Girls tell how they were raped every day - Davis

PAGE 2 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014,

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, — PAGE 3

PAGE 4 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 — PAGE 5

From left: Chief Sunny Odogwu; Barrister (Mrs) Evelyn Obioha, groom's mother; Mr Ehimaobi Obioha, groom, his wife Kokoeka; Senator Florence From left: Chief Molade Okoya Thomas; Barrister (Mrs) Evelyn Obioha, Ita-Giwa, bride's mother and Chief (Mrs) Abah Folawiyo, during the Holy groom's mother; Mr Ehimaobi Obioha, groom, his wife Kokoeka; Senator Solemnization of Kokoeka and Ehimaobi at the Methodist Church of the Trinity, Florence Ita-Giwa, bride's mother and Chief (Mrs) Abah Folawiyo.

Tinubu, Lagos, on Saturday. Photo Lamidi Bamidele

160 DAYS AFTER CHIBOK ABDUCTION

Girls tell how they were raped every day – Negotiator Stephen Davis *FG turns down Boko Haram swap deal *Sect wants 30 commanders for 30 girls Continued from page 1 raped every day, week after week. One girl was raped every day, sometimes several times a day by groups of men. Some did not survive the ordeal,” Stephen Davis, an Australian negotiator, who visited Nigeria to mediate the release of the Chibok girls

captured by the Islamist group, recounted in an article contributed to Sunday Vanguard, titled, ‘When I met Asari and agreed a peace deal.’

The negotiator spoke on a day it emerged that Boko Haram and government representatives held talks on swapping the group’s members in prison with the kidnapped schoolgirls. At

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

THE SECRET —2

By Richard Eromonsele

The other secret of success in life is embedded in the acronym of A.S.K. Where A stands for Asking; S stands for Seek and K for Knock. In other words, if you practice the principle of A.S.K. adequately success will not be far from you. Don’t just ask, ask well, ask hard enough, ask in the right way. Don’t just go through life without asking pertinent questions. Good teachers are happy when their pupils ask them intelligent questions.

And they do everything to provide the answer.

Life is a teacher. Ask …

T

A

M

A S

T

U

T E

Y

B

W A

L

I

A

E

D

T

S

A

C

O

O

E G

L

U

A

M

A

O

E

T K

N

A

I

G

S

D

A

T

A

V

I

L

D

N

T

N

O

O

N

N

T

G

U

L

L

L

O

L

M A

M

L

A

K

O

T

S

P L

G

Y

A

B

O

N

O O

E

E

T

E

S

A T

Y

Y

I

E

K

S

P

S

S

E

E

M

R

D

D

O

D A

I

R

E

A O

O

E

H A

L

E

T

L

S

X

W L

S

X

O S

L

A

O

H

H E

U

A

R

D

O V

O

N

E N

O

Y

S

the talks, government reportedly rejected Boko Haram’s demand to exchange 30 of its commanders in prison with 30 of the Chibok girls.

Davis was responding to a newspaper interview by a former Niger-Delta militant leader, Alhaji AsariDokubo, in which he claimed the almost 300 girls, reportedly captured in Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram, may not have been seized after all.

By this weekend, the girls, some of whom apparently escaped from their captors, have spent over 160 days in captivity.

The schoolgirls were seized on April 14.

“The escaped girls tell harrowing stories of rape and abuse. They are traumatised and require medical treatment and counselling. These girls are testament to the horrifying truth about the kidnapping,” the negotiator stated.

Davis made a strong case for action against Boko Haram sponsors to end insurgency in the North-east.

He also recounted his encounter with Dokubo at the peak of the Niger-Delta militancy during the Obasanjo administration, leading to a truce between the militants and security forces. Davis full article is reproduced below.

Chibok: FG, Boko Haram in swap deal Meanwhile, a report, yesterday, said government officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross had talks with Boko Haram about swapping prisoners of the Islamist terror group for the Chibok school girls kidnapped in April.

CNN, quoting a source involved in the negotiations, said officials met four times in mid-August with two senior members

of Boko Haram in Abuja.

The swap would involve the release of 30 Boko Haram commanders in the custody of government, according to the source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Boko Haram reportedly submitted a list with the names of 30 members who were either convicted or awaiting trial on terror offenses.

“The two Boko Haram negotiators assured the ICRC and government negotiators that the girls were never raped, were never used as sex slaves and were never sexually assaulted,” said the source.

But this claim is disputed

by Davis.

The terror group was said to have expressed a willingness for a swap with the ICRC at an undisclosed location, according to the source. But there was disagreement on some terms, including the number of girls involved in the swap.

Boko Haram, it was learnt, insisted on an even swap — 30 girls for 30 commanders — but the government refused.

“They were only ready to release one to one, which the government was not going to accept,” the source said.

Another hurdle in the talks was Boko Haram’s insistence on meeting the imprisoned 30 members

involved in the swap, but they only had contact with six at a prison outside Abuja, the source said.

The six prisoners included Kabiru Sokoto, a senior Boko Haram commander convicted in December 2013 of terror charges related to the deadly Christmas Day bombing of a church in Madallah in 2011.

“ICRC couldn’t find where the remaining 24 were being detained,” the source said.

The Boko Haram negotiators said they would get back to government after consulting with their superiors.

ICRC sources declined to comment.

‘When I met Asari and agreed a peace deal’

BY STEPHEN DAVIS

I

read with interest Asari Dokubo’s comments published on September 14 in the Daily Post.

Asari is quite correct in saying that he knows me well and has met members of my family. In 2004, the Niger Delta was aflame with conflict. Asari, Ateke Tom and Tompolo were waging a fierce war against the Nigerian federal and state governments. Many people had been killed. Nigerian military were having trouble contending with Asari’s guerrilla warfare.

Small, highly mobile and heavily armed militant forces in fast boats struck across the Niger Delta targeting oil installations and military posts. Nigeria’s oil output at one point dropped to as low as 600,000 barrels per day and on average was halved to one million barrels per day. This was a devastating blow to Nigeria’s economy and the operations of the major inter-

national oil companies.

Apart from the economic impact, communities were suffering from the conflict with many innocent people killed in military efforts to purge the communities of militants.

My wife and I were living in Port Harcourt and, in 2004, I explored the idea of a peace deal with an Ijaw friend, Von Kemedi. As an Ijaw, he knew Asari who was also Ijaw. Von was able to make contact with Asari who agreed to meet with me. Von and I subsequently travelled through the swamps in a speed boat to Opurata village to see the damage to villages before transferring to a canoe that we paddled to another village from where we were met by Asari’s men in another fast boat. With a blindfold on we were taken to another island where we waited until another boat escorted us to Asari’s camp.

A vigorous discussion took place that night surrounded by Asari’s well-armed fighters. By the end of the

night, the foundation of a peace deal has been set down.

I subsequently took the peace proposal to President Olusegun Obasanjo and found him ready and willing to support peace and disarmament. The deal also encompassed demobilisation and a programme to reintegrate the militants back into the communities. This required a skills training programme which President Obasanjo supported.

A final essential element was weapons surrender and destruction. The protocol used was that set down by the UN and was agreed by both sides.

At the Villa I stayed in close contact with Asari by satellite phone each evening around 5pm. We worked out the details of the peace process. The first step was a ceasefire. The ceasefire was set in place on September 8, 2004,

Continues on page 7

PAGE 6—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Vanguard Chairman, Thisday boss, Media Trust Publisher, 14 others bag ‘Distinguished Service’ Awards

V

ANGUARD Chair man, Mr Sam Amuka; Thisday Publisher and President of Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Mr Nduka Obaigbena; Chairman of Media Trust Limited, Malam Kabir Yusuf, and 14 others have emerged winners of ‘These Executive Minds’ (TEXEM) 2014 Distinguished Service to Society awards.

TEXEM released the names of the winners at the Manchester Business School in Manchester, United Kingdom.

The founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TEXEM, Mr. Alim Abubakre, stated, “I am personally very pleased that we can acknowledge the vital and important changes that these award winners have made possible in Nigeria and their influence throughout all of Africa by their selfless dedication to the betterment of society.”

The awards cover a variety of fields that are crucial to the growth of Nigeria. Ms. Sarah Collier, Director, TEXEM stated, “The selection process was particularly difficult as there were so many highquality nominees.”

The 2014 award winners

of TEXEM are: Yusuf Kabir – Award: Contribution to independence of media in Africa, Hon. Justice George Uloko (RTD) Award: Unparalleled contribution to social justice; Lady Maiden Alex- Ibru Guardian ChairmanAward: Unparalleled contribution to fight against cancer; Nduka Obaigbena - Award: Unparalleled contribution to media development as the President of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria and through Arise TV; Professor Ibrahim Adamu Kolo - Award: Unparalleled contribution to excellence in higher educational sector in Nigeria; Dr Sam Amadi – Award: Commendable contribution to ongoing regulatory reforms in power sector in Nigeria; Sam Amuka- Award: Unparalleled contribution to peace and stability in Nigeria through support for the Niger-Delta Amnesty programme; Mrs. Ibukun Odusote - Award: Contribution to transformation of agricultural sector in Nigeria; Frank Aigbogun Award: Unparalleled contribution to business impact in West Africa; Ibrahim Shekarau - Award: Promising start to educa-

tional development in Nigeria; Aminu Waziri Tambuwal - Award: Contribution to the unparalleled independence of the legislative arm of government.

Others are: Bello Mahmud, Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission – Award: Unparalleled contribution to business services in the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Governor, Niger State- Award: Impressive contribution to rural development in Niger State; John Momoh, Managing Director, Channels TV – Award: Impeccable contribution to TV Broadcasting in Nigeria; Governor, Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola – Award: Unparalleled contribution to infrastructure development and job creation; Professor Pat Utomi, Founder, Centre

From left: Mr. Gbenga Adefaye GM/Editor-in-Chief Vanguard Newspapers, representing the publisher, Mr. Sam Amuka; Mr. Clive Carpenter, Vice-Chairman, Business Council for Africa and Non-Executive Director UBA, UK and Alim Abubakre, CEO, TEXEM, during the presentation of TEXEM 2014 Distinguished Service to Society Awards to Mr. Adefaye.

For Values in Leadership observed such a qualified knowledge the vital and – Award: Unparalleled list of nominees for any distinguished role that contribution to entrepre- such award, except per- those senior executives, neurship; and Professor haps when the Nobel Priz- leaders in government, es are awarded. Accord- and front runners in NonAbdul Ganiyu Ambali, Vice Chancellor, Universi- ing to TEXEM, the award Governmental Organisais as an essential part of tions play in the advancety of Ilorin.

Mr. Abubakre, in his re- its corporate social respon- ment of the Nigerian somark, said he had never sibility programme to ac- ciety.

‘Native and Vogue’ ends today: Who wins Allure Style Awards?

BY JEMI EKUNKUNBOR

A

S the curtain falls on the 2nd edition

of Native and Vogue Port Harcourt International Fashion Week, tonight, the three day event that has brought Port Harcourt to a standstill, will climax

with the annual Allure Style Awards.

Instituted five years ago to recognise and applaud excellence in different sectors of fashion, beauty, lifestyle and entertainment, tonight’s event will honour Nine individuals and one company.

The categories are; Allure Style Icon Award, Model of the Year Award, Fashion Promoter of the Year Award, Designer of the Year, Young Designer of the Year and Allure Personality of the Year.

Others are, Make Up Artist of the Year, Artist of the Year and Accessory Brand of the Year Winner of the Style Icon category. will be Allure’s brand Ambassador for the next one year. Nominees for this year’s edition are Nkiru Anumudu, Helen Prest-Ajayi and Mo Abudu.

The first edition was won

by Dorothy Atake, the second edition was won by the duo of former. MBGN queen, Omowumi Akinnifesi and Mai Atafo while property developer, Eunice Efole was the winner for 2013. On the bill for today’s show are six designers; four international and two Nigerian designers. Led

by UK based Kosibah Couture, others are South Africa based Naked Ape, KluK/CGDT, AD by Agbani Darego, Vera Nora Couture and Dak Val. The show which promises to attract a huge number of A list Lagos and Port Harcourt celebrities, will be spiced with electric performances by Tu Face Idibia now re christened Tu Baba.

As nominees file out tonight, the question remains, who wins Allure Style Awards?

See profiles of nominees inside Allure.

Madam Adufe Gbadamosi dies @ 93

M

ADAM Bintu Fatimo Adufe Gbadamosi [Nee Laniyan], a.k.a. Iya Onifufu,93, is dead.

Madam Gbadamosi who died on September 15 , 2014, was buried same day according to muslim rites. She is Survived by children, grand children and great grand children, among whom is Mr Kehinde Gbadamosi, staff of Vanguard Newspaper .

•Late Madam Adufe Gbadamosi

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 7

From left: Governor Liyel Imoke, of Cross River State Governor Seriake Dickson,of Bayelsa State; Chairman, P D P Governors Forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio; Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Dr Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti State governor-elect; during the South West Sensitization/ Unity Rally of the PDP held at Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos, yesterday.

From left: Chief Oladode George, Vice President Nnamdi Sambo, and President Goodluck Jonathan, at the rally. Photos by Kehinde Gbadamosi

Jega redeployed Akeju to frustrate PDP appeal — Omisore T

HE Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the August 9, 2014 governorship election in Osun State, Dr. Iyiola Omisore, has faulted the redeployment of the former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Ambassador Akeju, to the state as a ploy by the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission

(INEC) to scuttle the process of his appeal against the declared victory of the APC candidate, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

He said Akeju is back to stultify, scuttle, frustrate and hinder the process of inspecting all the materials by installing obstacles to completely slow or totally hinder the PDP’s efforts to inspect the electoral materials.

Addressing a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital, Omisore accused the INEC boss of complicity in the redeployment saga for being insensitive to the partisan disposition of the former REC who was deployed from the state shortly before the election.

According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party in 2010 filed a suit

at the Federal High Court, Osogbo asking the court to disqualify Akeju from being appointed as Osun REC on the grounds that he was a close associate of Alhaji Bola Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State and ACN sympathizer because he would not be a fair umpire in the conduct of the state gubernatorial election.

Speaking further, he said the Federal High

Court in its ruling restrained Akeju from parading himself as the Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner from conducting the 2011 general elections and also ordered that INEC should replace HIM so as not to jeopardise the conduct of the elections.

Omisore wondered that INEC disregarded the order of the court, allowed Akeju not only to parade himself as the

Osun State REC but also conducted the 2011 elections in the state.

He described what he called the relegation of the rule of law and flagrant disrespect for Court Order by highly placed public officers such as Jega and Akeju a plan to ensure the continued control of the state by ACN without consideration to the yearnings and demands of the electorate.

When I met Asari and agreed a peace deal Continued from page 5 but in the following days was broken three times and each time it was the Nigerian military that broke the ceasefire. Even when under fire during a ceasefire breach Asari, honoured his word and withdrew, firing only for self-protection.

T

o complete the peace deal, President Obasanjo directed me to oversee the extraction of Asari and his key commanders in September 2004. I travelled to the Niger Delta with a handful of SSS men headed by Fubara Duke, an Ijaw man known to Asari and trusted

by President Obasanjo. At 1am on September 29, 2004 Asari, and his commanders met us at Abonnema Landing in the Niger Delta and we proceeded to Port Harcourt airport where we boarded a plane at dawn to take us to Abuja and direct to President Obasanjo in the Cabinet Room. That day was punctuated with amazing revelations as Asari recounted events that led him and his men to defy the government and launch a guerrilla style campaign.

Asari always kept his word to me. He gave me an undertaking on the ceasefire and kept it even in the face of breaches by the military. When it came to time for weapons surrender, he asked me how many weapons I wanted him to surrender. I said, ‘ Asari you have 3,000 men, so I want 3,000 weapons.’ Asari

gave a commitment to hand over 3,000 guns, 100 general purpose machine guns and some rocket launchers which were subsequently destroyed in a series of public destructions to UN standards overseen by the Army at Bori Military Camp in Port Harcourt in mid-November 2004.

President Obasanjo kept his word and on October 1, 2004 the peace accord was announced and Asari and his commanders returned to the Niger Delta.

Asari is correct is saying I never paid him anything.

I never paid anyone and no one paid me either by way of funds or favours. President Obasanjo did not offer to pay me for the Niger Delta peace accord and I did not seek payment. The peace deal was built on trust. I went to Asari’s camp unarmed and without any security. Asari and his key commanders travelled with me and the small SSS contingent totally unarmed. We trusted each other with our lives and that built trust. There can be no peace without trust.

Without trust, there is merely a ceasefire which will eventually be broken and the fighting resume.

A

sari said in his in terview with the Daily Post that President Obasanjo broke his word. I am not so sure of that. What I think Asari may be referring to is the demobilisation and skills training that did not materialise after the peace ac-

cord. Funds were to be set aside to train the ex-militants for employment and to reintegrate them back into their communities.

This phase of the work was to be undertaken by the state governors.

By March 2005, a full six months had passed without any sign of training and reintegration. It was no surprise then to find 200 Niger Delta ex-militants had been recruited by foreign mercenaries to participate in a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. The ex-militants were intercepted as they departed Warri in a ship bound for Guinea. They had each been promised $5,000 and an AK47. Had the promised skills training and reintegration been implemented, these young men probably would not have agreed to join the coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. So Asari is right but it was more likely that the governors were not sincere and not former President Obasanjo. It was the governors that had armed, promoted and used the gangs for political purposes in much the same way that former Governor Modu Sheriff was alleged to have done in Borno State..

I

t was this failure to honour the agree ment to demobilise by providing skills training and reintegration that fuelled discontent and provided the conditions that formed MEND which added bombing and kid-

napping to its mode of operation.

Contrary to Asari’s understanding, former President Obasanjo did not bring me to Nigeria on my recent trip to seek the release of the Chibok girls or for any other purpose. Nor did President Jonathan or anyone else. I came to Nigeria in April this year to seek the release of the Chibok girls at my own expense and of my own volition because I could see no progress on the release of the kidnapped girls.

Girls horrifying rape While Asari may not believe any girls were kidnapped, let me assure you that hearing the stories of some girls who have escaped from Boko Haram camps is a sobering experience. There are many girls who have been kidnapped apart from the girls from the Chibok school. The kidnapping of girls by Boko Haram has been going on for at least a year. Initially Boko Haram kidnapped girls because the fighters could not go back home to their wives. They used the kidnapped girls. Girls tell how they were raped every day, week after week. One girl was raped every day, sometimes several times a day by groups of men.

Some did not survive the ordeal. The escaped girls tell harrowing stories of rape and abuse. They are traumatised and require medical treatment and counselling. These girls are testament to the horrifying truth about the kidnappings.

But the Chibok kidnappings were only the start of my recent journey to Nigeria. It soon became apparent the (alleged) sponsors did not want any interference in their plan. The “political Boko Haram” which (allegedly) started out as Sheriff ’s ECOMOG (so named after the military peace keeping forces operating in Liberia at that time because an SDP - Social Democratic Party- candidate was protected from an angry mob in Bama by a group of youths supporting the SDP) that targeted his political opponents in the 2003 and 2007 elections have since mutated into the Boko Haram we see today that terrorises through beheadings, butchering innocent villagers, bombing innocent people at shopping malls and in churches, raping and kidnapping.

It is true that Sheriff fellout with Yusuf and the allegation stands that when the military captured Yusuf in late July 2009 and handed him over to the police in Borno State, he was allegedly executed on Sheriff ’s instruction. Thus the root of the perception that Sheriff cannot be a sponsor but a hated enemy of Boko Haram. But the core of the old Yusufiya is no longer part of Boko Haram.

Boko Haram is a mutation of political Boko Haram and Shekau’s Ansaru. The Yusufiya grew out of the Izala movement and had great respect for Izala.

Boko Haram now beheads Izala followers. The “slaughterers” work with

the political assassins and suicide bombers. The sponsors of Boko Haram do not care how many innocent Nigerians are slaughtered, how many women are raped, how many girls and boys are kidnapped, how many villages are plundered. I have met too many victims to say, “It is not my problem”.

W

e are each dimin ished if we allow such crimes against our fellow citizens to persist. The Nigerian military is diminished if it uses Boko Haram tactics to address the problem.

Evil will flourish and triumph if good men and women do nothing.

Many Nigerian politicians have said little and done nothing to curb the slaughter of Nigerians that is being supported by the sponsors. While fathers die to protect their daughters and wives are raped and butchered the sponsors of Boko Haram are accorded privileges and protection. They fly in private jets and are accorded military protection. Are the sponsors of Boko Haram so far above the law? Have the citizens of Nigeria lost the right to bring these men to justice?

Who will stand up for the poor and oppressed who are being slaughtered and raped in their hundreds? By the grace of God we trust that good men and women will stand up and justice will prevail. *Davis, an Austrialian, is a negotiator

PAGE 8 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Taraba House raises panel on Suntai T ARABA State House of Assembly, yesterday, set up a fiveman panel to verify the health status of Governor Danbaba Suntai.

This decision followed the receipt of a resolution of the state Executive Council meeting of September, 2014. By so doing, the Assembly is evoking the provisions of Section 189, Sub Section 1b and

189 Sub Section 4 of the Constitution which requested the Speaker to appoint a medical panel to verify the health condition of the governor.

In a statement, the Taraba State Speaker, Hon. Josiah Kente, said he was compelled to set up the panel in accordance with the Constitution following the resolution passed by the state Executive Council mandating him to do so.

ECOWAS moves to end Ebola spread

BY SONI DANIEL

T

HE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has outlined measures to control the spread of Ebola and save its member-countries from further deaths.

Under the arrangement, a Ministerial Coordination Group, to be chaired by the Ghanian Health Minister with his counterparts from Ebola affected countries, has been set up by the

commission.

In addition, the ministers raised a Technical Surveillance Group with members drawn from the West African Health Organisation, WAHO, Nigeria and World Health Organisation, WHO, among others, as members.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, announced the new measures at a media briefing in Abuja.

Uduaghan, Akpeki commended over empowerment

G

OVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State and the state Commissioner for Housing, Chief Paulinus Akpeki, have been commended over their leadership quality, steadfastness and c o n s i s t e n c e empowerment in moving the state to greater heights.

Mr. Andrew Obene, who made the commendation at Ofuoma, Ughelli North Local Government Area , added that the commissioner had not

deviated from the governor ’s three-point agenda in ensuring that g o v e r n m e n t ’ s transformation programmes are achieved before the end of 2015.

Obene stated that Delta needs the likes of Akpeki to take over the administration of the state come 2015.

While calling on Akpeki to declare his intention to run for the Delta State governorship election come 2015, Obene said the people needed tested persons like him to take the state to enviable heights.

