...towards a better life for the people
**
VOL. 25: NO. 62449
ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com
N150
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
Ambode's task force fails, as tankers continue 46 reign of terror on Oshodi- Apapa Road APPOINTMENT OF NEW SERVICE CHIEFS:
25 Generals face retirement •Why Buhari sacked service chiefs earlier than planned
WHEN WILL OSHODI-APAPA ROAD BE FREE?
By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke, with agency reports
A
B U J A — FOLLOWING the appointment of new service chiefs on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari, military sources have confided in Vanguard that about 25 Major Generals may proceed on retirement when the Senate confirms the new appointments. Indications also emerged, yesterday, in Abuja that President Buhari’s forthcoming trip to the United States of
Continues on Page 5
Court releases Lamido, two sons on bail 8
Furore over arrest of masquerade in Enugu See Inside
Mr & Mrs ROAD TO NO WHERE—The traffic madness caused by tanker drivers along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway continues....But for how long? Photo: JOE AKINTOLA, PHOTO EDITOR.
COLUMNISTS: Bailouts in Greece and Nigeria:
Public debt and accountability•P.17 C M Y K
He craves for group sex •P.36
Public officials: What manner of austerity? •P.19
Eid-el-Fitr: FG declares Friday, Monday public 8 holidays
2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
C M Y K
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 3
C M Y K
4 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
C M Y K
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—5
POCKET CARTOON
VISIT—President Muhammadu Buhari welcoming the Director of Community Development and Education, Mrs. Godiya Yohanna while the Director Administration, Ministry of Niger Delta Development, Mr. Yinka Alex Aguda (l); the Permanent Secretary, Ms. Fatima Bamidele (2r) and others watch during an audience with the President at State House, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
25 Generals face retirement Continues from Page 1 America this month for extensive bilateral, economic and financial discussions with US President Barrack Obama, the need to engage his hosts about the terrorism challenges as well as Nigeria’s military capability to tackle the menace c o n c l u s i v e l y, necessitated the sack of the service chiefs last Monday. Vanguard was told that with his appointment as Chief of Army Staff, Major- General T.Y. Buratai who is a Course 29 regular intake of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), all Major-Generals from Course 25, 26, and 27 may have to leave the service voluntarily while a few on Course 28 may be posted to Defence Headquarters. The source noted that General Buratai may decide to post his course mates (Regular 29) and one or two of Course 28 officers to Defence Headquarters.
The source added that the appointment of Major-General Abayomi Olonishakin, a Course 25 regular intake, as the new Chief of Defence Staff, may be the leeway needed for Course 27 and 28 intakes to move up to DHQ. The military source specifically said that those who are course mates to the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General KTJ Minimah and those of Course 26 to 28 may have to retire since they cannot serve under their junior. It was reliably gathered that the appointments of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and that of the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) is the exclusive preserve of the President, while only the CDS and the other service chiefs are the ones subject to Senate clearance. In fact, it was learnt that former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd) had three weeks ago informed the new Chief of Defence
TAKE HEART BY ELLA RANDLE
Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you — Eckhardt Tolle
W
HEN you resist anything, you simply empower that thing, because it already IS. Your resistance will not make it go away. When you say ‘No’ to something that already is will only take up a lot of valuable energy that you might instead use to consciously change the situation. By resisting it, you give it more power (‘ where attention goes, energy flows’), by accepting it, you are freeing up the space that is necessary to transform the situation. It’s a beautiful knowing that everything happens for us and not against us. As difficult as it may seem sometimes, everything is in its rightful place. We cannot see its purpose just yet. Trusting that everything is ok the way it is, no matter what, allowing oneself to surrender to the irrational, relinquishing the need to understand everything right away, is a huge better attitude that gives us room to breathe and to relax and allow life’s many blessings happen for us.
Intelligence, Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan to proceed on retirement leave. However, luck smiled on him when the President on Monday announced him as the new CDI, taking over from Rear Admiral Gabriel Okoi.
Why service chiefs were sacked
On what informed the sack of the service chiefs on Monday, very reliable security sources told Vanguard that “America might wish to know why the military commanders (sacked service chiefs) were still in place, when after several months of being in control and getting huge financial support from the Jonathan administration, Boko Haram is still biting hard. “They will present Buhari with the figures and ask how this huge amount of money was spent, and for what purposes? Why is the result not showing? This is because America will tell President Buhari point blank, that there is a package to assist Nigeria conquer this menace but it will be on the grounds that a new team that is tested and will spare no effort in ending the Boko Haram mayhem is emplaced.” The source said President Buhari will now be able to look Obama in the face and say, “I have a new team in place, trusted, with integrity, and primed to actualize my mission of ending Boko haram insurgency”. Continuing, the source said, “Buhari will tell the Americans that he has set machinery in motion to investigate how the huge amounts of money so far released to fight insurgency was spent and why after such release to the security
agencies, many of the equipment promised, to deal with Boko Haram, are nowhere to be seen. “President Buhari will also show the Americans a blueprint of how he intends to employ new resources, improve and equip the armed forces, to ensure that any suspected corrupt tendencies are nipped in the bud”, the source added. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki said, yesterday, that the Senate was ready to perform its constitutional duty by screening the new service chiefs immediately the upper legislative chambers gets the list from the Presidency. In a statement, yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, the Senate President also clarified the misconception of an earlier tweet where Saraki was quoted as saying the Senate does not need to screen or confirm the new service chiefs appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari. He said in the statement that “ we want to make it abundantly clear that based on inquiries made to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki on whether the Senate was consulted before the appointment of new Service Chiefs was announced, he had in response tweeted that the appointment of service chiefs is the exclusive function of the President as stipulated by the Constitution. “Let it be known that his comment is now being misinterpreted to say the Senate will neither screen nor confirm the new service chiefs. This is far from the truth. “For the avoidance of doubt, Saraki has said his comment is without prejudice to extant laws and court pronouncements on the issue and, therefore, that the Senate will do the needful when the list of new service chiefs is sent to it by Mr. President. “Saraki in a new tweet, yesterday, said: “This is to clarify the earlier position which was not up to date and does not represent the position of the Senate President on the issue of screening of the newly appointed service chiefs. The Senate will perform its constitutional duty when it receives communication from the President on the appointments.” The Senate would resume plenary next week, July 21. President Buhari had on Monday approved the appointments of new
service chiefs and also a new National Security Adviser. This followed the President’s sack of the former service chiefs. The new appointments are as follows: MajorGeneral Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin – Chief of Defence Staff; MajorGeneral T.Y. Buratai – Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas – Chief of Naval Staff; Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar – Chief of Air Staff; Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan – Chief of Defence Intelligence and Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd.) – National Security Adviser.
Security experts hail appointment of new service chiefs, NSA
Meantime, some security experts have hailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of new service chiefs, describing it as a step in the right direction. The experts, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, yesterday, said the changes would impact positively on operations of the military. They said contrary to comments in some quarters, the appointments were not belated but calculated toward achieving the vision of the present administration in the security sector. Retired Air Commodore Yusuf Anas, the Executive Secretary of the Centre for Crisis Communication, an NGO, said the appointments would add fresh ideas to military operations. Anas said the changes were made at a time when much was expected from the armed forces in tackling resurgence of bombings and attacks in parts of the country. “As far as I know, it is a welcome development, it is very timely and expected of every new administration with a distinct programme and
security policy. “Appointing the top echelon of the armed forces at this point in time should be supported because it will inject new blood into the operations of the military." Similarly, a former Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Mr Lawrence Alobi, lauded the choice of the new officers by the president, describing them as ‘round pegs in round holes’. He said the appointments would inject new ideas and add a different dimension to the nation’s fight against insurgency in the NorthEast. Alobi urged the new service chiefs to key into the President’s programme and bring about the much-needed change in the armed forces. He urged them to overhaul the entire security network of the nation in line with the expectations of Nigerians. He said Nigerians expect the new leadership of the armed forces to add value to what their predecessors had put on ground. Another Abuja-based security expert, Mr Ben Okezie, said the appointments were well informed. Okezie said the perceived delay in the appointments could have been prompted by the President’s need to carefully study the situation he inherited from the last administration. He said the President’s charge to the new service chiefs was to remind them of the battered reputation of the armed forces as evident in the recent amnesty report on rights abuses. “The president’s charge to the service chiefs is reminding them of the amnesty international report that indicted the military in its operations in the North-East. “What he is just telling them is to be mindful of the content of the report and work toward correcting whatever wrongs that might have been done in the past,” Okezie said.
6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2015
Paraga sellers close shop in Lagos, as drunk slumps, dies By Evelyn Usman
L
AGOS—THE dead body of an unidentified man was, Monday, discovered at Alaba, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. The deceased, said to have been staggering home after leaving a drinking joint where local gin, popularly called paraga, is sold, reportedly fell and hit his head on the pavement. An eyewitness said the dying man made attempts to call for help by repeatedly lifting his right hand, but that no one made any effort to assist him. The incident, according to another eyewitness, created panic as local gin vendors hurriedly closed for the day for fear of being arrested in connection with the tragedy. Report said when policemen from Orile Division arrived the scene, the man was confirmed dead.
‘My wife is pregnant for her pastor’
I
KOLE (EKITI)—A plumber, Olusola Owolabi, yesterday urged an Ikole Customary Court in Ekiti, Ekiti State, to dissolve his 15 years marriage to Taiwo, because she was allegedly carrying a pregnancy for her pastor. Owolabi, 37, told the court that his wife packed out of her matrimonial home in 2012 due to a misunderstanding. He said: “The pregnancy she is carrying is for her pastor and it will be difficult allowing her to remain as my wife.” He said his marriage to Taiwo had produced two children, who were currently with their mother, but prayed the court to grant him their custody. Owolabi assured the court that he would take good care of the children, aged 10 and seven years, if his request was granted. Taiwo, who did not deny the allegations, raised no objection to the dissolution of the marriage. The court President, Mrs Yemisi Ojo, adjourned the case till July 21.
SALLAH: Business as Eid-el fitri celebration approaches at Ikorodu Roundabout, Lagos, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.
Four die, as oil spill causes multiple accidents in Ogun By Daud Olatunji
A
B E O K U TA — F O U R persons, including a commercial motorcyclist, yesterday, reportedly lost their lives, while others sustained injuries in a road accident on Sagamu-Benin Expressway. Vanguard learned that a diesel-laden tanker crashed, Monday, and spilled its content on the highway on its way to Lagos around 8p.m. Confirming the incident, the state Public Police Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the tanker ran into a bad portion of the road. He said the spill made the road slippery and vehicles coming in the opposite lane ran into it unawares, which made them skid off the road. He said: “The tanker was carrying black oil. It crashed around 8p.m. on the SagamuBenin Expressway and spilled its content on the highway, mostly on the opposite lane. Vehicles coming ran into it and skidded off the road. “We heard that it was only one person, the okadaman, that died. Some others were injured and they are receiving treatment in the hospital.” Survivors However, an eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Bayo, said no fewer than four persons died in the crash. A Dangote truck driver, Abubakar Umar, who survived the accident, said he escaped death by the whiskers. He said: “I ran into the slippery portion unawares and the truck lost balance, skidded off its track before plunging into a valley by the roadside.” Another eyewitness told Vanguard that four vehicles, which were on their way towards the Sagamu-BeninOre area, lost control when
they ran on the spilled diesel. The eyewitness said: “Another truck carrying tyres also fell, spilling its contents on the road. A commercial bus
and one other lorry were also involved, while a damaged motorcycle was also seen at the accident spot.” This led to a gridlock on the
Court remands man in prison for £16,000 fraud By Jane Echewodo
L
AGOS—A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has remanded in prison custody one Sunday Egbefoh for allegedly obtaining 16,000 pounds from one Samuel Ogunleye by false pretence. The suspect was arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye on a three-count charge of defrauding and obtaining money by false pretence. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said the accused committed the alleged offence between November 11, 2014, and February 12, 2015, in Lagos. The EFCC alleged that the defendant had intended to defraud and obtained the sum
of 7,000 pounds belonging to one Samuel on the false representation that he was John MCdonnel residing in United Kingdom on November 11, 2014, and 9,000 pounds on November 22, 2014. The defendant was also alleged to have on February 12, fraudulently obtained N250,000 from the same victim. EFCC’s counsel, Emel Oyede, said the alleged offence was contrary to Section 1(13) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud related Offences Act, No. 14 of 2006. The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the offence when the charges were read to him. Ipaye adjourned the matter till November 17 for trial.
Rainstorm renders 1,000 homeless in Niger By Wole Mosadomi
M
INNA—NO fewer than 1,000 villagers have been rendered homeless, following a downpour at Kuta in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State last weekend. Besides the sacking of the villagers, the palace of the District Head of Kuta, Alhaji Garba Bangajiya, was also destroyed by the rainstorm, while property worth millions of naira were destroyed. The senator representing
Niger East Senatorial District, Senator David Umaru, who paid a visit to the area yesterday, described the disaster as monumental and, therefore, called on the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to come to the immediate aid of the people by providing relief materials. He described the loss as huge and estimated to be around N500 million, adding that it would need the immediate intervention of government to resettle those affected.
expressway yesterday, as all the vehicles on the highway were diverted to a single lane. Operatives of Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, the state’s Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency and police were seen controlling traffic at the scene, while some men were covering the oilfilled road surface with sand.
Security man remanded in prison for rape By Bartholomew Madukwe
L
AGOS—JUSTICE Oluwatoyin Ipaye of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday remanded in prison custody pending trial, a security man, Kenechukwu Okonkwo, 30, after he was arraigned for allegedly raping one Faith Godwin. Okonkwo was arraigned by Lagos State government on a count charge of rape. However, when the charge was read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty. The prosecutor told the court that Okonkwo’s sister was at a Magistrate’s Court trying to perfect his bail, where the defendant had earlier been arraigned and granted bail in liberal terms. He said that the matter had been called five times at the high court, but the defendant did not show up. In her ruling, the judge said: “I do not think that whatever the Magistrate’s Court rules will override the ruling of the high court. The defendant is to be remanded in prison, pending trial.” The matter was adjourned to August 12 and 13 for trial.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—7
Suspect dies in police custody, corpse missing zLawyer petitions AIG By Emma Amaize
W
ARRI—HUMAN rights activist and lawyer, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, has called on the Assistant Inspector General, AIG, of Police, Zone 5, Benin, Edo State, to order an independent and impartial inquest into an alleged extrajudicial killing of Mr. Ejovi Edaferiemu, a mechanic, by police in Delta State and the disappearance of his corpse. He also complained about the unlawful arrest and continuous detention of Mr. Abdullahi Shaibu, a commercial tricycle driver, since June 15. Ikimi said police officers from “B” Division, Warri, on June 15, arrested Edaferiemu and Shaibu for allegedly abandoning a stolen vehicle near the former’s workshop in Warri and subjected them to inhuman treatment. He said his clients, Frank Okodu, Yakubu Shaibu and Yunusa Salifu, searched in vain for the suspects at “B” Division, Warri, and various police stations in the oil city and environs until June 25, when one of them located Shaibu at the State Criminal Investigation
300 level student accused of forgery, motorcycle theft By Chinenyeh Ozor
N
SUKKA—A 27-yearold student of National College of Education, Nsukka, has been arraigned in an Nsukka Magistrate’s Court for forgery of receipt and stealing of a lady’s motorcycle at Obollo-Afor in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State. The student was alleged to have been found with a CY90 lady’s motorcycle without genuine papers and registration number, forged sales invoice of a motorcycle dealer at Obollo-Afor, committing an offence punishable under Section 373(L) of the Criminal Code cap 30, vol. II laws of Enugu State, Nigeria, 2004. It was alleged that the student wanted to use the forged receipts to dispose of the stolen motorcycle. He pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him and was granted bail with one surety in the sum of N80,000.
Missing...Ejovi Edaferiemu.
Department, SCID, Asaba. He said: “One of our clients was granted access, on June 25, to see and speak with one of the suspects, who informed our said client that Mr. Ejovi Edaferiemu and himself were arrested at the same time by the men of “B” Division, Warri, “Shaibu revealed that that Edaferiemu was tortured to death in his presence on June 18, by men of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Asaba,
One dead, as cult war rages in Ogun
after both of them were transferred to Asaba. “It is our brief that the surviving suspect further informed our client that it was just by God’s grace he survived the various prolonged tortures, both at “B” Division, Warri, and at SCID, Asaba. “He said it was after the death of Edaferiemu that he was rushed to the hospital for treatment by the said policemen at Asaba, after he collapsed from the tortures meted out on him.”
DONATION:
National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, officials distributing clothing materials to internally-displaced persons, IDPs, for Eid-el-fitri celebration during a visit to the IDPs camps at the Federal Training Centre, Dalori, Maidugiri, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.
I drug, rape, rob sex workers—SUSPECT By Evelyn Usman
L
AGOS—LAGOS State Police Command has arrested a suspected member of a two-man robbery gang, who specialise in drugging victims before dispossessing them of cash and valuables. The suspect, Ifeanyi Chizoba, confessed to have used the means on over 100 victims, including commercial sex workers and traders. He had reportedly gone to a shop in Festac town, weekend, in the company of his gang member, one Aloysius. He was said to have blown a powdery substance wrapped in a handkerchief into the air, which put the shop owner to sleep. Thereafter, they reportedly made for where the safe was and looted it. But as they made to carry one of the machines in the shop, the shop owner woke up and raised alarm, which attracted residents. Aloysius managed to escape, leaving Chizoba at the mercy of a mob that almost lynched him, but for the timely arrival of a team of policemen from Festac Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Ifeanyin Owo. The 29-year-old Anambra State-born suspect, in this interview with Vanguard, disclosed that he had been into the act since 2012, disclosing
that his main target were commercial sex workers. He said: “My friend, Obi, introduced me to it in 2012. Then, our targets were traders at Alaba International Market. “We would buy sachets of Actifed and Lexotan tablets, grind them together and put them inside pure water, which we produced ourselves. “We would then board a bus going to Alaba, with the traders, from Mile Two. Then, we would
call a sachet water hawker, who, unknown to the traders, are members of our gang. We would buy a sachet and give the hawker N20, who would say he has no N10 to balance us. “We would offer the trader beside us a sachet to make up for our balance. After drinking the water, the trader would fall asleep. We would then alight at Agboju bus-stop and carry the trader’s goods, pretending to be the real owners.”
New magistrate takes over Sanusi brothers' case By Onozure Dania
L
AGOS—THE case of alleged illegal firearms possession and disobedience of court order against two brothers, Sulaiman Sanusi and Kehinde Sanusi, has been transferred to a new magistrate, Magistrate P. A. Adekomaiya. The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Oluwafunmilayo Atilade, transferred the case to a new magistrate after the former magistrate, Magistrate Adeola Adedayo, raised an alarm that her life and that of her family was being threatened. However, the matter, which was slated for the arraignment of the defendants yesterday,
was stalled due to the absence of the new trial magistrate. The new date for arraignment of the defendants has now been fixed for July 21. The two brothers are the children of late Lagos business mogul, Chief Abdul-Rasak Sanusi. In the charge, instituted by Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Suleiman was accused of unlawful possession of firearms. It was further gathered that the charge was as a result of the suit that was instituted in 2002 by Suleiman and two of his siblings against three of their siblings, who were appointed by their late father as the executors of his estate.
By Esther Onyegbula
C
ULTISTS have shot dead a 32-year-old man, identified as Oluwaseun Adebayo, at Eru-Oloja, Mowe, Ogun State. It was gathered that the victim was going home when he was ambushed by three gunmen, who came on a bike. Vanguard learned that the assailants trailed Adebayo from Lotto to Eru-Oloja, shot him in the head near a bush in the community primary school and fled. According to an eyewitness, Leke Sadiq, the victim’s corpse was abandoned at the scene till the next day. He said: “The incident caused panic in the area as residents fled their homes and absconded to neighbouring communities to stay with relatives and friends. “If this killing is not checked, it could result to reprisals and turn the area to a battlefield for cultists. Another resident, Iya Jomoke, lamented that the deceased was shot dead beside the only primary school in our area. “Imagine that it was school hours, one of our children could have been hit by stray bullets. The man’s bloodstained body was on the road overnight, and our children were made to see that gory sight. It was terrible. “The deceased is said to be a member of the Aye cult group. All we are saying is that cultists should go into the bushes and fight, not where people are living.” It was gathered that members of the Eiye cult group, which allegedly dominated Simawa area, had been warned to stay off Eru-Oloja, and environs as rival cult groups were planning a reprisal attack, which had caused more tension in the area. Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident, adding that police had intensified patrol in the area, which led to the arrest of two suspects. He said the suspects would be charged to court. Vanguard gathered that landlords in the area protested to Ogijo Police Division, and demanded an immediate arrest of the suspects, who were reportedly responsible for the killing.
8—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
Court releases Lamido, 2 sons on bail zEx-gov secures bail on self recognizance zTwo sons to deposit N25m each
Eid-el-Fitr: FG declares Friday, Monday public holidays
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
A
BUJA — FIVE days after they were remanded in Prison custody, respite came the way of former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, yesterday, as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja released them on bail. In a ruling yesterday, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who is sitting as a vacation judge, granted bail to Lamido on self recognizance, noting that he was a former governor. Justice Kolawole, however, ordered his sons and their alleged accomplice, Wada Abubakar, to deposit N25 million each. All the accused persons, including Lamido, were also directed to surrender their passports and other travelling documents to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the High Court. Stressing that the documents would be transferred to the Kano Division of the court where the accused persons were initially arraigned and remanded on July 9, Justice Kolawole said his reason for seizing Lamido’s passport was not to in any way inhibit him from travelling abroad, but to enable the court monitor his movements. Meanwhile, the other accused persons were yesterday asked to produce two sureties in like sum. According to the court, one of the sureties must be a civil servant who is either with the federal or any of the state governments, not below grade level 16. The other surety must show evidence of three years tax clearance, own a landed property either in Abuja or Kano State that is valued above N75 million. Justice Kolawole maintained that the title deeds of such property should be deposited to the court, even as he ordered the sureties to submit two of their recent passport photographs as well as depose to affidavit of means showing that they can pay the bail bonds, should any of the accused persons abscond trial. The judge held that once the conditions are perfected, a reproduction warrant should be brought to him so that he could direct the prison authorities to release the accused persons immediately. He said that the case-file would be remitted back to the Kano State Division of the High Court which had earlier fixed September 28 to commence the trial of the accused persons. As at 6:30pm yesterday, the accused persons were still struggling to fulfil the conditions. It will be recalled that trial
A
Former Jigawa State Governor, Mallam Sule Lamido (right) with his two sons at the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan
Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the court in Kano remanded the exgovernor and his sons in prison after they were arraigned over a 28-count criminal charge that was entered against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. They are facing trial over
charges bothering on corruption, money laundering, breach of trust and illegal diversion of public funds to the tune of N1.35billion. Lamido was equally alleged to have collected kickbacks from contractors in the state, with the funds allegedly paid into accounts that were managed by his sons.
Four companies that were allegedly involved in the fraudBamaina Holdings Limited, Bamiana Company Nigeria Limited, Bamaina Aluminum Limited and Speeds International Limited, were also charge as the 5th to 8th accused persons in the matter.
Service chiefs: Shettima hails appointment of two Borno sons By Ndahi Marama
M
AIDUGURI — Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has lauded the appointment of two indigenes of the state by President Muhammadu Buhari as security chiefs, saying Nigeria now has the best of chances to overcome the challenges of insurgency facing it, since 2009. Shettima spoke while hosting members of the Insurgency Victims Support Fund under the chairmanship of Lt. General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd) who paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Maiduguri, yesterday. Shettima said Buhari’s choice of retired Major General Babagana Monguno and Major General Tukur Buratai as National Security Adviser and Chief of Army Staff respectively, was a classic case of putting square pegs in square holes. According to the governor, with their appointment, both men have been given the mandate of liberating their state which is at the centre of Boko Haram activities while they
possess ancestral knowledge of the Borno terrain in addition to being direct victims of insurgency attacks with their relatives killed, their residences destroyed and their towns raided. His words: “Yesterday was the happiest moment of my life. President Muhammadu Buhari made a strong statement by his decision to appoint two highly competent sons of Borno to the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Army Staff. I think his strategy was to get people with ancestral knowledge of the Borno terrain. “Major General Tukur Buratai is
even a direct victim of Boko Haram attacks. He lost family members when his residence was attacked earlier this year in Buratai, a town in Biu Local Government Area. Monguno was destroyed and once occupied by Boko Haram and that is where the new NSA, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd) hails from. “Insha Allah, with the combined efforts of other competent service chiefs and all Nigerians, the war on terror will soon be won by the supremacy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
BUJA —THE Federal Government has declared Friday, July 17 and Monday, July 20 as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-el-Fitr celebration. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mr Abubakar Magaji, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government in a statement, yesterday in Abuja. The statement, signed by the ministry’s Director of Press, Mr Yusuf Isiaka, called for prayers for the nation as Muslims celebrate successful completion of the holy month of Ramadan. He urged Muslims in particular and Nigerians in general to extend the spiritual benefits of Ramadan, which include love, peace and sacrifice, to the development of the nation. He also urged Nigerians to remain steadfast and law abiding as the Federal Government worked to evolve peaceful and virile nation. “While wishing Nigerians a happy celebration, we also urge them to support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in his determination to build a peaceful, united and virile nation,” he added. It is the norm in Islam for Muslims to look out for the new moon of Shawwal at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. He, therefore, urged Muslims to look out for the new moon to determine the actual day for Eid-el-Fitr celebration. If the new moon is sighted on Thursday, Muslims in the country will join their colleagues across the world to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr on Friday. However, if the new moon is not sighted on Thursday, Muslims will have to fast on Friday and the Eid will be celebrated on Saturday.
‘TCN transmits 4,545 MW’ By Chris Ochayi
A
BUJA— NIGERIA has achieved a new electricity transmission peak of 4545 Megwatts through its national network, the Management of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has said. The TCN in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Seun Olagunju, yesterday in Abuja
noted that the feat was achieved at 21.45hrs on Monday, July 13, 2015. TCN noted: “The previous power transmission peak of 4517MW was attained on December 23, 2012. "It will be recalled that TCN management had, only last week, informed the general public that electricity wheeling to the Distribution Companies, DISCOs, has
improved to over 4000MW due to improvement in fuel supply to the power generation plants. “TCN assures that it will continue to work towards enhancing its power wheeling capability and reliability of the network to be able to deliver more quality electricity from the generation plants to the distribution companies nationwide.”
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—9
By Henry Umoru, Dapo Akinrefon, Levinus Nwabughiogu & Gbenga Oke
averted a nationwide industrial unrest and his shuttle diplomacy and relocation of the Army High Command to Maiduguri has weakened the cohesive and organized striking capacity of the Boko Haram hence the resort to cowardly suicide bombings and attacks on soft targets.” Mohammed argued that “the recent appointments of service chiefs will definitely quicken the death of Boko Haram while the new era of transparency has given a new fillip to the fight against corruption. “The blocking of leakages has freed more money for the government to spend on the welfare of Nigerians while the Nigerian dream has been restored and all these was achieved within less than six weeks.”
A
BUJA— NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, took a swipe at the appointment of service chiefs and National Security Adviser by President Muhammadu Buhari, saying under the present administration, security of lives and property could not be guaranteed and the government was derailing in all ramifications. Cautioning against what it termed the needless celebration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, over the appointments, the PDP said celebrating Monday’s appointment of new service chiefs and National Security Adviser, was totally premature considering the corresponding urgency of previous administration in this regard. In a statement yesterday by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be careful with some of his aides and members of the APC that were capable of derailing his government, asking him to guard against propaganda and cosmetic governance.
Democratic institutions no longer free
The PDP noted that under the watch of President Buhari, democratic institutions were no longer free, with activities at the National Assembly disrupted, the nation’s electoral body has equally lost its independence following the appointment of an acting chairman, Hajia Amina Bala Zakari, who has been alleged to have very strong relationship with the President and key members of the APC, adding that under his government, there has been flagrant disregard for court orders. However, the APC countered the PDP’s view, saying that the Buhari administration has remained focused, recording a series of achievements in the last six weeks. Nevertheless, the Labour Party (LP) agreed with the PDP stance, saying the government is bereft of ideas.
Govt overtaken by showmanship
According to PDP, President Buhari must not allow his government to be taken over by what it termed needless showmanship. The PDP advised President Buhari to ensure that his works speak for him, adding that rather than focus on the promises the APC and the President made to Nigerians and on policy thrusts that would move the nation’s economy forward, “the APC has been made to be very high on propaganda, deceitful engagement and cosmetic governance.” Metuh said: “We also wish to bring to your notice, Mr. President, that Nigerians are now
Nigerians are no fools — Nkire, APC BoT member
October 1, 2010 bomb blast at Eagle Square, Abuja, suspect, Henry Charles, at the Federal High Court Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.
Buhari’s govt is derailing —PDP zDecries rising insecurity, flagrant disregard for court orders zBuhari is focused and working — APC zGovt is bereft of ideas — LP agitated that this government has failed to hit the ground running as it promised. They are worried that the President who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration in May, has, two months after, not been able to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy. “They are worried by the drifting of government business in ministries, departments and agencies due to the absence of political heads vested with coordinating important policies, which are now in tatters and taking its toll on the economy as indicated in the terrifying crippling of foreign and domestic investments and harrowing retrogression in the capital market which has continued to lose billions of Naira since May 29. “Instead of engaging in pointless propaganda, the APC and the Presidency should be more concerned about the decline in the economy with the continued fall in the value of the Naira which has descended from under N200 to a dollar they inherited in May to all time low of N238 even in the face of the President’s promise to bring it to same value with the US dollar.
On 5 million new jobs
“Also, we wish to notify you
that in line with your promises, Nigerians are still eager for information regarding the five million new jobs, monthly N5,000 each to 25 million poor citizens, monthly allowance to discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members, free meals to school children and bringing the Naira to the same value with the dollar, among other promises upon which you and your party gained access to power." Metu said though the PDP is still committed to offering constructive opposition in order not to distract or detract Buhari from delivering good governance to the Nigerian people, the records have to be set straight "because of the over zealousness of your spokespersons and some members of your party, the APC in dramatizing some imaginary achievements of your administration in a space of one month. “We believe that one month is such a short time to assess any government, however, when this administration and your party started rolling out premature scorecards of imaginary achievements, it became necessary for us and indeed most Nigerians to X-ray them. “While we appreciate the symbolic gesture by Mr. President in ‘cutting’ his N14 million annual basic salary by 50 percent, it should be noted that Nigerians would not be wavered by the N7million annual donation and rejection of official cars, and forget their expectations for the implementation of his long list of
campaign promises for which he was elected into office. “Moreover, Nigerians cannot be overwhelmed by the gestures especially given that they are pretty aware that the salary is a mere drop in the ocean of personal allowances and privileges that come to the president. "They cannot, therefore, be deluded by impressions aimed to make government appear to be on course when it has only been a case of all motion, no movement, spiced with unnecessary excuses. “Nigerians, going by feelers, have not been thrilled by such orchestrations as other leaders who at one time or the other adopted similar stance did not dither or become laid back, but hit the ground running with governance. What the citizens want is a government that is urgent in living up to its billings and campaign promises.
Buhari’s administration is focused —APC
Responding to the PDP’s claim, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a text meassge, said the Buhari administration has settled down to business in a most focused manner. His words: “To all non partisan Nigerians, the Buhari-led administration has been addressing in a very methodical way the challenges of insecurity, corruption and the economy. “The bailout his administration has provided to states has calmed tension and
In like manner, a member of the APC Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Sam Nkire, said: "It is funny for PDP to blame President Buhari for Boko Haram. This is a problem they nurtured for over five years. Only a foolish Nigerian will buy that story. Nigerians are no fools. They know what pains and agony PDP caused them in the last 16 years. Nigerians trust Buhari to do the job and he is set to do the job in no time. "On the issue of pay cut, APC believes pay cut is of the many ways to save money in government but not the only way. I advise PDP to prepare for the next election. That’s the best they can do for now."
Govt is bereft of ideas —Ajulo, LP scribe
On its part, the Labour Party, LP, threw its weight behind the PDP’s submission, maintaining that the APC-led government is bereft of ideas. Its National Secretary, Dr Kayode Ajulo said: “We call on President Buhari to emulate the example laid by that icon of statesmanship and democratic governance, Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America. History has it that when the war ended, Lincoln had a meeting with all the stakeholders and promised to constitute a unity government. President Buhari has, in his inaugural address and subsequent speeches, stressed that the job of rebuilding Nigeria is not his alone. “We call him to walk the talk by inviting all leaders of the four major political parties who have members who were elected into offices for consultations and cooperation on how to navigate the stormy waters in which the nation is presently anchored.’’ He said the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki (Senate President) and Hon. Yakubu Dogara (House of Representatives Speaker) is a clear indication that APC cannot do it all alone.
10—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
SOYINKA AT 81:
Amosun pledges to encourage young talents O V E R N O R Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, has pledged to continue to encourage full exhibition of God’s given talents of our youths as part of human capacity d e v e l o p m e n t programmes. The governor stated this yesterday, in his address at the sixth edition of the Wole Soyinka International Exchange Programmes as part of the activities marking the 81st birthday celebration of Professor Soyinka. Represented by deputy governor, Chief Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, the governor said the youths played an important role in the society,saying, he would not relent in its efforts to welcome programmes and policies that would contribute towards developing the youths.
G
...As Lagos Speaker hails Nobel laureate By Daud Olatunji
T
HE Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa yesterday, described Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as a role model who inspires people globally. Obasa said this in a congratulatory message to Soyinka, who clocked 81 on Monday. A statement signed by Mr Musbau Rasak, Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, quoted Obasa as describing Soyinka as one who was celebrated for his contributions globally. “Professor Soyinka is a global figure, someone who inspires people all over the world and we are proud to celebrate him not only as a Nigerian and African icon. “We are proud to celebrate him also as a global figure who has contributed immensely to the struggle for peace and justice in the world through his writings, comments, speeches and actions,” the statement said.
Work on Ikotun-Ejigbo road starts next week — AMBODE ...Gov urges citizens to plant trees By Olasunkanmi Akoni & the route on a daily basis due to Monsur Olowoopejo, the condition of the road. with Agency reports “We would make sure that you
L
AGOS—GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State yesterday, paid an unscheduled visit to the IkotunEjigbo Road, assuring the residents that work on the road will commence within the next one week. Governor Ambode, who described the state of the road as unacceptable, assured residents who trooped out to hear from him that the road will get a face-lift very soon. The governor said, “I have come personally to see the state of Ejigbo Road and it is very clear that this is totally unacceptable and there is no other remedy than to let our officials come to site within the next one week and the people of this neighbourhood should be guaranteed that work will start on Ikotun-Ejigbo-Isolo axis within the next seven days”. He said the road was too strategic as it serves as a major link road connecting several local governments, hence it could not be left at the state it was. The governor, therefore, directed the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Mr. Paul Bamgboye-Martins and the General Manager, Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC), Mr Ayotunde Sodeinde to move immediately to the area to commence work within the next 48 hours. He also appealed to residents for understanding when the construction commences, saying that the State Public Works Deparment will be mobilised to provide palliative measure to ease the traffic gridlock often experienced by motorists plying
have immediate relief and that in the course of the rehabilitation the people in the neighbourhood should just bear with us but you can take it for granted that work will commence immediately after Ramadan”, he said.
Gov stresses need for citizens to plant trees
Meantime, Governor Ambode and his wife, Bolanle, have urged citizens on the need to imbibe tree planting as a way of life in order to further engender sustainable environment as well as restore the dignity of the earth. They made the calls yesterday, at different fora to commemorate the commencement of the 2015 tree planting exercise even as he warned residents to desist from indiscriminate felling of trees. The governor, speaking at the Technical College, Ikotun, where he planted a tree, reiterated his administration’s commitment to the preservation of the environment and mitigation of global warming via tree planting. The first Lady, at Yaba area where she also planted a tree, listed numerous benefits of trees ranging from aesthetics to their herbal uses, and urged residents of the state to desist from indiscriminate felling of trees for environmental sustainability. Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment, Engineer Hakeem Ogunbanbi, said the 2015 tree planting exercise is a worthy step to stem the tide of environmental degradation and inordinate exploitation of earth’s resources. He hinted that the exercise took place simultaneously in all
Employers, labour disagree over casualisation, outsourcing By Victor Ahiuma-Young outsourcing was legal and member
L
AGOS—NIGERIA Employers Consultative Association, NECA, and Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday in Lagos, traded words over labour threat to picket employers, especially NECA members for alleged casualisation and outsourcing of workers. At the 58th Annual General Meeting of NECA, NLC accused the umbrella body of employers of not only breaching a Memorandum of Understanding entered by both parties few years back, to end casualisation of workers by member companies, but had not stopped from increasing both casualisation and outsourcing of workers. But NECA insisted that while
companies conformed to legal requirements on outsourcing, the MOU NECA and NLC had spoke of dialogue, due process and respect for rule of law.
