NORTHERN GOVS RAISE THE ALARM OVER OIL REVENUE- 'North becoming poorer, S/South getting richer'

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Saraki: It is the end of the old brigade – Ben Obi * Emir of Zazzau: It is a personal loss

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, DEMOLA AKINYEMI, Ilorin

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he Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, yesterday, in Ilorin, extolled the virtues of the late Waziri of Ilorin, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, describing him as an honest and God-fearing leader.

According to him, the death of Saraki was a personal loss to him. While paying condolence visit to the head of the family, Senator Bukola Saraki, the monarch recalled that the late elder statesman and himself usually sat together during meetings and functions that had to do with the North or the country.

The Emir, who was represented by the Makaman Zazzau, Alhaji Umar Mijinyawa and Kuyanbanan Zazzau, said whatever issue decided by Saraki and other leaders usually aome with good result. He also noted that the late Saraki lived a good life and he used his time to serve humanity.

In a related development, the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi, described Saraki’s death as effectively drawing to an end, the era of the old political brigade in the country.

Obi, who was a political associate of the late Senator Leader during the ill-fated third republic, said Saraki was truly a people’s man who was consistently trusted to mobilise his people and deliver votes for whatever party he belonged to.

He said: “The nation has lost certainly a great political gladiator and in fact, it is the end of an effective old brigade political era. For many years, Dr. Saraki remained the only leader who

could boast of delivering his state on time and without question, debate or argument.

“He was truly a people’s man and exhibited in unmistakable terms by the massive turnout of men, women and children whenver he visited his homeland. He was a flamboyant politician and at each point or our political dispensation, he remained an authority and a source of political inspiration by politicians across party lines.”

Ajimobi, Oshiomhole, Daniel mourn Kayode Eso, ‘the People’s Justice’

BY OLUWATOBILOBA ADEYEMI

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o Governors Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) as well as a former governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, the death of eminent jurist, Justice Kayode Eso, is a monumental loss to the country and the judicial profession.

They spoke in separate tributes yesterday.

Ajimobi, in a statement by his Special Adviser on

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Continued from page 1 especially those in the Southsouth, but impoverishes the northern states.

Kwankwaso said pointedly: “In this context, many other states, specifically in the South-south are today ahead

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Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said that he was extremely pained by the news of the death of Eso, whom he described as a “People’s Justice”, in a London hospital. “`Hon. Justice Kayode Esho was one of the brightest justices Nigeria has ever produced. I can recall some of the landmark judgments he had delivered, all of which had helped in furthering the course of justice and the rule of law,”the governor said.

Oshiomhole described Eso as a shining example of

patriotism and discipline.

“His death has robbed Nigeria of a shining example of patriotism and discipline.

As a jurist, Justice Eso stamped his imprint as a legend. Widely regarded as Nigeria’s Lord Denning, Justice Eso was fearless, courageous, erudite and seasoned,”he added.

“He distinguished himself in all areas of professional, social and family life and stood tall among his peers for his intellectual prowess and high sense of integrity. He was

always on the side of justice and equity”.

Daniel said Eso helped to shape Nigeria’s judiciary, saying the departed Supreme Court justice contributed immensely to the development of the bench and legal education in the country. He said Eso activism on the bench personified the best tradition of equity, fairness and justice .

“Justice Kayode Eso exemplified the best of the judiciary. He was courageous, fearless and painstaking.

‘North becoming poorer, S/South getting richer’

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From left: General Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, of Kano State, Justice Uwais, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal of the House of Representatives, and Hon Farouk Adamu Aliyu during the commissioning of the Serbia General Consulate Office in Kano, yesterday.

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of the northern states in terms of income from the Federation Account. This means that some states are becoming richer while others are getting poorer by the day and people are wallowing in devastating poverty.”

He hinted that the northern governors are also making an issue out of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), currently in the works in the National Assembly, saying the implications of the Bill being passed in its form would have dire consequences for the North.

He said the northern governors would soon meet to consider the implications of the PIB for the region.

Kwankwaso did not mention the specifics of the northern governors grouse with the PIB. He spoke while commissioning the Serbian General Consulate Office in Kano, an event that coincided with the appointment of a former lawmaker, Alhaji Faruk Adamu Aliyu, as the Honoray Consulate of the Republic.

On the allocations from the Federation Account to the states, the governor said: “As a former member of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a former member of the National Assembly, a former minister and now a governor, I have vast knowledge of what is being shared to all the states.”

‘UNCERTAIN FUTURE’ While speaking on the PIB, the former defence minister under Obasanjo administration and one-time deputy speaker of the House of Representatives said: “We in the North are keenly watching and we will not allow our region to be plunged into yet another uncertain future as we will do all we could to make sure that there is equity that will guarantee a sense of belonging to every citizenry”.

The North today, he said, is at the lowest political ebb, stressing that it is the more reason stakeholders from the region need to sit on the roundtable to make their stand

known on the PIB and other sundry matters in the polity.

Commenting on the new Serbian Consulate Office in Kano, Kwankwaso said his administration would exploit their presence to the benefit of Nigerians.

The leader of the Kwankwasiyya political clan in Kano described the new Honorary Consulate, Aliyu, as a man of honour and integrity, a reason, he said, the Government of Serbia deemed it fit to appoint him as their representative in the state.

The ceremony attracted two former Heads of State, General Muhammad Buhari and General Abdulsalami Abubakar; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Uwais; Hon Nasiru Garba Dantiye, among others who variously believe that the appointment of Aliyu was a deserving one because the man is seen as a strategist, a consummate politician and a man of integrity.

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Constitution review: Itsekiri opposes inclusion in proposed Toru-Ebe State

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU, Calabar

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HE Itsekiri ethnic nationality has opposed the inclusion of Warri which is part of their ancestral land in the proposed Toru-Ebe, saying that such amounts to a forcible annexation of their homeland.The rejection of their homeland for inclusion in the proposed demand for the creation of Toru Ebe State was in response to the request for the creation of ToruEbe State from the present Delta, Edo and Ondo States by the Ijaw nationality.In a memorandum submitted during the public hearing for the review of the 1999 Constitution for the South-South geopolitical zone in Calabar, Cross River State, the Itsekiri ethnic nationality represented by Mr. Edward Ekpoko, Assistant Secretary of Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, the people said that they had helped in the development of Forcados and Burutu, two important Ijaw towns in their homeland.They said, “Itsekiri believes like most

minorities in Nigeria today, that the federation as structured is skewed against their interest.

They believe in a complete re-structuring at a conference for greater local autonomy and fiscal control. But it should not be by a forced annexation or recolonization by the Ijaw..Meanwhile, a group from Rivers State is agitating the creation of Sombreiro State out of the present state.

Lagoon State Movement In a related development, the Chairman of Lagoon State Movement, Mr. Babatunde Olusola Benson, SAN, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to take the creation of more States as one of the most important provisions in the constitution review, stressing that one of the new states must of necessity be Lagoon State.

In a memorandum submitted to members of the House of Representatives in Apapa, Eti-Osa, Epe, Ikorodu, Kosofe and

Somolu Federal Constituencies, which are the seven local government areas that make up the proposed state, the legal luminary pointed out that only that could ensure the due representation of Lagos people in a true democratic set up which Nigerians clamour for.

In a memorandum submitted to members of the House of Representatives at a Town Hall Meeting, Benson stressed that the creation of the more states, especially in line with its population and economic viability, would strengthen the structural imbalance in the country ’s federal arrangement.

Presenting the document to Hon. Dayo Alebiousu at the meeting, held at St Aquinas Catholic Church Hall, Ojota, Lagos, the Group’s Media Coordinator, Mr. Obafemi Adesanya said the memorandum was not just the stance of the movement on the review of the constitution but a reflection of the minds of Lagos people.

From left: The Executive Director, Ecobank, Sir Patrick Akinwuntan, the Chairman of the day; the Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, Oba James Adegoke and the Chairman, Planning Committee, Barr. Kunle Oyatomi during the celebration of annual Ipetumodu Day by indigenes of Ipetumodu in IfeNorth Local Government Area of Osun State .

From left: Evangelist David E. Edun, Chairman Transition Committee, Warri North Local Government, receiving handing-over note from the council’s H.P.M., Comrade E.J. Nunu while Comrade Gibson Jemegbe, establishment officer, looks on.

RCCG auditorium commissioning

Edo 2012: Oshiomhole’s counsel accuses Airhiavbere witnesses of lying

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

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OUNSEL to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, yesterday, faulted the testimony of a witness of the appellant, Maj.General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), in the case which he instituted before the Election Petitions Tribunal challenging the victory of Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the July 14 election.

Irked by the inconsistencies in the witness’ testimony, the ACN counsel, Mr Ken Mozia, SAN, said: “you came here to tell lies to help your retired superior officer.”

The appellant, yesterday, brought in four witnesses to justify the alleged corrupt practice in the election.

The first witness, Saturday Oamhe, who said he could neither read nor write, said he “owned the booth” in his unit. He however caved in under cross-examination that he neither knew

the number of registered voters in his Ward 10, Units 4,5 and 6, nor the names of the PDP agents in the units, despite insisting that he was his (PDP) party’s “supervisor in the Unit”.

Another witness, Best Okosisi, under cross examination, said he voted at 12:30am. He alleged that security agents at his polling unit prevented PDP

supporters from voting, to which the ACN counsel countered, saying the voters had no tags to show which party they would vote for.

The attempt by the appellant’s counsel to bring in portions of the voter’s register in exhibit was resisted by the counsel of the respondents.

Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN, counsel to

Oshiomhole (1 st respondent), while kicking against the document, said it was not pleaded in the witness’ statements and should therefore not be admitted as exhibit.

On his part, Mozia said the document is a unit result and parts of the voter register and is of doubtful origin and therefore inadmissible in court.

My clamour for Igbo presidency not party based – Kalu all Igbo sons and daugh-

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former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, says his clamor for a president of Igbo origin in 2015 is not based on the platform of any political party.

Kalu, at the United States of America, last week, said that to achieve the lofty aim, it has to be beyond the confines of a political party, hence the formation of a non partisan political movement, the Njiko Igbo.

He said it has thus become imperative for

ters, home and abroad, to unite behind the Njiko Igbo for the realization of the objective of having, for the first time in Nigeria, an elected president of South-East origin.

A statement by his Special Adviser, Oyekunle Oyewumi, quoted Kalu as saying: “I am playing the role of protem coordinator of Njiko Igbo for the unity of our region in particular and Nigeria as a whole, using this platform to bring Igbo

sons and daughters together irrespective of their political affiliations and associations.”

Kalu spoke at a dinner in his honor by Yoruba professionals at the residence of Chris Ogunrinde in Charlotte, North Carolina, adding that as a person charged with the noble role of coordinating the aspirations of the Igbo and reaching out to others regions, he needed to be neutral by not associating with any political party at this point.

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he RCCG (Em manuel Sanctuary) will dedicate their new church auditorium on Sunday, 25 November, 2012 by 1pm. The host is Pastor Paul Olukunga,while PICP,Pastor B. A. Ajayeoba, will lead other ministers in the Province to welcome Pastor(Mrs) Oretayo Adetola(Special Assistant to G. O & Pastor in Charge of Region 11) who is billed to minister and dedicate the Auditorium for use. The

venue is 18,Fagbohunlu Street,Car Wash B/ Stop,Idimu Rd. Egbeda.

Pastor and Pastor (Mrs) Paul Olukunga

Amnesty programme not for all N-Delta youths – Ex-militant group

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA, YENAGOA & FESTUS AHON

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he defunct Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) yesterday defended the amnesty office decision to follow due process in the absorption of third phase former agitators, saying the amnesty programme was not for every Niger Delta youth.

NDLF Spokesman, Capt Mark Anthony, in statement, said the amnesty programme should not be seen as meal ticket by every youth in the region

and urged the Kingsley Kuku-led Presidential Amnesty Programme to remain resolute and not succumb to the blackmail of some faceless groups claiming to be former agitators.The statement read, “The attention of the leadership of Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) has been drawn to a group of miscreants and misguided Niger Delta youths publication in one of the national dailies under the auspices of “association of the 22 Ex-Militant leaders”,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 — PAGE 7

President Goodluck Jonathan (right) exchanging pleasantries with a cross section of guests during his visit to Bayelsa State at the Government House Helipad in Yenagoa, while the State Governor, Seriake Dickson (2nd right ) looks on. Photo by Lucky Francis.

Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West, Anglican Communion, Rt Revd Peter Awelewa Adebiyi (centre), blessing Mr Olutayo Olumide Remi John and his wife, former Miss Obeni Oyedolapo Omokwale, after their wedding at the Archbishop Vinning Memorial Cathedral Church Ikeja GRA, Lagos, at the weekend.

Private jets: Pastor Bakare under fire

BY SAM EYOBOKA

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ELIGIOUS leaders including the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Musa Asake; Director of National Issues of CAN in charge of North West Zone, Rev. Haruna Karatu; and the PRO of 19 northern states and Abuja CAN, Elder Sunday Oibe have condemned the comments credited to Pastor Tunde Bakare who was calling for a revolution because certain eminent religious leaders have private jets, saying there is nothing wrong with people donating aircraft to their religious leaders.

Bakare had said, a few days after church members donated a private jet to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor as a birthday present, that a bloody revolution that would consume religious leaders who are acquiring private jets would soon break out in the country, as he urged their congregations to challenge them to explain where and how they raised the money to procure such expensive jets. Responding, the

CAN secretary said: “What is wrong with giving a birthday gift to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor? Did he embezzle church money? Did he collect somebody ’s money? If a group of people come together to buy a jet him to ease his evangelical work, why should that be a subject of public

Toyota Hilander with registration number FT 924 LSR and chasis number JTEGD21A570159530 belonging to the Editorin- Chief of Political Economist magazine, Mr Ken Ugbechie, was snatched at gunpoint from his wife at Ajao Estate, Lagos about 8.30 pm on Thursday, No vember 15. Colour at the time of incident was in-

private jets should not be envied because they travel very frequently around the world ministering.

“Redeemed Christian Church of God has thousands of branches and millions of members on all continents of the world.

Winners’ Chapel and Christ Embassy equally

have many international branches and hundreds of thousands of members.

Pastor Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo and Pastor Oyakhilome travel thousands of kilometres monthly doing God’s work and have to be in places not wellserved by commercial flights.”

Fuel shortage may worsen as Capital Oil shuts down

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN

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APITAL Oil and Gas Limited says it has given heed to the court order shutting its operations but warned that the development could further cripple the supply of petrol in the country.

Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, the embattled Managing Director of the company, in a

statement, nevertheless alerted to what he claimed as an unfolding conspiracy to take over the company. The statement regretted that those who want to take over Capital Oil were unwittingly succeeding through the help of their friends in government.

The firm, owned by Ubah, according to industry sources, accounts for an estimated 35% of daily pe-

troleum products distribution in the country. The assertions by the company is coming against the insinuation that recent actions taken against the company were aimed at both crippling the competitive edge of the company in the market place and aborting alleged moves by Ubah to contest the 2014 gubernatorial election in Anambra State.

Ubah and his Capital Oil Company are presently dogged in battle over alleged indebtedness of the company to another firm.

The company is also allegedly exposed to some Nigerian banks, a development that led to the court order obtained by the Assets Management Company of Nigeria , AMCON, freezing the company’s operations.

Delta gets 5,167 health technologists

BY FESTUS AHON Ughelli

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ELTA State School of Health Technol-

Editor loses car to thieves

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debate? Oritsejafor is a man of God. He is doing everything for the work of God”. Also speaking on the ongoing debate in social media especially the tweet by former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el Rufai, Elder Eghes Eyieyien said Nigerian pastors who own

digo (purple blue). The engine number is 2A22412330. The fourman gang dispossessed her of her ATM card, and the handsets of other occupants of the car. Same night the robbers withdrew N100,000 from her account at an ATM in Iba, near Badagry. Anybody with useful information on the whereabouts of the car should please report to the nearest police station.

ogy, Ufuoma-Ughelli has graduated 5,167 from its various health disciplines covering the academic sessions of 2005 to 2011.

Speaking during the 6th convocation ceremony of the institution, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan told the school authority to seek partnership with other educational and research institutions within and outside the country in order to improve the quality of teaching to enable graduates of the school compete with their counterparts locally and internationally.

Represented by the

State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Otumara, Uduaghan said: “Such partnerships can also leverage additional resources for the overall development of the school,” restating the commitment of his administration to the development of the school.

Earlier in his remarks, Provost of the school, Mr. Benson Ogheneroro, noted that the school, since its establishment 19 years ago, had made progress in training and providing qualified middle-level manpower for the healthcare needs of the

state and beyond.

“Today, the school is officially graduating a total of five thousand one hundred and sixtyseven graduands from various health disciplines covering the academic sessions of 2005 to 2011”, he said, adding that his team under the then governing council headed by Chief Paulonus Akpeki worked hard to promote self-confidence and better behavior among students during examinations and also launder the image of the institution before regulatory bodies.

44 years after, Church of God marches on

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HE Church of God Mission is grateful to God for His faithfulness over the four decades of the church existence and for moving from one generation to another. Expressing this at the church 44th convention held in Benin City, Most Rev ME. Benson Idahosa repeatedly emphasised the fact that with strong faith in God it would have been impossible for Christians.

She admonished all Christians to push their faith to the limit to achieve what God has destined for them.

Aregbesola, council boss bag awards

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OVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and the Executive Secretary, Ilesa East Local Government Council, Honourable Lanre Balogun have been penciled down by the ICT Watch Africa for Awards of Excellence at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Lagos State on Friday, November 23.

The media assistant to Balogun, Kola Folorunso, said made available to media houses in the state during the week.

The awards were a result of the contributions of Aregbesola to ICT development in the State of Osun.

The coordinator of the award ceremony, Tayo Adewusi, according to the release, said the duo were selected on merit.

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Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 9

ODIA OFEIMUN AND THE ACHEBE CONTROVERSY bilization has been coming under new lights. As happened, it was Alhaji Ahmed Joda, a top aide to Major Hassan Usman Katsina, Governor of Northern Region, who was sent by “top civil servants” in Kaduna to meet with Alhaji Maitama Sule in Kano to “initiate leadership in getting the people of the North to understand the aims of government” after the January 1966 coup. On pages 211 -212 of the biography, Maitam a Sule..Danmasanin Kano by Ayuba T. A b u b a k a r, i t i s told of how it was Maitama Sule, an NPC stalwart before the coup, who “suggested that Mallam Aminu Kano was the most suitable, because he was widely respected, never held a government leadership appointment and had the people behind him. Again, he was a leading figure in UPGA……So M a i t a m a arranged for Mallam Aminu to meet Alhaji Joda CLOCKWISE: Ofeimun, Achebe and Awolowo: What manner the following day.

T h e r e a f t e r, of civil war documents are we talking about?

Mallam Aminu

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war

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his is the concluding part of Odia Ofeimun’s treatise on the Awolowo?Achebe civil war controversy. He makes useful suggestions to his Igbo brothers and sisters as well as other Nigerians on how to dump the self-righteous mentality of ‘WE AGAINST THEM”.

What is interesting in this regard is that well known acts perpetrated by other leaders during the war are actually now being credited to Awolowo by postwar propagandists and are being made to stick beyond lines of collective responsibility while actual performances that he made are smudged out of acknowledgement. For a man who could be said to have done more than any other single individual to have garnered the out-of-the-war-front intelligence to keep Nigeria as one country, it is actually a surprise to see how little Federal cover has been given to Awolowo by Federal agencies and establishments. Generals who were worried that Awolowo might convert his proficiency in the management of the country’s finances and general affairs into political power certainly preferred that the war story be told against him.

For ex-Biafrans who believe that Awolowo disabled their war efforts through his many ploys, including the change of the currency, the refusal to devalue the Naira, and the ordering of a stop to food corridors, Awolowo deserves to be sent to the International court even post-humously. The concentration on Awolowo as it turns out is such a fixation that many are prepared to believe that even if Awolowo was still in prison when the pogrom took place, he should be arraigned for it. It is very much unlike the position taken by the Jews who not only went after exposing the perpetrators of the holocaust after the Second World War but took extremely inter-subjective care to ensure that no innocents were punished for crimes that others committed. The reverse, clearly, is the case with the Nigerian crisis and civil war.

It is quite interesting in this regard, and perhaps, a mark of Achebe’s forgiving nature that in his The Trouble with Nigeria, he grants the status of arch-nationalist to Mallam Aminu Kano, of whose faction of the People’s Redemption Party, PRP, he became a member, even after knowing of the Mallam’s mobilization of the resistance to feared Igbo domination after the

Generals who were worried that Awolowo might convert his proficiency in the management of the country’s finances and general affairs into political power certainly preferred that the war story be told against him

January 15 Coup. Or he did not know it? Allan Feinstein, Mallam’s biograp h e r, h a d g i v e n e n o u g h l e a d s t o explain the radical leader’s mobilization of the North before the pogrom.

On page 225 of The African Revolutionary ,the autobiography of Mallam Aminu Kano, he writes that his subject “had to decide what was right for his country and his North ……..Aminu Kano’s smouldering fear of Southern domination had finally culminated in what he considered a genuine and serious threat to the development of his first love, Northern Nigeria”. As it happened, Aminu Kano was arrested in connection with the pogrom in the North but was promptly released for want of evidence. Decades later, as the issues are being memorialized by key actors of that era, the post-coup mo-

Kano became the leading consultant for the government and top civil servants and their link with the rest of the North”. In The Story of a Humble Life: An Autobiography, Tanko Yakasai, an Aminu Kano deputy in the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) authenticates the story: “At the beginning, most NEPU members were happy with the military take over. It was only after some few days that they started to think twice about the situation……the way some Igbo traders at Sabongari market in Kano started to treat Northerners”. A meeting was then held in Aminu Kano’s house in Sudawa by old NEPU stalwarts.

Aminu Kano “drew the attention of the meeting to the apathy pervading the political scene in the North and urged those present to rise up to the

occasion; otherwise it would be difficult to rejuvenate political interest in the people. The meeting then decided that a tour of the Northern Region should be undertaken to make contact with opinion leaders with a view to alerting them of the danger posed by that situation. The tour was to be undertaken under the guise of paying condolence visits to the families and traditional rulers of those killed during t h e m i l i t a r y t a k e - o v e r. … … … . We started from Sokoto, followed by Bauchi and Maiduguri. Within a few weeks, we covered the whole region”. (page 221). Although accused of having joined the NPC, “we continued with our mobilization campaign”, writes Tanko Yakasai. Of course, there were different contact groups mobilizing, sometimes with cross-cutting memberships. They were all to make what seemed a consensual response to Major General Aguiyi Ironsi’s Unification Decree which according to Tanko Yakasai “created a lot of fear in the minds of the civil servants and traditional rulers….”. A protest rally organized in Kano against the Unification Decree turned the seething anger into a regionwide prairie fire that grew into the pogrom against the Igbo and those associated with them. As it happened, the pogrom preceded and accompanied the Revenge Coup of July 29 1966.

The matter of interest is that Awolowo was still in prison at Calabar when it all began to happen. But it was after the exodus of the Igbo back to the East and of many southerners from the North; and then, the failure of the various leaders of Thought meetings, including the Aburi meeting in Ghana, to resolve the consequent loss of faith in t h e i d e a o f a u n i t e d c o u n t r y, t h a t secession was declared. And war began. In the narration of the crisis and the tragedies of the war, different partisans have chosen what to emphasize between the grisly images of the pogrom and the guitar-ribbed and kwashiorkor ridden children in Biafra and the direct casualties in the war front. Who to blame from the perspective of those who suffered the dire consequences?

To ask is to put history in a quandary because in the situation of organized anarchies that preceded the war, it is the botched January 15 Coup that takes the rap. All murders are bad but it was the unrounded nature of the violence, the lopsided regional accounting, that Nigerians, North and South, will always remember. It turned jubilation into selfquestioning angst. The truth is that the years of distrust already on the ground, allowed for an interpretation which was incorrect. Otherwise, it did not start as an Igbo coup. It was turned into one by successive acts of commission and omission which could have been averted

Continues on page 10

PAGE 10—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war Continued from page 9 by greater exercise of cultural empathy. This was, unwisely knocked aside; not just by the arrogance of power that all military rule insinuates, but the inability of the new rulers at the centre to see Nigeria as a family of different nationalities needing an effort of mind and a lot of civility to turn into a nation of shared conversations. Admittedly, the leaders had their prejudices; but the necessity for shared living called for learning how to let people govern themselves irrespective of how unprepared they appeared to be.

Education for leadership needed to have begun from having laws that were not tilted against any part of the polity. Unfortunately, once violence became the definition of the terms of association, it was not going to be easy to retract. As violence led to more violence, whoeveot on top sought a draconian hold in order not to be sucked into its quicksand and boil. Hence those who began by detesting a unitary system of government ended up creating a unitary hegemony. Trust and a basis for stability became goals to be achieved through a lopsided cut.

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he point is that nothing could re place the effort that needs to be made in every society, even one that is uni-cultural rather than multi-ethnic and multi-religious, to let decision –making come from within a community rather than as an imposition. It so happens that the failure of the first coup, as with all succeeding ones in Nigeria’s history came from pursuing the opposite of what they claimed they wanted. By being generally of a lopsided cut, all of them morphed into preparations for a genocide of sorts.

Thus, once the pogrom in the North created the basis for a war, or at least some form of return violence, the word genocide had become regionally or ethnically positioned to account what would follow. Specific to the period of civil war: those who used the term genocide tended to do so in the sense of a propaganda pitch to rev the cause or score points in the competition for international alms, arms, and domestic power. Not distinguishing the pogrom in the North from the actual deaths and derangement of life found in the war situations was quite a grand strategy of Biafrans. Truth is, once war was declared, both sides were on a mutual genocidal binge. Put the word to some test and it turns out to have been so much a ploy to attract support for Biafra, as the rebel stronghold shrank from all of Eastern Region to the closed-in Igbo heartland. The weight of Federal might, against the fast diminishing rebel territory, could not evade the sheerness of it: that the pounding of one identifiable set of Nigerians, had the implication of a genofactor. A war in a multi-ethnic society poses this execrable frame. Only those who love war may try to deodorize it by pretending that it does not yield forms of genocide. On both sides of the Nigerian civil war, the genocidal instincts were quite alert. And knowing that genocides are such bad things, propagandists reached for international support by playing it ur down.

This is why talking there was a vast about the starving chilcivilian population dren of Biafra as an whose food needs were incidence of genocide not considered an issue turns out not to be such either in the initial a straightforward matpromotion of war ter. Biafra lost much infrenzy or in the course ternational support, exof the war. Those who cept for the sentimencontinue to trip on the tality of Caritas, when propaganda of war, and it was discovered, and are probably hoping discussed across the that they would be givworld, that the Generen food stamps and real of the People’s Army liefs if they manage to was engaged in unethplunge Nigeria into ical profiling of starvanother war with their ing children in order to unthinking fictions, attract international need to be told that it sympathy. In his letter will not be called a war of resignation from his if one side must feed $400,000 contract and the other side. As achis post as Public Retually happened. That lations Representative such considerations of Biafra in the United were always there, and States, Robert S. Goldwere seriously enterstein, who had helped tained, is why many to build up much interwriters call the Nigerinational concern for an Civil war a phoney Biafra wrote to the Biwar. Or a brother’s war. afran Commander in The gleeful latching chief as follows: “It is upon Awolowo’s stateinconceivable to me ment that starvation is that you would stop the a weapon of war as a feeding of thousands of means of raking up old your countrymen (uninter-ethnic animosider auspices of world ties or winning a prosorganizations such as ecutor ’s slot in a the international Red Ojukwu (above), Balewa Nuremberg-type trial, cross, world council of (below)... Controversies wont change this realchurches and many aplenty ity. Even the Federal more)via a land corriside which allowed and dor which is the only then stopped food practical way to bring shipment to Biafra in food to help at this knew it was merely trytime………..I cannot ing to fulfill all righserve you any longer. teousness. Who has yet Nor can I be party to found a way to stop solsuppressing the fact diers in any theatre of that your starving thouwar from hijacking the sands have the food, food meant for the cimedicine and milk vilian populations? available to them….it Who does not know can and is ready to be that soldiers move on delivered through intheir stomachs and are ternational organizamore likely to hijack tions to you. Only your food meant for civilians constant refusal has than not? Starkly, the stopped its delivery. ” question is always This piece of archival there: whether or how material may well have to to allow a welfare been a propaganda package to the other coup for the Federal side but, as its side without committing suicide. War publication in Nigeria’s Morning Post may thereby be prolonged. But this showed, it cannot be excluded from the is talking about a war between story without missing the real flavor brothers. Sad, it is, that the truly of the times. It therefore be claimed brotherly elements that characterized without fear of contradiction that, the waging of the war on both sides of around the much-trumpeted genocide, the Nigerian civil war have not been was a Biafran proto-state that was allowed to surface by the spoilsports prepared to send some well-placed of the propaganda Ministries who do children out of harm’s way to havens not allow accounting for the foods and in Ivory Coast and elsewhere in the beer shared across battle lines between world but was using other people’s the combatants. Not to forget the egrechildren in Biafra as guinea pigs for gious observance of eight-hour warpropaganda purposes. The truth, bit- day on the Federal side and the ter, as it must sound, is that once war deliberate slowing down of Federal was declared, both sides were on a aggression which, sometimes genocidal binge that no post-war humanitarian but based on scheming leveraging can undo. for power in Lagos, lengthened the For that matter, the reverse side of period of warfare and may unwittingthe Biafran charge of genocide against ly have been responsible for the many the Federal side is that the charge can civilian deaths through hunger. be firmly and rigorously laid that Biafra Talking war as war, when Biafrans sent people into combat who had no made the famous incursion into the weapons to fight in a real war. And Midwest State, were they thinking of

Unless as a strategy for getting more and more in the national spoils system! I mean, it is plain bad manners to blame other Nigerians who have not found answers to their problems and with whom cooperation is a fitter strategy than the politics of the gripe.

the convenience of Midwesterners?

Their strategic exigencies had little place for the sensibilities of a region that had shown much sympathy for the Biafran cause up to the point of not allowing the region to be a staging post for launching an attack on Biafra.

But Biafrans treated the region as mere faggot for the fire. It turned out that the military Governor of the state, David Ejoor had been out-numbered and out-gunned by Igbo-speaking elements in his cabinet who actually outvoted him, six by three, when the pressure came for Biafrans to be allowed to come in. So we can argue, strictu sensu, that Biafra did not invade the Midwest. Biafra was invited into the Midwest State.

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ence, as many writers on the war have reported, no shot was fired. The food and other resources, including hard currency, for whose sake the incursion was made, may have been a good enough bargain for the incoming army. It ended up however, exposing a lot of untoward factors including ethnic arrogance, which told the minority ethnic nationalities in the war-torn South what could continue to happen to them if they remained part of Biafra. To think of it, the easy indifference to the rights of the minority ethnic nationalities who itched to take their own lives in their own hands was what horridly vitiated the whole idea of the Biafran enterprise. And it was this that gave the Federal side such moral authority, egged on, since the Revenge coup, by the release of Adaka Boro and his co-partisans who had been sentenced to death, awaiting execution, for pushing secession for a Niger Delta Republic. It was this that kept the creation of new states on the hot burner even without the threat of a Biafran secession to grant its inexorability. The bottom line is that the evidence of people seeking freedom for themselves without considering that others also needed it was what provided the moral fuel that routed Biafra, even as much as Federal guns and the idea of starvation as a weapon of war.

Let’s face it: it rankles. I mean, the long-standing and brazen refusal to recognize that there were others in the Eastern Region and in the Midwest who also lost a lot of relations in the pogrom, and who deserved to be treated like the proper nationalities that they were, rather than as pariahs in their own country! What may well be taken as a factor in this is that it was Awolowo’s fate, from early in his career, to have earned the dislike of so many whose region, including his own, he had continuously slated for splitting into their ethnic fractions in pursuit of his brand of federalism. The creation of states, along ethnic lines, his lifelong pursuit, sought the turning of Nigeria from a mere geographical expression to a cultural expression, a nation, through the establishment of a common access for all and sundry to free education, free health, full employment and pensions and the freedom of the press and judiciary. No question about it: Awolowo was a very ambitious man. He believed in becoming

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SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 11

Continued from page 10 the leader of a great country that could lift Africa up. He felt it would be a belittling of his project if he stood by to allow an energetic and ebullient nationality like the Igbo to excise themselves through the fecklessness of those who would send people to death in their millions rather than prepare them for the future with the calculating gumption of true generals. For him, it was sad to hear people talk about how much the masses in Biafra wanted war, as if Generals are not supposed to be specially trained to see beyond anger and bitterness and therefore to be able to appraise situations objectively, and thus to obviate feckless projecteering in the name of war. Do you send your children to commit suicide because you are angry with an enemy? Where went that proverb which says that you do not ask who killed your father until you are firmly holding a matchete from the right side?

So what was Biafra’s handle on the basis of which the world was told that no power in black Africa could subdue her?

These, I must add, are questions that I think we should all bear in mind, as we confront situations such as when those returning home to Nigeria after Biafra found a country not too different from the one they left. Unhappily, the Biafra they knew maltreated Biafrans as much if not more than Nigeria kept maltreating Nigerians. To be borne in mind is that much of it came more from improper organizational setups, plain incompetence, rather than sheer wickedness or hatred as we are all being made to believe when we come to it.

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ather than describe the problems with a clarity that allows for seeking genuine solutions, we get all manner of exorbitance, which push away answers and solutions. For instance, as a way of laying a basis for more disharmony between ex-Biafrans and fellow Nigerian siblings, we are not told about the many who returned to find that their properties were intact and that people actually protected their rights in those properties in their absence. We are not told about the many valiant efforts that were made by other Nigerians to rehabilitate the East. It may not have been more competently done than all the other things that were happening in the country. But quite a brave effort it was, making it possible for General Yakubu Gowon, whatever his many lapses, to be seen internationally as doing a yeoman’s job, personifying his unitarian precepts including an immediate representation of the East in the Supreme Military Council after the war. For that matter, there were too many elements of a siblings war, at least from the Federal side, in spite of the inevitability of both sides seeking and using the most deadly weapons that money could buy. Take it from the start of police action to full scale war; the charge to soldiers to a close observance of the Geneva convention during the war, the implied necessity to treat all the captured fairly and decently - and many were court-martialed who broke the rules – right through to the post-war rehabilitation and reconstruction. The No Victor No Vanquished code may have had flabs but the re-absorbtion of former soldiers back into the Nigerian military, many of whom soon became high flying, and civil servants , who were granted special three weeks leave and granted ‘mercy pay ’ to help them settle down, all these are not heard of

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war in the post-war propathrough the ganda. Nor is it heard granting of N20 exenough about the gratia payment special clearance for (slightly more than ships bringing in the equivalent of a post-war reliefs. third class clerks After the war, there monthly pay) to evwas clearly more than ery survivor after a silver lining which the war. It is forgotought to be acknowlten that it was edged even in the face of the harsh cirmeant as a shortcumstances that existterm welfare packed. It is in the fact age to enable many declared by SG Ikoku, get back to their the Commissioner for homes from wherEconomic Developever they were at ment in East Central when the war endState in the Daily ed. It was not meant Times of May 22, to be payment for 1971 that “the Fedbeing rebels or as eral Government had made available 21.505 an exchange for Bimillion pounds grant afran money. That and 10.620 million as was why it was advances and loans. It called ex-gratia. It was part of the accuwas supposed to be mulated amounts a provisional paysaved for the East ment while sorting Central State during out those who could the war by Chief still find the papers Obafemi Awolowo, to prove how much the Commissioner for Finance and Vice they had in their Chairman of the Fedaccounts. Accounteral Executive Counably, the system colcil, on the basis of lapsed. Only a few population distribucould have mantion of revenue. No aged to keep their one, these days, is papers who had not ever allowed to know already emptied this little matter even their accounts if the point is to show Ironsi (above), Nzeogu while they were how well those who wanted the Biafrans (below) leaving a country dead followed the fithey did not intend nancial regulations to come back to. that guided the FedAdmittedly, the eration and so kept whole matter called what was due to the for a special exerEast in reserve for cise of leadership them till they returned on all sides. to the fold. This is not It called for geneven to ask about uine brokerage how the money was actually spent, which techniques, of lobI am sure must be bying and even blamed on those who muzzling of had saved the money. whoever was in Besides, there really authority to act beought now to be a yond the rule of law cross-check of and to find a way of Awolowo’s claim that resolving the he saved African clearly confused Continental Bank circumstance of so post-haste in order to help shore up the many people economy of the East. having Biafran Or how quickly the money in a country Niger bridge was where it was imposrebuilt, the cement sible to regard it as factories rehabilitated legal tender. But and the African just as in the Development Bank cashiered into rehabilitation work with agricultural planning for the war, there was so loans that Federal authorities had to much left undone even in the manner look away from appraising on strict and mode of surrender. After the war, terms. Such things were left in the I used to wonder why the leaders way that those who took monies from dissolved into atoms. I am saying this Biafra to buy food and ammunition but partly because I am yet to meet someone failed to deliver have been forgotten who has vouchsafed a formula that could with their loot of war. have resolved the matter of the ex-gratia This is why, across the social media, payments without rancor. Even today, it is painful to encounter the many no one is volunteering how it could have angry discussants of the civil war years been done better. The same goes for the who see it only in terms of what needed issue of abandoned property which no to have been done for the East. We longer had a public advocacy once Sam hear so much so much about the Mbakwe who had briefed Awolowo to absolute deprivation of Biafrans take the matter to court was importuned

The bottomline, as I have argued in Taking Nigerian Seriously, is that there is no Igbo solution to the Nigerian problem; no Yoruba, Efik, Hausa, Fulani, Edo, Ijaw, or Kanuri solution

to withdraw it on the awkward reasoning that if Awolowo won the case in court he would make political capital out of it.

