Windows Phone attack on the affordable market, with a price tag of just N30,000 which is certain to capture attention of an average phone user.

Although there are other smart phones in the market with similar price, Lumia 630 is aimed at the lower end of the smartphone market, designed to be affordable.

According market findings, the

device is becoming the toast of many buyers because it was designed designed to be within easy reach.

Software: The biggest story of Lumia 630 is using the Windows Phone 8.1 software. It is one of the first devices to arrive with all Microsoft’s enhancements, as well as a healthy dose of updates from Nokia in the form of Lumia Cyan.

Design Like other Nokia Lumia series, the Lumia 630 has a plastic shell that embraces color. Many buyers appear to be attracted to the phone because of the bright green, orange, white and black shades.

Connectivity: The Nokia Lumia 630 is a

quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G phone. Other features include Wi-Fi ‘n’, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS with GLONASS and USB 2.0.

Camera: The stock camera app is Nokia Camera, which combines Pro Cam with Cinemagraph. The 5MP auto-focus shooter does a good job outdoors but under ambient lighting indoors, the quality is pretty average. There is also 720p video recording support.

Battery life: The boosted 1830mAh battery is pretty stellar in delivering more than a day job. Under light and moderate usage, the battery can sustain a user up to two days without charging.

Ok olugbo prepares Ndokw a ffor or ‘ Delta Be Okolugbo Ndokwa Beyyond Oil’

BY ABEL KOL AWOLE NDOK WA people gathered on NDOKW June 30, 2014, first at Obiaruku Grammar School and later at Hon. Ken Okolugbo’s country home to witness the biggest human capital development empowerment programme of our time.

Okolugbo represents Ndokwa on the board of DESOPADEC. The high turnout of the people, both home and abroad, was a confirmation of the commissioner’s acceptance by his people through his representation and commitment to the development of Ndokwa.

The first lap of the programme was the presentation of Starters Pack (comprising of laptop, printer and a big tiger generator) and cash to 50 Ndokwa youths, who were successful at the end of a six- week intensive information and communication technology (ICT) training at Obiaruku ICT Centre, built by DESOPADEC at Obiaruku Grammar School.

Though over 60 youths were enrolled for the training, at the end of the final examination, the rest couldn’t make it.

The program is to enable the youths to be self-reliant and on

*The beneficiary youths with their laptops the long run, employ more people to run their businesses and create more jobs to reduce youth restiveness.

The final lap was the presentation of cash gift to over 50 women (micro finance) to enable them start businesses of their own in the spirit of the state government’s DELTA BEYOND OIL initiative.

Okolugbo, speaking at the occasion, charged the beneficiaries to be up and doing while making judicious use of what they learned as the first

set of graduands of the programme. He called on the Ndokwa people to continue to support the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan government for more dividends of democracy to enable the administration truly FINISH STRONG. Mrs. Uduaghan, represented by the state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Efekoda, was amazed by the high turnout of the Ndokwa people at the event, saying it is a mark of acceptance of Okolugbo by

his people and called on politicians across board to emulate the DESOPADEC commissioner in delivering developmental projects to their constituencies. She also charged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the items they got.

The beneficiaries were full of praises to DESOPADEC and Okolugbo for giving them the opportunity to be a part of the programme and promised they will not disappoint the Ndokwa people. Students were not left out of the event as their delegation, led by the Zonal Coordinator of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone B, Comr. Okorie Ikechukwu, posited that, as a youth from Ebonyi State, he had not seen the kind of empowerment as initiated by Okolugbo before. He said: “I now see why they call him Mr. Project. The honourable commissioner deserves to serve Nigerians in higher capacity.”

Mama Julianah Coker is dead

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ama Julianah Coker, a community leader in Ido-Ekiti, is dead.

Mama passed on at the age of 90. According to burial arrangements, the late nonagerian will be buried at the family compound in Odo-Agbe Street, Ido-Ekiti on Saturday, July 19, after a funeral service at Holy Fountain Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Alapo Quarters, Ido-Ekiti. Outing/ thanksgiving service holds on Sunday, July 20.Mama is survived by many children and grandchildren, including Primate Kunle John Coker, Mrs Funke Alade, Mr Joel Kayode Coker, Mrs Elizabeth Olufunmilayo Agosu, Mr Ezekiel Coker and Mrs Florence Onirise.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 49 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

Soyinka at 80: The Man Lived

BY SOYOMBO OPEYEMI

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Prof. Wole Soyinka

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ANGUAGE, the source of Wole Soyinka’s fame, is the reason also for his alienation by the average reader. The Nobel laureate is a man of complex locution. Besides his political forays, the collective density and immensity of his literature is perhaps the major thing that trademarks him.

The fact is, there can be no indolent or perfunctory reading of Wole Soyinka; his literary rampart is impregnable. You peruse him; then the fortress can give way.

However, the language employed by the playwright in his prison memoir is in a class of its own. Set in the Civil War Nigeria, The Man Died is a riveting account of the atrocities perpetrated by the military regime against the civil populace, in which the author was also a major victim - of solitary confinement without trial for 15 gruelling months. The abuses fill you with horrors: the flogging syndrome, detention and imprisonment without trial, killing, torture as pastime; sadism and crushing of the civic will; the climate of appeasement against the rule of law, etc.

His critics believe that language and power cannot be placed on the same pedestal. The former must defer to the latter. Language, in all its ramifications, must kowtow to power, however malevolent is the latter. But the human rights activist disagrees, “When power is placed in the service of a vicious reaction, a language must be called into being which does its best to appropriate such obscenity of power and fling its excesses back in its face.”

The Man Died interrogates the silence of the intelligentsia in the face of horrendous human rights abuses, accusing it of criminal complicity through conduct and warning that: “The boundaries of the geography of victims of (power) eventually extends to embrace even those who think they are protected by silence. The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny. In any people that submit willingly to the ‘daily humiliation of fear’, the man dies.”

While in Ikoyi Prisons, as a prisoner of conscience, the author saw and heard the accounts of the victims of the Gestapo: The Black Hole in Dodan Barracks; the torture and flogging syndrome by soldiers. The picture of sadists who dined and wined and lulled themselves to sleep with the sounds of the tortured was grim and stupefying. Here is a narration of the writer-activist about one of the casualties of the flogging syndrome: “I went and looked at a back of purulent sores. There was no skin. None at all. It was a mass of sores which no

The machination: “They argued that the public would believe their prepared story which was: while being flown to Jos, I pulled out a gun, tried to take over the plane and was shot in the attempt

longer had definition as each weal had merged into another... My mind returned to the back I had seen, the still suppurating furrows, dark raised permanent swellings, the potholes where the tip of the whip must have dug more than once. A few scabs that seemed an inch thick.

