Bankruptcy fear hits states

C M Y K

PAGE 2—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

C M Y K

SUND AY Vanguard , DECEMBER 13 , 2015, PAGE 3 SUNDA

PAGE 4—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 5

Compensation on disruption of newspapers circulation

NPAN makes clarification on Tribune, People’s Daily, New Telegraph’s claims

By Kennedy Mbele

N

EWSPAPER Propri etors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has clarified the compensation made to media houses by the Federal Government for the military disruption of the circulation of newspapers.

In a statement by the Executive Secretary, Feyi Smith, entitled, ‘Clarification to statements by the Nigerian Tribune, Peoples Daily and New Telegraph’, yesterday, NPAN said: “Our attention has been drawn to statements issued last night by the Nigerian Tribune, Peoples’ Daily and New Telegraph Newspapers claiming that they did not receive the compensation for the military disruption of circulation of newspapers by the Federal Government”.

It continued: “It should be recalled that the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) Executive Council meeting of March 17, 2015, held at the offices of Dai-

ly Trust, Abuja, resolved to accept the N120million compensation and passed two other resolutions thereto: (1) that each memberorganisation accepts to donate N1 million from the compensation to the Association for the upkeep of the Secretariat; (2) that members should bring their membership account current, by paying all past dues to the Secretariat before collecting their cheques.

“The cheques for the Nigerian Tribune and Peoples’ Daily remain in the Secretariat awaiting collection.

“In the case of New Telegraph, the Secretariat was confronted with a situation where 13 Newspapers made claims while compensation for 12 newspapers was made.

Blueprint Newspapers which was inadvertently omitted from the list has since been paid.

“When New Telegraph now demanded payment that had been collected by Blueprint Newspapers,

Controversy over soldiers clash with Zakzaky’s followers •Sect attacked COAS convoy – Army •‘Troops killed seven, injured 20’

By Luka Binniyat, Kaduna

N

IGERIAN Army yesterday confirmed it had a violent encounter with members of the Shiite Islamic faith, in which the sect claimed that seven of its members were feared killed and 20 grievously wounded in Zaria, Kaduna State.

A statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director Army, Public Relations, yesterday, read: “The Shiite sect, on the orders of their leader, Ibrahim Yaqoub El Zakzaky, today (yesterday) afternoon in Zaria attacked the convoy of the Chief of the Army Staff while on his way to pay homage on the Emir of Zazzau and attend the passing out parade of 73 regular recruits intake of Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria.

“The sect members,

numbering hundreds and carrying dangerous weapons, barricaded the roads with bonfires, heavy stones and tyres. They refused all entreaties to disperse and then started firing and pelting the convoy with dangerous objects.

“The barricade was obviously a deliberate attempt to assassinate the Chief of the Army Staff and members of his entourage while on a legitimate official assignment as Special Guest of Honour at the passing out parade which had earlier been widely publicized.

“The troops responsible for the safety and security of the Chief of the Army Staff, on hearing the explosion and firing, were left with no choice than to defend him and the convoy at all costs as well as Continues on Page 38

the Secretariat then brought the matter to the attention of the President, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, who then called Governor Orji Kalu, the Publisher of both the Sun Newspapers (who had been paid) and the New Telegraph (which has not been paid), to urge him to be patient for the matter to be tabled at the next Executive Council meeting, where he would seek the approval of the EXCO to take the funds earmarked for the Secretariat to pay them”.

•Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (m) discussing with Mr. Babatunde Fowler, FIRS Chairman, and his mother, Dr. (Mrs) Laila Apinke Fowler, after the funeral service for Professor Wensely Vidal Mobolaji Fowler, father of the FIRS boss, at the All Saints Church, Yaba, Lagos, on Friday.

BLEAK CHRISTMAS AHEAD

Bankruptcy fear hits states!

•••One allocates 97% to service debt •Cash crunch worsens on the heels of Naira’s free fall

By Dele Sobowale

A

MID deepening cash crunch, there is the fear that many states across the county are increasingly finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations.

Bogged down by huge debts for which the bulk of the allocations from the Federation Account is deducted to service, the situation has eroded the ability of the states to pay workers’ salaries.

The bailout package initiated by the Federal Government for the state and local governments to enable them pay the backlog of salaries, it was learnt, provided little respite.

Analysts feared, at the weekend, that many workers across the country may face bleak Christmas as their state governments may be unable to pay salaries ahead of the Yuletide due to the cash crunch.

Salary payment in several states remain in arrears of many months.

The huge debts of some of the debts were blamed on the sliding Naira as they were denominated in dollars at the time the states took foreign loans, and the fate of the Naira at the forex market was under control.

Today, the Naira exchanges for over 240 to the dollar.

In July 2014, N630.32bn was allocated to the three tiers of government – federal, states and local governments – from the Federation Account. Later in August of some year, N601.65bn was allocated to the states. For September 2015, the figures just released indicate that N389.936 was shared by all the tiers of government; representing drops of 35% and 38% from the August and July 2014 allocations.

Yet, N601bn in August represented a sharp decline

from the previous months in 2014. At the moment, the three tiers of government are sharing less than half of what was available in January 2014.

At the end of December, analysts believe states will be extremely lucky to collect half of what they now receive. The implication is that many states are on the verge of bankruptcy. The consequences, according to the analysts, may be difficult to imagine.

In 2013, we had published that states may not be able to pay salaries by 2015. Earlier in 2014, we published a warning on drop in aggregate revenue and its consequences. Then we predicted that the economy will no longer grow at six per cent or more. Finally, we told investors to get out of the NSE. States on the verge of bankruptcy The governors of many states want to re-negotiate the minimum wage agreement with labour. That is only the symptom of the dire financial straits in which the states, analysts believe, find themselves.

Even the inevitable mass retrenchment of workers, they say, will not totally get them out of the woods.

“Debt and contractual obligations, which will gulp an increasing percentage of their revenue, will finish them first. For some, the calamity will set in by the end of the first quarter of 2016. Unfortunately, most of the states are APCcontrolled. They will damage Buhari’s political position – if care is not taken,”one of the analysts told Sunday Vanguard.

Today, we focus attention on two issues which will determine the fate of our states. The first is the deduction from source, that is, Abuja. Many state governors, since 1999, have been reckless with public

funds. Even those who have proved to be clever in shielding their recklessness from detection were/ are as unpatriotic as those careless to be caught.

Below is table derived from the Distribution of Revenue Allocation To State Governments For S September 2015. Instead of listing them in alphabetical order, they have been grouped into three based on gross revenue

expected to be collected from Abuja. Also listed are the gross deductions from each state’s revenue allocations. Those deductions are expected to continue indefinitely.

When states took on huge debt burden, sometimes spent on unsustainable programmes, they little realized that a sharp decline in revenue will doom their states economically.

Table of Gross Revenue and Deductions States and Debt Burden — The horrors to come SN

State

Total Gross (N000ms)

Deductions

%of Gross

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

AKWA IBOM DELTA LAGOS RIVERS BAYELSA KANO ONDO KADUNA EDO KASTINA BORNO BAUCHI OYO NIGER IMO JIGAWA BENUE SOKOTO KOGI ABIA KEBBI PLATEAU ENUGU ANAMBRA ZAMFARA ADAMAWA CROSS RIVER YOBE OGUN TARABA GOMBE OSUN NASSARAWA EKITI KWARA EBONYI

12294 9725 8202 7828 6495 4284 3707 3448 3334 3280 3181 3121 3112 3051 2983 2972 2937 2886 2857 2762 2748 2727 2680 2674 2638 2628 2620 2572 2532 2508 2478 2460 2393 2359 2354 2353

925 2358 2332 1728 2199 26 1099 111 955 197 19 527 544 574 906 14 877 105 272 292 154 1046 134 37 838 322 1231 29 1056 343 732 2404 184 883 313 50

0.07 24.25 28.43 22.07 33.86 0.60 29.64 3.21 28.64 6.00 0.06 16.88 17.48 18.81 30.37 0.47 29.86 3.63 9.5 10.52 5.6 38.36 5.00 0.01 31.77 0.07 46.98 0.93 41.71 13.68 29.54 97.72 7.69 37.43 13.20 2.10

123,183

25806

20.95

TOTAL

A close examination of the percentage and, in some cases, actual deductions from source should startle many of

us, especially people from the South – particularly South-West.

Continues next week

PAGE 6 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

KOGI GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

L-R: A for mer Governor of Edo State, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor, Lady Osunbor, relatives, and the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Chief John Oyegun, at the wedding of Osunbor ’s daughter at the Basilica of Grace, Abuja, yesterday.

L-R: Mrs Abimbola Oladinni, proprietress of Diadem School; Mrs Lola Banji - Alabi, Guest Speaker; Akinusote Olaolu , Pastor of the Day , Pastor A .B Olarewaji and Mr Ollapoju Oladinni, Chairman of Diadem School Gbagadba Lagos, during the end of the year party of Diadem School. Photo by Diran Oshe

Kukah to Buhari: Dialogue with Kanu, fellow 20th Olu of Warri crowned ‘Ikenwole I’ pro-Biafra activists *Ohanaeze seeks pirate radio promoter’s unconditional release

By Gbenga Olarinoye, Osogbo

T

HE Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, says pro-Biafra activists are entitled to their agitation and should not be crucified for it.

He also advised the Federal Government to look at the positive side of Nnamdi Kanu, a leader of the proBiafra movement and promoter of Radio Biafra now in detention, and draw him closer rather that prosecuting him.

According to Kukah, since every Nigerian has the right to pursue his or her goal in life, the ongoing agitation for Biafra is legitimate.

Speaking on the topic: “The Pursuit of Happiness: Some Thoughts On Human

Rights, Freedom And Justice In Nigeria,” at the 41st Convocation Lecture of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, the cleric advised President Muhammadu Buhari to dialogue with Kanu and his fellow activists, in order to ensure peace.

While stressing that the arrest of Kanu by security operatives forced multitudes across the globe to embark on protests for his release, Kukah argued that no governor in Nigeria could command the number of people that the pro-Biafra leader brought out without any form of inducement.

Kukah said: “This country cannot continue this way.

The Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, has the right to seek Biafra since we have

freedom of expression. The problem of Nigeria should not be with Kanu but with those who let the door open.

“The President of Nigeria or any governor, unless he pays, cannot bring the number of people that Kanu brought out.

“The anxiety of Nigeria should be that a young man (Kanu) who can bring out this great number of people is worth doing business with.”

The bishop called on Nigerians, especially politicians, to strip themselves of lust for power and greed for material gain, saying they do not bring happiness.

While saying that some greedy individuals had truncated the peace and happiness that are due to the world, he emphasised that “the world can provide

for the need of everybody but cannot provide for the greed of everybody.”

In the meantime, O h a n a e z e Ndigbo,yesterday, met with the two main pro-Biafra groups, MASSOB and the Indigenous People of Biafra,IPOB, where the Federal Government was asked to release Kanu unconditionally from detention.

While addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, which had other groups, including Igbo Youth Cultural Movement,IYCM,Bilea Human Right Initiative,BHRI,United Eastern Congress,UEC,Lower Niger Congress,LNC, in attendance,Secretary General,Ohanaeze Ndigbo,Joe Nworgu said,”We met with MASSOB,IPOB and other groups to demand the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu.”

How FG can stem poverty in Nigeria — Adebutu Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta

C

HAIRMAN, House of Representatives Committee on Rural Development, Oladipupo Adebutu, believes the prevalent poverty in the country would be drastically reduced if attention is focused on rural development.

Adebutu, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Remo Federal Constituency in Ogun State, stated this after his installation as the Otunba Nawoola of Odogbolu, and his wife , as the Yeye Otunba Nawoola, by the Alaye of Odogbolu, Oba Adedeji Onagoruwa.

According to him, once you can provide the basic needs for the rural areas, you would find out that rural-urban drift would reduce; poverty would be alleviated.

“There is no gainsaying about it. The way forward for Nigeria is that we

must improve our arrangements for agriculture and rural development,” he added.

While speaking in the

alleged rift between executive and the legislature, Adebutu said the National Assembly is not

at loggerheads with President Muhammadu Buhari and the executive arm of government over the direction of moving

Man, wife, two children roasted in Kontagora fire

By Wole Mosadomi

In the message signed by his Chief Press SecONTAGORA in Ni retary, Jibrin Baba ger State was thrown Ndace, the governor exinto mourning after a fam- pressed the determinaily of four was consumed by fire in their residence.

Malam Mohammed Sani Abdulrahaman, his

By Peter Duru, wife, Shefinat, and two Makurdi children were said to have been trapped in their one HE Corps Marshal of bed-room apartment after the Federal Road Safepower surge in their apartment around 2.30 ty Commission, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, says the a.m on the fateful day. report of the World Health Governor Abubakar Sani Organization, WHO, Bello, in a condolence showed that over 52,000 message, described the lives had been lost to road incident as unfortunate, accidents in Nigeria.

Oyeyemi, who spoke, especially with the loss of yesterday, at the flag-off of 47-year-old Mohammed the ‘Don’t Drink and Nafir and his two-year-old Drive’ campaign rally, orsister. ganized, by the FRSC, in

K

tion of his administration to overhaul the state Fire Service and re-position it for the challenges ahead.

52,000 killed in road crash

T

collaboration with Nigerian Breweries, at the Otukpo Motor Park, Otukpo, Benue State, attributed the high figure to reckless driving.

Represented by the Corps Public Education Officer, Corps Commander Imor Etuk, he said that the FRSC would next week kick off its ‘Operation Saanity’ campaign to further enlighten road users on the dangers of disobeying traffic rules especially during and after the Yuletide season.

By Egufe Yafugborhi

I

TSEKIRI nation, yes terday, closed a royal transition in Warri Kingdom with the crowning of Prince Ikenwole Gbemisi Emiko as HRM, Ogiame Ikenwole I, the 20th Olu of Warri, who succeeds his elder brother, Atuwatse II. Heralded by a boat regatta at the waterfronts of the Warri naval base and the Warri club in the morning, dignitaries from far and near joined the Itsekiri to witness the enthronement of Ikenwole I at the Ode-Itsekiri ancestral palace.

Before wearing his crown, the new Olu observed the rites of splitting of firewoods, fetching of water and paddling of a boat signifying the last manual labour he will ever indulge in for the rest of his life.

He then progressed to choose his adopted stool, when he, blindfolded, picked a fresh sword (scepter) of authority to the exclusion of an array of other swords previously used by his predecessors, upon which he adopted the self title, “Ikenwole I”.

At about 2:14pm, Pa Higgson Oporokun, Olara-Aja of Jakpa, acting in the capacity of Ologbotsere (Prime Minister) of the kingdom, crowned HRM, Ikenwole I with a diamond crown, said to have been imported from Portugal to the throne in 1411, by

King Dom Domingos.

In his speech, Ikenwole I thanked all who found time to grace his coronation, wishing them blessings and journey mercies back home.

“I am for you all and you all are for me and I hope this bond of friendship would grow stronger and promote greater progress in the years ahead”, he said.

Earlier, Ojomo of Warri and Chairman, Olu Traditional Advisory Council, Chief Yaya Pessu, thanked the royal family for the “seamless selection of the new Olu”, praying God to grant the monarch wisdom and composure to take the kingdom to greater heights.

Edward Ekpoko, Secretary Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, said on the occasion, “It is easy to understand why this is the largest gathering of the Itsekiri nation and demonstration of the fullest of its culture and heritage anywhere on earth”.

“The stool and royalty is the symbol of our existence, the instrument that binds us together, so it is duty bound of every Itsekiri to be part of the enthronement of a new monarch. This kingdom came into being in 1480.”

In his remarks on the occasion, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State believed Ikenwole I would fit squarely into the shoes left by his predecessor, hoping he consolidates on the peace and inter-ethnic harmony in the commercially strategic Warri to rebuild confidence in investors.

“Government efforts at building peace and encouraging investments and growth in the state will not yield desired results if traditional institutions do not show corresponding commitment and partnership”, Okowa said.

On the roll call of dignitaries at the event were several traditional rulers including the Emir of Zaria and the Ooni of Ife who was crowned on Monday.

Pictures on page 38

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 7

Prologue

BUHARI, KOGI AND BAYELSA POLLS

An inconclusive INEC cannot

organise conclusive elections

BY JIDE AJANI

N

igerians, both at home and in Diaspora and, indeed, many foreign election observers, who monitored the recent elections conducted in Kogi and Bayelsa states, are perturbed and left wondering whether it is the same Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that received worldwide commendation over the 2015 general elections that conducted the two inconclusive polls.

Attahiru Jega’s INEC oversaw an election which a sitting President lost.

Today ’s INEC, as constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari and chaired by one Professor Mahmud Yakubu, is at best an embarrassment and, worse still, a danger to Nigeria’s democracy. The new INEC Chairman, on his first day in office in full glare of journalists, declared that INEC’s job could be considered the simplest work to do and wondered aloud why people complain. After the two inconclusive elections he organised, it is doubtful if he still holds such a glib view of the job description of INEC. First, the new INEC leadership gambled with credibility and integrity when the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, exposed what it called a “secret meeting” that was held with Buhari just days to the Kogi governorship election. The government, through the amiable Garba Shehu, owned up that it was true and that it was only a meeting for five minutes.

Tragically, Yakubu’s INEC denied it - that was a first error, a signal to Nigerians on the type of the leadership of the current INEC. It also raised doubts on the credibility currency it possessed.

On the elections of Kogi and Bayelsa, INEC has been tested and found to have floundered in the subjective chimera of wilful human frailties by using derivative guidelines that were inferior in content and letters to the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, to mask a convoluted decision influenced by religion and ethnicity. It declared Kogi election inconclusive, ordering a supplementary election. By INEC’s - and by implication, Buhari’s All Progressive Congress, APC’s wisdom - today, a candidate of a joint ticket that secured victory for its party is being forced and intimidated to accept a subordinate position for the outcome of a so-called supplementary election where Yahaya Bello, the substitute candidate, scored 6,885 of the less than 12,000 total votes cast.

In the Kogi gubernatorial election, the poll had closed, returns had been made, and collation completed. It must be emphatically stated that no election takes place in collation centers; all voting occurs at polling units, and results are declared there. Once results have been declared at polling units, only an election tribunal can change it as long as ballot snatching and other disruptions did not occur where the election took place in which case there are no results - as was the case penultimate Saturday in Southern ljaw in Bayelsa State. INEC ought to have made a return instead of planning another election for Southern ljaw where violence was deliberately orchestrated. Collation of results, while an important legal step, only adds up the results at the different levels and nothing more.

In Kogi, the results had all been collated, and the tally of votes for all candidates known, but cancellation of votes in some areas was used to execute an agenda that viciously did not want the declaration of a winner.

The Constitution is superior to any other law in

any statute or guideline. Where the Constitution has specifically made provision for and provided details on how and the requirements to declare a person for the offices of President and Governor, no other law can add to it or subtract from those requirements as established by the Constitution. That perhaps was the reason the National Assembly, at Section 69 of the Electoral Act, deferred to the Constitution where it states: “In an election to the office of the President or Governor or, whether or not contested and in any contested election to any other elective office, the results shall be ascertained by counting the votes cast for each candidate and subject to provisions of Sections 133, 134 and 179 of the Constitution, the candidate that receives the highest number of votes shall be declared elected by the appropriate Returning Officer”.

There is no provision either in the Constitution or the Act where it is stated that where the number of votes in cancelled polling units or where election did not take place because politicians deliberately made it impossible through violence, the Returning Officer should declare elections inconclusive.

It is only in the INEC guidelines that you have it.

How did INEC arrive at the decision to defer to its own derivative guideline that is totally inferior to the Constitution that has sufficiently covered the subject and the Electoral Act that deffered to the same provision of the Constitution? How did INEC come to the conclusion that the Constitution, which elected lawmakers deferred to, should be inferior to its guidelines?

In the case of Bayelsa, election results have been declared in seven LGAs, one LGA was turned into a minefield and a battleground, not through election purposes as required by civilized democratic practice, but through the regression into violent conflict, the type of contest for power that elections are intended to avoid. INEC ought to make a return instead of rewarding those who messed up the process in Southern Ijaw with another election given that it had enough results from the seven LGAs to make a return in line with Section 179(2) of the Constitution, even though election observers saw how military was alleged to be complicit in aiding thugs to cart away ballot boxes and papers for massive thumbprinting in secured private homes leading to the cancellation in Southern ljaw. That should not make the election inconclusive. How did INEC come to such a procedure where in Section 179 of the Constitution, which the lawmakers, who have the powers to amend the Electoral Act, sacredly deferred to, that INEC relied on to declare the elections both in Kogi and now Bayelsa inconclusive? Where did INEC get the advice to rely on its guidelines on a matter that the Constitution has clearly provided for that it should apply? If elections have been conducted in all states in the country, is this how results would be held hostage by violent conflict and the polls declared inconclusive across the country? Again, should election managers rely on INEC guidelines on a subject-matter the Electoral Act or the Constitution has specifically provided for in declaring presidential and governorship election results?

It is very unfortunate that INEC, that has been making steady progress since 2011 up till 2015, is now on the path of regression and a shadow of its enviable, trustworthy commission under Professor Jega - even though Jega was not perfect. When you constitute a sensitive body like INEC, with untested hands or some people with notorious public record, deficient in paragraph 14(2b) of the 3rd Schedule of the Constitution that stipulates that anyone who shall be appointed as

Continues on page 10

PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Dickson Sylva

The battle for the soul of Bayelsa shifts to Abuja

By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa

S

outhern Ijaw local government area has again proved its uniqueness in Bayelsa State socio-political configuration.

The council area, the biggest in the state in terms of landscape, has a coastline of approximately 60km on the Bight of Benin. It also had the highest number of militant camps in the Niger Delta at the height of militancy in the blighted region.

The council area, which is a vast swathe of mangrove swamp, had the unsavory reputation of hosting 14 militant camps which were disbanded in the wake of the Federal Government amnesty to the then agitators.

This was the period the warlords held sway in the creek, wielding significant influence while traditional institutions and values were undermined as the militant leaders called the shots.

Sadly, when many had

thought a new dawn was in the offing for the once troubled area, a new form of criminality took the centre stage as crude oil thieves and illegal refinery operators not only bled the nation’s economy but also devastated the fragile environment with the illicit trade.

It was, therefore, not surprising when the council again, penultimate Saturday, relapsed into its infamous past. It was a theatre of war as armed political thugs and militias practically sacked the constituted authorities.

Oporoma, the headquarters of Southern Ijaw council area, was turned into a battle ground by gun totting youths loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and rival All Progressive Congress, APC. Residents, according to sources, were forced to scamper to safety while election materials and staff were locked in the Independent National Electoral Commission,

Oporoma, the headquarters of Southern Ijaw council area, was turned into a battle ground by gun totting youths loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and rival All Progressive Congress, APC

INEC’s office, a development that prompted INEC to postpone the Bayelsa gubernatorial election in the council to the next day, Sunday.

But the police, through the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hashimu Argungu, at a briefing, in Yenagoa, the state capital, on the day of the rescheduled poll, described as untrue the claim that some persons lost their lives in the orgy of violence that trailed the botched poll at Oporoma.

Argungu urged voters and residents of the local government area not to entertain fear as the security agencies were on top of the situation.

On why election could not take place in Southern Ijaw, he blamed the development on logistics even as he confirmed the arrest of ten persons by security operatives and recovery of some dangerous weapons.

He also said five AK47 rifles and one pistol were recovered from some

hoodlums.

The DIG, while assuring the people of their safety during the rescheduled election, said ‘two Commissioners of Police, 2 Brigade Commander, 5 Battalion Commander and Deputy Commander of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC had been deployed in Southern Ijaw council area to ensure hitch free exercise.

Despite the assurance, however, the rescheduled poll in the council area was marred by widespread irregularities with the military accused of taking sides with one of the political parties.

Already, the PDP candidate in the election, Governor Seriake Dickson, had won six of the seven council areas with a commanding lead of 105,748 votes as against the APC candidate’s Chief Timpre Sylva’s 72,594 votes.

Accordingly, the contending parties saw in

Continues on page 9

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 9

The battle for the soul of Bayelsa shifts to Abuja

Continued from page 15

Continued from page 8 Southern Ijaw local government area, with 120,827 registered voters, the second highest after Yenagoa with 135,025, the key to the coveted Creek Haven, the seat of power in the predominantly riverine state.

While the APC was banking on its alleged victory in the contentious council to cancel the PDP lead, INEC put paid to its permutation by voiding the rescheduled poll.

Announcing the cancellation, the Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Baritor Kpagih, said there were reports that the poll in the LGA was “substantially” marred by violence, ballot box snatching and hostage taking of electoral officers.

The pronouncement came immediately after the state Returning Officer, Prof. Zana Akpagu, told newsmen and election observers that he would not be able to take a final decision on the exercise until the result of the Southern Ijaw election was received.

Prior to the announcement, the state REC and some top security officers had held what was tagged ‘a security meeting’ at the INEC office in the state capital over the situation in Southern Ijaw.

Sylva kicks, threatens legal action The APC candidate, Sylva, described as unacceptable the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw council poll.

The former governor, who spoke to newsmen in Yenagoa, accused INEC of colluding with the PDP to cancel the rescheduled poll because his party was coasting home to victory.

He insisted that he won by a large margin that made him the winner of the election, adding that if the commission must cancel the election in Southern Ijaw on flimsy excuses, justice demanded that it also cancelled

the poll in Ekeremor, Nembe, Sagbama and other LGAs. The APC candidate said the REC had no power to cancel election that had taken place, noting that it was only the state Returning Officer that had the power to announce a cancellation.

Sylva said the APC was going to collate all results in Southern Ijaw local government area and head for court.

Groundswell of support 14 of the 20 political parties that fielded candidates for the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa, in the meantime, threw their weight behind the INEC decision to cancel the poll in Southern Ijaw.

The state Chairman of Independent Democrats, ID, Prince Elemah, who addressed a press conference in Yenagoa, on Wednesday, condemned what they called “electoral fraud” that characterized the exercise in Southern Ijaw, observing that INEC personnel and materials were hijacked by hoodlums, with connivance by security operatives.

The press conference was attended by the chairmen of Social Democratic Party, SDP; African Democratic Congress, ADC; Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN; KOWA, Progressives People Alliance, PPA; Peoples Party of Nigeria, PPN; Democratic Peoples’ Party, DPP; Democratic People’s Congress, DPC; African Peoples Alliance, APA; New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP; Mega Progressives Peoples Party, MPPP; United Peoples Congress, UPC; and Peoples Democratic Congress, PDC. Separately, a group, South South Peoples Assembly, SSPA, called on the Chief of the Army Staff, Lt General T.Y. Buratai, to probe the role of military personnel in the violence and electoral fraud that marred the Bayelsa governorship election.

The group stated that though the deployment of the military was to prevent breakdown of law

and order in the election, particularly in the contentious Southern Ijaw, the decision of the personnel to allow open display of lawlessness and participating in electoral fraud in the area was criminal and should be investigated.

In a statement in Yenagoa read to newsmen by the Secretary-General, SSPA, Chief Ayakeme Whisky, the group demanded that the investigation should cover issues of alleged involvement of soldiers in the hijack of election materials, provision of cover for electoral offenders and standing by while militia groups engaged in orgy of violence in most of the council areas including Southern Ijaw.

The group, however, faulted the decision by the INEC and security agencies to conduct

One of the drawbacks of the governorship election is the widespread voter apathy with only about 40 per cent of registered voters turning out in the seven councils where the election had been concluded

the rescheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw despite unfavorable security report.

Yenagoa grounded Angered by the decision of INEC to cancel the governorship poll in Southern Ijaw, thousands of APC supporters, on Wednesday, took to the streets in Yenagoa in protest.

The protesters, who carried placards and sang anti-INEC songs, caused traffic gridlock on the major roads in the state capital as they marched to the INEC office along Swali Road to register their grievance.

This was the second protest in town in spite of the police ban on street procession.

Supporters of the PDP, mainly women from Southern Ijaw, had earlier staged a peaceful protest close to the INEC collation centre calling for the cancellation of the election in the council, alleging widespread irregularities.

Some of the APC protesters placards read: “REC does not have the power to cancel an election already declared by the returning officer,” “INEC should declare Southern Ijaw results now!” “INEC must declare results of SILGA or also cancel Ekeremor, Sagbama and Yenagoa”, “We say total no to injustice and executive rascality,” “Dickson must be disqualified for violating Electoral Act”, and “Bayelsans reject the cancellation of Southern Ijaw results: We demand INEC to declare the results”.

Police stop protesters At the state INEC office along Imgbi Road, it took the swift response of mobile police men to keep the protesters about 100 meters away from the premises of the state commission, with an Amoured Personnel Carrier stationed within the premises.

Mr. Famous Daunemugha, an APC chieftain, who spoke on behalf of the protesting

supporters said they were on a peaceful demonstration to send a message to INEC in respect of the cancellation of the election in Southern Ijaw.

Appeal for calm Addressing the protesters, a top official of INEC in the state and Head of Operations, Victor Agbowaneten, thanked them for conducting themselves peacefully.

He appealed to them to remain calm as the REC was in Abuja to meet with the commission over the matter.

According to him, the decision to cancel the Southern Ijaw poll did not emanate from the state REC but was a collective decision of the National Commissioners that supervised the election.

He said, “From reports, it was the three National Commissioners that reviewed all the things that happened and decided on the matter.

“The statement was only read by the REC on behalf of the commission and did not emanate from Bayelsa State INEC. “We have taken note of all that have been said and we will send the report to the commission.”

In Abuja, battle goes on The National Chairman of INEC, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, it was learnt, has launched a probe into the role of the Bayelsa REC, Kpagih, and other officials of the commission in the electoral crisis that led to the inconclusive status of the December 5 governorship election in the state.

The INEC, as part of its investigation, according to a source, ordered the Collation Officers and Returning Officers in the local government areas, particularly those involved in the disputed rescheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw, to submit their reports to the commission.