2015: Northern farmers hail TAN, PDP on Jonathan

A

REWA Grassroots Farmers and F e e d e r s Association(AGFFA) have commended the Peoples’ Democratic Party for choosing President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole candidate in the 2015 presidential election. This, according to the group, shows the confidence the party reposes in the President.

A statement by AGFFA

Chairman, Mallam Illiasu Ahmed, noted that “TAN has been doing a wonderful job”.

It pointed out that the intervention of the group had bridged the gap between the President and the citizens and commended the Tr a n s f o r m a t i o n Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) for promoting the achievements of Jonathan.

•On-going construction work at International Cargo Airport, Amassoma, Bayelsa State - one of Governor Seriake Dickson's developmental projects.

2015: Kumuyi urges Nigerians to vote credible leaders ...lauds Aregbesola T

HE General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, has urged Nigerians to cast their votes intelligently in 2015 and elect leaders who will transform the country and make it great again.

He gave the charge just as he scored the governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, high on his performance towards the transformation of the state.

The cleric spoke in Osogbo ahead of his three-day crusade, with the theme, “Explosion of Supernatural Miracles”,

slated to begin yesterday.

“When we are going to cast our votes, we should cast our votes intelligently. We know where we want to be as a country in various areas of development and the leaders that will get us to where we want, are those we are going to cast our votes for at all levels,’’ Kumuyi said.

“We should also understand that many nations have their peculiar problems, some similar to ours, while some are different, but many of the countries have survived it and I want to say with prayers and hope in God, we will

get out of our problems”.

C o m m e n d i n g Aregbesola for his efforts in the transformation of the state, the cleric said the governor’s leadership had been translated to development, just as he lauded Aregbesola for embarking on programmes and projects that have direct positive bearing on the people of the state.

He added: “We thank God for the progress we have seen in this state, as we can see that a lot has taken place in terms of transformation under Ogbeni Aregbesola. I want to rejoice with the governor that God has

granted him focus and vision to actually carry on the works for the development of the state”.

Kumuyi said he was impressed with the facelift the governor had given Osun when he saw various completed and ongoing developmental projects on his way to Osogbo from Lagos driving through IkireGbongan-Ode-Omu. Congratulating the governor on his victory during the August 9 governorship election, the clergyman expressed optimism that the state would witness more development in the tenure ahead.

2015: Ondo APC sets up reconciliation committee

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure

T

HE opposition All Progressive Congress in Ondo State has set up a 23member committee to resolve all differences ahead of next year general election.

Factions emerged within the party following its loss of the last governorship election in the state.

Speaking with newsmen in Akure, the state Chairman of the p a r t y, H o n I s a a c Kekemeke, said the party has bounced back.

Kekemeke said those waiting for the death of

the party “ will wait in vain”.

“We are doing a lot.

Apart from our personal intervention and intervention of leaders, we have set up a reconciliation committee that is set to move from one local government to another and work towards where we have quarrels’’, he stated.

“It is natural that people will feel sense of loss if they did not win in an election and we are trying to do everything that we can to bring the situation under control. “ This family misunderstanding is arising from the way

our party chairman handled the situation in those areas.

“Those who are banking on the disagreement within the APC will later have themselves to blame because all the various tendencies that are disagreeing all agree that it is time for their party to win and they are all working for the party ’’.

Kekemeke noted that” it is only in two local governments that we have not fully reconciled, otherwise we have chairmen in 16 out of 18 local governments that are functioning’’.

The reconciliation

committee, according to him, is headed by “Dr. S.B Akerele supported

by Dr Taye Malumi and we have 23 members, all the local governments have their representatives in the committee and we have additional members’’.

Meanwhile, the party has put in place three committees: Publicity, finance and legal.

Kekemeke, while inaugurating the committee, reminded members of the enormous task ahead of them and the need to live up to expectations and be above board in the discharge of their duties.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 9

The solemnization of holy matrimony between Adenike Adeyemi Adenuga,daughter of the late Lt Oluwafemi (rtd) & Alhaja Rashidat Adenuga, and Mr Olanrewaju Babatunde Aduloju, son of the late Maj. Gen Alfred & Lady Ojinya Aduloju, took place at The Elevation Church, Lekki, yesterday.

The couple cutting their wedding cake.Photos: Biodun Ogunleye Engr Mudashiru Adeyemi and Alhaja Rashidat Adenuga, bride’s mother

Jonathan, at Synagogue, vows to investigate cause of collapsed building *Envoy puts S/African death toll at 84; NEMA disagrees

BY SAM EYOBOKA

P

RESIDENT G o o d l u c k Jonathan yesterday vowed to investigate the cause of the collapse of the Synagogue Church of All Nations’ six-storey building.

The President, who spoke during a condolence visit to the General Overseer of the church, Pastor T.B. Joshua, also promised to collaborate with state governors to put in place measures to check illegal building of high rise buildings in the country.

While expressing condolences to the families of the victims, he assured that the Federal Government will deploy the machinery to ensure that investigations into the cause of the collapse were treated speedily.

Jonathan said he will convene a meeting with state governors to discuss the need for advice or measures that will check illegal

erection of high rise buildings.

The President was accompanied by the National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu, and the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire, to the site of the collapsed structure.

Meanwhile, the South African ambassador to Nigeria has dismissed the fear of diplomatic row between Nigeria and South Africa as a result of the incident.

He also revealed that 84 South Africans had been confirmed dead in the incident. This figure

however conflicts with the figures released by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The South-west spokesman of the NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, told reporters in Lagos that the death toll stood at 78.

E

do State Chief of Staff, Hon Patrick Obahiagbon, has declared his intention to run for Edo South Senatorial District in 2015 on the platform of All Progress Congress, APC. Reacting to this declaration by

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

S

trange fire Friday night gutted a part of the Herbert Macauley Street residence of Justice Daisy Okocha in Port Harcourt,Rivers State.

Okocha was appointed Administrative Chief Judge by the National Judicial Council, an action that plunged the judiciary into crisis as the state

Nigeria bleeds, burns — Catholic Bishops atholic Bishops time to play politics, as Muslims in general are citizens, our government C across the country it ‘’does not matter who the principal targets for must do more than it is have expressed concern becomes the President, e x t e r m i n a t i o n , currently doing to over violence, bombings and killings in the North-East.

The bishops, under the aegis of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), declared, in a communiqué, that while Nigeria bleeds and burns, government must rise to its duty of protecting lives and property.

The statement, signed by the President of the CBC N , M o s t Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, and Secretary, Most Rev. William Avenya, believed this is not the

but putting the lives of the people first and restoring peace and unity to the country’’.

The statement continued: “As Nigeria tragically bleeds and burns, we Bishops are really alarmed at the scale of human, material destruction, and the disruption of village and community life with increased levels of hatred and potentials for more conflicts in the nation. While Muslims are sometimes targets of these destructive attacks, Christians Churches and non-

expropriation and expulsion by the Boko Haram insurgents, the perpetrators of all these destructions.

“We believe that we still have government- at federal and state- levels whose primary duty it is to preserve and protect the life, of every Nigerian irrespective of tribe, religion, social class or tradition.

“In the face of this Boko Haram group and other criminal militias arming themselves beyond our legitimate government and brazenly killing innocent, defenseless

Group welcomes Obahiagbon’s senatorial ambition

BY EMMANUEL AJIBULU

Fire guts Justice Okocha’s apartment

Obahiagbon, known for jaw breaking words, a group, Vote Patrick Obahiagbon for Senate (VPOS), has thrown its weight behind him, urging Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the people of Edo to support him judging by his past antecedents as a lawmaker. ‘’We congratulate Hon.

Patrick Obahiagbona (alias Igodomigodo) as he has finally announced to a large gathering of his Edo South Senatorial District his intention to represent them in the Senate come 2015.

Nigerians are indeed praying to God for d realization of his dream,’’ the group said.

Obahiagbona

safeguard our lives and defend our nation. It must do more than it is currently doing to fight off and disarm these actual destroyers of Nigerians and Nigeria. It must do more than it is currently doing to prevent segments of our nation from drifting, anarchy and mutual selfdestruction and bring criminals to justice.

“We warn every Nigerian community at local and state levels to be alert to the grave danger facing all of us and our nation from within and from without.

The issue is not about who becomes president or governor or senator after the 2015 General Elections. The issue is about the life and security of every one of us who loves his or her life and really cares about our living together in peace as noble Nigerians.”

The bishops declared a two-day national allnight prayer scheduled th for 13th and 14 of November, 2014 in Abuja to intercede for the nation.

government kicked against it. Judicial staff in the state have been on strike for about three months as a result of the development and other related issues.

A former President of the Nigeria Bar Association and brother of Justice Okocha, Chief O.C.J. Okocha, told newsmen, yesterday, that he was alerted about the fire incident in the early hours of the day, adding that it consumed some of her sister’s valuables.

Okocha, who called for investigation into the cause of the fire, said no court document was destroyed because the sister did not keep any at home.

PDP lacks organisational skill- Fashola MONSURU OLOWOOPEJO

G

o v e r n o r Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said, yesterday, the South-West Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rally held in the state demonstrated that the party lacks the skill to organize human resources.

Fashola, who addressed over 17, 000 street sweepers at the 6th Street Sweepers Workshop 2014 held at the Onikan Stadium, said PDP members during the rally defaced the state within few hours they spent at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS.

PAGE 10 —SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Somebody must be lying

"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish" A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.-Chinua Achebe

J

UST when I thought our politicians could not sink any lower, they then go and show that there are depths lower than low they can easily crawl out of. Last week, my British colleague alerted my attention to a sickening report about Nigeria covered by the BBC and the Washington Post. It seemed that Goodluck's sycophants had unfurl banners round Abuja, using similar hashtag campaign of the missing Chibok girls. They, in their absolute stupidity and arrogance flew the flag for Jona's 2015 campaign.

Only they could have thought it was right to capitalise on other peoples' tragedy.

I am sure they did not see the harm in what they did, they simply thought that there was an opportunity to link the Chibok girls hash tag to Jonathan's

ambitious re-election bid.

They must have thought what a stroke of genius that they had come up with it.

How they must have thought that people will recognise the hash tag similarity and of course, people will applaud them and it will be a success! I don't know about you, but in a country of very clever people, why do we often act dumb, crass and uncouth?

Where have we left our pride and honour? What have we traded for the loss of our moral compass and what are we saying to our young. We are quick to shot down people who speak out and question our collective morality and integrity. We have thrown out respect and replace it for those that shout the loudest and offer nothing but chaos and confusion. We have lost our humanity and compassion.

This time,they have gone beyond the pale of decency and they have the temerity to explain it away that the top huncho knows nothing about it and that makes it all right? No, it does not make it right; in fact there lies the problem with these

Chief Law Enforcement Officer, he sets a bad example for other officers of the law.

There are occasions when it is better to keep silent and be considered a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. Abati just made a Presidential blunder worse with that press release. Silence would have been better.

THE REVOLT OF THE SLEEPING MASSES.

them up like nothing else in history. It might result in massive revolt. The war in the Northeastern part of Nigeria will end one day – one way or another. Even the hundred years’ war ended one day. Mankind will conquer HIV/AIDs and Ebola, as we dispatched the plague, small pox, polio and other types of

Advisers like Reuben Abati are not helping the President.

Instead of admitting, when a mistake is made, which is human, they attempt to bully the truth and lead the President to make other avoidable errors

,

“Anger supplies the arms”, Virgil 70-19 BC “Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man is starving.” O. Henry, 1862-1910, (vanguard book of quotations, p232).

Nigeria’s sleeping masses are about to receive a shock which will wake

pestilence which threatened to finish us.

Those wars will end because the international community has an interest in bringing them to conclusion at the earliest possible time.

But, there is another war, silently creeping on us, and it is peculiarly our own. For this war, there will be no foreign assistance, no

arrogant and power drunk hunchos. The floor is strewn with litany of excuses and they wish it away and we consign it to back with the other big white lies and mediocrities.

I mean, the fact no one amongst the so-called media savvy lackeys would have thought that #BringBackJonathan2015, is simply puerile. The international press did register their horror and disappointment that such campaign to bring back the girls can be tainted and abused at a higher level to exploit the situation.

It seems that the mad (politicians) are running the asylum(Nigeria) how obscene to gather that the press office to the president was not aware and meanwhile,many of this

destroy, they first make mad. We are witnessing a runway train and they cannot stop it because they are in too deep. We are watching how this train will hit the buffers with all these supercilious idiots on it.

So to my delight it was a relief and with pride to read that Wole Soyinka took pen to paper to register his disgust in an open letter. The man of letters covered the mood of right thinking Nigerians. Is there no respect for the family of the missing girls and for the worldwide concerns for their return?

The open letter covered what is wrong with Nigerians today and more.

Soyinka is brave, erudite and conscientious as always. He called it as he sees it when he said that; "The dancing obscenity of Shekau and his gang of psychopaths and child abductors, taunting the world, mocking the BRING BACK OUR GIRLS campaign on internet, finally met its match in Nigeria to inaugurate the week of September 11 most appropriately.

That banner read: BRING BACK JONATHAN 2015" Of course, there are many in their ivory towers who readily dismissed what this esteem elder has said. I remember what another esteem sage Chinua Achebe, had said; "When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see."

They obviously have no respect as they are filled with own self-importance

,

S

supposed to assume that an unwanted participant gatecrashed his way into the meeting of two African leaders, with all their security details? Shouldn’t the Presidents have distanced themselves from Sheriff instead of being caught in the same room with the man? The picture also did not tell us that it was taken at the Airport.

And since when did Presidents discussing serious security matters afflicting their nations start to allow someone accused of being a sponsor of insecurity to seat in their midst? The entire episode was a blunder and no amount of clever “grammar ” can erase it.

Nigerians don’t need the APC to think for them. No right thinking Nigerian, including PDP members, can look at that picture and not feel disappointed and alarmed.

Advisers like Reuben Abati are not helping the President. Instead of admitting, when a mistake is made, which is human, they attempt to bully the truth and lead the President to make other avoidable errors.

The last persons Jonathan should be seen with, in public, are those under investigation.

Otherwise, as the nation’s

,

“That was the full extent of his [Senator Sheriff] participation in the visit and it was also at Ndjamena Airport that the pictures which formed the basis of the bogus allegation of President Jonathan hobnobbing with the ‘accused sponsor of terrorism’ were taken.” Dr Reuben Abati, PUNCH, Friday, September 12, 2014 p 13. eldom does this column carry a picture of any reported event. But, Reuben Abati’s disclaimer of any participation by Senator Sheriff, in the meetings at Ndjamena stretches incredulity to the breaking point. Below is a front page picture in the PUNCH of Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The photograph was credited to NAN, News Agency of Nigeria, which is a Federal Government agency.

There were no crowds of “other Nigerian residents….coming to welcome their President” as Abati claimed. Even if there were other Nigerians welcoming their President, why was Sheriff singled out for the closed door meeting we saw in the NAN photo?

Which of the two Presidents, sitting with him, extended the invitation to join the meeting? Or are we

Nigerians have got a serious problem and it is about time we faced the facts and see what we can do as a collective

,

banners were flying in prominent places in the capital and women at their rallies had hundreds of this said hash tag embossed across their Tshirts? What do you say when the blind seems to be leading the clueless? They say, that those gods want to

helping hand and no sympathy. Indeed, the international community would have individually and collectively contributed to this calamity – which is just round the corner. Let me summarise the nature of this war – which we will fight alone by making a categorical statement.

THE AGE OF ABUNDANT REVENUE FROM CRUDE OIL EXPORT IS OVER. As most countries of Europe, the world’s largest economic bloc, and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) experience economic slow down; and as more countries discover oil in large quantities in their own backyard and as the USA moves to dominate global oil supplies, Nigeria’s economy will become the most endangered worldwide. No other country depends so much on crude oil exports as Nigeria and all economic activities lean heavily on it.

Crude oil prices have reached the highest peak they would, barring another major war in the Middle East, and there is only one

way to go –DOWN. That will happen because Governments, Federal and States, have failed to read the handwriting on the wall. There is no Strategic Plan to avert this impending disaster.

Everybody is now focused on 2015 election. That is the greatest tragedy.

The failure of every government, since Gowon’s, to force diversification of our economy will, in no distant future, be regarded as economic sabotage by our leaders by future historians.

But, the hunger pangs will start very soon; as early as next year, in fact, as the Federal and State Governments will have to embark on another series of Austerity Measures. Public servants will suffer; so will their dependents. Even Boko Haram’s guns will appear like a merciful way of dispatching with those slowly starving to death any way.

When it happens, remember you read it here first.

V i s i t : www.delesobowale.com or Visit: www.facebook.com/ biolasobowale

and arrogance, they dismiss the achievements and contributions that the likes of Achebe and Soyinka made to our country and in one quick swoop, they become belligerent and they will time rue the day.

Despite the protestations of not knowing by the Jonas camp, it is plain to see that if it smells like a duck, looks like a duck, then it is a duck!

No way can we continue to live on a diet of lies that are spewed and scattered as the gospel. Nigerians have got to have the courage to believe the truth and develop some moral back bone. We can no longer feel it is safe to stick our necks further down the sand and rather than face the facts; Nigerians have got a serious problem and it is about time we faced the facts and see what we can do as a collective.

There are immoral and avaricious individuals who are doing everything that they can to siphon more of our common wealth for their own gluttonous agenda. They are so desperate to hold on to the vestiges of power and are ready to try all dastardly means to do so.

It is absolute disgrace, there is no redeeming features in these desperados even if they attempt to dazzle us with their cloth of respectability. This simply will not wash. Like elder Soyinka sad;" the damage has been done, the rot in a nation's collective soul bared to the world. The very possibility of such a desecration took the

Nigerian nation several notches down in human regard. It confirmed the very worst of what external observers have concluded and despaired of - a culture of civic callousness, a coarsening of sensibilities and, a general human disregard. It affirmed the acceptance, even domination of lurid practices where children are often victims of unconscionable abuses including ritual sacrifices, sexual enslavement, and worse. Spurred by electoral desperation, a bunch of self-seeking morons and sycophants chose to plumb the abyss of selfdegradation and drag the nation down to their level.

It took us to a hitherto unprecedented low in ethical degeneration" He was acerbic and funny to suggest that perhaps if they must, they could bring back some essentials like "electricity and other elusive items like security, the rule of law, etc.

The list is interminable.

And funny "The nature of what is being brought back is thus what raises the disquieting questions. It is time to ask the question: if Ebola were to be eradicated tomorrow, would this government attempt to bring it back?"

No one could have put it better. What do we say to our young, where do we stand on the side of history?

Should we all be tarred with same odious brush?"

Most of us love a life of delusion, escapism, grandiosity and denial for so long.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 11

actual fact set up not for itself but in the public interest. As a result, its activities must be a matter of concern to the entire society for whose sake it exists. Second, although it is true that military law is different from civil law, no law is expected to be unjust.

This point is better understood when it is realized that at the end of a military trial, those involved are allowed to take their cases to the civil

,

T

he Nigeria Army last Tuesday announced the sentencing of 12 soldiers to death by firing squad for mutiny. The soldiers had allegedly attempted to kill their commanding officer during a mutiny in May at the Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri. Considering that mutiny is a serious military offence, we cannot but agree that a severe penalty that can deter a recurrence is in order.

Several analysts have taken time to copiously comment on the subject but no one appears to be in favour of the judgment of the tribunal. There is however the subtle caution that civil society should not dabble into military matters. Is such a caution persuasive in these days of pervasive insecurity in our country?

How irrelevant is public opinion?

We need to remember that the Nigerian Army is a societal institution run with public funds which can therefore not be an island unto itself. The army was in

of first instance.

Consequently, the argument that we lay men have no business getting involved in military matters is simplistic.

Again, because soldiers are citizens, many of whom require parental consent to enlist in the army, it is unwise to wrap up military matters in a secret garb that can make parents disapprove of their wards serving the national duty of protecting us all. For this reason, it is not enough to set up military tribunals that give judgments without recourse to the circumstances of the

The stories about how generally illequipped our soldiers have been are obviously a source of public concern more so as it concerns rare citizens who are prepared to pay the supreme sacrifice so that the rest of us may live

Court of Appeal if dissatisfied with the decision of the military tribunal. In other words, a military tribunal ought to serve essentially as a court

,

offences being tried.

Luckily, we have a 2003 case-Yussuf and 21 others versus the Nigerian Army which the learned Senior Advocate, Femi Falana

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

On the manifold faces of death (2) I

f the former DirectorGeneral of NAFDAC could resurrect temporarily and read the encomiums from some highly-placed Nigerians, she would be disgusted by the hypocrisy of it all - the very people that truncated her political ambition now eulogising her to high heavens!

President Jonathan was very generous in praising Dora Akunyili's achievements. Yet, he did not include her in his cabinet but merely appointed her member of the just-concluded National Conference at a time she was very ill. Mr. President's action in this regard is consonant with the hypocritical attitude of members of the ruling class we highlighted earlier. That said, the best way to honour Akunyili's legacy is by emulating her exemplary performance as a public servant. It is meaningless to praise someone to high heavens without making genuine efforts to exhibit those qualities that made him or her outstanding.

Dimgba igwe's death, like Ekwealo's, signposts not only contingent nature of life but also the decadent nature of our society, particularly the comatose state of health services in Nigeria.

Probably, if Igwe had received appropriate medical attention on time, he might have survived. But our hospitals, which were mere consulting rooms

according to Abacha, have degenerated to the status of glorified graveyards, while our doctors are gradually becoming undertakers who quicken the process of death. The unknown hitand-run driver that knocked Dimgba Igwe down behaved like a typical irresponsible Nigerian bereft of civilised human feelings. The decision to run away rather than stop and assist the person he (or she) knocked down is unjustifiable. It might be argued that stopping to assist an accident victim in Nigeria is dangerous and deadly sometimes, because some people that did so either had been maimed for life or had been killed by irate bystanders.

Even so, despite the dangers due to the primitive consciousness of frustrated Nigerians, one is morally obliged to extend duty of care to an accident victim, especially if he or she was responsible for the accident.

In any case, to mitigate the dangers of "jungle justice," a responsible driver would drive to the nearest police station to report immediately an accident occurs, and return as quickly as possible to the accident scene with police escort. Such a civilised response might not save the seriously injured, but at least it would send a clear message to those concerned that what happened was

unintentional and that the person responsible for the mishap is remorseful and willing to make restitution.

In a very important sense, Nigeria is regressing into the infamous Hobbesian state of nature in which life is poor, solitary, nasty, brutish and short. Cruelty, wickedness and disregard for the sanctity of life are everywhere, despite unprecedented expansion of religious consciousness nationwide. That is why top government officials embezzle funds earmarked for the health sector, and why some medical doctors ignore dying patients brought in for medical care without qualms or demand a huge deposit before commencing treatment. It all connects to the increasing dehumanisation of people in our society arising from decay in humanistic attitudes such as empathy, sympathy, kindness and love.