And his neck, even to the base of the head, covered in weals.”

“They were flogged in the open, you said.”

“Yes.” “And they screamed?... But Gowon lives in those barracks. He must have heard the screams.”

Agu said, “Frankly, I don’t think he knew. He lived far away from the guardroom.”

“Those screams must have penetrated concrete.”

Often, the offences ranged from being from a particular tribe, to a section of the country, to being in their company, a mild protest at injustice, to what was considered a slight. It was an era of lawlessness... Journalists are usually the first victims of any dictatorship - Segun Sowemimo eventually died as a result of having been “brutally beaten, he and other colleagues, by soldiers

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on the orders of a Military Governor.”

Soyinka himself was framed, said to have confessed to “an arrangement with Mr Ojukwu to assist in the purchase of jet aircraft to be used by the rebel Air Force”, and was later said to have admitted “he had since changed his mind.” He was also said to have agreed with Victor Banjo “to help in the overthrow of the Government of Western Nigeria”. Soyinka further agreed to the consequent overthrow of the Federal Military Government. But the radical was not put on trial.

Although there did exist a Third Force, Soyinka had confessed nothing to anyone.

“I was framed and nearly liquidated because of my activities inside prison. From Kirikiri I wrote and smuggled out a letter setting out the latest proof of the genocidal policies of the government of Gowon. It was betrayed to the guilty men...” Soyinka believes that “a commitment to absolute ideals cannot plead the excuse of immobilization to turn his back on the fight for an equitable society.” One of the government goons among the academic staff in Ibadan got to know

about the letter “made a photostat, and dutifully passed it on to his military bosses.” That was the turning-point in the incarceration of the human rights campaigner and the horrendous sufferings that were to be his lot.

But The Man Lived despite the plot to annihilate him.

The machination: “They argued that the public would believe their prepared story which was: while being flown to Jos, I pulled out a gun, tried to take over the plane and was shot in the attempt.

A violent man meets a violent end; the dramatist overdramatizes himself once too often.”

I agree the story would have been believed.

Soyinka’s past in holding up the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service at gun-point in 1965 would have stood against him in the court of public opinion. He was alerted, hence his attempt to stymie the scheme through an orchestrated riot at Ikoyi Prison on the D-Day. Smarting from the failed evil plot to eliminate the gadfly, he was transferred to the Maximum Security Prison and manacled 24 hours a day.

Public humiliation was to follow. Another forgery announced that Soyinka had been caught ‘skulking along the wall’ in an attempt to escape from prison!

In spite of his embittered articles in the press condemning the carnage perpetrated or condoned by the Federal Military Government, Soyinka was never under any illusion about the futility of secession, in a context. The loss of his excitable friend, Christopher Okigbo, in defence of boundary, was sobering enough. “It is better to believe in people than nations... And any exercise of self-decimation sorely in defence of the inviolability of the temporal demarcations called nations is a mindless travesty of idealism. Peoples are not temporal because they can be defined by infinite ideas. Boundaries cannot.” The revolutionary never saw hope in Enugu nor Lagos. So also were Alale and Banjo. It is better to defend humanity, ideals than boundaries. The trio were united on this score: Esta tierra/ Este aire/ Este cielo/ Son los nuestros/ Defenderemos - those lines

by Castro - This earth is ours/ And the air/ And the sky/ We will defend them. “In defence of that earth, that air and sky which formed our vision beyond lines drawn by masters from a colonial past or redrawn by the instinctive rage of the violated we set out, each to a different destiny.” A melancholic peroration indeed by the poet: Banjo, Alale to the firing squad, Soyinka to prison...

The book features also the exuberance and excesses of

Gowon. On that former, I have always argued, could be located the immediate reason that led to the Civil War. I refer to the youthfulness of some of the gladiators. Gowon, 32; Ojukwu, 33; Danjuma, 28; Katsina, 33; etc. Where is age? Where is experience? Some of them were not even married as at the time they held the most important posts in the nation.

The fratricidal war, I humbly submit, is, also, a price the nation paid for youthful exuberance.

The encounters of WS with Col. Fajuyi, his philosophy, the complicity of the judiciary in the crisis of the West, especially their last tete-atete three days before he met his untimely death... are all absorbing.

To suggest that Soyinka suffered in prison is to detract from what he went through in solitary confinement. No word can describe the tedium of solitary confinement, especially as a prisoner of conscience. He tried to make the most of it within the limits of human endurance. Even death would have been a triumph at a point, as he became a living skeleton. His will was stretched but not broken. It is to his eternal credit that he never accepted a life under an insupportable system as a substitute for his freedom.

Unknown to many, every dictator, military or civilian, since then, factors in Soyinka in all they do or fail to do.

In summary, the book reveals the tribulations that are sometimes the lot of those ‘ who are allied and committed to the unfettered principle of life’, for which Soyinka is a living example. His public spiritedness is exceptional. He deserves all the accolades, the encomiums we shower on him on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

The Man Died in the contemporary Nigeria, what lessons? First, we say ‘never again’ to military rule. The army must never be used for political ends by the President. The misuse of the police and armed forces in 1964/65 elections played a major role in the incursion of the military into governance and the attendant wanton losses the nation suffered consequently. The rule of law must become an article of faith, any infraction attracting condign sanctions from a truly independent and apolitical judiciary. No one should ever keep quiet in the face of injustice or tyranny.

Neither race, tribe, colour nor religion should henceforth define our lives but the content of our character.

Those in power must be committed to the welfare of the citizens.

Congratulations to my intellectual avatar, Wole Soyinka, on this grand, momentous occasion of his 80th birthday. *Soyombo, a journalist,, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com

PAGE 50—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

Soyinka, the conscience of the nation, at 80

By JAPHET ALAKAM CELEBRATION

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Growing up Soyinka grew up in an Anglican mission compound in Aké, Abeokuta where he first attended the parsonage’s primary school, where his father was headmaster, and then a nearby grammar school where an uncle was principal. Though raised in a colonial, English-speaking environment, Soyinka’s ethnic heritage was Yoruba, and his parents balanced Christian training with regular visits to the father’s ancestral home in ‘Isarà, a small Yoruba community secure in its traditions.

