Bhuari to revoke Jonathan's contract to ex militants,OPC

C M Y K

C M Y K

2 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 16, 2015—3

C M Y K

4 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

Gov Oshiomhole weds a top model •Says: I’m happy to remarry again

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM & GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

I

T was glitz and glamour as Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, yesterday, exchanged marital vows with his heartthrob, former Miss Iara Fortes, from Cape Verde The Governor and his bride had signed the dotted lines at a private marriage registry attended only by family members and a few friends at his Iyamho residence after which top dignitaries in the country, were led by the Presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari to the wedding reception held at the People’s White Hall in the Governor’s country home.

Among a list of who-iswho in the country who also graced the ceremony were President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, his wife Aisha, Vice President Elect, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, Speaker of the House of Reps, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, Cross Rivers State Governor, Liyel

C M Y K

Imoke, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, Peter Obi, former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Godwin, Alike Dangote, Captain Hosa Okunbor, Femi Otedola, Chief Tom Ikimi, Gen. Charles Airiavbere, Engr.Chris Ogiemwonyi, Saraki, Minority Whip of the House of Reps, Samson Osagie, Pally Iriase and many other members of the National Assembly.

Others are National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Rauf Arigbesola, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, representative of Crown Prince of Benin, Jim Ovia, President of a faction of the NLC, Ayuba Wahab, Gen Tunde Ogbeha, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, former Governor of Edo State, Prof Osarhiemen Osunbor, former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Peter Obi,

Senator Daisy Danjuma, Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Governor-elect of Kaduna State, Mallam el Rufai, Gov Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Chris Ngige,Kenneth Imuasuagbo among others.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, former Governors Kayode Fayemi, Oserheimen Osunbor, Senator Tunde Ogbeha; O s a i g b o v o Ogbemudia,Otunba Niyi Adebayo were also in attendance.

Top military brass including BrigadierGeneral MJ Abel, Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Auchi were also in attendance. The Director-General of the State Security was represented by Engr Joseph oworuya, while Mr Bello Bakori, Director, SSS Edo State was also at the ceremony.

Members of the Edo state Executive Council were led by the Deputy

Governor of the state, Dr Pius Odubu, Chief Judge of Edo state, elected members of the State and National Assemblies and many others.

Parents of the bride, Mr and Mrs Fortes flew in from their home in the Netherlands to attend the ceremony while the Governor’s mother, Hajia Aishetu Oshiomhole was also in attendance.

The Governor ’s children Steve, Adams, Jane and two of his grandchildren also on hand to show love and support for their father and his wife.

The Governor ’s marriage is coming about five years after the painful death of his first wife, Clara Oshiomhole, following a protracted battle with cancer.

The delectable Iara, a lawyer by profession and top model, is from the Cape Verde Islands.

The chairman of the ceremony, General Yakubu Gowon said the Governor ’s wife completes and complements him and he admonished the couple to show true love and have patience in their

dealings with one another.

Fielding question form newsmen, Oshiomhole who noted that both PDP and APC leaders attended the wedding, said it shows that despite political differences, Nigerians remains one.

He described his wife as very “ understanding, caring and a loving lady and also expressed joy with his family for the support given to him to remarry.

“This is something that one is happy about. I am also happy that I have friends across all political divide. The occasion reminds me that across all divides, we have friends and well-wishers.”

Describing his wife, Oshiomhole said: “She is very humble, she appreciates the nature of my job and life that I

return home late, some times 3am.

She understands my weaknesses, she is more or less the mother of the house, the one that has accepted to be the mother of my children.

“I am happy that all my children are at home with her and accept her as their mother even though she is not old enough to be their mother. She has accepted to fill that gap” he said.

Nigerian incoming First Lady, Aisha Buhari made an interesting comment. She described Oshiomhole’s wife as beautiful and turning to her she said “but for you to marry a Nigerian, you need to cook EdiKaikon, Egusi, and other Nigerian delicacies. God bless the marriage and we know as First-lady you have a big task and God will guide and protect the family”.

•See wedding pix on Page 10

APOLOGY

I

N yesterday ’s edition of Vanguard, we published a story with the headline: “Controversy trails Aregbesola’s son’s alleged arrest,” and quoting a source as confirming the arrest of the son of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun

State for money laundering. We have since discovered that the report was false in its entirety as no son of Governor Aregbesola was arrested as reported. We hereby tender our sincere apology for the embarrassment the story must have caused the governor and his family.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015 — 5

Pipeline surveillance: Buhari to revoke Jonathan’s contracts to OPC, ex-militants •Plans to use conventional security agencies for surveillance •Incoming government may probe NIMASA, FIRS

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU, Abuja

A

NYONE who thinks that the administration of the incoming president, General Mohammadu Buhari would tolerate the surveillance of oil pipelines and waterways by private individuals or groups should better think again as there are now plans to discard the practice and revert to the use of conventional security agencies.

Saturday Vanguard’s investigations during the week indicated that already some highly placed persons in Buhari’s camp with military and security backgrounds have begun to fashion out ways that would facilitate the process.

It was gathered that the man behind the process was a Director in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Organisation.

His briefs included to liaise with experts in the sector and other people with rich legal background to work out the template for the new surveillance policy.

When this is completed, the incoming administration, we gathered, would further equip the Nigerian Armed Forces, especially the Army and Navy, as well as the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC and hand them over the job of protecting the oil pipelines and other installations both onshore and offshore.

The implication of this however, is that Buhari’s government would stop the contract with some former Niger-Delta militants or groups like the Odua People’s Congress, OPC in the South-west region which the Jonathan administration had awarded such contracts.

The contracts to ex-militants to police Nigeria’s waterways runs into billions of naira, the money, experts say should have been invested in the Navy to perform the role.

In the build up to the last general elections in the country, the media was awash with reports that the outgoing president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan awarded a surveillance contract estimated at about N9 billion to the OPC. OPC leader, Gani Adams severally thanked Presi-

dent Jonathan for the contract.

Buhari had Wednesday, during his meeting with Rivers State chieftains of APC in Abuja warned that his government will not tolerate”an army within the army or a police within the police” in the country.

He had also, at a forum in Abuja, told Nigerians that he would upon assumption of office reopen the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC for proper auditing in a bid to ensure transparency in the oil sector of the economy.

Speaking in exclusive interview with Vanguard, a member of the Board of Trustees of APC, Chief Sam Nkire said that Buhari would have to tinker with the contracts if they were not properly awarded.

According to Nkire, the outgoing government of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, had a lot of

underhand deals with some groups.

“Well, once a government has been swept away, it ceases to exist. The new government takes charge and whatever it decides to do, becomes the law. If the government or presidency of Buhari thinks those contracts were not properly given out or were not given to qualified people, of course, the government will cancel those contracts.

“And from what I know of the incoming president, he will not waste a day to cancel those contracts because these are the reasons why Nigerians rejected the PDP government. Because, they did things that should not be done. They did things without recourse to the law.

“They did things with impunity and knowing Buhari as a man who abhors impunity; a man we can say is one of the incorruptible persons, I will be surprised if he does not revoke contracts that

•R-L: Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna Tetteh; Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E Toga McIntosh; and the President, Community Court of Justice; Hon. Justice Maria Do Céu Silva Monteiro at the opening of the 74th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in Accra, Ghana yesterday. were wrongly awarded if he sees them”, Nkire said.

Other areas the incoming Buhari’s regime would look into according to Saturday Vanguard’s investigations include the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, an agency responsible for the regulation of the activities

of Nigerian shipping, maritime, labour and coastal waters and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS. Sources who spoke to Saturday Vanguard said that the two agencies stink with corruption and financial improprieties. “ Two other agencies Buhari must look into are

NIMASA and FIRS. Stories of corruption in those organizations cannot be ignored. For the incoming president to be taken seriously in his pledge to fight and win the war against corruption, he must sanitize these places. They stink,” a reliable APC source added.

Looming Crisis: Reps to adjourn Sine Die as Tambuwal exits •Fall short of sitting requirement

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor

T

HE House of Representatives is headed for a constitutional crisis upon the imminent stepping down of its presiding officer, Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, one sitting day before the House attains the minimum sitting requirements in a year.

Tambuwal who was elected as governor of Sokoto State in the last governorship election, is expected to automatically step down as a member of the House, and in that regard as speaker, once he takes the oath of office as governor on May 29.

Sources in the House say that the House is expected to hold a valedictory session possibly on May 28 and subsequently adjourn sine die to await the proclamation of the next National Assembly by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari who would also have taken office as president on May 29.

The adjournment on that date would mean that the House would have fallen short of actualising the constitutional provision of sitting for 181 days in a

year as stipulated in section 63 of the Constitution which states thus: The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each sit for a period of not less than one hundred and eighty-one days in a year.

The House as at its last sitting day last Thursday, had sat for 174 days and if sitting holds for all six remaining days between next Tuesday and Thursday, May 28, the House would have attained 180 days, one day short of the constitutional provision requiring the Senate and the House of Representatives to each sit for 181 days in a year.

The seventh National Assembly was proclaimed on June 6, 2011 a day Tambuwal upset the permutations of his party to emerge as speaker of the House.

Section 64 (1) spelling out the tenure of the House states that: The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date of the first sitting of the House.

The life of the House is not expected to end until

June 5, 2015, a situation that would have allowed the House to meet the constitutional requirements even with the advent of General Muhammadu Buhari as president. Buhari is expected to proclaim the 8th National Assembly after he would have been sworn in.

However, Tambuwal’s inauguration as governor of Sokoto State would mean that he would be unavailable to preside over the House as he is bound to have resigned as a member of the House once he is sworn in as governor.

Senior legislators told Saturday Vanguard that a

way of beating the constitutional logjam would be to allow the deputy speaker, Chief Emeka Ihedioha or a speaker pro tempore, preside for the remaining days, but members were very unenthusiastic about that. Indeed, sources were insistent that the House would hold its valedictory session and adjourn sine die with Tambuwal on the chair in order for them to give the popular speaker a deserving send-off.

Tambuwal’s tenure as speaker of the House of Representatives has been widely praised for its lack of controversy on the part of its leadership despite a frosty relationship with

the executive arm. That frostiness culminated in the withdrawal of the security aides of the speaker last November when he defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC and became the first speaker of the House of Representatives to fly the flag of a political party different from that of the incumbent president.

The discord from the withdrawal of his security aides and the police invasion of the National Assembly were yesterday being blamed for the failure of the House to realise the minimum number of days as set in the Constitution.

Speaker: APC Govs set for showdown with Reps-elect

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor

G

OVERNORS and governors-elect of the All Progressives Congress, APC are set for a showdown with party members elected to the coming House of Representatives over their insistence on the zoning of the principal office positions in the National

Assembly.

The stance of the governors Saturday Vanguard learnt is causing apprehension among party stakeholders of a possible clash between the governors and the president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari who has openly proclaimed that the most popular candidates among the aspirants should be

chosen.

The governors as a way of forcing their way through are trying to use their loyal associates in the outgoing House to also amend the House Rules to compel the voting for presiding officers to be in the open. The members have vowed to frustrate the amendments to ensure that the provision for secret Continues on Pages 6

6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

We’ll expose saboteurs responsible for PSC protocol officer Jonathan’s defeat, says Ekweremadu’s c’ttee arraigned for cheating

T

HE post-election assessmentcommittee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP yesterday vowed that it would expose all party members who played one role or the other to sabotage the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan as well as the interest of the party in other elections irrespective of how high the persons may be.

According to the PostElection Committee which has the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Chairman, it would collect memoranda from all stakeholders in the party, just as it promised to be fair to all.

Addressing Journalists, secretary of the committee, Dr Walid Jubrin, who denied that the committee did not enjoy the blessings of the major stakeholders of the party, stressed that that they got the blessings of President Jonathan, the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, Board of Trustees Chairman, Tony Anenih and the Senate President, David Mark.

The PDP, it will be recalled lost the presidency during the March 28 Presidential election after sixteen years of leadership to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, retd.

Following this set back, the National Working Committee, NWC of the party last week inaugurated the Ekweremadu led 15member Committee.

Besides ascertaining the immediate and remote causes for the failure of the party at the 2015 polls, other

terms of reference given to the committee, were to “ascertain the degree of antiparty activities, compromises and outright sabotage that may have contributed to the misfortunes of our party at the elections.”

They were also mandated “To look at the funding of the

elections to determine whether or not the funds meant for the campaigns were adequate and whether disbursements were properly done.”

But Jubrin who described the assignment given to the committee as very important said, “we will be very fair to all, we will not leave any

stone unturned, we will not fear anybody. Anybody who is found wanting we will say so and we will state what we have found.”

He however appealed to aggrieved members to be calm adding that it will be unfair to preempt the outcome of the committee’s report.

Police can’t tackle insecurity alone – Airforce Commander other security agencies

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

T

HE Commanding Officer of Nigerian Airforce, Ilorin base, Commodore

Yekeen Ishola has said that Nigerian Police Force alone cannot effectively tackle the rising cases of insecurity in the country and therefore called for effective collaboration of

University don offers solution to soil pollution in Niger Delta

BY GODWIN OGJRE

F

ARMERS across the Niger Delta region of the country may now heave sigh of relief as a university don at the Environmental (Department) Centre of Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom (UK), Prof. Dayi Zhang has offered to proffer a permanent solution to the problem of soil pollution by crude oil in the region.

Prof. Zhang made the offer recently at the Western Delta University, Oghara, Delta State, where he delivered a public lecture titled, “Improving Crude Oil Contamination Monitoring and Bioremediation,” through which he faulted

claims by multinational oil companies operating in the area, that there is nonremediation in Niger Delta, saying, “Laboratory analysis of soil samples obtained from strategic places across the Niger Delta have shown preponderance of other contaminants detrimental to the soil.”

The Professor of Environmental Science who stated that his formula called, “Whole Cell Bio-reporter” will largely improve soil quality in the area has equally pledged his Institution’s (Lancaster University) readiness to retain the department of Delta Studies of the Western Delta University as a centre for the training.

of government in order to successfully fight crimes.

He explained that,” in a democratic government that Nigeria is going through,though it is the constitutional responsibilities of the Nigerian Police to provide security for the residents,but with various ongoing developments and events,it is obvious that the police alone cannot do it if the residents must enjoy reasonable peace,so there is the need for active involvements of other security agencies of government to do it.”

Air Commodore Ishola said this at the Gbagba base of the command,Ilorin during the medical outreach of the command to residents in the community to commemorate the 51st Anniversary of the Nigeria Air Force in the command.

BY EMMA NNADOZIE

A

Seniour staff of the Police Service Commission, Abuja, Aaron Kaase, 40, was, Thursday, arraigned before an Abuja magistrate court at Wuse 2, for cheating, criminal breach of trust and unlawful possession of official documents belonging to the commission.

The accused was said to be a protocol officer with the commission who was recently redeployed to the Press and Public Relations Unit. He was also alleged to have collected N1m from one Idabelema Hart on on the pretext of using the money to secure an American visa for him.

It was gathered that Aaron, a native of Vandekia Local Government Area of Benue State, is standing

trial on account of the offences which were contrary to Section 312, 322 and 122 of the Criminal Procedure Code, CPC. The police Prosecutor, ASP Chijoke Okezie, informed the court that the offence was hardly bailable and so objected to the submission and plea of the defence counsel to grant the accused bail.

However, Justice Ubani Chukwuamaka, exercised his discretion and granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000.00 and a surety of a grade level 10 Public Servant, that resides within the jurisdiction of the court and then, adjourned the matter to June 23, 2015, for hearing.

This was even as the accused person could not meet up with the bail conditions and was ordered to be remanded in Kuje Prisons.

Speaker: APC governors set for showdown with Members-Elect Continued from Page 5 voting that was adopted in the days leading to the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is retained.

Members-elect, Saturday Vanguard learnt, are riding on the assertion by Gen. Buhari earlier this week that he was not committed to any of the candidates aspiring to leadership positions in the National Assembly.

The declaration Saturday Vanguard learnt has emboldened supporters of a particular candidate from the Northeast to push for the election to be open to all to allow the most popular candidate to emerge as speaker.

“What the governors are doing is to go against the wishes of the presidentelect for an open and democratic process but we are determined to stop them,” a canvasser for one of the popular candidates told Saturday Vanguard yesterday.

“What we want is for the process to be taken to the floor and let the most popular candidate emerge, but some of the governors are now openly saying that they would not allow that. Is that fair?” a returning member asked yesterday.

The aggrieved memberselect are yet to decide on attending the meeting with the governors which has been fixed for next week.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015 — 7

Governors have no reason not to pay salaries, Finance Commissioners insist •Say salaries are built into federal allocations •FG, States, LGs share N388b this month •NNPC refunds N6.3b

BY EMMA UJAH, Abuja Bureau Chief

T

HE Forum of F i n a n c e Commissioners in the country, yesterday, criticised state governors who are owing workers’ salaries, saying that no governor had any excuse for owing, even as the three tiers of government shared N388 billion for May expenditure.

The Chairman of the Forum and Commissioner for Finance in Ebonyi State, Mr. Timothy Odaah, who spoke at the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, in Abuja, told journalists that those owing should be held responsible by the workers and the public adding that such governors should have made payment of salaries their priority, rather than spending state funds on electioneering campaigns.

About 12 states have been branded as not workers’ friendly by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, following complaints of inability to pay salaries or the new National Minimum Wage. Some of the states owing workers’ salaries include Bauchi, Plateau, Ondo. Kogi and Benue. Kogi State is reportedly embroiled in crisis with workers over alleged attempts to cut workers salaries by 40 percent while civil servants are currently on strike in Bauchi over alleged inability of the state government to pay arrears of salaries owed workers.

Osun State is also said to be owing several months of salary arrears.

Also, Enugu State has not reportedly paid retired primary school teachers’ gratuity and pensions in the last 13 years just as workers in the government- owned Daily Star newspapers, water corporation and the state- owned transport company, ENTRACO were being owed several years of unpaid wages.

Odaa said, “Why should states be owing workers’ salaries when they have been regularly collecting their statutory allocations from the Federation Account? We hear of some states owing 11 months, nine months, seven and so on.

What have they been

doing with their allocations? And workers have been looking at them!

“Payment of salaries is not an achievement. It is not a thing that a governor would pay when he likes. The salaries are built into the allocations that the states collect every month and so the governors are supposed to pay regularly as a priority. So why should they not pay?

Governors must pay salaries. Salaries must be a priority.

“Look at Ebonyi State, as poor as it is, we are not owing workers. Even the workers agitated for an upward review last month and our governor even approved it, paying according to the federal structure. So why should any state owe and where has the money the states have been collecting gone to?

“The press should take this up and give them the heat. They were able to fund their elections and then workers are being owed up to this moment.“ Earlier, the Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, had lamented the drop in the federal revenue owing to

deliberate acts of sabotage by u n s c r u p u l o u s individuals.

“Frequent shut down and shut-in of trunks and pipelines at Terminals continued to impact negatively on crude oil revenue”, he said.

Federal revenue in April which stood at N282.062 billion was a N32.982 billion decrease when compared to the March revenue of N315.044 billion.

The minister who chaired the Jonathan administration’s last FAAC said that the distributable fund was boosted by an exchange gain of N24.786 billion; a refund of N6.330 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC , as well as N 72.

154 billion earnings from the Value Added Tax. The Federal Government got a Lion’s share of N 142.941 billion; state governmentsN103.089; while the local governments got a total of N76. 917 billion.

Oil producing states got an additional N 23. 109 billion representing 13 per cent derivation from oil revenue in the month under consideration.

SURPRISE: Free flow of traffic as tankers vacate Apapa/ Oshodi Expressway yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Apapa Logjam: End in sight?

BY OGHENE OMONISA

F

OLLOWING the expiration, yesterday, of the 48-hour ultimatum passed by the Lagos State Government to tanker drivers who block the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, to relocate to safe parking lots pending the availability of petroleum products, the tankers almost disappeared from the road by midday yesterday.

Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, had given the ultimatum while reading the communiqué which was arrived at after a meeting between the Lagos State Government, National Union of

Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD), National Association of Road Transport owners (NARTO) and other stakeholders.

The stakeholders’ meeting agreed to use persuasive enforcement to free roads and bridges currently occupied by petrol tankers and other trucks in an anticipated relief to the people.

Opeifa said the meeting had agreed that 48 hours should be given to tanker drivers queuing between 200 and 300 meters to the fuel depots to vacate, pending availability of the commodity.

The Commissioner had

informed that the enforcement team would include: the State Government, the Police, Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS), officials among others.

Eyewitnesses said a team, yesterday, went round the flashpoints in Apapa and its environs enforcing the order.

Could this be the end to Apapa gridlock?

The Lagos State Government had in the past given similar orders to the tanker drivers who promptly heeded the directive but returned to the road shortly after.

My successor may not consolidate on my achievements — Jega •As he prepares to bow out next month

BY JOSEPH ERUNKE

A

S he prepares to leave office next month as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after conducting the 2015 general elections, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has expressed worry that the achievements recorded so far by the commission may not be consolidated by his successor.

Jega said INEC had done well in restructuring the electoral process in Nigeria, but noted that it would be very easy for what had been achieved to be reversed by the

incoming members if the country got it wrong on the new leadership.

To this end, he has tasked Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, to play a watchdog role in the INEC with a view to putting those that would be at the helm of affairs of the commission, on their toes.

Speaking yesterday, in Abuja, at the presentation of the 2015 general election observation report carried out by Election Monitor, a civil society group, supported by McArthur Foundation, the INEC chairman insisted that for his achievements

to be consolidated, his policies and programmes aimed at repositioning the country’s electoral process must be maintained.

Represented by the

commission’s, Director, Elections and Party Monitoring, Mr. Sheu Wahab, the INEC chairman stressed that: “We need to continue to

beam the searchlight on post election events, and the first thing that will come to your mind is the reconstitution of new INEC.

Legendary blues guitarist, B.B. King, dies at 89

BY OGHENE OMONISA

B

.B. King, the blues icon widely considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time is dead. He died Thursday night at the age of 89.

According to the late legend’s daughter Patty, King died in Las Vegas, where he had been receiving home hospice

care for dehydration, a condition which forced King to cancel tour dates at the end of 2014 and the beginning of this year.

King, born on September 16, 1925 on a cotton plantation between Indianola and what is now Itta Bena, Mississippi, sang with church choirs as a child and learned basic guitar chords from his uncle, a preacher. In his

•B.B. King

youth, he played on street corners for dimes, saying he earned more in one night singing on the corner than he did in one week working in the cotton field.

He was called the “Beale Street Blues Boy”, which was shortened to “B.B.”. He made his first recording in 1949, the single “Miss Martha King”, which did not chart well. “My very first recordings (in 1949) were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company,” King once recalled.

He made music in the early 1950s with Sun Records, was signed to Kent/RPM/Modern throughout the 1950s, and in 1962, signed with ABC. They released his iconic 1965 LP Live at the Regal.

8— SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

B-R-I-E-F-S

Gov Aliyu berates Muazu for holding on as PDP chair

BY WOLE MOSADOMI

G

OVERNOR M u a z u Babangida Aliyu of Niger State yesterday, took a swipe at the Adamu Muazu- led National Working Committee NWC of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for holding on to power after leading the party to a ‘’disastrous defeat,’’ in the last general elections in the country, saying that the best and most civilised thing was to throw in the towel.

Aliyu who spoke at the commissioning of the multi -billion Naira Shiroro Bridge linking Niger and Kaduna States, however said that the loss suffered by the party at presidential level and in most states coupled with the massive defection of some members to the All Progressives Congress, APC, were not enough reasons for him to dump the party.

Also, his Jigawa State counterpart, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who spoke on the occasion said that he would not leave the PDP which he was a foundation member for tenants saying that defection was not the answer to such defeat in a democracy.

However, Governor Aliyu said, ‘‘how could you lead a party to disastrous outing in an election and you are still in that place, take the blame for the defeat by quitting and if the PDP still wants you they will beg you to stay?’’

He warned that if Muazu and his team refused to throw in the towel now ‘’the actual change will come in March 2016 when we will elect new leaders at the national convention of our party.’’

On the PDP, the two governors said that they had no plans to quit the party or float a new one in readiness for the 2019 general elections.

Aliyu who spoke first

described the speculations by some people to this effect as not only misleading and without any root but mere fabrications of falsehood.

‘We are not creating a new party; we will remain in the PDP and whoever planted the story has made a mistake. ‘’We had opportunity to

defect when the G7 were together but we did not because we believe that defection is not the best way to develop and entrench democracy.

Whatever you see today is designed by God as it is not compulsory to be on the winning side always.

Sule Lamido, you are not floatinganynewparty.Youand yourgodsonwillremaininPDP forever. Whoever planted that story has made a mistake because for us, we had every

opportunitytohavedecamped or defected but we did not because we know in political development, particularly in a democracy,defectionisnotthe best way to develop and entrench democracy in any society,”Aliyudeclared.

He further said the loss of presidential election by the party and the loss of many governors should be seen as a biglessontoeveryonepointing out that after 16 years of being in power, we should not be annoyed neither should we showunfaithfulness’.

I didn’t authorize demand for compensation — Ijala leader

BY EMMA AMAIZE

T

HE Olaraja (Head) of Ijala Community, Warri, Delta State, Pa (Prince) A.B. Ikenren, yesterday, said he did not consent to the publication, entitled ‘Community demands compensation for victims of 2014 demolition’, contained in Vanguard, 13th May, 2015.

Pa Ikenren told Saturday Vanguard that some persons acting in bad faith intend to drag his good name into the matter through the recent media report.

He stated that the position of his people and the other two affected communities by the demolition have been made known to the Delta State Government through a joint letter to the Governor of Delta State.

Challenging Okowa’s victory, an exercise in futility, PDP stalwart tells Ogboru, Emerhor

BY OCHUKO AKUOPHA, Oleh

S

Fom left Marcel Rijnbeek, General Manager, Business Development, Sea Ray and Median Yachts EMEA; Abayomi Sonuga, Chairman/CEO, Bras Marine and Yacht Services and Austin Akpovili, Managing Director, during the media briefing on the first Annual Boat and Yacht Exhibition held at Bay Lounge, Lekki, Lagos on Friday.

How leadership hampered anti-corruption bodies — EFCC director the waste of taxpayers’ BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULLAH

A

former director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku has said the establishment of the EFCC and ICPC to fight corruption in Nigeria was an unnecessary duplication of duties and waste of public resources.

Beside, Mrs Ibekaku noted that over the years, the problem of leadership has hampered the growth and effectiveness of the

anti corruption bodies in the country.

Speaking during a twoday media round table on anti-corruption reportage put up by Justice for All, (J4A) in collaboration with the British Department for I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development, held in Lagos, Ibekaku, who formerly was head the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) of the EFCC therefore suggested immediate merger of the two anti corruption bodies for effective war against corruption in Nigeria.

According to her, the need for a merger became imperative to stop the duplications of mandates of the various anticorruption agencies, thereby putting an end to

money.

She said, “the only agency with a different mandate in the system is the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), now referred to as Nigeria Financial Intelligence Centre (NFIC), which is an intelligence anticorruption agency that covers all aspects of corruption, including terrorism.”

TALWART of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in Delta State, Comrade David Ohwobeya has described the decision of the governorship candidate of Labour Party, Chief Great Ogboru and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress, APC in the State, Olorogun O’Tega Emerhor to challenge the victory of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa in the April 11 gubernatorial polls in the Election Petition Tribunal as an exercise in futility.

Ohwobeya, fielding questions from newsmen, advised Ogboru and Emerhor to have a re- think and take a cue from President Goodluck Jonathan and other candidates who conceded defeat, instead of allowing themselves to chase shadows.

Wike assures immediate return of investors to Rivers

R

IVERS State Governor-Elect, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has assured the British government of the collaboration of the Rivers state government to ensure the immediate return of investors to the State.

The Rivers State Governor-Elect who received the head of the Political Section of the British High Commission in Nigeria, Ben Llewellyn-Jones in Abuja on Thursday noted that the incoming administration will create the right environment for international investment in the state.

He assured that the administration will improve security across the state and check kidnapping perpetrated by criminals.

Barrister Wike noted that his election as Governor of Rivers State was a collective will of the people who are in search of urgent development and restoration of normalcy in governance.

Ijaw youths reject House of Reps’ slash on host community fund

BY EMMA AMAIZE

T

HE Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has kicked against the cutback of the Petroleum Host Community Fund, PHCF, from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent and the expansion of the meaning of oil communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, by the House of Representatives.

IYC in a statement by its spokesperson, Mr. Eric Omare, called on the Senate to reject the House of Representatives’ version of the Petroleum Industry Bill and revert to the original provision of 10 per cent for host communities, already defined in the NDDC Act. It said the decision of the House of Representatives to expand the application of the Petroleum Host Community Fund in the proposed PIB to cover the entirety of Nigeria where there is oil refinery and oil pipelines traversing the area was ridiculous and senseless.

C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015 — 9

Nwosu disagrees with Gowon over comment on Ojukwu A

FORMER Minis ter of Health, Professor A.B.C. Nwosu, Friday, disagreed with former Military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, over his recent comment that the late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, underestimated him by thinking that he (Gowon) would never go to war.

Gowon, who led Nigerian forces to defeat Ojukwu’s army during the Nigerian civil war from 1967-1970, had while speaking at the Diamond Jubilee Lecture of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday, said he was known to be a ‘Born Again’ Christian and Ojukwu, who was the then Premier of the Eastern Region, thought his region could secede from Nigeria without consequences because he thought he (Gowon) would not want to go to war.

But Professor Nwosu, a prominent member of Ime-

P

E R S O N A L assistant to the governor of Anambra state, Dr Willie Obiano, Mr. Ekume Amaechi has been arraigned before an Ogidi magistrate court in Idemili North Local Government Area over alleged illegal acquisition of over 500 plots of land in the area.

Ekume, who is the personal assistant to Obiano on urban development was also accused of selling 10 plots of land in the area totaling N39 million belonging to the family of Igwe Amobi, the traditional ruler of the Ogidi community.

He was charge to court alongside one Mr. Arinze Okonkwo, Sunday Nwoka and Maduako Peter Obi by the state police command.

Speaking with reporters in Ogidi, one of the plaintiffs Chief Chibuzo Amobi alleged that the accused persons had sold four plots of land at the cost of 15 million naira and another six plots of land at the cost of 24 million naira.

According to the suit, they were sued on a four count charges of breach of peace, misdemeanor and removing of land of

Abuja fire: Ministry denies burning of account dept

T

From left: Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocation Board, Mr Olawumi Gasper, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Commerce and Industry, Mr. Seye Oladejo, Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Lagos State Deputy Governor-elect, Dr. Oluranti Adebule and Commerce Commissioner, Mrs Olusola Oworu at the 6th Tradesmen & Artisans Day in Lagos Thursday.

Dim Chukwuemeka Obi Ohanaeze Ndigbo, re- late Biafran leader who Odumegwu Ojukwu who acting to the general’s com- passed on three years ago. died more than three years ment in Enugu, yesterday, He said: “I wish to ex- ago. These posthumous condemned in strong terms press my growing concern comments on Ojukwu are at attempts to demonize the over attempts to demonize best ungentlemanly and anti-Igbo culture. Ndigbo don’t speak of the dead flippantly.

“The latest comment by General Yakubu Gowon which was published in some national dailies on Friday, May 15, 2015 that beacons belonging to selves and unlawfully Ojukwu never imagined Chief Chibuzo Amobi and removed twenty (20) that he would go to war bethe entire Igwe Amobi boundary beacons cause he was a ‘Born Again’ family. belonging to Chief Christian is appalling and The charges read,”That Chibuzo Amobi and Igwe naïve. Did the General not you Arinze Okonkwo M, Amobi family, you thereby also underestimate Ojukwu Sunday Nwoka M, committed an offence and Biafra? The book by Maduako Peter-Obi M, punishable under section General Alabi Isama tells a and Ekume Amaechi M, 427 of Criminal Code Cap different story.

“Ndigbo worldwide on same date and place 36 vol.11. Revised laws of in the aforesaid Anambra State of Nigeria shared this my concern because earlier General Magisterial District 1991 as amended.

Gowon had given his opinconspired among yourion on the Aburi Accord, which differs completely with the opinion of Ndigbo Agbakoba threatens to sue 8th and Ojukwu on the same NASS over ‘bogus’ emolument Aburi Accord.

“There are always two

By Ikenna Asomba sides to a story and fairness demands that the two sides ORMER President of Villa.

He said this has become should always be weighed the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa imperative, as Nigeria has side by side. Ndigbo would Agbakoba, has threatened to been hit by a tidal wave of prefer that all the leading sue the 8th National big shocks bordering on a actors who did or did not do Assembly, if they fail to post-oil economy. anything during that tragic Recall that constitutional period of the nation’s history maximally slash what he described as the ‘bogus’ lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, should spare us their selfsalaries and allowances they in 2011, alleged that serving comments because earn, which takes up 25 Nigerian lawmakers at the most of us have bad memopercent of the country’s lower and upper chambers ries of those years of massaof the National Assembly are cre, pogrom and the Civil national budget.

Speaking at a news the highest paid legislators War. conference on Friday, in in the world. According to “Let the healing process Lagos, Agbakoba, who Sagay, a Senator in Nigeria whichbeganin1970through advised the President-elect, earns N240 million (about Maj-Gen. Muhammadu $1.7 million) in salaries and Shagari’s pardon for Ojukwu Buhari on how to handle the allowances, while a member and Ojukwu’s burial under the House of President Jonathan be albig shocks caused by of Nigeria’s dwindling Representatives earns N204 lowed to run its course so that economy, argued that there million (about $1.45 million) future generations will not carry the murderous burdens is need to challenge the per annum.

This is a far cry from the of their elders.” earnings of the lawmakers.

