2015 PRESIDENCY

...towards a better life for the people

**

VOL. 25: NO. 61860

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

•P.22 Zenith most Electricity consumers to pay N50,000 for customer-focused 10 .

P bank in Nigeria — KPMG pre-paid meters •

2015 PRESIDENCY:

Northern govs set to dump Jonathan •Opt for Northern candidate; consider Tambuwal

•Political Boko Haram behind rejection of Amnesty — Yuguda

—P.5

BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH

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BUJA—STRONG indications emerged, yesterday, that the North has taken a

resolute decision not to support the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan should he decide to run in 2015.

Rather than give its Continues on page 5

ODOZOR, 20, NIGERIA'S YOUNGEST COMMERCIAL PILOT •P.17

COLUMNISTS:

DELE SOBOWALE •P.35

LES LEBA •P.40

OCHEREOME NNANNA •P. 42

Mr & Mrs

YOUNGEST PILOT—Favour Odozor, 20, youngest Commercial Pilot Licenced (CPL) in Nigeria and South Africa, after his decoration at the Afrika Union Aviation Academy in South Africa. Photo: NAN.

BOKO HARAM: Collapse

of Amnesty may lead to civil war — Ajibola

—P.8

MEND threatens to kill Muslim clerics, bomb mosques from May 31 •P.12

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 3

4 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—5

POCKET CARTOON

CONDOLENCE—Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; with President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, during a condolence visit to the governor over the demise of his deputy, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti, weekend.

Northern govs set to dump Jonathan, consider Tambuwal Continues from page 1 blessing to Jonathan’s re-election, the north is now fine-tuning strategies to project one of its leading lights for the presidency in 2015 with Speaker Aminu Tambuwal increasingly winning the favour of some northern governors.

Vanguard learnt from reliable sources that influential Northern political leaders were

deeply concerned about the deteriorating quality of life in Nigeria, particularly in the North occasioned by endless poverty and intractable security challenges that have continued to claim lives and property.

In addition, political gladiators in the region were peeved by the attempt by President Jonathan to dump the gentleman's agreement he reportedly entered into with Northern gov-

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

If you do nothing about the transformation and the leadership challenges of this nation nothing will be done. Do something and get something done.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

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HERE are so many absurdities that steal our purpose from us. These absurdities that you may believe, is the lie that we‘re not as important as we really are. That our life isn’t as important as it really is. It’s important to the people that you love, it’s important to the people that you will love in the future, it’s important to the world around you and it’s so important that you fulfil the purpose that only you can fulfil the way that you can fulfil it - Lacey Mosley I recall this song from Fame: “Hold your dream, don’t ever let it go. Be yourself. And let the world take over. You’ll find strength when people bring you down. They will see if you will only, only believe”. Remember that your ability to shape your destiny is directly proportional to your belief that it is a matter of will and determination, however much or little that belief may be.

Believe in the magic that’s in you, its potential, what it can achieve. But most of all believe in yourself and create a world where dreams become reality. Zig Ziglar sums it beautifully: “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you."

ernors in 2010 to serve for only one term of four years.

A Northern governor, who told Vanguard that he was part of the team that brokered the deal with the president, described as shocking the seeming rebuttal of an agreement he said would have seen the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, zone its presidential ticket to the North in 2015.

The governor, who pleaded anonymity, pointed out that the denial of the deal was a calculated attempt to ridicule the North.

Jonthan must honour agreement with the North He said: “Look, an agreement is an agreement whether written or verbal. In this case, Mr. President cannot say that he did not plead with us to back him for only a term after which he would return power to the North. ”Our position is that he should be gentleman enough to honour that agreement and concede power to the North on moral grounds.

"But let me tell you that the North is not happy with the attempt by the President to jettison what he agreed with us even when he went to

Addis Ababa. ”It was based on the firm belief by us that he would run for a term that we mobilised our traditional, political and religious leaders at all levels in the North to support the election of Jonathan in 2011.

"However, if the President wants to take us for a ride, let him wait and see what we can do in 2015. We have decided

to take our destiny in our hands by forging ahead as a group in the next election,” the source hinted.

North considers Tambuwal It was learnt that although the Northern political leaders were united on the need to dump Jonathan and back one of their own in 2015, the major problem confronting them at the moment, was how to decide on a presidential candidate.

It was also gathered that while no fewer than five Northern governors were jostling for the presidential post, political leaders in the region were seriously mulling the idea of drafting the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, into the race.

The decision to look in the direction of Tambuwal was borne out of the fear that the presidency could use the anti-graft agencies to scare the Northern governors, with eyes on the top post.

Those who favour drafting Tambuwal into the presidential race, argue that he possesses all the qualities of a good leader, who can take Nigeria to the next level, if given the opportunity.

Another northern governor, who is in support of Tambuwal said: "Not only is he very pragmatic and conversant with the Nigerian situation, he also possesses what the nation requires to move forward.

"In fact, I can tell you that the North is thinking seriously about the idea and we believe that at the right time it will be done,” the governor said.

Political Boko Haram behind rejection of Amnesty — Yuguda

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

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AGOS—CRIMINAL and politically minded insurgents in the Boko Haram group were behind last week’s rejection of the amnesty plans of the Federal Government, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has said.

Noting that no genuine Moslem or Christian would shed blood in the name of God, Governor Yuguda affirmed that members of the genuine Boko Haram would bring their issues to the negotiating table once the environment is provided.

Speaking to newsmen in Lagos at the weekend, Governor Yuguda also rebuffed insinuations of a crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP over its 2015 presi-

dential nomination, describing claims of a fight between him and VicePresident Namadi Sambo over the ticket as the invention of detractors.

While praising the unifying role of Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT of the PDP, Yuguda said Anenih is seriously misunderstood by many people on account of his frankness and bluntness on issues pertaining to the party and the country.

“On the issue of Boko Haram, amnesty has been given to the real Boko Haram and I believe they are willing to accept that. That is my belief but you know there is the criminal Boko Haram and there is the real Boko Haram. But the criminal and the political Boko Haram, are the armed robbers and

that arm of politicians that call themselves Boko Haram and they go about attacking people.

“Maybe, it is the criminal Boko Haram that are responding that they don’t want amnesty because they have a different intention. Some of them are gun runners, some of them are armed robbers and some of them are doing that on behalf of politicians. So, they just hide under Boko Haram and perpetrate evil. For those that are actually Boko Haram, I would want to believe that there is something that is agitating their minds, not about killing human beings but probably there are certain things that have agitated their minds-probably joblessness- I understand some of them are university graduates of 15 years with no job.”

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

One killed as robbers attack Delta lawmaker’s residence

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI— ONE sus pected robber was, Sunday night, shot dead by security aides of Mr Samuel Mariere, member representing Ughelli North Constituency I in the Delta State House of Assembly in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.

The suspected robber and seven others, according to a dependable source, scaled the fence of the Ughelli residence of the lawmaker at about 2 a.m.

According to the source, the robbers after pulling off the mosquito net of a window, asked the lawmaker's wife to bring out all the cash they had, pointing an object that looked like a gun at her 13year-old daughter.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, said luck ran out on the hoodlums when Mrs Mariere raised an alarm, which drew the attention of the security guards who succeeded in killing one of the hoodlums as he was trying to escape, adding that seven others, however, escaped.

Contacted on telephone, Mr Samuel Mariere said he was away in Lagos when the suspected hoodlums stormed his residence.

Imo Police arrest 3 for child theft

O

WERRI — FOR alleg edly abducting twin babies, the Imo State Police Command has arrested two women and a man.

The suspects are identified as Mrs. Patience Aibangbe, Mrs. Felicia Edegbe and Mr. Jacob Ademuyiwa.

According to the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mrs. Joy Elemoko, the suspects allegedly committed the offence at Uzoma village, Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The PPRO said the two female suspects left Lagos, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, for Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with intention to abduct the twin babies.

Mrs. Elemoko said the suspects were arrested within the command’s area of jurisdiction while they were on their way back to Lagos, adding that the driver, Jacob Ademuyiwa, was aware of the offence and would be charged as an accomplice.

10 killed in Delta as villagers, herdsmen clash

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

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SABA— NO fewer than 10 persons have been reportedly killed following a bloody clash between villag-

ers in Ogume community, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State and herdsmen who were challenged by the villagers for allowing their cattle to vandal-

ise farmlands in the area.

There is growing tension in the community following the clash which commenced on Saturday evening. Both warring parties were still at dag-

Mr Wale Shofunmilayo and his wife, Olayemi, with their quintuplets at Nordica Fertility Centre's 10th anniversary, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

Soldiers rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspect in Lagos Victim discovered to be suspect’s uncle

BY EVELYN USMAN

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AGOS — MEN of the Ni gerian Army Quick Response Group have arrested a suspected kidnapper who was taking his victim to their hideout along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and rescued the victim in the process.

Surprisingly, the suspect was discovered to be the victim’s relation.

The 37-year-old suspect identified as Tony Anene, who was paraded before newsmen, weekend, in Lagos, was alleged to have connived with two others, currently at large, to abduct his uncle, Mr. Dominic Nwaezeapu, apparently over a land dispute.

The kidnappers were also said to have cashed in on the visit of the victim’s son from the United Arab Emirates.

They were said to have lured their victim out of the house, pretending they were sent by the Economic Adviser to the President, Mr. Augustine Uwaizi Ahikoya, in respect of the land dispute.

But immediately the victim stepped out of the compound, he was reportedly blindfolded and ordered into a waiting car.

He was reportedly left incommunicado and without food for

The suspect, Tony Anene three days.

Explaining how they were arrested, Commander, 9 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Adeniyi Oyebade, said: “At about 1a.m, on Friday, the Nigerian Army Quick Response Group which operates on Lagos-Ibadan-Ogere axis stopped a Honda car, blue in colour with number plate LND 751 AP in Akara village, somewhere around Ogun State.

“They observed that the vehicle was just wobbling along with one of its tyres in bad shape. During the on-the-spot interrogation as part of the “stop and search operations,” somebody in the vehicle later identified as Mr. Dominic

The victim, Nwaezeapu Nwaezeapu screamed that he was kidnapped.

“On hearing that shout, two of the kidnappers out of the three, jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the bush. Unfortunately, one of them, Tony Anene, was apprehended. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the victim was abducted on April 9, 2013.

“It was under the guise of the land dispute that the elderly man was kidnapped using the name of the Economic Adviser but based on our investigation, the economic adviser has nothing to do with the kidnapping.”

During interrogation, the suspect said he tried to convince his uncle not to honour the invitation of the abductors.

gers-drawn at press time, although security has been beefed up in the area A community leader and human rights activist from the community lamented the late arrival of security agents, saying: “My community was invaded by Hausa herdsmen using AK 47 rifles and six people were killed while three persons still missing are believed to have been killed too.

The most painful aspect was that all efforts to make the police to come to our rescue were abortive.”

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Lucky Uyabeme, confirmed the story, saying: “I have got in touch with the DPO in charge of the area and 10 bodies have been confirmed recovered. Investigations are on.”

Fire guts NPC’s Lagos office

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AGOS — THE Lagos State Fire Services Department, yesterday, announced that there had been a fire outbreak at the National Population Commission, NPC’s, Lagos Office on Babs Animashaun Street, Surulere.

The Lagos State Director of Fire Services, Mr Rasaq Fadipe, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

Fadipe said the fire engulfed a building housing Ballot Boxes belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which had been stored there, at about 3.15 p.m.

He explained that fire fighters and fire engines from Fire Service Departments in Isolo, Ilupeju and Sari-Iganmu, were battling to contain the inferno.

“The spill-over from the fire had affected a nearby building, but the fire-fighters were able to bring the situation under control shortly after their arrival.

“Our men are now battling to bring the fire in the building housing the ballot boxes under control,” he said.

Fadipe, however, added that there was no causality as at the time of filing this report.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—7

Four die, three injured in Osun building collapse

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO—NO fewer than four people were, weekend, feared dead, while three others were injured when a dilapidated building collapsed at Moboreje area of Ikirun, headquarters of Ifelodun Local Gov-

ernment Area of Osun State.

According to sources, the collapsed building located close to a private secondary school and mosque was said to be in a bad condition until it eventually collapsed.

The sources added that the residents were relaxing in front of the building in the evening

when the house suddenly collapsed.

It was further gathered that only the occupants who had gone to the mosque for the evening prayers escaped the unfortunate incident.

Efforts by residents of the area to rescue the victims did not yield any positive result.

The victims were later rushed to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Teaching Hospital, Osogbo where four of them were confirmed dead.

It was gathered that three other victims were severely injured and were still receiving treatment at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo at press time.

Accident victim’s body recovered from Majidun river L

BY BOSE ADELAJA

AGOS — THE body of the Ikoyi Golf Club manager who drove the ill-fated Hilux van which plunged into Majidun river in Ikorodu area of Lagos State, weekend, has been recovered.

The recovery was made around 7a.m yesterday, through the effort of some local divers and Nigerian Navy who commenced the exercise since the news of the incident broke.

Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, who confirmed the development, said the body had been deposited in a morgue.

Speaking through its General Manager, Femi OkeOsanyintolu, LASEMA said the number of the victims

could not be ascertained as only one body was recovered though eye witnesses said there were four people in the vehicle.

"Recovery operation continued today and the body of the supposed lone occupant of the vehicle has been recovered, the other three colleagues of the deceased alighted at Palmgrove bus-stop before the car was involved in the accident," he said.

An eye witness account had earlier said the driver of the Hilux van gave a ride to three others who drowned along with him when the vehicle plunged into the river.

The deceased, Kolawole Ahmed, was said to have left the club house in company of three people after an all night event.

The ill-fated vehicle being pulled out of the river.

Auto crashes Communal conflict claims 7 lives in C-River claim three in check points at strategic loca- making efforts to ensure norBY EMMA UNA Ogun tions in the two communities malcy prevails in the area.”

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA —THREE per sons were, yesterday, crushed in two separate auto crashes on Abeokuta-Sagamu and Papalantoro-Ilaro roads in Ogun State.

Confirming the incidents, Itori Unit Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mr Fatai Bakare, said both accidents happened during the early hours of yesterday.

Bakare said: “Two people died on Papalantoro-Ilaro road when a Nissan car with number plate LAGOS LND 121 BH lost control and rammed into a commercial motorbike killing the rider and his passenger.

“But only one person died on Abeokuta-Sagamu accident when two articulated vehicles with number plates LAGOS XU 320 LND and LAGOS 777 FST had a head-on collision around LAFARGE Cement Company on the expressway.

“All the victims were males and their bodies have been deposited at Ifo General Hospital.

“Four persons sustained injuries in both accidents including the driver of the car and have been taken to a hospital for treatment."

C

ALABAR— INTER COM MUNAL conflict between the people of Nko in Yakkur Local Government Area and their neighbours in Oyadama in Obubra local Government Area of Cross River State started afresh last Thursday A similar conflict, two years ago, claimed many lives with property destroyed.

The fresh conflict, according to a reliable source, started when an Nko man allegedly killed an Oyadama woman in the farm following misunderstanding over a parcel of farm land.

“The man killed the woman removed her intestines and head because the two of them were struggling over a piece of land,” the source said.

"The killing reportedly sparked the rage of the Onyadama people who invaded Nko and killed six people in retaliation, leading to full scale communal conflict.

“The Calabar-Ikom highway was blocked for two days until soldiers were brought in to the area,” our source said.

When Vanguard visited the area, Saturday afternoon, soldiers were seen manning

particularly on sections of the Calabar- Ikom highway.

Mr Rekpene Bassey, the State Security Adviser, said the primary concern of government was to ensure peace and normalcy return to the area and “as I speak to you we are

However, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, John Umoh, spokesman of the Cross River State Police Command said only one life was lost and efforts were on with the assistance of the traditional ruler of the area to arrest the culprit.

Family planning reduces maternal, infant mortality —Gynaecolgist

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AGOS — A GYNAE COLOGIST, Dr Juliet Offor, yesterday said the practice of family planning and healthy child spacing would help in reducing maternal and infant mortality in the country.

Offor told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, that family planning had been recognised as one of the most effective ways of reducing maternal deaths arising from preventable causes.

Offor, who works at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, said that women who practise family planning could avoid highrisk births and avoid having a baby that would die in infancy.

She said: “Unhealthy child spacing and having too many children have contributed to maternal and infant mortality rates in the country.

“Babies born less than two years after a prior birth are much more likely than those born after a longer interval, to be premature and die in their infancy.

“Infants of mothers who die as a result of giving birth also have a greater risk of poor health and dying in infancy.”

The gynaecologist said that many middle aged poor women suffer from anaemia, malnutrition and damage to their reproductive systems from frequent childbearing.

She said that without family planning, the conditions increased the likelihood of having a baby who would die in infancy.

FESTAC 77, not Boko Haram, responsible for Nigeria’s woes —Cleric

BY ETOP EKANEM

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AGOS— A CLERIC, Prophet Chris Okafor, has blamed the evils bedevilling the country on the FESTAC 77 celebration during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1977 which he said was like handing over the country to idols.

Okafor, who is the General Overseer of Liberation City Ministry, said many were quick to put blames on Boko Haram, adding: “Is Boko Haram also responsible for the incessant kidnapping in the South-South, the corruption permeating the society, high incidence of robberies and

other social evils bedevilling the country?”

He made these assertions during his service thanksgiving at the church headquarters in Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos and in remenbrance of his kidnap last year in the south-eastern part of the country during which one of his police orderlies was killed.