It was gathered that the INEC will investigate cases of compromise to frustrate the smooth conduct of the election.

It was also gathered that the directive may not be unconnected with the petition submitted by the APC to the commission, alleging bias, bribery and corruption against some officials of the state office of INEC and the alleged illegality of the cancellation of the governorship election in Southern Ijaw.

Only time will tell which of the candidates would emerge victorious at the end of the bitter contest. While the PDP supporters are optimistic that they would triumph, the APC supporters are confident that, in spite of their losing in six of the seven councils where the election result has so far been released, the Southern Ijaw council result would swing the pendulum in their favour.

One of the drawbacks of the governorship election is the widespread voter apathy with only about 40 per cent of registered voters turning out in the seven councils where the election had been concluded. It would, therefore, be a miracle if the story is different in Southern Ijaw.

PAGE 10—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

state, a man who chose honour and national interest instead of power and handed over to President Buhari. So why should we have a reversal of democratic consolidation so soon?

Of course the whole shameful episode is now before the international community which suggests that democracy is heading towards the rocks in the current dispensation if care is not taken and the imperative to call to order those who are clearly abusing their offices all in the name of politics. President Buhari certainly cannot afford to fail the nation because the consequence would be disastrous for all of us.

L

awyers in Defence of Democracy, one of the groups that monitored the Bay elsa governorship election, says anarchy reigned in Southern Ijaw because some politicians saw the poll as a door-die affair. The group spoke through its National Secretary, Ikechukwu Ikeji.

On the group’s findings on the Bayelsa poll?

As one of those bodies and individuals in the state to monitor the election, we can report that what we saw in Southern Ijaw was nothing short of anarchy. The desperation on the part of politicians was unthinkable leading to a gross manipulation of the electoral process which corrupted the election and was accordingly cancelled. We condemn this desperate mentality of the politicians involved in this regrettable incident of violence akin to do-or-die kind of politics aimed at disenfranchising the people to satisfy their selfish interest.

We believe the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) took the right decision with the cancellation which we hope can now allow the people of Southern Ijaw exercise their inalienable right to vote according to their choices in the election whenever it is rescheduled.

This is important because democracy is all about the people who should be allowed to freely elect their leaders without recourse to violence and intimidation.

Otherwise, democracy is imperilled and the outcome of such election cannot be regarded as truly representing the wishes and aspirations of the people.

But as much as we must blame the political leaders, the alleged collusion of the military top brass, the police and other highly placed individuals in the Federal Government calls for concern and we believe this seriously challenges our collective interest as a people and nation. Election becomes a parody of the real thing when the process lacks integrity.

It is not that we have not experienced electoral malpractices in the past but in a new political environment where the change mantra is the order of the day as an important element of President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership and government, the reported accusation of some highly placed individuals at the federal level having a hand in the orchestrated attempts to rig the election in Southern Ijaw must agitate our minds and we condemn this action in very strong terms.

On the allegation of soldiers colluding with a party in the election to perpetrate malpractices?

The allegation of collusion by some officials of the army and the police with the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Timipre Sylva, is unconscionable because it sends a wrong signal of possible annihilation of democracy and rule of law. Yes, the rule of jungle is anathema in a democratic system of government. It is clearly a dangerous step which calls for a thorough investigation by the Federal Government before it becomes a routine in future elections and in particular when the Southern Ijaw election is rescheduled.

‘To some politicians, the Southern Ijaw poll was a do-or-die affair’ We could have disregarded the allegation but when it came from Governor Seriake Dickson, on national television, and widely reported in the newspapers, we should take it seriously.

According to the governor, the attempted rigging plan was aimed at deflating his lead in the election having won in seven of the eight local governments in the state but with manipulation of the election in Southern Ijaw, some ridiculous figures would be conjured and credited to the APC candidate who will then be declared winner. Governor Dickson would thereafter be battling in court which is not a realistic option, hence his loud voice to save democracy. This is why we call on the Federal Government to properly investigate the alleged role of the military in the whole episode of electoral corruption in Southern Ijaw as claimed

by Governor Dickson which would be in line with similar ongoing investigation of the role of the same institution in the 2015 general elections in Ekiti and Osun States. The investigation must commence without further delay.

Such investigation must also look at the role of the police high command leading to such mind boggling violence as widely reported in the media as well as that of INEC to unravel any complicity.

We have looked carefully at the whole scenario and think rationally that the governor ’s accusation is not without some substance. It cannot and must not be dismissed as frivolous as the APC, an interest party, in Bayelsa has said.

Governor Dickson claimed so assertively that prior to the illfated conduct of the election in Southern Ijaw, he had informed INEC and security authorities that political thugs and criminal element had taken over the entire Southern Ijaw and advised that the election be postponed but his advice was ignored.

Fiasco We also saw the Deputy Inspector- General of Police,

Hashimu Argungun, who was mandated to ensure a hitch-free environment conducive to hold a peaceful election telling the whole world on television that the situation in Southern Ijaw was okay to hold the election but invariably turned out to be a fiasco. So what went wrong? Why the hurry to conduct the election when it was obvious the security situation was tension soaked?

Why did he and other top ranking army officials in the same boat with Argungu refused to heed the advice of the governor as the chief security officer of the state?

Was there actually a deliberate

plan to rig the election in favour of APC candidate by the agencies of the Federal Government as Governor Dickson claimed?

Weighty questions These are weighty questions demanding answers from all those accused in the macabre dance in Bayelsa State which we believe constitutes a huge negative on the administration of President Buhari, especially as a beneficiary of a clean election.

Incidentally the ignoble rampaging of electoral manipulation occurred in former President Goodluck Jonathan’s

Violence-free rerun In this regard, we hereby call on the Federal Government to do all within its powers to ensure a violence free rerun whenever election is to be conducted in Southern Ijaw by ensuring that credible personnel from the various security agencies are in charge of security in the entire area. The allegation that security top command handed electoral materials to APC members to rig the election remains a sour point in any estimation of the Southern Ijaw saga. Too bad for democracy.

INEC must also be ready to hold a free, fair and credible election as the entire worldwatches and assesses the impartiality of its new leadership.

We want to use this opportunity to praise the courage of Bayelsans by fearlessly standing firm to defend their rights to vote even in the face of intimidation by security agencies. They have proven that no amount of abuse of power through intimidation and violence can kill the will of the people with a resolve to do what is right as against perfidy as we can best describe the orchestrated attempt to rig the election in Southern Ijaw.

We must all rise against this regrettable situation which can only tarnish the nation’s image in the comity of nations.

Democracy must survive in our country.

'An inconclusive INEC cannot organise conclusive elections' Continued from page 7 INEC Commissioner must “be non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity”, what you get is the type of inconclusive elections INEC is giving to Nigerians. Worse still and, unfortunately, the Nigerian public was given a shock treatment with the appointment of two people who are still subject of social media discuss over their

alleged questionable records and integrity and this has impacted negatively on public trust of the present INEC. The import of recent inconsistencies in electoral decision-making, which has led to elections that have become the subject of legal hermeneutic pugilism, is clear to those who have been calling on the government to properly constitute INEC with its full complement of Board members, which is 13 as required by law and not seven and five, which is the required quorum when a full Board is constituted. How can it be explained that clearly seven months after President Buhari

was sworn-in, he is unable to constitute the Board of 13 and some 18 states of Nigeria have no Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, to man INEC offices nationwide?

All through the periods of this crisis of inconclusive elections in both Kogi and Bayelsa States, the leadership of INEC, as embodied by the Chairman, was “missing in action” - neither he nor his colleagues - National Commissioners - provided authoritative pronouncement on the position of the Commission, nor did he affirm the voice of the field officers who made pronouncements making Nigerians to wonder if there is leadership in INEC. The string of inconclusive elections conducted by this new leadership clearly portends looming disaster when multiple elections will be conducted in 2019. That is why Nigerians must continue to ask again and again why this current regime has continued to pay such nonchalant attention to a properly constituted INEC? Given the

foundational role INEC plays in determining whether we live in peace or in pieces, why is this regime toying with the foundations of our democracy?

How did INEC move from a proud institution that calls all parties for open consultation meetings before election, to a scrounging Commission that would now hold secret meeting at the Villa with elected party representatives that would participate in the same election prior to the election itself? Can the current INEC, under legal scrutiny, justify its authority to conduct elections and take weighty electoral decisions without being fully constituted? What are the decisional processes for over-riding the Constitution and the Electoral Act as INEC has done on both occasions in Kogi and Bayelsa? Does the current INEC Board, as constituted, have powers so to do? And, more importantly, how can INEC restore its fast eroding public trust, integrity and autonomy as a guiding

Continues on page 12

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 11

Lawmakers can help curb kidnapping— Hon Ogun

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE AND JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

Hon Sergius Ose Ogun, a lawyer and an expert in oil and gas matters, represents Esan North East/ South East Federal Constituency, Edo State and is the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Federal Capital Territory in the House of Representatives. In this chat, he speaks on the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account, TSA, the N5,000 monthly stipend for the unemployed,the Oshimhole/Igbinedion face-off, kidnapping in his constituency, among other issues.

C

an you throw more light on your recent motion on the floor of the House bordering on kidnapping in your constituency in Edo State?

The issue of kidnapping is a serious matter in my constituency and in the South-East and the SouthSouth region. But I am particularly concerned about my local government. I cannot go to my village without police escort; it is that bad. I have a farm sitting on 200 hectares of land in my village.

My younger brother doesn’t live in my village; he lives in another village in my constituency but he cannot go there to supervise the people working in that farm for fear of being kidnapped and this is not sustainable.

About this time last year, I was in Barcelona when my campaign coordinator was kidnapped. I got a call that friends rallied round and put money together for him to be released. He was helping a ward chairman whose car broke down and he got a mechanic and they were going to recover the vehicle when gun men abducted him and took him into the bush.

In the three days they held him, they shot him before the money was paid. This happens every other day in the area.

Before the election, myself, the current senator and the then serving Senator Odion Ogbesia put money down to put on ground a local vigilante.

Let me add that I was to attend a wedding ceremony in my village and some miscreants blocked the

•Ogun.... kidnapping happens everyday in my area

My advice is that we should be patient and allow the litigants to exhaust all their avenues from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.

And I would not be in a hurry to criticize the judiciary because we have seen landmark judgments in this country road. We had to call the police and the army and all that for me to get the village. So it is something that we cannot just wish away. We should be bold as a nation to say this is not right and then do the right thing.

Talking about this kidnapping, who are the people responsible? Do you think they may be herdsmen or cattle rustlers?

That is why I took the pain to explain my experience. Like I said, last year, about this same time, my campaign coordinator was kidnapped, so this was a first hand experience.

And he said to me that the people that kidnapped him were cattle rustlers, Fulani, from their accent and all that. Those who went to pay the ransom confirmed the same thing.

There was also an occasion when we were in the house of the king, putting money together to prevent this thing, a woman came in with a baby, and said some gunmen stopped them on the road, kid-

napped her husband, and with the accent and all that; so that is the only conclusion. That is the report we have, they were herdsmen. Well, they said we should be careful not to use the word Fulani but they were herdsmen. And what we are saying is that they should be kept in a particular place to avoid a situation where they destroy the image of this country.

A former governor of your state, Lucky Igbinedion, and the incumbent are at each other’s throats, over alleged stolen money from government coffers. As a stake holder, do you think this will affect the forth coming gubernatorial election in the state?

It is rather unfortunate that it has taken Adams Oshiomhole seven years to come out to tell the people of Edo that the former governor stole money. It is only in a country like Nigeria that this thing will happen.

We know how he came to power and those who helped him to get there. If they fell out, well, it is unfortunate. But I think whatever is happening is for the good of the people of Edo. Because now, he alleged that the former governor is a thief and the former governor said he is a bigger thief. So we need more revelation to know where Edo’s money is. So I will urge the relevant agencies to ask questions and recover our money to help develop our state.

tion tribunals?

Most of these cases have just left the tribunals and now going to the Court of Appeal. I believe that most of those judgments would be corrected at the Court of Appeal.

I would like to say that being a lawyer; I am not in a hurry to criticize the judiciary. If we go back to even Edo, how did the governor get to power? It was through the judiciary. But people like him went and bastardized the place and the same thing happened in Rivers. For a man that did not sit for election and because the Supreme Court wanted to make a point, that ruling came.

But what did Amaechi do?

For years, the courts could not sit in Rivers.

My advice is that we should be patient and allow the litigants to exhaust all their avenues from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. And I would not be in a hurry to criticize the judiciary because we have seen landmark judgments in this country.

One of the issues in the polity now is the planned probe of the TSA. The TSA was a laudable attempt to curb leakages.

And as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended under Section 162, all funds must go to the Federation Account.

Like the communication and information minister, Lai Muhammed, said, this was actually put in place by the previous administration.

There have been this controversies surrounding the judgments of election petition tribunals across the country. What is your assessment of the judiciary vis-a-vis the verdicts of the election peti-

What is your take on the proposed N5,000.00 monthly stipend for unemployed Nigerians?

When I multiplied 25 million unemployed young people by N5,000, the question I asked is, where are we going to get

money to fund that? Are we trying to imitate Europe or even the western world? In America, you have food stamp and in Europe you have gyro for those who are unemployed. And they also have a system in Europe to check fraudsters. And the people that destroyed the system in Europe are Nigerians, people from the Third World.

They will have a job and still go on gyro collecting money every month. I don’t know how we are going to manage it. I think if we have the money, we should invest massively in agriculture. I am a farmer. The confectionary industry that makes sweets and biscuits, it is on record that it imports glucose syrup in excess of over $2 billion annually. And what is glucose syrup? It is basically cassava and then

with enzymes which you get from paddy rice grown in your village. That aspect of agriculture can employ many people.

We have dams. The other day, we were shown the Aqusodo dam in Ghana, you map it; fish industry and all that. So there are so many things we can do to generate employment for these young people, rather than promising them N5,000.

What about Sure-P? Like every administration, you remember when Obasanjo came in, we had PTDF and then he scrapped it. But whatever money that was coming into Sure-P, we need to know what the money was used for, because we were told the funds were to be used for so many things from road construction to school rehabilitation and all that.

PAGE 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Gov. Ugwuanyi and the vote for Caretaker Committees in Enugu Stakeholders in Enugu State, cutting across political,organised labour unions,civil society groups, among others rose penultimate Saturday in defence of government’s resolve to set up Caretaker Committees to run the affairs of the 17 Local Government Areas in the state.

By Francis Igata

H

AVING fought in numerous political front lines and garnered experiences during his 12 years representation of the Udenu/Igbo-Eze North Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on assumption of office, ordered a biometric audit of the council areas to weed out bloated staff strength and save money for capital projects.

Again,the governor ’s perusal of the vote earmarked for council polls in the 2015 appropriation showed that it was grossly inadequate. These prompted a meeting at the Old Government Lodge where Ugwuanyi presented the government’s predicament before stakeholders from across the 260 wards in the state.

Said the governor at the meeting: “I have summoned this meeting to reason with you all, on some very critical issues affecting the third tier of government,the Local Governments. As you know, the tenure of the current Councils will expire on the 4th of January, 2016.

However two major reasons have prevented us from initiating the processes for the election of new officials for the Councils. The first is the on-going local government staff audit and others reforms. Recall that the State Caucus had in its last meeting at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Enugu, agreed that all activities towards the local government elections be put on hold to enable the Committee handling the exercise, conclude its assignment. It, indeed, appears to be a widely shared view among our people, that it will be unwise and imprudent to conduct election for new Councils when this very important exercise has not been concluded.

“The second problem is that of low funding for the exercise. The exercise, as matter of fact, is not properly provided for in the current budget. The little appropriated for it is grossly and manifestly inadequate. We therefore expect to address this deficiency in the 2016 budget. We are, therefore, asking for your mandate to decide on the next and appropriate line of action that we must take in view of the issues we have raised.”

Stakeholders approval After listening with rapped attention as the governor enumer-

ated the achievements of his administration in the last six months, Deputy Senate President,Ike Ekweremadu, Enugu-West Senatorial District; Prof.

Barth Nnaji, Enugu-East; and Chief Nnia Nwodo, EnuguNorth; led other stakeholders from the three senatorial zones of the state to approve the setting up of Caretaker Committees at the expiration of the tenure of current council chairmen in Enugu State on January 4,2016.

APGA’s endorsement The All Progressives Grand Alliance,APGA,Enugu State Chapter,threw its weight behind the move.

The immediate past Chairman of APGA,Enugu State Chapter,Mr. Okechukwu Nkolagu, explained: “APGA adopted Governor Ugwuanyi as its governorship candidate in the last general election. That is why we are in full support of the setting up of the caretaker committees.

“The governor has consulted with us on why the local government polls will not be able to hold for now, saying it is as a result of poor funds earmarked for it in the current budget. We see reason with him and appeal to the public to be calm having gotten assurance from the governor that the issue of funds will be dealt with in the 2016 budget to enable elections hold.”

The state chapter of IPAC, in a statement in Enugu by its Chairman and Secretary, Afam Ani and Osita Agu, respectively, called on the State Independent Electoral Commission,ENSIEC, not to conduct the Local Government elections pending the conclusion of the 11-man Committee on Local Government Staff Audit constituted by the state government.

The political parties based their stance on the fact that, “the conduct of the Local Government Elections and the constitution of a new local government administration in the state, when the Committee on the Local Government Staff Audit has not

We therefore, state categorically that the ongoing Local Government verification exercise must be concluded before the conduct of the Local Government Elections in Enugu State concluded its assignment, will be counter-productive to the progress of the local government system, more so when the nation’s economy is currently in a very bad shape.”

They believed that no credible local government elections can

be conducted in such a confused atmosphere as obtains today in our local government councils”.

While reaffirming their commitment to a democratic process that would usher in a new Local Government Administration in Enugu State and guarantee an effective and efficient Local Government system devoid of corrupt practices or irregularities, IPAC commended, “the brave initiative and timely intervention of the present administration in Enugu State in instituting far reaching reforms in the Local Government system, through the constitution of an 11man Committee on Local Government Staff Audit”.

They expressed their desire to see a reformed Local Government Administration in Enugu State that will place the third tier of government in its rightful position as the bedrock of participatory democracy for the people at the grassroots to reap the full benefits of governance.

Mindful of this pivotal role of local government administration, the political parties noted that, “local government councils are meant to bring government closer to the people for the purpose of transforming their lives” stressing that, “it is therefore imperative that the Councils must be put in the proper position to discharge this very crucial responsibility effectively.”

According to them, “ we strongly believe that the exercise will help to check the ghost workers syndrome that has been eating deep into the finances of our Local Government Councils, where faceless individuals are used to siphon funds of the Local Governments. It will also help in ascertaining the actual number of retirees who are now pensioners and who have not been receiving their entitlements for a long time.

“We therefore, state categorically that the ongoing Local Government verification exercise must be concluded before the conduct of the Local Government Elections in Enugu State. Consequently, we call on

ENSIEC to take note of our stance on the matter and act accordingly in the overall interest of the State.”

Organised labour Workers in Enugu State, under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, Trade Union Congress,TUC, and Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, JPSNC, urged government to go ahead with the biometric staff audit to ensure that council administrations in the state perform optimally and add value to the people.

The workers made their decision known in a statement jointly signed by the Enugu State Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Viginues Nwobodo Chuks and Chairman of the TUC/ JPSNC, Comrade Igbokwe Chukwuma Igbokwe.

The workers commended Ugwuanyi for the “decision to appoint Caretaker Committees for the local government areas in Enugu State pending the conclusion of the on-going staff audit”.

They pointed out that the local government system in the state has “failed woefully in service delivery and provision of dividends of democracy to the grassroots”, adding that the labour unions support any policy of the government aimed at cleansing the rot in the system before constituting a new local government administration in the state.

The workers urged the governor not to compromise merit in the appointment of the caretaker committee members and charged him to remain resolute in his efforts to, “ recover any public fund misappropriated by any public officer in the local government system”.

“The Organized Labour in Enugu State pledges to support any policy by the present administration to clean the rot in the system and to provide good governance, sustainable development, economic growth, and healthcare delivery to the good people of the state as encapsulated in the four-point agenda”.

'An inconclusive INEC cannot organise conclusive elections' Continued from page 10 how can INEC restore its fast eroding public trust, integrity and autonomy as a guiding light for the conduct of election instead of a floundering Commission? Surely, how the Buhari regime and INEC authorities address these questions before the next sets of elections in 2016 and the 2019 general elections will determine the sanity of the polity and the direction Nigeria is heading.

If the body language of the government regarding election management is anything to go by, it may be concluded, rightly or wrongly, that election quality and election integrity are not the

priorities of the government, whereas these were the main reasons the President was able to gain political power after over a decade of political competition.

It is, indeed, a shocking embarrassment to discover that a President, who benefited from good governance and best global practices in election management, needed the legal advocacy of the civil society and, even more specifically, Sunday Vanguard, to be reminded that a subsisting court order requires that INEC needs a Board to conduct elections.

Worse still, now, and despite that reminder, Mr. President has only made half-hearted attempt to constitute the Board - he has appointed only half the constitu-

tionally required Board.

A government, which is not proactive in ensuring that the structures of election management conforms with the enabling legal framework by properly constituting the structures of electoral governance, is subconsciously sending a wrong signal that it may not be trusted to observe the principle underpinning free and fair elections. President Buhari does not need this baggage.

Nigerians should not be made to begin to doubt the sincerity and honesty of the President in the area of free elections.

What has happened in Kogi and Bayelsa States constitute, in the main, a travesty.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 13

Ejine Okoroafor shames Nicki Minaj’s cleavage I

•Ejine Okoroafor

am probably going to have my butt kicked for doing this piece, but hey, who can resist a beautiful woman like Ejine Okoroafor with such alluring spectacles of life pouring out of her chest. The Nollywood actress is not one who loves to flaunt her God-given artwork of mammary, in fact, you can never catch her flaunting them, but I had to steal this picture of her off her Blackberry display picture and you wouldn’t exactly call it ‘flaunting of asset’ because the actress was having a relaxing time by the pool side in the most natural way anyone would by the pool.

When they talk of Nigeria’s queen of boobs, the names like Cossy Orjiakor, Ronke Oshodi Oke, Foluke Daramola and others come to mind, forgetting there are a couple like Ejine around who would have all these screen stars feel like circus freaks at a beauty pageant. Maybe she could have hugged all the limelight for her gift but this girl hates to have anyone drooling over her cleavage – and I may still have my butt kicked for doing this!

In this world of quick fix we know what trouble most women go through to have their boobs looking like something that could reach out and give you a slap, but not this alluring Ejine. Hers is natural and seems to have something of bloodline about it. “ Everybody in my family has big boobs.

It is something that runs in the family. From my mum to my

Marriage has made me know peace — Collete Orji

sisters, everyone is blessed” she once told me. Aren’t we safe to say if the Americans have Nicki Minaj, we have Ejine Okoroafor and she doesn’t have a suspicion of a surgical trick hanging over her. She may not have Nicki’s fame or fortune but she’s all natural

while Nicki has questions to answer when it comes to tampering with gifts of nature.

Even as it is, who would you say have a better cleavage, fake or real? Nicky or Ejine?

Upcoming YYoruba oruba actress, Feyi Hassan, shoots sixth ffilm ilm in 2 year earss

S

ome people have described marriage as an entrapment and for many showbiz stars it hasn’t particularly been something •Collete they would write a prose about. We have Orji seen many divas walk through the door in the morning and get thrown out of the window by the night. It is that bad, because, marriage and showbiz is like Cain and Abel.

But for Nollywood actress, Collete Orji, the song seems to be playing out loud and melodic.“ Ayo, I don’t know how the mind works or how it changes but you won’t believe it, I am at peace” she told me when I asked her how marriage has been treating her. “ You know that word ‘tranquility’ the Bible tried to describe? I am at its peak. I can’t even explain myself. I am allowed to be myself and just do what I need that I know its in our best interest and my hubby is absolutely just cool” she added. When asked how her husband has influenced her choice of movie roles as a married woman, she replied; “ I am wise enough to know what’s necessary”.

Collete Orji married her heart-throb Michael Ugochukwu, last July.

•Nicki Minaj

A

•Feyisara Hassan

t a time many English actresses are still falling over themselves at various auditions to clinch a movie role, most Yoruba actresses are already smiling to the bank, not only as actresses with many films to their credits but as movie producers who have shot several movie of themselves.

It is true that every Yoruba actress is a potential movie producer but few can boast of a feat being achieved by Feyisara Hassan who is set to shoot her sixth film in two years.

More interestingly, Feyi only started acting four years ago and in those four years she has featured in about 30 films and have produced Rokun Rosa, Fikayomi, Ipinle th Ese, andthAye Asan and ready to go on location by December 15 for her 6 . Many have pointed out that it is easy to produce a film as a Yoruba actor and this explains why most of them, if not all, have produced their own movies. But to Feyi, nothing can be farther from the truth.

“Who says it is easy”, she shot back at me. “It is not easy at all, it takes the grace of God and a lot of planning. To shoot a good movie it takes a lot of money and stress. For you to shoot just one good film you need at least three million naira.”

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIE AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP! C M Y K

PAGE 14— SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

T

HE mood in the Globacom-sponsored Dance with Peter academy was melancholic over the weekend as the T.V Reality Show gradually winds to a close. The judges who are also mentors to the house mates were emotional as the last of their mentees are up for eviction from the show.

Peter Okoye of Psquare revealed that the reality T.V show has created a bond between him and the housemates, especially his team members, Teejay, CFly, Miracle and Da Octopus who have so far proved outstanding.

“I’ve come a long way with my team members and have developed a bond with them. We are all like brothers now, we feel each other ’s pain and share each other ’s glory”, he said.

Team Peter is left with CFly and Da Octopus, Team Kaffy has Julius Faktah, Amazing Amy and Mali Hot Boy, while Team Flexx has Kelvin and G-Xtreem.

Peter, Kaffy and Flexx are the three judges and coaches at the academy At last weekend’s show, contemporary African dance took center stage.

The remaining 10 housemates opened the show with a well

Glo’s Dance with Peter: Emotions flow as C-Fly, Amazing Amy, G-Xtreem, others make finals choreographed performance, reminiscent of the South African Zulu dance troupe, UMOJA. While profiling the housemates, a footage of the

activities in the academy revealed the tension that had engulfed the contestants.

The competitors put in

Live ssttage theatre rejuvenat es in AAbuja buja as Jok rejuvenates Jokee Silv a, PPatric atric or vt suppor Silva, atrickk Ot Otor oroo other otherss seek go govt supportt

By Caleb Ayansina

N

C M Y K

O L LY W O O D V e t e r a n Actress, Joke

Silva, Patrick Otoro and other stakeholders in the entertainment industry are leaving no stone unturned to rejuvenate stage and theatre shows among Nigerians living in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

To this end, a 3-man play written by Onukaba Ojo entitled: ‘Her Majesty ’s Visit’ to be presented in December 12 and 13 by Eagleview Arts Production, featuring Joke Silva, Patrick Otoro and Najite Dede, in Abuja.

A d d r e s s i n g journalists on the forthcoming stage play, Joke Silva appealed to government at all levels to institute a policy that would rejuvenate livetheatre stage among Nigerians.

Silva said: “Our Government must put up policies that would make theatres accessible to art lovers and the people generally. Theatre plays an ambassadorial and intellectual role in the society either as entertainment or culture.

It brings you close to your audience, encouraging more understanding and interaction between the

actor and the audience unlike the screen movies.

There is neither restriction nor barriers.”

Speaking earlier, the producer of the play, Patrick Otoro, expressed concern over the dilapidated nature of the existing theatres across the country, as some of them had been turned to commercial ventures.

He said ‘live theatre seems to be in comatose’ in the nation political capital, and there is need to bring it back.

Giving the synopsis of the play, Otoro said the play x-rayed migration challenges, the mother-inlaw factor in the African family setting where a man that is the husband is caught in between his wife and mother.

According to him, the play, which is multifaceted, will correct the impression that the grass is always greener on the other side for those who leave the country and seek better life in Europe and other places.

The Director of the play, Chidi Ugwu, added that staging ‘Her Majesty ’s Visit’ was not just to bring back live theatre in Abuja but to also add quality and promote entertainment in the FCT.

their best to qualify for a slot in the finals of the show, which comes up next Saturday. Kelvin, Teejay, Julius Faktah, T-Rubber and Miracle who had been put on probation in the last edition, had their hearts in their mouths as the anchor, Ehis, called out the evictees.

Julius Faktah was saved, having earned the highest public votes. He, therefore, returned to the academy.

Kelvin missed being evicted by the skin of his teeth after scoring the second highest votes, thus returning to the academy.

date Music Meets Runway announces to celebrate fifth anniversary

T

HE relationship between popular music and fashion has been culturally significant since the 1950s, however, the fusion between fashion and music at Music Meets Runway (MMR) would be taking this relationship to the next level as it announces the date for its fifth anniversary of the event that has consistently offered double dose of pleasurable moment on runway with heavy musical infusion via live performances by notable local and international acts.

According to the organisers, this year’s event will hold on December 22, 2015 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Some of the A-list artistes that have performed at Music Meets Runway are Tiwa Savage, 2 Face, Dbanj, Femi Kuti, Lola Rae, Toni Tones, Burna Boy, May D, Ajebutter, Taikoon, Banky W, Sasha, Shank, Naeto C, Duncan Mighty,D’Prince, Seyi Shay, Wizkid, Davido, Cynthia Morgan, among others.

The organizers of the event are yet to release the names of the artists that would be performing in this year’s edition.

There has been anticipation of who would be performing, as suggested names have been flying all over the place, but we do trust MMR not to be disappointing.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 15

AYO ONIKOYI 08052201215

Ughelli Old Bo ys reunit e ffor or 20 15 annual lunc h Boys reunite 2015 lunch

M

.