Soyinka recalls his father ’s world in ‘Isarà, A Voyage Around “Essay” (1989) and recounts his own early life in Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981), two of his several autobiographical books. Aké ends in 1945 when Soyinka is eleven, with his induction into the protest movement that during the next decade won Nigeria’s freedom from British rule. The political turbulence of these years framed Soyinka’s adolescence and early adulthood, which he chronicles in his most recent autobiographical work, Ibadan, The Penkelemes Years, A Memoir: 1946-1965 (1994).

At 12, Soyinka left Aké for Ibadan to attend that city’s elite Government College and, at 18, entered its new university. But in 1954, his ambition focused on a career in theatre, Soyinka travelled to England to complete a degree in drama at Leeds, under the well-known Shakespearean critic, G. Wilson Knight.

After graduation in 1957, Soyinka extended his European apprenticeship by working several years as a script-reader, actor, and director at the Royal Court

•The Nobel laureate joins the octogenarian club Theatre in London. This period also saw the composition of Soyinka’s first mature plays, The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel, and their successful staging in both London and Ibadan. In 1960, a Rockefeller research grant enabled Soyinka, now 26, to return to Nigeria. There, he assembled his own acting company, produced a new play, A Dance of the

,

he name Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, Wole Soyinka, is a household name. He is among Africa’s greatest writers. He is also one of the continent’s most imaginative advocates of native culture and of the humane social order it embodies. His academic brilliance, courage, forthrightness, concern for the masses and other qualities have endeared him to many.

Little wonder that he was described as someone who transcended tribes and races, defied tyranny to become the conscience of Nigeria.

Born in Western Nigeria on July 13, 1934, Kongi, as he is fondly called, is a quintessential artiste, whose career trajectory and contribution to public intellection in the complex society has remained a source of inspiration and contentment on the potential role of the artiste and thinker in the society. He is an internationally-acclaimed Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist, whose name entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1986, when he became the first African to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature.

Aside his prodigious talent and robust creative productivity, Soyinka has manifested as an enigma within the political discourse of the nation and the African continent. His voice and thoughts have resonated consistently in robust pitch in the interrogation of affairs of the nation, even at grave personal risks. He has been fearless. He has been conscientious, consistent and shown integrity.

He has demonstrated a great sense of awareness and manifested studious understanding of the multi-layer crises and complexities that define national life.

I

n the dramaturgic arts, the re nowned professor was the artistic director of the 1960 Masks and founder, Orisun Theatre Company. Prof. Wole Soyinka is endowed with incredible prodigious literary talents. This is an eloquent testimony borne by the sheer bewildering corpus of his literary creatures involving plays, novels and poetry collections. To this also is an im-

Aside his prodigious talent and robust creative productivity, Soyinka has manifested as an engma within the political discourse of the nation and the African continent, his voice and thoughts have resonated consistently in robust pitch in the interrogation of affairs of the nation

,

Forests, and timed its opening to coincide with the country’s official celebration of independence in October.

Soyinka is not just a writer, he is a dogged defender of the masses. He took an active role in Nigeria’s political history and its struggle for independence from Great Britain. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional elections.

In 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the Federal Government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years.

pressive list of critical engagements through insightful and unsettling essays, political polemics and auto-biographical writings.

He is also an incurable political activist. His political temperament and ideological complexion, which are of the anti-establishment hue, have more often than not, landed him in thin ice.

His avowed antagonism to and abhorrence for military tyranny and domination brought him into collision with the military authorities during the civil war of 1967-1970 and in the dark days of the Abacha regime when he had to leave on voluntary exile.

Prof. Wole Soyinka is also deeply com-

*Some of the books by Soyinka

mitted to the sanctity of human life.

With the wanton carnage on our roads, he had at various times been in the vanguard of protecting innocent lives through his involvement with the Road Safety Corps. Rex Collings, Wole Soyinka’s friend and publisher, describes him as “something of a universal man, poet, playwright, novelist, critic, lecturer, teacher, actor, translator, politician and publisher.”

Twice, he had seen the four walls of prison for his involvement in the politics of our time. In 1965, during the then Western Region election crisis, he was detained on a charge that he had substituted his own tape for the one supposed to be broadcast by the late Chief S.L Akintola, the then Premier of Western Region.

In 1967, the Federal Military Government detained him for allegedly constituting himself into a great security risk by contravening the Armed Forces and Police Special Powers Decree No. 24 of 1967.The exemplary life and times of Prof. Wole Soyinka must make it to the screens as a permanent source of inspiration to all those who love to see the unity of Nigeria built on equity, justice and fair play and to those who will for ever stand by the side of truth blaring the trumpets of joy.

His sensitivity to human conditions and his refusal to accept things uncritically or even keep “silent in the face of tyranny” and injustice put him way ahead of his contemporaries. Hence, his much avowed unconventionality and non-conformist vision of and attitude to life. He is not known to have aspired to any elective post, but having been in various leadership positions, he has proved himself to be a charismatic personality with a strong force of attraction, magnetism and vision.

Club of octogenarians He emerged from the jail house to publish a book, The Man Died, which again gives added impetus to his revolutionary commitment and zeal. His forays into popular agitation blossomed during the Buhari military regime. He has blossomed as a genuine revolutionary, totally committed to the eradication of hunger, poverty, disease and squalor. oday, this great literary icon is 80,and as he joins the club of octogenarians, the entire world salutes him as people pour tributes from far and near. Here in Nigeria, a long list of events for his celebration that began on April 25, 2014, and will end on July 14, 2014, will define the 80day celebration of the 80th birthday of the internationally-acclaimed Nigerian playwright and poet. The Nobel laureate is currently on a WS80/ICE exhibition tour to Abeokuta, Osogbo, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Jos, Igbale Aiye and Republic.

The activities to celebrate Soyinka at 80 include drama presentations, dance presentations, dialogues through spoken word, conferences, essay-writing contest by student essayists and other events that will be attended by 25 delegates, keynote speakers, 80 students essayists from around the country, and 80 Spoken

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Continues on page 51

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014—PAGE 51 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

Experts identify missing link to nation’s development at forum

By JAPHET ALAKAM FORUM

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lum which led to limited teaching techniques and dearth of thinking abilities among youths.

Are said that increasing unemployment in the country was the result of poor policy planning and implementation of the nation’s educational system, especially, science education.