Because humans, of all creatures that have evolved on earth, have sophisticated brains with the capacity for rationality, intuition, and creative imagination, the phenomenon of death has a special meaning for people in all cultures across the rich mosaic of recoded history.

Thus, there is a fantastic array of possible eschatologies purporting to describe life after death, including belief in metempsychosis or reincarnation. Now, deepseated craving for continuation of life, the aching sense of loss when a loved one is deceased, and deep horror concerning the

poorly positioned our soldiers are in the war against insurgency. If our soldiers themselves have refrained from openly revolting, what their kith and kin say now and again is enlightening. The other day, the spouses of our soldiers and their immediate families staged public demonstrations against what they described as the sending of their poorly kitted bread winners to go and die in the warfronts. Who then is holding on to the yearly security budgets that are bigger than those of several ministries combined?

For those of us in the field of communication, the most worrying aspect of the mutiny story is the management of military information. When the story of the mutiny at Maimalari barracks first broke, it was officially dismissed as a rumour. The official statement read as follows: “The rumour making the rounds that Maiduguri is boiling as a result of insurrection by troops is unfounded”. Although the statement confirmed that some soldiers were ambushed by insurgents, it gave the impression that the soldiers repelled the insurgents killing several of them adding that only 4 soldiers were killed. How come it is 12 soldiers that are now said to have been killed?

The statement for whatever reason also played down the nature of

irreversibility of death provide a very strong psychological motivation for belief in life after death.

But before we can determine whether one survives death or not, it is important to point out that the apparent continuity of the body of a living human being is mainly a matter of appearance and behaviour, not really of an unchanging substance, due to the continuous processes of metabolism and excretion.

With respect to the mind, soul or spirit, it is evident that the ancient doctrine of a spiritual substance cannot be sustained on the best scientific evidence. As human beings, we exhibit mental characteristics such as thinking and feeling; but it does not follow that there is a soul that undergoes these experiences.

The assumption that there must be commits what one may call, following the

considered part of the person that recollects them presently.

Logically, personhood or self is a series of experiences connected by memory and habit, with biological endowments serving as substrate.

From the foregoing, belief in survival after death entails that inherited characteristics, memories and habits, which constitute the person, will persist in a new set of occurrences after bodily functions, including brain processes, have ceased permanently. From the scientific perspective, memories and habits are intimately connected to brain structure, analogously as a river is connected with the riverbed.

The water in a river is always changing, but it maintains the same course because previous rains have created a channel through which it flows. Similarly, previous events have created

,

Mutiny: Which 12 soldiers are to die?

cites as an instructive precedent. In the case, the Court of Appeal quashed the life imprisonment passed on some soldiers who had rioted at the Cairo Airport in Egypt. The court rightly ruled that the offence of mutiny for which the soldiers were tried was instigated by the officers who had diverted the medical allowances which ought to have been paid to the soldiers while receiving medical treatment in Egypt.

In other words rather than restricting itself to the charge of mutiny, the court appropriately found and dealt with ‘constructive mutiny ’- an offence instigated by the complainants.

Our interest in today ’s subject however goes far beyond the issue of technical justice. We are, like every patriot, worried about happenings in our military. The stories about how generally ill-equipped our soldiers have been are obviously a source of public concern more so as it concerns rare citizens who are prepared to pay the supreme sacrifice so that the rest of us may live.

Our soldiers have never been known to be cowards.

Even when the burden of saving others in Liberia and Sierra Leone was borne by them in the name of ECOMOG, there was hardly any story about mutiny. Today, the situation is different with the international media replete with painful tales of how

As human beings, we exhibit mental characteristics such as thinking and feeling; but it does not follow that there is a soul that undergoes these experiences

philosopher Gilbert Ryle, the fallacy of "the ghost in a machine."

David Hume, the iconoclastic Scottish philosopher, points out that the mental continuity of a person is a continuity of habit and memory. There was yesterday one person whose thoughts and feelings I can remember, and that person I regard as myself of yesterday; but in fact, the person I regard today as myself the day before is a certain mental occurrence now remembered, and is

,

pathways in the brain, and our thoughts flow along these pathways, thus generating memory and habit. At death, the structure of the brain is destroyed, and memory that relies on it would naturally be obliterated too. Russell concludes, correctly I think, that there is no more reason to think otherwise than to expect a river to continue in its previous course after an earthquake has raised a mountain where a valley used to be.

As already indicated, the

the mutiny by stating that “on evacuation of the remains of the fallen troops, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) addressed the troops who registered their anger about the incident by firing into the air”. If so how come, the soldiers were now tried for attempting to kill the GOC? In other words, which 12 soldiers are now sentenced to death-could it be those who merely fired into the air, or some other soldiers that “ rumours” said shot directly at the GOC’s car wounding some of his aides or could it indeed be another group that protested the withdrawal of motorcycles from operating in the barracks?

What sources say angered the now convicted soldiers was the directive that they should return to base in the night after a mission only for Boko Haram to have information on their movement leading to the fatal ambush. Who gave the said directive? Was he put on trial for the resultant untimely deaths? What about the GOC whose life was allegedly attempted by the convicted soldiers?

Where is he? Is the rumour that he has been retired correct? In any case if his leadership role was deemed to be in order why was he transferred after the incident? Unfortunately we were unable to certify if the tribunal considered these posers before arriving at the death sentences. personality of a human being is constituted by heredity, memory and habits, all of which are interconnected and are bound up with the characteristics of certain bodily structures. Serious injury to different parts of the brain can obliterate mental functions that depend on the damaged parts, whereas certain drugs can alter someone's personality either temporarily or permanently.

Lack of iodine below a certain level can turn a clever child into an imbecile. To sum up, the scientific evidence against life after death is far stronger than the mostly anecdotal tales about ghosts and pre-natal remembrances, which constitute the strongest arguments for it.

In the final analysis, I commiserate with the families of Dr. Ekwealo, Prof.

Akunyili and Dimgba Igwe.

No amount of prayers and wailings can undo the irrevocability of death.

Therefore, the essential lesson for those of us still alive is to live in a manner that makes life a little bit better for ourselves and those we encounter in our daily transactions. This means that we should not postpone for tomorrow any good and noble deed we can accomplish today: tomorrow is full of existential uncertainties and death can strike at any moment in different ways. Human life is so precarious, so indeterminate and, yet, so precious that we must set aside comforting myths about immortality of the soul, about eschatologies purporting to describe a heavenly abode and confront boldly the finality of death.

We must learn, gradually, better practice of life based on knowledge, honesty, kindness, forthrightness and human solidarity.

CONCLUDED.

PAGE 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

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

Okowa and his job creation initiative Dear Sir,

T

HROUGHOUT his recent tours of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) Secretariats in Delta State where he intimated party executives of his intent to contest the gubernatorial race, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa,representing Delta North in the National Assembly, left no one in doubt about his understanding of the State and its economic peculiarities.

His emphasis on job creation as a panacea for sustainable economic development of the state underscores his belief that the most important challenges before Delta

State at the moment is rapid creation of job opportunities to absorb millions of young Deltans who upon graduation have no jobs to do and therefore are willing tools to illegal activities.

As interesting as this may seem, the question that readily comes to mind is how these jobs will be created ? This question is very pertinent bearing in mind that it is not a costless exercise for government to create jobs. Don’t listen to those politicians who think absorbing millions of people into already over-bloated bureaucracy amounts to job creation. It is not. Apart from the burden of recurrent expenditure these places on government, it has no impact on social infrastructure.

However, Senator ifeanyi Okowa, being a politician with robust understanding of how government works knows that with the creation of jobs‘’ there is no such thing like free lunch’’ as said by economists.

Somebody has to pay for the jobs to be created. That is why in saner societies, the private sector are the job providers, while government creates the enabling environment for it.

Mindful of this, therefore, Senator Okowa during his interface with PDP executives in Aniocha North, Aniocha South, Uvwie, Ukwuani, Ndokwa West and East, Warri North and South, lka North and South, Oshimili North and South, Ughelli

An appeal to government on Delta Estate roads Dear Sir,

I

N his classical masterpiece enti tled ‘The Prince’ Niccolo Machi avelli posited that, “all well governed-states and wise princes have taken care not to reduce the nobility to despair, nor the people to discontent”.

But, that is exactly what the Delta State Government through its’ Ministry of Works and other road maintenance agencies are dramatizing through the wanton neglect of the hideously deplorable and sordidly bad Delta Estate Road.

The Delta Estate Road formerly called the Bendel Estate Road is one of the major thoroughfares leading into the C M Y K

Delta Development and Planning Authority Area (DDPA). The entrance is sandwiched on both side by Awenayeri Filling Station and a ware house company along the Airport Road, Effurun-Warri.

We appeal to Governor Uduaghan and the Delta State Commissioner for Works, Hon. Funkekeme Solomon to do something pragmatically tangible to repair the Delta Estate road and some of the off-roads in Delta Estate area, like Eware, 16th, 18th and opposite Ugborikoko Police Station roads and construct a Central Drainage System (CDS) in Delta Development and Planning Authority Area turning the area from Ojukwu bunker to a comfort zone.

We commend our amiable Governor for his ‘Legacy Projects’, the ongoing Effurun fly-over bridge, the Enerhen Junction state-of-the-art road, etc. Our Governor is a friend of the people. But, he must note The admonition of essayist and Statesman, Thomas Jefferson that “an injured friend is the bitterest of foes”. Governor Uduaghan and the Commissioner for Works, Hon. Solomon Funkekeme must therefore “ACT” to remain our friends in Delta Development and Planning Area (DDPA) Estate.

Chief Bobson Gbinije, Mandate Against Poverty (MAP), Warri.

North and South, lsoko North and South, and others as part of his consultation tour ahead of his formal declaration for Delta State Governorship seat hinted of his plan to restructure the bureaucratic system of the service in order to effectively complement government micro- economic policies and programmes to achieve demonstrable developmental outcomes.

Hear him: ‘’ l am conversant with the issues of governance . l have worked with the Civil Servants ; therefore l am exposed to bureaucracy . l know how to galvanise Civil Servants to bring out their best’’, he had said.

Truly, without a firm knowledge of the working of the bureaucrats, no chief executive no matter how politically suave that he maybe will be able to deliver successfully on his electoral promises.

With the above in mind, Senator Okowa knows that for he to succeed with his programme of job creation through revamping the agricultural sector, establishment of agro-based industrial parks, reduction ofpoverty through an enhanced micro credit etc, a virile civil service structure that is capable and ready to guard and sustain the transformation of the economy of the state from oil driven to private sector driven is imperative. It is only by so doing the small and medium scale enterprises ( SMEs) sub-sector, unarguably the chief driver in most economies of the World will find its foothold in the state.

Traditionally, this sub-sector provides more jobs than government and even multi-national companies can do and that is the major plausible way of engaging our youths and regaining our prime position as net exporter of agricultural products . What is more, the much talked about ‘’ Delta beyond oil’’ will only fully crystallise if we collectively give our consent to Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as the successor to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2015.

Amaechi Udemba, a public affairs analyst is based in Asaba.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 13

JUNE 12 CONTROVERSY

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South

A

FORMER General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Chief Frank Kokori, is taken aback at the effort by Frank Eno, onetime Special Assistant to the undeclared winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 election, Chief Moshood Abiola, in an interview published in Sunday Vanguard, last month, to allegedly pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians concerning the June 12 revalidation struggle and his (Kokori) arrest. Eno’s interview was in reaction to the remarks about him

by Kokori in latest book, ‘FRANK KOKORI: The struggle for June 12’. But Kokori, who fires back, in this interview at his country home in Ovu, Ethiope East Local Government, says Eno was standing the truth on the head.

that Pa Enahoro has been arrested and he handed over some important documents to me, but my own life also is also in danger’ (that was Eno speaking, trying to convince me, this was about 11.00 pm. ‘I can be arrested anytime now, Pa Enahoro said I must personally give you these documents’. Eno had struck a significant chord in me, for the rule and strategy of struggles and revolutions stipulate that if a team member falls, another must take over his role immediately. If Pa Enahoro had fallen, someone must quickly stand in for him. (Because he said he wanted to hand over some documents to me because his own life was in danger). I remember too that my cell phone, a Motorola Workhorse, had all that day been malfunctioning.

Unknown to me, the phone was being scrambled, the audio was poor. I had earlier laid this complaint to Fred Eno and he promised to source a good replacement for me, it was up his alley (in other words, that is his duty), being MKO’s public relations person. ‘’Meanwhile, I suggested Fred Eno take the materials to my daughter at the Genesis Hotel (that is my own hotel), but Eno declined.

According to him, in the light of the NADECO chieftains’ arrest, the whole of Ojuelegba area, bordering my hotel, buzzed with SSS operatives. Once they saw him, they would pick him up too. ‘My life is in danger’, he said. Along the line, strangely, my cellular phone became clear, crystal clear (this was a cellular phone that was giving me problem, not clear, but now it has become clear). I could hear Eno very brightly. I could feel the desperation in his voice, almost as if we stood face to face, I could feel the tearful emotions in his voice. He sounded close to tears. I succumbed. I directed him to my hideout, which was Domino Guest

House, owned by Ben Bruce’s family. A small decent place with no more than eight chalets, Domino Guest House was very neat and exclusive. My President (that is the President of NUPENG) had separated from me and stayed at a

Adebayo has been arrested, Adeniji Adele has been arrested, I took the risk around 1.00 am). My wife was sleeping soundly; laced with medication the family doctor said would help calm her stress-fired blood pressure.’’ Actually, if you read the whole book, I started taking my wife to my hideout because I never wanted to be murdered in the night and they will now put some prostitutes beside me and would say that the man, who is leading the revolution, was caught sleeping with prostitutes and they will scatter some bottles of beer and cigarettes around the place. ‘’At the reception, I woke up the boy on duty and asked him to escort me to the Niger Palace Hotel where I needed to bring some people who would be lodging in the guest house with me. (Actually, I had planned to help Eno get accommodation in the guest house.

It was a safe haven to which no one would think of searching for me and him). I led the way towards the Niger Palace Hotel, and the boy followed from a distance.

,

Fred Eno, in his reaction to FR ANK K OK ORI: FRANK KOK OKORI: your book, ‘‘FR The struggle for June’, said he owed neither you nor the former governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, any apology as you purely wrote your book to sell it and exonerate the former governor from his act of betrayal?

I am surprised hearing this from Eno because, like I said in the book, Eno was very junior to us during the time of the struggle, but, fortunately for him, he was the Media Assistant to the late Chief Moshood Abiola and it was during that period that I knew him through the late Pa Anthony Enahoro and we started working together in the area of media, not that he was in the struggle really.

But in the process, occasionally, he phoned and I would phone him.

But like I mentioned in my book, at that crucial moment when I went underground, when the military dictatorship was after me and my family, nobody knew my hideout.

I was underground, moving from place to place, nobody, even my deputies in office didn’t know where I was at that time. But, unfortunately, on that day I was abducted, I had a phone call, that night of 19th /20th August, 1994.

At that time, the military ruler, the late Sani Abacha, had banned NUPENG, PENGASSAN and NLC, so it was a very tough period. I covered my tracks and, apart from my wife, who was always with me and my first son, who was behaving as my driver at that time since I could not trust any NUPENG driver, nobody else knew my whereabouts. Like I said, it was not easy for another person to know where I was, but around 11.00 that night, a voice started calling me (Reads from the book). ‘’On that night of 19th/20th August, a voice started calling me, saying, ‘please, tell me where you are stayings, it was Fred Eno. His request sounded strange. None of my callers ever asked me to disclose my whereabouts. Although in his 30s and by far younger than the key elements in the struggle, Fred Eno was an Abiola confidant and Personal Assistant. He played an important role, coordinating media contact for the struggle’’.

‘But you know I can’t come out’ (that was what I was telling Eno).

‘How do I tell you where I stay?’

He said, ‘please, the issue now is

I have a strong feeling Abiola’s aide betrayed me — Frank Kokori

Like a frenzied demon, I fought viciously against all attempts to push me into the car. I held on to the open car door. One of them left the fray and moved to the back of their car. He opened the car boot and returned with a spray gas that he sprayed into my face

,

different guest house to prevent the possibility of our being arrested simultaneously. ‘Okay, meet me in front of Niger Palace Hotel, Yaba’, I told him. ‘When you get there, ring me up. I will be there before 11 pm,’ he told me. He was not there by 11.00 pm but I kept calling him because I told him if he got there, he should call me because I was still inside my hotel room. I kept calling him, ‘where are you?’ He said he would be there before 11.00 pm because I was now afraid for his own life too.) ‘I am on the way’, Eno assured me. But now the hysteria appeared to have evaporated from his voice. He sounded more stable and more confident in his chat with me (those were difficult times). Some minutes before 1.00 am, his final call came, he said he was some 50 yards from the Niger Palace Hotel, waiting for me in a white Mercedez Benz car, but it was so late. Usually, I never ventured out of my hideout at such a time (you can imagine at around 1.00 am, somebody who the military in the whole country was looking for, but because Enahoro has been arrested,

‘’Shortly, in the midnight shadows (as we were moving towards the Niger Palace Hotel), I saw a white Mercedez Benz parked close to the hotel. Sure that it contained Fred Eno. I keenly approached the vehicle. The back passenger door opened as I touched the flank of the vehicle. The other side opened too. Then I found hands grabbing at me. I quickly back-pedaled. Too late! The hands found me and eagerly pounded me with a rain of heavy blows. They tried pushing me into the Benz, but I held on to one assailant’s shirt. ‘’The boy following me quickly retreated, standing away in the shadows. From there, he saw everything. That saved him and helped my case. He must have heard me shout. ‘I am Kokori! I am Kokori! I am not a criminal! They are trying to kidnap me!’ (This was after 1.00 am now). We struggled; something told me my assailants were security agents. They were big muscular creatures and I, so diminutive, but they could not overpower me. Like a frenzied demon, I fought viciously against all attempts to push me into the

car. I held on to the open car door. One of them left the fray and moved to the back of their car. He opened the car boot and returned with a spray gas that he sprayed into my face. The pungent chemical stunned me and momentarily knocked me off balance. They immediately bundled my slack form into the car. The struggle took no less than two minutes. Engines revved into life.

Tyres screeched. Two cars flew out of the shadows into the night; one contained me, in the company of people I now guessed formed a squad- a special squad, in my own vehicle were four men, the other car followed with two or three more men. They threw me on the floor of the vehicle and sat on me.

Two of them sat on my tummy, with their combined weights, pinning me down to the car floor, I was still conscious but could hardly breathe. I gasped for breath.

Were these the throes of death? For a brief moment, some life came into me and I spoke hoarsely. ‘My death will set this country ablaze!’

Somehow, I had managed to say the right thing. Since the strike was on, I had strong confidence in NUPENG. Despite the government’s hammer, NUPENG and PENGASSAN had maintained its strike, and effectively, even though NLC had been all along reluctant to join the latest fray. I was confident my death would spark that fire of Labour solidarity nationwide. Injury to one usually amounted to injury to all.”

You have vividly told the story of your arrest that night, but from what Fred said, he was also arrested just lik a Enahor o and likee P Pa Enahoro others. So he may not have been the one who spoke to you, as you claimed. What do you really think happened for it could also be a case of mistaken identity or they put a gun to his head?

That is it. What happened is this.

I told you Fred was Abiola’s media man, and they were staying at Sheraton Hotel; obviously, government was looking for me and my NUPENG people, not them actually. At that time, there was a strike. I was the arrowhead of the struggle. So the issue was that …what I came to realize and which I asked him too when we now met. That night after being picked up, that is the interesting thing about this book (pointing to the book, a copy of which he later gave to Sunday Vanguard). I was first taken to Shangisha, SSS Lagos office; from Shangisha to Awolowo Road. But the call that brought me out was from Fred Edo, who said Chief Enahoro had

Continues on page 14

PAGE 14— SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

‘I have a strong feeling Abiola’s aide betrayed me’ thought we were being flown back to Lagos, but after about one hour, as I explained in my book, I knew it was the arid Savanah of the North.

So I knew it was Bama Prisons they might be taking me to. But in Maiduguiri, we alighted from where they later took me to Bama Prisons. I later learnt that Eno ended up in Enugu Prisons. I know he spent some time there, but after about a year or so, he was released or may be less than a year. But I was in Bama for four years. I was released in 1998, I never knew anything about Eno again. From 1998, my memoirs were not written because of the devastation I went through and a lot of problems, which I narrated in the book. But at a stage, I stopped working on my memoirs and I started doing other things. I went back to NUPENG, settled some things, and later retired. 2005 when Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti died and I was playing a very prominent role there as one of those planning the burial ceremony, it was there that a young man walked down to me, I could not even recognize him and he said, ‘Chief, do you not know me?’ I said ‘no’, he said ‘I am Fred Eno’ and I exclaimed, Eno, what happened to you, we have to see, we have to talk. He said, ‘Okay sir’.

Eno’s explanation in my office I gave him my address and phone number, this was 2005. After some time, he came to my office and he started explaining all these things away. That he was not the person, that maybe he was mimicked. But I said… I knew his voice and the way he did the whole thing and the way they now treated him with kid gloves and everything. I know a lot of things happened.

Do you not think that it is a case of mistaken identity

,

Continued from page 13 been detained. When I was taken to Awolowo SSS office, around 2.00 am or 3.00 am, I was sitting at a desk behind the reception and feeling pains when one of the captives, Adeniji Adele, a former Chairman of Lagos City Council, came and saw me as he passed by.

In the process, he went to tell Enahoro and others that I was there. They now sent one of the junior SSS boys to greet me and they were sorry for what happened. I stayed there till Saturday morning inside a disused office where they locked me. A doctor was called the next day (Saturday); when he saw my situation, he treated me. On Sunday morning, they came and led me out into a vehicle. In that vehicle, lo and behold, I saw Fred Eno and Adeniji Adele. It was a Peugeot station wagon, I was in the middle seat with two armed guards. Eno was in the front seat and Adeniji Adele was behind, on the back seat. I wanted to talk to Eno but I could not because the soldiers were armed to the teeth and very brutal. I could not say anything.

But at the presidential wing of the (Lagos) airport, I managed to whisper to Eno, ‘Why did you do this?’ Eno said, ‘I will talk later, we shall talk later’,. because he could not really explain anything there, that was the end. We were taken to Abuja, where we spent about five weeks. Actually, during this period, we did not see ourselves, because I was locked 24 hours somewhere, I did not know where they locked Eno and others. But after the five weeks, they now came, picked me from my room, some of us were regarded as terrorists, so nobody talked to us. I was moved into a vehicle. Suddenly, I saw Eno. So he must have been kept in some other quarters. Then with Adeniji Adele, they took us to the airport, put in a presidential jet and flown out. I

During the first June 12 anniversary that we held with all the people that mattered, Papa Adesanya, Tinubu, all the governors were there, somebody made a speech that some traitors were there, referring to Osoba. So, I countered it there

,

from the defence Eno put up because he said that when he came to your office, he explained and you replied that you now understood what transpired?