Nwosu, however, admonAccording to him, it will be situation in the United States very easy for Buhari to of America (USA), where a ished that “since we are all compel the NASS to slash Senator earns $174, 000 and Christians, we should be contheir bogus emolument, if in the United Kingdom tent to leave judgment to the only he first sets the example (UK), where a member of Almighty God who shall by slashing the bogus Parliament earns about judge the living and the allocation to the Presidential $64,000 a year. dead.”

Obiano’s aide in trouble over alleged sale of N39m land in Ogidi

BY ENYIM ENYIM, ONITSHA

B - R- I - E - F- S

F

HE Ministry of E d u c a t i o n yesterday, denied some media report that fire gutted the account department at the ministry.

Director of Human Resources, Dr. Muhammad Umar, stated this in Abuja, when he conducted journalists round the ministry.

According to the Director, “At about 2.30pm on Thursday, May 14, when several activities were going on in the

headquarters building, some staff noticed sparks from the distribution panel on the 3rd floor. The attention of the maintenance staff was drawn to this but before they could act further,the electrical spark generated fire and fumes.

All persons within the premises were safely evacuated while the fire service was called in.

The fire was brought under control in about two hours later ”.

OPC dismisses two members

T

HE leadership of the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, a nongovernmental group, has withdrawn the membership of two individuals. They are Messrs Rasaq Arogundade and Amsat Musiliu. According to the leadership of the group the duo were allegedly involved in activities considered obnoxious and contrary to the group’s sacred tenets.

The group which issued a dismissal statement to the press through its Lagos State Coordinator, Alhaji Mutair Adeshina said

“Despite several warnings and attempts by the elders of the congress to ensure that the duo toe the line of responsibility as members of the Congress, they continued to behave in a manner capable of bringing the esteem name of the congress to disrepute.

“By this decision therefore both, Messrs Rasaq Arogundade, and Amsat Musiliu, henceforth cease to be members of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC and all privileges hitherto accorded them as members of the Congress summarily withdrawn”, he noted.

8 killed, many injured as Boko Haram attack Borno village

A

T least eight people were killed in Gur village of Biu local government area of Borno State as a group of Boko Haram insurgents on Thursday invaded the community at about 12 midnight.

Residents from the area told Saturday Vanguard in a telephone conversation that the attackers after killing 8 residents, also burnt down the village, while several others sustained gunshot injuries. Gur is about 10

kilometres drive to Biu and about 185 kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the State capital.

The incident is coming barely 24 hours after insurgents attacked Maiduguri living over 60 people dead mostly the insurgents.

The attack according to a source left many of the villagers scattered in the bush, as they ran into the mountains for their dear lives.

The source maintained that the attack also caused the life of his uncle.

Senate Presidency: Kwara group supports Saraki

K

WARA North Grassroot Solidarity Forum has enlisted its support for the Senate president ambition of Senator Bukola Saraki describing him as one of the pillars that sustained the present democracy in Nigeria..

Kwara North Grassroot Forum comprises of the entire members of Yoruba Non-speaking people in Kwara North and sub-urbs of Kwara central (Ilorin) in the state.

The clamour for Saraki which is contained in a press statement issued by its president, Alh Ndanusa Kawu Adam,made available to journalists in Ilorin on Thursday also stated that in the interest of fairness and justice, the new PDP faction of APC in which Senator Bukola Saraki is a strong factor should be allowed to fill the position of the senate president since the CPC and ACN have occupied the positions of president and vice president respectively.

10 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

Governor Oshiomhole weds top model, Iara

Mr and Mrs Adams Oshiomhole display their wedding certificate.

The newly wedded couple, Mr and Mrs Adms Oshiomhole.

C M Y K

The officiating minister hands the marriage certificate to the Comrade Governor.

Mother of the groom, Hajia Aishetu Oshiomhole and Mr Godwin Obaseki, Chairman, Edo State Economic Team at the Wedding Registry.

From left: Senator Bukola Saraki, President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari; Governor Adams Oshiomhole; his wife, Iara Oshiomhole, Mrs and Mr Fortes, parents of the bride and Vice Presidentelect, Prof Yemi Osibanjo.

From left: Senator Bukola Saraki; Mrs Fotes, father of the bride; President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari; Governor Adams Oshiomhole; his wife, Iara Oshiomhole and Mrs Fortes, mother of the bride.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole signs the dotted lines at the wedding.

Parents of the bride, Mr and Mrs Fortes.

Children and grandchildren of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—11

APAPA GRIDLOCK

Awaiting the Buhari Formula

•Residents tell their story of life on the road •The way out Apapa.”

BY OGHENE OMONISA

T

he new job naturally brought joy to Mr. Ufot Essien and his family. He had been jobless since September last year, when he was relieved as the production manager of a manufacturing company at neighbouring Agbara, Ogun State. But the new job came with its own peculiar challenge: the company is located at Apapa, Lagos.

“It was not as if I never knew about the traffic problem in Apapa”, he says. “I used to visit Apapa sometimes before I got the job. I was no stranger to C M Y K

But those were just visits, which could have been infrequent as he reveals he lives at Iba Estate, Iba, a more convenient location to access his former place of work, and that his wife works with a bank at Igando. His children school within Iba. Since starting his new job in February as a supervisor in a flour mill company, he has come to confront the horror that is Apapa traffic jam.

“The first challenge I had was deciding not to drive down to work”, says Mr. Essien, “except I will have to leave home by 4a.m. And that will also mean I might have to leave the car at

•Gen. Muhammadu Buhari the office and take okada (commercial motor cycle) back home because sometimes one cannot drive forward or backward after being caged in between those terrible tankers, which could be stuck in one place till daybreak. And then you will have to either sleep inside the car or leave it there, with all its risks.”

Mr. Essien’s case is only one of many nightmarish others subjected to hardship by the Apapa gridlock.

Apapa is the heart of port activities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre. The suburb and its environs constitute a local government with Apapa as the

You will have to either sleep inside the car or leave it there, with all its risks

headquarters. It houses the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and Tin Can Island Port Complex. The Lagos Port Complex was owned and operated by the Federal Government until March 2005, when it was sold to the Danish firm, A. P. Moller-Maersk (APM) Group for about $1 billion in the concessionary policy of the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Adjacent to the Lagos Port Complex is the Tin Can Island Port Complex, which has roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) facilities. The Complex

Continues on page 12

12—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

‘There are 59 petroleum tank farms at Apapa’

Continues from page 11 today is an amalgam of what used to be Roro and Tin Can Island Ports. This merger came with the concession of the terminals in May, 2006.

Spread across Apapa and its environs are terminals and depots. There are also Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) formations all over the suburb, as well as other various government parastatals and agencies like Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Ninety percent of Nigeria’s sea imports are done through Apapa’s two ports. The other ports, Warri Port in Delta State, Rivers and Onne Ports in Rivers State and Calabar Port in Cross River State share the remaining 10%.

At Apapa alone, there are a total of 59 petroleum tank farms for storage of petroleum products, which account for 90% of the total imported products into the country. All these, as well as other maritime-related businesses like freight, and C M Y K

clearing and forwarding easily make Apapa a hub of maritime activities.

But Apapa is not only reputed for maritime business. Not unexpectedly, manufacturers have taken advantage of the ports to site companies in the suburb for quick access to imported raw materials and for easy export, making Apapa a leading centre for manufacturing, playing host to leading manufacturing companies like Dangote Sugar Refinery, BUA Group, Honeywell Group among others. There is an industrial estate at Kirikiri, a district of Apapa, which hosts some major Nigerian manufacturing companies like the Coscharis Group. And the suburb is also host to three of Nigeria’s leading national newspapers: Vanguard, This Day and Sun; as well as a major office of MTN Nigeria, one of the leading telecommunications companies in Nigeria.

Maritime activities at Apapa alone constitute a multibillion dollar industry, considering the fact that the industry is the gateway to the nation’s economy and only second to oil and gas in

revenue generation.

Saturday Vanguard investigations revealed that the Nigerian Customs Service alone generates over a billion naira daily in Apapa, not to mention other Federal Government agencies, the Lagos State Government and Apapa Local Government, which are all believed to rake in millions of naira every day in revenues and taxes.

Gridlock Serving as such a major source of revenue for the three tiers of government, and with such high level economic relevance, residents, business owners and workers at Apapa will certainly be forgiven if they expected Apapa to measure up to Rotterdam, European busiest and leading port city, or South Louisiana, American No. 1. port city. These are cities whose maritime activities are relatively not far off than those of Apapa, be it in tons of cargo handled daily and the sizes of their ports; but they are cities whose administrators, residents and workers will experience nightmares by the simple thought of Apapa-like gridlock being a part of their life. However, it is that same

For residents to refer to a section as synonymous with gridlock only goes to tell the level of Apapa pathetic traffic situation

gridlock which has almost become part of every day life in Apapa.

Within Lagos, and even nationwide, Apapa is now better known as that suburb of Lagos which is synonymous with traffic jam.

For residents to refer to a section as synonymous with gridlock only goes to tell the level of Apapa pathetic traffic situation.

Traffic jam is understandably a part of Lagos, the city being not only densely populated with over 10 million people (2006 census puts it at 9.013 million), it is also a port city, heavily commercialized and industrialized. Traffic jam is therefore expected, especially during rush hours. But unlike many densely populated cities of the developed world, the transport system in Lagos is poorly managed, clearly evident from the poor and inadequate roads, lack of maintenance and traffic officials who collect gratification from bus drivers and look the other way when they drive

Continues on page 13

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—13

Apapa traffic: Tenants are vacating Continues from page 12 against traffic or stop at the centre of the road to pick passengers.

Apapa logjam is not about spending a few minutes moving at a snail pace or an hour on a ride that ought to have taken 15 minutes. It is about spending up to 12 hours on a trip that normally is supposed to be less than 30 minutes, or even passing the night in your car, or abandoning your car on the road altogether.

Commuters are now known to alight from buses and trek down to their destinations.

One could either enter Apapa using its major entry route, the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, or Ijora/Apapa Expressway, both of which are hellholes to drive in due to the unpleasant traffic condition. Exiting through these routes is as hellish as entering.

On the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, the no-motion traffic normally begins on the stretch from Rainbow to the Mile 2/ Berger/Kirikiri axis of the road up to Apapa Wharf, with tankers, trailers and other articulated vehicles completely seizing the road, leaving other motorists and road users at the mercy of the C M Y K

elements.

The gridlock has become part of Apapa for years.

However, no one could imagine that the situation will get to the present worrisome situation.

Tales of woes Residents, landlords, business owners, workers and visitors to Apapa hold different agonizing tales occasioned by the now famous gridlock in the suburb.

“My tenants are leaving”, cries Alhaja Sekinah Abolore, an old landlady. Her house, a block of four flats at Yunus Street, Apapa, she says, is her major source of living. When asked how many tenants she had, she says they used to be three, but one left in March.

“She’s not yet married, but has a fiance”, the old lady reveals.

“She said her boyfriend said he no longer finds Apapa conducive to visit her. She said she was moving to Amuwo Odofin. Now, the other two are planning to leave.”

“My saddest experience in this matter was the day I was returning home from work”, Mr. Julius Obada, a technician

with CFAO Equipment, Apapa recalls. “It was about 7pm. It had rained heavily that day, which compounded the hold up.

But the rain had reduced to drizzles. I was supposed to get to Mile 2, but could not stand the slow traffic. There were lines of tankers driving against the traffic and blocking the road. So, I alighted at Sanya and decided to walk down. Just after the Kirikiri Bridge, I crossed the road and stepped over the median, wanting to cross to the other side.

“As I paused, my nostrils were suddenly attacked by an offensive smell. It was almost dark, and I could not see very well. Then I recognized the smell. It was that of human faeces, and I had stepped on it. I switched the light of my phone. My brother, the thing had stained my shoes and rubbed on the bottom of my trousers. At that moment I almost died. I did not know what to do.

Whether to remove my trousers or to keep on walking. I could feel myself smelling of faeces, another person’s faeces for that matter. I just crossed over, took okada and straight home to Agboju. I just condemned the trousers.”

Mr. Obada claims he later

It is about spending up to 12 hours on a trip that normally is supposed to be less than 30 minutes, or even passing the night in your car, or abandoning your car on the road altogether

learned that tanker drivers who pass the night in their vehicles or on the pavement in their bid to lift products, now use the road as toilet. “That constitutes health hazards, very unhealthy”, he says. “I honestly fell sick that day.”’

Miss Michelle Edozie’s story is as pathetic as it is interesting.

She had been living at MazaMaza before she got a job last year, as a receptionist/computer operator with a company at Kirikiri. But her mother, a single parent, had to move to the village recently, and Miss Edozie went to live with her aunty at Apapa.

Now, unlike when she was with her mother, she started coming late some times. And when her boss queries her, she often say it is due to Apapa traffic. It took her aunty coming to the office for her boss to be convinced that the receptionist/computer operator has actually relocated to Apapa and was not cooking up Apaparesidence story to back up her new lateness habit.

Factors responsible Major factors that can be identified as responsible for the gridlock include the large Continues on page 14

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

‘Lagos seems to enjoy the monopoly of fuel importation into the countr y’ Continues from page 13 concentration of tank farms at Apapa, malfunctioning refineries, dearth of parking bays, bad roads, on-going but intermittent maintenance of the road, corruption and lawlessness.

Most of the 59 tank farms located at Apapa are on the Apapa end of the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway. Due to the long loading process, tanker drivers have to queue, and as there are no parking bays, the various queues extend towards the road. As many as there are tankers, so also do these long queues extend further backward, forming queues on the ever busy road. But it is quite unfortunately that the tanker drivers have constituted themselves into law by parking indiscriminately on the expressway, thereby completely blocking the road and constituting nuisance to other road users.

“The Lagos State Government has long directed that they should use only the service lane”, says a clearing and forwarding agent at Apapa.

“They are the major cause of the hold up”, he concludes.

A few years ago, the Lagos State Government had indeed ordered that the tanker drivers should remain on the service lane while they queue to load.

But they clearly never took the order seriously until a fatal C M Y K

accident involving a petroleum tanker driver, which claimed the lives of three persons and destroyed 36 vehicles in the Mile 2 area of the state.

The tanker driver involved in the accident had lost control of his vehicle and spilled the petroleum product it was carrying on the road, thus causing an explosion.

After handing down a 72-hour ultimatum to the drivers to stop indiscriminate parking on the road, and to stay only on the service lane as they queue to load, and to stop constituting themselves into nuisance to other road users, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, after the expiration of the ultimatum, had to personally lead a monitoring team comprising top government officials from the Ministries of Transportation and Environment, Lagos State Task Force, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs), Park Monitoring Committee, and members of the Abandoned and Disused Vehicles Committee, to clear the road.

Not surprisingly, decency had returned to the expressway, and the traffic became free, but it was only for a few days, as the drivers returned to their old

lawlessness some days later.

The large concentration of tank farms at Apapa is easily one of the major factors responsible for the Apapa gridlock. Because Lagos seems to enjoy the monopoly of fuel importation into the country, and Apapa hosts the two ports in the city, tankers come from all over the country to load fuel in Lagos, thereby overstressing the Lagos ports.

Apart from the Port at Onne in Rivers State, the other seaports located at Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri and Koko are, mildly put, existing only in name. Freight forwarders in the Eastern ports regularly reel out the challenges facing their operations, and often accuse the Federal Government of churning out policies that deliberately target the strangulation of operations in the Eastern ports.

Some time ago, Mr. Eluagu who is the Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Onne Seaport Chapter, has alleged that the Federal Government was encouraging capital flight to Lagos by its deliberate policy of strangulating the Eastern ports, claiming that the “government is deliberately strangulating and frustrating the business activities in the Eastern ports, thereby creating capital flight to Lagos”, and that although “the two port at Onne which were concessioned to Messrs INTELS Services, can

Lagos seems to enjoy the monopoly of fuel importation into the country, and Apapa hosts the two ports in the city, tankers come from all over the country to load fuel in Lagos, thereby overstressing the Lagos ports

handle oil and gas related cargo, many importers prefer to use the Lagos ports because of the disparity in freight charges which is tilted in favour of users of Lagos ports.”

Speaking during the week on the Apapa gridlock, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, the Spokesman for the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), said that the tank farms must be decentralised as a major solution to the problem of traffic jams in Apapa.

He noted that the association had always suggested that petroleum products could be piped closer to different geopolitical zones, moved through rail wagons and barges to avoid the extended pressure on the road.

Also speaking on the subject, Mr. Lucky Amiwero, President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), said the concentration of tank farms at Apapa was not in the interest of the maritime industry.

He said the nation should first consider critical actions like building of refineries, rather than remaining import-dependent for petroleum products.

In the same vein, Mr. Nasir Mohammed, the Port Manager, Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, said the traffic situation degenerated because petrol tankers come for loading simultaneously from across the country.

He said that the NPA had continued to work with the security and traffic agencies, to resolve the imbroglio to enable trucks to have free access to the ports.

The port manager, however, expressed fears that activities in the port may be greatly affected if the situation persisted.

Nigerian refineries are said to be less than 20% of capacity utilization, not enough to meet Nigeria’s high consumption rate.

If the refineries were to be functional, even if only up to 50%, there will certainly not be need for fuel importation, let alone over-concentration of tank farms in only one city. And the issue of over-stressing the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway might not have risen.

Speaking recently, Lagos Zonal Chairman of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the parent body of Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, Mr. Tokunbo Korodo, said that tanker drivers could not automatically end the congestion.

“We are pained and equally affected by the continuing loss of man-hours in the traffic and collapse of businesses within Apapa due to the congestion”, he said.

Mr. Korodo noted that an enduring solution to the Apapa Continues on page 15

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—15

‘Buhari to the rescue’

and Technology (IMarEST), Engr. Alex Peters noted that the two companies are too slow and they are part of the problem of the road. Mr. Peters emphasized that the right thing for them to do should have been provision of alternative routes to ease the traffic congestion. He also pointed out that working at night like Julius Berger used to do would have helped a great deal in curbing the traffic congestion.

Buhari to the rescue

Continues from page 14 congestion lies in increasing capacity for local refining of oil and less dependence on imported petroleum products.

Lagos ports equally also enjoy monopoly in other imports, hence, the large number of articulated vehicles entering and leaving Apapa, many from the South-East and South-South, when there are under-utilized ports in the South-South, closer to their destinations.

It is true that due to aging, and the damaging effects of the heavy axle load vehicles hauling freight to and from the ports, the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway has virtually collapsed alongside its drainage system. Yet the 4-lane road space of the dual carriageway has not disappeared. As such, besides the on-going expansion and rehabilitation work on the expressway, a strategic approach to traffic control and management is what is needed to make the road accessible at all times. This can be achieved through modern transport planning techniques and contemporary traffic control models.

At the two ports, trucks are expected to queue along the service lane and to leave the speed lane open for other motorists. But because of the corrupting influences of the law enforcement agents that control access to the ports, this simple rule is always violated by truck drivers who eventually form two queues thereby making the road impassable on a daily basis.

Because the queue on the service lane is the approved one, the law enforcement agents at the gates choose to create the second queue to grant express C M Y K

access to truck drivers who are willing to offer five thousand naira, N5000 bribe.

Incidentally, drivers at the far end of the queue and others from various points easily subscribe to this express arrangement since it enables them jump the queue, join the illegal one and maneuver to the front, leaving road blockage and traffic gridlock at their wake. It is pertinent to note that while the illegal express queue is granted easy access to the ports, the normal queue is kept at a snail speed simply because they choose to follow set traffic rules and not offer bribe. This and other underlying factors account for the endless queue of trucks that has become a landmark on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

Following failed portions of the road resulting in heavy traffic on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, stakeholders recently noted that the two contractors, Julius Berger and

Boroni Prono Nigeria Limited, are very slow and are contributing to the traffic situation on the route.

Chairman of the Presidential Monitoring Taskforce of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents ( ANLCA), Mr. Dom Obi, noted recently that none of the two contractors are performing but however claimed that Julius Berger is a bit better than Boroni Prono.

Mr. Obi said that while Julius Berger is slow in its reconstruction of the Sun Rise to Mile 2 end of the road, Boroni Prono’s presence at the Trinity to 2nd Gate Tin-can Island end is no longer being felt. He said unless government took urgent steps to address the situation, the reconstruction work “will not be ready till the next generation. I do not see anything coming out of the contract.”

In his comment, Honorary Secretary of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has inspired hope and confidence in many Nigerians, and Apapa residents, business owners, workers, and other stakeholders in the shipping and maritime sector are not left out

SUMMARY OF SOLUTION In the short term, the tanker drivers could be directed to only queue for loading if they are licensed to load for the day. Any tanker driver who does not have a docket to load and is found on the queue should be arrested and sanctioned. This way, the number of tankers on the road will be drastically reduced. The police (the Navy could help too) should ensure one lane of the road is left for others to use.

In the long run, the rail system will be the final solution. Tankers and other trucks must be made to use the rails to transport their products to different destinations in the country. The Federal Government, should, as a matter of urgency, construct rails lines to Apapa and repair the old one and make them functional. As this is going on, the government should also repair the refineries so that all the tankers in Nigeria do not come to one place to load fuel.

More refineries should be built too.

“I’m very confident that Gen. Buhari can bring a final end to this Apapa traffic palaver,” enthuses Mrs. Rachael Omorodion, a banker at Apapa who says she has been living in the suburb for more than ten years. “From Yar’Adua’s government to that of Jonathan, we have been hearing about final solution to heavy traffic at Apapa blah, blah, blah”, she continues. “Still, no solution. But with the change which the retired general has promised, I’m very confident that he will change Apapa for good.”

She is not alone. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has inspired hope and confidence in many Nigerians, and Apapa residents, business owners, workers, and other stakeholders in the shipping and maritime sector are not left out.

Dr. Boniface Aniebona, founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), recently urged the general after his presidential victory, to pay attention to rehabilitating and opening up the roads leading to Apapa and Tin Can Island ports to address the perennial gridlock. Noting that the problem has impacted negatively on cargo turnaround time, he said it might persist until the roads were fixed.

His words: “This is the gateway to the economy. So the changes we expect is that the road should be open. Why should the road be that bad? We don’t need this type of tiny road between Ijora and Apapa. The government has what it takes to break up the road to open up the axis and compensate those living there.

That is what government can do, especially when it is being done for public interest.”

“I see change coming”, says Engr. Pius Omena of Globalnet Proline Systematic Co. Ltd., Apapa. “I heard some public office-holders secretly returned embezzled funds because they are scared of probe when Buhari is sworn in. That is the kind of leader Nigeria needs. A leader who you know is in charge and who will take strong decisions for public good. I pray he takes such decision in the case of Apapa traffic jam.”

16—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

AKINWUMI ADESINA: How I met President Jonathan •My humble background story

BY BENJAMIN NJOKU

W

hen President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Dr Akinwumi Adesina as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, about four years ago, it was for the sole aim of revitalizing the agricultural sector such that it would become the major source of income for the country after oil.

Four years on, there are signs of progress in the agricultural sector.

The indefatigable minister has not only turned around the sector to become the major source of income for the country after oil.

As an agricultural development expert with 24 years of experience in developing and managing successful agricultural programmes across Africa, Adesina worked so hard to C M Y K

strengthen the nation’s agricultural economy, build vibrant rural communities and create new markets for the tremendous innovation of rural Nigeria. In the past four years, he functioned as the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the country, Adesina has worked to implement President Goodluck Jonathan’s agenda for the sector.

Before his appointment, the nation’s agricultural sector was recording low performance at all levels. Agriculture in Nigeria accounted for 65-70 per cent of total exports in the 1960s; it fell to about 40 per cent in the 1970s and crashed to less than two per cent in the late 1990s and late 2000. The sector, however, bounced back after Adesina was appointed the minister of agriculture few years ago. Till date, the non-oil sector has remained the major driver of

growth recording a 7.50 per cent increase in contrast to the oil sector, which contracted by 0.73 per cent in the second quarter of 2012.

Apart from revolutionizing the agriculture sector during his four year tenure, Adesina ensured that agriculture remains the new mainstay of the nation’s economy.

His recent disbursement of N122million grant to 27 Nagropreneurs across the six geopolitical zones as a measure of boosting agricultural production and also promoting its newly established project, the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) endeared to Nigerians at the grassroots. For Adesina, Nigeria’s greater future for inclusive growth lies in agriculture. This, he has demonstrated not only in words but also, in action as the various programmes he set up to instigate real growth in the sector are pointers to this claim. Today, food

For Adesina, Nigeria’s greater future for inclusive growth lies in agriculture.

production had risen massively and as a nation, Nigeria has produced additional 21 metric tons of food within the last three years.

Under Adesina’s administration, the ministry also established Marketing Corporation, nationwide census of farmers and supply of subsidised fertilisers to 14 million farmers. In addition, Adesina ‘s innovative and effective electronic wallet system for Nigeria’s farmers, designed to increase access to and affordability of agricultural inputs is still being talked about till date across the country. His wealth of experience, achievement and bold reforms in Nigeria’s agriculture sector earned the Minister his selection as Forbes Africa Person of the Year in

Continues on pg 17

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—17

Continues on pg 16 2013.

It was not surprising, however, when he was recently awarded an Extraordinary Achievement Award by Silverbird Television. An award, many believed was well-deserved. Adesina, who was formerly the Vice President, Policy and Partnerships Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), does not see himself as an extra-ordinary person. He told his story at the awards, revealing how President Jonathan appointed him minister without knowing him or meeting him. The President only heard about him, read about his profile and invited him to serve as minister. So, the man acclaimed to be the best minister in Jonathan’s administration is not a politician but a technocrat, some credit to the President.

“I just happened to be a public servant that was given the opportunity to serve my country which is an extraordinary country,”he said, while receiving his award.

He was one of Nigeria’s greatest exports to the outside world, who was relatively unknown back home until the Jonathan-led administration found him and consequently brought him back to serve the country.

According to him, “Obviously, you cannot serve unless somebody calls you to come and serve. I want to thank His Excellency, Goodluck Jonathan for his extra-ordinary gesture in actually asking me to leave my international career and come back home to serve my country. I never knew him and I never met him.”

“He simply heard about me and he brought me home to come and serve my fatherland.

There are other people that played an important role in bringing me back to the country to serve my beloved country; former President Olusegun Obasanjo. But having arrived the country, I couldn’t have achieved anything without the extraordinary support I received from Nigerians. I am quite delighted that we have been able to reposition this sector well ahead of time before we got into the declining economic crisis that we are facing today.”

Adeshina also talked about his background which he said was a humble one. And since he hit the international limelight he has dedicated his

My humble background story life to helping the poor people around the world.

“Many of you may not know that I came from a poor background. I attended a village school. My dad, and grandfather worked as labourers in other people’s farms. My dad could not read and write until he was 15 years when an uncle of his took him to Lagos, where he went to Igbobi College and later, got a job as a civil servant. That was how I got educated, otherwise I wouldn’t be getting this award if I wasn’t standing on the shoulder of my father who sacrificed so much for me.”

“I have always dedicated my life to helping the poor people around the world because poverty must not become something we are comfortable with. This is because I have followed the path, and I know that there is no comfort in poverty at all. I want to thank the fathers of Nigeria for their tremendous work. I want to thank the private sector that helped us to mobilized $5.6billion to this sector within three and half years. The federal government supported all the state governors in realizing our mission to make food like the

Many of you may not know that I came from a poor background.

democratic right of every citizen of this country. We are not going to play politics with it.

And Mr. President asked us to go in that direction.”

As this administration prepares to hand over to the incoming one on May 29, one thing that it will be remembered for, is its ability not only to revolutionized the agricultural sector but also, restore the dignity of Nigerian farmers, bringing them to the limelight and to the attention of government, where previously it had been a master-servant relationship.

18—SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

BY Abdullahi Garba

B

eginning from late last year when he indicated his interest to run for the governorship election, Kaduna state governor-elect, Malam Nasir ElRufa’i, has consistently harped on what he describes as the level of indebtedness of the state government, to various financial institutions, from even across the shores of Nigeria. El-Rufa’i has often said that the development would likely constitute a problem for the next governor. In fact, in the course of his governorship campaigns, ElRufa’i said in an interview in December 2014 that, “from our estimates, every child born in Kaduna state has a debt of N15,000.

If you have a child going to be born tomorrow, that child already has a debt burden of N15,000 and there are about eight million people in Kaduna state. So, you do the calculation.”

But having emerged the governorelect and with his slogan, “Time to make Kaduna great again,” El-Rufa’i, has since pledged to reverse the “several years of mismanagement of the state’s resources by successive administrations.” Receiving his certificate of return at the INEC headquarters in Kaduna on April 16, El-Rufa’i also raised the debt issue, lamenting that there may be constraints for his administration. He bared his mind this way: “our state is heavily indebted at a time when oil prices are low. Our state has not seen significant development in the last eight years. We must work twice as hard with half the resources of the last eight years just to catch up with our neighbors. The state government collected and spent N600 billion in seven years, yet there is little evidence of all that going by the poor infrastructure base of the state, whether roads or water supply, or in human capital development, jobs and social welfare indices. Kaduna state has the highest debt level per capita in Nigeria; yet it is also rated by the World Bank as the worst place to do business in northern Nigeria. Even our capital city, Kaduna, from where the huge landmass and people of northern Nigeria were administered for decades, is almost stagnant, appearing dazed by the sheer incompetence it is enduring.”

Although El-Rufa’i has never given any specific figures to show the level of indebtedness of the Kaduna state government, outgoing Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero estimates the debt profile to be about N37.5 billion. In fact, Yero may have earned a reputation of sort for himself as the first leader to pay debts incurred before he was born.

According to Yero, his administraC M Y K

•Malam Nasir ElRufa’i

KADUNA

•Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero

As governor Yero faces debt owed before he was born el-Rufai laments El-Rufa’i says he will embark on certain economic reforms because, “there are areas of leakages, corruption practices that we plan to tackle and there is large capacity to expand internally generated revenue

tion inherited a “huge” debt burden from previous governments since 1965, some three years before he was born on May 21, 1968. According to the Commissioner of Finance, Sama’ila Aliyu, in 2006, there was reconciliation and sharing of debt obtained as far back as 1965 between Kaduna state and Katsina state which was carved out of the old Kaduna state. The actual balance outstanding against Kaduna state, according to him, was USD84,995,475.13.

“They are loans obtained from multilateral institutions such as the world Bank, International Development Bank (IDA) and Africa Development Bank (AfDB),” Aliyu said, explaining further that, “over the years, subse-

quent administrations in the state continued to borrow from these financial institutions for various infrastructural development projects amounting to USD185,968,750.26.”

In spite of the apparent gloomy picture though, the global economy rating agency, Fitch, late last year, rated Kaduna’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) as B+ and National Long-term rating as A+(nga) describing the outlooks as stable. The agency based its rating of the state on various indicators including efforts by the state government to increase Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as well as provision of capital to Small and Medium Enterprises especially in the agriculture

sector. Fitch said the key rating drivers were “the expectations that Kaduna state will continue to achieve a healthy financial performance amid mild growth in local taxes and subsidies from the Federal Government.”

Whatever the circumstances, El-Rufa’i says he will embark on certain economic reforms because, “there are areas of leakages, corruption practices that we plan to tackle and there is large capacity to expand internally generated revenue.” Apart from these efforts, he said, “there will be reformation of state institutions to instill a culture of probity that insists on value for money, that ensures that government procurement occurs at the most cost effective level and encourages personal responsibility.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—19

You can’t challenge NASS in the act of law-making — Robert Clarke •Robert Clarke

BY ISHOLA BALOGUN AND EBUN SESSOU

C

onstitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeris, SAN, Robert Clarke, in this interview opines that the word two-third is a magic word in the constitution which can render the President’s assent to a bill immaterial. “Once the law says you need two-third to pass an act, you don’t need the President’s assent again. Already, the amount of two-third votes we need to override the veto has already been secured by this constitutional provision.” The legal luminary advices Gen Muhammadu Buhari to seek a declaration in court immediately he assumes office on the regularity and process of the ammended constitution just as he maintians that Nigeria is broke and the new lawmakers should cut down their salaries and allowances. Excerpts What is your view on the constitution amendment row between the Presidency and the National Assembly?

The responsibility to amend the constitution according to the provisions of section 58 of the 1999 constitution is shared between the National Assembly and the President. The reason being that the amendment process being carried out by the National Assembly in-line with the

constitution is not an end in itself but a means to an end. This is because a proposed amendment requires the ultimate Presidential assent as prescribed under section 58 of the 1999 constitution. That means, for ordinary bills, if the National Assembly approves with simple majority and the President does not give his assent and the bill is returned to the National Assembly, the legislators can override the veto by re-passing the bill with two-third majority. Now, you can find out that the word twothird is a magic word. Two-third of members’ votes will override the veto of Mr. President. Therefore, if there are specific provisions in the constitution that require for passage with two-third and amendment of the constitution; the question now is, if you pass a bill with two-third majority, do you still need the assent of Mr. President? That question has not been decided by the court. If the law requires two-third majority to override the veto of Mr. President in ordinary bills, what about bills that require the original passage with two-third votes? Do they still require assent when already the magic word, two-third has been used in passing that bill?

Section 9 which provides for the amendment of the constitution is now the bone of contention between the National Assembly and the President?

The National Assembly says we

•Asks Buhari to go to court when he assumes office •Wants new lawmakers to cut down salaries, allowances are amending a series of sections in the constitution which include the positions of the Auditor General and Attorney General and the question of the assent of the president. The National Assembly now said, instead of this schism, whether we need your assent or not, let us include it now in that section 9 that once we pass anything under section 9 which requires two-third of the votes of members, we no longer need the assent of the President but we will still send it to Mr. President, but if after 30 days, you do not reply us, it automatically becomes law. So, that is the situation today. Mr. President said, look, whatever you want to do, you are now amending section 9 by the inclusion of section 9 (3c) which says whether I give my assent or not, if after 30 days without the President assent, it becomes law with an amendment of section 9. And the constitution says that if you want to amend this particular section 9, which provides for two-third votes, you must amend it with a three quarter number of votes of the House; the President said that has not been done or that he did not have the evidence that they have complied with that provision’. That is the contention.