Kongi @ 80 Continued from page 50

•L-R, Prof Ike, Dr Are and a guest during the event ence education is the bedrock upon which scientific and technological development depends, deplored Nigeria’s poor attitude to strengthening it, which he said should usher in technological advancement and attract corporate patronage. To him, government has a lot to do on this and posited that adequate attention should be paid to governance structure and how it has added to the woes bedeviling the country. As he observed that, “poverty and illiteracy are indices of bad governance and until we can solve poverty and illit-

,

HE University Press Plc, the foremost pub lishers has been in the business of providing quality books for various schools in the country for the development of the country’s education system. Apart from the publication of books, the organisation last six years established what it called the authors’ forum, a forum that brings together writers, scholars, students and others in the book industry to interact and look at issues in the industry.

The 2014 edition of what has become an annual ritual was held at Kakanfo Inn,Ibadan, and as usual it was attended by eminent personalities especially authors and scholars.

But one significant issue of this edition was that unlike in the previous years where the topic usually dwells on books and related issues, this year’s topic was somehow a departure from that as it focused on how science education can be used to solve Nigeria’s unemployment challenges and create wealth.

From the contributions of the keynote speaker, Prof.

Mamman Audu Wasagu, the chairman of UPL Plc, Dr Are, novelist, Prof Ike and others, one can deduce that Nigeria has all it takes to solve the issue of unemployment and create wealth for the teeming population, if only they will do the right thing.

Speaking on the topic, ‘Science Education as an Entrepreneurship Platform and Career Opportunities for Sustainable Youth Employment’, the keynote speaker, Prof.

Mamman Audu Wasagu, the Provost, Federal College of Education and African Regional Representative on the International Council of Association of Science Education, blamed the high rate of unemployment in the country in part to the poor policy planning and poor implementation of policies especially in the sciences, and urged the government to fashion a way of teaching the students to make them gainfully employed which is skill acquisition.

In his lecture, Prof.

Mamman Audu Wasagu, who noted that Science and technology education is critical to the elimination of unemployment and the realization of sustainable youth empowerment in Nigeria, said, at a time when the youths are roaming around the streets, and are becoming ready instruments in the hands of evil ones for their nefarious activities,there is the urgent need to develop youth entrepreneur skills in order to reduce unemployment.

Wasagu who noted that Sci-

saying that “We can do many things productively if we choose to use our hands!”

On his part, Chairman, University Press Pic, Dr. Lalekan Are attributed the high unemployment rate in the country to defects in the nation’s academic curricu-

tualised, such entrepreneurship minds must involve the creative process, requires devoting time and efforts towards creating things, involves reward and risktaking. The youths must be goalgetter, culture of work, creativeness and persuasiveness, must build skills, know-how and risk tolerance as being integral to the success venture.

Another drawback to the success of technology-driven society is non funding of research by the government. He argued that government and industries must be ready to fund research and incorporate every bit of technology

The type of education Nigerians need is the one that encourages entrepreneurship for the purpose of solving unemployment problems in society

eracy problems, we cannot guarantee good governance”.

The renowned science educationist also highlighted some areas which need to be addressed. One of them is the unnecessary change of educational policy by Nigerian Educational Research and Development Commission (NERDC), which he said is deepening illiteracy. NERDC are found of changing curriculum at will, this he said must stop so as to stabilize the educational system for development.

For science education to be meaningful, Wasagu said it must be technology driven otherwise such science education would become sterile. Noting that while science concerns itself with knowledge, technology is its application to enterprise or entrepreneurship that should bring about employment.

To Wasagu, the type of educational Nigerians need is the one that encourages entrepreneurship for the purpose of solving unemployment problems in society. He also encouraged youths to have entrepreneurship mentality that would remove their minds from paid employment. For that to be ac-

,

that is developed locally into mainstream as means of encouraging innovations coming from institutions. “And unless this is done, Nigeria would continue to be the highest importer of finished goods from Asia and the rest of the world.” He added.

On the much talked issue of transfer technology to Africa, Wasagu said’ that such is not workable, as it is either that technology is created from within or stolen from wherever it can be found! Urging Nigeria to emulate the way it is done in the west where governments and industries invest heavily in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics educat Contributing during the question and answer session, Prof. lke reminded the audience of the exploits of Biafra during the country’s civil war, how they weres able to refine the fuel it used after Port Harcourt fell to the federal forces, manufacture their weaponry and other usable technologies and condemned Nigeria’s attitude towards technological development. He said when Biafra, pressed to the wall, According to him, “Biafra taught us to use our brains.”

Citing how Crude oil is being refined in the Niger Delta by local hands, he concluded by

Word performers on the theme: Freedom of Creative Expression, featuring the likes of Mutabaruka from Jamaica, Javon Johnson from USA, Efe Paul Azino and Jumoke Verissimo from Nigeria. A conference on the topic, The Soyinka Impulse: Art, Humanity, transition and permanence: celebrating Soyinka at 80 with 2000 participants will be held on July 12 with a spoken word performance featuring Mutabaruka from Jamaica, Javon Johnson from USA, Efe Paul Azino and Jumoke Verissimo from Nigeria. There will also be a mentoring session and workshop for students. The conference will be concluded on the afternoon of July 12 after an essay-writing competition by the student essayists on the topic, Education: Path to Freedom

•Prof Wole Soyinka and the Future; ‘Do Your Own Thing. Although the events end with visits to Governor Amosun and Soyinka at Ijegba, and the interviews by the media entrepreneurs, the closing dance presentation tagged Dance of the forest on July 14, 2014 promises to hold the greatest charm for the public.

KONGI, ENIOGUN AT 80 (FOR WOLE SOYINKA)

“Maren, You will not walk when the gods are angry” prayed paternal grandfather.

And godmother named you; “Akinkoyi, Koyi-koyen, Lagi-lagi, Ajilagi, Okunrin jeje, Omoruyide, OTOLORIN- (the one who walks apart).

Wole, Meje l’ogun Meje ni Ire Ogun mo ni re Ogun Ogun Ogun Ogun Ogun Ogun The wonderful creative god of Iron Seven, Seven Mythical like mystery Meje, meje Seven, seven Kongi, you clocked seven, seven like seven plus in 2012 Maren, you were then seven seven like creative seven seven WS, now, you are eighty creative words in years, 29,220 in days and 960 in months Many days, many months, many healthy creative years Are your portion Koyi, Wole, Our own WS, our own Ijegba Prof, Meje logun Meje ni Ire May your god Ogun oni re Protect you, prolong you, preserve you at 80, Eniogun Ase! Dada Olanipekun.

Member, Association of Nigerian Authors, Ogun State chapter

PAGE 52, SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

Germany, Argentina historical finals 1

930 MONTEVIDEO, July 30: URUGUAY 4 ARGENTINA 2 Pablo Dorado scored the first goal in a World Cup final when he put hosts Uruguay ahead after 12 minutes, but an upset looked possible as Carlos Peucelle and Guillermo Stabile replied to put Argentina ahead by halftime.