I never said so. When he came to my office, I questioned him, ‘why did you do that?’ Even while in the plane, I told him that even if they put a gun to his head, why did he do that? ‘Because I was the only man standing, the arrowhead of the struggle, why did you have to betray me?’ The way I lived my life, I felt nobody could do such thing in the struggle we were in.

All the unions, the whole country, human rights society and, international community were looking up to me, ‘It is only this man that will sustain the struggle and fight the military’. ‘Why did you do that Fred?’, I asked him repeatedly and he said, ‘We shall talk, we shall talk’. So that talk was after about how many years? He came to my office. Normally, after many years, what will I do? But I asked him again, ‘Eno, why did you do this to me?’ He said, ‘No, chief, I do not think….’ In all, what he said is that he, he was not the person. I said, ‘You are not the person, you Eno that speaks to me every day on the phone’ because we spoke on the phone regularly.

We did not really meet apart from once or twice. Because even Enahoro, if Enahoro wanted to talk to me at times, he would tell Eno to pass a message to me, so I know Eno’s voice 100 times. When I read Eno interview, I just laughed, he jumbled the whole thing. That we were detained in Abuja for three weeks… who told you I was detained in Abuja for three weeks? I was detained in Abuja for more than that. I was making my prison notes. So I knew everything from that day. Even on the 22nd when I arrived in Bama, it was used as an examination question for warders there, which day did Kokori arrive in Bama Prison? Answer: 22nd September. So from August 20th to 22nd September, that is five weeks, not three weeks, so he jumbled everything.

Osoba connection There was something too that happened that brought Osoba into the whole thing. When I came from prisons, I started hearing rumour that Osoba was the person who betrayed me. People were saying it; actually, they were after him. I knew Osoba around 1990 when we started the defunct SDP. I was the National Financial Secretary, while Osoba and others were aspirants. At a stage, I was the sole administrator for Ogun and Osun states and I was close to Baba Gana Kingibe and

the Secretary General, Anielo. So, we took decisions for the party, but I knew Osoba as a pleasant man.

Later, he won election and became Ogun governor. He has huge human relations because if you phone him, Osoba would reply you; if he is not there, he will return your call even when he was governor. And I knew too that when I was in prison, he visited my family on many occasions and, in his manner, he often times gave them something. So when I came out and there was this blackmail that he was the person who betrayed me, I said no; even the NADECO people, some of them started trumpeting it. During the first June 12 anniversary that we held with all the people that mattered, Papa Adesanya, Tinubu, all the governors were there, somebody made a speech that some traitors were there, referring to Osoba. So, I countered it there. I said no, there is no iota of truth in the allegation. ‘This man did not betray me, I know those who betrayed me’, but I never mentioned any name. On one or two occasions too, it happened at Abeokuta when Osoba was campaigning to be governor, I went there and said no, give me evidence, there was no evidence. I know it was Eno who phoned me.

He was the person calling me, calling me, not once, not twice, …then my phone was even misbehaving. You know the secret police can jam your phone. So, Eno is the person that I hold responsible for this thing and I made it clear to him because it was after some years. When I came out of prison, everybody that was anybody was coming to see me because they had all been released long time, even people like Pa Adesanyo, Ayo Onabanjo, Gani Fawehinmi came to see me, I never saw Eno. I only saw Eno seven years later. Guilty conscience was pricking him, but he felt I should not reveal it to anybody,

The uncelebrated Delta North power house

BY AMAKA EGBORO

A

ll efforts by our leaders, past and present, to foster responsible leadership have been greeted with dissatisfaction, routine criticisms, and echo of conspiracy, insensitivity and misplaced priorities. Amid this scenario from Delta North has emerged a political shepherd that holds sway in the Africa biggest political conglomeration, the People’s Democratic Party. To this extent the man Peter Nwaoboshi, who is the PDP Chairman in Delta State, can be described as the political shepherd or patriarch of Delta North, for the selfless roles he has played through to foster unity and create political identity in the area. His ardent traducers may not appreciate the enormity of the sacrifices he had put in the Delta project in general and the Anioma nation in particular but posterity holds the answers. Nwaoboshi cut his teeth in Delta State political arena in 1999 when he was appointed by the Ibori administration as a Commissioner from where he transmogrified into his present position as PDP Chairman.

The race for 2015 is on with

Nwaoboshi Owambe politicians seeking one position or the other which is the beauty of democracy but the necessary due recognition must be given to the oracle and umpire who has been in the Delta State PDP saddle as Chairman since 2006. This quintessential son of Anioma has the imprint of the Biblical Joshua, bold and courageous which are the essential ingredients in our march towards greatness in Delta North. A man of uncommon commitment we have not appreciated but slapped on the face and seen more as an enigma.

Instead of celebrating him we vilify him and call him names.

What an unfair treatment for all he has sacrificed to give us a political identity in Delta North since 2006. This is the irony of

things in our clime, where prostitutes call their colleagues in the same trade ashewo. It is high time we celebrate Nwaoboshi by ensuring he goes to the Senate to represent the people of Delta North. This is the parting gift we can hand over to this champion of our democracy in Delta North as far as PDP is concerned. Even his ardent accusers appreciate that Nwaoboshi has paid his dues in the Delta North project but out of share mischief we try to blackmail him. He has served meritoriously as Delta State PDP Chairman and the time is now ripe more than ever before to give him his due place as a mark of celebration. He is the balancing factor we need in our polity in our quest for power shift in the Delta project.With his leadership style, administrative acumen, courage and passion to better the lives of our people, Nwaoboshi has clearly shown that change, positive change, is possible in Anioma nation. He has shown that Delta North can achieve greatness if leaders at all levels match their words with actions for the good of all. With his clear leadership example in PDP, Nwaoboshi has shown that with a clear vision, courage and

commitment, Delta North can be turned around and be great again with right and committed leaders.

Nwaoboshi is a political gladiator with decades of experience. He has a political outreach well greased over the years with standing monuments as the longest reigning PDP Chairman. He is resilient with undaunted spirit despite all the political vampires with voodoo machinations against him.

It is pertinent to remember that most of those holding sway today in positions got there through his little ‘efforts‘ rightly or wrongly.

These and many more are some of the courageous roles he has played and still playing in stabilizing our nascent democracy.

This discourse is not to examine his wrongs or rights but to put the records straight on his patriotic contributions to get us to where we are today since 2006 as a true Anioma son. Nwoboshi represents courage, dynamism, innovation and other virtues that are in short supply in our political space. His desire is to leave PDP better than he met it.

The new party secretariat is a testament of his legacy driven leadership model. There is also his avowed declaration to ensure

a Delta North individual emerges as Delta governor in 2015. Thus, Delta North where agitations have assumed a macabre dance must learn to appreciate and celebrate their sons and daughters who have risen to enviable heights to encourage them to climb higher in service to our people. Almost 20 persons vying for governorship from Delta North alone smacks of disunity and confusion to say the least. Nwaoboshi for SENATE should therefore be seen as a gift

by Delta North to celebrate a son who has politically served Anioma nation well. The PDP State EXCO and Anioma PDP caucus should follow the path of honour like the PDP NEC and BOT which recently endorsed President Jonathan as the sole PDP candidate for 2015 by doing same to Nwaoboshi as the sole senatorial candidate for Delta North for 2015.

Egboro is Delta State House Of Assembly, Ika South Constituency aspirant and Coordinator, Ik a Federal Constituency Equity 2015. amakaegboro@yahoo.com 07036098441 sms only

SUNDAY, Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 15

estants st orm contestants storm Agagu FFoundation oundation launc hed tto o mar k anniv er sar launched mark anniver ersar saryy GUS cont THE memorial thanksgiving service to mark the first

anniversary of demise of former governor of Ondo State Chief

Olusegun Agagu held penultimate Saturday

.

L-R:Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, Engr Olusegun Oni, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief (Mrs) Olufunke Agagu, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe,Chief Pius Akinyelure and Chief Mrs Bola Obasanjo.

Chief (Mrs) Olufunke Agagu and son, Mr Feyi Agagu.

L-R; Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Orangun of OkIla, Oba Adedokun Abolarin.

L-R: Chief Folake Solanke; (SAN) Mrs Temilola Badmus and“Prof (Mrs) Bimpe Aboyade.

At anniversary thanksgiving of Williams Memorial Methodist Church Cathedral, Ago Ijaiye

L-R: Sir B. Badejo, Sir Adekunle Oyedipe, Dr. Samuel C. Kanu and wife.

at the Chapel of Resurrection, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Highlights of the event include the institution of annual lecture in his memory and also the launching of the Olusegun Agagu Foundation.

The memorial occasion attracted the presence of prominent Nigerians who came from far and wide to pay their respects to the Agagus.

Photos by Dare Fasube

L-R: Chief Pius Akinyelure, Mrs Ester Akinyelure and Mr Victor Hammond.

Mr and Mrs Paul Agboola.

Aguleri, Anambra

T

he 14 contestants for the 11 th edition of Guilder Ultimate Search stormed the destination of this year’s search, Aguleri in Anambra State. The excited men and women in the company of Nigerian Breweries top brass, media men and PR agents visited several spots in the State, including a visit to the State House to see the governor and then onward to Aguleri to see the monarch, before their final journey from the Aguleri village on canoes to the Aguleri jungle

The 14 contestants of Gulder Ultimate Search Season 11, with Reverend Father Christopher Odina and Chief Edward Onaze, former president, Aguleri Community; at the St. Joseph Catholic Church, Aguleri .

Contestants with the traditional ruler of Aguleri, NB Plc’s Emmanuel Agu, Seun Lawal, and Edem Vindah at the traditional ruler’s palace in Aguleri

L-R: Mr Ife Oyedele, Mr Akin Ajayi, and Mr Gbenga Adefaye, G M, Publications and Editoin-Chief, Vanguard.

At the Light Bearers’ Wesley Cathedral Olowogbowo’s 23 th anniversary

L-R: Dr. Ademola Osinuga, Rotn. Ikenna Okeke and Rotn. Sidney Chukwukelu

L-R: Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser; Emmanuel Agu, Marketing Manager, Gulder, Legend & Life and Edem Vindah, Corporate Media and Brand PR Manager.

The contestants paddling their way from the Aguleri river, to the Aguleri forest.

PAGE 16 —SUNDAY, Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Traditional marriage/engagement of Ogunbiyi and Adalemo The traditional marriage and engagement between former Miss Temitope Abigail Ogunbiyi, daughter of Dr & Mrs. Lai Ogunbiyi, and Mr. Adebayo Gboyega Daleno, son of Professor & Mrs Isaac Ayinde Daleno, was, yesterday, held at Chief Yemi Ogunbiyi’s residence in Ipara–Remo, Ogun State. PHOTOS BY JOE AKINTOLA, PHOTO

EDITOR & WUMI AKINOLA

Professor & Mrs. Isaac Dalemo, groom’s parents

Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Ooni of Ife (left) with the couple, Mr & Mrs. Adebayo Dalemo and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State From left: Oba Adeniyi Sonariwo Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Adewale Osiberu, Elepe of Epe and Oba Adeleke Basibo, Alaperu of Iperu Dr. Lai Ogunbiyi, bride’s father with the couple

From left: Olori Ladun Sijuwade, Prof Ibidapo Obe, a former Unilag VC, and wife

Oba and Olori Okunade Sijuwade

From left: Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, his wife, Sade, father of the bride, Dr Lai Ogunbiyi, groom’s mother, Olubusola Adalemo,bride, Temitayo, groom, Adebayo, groom’s father, Prof. Isaac Adalemo and bride’s mother, Mrs Elaine Agbeke Ogunbiyi

From left: Mr Biodun Sobanjo, Olorogun Sonny Kuku, Mr Gbenga Adefaye, Mr & Mrs Komolafe.

Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi (left) and his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 17

bb pin: 20C37A25

Maheeda is bad news to gospel music – Sandra Ifudu S

HE’s new on the scene but already looking like a good bet that may bring in good tidings. Sandra Ifudu, gospel and inspirational singer once said she wanted to be better than her aunt, Dora Ifudu, who reigned in the 70s and 80s for her unique voice and music, and with the release of her first single ‘Let it Go’ she may just be on the gravy train to fame.

Not the one that would disarm you with brazen sexuality but Sandra has a unique beauty that gets to you like an infection. Her cherubic face has a touch of vulnerability you want to reach out to protect just as the almond forget-me-not eyes haunts your soul. Then when she speaks, the caressing soprano voice stirs something

in you and you know you are in trouble – very big trouble!

Talking about her own brand of music, Sandra told Potpourri she does more of inspirational songs than gospel songs. “It is the same thing. The only difference is the message. I just want to sing about meaningful things without sounding gospel. I don’t intend to sound gospel at all. I’ll use circular beats and all. Even my mode of dressing and lifestyle won’t be boring,” she said.

But she was quick to add that her not being boring does not include flaunting her sexuality aggressively. “You know it is normal for me as a lady to want to wear revealing clothes sometimes. I believe all women feel like that sometimes. But I will not

My unforgettable sex scene role – Amaka Smart O

HAFIA, Abia State-born Amaka Smart, is on to a story in Nollywood. Her story started in 2010 when she was given a chance by a senior colleague, Ruth Eze who featured her in her first movie Pregnant Hawkers, alongside Muna Obiekwe, Biola Ige and Angela Okorie. Since then Amaka’s story got bigger and more interesting, as she has featured in almost a score of other movies.

Apart from her talent, which has made her a darling of movie makers, tall, dark-skinned Amaka has a sexy figure she said has brought her compliments from both men and women.

“Men and woman go crazy for my shape. I think my ass and body figure are what especially attract them to me. In fact, my friends call me ‘Ammy Sexy’ because they know I am a very sexy woman,” she boasts.

According to Ammy Sexy in a chat with Potpourri, her most exciting moment before the cameras and lights came playing what she describes as her most challenging role to date.

The movie was Money before Sex and in some of the acts, Ammy had to pull off doing some sex scenes. She had to make love to a guy on set! Not many actresses would dare touch such a script, let alone revel in the experience.

“It was simply marvelous. I know not many actresses would take up such a challenge but I believe what makes us good actresses is taking up any role and interpreting it to perfection. At first, it wasn’t easy for me to play that role because of my family background but I did it so perfectly. Up till now a lot of people still question me why I did that role. And since then people believe I actually made love to the guy but it was simply make-believe. We got the act well together to the extent that you would think we actually made love,” she gushed.

But when asked if she could go nude on set she said no amount of money would make her do that.

C M Y K

deliberately choose to expose my body to sell my music because I believe my talent and good looks can take me to wherever I want to go,” she added.

On singers like Maheeda using sex to sell their music, Sandra said she would never be caught dead doing that, saying one should practice what one preaches. “Well, I am of the opinion that whatever you preach or talk about, you should at least be able to put it into practice to make it believable and doable.

Even though I am not in any position to judge, I’ll say people like Maheeda are bad news to inspirational or gospel music because you can’t be preaching one thing and doing another thing”.

Finance gets me emotional and horny — Sharon Francis O

LUCHI Sharon Francis has a mission in Nollywood. That mission is to be one of the best and going by what drives the Anambra State-born actress, it may be noteworthy to watch out for her in the nearest future.

“Actually, I have been into acting from the age of six, not as a profession though but something I practiced in front of my mirror (laughs) . But the breakthrough came just three years ago. September 4, 2011, to be precise. I’ll never forget that date. After so many auditions, I was pronounced perfect for a role in the movie Shattered Mirror, starring Majid Michael and Nkem Owoh,” she told Potpourri “It hasn’t been so rosy, I must say...but that big man up there has been faithful.

My victories have been more than my obstacles because till date I’ve done over 15 movies...that sound few, right? But guess what?

There isn’t a single movie of mine that has not been a blockbuster. I’ve starred in movies like ‘Street of Canaan’, ‘Black Cats’, Red Mafian, to mention a few,” she added.

Beautiful, sexy and whimsically captivating, Sharon is no stranger to men’s advances but

she has a warning for the financially disadvantaged: “Back off”. “ First and foremost, I would like to render an apology to all the broke guys all around the world because heaven knows that I can’t be caught dead with a man that can’t get a Pierre-Cardin tuxedo for an emergency red carpet event. Then love...This is the most beautiful thing in the whole world and I would really feel accomplished if God gives me a man that loves me.

Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t have to be Dangote but he should be able to get me a surprise gift that would really get me ‘financially horny and emotional’ on my birthday. ’Financially horny’ in the sense that money works on me like a reflex action, especially when it comes with respect and reasons. A young successful man as a boyfriend could get a hot sex for buying me some massive karats of gold. In a nutshell, finance gets me emotional and horny,” she declares.

PAGE 18 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Corazon Kwamboka

N

igeria may very well be the hub of entertainment in Africa but when it comes to attitude it seems we have a lesson or two to learn from our African neighbours. We have seen the likes of Cossy Orjiakor, Maheeda, Afrocandy, Tiwa Savage and the

Vera Sidika V

IVACIOUS, vo luptuous, controversial, feisty, effervescent Vera Sidika is perhaps the hottest, the most talked-about and the most successful Kenyan socialite, video vixen and fashionista.

She hit fame after appearing as a video vixen in P-unit’s award winning song ‘You Guy’. Since then there has been no looking back for the Kenyan bombshell.

She is commonly called the Kim Kardashian of Kenya, and doesn’t seem to have any qualms about flaunting her nudity and sexuality. She once posted nude pictures of herself on Instagram.

She caused a social media storm sometime ago when she spoke openly about the skin-lightening treatment she had done in an interview on Kenyan TV. The bleaching treatment cost her a whopping $170,000 - N27m.

Vera Sidika has also brazenly told the Kenyan media that her boyfriend is a Nigerian oil tycoon but refused to mention his name because she had promised him she would never expose him.

C M Y K

rest lighting up the scene with show of attitudes, sexuality and ingenuity but it seems our African relatives are catching up fast, if not getting ahead in the sex business.

Here are some African divas that are hot and have done things most of our own wouldn’t dare.

Kenyan Corazon Kwamboka doesn’t really qualify as an entertainer of any sort. She is what the Kenyans called a socialite. In Kenya that means someone who frequents social events and spends a considerable amount of time entertaining and being entertained.

Corazon shot into the limelight some years ago after raunchy pictures of her, exposing massive butts and luscious pubic and hips went viral on the internet. There have been various sex scandals about her, with one saying she was blackmailed over some sex tapes. But if what Corazon tweets recently is anything to go by, she may be landing a juicy job soon as a TV host in her country.

Corazon is said to have a law degree from University of Nairobi.

Judy Anyango

Like Corazon Kwamboka, Judy Anyango is also a socialite that has exhibited no talent but the knack for flaunting her massive butts on social media. In fact, she rode to Kenyan’s limelight on the back of Corazon a f t e r posting pictures of her a n d Corazon, with intent to compare their butts.

Though she got a whipp i n g f r o m Corazon, who labeled her as a wannabe who wanted attention at any cost but it seemed to spur her on the more. Beautiful and curvy Judy soon found her feet in the Kenyan mainstream entertainment as a video model or video vixen. She has been involved in several scandals too and also has a number of near-nude pictures strewn all over the internet.

Huddah Monroe THIS Kenya Monroe has faced succession of scandals; with the most popular being her alleged romance with Kenya singing sensation, Prezzo. While Corazon and Judy flaunt their massive butts, Huddah flaunts much of what is between her legs.

As much as the Kenyan public has derided her for being a bad influence to the kids, Huddah has maintained that most of her nude and semi-nude pictures were meant not for recreation or private pleasure; she said they are entirely for commercial purposes.

Though she has history of drug abuse but now back in shape and seems to be doing rather handsomely as a socialite in Kenya

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 19 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Wild wild world of

African

ent er tainment enter ertainment Marya MARYA is another Kenyan on the list.

But she is a long way different from others because she does have a unique talent of singing. She shot into fame in 2007 after her debut single Wahaba made a big hit on Kenyan airwaves.

She is without a doubt a fan favorite for many.

She may have gone quiet musically but she is one of the hottest celebrities in the country and a darling at that. She remains etched in most people’s minds for her alluring beauty and having been in a relationship with controversial rapper, Colonel Mustapha, Marya’s name is not about to fade into oblivion. With hits such as Hey Baby featuring ex boyfriend Colonel, Chokoza with Avril, Mahaba and Sishiki Simu, her talent is real.

Hamisa Mobe Mobetto Hamisa Mobeto is a radio host and a model from Tanzania. She is so breathtakingly alluring some reports say she is a kind of goddess in Tanzania.

She became a public figure in her country after emerging the second runnerup for Miss Tanzania in 2012. However several reports in Tanzania claimed she should have been named the winner of the pageant for her beauty, intelligence and panache.

Matilda Hipsy Quaye AWAY from the Kenyan socialites, here is a Ghanaian bombshell who once proudly boasted that she has the biggest hips and butts in the whole of Ghana. Her name is Matilda Quaye and ‘Hipsy’ is added to her name on account of her massive hips.

She is beautiful, sexy and alluring. She is a model and a video vixen that has featured in most of Ghana’s top music videos.

Risper Faith B

ACK in Kenya, another Kenyan socialite who has become a public figure is Risper Faith. This babe blessed with massive butt like Corazon, Vera, and Ghanaian Matilda has overawed sensibilities of most Africans with her semi-nude pictures which are strewn all over the internet. She once posted a picture of herself completely naked safe for a strap of panties covering her womanhood.

She is a video vixen and her video where she appeared as the major vixen for Kenyan controversial photographer-turned gospel artiste-now turned secular artiste is so raunchy some TV stations in Kenya would not ever dare air it. But Risper is as unapologetic as she could as she is ready to put her body to the extreme to enjoy fame and fortune.

Mo Moyyesha Boudong Moyesha makes Joselyn Dumas and Peace Hyde curves look like they are kids just coming to their own. This Ghanaian actress is rising fast not only for her talent but for her seductive curves which have brought her more fame than for her acting skills.

Moyesha Boudong has featured in a few movies and TV Shows and it does look like the petite actress isn’t worked up to pay all the price it takes to cut corners in making herself the next biggest screen goddess of Ghana’s movie industry.

Tatiana Nyambura NOT much is known about this Kenyan socialite. Someday some pictures of her just popped up on the internet, announcing her arrival to battle the likes of Corazon, Vera Sidika and others. Also blessed with luscious butts, Tatiana has a good number of fans who lust for her.

Because she wanted to have her place among the top socialites in Kenya Tatiana once posted semi-nude pictures of herself all over the internet. Some even had the socialite, topless, showing more than desirable.

