Card Readers' Test Review: Worries over failure in parts of the North

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From L-R: Owaooye of Okemesi, Oba M.G. Adedeji; Globacom’s Business Director, Mr. Ayo Ogunranti; paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; his wife, Olori Olatokunbo Gbadebo; and Obi of Obinugu, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya , at the Royal Banquet organized by Globacom at OK Centre, Abeokuta .

L-R: Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, Governor Muhktar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State, with the chairman of the occasion Ambassador Ahmed Joda, and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF),Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Commassie, at the 56th ACF Lecture on the North and the Nigerian Federation at Arewa House, Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: Olu Ajayi

Crisis rocks NLC as Wabba emerges President *3 aggrieved unions fix parallel election for Saturday *Congress labels them agents of destabilisation

By Victor Ahiuma-Young & Johnbosco Agbakwuru

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IGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, was, yesterday, enmeshed in a major crisis following the declaration of President of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, as the new President of Congress, as no fewer than 23 industrial unions including Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, announced plans to hold a “truly Nigeria Labour

Congress” election on Saturday, March 21.

Their contention was that, among others, the whole process skewed towards achieving pre-determined outcome, saying they were not only rejecting the outcome, but scheduled a Special Delegates Conference of the NLC for Friday and Saturday in Lagos to elect leaders to lead NLC for the next four years.

But, General Secretary of NLC, Dr. Peter Oso-Ezon, has described the aggrieved unions and their leaders as agents of “factionalisation or destabilisation of the Congress.”

Pioneer General Secretary

THOUGHT FOR TODAY DISCUSSION AND DECISION (3)

By Richard Eromonsele

..Yes,it is true that when you are informed about the facts surrounding an issue,this could enhance the quality of your decision.Now that you have consulted widely,what else do you want to do?This is where many of us miss it. We dwell so much on the preliminaries,that we allow ourselves to be intimidated by the challenges rather than being inspired by the prospects.One thing is certain,whether we like it or not,we will always take decisions,either consciously or unconsciously.And there are only two decisions we can take _deciding to succeed or deciding to fail.The choice is ours.Which is your choice?

of NLC and the Returning Officer of the rescheduled election held at the Eagle Square, Aliyu Dangiwa, who announced the results of the election by 12.47 am, said Wabba, who was immediate past Treasurer of NLC, scored 1,695 votes to defeat his challenger, Comrade Joe Ajaero, General Secretary of NUEE and one of the three immediate past Deputy President of NLC, who got 1,400 votes.

But 23 unions, which also included another former Deputy President and General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, Comrade Issa Aremu, at a briefing, declared the election inconclusive, claiming the results were declared even when they were not signed by the contestants in line with the stipulations of the NLC Constitution.

The aggrieved unions have scheduled a Special Delegates Conference of the NLC for Friday and Saturday in Lagos as a fallout of the rescheduled 11th delegates conference and election.

The group also announced Peter Balogun of the Civil Service Secretary and Stenographic Workers as the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the conference.

Before the announcement of the election results, some top union leaders of the group had stormed out of the venue of the election in protest.

Less than an hour to the declaration of the results, an agent of NUEE, who was at the collation centre, collapsed and was rushed to Asokoro General Hospital in a police patrol car deepening tension as some union members chanted solidarity songs as they moved towards the collation centre. The police barricade and heavy police and security presence prevented the situation from degenerating further.

Also, out of the five contestants who vied for the three slots for Deputy President of the NLC, Dangiwa returned Peters Adeyemi of the NonAcademic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, Najeem

Yasin, of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, and Kiri Mohammed, Nigeria Civil Service Union, NCSU, as the elected three Deputy Presidents of Congress.

According to Dangiwa, Adeyemi, Yasin, and Mohammed scored 1,604, 1,813 and 1,610 respectively to defeat contestants such as Achese Igwe of NUPENG, and Issa Aremu of NUTGTWN. He said both Igwe and Aremu got 1,283 and 1,110 votes respectively Contestants for the four available position of Vice President were returned unopposed following the withdrawal of the PresidentGeneral of the MWUN, Anthony Emmanuel Nted, from the race a day before the election.

The new Vice Presidents of the NLC are Asuguni Amechi of National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, NUCECFWW, Dutsimi Lawal of National Association of Nigerian

Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, and Oyelekan Lateef, National Union of Food beverages and Tobacco Employers, NUFBTE. Before the announcement of the results, Ajaero and other aggrieved union had claimed the process was not free and fair as it was marred by manipulation of the delegate lists and other irregularities.

He accused the immediate past executives of supervising a process designed to bring Congress into disrepute.

Speaking also, Aremu also said if the NLC could not conduct transparent free and fair election, it had no moral right whatsoever to comment on federal elections.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of NLC, Ozo-Eson, has faulted the planned new conference by aggrieved unions, describing the unions and individuals behind it as “a group of individuals driven by inordinate ambition.”

In a statement, he said: Affiliate unions of the Nigeria Labour Congress are hereby advised to ignore any invitation to such a conference as the 11th Delegates

Conference was concluded in the early hours of Saturday, March, 14, 2015 following the successful election of the National executives of the Congress in a free, fair and credible elections under the watchful eyes of unions, delegates, invited guests, veterans and members of the media.

“The processes leading to the elections and the elections themselves were manifestly transparent, incontestable and unimpeachable. All the contestants and their delegates voluntary lent and submitted themselves to the electioneering/voting processes. At no time, from the commencement of the accreditation of delegates to the voting, counting of votes and announcement of results, was any a complaint raised or lodged.

“Congress therefore finds it necessary to advise that individuals should resist the temptation to be used as agents of factionalisation or destabilisation of the Congress. The Congress is bigger than any of us.”

‘Minorities will suffer under Buhari presidency’ Kuulyidamsu, and electoral politics and it is

By Marie-Therese Nanlong. Jos

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group canvassing the re-election of P r e s i d e n t Goodluck Jonathan has said the minority groups in the country would feel left out if the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, a Hausa/Fulani man and his running mate, from the Yoruba ethnic group, win the March 28 election.

The group, Nigeria Ethnic Minority Rights Movement for the Actualization of the Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidential Ambition in 2015 (NEMRIMSaG), stated that voting Buhari and Prof.Yemi Osinbajo of the APC will further shut out ethnic minorities from electoral politics.

In a statement issued in Jos by the group’s President, Gizo Jnr

Secretary, Onya Samuel, the group alleged that “ethnic minorities have long been shut out of

becoming evident that the new Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba alliance is to get this trend continued”.

Lagos PDP guber aspirant, Gbadamosi, set to Join APC

By Damilola Igbedion

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businessman and prominent member of the PDP in Lagos, Chief Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, is set to dump the party, for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Gbadamosi, popularly referred to as BOG ran for the gubernatorial ticket with five others in the primary that produced Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

Investigations revealed that the APC has been making overtures to Gbadamosi, viewed as a plus to their campaign strategy both at the state and federal levels. A source at the APC hierarchy said talks had reached an

advanced stage for BOG to decamp to the party.

Gbadamosi’s decision to dump the PDP may not be unconnected with the failure of his former party to honour the pact at a peace meeting last December in Lagos. While the other aspirants from that meeting have been rewarded with various appointments, he is yet to receive anything from the party.

Gbadamosi, the Chairman of RedBrick Homes, owners of Amen Estate, Lekki Pennisula, is said to have spent over N500m on his gubernatorial ambition, including money spent on the party at the local level.

PAGE 6 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

Abia APGA guber candidate HAIRMAN of C Burutu Local ‘escapes assassination’ Government, Delta

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

By Akoma Chinweoke

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s the battle to clinch the governorship slot in Abia State thickens, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the state, Dr. Alex Otti, has vowed that no amount of intimidation would stop him from spreading his message of hope and restoration to the people of the state.

Otti, who spoke through his Director of Media and Publicity, Chris Ukah, shortly after the APGA flag bearer narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while on a campaign tour in Ndioro Village, Ikwuano L.G.A, assured that he was committed to reinventing an elaborate programme that touches the people’s lives.

He alleged that,

perhaps, jealous of the resounding acceptance of the APGA candidate all over the state, the state government decided to employ people to disrupt all their town hall meetings.

He also noted that targets of the attack were Otti and the candidate running for Abia Central senatorial seat.

State, Chief Ebikeme Clark, has appealed to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to extend its electricity assistance for host communities to Burutu, the council headquarters.

Chief Clark, who made the appeal at an SPDC organized workshop for Delta host local governments held in Effurun, lamented that

Council boss laments blackout in Burutu prolonged blackout in Burutu is causing untold hardship to residents and the administration of the council.

"My argument is that the distance between host communities currently enjoying SPDC electricity and Burutu town is less than 10km and it is within the operational base of Shell, which is the Forcados Terminal in

Burutu LGA, contributing immensely to the economy of Nigeria.

"It is Burutu town alone that is not connected to the national grid out of the 25 LGA headquarters in Delta State. No potable water and no bridge connecting the headquarters to the rest of Nigeria, retarding growth of the council headquarters.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 7

Onitsha auto-crash claims 7 lives, 20 injured

By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha

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T was a tragic day in Onitsha, Anambra State, when about seven persons lost their lives, while about 20 others sustained various degrees of injuries after a trailer lost control at the Upper Iweka axis as a result of brake failure.

The brake failure resulted in the 40-feet trailer laden with crates of beer smashing eleven vehicles before somersaulting.

According to eye-witnesses, the incident occurred when the trailer developed brake failure opposite the 302 Military Cantonment gate on descending the Onitsha/ Enugu/Asaba Expressway and rammed into the Onitsha North Local Government Motor Park at Upper Iweka axis where it off loaded its content and left many vehicles in a state of beyond recognition.

Among the vehicles smashed were buses, tricycles, motorcycles and a lorry. Confirming the in-

cident, the Acting Commander, Onitsha Unit of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Mr. Ezekannagha Obi, said only four persons died.

“My men and the police from Onitsha Central Police Station, CPS,

came to the rescue and took the injured to hospital”,Obi said.

Also confirming the incident, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, at CPS, Onitsha, Mr. Isa Abubakar, said he saw only three people dead.

Stowaway dies in Lagos airport

By LAWANI MIKAIRU & DANIEL ETEGHE

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HE Federal Air ports Authority of Nigerian (FAAN), yesterday, evacuated the body of a suspected stowaway who died at the undercarriage compartment of an Arik Air aircraft - Airbus A345, Reg CS-TFX - at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Disclosing this to newsmen, General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said that the corpse, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, had been deposited at an undisclosed

mortuary, following due diligence by the relevant aviation and security agencies. “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is currently reviewing footages of the CCTV system and airside security operations with a view to identifying the gaps and personnel failure, if any, in order to take remedial actions”, Dati stated.

“The Authority had intensified efforts at improving security and safety at both land and airside through the installation of high tech screening machines, CCTV surveillance cameras and patrol teams”.

Presidential election: Atiku, northern leaders have dumped Buhari —Fayose E

KITI State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said the alleged withdrawal of support of former Vice President Atiku Abuba-kar and leaders of thought in the North for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), was enough signal that the APC has lost the battle.

Fayose declared that the new development has deflated the ego of the opposition party to the extent that it has tactically conceded defeat few days to the March 28 presidential election.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, Fayose added that the U-turn made by the northern leaders, which had realised that Buhari would be made to shortchange the North, had rattled the party.

The 50th birthday celebration of Mr Azubuike Ishiekwere, former Group Managing Director, Leadership Newspapers was held at Protea Hotel, GRA, Ikeja. Photos Lamidi Bamidele

The governor noted that Atiku and his supporters were already retracing their steps back to the PDP and that the North had seen the deceit in APC South-west leaders in pushing forward Buhari, even against the man’s interest.

Fayose also disclosed that the issue of health

of the former general had become worrisome to the northern caucus which did not want to forget in hurry the Umaru Musa Yar ’ Adua saga.

According to the governor, the APC was forced to cancel presidential rallies in Kaduna and Enugu because Buhari was not fit for any rally.

From left Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, chairman of the occasion; his wife, Juliana Omosalewa; Mr Azubuike Ishiekwere, celebrant; his wife, Ufuoma; Ashioma Ishiekwere, daughter; Ifeoma Ossai; Wilson Onwuka and Chief Lekan Are. cutting the birthday cake.

From left: Dr Oby Ezekwesili, former Vice President, World Bank, and Mr Gbenga Adefaye, Editor in Chief and General Manager, Vanguard Newspapers.

4 Edo LGAs yet to get PVCs

By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE, Benin-City

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WO weeks to the March 28 presidential election, eligible voters in four local gov-

ARSON AT TV STATION: Culprits will be punished –Igbinedion

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SAMA of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, yesterday, vowed that those who burnt his television studio would not go unpunished.

It would be recalled the television studio of the I n d e p e n d e n t Television, owned by the Benin High Chief, was, penultimate

Saturday, gutted by fire.

Igbinedion, who spoke while inspecting the burnt studio, yesterday, said it was senseless for anybody to attribute the cause of the fire to power surge.

He disclosed that he received several threats through text messages and telephone calls about a possible attack

and reported same to security agencies in the state. He added that he does not make any profit from the station but decided to fund its operations because of his desire to educate and enlighten the people about happenings in the state.

Igbinedion promised to build a new digital television studio within 60 days.

ernment areas of Edo State are yet to receive their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

This is came on the heels of a protest to INEC office in Benin, yesterday, by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives candidate for Egor/ Ikpoba/Okha constituency, Mr. Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma, over what he described as the shoddy distribution of PVCs in the federal constituency.

Edo State INEC Administrative Secretary, Sir Brown Ulucha, named the affected local government areas as Owan West, Owan East, Ovia South West and

Uhunmwode.

Ulucha, who disclosed this while receiving the PDP candidate, said the cards were yet to arrive from Abuja, adding that the state Resident Electoral Commissioner was already in the FCT because of the cards.

He further disclosed that he had issued seven administrative queries to staffers of IkpobaOkha INEC office, assuring that INEC would not play games.

According to him, it was the responsibility of INEC to ensure that the votes of Edo people count. He therefore, assured Agbonayinma that his complaint would be investigated.

PAGE 8 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

INEC petitioned over alleged non distribution of PVCs in 24 wards in Lagos

The solemnization of the holy matrimony between Jumoke Oyatomi, daughter of Barr. Kunle Oyatomi, Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy for All Progressives Congress[APC], Osun State, and Segun Ayinla, son of Mr. Oluwakemi Ayinla, was held at Faith Arena, Winners Chapel, Isheri-Olofin, Lagos, yesterday. Photos: Bunmi Azeez

•Alimosho,Ifako, Ikeja, Mainland LGAs affected

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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HE Independent E l e c t o r a l Commission, INEC, has been petitioned over alleged deliberate misman-agement of Permanent Voter Cards,PVCs, distribution across five local government areas in Lagos State, resulting in alleged disenfranchisement of prospective voters in 24 wards.

Concerns were also raised over the location of satellite polling units and the composition of INEC adhoc staff in the area, said to be members of the All Progressives Cong-

ress, APC. Signed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senatorial candidate in Lagos West Senatorial District, Mr. Segun Adewale, the petition revealed that most registered voters in some wards were yet to receive their PVCs in Ibeju Lekki, Alimosho, Ikeja, Ifako Ijaiye LGAs. In Alimosho LGA, the petition listed the affected wards as:”Ward 1-061, 062, 087, 081, 059, 072, 023, 017, 009, 70, 89, 71, 72, 84. Ward 2-004,009, 062, 018, 068, 061, 087, 026, 072, 023, 017, 014, 049, 019. Ward-3, 004, 005, 007, 013, 022, 040,

Jonathan not sincere on N75m donation to families of NIS recruitment tragedy —APC Campaign

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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LL Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, APCPCO, yesterday, lashed out at President Goodluck Jonathan over his N75 million donation to the 15 families of last year Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment tragedy, saying he was insincere with the gesture.

APCPCO, in a statement, said it was not against such generosity to the families but that it was mere tokenism, warning Nigerians not to be deceived by an attempt to claim credibility it never had.

While still not against the automatic employment given to the 33 members of the facility, the statement, by the spokesman for the APCPCO, Garba Shehu, stated that the Jonathan administration has, by the act, thrown dust in the eyes of Nigerians by

pretending to be caring on the first anniversary of the NISn recruitment tragedy.

“Paying compensation to the families of the victims is a welcome idea, but the lack of sincerity by the Jonathan’s government has morally tainted what was supposed to be a humanitarian gesture”, the APCPCO said.

The Campaign Organisation also submitted that it was morally outrageous to spare the public officials whose greed led Nigeria to the recruitment tragedy.

051, 026, 037. Ward-4, 036,038,047,047,051, 052, 050, 055, 058, 063, 066,069,073,074, 075, 098,103,105,111,133.

Wa r d - 5 , 0 2 4 , 0 2 5 , 028,029,031,033,037,038.

Ward-6,055, 008, 011, 013, 023.”

“Ward-7,052,048,053.

Ward-8,024,003,008.

Ward-9,024, 003, 009, 001, 017. Ward -10, 007, 023, 071, 051, 040, 041, 042, 072. Ward-11,003,051,0 55,033, 0 05,0 28, 030,0 61, 044, 045, 073, 074, 054, 053, 059.”

In Ibeju-Lekki: “Ward 1 (Sheriwon/Igbekodo).

Polling unit 0-1. No one has collected PVC here.”

The wards it said were affected in Ifako-Ijaiye include: “Ward -C, 001,002,003,006,007,0 08,009,010, 023, 024,027, 028, 052,053. Ward E,001,0 02,004,005,008, 0 10,012,011, 013,0 14,0 15,016,018,019, 023, 024,025,026,027,028,030.

Ward-D005,011, 015,017, 020. Ward-B,003, 004, 009, 024.”

The petition further observed thus about In Ikeja LGA: “Ward -C, 012,017,018,021. Ward-D, 019,004,027.”

Affected areas in Lagos Mainland also include: “Ward-K,006,0 08,009, 010,014, 019,020, 029, 031, 030. Ward-1, 001,015,017, 018, 019, 006, 010,030,031, 024, 025, 009, 012, 035, 036.

Ward-H, 036,005,034,033, 020,035.”

P

From right: Mr. Eze Anaba, Deputy Editor, Vanguard Newspapers; Mr. Kunle Adekoya, General Editor; Mr. Joseph Akintola, Photo Editor; Mr. Dada Adekola, Cartoon Editor; and Mr. Ayo Onikoyi, Entertainment Editor.

BUHARI willing to shred the Constitution to protect financiers—Group

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OVE on Nigeria, a civic action group promoting democracy and good governance, has accused the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

General Muhammadu Buhari, of electing to shred the Nigerian Constitution to protect party financiers who are either accused of corruption or facing corruption charges. The group cited alleged

Jonathan getting stronger in Oyo —Olaosebikan RESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will not only carry the day in the March 28 presidential election but win with an overwhelming majority in all the local governments of Oyo State, according to Mr. Kehinde Olaosebikan, the Director of Publicity, Oyo State PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation.

“This is evident in the unprecedented cross- over

From left: Mr. Oluwakemi Ayinla, groom's father; Mrs. Kemi Oyatomi, bride's mother; Segun Ayinla, groom; his wife, Jumoke; Barr. Kunle Oyatomi; bride's father; and Mrs. Elizabeth Ayinla, groom's mother.

endorsements, royal blessings and sincere open declarations being given to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by all that matter in the nooks and crannies of the Pacesetter State”, he said in a statement,yesterday.

“From rival political parties, adversary politicians, eminent traditional rulers, top business men, to leading

youth and women groups, the gale of endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan in Oyo State has continued to rise.

“Already, all the frontline political parties in Oyo State especially Accord, Labor, SDP and others have openly endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan with their unanimous resolutions to support and vote for him en masse on March 28”.

corruption allegations made against some financiers of the APC. The group’s position is coming on the heels of the declaration by Buhari in Kaduna that he will not probe corruption cases predating May 2015 if he is elected president.

Buhari’s feeble and half measured stance against corruption, the group said, can only be cheering to the corrupt few but a big worry to i m p o v e r i s h e d Nigerians who will never get justice.

In a statement issued

by Move on Nigeria and signed by its National Coordinator, Mr. Clem Aguiyi, the group described Buhari as an intriguing

character with a conflicting personality.

“On one hard he reeks of a disciplinarian who brooks no frivolities and is stern to the point of seeming brutish. On the flip side, his relationship with his political friends present a different picture that paradoxically echoes a split persona”, the group said.

‘Nigeria is sick and tired of corrupt individuals and impunity in public places hence what is required is the strengthening of our anti-corruption institutions so that they can do their jobs effectively without any executive interference’.

Free of charge Daily Post hits newsstands AGOS and Abuja now L have access to major news content free of

charge, as DAILY POST launched its print version on Friday. The print version, branded Daily Post newspaper, took off in the two major cities before spreading to other states.

Daily Post ( www.dailypost.ng ) is a premium online newspaper that provides its readers with trending general news, politics, business, entertainment and sports. The medium is known for breaking verified news and ranked one of the best online newspapers that reports news objectively.

Announcing the print version of the newspaper, the Publisher and CEO of Daily Post Media Ltd, Mr. James Bamisaye, said the aim was to further meet the demands of today ’s audiences for easy access to premium content.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 9

CARD READER TEST REVIEW BY INEC

Worries over failure rate in parts of the North •Nasarawa, 64.3%; Niger, 64.3%; Taraba 62%; Kano, 52.6% Despite the supposed good intentions of Professor Attahiru Jega, National Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the much touted magic of the Smart Card Reader, SCRs, may have suddenly become a victim of the Nigerian syndrome. Whereas there had been clamour for Jega to use the Card Readers at previous elections (like Ekiti and Osun States) with a view to perfecting the use of the machines before this year’s more sensitive and strategic general elections, the INEC Chairman behaved as though every other opinion did not matter. Now that the chicken has come home to roost, last weekend’s test of the machines showed a negative, though curious rate of failure in some states of the North. Worse still, the question that Jega would need to respond to is: Why did some states of the North, with a magnificent and tantalizingly high collection rate of the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, record this very negative rate of the SCR tests?

BY JIDE AJANI

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F the revelations of the pilot exercise conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in all the zones of the country can be taken with the empiricism of a quantitative research, then the enthusiastic endorsement of the Smart Card Reader, SCRs, by the All Progressives Congress (APC) may have been ill-advised and misplaced.

Reason: Professor Attahiru Jega, INEC’s Chairman, would need to explain to Nigerians why the failure rate of the machines in the North comes with the unpalatable prospects of depriving the APC of votes in that beleaguered region of Nigeria.

It has emerged that many areas where APC may consider as strongholds experienced dismal failure rates with the use of the SCRs. Take, for instance, the case of Kano – which has the largest voting population of the entire 19 states of the North. There, the success rate of the Card Readers was 47.4% meaning that less than 5 out of 10 times the Card Reader failed to authenticate potential voters.

In Nasarawa State the outcome was even worse - the Card Readers had a failure rate of 64.3%, equal to a success rate of merely 35.7%.

In practical terms, it means that if 10 people were to line up for verification on election day in Nasarawa, only about four people will be successfully verified by the Card Reader.

Even areas of the North with some level of success were merely marginal.

For instance in Bauchi, the success rate was merely 59.1 out of 1,511 accreditation attempts conducted.

Described in real terms this means that out of the 1,511 people who attempted to verify their PVCs, only 893 were successful whereas 618 failed.

THE CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER OF INCIDENT FORMS

Prof. Jega But INEC has provided a window – and a very suspect one at that as has been explained by Sunday Vanguard weeks ago because, substituting the security of the SCRs with a manually processed paper with the possibility of being subjected to the whims and caprices of possibly suspect staff, would create a fertile ground for massive rigging.

Therefore, it is now a matter of quandary how INEC will be able to handle situations where about 50% of voters in the North may need to fill Incident Forms on the day of election. This may turn out to be an actuarial and logistical nightmare, because if a state has two million voters and has 50% voter

turnout, it means that, given the failure rates of about 40 to 50% in the North where there is a voter turnout of 50% in the hypothetical case above, out of the one million voters, about 400,000 may need to fill Incident Forms.

Now, filling an Incident Form may eat into the minutes saved by using Card Readers. To illustrate further, if 150 voters out of 400, who show up in a polling unit of 500 people, need to fill Incident Forms, it means that, if each of the voters take a minimum of eight minutes for the INEC polling officer to fill their Incident Forms, they will use 8 X 150 minutes or 1,200 minutes to fill the forms; this, when divided by 60

It is now a matter of quandary how INEC will be able to handle situations where about 50% of voters in the North may need to fill Incident Forms on the day of election

minutes to calculate, the number of hours 150 people will use in filling the forms means that about 20 hours will be required in a polling unit just to fill Incident Forms.

Whereas it is not possible to predict the impact this may have on the accreditation process, given that it is not possible to tell ahead how many people will actually need to fill the Incident Forms on election day, but given the pilot results from the North, it can be expected that many more Incident Forms will likely be filled in the region. Now, how can INEC handle possible situations

Continues on page 10

PAGE 10—SUNDAY

Vanguard , MARCH 15, 2015

Continued from page 9 where those who fill the Incident Forms exceed the people verified by the SCRs; such an outcome certainly makes the Card Readers unhelpful!

To highlight how this may be a further handicap, Kebbi State had a success rate for accreditations of mere 54.3%; in Niger State, the success rate was 58.1%. With such outcomes, it is doubtful that the use of Card Readers will go ahead without many hitches in the North on the day of election, except INEC has devised a speedy approach to tackle these potential hindrances.

CURIOUS TWISTS While the failure rate in the North was rife, the success rate in the South was high.

In Delta State, for instance, the success rate was 92.0%. In Lagos, the success rate was 91.4%; in Rivers, it was 81.6%; in Ekiti, it was 67.4% only Ebonyi State had a dismal success rate, about the worst nationwide with a success rate of 3.4% or a failure rate of 96.6%.

From these data, it can be inferred that election day will come with many new surprises for the politicians, surprises which may fall far short of their pre-election permutations, particularly in the North where many voters are likely to confront technology adaptation in one very eventful day.

Well, for states in the North with high technology uptake in information technology, this may not be a problem. But for those with poor IT uptake amongst the population, they may just have to hope that the pilot testing conducted by INEC does not correlate fully with the election day accreditation because, if they are a reflection of election day reality as all pilot studies are meant to be, then voters in many parts of the North may have a very eventful outing on March 28.

That is not all.

INEC sources have told Sunday Vanguard that the sample of voters used in all the areas in the South where the pilots were conducted were

Worries over failure rate in parts of the North

• Jonathan

• Buhari statistically insignificant. They point to Delta and Lagos, for instance, where only less than 700 accreditations were used to compute the results, and observe that these were less than the total number of voters in many polling units in Lagos and several polling units in Delta. According to our usually dependable sources, if as many as 1,500 observations were made in these places as they were in places like Kano and Kebbi, the results may have been different. Therefore, if these observations can be taken as significant, then the whole nation may indeed be headed for an eventful day on March 28.

Worse still, the much touted collection rate for the PVCs in the North, curious as it is, was merely explained away by Jega as a function of enthusiasm – that if the

people in a section of the country (he was referring to the North) choose to come out en masse to collect their PVCs while people in other parts of the country (South) are not keen about collecting their cards, how does that become his problem?

On the day of election, the security agents and party officials accredited to be at polling units or voting points would need to be on alert to ensure that those without PVCs that belong to them should not be allowed anywhere near the voting points.

In addition, the multitude of the under-aged who throng political campaign rallies for the two leading parties and who come out believing they would vote should not only be stopped but they should also be arrested.

Furthermore, the use of Incident Forms should be properly looked

But not addressing the plethora of incongruities arising from the m a s s i v e collection of PVCs in the North with high the failure rates recorded while testing the SCRs, would open INEC, one way or another, to the allegation of bias

into by INEC such that a conspiracy between its staff and party bigwigs would not translate into a situation where politicians just sit in one room and fill the forms while using the thousands of stolen and domiciled PVCs. That is the only way Jega can save his integrity. That is the only way the elections can be free, fair and credible. That is the only way votes can count.

But not addressing the plethora of incongruities arising from the massive collection of PVCs in the North with high the failure rates recorded while testing the SCRs, would open INEC, one way or another, to the allegation of bias, partisanship and unconscionable manipulation of the process to favour one candidate over another.

DRAFT Table of Report of Mock Election Conducted on March 10th 2015 State ANAMBRA BAUCHI DELTA EBONYI EKITI KANO LAGOS NASARAWA NIGER RIVERS TARABA KEBBI TOTAL

Completed Accreditations 738 893 484 34 861 1,378 634 356 356 753 714 1,351 9241

Total Accreditations 943 1511 526 987 1277 2,910 694 998 998 923 1,879 2490 16937

% Success 78.3 59.1 92.0 3.4 67.4 47.4 91.4 35.7 35.7 81.6 38.0 54.3 58.9

% Failed Attempts 21.7 40.9 8.0 96.6 32.6 52.6 8.6 64.3 64.3 18.4 62.0 45.7 41.1

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 11

the handling of its constitutional mandate to ascertain the suitability of nominees for certain top public positions. For this, the senate developed a template that gives automatic clearance to anyone who is or has been a senator. The assumption here is that every former or present senator is a person of integrity. Does it not occur to the senate that Nigerians know people

of integrity? Can the decision of senators to describe themselves as ‘distinguished’ immediately attach integrity to each and every one of them including many who rigged elections to get in there? Besides, is it not annoying to tell Nigerians that former senators who had moved on to other assignments can do no wrong even in their new situations?

The above questions throw ample light on what our senate has just done to Musiliu Obanikoro who was last week given a clean bill to be appointed a Minister of the Federal Republic. Obanikoro is probably an amiable character judging by what those of us who know him perceive of him but asking him to take a bow as a former senator without any question at a time when he is facing severe allegations that are of interest to the public is no doubt perverse. While it is true that the senate not being a court of law should neither put Obanikoro on trial over any allegations nor impute that his guilty of any, it amounts to insensitivity to ask a political nominee to take a bow and proceed to take a public office at a time when the same public he is to serve is nursing certain disturbing misgivings against him. A normal interview session with the nominee would have given the senate a better image.

Again if the principle of take a bow is to be employed, it would be illogi-

cal for it to take precedence over the objections of senators from the nominee’s state since that is also a standing rule of the senate.

Objections ought to vitiate the privilege of taking a bow. Whereas Nigerians are yet to appreciate what qualifies a nominee for automatic clearance, extending it to those who have questions to answer is offensive.

The case of Obanikoro is thus the latest issue which puts the comedy of taking a bow to serious test. When the case is properly examined, the senators failed in their duty because strictly speaking, the mandate of the senate to clear nominees for certain positions does not also confer on the senate the power to exempt some nominees. Thus in the instant case of Obanikoro, the senate exceeded its powers. This becomes clearer when we recall that Minister Abba Moro was accorded the same exemption even though he did not fall into those purportedly exempted by the same senate. What this suggests is that our senate operates under its own whims and caprices without regards to the sensibilities of people.

Whether the House of Representatives would have done a better job on the issue cannot immediately be known. While accepting that the House is often more proactive than the senate, both bodies, once a while, are never able to rise beyond self interests. The struggle for automatic tickets for re-election tops the

examples in this regard. Indeed, a review of what the National Assembly has done so far in its relationship with our electoral body brings out the issue more clearly. Because our legislators enjoy the manipulation of elections, they take delight in using lawmaking to derogate substantially from the independence of our electoral body. For example, although Section 118 of our Constitution puts the registration of voters and the conduct of elections under the direction and supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, our legislature went ahead to direct INEC on the voting method for elections by enacting an Electoral Act which in Section 52 prohibits what everyone else now does -electronic voting.

Meanwhile, paragraph 15 Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution merely allows the legislature to get involved only in regulating the registration of political parties. It stands to reason anyway that our legislators who are themselves contestants in the game of elections ought not to control the format or voting method to be used.

Reports in the media, that our National Assembly has now resolved to cancel the unreasonable prohibition of electronic voting which it had no business getting involved with in the first instance suggests that law making in Nigeria is temperamental. We can do better.

campaigning on the platform of change would enthusiastically welcome renegades from the very party they have been disparaging and criticising for years. I laugh when APC takes credit for the modest achievements of Rotimi Amechi, Rochas Okorocha and others before they joined the party. Perhaps, Tinubu and others are too desperate for power and would do anything to get it: their criticisms of the ruling party and enthusiastic welcome of PDP turncoats stem from jealousy rather than from sound ideological principles. Whatever might be the case, there is nothing outstanding to show in APCcontrolled states that Nigerians should trust the party

by people in authority. Taking a cue from Plato, corruption connotes change: it is perversion from the true nature and essence of a thing, process, or system.

Thus, and most relevantly, as Obi Nwakanma stated, corruption is the inability of institutions established by law to prevent stealing and dishonest behaviour, or punish the offender when it occurs. But the failure of institutions to function properly arises from the inability or plain refusal of individuals in charge of those institutions to carry out their duties effectively.

Stealing and bribery are the commonest forms of official corruption globally.

The difference between countries with respect to the

pling with corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) were established to deal with the problem at different levels. Now, despite claims By the EFCC that it achieved the highest number of convictions during the present administration, die-hard Buharimanics still insist, wrongly, that Jonathan’s government is the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history. I believe that President Jonathan’s laidback attitude towards corruption and justified refusal to interfere with the legislature and the judiciary contribute to deliberate misinformation about his government’s achievements in fighting corruption. Certainly his government can, and should, do more to bring to justice the “high and mighty” stinking with the stench of corrupt enrichment.

But, all things considered, is Gen. Buhari capable of fighting corruption especially at the highest level as he boasted? Before we answer that question, let us consider some relevant facts about him. According to media reports, Buhari did not enrich himself while in office: that is quite commendable, considering the propensity of Nigerians to exploit political power and influence for bulimic accumulation. On the other hand, what has the former military leader been occupied with since he left office? What value has he added to the Nigerian project outside official duties?

There is no evidence whatsoever that he has improved himself academically or economically after leaving office as military head of state and chairman, Petroleum Special Task Fund; he

has not been involved in any charity work either. All this implies that Gen. Buhari, just like several APC kingpins, is like a fish out of water whenever he is not occupying one official position or another, that he does not have enough drive and skill to conceive, nurture and implement ideas for personal cum social development beyond what is readily available to him at the official level. This is a very significant fact about Gen. Buhari Nigerians have not paid attention to. If, after leaving office several years ago Buhari went back to school to improve his knowledge, managed a business venture successfully no matter how small or founded a non-governmental organisation to champion any noble cause of his choice, APC’s argument for change through his leadership would have gained traction among those who maintain that he is out of touch with contemporary principles of political and economic management. It is just not enough for a party campaigning for change to rely too much on the anti-corruption reputation of one man, based on careful suppression of inconvenient facts that tend to suggest that the person in question might not have stolen public funds but could not prevent those working with him from stealing. It is commendable if Buhari is as “clean” as his vociferous admirers claim.

Still, Nigeria needs much more than a President who would not steal money but cannot prevent others from stealing and hobnobs with some of the most corrupt politicians in Nigeria today.

Wanted in Nigeria: A more Proactive Legislature tution just because others have it. If so, which should we drop if we are to settle for one? The widespread representation of the House seems to give it an advan-

Because our legislators enjoy the manipulation of elections, they take delight in using lawmaking to derogate substantially from the independence of our electoral body

tage, more so as there is really no function of the senate that cannot as well be handled by the House of Representatives.

As a matter of fact, from the performances of both bodies, an analyst can opine with ample justification that the House is far more people oriented. Indeed, the senate occasionally rationalizes issues with little logic. Even the modalities it

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos, , 08116759758

Deconstructing Buharimania (2)

K

EEP in mind that one of the reasons Gen. Ibrahim Babangida gave for overthrowing Buhari was that the latter is too rigid and opinionated to preside over a multiply plural country like Nigeria. Because of desperation to win in his fourth attempt to become President, Buhari now campaigns as if he has a magic formula to solve the myriads of problems facing the country within four years.

His supporters think that as a retired general he can crush the Boko Haram terrorists at the snap of his fingers. Buharimaniacs who believe him without question conveniently forgot that Buhari, aside from his single-minded devotion to Islam, which fits comfortably into the Islamisation agenda of Boko Haram, had excoriated the federal government for trying so hard to liquidate the terrorists militarily instead of giving then amnesty just like late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua did for the Niger Delta militants. To be candid, Buhari’s contradictory statements on Boko Haram indicates the ambivalence of a confused devout Muslim in a serious dilemma about how to deal with fellow Muslims trying to violently impose their bloodthirsty antiquated religious weltanschauung throughout the country. It is ironic that Tinubu, who in 2011 declared that Gen. Buhari represents expired leadership, is among those

evolves for doing its job are often uninspiring. No less annoying is the way it occasionally justifies its position on certain topical issues; a good example being

working relentlessly to install an “expired leader” as President. If that is the kind of change APC can offer, Nigerians should look elsewhere because it would lead to the tiresome condition of arrested development.

Moreover, several kingpins of APC have held, and are still holding public offices at different levels of government. Yet, there is very little to show that they are trustworthy change agents. For instance, in APC controlled states, the problems of bloated cabinet, overconcentration of development in few urban centres to the detriment of the rural areas, emasculation of local governments, cronyism, and financial rascality are still rampant. In my home state, Imo, the socalled achievements of Governor Rochas Okorocha in infrastructural development and education are insubstantial: indeed, roads constructed by his government are substandard whereas the state, once the leading centre in academic achievements at different levels of education, is lagging terribly behind.

In my view, APC’s allegation of poor performance and financial recklessness against President Jonathan and PDP generally can also be validly levelled against APC governors. Meanwhile, a sizeable number of prominent APC members were formerly in PDP. Obviously, it is hypocritical that chieftains of a party

,

,

,

T

he Constitution of the Federal repub lic of Nigeria 1999 provides for a National Assembly made up of 2 bodies, the Senate and the House of representatives. It also creates a House of Assembly in each state of the federation. But does Nigeria at the federal level really require a bi-camera legislature, that is, two branches of a legislature whrn both bodies have the same mandate –to make laws for the good governance of Nigeria? If the purpose is to ensure that everyone is adequately represented, is the large numerical strength of the House of Representatives arising from the creation of many seats to bring representation from every part not enough? Well perhaps both bodies are in order since a bi-camera legislature is a common phenomenon in many parts of the world but not every citizen is persuaded that Nigeria should have an insti-

APC’s allegation of poor performance and financial recklessness against President Jonathan and PDP generally can also be validly levelled against APC governors

as the vehicle of positive change if its presidential candidate wins the election.

Let us now examine critically the foundation of Buharimania, namely, the reputation of Gen. Buhari’s as an honest principled strongman who can wipe out corruption in Nigeria.

For most people, corruption is illegal and dishonest behaviour by people in positions of authority or power. That is why when the average Nigerian talks about corruption, he or she has in mind the illegal or dishonest behaviour of government officials in return for money or power.

However, corruption is allpervading - it goes beyond giving and taking of bribes

,

quantum of official corruption is fundamentally cultural; it also depends on the nature of extant laws and willingness of people in authority to enforce existing anti-corruption legislation.

Corruption in whatever form is rooted in the basic conditions of human existence. Human beings are not perfect; they have a natural tendency to seek their own advantage sometimes through illegal and dishonest ways. Therefore, it is impossible to eliminate corruption. Nevertheless, countries create institutional bulwarks against it such that the propensity to act illegally and dishonestly would be drastically reduced. Nigeria, just like every other country, is grap-

To be continued

Page 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

Ohaneze’s endorsements and I apologise, I did not speak with other matters A the king

T

HE story that the King Mohammed IV of Morrocco declined a phone request from Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan is no longer news.

This broke early last week and has been widely publicised both in print and broadcast media, in and outside Nigeria. At first "contact" with the news, I had reservations about the authenticity. This probably was because I saw it first on the social media.

The initial thought on sighting the headline was that "GEJ enemies" probably have cooked up another interesting story to embarrass the Nigerian government. You can question me on this, but with the rate false stories are peddled right, left and centre in all the political camps no one can really blame me for this thought. I have read some stories recently that are nothing but what we call "fable" in my neck of the woods.

My doubt on the veracity of the story was put to rest when the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a statement that contrary to the news making the rounds, Mr President actually spoke with the Moroccan king. This was when I concluded that this was not a "figment of imagination" of the opposition group or the works of "fifth columnists" in the government.

The telephone conversation refusal was initially made public by the Moroccan Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement that the request by Nigeria authorities was refused because an election is coming up in Nigeria and the King does not want to be “a pawn” in the game. It stated that the refusal was necessary because a telephone conversation between the two might suggest a rapprochement where there is none. The King was particularly piqued by “the repetitive unfriendly and hostile positions of the Nigerian Government, regarding the issue of the Moroccan Sahara and the sacred Arab – Muslim causes, particularly that of the brotherly Palestinian people," the statement said.

The country accused President Jonathan of not interested in normal diplomatic relationship, but a means of getting “back the muslim electorate...”

The story was number one on the Nigerian social media circles last week as there were so many shares on Facebook, blog, Twitter, etc. The run up to the 2015 elections has brought out the online "sharing" ability of Nigerians as we strive to keep up with breaking news stories. The only down side to this is we love to share negative news about our country but complain when international media focus mainly on our poverty, rather than developments. Do you blame them?

There have been comments and opinions on the telephone conversation refusal. The

The country accused President Jonathan of not interested in normal diplomatic relationship, but a means of getting “back the muslim electorate..." opposition groups and supporters seized the opportunity to condemn the government of Jonathan as lacking “ respect” in the international community. In less than 24 hours it became a campaign “issue” on social media, and also crept into the mainstream media.

A few patriotic Nigerians however, cautioned that the subject of the story should not be a source of celebration for the opposition, rather it should call for sober reflections for all Nigerians.

It was argued that although the timing of the request for a telephone conversation with the Moroccan King by the President may be suspect as "tool" for electioneering purposes, the underlying reason for refusal is the perceived Nigeria's opposition to the Palestinian cause. Have we paused for a moment to reflect on this aspect of the statement?