TREE PLANTING: From right: Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State planting a tree; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Engr. Hakeem Ogunbambi and Tree planting consultant, Prof. Musiliu Onilude, during the 2015 Tree Planting campaign, at Government Technical College, Ikotun, Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Bunmi Azeez. the 20 Local Government Areas, and 37 Local Council Development Areas, with six sites
Prosecution witness’ absence stalls Ejigbo sodomy trial By Abdulwahab Abdulah, Bartholomew Madukwe & Jane Echewodo
L
AGOS—THE failure to produce the prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of ten persons charged in connection with the Ejigbo pepper sodomy, yesterday, stalled further proceeding in the case before an Ikeja High Court. The development therefore forced Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye presiding over the case to adjourn to today and Tomorrow for the continuation of trial. The matter is being prosecuted by the Director of Public
Airtel to flag off newly-adopted school
L
AGOS—IN its resolve to continually develop projects aimed at promoting inclusiveness and access to quality primary education for Nigerian children, leading telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, is set to add a primary school in Kwara to its lists of adopted schools under its Adopt-a-School CSR initiative. The primary school located at Iyeru Okin, Offa, Kwara State, is to be commissioned tomorrow. Top executives from the telecom,
designated as ceremonial sites across the state to commemorate the annual event.
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, the traditional ruler of Offa, and other dignitaries and stakeholders in the education sector of Kwara are expected to grace the occasion. Speaking on Airtel’s Adopt-aSchool initiative, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, said “Airtel remains committed to making meaningful impact in the society and touching more lives through its Adopt-aSchool CSR programme.''
Prosecution (DPP), Mrs. E.I. Alakija, for Lagos State Government. Persons charged are Isiaka Waidi, 61; Saheed Adisa, 29; Lateef Tijani, 37; Ahmed Adisa, 65; Azeez Akinosun, 36; Jimoh Busari, 50; Adekunle Adenuga, 38; Oloruntoyin Dauda, 46; Buhari Yusuf, 22; and Abdullahi Haruna, 20. The ten persons are accused of torture, attempted murder and sodomy of three females accused of stealing pepper at Oba Morufu International Market in Ejigbo area of Lagos State. In an amended charge, the defendants were accused to have inserted a stick into the private part of Nike Salami and Juliana Agomo at Oba Morufu International Market in Ejigbo. They (defendants) were also accused of assaulting one Ajoke Agomo by stripping her naked, beating her up and rubbing pepper all over her body. According to the charge, the 1st defendant (Waidi) and 5th defendant (Lateef) unlawfully obtained the sum of N50,000 from one Fima Agomo with intent to defraud by falsely pretending that the said money would be paid to traders in the market whose pepper had been stolen.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 11
Ogun SDP congratulates Osoba at 76 By Daud Olatunji
A
VISIT: Emeka Ugwu-Oju, President, South-East, South-South Professionals of Nigeria, SESSPN (3rd right) presenting a souvenir to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC, during a visit by a delegation of SESSPN to Chief Odigie-Oyegun, to rub minds on the state of the nation. With them, from left are; Chief George Muoghalu, National Auditor, APC; Nuhu Yakubu; Deputy President, SESSPN and Dr. Nick Idoko, Communications Director, SESSPN.
UNPAID SALARIES: Osun workers resume suspended strike zSays Aregbesola deceived them; govt pleads for understanding By Gbenga Olarinoye
O
SOGBO—THE leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, in Osun State has directed workers in the state to resume the industrial action that was suspended on Monday evening. This is coming barely 24hours after it was suspended. The workers had suspended their month-old strike after signing Memorandum of Understanding, detailing how they wanted their salaries to be paid, with the state government. The state chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Jacob Adekomi, in a television announcement monitored in Osogbo, last night, said workers should not resume as earlier directed. Hours after civil servants in Osun State suspended the strike over non-payment of salaries, they accused the government of allegedly deceiving them to resume duties. It was gathered that workers on grade level 1-7 in secondary schools and the civil service got full payment of their January salaries, while the senior officers got half salaries. Also, primary and secondary schools’ pensioners were paid 50% of their pensions for months of January and November respectively. Addressing the newsmen on the development, Adekomi, said the workers rejected the half salaries because it was in breach of the agreement reached by both parties. He said NLC suspended the strike because it believed government would honour the agreement in the MoU the two
parties signed. But in a reaction, the ruling All Progressives Party, APC’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi said government’s initial stand was to pay the two months arrears fully as agreed with the labour leaders before the strike was suspended, “but there was a shortfall where the money was sourced from. “In order not to disappoint the workers, the government thought that it is better to pay half and balance up later. I can assure you that the balance would be paid before the end of the week. You know that the government is yet to receive its own share of bailout from the Federal Government”.
The NLC boss said it was agreed that workers would be paid salaries for the months of January and February 2015 for secondary schools’ teachers and those in the core civil service. With the development, Adekomi said all unions that are affiliate of labour movement will be meeting later yesterday to deliberate on the situation.
Govt urges understanding
The government in its own reaction said; “The attention of the State Government of Osun has been drawn to a growing discontent among workers in the state on the partial payment of salaries to workers on Grade
Level 08 and above. According to a statement by Semiu Okanlawon Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor; “The governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, wishes to appeal for calm and understanding from all workers in the state. “The government wishes to state that it realised the need to accommodate our senior citizens, the pensioners, within the limited funds available in order to ensure an all-inclusive payment that will alleviate the hardship that the delay in salaries and pensions had caused. It should be noted that happiness never decreases by being shared.''
UPN crisis deepens as national body drops Fasehun By Daud Olatunji
A
B E O K U TA — T H E leadership crisis rocking the Unity Party of Nigeria has taken another dimension,as the national leadership of the party said it had removed Dr. Fredrick Fasehun,as its National Chairman,since March,2015. The party, in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Chief Bolarinwa Omololu, yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by Vanguard , insisted that Professor Bankole Okuwa is the new chairman duly elected. Omololu, in the statement said Okuwa and other national officers were elected at its Congress, held in Kaduna, on March 6, 2015, adding that Fasehun’s executives were dissolved on the same day. The party’s spokesman faulted
a report which referred to Okuwa as an impersonator and unknown person, adding that he was one of the founding members of the party. The statement read in part, “Okuwa was one of the foundation members of UPN as
far as January 1979, when the military lifted ban on politics. “He was also a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly between 1979 and 1983, where he represented the Ijebu Ode state constituency.”
BEOKUTA—THE leadership and members of Social Democratic Party in Ogun State has congratulated the former governor of the state and leader of the party on his 76 birthday. The Party, in a statement signed by the state Chairman, Chief Olu Agemo said “Without any gain-saying, we acknowledge your leadership that truly, you are a born leader with all qualities that are required to lead people to the promised land. “Therefore, on this your 76th birthday celebration, we rejoice with you and your family for God protection, blessings, and a fulfilment of life that God has endowed you. “We pray that God in his infinite mercies will continue to provide for you, guide, protect, and continuously bless you with good health, wisdom, long live and prosperous years ahead. “We can not but remember all your efforts, spending, commitments, and sleeplessness within the last one and half years of our struggle for fairness justice equity and party supremacy. “You are indeed leader of substance, vision, and mission which God will help you to continually sustain. We appreciate you our leader and a father of many. “We pledge our loyalty and unflinching support to your leadership. Once again, we say congratulations, congratulations, congratulations and many happy returns of the year”, the party said.
Why I set up Public Complaints Commission — OBASANJO By Daud Olatunji
while playing host to the new Ogun State commissioner of the BEOKUTA—FORMER commission, Mrs Oluyemisi President, Chief Olusegun Somorin-Dawodu, who paid him Obasanjo, yesterday, declared that a courtesy visit at his presidential he established the Federal Public hilltop residence in Abeokuta. Complaints Commission when he The FPCC, which has since was a military Head of State to metamorphosed into the Public promote justice. Complaints Commission was Obasanjo noted that the established by Decree 31 of commission was established to 1975 of the Supreme Military create a platform through which Council when Obasanjo was ordinary Nigerians could be the Head of state. defended and secure justice. Obasanjo said he was happy The former President stated this that the commission had
A
maintained its relevance as the hope of the common man, urging the body to do better. Speaking earlier, SomorinDawodu solicited Obasanjo’s assistance in the renovation of roofless office of the commission at Ota in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government area of the state. She also sought for his assistance in the commission’s bid to establish an area office in Abeokuta North Council area to bring its services closer to the people in the state capital.
12—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
Okowa dissolves DESOPADEC board A
By Festus Ahon
SABA—GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has dissolved board of the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPPADEC. The dissolution which is contained in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr Festus Agas, is with immediate effect. According to the statement, board members of the commission were directed to handover all government property including vehicles in their possession to the commission’s secretary. The dissolution may not be unconnected with the governor’s desire to give strength to the DESOPADEC law with a determination to structure it in line with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC model through an amendment of the bill. It will be recalled that Governor Okowa in his inaugural speech, had said that “SMART is not so much a new policy as it is a new approach to address our most
pressing needs. It will sustain and deepen the policy of less
dependency on oil and lay a solid foundation for economic growth
and infrastructural development.”
By Jimitota Onoyume
P
COMMISSIONING: Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State (2nd right), Chief Lee Ikpea, Chairman, Lee Engineering and Construction Company Ltd (middle), Mrs. Mary Iyasere, Commissioner for Commerce & Industry (right), Hon Mofe Edema, Chairman, Warri South Local Government Area (2nd left), and His Royal Majesty, Emmanuel Sideso, Abi 1, Ovie of Uvwie kingdom, at the commissioning of Lee Oasis Ultra Modern International Supermarket in Warri, Delta State.
....As Ijaws reject new DESOPADEC Bill W
By Egufe Yafugborhi
ARRI—IJAWS in Delta State have kicked against the new executive bill intended by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to change the nomenclature and composition of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, contending that the bill if allowed to sail through would be unfair to oil bearing and impacted communities. In a position paper on the bill by leaders of Gbaramatu, Ogulagha, Ogbe-Ijoh, Egbema and Diebiri clans, who addressed newsmen in Warri, yesterday, the Delta Ijaw Oil Producing Communities, said that they welcome an amended DESOPADEC bill, but not on any of the terms expressed by the governor. Those who signed the position paper include Chief Favour Izoukumor for Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, Sheriff Mulade (Gbaramatu), Dickson Asoki (Egbema), Prefugha Karawei (Ogulagha) and Samuel Ako on behalf of Ijaw’s of Diebiri Kingdom. They said “Section 2 of the proposed bill seeks to delete Delta State Oil and Gas Producing Areas and recast it as Delta State Oil and
Health workers call off strike in Rivers
Gas Producing Ethnic Nationalities. To open DESOPADEC to the entire ethnic nationalities instead of the oil producing communities would defeat the essence of addressing impacted communities’ peculiar needs. “What is accruable to DESOPADEC is only 50 percent of the 13 percent derivation. The remaining 50 percent, the statutory allocation and internal generated
revenue can apply to the development of the entire state. It is provocative to take back the 50 percent and now devote same to developing the entire state. “This proposal should be rejected by the state House of Assembly. When salt loses its savour, it loses its value. It is not only illogical, but also semantically incoherent. The negative effect is that politicians who are not from core oil producing communities would be
the ones to determine the direction of the commission to the detriment of the oil and gas producing communities.” According to the Delta Ijaws, the problem with DESOOADEC is not with its name but primarily due to lack of transparency and over bearing interference by government officials inthecommissionwhilealsocallingfor equalrepresentationamongtheethnic spread of the commission as currently constituted.
2016: Edo monarchs 'll back Oshiomhole's nominee —ONOJIE By Simon Ebegbulem
B
ENIN CITY—THE Onojie of Opoji and first Vice Chairman, Edo State Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs, His Royal Highness, Ehidiamen Aidonojie 1, has said that the traditional rulers in the state will back any governorship candidate endorsed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole for 2016 poll. He described as tremendous, the opening of rural communities and infrastructural development of the state by the governor,
adding that traditional rulers in the three senatorial districts of the state have been accorded their privileges and respects as stipulated by the constitution by the governor. Briefing newsmen, yesterday, on the activities for his 29th coronation and 60th birthday anniversary scheduled for this weekend at Opoji, Esan Central Local Government Area of the state, he said: “We want a
governor that will have the kind of heart like Oshiomhole. Oshiomhole has made sure that we are comfortable. We do not want a governor that will bring us back to poverty. What I mean by that is whatever percentage you are sending to the council even when they say it is five percent, they give you one and half percent or two percent, we don’t want that kind of government."
Gov Emmanuel inaugurates transition c'ttees for LGs
U
By Tom Moses
YO—GOVERNOR Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom State, yesterday, inaugurated 31 transition committee Chairmen to administer local government areas, following the expiration of the tenure of the elected council executives last week. He warned the transition committee chairmen not to see
their appointments as a reward for political investments but a call to service. According to Governor Emmanuel, the appointments were for them to prove their competence to provide leadership with the possibility of being called up to serve in other capacities as well as prove to their people that they are worthy of public trust.
ORT HARCOURT— PRIMARY health workers in Rivers State, yesterday, called off their one year old strike. The announcement was made after a meeting between the workers executives and the Deputy governor of the state, Mrs Ipalibo Banigo. A statement by Mr Paulinus Nsirim, Chief Press secretary to the deputy governor, said that Governor Nyesom Wike directed Mrs Banigo, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health and the Rivers State Primary Health Management Board to resolve the issues that led to the strike by the workers. In another development, hundreds of protesting disabled youths under the aegis of Niger Delta Coalition of Disabled Persons, yesterday, caused major traffic on Aba Road as they demanded for policy attention from the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
Tribunal rejects NCP's move to quash petition against INEC By Samuel Oyadongha
Y
ENAGOA—THE Bayelsa State Election Petition Tribunal, yesterday, struck out the application by the leadership of National Conscience Party, NCP, seeking to quash the case by the party’s flag bearer, Chief Angbapu Dekite, against his exclusion from the March 28 National Assembly polls by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Chairman of NCP in Bayelsa State, Mr. Lucky Akpeli, had in a counter suit at the tribunal sought to discontinue the petition by Chief Dekite against INEC and the eventual winner of the National Assembly election in Bayelsa Central senatorial district, Senator Emmanuel Paulker. Akpeli, in his counter application, had claimed that the petitioner had joined the NCP in the suit against INEC and Senator Paulker without the knowledge of the party and its leadership.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—13
COMMISSIONING: From left, Mr. Clive Robinson, Regional Director, Africa for Curves International, Mr. Emma Esinnah, Country Director, for Curves in Nigeria, Mr. Brian McCleary, Commercial Counsellor, US Embassy, representing the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, immediate past Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Plc, and Mrs. Amanda Coetsee, Operations Director, Africa for Curves, at the commissioning of the first outlet in Nigeria of Curves Ladies-only Fitness franchise in Lagos.
From left: Mr. Clive Robinson, Regional Director, Africa for Curves International, Mrs. Amanda Coetsee, Operations Director, Africa for Curves, Mr. Emma Esinnah, Country Director, Nigeria, and Mr. Brian McCleary, Commercial Counsellor, US Embassy in Nigeria, representing the US Ambassador at the event.
Shell's pipeline spilled 306 barrels of crude —JIV REPORT Y
By Emem Idio
E N A G O A — A breach on a 20 inch crude delivery pipeline from Kolo Creek fields to Rumuekpe in Rivers State, discharged some 306 barrels of crude into the swamps. The Kolo-Creek Fields trunk in Bayelsa State is linked to Rumuekpe pipelines in Rivers State enroute the Bonny Terminal. According to a Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, report, the spill impacted a total area of 3.61 hectares beyond the oil firm’s right of way. Residents of Oruma-Yibama community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, had raised alarm over the non-commencement of clean-up of an oil spill site more than a month after the incident. The community reported inflow of crude oil from Shell oil fields located in Odau in Rivers State on June 2, 2015. The JIV report also indicated that the oil leak was caused by activities of suspected oil thieves who had breached the pipeline
and connected a pipe to siphon crude. The report stated that the investigation team suspected that the vandals had malicious
B
ENIN CITY—THERE are strong indications that many teachers in public secondary schools in Edo State may soon be posted to rural areas, as Governor Adams Oshiomhole has charged the newly inaugurated Post-Primary Education Board to look into the lopsidedness in the ruralurban posting of teachers in the state. Speaking after inaugurating the board in his office, yesterday, Oshiomhole said
representatives of Shell, community, National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency conducted the joint investigation on June 24 and 25.
Unions fault quit order to Arco on Ebocha, Kwale plants of Arco workers at OB/OB, By Jimitota Onoyume
P
ORT HARCOURT— NATIONAL Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN have accused Agip of violating a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State order with its recent alleged directive to Arco Petroleum Nigeria Llimited to vacate its plants at OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale with
immediate effect. In a joint statement, yesterday in Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Godwin Eruba and the PENGASSAN Chairman in the zone, M. Azubuike, said the two unions would not hesitate to call on their members to embark on industrial action if the oil company continues to ignore the orders of the court. The unions also called for the immediate payment of alleged accumulated overhaul allowances
Ebocha and Kwale gas plants. “NUPENG and PENGASSAN strongly condemn the quit order given to Arco Petroleum (Nigeria) Plc by NAOC to vacate their plants at OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale with immediate effect to give way for Plantgeria (Nigeria) Limited, to take over the plant. The unions refer to a subsisting Federal High Court injunction barring NAOC from taking any action till October 26, 2015 when the case is to come up for hearing, the union added.
Ayade lauds Buhari on new Navy Chief
C
ALABAR—GOVERNOR Ben Ayade of Cross River State, yesterday, expressed the
More Edo teachers for rural communities By Simon Ebegbulem
intention and channelled the crude oil leaking from the pipeline to aid its spread to wider areas. It was further gathered that
that there was a big racket in the posting of teachers to choice schools in preferred locations to the detriment of other schools in more remote parts of the state. He said that while he had taken steps in the past to block the loopholes exploited by the said teachers to circumvent the system, he noted that they found other ways to beat the system.
gratitude of the government and people of the state to President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointment of an indigene of the state, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, as the new Chief of Naval Staff. Governor Ayade noted that by the appointment of Admiral Ekwe Ibas as the new naval chief, President Buhari has indeed demonstrated his avowed declaration that he would be
president for all. Rear Admiral Ibas hails from Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State. In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Ita, Governor Ayade said: “I wish to express my sincere gratitude to President Buhari, for the appointment of our son and brother, Rear Admiral Ibas as the new Chief of Naval Staff."
Wike inaugurates traffic management c'ttee
P
ORT HARCOUT— G O V E R N O R Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, yesterday, inaugurated Traffic M a n a g e m e n t Committee, TDC and commended the Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, for the initiative to ease vehicular movement in the state capital. Speaking during the inauguration in Port Harcourt, Wike urged the members to use the opportunity to serve the state and humanity and not to enrich themselves. He said that the state Traffic Management Authority, TIMARIV, was disbanded because ‘they went out of their normal duty.’ “I hope you will work within the responsibility you are given, so that we do not go back to the TIMARIV days when people lamented.” Wike assured the Commissioner of Police that the state government will provide the necessary logistics to support TDC.
14 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
FG, APC must apologise for misleading public over bailout funds —Group
M
Mr. Luquman Mamudu, Director Polity and Strategy NAC (m) explaining a point during the facility tour of new Volkswagen Assembly Plant in Lagos. Extreme left is Haresh Vaswani, Vice Chairman, Stallion Group of companies.
Wolfgang Ratz, Head, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group Africa (right), cuts the tape, at the inauguration of the Volkswagen new assembly plant in Lagos, with Haresh Vaswani, Vice Chairman, Stallion Group of companies.
We've jammed Radio Biafra transmission signals — FG A
BUJA—THE Federal transmission signals of Radio Biafra, Government said on Tuesday that which had been operating illegally from it had succeeded in jamming the an unknown location. Dr Yemi Folasade-Esan, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Information, stated this while speaking with State House correspondents after he had briefed President Muhammadu Buhari ITHIN THIS period when we are about to bid on the activities of the minRamadan good bye, the issue of Zakatul-fitr is istry. paramount. We have to keep emphasising it as much as Folasade-Esan said that to touch all aspect of it. Yesterday we discussed some vital Buhari was adequately areas of importance even as we cannot exhaust it, we briefed on the activities of also have give ample time to look at other areas such as the illegal radio station what kind of food, calculation and the discourse on whether and the successful blockwe can give it in money. ing of its transmission sigWe have been taught that one Saa is for one person. But what is a Saa? A Saa was and still is a measurement nals. “We also gave a report on of volume, similar to the size of a medium bowl. It is made up of four mudds, and a mudd is a smaller (Radio Biafra) that right container, close to the size of a small bowl. The mudd is not simply a double-handful. A mudd is an actual physical container (like a small bowl or pot, or a large cup), a standardized unit of measurement, one that was widely in use in the time of the Prophet (s.a.w) The contemporary equivalent of the mudd can be found in most local mosques. All you need do is to ask your local imam for one. We have said earlier on this column that it has to be given in staple food common in your area or that which is loved by your prospective recipients. In essence, one Saa or four mudds should be given on one person. If you have a family of five for example, (father, ENIN—A Peoples mother, two children and one domestic servant); what Democratic Party, you will give is 20 mudds of the staple food you have PDP, chieftain in Edo State, chosen. If your mother is not living with you but asks you Prince Sani Usman, has to pay on her behalf, it becomes obligatory on you to do asked Governor Adams that. Oshiomole of Edo State to It should be noted that the measurement must be correct stop picking holes in the because the Prophet prescribed it as an amount of food past activities of Mrs. Ngozi which fulfills the needs of one family for at least a day. Okonjo-Iweala. Anyhow, this is the obligatory amount which every The party chieftain was Muslim should pay. It is better and recommended that reacting to assertion by Govone pays an extra amount, particularly for those who are ernor Oshiomole, at a Seminar in Benin that Dr. Ngozi wealthy, for they will be rewarded for it. Okonjo-Iweala illegally withdrew $1 billion from the Payment in money The Hanafis school of thought permitted the payment Federation Account to prosof Zakat-ul-Fitr in money. However, the other three schools ecute the re-election bid of did not permit this. Their argument is that the Prophet former President Goodluck did not do so and hence its payment in money contradicts Jonathan. Usman said though indithe Sunnah of the Prophet. But some contemporary viduals are entitled to their scholars support the Hanafi’s view since people may still need money to process the food and if the recipient has opinions, the comments to Governor no money, the purpose of given the food may not be credited Oshiomole were unbecomrealised. Again, since the purpose of Zakat-ul-Fitr is to ing of a Chief Executive of fulfill the needs of the poor, this can also be achieved in a state. money especially if the recipient needs money more. According to him: “If GovThey further submitted that the period of famine was more ernor Oshiomole admitted useful for the payer to give it in foods, that if money is to have a vast knowledge more useful, then its payment in money is better. These and workings of governdivergent opinions have also continued till date. Even ment, he should know that in our own environment, scholars are divided on the issue. the erstwhile Finance MinBut suffice to say that we should consider the position of ister cannot withdraw any the prophet on giving it in food first, and if the need for money without due apmoney for the recipient becomes imperative, then money proval by the National Ecoequivalent becomes necessary. nomic Council.
ZAKAT-UL-FITR: Calculation and
payment in money
W
EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT: Leave Okonjo-Iweala alone —PDP chieftain
B
now, the signals from Radio Biafra have been jammed. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has successfully jammed that. “The NBC is also working with security operatives to get those behind that radio because it is an illegal radio. It is not licensed by anybody to be on Nigeria’s airwaves.“ The permanent secretary disclosed that she also briefed the President on
OVE ON Nigeria, a sociopolitical action group committed to good governance and accountability has asked the All Progressives Congress, APC and Federal Government to apologize for misleading Nigerians on the issue of bailout funds for the states. In a statement by Mr. Clem
the activities of the nine parastatals and agencies under the ministry as well as the Federal Information Centres in the states of the federation. According to her, the president raised concern about piracy and instructed the ministry to work harder to reduce piracy to ensure that the producers of intellectual property such as Nigerian movies, get what is due to them.
Aguiyi, National Coordinator of the group, it said that in the light of the revelations made recently by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Babs Omotowa, that the money they paid to the Buhari led federal government was actually 2014 Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and not dividends as claimed by the Federal Government, the government should apologize to Nigerians It said, “the government must give the people a reason to trust it especially given that there have been all sorts of lies to cover up government’s inaction since its inauguration almost two months ago."
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—15
Imo pensioners spoil for war with IMSG By Chidi Nkwopara
O
WERRI—IMO State Branch of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, has given the state government 14 days ultimatum to pay pension arrears owed members of the union in the state or face the wrath of the senior citizens. The state NUP Chairman, Chief Gideon Ezeji, who made the feelings of the union known during a media briefing, yesterday, in Owerri, also rejected the 36 months instalmental payment of five months pension proposed by the state government. “Should Imo Government fail to pay arrears of pension owed pensioners by July 27, the State Council of NUP would be summoned for their mandate to take further action,” Ezeji said. He appealed to Governor Rochas Okorocha to use part of the bailout it recently got from the Federal Government to settle the backlog of pension arrears owed members, noting that pension must be treated as first charge as stated in the constitution. According to Ezeji: “Primary
school teachers, who retired from 1991 upwards are as at the end of June, 2015, owed 18 months and the retired local government pensioners six months.” He recalled with grief that the payment of 73 months of harmonization, 180 per cent and 142 per cent arrears approved
by former Heads of State, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Olusegun Obasanjo respectively and benefits of Alvan Ikoku College of Education retirees were still outstanding. While recalling that Imo NUP recently stated through its State Secretary, Mr. Livinus Asiegbu, that pensioners in the
state were owed more than N17 billion by the state government, Ezeji also frowned at what he tagged “the lopsided agreement which the state government claimed it entered with Imo labour unions concerning pensioners without NUP officials in attendance.”
INSPECTION: Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu (2nd right), during an inspection tour of Udeagbala Road in Aba. With him, from left are, Engr. Uduma Uduma, Director of Civil Engineering, Ministry of Works; Richard Nwala, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works; Engr. Sunday Okpara, Director Road Maintenance, and Chief Joe Umezurike, contractor handling the project.
....50 traditional rulers denied monthly stipends By Chidi Nkwopara
O
WERRI—FIFTY traditional rulers who have issues with Governor Rochas Okorocha, are in for fresh trouble as they have been denied their monthly stipends. According to one of the traditional rulers, Eze Donald Nnabue, “this latest action is a pointer to what would have befallen us if we had appeared before the illegal panel set up by Eze Sam Ohiri”. While saying that the 40 monarchs who dragged Governor Rochas Okorocha to court have vowed to pursue their case to a logical conclusion, despite the palpable intimidation they are facing, the royal father however reasoned that the defendants had already made their conclusions on what to do with them before inviting them to the panel. When pressed further to prove his allegation of non-payment of their stipends, Eze Nnabue said that on Friday last
week, they received a text message which read: "please come on Monday for your April and May cheques at the Parliament, but on getting there, the cashier told us that they had instruction not to pay us.” The monarchs accused Eze Ohiri of ensuring that this punitive action against them are carried out to the letter but restated that they will not be deterred. “This is a fight between justice and rule of law against injustice and impunity. We remain unshaken”, the royal father said. Feelers emanating from government circles maintained that the punishment for the traditional rulers have been categorized. It was gathered that the royal fathers who appeared before the Panel will have their six months allowances seized, while the 40 monarchs that went to court will not be paid for one year.
Okorocha charges new army officers to think Nigeria By Chidi Nkwopara
O
WERRI—IMO State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has charged the newly commissioned Direct Short Service, DSS, army officers of course 22 of 2015, to always defend the nation. Gov. Okorocha, who made the call when nine officers of Imo extraction paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Owerri, also reiterated that their uniform is a clarion call to serve their fatherland. “It is a thing of joy that the state has produced vibrant officers that have distinguished themselves in different professions and ready to perform their duties effectively,” Okorocha said. He described the courtesy call as “a wakeup call to Imo indigenes to pick interest in military and paramilitary services,” to enable them contribute their own quota towards the development of the nation. Speaking earlier, the leader of the officers, Lieutenant E.C. Chukwu, said that the aim of their visit was to familiarize with the governor.
Gladstone Awoniyi for burial
M
R. GLADSTONE Awoniyi, aged 39, President, Junior Chamber International, JCI, who died recently, will be buried Thursday, July 16, at Vault and Gardens Cemetery, Lekki-Epe Expressway, after a funeral service at RCCG, Christ Church, Gbagada, Lagos. A service of songs holds today at Power House Auditorium, RCCG Christ Church, Gbagada. Late Mr. Awoniyi is survived by wife, a daughter, aged parents, sisters, and a brother.
Late Mr. Awoniyi
16—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
NCC report puts Glo ahead of others in New Subscriber Acquisition
T
HE NIGERIAN Communications Commission (NCC), in its latest report on subscriber figures for the telecom industry, has put total ICT solutions provider, Globacom, ahead of others in new subscriber acquisition in the first five months of 2015. The report monitored on the regulator ’s website indicates that Globacom has emerged the preferred network of new telephone subscribers as it recorded the highest number of new lines with 2,263,346 activations in the first five months of this year. NCC reports that Glo which had 28,219,089 active lines at the end of December 2014 recorded a subscriber base of 30,482,435 at the end of May 2015, showing a significant addition of 2,263,346 new customers even in the face of stiff competition. Globacom’s figure showed the highest growth in the industry within the first five months of 2015.
Tribunal strikes out APC petition against Gov Ikpeazu By Anayo Okoli
U
MUAHIA—ABIA State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia has dismissed the petition filed by the
governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 2014 elections, Chief Chinenye Nyerere Ayim, against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and his party, PDP. The tribunal dismissed the
petition, citing negligence and lack of diligence in prosecution on the part of the petitioners as the reason. Counsel to the respondents, including Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, his party, the PDP and Independent National Electoral
Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi (wearing a hat), Nigeria Labour Congress President, Ayuba Wabba, and other officials of the NLC, during Governor Umahi's visit to Labour House, in Abuja, yesterday.
Commission, had told the tribunal that neither the petitioners nor their counsels were in court and that no letter was sent by them to explain their absence. Citing relevant sections of the Electoral Act, counsel to INEC, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, prayed the Tribunal to apply the mandatory provisions of the relevant section of the law, which he said mandated the tribunal to dismiss the petition because the petitioners failed to appear for the matter. PDP Counsel, Mr. Henry Balaogu, observed that the petitioners and their counsels were in the court on the last day of adjournment and were aware of the yesterday’s sitting but deliberately chose to be absent and urged the Tribunal to strike the matter out. Also, counsel to the 5th and 6th Respondents, Mike Onyeka concurred and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition, saying it was clear that the petitioners have lost interest in the matter. The Tribunal Chairman, Justice Usman Bwala, while dismissing the petition cited relevant sections of the Electoral Act which he said the petitioners failed to comply with in the prosecution of the matter.
NASS CRISIS: Bury you differences for Nigeria’s sake, Buhari pleads
with APC leaders By Levinus Nwabughiogu
A
BUJA—CRISIS rocking the All Progressives Congress, APC following the national assembly leadership election may soon be over as President Muhammadu has again appealed to the leaders of the party to sheath their swords for the sake of the country. This came as the national leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu lambasted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other Nigerians who accused Buhari’s administration of snailpacing. To Tinubu, the 16-years mess of the PDP cannot be automatically cleaned up in 30 days. Both men spoke at the breaking of Ramadan fast at the new Banquet Hall at the Presidential Villa late last night. Recalling the challenges APC conquered to get to power, President Buhari who hosted the party ’s leaders stated that for the party to deliver on its campaign
.APC can’t clean up PDP 16 years mess in 30 days —Tinubu
promises, the leaders needed to resolve their differences. “I always like to go down memory lane to show how lucky we are as a political group. At no stage was the decision taken by chance it was all deliberate. The leaders of the parties felt the only way to wrestle power from the PDP was for us to come together. I in particular was scared after previous failures of the elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011. “We dissolved our various parties to form APC then we applied to INEC, for once I was grateful to INEC. We had gone with nine people to INEC to apply and INEC advised us that we needed at least 25 people across the people to form a political party. We were able to go back raised 35 members across the country and then successfully registered the party. “INEC then informed the federal government that we have met the requirements hence we cannot be denied registration. Many doubting Thomases said merger has never succeeded in Nigeria but here we are.
“I went into this long explanation so that you will appreciate how far we have come and for a society as ours, if we respect the constitution, then all the greed and problems will be a thing of the fast. “We should just look at Nigeria as Nigerians, no matter the level you are, loss your influence so that we can help achieve the manifestos security, economy, employment and corruption because if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. We have to ensure that people we bring forward are those that will move the society forward”. While appreciating the President for the opportunity of breaking Ramadan fast with him, Tinubu who also described APC as the Armoured Personnel Carrier, said the party represented the diversity of Nigeria. He pledged total support to the government of the day, assuring President Buhari of success in office. He said, “We believe this diversity will continue to propel us for economic growth
under your leadership. “This is the first Ramadan after the election. We thank God for cutting down the opponents 60 years of fake promises to 16 years. “I heard they say we are slow. Yes, we didn’t campaign to be fire fighters, but planners and meticulous one at that. A latrine pit of 16 years can’t be cleaned up in 30 days because the mess is much. “Mr. President you started well, you hit the ground running. You promised Nigerians that you’ll address security and your first meeting to ECOWAS was on security because we cannot fight alone. “You have been to others places. If they think is a game of ludo, we will say is serious business. If they forgot G7 we will remind them. “We have faith in you Mr. President. We have faith in your capacity and uprightness. I’m here filled up and not fed up. “We promise to continue to be with you and support. No matter what they are saying we are not re-running the election until four years time. We pray to God to give us four more years of this month and
pray to Him to forgive our misdeeds, and for peace and stability, with this Nigeria i s a promise to the future. Mr. President, your hands are on the plough and you will succeed “, he said.