Most of the 93,000 crowd watching at the Centenario Stadium were willing Olympic champions Uruguay on and they duly got their wish as Pedro Cea, Victoriano Iriarte and Hector Castro scored three times in the second half as Uruguay were crowned the first world champions.

1954 BERNE, July 4: WEST GERMANY 3 HUNGARY 2 One of the greatest upsets in World Cup history ended the dominance of Hungary’s “Magnificent Magyars” team of the early 1950s.

Hungary had seemed destined to win the 1954 World Cup with a team including Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti and Jozsef Bozsik going on a 32-match unbeaten run.

They had beaten West Germany 8-3 in the group stage and led 2-0 in the final after only eight minutes thanks to goals from Puskas and Czibor.

But on a rainy day that became known in Germany as the “Miracle of Berne”, Max Morlock made it 2-1 before Helmut Rahn struck in the 18th and 84th minutes to seal a first World title for Germany.

1966 LONDON, July 30: ENGLAND 4 WEST GERMANY 2 Geoff Hurst remains the only player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final after his treble helped England win the title on their only appearance in the final.

Hurst’s second goal, which was allowed to stand after the ball hit the bar and bounced back down onto the Wembley pitch, is the most controversial goal in World Cup history as it has never been proved that it conclusively crossed the line.

It put England 3-2 ahead before he completed his hat-trick with the last kick of the game.

Helmut Haller and Wolfgang Weber scored for Germany, while Hurst’s West Ham United team mate Martin Peters scored England’s other goal and their club skipper Bobby Moore lifted the cup.

1974 MUNICH, July 7: WEST GERMANY 2 NETHERLANDS 1 The Dutch had captured the world’s imagination with their brilliant forward Johann Cruyff inspiring their Total Football approach, but it was not enough as the more pragmatic Germans triumphed on home turf.

The Netherlands took the lead before a German player had even touched the ball when Johan Neeskens struck a second minute penalty. But the hosts levelled

ARGENTINA and Germany have appeared collectively in nine previous World Cup finals and two against each other. The South Americans beat West Germany to win the 1986 World Cup before the Europeans gained revenge in the final four years later.

•Legendary... Argentina’s captain Diego Maradona and his German rival Karl-Heinz Rummenigge observing match rituals before the Mexico 1986 final. when Paul Breitner equalised with a second penalty after 25 minutes - the first two penalties awarded in a World Cup final.

Gerd Mueller scored what proved to be the winner two minutes before halftime, a then record 14th career World Cup goal, as West Germany became the first team to be European and world champions simultan-eously.

1978 BUENOS AIRES June 25: ARGENTINA 3 NETHERLANDS 1 The Dutch were beaten in the final by the host nation for the second successive World Cup when Argentina, back in the final after

a 48-year absence, became world champions for the first time.

Mario Kempes put Argentina ahead after 38 minutes before Dick Nanninga became the first substitute to score in the final with an equaliser eight minutes from the end of normal time.

But there was no stopping Argentina in extra time. Kempes scored his second before Daniel Bertoni made it 3-1 with five minutes to play on a pitch strewn with streamers and ticket-tape.

1982 MADRID July 11: ITALY 3 WEST GERMANY 1 West Germany reached the final despite losing to Algeria in their

Brazil 2014 memorable moments BRAZIL IMPLODES: Germany skewering Brazil with five goals in 19 minutes in their semifinal was the football equivalent of the scene in “Bambi” when a hunter kills the fawn’s mother. Watching such a tragedy befall the fivetime champion at its home World Cup became difficult even for some German fans, who later said they just wanted the torturing of Brazil to stop.

Second-half substitute Andre Schuerrle had other ideas, scoring two more for a record-breaking 7-1 trauma for the football superpower that gave the world Pele. By the end, the overwhelmingly Brazilian crowd in Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium feted German touches of the ball with shouts of “Ole!” It was surreal, and one of the biggest shocks in World Cup

history.

HUNGRY FOR ITALIAN: Luis Suarez likes a varied diet.

Having previously been banned for biting a Dutch player (Otman Bakkal) and a Serbian (Branislav Ivanovic), Suarez seemingly hankered for Italian at this World Cup. Sinking teeth into the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini in a groupstage game led to a four-month ban from all football for the Uruguay striker. Deprived of his goals, Uruguay crashed out of the first of the knockout rounds.

Initially, Suarez professed innocence. He returned home to an outpouring of support. Uruguay’s president, Jose Mujica, was highly critical of FIFA. Suarez then did a U-turn and apologized to Chiellini for the bite seen on TVs and talked

opening match. A “manufactured” 1-0 win over Austria allowed both European teams to advance instead of Algeria, with the Germans edging France in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals.

They met their match against the Italians in the final in the Spanish capital, though.

Paolo Rossi, with his sixth goal in three games, Marco Tardelli and Alessandro Altobelli put Italy 3-0 up before Paul Breitner added a late consolation.

1986 MEXICO CITY June 29: ARGENTINA 3 WEST GERMANY 2 The first meeting between this about around the world.

Social media wits and marketers made hay. A photo of a chocolate bar with a Suarez hashtag and the words “more satisfying than Italian” got more than 48,000 mentions on Twitter.

COSTA RICA’S KRUL FATE: With the Netherlands and Costa Rica scoreless after 120 minutes, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal made an astounding call in the final seconds of their quarterfinal: He replaced his first-choice goalkeeper with his understudy, Tim Krul. Taller, with a longer reach and prepped for this eventuality, Krul then saved Costa Rica’s second and fifth penalties in the ensuing shootout, and guessed the correct way on all five.

The masterstroke made Van Gaal look like a football genius, whetting the appetite of fans of Manchester United, his next

year’s two finalists was a classic, with Argentina inspired to victory by the irrepressible Diego Maradona.

Jose Luis Brown and Jorge Valdano scored for Argentina, who were coasting to victory until the Germans rallied in the final stages with a 74th minute goal from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and an 80th minute equaliser from Rudi Voeller.

But just when the Germans thought they had done enough to force extra time, Maradona found the perfect pass for Jorge Burruchaga to run on and score the winner six minutes from time.

1990 ROME July 8: WEST GERMANY 1 ARGENTINA 0 After the magnificent final in Mexico City, West Germany and Argentina met again four years later and produced arguably the worst.