It became a case of better not fight the abandoned property issue for the masses, if some old enemy would share in the glory. Hence the matter festered till it became a case of everyone for himself. The General of the People’s Army had to wait till as late as the last week of General Ibrahim Babangida in office in 1993 to wrest his own abandoned property. We don’t know about those who never had that luck.

We don’t know about the soldiers who could not get their pensions after the General got his. It is the way the postcivil war atomization of demands got covered up by a rev of self-interest that many like to present as the interest of the whole nationality. The truth is that those to whom things happened, and who hardly had a chance of happening to anything, but suffered all the same, never had champions. It left many grumblers in the public space who are wondering why others wont fight battles they themselves have been obliged to abandon.

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he shame of the moment is that, unable to look the history of our differences in the face, we allow ourselves to be flattered or incensed by sheer serenades of ethnic and regional fictions. Even those who know that it is bad for their ethnic groups to seek to live like islands unto themselves are gleefully developing discrepant moralities: a benign one for themselves and a pernicious or predatory morality for others. It is usually based on bad logic and poor thinking, as much of this narrative has shown. The point is, when people think badly they want to hide it by putting the rest of us in situations where, if we disagree, we can be accused of being haters of their ethnic group or nationality. So I may be told that a proverb belongs to an ethnic group so that if I disagree with the bad thinking that goes with it I may be charged with pushing for ethnocide or genocide. It is a form of blackmail that yields backwardness for a people. It something that deserves to be back-handed off. We should feel free to show our dislike for it. When people are being roughed up by their own, we should all cry out as when they are being roughed up by other people. By the same token, if bad logic is claimed for or by an ethnic group, we need to see it as self-immolation on everyone’s part to sit quiet and say it is their business. It is not just their business. Because their bad logic will not let neighbours live well or rest in peace. It obliges us to be always our brothers’ keepers. Even then, we need always to contest the veracity of what is claimed against other perceptions of reality. Until cultural empathy is achieved or approximated. I mean: not even the disabilities and pains of one life authorizes that life to deny other lives their due.

This makes it truly odd, to see it being suggested so incongruously, at the end of the war, that it was those who hated Igbo people who were working so hard to bring them back to Nigeria by force! Or who were threatening to leave Nigeria if the Igbo were ever to be allowed to go; and going the whole hog to plead with Igbo leaders not to go to war! It does not add up. It may be good for war propaganda to tone the hatreds that shored up the conflict . But it does not make good post-war logic. Irrespective of the polemics and rhetorical afflatus that, since then, have bedeviled public arguments with notions of how Nigeria has no

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front row seat, watching the best of life unfold in a time when life seemed so easy is a gift. Maybe its nostalgia that is romanticising the past and making it seem that the good old days were much better than the present. I was at a dinner a few days ago and some youngsters came to do a dance interpretation of Fela's "Suffering and Smiling".

It was entertaining and while it was much appreciated by us all; they did not come close to the real thing. I looked at my better half and we exchanged smiles; it was the acceptance and appreciation that we had seen the real thing; we were there. There is a great feeling of appreciation and even smugness that comes with first hand experiences of truly life changing or mind moulding experiences and believe me the Fela years were that and

more.

Now to those whose sensibilities I am about to offend, I should explain that I am a child of the seventies born after the civil war, caught up in the ideology of revolution, freedom and change.

The incessant incursions of soldiers in politics meant there was always a struggle; those willing to take power at the point of a gun, made oppression and repression a staple and Fela was a champion of freedom. I was a great fan of his music but his life style choices made his ideology a bit difficult to swallow. I was brought up to believe that smoking hemp was a sure way of becoming mad and that those who smoked were unhinged. I don't get involved in legislating people's preferences and taste but Fela's passion for weed may have contributed to his ideology not becoming

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y first taste of Fela's genius came with the masterpiece titled "Palaver". His songs were almost conversational, and it gave his listeners the opportunity to listen and participate; almost like a question and answer sing along. The man was a genius who had the backing of a superbly orchestrated and a humongous band. His songs were also very long, at least 10–15 minutes in length, and many reaching the 20 or even 45 minutes when performed live. Typically there is an instrumental "introduction" jam part of the song, perhaps 10-15 minutes long, before Fela starts singing the "main" part. He was an acquired taste; not for the impulsive or faint hearted. His songs were

Uduaghan commended over DESOPADEC nominations

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ELTA Focus Group has commended Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State for nominating Mr. Oritsua Kpogho and Mr. Festus Utuama as chairman and member of the Delta State Oil

Producing Areas D e v e l o p m e n t C o m m i s s i o n , DESOPADEC, board respectively.

A statement by the group’s chairman and secretary Comrade Joshua Egun Okoh, and

Warri North Council inaugurates transition exco

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HE new chairman of Warri North Local Government Transition Committee, Evangelist David Ewetan Edun, has formally inaugurated the twenty-member Transition Committee appointed for the local government by Delta State gover nor, Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan.

The ceremony, held at the Legislative Chambers of the Council in Koko, administrative headquarters of the Local Government, gave the new transition committee boss the opportunity to unveil the main agenda of his administration to the people of the local government.

The chairman revealed

that the issues of security and environment were top most in the policy thrust of his administration as Uduaghan emphasized the two areas while he was being sworn-in in Asaba.

Edun, who was full of praise for the state governor, especially for being a man who matches his words with action, explained that Uduaghan’s emphasis on security and environment is not unconnected with recent developments where kidnappings, armed robbery and other social vices as well as flooding in our towns and communities have greatly altered the way we now live our lives.

Comrade Sunday Apah, described the nomination of Kpogho and Utuama into the DESOPADEC board as a right step in the right direction.

The group whose membership spreads across Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw, Isoko and Ndokwa oil producing communities explained that Messer. Kpogho and Utuama are men of exceptional character, accessible and ready to deliver the needed goals.

The incessant incursions of soldiers in politics meant there was always a struggle; those willing to take power at the point of a gun, made oppression and repression a staple and Fela was a champion of freedom

,

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A T U R D A Y November 3, 2012, would forever remain a day to be remembered for by Nwagbo Chimezien, a graduate of statistics of the Imo State University, as she emerged winner of the coveted Face of Edo Beauty Pageant.

She emerged winner at the grand finale of the 2012 Face of Edo Pageant held at the Prestigious Excalibur

time and the rest was left burning; we concluded he was more mouth than action. I wouldn't presume to say I knew anything authoritatively about the man as I didn't necessarily agree with his life style choices or even followed his entire music portfolio; some were too risqué for me. I know that he did regret marrying the many wives he acquired as he found the dynamics of a harem stressful but I wish he had been a bit more mainstream. He spoke the truth but lacked the right moral credential to get the support to have brought change about.

His life was colourful and outlandish; he was completely anti establishment. He lived large and remained large even in death. His burial was attended by over a million people, I remember being stuck in traffic for hours because the roads were jammed with mourners. I haven't thought of Abami Eda(the extraordinary weird one) in a while; he remains a part of my youth culture and listening to the presentation reminded me of a time long gone; confined to history and that even though we, the youths of days gone by have become the establishment; we were there; front row and centre.....

music that connect me to my maker than the ideology of a rebel fighting the Goliaths of his days. I do find that I take offence at the younger generation's portrayal of his music and his person. I particularly find

university in the late 80's and being amazed at the huge size of the joint rolled in his hands. My friends and I had never even seen a joint before and we watched him intently for the 3 hours on the stage. To our shock , he took 2 puffs the entire

BY DAYO ADESULU

Incubator Africa to hold 2-Day programme for education stakeholders

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DDING its weight behind revamping the education sector, Incubator Africa Limited in collaboration with EduCluster Finland have organised a 2-Day learning event to empower key decision makers in the sector on practical steps to raising standards and student performance in the Nigerian educational system.

According to the Managing Director, Mrs Alero Ayida-Otobo in a released said that the programme which is slated to hold on November 19th and 20th

Chimezien is Face of Edo 2012

BY EPHRAIM OSEJI

offensive karaoke copy cat versions of his songs that depict him as some illiterate drunk or drug addict. I didn't know the man personally but I knew his children and there was never a time he was incoherent or disoriented in public; he was a master showman, who spoke excellent English. He read music at the prestigious Trinity School of Music in England. His songs were in Pidgin english just so he could communicate with the common man he identified with.

I remember attending a concert of his in the

,

We were there

mainstream. Truth be told, he made a lot of sense and his concerns about the lack of development, nepotism, blatant corruption have been validated, those things contributed to the derelict state of our nation today.

mostly sung in Nigerian pidgin, although he also performed a few songs in the Yoruba language. He was an incredible saxophonist, trumpeter and played the keyboards, drums and electric guitar. He incorporated traditional instruments like Shekere and drums to create world class music.

I take personal pride when I hear his music played, after all he was a Nigerian icon. His music in my view is timeless. My musical taste has evolved and these days my spirits are lifted more by spirit filled

Hotel, Benin City.

Chimezien, 22, represented Imo State.

Presenting the new Miss Face of Edo with her cash prize of more than a million naira and brand new Hyundai car, the president of Eerik Entertainment, Prince Eerik A. Odigie, said: “Face of Edo beauty pageant is becoming bigger and bigger every year but the 2012 edition was a class of excellence and talk of the town as long as you live and work in Edo State”.

at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, will presents, “how to create the world’s best performing schools.”

She said the benefits among others include: Learning from the best in the Finnish education sector to position your school for improved performance. Gaining valuable insights that empower participants to creatively unlock the potentials in the Nigeria education system.

Also, through the Experts-in-Residence consultations, participants could

receive advice targeted to their school’s pressing c o n c e r n s .

Worthy Mothers Excel for launch Worthy Mothers Excel Them All, a book written

by Mrs Mercy Tola Ojumu, will be dedicated on Wednesday, November 28 at Sweet Sensation Hall, Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta.

The author said the book admonishes mothers and wives to be virtuous like the woman in Proverbs 31:10-31 who is described as being worth more than rubies

Ikhaghe congratulates Oshiomhole

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Lagos-based author, Mr Charles Afe Ikhaghe, has congratulated Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on the successful swearing-in ceremony for the second term in office.

He made this known in a statement to newsmen in Lagos,assuring the comrade governor of

God’s protection to enable him continue with the good works he started in Edo. According to him, the caliber of people that graced the occasion which cuts across party divide is a testimony of his record breaking performance, urging him not to relent in his effort to make Edo a pride of place in the nation..

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 — PAGE 13

‘Ondo govt won’t abandon anti-Mimiko councils

By DAYO JOHNSON, Akure

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NDO State government weekend described as wicked the allegation by the opposition political parties in the state that it will abandon projects in local government not won

by Governor Olusegun Mimiko in the October 20 election.

One of the political parties in the state alleged that the governor would pay back the councils where he lost during the election by abandoning projects initiated there.

Speaking in Owo, the

Works Commissioner, Mr. Gboye Adegbenro, said the allegation was cheap, malicious and uncivilised.

Adegbenro was in the town to inspect the N5.5billion dualisation, by the Mimiko administration there.

He said: “Despite the fact that we lost Owo to the can, the contractor handling the road project has returned to site.

“We asked the contractors in the state to move to site last week and maximize the dry season and to my greatest surprise this morning, this contractor is living up to expectation. They have

put stone base on about 2.3km of one section of the road which is 4km stretch and had done 1.2km of piling, what the section requires now is asphalt.

“All things being equal, within the dry season, we

would, by the end of January, deliver the first phase of the project. That is, the section from the starting point to the roundabout in the market, will be inaugurated in February.

“We inherited 18 km surfaced-dressed road network in Owo local government from the previous administration.

By the 2011 budget we did 11.6km road network and at this moment, we

had completed the second phase of the asphalt overlay. At the moment, we do not have any ongoing internal road project in Owo apart from the dualisation”.

MultiChoice celebrates entrepreneurs S UPER-dealers of pay-TV firm MultiChoice Nigeria have been celebrated for their part in helping to drive the company ’s vision of growing the Nigerian business space.

The occasion was the second edition of the

MultiChoice Dealers Awards, where the company feted its enterprising superdealers. The event, held at the Federal Palace Hotel and Casino, Victoria Island, Lagos, was an evening of conviviality and a time to

reward the distributors for a job well done over the last one year.

The awards, which were in 14 categories, saw the dealers in the super-dealership range being given special recognitions and handsome rewards for

their outstanding sales performance and keeping with company ’s innovative standards in the outgoing year.

The exceptional dealers got mouth-watering prizes including cash gifts, several 20KVA generators, computer sets, motorcycles, office equipment, four Ford Focus cars, two Toyota Hilux vans, and allexpense-paid luxury holiday trips abroad, including the Sun City Resorts, South Africa, the 2013 African Cup of Nations and English Premier League matches.

Three super-dealers, Jegfav Nigeria Limited, Radac Communications and First Regional, each got $10,000 cash prizes in the Highest Sales, DStv; Highest Sales GOtv; and the Most Compliant (Chairman’s Award) categories respectively.

Delta constituency will get the best from constitution review — Lawmaker

By FESTUS AHON, Ughelli

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E M B E R representing Ethiope Federal Constituency, Delta State in the House of Representatives, Chief Sunny Emeyese, has assured members of his constituency that their interests would be carefully represented in the on-going constitution amendment process by the National Assembly.

Emeyese gave the assurance during the public hearing on the constitution review in his constituency held at Isiokolo, headquarters of Ethiope East local government area.

Declaring the public hearing open, the lawmaker told the people that the public hearing was in line with the openness and transparency of the National Assembly as well as to heal the wounds of the past.

Noting that the task before the House was demanding, he expressed optimism that the 1999 Constitution, when amended, will truly represent the interest of Nigerians.

PAGE 14 — SUNDAY

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, NO VEMBER 18, 2012, P AGE 15 NOVEMBER PA

By Jide Ajani

GRAFT AND CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT

Conspiracy of the corrupt?

zNational Assembly moves to quash Code

of Conduct Bureau zWhy the attempt would send wrong signals

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igerian lawmakers are again in danger of making a mockery of themselves. Pass the bill; forfeit your wealth and assets! That was the reasoning by many who voted. The fear of forfeiture made members of the National Assembly to dump an otherwise meaningful legislation. But their action amounts to nothing more than a fool’s errand because, in the long run, the long arm of the law will catch up with them.

THE HISTORY

C M Y K

President Jonathan

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In the beginning, sometime in the year 2010, the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, discovered that Nigeria was strategically placed to engage a paradigm shift in the war against drugs’ movement and crime and, therefore, sought to assist the nation in creating a legislation that would effectively tackle the problem.

Seminars and conferences were organised by the UNODC in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, and Kaduna, the undisputed capital of the core North.

The reasoning behind the engagements was with a view to ensuring that Nigerian legislators understood not only the importance but also the necessity of such.

During the conferences and seminars, the legislators spoke, in inspiring and committed terms, of how best Nigeria could be a catalyst in the black world.

Having concluded the sensitisation exercise, the UNODC went a step further.

The Office ensured that those who would draft one of the legislative instruments had the professional competence and know-how.

Therefore, the UNODC, Sunday Vanguard investigation, last week ,revealed ,“brought in and funded the activities of some experts from the United Kingdom, UK, to assist in drafting the Bill for a possible Act regarding asset forfeiture”.

However, efforts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the facilitator of the process, to add to its legal bite in dealing with corrupt politicians met a brick wall as the National Assembly made sure the Assets Forfeiture Bill, AFB, never saw light of day.

Mind you, a dependable source hinted, “the essence of the law is to make accused persons that flee the land but had acquired properties via financial crimes forfeit such acquisitions to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Twice the draft was sent to NASS

Sam Saba, Chairman, CCB

Senate President David Mark

They may have taken their cue from President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. During a publicly televised media chat with the President, the latter told Nigerians that he could not be bothered by the noise in the media regarding his refusal to publicly declare his assets

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Speaker Aminu Tambuwal but was thrown out”.

For instance, one of the reasons for the action, a senator told Sunday Vanguard, was that “with what we see going on, whereby some people are just singled out for public disgrace, why should the Senate add more powers to the ones the Commission already has”?

ENTER CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Moving a ridiculous step further,

Senator Ekweremadu, Chairman, Constitution amendment committee, National Assembly members of the National Assembly decided that the constitutionally guaranteed powers of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, needed to be quashed.

They should not be blamed.

They may have taken their cue from President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

During a publicly televised media chat with the President, he told Nigerians that he could not be bothered by the noise in the media regarding his refusal to publicly declare his assets –

mind you, his former boss, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua ,publicly declared his and it had to take some prompting before Jonathan, then a Vice President, followed suit.

Today Jonathan is President and Commander-in-Chief and his decision, though not illegal, may have inspired members of the National Assembly to go a ridiculous step further by actually proposing to cause the CCB to be removed from the Constitution and killed.

CCB’s POSITION

Therefore, onThursday, November 15, 2012, at the Lagos Airport Hotel,

Continues on page 16

PAGE 16—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Continued from page 15

have put a heavy scar on the country’s anticorruption drive that removing this vital instrument of checking corruption that has been acknowledged the world over as an effective deterrence in fighting corruption would only be sending wrong signals to Nigerians and the outside world that the country is not serious, after all, about fighting the scourge. “(d) The Constitution is the grundnorm and the organic law of Nigeria. It is supreme law for the country, and once the powers, rights and limitations are identified as having been established, their existence cannot

Ikeja, Lagos, where the zonal public hearing on the amendment of the Constitution took place, it was one Dr. Ademola Adebo, a federal commissioner of the CCB, who made a presentation on why the move by the National Assembly was disgraceful, presidential inspiration or not.

During Ademola’s presentation, which drew applause from members of the public, it was disclosed that there are about 101 countries that have a similar legislation about code of conduct.

Indeed, there are some 22 countries that actually have constitutional provisions backing a Code of Conduct Bureau.

During the public hearing, the CCB outlined its position thus: “(a) The Code of Conduct Bureau has a very clear and unique mandate to fight corruption through Code of Conduct for Public Officers especially the assets

Olusegun Obasanjo, entrapped CCB

National Assembly moves to quash Code of Conduct Bureau

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declaration process, which, according to a World Bank report, is the system that is operational in 101 countries worldwide and entrenched in the Constitution of about 22 countries including Nigeria. “(b) The inimical effects of corruption on the economic and socio - political development of the country are colossal and consequently the Code of Conduct Bureau should be further empowered with constitutional back-up for it to have the needed potency for effectiveness. Its removal from the Constitution will not just render it susceptible to abuse and manipulation, it would further weaken the efforts of the Bureau in the implementation of the mandate of checking corruption in public service. “(c) Furthermore, the corporate image of the country has been greatly eroded with Nigeria being rated by Transparency International as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It is for this reason that the war against corruption has become an issue of national priority, prominence and importance. The retention of the Code of Conduct in the Constitution is consequently not only desirable but imperative so as to emphasize the importance the country attaches to the establishment and execution of assigned mandate by the Bureau. To do otherwise will amount to sending wrong signals to the citizenry and the international community, this can affect not only international confidence on good governance and intent of government of Nigeria but also create skepticism on the part of foreign investors and diplomats.

“Only recently, at the Bi-national Commission meeting between Nigeria and USA, the United States government urged that our country ’s elected and senior public officials make their assets declaration public.

This is a fallout amid the rising public despair about official graft in the

Mind you, Jonathan’s former boss, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua publicly declared his and it had to take some prompting before Jonathan, then a Vice President, followed suit

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country. Of course, this is not surprising in the face of the recent pension scam and the House of Representatives Committee on Fuel Subsidy bribery saga.

These incidents

be challenged or disputed in any Court of Law. This explains why the Code of Conduct was enshrined in the Constitution. It was deliberate and meant to forestall a challenge to any of the powers of the Code of Conduct Bureau and to give it utmost free and unfettered environment to carry out its mandate.

A

ll other Acts of Parliament and Legislations are subsidiary and inferior to the Constitution and where the provisions of other Acts are in conflict or inconsistent with any provision of the constitution, it is rendered null and void. While the provisions of all other Acts or Laws can be challenged in a Court of Law and, if successful, nullified, the provisions of the Constitution are sacrosanct and cannot be nullified by any Court of Law. The Courts can only interpret and explain their extent and implications, in cases properly brought before it. It is for this reason that the Code of Conduct should remain in the Constitution and thus empower the agency with Constitutional backing to effectively carry out its mandate. Constitution ,being the highest law of the land, if fighting corruption is an uppermost desire of state towards instituting transparency and accountabili-

ty in governance, then the Code of Conduct should be part of the highest law of the land. It should therefore be retained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “(e) The Seventh Schedule to the Constitution contains the Oaths of Allegiance and Oaths of Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Vice-President, and also those of the State Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers and the Judicial Oath. This also applies to the members of the National Assembly and States Houses of Assembly and it is pursuant to Sections 52, 94, 135, 140, 142, 180, 185, 187, 194 and 290 of the Constitution which makes it mandatory for these class of persons named therein to swear to.

The Oaths of Office all contain the phrase: ‘That I will abide by the Code of Conduct, contained in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria……………’.

“This clearly shows the importance and significance placed on the Code of Conduct with particular reference to taking of Oath of Office by Public Officers, consequently the need for its retention in the Constitution.

“Removal from the Constitution will render the strategic and legal importance of taking Oath of Office meaningless and of no consequence. Furthermore, to remove it from the Constitution is to whittle down its effect and take away the Constitutional flavor which it presently enjoys.

“The inclusion of Code of Conduct in the constitution indirectly protects public officers who abide by it, because it is a constitutional requirement done under oath before a High Court Judge, and thus given serious legal backing.

“Legal documentation of assets and liabilities by public officers can insulate declarants against blatant allegations of abuse of office and false accusations of illegal acquisitions which can become matters of unnecessary petitions and persistent litigations in the courts since the declarations are, by the constitutional and legal process, legal documents that have been put through oath taking”.

In conclusion, the CCB insists that the “the vision, mission, mandate, operations, and activities of the Agency will be better served if the Code of Conduct is retained in the Constitution. What is required is the strengthening of the Code of Conduct Bureau in the areas of legislation that will ensure tougher sanctions, and, better and independent funding to enable it cope with the increasingly sophisticated dimension of corrupt practices in the country.

“We therefore urge this August Committee to uphold our most respectful and humble views for the pursuit of transparency, accountability and good governance in our country”.

Continues on page 17

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard , NO VEMBER 18, 2012, P AGE 17 NOVEMBER PA

Why the attempt would send the wrong signals anti-corruption. In fact, the United Nations Charter, African Union Charter, ECOWAS Charter and even the European Union Charter on anti -corruption were all predated by Nigeria’s establishment of the CCB and, therefore, suggest that the war on corruption was meant to be taken seriously.

Sunday Vanguard was told by a very dependable source that when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo took over in 1999 as President and Commander-in-Chief, one of the issues he sought to tackle was corruption.

Continued from page 16

WEAKNESS IN STRATEGY

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Hon, Ihedioha, dep. Chair, amendment committee, NASS

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ndeed, Obasanjo, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y, entrapped members of

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UNDAY Vanguard’s investiga tions into the activities of the CCB revealed that the body may have engaged a mode that may pour cold water on its efforts.

In an interview, sometime last year, with eminent Justice of the Supreme Court, Kayode Eso,(rtd), Sunday Vanguard was told that the concept of PLEA BARGAIN is not only illegal but it also encourages stealing. The 87year old jurist also made it clear that the concept of PLEA BARGAIN is both anathema to an anti-corruption war and it equally sends a corrupt signal about the government’s war on corruption.

“This is an encouragement for other governors to steal when they come.

There is no plea bargaining in our law.

The importation is wrong”, he said.

The Justice used the “issue of (a former state governor in the South South zone) who was alleged to have stolen billions and billions of naira.

They said they had this system of plea bargaining. They asked him to plead to some most minor terms there and then he was fined three million naira, which he picked out of his purse and paid there. It sent a notion that it had been pre-arranged that it would not be more than three million. Plea bargaining is actually not our law. We never had plea bargaining. It is corruption for anybody who imports plea bargaining into our law”.

And whereas the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has come out to explain that the courts have the final say on the issue of PLEA BARGAIN, Mr. Sam Saba, Chairman of the CCB told Nigerians that some governors were allowed to go free because they cooperated with the CCB. His position, not shared by some of the commissioners in the CCB, is raising fresh posers regarding the deal the body reportedly entered into with some former governors who breached the law. The governors have since been let off the hook, according to the CCB Chairman.

Mr. Saba, during a press briefing on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, explained that the CCB decided to drop the cases against some ex-governors after they admitted guilt and made restitution to the Federal Government, specifically naming the former governor of Jigawa State, Saminu Turaki, among those that benefited from the said process.

Though he declined to reveal the identity of other indicted ex-governors who embraced the ‘plea-bargain’ option, the Bureau Chairman ,however, divulged that 15 former governors would soon be charged to court for allegedly lying in the assets declaration forms they filled and filed while in office, adding that some of their assets are currently undergoing intense verification.

“I want to assure you that verification of the assets of some of the ex-

Today Jonathan is President and Commander-in-Chief and his decision, though not illegal, may have inspired members of the national assembly to go a ridiculous step further by actually proposing to cause the CCB to be removed from the constitution and killed

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governors is still ongoing including that of even those who are still in power”.

However, in the Part One of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution as amended, the illegality of PLEA BARGAIN is brought further home as made clear by Justice Eso. Section 3, d and e state as follows, that the CCB shall: “(d) ensure compliance with and, where appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code of Conduct of any law relating thereto; “e) receive complaints about noncompliance with or breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto, investigate the complaint and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal”.

All through the 1999 Constitution, there was no where the issue of discretionary power of the CCB was mentioned, therefore, rendering Justice Eso’s contention correct.

CCB’S SORRY PASS

In the course of investigating and preparing for this story, it was discovered that the framers of the letters setting up the CCB had their vision for

the CCB. Some consultants had been sent to the CCB to solicit a partnership on the best way forward to assist it in the area of capacity building. The CCB that had been operating, without the constitutional composition required ,simply wanted to be left to operate in the manner of “business as usual”.

The Chairman, Saba, had reportedly been a staff of the CCB almost since its establishment. He was alleged to have retired from the Bureau as a Permanent Secretary.

During the Senate confirmation hearing for the commissioners who were nominated, including Saba, some senators were said to have kicked against his being brought back into the Bureau after retirement. Intervention from his state governor was said to have swayed the senators who eventually acceded to his nomination.

Sunday Vanguard was told that it was because Obasanjo lost confidence in the way the CCB was being run the reason he (Obasanjo) sent the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, Bill before the National Assembly” because he did not believe that the CCB would do a good job at that time – especially with the

caliber of people there.

Later, and discovering that the ICPC did not meet his expectations, Obasanjo established the EFCC. Also in the course of gathering materials for this piece, Sunday Vanguard learnt that because of what Obasanjo saw as lack of capacity in the CCB then, he did not even bother to constitute the Bureau properly. The former President was quoted as telling a confidant that the “Bureau would not achieve much in terms of carrying out its anti-corruption mandate with the caliber of people there” at that time.

That was why the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua decided that he would give vent to the constitutional responsibilities of the CCB by scouting for credible Nigerians to sit on the Bureau.

Before Yar’Adua, the CCB had never really been constituted following the expectations and intendment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For instance, whereas one of the sections of the Constitution states that the 10 members to be appointed into the CCB shall, at the time of appointment, “not be less than fifty years of age and subject to the provisions of section 157 of this Constitution shall vacate his office on attaining the age of seventy years”, this had not really been so in the past.

But before Yar ’Adua could fill the Bureau with members, he died.

The first engagement of Jonathan, upon becoming Acting President, was to send the names of the proposed commissioners of the Bureau to the Senate for confirmation. Sunday Vanguard gathered that because Yar’Adua kept faith with Jonathan, the then Acting President did not tamper with the list of nominees prepared by his predecessor before he died. It was also discovered that, indeed, Jonathan’s nominee into the Bureau as a Commissioner was endorsed by Yar ’Adua. And so, when Jonathan was presenting the list, he did not change any name. Therefore, that was the first time in the history of the Bureau that it would be properly constituted. This batch of Commissioners were sworn-in on April 30, 2010, and Jonathan charged them that their Agency is the one with the capacity to fight corruption and the Constitution empowers their Bureau to handle all public servants – mind you, public servants are seen largely as the group of people driving the entrenchment of corruption in the country.

Today, Western powers have made anti-corruption a condition precedent for support, aid and assistance to developing countries.

But is the Bureau functioning well or being allowed to function well?

Removing it from the Constitution would not solve Nigeria’s problem; it would only make a mockery of Jonathan’s drive against corruption. Therefore, the President should call members of the National Assembly, dominated by his party members, to order.

PAGE 18—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Presidency and NASS’ serial acts of corruption

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hereas corruption is gener ally associated with stealing of (public) funds, the following catalogues the many serial acts that demonstrate how corruption magnifies the scope of underdevelopment – especially in a zero-sum political atmosphere like Nigeria’s, with a ruling party that has the nation in a vice-grip hold, and politicians whose major consideration is about the verb ‘EAT’. *A legislator with forged documents, Imam Salisu Buari, emerges as Speaker, House of Representatives *A senator’s real identity is called to question after emerging as Senate President - Evan Enwerem or Evans Enwerem (Nigerians never got to determine which of them became Senate President because his colleagues could not stand the embarrassment and, therefore, removed him from office. *The actual cost of the hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, and the All Africa Games hosted by Nigeria may never be known because of the massive inflation that attended the regime of contract awards. *Chuba Okadigbo, who took over from Enwerem, did not last on the seat as a contract scandal in the Senate, hinged on a warped doctrine of anticipatory approval, created a life of its own leading to Okadigbo’s removal from office. *Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba battled the Olusegun Obasanjo executive arm of government for the almost three years he led the House of Representatives, climaxing in the millions of Naira laid before the members on the floor of the House as proof-positive of the attempt by Obasanjo to bribe members into removing the speaker. *The same Obasanjo, acting with a few senators and a Senate president ,actually doctored an Act of the National Assembly, the Electoral Act, 2002 version, to favour the Peoples Democratic Party’s lust for maximum power – the move was exposed, bringing Obasanjo and the Senate to ridicule. *During the 2003 presidential election, some state governors of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, sabotaged their own party in favour of the PDP because of filthy lucre . *Obasanjo’s attempt to extend the tenure of his office beyond two terms of four years each was massively mobilised with billions of naira allegedly paid to National Assembly members as inducement for possible amendment of the Constitution to accommodate his wish. *During the PDP presidential primaries in 2007 which threw up Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the out-going Obasanjo regime spent a massive amount of money to prosecute the emergence of the party’s presidential candidate – it had to because there was need to buy-out other candidates or quash them. *While ailing President Yar’Adua was hospitalised in Saudi Arabia, some state governors bribed National Assembly members not to pass a resolution that would empower the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to begin to act as President and Commander-in-Chief *Preparatory to the general elections of 2011, the government virtually opened the vault to prosecute the election and return Jonathan as President. It is not a new phenomenon as this had been the practice since 1998/ ’99 *Nigerians were told late last year that the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popularly called petrol,

would be removed because of t hie ve s exploiting the subsidy regime.

What the Federal Government refused to disclose to Nigerians was that its officials and friends in high Late Yar’Adua, places were attempted to do the right the ones ripping off Nigerians. *After the one week strike which crippled the economy on account of increase in the price of petrol, the National Assembly, specifically the House of Representatives, set up a committee to look into the management of the subsidy funds. At the public hearing, Nigerians were treated to details of how their government connived with business people to swindle them of trillions of naira under the pretext of collecting subsidy. *In the wake of the committee’s work emerged another scam within a scam that Femi Otedola, a friend to President Jonathan and financier of the PDP who also operates as a member of the President’s Economic Management Team, had participated in a bribery operation to entrap Hon. Lawan Farouk, chairman of the House Committee. The scandal developed a life of its own as insinuations flew about that it was a move by the Presidency to rubbish the report of the committee which lampooned the Federal Government. That report, well, remains just a report. *The latest is the Nuhu Ribadu Committee report on the waste going on in the petroleum sub-sector of the economy. The committee members openly poured allegations of compromise on one another. The Presidency has even waded in, alluding that the Committee Chairman, Ribadu, may just be a rabble rouser. *On the issue of public declaration of assets, Jonathan publicly told Nigerians that he did not give a damn about what the media says and that declaring his assets is a personal affair, that he would not be harangued into making his declaration public: What example from the nation’s Number One Citizen.

The believers in Code of Conduct A list of countries that have entrenched income and assets disclosure system/code of conduct for public officers in their constitutions: 1 Belarus 2 Belize 3 Bolivia 4 Cameroon 5 Central African Republic 6 Chad 7 Colombia 8 Costa Rica 9 Ecuador 10 El Salvador 11 Gambia 12 Guyana 13 Liberia 14 Nigeria 15 Panama 16 Paraguay 17 Peru 18 Philippines 19 Republic of Congo 20 Vanuatu 21 Zambia 22 Zimbabwe

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war Continued from page 11 future, it is clear that a Nigeria together, as it is, even with all the poor quality of the quarrels that we all have with one another, is a better country than the fractionized mayhem, each acting like a mini anarchic Nigeria, which we would otherwise have to deal with, in the event of a break-up. On this score, it is such a fantastic deal to have an Aw o l o w o , solid, disciplined, thoughtful, far-seeing, on the right side. He believed in the country and showed it during the civil war. He deserves to be truly lionized for it, not left in the brambles of the fictionmongers who wish to turn the re-uniting of Nigeria into ashes in the mouths of all succeeding generations. The truth is that, even without the benefit of a poll, it can be safely asserted that there are too many Nigerians who agreed and still agree that Nigeria deserved to have been saved from disintegration and kept as one country.

Some may be having second thoughts because of some recent events. But Nigeria as one country was a business well worth doing. The mode in which the Igbo are all over Nigeria proves it.

We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated into regressing in the tripe of those who do not agree. No question about it: this country is still the closest that Africa has to one that is able to stand up to the rest of the world and thrive for the good of all Africans. Even the supposed differences that some people deplore, and Awolowo spent his life seeking to reengineer in creative directions, are actually part of the strength of this c o u n t r y. W h o w a n t s t o l i v e i n a country that is all winnowed ethic, one monochrome, without arguments and debates, and all dead matter, mere ornament! The point is to prepare all concerned to work for a defined future rather than merely grumbling, seeking scapegoats for our own failings, dousing it with cynical rhetoric, while waiting for an undefined future like manna from heaven.

My grouse, in this regard, is that the issues, as they concern the civil war, are not being discussed in terms of what the leaders of the East owed the people but failed to deliver. Most of the intellectuals and leaders of opinion go about seeking to entrench fictions that merely disable the capacity of the ex-Biafrans to build with other Nigerians. The good thing is that the average Igbo man and woman is way ahead of the griping ones who do not know that the civil war ended long ago. They are everywhere long gone beyond sweating talk about how to become Nigerians. They have proved it that they are just bloody Nigerians like the rest of us. Others, instead of helping the people to think through the necessity to get empowerment through education, industry and genuine employment, are busy reproducing fictions that landed the country in the current mess of incivility. Adding no value to existing answers beyond the fluff of ethnic nationalism that masquerades as highmindedness, they are blaming neighbors for the mess they helped to create by not caring or standing up for an identifiable principle. It is certainly no way to go. Similarly, the habit of shouting my people my people has become a way of not caring for or about the people. This can be proved by simply asking why all the governments in the zone contrived so much helplessness for forty years while the roads in the East deteriorated to wartime conditions. In a region where

Aminu Kano trade is an eze with feathers on a red cap, you would have expected that all the governments in the zone would come together as a matter of emergency to tackle the monster that was ruining the ethic of commerce. A people so energetic and gutsy, pumping so much enterprise across the country ought really never to be seen so selfneglecting as to be waiting for others to raise or de-maginalize them. Unless as a strategy for getting more and more in the national spoils system! I mean, it is plain bad manners to blame other Nigerians who have not found answers to their problems and with whom cooperation is a fitter strategy than the politics of the gripe. At any rate, which part of Nigeria is in a good state?

Where have industries not collapsed and public schools not been mired in a sorry state?