Helen Ekunkunbor is dead
M
RS. HELEN Ekunkunbor (nee Mensah) is dead, aged 61. She died on June 28, 2015. Service of songs will hold on Thursday, July 23, at the Sports Wr i t e r s Association of Nigeria, S WA N , H a l l , National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. Funeral service follows on Late Mrs. Ekunkunbor Friday, July 24, at the African Church Bethel, 10-12, Kadiri Street Surulere, Lagos, while interment will take place at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba. She is survived by husband, four children, four grand children, aged mother, brothers and sisters.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 17
T
HE debate over the possibility of Greece leaving the Eurozone due to its inability to repay its debts, led me to think about the usefulness and purpose of the African Union, AU. Beyond defending war criminals (a most unfortunate reputation), I wonder if anyone could argue that the AU has truly helped develop Africa. An institution that is so dependent on the whims and funds of international donor agencies, cannot have the capacity to effect any sort of meaningful change. The European Union, EU, was conceived to stabilise Europe both politically and economically, in reaction to historical events (the Second World War, for instance) which divided and destroyed the continent. The AU does not enable Africans to move around freely or to do business with ease (even travelling inside of ECOWAS can be a hassle) and quite frankly, one is better treated as a foreigner than as a citizen, or national, in most of Africa. African countries have few common economic policies or agreements to support each other, beyond calling Western governments racist for pointing out their inefficiencies or for coming after them for corrupt dealings. The equivalent of a Eurozone in Africa, or of a single currency is nothing but a farfetched dream when most countries in Africa cannot boast of stable, diversified economies surviving on exports beyond natural resources. The average African still doesn’t hold a bank account and cannot trust the banking system to keep his money safe, and who can blame him? The Nigerian banking system for one is constantly rocked with scandal after scandal and it is possible in Nigeria to get away with the theft of N500 million but to go to jail and face inhumane, degrading treatments or even to be beaten to death by one’s own community, for stealing pepper or a loaf of bread. Yet, in other climes, both governments and citizens are able to stand together to face up to perceived oppression. The Greeks’ refusal of the first debt management plans and proposals made by the EU made me wonder if it would have been possible for African governments to refuse Structural Adjustment. Many of our economies are yet to fully recover from the lack of social spending which SAPs popularised. African governments typically spend less than 3% of their GDP on education and health. Many Nigerians on social media tweeted their support and solidarity with Greek pensioners crying beside empty ATM machines where one could not withdraw so much as 20 euros in the past few weeks. Yet, every month all over Nigeria pensioners queue, faint and perish under the scorching sun, waiting to collect their gratuities which C M Y K
tprincewill@yahoo.co.uk
Bailouts in Greece and Nigeria: Public debt and accountability many never get. Unlike many countries in Europe, where citizens live off benefits and are somewhat work shy, Africans, despite what the elite will tell you, do want to work. The average African is a work horse: we are so used to the state doing nothing for us that most of us hold down several jobs and that’s without even going into the hardships rural Africans face. Yet, Nigeria, for example, had periods of incredible oil windfalls (Nigeria’s current indebtedness and inability to pay salaries is a strange, confusing fact given our earnings under the Jonathan administration) and one often wonders if the credentials, as I have often said, of some of our past finance ministers were merely party tricks.The Greeks have called the bailout deal which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was forced to accept a form of ‘humiliation and slavery ’. However, the truth is that Greece has operated in the past with the lightheartedness and frivolity of an African government at its best. Nigeria has little to no mechanisms in place to curb spending or recurring waste and even less policies to create wealth: too many businesses are either fronts for government officials or exist solely to do business with government. Our housing and property market is a bubble waiting to burst as many
•Alexis Tsipras, Greece PM properties across the country are often owned by a handful of politically connected individuals.The average Nigerian has little to no disposable income or purchasing power, and our manufacturing industry- - - is comatose because we don’t have electricity. Few companies make enough after taxes to have advertising budgets to support our media
industry, so our press is taken over by politicians. Members of the EU are accountable to each other and as the Greeks learnt, dragging down the Euro means surrendering economic sovereignty to creditors who enforce austerity in the offending country. For me, the only difference between Nigeria and a failing economy such as Greece is the level of media interest in the state of our own affairs. We would much rather discuss political intrigues than the policies said politicians actually effect. Who is in power matters much more than what they do whilst in power in Africa. State and federal government budgets grow every year, yet we have little to show for it. Where does all the money go? That is a rhetorical question. Now state governments must be helped to pay their workers’ salaries: I’m baffled or more so than usual should I say. The details of the states’ bailouts are sketchy: no one can agree where the money comes from. Nigeria’s external debt profile reads like the script from a horror film and already some states are
Kayode Fayemi O
NE of the rare Nigerian politicians with a background in public policy, Kayode Fayemi, the former governor of Ekiti State, brings a lot to the table. APC and PDP are currently bickering over the alleged plot to stop his arrest for would-be misappropriation of
What happened to the aviation intervention fund, or to the textile, agriculture and power funds? Our parasitic ruling class has been the beneficiary of all government interventions and the process is about to repeat itself
being accused of diverting the funds meant to pay workers. I’m not surprised. The conditions relating to the Greek bailout are strict, obviously to discourage future governments from engaging in reckless financial activities. But what is to stop this class of governors from either looting the bailout funds or engaging in the same wayward actions as their predecessors? Governor Oshiomhole and former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have been arguing recently over one billion US dollars which was allegedly withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account to fund former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign. The process for the approval of expenditure in Nigeria is not transparent, not monitored by Nigerians who are yet to use the Freedom of Information Act to ask our government relevant questions. What happened to the aviation intervention fund, or to the textile, agriculture and power funds? Our parasitic ruling class has been the beneficiary of all government interventions and the process is about to repeat itself. The Greeks avoided leaving the Eurozone (the consequences would have been disastrous) by begrudgingly accepting financial austerity. Are the elite in Nigeria ready to fend for themselves and work rather than live off government largess? Are the poor and middle class responsible for unseating an incumbent ready to stop mentally ‘checking out’ and give Nigeria’s survival a chance, by monitoring government actions?We cared enough about our country to vote for change and a new course, we must be concerned with what happens next, namely what happens to the bailout funds and all future amounts disbursed and recorded by government agencies. government resources. Perhaps it would be more logical for the public and the parties to concern themselves with the governors the EFCC is actually questioning, such as Sule Lamido. It’s not about being partial, it’s just we commonly put the cart before the horse in Nigeria and it’s often a politically-motivated practice.
Hillary Clinton
S
*Kayode Fayemi
HE recently gave a speech on stagnant middle class wages and US economic policy. How I long to hear Nigerian politicians discuss fairer, inclusive growth rather than their own salaries. Everything in Nigeria is rigged against the common man and no one seems to care. Our short-sightedness cannot let us see that lifting the mass of Nigerians out of poverty will, in the long run, create a bigger pie, more wealth, for us all to enjoy.
Tabia Princewill is a strategic communications consultant and public policy analyst. She is also the co-host and executive producer of a talk show, WALK THE TALK which airs on Channels TV.
18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 THE United States Supreme Court crossed the Rubicon when it ruled recently that same-sex couples are legally permitted to marry. It was a judgement that sent homosexuals, lesbians, and transgender people in America and elsewhere cheering, while leaving opponents of such queer marital unions in shock. The ruling will also be considered a welcome development in countries, especially in Europe, that support gay marriage. The number of such countries had risen to 18 as at June 26, 2015, 14 years since the Netherlands became the first country in modern times to enact a law legalising gay marriage in 2001. But if reactions within and outside the US are anything to go by, the apex court may not have the last word on the matter. Not surprisingly opposition to gay marriage is strongest in Africa where, with the possible exception of South Africa, 54 African countries regard homosexualism as an aberration and a taboo and have taken both legal and non-legal steps to ensure that it did not take root or flourish in their respective areas. Nigeria had followed suit when the
US Gay Marriage Ruling: We Sa Sayy No! country’s upper legislative chamber, the Senate, approved a proposed law banning same-sex marriage and imposing a 14-year jail term for those found guilty, while anyone who assists gays to marry gets a 10year jail sentence. Some other African countries have responded in similar fashion. But given the well-known position of the American government under President Barack Obama to export and indeed impose the obnoxious gay culture on countries opposed to it, the Supreme Court’s endorsement of gay marriage may be the weapon it needs to launch a fresh offensive on African countries. Indeed, from every
indication diplomatic confrontations between America and anti-gay countries may be in the offing. Nigeria must be ready to confront the offensive and provide the needed leadership against it. While Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan held sway as President, Nigerians of all walks of life said a resounding NO to gay practice, and he proceeded to sign a Bill to that effect into law in January 2014. That position has not changed today. So, the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari must maintain the status quo and not allow itself to be arm-twisted under its current diplomatic romance with the US and the West. The position of the government on this matter must remain in tandem with that of the people under whose mandate it derives its authority. Most of these countries embracing these taboo practices as “human rights” have hit the zenith of their social developments and are now in moral decline. We must hold strongly to the values and spiritual principles that set us apart as Africans.
OPINION
Buhari's frugality and owambe politicians By Bobson Gbinije
B
Y normative Keynesian econometrics, Malthusian fiscal standards, Adam Smith’s budgetary prognosis and Jankara Market demand and supply economics, it is clear that financial prudence and perspicuous management of resources remainsthe better part of developmental valour. That Nigeria’s economy is currently steeple-chasing and wallowing suicidal doldrums remains an unquestionable truism. This was precipitated by many years of leadership inertia, oil glut, corruption and planlessness . In this dire strait dungeon, the Nigerian economy has been crying for an authentic Moses, somebody with a messianic zeitgeist to salvage it from these paroxysms and pangs of a rabid placebo. IS BUHARI THE ONE? TIME WILL TELL. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari and his Deputy Professor Yemi Osinbajo took some deft and prudential financial steps that are quiet fundamental exemplary and sacrificial for the benefit of the CHANGE mantra, dividends of C M Y K
democracy and good and ethical growth of leadership and financial welfare of Nigerians. In furtherance and consistent with their campaign promises of reducing the cost of governance for the delivery of democracy dividends to Nigerians, President Buhari and his deputy, Professor Osinbajo reduced their salaries by 500/0. Without slips of prolixity, this implies that Buhari and Osinbajo will earn half of what former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and former Vice President Namadi Sambo earned. The current annual remuneration of the president of Nigeria as published by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is ¦
We hope these are not mere barmecidal-dish theatricals-the early morning pomade in the harmatan that cannot stand the rigorous test of the harsh weather
14,058,820:00. This indeed means that Buhari will henceforth earn ¦ 7,029,410 a year or ¦ 28,117,640 in four years. To make assurance doubly sure and to avoid splendiferous histrionics, Buhari and Osinbajo have formally written to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to inform it of the new development. The letter detailing the presidential directive is with reference number PRES/81/SGF/17. After this patriotic slashing of his salary by500/0, President Buhari had earlier rejected a proposal from the Aso Rock hierarchical echelon to approve the purchase of five customised armoured Mercedes Benz S-600(V222) cars at a cost of ¦ 400million. These commendable exemplary moves are already rubbing-off on some of our Governors like Senator Okowa of Delta State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Dave Umalu of Ebonyi State. We hope that the remaining Laodicean Governors and our revered Legislators will follow suit to help alleviate the hideous intensity of impecuniosity and sordid poverty into which former adminitrations plunged Nigeria. We hope these are not mere barmecidal-dish theatricals-the early morning pomade in the harmatan that cannot stand the rigorous test of the harsh weather. The legal icon Lord Denning said that “A contemptuously
contemptible contempt must be contemptuously ignored”. But the vast majority of Nigerians will not ignore these great moves. They are sign post of greater (we hope) things to come. It must be noted that before slashing his salary by 500/0, President Buhari had directed the release of ¦ 414 billion as bailout funds to States (recalcitrant debtors) to pay the backlog of salaries they owed their civil servants etc. Nobody gives banana to a monkey, fish to a cat and goat to a lion and collects it back with ease. We admonish the Governors and their political surrogates not to squander, misappropriate and misapply the bailout funds in reckless conviviality, meaningless revelry, social rascality and debaucherous Owambeism. Finally, talking about the tenacity of power and the ambrosial nature of ambition, the English playwright William Shakespeare observed in his masterpiece ‘Julius Caesar’ that,”When Caesar was good, we loved him, but when he became ambitious we slew him. That same dagger we have for ourselves when it shall please the down trodden to call for our blood when we err in leadership” (not verbatim).
*Mr. Gbinije, a social critic, wrote from Warri, Delta State.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—19 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com
Public officials: What manner of austerity?
P
RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has not been quick to appoint members of his cabinet and Nigerians have understandably not been too excited about it. The few appointments he has so far made, though mostly of personal staff, look like a roll call of northerners, and again Nigerians have murmured loudly. But the president has shown a disposition to run a frugal administration for which Nigerians, except those who were members of the wastrel administrations that squandered the country’s riches, have rightly commended him. There have been many reports in the media that Buhari has no belly for a large bureaucracy. The president is disposed to nothing but a lean administration, with fewer ministers and advisers than anything put in place by the immediate past administration of the Peoples Democratic Party. In terms of the cost of administering it, the Jonathan government left no one in doubt that Nigeria’s presidential system is indeed a huge drain on the country’s resources. It is clearly part of our problem, and anyone interested in running a transparent government must
cut down on the number of officials involved in the administration of the country. This has to happen right across the different arms of government. While cost cutting might have been something of a moral imperative that our public officials were enjoined to consider before now, the financial crisis brought about by fast dwindling oil revenue has made it an obligation, even a duty requiring appropriate backing of the law to make it effective. The damaging consequences of the ongoing financial crisis on available resources of states and even sections of the federal administration that are now unable to pay workers’ wages is just an indication that our politicians and public servants must now walk down the path of frugality in public service. Government can and should no longer be an avenue for irresponsible use and misuse of the nation’s wealth. As should be expected of a responsible leader, one who was formerly head of a military government that was, in spite of all its huge deficit of democratic credentials, known for its frugal and inward-looking nationalistic fervor, President
Buhari is providing the right lead. Even before his administration was inaugurated, Buhari had adopted a low key style that was an example in public leadership. This may seem of little significance to some people used to the wasteful ways of our leaders but Buhari showed he was determined to walk a path different from the one of financial recklessness and irresponsibility of the government of his immediate predecessor where corruption walked on all fours. Public officers were their own accountant, treasurer and financial guru all at once. In that state of financial opacity and chaos, everybody did as they liked and had generous access to the till. But Buhari came and shunned all that. Even when he could easily have access to Jonathan’s presidential fleet, he chose to travel commercial and would not accept a luxury car protocol officers brought to fetch him from the airport while on a visit abroad. Given this antecedent action, it was not surprising that he rejected the fawning proposal to buy new official vehicles at costs running into hundreds of million of Naira. He has capped this by taking a
The Nigerian politician finds populist gestures irresistible. Which is why some of them are already coming up with proposals to cut their salaries
Pope Francis on climate change and Nigeria By Paul Odili
B
EING a non-Catholic, I have not always followed nor even read papal encyclical until now. And was it an enormous surprise? The 184 page Pope Francis encyclical was a very powerful piece: extremely well written and with the authority of a great leader. It has great wisdom; it is sensitive, insightful, and lucid even when discussing very scientific and technical subjects. If you love elevated language, good turn of phrase, dialectics and syntax, Pope Francis’ encyclical met all of those and more. Unsurprisingly, the power of the argument contained in the encyclical, not less the subject matter, elicited global response. Days before the publication of the encyclical, the global media went into frenzied speculations on its content — in fact an Italian newspaper, L’ Espresso, leaked its content before the due day. Understandably, the reaction to the encyclical was mixed. Across the world except perhaps in Nigeria and Africa, the continent that incidentally is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, there was scarcely any response! Elsewhere politicians, scientists, environmental activists, etc, weighed in forcefully with their opinion. Without being derisive this is another failure by Africa to speak up and be counted. Endorsing Pope Francis’ powerful reflections on climate change was another opportunity we missed. By Africa’s silence, the continent has further strengthened its reputation as a laggard that is animated only when issues of C M Y K
money arise. It appears on the matter of climate change, Africa’s agenda is money. Yet, as Pope Francis was eloquently formulating a position that underscores the plight of Africa’s dismal condition in the face of the ravages of climate change; the continent was missing in action. This is sad. As Nigeria and Africa sleep, in the rest of the world, various peoples and interest groups were taking positions on climate change. Three perhaps absurd reactions came from two American politicians— actually the three men are Catholics and belong to the Republican Party and they are all gunning for the American presidency in 2016. Rick Santorum wanted the Pope to leave science of climate change to scientists, but was reminded that Pope Francis was not actually ignorant on the subject, that he has a Master’s degree in Chemistry. The other political figure was Jeb Bush, who waffled something to the effect that the Pope should not get into political issues since he
As Nigeria and Africa sleep, in the rest of the world, various peoples and interest groups were taking positions on climate change
50% cut in pay along with his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo. But nothing captivates the Nigerian politician more than empty spectacles. The Nigerian politician finds populist gestures irresistible. Which is why some of them are already coming up with proposals to cut their salaries by half or similar measures meant to show their readiness to reduce administrative cost. To be sure, Buhari’s frugal disposition has nothing to do with the populism of the political tribe. It is a natural tendency, it would seem, of somebody who knows the meaning of working for what one earns- not a ‘money-miss-road’ who suddenly happened on the corridors of power. It would be good to see many of our so-called leaders, governors, ministers and their aides, and especially our self-minded legislators who swim in the ocean of unearned allowances, follow the example of the president. Our legislators are reputedly among the highest paid in the world even though they spend a huge part of their time on unearned recess. Since the beginning of the present legislative epoch, the National Assembly has been on recess and the only thing they have so far done is share out portfolios that have been the cause of acrimonious discord that has rendered legislative activities impossible. But if our public officers are truly committed to the cost saving demands of these lean times, a good place to begin would be with their security allowances and such other hidden sources of unearned wealth that makes public service a rich avenue for officially sanctioned, large scale plundering of the national treasury. We’ve had enough of these worthless talks and cosmetic plans of giving up half of salaries that are just a
is not a political leader. No one fully understood what Jeb Bush’s comments meant and it was dismissed as not making much sense. Marco Rubio shadow boxed on this issue. The Republican Party is known for being very edgy on the issue of climate change. This is not difficult to understand. American big business establishment have always been reluctant to embrace climate change, because doing so will mean accepting responsibility that man and their business model is the source of climate change. A point, the papal encyclical highlighted over and over. Those who wanted to discredit the Pope labelled him anti-capitalist. Yet, any objective reading of the encyclical would show that the document was not by any means anti-capitalism. Rather Pope Francis expressed his thoughts with a profundity expected of a leader of a major institution like the Roman Catholic Church, who is concerned about the world and the direction the world is going. For lovers of a better world and its future and those not blinded by material quest, Pope Francis clearly spoke their minds, when he said: “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish…Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it. Numerous scientific studies indicate that the greater part of the global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases…given off above all because of human activity.” Pope Francis captured the total neglect of the environment, the poor human and health condition of a typical third world
dispensable fraction of the costs that make our mode of governance both unjustified and unsustainable. There are too many avenues of wastage, means through which the public treasury is depleted by individuals who are sure candidates for jail. And thank God some of these individuals are beginning to move from state house to jail house. It should be something to look forward to how many of our public officials, governors, ministers, advisers, legislators, judges, etc would be brought to account by the justly awakened Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It is an indication of what part the right leadership can play in public accountability that some of the untouchables of our country are now being rounded up and shown the way into prison until they can show their hands are clean and have not been soiled by their time in office. When was the last time the EFCC successfully got anyone arraigned and sent to jail pending when their case could be dispensed with? Why was this agency comatose under President Goodluck Jonathan? How was it that all that many of his corrupt ministers, to say nothing of legislators and other officials- how was it all that many of these openly corrupt individuals went away with were mere slaps on the wrist? Some of them are now back in power either as senators or representatives of the Lower House, or governors of the Nigerian state. What good can come of such arrangement? How come none of these people were ever charged? Of course, Nigerians still wait to see the outcome of cases of former public officials and politicians currently being investigated or standing trial under the Buhari administration.
country like Nigeria, when he noted: “Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor, and causes millions of premature deaths. People take sick, for example, from breathing high levels of smoke from fuels used in cooking or heating. There is also pollution that affects everyone, caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general. Technology, which, linked to business interests, is presented as the only way”. Man’s failure to control his greed and selfishness is a major theme of this paper and Pope Francis returned to it a number of times: uncontrolled production, waste, excessive consummation and neglect of the earth. Clearly, materialism has become the core value of man without a care for the earth’s resources and lacking proper judgement that ultimately we are mere inheritors of the earth, which we are obligated to bequeath in good condition to the next generation. “The attitudes that stand in the way of a solution, even among believers, range from negation of the problem, to indifference, to convenient resignation or blind faith in technical solutions. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters. Continues tomorrow on page 18 •Mr. Odili was formerly Delta State Green Economy Project Lead.
20—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
C M Y K
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
Manufacturers, banks confused over new Forex policy By Naomi Uzor
T
HE new Forex policy introduced by the Cen tral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has created confusion between operators in the manufacturing sector and their banks. Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, in a communiqué following an interactive forum it organised on the CBN Forex policy, said the new policy is ambiguous as the restricted items are not well-defined and specific and has plunged both manufacturers and banks into confusion. The communiqué signed by the Director General, LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, said that the chamber urges the CBN to immediately amend the Forex policy with full product definition and specification of all restricted items, including HS Codes and excluding any items which are non-substitutable industrial raw materials from the list. “The CBN policy should also allow appropriate time frames for items which require some time interval before local substitutes can be created for imported raw materials. The LCCI reminds both the CBN and the federal government that manufacturers have suffered significant consequences from the recent currency devaluation which they are yet to recover from. Compounding recent devaluation losses with higher cost of, and/or com-
plete inability to source critical raw materials may push many firms over the precipice resulting in business closures, loss of jobs, declined manufacturing sector production and greater social tension. We invite the CBN and federal government to consider palliatives and incentives to prevent such a scenario” he stated.
He said “We call CBN’s attention to the fact that the fundamental forces the CBN is struggling against are economic and fiscal policy dependent while the Bank continues to exert monetary policy tools almost to a point in which economic harm may result. The fundamental factors are diversification of the Nigerian economy in terms of exports
COMMISSIONING: From left: Clives Robinson, Regional Director Curves, Africa; Emma
Esinnah, Country Director, Curves International Nigeria; Brian Mcleary, Commercial Counsellor US Embassy; former CEO Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi and Amanda Coetsse, Director of Operations, during the opening of Curves Office in Lagos. Photo: Franklin Alli
sive deployment of monetary policy tools!” “We call for a conversation between the CBN and federal government so that a more appropriate regime of economic and fiscal policy initiatives can be designed to address these issues. We also note the critical need for CBN to harmonise its policies with other agencies of government, including Customs, FIRS, SON, Immigration etc. In this specific instance, we call attention to Customs’ recent introduction of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) which appears to be at crosspurposes with CBN policy” He said the chamber urges the CBN to be mindful of the economic role and importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and moderatesized manufacturers as it develops policy. “The CBN should avoid policies that may produce oligopolistic and even monopolistic outcomes at variance with its mandate of building a sound economy. Finally we urge increased engagement and consultation between the CBN and manufacturers and other stakeholders so that policy will be based on a proper understanding of the real impact on all stakeholder groups and the overall economy, ” he said.
Banks granted N12.63trn loans, advances in 2014 — NDIC
B
By Yinka Kolawole
ANKS in Nigeria granted total loans and advances amounting to N12.63 trillion in 2014, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) stated in its 2014 annual report. The amount represents an increase of 25.8 percent over the N10.04 trillion granted as loans and advances by banks in 2013. The 2.90 $125.85 report also noted that the volume of non-performing loans rose from $3,318. 00 9.00 N321.66 billion in 2013 to N354.84 billion in 2014, an increase of 10.3 $12. 78 0.22 percent. NDIC however allayed any fears by stating that the ratio of the bad debts $57.11 to total loans is within the regulatory 0.74 threshold of 5 percent. “All the DMBs in the industry had liquidity ratios in 51.73 -0.47 excess of the minimum prudential CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL requirement of 30 per cent, as at 31st December 2014, indicating that all DOLLAR 195.95 196.45 196.95 POUNDS 304.2516 305.0279 305.8043 DMBs were sufficiently liquid,” the EURO 216.4072 216.9594 217.5116 report stated. Oil and gas sector led FRANC 206.524 207.051 207.578 the banking industry sectoral credits YEN 1.5881 1.5921 1.5962 distribution, accounting for 25.74 CFA 0.3111 0.3211 0.3311 percent of the top ten of 22 sectors of WAUA 273.1371 273.834 274.531 RENMINBI 31.5597 31.6406 31.7216 the economy that accounted for 87.35 RIYAL 52.2436 52.3769 52.5102 percent of total credits, compared with SDR 275.2314 275.9337 276.636 81.99 percent in the previous year. KRONA 28.9935 29.0675 29.1415 The manufacturing sector was next with 13.19 percent, while the other CBN Exchange Rate as at 14/ 07 /15
C M Y K
and government revenue, issues around downstream oil sector deregulation and upstream oil sector fiscal regimes, power sector efficiency and creating alternative economies in solid minerals, agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors towards building a productive, export-led local economy. These matters cannot be resolved through exclu-
— 21
sectors accounted for 12.65 percent, as against 18.01 percent of the total credits extended by the DMBs in 2013. NDIC, as part of its mandate, carried out risk assessment of all deposit banks in the country in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide reliable information on the banks’ risk assets quality, adequacy of loan loss provisioning and capital adequacy positions. The overall verdict of the NDIC report portrays a generally healthy banking sector, with 15 banks scoring “high” and “above average”
The banking industry performance and level of soundness in 2014 indicated that 23 Deposit Management Banks (DMBs) were rated sound and satisfactory
composite risk rating, while eight others had “low” and “moderate” rating, showing their level of compliance with banking rules and regulations, their risk appetite and the adequacy of their risk management frameworks. “The banking industry performance and level of soundness in 2014 indicated that 23 Deposit Management Banks (DMBs) were rated sound and satisfactory only one DMB was rated marginal during the period under review. Overall the banking industry was safe and sound in 2014,” the report asserted. The report also highlighted NDIC’s efforts at seeking the repeal and reenactment of the NDIC Act 2006, which had scaled through second reading in the just concluded 7th National Assembly and was subjected to public hearing. One of the major issues contained in the proposed amendment is granting the NDIC power to pay insured amounts to depositors in the event of imminent or actual suspension of payment by an insured institution before the revocation of its licence. This is to forestall legal actions such as the ones shareholders of Fortune International Bank Plc. and Triumph Bank Limited instituted challenging
22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
A worker who retired mandatorily on attaining 60 years of age or 35 years in service or retired voluntarily on attainment of 50 years of age, is expected to present an official notice of retirement/exit from last employer
,
Wal-Mart sued over denying health insurance to gay worker’s wife
A
Wal-Mart Stores Inc employee sued the retailer on Tuesday, saying its prior policy of denying health insurance benefits to the spouses of gay employees violated gender discrimination laws. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, seeks nationwide class-action status. Wal-Mart, the largest private U.S. employer, began offering health insurance benefits to same-sex spouses last year, after the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to married gay couples. Jackie Cote, an office manager who has worked at Walmart stores in Maine and Massachusetts since 1999, said in the lawsuit that her wife, Diana Smithson, developed cancer in 2012 and that the denial of insurance led to $150,000 in medical debt, hampering her recovery. Cote and Smithson were married in Massachusetts in 2004, the same year a court ruling made the state the first in the country to allow gay nuptials. Smithson worked for Wal-Mart until 2008, when she left to care for Cote’s elderly mother, according to the lawsuit. The company then repeatedly denied requests by Cote to add her wife to her insurance policy. When Cote brought her claims to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wal-Mart said federal anti-discrimination laws did not apply to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, so it did not have to offer benefits to their spouses. Cote’s lawsuit called the policy a form of gender discrimination because the wife of a male employee would receive health insurance, and even after the 2014 change, Wal-Mart workers still live with the uncertainty of losing spousal coverage. “Benefits provided by Wal-Mart as a matter of grace ... are not secure and could potentially be withdrawn just when large health care costs are incurred,” the lawsuit says. A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment except to say its benefits coverage before the 2014 change was legal.
Cambodia introduces agriculture microinsurance
T
HE Cambodian Agriculture Cooperative Insurance Company (CACIC), an initiative established by the Cambodia Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), has announced the start of an agriculture microinsurance service to help rice farmers better respond to climate change. Farmers who become a member of CACIC will have to pay an insurance fee of around US$10 per hectare each season, although this cost will vary slightly depending on the type of rice variety grown. In return, they receive consultation on farming techniques, climate change resilience methods and will get an insurance payout when their crop is damaged either by flood or drought, according to Mr Yang Saing Koma, president of CEDAC. The initiative will be implemented by CEDAC in five provinces including Takeo, Kampot, Kampong Chnang, Prey Veng and Kampong Speu, before it is expanded nationwide. The goal of the insurance scheme is to help farmers who, hit by natural disasters, might sell their land so as to pay back high interest rate loans or migrate for work abroad.
Send comments & enquiries to insuranceandyou@yahoo.com C M Y K
,
INSURAN What to do before you retire Stories by Rosemary Onuoha
U
NDER CPS, a worker who retired mandatorily on attaining 60 years of age or 35 years in service or retired voluntarily on attainment of 50 years of age, is expected to present an official notice of retirement/exit from last employer, his last pay slip not less than three (3) months from the date of retirement (stamped and signed by employer) or any evidence of last annual remuneration and a certified true copy of the Retirement Bond certificate if he is retiring from the public sector. If he is retiring from the private sector or self-funding Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA), he will provide evidence of any accrued pension entitlements not remitted into his RSA and a confirmation of any contributions owed by his employer as well as an evidence of the terms and conditions of employment for those retiring from the private sector. In addition to the above, the retiring worker is expected to submit a duly completed Retirement Withdrawal form, two passport photographs, completed Programmed Withdrawal Agreement and Retiree Indemnity form deposed to before a Commissioner of oath or Notary Public, Birth Certificate/Age Declaration and photocopy of any form of identification (i.e. driver ’s license, National ID, etc.). If one is retiring on medical ground, in addition to the above, he is expected to
present a certified true copy of a medical certificate issued by a properly constituted medical board or a suitably qualified physician. In the case of deceased or missing worker or retirees, the beneficiary under a Will or an Administrator appointed under a Letter of Administration will access the balance in the deceased or missing person’s Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in line with the Pension Reform Act, 2014 or the Regulations for the Administration of Retirement and Terminal Benefits en-bloc. The RSA balance of a deceased worker may consist of proceeds of the Group Life Insurance Policy, if he was in employment when he died; the accumulated contribution and accrued pension benefit. Under the Defined Benefit Scheme, DB, the Pension Transitional Arrangement
If one is retiring on medical ground, he is expected to present a certified true copy of a medical certificate issued by a properly constituted medical board or a suitably qualified physician
Directorate (PTAD), the body charged with the management of Defined Benefits Schemes in the country has introduced a biometric data capturing programme to provide a reliable and comprehensive database of pensioners under the scheme in the country. Eligible pensioners under this scheme are expected to participate in a biometric verification exercise conducted by the agency for the different organisations under its purview. Showing up personally and presenting all relevant employment and retirement details during the exercise and follow-up ones is the only thing a retiree under the scheme is expected to do to get his pension monthly. Nobody can influence this process so anybody asking a retiree to pay money to do so on his behalf is a fraudster. According to the PTAD’s Director in charge of the Pension Support Department, Mrs. Roz Benokagbue, the agency makes sure that the exercise is seamless and that participating retirees enjoy a level of comfort during the exercise. “We are taking the full biometric capture because the whole point is that we will never have to do this again. This is the only time we will call them together again for verification. In the future, we will just have a mild verification every six months, which will only require their fingerprint. This is just to show that they are still alive. We now have their full details and information,” she assured.
VISIT: From left, General Manager, NICON Insurance Limited, Mr. Steve Elue Ajudua;
President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB, Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu and Managing Director/CEO, NICON Insurance, Mr. Bayode Samuel during a courtesy visit of NICON management team to NCRIB secretariat.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
,
CE & YOU
— 23
If he is retiring from the private sector or self-funding Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA), he will provide evidence of any accrued pension entitlements not remitted into his RSA
,
Prestige builds robust human capital to cope with increasing competition By Mildred Ibrahim
T VISIT: From left, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of of Kaduna State; Director General, National
Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu; PENCOM’s Commissioner, Inspectorate, Professor Mohammed Abubakar Kaoje, and PENCOM’s Commissioner, Finance, Prince Adesoji Olaoba-Efuntayo during a courtesy visit by the executive committee of PENCOM to the governor, in Kaduna.
Japan insurance agency cuts off Venezuela after auto payment defaults
J
APAN’s government-backed export insurance agency said it has stopped writing insurance for trade and investment in Venezuela after facing potential claims of about $160 million from trading houses to recover payments for auto exports. Venezuela has struggled with foreign currency shortages after falling oil prices hit export earnings.
The measure will have no impact on Japan’s imports from Venezuela, an official with the Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) said on Tuesday. Japan imported only 7,806 barrels per day of oil from Venezuela in 2014, accounting for about 0.2 percent of total crude imports, according to Japanese trade ministry data. Japan’s Inpex Corp, Mitsubishi Corp and state-run
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp are involved in Venezuela’s Carabobo 3 heavy oil development project. But because the project has already received NEXI insurance, there is no impact on the project, an Inpex spokesman said. NEXI said it will stop issuing most insurance policies for trade and investment deals in the Latin American oil exporter from Tuesday.
" " # " $ % & $ &(& $
!
!
'
' !
!
HE Board of Prestige Assurance Plc has said that the company has built a robust human capital to cope with increasing competition and in doing so consistently delivers good return on investment. Chairman of the company, Mr. G. Srinivasan, who disclosed this at the company ’s annual general meeting in Lagos on Monday, stated that availability of highly trained insurance professionals remain a critical challenge in the industry. Srinivasan told shareholders that gross premium for the 2014 financial year stood at N2,653,695 while reinsurance expenses stood at N1,528,360. According to him, profit for the year was N176,755,000, taxation was N160,800,000 while retained earning for the year is N14,187,000. Srinivasan said, “We shall continue to do all that is necessary to attract the best professionals from within and outside the insurance industry to complement the excellent work of the existing staff so as
There is no doubt that there are great potentials for the insurance industry in Nigeria
NICON Insurance wins award N
ICON Insurance Limited, has received the Africa’s Most Reliable Quality Insurance Company of the year 2015 Award at an event organized recently in Lagos by African Quality Institute (AQI) in collaboration with South African Quality Institute (SAQ) and the Chartered Quality Institute in United Kingdom (UK). The Editor of Quality World Journal, Mr. Michael Abugo
while announcing NICON Insurance as the winner of this year ’s edition stated that the Award was initiated at celebrating leadership innovation and creativity in quality management in Africa. Abugo, who also doubled as Master of Ceremony at the event revealed that “the award is aimed at identifying, recognizing and rewarding companies, personalities and products that apply quality assurance culture to achieve corporate objectives in both
profit and non-profit making organisations in Africa�. The organiser said that this year’s award was based on the outcome of a technical committee made up of international quality professionals from South Africa and Nigeria including Standard organisation officials from Ghana Bureau of Standards (GBS), Uganada Bureau of Standards, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Standard Bureau Liberia, Africa
Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and International Organisation of Standardisation. Presenting the award to NICON Insurance, Managing Director of Sparking Rose Nigeria Limited, Mr. Edward Oiku urged the company to always maintain its quality Standard. Responding, NICON Insurance’s General Manager (Head Office Annex), Mr. Steve Ajudua who
to deliver quality service that would add value to shareholders of this company. Indeed our staff, no doubt has been our greatest asset and their loyalty and commitment are highly appreciated by the board and management.� The Chairman stated that the global economic crisis has also created tremendous opportunities for business growth and development, adding, “For us in prestige assurance, we see opportunities and not challenges and as such are prepared to widen our business horizon to deliver quality return to our shareholders. “There is no doubt that there are great potentials for the insurance industry in Nigeria, particularly with the various initiative that our regulator i.e. the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, and trade association have put in place to bring sanity into the industry as well as policies that are needed for business to thrive. While the Federal Government determining to address some of the challenges of infrastructure, security of lives and property are commendable, situation where budget performance is below average is not a healthy development and must be addressed without delay. “However, our company has positioned itself to succeed in a vibrant financial market and more importantly in insurance sector by introducing new products and processes that guarantee good return on investments. No stone will be left unturned to build financial supermarket that delivers quality services and generate more profits to our loyal and esteemed shareholders.�
represented the Managing Director, Mr. Bayode Samuel, said the company has reenergized to serve the public better. His words; “NICON Insurance has been reenergized to serve the insuring public better. The Company is currently Africa’s leading insurance and financial services power house that has snowballed into a global player with newly minted core values that has translated her into an enduring institution of over forty years.
24 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
Capital market instability, non payment of salaries affect pension funds — Olejeme By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
C
HAIRMAN of Board of Trustfund Pension Plc, Dr. Ngozi Olejeme has said that instability in the capital market coupled with the non payment of salaries by state governments adversely affected the performances of the Pension Funds Administrations, PFA in 2014 fiscal year. Meantime, the Managing Director of Trustfund, Mrs. Helen Da-Souza has said that the PFA recorded 20 percent increase from N166.8 billion in 2013 to N196.1 billion in the 2014, just as it declared 25 kobo dividend per share in the year ending 2014. The Trustfund Pensions Board Chairman, Dr. Olejeme who disclosed the negative effect of instability in the capital market
and the effect of unpaid salaries to workers during the 7th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Fund in Abuja, said these posed serious challenge in the pension sector in 2014. Olejeme, represented by Comrade Peter Esele, a director with Trustfund Pensions said that the preparation and fear experienced during the 2015 general elections in the country and the crash in the price of oil products in the international market did not help the sector. According to her “If one looks at the fact that Trustfund management declared the same 25 kobo dividend in 2013 and 2014, one may not appreciate how difficult the environment was in 2014. “We should not forget that the preparations for the 2015 general elections was at all-time
high in 2014, the crash in the price of crude oil in the international market also happened in the same year and non-payment of salaries even at the federal level also took place during that year. “There was also the devaluation of the naira and we also witnessed the instability of the stock market where we invested about 30 per cent of our money. Overall, we have about 70 per cent of our resources invested in one form of money market or the other. “Coupled with all of these, were all the negative forecasts about the outcome of the general elections. All of these were formidable factors that impacted negatively on the performances of businesses.
•From left, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State (left) with Mr. Philip Ikeazor, Managing Director/CEO, Keystone Bank Limited at the tape cutting ceremony of Isieke Ibeku Community School library, a Keystone Bank CSR initiative to promote quality sducation.