Argentina substitute Pedro Monzon became the first player to be sent off in the final when he tried to take out Juergen Klinsmann in the 65th minute. Gustavo Dezotti was also sent off in the 87th minute, two minutes after a woeful spectacle had been decided by an 85th minute Andreas Brehme penalty.

2002 YOKOHAMA June 30: BRAZIL 2 GERMANY 0 The Germans reached their seventh final - and lost for a record fourth time - when two goals from Ronaldo gave Brazil a 2-0 win in the first ever World Cup meeting between the two countries. The final featured strongly in the buildup to this year’s last four clash between the two teams in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday which Germany won in astonishing fashion 7-1.

Miroslav Klose, Germany’s only survivor from the 2002 team, scored against Brazil on Tuesday, to take his tally to 16 World Cup goals, beating the record of Ronaldo set in the final in Japan. stop as coach.

ROBIN FLIES LIKE BATMAN: James Rodriguez’ volleyed goal for Colombia against Uruguay, controlling the ball with his chest, letting it drop and then hammering in with his left foot, all while turning to face goal, was poetry, the timing exquisite. It will be many fans’ goal of the tournament.

But Robin van Persie’s diving header that foretold the demise of reigning world champion Spain was spectacular, too. He launched himself horizontally into the air to get his head to a long pass from left back Daley Blind, sending the ball arching over stranded Spain goalkeeper and captain, Iker Casillas.

“A great goal, I have to be fair,” Van Persie said. “It must be the goal of my career.”

Spain never recovered, booking early passage home by losing that match 5-1, and its next game to Chile.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014, PAGE 53

BRAZIL 2014 IMAGES

World Cup Match Up... Football fans demonstrate their love for one another with a replica of the world cup trophy.

Strategic Planing... German coach Joachim Low and his assistant and match analyst Urs Siegenthaler stroll along the beach in front of their base at Campo Bahia, Santo Andre as they devise their masterplan for the World Cup final with Argentina.

Pressure And No Treasure...Russian Coach Fabio Capello straining himself to pass on instructions, but his team was dismissed after the first round games.

Mind Yourself...Brazil’s Marcelo, left, and Germany’s Jerome Boateng argue during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Germany at the Mineirao Stadium.

Pope Francis: May the best team win OPE Francis yester day indicated that he was neutral ahead of the World Cup final between his native Argentina and Germany, saying the tournament in Brazil had shown the importance of dialogue between different cultures.

“The World Cup allowed people from different countries and religions to come together.

May sport always promote the culture of encounter,” Francis said in tweets in several languages including Latin from his @pontifex account.

The Vatican has said Francis “might” watch the match although it has ruled out the possibility that he could sit down with his German predecessor Benedict XVI, known to be more fond of theology and piano music than sports.

Francis, formerly the archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio, on the other hand has been a fan since childhood and is known to

support the San Lorenzo de Almagro club.

The Vatican has also joined calls for a ceasefire in wars around the world during the final, invoking the tradition of an Olympic truce which was customary in ancient times to give athletes free passage to take part in the Games.

Meanwhile Former Argentine footballer Diego Maradona said Germany are not “impossible” to beat in the upcoming final match of the 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup. “Germany is not impossible (to beat),” a media source cited Maradona as saying.

Maradona, who is in Brazil as a football commentator, was the national team coach at the 2010 South Africa World Cup, when Argentina lost 0-4 to Germany in the quarter-finals.

In their last match, the Germans devastated Brazil 7-1 in Tuesday ’s semi-final at Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao Stadium.

PAGE 54, SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, 2014

Players who will influence the final A

FTER the 7-1 demolition job on Brazil, Germany are favorites to win the world tonight at the famous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. But just like every other football game, under dogs can turn the tables around, nothing is really sure till after 90 minutes.

However, here are the battle areas of the final match and these are the players that hold the key to success or failure for their teams.

Manuel Neuer vs.

Sergio Romero It’s remarkable to think Sergio Romero made just three appearances for Monaco in Ligue 1 last season, one of which as a substitute. Yet in six World Cup matches, the 27year-old has conceded just three goals and of all goalkeepers to have made at least three appearances in Brazil, has the best save success (88.9 percent).

However, his credentials will be put to the test against a rampant Germany outfit. The German Machines have scored the most goals (17) at the World Cup and Romero is expect-

Thomas Muller vs. Lionel Messi

•Messi

•Thomas •Romero ed to have add to the 16 saves he has made.

At the other end, Manuel Neuer is set to take his place in the Germany goal once more and confirm his position as the best goalkeeper in the world. While Neuer has conceded more goals (four) than Romero, Joachim Low ’s “libero” has lived up to expectations, coming off his line to rob the oppo-

•Neuer sition of possession more times (19) than any other goalkeeper at the World Cup. Only Tim Howard (27) has made more saves than Neuer (23) in Brazil, while of all shotstoppers to make three or more appearances at the tournament, the Germany number 1 has the best pass accuracy (75 percent), accentuating his importance to Low ’s team. Both will come up against prolific front men in the form of Thomas Muller and Lionel Messi — more on those two later — as they strive to see their respective team lift the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and it will be a real test of nerves to see who comes out on top.

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HOMAS Muller en joys scoring at the World Cup; that goes without saying. His opener against Brazil brought him to 10 goals overall in the competition and his goalscoring return suggests he will break the alltime record of 16 goals set by teammate Miroslav Klose. Only James Rodriguez (six) has netted more times than Muller (five) at Brazil 2014 and he will be aiming to leapfrog the Colombian in the scoring charts against Argentina.

The gangly attacker has contributed to the most goals (eight, which includes five goals and three assists) at the tournament and chances are Germany will look to him to provide the scoring and creative threat in the final. No player has created more clear-cut goal-

scoring opportunities (four) than Muller so Argentina will need to keep tabs on the 24-year-old in order to maintain their impressive defensive record.

La Albiceleste, though, have a potent attacking threat of their own in the form of Messi. The Argentina captain is WhoScored.com’s highest rated player (8.77) and has been awarded our man of the match award in four of his six appearances to date. With four goals to his name, Messi still has the opportunity to leapfrog both Muller and Rodriguez to the Golden

Boot award, provided he nets at least two and outscores the former on Sunday.

Messi has played the most key passes (21) and has completed the most successful dribbles (39) at the World Cup, so Germany must be wary of his attacking influence for Argentina. Netherlands proved they can stop the 27-year-old on Wednesday night and Die Mannschaft must be as defensively resolute if they are to deny the best player in the world from captaining his nation to glory.