I am of the view that once the law says you need two-third to pass an act, you don’t need the President’s assent again. That is why the National Assembly says ‘once we ammend constitution with two-third, whether the President assents or not,

You can’t challenge the National Assembly in the act of making law, you can only challenge what they have not done correctly.

it becomes immaterial.” Already, the amount of two-third votes we need to override the veto has already been secured by this constitutional provision.

You can’t challenge the National Assembly in the act of making law, you can only challenge what they have not done correctly. Now that they have passed the law, you can now go to court and ask the court to set it aside, that it did not comply with section 9; but not by rushing to the Supreme Court.

Now, in spite of the Supreme Court judgment on the issue to maintain status quo ante, the National Assembly went ahead to gazette it, do you think the National Assembly was right in that respect?

You see, the government seems to have delegated powers to different organisations. The executive is headed by the President. It is the duty of the presidency to carry out all executive decisions by virtue of the provision of section 5 of the constitution. All executive powers are vested in Mr. President. Again, all the legislative works are within the singular portfolio of the National Assembly. So, niether can the executive nor the Judiciary interfere in the making of laws. The judiciary may interfere when a law has been promulgated and somebody finds Continues on page 58

20—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

hen can anyone justifiably W criticize the choice made by a voter?

Voters , no doubt, have misconceptions and biases and are often enamoured of trivia like charm and oratory and beauty. Voters are supposed to be public spirited and should advance the common good.

But what really is a sensible choice?

So much subjectivity is embedded in these seemingly value neutral evaluations . Voters can only really be judged by clear objective context specific standards. Since ignorance of relevant political and economical issues afflicts the voting public of even the western nations , voters in Nigeria would not merit any moral criticism for being relatively unenlightened. So when would a criticism not amount to an attempt at illegitimate restriction on self determination?

There has been a flurry of criticism directed at Igbos for their near exclusive preference of Jonathan in the last presidential elections. And I had on this column attributed their reflexive rejection of the APC to naivety and bigotry. Many have wondered why Ekiti people chose seemingly obstreperous Fayose rather than an urbane and articulate Fayemi.

And not a few openly criticized that choice and attributed it to what they termed ‘stomach infrastructure’ a euphemistic term for exploitative inducement of voters with food and money. Why are many contemptuous of the Ekiti electorate for the choice they made? Are there any moral justifications for such widely held contempt?

What would reasonably justify the moral criticism of a voter ’s preference? Democracy entails equality and allocates one vote to every man despite the fact that all men aren’t similarly intellectually endowed or politically informed . Left to John Stuart Mills , university graduates would have 5 votes each while unskilled labourers would have one. It would appear that current democratic practice prioritizes moral equality of persons above the rationality of outcomes. So democracy seeks to enthrone freedom through the widest possible equal consensual participation and perhaps purchases that at the cost of some rationality and perhaps efficiency.

Since democracy no longer seeks to weight intellectual capacity and insists on participation by nearly everyone rather than a select committee of very wise men it would then appear that voter preferences are in a sense incommensurables. Like the choice of colours or music. But voter choices unlike choice of colours can have very significant consequences on the lives of others . Electoral outcomes can be harmful. So voters must have some moral obligations .

Man, being a self interested agent , is not ordinarily suicidal. The social contract theory suggests that man preferred life in organized communities in furtherance of his self interests. In mutually submitting to the laws and coercive powers of the state every Nigerian citizen expects an improvement of individual autonomy Personal autonomy is the capacity to choose and pursue a life path. The primary function of the state is to enhance the personal autonomy of citizens by increasing viable options and providing an enabling environment for individual and collective self realizations. An individual decreases his personal autonomy when he embraces harmful options. The unfettered freedom of an individual can be justifiably circumscribed by the state only to prevent him from either harming himself or harming others. So while a person has freedom to author his life he will rightly earn moral criticisms , and perhaps criminal sanctions in some cases, when he acts in a way that actually or potentially harms others or himself.

If harm is understood to mean the encroachment on freedoms then a man perhaps does not harm himself by voting an illiterate person rather than a professor.

Because there is no factual C M Y K

Igbos, Fayose and the reasonableness of a voter’s choice

necessary harm associated with that choice. Like a member of the Jury, a voter owes no one any explanation for voting in line with reasonably held beliefs . However , a misogynist who would not countenance the idea of voting for a woman can be morally criticized if the only reason for rejecting a certain candidate is gender prejudice. For in discriminating against women such a voter limits the freedom of others to be full members of the society, denies them human dignity and harms the general society.

Igbos are entitled to freely exercise their franchise like anyone else. And they can vote for whomsoever they want . Any one who is manifestly harmful should not be an electoral option in the first place because it is the duty of government to identify and remove harmful options from such public menu. This is not perfectionism of any sort. That is why convicted felons cannot run for elective positions even in many very liberal jurisdictions.

I criticized a rather wholesale rejection of the APC by Igbos on two grounds. One moral ground and one prudential ground. Igbos who rejected the APC by labeling it an Islamic party showed unhealthy religious bias which is harmful to the polity. I must not be misunderstood. There is nothing morally wrong with a Christian voting another Christian because they share same faith and there is nothing wrong with a Muslim acting likewise. But it would amount to religious intolerance or discrimination for a Christian to reject the idea of voting for anyone who is a Muslim solely on the grounds of religion. Every citizen of plural society has an ethical duty of civility.

We need to get the distinction right. Okeke can rightly refuse to vote an Ibrahim whom he reasonably believes is an Islamic fundamentalist. Because his right to religious freedom may be circumscribed by the election of such an intolerant fellow. But Okeke lacks moral justification to reject out rightly, based on religious considerations , a Balarabe who is a law abiding Muslim , who understands that tolerance is an indispensable virtue in a plural

society. And it is not enough for Okeke to whimsically label Balarabe a muslim fundamentalist to avoid moral condemnations because that belief must be reasonably held, evidence based. Since the labeling of APC as an anti Igbo , Islamic party was purely conjectural and unreasonable there was then no justification for a total rejection of the party on religious or ethnic grounds.

I criticized the rejection of the APC

by Igbos on another ground . I considered it naïve for an industrious, well dispersed , competitive ethnic group like the Igbo whose priority must the enthronement of equity, stability and fairness to fail to realize that their interest would best served by the coming of a strong national party to end one party domination, to create a truly national multi party democratic setting. The emergence and entrenchment of the APC and the political competition it would engender is in the overall best interest of the Igbo. It was patently shortsighted to dismiss the party on mere sentiments. This second criticism is however not a moral criticism but a criticism founded on prudential considerations.

Since there is no consensus on what amounts to overriding Igbo interests, some Igbos may perhaps give priority to an apparent emerging solidarity with the South South. Many others consider a resistance against the prospect of a return of Hausa-Fulani hegemony as having priority over the need for a second national party. Many passionately held the later view and they cannot be accused of ethnic or religious prejudice because they may have been conditioned by empirical experience. It is always beneficial to accommodate the voter ’s subjectivity and analyze from the voter ’s internal perspective.

Igbos cannot therefore attract any moral criticism on this score But then many have criticized the Igbo for the wrong reasons. For instance, the Oba of Lagos . And such savage displays of presumptuousness and crude attacks on freedom of choice have managed to polarize the polity to the extent any meaningful discourse on the reasonableness of a group’s electoral choice is now potentially inflammable.

It would appear that current democratic practice prioritizes moral equality of persons above the rationality of outcomes

Criticisms of the Igbo that border on voting for pecuniary benefits deserve more than a mention. Financial inducements did not make Igbos to vote for Jonathan. A few of the reasons why that happened have been proffered above. The conclusions and criticisms that rest on materialism are nonsensical. Similar criticisms have been levied against the people of Ekiti state. I would argue that Ekiti people voted Fayose for reasons besides material inducement. I do not seek to exonerate Fayose who has admitted employing such exploitative tactics.

But suppose they did. Can anyone criticize the choice of a voter in Nigeria who voted in a certain direction even if the direction was influenced by certain material benefits?

Lets get it straight , it’s criminal to buy or sell votes, the electoral act is explicit. But if I am so economically desperate that a gift of a bag of rice , three days to an election, sways my sympathy in one way or the other , have I really sold my vote? This isn’t same defence like “I stole the bread because I was dying of hunger “ .

Selling in this circumstance must entail an unconscionable conduct by reason of a payment. Is the conscience of the desperate and dispossessed down trodden pricked by the acceptance of such gifts?

How much luxury for niceties do the poor have? Why wouldn’t a desperate poor man accept money to meet his needs? What really are his options? In a country where there are no social security nets, do voters view any benefits , any such inducements as exploitative ? And can they really be so if the poor gets practically nothing else from decadent politicians? Should poor voters rather give their votes to hypocritical politicians who entice them with policies and promises they have no intention to fulfill?

These beguiling politicians who induce poor voters with cash or with false promises are unscrupulous exploiters no doubt. But can we read any culpability into the act of impoverished voters who accept material gifts? Can we all pretend to have this same luxury of low time discounting? You know that talk of mortgaging the future. Isn’t it true that for some, today is all that matters and not by choice? You know about living from “hand to mouth”.

Democracy must have some preconditions. A substantial part of the electorate must be free. The majority of Nigerians living below poverty lines are not free. A man who is not free does not have a free conscience and it would take valour to reject inducements. So is the exploited majority somehow condemned to a vicious cycle of domination by these manipulators?

Well , unfortunately, it would appear that the rulers believe so. They loot the treasury, deny the poor amenities and leave them desperate. Then prey on them , take their votes and head back into the treasury. The status quo where a privileged few in public and private sectors are extremely rich living off the majority who are desperately wretched and destitute is morally and practically unsustainable. Democracy has been held hostage. I pray that the time does not come when the poor will have to eat the rich. Why can’t every citizen must be accorded human dignity? A social security net for the poor, unemployed and elderly is imperative.

Affordable health, compulsory education and accessible shelter are non negotiable. That way choice may be free.

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 16, 2015—21

I

Why Buhari has to hurt us in order to save us much money was taken out to fight this election? Do you know how much was spent in the last weeks of the election? Do you know what has gone on in this country in the past six years? He asked. “How can any man who has done this much damage to his country be called a Statesman? In fact, I pity the incoming President.

Things are in such a bad shape that I wonder where he is going to start from. It is obvious that he has to be prepared to hurt us, I mean all of us, before he can make any impact”.

Given what I had earlier said, I believe he had more information

,

t is generally accepted that most Newspaper Editors know more than they let on. The ability to know what to use and what to withhold is part of your information management; it is also part of your professional and ethical responsibilities because some ‘truths’ can have unwholesome ripple effects if used in their entirety. I will give an example.

I was an Assistant Editor in Punch at the height of the apartheid struggle.

Like every young man at the time, I was indignant and very impatient with the pace and nature of the international fight against apartheid.

Until I had ‘an instructive conversation’ with the late Brigadier Joe Garba who was then our External Affairs Minister. He specifically asked me to switch off the tape before he said “Do you know that there is not a single ‘Frontline State’ that can survive economically without South Africa?

Many of them don’t even have access to seaports and depend on South Africa for imports. As I speak to you now, if I want to get a Frontline State, my calls would have to be routed through South Africa. So if we were to apply sanctions as rigorously as you guys want, our people would suffer.

These are realities that we must contend with.” I left chastised but with a better understanding of the complexities of politics. ‘Off record’ was a phrase I heard often during my interviewing days as high ranking officials tried to explain that things were not always black and white. There were also files and data which would come into your hands as an Editor but which could not be used because of their geo-political implications. Make no mistake; all Editors practice self – censorship –even in places with the so called free press.

So when a man who had risen through the ranks to become Editor and then MD of one of the most influential newspapers in the country called to ‘complain’ about one of my articles, I had to listen. He felt I was too effusive in my commendation of the concession the President made. He was particularly uncomfortable with the word ‘Statesman’. “Do you know how

already high up in the hierarchy during the 2.8 billion naira saga around NNPC and General Buhari in the late 70s. Like a good journalist, I wanted to know more. So I arranged a ‘chat’ with the late Chief Bayo Kuku who was then the Vice-Chairman of Mobil Producing. After the usual ‘off record’ plea, he said of NNPC and the probe people were angling for at the time “They may not find the antelope they are looking for but they will find several bush rats”. Those were his words if I still remember correctly after so many years. The interpretation to today ’s scenario is that while the missing figure might not be the exact

Things are in such a bad shape that I wonder where he is going to start from

which his paper could not use but which had made him angry.

In any case, the stories flying around would make anybody angry even if only half of them were true.

Certain sections of the Price Waterhouse Coopers’ report on the NNPC audit went viral soon after the report was released to the public.

What one gleaned makes one wonder at the competence — and patriotism—of many of the handlers of our economy. There seems to be a systematic looting at that sacred corporation which didn’t start yesterday and which successive leaders find convenient to turn a blind eye to. Incidentally, I was

,

amount that Mallam Lamido, the exCentral Bank governor alleged, there would be several unaccounted for funds that would not do credit to that corporation and its managers, past and present. It also means that the rot is deeper than the ordinary man thinks.

The task to redeem the country is an onerous one because there are bush rats’ in almost every institution. We who want Buhari’s government to revive the economy, we who want Buhari’s government to tackle corruption, we who want Buhari’s government to take us to the next level must be prepared to change our values and discipline our appetites. I start with the press because charity

G

od today has a word for you

that will encourage you and strengthen you to hold on to Him because He is not through with blessing you just yet. In fact to dare you to believe that the blessing you are about to receive from Him will take you to a new realm of His glory and grace. Don’t forget that God loves you more than you love yourself and He is more committed to your success than you do yourself.

After my morning worship and devotion, the Holy Spirit impressed/ inspired this message in my heart to let you know that God has not forgotten nor applied for jobs for years and yet you Now let me show some biblical forsaken you as you may be thinking. have not even received a single letter scripture that will confirm to you that As I listened to Him, I heard Him say, for an interview and you are wondering you can never be forgotten nor forsaken so many of you had great plans for the is this year going to pass me by again. by God. Ps 9: 10, says, “And they that year and believed that the Lord will Listen to me child of God, I know that at know thy name will put their trust in grant you your heart’s desire, which of such times, the devil may want us to thee: For thou, Lord hast not forsaken course will surely come to pass. But that think or believe that God has forgotten them that seek Him”. Isaiah 49: 13-16, you have not seen it yet does not mean and forsaken us. Sometimes, the devil says “Sing, O heaven; And be joyful, O that you are not going to get it. Hear may remind you of your past sins and earth; And break forth into singing, O me, the Bible says that the desires of torment you and declare that because of mountain; For the Lord hath the righteous shall not be cut off. I want the sins, God has forsaken you. But hear comforted His people and will you to know that for as long as your me; I have good news for you. It is not have mercy upon His afflicted, desires are in line with the things of God, in the nature or character of God to forget But Zion said, the Lord hath I know it shall surely come to pass. anyone. Even if you are living in sin, forsaken me. Can a woman Yes you believed that by now you God will not forget nor forsake you. And forget her sucking child, that should be married or preparing for your this is why you find out that though you she should not have compassion marriage but yet you have not even are in sin, yet there is a longing in your on the son of her womb? Yea received a single proposal from any man heart for God. they may forget, yet will I not while all of your friends are getting married. Yes you have been married for years without any For more details, contact us at Christ Reality Church, beside Gossard child while those who have just Hotel, opposite First Bank Sports Ground, Community Road, Satellite Town gotten married are having or P.O.Box, 3196, Yaba Lagos. Tel: 08023062635 08168955932; 08033378769. E-mail: children and sometimes you see Johnson_crm@yahoo.com. Website: www.christrealityministries.org.

Our account details are Pastor Johnson Omomadia, Guaranty Trust them playing with their children daily. Yes, you have attended job Bank, A/C Nos. 0005171407; Christ Reality Ministries, Zenith Bank A/C interviews and every time you 1011711622. come out, you believe that the Worship with us on Sundays, 1st Service: 745am-9:15am; 2nd Service 9:15Wednesdays Word Revelation 6pm. Counseling days Tuesdays, job is yours but you end up not 11:30am.

Thursdays and Fridays. 11am-5pm daily or by appointment. Showers of blessing getting the job or you have every 2nd - 4th Sat. of each month, 6 a.m - 7.15 am.

God has not forgotten nor for sak en yyou ou orsak saken

C M Y K

must start from home. Many Editors have become so used to the largess from corrupt politicians that they see it as ‘entitlement’. Many reporters and correspondents have become so used to ‘envelopes’ of various sizes and colours that they see them as perks of office. In very few newspapers can a story sail through without someone’s palm being greased. Yet we are supposed to be the watch dogs of the society. What obtains in the media houses obtains in the judiciary where clerks and registrars are more powerful than lawyers and where justice is more often bought than deserved.

It obtains in the universities where admissions are bought, hand-outs are bought and degrees are bought.

It obtains at our borders where officials stop needles while allowing camels to pass through. It obtains even in the market place where different levels of fake products are marketed as genuine.

Yes, the extravagance of Aso Rock must be curtailed—from budgets for food and entertainment to the size of the Personal Assistants and aides; from the fleet of Presidential planes to Presidential limousines. The allowances of the legislatures must be drastically reduced—from nonexisting personal aides to constituency allowances.

The bloated civil service must be trimmed and those who do an hour’s work but demand a day’s pay must be told to sit up or ship out. Bogus overseas trips and training must be curbed. Contracts must be monitored and the system of allocating money for the same contract every year must become a thing of the past. Payment of taxes must be enforced especially among the elite class and the proceeds judiciously utilised. The political class must stop being parasitic and contribute to the economy.

The expectations are high and the job difficult; but it would be a near impossible task if we did nothing about the culture of impunity and entitlement that is so pervasive in the society. We also cannot make the omelette we so desire without breaking a few eggs. forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me”. Hebrews 13: 5, says “Let your conversation be without covetousness; And be content with such things as ye have: or He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”.

Let the above scriptures comfort your heart and give you an assurance that the Almighty God will never forget nor forsake you. You are too precious to Him. Remember, He paid the ultimate price for you. You cost Him His son Jesus.

Say out loud at least 7 times daily, “God will not forsake nor forget me”. God bless you. We love you dearly till we meet again next week, remain steadfast and triumphant.

Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

CHUKA UMUNNA:

The man who wants to be British Prime Minister •His father made waves in Nigeria,

waves Britain now he is making w aves in Brit ain

BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE

C M Y K

,

B

en Osi Umunna had just returned from England with what everybody accepted as a rich resume as far as sports is concerned.

Aside being a businessman, he was linked with Crystal Palace FC in England where he was a director.

He lived in England for years, acquired experience in business and football management. He also married there.

It was, therefore, no surprise that many celebrated his appointment as chairman of Enugu Rangers FC in 1987.

Umunna transformed the management of the Flying Antelopes. He pulled all the strings to make the club a professional outfit, well run, although Rangers were still one of Nigeria’s top clubs then.

Rangers reigned in the 1970s and 80s and the most successful chairman of the club then, Jim Nwobodo, was so made popular by football that he later became governor of old Anambra State.

Umunna was heading in the same direction as chairman of Enugu Rangers.

He was popular although I had issues with him. His passion for Enugu Rangers was such that he took criticisms very personal.

Nigerians could be proud of the waves Chuka is making in the United Kingdom but they cannot claim him

,

In fact, you became his enemy if you were not supporting Rangers in all ramifications. He fumed over my reports or analysis anytime Rangers lost and even picked on me at a press conference.

He was just a bad loser. But he brought class to the club and Rangers were on the rise again following his input.

He ventured into politics, and during one of his campaign runs to be governor of Anambra State he was killed in a motor accident in 1991. The death shocked us all. It was painful losing him in that circumstance. That marked the end of an era for the Umunnas.

But his son, Chuka has since marked the beginning of another era with a great potential to be equally great, perhaps greater, in far away England where he was born and has lived all his life. He is British for those who may want to claim him now that he is warming himself into the hearts of his people. But no doubt, African, nay Nigerian blood flows in his veins, the beautiful black blood that irrigates the field as the poet, David Diop would put it poetically.

Nigerians could be proud of the waves Chuka is making in the United Kingdom but they cannot claim him. They can only support him the way Risq Animasaun

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—23

,

The Daily Mirror of London described him as “smooth, well dressed, ex-lawyer and son of a Nigerian businessman

,

does. Risq, another British Nigerian writes a column for us on Sundays. She is British, though the daughter of veteran journalist, Kola Animasaun, who was chairman of our editorial board. She is an activist whose concerns for the black and campaigns against bullying in offices and elsewhere have earned her respect in Streatham in London.

Interestingly, Umunna represents Streatham in the British Parliament. He did not only succeed in his re-election bid last week, he is also among those gunning to lead the Labour Party in England and hoping to dethrone the Tories in five years.

Chuka is 36 now and will be 41 during the next elections in 2020. He is about the youngest among those tipped to succeed Ed Miliband who resigned as leader of the Labour Party after the Conservatives won squarely last week.

Chuka Umunna has been enjoying huge media attention since last week. Just first public appearance with Alice, his girl friend attracted banner headlines on Monday.

The Daily Mirror of London described him as “smooth, well dressed, ex-lawyer and son of a Nigerian businessman.” The paper published his picture with Alice in a two page spread.

“He was also a DJ in Ibiza.

He is a leading player in the race for Labour crown,” the Daily Mirror said of the young man Britons call ‘UK’s Obama’.

Like Barack Obama, Chuka is charismatic and very eloquent.

He makes brilliant speeches and he is admired by many who nod over his candour and

CHUKA UMUNNA Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom Chuka Harrison Umunna is a British Labour politician who has been Member of Parliament for Streatham since 2010 and Shadow Business Secretary since 2011. Wikipedia Born: October 17, 1978 (age 36), Streatham, United Kingdom Office: Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills since 2011 Party: Labour Party Parents: Bennett Umunna, Patricia Umunna Education: Nottingham Trent University (2002), more

BREAKING NEWS Chuks Umunna last night withdrew from the race, a development that shocked Party Members who felt he had a great chance to lead the party.

commend his work as a parliamentarian. Obama was a lawmaker before he became President of USA, the first African-American to occupy that illustrious position yet.

And here is Chuka Umunna the Parliamentarian now planning to lead a party and hit the road running for the Premiership.

Obama’s father was from Kenya and Chuk’s from Nigeria.

Obama’s mother was American and Chuka’s British. Striking similarities, you would say. But wait a minute. Barack’s wife is black. Chuka’s girlfriend is white. It even goes well for Chuka in this context. But love is what matters, not colour. And when it comes to the nitty gritty of the party race, Chuka should hope that what should matter is performance and not colour.

Although it looks a high hurdle, Chuka’s chance could be brightened by the withdrawal of Dan Jarvis who was favoured to lead Labour and begin the race to N0. 10 Downing Street, a somewhat uphill task now going by the disastrous defeat of Labour in the last elections. Although Jarvis may still not be entirely ruled out, he says his family comes first and that he would like to remain a strong family man, having lost his wife to cancer and just remarried. He was said to be leading in a survey before his seeming red light.

“We are down but not out,” Chuka says of Labour’s defeat.

“We can do it in five years if we make the right decisions now and present that aspirational and compassionate case to the British people that Labour does so well .. there’s no reason we can’t get back in 2020.” Chuka exudes confidence and that counts for him.

The Mirror reported that Tony Blair’s right hand man, Peter Mandelson has endorsed Chuka who has formally declared he is running for Labour’s leadership.

“I’m proud of the work he is doing and we will vote for him and continue to support him,” Animasaun said on the eve of the elections. She lives in Streatham and always speaks well of Chuka who represents them and tries to reach out to the people in the area. It is the same area that produced Naomi Campbell; good things appear to come from Streatham.

Win or lose, Chuka, at 36, has made tremendous impact politically. His future appears brighter.

“He was just a kid when his father died doing politics. He has stepped into the shoes of his father and now accomplishing what death stopped his father from accomplishing. I’m sure that his father will be happy with him wherever he is and I’m sure the spirit of his father is supporting him,” Edwin Eze, full of emotions, said from Enugu. He worked with Ben Osi Umunna, the father of Chuka in Enugu Rangers and the exploits of the fallen football buff are still green in his memory.

THOSE CONTESTING WITH UMUNNA

DAVID MILIBAND, 49 Votes: 711(15.77%) ED’s older brother, who lost out to him in 2010 contest. He isn’t an MP and works in US but is readers’ second favourite

ANDY BURNHAM, 45

Votes: 533(12.27%) SHADOW Health Secretary. very popular with the left for battling to save the NHS from Tory cuts. A s e r i o u s contender.

GLORIA DE PIERO, 44 Votes: 333(7.39%) The Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. Ex-TV newsreader has quickly become a rising star in party.

YVETTE COOPER, 46

Votes: 275(6.10%) The Shadow hOME Secretary.

A survivor of BlairBrown era. Wed to Ed Balls but very much her own.

HARRIET HARMAN, 64

Votes: 121(2.68%) ACTING party leader and Ed’s former deputy. vastly experienced and longest serving woman MP.

TRISTRAM HUNT, 40

Votes: 100(2.22%) The Shadow Education Secretary. TV historian. keen to reach John Lewis shoppers as well as working class

STELLA CREASY, 38

Votes: 97(2.15%) MP for Sutton Coldfield. Her parents were active Labour members. Won praise for fighting payday loan ripoffs.

LIZ KENDALL, 43

Votes: 96(2.13%) The Shadow Health Minister Ex-Blair adviser with a steely determination. Not afraid to seek reform of public services.

C M Y K

24 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

With FLORENCE AMAGIYA 08061644307 email: daise4000@yahoo.com

BISI OLATILO:

I can't quantify the joy broadcasting gives me

Ace Broadcaster, Bisi Olatilo, Chairman of BISCON Communications, has been in the spotlight for over 36 years. He is the brain behind successful coverage of celebrities in Nigeria and in the Diaspora; popular first on AIT - Bisi Olatilo Show.

Olatilo, after two-decade experience in the industry, launched BISCON Communications which has won the heart of many. Sixteen years after, with several success stories, he added other chain of services which include a modern printing press, magazine known as BOS International, functioning online reportage including a television studio waiting for license. In this edition, we serve you another interesting story of a veteran broadcaster, loving husband and a caring father - Bisi Olatilo. Enjoy it.

...with wife

Orji Uzo Kalu, Obi Achebe, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Prince Bisi Olatilo & Ibrahim Shehu Shema

Chief And Chief Mrs Rasaq Okoya, Prince Bisi Olatilo & Chief Gbenga Obasa C M Y K

BOS boss with chief Dele Momodoh

Bisi Olatilo with some Entertainers

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015 — 25

THE GENESIS rowing up in the broadcasting business, I spent most of my time working with Radio Nigeria. While working as a broadcaster, l anchored most of the prominent shows with high calibre personalities in the society. My fan base spread wide so much that I gained a lot of admirers and was able to relate with all strata. My added advantage is the fact that l can speak the 3 major languages in Nigeria. With this tool added to my MC talent; I knew then I could have my own programme. A friend of mine along the line encouraged me to start my own show. But when I started initially, it was not easy finding a slot to air the programme. Those who owned television stations pay dues for their platform so it took us a while before we were able to get sponsors. We got the chance to meet and talk with ‘African Independent Television’ (AIT) to give us a chance to showcase our product to the world. Raymond Dokpesi, a very nice individual has one motto; ‘’Do not look at the volume, concentrate on the value”; So we went on and eventually established ourselves. Going full blast at some point, we became owners of our own platform, we had to pay monthly and we have remained with AIT ever since.

G

RADIO NIGERIA I worked with Radio Nigeria for almost twenty years when the Radio was still very prominent in the country. I read the network news at 7:00 am, 4:00pm and 10:00pm at night, presenting numerous programmes. One of the heights of my career was during the release of Nelson Mandela from Prison in 1989 during Gen. Babaginda’s Regime. So there was a big carnival and welcome party for Nelson even in Nigeria. A drama was

played and I acted the role of a town crier who could speak Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. Of all crowds I have entertained in my life, that was the largest. Again in 1988, Radio Nigeria started ‘’Radio Nigeria 3”, an indigenous service programme that featured major ethnic speaking groups in Nigeria; and because I speak such languages, I became the natural choice to launch the show.

Thankfully I discovered the likes of Ali Baba (the comedian). I met him at an event where he was invited to perform. He was a young chap who sounded fresh and intelligent. We got to meet each other and I ended up allocating the first five minutes for his jokes on my popular radio show titled ‘’Another day don break”. After then, we birthed another programme on TV titled ‘’The Night Train” and I was the

These days, it is really painful to know that people only love money and not what they do.

They find it difficult to come to terms with their jobs. It is no more about what you can do but your attitude towards it.

The passion should drive you anchor. I was running both radio and TV; this was the particular fact that endeared me to the general public.

Maiden Ibru, Olatilo and wife

•Bisi Olatilo,Alh Aliko Dangote & Chief John Momoh C M Y K

CHILDHOOD DREAM Broadcasting had always been my childhood dream and I worked towards it. Right from my school days, I always loved the radio because the television was not popular then.

The Radio vision box was in vogue. While growing up, I remembered a few

radio broadcasters whom were exceptional with their radio shows and I never missed their time slot. I developed passion for broadcasting and it stayed with me all through my secondary school days. I became a member of the literary society, then my principal gave me free hand to source for news items which I wrote down and read to the assembly.

Each time there was a football match between my school and another, I ran the commentary. I was able to put everything into practice at ‘’Radio OYO” in 1975, the same year I officially began my career. I had a particular colleague named Tonia Igunbor. We paired together on a programme titled ‘’How una dey.” It was a request show, very popular in Ibadan, Oyo state. I used to be called ‘’Bisi Connection”.

BROADCASTING The joy that broadcasting gives me cannot be quantified. People tend to respect the fact that you are a talented person and from the manner in which I had built myself over the years, people whom others cannot approach tend to approach me by themselves.

CHALLENGES Honestly speaking, all the ones I considered contemporaries and with whom we started never saw anything as a challenge but rather as stepping stones because we had passion for the job. We showed up at the Broadcasting House on daily basis whether we were on shift or not. These days, it is really painful to know that people only love money and not what they do. They find it difficult to come to terms with their jobs, it is no more about what you can do but your attitude towards it.

The passion should drive you.

BISCON COMMUNICATIONS We’ve been into magazine production for three years now. We broadcast 24hours on HITV with our transponder before they went bankrupt and the station had to pack up. It would be a wise decision to throw everyone back into the unemployment phase, so we decided to turn out the contents we had acquired so far into print and today, the B.O.S magazine is alive and kicking. Aside from covering an event, we put it into print.

HOMEFRONT I am happily married to my lovely wife of 34 years. When we started,

Bisi Olatilo,Dame Abimbola Fashola,Couple & Mrs Folashade Olatilo

•Office complex

•One of his cars

•Chief Sunny Odogwu and Bisi Olatilo

we had to elope for three years because we practiced different religion. We eventually returned and the both parents gave us their blessings. Today, we are blessed with 5 children; 3 girls and 2 boys.

Two of the ladies are happily married with children, so I am also a proud grandfather. My first son is the owner of ‘’Voodoo Lounge”, Elegushi. One of my daughters runs a fashion organization; the other is a civil engineer.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE We have already in the pipeline, plans for our own television. All we need is a license for it.

GIVE BACK We have empowered over 50 staff members and still counting.

•Bisi Olatilo And Wife-Folashade Olatilo With Sen Oloruninbe Mamora

26—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

By KEHINDE AJOSE 08024212530

By AYO ONIKOYI, 08052201215

At Industry Night Cynthia Morgan is queen

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

S

pectacular may be an overused word in describing Cynthia Morgan, but that was exactly what she brought to the stage at the weekly entertainment jamboree,

Industry Nite. Everyone who thronged th the Spice Route Victory Island, on 6 of May 2015, went home with a new notion of the artistic ability of the red haired Cynthia Morgan. Music heavyweights like 2face, Banky W, Timaya, Chidinma, Lynxxx, Olu

2f ace calls C y nt h i a Morgan a “bad” girl

•2face

ynthia Morgan C excited when th was visibly e African Queen cr

•Cynthia

ooner 2f her on stage.2fac ace joined dressed in a blac e who was took the audiencek tee-shirt, impromptu frees on an tyle session.

Combining melod he pours encom y and lyrics, iu Cynthia Morgan ms on “Bad”girl. She encalling her a giving him a war ded up m hug for it.

Maintain, Naeto C, Orezi, Timaya, General Pype, Lil kesh and others were in attendance to show their support for the German juice crooner.

The audience were treated to a series of performances from upcoming-acts, which didn’t really go well with them till DJ Spinall changed the rhythm of the show, by dishing irresistible tunes that kept the crowd on the dance floor. Then came the moment everyone has been waiting for-the emergence of Cynthia Morgan.The crowd didn’t stop cheering as she mounted the stage dressed in a camo outfit, a camo facecap adorning her hair and black pant.The Northside Entertainment act who loves to be called Star Gyal,demonstrated her versatility as she took the crowd on a melodic ride switching from Reggae to Dancehall, Highlife and then to RnB. She started with a popular reggae tune to whet the appetite of the audience,blending effortlessly with the Industry Nite band.The audience went wild when she performed her hit songs Popori,Am taken, Don’t break my heart, and the song of the moment German Juice. The audience were held spell bound as a certain lady mounted the stage to shake her bum.

Solomon Ure Urette leads pantheon of star or his starss ffor Jeho er do concer Jehovvah Ov Over erdo concertt E

vangelist Solomon Urete is a man who is passionate about his craft and does whatever it takes to spread his musical tentacles. Popularly called Niger Delta Gospel guru, the anointed singer is set for his debut concert tagged Jehovah Overdo . “This is the first edition of Jehovah Overdo concert .People love the Jehovah Overdo album .The acceptance prompted me to organize a concert, a live performance where people can experience what they heard in the album” he said.