Okafor said the nation's problem could actually be traced to 1977 “when the then Head of State, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, invited people to bring their idols from different parts of the world to Nigeria in the name of celebrating FESTAC 77. The idols represented different

things. What Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron and war, does is different from what Obatala or Egbesu does. If you are dedicated to Ogun, you are likely to be hot-tempered.“ He said our leaders must humble themselves and go to God for counselling. According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan should call ministers of God and seek their advice, noting: “Just as Obasanjo gathered different idols in 1977 in Nigeria and glorified them, Christians too, with the support of the President, must gather, raise a standard and cleanse the land of all ties and association with idols.”

8 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

BY LUKA BINNIYAT, CALEB AYANSINA & BASHIR ADEFAKA

F

ORMER Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN, has expressed fears that the collapse of the ongoing amnesty plans for Boko Haram members may snowball into another civil war even as the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to take steps to crush the sect following its rejection of amnesty's plan.

Similarly, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the 19 northern States has rebuked the Ja’amatu Nasril Islam, JNI, – the apex muslim body in the country – for claiming that prominent Christian leaders and majority of Christians back amnesty for Boko Haram Prince Ajibola, in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, weekend, called on Boko Haram leadership to see reasons in embracing peace and urged the government not to relent on its already ongoing effort at resolving the security risks the Boko Haram menace had posed to the nation over the years.

The retired Judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, who had always insisted that dialogue was catalyst to resolving conflict of any nature, applauded President Goodluck in his latest move to grant amnesty to the sect members but said that the President, in doing that, should ensure that such amnesty be preceded with dialogue.

Amnesty should be preceded with dialogue His words: “That is a prerequisite. During that dialogue, both parties must be allowed to air their views as to the reason for the grouse and cause which resulted in the killings. Book Haram members have killed a lot of people and government troops, JTF, has also killed a lot of people, especially on the Boko Haram side.

“It is now the time that they should sit on the table and discuss once and for all, and brainstorm on how they could handle the whole matter. They must do that, otherwise, the situation will continue to deteriorate and people will continue to be killed.

During the Biafra time, there was the Aburi Accord which collapsed and the civil war started.

The Civil War was on for about three years. At the end of the whole matter, it ended up being resolved in a peaceful way. We should not allow that kind of thing to happen again. We saw it coming even in the days of Bakassi and we tried our best to avoid it because, other powerful nations of the world were ready and prepared to team up with Cameroun against us. We cannot afford to see this thing lead us into Second Nigerian Civil

Boko Haram: Collapse of amnesty may lead to civil war, Bola Ajibola warns Northern CAN rebukes JNI for claiming Christians' support Christian youths urge FG to crush insurgence War. We have had enough of that.

CAN's cries of Islamisation unnecessary distraction Ajibola, also cautioned the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, over its recent cry of Islamisation of the country through the Boko Haram describing it as unnecessary distraction. He, however, assured the Christian community and other concerned Nigerians that the Boko Haram had no choice than to embrace the ongoing peace move by the government “The Boko Haram will have no choice than to accept the olive branch offered by the government. Despite their rejection of it, government should still get both parties to the table. It may not be easy but it is important for restoration of peace and stability. The government must look into their grievances and they must come to an understanding.

"Meanwhile, when we are taking the pains to see how we can solve a national problem that affects all of us, with due respect, I want to warn that people should stop making statements capable of diverting our attention. I am saying this because not only is it unconstitutional to Islamise or Christianise Nigeria but also, it is not possible to do that".

Also, with the rejection of the planned amnesty by the Boko Haram sect, the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria, YOWICAN, has asked the Federal Government to take steps to crush the menace posed by the group.

In doing so, YOWICAN wants the government to make use of the various intelligence reports at its disposal to move against the deadly sect in the interest of Nigeria.

The group insisted that granting amnesty to the Islamic sect was potentially dangerous to Nigerians as it amounted to a clarion call to more terrorism in Nigeria.

The President of YOWICAN, Dr Simon Dolly, who made the call in an interview with Vanguard in Abuja, noted that the issue of Boko Haram had been politicized.

Dolly said: “This is politics.

They are playing politics with human lives. Government should be sincere with the issue. Government should work for a possible solution to the

RECEPTION—From left: Mr. Uche Orji, MD/CEO, Sovereign Wealth Fund; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance; and Mr. Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings, during a reception at Heirs Holdings in Ikoyi, Lagos, in honour of Mr. Orji's appointment as head of the SWF, weekend.

Boko Haram problem since it is armed with intelligence reports on this. They should make use of it. How can they come to the end of the problem when you have security report and you don’t work with it”.

Speaking earlier at a press conference in Abuja, Dolly explained that the Federal Government should prepare to face more deadly and sophisticated response, if amnesty is granted to the sect.

He said that granting amnesty to Boko Haram would have given more muscles to the sect to deal with Christian youths who in the north had all along been marginalized by the same advocates of the pardon.

Dolly appealed to President Jonathan not to be cowed by politicians and a few misfits in the north, who are attempting to use the Boko Haram insurgency as a bait to correct what they had failed to do while they were in power.

He noted that those citing injustice, poverty and unemployment to justify the violence by the sect were not sincere, wondering if poverty and unemployment were peculiar to Muslims in the north.

He asked, "are Christian youths in the north and indeed all over Nigeria not suffering from unemployment, injustice and poverty? Would President Jonathan accede to requests for amnesty to MASSOB, OPC, Middle Belt and other groups with complaints against the Federal Government, if tomorrow they pick up arms to advance

their causes?

“The Federal Government should be prepared to face perhaps more deadly and sophisticated response, if amnesty is granted to wilful murderers masquerading as political and religious insurgents, who do not respect the basic tenets of humanity and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

He also maintained that “it is injustice if Almajiri schools are built with taxpayers money for the Muslim youth" and called for the immediate establishment of Christian Vocational Centres in the 36 states of the federation including Abuja.

“Furthermore, the continued lack of employment of Christian Religious Knowledge, CRK, teachers in most of the Northern states should be reversed immediately,” he said.

Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the 19 northern States, including Abuja, yesterday rebuked the Ja’amatu Nasril Islam, JNI, – the apex muslim body in the country – for claiming that prominent Nigerian Christian leaders and majority of Nigerian Christians backed amnesty for Boko Haram CAN also debunked claims by the JNI that more Muslims suffered casualties than non-Muslims Last Friday, the Secretary General of the JNI, Dr. Khalid Aliyu had addressed newsmen in Kaduna where he upraided the President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oristejafor for protesting the

granting of amnesty for Boko Haram, claiming that majority of Christians and prominent Christian clerics supported amnesty for Boko Haram.

The JNI had also claimed that Muslims suffered more attacks and deaths in the hands of Boko Haram, than non-Muslims.

But the Spokesman of Northern CAN, Mr. Sunday Oibe on behalf of the Association faulted the claims of the JNI. Said Oibe: “Now we can understand the pain the JNI and others who are agitating for amnesty to these murderers who have no value for human life are feeling.

These people are not in touch with Boko Haram and yet they want to confuse President Goodluck Jonathan so that he will give them money to go and distribute and share. But unfortunately for them, the Boko Haram has shot them on the leg by rejecting the amnesty.

“JNI is not in a position to tell us who is a prominent Christian leader. In Nigeria, it is only pastor Ayo that is the President of CAN and all Christians in Nigeria are answerable to CAN, just like the Muslims have their JNI and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs which are both headed by the Sultan of Sokoto and every Muslim is answerable to them.

“They should stop blaming the President of CAN because they are the ones that are confusing the Federal Government. Where was JNI when we were crying about the merciless killing of Christians and the bombing of churches by this terrorist group?

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—9

ACN to FG: Put an end to crude oil theft

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI CTION Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has called on Federal Government to develop the political will to end crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region, warning that if not checked, it would worsen the nation’s economic woes.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, yesterday, said oil theft and pipeline vandalism, the cost of which had been put between $6

A

and $12 billion per annum, had degenerated to the pre-amnesty period when oil theft peaked at about 350,000 barrels per day, higher than the quantity of oil produced daily by Gabon or Equatorial Guinea.

According to the party, "on February 24, 2013, we raised alarm that the country’s economy was heading for the rocks, citing the skyrocketing cost of oil production, from $4 per barrel in 2002 to $35 per barrel presently; the massive corrup-

tion in the oil sector; the sharp fall in the discovery of new oil and gas reserves due to the low investment in the sector, and the challenge posed by alternative sources of global supply of oil and gas.

"Today, we say the situation is actually worse than we had thought, exacerbated by pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft which had reached an unsustainable level. Add this to the resurgence of attacks by Movement for the Emancipa-

Tinubu, Osoba, Fashola, Ikuforiji for NUJ guest house ground breaking ceremony

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OVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, his immediate predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji and former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba are among dignitaries expected to grace the groundbreaking ceremony of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lagos chapter multi-million naira guest house slated for tomorrow in Shomolu, Lagos State.

While Osoba is expected to chair the occasion and Fashola the chief host, Ikuforiji will be chief guest of honour .

Asiwaju Tinubu will be the Father of the Day while the Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Princess Orelope-Adefulire is the mother of the day.

NUJ in a statement by the Chairman of the Council, Deji Elumoye and Secretary, Sylva Emeka-Okereke, said the event would also have in at-

tendance the national President of NUJ, Garba Mohammed.

The two-storey building is expected to be completed in one year.

The statement added that the project was part of "the decision to reduce huge amount of money spent on hotel accommodation for our members on transit because Lagos is the hub of the media."

tion of the Niger Delta, MEND, and we are compelled to cry out again.’’

ACN said the action taken in recent times by two major oil companies, Shell Petroleum Development Company, and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, was the clearest indication yet of the seriousness of the situation.

“The shutdown of these two key oil delivery trunk lines by Shell and Agip has cut nearly 300,000 barrels per day from the dwindling Nigeria’s oil output, now put at 2.2 million barrels per day, down from 2.75 million barrels per day a year ago, resulting from increased, organised and sophisticated illegal bunkering of oil by criminals operating in the creeks of the Niger Delta.

"To worsen matters, it has been alleged that some bad eggs in the military Joint Task Force, JTF, deployed to the region to protect oil personnel and facilities have been accused of complicity in the illegal bunkering activities.

"This is why the Federal Government must quickly engage key stakeholders in a dialogue with a view to finding ways to stop the criminal act before it cripples the economy and brings Nigeria down to its knees,’’ the party said.

Tourism: Lagos woos private sector

BY MONSOOR OLOWOOPEJO

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AGOS State Government has called for private investment in the tourism sector to boost the country’s economy through foreign exchange earnings.

Commissioner for Tourism, Mr. Disun Holloway, made the call while speaking on reports of the Lagos State Black Heritage Festival held in the state.

He said tourism business is a huge revenue earner all over the world.

Holloway, who lamented that it was only in Africa that tourism was left solely in the hands of the government, urged Nigerians to take advantage of the endowment that nature bestowed on the state by investing in the sector.

The commissioner, who said tourist centres provided avenues of relaxation for residents of the state and foreigners, added that the Black Heritage Festival was of immense economic benefit to the residents.

He said the organised private sector could partner with the state government by investing as part of their social responsibilities to the state and its people.

TUC: Aspirant pledges housing for workers if elected

BY VICTOR AHIUMAYOUNG

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RESIDENT of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, and a contestant for Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, presidency, Bobboi Kaigama, weekend in Lagos, pledged to embark on housing projects for senior staff in the country if elected President of TUC. At a briefing to unfold his vision for TUC, Kaigama said if given the mandate, he would liaise with the 36 state governments and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, to acquire land for the Congress to build housing for its members.

Kaigama promised to improve on the legacy of outgoing president of the Congress, Mr. Peter Esele, and assured that all affiliates would be carried along as part of efforts to lift TUC to the next level while strengthening weaker affiliates and assisting new ones to join TUC.

FAAN lauded for terminating Bi-Courtney lease agreements

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU

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EDERAL Airports Authority of Nigeria , FAAN, has been commended by parents of pupils of the Murtala Muhammed Airport School, Ikeja, for terminating the lease agreement granted Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, BCAS, for the construction of a conference centre on a piece of land that originally belonged to the School.

This commendation was made

by Mr Adeleke Badmus on behalf of some concerned parents.

He said "the parents and pupils of the school saw the termination of the lease agreement as an act of God meant to avenge the poor pupils for illegal acquisition of the school's land few years ago.

"Anyone who denies children of their right because he has the right connections in government has murdered sleep and, like Macbeth, cannot sleep anymore".

Mr Badmus appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to use his good offices to restore the land where the abandoned conference centre is situated to the school, “to redress the injustice done the school”, by the illegal acquisition of the land.

10—Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Our critics should be in jail — Amosun

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA—GOVERNOR Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has said Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in the state is “dead and buried” just as he described the recent allegation of N8 billion road contract scam as the handiwork of the people “that ordinarily should be in jail.”

Fielding questions from newsmen, weekend, in Sagamu and Ota during inspection of roads projects, the governor broke his silence on his second term bid, saying “our works will speak for us.”

He said: “This is Sagamu. We started from the Benin/Sagamu Expressway to Oba Erinwole junction. I have heard what people have been saying and writing, that nothing is on this road.

“But I am happy that everybody is here and pictures don’t lie. The truth is that it is a shame that people that ordinarily should be in jail, people that looted all the good people of Ogun State’s money; they had the opportunity for eight years, what did they do?

“I sympathise with them. They are confused.

They are frustrated. They don’t even know what is happening. They are perplexed.

“Everyday they asked themselves, how is he doing it? They see what we are doing and they never believe it is possible but we thank God and the good people of Ogun State for believing in us."

Ekiti Police under pressure to cover up Jeje's murder— PDP We're professionals— Police

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

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DO-EKITI—PEOPLES' Democratic Party, PDP, in Ekiti State has alleged that some powerful people, within and outside the state, are mounting pressure on the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sotonye Wakama and officers involved in the investigation of the murder of Ayodele Jeje at ErinjiyanEkiti, to cover up the case.

However, the State Police Command dismissed the fear being raised by PDP and assured that the police were not under any pressure from any quarter over the Erinjiyan case.

The party, in a statement by its state chairman, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, said: “This call became imperative following the pressure being mounted on Wakama and police officers in Ekiti State Command to bury the matter.

“We have reports that some people are mounting pressure on the CP, police top shots and those involved in the investigation of the mur-

der of Ayodele Jeje that some vital evidence be destroyed, tampered with or even ignored so that those who killed Jeje would go free or there would not be enough evidence to nail them.”

However, in his reaction,

the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Command, Mr. Victor Babayemi Olu, said they were doing a professional job on the case.

He said: “We are investigating the matter and we are doing that professionally, conscientiously and with the fear of God. “Nobody is mounting pres-

CONDOLENCE: From right— Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; and Alhaji Suleiman Barau, Deputy Director, Corporate Services, CBN, during a condolence visit by CBN management team to the governor over the death of his Deputy, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday.

Electricity consumers to pay N50,000 for pre-paid meters

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

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ROM April 25 electricity consumers may pay between N25,000 and N50,000 for pre-paid meters for the single phase and three phase models, respectively, under the new Credited Advance Pay for Metering Implementation, CAPMI, scheme.

The price tag is aimed at fast tracking the deployment of prepaid meters to customers across the country sequel to the failed free meter scheme initially proposed by the Federal Government.

CAPMI became neces-

sure on us to do anything that is untoward. We are assuring Nigerians that anybody that runs foul of the law will be taken care of in accordance with the laws of the land.

“I can say, without mincing words, that we are up to the task and when investigation is concluded, the appropriate steps will be taken.”

sary following complaints by consumers about poor electricity service delivery in the face of continued estimated billing by Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Under the new CAPMI arrangement, meters are still regarded as free, but are facilitated through advance payments, which are expected to be refunded through a rebate on a fixed charge element from customers’ bills.

Confirming the development, Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, in a telephone chat said the single phase pre-paid metres would be sold for N25,000, while three phase meters would go for N50,000, adding that final arrangement and announcement will be made on April 25, when CAPMI would be rolled out fully.

However, it appears that nothing really has changed as the new prices for the prepaid meters are similar to what electricity consumers paid prior to June 1, 2012, when government declared

the meters free.

Under CAPMI, the Commission also disclosed that five Distribution Companies, DISCOs, would be used for the pilot scheme. They include Eko, Ibadan, Benin, Kano and Abuja DISCOs. Amadi explained that the Commission was currently evaluating tenders submitted by bidders, adding that the call for tenders had closed, while details of shortlisted vendors had been sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, for ratification and eventual approval.

He said: “We are currently evaluating the bids submitted by various vendors. We don’t have a specific number of vendors to use but the preferred bidders will be announced.

“Nigerians should be patient with us as we are working hard to come out with a hitch-free programme. The payment process is also being looked into to ensure that things are transparent.”

Apapa Business Unit of PHCN, has appealed to customers in its network to pay up their debts which had risen to N2 billion.

FG sets N1.4trn target for Customs

BY GODWIN ORITSE

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AGOS—FEDERAL Government has given Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, a target of N1.4 trillion revenue collection for the years 2013.

Government was said to have given NSC N800 billion last year, but it imposed N1.2 trillion 2012 target on itself.

The premier command, Apapa Area 1, in the breakdown of revenue distributed to the various Area Commands, has the highest target of N470 billion, going by its monthly target of N39 billion.

The Tin-Can Island Port Command is expected to generate a monthly target of N28 billion, adding up to N339 billion this year.

Lagos Industrial and Lilypond commands are expected to generate a monthly target of N1 billion each.