As I see it, a distracted individualism which some people prefer to describe as republicanism, is being priced above

A distracted individualism which some people prefer to describe as republicanism, is being priced above a genuine sitting down to plan with and for the people a genuine sitting down to plan with and for the people. What it calls for, instead of inventing enemies, and seeing competition in zero-sum terms, is a mobilization of affect and resources to rise above the disabilities that we all share as Nigerians. We do need to bring the civil war to a proper end by looking into the past without flinching and wresting ourselves from the goblins of pernicious fictions. The bottomline, as I h a v e a rg u e d i n Ta k i n g N i g e r i a n Seriously, is that there is no Igbo solution to the Nigerian problem; no Yoruba, Efik, Hausa, Fulani, Edo, Ijaw, or Kanuri solution. Until we allow cultural empathy to govern the roost, and we learn to work consciously for the much maligned geographical expression to accede to heightening the cultural expression that it has already much become, the tendency to take refuge in pernicious fictions will not abate.

CONCLUDED

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012— PAGE 19

ANOTHER SUBSIDY MESS

Vehicles FG gave to NURTW have all broken down — Issa Aremu, NLC chief z‘We need more affirmative commitment to governance’ zSays Achebe digging up the past in a wrong way

By Gbenga Olarinoye

H

ow has the subsidy interven tion fund (SURE-P) fared since the government introduced it in the aftermath of the protest in January? The vice president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the body which spearheaded the January protest, Comrade Issa Aremu, provides the Labour perspective in this interview. The general secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), also speaks on the state of the nation. Excerpts: Your view on Chinua Achebe’s book on the civil war, “There Was a Country”, and the indictment of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The controversy that trailed the book written by Chinua Achebe is unfortunate, it is also diversionary. I think Chinua Achebe, as a respected writer, a legendary story teller, an acclaimed author of the celebrated books: “Things Fall Apart”, Man of the People, has that right to reflect on the past especially the civil war because I strongly believe that if we don’t know where we are coming from, we will not know where we are going.

So, it was good that he made an attempt to interrogate the past especially the crisis between 1967 and 1970 when we had the Biafra war to which we lost about a million people. But the question is that in interrogating the past, we need to be careful so that we don’t get haunted by the past. We should also be careful not to draw inappropriate lessons. I think it’s regret-

table that Chinua Achebe took many steps backward with a view to promoting further division, rather than uniting the country. I think it’s completely wrong to do a post-mortem analysis of the dead who can’t reply, it is literary cowardice because he has done many books after the civil war and he had all the privilege to write on the war even when it was hot. In fact, in fairness to Chinua Achebe, he had realized that the war was over and that the problem of Nigeria was leadership, that’s why he wrote a book entitled “The Trouble With Nigeria’.

Opportunistic Diversion So to return to it is opportunistic diversion. It is important that writers have the responsibility to unite Africa

ber 11, and we have the likes of Obama. All the key actors in this drama (civil war), both living and the dead, they are proud Nigerians.

Ojukwu sent more people to death as a Nigerian with Nigerian flags than with Biafra, so why is Achebe flogging the dead? Even the leader of that war was proud to be a Nigerian, to be accepted back as a Nigerian than as a Biafran; that’s why when he came back, he was pardoned and was so proud to be restored the title of a General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not of Biafra and Nigerians were so appreciative to honour him and he was buried as a Nigerian. And Ojukwu post-mortem said to Awolowo that he was not agonizing about who did what. When Awolowo died, he said he was the best president Nigeria never had. So if the key chieftain could say such, what is Chinua Achebe up to?

Who is he talking for?

Literary Reflection I think it may be convenient for Nigerians in Diaspora to have the comfort of literary reflection but, in that literary reflection, they should not throw us into reverse gear. I think with

No, I think the SURE-P programme is ill-managed; the intervention fund is not well managed. The vehicles that the Federal Government gave to National Union of Road Transport Workers have all broken down because the tragedy of Africa today is that we have no inspirational leaders to unite the continent. When Achebe wrote “There Was a Country”, he was not saying there is no more country, there is a country; in fact, the passion and debate that followed his book shows that Nigeria is still alive.

Which country does not have its own travail? I mean nobody can say there is no America after September 11; there was America before September 11, there is America after; in fact, America produced more leaders after Septem-

the burial of Ojukwu, civil war is over and Governor Peter Obi said “ with the state burial given to Ojukwu, conclusively, civil war has been buried; nobody should exhume it again”. I want to leave Achebe on this note but my only counseling is the reaction of our people, the reactions became intolerant. I think we should explain to Chinua Achebe because he has also said it in that book and I think you can’t really engage that book because he said the war still resumes but I think the

war is over; we shouldn’t be agonizing about the past. What he needs to do instead of agonizing is to organize his thought for reconstruction and rebuilding of Nigeria. I think Nigeria has the best post-civil war recovery in the world. Today, if it’s not because we are digging up the past in the wrong way, if you ask an average Nigerian born outside the civil war, they never knew we had war before. Igbo are back, the Yoruba are back, from abandoned properties. I think the problem of Nigeria which Chinua Achebe said before is leadership that is parochial instead of thinking global. But how can a global writer just speak of Biafra at this hour?

Global Thought When he wrote “Things Fall Apart”, it showed that his thought was global and that is the bane of Africa, everyone starts to return to the village. I want to say for Nigeria, there used to be part of forthright tales in the 70s, we liberated South Africa, we liberated Angola, then literary writer from Nigeria must be global in his thinking.

The new war we need in Nigeria is war against under-development, war against power failure, war against hunger. There is no country that doesn’t have its past. America went to civil war but there is no writer that will make a meaning that America experienced civil war. No writer can sell in America because you are writing about slavery, they have moved on, an African has become the president of America. I think we need to move on. On the last note, I think we need to be encouraged that he recommended Nelson Mandela’s leadership, but even that one is academic. If it is found out, Nigeria produced Nelson Mandela, we liberated South Africa, it’s our struggle, Mandela said so that when he needed money to start the struggle, Nigerians gave him.

Mischievous Title Let Chinua Achebe leave us and watch his thought. Mandela was not digging the past, he said there can’t be a future without forgiveness. Today he has built a rainbow in his coun-

Continues on page 20

PAGE 20— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

‘We need more affirmative commitment to governance’ saying in summary is that the development agenda that Nigeria needs today is that we need more money and we can do so only with higher benchmarking.

Continued from page 19 try in which even the whites are now more depressed to say Mandela should not live longer. Chinua Achebe must also follow Mandela’s line; you can’t be saying you are recommending Mandela when your literary thinking is that of Malema, a youth who is raising up literary xenophobia and was kicked out of the ANC youth wing recently. Regardless of their shortcomings, we are proud of the founding fathers of Nigeria. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a hero in his own right, he died a patron, he was a regional prime minister but he ended up as somebody who wanted to become the president of Nigeria, not as a village leader. Ojukwu, in his own right, said he (Awolowo) was the best president Nigeria never had, so who is he (Chinua Achebe) talking for? So, we can’t go back to the war. “There was a country” was a very mischievous title, there is Nigeria and there will still be Nigeria.

What is your take on the raging controversy between the Federal Government and the National Assembly over the benchmark for crude oil in the 2013 budget?

We should be talking of the developmental objectives that 2013 budget aims to realize. I think we should be able to put the horse before the cart. I think the cart in this case is that ‘what do we want to achieve with 3.9 or 4. something trillion naira budget in the year?’. From my point of view and point of objectivity of labour, I think the critical developmental ends in this matter are very minimal. We have voted so much money for physical security, I say so much money because close to 1 trillion naira was voted for physical security last year. But we have always been saying this, in labour, that physical security that is not complemented with economic and social security cannot be sustainable security. So, beyond the physical security, I think we need electricity or power supply. And now we have environmental challenges occasioned by climate changes, we call it flooding which has to do with lack of proper management of the environment. Now, these physical challenges can be addressed by massive job creation, reviving of industries, and we need current intervention. Now if we start from this level, then you ask yourself, what should now be the benchmark to drive the agenda? I said the need for benchmark is divisionary because the position of the Federal Government, as articulated by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has not been driven by development agenda. She is rather comparing, talking about other OPEC countries, namely, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iran who benchmarked their oil money because they ran for other things. But those countries are not facing the same challenges facing Nigeria. As I am talking to you, Saudi doesn’t have uninterrupt-

Comrade Aremu....I think we need more affirmative commitment to governance ed power supply, it has no problem of drainages, the roads are clear.

Grounded Cars Here in the forest, cars are grounded in the pathway which we call road.

We couldn’t even cross the River Niger and somebody is talking of benchmarking, it doesn’t make sense. I think we should be driven by development agenda. And if we say development agenda, we need more resources both at the federal and state levels, so you can’t have a low benchmark. I think those who are pushing for 80 dollar benchmark are more rational because the developmental agenda we have is

Does the money reach there? What was the benchmark last year? How much releases have been done this year?

Again, we also have the debate in the National Assembly and I support the Reps who say you don’t spend for next year when you have not shown us what you spent in 2012. So, it’s commendable that the president has moved very fast to submit the 2013 budget this year but he must also show that the one they gave him last year, he has finished spending them; otherwise, we have crowded expenditure where people are grounded. So, what, I am trying to say in summary is that at the end of the day, the National Assembly seems

The members of the public are yet to enjoy the palliative measures announced by Federal Government after the last nationwide strike as a result of the withdrawal of fuel subsidy.

No, I think the SURE-P programme is ill-managed; the intervention fund is not well managed. The vehicles that the Federal Government gave to National Union of Road Transport Workers have all broken down. I think what we need is holistic transport policy, it cannot just be called palliatives; palliatives are meant for refugees, we are citizens, and citizens need corporate multi-modal mix up agenda. Government is organizing governance fund, it’s the citizens who must do the talking now; you can’t talk what you said you are doing; otherwise, it becomes pure propaganda, because if it’s done, we see it. It’s what is not enough and visible that people have to celebrate; if it is visible, we see it but what Nigerians see today is mis-governance. We see people in road transport from Kaduna and Ilorin that will take three and a half, four hours, people do take it in 18 hours. People also see that even to travel by air now, it’s a luxury. The flight that is supposed to leave by 10am does not leave until around 3pm, yet the price is not cheaper. So, what people see is different from what we have been shown on television, we don’t need those dramas because when we see, Nigerians will know.

What is your comment on the 2013 budget as a whole as announced by President Goodluck Jonathan?

I think we need more affirmative commitment to governance and we can see the debate going on in the U.S. about employment and job creation. The intervention of Obama alone has saved General Motors, we are talking of 1.5 billion dollars.

That is America that has already gotten to the top, we are talking of we who are still on the ground. I think the lottery approach of the Federal Government to unemployment must give way to massive affirmative commitment and the Federal Government must learn from the debate about some states who have taken bold action, what I call emergency action, commendable action to solve the problem through public works. On the environment alone, Federal Government can create millions of jobs, we need people to clear the environment, to clear the high ways, to create camps for victims and help them. Some states have created 20,000 jobs, 10,000 jobs and yet, in the 2013 budget, our president is talking of one yam processor, who can just employ 10 more workers, two entrepreneur skills.

I think we cannot have a lottery approach to creation of employment.

In fact, we need to benchmark more than 80 to possibly 90 because we need this developmental agenda as, in the long run, we are dead; in the stone throw, we must survive 80. In fact, we need to benchmark more than 80 to possibly 90 because we need this developmental agenda as, in the long run, we are dead; in the stone throw, we must survive.

So I think the finance minister is being academic and Nigeria is not a classroom. We are talking of people who are grounded; you are not going to clear the Niger, open up the waterways with peanut; you need money to do the dredging, you need money to clear the bridges, you need money to finish the express way; Lokoja-Abuja road, you need money to open up Kaduna-Ilorin road, of course you need more money to even have uninterrupted power supply.

85 Dollars Benchmark So I think we should be moral rather than being academic to meet our needs. The last of the challenges is that whether it is benchmarked at 80 or 85, you must also tell us the base level.

What is the quality of the spending?

to be right because they feel the pulse of the people to say the development agenda that we have today with more resources, nobody should tell us to keep money when people are dying at flood camps. Who are you saving for?

Dead people? You can see the killings in Port Harcourt, you cannot handle that with poorly funded police.

You must have resources for the police and you can’t do so by low benchmarking. So, for me, to choose between an unelected prime minister whether coordinating or not, who does unequivocal analysis with our demand and those who are elected, who feel the pulse of the people, I think we must go for those who are elected. So, I think the debate is academic, divisionary, what we want is developmental agenda and developmental agenda should come with enough resources because we need more resources especially at the state level. In any case, we are running a federation, so more resources must go to states. What I am

SUNDAY Vanguard , NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 21

Making sex a dirty grope in the dark!

THE average man thinks he’s great in bed, doesn’t he? Only a few days ago, while chatting to some young lively and adventurous women, one of them complained that, “some men’s between the sheets activities could be quite frustrating. It’s not that they lack enthusiasm, the problem is their technique - they scarcely have any. Foreplay is clumsy and hurried. And as for the sex, it’s all wham, baM, was that it?”

It was by a stroke of luck that I recently got hold of How To Be A Great Lover

by Lou Pajet and this week, I intend to share his “Key to fabulous sex,” which he agrees is foreplay. This might turn a fumbling lover into a sex machine! Take kissing for instance. A common mistake men make, according to Lou, is thinking that the things they enjoy will be pleasurable for their partners too. “The man - who doesn’t like a tongue in his ear is rare”.

Lou observes. “But the woman who does like it is rare still. For most women, the ‘melt zone’ is the neck. They go ga ... ga when kissed there.” If you have other melt zones, let your lover be aware of this. Ask for his too!!

Sex toys. “The job of a sex toy is to enhance, not

take over,” Lou explained. “Even if you’ve not used toys before, they can add sparks to your sex life.’ But what if your man feels threatened by the ‘stiff ’ competition?

“Men should think of a vibrator as being like the TV remote control - They can take charge if you want them to”, said Lou. Luckily, sex toys now abound in novelty stores all over the place - make the most of them!

Finding the G-spot (No, G-spot is not a type of acne cream!) The GSpot is located inside the vaginal entrance, above the pubic bone in the front wall,” Lou stated. “If he imagines your vagina entrance as a clock, the G-spot is typically at 12 noon. In order to ‘hit the spot’, the man should use his middle finger in a circular motion. Another tip is for him to press gently on top of the vagina with his other hand. This will increase a woman’s pleasure.” Lou pointed out that it is not just men who need to rethink their technique... Women should be willing to expand their bedroom skills too by first learning how to stimulate their men by hand. “It’s an easy skill to master,” he insisted.

“For practice, a man needs to raise his two

middle fingers in the air.

Then his partner should grasp the base of his fingers, with her thumb facing down. Next, she has to move her hand up, twisting as if opening a jar, then back down again. Another tip is for a woman to wrap a beadnecklace round her hand or her partner ’s penis before beginning manual stimulation. He will love the different texture.

Lou’s top tips for couples: Kiss each other all over. So that your partner knew exactly how much suction or pressure you prefer on a specific area, demonstrate on their finger or tongue.

Get filthy with food. Buy your partner ’s favourite food

and then serve it somewhere you wouldn’t normally - if you get his drift! List three areas of your body you want attended to most. Don’t make your partner guess what turns you on. Tell them where and how you want to be touched. Buy a sex book and highlight your preferences. Use pink highlights for you, blue for him. Then throw down the book on the bed. Do what it says on the first page that falls open!

Lou’s top five bedroom tips for him: Make sure you’re clean - and shave!

Beard stubble feels like sandpaper. Don’t pinch her nipples.

Most women simply don’t like it. When a woman says

08052201867(Text Only)

Yoga and Sports

I

was watching televi sion one evening, the programme was a sports one, there was a coach and his athletes and he had been taking them through some exercises.

At one point in time the sportsmen had to sit down and touch their toes with their finger tips.

There must have been about fifteen men, hefty, in the region of 2001bs and a bit over. None of these men was capable of executing the exercise.

And I thought, “these are people who make a living from sports - applying their bodies! What unfit bodies they had.

The thought crossed my mind, “these men would have to shape up well and truly well to make the team if I were the coach”. Their stiffness made a mockery of the men as professionals.

Their size and musculature meant they had the power for their game

but their lack of flexibility also spelt that they became susceptible to pulls, tears and strains.

Now, I think the idea of an athlete training for his event or game by exercising set muscles to the neglect of others must be looked into by both trainer and athletes.

Take running for instance. The long distance runner has stronger, shorter, hamstrings (rear thigh muscles) and on that account tends to pull his weaker quadriceps (from thigh muscles), To explode out of the blocks the sprinter who employs his quadriceps has weaker hamstrings and “the back of his thigh is where he grabs when he gets that tearing sensation midway in the 100 yard dash”.

The physiotherapist Joseph Zohar states, “the balanced conditioning of individual muscle

groups not only protects the body against injury but also improves its performance to unprecedented levels.

Dr. George Sheehan who is also a distance runner warns that “structural imbalance of even minor degrees can result n incapacitating injuries and persistent disability.

He continues: “prevention and treatment of muscular skeletal problems in the athlete rests on the establishment of

*Spread Eagle

structural balance and architectural integrity of the body and its re-establishment should injury occur”. Sheehan believes “there is very little place in the treatment of these diseases for injections, medications and manipulations”. Treatment rests almost completely on the following: * Biomechanical treatment of the foot. This means providing a foot support or othortic which keeps the foot in proper

‘that’s it’, she means just that. She doesn’t mean do it harder. Follow her lead. Women often touch where they want to be touched. The pressure she uses indicates how firm or light she’d like your touch to be. Slow it down. Teasing is very sexy.

Bedroom tips for her: Don’t go to the action spot first, make him wait!

Men are visual creatures. Consider asking him if he’d like to watch you. Suck on a mint before pleasuring him. It provides a tingling sensation many men love.

Most men like to be touched more firmly than women. Try scratching in a wavy motion down the inside of his arms, thighs balance. Ordinarily this entails the preservation of the neutral position of the foot. What we do is bring up the ground to meet the foot thus preventing it from flattening or coming over on the inside, (prompting). * Flexibility and strengthening of the muscles ordinary training involves the continual repetition of one motion and the use of one main axis of muscles.

This results in two unwanted effects (a) shortening and less of flexibility in the exercised muscle, the prime mover and (b) weakness in the antagonist which opposes it. Additional exercises are needed to prevent this”.

Dr. Sheehan also states that “when faced with an injury not due to a fall or collusion the runner must assume that he is out of the structural balance.

No medication is going to restore that balance.

He must get down to basics, diagnose where he is out of line and correct it. He will get temporary relief with whatever the doctor recommends, i.e. rest, cortisone shots or whatever. But as soon as

or neck. Obviously, be more gentle with his genitals. Trim his pubic hair as part of your foreplay.”

I decided to share Lou’s recommendations with you readers based on most of the feedbacks I always get. It is unbelievable the amount of ignorance readers exhibit on sex. Sex is a natural part of a relationship - not a dirty grope that has to be done in the dark! “I was a bit put out to be described as dull in the sack,” confessed Jerome before I gave him a copy of the tips. “I always thought I was a pretty good lover. But now I realize what a lot I have to learn, especially about foreplay. With a little more practice, I might just be the stud my girl fantasises about!”

Tips given here are just guide-lines. What you do in the privacy of your room with your loved ones should be from the heart and you should never be ashamed of the body God gave you. You can’t change the structure of your body but you can improve on it enough to be confident in the bedroom. No one is too old to learn of the heights of ecstasy the right technique can take you!

he resumes running he will quickly get into trouble again”.

Below are some of the most frequent running ailments and proposed treatment as found in Sheehan’s book. On running: * Achiles tendenitis: cause - short Achiles, gastroe, hamstring axis; unstable heel; inverted heel; weak arch; excessive use of toe flexors.

Treatment - stretching of achilles heel lifts, arch supports, anterior crests. * Numbness of the feet (distance runner ’s newropathy) cause - sciatic revenue pressure.

Treatment - stretching of hamstrings along with abdominal sit ups (bent legs) and isometric tummy backing. *Other sciatic syndromes, pain in the thigh and buttock cause right hamstrings, weak abdominal treatment use flexibility and strengthening exercise, use a sacrogard belt.

The answer to this lack of flexibility Dr. Sheehan says, “is yoga in which the stretching is smooth, gentle and achieved over a period of time”.

Yoga classes at 32 Ademola Adetokunbo Victoria Island, Lagos, 9.10am on Saturdays

PAGE 22 —SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

As you come crashing down the ladder of success

D

EGESHIN’S story was widely circulated in the 80s. Born with the proverbial silver spoon (more like a goldencrusted one) in his mouth, he had everything - thanks to doting parents who gave him generous allowance. As a student in Britain, he was responsible for really wild parties. You know what they say about a fool and his money being responsible for the greatest parties?

Unfortunately, he didn’t show the same passion towards his studies as he showed to his social life and was soon thrown out of college. His disappointed parents pulled tight their purse strings and the number of his friends dwindled. The last time I saw him, he was trying to cage some money from a group of friends who had this sardonic look on their faces. You could have knocked me down with feather when I saw him a few weeks back, rose-cheeked and donning an expensive native gear. He looked really well heeled. “ls that really you?” I asked, peering at him as if he were the eighth wonder of the world. Talk about a come-back kid and he definitely was one. What happened to transform him from an area boyIook alike to the suave man before me.?

When he asked if I had time for a quick lunch, I grabbed at the chance. I was dying to know how he worked the miracle of clawing his way from the hole drugs had flung him, to this semblance of a successful businessman.

“My suffering came to an end by two miracles,” he told me as he tucked with ,relish into the elaborate meal he ordered. “I met my current wife who was studying

law and who, in spite of my being charged to court for drugs possession, stood by me and got me a barrister who volunteered to represent me without a fee. A second rock bottom experience happened a few months after. I was in the rented hovel I could afford, courtesy of the little money my mum smuggled to me from time to time without dad’s knowledge, when my girlfriend phoned - she could make it for the weekend after all. I was down on my luck and really skint.

“I urgently needed to buy extra food for the weekend, so I asked a friend, (one of the very few that stood by me) if he could help me out with a temporary loan.

He lent me thirty pounds sterling and asked if I knew that, every Friday night from 10pm, some supermarkets sold off, at half price or less, all the perishable food that had reached its sell-by-date.

This was good news to me - I’d been used to having my grocery delivered!

“I hurried to a supermarket near me and seized the opportunity.

As I carried home bags of bargain sausages, eggs, bacon, hamburgers and lamb chops, I thought of all those breakfasts at the cute cafes and expensive lunches I used to have in my affluent days and on which I nonchalantly threw in my credit card.

It was a sobering experience for me. My girlfriend, bless her, brought a lot of goodies too; along with forms for me to fill to go back to school. After I started school, my dad relented and sent me money, but I still spent most weekends happily going all the way to the sell-by-date supermarket sales. It was kind of fun discovering how ‘the

other half ’ managed to make it on a shoe string..

My finances eventually improved. Learning to live on rock-bottom finances with a girlfriend at didn’t up and run, gave me my confidence back. I made up my mind to live the rest of my life with her.

“Don’t get me wrong though, it wasn’t an easy feat to climb out of the depths. But a strong human spirit will always reassert itself. It feels marvellous that I am now blessed with a wife successful in her own right, three lovely children and professional fulfilment. I attribute this to my three FS; faith, family and friends. My dad passed on a few years ago, and I was happy that he lived long enough for me to metamorphose into the successful but contented man I now am. Since being saved from the jaws of self-destruction.

I’ve never touched a drop of alcohol, I don’t want to go back to where I was almost destroyed ... “ Degeshin’s ordeal brought to mind an encounter with a bank director that was incarcerated for massive fraud some years back. “I went through the public agonies of defeat, disgrace and jail,” He said sadly to a small group of friends.

“As if that wasn’t enough pain, I went through ago-

nising private experiences that included nights of insomnia, bouts of depression, moods of despair and periods of loneliness.

“I discovered that ‘friends’ is one of the most loosely used words in the English Language.

Most of us are fortunate if we can count our close friends on the fingers of both hands more likely, on one hand. We have wider circles of acquaintance but the majority disappear ’ when the bullets start to fly. Yet, my experience was wonderful. Every one of my real friends stood by me. In fact, their support was far stronger than I had any right to expect. Thanks to their support, my children completed their education, my family frequently visited me in prison until I was released when least expected. One or two girlfriends for whom I approved unsecured loans proved dependable whilst a lot of the gold diggers I helped went on to greener pastures.

“It was a bit saddening to discover that some of the most judgemental journalistic voices had once been my guests in the days when I owned a hospitable house on Victoria

Chris Onunaku dekris4real@gmail.com 08032988826/08184844015.

My love

Y

OUR column to express your loving thoughts in words to your sweetheart. Don’t be shy. Let it flow and let him or her know how dearly you feel.

Write now in not more than 75 words to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, P.M.B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E.mail: sunlovenotes@yahoo.com Please mark your envelope: “LOVE NOTES"

Pain in love

A mighty pain to love is a pain of missing someone so dear to you; but of all the pains, the greatest pain is to love, but love in vain.

.

O Blessing, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. For I am weak; o my love, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled; but you O Blessing – how long? I am weary with groaning all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eyes wastes away because of grief: it grows old because of tears. Hear me, my love, lest my tears runs like Nigeria rivers…………. I love you……

Emma Mine mine4christ@gmail.com 07051037749

Island. Yet, however, unfair the media poison may be, I’ve long learnt that turning the other cheek is the wisest approach. Fighting back is too risky if you have any sort of Achilles heels.

The best defence when the knives are out is to take heart and be of good courage, it may not feel like it now, but the gift of grace can still be yours.”

In spite of the fact that a fall from grace could be a devastating experience, it has been responsible for the juiciest of gossip. It’s catastrophic if it happens to you, but when it happens to someone else, it can be an interesting and enjoyable sport, the endless articles and TV programmes about high profile politicians and governors who have lost their eminence and, in many cases, their illgotten wealth, keep you glued to your source of information all of the time.

Insomnia Needs Not Be A Problem You twist and turn every night, trying to get to sleep. Nothing seems to work - and you get more and more stressed. You snap at the kids, snarl at your partner and you can barely get through the day. It is estimated that a lot of the population is prone to insomnia, with women more likely to suffer than men.

All sorts of factors can affect our sleep - medical conditions like sleep apnea, lifestyle issues such as poor diet, or the stress of bereavement, divorce or losing your job. But if insomnia is ruining your life, remember that your family may be suffering too.

“However supportive your partner may be, seeing someone at your worst for much of the time is hardly a recipe for a happy domestic life”, says Lynda Brown, au-

thor of the Insomniac’s Best Friend: How to Get a Better Night’s Sleep.

And if you are an insomniac with kids, normal family life might seem impossible at times. How many insomniac mothers chide themselves for being irritable with their children?

Advise about when you eat, what you eat, how you relax, and what you do and don’t do in the evening, all becomes more complicated when there are two or more to consider. But working out how your insomnia impacts on the people you love is just as important as tackling the problem itself ”.

Lynda’s tips will make your days more bearable and hopefully good nights will follow. If you are an insomniac: Remember that your partner needs support too. Show your appreciation whenever you can. Don’t let insomnia rule both ef your lives. Try to be more relaxed.

“Be nice to yourself and you’ll be nicer to be with.

Don’t blame yourself for not sleeping. Tossing and turning, it is usually more disruptive to partners than reading in bed or getting up. Train yourself to lie very still or go into the spare room. Failing that, head for the sofa. Sleeping in separate rooms can be a very touchy issue. Your partner may feel abandoned and you may feel guilty.

But if your sleeplessness is getting both of you down, separate rooms may save your relationship.

If your partner is an insomniac: Don’t tell them they had more sleep last night than they realise. It doesn’t help - an insomniac’s reality is the amount they think they ’ve slept. Understand that when they have a go at you, it’s not really aimed at you.

Delta State

My Lady

I've missed you. Understand that you are a light.

You are designed in a unique way, that is why you are so different from everybody else. Love glitters in your eyes, love whispers at the sound of your name, love scents from your voice, love emerges from your stature. You are a lady of great beauty, a pride to Nigeria. Always know that I cherish you more than every other person. Kiss!

Omorville Umoru omorville@gmail.com, 08062486549 08185515552

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 23

Alison-Madueke’s self-delusion of innocence — 1

Bitter Pill “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

Those who profess to favour freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without ploughing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”- Frederick Douglass HE knives are out as Lagosians can not reach a consensus if, the esteemed Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola is combative, obstructive, indignant or all of the above,about curbing the activities of Okada riders on the streets of Lagos.

Conspiratory theorists are on overdrive,as they argue vociferously, when they attempt to give meaning to what they

T

do not understand .Some are of the view that the governor is scoring a own goal for his party and that since he is leaving, come 2015,that he really does not care .

The other camp tends to agree with Fashola’s move. They see it as pragmatic,objective and progressive for the long term development of Lagos State.

Here’s my disclaimer: to the sceptics, no, I have no political aspirations in Lagos or Nigeria for that matter and have no vested interest in any politician or political party but I support the gove r n o r ’s stance.

Yes,things are hard and unbearable for many Lagosians. It is true the wheel of progress is slow and arduous and we,as

lies – the first about self and, the second, about those who refuse to succumb to the first. Since I am one of the Minister’s critics in the media, let me expose the lie about many of us who remain her critics. When she announced that “we have put policies in place where they can no longer cheat the government”, I know she is lying. Unlike her, I have never been involved in the oil sector in

Ribadu as an established whistle blower should have known he was in the wrong place and risking disgrace – if not something worse. He might eventually lose his retirement entitlements

,

any form. She on the other hand had worked for one of the most indicted oil companies in the world. So how can the socalled policies hurt me?

But, like most people imbued with delusion of innocence, she had convinced herself that she is the innocent party being unfairly victimized. Truth is, she was the Minister who told the Federal Executive Committee, FEC, that there was N1.3 tril-

name withheld for obvious reasons (these are vicious people), followed one shipment from Nigeria to its destination abroad and discovered a difference of about 25%; more crude was delivered to the customer than was declared loaded in Nigeria. That was not the exception; it was the rule when Mrs Diezani worked for one of the oil companies. And she knows it.

people, are not used to dealing with long term goals and we are more agreeable with instant results, fleeting promises that fail to materialise.

This is a matter of principle over politics.I believe that Fashola is a principled man and he wants to do the best for Lagos even if it is to the incandescence of his party grandees. Now, that is a man of value, history will show that Fashola has the best intentions for Lagos and its people. Lagos deserves better and the people should strive to look further than the life of one adminis-

erly. Deaths and serious injuries by Okada is quite high and the hospital beds are littered with victims of this mode of transport. And yes, it is the favoured means of snatch and grab robbers, or criminals evading capture and the list goes on.

Fashola reeled out statistics to illustrate the alarming rise in accident rates, resulting in injuries and deaths, from the unrestricted operations of commercial motorcyclists, it is quite shocking.

I have heard of the arguments; that Okada riders are serving the needs of the community and its

,

“God”. Even here in Nigeria, as a young man, I recollect that “Jesus of Oyingbo” started his ministry at Denton Street, Ebute Meta, Lagos Mainland. Delusions don’t come bigger than that.

They come in different variants – delusions of grandeur (e.g the Giant of Africa), delusions of invincibility (e.g Falcons will beat everybody silly), etc, etc. One type is delusion of innocence.

Football lovers witness this in every match played. A player who had just hacked down an opponent and is about to be given a card throws his arms up as if wrongly accused by the referee.

Ministers and other public figures, especially in Nigeria do it all the time.

Since somebody died of “tummy tuck” abroad, no wife of an incumbent governor now goes abroad for medical attention.

They go to rest. And, when they return, a bevy of government appointed ladies will receive them at the airport thanking God for “Your safe return, Your Excellency”.

So, when I read that pronouncement by Mrs Alison-Madueke, it was clear we are witnessing another case of self-delusion of innocence. It invariably starts with two

,

“Those fighting the government in the media are doing so because we have been able to frustrate their efforts in strangulating the economy through their devilish black market and questionable profiteering at the expense of the Nigerian people…What is hurting them is that we have put policies in place where they can no longer cheat the government and cause untold hardship to millions of Nigerians”, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources, in PUNCH, Friday, November 9, 2012, p 13.

Back in 1968, as freshman in an American private university, I was encouraged by my academic adviser to take an elective course titled Psychology 1a. It was one of the greatest favours anyone ever did me. On my own, I later enrolled for Psychology 1b in the second semester. From psychology one invariably learns about various human attributes; especially about mental processes. Later, as a parttime worker, during the s u m m e r, a t B e l l e v i e w Hospital, New York City, I worked briefly in the psycho ward. There, I found nothing less than twenty men claiming to be

lion subsidy to be removed; when there was actually over N1.3 trillion fraud to be recovered.

Thus, her self-proclaimed role of the protector of the Nigerian masses is false. She is the arch enemy. And she had been one of the oppressors since she worked for one of the International Oil Companies; she was there when the atrocities against the people of Ogoni in particular and Nigerians in general were being perpetrated. I challenge her to deny that charge.

Cheating was a game invented by the IOCs; and she knows it. Loading more crude than is declared to the Nigerian authorities is as old as when the first shipment left Oloibiri. It probably continues till today. One truly patriotic Nigerian,

People of Lagos be patient, we will get a better state that will be a standard bearer for the rest of the country

tration.

The facts are there for all to see; Lagos has had many years of stagnation structurally, developmentally, so it takes a lot of hard work and courage to get the state working again and prop-

,

people, those that cannot afford to pay high fares, that the Okada riders were betrayed by Fashola as they supported his re-election and political aspirations, so, he owes them! And the riders also, if their threats

So, we have heard the Minister, but we are not convinced. In fact, she can go and tell those fairy tales to the marines.

NUHU RIBADU: SOME PEOPLE JUST NEVER LEARN – 2

“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies”, Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900.

Or for that matter in his choice of friends and associates. When Nuhu Ribadu accepted to serve on Mrs Alison-Madueke’s committee, he most certainly did so with different objectives in mind than those of the people who appointed him. According to the newspaper on Saturday, November I0, 2012, a presidential source was reported to have said, “The President had thought that Ribadu needed to be rehabilitated and that he was going to do away with his rascality”. That was the first cynical view of Ribadu’s selection by his new employers.

The source went further. “Don’t forget that he had no job at that time.

The government had just commuted his dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force to retirement and we all know he had not been paid his entitlements. The little money he had, he had wasted on his presidential campaign”. So, there you have it. Government had offered Ribadu a bribe covertly and he was expected to engage in cover up.

In the first part of this series, I had made the following observation, “At NNPC and Ministry of Peare to be believed, that if the riders are not allowed to ply the roads,they may resort to thieving!

So they want to hold the people to ransom then?

No one owes anyone anything. When will we learn that we cannot sell our votes or loyalty for favours? Can we see the real issue here: We need safe and regulated mode of transport and what happens to Okada riders out of work? Fashola has admitted that it will be hard and that Lagosians should endure the inconveniences accompanying the implementation of the traffic law, especially the restriction of Okada riders. Fashola said,“There will be no gain without pain.You should be ready to sacrifice if you want reward". He said the difficulties currently being experienced by commuters in the state were characteristics of the introductory stage of every l i f e - c h a n g i n g policy.That's true.

He added that the law would be of benefit to residents on the longrun. And “The road traffic law is meant to keep you safe and alive. Oka-

troleum, everybody invited to “come and eat” is expected to come to the table, not with a spoon, but with a shovel. It is an establishment for gluttons not for whistle blowers”. Ribadu as an established whistle blower should have known he was in the wrong place and risking disgrace – if not something worse. He might eventually lose his retirement entitlements.

Meanwhile Oronsaye’s ambush of Ribadu is easily understood. Fact is, it is impossible to rise to the top of the Nigerian Civil Service if, by your ethical conduct, you are eligible to be anointed a Cardinal or Chief Imam.

New public servants start by burying their sense of integrity in a hole. Promotions to higher levels call for deeper holes. By the time they reach the top, honour had disappeared from sight. No top civil servant will fail to exchange their designer apparels for prison-designed uniforms if all their criminal escapades were revealed. Ribadu should have expected the attack from those quarters. These are experienced warriors or saboteurs.

More to the point, Ribadu was naïve to imagine that the Federal government need a honest report; which will be fully implemented. All they needed was a cover up or a collaborator. He was even more self-deluded to think he was receiving free food. He forgot that the only “free food” is found on mouse-traps.

da will not be our transportation model in this state. Our state will not be a dumping ground for motorcycles".

He remonstrated with Lagosians “What we want from residents is some sacrifice. When we were building BRT corridors a few years ago, people complained; but now the BRT has been accepted by everybody".

You see, the governor has a point and he seems reasonable, when he said that the state would continue to explore ways to improve its transportation sector and tackle present challenges.

The plan is well planned and that the completion of the state’s light rail project would also boost the transport system. That is a man of honour, a leader, who despite, taking an unpopular move and stands by it, that is no mean feat. People of Lagos be patient, we will get a better state that will be a standard bearer for the rest of the country.