Commenting on how he came about the title Jehovah Overdo, he said: “There is a Bible verse that says God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think. Above what we ask means overdo. So God can do above what you ask. For example, maybe you never expected to get to the level in which you are in, maybe you started out in the village and your dream is to get to Lagos and succeed. Now, you are not just in Lagos,you are working and fulfilling your destiny .God does his things in mysterious ways,you can ask for one car and God will give you two. That’s how the Jehovah Overdo title came about” The Concert will parade popular gospel artistes like Akpororo, Midnight Crew, Igos , Daddy Karis and others.When asked the reason for the choice of the artiste he said,: “I chose them because most of them are my friends. They see what God is doing through us. Everything we need for the concert has be gotten through relationships.”

He believes the event will be an avenue for testimonies, miracles and undiluted worship. “What makes this concert different is that its going to be a fusion of African praise songs. We are Africans and we need to be proud of our st culture” he explains. The concert will be held on the 31 of May 2015 at RCCG Powerlink Chapel, Lekki Lagos.

•Cynthia

What General Pype said about Cynthia Morgan

D

uring a brief interview before Cynthia Morgan’s performance, General Pype describes her as a blessing to the industry. “I am very grateful and happy for anyone doing dancehall in the country right now because they are making my work a lot easier. People like Cynthia Morgan are a blessing to me and the industry. There is a big spot for dancehall music in Nigeria right now.”Cynthia Morgan doesn’t have the best of voices, but her performance is one that is capable of grabbing you by the collar and making you sit on the edge of your chair, until she finally brings it to a close.

Lil Kesh wo w t h e a u di e n c s e

h e Shoki T master once a

gain showed that he isn’t a on hit wonder ea he thrilled ths audience to e energetic an performance one of his h to songs Gbeseit the exciteme to nt of the appreciative crowd.

•Solomon Urete

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

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—27

By KEHINDE AJOSE 08024212530

Ijoya - Weird Mc (2006) Shola Idowu a.k.a Weird MC needs no introduction. She broke into the industry with the song Allen Avenue and resurfaced in 2006 with Ijoya produced by Don Jazzy and JJC. The song won her an AMEN award for Most Pop Song. Since then,she has struggled to create a hit song out of Iwaju released in 2013 and Happy Day released in 2011. Last year, she denied claims that she has been appointed as Commissioner of Culture and Tourism in Osun State.

Kuchi Kuchi – Jodie (2010) Joy Odiete, known as Jodie never knew her song Kuchi Kuchi would make waves when she recorded it.

The song gained wide acceptance and also made her a regular headliner at shows. Amazingly,she has not been able to create another hit track after the song. The Delta State born soul singer has released songs like Butterflies,Seasons and Sugar coconut, but none of them have created the master stroke she desperately needs to put her career on an upward route.

Heart RobberKaha (2008)

When Emmanuel Nzemeke who goes by the name Kaha, released Heart Robber in 2008, he tickled a lot of people with his unique brand of RnB. The song gained more recognition also because he collaborated with Nigerian music star, 2face Idibia. After the success of the song,he hasn’t been fortunate

•Weird MC

Tales of Nigeria’s one-hit crooners (2) L

ast week we brought you a list of some artistes who have produced a single generally acclaimed to be a monster hit but for some reasons have not been able to repeat the magic even though they have had other songs to their names. Not every song becomes a hit even when it might have found acceptance within a section of the listening audience. Most artistes who have had one or several in their careers have been honest enough to admit it was never a thing they expected.

Here, we bring to you more crooners who have had only one hit to their names in spite of many other songs they have churned out.

After ruling the airwaves with their hit singles and headlining sold-out shows, these artistes find it rather hard to recreate the magic they once produced that came out as major hits. enough to create another hit song.

With two albums under his belt, he is yet to bounce back into the league of music heavyweights.

Denge Pose- Baba Fryo (1996)

Once upon a time,Friday Eruemolor Igweh with the moniker Baba Fryo, ruled the air waves with his smash hit song Denge Pose.The song was on the lips of both the old and young ,singing the chorus with pleasure: “Dem go dey pose, dem go dey denge denge.

Dem go dey pose, dem go dey waka kukere”.

The tune was reported to have sold over 5 million copies. Following the success of the song, the dancehall

•Jodie

crooner hasn’t been able to make a song with the commercial acclaim of Denge pose. He resurfaced last year, at the Hennessey Artistry grand finale held at Landmark Centre Lagos, giving fans a nostalgic feeling while performing the song.

Shayo-Bigiano (2008)

He made a remarkable appearance on the music scene with the song Shayo. The track spread like wildfire and became an irresistible song at night clubs and social gatherings.

Bigiano was dubbed to be the next big thing. Unfortunately, he didn’t live up to that expectation. He tried making a come-back in 2013 with the song Norty but no such luck as the Shayo

•Kaha

•Bigiano

•Baba Fryo

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

28 —SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

U

S-based Nigerian actress cum producer, Bridget John recently took a swipe at the Nigerian movie industry, declaring that most of our stars are ‘monotonous’ in their acting skills.

Bridget who was in the country last December for a private screening of her award winning film, “Adora”, also frowned at the quality of Nollywood films, blaming the shortcoming on the practitioners whom she said, rarely appreciate the importance of regular training as film makers.

In a chat with HVP, Bridget said, “I think the quality of the production need to be improved.

Secondly, everyone in this industry needs some kind of training. It’s not just an apprentice under somebody, you have to really learn the technical aspect of film making. The same thing is applicable to the actors. I have observed that a lot of our actors and actresses are monotonous in their acting. They have stereotypical style of showcasing their works, and they don’t have the technique. So, every film they feature in, they look the same way. And some time, it becomes boring. So, you have to be versatile and should be able to do

Nollywood stars are stereotyped — US-based Nigerian actress,Bridget John

anything you want to do. But it takes training to be a master of your own craft. It’s just the technique that you need and it’s a continuous process.”

Continuing, she said, “All the big actors in Hollywood, Dennison Washington, Rose Smith among others are still taking •Bridget classes.

John That’s all we really need in Nollywood. We have good stories, and that’s why Hollywood wants to collaborate with Nollywood because of our stories. We have the talents here, but the talents and good looks will not get us far.

Your technique will get you far.

Therefore, you need the talent and technique to become a complete thespian. Instance, before going on set, it takes me almost a month to

STARSPOT AFRIMMA stakes all-expense-paid trip on lucky dancers I

n its bid to encourage artistic endeavors, organizers of African Music Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA), are staging a dance competition which will guarantee a winning dancer or dance group an all-expense-paid trip to the next edition of the award scheme taking place in Dallas, United States, later in the year.

According to the founder of the Award, Anderson Obiagwu, the largesse, which is in appreciation of a successful maiden edition, last year, will include a round trip flight ticket, hotel and VIP Access to perform live in Dallas at the 2015 AFRIMMA ceremony, for one lucky upcoming artist and one lucky dancer/dance group from anywhere in the world.

According to Obiagwu, the contest which is being bankrolled by Big A Entertainment in conjunction with African Muzik Magazine, requires participants to record a video of them performing a song or dance and log on to their website. The contest, he said, which starts on May 4 will end on August 8th, 2015.

“The last day to enter your submissions is July 20, 2015.

Five finalists will be announced at the end of every month. At the end of the contest, 20 finalists will be compiled; these finalists will have their work uploaded to the website for a voting process to start,” said Obiagwu.

C M Y K

Anderson Obiagwu

get into that character. By the time, I’m on set, I’m who I’m supposed to be, and no longer Bridget. I’m already that character, so it comes naturally. That the way it should be.

We need to invest more in our career.”Bridget who studied Drama before travelling out of the country, said she has a desire to be part of the industry. “That’s why I came home.

It’s like you go somewhere and you come back home to bring what you have learnt. I’m not one of those that would want to keep it to themselves. I want to help educate the young filmmakers in Nigeria, and be part of the industry. I really want to be part of this industry, and I am working on actualizing that dream.”Talking about her film, “Adora” which she played the lead character,Bridget said she has always wanted to do my own production. “I have worked on various productions; from being a producer to production manager, actress and all that. I wanted to produce my own film. “Adora” is actually my first film under my company,Alliance Productions. I wanted to do something different. I to do the normal story. I had to brainstorm with Dianne and that was how the story came up. My director, certified Hollywood Director,Austeen Eboka is awesome. He took the story to another level. Adora, according to her featured international actors. The film featured Nigerian stars as well as Ghanaian and Guinean stars. It also starred Jamaicans and Hollywood stars. Everyone can relate to the film, because I kept saying that there is an Adora in everyone. That’s how I always put it. Everyone has gone through some difficult times. The film won an award at last year’s Nollywood and African Film Critics Award. It also won me Best Actress award at the Hollywood Weekly Magazine Film festival. Adora has been very well received in the United States. At NAFCA, we got about five nominations. That’s why I decided to bring the film to Nigeria. In terms of production, per-production and production took about a month, while it took about six month to edit the film. Before producing Adora, what were you doing?I was an actress or I’m still an actress. I was acting on various films. I have worked as production manager for other production companies. I have also produced film for other people. I have done stage productions, commercials. currently,I am doing a reality show in the United States, titled, “The Nigerian House wives of Atlanta.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015 —29

Yvonne Nelson leads Ghanaian celebrities on protest vigil tonight

L

EGGY actress, Yvonne Nelson and hip hop artiste, Sarkodie are leading an army of Ghanaian celebrities on a controversial procession this evening under the aegis of ‘#DumsorMustStop vigil’ to protest power outage in that country.

The celebrity vigil, which holds at Tettey Quashie Interchange, according to the organizers, will have who-iswho in the country’s entertainment industry as participants.

The walk which starts from the Legon Road, through Opkonglo traffic light, then to Shiashi junction will finally terminate at Green Park opposite the Villagio at the Tettey Quashie Interchange.

Celebrities expected to join the vigil include, DKB, Van Vicker, Confidence Haugen, Efya, Nikki Samonas, Lydia Forson, Prince David Osei, Sidney, Eddie Watson, E.L, Ama K. Abebrese among others.

The organizers were said to have taken the police around Legon, Tetteh Quarshie route where the vigil is expected to take place.

•Yvonne Nelson

on the same day under the aegis of their outfit, “Project Nollywood”, the same record has been set again. But this time by “50 Naira Story Initiative” owned by Yinka Oduniyi.

The outfit, last weekend premiered four movies at a go at the Filmhouse

Jack Daniel takes club owners to Lynchburg T

HE entertainment and nightlife industry is about to experience a boom as the international brands are paying close attention, one of which is Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel, a premium whiskey brand.

The company, is taking notable club owners in Lagos, on a week-long trip to their Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee for the ‘Buy The Barrel Program’.

The selected individuals include; Frank Okamigbo (of The Place Lounge Lekki by Papas), Okpaleke Ogbogu (Partnering Owner, Play Abuja), Shina Peller (CEO and Owner of Quilox Night Club and Aquila Group), Ibukun Shoboyede & Niran Odulana (Co Owners of Road Runners Night Club), Abubakar Atodo Isah (Co-Owner of Caribbean Lounge Abuja) and Chris Ubosi (MD Megaletrics Limited mother company to The Beat FM, Classic FM & Naija FM).

C M Y K

E

One of the lawyers for the vigil organizers, Nana Kwasi Awuah, said they have “agreed with the police on how the thing will take place.”

The vigil was initiated by actress Yvonne Nelson who began a #dumsormuststop campaign on twitter. Her campaign is said to have received adoration as well as condemnation in equal measure.

The today’s vigil reportedly did not only provoke dispute amongst political players but also triggered a major boundary dispute between two traditional councils in the Ga State.

The Ga Traditional Council insists it will resist the organisation of the vigil because it will violate the ban on drumming and noisemaking it imposed few days ago.

'50 Naira Story Initiative’ set a new record for Nollywood S

EVERAL years after the likes of Chico Ejiro, Fidelis Duker, Charles Novia and Fred Amata premiered four movies, “Caught In The Middle”, “100 Days In The Jungle’, “Senseless” and “Letter To A Stranger’,

Peggy Ovire exposes nipples

These individuals, according to the company’s spokesman, will be given the opportunity to personally handselect their very own Barrel of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel with the Master Distiller and Master Taster of Jack Daniel’s, with the barrels and bottles specially customized according to their specifications, which they will bring back to their respective establishments.

They will also have a chance to meet with Jack Daniel’s master distiller Jeff Arnett for a private tour of the grounds where they will learn about the history of the brand and will also experience a personal tasting session by the distillery’s master taster; Chris Fletcher.

Upon their return, Nigerians will begin to enjoy the southern hospitality of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel at these clubs across the country.

Cinema, Apapa, Lagos. The movies which are already showing at the cinemas include, “Beneath Her Veil” a gripping drama full of suspense, “Night for Sex,” a fascinating, yet intriguing romantic drama,” “Where Does Beauty Go” and “One Minute Man.” The movies featured notable actors including Olumide Bakare, Kalu Ikeagwu, Wole Ojo, Peggy Eloho Ovire, Tina Mba, Moyo Lawal, Yeni Kuti, Taiwo Okeowo, Rosanne Chikwendu, Tina Mba, Aderonke Shittu among others.

Speaking at the star-studded event, Yinka Oduniyi, CEO of Audio Visual First, and initiator of “50 Naira Story” said the initiative seeks to produce 18 movies each year, with an aim of discovering new talents and creating more job opportunities for industry practitioners. “AVF 50 Naira Story Initiative has created a structure where movies are produced with a model quite reminiscent of a factory production line.

We have assembled personnel working on the project. Our mandate is to produce 18 movies each year, with an aim of discovering new talents and creating more job opportunities for industry practitioners, as well as positioning the country’s vast people and resource in a positive light to the rest of the world,” he said.

Cast of the movies

x-beauty queen and rising actress, Peggy Enoho Ovire, was all eyes last weekend when she stormed the Filmhouse Cinema, Apapa Mall, Lagos, venue of the premiere of 50 Naira Story Initiative’s four movies, wearing long-cocktail dress with no bra, revealing her tantalizing nipples.

Peggy’s ravishing appearance left a silent message that she’s not only sexy and hot, but also, she’s got it and has to flaunt it at will. Endowed with moderate ‘milk bags’, the Urhobo, Delta State-born actress, who starred in one of the movies, “Beneath Her Evil” was the cynosure of attraction at the event which marked a new dawn for the country ’s movie industry. She allowed her bare chest to do all the talking and attention grabbing, as paparazzis had a field day, taking shots of her exposed nipples at random. Her dressing, however, reflected the role she played in the movie as an disadvantaged victim of her own circumstance “Dede” who eventually uses her natural assets to change her own life fortunes. Peggy ’s jour ney to stardom started after she starred in the movie, “Best of Enemies.”

Peggy Enoho Ovire

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIES AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP!

30—SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

By BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com

ByTOFARATI IGE

C M Y K

A NIGHT AT THE NEW SHRINE

Fela still alive but Femi is king

subdued version of his father. But today, it’s apparent that he is in total control of his stage. He touches on contemporary issues in his songs just like Fela did: The missing billions of dollars, workers’ strike, epileptic electricity, privatization, religion all find expression in his lyrics. He performs songs such as ‘Africa must Unite,’ ‘Stop Aids,’ ‘E get as e Be.’ In one of his songs, he sermonizes, ‘Ritual Killings/kidnapping on the rise’, ‘children used for sacrifice’, ‘evil spirit don take over their minds’, ‘evil people will do anything to survive’, ‘evil people dey everywhere’, ‘they have their agents near you, you better beware/planting seeds of fear/evil people, their agenda is very clear/ power and money at any cost/anything good on their way, they

always destroy/evil people can never know true joy Interestingly, the hall is full of youths who would have been wearing diapers during Fela’s epoch. An indisputable tourist attraction, Asians and Caucasians are also spotted enjoying the music deeply.

Yeni Kuti, who is the manager of the shrine, moves around to make sure that business flows smoothly.

At a point, Femi stops the musical performance and begins to speak about the state of the nation. “ I just came back from Paris. It was very hard work, but I also met with my idols like Herbie Hancock who I used to listen to when I was small. I didn’t know they listen to

,

O

n getting to the new Af rikan Shrine situated at Agidingbi, Ikeja, some smell hits you.

Smoke from weeds, cigarettes and the smell of alcohol mix freely with the oxygen in the atmosphere.

As if to re-assure the fainthearted, the presence of a police van and gun-wielding cops instills a measure of confidence.

It is time for the weekly Sunday jump and this reporter is on hand to witness Fela’s son, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti’s first performance since his return from the International Jazz Day which took place in France.

With a strict abhorrence for African timing, the show kicks off shortly after the advertised time of 7pm with the band playing some of Fela’s old tunes such as ‘Shakara Oloje’ while the scantily-clad dancers move vigorously and sensuously to the heady rhythm emanating from the drums, keyboard and other music instruments. Performance from the band is just to warm up the guests for Femi’s performance which was to follow.

Various inscriptions such as ‘Beware, Aids is Real: Protect Yourself,’ ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall: Africa Must Unite’ adorn the walls.

To further emphasize the fact that the shrine is a republic of its own, illicit drugs are not allowed inside even though they are freely consumed just outside the premises. In case anyone is not aware, ‘Drugs are not allowed in the Shrine’ is boldly written before the entrance.

Continuing in line of the Abami Eda’s political activism, an enlarged picture of Punch Newspaper’s Sunday, April 8, 2012 edition indicting former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the third term saga, hangs on the wall. It reads, ‘Obasanjo a joker, liar, he was behind third term- Nnamani, others.’

Pictures of great African leaders such as Thomas Sankara, Nelson Mandela among others also add colour to the Shrine.

The atmosphere turns electric by the time Femi, the scion of Fela steps on stage with his 14-man band. Even though the hall is halffull by this time, guests continue to trickle in and after a while it turns a full house of men and women.

Reminiscent of the good old days of Fela, the dancers are in synch with the sounds entertaining with their styles.

Before his show on stage Femi says, ‘I believe that someday, Africa will be free. If you’re familiar with how we operate at the New Afrikan Shrine, you’ll know that we do not talk too much. Just three hours of good music.’

Critics argue that Femi isn’t very energetic on stage, that he is a

I was performing, and Fela sat by the side of the stage. All of a sudden, he told me to stop, and asked me who composed the song I was singing; when I replied that I was the one, he asked me to report to his house everyday for one month so he could assess me

,

my songs and that they like me too. I’m proud to represent Africa. A journalist asked me if I wasn’t afraid to play with people of such caliber; I replied that I didn’t go to school, so I don’t know the meaning of being afraid.

From Agidingbi, Ikeja, I can take my music to the centre of the world today. When I got back to Lagos, the first thing they told me was that there was no petrol. As if that was not enough, they told me my generator had also developed a fault. The problems are just coming in, and I said I understand: welcome to hell! This is hell; on the other hand, welcome to change.’

He welcomes the people and briefly speaks about his place: ‘This is the shrine where we don’t compromise our integrity.’

SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—31

By BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com

Fela still alive but Femi is king Also commenting on the legendary Mayweather versus Pacquiao fight, he says, ‘Racism still thrives in America, so I’m happy for Mayweather, because a black man is making so much money.’

He also reveals that his late father, Fela did not initially believe in him, and used to think he didn’t write his songs himself. In his words, ‘There was a day I was performing, and Fela sat by the side of the stage. All of a sudden, he told me to stop, and asked me who composed the song I was singing; when I replied that I was the one, he asked me to report to his house everyday for one month so he could assess me.

Many thought it was my father that wrote my songs, but I wrote ‘Bang Bang Bang’ after his death, and it became not just a local, but international hit. Even the Nigerian press tried to kill my career before I began making it in France.

Now, I have four Grammy nomiC M Y K

nations. If you think I’m successful because my name is Anikulapo, then change your name and see if you’ll make it.’

Commenting on Femi’s performance and juxtaposing it with his late father’s style, pianist and one of Fela’s band boys, Duro Ikujenyo says, ‘Well, Fela died about 18 years ago and there have been many changes even in the country. Now, we have so-called democracy, and in a way, the people can choose their leaders themselves. It is completely different from when Fela was here and there was complete anarchy. They beat and arrested us every time. I think Femi’s songs are enough to tell you that things have not really changed in this country. The structure is still the capitalist one that the white man put in place for us to mess up ourselves. But Femi has also changed the face of the shrine by having such a big structure in place, and you can also see

the number of dancers and instrumentalists he has on stage. Femi is consistent and hardworking, and he has been able to carry Afrobeat to the international level. He is completely in control of what he is doing, and he is taking it to another level. If Fela was alive, I don’t think he would be doing anything better than what Femi is doing now.’

Also speaking, a Purto-Rican, Xavier Relo stated that he really enjoys Femi’s performance at the shrine. According to him, ‘I’ve been travelling for a long time and I’ve spent about a year in Nigeria.

I’ve been to other countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, Morocco, Senegal, Mali, among others. I got my letter of invitation from Seun Kuti. I feel really blessed to be here and I feel like I’ve been blessed with the consciousness of a higher existence. What attracts me to Afrobeat is the energy in the music. Great feeling”.

32— SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

I

By DAMILOLA SHOLOLA

I’ve always h all my lif

K Ogbonna is regarded as one of the hottest sex symbols in the Nigerian entertainment industry for his suave looks and carriage. He carries an air of a knight in shining armour. He started out as a model but has since become an actor of note in Nollywood.

He has been fingered in many romantic affairs, involving girls from within and outside entertainment circle. His Colombian fiancée, Sonia Lareina who is pregnant with his first child flew all the way from Colombia to settle down with him after becoming friends on Instagram. In this exclusive interview, he talks about his fast growing career, life and more.

•Says “I will will go to

What movie are you working on now?

It’s a movie called The Potters Clay starring myself, Jibola Dabo, Yvonne Jegede and a whole lot of other actors What is it like working with the cast?

It’s very nice, they are all welcoming. They are hardworking people and we are all determined to bring out the best in the production What has been your biggest movie so far?

I can’t really say I have a movie that I would call my biggest because I’ve done over 30 movies in my career and a lot of people would find different movies as their best. I’m just an actor and my job is to deliver and my fans are the consumers; they are the ones that can say I think IK’s best movie is this or that but I’ve done many movies with renowned producers and directors and upcoming producers too. I’m actually going to be starring in a movie with Theresa Dickson very soon; she’s a new producer and it’s actually her second movie

There are rumors that you’ve slept with a lot of Nollywood actresses.

That can’t be true; people can only say what they want to say because a lot of people believe that you can only get something by selling your body but I don’t roll that way.

I’m strictly God’s child and I belong to the ‘Umu Chineke community’, that is Children of God community. I’m strictly God’s property and he takes care of my business for me.

Most of the actresses are my friends, they’re like my sisters. I’ve probably dated one of them before which was probably out there and that’s what it is. If I was in a relationship with that person, it was a relationship and I don’t just go frolicking around from one actress to another

•IK Ogbonna

Have you won any awards?

Yeah, I’ve won a few awards; there’s the Cynosure Awards, there’s Avant-garde, there’s Milo Awards I won some years ago and a few other ones. I was nominated for the NEA’s last year and I was also nominated for the AMVCA (Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards) in the Best Actor in a Drama Category. I did not win but it is a grace on its own being nominated

With who do you relate best on set?

A lot of people; as far as you’re a good actor and you can deliver, let’s do it. Worst thing for an actor is when you’re working with someone that can’t flow at your pace, it puts you off balance. Alex Ekubo and I, when we’re on set it’s the bomb because we just relate real good. I’ve worked with Majid Michel, John Dumelo, Van Vicker, a lot of actors and there’s always that chemistry on set. Coming to the female folks we have Ini Edo, Martha Ankomah, Funke Akindele, Monalisa Chinda, Rukky Sanda, I’ve worked with a lot of female people. They

What has been the highpoint of your career?

Highest point of my career so far is coming to terms with the fact that this is what I have to do right now and I have to really face it and bring the best out of it. I can’t really finger point a particular incident but if I would pick anything so far it’s getting the recognition of AMVCA. They are the biggest in Africa and for them to recognize you and put you in a category for Best Actor in Africa; I think it’s a high point Are you planning to get married soon?

We are engaged and hopefully we should do that sometime very soon but we’ve not fixed a date yet

What attracted you to her?

She’s an awesome person and we met off social media. I had broken up with the relationship I had and at that point I was really not thinking of getting into any relationship. A friend of mine pointed her instagram page to me and I wasn’t really interested in surfing the internet at that point in time but then again, I had a second look at her page and I was liking her pictures and unconsciously she was liking my pictures and from there, we started talking and it was almost as if it was just meant to be. It was just two people with like minds coming together with a lot of positive chemistry being built up and then before you know anything it was like boom, it happened You said you left a breakup.

I always like keeping my past away; they say that It is not nice to visit dead issues so when you’ve passed something, let it stay there. I don’t usually like talking about my exes because they all

have their individual lives they’re living right now and it would be very impolite of me talking about someone’s life so I just face mine.

How do you handle your female admirers?

I grew up having female admirers all my life- right from being a child. In school, I always had female folks flocking around me so I’ve always been used to them, so, it’s nothing new to me. Being an actor just increased everything and I have a lot of attention from a lot of people; a lot of people like my work, my presence. They like me for my style, people like me for different reasons. One thing I keep in mind is the fact that these people are basically 80% of the reason that my brand is established today. I know my lines and a lot of people know where they draw their own lines although a few people really don’t know where to draw the lines. However, it’s in my part to still be friendly and try to, in a mature way, deal with the situation.

,

How far along is she?

She’s in her 7th month now so from my calculations, she has about 2 more months to go.

My tattoos should be my business with God and if you feel I’ll go to hell for having a tattoo, I’ll meet you in hell because the Bible says ‘Do not Judge’

,

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015 — 33

had female admirers fe — Ik Ogbonna

meet you in hell if you think I hell because of my tattoos” Ekubo and I, when we’re on set it’s the bomb because we just relate real good. I’ve worked with Majid Michel, John Dumelo, Van Vicker, a lot of actors and there’s always that chemistry on set. Coming to the female folks we have Ini Edo, Martha Ankomah, Funke Akindele, Monalisa Chinda, Rukky Sanda, I’ve worked with a lot of female people. They are all wonderful actresses and when I’m given a script, we try to create a synergy and a chemical working environment for us to work and understand ourselves, so I can’t really pinpoint a particular person and say this is someone that I’ve had better chemistry working with.

A lot of people in Nigeria are against tattoos and you have lots of it on you. What’s your view on tattoo?

I respect their opinion but I think they should pay more attention to socio-economical problems that we have right now. We have a lot of issues in Nigeria; there’s Boko Haram, missing Chibok girls, there’s hike in price of the dollar, fuel price instability, there are a lot of things that people should focus on and not my tattoos. My tattoos should be my business with God and if you feel I’ll go to hell for having a tattoo, I’ll meet you in hell because the Bible says ‘Do not Judge’. If you’re judging me for having a tattoo, we’ll go and meet in hell and pop bottles of champagne, you get what I mean? I’m a child of God and what I have on my body are psalms and to me it’s body art. I believe God doesn’t look at the outward; he looks at the heart so you can be busy living busybody life and then your heart is dirty but I keep my heart clean, that’s my business with God. My body is art and it’s like putting a cloth on my body; God won’t judge you because you’re wearing rags or because a girl is wearing miniskirts, He judges you from your heart.

How do you view modeling in Nigeria?

Modeling in Nigeria is a total mess of what it’s supposed to be. I’ve modeled in America, I’ve modeled in South Africa, I’ve modeled in U.K and I know how these things work. The modeling industry in Nigeria, from the models all the way to the agents, they are very unprofessional and there’s corruption in the system. You call a model that knows his worth for a billboard and you’re pricing him N500, 000 which is probably what the brand would have given him but the advertising agency wants to cut off the money and pay the model N200, 000.

The model who knows his worth is not going to collect that money but someone else is willing to come and do that job for free, so it’s corruption.

It is very wrong when as a brand manager you are driving in a Range Rover Sport, the advertising agency workers are driving in big cars because of money they got from corruption and then models are busy flying bikes, it is wrong.

We should all work hand in hand and let everyone

feed instead of selfishly acquiring wealth for ourselves What is your idea of a good actor?

A good actor is a good listener, a good actor is a person that can leave the shell of his personal self and become a character. A good actor is someone that is ready to read and understand his script. For me as a person, I started acting without the basic knowledge of what acting should really be but over time and experience, I got to realize that there’s more to acting than just being a fine boy or dressing good or reading lines. When you act you should actually feel what you’re acting and I’m working on myself every single day to try and become a very good actor.

•IK Ogbonna

•IK Ogbonna

34—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

AS DR UDUAGHAN HANDS OVER TO DR OKOWA Dr Rukevwe Ugwumba gets emotional on Delta’s feat in health sector and why they will remain tops •Interview with a Diaspora doctor in Nigeria

S

pecial Adviser to the Delta State Governor on Health Monitoring,Dr. Rukevwe Ugwumba, is an interviewer’s delight. Armed with good looks, intelligence, impressive character and an amiable disposition, the 45-year-old Family Physician, was invited from her base in Toronto, Canada, five years ago to bring her experience of more than 20 years in the Diaspora, to bear on the fortunes of the health sector in Delta State.

In this interview with Sola Ogundipe, she tells of her experience as a Diaspora doctor in Nigeria.

Excerpts:

C M Y K

What motivated you to come back to Nigeria from Canada?

I’m a Family Physician. I was brought in from Canada to become the Special Adviser to the Delta State Governor on Health Monitoring. I would love to see everything under one roof. When I was hired in the 2nd tenure of this administration, there was never a Special Adviser on health before. I am the first in the state. There were so many free programmes, specifically for the under fives and maternal health, which run into so many millions every year. My office is Special Adviser on Health Monitoring, so having a health monitor role is like a specialised

overseeing role. Delta has three Permanent Secretaries in the health sector and is probably the only state with that number - one in the Ministry, one in the hospital management board, and one in the primary healthcare development board. It’s such a huge sector.

Tell us about your experience in the Diaspora Everything is like clockwork in the Diaspora. You wouldn’t expect power to go out and then having to do this. To be honest, some Nigerians work under very tough conditions. I’m talking about our

Continues on page 35

•Dr uk e vw e Ugwumba •Dr.. R Ruk uke vwe

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—35

Continues from page 34 health staff and it would not occur that for a Diaspora doctor, you cannot pay them for certain conditions such as seeing very high volume patients, having little rest, no power sometimes, etc., but Nigeria needs to get many things right. The power issue is urgent, if we can get that sorted out, everything else will fall into place.

Education is what made me special from any child in my village because I’m properly educated to have information. I know what to do and I can secure myself an income, so I’m not impoverished.

Most young girls are vulnerable nowadays because they do not really have a solid, tangible source of income, and so the economics is driving them into some very terrible practices and that’s something we need to look at in general. But harnessing our human capital is vital and to properly staff it.

What exactly is the role of a Family Physician/General Practitioner?

I’m a Family physician or General Practitioner, GP. I found out in those days that GPs were doctors that didn’t even train. They just came into medicine and opened shop. In England, a GP needs five years of training and goes through serious training to get certified. The GP is therefore the more important doctor because without seeing the GP you cannot see another physician. It is one thing that we are trying to do in Delta State to have the referral system organised, so that people go to the right speciality in order to reduce the burden on the hospital.

And so, in England, you just cannot walk into the hospital and say you have a headache because no one is going to see you. You will be there for hours in the Emergency room. After they check your blood pressure, they’ll ask you to wait and after 12-14 hours you’ll leave except you are having a stroke or the ambulance picked you up, or you fell on the street, you need to go to your GP who’ll do some tests and then send you off to the right specialist. This system is efficient because of that and it is special.

Hence it is called a speciality.

So the GP is the most important person because he or she is the triad, the basket that filters everyone into the right places. And when they are done, they send the patients back to the GP who will care for them. The GP is a very special doctor. You have to have knowledge, every doctor goes through the same training, then you get more specialised as you go up.

But if you did your medical school and said you wanted to become a surgeon, you may not have the skills of a GP who has to have skills in every speciality including even taking delivery and all that and that’s what I do. It’s a very nice practice. In Canada it’s called the Family Doctor. In England it is called General Practice.

What are your duties as Special Adviser on Health?

As Special Adviser, I report directly to the Governor and he wanted a situation where an independent person can advise on these things. Coming from the Diaspora, I have expedience to bear. I trained in the UK, I did my basic education in Nigeria, obtained MBBS in University of Benin, but never really worked in Nigeria. I did everything else in C M Y K

‘I do not know any other state that has this low ratio of Maternal Mortality’ England and then went Canada and the US. The Governor wanted somebody with working experience in the Diaspora to come and influence what’s going on in the state. He wanted a complement for everything to blend and to entrench what is known as patient-centred care.

Your initial impressions in Delta State...

When I first came, there was a kind of unease at the initial period, but the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Otumara, fortunately, had been Commissioner before, so we are both grounded in the system. We work well together, and he made it comfortable for me, because he saw that we could be very synergistic. I have a lot of energy, may be too much energy, and I want everything done and done now. I was lucky the Commissioner is well grounded.

My boss understood that I had some character that I was able to cope and so he did not give me a job description, he just said: go bring your experience to bear, and so I have learned some things. It’s not all bad. Nigerians are resilient about their innovations, and getting creative ways to do things.

Do people see you as a stickler for routine?

In the Diaspora, no one will pay you one penny when you do not work for it, so I’m used to accounting for my time, and the culture where some people think they should be paid for what they have not done would not work.

Over there in the Diaspora, time is so precious, thus is the training

•Dr •Dr.. Ugwumba

we are trying to bring up, to let people know that if someone is paying for your time, account for it well. Get your bang for your buck and not be cheating the system because it comes back to you. Even if the system does not catch you, something else will.