The authorities in Morocco raised glasses and saluted themselves for the courage to refuse a telephone conversation request from the President of the most populated black country, completely unaware of what the Nigerian government would come out with next. And it was a shocker. In reaction to the snub claim of the Moroccan, the Foreign Affairs ministry issued a statement claiming that President Goodluck Jonathan actually had a telephone conversation with the king and both spoke “extensively” “on matters of mutual interests” to the countries.

The Moroccans dropped their drinking glasses, mouth agape and shocked out of their "shells", at Nigeria's claim of a telephone conversation between the two leaders. The Morroccan foreign affairs ministry in a swift reaction denied the King ever spoke with Mr President, talk less of “extensively” on any issue.

They condemned, in not palatable words, how the Nigerian government has twisted a phone conversation that never took place.

Understandably, "in anger”, the Moroccan monarch ordered the immediate recall of the country's ambassador to Nigeria.

Nigerians and the world generally were very confused as to what part of the story they should believe.

The Moroccan officials were however very empathic that

there was never a telephone conversation, while the Nigerian officials repeated "their song". The question of who was lying did not go away.

However, events took a strange twist late Friday when a statement was released from the Presidency that Jonathan was "shocked, surprised and highly embarrassed by the controversy that has erupted".

There was a huge sigh of relief from everybody that finally we know who was telling the truth.

Undoubtedly embarrassed by the turn of events, the Presidency promised an investigation to unravel the mystery. The foreign minister was charged with the responsibility of "playing the detective" in this "episode".

This latest turn has brought to fore the handling of state affairs in Nigeria and has got every right thinking Nigerian worried about governance in Nigeria. There are many questions that beg for answers from the Presidency, the Foreign Affairs Minister and his staff. What prompted the official that released the initial statement confirming a telephone conversation between these two leaders?

Did he or she act alone or in a team? Did he or she make any attempt to clarify with the Presidency if Mr Jonathan actually spoke with the Moroccan king?

What was the role of the foreign minister in this embarrassing situation? Is he a fifth columnist in the Jonathan government? Was he aware of the first press statement before it was made public?

And for the Presidency, why did it take this long before a clarification was issued? The "diplomatic tension" could have been easily diffused if the Presidency had come clean immediately, "hands raised" as sign of humility and deny the Foreign Affairs Ministry statement. Was the Presidency playing along in the "game" until it turned "unfriendly" and had to look for a "scapegoat" to lay the blame on?

Not that Nigerians care much about their government's response.

Going by comments and reactions on social media, Nigerians, from the "word go," believed the Moroccan side of the story. They know the Moroccan king is not shy to take a stand when there is need to. King Mohammed IV, by history seem to be a man of “short temper ” and an implacable individual who picks his fights with whoever he sees as enemy of his country or fellow Arab brothers.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian government seemed to have picked a wrong leader to rumble with. The former Israeli President Shimon Peres had a "taste" of the King when he had to cancel a state visit to Morocco after it emerged the king would not see him.

From both sides, the last had not been heard of this "telephone conversation" debacle. I can assure you it will rear its head once again in the nearest future.

S the days grow shorter towards Nigeria’s general elections, two weeks hence on March 28, the stakes grow higher; campaigns fiercer, more laced with calumny and denigration, and the posturings are dense with hyperbole. In the high stakes game to win hearts and minds, politicians throw everything into the grinder, including the devil’s poop, to make a special kind of smoothie for public consumption.

Take the APC’s posturing to take the president’s wife, an unelected public figure, whose job description under the presidency is merely to keep the presidential bedchambers warm as “first lady” and nothing else, before the International Criminal Court. On what grounds, pray? The Congress has apparently not read the international charter of the ICC. That’s a fundamental ground to question their preparedness to govern Africa’s largest democracy and economic powerhouse. Other self-respecting African nations, conscious and proud of their sovereign status are beginning to question whether Africans should submit to the ICC, which in recent years have been seen as witch-hunting African leaders, infantilizing the African continent, and subverting Africa’s hard-worn sovereignty and autonomy. That the APC has not asked themselves these questions, or clearly articulated a powerful foreign policy agenda continues to make them open to the charge that they bring nothing new to the table. The PDP administration, of course, from 1999 to date has run the weakest foreign office of any government in Nigeria since independence in 1960.

Sixteen years of PDP’s lackadaisical foreign policy has rendered Nigeria internationally weak and vulnerable. You may quibble about Nigeria’s military rule, and I indeed have very little nostalgia for it, but you may not quibble about Nigeria’s robust foreign policy even under the soldiers.

Nigeria’s voice was clearly heard and respected globally.

Nigeria did not ride on anybody’s coat-tails.

Two critical foreign policy thrusts under the Babangida administration is key to Nigeria’s strategic international interest and security: the organization of the West African Partnership force, ECOMOG, which stabilized West Africa, cleared Liberia and Sierra-Leone of insurgency, and made certain that Nigeria’s neighborhood was intact, secure and virile in the 1990s, and Nigeria’s International Volunteer Technical Corp, modeled after the US peace corps, which sent Nigerian teachers, doctors, and other professionals to other African countries to serve and help in their development efforts. If Nigeria took itself seriously as an African power, the US would not send its military and warships to secure the Gulf of Guinea, or send its Marines into Liberia and SierraLeone to build structures for intervention on the Ebola crisis. Nigeria would have mobilized ECOMOG to lead that

intervention, and even train, deploy, and direct the Special Forces now operating against Boko Haram in the Sahel.

If Nigeria took itself seriously, France would not be operating a military base for its Legionnaires, right as the crow flies into Nigeria’s borders by Chad in the Sahara.

In the last sixteen years of the PDP, Nigeria has been far more a minion state, or as a friend of mine would say, a breeding ground for all kinds of strange international adventures and misadventures. Its foreign policy is not selfdirected but cauterized on the table of its dependency. The Jonathan administration has continued Obasanjo’s ventriloquist foreign policy agenda which does grievous harm to Nigeria’s long term strategic interest, its international standing, and even its domestic security.

The question Nigerians now ask is: what happened to the virile force called ECOMOG, so much so that Boko Haram would operate seamlessly on Nigeria’s borders, and it’d take the Nigerian Armed Forces just this long to begin to clear this rag-tag insurgency? What is Nigeria’s strategic foreign policy with regards to its perceived and oft-stated place as an African power? When APC says it will drag Nigeria’s first lady to the International Criminals Court, is it suggesting that no court in Nigeria is big enough to try Mrs. Jonathan, if indeed she has criminal liability; or that there is no jail in Nigeria secure enough to hold her if she is ever found guilty of a domestic crime? If this is so, then Nigeria’s claim to nationhood must be subject to revi-

If a state falls to seeking external help for its unique domestic economic, political, and security questions, that nation has no reason any longer to exist sion, and the APC should not bother to seek elections in what the writer and polemicist, Chinweizu would call a “noyau state.”

If a state falls to seeking external help for its unique domestic economic, political, and security questions, that nation has no reason any longer to exist, or to claim a sovereign will. But still on the subject of Mrs. Patience Jonathan: the first lady apparently has a real gift for rubbing people the wrong way; particularly her husband’s opponents. Among them, Vanguard columnist, Ms. Donu Kogbara. Last week, she wrote of herself as once an enthusiastic supporter of President Jonathan, but not anymore.

She will not vote for the

incumbent for reasons of his great many failures, but chief of which is President Jonathan’s inability to bring his “overbearing wife” to heel.

Donu, daughter of the late Ignatius Kogbara, Biafra’s Ambassador to London (1967-70), ought by now to know that there are at least two things sensible men, even the most powerful among them, do not do: they do not retire a winning horse from the race, and they do not monkey around that fierce and imponderable divinity called our “wives.” Not if you want peace and long life.

There are certainly a great many things which thoughtful people should consider in not re-electing President Jonathan, but not his wife.

Unless Donu Kogbara is contending access to the presidential bedchambers; and I do not see why not. She’d certainly make a fine first lady.

But it is worth giving some thought: the first lady is like Ezeulu, against whose body all of Umuaro throw their perennial anxieties, to carry to his god, Ulu. In any case, as endorsements go, voters should know which is pure koolaid. Take Ohaneze, the Igbo socio-cultural organization for example. It is currently engaged in an endorsement war. Please note that I emphasize that this is a “socio-cultural” organization; it is not a political organization; and it has no political campaign structures. Yet it purports to speak for every Igbo vote. Last week, Joe Nwaorgu its spokesman, emphasized in an interview that the Igbo vote is in the kitty for Jonathan, based apparently on Ohaneze’s endorsement.

I should say, that is a doggone presumption, and I should ask that question thrown once to the Pope: how many battalions does Ohaneze control to enforce a universal Igbo vote? In any case, why should the Igbo vote Jonathan? Ohaneze has not made this clear to many Igbo, and if the Igbo are anything, they are certainly not herds.

In fact, they are quite stubborn, argumentative, and not liable to follow any unconvincing dicta.

The Igbo are certainly not going to rely on Fani-Kayode, who has written many abominable things about them to convince them to vote Jonathan. They will look and see that the Igbo still have the highest number of unemployed and underemployed university graduates nationwide; they’ll ask questions of this administration, and if they vote for Jonathan, it will be in spite of Ohaneze’s endorsements.

The Igbo vote generally on three questions: jobs, national security, and guarantee of liberty. Ohaneze’s endorsement will be of no consequence, if in their various composite Town Union meetings, the Igbo decide that they benefit nothing from the incumbent.

These endorsements are therefore exactly what they are: posturing and self-positioning, and both the PDP and the APC should take note, take their campaigns to the people, and show their paces.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 13

GEJ, Alams, Nwobodo and “authority stealing” (1)

Thine self be true "If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another" ...Epicurus T was a relief not to write about Nigeria and its brand of politics last week. It felt so much better not to be embroiled in the dark arts of its politics. Then the lady had to speak and here we are again. They often say it’s not over until the fat lady sings that does not seem to be the case, as this lady wants to go on and on.

I really do not want to rehash old grounds, but when the fragrant lady took to the rostrum and she incites the crowd to stone anyone who does not vote for her husband.

The call by Mrs. Jonathan was reportedly made at a rally in Calabar, Cross River State, during a PDP political rally last week.

What choice does one have but to state the obvious; can someone give this lady a muzzle, she adds nothing to the campaign but rile up hatred and confusion. She does not get it. It was all on tape so there is no denying it. She said it. But then she has said so much that she shouldn't have.

There is no shutting her

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C M Y K

up. And the sycophants that follow her around and massage her over-inflated ego continue to stoke her and encourage her to go on.

She really believed that she is contributing to the campaign. I do not think so. Of course, the Jona camp, are convinced that the lady has not put her delicate foot wrong.

Can someone give these people a reality check please? Or should she be inciting the baying crowd to stone the opponent? This is surely not how civilised people behave and ordinarily if someone should say so, I expect the police to arrest that person and take them for questioning or possibly fine them for inciting violence. She may lay claim to being the first lady, she sure is not setting good example for the rest of our women folks. I do not think she is a good role model. The APC and its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari are set, according to sources, to report First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan to the International Criminal Court, ICC for allegedly mobilising a hate campaign against him.

In the petition to the criminal court it claimed that Mrs. Jonathan, asked PDP

sorry if “respected” columnists have forgotten the history. But, there it is. Even, the entire Federal Budget in 1976 hardly reached N2 billion. Liars!!

It is when they turn

Propaganda is serious business and should be left to professionals. Run-of-the-mill columnists cannot handle it successfully. I pity them

,

to Bola Tinubu that they really become comical.

You read advertorials about “the largest land owner in Nigeria” (no acreage, like 90.4 hec-

supporters of her husband to "stone" anyone who chants the APC's change mantra.

This definitely may or may not go anywhere, but someone or some authorities need tell the fragrant lady that no one is above the law. I do believe that Patience, most of the time thinks that she is above the law or that she is the law.

The opposition party said, by her statement, the fragrant lady clearly was "calling on PDP supporters in Calabar to attack supporters and campaigners of the APC in the state."

Someone should have told Patience that the wife of former president of Ivory Coast president, Laurent Gbagbo, Simone Gbagbo did a similar thing during an election campaign and 3000 people died as result.

Her action has landed her 20 years in prison.

This so called office of the first lady is becoming a joke and a shield that she often hides behind, there is no provision officially and constitutionally for her role so about time this power hungry lady took a back seat. I know that it is easy to make capital opportunity of this situation but there comes a time to put a stop to her meddling in business that does not concern her.

If she knew or was reminded then she would know that her husband and Buhari signed the Abuja Peace Accord as a gesture aimed at averting violence before, during and after the 2015 elections. The lady may have not got the memo or her lackeys could or did not tell her. The committee has come to the aid of the lady and pointed the finger at the media for not censoring her speech, seriously?

them.

By contrast let me explain why Jonathan cannot, and will not, fight stealing by top government officials. The plain This lady loves the sound of her own voice and likes to play to her audience and now they blame the media?

Really!

Her media aide, Adewuyi, have come to her aid and strenuously denied that the first lady who occupies "the exalted office of the President of the African First Ladies Mission would not promote violence under any guise". Adewuyi continues "The only thing we can say from here is that Dame Patience Jonathan is a woman of peace that can never in any way be identified with violence before,

,

A

lthough the dic tionary includ ed DISHONESTY among the definitions of corruption, President Jonathan had insisted that it is only stealing. I fully accept his definition of what happens in official circles. My mentor on this was the Abami-Eda himself, Fela Anikulapo – who left us with a track titled “Authority Stealing”. Jonathan, it can be assumed from his utterances and conduct, appears not to be prepared to fight corruption. But, will he wage war against stealing?

Given the facts available to me, the answer is “definitely NO!” Permit me to take a di-

version by pointing to the puerile approach the PDP had taken in their attempt to smear Buhari and Tinubu with charges of corruption.

For Buhari, the PDP and their choristers in the media, including my colleagues in VANGUARD, had been repeating a charge about $2.8 billion stolen from the NNPC when Buhari was Petroleum Minister.

Among the rumour mongers are Professors and respected columnists. I have challenged any of them to publish the balance sheet of the NNPC in 1976, because the entire organization was not worth $2.8 billion. At any rate, in 1976, the exchange rate was US1= N0.67, same as when Buhari was Head of State. Today it is US$1=N205. I am

,

“ You can’t prove deeds with words”. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

tares in Abuja, is mentioned and where the parcels of land are); “the man who controls all the governors under the APC in the Southwest” (how much he takes from the states is not stated). The stupidities continue on and on. Two impressions are created among thinking readers: they cannot substantiate their allegations; and lack the guts to confront the man. Propaganda is serious business and should be left to professionals. Run-of-the-mill columnists cannot handle it successfully. I pity

Someone in the president's camp has goofed in order to make the president look good and statemanly but instead it makes the administration look shady and untrustworthy

,

during and after elections.

"You do not expect somebody who is the President of African First Ladies to be promoting violence." She is not called Mama Peace for nothing, you know.

When asked whether the President's wife would be ready to answer any inquiry from the ICC on the matter, Adewuyi said, "They are just notifying. The case is not yet in ICC. They are

truth is, almost all of them are close to the corridors of power in Aso Rock. He provided some inkling into his mind-set when he pardoned his former boss Alamieyeseigha, the former Governor of Bayelsa State. “Alams” was the accused fugitive, who absconded from Britain dressed as a woman to avoid prosecution. He was later tried in Nigeria, allowed to plea bargain (meaning he surrendered only part of what he allegedly stole) and was given a light sentence. To help erase his criminal record Jonathan gave the man pardon. He is now thinking about going to the Senate; and one day, become the Senate President. Nigerians need to have an idea of the amount of public funds which Jonathan’s friend allegedly stole.

In my book, PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, and on pages 268 to 270, they were captured.

I don’t intend to reveal the entire evidence in the book. But, I can guarantee the reader, that if Alams had committed those crimes in entitled to their opinions and actions. We are not going to be dragged into any argument with them". Now we wonder why they could not stop her for spewing hatred and violence. They are all in denial. Someone needs to tell the lady and her cronies to stay away from the microphone.

The truth will out "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."... Mark Twain Morocco has had enough and has recalled their ambassador to Nigeria back home. The King of Morocco does not want his name dragged and used as a tool for electioneering. The King denied having had conversation with GEJ but GEJ's people said he did. So what really did happen?

Should GEJ tell people what really went on, the country could do with having a cordial relationship with their fellow African neighbours.

So APC is seeking answers that Nigerians need to know what caused the diplomatic rift between the two countries. In a statement in Lagos on APC's National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Jonathan must clarify whether or not he spoke with King Mohammed VI of Morocco. So they want to know "Did President Jonathan speak with the Moroccan King? If not, who is responsible for this egregious misrepresentation that has embarrassed a whole country and its leader?"

This is because the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry had said President Jonathan spoke on the telephone with the Moroccan King. But the Kingdom, in

Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Viet Nam or China, he would not be alive today.

In that book, PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, I had asked if it is possible for a Governor to steal so much and the Deputy Governor, the Speaker of the House and other legislators knew nothing about it. How about the Accountant-General and the Auditor-General?

Jonathan recently campaigned in Enugu and told the crowd that ex-Governor Jim Nwobodo received the longest sentence among those convicted under Buhari in 1984. I pity Nwobodo. I don’t want to disgrace the old man.

But Jonathan is almost tempting me to reveal to Nigerians the whole truth. The record is there in my archives.

LAST LINE: I have reserved five (5) copies of PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED for anyone in Bayelsa, eager and patriotic enough to know what happened between 1999 and 2007. It was stealing unlimited!!!

a very scathing statement, said no such conversation took place.

The Kingdom went on: "The statement said Morocco is surprised at the incredible twist given by Nigeria to an alleged phone conversation that never took place between HM King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President" Someone in the president's camp has goofed in order to make the president look good and statemanly but instead it makes the administration look shady and untrustworthy.

They are too many president spokespeople without licence left to run a country and it does not seem they have anyone to answer to.

This is problematic and such diplomatic faux pas will happen more often and it does not make the country look good nor the president. Contrary to what APC had said about the matter, I don't think Morocco is lumping every Nigerian in the affray and they are definitely not insinuating that all Nigerians are liars, just the ones who cooked up the story.

APC said because of Nigeria's (self -acclaimed) leadership role in Africa, it must not allow such a diplomatic faux pas to go without being addressed, saying other countries were keenly watching the row between Nigeria and Morocco. I do not think so. We have very much burnt enough bridges, So APC defended its stance: "Before anyone accuses us of politicizing this issue, we make bold to say that we, the APC, and indeed all Nigerians are stakeholders in the Nigeria project.

PAGE 14—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

Presidential Poll: PDP governors are scared of defeat — Oshiomhole ‘Only enemies of Nigeria will contemplate the removal of Jega’ Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, in this interview, bares his mind on the forthcoming elections. While warning against any attempts to manipulate the polls or sack the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, he says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government has no further ideas on governance.

While reacting to recent comments from PDP governors against the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, he declares that the comments indicated that they have conceded defeat. He describes as untrue the statement credited to Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State that Buhari signed one-term agreement. He lampoons Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, describing his state as the highest indebted state in Nigeria. He says the time is up for the PDP in Nigeria, just as he asserts that the PDP in Edo is dead and buried. Excerpts:

By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin-City HY presidential election is special W I think every election is

important but, in the previous ones, the opposition was not really well organized; so they had not provided a potent challenge to the ruling party as we are doing today.

Also, there is the growing level of unemployment, growing level of insecurity, frustration due to poor power supply and the growing culture of impunity. So, from that point of view, I believe people want a change and, in a democracy when a party has been in power for long, it would seem it has no new ideas, there is nothing more to prove. The overall socioeconomic issues are affecting both rich and the poor and, of course have dealt a blow to the middle class. So, again, for the first time, you have a formidable opposition, and ,in terms of the real test of democracy, one man one vote, I think this year’s election is like none other before it. This makes the election unique. You find that the world is anxious to see that Nigeria passes this critical test of ensuring that a free, fair and credible election is conducted.

Card Reader controversy Well, an armed robber will always be scared of any security device that is capable of detecting or preventing robbery. It is an open secret that rigging has been a major tool in the hands of PDP. I think the best election we have had was the one conducted by the military in 1999. There was a slight improvement in 2011. So, if you have a device that seems to clean up the accreditation system, obviously it effectively demobilizes the rigging machine. For example, it is very common for election observers, the media and other groups to report that the turn out for an election is very low, but, by the time the results come out, you find that 99 per cent of people voted; as if nobody died after the registration exercise. Even in C M Y K

mature democracies, you don’t get 80 per cent turn out, if you have 55-60 per cent turn out, it is a good day. But, in Nigeria, we have had where one thousand people registered and we are told 999 people voted, sometime everybody voted. But with the Card Reader, if you manipulate and put fake names in the voters register on election day, those ghosts will not be able to vote because the Card Reader cannot read the finger prints. So, for those who survive on election rigging, obviously, they have every reason to be very worried about the damage the Card Reader will do to their apparatus of rigging.

Do you think the postponement of the elections has been justified today with what you have observed?

The postponement was

Well, an armed robber will always be scared of any security device that is capable of detecting or preventing robbery.

It is an open secret that rigging has been a major tool in the hands of PDP

Gov Adams Oshiomhole....

completely avoidable because when you fix a date for an election, people spent money, they have their calculations and, in the last minute, you change the goal post, that is not good enough. But it has also offered those who are into buying PVCs and doing other counter measures more time to perfect their act. But also those who are planning avenues to rig elections, it has given them more time to perfect the bad guys they want to deploy. But I think on the good side, more people have been able to collect their PVCs. But I believe, as they say, a debtor thinks tomorrow is far, its not as far; it is as the debtor thinks, it will come when it will come.

Hate campaign against Buhari My problem with the media is that they don’t point out some things. If you have three people in a room and one person is making noise, you don’t say these people are making noise, you say why is it that one person is making noise?

The campaign of calumny or personalization of the issues, focusing on personalities is basically a PDP problem. They are the ones who wanted to make a whole lot of noise about Buhari’s certificate. They are the ones who think that the death of some body’s wife or daughter is a campaign issue. They are the ones who produce jingles and all kinds of documentaries that are completely unacceptable in a civilized setting.

They are the ones trying to steer a debate away from issues of the economy, of security, of corruption, of any of those things that really have to do with the lives of our people, they are the ones buffeting us with what Buhari was when he was head of state. They will rather not discuss the melting of the economy and the endless devaluation of the Naira and the rise in inflation, the growing incident of employer default in payment of salaries including the public sector and the emptiness of the treasury and the sharp drop in our national reserve, the disappearance of funds in the Excess Crude Account. You will understand that the typical Nigerian, when he has no answer to a challenge, seeks cover by evoking primordial sentiments. He will bring in tribalism to divide those asking questions, he will bring in religion to divide those

asking for accountability. And he believes that in the confusion that follows, he can then escape. But, I think, on the whole, people are not fooled, I think that many people have already made up their minds.

Unfortunately for the PDP, the postponement has exposed what lies ahead if they stay longer than May 29. Look at the crash of the Naira and foreign investors are bolting with their dollars out of the country. Here in Government House, we have power supply now for not more than two three hours a day, it has gotten worse after the postponement. And out there in the city, we are having more people protesting every day over darkness.

So, ideally, if it is a country where the electorate is sensitive to issues, the umbrella now is a very very negative symbol that reminds people of how we have lost since 1999.

only few people can afford generators. And the poor man’s generator cannot carry television, it might just give you one or three bulbs. So he does not even watch those claims. Each time I go out I ask people, ‘did you not watch this thing on television?’, they say, ‘no, I did not see it, we had no light’. On the contrary, in Edo, PDP says Comrade has not done any thing, he is just making noise, doing propaganda. Okay, but people who are driving through the airport, they see a six-lane road, much more beautiful than Abuja roads. They are driving towards Teachers House where PDP told them that there is mermaid, but that it is now being asphalted. It does not matter what people see on television, what matters is what people see on the ground. And that is why I laid emphasis on eye-mark as opposed to ear-mark, what people see. If you look at their contradictions, when an economy is growing, one of the things that happens is that your currency gets stronger because the potency of your currency is a function of the economic fundamentals. Now, if you say your growth is a non-oil sector, how come that the depreciation in oil price has so much impact on your economy. Because your economy is supposed to grow if indeed we are witnessing so much growth in agriculture, in manufacturing, then oil becomes a fringe player.

But yet a little fluctuation in the oil price, your Naira suffers as if it is just an Idi Amin currency. Even to suggest that the misfortune of the Naira is as a result of the falling oil price, is to show very little understanding of the workings of the micro economy because, by 1998 to early 1999, during Gen. Abdulsalami, oil price dropped to nine dollars, exchange rate stabilized at about N70. So, if your exchange rate was N70 with oil price at nine dollars, how can you explain that when your oil price is over 50 dollars, your exchange rate is now N230 per dollar. What has happened is that there is so much policy incoherence including some confusion at the Central Bank. And the flood gate has been opened to all kinds of distortion and abuses, leading to the current poor state of the local currency. In my view, it has nothing to do with the drop in oil price because if oil price determines the strength of the

But the Federal Government has always reeled out achievements being made in the economy?

If every student has to mark its own script, nobody will make a 3rd Class. Everybody will make a 1st Class. So, awarding yourself marks very generously does not change the fact about what you are worth intellectually. If you say the rails are back, alright, those who have boarded the train will say yes, those who have not entered will say where is the rail they are talking about?. They see it on television but they don’t see it on the track. If you say the roads are very good and I am driving to Akwa Ibom and I am going up and down and I am watching on television that you have done sixty thousand or one hundred million kilometres of road, it is okay, but when I drive I will see whether the road is good.

When Onolememen (Minister of Works) said he had done the road from Benin to Lokoja, when you are going to Lokoja and you see a zig zag situation and you see more accidents on the narrow road, you will wonder, where is this dual carriage way they are showing on television. So Nigerians are no fools, people will vote, not on what they see on television? Worse for these advertisers is that television viewing now is a matter for a small section of the elite because the bulk of the urban people have no light, the bulk of the rural people have no light. The nation is in the dark, Continues on page 15

SUND AY SUNDA

Continued from Page 14 Naira, when oil rose to $110, Naira ought to have appreciated.

It never did. So if the Naira did not appreciate by the time Soludo left CBN, the Naira was exchanging for N116 to the dollar and that was when Soludo proposed to tie the Naira at N125 to one US dollar fixed, and of course, he got some knocks and he had to abandon the policy. So you cannot say that the strength of the Naira is a function of the oil price, the issues are far more complex than that.

The PDP governors compared themselves with APC governors.

They said they had achieved more than you people. What is your take?

Governor Akpabio is used to talking like that if you know him.

Akwa Ibom is the most indebted state in the country, let him publish his foreign and local debt profile and publish his total revenue accruing from the Federation Account. You will find that he is not only the highest earner from the Federation Account, his state is also the most indebted state in the country. I don’t need to say more.

Has he ever told you people how much it cost him to build the stadium? I don’t want to talk, we are friends, we know ourselves.

Who else was talking?

Ayo Fayose?

I am not ready to dance naked, so I will follow the Igbo man proverb. When a mad man carries your clothes when you are bathing, don’t come out to run after him because if you do, they will say you are mad too. That settles that of Fayose.

The PDP governors also alleged that Buhari signed one-term agreement which will affect the North and other abuses against him?

When a player cannot win a match and he is on extra time and, it is clear to him that he is losing the game, if the player is not in a well trained team or well schooled side, the players, out of frustration, will abandon the ball and begin to go for the legs of their opponents.

So you have to sympathise with our brother governors in the PDP. There is no lie they have not told, so what else do you want them to do? If they think abusing Buhari will give them votes, we wish them luck. But Nigerians are not impressed that they are running away from the issues. What PDP governors should be talking about is how to reconcile the huge expenditure of PDP since 1999 to date on power supply and the hopeless state of power. The much talked about reform of the power sector, including the over publicised privatization of the distribution companies and the resulting darkness that have enveloped the nation and the impunity measures that the PDP government has endorsed which allows private individuals using state assets that they have not paid for, like in Edo State, our investment in power has not been paid for and yet our people are forced to pay what is called ‘fixed charge’. Those are the issues the PDP governors should address. Why the national currency, that is at N75 in 1999, is now N230 and the resulting upward train of prices? How all the manufacturing companies in Ikeja, Apapa, Port Harcourt, Michellin, Dunlop, the Kaduna Textile zone, how they have all disappeared and relocated to Ghana because of the crisis of C M Y K

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 15

Presidential Poll: PDP governors are scared of defeat — Oshiomhole I want to make in regard to what Governor Aliyu said is that the place of leaders in history is not determined by the length of their tenure but by the impact of their policies in the life of a nation.

Rumour over Jega’s removal I don’t know why people talk like that. We have to talk about institutions. I don’t think the tenure of INEC is purely at the discretion of the President. There are things the President cannot do, it is a very powerful office but he does not have absolute powers. I also believe that power must go with wisdom, I don’t think that anybody, right now, in Nigeria, will take that seriously. I prefer to believe the President has no such plans. When people talk about hidden agenda, I always say let it remain hidden, the one that is open, lets discuss that.

• Gov Adams Oshiomhole..

power supply. Those are the issues they should address. And how, all of a sudden, a country that was united and secured in 1999 is now fighting what we call insurgency.

Those are the issues they should address and those are the issues Nigerians want answers to. So if they say Buhari is a he-goat, we know he is not a he-goat. They say, ‘oh, he will Islamize Nigeria’.

When he was a military head of state, was there any policy that was formed on religious sentiments?

No! So they have no new card to play, let them continue to abuse Buhari. The good thing is that it is not what they say because if a governor can condescend to a level of abusing a former head of state or abandoning issues and descending on a candidate, if they think that is the best strategy for them, good luck. But from all indications, Nigerians are not impressed. Remember the documentary on AIT, by the time they did opinion poll, they found out that more people are supporting Buhari. I think the real issue is that PDP has never faced real electioneering campaign.

They have always balanced the books and announced whatever they wanted. This time they are facing the battle and they are bound to lose their deposits.

Governor Aliyu of Niger State alleged that Gen. Buhari signed one-term agreement with APC leaders. How true is this?

I think it is very interesting that the statement is coming from Niger State, because it is the same Niger governor who claimed that President Jonathan signed one term agreement, I think he is a oneterm specialist. He said they had an agreement with the President of his party that it is one term, now he has moved to Buhari. He is my friend. I don’t want to be too hard on him, but you will recall that he was reported as saying that a good politician is a master liar. Then I said I pray I am never a politician because if a country is led by liars, then that country is doomed. But that was his view. But if he believes that a politician must be a liar even if you do not agree with his argument you have to agree, then he himself is one because he must

be speaking from his own understanding. And that is why he has no difficulty in lying about his one term stuff about Buhari. But I think what is important about what Aliyu said is that he conceded defeat and, to us, that is what is important for the purpose of the coming election. Those of us who think that leadership requires a degree of honesty, that you need to command the trust of your people and that a man who cannot be trusted cannot lead, are shocked

by Governor Aliyu’s comment and, to me, he has conceded defeat. Like when Babangida Aliyu was saying that Buhari signed one term agreement and that he will be short changing the North, I said he is a poor student of history because great men that have bailed out their nations didn’t have to do ten years in office. Mandella did four years and he is respected all over the world. I have never advised the President not to contest, he has a right to contest and we have the right to contest against him and that is what we are doing. The point

I think PDP is boasting that they will rig elections not that they will win elections. What have they achieved that they will use to mobilize votes?

Only two years ago I defeated them

How prepared is the APC in Edo State in the forthcoming elections with the boasting of the PDP in the state?

I think PDP is boasting that they will rig elections not that they will win elections. What have they achieved that they will use to mobilize votes? Only two years ago I defeated them, they lost their deposits in all the local governments. What has changed between now and that time? If anything, the PDP is worse off now because, by 2012, since they could not defend their records of performance in office, their most smartest explanation was to say, no, this is a new PDP, that the bad guys that destroyed the PDP were in APC or in then ACN. Go and play back the tape. My argument then was, what was new, because the head is still the same? Then they said it was some people around me who gave PDP a bad name in this state. Now that those people are back to them, they don’t even have any basis to pretend. Each time we see those people who have returned to them, we remember the bad state of things then in Edo. And they are back in PDP because their expectations in APC could not be realized. So how can they win? You have heard leading opinion leaders in Benin saying PDP cannot win elections here; yes, they could have had one or two people to contradict, but even those ones you should listen carefully to what they are saying. But again PDP has always boasted and, like a witch, they have always threatened. But we, like sons of God, have always defeated them. Even the one they are planning to rig, we want to see how they want to do it. People boasting openly to use the armed forces, that they have recruited five thousand Civil Defence, we are waiting to see whether Edo is a hegoat to be captured. All those things are empty boasts. Edo people are very aware now. And I am happy they recognize that they cannot write results and that is why they are fighting against the Card Reader. PDP is finished in this state and there is no question. They are dead and buried.

I read Ize-Iyamu where he said when I go out people no longer troop out, that is funny. You people

know that each time I go out; people, both young and old troop out, not only singing but praying for me and dancing. My complaint with the media is that when you guys know the truth, when people like pastor make such remarks, you can always say, you observed this or that, because the media must not always parrot what people say, they must also write what they observed. I am glad that pastor said we worked in first tenure, but did they work in their own first tenure? Did they work in their second tenure? As we speak today, while many PDP governments are not paying salaries, by the special grace of God, we are paying salaries as and when due; as we speak, they are asphalting Upper Siluko. This evening, I went to look at the asphalting of Upper Mission Road.

Last week, we completed work on Uwasota Road. As we speak, they are working on Uwelu Road. In the GRA, we have completed many of the roads including Ihama Road, Adesuwa Grammar School Road, Boundary Road. Our tractors are working at St Saviours, you name it. This past one month or two, we have commenced work at Queen Ede erosion site, a major problem.

We are working in Auchi erosion site, Ekenwan erosion site. Our Central Hospital is having a new look. All these are ongoing jobs.

Outside the state, our contractors are working, schools are under construction. But the good news is that it is not what PDP says that matters, it is what we do. When Dan Orbih said we are planting only flowers, people were laughing at them. Projects such as the Airport Road, second term, we completed the five junctions, second term, we completed several streets connecting Upper Lawani and Upper Mission, many of them. If I walk round the streets, you will see how people jump out in a minute.

There is no PDP in this state, none of their leaders can walk round the streets the way I do because people will lynch them. My popularity rating is today better than what it was in December. And even with the postponement, it has even helped us do more work. I saw pastor complaining that we have flagged off construction of Okpella Road, he was virtually crying that we are doing something for Okpella people. But look at what they did to Okpella people, they published it in their magazine as one of the projects PDP has done through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, spending N800million. The community people went to Abuja to say ‘which Okpella did you give water? The only water we have is the borehole Oshiomhole provided’. The same thing they did in Esan. What is PDP going to tell anybody? They have reparation to pay to Edo people. Every day people are decamping from Igueben, all over the state from PDP to APC because they have seen that PDP has not done anything for the people.

Between the time the elections were postponed and today, PDP has lost about ten thousand people in this state. Those that pastor took to PDP are all back.

PAGE 16— SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

AMASEIKUMOR ANNUAL FESTIVAL

High Chief Government Ekpemupolo,a.k.a, Tompolo(1st from right), decorating a masquerade, Amaseikumor, and the Chief Priest with Naira notes during the Amaseikumor Annual Festival held at Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

A cross section of some Gbaramatu Women interceding for President Goodluck Jonathan with his photograph.

The Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Ziakede Akpobolokemi, representative of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan(2nd right); the Public Relations Officer of Gbaramatu Traditional Council, Chief Matthew Pudie; Chief Isaiah Okulor; Chief Ayebibode Anthony; Chief Dennis Otuaro(left) and Mr. Kenekenewei (right).

An Ijaw musical band entertaining guests .

A cross section of some Gbaramatu elders.

Gbaramatu Woman Leader, Chief(Mrs.) Vero Tangbowei (1st from left,front row), with other Gbaramatu women entertaining guests with dance steps.

Some youth dancers.

A masquerade cleaning the environment before another masqurade would be ushered in signifying “peace, progress, greatness and expansion.”

NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS ELECTION

Presidential candidate Comrade Ajero Ajose, From middle, immediate past NLC President, addressing pressmen, protesting allege Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar presenting new NLC malpractices .

President ,Ayuba Wabba.

Photos by Gbemiga Olamikan

Ajero Ajose agent being taken away unconscious by policemen.

Delegate casting their vote

Former Vice President of NLC President , Comrade Isa Aremu (left) , Comrade Ajero Ajose (right) and others addressing journalists.

Official sorting votes.

New NLC President Wabba .

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 17

bb pin:332A45EB

Waje declines comment on her near-nude photo shoot S

ince Aituaje Iruobe, known as WAJE arrived the music scene she has pretty much kept things close to her chest.

For her, is not the wild side of life. Until recently, December, to be precise, when she took the plunge in a near-nude photo shoot for the maiden cover of MADE magazine. It was a move many applauded for her boldness even though many more thought the soulful singer crossed the line.

No doubt WAJE has a body on her that would make many want to see their surgeons and she aptly flaunted it in the photo sessions.

She showed off her curves in a black leotard attire and came off as a seductress having a sort of communion with herself. ‘A Woman on Fire’ was what the

Angela Okorie

magazine tagged the issue but some observers saw it more like a woman having a cuddly time-out with herself.

But the big question here is, what did it take to get WAJE to come out of her usual hermit skin? We know most stars would have done that for a few dollars or in desperation to revive a sinking career.

If WAJE’s career is not at the window looking out, then what has given•This, Potpourri took to her to seek what went down before she could go all raunchy. But the singer would have none of that and responded almost in anger. “I don’t wish to comment on that” she spat out. “ I did a magazine cover, it was no way near being nude. It was just gym shoots” she added.

I have forgiven Muma Gee’s husband because he begged me – Angela Okorie

By TOFARATI IGE

F

ORMER Delta soap beauty queen and actress, Angela Okorie has said she has forgiven Muma Gee’s husband, Prince Ekeh over the role he played in the scandal involving her and a South-African based Nigerian, Prosper, sometime last year. The actress said she has no axe

to grind with Prince Ekeh anymore since he had come to apologise to her “I have forgiven Prince Ekeh because he came to apologise to me that he’s sorry for all that happened. If he hadn’t come to beg me, I wouldn’t have let it go. However, as far as taking him out of the country again is concerned, my brother, that one is out of the question.

If someone tries to shoot you the first time, and you survive, would you want the person to shoot you again?” she asked rhetorically.

Joke Silva, Ivie Okujaye ,IK Osakioduwa, others shine in Black Silhouette

By KEHINDE AJOSE

S

EXUAL abuse, prostitution and unresolved murder, are the themes explored in Charles Uwagbai’s Black Silhouette.

Black Silhouette tells the story of Maro Oti who is about to make history as the first female Governor in Nigeria.

Despite her husband’s disapproval, she fixes an appointment with internationally acclaimed biographer, Eric Mobumba and requests that he writes C M Y K

her memoir. Eric Mobumba is elated at the opportunity but his excitement however starts to wane as Senator Maro’s tale of her past reveals a life of sexual abuse from childhood, prostitution as a teenager and an unresolved murder case.

According to Charles Uwagbai,the movie producer: “Its particularly, an interesting project. It’s a story of hope and survival for a woman who had been through all sorts of pain.

Its a film that every woman should see. The film stars Joke Silva, Ivie Okujaye, Femi

Jacobs,IK Osakioduwa and others.”

When asked about how long it took to shoot the movie, he said: “We shot the film over a year ago and spent over 3 weeks on location.

We spent six months planning and working on the script. Telling a story that will drive emotions from ‘the heart of a woman’ is something that you need to put a lot of research, listening and dedication into.

These are the kind of stories this generation needs to tell, stories that will impact people, not just stories for entertainment .With the comments it has gotten so far,I see it going places.”

The movie was premiered penultimate Friday at the Genesis Deluxe Cinema in Lagos.

•WAJE

“If there’s a producer that wants us to do a job together, yes, its okay, I’ll do it. But for me to take him out of the country and get into this kind of mess again...for someone to start blackmailing me over what I did not do, no! I wouldn’t want that to repeat itself. Do you know what that incident could have caused in my life? If my husband isn’t somebody who understands me, trusts me, my marriage would have been over by now.”

Speaking further, she said, “Don’t get me wrong...I can still suggest him for movies like I’ve been doing before. As a matter of fact, I’m the one who suggested him for a Ivie job he went to do in the Okujaye US sometime ago. It was my connection he used in getting visa to the US, do you understand? I can still be doing that for him based on the kind of person I am, and the type of heart I have.”

PAGE 18, SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

AMVCA SPECIAL

The Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards which held penultimate Saturday has left us many talking points. Apart from award hauls, the joy of victory and the agony of defeat, what is left with us, are the red carpet moments. As usual, they come with different intentions, statements, emotions, attitudes, and by all means glamour and glitz that remain long after the event. Here are some moments that defined the evening.

I don’t care if you like my style or not – Adunni Ade

O

•Belinda Effah

I am African and proud – Belinda Effah

F

AST-rising Nollywood star, Belinda Effah is one of the stars that went for the kill on the night. Rather than toeing the modern looks she decided to go brawny African style with her dress and hairstyle a little bit of swashbuckling attitude. “ My dress and hairstyle were inspired by my root. Growing up my mother used to thread my hair, hence my culture and tradition. Back in the days, the ladies used to either thread or matt their hair which used to accentuate their beauty” she tells Potpourri “ I feel as Africans we have lost our sense of identity and prefer to live in denial. We have imported the western culture and tradition such that we now bleach our skin., wear Brazilian hair and fake our accent to belong. I love my culture and tradition. This was just a gentle reminder to Africans that we should appreciate and embrace our own. It was surprising the way a lot of people were shocked that I strutted the red carpet with threaded hair. I am very sure if it were to be Beyonce wearing my entire attire the reaction would have been totally different. It only goes to show our problems. The people need to change their mindset. I dread the day we will start importing our own culture and tradition from the western world. We never appreciate what is ours until it’s taken away from us then we start making noise about it. Typical example is the Benin Head. If we treasured it , it would never have been taken away from us. A lot of Nigerians don’t go to the museums to appreciate our history. They rather travel out to appreciate others’ history. Man, I could go on and on. Let me just end it by saying I am African and proud” she says, explaining what actually informed her choice of style at the event.