L-R: Vice President, Lagos Branch, Mr Cyril Ogude, Prof Olufemi Akinyanju, after receiving an award from President General, GCUOBA Worldwide, Engr. (Prof) Oritsegbemi Ola Omatete, while Barr. Clement Djebah Lagos Branch President of (GCUOBA ) looks on.

L-R: Mr Robinson Eyoyibo, President General, GCUOBA Worldwide, with Engr. (Prof) & Mrs Ogbemi Ola Omatete.

embers of Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (GCUOBA), in Lagos and beyond, with their spouses gathered in Lagos, last week, for their annual luncheon party.

The occasion also saw some of the members being conferred with merit awards for their sterling contribution to the growth of the association and excellence in their fields of endeavour .

Photos by Diran Oshe

R-L: President General, GCUOBA Worldwide, Engr. (Prof) Oritsegbemi Ola Omatete, presents 2015 Merit Award to Engr (Sir) Godwin Eyaarubere Omene, while Vice President, Lagos Branch, Mr Cyril Ogude and Barr. Clement Djebah look on.

Media Perspectives launches book

M

edia Perspectives Limited, a marketing communications company, has further established itself as a pace setter in its industry by launching a book titled “Nigerian Media Advertising Guide 2016” which is aimed at the three major stakeholders in the marketing communications ecosystem; advertisers, agencies and media owners.

L-R: Engr Eddy Agbahor, Amb. Patrick DeleCole and Dr. Titus A. Okereke.

Mr. Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman Troyka Group delivering the welcome address.

L-R: Prof & Mrs Olufemi Akinyanju and Ms Rita Finnih.

L-R: Engr.(Sir) & Mrs Eyarubere Omene

Iv or t-t oge ther Ivor oryy Club holds annual ge get-t t-toge ogether

I

vory Friends Club holds annual get-together for its members at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, recently. Highlight of the day was the club’s proposal to construct a modern recreational and sporting event centre, at Awka, Anambra State capital.

Patron, Ivory Friends Club of Nigeria, Chief Jude Onyebuchi (left) and the club’s PresidentGeneral, Hon. Ikechukwu Okosa (Akudigwe-Uke) 2nd left jointly presenting Award for Excellence in Governance to Deputy-Governor of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke (2nd right) while the club’s Chairman Board of Trustees, Sir Clem Ifezue (right) looks on.

C M Y K

President-General, Ivory Friends Club of Nigeria, Hon. Ikechukwu Okosa, (right) welcoming the Dep-Gov of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke (middle), club’s Chairman, Board of Trustees, Sir Clems Ifezue (Okwuluora-Nri) (left)

Mr. Biodun Shobanjo (r) and Mrs. Iquo Ukoh of Nestle Nigeria Plc.

L-R: Mr. Feyi Olubodun, GM, Insight Communications, Dr. Tayo Oyedeji, CEO, Media Perspectives; Mrs. Iquo Ukoh, of Nestle Nigeria Plc, the keynote speaker, Mr. Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman, Troyka Group and Mr. Jude Odia, Media Director, Media Perspectives.

PAGE 16 — SUNDAY

Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Cor porat e titans ffe ete e ccess Bank boss Coc Corporat porate exx A Access ktail par ty ffor or Arm Cocktail party Armyy

A

ccess Bank Plc turned on style and panache at the popular Eko Hotel and Suites last week when it held a celebratory dinner in honour of its former chairman, Mr Gbenga Oyebode, who has retired from the company’s board of directors.

As expected, captains of industry from various sectors of the economy were on call to honour Mr Oyebode and bid him a warm farewell. Photos by Akeem Salau

L-R: Mr Herbert Wigwe, GMD, Access Bank Plc; Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman, Dangote Group; Mr Gbenga Oyebode, and Mr Aigboje AigImoukhuede, President,NSE.

trainees

A

n end of the year cocktail party was held for students of Media Operations Officer Course (MOOC) of 2014 and 2015 of Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI), Bonny Cantonment, Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday, December 9, 2015.

Photos by Bunmi Azeez

L-R:Mr Herbert Wigwe;GMD/CEO Access Bank Plc;Mr Gbenga Oyebode;Oba Shafi Sule;Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, President, NSE

From left: Col. A. Gambo, Maj. Peter HanbwyBateman and Brig-Gen. Efe Edafioghon

L-R: Mr Gbenga Oyebode, former Chairman, Access Bank Plc; Chief (Mrs) Elizebeth Oyebode;Mrs Aisha Oyebode and Adza Oyebode.

L-R: Afam Edozie, Dr Ernest Ndukwe, Director, Access Bank; Mr Udeme Ufot, APCON Chairman; and Elias Igbinakenzua

From left: Col. K.O. Ogunsaya, Mrs Bunmi Daudu and Lt.Col. O.M. Daudu.

L-R: Jim Ovia,Chairman Zenith Bank; Mrs Mosun Bello-Olusoga, Chairman, Access Bank Plc; and Mrs Doreen Albert Wigwe.

F

L-R: Mr Obinna Nwosu, DMD, Access Bank Plc;Paul Usoro,SAN; Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; and Senator Sena Anthony.

Fishers hold awards night

ishers Society of Nigeria rolled out drums to honour some eminent Nigerians at its award night at Nelrose Hotel, Asaba, Delta State last week. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra were honoured at the event.

Dr. Olajide Ayinla (right) National President, Fishers Society of Nigeria, presenting award to Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, represented by Mrs. Uju Osadebey, Director of Fisheries, Delta State.

C M Y K

L-R: Hon.Afam Mbanefo, Commissioner of Agriculture Anambra State, receiving an Award on behalf of Gov. Willie Obiano from Dr. Olajide Ayinla, National President, Fishers Society of Nigeria.

From left: Col. John Agim, Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI), Col. J.A. Faransa, Commander 81st Division, Finance and Accounts and Lt.Col. AY Yakubu, 313 Artillery Regiments, Minna, Niger State.

From left: Ssgt. Olalere Akinbola, Capt. D.J. Danjuma, Capt. M.N. Jafaru, Maj. Kehinde Abiade, Ssgt Ojo Dauud and Ssgt Ukonebu Ekpeyong.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 17

Signs yyou’re ou’re no xperiencing the kind nott e experiencing of “real” lo ou truly deser lovve yyou deservve

D

BY ONOZURE DANIA

o you feel as if you just can’t get the time and attention you want from your man?

He wants to go out with his buddies all the time, or he doesn’t do what he says he will? Or maybe you’re the one who feels like he’s crowding your space, and you’re

Networking/Sponsorship •Cassy, 26, from Delta state, needs someone to sponsor his education.08084639088 •Ochy, 20, humble and intelligent, needs someone to sponsor her education.

08134902107 •Ruth, needs well meaning Nigerians to sponsor her education, account name Igbokweze Ruth acc no 3090806055 First bank. 08138136325, 0 7 0 3 7 4 4 7 6 2 9 •Nancy, 24, from Bayelsa state, needs someone to sponsor her masters & Phd programme. 08166245147 •Romeo, 27, from Benin, Edo state, needs a well meaning Nigerians to sponsor his business Idea.

09036075516,09052667139 •Elizabeth, 19, resides in Lagos, needs someone to help sponsor her business career.

09091797797,08120839634 •Ann, 27, a graduate and resides in Lagos, needs God fearing individuals who can sponsor her financially to do her PGD. 09098978141 Friends Searching Female •Sydney, 20, from Edo state, needs female friends.

07039440825 Searching Male •Evans, 37, from Delta state, needs female friends from Delta state, aged 30-36.

08053295729 •Jacob, 26, needs female friends from any part of the country.08031844706, 08052153490, 09093949442 •Fetus, 29, from Warri, Delta state, needs mature male friends, who can help him with a job. 08025434210 •Ik, 28, needs female friends.

08179050741 •Louis, 23, needs a good looking and humble female friend, aged 18-22, in Onitsha Anambra state.

08020886306

starting to feel less and less attracted to him. Both of these scenarios are very common in both singles and couples, but how we handle them determines whether we’ll be happy in love or constantly frustrated and repeating the same patterns from one unsatisfying relationship to the next.

•Angela, from Enugu state, needs an employed serious man, aged31-40, for a relationship. 08034729761 •Blessing, 26, from Imo state but resides in PH, a single mother of one, needs a good man for marriage.

08069282014 •Mabel, 26, from Edo state and also resides in Edo state, needs a man who is ready to settle down, aged 28 and above for a relationship.

08139778733 Searching Male •Kanayo, 25, needs a lady with a good character, aged 16-21,who resides in Anambra state.

08169567275 •Nicolas, 29, jovial, nice, romantic, loving, caring and from Delta state, needs a serious lady, for a serious relationship.08134021001, 08166714939 •Udochukwu, 42, dark in complexion, romantic, 5.7ft tall and a businessman, needs a God fearing lady, who is a Catholic, for relationship.

08164904527 •Jude, 31, tall, fair in complexion and a Christian, from Imo state, needs a beautiful, tall, fair in complexion, God fearing and employed graduate lady, aged 25-30, for a serious relationship.08067116116 •Danny, 29, handsome, employed and resides in Lagos, needs a decent and employed matured lady, aged 35-45, who resides in Lagos, for a relationship.

07035826694 •Edra, 31, employed, needs a lady, aged 20-30, for a serious relationship, that can lead to marriage.

08039499262 •Happy, from Delta state, needs a God fearing lady, for a relationship.

07012656078 •Taiwo, 43, tall, dark in complexion and good looking, needs a tall beautiful, sexy and fair in complexion lady, for a serious relationship, aged 2430. 07039183338 •Gibson, 26, from Delta state, needs a beautiful, humble, caring and influential lady, for a serious relationship.

Are you in a relationship, or are you in an entanglement?

A relationship is one in which both people are free to be themselves, yet there is no shortage of intimacy. No fear that doing what you love or being who you are or taking time for yourself will drive the other person away.

In a relationship, neither 0 7 0 3 8 6 7 8 5 4 7 , 08182828871 fair in •Joseph,49, complexion, employed, from Kwara state but resides in Oyo state, need a Christian pretty lady, for a relationship, that can lead to marriage, aged 30-40.

07011119085 •Benson, 42, handsome, honest, and hardworking, a farmer, from Akwa Ibom state but resides in Benin, needs a responsible lady, aged 35-40, who is also from Akwa Ibom Oron.

08075173166 •Ziglar, 33, chocolate in complexion and romantic, needs a mature lady, aged 39-40, for a serious relationship.08038448055, 07050448289 •Sony, needs a pretty and fair in complexion, lady, for a wife. 08030887308 •Rafael, 23, a graduate, humble, cute and resides in Benin, needs a good, caring and mature lady, aged 3049, for a relationship.

08102489137 •Okiemute, 34, 5.1ft tall, gentle, employed and resides in Warri, needs a truthful, loving, gentle and God fearing lady, aged 2335,for a relationship.

08135110329,0810009699, 09092214740 •Kings, 52, loving, employed, from Delta state, needs a humble, Godly and matured lady, aged 32-45, for marriage.

08061526458 •Andy, 33, from Enugu state, but resides in Port Harcourt, needs a busty and God fearing lady, for a relationship.07031000745 •Dike, from Agbor, Delta state, needs a lady who is caring and knows how to take care of a man, for marriage.08165865991 •Marvel, 28, an Urhobo by tribe, from Delta state, needs a beautiful lady, who is a graduate and naturally light in complexion, busty, nice and either Esan or Yoruba by tribe, aged 25-27,who resides in Benin city, for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage.

08025608582

person needs the other to “complete” them. Both people are awake to themselves, their feelings and thoughts, and are open to the flow of love and attention with one another.

It’s about two equals celebrating together rather than “needing” something from the other. In short, a relationship like this is one where both people are in harmony. And that’s exactly what it feels like, in tune, relaxed, and just plain fun.

Entanglements, on the other hand, look and feel very different Entanglements may look like a relationship on the surface. You might spend a lot of time together, you’ve met each other’s friends and family, and people refer to you as a “couple.” But you’re not having a real relationship - at least not one that is characterized by love and harmony.

•Francis, 28, from Delta state, needs a lady for a serious relationship, aged 18-39.

0 8 1 4 8 1 8 7 3 6 5 , 08188260705 •Qoseem, 35, a graduate and a farmer, from Osun state, needs a Muslim lady, aged 24-29, for marriage. 08099404339 •Fortune, 24, from Benin, needs a lady, aged 18-22.

09095466067 •Iyke, 30, a graduate, employed and resides in Benin City, needs a matured lady, aged 35-55, for a matured relationship.08038913333 •Henry, needs a lady, for a serious relationship, in Delta state.

08166666493, 08033181716 •Kingsley, 24, from Delta state, needs a good, caring and God fearing lady, for a serious relationship, aged 21-26.

07063491789 •Dennis, 32, resides in Bayelsa state and gainfully employed, needs a lady, for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage. 09098923388 •Chris, 25, from Benin, needs a decent lady from Benin for a serious relationship, aged 1830. 08065186134 •Collins, 27, needs a sexy lady, for a relationship.

08020625156 •Edeme, 36, resides in Delta state, needs a busty lady, from any tribe in Nigeria for a mutual beneficial relationship.

08031928745 •Nelson, 26 and handsome, from Delta state, needs a beautiful, humble and romantic lady, for a serious and wonderful relationship.

07038678547,08182828871

sugar mummy in Lagos, that can take good care of his needs.08181975174,08132031927 •Maro, 43, cute and resides in Warri, needs a sexy and wealthy sugar mummy, aged 40 and above.

09081319500 •Smith, 36, tall, dark in complexion, handsome and resides in Lagos, needs a tall, fair in complexion, sexy, sweet, curvy and busty sugar mummy.08038083535 •Maquin, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, who is caring from Edo or Delta state. 08080731730 •Tochukwu, 25, from Enugu state, needs a sugar mummy that will take care of him.

08032969327 •Fegor, 23, tall, dark in complexion and handsome, needs a sugar mummy that can take care of him, in Abuja, 5625CD89.08162698911 •Francis, 30, nice, from Anambra state, needs a sugar mummy, in Asaba Delta State.

08167008357 •Brown, needs a sugar mummy, that resides in Umuahia, for a relationship.

08037425508 •Godwin, 27, handsome, fun to be with, employed and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy.07066966850 •Smith, 32, resides in Benin, needs a lonely sugar mummy, for a romantic relationship.

08078530626 •Seun, 39, and resides in Abuja, needs a sugar mummy, that is caring and generous. 09099425800, 08173537878 •Richie, 22, educated, tall, dark in complexion and handsome, needs a caring sugar mummy for a mature and romantic relationship.

08035380505 •David, 32 and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, who can take care of him.

08025852752 •Percy needs a caring and loving sugar mummy, for a serious relationship, aged 3545. 07033556437 •Charles, self employed, slim, 6.5ft tall, cool, calm and funny, needs an independent sugar mummy around Owerri and Abuja.08180449096 •Natty, 26, handsome and from Warri, Delta state, needs a sexy sugar mummy, for a relationship. 08163727614 •Monday, 24 and resides in Benin City, needs a caring and understanding sugar mummy, aged 28-42.

09095575243 •Godfrey, tall, dark in complexion and slim, needs a sugar mummy.

08085095475

Sugar Cares Searching Male •Emmanuel, from Akwa Ibom state, but resides in Edo state, needs a lovely and caring sugarmummy.07030243631, 08174873036 •Kunle, 28, resides in Abuja, needs a sugar mummy, who resides in Abuja 08036231602 •Emeka, resides in Abuja, needs a sugar mummy.

08138205548 •Israel, resides in Benin, needs a caring sugar mummy, who resides in Benin, aged 30-40.

Lovers 08065209143 Searching Female •Desmond, 35, resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, aged 45-65 for a discreet affair.

07068384510,08055135948 Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in •Kayode, 36, resides in Ilorin, or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does needs a caring and romantic sugar mummy, in either so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Kwara, Kogi, Oyo and Lagos Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of state, aged, 38-60. requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to 07061254739,08023463847 enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For •Michael, 26, 6ft tall, a model and good looking, needs a rich enquiries, text or call 08026651636

DISCLAIMER!

PAGE 18—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Why men will continue to be babies in the hands of women!

I

n the battle of the sexes. one advantage women will always have over the men is their boobs!

Simple as it is. it is very comical how seemingly intelligent men turn into whimpering teenage boys at the sight of a wellstacked women. I thought I’d heard and seen everything for and against the mammary gland until recently when I was in the midst of ‘matured’ men who amused themselves by analysing the aqnatomy of fremale gtuests at a wedding.

“What’s so special about a pair of boobs?”I asked Supo, one of these men. He had bragged he was strictly a boobs man.

Actually, most men do.I agreed with him, swearing that a woman without `more bounce to the once’, has virtually lost her femininity! “Are you serious?” he wanted to know. “Do you know of any other aphrodisiac that’s been around since God created man that generates as much excitement as a pair

of boobs? It is not as if they’ve suddenly arrived out of nowhere you know? All warm.

All soft. And pleasing to touch!

New toys for the beautiful generations to play with! To make it more interesting, you get them in various shapes and sizes.

“My fIrst fascination with boobs started in my second year in secondary school. I was only 14 then and our housemaid allowed me to do it to her. She must have noticed me lusting after her and decided to take me out of my misery! There I was. a pubescent boy confronted with a pair of knockers. She was huge. Just huge! I had never seen a pair of boobs like hers in all my life. And I’d seen my mother ’s and my elder sister’s. Her own (the maid’s) just bulged from everywhere.

Over. Under, Between. Great trembling folds of flesh like a set jelly that you shake around. Terrific! You could put your head between them and blot out the world!

“She never bothered to keep them under wraps either. always throwing open her wrapper to re-tie! She taught me how to hold them. Kiss them. the biggest ice cream ever invented! It was years later that I wondered where

she learnt the tricks from - my dad or my brother? Like I said. the housemaid made sure that I enjoyed the wonder of her boobs. She wriggled as I eagerly followed her lead. The heat of the excitement I felt sent a shock right through my schoolboy’s body. I was a man. I had made it!

Her buba opened and wrapper tossed aside with careless abandon. I held my first whole woman

cushion against my chest and I was drunk with lust.

“And I think I hung on to her breasts all the way through my bumbling sex act. Hung on like my whole life depended on it. Eyes screwed tight and shut in ecstatic wonder, I had absolutely no technique. But we got by.

From that day on. I was hooked. I stole food and money for her and gladly helped with some of her chores - and she was generously grateful! Muti (that’s the maid’s name), wherever you are today.

I thank you for my first launch through space.

Since her. and that was a couple of decades back.

I’d been hooked on boobs.

If you haven’t got them. forget it. Having no boobs is like having a bottle of wine without a corkscrew - how do you get to enjoy the wine?”

In case you men out there have conveniently forgotten. boobs are not really for your benefits, you know? Actually, they are to nourish your offsprings into responsible adults.’

Instead of latching on to your partner’s boobs all of the time, consider the poor mite for whose sole purpose the boobs are intended.

“I’m a boobs man” Ike, a mechanical engineer bragged. ‘and when my wife had our first son, I became jealous of him.

Her boobs were fun and oozing milk and he was attached to her chest, sucking away with careless abandon. Could breast milk be tastier than the milk we all knew? Why was the baby in such rapture - over his milk? I was itching to find out. That night. I crawled up to my wife in bed. sort out her boobs and tried sucking them as our son did, hoping to get as much pleasure as he did from her milk.

“Yuck!, the milk tasted very unpalatable and I almost spit it out. What could anyone find enjoyable in that?” I gently reminded him that boobs are to provide infants with nourishment, not give grown-up kids the time of their life!

08052201867(Text Only)

Start your day with energy-releasing exercises

E

C M Y K

VEN the journey home has contributed its share in the overall tiredness of the work day.

What with all the anxiety over the slowmoving 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 worktime 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 fifteen 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 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.

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.

* 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

*Exercise for the small of the back

Yoga Classes STARTED Physical Therapy Centre @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos.

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

*Exercise for the small of the back

SUND AY Vanguard , DECEMBER 13 , 2015, P AGE 19 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

The reason why mothers prefer to work I

eagerly look forward to getting into my office each day,” confesses Adaora, a 46year-old brands director of a pharmaceutical company. • g B e i n g a t home can be very stressful. The house is usually in chaos, thanks to three teenage children. Also juggling the kids’ constant demands with mountains of washing and other house work is exhausting. Work is the one time when I get to put on killer heels and lipstick and feel like myself again. I worked very hard over many years to build a successful career, and I’m appreciated for my knowledge and skills.

My days are hectic, but I couldn’t be without my job. It is a sort of a blissful antidote to the frenzied activity at home.”

For Adaora, it is the office rather than home that is a refuge - work is where she feels valued and less anxious, and can escape the stress of meeting her children’s needs and endless cycle of cooking and cleaning.

And she’s far from alone.

Thanks to availability of domestic help, more and more women now feel content in the workplace than at home. Women’s earning power these days are equally as good as most men’s. They also shoulder more of the domestic burden than most men. “Women are doing more than ever,” observes Dr. Fin Williams, a psychologist.

“Statistics show that they do nearly twice as much work in the home, including children and domestic chores, even

when both work full time.

That can be very stressful. ‘’Women are having children later in life, which means they ’ve often built a successful career before hand and can find being at home with children more difficult. They ’re also having their children closer together. They’re less likely to live near extended family too, so the community support they’d once have relied on isn’t there. All these factors add up to increased stress in the home. As a result, women can find going to work restorative, as it gives them space to think and the chance to be challenged and rewarded in another way.”

Continues Adaora: “Work is crucial to my mental well-being. I was a high-flying career woman when I had my first child 16 years ago and the other two followed within the next four years.

“There’s only 22 months between my last two children and taking care of the children was very difficult. With my last baby, I was in-between jobs and had decided to look for a new one after I got him fixed with proper nursery care. Six months after the birth, I started feeling restless and depressed. I felt isolated and lonely with chattering kids to look after. Like any mother, my sole role was to meet their needs - and this never stopped. I was permanently exhausted.

I also began to feel I’d lost my identity which had been very tied up with my career. I was

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"

THE SCHOOL OF MARRIAGE

Marriage is the only school where you get the Certificate before you start. It's also a school where you can never graduate.

It's a school without a break or a free period.

don’t be afraid to say “sorry, I have plan”.

desperate to get back to work to regain my sense of identity and to do something that was just for me.

“To make things complicated, my husband was working long hours as a director in an advertising company - a stressful job, and I found it very very difficult to be supportive when he arrived home in the evening. All I wanted to do was sleep and I had to battle not to be grumpy and resentful that he’ d had such an interesting day. As to be expected, my unhappiness took its toll on our marriage.

“A lot of tension was taken off me when I landed my current job and became relevant again in the work force.

Sadly, our marriage didn’t survive the stress created by our jobs and we separated over three years ago. Technically

we’re still married. I have the children and I’m lucky to have reliable helps. The kids are all in their teens, so don’t need to be corsetted all of the time - leaving me a lot of freedom to excel in my job. We’re all much happier now that I’m working, even though I’m a single mum, it is tough.

But it’s the best for everyone, children pick up on their parents’ moods, and I’m much more content now and less stressed. My kids know that when I’m with them, that time is completely theirs, and I find it much easier to be totally devoted to them as I have time for myself at work,” Stop Being A Doormat To People Around You Keep it simple: Resist the urge to over explain.

Simple responses such as “Sorry, I can’t this time” “I’m afraid I’m busy that day” are most effective.

It's a school where no one is allowed to drop out.

It's a school you will have to attend every day of your life.

It's a school where there is no sick leave or holidays.

It's a school founded by God: 1. On the foundation of love.

2. The walls are made out of trust.

3. The door made out of acceptance.

4. The windows made out of understanding.

5. The furniture made out of blessings.

6. The roof made out of faith. Be reminded that you are just a student not the principal.

God is the only Principal.

Even in times of storms, don't be unwise and run outside. Keep in mind that, this school is the safest place to be. Never go to sleep before completing yourassignments for the day.

Never forget the C-word. Communicate. Communicate to your classmate (Spouse) and to the Principal If you find out something in your classmate that you do not appreciate.

Remember your classmate is also just a student not a graduate, God is not finished with him/her yet. So take it

The more details you offer, the more there will be to argue about. The other person may try to change your mind or decide that your excuse isn’t good enough. (“You mean cleaning your closets is more important than I am?”)

When in doubt buy time; there’s no law saying you must always answer at that moment.

Say a co-worker ask you to head up the fund raising drive for a company - sponsored charity. Tell her, “let me think about it, and I’Il get back to you”. Then consider the best way to say no.

Expand your definition of “I have plans”. Many people feel they can’t turn down an invitation unless they have another engagement on the calendar. But if you’ve scheduled some `me’’ time for yourself, that is an engagement. So,

Make it a policy: make your ‘ no’ sound less personal by referring to a rule you have about the thing being asked. For example; “sorry, but I have a policy about never lending my car.” Or “I make it a rule never to date people I work with,” Such a response carries fewer stings because it says ‘no’ to a practice, not to an individual.

Remember that, behind every no is a yes: you’re not sure you want to work l l-hour days or baby-sit your neighbour ’s kids.

But do you know what you want to do instead?

Every time you say no to a less than-appealing request, you say yes to something else.

Maybe it’s one golden hour to take a bubble bath, read a good book or play with your kids.

Saying no frees you to pursue a dream - to take a class and develop your potential, or to work for a cause you believe in. The more time you can give to the things you truly care about, the more satisfying your life will feel.

Flash In The Pan? (Humour) The police are collecting statements on a street where a crime has been committed, and knock on a couple’s door. “Excuse me, sir, but can you tell me where you were at around 8:05 last night?” the officer enquires. ‘’Funny you should ask,” the man smirks. “I took the wife upstairs at 8pm to make love.”

“That’s true,” his wife shouts over his shoulders.

“But I couldn’t tell you where he was at five past.”

as a challenge and work on it together.

Do not forget to study the Holy Book (the main textbook of this school).

Start each day with a sacred assembly and end it the same way. Sometimes you will feel like not attending classes, yet you have to.

When tempted to quit find courage and continue.

Some tests and exams may be tough but remember the Principal knows how much you can bear and yet it's a school better than any other.

It's one of the best schools on earth; joy, peace and happiness accompany each lesson of the day.

Different subjects are offered in this school, yet love is the major subject. After all the years of theorizing about it, now you have a chance to practice it.

To be loved is a good thing, but to love is the greatest privilege of them all.

Marriage is a place of love, so love your spouse. More grace from God.

Chris Onunaku dekris4real@gmail.com 08032988826/08184844015.

Page 20 ---SUNDAY Vanguard,DECEMBER 13, 2015

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

OOU: When strike is not an Option Dear Sir,

There is no doubt that the Ogun State owned Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU, has enjoyed relative stability under the current administration. Apart from the last national strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities, ASUU, industrial crisis has almost become a thing of the past in the institution.

Just as parents are savouring the prospects of OOU becoming another UNILORIN, where industrial action has virtually become a taboo, then this sudden announcement of strike by lecturers of OOU. From what we read in the media, the reason for the strike is purely pecuniary. The lecturers want the state government to pay them the monetary allowance ASUU negotiated with the Federal Government.

Just as it is abnormal for workers in Ogun State to demand the same pay package with workers in Lagos State, Rivers State or the Federal Capital Territory because the cost of living in these states are not the same, it runs contrary to reason for employees of a state government to demand the same remuneration with those of the central government because the resources

available to the two levels of government are not the same.

For instance, while the Federal Government receives a whopping 52 per cent from the Federation Account, the entire 36 states share a paltry 26 per cent! This is anomalous but that is the current situation in Nigeria.

Since there is mobility of labour, a lecturer that

is not satisfied with the conditions of service in one state or one level of government can move to another. Given the current situation in the country, there is no way a lecturer in a federal institution will receive the same pay with his counterpart in the state.

Exactly the same way students of a state university will not pay the same as students of a

federal university.

Since the Ogun State government has been paying the lecturers of OOU regularly and there has been no complaints on that in the past four years, all the union can do is to appeal to government to consider payment of the said ASUU's national allowance once its finances improve. But to resort to strike over an agreement reached with

the central government is liberty taken too far. Is the central government your employer?

However, strikes will always be attractive to workers once they know that they will be paid for the period of the industrial action after they return to work. But where does this leave our students? Who will pay them for the lost years as a result of illegal and

selfish strikes by their lecturers?

The management of OOU should do everything possible to ensure the university enjoys stability like the University of Ilorin. We are tired of incessant strikes by unions within the university system, especially ASUU. •Tomisin Onasanya Ijebu-Ode Ogun State

How not to increase cases of bombings in the country Dear Sir,

I

n one of the dailies (not Vanguard) a case of bomb explosion at Nyanya and Kuje both at the outskirt of Abuja, was published on October 23 , 2015. It was reported that some suspects were arrested by security operatives in connection with the bombing that resulted to the death of so many people with others seriously injured in the incident. Some others were also arrested for aiding and abetting the whole process that led to the explosion.

The suspected persons were reportedly seen with Improvised Explosive Devices commonly known as IEDs which are also known as bombs making items. The listing of the items found on

the suspects on its own add to the security we are trying to solve.

Mentioning and exposing these items on the pages of the newspapers and displaying them on the screen pose a threat to national security and safety of the society. This can endanger a country or nation just like what we are expressing in the north eastern part of the country, cases of terrorisms and insurgents attacks These items of bomb making are so cheap and can easily be acquired from our the open markets, Someone could easily buy them for the purpose of bombs making.With the little knowledge of elementary science and Chemistry obtained from high school, ninety five (95) percent success is guaranteed as combination of these items would

easily result to explosion. One does not need a Chemistry laboratory for the the mixture of these items to be done.

We can all understand the danger of exposing these items to the general public and the aftermath of it. As a certified protection officer (CPO), I garnered from experience that when one is seen with two to three of such items, he or she should be seen as a potential suspect of a terrorism and such persons should be reported to the appropriate quarters or authority for necessary action and questioning.