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—11

Provost warns against cultism

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—PROVOST of Delta State School of Health Technology, Ofuoma, Mr. Benson Ogheneroro, has warned students of the institution against cultism and other vices, saying the school’s management would not hesitate to wield the big stick against those found involved in such acts.

Mr. Ogheneroro, at the institution's 18th matriculation, said the school ranks among the best Colleges of Health Technology in the country, adding that its achievements could not have been possible without the dedication of staff, cooperation of students and commitment of government to the provision of infrastructure at the school.

“Also worthy of mention is the contribution of the host community, which has continued to cooperate with the school by providing peaceful environment for the institution to carry out its mandate,” he said.

Rivers 2015: Princewill declares guber ambition

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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ORT HARC O U R T — FORMER Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, governorship candidate and returnee People’s Democratic Party, PDP, stalwart, Prince Tonye Princewill, has said he will run for governorship race in Rivers State, come 2015.

Speaking in Port Harcourt on the face-off between President Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, among other national issues, he said that his desire to govern Rivers State was unwavering as same will pitch him against other contenders, come 2015.

He said: “Till date, there are people who walk up to me and chastise me for withdrawing my case from the tribunal and supporting Amaechi.

Though I have no regrets, that will not repeat itself.”

45 years after: Boro's remains for reburial at Heroes Park, Yenagoa

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA—FORTYFIVE years after he was buried, the remains of late Major Isaac Adaka Boro, were, Saturday, exhumed from the Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos, to begin his final journey to his ancestral home state, Bayelsa, where he will be interred at the Heroes Park, Yenagoa.

The Heroes Park, where the late National Security Adviser, Gen. Owoye Azazi, was buried last December, was conceived as the final resting place for all heroes and legends of the state by the Governor Seriake Dickson-led administration.

It was gathered that the tomb of late Boro, the hero of the Niger Delta struggle and symbol of Ijaw nation, was located and exhumed, Saturday, after a long search that commenced January.

The Bayelsa State Government delegation, it was learnt, was led by Dr. Felix Tuodolo, Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw Affairs and Special Adviser to Bayelsa State Governor on Ijaw National Affairs, Elder Patrick Erasmus.

Others include Niger Delta activist, Annkio Briggs, Mr. Joseph Evah, National Co-or-

dinator, Ijaw Monitoring Group; Regent Youmor, President, Ijaw Community, Lagos.

Representatives of the Boro family, led by Elder Gelelhope Boro, his children, Esther Boro the eldest, Debby Boro, Bunmi Alangierefe Boro and Apostle Felix Boro, his son, including INC Lagos chapter, which was represented by Dr. Churchere Komonibo, Deputy Chairperson, Ghomorai Presidor, were present.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Tuodolo, said Boro's remains were exhumed for DNA test.

“The reburial is scheduled for Isaac Boro day anniversary next month,” he said.

Joseph Evah, said: “The Ijaw nation led by Dr. Tuodolo, after a long search with Lagos cemetery records, exhumed the remains of our hero (Isaac Boro) first to declare a repub-

INAUGURATION: From left: Gen. Ishaya Balat (rtd), chairman of the occasion; Chief Edwin Clark,father of the day, his wife, Bisola; and Mr. Didi Ndiomu, son of the late General Charles Ndiomu, during the inauguration of Charles Bebeye Ndiomu Foundation and launch of his book, A Jolly Gentle General, in Abuja, yesterday.

Fugar mayhem: Akhigbe urges IG to fish out killers

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—FORMER Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, has condemned the killing of three persons in a clash between supporters of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and those of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in his home town, Fugar, and called on the Inspector General of Police to fish out the killers.

Admiral Akhigbe, who de-

scribed the killing as a taboo, “because an Avianwu clan person cannot shed the blood of a fellow Avianwu,” condemned what he described as the “show of power by incessant arrest of opposition candidates and taking them to Abuja instead of Benin City,” he told Vanguard, weekend, while reacting to the killings and burning of houses and cars in Fugar, after ACN and PDP youths clashed ahead the next Saturday's local government elections in the state.

ACN chairmanship candidate,

Emmanuel Momoh, was arrested and whisked to Abuja, allegedly on the orders of the Inspector General of Police.

Consequently, ACN leaders in the area accused the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadohme, who also is from the area, of masterminding the arrest.

But Akhigbe, who warned the police to stop being used by desperate politicians, said: “I was also told that the PDP chairmanship candidate in the area brought militants to cause trouble in my area."

Construction workers condemn members' abduction

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

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ENIN—FOLLOWING the recent abduction, by gunmen, of seven expatriates working for a construction company in Bauchi State, the Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, has condemned the kidnap of its members in various parts of the country, noting that the action was adverse-

lic in Nigeria.

“As I join other patriots at Ikoyi cemetery with Boro's children/family with choruses to exhumed the body from the grave, I saw the smiling teeth of Boro, who was killed during the civil war. We are taking his remains to Izonland.”

Governor Dickson, it will be recalled had declared that the Heroes Park will henceforth be the final resting place for all heroes and legends of the state.

ly affecting the construction industry.

The union, in a communiqué, weekend, at the end of its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Benin, Edo State, called on the Federal Government to overhaul the national security system with a view to addressing the security challenges facing the country head long without fear or favour.

The communiqué, by Dr. Augustine Etafo, National President of the union, expressed dis-

may that the government had not come out with a categorical statement on the fate of the abducted expatriates in Bauchi State, saying: “This could spell doom for the industry and the development of the country at large.

“The NEC in-session, therefore, demands immediate clarification of the true position regarding this development before the industry is thrown into avoidable chaos.”

Bayelsa dep gov tasks LG officials on accountability

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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E N A G O A — N E W LY elected officials in the eight local government areas of Bayelsa State have been tasked to ensure prudence and accountability in the management of their respective councils.

The state deputy governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd), gave the charge in Yenagoa, at a twoday training workshop for council officials in the state.

The deputy governor, who was represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Chief Fred Agbedi, noted that the essence of the workshop, the first of its kind since they came on board, was to intimate them on their roles and obligations.

He reiterated the commitment of the state government to effective service delivery and charged the council officials to make the best use of knowledge acquired at the workshop to bring development to their areas.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Delta to get additional 100 police divisions

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—DELTA State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, has said that additional 100 police divisional headquarters would be created to check the wave of armed robbery, kidnapping and other anti-social vices in the state.

Aduba, in Ughelli, while commissioning the perimeter fencing project embarked upon by the Ughelli Area Command, said the police was equal to the task of policing the state.

Insisting that the police will continue to collaborate with members of the public, he commended the efforts of the Ughelli vigilante group in assisting the police in tackling crime in the area, urging the people of the area to be involved in the policing of their domain.

MEND threatens to kill Muslim clerics, bomb mosques from May 31

BY EMMA AMAIZE & SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ARRI—FEAR of a religious war loomed, weekend, in Nigeria, following the threat by Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, to commence the assassination of Muslim clerics, bombing of mosques, hajj camps and Islamic institutions as from May 31.

The exercise, codenamed, Operation Barborossa, according to spokesman of the militant group, Jomo Gbomo, is to save Christianity in Nigeria from total destruction.

MEND’s threat is obviously in response to the bombing of Christians and Christian worship places by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

It said: “On behalf of the hapless Christian population in Nigeria, MEND will, from Friday, May 31, 2013, embark on a crusade to save Christianity in Nigeria from annihilation.

“The bombing of mosques, hajj camps, Islamic institutions, large congregations in Islamic

events and assassination of clerics that propagate doctrines of hate, will form the core mission of this crusade code named Operation Barbarossa.

“This campaign will not in any way interfere with the ongoing “Hurricane Exodus,” which on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at 1am, swept through the Ewellesuo communi-

ty, in Nembe, Bayelsa State, leaving the destruction of well 62, belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company in its wake.

“We may only consider a ceasefire of Operation Barbarossa if the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, the Catholic Church and Henry Okah, one of the few leaders in the Niger Delta region we respect for his integrity, in-

tervenes.

“Also, the assurance for a cessation of hostilities targeted at Christians in their places of worship, made privately or publicly by the real Boko Haram leadership will make us call off this crusade.

“We have no problem with their attacks on security agencies including the prisons, for their role in extrajudicial killings, torture, deceit and corruption.”

CONVOCATION: From left: Prof. Peter Hugbo, Vice Chancellor, Western Delta University; Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Prof. Amos Utuama, Deputy Governor and Mr. Victor Ochei, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, during the First Convocation of the University, at Oghara, Delta State.

Edo warns PDP against alleged perpetration of falsehood

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—EDO State Government has warned the state chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, not to invoke the wrath of the gods of Edoland by continuously perpetrating falsehood against Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

Meantime, Oshiomhole has said that the secret behind what he described as the death of PDP in Edo State, was the ability of his administration to cater to the needs of the people after PDP failed to do so in their 10 years in office, adding, “they are now surviving on Abuja oxygen.”

Oshiomhole, weekend, at Ekpoma, during a campaign rally ahead of Saturday's local government elections in the state, said that one of the cardinal objectives of his party, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, was to bequeath power to a vibrant young generation that would take the destiny of Nigeria into their hands.

Other party leaders, who spoke at the rally

were former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, state Chairman of the party, Mr. Thomas Okosun and a host of others.

Meanwhile, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Public Affairs, Prince Kassim Afegbua, in a statement, pointed out that PDP’s

reaction after the death of two persons in Etsako Central, which, according to him, was masterminded by PDP, was laughable, noting that rather than go out and campaign ahead of the council elections, PDP chairman “kept concocting lies against the governor."

Delta Direct Labour Agency workers shun strike order

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ARRI—ACTIVITIES of Delta State Direct Labour Agency, DLA, Asphalt Plant, at Agbarha-Otor, in Ugheli North Local Government Area, were almost paralised, as leaders of Junior Public Workers, AUPCTRE, directed that the company’s gate to be locked for workers to embark on indefinite strike action, but the workers shunned the directive.

Instead, the workers embarked on a refusal protest on the ground that they were not aware of any strike action by anybody, insisting that the action did not follow due process.

Speaking on behalf of the protesting workers,

Engr. Ikede Rex and Mr. Lucky Erijota, noted that the agency has two unions, AUPCTRE for junior public servants, headed by Mr. Ifeanyi and ASCSN for senior civil servants, headed by Philiph Onoji.

They said: “The leader of AUPCTRE sent one Mr. Allison Ohwogaga from Ughelli zone to lock up the gate for the workers to go on strike to compel the management to implement the upward review of salaries requested by the union.

“The strike is in the interest of some selfish management staff, who do not want the progress of the field workers. The current Director General is doing his best to revive the agency."

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 13

Obi, Ezeife mourn slain former Anambra deputy governor

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

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WKA — GOVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State and first civilian governor of the state, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, have condemned the killing of the former deputy governor of the state, Dr. Chidi Nwike, describing it as pathetic, crude and inhuman.

Nwike was found dead in Delta State last week and it was suspected that he was killed by those who earlier kidnapped him.

From left: Mr. Biodun Dabiri, Mr. Vincent Maduka with Mrs. J.O. Maduka and Mr. Tunde According to Obi, the death of Dabiri, Group Chairman of the LTC Advertising company, during a dinner party to mark Nwike is a great loss to Anambra the 25th anniversary of LTC, at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola: Photo State and Nigeria.

Editor The governor said the deceased was an experienced voice in terms of advice on governance.

He wondered why people could still take somebody’s life without

BY TONY EDIKE N13.6 billion as claimed by the Sources said the Commission scrupples, saying petitioner. had already sent an invitation such acts were vesNUGU—ECONOMIC and She was also said to have told letter, extended to Okechukwu tiges of barbarism Financial Crimes EFCC that government only through his lawyers, T.M. Eke the country was tryCommission (EFCC), Abuja released money for the feasibility and Associates of Magnolia ing to wipe out. office, has launched a full scale studies and demolition of old state Chambers Enugu, to appear at First civilian govinvestigation into an alleged secretariat, which were provided for the Commission’s Abuja office ernor of the state, sleaze in the ongoing construction in the 2012 budget. b y 10.a.m. on Wednesday, Dr. Chukwuemeka of new state secretariat project in But shortly after Governor Chime April 18, 2013.

Ezeife, who said Enugu State, at the cost of N13.6 returned to the country in February The petitioner, who was the he once enjoyed a billion. this year, Ugwu was relieved of her governorship candidate of CPC good working relaThe EFCC zonal office in Enugu appointment as Accountant General in 2011 election in Enugu tionship with the had in November last year, carried and re-appointed as a Permanent State, had while testifying at late Nwike, deout preliminary investigation into Secretary in the Civil Service the EFCC zonal office in Enugu scribed his late the secretariat project, based on on November 16, alleged that deputy as a man Commission. a petition filed by the Coordinator Vanguard gathered that based on the construction of the new who loved to serve of Congress for Progressives findings made from the preliminary secretariat amounted to his people diligentChange (CPC) in Enugu State, recklessness, ly. investigations, the Abuja office of financial Mr. Osita Okechukwu. the EFCC took over the case file and misapplication of funds and a Enugu State Executive Council launched a full scale investigation. baggage of corruption. had approved the sum of N13.6 billion for the new secretariat project, while the contract was awarded to Arab Contractors Limited.

During the preliminary investigation, which took place over, Chief Gary Enwo- media, saying the option of

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIwhile Governor Sullivan Chime OGU Igariwe, has said that the amnesty was treated in was away on his prolonged position of the group on the isolation.

BUJA — THE proposed amnesty for Boko vacation, the then Accountant Speaking with Vanguard President-General of Haram Islamic sect by the yesterday, Chief Igariwe General, Eunice Ugwu, reportedly told EFCC Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo, the apex Federal Government in regretted the embarrassment investigators that the project social-cultural cum political Kano State last week was the issue had caused him, would cost N8 billion and not body of Igbo people world wrongly presented in the pointing out that the group’s position was that Ohanaeze would support any option of the Federal Government to bring lasting peace in the country to guarantee a

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE Tour, NGGT, team to the state station was obliged to pay the healthy atmosphere for on March 18, 2013 without N2 million fine as directed, economic activities.

His words: “The statement THE NATIONAL giving the minister the right having accepted to have on amnesty should not be of reply. committed a professional Broadcasting Commission, taken in isolation. What was In addition to the fine, misconduct in response to the NBC, weekend, handed down a N2 million fine to Kaduna- Liberty Radio FM was also query issued to by the Kaduna on ground was the issue of based Liberty Radio FM over asked to feature the minister zonal office of the commission. anything that can be done to The station is expected to pay bring peace because our an Hausa phone-in discussion as a guest in subsequent edition of the programme, in the fine within 14 days or it people want to live in peace programme tagged, 'In A in their environment, line with section 3.4.3 of the get a higher fine.

Dalili.'

Meanwhile, all efforts made everything, including every According to a report, the Nigerian broadcasting code.

Vanguard investigation by this reporter to reach the option of government. That station is said to have aired a revealed that in a letter written monitoring unit of the NBC was my statement. Igbo will live comment by a caller who support anything that will objected to the planned visit of to the station by NBC, the proved abortive. bring peace.” the National Good Governance commission insisted that the

EFCC probes Enugu's N13.6bn secretariat project E

Our position on amnesty for Boko Haram misrepresented — Ohanaeze Ndigbo

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NBC imposes N2m fine on Liberty FM Kaduna for professional misconduct

Speaker dispels rumour of impeachment plot against Gov Elechi

BY PETER OKUTU

ABAKALIKI — Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Chukwuma Nwazunku, weekend, dispelled the rumour that the House of Assembly had planned to impeach Governor Martin Elechi before passing a vote of confidence on him and his deputy, Engr Dave Umahi last week.

At a press conference in Abakaliki, the Speaker, noted that nobody in his right senses can ever imagine or institute an impeachment process against Governor Martin Elechi, who had so far moved the state forward in the area of social infrastructure and provision of democracy dividends to the people of the state.

Igbo youths want INEC to be properly guided on APGA

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor

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AGOS — THE N a t i o n a l Association of Igbo Youths has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to be properly guided on last Tuesday’s judgment of the Court of Appeal on the leadership of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. The association in a statement made available to Vanguard, also enjoined the national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, to be magnanimous in the face of what it described as his vindication by the court.

The association in the statement signed by its director of publicity, Chukwuka Nnayelugo, also enjoined opponents of Umeh to rally round the embattled chairman, however, adding: “It is hoped that INEC will be guided accordingly by the ruling of the Court of Appeal."

14— Vanguard , MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

FG to launch government services portal

Minister prepares bill to stop overseas medical treatments for officials

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

BY EMEKAAGINAM

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BUJA — AS part of the initiatives to get government online to improve service delivery to citizens and other stakeholders, the Federal Government will tomorrow, in Abuja, launch its services portal.

Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said that this was in furtherance to one of the key mandates of the Ministry, centred on deploying information and communication technology to drive transparency in governance and improve the quality of public service delivery The primary objective of the deployment, it was learnt, is to create an easy and single point of access to government services online.

A

BUJA — A Bill to stop public servants from travelling abroad at the expense of the Federal Government for treatment of ailments that can be satisfactorily tackled in Nigeria, is to be presented to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, this year.

President Goodluck Jonathan, is also billed to flag off a stroke awareness campaign in Abuja, as part of measures to tackle the rising burden of stroke, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases in the country, Disclosing this, weekend, during the presentation of his score card to the press, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the Federal Ministry of Health was already compiling a list of health facilities that could handle specific ailments that Nigerians often go abroad to treat.

Chukwu, who observed that the Bill, which was being carefully composed, would

become effective this year, asserted that compilation of the list began last year. He said even though the list is not exhaustive, it is being regularly updated.