C M Y K

ne of the stars that strutted the AMVCA 2015 red carpet with big attitude is Nollywood actress Adunni Ade. She got people talking with her red risqué number that showed off her legs and an ample amount of cleavage.

After the event, the mulatto, born of Nigerian father and American/German mother posted her picture on Istagram and got a bit more negative comments than positive.

In her swift reaction she warned some of the fans who are not comfortable with her dress style to stay off her social media page. It was a plain ‘ I don’t care if you like my style or not ‘ message which certainly got many more enraged.

But then Adunni has said long before in an interview that she loves stuffs that are a bit revealing. “I like to wear whatever looks good on me and I feel comfortable in. It can be something a little bit revealing, edgy and chic. I like to be in vogue” she was once quoted in an interview.

Like Bruce Jenner like Denrele Edun?

M

EDIA personality Denrele Edun is known as a mischief-maker who would stop at nothing to pull one practical joke or other. He has been called many wacky names and instead of getting fazed by it, the lanky dude has actually reveled in it.

At AMVCA 2015 he nearly got people scurrying for cover when he arrived the scene looking like Ojuju Calabar in his gold net dress with a pair of leather pants underneath the dress and accessorized with a gold mask and a pair of gold boots. The oddity of it all is that Denrele had his entire backline gaping out of the dress and there was nothing macho about it. In fact a back view of Denrele would have got some dudes thinking they have a damsel looking for trouble in view. Or was he actually looking for trouble? Because all that could be seen of his masculinity was his feminine side screaming out to be heard.

•Susan Peters

I am created to stand out, not to blend in

– Susan Peters

P

OSSIBLY to most eyes Susan Peters came across on the award night like a mother goose fighting cold with all her feathers drawn but the actress has declared that only people with high fashion sense could understand her choice of style for the award.

In a tweet message to challenge those who have questioned her style, Susan wrote, “They thought they could bury us, they didn’t know we are seeds #Doroisityourmoney? I am not created to blend in, I am created to stand out.

If the kitchen is too hot, Mbok exit the building. Only people with high fashion sense can understand”

Denrele Edun

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 19 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

A day on set at ‘The Sassy One’ with Shirley Igwe, Kenneth Okolie and Dabby Chimere

By DAMILOLA SHOLOLA

S

HIRLEY Igwe, Kenneth Okolie, Yvonne Jegede, Gift Okeke and the movie producer, Dabby Chimere are currently on location for a film ‘The Sassy One’ set to be wrapped up soon. Our reporter, Damilola Sholola was at the location where he talked with some of the stars on location. He talked with former Delta soap girl,Shirley Igwe, former Mr Nigeria, Kenneth Okolie and the fast-rising producer Dabby Chimere who were on location at the time of the visit. Yvonne Jegede and Gift Okeke were not available at the time.

Apart from the actors being able to talk about their current project ‘The Sassy One’ they also revealed other aspects of their acting careers which they have never talked about before now.

The movie “The Sassy One” stars Shirley Igwe as Amber, a woman looking for love after losing her husband and staying alone for many years. The love quest which she never wanted inadvertently led her into the arms of Scott, Kenneth Okolie whom she never knew had a wife, Kendra played by Yvonne Jegede.

But Scott too never knew he had a child after divorce from his wife. The climax of the film is when Amber found out Scott had a wife and her whole world came crashing down .

If you want to do a sex scene do it well or not at all – Shirley Igwe

I

t isn’t so clear whether Shirley Igwe did any sexual or sensual scene or not in the movie but it seems when it comes to interpreting roles the former face of Delta soap is a stickler for detail and perfection. It doesn’t matter to her if the scene is sexual or not, if she decides to take the role, for her, the goods must be delivered.

“If you’re going to do a sex scene, do it well, don’t do it half-baked because it’s going to annoy the audience. If you’re going to strip,

strip. If you’re not going to strip, don’t. I can act as a stripper but one thing I wouldn’t do is go nude” she told our reporter.

The actress further reaffirmed her earlier statement in an interview with Vanguard that she is still waiting for a man to propose marriage to her, adding that the marriage proposal she once had never worked out. But the question is, has she set too

I still have a crush on Ufuoma Ejenobor – Kenneth Okolie

K

•Shirley Igwe

How I choose actors for my movies – Dabby Chimere T

he producer, ‘The Sassy One’ is a woman determined to make it in a male dominated field and she is making a swell job of it. Her first stock in trade is to look for good scripts. A script, according to her, when you turn into a movie, it would appeal to people.

“My first job is to look for a script that when you turn into a movie, it would appeal to people; when people actually watch it, they would learn something from it” she says.

After that, her next job is looking for actors that fit perfectly into different roles in the script.

“You read the script then you think of an actor that could fit the role. An example is Kenneth; if you say he is someone’s boyfriend, he can pass for it, if you say he’s a father, he can actually pass for it too, so you look for people that fit the role so you won’t go wrong with your casting” she quips.

C M Y K

ENNETH Okolie has described working with Shirley Igwe and Yvonne Jegede as wonderful but the most interesting statement he made to Potpourri was the one concerning his celebrity crush. The former Mr Nigeria and first runner-up Mr World blatantly admitted he used to have a crush on Nse Ikpe-Etim and Ufuoma Ejenobor, adding that the crush for Ufuoma has never dissipated.

“I had a crush on Nse Ikpe Etim and I had a crush on Ufuoma Ejenobor. But I think I still have a crush on Ufuoma till now” he said.

The actor made more revelations concerning his acting career, saying he never planned to be an actor.

“My passion for acting kind of grew as a sudden love; I didn’t plan to be an actor. It happened when I did a monologue for a talent at the Mr. World pageant where I had to do something. I said, okay, let me just act and that grew and from there I said to myself that I could do it Then I had people I actually admired in the industry; Desmond Elliot, Ramsey Nouah, Ini Edo, I enjoyed their acting and I was like, it would be nice to work with these people. I went for an audition and my first one was with Olamide Marore, he’s a Hollywood actor and also a producer and director; he came down to shoot a movie here and went back.

The second audition was with Emem Isong; she now gave me a bigger platform to do more jobs with her. From there, I met the likes of Desmond Elliot that I admired; I met Ini Edo that I admired and more of t h e s e celebrity top actors as well so it has been very fulfilling for me” he said.

•Dabby Chimere

high a standard for herself?

“No, funny enough, my standards are not too high. I just need someone who would understand me. Someone like me, when I drive out and I don’t have so many thoughts on my head, that’s what I call understanding. If I get someone who understands me, he would just believe I’m safe wherever I am”.

On the issue of celebrity crush, the actress admitted she used to have a crush on Majid Michel. “Of course, everyone has crushes but I’m not crushing on anyone now. I’ve crushed on Majid before; I was like, oh my God, where did he come from?” she says.

•Kenneth Okolie

PAGE 20, SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Story of a Muslim turned Christian gospel artiste

How Pastor Adeboye anointed me to sing — Deaconess Olanike Adeleke

Born into a devoted Muslim family in Oke Olu-Okun compound in Oke-Odo Ibadan, Oyo State, Deaconess Peace Olanike Adeleke, a graduate of Banking and Finance from the Lagos State University grew up with a Muslim background, but was being guided by divine revelations which at the time had no meaning to her. In this interview she speaks on her music ministry, the challenges and her newly launched album tagged: ‘Ark of God’. Excerpts;

By CALEB AYANSINA and FAVOUR NNABUGWU What is your take on gospel music in Nigeria?

If I am to talk about gospel music in Nigeria, I will say ‘God have mercy’, although I don’t like to criticize people, but out there, we still have some people that God called in the spirit and the truth, making waves. The gospel singers of these days are putting ‘this and that’ in it, but even at that, if everything is done in the way of the Lord, no one will complain.

I don’t want to criticize, but I will advise all to do things right.

Does one need to be led by God to do gospel music?

The Bible made us to understand that if God doesn’t call you and you just put yourself into it, the end might be funny. It is just like a pastor who isn’t called by God. The end of that pastor is destruction. Gospel music is like pastoral calling, because you are not ministering to yourself, but to the people.

Even though you don’t have a call and you desire to work for God, there are a lot of things you can do to prepare yourself spiritually.

How did you start your music career?

I am from a very strong Muslim background and as a child, I wrote and sang a lot.

Everyone thought singing was my hobby, we never knew it was going to be a career. When I was older, I heard a voice, saying; ‘sing for me’, ‘sing for me’. Then I used to stay with my C M Y K

sister who introduced me to Christianity. I told her different revelations, which I couldn’t understand myself. My sister shared those revelations with her pastor(s) who told her that I was having a call and that she should lead me to God. That was how I started going to church.

In year 2000, I had a revelation, I saw Pastor E. A. Adeboye, who I have never seen face-to-face. He anointed me and said “God has called you to sing His praise to the living and not to the dead”. I told my sister and she blessed God for His call upon me, but I never understood the calling, until I joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)’s choir.

What are your challenges?

I had a serious health challenge. It got to a stage that I couldn’t move around again. It became so serious that the ministry was closed down for several years, but I bless God that by April 2013, God brought me out of the grave. In June 2014, I lost my husband (late Arch. Favour Adeolu Adeleke) after a 10-day illness, and it seemed as if the whole world was about to crash. I lost my memory. I kept asking God, why? And for 40 days, God was silent, because I was murmuring. I realized my mistake and asked God for mercy. After 40 days He came down with strong covenants upon my life. I asked God to open up my destiny.

After 40 days prayer, I had a

•Deaconess Peace Olanike Adeleke

I am not into gospel music to make money.

Money is secondary, winning souls is primary. I want this ministry to win souls for God.

programme and earlier before the programme, I made a vow to God that whatsoever was placed in my hand as an offering will be given back to him. I went to church to drop the huge package I got and prayed that God should open up my ministry that had been shut for eight years. Three days later, God opened up my ministry and that was how the signs and wonders of God began in my life.

Are you into the ministry because of money or fame?

No! I am not into gospel music to make money or for fame. Actually everybody wants money, but the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. I released an album during our Shiloh programme for the blessing of humanity. In fact, the numbers of CDs I gave out for free were more than the ones I sold. I gave the CDs out not because I was expecting anything from anyone, but because I’m expecting testimonies from them, that is

my life. I am not into gospel music to make mone. Money is secondary, winning souls is primar. I want this ministry to win souls for God. What is the message behind your new album “Ark of God”?

The new album (Ark of God) is all about worshiping and giving God all the praise and glory for our lives. The message is about peace, deliverance, and supernatural turn-around.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 21

Tell him e xactly ho w yyou ou ffeel eel exactly how

BY ONOZURE DANIA

H

ow many times have you wanted to tell a man exactly what is going on in your mind but panicked that doing so would push him away? How often have you said what you are feeling to a man only to have him withdraw, become angry with you, or disappear altogether? Do you make a big deal out of nothing and take everything too seriously? Are you sick of stuffing down your feelings, walking on eggshells and pretending everything is okay?

It’s so hard to know what to do should you sugar-coat your emotions hoping that he will still get the message,

Networking/ Sponsorship •Charity, 24 and resides in

Lagos, needs someone to sponsor her in starting up a show.09027843879 •Angela, 20, an orphan and resides in Edo state, needs someone to sponsor her education. 07061500509 •Emeka, 30, from Anambra state, needs someone to sponsor his business financially. 08033450749 Friends Searching Female •Tammy, 25 and resides in Edo state, needs male friends, aged 38 and above.

08167231642 Searching Male

•Benoni,48, employed and

resides in Warri Delta state, needs a lady who is employed or in to Business, in either Warri, Sapele or Ughelli for friendship. 08180206074 •Wisdom,33, responsible and resides in PH, needs reasonable friends.

08037357375 MD, resides in Lagos, needs friends. 07025295598 Lovers Searching Female •Faith, 27, a single mother from Delta state, needs a Christian, rich sugar daddy, aged 40- 50, for marriage.

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only to be disappointed when he does not. If you are anything like this description, you know what it’s like to constantly hide your real feelings from a man. But not telling him how you really feel leaves you feeling bad about yourself, especially since it often means you end up putting up with unacceptable behavior for much too long.

Then there are the acute and chronic effects of hiding your feelings.

You see, not expressing your true emotions backfires because he never gets to experience the real you. So he senses there is something funny about you and he can’t connect with you. Gradually, things start

boiling up inside you.

When you finally do express your emotions, you are burning up with anger and you explode, pushing him away. He feels like your words are an attack that you are making him wrong and telling him what to do, so he closes up and becomes defensive.

If you continue to deflect your feelings, the issue is never going to be resolved and resentment continues to build between the two of you. The more you try to hide your true feelings, the more distant and tense he will feel.

Then, you will feel you can’t win and it feels awful paralyzing you with fear of saying the wrong thing.

take very good care of her financially. 09038360517 •Joy, 31, from Delta state, needs a God fearing and honest man, for a relationship that can lead to marriage.

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08054412814

that will lead to marriage.

08097043427 •Collins, 28, from Anambra state, needs a God fearing and respectful lady, for a serious r e l a t i o n s h i p .

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08115084037 •Kelvin, from Delta state, needs a lady aged 22-35.

08062966067 • Prince, 30, tall, dark in complexion, good looking, a graduate, employed and resides in Abuja, needs a lady, aged 30 and above, for maraige. 08098056643, 08039145252 • Festus, tall, fair in complexion and handsome, needs a God fearing lady, who is from Edo, Delta, Igbo for a relationship that will lead to marriage.

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DISCLAIMER! Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of 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 enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636

The truth is, sharing our emotions is the best way to connect to a man’s heart. You just need to learn how to do it correctly. You can learn how to make a man fall more and more in love with you everyday, to the point where he wants nothing more than to please you and make you happy.

You can find the perfect words that will inspire him to want to push your relationship forward, whether it’s commitment, marriage or just deeper intimacy. You can turn your entire relationship around on a dime, no matter how bad things are right now, by simply changing the words you use with a man.

This is not idealism or fantasy.

I’m going to give you a single, yet incredibly powerful tool that will make it your reality.

Often, and especially when women have been swallowing whatever it is that is bothering

them about a man, they will end up simmering with so much anger that one day they just can’t take it anymore.

That’s when, despite a lady’s best efforts, her emotions take over and everything comes out in an explosion of feelings.

What comes out is often something that sounds like an accusation to him: “How could you have spent the whole weekend with me and then not call for two whole days?!” All he hears is that he was wrong. That’s when he becomes defensive, shuts down and can’t hear you anymore. That’s also when, unfortunately, we end up with a man who becomes distant from us or pulls away altogether.

We are left holding all the cards, feeling awful, and thinking we are entirely to blame and can’t make relationships work.

•A man, tall, good looking,

0 8 0 3 8 8 3 2 5 0 7 , 08180165600

divorced and self employed, needs an employed or business lady, aged 40-56 for a relationship. 07056719966 • Ajewole , 45, , fair in complexion, a Christian, from Ekiti state, a single father of two, employed and reside in Lagos, needs a Goodly partner who can take care of his children. 07064294482 •Fred, 50, a widower, from Delta state, needs a dark in complexion lady, aged 32-40, from Delta state, for a relationship, that can lead to marriage.08107857795 •Chukwuemeka, 29, from Delta state, needs a decent and beautiful lady, aged 28.

07033742944 •Wilson, cool and handsome, needs a lady, for a good relationship.08130989891 • Joseph, 28, a graduate, employed and resides in Lagos, needs a lady, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage, aged23-29. 08034992206 • Simi, 50, employed and resides in Benin, needs an educated and employed, lady, in Benin for a relationship, aged 40 and above. 07037421476 •Dave, 35, cool, humorous and resides in Lagos, needs a sexy and cute lady, for a romantic relationship. 08120095619 •Emmanuel, needs a lady, for a serious relationship, aged 1825, who resides in Lagos or Edo, for a relationship.

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Sugar Cares Searching Female •Tricia, 22, a student, from Delta state, needs a rich sugar daddy, who can take care of her.09032387903 Searching Male •Evis, 38, sexy, romantic, average height fair in complexion and from Delta state, needs a kind, loving, caring and sexy sugar mummy, aged 40-55, for a serious relationship.

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PAGE 22—SUNDAY VANGUARD,

MARCH 15, 2015

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

I

s this Nigerian Britain’s cleverest girl?

Ten-year-old is accepted on university course to study maths degree despite not going to school, Esther Okade from Walsall has enrolled on Open University course

She spends her spare time in a similar way to many other ten-year-old girls playing with Barbie dolls and making loom bands.

But the key difference between Esther Okade and other children her age is that she has been accepted to study for a university maths degree - despite not going to school.

Esther, from Walsall, West Midlands, has enrolled on an Open University course months after she passed her A-levels - and wants to study for a PhD before running her own bank.

The girl, who gained a C grade in her maths GCSE, aged six, has joined the course which started this month. Her younger brother Isaiah is already studying for his A-levels - also aged six.

The siblings are both home-schooled by their mother Omonefe, who has converted the living room of their semi-detached, threebedroom house into a makeshift classroom.

Mathematician Mrs. Efe Okade, 37, said: ‘Esther is doing so well. She took a test recently and scored 100 per cent. Applying to the university was an interesting process because of her age.

‘We even had to talk to the vice-chancellor. After they interviewed her they realised that this has been her idea from the beginning.

From the age of seven, Esther had wanted to go to university.

‘But I was afraid it was too soon. She would say, “Mum, when am I starting?”, and go on and on and on.

Finally, after three years she told me, “Mum, I think it is about time I started university now”.’

Mrs Okade added that Esther - who will study for her degree at home - was ‘flying’ and ‘so happy’ when she was accepted by the university, and wants to be a millionaire.

She said: ‘For now we want her to enjoy her childhood as well as her maths. By the time she was four I had taught her the alphabet, her numbers, and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

‘I saw that she loved patterns so developed a way of using that to teach her new things. I thought I would try her with algebra,

Little genius! Ten-year-old Esther Okade is studying for a maths degree •After degree she wants to study for PhD before running her own bank •Girl’s younger brother Isaiah is already studying for A-levels, aged six •Siblings are both home-schooled by mathematician mother Omonefe

and she loved it more than anything.’

Esther stunned her parents last year when she achieved a B grade in her pure maths A-level.

She applied to the Open University last August - and after a phone interview, an essay and an exam, she was told in December that she had been accepted onto the course.

Her father Paul, 42, a managing director, added: ‘I cannot tell you how happy and proud I am as a father.

The desire of every parent is to see their children exceed them, and take the family name to great heights, and

Instead of trying to make children learn one way, you teach them based on their learning style my children have done just that.’

In 1981, Ruth Lawrence, of Brighton, became the youngest person to pass the

exam for Oxford University, as a ten-year-old - and graduated aged 13 with a first-class degree in maths.

Now aged 43 and a

married mother-of-two, Mrs Lawrence is an associate professor of maths at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Esther ’s parents are also trying to trail blaze their own educational journey back in Nigeria.

The couple have set up a foundation and are in the process of building a nursery and primary school in Nigeria’s Delta region (where the family are from).

Named “Shakespeare’s Academy,” they hope to open the school’s doors in September.

The proposed curriculum will have all the usual subjects such as English, languages, mathematics and science, as well as more unconventional additions including morality and ethics, public speaking, entrepreneurship and etiquette. The couple say they want to emulate the teaching methods that worked for their children rather than focus on one way of learning.

“Some children learn very well with kinesthetics where they learn with their hands — when they draw they remember things. Some children have extremely creative imaginations.

Instead of trying to make children learn one way, you teach them based on their learning style,” explained Efe. The educational facility will have a capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 students with up to 30% of students being local children offered scholarships to attend.

Efe said:: “On one hand, billions of dollars worth of crude oil is pumped out from that region on a monthly basis and yet the poverty rate of the indigenous community is astronomical.”

Paul added: “(The region has) poor quality of nursery and primary education. So by the time the children get secondary education they haven’t got a clue. They haven’t developed their core skills.

“The school is designed to give children an aim so they can study for something, not just for the sake of acquiring certifications. There is an end goal.”

Culled from Daily • Mail with CNN report

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 23

08112662589

Why dating much younger men is such fun!

O

VER the decades, older men have always been commended whenever they land much younger women.

Let a woman net a much younger man and she’s accused of not only cradlesnatching but rejuvenating her tired blood cells with his much vibrant ones. ‘“I’ve always liked much younger men”, confessed Florence, now in her late 40s and a successful trans-Atlantic business woman. “I got married young and to a much older man”, she confessed. “I met him abroad and, after three children I ran into Mark, a much younger man at one of the refresher courses I was taking.

He was exciting and sexy and we had loads in common even though he was about ten years younger.

Once we had sex and I realised how much pleasure you could get off a little body, I left my older husband to move in with him and the divorce settlement I got was mouth-watering, so there was no need to hustle him for cash. We had a smashing time for the first few years we were together. I couldn’t get enough of him but as time passed, I began to notice he’d started going grey and his eyes were getting puffy. My toy-boy was now a grown man and I

didn’t find him that sexy any more. Thank goodness we both realised marriage was out of the question. I still loved going out to bars and restaurants but all he wanted to do was stay at home in front of the telly watching any sporting activity that was on offer. I as really bored and frustrated. In the end I had to be honest with him.

“He was a bit shaken by my asking him to move out, but what else did he expect? Live with me for eve4r? The next time I got invited to a party, I put on one of my sexiest dresses and a pair of killer heels. I looked in the mirror and smiled smugly: `Not bad for a middle-aged mum of three’, I thought. At the party, I got chatting to a really young accountant called Alec. I gave him my card and we sort of flirted throughout the night. `I like you’, he said brazenly. `I’ve been dying to meet an older woman with a lot of confidence and experience’. `Lucky for you!’. I teased him, `I have plenty of both’’ “He was not a disappointment either and my experience with him confirmed my belief that younger men were much more exciting. Since then, my only dating requirement became that a man

had to be aged between 25 and 35. I was then 42 – life was too shorty to waste on beer bellies and receding hairlines. My eldest daughter was 21 and once, when she met one of my dates, she wasn’t shocked. `I’m happy if you’re happy ’, she shrugged. But not everyone was so happy for me.

When I told my best friend about my toy-boys, she was aghast. ‘Don’t you realise that these boys will never want to settle down and get married after they’d had all these freebies from you?’.

‘That’s exactly why I like them’, I told her. ‘They just want to have some fun and so do I. She’d never liked the way I ditched my ex-

husband and now she looked at me as if I were some sort of a freak. ‘I don’t like who you’ve now become’, she huffed. ‘I don’t want anything to do with you any more’.

“Stop being so judgemental”, I replied. “Some women only date good-looking men. I like them goodlooking and young. What’s wrong with that?”” But it was no use. We stopped being friends. I’d been in serious relationships since I was a teenager and had missed out on the dating scene when I got married early. Now I was making up for lost time.

“Not long after, I met a 26year-old, Chima, through

work. We arranged to go for a drink. At the end of the night, we went back to his flat as one of my children was staying over to a few weeks. Suddenly, he started to look nervous and embarrassed. I put my arm around him and said: `Is everything Ok?’. `There’s something you need to know before things go any further’, he replied. `I’m a virgin’. At first I was a little surprised but not put off. He was good looking and looked confident enough. I was sure his plumbings were Ok, and anyway, I was about to find out. He needed patience and reassurance that’s all. And thank goodness we got there in the end!

“Once he’s got the hang for sex, he started following me everywhere. I was getting a bit impatient and encouraged him to date girls in his age bracket. I’d already met a new potential partner and didn’t want him cramping my style. My new man, John, was on holidays and was planning a visit to his home-town. He begged me to come with him. He would be going back to the U.S. In a few months’ time and he was a stud! I did not need that much persuasion. The family house was in the middle of nowhere with epileptic electricity but I didn’t care. The weather was cool most of the time and he was gorgeous. I’d never been impressed by fancy hotels anywhere, so we got down and dirty on what was available. I didn’t regret the experience.

“These days, I go on dates on a regular basis and I’ve never been happier. With so many toy boys out there, I’ll never be content with an older man. Never! I thank goodness I have all the children I want and my business makes it possible I have a good life. I don’t need a man to look after me. Why don’t I look after these young men who’re always grateful for the experience instead?”

08052201867(Text Only)

Tightening the abdominals

F

OR most people over thirty the abdominal region gets to be the least toned set of muscles of the body.

We work with our hands and walk with our feet, therefore, somehow, those parts are almost always in better shape than the abdominal wall.

A trim waistline doesn’t only look impressive aesthetically, it also speaks volumes of the state of health of the individual.

Reduce the girth and presto! You instantly look youthful. You will begin to digest your food and absorb it more efficiently.

Once the belly is shrunk appreciably, we can then learn to perform certain exercises which can help the system achieve better bowel action - a veritable way f eliminating toxins.

As regards exercise, there are countless ways to deal with the bulge of the belly.

Some get results from practising dit-ups, others from leg-raises and so on.

But there are some less familiar practices that deal with flabby stomach a lot more thoroughly.

C M Y K

Besides strengthening the muscles of the abdomen, some of these practices can be used for purification purposes along with drinking large quantities of salt water.

The following exercise will help trim the waist and keep it so, forever. I have had the same waistline since the past thirty years and I am fifty two now. If

*The Rocking

yours truly can do it, so can you! All it takes is diligence. Lets consider the Rocking.

Technique: Sit with the

knees drawn and the hands tipped forward but don’t placed at the back of the lower it. Maintain the knees. Now, lunge both retraction of the legs forwards and quickly diaphragm by keeping draw them back and thrust both hands firmly pressed them forth again. Keep this against the thighs as you to and fro movement of the lean on them. feet going continually. If Keep the position for as you break the rhythm by long as can be without hesitating you rill breathing. immediately fail to keep Then, ease up, stand going. You may do as few erect and begin to breathe as 5 thrusts and normally. Repeat only withdrawals of the feet once more if you’re just initially and then increase stating this exercise. As the number of times as you regards this very exercise, improve.

Indra Devi advises Benefits: The Rocking gradually bringing it up to toughens the upper thigh seven times adding one and abdominal muscles. time each week.

The exercise is reputed to Warning: People with a also improve the soundness weak heart or serious of sleep. abdominal or circulatory The Abdominal Lift problems should refrain Technique: Standing from this exercise. with the feet about a foot apart, breathe in deeply and exhale forcefully. Now, with STARTED the breath out, draw in the muscles of the Physical Therapy Centre abdomen until you have a hollow forming @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos. beneath the ribs. The hands should be placed 9.00am — 10.00am on the thighs and the on Saturdays knees bent a little.

Keep the trunk a bit

Yoga Classes

P AGE 24 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15 , 2015

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

The prodigal husband who came home to roost!

I

f most men could see into the future, beyond the passion that usually grips them at the sight of a possible affair, would they take a second wife? Wunmi, a bright young spark was in her teens when her dad started sending her to Teresa, a 21-year-old she called a bag of bones.

She became a regular visitor to my place whenever she wanted to watch her favourite TV programmes in peace. Her parents were always rowing, mostly over her dad’s current bit-on-theside. “Dad has always had a roving eye”, Wunmi had confided. `As far as I knew, he was cheating on mum when mum was even skinny and fashionable. She still is trendy, only she’s plump”. I assured her that what I saw and knew of her mother still put her way ahead in the beauty department, Wunmi just shrugged. “Dad has always taken her for granted”, she continued with her moan. “He’d even left her a few times to pursue his latest find only for the girl to dump him for greener pastures.

“When I was in secondary school and at the boarding house, rumours abound about dad’s carrying-ons. He was a public figure and some of the pupils knew of his escapades and whispered and giggled behind my back, some told me to my face who my dad was currently going out with often with someone else’s mum! Things got so frustrating once that I beat one of my tormentors to the point that my mother was hauled up to the school to be told that I was uncontrollable and was suspended for a week. My mother looked so hurt and forlorn that I

couldn’t tell her why I’d resorted to violence.

“To add insult to injury, my dad gave me a sharp slap when he got home from work. Mum had told him about my behaviour, but she was alarmed at dad’s reaction. She told him off and said she was sure that whatever reasons I’d had were probably good ones. But Mr. Goody-Goody told me nothing justified resorting to physical violence and slapped me again!

He really had a way of showing by example. It was then my hatred of him took a nasty turn. He might be my dad, but as far as my mum was concerned, I believed she should get rid of him. All he had ever done was destroy her confidence.

And, in all honesty, he hadn’t been much of a father to us three children. Most times, he would come to the house looking like a drilling officer, and most of the evenings, he always spent away from home, sneaking in when we were all asleep.

“What do women see in him anyway? I often looked at his beer belly and skinny legs and couldn’t help wondering why mum even bothered with him. She was still an attractive woman and I was sure that out there, somewhere, was a decent man who would love her for who she was. Instead, she complained all the time of putting on weight and getting flabby. Whenever I snorted at her harsh criticism of herself, and told her she looked ok, she always told me: `It’s because you’re looking at me as your mother and not as another woman, what you see as comforting bumps, others see as spare tyres and blubber’.

“This was all dad’s fault – if he hadn’t been such a chronic womaniser, a serial shagger, mum would never have worried about things like spare tyres, she even blamed herself for dad’s roving eyes, saying maybe he wouldn’t have looked at other women, if she hadn’t been so fat!”

When next Wunmi came to my house a few years later, looking as if the world had come to an end, I feared the worst.

“Bag-of-bones is pregnant!”, she spat, and this time, dad had installed her in a flat as a second wife and did the native wedding. Mum didn’t know until it was all over, but I was amazed at her reaction. Instead of looking hurt, she said she was going ahead with her diet. She stopped enticing dad with mouth-watering meals and concentrated on her business and her children.

Months later, Wunmi had twin half brothers but said as far as she was

concerned, they were no blood relations of hers.

Wunmi was at the university by then, and when she graduated, she landed a good job, started dating herself. “But when I look at how nice the men I meet are, I can’t help wondering if they wouldn’t turn into the monster my dad has become in future”. I asked her to take each day as it came. That whatever bad memories she thought her mother had, there must be very good ones for her to have had three healthy children by him.

No one can predict the future. Skirt-chasing men have become good fathers and taken to paternal responsibilities, while seemingly predictable men have turned into ogres their wives would have happily shot if they could get away with such crime.

“Then it happened.

Wunmi’s dad started staying home more often but Wunmi had fled the nest by then. Whenever she phoned home, her

you climb, the more you experience what love is all about. Love is a micro organism in which we can't touch,see or even predict how big and how small it grows. Love is like a heavy wind, the more its blows, the more you feel it. That's how love is, the more you have exciting moments, the more you grow the pressures of the love.

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 JOURNEY OF LOVE

Love is a like a journey to the mountain, the more

Ogbonna Chidubem Charles charlesprince850@yahoo.com 08169186581

The voice of Gold I hear your voice, I hear it far away I hear it break the silence From within your heart

mother filled her in on how attention he’d suddenly become and how he was planing on both of them going on holidays instead of the separate ones they’d had for years. I smelt a rat. I made some discreet inquiries and found out that bag-of-bones had met a rich trader and jettisoned dad. Not only that, the new money bag in her life didn’t want to be a step father. When I later visited my aunt and saw the boys, my heart went out to them. They looked nothing like my dad – nor their mum.

But it wasn’t in my place to say.

“My aunt confided in me that dad was hoping to talk mum into taking the twins. To do what with them? Their mother had not only brought a rift to an otherwise happy home, she was having the time of her life with a new-found lover. Why should it be mum that was always expected to make the sacrifices? This time though, she put her foot down. She’d already raised all her kids and didn’t particularly relish the idea of a secondchance motherhood. The only compromise she made was that the twin could visit whenever they felt like. Afterall, it wasn’t their fault that their parents had turned out to be the butt of all jokes amongst their friends.

“I still resent the way dad handled things.

He’s now older and wiser but not all that close to his older children. In his sober moments, would he wonder if his wild flings were worth the resigned man he now is?

Was he the only man to have an affair that he

had to marry an opportunist? Now that mum has her husband back, albeit as damaged good, what kind of relationship will they have?”

What you see is what you get (Humour) A man happened to pass an old antique shop and on the spur of the moment popped inside to have a look around. On one of the top shelves, he saw an old pair of glasses and as he reached up to take them, the owner approached: “Ah, I see you’re interested in the spectacles”, he remarked. “In fact they’re very special glasses because when you look through them, you see everyone naked”. “Get away!”, laughed the man, “that’s hard to believe”. “Try them on Sir, and you will see for yourself ”,. So the man did, and gasped with amazement. There was the owner standing there completely naked and as he looked out of the window, all the passers-by were naked as well. “I’ll have them!”, he said, no matter what the cost”.

So, having purchased the unique spectacles, the man decide to go home and show his wife what he had bought, before going back to work.

He arrived home, entered the house, put on the glasses and walked into the front room. Sitting on the sofa was his wife and Mr. Brown from next door, both of them completely naked.

“Hello, it’s me!”, he said, taking off the glasses. But the couple on the sofa remained naked. “On no!” complained the man, “N50,000 I paid for these and they ’re knackered already!”

With sweet melodies A voice so sweet, cool and calm; The unequivocal voice of gold In lovely Valentine was heard I must live to hear always and again Such angelic soft words Like amorous bird of old Whispering melo-bird songs In gag with acrobatic display Thus your love I have in my heart hidden That I may be honestly faithful To your golden voice of love

Sunday Ogbaoyibo Sunlightworld82@gmail.com 07032615563

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 25

How clean bill of health on alleged missing $20bn repositioned NNPC *$1.48bn signature bonus resolved

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

T

HE recent clean bill of health issued Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which conducted forensic audit report on the alleged missing $20bn unremitted oil revenue, has laid to rest months of controversies generated by the allegation.

The allegations, which took a tide of whirlwind and nearly smeared the reputation of NNPC, started in late 2013, when Lamido Sanusi Lamido, then Central Bank governor wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan asserting that billions of dollars were not accounted for by NNPC. The CBN Governor ’s letter to Mr. President alleging that “between January 2012 and July 2013, NNPC lifted 594,024,107 barrels of crude oil valued at $65,332,350,514.57. Out of this amount NNPC repatriated only $15,528,410,098.77 representing 24% of the value.

This means the NNPC is yet to account for, and repatriate to the Federation Account, an amount in excess of $49.8 billion or 76% of the value of oil lifted in the same period.”

This degenerated into a lot of arguments with many Nigerians expressing different opinions on the issue. While many dismissed the claim with a wave of the hand and others insisted the monies were actually missing, the alleged missing money was to be later reduced to about $20 by Sanusi himself. The opposition, rightly, latched onto this embarrassment.

The Federal Government, incensed by the claim, appointed an audit firm to carry out a forensic audit of NNPC account. But before then the Senate Committee on Finance waded into the allegations with a view to unraveling the authenticity or otherwise of the allegation.

At the hearing of sitting of the Ahmed Makarfi-led Senate Committee on Finance, the public learnt that the InterAgency Committee had completed its assignment and had certified and signed off on the claims of NNPC to the tune of $8.7 billion for petroleum products subsidy.

The Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, CME, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the Committee had no technical competence to verify the other claims of $2.1 billion for pipeline repairs and maintenance, strategic reserves etc., and suggested that a forensic audit of the claims including what PPPRA (the statutory agency responsible for verify-

Diezani Alison-Madueke

Nowhere in the report was it stated that NNPC was indicted over the allegation of unremitted or missing oil revenue ing products importation and subsidy claims) had certified and signed off be undertaken.

In making the suggestion, CME had noted that even though the claims of NNPC had been certified, given the extraordinary times, it may be necessary to invite forensic auditors to do a forensic examination.

CME equally called for a legal opinion on the status of NPDC and Third party financing alliances by NPDC The former CBN Governor was asked if he agreed with the finding of the Inter-Agency Committee to which he answered in the affirmative, adding that since the agencies

responsible for certification of products importation and subsidy claims have certified the claims of NNPC, CBN was satisfied.

The Senate Committee at the end of the probe, submitted its report to the Senate. Some of the observations and recommendations of the Committee include: “That no oil revenue amounting to $49.8bn, $20bn, $12bn, or $10.8bn as alleged by the former CBN governor is missing “That the total expenditure on kerosene subsidy for the period (January 2012 – July 2013) which was unbudgeted was $4.43 billion. It is not anywhere near $8.7bn that the

APC lying machine is bandying about.

“That a Supplementary Appropriation Bill covering the amount be sent to the National Assembly for approval considering the ambiguity in government policy on kerosene subsidy and the fact that the PPPRA has verified the importation of the products.

“That NNPC should remit the sum of $262 to the Federation Account being “expenses it could not satisfactorily defend in respect of Holding Strategic Stock Reserve; Pipeline Maintenance and Management Cost; and Capital Expenditure.

“The report of the Committee was debated on the floor of the Senate at plenary and it adopted most of the recommendations of the Committee”.

It particularly resolved, based on the recommendation of the Committee that the allegation of the former Central Bank Governor that some money was missing was to all intents and purposes false and that no money (be it $49.8bn, $20bn, $12bn, or $10.8bn) was missing.

The senate also advised President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare and present to the National Assembly a supplementary budget “to cover the expenditure in the sum of N90.6bn for PMS (premium motor spirit) subsidy 2012 and N685.9bn for kerosene subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly” based on the Committee’s finding that the expenditure was not based on a flagrant disobedience to the laws of the land in the light of the ambiguity surrounding the issue of kerosene subsidy removal.

The report of the Forensic Audit conducted by the internationally reputable accounting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), on NNPC over the alleged unremitted $49.8bn was submitted by the firm to President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, Abuja on February 2, 2015.

The President immediately handed over the report to the Auditor-General of the Federation with a directive to study it and make the key findings of the report public.

The Auditor-General, has made the highlights of the Forensic Audit Report known to the public. The highpoint of his disclosure was that the report recommends that NNPC and its Exploration & Production subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) are to remit the sum of $1.48bn being “signature bonus due for divested assets and taxes/ royalties”.

What the Auditor-General failed to explain to the public is that the signature bonuses, royalties and taxes on the oil wells divested by Shell and assigned to NPDC were not part of the oil lifting revenues ($49.8) which the former CBN Governor (now Emir of Kano) alleged was unremitted by NNPC and which was the reason for the Forensic Audit.

The recommendation to pay the signature bonus for the divested oil wells was not an indictment in any way over the alleged unremitted $49.8 or any of the latter versions of the amount that the former CBN Governor came up with.

Following the barrage of media reports claiming that NNPC was indicted in the PwC Forensic Audit Report because of its recommendation that NNPC should pay the sum of $1.48bn to the Federation Account, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Joseph T. Dawha, addressed a press conference to explain the recommendation and why it does not amount to an indictment.

The GMD explained that the $1.48bn represents the balance of the book value of the assets assigned to NPDC upon divestment by Shell as computed by the DPR. He further explained that the full book value of the assets as computed by DPR was $1.847bn out of which NNPC had paid over $300m as a token to indicate its interest in acquiring the assets pending when NNPC and DPR come to terms on a mutually acceptable estimate of the book value of the assets as NNPC had raised concerns over some of the parameters that DPR used in arriving at its figures.

On deductions and kerosene subsidy, the GMD explained that the PwC’s report was unequivocal that the NNPC Act empowers NNPC to defray its costs from crude oil sales proceeds and so NNPC could not be blamed for doing what the law prescribes, adding however that NNPC was ready for the legal reform proposed in the PIB. It is now a statement of fact that, the Forensic Audit Report, like the Senate Committee on Finance’s Probe Report before it, clearly stated that all the revenue generated from FGN crude lifting for the period of 1 January 2012 to 31 July 2013 amounting to $69.34bn was fully accounted for.

Nowhere in the report was it stated that NNPC was indicted over the allegation of unremitted or missing oil revenue.

The alleged issue of missing oil revenue to the tune of whatever amount ($49.8bn, $20bn, $12bn, $10.8bn?) has been laid to rest by the Senate of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and an independent audit firm, PwC. However, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has since directed the NNPC to defray the signature bonuses, taxes and royalties in line with the recommendation of the forensic audit report.

PAGE 26—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

‘Jonathan, Obasanjo and the gaps in Soludo’s thesis’

BY AKOMA CHINWEOKE

Former Central Bank Governor Charles Soludo, recently, claimed that the government’s poor management of the economy had resulted in the loss of N30 trillion. According to him, his estimates are based on rough calculations covering oil theft, money that ought to accrue to foreign reserves, unbudgeted oil subsidy payments, Customs duty waivers, leakages through self-financing government parastatals, unremitted sums by the NNPC, among others, Expectedly, the allegation triggered a combative response from the Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngtozi Okonjo-Iweala, who described Soludo as Nigeria’s worst CBN Governor ever.

In this interview, Mr. John Patrick Egesi, a shipping economist and President of the Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS), the oldest manpower development body in the Nigerian maritime industry, sheds light on the raging issue.

H

OW do you react to Prof.

Soludo’s claim which links the rot in the countr y ’s economy to poor management by the Jonathan government?

I must congratulate Professor Soludo for his unique ability to make himself the centre of attraction. I am sure that this special ability of his must have greatly contributed to his being brought to national limelight

by President Obasanjo. Under a vain but ridiculous guise that “I have been too busy with extensive international travels…” he opened up a tirade of abuses and denigration of President Jonathan and his administration, signing off his attack with a theme used by a former president after attacking President Jonathan, “…truth will only hurt! Be assured that those of us who are prepared to die for Nigeria will never spare you or anyone else this bitter truth.”

For some strange reason after perceiving the hate-filled disdain for Jonathan shown by his “truth”, my mind travelled to Nazi Germany where, in pursuit of some “truth” of eugenics , German scientists and philosophers slaughtered six million Jews to ensure the purity of their beloved Germany which they were ready “to die for ”.