Making such items public can give the criminals an edge over the security operatives to cause harm. This trend should be curtailed and concealed in our repotage because of the danger it poses to the secu-

rity of the nation.

In curtailing possible occurrence and achieving the deadline been announced by Mr. President against further attacks, all hands must be on deck if the environment must be safe.

Both the security operatives and the journalists should work in synergy in handling cases of explosion as the way they publish and report cases of explosion to the public could add to the security challenge facing the nation.

In a civilized clime, site of explosion are barricaded by security operatives, and restricted from the general public in order not to touch, contaminate or take away evidence that might hinder investigation or order wise.

Also the general public need to be educated on issues of security and

what they stand to gain in a peacefully environment.

I explained some of these tips in my book: Security Consciousness and Arresting the Situation which needs to be given consideration by all security agencies and ministries .

The general public should be educated on basic knowledge of security and be involved in policing their community. This is the best form of policing known as community policing.

This will help people to be vigilant and checkmate pockets of criminals in their domain as they intend or plan to cause one form of harm or the other.

PETER AKOJI, CPO ASCO SECURITY CO. IGANMU, LAGOS. 08066816754

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 21

In the future , he predicted that Africa will mainly be served by two infrastructures including digital, terrestrial and satellite.

Whilst digital terrestrial will be limited in number of channels and services available, he said that satellite will have the advantage of almost unlimited capacity.

“This means you will have more channels, different technologies (HD, UHD, ip delivery) and new services (triple play, push VOD) to the advantage of the consumer.

“In order to remain competitive, broadcasters need to differentiate not only with content but also the way they distribute to the consumer and allow different payment options.

“Distribution, consumer

From left: Nigerian Computer Society Publicity Committee Chairman, Mr. Mike Olajide, ICT Director Ministry of Communication , Mrs Moni Udoh, Hon. Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, NCS President, Prof Adesola Aderounmu, NCS Acting Executive Secretary, Mr Iyiola Ayoola during NCS courtesy visit to the Ministry of Communications recently in Abuja.

Digital migration: Why African govts must

deploy satellite, terrestrial infrastructure

By EMEKA AGINAM

W

hile cutting edge technologies, , set top boxes and broadcasting signals are currently being tested global for digital switchover, DSO, , Christoph Limmer, Vice President, Global Sales and Commercial Development, for broadcast services at Eutelsat has given reasons why African governments must deploy combination of satellite and terrestrial infrastructure to save significant cost ahead of 2017 new deadline.

Limmer who spoke to Vanguard in a telephone recently in the sideline of the just concluded DISCOP Africa conference held in South Africa assured that Eutelsat is working with countries globally and locally on the migration to digital.

At the conference where leading broadcasters and satellite providers gathered to discuss about the future of broadcasting in Africa, he said that combining satellite and terrestrial infrastructure will significantly decrease cost What countries should do Speaking on the advantages and disadvantages of digital migration for African countries, he said that, “The challenges of digital migration are broader than just funding. Certainly financing the digital migration is one of the key elements but also reaching anyone within the country as well as rolling out the offer in a defined time frame are critical points.

“Here the combination of infrastructures is an important element. Combining satellite and terrestrial infrastructure will significantly decrease cost, will support to reach anybody in the country and you can start tomorrow.

“Many African countries are already looking into this combination and have started using satellite capacity to complement terrestrial networks”.

On a global scale, he said that Eutelsat was working in more than a dozen countries together with governments to support digital migration that started almost ten C M Y K

years ago in Europe.

“In Africa we are currently supporting migration projects in the North, West and Southern part with a total of five countries and by end of Q1 2016 we hopefully can add four more.

Offering for Nigeria market “We have two different type of

broadcasting services in Nigeria. TV platforms DStv, Consat, My TV and Montage TV offer encrypted content to almost one million TV homes across the country. “ In addition we are carrying many free TV channels like Silverbird, Channels TV or Arewa 24 to serve any household in

Nigeria.

“We believe that the Nigerian market has an even bigger growth potential in the future and are committed to support this with additional satellite capacity”, he added.

Future of broadcasting in Africa

The challenges of digital migration are broader than just funding understanding, local content and availability to make payment processes as easy as possible will be key for success” he explained.

One thing is clear. The migration to digital TV is a huge programme to implement globally as majority of African countries struggle to meet up with the 2017 deadline having missed the June, 2015 earlier deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union, ITU as a result of infrastructural challenges.The digital transition in broadcasting is a global process involving the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting signals.

The emergence of a new shared economy

By AUSTIN OKERE

T

he popular saying used to be that big fish would eat small fish. This has since changed significantly in the light of recent happenings in the global economy; UBER, until recently a relatively unknown company out of Silicon Valley in California employs 160,000 drivers today, and is adding an average of 20,000 drivers every month. This transport services disrupter is now valued at $41b.

Another obscure company with similar roots, AirBnB, has over 1.5m accommodation on her platform, and is now valued at $25b.

Upwork, a platform that connects businesses with freelancers have gone from zero to $1b revenues in just five years and projects to reach $10b in the next 5 years.

The new disrupters are not confined to just North America and Europe. China’s foremost ecommerce business, Alibaba’s recent listing on the New York Stock exchange broke all records with a valuation of $170b. DiDi Kuaidi, a Chinese transport platform is pooling over 8m drivers and serving 10m commuters every day, in a consumer to consumer model.

Here in Nigeria, our own Company CWG Plc, has seen a record uptake of 6m new Accounts on the Diamond Y’ellow Account platform, a mobile banking product that she white labels, and recently launched in conjunction with MTN and Diamond Bank, targeted at the 60m MTN subscribers.

The new saying today is that fast fish will eat slow fish. Nimble, highly innovative companies are taking

advantage of ubiquitous broadband and smartphone penetration to push business models that ride on providing virtual products over a virtual channel, thus pushing transaction velocity to the limit, and securing a bigger slice of the pie in the process.

These companies, primarily in the technology industry are rapidly disrupting long standing businesses in a model that would not have been possible as early as a decade ago, and racking up huge valuations in the process.

Welcome the Czars of the new sharing economy, also sometimes referred to as the gig economy, or the on-demand economy.

WhatsApp, founded in 2009 already handles 10b more messages a day than the SMS global textmessaging system, and was recently acquired by Facebook for $19b.

This new business model is simply meeting a pent up demand of

There is a lot of concern around the disruptive force of digitalisation and the need for inclusive growth and job creation

consumers. Today ’s customers demand to have their products and services delivered to them wherever and whenever, and do not necessarily want to cut a cheque or reach for their wallets to pay.

They usually bank online and are less likely to have paid a visit to their banks in the past one month.

Disrupters such as Apple seem to have heard them very clearly and working round the clock to provide a seamless payment solution.

ApplePay currently serve users of IOS devices who have registered their credit or debit cards. It is used to pay for goods at shops that have near field communication (NFC) readers.

It is not only Apple that is circling around Pay Pal’s lunch. Samsung has a similar product, and Google used to have Google wallet.

It seems that Cloud Computing has finally come of age, as these disrupters typically deliver their platforms over the cloud.

Oracle has started offering cloud services including databases.

Microsoft’s only growing business is her cloud services. Amazon’s only profitable business is her cloud services, which now includes online database as a service.

Our own CWG launched her new subscription based business model christened CWG2.0 on the Cloud Platform. It enables the business to scale globally seamlessly, without having to make any investments in brick and mortar.

The global economy seems to be moving from getting supply from companies, to a crowd sourcing model in a peer to peer way.

Regulation of this ‘new normal’ is quite a challenge because regulation is backward looking

while innovation is forward looking, so there is always a gap which creates considerable tension.

It takes quite some time for regulation to catch up with technology, so there is a period of time where the disrupter seem to be operating in ‘no man’s land’ as far as the law is concerned.

Another major challenge in the new economy is data security. The bigger problem is about governments getting interested wherever there is large amount of data, and seeking to gain access to it, perhaps for tax purposes, security etc. how do the new businesses, which typically generate tons of customer data handle this dilemma.

On more than one occasion, Google has reported governments’ requests for access to her data.

There is a lot of concern around the disruptive force of digitalisation and the need for inclusive growth and job creation.

The impression is that digitalisation kills jobs through automation. The reality is that for every job lost through digitization, 12 more are created, but you may need retraining and retooling to benefit. In reality, digitization provided a whopping $193b boost to world economic output and created 6m jobs globally in 2011, equivalent to a 1.02% drop in the unemployment rate.

It is very clear that we are at the throes of a new digital economy.

Companies who fail to adapt to the new imperatives of the shared economy should prepare to write their obituaries.

Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG Plc & Entrepreneur in Residence at CBS, New York

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

diaspora nigerian

ABOUT THE WRITER, BY CHUKS C. EGBE

The Mediterranean Diet

P

RINCESS Ngozi Kachikwu is an awardwinning author. She has also developed a line of ethnic organic foods which are sold across the globe known as cross-cultures foods, and she is still researching lines of indigenous energy foods for therapeutic interventions in treating malnourished children and lactating mothers.

Princess Ngozi Kachikwu is the author of “The Dishes of Africa” a “best seller” endorsed by Barnes and Nobles USA. She is also the initiator of the woman and infant nutrition programme known as W.I.C which campaign she took to various African countries and the Middle East. She has also written and presented several papers on nutrition and food security across the globe. Princess Ngozi is well travelled, born in Delta State, Nigeria, to the Royal Family of the late Okweleigwe of OnichaUgbor, retired Federal High Court Judge, Justice F.O. Kachikwu and Barr. (Mrs) Josephine Kachikwu, she writes from Dubai.

FLAVOURS OF MALTA WITH PRINCESS NGOZI KACHIKW U DAUDA I N DIASPORA

The Mediterranean is a life-long living style.

Mediterranean nutrition, anti stress attitudes, with less emphasis on money, shaped a culture that was declared in 2010 Immaterial Human Heritage by UNICCO. It is the only diet to have been awarded this

•Ngozi Kachikwu Dauda...Award-winning author

recognition, the best anti-aging and long life culture. The Mediterranean diet is your own investment in adequate fresh food, fruits and vegetables. It is regarded as the best way to prevent many diseases such as stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, lung disease, asthma, cancer and unbalanced levels of cholesterol.

People bound to Mediterranean diet have 7o% more life expectancy and 8o% better quality of life. The Mediterranean diet

•Ngozi arriving at a function in United Arab Emirate

typically consists of large amounts of vegetables, pulses and fruits cereal.

Fish and monounsaturated fatty acid such as olive oil, mild to moderate alcohol consumption is advised. The Mediterranean diet can stop your brain from shrinking as you age.

Culinary tourism development is recognized as an economic stimulator by government. Every tourist has one thing in common; eating and drinking.

Eating is one of the few travel activities that engages the five senses.

Food and drink involves all of the human senses. We will remember a meal much longer than we will a museum or stained glass windows.

People bound to Mediterranean diet have 7o% more life expectancy and 8o% better quality of life

Las Vegas has recognized the power of culinary tourism as a primary travel motivator and has created a celebrity chef culture.

It was identified as the number one(1) culinary tourism

getaway on the travel and experience channel.

Food and beverage as a category, ranks first and foremost in visitors.

Culinary tourists are travelers seeking the authenticity of the places they visit through food. 70% of culinary travelers enjoy bringing back regional foods, recipes, wines from places they have visited to share with family and friends.

According to CNN News, there is a growing taste for culinary travel.

When you travel the world exploring the culinary trails, you get this interesting window about the culture and the environment. Food is the bridge between the land and the culture.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, over one third of tourist spending is devoted to food.

The cuisine of the destination is an aspect of the holiday experience. Culinary enhances all tourism assets, culture, sports, heritage, eco tourism, adventure and horticulture. Foodies are passionate. It is worth noting that culinary tourism is one of the most robust tourism. It is a recipe for economic development and success.

The growth of food tourism is a recipe for economic development success. The culinary trail is a global movement. It is one of the most dynamic segments within the tourism market.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 23

Igbo PDP govs will defect to APC — Ben Apugo, ex-ruling party BoT member •On anti-corruption ef ts: Buhari ma efffor orts: mayy be slow slow,, but he is sstteady •T atis at or s: YYou ou cannot be more Biafr an than •Too separ separatis atistt agit agitat ator ors: Biafran Ojukwu who abandoned struggle

BY UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE

C

hief Ben Apugo was a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former ruling party at the centre.

In this interview, Apugo speaks on why he, alongside Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Governor Nyako of Adamawa State, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, quit the PDP. He also speaks on the fate of the APC in the South-East and the pro-Biafra quest by some Igbo elements, among other issues.

What is your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance six months after he assumed office?

I am happy because the change is already here and that was the idea behind the emergence of the APC. Yes, Buhari has performed creditably; don’t forget there are three major things he promised Nigerians. He promised to fight insurgency, corruption and implement programmes that will improve the lot of Nigerians. In my honest assessment, I can say he has performed excellently. On the anti corruption war, Buhari may be slow , but he is steady. The most important aspect is his commitment to the fight against corruption. Buhari is irrevocably committed to eradicating corruption in Nigeria.

People accuse Buhari of being selective in the fight against corruption. What is your take?

Buhari has just assumed office.

He has commenced the execution of his promise to fight corruption. If he does not come because we are Abia, Abia people will go to him. Change is here; at least the speed with which people loot public funds has reduced drastically. Anyone found to have looted public funds in this state must pay for it. I have not seen the prosecution down here. What I am saying is that anybody found wanting, whether he is in APC or PDP or any other party, should be prosecuted. If the funds looted can be brought back, the problem of unemployment will

C M Y K

be reduced. The looters are still using the looted money to fund crisis.

Ahead of the general elections, some members of your party lamented that Buhari was not allowed to campaign freely in Abia.Do you think this will hinder the state from getting anything from the President?

It will not. I’m a member of APC and many others voted for Buhari in Abia, but, unfortunately, the former governor and his cohorts rigged the poll, making it to look like we did not vote for Buhari. Every Nigerian is interested in change because there was widespread looting during Jonathan’s administration. Let me tell you something, when I was in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), during the party primary, I voted for the northern candidate because I knew Jonathan was not going to perform. Though I was still a member of PDP, I had no interest in the party’s activities. Again, coming down to Abia, the then governor was not doing well and this worsened the situation.

Is that the reason you left PDP? Yes, I left PDP with Saraki, Nyako and Kwankwaso when we could no longer stomach the impunity in the party. We stayed that long believing that PDP will change its bad ways, instead things grew worse.

The APC has been boasting that it will take over the SouthEast zone in 2019. How does the party intend to achieve this?

We are ready to talk to anybody who will like to listen and I believe strongly that any right thinking human being will join because the President has come to correct a lot of wrongs that will gladden the hearts of many generations to come. I am prepared to go to our governors to talk to them about APC. Already, we have started making in-road into this project. For instance, the mother of a former governor of the state, Orji Uzor Kalu, Chief (Mrs) Eunice Uzor Kalu, and two of his children have joined APC and we are eagerly waiting for Kalu himself to come on board. These are the type of people we need in APC to capture the South-East. Kalu has the charisma, respect,

•Apugo

Their leaders will not fight more than Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Joe Effiong, who despite their efforts, Biafra failed at the end integrity and people love him for that. Kalu has no business being where he is today, all his friends are in APC and he will be most welcomed any day he decides to join. I will personally welcome him. Having said this, there is one man we will not welcome in APC, he knows himself and Abians know him too. If the man joins APC, Abia people will not vote for us in 2019, he is a political liability who can not win election even in his own ward.

There is only one APC governor in the South-East.

Does that not bother you?

Yes, but in the 2019 election, people will come out to massively vote for the APC. We will surely win provided we field good candidates for the governorship position in the five states of the zone. For now, we are working towards bringing some of the good PDP governors in the South-East to only six APC before it’s too late for them.

Our governors should join the APC now that the door is open than when they will come begging and cringing. Besides, what can anybody hold against Buhari today? The bad roads have been there for 16 years and he has been there for only six months. By 2019, all the five states of the South-East would be APC. Some members of the APC in Abia alleged that you

supported another party’s governorship candidate during the election. How true is the claim?

During the governorship election in Abia, we did not support any party; it was only in the presidential election that everyone knew I supported Buhari because he is incorruptible. I don’t know Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu and people refused to vote for him not because of him as a person but because of the person who brought him out.

As a stakeholder in the APC, are you happy with Buhari’s choice of Minister representing Abia at the Federal Executive Council?

Yes, I am happy, the Minster representing Abia, Okechukwu Enelamah, is from my home town. If you look at his pedigree you will find that he is a man we can trust. The problem that has been with Abia is that when they choose somebody who does not have a home as Minister, we all become bad as a result of the bad influence. Although the man appointed has never been a politician, today, he has joined the wagon of politicians. He is a man of honour from every thing I know about his family.

Recently, a prominent traditional ruler from the state called on Buhari to declare Aba a disaster area. Do you agree with him? In what areas do you think the President should help Abia?

We should not limit it to Aba, it should be the entire state. People should not look at Umuahia as a place former Governor Orji came from because he hated Umuahia more than any other place. President Buhari should come to our aid. Abia needs an airport, a stadium; we don’t have roads, light, water, schools.

No hospitals apart from the Federal Medical Centre. We don’t have anything to show that we are a state in Nigeria.

Pro-Biafra agitators have been protesting across the

South-East and some parts of the South-South. Are you in support of their agitation?

The civil war ended a long ago time and we are all Nigerians. No reasonable human being should come out today to talk about Biafra. Our people have to speak up and make our children understand the situation of things. Those things they should be protesting for are employment, roads, water, airports and other amenities that are lacking in the zone. If they are agitating for these things, they should not block roads; they should talk to the government of the states in the South-East, not the Federal Government.

These people you are talking about are small boys whose mothers were not even born during the civil war. So, what I am saying is that the governors of the South-East should enlighten the youths and make them know that there is nothing like Biafra today. People should not be using Biafra as a tool for causing confusion and defrauding uninformed people.

The Federal Government should not be looking at the South-East, especially Umuahia, since they said their leader,Nnamdi Kanu, is from here, as not supporting Buhari. Buhari did not create any problem in the South-East.

All the while, (former President Goodluck) Jonathan was there, they should have gone to demonstrate about Biafra.

Buhari will tackle all the problems we are facing now, our former governors did not perform, and they did not create avenues for employment, no empowerment. My advice to our children is that they should forget about hoping against hope. We have cancelled Biafra.

Let them look for the betterment of this country and themselves.

They should avoid this protest because it will not yield any fruit. Their leaders will not fight more than Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Joe Effiong, who despite their efforts, Biafra failed at the end.

PAGE 24 —

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 25

C M Y K

PAGE 26— SUNDAY

Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

08116759757

N1m prize for Stella Adadevoh, the Ebola heroine

By Ohio-Michael Elakhe The last may not have been said about the late Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, the famous doctor who died after contacting the ebola virus disease from the late Patrick Sawyer, the Liberia diplomat who brought the killer disease into Nigeria. Rev Chris Okotie’s church, the Household of God, has awarded her the 19th KARIS award for her bravery and sacrifices for the nation, an act which saved the nation from what could have been a major catastrophy.

It is only fitting that at this time when the nation, which is struggling to shed the poor image of corruption and unpatriotic politicking, is in dire need of role models and national figures that can become the rallying point for the rekindling of nationalistic fervor.

Dr. Adadevoh is the role model whose exemplary action is an eloquent testimony to the exhibition of selfless service, altruistic patriotism, and diligence in service delivery.

That is what Rev. Okotie and his Churchsaw,withtheconfermentofthis year’s Karis award to the late doctor.

When patriotism beckoned, she answered in a clear, unequivocal manner which was characteristic of a woman who had endeared herself to the hearts of all who knew her before she came to the limelight.

In trying to stop the quarantined patient from fleeing her hospital, the First Foundation Hospital, Lagos without being cleared of the disease, Mrs.Adadevohlostherlifeprematurely

•Adadevoh as she got infected in the process.

Overandbeyondtheawarditselfand the accompanying token cash prize of N1 million, is the fact that Dr. Stella’s gallant act of sacrifice was devoid of any personal desire for approbation; she did not envisage the global applause that her action would thrust on her. Against the wisdom of her professional ethics and despite the obvious outcome of her act, she simply chose to ignore the demands of self preservation,rather,choosingtoputher life on the line to ensure that the fleeing

patient did not escape and mingle with the general public and thereby precipitating a national epidemic.

The Karis Award concept was conceived with this kind of national service in mind; to honour, recognize and reward selfless Nigerians, whose distinguished service to the nation has not been duly recognized by the Nigerian society. Dr. Stella Adadevoh is a perfect example of the spirit behind the institution of the award, and so, by this singular act, this honourable woman will today 13th December,

2015, become the centre of discourse around Nigeria, as the nation, through the Karis Award says thank you to her throughhersurvivingfamilymembers.

Thelessonofthisawardbestowedon her is significant in the annals of Nigeria. At a time when the media is replete with disheartening stories of accusations, counter-accusations, implications and denials of unceremonious acts of perfidy and corruptpracticesbythoseentrustedwith the coffers of the nation, here comes a totally selfless and unassuming Nigerian woman, who without being asked or impressed upon, took it upon herself to play a part that is probably the most significant role which led to the successful containment of the epidemic that the nation faced.

Passers-by in Oregun, Lagos can alreadyfeelthiscelebrationastheentire flora around the church’s premises are alreadybedeckedwithwhattheChurch describes as its multi-million light celebration of the festival and the unique birth of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Bright and whistling Christmas lights that can now be seen on trees to usher in the eventual Christmas day celebration.

Beside Dr.Adadevoh,itisnoteworthy that this is the 25th anniversary of the G.R.A.C.E. programme, the only headline outreach of the church, which comes up every last Saturday before Christmas. Also this is the 19th anniversary of the Karis Awards which became subsumed in GRACE years later.G.R.A.C.E.istheacronymofGod’s Riches at Christ’s Expense, and was conceivedasanoff-shootofthechurch’s Benevolence Department which has the task of meeting the food and clothing needs of the underprivileged bi-monthly. That

platform eventually birthed the programme in the church’s third year.

G.R.A.C.E. event will as usual make donations of N1million to its usually four NGO’s and charities: the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted, the Sunshine Foundation, the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, SCIAN, and the Strong Tower Mission. Some previous winners of the award include Mr. Taiwo Akinkunmi, late Mallam Aminu Kano, late Oba Funsho Adeolu, late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, D.I.G. Chris Omeben (Rtd), late Prof.

Chike Obi, late Isaac Boro, late Sir Akanu Ibiam, Chief (Mrs.) Margaret Ekpo, late Ishaya Audu, Hajia Sawaba Gambo, Chief Thomas Osigbemhe JP, Chief Emmanuel Okala, Air Commordore Habiba Ruth Garba, Rtd ,late Mrs. Beatrice Ibeneme among others.

The ceremony will be flagged-off by 5.00 p.m. Other activities on the card are Rev. Okotie, leading in the singing of the famous G.R.A.C.E. anthem, the pre-event Red carpet and photo sessions on the gaily lighted street, the prestigious Queen Esther pageant which will be slightly altered in this edition. It will feature a parade of some past Queen Esther’s and runners up. No queen will be crowned.

As Nigerians far and near join the Household of God Church, G.R.A.C.E. 2015 and the Karis Awards to honour the brave lady, we say kudos to, Dr. (Mrs) Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and celebrate her uncommon and remarkable bravery in the face of death. Rest in Peace!

Boy,, 16 How I serially duped policemen of thousands of Naira – Boy

By Esther Onyegbula & Ake Faith

A

16-year-old boy, Mohammed Isah, claims he duped policemen of thousands of Naira by raising false alarm.

It was gathered that Isah, of no fixed address, penultimate Tuesday, went to the Office of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and alleged that police metro patrol teams 4 and 5 took N180,000 from him after he was arrested.

Consequently, the teams were invited and interrogated and it was discovered that they had no contact with him.

Further investigation revealed that the suspect had made similar allegation against some policemen in Anambra and Ondo states.

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said Isah came to the state police command to allege that some policemen in patrol vehicles arrested him and, in order to free himself, he gave them N150,000.

However, he ran out of luck.

While he was making the report, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, who C M Y K

had served in Anambra and was with the Commissioner of Police, suspected his report. He recalled how a man made such claim in Anambra and succeeded in collecting N120,000 and also went to Ondo State and used the same method to collect N40,000 from the police while five of the policemen he accused were dismissed.

Based on this, the police boss ordered that his allegation be thoroughly investigated and, at the end, it was found to be false.

Stating his own side of the story, Isah said, ‘’ I am from Kebbi State. I was arrested when I came to the police command to report that some policemen on patrol arrested me and collected money from me which was false. It was not my first time of doing it.

I had used the same trick to defraud the police in Anambra and Ondo States.

So, I came to do same in Lagos but I was not lucky.

Before going to the police command, I will copy the number of a patrol vehicle and go to the command to report that the men on duty with that patrol number had arrested me and collected money from me.

The commissioner of police in-charge of the state will give me back the amount I claimed they extorted from me since they have zero tolerance for corruption.

So, I saw it as an

opportunity to make money but I ran out of luck when a Deputy Commissioner of Police, who was with the Commissioner of Police in Lagos when I was lodging the report, recounted a

similar case that happened in his state and my allegation was investigated.

That led to my arrest. I did it because I have no job and nobody to help me but I know it is not good.’’

Ivory recreational centre in Awka

I

vory Friends Club of Nigeria has concluded plans to construct a modern recreational and sporting Event Centre, at Awka, capital of Anambra State.

Making this revelation at the Annual Get-Together of the club which took place at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, the President-General of the club, Hon. Ikechukwu Okosa (AkudigweUke) said the project when completed will afford people of the state especially residents of Awka an opportunity to have access to facilities that will enable them to undertake physical exercises that will make them to be very healthy.

“It should not be all work and work and no play. We should learn how to pay attention to issues that affects our lives. Regular use of recreational facilities promotes healthy lifestyle and this is why the club has decided to undertake this project,” Okosa said.

While expressing the determination of the club to pursue the project to a logical end, Okosa

however appealed to the DeputyGovernor of Anambra State who was the special guest of honour at the event to help facilitate the release of a plot of land promised by the Anambra State government for the execution of the project.

“On our part, we are ready to start the project immediately but we are

still waiting for the Anambra State government to fulfill its promise about the land donation,” he said.

Okosa further restated the determination of the club under his leadership to continue to provide members of the club interest free loans to help them expand their business frontiers.

GOFAMINT hosts gospel artistes

By Abiodun Alade

I

t was a moment of praise and worship to God as thousands of worshippers gathered at the Akowonjo District Headquarters of The Gospel Faith Mission International, GOFAMINT, to appreciate God for His provision, protection, miracles and wonders during the year 2015. The praise night tagged ‘Praiseluyah’ with the theme ‘Lift Him Up’ had frontline gospel act, Evangelist Bunmi Akinnanu Adeoye, popularly known as Omije Ojumi leading the peoples in thanksgiving and

worship to God with songs from her collections. She was joined by the host choir and other gospel acts, including Adekunle Adebayo’s Royal Priesthood and Royal Kids on violin.

The District Pastor, Pastor Idowu Jinadu, underscored the importance of praise, noting that Christians should always praise God. “This is a night of great praise and adoration to God for what He has done and what He will still do. It is a night of appreciation, worship and thanksgiving that will move God and the hosts of heaven”.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 27

CARNAGE ON EBONYI ROADS:

Umahi to the rescue!

By Kennedy Mbele and Oladimeji Folashade

O

n November 17,

2015, a woman and her two children were among eight passengers who lost their lives in a motor accident on the AbakalikiAfikpo Federal Highway. Two years ago, on that same road, the life of the then Chairman of Onicha Local Government Area, Chief Obasi Nwode, was cut short in a crash that also took the lives of four others on the highway.

Nwode , the unnamed woman and her children are just a few of the victims of many years of neglect the highways in Ebonyi State had suffered. Apart from the Abakaliki-Afikpo Road, Ebonyi has some major federal roads, including the Amasiri – Okposi –Uburu; NkalaguEhamufu and AmasiriOwutu highways.

With the poor state of the roads, the state had, for decades, not only been made to pay dearly with the lives of its citizens, it was deprived the economic benefits associated with easy transportation.

But on Thursday, Governor David Nweze Umahi, an engineer, whose first love is road

construction, moved to put that inglorious past behind, open up the state and make motoring pleasurable.

As you read this piece, bulldozers and other construction equipment are roaring on the NkalaguEhamufu Road, the AmasiriOkposi-Uburu Road and the Hilltop-Nwofe Road.

The roads, like the many others that have been completed in Abakaliki, the state capital, would be concreted and then, if need be, asphalted to make them last at least 50 years.

Umahi’s foot soldier in this core area of his administration’s vision is his fellow engineer and a workaholic, Fidelis Nweze.

Umahi understands the language of road construction.

Before he became a governor, he was deeply into that. With his background, he could, within seconds, calculate and say how much a kilometer of road would cost.

This has, in spite of the fact that Ebonyi, receives one of the least allocations from the Federation Account, enabled him to prudently manage the funds available not only for road construction but also for other sectors .

As of today, the Umahi administration has acquired many heavy duty construction equipment worth over a billion naira.

Before Thursday, work had commenced on the 14.5kilometre bad section of Abakaliki-Afikpo Road. The over 60-kilometre highway, the second most important road into C M Y K

the state capital, takes motorists to the Abakaliki-Ogoja Road, a trans border highway to Cameroon.

Umahi had, shortly after assuming office, terminated the 5.7-kilometre dualisation of the EBSU- PDP secretariat section of the Enugu-Abakaliki highway because the contract did not follow due process.

The road was already been executed by Setraco before the then government stopped the construction and handed reawarded the section to a Chinese construction firm.

Following a dispute over the continuation of the job, the governor turned to President Muhammadu Buhari, who gave him the nod to renegotiate with Setraco, the original Federal Government contractor.

Setraco had started a double lane construction on the ever busy road before the Government of Martin Elechi introduced a variation to the EBSU-PDP section of the highway at an additional cost to the state .