His words: “It is correct to say the Federal government will not sponsor any case that

can be satisfactorily handled in Nigeria. We are still at the level of the top management committee of the health ministry. It is a long process, we do not want to send a halfbaked memo to the FEC, so it has to be well thought out and we have to carry people

along.

“It is not enough for the Minister of Health to ask the President-in-Council that we should no longer sponsor public servants for cases that can be handled in Nigeria. We should know where these cases can be handled here.

From left: Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, MD, Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos; Mrs. Adenike Ogunlewe, representing Deputy Governor of Lagos State and Mr. Jimi Agbaje, during the Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos 10th anniversary, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor

APGA: Umeh is gone forever — Okwu

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

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BUJA — NATIONAL Chairman of All progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, faction, Maxi Okwu, has said the party’s leadership under him remained the authentic until the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, or competent court of law said otherwise.

Okwu, who spoke at the town hall meeting

with APGA members in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, weekend, said Chief Victor Umeh was gone, adding that what he was carrying around was just a court order.

Okwu, who also paid a visit to the Eze Igbo 1, Abuja, Dr. Nwosu Ibe as part of an advocacy campaign to take the new APGA leadership to the people, noted, however, that he was not nursing any fear that INEC might nullify the

party convention held in Awka where he emerged.

He said: “ “I am not afraid the INEC will annul the national convention of the party held in Awka, where I emerged victorious as the national chairman. ”No I am not afraid but I am merely stating the obvious. Only a court of law or INEC can change the situation. But as I speak with you, INEC is with us. INEC was with us in Awka to observe the convention.

Begging remains serious offence in FCT

.Perpetrators warned to stay clear of streets FEDERAL CAPITAL Territory Administration, FCTA, has outlawed begging in the territory and warned beggars to stay clear of the streets to avoid arrest and prosecution The FCTA, in a statement signed by Special Assistant, Media, to FCT Minister, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi, weekend, said: “The FCT Administration wishes to inform the general public that all forms of begging are still outlawed in the entire FCT. “Begging by any person or group of people, be they young, old, sick or healthy are forbidden on the streets, roads, neighbourhoods, motor-parks, C M Y K

junctions and other places in the FCT. "We are calling on all residents not to do anything whatsoever to support or promote these unlawful acts.

“The FCT Administration through its Social Development Secretariat and other related organs has intensified its activities towards apprehending all those who are engaging in such illegal acts.

“While the two religions of Islam and Christianity support charity and assistance to the needy, such must be done through lawful channels and not by people standing or loitering on the streets to solicit for monetary or material favour."

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 15

BURIAL OF CHIEF JUSTUS ESIRI Late Chief Justus Esiri was buried at Oria-Abraka, Delta State, Friday.

PHOTOS: Nath Onojake & Akpo Omafuaire.

From left— Mr. Justus Esiri (Jnr.), Mrs. Boyowa Efijemueh, Dr. Sid Esiri, Mrs. Omiete Esiri (widow), Mr. Andrew Esiri and Miss Susan Esiri.

Prof. Amos Utuama, Deputy Governor of Delta (right) and Rev. Agbatuta, Special Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan on Religious Affairs.

From right— Mr. Richard Mofe-Damijo, Douglas Oronto, representing President Goodluck Jonathan and Amaju Pinnick.

Officiating ministers.

From left— Mr. Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, CEO, Africa Movie Academy Award, Mr. Kanayo O. Kanayo and Martin Njubigbo.

SENATOR ROLAND OWIE'S DAUGHTER WEDS

Signing the marriage register.

At their traditional marriage.

From left— Dr. Augustine Obiora Akubeze, the couple, Chief Dan Orbih and his wife, at the wedding of Senator Roland Owie's daughter. PHOTOS: Barnabas Uzosike.

Dr. Chris Oghenechovwen, Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources, representing Delta State Governor (left) and Mr. Mike Onolomemen, Minister of Works.

Chief Dan Orbih, Chairman, Edo State PDP (left) and Mr. Pascal Ogbome.

Sen. Roland Owie, bride's father (left) and Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) makes too many important decisions to be left in its stiff ways. The waste INEC embraces and government’s willingness to fund it is a scandal — it is a vote for backwardness under the guise of technology. The Federal Government’s approval of an additional N2.11 billion for INEC’s voters’ new cards is a decision to support waste.

In 2010 INEC got N73 billion to conduct a rig-proof 2011 elections. It promoted its abilities and readiness to deliver. “The commission’s report indicated that there were about 87 ways of rigging elections that were discovered and since that time INEC has been doing everything possible to block those loopholes,” Professor Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman, said in November 2010.

Jega raised the bar of public expectations.

“It is our resolve to be guided by transparency, integrity, credibility, impartiality and dedication. We will be firm, fair and forthright in all we do. We shall not do the wrong things, we shall not

T

INEC’s permanent backwardness

encourage others to do the wrong things and we shall stop those, who choose to do the wrong things.”

The public is still wondering how these played out in the 2011 elections.

Technology, which Jega trusted to assail the challenges, did not fare better. “The significance of the new software is that it will tackle many of the lingering challenges that had questioned the credibility of our voters’ register,” he said.

The direct data capturing machine performed no wonder. It compounded the issues. Nobody seemed to understand how it worked; INEC did not care.

For all his praise of the new technology, it is already being replaced with permanent voters' cards, which are permanent only in

name. They would also be replaced by the national identity cards “in future elections,” but the permanent cards have a life span of 10 years.

Would simple logic not mean that if the cards are issued in 2013, they should remain in use by 2023? Yet there are doubts that they would be used after 2015. Why does government permit INEC’s wastes?

If the national identity cards are replacing the voters' cards, why plunge into the “permanent voters’ cards” if it is not another opportunity to exhaust public resources? The sloppiness in the 2011 elections was excused because the technology was new and INEC leadership was new too. Are we seeking another INEC excuse for 2015?

Nothing is wrong with the current voters' cards. Government only needs to investigate if the cards have the features INEC claims and why they have not been used to forestall rigging.

INEC does not need permanent voters’ cards. It is a waste at a time shrinking resources demand more prudence.

OPINION

BY ROMANUS UWA

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HEN the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on November 1, 2007 laid the foundation stone for the construction of the 140 megawatts Aba power plant to be constructed by a private power company, Geometric Power Systems Limited, at the plant site in Osisioma-Ngwa, Abia State, not many Nigerians believed that the project would materialize. This was due to the persistent crises that had accompanied power sector reforms in the country and thrown vast parts of the country into perpetual darkness for years. It is a development which had grounded many industries and discourage foreign investors from investing in the country.

The project, according to its designs, was expected to be commissioned in April 2009, but will be now commissioned next month, as deadlines were shifted to accommodate contingencies and tackle challenges. GPSL which was owned by former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji initiated and commenced the construction of the model power plant with an intention to serve the industrial hub within the Aba-Port Harcourt axis.

Most industries in the area have gone into extinction owing to poor power supply by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, and so constructing a model integrated power plant like this one in Aba was not only a good business initiative, but also good move to save the economy of the South East region from total collapse.

Before Geometric power plant takes off in Aba As the power plant is set to take off, kudos must go to the brain behind this noble project, an illustrious son of Igbo land, Prof. Nnaji, for believing in the country called Nigeria, despite the disappointment and humiliations he has suffered in it. Also to be commended for making the project a reality is the Abia State Government under the leadership of Governor Theodore Ahamuefuna Orji whose administration provided enabling and secured environment for the project to be executed.

The company encountered a lot of challenges in the area while constructing the project. Top among the challenges was the problem of insecurity which was occasioned by the kidnapping menace that crept into the state then. The menace compelled workers of the company at the site to flee out fear of being kidnapped. This was at a time notorious and politically-motivated kidnappers took over the commercial city of Aba and its environs in a desperate bid to ground governance in the state. Work was brought to a halt at the site, while commercial activities were grounded as residents fled to places of safety. There were calls for a state of emergency to be declared in the state by some people, including opposition politicians in the state and the then President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Joseph Dauda (SAN) whose state ,Kogi, is now on fire over insecurity and

killings.

Orji’s government boldly tackled the kidnapping challenges by providing all the needed logistics for the security agencies in the state to dislodge the rampaging kidnappers and restore normalcy in the area.

So it was not surprising when security agents cornered and gunned down the leader of the kidnapping gang in the area, Mr Obioma Nwankwo aka Osisikankwu in a gun battle and flushed out his co-kidnappers in the state.

That was how normalcy was restored to the area and the power company continued with the project.

S

o it is thanks to the ability of the state government to restore peace and security that the power plant has become a reality; the reality that will pave way for the return of the lost glory of Abia State. Ahead of the commissioning of the power plant, the state government has already completed the Osisioma Ngwa- Geometric road making access to the project site easy for the company workers and other communities around the area.

Fulfilling her promise during the rainy season last year, the state government had since the end of last year commenced massive rehabilitation and reconstruction of many federal and state roads in Aba. The roads include Azikiwe Road, Cemetery Road, Milverton Avenue, Eziukwu/ Okigwe round

about, Ama Ogbonnaya, Nwala by Faulks Road to Brass Junction, linking Aba Owerri Road, Ngwa Road, Ohanku Road, Eemelogu Road (completed but awaiting drainage) Ehere Road, Omoba Road, Umuola Road, Ikot-Ekpene Road from Opobo junction to Bata, Omuma by ACCN, Nwigwe by Nwagba Avenue, geometric access road, and Aba-Port Harcourt Road. The development is already boosting commercial activities in the city with massive influx of business projects ahead of the Geometric power plant take off.

Apart from that, it would be recalled that the Orji-led government had last year partnered the Federal Government to evacuate power from the 132 power station in Ohiya Umuahia. Since the commissioning of the project, there has been steady power supply in Umuahia and its environs.

This has made the state government’s rehabilitation of the Umuopara Regional Water Scheme a possibility as the water scheme has since commenced operation, providing clean water for the residents of the state capital and its surrounding communities.

Also, the medium and small-scale industries and several artisans in the state capital who were before now off business due to epileptic power supply have re-opened shops and business is booming.

The belief is that with the take off the Geometric power plant, Aba will surely become a haven for investment as all the ailing industries in the commercial city will be revived and employment opportunities created. *Uwa, a medical practitioner, wrote from Aba, Abia State.

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 41

Gunmen kill brother of NNPC's GMD in Kaduna

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

K

WEDDING: Former Miss Temitope Osinubi, daughter of Mr. & Mrs Demola Osinubi, MD, Punch Newspapers (right), and her husband, Mr. Olabode Owolabi, son of Mr. & Mrs Peter Owolabi, during their wedding at Methodist Church, Opebi, Ikeja, weekend. PHOTO: Biodun Ogunleye.

NCC unveils 5-yr strategic mgt plan

BY EMEKA AGINAM

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O drive its telecom regula tory mandate in the fast evolving telecom industry in the next five years from 2013 to 2017, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, weekend in Abuja unveiled a new five year strategic management plan.

The formal unveiling of the SMP by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, was the culmination of over twelve months of industry consultations in a process managed by PriceWaterHouseCoopers, PWC, with the cross section of the industry stakeholders and staff of the Commission making inputs at various stages of its

articulation.

The NCC EVC, who presided over the presentation of details of the plan by PWC to the senior management of the Commission, before handing over to Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mr. Okechukwu Itanyi, said the formal unveiling of the new SMP will serve as a roadmap for the future.

He said they took into consideration the current and emerging trends in the industry and the numerous expectations of the diverse stakeholders.

According to him, the SMP document was a living document which must be consulted regularly to

ensure that the Commission is on track towards achieving the objectives which have been collectively articulated.

He said: “A robust SMP like ours has many purposes such as ensuring the alignment of day-to-day work to the Commission’s strategy; prioritizing programmes and projects to achieve NCC’s goals and objectives; ensuring optimal use of NCC’s recourses.

"Others include providing objective basis for performance monitoring and management, and meeting the Commission’s vision and mission.”

After the ceremonial commitments to the new SMP by

FG moves to avert flooding

BY EMMA UJAH

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ITH the rains set ting in, Federal government is taking some steps to avert a recurrence of the national disaster caused by flooding last year, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, has revealed.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, yesterday, Ochekpe said that a Nigerian delegation has already visited Cameroon where it asked to be fully briefed early on any plan to release excess water from the Lagdo Dam this year, to enable Nigerian officials take

precautionary measures to avert another flooding.

According to her, “the delegation went to Cameroun to ensure that Nigeria gets informed early when there is need to release water from the Lagdo Dam.” The massive flooding of many parts of Nigeria last year, was traced to the release of water from the dam.

Mrs. Ochekpe said she has directed the nation’s engineers at all dams along the Benue River course to ensure the draining of the water in those dams, when necessary to enable the dams take in as much.

all the directors and heads of departments of the Commission on behalf of the entire staff, Mr. Itanyi said the declaration was an affirmation, and indeed a commitment to execute all tasks assigned to them in their departments’ scorecards within the lifespan of the strategic plan and would serve as a measure of their performance in the plan.

The Commission also announced a retuning of its mission which it now says is to “support a market driven communications industry and promote universal access” while the vision now reads “to be a responsive world class communications regulatory organisation.”

ADUNA—MR. Yohana Yakubu (47), the younger brother of Engr. Andy Yakubu, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was yesterday ambushed and killed by unknown assailants in a village in the southern part of Kaduna, a family source informed Vanguard yesterday.

“He was going to attend a funeral in his village, in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) this (yesterday) morning. He was in the car with his wife and they had driven to somewhere near Idon village in Kachia LGA. The place is about 110 from Kaduna town. He was ambushed by gunmen and killed. But his wife was not hurt. That was around 7am this (Sunday) morning.

“He was a staff of the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company and worked in the power house section of the refinery. His corpse has been deposited at a mortuary in Kaduna”, the source said.

It was gathered that the NNPC boss was already in Kaduna over the incident.

Another source told Vanguard that armed robbers had operated in the place unchallenged last Saturday morning, in spite of the presence of a permanent check-point manned by soldiers about a kilometer away.

42—Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

President Jonathan: Amnesty for Boko Haram, a shot on the foot.

FG’s ‘suicide mission'

,

THE moment the Sultan called for amnesty for Boko Haram, I knew Nigeria was headed for bigger trouble. It was a major shifting of grounds by His Eminence, Mohammed Abubakar Sa’ad III, the Sultan of Sokoto and the head of the Nigerian Muslim community. His earlier stance in public forums both in Nigeria and abroad was that the sect was evil, and their mission un-Islamic, with strong support for the security forces to decision them accordingly.

With this change of tone, I knew more and more Muslim and northern leaders would join the chorus. It was not long in coming, and it did not come only from Muslim quarters. The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, threw his weight behind the call. The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) followed suit. To cap it all, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) with the respected Alhaji Maitama Sule in their company, visited President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa and tabled their call for amnesty for these terrorists.

Professor Ango Abdullahi, who spoke to the media after the event, went as far as making the usual parasitic call for an “Amnesty Commission” backed by law. The implication of this is obvious. Every Nigerian amnesty comes with “postamnesty ” bonanza, which will be administered by Abdullahi’s Commission.

It was also a matter of time before the opponents of this idea would make their voices known. The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)

You cannot say you are granting mercy to someone who has not asked you for it. How can you offer forgiveness to somebody who has not repented of his sins? Somebody who sees YOU, rather than himself, as the offender?

,

Bishop Ayo Oritsejafor, called amnesty for unrepentant terrorists an act of “ wickedness”, while the Northern Christian Elders Forum (NORCEF) described it as a “suicide mission”. As if to justify the fears of amnesty’s opponents, Mallam Abubakar Shekau, the alleged leader of Boko Haram, was quoted as dismissing the amnesty offer, saying it is the federal government that should seek forgiveness from them, a plea which will not be granted until Allah permits them to do so.

For me, that settles it all. That is the end of discussion. You cannot say you are granting mercy to someone who has not asked you for it. How can you offer forgiveness to somebody who has not repented of his sins? Somebody who sees YOU, rather than himself, as the offender?

An enemy who believes he has pinned your back to the wall and has you begging for mercy? An enemy who has thrown fear into the northern traditional and political

establishments, forcing them to their knees saying “politically correct” things to save their hides? An enemy who believes he is on the path towards victory? Put yourself in his shoes. Would you do what you are asking of him if the situation was turned the other way round?

There is no logic or even commonsense in the whole thing. What we see is that as 2015 rapidly draws closer, political expediency is beginning to dominate the thoughts of politicians and those who work with and for them. President Goodluck Jonathan is in a tight corner. On the one hand,if he continues to maintain the hard line stance which he exhibited when he visited Maiduguri recently, he might lose the support of the traditional and political establishment of the North, especially if by this time next year the security situation in the region has not changed.

On the other, if he grants amnesty to Boko Haram to please the North, he will be doing a grave injustice to the thousands of Christian families and denominations, as well as their perceived moderate Muslim counterparts who have lost dear ones, suffered grave injuries and been deprived of their hard earned property.

What conscience would guide the President in setting up and funding an amnesty commission when the victims of Boko Haram terror are yet to be consoled or compensated in any way? Christians, moderate and patriotic Muslims and the people of Southern Nigeria will feel betrayed and diminished over filthy politics and Jonathan may begin to lose the support of his home base.

Let us make no mistakes about it: amnesty for Boko Haram, indeed, is a suicide mission. A man like Professor Ango

Abdullahi, a baleful political enemy of President Jonathan, will relish giving perfidious advice that will sink him politically. Imagine setting up an Amnesty Commission. What is happening in the Niger Delta should warn us of the danger in it.