In spite of his pretenses, it was obvious that he wanted to very seriously damage the President politically enough to make him lose the forthcoming election.

He anticipated this accusation when he commented that 95 percent of the people have already made up their minds. Being a Nigerian politician, he knew that most South-easterners, Niger Deltans, and Middle Belters may be difficult to price away from the president, he decided to cast his net to the South-west by first citing Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s prowess in objective electioneering before

•John Egesi going on to pair one of their own, General Obasanjo (his benefactor), with IBB as “the two presidents who made the most fundamental transformation of the nation’s economy.”

While most informed Nigerians cannot but agree with Soludo’s comment on the role of IBB in the liberalization of Nigeria’s economy, most, while believing that OBJ must have meant well, will be more reserved in pairing them. I hope that Soludo remembers that IBB was the most unjustly vilified head of state by the intelligentia, mostly in the South-west because of his structural adjustment programme. Those of us who supported him at the time were considered unpatriotic.

Today, the same class of privileged people is on the prowl against the first true civilian president after Shehu Shagari.

As for the statistical percentages Soludo threw up to put his mentor on top of the hip, common sense demands that proper analysis be made in the far future by those who did not benefit from either of them – that way objectivity will be truly objective. There is, however, certain visible indicators like roads and rail constructed, improvement in power generation, development in agriculture etc. that one can use to do a cursory comparison.

You are among the few who has scored the Jonathan’s administration high. Why do you have so much confidence in him as the right man for the job?

In my book, President Jonathan, in all honesty, appears to be well ahead of OBJ in his first term. For the first time in 25 years, one can leave Lagos by 6am and arrive at Enugu by road before noon.

This was not so throughout the eight years of OBJ. This amazing feat was repeated all over the country – which includes the dualization of Abaji – Lokoja, Kano – Maiduguri, Lagos - Ibadan express way. For inhabitants of Lagos where I

live, the President’s most important achievement is not in the federal roads, although the improvement in Oshodi – Apapa is almost finished, but in the remarkable improvement

the hand of Esau. That was why he termed OBJ’s savings economic ‘prudence’ and poor Peter Obi’s prudence a ‘strategy that brought kwashiorkor’ to great Anambrarians.

Peter Obi’s sin among other reasons is that he shows and demonstrates great admiration and respect for the president.

No true academician goes push and shove against people or ideas that may not agree with one’s concept. The danger in doing so is that they might begin to look smaller than they really are. That is the unquestionable philosophy and wisdom behind the saying “pride cometh before a fall”. While trying to show that nothing good was achievable by Jonathan, he retorted to a statement made by the President to the effect that “the problem of Nigeria is not money but the management of resources”, as “half truth” and went on to give the laughable comparison of a man on a salary of N50,000 who wants to buy Peugeot 405 for each of his three sons! Haba for a professor of economics! The discipline of economics is based on that statement by the President.

If one reads the piece by Pro-

As for the statistical percentages Soludo threw up to put his mentor on top of the hip, common sense demands that proper analysis be made in the far future by those who did not benefit from either of them – that way objectivity will be truly objective in power supply. In fact there are now parts of Lagos where there is minimal interruption of power supply. Every Nigerian knows that lack of power has cost us a lot through making our attempts at industrialization patchy, goods and services production very expensive, but for privileged international air travelers like Soludo, the fixing of our power sector will not necessarily create jobs or impact the economy positively.

To prove his point, he argued that Greece and Spain are in a mess in spite of their power and infrastructure. What the learned professor failed to ask himself is what would the condition of Greece and Spain have been without power and infrastructure?

There is no iota of doubt that Soludo’s public encomiums for IBB (and I believe it’s about time) was mainly to give credence to the regime of OBJ, whose opposition to the re-election of GEJ is well known. Even ardent supporters of Baba must have felt uncomfortable at the way the thesis was clearly looking like the voice of Jacob and

fessor Patrick Utomi, never mind that he was canvassing for his party, the APC, with his references to Keynes, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Nnamdi Azikiwe (in Azikiwe’s determination to bring the poorer eastern Nigeria at par with the then richer cocoa supported western region), he was virtually confirming the statement by one of the most humble man Nigerians have ever known. His gentle demeanor confounds a people who have been used to being bullied and brutalized. His humility and civility is misunderstood as weakness by the proud.

How do you then rate the performance of this administration which has remained a burning issue in the country?

Is one saying that the President could not have done a better job? Definitely not. But when one puts into consideration the enormity of the job of the President of a country as big as Nigeria, which definitely qualifies for what my Yoruba cousins would describe as an atari Ajanaku , that requires a pe-

riod of learning process one cannot help but better appreciate what the President has been able to achieve in a complex political give and take of Nigeria. Misdirected as Soludo’s thesis appears, it revealed something one could clearly take away. If you reflect on those Presidents he marked out as the greatest in fundamental economic development, none of them served less than eight years. Obasanjo served far more than that if one includes his first coming. Point being made is that the job of a president requires some time for one to fully make an impact. That was why I found Obasanjo’s attitude towards his own political son, Jonathan, so strange and most baffling. Patience and forbearance makes us better judges of others. I knew it was not mere lust for power that made General Obasanjo want to go for a rumored third term.

No. It was to enable him properly finish what he started – and this is after more than 10 years in power!!

Let me end by saying one or two things about the two main parties vying for our votes. First the PDP. If anyone has a right to have a grudge against the PDP, it is my humble self. Its imperfection in the party primaries are well known, even though it is lately doing all it could to correct it. Others have their own myriad of complaints. However it has a certain very important uniqueness going for it. It belongs to all Nigerians in its formation, development, evolution and growth. It would have been wonderful if we had gotten a credible opposition that IBB had in mind when he offered Nigerians equal choice of SDP or NRC so that no single person will claim to be either the party ’s founder or owner, who could manipulate the affairs of the party as he or she wishes.

Much as this opposition is needed to make the PDP wake up, one is sorry to say that the APC lacks the national credentials that would meet what I would call the IBB objectives.

APC is bipolar, i.e., North and South-west in its formation and mainly Islamic in its initial composition (until some disgruntled PDP members joined its rank) and has powerful founding leaders that still decides who goes where. This is not the kind of party that for now Nigeria should surrender her hard freedom to. Their presidential candidate might be a very good or even a holy man but I think that he lacks the sagacity or the open heartedness of say a Babangida to preside over modern day Nigeria. Some funny characters are using him to hoodwink Nigerians. It is important that we bear this in mind while judiciously casting our vote. Lastly we should endeavor to start the process of forming a truly national opposition. You’ll be surprised who might want to join.

Please do not rule out Jonathan after his second term.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 27

Price increase painful, but necessary — MultiChoice MD

BY OLALEKAN BILESANMI

John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, explains the organisation’s new subscription rates

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he hike in MultiChoice’s subscription rates has hit subscribers like lightning. The prevalent view is that MultiChoice has no justification for such and is just taking advantage of the lack of alternatives in the sector. How accurate is this view?

Price increases are always painful and we are very mindful of this. However, they are sometimes necessary for businesses to provide service to their consumers and also provide necessary returns to stakeholders. They ensure that we can continue to provide quality entertainment to our subscribers even with the rising costs and inflation. It is because of the prevailing economic situation and rising cost of content and our other inputs that we have had to increase the

cost of subscriptions and this has affected all the other entities across the continent. If you look at a lot of goods and services you will see that there an increase in a lot of sectors as we are not isolated.

Many subscribers are calling on MultiChoice to institute a pay-as-youwatch regime, which some claim is available to MultiChoice subscribers in South Africa and some other countries. Are you looking in that direction?

As a leader in innovation, we consider all viable options to provide our subscribers with the best and most affordable way to consume entertainment. At the moment, we provide our services through a model that is in use around the world that allows us to take advantage of the economies of scale and provide an aggregate service that reduces the costs for all subscribers.

I can confirm that no other country under MultiChoice is providing its pay-TV services through a “pay as you watch” model. People often confuse “Pay as you watch”

It is because of the prevailing economic situation and rising cost of content and our other inputs that we have had to increase the cost of subscriptions and this has affected all the other entities across the continent model with “Pay Per view”, where essentially, subscribers pay specifically for big ticket events in addition to their monthly subscriptions. This effectively even makes the subscriptions more expensive.

We have opted for a more economic model where our subscribers have access to these big tickets events as part of their monthly subscriptions. We will always strive to bring the

•

John Ugbe

best entertainment in the most affordable way and also continue with our innovation. An example is our Catch up service which is our Video on demand service, that allows you to watch your best programs at your convenience and our Box office service which lets you download the latest blockbuster releases with your PVR decoder and online from your couch at home.

There are claims that the hike in subscription rates has been effected only in Nigeria. Is this the correct position?

This is not true, as subscription rates have been increased across the continent. However, as an independent entity, we ensure

that we take the decisions based on the prevailing market conditions. For example, where other countries may have effected price increases last year, this is our first increase in two years notwithstanding the changes in inflation foreign exchange and other indices in our local market.

Price increases, when not steep, cause little or no irritation.

Couldn’t your new price regime, starting from 1 April, has been less steep?

If you look at the changes in the economic indices, you will see that we have gone to great lengths to absorb some of the impacts. If you also look at the content we offer in comparison to our competitors, you will see that we still provide a lot of value for the price of our product. We recently at no cost to the subscriber upgraded a lot of our subscribers who had the old DStv decoders with old technology to the newest HD decoders, and in many cases even upgraded subscribers to the cutting edge new Explora decoder, which is in high demand.

We also continue to in-

crease our content line-up and in the 2014 alone, we added at least seven more channels to our bouquets.

We also now bring you the best series on ‘Express from the US’ which means that you get to watch them on the Explora decoder just six hours after it is premiered in the US market.

Our local content is not left behind, as we have continued to premiere some of the best local series and movies on our AfricaMagic channels. We also ensure that our subscribers have a choice as they can choose from our large array of bouquets which are available at varying price points, which allows them to tailor their entertainment line up to their lifestyle. Thus you can enjoy the best entertainment there is out there from just N1,200 per month.

Most MultiChoice subscribers in Nigeria believe the country is where the highest subscription rates are charged. Why is this so?

No, we do not have the highest subscription rates as many people believe and this is a fact. Subscription rates vary in Africa and the rest of the world according to several factors including the local costs of doing business. I am sure that you can independently verify that Multichoice Nigeria does not have the highest subscriptions in the world or the rest of Africa

Share a Coke is about making an iconic brand personal to consumers — Patricia Jemibewon, Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria In January, Coca-Cola swapped its iconic logo with some popular names among Nigerians when it launched the Share a Coke campaign. Quickly the campaign inspired a sharing frenzy among consumers who were excited to share the moment with people that matter most to them. Adjudged as one of the best marketing campaigns, Share a Coke has continued to delight consumers and occupy the front burner of discourse in the marketing world. In this interview, Patricia Jemibewon, Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited sheds more light on why the campaign resonates with consumers and why CocaColacontinues to evolve and stay ahead of trends. he carbonated soft-drink mar ket in Nigeria is keenly competitive with several brands and products jostling for patronage. What unique selling proposition has helped Coke maintain market leadership?

First of all, Coca-Cola is acknowledged globally as an exceptional beverage for its quality and taste, and consumers love it. I am sure you would agree with that. This fact, coupled with our ever-evolving marketing and advertising campaigns that continually

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strengthens the emotional bond between the brand and its consumers,has driven of the brand’s success over the past 128 years.

Share a Coke w a s launched in Australia since 2011. Why did it take you this long to bring the idea to Nigeria?

Share a Coke is a marketing campaign that transforms the global CocaCola brand into a special, personal experience for our consumers. By swapping our iconic Coca-Cola logo with personal names, we give our consumers a unique opportunity to connect and share their personalized Coke with the people who matter the most to them- friends, family and loved ones, either in person, or virtually.

The campaign has been launched in more than 70 countries since 2011 and, I believe, more countries will still launch it in the months ahead. We felt that this is the right time to launch the campaign in Nigeria and, from the response it has continued to receive from Nigerians, I think one can safely say there could not have been a better time than now for the Share a Coke campaign to launch in this market.

How will you gauge the reception of Share a Coke in Nigeria?

There are many market-

•

Patricia Jemibewon

ing metrics being used to gauge our consumers’ reaction to any campaign. So there are some scientific indices; there are some softer indices.

Again, at the end of the day, it’s all about delighting our consumers, so we look at the responses we get from everyday people to assess how well they connect with the campaign.

And I can tell you that the Share a Coke campaign is not onlygenerating a lot of buzz; it is also strengthening consumer connection and affinity to Coca-Cola as a brand.

Share a Coke has been an amazing campaign to work on, probably the most fun . The reason it’s fun is the exceptional consumer response. So everything from going into a store to see everybody clamour for Coca-Cola has been incredible!

We saw two girls hugging

and jumping for joy when they saw their names!

Even online, it is trending; I’m sure when you go to #ShareaCokeNG, you will see responses. We have seen people proposing with bottles of personalized Coke!These responses help us with insights on how consumers are taking it and assist us to measure the success of the campaign.

How do you intend to meet up with the rise in demand this campaign could generate/is generating?

One, it is available across all of our packs, so anywhere you can find your Coca-Cola, now you can find this special pack with a name on it. Two, we have an experiential campaign that is going on a tour of Nigeria. So if you haven’t found your name or the name of someone very special to you, you can go to any of our experiential campaigns and get one specially made for you or the person special to you.

The tour is live now and you can go to www.shareacoke.com.ng to find out where we are.

What is the cost implication of personalizing Coke and how do you intend to recoup this?

We have come out with this campaign with the consumer in mind, so we haven’t put any additional charges; whatever you will pay for your bottle or can

of Coca-Cola is how much you will pay for this special Coke with your name on it! The whole idea is to give back to our consumers and celebrate them.

It has been over two months since this innovation was launched in Nigeria. What has been the impact on your sales volume?

Like I said it has been an amazing campaign to work on and we are very pleased with the multiple points of impact – it is strengthening the interaction between our brand and consumers and enabling consumers to experience Coca-Cola a very personal way. Inevitably one can tell that the campaign is driving sales for the brand, but beyond that it is building stronger brand love and consumer loyalty for Coca-Cola.

How are you managing distribution to deepen penetration and ensure that consumers in all parts of Nigeria get a taste of their personal Coke?

Fortunately, at Coca-Cola we have, I dare say, the largest and most effective distribution systems in the country; and we have leveraged this to ensure that consumers in every village and hamlet across the experience the Share a Coke campaign by getting their personalized Coca-

Cola packs in glass or PET bottles and cans without stress.

For consumers who are yet to find their names, what are the plans to meet their expectations?

There are options available, one option is to go to the experiential activation, like I said, we have a tour around Nigeria going on right now, we knew that we couldn’t capture the diversity of the entire Nigeria in the names that we put on our packs, so we have made them available through the experiential activation whereconsumers can get their customized packs on request. The tour locations are available at www.shareacoke.com.ng.

Another option is for a consumer to create virtual Share a Coke cans through an online portal on the same website. You can actually create your own digital cans and share online with your friends and loved ones.

What will it take to bring the tour to my village?

Your village just might be on our route plan already.

So, don’t lose hope!

What plans are in place to sustain the concept?

We are listening to our both consumers and our creative genie. So, temper your curiosity… and continue to Share a Coke!

PAGE 28—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

You can’t trust

elections

BY OWEI LAKEMFA.

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ou cannot trust elections. At least not entirely. My first awareness about elections was when as a kid, I was told the story of how Jews were asked to vote between setting free Jesus Christ or Barabbas, a robber and murderer. Barabbas won that election by a landslide!

Adolf Hitler who is portrayed in many books as evil, did not seize power; his Nazi Party won the German elections of 1932.He was democratically elected.

Belarus President, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is portrayed as another Hitler, but he wins all elections by an average 80 percent with about 90 percent electoral turn out.

Al Gore won the popular votes in the 2000 American elections, and in all probability, the electoral votes. This was before Florida was awarded to George W. Bush. I have often wondered if the world would not have been a safer place with a Gore Presidency which might not have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.

Nicolai Ceausescu won all the elections in Rumania before he was seized in 1989 and summarily executed with his wife. Hosni Mubarak of Egypt often won over 80 percent of the vote before a 2011 uprising unseated him. The same was the case of Ferdinand Marcus of the Philippines in 1986. Blaise Campore was Bourkina Fasso President for twenty seven years. He and his Congress for Democracy And Progress party won an average two thirds of votes.

The people, realizing that the ballot paper was not strong enough to remove him, did so with sticks and stones.

The reality is that democracy, which elections are supposed to produce, is like a soup dish; it depends on the ingredients used.

While for many, winning majority votes and term limits are essential, the British do without them. All the Prime Minister needs, is to win a seat and be appointed by the Monarch;

so long as he enjoys the confidence of the House of Commons, he can remain in office for as long as Queen Elizabeth has remained on the throne.

In fact, elections in most cases, is not about ‘democracy’ but the tyranny of the majority groups. That is why after over three centuries, Scotland held a failed referendum to take a walk out of the United Kingdom. In Africa, Tanzania is one country that consistently votes for candidates more on merit than where they come from. In contemporary history, the defunct Soviet Union was the main country where Joseph Stalin, a candidate from a tiny part of the country, Georgia, was consistently voted into power.

In most cases where candidates from minority groups have won elections, it had often been accidents of history; what might be called accidental discharge.

These were the cases in Nigeria where President Musa Yar ’Adua died and was replaced by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, and Ethiopia where Prime Minister Meles Zenawi passed on and Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalgn took over. Both men went on to consolidate their hold on power.

There is a myth that elections can fix national problems; if it can, Belgium would not continue to be on the brink of a break up nor Ukraine in a civil war.

Elections cannot today ensure reconciliation in Libya, Syria or Yemen. The fact is that elections are about vested interests and access to power.

In many climes, elections are actually wars fought on the streets and polling stations. In such countries, there are mass movement of people migrating to where they consider safer areas.

•Owei Lakemfa

Elections are a means, not an end in themselves; they are supposed to be for life, and not what citizens should kill or die for

Even political parties and candidates who agree theoretically, that elections are about campaigns and free choice, sometimes, sign peace agreements to shun violence and maintain the peace. This is however, no guarantee that they will not engage in violence the next moment.

There is the question; in elections what primarily do you vote for; the individual, party or principle? In countries like Kenya and Nigeria where politicians flow easily amongst parties, it will be difficult to keep tab of the parties they belong.

In many elections, the first

casualty is the truth. The national coffers is another casualty, with large chunks of resources voted for the conduct of elections. The cost of holding elections are often so high that some countries seek loans or external funding. In some cases, affluent countries assist poor countries to fund elections. The ultimate outcome of such elections, would be in favour of the investing countries.

There is often the talk about “free and fair’ elections. But in a general sense, is this possible in a world where the rich has all the advantages, and the

poor, all the disadvantages?

You cannot hold a reasonable discussion with a hungry person or expect him to make a rational choice in elections. The presence of hunger in an electoral process cannot lead to democracy.

Again, I have often wondered what court or tribunal you can drag a politician who reneges on his electoral promises.

Somebody can argue that there is a right to recall. The question is, at what cost, and who bares such cost? In many countries, this right is a myth embedded in the constitution or some electoral law.

Elections are a means, not an end in themselves; they are supposed to be for life, and not what citizens should kill or die for. The ‘Wetie’ crisis in Western Nigeria which led to the declaration of a state of emergency from 1962-63, flowed from elections. Eventually, the Western Region crisis engulfed the country leading to the 1966 coup, a civil war and decades of military rule. Elections are like rain; even if they are accompanied by lightening and thunder storms, they will come and go. But our country must remain.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 29

St. Augustine award Babcock varsity Prof gives for Jo hie Joyyce Gbenebic Gbenebichie daughter in wedlock

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rofessor Dayo Alao, former journalist and professor at Babcock University attracted almost the entire top echelon of the academic staff of the varsity when his daughter, Ifeoluwa wedded her heart-throb recently in Ilisan Remo, Ogun State.

The couple, Andrew Owunna and Ifeoluwa Alao took their vows at the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Babcock University also in Ilisan Remo,Ogun State, before a mammoth guests who ushered them into the bliss of matrimony. Photos by Diran Oshe

.

It was a moment of joy for Mrs Joyce Gbenebichie when Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) of St. Augustine’s Benin City parish held a seminar and an award session as she was bestowed with an award for her effort in the cause of the church. Many important personalities graced the occasion. Photos by Barnabas Uzosike

From Left: Rev. Fr. Joachim Osigwe presenting award to Mrs. Joyce Gbenebichie.

Mr. Andrew Owunna, and his wife, former Miss Ifeoluwa Alao

From left: Mother of the bride, Mrs. Dorcas Alao with the couple, Mr. Andrew Owunna, and his wife, former Miss Ifeoluwa Alao and Prof. Dayo Alao, bride’s father

From left: Rev. Fr. Joachim Osigwe presenting award to Mrs. C. Olowojoba while Christy Atekha looks on.

Left: Mrs. E. Uhunmwangho, President CWO, St. Augustine Catholic Church and Rev. Osigwe.

From left: Mrs Philomena Owunna, groom's mother, the couple, Mr and Mrs Andrew Owunna and Mr Emmanuel Owunna, groom's father.

From left: Chief (Mrs) Modupe AdelekeSanni, the couple, Mr. and Mrs Andrew Owunna and Dr. Deji Adeleke, Chairman of Pacific Holdings.

Our Daily Manna holds ‘W orld Anointing Night’ ‘World

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ur Daily Manna (International) recently held a ‘World Anointing Night’ with the theme ‘This Nonsense Must Stop, My Door Must Open’. Ministering at the event was Bishop Chris Kwakpovwe.

The event attracted both local and international Christian personalities. Photos: Shola Oyelese

Mrs. Joyce Gbenebichie (M) and members of St. Bridget Catholic Church, Sapele after receiving the award

Books donation

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he Sir Emeka Offor Foundation donated books worth millions of US Dollars to primary, secondary schools and a university in Tanzania.

Left: Bishop (Dr) Chris Kwakpovwe with Rev (Dr) Samuel Ogedengbe representing the Governor of Lagos State C M Y K

From left: Dr (Mrs) Ejiro Kwakpovwe, EV/PS John and Debby Fair, Internatioal delegates Sir Emeka Offor and some of the students after and Bishop Kwakpovwe the presentation

PAGE 30 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

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Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

BY LEKAN BILESANMI Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu, National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says the opposition elements have not been objecive in assessing President Goodluck Jonathan’S performance.

We have come a long way in our political history.

Have we made any progress?

Certainly yes; 16years of uninterrupted democracy, and the Jonathan government has been able to build a synergy with the arm of government that often truncates the nation,building journey. We need to see it from this perspective and situate the dynamics we are in propeRly. Remember, the first republic was thwarted by the military. The second, the same military headed by Buhari. The third was still born and it is the same military factor. This time, in spite of the excesses of the political play, the security agencies arE playing a new role of midwife and collaborative partnership.

So, irrespective of the seeming difficult terrain, we have made progress.

Also, the government of Jonathan set a goal for itself as encapsulated in Vision 20:2020 from the start. They say that by the year 2020, Nigeria’S economy should be amongst the 20 strongest in the world. Last year, the country became number one in Africa, and 26th in the world. They are inching there. One of the most significant things that the Jonathan presidency has done is to kick start the tranSformation of our country. The only setback is in the power sector. We do not expect electricity to happen like a miracle but the people must be looped in to understand what is happening in that sector.

Until this time, the country is often rated at the bottom of any global comparative chart for quality of life/ economy of nations, GDP, investment facilitation, etc.

In the 2011 Failed States Index, the United Statesbased Fund for Peace assigned Nigeria thE 14th position out of 177 countries analyzed, only ahead of the world’S 13 most miserable and war ravaged nations.

The American Bipartisan Centre, on May 12, 2011, similarly, listed Nigeria among the world’S most fragile states. This is where we were from 2000 to 2010.

Added to this, the Nigeria operating environment is fragile, complex, complicated and, for five years, it has been C M Y K

The opposition rating of Jonathan is unfair — Nwosu •Says the facts contradict the propaganda

compounded by Boko Haram, insurgency, terrorism and kidnapping.

To make things worse, since we have a President from the minority, the phenomEnon known as majority tyranny has set in, majority disdain for a government headed by a South south minority man, and deliberate plots to keep the government unstable and unfocused. Most government systems have been infiltrated by those that do not want the government to succeed.

Yet under this condition, the economy has made appreciable mark. The country now rates better on the Transparency International Corruption Index. Nigeria is rated about the 26th and one of the fastest growing economy, and the biggest economy in Africa. The GDP has appreciated considerably. The facts contradict the propaganda.

The situation this government operates in is horrific and they are making progress in infrastructure, education, agriculture, industrialization, transportation etc.

Forget the propaganda and lies, we still have corruption but is Jonathan corrupt, or is it Ngozi? The Halliburton and NITEL scandals did not happen under Jonathan. Nigeria government then was not able to effect any convictions but we know that many NigeriAns were convicted in the US, including a former President. We are not there yet but the figures are there to say we are making progress; we have better public servants now than before. The pension, subsidy and ghost workers scams are systemic things that have always been there, the Jonathan’S government uncovered them and has taken steps to reconstruct the systems to prevent such leakages and gaps. They are quietly combating scams,

•Ralphs Okey Nwosu

These critics hide under some micro and macro economic theories and paradigms but fail to contextualize things stealing and thievery in government.

Why has insecurity defied all efforts at ending it?

Nations in transition mode experience shocks and unpredictable upheavals.

Whether it is US, Japan, China, read their histories.

Before many important nations of the world transited from their yesterdays, their dark days, dark ages to what they have become Today, they faced challenges. We have to go through some traumatic moments for the transformation journey to gain traction.

The institutions we have in place before all these challenges, including our defense infrastructure, are ineffective to steer the country in the direction of robust health in the new dispensation. As we get ready to confront the new challenges, we are equaLly building the institutional infrastructure and security architecture to carry a modern and transformed Nigeria nation. It is shortsighted to think otherwise and heap the blame on the present leaders. When people shout change this person, that one is not performing, the CDS, IG or officers like Mbu must

go. I shake my head; these are sophisticated officers, highly trained and prepared for this transitioning. We want to taint them with our parochial politics, and ridiculous worldview. How many will you sack, and who can do this difficult job.

I protested when people were shouTing that General Azazi must go, that he was incompetent, and all that.

May God bless his soul. But since he left as NSA, and General Ihejirika left as Chief of Army Staff, has the security situation improved or gotten worse. So let us stop chasing shadow and try to understand the phenomenon playing out.

The chief executives of the various military arms, state security and police that we have today are certainly better than their predecessors and are some of the best trained and disciplined officers in the system.

The issue of the Chibok girls; I empathize with the families, with President Jonathan, and with the entire people of Chibok. The truth will come to light someday. But if I were Mr President, I will ask Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State to produce the girls. And that will still

haPpen. Shettima must produce the girls; the immunity must not be forever. As National Chairman of ADC, I have been to Borno on two occasions after the kidnapping, and if you go there and keep your ears to the ground you will hear the true feelings of the locals about the dirty politics going on there. You recall that the US, UK, and France sent their troops to help within the first month. But after two weeks, they retreated, and that was the end of the story.

What do you think happened? Go and read the letter former Governor Nyako, an erstwhile Chief of Naval Staff, wrote to northern governors. When you read that seditious letter deeply, then you will understand what is happening within the defense and security systems. I do not want to talk much but what is happening is upsetting.

Luckily, President Goodluck Jonathan has the humanity to get us through this.

How would you access the government of President Jonathan and his transformation agenda?

I am a student of nationbuilding and transformation; I understand change, leadership, and system intricacies. I am not a professor neither am I a lecturer. I am a student, I am always learning.

Leadership is in context; the context under which a leader works is important.

Nigeria politicians come up with flowery manifestoes, captivating slogans full of propaganda and innuendos.

But as soon as they get elected, it becomes a different ball game.

President Jonathan has been

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Buhari: The face of anti-corruption •••How he will ‘whip’ APC member memberss int intoo line

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part from his promises to end insurgency, create jobs, restore the dwindling economy and generally evolve a new Nigeria, one other elaborate campaign promise General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, has repeatedly made is to stamp out corruption from the shores of Nigeria. But there seems to be an albatross on his neck. This deals with a widely held impression that a horde of persons who share an affinity with him in and outside his party are also corrupt. But even at that, is Buhari, himself, corrupt free? Will he achieve the purpose should he eventually win the election?

Read to know the audacious move of, perhaps, the next president of Nigeria.

By Levinus Nwabughiogu Even though Nigeria’s problems may be conceivably ubiquitous, to him, it is summed up in one: corruption.

Get it right in that area, then Nigeria would have been on its way to reclaiming her lost glory. And this is the message he has never hesitated to tell Nigerians since the very first day of his campaign that, if elected the next president of Nigeria, corruption would be a thing of the past.

Those who are very familiar with the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, would not bat an eyelid to establish his integrity in this direction. Though some Nigerians, especially ardent supporters of his foremost political opponent, President Goodluck Jonathan, had dismissed this and accused him of enriching himself and his people while serving as Petroleum Minister in his military days, available records on Buhari’s stewardship have obviously numbed those accusations.

The same situation greets his days as former Head of State and, later, Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF. Buhari has been serially accused of being corrupt. But for a man who stood against corruption in any guise, introduced War Against Indiscipline, WAI, after inheriting the reins of power from a military junta in 1983, prosecuted and jailed drug traffickers, planned the capture of a former Minister of C M Y K

Transportation, the late Umaru Dikko, on allegation of corruption, from London; one, then, finds it nauseating to hear Buhari being associated with corruption. In fact, to some people, it gives infantile convulsion that a man many people would be quick to say still lives in penury, when compared to his privileged contemporaries, could have enriched himself while in office.

But the people’s testimony on Buhari’s saintly stance has only got louder and louder as the years went by. Now, it has been 30 years since Buhari exited office.

Obviously, things have changed. Times have changed too that even if it could be taken that the man lived above board then, he would be tempted in today’s Nigeria and could fall. But here comes the big question: Has the man changed? Perhaps, not to everyone’s knowledge yet.

The hate corruption message For one, Buhari, who will be squaring up to Jonathan of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, would better not contest the elections than halting his crusade against corruption. In fact, in some quarters, he has come to be known as the face of anticorruption.

From Lagos to Chatham House in London, back to Kaduna, Port Harcourt and, indeed, all the states of the federation, Buhari has been unequivocal about stamping out corruption.

At the moment, the canker worm is believably pervasive in the country and the APC presidential candidate has not stopping asserting his position on that.

Upon his declaration as the winner of the keenly contested primary election on Thursday, December 11, 2014, in Lagos, Buhari, who had just emerged the presidential candidate of APC while reading his acceptance speech, stated his stand on corruption.

His words: “On corruption, the government will enhance EFCC’s powers to investigate independently. Moreover, we intend to plug the holes in NNPC accounting. There will no longer be two sets of books, one for public consumption and another for insiders who profit from this slick fraud. In an APC government, the public will know how much NNPC makes

•Buhari

Poor leadership placed us in the ditch. Continuation of poor leadership will only dig a deeper trench for all of us to fall in and where all the money goes.

“No longer shall illegal flows of massive sums leave these shores to finance other economies. While our people languish in poverty, we effectively give financial aid to nations that is not justified. I am sick of this. It must stop.

The money saved will finance jobs, health care and the provision of social safety net for the needy, weak and vulnerable of our land.

“We will be a compassionate government, for out of compassion arises the truest forms of wealth and progress a society can attain. We shall open the door to tertiary education to excellent students who otherwise could not afford it. Pregnant and poor women and children shall be entitled to basic health care.

“This is a Nigeria that I envisage but it is a far cry from the Nigeria that is now.

Change is imperative if we are to avoid the impending national failure. Poor leadership placed us in the ditch. Continuation of poor leadership will only dig a deeper trench for all of us to fall

in.”

The retired old soldier wouldn’t stop at that. While the first phase of the electioneering campaigns before the postponement lasted, Buhari’s message on redefining Nigeria never went out without a reecho of a deep seated loathe against corruption. He was to later make louder as his commitment before the international community and indeed the entire globe. While speaking at the Royal Institute of Internal Affairs, popularly called Chatham House, London, on Thursday, February 26, the unrepentant Buhari further affirmed his stand on corruption.

He said: “On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration.

“First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting

corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference.

“But I must emphasise that any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witchhunt. I’m running for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity.

“In reforming the economy, we will use savings that arise from blocking these leakages and the proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our party’s social investments programmes in education, health, and safety nets such as free school meals for children, emergency public works for unemployed youth and pensions for the elderly.”

Assets declaration For a leader, ready to lead by example, assets declaration is a worthy avenue of showing it.

Buhari in a document titled, “I pledge to Nigeria”, pledged to make public his assets and earnings before, and perhaps, after office.

And for others who would be appointed in his government, there would be no indiscriminate or self drafted salary structures. The Revenue and Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission, RMFAC, a statutory body created to determine the salaries and allowance of all political appointees, would sanction what become the pay packages of all the government officials.

He said, “I pledge to publicly declare my assets and liabilities, encourage all my appointees to publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a pre-condition for appointment.

All political appointees will only earn the salaries and

Continues on page 34

PAGE 34—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

‘The opposition rating of Jonathan is unfair’ Continued from page 32

different, he has held unto national transformation.

He has stayed on track, despite the challenges he is encountering with the national transformation. To me, if Nigeria must make progress, that is the way to go. Set the vision, define the mission, and stay on course.

The other aspect now is how prepared aRe Nigerians for this journey. Transformation requires special understanding, communication, and skills.

Do we have the men and women to lead the process?

It also requires very effective management which Dr Okonjo-Iweala is providing.

I often hear government critics talk about Lee Kuan Yew; He is a good model I agree, but investigate what he went through in moving Singapore from the third world to a first world nation.

Singapore is just about 5million people; actually, its indigenes and permanent residents are less than 3.8million. That is smaller

than many Nigeria states, it is Nigeria divided by 38. We talk about leadership in context, the intricacies of leading a nation 50 years after the indirect British cOlonialist rule, a country of 175million persons with over 250 ethnic nationalities and languages, with religious differences. A country that has had a major civil war, and has been many years under military rule, with its unequal distribution of natural rEsources, etc. The climate and leadership challenges in Nigeria far outweigh what obtain in most countries of the world.

These critics hide under some micro and macro economic theories and paradigms but fail to contextualize things. When you struggle with some of these economists you pity them, I chuckle at their self righteousness because I know that they operate within a vIsion-limiting prism. They lack the large spectrum and farsighted perception of the social scientist and the creative thinker.

Gowon operated under a very harsh atmosphere;

almost the same kind of climate is in place today but this time with even a more hostile elite. This is the condition under which Jonathan has to do his leadership. President Jonathan is a very authentic leader, he is struggling with the challenges of leaDing a country so complex and complicated, volatile and dysfunctional that is in a state of transition. I am a bit surprised at Prof Wole Soyinka.

I have variously tried to study Jonathan’S leadership style, until I listened to Soyinka’S address at the South/South summit in Asaba some years back.

Soyinka crafted what I consider a pragmatic strategic leadership hybrid model to give wings to the federating units, regions, states, and local councils to explode; the path Jonathan is toeing. Prof said to the governors to feel free and take charge of “Begin to call the shots, and relegate the centre to its rightful dimensions in any functioning federated democracy”. If Jonathan is not playing the role he

presently plays, the governors will not be able to do that. Unfortunately, people seem to take the PPesident’S style for weakness. The governors rather than use the window opened by the Jonathan’S deliberative style to challenge their people to unleash their creative energies in transforming their states, mistook this for weakness and turned to throwing stones into the presidency; and abusing the same centre that has become least aggrandizing taking from Soyinka’s words. The governors started building fiefdoms and even dislodging the local councils.

I am baffled about Prof Soyinka because I thought he was one of the architects of the style knowing that the centre will take time to be constitutionally dismantled for effective nation building.

Recently, the administration of President Jonathan has received serious criticism from former President Obasanjo; do you think Obasanjo is doing the right thing?

I do not want to get into Obasanjo’S kind of patriotism and statesmanship. But look all over the world and tell me any advanced country or even any country at all where a former leader, who has had the opportunity and privilege to serve at the highest level, acts the way Obasanjo does. It iS strange. The Council of State was created for a purpose. The Council of State will make more meaning, and it is in the best position to moderate the excesses of its members.

However, a model community of former Presidents and the incumbent must be more dEcorous. Such model communities of ex-leaders in different planks should really be canvassed and put in place as it will enhance the quality of leadership in all strategic areas to advance nation-building. I will like to see a community of retired Chief JuStices of the Federation, Chiefs of Defence Staff, Chiefs of Army staff, etc. But it should not be converted to patronage bodies.

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Buhari: The face of anti-corruption Continued from page 33 allowances determined by the RMFAC.” Buhari side by side with “corruptible” allies and sponsors Perhaps, one knotty question since the coming together of the hitherto, Nigeria’s three major opposition parties, namely, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) - and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in February 2013, to form the APC has been how to find a confluence in the ideals, philosophy and sophistication of the various leaders in the party.

The concern became more worrisome when Buhari emerged the presidential candidate as many feared that there are some corrupt leaders in the party who may prevail and lord it over him to do their bidding should he win the presidency. In fact, this is essentially why many people have expressed skepticism on Buhari’s candidature.

C M Y K

‘How corrupt APC members will be treated’ A scenario confirming such fear played out in Kaduna on Wednesday, during a town hall meeting attended by the APC leadership, candidates and a mix of Muslims and Christian clerics from the North western zone of the country when a member of the audience innocuously reminded Buhari about some secular impressions that members of his party and perhaps sponsors who share some affinity with him were also corrupt, meaning that he may be hamstrung in the fight against corruption.

But hardly hard he finished his question than Buhari, ably represented at the meeting by his running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo answered to allay the fears of the people.

One, if Buhari could do it in his military days, he can do it again. What later followed as the second leg of the answers was, to be fair to Buhari, the most sought after and the modest answer anyone could ever give. Osinbajo declared that Buhari would not spare any corrupt APC member no matter how highly placed either in the party or the

society.

“On the issue of corruption, what General Buhari has said categorically is that as far as he is concerned, the day he is sworn-in as president, he would have drawn a line.

Anybody who runs foul of the law, anything that is been investigated before will continue as it is.

“If you are found to be corrupt, you will receive the consequence, no matter who you are. Whether you are his brother, sister, his friends there will be consequences. That is what he has said and I think that is in line with the position of the party”, the vice presidential candidate stressed.

In the same vein, the Director, Media and Publicity Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization, APCPCO, Mallam Garba Shehu who spoke exclusively to Sunday Vanguard on the issue, said that with Buhari as the leader of the country, old things will pass away and all things will be new. He stated that even his “corrupt” friends and political associates would have no choice than to change for good.

“Some people say Buhari cannot fight corruption because

of the people around him, I can tell you that the man is determined. And to be fair to all the people around General Buhari, they have submitted themselves to Buhari’s leadership which means they have decided to lead by example, which means that even if they have not been good people in the past that they want to change”, Shehu stated.

“Isn’t that better than for somebody to stubbornly cling onto old habit and say that the country must not change? The country is presently paying a price for failing to change. So, in all our scriptures, Bible or Quaran, God wants the bad man to change and become a good person. And the bad man who wants to change to become a good person is entitled to that change. He shouldn’t be stopped. So, Buhari wants to lead change and the important area for him is the issue of corruption and he will lead by example as he said at the Chatham House.

“Most of them around him know whom their leader is.

And he said it when he addressed the business community in Lagos. He said there is no magic about it. The

day they say Buhari is the President of Nigeria, the entire business and governance environment in Nigeria will change. There are people who will say that even if it stealing, we have done enough and now it is over”, Garba said.

Last line Many analysts believe that Buhari has been exhaustive in his promise to evolve a new Nigeria. Convinced by this, they, therefore, feel that it is indisputable that a man, who has shown so much commitment both in words and deeds to rescue the country from corruption, would eventually poo-pooh. In their reckoning, Buhari, by those revolutionary utterances, dwarfs the controversial theories of Jonathan who has been quoted as saying: “What many Nigerians refer to as corruption is actually stealing.

Stealing is not the same thing as corruption”, and “You do not fight it by locking people in Kirikiri and closing down their businesses.” But would that make any difference? The answer lies in the passage of time. March 28 is the day of judgment which Nigerians are keenly waiting for.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 35

The problem with Buhari on Boko Haram, corruption — Peter Obi •‘Jonathan’s re-election will strengthen Nigeria’s unity’ Mr. Peter Obi, the Deputy Director of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation (South) is a former governor of Anambra State. He was in Lagos on Friday and fielded questions from journalists on issues relating to the forthcoming elections.

Excerpts: You have demonstrated strong commitment to President Goodluck Jonathan. What, really, is the basis of your support for him?

Before I go into reasons why I support him, it is pertinent to clarify the attributes of a good leader. Among others, a good leader is humble, straightforward, tolerant, firm, fair to all, accountable, and of strong character and integrity. He or she must be prepared to learn and to acknowledge and respect other viewpoints.

Of course, nobody possesses all these qualities, but you have to admit that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan portrays quite a number of them. We all have our shortcomings, but any person who really loves Nigeria should appreciate that Jonathan has been applying these traits in his role as President.

Over the years, we have seen the ways successive leaders have wielded the tremendous powers of their office. But, President Jonathan has exercised commendable humility in the use of those powers. By way of illustration, he has promoted free, fair & credible elections even at the cost of his party losing some important positions – such as governors of Anambra, Edo and Ondo. These elections were accorded high ratings by local and international observers alike.

Nigerians are now seeing that their votes count and their real choices emerge.

On appointments, Jonathan has ensured the steady elevation of merit. A look at the membership of his cabinet and parastatal chief executives is revealing. In the same vein, he has gone beyond the expectations of affirmative action for gender equality in his appointment of women as ministers, Chief Justice of the Federation and a number of other strategic positions.