C M Y K

PAGE 20 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

that Dr Sid has something to offer and bring something to the table, so I feel very honoured and excited about the possibilities

What Dor obucci really means — Dr Sid

BY DAMILOLA SHOLOLA

N

o doubts, Dr Sid, born Sidney Onoriode Esiri, is now one of the leading musicians ruling the Nigerian airwaves. A dentist turned songwriter and singer, Sidney hails from Delta State but grew up in Lagos. His legendary hits include Pour Something and recently Surulere under Mavins Records. He also featured in the reigning hit Dorobucci, a hit number done by his friend and boss, Don Jazzy.

He just recently got married to his girlfriend and long time fiancée Simi Osomo. In this exclusive interview with Potpourri, he talks about his career, music and more: What have you been up to?

I just got married so I’ve been up to that lately but musically, we’re working on promoting some more singles off the Seduction album. We’re going to be pushing out a few videos in a couple of weeks, for a few songs You’ve done ‘Baby Tornado’ video, is there going to be another video?

The album has 20 tracks; 18 songs and 2 bonus tracks and we’ve promoted a few songs. Last year, we started with singles before the album came out. Some of the singles were Lady Don Dada, Love Mine and Talented. We also had Baby Tornado and then we had Baby Tornado remix which we just dropped a video for this year. We promoted Surulere and Kilon wa too with videos as well. And then Baby Tornado came out. We have a few more songs like Oyari which features Tiwa Savage, Chop Ogbono and a song called Nwayi Oma which features Emma Nyra Which video are you shooting next?

I’ve shot a few videos; I’ve shot over four unreleased videos. We’re just waiting to decide when the best time to release them is.

How has your career been so far?

It’s fantastic. Every career has ups and downs and right now, we’re on an upward movement, and we’re very excited about that Have you done the Seduction tour?

I did the Seduction UK tour in February and we toured a few cities in Nigeria; Benin, Abuja and some other places, but we’re going back on a tour by the end of the year. It’s going to be busy and hectic so there’s not too much time to schedule, we’re booked almost every weekend Is it in Lagos or abroad?

C M Y K

What is the idea behind Mavin Records?

Mavin Records is a lifestyle brand, it’s a total package. It’s love, responsibility, passion, it’s everything. When you say a lifestyle brand, it’s how you live. Mavin stands for anything that is a genius and amazing. Mavin is Dorobucci. It’s a brand that stands for perfection and excellence and that’s what we always try to bring when it comes to the music industry.

We planned a Euro tour but we had to move it to next year because there’s so much going on in Nigeria at the moment. We got too many bookings to be gone for a long period of time so we pushed the European tour to next year. This year we have two Mavin concerts coming up in Nigeria; one in October and then on December 24th, Christmas Eve in Lagos

Many people want to know the meaning of Dorobucci, what is Dorobucci?

Dorobucci means a person or an individual that is awesome, amazing, rich, swagged-out, sexy and buff. Any word that qualifies greatness, that’s Dorobucci. ‘Bucci’ means anything that is amazing, fun. Doro makes Bucci a person, Doro personifies Bucci so you’re Doro, and I’m Doro. This table is Doro, anything is Doro.

How has marriage life been so far?

Marriage life is beautiful. I’m enjoying it. Can’t you see that I’m glowing and shining all over?

Who is your biggest inspiration in music?

I don’t have inspirations; I only have people I respect. I respect what they’ve done with their music and what they‘ve done with their brands. I respect Jay Z, P Diddy, Beyonce and R Kelly. I respect different people for different reasons because there are aspects of their careers and lives that I admire.

Are you planning honeymoon?

That is something that is personal between me and my wife What attracted you to your wife?

My wife is beautiful, she’s intelligent and she’s the most amazing human being I’ve ever met What has been the high point of your career?

It must be being nominated for my first MTV award and performing at the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA). Then winning my first award at Headies and performing alongside some of the biggest international artistes like Jay Z and Beyonce before all those people. So, I guess I pretty much have a lot of high points

The Baby Tornado video, where did you shoot it?

Baby Tornado video was shot in London with the X factor winner Alexandra Burke. It was a very beautiful production, I totally enjoyed it How did you guys meet?

She’s a very close friend to my wife but apparently, she has been trying to do music with me for a long time and she just happened to ask my wife.

Introductions were made and music was created.

mine. These are people I’ve known for a long time and when I asked them to be part of the video, they were all excited and they all made that video absolutely fantastic. As a matter of fact, I think I need to tweet at them today and just tell them ‘Thank you’ for all the nominations we’re getting

It could not have been easy getting Funke Akindele, Helen Paul to be in your Surulere video?

They’re all personal friends of

How did you feel getting the MTN ambassadorship?

It’s a beautiful thing for a brand like MTN to recognize that a brand like Dr Sid is strong enough to represent their brand. Obviously, you know

How is it like working with Don Jazzy and the whole Mavin crew?

It’s a refreshing experience.

There are a bunch of talented people in Mavin Records and we all come together to create beautiful music and it’s a lot of fun. Loads of talents in the room What more should people expect from Dr Sid? More music and more videos.

I’m always looking to push boundaries and express music in the best ways possible so that people enjoy it. My job is to please people and to get them to appreciate music for what it is and as long as I can keep doing that, I will. Just watch out for my website www.iamdrsid.com to get updates on what’s happening

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 21

Big, bold and sexy!

By Yetunde Arebi

O

BESITY, having excess body fat or weight is currently at an all time high in the history of mankind, a recent study has revealed. Abdominal obesity, most common, is also known as belly fat or clinically as central obesity. This simply describes excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and abdomen.

Abdominal obesity is however not confined only to the elderly and obese subjects because of its various types. There is the visceral fat, also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat, which is located inside the peritoneal cavity, between the internal organs and the torso. The subcutaneous fat is found underneath the skin, while intramuscular fat is found interspersed in skeletal muscle.

Instructively, it is the excess of visceral fat, which is composed of several adipose depots including mesenteric, epididymal white adipose tissue (EWAT) and perirenal fat that is known as the "pot belly" or "beer belly" effect because it makes the abdomen protrude excessively.

The effect of fat on the physical aesthetics is not the only issue here, let's not forget the obvious correlation of obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Obesity has also been linked to Alzheimer's disease as well as other metabolic diseases. Added to these, belly fat also increases the conversion of testosterone into estrogen. This means that as a

male you are actually getting more of the female hormone, estrogen, than the testosterone that you need to drive your skills in the bedroom. Unfortunately too, the more estrogen in your system, the more abdominal fat you will accumulate. Also, the lower the testosterone, the lower

full erection without adequate flow of blood to the penis, just as a woman need the same to enjoy clitoral stimulation. Please note that I am not inferring to the typical tummy fat which we all need a bit of to help cushion our organs, maintain internal body temperature and as source of back up fuel, according to Nutritionist and author, Pamela Peeeke, MD, MPH. Nevertheless, all these does not mean that you cannot enjoy a fulfilling sex life no matter how big you may be. Forget the stereotyping about fat men having small penises and fat

Not all positions work well for fat people, even though most people have problems getting most positions right anyway.

Styles involving spooning are not very ideal for the fat woman as the mound of flesh will most likely get in the way the love drive. The emotional effect of excess body fat can lead to stress which also causes loss of muscles mass, decreases bone density and again, drives libido level down. Excess weight can crush satisfaction and selfesteem too.

Extremely overweight women do report less satisfaction with their sex life, while two-thirds of heavy women say they cringe when a lover sees them undressed. And wait for this!

Excess belly fat often triggers inflammation in the arteries, which makes them unable to secrete nitric oxide, therefore, less able to enlarge. The result is reduced blood flow not just to your heart, but also to other critical organs, including the genitals. We all know that it is near impossible for a man to gain

women having big or wide vaginas, these are mere perceptions. A man may appear to have a small penis simply because it is extremely difficult to see same from a frontal view, laid on his back, he sure will appear more impressive. The good thing is that weight and size of organ neither guarantees that sex will be great or not so great.

A good stamina, skill and sexual position, will no doubt maximise your game anytime you hit the sheets. Lets quickly go through two basic positions that will help no, matter how big you are.

Preparing the groundwork To get started, you need to do some ground work that will help do the job. First, you need some big, firm pillows and firm, springy mattresses. Pillow top

mattresses tend to be a bit tricky for fat people since you will only sink down into them rather than spring back. You will also need some lubricants. This is because you may encounter some problems navigating into a fat woman if she is not properly lubricated. Fat women tend to have more padding around the vagina than the thin ones, so you will need to take your time to part the labia. Not all positions work well for fat people, even though most people have problems getting most positions right anyway. Styles involving spooning are not very ideal for the fat woman as the mound of flesh will most likely get in the way. Be open to communication as this is like the torch you will use to see your way through a dark tunnel.

We all know the important role communication plays in any relationship and you will surely need it if you are to explore the best positions that will work for you.

Because of your tricky situation, a good sense of humour will be required. You will need to boost up your confidence level too as you must be in tune and in terms with your body to make it work for you.

The missionary

The size difference between you and your partner will go a long way in determining if this sex position will be easy or difficult. A big belly and thick thighs can make things pretty funny in the missionary position. However, all you need are a few modifications and the pillow is your friend here.

The amount of pillows you will need depends on how overweight you and your lover are. Put a pillow under either the small of your back or right under your butt until her vagina is at an angle where penetration is made easy.

For added effect, she can draw her knees up and pull her thighs toward her chest, while the man will balance on his hands and perform his manly duty.

Benin, needs an Hiv positive man, aged 37 and above for marriage.08105843930 Searching Male Networking/ Sponsorship • Destiny, 22, dark in •Onyi, 29, from Anambra, complexion, handsome, fun to needs any man, woman, be with and from Benin City, organization or government to Edo state, needs a lady, who is help him with a mitsibushi employed and ready for a L300 bus.08134123700 serious relationship.

•Ken, a graduate in Delta 08051491947, 07037120827 state, needs someone to •Kelvin, 37, from Warri, needs sponsor his business plan food an employed lady for marriage, production/school aged 25-40.08085621463 establishment. 07039596812 •Elvis, 25, from Delta state, •Samuel resides in Agbor needs a sexy lady, for a serious Delta state, needs someone to Searching Male relationship, aged 19-21. sponsor his Gospel music. •James30, from Warri, needs 08115204435 08071389920, 08035836887 a good sweet and lovely lady •A guy, 20, cute, tall and •Chika needs a God fearing for friendship.07030628814 handsome, from Delta state, foster father or mother who can •San technician resides in needs a lady, aged 20-22,for a sponsor her education. Lagos, needs female friends, relationship.08165379157 08121186101 aged 25-30.07063945065 •A guy, needs a beautiful lady, •Tochukwu a student, needs who is chocolate in complexion, Links a female friend, aged. average height and with good •Dr. Ogbonna wants to link up 07068920226 sense of humour, for a serious with Adarema Irechukwu from relationship,aged 18-25.

Umuguma Owerri, she Lovers 08063039804 worked as a nurse at queen Searching Female •Val, needs a responsible and Elizabeth hospital Umuahia in •Adeyinka, 35 tall, fair in employed lady, aged 33 for the 1980s. 08066886825, complexion plump, homely, marriage.07085530523 08058135810 beautiful and a teacher, needs •Jeff, needs a responsible and fat lady, for a relationship.

08161200143, 08133597010 Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in •Alfred, 28, from Port Harcourt, or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does needs a lady, aged 20-26, for a so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking. very serious relationship.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of 08142815295 requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore •Charles, 20, a student, from request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to Anambra state, needs a lady, enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For who is sexy and can take good enquiries, text or call 08026651636 Friends Searching Females • Bisi, 30, beautiful and ageless with good body and extremely protruding backside with a full and pointed breast, needs a man to call her own aged 50 and above for friendship.

08181073394, 08037255948 •Suzy, 21, beautiful, sexy, friendly, and educated needs, male and female friends.

08114342397

DISCLAIMER!

an employed man, aged 45 and above who is mature for a relationship.08163253001 •Nneka, 25, slim, sexy and well shaped with a firm breast needs a mature man aged 35 and above.09039547641 •Devine, 37, from Benin, needs a God fearing and caring, matured man aged 40-50 who is ready to settle down for marriage 08177207843, 07055009684 •Tochi, 22, resides in Aba, needs a caring man who is God fearing and employed, aged 24 -30. 08132915792, 08112078470 •Chinoye 42 fat average height a single mother of two needs a comfortable widower or single parent who is caring and employed, for marriage, aged 48-55.08054222834, 08135209738 •Joyce, 24, a student, sexy needs a sexy, strong and fun loving man, for a relationship. 08107310599 • Joy, 37, Hiv positive employed and resides in

Cowgirl

There is the tendency for the fat woman to shy away from getting on top of her man because she thinks she will crush or suffocate him, especially if the man were smaller. According to Hanne Blank in her book, Big Big LoveA sex and relationship guide for people of size (and those who love them), “No, you aren’t going to crush, smother, suffocate, smash, or otherwise injure anyone you have sex with…even if you’re honest-to-god super duper fataroonie fatapalooza fat fattity fat." Really, there is absolutely no reason not to ride the cow till it comes home. Only that you may need to move your fat around until it feels comfortable. Or pick that hanging belly up if need be and get that butt moving. The pillow to the rescue again here as the guy would need it to raise his bum to put himself in better view. Try to evenly distribute your weight by planting your hands firmly on the bed instead of sitting straight up.

Note that being a fat girl on top can be physically exhausting and awkward to figure out. If you find that you become tired, allow your partner to hold you still and do all the thrusting from below! !

Fantastic bullish strength like the giant! For bonus, the lady can ride him in the reverse way; the guy can bend his knees. If she has great strong legs, she may go for the squatting position.

Otherwise, she can just grind her body back and forth against the guy's member. This is great for clitoral stimulation!! Do have a lovely Sunday!

For answers to your relationship questions and more tips on topics raised on this page, you may reach me v i a : inthesunlovezone@yahoo.com Cheers!

care of him, aged 23-30 for a relationship.08176284761 Ken, employed and from River state, needs a nice and beautiful lady, for serious relationship. 08063867151 •Aham,22 nice fair & well endowed, handsome undergraduate based in Abuja needs a mature lady for a romantic relationship.

08066265513 Sugar Cares Searching Female

•Princess, 24, sexy, pretty, bursty and sextually active young girl needs a kind and generous sugar daddy for a sexual relationship.08102362446 •Lawreneter, 21, average height,

slim, light in complexion and resides in Delta state, needs a caring sugar daddy that can take care of her. 07052185830, 0 7 0 8 0 2 8 8 6 4 0 •Gift,21, needs a caring sugar daddy from any part of the country that will take good care of her.08121999104 •Tracy, 22, sexy and pretty, needs a kind and generous sugar daddy that can take care of her financially. 08051949172, 08107731676 •Eunice, needs a nice and caring sugar daddy, aged 50 and above.080 92087950 •Joy, needs a rich and caring sugar daddy, who resides in Warri, that will make her comfortable.08144352010

P AGE 22—SUND AY Vanguard , SEPTEMBER 21 , 2014 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Scientific proof that artificial sweeteners can make you fat!

T

HE lives of e v e r y o n e watching their weight were recently thrown into disarray when a leading food expert claimed that far from making us thinner, ‘diet’ products containing artificial sweeteners may actually be responsible for weight gain. For many of us, low-fat versions of our favourite foods - yogurts, fizzy drinks, spreads, biscuits, crisps and cheese - make us feel we can safely indulge in a little of what we want without piling on the pounds, by swapping natural sugars (at 40 calories a gram) for sugar substitutes that have just two calories.

But although chemical sweeteners were once thought to be the holy grail for dieters and diabetics, opinion has started to turn against them. So have we been misled for years about the ability of sweeteners to help us reduce our waistlines? Yes, says Professor Susan Swithers, who analysed scientific data from the past five years to produce her findings.

"Consuming artificial sweeteners not only adds to weight gain but, over time, is generally responsible for an increase in bad health outcomes, says the professor, who is based at Purdue University, Indiana, in the U.S. ‘Our research followed people of different ages and weights (many weren’t overweight at the start), and those who drank a lot of diet sodas and other artificially sweetened foods were found to suffer Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke more often, and they tended to be more overweight. But Gavin Partington, of the British Soft Drinks Association, argues that Professor Swithers’ findings 'run contrary to

decades of scientific research'. So, who’s right? Here’s what experts say you need to know ...

WHAT ARE A R T I F I C I A L SWEETENERS? UNLIKE naturally occurring sweeteners such as sucrose (sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar), artificial sweeteners are s y n t h e t i c a l l y manufactured to be nonnutritive - so they contain few or no calories. Five artificial sweeteners are permitted for use in the UK: aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium (known as acesulfame K), cyclamate and sucralose.

WILL YOU PILE ON THE POUNDS? SEVERAL studies show consuming lowcalorie artificial sweeteners makes people more likely to pile on weight than reduce it, according to Joanna BIythman, Britain’s leading investigative food journalist and author of What To Eat. Our bodies are designed to process natural foods, so expect calories along with a sweet taste,she says. So rather than helping us consume less sugar overall, by interfering with our satisfaction signals, artificial sweeteners cause us to crave even more sweet food. A U.S. study showed that while people who drank one to two cans of full-sugar fizzy drinks a day increased their risk of becoming overweight or obese by nearly 33 per cent over seven to eight years, those who replaced them with diet alternatives had a 65 per cent risk.

'When you eat normal sugar, your taste buds tell the brain sugar is on its way,’says personal trainer James Duigan, of Bodyism, the celebrity London gym. So when the body receives a low-

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"

Pains of heartbreak After the dead ends and lesson learnt

calorie artificial sweetener instead of sugar and the calories don’t reach the stomach, the body is confused!’

Some sweeteners are even thought to change hormonal activity, which can cause you to hold on to fat and lead to weight gain. Telling people to drink diet sodas could backfire as a public health message,’ Professor Swithers says. (‘The message to limit sugar intake needs to be expanded to limit intake of all sweeteners, not just natural sugars.’)

DO THEY GIVE YOU A SWEETER TOOTH? SACCHARIN can be between 200 and 700 times sweeter than sugar, says James Duigan.

Consuming a lot makes fruit and other naturally sugary foods cease to seem sweet, causing you to develop an even sweeter tooth.’A sweet taste also increases your appetite. A U.S. study two years ago found noncalorific sweeteners encouraged animals to eat more calorie-rich, sweet-tasting food, making them gain weight.

ARE THEY BAD FOR YOU IN OTHER WAYS? LEADING nutritional therapist Dr. Marilyn Glenville is the author of Fat Around The Middle

and a specialist in women’s health. She has serious concerns about our consumption of artificial sweeteners, and particularly about aspartame, one of the most widely used chemical sweeteners, which is deemed safe by the European Food Standards Agency.'lt is 180 times sweeter than sugar and can lead to pinge eating and cravings. It’s also been linked to mood swings and depression because’ it alters levels of the brain chemical serotonin,’ says Dr. Glenville. There are also concerns that aspartame might be addictive - people who drink three to four cans of diet soft drinks every day, or regularly chew sugar-free gum, may experience withdrawal symptoms if they try to stop.’

She always advises patients to avoid food or drinks containing artificial sweeteners and to check the small print on ingredients even with non-diet foods.

Independent studies on lab animals have suggested artificial sweeteners can pose serious health problems, including neurological issues, memory impairment and decreased liver function.

Through all the heartache and memories buried Could you open your heart and risk love’s deceit?

Or will you lick wounds and accept defeat?...

After all the tears, the broken pride Through all the times they lied, the pain inside Could you open your eyes to your own surprise?

Or would you serve your ties and accept demise?

After all the sleepless nights, Countless fights Through all the bitter sights, wrongs and rights Could you open your mind and never look back?

Or would you stay After the broken heart we one day find The answer Though a million things could Knock us off our feet but I still choose to love again.

Isdone Onyekachi 08167116929

’Aspartame is one of the most researched ingredients I can think of, says nutritionist Ian Marber. (‘And while some schools of thought believe it is carcinogenic, there is no proof of that. However, it taxes the liver and increases blood fat levels, which can lead to heart disease, diabetes and stroke risk, as well as weight gain.’)

Some research has even linked the consumption of artificially sweetened food and drinks to migraines and premature birth.

ARE NATURAL SUGARS BETTER FOR YOU? NUTRITIONIST Ian Marber says there is a widely held belief that naturally occurring sugars, like honey or agave syrup, are healthier than white sugar. But that isn’t necessarily the case,” he says. ’Natural sugars are not harmless. I see people who wouldn’t touch a can of Coke, cover their breakfast in organic agave syrup.

Too much of any sweetener can make you gain weight) ANY HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVES? JAMES DUIGAN believes xylitol and the

plant-based sweetener stevia are the best options. His tip for anyone trying to cut back on the sweet stuff altogether? Cinnamon.

It’s a wonder ingredient: he says. (‘It tastes great, reduces cravings for sweet stuff, and helps regulate your blood sugar levels. I stir it into my coffee and eat it on yogurt - you can add it to your breakfast porridge.’)

FULL-SUGAR OR DIET DRINKS? JAMES DUIGAN’S advice is to steer clear of fizzy drinks completely. lf you want a healthy drink to quench your thirst, you can’t do better than a long, cool glass of water, he says. , B A T T L E DEPRESSION BY HAVING MORE SEX! Forget the pills and pick-me-up. Never mind retail therapy. If you’re feeling down in the dumps, there’s a simple solution. Have more sex!

Psychologists have found that women who have sex frequently are less likely to be depressed. Experts now believe that it isn’t lovemaking itself that gives women a lift, it is the feel-good chemicals in a man’s semen.

These chemicals get into a woman’s bloodstream and act just like an anti-depressant.

A study published in the Achievers of Sexual Behaviour reveals how researchers at New York University fogged the sexual activities and depression of 300 women; Those women who had sex but didn’t use condom were found to be less depress~ud than women who had protected sex and those who had no sex at all.

The report claims that the vagina absorbs several biological products contained in seminal fluid that can be measured in the bloodstream within several hours.

I love you Baby... You know I do miss you, you know I want to be close to you, you know I do love you, you know my heart beats for you, you know I do think of you, you know I want to take hold of you, you know I want to kiss you passionately, you know I want to caress your impeccable and sexy body, you know I really want to look into your eyes and tell you how beautiful and lovely you look. You know I only want to be your only man, you know I always worship the ground you walk on, you know you made me to be more emotional and romantic, you know you changed my world. How i wished you are in my arms to keep me company, how I wished you are close to me for us to act little of Romeo and Juliet. I missed you dearly, you know I do... Please come back soon my love...

James N Okonkwo (Freesoul) ngesinaj@gmail.com +2348138055800

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 23

08112662589

The fling is over, stop making a fool of yourself!