Millions of ragged, plates-clutching al majiris from all over the North and surrounding countries will line up to benefit from post-amnesty rehab for Boko Haram. Politicians, mallams, criminals and hustlers will mobilise them and through them smile all the way to the bank, just as the ex-“generals” and ex-“commanders” of the ex-militants of the Niger Delta are doing. After all, the call for amnesty is a cheap copycatting of the amnesty granted to the Niger Delta ex-militants.

Any attempt to stop the programme will have the sponsors of the “repentant” exBoko Haram causing a couple of bomb explosions and gun attacks and the government will once again panic to resume funding of this insane parasitic proposition.

Bomb explosions An Amnesty Commission pumping money to “repentant” Boko Haram members will only end up giving federal government grants to terrorists to procure more arms and bomb making materials to intensify their campaign to Islamise the North. Boko Haram’s stances are clear and unambiguous. It is the northern elite that are attempting to corrupt their mission with misrepresentation of their intentions to deceive and blackmail the federal government.

Shekau’s Boko Haram is simply not interested in the hustling that northern politicians are turning their mission into.

When former President Olusegun Obasanjo turned himself into an emissary of the federal government to appease the family of the slain Boko Haram leader, assassins came the following day and killed the man who spoke on their behalf, Alhaji Babakura Fugu. These chaps have operated with an admirable level of honesty as opposed to the deceitful antics of the politicians who, for their own safety, pretend to be their advocates before the federal government. Now that Shekau has rejected amnesty, perhaps the politicians will now realise that the game is up and it is time to face the enemy squarely.

OPINION

Countries that cease to exist

BY ERIC TENIOLA

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ROJAFUIT is a latin word that means “Troy was, Troy is no more”.

It illustrates a city that once was but is no more. Troy is a city according to Greek legend that was captured by the Greeks under Agamemnon after a ten-year siege. Historical Troy was discovered by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann at Hissarlik in north-western Asian Minor,a few miles inland from the Aegean Sea. The excavations conducted by him from 1870 to 1890 and by others since then,have revealed ten periods of occupation of the city,which was destroyed and rebuilt each time.

The first five settlements at Troy belong to the Early Bronze Age, ending soon after 2000 BC. Troy II in particular was a flourishing community, with impressive fortifications and domestic buildings, but was destroyed by a major fire. Troy VI saw an influx of new settlers who introduced horses, but an earthquake shattered their city in about 1300. It was followed by Troy VIIA, but this phase did not last long before being destroyed by fire. The indications are that this was not an accidental disaster, but accompanied the capture of the city by enemies. The date of destruction approximately by 1250,coinciding with a flourishing

Mycenaean civilisation in mainland Greece, indicates that it was this event which lies behind the iliad, and that the conquerors of Troy VIIA were Greeks. Troy remained unoccupied for perhaps 400years before Troy VIII was established. Troy IX lasted into the Roman period.

But today inspite of all its beauty, Troy is no more.

In fact, when we refer to Troy today, it’s all in the past tense.

There is a drink in the modern day world served at social events for celebrations and anniversaries by the very privileged, rich and powerful in the society. It is called Champagne. But the name Champagne was once a province in the Northern east France adjoining Lorraine. International trade FAIRS were held there in the Middle Ages. In 1284 the marriage of Jeanne, daughter of Henry III, the last count, to PHILLIP IV (the Fair) led to union with France. The discovery of the method of making its celebrated sparkling wine, champagne, is attributed to a Benedictine monk, Don Perignon (1668-1715).

Not only Troy and Champagne that are no more but for lack of space let me limit myself to some specific provinces and empires.

There was an Ottoman empire,

Persia,Prussia,Tripolitania,Catalonia,Bengal, Corintha province in the old Greek, Daaphine-a former province in France, East Anglia of East England, Saragossa-a province in Italy, Herlots in the ancient Greek,Chempa,Corsica,Gran Colombia,Cilicia-a province in the old Turkey,Pergamum, Northumbria, Funj empire in the old Sudan, the Frisians of the old German territory, Byzantine empire, Anjou-a province in the old France and even the Roman empire.

These were cities or provinces or empires that once existed.

Now,let us turn to the present, let me cite a few nations that have fought civil wars.They include Georgia, Guatemala, Rwanda, Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Nepal, Ireland,Haiti, and Yugoslavia.

Countries like Kashmir are still in a war just like Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

There is civil insurgency in Laos today, Moro uprising in the Philippines and Islamic insurgency in Thailand, drug war in Mexico and civil disturbances in Uzbekistan.

Continues tomorrow on pg 17 *Mr. Teniola, a former director at the presidency wrote from Lagos.

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—43

T

HE University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Literature 301 (African Fiction) Class was weeks late in starting for the 1980/81 academic year. On the fourth week, the students had gathered as usual even before it was time for the class. Then five minutes after the time, a large ash-coloured Mercury Monarch car drove in and parked beside the class. A man of middle height in a brown safari suit and with a deeply creased and very serious face but erect body walked into the class.

He greeted the class and went straight to perch at the edge of the table, disdaining the chair – and waited for the hum his entry had elicited to die down. It didn’t. Two minutes later he cleared his throat, went to the black board and began to write even as he spoke: “My name is…” and the class roared: C-H-I-N-U-A A-C-H-E-B-E!!!.

He shook his head ever so slightly, like somebody who had gotten used to such antics, nay adulation, and reminded the class that other students were also taking lectures in other sections of the Ansah Building which the English Department shared with Economics. Then he apologised for having not been in the country for almost a month, making the students to lose several lectures. He

explained that such international engagements were making more demands on his time and he had decided to do something about his having to struggle to meet up with his lectures. With that he had hinted us that that we would be his last class in Nigeria … but that master of understatement did not make it that clear then.

He asked if we had all bought the long list of recommended text books, and he added another long list; the class asked if we could ever have the time to treat all of them.

No, he spoke ever so softly, so softly that you sometimes had to strive to hear him, saying that our studies would neither begin nor end in the class room. “You have to go beyond the official list of books. The world is your stage,” he announced, “reach out and take it. Tackle it, subdue it. I’m just your guide. Soon, you’ll forget me and open your wings wide and fly”. His words were not rushing out; instead, he almost counted his words as he released them slowly as though he deliberately weighed each word before letting it pass through his lips.

Achebe was ever patient; never shouting at any student; not even when they gave the worst of answers. Instead, he would say: “Why not look at it this way”?

There was a particular student,

Tony Ejiochi, who loved to antagonise Achebe, telling him often that he rated Cyprian Ekewnsi to be Africa’s best. Achebe thanked him for the stance, especially for his courage but warned him that his style of writing, filling the entire essays with “phantasmagoria” and such highfaluting words just to make an impression, would not help him in making the world to appreciate Ekwensi the more. “I wonder if Ekwensi ever used the word phantasmagoria in any of his books,” concluded Achebe. From that day, “Phantasmagoria” took over the student’s name. If I see him tomorrow, I’ll still call him “Phantasmagoria”.

Then one day, Achebe flared up.

He had asked the class to read a certain section of the Senegalese diplomat, Cheikh Hamidou Kane’s The Ambiguous Adventure as preparation for the next class discussion. The class went on smoothly until somebody asked Achebe the meaning of the word

Questions I wanted to ask Chinua Achebe

BY TONY AFEJUKU

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ROFESSOR Chinua Achebe, without any iota of dispute, one of the best and greatest minds of this century, died a few days ago. And since his death many persons have composed different kinds of eulogies in his honour. The compositions clearly are in consonance with the engagements and preoccupancies of the universal man of letters who happened to have Nigeria as his birth-country.

It was never my wish to offer any eulogy or oration or tribute in commendation of Chinua Achebe the First or Chinua Achebe the only Monument or Chinua Achebe the Unique. After all, I uttered in the Nigerian Tribune the only words I deemed it necessary to utter when the news travelled to us to announce the death of the literary man of valour who, ironically, some dilettantes have been valorizing. But dilettantism on this occasion must not be hateful and alien to us. If Achebe’s death can give birth to new tastes in the arts, and literature in particular, may the approbations and eulogiums continue ad infinitum.

Am I de-railing or interrupting myself? The arts editor of this paper, who is my young friend and colleague in the pen enterprise requested me to do for him something in connection with the current temper relating to our pre-eminent craftsman of supreme, sublimely profound and profoundly sublime thought. I am obliging him not necessarily to preserve our friendship but because of the genuine depth of feeling he showed on the death of the great personage he talked about when he was on the subject of the request. Of course, I was immensely touched by his real depth of feeling which was in no way different from mine, although our reasons for our respective moods originated from different angles and sources. And could I compose any long tribute the good and mourning editor, a product of the Achebe

,

school at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka requested?

I am pained that our most worthy novelist could not reject the monstrous hour when it arrived to pluck him from us. Why should the appointed time and hour come for him at the material time our splendid artist, whose work evidently was apportioned him by the Supreme Force, was still expected to keep on fulfilling his mission of trailblazing? But why really should I ask this question when I know too well that everything passes at the appointed time decreed by the Supreme Force whose will displays itself time after time discernibly in the “laws of destiny as in the laws of nature”?

Achebe’s destined time and hour came for him at a veritable time and hour of his destiny.

As we already know, he died in the midst of the torrents of controversial opinions his last published book generated in the land.

How did he enjoy them all, especially what some of his ardent admirers might call the visible torrent of reactionary mud poured on his magically skillful head?

In my last research visit to the United States, I promised myself that I would ask our most illustrious and graceful novelist and universally acknowledged grand-man of letters this and other questions, personal and private, public and familiar, but from unusual angles and perspectives of the would-be questioner, my good self. I assumed that Achebe would, in his especial manner, give me veritable answers that would make affirmation of his magnanimous scholarship and academic generosity, so to say, and that would also bring to our country a new aesthetic arsenal that would help us to “replace the false by the true”.

Not many of his Nigerian readers, admirers and detractors know that Achebe was an in-law of Yorubas and Itsekiris. In fact, until they read this piece of an unusual

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BY TONY ELUEMUNOR

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Achebe: The novelist as class teacher

Achebe was ever patient; never shouting at any student; not even when they gave the worst of answers; instead, he would say: “Why not look at it this way”?

“Occident” (from Kane’s phrase: “The morning of the Occident in Africa was couched in crimson for those who landed on our shores were White and mad”. Achebe went back to his seat, (the table’s edge really) then asked the student to stand up, and then roared: “What is your dictionary for? This is terrible (his favourite word for describing a bad situation). You are not ready for the task at hand if by now you have not fallen in love with your dictionary. Ngugi began writing while still a student".

From there began the class’ great love affair with Ngugi Wa Thiong’o . Before Achebe would teach any book, he would spend hours on the novelist, his society, the time in which the novelist wrote and lastly, he would say, “when I met him”. It was clear from the time he spent on the East African society that he held great score with the Mau Mau uprising, especially with its organisation. The result was that Ngugi became the class’ favourite author. Every discussion session was filled with Ngugi and East Africa plus Meja Nwangi’s Carcass for Hounds; it was clear Achebe greatly admired “Gen” Dedan Kimathi. Once he admonished the class: You are asking too many questions about Ngugi, I may need to get him for you to answer the questions himself. The class went delirious!

But we took it as a joke – until Ngugi arrived!

Understandably, he made us take great interest too in SouthAfrican literature. From the 1980/ 81 session, the question will always resonate whenever our former class mates gather: “Is we not

What else can we say or do but to accept that even though Chinua Achebe has died immortal, his hour, with all its superb responsibilities, has passed, as everything passes

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eulogium of the eloquent writer, they certainly did not know that his first daughter, Chinwe, has an Itsekiri husband; as his second daughter, Nando, has a Yoruba as her husband. At least, knowing what the superbly monumental Obafemi Awolowo meant to Yorubas and Itsekiris and their cousins and friends, why did he not show some modicum of restraint and respect for his in-laws as per his remarks on the great man and acclaimed personage of glory who will forever be adored by Yorubas and Itsekiris who by marriage were now his own people? I was going to ask Achebe this question, with, in addition as a follow-up, this Itsekiri saying: An in-law is the third arm of a family. I pictured in my mind what Achebe’s responses would be. I dreamed about his encyclopaedic answers and replies to my submissions.

S

ome other questions I wanted to ask him included the following: How did he take the pathetic death of Ken SaroWiwa? Why did he not, as our leading writer in the United States, lead an international protest and out-cry against the pre-hanging plight of Ken Saro-Wiwa? Why did he also not condemn the tragic hanging of the mirthful and witty writer who was a President of the writers’ association Achebe founded? I was also going to ask him why he did not deem it wise or see it as his divine

people?” That came from Alex LaGuma’s A Walk In The Night.

To Achebe, that was all that matters: The humanity of the African which has been denied by others; of course to us the rotten English of that unschooled Black ghetto dweller on the run from the apartheid policemen made the question more memorable! Then talking about when he met SouthAfrica’s Nadine Gordimer, he chuckled and said she was crying because the “young hot heads” had refused to allow her to attend a conference of African authors in Kenya. Achebe took her into the hall and convinced the others that the lady had been writing against the apartheid system and she lived in Africa. “We need to swallow up all the Whites in South Africa because from the Cape to Cairo belongs to us by divine right, and know that when South Africa becomes free, some Whites will elect to remain there,” he argued.

Her tears dried up immediately.

Gordimer would later win the Nobel Prize!

Achebe opened our eyes to the African world. He loved to quote this passage from the Ambiguous Adventure: “Instead of picking and choosing what to accept from the West and what to reject, Africa is aquiver with courteousness, metamorphosing in a space of one generation under this new egotism which the West is scattering abroad”.

Continues tomorrow on the Viewpoints pg *Mr. Eluemunor, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.

duty to use There Was A Country to promote, proclaim and preach the blessedness of love, forgiveness and reconciliation: Why did he not invoke the doctrine of let bygones be bygones in his relationship with Awolowo?

Of course, I had in mind the necessity for him to dwell on the blessed need for Yorubas and Igbos, at least, to comprehend and accept true love. Should it not be right for him to use his nearness to the tomb to dwell on the glorious idea of the sovereignty of radiant and holy love that we would expect in our healthy thought to banish from our body of civilization all distempers and infirmities that would disturb and curtail its enzymes of peace, forgiveness and unity?

These questions and other pertinent ones I meant to ask our philosopher-novelist last November. And I meant to publish his answers then in the Nigerian Tribune, Vanguard, The Guardian and Daily Sun before appropriating other aspects for literary and academic journals. But that menacingly monstrous storm called Sandys that devastated much of New England where we were made it impossible for me to realise my dream. I said I would realise the dream this year even though it was sensed since last November that his health was failing him. (I can imagine how Okey Ndibe, the Nigerian novelist and his young bosom friend who is also a denizen of New England, is feeling now!).

Now why the form of this tribute? It is simply to underline this gloomy helplessness: Achebe should have delayed his death until we had exhausted our debate with him, as Odia Ofeimun put it, in his own tribute, although not exactly in this manner.

The illustrious spirit of this great writer, who was the first to publish my writings in Okike (the literary journal he founded and edited for many years) when my literary career was in its fledgling state, has shed its physical manifestation, courtesy of the ever triumphant Supreme Force.

What else can we say or do but to accept that even though Chinua Achebe has died immortal, his hour, with all its superb responsibilities, has passed, as everything passes…. *Prof. Afejuku wrote from the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State.

44— Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15,

2013

•Power plant

Epileptic power supply: Will NIPP break the ice?

•Why ongoing power projects must be tracked

N

IGERIA is the seventh most populous country in the world, 39th top economy but unfortunately occupies the 70th spot on the global electricity production chart, according the CIA World Fact book.

Epileptic power supply, with the attendant effects on industrial production can hurt the country’s goal of being among the top 20 economies of the world in 2020, a mileage that is merely seven years away.

With a miserly 20.13 billion Kilowatt-hour (kw/h) of electricity, Nigeria ranks lower than Brazil (509.2 kw/h), South Africa (238.3 kw/h), Egypt (123.9 kw/h), Malaysia (118.2 kw/h) and Argentina (115.4 kw/ h). Nigeria has a pool of hydro, thermal, solar and wind electricity sources to tap from to boost her power supply but has not managed to do this effectively over the years.

History of power generation: Under colonial rule, Nigeria started electricity

generation and supply in 1896.

In 1929, it set up the Nigeria Electricity Supply Company (NESCO) as an electricity utility company operating a hydroelectric power station near Jos, Plateau State. In 951, the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) was established. The first 132KV line was built in 1962, to link Ijora power station in Lagos to Ibadan power station.

Since then, there have been increases in electricity infrastructure and changes both

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BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & KUNLE KALEJAYE

It was followed by the coming of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and the current National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) as the search for stable power supply in the country continues.

Military setback: Nigeria’s power infrastructure however faced a major setback under the military regime to the extent that most of its hydro-electric dams were allowed to decay

When most of the projects are completed and are operational, power generation is expected to hit 10,000 MW from the present 4517 MW, which is still a far cry from the 40,000 megawatts that industry watchers say can drive the economy on the part of sustainable growth

in the nomenclature and operations of the regulating agencies. The Niger Dams Authority (NDA) was established in 1962 with a mandate to develop the hydropower sub-sector. It was merged with the ECN in 1972.

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and the transmission and distribution equipment and lines became obsolete until in 1998 when the Federal Government initiated efforts to end NEPA’s monopoly of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and sales.

•James Olotu, NDPHC CEO Coming of NIPP: The most significant measures taken by the government to re-jig the industry came in August 2005 when the National Council of State (NCS) and the National Assembly approved an initial funding of US$2.5 billion for the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) from the “Excess Crude Oil Account.