PAGE 24—SUNDAY VANGUARD , NOVEMBER 18, 2012

She’s so rude and disobedient!

Dear Rebecca

I

am a 30 year old worker. My lady is 19. We were boyfriend/girlfriend until I put her in the family way.

Since she was living with her sister at the time, the sister wanted the pregnancy terminated. I refused because of its advanced stage (about four months). When the sister asked me to marry her then, I didn’t refuse. A few days later, they left for their home town and returned after about two weeks.

On their return, my girlfriend came to stay with me and I lectured her on how we could live in peace and harmony. Going by our present situation today, all those talks were just a waste of time, because this girl insists on having her own way all the time. She’s been living with me for over a year now, and the baby has arrived, and we’re all living together.

But I’ve not known the joy of a happy home since they came into my life because the girl and I are always quarrelling. I have used both modern and ancient methods to tame her, but all to no avail . She neither respects my relatives nor carries out my instructions. I’ve warned her to desist from associating with spinsters; all I get in return are terrible rains of abuses.

Please I need urgent advise soon because I’m so confused.

The question is, do I forget her? If yes, tell me what to do. If no give reasons and also tell me how to go about it because I’m fed -up Mathew Lagos REPL Y REPLY

I

’M sorry, the tone of your mail is so abrupt and bullish that I immediately began to sympathize with the young lady who has to live with you. Deep down you may be a nice person but the way you have put your story and the role you have played, do not show that you are patient, loving and understanding with a much younger companion.

There is a little bit of selfishness too as you merely see things from your own angle. Many people are like that.

I advise that you pipe

down and put yourself in this girl’s shoes. She is only 19 and perhaps yet untrained for any profession.

Despite your own mature age and experience, you didn’t use the condom while making love to her, and afterwards, you didn’t monitor her menstrual periods in order to know whether the act had led to pregnancy or not. This was brought to your notice when the pregnancy was four months old. I support your refusal to have it terminated because, male or female, we don’t know how many children we’re destined to have from God; and that pregnancy that one terminates may be the only one programmed into the person’s life, who knows.

You said you didn’t refuse when the girl’s sister urged you to marry her, but you didn’t state whether you did or not.

You didn’t refer to her as your wife, but as your ‘lady’. You do not mind the girl living with ,but you have taken no step to marry her and make her and your child feel secure in the relationship.

What’s her status in your life? The way things appear, she’s like a servant in your house. You bark out orders and expect her to spring to attention and obey at once, because you feel she should be an obedient servant to you and your people. What’s her offence? She was silly enough to allow you have sex with her. It was noble of you not to deny responsibility for the pregnancy, but if she was good enough for you to have sex with, she should be good enough to be your wife.

Very few woman would love you and be respectful to you in this sort of situation. They would see you as a bully and a wifebatterer, and this will make them lose all respect for you, as they rain abuses on you from a safe distance. A self-respecting man does not beat up a woman, nor engage in violent arguments.

He walks away and immediately the woman becomes remorseful as she doesn’t know what’s on his mind . Search your heart. If you want this lady as a wife, sit her down and tell her what you don’t like in her behavior. Ask her too what she doesn’t like in you. Be patient, listen carefully and then both of you should decide on steps that will bring harmony into the home. You

should both make an effort. Speak to her kindly; she’s the mother of your child. That’s important. Your blood and hers are in that child, so you should treat her well, and both of you should ensure a peaceful atmosphere for bringing up the

child, so that he/she can become a well-adjusted adult. Constant quarrels and beatings in the home may make her embrace violence from an early age. Instill discipline into the home in a firm but kind way. No-one from outside can come do this

for you. Your show of fondness may draw out better behaviour from the lady. Ask her what vocation she would like to embrace - hairdressing, tailoring, catering, buying and selling, etc. See that she’s equipped for an independent financial

status, even if you decide not to marry her. D o what’s best for your child, but don’t marry her out of pity.

A girl of 19, married or not, with no job or trade to occupy her time, will normally have plenty of time for her mates; many of whom may not yet be married. Please let her and the sister know right away that you won’t marry her, if that’s your d e c i s i o n .

If you marry her, please remember that she’s your wife, not a house-maid, and your people should see her as such, and give her the respect due to your wife. She too should give both of you respect by being courteous, respectful and kind to your people, just as you would be to her own people.

She wants both of us!

Dear Rebecca

I

AM 23years old boy and a third year undergraduate. A year ago I met a girl aged 19 who had just gained admission into the university. Everything went well. It was so pleasant and solid, we were dubbed by friends as ‘the best couple on campus’. Things were alright until some months ago when he had a big quarrel over the other girls I was seeing.

I didn’t mean to hurt her, I just wanted to mix a little. Friends intervened and we started again but this time she became a bit withdrawn.

So to prove to her that I really love, I stopped seeing the other girls. I succeeded in winning back her confidence.

To my surprise, she has been going out with another boy whom I’ve seen her with. I had thought he was one of her admirers, but I later found out that the relationship was really serious. I confronted her with with it but she de-

nied. I kept my cool and quietly told her to stop seeing the boy. She later told me that she can’t. A week later I asked her what she had with the guy. She then came out and told me that she is in love with both of us and that she loves each of us in our own peculiar ways . She claimed she didn’t want to lose any of us. She started crying and saying she was confused. She looked it, though.

I felt I was going to lose my mind. It hurts and I’ve been avoiding her like the plague because seeing her brings back too many happy memories and it depresses me.

I know we’re both too young to make definite commitments like marriage. I’m not saying she shouldn’t mix with the opposite sex. Infact I would like a bit of competition, but for her to really get serious with another guy is something else.

Please your always well thought-out advice will help.

Mike, Osun State.

REPL Y REPLY

Y

OU are certainly a warm hearted and romantic person, and your girl sounds a steady sort of person who does not roam about. You are right in saying that you are both

too young for a committed relationship, so, try not to get upset about her relationship with another boy. She’s only just got into an institution where she can behave like an adult and is ex-

pected to behave as one, but deep down she is still struggling to become an adult who knows her own mind.

She is not ready for marriage yet, and what’s more, she has not studied boys well and long enough to know to know the type she considers ideal for her. Thus the confusion. This is normal.

Your desire to mix a bit and have other girl friends is sensible. You say you are upset because she appears to be getting serious with the other boy. I think it is better for the reputation of a girl if she engages in steady relationships even for a while, than if she is a flirt. Deep down, even though you said you would welcome some competition, you resent sharing this girl with another guy. This is a matter of pride, and it’s normal, especially with men. They want faithfulness from their women but would like to flirt to their heart’s content, whether married or single. Also, you may have been worried that you would be mocked by other students that you have a rival. Don’t dwell on this sort of campus gossip.

What I advise is that you relax and keep up the

relationship with this girl if you like . Quit asking her about the other guy or any other man dating her. Enjoy her company and and concentrate on your studies. Without any bias, encourage her to do the same too, and don’t allow yourself to be made jealous by campus cynics. Your studies are far more important to you right now, than a relationship with girls. You need good grades when you complete your studies so that you can land good jobs.Actually, it’s best not to have any romantic entanglement on the campus because they do tend to disturb your concentration on your studies (the reason you’re in that institution), as you stalk and monitor the object of your affection closely to ensure that she’s for you only. That’s a lot of stress. Very few boys/ girls are able to joggle studies and romantic relationship well. The studies usually suffer and you find a very bright student having carry-overs because he/ she has been giving more attention to the affairs of the heart. You don’t need that now.

There’s plenty of time after graduation to fall in and out of love until you meet ‘the one’.

•All letters for publication on this page should be sent to: Dear Rebecca, Vanguard Media Ltd, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: dearrebecca2@yahoo.com

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 25

PAGE 26—SUNDAY VANGUARD,NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Email: woman-vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

NIGERIA: Back in the ranks of the malnourished?

W

HEN I saw the headline ’22m malnourished in Nigeria, oth ers’’, my reaction was ‘Not Again!’. Throughout our civil war, and many years after it ended, whenever some foreign media houses wrote anything on Nigeria, they would publish pictures of badly malnourished people, especially children with Kwashiokor, along with the news item. While this was necessary during the war to depict the horrors of the impact of the civil war, it wasn’t justified when the war ended and things began to get back to normal, and Kwashiokor cases began to dwindle. Of course the scars from that war will remain with us for a very long time, as there are many families who haven’t recovered from it, and may never recover from it, but we thank God for bringing it to an end when He did. Later, the Kwashiokor image was removed from us when wars broke out in other parts of Africa, the Congo, Rwanda/Burundi, Ethiopia, etc, and it was transferred to them.

With Nigeria considered the largest black country in the world, fifth producer of crude oil, and the giant of black Africa, it’s a disgrace to find us back in the rank of the most malnourished. Who can forget those frightening pictures of terribly emaciated people with distended stomach, hardly able to get up from the mat or bare ground on which they were laid, and were covered with flies? The image can still send shivers down one’s spine. It’s a terrible situation for a human being to be in!

‘Over 22 million people, including children, suffer Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), moderate acute malnutrition, or are at the risk of malnutrition in eight countries in the Sahel, including northern Nigeria. The eight affected countries, according to Mr. Niyi Oyedokun, an expert in food security and nutrition with UNICEF, D Field Office, covering 10 northern states, are Chad, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Northern Senegal, Northern Cameroun, and Northern Nigeria.’

This expert was speaking at an advocacy and sensitization meeting in Kano with the print media from the ten DFO states, it was reported. He explained that malnutrition is a condition represented by measures of thinness or bilateral edema, and represents current nutritional status, and that children with severe acute malnutrition are nine times likely to die from any causes than those who are not. He noted that severe acute malnutrition without intervention has up to 60% mortality risk, and attributed the causes and aggravation for nutrition crisis in the Sahel to scarce rain in 2011 that resulted in poor harvest, and displacement of people and disruption of food production due to conflicts and violence, among others.

Mr. Oyedokun recommended the use of proven high impact and cost effective interventions referred to as the essential nutrition actions, adding that the focus is on promotion of infant young child feeding and essential micro-nurients to prevent occurrence of malnutrition in children with cases of acute malnutrition.’

When you consider the countries we’re sharing this undesirable platform of malnutrition with, you wonder why we should still be there, especially as cases of Kwashiokor have not been reported for many years now. Also, considering the human and material resources at our disposal to prevent us being one of the statistics. Have there been cases of Kwashiokor which have been kept under wraps, perhaps for fear of hurting our country ’s image on the international scene? Unfortunately, even though we

View-Point

Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor

With Nigeria considered the largest black country in the world, fifth producer of crude oil, and the giant of black Africa, it’s a disgrace to find us back in the rank of the most malnourished may not be engaged in publicly declared full scale war, there are sufficient evidences of insecurity of lives and property in our daily lives, and natural disasters like flood and fire outbreaks for us to have citizens who are displaced, and those who are refugees! These are situations which can easily lead to being malnourished, and if care is not taken, Kwashiokor could become a part of our lives again. Scarce rain in 2011 which led to poor harvest, was also a cause, we’re told.

Now that the experts have sensitized the nation to this unfortunate matter, what are the authorities going to do about it? Are our rulers going to collect these reports with a handshake with the experts, put them in a file and forget them? Or, are they going to invite stakeholders from the three tiers of government to a forum where they would brainstorm on what to do to remedy the situation and take Nigeria out of that undesirable rank? The report may refer to the Sahel region of which Northern Nigeria is a part, but there’s no guarantee that there are no Nigerians in other parts of the country who are not suffering from malnutrition.

I think it’s time for the relevant experts to make a strong move to attack the root causes: Law enforcement agencies should handle seriously the issue of constant unrest and destruction of lives and property all over the country, so that we won’t have displaced people/refugees. I may be wrong, but there seems to be a state of preparedness and vigilance in this area, with every violent incident taking us completely

by surprise. The state and local governments should have concrete plans for combatting flood, and settling flood victims, particularly in flood-prone areas of the country. We have efficient and experienced meteorologists in the country to predict the weather and floods, and advise the government well ahead of the yearly occurrence. Provision should be made in the budget of the state and local governments, for provision of temporary suitable camps, and provision of medical care, food and clothing outfits for likely victims.

Since this seems to be an annual thing these days in those areas, we shouldn’t wait until the floods come before we put rescue plans into action. Alongside this help, the government should get experts to recommend what can be done to eliminate the flood, or, reduce its impact on the lives of residents in that area. These people need counselling too on what to do with their valuables like certificates, etc., on a permanent basis, so that they are kept out of harm’s way.

Our food and medical experts from the federal, states and local government areas should get together to agree on how to educate rural dwellers on their diet; using films, slides, seminars and town criers for maximum effect.

Many years ago in the far north, the UNICEF took the issue of malnutrition so seriously that apart from going to give talks on cleanliness and diet in the rural areas and small towns, it regularly distributed powdered milk in schools, hospitals, health centres, market

places, town halls, etc.

I think the local governments across the country can do this in the relevant communities. Our country produces soya beans in the north, and we’re told that they are very nourishing as food, drinks, etc. We have companies which produce these here. The government should make huge purchases, if it can’t set up factories to produce these, and distribute free to those communities where malnutrition is prevalent. Wards in local government should ensure that they get to the relevant families. Honest government officials should monitore this.

The affected areas fall under the constituencies of members of the States’ Houses of Assembly, Federal Parliament, and the Senate. These politicians should, on their own, do something to bring relief to these people through free supplies of nutritious foods and drinks, talks on sanitation, diet and nutrition, etc. In developed countries, members of Parliament are passionately concerned about the welfare of people in their constituencies. This leads to better quality of life for citizens.

As for poor rainfall/poor harvest, grains like beans, rice, millet, guinea corn, etc., should be brought in by the government and stored in large warehouses, to be sold at highly subsidized prices in the affected areas.

Also, health and food experts should teach residents how to store grains away safely, and regularly remind them to do so every year.

Hopefully, these little steps, if adhered to stringently, might help boot out malnutrition from the country for good.

LONDON FASHION WEEK: Maria Grachvogel Fall poshglam.com

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18,2012,PAGE 27

Email: woman-vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

these neurologists see children with such, they place them on some medications that make them calm. Another confusing factor for pediatricians is the general belief that boys have delayed speech more than girls. Unfortunately, delayed speech happens to be part of the signs of autism, and we happen to have more boys on the spectrum than girls! Also, when a child is being hyper and has no attention, some would also tell you he or she would rs. Anu Senbanjo is the Head of School, outgrow it. When these perPatrick Speech & Languages Centre, a La sist, some would place such gos-based school catering for children children on medications that with autism and other related developmental would make them calm. disorders. Her relationship with children with Sadly, these medications special needs dates back to her days at the Ondo have side-effects! For us State Civil Service Commission where she worked specialists, what we do with with the deaf under the Ministry of Education for them is activity-based half a decade. She holds an NCE from the Federal therapy to correct all these College of Education Special, Oyo State, and a things! We do not go by degree in English Education from the University of medications at all because Ilorin. In this interview, Mrs. Senbanjo, who is though they could make the almost rounding-up her Masters degree in child calm for a while. ParEducational Psychology at the University of Lagos, ents who have tried them allaments how poor awareness and lack of special ways say the child becomes autism units in hospitals across the country have dull and inactive in the long slowed-down the fight against autism. run. I however believe that the major cause of misdiagnosis is that in Nigeria, we do not have speMrs. Anu Senbanjo....one of the most common symptoms of autism is lack of attention. cial diagnosis units for autism in hospitals. These exist in advanced countries!

This is why we do not label any child ness. We have annual awareness as being autistic at Patricks because we

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA events in which we go on the are aware that they have not been acmainland, island, and other artually diagnosed by science as being eas of Lagos with our banners autistic.

This is also why we have it and fliers to let people know ow has the job been? stated clearly on our website that we about autism. We also observe Having been at Patricks since the autism awareness month work with children with autism and 2006, I would say it’s been very fascinating working with children with spewhich is the month of April. Some other related developmental chalmonths ago also, the Association lenges. So, what we do when we have cial needs, especially those with autism.

I never knew anything about Autism of Engineers had a walk for au- a new child is that we access, put down even though I knew about children with tism. Graduate students too are the challenges noticed, and put down Asperger syndrome, until I got an apbeginning to join in the aware- the recommended therapies that could pointment with Patricks. Since then, it’s ness campaign! These days, we help resolve the challenges.

M

been wonderful because I’ve always been excited about impacting the lives of children with developmental challenges. Fine, it might be challenging working with children with autism because unlike other forms of disabilities, neither the cause nor the cure is known, but with the grace of God and the efforts of our Proprietress, Mrs.Dotun Akande, we’re able to record successes.

We’ve continued with researching online, bringing new approaches to working with these children, attending trainings, training and retraining workers, to mention but a few. The result has been visible because till date, we’ve reintegrated a lot of children into regular school and those children are coping very well.

Was autism evident when you worked with special children for five years in Ondo State?

I only knew of Asperger then. You see, the level of awareness about autism is very low, even for people on the field and also, medical doctors. Autism is not a medical condition, but a neuro-developmental condition. All the same

,

H

Delayed speech happens to be part of the signs of autism, and we happen to have more boys on the spectrum than girls!

,

I’ve gone to government hospitals to find that not all Pediatricians know about autism. I had to train them.

Fortunately, they were eager to learn!

The truth is that you can know more about children with autism when you either have them or work with them.

I would however say that the knowledge and experience gained from working with children with special needs gave me an edge in my work with children with autism.

From 2006 when you came into the line till date, has there been an improvement in the level of awareness?

I believe so because Patricks, for example, has continued to create aware-

have different professional bodies joining in the campaign, and that’s impressive. We’ve also noticed at Patricks that the number of visitors we have on our website is increasing rapidly, and that’s an indicator!

Mrs.Dotun Akande too is always talking about the disorder with different media, and I also was on NTA, Superscreen, and a few others, to create awareness.

You noted that some Pediatricians you met knew almost nothing about the disorder; how then do they label its symptoms when they encounter them, or do they diagnose the children wrongly?

Unfortunately, one of the most common symptoms of autism is lack of attention, and that’s what we refer to as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder –ADHD. However, even though some children do not have autism, they still do not have attention. Because of poor awareness, when

I

understand that caring for children with Autism could be very expensive; do you have any programme designed to accommodate children from less privileged homes?

In that regard, PSLC has really tried.

Our proprietress has put in a lot to help families that cannot afford our subsidized fees. Some pay half while some are unable to pay at all. This hasn’t really been easy for us because we must always have equal number of staff to the number of children in the centre.

We have to pay all of these teachers, and also, facilities have to be up-todate and adequate. The cost of diesel and fuel is also there! Because we cannot let all of them pay half or not pay at all, we wrote letters seeking for sponsors. Actually, some children from indigent homes have been on our scholarship scheme and a good number of them have been integrated into regular school to the glory of God. If not for the cost of running the centre, we really would have loved to award more scholarships to children from indigent homes.

28 — SUNDAY, Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Showers of praises for Rosaline Akindele @ 60

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t was like any other birthday celebration except that this one for Chief (Mrs.) Roseline Atema Akindele, , Group Executive Director, Modandola Group and wife of Ibadan High Chief, Chief Bode Akindele, fondly called “Iya Iyabo”, had more class.

After praise and thanksgiving at the Hoare’s Memorial Cathedral Church, Yaba, Lagos, the high profile guests moved to the City Hall, on the Island for a deluxe evening of wining and dining. Photos by Shola Oyelese

L-R: Archbishop Kehinde Stephen; Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu; Chief Bode Akindele; Chief (Mrs) Rosaline Akindele; and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, cutting the birthday cake

L-R: Chief (Mrs) Akindele, her husband, Chief Bode Akindele, Chief (Mrs) Adebisi Akindele and Madam Elemi Rewane, celebrant’s mother

L-R: Chief Olu Falomo, Chief Alani Akinrinade and Gen. Oluwole Rotimi

L-R:Mrs Maiden Ibru, Mrs Iyabo Ogunshola and Chief Ajibola Ogunshola

L-R: Mrs Dupe Albert, Chief D. Fashanu and Mrs J. Fashanu

L-R;Mrs V. Okoturo, Mrs M Atguliaghan and Mrs Liliaan O. Uwawah

L-R: Chief Elemi Rewane , celebrant’s mother, Mrs Eveiyn Rewane-Fabyan and Mrs Maiden Ibru

Chief (Mrs) Akindele during the thanksgiving

L-R: Mrs Moji Onasanya, Mrs Veronique Rewane-Dakolo, Mrs Enitan Rewane and Mrs Egbe Otubu

L-R:Mr and Mrs Charls Ogunbona with Sir and Mrs S. O. Ogunfimehin

L-R: Chief and Mrs Victor Oyewo

SUNDAY, Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 — 29

Mik eA denuga FFoundation oundation reac hes out tto o fflood lood victims Mike Adenuga reaches

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ike Adenuga Foundation, founded by billionaire businessman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr, GCON, has eased the pains of victims of the recent flooding in parts of the country as it donated relief materials worth over N70 million to those affected in Bayelsa State. The relief materials were presented to Governor Seriaki Dickson at the Government House, Yenagoa penultimateTuesday. The event in pictures.

R-L: Bayelsa State Gov., Henry Seriake Dickson; MD of Mike Adenuga Foundation, Yomi Ogunbamowo; the SSG , Prof Allison Oguru; and former governor of the state, DSP Alamieyeseigha.

Delivery trucks conveying some of the relief materials.

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Rotar orum taryy fforum

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ecently, 2010/2011 Past Presidents of Rotary District 9110 gathered at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos to launch an association, Able Presidents. The association was said to be a platform for continuity of service to humanity.

Below are some of the dignitaries at the event.

Gov. Dickson welcoming Ogunbamowo (left) L-R:Mrs.Ossai, District Governor, Kamoru Omotosho and wife, Susan Omotosho at the event .

L-R: Mrs Ben Ayede of Mike Adenuga Foundation; Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Kombowei Benson; and the Bayelsa Dep. Gov., Rear Admiral John Jonah (Rtd).

L-R:Chief Launcher, Olufemi Oni, Chairman of the occasion, Dr.Olumide Philips, and keynote speaker, Dr.Micheal Omolayole

Pomp as IBN’s boss gives daughter in wedlock

t was a story of love signed, sealed and delivered in a

glamorous manner when Enuoma, daughter of Onotu Prosper C.

The couple: Mr and Mrs Odiakachukwu Iweze

Okpue, the Chief Executive Officer of Insurance Brokers of Nigeria, IBN, was walked down the aisle

penultimate Saturday by her heart-throb, Odiakachukwu Iweze, son of Mr. Vincent Iweze. The union, which was

solemnised at the Catholic Church of the Presentation, Ikeja G.R.A and celebrated at the Wellcome

Event Centre, Airport Road, was witnessed by the crème de la crème of the society.

L-R: Mr and Mrs Addo, Otunba and Erelu Adekunle Ojora with bride's parents, Onotu and Mrs Prosper C. Okpue

Onotu Okpue, bride's dad, Mrs Oluvbo Iweze, groom's mum, the couple, Mr Vincent Iweze, groom's dad and Mrs Comfort Okpue.

The couple, Enuoma and Odi, flanked by the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Osten Olorunshola, and wife.

The couple, flanked by the sponsors, Mr and Mrs Martin Ndigwe

PAGE 30—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

News: State of the Nation

"Survival of the wasted Generation in the jungle of hopelessness."

M A I L B A G

All letters bearing writers' names and full addresses should be typed and forwarded to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, Kirikiri Canal, P. M. B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E-mail: sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com

Deplorable state of roads in Sapele Dear Sir,

I

F there is one thing Sapele, is famous for, is it's connectivity of roads. It's major and adjoining roads are well connected that motorists enjoy the luxury of alternative routes in getting to their destination. More so, it is the unique connectivity of roads in Sapele, that the town hardly experience traffic gridlock. A first time visitor to the town will attest to this fact without much qualm. However, over the last few years the state of roads in the town has continued to depreciate with each passing raining season with no intervention from the appropriate authorities. Presently, the situation of some major and sensitive roads in the town is such that if nothing is done about them before the next raining season, which is just about 5 months from now, they will become completely impassable. Roads in this regard are Adeola, Gana/Ugberikoko Road, Mission, Commercial Avenue, Owumi and Akintola Roads. Akpoaisi Road is already impassable, as it is completely cut-off from the rest of Ugbeyiyi. The state of roads in Sapele, obviously paint a picture of insensitivity on the part of the state government, especially as Sapele citizens have waited to no avail for a corresponding action from them. Also, there is the question of elected and political appointees from Sapele, not doing enough to draw the attention of the state government to the deplorable state of roads in the town, particularly as it is seen as their primary duty to

do so as the representatives of the people. I however want to use this medium to appeal to the state government and other relevant authorities to come the rescue of Sapele citizens, by way of fixing these roads mentioned, without which motorists and

other road users in the town would be subjected to unimaginable suffering by the coming of the next raining season!

Ohwevwo Ufuoma Eugene, 08127029122

Dying reading culture in Nigeria Dear Sir,

I

T is very disturbing observing Nigerians lackadaisical attitude towards reading. It is more worrisome that we are passing it to our children. How many Nigerians cares to visit our libraries?

Instead, we are busy pursuing bread and raiment, what we shall eat and wear.

In the past few weeks, I have been brooding on the celebration, named: "Banned Book Week" by Americans.

From September 30 to October 6, 2012, American celebrated the right to read, 30 years of liberating literature, that is, 1982 to 2012.

Banned Book Week is celebration of freedom to read. In Nigeria, we are busy relegating reading to the background, the Americans are championing lifting of embargo on certain books and agitating that there should be freedom to publish and liberty to read whatever is published; government should not decide for the people what they should read or not read. What a free

nation!

In Nigeria, people read to pass examinations or to advance their business or political fortunes. Hardly do you see people go to bookshops to look for new releases as they go for the latest musical and home video compact discs. It is very unfortunate and we must change this attitude and embrace good reading habit.

Reading is a culture. We should embrace it. Reading expands the reader's horizon more than anything else. It sharpens the intellect and keeps one abreast of goings on in the world. The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man and a reader today is a tomorrow's leader.

Eyeke Solomon Eyeke.

Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

08030898792

Let Okonjo Iweala be Dear Sir,

It's very shameful and sad that when Nigerians are passing through untold hardship, poverty and insecurity caused by everyday fuel price increase, the thieves responsible are coming out openly to confront the finance minister for trying to put a stop to this show of shame. Nigerians are watching to see the outcome of this fuel subsidy fraud. It has now reached a stage where Nigerians will not wait for NLC and TUC to call for protest before every man takes to the street to say `to your tent oh Israel `which is a declaration of war against the cabals and the government who refused to act.

Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is with God, so she is with the majority, no threat will stop her. If the cabal refuses to leave her, God will fight us. For us that believe that God owns everything, we are praying seriously for her and she must succeed.

That all those milking the country dry have been exposed, is an act of God Almighty. If not for a country like Nigeria, how can such people both in private and public sectors still be alive? Today, China ranks the most developed economy in the whole world, can these cabals existthere?

We must serve God in truth and spirit Okonjo-Iweala is serving God and the nation in truth and spirit since no one cares for Nigeria any more, God cares and soonest He will repay everyone according to their works.

Pastor Emmanuel Osabuohien 080728324484

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 — PAGE 31

T

o say that US Presi dent Barack Hussein Obama is an orator is to say the obvious fact, but to think that leaders, especially those who pretend to be leading us, have not taken something away from the most powerful political office holder in the world.

This puts a question mark on our capacity to learn that which emphasises the spirit of service.

Political speeches are the art of communicating and connecting with the public a matrix of different demographics, with diverse levels of orientation, reasoning capacity, ability to discern and act. Such speeches are tiny threads that knit together our diverse make up, into larger personal that gives its mandate to a select few that supposedly offered to serve the public. When such men and women speak, you expect them to embody the collective aspiration of the people that they represent.

When they speak, you expect to connect with what they are saying, not just for the sound bites that come from their mouths, but also because they say what they mean and mean what they say. This was the line Obama dropped into the crowd of supporters he met in Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan, etc. ahead of the November 6 poll. It was to tell the American people that trust is an important cornerstone in public governance. The issue was, can the people of America trust ‘a flip flop like Mitt Romney?’ The Republican candidate came from the Anglo-Saxon, white male American political establishment, a solid credential against a man who is a direct descendant of a blackman from Kenya in Africa, with Muslim and broken family background? In the end, Americans chose a man who they trust, a man who embodies their hopes and aspirations. Obama thrashed Romney comprehensively with 332 Electoral College votes to Romney ’s 206, a wide margin of 126 votes.

This was a much better performance than what Obama did to Sen. John MaCain four years ago.

Obama also got over two million popular votes to silence his opponent. The election was flawed in many areas, but neither Romney nor members of his campaign grumbled.

What we failed to take from Obama

•Obama

6?

That is a question we may never be able to figure out as President Barack Obama has collected 332 electoral votes and Mitt Romney has no trouble with that. But it would have been a major distraction to the Obama campaign and the administration that two fourstar generals were caught in extra-marital affairs, and some secret service chiefs believe they should be investigated to ensure that national security was not compromised.

Petraeus, the former CIA director, is credited with ending the war in Iraq and was well respected within and outside power circle.

He resigned penultimate Friday and is to face investigation for his relationship with Paula Broadwell, who jealousy sparked the whirlwind that swept Petraeus out of power.

Paula was obsessed with another woman, Jill Kelley, who she suspected was romantically linked with Petraeus.

Although Broadwell is married and has been known to be the general’s biographer, investigations revealed that she had

close relationship with Petraeus. Jill, 37, is equally married to Scot Kelley, a cancer surgeon, and both of them live in Tampa, Florida.

It has not been established that Jill was sexually involved with Petraeus, but she was known to organise rich and fancy parties for officers at the Mac Dill Airforce Base where

,

By HUGO ODIOGOR

dy case, Petraeus stated: “My wife and I have known Natalie for approximately three years, getting to know her while serving in Tampa, Florida, through our relationship with Dr and Mrs Scott Kelley ”.

According to Petraeus, “it is clear that the child would benefit from much more time with his mother and from removal of the burden some restrictions impose on her when she does get to spend time with the child”.

Allen was also reported to have written a similar letter to support Natalie’s custody claims. These are women pulling powerful strings, to have their way.

Along the line, Paula got jealous and fired threats through unnamed emails and the rest is history. Petraeus now has to manage the damage to his public image, his marriage and the agony of sitting in front of men and women posturing to be puritanical and playing god over the same matter that they are not above board.

A former House Speaker Nelof Gingrich was busy womanising with his secretary, whom he later

That is a question we may never be able to figure out as President Barack Obama has collected 332 electoral votes and Mitt Romney has no trouble with that

the officers appeared fully dressed with all their ribbons and medals.

Petraeus was known to have attended one of such parties in a 28-car motorcade.

Jill has a twin sister, Natalie Khawam, a lawyer with a troubled marriage. In a letter written to a Florida judge in support of Natalie’s child custo-

married as his second wife, at the time he was calling for Bill Clinton’s head over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

James Hardly Chase once wrote that you never know with women and its no use trying to figure out what makes them tick. Paula’s fury has splashed mud in the face of two generals and the spies

Petraeus: The general and jealous mistresses What would have happened to the Obama campaign if the General David Petraeus and General John Allen scandal had broken out before November

General John Allen

Paula Broadwell

,

David Petraeus

are at work.

Obama’s new cabinet: A peep

Justling for top posts in Obama’s new administration has began and the time has come to fish out men and women that would take America to the next level. With the exit of Gen. David Petraeous as the director of CIA and planned retirements of Leon Panetta as secretary of defence and Mrs Hilary Clinton as secretary of state, the names of Senator John Kerry, Gen Collin Powell, UN Ambassador Susan Rice and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon have been thrown up. Kerry, from Massachusettes, is the chairman of Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, and may be seen as a natural replacement to Mrs. Clinton given his vast experience on isues of diplomacy and foreign relations. He played vital roles in preparing Obama for the second and third debates. He was instrumental to revealing Romney’s closure of coal mines in Massachusettes. He also helped to ensure that Romney lost the state where he was once governor.

Kerry’s appointment may be better received by the Arab world which has not seen the appointment of women as the US secretary of state as culturally sensitive. From the time of Madlene Albright to Condy Rice and Mrs. Clinton, the Arabs have been forced to talk with women whenat such top level in their own domains, they have not seen the need for women to enjoy such high public profile.

The name of Rice has been mentioned. Her appointment as secretary of state,just like Mrs. Clinton, may not go down well with the Arabs in the Middle East where the US has to find a way to stabilise the rising tide of anti- America feelings. Rice’s performance in the Benghazi crisis also would put her through difficulties in the hands of Republican senators.

In the defence department, two top runners are Pentagon’s former policy chief Michele Flournoy, who may be the first female defence secretary. Panetta’s deputy Ashton Carter is also in the race. Some have mentioned Powell, a Republican and former chairman of joint chiefs of staff, and a former secretary of state, Donilon, who was Obama’s National Security Adviser. Danilon is a lawyer and an insider who could head the CIA or any other top office in the national security community.

PAGE 32, SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 33

How Nigerian airlines collapsed — Alkali ‘Why we need aircraft tracking system’ BY

UDEME

Just a month after the Federal Government commissioned the N648 million General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA) that was under reconstruction since last year, shortage of airplanes is taking its toll on the aviation sector. While the government is also putting measures in place to renovate about 22 airports across the country, the industry has only three functional airlines. Also, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has just introduced a new policy on aircraft tracking system to be installed by all commercial airlines operating in the country. Alhaji Bello Ahmed Alkali, a former station manager of Triax Airline, general manager, TranSaharan Air, regional manager, Chanchangi Airline, general manager Rahamaniya and director of operations, Trade-Craft, speaks on the need for government to intervene by creating an enabling environment for more airlines to start operations. He also shares a perspective on how many local airlines collapsed.

HE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has mandated all airlines operating in Nigeria to install aircraft tracking device in their system. What does this entail?

It is a good development to ensure safety in the industry.

The tracking system means that the NCAA will have an office that is computerised to track every aircraft that is flying on our airspace. I think the government must be commended on this policy.

Aircraft tracking equipment is not an expensive venture because it can be installed with about $100,000 or less.

Also, the step taken by the Aviation minister, Princess Stella Odua to remodel 22 airports across the country, some like Yola, Abuja and others, which had been completed, is a good initiative. This is the first time in this country that the Ministry of Aviation is embarking on a project of remodelling airports built over 20 years ago. It is highly commendable.

T

After the fatal crash of Dana Air plane some months ago, the aviation sector is suffering from shortage of airplanes. What measures will you advise government to put in place to find lasting solution to the problem?

Alhaji Bello Ahmed Alkali Dana is yet to fly over a month after government lifted the restriction placed on the airline. The two airlines operating out of MMA2 terminal are already stretched to the limit. Here we are talking about only Aero Contractors and IRS. The situation is so bad that any time you get to MMA2, you will feel sorry for passengers.

,

STORIES CLEMENT

been certified technically. So, there is nothing to worry about and the travelling public can fly Dana.

In your own experience as a stakeholder in the sector, how many airplanes do you think are needed in the sector to meet the increasing demand of the travelling public?

We have a population of over 160million people and most Nigerians are adventurous travellers. So if 100 airplanes

Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos landed on a demonstration flight people formed a long queue at Dana’s counter but the aircraft could not carry

It is very sad that we have only three functional airlines in Nigeria, which include Arik, Aero and IRS. These are just not enough for the number of passengers coming to the airport on daily basis

You will see long queues and passengers trying to pick tickets that are not available and people trying to reach their destinations and are not able to do so, simply because the airplanes are just not enough.

Ordinarily I expected government to help this airline by facilitating its operations. For instance, Dana was flying before and had a problem, which had been sorted out. Government lifted the restriction placed on the airline, the certification has been going on for sometime and, if there is anything government can do to ensure the return of Dana, I believe it will go a long way to improve on what we have in the industry now.

Even with government’s intervention, do you think people will like to still patronise Dana, considering the crash that claimed over 153 lives just few months ago?

I can tell you authoritatively that people will still fly with Dana. What happened was an accident and the report of the investigations revealed that the fault was not from the airline.

So, people still have confidence in the airline. For instance, I was around when Dana carried out what we called demonstration flight.

There were two incidences.

One was in Abuja and people were stretched to the limit. Passengers were there and there were no airplanes to get to Lagos . Immediately Dana

,

passengers. Any airline can have accident at any time, so Dana must be allowed to fly as soon as possible. Also, government said Dana is alright to fly again and has

are brought into this country today, I can assure you that there will be passengers to fly.

For instance, before the coming of Chanchangi Airline, there were some airlines that had over 30 airplanes. Okada had about 36 airplanes and Kabo had about 27 airplanes.

At present, how many functional airlines do we have in this country?

It is very sad that we have only three functional airlines in Nigeria, which include Arik, Aero and IRS. These are just not enough for the number of passengers coming to the airport on daily basis.