Toni Kroos vs. Javier Mascherano

Mats Hummels vs. Ezequiel Garay A

RGENTINA’S defence was lambasted heading into the World Cup but with just three goals conceded so far, Ezequiel Garay has been a huge factor behind their success.

Zenit St. Petersburg’s new signing has played every minute of La Albiceleste’s World Cup campaign and has succeeded in nullifying Josip Drmic, Eden Hazard and Robin van Persie, to name three.

Garay has made the most clearances (59) of every player at the tournament, •Garay highlighting his ability to lack of continuity at the be in the right place at back and his the right time to relieve WhoScored.com rating any danger on the (7.44) reinforces the Argentina goal. quality of his performancHaving been partnered es in Brazil so far. with both Federico However, his displays in Fernandez and Martin defence have been Demichelis, he’s shown eclipsed somewhat by an impressive level of Mats Hummels. The consistency despite a Dortmund ace has

•Hummels bagged two goals at the World Cup, the second proving to be the winner for Germany in their 1-0 quarterfinal victory against France. The 25year-old is averaging more interceptions per game (1.4) than any of

his international teammates, so they will be hopeful he can be at his imperious best for Sunday’s final after he was withdrawn from action at the interval of Germany’s thumping of Brazil.

Only Dutch duo Stefan de Vrij (7.76) and Ron Vlaar (7.70) have a better rating than Hummels (7.66) of every centreback to make at least three appearances at the World Cup and he needs to replicate his form against Argentina if Germany are to win the competition. However, only Asamoah Gyan (seven) has had more headed attempts on goal than Garay (six), so Hummels must be on top of his game if he is to get the better of his defensive counterpart from setpieces.

•Javier Mascherano

H

AVING been linked with a move to Manchester United, reports now suggest Real Madrid will sign Toni Kroos this summer. After turning down a new contract with Bayern Munich, the 24-year-old has shown exactly what the Bundesliga champions will be missing once he departs the Allianz Arena. His rating against Brazil (9.84) was the best of every player to play in the semifinals, with his assist for Thomas Müller’s opener setting the tone in Germany’s 7-1 win.

With a strength of “passing”, Kroos has exhibited this facet of his game with aplomb — only teammate Mesut Ozil (144) has completed more successful fi-

•Toni-Kross nal third passes at the competition than Kroos (136). The midfielder has completed the most passes in the opposition half (304), while also playing the most forward passes (154).

Evidently, cutting off the supply to the attackers will be crucial if Argentina are to lift the World Cup and the player tasked with limiting Kroos’ influence is expected to be Javier Mascherano. If anyone can run off a head injury, it’s “El Jefecito” having played the full 120 minutes in Argentina’s penalty shootout win over Netherlands, despite suffering a clash of heads with Georginio Wijnaldum.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 13, PAGE 55

Argentina is no joke, Muller warns Germans

Slippery and Merciless...Lionel Messi Argentina’s main man. He remains as slippery as ever. Messi scored two against Nigeria to bring his tally to four.

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host nation in the last four, but he insists nobody in the Germany camp is getting carried away by that result. “I don’t know what kind of a game it will be, but I don’t expect it to be 5-0 at halftime,” the Bayern Munich for-

ward said at a press conference.

“That would be nice, but it’s probably going to be tight like it was against Algeria or France.”

Germany led Brazil 5-0 at the break last Tuesday with many members of Joachim Low’s team admitting they had to pinch themselves to see if it was really true.

The Germans are favourites to lift the trophy. The Argentina have to struggle against Holland in their semi-final, which went into penalties. Germany could therefore be fresher, but the real difference in the eyes of captain Philipp Lahm is likely to be their experience.

“Experience is important,” said the 30-year-old, who has lifted eight trophies for Bayern Munich in the past two years.

“I think if you look at club level, many of us have already been involved in big games. Whether they were positive or negative is not important, but we all have experience in a Champions League final, DFB-Pokal final, or whatever. We’re always playing at the very top level and when you go through our squad, you’ll see we’ve all got that experience and it’s certainly an advantage for us.”

HOMAS Muller has warned Germany fans not to expect the World Cup final against Argentina to be as easy as their semi-final win over Brazil.

The 24-year-old was joint-top scorer and named Best Young

Player at the 2010 World Cup and he has made another major contribution this time around, scoring five goals to help Germany through to final.

One of those goals came in the astonishing 7-1 thrashing of the

ARS 4: White Chiefs, Princesses ‘re Enugu champions

Aguero: Yes we are the underdogs A

W

HITE Chiefs Football Club of Enugu have emerged champions (Boys Category) of the South Eastern Zone of the Airtel Rising Stars Season 4 football championship concluded yesterday at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu Campus.

In the female category, White Princesses FC also of Enugu piped Red Heroines 2-0 in a scintillating final to cart away a giant trophy and medals for their efforts.

The final which was attended by the high and mighty in Enugu sports saw the White Chiefs in a devastating mood as they silenced the Red Monarchs with two unreplied goals to win the title.

Players from both the winners and the losing teams were selected to form the teams that will represent the Enugu zone in the national finals slated for Lagos on a later date.

The capacity crowd at the UNEC Stadium that watched the exciting championship finals included the Enugu State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Honourable Chijioke Agu who was ably represented by a deputy director in the ministry, Emma Nnaji, Honourable Chidi Ofo Okenwa and chairman of Enugu State Grassroots Football Managers Association, Christian

RGENTINA striker Sergio Aguero believes his side will relish the tag of underdogs when they face Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final™ in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

The two sides’ contrasting routes to the final has made Joachim Low’s men heavy favourites to win the World Cup for a fourth time as they smashed hosts Brazil 7-1 in their semi-final, whilst Argentina only squeezed past the Netherlands on a penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw.

“Germany were always the

favourites, along with Brazil, to win the World Cup,” the striker said on Thursday. “They continue to be so now. We need to play our own game and it suits us that all the pressure is on them.”

Argentina’s road back to the final for the first time in 24 years has unexpectantly come on the back of a solid defensive record as their fearsome attack, including four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, has failed to hit top form.

And Aguero is aware they

may have to withstand plenty of pressure from the Germans once more at the Maracana.

“We are in the final and we have to play it and win it in whatever way possible.

“We want to have control of the ball, but we know that Germany is a great team that know each other off by heart having played together for many years. It is clear that Argentina always go out to win, but sometimes during the game you have to be cautious. We are all aware of what the objective is and we will leave everything on the field to achieve it.”

Onazi gives Eagles pass mark

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ECUPERATING Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi has hailed the performance of the African champions at the Brazil 2014 World Cup, which comes to a close today at the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio ‘de Janeiro.