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) was thereafter incorporated as a limited liability company to serve as the legal vehicle to hold the NIPP assets. The mandate of the NDPHC included construction and expansion of the country ’s power infrastructure to boost electricity generation and supply across the country.

In 2008, the National Economic Council (NEC) voted US$5.375 billion from the excess crude account as Power

Emergency Fund (PEF) to complete NIPP. NEC also inaugurated the NIPP Steering Council in January 2009, chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, then the country’s vice president with six state governors and four ministers as members.

The NIPP Steering Council, which has transformed as the board of directors of NDPHC is headed by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo.

In February 2009, the council approved phase I budget of US$2.213 billion from the PEF of US$5.375 billion to complete the first phase of the NIPP projects. It also approved US$423.639 million to PHCN as special intervention fund.

In June 2010, the council approved US$123.110 million to augment the phase 1 budget and N1.750 billion to buy NDPHC corporate

Continues on page 45

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—45

Epileptic power supply: Will NIPP break the ice?

Continues from Page 44 headquarters in Abuja. With these funds, the NDPHC built several gas turbine plants, distribution and transmission equipment and lines in the country.

NDPHC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. James Olotu, while presenting NIPP Status Report on December 14, 2012 in Lagos, said more power stations had been completed in various parts of the country. These plants, he said, have cumulatively added 1,687.5megawatts (MW) to the national output. The completed plants, which can each generate 112.5MW per gas turbine, are located in Olorunsogo, Sapele, Alaoji, and Omotosho among others.

The report showed that as at December 7, 2012, the country’s power generation capacity had risen to 5000mw.

Distribution system enhancement On distribution system enhancement, he said 43 lots of low high voltage distribution system, 295 injection substations, 3,540 MVA injection sub-station capacity; 2,600 of 11KV lines and 1,700km of 33KV lines are almost completed. Work is also in progress in the transmission sub-sector where 118 projects in 43 lots are being

Kwara, Oyo states and Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been completed.

The projects are to evacuate power from Olorunsogo, Omotosho, Sapele and Alaoji stations.

According to Olotu, in 2013, the NIPP plans to complete all gas turbine projects with capacity for 4,264mw. The projects include the simple cycle power plant for Alaoji plants with installed capacity of 510mw and transmission projects covering 219km of 330kv lines and 809km of 132kv lines as well as the distribution projects to evacuate 3,540MVA across 2,600km and 1,700km at 11KV and 33KV lines.

Map of Nigeria

Power generation projects The power generation projects also slated for completion within 2012 and 2013 under Lot 11 are the Calabar power station in Cross River State, Egbema power station - Imo State, Ihovbor power station - Edo State, Gbarain power station in Bayelsa State and Sapele power station in Lot 6 located in Delta State.

Others are the Omoku power station in Rivers State, Alaoji combined cycle power station located in Abia State, and Olorunsogo combined cycle power plant (Ogun State), Omotosho power station (Ondo State) and Geregu power

The major problem with power supply in Nigeria is in the distribution chain

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executed. These transmission projects covering over 274 km of lines and transmission capacity of 2,370MW will soon be completed.

In the distribution segment, the NDPHC has supervised the completion of various projects in Abuja, Benin, Eko, Ibadan, Ikeja, Kaduna and Jos-Yola zones, including 125 high voltage transmission network projects for the evacuation of electricity from the new power plants and reinforcement of various segments of the national grid network to increase its capacity to wheel 10,000MW of electricity around Nigeria at 330kv and 132kv voltage levels. The projects fall under 29 lots.

The NIPP scope also covers 125 electricity distribution network projects of 11kv and 33kv voltage levels with injection sub-stations and HVDS transformers, which are grouped under 43 lots and spread across the country.

According to the NDPHC, 16 of the transmission projects in Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Abia,

2010, it now ranges from six to nine hours.

A council member and former president of MAN, Alhaji Bashir Borodo, said the improvement in power supply has reduced cost of production for manufacturers.

He said the major problem with power supply in Nigeria is in the distribution chain.

“They (government) has targeted the generation of 10,000 MW by the end of 2013.

If this target is met, would they efficiently distribute it to the end users?” he asked.

Also, Director-General of the

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station in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

The NDPHC plans to also complete all Gas Sales Aggregator Agreements (GSAA) and Gas Transmission Agreements (GTA), receive and commence the implementation of transaction adviser ’s recommendation once approved by the board during the year. The massive construction of power projects by the government may have contributed to the current improvement in power supply in some parts of the country When most of the projects are completed and are operational power generation is expected to hit 10,000 MW from the present 4517 MW, which is still a far cry from the 40,000 megawatts that industry watchers say can drive the economy on the part of sustainable growth.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) admits improvement in power supply. It said from three hours average daily power supply in the cities to its members across the country between 2000 and

Chinedu Nebo, power minister Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, said there was an improvement in power supply and linked it to improvement in gas supply to the thermal power plants.

On why the achievements of the NIPP were not being felt by most Nigerians in terms of more steady power supply, Olotu said: “Power itself is a function of three elements: The power as generated, the power as transmitted, and then there is the power as distributed.

Usually the ratio internationally is that the power as transmitted, that is the power infrastructure for transmission, should be sufficient enough to surpass the power generated.

Quality and efficiency The same thing happens at the lower end. Power for distribution should be able to take more than what the transmission can give out. This is to allow us reduce redundancies at the various levels and reduce losses while transmitting power from one location to another. The farther you travel with power, the more the quality and the efficiency of the power is reduced.”

Challenges before NIPP: The NIPP has, however, been dogged with several problems ranging from inadequate gas supply to the power stations, security and community issues, right-of-way challenges for distribution equipment and

transmission lines, port clearing coordination hitches and contractor performancerelated problems.

Even though the three tiers of government own the NIPP, equipment imported for the power projects are often delayed or seized at the ports by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) because of nonpayment of import tariffs thereby stalling the execution of some power projects.

Sadly, some of the equipment at the ports were auctioned by the port authorities after demurrage charges had accrued on them. It took the intervention of an alarmed Senate to recover some of the equipment sold off under questionable circumstance.

To sustain and improve on the present achievements, the government should wave duties on equipment for power projects.

It should also address the problem of acquiring the rightof-way for the approximately 3,000km routes for the 330kv and 132kv transmission lines for the NIPP, especially in densely populated areas of Lagos, Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Akwa Ibom states.

Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), Engr Becks Dagogo-Jack’s declaration of 2013 as a “make or break year” for the power sector reform in Nigeria would only be realised if the government resolves the challenges facing the NIPP. Vice President Namadi Sambo, who at meeting with

NIPP contractors last January chastised them over what he called “the slow pace of work on some transmission projects,” should assist them to deliver and sanction the nonperforming ones so that the December 2013 deadline for the completion of NIPP can be met.

But before wielding the big stick on the contractors, the government should tackle the activities of vandals, kidnap of the employees of the contractors and broker peace with the host communities.

Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, drew attention to some of the challenges faced by the contractors when he said that shortly after the “NDPHC diverted the transmission line to the Ihovnbor station in Edo State at a considerable cost because of the presence of a shrine, a new shrine emerged overnight on the new route and the villagers are demanding a huge amount to relocate it.”

Inadequate gas supply During the recent Good Governance tour to Cross River State by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, the issue of inadequate gas supply to the power plants was brought to the team’s attention.

A power project in the state said to be 93 per cent completed is allegedly being stalled by poor gas supply to the plant and back feed. The minister was told that four other power stations in Geregu (Kogi State); Sapele in Delta State; Omotosho in Ondo State and Olorunsogo in Ogun State were affected by inadequate gas supply. The government should henceforth ensure the steady supply of gas to the plants to prevent these capitalintensive projects from rotting.

Also, operatives of paramilitary agencies, especially men of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) should be reassigned to protect power installations from vandals across the country.

46—VANGUARD, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

eager to vote out this clueless party,” Mohammed said last Sunday.

“Keenly aware of this fact, the PDP has now realized that if indeed the 2015 elections are free and fair and conducted in a conducive environment, there will be no chance for the party.

“The party has decided to go for broke: Either there will be no elections in 2015 or the polls will be conducted in an atmosphere of chaos, thereby paving the way for the PDP to do what it does best - rig the elections!”

Noting what he claimed to be the PDP’s game of subterfuge in the South-West, he said: “A multi-billion naira contract has suddenly been awarded for the protection of oil pipelines in the region.

“The main beneficiary of the contract has suddenly realized that the Unity Party of Nigeria, formed by the respected statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is no longer in existence, and has thus decided to revive it.”

Pipeline protection contract

UPN: Is there panic in ACN? PLANS to reinvent the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN raises dust in the Southwest as the hierarchy of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN allege it is another strategy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to undermine it in its stronghold.

A

LHAJI Lai Mohammed, the national publicity secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN was understandably, seething with indignation at what he alleged as the latest machination of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, directed at his party last Sunday.

Before now, suggestions that the ACN, the dominant political party in the South-West or its officials could be harassed in its stronghold with a new party could have been far-fetched.

But not if the new party is the reincarnation of a popular party that reigned almost unchallenged in the SouthWest and had as leader, a visionary ideologue in the person of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

So, it was not surprising that news of the reinvention of the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN,

which governed the whole of the South-West, including Edo and Delta States in the second republic would come as a shock to the ACN hierarchy. It was especially seen as a direct hit at the underbelly of the ACN, which controls what used to be UPN's domain. And hence, Mohammed’s raging invectives was directed at the PDP, which he claimed was set on another game of intrigues directed at the ACN. The fear of the ACN was that it had all the while claimed ownership of the progressive political legacies of the respected sage, Chief Awolowo who founded the UPN and left a legacy of political and economic philosophising that is yet unmatched in recent memory in Yoruba land, and arguably in Nigeria.

So reintroducing Awolowo’s last political party, ACN officials apparently believed, was an attempt to undercut the support base of their party at

home.

Even more disturbing for the ACN was the fact that the move to reinvent the UPN is being championed by Dr. Frederick Fasehun, leader of the pan

being praised for living above board where regular policemen have failed.

So noting that the PDP has decided to go for broke last Sunday, Mohammed at his

Even more disturbing for the ACN was the fact that the move to reinvent the UPN is being championed by Dr. Frederick Fasehun, leader of the pan Yoruba social cultural group, Odua Peoples Congress, OPC

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BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

Yoruba social cultural group, Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC. So a mixture of Fasehun’s undiluted Yoruba centric cultural credentials and Awolowo’s political image was something the ACN hierarchy found more than troubling.

Fasehun’s OPC has since the 1993 presidential election fiasco come to symbolise a sort of cultural standby force in the South-West with the group’s operatives in many instances

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press conference alleged among other things, that one of the champions of the new UPN recently won a pipeline protection contract from the Federal Government, which according to him, was to provide finances for the reinvigoration of the UPN. “The PDP is keenly aware that it has totally lost the confidence of all Nigerians, and the longsuffering people of this great country are now ready and

He further asked, “Is it a mere coincidence that the main beneficiary of the multi-billion naira oil pipeline protection contract is also the same fellow who is promoting the revival of the UPN? “Is it true that the so-called revival of the UPN is to provide a platform for anarchists and end-gamers in the South-West to infilterate the ranks of the progressives and throw the region into chaos?”

Following a meeting of the conveners of the new UPN in Dr. Fasehun’s Century Hotel, in Lagos last Wednesday, Dr. Fasehun replied ACN’s Mohammed: “UPN has come to provide such a credible platform. Those championing the resuscitation of UPN aim to bring sanity into the Nigeria’s political space, beginning with the South-West.

A credible political association such as UPN will serve as a reliable, focused, peopleoriented political vehicle. UPN shall meet the true yearnings of Nigerians for quality education, for free health for all, for a functional transportation system, for rural-urban integration and for mass housing.”

Accusing Mohammed of lying against him on the issue of the oil pipeline contract, he said: “He lied against me and the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, by misinforming the public that I had secured a Continues on page 47

VANGUARD, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 —47

Amnesty: There should be compensation for victims — Nwokedi

BY BASHIR ADEFAKA

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RESIDENT Jonathan had in the past said that he cannot negotiate with ghosts of Boko Haram. Does he need to see them before proposing amnesty for the insurgents?

President Jonathan does not need to see them before giving them amnesty. The only thing is that when you are given amnesty, you are supposed to honour it by not fighting further.

For example, when General Yakubu Gowon gave us amnesty in Biafra, we stopped fighting. This should be the guiding principle for the amnesty committee he has just set up so that under the two weeks he has given them as time frame for delivery, they will arrive at a working conclusion.

So, do you believe amnesty will lead to a stop in the violence?

With amnesty we are moving towards solution. It may not

IGWE Ezeoba Alex Nwokedi, (OON) a veteran journalist, served as press secretary to General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State between 1976 and 1979 and is today the traditional ruler of Achalla in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State. A former chairman, Eastern States Traditional Rulers Conference, he saw action during the Nigerian Civil War, having served as head of Counter Intelligence in the defunct Republic of Biafra.

Coming out of a meeting of some of the country’s leading traditional rulers in Abuja penultimate week, he spoke on major topical issues affecting the nation among them, amnesty for Boko Haram, the pardon of Alamieyeseigha among other issues. Excerpts:

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While we prevail on President Jonathan to grant them amnesty as a means to dialogue, I call on the Boko Haram people not to play down the government’s readiness to go into dialogue with them

be an absolute solution but we will be moving towards it.

So, while we prevail on President Jonathan to grant them amnesty as a means to dialogue, I call on the Boko Haram people not to play down the government’s readiness to go into dialogue with them.

Dialogue has always been the best way to do it, not by violence.

Accepting the olive oil They should accept the olive branch offered them by the government and sit down with them so that we can have peace once and for all. People talk of external forces behind this but I believe that most of these Boko Haram people are first of all Nigerians and they must join hands with government and leaders of the country especially of the North in ensuring lasting peace and stability. Also, arrangement should be made to consider compensation for those who are victims of the whole problem.

Some leaders of the opposition have said the President is not sincere in his

committed the offence and has been to jail. As it is said, he has smelt the rod and he cannot wash off that one. But if he is of any need to his people, there is nothing wrong in calling him to come and be of that need.

You know, I do not believe in all that I read but there are certain things that really …..me, like say, houses in England. I do not believe those things because, to me, they look very outrageous.

But that is a non-issue. The young man has had his punishment.

approaches to solving the Boko Haram problem? Do you believe them?

Mr. President is very sincere.

There is one proverb which says when you are killing snake, at the same time you should be careful trying to ensure that the snake will not rise up to come back and bite you. So, he had to do everything with caution, which was the reason he did not have to go to meet them in Gombe.

In your view, what are the implications of this spate of insecurity to our corporate existence?

First and foremost, you do not expect that we would grow economically in a situation of crisis. Foreign investors would not see that there is insecurity

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in Nigeria and still come and put their investments on the ground here to waste. Also the human loss is enormous.

After Boko Haram do you see Igbos starting their own agitation at least to achieve a president of Igbo extraction?

Excuse me I am not looking for Igbo president. Ezeoba Alex Nwokedi is not looking for Igbo president. I am looking for a Nigerian president.

Okay? So, all these people talking Yoruba president, Igbo president, Hausa/Fulani president are still behind schedule.

We want a Nigerian president to come and govern Nigerians; to come and take care of Nigerians not to take care of the Igbos or Yorubas or Hausas or Fulanis or Itsekiris depending on where he comes from. I want a Nigerian president.

Marginalization will continue as long as we do not shelve our tribe-conscious leadership and begin to think about Nigeria.

What is your advice to President Jonathan?

My advice to Mr. President is that he should continue to do the good things he has started and not be shaken.

People who have been talking

Committing an offence

*Nwokedi about President Goodluck Jonathan, have they ever said he is corrupt? Never! The complaint they make against him is that he is slow.

But the young man has to study the situation. You have to look before you leap. Let us have patience and eventually we shall get to where we are going.

There is never a day they

voted out a prime minister in Britain unless he has done woefully bad. To me, Jonathan has done very well and he should be given a chance to cement what he has started doing.

You were reported to have said that the pardon for Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha is in order. What is your reason?

Alameiyeseigha, well, has

Pardon will make this man, Alameiyeseigha, to go back to the world, having repented, and then mix up with the people to continue to do what he is capable of doing for the society. You cannot say because you have committed an offence, you should be condemned forever.

And we are a nation of fictitious people. Nearly all of us have done the same thing which this man did. The only difference is that we were not caught.

But then when they catch you, you have committed the offence and nearly every Nigerian has committed that offence.

So, let us be reasonable and try to rehabilitate our brethren who had committed an offence and had been punished.

UPN: Is there panic in ACN? Continues from page 46 N2.4 billion contract to guard pipelines. Trouble dey sleep, yanga go wake am. Let us reemphasise that we shall not go out of our way to look for trouble, but if trouble comes knocking, we shall return fire for fire. A word is enough for the wise.”

One of the strongmen of the old UPN, Chief Ebenezer Babatope contacted on the development claimed ignorance of the move behind the reinvention of the old UPN. Babatope who was director of organisation of the UPN and one of the closest associates of the late Awolowo, nevertheless confessed in a telephone chat with Saturday Vanguard that he would remain a member of the PDP until he exits politics.

Babatope, a member of the Board of Trustees, BoT of the PDP when pressed on the issue, however, confessed that one of the brains behind the reinvention of the party was a former personal aide of his while he was Minister of Transport during the Sani Abacha regime.