Challenges?

I had challenges and I’m still having them. The system is very resistant to change. It’s just the Nigerian way. People feel that the proper things many not give them what they deserve, that it will not reward them. Some think their salaries are not enough for them, and so they have to have extra ways to make money. In the civil service some people cut corners, create bureaucracies just because they want to have a little gain, and be in power. But I’m proud of Nigerians. Nigerians do not like to die, when Ebola came, there was cooperation, we started learning from each other, and we realised that Nigerians do indeed understand what it is to be on time, and what it is to do proper screening protocol, and what it is to pass information to each other.

Information sharing is key.

A personal experience that has influenced your career...

My father had diabetic kidney disease. He was one of the lucky ones who knew he was diabetic when he was in his 40s. Most people his age didn’t even know what diabetes was 20 years ago.

He hadn’t managed it properly so by the time he was 67, diabetes had done a lot of damage to his body including the kidney. So at that time, he was in England,

In healthcare he has far excelled beyond any other governor in Nigeria. I can say that easily.

Go to Oghara Teaching Hospital and see what is on ground there

under good care and was fine.

As a family physician, I knew my father’s renal condition was not the worst I’ve seen. I’ve seen a lot of patients with very poor kidneys, no matter how good you are as a diabetic, you die sooner, because diabetes ages you, the healthiest person would die at 100, maybe 110, but a diabetic that is very good would die at maybe 90. My father died at 77, but at that age, I don’t believe he had a natural death.

He had a little fever and went to a clinic, got tested and was found to be anaemic which is typical of kidney disease and diabetes. He also had malaria.

So this “nice” doctor gave my father antimalarial drugs and a blood transfusion, which actually killed him. It killed him because the kidneys were too weak and could not handle protein. He should have been given blood. He was anaemic but was compensating for years. And so this doctor did not know because he was in a private clinic.

I was probably my father’s favourite child and it was a very difficult thing for me to lose my father, because it was actually a preventable thing. I was angry and that was one of the things that brought me back. I wanted to know what I could do to correct things like that. Blood is an expensive commodity. Most people cant even afford to get blood and you cannot even buy it. So I’m wondering why that would be the first line of treatment recommended for my father in his condition. Of course he recovered for a while, but his kidneys were done in and he had to be on dialysis and all that. Really, my father didn’t want that kind of situation and he died that same year. He was in chronic renal failure and then this put him in acute renal failure that just killed him eventually.

Your take on the Uduaghan administration..

My boss has made a difference through me. Delta State was already doing well before I came because we have a physician Governor. We were already on the right path. The Governor is somebody who likes to put round pegs in round holes. He invited me to come here and so really it is to his credit knowing who fits where and what they can bring.

It’s part of leadership. In healthcare he has far excelled beyond any other governor in Nigeria. I can say that easily.

Go to Oghara Teaching Hospital and see what is on ground there. Healthcare is very costly and we really need to get it right in Nigeria, I would love to see a situation where healthcare is not paid by government alone. Even for this free healthcare, people who are working need to pay health insurance. In the UK where I trained, you do not pay when you go see a doctor except it’s your own private healthcare, but the money has already come out from your tax. If we increase our internally generated revenue (IGR) we can really do something more.

People need to trust their

Continues on page 36

36—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

‘Delta state No.1 in healthcare’ Continues from page 35 government, there is an element of distrust that does not help on the long run, but this Governor understood what he needed to do. I know he was heavily challenged with funding because he had more to do than money, even with that, posterity will be very kind to him.

What can you say about your boss?

We are very lucky in Delta state to have a man like him as the Governor.

Not only is he a medical doctor, he was a Commissioner for Health, and Secretary to the State Government (SSG). He understands both the professional and administrative aspects. He is bound to succeed based on just his physical experience.

Now he is handing over to another medical doctor, who was also Commissioner for Health as well as SSG, who has significant administrative experience. But even more than that, he went to Abuja and became the Chairman of the Senate Health Committee, so handing over to somebody he has worked with and

who understands the intricacies and rigours of government as it were, the limitations of budgeting and what not, is a huge plus and we are all one family. That is encouraging.

I like the Governor’s slogan. He wants prosperity for all Deltans and that’s huge, Prosperity is a very big word because when you look at it, we have been talking health, wealth, stomach infrastructure and what not, and so we need to work very hard to be able to achieve this prosperity for every one. Let’s just say I’m excited about tomorrow for Delta State. We are very fortunate to have a close family knit where everyone is one. This Governor has put the house in order. And so I really want to applaud that.

Your advise to the incoming Governor...

For the new person that is coming in, it is going to be a seamless handing over because they have worked together coming from the same pool. They have been in Government House at the same time in different capacities and even in Abuja.

Okowa sponsored some health bills and we know that Delta state will benefit from this new physician Governor that is coming in. And I do not expect us to do anything less than continuing to be the best in healthcare among other things. As a government we are the best. I do not know of any other government that did free kidney transplant or even kidney transplant in their state government teaching hospital; I do not know any other that subsidized dialysis up to 75 percent for renal patients. I do not know any other government that does free maternal treatment and pays for Caesarean Sections all across the state. I do not know any other that has this low ratio of maternal mortality - all state sponsored. These are the facts.

There is a transition committee going on now, and I have been invited to be part of it. It is a 90-plus committee. I’m in the health and education sub-committee and were aiming to bring out a transition government policies and programmes. The committee has been working on a blueprint. I’m hoping we can say things that will continue to make Delta state No.1 in healthcare among other things

Your hopes for the future In 20 years time, I would be 65. Do I need to be in Diaspora at 65? Like my children, I don’t know what they will contribute in Canada. They will be able to contribute because they are strong kids and bright, but they need more to be here, what I have to do here is far more important to what I have to do there. Nigeria is not going to build herself; we all have to build Nigeria, and it will take a long time to do that.

For instance, Canada has 150 years of democracy. I moved to Canada about 12 years ago, and what it is now and 10 years ago, are different. The development is so rapid, everything is so rapid and looks so perfect; so we need to come and start this work here and that’s how it gets okay here. The bottom line is we will get there. I am excited for tomorrow, the democracy has improved, the quality is there and that’s what we really need to help Nigeria.

SEXUAL ISSUES & SOLUTIONS SEXUAL ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS PREMATURE EJACULATION TREATMENT (I) BEHAVIOURAL TECHNIQUE – is called the Seman’s Stop and start technique. It involves learning to control the sensations prior to ejaculation. This begins as a solo exercise. This techniques involves squeezing the head of the penis just before the ejaculation o lessen the urge to ejaculate. Your partner should begin by masturbating alone, bringing himself close to orgasm and stopping. After relaxing, he should continue bringing himself closer and closer to orgasm until he can’t hold it any longer. (Doing this several times by himself without distraction will help him learn where his point of no return is.) When he feels that he has mastered the technique, the two of you should engage in sexual activity that stops short of intercourse.

Hello, im a 65 year old man , I do enjoy having sex but I have very weak erection and premature ejaculation due to the diabetes that im treating.

One of my friend who suffers the same fate got Xzen 1200 from you, can I get Xzen 1200 or what do you suggest? Caleb Mr Caleb, Xzen 1200is a potent herbal supplement that gives very strong erection on demand; but I will advise you take Prosolution pills you want to correct both weak erection and premature ejaculation simultaneously.

Prosolutionis also a herbal supplement that really helps erectile dysfunction especially for men that are diabetic or hypertensive and it gives no side effect even to men who have no health issues.

I have been using Vigrx plus and plump cream for the past three months and I got an increase of 2inches to the length and about an inch to the width. Do I need to continue using or should I stop cos Im happy with the result I got – Ola Dear Ola, im glad you are happy with the increment you got on your penis. Since you are ok with the result you got with Vigrx plusand Plump creamwhich gives a fast and permanent enlargement, you don’t need to continue using.

However, I’l advise that if you want to maintain the result you got, you need to get a pack of Vigrx plusonce in 6 months.

I have been reading about your article , im a 38 year old woman and I always have very painful C M Y K

intercourse which I never enjoy, what can you advise I take? Bola Hello Bola, I wouldn’t know if you have given birth or not, but if you have had children, your libido and urge for sex will drop totally. i‘ll advice you take the Germany Sex drops or Libigirl pills you take some 30 minutes before sex to arouse you. The work of Germany sex drops is perfected when combined with an arousal gel like Clit sensitizer, Mood arousal gel,Cleopatra’s secretwhen you massage just a little quantity on the clitoris. I believe if you are well aroused, you will be in the mood and enjoy the sex; you can also get lubricants like Mood, Moistetc to wet your vagina in case you become dry in the process of lovemaking .

Viewden, pls do you still have Rhino 5 and Sexvoltz? These two work like magic for me andi cant seem to get them anywhere- Bright Bright, Rhino 5and Sexvoltzare both readily available. Most people like Rhino 5because just one capsule work in their system for 5 days and keep them active. Sexvoltzon the other hand gives very strong erection on demand and the effect of one capsule last in the body for 3 days.

Thank you so much Viewden, I used Prosolution for two months and now i don’t experience premature ejaculation again and I can even go more than one round if I want, cos I recover quickly after any ejaculation - Titus Mr Titus, you are highly welcome. We at Viewden feel fulfilled when our recommended products gives a satisfying result to the customer that uses them. Prosolutionis a very potent and effective herbal supplement that handles premature ejaculation.

Hi , Im a 49 year old man, pls can you give me your top five products that can give strong erection on demand; I want to try them all and know which one works better for me- Chris We retail a lot of erection enhancers for men.

However, we have some top scorers that don’t readily select the body they work in and are very effective. They include- X-again, Xzen 1200, Libigrow, Rhino 5, Sexvoltz, Plant Vigra etc.

We’ll be expecting your order soon.

These are all we can take for this week. Adults who needs any of these aphrodisiacs can cal 08034666358, 07059294782 or place your order at www.viewden.com . For further enquiries,send

an email to us at: vieweden@yahoo.com , viewden@ymail.com .

Kemi Fawole (MD)

E

NYIMBA head coach Kadiri Ikhana has said that he was left disappointed

by Giwa FC’s tactics in last weekend goalless draw in Aba. The Aba Millionaires lost more ground on the league

Can Sharks stop Ifeanyi Uba Utd in Nnewi?

By Jacob Ajom

C

OMING on the heels of a scintillating 3-3 draw away to Taraba FC, fans of Ifeanyi Uba United can’t wait for the start of this weekend’s Glo Premier League fixture which pitches their darling club against Sharks of Port Harcourt. The Nnewi club have garnered 14 points from 8 matches, scoring an impressive 11 goals as against 6 conceded.

It is their never-say-die attitude that has seen them achieve the unthinkable in recent weeks.

Penultimate weekend, the Nnewi side downed 6-time champions Enyimba International of Aba 2-0 in Nnewi, Rangers International of Enugu suffered the same fate. Before Rangers, Warri Wolves suffered a similar fate thus gradually turning their home ground into a slaughter slab for big names.

With strikers like Oluchukwu Nwosu, Abuchi Okereke and a rear manned by experienced

Super Eagles defender, Chibuzor Okonkwo, the club have an excellent home record that could frighten any visiting team.

Correspondingly, Sharks of Port Harcourt lay 18th in the log with a miserly 7 points from 8 matches. Sharks have shown that they are bad travellers.

Their best away record this season is 2-2 draw against draw specialists Lobi Stars at the Aper Aku Stadium. Sharks lost to Pillars in Kano 2-0, to Rangers 1-0. Their form has not been inspiring. Against this contrasting vein of forms, it is expected that the hosts will carry the day. However, it is the surprise element that makes the Glo Premier League tick.

In other fixtures, 14-placed Taraba FC will be visiting table toppers, Giwa FC. With the bitter feeling of an early elimination from the Federation Cup by lowly Kukuruku Dragons FC, the hosts will go all out to punish their guests in tomorrow’s encounter.

Giwa’s league form has been an interesting aspect of the 2014/15 Glo Premier League.

The Plateau State front-runners have only dropped points at home once, when Abia Warriors stopped them with a goaless draw in March. Clubs like Bayelsa United lost there 3 – 1, Akwa United 4 – 0 and Sunshine United 1- 0. There don’t appear to be any escape route for Taraba FC.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015 — 37

Ikhana blasts Giwa’s ‘frustrating’ tactics

against Dolphins in Port Harcourt,” he said. “We must first go to Oshogbo where we are scheduled to face Nasarawa Feeders.” That was for the Federation Cup. The coach also applauded the good officiating that has now pervaded the premier league stating that people’s mentality about match officials in Nigeria would change if the present norm is sustained till the end of the season.

He said it was nice that the league is getting to that level when clubs can win matches anywhere without incurring the wrath of the home fans and supporters, adding that with the new order legitimate clubs would win the league and go ahead to represent Nigeria on the continent.

table courtesy of the draw as they are four points off the top of the table with only 12 points from eight matches.

“I can’t really say that Giwa FC played Awell because they came with a strategy to frustrate our strikers Aand with occasional forays on the counter,” Ikhana tsaid.

Ikhana said that his players were at their best against the Jos Elephants but that their undoing during the match was their inability to convert the chances that came noting that all that would be corrected when they face Dolphins in Port Harcourt tomorrow.

“My boys tried their best but we lost the chances that came our way. I have spoken to my players and they have promised an improved outing

Adetola targets Glo Premier League ticket with Mighty

M

ticket to play in the Nigeria Premier League because we narrowly missed out last season after losing our last game owing to loss of concentration in the last ten minutes of the game,” Adetola said.

“We are not leaving no stone unturned this time around as we have been sweating it out during our trainings to perfect our moves ahead the new league season.

“The weather condition in the northern part of the country will not affect us this time around because we are getting used to it every day, as most of our games with be in Gombe , Zamfara and other hot regions in the country.”

IGHTY Jets midfielder, Ayo Adetola has revealed that his side’s ambition is to secure a Nigeria Premier League ticket at the end of the season.

The Jos based side face Zamfara United when the Nigeria Pro-league begins this weekend in various stadia across the country.

Coach Audu Pele’s side missed out of promotion last season after bowing to Adamawa United in their last game of the season with Kwara United profiting from the slip, and the creative midfielder told Goal that his side have learnt from their mistakes.

“Our target is to secure a

FIXTURES FOR SUNDAY 17/05/2015 Gabros United Giwa FC Dolphins FC El-Kanemi Wikki Tourists Heartland FC Shooting Stars Nasarawa United Kwara United Abia Warriors

v v v v v v v v v v

Sharks FC Taraba FC Enyimba Bayelsa United Lobi Stars Akwa United Rangers Sunshine Stars Warri Wolves Kano Pillars

RANKING(S): NPFL 2014/2015 Shooting Stars players celebrating

Shooting Stars renew rivalry against Rangers

T

he Adamasingba Stadium Ibadan will witness a re-enactment of the legendary rivalry between two of Nigeria’s most successful clubs in the 80s as Shooting Stars Sports Club(3SC) host Rangers International of Enugu in the Glo Premier League week 9 fixture.

Although the clubs have suffered mixed fortunes in the ongoing season, they still enjoy a large following among Nigerian football fans.

The two teams are in the bottom half of the table, it is expected that the battle tomorrow is beyond the three points at stake. History has shown that any match between these two sides ignites a high level of passion, particularly among their

teeming fans. With 3SC lying 17 in the log and Rangers 13, the match would therefore offer the two teams the opportunity to re-enact hope in the managements and fans. Already, Rangers Coach, Kelechi Emeteole has been under immense pressure to perform. Last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Heartland of Owerri provided a breather for the embattled coach.

On his part, 3SC Coach Franklin Howard who just led the team back to the topflight at the end of last season is under pressure to ensure they do not return to the lower division at the end of the season. He would want to use Rangers to kickstart that revival.

Club Sunshine Stars Giwa FC Gabros United Wikki Tourists El-Kanemi Warriors Abia Warriors Kano Pillars Heartland FC Enyimba Int’l Kwara United Warri Wolves FC Nasarawa United Rangers Int ‘l Taraba FC Dolphins FC Akwa United FC Shooting Stars Sharks FC Bayelsa United Lobi Stars FC

P 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 6 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 8

W 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 0

D 1 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 1 0 3 3 2 1 4 4 6

L 2 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 2 3 2 4 5 3 3 4 4 3 3 2

Pts 16 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 12 11 10 10 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 6

38—SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015

Chief Executive Officer of the League Management Company, Honourable Nduka Irabor was guest of the Vanguard Round Table Conference, Monday, May 11.

He spoke on a wide range of issues concerning the workings of the LMC, Nigerian football and why Nigerians should take over the ownership of football clubs from government. Excerpts: What is LMC all about?

T

he League Management Company is a corporate body institutionalised to revive the Nigerian Professional Football League.

People sometimes get confused that it is a committee, may be because of the way the league was being run. It was in the 2012/2013 season that this body was formed to help organise elections for the League Board. We were given a seven-point agenda, including the clause that gave us the liberty to do any other thing that could bring about a positive turn around for our league.

It must be stated that the League, as we met it, was a crumbling house. We inherited nothing. We are starting from ground zero.

Since the commencement of the professional league in 1990, we have kept making pretensions.

Unfortunately, this crumbling continued until we were called in. There was no legal structure. We needed a legal entity. The league was run by the NFL Limited. In February 2012 the court ruled that the NFL Ltd was illegally constituted. We therefore, decided to set up a company. We set up a company in trust and people misconstrued it to be a private company. It has now come to stay, because the day I leave, it will be handed over to those who would takeover from us, the company continues.

Do the provisions of Decree 101 affect the running of the league?

Decree 101 or what you call Cap 110 today does not concern the League, it concerns the football federation.

However, in the provisions for the federation, which is part of our statutes as a nation and recognised by the world football governing body FIFA, they do have powers to delegate or sub divide their functions to anybody. So what has happened now is, the football federation has asked the League Management Company to run the elite league for them. What we are doing is beginning to transcend as the lower leagues are beginning to adopt this.

The Nigeria National League, NNL, which is supposed to be the second division has also incorporated. They are all running in that manner. What we have simply done is to adopt a high breed of what the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga run their leagues, the same concept.

I want to make something clear, we are not a government agency. Although we derive our right to run the league from a government agency, we are not a government agency.

In the Sharks vs Taraba fixture, which was aired on television, the standard of the game was good but the sad aspect of the game was that the stands were empty.

I won’t give you a direct answer. It is a wrong assumption to say that the stands were empty. It is a global phenomenon that most leagues are

How community effort can save Nigeria’s football — Irabor

By Jacob Ajom suffering from the invasion of homes by the consumption of football through technology. You don’t need to see Sharks/Taraba when you can watch Chelsea/Man U. But there is a certain patriotic zeal that makes people go to the stadiums. We all used to do it. We used to travel to Ibadan, to Abeokuta, Enugu. But then there was no TV. Today, you have to love football before you want to go to the stadium. A recent study carried out by a certain body say most Nigerians love foreign clubs and don’t like their league, but they put that about 14% of Nigerians who like their local league say they do that out of patriotism. Football itself is like representing a tribe. You belong to either the blue or red side of Manchester, or Chelsea or Arsenal.

They all have their tribes, represented by their colours. We have a phenomenon going on here.

Yesterday(Sunday) we had 10,500 spectators at the Sani Abacha stadium, Kano, 5,4000 in Akure, in Enugu we had over 5,000. You see, people are coming back to the stadiums.

I will tell you why people stopped going to the stadiums, in the first place.

The credibility of the results were always in doubt. Referees were either

We don’t have security issues, because if you attend a wedding, you find urchins or what you call Area Boys who would want to shake you up.

Area boys are not limited to stadiums.

fixing matches or deliberately mishandling matches and the spectators were beginning to doubt what they were coming to see.

More importantly, what you have now is the decay of our infrastructure.

We have to recognise that there is an entertainment aspect to football. To revive this link, we have to rebuild our infrastructure to reflect the times. Up till now we are still at ground zero. We don’t need gargantuan structures. If it is a 10,000 capacity stadium, let it have all the conveniences functional, hospitality suites, where a whole family can come and have dinner in air conditioned suites, for those who want air condition.

We don’t have security issues, because if you attend a wedding, you find urchins or what you call Area Boys who would want to shake you up. Area boys are not limited to stadiums.

So, people will start crawling back to the stadium once the results are credible and because there are no security issues as was feared. But they will come back in larger numbers if they can go there and have full fledged entertainment with their families.

Security fear!

There was a time when fans used to

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015—39

There are teams like Cordoba who play in near empty stadiums.

People would cite South Africa, however, you need to work to bring people together.

misbehave. Part of the things we first addressed was that in the new governing structure, those who actually run the clubs cannot be the people governing the league. They will be involved in the process, you cannot be making decisions on your own matter.

Because they couldn’t enforce decisions, people just took the laws into their hands; some became rowdy and such rowdiness scared people. In every gathering of one or two thousand people, some people might misbehave, some arguments might arise; which is why ideally, in any special gathering you don’t need any special request for police presence because they will come naturally.

So far, the kind of issues people used to term as security issues have taken the back seat.

How independent is the LMC of the NFF. Players are not paid salaries and there have been no sanctions on clubs.

Do you rely on NFF to sanction clubs?

Within the general rules that govern the game world wide, we are affiliates of the NFF. We do not need them to sanction the clubs. We go to them on technical issues like; whether the referees have behaved themselves: whether the players registration

complied with the rules. We go to them to interpret the rules. The actual operation of the game, we do. We are a regulatory body. If we sanction clubs the way people expect us to, then we will have no league.

However, when it comes to the question of the welfare of the players or whether they don’t pay them salaries, as a regulator, the most we do is keep reminding them of their responsibilities.

Funding of the clubs: I said earlier that we have been pretending that we are running a professional football league. I don’t think we are. Professionalism means you should earn as much as you should as at when you should earn it – enough to keep aside when that professional course stops. We don’t have that right now.

Most of our clubs have been hijacked by government; I used that word deliberately. Football historians will agree with me that clubs actually belong to the communities, to the people. The communities invest in their passion, in the game and develop it into a brand then they can invite money bags, the Abramovic and co. There was Chelsea for over one hundred years before Abromovic.

Abrmovic will come and go and Chelsea will remain. It will remain a club for that locality. It might be relegated, a new buyer or a new owner would come up – the club remains.

But over the years, in 1945 or earlier than that when we started playing organised football in Nigeria, clubs were started by neighbourhood people. Communities would just come together, played together and called themselves Onitsha Red Devils, or Ikpeazu Redoubtables etc .

The Federal or state governments were not involved with Alyufsalam Rocks. The problems we have had is that we have failed to transmute or transcend from ownership of club by one money bag in a locality to the actual community getting involved.

Government intervention Government intervention started with the military. Wanting to ingratiate with the people the military government then thought football was the surest route, then they grabbed it. Enugu Rangers was doing well, they made the Igbos have a sense of belonging.

In the case of old Bendel, they decided let’s give it to government corporations and let the players become part of the corporations. But those are short cuts. Nigeria is, perhaps, the only country where government is running clubs. Even in Africa – the closest to government involvement in the running of football is where government corporations of para-military bodies like in Egypt and Zambia have clubs, otherwise, in most of Africa clubs are owned by individuals, friends and basically, community based. That is the direction we should be pushing for – that people should come in. But before they come in there should be a semblance of organisation in place.

What we have done in the last 2 to 3 years is to set that organisation in place. We are still at ground zero. It is only coming up now. Any keen observer would notice that some change is beginning to set in.

As for players’ welfare, because these players are quasi civil servants and because a Permanent Secretary in the ministry feels uncomfortable paying probably a WAEC holder or a young inexperienced graduate 10 times as much as he(the Perm Sec)

would earn, he dilly dallies. That is why we have tried to find ways within our local environment and within our peculiar situation, means to deal with this. We have introduced what we call the Financial Performance Guarantee – that before you own a club you must give me a bulk from the bank showing that you will meet all your financial obligations. Either out of mischief or lack of sophistication the clubs did not want to sign. And unfortunately, the media also joined in resisting it without understanding what it was.

The FPG simply says before you gather 35 people to promote your name or for whatever purpose, you have got that money to undertake that business. And the only person who can prove that is your banker who will then give me a guarantee. In order to ensure the protection of the players we need to strengthen the system and then push things gradually. For instance, we have recommended that if you don’t give us your performance guarantee and you won’t pay your players, then be prepared to lose your points. May be that would spur them into doing the right thing.

Justification for Community-based clubs But while we wait for them to do the right thing, can we find an alternative to government? We have created a rule which states that government cannot own more than 50% of a club.

It doesn’t mean it cannot be less. It is just to let people come in. But I can’t find the people who are saying they want to take the clubs. People ask ignorant and uninformed questions like what do I get back if I should invest?

I know how Vanguard started. It has taken Vanguard up to 30 years to get this expansive structure. It applies to all businesses. You don’t say I don’t know what I will get back, so I won’t venture. There are inherent potentials in the league. But you must get in first and help rebuild it.

I don’t think that a situation where we had the Adebajos(Stationery Stores of Lagos) which did not last, the Alyufsalam Rocks of Ilorin, which did not last, Abiola Babes of Abeokuta, which did not also last is what we want. It is the community. We don’t need money bags. What we need is a community of people who are contributing a little bit. We have a paper, a proposition on community ownership of clubs on our website. We do not need more than 20,000 contributing about N2,000 each like for 10 months of the year. Let people organise themselves as cooperatives and we have created windows they can come in. I learnt Stationery Stores of Lagos have picked up the idea – they are campaigning right now and I am told that they have about 500 people. I think you need about 25,000. If you have 25,000 people subscribing to a club – like the new South African champions, Kaizer Chiefs have 14 million people subscribing to the club -- then you can stand well. South Africa doesn’t have the population Nigeria has and our clubs don’t have it.

The truth is that most of the people who hold the reigns of our football clubs are just not serious. They are not professional managers; they are political appointees who see their involvement with the clubs not as a long term but for as long as it pleases his majesty, the governor who appointed them. So, they don’t work for the long term benefit or gains of the club. If you work for long term gains of the club, you will be looking at 10 to 20 years period – where you would know that it is cheaper to breed your talents than buy them, you will know that it is cheaper to get your community involved than to get empty stadiums each time your team plays.

But because these managers so appointed have some affiliation and association with the governor they don’t mind playing in an empty stadium. This is a bloody wastage of public funds. Where are the managers? Why can’t they get their communities involved. Where a manager is working, as Sunshine Stars of Akure have proven, you can consistently have as many as 5,000 people at the stadium. We even created incentives from the money we get for clubs that can get 5,000 spectators at their stadium, it is still difficult to achieve that for many clubs. You must, however, note that it is not peculiar to Nigeria as most South American stadiums are empty too. It is only when the national teams play.

I watched a game in Scotland about two weeks ago involving a 3rd placed team in the Scottish League with a Nigerian, Emmanuel Ufere playing for them, so I was curious and I went to watch the game. They had only 3,000 people. So what you see in Germany and I want to use Spain; you see full house whenever Barcelona, Atletico or Real Madrid are playing. There are teams like Cordoba who play in near empty stadiums. People would cite South Africa, however, you need to work to bring people together. It is not the place of the regulator or the operator like the LMC, it is the club. But like I said, the clubs in Nigeria were not set up to function as professional bodies.

And until they operate as professional bodies, the future of our football is in danger.

Why government must be eased out of our football Football won’t stop rolling, as it doesn’t take any particular machine or skill to play football, some of us played fellele. But football growth in Nigeria, as a world contender would be stunted until we get government out and get serious people to run it.

Nigerian businessmen, the wealthy members of our society should come in and invest. They can make their workers happy and get involved in it.

What we have done in the past two years is to give you something you can see. The framework on how you can manage the game; how to come in and go out is there, the template of the cost elements and everything you need to know is all there.

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

08 116759 759 081 6759759

Are you ready for THIS beach body?

ll women like to look A their best in a bikini, but one plus-size model is

slamming a controversial ad campaign that calls for women to quickly drop weight in time for swimsuit season.

The ad, for Protein World weight loss supplements,

disgusted mother A has spoken out against the requirement

on local ABC News affiliate, KGTV, after her daughter told her of the final exam.

The mother insists that the requirement is not made clear at the start of the course, and called it a ‘perversion’.

She added that the exam - during which all the students and the male professor strip naked in a candlelit classroom made her ‘sick to her stomach’. But professor Ricardo Dominguez insists that he has not had any complaints in the 11 years he has taught the course.

‘It’s the standard canvas for performance art and body art,’ Dominguez told local ABC News affiliate KGTV. ‘It is all very controlled...

If they are uncomfortable with this gesture, they should not take the class.’

According to the course description on the faculty website, students ‘use autobiography, dream, confession, fantasy or other means to invent one’s self in a new way, or to evoke the variety of selves in our imagination’.

It continues: ‘The course experiments with an explores the rich possibilities available to the contemporary artist in his or her own persona’.

But Dominguez is not a stranger to outrage. He has previously been involved in a series of political projects, according to his biography on the department website, one of which saw him investigated by Congress.

The government-funded C M Y K

has faced overwhelming backlash in the UK, prompting US-based model Ashley Graham to offer up her own message on preparing to hit the beach.

The size 16 model posted a copycat ad on Instagram, mocking

Protein World’s tagline, ‘Are you beach body ready?’ instead asking her followers: ‘Are you ready for this beach body?’

Ashley ’s post, which includes the hashtag #curvesinbikinis, features a shot from her Swimsuits

For All campaign that ran in this year ’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, making her the firstever plus-size model to appear in the issue.

‘There’s no reason to hide and every reason to flaunt!! [sic]’ she captioned the picture.

Ashley has also helped to promote body confidence at any size by appearing in plus-size retailer Lane Bryant’s I’m No Angel campaign, where she and other women of varying body types posed together in lingerie. The campaign was widely seen as a very public dig at Victoria’s Secret, another brand perceived to prize slim bodies. Ashley’s pro-curves post comes just days after it was announced that the offending Protein World ad would be banned in the UK, following widespread vandalism and a change.org petition that garnered over 70,000 signatures.

Protesters came out in person as well, stripping down to bikinis in London’s Hyde Park and voicing dissatisfaction with Protein World’s ‘fat-shaming’ message. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has also raised concerns that the ad makes false claims and is investigating whether it is ‘socially irresponsible’.

Ashley’s own photo has received a much more positive response than Protein World’s ad; since she posted the image on Thursday, it has received over 11,400 likes, and fans have been commenting to show their support. ‘Love that we’re finally

showing other women that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes!’ wrote one. Another added: ‘All you need to be beach ready is a swim suit and towel!’

Outrage as students forced to strip naked with male professor and per otic ges ture’ bbyy candlelight bef ore being perff orm ‘er ‘erotic gesture’ before allowed to graduate from University of California, San Diego

Jerem kson ttook ook a 1140-mile 40-mile Jeremyy Clar Clarkson trip to vote but FORGOT his glasses and isn't sure who he chose

J

project - called the ‘Transborder Immigrant Tool’ - involved handing out mobile phones to prospective illegal immigrants, with instructions of how to cross the US-Mexico border.

The aim of the project, according to Dominguez’s website - was to use poetry to ‘dissolve’ the border.For

most students, there is nothing more stressful than a final exam.

But now imagine that to pass the exam, you have to be naked in a candlelit classroom. Not only in front of your whole class, but also in front of your professor.

At the University of California, San Diego, this naked final exam is in fact

a course requirement for a class in the visual arts department.

But nudity isn’t enough for the students of the upper-level course, as they must also perform ‘a gesture that traces, outlines or speaks about your ‘erotic self(s)’, according to the course syllabus.

eremy Clarkson took a 140-mile trip to vote but FORGOT his glasses and isn’t sure who he chose Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he isn’t sure who he voted for because he entered the polling both without his glasses. The motor-mouth star says he forgot to organise a postal vote for Thursday’s general election and had to do mammoth 140-mile round trip to cast his ballot.

In his column for The Sun newspaper, the former Top Gear host said: “Because I forgot to organise a postal vote for the election on Thursday, I had to make a 140-mile round trip to fill in my ballot paper.

“I was very cross with myself but not half as I became in the actual booth when it turned out that I’d left my spectacles in London.

Now that’s fast food!

T

his is the moment that a Chinese man set up his own mini-kitchen in an airport departure lounge after missing his flight.

Wu Jiayong, 46, became an internet hit after he produced the electric rice cooker from his luggage and made his own lunch in the middle of Hong Kong’s busy International Airport. The 46-year-old was caught on camera collecting water from the airport’s bathroom before plugging the rice cooker into one of the lounge’s empty sockets, according to The People’s Daily. The construction worker was flying home to Shandong, China, after losing his job in Singapore when he fell

“God knows who I voted for.” The disgraced presenter, who is known for his disregard for environmental issues, went on to joke: “In many ways I hope it was the Greens. “I’m sure they’d appreciate all the petrol I used to give them what, in Chipping Norton, was almost certainly their only vote.” Clarkson was poking fun at both the bad reputation he has amongst environmentalists and at his leafy, privileged constituency which is also home to Prime Minister David Cameron.

He then took the opportunity to brand defeated Labour leader Ed Miliband a ‘dork’.

While he’s still technically looking for work since his Top Gear sacking, we doubt he’ll be offered a slot on Newsnight any time soon.

asleep and missed his connecting flight. ‘I had just enough to get a new ticket set to leave on Tuesday two days later, but I didn’t have any more money for food,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to offend anyone but I needed power supply to cook the rice so I had to do it indoors.’ Eyewitnesses described the rice cooker as being ‘hard to miss’ with steam coming from it for over half an hour. Mr Jiayong’s mini kitchen was soon closed down by airport officials, but fellow travellers and stores within the terminal helped him with food until he was able to fly home yesterday. He had been forced to travel to Singapore for work to help look after his family and used the rice cooker for preparing meals during his month long employment.