S

IX years ago, when I was compulsorily retired from my place of work where I held an executive position, I decided to learn a trade, information technology, to be precise. So at the age of 49, I found myself amongst a group of prospective business centre operators under the tutelage of a fairly successful expert. I had gone to Motala’s place for lunch recently and before I could finish my meal, she had launched into her problem, she continued.

"He was a good instructor and got on well with us.

But he particularly singled me out, giving me extra tips and encouragement. That Christmas, I gave him a present as a token of my appreciation. To thank me, he gave me a passionate kiss and money to buy things for my children. That was when our affair started.

'Right from the onset, my lover made it clear that our relationship had no future. He was married. So was I, and a mother of three children.

Stupidly, I thought that I could enjoy fantastic sex without my emotions becoming involved. But I soon fell in love with him

- he was a fantastic man.

It was obvious he was fond of me but he said he couldn’t lose everything by allowing himself to fall in love and that the intensity of my feelings for him scared him. He constantly warned me about getting hurt and that whatever I did, I should always put my husband before him.’

Now I’ve passed out with flying colours and he helped me set up my own business. Only, we don’t get together much and he’s since got a new set of trainees. We keep in contact from time to time but I want to be with him as often as when I was training under him.

I’m jealous of his wife

and anybody else he’s likely to run into.

Through the grapevine, I learnt his wife is no saint but he obviously loves her and their five children. I would be foolish to hope he would abandon them for me and he’s toying with the idea of moving his business to his home town where he has bigger grounds. He’s also toying with going into politics. So what will I do when he eventually leaves?

“I’m sure you’ll be shocked that a fifty something mother of three could feel like this about another woman’s husband but this is my first and only affair. Even

though my husband had his share of flings, my grown-up children would definitely not be impressed by what I’ve got myself into.’

“My husband hurt me in the past and I resent him for this. He’s a good husband and father but I no longer have the deep and intense feelings for him that I now have for my lover. My husband would surely kick me out if he finds out. But how am I going to carry on knowing that I can never have the man I truly feel is the love of my life? I know I’m lucky to have a husband who still cares about me after all these years. Sadly, that is no longer enough for me.”

After listening to what love-sick Motala had to say about the affair she ought to have kissed good-bye, I felt like shaking her and I let her realise that the fact she was able to enjoy such exciting sex with her lover in her middle-age was because of the limitations of her relationship with him.

No strings attached means just that. He told her the score from the start - that they should have sex for the sake of it and nothing else. Since she agreed to play the game by the rules he set, she need to disentangle herself from her lover without allowing anyone to get hurt. It’s obvious Motala’s lover is well skilled at seducing women and sex without strings is nothing to him.

The thought of a love-sick middle-aged married woman lusting after him now obviously turns him off.

Let’s face it, if at the beginning this smooth operator had asked her to break up two happy homes and marry him, she’d have run a mile.

Now it seems she’s gotten carried away by not being caught and wants to put her family in emptional stress.

So I advised her: “Don’t

be greedy. You’ve had few years of illicit sex and this is the time to call it quits. Your lover is currently busy teaching other women what a great lover he can be.

Whatever you do, don’t be bitter. Cut your losses, take the initiative and end this relationship. Now, you will not feel rejected or lost without his control.

Cherish the memories you have of your fling thanking your stars you tasted passion in your middle age ... “.

“What do you mean,” she cut me short. “I’m in my early 50s, I’m, disappointed you seem to have this strong idea of what a middle-aged woman ought to be doing and how ‘indecent’ the amount of arousal I should feel in my so-called dotage. I mean, as long as we are both happy to experiment and no one is getting hurt, who should mind?”

It was obvious Motala refused to read between the -lines - her lover wanted greener pastures and she was now yesterday ’s news. The earlier she went to a corner to lick her wounds, the sooner she could start rebuilding her shaky marriage.

08052201867(Text Only)

Stretching for health

R

C M Y K

C M Y K

IDDING the body of stiffness will improve health and restore youth.

Nature intended the body to be supple and flexible.

That explains why children are born that way.

But we get careless with our body management and we become prone to all kinds of ailments.

How can we expect to have well-being with such neglect?

But the body is quick to recover if we help it along with exercise.

Yoga with its emphasis on suppleness ensures that practitioners maintain youth right into ripe old age.

The Reed and Head to knee postures help the body regain an appreciable degree of flexibility.

THE REED TECHNIQUE: Standing with feet close together clasp the hands and raise them overhead as you take in a deep breath. Tilt the body to the left, breathe out and count to ten. By this time you should be breathing normally. Take in another deep breath and return to the upright position drop the hands by your side. Rest awhile and repeat on both sides.

HEAD TO KNEES (STANDING) TECHNIQUE: Stand with feet close together.

Take a deep breath, raise the hands overhead and breathing out, drop the trunk with palms flat on the floor beside the feet with head as close to the knees as possible. Stay in the position for about 10 seconds. Return to the

upright position. Rest briefly and repeat.

This exercise brings flexibility to the spine.

The hamstrings get a

great work-out and the abdominal organs are massaged curing conditions like constipation and indegestion.

THE COBRA TECHNIQUE: Lying flat on your belly, arrange the hands beside the shoulders.

Take a deep breath and lift up the trunk but don’t straighten up the elbows completely.

Breathe normally and stay in the posture for about 5 to 10 seconds and then return the trunk to the floor. Rest for a little while and repeat.

BENEFITS: The Cobra knocks out the … of stiffness from the spines. It helps to expand the lungs.

It is of great help to asthmatics.

* The Cobra * The Reed

YogaAbdominal classes Lift at 32 Ademola Adetokunbo *The TheIsland, Half Locust Victoria Lagos, 9.10am on Saturdays

PAGE 24—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Hepatitis: Kill it before it kills you

By Yommy Dauda

Hepatitis is a condition of the liver which is characterized by the inflammation of the cells of the liver. This can result in liver damage. There are many forms of hepatitis but the most prevalent type is the viral hepatitis. Other forms include: non-viral hepatitis, toxic hepatitis (from excessive consumption of alcohol or toxic drugs), autoimmune related hepatitis.

VIRAL HEPATITIS It is caused by the infection of the liver by the Hepatitis Virus. There are about six zero-types: a. Hepatitis A, b. Hepatitis B, c.

Hepatitis C, d. Hepatitis D, e. Hepatitis E, f.

Hepatitis G, Hepatitis A. This only occurs at an acute stage. It is advisable to wash hands and food properly to prevent the infection.

HEPATITIS B & C More than 380 million people are infected with Hepatitis B & C. Hepatitis B is said to be 100 times more contagious than HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C is 10 times more contagious than HIV/AIDS. They are the most common causes of liver cancer and liver failure.

HOW ARE THEY TRANSMITTED? 1. Through contact with body fluid and unprotected sex , 2.

Mother to child transmission, 3.

Child to child transmission during play or other means of contact 4. Sharing of contaminated needles or other sharp objects.

MANAGEMENT OF HEPATITIS (PREVENTION AND CONTROL) 1. General lifestyle changes a. Weight reduction, b. Quiting smoking, c.

Quiting alcohol consumption, d.

Drinking lots

of water, e. Eating plenty vegetables and fruits f. Avoiding fatty foods especially high cholesterol LDL – rich foods.

2. Immunization a. Adults should be vaccinated against Hepatitis 3 doses taken within 0- 6 months). b. Children should be vaccinated against Hepatitis B virus at birth, 6 weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks. c. Mother to child prevention is done by the administration of 2 injectables, namely, Hepatitis B immunoglobulin and Hepatitis B vaccine to the new born. The child is therefore protected and the mother can breast feed him.

3. Adequate personal hygiene and food hygiene, 4. Avoiding multiple sexual partners and use of condom , 5. Uninfected partners should be immunized.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEPATITIS 1. It may be asymptomatic ( showing no symptoms), 2. Fever 3. Nausea and / or vomiting, 4. Joint ache, 5.

Pain in the abdomen ( upper right side), 6.

Jaundice, 7.

Dark urine, 8.

Body weakness 9. Signs of common cold HOW TO DETECT HEPATITIS ( D I AG N O S T I C / L A B O R AT O RY INVESTIGATIONS) 1. HBs Ag test ( Hepatitis B surface antigen test), 2.

Hepatitis B DNA test ( For viral load), 3.

Liver function test HERBAL REMEDY A great number of world-renowned herbal therapy facilities are daily involved in research in very potent natural treatment options for Hepatitis. At QUMAS Herbs, we have developed a very effective

herbal remedy for hepatitis A, C and especially Hepatitis B. This is in a bid to prevent liver damage, liver cancer and liver failure. The battle against hepatitis can be won. Kill Hepatitis before it kills you.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 25

08116759757

BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka

I

T has been claims and counter claims over the rightful owner of the parcel of land housing the Oyolu Eze Primary School and Ebenezer Anglican Church in Nkwelle Ezunaka, Oyi local government area of Anambra State. Residents of the area woke up last month to discover that the church built inside the school had been demolished by unknown persons.

While officials of the church pointed accusing fingers at the President General of Nkwelle Ezunaka Union, Dr. Chris Eluomunoh, of being the mastermind of the demolition, Eluemunoh, w ho is also the Anambra State President of Ohaneze Ndigbo and a delegate to the recently concluded National Conference, denied the allegation, saying it is unfortunate that people who claim to be men of God are telling lies just to claim what does not belong to them.

The controversial school, according to Eluemunoh, was built in 1978 by the community and handed over to Anambra State government to manage, adding that in 1990, following the overflowing of the population of the 33 suburb of Onitsha, the church applied to the headmaster of Oyolu Eze Primary School to be allowed the use one of the classrooms in the school for Sunday worship since they were yet to build a branch in the area.

Sunday Vanguard received documents pertaining to the land and the correspondences between the two groups. First was the application dated March 7, 1990, signed by Venerable E.O. Okonkwo, and in which the church applied to the headmaster of the school to be allowed to use the school for worship. The application read: “We have a worshipping congregation at 3-3 which has been managing a small private building, but as the number of worshippers increased, the small house does not accommodate us.

On receipt of the application, the headmaster, Mr. B.O. Okafo, in a reply, dated 21st March, 1990, said: “Approval is hereby given to your request. You are to use the eastern end of the school block for your worship temporarily.

“You will be held responsible for any damage done to any of the school property by your

Festering trouble in Anambra over Anglican Church demolition congregation. Besides, you will pay a token rent of N20 only per month with effect from April 1, 1990.”

However, on February 3, 2003, 13 years after the granting of the approval, the church reached an agreement with Oze community to cede part of school to it. The agreement read: “We, the Oze community, under the leadership of Oze Progressive Union unanimously agree to give to St. Barnabas Church Parish, land, which we donated to government, to put up an Anglican Church building. This will enable both the indigenes and non- indigenes residing within Oyou Eze area to have a benefitting place of worship”.

Further to the application, counsel to the Anglican Church, Mr. Nnamdi Ibegbu, SAN, on June 13, 2005, wrote the State Primary Education Board, Awka informing the officer in charge that following a request by the Bishop on the Niger Diocese, Rt. Rev Ken Okeke, the state governor had approved the request and urged the church to prepare a survey plan for processing in order to be granted Certificate of Occupancy, C of O. But, in another letter dated August 22, 2005, Mrs. C.N. Umeokeke, for the Commissioner for Education, rejected the request.

In the letter, reference number MOE/SCHD/2018/VOL.1/11A, and addressed to the officer in charge of Anambra State

There was no church in that school. The Anglican Church has land it acquired along the College of Education, Nsugbe, but instead of developing it, it went into government school to claim ownership Universal Basic Education Board, the ministry said: “I am directed to request you to inform the Diocese on the Niger that the ministry cannot grant her request for allocation of part of Oyolu Eze Primary School land.

“This is because the portion of the school land afore said has been earmarked for the building of additional classroom blocks to ease off the accommodation problem facing the school.

“The ministry sincerely regrets her inability to oblige the Diocese on the Niger.”

Chairman of the Parent Teacher Association, PTA, of the school, Mr. James Okete, on May 18, 2005, in another letter addressed to the Education Secretary of Oyi local government, Nteje, threatened that the PTA would pull down the church signboard and asked the church to vacate the school’s library. It also gave the church a

quit notice on the grounds that they may one day start claiming ownership of the school and requested the local government to send two security personnel to the school to protect it in view of the development.

According to Eluomunoh, notwithstanding the rejection of the request, authorities of the Anglican Church went ahead to mount a giant billboard on the school with the name Ebenezer Anglican Church which, he said, gave the impression that the school belonged to the curch. According to him, the church had converted the school library to a store, thus making it impossible for the pupils to make use of the school library.

He vowed that the ‘Anglican Church must leave the school premises either in peace or in war’ because on no account would the community allow the church to claim the school it built in 1978

and handed over to the state government to manage, regretting that members of the church have been dishing out lies, apparently to win people’s sympathy.

He said: “There was no church in that school. The Anglican Church has land it acquired along the College of Education, Nsugbe, but instead of developing it, they went into government school to claim ownership.

“It is disheartening that those who call themselves pastors should be telling lies because they want to claim what does not belong to them. They are claiming that government gave them the property to manage, but that is not true as government had earlier written them that it would not cede part of the school to anybody.

“Besides, the school did not qualify as a mission school because all schools returned to the churches were built before the civil war and no church built any primary school on any government premises since the end of the civil war.”

He urged government to implement the report of the panel that looked into the matter, adding that what the church was doing was mere grandstanding which could not lead them anywhere.

When members of the church discovered, to their amazement, that the church building, which they had spent so much money to erect, was reduced to rubbles, they took to the streets. Apart from blaming the people of Nkwelle Ezunaka for the demolition; they accused the state government of encouraging the community to perpetrate what they described as an evil act.

Among their requests were that those who pulled down the church must rebuild it and that Governor Willie Obiano should intervene in the matter and arrest the perpetrators of the act. Speaking on behalf of the Diocese on the Niger, Rev Ik Egbeonu said the state government’s silence on the matter signified a kind of conspiracy between government and those who perpetrated the act.

He claimed that the school compound, housing the demolished church building, was among the schools handed over to the church by the former governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi, adding that the statement credited to the President General of the community. Eluemuno, that the church took over the school by force was not true.

He said: “We are calling on the state government to come and rebuild our church. We are also calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in this matter. If this is not done, the 2015 presidential election will surely be affected because Anglicans form almost half of the voters in the country. This is a church project that has gulped over N30 million and the money was contributed by widows, orphans and the less privileged only for some people to pull it down from top to the foundation level”.

Chancellor of the Diocese on the Niger, Mr. Nnamdi Ibegbu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, condemned the demolition and threatened that the Diocese would seek legal action against those who did it. According to him, the issue of the rightful owners of the premises that housed the demolished church building will be determined by a competent court of jurisdiction, even as he appealed to the Anglican faithful in the area to remain calm.

Continues on page 26

PAGE 26 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

08116759757

Edo community disowns ‘monarch’

BY EMMANUEL AJIBULU & LEKAN BILESANMI

S

takeholders in Esan SouthEast Local Government Area of Edo State have cautioned Christopher Ike Kebordin to stop telling the world that he is the traditional ruler of Illushi Kingdom. They also took exception to some of the statements credited to Kebordih in an interview he granted Sunday Vanguard on August 3, 2014.

Mr Enye Richard, a two-time Chairman of Illushi Progressives Association of Nigeria, who is currently the Chairman of Edo/ Igala Foundation on behalf of his people, took a swipe at Kebordih narrating that he (Kebordin) lacked the right to make such misleading claim.

Enye said: “I found it preposterous that Christopher Ike Kebordih will claim in an interview he granted a reputable media house like Vanguard at page 42 of August 03, 2014 that he is a monarch of Illushi Kingdom. He is not a monarch of Illushi community.

There are nine quarters and 14 villages including Illushi which is originally called (Ojigono) before the year 1896 agreement with the Royal Niger Company. Uroh (Uloshi) Kingdom is made up of the quarters and villages that I mentioned earlier.” Speaking during a visit to Vanguard headquarters in Lagos, he stated that it was important to put things in the right perspective so that the unsuspecting members of the public will not be misinformed. He described Ebije 1, which Kebordin is purportedly using as his

traditional title, as mere greeting and that it is not in any way recognized. “There are four different identification greetings for each quarters that is made up Uroh (Uloshi) kingdom. Ebije is used for people from five quarters of the nine quarters. Ameche use the greeting of one of the quarters, Ojoko for another and Igweh use the greeting of Ocheche quarters,” he said.

“These are mere greetings and not traditional titles. Ebije 1 of Illushi is illegal and not known to the entire community and must not be recognized by the Edo State government or any traditional institution in the local government or by any group of persons. Illushi has no kingmakers because it is one the villages under Uroh (Uloshi) Kingdom.”

Enye disclosed that Kebordih was only being economical with the truth when he said governments in Edo at the state and local government levels as well as the security agents are not doing anything to address youth restiveness in the community.

He went on: “It is most uncharitable for him to assert in the interview that the government of Edo State under the leadership of Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole, our local government council chairman, the Nigeria Police, and the DSS have not done anything to address the communal clashes in our community. Presently, there is peace in that community simply because the government of Edo State set up Crises and Peace Resolution Committee under the chairmanship of our revered elder, Chief Eduwo Ekhato (the Obasogie of Benin Kingdom). If the

Mr. Enye Richard

My advice to any aggrieved party, including Kebordih, is that if he is not satisfied, he should approach the Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee to seek redress rather than going to the press government and the police and other security operatives have not done anything, what about the meeting held in January 15, 2014 at Obiaja where all concerned stakeholders were physically present?,” he said.

“Several people came for that meeting, including APC and PDP members. Christopher Ike Kebordih and Jonathan Imawa as

well as their loyalists were also in attendance. It is also important to correct the misgivings that government abandoned our community. Today, we have good schools with excellent infrastructure and dedicated teachers, pipe borne water, good road networks and many other amenities championed by Governor Oshiomhole’s

administration. Rather than commending the good efforts of the DPO, the Area Commander, down to the Commissioner of Police as well as the state government, Kebordih is blaming them. This is unfair and regrettable.”

He was appalled by another statement credited to Kebordin that he (Kebordin) ran into exile in 2013. Enye pointed out that Kebordin had been in exile since 2003 following the crises of Odugume and Illushi youths. He however called on all concerned parties to eschew violence and embrace permanent peace in the overall interest of the community.

“I also take serious exception to Kebordih’s claim on his self-exile tales. It is not true that Kebordih ran into exile in 2013. He has been in exile since 2003 when Odugume and Illushi youths had crises that led to the death of a young man called Anone Agwumede.

Permit me to use this medium to show appreciation to the great people of our community, particularly the Chairman of Esan South-East LGA, the DPO, the Area Commander, the state Commissioner of Police, DSS and the youths in our community for maintaining peace and orderliness thus far. I implore them to continue in this good spirit,” Enye pointed out.

“However, my advice to any aggrieved party, including Kebordih, is that if he is not satisfied, he should approach the Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee to seek redress rather than going to the press. Illushi is fed up with crises and we do not want to be seen anymore as crisesprone community. I am also appealing to Kebordih and other stakeholders to let us come together in order to create an atmosphere for sustainable peace to foster meaningful development in our interest and in the interest of our unborn generations.”

Discordant tunes over Anglican Church demolition Continued from page 25 However, Eluemuno denied that the community had a hand in the demolition of the church building, explaining that the matter was already being handled by law enforcement agents. Arguing that nobody gave the school to the Anglican Church in the first place and that the church did not get any certificate of occupancy on the land, he urged the Anglican Church to discontinue construction work going on at Oze village or be prepared for a showdown with the community.

The President General summoned a general meeting of the community during which they alleged that despite an order of the state government that status quo be maintained pending the completion of investigation by the panel set up by the state government, the Anglican Church continued to build on the disputed school premises.

“Even as the panel set up by government was sitting, the Church was building another structure, day and night, in the premises and this is what we cannot condone,” he said..

Eluemumo also recalled that it was Chief G.U. Okeke, Chairman of GUO Group of Companies, who is a member of the church that came to Nkwelle Ezunaka and pleaded that Anglican Church be allowed to worship there and promised that the church would

never contest ownership and wondered what the church leaders should be preaching to the ordinary people.

Shortly after the demolition, Governor Obiano, in company of his deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke, who is an Anglican, visited the demolished church building. The

governor later set up a panel of inquiry headed by the deputy governor to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the dispute between the community and the church.

But the Anglican Church vowed never to cooperate with members of the panel of inquiry, accusing

the deputy governor of not doing much to prevail on his boss, Obiano, to treat the Anglican Church equally with the Catholic Church. For two consecutive days, members of the church continued with the demonstration and urged security operatives not to attempt to stop them as they were prepared

Mimik o, Olajumok ask Ondo people on de vt Mimiko, Olajumokee ttask devt DAYO JOHNSON, AKURE

G

OVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko has chal lenged Ondo State people, particularly the political class, on the need to contribute to its development in the face of the global financial challenges.

Mimiko said this in Akure at the presentation of the Living Hero Man of the year of Ondo State to an Owo indigene and a philanthropist, Chief Rotimi Ibidapo. The governor noted that the situation in the country demanded that people rally round government at various levels and contribute to the human and infrastructural development of the society.

Speaking through the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Lady Yemi Mammud-Fasominu, he noted that the award presented

by Award Platform of Ondo State Man of the Year, in conjunction with Hero Ventures, publishers of Hero titles, was capable of making people strive to develop their communities.

Mimiko lauded the contributions of notable sons and daughters of the state to its development.

He said Ondo State is proud to have a person like Ibidapo who has impacted lives and communities. “Prince Rotimi Ibidapo is my friend and we have been friends for long and I know he is committed to the development of the community. He is a pride to Ondo State and Owo in particular and I must say that I identify with the good work he is doing in Owo, Ondo State and Nigeria in general,” he said.

Also speaking, the chairman of the occasion, Senator Bode Olajumoke, said the development of the various communities, partic-

ularly the rural ones should not be left to government alone.

Represented by a former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Alaba Lad Ojomo, Olajumoke urged Nigerians to be committed to the upliftment of their areas and the people therein.

The Chief Executive Officer of the organisation, Dr. Sunday Akinbiola, said the award was conceptualised to honour outstanding sons and daughters of Ondo State who have distinguished themselves in their various chosen endeavour and have contributed immensely towards the development of their communities, the state and Nigeria.

Responding after the presentation of the award, Ibidapo said he would continue to alleviate the suffering of the downtrodden.

to spill their blood on the disputed land.

As the protest continued, the Anambra State government issued a statement, urging the Anglican Church to give peace a chance.