The move to re-invent the UPN, controversial as it may be, however, remains a double edge sword for the PDP and those against the ascendancy of the ACN in the region.

In the eyes of some stakeholders, the ACN which presently governs all but one of the six South-West States could remain unassailable if the incumbent governors produce the kind of performance that was associated with the old UPN or even better.

48 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Accept regional dialogue, Kerry urges N/Korea

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S Secretary of State John Kerry has called on North Korea’s leaders to come to the table in a responsible way to end regional tensions.

Speaking in Tokyo, the fourth and final stop on his Asian tour, Mr Kerry warned North Korea it risked further isolation if its threats continued.

He also reaffirmed the US commitment to defend its allies, including Japan.

The countries he had visited were united in seeking the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, he said.

On Friday Mr Kerry visited South Korea, and on Saturday he was in China, whose leaders he has said are “very serious” in their pledge to help reduce tensions - and to help end the North Korean nuclear programme.

North Korea has recently threatened attacks against South Korea and the US, sparking alarm in the region.

Speculation has been building that the North is preparing a missile launch, following reports that it has moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast.

Japan is within range of these rockets and has been taking precautions,

including setting up batteries of US-made Patriot anti-missile systems around the capital and sending two warships to the Sea of Japan, with

orders to shoot down any missiles fired towards the Japanese islands.

At a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida,

even further”.

“The US will do what is necessary to defend our allies against these provocations, but our choice is to negotiate,” he said.

“We would hope that whatever considerations and fears the North has of the US or others in the region they would come to table in responsible way and negotiate that.”

Pope says hypocrisy undermines Church’s credibility

P

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) speaks next to Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida during their joint news conference after their meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo

OPE Francis yesterday said clergy and Christians must not betray the word of God with their actions or they undermine the credibility of the Catholic Church.

Francis, elected a month ago, inherited a Church struggling to restore credibility after a series of scandals, including the sexual abuse of children

Mali refugees endure Mauritania camp

T

HOUSANDS of refugees fleeing conflict in Mali are currently enduring appalling conditions in a UN-run camp in Mauritania, a medical charity has warned.

Conditions are so bad that healthy people are getting ill after they arrive, said Medecins Sans

Frontieres. There is only one toilet for every 3,000 residents and new arrivals having to build their own shelters, it said.

The UN said it was taking the allegations seriously, but questioned some of the findings in the report.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR, which oversees the camp, said some of the

Syria conflict: Govt air strikes kill 16 At least 16 people have been killed in north-east Syria by government air strikes, activists have said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR) said the strikes targeted rebelheld areas in Hasaka

Mr Kerry said North Korea had to understand by now “that its threats and provocations are only going to isolate it further and impoverish its people

province around the mainly Kurdish village of Haddad.

The dead included three women and two children, the group said.

The UN estimates that some 70,000 people have died in the two-year conflict.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the antigovernment SOHR, told AFP news agency that a group of rebels used an area near the site of Sunday’s air strike as a gathering place, but that a group of houses some distance away had been hit.

facts “seem to be out of date and do not reflect current realities” - pointing out that there are now more than 2,500 latrines, approximately one for every 30 refugees. Some 70,000

refugees now live at the Mbera camp in a remote part of Mauritania, MSF said, put off from returning home by enduring ethnic tensions in northern Mali.

Venezuelans vote on future of socialism where the late Chavez is

V

ENEZUELANS lined up yesterday to vote whether to honor Hugo Chavez’s dying wish for a longtime loyalist to continue his hardline socialism or hand power to a young challenger vowing business-friendly changes.

Acting President Nicolas Maduro had a double-digit lead in most polls heading into election day, buoyed by Chavez’s public blessing before he died from cancer last month. But the gap had narrowed in the final days, with one survey putting it at 7 percentage points.

Maduro supporters mobilized voters in the rough barrios of Caracas,

revered as a hero of the poor, sounding a pre-dawn bugle call urging citizens to get out and vote.

by priests.

The pope spoke at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, where he celebrated Mass. He also greeted pilgrims and local Church members earlier in St. Peter ’s square.

“Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church’s credibility,” the pontiff said in his homily.

“Those who listen to us and observe us must be able to see in our actions what they hear from our lips, and so give glory to God!” In his first major decision on Saturday, Francis set up an advisory board of cardinals to help him govern the Church and reform its troubled central administration, which was riddled by infighting and alleged.

Thatcher’s funeral plans out

W

ELL-KNOWN hymns and poems will mark Baroness Thatcher ’s funeral on Wednesday, Downing Street says.

Details of the ceremony have been published, including the hymns To Be A Pilgrim, I Vow to Thee My Country and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.

The programme features lines from Wo r d s w o r t h ’ s Intimations of Immortality and TS Eliot’s Little Gidding.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Grantham where Lady Thatcher was born - called the scale of the event a “mistake”.

German anti-euro party holds founding conference

A

A Somali soldier runs near the scene of a deadly blast in Mogadishu April 14, 2013

new German political party opposed to the single European currency is holding its first national conference.

Alternative for Germany wants the euro abolished, with states returning to their

original currencies.

Opinion polls suggest the party is unlikely to win widespread support in September ’s general elections.

But analysts say it could skim enough votes from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s

Christian Democrats to make it harder for her to retain power.

About 1,500 members of the Alternative for Germany, established last month, cheered as party founder Bernd Lucke outlined its stance.

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013—49

Court rules on Ibaland feud

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HE legal tussles between the traditional ruler of Ibaland, Oba Yushua Oseni, and some families in Iba Local Community Development Area, LCDA, of Lagos State, over a land have been laid to rest.

This followed a court judgment delivered by a Lagos High Court presided

by Justice E.A. Adebajo, affirming the Oniba of Iba and the Iba chieftaincy family as the land's legal owner.

The court held: “The defendant is entitled to the statutory right of occupancy over the whole of Isashiland,” adding that the Oniba of Iba is the consenting authority for Isashi.

The court said that the claimants in the suit, Pa Suraju Jinodu, Chiefs Michael Ashade, Ebenezer Babalola Asha-de, Amos Taiwo and Simeon Idowu Alafia-Akapo “are not the overlords of Isashi and Odan-Isashi and are not consenting authority” over the land.

PDP NWC: Court dashes Oyinlola’s hope ...orders party to confirm Onwe as National Sec

BY ISHOLA BALOGUN

J

USTICE Okon Abang, sitting at the Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to confirm its Acting National Secretary, Solomon Onwe, as the party’s Secretary, pending the conduct of fresh zonal congress of the party where a substantive candidate will be nominated.

The court’s ruling has dashed the hopes of some loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, returning to office.

They include the sacked National Secretary of party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; erstwhile National Auditor, Hon. Bode Mustapha and former National Vice-Chairman, Southwest, Engr. Segun Oni. Justice Abang said the court’s decision was in compliance with its earlier judgement of May 2, 2012, which held that the sacked officials were not properly elected into their offices.

He ordered that Bode Mustapha be removed from office as the party’s National Auditor and

replaced with Fatai Adewole Adeyanju, in compliance with the May 2 judgement.

According to the court, Adeyanju was the validly nominated candidate for the post.

Justice Abang’s orders are contained in a post judgement ruling delivered in the contempt proceedings initiated against the party's

Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and three other PDP leaders by the Adebayo Dayo-led leadership of the party in Ogun State.

Others include Onwe, Olisa Metuh (Publicity Secretary) and Victor Kwon (Legal Adviser).

Justice Abang ordered the PDP to rectify its records by deleting

Mustapha’s name and replacing it with that of Adeyanju, as the party’s National Auditor.

The judge also ordered Tukur, Onwe, Metuh and Kwon to constitute a caretaker committee for the party in the Southwest.

The committee is to be peopled by elected delegates from all the states in the zone.

FORUM OF SPEAKERS OF 19 NORTHERN STATES: From left: Speaker, Niger State House Assembly, Mr. Adamu Usman; Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Acting Chairman of the Forum of Speakers of the 19 Northern States and Speaker, Kebbi State House of Assembly, Mr. Aminu Jega, during the opening ceremony of the 24th session of the forum in Minna, weekend. Photo: Govt House Minna.

Arik Air, passengers in verbal battle over delayed flight

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU & EMMA UNA

A

RIK Air and its passengers were, weekend, locked in a battle of wits over a delayed flight, which arose out of an alleged fault that stopped take-off.

The aircraft, marked 5N-MJE, was billed to have taken off for Abuja

from Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, Cross River State, at 11am last Saturday with about 100 passengers but couldn’t as at 5pm, setting off a war of words between the passengers and airline officials.

Although some passengers alleged that the take-off was aborted by a technical fault, an official of the airline said it was

the airline’s policy not to disclose information to non-officials of the company, when pressed for information by passengers.

Some passengers said their anger was the refusal of the airline to give information about the nature of the fault and when the flight would take-off or whether an alternative flight would be arranged for them.

Lagos develops 500 housing units for low income earners

BY OLASUNKNAMI AKONI

N

O fewer than 500 units of one, two and three-bedroom flats are currently being developed for low income earners in the first phase of the Lagos Home Ownership Scheme (LagosHOMS) Estates programme of the state government.

Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, disclosed this weekend, while giving account of stewardship of his ministry in the last

one year, at the 2013 ministerial briefing at Alausa, Ikeja, as part of activities marking the sixth year of Governor Babatunde Fashola in office.

He expressed the state government’s determination to deliver affordable accommodation to the teeming populace, especially low income earners, across the state.

Jeje assured residents of government’s continued effort at delivering more housing units to bridge the housing deficit in the state.

He said the ministry had finally prepared the

layout plan for LagosHOMS Estates at Igbogbo IIB, Gbagada IIB, Ajara, Badagry, Iponri-Surulere, Shogunro II and Shitta housing estates to ensure a well organised and salutary environment within the housing estates.

He said: “About 500 units of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms flat in the LagosHOMS have been developed. The ministry and its agencies will continue to build more houses before commissioning and sale to the public at a date to be announced later.”

50—Vanguard , MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Vanguard CLASSIFIED

LAUNCH—From left: Member, House of Representatives, Shamsiddin Ango Abdullah; Chairman, Finance and Appropriation Committee, Nasarawa State House of Assembly; Philip Aruwa Gyunka and Chairman/Founder, Demdap Adiwu Foundation, DAF, Mr. Paul Adiwu, during the launching of Demdap Adiwu Foundation in Abuja, weekend.

Reps divided over amnesty for Boko Haram

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

A

BUJA—MEMBERS of the House of Representatives seem to be sharply divided over the planned granting of amnesty by the Federal Government to members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

While deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, Mohammed Ali Wudil has advised the Federal Government not to drop the idea, another member representing Jos South/East federal constituency, Bitrus Kaze has blasted the Federal Government over its plan, saying that President Goodluck Jonathan has shown that he is incapable of running the country for contemplating amnesty for the sect.

Wudil, who represents Wudil federal constituency of Kano State, gave the advice, weekend, while fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja.

According to Wudil, “Amnesty for Boko Haram is good. Though they say they are faceless, yet we are feeling the heat. They have killed many of our people.

In fact, even if they refuse to come out, government should go and look for them and talk to them”.

Kaze further opined that the plan of government was unreasonable and could backfire, adding that the amnesty arrangement was a mere political strategy by the president to gain support of the north in 2015.

He, however, warned that

the President will be jilted at the end and he will regret his decision.

He said “I am unable to see any motivation for rewarding unrepentant killers other than an attempt to please their mentors who in the long run will not even support President Jonathan’s ambition”

According to him: “The Boko Haram terrorists have disgraced and ridiculed President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. I am not sure any President of Nigeria has brought so much ridicule to our national pride and sovereignty by his inconsistent statements and policies on security”.

He regretted that “a government that is unable to protect or defend its citizens from years of incessant brutality by the ever rampaging Boko Haram terrorist proceeds to reward the same terrorists even when they in their continued remorselessness have categorically rejected the offer”.

Jacob Zuma, S-Africa President visits Nigeria tomorrow

T

HE South African President, Mr Jacob Zuma, is scheduled to pay a one-day official visit to Nigeria tomorrow, an official said, yesterday.

Mr Sonni Yusuf, the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa, told the News Agency of

Nigeria, NAN, in Pretoria that the visit was to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

He said: “Yes, I can confirm to you that President Jacob Zuma will be paying a one-day official visit to Nigeria on Tuesday, April 16. All the required visas

have been issued to all the members of his delegation.

I must say it is an official visit and not a state visit”.

He said that Zuma and his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan would discuss and consult on regional and continental issues during the visit.

Anambra 2014: Presidential aide denies media report

S

PECIAL Adviser to the President on Technical Matters, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, has dissociated himself from media advertorial about his purported endorsement as the preferred candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State.

Reacting to a sponsored full-page advertorial in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, he

described the advertorial as the handiwork of mischief makers, maintaining however that God loves the people of Anambra and would help them to choose a leader that would bring peace and good governance in the state.

The presidential adviser, who is also the secretary of SURE-P, commended President Goodluck Jonathan for promoting good democratic

culture in the country, and the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, in particular.

He, however, expressed concern over the crisis rocking the various political parties in Anambra State and prayed for peace in the state while urging the people to be resolute in their prayer so that God would bring about a leader who will develop Anambra State.

OCHADA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ochada Rita, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezenibe Rita.

All former documents remain valid.

National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and general public please take note.

N WAO B O L I — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Nkeonye Theresa Nwaoboli, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nkeonye Theresa Umukoro. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OMOIKE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Omoike Joy Iyobosa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Umelo Joy Iyobosa.

All former documents remain valid.

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and general public please take note.

OKURUMEH—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss O k u r u m e h Emuesiritobore, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Emuesiritobore Osarodion-Amadasun.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

NNANABU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nnanabu Chidera Precious, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akuneme Precious Chidera. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ONORIOSE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onoriose Diana Avwerosuoghene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onobrudu Divine Avwerosuoghene. All former documents remain valid.

University of PortHarcourt and general public please take note.

MBAKWE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mbakwe Concilia Ngozi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okafor Concilia Ngozi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UBAH—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nkonye Stephanie Ubah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nkonye Stephanie Odozi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OFUONYE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ofuonye Chinelo Agatha, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oguaju Chinelo Agatha. All former documents remain valid. University of Nigeria, Nsukka; NYSC and general public please take note.

OKONJI—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Ada Okonji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Ogaga Omonade. All former documents remain valid. Ministry of Lands, Surveys and Urban Development, Delta State and general public please take note.

OROK —I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Kufre Ezekiel Orok, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kufre Ime Akpanowo. All former documents remain valid. NYSC Abuja and general public please take note.

Confirmation of Name My correct name is B r a i m a h Osikemhekhai Emmanuel, but some of my documents bear Brai Osikemhekhai Emmanuel. This is to confirm that Braimah Osikemhekhai Emmanuel and Brai Osikemhekhai Emmanuel is one and same person. All former documents remain valid. PHCN Plc and general public please take note.

ODOGUN—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Odogun Joy Eseoghene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Eseoghene Adehor. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AMARACHUKWU—I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Divine Onyebuchi Okeke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Divine Onyebuchi OkekeAmarachukwu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 51

52 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Vanguard Vanguard,,

MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 53

YOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 TAURUS: Although matters-of-the-heart may give you cause to smile broadly, if care is not taken, you would cause friction that can’t help you r case at work. This is the wrong time for unnecessary scheming within your working arena.

GEMINI: Those of your who are red-blooded for romance may have an exciting and satisfying day. Happenings within your social circles must be taken more seriously.

CANCER: Confrontation may come your way in the circle but the heavens are working favourably for you. Some doses of romance is not too much for you on a day like this.

LEO: Provided you don’t allow your innate ability to be as diplomatic as necessary desert you, things work favourably for you to the betterment of your finances.

VIRGO: Many of you will be in sentimental mood and exhibit strong romantic desire openly. But then, if care is not taken, you may be carried away to the detriment of your finances. Serious minded lovers are in for happy day.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

T

HERE is this song I love to sing even when my voice is not friendly, it goes thus “magnify the Lord, oh’ magnify the Lord, the Lord is able”. My friend let me ask you a question: who do you magnify in your

Who do you magnify? life, your problem, your challenges or your God? The truth is that many of us unknowingly magnify our problem. Yet, we

profess to be children of God. If we truly believe in our God, we will magnify Him above every other thing in our life, including our problem. Or don’t

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye”

you know that each time you place your problem above God, you are belittling Him? Magnify the Lord.

Play down your problem. The Lord is above.

Think about it!

By Lanre Kehinde

LIBRA: Whatever anybody says or does, you will have both your say and way. Venus and Jupiter may tempt some of you to embrace illicit (or secret) romance within your base of operation.

SCORPIO: Venus and Jupiter at positive angles may tempt you to join some of your friends who are already onboard of merry making train. Watch your health.

SAGITTARIUS: Good luck will smile at many and induce love of luxury merry making and romantic liason. Genuine lovers will need to be on guard against deceit from new admirers.

CAPRICORN: Both financial success and emotional satisfaction are closed to you than before. Those of you travelling because of maters-of-the-heart are in for an exciting romantic day Those ambitious career-wise will succeed after few struggles.

AQUARIUS: Many members of your opposite sex will go out of their ways to attract your romantic interest. This is the wrong time to engage on unnecessary argument.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

PISCES: If you priority is love, much of it would come your way as desired. But here is a better day for more ambitious in the business world. Don’t allow anybody to deceive you over money.

ARIES: Those of you with secret admirers within your working area will have the needed opportunities to make the needed moves. Resist the temptation to deceive others.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

What’s my Horoscope?