SA TURD AY Vanguard, MA Y 16, 2 015—41 SATURD TURDA MAY

Society heavyweights honour City People t was truly a golden boss @ 50 moment for City

I

L- R: Erelu Ojuolape Ojora, Mrs Ebun Kehinde, celebrant's mother, Mr Seye Kehinde, celebrant, his wife and others.

L- R: Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola and Otunba & Erelu Kunle Ojora.

People magazine boss, Seye Kehinde on Friday, April 24 as society’s heavyweights put all their concerns on hold to grace his 50th birthday bash which held at the Time Square Event Centre in Ikeja, Lagos. In attendance were notable and influential people like the governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun and wife, Dele Momodu, Erelu Abiola Dosumu, Sam Amuka and several other notable figures in the country. Photos by Diran Oshe

L-R: SenatorTokunbo Afikuyomi, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Chief Dele Momodu

Ogun Cust oms of Customs offficer icerss honoured FIRST Awareness Awards, which recognises excellence and stewardship in service to the nation held on Wednesday at its Quarry Road headquarters, Abeokuta, Ogun State. This time, it was the turn of the Ogun State Command of Nigerian Customs to shine as many of their high ranking officers were honoured for their exemplary service in the course of their duties. Photos by Wumi Akinola

L- R: Mrs Duru, Mrs Uduak Unoren , Chief ( Mrs) Atinuke Abioro and Mrs Funmi Wakama R-L:Otunba Yomi Olomofe, Mr Niyi Ogungbola, publisher of First Awareness jointly presenting awards of excellence to comptroller Haruna Mamudu of Ogun State Customs Command, while Mr Wole Sokunbi (L) Chairman, Ogun NUJ

L- R: Oloye Lekan Alabi, Mr Seye Kehinde, celebrant, Mr Tola Adeniyi and Chief Bolu Akin- Olugbade

L- R: Mrs Funmi Komolafe, Mr Seye Kehinde, celebrant and Mr Kayode Komolafe.

Enahoro’s daughter bags First Class Buckingham ara Peaches Enahoro, daughter of Victor law degree Enahoro and grand daughter of Chief Anthony

T

Enahoro lifted the reputable name of the family higher as she bagged First Class honours in Law (LLB) a the University of Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England.

Tara Peaches Enahoro, daughter of Victor Enahoro and grand daughter of Chief Anthony Enahoro recieving her LLB Law (Ist Class Honours) C M Y K

L-R: Usman Abubakar receiving his own award from Wale Adewunmi, Secretary Correspondent’s Chapel.

The awardees (L-R): Usman Abubakkar AS of Comptroller, Haruna Mamudu, Area L-R: Victor Enahoro, father, Tara Peaches Comptroller of Customs Ogun Command, Enahoro, graduand and Mrs. Maureen Deputy Comptroller Agbo A.Hyacinth and Enahoro, mother D.S of Customs, Amusa Rabiu Ayodele.

42—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—43

I

t has been said that love knows no barrier whether colour, creed, and these days even gender. Age has never been a barrier to love, but fascination with relationships in which the woman is older than the man appears to be on the increase, whether in the imaginary world of celluloid or in real life.

The phenomenon is as old as time itself, says a prominent 70 year old retired university don whose 69 year old husband of forty something years was also a don. “ The difference is that in our days, it was kept a tight secret known only to your children and very close friends of the family. It was unheard of ”.

Ige, another lady in her late sixties was not only four years older than her man when they met and married, she was far more experienced as she already had 2 children from a previous marriage, while he was a chronic bachelor.

“His family fought me with all they had, especially his sisters who were of the opinion that their brother deserved better than an ‘old cargo’ like me”.

In order to keep her man, Ige did extraordinary things, giving birth to another two children in order to be accepted by the husband’s family, who thought she would not respect him as she had a very successful distributorship business at the time. “I had to close shop, though my oga was equally successful in his own right. I get down on my two knees to greet him every morning, even up till now that my poor knees are giving up.

It has not been easy, but we give God all the glory”.

Perhaps the younger generations are wiser now, though perceptions have not changed significantly.

Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey Gbenga was 33 when he proposed to Rachael, who had given up on ever settling down at 36. Having sowed his wild oats far and near when he was younger, he was just about ready to settle down when he met his love, who owned the travel agency from which he usually purchased his tickets. They courted for only a few months to have him convinced she was the one.

BY MORENIKE TAIRE mother of the groom- a client According to Gbenga, his of hers- introduced them. friends believed he had “He did not hide his feelings them”. squandered many opportunities from the beginning”, she Tonye Briggs, a clergyman at finding a good girl in his bad says, and neither did she and a marriage councillor boy days and had used his wife hide hers as she immediately whose wife is “just a few as a girlfriend, as it were. “I was gave him her number even months older” than himself happy to prove them wrong. Not though she had a 5-year age says truly, age is just a only is Rachael one of the most advantage over him. “Why is number, and most of the beautiful girls I ever dated, she everyone so obsessed with problems thrown up by a was very matured and loving, age?, he asks rhetorically woman being older than her having learnt from her own every time I bring up the man are in the mind and are mistakes along the way. She is a issue. Members of his family soon easily forgotten in the great cook and makes great I have met (not his mother) drudgery of everyday life. conversation. I am proud to take don’t seem to mind, but I Hear him: “ What is important her anywhere, especially to is for a woman to submit to her have problems with him office functions”. husband regardless of her age. already” Apparently, Rachael is not so According to her, Ini has no It is a question of attitude and thrilled, as she made her fiancee conventions are not important clear career objectives at his lie about his age when he took age and spends the whole in a marriage. What is his family to her folks for their time hopping from one important is focus, mutual Introduction ceremony late last professional course to the respect and fear of God”. year. “ His people don’t know other only to dump the Esther would clearly not my age either, as I also made certificate to collect dust. He agree. At almost 40, she did him lie to them. He can thank is forever having to borrow not wait so long to find the me later. They may pretend to right spouse only to have some her second car since he like me now that they think I am cannot seem to look after his “small boy” trample all over an untouched flower. If they own, has taken numerous her. A banking executive, know half of what I’ve been up loans that have gone bad and Esther met her current beau to, they will pass out, and I Esther has had to put up at a wedding party where the couldn’t say I would blame with incidences of “small

When the woman is older

C M Y K

Ini has no clear career objectives at his age and spends the whole time hopping from one professional course to the other only to dump the certificate to collect dust

girls” calling to warn her to leave their boyfriend alone.

“He is a gem around the house and is far more domesticated than my ex but I need a manager, not a man-Friday”.

Asked about the submission issue, she cackles, “seriously?

The guy is younger than my younger brother!”

Harry is far more focused than Ini and is already a regional manager at his bank at age 37 but Bopo, his girlfriend of two years plus who is in between jobs, is not willing to “take risks” with him. Everytime he proposes to her, she laughs it off and pretends it’s all a joke.

“The truth is, he’s the man of my dreams in every way possible. He’s kind, hardworking and a loving family man but I suspect he’s trying to use me to replace his mother, who took off with another man when he was 7".

Bopo, 40, knows Harry loves her, but will soon tire of her games; but she is so afraid he will change when the honeymoon period is over. “I already have a child out of wedlock. Honestly, sometimes I feel Harry is ten years older than he is. He is so ambitious and confident- a man of vision, but what happens when I am 53 and he is 50 and he has a hot 30 year old secretary?”

Food for thought, that.

44—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

BY LAJU IREN 07017860213 ELLEJAYMEDIA@YAHOO.CO.UK

We are blind, but education helps us see A

ccording to the Nigerian Optometric Association,

20 million Nigerians are blind. It is easy to see this number as a statistic, or worse, to make it synonymous with the visually impaired beggars on the street without a hope for tomorrow. But the voices of students from the studios of Vocational Training Centre run by Nigerian Society for the Blind echoes hope from their base in Oshodi, Lagos to the ends of the earth.

When this reporter visited the centre earlier this week, the students were rehearsing in the studio for a ball in honour of the school’s upcoming 60th anniversary celebrations. It was a rendition of Baby Jowo that Victor Olaiya himself would be proud of.

Their Scotland trained music consultant, Mr. John Yekini, is a perfectionist to the core. His fingers move seamlessly across the keyboard, his dark glasses and wide smile, very much seal his similarity to Ray Charles. “You are too fast for the instrumentalists,” he tells the singers, “let’s take it a bit more slowly this time.” The choir is all too willing.

“This bunch has been selected to practice for our upcoming event while the others are in class,” whispers the Head Teacher, Mr. Nicholas Obot. The plan is not to distract the students who can recognize his voice from a mile away. The students are not easily distracted anyway; they prepare to sing Baby Jowo for the umpteenth time. Yekini is on the keyboard; the keys seen only with his mind’s eye. Another student hits the Konga; another perfectly content with a tambourine, and yet another complements the music with the sekere, the native beaded tambourine. A trumpeter is not left out of the bunch, Izuchi Maduneme, who lost his sight in an accident the year before he was to graduate from the department of Arts at the Yaba College of Technology admits that he is “just learning” to play the instrument.

There is also a saxophonist, Akinpelu Akinjide, an alumnus of the centre who now works there as a business studies teacher. The singers are mostly female, perching around microphones in twos and threes like they are performing for a live band. One of them is Mrs. Adegbola, a mother and graduate of Theatre Arts.

Unlike Aikinjide, she is not a VTC alumnus, but like him, she is a visually impaired member of faculty.

Principal of the school, Mr. Sola Ogunsiji says the centre has no qualms hiring visually impaired C M Y K

professions who are qualified for available jobs. The choir takes Baby Jowo again, and this time, Yekini is all too pleased. “This is the best you have done so far,” he tells them.

The studio, however is only a part of the newly built workshop complex commissioned by the Lagos State Government for this non-governmental home. Others like Taiwo Talabi find solace in the Arts and Crafts department. She is clutching a half-finished handmade bag, a by-product of her last class when she runs into this reporter at the dining hall. Her bag is pink and white, pretty much akin to the colours she is wearing. Although she has been in class all day, her makeup is intact. “I did the make-up myself” she says, weaving her bag like it’s the simplest thing ever done.

Visually impaired or not, this lady knows style…and joy.

“I am very happy now. I have been blind since 2006 and I did not know there was a place like this one where I could learn all these things. I had just been at home, doing nothing.” She says.

Talabi plans to go into the bag making once she finishes her training at the centre. She says the one in her hands will go for N1, 500, but the centre’s Student Affairs Officer and Resident nurse, Mrs. Victoria Aregbe will have none of it. “Taiwo, you shouldn’t sell it so cheap, something around N2, 500 to N3,000 will be better.”

Just like the rest of the staff, Aregbe knows all the students by name. “My job entails looking after the students,” says the 70 year old, “I have been here for about 14 years. As you can see, I am here with them at the dining hall. It’s my job to make sure that their food is ready on time. Like a nurse, I look after their health. If anyone is ill, I give them first aid if needed and take them to the hospital. I had just retired from the Federal Ministry of Health when I heard that the centre was

•Ogunsiji, Principal, VTC

•Taiwo Talabi, Vtc student looking for an old nurse.”

Despite the poor pay associated with special education in Nigeria, staff at the centre feel very much at home and are in no hurry to find employment elsewhere. Principal Ogunsiji has also been at the centre for more than a decade. Growing up, he had two physically challenged relatives who were very close to him. It was because of them he went into special education. He has now spent thirty four years in the field, and his challenged relatives? “One of them works at the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the other is a teacher,” he says with pride. It is the same pride with which he speaks about students who have graduated from the centre. Like the Information Technology expert who had his own outfit before he was shot and lost his sight. And the medical doctor who went back to consulting after his rehabilitation programme at the centre. The law students who passed the bar with flying colours; something no one thought they could achieve when they suddenly went blind in the middle of their academic careers.

He remembers Barrister Uche Obinna who used to be a student at the centre. “The wife works at the office of a member of our board who introduced them to this place when the husband became blind. During the interview, the wife was weeping profusely. I told her to take it easy. I joked with her, and she cleaned her face and smiled a bit. I told her: “You

•Yekini, music consultant

,

BY LAJU IREN

Despite the poor pay associated with special education in Nigeria, staff at the centre feel very much at home and are in no hurry to find employment elsewhere.

,

will smile again when he is done here.” It was like a joke. The husband was admitted and spent a year with us. This was a man who had been called to bar and was operating a successful law firm before becoming blind. But he put a lot of effort into learning everything he was taught here. Today, he works at the registry of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN.” Ogunsiji’s words: “These special people are very good. Anytime you spend time with them, it is an opportunity to get them out of their shell and if you receive them with open hands, you find it joyful. It can be very fulfilling watching them grow to live a life worth living despite the disability. The key thing is to handle them professionally with love and care.”

The Nigeria Society for the Blind is a voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit making organisation, which set up the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind at Oshodi in Lagos nearly sixty years ago. The VTC is designed for adolescents and adults who were sighted but got blind along the way.

Since inception, the centre has trained over 2,000 blind men and women to acquire skills in Braille writing and reading, type writing, handicrafts, telephone switchboard operation, computer operation, mobility skills, tie and dye and various crafts necessary for selfemployment.

The VTC boss says that after a selection process to ascertain whether a candidate is fit for the programme, placement begins.

“The students spend one or two years here. Those with lower qualifications spend two years while those with higher qualifications spend a year here. The ones with SSCE, undergraduates, as well as professionals spend one year.”

For now, the centre can only accommodate 60 students: 30 males and 30 females. All students are on a scholarship of N50, 000 from the Lagos state government-a very close ally of the home in recent times. The N50, 000 is however at a subsidized rate as it costs about N200,000 each to cater for each students.

Apart from a meager sum to purchase their entrance forms, the students do not pay for the services.

“Funding special education is not easy. The programme of special people takes twice the time and effort than that of regular people. The teaching aids for students with special needs are very costly and not readily available. We have to order for them from abroad. The custom duties for the equipment are also very exorbitant. So after trying to get funds for equipment, we still have to again look for more to pay custom duties. We have very few teachers in the area of special education, and the reason is not far-fetched. It takes a lot more work to take care of students with special needs, but special needs teachers are not well remunerated.

The pay is not attractive and as a result, there is an issue of personnel.

To resolve all these, we would like the government and private organizations and individuals to come to our aid. We need to improve the welfare of our staff and continue creating conducive environment for students. The government has to do something about the high import duties.”

A conducive environment for the blind requires specifics. There are no staircases anywhere in the centre. The slightest elevation can be observed by the collapsible cane of an experienced student.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

C

hildren: Young couples should agree on the number of children they intend to have before tying the nuptial knot. That is family planning.

Not that the plan always works out, but let there be a prior understanding. I have seen many marriages break up or almost break up because of disputes over the number of children or a new pregnancy. In addition, young couples must be sincere with themselves whether they will be contented with children of only one sex, particularly girls, or they want boys and girls. Many marriages have broken up because of the absence of male children while some men have gone ahead to marry second and even third or fourth wives in their search for male be up against as time goes on in their first child. Another fellow children. If you want both male and marriage to help them manage wanted the fiancée to get pregnant female children, invest in the the situation. before marriage. She did but knowledge and make the sacrifice I remember when I was about miscarried shortly after the wedding. necessary to pre-select the sex of your 40 years old, an acquaintance It took 10 years before the woman children. Happily, baby sex preabout my age confided in me got pregnant again. Recently I selection is free and available to all participated in a programme where a that he had erectile dysfunction. (you can get some information on Once he told me, my heart member of the audience said his baby’s sex pre-selection on this link: started beating uncontrollably; I wedding is being delayed because http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/ could hardly breathe or talk his mother insists his fiancée must babys-sex-preselection-story-1/). If you coherently. My level of panic get pregnant before wedding, but are not interested in pre-selection, just was unbelievable. It was as if I the fiancée’s family refused. I told fire on, but accept the results of your was the one with the problem. him his mother is wrong. She can “firing.”

But my distress was only insist on medicals to certify the Young couples must also be understandable; we were age fiancée fit. But he too must also do courageous enough to discuss their mates, so it could happen to me medicals to know his health status. plans in the event of childlessness. too. Until then, I never Please spare me the “it is not my gave it much thought; I portion” refrain. Childlessness is real felt that erectile Young couples must also be just and happening even to couples who dysfunction was for are perfectly normal and certified courageous enough to discuss their men in their 70s and medically fit. You should agree whether 80s and people with to continue praying and waiting on the plans in the event of childlessness medical conditions. It Lord until a child comes or to adopt.

Premarital sex simply means is not as if I wish old people any Discussing these difficult situations putting the cart before the horse. ill, but at that age it should not and taking a decision can save the There are no absolute guarantees matter much because you have marriage from collapse later. nothing to prove. You can even Sexual Problems: I got a shocker from thereafter. A super stud today can become a super flop after marriage. unashamedly tell the world that a very religious woman of God A man can be a war horse, but is “dead men do not bite” or “oti ku,” sometime ago. She said that even unable to sire children (infertile). (it is dead) as one loose cannon though her courtship was devoid of Age, stress, medical and other grandma told her daughter about sex, just before marriage she conditions also do alter men’s sexual her septuagenarian father’s sexual specifically requested for and had sex abilities. Sometimes, it gets better status. But if you wish that your with her husband, then fiancé. She like old wine; some other times it “manhood lives on” even after you wanted to be very sure he could have died, good luck. perform optimally; “I no joke reach that just goes down the slope. A healthy life style does help, but young Religion: In the southwest, side.” In spite of that “assurance”, they couples must realize what they can especially, I have seen many waited for 15 years before they had

More marital red flags

,

,

Vanguard, MA Y 16, 2015—45 MAY

marriages where one spouse is a Muslim and the other is a Christian. In one case, the man and the two sons are Muslims while the wife and the three daughters are Christians. In another case, the man, a Muslim, allowed the wife, a Christian, to practice her Christianity unfettered, but insisted all the children must be Muslims. Another man in a mixed marriage simply allowed the children to make their choices as they grew up. But the same cannot be said of some other parts of the country. That is why religious differences must be sorted out before marriage. This goes beyond Muslim/ Christian unions. It is also very important in an allChristian relationship, especially where one of the couple is from an orthodox church while the other is from a new generation church because of the different modes of worship. I have seen couples who crossed to orthodox churches complain that the mode of worship is “monotonous” and “boring.” I have also seen the reverse where the couples complain that the worship is “disorganized” and “noisy.”

Meanwhile for the orthodox faithful, what is being denigrated as monotonous and boring is simply sequential and solemn worship, while disorganized and noisy simply mean liberal and vibrant worship (joyful noise, as some call it) for the new generation church members.

Even within the same denomination, issues can arise, for example, a Catholic couple when one is of the charismatic bent while the other is a legionary. When one spouse begins to desecrate what the other considers sacred, there can be a volcanic eruption in the marriage and if it is not well handled, it can have devastating effects.

(Text Only)

Get rid of sluggishness!

The Bow Technique: Lie face down. Bend the knees and hold the ankles with corresponding hands.

Now breathing in deeply, lift the thighs and chest off the floor.

Benefits: The bow stretches the back and shoulder muscles easing the tension in those areas.

The effect of this exercise on the spine releases energy.

A good posture to be practiced at lunch break to

}

•The Bow

get rid of sluggishness.

afternoon

Leg and Trunk Raise Technique: Lying on your back, interlace the fingers of both hands and place them behind the back. Breathing in, lift both legs and trunk off the floor.

Now breathe normally.

Stay in the position for 5 seconds or more.

Benefits: This posture firms up the

muscles of the abdomen and upper back.

Head-to- Knee Technique: Sit with feet stretched out in front of you.Slowly lower the trunk till the forehead rests on the knees,and with the thumb and forefinger ,form a ring around the corresponding big toes,and with the elbows touching the floor.Retain the pose for 10 to 30 seconds while breathing normal. Repeat the exercise for benefits that accrue.

•Head-to- Knee Benefits: The Head-to- Knee stretches the back and hamstring muscles.The digestive organs receive adequate massage leading to their improved functioning.

•Leg and Trunk Raise

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

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

46—SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015 Dear Julie, I’m a guy who can’t seem to find the right person. I’m not unattractive or a louse, but for the longest time, I’ve had trouble starting a relationship with anyone. The problem is that when I meet a woman, I can’t seem to progress past the friendship stage.

Many of these women become my good friends, but they just don’t seem interested in starting a physical relationship. My bad luck has left me feeling unattractive and unconfident. I get frustrated when I hear about my friends falling in and out of relationships.

Any ideas on how I can improve my relationship status? I know it’s vague, but it’s been troubling me for a long time.

Thanks.

Lucky

Dear Lucky, Luck often doesn’t have a lot to do with romantic relationships. It seems you must know that because of the strong feelings you’re having about not being in a physical relationship. When potential intimate relationships are not progressing as anticipated, someone’s frustration with this may cause her/him to just give up rather than spend time fostering that potential connection with a possible partner.

If you feel romantic about

Neighbour ant eighbourss w want to des tr destr trooy our relationship juliecoker100@yahoo.com

I can’t seem to find the right person someone, flirt and clearly communicate that you are interested in pursuing the relationship past friendship so that the other person knows of your interest.

Take it slow, but not too slow, so the initial excitement and momentum do not diminish. And then your next steps will be determined from there.

It sounds as if you need to start defining yourself for who you are, not by who you’re with. You mentioned that your bad luck with relationships has left you with a lack of confidence. Men and women alike are attracted to confident people with high self-esteem.

Your lack of confidence may be detectable to potential partners and give off the vibe that you aren’t ready to fully enjoy a new relationship with

someone because you aren’t yet content with yourself. Taking the time to know yourself, develop your personality, and actually like yourself are important to do before seeking a mate. Then you’ll be better prepared to approach a new partner with more to offer, not more you desire.

Admittedly, this is all easier said than done; this will definitely take some work and patience on your part. You might want to think about working on your self-esteem first. In any case, give yourself some time and work on yourself.

She doesn’t like condoms Dear Julie, My girlfriend doesn’t like condoms. She prefers sex naturally without any artificiality.

We have begun having sex recently. The first few times we did, we used condoms. But she doesn’t feel good with it. She said she prefers to feel me. Lately, we stopped using it. I always pull out before I come. Is this still safe? Is it safe to re-enter after this? I will appreciate all the help. Thanks.

Efe, Warri

Dear Efe, I want to understand the problem here. Is it sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy, or both? In the case of STIs, the answer is a resounding NO! Pulling out, or withdrawal, isn’t an effective method of STI prevention because most disease-causing microorganisms don’t depend on ejaculation for transmission. A condom will only help prevent the spread of STIs if you put it on before sex and leave it on the entire time you are having sex.

If both of you have been tested before you started having sex with each other, you may not be concerned about STIs. If you haven’t been tested you may want to consider doing so.

As a primary means of pregnancy prevention, withdrawal has several disadvantages. First, there’s the pre-ejaculatory fluid on which the withdrawal method has no effect since it’s released well before you ejaculate. Pre-ejaculate itself doesn’t contain sperm, however it may pick up sperm left in the urethra from a previous ejaculation, and thus, reinserting your penis after ejaculation (outside of the vagina) does present a risk of pregnancy. Next, and what perhaps has even more of an impact on the effectiveness of the method, is the issue of consistency and self-control. Can you use the withdrawal method correctly and consistently each time you have sex? If not, then you might want to think about whether this method is right for

Coming home late Two married buddies are out drinking one night when one turns to the other and says, “You know, I don’t know what else to do.

Whenever I go home after we’ve been out drinking, I turn the headlights off before I get to the driveway. I shut off the engine and coast into the garage. I take my shoes off before I go into the house, I sneak up the stairs, I get undressed in the bathroom. I ease into bed and my wife STILL wakes up and yells at me for staying out so late!”

His buddy looks at him and says, “Well, you’re obviously taking the wrong approach. I screech into the driveway, slam the door, storm up the

you. Of course, you do have the option of emergency contraception.

Withdrawal does have its advantages. It’s free and always available. Second, no side effects are associated with this form of contraception. The estimated failure rate for typical use is around 22 percent. When practiced perfectly, the failure rate is estimated to be around 4 percent. This means 4 to 22 women out of every 100 who use withdrawal as their contraceptive method get pregnant.

If you haven’t already, perhaps you and your girlfriend could talk about your concerns and work toward reaching a mutual decision on what form of contraception and/or safer sex you both want to use. Besides the issue of STIs, it’s best to talk about how willing you are to risk having to deal with a pregnancy and what either of you would do if a pregnancy occurred.

Withdrawal is definitely less effective than, say, the birth control pill. But, if both of you are okay and comfortable with the risk involved, then you may decide that withdrawal is a good method for the two of you. To make a decision like this, it’s helpful to have as much information as possible.

C O C K - T A L E S

Dear Aunty Julie, I live in a face-to face apartment in a crowded compound. People don’t seem to mind their business here. I cannot have privacy even though I live in two rooms.

It seems the thin walls in my apartment make it tough for me and my boyfriend to be intimate, during conversations, during sex, without the neighbours reacting. If I’m on the phone and tell him how I feel about him, the couple next door starts to crack up. I thought at first it was a coincidence, but it has happened about eight times. Once I even said, “let’s talk later because the neighbors are listening” and they shut right up.

What’s most offensive to me is if we make a noise above a whisper while talking or making love, we hear the neighbours react by sarcastically making sex noises and laughing next door. This feels like a big invasion of privacy. It’s making me self-conscious to make a peep during intimacy.Do you have any suggestions?

Frances, Lagos

Dear Frances, Everybody values privacy especially in intimate situations. And, it’s hard to think of a positive side to having paperthin walls. If the neighbours were your friends, your set-up would have let you to play a little practical joke on them involving a conversation you “accidentally” let them overhear. But, since you don’t seem to be on great terms with your neighbours, it seems best to focus on privacy-enhancing solutions.

The first advice is to limit your selfexpression during sex or even during conversations with your partner because what the neighbours might hear puts an unfortunate burden on your relationship.

It’s polite to consider that other people might not want to hear your every word or listen to you have sex 24 hours a day, but intimate conversations and sex are natural and nothing to be ashamed of.

Still, some privacy is clearly important.

Do the neighbours have any kind of regular schedule? Maybe they’re usually away from home at certain times. You might use those times for more private activities or conversations.Have you ever spoken directly with your neighbours? If you’d rather not talk with them, and it seems like they’re always there, maybe playing some music could camouflage your conversations.

Rearranging your living space might also enhance your privacy. Could you move your bed or bedroom farther from the wall you share with the neighbours? Hanging a thick tapestry on the wall might also offer some noise-dampening effect. If you can’t move somewhere with thicker walls, increasing the ambient noise level in your living space may offer you more privacy, or at least prevent you from hearing your neighbours make fun of you. Hopefully, you can focus on enjoying your music and your boyfriend.

the floor for discussion. “What seems to be the problem?” The wife began talking 90 miles an hour steps, throw my shoes into the closet, jump into describing all the wrongs within their marriage. bed, slap her on the butt and say, ‘You as horny as After 15 minutes of listening to the wife, the I am?’ . . . and, she always acts like she’s sound counselor went over to her, picked her up by her asleep!” shoulders, kissed her passionately for several minutes, and sat her back down. Afterwards, the Twice a week wife sat there speechless.

After just a few years of marriage, filled with He looked over at the husband who was staring constant arguments, a young man and his wife in disbelief at what had happened. The counselor decided the only way to save their marriage was spoke to the husband, “Your wife NEEDS that at to try counseling. They had been at each other ’s least twice a week!” The husband scratched his throats for some time and felt that this was their head and replied… “I can have her here on last straw. When they arrived at the counselor ’s Tuesdays and Thursdays.” office, the counselor jumped right in and opened

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, MA Y 16 MAY 16,, 2015—47

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Why male fertility starts falling at 22!

A

fter last week’s chronicling of a woman’s life from her first kiss to the point when she decides to grow old gracefully, Tanith Carey, a sociologists this week reveals how a woman’s landmarks compare to those of a man: 11-BOYS start turning into men at this age, up to two years younger than their father’s generation reached puberty, according to scientists at Harvard University, possibly due to differences in diet and hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment. On average, girls start the change to womanhood between nine and 14.

13-BY THE time they arc a teenager, it is becoming more obvious that boys are maturing. At this age, a boy may be increasing in height by as much as 23/4in to 3 in a year. By the end of this year, a boy’s voice will have broken and sound deeper as his voice box gets larger and his vocal cords grow thicker.

14-IT’S now that ‘bum fluff ’ is most likely to be appearing on a boy’s face. By the end of that a man is less a man is only 22, the speed this year, the average keen to commit than with which sperm move teenager will need to start a woman, esearch through the female shaving— a regular task that shows that it is a reproductive tract starts will eventually take up five man who will have slowing down by 0.7 per months of his life. declared his love cent a year from their 15- MOST boys lose their first. Men take an average speed of 5mm a virginity just before the age average of 88 days to second. This ‘motility’ is a of consent—a few months make the allkey measure of male ahead of girls— though important fertility. studies have found that 31 declaration, while 25-WHILE 23 may be the per cent of males will have women wait 1 34 average age that a young had sex earlier. man passes his driving 16-IF A boy is gay, this is test—48 per cent of boy also the age when he is most racers pass first time likely to ‘come out’, according compared to 44 per cent of to a study of 471 young men women—he won’t be able to in the journal Family afford to buy his own car for Relations. another two years, often 18-IT’S at this age when a due to rising insurance young man’s levels of the sex rates and student debt. hormone testosterone, 29-EITHER as a single days to say those which governs sex drive, man or one in a more special three words will finally peak before established relationship, first. The average age experiencing a slight drop in thanks to when a man becomes his 20s and a 2 per cent fall a high libido and lots of a father is 321/2 years every year after the age of 30. opportunity, this is the old, compared to 30 21-BY NOW, the average phase of a life when the for a woman. male graduate will have a average man enjoys the 35-IT SEEMS men full-time job - and be earning most sex. don’t enjoy their a little more than a woman 30-UNTIL now, keeping a golden years for long. the same age with the same boyish figure may not have For men, 35 is the qualifications. Over the taken much work for most average age when course of his career, the 20-something males. But they start to worry typical male office worker will by the age of 30, a beer about losing their have six jobs, one work belly is on its way for most crowing glory, as romance, 125 days off sick unless they start the fighthereditary hair loss and eight pay rises. back and work to keep up affects 40 per cent of 22-TRADITIONALLY, a their muscle mass and men. woman has been seen to be metabolism.

37-THIS is the age more affected by her 32-MOST grooms will when a man feels his biological clock. But walk down the aisle at 32. most content, research has found that when And contrary to the cliche

compared to the age of 34 for a woman. He is not only likely to be fit and well, but will have achieved three top milestones getting married, having a child and buying a home. But it’s the simple things that put a smile on his face, including eating his favourite lunch, buying clothes and gadgets, and hanging out with the lads.

39-IF THEY still have plenty to work with, this is when men feel they get their hair right - after trying out just five hairstyles compared to a woman’s 32 over a lifetime.

40-LIFE may begin at 40, but it’s also when a man’s chance of fathering a healthy baby starts to drop significantly. A study by the Columbia University in New York found that the risk of miscarriage to expectant mothers is 60 per cent higher when their partner is aged 40 or over compared to a man who is 25 to 29 years old. This applies whatever the woman’s age.

41-IT SEEMS that men are starting to understand how women feel when they hit middle-age—because males start to feel invisible to the opposite sex at just 41, compared to a decade older for a woman.

The average age when a man becomes a father is 321/2 years old, compared to 30 for a woman

,

At this age, they also suffer other symptoms of mid-life crisis, including worrying about their double chins, thinning hair and bad teeth.

43-EIGHT out often women believe that men ‘never stop being childish’ with a love of video games, burping, driving while playing loud music and being sulky during rows as the top irritations. And women are twice as likely as men to feel that they were the ‘grown-up’ ones in their relationships. Maybe for this reason, 43 is also

the average age of a man’s first divorce. The most common age for a woman to sign a decree nisi is 40.

49-MEN are most likely to cheat on the cusp of a new decade, with 49 being the peak danger point. Other risk factors include his height. If a man is more than 5ft 10in, he is more likely to stray, because other women will find him more attractive than his shorter counterparts.

Compared to men, women are more likely to have got the need to play away out of their system before marriage and children—at the age of 28.

50-A MAN’S earning power is at it’s peak.

However, his libido maybe falling.

The average Viagra user is 50 and has at least one health problem, such as high blood pressure or raised cholesterol.

53-NO ONE apparently told George Clooney, but 53 is the age when women think a man stops looking sexy.

64-AFTER a lifetime of work, 64 years and seven months is the most common age for a man to retire.

70- LOVE-MAKING really does get better with age, with a growing number of 70-year-old men reporting they have fulfilling sex lives. Nearly seven out of ten men are still having sex, according to the British Medical Journal.

78-THE good news is that a man can expect to live longer than at any time in history, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures, which says the average male can expect to reach at least this age.

90-AND it seems the fun doesn’t stop there. Some 80 per cent of sexually active men are satisfied with their sex lives up until their tenth decade, according to a study

by Age UK and the University of Manchester.

According to Dr. David Lee of Manchester University, who led the research: ‘Sex doesn’t stop or go away... it just changes.’

,

48—SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

YETUNDE AREBI

Between greed and gullibility

I

cannot but agree with Pastor E.H.L. Olusheye, President, Christ Apostolic church in one of his submissions on corruption in Nigeria. According to him, widespread corruption in Nigeria is traceable to the increasing wave of covetousness, greed, inordinate ambition, materialism and the get-rich-quick-syndrome of the post-independence era.

He went on to emphasise the Biblical saying that the love of money is the root of all evil and added that the nationwide poverty, inadequate social security and the corrupt and extravagant political system being operated in the country are factors contributing to corrupt practices in Nigeria, among other social ills. I have always maintained that corruption and all its offshoots such as greed, falling standard of moral and societal values, are not likely to be wished away with a wave of the hand, for as long as government fails to provide an enabling environment and an even playing ground (equal opportunity) for all citizens to live, survive and thrive as humans.