NSE unveils first sustainability report
T
HE Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE has released its first Sustainability Report entitled ‘Connecting Nigeria to the world through a Sustainable Capital Market’. The report demonstrates the NSE’s commitment to increased disclosure, expanded stakeholder engagement and thought leadership on sustainability as a key aspect of its business strategy. The report which aligns with the exchange’s Corporate Social Responsibility framework covers the four key impact areas it has devoted attention and resources. The Market Place: the NSE continues its journey to build a sustainable organization through responsible and inclusive financial and investment services. Its major achievements include: Launching the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM), a specialist board for the listing of SMEs; Signing on to the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative; Launching the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS); Forming a partnership with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to develop Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines in the Nigerian capital market, Signing the C M Y K
UNGC Call to Action: Anti -Corruption and the Global Development Agenda. Community: The NSE is committed to supporting local communities through planned, shared-value social and economic investments that are aimed at creating muchneeded opportunity and positive change. Key progress recorded include: Reaching more than 600 students from over 20 primary and secondary schools through the Global Money Week initiative, successfully launching the annual Corporate Challenge competition that drew more than 350 participants. Workplace: As a responsible employer, the NSE strives towards building a strong and consistent relationship with all our employees, built on mutual respect and dignity. “We provide a safe work environment while ensuring professional development opportunities, the NSE stated . Environment: The NSE is committed to conducting its business in a way that protects the environment. Through an environmental management approach, the exchange has been able to: achieve a 70 per cent drop in power consumption by installing energy efficient LED lighting and computing infrastructure across the Head Office.
How much saving is enough for retirement?(2)
T
he Pension Reform Act intends to sell these assets to 2004 specifies that there offset the loans taken by Seawolf should be pension fund Oilfield Services. administrators and each If one has been a government individual employed in the employee for a period of 30 public sector or private sector years and if one’s promotions should have a retirement have been regular over the savings account with a pension period, statutory contributions fund administrator of his/her into one’s retirement savings choice. This essentially means account would be equivalent to that the growth of the funds in about three and a half times of one’s retirement savings the employee’s final year account depends on how well emolument. With proper the pension fund administrator investment, the value of the manages the funds. retirement savings account at Contributions to the employee’s the end of the final year could retirement savings account shall be worth ten times of the be made by the employer and employee’s final year the employee. Under the emolument. The employee has Pension Reform Act 2004, each three alternative methods for party was to contribute a making withdrawals from his/ minimum of seven and a half her retirement percent of the savings account. employee’s The employee Many m o n t h l y could make emoluments but programmed employees the amendment monthly or would to the Act in q u a r t e r l y 2014 stipulated therefore want withdrawals the employer’s calculated on the to obtain a and employee’s of an lump sum from basis contributions as expected life a minimum ten The their retirement span. percent and a employee could savings minimum eight also obtain per cent account such monthly or respectively of q u a r t e r l y that the lump the employee’s payments from an sum could be m o n t h l y annuity for life emoluments. applied to their purchased from a The employer life insurance business and the company. In the employee are activities third method, the allowed to employee could contribute more take a lump sum than the minimum and I am plus an annuity or a aware that Total Nigeria Plc programmed withdrawal. What makes monthly contributions is important is that whatever which are more than the stands to the credit of the minimum to its employees’ retirement savings account retirement savings accounts. would give the employee an The company has also worked annual retirement benefit of at out new arrangements for least fifty percent of his/her final gratuity payments to its year emolument even when a employees. The gratuity is lump sum has been deducted. computed based on 9.5% of total Persons approaching annual emolument and paid retirement from employment are monthly to fund managers as usually advised to make plans chosen by employees. There are for their activities following on situations in which employees their retirement. The maximum have lost their pensions usually age at retirement is set at 60 with employees of failed banks years for government and with employees of employees and at that age, most companies that have deposited people could engage in income employees’ pensions in failed producing activities. Many banks. We currently have an employees would therefore example with the employees of want to obtain a lump sum from Seawolf Oilfield Services who their retirement savings account have carried their protests to the such that the lump sum could Central Bank of Nigeria over be applied to their business non-payment of their salaries. activities. For others, the lump Apparently, the Assets sum would be applied to their Management Corporation of living expenses given the drop Nigeria, AMCON, has taken in their monthly income. over the assets of Seawolf Oilfield Services and AMCON TO BE CONTINUED
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—25
C M Y K
26—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
DIARY zICT
Africa Cape Town, South Africa July 15-16, 2015
Preview This wall paper will save you from bombs
Sure, the idea of a bulletrepelling wallpaper may sound silly, since your thick walls are already meant to serve as barriers to threats, after all. This wallpaper, though, won’t just protect you from gunfire, it will also act as a protective net, catching all the debris, in case someone decides to shoot an RPG or detonate a bomb right on the side of your house. Developed by US Army researchers, the Ballistic Wallpaper is meant for use by troops in the field, who could use the additional fortification to erstwhile unreinforced living structures and temporary shelters. Made from Kevlar fiber threads enclosed in a flexible plastic film, the wall cover can be applied onto the side of any vertical structure, ready to take the brunt of the force when the wall takes serious damage to keep everyone inside safe. Well, as safe as they can be while being attacked with ammunition strong enough to take out stone and cinder block walls. The Ballistic Wallpaper was recently demonstrated at a DOD Lab Day. It’s not yet ready for use in the field, but development is ongoing and the tech sure appears to be very promising. C M Y K
Nigeria goes Near Field Communication with ‘PayWithCapture’ '
By Prince Osuagwu
A
LTHOUGH it looked as if it wouldn’t have had a place in African payment system, now, Near Field Communication, NFC, is here in Nigeria. Whatever authentication it has given to payment systems in other developed nations of the world where it has long held sway, Nigerians would soon experience it. NFC is a method of wireless
I N S I D E
NCS to FG: Enact legislation to foster IT development PAGE 30
data transfer that detects and then enables smartphones and other enabled devices in close proximity to communicate without the need for an internet connection. It’s easy, fast and works auto-magically. To make payments, all a user needs to do is hold out his or her phone close to another NFC enabled device and the deed is done. It is the technology that enables tap-and-go services like Apple Pay and Google Wallet among others, work like pure magic. However, it
PayWithCapture is a mobile payment solution that permits customers to make payments by scanning a merchant’s pregenerated QRCode using the camera of their mobile device or via a one-step Beacon-NFC System
How to rank top on social media PAGE 27
is not magic. What happens is that an NFC chip, which actually evolved from frequency identification technology, operates as one part of a wireless link. Once it’s activated by another chip, small amounts of data between the two devices can be transferred when held a few centimetres from each other. Although it has taken some time to come, considering the speed of mobile penetration in the country since 2001, with the unveiling of PayWithCapture multi-channel payment solution at the weekend, Access bank Plc, has finally given Nigerians the opportunity to make payments with their mobile phones. PayWithCapture is a mobile payment solution that permits customers to make payments by scanning a merchant’s pregenerated QR-Code using the camera of their mobile device or via a one-step Beacon-NFC System. The solution’s Beacon-NFC Pay, allows Merchants to push Ads and content to consumers which helps them look beyond traditional value chains for new opportunities. According to the bank, it can be linked with different payment cards including any Bank’s MasterCard/ VISA, Bank Account, Mobile Wallet, and affords customers the opportunity of selecting any payment instrument of choice. The bank said that modern world is ever expanding and with it
Continues on page 31
How to rank top on social media By Agbolade Omowale
I
F you are, or want to be a celebrity, thought leader, or social media marketer, how you use twitter can determine how far you will go. Each social media platform has its own pros and cons. When I registered my Twitter account in 2009, I tried to use same methods that worked for me on Facebook, but I got no result. I never knew that using twitter is like operating by new set of rules. Here are seven proven twitter strategies that got me ranked in the top 20% users on social media.. Use 100 characters or less: You might be tempted to always use up the maximum characters for your tweets. However, you need to consider the fact that people may want to retweet and add their comment. Buddy media state that tweets with less than 100 characters have a 17% higher rate of engagement than longer tweets do. Use hashtags judiciously: the hashtag symbol # is used in twitter before a relevant keyword or phrase to group those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter
Search. Tweets with hashtags experience 2 times more engagement (21%) than tweets without, whereas, there is a 17% decrease in engagement when using more than two hashtags. Only 24% of brands are using hashtags. Using 3 or more hashtags in one Tweet risks ‘ raising the ire of the community.’ Tweet at the right time: On social media, timing is very important. If you tweet around 3a.m in the morning only few people will se your tweet when they wake up in the morning. Weekend twitter posts used to engage potential or existing client has been show in studies to provide the best results
Use links in your tweets: Studies have shown that people are 86% more likely to retweet postings that contain a link rather than those that don’t have a link Less is more: The shorter your tweets the better. At times, the more tweets you have, the less performance and engagement they receive. People get to see a lot of tweets on their timeline. If your tweets are short and straight to the point, they will read it. Ask and you will receive: If you want retweets on twitter, politely ask for it. Don’t assume your followers will know what you want. Many brands have confessed that by adding the letters ‘RT’, they noticed an increase of 10 times higher the amount of people that retweeted their post. Use images: This is like stating the obvious. Pictures can convey your message faster. When brands use images to tweet, the engagement r a t e s double.
Reliable tips in conserving smartphone batteries By Maximilian Anosike
C
OMPLAINTS against some mobile phone batteries not capable of retaining energy are becoming recurrent among users. While most users tie the problem to influx of fake and substandard batteries in the market, there is still the likelihood that bulk of it could be inappropriate usage and inability of some users to study their mobile phones to get the best ways to manage the batteries for sustainable life span. However, there are a few tips on how a user can maximise the battery strength of the smartphone. Reduce display resolution It may look so attractive to set the display of your mobile phone to the highest of power resolutions. This brightens the phone screen and apparently gives the user the best of clarity. But on the other hand, that background light on its own, drains the battery power twice or more than voice calls can do. Now that you know that display consumes battery life at a devastating pace, turning your screen brightness to the lowest settings could be your best option. At least, it will help in extending the battery life. Reduce screen time out Some phone users feel inconvenienced when their
•Low battery phone screen quickly times out after one activity. As a result, many find the answer in extending the screen time out to as much as 5 minutes. What they however forget is that the 5 minutes the screen remains on is as much time, if not twice, that the battery drains. To help the phone’s battery, the timeout should not be more than 15 seconds. Turn off data when not in use Turning on WI-FI , GPS, Bluetooth when not needed draws on the battery strength more than any user could imagine. So, no matter how much you love using Bluetooth,
hands-free headset, wireless speaker or activity tracker, turn them off when they are not serving you any purpose. Multitasking is a culprit Multitasking is allowing more than one app to be active at a time on a mobile phone. However, this runs down the energy of the battery so fast. The reason is because every application the phone runs uses a share of the phone’s processor cycle. It will be of a great help to the user ’s battery if workload is drastically reduced on the processor. Let your phone ring
out more The use of vibration is indispensible because it helps the user to be alerted on any incoming notifications without distracting activities in a meeting, church service or other engagements. But unfortunately vibration consumes much energy than playing a ringing tone. Though ringing tone can be distracting when silence is needed, for the interest of the battery, let your phone ring more than vibrating. . Activate power saving mode One of the best ways to manage the smart phone battery is to activate the power saving mode. This feature prevents the apps from updating in background and helps dim the phone screen, reduce the screen time out settings, disable on screen animation and other power consuming programs. It turns on its self when the battery level drops to 20 percent.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—27
Facebook Love
Four things that can deny you more friends on facebook By Laju Iren
S
OMEONE once said that the most important button on Facebook is ‘unfriend.’ That might be quite debatable, but it goes without saying that there are some actions one can engage on facebook and deny his or herself more friends. Here are some of them: ‘peep-show’ hosting Pornography seems to have taken over the internet. But that doesn’t mean it should be on your wall also. If you become a peep show host, putting some sort of nudity on your wall, as well as tagging others to it, not many people will approve your friendship on facebook. Worse still, many of your friends will surely hit the unfriend button on your account. Unnecessary argument There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a lawyer…except that the one wrong place to practice it is the facebook wall. Making the facebook wall a law court where you argue on every other person’s opinion would attract you more enemies than friends. Fraudulent proposals Dont open a facebook account with the intention of catching a gullible money bag. ‘Facebook is awash with guys who pretend to be girls in order to attract and defraud unsuspecting friends and ofcourse you know that these days, not many stand the presence of people who claim to be in love with them on facebook or someone who wants to give his or her parents’ wealth to a total stranger. . Don’t seek personal info publicly Don’t ask your friends about their marital information or other personal information on public wall, please inbox them. Else you will not only lose their respect, you’ll lose them also.
Huawei T1. 7.0 seeks to balance work and play By Laju Iren
W
HEN you want to buy a tablet, the first question you’ll need to ask yourself is: ‘What do I want to use it for?’ for social media stuff, you need a device with fluid user interface. If you are a workaholic, you’d most likely want something that helps you prepare superb presentations, communicate with colleagues without hassles, and download information quickly. If it’s for play, your emphasis will be on battery life, screen quality and size. The new Huawei T1.7.0., may have all these in one package. The manufacturers say, it’s designed to provide optimal enjoyment for work and play. Senior Marketing Manager for Huawei Nigeria, Olaonipekun Okunowo called it “an original approach to balancing productivity, powerful content creation and consumption in one portable tablet device in the Nigeria.” He described the device as an outstanding media pad designed for those who want to enjoy unparalleled entertainment. Its superior 7-inch IPS screen, 4G LTE connectivity and exceptional camera makes it the perfect tablet at the most affordable price of N25,000.00 only for those •Huawei T1.7.0 on-the-go this summer.”
28— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
OLISEH must learn from Keshi’s mistakes • Analysis BY: JUDE OPARA
S
occer analysts and stakeholders across the country and beyond have been reacting to the recent appointment of former Super Eagles captain, Sunday Oliseh as the new Chief Coach of the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).. The NFF who last week announced the sacking of the former Chief Coach, Stephen Keshi over allegations of a breach of his contractual agreements did not waste time in naming Oliseh as his replacement with a five-year
•Keshi
•Chukwu
•Odegbami C M Y K
contract. This, the NFF said, will afford him the opportunity to reposition the nation’s football. Oliseh was also given approval to come with a foreign technical assistant who will be working with him alongside other local coaches already in the camp of the national team. But despite the fact that every Nigerian who has commented on the issue knows the pedigree of the former Juventus of Italy offensive midfielder, there are still a lot of people who believe that Oliseh is not the right man for the job. For instance former board member of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Dr. Sam Sam Jaja is of the view that what Nigeria needs at the moment is a tested foreign technical adviser. According to him, Nigerian coaches, despite the fact that Keshi was able to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after 19 years, are not equipped to handle the national team. But beyond all these opinions, for Oliseh to succeed he must, most importantly, avoid the pitfalls that made Keshi to leave the job the way he did. This is so because one can still recall the wide acceptance which Keshi enjoyed when he was first announced a s the team’s chief coach after the sacking of his former team m a t e , Samson Siasia. It is a well known fact that after K e s h i managed to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in 2013, he forgot that his real employers were the members of the executive committee of the NFF. He practically pledged his loyalty to other authorities outside the federation. Granted that Keshi’s anger may have been fuelled by the alleged attempt by the NFF to have him sacked during the AFCON in South Africa before he
•Oliseh
He must avoid the temptation of engaging in the selling of players which has destroyed many coaches before him managed to win the trophy, many analysts are of the opinion that the former coach ought to have down-played his much publicized closeness to the powers that were at that time. Instead, he carried on as if he was the one that engaged the NFF. To make matters worse, when the NFF noticed that the country’s qualification for the 2015 AFCON in Equatorial
Guinea was in serious jeopardy due largely to Keshi’s style of management and sacked him after the team struggled to beat Sudan in one of the qualifying matches, the same ‘powerful men’ ordered the NFF to reverse itself. Some of the people who deceived Keshi probably because of their own grouse against the NFF were telling anybody who cared to listen that the continuous stay in office of the present board was based on the stay of Keshi as the national team coach. Events that followed showed that the former national team captain also played along that argument hence the constant cold war that existed between him and his employers. One of the immediate causes of Keshi’s fall was his team selection style. Oliseh must take responsibility for the players he selects for each match. Since football is like a religion in Nigeria, the new coach must ensure that he selects his team primarily based on merit and on the current form of the players. He must avoid acting as an agent. He must avoid the temptation o f engaging in the selling of players which has destroyed many coaches before him. As a coach/players manager, he could be tempted to sideline a quality player who may reject his proposal of
being his manager for a substandard player. One other area that Oliseh must work hard to improve on is his well known fiery temperament which forced his former team Borrusia Dortmund to expel him after punching a team mate Vahid Hashemian while on loan at VFL Bochum in 2004. This therefore suggests that he must now realize that he is the coach and not a player because whatever he does positively or otherwise would reflect on not just how the team players but also how people will perceive them. Nevertheless, he must ensure that he instils discipline in the team by ensuring that camp rules are observed to the letter. One of the factors that caused the country the 2015 AFCON appearance was the manner the former coach was said to have pampered the boys to the extent of allowing them to behave as they liked even on the eve of that much important game against South Africa in Uyo. However, one factor that will work in Oliseh’s favour is the huge support he is receiving from some other informed stakeholders like former Green Eagles captain, Christian Chukwu and his team mates Segun Odegbami and Adokie Amiesimaka who believe that he is the right man for the job. The trio who are highly respected in Nigerian football circles are unanimous in their support for the NFF on the engagement of Oliseh. Many others in that league also argue that despite the fact that Oliseh may not have the best of coaching experience, he has many other factors that will help him to succeed including his well known vast knowledge of the game which has stood him out as renowned analyst. Secondly over the years he has refused to work as an assistant to anybody which should suggest that he really has his game plan on how to repackage the team which has really lost every known playing pattern under Keshi. The exploits of former Germany international Frank Backenbuer who did so well with the national team of his country despite the fact that he had no known coaching experience is another plus for Oliseh that he can also do well given the quality of talents that abound in Nigeria and his wealth of experience as a former player.
•Ma
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 29
Seattle coach regrets Mar tins absence
Gifted eyes six more bouts to challenge Tripple G
S
ea ttl e So un de rs ma na ge r Si gi Sc hm id ha s ex pr es se d hi s frustration over the ina bility of his team to score goals in the absence of recuperating Obafe mi M suspended Clint Demp artins and sey. Martins and Dempsey have scored Seattle’s goals since las t season, but the team have now fou nd it difficult to score without them as Sounders could only secure thr ee points from las t fiv e ga me s, sc or in g on ly tw o goals in the seven ga mes they have played without the tw o strikers.
artins
n
A
•Prince
Dream Team ‘ll do Nigeria proud – Prince Elutabe
Atletico ready to go all out for Luis
I
BY SOLOMON NWOKE
T
general
terms,Atléticowould never ordinarily be looking to invest in a defender about to turn 30 in August. The difference is, however, that the defender in question is Filipe Luis, a player that Simeone wants to bring in at any cost. The club •Luis see that reinforcements are needed for the left flank but the fact that Chelsea shelled out • 20 million on Luis for a one-way ticket only a year ago means that they are consequently not willing to give him back on the cheap. Atleti’s initial idea of bringing him in on loan has withered away as the summer has gone on. As yet, Filipe has not started the pre-season with the Blues, due to taking part in the Copa America, which has so far ruled out any opportunity for a pow-wow with Mourinho, but the London club management do not seem prepared to lose the player without recouping some of their investment.
he U-23 national team has been tipped to do the country proud in its series of matches, beginning with the Olympic games qualifier against Congo, this Sunday in Port Harcourt. This assurance was given by Prince Efemena Elutabe, the President of Lagos based non-league side, Freestan Sports club. Speaking with the press after the friendly match between his team and the dream team in Port Harcourt which the Siasia led team won 3-1, he opined that the quality of the players in the national team and buoyed by the experience and astuteness of the Samson Siasia led technical crew would certainly make the team too hot to handle for any team. “Without doubt, the U-23 team is very good. And I want to assure Nigerians that this team will do us proud at the All African Games and also qualify for the Olympic games”,Prince Elutabe assured. “I have watched this team played severally, and the quality and potentials in this team is awesome”,he added. He went ahead to enjoin every soccer fan to turn out enmasse to support the U-23 team against Congo, on Sunday.
fter his uncommon feat last June in the United States of America, Nigeria’s rising World Boxing Federation (WBF) Middleweight pugislist, Gifrted Cole Chiori has set his eyes in hitting up to 20 – 0 points to challenge one of the most dreaded boxers of his class, called Tripple G. th Gifted Cole, who increased his victories to 12 to rank 13 in the world after knocking out Mexican champion Yair Agular in round three of a 10-round WBF Title fight in Atlanta last month. The America-based Abia state Nigerian boxer while speaking to sports Vanguard at his Festac residence in Lagos on Sunday, Gifted expressed happiness that he won his last fight, declaring that he wants more titles to improve on his ranking. “I’m glad I defeated Agular in my last fight, that was behind me now because I still have six fights to contend with this year. “I have fights in Russia, Germany, Croatia, Austria and Mexico, and hopefully, I want to add them to my previous titles. After that, I will need just three more to make my titles 20, so I can rise to the top, where I can challenge for the ultimate WBF title. So I am looking up to one of the most Dangerous Boxer, they call him Tripple G. I am looking forward to fighting a boxer like that so that Nigerians and the world will really know who Gifted is”, he said. The solidly built boxer was in Lagos at the weekend to present his title belt as a special 40th Wedding Anniversary gift to his parents, Rev Omeaku and Juliana Cole Chiori. He said, “I salute my dad and mum for achieving this milestone, I actually came to Lagos to honour their 40th w e d d i n g anniversary and I’m excited to present my WBF belt to them as a gift, that was my promise to my parents before •Elutabe the fight”.
Real Madrid not ready to sell Ramos
R
eal Madrid defender Sergio Ramos is still keen on a move away from the club this summer, despite being told he is not for sale, as per Goal. The 29-year-old has been tipped to join Manchester United frequently during the current transfer window, however, it was thought that after being officially appointed club captain he would remain at the club, as per the Mirror. But despite assuming the responsibility following Iker Casillas’ departure, Ramos’ future remains unclear with the back page of Spanish newspaper Marca claiming he wants to leave, as per the report.
•Ramos
Djokovic targets US Open after Wimbledon triumph
T
•Djokovic
he good news for Novak Djokovic is that, at 28 and with nine majors to his name, he is getting better. The bad news for everyone else is that the newly minted Wimbledon champion says he might play on for as long as the 33-year-old Roger Federer, whom he beat over four sets of a tense and thoroughly absorbing final on Sunday. “I feel like I’m at the peak of my abilities and career, and I want to use that for as long as I can,” he said. When asked if Federer ’s enduring career was an inspiration, the world No1 said: “How long I can go I really don’t want to predict. Roger is 33 and he also doesn’t think about how many years he can go.
Serena extends lead in WTA rankings Sharapova. Sh ar ap ov a, wh o los t to Serena in the semis, ros e two sp ots , wh ile Pe tra Kv ito va we nt do wn to nu mb er fiv e aft er ma kin g a thi rd -ro un d exit. M ea nw hi le, Wi mb led on fin alist Garbine Muguruza •Serena of Spain has moved on in the top 10 for the fir st tim e at nu mb er nin e, ris ing by 11 spots, Sport24 reported er en a Wi lli am s ha . s Th e me n’s AT P ra nk extended her lead in the in gs has remain unchange W TA ra nk in gs aft er d, with he r wo rld nu mb er on e No fou rth co ns ec uti ve Gr va k an d Dj ok ov ic ma in tai ni ng Sl am tit le at Wi mb led hi s on , he alt hy lea d aft er his thi with the world number rd one Wi mbledon title’s win again now having more than twice st Sw iss Ro ge r Fe de rer as ma ny po in ts as , wi th he r An dy Murray at second clo se st co mp eti tor M and ar ia Ra fael Nadal at number 10.
S
C M Y K
30—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
NCS to FG: Enact legislation to foster IT development By Emeka Aginam
P
RESIDENT of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, Prof David Adewumi has said that in addition to Cybercrime Act, legislation should also be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and IT enabled activities in the country. Adewunmi while unfolding activities for the 12th edition of the NCS international conference holding next week in Akure, Ondo State, also called for Inclusive development through Information Technology. He revealed that the theme of the conference will be “Information Technology for Inclusive Development”, adding that actionable initiatives will be developed during the conference to advance the IT profession and industry and build an inclusive digital Nigeria. Lamenting total neglect of IT professionals in the national polity, he said that, “ the challenge has been that we have never had any concrete recognition from the various government in this country. The usage of IT in Governance and Security
•President Buhari needs to be improved through inclusion of more IT professionals in the private and public sectors. NCS and its members can play a major role in improving the state of security nationwide, combating terrorism, enhancing public service delivery and accountability and boosting job creation”, he said. He added that the conference would address challenges and highlights opportunities related to building a globally competitive and prosperous
Nigeria that is significantly information technology-based and knowledgedriven. He informed that the conference will focus on important issues related to the theme such as smart city & broadband penetration, innovation and leadership in IT, cashless society & e-Payment systems, Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP), Cloud computing & big data, social networks, next generation networking and the internet, IT human capital development, e-Health/e-Education, among others.
Media executives advocate proper checks for online media practice By Emmanuel Elebeke & Grace Udofia
M
EDIA experts in the country have advocated for adequate monitoring and regulation of online media practice in Nigeria to maximise the great potentials of the Internet in disseminating accurate information to the general public. The advocacy came at the heels of the official unveiling of Sundiata Post Media, an online media platform, in Abuja. Participants at the event demanded for the establishment of a regulatory body and framework that would guide online practitioners across the nation’s cyber space to check the increasing abuse of the journalism profession and dissemination of false news. They also demanded that online publishers should sustain the confidence of their audience by pushing balanced, credible, edited and verified news content to their readers. The chairman of the Occasion, Mr. Tony Ojobo represented by Reuben Mouka said “the online platform had
evolved and will continue to evolve but the major challenge of online journalism is the problem of control”. He noted that most online platforms lack the key values of news, which includes credibility, objectivity, trust, meaning and context. A panel of media executives led by a former Group Managing Director, Leadership Group Limited, Mr. Azubike Ishiekwene, while discussing on a topic, “Has Online Journalism Come of Age” submitted that online
publication is future of information dissemination, but acknowledged the impact of the mainstream media. However, Isiekwene said that the traditional media tends to be more reliable, because of its strict compliance with ethics and guidelines of the profession. He said these guidelines demand balance in news stories. The Chairman of the occasion and Director General, National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, Mr. Emeka Mba, represented by Awwalu Salihu, lauded the publisher of the online news platform for his innovation that resulted in the establishment of the platform.
Micro Station attributes growth to customer loyalty
L
EADING mobile phone retail outlet, Micro Station, has attributed the success of the brand in Nigeria to customers’ loyalty. The firm, as a result, recently, rolled out a unique customer loyalty scheme for its existing and potential customers. Tagged “Great Value, Happy Customer”, the loyalty scheme is aimed at sustaining the buying behaviour of customers as well as acquiring new customers, who would associate with the Micro Station brand. Speaking at the unveiling of the programme and formal commissioning of a new outlet in Ikeja, Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Micro Station, Nester Coutroupis, said the firm is strategically focused and positioned to drive the momentum from crucial communication products and unique mobile phone gadgets coupled with equal to none customer relationship. Coutropolis said in Micro Station, customers are key to their success story, “and this has driven our zeal to always try to find ways to celebrate them for their undiluted patronage and unflinching support in the area of business patronage”.
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—31
C M Y K
32—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
Abimbola Akeredolu
S
he was one of the beneficiaries of Amosun’s Ogun state gender policy, having served as the first female Attorney General the state has ever had. It is therefore not surprising that when the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) conferred the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on 21 lawyers last week, Abimbola Ibironke Akeredolu was the only female. The list consists of 18 practicing advocates and three from the academics. Others include; Dr. Muiz Adeyemi Banire, Director, Legal Services, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ibrahim Kanje Bawa, son of former Anambra State Deputy Governor, Virgy Etiaba, and son of former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Dr. Oladapo Olumide Olanipekun.
Jk Rowling B est selling author of movie series Harry Porter, JK Rowling, would have been the least unlikely person to be rooting for Serena Williams, but she was last weekend, and was trending on blogosphere on that account. When Serena Williams won Wimbledown
Saturday, J.K. Rowling went on Twitter to express her excitement: “I love her,” she wrote. “What an athlete, what a role model, what a woman!” Apparently, one Twitter user had responded by writing, “ironic then that main reason for her success is that she is built like a man” — so Rowling took that opportunity to slam said
Twitter user. “She is built like a man,’” Rowling replied. “Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You’re an idiot.” Ouch!
Amina Abubakar Bello
A
s part of her contribution to ensure women get the best treatment in the state, the wife of the Niger State Governor, Dr. Amina Abubakar Bello last week expressed her desire to work as a gynaecologist at the Minna General Hospital. The daughter of former head of State Abdusalami Abubakar, who visited the female wards at the General Hospital, Minna, said as a practising and consultant gynaecologist she needed to know how women are being catered for medically in the state. This earned her a prominent place in blogosphere in the last week. “My visit is to see how I can contribute to the society as a gynaecologist. That is what I do. I see pregnant women, I see women with gynaecology problems, I operate on women on caesarian
Camille Cosby
Bianca Onoh
A
s President Buhari recalls political appointees serving as envoys abroad, former beauty queen, widow of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and APGA chieftain was prominent. P r e s i d e n t Muhammadu Buhari called them back after three years of service abroad. They were told to hand over to the highest ranking officer in their various locations. Others include Chief Ojo Maduekwe (Canada), Dr. Dalhatu Tafida (UK)Professor Ade Adefuye (USA); and Mr. Taofeek Arapaja (Jordan), Mrs. Fidelia Njeze (Switzerland), and Mr. Yemi Farounbi (Philippines). Bianca Ojukwu had been in Spain. They were among the 93 envoys posted out in June 2012. Of the 88 envoy nominees sent to the Senate by Jonathan at the time, only 84 passed the screening.
C M Y K
Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, who was nominated to represent Anambra State on the list of non-career categor y, had not appeared for screening but was confirmed nonetheless, her nomination coming barely a week after her husband died in a London hospital. The sack is the biggest
section, that is what I intend to do as my own contribution. The hospital should expect better services. I would like to contribute my own quota, visit some of these women, spend time with them, helping with their surgeries and deliveries”. She said the rate of infant and maternal mortality in Niger State has dropped from its previous figure. “ 500 last year, but recently it has dropped to 300 because of training and capacity building and the procurement of equipment for life saving. Last month, we had zero percent in infant and maternal mortality in this Hospital.”
since President Buhari assumed office on May 29. Blogosphere deems the move not politically motivated, as the recall of Ambassadors serving in foreign missions is a routine exercise especially where there is a change of guard at the federal level.
A
nd who would be playing the stoic, supportive wife but Bill Cosby’s wife, Camille, who is speaking up and standing by her husband of 50 years. “I met my husband, Bill Cosby, in 1963, and we were married in 1964. The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is
the man you thought you knew. A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband’s accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral.
None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked - who is the victim?” Over the last month, more than 15 women have come forward with stories claiming that the 77-year-old comedian had drugged and sexually assaulted them. The alleged incidents date as far back as the 1960s. Bill, who has largely stayed silent on the matter, said about his wife and the ongoing allegations: “Love and the strength of womanhood. Let me say it again, love and the strength of womanhood. And, you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love.” Spelman College in Atlanta suspended its endowed professorship with the actor. His upcoming TV series got scrapped, and he has stepped down as a member of the board of trustees at Temple University. The Nigerian blogosphere finds it all amusing that there could be such dire consequences for ‘mere misdemeanors’.
Imo state zoo begs for rescue -Page 6 VOL. 1 NO 41
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
BY AUSTIN OGWUDA
E
NUGU—CULTURE is universally seen as a distinctive body of beliefs and social institutions that characterize a given society. Therefore, Enugu State is not far removed from the cultures of other Igbo race east of the Niger as initiation into the Ozo title, igbankwu (traditional marriage) and burial rites, to mention but just a few, are celebrated with great admiration and splendour. Likewise, the people of the state have a variety of cultural activities that include masquerade dancing parade (mmanwu) and new yam festival which are two predominantly annual Igbo traditional festivals that the indigenes, residents and tourists look forward to. The new yam festival also known as iwa ji is celebrated between August and October, marking the harvesting and feasting of the new yam, a cultural symbol for the Igbo people while the mmanwu festival takes place in November and features various types of masquerades. And symbolically too, each of the masquerades has its distinctive name and usually held at the Okpara Square in Enugu, in a carnival-like manner. Enugu State is not alone in showcasing their array of masquerades. The sanctity of appearance of any masquerade in the country, be it in Enugu, Anambra, Oyo, Delta, Kano, Kogi, holds sway as it draws that eerie that makes the non-initiates to scamper for safety. However, there is an introduction of a new dimension as masquerades, which was unheard of in the early 60's and 70's, are now being arrested by the police for allegedly committing one crime or the other. A chronicle of events showed that on June 28, 2013, a masquerade was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 60-year-old man, one Emma Nnamani, to death in Enugu. The suspect, who wore the masquerade, according to police report, stabbed the victim in the lower abdomen. And only a forthngiht ago, an Anglican priest, identified as Reverend Christian Ajibo was mercilessly beaten up and stabbed by a three-man masquerade gang. The suspects were promptly arrested. The arrest desecration of custom, tradition —Igwe Piqued by the arrest of the masquerade, a traditional ruler in one of the autonomous communities in the state, who begged for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the crime allegedly committed by the “masqueraders,” told South East Voice, that the arrest was a desecration. C M Y K
South-East miners advocate coal mining in Enugu -Page 8
Ijele masquerade from Enugu State
Furore over arrest of masquerade in Enugu: ....It's desecration of culture —Igwe ....We're doing our job —Police According to him, “no matter the crime, a masquerade is supposed to be revered. They are spirit beings from the ancestors. I am totally against the arrest. This is what the police should consult the Igwe of the community for and sort things out amicably,” he fumed. We’re doing our job —PPRO Reacting, the Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu described the defence put up by the unnamed traditional ruler as a bunkum. “How can he say that? We (police) are doing our lawful job. If the masquerade was doing its own thing, dancing and going about without committing crime, we could not have been involved. Are you saying that people should hide under the canopy of playing masquerade
to commit crime and we should keep quiet, even when they kill? Not so!" he added. On whether he would be charging the masquerade to a law court, the PPRO said “the people who wore the masquerade we arrested would be charged to court after concluding our investigation. Their masquerade regalia found with them would be tendered as exhibits. “Operatives of the Igboeze North division of the Enugu State command of the Nigeria police nabbed three suspects (names withheld), all of Igogoro Enugu Ezike Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State for allegedly conspiring to beat and stab one Reverend Christain Ajibo, an Anglican priest last Thursday with dagger on the right side of his chest.
No matter the crime, masquerade is supposed to be revered. They are spirit beings from the ancestors. I am totally against the arrest. —Igwe We (police) are doing our lawful job. If the masquerade was doing its own thing, dancing and going about without committing crime, we could not have been involved
“It was further gathered that the suspects allegedly perpetrated the act while in masquerade, but were later identified and during the time, also damaged the victim’s car and stole his money,” the PPRO stated. The phenomenon of arresting masquerades is not peculiar to Enugu State alone. Investigation showed that in December 2014, some military men attached to Koko community in Warri North council area of Delta State arrested four masquerades, a number of elderly men and youths after a clash with the members of the community. The bloody encounter was said to have started during their masquerade display when they accosted a soldier in a mufti. Also, sometime ago, the Ekiti State Police command arrested a masquerade and four other suspected armed robbers during a shoot-out in Ado-Ekiti.The list of masquerades breaching the peace in the society is endless.