Jonathan has been committed C M Y K

to freedom of expression, rule of law and fundamental human rights. Soon after his election in 2011, he signed the Freedom of Information Bill into law [Act].

There is no restriction on media ownership and media practitioners operate in liberty – even to throw brick-bats at the President himself. You are aware that the Freedom of Information Bill was passed by the National Assembly 11 years before.

In rejecting dictatorial politics, he strengthened the National Human Rights Commission with an independent board of directors led by an international human rights scholar & lawyer.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no ‘political prisoners’ or ‘political detainees’ under this dispensation.

Jonathan is the first Nigerian leader to convoke a National Conference, comprising delegates of high integrity. Given their value-added resolutions, Nigerians are now looking forward to getting a People’s Constitution.

Indeed, what Nigeria needs today is not to change its President, but to support him to complete the good work he has started. What Nigeria needs is change of Constitution and the structure of the country for the mutual benefit of its constituents.

I support President Jonathan very much because he represents the unity of our country. This is the first time, by God’s design, that somebody, from the SouthSouth [that for over 40 years had produced the wealth of the nation], has emerged the President of the country. We should, with all sense of justice and equity, allow him a second term — four more years that will strengthen the unity of the country; four more years that will consolidate the tremendous progress of the first term. We should not forget the wisdom in permitting the South-West to produce the President to placate them because of June 12. Let our leaders display that wisdom again for the continued peace and progress of our great country, Nigeria.

Your newspaper articles and commentaries reflect your emphasis on issue-based campaigns. Beside his personal

•Mr. Peter Obi

What Nigeria needs today is not to change its President, but to support him to complete the good work he has started. What Nigeria needs is change of Constitution and the structure of the country for the mutual benefit of its constituents traits, why should the electorate return President Jonathan for a second term?

I am happy this is an issuebased interview. President Jonathan has performed creditably in all the sectors of the economy, polity and society. If we have the time, I will clarify each of them.

The Opposition always says that President Jonathan has not done well on security. What is your take on the claim?

It is ironical that once security is mentioned, people’s minds go to kidnapping in the South-East and Boko Haram in the NorthEast. You recall what Abia State used to be and how Jonathan coordinated security agencies to take on the challenges head-on.

Today, you could walk safely on Abia streets anytime. The situation is similar in other Southeast states.

We should realize that security challenges which border on terrorism — such as the Boko Haram & ISIS threats – are

global phenomena. With the collapse of some governments in the Arab world [such as Iraq, Syria & Libya], thousands of loose cannons literally spiralled into many other countries.

To appreciate the efforts of the Jonathan administration in tackling Boko Haram, we could take note of how long & complicated it has been for a powerful international coalition to deal with ISIS in the Middle East. These are not combatants engaged in conventional warfare, which is perhaps why it took some time to develop strategies to take them on successfully.

In concert with our neighbours [Chad, Cameroun & Niger], quite a lot of successes have been achieved in dealing with Boko Haram. They have been literally caged, and we are now assured that normalcy would be restored to the affected areas in a few weeks.

It is shocking that the comments of the opposition on Boko Haram give the

impressions that they are in partnership with the criminals.

They variously criticized the President’s “excessive use of force on the cultists” and his “lack of will” to take them on. On the missing girls and others, the opposition talks as if they know where the victims are being held, even as they have fallen short of accusing the President of supervising the abductions.

Every sane person within and outside our shores empathizes with the victims and their families. Many across the world have been praying daily for their safe return.

There is a lot to learn from threats to national security.

Nations go through tough times and, with a united front, they emerge stronger and forge ahead. What could be more traumatic for the Americans than the 9/11 tragedy, when the Twin Towers and the Pentagon [Defence Headquarters] were attacked. Americans did not blame President Bush, but rather rallied round him. The MF 370 aircraft on an international flight has been missing for over a year, yet Malaysians are not blaming it on their Prime Minister.

Recently, 137 students were murdered in Pakistan by terrorists, but Pakistanis did not blame their President. The focus has been on containing the threats. From the inclination of some Nigerians, I know, God forbid, that if earthquake takes place in Nigeria, some Nigerians will say that Jonathan is Poseidon himself.

Alas, in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan would have been blamed roundly and vilified.

It is worrisome to hear APC say

Continues on page 36

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Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

Continued from page 35 that if General Muhammadu Buhari comes to power, he will solve the problem of insurgency.

As a former Head of State & a retired officer of the Nigerian Army, General Buhari has direct access to the President, the National Council of State and the leadership of the Armed Forces – to whom he could have availed his ideas on how to defeat Boko Haram and related threats. That is a patriotic duty; not a political party initiative. All over the world, people & institutions — in and out government — have been proffering solutions to their countries’ problems, which have been applied in the national interest and for the common good. In the US, for instance, how many people know what roles former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush [Snr. & Jnr.] & Bill Clinton have been playing quietly for their beloved country?

Or, what about former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the UK? The opposition has identified corruption as Nigeria’ greatest problem; and that General Muhammadu Buhari has the will and capacity to deal with it.

How do you react to this?

I have always maintained that General Buhari is a respected elder statesman, we must acknowledge that the personal integrity of Buhari does not translate to party or corporate integrity.

Having observed that General Buhari is a man of integrity, we should be bothered by the antecedents of most of the people around him. The primary characteristic of a corrupt person is greed, always manifested in primitive acquisition of everything for himself, his family and cronies. This is exactly the history of the feudal lords. If we exclude Buhari and one or two others in the APC, you will notice that the party boasts the greediest set of Nigerians ready to acquire the country for their selfish ends – if they come into office.

History is not too remote for us to examine these people and their acquisitions in public office and juxtapose our findings with what they had before going into politics. Good leadership requires humility, honesty, tolerance, simplicity and the ability to work with dedication towards making the society a better place. As somebody who has held public office, I can tell you that the more a person is addicted to conspicuous consumption & primitive acquisition, the more corrupt the person will be.

How true is the claim that the Nigerian economy is now the biggest in Africa?

Clearly, President Jonathan has achieved more in economic development than any of his predecessors. All sectors have been positively affected since 2011, when he came into office.

The rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product ranked the nation’s economy 1st in Africa and 26th globally; from 3rd and 46th respectively. It also showed that the economy has been more widely diversified than before.

It will bear repetition to be C M Y K

•Mr. Peter Obi

‘The problem with Buhari on Boko Haram, corruption’ reminded that Nigeria successfully hosted a World economic Forum in 2014, Foreign Direct Investments were boosted from US$24.9 million as at 2007 to over US$35 billion by 2014; and virtually all quoted companies doubled in size, assets & profit. The marvels in the road sector show that the Jonathan administration has rendered over 25,000 kilometres of federal road motorable, from barely 5,000 kilometres as at 2011; work is on-going for a second bridge over the River Niger and on the Loko-Oweto Bridge over River Benue; Onitsha now has a port and the dredging of the River Niger is opening up our inland waterways; Nigerian railways has been resuscitated from a 30years-old coma, with over 3,500 kilometres of lines now operational. In the meantime, 22 airports have been remodelled to meet international standards.

He is simultaneously constructing five international terminals, as has never witnessed anywhere in the world, in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu.

President Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda [ATA] has been making waves across the country and internationally. We now export cassava and increasingly attaining self-sufficiency in rice production. Other agricultural products are also witnessing tremendous outputs. With the rehabilitation of 19 dams and construction of 14 irrigation projects, millions of Nigerian farmers are engaging in allseason farming across the country.

Taking the courageous decision to privatize the power sector, President Jonathan has given it the necessary fillip. Power

If we exclude Buhari and one or two others in the APC, you will notice that the party boasts the greediest set of Nigerians ready to acquire the country for their selfish ends – if they come into office generation has gone up from some 2,000 megawatts in 2011 to some 5,000 megawatts as at 2014. Even as more independent power plants are being commissioned, the administration tackling the menace of sabotage of gas supplies.

Similarly, the oil & gas sector has witnessed tremendous growth developments since 2011.

Nigeria now has a strong Energy Policy, and the Nigeria Content Act is being faithfully implemented. When passed into law, the widely-acclaimed Petroleum Industry Bill [PIB] will help instil transparency & accountability in the sector; and give the country and its people greater control of its oil & gas resources. To check the twin menace of oil theft & pipeline vandalism, the President instituted a novel mechanism of collective responsibility, involving the three tiers of government, oil companies, oil producing communities and security agencies.

Education and Health have

also received concrete support.

Aside from investing in primary and secondary education, President Jonathan strengthened the Tertiary Education Trust [TET] Fund. He has since established 14 universities [including a Maritime University at Oron]. In the same vein, primary, secondary & tertiary healthcare establishments across the country have been receiving regular support in funding, personnel and equipment.

In exercising the political will to remove a sizeable amount of oil subsidies, the President put a lot of fraudsters and leeches out of business. The monies so saved are being utilized to finance people-oriented projects under the Subsidy Re-Investment & Empowerment Programme [SURE-P]. SURE-P is actively involved in a wide spectrum of development projects & services across the country. These include dual carriageways, rail-lines, maternal & child health, and Graduate Internships.

What is the problem with the Naira?

The devaluation of the Naira is in response to developments in the global economy. The fall in oil prices has affected Nigeria and other countries which are heavily dependent on it. These include Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, Iran, Iraq, Lybia, among others, which have recorded high depreciation of their currencies. As a matter of fact, we are cushioning the effects better with the growth and expansion of the agricultural sector such that our food import bill has been by over 50%.

Could you give us concrete example of how Jonathan has diversified our economy?

The Agricultural Transformation Agenda [ATA] has really elevated the sector to a pride of place in the economy. As I indicated earlier, we have become self-sufficient in the production of a number of products as over 9 million metric tonnes of food were produced last year alone; we now have dry season farming is many areas with minimum rainfall; and we export some products that we imported a few years ago.

It is under Jonathan that Nigeria started to revamp the auto industry. Today, PAN, VON, ANNAMCO are all revived.

New ones such as Innoson Motor Manufacturing at Nnewi and Nissan are doing very well.

Other areas of manufacturing are receiving attention. The local content bill has not only empowered local operators, but has led to the local manufacturing and fabrication of components required in the sector, thus creating many jobs.

In the area of Housing, with over 17 million housing deficit and ownership of houses for most Nigerians impossible, the present government has established a Mortgage Refinancing Company to help provide the primary mortgage company the long-term funds.

The President will soon launch the Development Bank of Nigeria that will provide finances to our entrepreneurs and the real sector.

The Government has provided various types of intervention platforms. They include the N400 billion & N200 billion MSME Fund as well as the N100 Billion Sugar Intervention Fund.

Nigeria is among the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) countries – fast-growing economies with immense potentials.

What would you say of the North’s insistence of producing the next president?

All I can say is that fairness demands we allow a southern another four years. Like I said earlier, it will do us more good than harm as a country. In all its political outings at the centre, the North received the full support of the South-South. North should support them and in the next four years they have an ample time to prepare younger and more energetic candidate for 2019, who should possess Buhari’s integrity.

My belief is that for the stability and cohesion of our country and people, Jonathan should be voted in. Let us not pretend to be suffering from collective amnesia.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 37

BY YOMI OBADITAN

Y

“

our leaders have no respect for their people. They believe that their personal interests are the people’s interests. They take people’s resources and turn them into personal wealth.

There is a level of poverty in Nigeria that should be unacceptable. I cannot understand why Nigerians are not angered than they are.”

This statement by Nelson Mandela, the late South Africa President, is likely to guide us as a nation from May 29, 2015, when the new President of Nigeria is expected to be sworn-in. It was a serious observation for Mandela, who had spent 27 years in prison, to declare that our leaders are corrupt and have no respect for the people. Has it always been so from the beginning? Where did we miss it? And if the story has been so from independence, what can we do to bring about a new nation with leaders that Nigerians need?

Every slavery era has a termination date. However, no liberty is cheap. It comes with a cost. To free Nigeria from political and economic servitude, we must free ourselves from mental slavery. The people must be determined to confront the powers-that-be. We must all resolve to seek and find men, who are capable of reviving our economy, create political institutions, raise moral values and national honour. Such a leader should possess the integrity of George Washington, the mental capacity of Bill Clinton, the courage of Abraham Lincoln, and the vision of John Kennedy. If we are fortunate, we can have a president that possesses the 12 qualities of leadership as spelt out by Sheila Murray Bethel. These qualities are: mission, thinker, high ethics, master change, sensitive, risk taker, decision maker, use power wisely, communicate effectively, team builder, courageous, and committed. Leaders live under a microscope. Whatever they say or do hardly escape the scrutiny followers told the world that our and examination of the people. economy is healthy.

The transformation they ‘Make a difference’ For ages , Nigerian leaders claimed they made in the assume power without mission. aviation sector has failed to That explained the trauma we are qualifiy one single airport in all going through from one Nigeria to be named among the regime to the other. It was best airports in Africa. The noise President George Bush in the on new refurbished railway is White House on June 22, 1989 mere propaganda. Even the PDP has that told 3, 000 students: “ administration Make it your mission to make a acknowledged it cannot afford difference. “ As we approach new trains with the present March 28, Nigerians must make economic downturn. it their chief responsibility to elect Alert any man, irrespective of his Power determines industrial religion, ethnicity, or social persuasion that will make a growth. 60 per cent of the difference. You cannot get to industries that were operating in Lagos and fail to see that the Nigeria when this government governor there has made a came into office six years ago difference. Despite the lean purse have either relocated to some of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, neighbouring countries, or have governor of the State of Osun, folded up due to power problem. politics apart, you will notice the The textile sector has almost gone difference the man has made out of existence; our leaders’ within four years. Even his wives are the importers and adversaries acknowledge the exporters of foreign fabrics. They changes that have taken place. lack the vision of Mahatma Even among the Peoples Ghandi, who led the boycott of Democratic Party-controlled foreign textiles that made (PDP) states, you can see the Indians to enjoy the best difference that has taken place traditional costumes till day. The money spent by PDP-led in Akwa Ibom and Kaduna.

On a critical note, it is administration for 15 years on imperative to ask what difference power generation is humongous.

President Goodluck Ebele The late former Central Bank Jonathan has made in the past Governor, Ola Vincent, once six years? Perharps in the alerted the nation about the agricultural sector, where more wastefulness that followed the crops were planted and refurbishment of Nigeria hydroharvested on the television, radio transformer that were shipped to and newspapers. If the PDP Norway in the early days of administration has succeeded in former President Olusegun agriculture, there would have Obasanjo. He disclosed how the been cheap food stuff all over Norwegian’s advice was rejected Nigeria. The over N300 billion by NEPA senior officials, who expended on rice importation refused to buy new transformers, would have boosted our which were cheaper, new and economy. Today, many families longer lasting than the old ones hadly feed twice a day, due to that were shipped to Norway for retrenchment of workers, a refurbishment. After six months fallout of the Dr. Ngozi Okonjo that the refurbished transformers Iweala’s voodoo economic policy lasted, the power generation that truncated the so-called best collapsed .

Thinker: Aristotle, the great economy in Africa. In the history of Nigeria, our currency has philosopher, opined that only never been so battered as it is thinkers should be permitted to today. Yet, Jonathan and his lead. Leaders are thinkers. It was

The thinkers in APC On a critical note, it is imperative to ask what difference President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has made in the past six years

Robert Frost who stated: “Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream of things that never were and say why not?”

These are the people Nigeria needs in times like this. The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) has made known its manifesto, promising to create jobs for job seekers, welfare packages for the needy, build roads and feed pupils in primary schools nationwide, provide good health care services. The PDP could not think out its possibility, rather, the ruling party disparaged the challenger. Are we then going to assume that APC leaders are thinkers? That can see what others cannot see? President John Kennedy, in his short time and age, visioned the possibility of putting men into the outer space.

Creativity and imagination are abilities, distinct from power to acquire knowledge. Nigeria has more professors in almost all fields than any other countries in Africa. But these egg-heads have not positively impacted on the various administrations in Nigeria. Likewise in politics, our literate politicians are more in number than the educated ones.

Each time they chant “PDP” they chorus it “power.” Power without

responsibility amounts to failure.

Those that colonised us claimed they were on tutelage mission to Africa. Aregbesola recently stated: “Most of the colonialists were majorly school certificate holders” and “ today our professors are more into power struggle and in-fighting in the citadel of learning, and failed to concentrate on the main objective of establishment of tertiary institutions” . Likewise,some of our governors are either doctors of letters or medical doctors, but their performances are far below those of the colonial administrators. Why? Greed and impunity. The power struggle to retain political office has made some states to be governed by men who should not be councillors in a saner community.

Scale of moral ethics Ethics is to maintain life of leaders at the highest point of development. High standards of honest and honourable dealings based on our morals. If we should put President Jonathan on the same scale of moral ethics with Muhammadu Buhari, there will be a lot of difference. Buhari told the nation he is ready to declare his assets publicly. Even now that he is yet to be elected,

we know he is a man not given to acquisition. Jonathan has been in the saddle for six years and has refused to declare his assets publicly. Buhari’s wife is a woman of honour and well cultured, who has restrained herself in replying the insultive venon poured on her husband by the First Lady.

Mama “there is God” has refused to learn decorum despite the years her husband has been occupying public offices. The people of Nigeria has put these women on the scale of public opinion and the March election will determine who is more qualified to occupy the unconstitutional First Lady’s position.

On corruption, Buhari has continued to tell the nation that corruption is the destroyer of good governance that he would not spare. President Jonathan, in his academic exercise, compared what stealing is with corruption. At the end, he felt it is unnecessary to confine the thieves and the corrupt ones but to use modern equipment to block the loopholes. He promised to do that when he comes in for his second term. No wonder, Femi Fani-Kayode is leading the campaign group of Mr. President. This is unethical and unacceptable. It gives wrong signal to the coming generations that stealing or corruption is no crime but to ensure you have a godfather. Buhari’s spartan discipline put him shoulder high above Jonathan. It takes a lot of personal discipline in our country to discontenance materialism.

The man has no record of allocation of public land to himself or family, as it is commonly practice by the PDP leaders.

‘Pauper President’ Perhaps, the time must have come for Nigeria to have the likes of Jose Mujika, a President the press called “ Pauper President or Pepe” because of his uncommon identity with poverty despite the luxury of his office.

We as a people could also decide to vote in another Julius Nyerere, the late President of Tanzania who ruled his country for over 20 years without building a bungalow, and died an ordinary man. I boldly assert that Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, has been target of character assassination over the fact that he was getting ready to unseat the incumbent president.

Our unconstitutional First Lady Patience jabbed at Professor Soyinka and declared Buhari as brain dead. She led the high command that will stone anyone who dare chant “change”. Mama Peace forgot the Abuja Peace Accord that his husband signed before the whole world. When the chips are down, the world shall call Patience to appear before the International Criminal Court in Hague.

The man that can turn the tide that is about to destroy our ship of state is Buhari. The man that money cannot buy is Buhari.

The man who will rather allow his emoluments to be used for the betterment of Nigerians is Buhari.

The one that rejected monthly retirement allowance of over N23 million monthly, but opted for ten per cent of the retirement benefits; which amounted to N2.3 million per month is the one that can take us out of the economic and political mess that PDP has landed Nigeria in the last 15 years. Come out and vote them out.

PAGE 38—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

ANTI-CORRUPTION

Our case against Jonathan, by Hon. Olamilekan, Chairman, Reps Committee on Public Accounts

H on.

Adeola Solomon Olamilekan is the Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts. He represents Alimosho/Egbeda Federal Constituency in Lagos. Olamilekan is seeking to represent Lagos West in the Senate via the forthcoming polls.. In this chat, he speaks on issues bordering on the polls.

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE Can you tell us about your political sojourn?

Talking about my political sojourn, I ventured into it during the Hope 93 era when we had the election of Chief M.K.O Abiola. At that point, we believed that by now we would be having the Nigeria of our dreams because Nigerians were full of hope and that, with the coming on board of Abiola, we would be singing a new song. But man proposes, God approves.

What stuck me to June 12, 1993 was because I lost my junior brother to the struggle. He was hit in the neck through a stray bullet during the bonfire we made to say we were not going to allow the cancellation of June 12, 1993. That got me into the game of politics.

So in 1998, the Gen Abdulsalamled military government came into power and promised its transition would last one or two years. We didn’t believe because we had this sort of thing before when Gen Babangida cancelled the June 12, 1993 election adjuged to be free and fair. From there, Gen Abacha set up all sorts of political structures, conducted elections to the level of the Senate and, at the point of conducting a presidential election, he wanted to transform to a civilian president and that led to his death. Some some months later, Abiola died. In 1999, we had a transition from a military government to a civilian government and we had Gen Olusegun Obasanjo for the second time returning to power. But there was a lot of uncertainty until 2003 when we had another election and Obasanjo was voted into power again. At that point, it dawned on us that, at long last, there might be light at the end of the tunnel, that why couldn’t we join the fray I had a lot of people coming to tell me to come and represent them which I was in doubt because I didn’t want a situation I would get involved and I still had that memory of losing my brother in the 1993 struggle.

But as God would have it, I was given the opportunity to represent Alimosho constituency then in the Assembly of Lagos State. And I was there for eight years between 2003 – 2011. From there, I moved to the House of Representatives where I currently represent Alimosho Federal Constituency and also chairing the only constitutional recognised committee which is the House Committee on Public

Accounts. Now I want to represent Lagos West Senatorial District comprising ten local governments, that is, Ojo, Badagry, Amuwo -Odofin, Ajeromi, Ifelodun, Alimosho, Ifako-Ijaye, Mushin, Oshodi -Isolo, Agege and Ikeja.

The first five biggest local governments in Lagos are in this senatorial district. These indices, population make it the biggest. And don’t forget, Lagos created thirty seven LCDAs. And if you put the additional LCDAs , we have additional twenty eight LCDAs. That is why I say it is the biggest senatorial district in Nigeria and as far as Lagos is concerned.

After serving in the last four years in the House, what are your achievements considering that you chair the Committee on Public Accounts?

Looking at where I am coming from, I am happy that I am in the legislature and I am not in the legislative business just for fun. I came in as a professional. I have the rare opportunity to put into practice my professional experience which I acquired over the years. I can vividly remember that while Lagos was approaching the World Bank for a loan to execute some long term projects, there were challenges because the World Bank was refusing to give the loan without us meeting certain criteria. I was chairing the Committee on Finance and Appropriation at that time and the criteria given by the World Bank included that we must have in place a Fiscal Responsibility Act acceptable to the World Bank; we must have in place an audit law acceptable to the World Bank. At that time, Lagos did not have any of these laws in place. Also in trying to remove the Ministry of Finance from the Board of Internal Revenue, there were challenges because the main aspect of the ministry is the Board of Internal Revenue. But in Lagos, under Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu as governor, there was this challenge in terms of revenue. The then military governor was generating about N600 million but Asiwaju was able to use his knowledge of finance to drive the revenue from N600 to about N7.5 billion; that was the foundation which Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola built upon to jerk up the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state to what we currently have.

Part of what gave Lagos the opportunity to arrive at that destination was the passage into law an Act that gives the State Internal Revenue Service autonomy. Lagos was able to widen its tax net, brought a lot of people into it, opened a lot of sectorial sources of income. As we speak, Lagos can stand on its own irrespective of the allocations from the Federal Government. That is one achievement.

Difference Coming back to the House of Representatives, what is happening there is quite different from where you are coming from.

In Lagos House, we have forty

•Adeola Solomon Olamilekan

Just of recent we found out that the service wide vote account, which I tag as a budget in the budget, is a slush fund members who were of the same party, maybe with one or two members of the opposition at that time. But here, you are operating from the opposition point of view.

As such, the kind of power and influence you can wield is reduced to the barest minimum because you are not in the dominant party.

But even as it is, with the backing of God and the leadership of the House and my party, I was given the headship of the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) . From my observation, we need the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) that is truly independent. If that particular office is empowered, the issue of corruption would be a thing of the past and it would be unnecessary for us to have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). It would just be the report of the Auditor General straight to prosecution. But because that office has been reduced to the barest minimum by those in authority and who ought to have done something to assist that office, it lacks the bite to fight corruption.

The AGF challenge Over the years, we can look into it through the budget allocated to the office. That office, year in year out, goes cap in hands begging for fund to sustain itself. And I can say this that as I prepare to leave the House to go to the Senate, what we have been able to achieve through constitutional amendment includes to ensure that we have that office on the first line charge on the consolidated revenue, empowering that office to have access to the books and records of the entire 601 agencies of the Federal Government unlike in the past where we have the AGF recommending to these agencies for them to pick one or two firms to carry out their audit exercise. We have succeeded in giving the power to the AGF Office to carry out audit exercise.

Of recent, there was this issue of missing $20 billion as alleged by the then Central Bank Governor (CBN). If we have an Office of the AGF that is properly funded and staffed, there will be no need for the Federal Government to call in PriceWaterCooper to carry out a forensic audit. The AGF would have taken up this assignment and report back to Nigerians. But because we have a government that is not sincere in fighting corruption, that is not sincere in taking the bull by the horn, they have brought the office to the lowest level that they could so that they have access to do whatever they want and, when there are issues, they call in private firms to work in their favour. Can you imagine that the capital budget of the Office of AGF for 2015 was reduced from N1.9 billion to N100 million? Can you also imagine an Office of the AGF that has 144 foreign missions to audit and, as we speak, between 1999 and 2015, that office has not audited up to 30 of these foreign mission while three quarter of these foreign missions are revenue generating. So there is nobody to audit the revenue generated and the expenditure they incur. The Office of the AGF has been shortchanged and the budget has been reduced to nothing and, as such, the government of the day is having field day to do whatever its officials know they have an office that is not functioning.

Budget within budget Just of recent we found out that the service wide vote account, which I tag as a budget in the budget, is a slush fund. It is an account that the Federal Government has been using to siphon money that ordinarily should be used for the basic needs of Nigerians. I will continue to say this that particular aspect of the budget must be cancelled. And I have my reasons. If you go into agencies and parastatals of government today, they will tell you

that the last time money was given to them from the capital budget point of view was in the second or the third quarter while if you go to their overhead expenditure, they would tell you the last time fund was given to them was maybe in the third quarter and this is statutory money approved by the National Assembly for these agencies to function. Now what comes to play is how do we now judge the performance of the budget? If you go into that same budget, look into the service wide vote account, you would notice that that particular budget account performed hundred percent because it is operated by three main people - the President, the F i n a n c e Minister and the Director of Budget. That particular account performs hundred percent, while the budget of the ministries and parastatals performs between forty and forty five percent. By the time you bring forty five percent and a hundred percent and you average it, you have an average performance of about seventy percent and that is what they judge as budget performance year in, year out whenever the Minister of Finance is speaking to Nigerians.

I call on my colleagues that there is the urgent need for us to look properly into our budget and see that this issue of service wide vote becomes a thing of the past. Let all these funds go into the ministries and departments of government and leave certain amount, about five percent of the entire budget, which we can tag as special expenditure vote head in the budget. This would take care of any emergency or contingency. If you go into the budget of any ministry, you will see contingency head and even miscellaneous.

Part of our duty is to correct lack of compliance by these agencies and, over the years, like in other Assemblies, this current Assembly has been able to put all agencies of government on their toes and also make them understand the importance of the Office of the AGF. As I speak to you, there is no flagrant disregard for the Fiscal Responsibility Act because we refer to that law and we stick to it. And one area which would be of interest to us and to the generality of Nigerians is that year in year out, the President lays before the House what they tag budget of N4.9 trillion. That is the budget that all Nigerians are listening to, but in the true sense of it, budget of the statutory and extra -ministerial departments put together is about N16 trillion and so the total budget year in, year out is over N20 trillion which the executive arm operates but nobody is asking questions as to the implementation of all the budget, nobody is bringing information on the implementation; this is one area Nigerians need to start asking questions in order to move this country forward.

SUNDAY

BY VIRGINUS MUOGBO

I

n a newspaper report of March 10,2015, one Ebuka Emenike inadvertently smeared the reputation of the former Executive Vice-Chairman of Nigeria Communications Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, with more mud.

Ndukwe, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for the Anambra South senatorial election, coming up on March 28, 2015, has had a major offensive launched against him by his kinsmen in the media. The most outlandish and detailed analysis of Ndukwe’s disconnection from the people he seeks to represent is graphically captured in an article, with the headline, “STILL ON NDUKWE’S BURDEN OF MISREPRESENTATION” and another, headlined, “THE ERNEST NDUKWE I KNOW”.

The dust raised by these two articles was yet to settle when Emenike opened another pandora box which, this time, completely exposed Ndukwe’s lack of understanding of how the Senate works. Attempting to go to the Senate with this type of gross misunderstanding should be enough excuse for the electorate to distance itself from him. I suggest, with due respect, that he finds means of undergoing a crash programme, which will bring him up to speed on how the National Assembly functions. This will save him the embarrassment of being portrayed as a man without the faintest idea of legislative mechanisms, just as Emenike portrayed him.

Emenike, on behalf of Ndukwe, displayed crass ignorance of the duties of a legislator and meaning of constituency projects.

I will like to educate them, that there is a remarkable difference

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN-CITY on Matthew Iduoriyekemwen is the H former Edo State representative

on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). In this interview, the chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blames the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the postponement of the general elections. He says it is not as if the PDP is afraid of the use of Permanent Voter Cards and Card Readers, but that the fear is about its efficiency in the elections. He boasts that President Goodluck Jonathan will win in Edo despite the seeming opposition against his candidacy by the ruling APC in the state. Excerpts: Many Nigerians believed that the PDP was scared of defeat in the presidential elections, and therefore, used INEC to postpone the elections. How optimistic are you that President Goodluck Jonathan will still win the elections?

I do not see anything preventing Jonathan from winning the March 28 election. First and foremost, the postponement of the elections was to enable as many people as possible to participate in the process. Contrary to what INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, told us earlier that INEC was ready for the elections, we

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 39

RE-NDUKWE VERSUS THE GODFATHERS

•Engr. Ernest Ndukwe between what a senator does in his or her capacity as a lawmaker and what he or she does in his or her capacity as an ordinary citizen. They cited “Nze Philip Uba endowment building for Mass Communication, named after his father at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, the building of a multipurpose hall for the people of Uga and his numerous donations to various charity homes and organizations in Nigerian” as Sen. Uba’s only achievements in the Senate in four years.

Haba my friends, these are not constituency projects and cannot be cited as the distinguished senator’s achievements in the Senate. They are acts of philanthropy.

Secondly, let me educate Ndukwe further, before it is too late. No senator is given money for constituency projects. If his senatorial ambition is hinged on the expectations of millions of Naira he will receive for constituency projects, this is the time for him to do a re-think

•Sen. Uba because he seeks to go to the Senate on the wrong premise.

Constituency projects are those peculiar needs of a legislator’s constituents, which the legislaor strives to get inserted into the annual budgets of ministries and federal agencies for execution.

It is not the duty of a legislator to fund projects slated for his constituency. He does not even choose the contractors who execute the projects. The selection of contractors and execution of the projects are the constitutional responsibilities of the executive. All the legislator can do is to go around the various ministries and agencies to lobby, persuade and insist that projects that have been approved for execution in his constituency are done. He may as the case may be supervise the execution of the projects.

Ndukwe’s ignorance about contemporary events in the Senate attained a worrisome height when he and his writer described Sen. Uba “as a monument of silence who has

never uttered a word on the floor of the Senate”. It is shameful that Ndukwe did not bother to crosscheck his facts before dancing naked. If he did, he would have found out that the distinguished senator has sponsored four motions and co-sponsored 17. He would have found out also that Uba has sponsored nine bills and co-sponsored two. If the senator has not uttered a word on the floor of the Senate, did he move these motions and present these bills on the floor of Ndukwe’s house? In case Ndukwe does not know, Uba is a personification of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s famed philosophy of ‘’masterly inactivity” – less noise but plenty of action.

The elections are fast approaching and Ndukwe has a huge burden to discharge among his kinsmen and the electorate of Anambra South. Rather than waste time on these infantile theatrics, he should provide answers to the accusations leveled against him by his towns men. The people he seeks to represent have accused him of not being one of them. He had never attended a town union or village meeting and does not belong to an age grade in his town. He did not for once contribute anything towards the development of his community.

The only thing Ndukwe did with his status as a wealthy man was to sink a borehole in his house, even as some villagers alleged that they were charged for water fetched from the bore-hole. The former vice chairman of his village union in Orafite challenged him to point out one project he attracted to his community in his ten long years as the regulator of all telecom companies operating in the

country.

These are the issues Ndukwe should hurry and address because people are anxiously waiting for his own side of the story. The deference to godfathers in their write-up is a lethal shot in their own legs because Ndukwe’s emergence as senatorial candidate had the seal of a known godfather in Anambra State. Was Ndukwe a member of APGA? When did he join the party? What kind of primary election produced him? The truth is that he became APGA’s senatorial candidate for Anambra South by the fiat of Anambra State’s original godfather.

Finally, let me ask Ndukwe if it is wrong for three brothers to become politicians and seek for elective offices, which will be decided by the will of the people?

Is this as bad as the APGA governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, appointing his immediate younger brother, Cyril Obiano, as Special Assistant on Parks and Markets, and his youngest brother, Evaristus, as the Director of Protocol? Is it as bad as the current Secretary to the Anambra State Government, Oseloka Obaze, having his younger brother, Dubem Obaze, as the APGA senatorial candidate in Anambra North, after having served as Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Matters for years. This is democracy as practiced by Ndukwe’s APGA government in Anambra State and the monumental ignorance of its senatorial candidate in Anambea South, Ndukwe. *Muogbo resides in UmunokoUkpor, Anambra.

20 15: INEC should be held responsible if gener al 201 general elections are rigged — Iduoriyekemwen all realized that INEC was not ready as at that day because, up till now, a lot of people are yet to collect their PVCs while Jega admitted before the Senate that about a million PVCs were yet to be printed about a week ago. On the security challenges we had in the country, you will agree that with the number of Boko Haram members that have been killed, it would have been the worst security mistake if the election had gone ahead in that sort of situation. We are seeing arms and ammunitions that are being recovered by security agencies every day; if all those ones were there, I do not see how we would have had hitch free elections not only in the North but also all over the country. This is because terrorist operation, is not what you can predict. We see cases of suicide bombings all over the country, so you can imagine, if on the day of election, terrorists attack voting centers, what would have happened? That would have been blamed on government. So I think the postponement of the elections was in the best interest of the country. First, for security reason, second, the issue of PVCs, because if we had done elections on the 14 of February, many

future of this country, must support Mr President in his transformation agenda. Change is not automatic, it is a gradual process.

•Iduoriyekemwen Nigerians would have been disenfranchised seeing the number of people that have collected their PVCs today.

Again I don’t understand why they said Buhari is popular in the North, crowd at rallies do not amount to voting strength because the same crowds at PDP rallies also attend APC rallies.

We all know the way crowds are arranged in rallies. Most of the people you see the crowd over 60 per cent of them don’t have voters card. They are just street boys. But any well-meaning Nigerian, who believes in the

Some Nigerians feel the PDP is against using the card readers for the elections because they want to rig. What is your take on that?

Whether PDP say use Card Readers or not, that is not the problem. The issue is if INEC can guarantee that the Card Readers will be efficient to screen everybody and not allow double voting. But in a situation where millions of PVCs are still not ready, why should you now deny people who have their Temporary Voter Cards the opportunity of voting when the problem is not from them but with INEC. It is only the fault of the person when you refuse to go and pick your PVC. Like in my local government, some people have not been able to pick their PVCs, they have been moving from one local government to the other.

Sometimes they will tell you that they took your PVC to Ondo or that they brought the one of Ondo to this place. Those things does not show the INEC is ready to conduct elections with the PVCs.

So if that will make the elections difficult, then allow the use of TVCs by those who cannot have access to their PVCs. I have my PVC for instance and if the Card Readers are efficient, it is not a problem but when these things are not efficient on or before the day of the election, I think that people who have their TVCs should not be denied their right to vote.

But INEC is worried that politicians are purchasing PVCs just to scuttle their efforts in conducting free and fair elections?

If the INEC people are not collaborating with politicians, how will politicians buy PVCs? How will they have access to cloned PVCs. Even if they clone PVCs, if your Card Reader is working, it will detect it. So if anything goes wrong, it is the fault of INEC because if INEC plays the game according to rule, they will detect fake PVC and deal with the people concerned.

I see this introduction of PVCs as one major step towards conducting free and fair elections and one major step towards ending the inflation of figures if they are well applied.

PAGE 40—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

"We are not the problem, the Fulanis have been the problem and these things that are causing much of the trouble happen from Benin Republic, a stone throw to our place.

"Whenever these people die on Nigeria soil, the Fulanis would kill Nigerians, saying we are the ones responsible for the deaths and the police would arrest the Yoruba there.

"An undertaking was brought out to be signed between the Yoruba and the Fulani, the undertaking was read out to us all, the Yoruba who didn't sign were forced to sign.

"They said those who didn't want to sign would instigate others against the Fulani, so they were forced to sign. Those who signed were to be held responsible for any problem between the Fulani and the Yoruba".

When asked about the identity of those present, he said: “The Seriki of Iguaa, Usman Ibrahim, Alhaji Ibrahim Oro, Alhaji Usman Danjau, Seriki Atokun and other Serikis that I do not know were there while the Chairman and Secretary of our local government headed the Yoruba team.

"I am not satisfied with that arrangement because it is the duty of government to provide security for us as citizens because we do not have guns.

"Last year, the state government gave us a memorandum of understanding with a 24man committee to discuss how we were to get grazing route and all other things that would make it work, but the committee is just there without logistics to work".

Sunday Vanguard spoke to some victims who claimed to have escaped by the whiskers.

One Ephraim Alamu Elegbede, while lamenting his ordeal in the hands of the suspected Fulani herdsmen, said: "In our area, the Fulani are trouble makers. They will come to

kill the people even though we have no water to drink because of them, they destroy our crops.

"Our students can't go to school anymore, the schools have closed because of the Fulani.

"We want government to come and send these people away from our area because we own the place, we are farmers in the area. Should these Fulani chase us out, where do we go?

"We never killed any of the Fulani. The Fulani died while coming from Benin Republic and they are avenging the death on us.

"The Fulani killed about four of our people last year in Igbonla via Ijoun. Trouble started in a church during service where the Fulani came in to kill a man and his son".

Another victim, Tunde Aregbede, said, "I am a farmer, aged 25. The Fulani tied one person and I together and forced us to drink and eat the excreta of their cows at gun point saying that if we did not do as they ordered, they would kill us. They were fully armed with guns.

"Their cows ate our crops and we went there to complain about the development at Igara but they said we were bold to confront them after our goats had eaten their crops too”.

Another victim, Aregbede Taye, 24, from Ogunbayetoro, narrated how he was captured and escaped from the suspected Fulani marauders.

He said: “One person and I were tied together by the Fulani. After we had been tied, we never knew they could free us; we were expecting death, but we were freed.

"They would cut down our banana for their goats.

"On Sunday, February 8, people sat to discuss how to settle the problem between the two communities but the Fulanis chased away the wives of the baales from their homes.

That night, they burnt twelve houses in Igbonla community.

“We reported to the police at Iguaa. They promised to help us in the situation, but we are yet to see any improvement".

T.B. Joshua, Senator Kunlere, Amudipe aid the police

environment and people led him to donate the structure.

He noted that development thrives in a situation where security of lives and property are given priority, saying this could only be done by chasing hoodlums away from the environment.

Amudipe said government alone cannot provide the necessity and called on the well meaning in society to use their wealth in developing their immediate environment.

He explained that the motorcycle donated along with the building will allow for easy patrol of the security agents around WESCO Estate and neighbouring communities.

THE FULANI HERDSMEN TERROR IN OGUN

`They gang-raped, killed mother of three'

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

T

HE recent invasion of Asa village, in the Oja Odan area of Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State by assailants suspected to be Fulani herdsmen has sparked tension in the state.

The invasion reportedly resulted in the death of a mother of three, Mrs Ayesi Balogun, who was allegedly raped and killed by some suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The suspected Fulani marauders were said to have killed the woman after being raped in her farm.

This revelation was made

by Ketu Advancement Front.

The Coordinator and Secretary of the group, Kunle Abiose and Joseph Bankole respectively, in a statement, said a petition on the matter had been sent to security agencies in the state.

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure

T

HREE illustrious sons of Ondo State came to the aid of the Nigeria Police following the high crime rate across the state.

Senator Boluwaji Kunlere blazed the trail when he donated 13 police patrol vehicles to the state police authorities to combat crime in the southern area of the state before, during and after the general elections.

Barely a month later, the founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations, Pastor T B

C M Y K

They insisted that the Fulani herdsmen gang-raped and killed Mrs. Balogun.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the mother of three was attacked in her farm after she ran into the suspected Fulani herdsmen. According to the Ketu spokespersons, Balogun’s case brought to 25 the number of people who had been sent to their early graves by the herdsmen.

“The latest in the ceaseless murder cases had been reported at the Oja-Odan Police Station”, they added.

Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed that the corpse of Balogun was found in the bush, adding that it had not been established that she was killed by Fulani herdsmen.

He argued that it might be a reprisal killing by the Fulani herdsmen.

Joshua, donated another nine patrol vehicles to combat crime in the northern area of the state.

Last week, another philanthropist, Chief Gbenga Amudipe, from the central senatorial area of the state, donated a police station following appeal from the residents of Ifelodun community in Wesco Estate in Akure South local government area of the state.

The donations were lauded by the state Police Commissioner, Isaac Eke, who described the gesture as one that will motivate his men..

“A few days ago, the corpse of a Fulani man was found in the bush in the same axis,” Adejobi stated.

In protest against the killings by the suspected Fulani herdsmen, some leaders of Ketu, Ojan Odan, besieged the state Police Headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta.

The police authorities, however, held a closed-door meeting with the leaders of the communities and Fulani herdsmen in the area.

Sunday Vanguard spoke with one of the leaders of the communities who pleaded anonymity explaining what transpired at the meeting.