When Setraco accepted to return to site, Umahi pleaded with Brass Engineering to hand over its construction site to Setraco for use so as to complete the job on schedule.

Today, the construction is moving at an amazing speed.

While flagging-off the construction of the Hilltop-Nwofe Road, the governor explained that his action was hinged on the fact that “mark of good leadership is when the people are happy.”

He said, “There is no project started by this administration that

•Commissioner for Works, Engr. Fidelis Nweze

•Governor David Umahi and Nweze inspecting the FUNAI Road under construction will be stopped. Be also assured that I will give you a road built on concrete that for 50 years, nobody will touch the road”.

Umahi explained that his administration was constructing the Hiltop-Nwofe Road as a reward to Izzi land and to honor the Speaker of the state House Assembly, Francis Nwifuru, for his honesty and sincerity in piloting the affairs of the state’s fifth legislature.

To ensure quality work, the governor directed all the local government chairmen in the three senatorial zones to supervise the construction of the roads and give him feedback on daily basis.

He also ordered the LG chairmen to liaise with other stakeholders to produce three

We nurtured Bola Ige, Onosode, Gbonigi, Nicholas Okoh, others — SCM •75th anniversary kicks off in A/Ibom, launches N1 billion endowment fund

By Kennedy Mbele

T

he late Chief Bola

Ige; captain of industry, Chief Gamaliel Onosode; Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi; and the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Dr Nicholas Okoh, are among Nigerian leaders who passed through the development initiative of Student Christian Movement of Nigeria (SCM).

Others include Dr Sunday Mbang and Bishop Ola Makinde, both former Prelates of Methodist Church Nigeria; Senator Sam Egwu, a former governor of Ebonyi State; Chief J.T. Toby, a former deputy governor of Rivers State; Prof.

(Mrs) Bisi Sowumi and Chief (Mrs) Ayo Obe, both women

rights activists; Dr Iweha, Archbishop of Methodist Church Nigeria, Abuja; and the General Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Nigeria, Prof. Ukah.

All these eminent Nigerians, still alive, are expected at the programme of th events lined up to mark the 75 anniversary of the SCM which kicked off with a National Prayer Conference and Youth Rally at Abak, Akwa Ibom State, on Thursday.

The anniversary will feature the launching of a N1 billion endowment fund to execute SCAM’s “sustainability goals.”

Speaking in Lagos, SCM National President, Rev. Eric Ighalo (FSC, JP), said the body was founded in 1940 by Dr Francis Akanu Ibiam, one-time governor of the old Eastern Region, and Chief T.O.

civil and one mechanical engineers each senatorial zone of Ebonyi to understudy the contractors.

The goal, according to him, is to ensure that the engineers, who must be indigenes of the state, gained expertise in road construction. At Nkalagu, the governor described the Nkalagu- Ehamufu Road, which last received government attention 52 years ago as not only important to Ebonyi but also to the entire Igbo race. When he and his team comprising top government officials, PDP stalwarts and Elders of the Divine Mandate Campaign Organisation drove to Amasiri junction, they met a jubilant crowd.

An obviously overjoyed Umahi, who likened the gathering to a Ejiwunmi, one-time SSG, old Western Region after discovering SCM as a tool to build godly character in youth and mobilising them for social action.

“The SCM is not a church or denomination. It is the pioneer student Christian organisation in Nigeria. It is a Christian faith based international youth outreach ministry that works amongst students and youth in secondary and tertiary institutions, calling them to an active faith in Christ while building them into responsible citizens. The SCM sees herself as holding the bible in one hand and the newspaper on the other. The SCM sees the Bible to influence and shape the society for good,”Ighalo said.

“Inspite of varied and countless challenges we have faced, the resilience of the movement is evident to all in the growth and continuing existing of the SCM of Nigeria in about 400 secondary schools and 40 tertiary institutions.

These student chapters are organized into about 20 sectors and supported by about 15 viable senior friends groups (alumni and friends who primarily sponsor the work of the movement and serve as direct mentors to the youth).”

political rally, announced plans to construct Ntezi-Agba-Isu Road; Ezzama-Oshiri Isu-Uburu Road;Ezzamgbo-Effium Road and Amasiri-Edda Road.

Umahi then beckoned the Commissioner for Works, Engr.

Nweze, whom he referred to as a magic commissioner to lead them to the point of turning the sod.

As he clutched the hands of the Deputy Governor, Barrister Kelechi Igwe; Nweze; and Nwifuru to offer prayer for the commencement of work, the crowd broke into songs hailing him for his strides in the state. The governor said the Amasiri-Okposi-Uburu Road was important because it also links Ebonyi State with Enugu State.

He had before heading to Amasiri inspected the ongoing reconstruction of the road leading to the Federal University from Nkwagu to Ndufu-Alike in Ikwo Local Government Area.

The rehabilitation of the road, according to the state Commissioner for Works is a fulfillment of the promise Umahe made to the FUNAI authorities. He added that the purpose was to ease the difficulty members of staff, students and other users of the road go through daily.

Onuesoke faults Social Media Bill Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has slammed senators for attempting to criminalize social media.

While speaking to journalists in Warri, Delta State, Onuesoke noted that the bill is riddled with problems, adding that the vague term “abusive statement” is not defined and leaves a lot of room for subjective interpretation.

“The proposed sanctions are excessive. Meanwhile, the draft bill is simply unnecessary. The offenses it seeks to criminalize already exist under the law including those on treason, defamation and libel.”

He advised lawmakers to focus on critical issues facing the country such as insurgency, communal violence, corruption, poverty and impunity by security forces, rather than trying to muzzle non-violent expressions of genuine dissent and criticism.

Onuesoke pointed out that for Nigeria to stay in line with international and African human rights standards, the lawmakers should be moving to decriminalize defamation, not creating similar crimes.

PAGE 28 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

2016 N6 TRILLION BUDGET

The lowest oil benchmark in many years and the economic recession fear *Looming trouble as crude price slips below target STORIES BY UDEME CLEMENT

Government’s proposal of N6 trillion for expenditure in 2016 is a good attempt, but the reality on ground is that, such proposal would not turn the economy around for greater outputs maximisation with the current state of infrastructure and overdependence on revenue from crude oil to run the entire economy

T

he proposal of N6trillion for Budget 2016 by the Federal Government has generated divergent views among economic experts in the country. While some economists called on government to embark on efficient taxation system to enhance more revenue generation for the economy, others said N6trillion proposal for expenditure in 2016 would not solve the crisis facing Nigeria’s economy.

In a chat with Sunday Vanguard , the National President, Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Mallam Mikail, explained that the proposal of N6trillion was based on government’s estimation but would not prevent Nigeria’s economy from sliding into a recession, as previously predicted, unless government acts urgently to strengthen the financial system, in order to curtail misappropriation of public funds allocated for developmental projects.

He said, “Proposing N6 trillion for budget 2016 is a good attempt, but the reality on ground is that, such proposal would not turn the economy around for greater outputs maximisation with the current state of infrastructure and overdependence on revenue from crude oil to run the entire economy. We must be realistic about the state of our economy and what we should do to move the country forward. With declining oil prices and monoculture economic practice that we are running now, nothing tangible would be achieved with N6trillion.”

He added, “The exchange rate now is N252 per Dollar. So, high exchange rate is another issue we must take cognisance of. The Naira is depreciating, meaning government must take a lot of things into consideration in managing the economy at this stage”.

On the way forward, he said, “For the economy to record tangible growth, government must embark on appropriate diversification. They should develop our infrastructure to maintain the diversification process. Also, government should give people proper orientation on the type of diversification they want to do. Creating jobs for the citizens should be given needed attention. The financial system, I mentioned earlier must be strengthened to ensure prudent utilisation of public funds.

Without these things in place, no amount of money would keep the economy on the path of sustainable growth”.

Analysis of the budget The total budget expenditure proposed for 2016 is N6trillion.

The appropriation bill is predicated on the oil benchmark of $38 per barrel, and with crude oil production of 2.2 million barrel per day. 30 per cent of the entire budget is allocated for C M Y K

pumps most in three years Meanwhile, oil price fell below $37 a barrel on Thursday, after new data showed OPEC is still pumping like there is no tomorrow.

The mighty oil cartel produced 31.7 million barrels a day in November, its latest monthly report shows. That is the highest output in over three years and 1.7 million barrels a day over its former production ceiling.

OPEC production rose by 230,000 barrels a day last month, according to secondary sources that track OPEC’s production levels.

The news pushed oil prices back below $37 a barrel for the second time this week. Last time oil was cheaper than that was in the depths of the Great Recession in February 2009. It reached a peak of nearly $108 per barrel in June 2014.

OPEC failed to agree on an official output quota last week, leaving production near record highs despite the massive global glut that is keeping oil prices low.

•Buhari capital expenditure for a whole year.

Comparative analysis of the budget: With N6 trillion allocation, there is an increase of about N1trillion in the proposed budget for 2016, compared to the budget of 2015. In 2015, government approved N5 trillion budget for that year. So, 2016 is the first time government is proposing up to N6trillion as appropriation bill for a year. The budget bench mark for 2015 was $53, with crude oil production of 2.28milion barrel per day, while that of 2016 is $38, which appears to be the lowest in the last few years.

Statistical analysis from 20112016 2011- N4.22 trillion, with oil benchmark of $62 per barrel 2012- N4.74 trillion, with benchmark of $67 per barrel 2013- N4.92 trillion, with oil benchmark of $79 per barrel 2014- N4.6 trillion, with benchmark of $76 per barrel 2015N5 trillion, with benchmark of $53 per barrel 2016- N6trillion, with a benchmark of $38 per barrel Government’s position Speaking after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Minister of National Planning and Budget, Mr. Udoma Udo Udoma, said, “In view of the current economic realities, the FEC predicated the budget on $38 oil benchmark for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework,(MTEF).”

“We are working with 2.2 million barrels a day production.

We believe it is achievable, because with the possible passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which we are working to achieve, we believe the production figure is modest and we should be able to produce something higher than that. We are looking at a budget that will be N1 trillion more than last year.

So, we are looking at a budget of about N6 trillion. Last year ’s budget, including the supplementary, was about N5 trillion. All the increases will be spent on capital, because there is the need to increase the capital because of the infrastructure issues that we have to address.”

Oil dips below $37 as OPEC

NERC grants licence for power plant expansion to 685mw

I

n a bid to increase power supply for industrial development, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has granted licence to Ibom Power Company (IPC) to expand the capacity of Ibom power plant from 191Mega Watts (MW) to about 685MW. The independent power plant, owned by Akwa Ibom State government is currently contributing about 113MW of electricity generation to the national grid in the country.

Speaking on the economic benefits of the power plant, the Managing Director, Ibom Power Company, Dr. Victor Udo, said the licence for expansion will allow Ibom Power to contribute significantly towards the solution of national electricity crisis. The administration of Udom Emmanuel, seeks to make the state a power exporting hub in the federation. “ Power is a great enabler of growth in any economy and the current governor of the state, clearly understands this.

This explains the thoughtfulness of Udom to partner more with NERC and other stakeholders in the country to make the state a model of steady power supply for industrialisation and sustainable growth. It further shows that governance can work to power the economy where government means serious business and committed to making a difference. With the state government enabling, a stable gas processing plant now supplies gas not only to Ibom Power, but also to Alaoji power plant in Abia State, Unicem and Odukpani power plant in Cross River State and to a fertiliser plant in Rivers State’”, he said.

He went on, “The expansion licence implies more power supply to Akwa Ibom economy, more income, savings and investments, on which the models of vibrant and forward looking economies are anchored. The propensity to increase the state’s production possibility curves is bound to rise significantly with

• Ibom Power Plant the knock-on effect of these critical factors in accelerating productivity and development.

With more income streams engendered by greater availability of power supply, it is expected that the middle class would grow, unleashing higher demands, taste, expectations and preferences that need to be satisfied.

Investors and entrepreneurs should seize the new windows of opportunity to satisfy the demands of this important class. On the part of government, the licence expansion translates to higher prospects of growth and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), especially now that the global oil price shock has resulted into monthly revenue allocation being plummeted. The envisaged growth would be unlocked not by higher tax rates or multiple taxes, but by widening the tax net to capture more payers (income earners , entrepreneurs and investors) through PAYE, companies’ income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT).”

He added, “More revenue for government means more funds to finance more projects and improve citizens’ welfare to achieve more inclusive growth.

This implies more employment generation, especially when the formal and informal sectors are empowered to enhance the emergence of the third market.

The youths of the state need to be gainfully employed, and this brings home the real impact of the steps taken by government to increase power supply in the state. This would reduce the incidence of youth restiveness and insecurity. More than 90 per cent communities in the state already have distribution infrastructure.

So, they would have a better understanding of the state government’s decision to commit $22million to building transmission line that links Ibom Power to the national grid, and will wait for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to refund the money and take over ownership of the line, inline with the National Energy Policy. This achievement is enormous for a government whose major economic plan is industrialisation, to sustain public-private sector initiative, thereby opening opportunities for growth and improved living standards. As part of Udom’s capacity building initiative, we have developed power utility management competency in the state. Today, Ibom power is operated by indigenes of our state. For the first time, we recently celebrated 114 days without forced outage. We also developed competency for commercial and technical management of power distribution across the entire state.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 29

Nigeria is heavily ‘under-banked’ — Jibrin, MD/CEO, Suntrust funds alone.

This idea of bank-onwheels, have you thought about the security implications?

Yes we have. We would have adequate security; but in any case, we are not going to be moving heavy funds around. What we will be doing is bridge the gap for those customers who even lose money to thieves while in transit from their business places to the banks. We want to relieve them of the burden - just a million or two or three would not be too much.

Mohammed Jibrin is the MD/CEO of Suntrust, a mortgage institution in transition to a commercial bank. Jibrin speaks on the transition and other issues in the banking sector.

Y

ou are transforming from a mortgage ins titution to a

commercial bank. How has the journey been?

We started our journey to becoming a commercial bank in 2009. Its been a very long process. This is the first commercial bank licence to be given since 2001.

We were very clear that we

needed to be involved in commercial banking so as to provide an alternative route to those in need of commercial banking.

I have always seen Nigeria’s commercial banking subsector as one that has failed to transform itself and actually touch the lives of people.

There is no way any society can develop or grow without having access to finance.

That’s very true.

Most of the commercial banks we have in the country, some over 100 years of existence, have some form of challenges. And there are some powerful forces that are transforming this sub-sector.

With the BVN that was done, it brought home the fact that the country is still underbanked. We have just about 50million accounts in the country based on statistics.

But roughly less than 30million of those customers were verified.

That tells you that in a country with a population of about 180million, an annual population growth rate of about three per cent, certainly, it is clear that the country is heavily under-banked. And if you look at it, the segment of those that are outside banking services are the group that is of young age that are virtually excluded.

What that tells you is that there is a huge opportunity out there to actually provide services to these people and sell other products through those services.

We also realised that there are other locations of the country that really do not enjoy banking services and that, generally, informed, to a large extent, the CBN’s drive for financial inclusion in which it is trying to ensure that people have access to financial services.

For us, having realised that these forces will continue to shape the banking services, customer satisfaction must be

•Mohammed Jibrin high, technological advancement must continue to evolve.

We also believe that the regulatory environment is constantly changing and it is becoming tougher. These forces will continue to shape what happens in that subsector.

We have a regional licence for the South South, South West and Abuja. Next year we plan to have branches in the state capitals in these zones. We chose these zones because that is where the money is so you follow the money first, that way you make returns and satisfy the general public by providing services.

institutions so that a large majority will have access to financial service. We believe the market is still fertile.

The TSA implementation has shown that banks will not need to focus on government

At a time when the industry is going through all these challenges, why plunge in?

The first reason is that customers are to a large extent dissatisfied and, secondly, there is no access to finance to most of the people who need it.

The only institutions that will succeed at the end of the day, particularly between now and five years and thereafter are those that will constantly innovate using technology to drive financial services

services and what type of products are we bringing into the market. First and foremost we have decided that technology would be the biggest platform that will drive our business. We will focus largely on the retail marke t .

We will be deepening the use of mobile phones as a means of access to banking services. We are also a licensed Mobile Money Bank.

So, in the real sense we do not need a brick and mortar bank to provide banking services. You can open your account on your phone and transact your business.

Most of the unbanked members of the public are not comfortable going into those big commercial banks and that is why we believe that we will fill that gap. Access to funds is difficult and most people will narrate their experiences while trying to get facilities from banks.

We plan to

What are you bringing to the market that will mark you out? Why should anyone leave his bank and come and bank with you?

For us we believe that two major issues are very key.

The first is the channels of distribution - what channels are we going to be using in order to provide banking

Do you have the means to match the big banks in terms of resources and providing the technological base?

A bank requires a minimum capital requirement, we have met that. It will interest you to know that technology is not that very expensive; it depends on how you cut your cost and your bargaining ability.

The banking application that we have today is also operated by four other banks. We got it cheapest. And it is the same thing from the same source.

Banks have been retrenching or rationalising

Some people are willing to work but they do not have access to finance. Every investment carries risks. You have to measure your risk and manage your business in a way that it provides the needed services and it is also profitable make it as easy as possible for people to have access to finance. We will be there for those type of businesses. We are going to follow the mass market and it will be driven by technology.

Wherever you are, you do not need to get to the bank.

We will have our staff running around and opening the accounts for those who are not so literate.

We will also be providing banking services to those areas where we believe the services do not get to and, therefore, we will be introducing bank-on-wheels towards the end of next quarter.

We will have vehicles that will drive round markets on market days and provide banking services for the next five years or so before we close that business. We believe if we operate this it will go a long way. We are also in collaboration with other financial services

lately. Why not invest in ICT or agriculture or some other businesses. Where others are having issues, that is where you have decided to go into. So what is the real interest?

People build things based on their competences. My competence has always been in finance and I have spent over 20years in the sector and I’m passionate about it.

You see young graduates with ideas but they do not have access to finance. It is painful. All over the world, economies are grown by small scale businesses because once small businesses are doing very well the economy will do very well too. Those who are retrenched in banks are mostly those without access to finance who end up on contract jobs. And again, banking services have been suffering because as you mentioned earlier, the issue of TSA - TSA was the most convenient way of making money because government money is lent to government at interests and then spread for profitability. Meanwhile, some people are willing to work but they do not have access to finance. Every investment carries risks. You have to measure your risk and manage your business in a way that it provides the needed services and it is also profitable.

Your board! Who are your backers? And then there is this issue of the old ways of doing things: How do you plan or hope to contend with that? (laughter) We have a nine-man board of directors.

And if you go to the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, you will see who our shareholders are. It is a privately owned company with about 12 shareholders, all private individuals; and a few other companies with stakes. We also reserved some stakes for our staff because we believe our staff should also own part of the bank. We need the energy of the youth and the wisdom of the old so it is not completely feasible to discard some old ways of doing things.

What informed the name, SUNTRUST? Thats always been a question many people ask.

Don’t forget that we were a mortgage financial institution before but two things we are very clear about. First is that you need the energy of the Sun and to take it further, you need to trust that when the Sun sets, your money is safe and when the Sun rises in the morning, you have a bank to go to and which will be ready to serve you.

PAGE 30 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Fashola and the marriage of Power, Works and Housing portfolios .A masterstroke misunderstood

BY HAKEEM BELLO

P

resident Muhammed Buhari’s appointment of Babatunde Fashola as Minister of Power, Works and Housing was recently described as a “masterstroke” in one of the daily newspapers. However, the author’s analysis of what makes the appointment a masterstroke reads more like the description of a stroke of luck. All the factors the author listed to make him conclude appointment was a masterstroke were already known to most Nigerians, given Fashola’s tenure as governor of Lagos State for eight years. A masterstroke connotes something only one with a special knowledge of the subject matter could do, and even then, only the very best of those with such expertise, “a master”, can on rare occasions execute, the “stroke”.

However, the author, who first noted this fact, was right, but for the wrong reasons. Fashola’s appointment was a “masterstroke”, and it is important for Nigerians to understand why it was a masterstroke. Combining two of the most important portfolios for Nigeria’s development Power and Works-could not have been by happenstance. Adding the Housing portfolio to them would be rather excessive, if not over ambitious, but for the fact that it was pure genius. The Office of the President had, with one stroke of the pen, recognized and corrected what previous administrations had been too blind to see.

Therein lies the masterstroke, not in the appointment of “an infrastructure junkie” to run the combined portfolios.

The appointment recognizes that electricity affords the government the greatest possible reach to its people beyond what any other governmental program could, and should be developed in coordination with other infrastructure needs and development.

Simply put, the Obasanjo and Jonathan’s administrations’ approach to electricity infrastructure development was the “field of dreams” approach: “If you build it, they will come”.

Hence, in the past, Nigeria had failed to plan for who will use the power infrastructure it was building and failed to even plan for evacuating the power to where ever it should be used; it did not know exactly where and for what specific “system” purposes each particular addition was intended as it was unplanned.

By collapsing the Ministry of Power with the Ministries of Works and Housing, Buhari is taking the tried and true approach of “howDubai-was-built”. The small nation in the desert knew that in order to develop itself with the kind of infrastructure its funds could build, it would need more than the small population it had to justify it; so the camel-stop at the cross road of the great silk route “planned”: they planned to make the traders who transited through it since the ancient of days stay a while, and they gave Europeans a place to go in winter, closer than their usual destinations, and they gave corporations a tax haven, they

gave students in neighboring countries great colleges, and everyone else a competing vacation stop. Soon, there was no shortage of people to use their massive investment in infrastructure.

On a recent training workshop in Dar Es Salaam for Tanzania’s Regulatory Utilities on behalf of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID), I was asked to make a presentation on improving rural electrification and I modeled my presentation on the “how Dubai was built” approach, to explain that the problem of rural electrification was more a problem of “demand” than lack of “electricity ” infrastructure.

When I traveled beyond Dar Es Salaam after the workshop, I realized how much the lack of other kinds of (Works) infrastructure undermined the demand that rural electricity requires. Any attempt to grow rural electricity demand in Tanzania would require massive investment in roads, re-planning towns to facilitate movement by including loops, wider roads for easier and greater access, building facilities for emergency response and security units and improving information technology (IT) connectivity.

These are Ministry of Works responsibilities.

Similarly, effective electrification in Nigeria would bring about a degree of economic activity and population redistribution that would tax every Ministry of Works project known; adding to that what Nigeria needs to address its housing deficiency, without understanding how the electrification driven “growth and economic activity” would impact sprawl and congestion, or planning to bring the new housing projects up to a standard consistent with progress in the electricity industry, would simply make a bad situation worse.

On the other hand, effective regulation offers the best opportunity to stimulate investments and pay for infrastructure development in Africa. In a paper I presented earlier this year for the African Forum of Utility Regulators (AFUR) 12th Annual Conference in South Africa, I noted that African countries have the opportunity to further sustainable development through the penetration and reach of the electricity industry.

Using the example of the reach and impact of mobile phones, even in the poorest countries in Africa, we maintained that a similar penetration for the electricity industry would allow regulators to employ electricity surcharges to stimulate investments, build infrastructure and generally pay for sustainable development in ways that governments employ taxes.

However, we warned that such a development would first require regulators to integrate information, communication and technology in their regulatory processes and decision making. Next it would require that regulators address the deficiencies in the quality of

•Babatunde Fashola electricity service delivery through best practices in regulation that are open, transparent and well vetted by a broad range of stakeholders, especially ratepayers. We looked at some examples of best practices for both requirements at the California Public Utilities Commission[2].

Thus, the marriage of Power, Works and Housing in one portfolio is a stroke of genius, but it would only work in reality if Nigeria’s administrators do integrated resource plans in advance. In 2012, while writing for AFUR Newsletter, I noted that Nigeria’s electricity administrators had lost the right to blame NEPA as an excuse for the moribund state of the electricity infrastructure in Nigeria, because these administrators had largely failed to plan.

Every Nigerian Power Minister since 1998 has blamed the problem of Nigeria’s electricity on NEPA’s failure to invest in infrastructure, but the 14 years

The Obasanjo and Jonathan’s administrations’ approach to electricity infrastructure development was the “field of dreams” approach: “If you build it, they will come since 1998 has been more than sufficient to improve the infrastructure NEPA neglected, at least by increasing delivery from about 4,000MW of delivered power to 6,000MW or even 10,000MW. Instead power delivery has gone down to 2,800MW, while authorities repeat the same excuse. NEPA’s failure to invest in infrastructure prior to 1998 cannot plausibly

explain why thermal power plants that were authorized in 2005 were built without gas connections or why the nameplate capacity that NEPA left behind has only deteriorated.

There must be a better reason.

What cripples Nigeria’s electric system is that Nigeria neglects to do integrated resource and procurement planning for the entire county’s demand and load not, as the Nigerian authorities have claimed, that NEPA failed to invest in the system.

Combining the portfolios of Power, Works and Housing also frees the Nigerian Electric Regulatory Commission (NERC) to regulate more effectively. In the past, it appeared administrators in the Ministry of Power and NERC did not fully understand their relationship with each other. As such, both agencies wasted useful resources in turf battles rather than working together. This includes the Ministry forming new parastatals that arguably fell under the statutory authority granted NERC and getting legislation for it. With the amount of work that needs to be done to bring affordable electricity to Nigeria, the last thing the sector needed was warring agencies. By combining the three portfolios, the Ministry would likely feel less threatened by the expansive scope of NERC’s regulatory authority, but might even welcome it as it would have its hands full in coordinating the regulation of electricity with its obligation under Works and Housing.

In sum, President Buhari’s appointment of former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, as Minister of Power, Works and Housing, was a masterstroke, but unless administrators appreciate the reasons for that stroke of genius and work together to realize it, a great opportunity might be lost.

• Hakeem Bello is the Special Adviser to Fashola on Communication

PRIMLAKS, Chellarams partner on distribution

P

RIMLAKS Group, pioneers of Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) fruits and vegetables in Nigeria, has outsourced distribution of its Sympli brand of convenience foods to Chellarams PLC, one of Nigeria’s leading conglomerates, with strong capability to deepen the sale of Sympli products nationwide.

By the agreement, the fastmoving 100% locally farmed and produced Sympli products will be on sale in fifty stores serviced by Chellarams in Lagos with effect from December 1, 2015.

The range of products, which include ‘Yam Fries’, ‘Yam Cubes,’ Plantain ‘Dodo’ and ‘Plantain Chips’, are delivered in ready-to-cook state for frying, steaming or baking.

PRIML AKS Director, Mr. Ravi Hemnani, said: “The collaboration makes perfect

sense as we will leverage Chellarams’ years of distribution experience and PRIMLAKS’ expertise in food processing in Nigeria. The plan is to first ensure availability of Sympli products within Lagos and then to expand distribution to other Chellarams serviced outlets throughout the country.”

He further explained that the collaboration will enhance PRIMLAKS’ vision to encourage people to embrace made in Nigeria food products.

Chellarams’ Director, Mr. Aditya Chellaram, said: “We are delighted by the collaboration with PRIMLAKS Group to facilitate wider distribution of the innovative Sympli brand because it builds on our strong distribution capability while at the same time supporting local content in food production.”

Meanwhile, the PRIMLAKS Group has also announced the

introduction of consumerfriendly single-use Sympli 500g packs for customers who prefer smaller unit sizes for immediate consumption.

Director, Ravi Hemnani said: “The new single-use 500g packs offer sliced and diced ingredients that are ready to cook, thereby saving time for busy people, without compromising on quality and delicious taste. We believe the new pack sizes will strongly support our drive to inspire home cooking by providing convenience and opening up the market to those without deep freezers.”

Sympli products, which were launched in 2013, have received commendations from customers as well as from the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, for the innovative processing and storage of harvested fruits and vegetables using Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) technology.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 31

EBOLA

•The factors that aided the defeat of EVD in Lagos — Health Commissioner •Says officials indicted in the death of pregnant woman in Alimosho hospital will pay for it •’How we are moving medical sector forward’

By CHIOMA OBINNA

A

ccess to quality healthcare in Lagos has been the focus of the state government in the last 16 years. Unfortunately, the targets have not been met following many challenges including shortage of medical personnel, migration of patients from neighbouring states and the inability to design and plan for standard hospital facilities.

A third-time Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Jide Idris, in this encounter, sheds light on his plans to correct the anomalies and strengthen the sector.

He also recounts how the state defeated the dreaded Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD). Excerpts: Summary of events at the end of last tenure During the last tenure, our achievements cut across infrastructure, primary healthcare, human resource, healthcare financing, regulation and, of course, health promotion and disease prevention. We started the maternal and child mortality prevention programme, but, in the last six months, the statistics I am seeing, I am not too happy because nothing has happened during that period but it is a priority.

The major one we are going to start now is healthcare promotion and disease prevention, in the sense that we cannot do everything at once. We also have ongoing programmes on malaria control, we are the only state that is doing RRS, apart from insecticide treated net, diagnoses among others.

On infrastructure, we have built so many facilities and have increased the scope of services many times. At the primary care level, there is quite a number of Primary Healthcare Centres, PHCs, that were not functioning.

Efforts were made to revitalize the PHC system and we came up with the idea of Flagship PHC for each local government.

But the fact is that there are still PHCs that need to be made functional. That is why we have a huge number of people visiting our secondary facilities and congesting them.

At secondary care level, there were some facilities that we needed to increase their scope of services to make them General Hospitals. We tried a couple and built Maternal and Child Centres (MCCs) to complement services in some of the General Hospitals.

We built seven out of the 10 we planned, and the remaining three are at different levels of completion. We have refurbished some hospitals too but there are still a lot of things to do.

Plans for hospital facilities What is being planned for this session is to continue what has been done.

However, there is the need to address some specific issues.

Luckily, the governor, even before he constituted his cabinet, had earmarked some hospitals for renovation and to increase their scope. If you look at it over the years, none of our hospitals was purposely built as a General Hospital. So, in this case, if we are to do anything in that line, we must do it properly. So, we are reviewing the situation.