2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
By VINCENT UJUMADU
A
WKA—THE decision of Anambra State government to supply laptops to school teachers in the state is causing ripples. While some of the teachers are accusing the state ministry of education of forcing them to buy the laptops at what they described as exorbitant cost of N90,000 each, the state government said that those opposed to the policy missed the point as the laptops being supplied came with a total package that included training for the beneficiaries. Before the National Council on Education, NCE, at its 58th meeting in Abuja in 2012, decided that all state ministries of education should comply with the instruction to supply adequate number of computer laptops on soft loan basis to all teachers and continually organize training workshops and seminars for them on effective use of computer, the immediate past administration in the state had already begun the supply of computers to schools in the state. By the time that government left office, no fewer than 25,000 computers and 450,000 generators to power them had been supplied to schools in the state. Government also trained special computer teachers for proficiency in the subject. The reason, the then government said, was part of efforts geared towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, by the year 2015. It was, however, observed that many school principals merely parked the computers in a room following complaints of lack of security, thus
Following the propaganda by many teachers against the policy, the good intention of the state government became a debatable issue. Before long, traditional rulers, town union presidents and other stakeholders in education took up the matter and started castigating government officials for allegedly trying to rip off the teachers
Anambra govt, teachers at war over computer literacy programme defeating the main objective of ensuring that everybody in the school system had access to computer to achieve computer literacy in the state. Some school heads had to move the computers to the homes of traditional rulers or presidentsgeneral to ensure their safety. Also, the Microsoft Academy Vouchers procured by the past administration at the cost of US $1 million would expire at the end of this month and when the present Commissioner for Education discovered the development, she reached out to Microsoft to get one year extension up to July, 2016. The question is, are the recipients of the computers supplied by the former administration putting them to good use? The answer is no because most of the schools that received computers from the state government do not have adequate electricity supply with which to power the
computers. Indeed, when the present administration came into office, it decided to continue with the computer policy and went further to implement the NCE’s policy of one teacher, one laptop in the country and thereafter acquired laptops at a cost of N90,000 each for distribution to the teachers. Payment for the laptops was spread through 18 months and would be deducted from their salaries at the rate of N5,000 every month. Following the propaganda by many teachers against the policy, the good intention of the state government became a debatable issue. Before long, traditional rulers, town union presidents and other stakeholders in education took up the matter and started castigating government officials for allegedly trying to rip off the
•Computer literacy programme
….Enugu civil servants on the march to catch up By AUSTIN OGWUDA
T
HE CONVERGENCE of information technology, IT and telecom technology eventually gave birth to Information Communication Technology, ICT, thus finding expression in digital technology. The IT phenomenon is sweeping every sector of human existence the world over, be it e-banking, egovernance, e-commerce, digital media; and broadband technology has taken the stage as no individual or corporate entity would not wish to be left behind. Therefore, the Enugu State government has commenced the training of its workforce to ensure that the workers embrace the technology in order to be on the same page for faster and efficient service delivery. A cross section of workers
C M Y K
interviewed expressed joy about the computer exposure while some within the advanced age bracket saw it as unnecessary burden. But on the whole, a greater per cent of the workers are grasping with the challenges of meeting up. A worker in the state Ministry of Justice, who pleaded anonymity, told our reporter that “the mandatory policy of becoming computer literate is to our (workers) advantage because we have long moved from stone age to digital age. All these important files you are seeing can be protected through the use of computer, saved in the hard disc and easily retrievable. So it is okay, no hassles at all, we are embracing it,” he stated. Chief Press Secretary to the State governor, Mr. Uwakwe Abugu confirmed to South East Voice that the skill training for the workers was on going. According to him: “The pilot
scheme was successful. Right now, the workers drawn from various ministries, departments and agencies are undergoing the computer literacy programme. Actually, the training which started since February will stretch till December this year. “Reports from the Head of Service showed that we are very much on course in achieving the required goal. There is a running time-table that accommodates the various departments. So by the grace of God, with the level of commitment on the side of government and the enthusiasm from the workers being trained, the expected result will be realized,” the CPS added. He was, however, silent on whether there would be sanction against any worker who failed to become computer literate by December deadline. In the neighbouring Anambra State, their State Government has handed down an ultimatum to
school teachers in public school to become computer literate as they would no longer enjoy promotion without computer literary. January 2016 was therefore set for them. South East Voice gathered that the implementation of the computer policy for teachers was a national issue arrived at during the National Council on Education at its 58th meeting held in February 2012. Sometime ago, precisely in May 2010, the former Minister of Information and Communication, late Professor Dora Akunyili while addressing the opportunities and challenges about e-governance at the world congress on Information Technology in Amsterdam, Netherlands noted the resolve of the federal government under President Goodluck Jonathan to fast track Nigeria’s efforts at becoming one of the first 20 developed economies by year 2020.
teachers. For instance, at a quarterly meeting organized by the Justice, Development and Peace Commission, JDPC, of Catholic Diocese of Onitsha held in Ogidi, the participants condemned the supply of laptops to teachers without first discussing the issue with them. Due to their apparent ignorance, the stakeholders urged Governor Willie Obiano to reverse the decision, describing it as anti-people and anti-teachers. In a communique issued after the meeting, the stakeholders observed that laptops were teaching instruments and were supposed to be provided to the teachers free of charge. They said: “It is unfair to ask teachers to pay for laptops which they will use to teach the children. The Universal Basic Education, UBE, has enough money to run any programme it wants in schools and there is nothing that can prevent government from supplying the laptops to every teacher." “Even if teachers are to pay for the laptop, it cannot be at the rate of N90,000 a piece as the price of laptop is cheaper in the markets.” Following the controversy generated by the laptop policy, the state Co m m i s s i o n e r for Education, Professor Kate Omenugha decided to lay the facts bare. She wondered why there was so much hoopla over a policy that her Ministry was implementing to give Anambra children the chance to compete with their peers from across the globe in an ever dynamic computer age. She said: “There has been misinformation and misconception, with bad blood being generated on the policy of one teacher, one computer. When the NCE took the decision in 2012, it was binding on all states and because of the forward – looking nature of the present administration, we decided to implement it. “When we took over, the state government evolved a blueprint on the implementation of the one teacher, one laptop policy and by January 2016, every teacher in the state must be computer literate, otherwise there will be no promotion for non computer literate teachers.” She explained that henceforth, any new teacher to be employed in the state must be computer literate, adding that what the present administration promised Anambra State people is to give the children education that is competitive and no pupil can rise above a teacher that is not computer literate, a situation govern-ment would not tolerate.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 3
By FRANCIS IGATA
E
NUGU—THE upsurge in petrol tanker accidents in the South-East geopolitical zone has left in its wake, trails of tears and anguish to relatives of the victims. Last month, no fewer than 69 persons were burnt to death when a tanker loaded with Premium Motor Spirit,PMS, otherwise known as petrol that was descending from Army barracks side of Onitsha-Enugu express way, lost control and rammed into the Asaba Motor Park at Upper Iweka, Onitsha and exploded. Eleven vehicles mostly commuter buses and two motorcycles inside the Asaba Park,Onitsha including the 40 other tankers laden with petrol burnt beyond repairs inside the park. Families lost loved ones at their prime even as wares, property and the environment were greatly devastated in the fatality. This immediately elicited the visit of Vice President,Prof. Yemi Osibanjo and Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, who visited Toronto Hosiptal and Borromeo Mission Hospital, Onitsha to console victims and relatives affected in the incident. Railway as a panacea Efforts to rehabilitate the rail lines in the South-East had started during past President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Rehabilitation for the Enugu-Port HarcourtMakurdi corridors which falls under Eastern D istrict of the Nigeria Railway Corporation,
NRC,was awarded to ESER West Africa in 2010 with a months completion time line. Discontent had emanated from the Railway Union, Eastern District over the capability of ESER to deliver on the terms and duration of the contract, which eventually resulted in the tardy, tattered quality of job handed over to NRC by the firm in days leading to the peak of general elections. The government of the day had beaten their war chest in jubilation of the conquest on rail rehabilitation in the region which the people had now seen as an orchestrated ploy meant to curry votes from unsuspecting electorate in the zone. Repeatedly, the union had cried out over the seeming incapability of the ESER to deliver quality and standard job to ensure value for money paid on the job. South East Voice’s visit to the railway station in Enugu showed that only one inter-city, passenger train runs from Enugu to Port-Harcourt on Tuesdays and returns from PortHarcourt to Enugu on Wednesdays, once every week. Over 1,000 rail-tankers parked at the station were in desolate state. South East Voice investigation revealed that the rail-tankers which are meant for lifting of petroleum products from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State to other destinations in South East region are far from being functional. The idea behind the innovation of the rail-tankers was to free the deplorable roads of tonnages occasioned by heavy duty trucks like petrol tankers, among others, and safely convey petroleum products which are highly inflammable through the rail
Moribund railway, bane of petrol tanker accidents in the S/East Over 1,000 railtankers parked at the station were in desolate state. South East Voice investigation revealed that the rail-tankers which are meant for lifting of petroleum products from PortHarcourt, Rivers State to other destinations in South East region are far from being functional
Workers abandon homes as robbers take over Federal College of Education, Umunze By VINCENT UJUMADU
A
WKA—THE people of Umunze, a semi –urban town, which is the headquarters of Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State, are disturbed, no thanks to the menace of incessant armed robbery attacks in the area. More worrisome is the fact that the main targets of the robbers are the workers of the Federal College of Education (Technical), attracted to the community by the C M Y K
late traditional ruler of the area, Igwe Ugochukwu. When the Federal Government took over the institution and upgraded it to a College of Education, the joy of the people knew no bounds, bearing in mind the benefits that come with the presence of a tertiary institution, including employment opportunities and the fact that workers in the college would reside with them, thereby attracting rents to their landed property. Indeed, the people of Umunze
soon after the establishment of the college began to enjoy these benefits and the community’s market suddenly became a sprawling commercial centre, thus helping to improve the economy of the area and its people. However, for sometime now, the workers in the college have been experiencing untold hardship following the activities of armed robbers in the area. While some of the robberies take place at night during which gun-wielding hoodlums dispossess the workers of their
lines. A functional rail system will no doubt, elongate the life span of the roads and drastically reduce the incidents of petrol tanker accidents. It will also save the economy from perennial loss of livelihood and human capacity. Stakeholders step in Mr. Beloved Dan-Anike, former Commissioner for InterMinisterial Duties, who had witnessed a petrol tanker explosion in 2012 along LagosBenin-Ore road where over 70 persons were burnt to ashes said: ”Government should ensure that depots are recommissioned and reopened. “All the Pipeline Products Marketing Company, PPMC, depots in the country should be reopened to bring products closer to the people. Enugu, Makurdi
property, other attacks take place while the workers are in their offices, in which case their houses are burgled. One of the staff, Mr. Sunny Ike died as a result of gun-shot wounds inflicted on him when the robbers attacked his home. Ike’s body had been deposited in a mortuary awaiting burial. Again, a female staff of the institution, who was robbed recently while she was attending a church service, was sent a text message to keep N2 million for the robbers, or count herself dead because, as the robbers allegedly claimed, not much was collected from her house. During the robbery in her house, she lost her laptop, a smart phone and some cash, which the robbers considered too small. At a time, Umunze became a no –go area for most people who had to pass through Umunze to travel to Abia and Imo states which border the town. On many occasions since this year, commercial banks in Umunze had to close shop for many days due to frequent armed robbery attacks, forcing the workers and other people in the area to be travelling to other towns to cash their monies.
and Auchi depots should be reopened. “These depots have not been functional since 2006. System 2E pipeline from Aba-Enugu which is about 210km should be completed. Above all, the railways should be made to function optimally to ensure safe lifting of petroleum products from depots. If railway is up and running,you hardly will hear of incidents of petrol tanker accidents because these products will safely and easily move from one location to the other through the rail lines. FRSC to the rescue Reacting to the incident, the Corps Marshall and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Road Safety Commission,FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, revealed while on a courtesy call to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, that the commission would soon convene a meeting of all critical stakeholders with petroleum tanker drivers in the country.
THE TEAM Supervising Editor: Chioma Gabriel (08052201257; email, anyagafu@yahoo.com) Anayo Okoli, Umuahia Vincent Ujumadu, Awka Austin Ogwuda, Enugu Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri Peter Okutu , Abakaliki Chimaobi Nwaiwu Francis Igata Nwabueze Okonkwo Frank Igata Alaribe Ugochukwu Chinoso Alozie Emeka Odogwu Ugochukwu Alaribe Obialunamma Nwadiogbu
4 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,
JULY 15, 2015
Ekweremadu’s Foundation disburses N23.5m scholarship, bursary to students …Graduates 198 adult learners
Some of adult women who are beneficiaries performing at the event
•Ekweremadu and wife watching the performance at the event.
By FRANCIS IGATA
E
NUGU-THE Ikeoha Foundation, founded by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has given out N23.5 Million in bursary awards and scholarships to indigent students. The students were drawn from the five Local Government Areas, LGAs of Enugu West Senatorial District as well as Enugu North and Igboeze North LGAs. He gave the bursary awards and scholarships at the 2015 edition of the Ikeoha Foundation Adult Literacy Day and 2014/ 2015 Scholarship and Bursary Award Ceremony held at the Government Field, Awgu, Enugu State, on Saturday. This was also on a day the Foundation graduated 198 adult learners with the Executive Director of the Foundation, Mrs. Cindy Ezeugwu announcing that the Foundation had established 32 Adult Literacy Centres in the Senatorial District and provided basic education to over 10,000 adult learners who had either graduated or were still studying. Senator Ekweremadu said that while 50 students from each of Awgu, Aninri, Ezeagu, Udi, and Oji River Local Governments as well as 25 from Igboeze North and Enugu North LGAs received N40,000 individually as bursary awards, 19 students got a cheque for N400,000 each in scholarship for a four-year university education programme. An elated Senator Ekweremadu stressed that although the Foundation was running other programmes, the dearest to him was the educational programme “because education is the key”. He described the day as one of the happiest in his life for three reasons. He said: “One is the fact that for the first time in 16 years, we have true and genuine peace in Enugu State under the leadership of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. People can attend functions without fear of molestation, losing their jobs,
C M Y K
and without fear of losing influence. “I am also happy because about a year or two ago, nobody was certain that Ikeoha Foundation and its programmes would continue because there was fear that Senator Ike Ekweremadu would not go back to the Senate, and this programme could die. It is by the grace of God and prayers of the beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries that we were able to go back to the National Assembly”. He emphasised that the students of the adult literacy programmes could still achieve greater heights despite receiving education at a later day in life. He recalled: “We had a Senator in the 7th Senate. He used to follow trailers to Enugu to offload tomatoes. But one day, he embraced education by teaching himself how to read and write. He eventually found himself in a Teachers Training College and finally he found himself in the Senate. “The Governor of Benue State told the Senate during ministerial screening that he left back for school from Motor Park, then he
became a minister and today, he is the Governor of Benue State. That is the power of education”.
Senator Ekweremadu said that while 50 students from each of Awgu, Aninri, Ezeagu, Udi, and Oji River Local Governments as well as 25 from Igboeze North and Enugu North LGAs received N40,000 individually as bursary awards, 19 students got a cheque for N400,000 each in scholarship for a four-year university education programme.
He called on the State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to consider the graduates of the Ikeoha Adult Literacy Programme for councillors in the next Local Government elections to “help encourage others who are sitting behind to see what education can do”. He reminded the beneficiaries of the bursary and scholarship awards that they were being supported so they could also support others. “The idea is for us to help you so that you can help others. The government cannot do everything and that is why we also call on every individual to work together with others we can lift ourselves up in unity”, he added. In his goodwill message, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Alhaji Jibrin Paiko, who was represented by Mrs. Temitola Aguda noted that the commission had been able to increase the literacy level in Enugu State from 56 per cent in 2009 to 62 per cent due the Foundation’s efforts. On his part, the Governor of
Enugu, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, commended Senator Ekweremadu for being a shinning example in human capital development in the Enugu State over the years. He announced the donation of the sum of N2.5 million by the Enugu State Government, another N2.5 million by the five LGAs that make up Enugu West as well as N5 million by Federal and State lawmakers in the Senatorial District to support the Foundation’s efforts. Also, the member representing the South East on the Board of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, Chief Chinedu Onu, who recalled Senator Ekweremadu’s immense contributions to educational empowerment since 1997, donated a hundred units of computers to the Ikeoha Foundation to strengthen its ICT training programmes. In her address, the Director of Enugu State Agency for Mass Literacy, Mrs. Ifeoma Onyia lauded the Ikeoha Foundation’s initiatives towards tackling illiteracy and poverty in Enugu State.
Abia govt begins dredging of Aba waterside river BY UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE
A
BA—IN a bid to check flooding of roads, homes and other structures in Aba, Abia state government has commenced the dredging of the Aba waterside River at Ogbor Hill area of the city. South East Voice observed that as early as 7am on Thursday, last week, dredging equipment was deployed to the river while a crowd of residents watched with glee. Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Godwin Adindu said the effort is part of the renewal of the city which entails de-silting of gutters and drainage channels and urged residents to play their part well by refusing to dispose waste into gutters. In a chat with South East Voice, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abia state,
•Dredging of Aba waterside river Elder Goodluck Njoku, commended the governor for the project which he said would go a long way to check the flooding of most areas of the city whenever it rains. According to him, “It is a good initiative to dredge the Aba waterside river; I commend
Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu for this. You can see the volume of debris being de-silted from river and its banks. When it is completed, the river will take in more flood water. Don’t forget that flooding is the major reason why roads don’t last long in Aba. I only pray that the ongoing efforts would be sustained because there are lots of gain we can get from the dredging of the river. It can be developed as a tourist site or route for water transportation to other areas.” He called on Gov. Ikpeazu to relocate the abattoir and market beside the river which he described as an eyesore. South East Voice gathered that the various underground drainage channels which are being de-silted across the city are linked to the Aba waterside river, but the channels blocked by refuse, has made it difficult for flood water to flow into the river.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 5
By UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE
A
BA—A mountain of refuse stretching over two kilometres has taken over the Umuahia – Isiala Ngwa section of the Enugu – Port Harcourt expressway in Abia state. The refuse which has overflown from a dump at the area now has blocked a lane on the expressway making motorists coming from Isiala Ngwa to use the other lane. When our correspondent visited the area, refuse bins and some earth moving equipment were parked on the road which now serves as a dump while some scavengers were gathering iron materials. South East Voice observed that the construction company handling the rehabilitation of the express way skipped the lane as the refuse heaps have completely taken it over. A motorist who spoke to our correspondent, Enyioma Umunna described it as an eyesore and urged the state government to make haste to remove the heaps of refuse. Umunna added that the situation has become a problem to road users because they now have to divert to the other lane, claiming right of way with heavy trucks. “The government should make haste to remove these refuse heaps which have taken
Refuse take over Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway
The refuse which has overflown from a dump at the area now has blocked a lane of the expressway making motorists coming from Isiala Ngwa to use the other lane
this part of the expressway. They have cleared the refuse which blocked the dump close to Aba; they should do same at this dump. Only God has been saving us from accidents. You can see the way motorists claim right of way because they are now forced to use the single lane. The good thing is that the other lane has been rehabilitated. If not, the situation would have been worse.” As at the time of filing this report, the General Manager of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, Mr. Ikechukwu Apugo, could not be reached on his mobile number. during emergency. Police to the rescue Police Public Relations O f f i c e r, P P R O, M r. E b e r e Amaraizu revealed that the essence of the out-post was to bring security closer to the people. The out-post will be well manned with 24 hours patrol vehicles stationed at strategic sections of the road to restore confidence on members of the public who use the road.
The pix of commissioning of unity police division Ibagwa along Ugwogo Nike road Enugu by Enugu state Commissioner of Police CP Abubakar Adamu Mohammed; flanked by the MD Hosing Enugu state and Chairman Enugu East local Government Area
Respite as Police commission out-postto curb armed robbery, Fulani herdsmen attacks By FRANCIS IGATA
E
NUGU—WORRIED by persistent attacks on motorists and residents plying Ugwuogo-Nike-Opi-Nsukka road,the Enugu Police Command has commissioned an out-post along the dreaded road. Constructed by immediate past administration of former Governor Sullivan Chime, the road has shortened the hours spent to and from EnuguNsukka even as it reduced traffic C M Y K
on 9th Mile-Nsukka expressway. Hapeless motorists and residents plying the road had decried consistent attacks by suspected armed bandits and Fulani herdsmen, who rob, maim kidnap, rape and kill victims along the road. But the police in a renewed bid to rid the road of miscreants had last Thursday,commissioned an out-post,christened Unity Police Station, at Iyoku, Ibagwa-Nike to boost the response time
Kidnappers’ den smashed The Police Spokesperson added that the Anti Kidnap Unit of the command had last Friday,raided a kidnap den along the road where suspected kidnappers use as hideout. He revealed that the raid came through intelligence reports on the hideout. He said,”The operatives encountered some suspected notorious kidnap gangs at the hideout, leading to exchange of gun fire which left three of the gang members fatally injured while some fled. “Recovered in the hideout are 10 locally made pistols, charms and live ammunition. “We are appealing to members of the public, especially hospital owners to avail security operatives of information pertaining anybody with gunshot wound even as we have cast our drag net wide to apprehend the fleeing suspects.”
Abia: Monarch’s son slams Abia traditional rulers’ Council Chairman over alleged attack on father By UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE
A
BA—THE first son of the traditional ruler of Eziama Aba autonomous community in Aba North Council Area of Abia state, Prince Ahamefula Ikonne has berated the state Chairman of the traditional rulers’ council, Eze Eberechi Dick, over what he described as unwarranted attacks on his father, Eze Isaac Ikonne. Prince Ikonne who said it has become a pastime for Eze Dick to insult his father over issues that did not concern him, urged the monarch to desist from the action. He told our correspondent that since his father conferred the chieftaincy title of Ogbuagu (Lion Killer) 1, on President Muhammadu Buhari at his palace in Aba, Eze Dick has been criticizing him, questioning his authority to confer the chieftaincy title on Buhari. “Aside the issue of the chieftaincy title to Buhari, Eze Eberechi Dick has also gone on BCA Radio to attack my father who as the chairman of Ukwa/ Ngwa traditional rulers council, paid a ‘thank you’ visit to former governor, Theodore Orji for the support he gave their son, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to emerge the new governor of the state, claiming that Eze Ikonne was neither the chairman of Ukwa/ Ngwa traditional rulers’ council nor has he done 46 years on the throne.” The monarch’s son said it baffled him that on Eze Dick’s attack using the state owned radio station; the former governor
of the state, Orji, never called the monarch to order. He added that Eze Ikonne became the chairman of Ukwa/ Ngwa traditional rulers’ council even before Eze Dick was coronated, stressing that his father was presented to Aba- naOhazu people 46 years ago as their traditional ruler and received his staff of office from then old Imo State government in 1975. “Eze Isaac Ikonne is a founding father of Abia State, so he will be belittling himself if seen to be dragging leadership of traditional rulers in the state with Eze Dick who he refers to as his son in all fronts. He claims that my father insults the traditional institution, but it is on record that he (Eze Dick) has turned the traditional institution in the state into a political party which is not what a royal father should do.
6 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
By CHINONSO ALOZIE, Owerri
I
F nothing is done urgently, the weakened infrastructure in the Imo zoological garden will completely tear down to rubbles. The Imo state zoo is located at the old Nekede road, Owerri, Imo state. As perhaps the only functional zoo in the South-East region of Nigeria, it was expected that standard should be maintained in the management of the zoo by possibly upgrading it beyond its present level since its establishment in 1976. Currently, Mr. Abioye Francis has been at the head of the management of the zoo for the past two years. A staff revealed that it has been a battle to give the zoo the deserved improvement with a subvention that could only pay workers partially and then the maintenance aspect of the zoo would be left unattended. When the South East Voice visited the Nekede zoological garden recently, it was in a state of neglect with no internet facilities for the staff to do their necessary research and documentation. There was no educational unit room through which vital information could be ascertained for the visitors, who wish to enrich their knowledge about some of the wild animals in the zoo. It was observed that the deplorable infrastructure in the zoo affected the cage where the monkeys, pigs, ostrich, fish and others are kept, and the iron used in the fencing of the animals cage if not removed and replaced with new ones could pose a danger to people within the environment.
A top management staff of the Imo state zoo told the correspondent that the zoo needed serious attention to erect housing for the primate animals such as Elephant, Zebra, Buffalo, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, among others. The zoo, it was observed also needed a bigger generator set and not the small generator set being used that only powered some parts of the offices and left others in the dark. It would be recalled that the Imo State House of Assembly under the leadership of the immediate past speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu called on the governor of the State, Rochas Okorocha to declare a state of emergency on the state zoological garden. The House also through its committee on Public Petitions,
Imo state zoo begs for rescue Ethics and Privileges frowned at the decayed state of infrastructure of the zoo and urged the government to pay
adequate attention especially in the area of upward review of the monthly subvention to the zoo.
The zoo housing animals such as Elephant, Zebra, Buffalo, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, among others, is in deplorable state as the iron used in the fencing of the animals if not replaced with new ones could pose a danger to humans
Lion in the zoo.
Six Nigerian students get scholarship ...as NGO commences enlightenment seminar for secondary schools By CHIMAOBI NWAIWU
N
NEWI—A NONGOVERNMENTAL Organization, Preserve Art World Nigeria, PAWN involved in building and development of career line of students and promotion of the Nigerian cultural heritage, has embarked on seminars and workshops for SS1 to SS3 students in the South East to help them get focused on their future career in the universities and other tertiary institutions. PAWN has also given six Nigerian students scholarships to aid their education in both secondary schools and
•Cross section of students during the seminar in Anambra State University Igbariam Campus. universities. The scholarship funds for the two university students cover their one year school fees and upkeep, while the four secondary school students scholarship fund
covers their three years school fees and up keep, that is SS I to SS3. The students were selected during the seminars held at Lagos State Polytechnics, main
Farmer’s wife delivers triplets at home By OBIALUNAMMA NWADIOGBU
E
KWULOBIA—A farmer’s wife at Urum, a rural community in Anambra state recently gave birth to triplets in her husband’s home at Urum without the assistance of doctors or midwife. The woman Mrs Oluchukwu Madubuko delivered two girls and one boy at about 3am without any doctor attending to her. She delivered her bundle of joy with the assistance of some neighbours. Two eye witnesses, Mrs. Patience Umegbolu and Mrs. Helen Nwafor who assisted the woman before calling on a midwife in the area said that while they were still trying to find a means of rushing her to hospital, the first child came out which made them to take her back to her room where she completed the delivery.
C M Y K
The community has therefore called on Anambra state government to recruit more nurses and doctors in the area as the health centre in the community lacks qualified healthcare workers. According to them, “ the last time robbers invaded the area and made away with equipments in the health centre.” The father of the triplets, Mr. Asiegbu Madubuko was full of praises to God for
•Triplets
saving his wife and children even as he called for urgent government intervention saying he is an ordinary farmer without a reasonable income. He said that he has no money to take the wife and children to the hospital for proper medical care. Also speaking, one of the elders in the community, Mr. Martin Nwanna said on the day of the African Child celebration, government was supposed to use the occasion
to pay more attention on how to save the lives of pregnant women and children especially in the rural areas of the country. In an interview, a midwife with a private maternity home in Urum, Mrs. Chinyere Okeke confirmed that the woman and her triplets were in good condition even as she harped on the need for urgent government attention to primary healthcare centres and maternity homes in the area. “ Tragedy was averted as the triplets and their mother were taken to a hospital at Awka by good spirited individuals. This is because the people were thrown into confusion as the woman after delivery started having convulsion and vomiting blood.” The woman was later rushed to General Hospital Amaku for proper medical attention.
auditorium 1 LASPOTECH Isolo Campus and Anambra State University, main auditorium, Igbariam campus. Speaking with South East Voice in Onitsha, founder of PAWN, Enderlyn Emeh said that they are motivated to engage in the seminars for the students because they found out that in Nigeria, most of youths especially, those in secondary schools do not have career direction on what to do when they leave secondary school. “We are also into career development seminars where we invite Speakers from around Africa to speak to students on their chosen career, because you find out that in Nigeria today, a lot of our students go to the higher institution without having any direction on what to read. They just go in to pick a course and read without having focus on what to do after school. “What we are doing is kind of catching them young so they can make plans for their future development. At the end of the Seminar workshops, we ask them different questions, they address the crowd on what their plans are, and we assess them and based on the assessment, we select those who did well. You will be amazed that some of these students have great plans for their future and such students are encouraged through our scholarships funds” she said.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 7
By CHIMAOBI NWAIWU
N
NEWI—FEDERAL and State Governments have been urged to enact enabling laws that will strengthen Intellectual Property Right law and make intellectual property theft worse than theft of physical property. The call was made by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge the Inland Town Police Division Onitsha Mr. Cosmas Eze, II during the launch and re-launch of three of his books, “Visions Through Creation”, “Diary of the Capon” A.k.a Zero Hours, and “Cults and Gangs” held at Mulumba Place, Inland Town, Onitsha. He said that in as much as there is no society that is free from criminality, intellectual property theft is worse than stealing physical objects because it disorganizes and does terrible things in the owner’s life. Observing that intellectual property theft is common in books, film and music, he said government should come out with enabling laws to address the issue by strengthening the law to discourage offenders. “I am of the opinion that theft of intellectual property should be deemed worse than theft of physical property because if you take a man’s physical property, you are taking just that property, but when you take a man’s brain work, you have taken his life, and succeeded in disorganizing and doing so many terrible things to his life. So, people should be discouraged from taking piracy as their business” he said. He described his books as “modest attempt to share with humanity some of his closer observation, closer encounters, spiritual revelations and many peculiar
experiences, and sojourn upon the mortal realm. “I also have a natural flair for writing, I squeeze out some time and embark on academic work and scribble down my thoughts which of course come out in form of these books, “Diary of the Capon”, a fictitious book trying to check the various activities of cults and gangs in various institutions and campuses and the negative consequences of belonging to such groups. “Cults and gangs” is almost the same thing, with “Diary of the Capon”, cultism and gangsterism. It is a kind of moral code to guide the youths on how to relate with fellow human beings, to avoid criminal tendencies or any form of negative inclinations. It is like a hand book and moral code to guide the youths, to steer clear of the bad life of crime and criminality” he said.
Some parents have something to do with youth cults and gang’s involvement, observing that some parents are in cults and gang groups whose activities are not clear, and is one of the predisposing factors that could make their children to join one.
•Ajie of Onitsha Chief Benedict Adibua representing the Obi Of Onitsha at the book launch with Mr Cosmas Eze II DPO Inland Town Police Division Onitsha.
Why cult, gang group thrive —Onitsha DPO reveals as he launches 3 books ...asks FG to strengthen intellectual property right law Mr. Eze said his police work also reinforced his zeal to write, and the conviction and belief that vices are not what one should involve in. “Writing books is my own way of making youths and people generally conform to accepted societal behaviours and moral standards. It reinforces my conviction that there is no shortcut to success and that a life of crime equally does not pay. My police work reinforces my writing ideology, and makes me to understand what crime and criminality mean. “The statutory responsibility of the police is basically the prevention of and detection of crime where it has been committed, as well as maintenance of law and order. If you juxtapose the maintenance of law and order, detection and prevention of crime with gangsterism and cultism, you will see that the police is aversed to those kind of behavioural patterns and tendencies. “I see a very close similarity between the books I write and
the kind of work I do. My work is for the benefit of humanity and my books try to orientate the mind of the people and the youths in particular to better and civilized way of life, behaviour, interactions and relationships,” he said. Delivering a speech on cults and gangs activities and youths involvements, he said some parents have something to do with youth cults and gang’s involvement, observing that some parents are in cults and gang groups whose activities are not clear, and is one of the predisposing factors that could make their children to join one. “When parents are members of one cult or gang group, the child or ward may want to copy or take a cue from the parents, but for those so desirous of wanting to belong, there are no gains derivable from them but by dint of hard work,
•DPO Cosmas Eze determination and honesty, one can always actualize ones’ dreams and aspirations. That is my general idea and it is what these books are talking about,” he said. The Obi of Onitsha Igwe Alfred Achebe who was represented by the Ajie of Onitsha, Chief Benedict Adibua, described Mr. Eze as a very sound police officer who is always on the field with his men instead of delegating duties without supervision.
...65 cultists renounce membership in Unizik as priests hand over university to God By OBIALUNAMMA NWADIOGBU
E
KWULOBIA—NO fewer than 65 members of various cult groups in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Unizik, Awka, have denounced their membership during an interdenominational service at the convocation arena weekend. They admitted they did this as a mark of honour for the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku who pleaded with them to renounce or face the full wrath of the law. Prof. Ahaneku had set up a Cult Renunciation Ceremony Committee headed by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics, Prof. Charles Esimone whose committee rather than took a drastic approach of sacking the students, decided to give them an opportunity to be pardoned by the Vice Chancellor. They invited Rev. Fr. Dr. Paul Martin Obinna Obayi of Oku’nerere Adoration Ministry, Uguru Nsukka who C M Y K
led other priests of God in an interdenominational service to hand over the University to God and allow the cultists the grace to say no to evil ways and embrace God for a change to enable the University maintain its success story. Another priest from Lumen Christ Family, Adoration Ministry Issele-Ukwu, Delta state, Fr. Mario David Dibie administered the Holy spirit. Prof. Ahaneku granted them pardon and handed them
over to the committee to liaise with the priests for proper spiritual rejuvenation. He gave those who refused to come out one week to do so through their religious groups or risk the wrath of the University as nobody would be spared. Initially, when it was announced for members to come out and hand themselves over to God , only 44 came out with the exception of two male cultists who appeared to be tired of the fraternity but when Fr. Obayi
started his prayers , another 21 surrendered. The event, which was the second of its kind in the annals of the citadel of learning, was well attended by staff and students of the university and was graced by eminent clergymen within and outside the institution including the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku and his wife , Dr. Gladys Ahaneku; the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Charles Esimone; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Onyeyili; the
•Cross section of priests and management staff of Unizik
Registrar, Barr. C.C Okeke; Dr. Godson Okafor, Director Infrastructure and Development and Dean, Students Affairs, Prof. Ken Nwogu. In his homily, the guest clergyman, Rev. Fr. Paul Obayi popularly known as “Okunerere” (consuming fire) stated that cultism is full of deceit and adds no value to the lives of members. Fr. Obayi who disclosed that he was once a cultist before being arrested by God, revealed that in cultism, one is bonded, imprisoned and freedom restricted. Frowning at the rate youths are dabbling into cultism, the revered clergyman said, “It is an act of foolishness to join cultism. There is no gain in cultism, it is embedded in deception”. He further charged the students to desist from cultism and face their primary assignment in school, which is to read and pass with good grades to become better persons in the society, urging them to return to God, as He is the giver of wisdom.
8 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
By OBIALUNAMMA NWADIOGBU
E
KWULOBIA—THE Miners Association of Nigeria says it will partner with the federal government to develop the nation’s mining industry. The Association believes that developing the sector will help in the diversification of the nation’s economy, de-emphasizing the nation’s crude oil mono economy, and adding impetus to President Muhammadu Buhari’s blueprint on mining and agriculture. The second national vice president of the association in charge of southern Nigeria, Dr. Kanayo Enemuo gave the indication during a maiden stakeholders’ South-East zonal meeting of the association with the officials of the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel development in Awka. Dr. Enemuo urged President Buhari to translate his vision into action to boost the nation’s economy through employment creation. The one time Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly and former Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources in the state advocated the revival of the coal industry in Enugu to generate enough power supply to serve the South-East geopolitical zone, as well as the checking of the activities of illegal miners undermining the nation’s economic base. He said the association will soon embark on a tour of the
south east states to discuss with the governors of the states on how to tap the mineral deposits in their states. Dr. Enemuo commended Governor Willy Obiano for effectively harnessing the mineral deposits in the state and called on the Federal Government to ensure peace and order by checking the activities of the people from Kogi State who attack their brothers in Aguleri – Otu where crude oil is located. Others who spoke during the meeting calling for the development of the mining industry in Nigeria include the Anambra State Chairman of the Miners Association, Chief Henry
Former Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources in the state advocated the revival of the coal industry in Enugu to generate enough power supply to serve the South-East geopolitical zone, as well as the checking of the activities of illegal miners undermining the nation’s economic base.
South-East miners advocate coal mining in Enugu ...set to partner FG to develop operation in Nigeria
A coal miner in action. Igboeli, his Imo State counterpart, Pastor Chuks Oriaku, Mr. Monday Okoro from Ebonyi State, and Elder Victor Ndubuisi from Abia. On his part, the chairman in charge of developing the solid mineral development blue print for the south east geopolitical zone, Mr. Chris Ukachukwu said the agenda of the committee is to let the government of the states
realize the potentials of developing their mineral deposits and adding value to the raw material existing in their domain to create job opportunities for the unemployed. Mr. Ukachukwu listed some of the mineral deposits in the zone to include kaolin in Anambra and Abia States, limestone and lead in Ebonyi State, coal in Enugu
State, gold in Abia and suspected gold in Imo State. The representative of the south east zonal coordinator, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development Awka, Mr. Idris Okundeji expressed hope that the over forty solid minerals in Nigeria will be developed to diversify the nation’s economy under the Buhari administration.