Enekrogha empowers constituents

M

EMBER representing Burutu Federal Con stituency in the National Assembly, Frank Enekrogha, has distributed self empowerment packages to 187 constituents, easing doubt over his sincerity to fulfill his campaign promises to his people.

The lawmaker’s empowerment largesse shared at Okuokokor, Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State, include 33 tricycles, 55 motorbikes, 55 sewing machines, 55 mini-generators, 55 hair clippers, evenly distributed among beneficiaries from the 11 wards in the area.

Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Burutu Local Government Area, Ken Ogoibiri and Chairman, Enekrogha Campaign Organisation, James Enieketie, who spoke on the occasion, enjoined beneficiaries to make the best of the opportunity while appealing to non beneficiaries to wait for their turn.

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 27

By DOTUN IBIWOYE

T

makers, provided the needed spiritual support to the Bini Kingdom whose standing army was busy fighting numerous wars during the ancient days. In reward for their effort, the Binis rewarded and imposed them as Eze & Onowu Iyasele. This is how all those parading themselves as royal homes in northern part of Igboland emerged. It was not part of our culture and so anyone telling you that at the death of Eri, his fore fathers became kings and that he is the 100th King of Eri is being far from truth. Our culture has no room for such political stool.

Conclusion “It’s obvious that the name Umueri (the name by which other Omambala people address Umueri from time immemorial), which literally means “Children of Eri”, is a natural and unbiased nomenclature indicating Umueri special relationship with Eri, even though several attempts have been made in the past to deny Umueri its rightful position as the cradle of Igboland through mispronunciation of our name & heaping of false name as our ancestor. Archaeologically, the traces of the habitat of the early Igbo settlers are still visible today in Umueri. For Instance, ‘Akpu Nri’ and ‘Okpotoevi’ are still at Ugume Umueri. Akpu Nri is an antiquity of great importance.

It’s about half a thousand year

he debate over the true

origin of the Igbo continued recently when two communities laid claims to being the progenitors.

Now, the professionals of Umueri extraction in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, under the auspices of Greater Umueri Liberation Forum, GULF, debunked the claims by Nri & Aguleri, saying their town was the ancient Igbo settlement in Omambala valley.

Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh, the traditional ruler of Nri in Anaocha Local Government of Anambra State, had said the Igbo originated from his community.

GULF described the claim of the monarch and that of Aguleri as baseless and fallacious.

According to GULF, the story of the of the Igbo was first dismissed by one Elder Ndive Aniegboka, an elder from Umueri, who said the monarch was being economical with the truth as Umueri was the first area of human settlement before the Igbo of Igala descent migrated.

The group, in its report endorsed by nine of its members, described Aguleri & Nri, as erstwhile partners in FOISTERING an inconsistent and inaccurate story on the Igbo people, which they termed fallacious & misleading. The report was signed by Comrade Biafra Diboh, Chief.Daniel Obi Aninwetalu, Mr.Obi Kachi Nzedigwe, Mr. Titus Ugo Nwoye, Comrade Sonny Onochie , Ms. Purity Nwofia, Mr.Oliver Chinweze, Mr.Chike Nnamdi and Sixtus Chinedu.

The group insisted that majority of the people who make up the Igbo of today were those who came from Israel while the rest migrated from Igala and other places.

According to the group, the founders of the earliest settlers of the town are from Eri clan of Israel who left the Israelites during their time in wilderness (post-Egypt exile), migrated from East Jordan towards the Mediterranean Sea and later crossed back to Egypt from there to Ethiopia, then to Southern Sudan from where they sailed through the rivers and finally found themselves in Omambala or Anambra valley where they settled.

“They now named the place after their clan, Umu-Eri, which means children of Eri. The migration was long-time ago before Saul was made King over Israel”, GULF said.

It went on: “At the new settlement, the culture of Hebrew worshipping, circumcision, burial & other customs remained visibly the same with some modifications.

There was no king or culture of king-making until the invasion of the land by the second wave of migration from the Igala descents who brought the system of priest-king along with it.

“The Bini Kingdom also tried introducing its kingship by imposing the Ezes & Onowu but with limited success. However, the Umueri people resisted the cultural encroachment from them until the colonial administrators foisted warrant chief system on them.

Relationship between Umunri & ancient Umueri “The original settlers of the communities that make up the

CONTROVERSY OVER IGBO ORIGIN

‘We have proof that Umueri is the cradle of Ndigbo’

Umunri clan are descendants of the first settlers of Umueri.

Therefore the people of Umunri, otherwise called Nri Kingdom, are part of our ancient town. It is a fact that amongst numerous people that constitute the Umunri Kingdom, the descendants of Umueri people are regarded as aborigines or the head of their various communities.

Those communities were even named after founders of Umueri lineages. The original settlers in Nri are from Nri-aka in old Ugume ana of Ikenga Umueri.

“Nri people were actually occupying the large expanse of land between Ugume Umueri and Ikem Nando (then in old Umueri town) which today subsist in Ugwu Nzu. “There is a popular road path which exists till date which the the Nri people use for their itineraries from Ugume to Ugunzu and is called ‘EZI NRI AKA’ till today.

The vast area was inhabited by the descendants of Eri up to Omabala na Ezu before the present settlement of aguleri which is a recent settlement.

“The Ire and Oraeri were living in the portion of land lying between Agu Eneneanya and Agu Oda in today Ifite Umueri and Nneyi Umueri. The Ire people abandoned this area in flight due to the war between them and the Igalas.

“Today the Ire people can be found in Abba, Obosi, Ogidi, Umuoji Enugu Ukwu.

The group insists that majority of the people who make up the Igbo of today were those who came from Israel while the rest migrated from Igala and other places

Occupying these portion of lands today are several artefacts’ and monuments, shrines, etc left behind by the fleeing Ires.

“The Umunri oral tradition also confirmed that they once lived amongst our people here in Omambala valley. The Nri people of Umueri extraction had no king just like every other true Igbo town until the arrival of the Igala settlers who were forced to scatter and live amongst all Igbo towns in northern Igbo communities as a result of the ancient war that was waged by the people of ancient Umueri clan.

It was the Igala elements that brought the issue of kingship in Nri. It was a foreign culture amongst the earliest settlers.

Migration & trace of Umueri people “The founders of ancient Umueri community was not just a single man and woman as fallacious story peddled around by people, but group of people amongst whom was Eri, a great hunter and warrior from Eri clan

of Gad’s tribe of Isreal around I,300BC.(See Gen46:16, Numbers 26:16).

They found themselves in Omambala valley where they settled. Original ancient Umueri people settled amongst basically in all northern Igbo communities notably Nteje(Umueri/Umuevi Nteje), Umueri Awka, Umueri Ogbunike, Umueri Okija, Umunagu- Achala, Amåleri Ichida, Umueri Awkuzu, Umueri Nkwelle Ezunaka.

The Influence of Bini Kingdom “Another group that impacted its culture on the Omambala people are the Binis known formerly as the Idu in the local parlance. At the height of Bini Kingdom, it annexed territories at will through conquest, but the emerging communities in Omambala valley through juju & war charms were able to stop the Binis. In mutual pact agreed upon, Umueri and other communities in Omambala communities, through their powerful medicine men & charm

old tree located at Ama IruakpuUgume, Umueri. It was said to be founded by founders of early settlers of Agukwu-Nri who left long time ago.

“Apart from oral tradition & archaeological evidence, the early European visitors confirmed Umueri communities in Anambra valley as the cradle of human existence in Igboland.

“According to the works of Dr Elizabeth Isichei, while quoting L Froberius, wrote. “The first cradle of human habitation in Igbo area was probably the Cross River and Anambra River Escarpment. In each of these areas, latter Stone Age sites have been excavated. The scholar cited an ancient storage relic which was excavated in Umunagu Umueri in 1975 by Mr. Emmanuel Ozoemena which shows human existence in Umueri during Stone Age era probably before 980 AD’ Elizabeth Isichei went further to state, ‘This picture of an early nucleus of settlement in northern Igbo land is confirmed by Igbo traditions’. We urge all Igbo historians, scholars & anthropologists of Igbo culture to go the who hag in unravelling the true ancient map of Umueri town (clan) and also to focus their searchlight on this ancient town of Umueri to study her unique culture and oral tradition which has so far been suppressed deliberately by fallacious works of some authors and writers, who were unable to conquer prejudice and bias, thereby ending up into distortion of fact”.

PAGE 28—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

M

r Ganiyu Tunji Adebayo made his name in the aviation sector where he rose to become the first indegenous General Manager of the National Aviation Handling Company of Nigeria (NAHCO) and building it to a firm worth a billion dollars. Now in retirement, Adebayo continues to serve humanity through Tunji Adebayo Foundation. The philanthropist speaks on the Foundation which clocked 10 on August 17 while the anniversary will be celebrated on September 26.

You are no doubt a success today. How did it all start?

My mother died when I was six, my father followed when I was 17. Since then, I have been beating around the bush to get to where I am.

I am a pilot, an accountant, an aviator, an administrator, a philanthropist.

I attended Siria Academy of Aeronautics, California where I got all my licence for flying. I came back home in 1971, joined Nigeria Airways as second officer; I left because I wasn’t satisfied with what was going on. I went back to the university in the United States. I attended Loyola University, Chicago where I graduated in accounting and did finance at the master’s level. I worked for Johnson and Johnson, Chicago section, US and flew for Midway Aeronatics as pilot. I came back to Nigeria and picked up a job with the Ministry of Aviation as a senior accountant. I moved from there to the Nigeria Airports Authority when it was created in 1978 as Chief of Operations in the new MMA. We were the people that opened the airport under the leadership of Mr Bamidele Nwaje. From there, I was posted to local airport (present MMA2) to convert it from international.

I was then posted to Port-Harcourt as the first Airport Manager and later to Kano also as Airport Manager. I came back from Kano for reasons best known to northerners who did not want a Yoruba Airport Manager but an officer from the North, whereas a northerner was posted to Lagos as Airport Manager and there was no noise. I was returned to Lagos and asked to do what I was doing before I was posted to Port-Harcourt and I quit. I joined NAHCO as AGM and later as the first Nigerian GM. NAHCO is my baby, that is where I made my name. We started with N500,000 and equipment; by the time I left, we were a billion-dollar company. I am so proud of NAHCO and my team then as NAHCO is one of the Nigerian government agencies that became a Plc and is doing very well.

It is worth so much money. Most government agencies don’t do well.

You spent some part of your life abroad where you went to school and also worked. You also worked in Nigeria. What comparison can you make out of the two environments?

I am writing a book entitled, From Grace to Grass to Grace. I had thought I would complete the book ahead of my 70th birthday, but couldn’t. The first grace was when my parents were around and I was fed with the golden spoon.

When they died, I suffered for eight years.

That was the period I spent in Nigeria after my two parents died and shortly after my arrival in the US until I understood the system. That is the grass. And all of a sudden, things started working until I came back home, and the grace is still there. Everytime I go to the US, I get out of the immigration, I say thank ‘ God for bringing me to this country’ . And when I return to Nigeria, I say ‘ thank God for giving me the opportunity’ because for Nigeria, I wouldn’t have

We gave out 121 babies to childless couples — Adebayo *’How we built NAHCO from the scratch into a billion – dollar company’ people, ‘you don’t have to be super rich until you help your fellow human being’. I have been helping even before I founded the Foundation by way of scholarship and the rest. I am very proud of the little I have done because most of those I have assisted with scholarship are doing well. Many of them are doctors, lawyers, engineers across the country. But I don’t scream about it. And I don’t have to scream since I am not into politics because politics is a cult where personal interest is the priority.

The interest of those young people and my children is paramount in my mind. So, far, we have given 121 children to childless couples for adoption in 10 years. That is my joy. When I see the couples and the children, I feel happy. I am doing what I like doing to make people happy. And I told God, the more He gives me, the more I would give to people.

So the Foundation is basically about helping abandoned children, childless couples?

It is about helping the downtrodden, especially children, abandoned children, children thrown away by mothers who didn’t want them apparently because they didn’t want the pregnancy in the first place. We work in collaboration with Lagos State Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports. People come to the ministry, they give them papers, they bring the papers to us and we talk to them.

Now, we have a vocation centre, where we train people for free in computer studies, hair dressing, barbing, bead-making, tailoring, etc.

Adebayo...passionate about the underprivileged been in the US; and for the US, I probably wouldn’t have made it in life. So both countries are so dear to me. That is why after I finally came back to Nigeria, I decided I wanted to contribute my own quota to this country. I don’t have money but I am comfortable. Yet I was entrusted with billions and I was never found wanting. This was out of my parents saying that if you take somebody else’s money, it will ultimately have consequences.

You take care of the underprivileged.

You started doing this because you had some childhood experience that you did not want other to go though?

My childhood experiences were fantastic. I had a wonderful upbringing.

My father was a produce buyer. We counted about a million in a day to buy goods. There was no suffering. The grass was when they died. What motivated me are two things. I went to school in Abeokuta. In Form 4, we as students had a strike. They dismissed all of us from school. They asked us to go and bring our parents. But I dared not go home to tell my parents who lived in Zaria.

I came to Lagos and started looking for job. I lived in Surulere with a friend and I was supposed to go to Daily Times production office in Apapa for an interview for job. I didn’t have enough transport fare. So I had to trek. When I got to Ijora, I fainted out of fatigue. Passersby had to revive me. The first thing I thought about after I was revived was my six pence. I still went for the interview but did not get the job. So, I used my six pence to

,

BY WALE AKINOLA & OSENI YEMISI

It is about helping the downtrodden, especially children, abandoned children, children thrown away by mothers who didn’t want them apparently because they didn’t want the pregnancy in the first place

,

transport myself back home. There and then I vowed to God that if he ever made me somebody in this country, I would do something in this country, I would do something to affect humanity positively.

Now, add this to what I went through between the time my father died and the time I went to the US, terrible things. I felt that if every orphan had to go through such experience without intervention, then only God’s grace could make them survive. Two, when I returned to Nigeria, I found that poverty was widespread.

I thought about the little I could do to reverse the situation. They call it social responsibility in the US. And I keep telling

How do you screen these people who come for these children to ascertain they are childless couples genuinely looking for children to adopt?

They come for interview after they get the papers from Lagos State government.

I fill the form, we talk. If they tell me their story and they cry I also cry because their story is so pathetic; everybody has his own story. The most important thing is that they have to bond with the child because if they don’t, when the child is being taken home, the child will cry. By the time Lagos State Government clears you, you take the baby home.

The Foundation was 10 in August but you are not celebrating until September 26. How do you want people to celebrate with you?

We want people to come and celebrate with us, drink, dance and also see what we have achieved.

There would be a press conference talking about what we have been doing all this while. We will also invite adults and neighbours, a professor from university is coming to talk on a topic. Award will be given to those who have been with us all these years. Also the late lady who started the home will be remembered and the new hall we are about to open will be named after her.

These children that you gave out, do you monitor the way they are being treated?

We do; Lagos State government, through social workers, especially does that.

What dreams do you have for the home?

My dream is to expand the home gradually and, most importantly, to make people happy.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 29

Email: vanguardwoman@gmail.com

Beauty queens are not promiscuous — Nancy-Olive Aisagbonhi, Calabar Carnival Queen

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIAAGBONKHESE

E

verything works like Harry Potter ’s spell when crowns rest on the heads of the likes of passionate, gorgeous and cheerful Nancy-Olive Aisagbonhi. Nancy-Olive is the reigning Queen of Cross River State’s annual Calabar Carnival Pageant. Fuelled by an untainted ambition to be remembered as the queen who turned around the lives of teenagers, Nancy is melting the hearts of misguided teens and quelling awful teenage tendencies in the State of Cross River. Her tenure as the Face of Mothers Against Child Abandonment, MACA, has seen many street children rehabilitated, returned to school and reunited with their families.

The awesomely articulate queen who says more parents should encourage children to be beauty queens had a chat with Feminista in Calabar.

Tell us more about your background…

Growing up was fun despite being an only child because I had very loving and supportive family and friends who believed in me. I’m currently studying Chemistry at the Niger Delta University in Bayelsa State.

You mean your parents allowed you participate in a beauty pageant without fearing you might become promiscuous being an only child?

Yes, they did. The notion we have about beauty queens being promiscuous is really false because beauty pageants are organized to bring out role models for youths. Children who want to become beauty queens should be encouraged to because it simply gives one an opportunity to change lives.

Did you think you were going to emerge winner of the Calabar Carnival pageant?

It’s normal to think you’re going to win when you’re about to enter for a contest. But I tell you, I no longer thought

I was going to win when I got into camp and saw there were a lot of beautiful, intelligent, smart girls. I didn’t think I stood a chance but as God would have it, I won.

And how has life been as a reigning beauty queen?

It’s awesome and glamorous, like what you see in the movies. But then, it has the stressful days when you have to work for hours.

Though, when you think about the fact that you’re impacting lives, you just cannot get tired.

You’re said to be helping the First Lady of Cross River State achieve her vision for women and children…

That’s correct. As the Carnival Calabar Queen, I am the Face of MACA which is strictly a non-governmental

we have over 70. Recently, we had a reintegration ceremony where about 23 of the students were reintegrated with their parents. It was quite emotional meeting with their parents after such a long time.

How are you working to prevent more teenagers from taking to the streets?

Actually, my major role as the Face of MACA is to teach young boys and girls about the importance of education and how to shun premarital sex and avoid teenage pregnancy which might ruin their future; because we also have a syndrome of teenagers throwing away their newborns. Recently I began my school tour of Cross River State and I’ve done a few local governments. We are going to touch every local government in the state.

Why do your tours include schools only and seem to leave out out-ofschool children…?

What we do is cater for children and ensure their rights are protected. MACA has a couple of projects which include Destiny Child Centre organization run by Her Excellency, Mrs.Obioma Liyel-Imoke. What we do is cater for children and ensure their rights are protected.

MACA has a couple of projects which include Destiny Child Centre; A State Fit for A Child, ASFAC, and more, but the most interesting is the Destiny Child Centre where we rehabilitate street children, put them back in school and then reunite them with their families. Where necessary, we set up businesses for their parents so they do not send the child off to the streets again. Most of the children collected from the streets have been accused of witchcraft and sent out of home because of certain illluck that befell their parents.

This syndrome is ebbing though.

How many people have benefitted from this centre?

We’ve had a lot of inmates at the centre since 2009 that it was established. Currently,

(Cuts in) Right now, we have a MACA hotline through which outof-school and other endangered children can get across to us and receive immediate intervention.

But our tour project is centered on school teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17.

What words of advice do you have for parents concerning teenagers?

It’s important for parents to make their children their best friends so they can influence them more positively. I don’t believe in the myth about children becoming unruly when they are too familiar with their parents. I have a very close relationship with my parents and I know what I’m talking about. Every teenager has teenage problems and it is the duty of parents to work with their child to help them overcome those problems.

What do you wish to be remembered for?

I want to be remembered as the queen that was able to touch the lives of teenagers positively by simply coming down to their level to talk to them.

PAGE 30 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 31

PAGE 32 — SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

By BILESANMI OLALEKAN

O

tunba Christopher Alao- Akala was governor of Oyo State between 2007 and 2011 when he vacated office for the present governor, Chief Abiola Ajimobi shortly after that year gubernatorial election.

Penultimate Thursday, Akala formally declared his interest to run for the office of the governor of his state. In this interview, shortly before the declaration, Akala said his entrance into the gubernatorial race is in the interest of the people whom he claimed have been clamoring for his return, because, according to him,” it is one thing to scratch somebody’s back,it is another thing to scratch the body where it is itching him”.

Jonathan is too patient — Ex- Gov Akala * Says S/West people are not happy with APC * ’ Why Ajimobi will not get second term’

It has been close to four years you left office. How has it been since then?

I have been there, enjoying my privacy and resting. You know the office of the governor calls for mental alertness and, when you are mentally alert, then you know that you hardly can sleep. It is a 24- hour job. Since then, I have been enjoying my primacy, freedom and, most importantly, resting.

The PDP, shortly after it won the Ekiti election, said it was going to claim another victory in Osun. Having lost the Osun election now, what is the post mortem?

I hope you know we are already in court, contesting the election, so I would not want to talk much about it. However, what is certain is that the opposition party is more pronounced on the pages of newspapers than doing the real work of governance. The APC governs on the front pages of newspapers.

They are propagandists. They like propaganda. They talk more than they work and people have realized that now. You know we people in Oyo State are quite exposed, because we are highly educated and so, because of that, it is now even more difficult, unlike before, to throw any garbage at them and they accept it. The people are wiser now. They won’t vote for just anybody again and it is obvious now that if it was PDP, the party would have made a lot of difference in their lives.

Are you saying that in the last three years, the APC government has not done anything for the people?

Well, you have not got enough time to compare, because if you know our environment very well, then you know what I am saying. I am not saying the man has not done anything but, compared to what people like us have done, he has not done anything. There wont be room for comparison if anything had not been left undone.

It is because certain things have been left undone or have been done wrongly, that is why the clamour for me to return to office.

Again, it is one thing to scratch somebody’s body, it is another thing to scratch the body where it is itching him. If you scratch it where it is itching, of course, the fellow will enjoy it more. That is what we are going to do when we return to office. You need to study your people and know what they went, how they want it and you

C M Y K

Akala: Jonathan is just too patient give it to them, not what you think is good for them.

But people are still clamouring for the same APC government to return for second term.

You don’t live here. So you don’t have knowledge of what is happening here.

But we read all these in the media.

That is what I was saying earlier.

They are propagandists. You have just confirmed that now that they govern on the pages of newspapers. But we know what is happening here in the state, not what they feed the public through

the media.

You just declared to run for governor for the second time.

The question that follows that declaration would be; what did Akala forget in the office that he wants to return there to pick?

I did not forget anything. It is the people that have been clamouring for me to return to office. I have been receiving calls here and there. And because of that, when a king is installed, and he is not performing to the expectation of the people, they would remember the last king that was doing good to them, that is exactly what has happened. If the

last king that was good to them is still alive and still can return to rule, they will gladly prefer him.

That is exactly what is happening.

If a new king is not performing as expected, his actions would make the people to remember the last king, that is why they would remove the king and bring back the old so that they can continue to enjoy what they are used to.

Are you saying the people prefer Akala to this administration?

I will say yes. But wait till then, you will see that they prefer me to this government.

In your party (PDP) particularly here in the South West, there is not unity there.

Which party The PDP I beg your pardon. I beg to disagree. Just recently, I attended the elders forum meeting. There will be interests here and there. If all of us are pursuing a particular interest, that does not mean there is no unity in the party. In any political group, there would always be interests, that is why they say you continue to have permanent interests, not

Continues on page 33

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 33

‘Why Ajimobi will not get second term’ Continued from page 32 permanent enemies. So, it is that permanent interest everybody is pursuing in the party. The party is big, that is why you think we are fighting. We all have only one big party and we like our Chairman. I repeat there is no crisis in the party. What you have is interest. The Constitution allows it for everybody to pursue its interest, so in pursuing that interest by everybody, you won’t now see that as crisis in the party.