Our corruption induced mentality has so affected our psyche such that it has impaired our ability or desire to reason outside the box. Thus, most Nigerians can and will do anything and everything in their quest for money. In the process, some get lucky, breaking free off their shackles to poverty.

And the unlucky ones get to lose what they initially had, sinking deeper into their self dug graves.

And so it was that a couple of weeks ago, I was at my regular salon. No sooner had I settled in, did my hairdresser, Mrs Boyo, began narrating a very interesting development which according to her would be taking her out as soon as she was done with me. She had fallen into the hands of a 419 gang and had been manipulated to part with N270,000, some of the money, she’d had to borrow from a friend. How did this happen? According to Mrs. Boyo, She was still confused and finding it difficult to believe that she had been swindled because it was a church member that introduced her C M Y K

to the business.

She said the woman whom she identified as Mrs Martins is a member of her branch of the Redeemed Church of God, located in Ifako, Gbagada area of Lagos State. Though she was not really close to the woman, as a worker, she often ran into her and sometimes, Mrs. Martins came with two children whom she assumed were her own. She described Mrs Martins who later informed her that she worked with the NNPC, as a very elegant woman who appeared comfortable enough to pass for a rich woman.

She was not a regular worshiper and her excuse was that she had been posted to Abuja.

Shortly after the mandated 40 days fasting by the church, she ran into Mrs Martins and after their usual banter, the woman informed her that the spirit of God had ministered to her to bless my friend, Mrs. Boyo. She said though she already had someone else in mind, as soon as she saw Mrs. Boyo, the spirit informed her that she was the one to benefit from the contract. I guess my friend began seeing Dollar signs as soon as she heard NNPC contract was coming her way. She quickly indicated interest, thanking and blessing Mrs. Martins whom God was going to use to bless her too. The stage was set and Mrs. Martins told her to expect her call.

A few days later, she received the call from Mrs. Martins, telling her that the contract papers were almost ready. They had been approved and would be signed at a meeting they were about to start in Abuja anytime that day. The contract was for the supply of some service parts to the ships they were working on at the oil rigs. It was her contract but she wanted my friend to have a share of the largesse as directed by God. Mrs Martins part of the contract was the supply of special engine oils for the ships and Mrs. Boyo would handle it on her behalf. I couldn’t take it anymore at the point and asked how she did not know that Mrs. Martins was a joker and fraud. My friend insisted that she had no idea, what with her being a sister in the church.

Later in the day, Mrs. Martins called that the papers had been signed and one Alhaji Bello had already boarded a flight to Lagos armed

with them. She gave my friend a number to call the Alhaji on and then arrange to collect the contract papers from him. About 30 minutes later, the Alhaji called, asking where she was and why she was wasting his time, when he was going out of his way to do her a favour. My friend quickly abandoned her chores and left for the airport to meet Alhaji.

For the next two days, she met a couple of other guys, parting with money totalling N270, 000 and a four litre gallon of suspicious looking oil to show for all her effort. All the while, Mrs. Martins supposedly remained in Abuja, directing the show and insisting she would make multiples of her investment once the goods were delivered.

So how did she eventually realise that she had been scammed? She said the first time she visited the warehouse for the oil, the manager, after collecting the initial N150,000 deposit for a sample of the oil and registration, told her she would be allowed to come with a truck to pick the oil as Mrs. Martins would be sending the money from Abuja. However, the next day, he informed her that the oil was not available as some other clients had come to pack all their stock.

And since they were yet to make full payment, they would have to wait a few days. On the next agreed date, Mrs. Martins said she was having problems raising money from Abuja and that my friend should try and raise N500,000 as initial deposit, while she sourced the balance from Abuja. She said it would only increase her share of the contract money. At the end of the day, after borrowing and wiping out her account, she got to the Idiaraba warehouse and met nobody.

The name of the company had been removed, no one was around to answer her questions and Mrs. Martins had suddenly become unreachable. While we were talking, my friend’s daughter, a university undergraduate walked in. I asked why she allowed her mother walk into such a scam, or is she also ignorant of such antics. This was where I got my answer. The young girl told me not to mind her mother as she warned her several times during her mad rush to and from Idiaraba that she was being scammed, but her mother refused to listen, insisting that Mrs. Martins was a Christian sister.

If I felt any pity for Mrs. Boyo as she narrated her ordeal, after listening to the daughter, everything vanished. If she were my younger sister, I would probably have spanked her like a little girl, in addition to the scolding I gave her. Mrs Boyo simply allowed her greed for money, quick and easy money at that, to outdo her. She insisted that the way Mrs. Martins approached her gave her no option but to believe that it was a breakthrough from God. After all, they had just concluded the 40 days annual mandated fasting.

All efforts to track Mrs Martins have proved abortive. The number she called with has been out of reach. She has not been seen in church ever since and nobody knows her or recognises that name. But what is the position of the church on the matter? My friend said the church has never failed to inform members that it would not get involved in matters concerning business or money issues among brethrens. In other words, Mrs. Boyo is on her own. At a visit to her salon last weekend, tell tale signs of her misadventure had begun setting in. Poor Mrs. Boyo!

Remember, you may reach me via these email addresses: yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk or inthesunlovezone@yahoo.com Do have a wonderful weekend!

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015—49

F

rancis Eniterai Ogbimi is a researcher and Professor of Technology Management (TM). He has been conducting research and teaching TM for decades at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State. He is also a staff of the African Institute for Science Policy and Innovation (AISPI), OAU. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard Business, he reveals that learning is the primary source of sustainable economic growth, industrialisation and development. Excerpts: What is TM, and what is the role of AISPI? TM is a relatively new field of study and specialization. To the American engineers, an engineer who acquires a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree is a TM expert. But after decades of experience in teaching and research in TM, I do not agree that an engineer who acquires MBA degree is a TM expert.

However, AISPI began as Technology Planning and Development Unit (TPDU) in 1974 in the Faculty of Technology at OAU. That is, the concept of TM began in OAU as the brain-child of engineers with great foresight. TPDU was set up to conduct policy research on how to harness Science and Technology (S & T) for economic development. TPDU had very few people conducting research and teaching introductory courses to engineering and technological students up to 1986 when I joined the unit. Today, an institute, AISPI has replaced the Unit, TPDU. AISPI has about 20 research/ academic and administrative staff. With all humility, considering the scope and relevance of the research my colleagues and I carried out during the past decades, I dare say that our research results constitute God’s gift package to mankind.

I have summarized some of the highlights of my research results in a 7-book series.

The titles of my books show that my conception of TM and its role is quite broad.

The rate of unemployment especially among our youths is increasing. How can Nigeria deal with the problem of unemployment?

No nation does better than the intellectual capabilities of its citizens. No one solves a problem he or she does not understand. With all humility and all glory to God, the source of all knowledge, the global intelligentsia/intellectuals before our research works at OAU, had no scientific theory or understanding of the

Industrialisation is solution to mass unemployment — Prof. Ogbimi concept of unemployment. African intellectuals have no position of their own different from that of the West. More importantly, Western intellectuals and their African students do not understand the human development process, especially the relationship between level of employment in quantity and quality on the one hand and the level of productivity and inflation in an economy on the other hand. This is the major problem in planning for development in Nigeria and other African nations. As long as those who do not understand our problems sit in strategic positions in government attempting to solve the problems they do not understand, Nigeria would not and cannot achieve rapid development and solve unemployment and poverty problems.

Our historical research works showed that industrialization is the solution to mass unemployment and poverty.

All Western nations experienced mass unemployment for centuries when they had agricultural/ artisans/craftsmen economies. But when they achieved the modern

Ogbimi

may be decomposed into the value due to the goods that can be produced or the services rendered on the one hand, Vg, and the value of the learning opportunities associated with the production or service process, V . Growth in the l production or process system comes from learning.

Further analysis of the fundamental value relationship in the production/service system showed that any economy may be in one of three fundamental statuses. Position I is characterized by co-existent low employment (mass unemployment), low productivity and high inflation. Position II is characterized by coexistent optimum employment, optimum productivity and minimal inflation. Position III is characterized by coexistent full employment, low productivity and high inflation. The theory also shows that improvement in productivity is the true antidote to inflation.

Position I characterized by co-existent low employment (mass unemployment), low productivity and high inflation, is the least desirable. The Nigerian economy and those of other African nations are in this position. The theory suggests that conscious increase in employment in quantity and quality through training is needed to promote rapid industrialization and solve unemployment and poverty problems in Nigeria. See our website [www.solep.org], the publication section.

Is the challenge of unemployment global?

Yes, the challenge of

Industrial Revolution (IR), mass unemployment disappeared. Britain experienced mass unemployment for many centuries. Britain achieved the first modern Industrial Revolution (IR) in the period 17701850. When the nation achieved the great feat, the adult males and females in Britain were not enough to fill the job openings created by the scientific development.

Industrialists in Britain during the early part of the IR had to zero on children who were engaged to work for many hours in the day in factories. This is the basis of the scandalous child-labour associated with British industrialization about which Karl Marx criticized and called Western industrialists, capitalists. Western governments wanted Marx dead for his writings.

We are lucky to have developed a scientific theory of employment/unemployment. Our scientific theory of employment derived from the observation that any production or service process has a value, V . The value p

unemployment is global in terms of poor understanding. Western social Scientists (WSSs) and their students in the various continents are the people providing the intellectual guide for the global economy.

WSSs do not understand the science of the human development process. They are unable to interpret the history of Western development. They lack a sense of history. They are unable to explain how agricultural/ artisans/craftsmen economies in the West were transformed into industrialized economies. But the severity of unemployment is not the same globally. The problem is much more serious in the agricultural/artisans/ craftsmen economies in Africa, Asia and Latin-America than in the industrialized Western and Asian economies. That is because total employment in agricultural/artisan economy is usually very small and its ability to absorb highly educated people has traditionally been low.

To be continued

oductivity HEL WEI, par tner wer community on health healthyy living, pr productivity HELWEI, partner tnerss empo empow s the global agenda tilt from A development goals to attaining sustainability by 2030, Healthy Living & Women Empowerment Initiative (HELWEI) a non-governmental, not - for- profit organization in Lagos in collaboration with CHI Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Dave Star Hospital as lead partners and others made giant strides in their commitment towards health awareness and economic productivity

through a community health outreach in Lagos titled: ‘Genital Infections and Hepatitis: Threat to Healthy Living.’

At the three-day community health outreach, the Executive Director, Healthy Living & Women Empowerment Initiative (HELWEI), Ebere Okey-Onyema, reiterated that the whole objective of the intervention is to have a total woman, hence the knowledge sharing on

From centre is Project Director, JobRed, Mrs. Ajo Afolabi-Balogun, flanked by her colleagues, at a press briefing on how to empower young graduates in Lagos.

C M Y K

cervical cancer and free screening for all interested women. However, the outreach which centered on hepatitis and cervical cancer was not exclusive for women but men and children participated in the hepatitis screening because hepatitis is not gender based. It affects everyone.

Hepatitis affects vital organs in the body, including men’s sexual health, thus it is critical to family health and stability. Our advocacy is centered on preventive rather than curative measures in disease control.

Commenting on the impact of the intervention in the community, Okey-Onyema said, ‘it’s been worthwhile; in 2014, we engaged communities through our Save a Woman, Save A Generation Campaign with focus on family planning, prenatal and nutrition.’ Participants were advised to give birth to children they can train and cater for as this would help to reduce poverty and health related challenges in the society’.

She further stated that this very intervention is meant to create awareness on the ‘silent killer’ diseases, hepatitis and cervical cancer with its roots in genital infections. This is why the planning of the outreach integrated all stakeholders in the health sector such as private health providers, pharmacists, faith-based groups, artisans and trade groups.

Consequently, Dr. David O. Akinola, Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Health, Lagos emphasized that ‘ the programme is a community based awareness health outreach on genital infections, hepatitis and cervical cancer with free screening for healthy living

and economic productivity. According to him, both genital infections and hepatitis are threats to healthy living and constitutes risk factors to the development of cervical cancer. He further stated that these viruses are major killers among women in developing countries, and could lead to low economic output of victims. He explained that the purpose of the health outreach is to screen women against cervical cancer; men, women and children against hepatitis in order to achieve a certain level of control of the diseases especially as most awareness programmes focus on HIV, malaria with few on tuberculosis.

Dr. Akinola asserted that if diseases must be reduced in the society, people should adopt the culture of going for screening regularly.

He also advised that government should strengthen their support for various NGOs, empower health clinics and people taking these initiatives to the grass roots.

Dr. Oluyemisi Laitan Babatunde, Medical Officer, Dave Star Hospital, Isheri-Oshun, Igando Ikotun LCDA, Alimosho, Lagos said that the outreach targets men, women and children for a better living through health education and screening for hepatitis and cervical cancer. She added that hepatitis and cervical cancer were chosen as focal points because both viruses have minimal awareness in rural/semi urbancommunities. According to her, these diseases are preventable yet people die of them daily because of knowledge gap.

50—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

BY CHINENYEH OZOR,NSUKKA

did not run away that night. They kept changing themselves at intervals, and then I concluded that the hour has come when finally they will butcher me to death.

Then around 10 pm, all the boys left my house to their homes. I sent my wife to go and buy something for me in a nearby shop. When she got there, my cousin Shedrack was at the shop, armed with long cutlass and a stick. He ordered my wife back without buying what I sent her to buy, else he will attack her. Later around 11pm, I sneaked out of my compound together with my wife and we slept in the bush to evade their coming back to kill me. It was from the bush that we rushed to the police to lodge the complaint which made it possible for four of the boys to be arrested.

Wonders, they say, shall never cease to happen. This aptly describes how a septuagenarian, Onuorah Okwanyi, passed through the valley of death and lived to tell the story. He was reportedly buried alive by irate youths at Akwali, Eha-Alumona community in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, over allegations that he used talisman to kill people in the community through lightning and thunder.

Though the man denied the allegations, that did little to percify the enraged youths of the community who threw caution to the winds and proceeded to order him to dig his own grave after which they started hauling mounds of earth into the grave with the intention of burying him alive. Fortunately, while they were almost through with the job, save for his head which was yet to be covered with mud, relief came with the arrival of one of the respected elders in the community who not only rebuked the youths but stopped them from accomplishing their task with the firm promise of finding a solution in no distant time.

The 70-year-old victim who was still visibly traumatized by the incident, spoke to Crime Guard in the presence of his wife, Onyejere Blessing Okwani, and gave chilling account of how the sordid incident took place and the attendant aftermath.

HIS STORY I passed through a horrible experience in the hands of my captors who ordered me to dig my grave where they would bury me alive. After digging the grave, they started covering me with sand. When it remained just my head, God sent a saviour to my rescue. What happened was that my cousin, Shedrack lost his son in our community. I returned from Opi town where I live to pay condolence visit to my cousin few days after his son was buried.

I had with me a coconut and a bottle of hot drink, Snap for the condolence.

Surprisingly, when I arrived, my cousin ordered me out of his compound, accusing me of being responsible for the death of his son. I was shocked by the accusation and tried to inquire further but he chased me out with a long sharp matchet on his right hand. As the mellow drama was going on, my cousin raised his voice which attracted a good number of people in the community and the issue was thrown open. Accusations and counter accusations took the centre stage. I was being derided from left, right and centre while confusion engulfed me as I saw myself in a deep mess in my own community. I offered to the ragging crowd to allow me take an oath at any dreaded deity of their choice but they refused.

Rather, they insisted that I should be buried alive. Where on the planet earth has any person been buried alive in his country home? I told them that I will bring a deity from a distant community to take an oath on it but they refused, saying that I cannot bring any deity to the community. I was confused the more.

The crowd held me for several hours.

When the elders started leaving for their homes, I was left with the youths and my wife. The youths later asked my wife to go back to the house that they will stay with me for further discussion.

HOW I DUG MY OWN GRAVE When every other person had left except the youths, they took me to the C M Y K

RECOVERED CHARMS IN MY HOUSE Before I was taken to be buried alive, they brought out some charms in my house and asked me to leak all of them. I told them the charms were for the protection of my family and not meant to harm anybody.

Initially, they mandated me to swear by the main road if I have ever killed anybody, I complied but they were not satisfied and insisted to kill me.

•The victim and wife •The suspects

How irate youths attempted burying 70-yr-old man alive •victim recounts chilling experience

bush unknown to me that it was a journey to death. They were dragging me just like the Fulani cattle. They gave me a machete and asked me to clear a certain portion and later, gave me a hoe to dig my grave.

When I became so tired of digging the grave, they collected the hoe from me and finished it up. Thereafter, they ordered me to lay face down while they started covering me with soil. As they kept on pouring mounds of soil on top of my body inside the grave, they asked me to deliver a message to my wife but I continued to tell them that I did not do anything to deserve this kind of death.

GOD’S INTERVENTION The boys were busy hauling soil on me, when one of the respected elders in the community, Osita, arrived from nowhere

and shouted at the boys not kill me. He pleaded with them to allow him intervene and produce me in four days time to the general assembly of the community. They obliged his request and asked me to come out. When I tried to lift my body up, it was not possible because they had already covered every where with sand except my head. In pains, I told them that it was not easy for me as the soil was too heavy on me. They then used the hoe to excavate me from the grave and allowed me to go home.

BACK TO MY HOUSE When I reached my house, I broke down in tears with my wife as I narrated the traumatic ordeal I passed through. Few minutes later, the boys surfaced again as it was getting late into the night, to keep vigil in my house in order to ensure that I

HIS WIFE NARRATES ORDEAL Wife of the traumatized septuagenarian, Mrs Onyere told Crime Guard that her biological father is a herbalist and because of that, the community branded her husband a murderer. “My father has never prepared charm to kill anybody, not to talk of using my husband to perfect such act.

My husband has, on two different occasions, sworn by the bible and the native oath, yet the people were not satisfied and wanted him dead. They accused me of concealing the activities of my husband. The charms they brought from our house were for protection of the family and nothing else. My father John Eya, who hails from Obollo-Afor in Udenu local government area, Enugu state, has never used his herbal trade to undo anybody.”

POLICEACTION Crime Guard learnt that after the victim ran to lodge report with the police, the Area Commander, Nsukka zone, Hanson Haladu, promptly informed the Police boss in Enugu, Abubakar Adamu, who swiftly directed that a crack team of detectives be dispatched to round up all those connected with the case with a view to ascertaining the authenticity of the man’s claims of being buried alive.

Following the directive, the police arrested four young boys whose names were given as; Eze Osita (29), Asogwa Onyeka (21), Ezugwu Obinna (35) and Eze Obinna (20). The arrest of the four boys later sparked off tension in the community as women numbering about 100, chanting sorrowful songs, trooped to the Area command, demanding the immediate release of the four boys, insisting that they did nothing to warrant their arrest and detention by the police.

As at the time of going to press, it was gathered that tension had been doused while police are busy investigating the case.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—51

MISTAKEN IDENTITY:

kidnappers abduct security man’s wife, demand N10m

•Zara Mohammed

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

C M Y K

,

W

hen Zara Mohammed,27, a full-time house wife and a nursing mother ,left her home at Dolphin Estate, dressed georgeously to attend her friend’s baby naming ceremony at Ijeh barracks, little did she know that she would be mistaken for a millionaire's wife and kidnapped on her way back home by a woman who offered her a ride at the entrance to her Estate.

Crime Guard gathered that the victim, who relocated to Lagos after she got married to her husband in Maiduguri in 2010, had two children including a sixmonth-old baby before she was kidnapped.

Narrating his wife's ordeal after her release, Mr. Mohammed, told Crime Guard that on April 25, 2015, at about 2pm, she left their house located at Corporation drive, 189b, Dolphin Estate, to attend a friend’s child naming ceremony at Ijeh barracks. According to him, that was the last time he heard from her. "After waiting till 10pm, and she didn’t return, I called her line but it was switched off. I went to the venue of the naming ceremony.

"Unfortunately, it was dark and I could not locate the place. The next morning, I went back and was able to locate the house of the celebrant. Surprisingly, my wife’s friend, the host of the ceremony, told me

A week later, I was dumped in a farm when they realised that my husband, a mere security man, could not pay the amount. I couldn’t move because of my tied legs. All I could do was to cry and shout to alert anyone nearby

,

that she attended the ceremony but left almost immediately after giving her baby a gift. She, however, took me to some other friends’ houses to see if my wife had passed the night there but, it was an exercise in futility as none of them had any clue about her whereabouts. At last, I went to Dolphin Estate Divisional Police station to report that my wife was missing.

“The following day, I received a call from a number that claimed they had kidnapped her and requested that I should bring N10 million ransom to Allen bus stop at Ikeja, Lagos. I told them that I wanted to speak with my wife to be sure that they actually kidnapped her.

It was then I asked her how she got kidnapped. She said it was when she was returning from the naming ceremony that she was kidnapped . While she was still talking with me, the line went off. I tried severally to call back but it was switched off.

“When I realised that it was a kidnap case, I notified the police who transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti,Yaba, Lagos, for further investigation. On April 27, 2015, the kidnappers called me with my wife’s number and I told them I won’t be able to raise that amount because I am a security man in Dolphin Estate with a monthly salary of N20,000.

Immediately, the phone went dead.

"Few days later, I was shocked to see her in our house in Lagos. It was then that she narrated what actually happened to me."

This is her story. " I was on my way back to the house and when I got to the entrance of the estate, a woman driving a red Gulf car stopped and asked if I was going into the estate and I said yes. She then offered to give me and two other men who were also at the entrance, a ride. I accepted the gesture and boarded the vehicle because the driver was a fellow woman and I didn’t suspect any danger because she looked so innocent and harmless little

knowing that the two men were her partners in crime.

“As soon as we boarded the car, one of the men used a white handkerchief to cover my face and then I became unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a room with my hands and legs tied. Inside the room I met a woman who alleged she was abducted with her daughter. She complained that since they kidnapped them, she hasn’t seen her daughter. Two days later, they took her away and I was left alone in the room.

“The next day, they called my husband and requested for N10 million ransom. After they finished talking with my husband, they gave me the phone to speak with him. I was still explaining to him in our dialect what happened when they took the phone from me and switched it off. The next day, they called him with my phone but they didn’t allow me to speak with him. While there, I was given a plate of rice to eat and pure water to drink.

“A week later, I was dumped in a farm after they realised that my husband, a mere security man, could not pay the amount they demanded. I couldn’t move because of my tied legs. All I could do was to cry and shout to alert anyone nearby. I was in the bush crying when a Good Samaritan heard my voice and came to my rescue. He asked me what happened and why my hands and legs were tied. I told him that some people kidnapped me on my way to Dolphin Estate and he asked, Dolphin Estate in Lagos? I said yes. It was then he told me that I was in Lokoja,Kogi State and not Lagos. That was when I realised how far away I was from Lagos.

"He untied me and then took me to the nearest motor park where I would board a vehicle to Lagos.

He paid N2000 to the driver as my transportation fare and explained to the driver and other park officials what had happened to me."

The traumatized husband told Crime Guard, "I thank God for rescuing my wife from the hands of kidnappers. But ,the problem right now is that since her release, she behaves abnormally. I don’t know what her abductors did to her. She acts funny and very different from herself. I have concluded plans to take her to my home town in Borno State for proper medical treatment,"he stated.

52—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

D

Loving

o you understand what they told me?,’ I said to P as we walked from the hospital to the car park. ‘I can’t take it in.’ I was on autopilot. P too. God knows how he managed to drive us home.

‘They told us “the news”,’ he said. At this early stage, none of us could bring ourselves to say the word ‘cancer’. But that’s where my cancer journey began.

Actually, that’s an odd choice of words, since I loathe the term ‘journey’. Journey implies a pleasant trip to the seaside, a magical mystery tour or an epiphany during some life-changing experience.

Cancer isn’t a journey: cancer is a nuclear bomb dropped in the centre of your lovely world. There’s nothing liberating or celebratory about it.

I didn’t want to be told that losing my hair will give me extra time in bed in the morning which I’d otherwise have spent blow-drying, or that buying a range of wigs will give me the chance to ‘try out’ different personalities — both of which I read in an ‘uplifting compilation of quotes’ from breast cancer survivors.

I’d have given up all the lie-ins in the world to keep my lovely locks.

Right after getting ‘the news’, I’d been led out of the room by the doctor and nurse who broke it to me and handed a cup of tea. I’d say that both P and I were in tears, but in fact we were doing that kind of crying that comes without tears. Startled crying. Confused crying. Frozen-to-your-core, terrified crying.

We bid the doctor and his nurse a purposeful goodbye as we left. A cancer diagnosis tends to enhance Britishness. Pleasantries, talk of the weather, cups of tea ... as though in a crisis, politeness is all we have left.

In the car, afterwards, P continued to run through what the doctor had told us.

‘And then they said that they’d need to determine whether it’s invasive or noninvasive. Non-invasive is better — you might get away without chemotherapy then. But if it’s invasive, you’re going to need chemotherapy and radiotherapy as soon as the side — where P and I discovered it — as it your mastectomy is out of the way.’ had grown.

I couldn’t get my head around the multiThe surgery — the mastectomy — was syllable medical vocabulary I was suddenly arranged for the next week. Oddly, I found having to learn. myself actually looking forward to it.

‘And that’s really necessary, is it, the ‘I want this thing out of me,’ I thought. ‘Cut mastectomy?’ I spat, as though it were P who’d me open, take my nipple, take the lot, scar decided that it must be done. me right up. Just. Get. It. Out.’ If I’d hoped my cancer was early-stage and But on the morning of the operation, I non-invasive, my follow-up appointment that cried immediately after waking.

Friday revealed a different ‘I don’t want to do this,’ I story. whimpered into P’s In his office, the doctor shoulder. ‘I don’t think I pointed with his pen to a can.’ I looked up to see his face wet with tears. diagram of a breast that ‘But you must,’ he reminded me of a GCSE croaked. ‘You must. You Biology paper. He must. You must...’ He wept explained that my fivemore with every centimetre — fivecommand, and I realised centimetre! — tumour for the first time that it wasn’t just invasive but that wasn’t just me who’d had it was not early stage at all. this diagnosis, it was us.

It was likely to be grade Me and P. Team Lynch. two or three, depending on We were always ready to whether he discovered a catch whatever was spread to my lymph nodes thrown our way. But this? during my mastectomy.

This wasn’t a gas bill or a ‘What I can’t understand gazumped flat or even is how I didn’t find this another miscarriage after sooner. How neither of us the two we had already found this sooner,’ I said, suffered. gesturing to P. This had the potential to ‘I mean, it’s five ruin it all. To put an end to •Poignant: Lisa me and P. To cut short our centimetres!’

Lynch asked flawless marriage to a The professor drew more Sheridan Smith mere 18 months. We shapes on the breast to play her in howled loudly and diagram to demonstrate the drama messily, grasping onto how the tumour had been before her death each other as though growing immediately letting go would mean beneath my nipple and had only begun to push out to

and laughter in the face of

cancer So lovely is P that he offered to shave his head when my hair fell out.

But I told him not to. He’s so darned handsome it would have ruined his looks, and I liked him the way he was

admitting defeat.

I threw back the sheets and staggered into the living room, hanging my head out of the window for air as though suffocated by the grief that was swallowing up our bedroom.

I had been working myself up into a panic about the operation. Will he still fancy me after the mastectomy (I hate that word), when I’m all stitched and swollen and unnatural-feeling?

Will he still fancy me when I’m pale and hairless, and bloated from the steroids?

So lovely is P that he offered to shave his head when my hair fell out. But I told him not to. He’s so darned handsome it would have ruined his looks, and I liked him the way he was.

At the hospital, while the nurses prepared me for the operation, I was in still tears, gripping P’s hand all the while.

‘Have you had a general anaesthetic before?’ the anaesthetist asked. I shook my head, still weeping. ‘Well, there’s nothing to worry about,’ he continued. ‘It’ll just be like having a few G&Ts.’ My head answered, ‘I could do with one of those!’ but I didn’t have the energy to articulate the thought, so fixated was I on my husband’s loving face as the needle entered the back of my hand.

And then, with one too many shots of Gordon’s gin, I was asleep.

When the surgeon came to see me the day after the operation, he was smiling.

‘So the operation went well,’ he explained, as we nodded along like two plastic dogs in a rear windscreen.

‘However, the sentinel node biopsy [to find out if the cancer has progressed beyond the breast] showed a spread to your lymph nodes, so I removed them immediately.’

I gulped. ‘So it did spread?’

‘Yes, it did,’ Smiley Surgeon nodded.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—53

•Lisa Lynch: Fought breast cancer with bravery and wit have exacerbated the cancer.

There was no definite way of knowing whether or not either pregnancy was to blame for the cancer but we could not ignore the fact that they could have given it a leg-up.

Either way, it turned out that the hormone oestrogen — released in greater quantities during pregnancy — might just be my kryptonite.

I was baffled by the immediate way in which P and I reacted to the blow to our fertility. The thing was, there just wasn’t space in our heads to squeeze in yet another stomach-punching blow, so we adopted a ‘well that’s that, then’ attitude.

The way we saw it, had we been told in the course of our post-miscarriage fertility checks that we wouldn’t be able to have our own children, that would have been a genuinely gutwrenching disappointment. We’d have cried and mourned for the kids we’d already named (Maisy Jean for a girl, Cameron Thomas Arthur for a boy) and got our names on an adoption register.

•Moving: Sheridan Smith as Lisa and Paul Nicholls as her husband ‘P’ in the C-Word ‘But I’m very optimistic. Remember, it has all gone now — it has all been removed. And the chemotherapy will mop up any rogue cells that are too small to operate on.’

While we were at the hospital, we had a look round the chemo room. I decided not to be a ‘cancer patient’, but instead a mere guest who’d booked herself in for a relaxing day in the Therapy Suite.

I wanted to turn up in huge sunglasses, comfy jeans, my sparkly new Converse trainers, with my Marc Jacobs tote in one hand and my iPhone in the other, and completely ignore the real reason I was there.

But it wasn’t so easy The first night after having the chemo drugs was horrific. I was a mug for thinking I could bring some cheery charm to the proceedings by glamming up for the hospital.

Within hours of leaving the treatment room, the not-so-floral reality hit me. Can’t-keep-anythingdown sickness, shakes and shivers, wanting to rip out my veins, fainting, aching, heart palpitations, all-over bone pain, sweating, panicking, watching as my joints swelled and my skin developed itchy rashes.

When the cancer was first diagnosed, the doctors had hoped there would be time for a quick pre-chemo course of IVF as a means of ensuring that P and I had options when it came to having kids. But we just couldn’t hang around and risk my cancer spreading.

That wasn’t all. Almost exactly a year ago, I’d had the first of two miscarriages, so there was a chance that my getting pregnant could even

B

ut now, things were different. There were bigger issues at hand.

Like staying alive. A life that included just the two of us no longer seemed a distant second place to having a family. I loved the thought of that life with P. I loved the thought of any life with P. And even during the bleakest moments of the cancer, P would tell me that he felt exactly the same about our alternative future ‘In five years,’ I told one of my doctors, ‘I just want still to be here.’

‘So why is it that you won’t blog about your fears of death?’ my doctor asked.

‘Well, because I’m British,’ I retorted. ‘And we just don’t talk about death, do we?’ It is the ultimate unmentionable. Death is what you immediately think of on being told you have cancer (well, with me it was hair first, death second). And yet, as soon as the diagnosis is done with, nobody mentions it again.

But I hadn’t spoken or blogged about death because I didn’t want to upset my family or P. I could never allow myself to forget that cancer doesn’t only have an impact on one person. It wasn’t just happening to me: it was happening to us.

P may not have been wired up to the drugs or experiencing the side-effects or seeing his hair come out in clumps, but it was clear that he was feeling every bit of it. And arguably more so, thanks to the added frustration of being forced to play spectator, unable to do a thing about it.

Though it may sound silly when your life is on the line, but the hair loss was what I had

She explained then that they could manage the cancer, and hopefully slow its progress — but never cure it

feared most. When the first hairs started to fall out and I told P the news, I burst into tears.

And, to my surprise, so did he.

But a visit to my 86-year-old uncle cheered us both up. When he saw me, his eyes (and mine) filled with delighted tears as he gave me the loveliest cuddle and said: ‘I’ve been trying so hard to think what you’d look like — but it’s you!

It’s still you!’

He, too, had more than enough to occupy his mind, aside from what I looked like. His wife, my amazing auntie, was also in the middle of cancer treatment, and yet was still as magnificent and matriarchal as ever.

As she made me a brew and showed off her new wig, my uncle leaned over to me and said: ‘You know what? I still fancy her more than ever.’

I couldn’t help hoping that P would say the same. And he did. Although I bought wigs and headscarves and headbands, P was only interested in me in ‘wig-off’ mode. The moment we’d get home, he’d whip off the wig.

In many ways, the hair loss was easier to cope with than the tiredness. During the chemo, I felt like a frail old woman.

One evening, P ran me a lovely bath with posh Molton Brown bubbles and candles all around the tub, but all I found myself craving was one of those baths with a door in the side that fills up around you and saves you collapsing on your husband when you climb out of it.

The thing P and I particularly loved about our doctors and nurses was that they’d got the pair of us sussed from the very beginning. We came as a team, P and I, and Smiley Surgeon and Always-Right Nurse were quick to recognise it.

They always asked how we were. The you in ‘how did you find the last chemo?’ was collective. When there was a decision to be made, they asked what both of us thought about it. After one mastectomy, five months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiotherapy, we went back to the hospital.

‘So, can we say I’m in remission now?’ I asked the doctor, while tearing holes in a tissue with one hand and gripping P with the other.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t say that,’ she said, sympathetic to my disappointment. ‘The discourse around cancer is really problematic.

‘The media doesn’t help, of course. All this “Kylie Minogue gets the all-clear” stuff. In truth, I’m afraid, with this kind of cancer, there simply is no all clear.’