The midfielder who was stretchered out in the second half of the round of 16 tie against France after he was hacked down by Blaise Matuidi argued that the Eagles have surpassed all expectations in Brazil and the experience will be valuable in future outing for the team.

“Even though we didn’t end the tournament as we would have loved to, we can only take the positives out of the

experience as it will help the country in future tournaments.

“People did not give us a chance to come out of our group but we did and felt we could have done more.

“We should be pleased at least to have given the fans something to cheer about in terms of our performance; hopefully it will serve as a springboard to improve further,” said Onazi.

Speaking on his injury, the player said he was fast recovering, but won’t rush his return to soccer.

“I am improving a lot and I am delighted to be making significant progress with my recovery,” Onazi told BBC Sport.

•Onazi “I have started running and although I’m in a little pain I am happy with my progress.

“With this injury, though, you need to be careful by not setting a time scale on a return, so I will wait until I am fully fit before touching the ball again.”

Messi: I will give up everything for Argentina

A

rgentina star Lionel Messi insists he is ready to give up all his past achievements to lift the trophy as this would be a greater achievement than any individual prize.

Lionel Messi has won almost every award of individual excellence in his glittering career so far, including four Ballon d’Or’s, but feels that winning the World Cup will be his biggest achievement and he is even ready to sacrifice his all previous trophies for that.

“I would give all my personal records to be world champion,” Messi told German newspaper Bild.

“I’d prefer to win the World Cup than the Ballon d’Or. As a player, winning the World Cup is the biggest thing there is. It’s something you dream of as a youngster and that dream never fades away.”

Lionel Messi said that he has spoken to his FC Barcelona team mates Xavi and Iniesta about how it feels to become world champions and now Argentina players will do everything possible to win the World Cup. “I’ve asked my team-mates at Barcelona, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and [Gerard] Pique, what it’s like to lift the trophy and they said it’s hard to explain. We’ll be doing everything we can to turn this dream into a reality [for Argentina].”

Messi is tired, says Dad

L

IONEL Messi is struggling with “exhaustion” before the World Cup final against Germany, according to his father.

Messi failed to make an impact in Argentina’s last two matches as the country made it through to Sunday’s showpiece thanks to a penalty shootout victory in their goal-less semi-final against the Netherlands and the game’s solitary goal in their quarter-final against Belgium.

The pressure of being captain and carrying the hopes of his country appears to have taken its toll on him as he found it difficult to make an impact. “He is exhausted,” Messi’s father Jorge said, according to the Daily Telegraph. “He feels as if his legs weigh 100 kilos each.”

According to FIFA statistics, however, Messi is only ranked the 30th most hard-working player at the World Cup on the basis of distance covered. He has run a total of 32 miles in the six games he has featured in, having played for 573 minutes. By contrast, the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder has covered 43 miles in 585 minutes and tops the list.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2014

Brazil 2014: Germany, Argentina fight for supremacy

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HE most entertaining World Cup in a generation comes down to a final match that pits the planet’s best player against the tournament’s best team.

And it’s a matchup that means more to both sides than just a chance to lift one of the most hallowed trophies in sports.

For Lionel Messi, it’s a chance to firmly make his case for being perhaps the greatest ever to play the world’s most popular game.

For Germany, it’s an opportunity to make up for a number of nearmisses over the last decade and re-establish itself as the dominant force in international football.

And then there’s the matter of settling a historical score. Argentina and West Germany played each other in two straight World Cup finals in 1986 and ’90, games that are well remembered in the sports psyche of both countries.

Diego Maradona and Argentina won the first, the Germans took the second. So, call this game the tiebreaker. ‘’At this point who is favorite, who is not, it doesn’t make a difference,’’ Argentina midfielder Maxi Rodriguez said. ‘’Both teams feel a responsibility to go all the way.’’

Most would name Germany as the favorite, especially after its astounding 7-1 drubbing of host Brazil in the semifinals. ArgentiTHIRD PLACE MATCH RESULT

Netherlands 3

Brazil 0

2014 WORLD CUP FINAL Germany Vs Argentina 8.00PM

na only reached the final after eking out a penalty shootout win over the Netherlands following a 0-0 draw through 120 minutes.

Germany also dismantled Argentina 4-0 in the 2010 quarterfinals in South Africa.

One thing speaks against Germany, too. No European team has ever won a World Cup played in the Americas. Whether that’s because of the climate, the fan support or something else, Germany thinks it can buck the trend.

‘’We are looking forward to playing a South American team in South America but we hope the Brazilian fans will be supporting us,’’ Germany assistant coach Hansi Flick said. ‘’We know the Argentina team very well, we’ve played often against them. We know what to expect.’’

For Argentina to have a chance, Messi will have to perform considerably better than he did against the Netherlands, when he was hardly visible for most of

the game.

The four-time world player of the year scored four goals in the three group games but is on a three-game scoring drought in the knockout stages - including two extra time periods. While fellow forwards Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero are both capable of deciding big games themselves, and the team’s defense has looked surprisingly solid, it’s hard to see Argentina winning without a big contribution

from Messi. For Germany, the equation is equally simple: If it can contain Argentina’s biggest threat, its superior strength in the rest of the field should make the difference. From goalkeeper to center forward, Germany is a team without a weakness. With the exception of an erratic performance against Algeria in the second round, Germany has played like a perfect team machine, getting goals from defenders, midfielders and forwards alike.

NFF ban: Mediation team mum on meeting with FIFA

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HE Nigerian delegation that left for Brazil to meeting with FIFA officials in the wake of the world wide ban slammed on Nigeria are expected back on Monday, but they are keeping a sealed lip until they brief the Sports Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Tammy Danagogo.

It was gathered that Confederation of African Football president, Issa Hayatou also joined the mediation team to Brazil, which include Amos Adamu a former FIFA executive member, Bolaji Ojo-Oba NSC assistant director-general and Obinna Ogba the man who signed the communique that heralded the sacking of the Aminu Maigari led board on July 5 in Abuja.

“The men who were in Brazil to meet FIFA will return on Monday. It is after they brief the sports minister that they will make known the out come of

their deliberations with FIFA,” said a football official.

He said contrary to reports that the team was turned back

by FIFA in Brazil, they actually had the opportunity to state Ni-

geria’s side of the story, however, it was not clear if there was any reprieve coming. This is just as the Nigerian Under20 Women team scheduled to participate in the FIFA U-20

Women World Cup starting in Canada in August are anxiously waiting for the next line of action. They have until July 15 to know whether they will participate or not.

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