For instance, the plan now is to knock down some of these buildings and put things that will make their functioning complete.

Alimosho will have a full-fledged outpatient services. Epe too is going to be addressed and same for Ifako-Ijaye, where we had issues getting the NYSC, mosques among others out of the premises.

LASUTH is overwhelmed and we have told them to stop putting more structures there. Whatever tertiary service is needed, let us expand to other places. That is why we have the Cardiac and Renal Centre and also Trauma and Burn Centre in Gbagada.

Whatever else is needed should be sited in other General Hospitals to decentralise.

Addressing shortage of health workers Obviously, there is gross shortage of workforce. People say we have the highest health workforce but that is not enough.

We have about 1,800 doctors and over 5,000 nurses to over 20 million population. We are victims of our own successes.

More people are coming into Lagos and that is compounding the problem. People come from other states to use our facilities and we cannot drive them away.

About three years ago when we did our statistics, about 25 per cent of patients in our facilities come from outside of the state. I think they are more now.

A major challenge concerning human resources is interprofessional rivalry among the stakeholders in the health sector.

Though it is not peculiar to Lagos, we need to address that, otherwise it will affect service delivery. We will sit with them to address their issues that are often not unconnected with welfare,

•Dr Jide Idris

remuneration and workload among others.

There is also the issue of quality of service vis-à-vis the capacity on ground. There are some specialties that we need in numbers because we have them in acute shortage. For instance, radiographers, radiologists and anaesthetists are in acute shortage nationally. Generally, most of them don’t like to be employed because they prefer to moonlight, but it doesn’t augur well for government. Along that line, we decided to train nurseanaesthetists at the diploma level and that training will continue.

Effects of shortage on services We need to find out the causes of poor attitudes to address them.

Some of them have to do with welfare, workload and some of them are personal (self interest).

There was a unit set up during the Bola Tinubu era, to pick dead bodies from the roads; over the years, that team has been trained to properly deliver services. It was that team that was used as core-decontamination unit during the Ebola crisis

In the light of what happened in the last couple of weeks, we have seen some staffers not behaving normally and we are ready to increase the rate of monitoring to check them.

In the last three weeks, I have been to three hospitals and what I discovered was amazing. There are management issues. It was in that process that I sent the State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMA) out to General Hospitals.

Emerging from that is that I have given three Medical Directors (MDs) one week ultimatum to correct the problems they have. It is very likely that I will have to move some of them around. I think they are human issues that we can solve. Take for instance the problem at Aregbesola PHC in Alimosho (where a woman in labour was allegedly abandoned to die). I have summoned all of them who had connection with the deceased patient and have served them query to explain their roles.

The stories I was hearing were conflicting. I also called the husband and he came here to tell his own side of the story, which was very revealing. I have since set up a committee to look into the matter and we are expecting their report. In addition to that now, there is zero tolerance for MDs who don’t perform because they are the people that are supposed to represent us in the local governments. There are other ways I’m using people to get information about the facilities.

Bed space syndrome at LASUTH LASUTH was built as a Cottage Hospital, from which it rose to district, then General Hospital and we now turned it into Teaching Hospital. It was a 400bed facility when it started. It is now 750-bed and still grossly inadequate. As a Teaching Hospital, it cannot function effectively because, in a Teaching

Hospital, you cannot have roads in-between and start wheeling patients to the theatre.

Initially, we planned to knock down that place and build another one somewhere in Matori but the cost is huge. And if you build it, you must have adequate staff.

That is why we decided to refurbish that place to serve us for now.

Health insurance Healthcare financing is related to some of the things that we are facing here and it is not unrelated to the demand for universal health coverage. We can increase physical access by building facilities, but without staff they become useless. Luckily, we have the health insurance bill that was passed last June, but unfortunately we had the 2015 general elections and the change of government.

What I have done now is to set up a committee to look at the production of a guideline based on the law, to operate the health insurance scheme. They have started the work but it is complex.

Luckily, we have the IFC to support and also PATHS2 and USAID. Any health system that doesn’t have a financing complement will not work. Health insurance is compulsory in those countries where they are operating it. In our law, it is contributory and, within that law also, there are specifics for the poor that will be addressed and paid for by government. The idea is that if we do it properly, we also stand to benefit from the National Health Act when it begins to function, especially in the area of maternal and child health.

Along that line again, we are trying to push for increased budget for health. From what was shown to us in the current budget, there is increased allocation of about eight per cent, though a huge chunk of that is going into personnel. We still have a huge personnel shortage because of

PAGE 32, SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Who are Vehicle Inspection Officers?

I

n one of his town hall meetings with the people of Kaduna State, the Governor, Nasir El-Rufai stated among other things that he was set to tackle youth unemployment. To this end, he announced that every year, ten people would be recruited from each of the 255 wards in the state to work as vehicle inspection officers, traffic warders, and environmental inspectors adding that the first set will be initiated before the end of this year. If anyone was in doubt of where exactly the governor was heading, the doubts were cleared last Tuesday when the Vehicle Inspection framework in the state was dissolved According to a statement signed by Samuel Aruwan, the governor ’s spokesman, the closure of the office was due to the corruption and indiscipline of the personnel, and their lack of respect for the public. I was not too sure if I can in reality identify a

person called Vehicle Inspection Officer (VIO). I merely imagined that the governor was referring to some clowns we encounter on the roads checking vehicle particulars and drivers’ licences. Apart from their rather rude approach, there are too many people on Nigerian roads who are purportedly doing something about vehicle and safety. Perhaps ElRufai’s posture was rather harsh but his description of the uniformed road officers can hardly be faulted.

What an average road user in Nigeria easily observes is that several agencies are busy on our roads extorting money from motorists on the guise of performing the same function of scrutinizing the particulars of vehicles. This is a problem no one has been able to stop. The road officers also put up behaviours that are unbecoming of people who are supposedly on duty to

PhD,Depar tment of Philosophy, University of Lagos 08116759758

Was there a country? Agitation for Biafra and its enemies (2)

F

rom the Maitatsine riots of 1981 to the Boko Haram insurgency mostly in the North-East, the Igbo have been, disproportionately when compared with Nigerians from other ethnic groups, the greatest victims of wanton acts of destruction by their Northern compatriots for no good reason.

Remember, the brutal massacres of Ndigbo living in Northern Nigeria in 1966 triggered the same feeling of alienation among the Igbo that pro-Biafran agitators are feeling now because of the discriminatory style of Buhari, which is the psychological foundation of the decision to secede from Nigeria in the first instance.

Of course, sporadic violence against the Igbo predated independence - for example, the bloody riots of Jos and Kano in 1945 and 1953 respectively. The pogroms were caused by inter-ethnic rivalries and what Prof.

Achebe calls ekwolo, that is, deep-seated jealousy in large segments of the Northern population arising from the educational and economic success Ndigbo had achieved which allowed them to occupy top positions in the civil service, in business and in other establishments that require a high degree of technical knowledge in Northern Nigeria. In addition, the irrational, noisy and showy exhibitionism of some misguided Igbo nouveaux riches living in the North tend to infuriate their hosts who, lacking a non-ascriptive and non-hegemonic democratic tradition of managing crisis

arising from social change, often resort to violence to express their anger. This point has been adequately analysed by the political theorist, Patrick Wilmot, who points to the persistent trait of the Northern establishment to uphold and defend its political power in the society ruthlessly and tenaciously.

Those castigating proBiafran activists for championing secession “at the slightest provocation,” need to be reminded that the Igbo were not the first ethnic group to demand for separation and actively work for it. Before independence, influential members of the Northern ruling class used the threat of secession to blackmail British colonial administrators to get what they wanted. Thus, at the General Constitutional Conference at Ibadan in January 1950, the emirs of Zaria and Kano made it abundantly clear that “unless the Northern Region is allotted fifty percent of the seats in the central legislature, it will ask for separation from the rest of Nigeria on the arrangements existing before 1914.” As is well known, the overarching aim of the bloody riots in May 1966 was araba or secession. Furthermore, because of unsubstantiated fear of Igbo domination, demonstrating civil servants in Kaduna carried banners emblazoned with the strident demand, “Let there be secession.” When the governor of Northern region, Col. Hassan Usman Katsina, called a meeting of all Emirs in the region, many of them arrived with clear mandates

serve society. Quite often, they go into physical fisticuffs with drivers who refuse to be extorted as recorded by one citizen journalist in June this year at the PWD Bus Stop on Agege Motor road in Lagos. Of what use then are these officials to society? In other words, can we do without them? What has happened to Kaduna state and its people since their governor drove out the

Except the fight currently going at the top simmers down, the battle is lost from the beginning. At whatever level, the use of technology which is latest trend in governance is to me the best way to combat any societal infraction irritants from the streets about a week ago? If the truth must be told, we do not need them. First, they do nothing about safety on our roads; instead they only prolong travelling time for those going to long distances and facilitate from their subjects asking for secession of the North.

Frederick Forsyth reports that “In Zaria the Emir was mobbed by crowds begging for secession.” Isaac Adaka Boro, an Ijaw from Oloibiri, tried unsuccessfully to carve out an independent republic in the Niger Delta. In 1961 or thereabout, he lost to an Igbo in a student council election at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. As a result, he concluded that in Nigeria minorities are second-class citizens, and decided to champion the cause of his Ijaw people by forming the Niger Delta Volunteer Service, a ragtag army which was quickly dismantled by government forces. Ironically, Boro died during the civil war as a federal soldier to put down the Biafran secession.

Let us not mince words: centrifugal tendencies and separatist movements are a constant feature in federal systems all over the world.

Therefore, the United Nations recognises the right of people to self-determination if there are sufficient political, economic, socio-cultural and psychological reasons for that. Now, to determine the appropriate moment for secession and the means for actualising it is a perennial challenge to political theorists and activists.

Nevertheless, as in divorce to end a bad marriage, secession must be considered as the last resort or option, especially in cases where widespread violence and pogrom against a people are involved. Concerning the secession attempt by the Eastern region in May, 1967, a plausible case can be made that it was justified because of the killing of over thirty thousand Easterners living in Northern Nigeria and nearly one million who fled to their ancestral homes from there, mutilated, traumatised and broken. Still, the devastating civil war could have been

congestions and hold-ups in towns. Second, the fact that different agencies on the road do the same thing suggests an urgent need for the authorities to intervene.

Painfully, each of their leaders is openly canvassing that it is only his operators that are empowered to inspect particulars.

The Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi was reported to have said during a recent visit to the Inspector General Police that Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs) were not permitted by law to check drivers’ licences and vehicle particulars. If so, why are they doing so? Boboye got an immediate response from the Abuja VIO. According to their Public Relations Officer, K. K. Iloduba, the inspection of vehicles and checking of vehicles’ documents was the sole responsibility of the department. Iloduba stressed that the “FRSC has no business with vehicle papers on the road and regretted what he called the ‘overzealousness’ of FRSC officials, who have taken it upon themselves to perform the role of the VIOs. Interestingly, after laying claims to a “sole responsibility ” of his department concerning the checking of vehicle particulars, the PRO added that outside the VIO, the averted if Gowon and Ojukwu were experienced sagacious political leaders who could see the bigger picture, so to speak, by putting aside their petty jealousies and youthful exuberance. Unfortunately, they did not, and the pretence that Biafra is completely dead has been exploded by what is happening today.

The case for secession by Ndigbo now is far weaker than

The best way for the Igbo to achieve their immense potentials is to look at themselves and begin a massive process of intellectual and moral revolution aimed at eliminating those bad mental habits that have prevented them from being the best they can be the case for separation in 1967, despite the irritating anti-Igbo pattern of decisionmaking by the APC federal government. To begin with, it is definitely wrong to blame the marginalisation and underdevelopment of SouthEast on the federal government and nonindigenes alone. Largely, Ndigbo themselves are their own worst enemies. Although Northern-dominated military dictatorships had, through deliberate unfair distribution of states and local government councils, ensured that Ndigbo were relegated to a minority status in the scheme of things, some prominent sons and daughters of Igboland have, for myopic and selfish reasons, connived with others to deprive the Igbo of what is due to them.

Moreover, since the civil war ended in 1970, most

only body that has the mandate to demand for vehicle document is the Nigeria Police Force. We submit that these claims and counter claims confirm that although the Nigerian society like any other clime in the world, needs a framework for the conduct of public behaviour on our roads, the current operatives of our several agencies who are scrambling to extort money from the public are not those to be relied upon.

“Oshiomhole boys”.

Curiously, wanting to know how to identify them, I asked for the colour of their uniform and my friend said “ various”. As for their functions, the information I got was not decent enough to be reproduced here.

When next I see my governor on a flight where we usually meet, I will seek to be educated on the subject.

Going by their titles, it seems obvious that the inspection of vehicles ought to be restricted to road worthiness. Whereas a oneday old brand new vehicle could be road worthy whether it has particulars is a different matter. On the other hand, why does the FRSC make the checking of particulars a priority when damaged vehicles are here and there left on the highway to cause accidents? Besides, if FRSC is for federal roads, why are its operatives everywhere else? However, there are a number of other agencies which go by inexplicable names and whose duties can hardly be rationalized by their names. The last time I visited my state-edo, the son of my neighbour and friend was said to have been arrested by some road operatives in Benin City.

When I asked if it was VIO, Police or Road Safety, my friend said, they are

Meanwhile, whatever names or titles, road officials assume, there is need to make the point that the different agencies are aware that there are syndicates in their organizations who organize the issuance of fake particulars to unsuspecting motorists but they have done nothing to redress the situation.

Rather they only go after persons who possess fake certificates without making efforts to similarly punish their men engaged in the nefarious business. Almost every road official would quickly let off the hook, any arrested motorist who “cooperates”. At the lower level of society this is a trend which negates the anticorruption fight in Nigeria.

Thus, except the fight currently going at the top simmers down, the battle is lost from the beginning. At whatever level, the use of technology which is latest trend in governance is to me the best way to combat any societal infraction

Governors of states in the South-East, with the possible exception of late Chief Sam Mbakwe and one or two others, have embezzled a large percentage of the funds that accrued to their states from the federal government and from internally generated revenue. How many ministers of Igbo extraction used their elevated positions to develop Igboland instead of enriching themselves? What about Ndigbo in the federal legislature - how many of them have sponsored bills for the development of Igboland or initiated programmes for youth empowerment throughout the South-East.

Oftentimes, contracts for infrastructural projects in the zone awarded to companies owned by well-known Igbo politicians and businessmen were either uncompleted or not executed at all because funds meant for the projects disappeared into the private accounts of the companies’ owners. Ndigbo regularly accuse indigenes of other ethnic groups for discriminating against them unjustifiably - which is largely true. Unfortunately, Ndigbo discriminate against themselves too: the grossest instantiation of this horrifying behaviour was former governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, who dismissed civil servants from other Igbo speaking states in Abia State civil service. It is not unusual to observe someone from Anambra State discriminating against an Imo State indigene or the latter doing the same thing to someone from Abia State.

Even within each SouthEastern state, people build Berlin walls of demarcation against one another based on which part of the state or senatorial zone each person comes from. In some cases, an Igbo would frustrate a fellow Igbo from getting a job or contract because of envy and jealousy.

From my investigations, before the Biafran war, the negative traits of Ndigbo highlighted above were not as widespread as they are today.

It appears that the civil war and its negative aftermaths engendered a negative paradigm-shift in the group psychology of Ndigbo. The extreme suffering caused by the war, exacerbated by harsh antiIgbo policies by the victorious military government of Yakubu Gowon, compelled the Igbo, most of whom starting from scratch to rebuild their shattered lives, to engage in single-minded pursuit of money for survival to the detriment of time-honoured values such as truthfulness, loyalty, and the philosophy of onye aghala nwanneya.

In conclusion, there was indeed a country, Biafra, to which Ndigbo gave virtually everything. But it was shortlived. Inasmuch as there is justification for protesting unnecessary discrimination against the Igbo or any other ethnic group by President Buhari and his lieutenants, I believe that the best way for the Igbo to achieve their immense potentials is to look at themselves and begin a massive process of intellectual and moral revolution aimed at eliminating those bad mental habits that have prevented them from being the best they can be. They should stop blaming others and begin the arduous task of harnessing the incredible human and natural resources in Igboland and the Diaspora for the construction of a strong prosperous Igbo enclave within the federal republic of Nigeria. Pro-Biafran agitators should focus their attention and energy on the agbata ekee politicians that have betrayed the trust of Ndigbo and make them accountable to the people. The Igbo must remove the cotton wool in their eyes first so that they can see clearly the logs in the eyes of other Nigerians. Concluded

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 33

By P. D. COLE REVIEW

P

rofessor Titus Okereke has written an excellent book even if at times it is an unhappy book. His own irrepressible personality shines through the book – he is a friendly man, a thoughtful person who is willing at times to follow the consequences of his thinking.

Most people think but allow circumstances to dictate their action. Not so Titus. The book is delightful as it takes us through his first thoughts – not of Ajalli but of a two days water trip to Sapele where he grew up. He later lived in Warri and at Ughelli where he went to Secondary School. He was a flyer, because at age 23 he had finished his first degree from University College, Ibadan and at 26 or so he had his PH.D from the University of Moscow. Prof. Okereke won many literary awards, as he should, and would have been a noted Parasitelogist had history not played havoc with his life.

The book is a travelogue of one friend to another, most of whom he met at Government College, Ughelli. His classmates were nearly all as brilliant; nearly all went to University and got good jobs. He lived in an age when getting a degree was easy and straight forward. 3 years at Ibadan. The book reveals the quality of education and the quality of life in the Universities

By JAPHET ALAKAM REVIEW

I

t is often said that the worst form of democracy is better than the best military rule, that is why people rejoice during democratic rule as it will afford them the opportunity to elect their leaders who will in turn deliver the much desired dividends of democracy to them. But, what becomes the fate of the people when the politicians who are voted into power abandone their campaign promises and fail to deliver.

In a such a situation as we witness in almost all the third world countries, what are the electorate expected to do?

This has been the million dollar question that has been begging for answer and it was in response to it, that Dr Onyeka Iwuchukwu, a literary scholar with bias in drama and theatre, a multidisciplinary researcher, and a playwright with varied experience came out with a new book, titled, Our Honourable Member.

In the 122 pages drama book published by MacckhoRicckho Press and Publishing Co. Ltd, Lagos Iwuchukwu brings her wealth of experience to bear as she makes a compelling statement about politicians and their unfulfilled promises which lead to the impoverishment of the majority of the electorate and the enrichment of themselves.

Our Father’s Land by Titus Okereke then – one person to a room; being served food at the refectory (no one called it “canteen”), clothes washed by a washer man, shoes polished etc. Prof. Okereke teases us with a few escapades and picaddillos but like the gentleman he is, tells no tales. A likeable easy going person during a likeable easy going period. I guess what most so called “Biafrans” miss is this facility – to work where you choose, to move when you choose without let or hindrance because the jobs they do were on merit not on privilege.

It is worth reflecting that when our parents choose which schools we went to, they had also chosen what our character will be. The friends, you keep for the rest of your lives are those you met at school. So if Prof. Okereke says he taught at the University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria Nsukka and University of Benin

The book is a travelogue of one friend to another, most of whom he met at Government College, Ughelli

heartland shrung.

He worked in m i l i t a r y intelligence agency about which he typically tells us little. But the ferocious rumour mill which drove him from I b a d a n continue to pursue him or read at the School of Tropical medicine, London, or at Cornell University, Ithaca, he met other Nigerians who interacted and affected his life. Only our politicians and rulers seem to go to school with no classmates, no dates of schooling or some fictitious Toronto Chicago university or some school which has no records. Perhaps it should now be mandatory to name at least 5 co-students who would testify that indeed they were at school with you. On second thoughts why? Our intrepid politicians will pay 5 people to testify!!

Now to the meat of the bookBiafra. Titus Okereke is not an ideologue and cannot be. But he felt genuine fears in Ibadan which made him go to Nsukka where there was little peace as the Igbo

through 1967-1970. Rumour fed on rumour: panic resulted.

One of the saving graces of the Nigerian Civil War or the Biafra War of Independence was that it did not, like other civil wars in the world, mean large scale immigration and settlement after settlement. The war was relatively short and many people were able to return to where they worked before or lived before without too much harassment. Prof. Okereke berates General Gowon as insincere in his 3Rs. You may abuse General Gowon for all kinds of things- insincerity is not one of them. The debates about Biafra would not cease easily but books which merely reaffirm prejudices do an injustice to all of us.

Let’s be clear. There was wide spread pogrom in the North after

How not to be an honourable member The play is subdivided into four parts,namely plowing, planting, weeding and harvest, each part dealing with one particular episode in the course of the struggle from the campaign by the politicians and their promises, the build up by the women, the election proper and the demand by the women, how the politician and their cohorts tried to stop them and how they finally forced the representative to bow.

In the play which is set against the background of a society that has thrown morality to the winds, Iwuchukwu who is also an Associate Professor of English at the National Open University of Nigeria. presents a group of women who organised themselves and decides to challenge their own representative to account for his stewardship.

They insist that the majority of the people should not be

Interestly, the play, like her other plays are easier to understand because the various themes relate to everyday occurences

allowed to wallow in abject poverty, while a handful lives in opulence in a country that belongs to all. They therefore demand that their new representative fulfils his election promises since they mobilized themselves and others to vote out their former representative who spent four years in the House but could not attract any social amenity to their community. At a lavish party organized by the new representative, the women demand the fulfilment of the promises he made during his campaingns.

Dr. Iwuchukwu can be said to possess the qualities of the good writer, as a cursory look at the book reveals her artistic bent as well as her simplicity in the use of language.

Interestingly, the play like her other plays are easier to understand because the various themes relate to everyday occurrences.

Written in plain language and spiced with proverbs for easy reading and understanding, the book is embedded with lots of messages. First, it highlighted the fundamental problems facing man in contemporary Nigerian society, the need for politicians to deliver according to their campaign promises, the need for people to come together and present their case as exemplified by the way the women mobilised themselves

and challenged the status quo, the role of women in the change system and finally the need for the electrote to reject the paltry offers the politicians offer them to buy their votes.

The work is a very good attempt by the author, despite some avoidable errors, for example her use of Igbo language and its translation which has no defined boundary, the play is good. It is a work of art that has all that it takes to bring the desired change in the society, it is recommended for all especially movie producers, as it is a well written script begging for adaptation into a film.

Our Honourable Member; Dr Onyeka Iwuchukwu; Macckho-Ricckho Press and Publishing Co. Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria; 2014; PP. 122

the death of Sarduana and Tafawa Balewa. It is one of the unhappy fates in life that people will read all kinds of meaning in your action even when you claim that is not what you wanted to do.

If all the Premiers and the Prime minister were to be killed then do so. By sparing Chief Michael Opara and Chief Dennis Osadebey and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe but killing those mentioned above including Chief Festus Okotie Eboh and Chief S.L. Akintola the 1966 coupists lost their moral basis or at least opened the door for thinking that this was an Ibo coup. Should the North have reacted by slaughtering innocent Ibo in their midst-? No. In fact had they come to the table to discuss the future of Nigeria at that time the North would have had a higher moral ground.

Prof. Okereke makes much of Aburi. The truth was that in 19667 the officers who struck were inexperienced, immature, blood thirsty charlatans who killed their intellectual and moral and leadership betters. The soldiers of 1966/1967 etc were small men, with puny minds dealing with monumentally large issues. They were bound to fail. Nigeria is a big nation beyond the comprehension of small men with, as my friend would say, the brains of a lizard. Once the cycle of violence began, it could not be easily stopped as Prof. Okereke tells us in his book. Those who thought differently from Col. Ojukwu paid the ultimate price Col. Ijeanuna, Banjo, Sam Agbam, Major Philip Adibe. Prof Okereke makes much about Awolowo’s statements- he understand the suffering of the Igbo, if they seceded so would the West. All that needs to be said about this was that Col. Ojukwu should have sought greater reliance and action from Chief Obafemi Awolowo and both of them should have declared secession simultaneously..

It is indeed surprising that throughout the mayhem Northerners unleashed on Nigerians, no commander, no leader West or North constantly, asked that Igbos should not be killed. Many Yorubas and non Igbos were also slaughtered. No one went out of his way to reassure all Nigerians that they were safe and should not be subjects of ethnic cleansing and doing something about that. No one was punished for needlessly killing Igbo. During times of horrors, heroes emerge. There were several Hausas and Northerners who hid and saved Igbo and Yorubas. Many Yorubas also saved Ibo. My friend Kunle Oyenuga was told by his neighbour to leave Jos before 6am otherwise he would kill Kunle. The man fled out of Jos at 3am.

Prof. Okereke makes the point that more could have been done to rehabilitate the Igbo. I believed that Chief Awolowo’s capping of all Igbo account at £20 is unjust and even to-day, where money could be proved to be theirs should be returned to them. In any ease where did their money go to?

As for Abandoned Property I am yet to hear that the houses were undervalued as at the time Major Mark did his work.

To be continued

PAGE 34,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

The Caliphate, The Emir and Nigeria’s Master Race

By Femi Fani-Kayode ‘’Do not call a conspiracy what these people call a conspiracy, neither fear ye their fear but sanctify the Lord your God in your heart and let Him be your only fear”- ISAIAH 8:12

I

Nan essay, titled, ‘’Afenifere: A Syl labus Of Errors’’, written in 1998 and published in Gamji.com, Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi wrote the following: ‘’Anyone who needs a lesson in how not to be a politician, and how never to win power in Nigeria should study Yoruba politicians.

“Unless the Yoruba masses disown Afenifere, this group of degree-bearing political illiterates will lead Yoruba land down its own version of a syllabus of errors, an island unto themselves, allucinating in their own idiocy and content to remain marginalisedcitizensintheirowncountrywhile blaming the North for their self – inflicted woes.

“The syllabus of errors remains a black spot on the history of the Catholic Church. Afenifere will be an even blacker spot on the political history of the Yoruba.

Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi’s pedigree speaks mountains of what his political stance would be ab initio. “He probably believes, like other Fulani politicians, that the problems of this country have a lot to do with the shift in power away from the Fulani to individuals like Babangida and Abacha, products of lower cultures’.

“The Fulani of the North, proud of the history of the Caliphate, remain proud of the roles played by Fulani leaders of the political and military establishment in Nigeria- Ahmadu Bello, Murtala Muhammed, Aminu Kano, Shehu Yar’Adua, Shehu Shagari, Jubril Aminu.

“They are sad that other Nigerians do not know the difference in ethnic background between say, Murtala Muhammed and Ibrahim Babangida.Theydonotunderstandhowaman like Abacha, born to a cigarette-seller in Fagge quarters of Kano (and this speaksmountainsofhim,howheruled and how he died), can be taken as the quintessential representative of the Caliphate whose head he disgraced and whose culture and values he sought to erode.

“So, Shinkafi probably believes in the need for a power-shift: Back to the Fulani. He may not be alone in this tendency. Politicians like Mahmud Waziri, Bamanga Tukur, Jubril Aminu, even M. D. Yusufu may consciously or unconsciously have similar views.

“To the Fulani, there is nothing like ceding the presidency or power. If you want it, you work for it...If you lack the stomach to dig in and fight, too bad for you. Southern politicians have always failed to understand the complexity of the North and its politics’’.

These are interesting words from an interesting Fulani man. The disdain and sheer contempt that Emir Sanusi harbors for non-Fulanis and southerners and for Afenifere and the Yoruba people in particular remains intact till today. His assertion that ‘’southern politicians have always failed to understand the complexity of the North’’ is false.

Racist views Despite the fact that we southerners understand the nature of core northern politicians and leaders very well, we have always chosen to hold our peace, condone their excesses, carry their baggage and accept their strange ways and complicated peculiarities in the name of national unity.

The truth is that it is Emir Sanusi and his Fulani people that have misunderstood southerners all along. We in the South may be accommodating, tolerant and generous people, but our kindness and liberal nature must never be mistaken for stupidity or weakness. That is the mistake that people like Sanusi often make with their racist views and condescending words. He forgets that the culture and history of most of the southern empires and kingdoms predate that of the Fulani Caliphate by hundreds of years.

17yearsafterSanusiwrotethispiece about southerners, I have decided to respond to him by sharing my views about the core North and its Fulani leaders. This is especially so because we have a hardline Fulani conservative at the helm of affairs in our country today.

Sanusi wrote his views about the South in 1998 when his fellow northerner was Head of State, but I choose to write my views about the North, not when my fellow southerner is in power,butratherwhenanorthernerisPresident. I have not taken offence at Emir Sanusi’s views about southerners and I sincerely hope that he and his people will not take offence at my views about core northerners.

This essay will not only be deemed as being controversial but its contents will also be keenly contested and scrutinized. This is because I am going to express some home truths here which the majority of our people know to be true but few are prepared to voice.

Conspiracy of silence I am making this intervention not out of hate but out of love and compassion for those who have lost their lives at the hands of our adversaries over the last 55 years. I am also mindful of the fact that every single person that is a member of the ruling class or that has held a position of leadership in this country between 1960 and today, including yours truly, has to take partial responsibility for the terrible things that our people have experienced over the years, for the criminal negligence that we have all indulged in, for the shameful conspiracy of silence that we appear to relish and for the abysmal and pitiable situation that we have found ourselves in as a people and as a nation.

Those of us that are members of the ruling elite are all, in varying degrees, guilty and it is to partly ameliorate thatsenseofguiltthatIfeelconstrained to speak out and expose the truth.

I am not a racist or tribalist. I deplore violence and bloodshed. I have no hate in me for any individual or ethnic group and I am a firm believer in the view that all men are equal before God regardless of the circumstances of their birth, their creed, their tribe, their nationality or the color of their skin. Whilst I hold these truths to be self-evident , I also believe that it is incumbent upon those of us that lay claim to being leaders to always speak the truth about the history and unfolding events in our country no matter how uncomfortable that truth may be.