Government is trying to renovate about 22 airports in the country. So, let us have many airlines, even more than 100 for the number of airports that government is trying to

put in good shape. Also, the existing airlines need modern computers like what obtains in developed countries to fast track the process of issuing tickets to passengers. The kind of computers we have now also contribute to the delay in giving tickets to travellers at the airports.

Can you give us statistics on the number of passengers that travel every day?

We are talking about over 100,000 passengers a day.

Now we have airplanes that can carry only 40,000 passengers. What happens to the remaining 60,000 passengers? You can see that it is a serious problem and must be urgently addressed. For instance, Aero operates between 10 and 15 flights to Abuja daily, Arik operates between 15 and 20 flights to Abuja daily, IRS operates about three to four flights to Abuja daily, which means the number of passengers are more than the airplanes available. Government should do everything within it power to create an enabling environment for more airlines to operate in Nigeria .

Some National Assembly members alleged that the Minister of aviation denied landing rights into Kano to some foreign airlines. What is your comment on this?

The issue of the Minister denying landing rights for some foreign airlines flying to the North, particularly Abuja and Kano , to me is simply about people not trying to get credible details about landing rights. There is what we called Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), which allows airlines to come into Nigeria . In this agreement, Kano and Abuja are inclusive, but we know some of these foreign airlines like Emirates, Egypt-air and Ethiopian Airlines, which do not find it economically viable to fly to these places, like they fly to Lagos . So, it is not the fault of the Minister.

Industrial devpt is catalyst for economic growth —Prof. Ndebbio NIGERIA ’S industrial sector plays a key role in the growth and development of the real sector of the economy. The slow pace of economic development is often blamed on the weak industrial base of the country. Industrialisation is perhaps one of the issues in development economics discourse that has refused to vacate the front burner. The deteriorating living standard among non-industrialising nations in Africa and the sustained rate of development in industrial countries have identified industrial development as the catalyst for economic prosperity and sustainable development”.

These were the words of Prof.

John Ndebbio, a renowned economist and expert in industrial economics in his book titled ‘Industrial Development: a catalyst for rapid economic growth’, launched in his honour, to mark his retirement from the department of Economics, University of Calabar .

Ndebbio in the book presented in four parts of 16

chapters explained, “Industrialisation is a process rather than solely as a product in evaluating economic development in developing countries. The past industrial policies had laid the foundation for sustainable industrialisation. The issues of conceptualisation and modelling of industrial development with particular attention to review of dominant models of industrialisation in chapters three and four give details on how to convert the vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment into a vicious circle that can place the developing countries on the orbit of sustainable development.”

Chapter five and six explain the challenges and prospects of industrialisation in Africa .

Chapter eight and nine examine the effectiveness of industrial policies in developing countries with reference to Nigeria . Chapter 10 talks about Nigeria ’s economy, identifying major challenges to industrial

development and offers useful recommendations for revamping the economy.

Chapter 11 and 12 talk about the importance of electricity and other infrastructure development needed to enhance expansive in investments and industrial growth. The last part examines the role of finance in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) development as well as policies for global competitiveness of the industrial sector, trade policy and other technical issues on Nigeria ’s industrial development.

The Prof identified key learning points based on lessons drawn from the experiences of highly competitive economies and the analysis of Nigeria ’s developing history. He also emphasised the need for industrial database development, rural enterprises finance and massive infrastructure to enhance realisation of Vision 20:2020.

PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Can Obama win election in Nigeria?

His eventful first term no doubt paved the way for the feat. In earnest, the man’s vision, passion and general demeanour present him as a person who can win an election any day. It is probably on this score that my friend, Paul, spent a whole day sermonizing to me the other day about how great Nigeria would be if she could get a President like Obama.

While I agree that we need a dynamic President I imagine quite vividly, that Obama cannot win election in Nigeria.

In the first place, getting a platform to participate in a Nigerian election would almost be an impossible task for an Obama; yet he has to find one because the Nigerian political system does not allow for an independent candidate. To

use the platform of the largest party in Africa the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is probably the surest way to win but getting its ticket is dicey in view of the difficulty in understanding the party ’s all-important zoning policy. In 2011, when the slot was zoned to the North for example, the way the party handled it left some people

,

I

T is no longer news that Barrack Obama is back to the White House for his second term as President of the United States of America.

anxious to see the founder of the party contesting again. There is also no chance in the Labour Party (LP) which usually fields no candidate of its own but merely endorses that of another party.

If however Obama decides to look up to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he is not assured of victory because the party members can vote against him as they did to their own Nuhu Ribadu in 2011.

All the other political parties being moribund, the way out would appear

Why would our politicians continue to argue that our so called illiterate population that can easily use the GSM cannot understand electronic voting?

to begin to see Bayelsa as a Northern State. On the other hand, to be the candidate of the Congress for Progressive change (CPC) is ruled out because the position is not available as the members are reportedly

,

to be for Obama to set up his own party - an option which has its humorous but ridiculous challenges.

With some dollars, it would be easy to find 37 Coordinators in the States and Abuja but the seed money for the take-off of

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

The normality of abnormality (3)

national politics, the economy and infrastructural development by successive administrations at the centre, and the question of proper restitution for atrocities committed during the war against Biafrans by the Nigerian army.

Some of these topics have been discussed before by Achebe himself in his little but thought-provoking book, The Trouble with Nigeria. This time around, Achebe touched a sensitive nerve by exploding the myth of Saint Awolowo who, in the eyes of his fawning disciples “could do no wrong” and reproblematising the lingering inequalities of the distorted Nigerian federation. In that regard, name-calling and sentimental regurgitation of half-truths cannot serve any useful purpose. Therefore, instead of the belated and tedious historical revi-

sionism by the likes of Odia Ofeimun aimed at immunising Awolowo from appropriate criticism, Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic affiliation, should critically and dispassionately examine the salient themes of injustice, restitution and accountability in Achebe’s book and come up with imaginative ways of reconstructing Nigeria on a solid foundation. That is a task

,

T

HESE include the problem of con structing a viable Nigerian nation based on justice, equity and fairness for all ethnic nationalities, post-war deliberate depredation and exclusion of the Igbo and Igbo heartland from the commanding heights of

Achebe’s critical comments on Awolowo, though understandable because of the iconic status of the late politician in the consciousness of Awoists many of whom occupy prominent positions in the south-west geopolitical zone, are regrettable. As I stated earlier, it has the unfortunate effect of diverting attention from other serious problems of the Nigerian federation highlighted in the work.

It is ridiculous that Initial Awoist vitriolic critics of

War is an avoidable tragedy in which leaders on both sides tend to allow desire for victory override ethical and humanitarian considerations

which must be faced with wisdom and patriotic zeal if Nigeria is to survive.

Another point of interest is that most initial commentators on Achebe’s new book had not even read it; they merely responded to excerpts from the book especially in foreign media.

Preoccupation with, and e thnic hysteria over

,

Achebe who had not even seen the book, let alone read it from page one to last, made categorical statements about it in a hurry without considering the possibility that an attentive study of the entire book might provide genuine novel insight regarding the civil war which, till date, remains the most serious threat to the survival of Nigeria as a single geopolitical entity. That said, given

the new party across the nation is unfortunately likely to be embezzled. It would indeed be a disaster if some of the Coordinators turn out to be like one character I know who uses the one room accommodation he secured as a party secretariat in the day time and as a ‘beerparlour’ in the evenings.

This is however not serious compared with our absurd electoral process.

To start with, our Electoral Act - the law which governs elections in Nigeria is temperamental.

The legislature which is made up of politicians who have interests in elections may decide to endorse open ballot as the voting system for future elections. All they need to do is to sustain the argument that it is the system that best suits voting in our illiterate society. Oh yes that is the argument with which they have refused to allow electronic voting. We all know however that the reason for the refusal is because electronic voting would prevent any voter from thumb printing more than one ballot paper and would thus invalidate thousands of votes that politicians score through massive thumb printing of ballot papers by some rented hooligans in hide-outs. Otherwise, why would our politicians continue to argue that our so called illiterate population that can easily use the GSM cannot understand electronic voting? It only suggests that if an Obama decides to contest a

Nigerian election, he should be ready to contend with a multiplicity of electoral manipulations Again, the argument that our electoral process has improved is only a theory and at best a fiction as children who are legally excluded from the process still participate in it and openly too because of the bogus nature of our voters register. A person’s name can be in it this year; and out of it next year while it can return there in the third year. Notwithstanding assurances, no one is sure as at today that he would get what our electoral commission describes as a “permanent” voter’s card before the magical year 20-20.

Not long ago, the commission announced as one of its achievements, the likely completion of the printing of the cards next year. In the case of election results, there are still many areas where votes often outnumber accredited voters.

An Obama would probably wonder aloud about the porous security system which allows such malpractices. In the USA, the electoral process is technically secured whereas in Nigeria it is manually experimented upon by law enforcement operatives Soldiers are rarely seen in American cities except in the airports when departing to assignments abroad. For this reason, Obama may be disturbed by the number of soldiers

on the road during elections. It should not bother him because our soldiers are these days part of the lucrative police business of mounting check points supposedly to apprehend criminals.

Our soldiers are also quite active on an election day where under the guise of ‘securing’ our electoral process, they intimidate voters in favour of wealthy candidates. As if to make the system look credible, Vice Chancellors of Universities are then appointed as returning officers to read the results. Interestingly, some of these ‘holy’ men are yet to stop examination malpractices in their institutions In all democracies, election petition is provided for by law. To utilize the provision may be an option in America but not so in Nigeria where almost every loser usually challenges the outcome of an election. In fairness, some petitioners are not necessarily bad losers as Obama may gather from our media, rather such ‘losers’ are incensed by the impunity with which elections are manipulated. If an Obama is in their shoes, he may be forced to petition.

Unfortunately Nigeria courts are often compromised. Indeed, clean judges are so few in our clime that a blanket condemnation of the Nigerian judiciary is not uncharitable. So, Obama is likely to lose not only a Nigerian election but also the election petition. I rest my case.

Achebe’s antecedents as a forthright and courageous commentator on national issues, there is no doubt in my mind that his book, There was a country, is a thoughtful reappraisal of the civil war, from the perspective of a Biafran official.

Collectively, all serious literature on the war point to one inescapable conclusion: war is an avoidable tragedy in which leaders on both sides tend to allow desire for victory override ethical and humanitarian considerations - hence the moral indignation with respect to the use of starvation against Biafrans as an instrument of war.

Gowon’s comments, widely reported in the media, that he did not regret the decisions he took during the civil war is fascist, pompous and insensitive to the agonies of the vanishing group of disabled ex-Biafran soldiers and other survivors who lost loved ones and valuable property as a result of the conflict. Is Gowon suggesting that if the same set of circumstances presents itself again, he would take precisely the same wrong decisions he took between 1966 and 1970? Was he actually justifying the deliberate emasculation of Igboland by his administration from 1970 until he was forced out of office in July 1975? The media in Nigeria are fond of dressing prominent Nigerians in borrowed robes.

For example, Gowon is sometimes described as a statesman. Illoegbunam’s account of General Ironsi’s murder during

the counter coup, explains why Gowon did not make sincere effort to bring those that murdered Aguiyi-Ironsi to justice - he was the biggest beneficiary of the revenge coup of July, 1966.

Also consider this: when the then Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon was at the threshold of becoming head of state, he still had in his pocket a speech intended to declare the secession of Northern Nigeria. Furthermore, Illoegbunam cites Suzanne Cronje, a wellknown author, who wrote in her book, The World and Nigeria: The Diplomatic History of the Biafran War, 1967-1970, that shortly before the civil war the British High Commissioner in Lagos, Sir Francis Cumming Bruce, played a crucial role in dissuading Gowon from pulling the North out of Nigeria.

From the foregoing, despite Gowon’s attempts to create an image of a respectable statesman who fought to keep the country united, there are indications that, deepdown, he did not govern Nigeria with fairness to all ethnic nationalities, as a genuine statesman would.

At crucial moments, especially during the araba or secessionist riots of 1966 when Southerners living in the North, especially Ndigbo, were massacred, Gowon did not distance himself from prominent Northern politicians and military officers who actively supported the pogroms. As we pointed out a

moment ago, Gowon and his Northern cohorts wanted to secede, but were persuaded to change their minds by western diplomats more concerned with the preservation of the colonial amalgam, Nigeria, for the benefit of western capitalist imperialism.

Keep in mind that all I have said thus far concerning responses to Achebe’s thought-stirring book is neither an attempt to defend Achebe nor a complete exoneration of Biafran leaders from the horrors of the war. Achebe, as a courageous, world-class, intellectual is very capable of defending himself against the irredentist lynch mob that lined up against him.

In my view, the late Biafran leader, late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, was far more humble and sincere than Gowon when he reportedly told Karl Maier, in This house has fallen, that the civil war was a monumental waste – thereby indicating some level of soul-searching, selfindicting, reappraisal of the horrible consequences of the war, especially for the Igbo.

My argument that Achebe’s controversial book offers a new impetus for critical reassessment of the foundational principles of our experiment in nationhood would still be valid if another ethnic group other than Igboland had been subjected to the pogroms which precipitated the civil war and the marginalisation it faced afterwards.

Justice and equality are cardinal universal values which transcend ethnicity.

To be continued

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 35

We are ruined

*The rubbles of one of the demolished structures. Inset: Mrs Oshoba, a victim... I am stranded

— Woman, 80

Tales of woes as buldozers bring down Ogun homes

BY DAUD OLATUNJI,ABEOKUTA

A

mosun has ruined me.I have been living in my house which was also serving as a shop for the past 30 years. I sold cigarettes and other small things in the shop and rented out some rooms.That was how I made a living before this governor came to demolish my only house at my age.Where will I go? Since the incident happened, I have been staying with my neighbour”, 80 year-old Mrs Abike Oshoba lamented. This octogenarian is one of the numerous victims of the demolition of structures in Ogun State who believe the end has come as there is nowhere to go and their source of income seems to be have been blocked. Some of the markets in Abeokuta,the state capital, including Omida, Itoku, Panseke, Obantoko and Adatan, have been demolished while many houses ,churches, companies, mosques, among others, were not spared in the demolition exercise.

It was lamentations galore when Sunday Vanguard went round Abeokuta to observe the situation of things after the structures were pulled down by the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration to pave the way for the construction of roads and beautification of the state capital.

Mrs Oshoba, who spoke in front of her demolished house, located at Kolobo, was depressed.She burst to tears , saying she regretted being alive after the house, which 1,333 injuries and 1,980 accishe described as her”all-in- dents oc curred in Ogun State alone.” However, many vicall”,was destroyed.

Only recently,the governor tims of what many people in had hinted that he was plan- the state described as a hapning to re-construct some of hazard approach to rural and the major roads in the state urban development cried out.In fact ,Sunday Vanguard capital and beautify the city.

Amosun expressed con- gathered that many of the afcern over the deplorable con- fected traders and landlords dition of federal have taken ill and hospitalised a result of the roads in the state,saying as demolition.The government’s Ogun was the worst in the statistics of road accidents re- action has rendered hundreds corded in the country in 2010. of residents homeless, just He said: ``It saddens me like no fewer than 5,000 tradthat out of the 465,000 deaths ers have been displaced at and 18,095 injuries recorded Itoku market.

According to the chairman of in 5,330 road accidents in Nithe clothes section of the margeria in 2010, 649 deaths, ket, Alhaji Sulaemon Fadipe,

,

The roads are meant for the use of the people, but when the people die, who will use the roads?

“We have more than 5,000 traders here in this market. We prefer to remain here in Itoku because this market has been in existence for the past 100 years”.

To express their dissatisfaction, hundreds of the traders at Itoku market protested the decision of the state government to demolish the market. They described the step as murderous as it will ruined their businesses and take away their means of livelihood.

The traders, who briefly blocked Itoku Road, expressed disapproval at the ultimatum given to them by Amosun to vacate the market for the commencement of its demolition.

They complained that they might go bankrupt if they were not allowed to sell off the new stock of wares which they had just got in anticipation of the usually high patronage during the Yuletide and New Year seasons .The aggrieved traders, led by the Iyaloja of Itoku market, Chief Funmilola Ayorinde lamented that due to the news of the demolition of the market, many of the traders had developed sudden ailments leading to their being hospitalized.

An 80 year-old blind, Mr.

,

Micheal Ayobami, also rendered homeless by the demolition, lamented that, though he did not have problem with the re-construction of the roads, aged people must be spared. He said the roads are meant for the use of the people, but “ when the people die, who will use the roads?”.

Another victim at Kolobo, Owolabi Fagbohungbe, said: “Governor Amosun has demolished my house and shops as well as that of my wife. I now squat with my friends moving from one place to another every night. My wife is also squatting with her friends.

In fact, we have taken our children to my siblings because we cannot squat with our children”.

To Mr. Ayanbode Adewale at Omida market,life has ended . He said he had lost hope “ because, as a retired driver, my only source of living was my wife’s shop and it has been demolished”. ”To feed my family of six is a problem”.

However, the state government has promised to pay compensation running into N10 billion, but some shops were built by the traders and there had been a long-term agreement before the government demolished them One of the victims of this nature, Alhaji Salawu, in Itoku market, regretted that he rebuilt a dilapidated shop and

had entered into 16 years agreement with the landlord to use it without payment . But, government has marked it for demolition and would only compensate the landlord.

Dramatically, some occupants of some buildings behind M K O Abiola Stadium left their houses for work, on Thursday,but, before they returned,Sunday Vanguard gathered that the state government had bulldozed their houses. Although many people lauded the idea of the reconstruction of roads, others condemned the approach adopted which they said has spoilt the good intention. Initially, when the Ogun State government announced the award of the contracts for the construction of 12 roads across the state, many people went into jubilation,but the reality that houses will have to go for the roads to come is dawning on them The roads,according to state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Olamilekan Adegbite, include the popular IloAwela Road in Ota,the SangoIjoko,Oke Aro –Ojodu Abiodun Road which would link motorists directly from Sango Ota in Ogun State to Ojodu Berger in Lagos. The commissioner disclosed that N100 billion would be spent on the roads and that they would be completed in 1824 months.

PAGE 36—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Ritualist brings deaths, arson to Jesse

BY EMMA AMAIZE,

Regional Editor, South-South

T

he event of November 13 in Idjerhe (Jesse) in Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta State proved tragic.

It was an innocuous case of a suspected ritualist arrested by some villagers. The suspect was dragged to the palace of the town’s monarch, His Royal Majesty, HRM, Erhikevwe 1, by his accusers, who wanted jungle justice.

The monarch, an enlightened man, knowing what the law stipulates, pleaded with his people to allow him call security agents to interrogate the suspect, establish his culpability and scope of operation, before taking the next line of action, but they refused to hear him.

Apparently dipping into his bag of wisdom, he devised a plan to keep the mob waiting and, furtively, invited soldiers to the palace to whisk away the suspect for interrogation, as it was obvious that the mob was not prepared to accept his counsel.

6 dead, 25 injured

In the eyes of the law, he did the right thing, but, in the eyes of the people, his cup was full.

Soldiers came quite all right, but, before they could leave the palace with the suspected ritualist, no fewer than six persons lay dead and 25 persons critically injured.

What happened? It was gathered that the mob not only stoned the soldiers, but also attacked and prevented them from taking away the suspect.

Incensed by the conduct of the villagers, who practically attempted to wrestle the ritualist from their possession, the soldiers opened fire. Hell was let loose. The mob, provoked by the bloodshed, descended on the palace of the monarch on the grounds that he was the person, who brought ant-infested maggot to the house. The palace was set ablaze and looted.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, who confirmed that 28 persons arrested in connection with arson and murder in the community were moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Asaba, Wednesday, disclosed that vehicles parked in the palace were also burnt.

At about 9.00 am when Sunday Vanguard visited Jesse, November 13, the palace was was still smoldering. A motorcyclist, who carried the reporter from the junction at Warri-Sapele-Be-

of his palace”.

Lawmaker condemns attack

nin expressway, told him, “ Jesse is on fire.Soldiers are everywhere; there is tension; nobody knows what is going to happen next.This is disastrous”.

The palace itself was a no-go area, as soldiers cordoned the bastion and refused access to everybody, including journalists.

Ritualists on the loose!

*Charred remains of the Idjerhe monarch’s palace

For some weeks running, a source said, “Ritualists have been on the rampage in Idjerhe, killing about nine persons, a development that made the monarch to set up a committee to probe the ugly development”.

It was gathered that the villagers mounted a search party and the efforts reportedly paid off when one of the suspected ritualists was nabbed in the bush and brought to the palace.

M

aize in Ekiti is not as valu able as yam which gives them pounded yam or, better still, cash crops like cocoa or kolanut.

But maize is an important crop in Ido-Ekiti. History has it that in the days of old, the people of Ido made a fortune from maize.

They produced the maize in large quantities and then made it into powder which they sold. From the proceeds, they bought horses which were like vehicles owned only by the rich at that time. Today, the people may no longer produce maize in large quantities and a fortune made therefrom. But maize remains an important crop in Ido Ekiti. That is why its wealth creating value is incorporated into the Ajodun Ido, tagged Oganganmodu 2012.

The weeklong programme starts today and ends on Saturday, November 24. The programme coincides with the second anniversary of the installation of the Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti, Oba (Capt) Ayorinde Ilori-Faboro. On day five of the programme, Friday, November 23, a public lecture entitled, ‘IdoEkiti yesterday, Today and Tomor-

The monarch, however, resisted the pleadings of his people to lynch the suspect and correctly invited security agents to handle the matter. That was what led to the mayhem.

A source told Sunday Vanguard, “Is it not an irony that the decision of the monarch to set up to checkmate ritual killings in his domain is what led to the death of his subjects and burning

Member representing Ethiope-West in the House of Assembly, Hon. John Nani, condemned the the attack on the monarch’s palace, saying he brought the matter before the House under matters of urgent public importance, same day.

He called on the people of Jesse to stay off the streets to avoid being arrested by security agents, adding that soldiers whisked away the monarch to Koko to avoid being attacked.

Twenty-four hours after the incident, the monarch, who was rescued by soldiers with members of his family from the palace, was said to be taking refuge in Asaba, the state capital.

Calm returns

PPRO, Muka, however, told Sunday Vanguard,on Wednesday, that the community was calm, as people were going about their normal businesses.

He said, “The command warns youths not to resort to self help, as persons caught in such act will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

People are urged to go about their business without fear.”

The maize wonder in Ekiti *Ajodun Ido (Oganganmodu 2012) holds Saturday row’, holds at the Olojudo palace grounds. Lecturer is Professor Kayode Familoni, a renown economist, international scholar and a native of Ido-Ekiti. A message to Ido sons by the chairman, public lecture sub-committee of the 2012 Ajodun Ido Planning Committee, Mr Kunle Abegunde, said the urge for a transformed Ido Ekiti which the sons and daughters can be proud of was the motivation for the lecture.

The grand finale of the Ajodun Ido holds on Saturday, November 24 with a development project, fund raising and family reunion. The chairman, Ido-Ekiti Summit Coordinating Committee, Engr. Tope Bejide, and the chairman, Ajodun Ido Committee, Chief Rufus Familoni, said the proposed palace for the Olojudo and a civic centre are part of the projects fund is being raised for. According to them, the town deserved an ultra-modern palace and a civic centre.

Meanwhile, the Olojudo, Oba Ilori

Faboro, was hosted to a grand reception by Ido-Ekiti indegenes resident in Lagos recently. It was also an occasion to launch the N200 million IdoEkiti Development. Fund. The chief launcher, Hon (Mrs) Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, who is also the chairman, Committee on Finance, Lagos State House of Assembly, lauded Oba IloriFaboro for providing quality leadership for his people. Tejuosho acknowledged that only her mother hailed from Ido but said he would join hands with her folks to develop the town.

To underscore the lawmaker’s assertion, several dignitaries from her constituency, OdiOlowo/Ojuwoye, joined her to grace the occasion. *Oba Ilori-Faboro

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 37

Wife’s kidnap : Journalist turns ‘prayer warrior’

BY EMMA AMAIZE,

Regional Editor, South-South

F

OR three days, Mon day – Wednesday, last week, Jimitota Onoyume, Vanguard correspondent in Rivers State, could not eat. He declared an emergency fasting, drinking only water and turning ‘prayer warrior’ overnight.

Reason: His wife, Marian, a teacher, was seized, on Monday, November 13, at Eku, Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta State, from her residence, as she was driving their daughters to school in her Nissan Quest bus.

Jimi, as he is fondly called, loves his job as a journalist and, since he joined this newspaper, few years ago, he has been writing on everything under the sun, including the escapades of kidnappers.

Reporting One of his reports on hostage takers, quoting the Police Public Relations Officer of Rivers State Police Command, was the killing of three notorious kidnappers and armed robbery suspects allegedly behind high profile killings and abductions in the state, in August.

It reads in part: “They are three notorious kidnapping and armed robbery suspects, Nzeribe, alias Nze, former second in command to late notorious Osisikankwu; Samuel, alias ND and Chima, all notorious criminals involved in series of heinous crimes in the

Children save prophetess’ 20-yr-old marriage

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA & KAFAYAT TIJANI

A

days of the late Osisikankwu till the present time.

“Among their escapades were the murder of Ambassador Ignatius Ajuru and his escort personnel. The gang also killed Mr. Hyacinth Nwangolo, former Rivers State Depu-

They have just kidnapped my wife in Eku. I got a telephone call. Please call everybody that you know, use your contact please to see that they release her ty Director and Head of Eco Service Department; murdered HRH Ben Nwaogu, traditional ruler of Nihi Etche; kidnapped five female National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members in Eberi Omuma; 120-year- old Pa Nwosu; and Mr. Kelechi in Eberi Omuma.”

It is understandable as Onoyume wrote this report and many others, in August, that he never knew his wife would fall victim to kidnappers three months after.

Desperate voice His voice had a touch of desperation, as he called this writer on Monday, minutes after his wife was abducted, “Regional, they have just kidnapped my wife in Eku. I just

Mrs. Marian Onoyume...back from kidnappers den got a telephone call. Please call everybody that you know, use your contact please to see that they release her. I beg you”.

Before I could reach the police and army authorities in Delta State as he suggested, Onoyume had got across to some of the top officers. In fact, the Commanding Officer, 3 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Effurun, near Warri, Delta State, Lt. Colonel Ifeanyi Otu, read out his text message to me, while the Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, said the police had received information and were already investigating.

The text message: “Good morning, I am Jimitota Onoyume, the Rivers State correspondent of Vanguard newspaper; I got a call now that my wife, Mrs. Marian Onoyume, was kidnapped minutes ago at our residence in Eku, Ethiope East Local Government Area, while she was about driving out”.

How they kidnapped my wife “The kidnappers were four men and armed. They drove towards Salubi area. Kindly help please. Details of the vehicle, Nissan Quest, chassis number, 4N2DN11W4RD829149, Continues on page 41

Sex tears couple apart

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

A

27-year-old woman, Mrs. Morufat Awinle, told an lgando Customary Court sitting in Lagos that after her husband, Musibau, stopped her from having more children, he insisted on having sex with her everyday.

The mother of three however informed the court that whenever she refused to have sex with him, he would beat the hell out of her. She claimed that her husband lacked care for her and their children, adding that this forced her to relocate to her parents home. ”It was my mother that was responsible for the payment of the children’s school fees and other things”. Morufat added that her husband sent their first born to his elder

brother to avoid his responsibility of taking care of him, saying the brother could not take care of the child alongside his own children. But she pleaded that the court should not dissolve the marriage, because she still loved her husband. In his submission, Musibau informed the court that he did not enjoy the marriage as, according to him, the wife denied him sex often. ” Though l was the one that stopped her from having more children, it pained me whenever she denied me of sex”. The petitioner added that despite the fact that they had lived together as husband and wife for eleven years, his wife did not give him peace of mind.

n Agege Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, Lagos saved a 20-year-old marriage between Samuel Fayose and his wife, Adetutu, a prophetess. Court President Emmanuel Shokunle earlier told the couple to consider their children, who might suffer if they separated. ”Marriage is full of ups and downs, no man on earth is perfect, and no one is an angel. So, I implore you to go back home, and bring some members of your family for chamber discussion, “Shokunle ruled.

He also assured Adetutu that Samuel will be a loving husband and responsible father to their children after they have settled the matter.

The marriage was saved after the chamber’s discussion and the couple has started living together as one again. Samuel filed the divorce suit on Feb.6 asking the court to dissolve his marriage, accusing his wife of threat to life, adultery and lack of care.

The 60-year-old man,who lives at No. 8 Adesanya Street, Isaga, Lagos, told the court that Adetutu was fetish, disrespectful and did not care for him and the children. ”My daughter,Oluwafunmilayo, was sweeping one day when I saw one substance among the dirt on the floor. I picked it up and discovered it was a snail shell tied with black and white thread. Inside it was my hair because I am the only one in the house with grey hair ”. The petitioner also said that he saw one of his trousers with mud with black thread. “As an elderly man, I knew it was a bad omen”, Fayose said.He also alleged that his wife was fond of late night outings.

Housewife: Husband strips me naked, ties me like the Sallah ram

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA & AMATA BRIDGET

M

rs, Abosede Ademola pleaded with a Lagos Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, sitting in Agege to dissolve her nine-year-old marriage on the grounds of being stripped naked by her husband, Azeez, who also tied her like a ram. The 35-year-old woman, who resides at 7, Community Street, Adiyan, Lagos, pleaded that the court grants her custody of the children.She alleged that her husband frequently flogged her mercilessly at the slight excuse and did not respect her family. ”My husband drinks to stupor, moves with bad company, leaves home in the morning and comes back late in the night. As if that was not enough, whenever he wanted to beat me, he would strip me naked and tie my hands like the Sallah ram to be slaughtered,” she said.She also accused Azeez of infidelity, saying she wanted the custody of her children so that her suffering in his house would not be in vain.Azeez, a car dealer, however denied the allegations. According to him, Abosede failed to submit herself to him and would not take care of the children.

He alleged that his wife always went out whenever she liked and returned when she pleased, adding that his wife left the house in the morning on Sallah day without cooking, and he was the one that cooked for the children. ”My father died and my wife did not show any concern nor went to my family on condolence visit. ”She would not give me food or take care of the children. If I continue with her, I might kill her; so I want the court to dissolve the marriage,”he said.The court president, Mr Emmanuel Shokunle, adjourned the case till November 19, for further hearing.

P AGE 38—SUND AY PA 38—SUNDA

Vanguard , NO VEMBER 18, 2012 NOVEMBER

EXIT OF A HONOURABLE MAN

How Justice Kayode Eso orchestrated nunc dimitis for plea bargain; said it bred corruption z‘Woe Unto Corrupt Judges’ z‘Constitution amendment is a waste of time’

F

or many, he was the face of ju dicial activism.

While the likes of Alao AkaBashorun and Gani Fawehinmi were doing their thing from the Bar, the late Honourable Justice Bobakayode Eso represented the radical, nay progressive wing of the judiciary sparing no nonsense.

Indeed, even in his last days, Eso again let it be known that being away from the Bench did not quench his thirst for uprightness when, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, his last major interview, he lampooned the idea of plea bargain which was already becoming an open instrument for the celebration of graft.

A father of two with five grand children, Eso, married to Helen Aina Eso, died on Friday morning in London at the age of 87.

Armed with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in law from the Trinity College, London in 1953 and 1956, respectively, Eso began his career in the most progressive of ways and, therefore, when he became a judge, his progressive and intellectual content did not waver.

For a man whose career as a legal mind spanned about four decades with meritorious alacrity, this former Justice of Nigeria’s Supreme Court never sold out.

With what some have described as a caustic tongue, especially when delivering judgments, at 86, Eso did not disappoint when he granted that last interview which became a reference material on the vexed issue of plea bargain.

Sharp-minded, morally upright, Eso is your quintessential legal mind par excellence.

On the many ills confronting the Nigerian nation, the erudite justice lamented the sorry state of the judiciary, expressed angst at the concept of PLEA BARGAIN, felt insulted by the conciliatory approach of the Federal Government on the Boko Haram issue and concluded by saying that if Nigerians wanted to make progress as a nation, true federalism was the way forward. He insisted that the

attempt to amend the constitution would end up as a fools’ errand because it would not address the real issues.

Excerpts: When you were still in active service in the judiciary, people applauded you for standing against corruption.

But, today, it seems the system has changed and what you hear today is that the judiciary is very corrupt. How do you feel when you hear this knowing your hard stance against corruption?

When I was in the judiciary, I stood up against corruption; and when I left the judiciary, I still stand against corruption.

So till now, I still stand against corruption.

I am not happy to have a corrupt bench. It is a deadly thing.

You see, the judiciary is the only

,

BY JIDE AJANI

The judiciary should not only be independent but it should also be economically independent of the executive

,

hope of those who do not have money to push their ways around. Judiciary is the yardstick of the situation in the country.

Even investors look at the judiciary of a nation before taking their money to that nation. If an investor believes he cannot get justice in a country, he would not invest.

In any event, it is an honour for anybody to be appointed a judge.

If you are appointed a judge, you should not corrupt that system at all.

It is woe unto anybody to corrupt the course of justice. I do hope that we

Justice Kayode Eso

will find a way to stamp it out.

As an experienced judge, what do you think we can do to get out of a corrupt judicial system?

Well, let me say at this stage that the present Chief Justice of the country has identified the issue of corruption as one of the things he must deal with.

He intends to set up a committee to look into the issue. (He has already done that) The committee will be meeting very soon. I believe, this week. I happen to be a member of that committee therefore, I cannot talk more about it. I won’t, I won’t say anything that would prejudice the noble attempt of the present honourable Chief Justice of the country.

First of all he wants us to advise him on how to tackle corruption on the bench and to find a way of stamping it out. I’m ready to support him on that.

What is the most interesting case that you ever tried and which one was the most difficult sir?

No case is difficult at all once it is in pursuit of justice.

That is the truth about it.

In justice, one case is as good as the other.

I cannot really think of anyone that gave me a kick after. The only one I can say gave me a kick is the case of Awolowo versus Shagari.

I stood firmly to say that you cannot break up a state to have a unit of that state and that when you have 19 states and you are looking for the two-thirds of that, you cannot really get the twothird of that state.

Please explain what you mean?

It is simple: How do you get the twothirds of a state? I thought it was silly for anybody to conjecture that. How it gave me a kick was that as soon as I delivered the judgment, which, of course, was in the minority, the constitution was amended.

After the amendment, how did that feel – vindicated, satisfied?

That gave satisfaction.

It is the opinion of the public that it is because the allocation of the judiciary comes from the executive that is the judiciary cannot be completely

independent. What is your opinion on this?

The judiciary should not only be independent but it should also be economically independent of the executive. It should not rely on the executive for money to flow through the system. No. it is not good enough.

When you have the admixture of the judiciary with the executive, you are only putting the judiciary as an appendage of the executive that cannot be right.

There is this new craze called plea bargain?

This notion of coming out and talking about plea bargain is something else. They bargain with the judge, bargain with the accused person, he returns half of the money, and then they give him some hairy-fairy punishment - go and serve three months in prison and the three months, will, of course, be in the hospital. This is an encouragement for other governors to steal when they come into office. There is no plea bargain in our law.

The importation is wrong.

To me, it is corruption to bring plea bargain into the law of Nigeria.

Look at the issue of Igbinedion in Edo State who was alleged to have stolen billions and billions of naira. They said they had this system of plea bargain.

They asked him to plea bargain, there and then he was fined three million naira which, he picked out of his purse and paid there.

It sent a notion that it had been prearranged that it would not be more than three million. Now, after that they started to gloat and shed crocodile tears and said the punishment was not adequate.

Of course, the punishment can never be adequate when they import this issue of plea bargain. But, let us say the issue of plea bargain was not introduced and he was punished as he deserved, others would learn.

Years back, I was saddled with the case of Oba Akran and Ademiluyi - Oba Akran was the Oba in Badagry,

Continues on page 39

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012,PAGE 39

Day Lam Adesina clashed with Buhari, Marwa, others

BY AGBAAKIN KEHINDE OLAOSEBIKAN

•Goodbye to former governor, ex-’prisoner of war’

A

lhaji Lam Onaolapo Adesina, Oyo State governor from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2003, passed on to glory on Sunday, 11, November, aged 73 years. Lam rose to the pinnacle of all his callings in life. He got to the zenith of his career as a teacher; as a social crusader, he got state recognition and was tagged a ‘prisoner of war ’. Politically, he did not only realize his ambition of becoming the governor of his state, he achieved the extra ordinary by installing a governor, not while in power but eight years after he had left office.

Since Sunday, torrents of tributes have been pouring in from various quarters all extolling the virtues of Alhaji Adesina . He has been described in many superlative words, establishing the fact that he was a great man. But how great really was the husband of the benign Alhaja Sarat Adeola Adesina? As his Chief Press Secretary while he served as the governor of Oyo State, I will transmit a story of how he disciplined a former military Head of State and prevented what could have led to the Nigerian second civil war.