Dear Joshua, I am a middle aged lady born on May 10, 1960.

Although I am fairly successful, I want you to give me my comprehensive horoscope, especially what my special gift is.

Which day of the week was I born? Where were my natal planets and their meanings? Who am I? Ruth, Abuja.

VIRGINIA

dadadekola@yahoo.com

Dear Ruth, There is no space for comprehensive horoscope but what you’ll have here -under is answer to your questions/ You were born on a Thursday and your special gift is LEADERSHIP quality.

YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA Date of Birth: Thursday, May 10, 1960 Sun Sign: Virgo: Sun in 20th Degree of Virgo Moon Sign: PISCES: Moon on 10th Degree of Pisces Mercury in 16th Degree of Libra Venues in 5th Degree of Scorpio Mars in 13th Degree of Cancer Jupiter in 6th Degree of Pisces Saturn in 5th Degree of Aquarius Uranus in 2nd Degree of Virgo Neptune in 11th Degree of Scorpio Pluto in 10th Degree of Virgo North Node in 6th Degree of Leo South Node in 6th Degree of Aquarius Quality and Element Cardinal and air star signs hosted two planets each fixed and earth three each, no planet in fire while mutable and water star signs hosted five planets each.

Push-full influence = 20% Non- push-full element = 80% Final dispositor = Lucky Jupiter General Analysis Just 20 per cent of push-full influence in your chart can deceptively present you to others as a soft (or even timid) person but practical Virgo that hosted nothing less than three heavenly bodies when you were born and Astrological aspects between Mercury (mental focus) and aggressive Mars in you r chart are pointers to the contrary.

Commen3

by Lawrence Akapa

54— Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

"I

Employing a Technical Director in the absence of funds...’

The current regulations of FAP, 3.10, has it that “FIFA member associations are entitled to receive the FAP money provided they employ a Technical and Development Director...”

,

N one breadth you people say there is no money and start sacking coaches, in another breadth, you are interviewing and employing coaches. There is more to this than meets the eye…..”

That is the angry observation that greeted me as I left the Technical Committee meeting, Tuesday, in Abuja. We will come back to this.

In the meantime, let me regret and sincerely too, the financial situation that has made us decide not to participate in the next edition of the African Nations Championship. In Marakech, Morocco, CAF President Issa Hayatou declared that two of his greatest achievements as CAF President was the establishment of the Women Nations Cup and the African Nations Championship designed specifically for those players who ply their wares in Africa.

Nigeria Federation President Aminu Maigari is one of those appointed to serve in that CAF Committee charged to make sure that players who are not able to go abroad are afforded an opportunity to showcase their talent in the continent. Twice, Nigeria tried to take part in the biennial championship held in Cote Divoire and Sudan, twice we failed.

With the successful domestic league experiment at the Nations Cup, President Maigari was sure this time around, not only was Nigeria going to qualify, but go ahead to win the competition to be held in South Africa next year. Alas, reality has ruled otherwise.

Again, let me address President Maigari. About a year ago, the Technical and Development Committee met and recommended that the NFF may not have to stick with the ten thousand dollars bonuses being paid the Super Eagles by the grace of the Governor Amaechi led Presidential Task Force going into the World Cup in South Africa. The board of the NFF presided over by President Aminu, overturned that decision arguing that the NFF will endeavour to sustain the status quo in order to guarantee confidence. They meant well!

Unfortunately this also translated to a situation where in every Super Eagles match, bonuses alone gulped not less than 60 million naira. Add to that international return tickets, local tickets and transportation, accommodation camp allowances...given the number of friendly matches the Eagles played last year, the extended camping programmes, Nations cup qualifying matches, positive run at the Nations Cup……am I surprised that the NFF is broke?

Back to the beginning. One of the earliest disagreements between the Chairman National Sports Commission and the NFF had to do with the employment of Tom Sienfeit as the Technical Director of the NFF. Nigerian coaches protested, that the man was too young and lacked the requisite experience and that in their ranks could be found men fit to take up that position.

The Sports Minister agreed and ordered that

Sienfeit could only be employed if the NFF could prove to him that there was no Nigerian capable of fitting the bill! The face off lingered.

The only time I had to write about this was to explain the job content of the Technical Director.

FIFA said and categorically too that the person, who must boast technical qualifications recognized by the local Association, Continental Federation and FIFA itself, must be able to stimulate “………. the worldwide development of football and its principles, as well as its social, educational and cultural values • Reducing differences in football standards and infrastructures around the world • Establishing modern, effi cient, transparent and functional football administration • Strengthening the technical and administrative capacities of FIFA member associations and the confederations • Promoting the sustainable long-term development of FIFA member associations, as well as solidarity among them • Enabling FIFA member associations to comply with the requirements for membership and for taking part in FIFA competitions……”

I insisted that it had nothing to do with coaching of the National teams (as a lot of people insinuated a plot to take over Stephen Keshi’s job) and that the job of the man was purely developmental with emphasis on youth football, women football, coaches and referees development and so on, and wondered how many Nigerian coaches could fit that bill especially at a time Chief Onigbinde was laboring in arrears to get most of them certified with CAF

Victorious national cricket team returns

T

HE senior national cricket team of Nigeria that won the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 7 at the weekend will arrive the Murtala International Airport, Lagos 11.25 am today by Kenya Airways Flight KQ0532T..

The Nigerian team defeated the allconquering Vanuatu by six wickets in Saturday’s final played in Gaborone, Botswana. By that victory, Nigeria topped the chart

and gained promotion to the World Cricket League Division 6 alongside Vanuatu who were the runners up.

Nigeria and Vanuatu now join Argentina, Bahrain Jersey and Kuwait for Division 6, which will be staged in Jersey from 21 to 28 July 2013 .

At the conclusion of the last match, Oladotun Olatunji of Nigeria was announced as player of the tournament.

,

licences. Few, very few.

Another interesting part of the Technical Director appointment was linked to the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme (FAP). This ambitious programme with unprecedented funds for the development and promotion of football worldwide was established as far back as 1999 with the highly successful Goal Project in tow “….. to motivate and empower the associations and Confederations to organize development programmes that meet their needs and strengthen football and its administration in the long term…”

The current regulations of FAP, 3.10, has it that “ FIFA member associations are entitled to receive the FAP money provided they employ a Technical and Development Director…..” Before 2010, it was possible to hide under Article 8 …Temporary Provision …and get FIFA to manage the funds for you, but no more. In brief, as long as we operated in the absence of a Technical Director, we stood to lose the millions of dollars set aside for the development of the game here in Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of the few African countries that does not lay emphasis on youth football development. There are no leagues for age group football, professional clubs do not have youth teams, so called academies are criminally operated all over the country. Just recently, The South African Football Association ( SAFA) took delivery of over 100 million dollars from its World Cup Legacy Trust programme and straight ahead set up the SAFA Development Agency charged with running an U-13 and U-15 league for boys and women and generally guaranteeing access to infrastructure and expert advice.

As you are reading this, the FIFA President Joseph Blatter is touring Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and Panama planting developmental legacies.

Shuaib Amodu, Kasimawo Laloko and James Peters are just three of the best. Coaches whose experiences over time cannot be faulted, who, thanks to FIFA will not lack funds to lay a foundation, a uniform foundation for the development of Nigeria’s football that is so far built on a faulty foundation called competition…..no wonder we could not repeat the Nations Cup feat, so soon after!

Seen Peter Fregene lately?

Last week, I got this surprise call.

“Apo” Peter Fregene is in Sapele. Paralysed.

He is in need. He needs help and fast too.

Next week I will bring you in detail, the travails of this past hero who today has to beg to eat and pay rent.

If you cannot wait for next week, then call him on 07031868985….he will be glad you did!

See you next week.

‘Woods should’ve pulled out of the Masters’ them.

N

•Woods

ICK Faldo claimed Tiger Woods should have pulled out of the US Masters last night after being found guilty of breaking the rules.

The World No.1 escaped with only a twoshot penalty for an incorrect drop during his second round.

But Faldo said: “For me, this is dreadful. The rules of golf are black and white, and Tiger broke

“I am not going to use the cheating word. He took advantage and he knows he took advantage, and he knows darn well you’re not allowed to take advantage.

“This is a very historic moment in our game. He should stand up and earn himself some brownie points and say to all his fellow pros: ‘I’ve broken the rules, I’m going home and I will see you next week’.

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 — 55

Oboabona inspires Sunshine to victory S

UPER Eagles Afcon 2013 star, Godfrey Oboabona yesterday put up a five star performance as he scored the opening goal in Sunshine Stars’ 30 win over visiting Wikki Tourists Football Club of Bauchi.

Patrick Omorodion reports that Oboabona opened scores for the home side early in the first half to give Sunshine a 10 cushion before the break.

The homers increased the tally before the end of the match to earn maximum points.

In another encounter decided at the Warri International Stadium, Warri Wolves defeated El Kanemi Warriors 4-1 while ABS of Ilorin were really at home as they defeated Bayelsa United 2-0 to bag the maximum points. .

•As athletes fail to meet standards

BY BEN EFE

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JUBILATION......Warri Wolves’ Azubuike Egwuekwe (R) celebrates a goal with teammates, during a match against Nembe City at the Warri Township Stadium. It ended 1-1. Photo: Akpokona Omafuaire.

Elderson wins Portuguese league cup

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LDERSON Echiejile made history with Sporting Braga on Sunday night after he won the Portuguese league cup

•Echiejile

Okoku Continues from BP Keshi to be paying Valere Houndonou was questionable and capable of derailing Eagles’ qualification bid for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, adding that it was curious that it was in the middle of such an important campaign that the NFF thought it wise to begin the reform process in the national team.

The former Flying Eagles star to the maiden edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Mexico, said that if the NFF wanted to be sincere in their reformation process they would have started with themselves, by cutting down on overheads, rather reducing the strength of the same technical team that won the Nations Cup and was in the thick of a World Cup assignment.

According to Okoku, “I just find it rather curious and pained that the NFF

AFN in golden league dilemma

are taking us back with all these issues that are coming out of our national team. It is just about two months that we won the Nations Cup and instead of positive vibes meant for the good of the national team, all we get are news of sacking of Keshi’s assistant coaches and reduction of winning bonuses.

“Of what good is the sacking of coaches to the Super Eagles? It is not going to help our cause of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil.

Let’s get serious and stop all these wicked politicking because it would end up doing more harm than good. If they want to reform, they should start with the federation and not with the team, which they did not give the chance to reach the semis of the last Nations Cup”, added Okoku.

While tracing the current actions to the last

at the expense of FC Porto.

Braga last won a major trophy 47 years ago when they lifted Portuguese cup in the AFCON, Okoku said that NFF were yet to forgive the former Togo and Mali coach over his decision to say that he was going to quit the Eagles post.

“The NFF are clearly pursuing vendetta against Keshi for his decision to quit after he led the team to beat Burkina Faso in the finals of the AFCON. They still have not let it go and feel that Keshi must be punished for daring to dare them in South Africa.

“But what they do not know is that Nigerians are not dumb. They know what is happening and they know who to hold responsible if we fail to qualify for the World Cup. I have never seen a country where the coach who led the team to Nations Cup glory is being subjected to attack by his own federation but posterity will judge and I am sure that the cause of good would overshadow that of bad”, Okoku added.

19965/66 season, while It is the Nigeria international’s first trophy since he moved to Europe six years ago.

Elderson, who in February in South Africa won the 2013 AFCON with the Super Eagles, said on his Twitter handle Eldersonech he was thrilled to be a winner in Europe finally.

“A winner in Europe at last! Still waiting for the feeling to all sink in...” he tweeted soon after he picked up his Taca de Liga final medal.

THLETICS Federation of Nigeria technical officials are faced with the dilemma of reducing the performance standard set for this year’s Golden League as athletes failed to meet up with the mark at the first leg of the meet held Saturday in Sagamu, Ogun State.

It would be a difficult task for the athletes to meet the World Championships performance standard set by the AFN for the athletes to garner scoring points that will qualify them to earn monetary rewards in the five legs of the meet.

Consequently, the athletes held a meeting and made their observation known to the hierarchy of the AFN in Sagamu.

“We might be forced to review the Golden League standard. The AFN will look at the situation, before the next golden league in Benin.

“One thing that is clear here, is that we might not get any athlete to

•Okagbare

City seal FA Cup final ticket

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ANCHESTER City booked their place in the FA Cup final as they beat holders

Maigari Continues from BP pressed by Malawi, who also have five points.

However, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Maigari exclusively told MTNFootball.com he was confident the Eagles will fly high in Nairobi on June 5 on their way to qualifying for next year ’s World Cup. “Yes, we were all disappointed we did not beat Kenya at home last month, but that’s part of the game. The players too were disappointed,” Maigari said.

“Now we have to go and play better in Kenya

participate in Benin if we don’t come up with what the athletes want to hear,” said a top official of the AFN. AFN boss Solomon Ogba who was speaking after the event remarked that it was the first meet of the season, adding that he expected improved performances from the struggling athletes.

“What we had was a mixed bag of performances. Some of the times returned were okay, but some were disappointing."

and win.”

Incidentally, Nigeria had to beat Kenya 3-2 in Nairobi in November 2009 to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Nigeria have two away games, while closest rivals Malawi have two home games with a final clash between the two teams in September in Nigeria.

But Maigari insisted there is no cause for alarm as the Eagles will advance from this stage on the way to featuring at Brazil 2014.

Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday.

City dominated the opening period and a Samir Nasri effort meant they deservedly led at the break and their lead was soon doubled when Sergio Aguero headed home just after the interval.

Demba Ba pulled one back just after the hour mark for Chelsea, but City withstood late pressure and held on to book a cup final date with Wigan next month.

The main talking point at the start of the match was Roberto Mancini’s decision to start with Costel Pantilimon ahead of Joe Hart - but the Romanian barely had a touch of the ball as City dominated from the first whistle

VANGUARD, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013

Eaglets maul Ghana 6-1

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Okoku accuses NFF of pursuing Bassey's vendetta against Keshi Paul column P.54

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

IGERIA’s Golden Eaglets last night began their quest to win the CAF U-17 tournament with a 6-1 thrashing of Ghana.

In the match played in the Moroccan city of Marakech, striker Isaac Success scored four goals, as the Nigerians announced themselves as the team to beat in the eight-nation tournament, which also serves as the qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 Championship holding later in the year in the United Arab Emirates.

With five goals in six qualifying matches on the road to Morocco 2013, Success, was easily the man of yesterday’s match as he scored two goals in either half to propel the Eaglets to a commanding performance. His four goal feat earned the match ball.

ACROBATIC: Chelsea striker, Demba Ba scores with an acrobatic kick against Man City at Wembley yesterday. City won 2-1

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x-international Paul Okoku has accused the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of pursuing personal vendetta against Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi.

Speaking on phone from his base in the USA, the 1984 Nations Cup silver medalist, said that it was sad that Keshi who guided the Super Eagles to the AFCON glory in South Africa a couple of months back, was being subjected to unnecessary attacks meant to frustrate him out of office.

A worried Okoku said that the decision to sack Sylvanus Okpala and for Continues on Page 55

Results Newcastle Stoke Chelsea Sunshine Wolves ABS Rangers 3SC Sharks Enyimba

EPL 0 Sunderland 0 Man United FA Cup 1 Man City 3 4 2 3 4 0 0

NPL

Wikki El Kanemi Bayelsa Dolphin Akwa Utd Pillars Kwara

3 2 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku PUZZLE

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IGERIA FA boss Aminu Maigari has predicted the Super Eagles will get their 2014 World Cup quest back on track with a win in Kenya in June.

African champions Nigeria had to force the Harambee Stars of Kenya to a 1-1 draw at home last month to leave their qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 on a shaky note.

They still lead Group F on five points from three matches, but are now hard Continues on Page 55

City seal FA Cup final ticket P.55

TODAY'S

Maigari: Eagles will win in Kenya

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Attack (6) 5 Tardy (4) 8 Hit (5) 9 Fasten (3) 10 Lapse (4) 11 Row (4) 12 Step (5) 13 Surgery (6) 16 Fat (4) 18 Wicked (4) 20 Coach (3) 22 Prosecute (3) 23 Barrier (3) 24 Enthusiasm (4) 25 Incline (4) 28 Boredom (6) 30 Guffaw (5) 32 Spiral (4) 33 Assistant (4) 34 Jeer (3) 35 Condition (5) 36 Fable (4) 37 Roadway (6)

DOWN 1 Append (6) 2 Deceptive (8) 3 Infuse (6) 4 Rash (9) 5 Wandered (7) 6 Guide (4) 7 Rouse (4) 8 Pose (3) 14 Chastise (9) 15 Obscure (3) 17 Regret (3) 19 Changeable (8) 20 Cot (3) 21 Furtiveness (7) 26 Fraud (6) 27 Tax (6) 29 Dross (4) 30 Roster (4) 31 Hasten (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 3, Taste 9, Ostler 10, Owning 11, Atone 12, Swig 15, Lone 17, Tenuous 20, Woe 21, Logic 23, Fact 25, Arch 26, Hound 28, Arc 30, Distant 33, Dell 35, Edge 36, Paper 38, Reflex 39, Ration 40, Piety.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 1, Boost 2, Stain 3, Tea 4, Artful 5, Tone 6, Ewe 7, Widow 8, Agree 13, Welfare 14, Gulch 16, Nothing 18, Sound 19, Via 22, Crate 24, Tow 27, Divert 28, Adore 29, Cleft 31, Admit 32, Teeny 34, Taxi 36, Pep 37, Ray.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

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lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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