"On getting to the meeting, the police asked us to find a way of resolving the issues between us, and that there should be no problem again”, the community leader stated.

Kunlere said the vehicles will help to checkmate the activities of kidnappers which have been on the increase in the southern senatorial district which he represents.

Joshua said he responded to the cries of the people in the northern area of the state after hoodlums raided five banks and killed 21 innocent people in Ikare Akoko.

The cleric, who was represented by Mr. Mayowa Oluwayomi, also pledged to fast track the installation of communication gadget across police divisions in Akoko land

to connect the area directly with the Police Command Headquarters in Akure,the state capital.

Speaking during the donation of the police station

by Amudipe, residents of Ifelodun community commended the gesture.

The Chairman of the WESCO Estate Landlords Association, Olumide Atenidegbe, said the police station will reduce the rate of crime in the community and environs.

The donor said the urge to develop his immediate

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 41

A SUSPECTED LADY KIDNAPPER’S CONFESSION

‘I was cheated on the ransom paid on Oyo chief’ •Seven days of hell in abductors den — Victim •The ‘Operation Hell Wind’ that burst crime

BY OLA AJAYI, Ibadan

7

8-year-old man, Chief Adebowale Omotoso, National Life Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, kidnapped from his residence, was rescued by Oyo State Police Command on Monday.

Though he looked distressed after about seven days in the kidnappers’ den, one could read it from his face that he was happy breathing the air of freedom again.

Omotoso, the owner of Bond Chemicals, was forced to leave the comfort of his palatial building at Awe in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State for a rustic environment at Ajia, a remote village in Egbeda Local Government.

Apparently, not to arouse suspicion, the abductors took him into a dilapidated mud house where mosquitoes feasted freely on him.

The police, led by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Katsina, displayed uncommon bravery when they stormed the den and arrested the hoodlums.

The hoodlums were seven in number. Two including the ringleader escaped with bullet wounds.

The location is about 30 minutes drive from the main road. There were shrines within the house.

Those arrested in connection with the crime are a mother of three, Bisi Babatunde (32) who was based in

Port Harcourt, Oladipupo Abayomi (23), Alabi Olufemi, said to be the gang driver, Isiaka Kazeem, Ayobami Musa (23), Ajayi Olaniyi (40) and Shittu Olaide (28).

‘How I was captured’ Omotoso told newsmen how the hoodlums stormed into his compound around 7.30 pm on March 4.

He said, “I was having a chat with my friends at home in Awe around 7.30pm on Wednesday, March 4 when we saw some people coming into the house.

They demanded for dollars and threatened to kill all of us if we did not cooperate.

“I just returned from the US where I had gone for treatment.

They took all they wanted and, just when we thought it was all over, they asked me to come with them. I was blindfolded and bundled into a waiting car outside. I was taken to an abandoned village house and I stayed there

Omotoso told newsmen how the hoodlums stormed into his compound around 7.30 pm on March 4.

for four days before I was transferred to this place.

I was told that they were taking me somewhere in Edo State and, because I was blindfolded on the way, I sincerely believed we were in Edo until this morning (Monday) when I was rescued by the police and they told me we were in Ibadan.”

The only woman among the suspects is believed to be the initiator of the abduction.

According to the police, she was known as Vivian in Port Harcourt but she identified herself as Bisi Babatunde. She hails from Awe. She told journalists: “I have been involved in fraudulent activities by posing to be a herbalist in Port Harcourt. I

bought a car with the proceeds. I was involved in kidnapping in Port Harcourt but I was not fully involved in this one. We have offices in Port Harcourt, Lagos and so on. After returning home in Awe, I went to a brother called Laide and asked him to make charm for me. He told me that he knew Pa Omotoso and that I should call one Lucky to come and kidnap him because he had refused to settle his family for the death of his brother in his (Omotoso) swimming pool. I was given N750,000 from the proceeds. Lucky said N5.5m was collected from the victim’s family.

Everything was of Awo (cult) level.”

But Lucky reportedly played some smart game on them as he declared only N1million keeping the remaining N4.5m of the ransom.

How police arrested them CP Katsina said highpowered intelligence gathering led to the arrest of the seven suspects, noting that a special team, Ambush Squad, played a major role in the success story that the police had recorded.

According to him, the intelligence gathering that led to the discovery of the den took a whole week after which the policemen besieged the isolated mud house.

The Oyo police boss

said, “It was the result of a week operation coming barely one week after my transfer here. It was a disturbing phenomenon.

We launched Operation Hell Wind’ on the night that the matter was reported with help from the newly constituted Ambush Squad. We succeeded in locating the hideout and engaged the kidnappers in a shoot out that lasted from midnight till the early hours of the morning when they were overpowered.

“We call on hospitals, traditional clinics and anyone with information on their whereabouts of the other gang members who escaped to contact the police. Some of these people came from Port Harcourt.”

Uwiamuge Declaration: Urhobo chiefs, bishops pay solidarity visit to Onoge, UPU boss

BY INNOCENT ONOJA S more groups continue to drum support for the Chief Tuesday Onoge-led Integrity faction of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), two groups, the Combined Bishops and Ministers of Nigeria and Urhobo Chiefs, paid him a solidarity visit.

A

•Onoge with his hosts.

Addressing the group, Onoge narrated how Urhobo, under the umbrella body of UPU, came up with the Uwiamuge Declaration.

He said the declaration was the decision of all Urhobo.

Onoge said UPU leader, Chief Joe Omene, was wrong when he declared that the Urhobo will vote

for President Jonathan and Chief Great Ogboru of the Labour Party, adding that Omene did not consult anybody before he made what he described an arbitrary announcement in a national daily.

“Chief Omene gathered some elders, youths and women at his house and called a meeting of the UPU executive and told them that President Jonathan had ordered that the Urhobo should vote for Chief Ogboru of the Labour Party’’. He added that despite objection by some members of the UPU executive, Omene stood his ground and said the Urhobo must vote for Jonathan and Ogboru.

Onoge added that, at a separate meeting of some Urhobo monarchs and

clergymen, it was agreed that UPU should not declare for any candidate until after the presidential election because they will not like to heat up the polity. He said the decision did not go down well with Omene who insisted on declaring for Ogboru immediately.

He further explained what happened at a meeting of the UPU where it was deliberated whether the body should declare for a candidate or not, and then put into vote.

He said that contrary to simply voice vote, they decided to make the votes secret to ensure that Ogboru is declared the candidate of Urhobo, thereby jettisoning the Uwiamuge Declaration as those who voted for

PAGE 42—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

CBA Foundation:

My passion for widows —Bode-Akinwande, banker I

T is a passion that is seemingly strange in the kind of business she works in. Bankers are more known for extracting kobo here and there to maximize profit and not for giving. Mrs. Chinwe Bode-Akinwande, a top executive with one of Nigeria’s big banks, certainly does not see herself as a converted Shylock, claiming to have drawn inspiration from her parents.

Whatever philanthropic inspiration the young Chinwe saw in her parents, however, pales to the big steps she has taken in philanthropy. Chinwe’s humanitarian focus is mainly channelled to widows and their children. She has lately established the Chinwe Bode-Akinwande Foundation, (CBA Foundation) to further pursue the goal.

The foundation with headquarters in Lagos has a five-point agenda for widows including Capacity Building, Self-Employment Schemes, Health Interventions, Nutrition and Basic education for children.

Ahead of the formal launch of the CBA Foundation in Lagos next Sunday, Mrs. Bode-Akinwande, gives an insight into the her relationship with widows among other things.

Excerpts: •Akinwande

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN What prompted you into this calling towards the underprivileged widows and their children?

One of my hearty passions in life is to see needy widows filled with hope despite the demise of their partners and the vacuum such departure has created. This hope comes from reassurance and empowerment that affords them the opportunity to pick up their lives again and forge ahead. Same applies to their most vulnerable children; offer assistance for them to continue their basic education, protect their dignity, teach them societal values and give them a hope for the future. HOPE we define at CBA Foundation as Happiness Of Purpose Embraced.

To what extent does your present job interfere with your devotions to the foundation?

There are staff and volunteers that are fully dedicated to the activities of

the Foundation. Hence, it does not interfere with my present job. The Board of Trustees also devotes time to the affairs of the Foundation. My weekends and few hours in the night are devoted to the affairs of the Foundation.

Bankers are looked upon as Shylocks. So, what makes your case different that you are now a giver?

That is a wrong perception which I do not know where it’s coming from. There are lots of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability projects which are centered on giving back to the society championed by bankers. I, as an individual believe in giving. Giving to me is loving and loving is giving.

What is your vision for the foundation?

We believe in sustainable development. Our programs aim to give underprivileged widows and their vulnerable children in Nigeria, the support and voice needed to create a better future.

Our aim is to support the

voice and position of the underprivileged widows and their children in the society through partnerships, empowerment and capacity building.

The success of the launch depends largely on the quality of participation, and the support guests will give us.

We are looking forward to active participation by donating to our identified agenda as a foundation.

Monetary donation is counted as a huge asset to make this work a success.

We will also appreciate their support to the work of CBA Foundation by them sharing practical experiences, words of advice, handshakes in form of connections to networks of relevance, non-monetary gifts that speak to our core areas and volunteering to facilitate during our workshops.

How long have you been involved in this work?

CBA Foundation commenced skeletal operations in 2014 by reaching out to a group of

widows in Anambra state (Nnewi to be precise) and in Lagos.

What has been the impact of the outreach of the foundation? How many widows have you reached out to and in what ways?

Hope has been expressed the way we have always defined it in CBA Foundation, that is, Happiness Of Purpose Embraced. In Nnewi, in 2014, we reached out to about 75 widows by distributing bags of rice, cartons of noodles, beverages, washing detergents and fabrics. In Lagos, we have reached out to seven widows, by first guiding them in developing a business plan after which money was given to them to start off business (Grocery stores & hairdressing salon). We also provided financial support to enable their children go back to school.

In what way are your family members, husband, children involved in this and do they see your outreach to the

Roehampton Online saves lives

BY DAMILOLA IGBEDION

T

HE outbreak of Ebola in parts of West Africa saw health officials, hospitals and other industry stakeholders reassessing their levels of preparedness for dealing with public health emergencies.

Widespread shortages of doctors, nurses and volunteers possessing requisite knowledge and skills for containing the epidemic was recorded in affected areas, resulting in the spread of the deadly disease from Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, Nigeria and outside the shores

of Africa.

Against this backdrop, it has become imperative to respond swiftly to stopping the spread of the disease to new localities.

In order to achieve this, there is an urgent need for citizens to be empowered to respond to Ebola, alongside other infectious and deadly diseases, and also to properly deal with other chronic public health issues.

This need for empowerment was an important factor for Daniel Tom-Aba. Currently occupying the role of Senior Data Manager and Team Lead for the Polio and Ebola

Emergency Operations Center with the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) in Abuja, Tom-Aba coordinates all data management activities as well as builds software solutions geared at solving public health challenges. He sought a higher educational degree that would enable him deploy his technological skills in the field of public health more efficiently.

To this end, he enrolled for the University of Roehampton, London Online’s Master of Public Health (MPH) programme.

Launched in response to the

growing need for public health professionals around the world, the Roehampton Online Master of Public Health (MPH) programme features an interdisciplinary approach that enables students to learn from one another and collaborate across geographical regions and disciplines to address public health challenges.

For Tom-Aba, enrolment in the institution’s public health programme was key to bringing his passion for using technology to solve public health problems to life. “As an IT professional working in the public health sector, I wanted to obtain

widows as a distraction of your love and commitment to them?

My family and loved ones are so excited and very much committed to the work. I leave a compartmentalized lifestyle, ensuring that my family time is not eaten into what I do.

They rather see the outreach as theirs as well and volunteer wherever they find the opportunity to.

Any other comment The underprivileged widows and their children are not given much attention in our society. Some widows go through a lot in the hands of their husbands’ family in the name of tradition. Some of them are stripped of their belongings, thrown out to the streets and accused wrongly.

I encourage many more people to heed to the call of humanity. Start from your immediate environment and make the world a better place.

Spot that underprivileged widow and her children and be an answer to prayer. additional knowledge and professional certification to enable me achieve my career goals. Roehampton Online’s MPH programme has provided me with a deeper and practical understanding of public health”, he said.

As an online student, TomAba is able to apply what he learns immediately into his professional work. Tom-Aba’s most recent work involves the coordination of activities in the use of technology and social media to enlighten and computerise end-to-end processes for AFENET’s Ebola Outbreak Response Team, contributing significantly to the containment of the virus in Nigeria.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 43

SENATE CONFIRMATION

Coming to equity with unclean hands?

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

In what was supposed to be a rubbishing of the attempt to successfully screen Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, senators of the All Progressives Congress, APC, raised objections bothering o points of order but were ignored by Senate President David Mark. Worse, whereas they made their point that Obanikoro had pending litigation against him, the Senate spokesperson, Eyinnaya Abaribe was quick to pour cold water on them, saying the privilege of being presumed innocent until proven guilty that some opposition senators enjoy cannot be denied a fellow senator.

The popular saying that the minority will have their say and the majority will have their way played itself out on Wednesday at the Senate during the screening of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and other ministerial nominees. The exercise was also a reminder of the dictum that he who wants to go to the house of equity must go with clean hands.

The opposition, All Progressives Congress, APC, Senators may have lived in a fool’s paradise with the success they recorded during the first day of the screening where they appeared to have had their way concerning the qualification of Senator Obanikoro. But they forgot to realize that they were dealing with a military tactician as the headship of the Red Chamber.

And whether right or wrong, the nation for now is on a political battle involving two main political parties, the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which is the ruling party and the most important thing to each of them is how to out-maneouvre the other and emerge victorious on March 28 and who controls the spirit of the country called Nigeria. Within this period of political intrigues, the question is not whether an action taken is right or wrong; rather, it is which party will have more manipulative spirit to assume superiority.

Besides, politics as the saying goes, is a game of numbers and Lagos state is a very sensitive and important place in the political sphere. So, anything that can yield victory to either of the main political parties is considered topmost irrespective of the process of achieving the victory - no gentleman in the jungle.

Until when the Senate President, David Mark, called-in Senator Obanikoro for his screening and confirmation, Senators of the opposition had ruled out the possibility that the latter would be attended to going by the alleged understanding with the leadership and the entire members of the Senate. But trouble started when Mark told the Sergeant-at-arms to usher in Obanikoro who by the tradition of the Senate in a normal situation was only expected to come in and take a bow in obedience to espirit de corps. But this was not to be.

Before Obanikoro, the Red Chamber had concluded the screening of Hauwa Lawan from Jigawa State, Kenneth Kobani from Rivers and Joel Ikenya from Taraba

*Opposition party’s gambit to stop screening exposes underbelly Akume argued that Mark by his action, had altered the tradition of the senate which stated that any nominee rejected by at least two senators from his state of origin, should not be cleared by the red chamber.

State. The opposition members vehemently resisted the appearance of Obanikoro, a nominee from Lagos State. The Senate President frustrated all attempts by Senators Bukola Saraki; Olugbenga Ashafa; Babajide Omoworare; George Akume; Olubunmi Adetunmbi; and Ganiyu Solomon, among others, to thwart Obanikoro’s clearance through a string of points of order they raised.

The aggrieved senators in their various constitutional and points of order raised from the Senate’s standing rules, to draw Mark’s attention to the fact that Obanikoro was not eligible to be appointed as a minister, failed. They argued that he had been implicated in some very sensitive issues that touched on serious national interest. They specifically submitted that there were some legal suits hanging on the neck of Obanikoro including an originating summons of a Lagos High Court instituted by a PDP member, Kemi Lawal, which by tradition, restrains the Senate against confirming Obanikoro as minister. Mark ruled all the opposition senators out of order amidst the rowdy session, and insisted that the purported order of perpetual injunction restraining the red chamber from confirming the nominee had not been served on him.

Angered by Mark’s insistence that the screening and confirmation of the ministerial nominee must continue, all the opposition senators walked out of the chamber and addressed a press conference where they expressed their disappointment in the senate leadership’s handling of the issue.

Notwithstanding the fact that the senators had left the chamber, the Senate President still went ahead by ruling on the overwhelming voice votes of the remaining PDP senators who approved the nomination and confirmation of Obanikoro and the other nominees as ministers.

Other nominees confirmed by the senate having been earlier screened last week included, Senator Patricia Akwashiki (Nasarawa); Prof.

Nicholas Akise Ada (Benue); Col. Augustine Akobundu (retd.) (Abia); and Mr. Fidelis Nwankwo (Ebonyi).

The saying that when Bishops are together, they behave like kids also manifested in the plenary where the senators nearly threw caution and courtesy to the wind, ready to exchange punches.

When Senator Babajide Omoworare, APC, Osun East, was making his contributions on why Obanikoro who was the former Minister of State for Defence should not be screened, two of PDP’s ‘militant Senators, Ayogu Eze and Smart Adeyemi, kept interjecting and interrupting him but in solidarity with his party member, Senator Mudashiru Hussein told Adeyemi to shut up and stop interrupting; in retaliation, Adeyemi told Hussein to get lost. This infuriated Hussein who removed his cap and about to remove his ‘agbada’

Everyone in Nigeria is deemed to be innocent until proven guilty and even the Senators who addressed the Press conference and spoke about the qualification or otherwise of Obanikoro are enjoying this privilege because some of them have EFCC cases

to square it up with the former Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, president, before other Senators intervened.

Apart from that scene, there was another encounter as the APC Senators staged a walk-out to address the press. Senator Oluremi Tinubu nearly pounced at the son of Obanikoro for allegedly making uncomplimentary remarks against her at the lobby on her way to the media briefing, but Senator Obanikoro’s son denied making any remarks or uttering any word against the former Lagos State First Lady. Some of the APC Senators had wanted to man-handled the lad and even wanted him to be arrested.

At the news conference, spokesperson of the APC senators, Babafemi Ojudu, lamented that the senate president, vehemently resisted all attempts to stop Obanikoro’s clearance strictly in the national interest.

He said, “We found it incumbent on us to let Nigerians know what our opinions are on this matter but the Senate President would not listen” Also the leader of the opposition in the red chamber, Senator George Akume, noted that the fact that the APC senators had in the past, supported the leadership of the senate to approve Obanikoro’s clearance as minister, was enough to respect their view in the current circumstances.

He said, “The Senate in its sitting today was rancorous and acrimonious which is most unfortunate and unusual with the Senate all because of one nominee who has been a senator before and had also been passed as a minister and ambassador.

“Senators from Lagos had never raised objection to his earlier nomination and confirmation in the past but something happened after he became minister of state for Defence.

He is alleged to have participated in the massive rigging of the Ekiti governorship election in June last year.

“The alleged action is a breach of the constitution. In a civilised world his name should not have come up for screening in the first instance. Hence we are all opposed to him.”

He said, “The three senators from Lagos opposed the nomination of Obanikoro but the Senate President and his PDP colleagues decided to take the advantage of their numbers to override what is supposed to be basically a very straight forward issue.

“We wonder whether we want to grow democracy in this country or whether we want to destroy it. Rule of the senate forbids it not to act on any issue in court but the Senate leadership had ignored this. Nigerians are being deceived by the behaviour of the senate. They do not want to listen to us and this is highly unfortunate and we are very disappointed in the action of our leadership”.

But in a quick reaction, the senate leadership at a separate briefing by the spokesperson, Enyinnaya Abaribe, described the APC senators allegations against Obanikoro as unfounded.

He said, “In our law and the constitution of Nigeria, anything that is a mere allegation that is not a court decision is nothing but a mere allegation.

“Everyone in Nigeria is deemed to be innocent until proven guilty and even the Senators who addressed the Press conference and spoke about the qualification or otherwise of Obanikoro are enjoying this privilege because some of them have EFCC cases.

“They are still in the senate because of this privilege of being innocent until proven guilty and so they cannot go to a press conference and try to convict somebody when the person has not been convicted by a court of law.

“They cannot enjoy that privilege themselves and sit in this senate and then turn around and now to say that somebody else cannot enjoy that privilege.

“The laws of Nigeria are very clear; you are innocent until proven guilty, so that is what played out on the floor of the Senate.

“The senate, having known that this is the law of Nigeria, and this is the constitution of Nigeria that every Nigerian is entitled to this privilege, went ahead to do what it is supposed to by law do which is somebody that is on the floor of the Senate who has not been convicted.

“Until somebody is convicted by a court, then his employer will determine what to do with him; the Senate is not a court of law.”

Abaribe also argued that the senators formed quorum in the chamber when the fate of the nominees were determined.

It appears the two political parties are battle ready to slug it out, but how far the opposition will go is what is not certain as the PDP is still in the majority and control the leadership apparatus.

PAGE 44—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

Ahmed, Ajibola and the battle for Kwara

•GOV ABDULFATAH AHMED

By Ademola Akinyemi, Ilorin

F

or the incumbent governor of Kwara State and the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the forthcoming general elections, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed,his performance in office in the last four years is supposed to be enough testimonial to win the next gubernatorial election.

Getting the ticket of his party for second term was premised on his impressive performance by the stakeholders.

This development prompted the leader of the party in the state, Senator Bukola Saraki, to be left with no option than re-present him for the election.

For Ahmed, otherwise known as ‘’Maigida”, the foundation for his performance in office was the ”Legacy Continues”political slogan upon which he rode into office.

Since government is about continuum, ultimately,”The Legacy Continues”slogan was to mean the completion of all the ongoing projects of his predecessor, Saraki, and the initiation of new projects.

If impact is the measure of good governance, then the governor has excelled since becoming the sixth civilian governor of Kwara State in 2011.

From roads to education, agriculture, energy and healthcare, youth empowerment and SME promotion, Ahmed has made governance meaningful by delivering its benefits to the

people.

Under Shared Prosperity programme of his administration, he has implemented several life transforming programmes such as the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme, KWABES, under which the government has employed 5,000 youths including 2,000 civil servants.

Also, the Expanded Empowerment Scheme, QuickWin, has seen the engagement of 5,200 youths in the first phase with 8,200 youths targeted for empowerment in 2014.So far 10,200 youths have been employed by the government in the last three years. Also empowered are 50,000 small business owners,100 transporters and 47 artisan groups that have benefited from the N1billion micro-credit disbursed under the Kwara Entrepreneurship Scheme since 2012.Also empowered is the Kwara State Association of Marketers whose members are currently accessing another N100million in micro credit.

To underscore the importance attached by his administration to civil servants, Ahmed facilitated N3billion in car loan to civil servants especially teachers.

This is on top of the welfare packages such as training and retraining, and provision of affordable housing and office accommodation implemented by the state government.

In the education sector, groundbreaking educational reforms have been upscaled and infrastructure enhanced with construction and rehabilitation of 400

•SIMEON AJIBOLA classrooms at primary and secondary school levels, and the introduction of free education at senior secondary school levels and supply of free notebooks to secondary school students.

The jewel in the education sector ’s crown, the Inter national Vocational Centre, Ajasse-Ipo, is affiliated to the City and Guilds of London and poised to fill middle level manpower

Guilds-affiliated International Vocational Centre, Ajasse-Ipo, upgrading of 33 schools from Junior Secondary Schools to Senior Secondary Schools across the state, payment of NECO fess of Senior Secondary School students in pursuance of the free education policy in the state and establishment of 12e new nomadic schools.

Today, the citizens of Kwara drive on smooth, motorable well-lit roads because the

The Community Health Insurance Scheme, under which enrollees receive year round healthcare for N500, has been extended to 80, 000 beneficiaries and has been adjudged as one of the most successful by the United Nations gaps while establishing Kwara as the hub for vocational skills in the sub-region.

Beyond accessibility, the quality of education is key and, for Ahmed, supporting schools with infrastructure, books, qualified teachers, quality instructions and curriculum is quite important.

Huge government effort in the education sector has produced a conducive environment for learning leading to noticeable improvement in overall performances.

These include rehabilitation and upgrading of the Kwara State Education Resource Centre, Ilorin, establishment of City and

aim of the administration in the road sector is to complete all inherited projects and establish new ones, especially since it is convinced that good roads will bring success to other sectors of the economy.

To start with, the state government embarked on massive rehabilitation of roads and construction of new ones.

Ahmed, who believes in continuity, completed most of the roads he inherited from his predecessor, while others are ongoing. The priority given to roads shows that the sector is one of the cardinal points of the agenda of his administration.

Today, there is marked improvement in vehicular

movement in many towns and villages in the state. And, an investment friendly environment such as this has brought forth an increase in investments into the state.

In the health sector, government has supplied drugs and equipment to 13 General Hospitals and 43 primary health centers as well as remodelled and modernized Ilorin, Offa, OmuAran, Share and Kaiama General Hospitals to state-ofthe-art hospitals.

The Community Health Insurance Scheme, under which enrollees receive year round healthcare for N500, has been extended to 80, 000 beneficiaries and has been adjudged as one of the most successful by the United Nations.

Towards meeting its target of ensuring connecting all communities in the state to the national electricity grid, Ahmed’s administration rural and urban electrification project has seen 400 communities connected to the national grid. Ilorin, the state capital, is especially more beautiful at night, thanks to the urban street light project that has been extended to several major streets in Ilorin metropolis.

To achieve its target of ensuring access to clean water within 500-meter radius, the state government has rehabilitated 17 waterworks across the state, sunk about 400 boreholes, and is at the verge of completing the Ilorin Water Reticulation Project, which will pipe water to all homes in the metropolis.

For these policies and programmes, Ahmed has won recognition from several quarters. These include Global Excellence Award for Best Governor in Northern Nigeria (2011), City People’s Best Governor, North Central 2011, and African Leadership Magazine’s Outstanding Agricultural Development Icon of the Year 2011, BusinessDay Best Governor in Agriculture 2013, City People Best Gover nor in Youth Empowerment 2013, NUT Best Governor in Education 2013, and HOG Governor of the Year 2013.

Without doubt, Ahmed’s people-oriented projects have touched every nook and cranny of Kwara.

In view of the foregoing, for the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, the April 11 election is a litmus test for the reward for good works except the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Senator Simeon Ajibola, has a superior reason the electorate must vote for his party instead. Time indeed will tell.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 45

Udom Emmanuel set to win by landslide in Akwa Ibom

BY EKERETTE UDOH

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ITH a little over three weeks to the gubernatorial election nationwide, the PDP candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, is set to win the race in a landslide. Apart from Akwa Ibom being a decidedly PDP state, Emmanuel’s message of hope, industrialization, human capacity development, job creation, a call for unity, and a gale of endorsements across all the three senatorial zones and numerous socio-political organizations and a campaign message based on issues, devoid of character assassination, vile rhetoric or morally objectionable approach has struck a chord among the electorate, making his victory all but a fait-accompli.

The resonance of Udom’s message with voters is felt everywhere and even those who had previously hedged their bets or sat on the fence have all joined the bandwagon of hope and continuity. “I must confess to you that initially, I was not sold on the Udom’s brand, my main reason being that I had my sympathies for the opposition party, APC. But having listened to Udom on numerous media

outings, his stump speeches at rallies, his blueprint for development We want to of the state, his fresh ideas, conserve the his inviting and gentle demeanor, his call for development of unity and oneness, his today, expand background as a technocrat and an astute and increase manager of resources and opportunities, having compared those with what the opposition develop our has promised, which is all but empty and vile human capacity propaganda, I had no and attract choice but to pledge my support for Udom even investments and though I am a cardindustries so as carrying member of the opposition party. And to create jobs for there are thousands of our people others who have quietly jumped on the Udom’s • Udom Emmanuel bandwagon”, Chief Ukpong, a businessman, had told me platform will serve them better. indulge in name-calling or during an event in Oron on We are prepared and ready to hit market sleaze. He has always Thursday where youths of an the ground running and to work maintained that his represents a area hitherto considered the for the betterment of the good campaign of ideas and values bastion of the opposition had people of Akwa Ibom state. We embedded in democratic ethos. come out en-mass to endorse want to sustain uncommon “I have an agenda that will Emmanuel and repudiated the transformation predicated on continue to deepen and sustain opposition for selling obsolete the plank of sustainable the development of the state and ideas. development. We want to I want to campaign on those A major reason the people of conserve the development of planks. That is why I have Akwa Ibom have settled for today, expand and increase thrown an open challenge to the Udom as their next governor is opportunities, develop our opposition to come and debate the manner he has carried out human capacity and attract me, so the good people of Akwa his campaign.

He has investments and industries so as Ibom can spot the difference, repeatedly told his supporters to create jobs for our people. We draw distinctions and make and campaign team not to want to improve tourism informed decision as to which

especially along our coastlines.

If you travel to places like Cancun in Mexico, Nassau or Paradise Island in The Bahamas, Ochio-Rois in Jamaica, you will discover that the revenue those resorts generate and the employment opportunities created are huge. We can replicate same along our shorelines, and this would create employment and further market our state to the international community ”, Udom has repeatedly asserted, and these are the issues that have made him the prohibitive front -runner to win the April 11 gubernatorial election handily.

At an endorsement ceremony on Thursday, in Uyo, organized by the Uyo Senatorial District Leaders Forum (USDLF), the PDP standard bearer, surrounded by major political stakeholders in Uyo, the sense of unity was again on full display as major leaders of the district pledged their political fidelity to Emmanuel.

As Americans would say, the big ‘mo’ or momentum and the tail wind is on Emmanuel’s side and it is safe to say that the people have been seized by the message of Unity, Development, Onward Movement (UDOM) that is presently blowing across the length and crannies of the state.

Why PDP will sweep Delta State — Aghovghovbia .Says Nigeria needs diaspora voting in 2015 elections

By Udeme Clement Olorogun Grace Aghovghovbia is the managing director, Unique Personal company in the United Kingdom, a strong woman leader and advocate of women empowerment in Nigeria. At present, she is championing the crusade for diaspora voting in 2015 general elections. She speaks on the need for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put measures in place for Nigerians abroad to exercise their civic right and why the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) would win the governorship election in Delta State. s a woman leader, how do you view the current political atmosphere in Delta State?

To begin with, I strongly believe that the PDP would win the governorship election in Delta. This is quite obvious because Delta has been a PDP controlled State with all the necessary presence in wards and local government councils. Also, the present candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has so much experience and he is a detribalised Deltan, who would carry all the people in Delta along in his government to promote peace and tangible development in the state. The people want such a candidate who can ensure unity, transparency and good governance for all Deltans irrespective of ethnic divides.

Beyond that, we believe he would enhance youth and women

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C M Y K

We believe that the electoral umpire rescheduled the elections to make room for adequate preparation for credible, fair and transparent elections to ensure a smooth transition • Grace Aghovghovbia empowerment, as well as infrastructure development to move the state forward for greater prosperity.

The governorship election is very close and you are based in the United Kingdom. How does this affect your contributions to his campaign?

As the president, Niger Delta Advocacy, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in the United Kingdom, we decided to set up an affiliate body known as the United Kingdom for Okowa (UKO2015), which membership is open to all political minded people of Delta and all Deltans in diaspora. The group has been very active because we are embarking on strategic and massive campaigns for Dr. Okowa as well as other aspiring PDP candidates in the coming elections.

What is your take on the

postponement of the elections by INEC and the current trend in the campaigns for presidential election in the country?

We believe that the electoral umpire rescheduled the elections to make room for adequate preparation for credible, fair and transparent elections to ensure a smooth transition. The president and entire PDP members are working tirelessly to ensure a stable continuity and good governance. INEC should ensure that our efforts are not thwarted by providing a level playing field in terms of effective distribution of PVC to all parts of Nigeria. Nigerians in diaspora should also be given the opportunity to vote in 2015 elections.

Right now, there is another Olorogun Aghoghovbia

campaigning for the opposition party in Delta, what is your relationship with her?

I am pledging my unflinching allegiance to my party, the PDP and to Dr Okowa and other PDP candidates in Delta running for different political offices. The lady in question is my in-law and people are entitled to their political beliefs and freedom of association. I must state categorically that the confusion created in her recent interview was due to the fact that her first name was not mentioned. I am a chief like she is. We are both based in the UK and we are bearing the same surname, so

that is exactly where the confusion came from.

What is your advice for the people of Niger Delta?

My advice is for the people of Niger Delta to remain focused by ensuring a peaceful environment. As the President of Niger Delta Advocacy in the UK, I would continue to work for the growth and development of Delta and Nigeria at large. The NGO was formed to facilitate the development of the Niger Delta region. I work with other members of the group, and our team is spearheaded by Barrister Ejiro Nomuoja, with the ultimate goal of achieving better living conditions of the people in that region.

PDP members tasked on collection of PVCs

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HE Presidential Campaign Coordinator for Ethiope East LGA, Evang. Emmanuel Okorodudu has advised wards and units coordinators to mobilize their people across the council to collect their PVCs .

Okorodudu, who gave this advice at Otorho-Agbon, headquarters of Ethiope East local government area of Delta State, said the importance of this voter card cannot be over emphasized, saying that nobody would be saying that Jonathan must win when he or she does not have the voter card.

While urging them to see the collection of the voter card as a must do thing, Okorodudu said

the ward and units coordinators will soon embark on campaign tour across the eleven wards of Ethiope East local government to ensure that every party member collects his or her card at every collection center.

Okorodudu who also called for massive support for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the Delta State governorship candidate of the party, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta Central senatorial candidate, Chief Ighoyota Amori, the Ethiope Federal House of Representatives candidate, Barr Lovette Idisi, the House of Assembly candidate, Barr Arthur Akpowowo in all the elections in order to bring transformation programmes to the grass roots.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

Ipaye, Ajumogobia, other bugu otherss eulogise AAbugu at book launch

By JAPHET ALAKAM PRESENTATION

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otable Nigerians, including the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, two time minister, Mr Dein Ajumogobia, and other legal practitioners and law teachers of University of Lagos, Akoka among others has commended Prof. Joseph Abugu for his giant strides in the field of law in Nigeria.

The commendation were made last week at The Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos during the public presentation of two new academic and practice textbooks , Principles of Corporate Law in Nigeria and Company Securities: Law and Practice second edition written by Prof. Joseph E.O Abugu, who is head of department of Commercial and Industrial Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.

The event was attended by notable Nigerians, among them Goddy Uwazuruike, President Aka Ikenga, Mr Val Uche Obi, Dr A.A Olawoyin, SAN, Akin Osibanjo, Ladi Taiwo, Mideno Bayagbon, Editor Vanguard Newspapers, Prof. Jide Alor, law teachers and students from UNILAG and others.

Speaking at the event, Governor Fashola of Lagos state who was represented by the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye who presented the books, commended the efforts of the erudite author for presenting two books on critical areas of company law and Nigerian economy. According to him,”I have the opportunity to have followed the professional journey of Prof. Abugu,we studied together as students and lectured as teachers. The giant strides Abugu has taken which has brought us together has not been a flop. What we are seeing today is a cumulation of many years of dedication, hard work, study and critical thinking. I commend the author and also congratulate the teachers and supervisors of commercial law for what they are doing and finally, I congratulate UNILAG for their teaching and research.”

In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, former foreign Affairs minister, Mr Odein Ajumogobia, commended the author for the phenomenal works which he described as very important and timely addition to collection of books on corporate law in the country. He stated that Nigeria is a very developing stage where private sectors play a key role, and that the interpretation of law and how to apply it is very important. Commending the author for the work, he said “I don’t know how he combines it with his teaching.”He added.

On his part, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Management Services, Prof. Duro Oni who represented the chief host, the vice chancellor of UNILAG, described the author as a product of the University of first choice UNILAG. He commended Prof. Abugu for finding time as part of his hobby to teach and bring out such books, adding, “we are proud of him and his contributions to the University of Lagos.”

The book reviewers, Dr A.A. Olawoyin, SAN, Partner, Olwoyin and Olawoyin, Legal Practitioners and Val Uche Obi, Chairman, Capital Market Solicitors Association and Managing Partner, Alliance Law Firm, Lagos who reviewed the two books did justice to their work as they took time to

•L-R, Lagos Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice,Ade Ipaye, Prof Joseph Abugu, Author, Prof Jide Alor, DVC Academic and Research, UNILAG, Val Uche Obi and Chinwe Offor during the book presentation in Lagos. educate the audience about rate Law in Nigeria is de- further deepen available literathe importance of the books, signed to provide in-depth ture on securities law and which they termed to be schol- theoretical and practical in- strengthen the case for its insight of the subject to the law clusion in the course curricula arly.

Speaking about the books, researcher either as a stu- of Nigerian universities.

Speaking further, he said that Prof. Joseph E.O Abugu, who dent or practitioner. While the move was a response to the is also the Principal Consult- the second book, Company over reliance by Nigerian law Securities: Law and Practice, ing Counsel in the firm of students on English law textAbugu & Co. Solicitors said second edition is designed to books for their studies and practhat, The Principles of Corpotice.

I sacrificed my liberty for my community —Imota Oba, Agoro

By BASHIR ADEFAKA & ADERONKE ADEYERI INTERVIEW

The Imota kingdom in Ikorodu, Lagos State, was amidst drumming and dancing recently as the ancient town celebrated the Osi Oba and Barifon festival which is celebrated once in three years. The custodian of the community’s culture, Oba Ajibade Agoro, the Ranodu of Imota Kingdom who was in high spirit all through the celebration, spoke to Vanguard about the festival and its relevance to the people of Imota.

Excerpts: bout the festival? memory of the past 15 kings The Osi Oba and Barifon of Imota land. This festival has festival is the merging of two been in existence for a long great festivals. The Osi Oba time that I cannot remember festival is a celebration in when it started. It is the duty

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•Oba Ajibade Agoro, the Ranodu of Imota Kingdom

The essence of the festival is to bring prosperity to the throne and the people at large,we believe that if the reigning king pays homage to kings who reigned before him, the dead kings will help him in developing the the town

of the sitting king to celebrate the other kings that have passed on. And as such, I am saddled with the responsibility to perform the rite. Barifon festival, on the other hand, is the celebration of womanhood. It is a celebration of our mothers, who are the backbone of the society. The woman folk cannot be overlooked in any society.

Osi Oba and Barifon festival is celebrated as a merged event once in three years.

Here we talk about two festivals and merger.

Why the merger?

The Osi Oba and Barifon festivals were at a time celebrated separately. While Osi Oba was celebrated be-

tween November and December, Barufon was celebrated January and February. But the mode of celebration is the same and that was why we brought the two festivals together. The celebration takes the same number of days, 17 days and the months for each celebration are close.

What are the activities that are involved in the festival?

The Osi Oba and Barifon celebration starts with the beating of a traditional drums called Gbedu on the eve of the festival day. The beating of this traditional drum announces the commencement of the festival and for the next 17 days, any form of drumming within Imota is forbidden. We call this Aluwo.

And this same drum will be beaten after seventeen days to inform my people about the lifting of the ban. Then we wine, dine and do merry-merry round the town centre for three days, for the success of that period.

During the festival, I go to the grove where the past kings were buried to appease them and seek their guidance in my reign. Other traditional rites will also take place in the grove.

Has there been any case of anyone going contrary to this rite over the years?

We have never heard of such occurrence in this ancient town and if such happens. This is one of the reasons we merge Osi Oba and Barifon festivals together so we do not inconvenience our people. The commu•Continues on page 47

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 47 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

National Troupe goes back to the cradle, pays homage to Hubert Ogunde

By JAPHET ALAKAM THEATRE

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ne of the lines of the Nigeria National anthem reads, “ The labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain.” It was in realisation of this important statement, that the family of Late doyen of Nigeria theatre, Hubert Ogunde after many years of neglect and abandonment occasioned by many factors rose up to immortalize him with the opening of a museum in his country home, Ososa in Ogun State.

The great Hubert Ogunde, a colossus, enigmatic and genius of the Nigeria film industry known today as Nollywood, reinvigorated the film industry, trained hundreds of actors and producers, created and produced some of the most sorts after epic movies of all time which are still uptill today a best seller. It is on record that the doyen of Nigerian theater as he was fondly called was the consultant and first Artistic Director of the National Troupe.

As mark of respect and giving honour to whom it is due, the management of the National Troupe of Nigeria, led by the Artistic Director, Akin Adejuwon paid a familiarisation tour of the Ogunde’s estate. And on hand to receive them, was a representative of the family and one of the sons of the Late Hubert, Mr Bayo Ogunde.

Bayo who took the management team of the National Troupe and the media men round the estate and museum,disclosed that all arrangement for the opening of the museum has be concluded and that the museum will be officially opened on April 24th, which will coincide with the 25th anniversary of his death.

According to him, “we just taught the man worked so hard, that we have to make the younger generation see that hard work pays. So , when you come, you see those things he did. So we are turning it into a museum and when we declare it open, we will operate it like a museum.”

A visit to the home of Hubert Ogunde in Ososa shows that the place which was once deserted has taken a new look. The compound is wearing a new look, and the house where all the paraphernelia of the iconic theatre was intact. One wonders how the children were able to maintain and preserve such iconic monuments. Ordinarily, as one with a polygamous family, the story would have been something else, but it was not so as all that the man used during his years in the industry were well preserved.

Hubert Ogunde bestrode the theatre world like a colossus and with a film village which he built during his career that has become an embodiment of culture of the Yoruba’s.

Like every other monument the film village and Ogunde’s country have become tourist delight in Nigeria.

On his part, Adejuwon, who said that the visit was as a result of his knowledge of art history that recognises the need to maintain legacy by paying homage to the founding fathers thanked Bayo for keeping the legacy of the Late Ogunde most efficiently as it has not always been the case in many families. “Artistic practice is a family business, so I know that I will meet a member of the family.” He added.

The visit was like going back to the cradle as it was Hubert Ogunde who started what is now known as

National troupe and as mark of respect, the troupe presented a superlative performance at the Ogunde hall where the national troupe first performed 25 years ago before his death.