It was on 13 October 2000, when

zLate Lam Adesina, words went round that General Muhammadu Buhari was leading the Arewa team to the governor’s office to confront the state over alleged killings of Fulani cattle rearers in Saki, Oke Ogun Area of the state. Buhari did actually telephone the governor that he was leading a team to his office.

In less than 30 minutes after the general informed the governor of his visit, we noticed that the entire secretariat was already filled with lorry loads of our brothers from the North. This created some tension but we kept our calm. At about 2 p.m., Buhari arrived

zBuhari in a long convoy at the governor ’s office in company of the former governor of Lagos State, General Buba Marwa, Alhaji Aliko Muhammed, Alhaji Abdulrazak and Alhaji Hassan.

They all wore long faces. In fact, the anger in them was palpable as all pleasantries extended to them were ignored. “This is trouble” was the expression on the faces of all of us in the governor’s office.

Shortly afterwards, the state Director of State Security Service (SSS) and Commissioner of Police arrived. But their presence did not change any-

zMarwa thing particular on the fears that had already gripped majority of us. The two security chiefs did not come with any operatives, they came almost alone.

The meeting was called to order after Lam walked into the Executive Chambers. Introductions over, Buhari spoke on their mission to the governor ’s office. Emitting fire, the general accused Lam and the government of Oyo State of complicity in the killing of over 68 Fulani people in Oke

Continues on page 40

How Justice Kayode Eso sparked controversy over plea bargain; said it bred corruption Continued from page 38 and Ademiluyi was the chairman of the biggest corporation in the country, they were alleged to have stolen 500 pounds. They appeared before me and I gave them seven years after I had found them guilty. They wrote to the Supreme Court because there was no court of Appeal then, their appeal was dismissed. That was justice not this way of palliating people, rubbing them with oil in the name of plea bargain.

Plea bargain is actually not our law.

And they come around and say it is done in other countries, Nigeria is not any other country. Nigeria is Nigeria not just any other country. In other countries, it may be right for them to have plea bargain. We never had plea bargain.

It is corruption for anybody who imports plea bargain into our law.

Looking at the damage and backwardness this issue of corruption has brought to this country, would you subscribe to capital punishment for those who plunder the resources of this country like it is done in Asian countries where they kill them?

No, I do not believe in capital punishment. It is better to punish somebody and make the person live to get the pains of that punishment.

For instance, somebody who has stolen billions of naira, let them give him proper punishment and let him forfeit

This country will only succeed if we practise true federalism and until we do that, we are just deceiving ourselves all his property.

Let him live in penury and let him see the difference between his stolen affluence and what actually he should be.

Is our constitution just a book given to us by the military or a book we are just living with?

The 1999 constitution lied about itself when it says we Nigerians. We Nigerians never did it but soldiers and half-baked lawyers among them sat down and wrote the constitution for us. 1999 constitution is not a constitution of this country, we should have a real constitution of this country. When you start to patch the constitution like we are patching now, we can never be there. Why are we shying away from a Constituent Assembly.

Things should not be done half way.

Go all the hog.

Boko Haram has caused deaths of thousands of Nigerians. Some people are calling for dialogue with this sect. Even, government is consider-

ing amnesty for them. Do you support amnesty programme for this deadly and violent sect?

You dialogue with people you know.

Do they know who Boko Haram people are? If they know, they should arrest them. Give them amnesty for what.

People are killing and you want to give them amnesty even without trying them. I do not believe in what is going on at all. These people are a menace not only to this country but to the whole world. They have given the picture of Nigeria as a failed nation that cannot even deal with security within its borders. If we have that system, we are only creating problem for ourselves and our children because once the investors believe that there is no security, they would not come with their money. And if we don’t have investors in this country, we cannot exist.

Coming round and say we want to dialogue with them, dialogue with who?

Some people say let us give Boko Haram amnesty and Boko Haram say, no we don’t want amnesty.

What are they saying?

In other words, they are challenging the government.

Do we have a parallel government of Boko Haram?

Why don’t we arrest them?

Why don’t we deal with them?

Who are they?

Why are they being palliated?

These are the issues we should find

out. Who is Boko Haram or who are Boko Haram?

Who are behind them?

They went to the UN building and destroyed it, killed people. UN would not be happy with that at all and I believe they are removing their stand in Nigeria and taking it to Senegal. If that is the case, then we are a big loser in this country.

It is a failure if we don’t stamp out Boko Haram in a correct way.

The correct way is to arrest them and take them to court. It is laughable that we are giving amnesty to those who are killing us.

I don’t understand what is going on.

May be it is because I’m not a politician. May be they would understand.

What is your opinion on federalism? At 86, you have seen it all, especially when compared to fiscal federalism as practiced during the First Republic?

To me, we are not practicing federalism in this country at all and this is what we should practice.

Between 1960 and 1966, we had what we called self government - self government for any state that could afford it. It’s okay. North said no. That was the time we had real federal government. The west was governed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo for the federal system status. There was no question of being unitary which is what we are patching up now and calling it federal system. This country will only succeed if we practice true federalism.

PAGE 40—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

EXIT OF OLOYE SARAKI

The beginning of another era

BY GBOYEGA AMOBOYE How best can one pay tribute to the memory of the great Oloye, the undisputed king maker of Kwara State and former Senate leader, the late Dr. Abubarkar Olusola Saraki, the Waziri of Ilorin?

One may not know, how much less remember the names of Senate leaders from 1999 to date, but one cannot forget the person of Saraki, who personified that office and was so addressed until his death even though his tenure in that position expired with the Buhari coup of December 31, 1983.

Saraki no doubt, was one of the last of the charismatic and colourful politicians.

Incidentally, he became Senate leader in the turbulent days of the vibrant Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, under the Great Chief Obafemi Awolowo as leader of the opposition and vibrant Senator Jonathan Odebiyi, as the UPN leader in the Senate.

But this challenge of leading the senate at that period brought out the best of the skilful Saraki. Oloye, as Saraki is fondly called by his people of Kwara State, like the French envoy to the

Saraki congress of Vienna in 1915, Talleyrand, became a colossus among his peers. By his skilful leadership, Senators, irrespective of the different political affiliations or age saw one another first as friends and so related throughout the senate of the Second Republic as colleagues and not as foes. There was no dull moment as Senators called one another nicknames. For instance irrepressible Senator Uba Ahmed would shout at Senator Abraham Adesanya

How Lam averted second civil war Ogun area and perversion of justice.

His words: “Your Excellency, our visit here is to discuss with you and your government our displeasure about the incident of clashes between two peoples… the Fulani cattle rearers and merchants are today being harassed , attacked and killed like in Saki. In the month of May, 2000, 68 bodies of Fulani cattle rearers were recovered and buried under the supervision and protection from a team of Mobile Police from Oyo State Command. “ That some arrests were made by Oyo State Police Command in the massacre with their immediate release without court trial. This was said to have been ordered by Oyo State authorities and they were so released to their amazement. The release of the arrested suspects gave the clear impression that the authorities are backing and protecting them to continue the unjust and illegal killings of Fulani cattle rearers…”

According to the general, they therefore wanted immediate stoppage of the killings, justice and compensation to the Fulanis.

As weighty and indicting as Buhari’s allegations were, Lam remained unperturbed. He fired back with his own well coordinated arsenals.

Lam identified all the points raised by Buhari and simply asked the heads of the organizations directly involved to respond to the allegations.

First to speak was the Commissioner of Police who debunked all the claims.

Instead of the allegation that the natives were killing Fulanis, the commissioner said pointedly that the opposite

was the case. “ The killing of the natives by the Fulanis was duly reported to the police and, of course, we can’t make arrest because, as soon as they kill, they migrate to other areas. Who are you going to arrest? That is the problem”. On the killing of Fulanis, which he said was as result of “piled up anger”, the commissioner disclosed that arrests had been made and the suspects were in police custody.

Next was the Director of SSS, who equally debuked the allegations by Buhari. “The natives don’t have problem with the Fulanis who are resident

,

Continued from page 39

I am appealing to the Arewa Consultative Forum, under which auspices our distinguished Nigerians are here; in recent times, they have been sending wrong signals to a number of us who believe in the unity and peace of Nigeria

,

but those who are coming in, they don’t care about anybody. They just go ahead and when they graze the natives farms, whoever cares to challenge them runs into trouble. You said 68 people were

(UPN Lawyer) to sit down; or the late Abraham Adesanya calling Senator Ameh Ebute, Ebute Ero (a rowdy jetty area on Lagos Island) or police lawyer; or a chorous of Ndiegoro, each time the ebullient Senator Jaja Wachukwu of blessed memory, was recognized to speak as he could hardly speak without drawing attention to the plight of his community of Ndiegoro that was devastated by erosion. The senators would also shout FIRE each time the garrulous late Senator Sabo Barkin Zuwo and PRP senate leader, was on his feet, firing his grammar. Whenever Senator Ahmadu Ali got up to speak, shouts of Ali Must Go rented the air from the opposition bench. In this mix you can then throw Senator David Dafinone who was always taunting the UPN Bench.

It was all fun. But the fun could last because there was this astute politician, Saraki, who was the leader.

It was always the ever smiling Oloye that would go into diplomatic shuttles from the bench of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party, GNPP, leader, Senator Idrisa Kadi, Senator Sabo Barkin-Zuwo, the PRP leader, to Senator Jonathan Odebiyi, to lobby them to support government bills, or any controversial issue from Shehu Shagari, who was President. It was to the credit of Saraki and of course the Senate President, Dr Joseph Wayas, that there was never a confrontation

between the Senate and the executive arm.One may wonder how he was able to hold the Senate together in spite of the volatile political atmosphere of that era. There is no denying the mileage that his charisma garnered pursuant to achieving this feat.

Money is said to be the root of all evil.

The Senate therefore removed this evil by neither running a capital vote nor awarding contracts at that time.

Everything including stationeries was provided by the executive arm just as the clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Gidado Idris, equally skillfully, concentrated on managing the affairs of the National Assembly which he set up after serving as the secretary to the constituent assembly of 1977.

On how the National Assembly was able to run a rancour free legislature with Shagari, Saraki, who once explained that the NPN Senate caucus used to meet with the president once a week where issues were trashed out before appearing on the floor of the Senate, should be given the credit.

On the home front, if Saraki was good outside, it was because charity had started from home.

This writer during the presidential primaries and the electioneering in 1999, had written that to know whenever Saraki was in Abuja, all you needed do was observe the human

killed , and people driven away. I am not saying there were no killings but they cannot be more than five. The petition is on the harsh side, there is nothing like that.”

Not done yet, Lam called in his Deputy, Barrister Iyiola Oladokun; his SSG, Chief Michael Koleoso, both from Oke Ogun, and the chairman of one of the affected local government areas, Mr Ademola Alalade. They stated the true position of things, corroborating the submissions of the security chiefs. At this point, all the tensions and apprehensions evaporated.

Trust Lam any day, he must rub it in.

He spoke for about 20 minutes and the generals were at the edge of their seats for the entire period. They were like chicken that had just been thoroughly beaten by the rain.

Lam said: “ Before I thank you for this visit, you have come to tell me something. I also want to tell you something and that something is to make an appeal. General Buhari has been a former Head of State, Brigadier Marwa has governed Lagos for some time and with credibility… so you are national leaders of this country. Even though, by accident of birth, you are from the North, you can be born anywhere; may be next time when I am coming to the world, I will be born in the North or the SouthSouth.

“My appeal will be that effort must be made to unite this country and that will be ïn the best interest of all Nigerians. I am appealing to the Arewa Consultative Forum, under which auspices our distinguished Nigerians are here; in recent times, they have been sending wrong signals to a number of us who believe in the unity and peace of Nigeria; you have been too critical of the efforts of the Federal Government. I am saying this because Nigeria, at this

point, cannot afford to break and the words you northern leaders utter are very weighty, at the South here, we normally analyze them critically”.

On all the allegations, he said: “From what they have written in the petition, this government is completely blameless because we don’t interfere either with the judiciary or with the police functions. I always preach peaceful co-existence in Oyo State and Nigeria as a whole. We are all Nigerians and that is what we have been preaching all along and we shall continue to be Nigerians , no matter the present or immediate problems which will be solved by the grace of Allah.

“I want to say also that we really have to appeal to our people, the itinerant Bororo people, that they should observe less aggression. It is not good , it is not right just coming from somewhere then you just pass through farm lands cultivated may be with the person’s life savings and then over night everything is gone. That is not right, even Allah does not approve of that. We even wonder when they talk about this people carrying dangerous weapons, I say do they really believe in Allah? When you just take life like that and go away! Are we not forbidden not to take human life?

So I think General Buhari, General Marwa, you have to be educating them… It is my pleasure to inform you that at the Presidential Lodge, we have made some arrangements for refreshments so that before you go we can refresh together”.

Buhari and his team did not wait for any refreshments. They came in angry and left bewildered. ADIEU! GREAT LAM!

Continues on page 41

* OLAOSEBIKAN, WAS CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY TO ALHAJI LAM ADESINA

SUNDAY

EXIT OF OLOYE SARAKI

The beginning of another era traffic rushing to the Nicon Hilton (Transcorp) Hotel, because it was only Oloye that could genuinely surround himself with peasants.

The people of Ilorin knew him very well and he too knew his people very well.

That was why anybody he nominated for an elective office especially governorship was as good as Chief Obafemi Awolowo doing a similar thing in the south west. Dr. Saraki was given the appellation of Oloye by the people of Ilorin before it became a national appellation. If you attended any event organized by the late Waziri, the people one would find next to him are the peasants of Ilorin.

There was a particular incident after he had facilitated the replacement of the first civilian governor of Kwara State, Adamu Attah, with Dr Cornelius Adebayo of the UPN, in 1983 attention was drawn to a remark by the former Governor that Oloye was no longer popular in Ilorin. Oloye, in reaction, managed his characteristic charming smiles and said “Gboyega, you will accompany me to Ilorin this weekend”. About five kilometers to the township, both sides of the road were lined by a large crowd shouting endlessly, Oloye, Oloye, Oloye. We drove straight to the Emir of Ilorin’s palace where it appeared a quarter of the entire population of Ilorin was already waiting and chanting Oloye, Oloye, Oloye.

After paying homage to the Emir of

Ilorin, we drove straight to his house.

On the way, about four out of every ten people along the road were heading to Oloye’s house shouting Oloye, Oloye.

Arriving at his house, Saraki could hardly enter as praise singers and a very large crowd that had turned out to welcome him blocked every available access.

‘Kabo, se dada le de’ (welcome, how

,

Continued from page 40

If Dr. Saraki was loved across Kwara State, it was because he was equally never selfish politically as he looked beyond Ilorin, the state capital

was your journey) and the shouts of Oloye was all you could hear. In the large courtyard, were plates of food driving themselves, in a manner Shakespare had written in Machbeth, that as “fire drives fire so pity, pity” because the crowd was as usual having a nice time in their own house - Oloye lived all his life for the people.

After managing to enter the house, he relaxed that early evening and by 8pm, he appeared again to greet the

Wife’s kidnap : Journalist turns ‘prayer warrior’ Continued from page 37 engine number, VQ992501A and registration number, 988 Benin”, he said. Mrs. Onoyume was driving out of her residence between 8.30 am to 9.00 am with her two children when four gunmen, who were apparently loitering around the area, seized her.

The gunmen reportedly threatened and chased her two daughters, aged nine and seven years respectively, who she was taking to the school out of the vehicle, before whisking her away.

A source said that they fled with her through the Salubi area of Eku with two of the kidnappers blindfolding her.

N10 m ransom Same day, the kidnappers, who were obviously out to extort money, called Onoyume, using the phone of one of her daughters, which they seized.They demanded N10 million ransom for her release her. The troubled reporter told Sunday Vanguard,

,

Mrs. Marian Onoyume

“ T h e y called me with my daughter’s number about 7.00 pm yesterday (Monday), demanding N 1 0 million. “ I pleaded with them

that I had never held N1million before, but they said I have an SUV, that I am a rich man. I again begged them that the SUV was bought fairly used and it is 1995 model of Pathfinder.

“I begged them to please release my wife, that I am a reporter. Journalists are not known to be rich, we may be seen on television, but we are only doing our job. They later said I should send MTN airtime, which I did”.

He continued: “On Tuesday, 24 hours after the kidnap, my wife’s car was recovered. It was abandoned at Abraka, Ethiope –East Local Government Area of Delta State. I am begging the kidnappers to have mercy on us.

They should release my wife. We do not have money, I am a reporter”.

Vanguard , NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 41 2012,PAGE

crowd.

Oloye himself was to explain that he entered into politics “to fight the cause of the common man and woman” having been moved by their plight when he was a medical doctor at the general hospital, Lagos.

If Dr. Saraki was loved across Kwara State, it was because he was equally never selfish politically as he looked beyond Ilorin, the state capital.

Against the wish of the Illorin people in 1979, Attah, an Ebira, was installed governor. And when Attah thought he could walk alone without Oloye, he was replaced with Adebayo of the UPN from Offa, in confirmation of his pronouncement when President Shagari’s CAMPAIGN TRAIN got to Ilorin shortly before the election.

At a point, Illorin people could not understand why Oloye would give them an indigene of Ilorin as a governor. This was in 1999. By this time, the shout of “ we want Bukola” was underground. Bukola was then an Executive Director with the Societe Generale Bank, SGBN, which the family owned – mind you, SGBN was the first bank in Nigeria to introduce the ATM component of banking.

But to their disappointment, Oloye opted for Mohammed Lawal, a Navy Captian, the ANPP, as their governor, but the shout of “ we want Bukola” refused to cease until the self-same Bukola, his first son, eventually succeeded Lawal of blessed memory.

On a personal note, the generosity of the senior Saraki was beyond description. He always stockpiled his house with assorted and expensive gifts which he never hesitated to give to any visitor to his house to compliment a handsome envelope filled with cash. To allow for accessibility, Dr. Saraki did not move to his Ikoyi residence but for many years remained in Surulere.

Oloye remained the only philantropist that I ever came across who after giving would look at your face with a smile and ask if it is

Cry from kidnappers’ den Observing that the reporter was not talking like somebody, who could raise N10 million, the kidnappers reduced the N10 million ransom to N5 million, 48 hours later.

Mrs. Onoyume was allowed, for the first time, to speak to her husband just for some seconds and she wept uncontrollably, pleading with him to cooperate with them.

However, the journalist said he did not have N5 million requested by the kidnappers and and pleaded passionately with them to release his wife unconditionally.

He confessed, “I am so traumatized by the incident that I have been on only water in the last three days. I cannot eat anything. They have been calling to negotiate. They stepped down their demand to N5 million, but I told them I still do not have such money”.

Fear The kidnappers, who were afraid that security agents were on their trail, asked Onoyume if security operatives were indeed after them.

“They asked me if they were being tracked by security agencies. I told them there was nothing like that. I told them that the more they keep her, the more they attract the attention of security operatives. I pleaded with them to release her,” Onoyume told Sunday Vanguard.

“They allowed my wife to speak to me. She was weeping while talking

enough and would add to it before you could answer.

Dr. Olusola Saraki is an epitome of religious tolerance.

Though a Musilm, he allowed his wife Florence, to continue with her Christian faith. This is a lesson to learn and emulate from the life of Saraki.

If there was anything he had wished for before departing, it was to leave behind a political dynasty that could rival those of the Kennedies and George Bush in America which no political family has achieved in Nigeria. This, he had achieved when Senator Bukola Saraki was able to pass his test as a worthy successor as the new king maker of Kwara Sate by installing the incumbent governor of Kwara State while Senator Gbemi Saraki was able to defeat others in a man’s world to become a Gubernatorial candidate of another political party in the same state. By this, Senator Gbemi Saraki has grown from Gbemi of Ilorin to Gbemi of Kwara State.

To the uninitiated who felt it was a defeat of the father by the son, what the father did in the language of Oliver Goldsmith, was like an eagle tempting its young offspring to the sky to learn how to fly. It may be noted that it was not for no reason that the old Saraki had crowned the young Saraki the new Turaki of Ilorin, the title he, Dr Olusola Saraki, cherished so much, to become the Waziri of Ilorin a title which may now be beckoning at Bukola, as he is fondly called at home. .This to me is the significance of the last election in Kwara State.

Instead of Oloye’s death therefore being the end of an era, one may safely say that it is another beginning of an era.

May Oloye’s great soul rest in perfect peace.

Gboyega Amoboye, one time media aide to the late Dr.Olusola Saraki, wrote from Lagos (08037043074)

to me. She pleaded that I should resolve with them to get her out. My children have not gone to school since the sad incident. They are also crying that they want to see their mummy”.

Joy in the morning However, the nasty goings-on ended, on Thursday, when the kidnappers released their victim after spending three harrowing nights in their den.

A joyful Onoyume, in a text message confirming her release, said, “I announce the safe release of my darling wife, Mrs. Marian Onoyume, who was abducted on Monday. The kidnappers were considerate as they finally stepped down their ransom to N280,000 when they realized I do not have the money as a reporter.

“They said they were misinformed by their linkman about my financial capacity. They were very considerate.

My wife said they were very kindhearted. They had planned to delay the release till 8.00 pm today (Thursday) because of heavy presence of security men in my community and the entire Ethiope-East Local Government Area. “Friends were very supportive. I am grateful to the Saint Mathias Anglican Church, Eku; Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church, Eku; other churches in the community and the Church of the Lord Aladura, Lagos headquarters.

“I am also thankful to my Publisher, Mr. Sam Amuka, aka Uncle Sam, the management and entire Vanguard for the role they played.

PAGE 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

ZONING AND ITS PERILS

T

hat Nigeria was born with great and positive dreams in 1960 is accepted by all. Taking the pulse of the domestic and international opinion in 1960, there was an expectation that Nigeria was going to be a great nation because it had a large population that dwarfed the population of most of the African states, it had vast quantities of natural resources and it had an enlightened elite, that was educated and experienced.

So what happened? How did the dreams of independence become nightmares? How did the Nigerian spring of fresh water become the Nigerian cascade of destructive floods?

The answer is grounded in the failure of leadership. Is this not a contradiction in terms? On the one hand I claim that we had an enlightened elite and on the other hand, I claim a failure of leadership.

Let me explain. The phenomenal growth at the regional level especially after 1954 made Nigeria a nation of First-in-Africa projects, in terms of ring roads, stadia, multi-level cocoa houses, television and radio stations, free education, free health services etc. The Regions competed for development projects among themselves.

The country itself was socially stable. In elementary schools and secondary schools, the children of the rich and the not-so-rich robbed shoulders together. I am not implying that there was no social stratification but it was a stratification based on education more than anything else. The highest stratum of the society was not occupied by the wealthy but by the professional elite. What this meant was that in a generation, the son of a peasant farmer, who got educated, became a member of the elite, even though the parents remained at the bottom of the pile.

But it was a socially stable and secure society.

Let me give you an illustration based on a personal experience. I lived in Ilesa with my parents. When I was admitted to Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, I went by public transportation. My mother would take me to the motor park in Ilesa and hand me over to a lorry driver going to Ife, with instructions to hand me over to another lorry driver going to Ibadan. On reaching Ibadan, that lorry driver was to hand me over to a driver going to Lagos with instructions to drop me off at the Orthopaedic Hospital bus stop. The interesting thing is that the system worked. My mother did not know these drivers personally, but it would never have occurred to any of the drivers to double-cross another driver or my mother by kidnapping me and selling me off. Not only did each driver

political elite were actually acting at cross purposes with the Nigerian people.

By this time, there were Nigerians from the North living peacefully in the South and in fact one of them became the Mayor of Enugu. There were Easterners living in all over the country and taking active part in the politics where they resided, and there were Westerners living outside the West, especially in the North. There were extensive economic relations which had created a network of interlocking relationships in the country. However, in order to achieve electoral relevance, the political elite promoted a system based on antagonistic and a zero sum characteristics, which they believed and led their people, and that is us, to The highest stratum of the society was not occupied by the wealthy but by the professional believe that what one elite group gains was a loss to the other group. Most importantly, there was no faith or believe in the electoral process. Even though it was only Chief Awolowo and his aides who were charged with treasonable felony and convicted, the series of articles in the past few weeks by Odia Ofeinum in Sunday Vanguard titled THE FORGOTTEN DOCUMENTS OF THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR, showed that each political party in Nigeria at that time was training party thugs in camps outside the country, driven by the belief that other parties were going to use armed party thugs against them.

The critical issue is that unless it is a case of a revolution, the expansion is a gradual process into an already estabfulfill his own part of the mission, the ethnic basis. The Northern Peoples lished system, like being admitted into reverse information flow followed in Congress made no pretense about rep- an 100yr old school. In the United that on the return journey, each driver resenting just the North, the National States, only 55 delegates met to draft would confirm his own mission and by Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) the United States Constitution in 1787 the end of the day, my mother would in fairness had a commanding pres- and only 39 delegates signed the Conbe informed by the first leg of the driv- ence in the East and a solid support stitution. Yet that is the Constitution ers that the last leg had delivered me base in the West, while the Action which the United States is still operatsafely.

Group was basically a Western Region- ing over two hundred years later. The While the attempt to build a political ally-based party. Such was the state of constitution was not drawn up as a market place exercise or in a market place atmosphere.

The point which I made earlier about the role of the propertied class is better illustrated by these two quotations from two of the prominent delegates to the Conconsensus was successful, it was only the country that we could not even vention who incidentally went on to beto the extent that the political elite were agree on an accurate census figure that come Presidents of the United States. able to agree on an independence con- the departing colonial British authori“In England, at this day, if elections stitution along very minimum terms. ty which was not neutral in its han- were open to all classes of people, the The mindset of the elite was one of dling of affairs in Nigeria, arbitrarily property of landed proprietors would be mutual suspicion, and of political loy- allocated half of the seats in Parliament alty based on ethnic and primordial to the North.

Continues on page 43 The interesting thing was that the basis. Political parties were rooted on

How a nonentity can make things worse for Nigeria,

by Bolaji Akinyemi

zSpeaks on the danger Nigeria faces

If care is not taken the history of Nigeria would be a history of the best Presidents, Governors, Senators and best judges that Nigeria never had. All it takes is for one nonentity or incompetent to be rigged into office and he or she would ensure that no one better in capability succeeds him in office.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 43

How a nonentity can make things worse for Nigeria,

by Bolaji Akinyemi Continued from page 42 insecure. An agrarian law would soon take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation. Landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority. The Senate, therefore, ought to be this body; and to answer these purposes, they ought to have permanency and stability.”

—James Madison, quoted in Notes of the Secret Debates of the Federal Convention of 1787 by Robert Yates “All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government. Can a democratic assembly, who annually revolve in the mass of the people, be supposed steadily to pursue the public good? Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy.

Their turbulent and uncontroling disposition requires checks.”

—Alexander Hamilton, quoted in Notes of the Secret Debates of the Federal Convention of 1787 by Robert Yates If, at independence, the political elite had reached a broad consensus on the fundamental values that should be the overriding principles of governance in order to make life more abundant for all, t o c a t e r f o r t h e p o o r, t o i n c r e a s e opportunities for all, to provide safety net for the widow and the orphan and to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, between the North and the South and between the haves and the have nots, they would have laid a solid foundation for stability in Nigeria.

They failed to do this and went for broke and this country and all of us are the worst for it. The words of our elders are the words of wisdom: We may know the beginning of an issue, only God knows the end. The first use of the security forces to effect a change in governance in Nigeria was not in January 1966 but in 1962 when a contrived state of emergency was declared in the old Western Region. Not only was the police used to effectively shut down the House of Assembly but if you read the interview granted last year by General Samuel Ogbemudia who led the military detachment that occupied Ibadan during the crisis, he was actually deployed to

the outskirts of Ibadan long before the fracas in the Western House of Assembly. In other words, the Federal Government knew that fracas was going to take place before it did because it was preplanned with the Federal Government.

The State of the Emergency was followed by O p e r a t i o n We t i n t h e West, the military coup of January 1966, the counter coup of July 1966 and of course, the consequent civil war. That declaration

Ofo state of origin is Anambra and therefore the pet i t i o n against her was based on the grounds that she was appointed on the A b i a n * Bolaji Akinyemi ... ‘I have my doubt about some things’ quota and she should have been on Anambra One manifestation of the failure of of emergency in the West, followed by quota.

Oh ye gods, reason has fled from leadership that I need to touch upon the arrest and conviction of Chief men.

I have my doubts as to the legality before I move on is the trivialization of Obafemi Awolowo has been the biggest of the refusal of the Chief Justice of public offices.

It manifests itself in sevfailure of leadership in Nigeria.

Nigeria to swear in Justice Jombo-Ofo That failure of leadership rather than eral ways. The first is the qualification since the power of appointment did not of those running for public offices.

Peothe resulting military regime was what lie with her. I leave that to lawyers to ple who have never been Councilors or destroyed the political system as we Assembly men want to run for the post argue. knew it. The failure of leadership has A Vice-Chancellor candidate for Aho f G o v e r n o r, o r S e n a t o r o r e v e n continued to bedevil the post military President. People without any track madu Bello University who scored the regimes. record in public or business life think highest votes was rejected because he While in little Sierra Leone, debates are nothing of running for Governor or Presheld between Presidential candidates, in ident. Second manifestation is the Nigeria, the Nigerian people have been adoption of the zoning or rotation fort r e a t e d w i t h d i s d a i n b y s i t t i n g mula which dispenses of experience and ANNUAL BREAKDOWN OF Presidents or candidates preferred by emphasizes the turn-by-turn syndrome ILLICIT FINANCIAL FLOWS authorities who refuse to turn up for i r r e s p e c t i v e o f e x p e r i e n c e o r FROM NIGERIA d e b a t e s , b u t p r e f e r t o i n d u l g e i n qualification. All of these would not monologues where the wisdom of their matter if not for the fact that anointed 1970 $2.2million ideas cannot be subjected to withering candidates are usually rigged into office.

1971 $3.8m cross-examination. It is my hope that the If we have free and fair elections, where 1972 $2.7m recent examples in Edo and Ondo states parties can be penalized for fielding 1973 $4.4m where the candidates including the incompetent people, then it would not 1974 $10.5m sitting Governors turn up for television matter whether candidates are imposed 1975 $12.5 and radio debates will be the wave of o r n o t . B u t w h e n i n c o m p e t e n t 1976 $43.7m 1977 $2,098.4m 1978 $$573.4m 1979 $55.4m 1980 $2,789.2m 1981 $1,550.8m 1982 $35.6 1983 $2,301.2m 1984 $165.8m 1985 $3,636.2m 1986 $4,872.8m 1987 $7,460.8m 1988 $1,343.0m 1989 $2,762.1m candidates are imposed, and elections 1990 $7,191.4m the future. a r e r i g g e d t o e n s u r e t h a t t h o s e 1991 $2,984.4m What is even more galling is the hycandidates get into office, it is the entire 1992 $2,383.8m pocrisy shown by ex-Presidents and exnation that pays the price.

1993 $1,674.5m Heads of State who continue to preach Over the years, I have cried out against 1994 $1,861.1 what they did not practice while in ofthe continuation of the concept of 1995 $10.8 fice. How does one explain revelations Federal Character. Years ago, I pointed 1996 $5.3 that from 1960, outflow of funds from out that given the Nigerian penchant for 1997 $2.7 Nigeria had got worse and yet the sanc- absurdity, a time would come when this 1998 $16.9m timonious speeches about anti-corrup- concept of federal character would creep 1999 $2,011.5m tion continue to rent the air. into areas we would never have dreamt 2000 $6,335.8m The figures on the right speak for off. Choice of Vice-Chancellors, Bishops, 2001 $5,463.5m themselves: Judges are now subject to Federal 2002 $5,135.4m character. Just last week, there was an 2003 $9,750.6m episode, disgraceful by all accounts, that 2004 $14,990.8m All of these lead to a total of $217.8 took place within the judiciary. A lady 2005 $18,662.7m billion dollars in round figures. And only j u d g e w h o h a d b e e n c l e a r e d f o r 2006 $23,217.4m God knows what the figures for 2008- appointment to the Court of Appeal was 2007 $34,620.0m 2012 will look like because the financial r e f u s e d h e r a p p o i n t m e n t b e c a u s e 2008 $51,694.6m crimes of succeeding regimes are worse although she is married to an Abian, and than the financial crimes of previous had served Abia State as a Judge for the regimes. past 14 years, the Hon Justice JomboContinues on page 44

If we have free and fair elections, where parties can be penalized for fielding incompetent people, then it would not matter whether candidates are imposed or not

PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

How a nonentity can make things worse for Nigeria, by Bolaji Akinyemi Continued from page 43 was not from the core North which implies that that post had been zoned permanently to the core North.

Apart from these episodic illustrations of Federal Character in its absurdity, I raise a fundamental issue: After fifty years of independence, after about fifty-four to sixty years of the existence of university education in Nigeria, is there any Local Government that cannot lay claim to having produced graduates that we still need to continue to operate a federal system based on quota. Let me make one thing clear. I am not opposed to staff of national institutions reflecting the federal complexities of Nigeria. It is not only immoral but it will amount to political suicide for national institutions to be dominated by any national group. However, enshrining entry and promotion into these institutions on a quota basis irrespective of merit is not only insulting to the national groups whose fate is hinged on quota basis but it imperils the whole nation as no individual or nation which is not challenged to put forward its best foot can achieve greatness.

If care is not taken the history of Nigeria would be a history of the best Presidents, best Governors, and best Senators, and best judges that Nigeria never had. All it takes is for one nonentity or incompetent to be rigged into office and he or she would ensure that no one better in capability succeeds him in office.

THE WAY FORWARD It is obvious from my presentation, that in my own assessment, the way to move Nigeria forward rests with the elite. The Nigerian elite, political, economic, and religious must get together and fashion out a grand consensus.

Let me make it clear, that I am not ad-

an illustration which frighteningly illustrates how the national good is sacrificed for the regional good. Most serious countries in the world disperse their military assets, so that in case of war, the enemy will not be able to take out these assets easily. As a result of policy driven by suspicion, most of the Nigerian strategic and military assets are located on the Zaria-Kaduna axis.

T

*Akinyemi... vocating a consensus to loot the national treasury, that is already taking place. I am not advocating a consen-

his means that a squadron of bombers can take out these assets at one fell swoop and continue its run to Abuja to take out the three arms of government. Then Nigeria would have been made a laughing stock in the world. Why can Nigeria’s strategic and military assets not be distributed all over the country?

This is not the place to dwell on who engineered the fight between Chief Awolowo and his deputy, Chief Akintola. The fact is that it led to the state of emergency, the coup, the counter-coup, the civil war and the deaths of millions.

This is not the place and time to dwell on who engineered the rise of the Ni-

Let me make it clear, that I am not advocating a consensus to loot the national treasury; that is already taking place. I am not advocating a consensus to oppress the poor, the widow and the orphan. That is already taking place sus to oppress the poor, the widow and the orphan. That is already taking place. I am not advocating a consensus based on this zoning, rotation, federal character driven political system.

We already have that and it is not doing us any good.

I am not advocating a consensus based on suspicion, on fear, on antagonizing and on hatred of each other.

That we already have. Let me give you

ger-Delta militants. The fact is that it is the whole of Nigeria that paid dearly for their operations. This is not the place and time to dwell on who engineered the emergence of the Boko Haram. The fact is that we are all paying dearly for their operations.

The lesson to be drawn from all these episodes is that the politics and the lives of Nigerians have become so intertwined that what affects one affects

all.

The consensus that I seek is one where the elite will emphasize policies and values that emphasize unity, not disunity, values that seek to protect the poor, the orphans and the widows; values that lay less emphasis on religious differences but more on the positive values which are the same in every religion. I call for values that lay less emphasis on greed and corruption even if only out of enlightened selfinterest because a system that cannot save the many who are poor cannot save the few who are rich. The Dangote plc advertised for truck drivers and got 3,000 applicants with first degrees, 700 applicants with second degrees and six applicants with Ph.D degrees. That is not a Nigeria that can long survive especially if that is juxtaposed with the excessive looting of the national wealth by both the political and the economic elite.

The Nigeria of our dreams should be a Nigeria without the indecent flaunting of wealth. I will shock you by this statement. Nigeria is a country that can sustain a corruption level of 10% and still care for the needs of its population. But what is the point of less than five hundred thousand people cornering 95% of the national wealth only to squander it on private jets, exotic cars and mansions which they will never use. Just a primitive acquisition of wealth.

Nigeria can be better than this, much, much better.

BEING EXCERPTS OF A PUBLIC LECTURE IN HONOUR OF THE 40TH YEAR IN THE MINISTRY OF PASTOR AYO ORITSEJAFOR AND THE 25TH JUBILEE WORD FESTIVAL 2012, WARRI, NIGERIA. AKINYEMI IS A PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND DIPLOMACY AND FORMER MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

‘Ex-Gov Ali Sheriff is a victim of Boko Haram’

By Lekan Bilesanmi

A

lhaji Umaru Duhu, Adamawa State chairman of the All Ni geria Peoples Party, ANPP, is defending a former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, over his alleged links with Boko Haram.