‘It’s just never ending,’ said P, taking the words out of my mouth. ‘We hoped there’d be some closure from today.’

She explained then that they could manage the cancer, and hopefully slow its progress — but never cure it.

If only cancer were just a disease that you discover, get upset about, treat, then get over.

Someone once told me that, upon her diagnosis, her consultant said: ‘I don’t want to frighten you, but you need to understand that your life will never be the same again.’

For my 29th birthday, which had fallen during the chemotherapy, P had bought me a bag of lovely Jo Malone beauty treats. He also handed me a tiny parcel.

‘It’s just something daft,’ he explained. ‘But I want this to become your mantra.’

I tore off the wrapping and pulled out a fridge magnet, upon which was a Winston Churchill quote: Never, never, never give up.

‘Promise me?’ asked P. ‘I promise,’ I said. ‘Of course I promise.’

In September, 2011, Lisa’s cancer returned.

On her blog she wrote: ‘The spread is to my bones: not just in my back, as was first my suspicion, but everywhere, in the form of dotlike tumours (worst in my spine, hips, shoulders, ribs, clavicles, sternum).

‘All of which explains the increasing pain I’ve been in recently, whose severity I have, for longer than I care to admit, been denying to those around me — most of all me.’

Her doctors told her that the cancer was not curable — only that the pain could be managed.

She died peacefully on Monday March 11, 2013, with P and her parents at her side.

Culled from The Mail

54—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

NOW THE BIG THREAT TO OI

The car that run J

C M Y K

streets. And with almost no demand for petrol and diesel, we would no longer be so reliant on oil-producing states in the Middle East.

At a stroke, the whole environment and economy of the planet would be transformed.

Perhaps inevitably, there are snags, as there usually are with rosy visions of the future. The first problem is cost.

At the moment, hydrogen cars are seriously expensive. The Mirai, a fourdoor saloon, is due to go on sale for a whopping £63,104.

The next problem is where you are going to fill it up. You will need to find your nearest hydrogen filling station, and at the moment there are only 12 in the UK, with none further north than Sheffield. Some predict that there will be 65 of these stations by 2020, and it will cost around £65 to fill up.

Of course, questions of cost and infrastructure can always be solved by

,

ust imagine that instead of spewing out a noxious mixture of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, benzene and particulates, your car ’s exhaust emitted only water. Yes, that’s right, just good old H2O, in a form so pure you could drink it.

It might sound like science fiction, but it is in fact reality, in the form of a new car that will appear on our streets later this year called the Toyota Mirai.

Instead of being filled up with petrol or diesel, the Mirai (the word is Japanese for ‘future’) is powered by the most common element in the universe — hydrogen.

The gas is inserted into the car’s tank just as you might use a petrol pump, and then, through the wonders of a fuel cell — which produces a chemical reaction between the hydrogen and oxygen in the air — it is converted into electricity, which in turn powers the car.

Incredibly, the only by-product of this process is water.

Cynical petrolheads will doubtless dismiss the Mirai as a gimmick, which, like so many electric cars, probably only has a range of a few miles, and goes no faster than 40 mph.

But they’d be wrong, as the Mirai is actually a proper car.

It can hit 111 mph, go from 0-62 mph in 9.6 seconds, and, most importantly of all, has a range of around 300 miles — enough to get you from Watford to Carlisle on a single tank. The ultrastrong carbon-fibre tanks can be filled in around ten minutes.

Of course, if you mention hydrogen as a means to power transportation, many people will think of the Hindenburg, the airship which exploded in a vast ball of flames over New Jersey in 1937.

But there is an extremely low danger of that happening with a hydrogen car, since the fuel cells are encased in tanks that are bulletproof. In fact, you have much more chance of being blown up by a traditional petrol tank in a crash.

So on the surface, it looks like cars such as the Mirai do have the potential to change the world. Next year, Honda will enter the market, and Ford and Nissan are also exploring the technology.

If all motor vehicles ran on hydrogen, then we would remove all the traffic pollution from our cities and

If all motor vehicles ran on hydrogen, then we would remove all the traffic pollution from our cities and streets.

And with almost no demand for petrol and diesel, we would no longer be so reliant on oil-producing states in the Middle East

,

governments creating incentives — offering buyers grants, and even providing the hydrogen free.

This is already happening in Japan — a country increasingly concerned about its energy policy in the wake of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

Its government is heavily subsidising the purchase of hydrogen cars to the tune of £17,000 per buyer per car, as part of a £254 million programme to get 6,000 private hydrogen vehicles on the road by 2020.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the California Energy Commission has pledged £130 million to provide nearly 70 hydrogen stations by the end of the next year.

The Californians are also providing more than £8,000 for those buying hydrogen cars, which takes a considerable chunk out of the cost of the Mirai, which is listed in America

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015—55

IL PRODUCING COUNTRIES

ns on FRESH AIR ,

The British Government, for its part, has promised £11 million to help provide a further 15 hydrogen stations in the South-East.

It hits 111mph and only water comes out the exhaust... no it's not science fiction and you can buy it here soon (if you can afford it)

,

at a cheaper price of £37,000.

The cars will be more expensive in Britain for the simple reason that car manufacturers, like tech companies such as Apple, inflate their prices for the UK market because they have learned over time that although we may complain, we are still willing to pay more than customers overseas.

The British Government, for its part, has promised £11 million to help provide a further 15 hydrogen stations in the South-East.

Another issue for these cars is that while hydrogen is found all around us, it is a difficult element to isolate.

The most common method is called steam methane reforming, which involves mixing steam and natural gas, heating them to 1,500f and then adding a catalyst, such as nickel, to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Around 95 per cent of the world’s hydrogen is extracted this

way. Unfortunately, this is not a very environmentally friendly process because of those by-products. So, although the hydrogen car itself does not pollute, producing the fuel it needs is a messy business.

As a result, even defenders of hydrogen cars admit that their ‘carbon footprint’ — in other words, how much energy is used and pollution created to make them run — is at best half that of a conventional car, and at worst considerably more than that.

Scientists are working on greener methods of isolating hydrogen, such as extracting it from corn husks, or employing wind turbines to power the electrolysis of water, which splits the hydrogen from the oxygen.

At present, neither of these methods are efficient enough to produce enough fuel to power millions of vehicles. Of course, fans of hydrogen cars are adamant that we need to press ahead because our future depends on running motor vehicles that do not heat up the planet.

What those enthusiasts will have to do, however, is establish how to manage the by-products of the cars.

Toyota claims that the Mirai only produces 100 millilitres of water per mile.

That may not sound like very much, yet in Britain motor vehicles travel 303

•Gas is inserted into the car’s tank just as you might use a petrol pump, and then, through the wonders of a fuel cell — which produces a chemical reaction between the hydrogen and oxygen in the air — it is converted into electricity, which in turn powers the car billion miles per year on our roads.

That means that if every car was a Mirai, we would be leaking three billion litres of water and water vapour from our vehicles every year.

That’s a lot of H2O — around 12,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Of course, water in itself is benign, but not necessarily if it is being leaked onto cold roads. Imagine a motorway with heavy traffic in the midwinter, with each vehicle spilling a litre of water every ten miles. It would turn into an ice rink in minutes. And, if the water is expelled as vapour, then the predictable result would be fog.

In Reykjavik in Iceland, passengers

on hydrogen buses have been alarmed by the amount of water vapour that comes out of one bus alone.

So while hydrogen cars do sound enticing in theory, there are caveats which must be overcome if they are to become a commercial proposition any time soon.

It’s possible hydrogen fuel cells will become a success used in, for example, forklift trucks working in enclosed spaces, where petrol or diesel fumes are especially undesirable.

Whether we will all be cruising around in hydrogen-powered family cars in the next decade or so, however, remains to be seen.

C M Y K

56—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

Madonna,

56, tries to outshine daughter in hotpants

B

eing the first born of popular popstar Madonna, may have aroused a bit of concern and sympathy for Lourdes Leon. A Daily Mail writer stated that dealing with the 'ineffable, inexplicable phenomenon called Madonna' may be a bit unsettling for the teenager. Her words: “ Instead of having a nice boring mum who you can

patronise about her dress-sense and kindly advise on the latest mascara, there's this crazedly exhibitionist, imagehanging old chick.

Blink and you miss it, as she transforms herself from a down-anddirty sex-bomb to a sinewy athlete, a holy Kabbalah devotee or, improbably, a Country Lady: an English Rose. Even if at home — in private — she has a hidden talent for being just Good Old Mum, it must be unnerving.”

Continuing, she wrote, “Any starstruck 18-year-old might daydream about rocking up to a party in New York, with cameras flashing admiringly at her tiny leather shorts and chest-constricting yet reassuringly expensive Moschino bondage top.

Now suppose that in this daydream you look round and your 56-year-old mum is mincing along next to you in identical or even tighter leather hotpants, her hair tumbling seductively, a raunchy snarl

•Madonna and daughter (left)

•Madonna and daughter, Lourdes at the New York Met Ball

• Mother and daughter at a film premiere

plastered across her artfully painted face.”

Years of observation suggest that one of the most useful things a parent of teenager can be is — well, a bit boring. During those hormonally turbulent years, it helps if their parents at least manage to seem pretty static, predictable, peaceful.

Not to slink around in tight leather trousers and flirt with a son's mates or a daughter's potential boyfriends.

The words 'We're like sisters!' are rarely very welcome to developing girls. Especially when there's a 38year age gap. Deep biological instincts tell the fertile young girl it's rightly her turn to do the matingdance now. Not her mother's. So when the maternal clothes and behaviour suggest that she's not going to bow out gracefully, not ever, it can be a bit disheartening for a new-fledged girl. It leaves her

no space, no role to play.

But she is not alone in having to put up with this rejuvenation of middle-aged women. Many mothers have taken to extreme outbreaks of self-reinvention, party-girl behaviour and 'kidult' trendiness. They blithely cry: 'Just because I'm 53 that's no reason why I shouldn't dance naked in the rain at Glastonbury!

• Madonna doing her thing

• Lourdes (right) with Madonna carrying adopted son

• Madonna

• Lourdes, aged four going out with mum

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 16, 2015 — 57

C M Y K

58—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

Continues from page 19

government?

Let me put it this way, in law, we have what we call presumptions.

Once a document is published like the gazette, there is a presumption of regularity attached to it. If you want to disprove it, with evidence, you have to go to court.

Now, the National Assembly has published a gazette and in spite of what anybody says, there is a presumption of regularity attached to it by law under the evidence act.

You and I must accept it as a law and until it is set aside by the law, it is the law.

That is the implication now and we have to be very careful because we are creating additional burden for the in- coming government. Are they going to jettisone it? Will Buhari be appointing Attorney general and another person as Minister of Justice because there is now a new amendement to the constitution?

That is the problem we are going to face when Buhari’s government comes into power.

a defect in the making of that law, then that person can go to court to challenge the making of that law.

That is where the interference of the judiciary comes into play.

If it is Mr President that wants to challenge it, he goes directly to Supreme Court as an original court of jurisdiction, but if it is a group of lawyers or association, they go directly to the Federal High court to start and initiate an action to challenge the making of that law. That does not remove the fact that the National Assembly has the power to make the laws.

Whether, it is defective or not, that is a matter for the court to decide after it must have been proven.

With your analysis, it means the court action by the Attorney General, going to the Supreme Court at this stage was premature?

There are two schools of thoughts. The Attorney General who has briefed the lawyer to go to the Supreme Court has his own view that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction.

So, people like us feel the Supreme Court has not got the jurisdiction because it is not an action brought to it by the president in his position as the head of the executive. If this has been brought by the Attorney General in the name of Mr. President, it would have read: “the President versus National Assembly,” then the Supreme court I believe, would have had jurisdiction. But, having initiated the action in the name of the Attorney General, it is the High Court that he should have gone to. So, I think the Supreme Court has noted this and has adjudged that this issue to be addressed and we will see how it goes.

So, what is the way out of this logjam considering the fact that this present administration has a few days to go?

There is no more logjam. The National Assembly has categorically stated that the amendment has become law having been in the gazette. It is for you and I or any other person who believes that it is not a law to go to court. So, it is not a logjam, it is a settled matter as far as the National Assembly is concerned. If you feel what they have done is not in-line with the constitution, go to the court!.

With the earlier Supreme Court judgment, should the National Assembly have gone ahead to gazette it?

The effect in law generally is that if the Supreme Court has jurisdiction, it must have tied the hands of the National Assembly.

But, you will note that the National Assembly said, they have not been served with this process, and in law, until you are

•Robert Clarke

‘Wants new lawmakers to cut down salaries, allowances’ personally served with the processes, you can pretend that you are not aware.

So, they are saying that they are carrying out their business of law making in ignorance of any existing order. So, the order that the status quo must be maintained must first have been served in the National Assembly before it can be effective. And I believe they have not been served, hence the gazette.

But why is this issue coming at the end of this administration?

You and I will wonder why the National Assembly and the Executive will be quarrelling over a matter like this when they have a few weeks to exhaust their tenure.

It keeps me wondering myself but I believe the interest of the nation is upmost in the minds of the two parties. Mr. President must be acting in the interest of the nation despite and in spite of the fact that he will be leaving office soon. Let us not forget that the major intrusion into powers of Mr. President have been laid into the amendment of the constitution. And when you are asking Mr. President who has the

power to control all the executive acts, now you are eroding those powers, whereas the same constitution under section 5 vests him with all executive powers. Are you going to amend that section 5 before you start splitting the position of the Attorney General and that of the Minister of Justice and before you whittle down the powers of the Auditor General etc.

So, Mr. President feels that something is wrong. The National Assembly also feels, in the interest of the nation that we need to follow certain patterns. In all the civilized countries today, the position of the Attorney General is different to that of the Minister of Justice.

A Minister of Justice is a politician while Attorney General should be a Justice of Peace that should be independent of any politics. That is neither here nor there. I don’t know why this schism should continue at this stage. You can guess why the president is doing this, whether, he has one or two days to go, he has sworn to defend the constitution and that is what he is doing till the end of his tenure.

In all of these, what is the implication for the in-coming

The problem the new administration is going to inherit is the fundamental problem of insecurity and the economy

So, in that respect, what do you think the in-coming administration should do?

Clearly, my advice for the incoming administration is to go to court and ask for a declaration from the court whether this document complies with provision of the constitution in making the law.

They have to do that quickly.

Because under the doctrine of presumptions, that document has become law, until the presumption is reported. It is a reportable presumption and under the evidence act, any document emanating from government sources, there is a presumption of regularity attached to it. So, that is why they have to take the document to court for a declaration.

You will be challenging a document which the law says it is presumed to be correct.

Learning from this episode, how would you advise the in-coming members of the National Assembly?

The problem the new administration is going to inherit is the fundamental problem of insecurity and the economy. Let you and I know that Nigeria is broke. Therefore, these jamboree allowances that our legislators, ministers and public servants are earning must be cut drastically for this country to survive. If petrol has fallen from $118 to $60 which is about 50 percent, then we should learn to cut our coat according to our cloth. The salaries and allowances of public officers must reflect this reality. So, the legislators must first sit to cut down their allowances. It costs Nigeria N240million to maintain one senator in a year and about the same for a member of House of Representatives. And when you mutiply that by over 400 members of the National Assembly, it shows how much Nigeria is paying for these lawmakers.

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 16, 2015—59

C M Y K

60—SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 16, 2015

Incompetence and (under)development in human societies

am fascinated by the outcome of a I careful study by an American researcher, Dr. Laurence J Peter, which has today become known as “The Peter principle.” This study focuses on one fundamental principle of relationships both at the formal and informal levels.

This is hierarchy and he devised a study series he referred to as hierarcheology.

His postulation is, in simple terms, that hierarcheology is the major problem of the organized human society. Why it is a problem is because it affects professional responsibilities by its inability to create awareness of such responsibilities.

The logical consequence of such a development, according to “The Peter Principle” is incompetence in the execution of professional responsibilities.

I do not think that Laurence Peter is absolute in his condemnation of hierarchy in human affairs, but what seems to pose a problem, for him and indeed, humanity is the improper construction and constitution of hierarchies. The major question appears to be drawn upon the basis of the construction of hierarchies. Like I would want to ask, how are hierarchies formed? Laurence Peter does not seem to be interested in this. He rather decides to work on existing hierarchies.

But I think hierarchies essentially thrive on existing platforms. They lean on natural gradations, which appear to command respect from everyone. For instance we say, “all fingers are not equal.”

nother instance, human beings A vary in physical shapes and sizes as well as in brilliance and wisdom as well as other endowments and attributes. These examples and very many other natural indicators are in themselves, bases for hierarchies and present patterns for construction of hierarchies. Being that, no matter what happens, humanity is most times organized in terms of hierarchies; it does not seem to attract the attention of Dr. Peter, how hierarchies are formed. His interest is on the constitution of hierarchies. Peter rightly decides to choose the organized work situation, where there are likely to be all classes of human beings for the study of the constitution of hierarchies and the awareness and non-awareness of those who occupy hierarchies of the responsibilities, albeit, professional responsibilities of the various rungs of the ladder (hierarchies) at work place.

He presents, as it were, a plethora of cases to support his study of the issues surrounding awareness and nonawareness of professional responsibilities, which breed incompetence. His research is powered by very strong (research) questions.

These include: “why schools do not bestow wisdom; why governments cannot maintain order; why courts do not dispense justice; while prosperity fails to produce happiness; why Utopian plans fail to generate Utopia.”

I am tempted to stop here and relate Peter’s thesis to Nigeria, which is my responsibility as a writer, but let me ask for your kind permission to take yet another slice of the controversial Peter Principle. It is a principle behind “why things always go WRONG.” The answer is summed in a view that the society, our society is “the perpetrator and rewarder of incompetence.” In an earlier piece, on this bit, I attempted an explanation of the term “incompetence.” My readers already know that. Here, Dr. Peter explains that institutions and organization are structured in a way that people are constantly promoted into incompetence. This gives me my notion of the constitution of hierarchies. From C M Y K

this perspective, all hierarchies are made up of incompetent personnel. I am not sure I haven’t concluded this essay because bringing incompetence in, as the nucleus of hierarchies seems to be strong enough to draw the curtain.

However, I think I still owe some explanations. How are people promoted to incompetence?

Borrowing ideas from Dr. Peter, all personnel keep moving upward on the ladder of professional success, until they get to the highest level of their incompetence. I like this because I can illustrate the movement to incompetence with the development in our society. I am not exactly going to isolate the developments in my Nigeria from those of other sovereignties. Like the USA, which forms the study ground for Dr. Peter’s research, Nigeria also has a system that thrives on rewards which perpetrate incompetence. In general terms, a typical example of promotion to incompetence (which is about the case in all sectors) can be exemplified in this brief case: young man with some degrees in A English is employed as a lecturer 11. He does well and after three years,

he is promoted to the next grade lecturer 1. At this level, he is expected to join in producing higher degrees, precisely, postgraduate degrees. At the point that he is promoted, he is adjudged good in teaching (instructing and lecturing) undergraduate students but he is most likely going to be unaware of the requirements for and thus incompetent in administering over research students, who are expected be capable of independent study. This lecturer is still likely to insist on imposing himself on the advanced students as he is used to, in respect to undergraduate. However, he continues and learns on the job (in service training or acquisition of knowledge). Unfortunately for the system (and fortunately for the personnel concerned), after another three years, he is promoted to Senior Lecturer and while on that position, appointed Head of Department. This could be because he has done very well as a lecturer. Now as a head of department, he is not only expected to instruct and lecture, he will be involved in general administration. He will see to the affairs of students and their activities, faculty and staff of the department, curriculum and other academic matters of the department; he will also team up with other administrators to proffer solutions to the general problems of the faculty, university and the outer community.

All these are bound to overwhelm him and he, no doubt will show incompetence in his responsibilities as a head of department. The irony of it all is that a hitherto great lecturer and researcher has turned out to be an incompetent administrator. The reason is simple, according to Laurence Peter; he is, at the point of his appointment as the head of department, unaware of the full responsibilities of the position and the lack of awareness results in incompetence. Let’s not forget that there is also a tendency for the incompetent head of department to improve and to attain competence. Yet, as soon as this is achieved, he is likely to be promoted again to the position of a programme director, dean or provost, where once more he will become incompetent. He may actually retire at this position of incompetence. I am interested in Dr. Peter’s careful study of the organizations and how promotion results in incompetence and will endeavour to relate that to our (under)development in this country. Let’s get on to that in the next couple of writings on Bits and Pieces.

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 16, 2015 — 61

C M Y K

62— SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015

Steven Gerrard:

The highs and the lows as he plays last match for Liverpool today

Today, Steven Gerrard will play his final game at Anfield for boyhood club Liverpool before departing for MLS football next season. Read through eight highs and eight lows of the legendary midfielder’s glittering Reds career.

THE HIGHS

Champions League final (2005) Gerrard’s finest hour as he inspired a brilliant Liverpool comeback in the most dramatic European Cup final in history.

Trailing AC Milan 3-0 at halftime, Rafa Benitez’s men looked down and out. But Gerrard had other ideas, heading one back before creating space for Vladimir Smicer to add a second and winning the penalty for Xabi Alonso to equalise. Liverpool eventually won on penalties and Gerrard declared: “Lifting the trophy has to be the best feeling ever.”

FA Cup final (2006) A defining moment of Gerrard’s career came when he smashed home a 35-yard, 90th-minute equaliser against West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup final. The Liverpool captain had earlier set up Djibril Cisse and scored himself to pull Liverpool back from 2-0 down, but produced something special to cancel out West Ham’s third. Gerrard then made no mistake from the spot as Liverpool won what has become known as ‘The Gerrard Final’ on penalties

C M Y K

front of the Anfield faithful.

Hat-trick against Everton (2012) Ahead of kick-off, David Moyes was celebrating 10 years in charge at Everton; by the final whistle it was Gerrard who was smiling, after scoring a superb hat-trick to defeat Liverpool’s local rivals. It was the first time a player had scored three in a Merseyside derby at Anfield since 1935 and took Gerrard past Robbie Fowler’s goalscoring record in the fixture. A cool lob over Tim Howard was followed by clinical finishes from Luis Suarez assists, with Gerrard racking up his seventh goal against Everton in the final minute.

Double in 4-0 win over Real Madrid (2009) Liverpool booked their place in the Champions League quarterfinals with a stunning 4-0 win over Real Madrid at Anfield in 2009, with Gerrard scoring twice. Former Atletico Madrid star Fernando Torres and Andrea Dossena were also on the scoresheet as Liverpool destroyed Los Blancos 5-0 on aggregate.

Stunner against Olympiakos (2004) Liverpool’s famous Champions League win in 2005 would never have happened had it not been for another moment of Gerrard magic. With time running out, Liverpool needed a third goal against Olympiakos to progress from the group stages. The skipper stepped up and rifled a stunning strike from distance into the net to spark wild celebrations in the Kop

League Cup win over United (2003) Liverpool may have finished the 2002/03 season 19 points behind Premier League winners Manchester United but their fans could treasure a League Cup final win, thanks to another longrange Gerrard stunner. The skipper’s drive took a deflection off David Beckham, leaving Barthez with no chance, before Michael Owen settled the contest four minutes from time.

Double over United (2001) Gerrard has scored nine goals against Manchester United - but his finest effort was surely the long-range piledriver which set Liverpool on course to complete their first double over their rivals in 22 years. Fabien Barthez couldn’t get close to the ball as Gerrard lashed it into the top corner, before celebrating in

Liverpool win the treble (2001) “The treble is actually a better achievement than Istanbul,” Jamie Carragher has said.

“Istanbul as a one-off will never be beaten by anyone but someone wins the Champions League every year. To win three cup competitions in one season, that’s not something that happens very often, not just at Liverpool but anywhere.” In

2001 Liverpool lifted the League Cup by beating Birmingham on penalties, the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Arsenal and completed the treble in the UEFA Cup, where Gerrard scored as Liverpool eventually defeated Alaves 5-4 after extra-time in the final.

The LOWS

The slip against Chelsea (2014) With three games to go, Liverpool were within touching distance of a first Premier League title. However, Gerrard’s slip just before half-time allowed Demba Ba to put Chelsea ahead at Anfield and the Blues went on to win 2-0. The result meant the title race was no longer in tabletopping Liverpool’s hands and Manchester City - who were now three points adrift with a better goal difference, having played a game less - eventually came through to win the title. “It was cruel,” said Gerrard.

Seeing red against United (2015) Gerrard was a half-time substitute in his final clash with Manchester United - but lasted just 38 seconds after coming on at the break. The pumped-up Liverpool captain showed his

Gerrard has been sent off eight times for club and country, with his first coming as a 19-yearold against Everton

passion with a thunderous - but clean - tackle on Juan Mata but just moments later stamped on Ander Herrera. Liverpool were already trailing 1-0 and went on to lose the match 2-1 and fall five points behind their top-four rivals.

Dropped at the Bernabeu (2014) After returning to the Champions League for the first time in five seasons, Liverpool’s trip to Real Madrid was one of the stand-out ties of the group stage. However, boss Brendan Rodgers dropped seven of his starting XI from the Premier League defeat to Newcastle - including Gerrard.

The move drew strong criticism and denied Gerrard the opportunity to take on the Champions League holders on their own patch. A little over a month later Gerrard confirmed he would be leaving for LA Galaxy - because he was no longer a guaranteed starter for the Reds.

Dropped at the Bernabeu (2014) After returning to the Champions League for the first time in five seasons, Liverpool’s trip to Real Madrid was one of the stand-out ties of the group stage. However, boss Brendan Rodgers dropped seven of his starting XI from the Premier League defeat to Newcastle - including Gerrard.

The move drew strong criticism and denied Gerrard the opportunity to take on the Champions League holders on their own patch. A little over a month later Gerrard confirmed he would be leaving for LA Galaxy - because he was no longer a guaranteed starter for the Reds.

The first red card (1999) Gerrard has been sent off eight times for club and country, with his first coming as a 19-year-old against Everton. The teenager stepped off the bench midway through the second half but a

reckless 90th-minute challenge on Kevin Campbell in a 1-0 defeat at Anfield saw him shown the first red card of his career.

League Cup final own goal (2005) “It was a nightmare,” Gerrard said of his League Cup final own goal against Chelsea in 2005.

With Liverpool leading with ten minutes to play, Gerrard inadvertently diverted Paulo Ferreira’s free-kick into the Reds’ net and Jose Mourinho’s men went on to win 3-2. “It was bad, one of the worst days I have had, especially against Chelsea,” he said. “I was linked with them for a while before that cup final.

Then to go and score an owngoal - there were Liverpool fans who probably thought I meant it at the time because I was linked with them.”

Red card in Champions League ‘play-off’ (2003) With Champions League qualification on the line, Liverpool went into their clash with Chelsea needing to win. An early Sami Hyypia goal seemed to put them on course for victory in the ‘£20m match’ but Marcel Desailly and Jesper Gronkjaer hit back to secure victory for Chelsea. Gerrard’s frustration was evident when he picked up a second yellow for a wild tackle on Graeme Le Saux in the final minute.

Heaviest defeat to United in 50 years (2003) Gerrard may have been one of Liverpool’s heroes in their League Cup win over Manchester United in 2003 but just a month later he was unable to prevent his club from suffering their heaviest defeat for 50 years to their arch rivals. Hyypia was sent off within four minutes and United went on to win 4-0.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2015 — 63

US, Sweden should be scared of us — Falcons N

igeria’s Super Falcons have been a dominant force in African women’s football for almost two decades, but, by their own admission, they have been perennial underachievers on the world stage. As they embark on yet another audacious journey to claim some elusive silverware at the highest level, more questions have once again been asked about this Super Falcons team. However, this time they seem more determined, more focused and more wise about appreciating their considerable experience.

Most of the players of a famed “golden generation” are on

Heartland v Akwa Utd

their last lap and probably playing at their last world championship, and they should certainly be driven to go out with one last hurrah for these stars of African football.

Contrary to the general feeling among football fans that the Super Falcons were in the group of death at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Nigerian ladies are thinking differently as they hope to put up their best performance ever at the senior women’s tournament.

Soon after arriving camp Tuesday where she joined her team mates, Liverpool Ladies forward, Assisat Oshoala

declared that the World Cup was not a tea party. “It is a competition where only the best participate in. We are among the best,” she said.

Although the team’s preparation – without foreign tour or grade A friendly matches, have not been ideal, the level of enthusiasm and optimism in camp has been high. “We are not a second rate team,” Courtney Dike, who also

joined the camp early in the week enthused. “We are ready for any team. They should be scared of us too.”

But the coach Edwin Okon girls will need to work hard to match their words with action as they are the least ranked team in their group. USA is number 1 in the world, Sweden occupies the 5th place while Australia sit at the 10th place and Nigeria 33.

Their maiden participation was back in the first finals in 1991 where they finished at the foot of their group.

Their best showing so far dates back to 1999 when they were knocked out in the last eight by Brazil 4-3. The Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick has promised handsome reward for the girls should the progress from their group and go up to the final.

NIGERIAN LEAGUE WATCH

E

rasmus Onuh started his 10 points match ultimatum on a wrong note. His side has topped the log table twice this season but surprisingly they are eighth on the log table with just 12 points, a position that displeases the Nazi Millionaire’s fans, who a week earlier called for his sack. As they face Akwa United in Week 9 at the Owerr i Township Stadium, the memory of their 3-0 humiliation by Sunshine Stars will come alive. A third defeat at home should never be imagined Heartland‘s opponent, Akwa United’s, recent result shows that they are reaping the reward of not renewing Patrick Udoh’s contract and the selling of their key players, without proper replacement.

With a total of just 3 goals scored and a goal difference of minus 4, which is the lowest in the 8 week old season, Zackary Baraje might just be the second coach to get a match ultimatum.

The quest to rekindle the faith that the club managements have in the two coaches when they were contracted at the beginning of the season will determine the outcome of the fixture.

Eguma expects big things from Egwim A Wikki Tourist v Lobi Stars

L

OBI Stars won’t be sitting at the bottom of the log, if John Huanhas had not missed the penalty awarded in their match against Elkanemi. Incidents like this with key players injured and a reported case of the club management’s over-reliance on the club’s academy players might be part of the reasons for their poor form.

Another home game might just be another win for Wikki Tourist as they are yet to be defeated at home in the league games this season.

There is a possibility of a high scoring margin in this game, if the defensive line of Justin Tenger doesn’t tame Victor Yakubu and Mubarak Umar.

Will the effect of the win over Spotlight F.C be the beginning of their firs league win this season?

Just maybe.

C M Y K

s the Nigerian Premier League reaches its ninth week this weekend, with some mouthwatering clashes in the offing, Dolphins coach Stanley Eguma has thrown his weight behind his striker Ifeanyi Egwim to score at least 20 goals this season.

Egwim has managed to score a solitary league goal this season, which was against former club Enugu Rangers in a 1-0 win recently, but Eguma said Egwim has been his club’s most consistent scorer and with hard work he is capable of netting many goals this season.

“For the last two seasons, Egwim has been our top scorer but last year, Emem (Eduok) came up and scored 20 goals,” Eguma said.

“It is something that has to do with hard work. I believe that Egwim has the potential and all that it takes to score 20, but you cannot do that unless you work hard and that is the challenge that has been given to him.”

Egwim is in his fourth season at Dolphins after he joined up from Rangers. He is expected to feature in tomorrow’s clash with Enyimba in Port Harcourt.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2015

Steven Gerrard:

The highs and the lows as he plays last match for Liverpool today >> 62

>>63

How community effort can save Nigeria’s football – Irabor >>38,39

Eguma expects big things from Egwim >> 63 Can Sharks stop Ifeanyi Uba Utd in Nnewi? >> 37

CROSS WORD PUZZLE Today’s Matches EPL: SATURDAY 16/05 Southampton Sunderland Burnley FC Tottenham West Ham

v v v v v

Aston Villa Leicester City Stoke City Hull City Everton

12:45 pm 3:00 pm 3:00 pm 3:00 pm 3:00 pm

LA LIGA: SUNDAY 17/05 Sociedad Deportivo Sevilla Espanyol Valencia Villarreal Getafe CF Córdoba Elche Atlético

v v v v v v v v v v

Granada Levante Almería R Madrid Celta Vigo Málaga Eibar Rayo Athletic Barcelona

6:00 pm 6:00 pm 6:00 pm 6 pm 6 pm 6 pm 6pm 6 pm 6 pm 6 pm

ACROSS 1)Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode_(8) 5)Nasarawa United Striker, Victor _(4) 7)Meadow (3) 8)Country in North America (4) 9)Former Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran_(4) 10)Ondo State Capital (5) 12)Former Super Eagles Coach, Lars_(9) 15)L.G.A in Imo State (5) 17)Japanese Capital City (5) 19)Burkina Faso “Stallions” Midfielder, Wilfried_(5) 20)United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James-(9) 23)France Prime Minister, Mr. Manuel_(5) 26)Former Director of Currency Operations, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Mahmoud_(4) 27)Rodent (4) 28)Apprehend (3) 29)Commissioner, National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Mr. Eyo_(4)

30)Ivory Coast President, Mr. Alassane_(8) DOWN 1)Anambra State Capital (4) 2)Traditional Ruler of Nupe (4) 3)Real Madrid Coach, Carlo_(9) 4)L.G.A in Ondo State (5) 5)African Desert (5) 6)Former Nigerian International Athlete, Falilat_(8) 11)African Waterbuck (3) 13)Former United States President Mr. Franklin_(9) 14)Former Ugandan President, Idi_(4) 15)Former Super Eagles Midfielder, Paul_(8) 16)Exclude (4) 19)Lubricant (3) 21)L.G.A in Sokoto State (5) 22)Nigerian Vice President, Dr. Namadi_(5) 24)Peruvian Capital City (4) 25)Minister of Mines & Steel Development, Mr. Musa_(4)

Solution on page 21

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: ONOCHIE ANIBEZE. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

C M Y K