Despite all the insults, threats, misrepresentation and, often times, slanderous and utterly bizarre allegations that I, my family and my loved ones have been subjected to over the years from ignorant, venal and hate-filled men, I shall be counted among those few voices.

If nothing else that is good enough for me and with that alone I would have made a meaningful contribution to my nation’s history and done my forefathers proud. It is with this in mind that I urge readers to fasten their seat belts and consider the following con-

•Chief Femi Fani-Kayode tribution.

When Cain killed his brother Abel, the Bible tells us that God asked him the following question: “Where is thy brother Abel?”

Cain responded in a defiant manner: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God responded by telling Cain that his brother’s blood was crying to Him from the ground for vengeance. From that point, Cain was afflicted with a terrible curse which could not be lifted because it came from the Living God. Whereverhewent,thecursethatgoes with shedding his brother’s innocent blood followed him. This was made worse by the fact that he refused to repent or show remorse for what he haddone.Everythingthathedidfailed and everywhere he went he was despised, rejected, feared, hated and viewed with suspicion by his compatriots, colleagues and fellow men.

Tragedy and misfortune stalked him and he ended up being nothing but a vagabond, a marauder, a parasite and a wanderer in foreign lands. He becameabywordandaproverb:aherder of goats and cattle who lived and survived by guile, doublespeak, stealing, pillaging and intimidating others. He became the proverbial leech who made a headway in life only by benefiting from the sweat, labour and hard work of his hosts and benefactors, by sponging off whichever community gave him succour and by resorting to violence and bloodshed at the slightest opportunity and at the drop of a hat.

He also acquired an obsession with controlling others and an insatiable lust for power and the perpetual dom-

Is it any wonder that Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, one of the most respected northern voices in the country, recently, said ‘’the northern Muslim elite laid the foundation for Boko Haram?”

ination, suppression and conquest of what he perceived as “lesser tribes and lesser people”.

Open defiance Simplyput,hewasadangerouspredator who sought to milk others dry and conquer by guile and assimilation.

There are comparisons to be made with Nigeria here.

Sinister forces and dark elements from the deeply conservative core NorthhavekilledmoreMiddleBelters and southerners than any other in our country over the last 55 years. Worse still, those forces do not just kill but they also establish their own communities in the land and territory of their victims and forcefully occupy it. They have refused to stop doing so and, to all intents and purposes, they have developed an insatiable blood lust which compels them to shed innocent blood at the slightest whim in order to subjugate others and to remain in power.

The South, whom our British colonial masters once referred to as the “rich wife”, has effectively become the Abel of Nigeria whilst the conservativecoreNorth,whomtheyoncecalled the “poor husband”, has now become the Cain. For many years, the Lord has been asking the core North what they have done to their southern and Middle Belt brothers and why they keep doing it.

For years, the conservative core North has responded with defiance and anger and asked God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The result of this open defiance and lack of remorse is simpleandclear:Ithasattracted.God’s wrath. Is it any wonder that Boko Haram now ravages the core North?

Is it any wonder that every single core northern leader that has ever ruled Nigeria since 1960 has either been killed or died in mysterious circumstances whilst on the throne or was removed in a military coup and then subjected to a number of years in detention?

Is it any wonder that the core North is totally dependent on the rest of the countryforitssustenanceandeconomic survival? Is it any wonder that a UNICEF report, released a few years ago, stated that if Nigeria were to ever break up, that the core North would be the most impoverished, the most backward, the most unsustainable and the most barren area in the whole of the West African sub-region?

Is it any wonder that they were viewed with so much suspicion by others that the core northern states were excised from the country by Major Gideon Orkar in his 1991 coup broadcast and asked to re-apply if they wanted to be part of Nigeria again?

Is it any wonder that the leading south-westernpoliticianwithintherul-

ing All Peoples Congress (APC) is secretly complaining and quietly lamenting the fact that he was used in the 2015 elections by the core North simply to put one of their own back in power so that their hegemony could beresurrectedandtheiragendaofperpetual and everlasting northern rule could be established forever? Is it any wonder that, according to a survey carried out this year by Global.

Terror Index, which was published intheUnitedKingdom’sIndependent Newspaper, that two of the four most deadly terrorist organisations in the world today are based in core northern Nigeria and are led, funded, peopled and inspired by some core northern Nigerians?

According to the report, Nigeria’s Boko Haram is now officially the world’s most deadly terrorist organisation whilst what they have described as ‘’the Fulani militants’’ (aka Nigeria’s Fulani herdsmen) are number four. Is it any wonder that, according to the same Global Terror Index report, Nigeria is now the “third most terrorised nation in the world” whilst Iraq and Afghanistan remain the first and second and Syria and Pakistan remain the fourth and fifth respectively? Given this, is it any wonder that there are loud and increasingly persistent calls for self-determination in southern Nigeria?

Child brides Is it any wonder that the core North isravagedbypoverty,disease,violence, strife, conflict, stagnation and bareness more than anywhere else in our country? Is it any wonder that, according to a 2015 UNICEF report, Nigeria has the ‘’highest number of child brides on the African continent’’ with no less than 23 million child brides in the North?

Is it any wonder that, according to the World Health Organisation, northern Nigeria has the ‘’highest number of young girls in the world suffering from vagina vesicovaginal fistula (VVF)’’, a disease which comes asaconsequenceofsexualintercourse with young under age girls?

Is it any wonder that many core North is afflicted with a self-serving and calculating ultra-conservative ruling elite who keep their own people in perpetual subjugation, darkness and bondage and who come from a distant foreign land called Fouta Jallon in modern-day Guinea?

Is it any wonder that most core northernersnamethemselvesafterthe towns and villages that they were born and raised in rather than after their families and forefathers? Is it any wonder that we have a core northern President who finds it difficult to stay at home?

Is it any wonder that an influential leader from one of the core northern states, who later became a traditional ruler, was an Islamic fundamentalist in his youth, and was one of those that inspiredandorchestratedthemurderof Gideon Akaluka for “desecrating the Koran?”

Is it any wonder that a core northern NigerianbythenameofOmarFarouk AbdulMutallab,the ‘’underwearbomber’’ who tried to blow up an American airliner that was filled with passengers in Detroit, told the FBI that his ‘’most trustedmentor’’and‘’favoriteuncle’’was a well-known and leading core northernleader?IsitanywonderthatBishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, one of the most respected northern voices in the country, recently, said ‘’the northern Muslim elite laid the foundation for Boko Haram?” *Fani-KayodewasMinisterofAviation under the Obasanjo administration.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 35

C M Y K

PAGE 36— SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 37

Somebody must be lying about Dasuki (1) “Dasuki lists ex-governors, PDP chiefs in $2b deals.”

Yusuf Alli, NATION, December 3, 2015, page 1.

“Quote me anywhere, Dasuki has not done anything like that. It is absolutely untrue [underlining mine].. It is the figment of the imagination of the authors aimed at creating falsehood for reasons best known to them and Nigerians should disregard them.”

Mr A. Raji, SAN, Dasuki’s lawyer. eldom has a front page report written by a veteran journalist, like Yusuf Alli, been so quickly disclaimed by a party close to the matter as this one. Of the two disputants, Alli and Raji, Alli has the uphill task because he must not only defend himself on the charges made by Raji that he had caused his paper to publish falsehood, he must defend the profession of journalism as well. In a

S

matter such as this one, involving the Federal Government, now under the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Dasuki, Nigerians want to be told the truth and nothing but the truth. There should be no government propaganda served as news, nor media trial of suspects.

The facts must speak for themselves.

At the moment certain facts have placed Alli in the defenders position on this matter. The NATION, for which he writes, is not neutral on this matter and cannot be relied upon to be objective. It is the APC’s paper and there is no need to pretend about that. I have subscribed to the paper everyday from the first publication because it provided the balance to the ruling party’s attempt to feed us with lies. I remain an unrepentant disciple of I.F Stone who said that “Every government is run by liars and nothing they say

Time to give back We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop t is high time Nigerians received a windfall, we know what is going on; there are billions of pounds that have been recovered and are languishing in the coffers or there about. This money can definitely make a difference in the quantity of lives of ordinary Nigerians.

It is about time the government acted expediently to circulate the clawed back loot from the greedy politicians, and give back the money to the rightful owners: the Nigerian people.

We are talking of billions of pounds here, billions in pounds,not in Naira . It would be good if some of these monies are used to pay salaries of workers, invest in industries, and lend money to small traders, buildings, transport, health and education.

It is important that people see that there is a real shift and that the fight on corruption continues regardless. It is cold comfort to say that things are changing and people cannot see or feel it. It is important to bring confidence and motivation to Nigeria, only then real

I

C M Y K

change can happen. At the moment Nigeria is not, it has not been working for some time.

People are still queuing for oil, food prices are high and living today is becoming difficult. One thing that cannot be said about Nigerians is that they are not patient, they have been patient and have received little or nothing for their effort.

May I suggest that they look into what Finland is doing? If Finnish proposal is anything to go by; they are proposing to give every Finn to 800 euros tax free each month, and it will cost the government 52.2 billion euros a year.

I know the population of Finland is very minuscule compared to Nigeria but the principle is very transferable.

When is change going to come to Nigeria? So why the Buhari administration embarked on similar proposal?

In the light of the $322m that the former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala released to the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki for military operations. It seems that the loot was divided up by the usual suspects and was misap-

should be believed”.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 80). I remain to be convinced that a change has come.

With APC in government and power, the NATION has been transformed to the government’s paper. As far as I am concerned it is difficult to regard anybody serving on the paper as objective since the owners have an interest in the outcome of every matter that has a political overtone. That is one reason why everything written in it that is destructive of the interests of anybody not in APC has to be examined critically – irrespective of the writer.

Lawyer Raji had called Alli a journalist a liar. Alli must respond. While lawyers are under no obligation to utter the truth, journalists worldwide operate under the same code of conduct – FACTS ARE SACRED; COMMENTS ARE FREE. Alli cannot take shelter under the excuse of “protecting sources” when Raji is claiming that the journalist is guilty of defamation of Dasuki and engaging in media trial.

Alli was not running commentary; he was writing a report. He would have violated the first principle of journalism if anything in that report is untrue. Neither can he claim he was seeking justice. The media gets the facts and lets the judiciary determine what is just. And the general public also propriated. And now that the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to "apologise to Nigerians for misleading them that the recovered Abacha loot was transparently spent , knowing fully well that the $322m recovered Abacha funds were inappropriately released to finance the fight against the insurgents.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has got a case to answer and she can no longer keep mum and this is not the time for no answer and no apologies, right now she needs to grovel. At some point, we need to know; under her watch, substantial amount of money was mismanaged and for someone with an esteem past, world bank and on the platform of transparency and with the pledge to safeguard Nigeria's public finances .

She was the clean broom brought to reform the nation's commonwealth and now this?

SERAP's is right to say that she has done her reputation more harm than good. They went on; "We hope that she will take cue from the World Bank (her former employer) when it defined 'accountability and probity' as knowing what task has been set, accepting to do it, and going about it with a sense of probity.

Probity implying the willingness to self-disclose such information to which a specific stakeholder group has a right as well as tolerance of the scrutiny of such a stakeholder group on information to which they have a right" And they echo every Ni-

must have the facts; but, it better be done without media mob rule encouraged by jaundiced reporting.

Dasuki’s matter presents us with one of those cases which test our credentials as democrats and fighters for justice to the limit. Already some lawyers formerly believed to be strongly in support of human rights have also changed their tunes.

Recent appointments and the pronouncements of some of the lawyers have revived the feeling that they have been seeking public office all

government might not be so generous. Indeed they might consider that they are doing him a favour by helping to settle scores.

They might jeopardize the cases by doing shoddy jobs of investigation and allowing the accused persons, even if guilty, to get away on account of their mistakes.

One such mistake might have been inadvertently revealed in the report by Alli. Even if true, the report had alerted several

Was Okonjo-Iweala aware that so much money was being taken from the CBN and did she raise an alarm? If the NSA can so easily hijack US$2bn maybe Abuja has become one great lunatic asylum… along. “Machiavellism”, the end justifies the means, seems rampant these days. So, in our haste to “deal with” some people everything including unsubstantiated allegations about the accused is reported as fact for consumption by the gullible.

Dasuki, as we all know, has served the previous government and he had been involved in a personal matter with the present President in the past. Although, Buhari had pronounced that he harbours no ill-feelings, some of his aides in

individuals who might be implicated that they should run as fast as they can away from Nigeria.

Thereafter, the cases will take ten times longer to be prosecuted as the Federal government will find itself fighting several cases for extradition of wanted individuals. Buhari would have been out of office.

Meanwhile, it is curious that several individuals who should be called in by the original investigators and the EFCC had not been invited. Since the

gerian’s anguish; "We therefore urge her to now come out for the sake of millions of Nigerians living in extreme poverty but also of generations as yet unborn and tell Nigerians the whole story about what exactly happened to recovered Abacha loot, as well as publicly apologise for claiming that Abacha loot was transparently spent. She should be willing to be held to account," Do I think she will sing like a canary? I don't think so. If she does then, more heads will roll and the rot runs very

way they can, where ever they are. They do this without fanfare or seeking rewards, if only there are more Nigerians who are altruistic. It is a little wonder how we do not have more compassionate people in a country where majority of its citizens claim to be religious.

Actually showing compassion is one of the cornerstone of many religions, yet it we seem to gloss over this when we profess to be rigours and pies. ? Dalai Lama once said of compassion;" If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion."

Actual helping others has its own rewards and anyone could do their bit, with whatever they have and need not be grand, they put their minds to it.

Majority of Nigerians have been conditioned to think that it has to be that there always something for something, that people cannot simply exhibit kindness without a catch. Actually, they do and there are Nigerians who do just that home and abroad, and they do not make a song and dance about it. Contrary to what most of us are accustomed to; people who will donate a carton of sugar and a bag of flour to an orphanage and they will invite a gaggle of press to take pictures so that everyone knows how generous they are.

These people do not understand the essence of true altruism; that only when you help people who have no means of repaying your kindness, then you are truly giving and

We therefore urge her to now come out for the sake of millions of Nigerians living in extreme poverty but also of generations as yet unborn and tell Nigerians the whole story about what exactly happened to recovered Abacha loot deep indeed. She will implicate many people and maybe that is not a bad thing.

Someone has cooked the books and Okonjo-Iweala cannot pretend she was not aware of what went on. There have been some ghost contracts and ghost projects and it is about time we all know and what they did with the money.

In today's Nigeria where, people often take, take and they do not give. It is convenient to tar all Nigerians with the same brush. However, there are Nigerians who try their best to make a difference in any

investigation was supposed to cover 2007 to 2015, then one would have expected the Ministers of Finance, Defence, the NSAs, as well as the three Governors of the Central Bank (Soludo, Sanusi and Emefelue) should have been asked to shed light on how and why such huge amounts of public funds were moved out on the orders of Dasuki.

Are my Fellow Countrymen (as Thomas Carlyle, 17951881, said about Britons “mostly fools”) supposed to believe that the National Security Adviser, NSA, can drive trailers to the Central Bank and order the CBN Governor to load US$2 billion and it would be done – no questions asked?

Are we to believe that none of the CBN Governors called Yar ’Adua and Jonathan to ask if they should request for a straight jacket for a lunatic called NSA? Were the withdrawals authorized and who did it? Was Okonjo-Iweala aware that so much money was being taken from the CBN and did she raise an alarm? If the NSA can so easily hijack US$2bn maybe Abuja has become one great lunatic asylum…

SOMEBODY MUST BE LYING ABOUT DASUKI – 2 “Journalists say a thing that they know isn’t true in the hope that if they keep on saying it long enough, it will be true.” Julien Benda, 1857-1952.

making a difference in the lives of others.

Here in the UK, we get our share of Nigerians who bang the drums for their "charitable work "and those who quietly do this and change the lives of people around them just because they can and they do this not for acknowledgement nor praise. They just do it because it is the right thing to do and for those people, I applaud them and I wish there are a lot of these compassionate people.

These public spirited minded Nigerians who give time and support, I applaud each and every one of these selfless people.

One such person is Tayo Fatunla. Tayo began his cartooning career in Nigeria drawing for Punch newspapers, Daily Times and The Guardian to name a few.

Some may remember his OMOBA cartoons and this was where his career as a cartoonist took off and this was where first I met him at the Punch Newspaper office, when he was the resident cartoonist and we got on like a house on fire and over the years our paths have crossed many times.

We collaborated on a few projects of mine, he illustrated a free health promotion newsletters for barbers and hairdressers that I produced in South London. Approaching Tayo, with the idea, of producing a free health newsletter that people can pick up at their local barbers and hairdressers seems to be the answer and Tayo came on board and helped translate some of the messages in his inimitable style; diffusing health matters with humour.

PAGE 38 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

OLU OF WARRI’S CORONATION The coronation ceremony of the Olu of Warri, HRM, Ikenwoli I, in Warri, Delta State, yesterday

Royal boat and others during the regatta.

Pa Higson Jofotan Oporokun, the Olaraja of Jakpa, with the crown as HRM, Ikenwoli I, and his chiefs as the Olaraja is about to crown the Olu of Warri

The Olu of Warri performing some rites before his coronation.

HRM, Ikenwoli I, the Olu of Warri.

Dr. Kachikwu Ibe, Minister of Petroleum andEngr. Babachir David Lawal, SGF

Royal boat and others during the boat regatta.

His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife.

Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State; Sen. Bola Tinubu and Mr. Sam Amuka, Publisher, Vanguard Newspapers.

C M Y K

From right: HRM Ogbon, Ogoni-Oghoro I, Ohworode of Olomu,;HRM, King Daudeson Jaja, King Jaja of Opobo; HRM, Alhaji Aliyu Kevin Danesi, the Aidonogie of South-Idie, HRM, Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe and Rear Admiral Princeton Omatsola (retd).

SUND AY Vanguard , DECEMBER 13 , 2015, PAGE 39 SUNDA

PAGE 40—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 41

Holy Ghost Congress: Prominent clerics hold special prayer for Nigeria BY: OLAYINKA LATONA

P

RAYERS were daily of fered for God’s interven tion in the country at the ongoing 18th annual Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, as several eminent gospel ministers from various denominations led the daily expanding crowd of worshipers in supplication to intercede for the family, the church, leaders ,youth and the nation at large.

The president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, (PFN), General Evangelist of Christ Apostolic Church, Worldwide, Prophet Kayode Abiara Rev. Felix Omobude, General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Felix Meduoye, founder of the Fountain of Life Bible church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya including the host of the annual Holy Ghost Congress, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye and his wife all on led the mammoth crowd to pray for peace and tranquility in the country and other nations of the world.

Praying for the nation, Pastor Folu Adeboye asked the congregations to appreciate God for His love and mercy over Nigeria and that God should release

From left: Assistant General Overseer, The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor J .H Abiona (retd), Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife; Dolapo, Lagos State governor, Akinwumi Ambode and his wife; Abolanle and wife of Bayelsa state governor, Rachel Dickson at the 2015 RCCG Holy Ghost Congress in Ogun State. Photos: Adejo David flood of righteousness and flush out activities of terrorists, unrest and other challenges confronting the giant of Africa. And that holiness, obedience to God and constituted authorities will reign among Nigerians for divine blessing and peace in the nation.

Mummy G.O also prayed for divine wisdom, knowledge for leaders praying that God will give them power to be faithful, fear God, lead aright, committed to their works having the love of the masses at the back of their minds.

Advising couples to honour and keep their marriage vows, Prophet Abiara while praying for the families explained that for peace to reign in the family, it is important for couples to adhere strictlyto their marriage vows.

Lamenting the high rate of divorce among couples, the man of God said there was need for the Church to pray for peace in families as peace experienced in individual families will transcend to the nation at large.

In his words: “God created man and woman and blessed them to

have a wonderful and joyful home but due to sin, man lost that glory. There are cases where couples killed themselves, children disobedient to their parents while most of our youths engaged in social vices. All these were happening because we have departed from God. If we return to God, He will heal our families and we will experience peace like a river.”

Describing love as the bedrock of any marriage, Abiara asked couples to have genuine love for one another, learn to forgive and forget; adding that any of the couple who failed to forgive the wrong committed by his or her partner was wicked person.

In his special talk and prayer for the church, the General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Felix Meduoye, told the worshippers that the Church, as a body of Christ, has lot of responsibilities on it, to show forth God’s light through preaching of the gospel, revealing God’s agenda for mankind, also as most powerful agent of change that God placed on earth, saying anything against such is a disappointment to God’s kingdom.

In his message titled : “Floodgate of Heaven, the general overseer of the church, Pastor Adeboye said God did not have to create new windows and gates

for Him to pour His blessings saying heaven has gates and windows.

Highlighting five things that would happen when God open windows of heaven, Pastor Adeboye said: “stagnation will end and progress will start, destitution becomes abundance, the hopeless begins to sing a new song, the siege will be over and God will cause once enemies to hear a noise and they will scatter.”

The cleric however noted that floodgate of heaven will only open for those who serve God faithfully with their might and also propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ, “God will not waste His blessings on those who will not use it for His glory, God will only prosper those who will be divine treasurer” he said.

Pastor Adeboye explained that sin, unforgiveness, not having right perspective for getting breakthrough, laziness in place of prayer, failure to preach the gospel among others are some of the obstacles that hinder prayers.

Some of the dignitaries that attended the Friday Holy Ghost Congress are Vice president of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo with his wife, Ondo state governor, His excellency, Olusegun Mimiko, Lagos state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, The wife of the deputy governor of Kogi State, Mrs. Tokunbo Awoniyi, Bayelsa state governor’s wife, Mrs. Rachel Dickson.

Number of children born as at Friday night was 38, 20 boys and 18 girls.

I

F we were to value our salvation, we would also value the forgiveness of our sins. If we are overwhelmed by the abundant mercies of God, it must be because we recognise that we are sinners who received forgiveness from God. Paradoxically, the greater the sinner we were before we met Christ, the more zealous we often are as believers. When we recognise how far gone and undeserving of mercy we were, we are more inclined to live a life of deep gratitude and devotion to God as believers.

That is probably why God sometimes waits for four hundred years before bringing deliverance; as he did with the children of Israel in Egypt. That is why Jesus sometimes waits for 38 years before healing a sick man; as he did with the paralytic at Bethesda. That is why the goodness of God often leads us to repentance. (Romans 2:4). When we are delivered, we break down and cry because it is clear that we are so undeserving of it. We know full well we could never have achieved it on our own.

Imperative to forgive As believers, we must never forget for a single moment that we were forgiven. We must never forget that we received the forgiveness of sins. The forgiven must forgive. When Christians bear malice; when we divorce our wives and husbands instead of seeking reconciliation; when we are bitter against our neighbours for perceived wrongs done to us; it shows we don’t have eter-

THE BLESSING OF THE LORD (3) nal life operating in us.

Joseph was quick to forgive his brothers. God required Job to forgive his vicious friends. When he did, the Lord redeemed all his losses: “The LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10). Even so will the Lord redeem all the losses of those believers who forgive from the heart any and every wrong done to them.

It should be abundantly clear, therefore, that the unforgiving spirit is one of the most heinous of sins. It is one transgression God himself will not forgive.

The Lord would not have a relationship with someone who bears grudges. Peace must be restored with all before our relationship with the Holy Spirit can flourish. When we were at enmity with the Lord, there was no relationship with him. Similarly, if we are at loggerheads with our neighbour, Peter warns that our prayers may be hindered. (I Peter 3:7).

Jesus’ commandments Jesus says: “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your

There are so many things God will not do for us. One of them is that he will not forgive others for us.

Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25-26).

Jesus says furthermore: “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:2324).

This scripture is hardly addressed in the churches today out of concern it might affect negatively the size of the offering-basket.

But when we ignore it, or fail to appreciate its importance, we do so at our own peril. Jesus gives an example of a servant who was forgiven his debts but then grabbed someone indebted to him by the throat, insisting: “Pay me what you owe me.” That servant forfeited the grace of God. Jesus says: “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged

me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

(Matthew 18:32-35).

How do we grab people by the throat? We do so when we condemn a sinner; when we reject those who do not meet our standards; when we are vindictive; when we speak unkindly of others and mock or laugh at them. When this happens, we disqualify ourselves from God’s mercies. It shows we don’t understand salvation. It shows we don’t know the kind of spirit we are now made of.

Core principles Jesus teaches: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged.

Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and it will be given to

you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:37-38).

This scripture has been largely distorted by pastors and preachers. It has been presented as a formula for getting financial rewards from God by giving money to the church. But while the pastoral path to abundance is formulaic; the godly path to abundance is through character-formation. Jesus is looking for a change in our posture towards others and not for an increase in our material possessions.

Judge not; condemn not; forgive and give. These four principles have to do with everything that concerns our Christian walk.

Giving touches the core of all life's relationships. If we are slow to give, we will be slow to forgive.

Let me point out here that there is a difference between forgiveness and forbearance. Putting up with someone is not forgiveness. We are required to forgive even an intentional offence, and not merely put up with it. After we have forgiven someone, we are then required to bear with that person,

even if he continues to offend.

When Peter understood the centrality of forgiveness to the Christian walk, he asked Jesus: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven.” (Matthew 18:2122).

Divine mandate There are so many things God will not do for us. One of them is that he will not forgive others for us. We have to forgive them ourselves. This is a mandate Jesus gives to his disciples: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”

(John 20:23).

The injustices we endure are designed to serve as reminders that we should not be unjust to others. The man who did not forgive in Jesus’ lesson was sent to tormentors. People who don't forgive tend to be sick. Some sicknesses have their basis in the long-term impact of bitterness, anger, resentment and hatred. The human body is not created to bear the burden that comes from bearing grudges and keeping malice.

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:1417).

CONCLUDED

Page 42, SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

What Soyinka failed to say about Jonathan, Buhari VIEWPOINT

By Ignatious Okpanachi

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

Assessing the 2015 polls and the outcomes

I

N a recent interview he granted Channels Television, Prof Wole Soyinka’s attempt at assessing the last general elections and the outcomes, where he praised the Buhari administration to high heavens and concluded dogmatically that Nigeria would have collapsed if former President Goodluck Jonathan had won the 2015 polls, muddled up his own public record and left our own W.S. punching below his weight.

It simply showed that every star has its skyline, every sprinter has his track and every sage, his sphere. And for an intellectual, it becomes even more lethal, to venture into an unknown turf without the benefit of rigor and diligent research. If that happens, any attempt to dominate spaces clearly outside one’s scope, easily betrays the true motive of the intrusion. He will either be struggling to maintain his standing on a strange ground or be fighting piteously to cover up his predisposition.

Granted that the interviewer overreached himself by taking Soyinka out of the familiar terrain of literature and art to demand of him, on the spot analysis of politics. Even then the Nobel Laureate couldn’t have

VIEWPOINT

By Emmanuel Aziken

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

On the crisis at the training body

F

OR an agency established to provide resources and the framework for the promotion of manpower development, these are certainly not the best of days for the Industrial Training Fund, ITF. At the beginning of the month, the headquarters of the agency in Jos, Plateau State, was locked down on account of a three-day strike masterminded by two unions.

The actions of the unions are, however, countered by shrilling accusations of politics and ethnic feud, issues some union officials are alleged to have allowed themselves to have become engrossed in.

To the outsider, the ITF could well be said to be engulfed in a malaise of corruption, nepotism and absence of

VIEWPOINT

By Joseph Amaoru

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

The unpleasant tunes from two polls OVERNORSHIP elections of Kogi and Bayelsa States have been the talking points since Sunday, November 22, 2015 when INEC announced the Kogi election as inconclusive. The sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, who was coasting home to victory, created a lot of confusion . The confusion arose because our electoral law and the Constitution never envisaged a situation where a candidate dies during the process of an election being conducted. However, many analysts believed that commonsense would have prevailed but that was not the reality. Audu had a running mate, Hon James Faleke both of whom ran on a joint ticket of the All

G

offended any soul if he had limited himself to the exercise his God-given freedom of judgement where he had quickly expressed his fondness for President Muhammadu Buhari, over Jonathan.

But it then became an act of hubris when Soyinka, apparently blinded by the bravura of his conviction, failed to rise to the occasion to dispassionately volunteer his views when challenged to assess the seven months of the Buhari administration, even after he had glibly put a nail on the possibility of Jonathan continuing in office, without giving credible reasons for his strange conclusions.

While comparing the two presidential candidates for the 2015 elections, Soyinka had said: “I became convinced that if this country underwent four more years under President Jonathan, the country would run aground completely.” Haba Professor! Where is the empirical evidence that supports such indiscreet generalization?

Prodded on to justify his choice, amidst the worsening misery of the last six months and the dismal growth prognosis stemming from the new administration’s obvious lack of vision and economic direction, Soyinka simply affirmed that Buhari’s performance in office so far” has proven that there is such a thing as a born-again democrat.”

And to think that this defence is coming not long after Soyinka described Buhari as a “devil for whom

in my calculation, no spoon existed long enough to justify the risk even of an impromptu snack.”

A friend who was reviewing this interview with me did not waste time in agreeing that Soyinka’s position didn’t add up and insisted that, for once, Soyinka has allowed his prejudice to colour his intervention on a burning national issue. He drew my attention to the fact that the Nobel laureate who placed a blanket condemnation on the last administration had on the same breath praised the outcome of Jonathan’s National Conference as the best so far in the country’s history, and had even gone ahead to urge Buhari to implement its recommendations.

If it was convenient for Soyinka to isolate the National Conference as a plus, why did he withhold from telling the nation that the few measures being implemented by this government are policies of the past administration?

Beyond the on-going arrests of corrupt politicians, the only far-reaching, sustainable anti-corruption measures so far adopted are the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Intergrated Personnel & Payroll Information System (IPPIS)which tracks ghost workers and checks other leakages in public services. Incidentally these were programmes introduced by those Jonathan put in-charge at the finance ministry.

Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, Agriculture Minister Chief Audu Ogbe and Power, Works and Housing Minister Babatunde

ITF: Beyond the crisis moral leadership. However, a closer look would indicate what sources allege to be political infighting at the top of the leadership of the agency with its present director general, Mrs. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, as the central figure in what some is alleged to be a hate campaign propelled from within the organisation.

Taking a front seat in the campaign against Chukkas-Onaeko are the two major industrial unions in the agency, the Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations, SSACTC, and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employers, AUPCTRE, which have collaborated to fight her.

The unions had, penultimate Monday, mobilised workers at the headquarters of the agency on a three- day working strike during

which they made several allegations bordering on highhandedness and financial abuse by the management.

The agitation against ChukkasOnaeko remarkably are also being seen by some other stakeholders as a war of vendetta perhaps arising from ethnic or sexist basis. It was especially so, given some innuendoes like the assertion that the recent summit of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, called for the disbandment of the ITF. The intricacies in the agitation by the unions are also reflected in the proposal to build the first skill acquisition centre by the ITF in the South-South and South-East. That is against the fact that no centre had until now been established in the South-South and the two geopolitical zones whereas three of the five centres previously established by the fund are in the North-Central.

Fashola, who are the only ministers in the new cabinet to have taken the lead in speaking about their programmes, have all indicated that they would go on with the Jonathan policies. While Amaechi had vowed to continue with the rail projects in continuation of Jonathan’s rail restoration programme, Ogbe did not pretend that this government has an alternative to the globally acclaimed Agriculture Transformation Agenda, which brought this country close to selfsufficiency in food production. On his part Fashola, a very practical and goaloriented man in the corridors of power, who unfolded his plan only last week, had praises for Jonathan’s reforms in the power, and transport sectors. He even went ahead to boldly proclaim, against the run of public opinion, that Jonathan constructed more roads than any other administration.

Soyinka will soon discover that he would be standing alone in praising the Buhari government, especially as he deliberately failed to raise the red flag on obvious and avoidable sloppiness on the side of the new government. Is Soyinka happy with the excruciating but unending fuel situation, spiraling decline in naira value, prevarication and tardiness on the issue of subsidy, embarrassing lack of economic blueprint, constant demonisation and criminalisation of Nigeria and Nigerians at international fora, as well as Buhari’s abhorrent disdain for those he governs, who only get to hear about his plans and Though some took issues with the decision of the fund to site the centre in Umunede, Delta State, the directorgeneral’s state of origin, however, defence for her was given by the explanation that the proposal to site the training centre there was taken by the previous governing council of the ITF. A statement by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, of the Fund, Mrs. Ifeoma Iheuze, while noting that Chukkas-Onaeko has been commended severally for her fiscal discipline, said: “On several occasions, she had ordered the renegotiation of certain outrageous contracts that were awarded in the past, thereby achieving huge savings for the fund.”

On non-remittance of deductions from salaries from June to date, the statement explained that there had been a backlog due to the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, adding that they were now being processed for payment.

decisions from those he addresses while abroad? Juxtapose those with the method of the Jonathan era and please help spot the difference.

It is within the boundaries of Soyinka’s rights to brand anybody a born-again democrat. But any fair assessment should have admitted that this toga first belonged to Jonathan who organized world acclaimed free and fair general elections in both 2011 and 2015 and the isolated state government elections. I believe that Soyinka would have seen that Buhari’s INEC has failed in organising credible elections in just two statestiny Bayelsa and Kogi- the results of which have remained inconclusive. It is a defect that even Buhari himself has admitted, supporting the position of local and international observers that the elections were flawed.

Soyinka is so precious to us that we wouldn’t want him to be stained by the murky waters of politics. Next time he wants to run commentary on our leaders, he should be honest enough to state facts as they are, without allowing his preferences to alter his wisdom. Less he would be running the risk of reducing himself to the status of a lawyer, who otherwise would have been celebrated for his brilliance, but who is now only perceived from the prism of the client that hired him.

•Okpanachi is a public affairs analyst.

“A situation where our labour unions allow themselves to be used by a few people, who want power by all means, to disrupt laudable policies that would eventually be in their longterm interest, and in the interest of the economy, is not acceptable. In ITF, it cannot be business as usual again, in the interest of efficient and effective skills development. This exactly is what a few people are trying to fight for reasons best known to them,” the statement added, noting, however, that welfare conditions have been at their best ever under the current administration.

“We wish to refute the allegation of corruption in its entirety. The present DG has been commended severally for her financial prudence and her objectivity in tackling issues. On several occasions, she had directed for the renegotiation of certain outrageous contracts that were awarded in the past, thereby achieving huge savings for the fund.”

Matters arising from Kogi and Bayelsa states elections Progressives Congress ( APC). The argument arose on whether to replace Faleke as the governorship candidate to conclude the election.

Many people thought that was the natural sequence but APC came with a different position supported by some lawyers who argued that Faleke never aspired to be governor because he never contested the APC primary election. They therefore replaced the Audu with Alhaji Yahaya Bello who was the first runners up during APC primary election for the conclusive election on December 5, 2015. However, Faleke disagreed with the decision to field Bello as the candidate to conclude the election.

There were indeed five court cases to stop the election slated for December 5, 2015 but the Federal High Court declined jurisdiction, arguing that the cases were election matters that should be handle

Election Petitions Tribunal. His point was that the election of December 21, 2015 was concluded.

As it appears this election may be finally decided by the courts.

However, there are some salient questions: Can Bello be a valid candidate without a running mate?

When is an election concluded?

Faleke has indicated his desire not to be available to be sworn-in as a Deputy Governor on January 27, 2016. The APC has threatened a replacement that if that happens. Can such a replacement be valid?

While the Kogi conundrum was playing out, the Bayelsa imbroglio was brewing. It was generally reported how chaotic the APC primary election was at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa. It got to a point where the leader of the APC Committee to oversee the primary election Comrade Adams

Oshiomole, pointedly accused the then governorship aspirant and former governor of Bayelsa State , Chief Timipre Sylva, of being responsible for chaos. Of course, the primary election was cancelled and repeated but, somehow, Sylva still won. He eventually became the APC governorship candidate for the December 5 ,2015 election.

The APC primary should have provided a dress rehearsal of what to expect at the governorship election but not much attention was paid to it. With the result of seven lovsl governments out of eight released, six is in favor of PDP and one in favor of APC. While Gov Seriake Dickson the PDP candidate, polled 105748 votes, Sylva, the APC candidate, had 72594 votes. The election has again gone into the inconclusive mode with the outstanding result of the Southern Ijaw Local Government

Area not available because of wide spread violence. The Southern Ijaw Local Government is very significant because it accounts for about 25 percent of the votes in the State amounting to 120827 votes. This number of votes is very significant in a state like Bayelsa.

Now the current Board of INEC has conducted two consecutive elections and both have ended in the inconclusive mode with lots of issues.

Does it show competence on the part of INEC or a lack of political education on the part of the people?

Has it become clear for the need to fully constitute the electoral body.

Perhaps, if the body was fully constituted some members would have seen the need to do things differently to avert these unpleasant results.

•Amaoru is a Social and Political affairs commentator.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015, PAGE 43

BAYELSA POLL: Buhari shuns Sylva E Prepare for FFORTS by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, to have audience with President Muhammadu Buhari may have been rebuffed.

A source in the Presidency stated that Buhari was not happy with the APC in Bayelsa and Sylva over alleged pockets of violence during the rescheduled election in Southern Ijaw LGA. The source stated,” Mr. President is angry over the overwhelming criticism and condemnation of the process by international observers, who did not mince words in describing the poll as a rape of democracy.

“Some of the observers are already seeing the APC-led Federal

Government as lacking the capacity to conduct a free, fair and credible election in a state as small as Bayelsa.

What

GE Skills White Paper highlights Nigeria’s demographic advantage

G

ENERAL Electric, Nigeria, yesterday, launched the Skills White Paper, a research document targeted at improving the capacity of Nigeria to harness the potential of its growing young population.

According to the White paper, Sub Saharan Africa is estimated to be home to a quarter of people aged 24 and below by 2030 Pith Nigeria contributing the most significant number of Africa’s youth population.

The document, with the

Ala Foundation to build auditorium for Ekiti College

D

R Florence Bola Ala Foundation has unveiled plans to build a state-of-the-art auditorium for the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.

The foundation was set up in memorial of the late Dr Florence Bola Ala, the first woman Dean of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.

The foundation announced the plan to donate the auditorium at the 22nd convocation of the college while also presenting cash prize awards to deserving graduating students.

Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, commended the initiative, urging other individuals

and organisations to emulate the gesture.

Handing over cash prize award of N20, 000 and book each for three deserving students of School of Education and Early Childhood Care Education to the Registrar of the college, Mr Abayomi Adeyeri, a member of Board of Trustees of Dr Florence Bola Ala Foundation and chief marketing officer of Flobal Trust Limited, said the foundation was committed to partnering with the college in achieving its mandates.

APC supporters killed in auto crash, Umahi mourns

P

E

BONYI State Governor David Umahi has expressed deep sadness over the death of eight All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters in an auto crash on the Ezzamgbo section of the Abakaliki-Enugu highway.

The crash occurred when the driver of a Toyota Sienna conveying the APC supporters lost control and rammed into a tipper heading to Abakaliki.

The party supporters were said to be heading for Enugu to join the loyalists of the Labour Party candidate for the last governorship election in Ebonyi State, Edward Nkwegu,who had massed at the Court of Appeal awaiting the verdict on Nkwegu’s appeal.

Umahi, who ran into scene of the accident, said, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya, yesterday, that it was “unfortunate that the victims who were bread winners of their families lost their lives while going to witness a functionally useless appeal”

by Nkwegu.

happened in Southern Ijaw was against every acceptable global democratic norm and practice.”

title, Building Strong Workforces to Power Africa’s growth: The Future of Work in Africa, conforms to the determination of GE, to partner which countries and other global concerns (where necessary) to localise skills and build the capacity of host countries to gainfully employ their teeming population in the near future.

The Skills White Paper identifies that Nigeria is currently unable to provide jobs and prospects to majority of its young and growing population, a situation which is buttressed by statistics that put youth employment in the country at 50% Lazarus Angbazo, President & CEO, GE Nigeria, advised that this situation must change “because it condemns large numbers of young people to low living standards and represents a terrible waste of human capital that undermines future economic growth, but also because it poses a risk to social and economic stability”

Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers Honours Etteh ROFESSOR Bolaji Akinyemi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and, recently, Vice Chairman of the 2014 National Constitutional Conference, will be the Guest Lecturer at the maiden edition of the Annual Engr (Rev) Etteh Distinguished Lecture Series holding on Wednesday at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki Lagos. He will speak on: “National Reconciliation and Integration as Catalyst for Sustainable Development”.

The Annual Lecture is in honour of one of Nigeria’s outstanding engineers, Ette Ikpong Ikpong Etteh,

co-founding Principal, Etteh Aro and Partners, based in Ibadan, who will be 80 years old on that day. Some of Etteh’s works spanning over five decades of engineering practice, including his first bridge assignment in 1965, will be on display at the venue.

These activities are put together by the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, NICE. They are honouring this icon of the engineering profession with the institution of an Annual Distinguished Lecture Series.

GIS empowers young graduates

T

HE Graduate Internship Scheme, GIS, is geared at equipping the unemployed young graduates with skills to enhance their employability even as it prepares them for selfemployment, start their own businesses, become job creators and employers of labour instead of job seekers.

This was disclosed at Awka, Anambra State during the

orientation of interns and firms representatives by the Director of the programme, Mr Peter Papka.

In his welcome address,Papka, represented by Mrs Bala Teresa Jonathan, noted that reactions from individuals and organizations, especially the interns and participating firms, indicated that the scheme had been a catalyst for a productive internship GIS

unspeakable joy

I

n a couple of weeks, 2015 will wind down. Is there any reason to give thanks to God even though that long awaited miracle is yet to manifest? Yes, there are uncountable reasons one should appreciate God. The first reason is LIFE. That one is alive is an indication that one is still in a position to attain that goal.

In the last days of the year, churches hold special programmes. I suggest that for whatever you are believing God for, please find time to attend at least one of these programmes.

Why? In 2008, I invited three women who were trusting God for the fruits of the womb to the Redeemed Christian Church of God ( RCCG) programme, titled, “ Joy Unspeakable”. All the three became mothers.

Did you find time to attend RCCG’s Holy Ghost Congress, titled, “ Flood Gates of Heaven” held from December 7 to 12, 2015 at the Redemption Camp , Km 46 , Lagos – Ibadan Expressway?

If you missed it, then make sure you are at the January 2016 Holy Ghost Night and, if you are far away from Nigeria, then get the DVD and the Lord, in his mercy will touch you.

Also, Laughter Foundation International Ministry, has an on-going programme, titled “ Breakthrough my Force”. The programme runs through December.

Several churches will hold similar programmes, please find time to attend . By the grace of God, your efforts will not be in vain.

Your Father that sees you in secret will surely reward you openly in the mighty name of Jesus.

Attend with faith and hope.

That long awaited breakthrough will be yours in the mighty name of Jesus.

True , you may have prayed from January to November without the physical manifestation of the answers to your prayer, but if you keep your faith high, even before this year ends, that miracle can still manifest.

What is unknown to us is that at every point we think God is not responding to our request, indeed, he is working on our case. Remember our God is a miracle worker and not a magician. The Bible gives us assurance that our prayers will be answered.

Jeremiah 29 vs 12 states, “ Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me , and I will harken unto you”.

Gratitude At this time of the year, we must express our gratitude to God .

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, in one

of his sermons at the Redemption Camp, said, “ When you learn to be grateful to God, He can move you from one level to another”.

Throwing more light on why gratitude is important, he said, “ Ingratitude can move someone from the highest height to the lowest level”.

He warned, “The one who is ungrateful stays in SIN”.

So, we must in our own way, show gratitude to God. We can express our gratitude by sowing seeds.

For instance, the RCCG is building a recreational and educational facility for children. You have a good opportunity to have your prayer answered by sowing a seed into this project?

The seed sown will, by the grace of God, bring in a harvest beyond your imagination in the mighty name of Jesus.

An unusual step Let me share with you the experience of a couple in Lagos. They had been married for years without children.

After series of prayer without result, they decided to call on some pastors to be with them in prayers for one week.

What is unknown to us is that at every point we think God is not responding to our request, indeed, he is working on our case. Remember our God is a miracle worker and not a magician During the period, the pastors and the couple fasted and prayed.

As this went on, the man had a dream in which he saw two children in a cage and he saw a man standing in front of the cage to prevent the children from coming out.

He woke up and it became clear to him that God had given him children but a prince of Persia was stopping him from receiving his miracle.

What did he do? The man and his wife intensified their prayerandworship.Then,during one of services at Laughter Foundation, a word of knowledge was released:” There is somebody here, your children have been caged but the children are crying to be born and the Lord said I will help you”.

According to the man, he

immediately remembered his dream. He, therefore, intensified prayer with the support of his wife.

Today, indeed last month, the couple stood to testify with their set of twins; a boy and a girl.

Do you wish to know the secret behind that challenge?

Refer to Deuteronomy 29 vs 29, “ The secret things belong to the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law”.

Many have prayed with this verse and the Holy Spirit has revealed the root of their challenges. The verse may be read with a request that God should reveal not just the root of the challenge but also the solution.

The focus should be more on the solution rather than the cause of the challenge.

This prayer is best said just before bedtime.

Are you looking forward to marriage? Yours is still possible this year. Look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

However, be careful not to marry anyone out of desperation.

Pray and, if need be, fast about it and ask for the Lord’s mercy.

Ask Him for divine connection with your marriage partner and the Lord is able to change your status.

Prayer is important in choosing a life partner.

Let me share with you an experience of a young lady who fell in love with a young man.

However, the mother of the young man vehemently opposed the marriage.

Somehow, the couple ignored her protest and went ahead to get married. Of course the mother-in- law ( the husband’s mother|) stayed away.

Within three years, the couple had two children. Then, problems that they could not explain set in. The man’s mother mobilized all her resources; physical and spiritual against the lady and got her out of the home. Immediately, they ( the combined forces )got her out, the man took ill that he was bedridden for several months. Consequently, he ran out of his resources.

On his sick bed, he sent for his wife through people who were not his relations.

He wanted to have a discussion with her.

The lady got too angry to visit him in time.

Finally, when she decided to pay him a visit, she chose to go in the company of one of her fathers in the Lord.

They were to visit around 4p.m but her husband had passed on about 12 noon.

She never got to hear what he wanted to discuss with her.

That will not be your portion in Jesus name.

The point being made here is that had the marriage been subjected to prayer and divine intervention, the couple may have been spared the challenges that relations put them through.

Every obstacle to your breakthrough, the Lord will subdue in Jesus name.

As the year winds down, be hopeful and keep faith alive.

Always remember, with God, all things are possible and God

Controversy over soldiers clash with Zakzaky’s followers continued from Page 5 open up the barricaded road for law abiding citizens. This is in line with the Nigerian Army Rules of Engagement and Code of Conduct.

“This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated from any individual or groups and should not be allowed to repeat itself.

“We wish to implore all Nigerians to continue to be law abiding and remain conscious of other people’s right to life, freedom of movement and

passage.

“The Chief of the Army escaped unhurt and continued with his duties”.

However, a member of the sect, who asked that his name not be mentioned, said that the CAOS was not attacked, and that it was three vehicles laden with armed soldiers that shot and killed seven of its members and injured 20 more.

He said: “It is true that the COAS was in Zaria to attend

the passing out parade ceremony at the Nigeria Military School, Zaria.

“This is usually the time that we hold our annual Maulud at Hussaimiyya in Zaria.

“At 12 o’clock, we had to control traffic for our members to pass.

“The security details attached to the Chief of the Army Staff came down from their vehicles and we discussed and they passed."

PAGE 44—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015 —45

Aminu, Ozokwo dazzle in Turkey N

IGERIA U23 striker Umar Aminu was among the goalscorers for his Turkish Super League club Osmanlispor in a 4-0 win at Bursaspor.

Osmanlispor are 12th on the league table with 15 points in 14 games.

The former Samsunspor striker scored in the 84th minute to give his team a 4-0 lead on Friday.

He was stopped by the Turkish team from representing Nigeria at the on-going CAF U23 AFCON in Senegal.

Compatriot Nduka Ozokwo also scored a goal for Adanaspor in a 2-1 win over hosts Alanyaspor.

He scored in the 39th minute to give Adanaspor a 1-0 lead.

Former Nigeria U20 winger Ozokwo has scored three goals in the league this season.

Continued from B/P

•Umar Aminu in action for Osmanlispor.

A

•Emenike it has always worked for me,” Emenike said.

“My last goal at home against Al Ahli has really boosted my spirit

“Scoring goals is my responsibility but my bigger priority is to contribute to the team.

We are playing well every week, it’s a sign of good form and hopefully working towards being champions again. But it’s not all about an individual but everybody in the team.”

“Every game is important, we need more points before the year runs out, it will enable us to resume with high confidence to continue from where we stopped, and for me, I aim to end it on high and resume with more goals next year.”

Taekwondo: Ashiru impeached

By Solomon Nwoke

P

RESIDENT of Taekwondo Federation, George Ashiru was impeached yesterday by his board members who alleged that he was running the Federation like a sole Administrator without carrying them along.

Following a motion moved by Tony Anafule representing North Central and supported

•Ashiru C M Y K

Continued from B/P seventh top flight win of the season.

Allardyce has built his newlook Sunderland team on defensive solidity and the ploy has proved largely successful in recent weeks with a back three having given Black Cats goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon welcome protection.

However, he had to rip his plan up within 19 minutes as Watford tore into Sunderland with relish, with Ighalo, Troy Deeney and Almen Abdi in rampant mood.

The visitors took the lead when full-back Allan Nyom combined with Abdi down the right for the

Messi

I’ve never doubted I can score goals and I am building on it with these —Emenike two goals.

L Ain striker Emmanuel Emenike has said he has never doubted his ability to score goals despite criticisms.

And the Fenerbahce loanee said he is looking forward to end the year on a higher note after scoring two goals against Al Shaab on Friday in a 4-2 win.

The former Spartak Moscow striker has been criticised for going through a rough patch, but seems he has been able to block out the critics to concentrate on his performance and score goals after he returned from injury.

“I always believe in what I can do most, I don’t doubt myself and

Ighalo

•It’s all rubbish—Ashiru

by Saidu Abdullahi from Kebbi, six members voted in favour of the impeachment. Vice President Margret Binga was unanimously voted to step in as President. A source at the meeting said that there was no counter motion as majority of the members moved for his impeachment.

Contacted yesterday, Olympian Chika Chukwumerije confirmed that the Board legally voted that Ashiru steps down.

Contacted, President of the Nigeria Teakwondo Federation (NTF), George Ashiru dismissed the impeachement saying it was the handiwork of disgruntled members he described as enemies of the sport to disrupt the smooth sailing of the game

towards next year’s Olympics. ‘’I was in that meeting, I initiated and chaired it. Along the long line, excused myself to welcome the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung who was to grace the final of the Korean Ambassaador and when I came back to the meeting I started hearing rumours.Up till now, nobody was bold enough to communicate me officially. At least if a thing like that should happen, I should have been told that for so, so and so reason we have lost confidence in you. So I don’t take that as anything and it cannot hold waters and I am sure the Sports minister will not even honour such call as it amounts to unncessary distractions”, he said.

– he has now scored just one fewer than Ronaldinho.

Ivan Rakitic added a thumping second and it seemed they would be heading off to Yokohama with another win under their belts but late goals from Lucas Perez and Alex Bergantiños leveled the game at 2-2 leaving them just three points clear at the top having played a game more.

They will now play their World Club Cup semi-final on Thursday in Yokohama. They will then meet River Plate next Sunday in the same stadium in the final if both sides win their semis.

They will then have a ten-day break before they face Betis at home on New Year’s eve and

Bournemouth Continued from B/P

meaning Louis van Gaal’s side have now gone five games without a win in all competitions.

Both of Manchester United’s full backs Guillermo Varela and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson were making their first Premier League starts in a depleted defence which had been so solid this season.

It was an incredible start to the game when, after only two minutes, Stanislas whipped a right-footed corner straight over the head of David De Gea to give Bournemouth the lead.

United nearly fired straight back with a goal of their own

S/Africa Continued from B/P

Africa’s men to the Rio Games.

It is the first time that both the South Africa men’s and women’s football teams have qualified for an Olympics.

In a rare instance of a thirdplace play-off match carrying more importance than the final itself, it was the hosts Senegal

latter to slide the ball in to Ighalo, whose sliding effort might have clipped defender Sebastian Coates as it rolled past the stranded Pantilimon.

Had Billy Jones not been in the right place at the right time five minutes later, Abdi might have made it 2-0 from Nathan Ake’s cross, and his side was desperately fortunate to escape further mishap with 11 minutes on the clock.

Ighalo brilliantly tricked his way past John O’Shea, making his 400th Barclays Premier League appearance, only to see Pantilimon block his initial effort and Coates his follow-up before Abdi’s strike was repelled and Jose Manuel Jurado rattled the post from the rebound. there were signs here that they need it - had the game gone on much longer they could even have lost it.

Before Messi’s moment of brilliance in the first half Deportivo had stifled Barcelona like other side has managed to do this season.

With seven men defending the edge of their area and with Faycal Fajr playing as their number 10 but sacrificing himself for the team tracking Sergi Busquets’ every move and preventing him from getting on the ball, they were making it very difficult for Barcelona to play their football.

Messi had to come deeper and deeper to play the passes that might unlock Deportivo’s defence and he sent one brilliant diagonal into Sandro but when the young striker crossed Luis Suarez could not finish. but they were twice denied as Artur Boruc pulled off two pointblank saves from Fellaini and Paddy McNair.

Van Gaal’s injury list got longer midway through the first half when Jesse Lingard limped off to join the likes of Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney on the treatment table.

Anthony Martial should have equalised on 18 minutes when he was gifted the ball on the edge of the box but he sloppily dragged his shot wide of Boruc’s right hand post.

De Gea then made a worldclass stop of his own to deny King when the former Manchester United youth prospect tried to round the goalkeeper. who had the best chance in the game itself to seal victory.

Senegal were awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute.

Mousa Keita’s effort was saved by the outstanding February who also played a starring role in the ensuing penalty shootout.

South Africa’s men join the Under 23 Africa Cup of Nations finalists, Nigeria and Algeria, at Rio 2016.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 13, 2015

C M Y K

SUND AY Vanguard , DECEMBER 13 , 2015, PAGE 47 SUNDA

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 13, 2015

Ighalo’s strike sinks Sunderland O

DION Ighalo continued his goal scoring spree as Watford beat Sunderland at home for a third successive Premier League victory and plunged Sunderland deeper into relegation trouble. It was

Igalo’s 10th goal of the season and it was struck in the 10th minute as Watford launched an early blitz of attack at the Stadium of Light to claim their Continues Page 45

Aminu, Ozokwo dazzle 5 in Turkey —P.4

Messi scores as Deportivo escape

B

ARCELONA are due in Japan today for the Fifa Club World Cup knowing that they probably will not be top of La Liga when they return after letting a two-goal lead slip against Deportivo.

For the second time in a week they drew a game they seemed to be on course to win

•Ighalo (right) battles past Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates before sinking Sunderland with his strike to increase his goal tally in the Premier League to 10.

and they look in desperate need of reinforcements and a rest, not an energy sapping week-long trip to Japan.

Leo Messi opened the scoring for them with a spectacular free-kick. It was number 18 in a Barcelona shirt Continues Page 45

S/Africa beat Senegal to clinch Rio place

S

OUTH Africa qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics on Saturday after a 3-1 penalties win over hosts Senegal in the Under 23 Africa Cup of Nations third place play-off match in Dakar.

Goalkeeper Jody February

proved to be South Africa’s hero with a string of fine saves during the shootout, and a penalty save in the regulation 90 minutes, which ended 0-0.

Phakamani Mahlambi hit the winning spot-kick to send South Continues Page 45

Etebo hands Nigeria U-23 trophy N

IGERIA emerged worthy champions of the CAF Africa Nations Cup of Nations yesterday, after they beat Algeria 2-1 at the Leopold Senghol Stadium in Dakar, Senegal. Nigeria scored the three goals gifting Algeria an own goal.

A brace by Oghenekaro Eteobo sealed the victory in the game that was dominated by the Nigerian team, which was relentless in the attack spear-headed by Victor Osimhen and supported by Etebo.

The first chance of the match fell to Osimhen, but his efforts was off the mark. However, the Olympic Eagles finally took

Bournemouth shock Man U B

OURNEMOUTH followed up victory over Chelsea by beating Manchester United at Dean Court.

Junior Stansilas opened the scoring directly from a corner

after little more than 90 seconds.

Marouane Fellaini then drew the game level with a scrappy equaliser before half time. However, Josh King

scored against his former club to settled the game with a goal which United will be disappointed to concede,

DOWN 1. Sample (5) 2. Niger state town (4) 3. Observe (5) 4. Lecture (6) 5. Everyone (3) 6. Use (6) 10. Inquires (4) 12. Carpet (3) 14. Colour (6) 15. Resistance unit (3) 17. Coax (4) 19. Rollicked (6) 21. Hatchet (3) 22. Satisfied (4) 23. Nigerian state (3) 26. Cry of derision (3) 27 . African country (6) 28. Endure (4) 29. Child (3) 30. Spoke (6) 31. Adorn (5) 33. Baking chambers (5) 35. Asterisk (4) 37. Possessed (3)

the lead after 14 minutes from the penalty spot after Etebo drove into the Algeria goal area and was brought down by Ayoub Abdellaoui for a penalty.

The Warri Wolves midfielder dusted himself up to tuck the penalty home after sending goalkeeper Sahli the wrong way.

Nigeria continued to boss the possession, but Algeria fought back to draw level on the half hour when Zinedine Ferhat’s dangerous cross from the right was headed home by Oduduwa into his own net.

Etebo will then restore Nigeria’s lead in the 41st minute when he again drove into the Algerian defence before firing past the onrushing goalkeeper for his fifth goal of the competition. In the second

Continues Page 45

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Governor of Sokoto State (8) 5. Assistant (4) 7. Praise (5) 8. Upright (4) 9. Lantern (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 15. Exclamation (2) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 18. Agent (3) 20. Glitters (6) 24. Forward (5) 25. Nigerian state (6) 27. Boring tool (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 31. Perform (2) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 36. Vow (4) 38. Musical quality (4) 39. Inclination (5) 40. Eager (4) 41. Damages (8)

•Wins Adidas boot

See solution on page 5

half the Algerian fought back looking to level up and take the th initiative. In the 68 minute they were awarded a penalty, which taken by Zinadine Ferhart , but Emmanuel Daniel, rose up to the occasion and made a save.

Nigeria held on to win 2-1 to lift the trophy and take their place in Rio as African champions.

Nigeria boast a proud Olympics record. They made Olympic football history in 1996 by becoming the first African and non-European and South American team to win the gold medal.

They also finished runnersup at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where current under-23 coach Siasia also coached the ‘Dream Team’ in China.

RESULTS PREMIER LEAGUE Norwich City Crystal Palace Manchester City Sunderland West Ham United

1 1 2 0 0

Everton Southampton Swansea City Watford Stoke City

1 0 1 1 0

Italy Serie A Genoa

0

Bologna

1

Spain La Liga Barcelona

2

Deportivo La Coruna

2

Germany - Bundesliga Bayern Munich 2 Darmstadt 0 Hoffenheim 1 Werder Bremen 1 Wolfsburg 1

Ingolstadt Hertha Berlin Hannover 96 FC Cologne Hamburger SV

0 4 0 1 1

France - Ligue 1 FT Reims

Nice

1

1

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Advert Dept: :01- 7924470; Hotline: 01-4544821; Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024.

E-mail website: sundayvanguard@yahoo.com, editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com. Advert:advert@vanguardngr.com.

Internet: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: JIDE AJANI. 08111813023 All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

C M Y K