Anambra govt, farmers unite to boost food production
•Workers in the farm
BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO
O
NITSHA—ANAMBRA state government has concluded arrangement to team up with farmers in the state to boost food production in a large scale, having placed agricultural development on top priority of this administration. Governor Willie Obiano who disclosed this at the weekend
C M Y K
when he visited Eagle Food Processing Industry at Umuchu in Aguata Local government Area of the State, said his administration’s desire is to provide farmers with adequate support to enhance agricultural productivity in the state. Obiano who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Afam Mbanefo said the visit to the Eagles Food Processing Industry was to study the situation at the industry which
already has a National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) as an award winning farm with over 300 employees. Mbanefo who was conducted round the farm by top officials led by the Managing Director, Prince Ugochukwu Okpalaeke said he was impressed to see that Eagle Food has a huge poultry farm with hundreds of thousands of birds, a functional mill and other sections like piggery, fishery, cattle rearing, palm
produce processing plant, cultivation of yam, cassava, maize, vegetable plant and banana plantation among other things. He described the situation at the Umuchu farm as wonderful and quite impressive by all standards. He recalled that the state government under Obiano, has since its inception last year, intensified massive campaign for the people particularly the youth to embrace agriculture as a measure to reduce unemployment and enhance food security in the state. Maintaining that the farm is great and amazing, he observed that the facilities, stock and huge products of the Umuchu farm carry the message of what the state government wished to achieve with farmers in the state. The Commissioner commended the management of the NPOM winning farm and assured that having seen things, effort would be made by his office to see that government attend to some teething problems of the farm. He noted that government would take advantage of the huge facilities in the farm and the wealth of experience of the Managing Director, Prince Okpalaeke to assist young
farmers in the state. Responding, Prince Okpalaeke who commended the governor for the visit, gave a brief history of the Farm saying it was commissioned in the late 80s by the then Governor old Anambra State, late Group Captain Emeka Omeruah. He said the farm can boast of over 30 years of operation in poultry, processing of palm produce, cultivation of yam, cassava, maize, vegetable plant, banana plantation, cattle rearing, piggery and fishery business among others. He lamented that the Farm could have gone into vegetable refinery, frozen chicken, fish and pork meat if there were enough support from government quarters, noting the farm has enough capacity and experience to go into refining oil and frozen products if it has a helping hand in the area of funding. The Anambra leading farmer said the people of the state were lucky enough to have a governor who is so passionate about development of agriculture and called on the good people of the state to take advantage of the governor’s interest to buy into the business of farming and start off on small scale measures.
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—33
By Vera Samuel Anyagafu & Anino Aganbi
I
n furthering her outreach to ensuring that a large number of Nigerian women and girls are free from contracting any form of genital disease, resulting from the use of some chemicals and toxins in the production of women’s sanitary pads, the Managing Director, Friendlies Sanitaryware Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Nkem Obianwu, has brought smiles to a majority of women and girls in the country through the production of healthier women sanitary pads. In an exceptional way, the Economic and Statistics graduate from Delta State University, Ekpoma, who also holds a master degree in Business Administration, in addition to a Nursing certification from South University, USA, is contributing her own quota to realizing a healthier Nigeria. In this session, Nkem speaks on her venture into the business of manufacturing women sanitary wares, women empowerment and the Nigerian government, including other issues of great concern. Excerpts;
W
hat informed this concept in the Nigerian society? Well, I came across a world health report of 2005, which disclosed that about 90 per cent of women all over the world are suffering from genital diseases and that 63 per cent of the above stated percentage is as a result of chemicals and toxins used in the production of women’s sanitary pads. This piqued my interest and almost immediately, I began searching for further information concerning health risks to women from the use of menstrual pads and what I noticed heightened my resolve to do something about it, especially as a mother and one who has only female children. | What were the constraints in setting up Friendlies? The two major constraints in setting up Friendlies were funding and electricity. Funding, which happens to be the first thing to think about when intending venturing into any business especially production is the most challenging aspect. Secondly, is electricity, which of course is paramount to successful production, because you have to power your engines to run your products and when there is often epileptic power supply, as is the case in our society today, the business suffers. Lack of steady power supply has contributed to a large extent in crippling manufacturing industries in Nigeria and it would be nice if the new administration will increase effort in this regard. As the Managing Director of Friendlies, could you tell us what it would take for a woman who cherishes to be in your position to attain such? A woman should first realize that obtaining quality education is key to achieving the desired dream. It is also important for us women to know that we must, of course, be passionate and willing to create and or introduce something new to the betterment of any society we find C M Y K
I am contributing my quota to realising healthier Nigerian women — Obianwu ourselves in. In other words, once women begin to understand that we need to be empowered not in the context of competition with our male counterpart or holding on to the old saying like ‘What a man can do a woman can do better’ but rather, in recognition that the world is hard and full of challenges and so we need to seize opportunities around us to gain the right knowledge and information •Obianwu in order to make the best decisions for ourselves, our children and the society at large. .It is imperative for us mothers to As a woman with great objectives, always counsel our children from would you say that women are practicing any immoral act. progressive in Africa and Nigeria Therefore, mothers should not relent the way they should? in consistently advocating for good I am optimistic that women, owing morals from our children. We should to our spirited efforts for a better also continue instilling in them good Nigeria and Africa as a whole, we virtues, letting them are almost there. know that hard work And I urge us all and perseverance not to relent in are important aspect our different I urge us not to to living a life capacities to relent in our worthy of emulation. ensuring that we It is also important to give all the different point out to them needed support capacities to that with good and education one can be ensure that we encouragement to self employed . move Nigeria and give all the What do you think indeed Africa to will bring about needed support an impressive lasting solution to position. and unemployment in Due to the Nigeria? encouragement economic Most importantly hardship in the to move people’s mind sets country, it Nigeria and must be orientated to appears many love Nigeria, we young girls are indeed Africa must move away getting enrolled to an from the mindset in commercial that ‘foreign is best’ sex work. As a impressive if we must make woman or position progress; to realise mother, do you that today’s think is the best generation must be option in this willing to make the necessary situation? sacrifice for tomorrows generation It is sad to know that things like and understand that no country will this occur in our society, but no buy from us except we ourselves. We parent would support indulging in must then learn to support our own commercial sex job as an option, no and keep our money in our matter the situation of the economy
community. If we look at Japan- how they moved from third world to first world- their women played a key role. They decided to shun all foreign goods and patronise their own goods from their cottage industries springing up at that time. This helped the cottage industries to grow speedily to big time industries today affording them the opportunities to make their mistakes, improve over time and become experts today, while we remain mediocre.
W
hat help do you seek of the Nigeria government in your kind of business? Let’s look at the example of how Sony the electronic giant rose from obscurity to overtake the number one Dutch merchant Philips Electronics today. Sony back then was called copy cats. Their products were not too good but their people supported them so they had money to do research and come up with new improvement frequently because the company itself showed responsibility of being self reliant (works two ways). By so doing they were correcting their mistakes, learning and improving their act over time so while Philips believed in their hype and produced a model of products from 1972 to 1982 (10 years) Sony had produced seven improved versions of the same products to become number one electronic provider in the world.
34—WEDNESDAY Vanguard, JULY 15, 2015
By Esther Onyegbula
T
WO suspects who allegedly sold a 23year-old girl for N1.2 million into slavery in Kuwait are currently being investigated by operatives of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Lagos. The suspects, identified as Paul Akpogherhe, 26; and Theophilus Ebiowei, 28, were arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command, Festac Division after receiving complaints about their activities and how they sold the victim into slavery in Kuwait. Crime Alert gathered that towards the end of April, the girl, identified as Okoangbele Quincy, met a young man called Paul Akpogherhe, in Festac, where she had attended an event. Eventually, they became friends and exchanged contact addresses. After weeks of consistent communication between the duo, Paul introduced her to Theophilus Ebiowei and another person simply called Akin, who promised to help her secure a lucrative job abroad, in one of the Middle-East countries since she is a skilled caterer. The prospects of securing a job outside the shores of Nigeria got Quincy interested as they pledged to help her process her visa and other necessary travelling documents. The suspects reportedly invited her to
How Nigerian lady, 23, was sold into slavery in Kuwait Festac where they explained to her that it would cost about N450,000 to process her visa and travelling documents to Kuwait. When she got to home in Ikorodu, she explained everything to her parents. They assisted her in raising some amount of money which she added to her savings. After processing the traveling documents, they linked her with a female agent in Kuwait. Unknown to her, the agent is a human trafficker in Kuwait. By the first week of June, she boarded a flight to Kuwait, and on arrival, the agent picked her up from the airport
It was at the airport that the officials bought clothes for us to change from the slave uniform before boarding a flight to Nigeria
z The suspects, Paul Akpogherhe, 26; and Theophilus Ebiowei, 28
in Kuwait. Narrating her ordeal, Quincy, a daughter to a military officer said: “Trouble started when the agent asked me if I had been briefed by the people who introduced me to her? I said no, but they said you would
help me secure a job. To my surprise, the agent then told me that she had bought me from those people and that I was now her slave. I told her that was not the arrangement. I explained to her that Paul and Theophilus said she will help me secure a job as there
PHOTO SPEAK
z Pix:The DPO, Ijanikin Police station, Lagos SP Robinson Eregare and the DCO, W.DSP Faith Okokhue were conferred with an integrity award by Global Millennium concept based in the UK in Collaboration with Peoples Star under the auspices of Imo state government. Pix shows SP Robinson Eregare and W.DSP Okokhue with other senior officers after the presentation of the award
z SP Robinson Eregare receiving the award from representative of the group, Pastor Taiwo yinka Lawrence while others watch
are better job opportunities in Kuwait, and they never mentioned they were selling me into slavery. “She told me that I had no choice and that she has spent money to buy me and that she must get value for her money’s worth. Sensing that I may cause her trouble, the agent immediately sold me to another family who now recruited me as a slave. "I was given a uniform worn by slaves in Kuwait. Anyone that sees me wearing that uniform immediately knows I am a slave and treats me like a leper. Apart from performing menial jobs, I was subjected to different inhuman treatment as a slave. “As soon as it dawned on me that I was now a slave in a strange country, I began to seek ways to escape. Luckily, I met another Nigerian girl who has also been a slave to Continued on page 35
WEDNESDAY
Vanguard, JULY 15, 2015 — 35
Harvest of arrests in Niger State z4 men that tried to bribe CP land in Police net z1,091 criminals arrested By Wale Masodomi, Minna
N
iger State Police Command has arrested a total of 1, 091 suspected criminals in the past six months in various parts of the state. Of these, 666 have already been convicted while 251 are still awaiting trial. There were 785 criminal cases that occurred across the 25 local government councils on the state in the months under review. State Police Commissioner, Mr. Olusola Emmanuel Amore, while briefing newsmen on the activities of the command between January and June 2015 said that besides those already convicted, 56 other cases are currently in various stages of investigations. He disclosed that among those arrested in the past six months were four men who tried to bribe him (Police Commissioner) with N1million cash to subvert the course of justice in an armed robbery case and a syndicate in collaboration with some bank officials found in possession of fake currency notes. The Police boss said some cars and motorcycles stolen in various parts of the state by criminals were also recovered and returned to their owners after proper identification, while those yet to be identified are still in the custody of the Command and will be returned to the owners after clearance. He, however, called on parents and guardians to play their roles of proper upbringing of their children and wards to avoid being lured into joining bad company which could lead them into becoming hardened criminals as they become full adults. Meanwhile, the Police boss has decried the alarming rate at which teenagers are getting involved in crime and called on parents to watch the movement of their wards in order not to be arrested. “One thing I will not compromise is for anybody to lobby for the release of a suspect still under investigation or to free any confirmed criminal, no matter how well-placed the person is. Students of Federal Polytechnic, Bida, arrested for cultism have been investigated C M Y K
and their case charged before the appropriate law court. Even if my own child is suspected for crime, he should be arrested and charged accordingly and if found guilty, good luck to him/her because I will not intervene,” he declared. Mr. Amore expressed regrets that most of the crimes committed across the state involve youths in their productive age saying, “wellgroomed children will translate into a better community, better state and a better future for Nigeria as a country and her entire citizenry. As I am addressing you,thirteen youths are in police custody for involvement in various cases of gangsterism, particularly in Minna, the state capital and this is where parents should come in mostly by monitoring the movement of their wards so as nor to fall victim of being
zCP Olusola Amore inspecting recovered arms criminals and getting their lives wasted,” he remarked. The commissioner, while answering a question on major causes of prison congestion exonerated the Police from the problem, pointing out that the duty of the Police is to arrest and charge a suspect to court after preliminary investigations, and therefore, has nothing to do with prison congestion. He, however, called for a stakeholders’ meeting comprising the Police and the Judiciary towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.
•The weapons
How Nigerian lady, 23, was sold into slavery in Kuwait Continued from page 34 another family for almost a year, so she was a bit familiar with the area. I told her that I wanted to go back to Nigeria since what I was being subjected to is not what I bargained for. She said there was no way of escaping, except we get to the Nigerian embassy in Kuwait. So, we both agreed that whenever we got an opportunity, we would flee to the Nigerian Embassy. “As God would have it, the opportunity came and we left but not without hitches, as every taxi we stopped refused to halt because we were clad in a uniform which identified
us as slaves. After attempting to board a cab for several hours, we pleaded with an Indian woman to help us stop a taxi after narrating our ordeal to her, since we had no clothes other than the slave uniform we wore to change into. “The Indian woman stopped a taxi while we stood far off. She pleaded with the taxi driver to take us to the Nigerian Embassy. That was how we were able to get to the embassy where we got help. When we got to the Nigerian Embassy, the officials after listening to us, assisted us with necessary traveling documents to travel
back to Nigeria. It was at the airport that officials bought clothes for us to change from the slave uniform before boarding a flight to Nigeria.” Crime Alert gathered that Quincy's sister was to join her in Kuwait when she called her family to tell them not to send her sister and that she has been sold into slavery. The victim’s family supported her travel plans for a job abroad, unsuspecting that the suspects had another plan. It was learned that while Paul feigned ignorance, denying that he never knew that it was human trafficking, Theophilus admitted to
committing the crime, stating that it was Paul that brought Quincy to them. He also said that they shared the proceeds from the sale which the woman in Kuwait paid. Although she didn’t come with any of her personal effects from Kuwait, members of her family were happy she came back alive. She was later admitted in the hospital for days after she arrived. The case has been transferred to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation while efforts are on to arrest fleeing members of the gang that sold her into slavery.
36—V ANGU ARD, WEDNESD A Y, JUL Y 15, 2015 36—VANGU ANGUARD, WEDNESDA JULY
Hubby says I put him off sex
He craves group sex! Dear Bunmi, My current boyfriend is a real charmer and I get on well with his friends. A few nights back, we all went out together to a night club and there was some harmless dirty dancing. Since the guys brought their own girlfriends, there weren’t any bad feelings. Only now my boyfriend has this crazy idea that we should have group sex with some of his friends. He said he’s tried it
before and it was not a big deal. What do you think? Angel, by e-mail. Dear Angel, You’d be out of your mind to even consider it. This whole thing suggests your boyfriend is far more concerned with having a bit of fun than developing a loving caring relationship with you. He’s much more interested
in being good to his friends than considering what you want. As for his happy-go-lucky friends, they’d see you as an easy meat if you succumb. So say a firm no. If you still want to see this man after the suggestion he’s made, see him without this bunch of friends hanging around. And if he or his friends come up with another bright idea, run a mile.
She’s assured me she wouldn’t tell my wife Dear Bunmi, I am just 30 and have a high sex drive. I want it every day if I could get it, but my wife is happy with two or three times a week. Once in a while, she humours me by letting me have more, but I always have the feelings she does it for peace. A few weeks back, her father had a stroke. He’s lived alone since he lost his wife three years ago and my wife had to go to the family house every evening from work. By the time she came back home, sex was the last thing from her mind. In the meantime, our neighbour, who is a very good friend of ours, is a single mother of three. She’d jokingly complained of abstaining from sex due to no fault of hers. So when she called round and discovered I was alone, she went back to her place to bring me something to eat. I provided the booze. One thing led to another and I found myself having amazing sex! She’s in her 40s but sexy and very athletic. Afterwards, she suggested I call in at her place from time to time for no-strings sex. She said it would solve both our problems and my wife needs never know. I’ve taken her up on her offer and the nice arrangement is working for both of us. I mean what could be simpler and where’s the harm? I love my wife and our beautiful children, but not getting enough sex is driving me up the wall. Could this be a way of solving my problem and my neighbour’s? Donald, by e-mail. Dear Donald, You might think you’re on to a good thing and so is your neighbour. She might claim she’s only after no-strings
sex, but don’t be fooled. Once she’s got her claws into you, she won’t let you go in a hurry. She’s likely to start making emotional demands on you. She may even let something slip to your wife. If she doesn’t, you wife is bound to pick up tell-tale signs that you’re having it off with her so-called friend.
You’re happy with your marriage and need to talk to your wife about your sexual urges. Twice or thrice a week is okay for married couples. She even allows you to have more once in a while. For the sake of your marriage, you need to control your sexual urges or be prepared to throw away a good marriage for cheap thrills.
Dear Bunmi, I’m in my mid-thirties, married with four children. My husband and I have been married for 10 years and he’s had affairs in that time. The first was while I was pregnant with our first child and others followed after this. I always forgive his affairs because I love him so much. He says he loves me and wants the family to stay together, but confesses that since I had our children, he no longer finds me attractive. Do you think I can rekindle our sex life? Do you see hope for this marriage? Bimbo, by e-mail. Dear Bimbo, Two people, who are in a lifelong commitment, always find ways to protect their relationship. By having affairs,
however, your husband is taking huge risks with your marriage. He’s also under the disillusionment that many men experience as their image of the sexual female dwindles when their partners have children. You obviously look to him more like his mother than the girl he married. Unfortunately, couples who fail to adjust as their bodies change find themselves coping with loss of sexual interest, infidelity, and may lead to divorce. You need to share your fears and anxiety with your husband and involve a third party that you both respect, if necessary. He should realise that he too has changed physically and you both must work out ways to put the passion back into your marriage instead of resorting to infidelity.
It is a fun fling to get you your confidence back after the breakup. See it as that and you’ll be fine.Get serious and you’re heading for another heartbreak
We need to get our sex life back Dear Bunmi, I’ve been married for a few years now to a wonderful man and we have a son. My husband and I still love each other, but we both have demanding jobs. With that and looking after a boisterous toddler, we seldom have time for sex. What can we do? Rita, by e-mail.
your chance of having an active life— but you can have one if you create time. Set the alarm clock early maybe once a week, or go to bed once your son is settled in. Since you both work, you need to agree to take time off occasionally in the afternoon. Better still, can your son spend the night once in a while with your parent or a relative he’s used to? Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
man at a wedding reception and we exchanged cards. He looked terribly younger when he called wearing casual clothes than when he did in the agbada he had on at the wedding that I had to ask him how old he was. He said he was 29 and I’m 42! When I told him he was too young, he said it didn’t bother him. My friends believe I should take it as a compliment that someone that young finds me attractive.
take this as a compliment and enjoy it thoroughly. But it would be foolish to fall headover-heels for this young man or expect a long term commitment. This is almost certainly not something that is going to last. It is a fun fling to get you your confidence back after the breakup. See it as that and you’ll be fine. Get serious and you’re heading for another heartbreak.
Twice or thrice a week is okay for married couples. She even allows you to have more once in a while. Rita, For the sake of your marriage, Dear Having children could reduce you need to control your sexual urges or be prepared Isn’t this toy-boy too young? to throw away a good Dear Bunmi, Should I go for it? I’ve just ended a terrible Lade, by e-mail. marriage for cheap relationship that left me Dear Lade, really heartbroken. A few thrills I agree with your friends— weeks back, I ran into this No-strings attached trip with my boss Dear Bunmi, I am the personal assistant to the MD of the firm I work with and my boss is a wonderful man. He’s a few years older and we’ve always been friends. Recently, his wife went abroad on a study leave and she’ll be away for three months. There is an overnight business he’s attending soon and he wants me to go with him. I’m a single mum and would love the change. But I’m not in love with him and don’t want a fling because his wife is a nice lady. How can handle this? Georgina, by e-mail. Dear Georgina,
Your boss is on his own, probably for the first time since his marriage and obviously fancies a quick fling. You shouldn’t have any of that, especially since you seem to be close to both of them. If you asked him what his intentions were, he would deny having any hidden agenda. Your best bet is to warn him off subtly. Tell him stories of people you know who’d burnt their fingers grazing close to home. However, if you do go on the trip with him, be professional. Don’t stay up late talking to him and don’t go to his room for a nightcap either. He’ll get the message.
Share your problems and release your burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—37
Calm in Rivers LGs over industrial court order By Jimitota Onoyume
P
ORT HARCOURT— ACTIVITIES went on smoothly in the various local government area secretariats in Rivers State, yesterday, as the Caretaker Committee Chairmen, members and staff had unhindered access to their offices. At the Port Harcourt City Local Government secretariat, two Police patrol vehicles with a handful of policemen were at the gate. Staff and visitors were allowed unrestrained access to the secretariat for the day’s business. There was tension on Monday evening in Port Harcourt after the National Industrial Court, Bayelsa State rose on a matter filed by the 22 council chairmen in Port Harcourt, before they were sacked by Justice Lambo Akambi of a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. Some media houses had reported that Justice James Agbadu-Fishim of the Industrial Court had on Monday ordered that the sacked council executives be reinstated. The state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr Davies Ikanya had also called for the immediate reinstatement of the sacked executives. The fear was that by yesterday, supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the APC will clash at the premises of the various councils and also cripple the economic life of the
Youths urge support for Okowa, others
O
By Simon Adewale
BIARUKU—NDOKWA Peoples Forum, a youth body that worked for the success of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, alongside relevant stake holders in Delta State, has urged the Ndokwa people and Deltans in general to support Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, Mr Ossai. N. Ossai, Dr. Aphonus Ojo and the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration. Coordinator of the group, Kenneth Ojimiwe at an interactive session with members of the group in Obiaruku, Ukwuani Local Government Area of the state, urged Governor Okowa to focus on infrastructural development and employment as he promised the Ndokwa people and youth that the new government was capable of meeting their aspirations. He said that the people should hold him accountable if at the end of this administration their expectations were not met.
C M Y K
state with their actions. This was not to be as Port Harcourt, the state capital and several other parts of the state remained calm. The state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr Ema Aguma told newsmen on Monday night in Port Harcourt that the Industrial Court in Bayelsa State did not set aside the verdict of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt that sacked the 22 council executives, pleading that the media should double check information before going to press. Aguma who circulated
photocopies of the certified true copy of proceedings at the Industrial Court, noted that the matter was only adjourned to October 6, 2015 for hearing of all pending applications as the court advised parties to file their necessary processes with supportive exhibits. Meantime, Chairman of the APC in the state, Mr Ikanya reiterated his call for reinstatement of the sacked council executives. Speaking through his media aide, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, Ikanya said the judgement of the Industrial
Court reinstated the sacked council executives. He urged the Police to enforce compliance with the alleged judgement. On his part media aide to the governor, Mr Opunabo NkoTariah, called on the Police to arrest those trying to instigate political crisis in the state through deliberate distortion of truth, adding that people of the state were happy with the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike.
VISIT: President Muhammadu Buhari (middle), welcoming the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Development, Ms. Fatima Bamidele (2nd left) and others, during a visit to the President in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
DESOPADEC: Delta Assembly allays fears on proposed amendment bill
A
By Festus Ahon
SABA—CHAIRMAN of Delta State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee on Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission Amendment Bill, Mr Dennis Omovie, has assured Deltans that there was nothing to be afraid of in the proposed amendment. Omovie who gave the assurance when he led the committee members on a visit to the Commission's office in Warri, said the amendment was geared towards making DESOPADEC more proactive and cost effective.
The lawmaker said that the committee was aware of the anxiety in several quarters, particularly from major stakeholders on the amendment, hence the scheduled public hearing for tomorrow for inputs from Deltans and interest groups. Omovie noted that the varied reactions across the state over the amendment was due to the pivotal role of DESOPADEC in the growth and development of the state, saying that any move to make the commission work for better should be encouraged. He maintained that
repositioning DESOPADEC to allow for the dividends of democracy to get to the people was a step in the right direction and expressed happiness over the robust suggestions and contributions by the management of the commission. Omovie said the ad-hoc committee in the course of its assignment would most likely visit the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC headquarters in PortHarcourt to understudy the Act establishing it in order to get the best for Delta State.
Labour ministry petitioned over NDE promotions Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, interview.
A
By Godfrey Bivbere
BUJA—THE Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, has been petitioned over mass promotion in the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, without recourse to the Civil Service Rules and Regulations. The petition by Peter Edochi, claimed that most of those promoted by the Director General,
were either not due for promotion nor have they stayed long in their previous positions and worse still did not attend any promotion interview. The petition read in part, “Recently, the Director General of the NDE without recourse to the civil service rules and regulations decided to ‘’dash’’ promotion to some staff of the directorate who were neither due for promotion nor did they attend promotion
“The DG suddenly promoted eight state coordinators in the North central, North East and North West to grade level 16. One of the state coordinators was promoted from grade level 14 to 16. Some officers in the NDE were denied promotion due to ‘’lack of vacancy.” Some of these state coordinators who got automatic promotion have spent only two months on their previous grade levels."
Support Buhari to change Nigeria —Emerhor By Onoja Innocent
T
HOSE ATTACKING P r e s i d e n t Muhammadu Buhari for not appointing ministers after barely six weeks in office have been advised to join hands with the government to bring about the “change” that Nigerians deserve and voted for. The All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in the April 11 elections in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor gave the advice in a statement by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Political Communication, Dr. Fred Oghenesivbe. He said the attackers of Buhari should know that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, wrecked the socioeconomic boat of the nation which was why the government of the day at national level needed time to scrutinize the books and accounts of the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration before recruiting new hands to run the system. Emerhor posited that Mr. President, who is well known globally for his “zero corruption” crusade will not be in a hurry to do the needful to put round pegs in round roles, adding that it was expected that after 16 years of massive corruption and economic sabotage slammed on the nation by the PDP government, the APC led government will of a necessity dig deep to ensure sanity and good governance in order to restore the nation’s fractured image in the comity of nations.
St Edna's old students meet
T
HE monthly general meeting of St. Enda’s College, Agbarho, Ughelli North Local,Government Area of Delta State (formerly Agbarho Grammar School, Agbarho) Old Students Association, Lagos branch, is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, at 12B, Abuja Close, Agbara Estate, Agbara in Ogun State. General Secretary, Mr. Sunday Orode urged members to be punctual as very important issues will be discussed.
38—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
CBN assures on reliable, efficient, safe payment systems in Nigeria By Chidi Nkwopara
O
WERRI—Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has assured the citizenry of its commitment to ensuring a safe, reliable and efficient payment systems in the country. The apex bank’s Director, C o r p o r a t e Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Mu’azu, made the CBN’s position known, yesterday, at a stakeholders' engagement forum in Owerri, to sensitize the people on the bank’s initiatives, policies and programmes. “The CBN, in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders in the country, had put in place several controls and security to enhance the safety of the Nigerian payment system,” Mu’azu said. Continuing, the CBN Director informed the participants that the CBN initiated the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, the Bank Verification Number, BVN, as well as the mandatory second level authorization for card presented for payments and other policies, so as to guarantee the safety of deposits and transactions. While urging Nigerians to take advantage of the extension of time to obtain their BVN, Mu’azu also appealed to the citizenry to tap into its various development finance initiatives in order to generate wealth for themselves and create employment for the unemployed.
Police recover stolen vehicle, nab 3 suspects in Aba By Ugochukwu Alaribe
A
BA—THE Osisioma Ngwa Police Division in Abia state has arrested three suspected car snatchers and recovered a stolen Toyota Highlander . The suspects; Alhaji Zakari
Kaura, John Saturday Akpan and Peter Adele, were arrested at a hotel at Umuode area while looking for a buyer of the stolen ash coloured Toyota Highlander with a suspected fake registration number, ABC 803 UG. Police sources said the suspects named one Prince
Johnbull who is still at large, as the person who gave them the car to sell while Adele is a taxi driver who was hired to facilitate the sale. Abia state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Onyeke Udeviotu Ezekiel, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who confirmed the arrest,
Anambra NLC urges relocation of Ekwulobia Boko Haram suspects By Enyim Enyim
O
NITSHA—NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, in Anambra State has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order the immediate relocation of the Boko Haram suspects recently transferred to Ekwulobia prisons in Anambra State to a maximum prison in the country. Chairman of the union, Mr. Jerry Nnubia made the call at a press briefing at the union secretariat, Awka. “ We condemn in its entirety the action of the Federal Government for relocating the suspected
terrorists to Ekwulobia minimum prison that has no facility for such high profile inmates. This is a period in Anambra we are breathing peace and security, courtesy of Governor Willie Obiano. “They should be transferred or relocated to another place where they committed the crime and where they would be tried. This will stop the tension in Anambra state and indeed the South-East geopolitical zone.” Nnubia further said: “We do not know if it is a grand design by the Federal Government or whoever may have
I'll complete ongoing road projects in 100 days —-Ikpeazu By Ugochukwu Alaribe ABA—ABIA State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu said he is optimistic that at least 80 per cent of the ongoing road projects in the state will be completed within the first 100 days of his government. Ikpeazu, while answering questions from journalists after inspecting the progress of work on some road projects in Aba and Umuahia, added that his administration will run on 100 days cycle to be able to take a retrospective view of its performance. The roads inspected by the governor include Udeagbala Road, ,Umuojima, Kamalu, Old
Express and Ukaegbu roads all in Aba as well as Agbama, Low cost, International conference centre roads and the Abam by Niger street in Umuahia. According to the governor, the inspection visit was meant to find a mid mark while his administration will roll out new policies on the maintenance of public facilities to prevent the abuse of public facilities, stressing that the era of washing cars on the roads is over in the state. He disclosed that all the roads under construction will come with street lights and markings, explaining that having light on the roads has an economic importance as it will help traders on night trading.
contemplated the idea to infest us with this Boko Haram problem.” He described the Federal Government action as irrational
y not appointing the ministers immediately helps save some money. The permanent secretaries and departmental directors are the pillars of the ministries. Pressure should be on worthwhile things like electricity, security and corruption, among others. -Miss Chioma Ani, Model C M Y K
and suggested the suspects be relocated to the northern part of the country where they had been operating as insurgents.
...as Rep urges Service Chiefs to renew strategy to combat insurgency By Austin Ogwuda
A
MEMBER of House of Representatives, representing Ohaozara/Onicha/ Ivo Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State, Linus Okorie, has called on the newly appointed Service Chiefs to act swiftly by going back to the drawing board to put an end to the lingering onslaught by the Boko Haram insurgents on innocent citizens. Speaking to reporters in Enugu, yesterday, Okorie said that while he commended the effort of President Buhari in appointing the new Service Chiefs, “Mr. President must know that the people have become increasingly impatient and can hardly wait any longer to see the total defeat of the insurgents.” The new Service Chiefs, he said, should also quickly design and implement strategies to counter the rising wave of suicide bombings by the Boko Haram terrorists with better synergy and coordination devoid of rivalry between and among the different security outfits. According to him: “There should be a coordinated
PEOPLE SPEAK
B
called on the owner of the recovered car to come forward with proof of ownership. He hinted that the police have launched a manhunt for the fleeing Prince Johnbull and appealed to anybody with useful information that could lead to his arrest not to hesitate to report to the security agencies.
perspective in the President’s security team to avoid incidences of "personality clashes and sundry rivalry as are being currently insinuated. “Specifically, there should be no interference with the functions of the office of the National Security Adviser, which along with that of the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice is the major coordinating body of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013." While expressing concern over the cessation of regular dissemination of information by the National Information Centre on Counter-Terrorism, Okorie stated that it is the duty of all stakeholders to dispel misinformation and reduce anxieties generated by terrorists. “There is absolute need to engage and communicate better with the citizenry on ongoing efforts aimed at curbing the scourge of terror and the activities of the Boko Haram sect, especially now that the National Information Centre on Counter-Terrorism appears to have gone numb since the inception of the Buhari administration.”
By Bartholomew Madukwe (08102479985) nwamad@yahoo.com
On President Buhari’s delay in naming ministers e do not care how hough not much has ere PMB is taking his resident Buhari should he excuse about not naming ministers till T been done anyway, I W long President Bu- Pforget about appointing Htime to select the best. T ‘ war ’ on corruption is am sure things will go well. hari takes to appoint his any minister if he will have With all the distractions fought to a standstill is lame. There are Nigerians within and outside our shores whose hands are clean. My humble advice is that President Buhari should go through records of those appointed before. -Mr. Fos Fem, DJ
Mr. President should focus more on national activities and reduce his travels abroad. There could be confusion and mistrust everywhere over who he should appoint. -Emma Martins, HR Practitioner
ministers; he has the support of the majority of the population that voted for him. The most important thing at the end of the day is good result because he made good choices. -Mr. Okechukwu Nene, Banker
to appoint people like the ex-governors. Honesty, integrity and ascetic life style, may be good personal life choices for PMB, and should be applauded. -Mr. Ikenna Adikwu, Worker
from APC, lawmakers, Boko Haram, among others, this man is trying at his age. As slow as he is, he had travelled to many countries in a few days for the sake of security. -Miss Promise Matina, Businesswoman
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 39
DISSOLUTION OF COUNCILS: 14 LG chiefs drag Lalong to court By Marie-Therese Nanlong
J
OS—14 embattled local government chairmen in Plateau State had sued the state government for alleged illegal dissolution of the councils and contempt of court. The council chairmen had earlier approached the court through their counsels, Messrs Philemon Dafi and Gyang Zi, and obtained an injunction to stop their dissolution which the state governor, Simon Lalong, ignored
and went ahead to dissolve them on July 6. Justice Ambrose Allagoa of Jos Federal High Court, in an order dated July 10, declared that the chairmen should remain in their offices, pending the determination of the case before him. The court also granted leave to the chairmen to re-serve the State House of Assembly and AttorneyGeneral Forms 48 and 49 by substituted means to wit; “by
pasting same on the entrance doors of the offices of the 1st and 2nd Defendants.” The court also granted them leave to serve on the State Commissioner of Police and all relevant law enforcement agencies with the court injunction earlier issued to the chairmen on June 16 restraining the governor from sacking them. The order restrained the House of Assembly, the Attorney General,
From left: Taiwo KolaOgunlade, Communications and Public's A f f a i r s Manager, Google; Kunle Idowu; Lanre Aina, Business Development Manager, Google and Kunmi Ariyo, C h i e f Consultant, Mirus Events, at the ''YouTube & the Stars Event," held in Lagos.
Food sufficiency: FG urged to encourage agro-processing machine abricators By Olasunkanmi Akoni
A
S part of measures to boost food production and preservation, the Federal Government has been called upon to provide an enabling environment for fabricators of agro-processing machineries in the country. Mr. Idowu Adeoya, Managing Director, Nobex Technology Ltd, a frontline fabricator of agro-allied equipment, who made the call at the flag-off of a week-long capacity building training for fabricators of agro-products’ drying equipment, in Lagos, said the measure would also stimulate diversification of the nation’s economy. The training is sponsored by the World Bank, in collaboration with Up-scaling the Nigerian Flash Drying Experience for Sustainable Regional Trade and Income Generation in West Africa, UDESWA, initiative, led Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, FUNAAB, as host. It had participants from three other West African countries, including Sierra-Leone Agricultural Research Institute, Sierra-Leone, CSIR-Food Research Institute, Accra, Ghana and University of AborneyCalavi, Benin Republic.
Stay away from Benue, Ortom warns homosexuals By Peter Duru
M
A K U R D I — GOVERNOR Samuel Ortom of Benue State has cautioned gays to stay away from the state, warning that his administration would not spare anyone caught practising homosexuality in the state. The governor gave the warning when he hosted the Prelate of the Anglican Communion of Nigeria, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, in Makurdi, the state capital yesterday. He said: “Gay lifestyle is alien to the customs, lifestyles, and the belief of Africans and the church, even though it is being promoted in the Western world. “I sincerely pray that a revival would spring from Benue State and produce evangelists that
would drive evangelization in Africa and the Western world because the personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus is the solution to the decadence sweeping across many nations today.” Ortom commended the Anglican Communion in Nigeria for its stand on gay marriage and reiterated that his administration would entrench
A
SABA—SPECIAL Assistant on Media to Delta State governor, Michael Tidi, has assured of the governor’s good intentions regarding the attempt to amend the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, law. Tidi insisted that much of the C M Y K
misgivings attending the issue from a few quarters arise from misconstruction and ignorance pertaining to the parameters of the proposed amendment, which when dispassionately scrutinized immediately reveals the governor ’s vision of a DESOPADEC that actually delivers on the expectations of the oil-producing communities
core values that would enhance the socio-economic well-being of the people. He assured the Prelate of his readiness to personally participate in the scheduled programme of the Anglican Communion taking place in the state next year, and wished them well in their current conference at Zaki-Biam.
By Aliyu Dangida
D
UTSE—DEPUTY Governor of Jigawa State, Ibrahim Hassan, said Governor Muhammad Badaru has approved revival of local galaxy backbone in the state. The ICT project, initiated by former governor, Saminu Turaki in 2004, was commissioned by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who described it as worthy of emulation by both the Federal Government and other states before it was later abandoned by Lamido’s government. Hassan said the Jigawa State capital would enjoy powerful internet coverage as it had started during the regime of ex-governor Saminu Turaki between 2004 and 2007, adding that the idea was to boost i n f o r m a t i o n communication technology (ICT) among the populace as well as enable them have easy access to what was happening around the world. His words: “You know that since the Federal Government purchased the main galaxy backbone from the state, the local galaxy has been lying idle. ''We have met with the management of the local galaxy backbone and they have submitted to us what they need to be in business.”