Duhu speaks on the origin of the sect, and absolves his party man in this encounter. Excerpts: The BOT chairman of your party, the ANPP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, was alleged to be a sponsor of Boko Haram.

He has not made a public statement on that. Can you give us an insight into his thoughts?

It is rather unfortunate that the name of our respected party leader is being peddled as having links with the Boko Haram sect, even when it is common knowledge that he is the group’s number one target. The allegation is not a new thing. Some other people have made in the past insinuated same. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has not deemed it nec-

at their disposal very vital inessary to join issues with the embatformation beyond what you tled senator who has been ranting and I have. The Inspector in the past few weeks, because he General of Police has said knows that the man is only playthey are making investiing the ostrich. In the fullness of gations. I am aware the time, the truth about the whole State Security Service is matter will be known. The JTF, doing its own part of the which arrested the suspected kingjob. The JTF on ground pin, is in a better position to tell may have their own findthe world in whose house they made ings, even as some citizens the arrest. I agree with you that Senmay volunteer facts. I ator Ali Modu Sheriff has been viram sure if we tually on trial by the media are patient over the issue of Boko enough, the Haram. I also agree that real perpetrasome people are bent on Alhaji Umaru Duhu tors may not rubbishing his integrity, have too long to using the Boko Haram issue. I think it is rather unfortunate that hide from the hands of justice. But I want people find it convenient to trivialize a Nigerians to be fair to Ali Sheriff, by alvery serious security challenge by play- lowing security operatives to do the job, ing politics with it. Some are pointing and not subject him to trial on the pages accusing fingers at others instead of de- of newspapers.

As somebody close to Sheriff, would fending their culpability, anytime our security operatives come close to bursting you say he is capable of supporting the case. The Federal Government is not Boko Haram, and what becomes of his sleeping over the matter, and they have celebrated ECOMOG militia?

What many people do not understand is that Boko Haram did not start during Ali Modu Sheriff’s tenure as governor.

It is a phenomenon that developed over time since around 1995. I have heard people propounding theories that Boko Haram metamorphosed from local political militia. One needs to look at the sophistication and modus operandi of Boko Haram to know that it is one group that does not operate on frivolities. Unlike the political thugs, who are often ragtag, Boko Haram appears more organized. It has been easy distinguishing between Boko Haram and political assassinations because of the caliber of people being targeted. Ali Sheriff has lost his own blood brother, his cousin, three of his most intimate friends, his party men, the governorship candidate of his party and many other associates, while all those trying to link him with the issue have not lost even the dogs in their houses. It is illogical to associate a man, who from all ramifications, is a victim with sponsorship of the same group that has traumatized him.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 45

chimeena@yahoo.com 08026350360

My vision is to awaken society’s sensibility to barbarities in Niger Delta —Enewaridideke

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kanpou Enewaridideke is a vociferous writer and a committed apostle of the Niger Delta struggle for self determination. As a writer, he has directed his huge creative talent to the exploration of the various strands of alleged injustices meted against his poorly developed but oil rich region. He has carried out this campaign through the genres of prose fiction, poetry and lately, drama. Recently, he published his award winning drama, The Wanted Man in Camp Four, which explores the Niger Delta Youths armed struggle against the State and multinational oil prospecting companies. In this interview, the literary activist talks about his dramatic vision and how he has appropriated this vision around his Ijaw mythological world view.

From the blurb of the play, it is gathered that your mission as a playwright is to explore the Niger Delta Struggle through the activities of the armed activist. This dramatic focus as explained, is on the Niger Delta. But in the course of the dialogue between Polo, the Goc, the negotiators for the abducted expatriates, the argument is further reduced to Ijaw struggle. How can you explain this dramatic revision? ..the detructible sustainability of my vision in the exploration of the Niger Delta struggle through the activities of armed activist, the movement between and across both specific and general territories is both an artistic and historical necessity and reality.

The vision loses its authentic conceptual orbit without this movement across the two territories figuratively evoked or implied here.

The Niger Delta is home to multitudinous nationalities defined by their own treasured codes of existence.

Among the various nationalities, a particular ethnic nationality claims the revolutionary task to purge itself of deprivation which has become the archetypal character in the entire Niger Delta region. Polo fearlessly wears the revolutionary garment and Polo is an Ijaw by extraction. Though the play centres on the Niger Delta

struggle, for the purpose of historical authenticity and artistic realism, the personality and the nationality that lead the Niger Delta struggle must be clearly identified and artistically foregrounded. Identifying Polo as the incarnation of the Niger Delta struggle does not give my vision a questionable reductionist colour but rather it rightly dignifies, deifies, beatifies and celebrates the heroism of Polo, the armed activist who is artistically located as an Ijaw man in my play as a solid platform for reproduction of many POLOS whenever the Federal Government of Gogi is gripped by that psychopathic fever of destruction, recession and regression to the inglorious days.

Don’t you think that your dramatic effort is self-contradictory when viewed from the dialogue among Polo, his parents Dapolo and Mapolo and the boys when he tries to explain to them that the option for armed struggle is as a result of the failure of intellectual struggle?

Polo’s pronouncement that his recourse to the armed struggle owes its indebtedness to the failure of the intellectual struggle is contextual and therefore explicable. The intellectual struggle, which is the first phase of the Niger Delta struggle, reawakens Polo to the realities in his environment. This nourishment forms the breeding ground for the germination of Polo’s revolutionary vision as he becomes imbued with the capability to locate his rights and entitlements in the emerging drama of deprivation in his oil-rich territory.

In the provision of the diet of awareness-nourishment, the intellectual struggle assumes noble and laudable colour of success, but in the area of production of corresponding degree of responsiveness and sensitivity to the practical dictates of the Niger Delta Struggle, the intellectual struggle unhesitatingly takes a flight to the

Enewaridideke

,

How can you explain the Revolutionary vision embodied in your play, The Wanted Man in Camp Four?

For a people preternaturally exploited, degraded, devastated but desirous of return to their glorious space designed for them from the cradle, it is natural that some form of metamorphosis, transmogrification revolutionally achievable must claim the historical space and assert itself as a PROGRESSIVE CATHARSIS for all the hitherto inherent wrongs, misconceptions, inhibitions, dislocation, devaluation, barbarities and indignities.

Among the various nationalities, a particular ethnic nationality claims the revolutionary task to purge itself of deprivation which has become the archetypal character in the entire Niger Delta region

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sandbank of failure on brittle wings.

It is the inclination of the intellectual struggle towards the production and perpetuation of result-vacuum continuum that Polo’s armed struggle becomes a preferred practical route.

This result-vacuum continuum credited to the intellectual struggle does not deprive it of its indestructible glorious historical space in the Niger Delta Struggle. The intellectual struggle is amoebic and timeless in look. The intellectual struggle can feature in any chosen part of a general struggle. It can feature in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. In case of the Niger Delta struggle, the intellectual struggle features in the beginning and

disappears, and then features alongside the armed struggle and then features stubbornly after the homeward sail of the armed struggle. Selfcontradiction has no place in my dramatic efforts. if your position is not contradictory, how would you explain your intervention as a literary playwright?

Man-made undulations created and sadistically perpetuated by revolting institutions provoke a revolutionary illumination. It is the responsibility of artists to chronicle the successes and the failures of revolutionary illumination credited to extraordinary beings fired by a zeal to reform their societies in positive dimensions no matter the questionability of the preferred mechanism and reawaken mankind to their barbarities, obscenities and commendable ethos or codes of peaceful co-existence. Upon this platform, man is brought back to the path of sanity where valuable lessons are internalised for a better society. As a playwright I consider it my sacred responsibility to awaken the societies to the barbarities that once accompany the Niger Delta Struggle bearing in mind the wilful causative agents so that they can be shocked into transformation and stave off reoccurrence. My intervention as a playwright is still within the province of the intellectual struggle which is timeless and endless unlike the armed struggle which has a clear destination and time. The writer takes up emerging issues in their varying colours and challenges and therefore must parrot like a parrot but on a defined territory far away from the

Continues on page

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

In Missouri, Scholars map strategy for Africa’s Development

BY MCPHILIPS NWACHUKWU FESTIVAL

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he three day international conference on the theme, Africa and the Diaspora in the New Millennium held at the University of Missouri, St Louis, United States of America by the Centre for Black African Art and Civilisation ( CBAAC) in conjunction with E Desmond Lee Endowed Professorship of African/ African-American Studies and International Studies Program at the University of Missouri- St. Louis and Pan African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG) Nigeria has come and gone. But the memory will linger for a long time.

This particular programme came at the right time. It did not only come on the eve of America’s election that brought an African American, Hussein Obama to power a second time, but at a time when the issue of America’s foreign policy relationship with Africa has become a raving debate.

The choice of America for this year’s conference is also very apt when viewed from the historic role that America as the flagship of the new world played in the inglorious human trade that led to the shipment of many black sons and daughters as slaves the new world.

When it is said that the Diaspora th blacks make up Africa’s 6 continent, it is rightly believed that over 80% of the citizens of this Africa’s Diaspora continent live in America. The idea behind the conference therefore is anchored on the need to harness the immense potential deriving from this relationship for the mutual development of Africans at home and Africans in the Diaspora.

“Our decision to organize a conference around this theme is informed by the need to address the challenges and opportunities created by the phenomenon of global linkages and transnational networks that impact and shape identities, cultural heritages and relationships between Africans and the people of African descents worldwide.”, said Babawale, Director General of CBAAC in his welcome address.

This salvaging mission to God’s own country of America by CBAAC and its partners has become the defining a programme since the inception of agenda setting Director, Babawale.

This mission of reclaiming of Diaspora blacks has equally been taken to the twin cities of Rio de Janeiro and Bahai in Brazil as well as in Trinidad and Tobago.

The success of this intellectual braining storming which brings together the best of scholars from different academic disciplines from across Africa, Europe, Caribbean , South and North America has since begun to yield encouraging results.

It is suspected in many quarters that the level of economic and diplomatic ties that Nigeria has today attained with Brazil can not be divorced from the two productive conferences held

,

Guest at the events

The choice of America for this year’s conference is also very apt when viewed from the historic role that America as the flagship of the new world played in the inglorious human trade

,

in Brazil which resulted in the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries in areas of economic, technical, educational and cultural cooperation.

Against the background of previous CBAAC’s achievements from these conferences and the continued need to harness the huge professional human and capital resources of Africans in the Diaspora for the development of home continent, the three days meeting took time to reengage issues of under development, racism and xenophobia.

After the three day of scholarly brain storming, a communiqué was issued , which recommended the following measures: “Those activist scholars, civil society organizations and the press should critically re-engage African governments to make them proactive, transformational and accountable to their people. Scholars should deepen their knowledge about typically African epistemology and employ African systems of thought to provide explanations for Social Science issues of development and democracy in Africa.

That African intellectuals, research

institutes, cultural agencies, public intellectuals, mass media and engaged individuals should design an Afro centric model for the creation of a supra national consciousness based on the intrinsic values of African culture to provide a counter discourse to the existing ideology of racial inequality, stigmatization and intolerance.

That in view of the failure of existing methodology, the UN should bring activities associated with the declaration of 2011 as the International Year of People of African Descent and decade following, away from the cozy conference rooms to the public domains in Africa and the Diaspora.

That existing linkages between Africa institutions and their counterparts in the Diaspora should be strengthened and deepened to

promote a better understanding of African social realities.

That the African Union should create opportunities for Africa and Diaspora cooperation to address contemporary problems of HIV/AIDS, public health challenges and youth empowerment, gender matters and not just money remittances.”

Many important dignitaries and scholars that graced the occasion include; Professor Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States of America, High Chief Edem Duke, Honourable Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Professor Niyi Coker of the University of Missouri, St Louis, Cave Hill from Barbados and Professor Union Edebri, for Director General of CBAAC and Professor Sir Hillary Beckley.

My vision is to awaken society’s sensibility Niger Delta.. Enewaridideke Continued from page 45 revolting touch of accusatory fingers of self-contradiction as an interventionist dramatist.

Though, there is a lull in the Niger Delta struggle presently. Are you not disturbed that the play might expose you to danger in the light of clarity of insights provided about the operational secrets of the militants?

The insights rather reinforce and authenticate the realistic picture artistically painted about the Niger Delta struggle and alert the government to the dangers of militarily engaging genuine freedom activists without justification because Egbesu, the invisible counselor but visible to the psychic, will always come to the aid of genuine activists when the circumstances demand it.

How did you research this story

and what are the challenges that confronted you in the course of your research?

The intellectual struggle exists side by side with the armed struggle.

Writers have their functions and armed activists have their functions too. I have always been part of the Niger Delta struggle intellectually and so I do not find it difficult to commit to paper what I have always been part of in my own territory where I earn a living.

Can we talk about Egbesu as a dramatic vision?

We cannot talk about Egbesu as a dramatic vision because I do not understand your anchor here. But to talk about Egbesu as the god that inspires the armed activists and guide them gingerly on mystically codified ethos of war to victory at war, I am prepared. However, you need to explain to me what you mean by

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 47

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Reforming the Unreformable:

he Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hotel was on Tuesday 30th October besieged by the creme-de la-creme of the Nigerian and African society. It was a case of a rare feat that can only be achieved by a rare gem.

Considering the calibre of people seated, led by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, a handfull of former and serving Ministers, Elder Statesmen, Senators, Honourable members, State Governors or their representatives, Captains of industries and members of the diplomatic corps among others, one could have mistaken the event for some political get together where politics and politicking was to be the subject of the day, but no.

Guests at the event The well attended event, which drew friends, families, colleagues, well us as Nigerians to tell the Nigerian wishers and probably foes of Nigeria’s stories ourselves, to ourselves and to Coordinating Minister of Economy the rest of the world; rather than wait and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi for foreigners to help us tell our story.

Okonjo–Iweala, from within and “It occurs to me that, it is about time outside the shores of Nigeria was the we tell our own story. We need to tell public presentation and launching of them so that we can learn from the her much awaited book, ‘Reforming mistakes of the past. We need to learn the Unreformable: Lessons from from the mistakes of our reform efforts Nigeria’. so as not to repeat them. I wrote this The Motivation book, and do hope that people would Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is a world class read it and capture the spirit of the and highly revered economist. One reform because Nigeria can be who has risen to the pinnacle of her transformed. She said. career to become the Managing The Minister went further to explain Director of the World Bank, from where that the book was written in part to she returned for a second stint as her honour the work done by the Economic country’s Minister of Finance.

Management Team during the Speaking at the event, Dr. Okonjo- Obasanjo administration. “They put in Iweala said she was motivated to write a lot of work. What they did should the book out the desire, and need for not be lost”, she said.

belief that Nigeria’s political and economic institutions can never be reformed.

The President noted that the book’s central message of hope was appropriate at this point of the country’s history and that Nigeria, long given up by cynics as an entity averse to reform, can actually be transformed into one of the most dynamic economies in the world.

Earlier Professor Paul Collier, one of the three guest reviewers described the book as an appropriate prism for understanding Nigeria’s economy in the present and the future. On the book’s greatest legacy, he said learning from failure was fundamental to reforming success and that Nigeria needed to build and consolidate an agenda of reform integrity.

He said the book was timely in documenting the successes and challenges of the Economic Management Team and in explaining the basis for the groundbreaking structural, macroeconomic and reform agendas it pursued with such results as debt relief and the setting up of the Excess Crude Account.

In his opening remark as the chairman of the ocassion, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former Secretary of the Commonwealth amongs other comments and analysis, attested to the readabilty of the book when he said “For an economist, I couldnt but commend her effort for sheving the usual technical language we are all use to, the book was done in a readable prose.”

For the South African Minister of Finance, Mr. Pravin Gordhan, the book threw up a familiar and universal theme. “Reforming the unreformable is a familiar theme for Africa and the rest of the world. So what this book reminds us of is that no change occur as a result of inactions, but deliberate and strategic actions of a people and govertment.”

Telling the Nigerian Story, by Jerry Adesewo

y to barbarities in the talking about Egbesu as a dramatic vision because the picture of Egbesu created in THE WANTED MAN IN CAMP FOUR is the indivisible, inviolate, indestructible purified truth which is mystically verifiable if you have the corresponding psychic capability associated with mysticism.

What kind of mythological and cultural aesthetics do you intend to achieve by infusing the god head of Egbesu in your dramatic exploration of your struggle?

Egbesu is the god of just war that glories in destruction and construction. Egbesu does not take on destruction journey without a purpose; he travels only when justifiably provoked. Justifiable provocation strengthens the destructive capabilities of Egbesu but even at that, he is guided by the prospect of reconstruction which comes after the retreat of the howling wind of destruction. Egbesu’s dance

of destruction is not limited to the oppressive institutions; his own worshippers or believers who violate the codes of conduct are correspondingly dealt with.

Depending on the gravity of the contravention, the believers who go to war are either punished with death from the enemy’s bullets or fractionally wounded. For unfailing enjoyment of Egbesu’s protective benediction at war, believers will have to embrace abstinence from women, stealing, lies, dishonesty, murder, bloodletting and any kind of vices. With the infusion of Egbesu into my play, the public is awakened to the fact that Egbesu is a god of virtue, a god of just war, a god of truth, a god that destroys to rebuild and reconstruct, a god of justice that punishes justly, a god that inspires activists to effect positive change in the society, a god that is nondiscriminatory in the apportioning of blame, a god that rescues oppressed people from suffocating claws of dictatorship.

,

Reforming the unreformable... will no doubt be a success, not just as a reader’s choice but as a reference book on governance, economy, debt relief and reform among others

,

The Book For a wife, a mother, a grandmother and working woman, the book; Reforming the Unreformable is an excellent piece of work. Great in quality and rich in content.

The eight chaptered book dedicated to the author ’s grand-daughter, ‘adorable Adaora’ captured some very important aspects of Nigeria’s recent past, especially the reform effort of the Obasanjo administration of which the author played a pivotal role.

Putting it in the words of Bono, a humanitarian, activist and musician; “the book is intended to force open our eyes to the complexities of political life in Nigeria. “It is an essential guidebook for reformers everywhere.”

One Book Various Opinions Though not many people got the opportunity to speak, lest it become political as no doubt, politicians will always cease every available opportunity to impress; but those who did justified the opportunity given to them as they all speaking on the same book but from different perspective testify to the the quality of the book.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo said the book effectively refutes the popular

Behold the book With the formal public presentation of the book by elder statesman, Chief Sonny Odogwu, who did an excellent job of causing all the guests reeling in laughter and applauding at the same time, as in analysing the cover design, he said unequivocally that “anyone who tries to prevent Nigeria from beign reformed, will be devoured by this lion here.’

Reforming the unreformable... will no doubt be a sucess, not just as a reader’s choice but as a reference book on governance, economy, debt relief and reform among others.

The reception for the book was great, as guests after guests announce number of copies they want shipped to them and others who are more politically concious announced their launch, in hundreds of thousands and millions of Naira.

No doubt, it is not only the publishers and Madam Ngozi that will smile to the bank but flood disaster currently ravaging Nigeria.

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Boko Haram: OUK as unsung hero

BY EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The merit in a former governor’s offer to mediate Boko Haram talks.

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RJI Uzor Kalu, also known as OUK, is a former governor of Abia State from 1999 to 2007 before he reportedly installed his successor who later defected from the Peoples Progressives Alliance, PPA, that produced him to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Kalu is the founder of the PPA which incidentally, also in 2007, produced the governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, who also left for ‘greener pastures’ in the PDP but lost at the 2011 election to the All Progressive Grand Alliance candidate, Chief Rochas Anayochukwu Okorocha.

Although the PPA later suffered monumental political setbacks in the South East, the fact that the party that was barely one year of registration could achieve such a political milestone of winning two states in the 2007 governorship election is a testimony to the

political sagacity, acumen and the energetic approach to politics that was brought to bear by the founder and his team.

For some inexplicable reasons, Kalu, who vied to represent his people in the Sen-

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Kalu said his decision to offer his services to bring about lasting peace was because the majority of Nigerians who have lost their lives and livelihood are from the south eastern part of Nigeria

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ate, during the 2011 elections, was rigged out by the political machinery of the ruling PDP which was bent on producing the winners of all the elective positions to score cheap political victory in Abia State.

Unperturbed by this profanity that was carefully couched as hire wire conspiracy, Kalu

has proceeded with his legitimate chain of business activities which he left to contest the governorship position which he won by landslide in the 1999 election.

OUK has remained a consistent patriot who is unhappy that his country has slide into anarchy, lawlessness, terror-related violence and is now in a state of anomie.

He has severally proffered workable intellectual and pragmatic panaceas to the challenges of insecurity, poverty and corruption which confront Nigeria.

His latest intervention is his acceptance to mediate in the ongoing terror-related killings in the North on the delegation of the Federal Government to dialogue with Boko Haram.

A self acclaimed commander of the dreaded insurgents had two weeks ago listed some terms of possible truce with government which included the appointment ofa former Head of State General Muhammadu Buhari as the head of the team from the Islamic rebels to engage in talks with government.

IBuhari has turned down the offer to mediate in the proposed dialogue. He (Buhari) stated that he does not know

any member of the group and that he completely dissociates himself from the murderous terrorism of the group which has claimed several thousands of lives.

But in a surprise move, the former Abia State governor, who grew up in Maiduguri, Borno State, the hot bed of the ongoing religious insurgency, has offered to be part of government delegation to dialogue with the insurgents should government accept to enter into dialogue.

Kalu said his decision to offer his services to bring about lasting peace was because the majority of Nigerians who have lost their lives and livelihood are from the south eastern part of Nigeria.

He also applauded Buhari’s rejection of his “appointment”

by Boko Haram on the grounds that most Nigerians would misconstrue Buhari’s acceptance to mean that he was the arrow head of the violent insurgency.

It could be recalled that the terrorist attacks increased with the release of the 2011 presidential election in which Buhari lost to the incumbent.

In making his offer to mediate, OUK said he is in a position to marry the feelings of

both the victims and the perpetrators to bring about lasting peace.

In my humble opinion, there is the need for peace to return to the volatile northern region.

I believe that the Federal Government has failed to carry out the primary constitutional duty of protecting lives and property by abysmally failing to put to an end the growing armed violent insurgency in Northern Nigeria.

I do also view the offer of mediation by the former governor of Abia State as historic, salutary and heroic. Government is hereby advised to weigh this option comprehensively in the best interest of Nigeria.

Government must put an end to all forms of support for terrorism.

In his beautiful book “There was a country ”, Professor Achebe stated rightly that the Federal government is guilty of tolerating terrorism.

This vicious cycle of terrorism and government’s conspiratorial incapacity to resolve it must stop. *Onwubiko is head, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria blogsp@www.huriwa.blogspot.com.

Nigeria: The Imperative for a new constitution(1)

BY SEGUN OLANIPEKUN VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF If Nigeria must develop, it should recognise the diversity of her people

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S an adult Nigerian, who has traversed the length and breadth of the country more than twice and had lived in different locations, I am of the opinion that many of the contemporary problems confronting Nigeria could be solved through genuine appreciation of our differences rather than pretending to be one nation, one people, under one roof. This may sound culturally incorrect to pretenders and shenanigans in the corridor of power but do not get me wrong. This opening statement is not a call to disintegration but a wakeup call to work out new modalities for peaceful co-existence in a culturally diverse and religiously bigoted country.

Some examples of these socio-cultural dichotomies may suffice to validate my claim.

Between 1986 and 1989, I lived in Sokoto, the seat of the caliphate, as head of opera-

tions of one of the Federal Government agencies. The then Sokoto State today comprises Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states. It was during that time, coupled with extensive duty tours, that I practically knew that every major town with traditionally large Muslim population in the core North is partitioned into two, along cultural, social and religious divides. You have the traditional (ancient) cities and the Sabongari, the latter for strangers, mostly non-natives, predominantly people of different religious tendencies.

For instance, if you are visiting from the southern part of the country or you are a nonMuslim, it is most likely you find out that your relation or friend dwells in Sabongari, and might have never crossed into the other side of town. For your social outings, the only ‘safe’ place would probably be the same Sabongari, especially at the ubiquitous and popularMammy market, pitched within or close to the military barracks in virtually all these towns.

Also, I had been to several towns in the eastern part of the country from Mgbidi to Avutu, from Yakur to Makurdi to know the overwhelming differences in our diversity. For instance, there was this particu-

lar night in 1993 that our team got to Calabar, a serene city, clean as a whistle. Members of our team were, as we say, ‘hungry badly’ after a long, grueling travel, so we decided to visit a popular restaurant, whose owner courteously agreed to prepare some-

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Are we not busy squandering opportunities at nationbuilding and engaging in creating notorieties as one of the most corrupt and poorest nations on earth?

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thing special for us in spite of the fact that we had arrived so late into the night. We were as grateful as he was kind of eager to give us his best cuisine.

However, when the main course was served, and midway into our voracious munching, we discovered to our cha-

grin that the so-called ‘special meal’ had been served with dog meat ‘stuff ’ that most of us abhorred. The consequent irritation was so much that most members of the team nearly vomited their intestines. Though, we were later told that the dog meat we abhorred was a prized delicacy in the area and that the restaurateur had sincerely, specially spiced it for our enjoyment. The psychological pain the incident inflicted on some of us then could be better imagined than felt. It was a case of cuisine blunder with significant cultural undertone.

Then, there is this third example of our cultural dilemma as a nation. Again, during my stay in Sokoto, a prominent prince of the town once told me that a major problem about Nigerian integration was the absence of a coalesced vision for the country, or what could be called a Nigerian vision or dream. Nigeria, to him, constitutes three large geo-ethnic groups with different visions of nationhood and varied pathways to get to their destinations. According to him, the core North (Hausa/Fulani) emulates a country like Saudi Arabia, while the western part, with its culturally proud ethnicities (Yoruba/Edo) desires to stand out like France in Eu-

rope, flaunting its cultural ego. The eastern part, especially the Igbo population, believes that its republican roots are good enough to make it the Taiwan or South Korea of Africa. “These are divergent value systems waiting to be fused into one vision,” he stated.

Regrettably, the prince noted, no leader or institution was making any attempt to attend to this important assignment of creating a single vision out of the variegated mural called Nigeria.

Today, the dysfunctional state of the country reaffirms the fact that the doubt expressed by the Sokoto prince more than 20 years ago is still haunting us as a nation. His question is still pertinent and is broadening by the day: Are we building structures to identify our different identities, strengthen our weaknesses and reinforce our strengths? Are we not busy squandering away opportunities at nation-building and engaging in creating notorieties as one of the most corrupt and poorest nations on earth?

Olanipekun, a Ph.D holder, can be reached on soacom11@gmail.com (Also you can read author’s http:// profile @: w w w. s o a s s o c i a t e s . c o m / index.php/profile/bio-data

Contribution of not more than 800 words should be sent to sundayvanguard@yahoo.com

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012, PAGE 49

VIEWPOINT

BY BEN NANAGHAN

The need for a government strong team in the proposed dialogue with the insurgent group.

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N November 1, 2012 the dreaded Islamic fundamentalist organization “Ahlan Sunnah Lid Da’Waati Wal Jihad Yaanaa”, also known as Boko Haram, offered the olive branch through its second-in-command, Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, in a telephone conference chat with journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The faceless criminal also revealed that Boko Haram was now ready to lay down their arms and dialogue with the Federal Government. According to him, the sect’s number one commander and national leader, Imam Shekau, had approved five top shots of the sect to dialogue with government.

The fundamentalists did not stop there. They handed over to the Federal Government a very stringent list of conditions and a well considered list of ‘trusted’ Nigerians who they would like to dialogue with on the federal bench. In other words, Boko Haram wants the Federal Government delegation to the conference of peace to include only “trusted” Nigerians who are allegedly sympathetic to their cause including their legal advisers, Mrs Aisha Alkali Wakil and her husband as well as Gen.

Boko Haram: The dialogue option Muhammadu Buhari.

The dialogue snare by Boko Haram is a ploy to hoodwink both Nigerians and the Presidency into believing that the war is over. On the contrary, the sect is restrategising for a more deadly phase of their operation which they aim to achieve by playing the angel to diplomatically counterforce the Federal Government into releasing hundreds of their terrorism experts who are presently languishing in prison. The plan is to up the ante to finally frighten Jonathan out of the 2015 presidential race.

During the tenure of President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua

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VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

grouped and reorganized his Islamist fundamentalist gang.

One thing the Federal Government must realize is that Boko Haram has infiltrated the highest echelon of government. I therefore believe that any government official of northern origin who is trying to convince the Presidency of the sincerity of the sect is a Boko Haramist himself. Even though I am on the side of dialogue, government must be very circumspect and cautious in dealing with Boko Haram which I am convinced is only interested in the release of their hard core criminal jihadists in federal jailhouses.

A glance at the Boko Haram conditionalities shows a thin veil of gross insincerity and undeniable deception

in 2009, Boko Haram fooled government into releasing all their members in prison. After the release, the Federal Government was left high and dry while Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram leader then, re-

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A glance at the Boko Haram conditionalities shows a thin veil of gross insincerity and undeniable deception.

Boko Haram also compounded matters by choosing the venue of the proposed dia-

logue. Their choice is Saudi Arabia which till date bears acrimony against Nigeria for having a Christian president.

The era of cold war between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia started immediately after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua.

Another condition for dialogue is the rebuilding of all mosques destroyed by the Joint Task Force (JTF) during their operation to flush out these jihadists from their hideouts. They also charged the Federal Government to compensate them for all their colleagues who have fallen during this mad jihadist crusade.

But unfortunately no mention was made of the thousands of Christians and their churches that have been lost to the insanity of Boko Haram.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan himself has welcomed the dialogue plan only if it will bring peace to the nation. But my humble advice to the president is that the Boko Haram peace initiative will never bring peace to this country. It will rather strengthen the sect from their jailed experts who will be released by the Federal Government. It will give them more gusto and vista to pursue their nefarious activities. It will give them more bounce and more bite.

Before 2011, Boko Haram

was a ragtag army with daggers and locally made guns as their main arsenal.

But even before the president’s victory, some defeated northern presidential candidates openly declared in the full glare of national television that they would make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan if he won. This appears to have given birth to Boko Haram And before, during and after the April 2011 election, arms were shipped into this country to fight this Jihad.

Today, Boko Haram uses improvised explosive devices (IEDS), bazookas, AK47 rifles, bombs and also an armoury that will make a national army green with envy.

Today’s Boko Haram allies with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb. All these connections were made by these politicians who are watching from the sideline with big money.

Those who tout the tale that Boko Haram emanated from social deprivations, and joblessness should know that there is more abject poverty in the creeks of the Niger Delta than anywhere else in the world. There is poverty all over Nigeria. Poverty and infrastructural collapse is not the special preserve of the North.

It is a malaise which unfortunately spreads through the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

However, in the event of dialogue, the Federal Government must present a very strong team and must insist on including the sect’s sponsors on their delegation.

Going to dialogue with the Boko Haram without their political and military sponsors would be an exercise in futility. *Ben Nanaghan bennanaghan@yahoo.com

All eyes on Monye deliberate on the Deltan to fit into the big shoes of the governor in 2015.

The group recommended in strong terms that any person aspiring to become the next governor of the state must be armed with not being with exhibited impunity, violation of the rule of law, the sanctity of electoral process and who

BY EMMA FEJOKWU

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF A professor in hot contention for the Delta top job

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HE need for every true lover of peace, trans parency and good leadership to look inwards towards ensuring that committed persons are voted into political office come 2015 cannot be over emphasized.

Though the year 2015 seems to be a bit far from now, it will however not be out of place if the electorate of all segments should begin now to harmonise their findings towards credible personalities to lead them.

A lot of expectations and promises are gradually gathering momentum by individual politicians who have slowly indicated interest to contest in one of the top political positions.

In Delta State, the struggle geared towards electing the next governor in 2015 from a cross section of persons especially those of the Delta North

Prof. Sylvester Monye is on.

While the struggle is on, this writer took time off to interact with not only the people of Anioma extraction, but also other ethnic nationalities of Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw, Isoko etc to know their stand on who becomes the next governor of Delta. Though a very handful of persons were of the opinion that every qualified Deltan inspective of ethnicity should be allowed to contest, majority of the electorate including those in Diaspora are of the opinion that if it must be an Anioma, the governorship contestant must have all it takes including being highly recognized.

Recently, a group comprising intellectuals, professionals, politicians, civil society and human rights activists met to

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Apart from being the Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit, State House, Monye is a member, Economic Management Team (EMT)

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plays politics without principles thereby posing a major challenge to the political process.

One man who stands tall

amongst those who have so far indicated their interest to contest for the governorship position of Delta State in 2015 is Prof. Sylvester Monye, currently the Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation.

Monye, who hails from Onicha-Ugbo in Aniocha-North local government area of Delta State, is indeed a rare gem and gift to humanity as he has continued to use his positions to empower many and give hope to the despondent.

This unassuming, self made and result oriented fellow has always used his profession and God’s gift to work assiduously for the unity of our nation and the welfare of the people especially the vulnerable.

Apart from being the Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit, State House, Monye is a member, Economic Management Team (EMT); member, Economic Management Implementation, Team (EMIT); and chairman, Presidential Committee on Ports Reforms.

Prior to these national assignments, he was the Executive Secretary, National Planning Commission (NPC), Secretary, National Economic Council (NEC), Director, Internation-

al Economic Relations, Federal Ministry of Finance, Board Director, Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS), member, Governing Council, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and member, Governing Board, National Hospital, Abuja.

He was the Alternative Governor for Nigeria OPEC Fund for International Development, Board Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Alternate Director for Nigeria at the AFREXIM Bank, Director, Marketing and Promotion, Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Special Assistant to the Presidential Envoy on Conflict Resolution while he also served on numerous ad-hoc Federal Government and state commissions on a range of issues such as the excess crude account, the taskforce on CHOGM and the Vision 20:2020 Council since 2003.

Monye has the capacity to lead the people of Delta to greater heights and use his vast connection to attract more development to the state if given the opportunity in the 2015 governorship race. *Fejokwu, a media consultant, lives in Asaba, Delta State.

PAGE 50 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

BRIEFLY......BRIEFLY......

TREM hosts Kingdom Life World confab

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THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS

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NE day, as I was reading Jesus’ Sermon of the Mount yet again, I suddenly heard the Lord say to me, deep within my spirit-man: “Femi, the end justifies the means.” What does this have to do with the beatitudes? Can we, should we, justify the end by the means? Is it godly to do so? I decided to search the scriptures for the answer.

Immediately, the whole thing opened to me like a book. I discovered that, in the kingdom of God, the end always justifies the means.

Does this mean it is okay to rob a bank, as long as you succeed?

Yes; that is precisely what it means. But there is a catch-22. It is impossible to rob a bank successfully. No matter who we are; we are all going to answer to God for our actions and inactions. Therefore, if we were to rob a bank we might escape the detection of men; but we cannot escape the judgment of God. David thought he had killed Uriah, married his wife, Bathsheba, and gone scotfree. But nine months later, Prophet Nathan showed up to inform him God saw it all. All evil is done in the sight of God. There is no escape for the wicked.

Wisdom of serpents Jesus says: “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8).

When the sons of this world have an objective, they go to any lengths to achieve it. Tell them to bury five hundred cows and they will do it. Tell them to bring the foreskins of one hundred Philistines and, like David, they are likely to bring two hundred in order to make assurance doubly sure. Tell them to sleep with ten prostitutes possessed by legions of demons and they will obey.

Paradoxically, God

It is okay to rob a bank, as long as you succeed likes this kind of people. They have the raw materials the Holy Spirit can readily work with. They are the ones likely to remove the roof of a building in order to get to Jesus. They are the riff-raff, like blind Bartimaeus, who refuse to keep quiet until they get Jesus’ attention.

Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12). In the kingdom of God, the last become first, and the first become last. The last go all the way, but the first are usually complacent.

Have you never wondered why God loved Jacob so much? Jacob was a master practitioner of the kingdom dynamic whereby the end justifies the means. He knew what he wanted and he went for it by all means. He refused to be denied. If you refused to give Jacob something, he would steal it. If you refused to give him money, he would pick your pocket. If you refused to tell him the time, he would steal your wristwatch. Jacob would climb any mountain and cross any ocean to get what he wants.

God loves this kind of person. He is the kind of sinner Jesus is looking for in his kingdom.

Once converted, he will not be lukewarm but will suffer violence and take the kingdom by force.

If you can get this kind of sinner to fall in love with God, you can be sure he will be a man after God’s heart.

What about the sons of light? We are a bunch of jokers. We say we want to go to heaven, but tell us to sell all we have and give the proceeds to the poor and we are likely to have a change of mind. Tell us to fast, and we won’t. Tell us to pray, and we come up with excuses. Tell us to

read the bible, and we would rather read “Mills and Boons.” But do we really want to go to heaven? Yes, we do.

But we don’t want to pay the price. Jesus says: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep.” (Luke 7:32).

Make no mistake about it; the sons of this world give up a lot for success. They give up joy, peace and love.

They murder sleep.

Some even mortgage their souls in order to make it. The end justifies their means. In the end, they realise their dreams and become ministers, commissioners, ambassadors and managing-directors.