Speaking about the visit, an elated Adejuwon confessed that his expectations were made. “Yes, my expectation was to reactivate the place of Chief Hubert Ogunde of blessed memory who was the first Artistic Director and consultant that brought up the National Troupe. Of

Yes, my expectation was to reactivate the place of Chief Hubert Ogunde of blessed memory who was the first Artistic Director and consultant that brought up the National Troupe

course, that also emanated from the works he did as a very virile artistic producer and a very creative actor and film producer. In his days, he toured all part of Nigeria creating and capturing audience.”

Continuing, he stated that “he is from the Yoruba traditional performing artiste so in their

• Homage to Ogunde, a performance by the National Truope of Nigeria at Ogunde hall, Ososa, Ogun State days, we needed to revisit that to let people know the origin of National troupe. The move is also to bring more attention to the work I am trying to do particularly in the touring of our performances so that everything will not be limited to the national theatre.

“In fact, I am impressed with the organisational strength of the family and it really gladdens my belief in the fact that the development of art in traditional African culture is pursued by families right from the Biblical times. The artistic calling is not a general one, what I saw today has come to confirm that, from the way they are maintaining the memory of Ogunde in this family and the way they are organising a museum, making the environment to become a tourist destination is one very strong focus of my minister, Chief Edem Duke. I am quite impressed with what I saw and we are going to collaborate with the family for the 25th anniversary.”

•Statue of late Hubert Ogunde

Album launch I sacrificed my liberty for my community —Imota Oba, Agoro •Continued from page 47 nity is more developed with a larger population than what my forefathers controlled. And as such the interest of the people is our priority. We cannot afford to deny the populace these social activities twice a year.

What is the relevance of the festival to the throne and the people of Imota?

The essence of the festival is to bring prosperity to the throne and the people at large. We believe that if the reigning king pays homage to kings who reigned before him, the dead kings who are now our ancestors will help

him in developing the town. That is our belief and on the other hand, we believe the festival will open the wombs of the women, who are barren, and will also protect our chaildren.

Considering the life you lived as a professional and now that you are a king, how has the role of a king affected your lifestyle?

There is a marked difference. As a chartered accountant, I was used to the urban area enjoying myself with very long beard and bushy hairstyle. They removed everything overnight and taught me how to wear agbada. I now appear in agbada all the time for the past 23 years. So, it is like comparing two extremes. It is just like taking away one’s liberty and sort of sacrifice for your community. I

can no longer go to the clubs; I can no longer go out and enjoy myself like I used to do before my enthronement, unless on special occasion that would be announced. It is not a question of going to visit my friends any more.

I have been transformed to somebody that the community worships being that they see me as the custodian of customs and traditions of the Kingdom. I can’t be seen on the road any how. So, if you imagine me going to the club to meet business associates and partners or having a field day during weekends with humorous friends, you will know what I am talking about.

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he album launch of of Mr Iboro Samuel,

(aka Minister Sam), tagged "INFLUENCE RELOADED, comes up on March 29 by 4pm at Redeemed Christian Church of God, Cornerstone parish, Okota, Isolo.

The Akwa Ibom State-born music graduate of Delta State University, says the album contains 14 songs that were inspired by God almighty.

His words: “All the songs in this work are all hit tracks,but "ONYE" and I DEY HALLA YO" are more popular because they have been released a long time ago as singles.

Minister Sam

PAGE 48— SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

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he National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, NOTAP, regulates the inflow of foreign technology into Nigeria. Its position is that Nigerians are consuming foreign technologies because they have no alternative.

Against this backdrop, the agency has begun moves to reduce the consumption of foreign technologies in Nigeria.

The assumption is that, if imported goods are domesticated, what is coming into the country will have the maturity to create and recreate high quality technologies, which will translate to jobs and wealth creation.

In this interview, the Director General of NOTAP, Dr. Umar Bindir, an agricultural engineer, speaks on how the agency is digitizing the Almajiri schools as a step to sowing the seed of economic prosperity in Nigeria.

What is the main objective of the Almajiri schools digitization?

The knowledge of our people have to be raised to the next level. We have to also learn from other countries to produce the critical mass of the highly skilled manpower everywhere. You may ask, where is the factory to actually produce these people? The factory that can produce these people is the education system, from primary school up to the university and research; this is where the whole activity is.

If you plant the wrong tree, you will get the wrong thing. Planting of seeds is very critical and where you plant your seeds is what will dictate what will come out; in the education and knowledge system, the seeds start from primary school.

But now, most countries breeding this high number of critical mass ensure that every single five-year-old has an opportunity to enter into the primary school. In Nigeria, we have only two opportunities; you are either rich and you send your children to private primary school, where the uniform is nice, classrooms are air conditioned, the teachers are available but it is very expensive or you are an average Nigerian and you struggle to send your child to the public school, where some children study under trees, some in classrooms without windows, some do not have teachers. But now government has realized, particularly in the North, where so many children that are not going to school are operating under the aegis of the Almajiris.

Tell us about the Almajiri syndrome?

Almajiri in the Islamic tradition is actually a high caliber word, it arose from Alimajirud, people moving from one part of the world to the other looking for Islamic or Arabic knowledge.

In our country, it has dropped to the lowest level, Almajiri now is a stigma. Nobody wants his child to be an Almajiri, the begging group and there are so many of them.

In the northern part of Nigeria, there are over 30million of these children. Now, the government magnanimously has introduced the Almajiri school. To a certain extent, I see it as a (third tier frontier) education below where people are mopping the

‘The making of the digital Almajiri’

Inset: Dr. Umar Bindir children and letting them go to the Almajiri school formally.

Almajiri school image A typical Almajiri school has an image, they have this wooden tablet and every child has one.

They use charcoal to write and sit on the floor to be taught by a Mallam.

I thought we could use this government project to kill two birds with one stone; so we introduced the aloha, which is the state of the Almajiri but we put a device on it.

What is digital in it?

This is what has become very popular and cheap, a digital tablet. It is the same tablet but we have graduated it to a different level. The digital tablet has an application for even the Koranic teaching or Arabic teaching.

We take the video of the Mallam, go into the production system, break it into chapters and create an interactive video using the power of ICT. By the time the software is downloaded from the internet, you have options to go backward or forward.

Because we are in a digital world, it has gone beyond Arabic. We can fix arithmetic or any other form of education including videos to educate young children on how to make different kinds of things such as pastries, cook food. All forms of educative videos can be uploaded into the tablet for the children.

We are creating the digital aloha to ensure the Almajiri boys have access to the highest quality of education in the land.

Scope This is a national project, it is about education, it is about knowledge, we must lift ourselves to the next level.

This is planting knowledge seeds properly, from primary school, children have started thinking correctly. In the next ten years when you go to an Almajiri school or any village and you are talking to a child, you will get them speaking refined English at the age of six.

We are creating the digital aloha to ensure the Almajiri boys have access to the highest quality of education in the land We are changing the wood to plastic; that means this project is environmentally friendly.

Internationally, we want a product that will come out of Nigeria. We will brand this as a designed, made and sold in Nigeria.

Affordability That is a whole market for Nigeria to actually produce these digital tablets. We are talking to a Chinese manufacturer, we want to make the tablet affordable such that when you calculate the landing cost, the whole thing assembled should not be above N10,000.

In Nigeria alone, we have 30 million of these children. If you make the tablet for the children, you have got N10, 000 multiplied by 30 million, and you have got N300 billion industry in Nigeria alone.

Imagine the implication of this on the manufacturing sector;

imagine the implication for the software gurus that I will need to do the tablet.

The software engineers coming out from university; they can possibly through this become entrepreneurs.

There is a board listing all the education materials at N100 each, which you can recharge at just N50 and download six educational software because you are thinking of your own constituency, your children in the village.

Powering system This new form of enterprise is actually born in Nigeria. To recharge it, we are introducing solar trees. The umbrella is the solar panel, the trunk is the battery and entrepreneurs can charge this and other gadgets such as phones and what have you.

You mean the digital aloha

can become alternative teacher?

Yes, my hope is that this is now the new teacher, you can teach things where there is no teacher. You can teach high technology under a tree and you can now have housewives participating in the education of their children because there are videos.

Language The software can be developed in any language. You can have the Yoruba language with the Yoruba traditional knowledge. Imagine a source of high level knowledge for children.

You can spend time, listen to people, learn other languages just by getting package for as low as N100 especially at this level of children where they are like magnet for knowledge, anything that enters their brain never comes out.

Readiness We have patented this in Nigeria; the next level is to secure resources to make at least 18 different prototypes.

We will vary the size of the tablets. We will have a smaller ones and also the normal size. We will practice with different materials for the board all in an attempt to make good and strong materials but of lower cost. So, we have to do the engineering and technology based on the feasibility to produce within our target which is the N10,000 mark or lower.

If we are to make the N10, 000 mark with the tablet or lower, then there is a lot of commercial experimentation. I am traveling to China, I am going to India also. All these are going to cost money and I am also to discuss with the manufacturer of the tablet.

What we are demonstrating here is that we can think and we can also come out with an innovation that can win global prize.

Launching date I am not sure of this year but that is my target. My target is to launch this in the last quarter of 2015. By then all the tensions concerning elections would have gone down. This type of project, when launched, does not need to have a political sensitivity, there is no enemy in education.

Between Mr. President and the Almajiri

BY OMOBA KENNETH AIGBEGBELE

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HE issue of the Almajiri has remained worrisome to Nige rians; it has been a source of embarrassment since independence.

Reports show that they are about 10 million children -Almajiri- roaming the streets of Northern Nigeria.

Mr. President sees these children as Nigeria’s responsibility and as is common with politicians lip-service, Jonathan has chosen to be different as he feels sincerely obligated to these

less-privileged young Nigerians.

Out of love Jonathan sees education is a vehicle for uplifting the standard of living of these people. Education plays a critical role for the attainment of any meaningful development, so this explains why the Jonathan’s administration sees the Almajiri education as innovative means of youth empowerment.

The Almajiri education is essentially designed by President Jonathan’s administration to integrate the Islamic school carlendar to provide quality education for these target popula-

tion. In order to achieve these objectives, the administration put in place a policy framework which focuses on two critical levels.

First is the engagement with existing traditional system of Islamic education with a view to addressing the existing lacuna and challenges, consolidating achievement and expanding of opportunities for growth and the development of the system.

Second, the mainstreaming and pro-

Continues on page 49

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 49

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

T

HE presence of armed soldiers manning two strategic points in Gidan Waya, a small town under a hill, about 18km south of Kafanchan, the bubbling hub of Southern Kaduna, in Jema’a Local Government Area, LGA, of Kaduna State, is the most impressionable aspect of the town to visitors. There, as residents would say, soldiers play the roles of policemen and local bullies.

But, last Sunday, the two check points on the Abuja-Jos and Gidan WayaKafanchan roads were empty.

The community had literally sacked them, with bare hands and moral power.

It all began from a minor argument, but, fanned by ego, it blew into a full scale skirmish, during which a lieutenant in the army and three others were allegedly shot dead, though the Nigerian Army was yet to confirm it lost an officer.

Chief Danjuma La’ah (Shetiman Kagoro), who had spent a fortune peaking over N100 million, catering for the welfare of soldiers stationed in Southern Kaduna since the April 2011 crisis, visited the homes of two of the killed persons in Gidan Waya and in Kagoro after their burial last Thursday, and lamented that a misunderstanding between soldiers and residents could reach such a tragedy, and called for calm.

Mr Shetima, senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for Southern Kaduna also paid a condolence visit to the Chief of Godogodo, Chief Ajiya Atang, and asked for a smooth, close collaboration between military and security outfits and residents in the area.

Those allegedly killed were identified as Zakaria Yaki (48), a worker with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, at Gidan Waya; David Jester (24), a part two student with Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan Waya and a man yet to be identified. The unidentified man’s body was deposited at the Kafanchan General Hospital. The army lieutenant, whose identity was not confirmed at the time of writing this report, was said to have died from the injuries he sustained, but other sources said that the army came and took him to an unknown place from the Kafanchan General Hospital, where he was taken after being rescued.

What looked like an narration of the tragedy came from the Catholic Bishop of Kafanchan Archdiocese, Bishop Joseph Bagobiri. He gave a vivid account of the alleged murder of the three men, ostensibly Catholics, by soldiers and the retaliatory mob action on the soldiers that left one of the soldiers lynched and some rifles carted away.

The incident, according to the bishop, took place at Gidan Waya, during the Sunday Mass Service.

In a press statement in Kaduna, Bagobiri said: “The peaceful atmosphere that usually characterize Sunday worship in St. Peter’s Catholic Church Gidan Waya in Jama’a LGA of Kaduna State was the 8th of March, 2015 between the hours of 9am and 10am disrupted as a result of a clash between the army and our Catholic Cadets.

“The incidence happened when one of the army officers was going to Church and met the entrance to the Catholic Church premises from the main road blocked as our usual security measure.

This road block was being manned by the Catholic Cadets. The said officer was allowed to pass. But later came back to question the authority behind the roadblock. This brought about a serious argument that led to the exchange of words which eventually led to physical combat.

“The army officer then called on his men who on arrival simply opened fire on the boys, killing one of them instantly. This was followed by a sporadic gun shots which attracted the attention of other members in the Church.

“About this time, the priest in charge of the parish quickly called the bishop at about 11amto inform him about the happenings. The bishop immediately alerted the Police Division in Kafanchan

MURDER IN THE CHURCH!

Tension in Southern Kaduna over the killing of 3 Catholics •Fate of injured army officer unknown

and, within a short time, they were there to calm the situation.

“Three people have been confirmed dead while two others who sustained various degree of injuries are in the General Hospital in Kafanchan receiving treatment.

“Furious with the indiscriminate shooting that eventually led to these deaths and injuries, the enraged youth pounced on the military officer who was eventually rescued and taken to hospital and is now feared dead.

“The enraged youth did not stop at that.

It is said that some of them went to the officer ’s apartment and made away with two guns.

“But one has been so far recovered. The other one is yet to be recovered though the community leaders are working towards recovering it.”

The bishop went on: “The situation is now calm and normal life has resumed as people are seen going about their normal businesses.

“We do not pray for a repeat of this ugly situation again.

“The army and the local people should learn to work together to create a safe environment for citizens.

“We deeply regret this avoidable and very unfortunate incident that led to the death of four lives including that of the military officer, and leaving scores of others under hospitilization and in critical conditions now.

“The altercations between the youths and the officer would not have occurred and with such disastrous consequences had the officer respected the right of the youths to keep vigil over the rest of their members who were worshipping, which is a common practice everywhere in Nigeria today because of the scourge of insecurity brought about by the Boko Haram menace.

“The indiscriminate shooting by the military on the slightest act of provocation, which resulted to these deaths reveals the unpreparedness and poor preparation of our soldiers to handle civil cases.

“We therefore condemn in very strong terms such extra judicial killings and ask Government to step in and provide a solution to these kind of reckless behavior

The army officer then called on his men who on arrival simply opened fire on the boys, killing one of them instantly. This was followed by a sporadic gun shots which attracted the attention of other members in the Church

of our security forces who can pull a trigger and waste lives at the slightest act of provocation.

“This unfortunate incident has brought to the surface again, the precarious situation of the helpless and vulnerable people of southern Kaduna, who are always under attack from the Fulani herdsmen, and when they look up to the military for protection, they are being killed, there by adding salt to injury”.

Sunday Vanguard, however, learnt from the Chief of Godogodo that the two guns had been recovered but the magazines were still missing.

“I am convening a security meeting this Monday, (tomorrow) after I had directed that everything be done to recover the magazines”, he said.

Between Mr. President and the Almajiri Continued from page 48 motion of the dynamic Almajiri education model, which seeks to integrate effectively Islamic disciplines and conventional school subjects, instill values and moral, provide dual language competency in English and Arabic and cultivate a culture of educational excellence as part of the policy framework to achieve its set purposes.

At the inception of the President Jonathan administration, he insisted that the Almajiri syndrome was responsible for the high level of insecurity and other social menace not only in the North but Nigeria in general.

In fulfilment of his campaign pledge, he approved the construction of 400 Almajiri schools across the 18 Northern states which includes boarding school, Mallam’s Quarters, hostels, libraries, technical workshop, ICT centres and language laboratories, among others, while the present administration is also designing the curriculum, provides textbooks and capacity building for teachers.

The pupils are expected to graduate into normal conventional secondary school and move

to acquire tertiary education later on. However, those who may not wish to acquire tertiary education will be able to fend for themselves and become useful to the society based on the vocational skills acquired in the school.

There is no gainsaying, that President Jonathan’s avowed determination to rid the Northern states of Almajiri is unprecedented.

Speaking at one of the inauguration ceremony at Gagi area of Sokoto metropolis then, the President said that “no nation can attain greatness of its youths, whose assets of future development - the youths- are neglected.

The Sultan of Sokoto, who was also present at the auspicious occasion, drove home the point: “The way the Almajiri model school project was conceived and executed by the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, provides succour and relief to millions who had been left out of the conventional school system.

This is no doubt love in action for these under-privileged youths. * Kenneth Aigbegbele is the Media Adviser to the First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria

PAGE 50—SUNDAY VANGUARD,

C M Y K

MARCH 15, 2015

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 51

08023145567 (sms only)

sam.eyoboka@gmail.com

The Mathematics of Marriage ...At 73, Adeboye reveals secrets of his 47-year old marriage

W

AY before he became a prominent pastor, Enoch Adejare Adeboye of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, was a Mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos and at a point, the University of Ilorin and he reminded everyone of that on Thursday, February 19, 2015.

Daddy G.O. as he is fondly called, who gas been married for 47 years shared with the audience at the first annual lecture of Pastor E.A. Adeboye Professorial Chair for mathematics, the four simultaneous linear equations for successful marital life.

Pastor Adeboye supported each equation with relevant biblical verses as he told the audience at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, that his understanding of the mathematics of marriage is what has kept his marriage strong.

“I told my children that why I have remained married for 47 years is because I understand the mathematics of marriage. Mathematics is a science of living,” he said.

His equation number 1, which states that ‘Love is blind’, was supported with a biblical passage from Proverbs 10:12, which states that love covers a multitude of sins.

Then he said the explanation for Equation number 2, ‘which is that “marriage is a miracle worker with special anointing for curing blindness”’ could be found in Genesis 29:16-25 which gives the account of how Jacob was so much in love that he did not know it was Leah that was given to him in marriage instead of Rachel until the next day.

When simultaneously calculated, he said the result shows that during courtship, love does not make shortcomings obvious until after marriage, when all doubts about character are cleared.

Moving on to Equation number 3, which states that “Angels don’t eat jollof rice”, he made reference to Judges 6:11-21 where the sacrifice Gideon offered to the angel was consumed by fire, while he said Equation number 4 is that angels don’t marry Matthew 22:30.

In essence, Pastor Adeboye explained that women eat jollof rice so they are not angels and are not perfect, just like men.

He advised couples to have reasonable expectations of their spouses and not expect them to be like angels.

Pastor Adeboye was the first Master’s and Ph.D student of Mathematics produced by the University of Lagos. The Apapa Family of the RCCG endowed the professorial chair in Mathematics, valued at N50 million at the university on his behalf in 2009.

The UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof.

Rahamon Bello, announced at the lecture that the university would confer an honorary doctoral degree of science on Pastor Adeboye for his contribution to life and the growth of his church.

“In recognition of Pastor Adeboye’s contribution to life and the growth of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the Senate of the University of Lagos has approved the award of a Doctor of Science (D.Sc) Honoris Causa to Pastor Adeboye. We look forward to the award will be bestowed on him officially,” he said.

Continued on page 42 C M Y K

Pastor Enoch Adeboye and wife, Pastor (Mrs.) Folu Adeboye

FOLU ADEBOYE:

I see him as a friend, a brother Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye is a man of God and a child of God to start with. He is spirit filled, very hardworking, has passion for people and very passionate about whatever he does and as we all jokingly call him, he is a coach. He doesn’t want anybody around him to end up being a nonentity. He wants you to make it in life. Even while he was a lecturer in the University, none of his students would ever fail exam because if he noticed your weakness, he would seat with you and make sure he taught you until you got it. That same attribute in him, has helped him to be an achiever. He will stand by whatever he is doing in life until he sees that he has a breakthrough. Not only that, we know that he is a lover of the Word and he is a Teacher, an Apostle, you know, whatever offices God has for His Ministers, he is qualified to be one of them. At various time in

his ministry he operates in all these offices and we thank God for his life. He is a father to a fault. As he fathers the church, he fathers his children the same way, in a loving way. At the same time, rebukes and chastises when necessary. He loves and showers his love over them.

He is always ready to do anything for any child who is obedient and teachable.

For me as his wife, I have not seen him as a husband as such, but a friend and a brother. He has been very loving, very compassionate, he understands people, at least he understands me. I find him interesting to live with because without understanding there would be fighting. He respects and gives people dignity. Whoever you are, he will respect you for whatever God has called you to be even in the vineyard. As he does it outside, he does it in the house. He is very helpful. He is not the kind of husband that does not provide for his home. Even while he was a student, we all understood

While he was a lecturer in the university, none of his students would ever fail exam because if he noticed your weakness, he would seat with you and make sure he taught you until you got it

that he was a student. I had to be at home managing affairs on two occasions for him to go for his Masters degree and for his Ph.D. Immediately he finished, he took up his job again and tried to redeem the time. Up till today, he is still redeeming the time. Pastor E.A. Adeboye is very appreciative. Whatever you do for him, he will appreciate it. He will not only says by the word of the mouth, he also shows it. I think I said it sometime ago that in those days when we were still holding Congresses all around, because of the bulk of the work which was mainly on him and myself, after the congress he would just go out there and buy me shoes and things like that.

That is because that is the only way he knew to appreciate but now he knows better. Probably you heard him often at times talking about it on the pulpit until I stopped him, that he must not put me in the open again. We fought about it, because I said he should just stop talking about me in the open.

For me, it is to tell the whole world the kind of husband I

Continued on page 52

PAGE 52—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

Continued from page 51 have. He is very appreciative. Because of this, I pour out myself into whatever he does so that he can be successful.

He accommodates people, whoever you are.

He accommodates people to make sure he builds them. He is a builder! You can see it in the ministry, several people are being raised, by the grace of God, through him, through his teachings, his examples. He has indirectly built vessels especially within the RCCG hence we have so many teachers in the ministry, pastors, evangelists, apostles even though we don’t call them apostles but we know we have them in RCCG. Of course, there have been a lot of changes. By the time we married, he was not yet a born-again Christian, though a nominal Christian. We all go to church. I can say I even knew more of the Bible because I was already a Scripture Union (SU) member in the college.

Transformation, a great one came after being born again. When we got married, we were together, being unborn again, for some 13 years or there about, until we became born again. So, salvation is the only key aspect where he has changed. He became more compassionate. He has more passion. We have heard him talk about it that it used to be very difficult to bring tears out of his eyes.

However, from the time he became born again, he can shed tears for anybody even while he is counseling, because now he has passion and compassion for people more than before. I want to say that while he was still very young, he was extremely active in sports.

Though he may not be jumping up and down as a volley ball player now, he still maintains that stature and strength for sports. I think every man should emulate him because he would take his walk in the morning which makes him to be fit, very fit. Of course, increasingly, the Holy Spirit is giving him a lot of visions and inspirations, more than before.

He has always had inspiration for writing because he wrote a lot of poems in those days. In those days whenever he wrote a letter to me, apart from about five sentences, the rest would be poems.

He has transferred that passion to writing hymns and songs every year.

Because of that particular gift in him, he wrote about three plays which we acted and they brought tears to the eyes of the people during the C M Y K

convention—The second coming of Jesus; The Noah’s Ark and the other one that he wrote, we acted when we were still using the headquarters church in Ebute Metta for the convention.

So, you could say that most of the gifts that God has given him have been used better since when he became born again and with the inspiration God you can say that he has been a sharpened gift more than ever before.

When we talk about family issues, we start from our children. We find time, a lot of time for them because when they are at home, they know that we are their parents and we play our role as their parents. We don’t just leave them like that; at least everyday we pray for them. What we do for them in those days; but we don’t have the time today, is eating together in the same bowl. All of them are married now, so they have their own homes but the relationship is very cordial, people can see it.

Since none of them is disobedient, they hear what we say and they feel with us, they are side by side in the ministry with us in their spirit and in their doing.

Every one of them has his role to play in the ministry; as you all know, all of them are pastors.

The one who is not on the pulpit is doing one thing or the other to make sure God is glorified in the ministry and there is no loop-hole somehow. So, we still find time for the children and even the grand children. For the extended family, it is what you know how to do before you become great that you will continue to do. If you forget your source, there is no way you will not dry up.

All his extended family members are well taken care of. We are in good rapport with them, they come, we share things; they tell us what their problems are. We don’t leave them with their problems. In their joy we rejoice together. If they are having marriages for their children, we are there. That is why many of them are now in the Lord which gives us great joy, both his family and my family. Coming to friends outside, we may not be drinking beer with them as we did in those days, but God has given us a lot of opportunity to have a lot of influence over our friends, by that, many of them are in the Lord today.

CHRISTIANS AND ITS POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT *Being excerpts from a lecture delivered by Prof. Gabriel Yomere at Jubilee Word Festival of Word of Life Bible Church, Warri.

T

HE relationship between religion and politics is a historically complex subject and a frequent source of disagreement throughout the history of religion even in our 21st century.

Some schools of thought hold the strong opinion that religion and politics should be allowed to operate separately without the one interfering with the other. Those who hold this view argue essentially from the position that religion mixed with politics is most likely to imbibe various vices associated with politics.

The other schools of thought, on the other hand, argue for a strong relationship between religion and politics. They anchor their arguments on social issues such as abortion, homosexuality, public education, etc. They conclude that if Christians hold responsible political positions the society will be better off for it because political power would no longer be the monopoly of those who might abuse it.

The objective of this discussion is therefore to reexamine this age-old controversy with regard to the following issues: I. Should Christians take part in politics?

II. Should Christians vote in general or local elections?

III. Should Christians join political parties?

IV. Should Christians become elected representatives?

V. Should Christians be involved in political demonstrations or pressure groups?

POLITICS AND RELIGION Politics is about the undergirding values that determine how we govern ourselves or exercise power in the task of wielding the authority given to us. The Oxford Dictionary of words defines politics as “matters concerned with acquiring or exercising power within a group or an organization”.

Nkem Onyekpe (1998) defines the term politics as:- The struggle for power which itself is the authority to determine or formulate and execute decisions and policies which must be accepted by the society ... it is the struggle for power of

Mathematics of marriage Continued from page 51

Responding, Adeboye said he would accept the award with joy.

“While I have humbly rejected the awards of many universities, I will gladly accept that of the University of Lagos,” said the man of God.

*CULLED FROM REDEMPTION LIGHT

governance, especially executive authority.

The struggle for or the acquisition of power and the reaction of society to it depend greatly on the level of political development of the nation. In an undemocratic society, it does not really matter whether the decisions and policies are accepted by the society.

Thus the value of political power or policies leaves little or no room for the people to have input, except where democracy has been entrenched.

So the questions of power are always: who holds power: for whom and to what end? While it is possible to answer these questions of power from humanistic perspective, the moral dimension of power has not failed to assert itself. Indeed, there is always the problem of the source of authority and obligation.

Religion is intricately woven into the fabric of politics and provides the compelling touch stone of legitimacy or the love of the ruler by the ruled; the motive for exercising power; reason to be obeyed; the determination of the moral standards and the engine that moves governance (Kalu, O.U; 2003).

Consequently Kalu opined that the structure of government had tremendous impact on the modes of religious expression and religion could not therefore be conjured out of politics.

The core values of true governance, as its concern religion cum Christianity are fundamental right, justices, fair play, equity, human dignity, equality, rule of law, equitable distribution of scarce resources, respect for conventions and norms, transparency and accountability, all wrapped in the total will of the people under God’s guidance. This spirit is also firmly and conspicuously entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through its preamble: "We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; having firmly and solemnly resolved to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereignty Nation under God." Thus, the constitution leaves no one in doubt that it is made for a moral and religious people under God. WHY CHRISTIANS STAY OUT OF POLITICS 1. Politics is Dirty.

One of the objections put forward by Christians getting involved in politics is that politics is dirty and corrupt. Therefore it is in the interest of Christians to distant themselves from politics lest they become contaminated.

In point of fact a good chunk of the Old Testament

,

'I see him as a friend, brother'

Religion is intricately woven into the fabric of politics and provides the compelling touch stone of legitimacy or the love of the ruler by the ruled

,

of the Bible is devoted to politics.

Even some of the New Testament heroes involved themselves in politics. Luke 3:14 shows John the Baptist addressing numerous ethical issues with King Herod.

He was seeking to make politics clean. The Centurion, Zaccheus the Tax collector, Sergius Paulus and a host of others were involved in politics as Christians in seeking to be salt and light in society. By the way Matthew 5 says that if we aren’t salt and light,we are good for nothing but to be cast out and trampled underfoot of men. Expressed in order form words; if the church did not get out there and do something, the humanist would dominate. We would be under their feet, under their authority.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Politics is dirty because Christians have refused to be involved.

2. Business of Christian is Soul Winning Some Christians argue that politics is not the business of the Church. The sole task of the Church, according to this school of thought, is to “preach Christ’, win souls, and getting people to heaven.

They consider this task as being more important than trying to straighten out a falling world.

I think all we need here is faith to reverse a falling world besides before God nothing is impossible.

Jonah’s message of repentance may have seemed impossible when he came to the wicked city of Nineveh. Yet that entire city repented because he did what he was supposed to do.

When Zaccheus the Tax collector was saved he immediately started to change the way he did business.

It may interest you to know that this terrible slogan of “Church should concern itself only about salvation” is the handwork of Adolf Hitler. According to Adolf Hitler; "I will protect the German people; you take care of the Church. You

pastors should worry about getting people to heaven and leave this world to me."

Brethren, this misconceived theology of Hitler must be resisted. The Bible made it abundantly clear in Psalm 24:1 that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof’. Should we retreat from that which God claims as His own? Certainly not.

3. Discouragement Christian’s values are regarded as a rich source of renewal and empowerment in a political system.

It is therefore expected that Christians in government could bring about Christian ethics and moral doctrines to play and thus human dignity.

However, with respect to Nigeria it is argued that these hopes and expectations are initially there at the very beginning later turn to canal ambition. Examples abound where Christian politicians in legislatures, executives, judiciaries and bureaucracies throw aside their moral values when discharging their official duties. In its lamentation this school of thought claims perhaps it is not God’s purpose for us to enjoy social justice in our present age. Others are quick at jumping into conclusion that these Christians have failed because Christ hasn’t given us sufficient grace to succeed.

The spies who went into the land of Canaan could only see the giants in the land and they saw themselves as grasshoppers.

They were so discouraged that they refused to believe that they could conquer the land. Now Joshua and Caleb saw the same giants, but their focus was not on the giants; it was on the greatness of God, and they triumphed.

We will continue to be discouraged if we operate in our own wisdom and strength. But greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

4. Political Activism not The Purpose of Church The Church’s unique God -given purpose does not lie in political activism. That the mission of the Church lies not in changing the nation through political reform, but in changing hearts through the Word of God, only as the hearts of the individuals in culture are changed by Christ will the culture begin to reflect that change. Expressed in another form those advocating this idea are canvassing for the separation of state and Church. The growth and influence of Christ cannot be aligned with government policies as politicians could use the platform to corrupt the mission of the Church.

*TO BE CONTINUED

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 53

MALACHI 3:8-10 is one of the favourite scriptures used by pastors to cajole people to give in churches. It says those who withhold tithes and offerings are robbing God. It further maintains that they are cursed and that their resources are subject to the ravages of the devourer. Finally it is says the windows of heaven will be shut against them ensuring that they are denied of divine blessings. Thereby, Christians are frightened into giving large sums to churches.

Jesus says divorce was not God’s will: “From the beginning it was not so.” (Matthew 19:8). Moses only gave the law permitting divorce because of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews. The same thing applies to Malachi and the compulsion to give tithes and offerings.

From the beginning, people of God were not compelled or threatened to give. Indeed, the insistence of pastors on tithes and offerings today is anachronistic. It is tantamount to putting Jesus’ new wine in old bottles.

Hardened hearts

The Law of Moses was given to the Jews because they did not know the right thing to do. But in spite of the law, the Jews were still not inclined to give because their hearts were hardened.

Therefore, Malachi called them robbers of God; and he threatened them with curses, the devourer and the denial of blessings.

However, the application of Malachi’s invective to AS politicians take campaigns to churches, the Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano accompanied by his wife, was one of the dignitaries that graced the just concluded crusade of The Lord’s Chosen entitled, ‘God's Time to take over' , at new Oba Airport in Idemmili, Anambra State.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at the crusade, the governor called for prayers for a free and fair general election and canvassed for votes for President Goodluck Jonathan.

“I will use this opportunity to remind you that you need to put our nation, all the leaders, including myself and wife in your daily prayers. I want you to pray that the elections will be free and fair, and there will be no shedding of blood,” he said.

Continuing he said, “With the permission of the General Overseer and with due respect to the church leaders that are present, I plead with you to vote for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan” Before handing the microphone to his wife, the governor entreated members of the church who are resident in Anambra State to vote for APGA candidates seeking election into the Senate, Federal House of Representatives and State House of Assembly.

Responding, the General Overseer, Pastor Lazarus

MANIPULATED TITHES AND OFFERINGS believers today is insulting.

The believer is a law-keeper, but Paul says: “The law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless.”

(I Timothy 1:9). Indeed, once a man makes it a law that you must pay tithes and give offerings, he has spoilt you for the gospel. He has already determined that you are a hard-hearted lawbreaker.

But in the believer in Christ is fulfilled the promise of God: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

(Ezekiel 11:19-20).

The true believer no longer keeps God’s laws out of compulsion. But he or she says: “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8). Instead of the Law of Moses, God has now given us “the law of liberty.” Accordingly, we no longer give because of “legal” requirements. The only acceptable basis for all action in Christ is love.

New spirit

How can you get a believ-

If you choose not to give, God is not going to deny you his kingdom er in Christ to do the right thing? You don’t have to do anything at all because a true believer will naturally do the right thing. A true believer will do the right thing because it is in his nature to do so. He gives because it is in his nature to give. Nobody has to compel or threaten him. Nobody needs to manipulate or bewitch him. Doing the right thing is the fruit of his spirit.

When Samuel was explaining the dynamics of the kingdom of God to Saul, he told him that the Spirit of the Lord would come mightily upon him and he would start to prophecy like one of the prophets. When that happens, he told Saul to do whatever seemed best to him for God would guide him. (I Samuel 10:7). Saul would not need for any man to teach him what to do: he would do it naturally.

It is this dynamic that John was referring to when he wrote that believers have received the Holy Spirit and

therefore no longer need anyone to teach us what is right: “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, in your hearts, so that you don’t need anyone to teach you what is right. For he teaches you all things, and he is the Truth, and no liar; and so, just as he has said, you must live in Christ, never to depart from him.” (I John 2:27).

Free will giving

This was the case of Abraham. When Abraham gave a tithe (tenth) of all his spoils of war to Melchizedec, a priest of the Most High God, nobody told him to do so. He did it of his own free will. The pureness of Abraham’s heart naturally led to his godly decision to honour the Lord with his possessions and with the first-fruits of the increase in his resources.

God is a God of free will.

Where the Spirit of God is there is liberty. (II Corinthians 3:17). Even in the Old

Testament, God only welcomed offerings not given out of compulsion. Thus, he instructed Moses: “Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze.” (Exodus 35:5).

“Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.”

(Exodus 35:21) In the construction and furnishing of the tabernacle, the people gave so willingly, they even gave too much: “The people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done- indeed too much.

(Exodus 36:5-7). That is the kind of giving that pleases the Lord; giving that derives from the abundance of the heart.

Whole-hearted giving

This principle of wholehearted giving is amplified in the New Testament. Paul notes that: “If there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has,

and not according to what he does not have.” (II Corinthians 8:12). However, many pastors ask their congregants to make pledges even according to what they don’t have. They tell them to “stretch their faith.”

Such manipulation is anathema to New Testament precepts where compulsive giving is now out of date: “Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (II Corinthians 9:7).

Should you give a tenth, a fifth, or half of your income?

Decide for yourself between you and God. It is no business of your pastor.

Tithing because of Malachi is tantamount to giving out of necessity. But you no longer give because you are trying to avoid curses and the devourer. You give because you love to give. You give because you want to be like our heavenly Father.

You give because you love God. This means you can decide to give this proportion of your income this month and another proportion next month. The decision is entirely up to you.

Moreover, if you choose not to give, God is not going to deny you his kingdom. He is not going to rain down curses on you. The devourer is not going to be let loose on you. The windows of heaven will not be shut against you. Let no one deceive you. A true believer cannot be cursed. You can only curse a believer who believes he can be cursed.

Jesus says: “According to your faith will it be done to you. (Matthew 9:29).

Obiano takes Jonathan's campaign to Lord Chosen's crusade The congregation therefore prayed for the governor, his wife and for free and fair election on March 28 ans April 11.

Preaching a sermon, Pastor Muoka asserted that henceforth, God has taken

over the advancement cum expansion of the ministry and nothing can distort its programme again.

He said that the door of opportunities has been opened for the ministry in

every facet of the evangelical frontier.

The programme attracted participants from different parts of the country and many gave testimonies of the Lord’s doing.

Ovade-Oghara First Baptist Church marks centenary

T

From left: General Overseer of Lord's Chosen, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano and his wife at the crusade Muoka said: “Before we allow His Excellency to go, we must commit him and the wife to God and use his

presence as a point of contact to pray for the good people of the state and the forthcoming election.”

HERE was much to rejoice about as the First Baptist Church, Ovade-Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area, Delta State marked hundred years in existence.

Clifford Omimi, chairman, Centenary Planning Committee told a gathering to celebrate

the event that the church founded by late Chief Thomas Odejeh marked a turning point in the lives of Ovade people.

He said, “the church as a catalyst for development, helped in the establishment of the first primary school, Ovade Baptist Primary School, re-named Onogborhe

BSN unveils Hausa common language bible

By Olayinka Latona

T

HIRTY SEVEN years after the first Hausa Bible known as Littafi Mai Tsarki, the Bible Society of Nigeria, BSN has completed the translation of what it described as the Hausa Common Language Bible which will appeal to and be used by both the native Hausa speakers and the non-native speakers.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos ahead of the dedication of the project

which is scheduled for Thursday, BSN's General Secretary, Dare Ajiboye said the translation project which cost about N30 million started 24 years ago with the aim of making a Bible understandable to everyone who speaks the Hausa language regardless of the geographical area or whether or not the person is a mother-tongue speaker of the language.

Ajiboye explained that there are over 15 million people in Nigeria who

speak and worship in the Hausa language.

"For most of these people, he argued, Hausa is not their mother tongue; rather it is the common language of people of many other languages.

Many of these people live in remote areas where level of education is low and reading skills limited. This common language translation is also designed for this set of people," he stated.

While appreciating the society’s supporters, the

BSN boss stressed that funding has remained the major challenge facing the society in its quest to reach more people with the Bible in their local languages.

He also hinted that a total of 15 Bible translation and revision projects are ongoing.

In his words: “The essence of this Hausa common language bible translation is to ensure that both Hausa and nonHausa indigenes that have learnt to speak the

Primary School in the community.

Many distinguished sons and daughters of Ovade passed through the school.”

In his remarks, HRM Noble Eshemitan, Orefe 111, Ovie of Oghara Kingdom admonished the people to always live in peace with one another.

Hausa language will be able to read the word of God without any obstacles or hindrance.

This new translation, he noted, will help the people to understand the word of God more than before because "the language is very simple, easy to read and will enable the readers to live peacefully with their neighbours, live holy lives as well as assist Christians and non-Christians in the northern part of the country to live peacefully with one another because God is not an author of confusion or any form of evil.”

Page 54 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

VIEWPOINT

By Habib Aruna

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

A script too late for Aso Rock

I

N Ghana, the ruling New Pa triotic Party presidential candidate Nana Akuffo-Addo came second in the 2008 general election in a closely contested runoff, with Akuffo-Addo receiving 49.77% of the votes, versus 50.23% for John Atta Mills, the National Democratic Congress flag bearer.

The party led by President John Kufour challenged the integrity of the elections but the Electoral Commission addressed the issue and eventually affirmed Prof John Evans Fiifi Atta-Mills as the president-elect. Some of the NPP members and leaders indeed went to Kufour to urge him not to allow the release of the result and to prevent the Electoral Commission from declaring Atta-Mills winner of the election.

Kufour was said to have called the party members to order, reminding them that since the Electoral Commission has addressed all their grievances, the only logical thing was for the opposition candidate to be declared the winner. That was how the impasse was resolved and today, Ghana is the better for it.

It was this extraordinary courage and pragmatism displayed

by Kufour that made the transi-

Between Kufour, Gbagbo and Jonathan tion to power of John Dramani Mahama, who was the Vice-President to Atta-Mills when he died, an easy one. Ghana has not only been a stable country, the institutions and structures of democracy have been strengthened by visionary leadership demonstrated by its leaders.

Moving to Ivory Coast where the former ruler, Laurent Gbagbo changed all the rules before and during the election and still lost to the opposition leader Alassane Outtara.

Gbagbo refused to cede power after the UN and other international observers said his rival, Ouattara won elections 2010.

Gbagbo had refused to leave office even though the Ivorian election commission declared him the loser of November ’s run-off vote, and the UN certified the result.

Gbagbo and Ouattara had both competed in an election run-off and the Electoral commission announced that Ouattara has won but dramatically the Constitutional Council overturned the results, declaring Gbagbo the winner; the UN however insisted that Ouattara was the victor.

The European Union extends sanctions against Mr Gbagbo, while Pro-Ouattara forces entered the capital, Yamoussoukro, as fighting intensifies

“To end this violence and prevent more bloodshed, President Gbagbo must stand down immediately,” Mr Barak Obama said in a statement during the thick of the political crisis. And as a BBC reporter noted the “fall of Gbagbo has not been greeted with excitement but with a weary sense of relief, as people ask why Gbagbo had to put them through so much war and destruction”.