Benue to probe misapplication of SURE-P funds By Peter Duru
M
AKURDI—BENUE State governor, Samuel Ortom, has vowed to investigate alleged misapplication of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, Sure-P, funds allocated to the state under the immediate
Okowa means well on DESOPADEC reform bill – AIDE By Tare Youdeowei
1st and 2nd defendants respectively, from doing anything or taking any step contrary to the rights of the chairmen to remain in office with their deputies. It pointed out that by section 7 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, the chairmen who were sworn-in on March 3, 2014, had a tenure of three years. The order was emphatic on the chairmen remaining in their offices, pending the determination of the Applicant’s Motion on Notice by the court.
Badaru to revive Turaki’s abandoned projects
of the state. He said: “I can assure the good people of this state that His Excellency, Senator Okowa, is bringing his wealth of experience from his sterling background in the executive and legislature into the task of repositioning the state government for the purpose of meeting the needs of Deltans in every way possible.”
past administration. The governor made the disclosure yesterday while addressing protesting SURE-P interns who barricaded the entrance of Benue Government House in Makurdi, the state capital, over the non-payment of their stipends. The protesters, led by David Mbakpenev, had accused the government of being insensitive to their plight, regretting that the government was employing new staff through the Urban Development Agency to replace them when they were owed seven months backlog of salaries. He said: “Starting from January this year, we are yet yo be paid our salaries and the situation has caused us a lot of family problems as we are unable to pay school fees, hospitals bills among others.
“We are suffering, even when we are government staff. Now the people at the Urban Development Agency are employing others to replace us, even when they are still owing us and have abandoned us to our fate”. In his response, Governor Samuel Ortom denied the allegations of insensitivity and employment of others to replace the existing ones levelled against the government but commended the protesters for adopting a peaceful approach to communicate their grievances. He disclosed that he had already constituted a committee to investigate the entire Sure-P programme and where its funds had gone, stressing that the government was not recruiting new cleaners in the state.
40—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
MED-VIEW: From left— Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State; Alhaji Muneer Bankole, MD, Med-View Airline, and top government officials during the airline's Lagos-Abuja-Maiduguri inaugural flight at Maiduguri International Airport. PHOTO: Lamidi Bamidele.
COCA-COLA PRESIDENT: From left— John Purchase, Regional Supply Chain Director, Lagos and West; Ben Langat, Managing Director, Nigerian Bottling Company, NBC, Limited and Ahmet Bozer, President, CocaCola International, during a tour to NBC Ikeja plant.
TENNIS CUP: From left— Mr. Sam Egbuchunam, immediate past President of Lagos Lawn Tennis Club; Austin JJ Okocha, and Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oju, President, South-East South-South Professionals of Nigeria, during the launch of Nigerian Communications Commission & International Tennis Academy Tennis Cup in Lagos. PHOTO: Akeem Salau.
ADESINA: From left— Mrs Nike Adesina, wife of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity; Mr. Tunde Lemo, former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President of Media and Publicity; Rev Bisi Meduoye, and her husband, Rev Felix Meduoye, General Overseer/Senior Pastor, Foursquare Gospel Church, during the thanksgiving service for Mr. Adesina at Yaba National Headquarters of the church, Lagos. PHOTO: Lamidi Bamidele.
President, Rahmat Islamiyya Association of Nigeria; Ustaz Sulaimon Anthonio and Alhaji Bashiru Adeniran, Vice President, at the association's public lecture in Lagos. PHOTO: Akeem Salau.
NBCC MEMBERS: From left— Joyce Akpata, Director General; Ray Atelly, Vice President, both of Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC; Ubongabasi Nseobot, Sales/PR Manager, Southern Sun Ikoyi, Lagos, and Prince Adedapo Adelegan, Deputy President, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, at the 2nd NBCC members' evening sponsored by Southern Sun Ikoyi, Lagos.
BATN FOUNDATION: From left— Abimbola Okoya, General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, BATNF; Thomas Omofoye, BATNF Technical Committee member; Pastor Gabriel Kehinde, Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture; Alhaji Muda Balogun, beneficiary; Mr. Leke Oke, beneficiary; Seyi Ashade, Area Head, Corporate Affairs, BATN; and Dr. Richard Okechukwu, BATNF– International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Project Coordinator, at the flag-off of input distribution to farmers in Oyo State by BATN Foundation.
ANTI-MALARIA: From left— Mr. Qaiser Rashid, Category Manager, Mortein; Mrs Dorothy Sunday, malaria test facilitator; Mr. Choji Pam, free malaria test participant, and Mr. Silivrili Oghuzan, Marketing Director, Mortein, RB West Africa, during Mortein's anti-malaria sensitisation campaign in Lagos. PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi.
RAHMAT ISLAMIYYA: From left— Dr. Abdullah Awelenje, National
C M Y K
Victory at dawn: A night of horror recalled (2) The first part of this piece which narrated the pains of the robbery attack on Adedoyin was published in our edition of Tuesday. By Ademola Adedoyin I CALMED her down and assured her it was her husband in flesh and truly so, in blood. Again, my timely act also manifested God’s mercy upon my household. In the room before I came to open the door, my wife, convinced that the marauders had escaped, had made to scale the window and jump down from the first floor bedroom to call on neighbours to rescue her husband before he gives up. Our then nine year old daughter, Temilade pleaded with mummy not to take such risk as she was going to hurt herself. Mummy insisted she was going to do just that. The little girl gave up and urged mummy to be careful in
C M Y K
jumping down. She was about to do that when I flung the door open. A two minute delay could have proved fatal as no one could predict what would have been the consequence of such risky endeavour. It was in this state of confusion, uncertainty, fear and multiple injuries in my chest and neck that my entire household accompanied me to the Redemption Health Centre at the Redeemed Camp. My wife drove like she was racing to escape from hell. She demonstrated courage that was rare for a lady. I urged her to take it easy as I was alright and would be well. By then it was well past 4.00am. May Allah’s mercy continue to be upon her and her offspring. The management and staff of Redemption Health Centre deserve special praises for their humanness, professionalism, civility and
devotion to duty. If health institutions in Nigeria are run like it is done at that centre, many souls would be saved from avoidable deaths. At that centre, Daddy, G. O., as Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye is affectionately called by all, practises what he preaches. Bless him and his Godly works even more O Lord.
Extended family For my extended family under the leadership of our Olori Ebi, Imam Adebayo Ibrahim Ali, and Mummy, your love, prayers and assurances made all the difference. At that low period of one’s existence when some could cavalierly choose to hit a man that was already on the ground the more, they stood by me insisting whatever happened to a man was divine and destined and for a purpose. Daddy
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—41
insisted armed robbers could strike and do strike even in the most secured of places. Bless my loving family and continue to deepen our love and togetherness O Allah. What about my friends, many of whom I am not sure if to describe as friends or brothers? What about colleagues who stood solidly by us throughout our ordeal like the rock of Gibraltar? How does one thank a friend, a brother and now my boss, my Chairman - Dr Olatunde Ayeni sufficiently. On reading my text informing him of the unfortunate incident, the business icon put a call across to me immediately and requested to know the state of my health and the situation with my family. In a demonstration of brotherly love and kindness that only the Good Lord can reward, Dr Ayeni directed that my family be relocated to another apartment
immediately. May he and his generations continue to receive God’s mercy. How can one remember this incident without mentioning Mr. Austin Avuru, the Managing Director of Seplat Petroleum and Chief Tunde Afolabi, the Executive Chairman of Amni Petroleum Development Company. Not just that their generous donations helped in offsetting my huge medical expenses; particularly at Reddington Hospital and abroad, their assurances that they were ready to commit whatever it would take to keep me alive was a soothing balm and a psychological therapy at that most trying and uncertain times. Then my friends, my brothers, how do I start thanking you. Stand up for recognition, Olayinka Aroyehun and his wife, Arinola. This brother from our second mum from whose chest flows milk of human kindness demonstrated brotherly love. For this kind hearted soul, no amount was too much to bring a victim of such attack to perfect health; particularly when that victim is Mola Ishola. Then my twin brother and my soul mate, Zik Zulu Okafor and his wife, our own adorable Adora. How can you thank enough a brother who is ready to go to the end of this world in search of whatever would be needed to restore me to perfect health. His writing on his Facebook wall was most touching and tears - inducing. Zulu coordinated efforts to get friends to rally round to ensure my survival and he discharged himself creditably. He practically suspended every other thing to ensure I accessed the best medical treatment available. My good friend and brother, the sports entrepreneur, Taye Ige was wonderful. Up to now, he has not relented on how to ensure I recover fully and became fully fit again. May you continue to score critical goals in all aspects of your worthy life. Same prayer goes to my Ichie as I fondly call him, Chuddy Oduenyi, Nigerian’s Public Relations lead player and r e m a r k a b l e friend. Chuddy ’s support and his many trips to Redemption Health Centre was the stuff good friendship is made of. Most important and deserving of the most profound gratitude and appreciation is the Almighty God. God assured me July 14, 2014 was not my last day and He kept His promise. He assured me it was a new dawn for me: •Adedoyin, a journalist, writer and Public Relations Practitioner wrote in from, Ikeja, Lagos
42—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
•Saraki: Senate President
•Ekweremadu: Deputy Senate President
•Lawan: Leader of the unity forum
Why Senate is yet to get committees THE leadership crisis rocking the National Assembly has started taking its toll, especially in the Senate. The misgivings have stalled the composition of special committees that would have been running the affairs of the 8th Senate. By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke
T
HE special committees According to Senate Standing Orders 2015 As amended, the special committees are Selection, Rules and Business; Senate Services; Public Accounts and National Security and Intelligence. With the inauguration of the 8th Senate with the election of Senator Bukola Saraki (APC, Kwara Central) as Senate President and Senator Ike Ekweremadu (PDP, Enugu) as Deputy Senate President, these special committees ought to have been announced within the first 14 legislative days. However, following the inability to fill the entire principal offices, these committees were put on hold, just as the Senate had to adjourn for three weeks when it ought not to. According to Chapter XIII, 96, “Within ‘the first fourteen legislative days following the first sitting of the Senate, the membership of the following Special Committees shall be C M Y K
appointed: (i) Committee of Selection, (ii) Committee on Rules and Business, (iii) Senate Services Committee, (iv) Committee on Ethics; Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, (v) Public Accounts Committee and (VI) Committee on National Security and Intelligence.” According to Chapter XIII, ( 97) -(1) (a) “There shall be a committee to be known as Committee of Selection appointed at the commencement of the life of the Senate to perform the functions allocated to it by these rules, and for such other matters as the Senate may from time to time refer to it. “(b) The Committee on Selection shall consist of the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Senate Majority Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Majority Leader, Deputy Chief Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and the Deputy Minority Whip. “ (c) the President shall be the Chairman of the Committee of Selection and in his absence, the
Deputy President; (d) nominating Senators to serve on committees to consider any special matters brought before the Senate; (e) such Senators as may be going on parliamentary delegation other than Committees.” No show 26 legislative days after As of press time, it is 27 legislative days into the Inauguration of the 8th Senate. Now, there are strong indications that a fresh crisis is brewing especially between the majority All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the new rule providing equal distribution of the committees when they are constituted. The new rule also states that the sharing formula would be according to the six geo - political zones of the country. Accordingly, each zone would get at least nine committee chairmanship seats out of the 57 Senate committees. The new tradition is in compliance with Order 3 (4) of
the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended and it states: “The appointment of Senators as chairmen and members of committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the six geo-political zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of Senators from a few geo-political zones”. The 2011 order: The new section of the Standing Orders differs from that of 2011, which
favoured the then ruling PDP. It was used by former Senate President David Mark during the 7th Senate and distribution then showed a serious gap which was in favour of the PDP. Then, the South-South got 14 chairmanship seats, followed by the North-Central, South-East and North-West, which got 10 each. South West got the least number of chairmanship positions with only five seats while the North East got seven.
Implications of new order
This is the reason another round of crisis is brewing as the Red Chamber resumes next Tuesday from its one monthbreak
The implication of the new Standing Order and equal sharing of committees would be that the APC which drew its membership mainly from the North -West, North-Central and South-West will not enjoy any special preference, contrary to what the PDP enjoyed as a ruling party. Brewing crisis: This is the reason another round of crisis is brewing as the Red Chamber resumes next Tuesday from its one month-break. Some senators are said to be dissatisfied with the committees expected to be allocated to them. Senator Saraki
Continues on page 43
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—43
By Simon Ebegbulem
T
HOUGH Imasuagbon, who is popularly known as ‘Rice Man’ due to his annual rice sharing ritual to the less privilege in the state, left the PDP early this year and worked for the APC during the last general elections, he was yet to formalize his defection into the APC. The event which was like a carnival commenced at his Ewohimi ward, where he was welcomed into the party by the leader of the APC in the area, Mr Victor Eboigbe and the APC chairman in the Local Government Area, Barr. Chris Aghughu. Imasuagbon and his beautiful wife were handed the APC card and broom by Eboigbe, who regretted that the Rice Man left the party which he contributed in building for the PDP. After admitting Imasuagbon in his ward, the party leaders proceeded to Ubiaja, the Local Government secretariat of the party, where Imasuagbon was received by 18 House of Assembly members led by the Speaker, Victor Edoror. Speaking at the well-attended occasion, Eboigbe said: “I was surprised that Imasuagbon left the house he built for others to inhabit. But we thank God that he is back to the house he built. He joined even before the elections and he worked for the party. So we call on elders of Ewohimi to pray for him so that he will not lose track again. He is a great son of Esanland and it is our belief that with his coming into the party, he will add value and with his energy, we will all come together to extinguish the presence of PDP in Esan Land”.
Extinguishing PDP's presence On his part, the Edo Speaker described Imasuagbon as a dogged fighter, asserting that “there is no doubt that with you now in APC, PDP is dead in Esan land and Edo state. I want to beg the leaders of APC in Esan land to work with Imasuagbon because there are lots of people waiting to see celebration of this kind for them to join the party because PDP is not only in pieces, it is dead and we are ready to bury it. There was a time I was in darkness and that was when I was in the PDP.” Edoror added that “inside that darkness I was kidnapped but thank God for his mercies today. It is very obvious that the APC government led by Governor Adams Oshiomhole has wiped our tears away. Today in Esan land we have water, electricity and good health care and these are things that the PDP cabal in Esan land said were not possible but yet they were enjoying those things in their homes.” He continued: “That is why we are celebrating today with the coming of Imasuagbon into the fold of the APC. It means the PDP C M Y K
EDO: Day Rice man dumped PDP for APC THE chant of ‘Rice man’, ‘Rice Man’ reverberated across the five local councils in Edo Central senatorial district of Edo State, when the former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and educationist, Mr Kenneth Imasuagbon, formally dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC, last weekend at Ubiaja, Esan South East Local Government Area of the state.
•Kenneth Imasuagbon formally dumped the PDP for the APC, at Ubiaja, Esan South
Local Government Area of the state, recently.
is dead completely and they will never resurrect in Esan land and Edo state in general. Let us all continue to support the administration that is giving hope to our people every day so that Esan land will continue to enjoy development as we have
been witnessing since the coming of Oshiomhole”. Speaking at the occasion, Imasuagbon expressed gratitude to elders and people of Ewohimi for the warm reception they gave him and appealed to the people of Esan to continue to support
the administration of Governor Oshiomhole. His words: “I joined APC since January this year but we have not had the opportunity to celebrate it due to the elections. But thank God we are celebrating
today. I wish to reassure the people of my ward, local government area and Edo State in general that your sacrifices would not be in vain. I promise to continue to sacrifice my time, energy and resources as I have done over the years in adding value to the lives of Edo people. I am indeed proud of our Edo ancestry and the laudable works being done by our governor. Oshiomhole is our leader and mentor and we will continue to celebrate him for all he is doing for our people. My advice to Edo people is that we should remain steadfast in our belief in the creation of an egalitarian Edo State and that by so doing we will achieve the Edo State of our dream by the grace of God and good governance”. Apparently dispelling the insinuation that people like him may destroy the APC due to their governorship a m b i t i o n , Imasuagbon asserted that “you cannot destroy the house you built. APC is my original home I am back. I am a progressive and a founding member of APC. East Let me tell you, PDP is dead and it is dead forever in Esanland and Edo state.” On his mission to the party, he said: “I have come to build with you, I have not come to destroy this party. By the grace of God, we will support Governor Oshiomhole and President Muhammadu Buhari."
Why Senate is yet to get committees Continues from page 42 is expected to announce the various committees and their membership shortly on resumption from recess, preparatory to commencement of full legislative business. Senators who would lose out in their quest to head some committees they consider not only strategic but also sensitive, are impatiently waiting to swell the rank of the pro-Ahmed Lawan group, in a renewed battle against the Senator Saraki-led leadership. Explaining why the Senate embarked on a sudden break recently, Senate President Saraki said it was allow members of the committees on Finance and Legislative agenda set up by him to carry out their assignments. Saraki had announced at the beginning of plenary that caucuses nominated Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) as the Majority Leader and Bala Ibn Na Allah as the Deputy Majority Leader. Also
endorsed was Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) as the Deputy Whip. However, the position of the Majority Whip, which has been zoned to the SouthWest in the person of Senator Olusola Adeyeye appeared not to have been concluded. The 2015 Standing Rule had generated serious crises leading to the intervention of the Police, just as Unity Forum Senators, loyal to Senator Ahmed Lawan had petitioned the Police over alleged forgery of the Senate Rule. As a follow up to the petition, the Police summoned the leadership of the 7th Senate including Senators David Mark, Ike Ekweremadu as well as Victor NdomaEgba. Also invited for questioning were the President of the 8th Senate, Bukola Saraki and Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa. The petition read: “We write to bring to your attention, the existence of the fraudulent introduction of the 2015 Senate
Standing Rules as amended. We wish to attach the original and authentic Standing Order for 2011 that was used by the 7th Senate, Annexure A. “We again attach the annex Herero, a purported amended Standing Orders 2015, which was used by the Clerk to the National Assembly (along with the Clerk of the Senate) in inaugurating the 8th Senate on June 9, 2015. “The so called new Standing Orders purport to allow for secret instead of the open ballot system that has been prevalent in all Senate elections as permitted by the extant rules. This infraction, among others, arise from the fraudulent production of the Rules without an approved consideration by the 7th Senate. “At no time was the Standing Orders of the Senate amended during the entire life of the 7th Senate neither has the 8th Senate sat for long enough to produce the rules now being circulated and in use.”
44—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY 5 WEDNESDAY,, JULY 15, 201 2015
•Relatives of some those injured at the hospital
BLOOD ON THE PLATEAU:
How terrorists, others turned an oasis of peace into a killing field By Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos
P
LATEAU State which prides itself as the “Home of Peace and Tourism” is fast becoming a breeding ground for terrorists as acts of terrorism occur in the State almost on daily basis. With the isolated killings in the hinterlands to bombings in Jos, the capital city, residents now feel unsafe and helpless, having to watch their backs wherever they go. Once upon a time, the city had its people bonded in unity. Not any more. It has been polarised along religious and ethnic lines for over a decade with mutual suspicion and peace of the graveyard being
the order of the day. This has been the case since 2010 when a minor explosion occurred in the Dadin Kowa area of Jos South Local Government Area where two youths were experimenting with an Improvised Explosive Devise, IED and got injured in the process. Then to the explosion which cut short many lives on December 24 of the same year at Angwan Rukuba area of Jos North Local Government Area. There were also pockets of explosions in churches and football viewing centres in the city. Residents of the city are still counting their losses from the blasts of May 20, 2014 at Terminus/Abuja markets and the most recent ones at a
restaurant. Churches and mosques have not been spared in the last few weeks. Although many lives and property worth millions of Naira have been lost, there is no sign yet that the tragic trend will abate soon. In fact, the question on every lip now is “where next?”
Tales of pain, despair Patriotic citizens, irrespective of tribe or religion, have expressed concern over this worrisome situation. They are appealing to perpetrators to give peace a chance, not only in Jos city but the entire Plateau State so that the state can have
tangible development. Among those who expressed concern at the turn of events is a victim of the recent bomb attack in a mosque at Dilimi (Yan-Taya), Yahya Useni. The 50-year-old farmer, who is currently receiving treatment at the Plateau Specialists Hospital, Jos, spoke with difficulty as a result of the excruciating pains he was going through. He called on those in the habit of causing pains to other Nigerians to desist from such dastardly act. According to him: “I have been hearing of bomb blasts in Jos but I didn’t expect to be a victim. I went to the mosque to listen to the ministration when we heard gunshots outside. As
we were trying to find out the source of the commotion, I felt a sharp pain on my ribs and hand; I touched the places and felt something like liquid. When I discovered that it was blood, I became confused. I knew I fell on the ground but I cannot remember what happened after that. But when I woke up, I saw myself in a theatre where the doctors operated on me and brought out the sharp objects in my body.
Sharp objects “Right now, I am very weak and the doctor said I need blood. Look at where these wicked people sent me to. I want the government to bring this kind of evil to an end because the people who are affected are those who do not even know what is happening in this country”. A car dealer who gave his name as Ugochukwu was another victim of the explosions. Ugochukwu who resides in the Apata area of the city said “it was the hand of Continues on page 45
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY 5 —45 WEDNESDAY,, JULY 15, 201 2015
How terrorists, others turned an oasis of peace into a killing field Continues from page 44 God that delivered me.” Narrating his story, Ugochukwu said he got a call at about 8.30 pm to meet someone who needed a car at Bauchi Park along Bauchi Road. “As I met with the man, he told me he was hungry, that he has not eaten anything after breaking the fast. I took him to the restaurant where the bomb exploded. What saved me was that I wasn’t eating with him. I went right inside to wait for him while he ate outside. As I was waiting, I started checking my phone. Less than five minutes of sitting there, I heard a loud sound and something hard hit me on my leg. Subconsciously, I knew it was a bomb blast but I just sat there. After some minutes, I tried to find my way out; that was when people who came to rescue victims, saw me and helped me to a nearby clinic. I was later taken to the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, (Jankwano) where I was treated,” he narrated. Ugochukwu who had been treated and discharged was full of lamentations. “The man I took to eat was not lucky as he died from the incident,” he said with regrets. He advised those behind the bombing to sheathe their swords.
Sheathing the swords “Please whoever knows anything about these bomb blasts should stop. This thing has left many families in pains, yet those behind it do not care. They should repent, if not, the wrath of God will not only be upon them but also their generations,” he cursed. Salama Ibrahim sat with her baby in the premises of the Plateau Hospital as she attended to her father, Alhaji Ibrahim who was injured by the blast in the mosque. She described the incident as “an evil act committed by people who do not know God.” Her words; “See our Baba is here. He went to the Mosque that Sunday and was affected by the bomb blast. The doctors operated on him before he was transferred to the Ward. Look at the pains he is going through at his age because people who do not know God are on the loose. Allah will judge them. Thank God the hospital has not asked us for money; if they do, where will we get the money to pay for his bills? I am begging those who
•Useni on his sick bed
Muslims and Christians in the state that to unite to fight the evil acts of insurgents. The State Governor, Simon Lalong, described the recurring incidents as a reality of “the security challenge we are contending with in the face of the unrelenting attempts by agents of terror who do not share in our people’s value of Faith.” In a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Emmanuel Nanle, the Governor described the fact that no life was lost in the blast at ECWA, Tundun Wada as an act of God.
are behind this evil to stop because there is so much pain in the land.” Efforts by Vanguard Features, VF, to speak with Alhaji Ibrahim proved abortive as he was still sleeping when VF visited him in Ward 3 where he is receiving treatment. In a bid to stem the occurrence of such disasters, the representative of Jos North/ Bassa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,
Magnitude of the explosion •Relative of a victim
I cannot remember what happened; but doctors operated on me and brought out the sharp objects in my body; right now, I am very weak and the doctor said I need blood
Mr. Suleiman Kwande called for the strengthening of the activities of local Vigilante and Neighbourhood Watch to make them more effective in assisting conventional security agencies to curb criminal activities. Kwande presented security equipments and two 12-seater mini buses to members of the vigilante groups and and faithbased uniform aid groups. He also sponsored a sensitisation training for the groups.
Other items distributed were metal detectors, rain coats, torch lights, reflector vests and whistles. In their separate comments, Messrs Christopher Zita of the Boy Scouts and Kabiru Muhammed of Jama’tu Nasril Islam, JNI, commended Mr. Kwande for providing sensitive gadgets that would help in fighting insurgency and other criminal offences in the state. The duo called on both
“That the blast came without a casualty despite the magnitude of the explosion is a testimony of the fact that God is in the business of bringing to an end this reign of terror over the land. The Governor is encouraging all citizens not to despair but to intensify vigilance in all places of daily activities, while assuring that government would not rest on its oars and that together with the ongoing efforts at the National Level, Boko Haram and all agents of death would be brought to their knees,” the statement said.
46—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
JAMB, stakeholders adopt 180 as cut-off mark
A
BUJA—THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and stakeholders, yesterday, adopted 180 as minimum cut-off mark for admission into degreeawarding institutions for 2015 session. The decision was made at the 2015 Combined Policy Meeting on Admissions to Degree, Nigerian Certificate of Education, NCE, and National Diploma, ND, held yesterday in Abuja. The meeting also adopted 150 for NCE and ND awarding institutions for the 2015 session. JAMB Registrar, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, who announced the cut off marks to newsmen, said it was imperative for all higher institutions to abide by the agreement and ensure its implementation. He said: “We have been able to decide the cut-off mark; it’s going to be 180 for universities and 150 for non-degree institutions. “We hope that our vicechancellors, rectors and provosts will stick to these decisions and implement accordingly so that by October 31, admission for 2015/2016 will be over. “The meeting also agreed that all stakeholders should stick to the 60:40 Science/Arts ratio and 70:30 Te c h n o l o g y / N o n Technology ratios for admission.”
Cleric preaches inter-religious cooperation
T
HE General Overseer of Christ Chosen Deliverance Church, Irri, Isoko South council, Delta State,Apostle M. T. O. Oki, has sued for peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, asking the church to pray against Boko Haram onslaught. Apostle Oki, who decried the resent transfer of suspected insurgents to Ekuluobia Prisons, urged all Christians to be vigilant and prayerful as the act spells danger to the area and the entire South-South of the country. Leading his congregation to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari, Oki emphasised that through constant prayers God will bring peace to the country.
OSHODI-APAPA EXPRESSWAY: Tankers reign of
terror returns as Ambode’s task force fails By Victor AhiumaYoung, Ikenna Asomba, Esther Onyegbula & Ediri Ejoh
L
AGOS—THE hectic traffic gridlock along the OshodiApapa Expressway, has returned fully, following the resurgence of drivers of tankers and articulated vehicles who park indiscriminately on the highway in their bid to lift petroleum products from tank farms within the Apapa and Kirikiri areas of Lagos State. According to Vanguard’s investigation, the task force put in place by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to proffer solution to the unending traffic gridlock particularly on the highway, and major roads in the Apapa area has failed to sustain the sanity on the road. The task force had seized a few trucks in its early days of operation. It has left a few policemen on the road who the tanker drivers say assist them to park on the roads after allegedly collecting bribes from them. The gridlock which has become a daily sight on the highway, usually stretches as far as between Tincan Island Port, Apapa to Cele-Bustop, forcing motorists and other road users to be stranded, even as vehicular and commercial activities along the axis have been put on hold. Tanker drivers, who spoke to Vanguard, alleged that some policemen deployed to the area to control traffic, have abandoned their duty to extort N500 from each tanker driver. Vanguard gathered that as soon as the tanker drivers had parted with the money, the Policemen turn blind eyes, when they (tanker drivers) heading to the tank farms in Tincan Island and Kirikiri, indiscriminately park on the highway. One tanker driver, simply identified as Alhaji Abdullahi, who spoke to Vanguard, said he came from Maiduguri to lift petroleum product in Lagos, saying that he has spent almost a week without getting close to the tank farm, where he was to lift petrol from. Asked why they indiscriminately park along the highway, without recourse to the plight of other road users, Abdullahi alleged that the Police should be blamed for the impunity of his colleagues. His words: “For me as a person, I’m confused about the whole issue. Most of our colleagues who have not been booked to lift petroleum products are the cause of this traffic menace. “They are not supposed to come here until they are called to lift products. Even at that, the
Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, yesterday. PHOTO: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor. Policemen, who are supposed to ensure they maintain one lane, as directed by the Lagos State Government, collect N500 from every tanker driver that park on this road. “When they collect this money, we discover they abscond from their duty post, making it possible for some of these drivers to park indiscriminately on this road.” Another motorist, who pleaded anonymity, lamented that about three policemen, were yesterday afternoon seen collecting money from tanker drivers. He said it was unprofessional for them to be extorting the drivers, while looking the other way, as they indiscriminately park along the busy highway. ‘’Now, we are back to the whole mess again, as the tanker drivers have overtaken the highway, leaving all other road users in absolute anguish. We had expected that they would sustain the tempo of their earlier enforcement to rid this road of tanker menace. But with this new development, we are all finished,” she lamented. While gridlock marks the Oshodi-Apapa side of the expressway, going to Oshodi from Berger Under Bridge is a different kettle of fish. One-way driving is the order there. Many lives have been lost with mini-buses (danfos) being the major culprits. Govt’s reaction Governor Ambode while commenting on the latest development through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, said the task force was intact and its funding paramount to the governor. He said: “The governor is looking beyond palliative measures which prompted him to meet owners of tank farms in that axis last week. “Efforts are also on to complete and expand the Orile trailers park which will take off the pressure from parking on the roads.
“Again he has called on the Federal Government to ensure that contractors working on the road leading to the trailer park return to site immediately.” Vanguard reported on Tuesday, June 30, that the traffic enforcement team, comprising most of the security agencies, including the Police, set up by Ambode, after his Thursday, June 25 unscheduled visit to major traffic points in the Apapa area, to get first-hand information of the problem, was paying off. Between Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28, the taskforce team had swooped on recalcitrant articulated vehicle drivers that parked indiscriminately along the Berger Yard-Sanya Bus-Stop of the highway, forcing them to stay clear. After some of the articulated vehicles were impounded by the taskforce team, the drivers were said to have scampered for safety. Eyewitness accounts said beginning from Saturday afternoon, the recalcitrant trucks and tanker drivers exited the ever-busy highway for fear of having their vehicles impounded. NUPENG expresses surprise NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, yesterday, expressed surprise that gridlock has returned to Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, blaming law enforcement agencies for failing to enforce the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, signed by stakeholders. While saying NUPENG was cooperating with the Taskforce set up by the Lagos State Government and other stakeholders to ensure free flow of traffic on the road, Lagos Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Tokunbo Korodo, said last Monday, all the stakeholders signed a communiqué which mandated the law enforcement agents to ensure that tanker
drivers not billed to load on a particular day were off the road. Though Korodo tried to dismiss the allegation that tanker drivers were bribing law enforcement agents to cause the gridlock, he insisted that if it was true, then the law enforcement agents should be held responsible. He said they should do their work without compromise. According to him, “ we are working with the Taskforce, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC and others to ensure free flow of traffic. I am surprised that there is a traffic build up on the OshodiApapa Expressway. “Just yesterday (Monday), all the stakeholders signed a communiqué that tanker drivers who are not billed to load on a particular day must not be on the road. It is the responsibility of the security agents to enforce the agreement. If they decide not to do their job, or some of them because of corruption decide to compromise, you cannot hold NUPENG responsible. “We have allegiance to the Lagos State government and we are cooperating with the Taskforce, the FRSC and others to ensure free flow of traffic. But if those who are supposed to enforce the law, fail to do so, it is not the problem of NUPENG. On that road, you also have other heavy duty trucks like containerised trucks. “We have no control over them. But for our members, we are cooperating with the government and the taskforce to ensure free flow of traffic. “ Meanwhile, reacting, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Kenneth Nwosu, said: “Police has a policy of zero tolerance for extortion and corruption. We have adequate mechanism to sanction anyone caught in the act. “We urge members of the public to assist us to identify erring personnel.” Also, Vanguard gathered that most of the tanker drivers who throng the Oshodi-Apapa expressway to lift petroleum products, were coming from nearby and far states because of the scarcity of the products in those states.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015—47
‘Why 1.5m birds were killed in Plateau' By Marie-Therese Nanlong
J
OS—ABOUT 1.5 million birds belonging to 438 farmers were affected by the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the first quarter of this year, the Managing Director, Grand Cereals Limited, Mr. Layi Oyatoki, has disclosed. Oyatoki also explained that the affected birds were killed to avoid the spread of the disease, adding that many farmers were as a result, put out of business as their means of livelihood were destroyed. He said his organization had initiated an insurance scheme to insure farms against the disease and encouraged farmers to key into the scheme, so they could have something to fall back on in the event of any outbreak. He further stated that the insurance was free for farmers who had up to 500 birds and that the organization would pay the premium on their behalf, provided they used Grand Cereals’ feed (vital feed) consistently. He said: “Our intention is to
cover any farmer using vital feed; we don’t have a ceiling for the number of farmers that we intend to cover. ‘’The Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation, NAIC, is covering the cost of raising a bird from pullet to lay at the cost of N1,450 per bird, and the company is
paying the premium of four percent of the amount. “When there is an incident, Grand Cereals would be the one to get the insurance company to pay the claim to the farmer. It is easier for the company to pursue the claim on behalf of the farmers than the farmers doing it
themselves and the claim settlement would be prompt. “We want to tell farmers that we are a company that cares; we are not just traders, we are manufacturers and we believe that as feed manufacturer, if there are no birds, then we will not be in business.”
LAUNCHING: From left, Ehiosu Oviawe, Group Treasurer, First Marina Trust Ltd, Ugo Umeseaka, MD, Aba Mega Mall, Sanjay Leslie Tatpati, Assistant VP, Dana Motors, Paul Obanua, Group MD, Aba Mega Mall, Ahmed Lawal, Head, Structured Finance & Alternative Funding, FCMB, Chigozie Okpalor, Head, Credit, First Marina Trust and Sunday Dairo, Sales Manager, Dana Motors, during a 'Own a Store and Get a Kia' media launch in Lagos, yesterday.
Mubi group asks EFCC to probe Adamawa varsity accounts
Y
By Umar Yusuf
OLA—A group, Mubi Patriotic Front, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate the financial activities of Adamawa State University, ADSU, Mubi, from 2006 to date. Spokesman of the group, Alhaji Yusuf Buba Maiwanki, who spoke to news men in
Mama Sylvan Membu for burial
T
HE DEATH has been announced in Asaba, Delta State, of a community women leader, Mrs. Sylvan Membu, (Nee Okiwelu). She was aged 96 years. A statement by Miss Ebele Nwachukwu said the burial arrangement will begin on Thursday, July 16, with service of songs at 5pm at Assumption Catholic Church Zappa, Asaba, to be followed the next day with a brief lying in state at her husband residence, Umuezeafadia Unuaji, Asaba, and later to Zappa Catholic Church for funeral service and, thereafter, interment and reception at UmuobinaluUmuagu, Asaba.
Yola, said the probe became necessary to save the institution from a cabal milking it and bent on frustrating anyone from putting a stop to their nefarious activities. It would be recalled that another group had earlier claimed to have petitioned Adamawa State governor and the EFCC through a write-up in one of the national dailies (not Vanguard) to investigate the activities of the university. Maiwanki said the other group was disturbed by the recent emergence of Professor David Shall as the new Vice Chancellor of the university
and was bent on frustrating him through frivolous petitions. According to Maiwanki, such frivolous petitions against Prof Shall by the cabal, comprising some top officials of the university, included allegations that he was not qualified to hold the position and that he bought an official jeep for the chairman, governing board, of the university. Maiwanki, who said Prof Shall emerged as Vice Chancellor based on merit after contesting with other candidates, said the purchase
of official jeep for the chairman, governing board of the university was in order as previous board chairmen under past administration benefitted. He said the need to probe the financial activities of the university from 2006 to date would enable EFCC know who the real criminals were between Prof Shall and the cabal trying to blackmail him. He said the probe needed to look into years of alleged mismanagement of the university’s Internally Generated Revenue, taxes and pension deduction.
PINE, Lafarge to invest $100m on job creation
M
By Ndahi Marama
AIDUGURI— PRESIDENTIAL Initiative for the North East, PINE, has concluded arrangements with Lafarge, owners of Ashaka Cement in Gombe State, to invest about $100 million to create jobs and alleviate poverty caused by activities of Boko Haram sect in the region. This was disclosed yesterday by the Secretary of PINE, Mallam Umar Gulani, who was in
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, with his team to distribute relief materials to victims of insurgency in the state. In Jere local government area alone, more than 5,500 bags of rice, sanitary materials, rain jackets among others, were freely distributed to over 30,000 households, including the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, at various camps. Gulani said he was in the troubled state to personally monitor the distribution of 79,000 assorted bags of 10 kg packaged rice and other relief materials to
the people of the state in line with the federal government’s determination to cushion the hardship faced by victims of Boko Haram, especially the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, taking refuge at various camps in the state. He noted that as at Monday, PINE had already distributed relief items to people living at Nganzai, Magumeri, Biu and Damboa council areas, while Maiduguri metropolis and Jere, which constituted the largest population, received their own share on Tuesday.