But the sons of light have been deceived.

We have been sedated into slumber. We have been churched into believing eternal life is a gift and salvation is by grace. Yes, it is the good pleasure of the Father to give believers the kingdom. Nevertheless, there are giants on the way to the Promised Land. That means we must go through the wilderness and fight spiritual battles upon battles. But we fight, knowing what awaits us in the end.

The End You watch a film and, after about ninety minutes of twists and turns, the hero finally marries the princess, and then “THE END” appears on the screen. But it is a lie. The story did not end there. In fact, at that point, the marriage just began.

Only Jesus can declare THE END. It is the end that justifies the means. But remember, Jesus is the beginning and the ending. You rigged the election and became President of the

Republic. Who told you that is the end of the story? What shall it profit a man if he becomes the President and loses his own soul?

It does not end with this world. It ends with Christ. It ends with the Lord in heaven and the means to the end is the choice we make whether to follow God’s narrow road that leads to life.

Way of suffering A Christian wants to go to heaven, so he goes to the motor-park church. He asks which vehicle is going to heaven. They tell him Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6).

He asks which vehicle is Jesus? They show him a terrible ramshackle old mammy-wagon. It has neither form nor comeliness. There is no beauty in it that he should desire it. (Isaiah 53:2).

On the vehicle is written boldly the caption: “Life of Suffering.”

But beside it is a Rolls Royce. “Where is that one going?” he asks. “That one is going to Abuja.” The man decides he would rather travel in a Rolls Royce than in a battered mammy-wagon. As a result, he ends up in Abuja where he gets a lot of government contracts and makes a lot of money. But heaven, and not Abuja, is the final destination.

The beatitudes are all unpleasant. There is nothing nice about being poor or mournful.

Neither does it feel good to hunger and thirst. The meek are often taken advantage of, and it is not wonderful to be persecuted and reviled. Nobody likes it when all kinds of evil things are said falsely against us. But if that is what it takes to confirm our status in the kingdom of God, then the glorious end certainly justifies the suffering means.

Jesus says: “He who endures to the end will be saved.”

(Matthew 10:22).

HE Redeemed Evan gelical Mission, TREM, will be holding her 23rd edition of Kingdom Life World Conference (KLWC), 2012 with the theme Grace Grace at the Cathedral of His Glory, TREM International Headquarters, Gbagada Expressway, Anthony Oke, Lagos from Nov 18-25, 2012.

The conference starts today by 4.00 pm.

Minsters conference and various teaching sessions will feature during the morning session from 8.30am -12 noon, Monday 19th -Thursday 22nd.

The sessions will address topical issues bordering on, finance, relationship, leadership development and other social-economy issues.

The guest Speakers billed for the conference include Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) National President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) President and Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church Warri, Bishop Tudor Bismark of Jabula - New Life Ministries International Zimbabwe, Dr. Felix Omobude of New Covenant Church, Benin City, Dr. Jerry Wolcson, U.S.A, Dr. Mensa Otabil from Ghana, Bishop Simeon Okah of flock of Christ, Warri, Dr. Greg Romine from USA, Bishop Joe Imakando of Bread of life International, Zambia and other anointed Men

of God. The major highlight for this year’s conference is the Big League Summit holding on Tuesday 20th and Thursday 22 nd of Nov, 2012 by 9.am at the International Headquarters. The Big League Summit is about preparing the unprepared and position the prepared to possess that which God has ordained for them in Nigeria. It is also about repositioning Christians from all walks of life and denomination to be major players in the national and global economics.

Speakers scheduled to speak at the summit includes Dr. Mensa Otabil, Bishop Tudor Bismark and other high profile speakers who are knowledgeable in National and Global Economics. The summit is for every business person career men and women.

Other highlights include a special, Graduation Ceremony of the God’s Army Bible College on Friday, Nov 23 by 9.00 a.m and a special praise night on the same day from 4.30pm to 9.00 p.m. Various gospel artists will be ministering and on Saturday, Nov 24th , the conference will host the youth from 3pm to deal with issues that are pertinent to them.

The 2012 KLWC will officially come to a close on Sunday Nov 25th by 8.00am with Dr. Mike Okonkwo the Presiding Bishop and the Chief host of the conference ministering.

BSN organises secondary school Bible quiz competition

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HE Annual Na tional Secondary School Bible Quiz Competition organised

by The Bible Society of Nigeria, BSN, will hold on November 23, 2012.

The programme, which takes place at The Apostolic Church, Palmgrove District Headquarters, Palmgrove, Lagos, will feature six schools from the six geo-political zones of the country.

The competition is being organised in fulfillment of the Society’s mission to meet the scriptural needs of every Nigerian and to help people interact with the Word of God.

The Bible Society of Nigeria is a non-profit making interdenominational Christian organisation that translates the Bible into local languages, publishes, distributes and raises funds for the Bible work.

So far the society has complete Bible in 20 Nigerian languages, the New Testament in 60 local languages and one book or another in 98 languages.

She gives Bibles free to old people’s homes and orphanages, the visually impaired, prisoners and women of easy virtue, among others.

SUND AY SUNDA

Back ground am from Uromehe community in Urhonigbe North ward, Oriomnwon local government council of Edo State. I was born 55 years ago, attended St Pius Primary School, Uromehe as it then was, now Iyobosa Primary School; it was a Catholic institution. From there I wrote my common entrance examination and passed.I had the choice of attending either ICC, Edo College or Western Boys High School,but, because I am a Catholic, I chose to attend Immaculate Conception College (ICC), Benin. When I finished at the ICC, I proceeded to the United States immediately where I got my first degree in political science and thereafter to the Law School where i got my doctor in jurisprudence degree. I proceeded again to specialize in international and comparative law in Washington. After that, I came back to Nigeria and went to the Law School;i was called to the Bar on October 17, 1986. After my Youth Service, I went into private practice here in BeninCity and practiced for about thirteen years.

But about three years into legal practice came the civilian dispensation. I was first the state legal adviser of Liberal Convention. I was very active in politics.

So, when this dispensation came in 1999, i found myself in the PDP and won election into the Federal House of Reps.

And, if you recall, I won the election as an unopposed candidate because, after my nomination, Hon. Anthony Inye, who was the ANPP candidate, stepped down for me. According to him,the action was due to the respect he had for my father.

My father was one of the pioneer politicians in the then Midwest Region.

So, I was returned unopposed into the House of Reps and, in 2003, I won the election and went back to the House. I was there for eight years. And towards the tail end of my second tenure, there was this agitation in the state; some of us were not happy with what was happening in the PDP, so we decided to migrate to what is today called Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). And I was lucky to have been found worthy to be nominated as running mate to Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole. They rigged the election, but with the doggedness of the Comrade Governor and support of Edo people, we reclaimed our mandate. We just won our second term in office and I thank God for every thing. I am married with four children; my wife is Deaconess Endurance Odubu.

Vanguard, NO VEMBER 18, 2012 — PAGE 51 NOVEMBER —P

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thing that I love and I have found that the Bini tradition is one that can be likened to the most civilized in the world because the Binis had a republican type of government. They have separation of powers, respect for human right and, if you really study the Bini tradition, you find that most of it falls within the ten Commandments: thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill, thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife. So I love my tribe and I

Mr Governor, as you are aware, is a Catholic too, we have resuscitated the Government House Chapel, and, every Tuesday morning, you see us in the Chapel while, on Sundays, we go to St Paul’s and I am a migrant parishioner of St Patrick at Ugbowo.

have tried to master the customs and traditions of the Binis. That does not make me a traditionalist or a native doctor. I am very deep rooted in Christianity.

How do you spend your leisure hours because people see you as a chronic introvert?

Do we really have the time to relax? We don’t really have the time to unwind because the business of running a state like Edo is a very challenging one particularly when you work with a workaholic governor like Comrade Oshiomhole. I grew up in the village and I am very proud to say I am a villager. I tell people I am a good old country boy,and like the American will say, you can take a man out of his country but you cannot take the country out of the man. So I still have that part of me, that culture of sitting under the tree in the village is still in me.

There was a day I came in at about 6:30pm; my son, about 11 years old, asked me,’ Daddy, what happened, you came in too early today?’This is Oshiomhole’s work habit for you, we don’t really have the time to unwind. On weekends, every body wants you to attend one occasion or the other, but I love being with people; so I try as much as possible to attend whenever I am invited. But what ever time I have, I like listening to music and watching wrestling.

But you don’t go to church? do go to Church. You are also aware that since we came on board,

PDP politics between 1999-2003 You know my tenure in the House of Reps ended in 2007 and in the processes

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aving listened to your upbringing, you did not train as a native doctor. Why then is it that people see you as one and even call you Okaokuo (King of War)?

I just told you my back ground. I was baptized in 1966 and confirmed in 1967 as a Catholic. All those things you hear are part of the fun in politics. It is the part of the fun we have with the governor; you hear him always calling me a native doctor.

I have a very solid Christian background, and, as you are aware, my wife is a deaconess in Church. Yes, I will not say that I am a traditionalist in the sense that I am into voodoo, but I respect tradition and I have made conscious attempt to master the tradition of the Binis. People are surprised that I went to school outside the shores of this country because of my mastery of the Bini language. It is some

By SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin City

Yes, I will not say that I am a traditionalist in the sense that I am into voodoo, but I respect tradition and I have made conscious attempt to master the tradition of the Binis

,

I

leading to it, there was this talk about registration and some of us who were perceived to be of particular tendencies.

I have always had this indomitable spirit and that is why, while growing up, I said I was going to be a professional because I don’t like any body dictating to me what to do. So, when that came up in the PDP and some of were de-registered, we all gravitated to a new political party. Let me quickly clear the air here, I was a legislator at the national level, I did not operate at the state level. I was a member of the Federal House of Reps; so my business was business of making laws at the national level, so I cannot be tied to whatever happened at the state at that time.

But being a former PDP member, what do you think was the reason for the people of the state to reject the PDP? Without mentioning names, some of us were dissatisfied with the way the party was being run, coupled with the fact that we were de-registered and we decided to move on. And like- minded persons came together and it is always better to be a born again democrat than to die an antidemocrat. So,we all came together and decided to work with like- minded progressives in the state ably championed by the Comrade Governor That remains our goal now, that remains our priority, and that is what we are going to do. Let us for now justify the mandate that the people of Edo have given us, thereafter we can look at other areas.

Continues on page 52

PAGE 52—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

I am only a village man, not a native doctor — Edo Deputy Gov Continued from page 51

good to the greatest number of persons in the shortest possible time. Before the Oshiomhole administration, like I said during the debate, Edo was in a state of coma and people were just watching for that day to come to give up on the state. Now, Mr Governor came and he has touched every aspect of human life in the state. Today, I make bold to say that in every local government in Edo State, there is an on-going project. You are also aware that thousands of classrooms have been rehabilitated or rebuilt. Before now, pupils sat in the classrooms without roof such that when it rained they were drenched. Before now, you had about four, five different classes in one room, but, today, all that is history.

and here we are; you can see what is happening today in the state; it is clear that this crop of leadership means well for the people. You can see the difference in terms of development, in all aspects of human endeavor; today Edo State is reference point for achievement and performance by any governor in Nigeria.

H

Yes I am a villager Like I told you, I have this love for people, it does not matter who they are. I rose from being a village boy to where I am now. I am at peace with all cadres of persons. I grew up in the village and my parents are still in the village. I still know the roads to the place where my parents farm. I can go to the village and sleep in a room without a fan, that is my kind of person. I relate with people in the village; I don’t forget my background.

I

also believe that no condition is permanent.

To me, the very first day I won the House of Reps seat in 1999, that was when I started preparing for my eventual disengagement from public office because, if you allow yourself to believe the hype, you find that you will have problem adjusting when you leave office. I believe we cannot be here forever, you must be in touch with your folks; any body that wants to succeed politically must situate himself, his actions with those of his immediate constituency. It is easy for me to relate with the common man because I am a common man myself. My parents are farmers, though my father ventured into politics, he was returned in the Council for more than six times in the then Midwest Region. So, if there is anybody that should be referred to as ordinary person, I am that person but God has blessed us and God is using us well.

Political battles Yes, I have fought many political battles. This last election was my sixth election and, by the special grace of God, I have never lost a primary and I have always operated from the position of an underdog.

May be because of my family background and my kind of person because they say if you humble yourself you shall be exalted. The most difficult for me was the last one, that is, the one for the deputy

B

Pius Odube governorship prior to the 2012 governorship election. It was difficult for me because I was unable to do anything, because you are not supposed to contest for the position of deputy governor; you are not supposed to run for the primary, but here I was being vilified. I was called a native doctor, called a ritualist, called a cultist and was even called a thief. But I could not reply because who will I campaign to?That was the most difficult situation because we had a group of persons who, for one reason or the other, wanted me out, hauling insults and abuses at me. I could not reply and I was just like a lameduck because you don’t campaign for a deputy governorship

,

ow has it been working with a labour activist like Oshiomhole?

They say the opposite attracts. Mr Governor, you know, is an extreme extrovert, but I am an extreme introvert. So we just blended very well and, no matter the stoic picture you see of Mr Governor, he is one of the most simplistic human beings in this world: Easy to get along with, easy to work with because he believes in a governance that carries everybody along. All of us have unfiltered access to him whether in the office or at home. So, what ever issues that were raised, you have direct access to him and you discuss. He is always engaging stakeholders on any issue; there will be arguments, but, at the end of the day, consensus will be reached and that becomes the position of government. So, he is a wonderful human being, and very humorous; as you know, he is the one always referring to me as a native doctor.

So, we operate as brothers, he is my senior both in governance and in age but we joke a lot. I accord him the maximum respect because he deserves it.

He is a man that means well for the state, he is a man that is consumed with the passion to deliver to the good people of Edo State. And indeed I am one of those that would lead the campaign to have him drafted to national politics at the end of his tenure as governor. Because if we have a man like him at the national level, Nigeria will surely benefit from him and we will move forward.

I have this love for people, it does not matter who they are. I rose from being a village boy to where I am now. I am at peace with all cadres of persons

,

position, it is left for the governor and the party leadership to decide. To me, it was a trying time and I thank God for helping me through. And I thank the people of Edo State for giving me massive support. I did not even know that the people had that likeness for my person because I got overwhelming support from the length and breath of the state; phone calls every day, hundreds of text messages every day, people from the rural areas.

They came to me to say they were with me and praying for me, that they applaud me for the continuous support and loyalty to the governor. That gave me hope and that was what sustained me throughout that period. And I thank God that we have put that behind us.

Expectations I want to tell Edo people that Mr Governor intends to consolidate on the gains recorded in the first term. You will agree with me that Mr Governor has done the greatest

efore the governor came on board, there was embargo on employment and indeed promotion. People were sacked. But, today, the governor has not only lifted the embargo on employment and promotion; he has also employed thousands under the YES scheme. Under the Neighborhood Watch, thousands of people have been employed too. And, indeed, teachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, accountants are being employed. As we speak, the Post Primary Education Board is in the process of employing five hundred science teachers. Pensioners now receive their salaries before other civil servants. We now have electricity, in my village, we have Trunk A road.

Talking about water, we have three dedicated Dando rigs, one to each senatorial district. Before now, pipe borne water was impossible in many parts of the state.

Hospitals are being rebuilt or renovated and today we have a state of the art building currently going on at the Specialist Hospital. You have seen markets, roads and many others. The governor has touched human lives in many aspects and that is what he is going to continue to do. But I want to appeal to our people to continue to give support to the governor because in times like this, in order to succeed, you must step on toes. Some powerful individuals, few of them though, are not happy with what he is doing, but he is being sustained by the prayers of the vast majority of the people of the state and he remains undaunted, and, by the special grace of God, he will overcome.

Challenges We have a very big challenge of funds. Like when we came in, the major challenge we faced was how to fund our projects. Yes, Edo is an oil producing state, but it is very marginal. But like the governor said, he did not come to lament; so he sat down and planned his strategy. There was this day that we slept at the Government House having Exco meeting.

We were fashioning out ways to look inward so as to generate money and that is how the formula on internally generated revenue came about. When we came on board, the IGR was about N250million, but, today, it hovers around N1.5billion; it got to N2.2billion at a point ,but went down because of the subsidy issue. They said they have removed subsidy, but that means less funding for states. The governor also decided that we must cut costs, we have blocked all leakages so as to save money. And if you look into our 2013 budget, provision for recurrent expenditure is about 1/3. We have 60 in terms of capital and 40 percent for recurrent. This shows that we are going to continue with the developmental projects.

After this tenure where is Odubu heading to?

We are believing God to continue to use us in the manner that will be of benefit to the people of Edo State. Primarily, for God to continue to use us to support Comrade Oshiomhole maximally such that he will deliver maximally to the good people of Edo State.

SUNDAY

C M Y K

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 — PAGE 53

PAGE 54, SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 18, 2012,

S

UPER Eagles for ward, Osaze Odemwingie headed home from inside the six yard box to give West Brom a deserving 2-1 win over Chelsea yesterday and move to the fourth spot on the log..

West Brom maintained

Odemwingie wrecks Chelsea their unbeaten run at The Hawthorns and also put themselves in a Champions League spot after Chelsea failed to make use of their superior ball possession. Shane Long opened scoring in 10 min-

utes when James Morrison got the better of Ryan Bertrand and floated a cross into the box, Long evaded David Luiz to head in from five yards. Eden Hazard brought Chelsea back into the game in the 39 th minute when he headed in a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta.

•Odemwingie

National Sports Festival: 39 years after

BY OSARETIN EMUZE

T

HE National Sports Festival began 1973 with the sole aim of promotingunityamongst theethnic groups in the country after the Civil War as well as to discover hidden talents that can be harnessed and groomed for the future. Thirty nine years down the road, the aims and objectivesofthe foundershave been truncated.

These days, the National Sports Festivalhasbeenbastardized.States now poach athletes, cheat and use ineligibleathletes.Becauseofthewinat-all-cost syndrome, the junior and intermediate cadres have long been discarded. State coaches no longer want to discover hidden talents and young and talented athletes are no longer given the chance to excel, as ready-made athletes are often times brought back to compete from EuropeandAmerica.

The last time juniors and intermediates took part in the National Sports Festival was at the 1985 edition tagged Kwara ’85 in Ilorin. The uproar that followed the disqualification of members of the GoldenEagletsfromparticipatingin the festival after they won the FI FA Kodak Under-16 Tournament in China put an end to the junior and intermediate cadres of the national sports festival.

Goingdownmemorylane,afterthe NigerianCivilWarin1970, theunity of the country was seriously threatened, then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, came up with the idea of a National Sports Festival that will help bring the needed unity among the people.

Thatwashowin1973,theveryfirst NationalSportsFestivalwasbornand stagged at the National Stadium, Surulere, in Lagos. For the first in about seven years, athletes from the nooks and crannies of the country came together to felicitate and compete under a peaceful atmosphere.

Bendel State under their then sports loving Military Governor, Brigadier Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, won the inaugural edition, beating the host Lagos to emerge overall winner. The Sports Festival made a great impact on national integration. The unity long dreamed about by General Gowon, started manifesting. Athletes discoveredduringthefestivalformed the bedrockofthecountry’snational teams and majority of them represented the country in the third All Africa Games in Algeria in 1978.

The festival legacy continued in Kaduna ’77, Oluyole ’79, Bendel ’81 and kwara ’85 as many talented young men and women were discovered and sponsored to the United States where they grew into worldbeaters.Someofthoseathletes did not only represent this country in the All Africa Games, they went further to paint the Commonwealth Games,OlympicGames,andWorld Championships scarlet with their scintillatingperformances.

Some of the athletes that came through the Sports Festival in athletics were Peter Okodogbe, Charlton Ehizuelen, Esther Ogbuji, Gloria Ojukwu, Janet Omorogbe, BunorUwabor,HelenOkwara,Felix C M Y K

•Ehizuelen

•Onyali •AtandaMusa

•Toriola Imadiyi, Hamid Adio, Rotimi Peters, Late Dele Udo, A.J Jampido, Henry Amike, Yusufu Ali, the late Oluyemi Kayode, Ezinwa brothers, Innocent Egbunike, Chidi Imoh, Mary Onyali, Falilat Ogunkoya, Faith Idehen, Beatrice Utondu, Patience Itanyi, Tina Iheagwam, among others.

OtherswereEmmanuelIgbinosa, Gabriel Gold, Patrick Okena, Sule Mohammed,PalmerOkundaye, Bashiru Mohammed, Alfred Ilekhuoba,OsazeOwen andFriday Noruwa in cycling. Babatunde Obisanya, Atanda Musa, Sunday Eboh, Kuburat Owolabi, Funke Oshonaike, Segun Toriola, etc in table tennis. In boxing, we had Jerry

•Egbunike Okorodudu, Peter Koyengwachi, Monday Omoruyi, Christopher Ossai, Sabo Mohammed, etc.

We can go on and on. These people brought us honours across the globe but today the story is different as the Sports Festival is now for the highest bidder. There is no more competition and States no longer believe in raising athletes.

Coaches, administrators and state governors believe in ready made athletes, they will rather poach, cheat and bring back ready made athletes based abroad to

compete in the games, than waste their time on long term venture of discovering and training of athletes. They connive with some officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to use ineligible athletes at festivals instead of going to the interiors of the country were budding talents can be discovered fresh from the villages . This trend started in the early 90s after the juniors and intermediates were barred. That decision has today ruined the country’s reserves and Nigeria now re-cycles athletes over and over again.

States like Delta, Edo, Kano, Borno, Ogun, Rivers, to mention but a few are guilty of this. Again, the hosting-to-win syndrome is causing most states to want to host and in an attempt to win they introduce all manner of cheating, which includes poaching of athletes from states that can not payhigh salaries. Theyforge certificates, falsify ages, smuggle athletesnamesintotheir employment list and pay vouchers to beat the festival rules of 12 months state of residence for them.

To sustain the aim of setting up the National Sports Festival 39 years ago, we must go back to the basics and pay less attention to winning at all cost.

The NSC should bring back the junior and intermediate categories in the festival and stop the madness of hosting to

win. States must be monitored to stop them from poaching and they should be mandated to showcase at least 10 new athletes discovered during the last two years at every Sports Festival. As the 18th edition comes up in a matter of nine days, all hands must be on deck to check all manners offrivolities. I trust Lagos to be a good host as they are not apostles of win-atall cost. They areamong the few states that have never poached.

They believe in developing athletes from the grass-roots.

Sports Festival should be a breeding ground for new talents and not an avenue for States to show of their wealth.

To build a virile sporting Nigeria, we have to go back to those good old days where States play a greater part in the discovery and development of athletes. In the late 70s and 80s, States used to have their own Sports Festivals.

First all the local government areas compete and the talents discovered there represent their local government in the State Sports Festival final. It is from the State finals that those to represent the State at the National Sports Festival are selected.

This system, worked because so manyhiddentalentswerediscovered and they later represented the country. Today, the reverse is the case.Itisbecauseweabandonedthis great system, that Nigeria sports suffers internationally. Without this noblesystem,100retreatswillnottake us nowhere. Except the right pegs are put in the right holes, Nigeria sports will continue to fall by the way side. We are blessed with talents waiting to be tapped.

Finally, States should not see the Festival as the only time the sports council should have activities. They should seek sponsorship for competitions.

Sports is a veritable tool to achieve international recognition. State governors should use their positions to attract sponsorships for the different sporting associations in their states. This, will in a long way, help to eradicate poaching and cheating which has crippled Nigeria sports.

Tennis family mourns Saraki’s passage

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

T

HE Nigerian tennis com munity is mourning the death of its life and grand patron, Dr. Olusola Saraki, who gave up the ghost Wednesday in Lagos.

Leading the flurry of tributes in honour of the foremost tennis promoter, President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation, Sani Ndanusa, said yesterday that it was taken aback with Saraki’s demise, noting that it came at a time that Nigerian tennis was in dire need of his support and guidance.

Recalling the may great things that the deceased did

during his life for the growth of tennis, Ndanusa said that it was going to be difficult to fill his void, even as he stressed that Saraki was going to be greatly missed by all tennis faithful.

Ndanusa added that the deceased was a true gentleman, humble servant and cheerful giver, who could give his life to salvage the poor and needy ones in the society.

On the role that he played as a patron of Nigerian tennis, Ndanusa, who is the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee said that Saraki’s contributions were unquantifiable.

“He was a true promoter of

tennis. He was always ready to assist at any given time, if contacted. He assisted us in kind, cash, morally and in every imaginable way. It was to his credit that he always organised a tennis tournament to mark his birthday, when he was still alive. We would miss him greatly. We pray that the Almighty gives his family the fortitude to bear this great loss”, said Ndanusa.

Also speaking on the life and times of the late Saraki, the immediate past President of the NTF, Chuka Momah, said that the deceased was one of the foremost promoters of tennis in

the country.

“Dr. Saraki was a noted fan of tennis, lover of the game, he played the veterans game, where he played regularly with other Nigerians. I appreciate the time that I spent with him, especially in Wimbledon, where we would sit together to watch the Williams sisters in action.

He was an absolute gentleman, simple, humble and a big supporter of NTF over the years.

“We did appreciate very much his simplicity, despite his towering stature and advancing years, he would relate with us the younger ones as if we were mates”, said Momah.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 — 55

Ethiopians clear Obudu Mountain race top prizes •Plateau athletes top Nigerian runners

By JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU, Calabar

T

HE Ethopian Abebe Dinkesa, winner of the 2008 and 2010 Obudu International Mountain race has again emerged the winner of the 2012 edition of the 12.3 kilometers mountain race of earth and asphalt road in the male category with a cash prize of $50, 000.

Dinkesa finished the race in 1hr 58 secs unlike last year where the winner finished in 41 minutes, 50 seconds, although organizers of the race had changed the course and the kilometer from 11 km to 12.3 km.

His compatriot Etenesh Diaro Neda emerged the new track champion for the women‘s in the 8. 2 kilometres race also of earth and asphalt road.

She returned in one hour 12 minutes to beat other women.

The second position for the male category went to Macdonald Ondara from Kenya who came 6th and 7th in the 2010 and 2011 editions respectively, he completed the race in one hour two minutes, while the third position was won by Robert Thomasen also from Kenya in one hour three minutes.

Ugandan Philip Kupkow and his fellow countryman, Martins Moses, came 4th and 5th.

Running behind Etenesh Diaro Neda in the women’s race which has never produced a two

time winner since 2005, was Rita Jepto from Ethiopia who returned in one hour 13 minutes, the 2010 winner while Pacharia Kiproch came third and Wungari Muriki came 4th.

The first Nigerian male runner to brace the tape was Emmanuel Giang from Plateau State in one hour 11 minutes, closely followed by another athlete from the same state, Gideon Goye, one hour 12 minutes and Danju-

ma Giang, one hour 14 minutes.

On the female category, Deborah Pam also from Plateau state joined her compatriot to brace the tape first among the Nigerian female athletes followed by Deborah Dung and home girl, Jacenta Matu whose feat attracted loud ovation from the villages when she came third in the Nigerian position and 10th on the rung for the women’s race.

THIRD TIME AROUND... Ethiopian Abebe Dinkesa yesterday emerged winner of the Obudu International Mountain Race to completed a hat-trick of victories after winning the 2008 and 2010 editions. Photo: Shengolpix

Local coaches hold the ace for boxing revival, says Pa Anyanwu one coach or another, not

BY EDDIEAKALONU

B

OXING coach, Pa George Anyanwu has lamented the poor treatment meted out to Nigerian boxing coaches in the last couple of years after toiling to bring about good direction to the sport.

According to Pa Anyanwu, if the situation is not reversed, they may become a threatened species as the Sports Ministry and NSC had made them redundant.

Anyanwu, who spoke from retirement in Owerri, insists that Nigerian coaches hold the key to boxing revival because they are on the C M Y K

ground and know the terrain better than any foreigner.

“This idea of putting a foreigner in control after Nigerian coaches have done the ground-work is counter productive you must agree. And I know there are very enthusiastic Nigerian young men and women who want to take to boxing. They are eager and willing to learn if only the opportunity calls. The neglect of Nigerians has cost this nation so much in the sport, because every boxer who has made it outside the country or represented the country well internationally was groomed to stardom by

by any foreigner,” he said.

He however, added that,”as long as we are still overlooked by the authorities who prefer foreigners, the problem will persist. Let me note that this problem started after Hogan Bassey. But it’s also a fact that he, as national coach, had capable Nigerians who worked with him. They were all dedicated to the job and worked to get the best for Nigeria. So, its time to give more Nigerians a chance and that includes training opportunity to acquire the modern trends in the sport, because going abroad for training can never be borne alone by any one person.

Between Ikhana and NFF Technical Committee W

HENEVER I read my good friend and image maker of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Ademola Olajire or Paul Bassey, a member of the NFF technical committee, writing how well the federation is doing with our football, or hear the technical committee chairman, Chris Green shout to roof tops the federation’s achievements, I get worried and pinch myself a little to know whether I am in a dream.

So when Bassey, a veteran and respected sports journalist who has joined the league of football administrators locally and continentally, wrote in his column in the Vanguard of last Tuesday, blaming Kadiri Ikhana for Falcons woes, I felt disturbed because he should know and say the truth too.

Yes, Ikhana failed because, for the first time in the history of the African Women’s Championship, the Super Falcons lost to South Africa. Not only that, for the first time also, the team came back from the competition empty handed, having lost the third place to Cameroon.

Bassey, while castigating Ikhana, wrote that the NFF did everything to guarantee the team’s success. And one of the things it did, according to Bassey, was “appointment of a top coach” for the team, which of course was Ikhana.

As a top coach, Kadiri was expected to lead Falcons to crush every opposition on their way to retaining the trophy and grabbing their seventh title out of the eight editions decided so far.

Their only loss before this year was in 2008 to host, Equatorial Guinea on the same soil.

The NFF told us Ikhana was the best among those who indicated interest or who were available. So it was baffling after Ikhana failed for Bassey to tell Nigerians that the committee later found out after hiring him that it made a mistake in engaging the Edo-born CAF Champions League winner as Falcons’ coach.

That is an indictment on the committee headed by a lawyer, Chris Green ahead of a Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, who has or still serves in both CAF and FIFA Technical Study Group.

Rather than call on Ikhana to resign or be sacked, it is the committee members who should tuck their tails behind their legs and quit.

What on earth were they thinking when they hired a coach they knew did not have the requisite qualities needed to handle a female team? Rather than ask Ikhana to apologise, it should be the technical committee and the NFF Board which endorsed its decision that should apologise to Nigerians.

When people or officials of the NFF say the federation is doing well because our national teams are winning matches, I laugh

and feel sorry for our football because it will get worse than it is now.

An NFF that regales in promoting football by attending competitions only, without giving a hoot what happens to the nursery from which future talents are discovered and groomed for the national teams, is not one Nigerians should be proud of.

An NFF that turns blind eyes whenever grass-root football competitions are going on in the country but quickly rushes to teams in the various cadres of the league to ‘recruit’ players for the U-17 and U-20 competitions, is not the one Nigerians should look forward to in saving the game from total collapse in the nearest future.

I expect Bassey to be telling the NFF president, Alhaji Aminu Maigari and his co-travellers on the NFF Board who are more interested in hopping into every plane to watch all manners of competitions, including inconsequential friendly matches abroad, that they should concentrate on grass-root development by ensuring that we have a strong and viable female league to churn out young players instead of relying on mothers who can hardly run on the pitch.

Nigerian female administrators who fight themselves over who should be in control over the female national teams should ensure sponsors are got to revive the comatose female league in the country without which the Super Falcons may get worse off by not even qualifying for the 2014 edition of the competition. That is the only sure way to see the Falcons return as continental queens again and push for a world title sooner than later..

Calling on Gov. Oshiomhole

I

T is a few days to the National Sports Festival tagged EKO 2012 and Edo State which used to be the number one sports State in the country may find out that the third position it took at the last Festival in Port Harcourt in 2011 may not be within its reach.

Part of the problem may be the non release of funds on time for the athletes to begin camping. As you read this, the N120 million reportedly approved for the athletes’s preparation and participation by the Comrade governor, who was sworn in for his second four year term last Monday, may not have reached the sports council officials who will need the money to prepare the athletes.

The other reason and may be the main one is the putting of a square peg in a round hole. The governor did sports, Edo State’s main stay after, arguably agriculture, a disservice by appointing someone who had to learn the ropes about sports right on the job.

If General Samuel Ogbemudia had done it that way, Midwest or later Bendel State wouldn’t have been a model it was in the country.

So, as the Peoples’ governor begins a fresh tenure, Edolites are begging him to comb the State and root out a seasoned administrator as sports commissioner. No to the idea of giving sports, the remnant that is left after the governor would have filled the ‘key’ ministries. Sports is key in Edo State and he should realise this today.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Golden Eaglets target big win over Mali N

IGERIA’S Golden E a g l e t s are up against a strong Malian opponent in today’s African Under-17 Championship qualifier, at the U.J Esuene Stadium in Calabar and the team are being expected to up their game and make the second leg a less cumbersome enterprise.

The Eaglets coached by Manu Garbu and assisted by Emmanuel Amuneke and Nduka Ngbade have been outstanding in their previous qualifying games against Niger Republic and Guinea, scoring a total of 17 goals and giving away just one. Against the Malians who were equally ruthless in their qualification pursuit, the Eaglets, according to Amuneke, are in high spirits and are ready to do a familiar run against the Malians their last hurdle to the 2013 Championship billed for Algeria.

“Our aim is not only to win, but to win with a wide margin,” said the Eagles former winger.

The game will be played under baking conditions in Calabar, but coach Garba insisted that the Eaglets are well prepared for the task ahead.

“We shouldn’t have any worry playing any time as we’ve been training over time both in bad and good weather condition.

“We must brace up for the Malian challenge. I don’t believe any sacrifice is too big on our part as far as it guarantees outright victory,” he said.

CONTROL... Super Eagles Brown Ideye, left, controls the ball beyond the reach of Venezuela’s Roberto Jose Rosales Altuve during the friendly at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida, last Wednesday.

Coach Kelechi Emeteole is optimistic the team will not fail in South Africa. Photo: Courtesy Getty Images

Results Arsenal Liverpool Man City Newcastle QPR Reading West Brom Norwich

5 3 5 0 1 2 2 1

Tottenham Wigan Aston Villa Swansea Southampton Everton Chelsea Man Utd

2 0 0 1 3 1 1 0

Nations Cup: Keshi ‘ll not fail Nigeria — Emeteole F

By BEN EFE

ORMER Green Eagles defender and veteran coach, Kelechi Emetole has backed coach Stephen Keshi to

present a formidable team that will go places at the 2013 Nations Cup starting January 19 in South Africa. Emeteole hinged his optimism on the

ACROSS 1. House of Reps Speaker (8) 5. Assistant (4) 7. Praise (5) 8. Upright (4) 9. Lantern (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 15. Exclamation (2) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 18. Agent (3) 20. Glitters (6) 24. Forward (5) 25. Nigerian state (6) 27. Boring tool (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 31. Perform (2) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 36. Vow (4) 38. Musical quality (4) 39. Inclination (5) 40. Eager (4) 41. Damages (8) SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE

DOWN 1. Sample (5) 2. Niger state town (4) 3. Observe (5) 4. Lecture (6) 5. Everyone (3) 6. Use (6) 10. Inquires (4) 12. Carpet (3) 14. Colour (6) 15. Resistance unit (3) 17. Coax (4) 19. Rollicked (6) 21. Hatchet (3) 22. Satisfied (4) 23. Nigerian state (3) 26. Cry of derision (3) 27 . African country (6) 28. Endure (4) 29. Child (3) 30. Spoke (6) 31. Adorn (5) 33. Baking chambers (5) 35. Asterisk (4) 37. Possessed (3)

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players and team capacity building programme Keshi embarked upon when he took over from Coach Samson Siasia in November 2011.

Keshi has played myriads of friendly matches with different players and with this, coach Emetole, believes the former Super Eagles captain will not court mediocrity in South Africa.

“Nigerians should bank on Keshi to present a solid team for the Nations Cup. “He has been trying out players since he came in and I expect him, as a former captain of the national team, coach of Togo, Mali and now Nigeria, to give Nigerians a good team that will go far in the tournament.

“He has been doing what we call preparatory training with those friendlies. Now he has a month to do qualitative training and we expect nothing but good results. Keshi will not fail us and

I want Nigerians to give him all the support.”

He added that last Thursday’s result in Miami, USA where the Eagles beat Venezuela 3-1 should not be used as a yard stick to measure preparedness of the team, rather it is the first group C game against Burkina Faso in South Africa 2013 that should be used to gauge the readiness of the team to do well.

He urged the Nigeria Football Federation and the Sports Minister to give the team all the necessary support rather than heap pressure on the coaches. “The coaches shouldn’t be put under any pressure. I read that the minister is trying to teach Keshi his job. What does he know about football, where was he when Keshi was playing,” he asked rhetorically.

Odemwingie wrecks Chelsea — P54

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