The question still remains why Gbagbo would want to die clinging to power, when he knew that ultimately, he would be forced to go. And that has been the problem in a continent whose colonial experience and the lust of office have prevented its leaders from knowing the boundary between opportunism and pragmatism; an experience that has prevented the rulers from seeing themselves as the state and that the state cannot do without them, a la Robert Mugabe; an experience that make them so engrossed with the perquisites of office that they don’t want to let go even when it is so evident that the people are fed up with them.

This brings us to the current tragic situation in Nigeria, where a ruling party that had vowed to rule for sixty years cannot bring itself to the realization that the people are fed up with old ways of doing things and would want a

change from the present status quo. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under President Goodluck Jonathan still cannot fathom a situation where it would be out of power. Using insecurity to procure a postponement, the party has now turned to the usage of card reader, which its members said would not be allowed. This is even when an Abuja court has ruled that the usage is in consonance with the Electoral Act. But why is the party suddenly against a device that was meant to prevent the manipulation of the electoral process? Why are members of the party insisting that Attahiru Jega, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must go before the March 28 election despite the assurances of their principal that the man would not be sacked?

The country is moving from one post to the other as this macabre dance continues, tension and uncertainty remain on the air! Elections are supposed to be celebrated democratic events, where people decide the fate of their leaders; it should not be an opportunity for those in authority to use the instruments of state to suppress and manipulate the process in their favour.

Why should we be waking up

everyday with the consciousness that something inauspicious would happen or that Jega will be removed or even that the election date would again be shifted?

These are things that normally should be sacrosanct; that should be beyond the control of anybody that is in power. Even though election date in advanced democracies is not constitutional, the convention has remained for centuries and their countries has better for it.

Why are we behaving as if there would be no tomorrow? This dubious argument of using the percentage of permanent voter card (PVC) collection rate as a parameter to gauge the readiness of INEC is not tenable. When has electoral process been a perfect thing? It is always a learning process and we have to keep learning to get close to perfection. There is no justification for further postponement and the major political parties should know that the country is bigger any individual and they should behave as such.

Even though there is every indication that Aso Rock is reenacting the Gbagbo script, it is too late in the day because the train has left the station and Nigerians are waiting to keep a date with history on march 28.

•Aruna, a journalist, is resident in Ikorodu, Lagos .

Understanding the new MultiChoice price regime VIEWPOINT

By Caroline Oghuma VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The surge in the cost of acquiring television content

W

ITHOUT doubt, I have a dog in this fight. As the spokesperson for DStv, there should be no garlands for guessing the dog I am backing. Like everybody else, I have followed the public response to the new price regime announced by MultiChoice with keen interest. That is expected.

What I have been able to take away from the debate is that our subscribers are unhappy with the fact that they will have to pay more for our services.

As a user of other services, including those unrelated to pay-TV, I cannot claim to have combusted with joy each time prices go up. Nobody I know of does that.

Here at MultiChoice Nigeria, the announcement of a new price regime was made with a great deal of reluctance. We are not happy to see subscribers angry because they are the ones whose goodwill has kept us going.

As such, anything that has the potential of depleting our deposit of goodwill among subscribers is something we have and will continue to do our best to avoid.

Sometimes, though, the best of our efforts are not good enough. I will explain. It is a fact that MultiChoice Nigeria has had the same price regime for two years. What I am say-

ing is that our subscription rates have not increased in two years. That is not the case in other countries on the continent, where price increases have sometimes occurred annually.

During this period, prices of countless goods and services have gone up by as much as 30 per cent. While I am in no position to explain the peculiarities of each of increase in the prices of other goods and services, I am fairly certain that market conditions and a few other factors have a hand in compelling such.

It is the same with us at MultiChoice, where we have been left with no choice than to do what we have done to keep serving you better. To keep doing that requires us to remain a going concern.

We are unlikely to remain a going concern without a new price regime that reflects the present economic situation and operating environment.

MultiChoice, I make bold to say, is a social institution. If it suffers ill-health, its partners are not likely to fare better.

Think of local content creators, suppliers of various items, installers, retailers, agents and those directly employed by the company. The government also loses in tax revenues. Can we, as a country, afford this?

I understand the public desires to have our prices remain unchanged but this is simply not workable. And I seek an understanding of the situation in which we operate as an organisation.

Much of the anger is founded on the incorrect belief that

we do as we please because we are a monopoly. We are certainly not one. We are in a field where competition exists and has always existed.

When prices go up, there is a need to reflect and understand what might have provoked such. Prices of commodities like toothpaste, bread, beer and phones as well as of professional services have risen in the last two years, most probably, because providers of such-especially those in lowmargin businesses- have been left with no other option. There are limits to financial hoopjumping.

And very crucially, the content we buy and bring to your homes, including those AfricaMagic movies and series, are paid for in dollars. It may surprise you to learn that local television content is paid for in dollars, but that is the truth.

Our content purchase is done centrally for all of Africa.

As we all know, the naira, our local, currency, is current-

As much as we would have loved to keep our subscription at the same level, the prevailing economic situation makes that impossible

ly not enjoying the best of spells in its value to the dollar. The implication of this is that MultiChoice has to look for naira in far greater amounts than it used to if it wants to continue buying and delivering top-tier television content to you. The same thing happening to the naira is happening to South Africa’s Rand and other currencies on the continent.

Closely related to this is a surge in the cost of acquiring television content. This, on a regular basis, is the product of the feisty competition among television companies involved in the bidding for rights. It was this type of competition that caused a 70 per cent hike in the cost of the broadcast rights to England’s Barclays Premier League.

The two outfits involved, Sky and BT, wanted the rights so badly and had to pay top dollar. The deal, which runs from next year to 2019, cost over 5billion pounds, with Sky paying 4.176billion pounds.

Already, it has hinted that its subscribers will have to pay more to view matches on its platform. It also means any overseas broadcaster seeking to include the Barclays Premier League in its offering will have to pay more to do so.

Premium content, as I hinted earlier, is not sold on the cheap anywhere in the world.

It is why it carries the tag “premium”. This brings me to the next subject I have to clarify: the request for pay-perview, PPV, model.PPV means paying for a special broadcast

in addition to the monthly subscribtion. In the United States, high stake matches are broadcast only via PPV, ensuring maximal profit for the organisers. For instance, the much anticipated Mayweather vs Pacquaio fight scheduled for May will probably cost in excess of $100 per subscription.

That is just one event. You can verify this on the internet. Running that service will, no doubt, even be more expensive for our subscribers.

What we have done has been forced on us by pay-television economics, not an abuse of our pre-eminent position, as has been suggested.

In the world of television economics, a fraction of the fee paid as subscription by the subscriber goes to the providers of content or channel owners as what is called “affiliate fees”. Affiliate fees represent a compensation to content providers and they are the oil that keeps the wheel of content development rolling.

Thus, the subscription paid by a subscriber is for programming (the watched channels) and the distribution (infrastructure and profits for cable companies) and is shared with the content owner or distributor. Content is usually sold on a per subscriber basis, with channels broadcasting the most watched content attracting greater cost of acquisition of such.

As much as we would have loved to keep our subscription at the same level, the prevailing economic situation makes that impossible.

•Oghuma is the Public Relations Manager of DStv

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015,

VIEWPOINT

By Ayodeji Seriki

Amosun’s fate

his team are not known to rely in How polls will play out in frivolous propaganda, even when the administration is believed to Ogun be performing wonders, it may be HEAD of the polls, the cir dangerous for any politician to cumstances that surround dismiss his popularity. One major Ogun State make its politics and thing that is working for Amosun campaigns deeper and diverse is practically his achievements in than many states. Unlike some virtually all the sectors of the state.

When he took over in 2011, the states, where the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the All Pro- governor said in one of his speechgressives Congress are the main es: “With the terrible decay in incontenders, there are some dissi- frastructure and poor state of dent voices in smaller parties like health and education, the grim picthe Social Democratic Party and ture of the state is clear. In the face the Labour Party that cannot be of these, I have found more compelling reasons to lead the mission outrightly be ignored.

But despite this, Governor to re-build Ogun State.”

Based on these scenarios, he Ibikunle Amosun maintains a clear lead in popularity rating and evolved a five point agenda, that share of voice among all the gov- he believed would transform the ernorship candidates. Aside words state and give it its traditional of mouth, there are many signals pride of place among the comity and local research that affirm his of states in Nigeria. He hinged his popularity. Because Amosun and mission on providing affordable

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

A

VIEWPOINT

By Eddie Onuzuruike VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Questions for APGA guber candidate in Abia State

O

N Sunday February 15, 2015, on page 54 of Sunday Vanguard, one Charles Uzoukwu wrote in favour of Alex Otti and his gubernatorial quest.

I wouldn’t have expended my energy because a lot of trash keep dropping on daily basis but this case impugns on data and it is necessary for us to correct lest unsuspecting members of the public take it as truth.

Oddly enough, this wrong statistics ought not to be bandied by Alex and his group as we assume that they know better.

According to what Charles heard from Alex Otti, Abia is the least developed of all states with many years of failed promises

VIEWPOINT

By Alexander Ifeanyichukwu VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The partisanship of the media

I

T will be a disservice to the quest to demystify the 2015 election process if the compromised stance of the press is not exposed. While INEC and the opposition have had their conspiratorial involvement in the attempt to hijack the elections for ulterior political objectives thrown open and subjected to public censure, the press seems to have escaped scrutiny while indicting other stakeholders with editorial arrogance. The notion of the press being an impartial or objective commentator and analyst of public affairs has taken a big bashing from the overbearing diktat of money-bag publishers who have afflicted the nobility of the journalistic profession with the bug of imperial proprietorship.

A cursory glance at the profile of the press in the coverage and analysis of the 2015 elections and related issues leaves no doubt about the impossibility of obtaining anything near an objective analysis or even a balanced reportage. The Nigerian press had its roots in nationalistic advocacy for an end to colonial rule

quality education, efficient health care delivery, increase agricultural production and regenerate Industrialisation, provide affordable housing and embark on an urban renewal scheme and put renewed focus on rural and infrastructure development and employment generation.

Four years down the line, Amosun has made efforts to positively deliver on all aspects of his fivepoint agenda.

In education, over 1000 classrooms constructed and renovated with furniture supplied to all of them. The state now has free education up to primary school level with free books for students.

Teachers have been paid salary arrears to boost their morale and there is an all year training programme created for them. There are unified examinations for pupils in the state and a stand-

ardized syllabus to enhance performance. Although opponents of the administration point out that the government has not done enough, the Amosun team posit that the process is continuous, and is progressing in the right direction and will take some time to fully address all issues, because of the level of decay found on ground.

The administration is also making tremendous impact in health care delivery to the people of the state. In the first 100 days of his administration, he rehabilitated 50 health centers across the state by providing boreholes, toilets, generators, recruiting etc. The administration is building comprehensive health centres in all federal constituencies in the state and has recruited over 700 health personnel. Ogun state has exceeded its target in immunizations, introduced community based health insurance schemes; introduced a drug revolving scheme in hospitals and computerized operation

The banker who murdered data from PDP, the same PDP that Otti first berthed and ravenously wanted the guber ticket.

According to Otti too, ‘statistics show that mortality rate in Abia, particularly at child birth, is among the highest in the country.’ These are white lies and I am sure that people who follow trends in Nigeria will attest that Abia, even in the next two years without a single medical input in the health sector and without a new project be it in road, housing, education, human development that you call empowerment, cannot fall into such degradation. That’s due to work already done by the present administration. Abia cannot be the least developed. I will give instances.

Abia health sector is the most robust and has gone through quantum changes. Ask Professor

Onyebuchi Chukwu, former Minister of Health, who, when in office, visited Abia for not less than three times. During the visits, he commissioned one vital project or the other and suggested on areas where urgent attention was necessary. Governor T. A. Orji took him seriously and carried out whatever suggestions as if they were laws.

In 2013, at the 37th AGM/Scientific Conference of National Association of Optometrists, [NOA] Orji was awarded Prime Ambassador of the Health Sector. Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has approved Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centres for medical internship training. Could a state rated this high by a professional organ have high rates of mortality?

More schools have been built, refurbished and re-equipped.

More teachers have been promoted and schools enrolments increased. For the seven years and more, no single student and pupil in primary and secondary has paid a dime in school fees rather, the ones in Umuahia and Aba go to school on government sponsored wheels.

Abia has 90% completed Government House, functional e-library, new Civil Service secretariat, new business malls in Umuahia and Aba, power evacuated from the Ohiya power station which has improved energy supply in Umuahia, and neighboring towns. Our youths have been empowered beyond expectations in all the LGAs. The security situation that frightened the brave and lion

Page 55

in her health institutions.

In its bid to put her arable land to good use, the administration established a rice farm in Egua, a 20-hectare cashew farm in Imeko, cassava farms in Ibiade, poultry and tomato farms in Kotopo, fish farms in Ilaro and Ogun waterside, and also established the Owowo farm settlement for graduate farmers. Ogun state has attracted over 57 industries just within the past four years with investments totalling over $100 million.

The administration has also recorded tremendous progress in her urban renewal/affordable housing drive with the development of numerous housing estates across the length and breath of the state. These include Igbara and Orange Valley Estate handled by OPIC, Plainfields and Degun mission Estates, Kobape Estate, Makun City in Sagamu, and quite a few others.

•Seriki is based in Abeokuta hearted was handled with utmost dexterity making a police boss to admit that Abia is a case study.

That shows how ignorant and poorly equipped a man who wants to govern a state is. It practically means that if Otti is elected, he would invest public fund in the wrong sector as he does not know where the shoe pinches.

So many questions for Alex Otti. Outside his allegations based on wrong premise, there are many issues. He consolidated his Aro personality by building in Arochukwu. When the present policy insisted in zoning, he changed nativity. These are certainly no marks of greatness.

Alex refused to respect equity. His ancestral home of Arochukwu, land of great men and his adopted home of Nvosi in Isiala Ngwa North are not in Abia South which probably was the reason he skedaddled from PDP in a feat of desperation.

2015 Elections: The press puzzle and enthronement of patriotic independent government but its latter day branches are farremoved from such altruistic endeavours, weighed down by the burden of becoming paid pipers. The sad fact is that today’s press cannot rise above the petty partisanship of its proprietors and the wise reader will not believe all he reads.

The widespread impression that the opposition APC is sweeping voters into its fold in spite of the obvious drawbacks of its very old presidential candidate and a party swarming with strange bedfellows and corruption-plagued leaders, is a direct fall-out of

The 2015 election process has therefore served as an eye-opener on the excesses of a politically compromised press

the domination of the press by card-carrying APC members.

Under such a suffocating siege of partisan ownership and the pressure of electioneering campaigns, professional ethics like objectivity in commentary and balanced reporting must take the back seat.

But the scourge of jaundiced journalism is not the only snag of the opposition-dominated press. Truth is also a major casualty as can be easily deduced from the misleading propaganda against the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan administration alleging nonperformance, even in the face of undeniable achievements such as the resuscitation and modernization of the nation’s rail transport system, the firstever federal almajiri school programme and the definitive acknowledgement of economic progress by reputable international organizations, to mention a few. Absurdly, the opposition press has no qualms embellishing the promissory platitudes of General Buhari ‘s campaign and blacking out the “bitter truth” about the indiscretions and indulgences of the opposition’s leaders.

In fact, so steeped is the opposition press in subservience

to the partisan political prejudices of its proprietors that the national interest is regularly relegated and even ridiculed, particularly in the protracted war against Boko Haram. Reports of the insurgents taking over hamlets and villages are gleefully splashed under banner headlines while the best efforts of the armed forces are usually down played in reports that put the spotlight of “fleeing troops” and exaggerate the exploits of local hunters armed only with machetes and dane-guns . At a point, it was hard to distinguish press reportage from insurgent propaganda, compelling the military authorities to issue a note of caution.

The 2015 elections were on the verge of getting scuttled by the opposition press propaganda pushing for elections to be held on February 14 as curiously advocated by both the APC and INEC regardless of the widespread evidence of unpreparedness of INEC and imminent disenfranchisement of millions of registered voters who could not collect their PVCs. This “press war ” has since been redirected against the military authorities who are be-

ing portrayed as culprits in the decision to reschedule the elections till March 28, taking due advantage of the constitutional provision that allows elections to be held not later than April 29.

The 2015 election process has therefore served as an eyeopener on the excesses of a politically compromised press and how such a press community can be exploited for undue partisan advantage at the expense of then much harped on free and fair elections as well as the stability of the nation. It is very misleading to assume that the mere existence of numerous newspapers and magazines in a country equates the sustenance of a “free press” which is taken for granted in democratic dispensations. At the end of the day, the composition of the ownership of the press is a greater determinant of the “vibrancy” and “vigilance” of the press than the sheer number of newspapers and magazines in circulation. Whatever the outcome of the 2015 elections, the press is certainly a loser as far as professionalism and safeguarding the national interest is concerned.

•Ifeanyichukwu is based in Enugu

PAGE 56—SUNDAY VANGUARD,

C M Y K

MARCH 15, 2015

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015,

Page 57

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. Email: sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com

Akobundu is Abia choice: A rejoinder Dear Sir,

M

y attention has been drawn to an article on the Sunday Vanguard edition of March 8, 2015, titled, “The Politics of Imposition in Abia”, and written by one Emma Ogbuehi a self-acclaimed public affairs analyst.

The write up smacks of bias, blackmail, falsehood and innuendos laced with tissues of lies. It is apparently clear that the writer is either a paid agent of Dr. Alex Otti, the governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), or he is one of those unrepentant pessimists that have been blinded by the propaganda of opposition that do not see anything good in the numerous legacy projects of our indefatigable Governor T.A Orji (Ochendo Global).

The writer accused Orji of deceiving the Abia State chapter of the PDP to impose Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu of Ukwa Ngwa extraction on them among other issues. It is worthy to note that the December 2014 PDP primary in Abia State was free and fair. The transparent nature of the primary was attested to by almost all the contestants who accepted the result in good faith.

Mr Ogbuehi’s hatred for Orji manifested exceedingly when he accused him (the Governor) of not forwarding the name of an

Ukwa Ngwa indigene as Abia nominee in the federal executive council, forgetting that Chief Emeka Wogu immediate past occupant of that position hails from Ukwa

Ngwa extraction.

The most ridiculous aspect of his write up is where he alleged that Orji promised Emma Nwaka and Marc Wabara ministerial appointments

to earn their support so that the state government would have its way in some of the manipulations in the state PDP. Ogbuehi has by this gratuitous supposition danced naked in the

market place. The write up has exposed him as a man suffering from mental inertia.

Pray, who told him that Orji made a promise to either Emma Nwaka or Marc Wabara?

The governor I know does not make promises he will not keep.People like Ogbuehi

do nothing except fouling the air with rumours, gossips and innuendos that cause disaffection in the society. People like Ogbuehi should let Akobundu be. * Nwosu, a political commentator, is resident in Umuahia, Abia State

preserve of a cabal or selected few. It is the democratic right of each and every human being.

Finally, those who hold on to power require a modicum of mental virtuosity and self-control.

As Nigeria undergoes the political engineering and

social re-acculturation process we call on our leaders on all fronts to uphold the rule of law and all democratic tenets.

Despots Beware.

Chief Bobson Gbinije Mandate Aganist Poverty (Map) Warri 0802 3250378

Power: Despots beware!!!

Dear Sir, “ We must define democracy as that form of government and of society which is inspired above every other, with the feeling and consciousness of the dignity of man” Thomas Mann (18751955)

N

ARCISSISTIC psychopaths and Hitleric nihilists have an insatiable and venomously gluttonous appetite for power. Power is authority, prerogative, jurisdiction, force and domination.

When political power devolves on a non compos mentis, he uses it autocratically and sadistically to oppress the people and perpetuate himself in office. Hence, in contemporary times there is a disastrous rise of misplaced power. Indeed, power corrupts absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This metastatic political malady and lunacy of selfperpetuation through a socalled amended constitution has become the political mantra of most leaders in Africa and Asia. We now have constitutional despots all

over Africa and Asia President Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for more than 20years through orchestrated and farcical elections which he won by over 70% of the vote cast.

It was rumored before his political waterloo that after he is tired of ruling Egypt, he intends to

handover to his son who was then being groomed to take over from him.

President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to manipulate the constitution also to prolong (3rd term) his stay in power?

Power is not the exclusive

Senator Lanlehin deserves another term Dear Sir,

V

ERY few Nigerian politicians have a true calling to serve the people. Most pay lip service to the clarion call to serve, they say one thing and do another.

However, there are a few good men in politics today who are an exception, who came into politics not because of what they stand to gain, but for what they can offer, among such is the distinguished Senator Solagbade Olufemi Lanlehin, of Accord party, representing Oyo South senatorial district.

Unlike most who came into politics idle or having failed in other less

challenging walks of life, Senator Lanlehin was a successful lawyer before venturing into politics.

Solan as he is fondly called by his admirers has touched the lives of not only the people of his senatorial district but the entire state.

Senator Lanleyin left the ruling party in Oyo State because he chose to take sides with the people in the face of tyranny, high handedness and overbearing disposition of a government that has become despotic to them.

Through people oriented performances Senator Lanlehin has simply eclipsed his predecessors in office, exposing the people of Oyo South senatorial district to what

they had been missing before him. He has raised the stake so much so that those who would match his deeds must cross and climb the seven proverbial seas and mountains.

Surpassing his performance will be difficult. Solan has truly made a mark.

Amongst his many outstanding deeds was the provision of boreholes in virtually all the communities in his senatorial zone, so that people can have clean and affordable water. From Ibadan to Ibarapa the story is the same.

Similarly he has built several blocks of classrooms in schools within his district, this has

helped to decongest classes, before the intervention of SOLAN, most of the schools that have benefited had over crowded classes, another failure of a government whose achievements in this critical sector only exist on the pages of newspapers and billboards. Aside building classrooms Solan also gave out learning and educational materials not to mention scholarsh It is a fact that SOLAN deserves a second term to continue pleasing his people more he did in his first term. *Adenike Adeniran writes from Ibadan North East Local Government Area.

PAGE 58—SUNDAY VANGUARD,

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MARCH 15, 2015

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 59

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PAGE 60 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015

Impeachment: CJ stalls verdict in Nyako’s case, moves files from Yola to Bauchi *I’m being denied justice, ex-gov cries out

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

M

ORE twists have been added to the case instituted by former Adamawa State governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, against his removal from office by the state House of Assembly last July.

Rather than get immediate justice in the case, which has been delayed for over eight months, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court (FHC), Justice Ibrahim Auta, has ordered the case file to be returned to Abuja for onward reassignment to another court in Bauchi thereby seizing the judgment slated for February 12, 2015 by the Chief Judge of Adamawa State, Bilkisu Aliyu.

Documents made available to Sunday Vanguard indicated that Auta ordered the movement of the case file from Adamawa to his office on February 4, a day after the Federal High Court in Yola had reserved judgement in the case for February 12, thereby tying the hands of the judge in the crucial matter.

The FHC Chief Judge reportedly ordered the movement of the case file

to his office via a short message service, SMS, prompting the FHC Yola to remit the file to him on February 6.

The Federal High Court, to which the case has now been transferred, has

immediately served hearing notice to the parties for March 17, thereby stalling whatever verdict the Yola High Court would have delivered in the case.

In the meantime, the

Appeal Court has dismissed the opposition to the case by the Chief Judge of Adamawa State, Justice Ishaya Banu, who had applied to be joined as a defendant in the matter.

The Appeal Court, sitting

in Abuja, on Tuesday, held that the Adamawa CJ had no material legal interest to protect in the case and upheld the decision of the Federal High Court in Yola and vacated the order stopping proceedings in

Yola.

Reacting to the twist in the case, Murtala Nyako, in a statement in Abuja, insisted that the case file must be returned to the Yola FHC to deliver its judgment on the matter.

FG orders IG to hand over Saraki money laundering case file *May withdraw legal advice clearing him, aides of wrongdoing

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

I

ndications emerged, yesterday, that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and that of the Inspector General of Police might have disagreed on what to do with former Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on his alleged use of fronts to withdraw the sum of N6 billion from the accounts of a company, Joy Petroleum, domiciled in Intercontinental Bank, now Access.

Initially, the Office of the IG had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja on April 26, 2012 to press charges against the former governor for conspiracy, forgery and stealing after claiming to have initiated a

c o m p r e h e n s i v e investigation into a petition sent to it by Joy Petroleum that it was being denied access by the bank following the illegal change of signatory to the account by unknown persons.

But in a legal advice to the IG on the move to prosecute Saraki and others named by the petitioner, the Attorney General advised against taking any action against Saraki and his aides over the bank issue since, from the records available to his office, the former governor had not committed any offence to warrant such trial.

In the legal document, which Sunday Vanguard sighted, last night, dated 9th October 2012, with reference Number DPP/ ADV: 061/12, and signed

by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mrs. O.O.

Fatunde, the AGF Office, noted that it would be improper to hold Saraki

liable for the internal actions of the then Intercontinental Bank.

Men caught with 500 PVCs in Oyo

By Ola Ajayi, Ibadan

T

WO weeks to the

March 28 elections, some suspects have been caught with over 500 Permanent Voter Cards at Orita Sekoni area of Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

The suspects were said to have been arrested in connection with the incident while the driver of the car ran away.

The police reportedly fired shots into the air to stop the clash that greeted the incident.

Eye witnesses said irate

youths could have lynched the suspects if the police had not responded promptly.

A source said the cards were sighted in the car after some residents, who acted on a tip-off, forced the car to stop.

The suspects were said to be known supporters of one of the opposition parties in the state.

Several calls made to Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, for comments on the incident were not picked.

CORRIGENDUM

I

N Saturday Vanguard yesterday, the C o m m a n d e r, Nigerian Army Medical Corps, Major Gen. Ogunbiyi, was erroneously referred to as retired. We wish to state clearly that he is still a serving military officer and also in charge of the Medical Corps.

The error is highly regretted.

Editor.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 61

Chelsea is still full of fire — Koeman S

OUTHAMPTON boss Ronald Koeman Faces Jose Mourinho today well aware of how desperate his old friend will be to put Chelsea’s Champions League exit behind them.

Koeman’s men face the unenviable task of trying to stifle a Chelsea side not only chasing the Premier League title, but also w o u n d e d b y last We d n e s d a y ’ s elimination at the hands of Paris SaintGermain.

The Blues failed to capitalise on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first-half sending off, with the 2-2 extra time draw at Stamford Bridge ending their hopes of a memorable treble.

It was not their first underwhelming performance of late, but Koeman does not expect such displays to work in Southampton’s favour.

“I don’t know when it’s a good time to face them,’’ the Dutchman said. “It’s always a difficult time.

“It’s a big team, a strong team with some great players and of course they are very disappointed after the last result. If you play 60 minutes against 10 players, you don’t expect that final result and maybe are a little

D

•Full Flight... Chelsea’s Eden Hazard tracked by Jesus Navas of Manchester City during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on January 31, 2015 in London, England. bit more under pressure.

“They fight after the Capital One Cup title and after that, not the most important one, they fight for the title.

They need a win after a disappointing result but they will give a reaction you normally expect as a manager.’’

NPL: Gabros target ‘Akure Gunners’ A FTER their test of intention against Warri Wolves in the Nigeria Premier League opener last weekend, Gabros of

Nnewi coach, Willie Udube is optimistic that his team will collect all three points from Sunshine of Akure in today’s encounter at the Akure Township

Pochettino vows to attack Man. U M

auricio Pochettino has vowed always to order his Tottenham team to attack regardless of the effect it could have on their defence.

Spurs are in Manchester United for a crucial game: both sides aim to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with United three points above Spurs with 10 games remaining.

Tottenham have won on each of their last two trips to Old Trafford but their defending is a worry, with only one clean sheet in the league in 2015. Despite that, Pochettino will refuse to consider a more cautious approach.

“I am brave,” he said.

“I never think in another way. My football idea is always to concentrate on C M Y K

Ancelotti to head for Old Trafford

the opponents’ goal, so why should I change? It goes against my way of thinking.

“My football is about trying to have the ball, playing attacking football and damaging the opponent. This is my feeling, my idea, and I need to translate those ideas to the team.

“I want to win the games, and while it’s true that you need to provide a good balance to the team, but I want to have the ball and try to score.”

Pochettino has led Tottenham to sixth in the table and although it will be tough to break into the top four, their run-in is easier than those of some of their rivals.

“We are a great team.

We go to Manchester United believing in our style and we will try to

•Tottenham coach... Pochettino thinking big win three points. We have full respect for United but we are very focused on our game, which is the most important thing.

“A lot of teams are fighting for the same

target and we are very close, so we know it is very difficult. We have 10 games left, we will try to win at Manchester United and after that we will see what happens.”

Stadium.

Udube submitted that they learnt some valuable lessons from their 2-0 win against Warri Wolves and those will come in handy against Sunshine.

“After our game against Warri Wolves we noted some mistakes which we’ve quickly corrected aimed at giving Sunshine Stars a good fight for the three points at stake on Sunday.

“I believe the players are mentally, physically and psychologically prepared to give their very best against Sunshine Stars.

“We’re looking forward to a decent result, worst case scenario, we’ll make do with a point,” said Udube to supersport.com.

Udube said his side will certainly challenge for the top prizes in the Nigerian top flight in the ongoing season.

“It’ll be a big disaster for Gabros FC to go back to the Nigeria National League (NNL) after eight-year spell.

“I believe we’ve come to stay in the Nigerian top flight and will certainly challenge for the hot prizes”.

espite assurances by Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez that coach Carlo Ancelotti will keep his job there are suggested the Italian could replace Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United at the end of the season.

With Ancelotti having come under fire recently after Real Madrid’s two losses in a row, reports have surfaced, suggesting that the Los Blancos boss could replace the Dutchman at Manchester United.

The Red Devils boss has also come under scrutiny after his team’s exit in the FA Cup, following their loss at home to rivals Arsenal, and it’s believed that the former Holland manager’s job is far from safe at Old Trafford.

While Van Gaal’s future will most likely come down to where United end up finishing in the league at the end of the season, it’s been reported that Carlo Ancelotti may be keen on a second spell in England - where he formerly managed Chelsea.

“The club has every faith in its players and coach. No matter what happens over the next few weeks, Ancelotti will still be the Real Madrid boss,” Perez said at a press conference last Thursday.

Van Gaal’s United are currently fourth on the table and only have UEFA Champions League to fight for, while Ancelotti’s team are one point behind Barcelona, and in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Messi will do well as a full back— Enrique

B

ARCELONA coach Luis Enrique has joked Lionel Messi would be unstoppable even if he played him as a full-back.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has joked Lionel Messi would be “unstoppable” even if he played him as a full-back.

The 44-year-old says the Argentine is the complete player, while adding his thoughts on the future of Dani Alves and Xavi The 27-year- old has been in stunning form in recent weeks and has already netted 18 goals since the turn of the year.

Luis Enrique feels there’s much more to the Argentine’s game than just goals and has insisted he would do well if he was deployed in another position, too.

“Messi will be great regardless of the position where he plays,” Luis Enrique said at a press conference. “Leo would also be unstoppable if I played him at full-back.

Messi is simply the best there is.”

PAGE 62 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

Enyeama reveals 100th cap excitement

V

I still have plans for Anambra football —Umeh

•Umeh

I

MMEDIATE past First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Chief Mike Umeh has described as self-serving, insinuations that he had not achieved anything in his two terms in office as Chairman of Anambra State Football Association. Umeh who is still gunning for another term in this chat with Jacob Ajom speaks of his achievements.

Excerpts: Why do you want to return as Anambra FA Chairman and what are your selling points having been there for two terms?

I still have n unfinished business to attend to. That is why I want to return as chairman of Anambra football. As for the selling points, contrary to what people are insinuating regarding my tenure, I have achieved a lot for Anambra football. During my tenure, Anambra State had three clubs in the Premier League.

These were Udoji United, Jasper United and Gabros International Football Club.

All these are privately owned; only in Anambra State did we see this in Nigeria.

Football is an expensive venture, two of the clubs crumbled, leaving only Gabros, which has been taken over by Chief Ifeanyi Ubah.

Why did the clubs crumble?

We lacked facilities such as standard stadiums, where teams could train and perfect their strategies until Rojenny(which is not a FIFA standard pitch) came to the C M Y K

rescue. Another factor that worked against the survival of the clubs was the harsh operational environment which could only be withstood by government owned clubs. Most privately run clubs in the country wound up. So it was not peculiar to Anambra State.

With my coming in, I was able to attract my friends in the private sector to come in and support our efforts.

Gabriel Chukwuma, owner of

Gabros is one of those who have been very persistent, and with the necessary support, he has been able to return to the top flight of Nigerian football during my time and has a standard stadium where the team plays their home matches.

My regime was also able to attract Chief Polycarp Emenike, chairman of Neros Pharmaceuticals. He built a fantastic stadium in his home town, Nnaka in Anambra State. I was able to talk him into sponsoring the state football league.

Anambra State has the best sponsored football league in the country, where winners get a whopping N5million, runners up get N3million while the third placed team takes home N2million. Chief Polycarp also allows us use the stadium. We have been able to host the national U-17, U20 and U-23 football teams friendly matches at the stadium.

We also have encouraged many other sponsors to the state who organise matches at the local government and town union levels, particularly during festive periods.

We ran the secretariat for all this period without govern-

INCENT Enyeama has revealed his excitement as the prospect of bagging his 100th cap for the Super Eagles became as bright as the sun. The Nigeria Football Federation has concluded arrangements to honour the long serving Super Eagles goal keeper on March 26 when the Eagles play against Bolivia.

“Nothing compares to being recognized by your own country.

I am very excited at the prospect of reaching 100 caps, and more so at the decision by the NFF to honour me on the day.

“I am also excited by the fact that it will happen in Uyo, my hometown. What a great honour,” Enyeama told www.thenff.com. The goalkeeper who was in goal as Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in 2013 was also part of the Super Eagles’ bronze winning Afcon sides in 2004, 2006 and 2010.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and its FIFA match agent, Jairo Pachon, opted for Bolivia after the Brazilian football federation pulled out of a previously agreed date for the friendly. “We have had to work at a pace to seal agreement for this match, after the Brazilian Football Federation opted out at the last hour.

“However, we believe that the Bolivia team will give the Super Eagles a good match, as we continue to work on a second match for the Eagles for either 29th March.”

The statement by the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, also revealed that Nigeria’s general elections which coincides with the second match day of the FIFA window, March 29, has necessitated the need to organise a match away from home.

“The NFF is committed to ensuring that the Super Eagles are occupied on every FIFA window, with quality games,” Pinnick added.

ment subvention.

You were accused of abandoning Anambra FA during your period at the NFF? During my short spell at the NFF, I was able to attract the FIFA Goal Project to my state.

The only other state that had that facility is Bauchi state.

Why do you want to return to an office government does not give subvention to? What is the interest?

We still have a lot of plans underway. With the coming of Chief Ifeanyi Ubah who has taken over Gabros(now known as Ifeanyi Ubah

United) the sky is the limit, particularly as he is the vice chairman of the state FA board. What is important in football is continuity. That is what obtains in Enugu, Abia and Imo states.

So why the so much noise about Umeh returning in Anambra State? Then think of Blatter, Hayatou who have been incharge of FIFA and CAF for long and still contesting to continue.

Anambra State cannot be an exception. I have the passion, the zeal and the know how to propel Anambra football to the next level.

Oduduru: I am tired of running junior meets

BY BEN EFE

H

AVING won three different laurels in junior African and world meets, Nigeria’s sprint sensation Divine Oduduru has stated that his aspirations have gone beyond looking for medals in competitions meant for up and coming athletes.

Oduduru made his mark at the African youth championships in Warri, Delta State 2013. That same year he was at the IAAF world youth championships in Poland and then later in Mauritius, where he won a sprint double at the African junior championships, a feat he repeated last weekend at the 12th edition of the meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was at the World Junior in Eugewe, USA. He won Silver in the 200m.

At Adis Ababa, Oduduru ran 10.44 seconds in the men 100m, which has Davidsion Ezinwa’s 10.05 seconds African record still standing after almost three

decades. In the men’s 200m I am happy starting it on a very world championships August Oduduru also won the gold good note. And I hope to in Beijing. “There is nothing with 21.22, way below the improve on what I have done fantastic about the time. It African record of 20.16 held by last year as the season depends on training, and South Africa’s Dempers Riaan progresses.” He said that his when you get the right since 1995. Oduduru declared target was to meet the 10.16 conditions that time is that he was now focused on seconds target set by the achievable. training hard and stepping in Athletics Federation of Nigeria “I want to be focused on line with the big boys of world for athletes wishing to win a doing well in the senior cadre athletics. “This is my last and slot in Nigeria’s team to the where it all matters.” final junior competition.

Even if I am still eligible for the world juniors next year,”said Oduduru who will be 19 in October.

He revealed that his exploits in Addis Ababa were satisfactory even though he did not reach the mark he expected.

“For me us it Boys to Men...Divine Oduduru of Nigeria, Trentavis Friday of USA and was the first Michael O’Hara of Jamaica pose on the medals stand during the medals ceremony for the men’s 200m during the IAAF World Junior competition of Championships at Hayward Field on July 26, 2014 in Eugene, Oregon. the season. And

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 15, 2015, PAGE 63

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SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 15, 2015

Champions League: Enyimba will smoke Smouha —Ikhana Champions League win in

E

NYIMBA of Aba are set to ignite their ambition of going far into the CAF Champions League as they

face Smouha of Egypt at the Aba Township Stadium.

Coach Kadiri Ikhana who led the team to their first

AYC: Flying Eagles survive Ivorian scare N

IGERIAN Under-20 coaches were left scratching their heads at the African Youth Championship after the Flying Eagles forced the Junior Elephants of Cote’d Ivoire to a 2-2 draw in their last group A match decided at the Caroline Faye Stadium in Dakar, Senegal.

Flying Eagles went down in the first minute of the game after Degbole Franck fired home from inside the box. But Christian Pyagbara restored some hope in the fourth minute. The Ivorians kept the pressure on the Flying Eagles and they were rewarded in the 10th minute when Chris Bedia restored the Ivorian lead.

At the resumption the Flying Eagles searched for the equaliser and they toiled all through, looking for openings in the Junior Elephants defence, they finally had their break in the dying minutes of the match.

They were back in the match when left-back Mustapha Abdullahi was hacked down in the box. Team skipper Musa Mohammed stepped up to convert the resultant spot kick for his third goal of the tournament. The entertaining match ended 2-2 with the fans enjoying values for their hard earned cash.

The six-time winners of the AYC, who had already qualified for the semi finals of the competition ended up as group winners with seven points from three games.

The Flying Eagles had won all their matches in the group.

Head Banger.. West Brom’s Brown Ideye heads home the only goal of the match as his team beat Stoke City in the Premier League clash yesterday.

Confederations Cup: Warri Wolves pip Dedebit *Club Africain walk-over Dolphins was greeted with a rapturous ovation from the scanty spectators on the stands. But that was all the difference between the two teams as the visitors quickly settled for business. The Ethiopian club, with Samuel Sanumi, a Nigerian in their ranks seized the midfield and punctuated numerous attacking moves of Wolves.

The first half ended 1-0 in favour of Wolves.

The second half began in a fast tempo as the Ethiopians

By Jacob Ajom in Warri

W

ARRI Wolves yesterday handed a 2-0 defeat to visiting Dedebit of Ethiopia in the first leg second round of the CAF Confederations Cup match decided at the Warri Township Stadium.

Oghenekaro Etebo was in no nonsense mood when he finished off a smooth move through the heart of Dedebit FC defence to give Warri Wolves the opening goal in the 4th minute of play. The goal

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. House of Reps Speaker (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)

2003 said yesterday that Enyimba are good enough to overcome the Egyptians.

He said: “We are ready for the game against Smouha Sporting Club.

After our league game against Akwa United in which we did not play too well, we had to go back to the drawing board and as you can see we are ready because the boys are in good spirit and come Sunday in Aba, we will get a win because we are good enough.”

A 0-0 draw against Akwa United in Enyimba’s opening league game disappointed many but Ikhana expressed optimism regardless of his team’s lack of precision only a week ago, citing his knowledge of Egyptian teams.

“No doubt about it, I am very conversant with Egyptian football clubs, I know their antics and we know their plans.

We have identified all that and like I said, we are prepared tactically, psychologically and mentally for the game because we want to go far in this competition and winning teams like Smouha is the only way to progress,” he stated.

Smouha Sporting Club is a sports club based in Alexandria, Egypt. It was founded in 1949 by Joseph Smouha. The current manager of the club is Helmy Toulan who was appointed three months ago.

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)

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Crystal Palace Arsenal Leicester Sunderland West Brom Burnley Espanyol Eibar Kano Pillars Shooting Stars

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to give the homers a penalty.

It was deservedly converted

by Gbolahan Salami.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that Nigeria’s other representative Dolphins failed to make it on time to Tunis and were walked over by Club Africain.

Dolphins touched down in Tunisia at about 1pm Saturday for the game fixed for 3pm same day. They failed to get transportation to the Stadium as the hosts were not forth coming with a bus that will take them to the stadium and by 3.00pm they were walked over by the match officials.

RESULTS

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continued from where they stopped. They came close to equalizing in the 48th minute after a good combination between Sanumi and Fikadu missed target narrowly.

Gbolahan Salami was drafted in for Onorfoma Freedom. The change brought a sense of urgency in the attack of the home side. But the Ethiopians continued to harass Wolves whose display was largely uncoordinated.

Goalkeeper Abu Suleiman brought down goal-bound Oghenekaro in the vital area midway into the second half

3 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1

TODAY’S MATCHES Chelsea v 2:30pm Everton v Man Utd v Real Madrid v CAF Champions League Enyimba v

QPR West Ham Hull Aston Villa 4 Stoke Man City 0 Atletico Madrid Barcelona Bayelsa Heartland

1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2

Southampton Newcastle 5:00 pm Tottenham 5:00pm Levante 10.00pm Smouha

4.00pm

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Internet: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: JIDE AJANI. 08111813023 All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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