Melaye decries failed ObajanaKabba road
L
By Ediri Ejoh
OKOJA—THE s e n a t o r representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has decried the deplorable state of Obajana-KabbaEgbe-Ilorin road. Melaye, who described the road as a major gateway to Kogi West, stated that the pitiable state of the road stemmed mainly from the constant movement of heavy duty vehicles from Dangote Cement factory at Obajana to various parts of the country. He appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to make the reconstruction of the dilapidated road a priority to ameliorate the plight of other road users who use the road daily.
Kumuyi promises Adamawa people great miracles
Y
By Umar Yusuf
OLA—PASTOR Williams Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Bible Church yesterday in Yola the capital of Adamawa State, promised that God will perform great miracles during his three-day crusade in the state. Kumuyi, who was received at Yola International Airport by the Deputy Governor, Martins Babale, and Christian clerics, also paid courtesy call on the Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha. At the Lamido’s palace, Kumuyi expressed optimism that God will attend to the teething problems bedevilling the state. Answering questions from newsmen on arrival at Yola Airport, Kumuyi appreciated the efforts being made by the government and experts to tackle insurgency in the North East of the country.
48— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15 , 2015
Netanyahu denounces deal as mistake
P
RIME Minister Ben jamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel was not bound by the nu-
Iran, World powers signs historic nuclear agreement W
ORLD powers have reached a deal with Iran on limiting Iranian nuclear activity in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions. US President Barack Obama said that with the deal, “every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off ” for Iran. And President Hassan Rouhani said the “historic” deal opened a “new chapter” in Iran’s relations with the world. Negotiations between Iran and six world powers -the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany - began in 2006. The so-called P5+1 want Iran to scale back its sensitive nuclear activities to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. Iran, which wants crippling international
RAN and six leading world powers signed a comprehensive plan for ending international sanctions against Iran in exchange for putting restrictions on its controversial nuclear program. The key points of the deal include The deal signed in Vienna yesterday is meant to break a 12-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear activities, which some nations claimed involved military research. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) acknowledges Iran’s right for peaceful nuclear development on par with any other signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Stop Nuclear Enrichment
For 15 years Iran will carry out enrichment only at the Natanz facility and will only enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent. The stockpile would not exceed 300kg of uranium hexafluoride or equivalent chemical
lateral military action by Israel seems unlikely for now, Netanyahu and other officials have kept the option on the table. “Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran, and Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran because Iran continues to seek our destruction,” he told reporters before a meeting of his security cabinet, which later rejected the accord. “We will always defend ourselves.” Netanyahu called the deal a “historic mistake”, and the accord drew strong criticism from across the Israeli political spectrum.
IMF calls for Greece debt relief •L-R: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz pose for a group picture at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, yesterday.
sanctions lifted, has always insisted that its nuclear work is peaceful. There has been stiff
resistance to a deal from conservatives both in Iran and the US. The US Congress has 60 days in
... Key points of the nuclear deal
I
clear deal between world powers and Iran, calling it a “historic mistake” and signalling he remained ready to order military action. His harsh criticism of the agreement came after he warned for months that the deal being negotiated would not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons that could be used to target Israel. He also argued that lifting sanctions would allow Iran to further support proxy militants and add to the instability rocking parts of the Middle East. While analysts say uni-
forms. The stockpile limit does not include fuel assemblies used in Iran’s nuclear reactors. Excesses are to be sold or exchanged for raw uranium.
Modify Arak Reactor
Iran will modify the Arak nuclear reactor with the help of the international community. It will be used for peaceful research and isotope production. It will not produce plutonium. Spent fuel will be shipped out of Iran for entire lifetime of the reactor. Iran keeps a leadership role in the Arak partnership.
Show Transparency
Iran will adopt several additional safeguards and allow the IAEA to verify those voluntary measures. The nuclear watchdog is to monitor uranium stockpiles and centrifuges in Iran, including with modern surveillance measures
•Former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmedinajad inspecting Iran's nuclear facilities.
like online enrichment measurement and electronic seals. Tehran pledges not to conduct research that could conduct development of a nuclear explosive device, as specified in a technical annex to the agreement.
Lifting of Sanctions
The UN Security Council will lift its nuclear-related sanctions from Iran simultaneously with the IAEA-verified implementation of certain measure by Iran. The EU and the US will lift their sanctions, including on banking services, insurance, sale of aircraft parts, access to airports and a multitude of others, at
which to consider the deal, though Mr Obama said he would veto any attempt to block it. the same moment. Proliferation-related sanctions will be lifted by the EU and the US eight years after the adoption of the agreement or when the IAEA greenlights it. The wordings for America’s actions to lift the restrictions apparently provides for eventual legal battles of the current and future administrations against legislators and individual state authorities to scrap the sanctions. The US and the EU are expected not to impose new nuclear-related sanctions against Iran as long as the deal holds and respect the spirit and intent of the deal by issuing guidelines and not seeking to hurt normalization of trade with Iran.
A
SECRET International Monetary Fund study showed Greece needs far more debt relief than European governments have been willing to contemplate so far, as Germany heaped pressure on Athens yesterday to reform and win back its partners’ trust. The IMF’s stark warning on Athens’ debt was leaked as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras struggled to persuade deeply unhappy leftist lawmakers to vote for a package of austerity measures and liberal economic reforms to secure a new bailout. The study, seen by Reuters, said European
Iranians welcome deal, hope for brighter days
D
RIVERS honked their horns and dozens of Iranians cheered in a main square and boulevard of the capital Tehran yesterday, welcoming their country’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers, which they hope will mean an end to isolation and sanctions that have crippled the economy. The burst of celebrations
UN chief says world on way to ‘generation free of AIDS’
U
N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday the world was headed for a “generation free of AIDS”, after UNAIDS reported a 35percent drop in new HIV infections from 15 years ago. The positive news was also coupled with calls for more funding, with the objective of eliminating the virus by 2030. The United Nations also warned that continuing stigmatisation of sex workers, drug users and homosexuals were barriers to progress. “The world has delivered. We have achieved and exceeded the goals regarding AIDS.
We have 15 million people on HIV treatment,” Ban said in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where he is attending a global development summit. “We are on the way to a generation free of AIDS,” Ban said. “The world has delivered on halting and reversing the AIDS epidemic. Now we must commit to ending the AIDS epidemic.” According to the UNAIDS report released on Tuesday in Geneva, there have been remarkable strides since the advent in 1996 of antiretroviral drugs, which suppress the human immunodeficiency virus
countries would have to give Greece a 30-year grace period on servicing all its European debt, including new loans, and a dramatic maturity extension. Or else they must make annual transfers to the Greek budget or accept “deep upfront haircuts” on existing loans. The Debt Sustainability Analysis is likely to sharpen fierce debate in Germany about whether to lend Greece yet more money, while it will be seen by many in Greece as a vindication of the government’s plea for sweeping debt relief. A Greek newspaper called the report a slap in the face for Berlin.
•UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (HIV). Though not a cure, the therapy creates a virtuous circle. The less the virus is in circulation, the less likely it is that people become infected.
underscored the hopes that many Iranians have pinned on the drawn-out talks. That public yearning for economic relief was crucial for winning moderate President Hassan Rouhani the breathing room to negotiate with Iran’s nemesis the United States over imposing limits on the nuclear program. “I’m very happy,” gushed Azizieh Habibi,a 46-year-old housewife with two college-age children, who was among those celebrating on Tehran’s Vali-e Asr Avenue. Some waved flags, some had painted their faces in the flag’s red, white and green colors, chanting thanks to Rouhani and his top negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. “My children will have better future since there is no threat of sanctions and restrictions anymore,” said Habibi. “They may even go to the U.S. for more education.” A key question now will be whether powerful hard-liners, including the elite Revolutionary Guard, who have spoken staunchly against concessions on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, will acquiesce to the accord.
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 —49
Rwanda MPs back scrapping of presidential term limits
P
ARLIAMENTARIANS in Rwanda have voted to support a change to the constitution that would allow President Paul Kagame to stand for a third term in 2017. More than 3.7 million Rwandans signed a petition asking parliament to abandon two-term presidential limit - a change that will now be put to a referendum. Mr Kagame has always said it is up to the Rwandan people to decide. Rights groups have accused the Rwandan authorities of silencing the opposition and stifling the media. Pro-government Rwandan newspaper The New Times says hundreds of people turned up at parliament yesterday morning to watch the debate on
presidential term limits. Those who want Mr Kagame to stay credit him with “leading the struggle to stop the 1994 genocide”, it says. On Monday, a ruling party RPF message was circulated on social media in the capital, Kigali, urging people to take buses to parliament to support Mr Kagame. The small opposition Green Party has been the only dissenting voice calling for the constitution not to be altered to allow for a third term, and petitioning instead for a single presidential term to be changed from seven to four years. Last month, it went to the Supreme Court to try and stop the move to change the constitution, but the party was unable to get legal representation.The party has been given until 29 July to find a lawyer to take on the case.
•Rwandan voters ready to exercise their franchise.
Scarred by Islamist attacks, Kenya set to re-open Westgate mall Kenyatta’s inability to governor, said the
K
ENYA’S trendy Westgate shopping mall will reopen on
Saturday, nearly two years after gunmen from the Somali militant group al Shabaab massacred at least 67 people inside and held out for four days as security forces laid siege to the complex. Once a totem of Kenya’s growing prosperity, the Westgate building has since become symbolic of growing insecurity in the east African nation and President Uhuru
prevent frequent Islamist attacks on Kenyan soil. Images beamed across the world during the raid dented Kenya’s image abroad and scared off tourists, hurting a vital sector of the economy. Kenya’s embarrassment was compounded by Westgate security footage which showed soldiers looting the mall after the Somali militants were killed. Evans Kidero, the Nairobi
September 2013 attack was “one of the saddest days in Kenyan history” but touted the re-opening of the mall as a triumph of national resilience in the face of militant attacks. “They killed... our friends and relatives, but they did not kill our spirit,” he told reporters after touring the building where workmen were slapping on final licks of paint and staff were unfurling promotional banners.
Migration: Dozens of corpses washed ashore in Libya •Workers stand in a section of the reopened Westgate shopping mall, which was closed in the aftermath of an attack by militant gunmen in September 2013 that killed 67 people and injured many more, in capital Nairobi yesterday.
Ugandan president in Burundi for election crisis talks
U
G A N D A N President Yoweri Museveni arrived in Burundi yesterday for crisis talks, as President Pierre Nkurunziza readied for a third term bid in polls next week following months of violence. Museveni, appointed mediator last week by the five-nation East African Community (EAC), arrived by road via Rwanda to push stalled talks between Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD party and opposition groups. The veteran Ugandan leader, who first flew to
Rwanda for meetings there before entering Burundi escorted by Ugandan armoured vehicles, said in a statement he would “establish a dialogue among warring political factions.” But with the presidential elections now scheduled for July 21, Museveni has been left with only a few days to succeed. Nkurunziza’s bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term, despite a constitutional two-term limit, has sparked months of civil unrest and an attempted coup in mid-
May. Opposition groups say another term would violate a peace deal that paved the way to end a dozen years of civil war in 2006. There are fears the current crisis could plunge the impoverished, landlocked country back into civil war.
D
OZENS of bodies believed to be subSaharan migrants have been found in the sea and the shore of Tajoura, a coastal town about 10kms east of Tripoli, according to the Maltabased Migrant Report. A spokesman for the capital’s antiimmigration department said women and children were among the dead, but he could not confirm their numbers or indicate their nationality. They are believed to be the victims of a shipwreck off Tajoura, which is known as a
departure point for migrants heading for Europe on boats. If the number of dead is confirmed it would be the biggest tragedy by far since April 18 when 850 migrants are
believed to have lost their lives in a single shipwreck off Libya. The number of tragedies went down as the EU agreed to dispatch search and rescue vessels closer to Libya.
•Rescue workers pulling out drowned bodies.
US warns citizens ahead of President Obama’s Kenya visit
T
HE US has issued a travel warning for Kenya ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama, who is due to address a summit on global entrepreneurship. The summit, to be held in the capital, Nairobi,
from 24-26 July, could provide “a target for terrorists”, the US State Department said in a statement. In 2013, at least 67 people died in an attack by al-Shabab militants on the Westgate shop centre
in Nairobi. The Somalibased Islamist militant group says it is at war with Kenya. Their deadliest assault to date happened at a university in the north-easter Kenyan town of Garissa in April, when four gunmen
killed 148 people. The US State Department has urged its citizens to “maintain a high level of security awareness” as part of the new travel warning, which expires on 30 July.
50—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
C M Y K
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY 15, 2015—51
• UK- based Nigerian Educator and Clinician, Dr Adaeze Ifezulike, author, Medicine Abroad, with Mr. Mike Ogbalu during the media launch of the book last week in Lagos.
Why I wrote Medicine Abroad --- Dr. Adaeze Ifezulike, UK-based Educator & Clinician
I
T is no longer news that many Nigerian doctors seek greener pasture after their basic training but obtaining accurate, unbiased information to ensure their succeess remains an obstacle to their practice abroad. The Telegraph of the UK recently reported that three – quarters of the doctors struck off the medical register in one year alone were trained abroad. A BBC report also showed high rate of disciplinary proceedings against migrant medics. It is a fact that critical information is usually lacking with many Nigerian doctors arriving abroad with little or no clue about the cultural differences,
societal and patient expectations of the host countries. This scenario inspired UKbased Nigerian Educator and Clinician, Dr Adaeze Ifezulike to publish her new book entitled: “Medicine Abroad.” In the book, Ifezulike assesses the world of medics trained outside the western world. She says the book was written as part of her core passions to encourage and elevate other African trained medics like herself to aspire to higher quality of care in the medical field. She speaks to Chioma Obinna. Excerpts: “It is the same medicine everywhere but there are cultural
differences and crucial differences in patients and societal expectations of a doctor abroad. These are the issues I have addressed in my book. Having trained, lived and practiced in the UK for a decade, I have information that can help other migrant doctors succeed and these are outlined in the book. “It serves as a navigator for foreign medics because I have written it from the perspective of a migrant like themselves who has made the journey and succeeded,” she added. With 16 years of experience, Adaeze notes that making mistakes in medical field could be catastrophic as many medics who
have find themselves in the situation could not live to tell the story. “Many medical doctors have had their names removed from the medical register and unable to practice due to these avoidable mistakes. I want my colleagues to have an easier journey than I did.” Contents In the book, I discuss the medical regulators and what one can do to stay safe, the exams immigration, taxes and so many other issues. Stories from other medics who are practising successfully are also shared. There are thorns but also roses if one is guided right. “Medicine Abroad is designed to be that guide. Differences in medical practice abroad and Nigeria “I found out that issues are not about exams but cultural differences in patients and societal expectations. In Nigeria, doctors are regarded as a king, patients agree with the doctor but in the UK, consultations are done between two equals. Patients know how they are feeling and the doctors discuss on the same level. There, you have to listen to the patients and in all you do as a doctor you must carry the patient along at all levels. In managing them, you laid down options and the patient takes the lead. Anything contrary may lead to patient complaining by the door and investigation begins almost immediately.” Role of book The book was written to give insight of what happens there and from an insider perspective. Through this book we can change the statistics of African doctors punished abroad and also change the attitude of our local doctors. This book can also improve the country’s patient – doctor relationship.
Reddington Hospital is ‘Private Healthcare Provider of the Year’
F
OR the 2nd consecutive year, Reddington Hospital, a foremost private, independent hospital, has received the "Private Healthcare Provider of the year" award at the Nigerian Health Excellence awards, NHEA.. The award follows the hospital’s further quality accreditation to meet international healthcare standards. In a statement, CEO Reddington Hospital Group, Dr. Adeyemi Onabowale, stated “winning this award for the second time in a row is a massive vote of confidence that we are realising our ambition to make healthcare available in Nigeria that compares favourably to the very best international standards. The award is a testimony to not just the huge investment that has been made in our facilities and equipment but also to our ethos of continuously striving for excellence in all areas of the services we offer our patient community. The hospital’s Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Matthews paid tribute to the NHEA for organising the awards to highlight the very best in all aspects of healthcare in Nigeria.
• Reddington Hospital staff at the NHEA Awards. From left: Chief Finance Officer, Mrs Grace Oforiokuma; Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Matthews; Former Ogun State Commisioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka; Chief Executive Officer, Dr Yemi Onabowale, and General Manager & Business Development Director, Mr. Andy Cunliffe.
WHO calls for higher taxation on tobacco BY GABRIEL OLAWALE
T
HE World Health Organisation, WHO, has called for government tax action to curb the global tobacco epidemic. WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan said raising taxes on tobacco products was the most effective and cost-effective way to reduce consumption of products that kill, while also generating substantial revenue. "Too few governments levy appropriate levels of tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products. They therefore miss out on a proven, low-cost measure to curb demand for tobacco, save lives and generate funds for stronger health services, according to the "WHO Report on the global tobacco epidemic 2015". "I encourage all governments to look at the evidence, not the industry's arguments, and adopt one of the best win-win policy options available for health," Chan noted. Only 33 countries have successfully imposed taxes that represent more than 75 percent of the retail price of a packet of cigarettes, although many countries have extremely low tax rates while some have no special tax on tobacco products at all. Director of WHO's Department for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, Dr Douglas Bettcher, says higher tobacco taxes and prices are proven methods to reduce consumption and promote quitting the use of tobacco products. "Evidence from countries such as China and France shows that higher tobacco product prices linked to increased taxes lead to declines in smoking prevalence and tobacco-related harm, such as lung cancer deaths," says Bettcher. Dr Vera da Costa e Silva, Head, WHO FCTC Secretariat, notes that the Convention offers governments policies to curb illicit trade in tobacco products to reduce demand and boost tax revenues from tobacco sales. "Countries should consider implementing the provisions of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products to confront the illegal market," she adds. Tobacco taxation could also be a key source of funding for implementing the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Tobacco-related illness is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.
52 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
C M Y K
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 53
Eagles: Historic day as Oliseh takes over I
F all goes as planned, the new National team coach, Sunday Oliseh, would be unveiled in Abuja today by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Oliseh would formally takeover the vacant job of Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, a position previously occupied by his former teammate, Stephen Keshi. Keshi’s appointment was terminated by the federation on July 4. His exit paved way for the federation to fill the position. A peep into his curriculum vitae, revealed that as a player, he commenced his professional career as a defensive midfielder with Julius Berger FC of Lagos between1989 and 1990. The 40-year-old defender and former Super Eagles skipper also played for AFC Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus FC. He scored two goals during his 54 international caps for the Eagles, with 321 appearances for his various clubs. Oliseh is mainly remembered for scoring the winning goal against Spain in the France 1998 World Cup at the group stage, a footage that was extensively used by many television stations then. He, however, participated in two World Cups, USA ‘94 and France 1998. Oliseh was a member of the Olympic Games gold medal winning team in the soccer event in Atlanta Olympic Games tagged Atlanta ‘96. Oliseh also was part of the team that won the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in 1994 in Tunisia. During his stint with Ajax FC Holland, he won the Dutch league title with the team. Oliseh also won the Bundesliga with his team, Borussia Dortmund in 2001- 2002 season and also ended up as runners up in the UEFA champions’ league in the same year. He had managed 2007 Eupen as Sports Director and in 2008, Vervietois a third division league club in Belgium. Oliseh’s fiery temper C M Y K
could not be ignored in spite of his success both at the national and international level, he was sacked by Borussia Dortmund after punching a teammate, Vahid Hashemain while
on loan to VFL Bochum. At the National team, the Eagles, he had 54 outings. In January 2006, Oliseh retired from professional football at the age of 31. The ex-Eagles player
has UEFA professional coaching licence, UEFA grade A (advance) coaching Diploma, UEFA B (Basic) coaching Diploma and Business Management Diploma in Belgium.
He was also a member of FIFA study group. In 2013, he granted an interview, ruling himself out of the Eagles coaching job in the future at which in response, said: “my wife will kill me”.
Super Eagles players ready for their new coach, Sunday Oliseh
Russia terminate Capello’s contract
F
ORMER England boss Fabio Capello has left his role as Russia head coach after three years in the post. The 69-year-old signed a four-year contract extension in 2014 to keep him under contract until the 2018 World Cup, which will be staged in Russia. But the Italian’s deal has been ended after a run of poor results. Russia have eight points from six games in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and face the prospect of needing to win a playoff to reach the tournament. They were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in the group stage without winning a game.
Oliseh ‘ll do more than coaching – Pinnick BY JUDE OPARA, Abuja
A
S Nigerians await his official unveiling today as the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, the task of Sunday Oliseh will go beyond just coaching the players, the NFF President has said. President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick told Sports Vanguard in Abuja that the former national team captain will, in addition to his primary responsibility, be engaged in the
organization of coaching clinics for other coaches and setting out a roadmap to redefine Nigerian football. He also allayed fears that his job may clash with the schedule of the technical director of the NFF, Shuaibu Amodu assuring that everything about the operation has been clearly defined. “The players are the major attraction for any coach and we have the quality of players that can rule the world again so let us all support him to
succeed. He will go just beyond coaching, he is going to be coaching coaches, clinics but that will not derail his primary mission of being the technical adviser of the Super Eagles. “Talking about Oliseh’s role and that of the technical director clashing, I want to state that there will be nothing like that because everything is clearly defined even as they look intertwined. Even Oliseh himself told me that Amodu is his boss and that he cannot wait to
•Oliseh work with him.” On the much talked about temperament of Oliseh, Pinnick said that is of no consequence because every human being has one error or the other adding that what matters is how to manage such attribute with maturity.
The NFF boss further argued that Oliseh has presented himself as a very humble person who is also knowledgeable about his requirements as the gaffer of the national team adding that the terms of operation are clearly defined hence every party is expected to respect it.
Gotv Boxing Night: N1m, trophy for best boxer BY JACOB AJOM
B
OXING enthusiasts will have their hands full when the third GOtv Boxing Night takes the centre stage July 26, at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. Six bouts have been listed on the bill put together by Flykite Productions. The biggest attraction on
the night is the N1million top prize for the best boxer who will also take home the Mojisola Ogunsanya trophy. Announcing this in a crowded press conference in Lagos yesterday, Chief Executive Officer of Flykite Productions, Jenkins Alumona said the prize was attached to the trophy by the chairman of DSTV, Adewumi Ogunsanya who named
the trophy after his late wife, Mojisola Ogunsanya. Aarrangement for the night had been firmed up with all the boxers confirming their availability. One of the night’s attraction is the first professional female boxing bout, a six-round encounter involving Nigerian woman, Helen Johnson and her
Ghanaian counterpart, Gifty Amara Ankra. The star match is in the Light Middleweight category where Sule Olagbade will stake his national title against challenger, Abolaji Rasheed. The fight will go 12 rounds. In other bouts, Kazeem Ariyo will take on Olaide Fijabi in the lightwelterweight class nontitle challenge, national
lighweight champion, Prince Nurudeen Fatai will square up against Femi Ajayi in a non-title bout while Sunday Ajuwa and Femi Ajayi will fight in the cruiserweight class. In the heavyweight class, Delta State born Onoriede Ehwarieme will take on débutante Adewale Masebinu in a 6-round non-title contest
54—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
TRANSFER, TRANSFER, TRANSFER Mourinho wants Moses at Stamford Bridge OSE Mourinho J could hand Victor Moses a shock reprieve and make the winger a part of Chelsea’s first team squad next season. Moses hasn’t played for Chelsea since Mourinho returned to the club in 2013 because he was loaned out to Liverpool and Stoke for the past two seasons. The 24-year-old, who joined from Wigan for £9m three years ago, was expected to be loaned out again or sold, with Stoke the favourites for his signature. But Stoke manager Mark Hughes claims his side’s hopes have been dashed because Mourinho wants to keep Moses at Stamford Bridge. He said: “I think Chelsea have a view on Victor. What they ’re thinking we believe is that they would possibly like to keep him. If they go into the market again that could change that idea. “Victor obviously came to us last year and did exceptionally well for us. There were a couple of injuries that hampered him unfortunately, but he showed enough in his time with us that it made Chelsea very aware of the talent they
Blues Brothers... Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel have and what Victor could offer. It could be that Victor now plays a part at Chelsea.”
OBIN van Persie has officially completed his move from Manchester United to Fenerbahce. The Turkish club confirmed the deal on their Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon, posting the message: ‘Welcome to #Fenerbahçe! @Persie_Official’ He will be unveiled on Tuesday evening at 6pm local time (4pm BST) at the club’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, with
Turk Me In... Van Persie C M Y K
experience of playing a major role in their Europa League triumph two years ago.
Pedro will decide his future — Barca coach
B
ARCELONA coach Luis Enrique said he wants to keep Pedro but accepts it is down to the Spain international to decide his own future. Pedro, 27, signed a new contract at Barca last month but he has now confirmed that the new agreement saw his buyout clause drop from •150 million to •30m. Catalan newspaper Sport reported at the weekend that Chelsea
Fenerbahce welcomes £240,000 a week van Persie
R
Moses would count as a home-grown player in Chelsea’s squad and also boasts the
fans being offered the chance to attend for free. The Turkish club revealed the news on Monday as pictures emerged of his medical examination in Istanbul. The 31-year-old is believed to have put pen to paper on a three-year deal worth in the region of £240,000 a week. Van Persie has been at United for three seasons and netted 30 times as they won the league in 2012-13 following his £24million move from Arsenal. His impact since then has lessened. Last season, the Dutchman scored 10 goals in 29 appearances under Louis van Gaal. Van Persie will link up with former United team-mate Nani in Turkey. He joined Fenerbahce for a reported £4.25m last Monday.
Decision Day... Pedro have registered an interest and that Pedro has decided he wants to move to Stamford Bridge. When asked at a news
conference on Tuesday whether Pedro was nontransferable, Luis Enrique said: “Pedro’s situation is very clear — he has a contract and a buyout clause which, if paid, would see the player depart.” He added: “I don’t want any of my players to leave. I’ve always highlighted Pedro’s worth as a player and as a person. “Pedro is an important player and I would love for him to stay just as I am delighted that [Marc] Bartra is. It’s going to be a personal decision and I will respect it.”
Higuain not speaking to any club — Agent
G
O N Z A L O Higuain’s agent has revealed he has not spoken to any club about the transfer of the Argentine star. Arsenal and Liverpool are just two of the clubs linked with the Argentine striker, who has reportedly told Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis he wants to leave. But the former Real Madrid star ’s representative, his brother Nicolas, has confirmed he’s had no contact with any club and criticised De Laurentiis for speaking publicly about Higuain’s £67.4million release clause. He told Radio Crc: “No club has asked me about Higuain, and I wonder why De Laurentiis keeps talking about the clause. “The last time I saw De Laurentiis was at San Paolo after the Lazio
match, having dinner with the team and former coach [Rafael] Benitez. “Only the President talks about Higuain’s clause, and it makes it look like he wants to sell. I think if Napoli want to fight for the Scudetto they shouldn’t let Higuain go. “No team has asked me for Higuain, I don’t know if De Laurentiis has had any offers, because as I’ve said I haven’t heard from the president for a long time, but I think he’d have called me if there was something concrete.”
Sterling finally signs for City
I
T’S official: Raheem Sterling is a Manchester City player. Sterling, 20, had a medical in Manchester on Tuesday and has completed a deal which is said to be worth $75 million with City paying Liverpool an initial fee of $69 million for Sterling and a further $6 million will be paid in add-ons. City have handed Sterling a five-year contract and he will wear the coveted No. 7 jersey at the Etihad
•Feeling free... Raheem Sterling
Going Back Home... Motta wouldn’t be being honest with myself, nor the club, which I have grown to love. It’s not a question of money, but of stimuli.”
Stadium. With the transfer, Sterling becomes the most expensive English player in history and $75 million is the third-highest transfer fee in Premier League history. Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini was delighted to add Sterling to his squad as City’s attacking options out wide have been boosted considerably as they look to wrestle the PL title from Chelsea next season and challenge for the UEFA Champions League. “Raheem Sterling is one of the best attacking players in world football, and I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week,” Pellegrini said. “He is a young player with outstanding ability, and I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team.”
Motta eyes Inter return
T
HIAGO Motta has opened the door to leaving Paris SaintGermain this summer. Motta, who turns 33 next month, has just a year left on his PSG contract, and with talks on an extension making no progress, speculation has been mounting the Italy international will leave, despite coach Laurent Blanc’s desire to keep him. Atletico Madrid have been linked, while it has also been suggested another of the midfielder ’s former clubs, Inter Milan are keen on bringing him back to the San Siro. “PSG have grown a lot,” Motta, who moved to the club from Inter in 2012, said. “I have spent three-and-a-half years there, but it seems a lot more to me. I think I have given everything by now. “I get the impression that a cycle is coming to an end for me. I have given and received so much. It would be more comfortable to stay, but that
Come And Get Me... Gonzalo Higuain
VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 — 55
Madrid will play Barcelona in a November El Clasico as the 2015-16 La Liga fixtures are announced N
EW Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez will oversee his first El Clasico La Liga match in charge of Los Blancos on November 8, at the Bernabeu. The reverse league fixture falls in the spring of 2016, with Barcelona hosting Real in a potentially crucial April 3 tie, with merely seven games before the end of the season. Luis Enrique’s treblewinning Blaugrana begin their domestic title defence away at Basque side Athletic Bilbao on August 23 - their third game in a week against Ernesto Valverde’s men, given the two teams’ two-legged Super Cup tussle. Benitez will bring his new-look side to Sporting Gijon’s El
Molinon stadium on the opening day, while Malaga invite Sevilla to La Rosaleda for an Andalucian derby. On the last day of the 2015-16 campaign, May 15, Real travel to Galicia to play Deportivo La Coruna, while Barcelona also finish the season away from home at Granada, who finished 17th in La Liga last season. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid begin the season at home to Las Palmas and end it at home to Celta Vigo. Atletico, who finished last season 16 points off Barcelona, in third, take on Real at the Vicente Calderon Stadium on October 4 and the Bernabeu on February 28.
N
LA LIGA FIXTURES: DAY ONE Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona Malaga vs Sevilla Levante vs Celta Vigo Sporting Gijon vs Real Madrid Rayo Vallecano vs Valencia Espanyol vs Getafe Deportivo vs Real Sociedad Granada vs Eibar Real Betis vs Villarreal Atletico Madrid vs Las Palmas
FIBA Africa U-16: Nigerian girls maintain unbeaten run
El Clasico.... Ronaldo and Messi back to the trenches
IGERIA’S team at the 2015 FIBA Africa U16 Championship has maintained a vice grip on the competition, on going at the Palais des Sports Mahamasina in A n t a n a n a r i v o Madagascar. The girls have won all the three games they played so far in group A of the championship. Morocco was their latest victims yesterday as Nigeria ran away with 46- 26 points win other the north Africans. With this result they have qualified for the quarterfinal, which will be decided on Friday. The winner and the runners-up of the Championship will represent Africa in next year ’s world youth championship. Mali are the defending champions of tournament in its 4th edition.
Toriola, Quadri lead Team Nigeria to ITTF Cup in Cameroon Capello leaves Russia S F
ABIO Capello’s contract as the coach of Russia has been ended, three years before the country hosts the 2018 World Cup. The Russian Football Union (RFU) has confirmed the Italian’s departure and while it did not name a successor, the acting president, Nikita Simonyan, said his replacement will be revealed within two weeks. “By the end of July we should sort out who the new head coach should be,” Simonyan said. “It is possible that he could combine the role with club management till the end of qualifying for Euro 2016.” “We are looking at a few
•Capello C M Y K
candidates – Leonid Slutski, Yuri Semin, Kurban Berdyev, Gadzhi Gadzhiev, Alexander Borodyuk, Stanislav Cherchesov.” Slutski is currently in charge of CSKA Moscow, Semin is with Anzhi Makhachkala, Berdyev with Rostov and Gadzhiev is with Amkar Perm. Borodyuk was an assistant to Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat when they were in charge of Russia while Cherchesov recently quit Dynamo Moscow. According to local media, Slutski is the favourite to land the job. However, Slutski said the RFU was yet to contact him about taking over at the helm of the national team.
I X - T I M E Olympian, Segun Toriola and 2014 ITTF Star Player, Aruna Quadri will spearhead Nigeria’s quest for the title at the 2015 ITTF Africa Senior Cup holding in Yaounde, Cameroon. The tournament serves as qualifiers for the ITTF Men and Women World Cups holding later in the year. The three-day championship serves off on Tuesday July 21 to 23 while it will be followed
by IT TF Africa Club Championship involving teams from the continent. At the IT TF Africa Senior Cup, two players are expected to represent each country in the men and women singles with Egypt’s El-Sayed Lashin and Han Xing as defending champions. The winners in the men and women singles events will represent Africa at the ITTF World Cups. According to Toriola, Nigeria has the wherewithal to clinch the
title as Egypt and Congo Brazzaville are under pressure to “I saw the Egyptian and Congolese teams in China and they are really preparing well. I was aware that the Congolese team has been in China since last year because they are the host of the All Africa Games and they want to perform well. Also, I met the Egyptians who are also eager to know who will be representing Nigeria at
the tournament. But with what I saw I know the Congolese and the Egyptian teams will be under pressure to perform well. But as for Nigeria, we will not be playing under pressure as everybody is relaxed,” he said. Toriola believes taking part in the competition would afford him the opportunity to know his present form ahead of the All Africa Games.
Abia Warriors strengthen technical crew
T
HE Management of Umuahia based Premier League outfit, Abia Warriors Football Club says it recently engaged the services of coach Willy Udube to further strengthen the technical crew for the challenges ahead. The Secretary of Abia Warriors FC, Mr. Oliver Ndife told the club’s website that although the technical crew led by Ladan Bosso has not been found wanting,
there was still need to further strengthen the bench for maximum result. The Mbano, in Imo State-born Udube, who once played for Heartland FC of Owerri, recently signed the dotted lines to pitch his tent with Abia Warriors less than two weeks after he was disengaged by the management of Ifeanyi Uba football Club of Nnewi, alongside other members of the club’s technical crew.
•Head Coach of Nigeria’s U-23 team, Samson Siasia (left) with the chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Hon Boma Iyaye shortly inspecting the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium ahead of the encounter against the U-23 team of Congo.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015
•Salisu •Pinnick
Super Eagles job:
Historic day as Oliseh steps in •Oliseh
Oliseh ‘ll do more than coaching – Pinnick FIBA Africa U-16: Nigerian girls maintain unbeaten run
•Oliseh
•Keshi
Mourinho wants Moses at Stamford Bridge
•Amodu
Details inside QUICK CROSSWORD
TODAY'S
PUZZLE
YESTER DAY'S ANSWERS YESTERDAY'S
ACROSS 1 Scour (5) 5 Method (6) 8 Peer (5) 10 Nuptial (6) 11 Greedy (4) 14 Gift (6) 15 Decorate (7) 18 Beverage (3) 19 Sailor (3) 21 Cart (4) 23 Leaf (5) 24 Grasped (4) 27 Colour (3) 29 Fish (3) 31 Sickness (7) 32 Conquer (6) 34 Wise (4) 35 Astounded (6) 38 Apportion (5) 39 Wave (6) 40 Cabin (5)
DOWN 2 Vehicle (3) 3 Unfastened (6) 4 Snake (3) 5 Chair (4) 6 Dirty (6) 7 Predominantly (6) 9 Swagger (7) 12 Tank (3) 13 Expensive (4) 16 Fever (4) 17 Loathed (5) 20 Fundamental (7) 22 Unfortunately (4) 24 Restrict (6) 25 Minus (4) 26 Item (6) 28 Discussion (6) 30 Stage (3) 33 Breed (4) 36 Crowd (3) 37 Newt (3)
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Ensure 5, Used 8, Count 9, Rue 10, Boon 11, Deep 12, Steep 13, Critic 16, Turn 18, Gain 20, Ash 22, sad 23, Old 24, Rite 25, Twee 28, Ravage 30, Crime 32, Riot 33, Anti 34, Ire 35, Weird 36, Kiln 37, Agency.
DOWN: 1, Enrich 2, Seediest 3, Rabbit 4, Contender 5, Undergo 6, Step 7, Dupe 8, Cos 14, Customary 15, Bid 17, Raw 19, Alsatian 20, Ail 21, Hearten 26, Eating 27, Remedy 29, Trek 30, Cowl 31, End.
How to Play Sudoku
P
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. Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 014544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.
C M Y K