You said the people of the South-West are tired of the APC. But in Lagos, Osun, Ogun, the party is presumed to be doing well.

Doing well is relative. It depends on what you are comparing it with. I don’t know the yardstick with which you are measuring it.

And you want to tell me that anybody is doing well? I have told you that my definition of doing well is when the people you are governing are happy with you. If they are happy with you, then you don’t have any problem. I live here in the South West.

What is your relationship with your former boss, Chief Rasheed Ladoja?

Very cordial How cordial, because both of you are in different parties?

Were we born into the same parties? Our relationship is very cordial. Politically, yes we belong to different parties but that does not mean we don’t relate. I was recently in his house to commiserate with him on the death of his mother. This politics is not about do-or-die. We all want to serve. One thing about me is that maybe because of my background as a police officer, once my boss is always my boss.

No matter how big I am, once your boss is always your boss.

Are you saying the people are not happy with Ajimobi I don’t want to dwell on personality. They are not happy with the government of the day.

What is this clandestine endorsement rally for the candidature of the president for the 2015 election all about when there are more serious issues in the land?

There is insecurity all over the world. Insecurity is not peculiar to Nigeria. Does that mean because there is insecurity, the country should be stand-still? The country must move on, while we are working to get solution to the

Akala...S/west people are tired of APC

Presently Jonathan is the best. It is only in this country, may be because the man’s wife is Patience, the man is too patient with all of us. It is only in this country you abuse your president any how

,

problems. We should do what we are supposed to do, which is to govern, to make people happy. If you are talking about the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, rally, that is a personal rally. I was at the rally because I believe in their cause.

Let me remind you of something.

What is happening(the rally) is not a party matter. It has nothing to do with PDP. Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Ogun State governor, is no more in PDP, he attended the rally. The rally is about Jonathan. It is not about party, but interest. Did you see the Chairman of the PDP at the rally?

None of the executives of the PDP was there; it is we, ordinary people of Nigeria, that gathered and said we want Jonathan, and

I am localizing his achievements in the area where I live, I don’t want to talk about other states, but where I live and feeling the impact of what the man is doing.

By the time the Lagos/Ibadan expressway is completed, you wont believe it and that is what I am saying about fixing things. It is not something you just fix within one year. That is why I think the man deserves second term. If there would be third term in the Constitution, I will wholeheartedly support him.

Jonathan is the best thing to happen to this country. I am not flattering him. He is not the first person to rule this country, if it were another person; we know what would have happened now.

so that whoever is interested in Jonathan’s return to office would put down his/her name, phone number with signature and where there is no phone number or could not sign, we make you thumbprint against your name. That is very simple. Nothing more than that. So, tell me what is the propaganda in all of this?

,

so be it.

Is that not the propaganda you accused the APC of?

That is not propaganda, because we are telling them about what is happening. Is it propaganda that I want Jonathan to continue in office and I signed off my name?

And you are saying you have 1.8m signatures in the SouthWest who want Jonathan back and you say that is not propaganda?

Yes. It is not. Let me tell you how we arrived at the figure. Nigeria is divided into states, Oyo State is one. In Oyo State, we have 13 Local government areas, we send the register to the local government areas where we have 351 wards, we send it to the wards

Objectively, do you think the president has done well to merit a second term given the various problems we have?

I have always been objective.

What are the problems? You want to talk about power? That has been there for years, even before the president came to office. So it cannot be solved over night. You cannot just have it in one day. It takes time to get this thing done.

They have privatized the power sector which is the first step in getting things straightened up.

How do you expect him to get there today and finish in the same day?

That is one of the reasons we are asking for continuity, so that somebody else would not just come and destroy the foundation that is already laid.

Are saying we cannot get a better person than the president?

I am not saying that we cannot have a better person, but, presently Jonathan is the best. It is only in this country, may be because the man’s wife is Patience, the man is too patient with all of us. It is only

in this country you abuse your president any how.

This is a democratic country where free speech is guaranteed.

You are right but that does not mean you should insult your president. Don’t you see how people in more civilized countries talk about their presidents? The only thing they will do there if they don’t want you is rally round to see that you are voted out in the next election, but they don’t insult their presidents.

This man is from a very humble background, so he knows what it takes to make people happy and that is what he has been pursuing because we have never had it so good. Let us face the facts. You came all the way from Lagos to Ibadan, that Ibadan express road has been in that state for a very long time. People are now living in Oyo and coming to work in Ibadan. In my own town, Ogbomosho, I always say we have airport in Ogbomosho because the Ilorin airport is between Ogbomoso and Ilorin,and now we have an express road from Ilorin to Ogbomosho. And i will say that if you leave Abuja airport and you are going to a place like Maitama, I will get to Ogbomosho before you, if I leave the Ilorin airport, because the roads good and beautiful. There is another one between Ogbomosho and Oyo to join Oyo and Ilorin.

There is a particular impression people have about you each time your name and Ladoja’s are mentioned and that is the perceived betrayal on your path to your former boss when he was impeached.

I don’t know their own definition of betrayal, that is their own cup of tea.

The man has not complained that I betrayed him,why are they trying to create issue where there is none? That is a by-gone issue.

The just concluded National Conference has been dubbed by some people as a jamboree.

No, I don’t think so, because the good thing about the conference is that the president did not restrict them, there were no go-areas apart from the unity of Nigeria.

They discussed everything under the sun. The only thing I would want done on the resolutions of the conference is that those things that require executive fiat should have legal backing.

I am of the opinion that the resolutions should be taken to the National Assembly so that a constituted authority will legalize them. So I think the National Assembly should be carried along, because if we say we should subject the resolutions to referendum, at the end of it, we will still have to carry it to the National Assembly for legal backing and the process is quite expensive, so why not just take it straight to the National Assembly to legalize the resolutions. If there is anything that would require the inputs of all Nigerians, we have representatives at the National Assembly, let them go to their constituents and discuss with their people. So that conference is not a Jamboree.

PAGE 34 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014,

COUNSEL FROM THE PALACE

Why Nigerians don’t trust Jonathan on war against Boko Haram — Igwe Alex Nwokedi

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

F

ormer Chairman, Eastern States Traditional Rulers Forum and Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers, Igwe Ezeoba Alex Nwokedi, is alarmed over the state of the nation. The former Press Secretary to the Head of State during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, sat on the throne in Achalla Kingdom where he told the reason Nigerians do not trust President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim of making progress on war against terror and called on him to commence a camera-show of his achievements on security for Nigerians. He spoke also on why Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano, who he invariably called ‘my son’, should forget about probing his predecessor and face the business of governance with passion. Excerpts: Your Majesty, in about three months time, will be 80. At this age, coming from the Nigeria of your days, are you not perturbed that Nigeria is what it is presently in terms of everything?

Have you read the comments by the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, in the papers today (Sunday September 14)? Professor Wole Soyinka is not a man to be taken lightly. He is very blunt in his comments; truthful and straight to the point.

So, talking about the state of

the nation, the security at the moment is very poor. The professor said our president had been given the necessary information about some financiers of Boko Haram particularly the staffer of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and called for an international panel to look into the matter. What is happening at the moment is no more a joke. Those girls are still being held and it is very sad.

The president is assumed to be playing down the statements of Joseph Davis referred to by Soyinka. Why do you think the statements should be played low?

That is what I am saying, which the great professor was emphasizing. Why should that kind of thing be played down?

That is where the traditional rulers stand. Let us work on those things emphasized by Wole Soyinka, which were raised in the Australian report.

It is very sad to hear that the report is being played down.

Whenever I remember that those girls are still being held, I begin to weep because they are all my children. And from what I read, some of them were being raped to death, which was not impossible.

To the best of my knowledge, it was as a result of these elements of sadness that some people clamoured for a forum, National Conference, as, according to them, it is better to jaw-jaw rather than war-war. The reports of the conference are

what?

Empowered with portions of the state budget...?

Even the five percent of budget, which the Constitution gave to traditional rulers, is it ever implemented? I am asking you. That five percent is already in the Constitution but it is not being implemented. So, what again do you want, rather if that is implemented? That is why I said traditional rulers have been taken care of. What is left to be done is to enforce those provisions of the Constitution which make traditional rulers real servants of their people.

When I hear about giving powers to traditional rulers I am scared sometimes.

There are many kings who cannot walk freely among his people and you say you want to give powers to those ones? You are here in my place and you saw how interacted with my people. In the morning children will come, so in the afternoon and evening. I want to have opportunity of ensuring that those children go to school regular and progress in their education. This is what I want traditional rulers to do; to take care of their localities.

If any of them is thinking about having a house of traditional rulers where they will now begin to fight for chairmanship position, he must be joking. How do you even want to make the house?

South East House of Traditional House? South West House of Traditional Rulers?

How?

Professor Wole Soyinka is not a man to be taken lightly. He is very blunt in his comments; truthful and straight to the point out and what is your opinion about how the conference reports should be treated?

First and foremost, you have to know the details of the report before you start talking about how it should be treated. What do the reports say?

There are a lot of issues raised in the reports ranging from creation of new states, derivation formula, roles of the traditional rulers and so on....

(Cuts in) New states should be created, I agree with that.

But about the issue of giving powers to traditional rulers, let me ask; what type of powers do you want to give to the traditional rulers? Is it the type of powers, which the emirs enjoyed in those days in the North where people could be held at 5pm and jailed at 6pm? So, what sort of powers do you want to give to the

traditional rulers?

I have always spoken about this issue and have always believed that traditional rulers should be made to ensure peace and order in their various communities. They should be made visitors to schools; colleges and higher institutions in their constituencies. This has always been my view. But if you are talking of having another house for traditional rulers, I will tell you to rule it out. So, if you have house for traditional rulers, you have house for state, house for representatives, it will not work.

Traditional rulers should take care of their people and they are supposed to be servants of God in their areas.

But what they are saying is to be empowered to do their jobs...?

(Cuts in) Empowered to do

Was there anything like that before; I mean like say South East House of Traditional Rulers, did it ever exist?

There was never any but we did have a similar thing with headquarters in Enugu and that one catered for Eastern states of Nigeria and I was chairman. It was called Eastern States Traditional Rulers Forum.

Which takes us now to your constituencies of South East and Anambra State. As a man of many parts, talk of being former General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC; first Public Relations Manager, Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, ECN; former Chairman, Cricket Association of Nigeria; director of conglomerates and above all a big time traditional farmer, how would you say that politicians in the administrations of South East have fared in developing the region?

Generally speaking I want to say that the administrations have fared well. What is left is for them to sustain achievements and build on successes.

If we are talking about development, let me sincerely tell you that we are having many things free in our country. From the airport in Tokyo to the city you have

Continues on page 35

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 35

somewhere and other militants are holding ground in another part of the country? We should have a country first, then we talk about having elections.

I feel somehow sometime when I read people on the papers boasting that whether crisis or not there must be elections. So, if they are rioting in my place, can I say I want to have an election? Do you understand what I mean?

So, first or all, we need to have peace in our country and all of us should come together for unity and then there will be peace and then we can say that we have a safe place for elections.

On the part of the terrorists they are talking prisoners swap to enable them stop their disturbances. Do you think this will bring peace and, if so, why can’t we try it?

Do you trust them? I mean do you trust the terrorists on their swap promises?

*The Achalla monarch playing host to Gov. Obiano and his entourage.

Why Nigerians don’t trust Jonathan on war against Boko Haram — Igwe Alex Nwokedi Continued from page 34 about 25 toll gates. We should restore toll gates on some of our roads and use the proceeds from there to better the living system of our people and do repairs and expansions of those roads. For example in Anambra State, I will advocate that Awka-Achalla-Aguileri road should be tolled. It should be made dual carriage road and the money made from the road be used to maintain the road.

Another thing is that, effort should be made by those administrations in the region to boost electricity, which is one of the major challenges facing us not only in the East but also in Nigeria.

Okay we said we sold the PHCN but what have we gained out of that sales?

But who is to blame for the electricity distributing companies, DISCOs, not functioning to expectation?

Let me tell you this, a friend of mind told me that he was interested in buying electricity purchase in Delta. I advised him that, “Do not go there and start telling people that from now on there will be regular supply of electricity. First of all, tell people what you meet on the ground, how much it will cost you to fix those things you meet on the ground, how many days or years it will take to do the fixing and tell the

Government says it has recaptured but the people are saying ‘no you have not recaptured’. We do not know who is deceiving who people, also, about the personnel to do it and how you will train them.” I told him that it was when he finished those things that he could be telling people when to expect regular power supply.

You do not just go in there and start telling people that there will be regular power supply when you have not actually done your homework.

We have a lot to learn in our country and so we have to go down to the basis.

I was once here in your palace when Chief Willie Obiano came here on one of your Iwaji festivals, publicly seeking your support for his election and promising development and other things. He is the governor now, how is he performing?

As I told you, I do not want to here complains. He is the governor and the former governor said he left some billions on the coffers of the state. What I am interested in is how we can all work together to raise funds and continue the business of government.

For example, you do not just come into a place and start working without first of all having to know what is on ground. There was an author, the last Egyptian President, who wrote in his book, “The People I Know”, that, “Unless you know where you are coming from, you will not know where you are going.” I am not interested in saying somebody who left had embezzled money or not. Look for money and develop what

is on the ground.

That is what we are urging our governor to do because there is a lot to be done. The former governor has done his own and left and so, there is no need moaning over whether he did well or he did not do well. What is important now is what you are doing to improve what you met on the ground.

Generally speaking, what is your word for the government and the people of Nigeria?

My word to the government and people both of my state and Nigeria is that, this country belongs to all of us and we should all come together to salvage it. We should all come together to do out best and know what is our own duty and perform it. We should do what is right at all time so as to avoid blaming one another because passing bulk does not aid development and cannot help us.

All are well said but what about the politicians’ attitudes which may hamper the doability of what you are calling for, especially as more bulks are being passed already as 2015 elections are fast approaching?

Well, we first of all have to have a country before we have elections. How can we have elections in this king of situation where Boko Haram are declaring emirate

That is where my problem will likely be with the whole scenario...

But the government said that they are on top of the situation and that they have recaptured those places taken over by the terrorists.

Yes, but Nigerians are yet to be on the same page with that claim. What is missing?

What I will advice President Jonathan to do is to take cameras to those places he has captured to show Nigerians that he has actually captured the places. They should record on video those places and show us on television.

During my days as Press Secretary to General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State, I took journalists to Chad and took them round to show them that the areas we said that had been recaptured were actually recaptured. We walked around the place and people could see us do so even with the head of state.

How can you say that you recaptured, for instance, Bama, and you cannot go there? Take your television there to convince the people because, it is now a matter between the people and the government.

Government says it has recaptured but the people are saying ‘ no you have not recaptured’. We do not know who is deceiving who. Take television there and show us what you have recaptured.

Then we know who is speaking the truth between the government and the people.

What that tells you is that people should come together to work for the peace, unity and unified Nigeria. Then we can have elections. Anything short of that, I cannot see the 2015.

PAGE 36— SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

REVELATION ON REBASED ECONOMY

Nigerians interprete data for political reasons —Statistician General of the Federation

Dr Yemi Kale....The respondents that give us the biggest problems are the city people that have gone to school and speak plenty of English

BY YETUNDE AREBI AND FUNMI AJUMOBI

T

he National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), on the 6th of March 2014, released rebased figures that almost double previous estimates for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and have seen Nigeria leapfrog South Africa to become the biggest economy on the African continent and 26th largest in the world.

However, this feat is not without its challenges and other peculiar Nigerian factors. In this interview, the Statistician General of Federation and Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of Statistics, Dr Yemi Kale, highlights some of these challenges as well as some other achievements of the Bureau. Excerpts: As an agency for gathering statistics, what actually does this entail besides data collection?

Our functions are clearly stated in our statistics law, which makes us responsible for the collection and interpretation of data across the country. It involves all types of data except population data which, of course, is done by the Population Commission. In addition, we are responsible for coordinating Nigeria statistical system. This includes all those that are involved in statistical processed that includes production, dissemination, supply and usage of data. So Nigeria Bureau of Statistics is the authoritative source of data in the country as well as the custodian of all official data. Any data that is not produced or certified by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics ceases to be treated as official. In a situation where somebody will just make for policies of programs, government is not allowed to use it without the NBS saying it is a correct data.

The objective of data is that it serves as an adviser to policy makers and to the government. You have to understand what the current situation is at any particular

Our key challenges are funding. I have to admit that the funding of data has increased significantly.

Government has been supporting a lot more than before, I think just because they realized they need data to be able to plan instance. For example, the major challenge Nigeria has is unemployment but to solve unemployment you have to know how many people are unemployed.

You have to know what their qualifications are, are they male or female and how many people are entering the job market on a periodic basis, how many jobs have been created and in what sectors? When you now have that information, all you do is to send to policy makers. Based on that, they can now design policy to tackle the problem of unemployment.

Do you think Nigerians are making the best use of your office?

I will say since the last two years, it has increased significantly but whether people are making significant use of our office, I will say no! There are two reasons I must be frank because I will not sit here and tell you that the NBS is now a world class statistical office. There is a significant progress in the last two years but we still have a lot of work to do to iget things going forward.

How do you get your data?

We have offices in every state of the

federation. The staff there collect data on regular basis which we process at the headquarter. We have over 3,000 staff across the country. Their job is to go and gather data from households, from establishments, they bring the data and we analyse it. The quality of that information depends on the quality of data you receive from the field.

How much awareness do the people in the villages have concerning your activities?

It will surprise you that our biggest challenge is not in the villages. The respondents that give us the biggest problems are the city people that have gone to school and speak plenty of English and can argue with you. The villagers are very welcoming; they cooperate when you explain what you want. They see you and offer you food and they are happy to answer your questions. They don’t give us problem. We get more of our problems in the urban areas where people you go to get information from have very big gates with guards at the door and you need to talk to the head of the house to get information. Of course, he believes he is a big man, and won’t come down because you might be interviewing him for 20 minutes.

Most people quote information and survey from UNICEF or WHO and not you. How often do you release information?

Any information you get from any international office, they get it from this office because they work with us. These people did not generate data outside Nigeria, they have to come to Nigeria and count. So, if you hear anybody says this and he did not come to Nigeria, it shows that he is using a model and using a model cannot tell you the reality on ground. You cannot predict what is happening at every corner of Nigeria from America. Whether the World Bank, UNICEF, IMF or WHO, they have to come and partner with us. If

they don’t have the money, we give them the money and they work with us to get the information together. It is only recently that we are saying that we collaborated with them on the work. We are the official mouth piece of government data.

What are your key challenges?

Our key challenges are funding. I have to admit that the funding of data has increased significantly. Government has been supporting a lot more than before, I think just because they realized they need data to be able to plan.

Secondly, the amount of attention on Nigeria is huge. Everybody is asking questions and we have to provide information whether we like it or not. I think the combination of those two things, some endogenous and exogenous, is making a lot of people pay attention to statistics. In advanced countries like America, where things are done electronically, their budget is 200 times more than ours, even South Africa’s budget in about 50 times more than ours.

Someone will tell me they are doing a lot of things in Rwanda Statistics Office and I will say the population of Rwanda is about five million which is smaller than Abuja. It has to collect data on five million people and I have to collect data on 170 million across different local governments.

If you have a system where you don’t have enough money to gather enough data you want; you have to be more creative in selecting certain types of data.

Then, the interpretation of the data is where I have the greatest challenge.

People interprete data for political reasons; for or against. You see somebody accepting our poverty figures but not accepting our rebased GDP. The other one is accepting our rebased GDP and not accepting our poverty level and I always ask that the few numbers we have produced is in the same office. Why are we competent with this one and not the other one? It depends on where you politicize it.

We are not going to be involved in that.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 37

The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Oyo/Osun Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Oteri Richard, in front leading other Customs officers into Agbaja forest, during inspection of the seizures of 40 vehicles loaded with rice, intercepted in the forest by his Command.

Customs boss in smugglers forest

BY UDEME CLEMENT

D

AYS after the Federal Government unfolded a policy to stop rice importation into Nigeria in the next four years, the tempo of rice smuggling in the country has taken a different dimension. This was evident in the extra-ordinary seizure made, as officers of Oyo/ Osun Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) cracked down on smugglers in a convoy of 40 assorted vehicles inside Agbaja forest, off Igbeti axis of Oyo State. The smugglers, fully armed with their own escorts, on sensing the superiority of Customs operatives, abandoned their vehicles along with the items and escaped into the forest.

Though the Command has recorded massive seizures of rice since last year at various operations, the situation surrounding this particular seizure was astonishing and it attracted the attention of top military personnel, Nigeria Police and other security agencies in Oyo State. The operation was carried out by 3.30am in a thick forest, a terrain where nobody would ever imagine such activity could take place. The forest is over four hours drive from Ibadan. Inside the bush were few houses like ancient pyramid structures. A part of the area has a massive volcanic rock similar to the popular Olumo Rock in Abeokuta.

Gaining access to the forest require driving through a narrow isolated bush path with long trees for a distance of over

600kilometers.

Sunday Vanguard at the scene of crime in Agbaja forest during official inspection of the items, gathered that Customs officers, after weeks of due diligence and effective surveillance, discovered the place to be an illegal route for smuggling. It was also observed that smugglers had perfected the act of re-fabricating vehicles in such a manner that one car meant for just four persons could carry as much as 50kg bags of rice with all the inner seats completely removed.

Also, the shock absorbers were refabricated while the top of vehicles were well padded and rebuilt with extra-iron carriers.

The 11 hours assignment in Agbaja forest was led by the fearless Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Mr. Oteri Richard, who drove in a white Toyota Hilux ahead of journalists into the forest. Even the female Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Command, Ijeoma Nwala, whose primary duty involves administration, was not left out of the task, as she walked side by side the Customs Controller, leading the way into the forest.

Speaking, the CAC said, “The Command has again recorded another significant breakthrough over those saboteurs who do not have the interest of our economy at heart.

It is worrisome that some Nigerians remain unrepentant even as they continue to lose. Not even government’s visible efforts in transforming agriculture, especially in the area of rice

production have touched their conscience to stop rice smuggling. Our resolve to deal with this remains unshaken, more so that the current management has boosted our capacity by deliberate re-training and retooling. The seizures you see here were intercepted by combined anti-smuggling teams of NCS after weeks of effective monitoring and intelligence driven efforts. The quantity of the rice is estimated at over 2.000 bags and a Duty Paid Value (DPV)

tolerance for rice smuggling through the borders, the Service has continued to intensify efforts at border policing to keep the recalcitrant unpatriotic Nigerians off this unwholesome business. It is worthy of note to recollect that the Command made a similar seizure of 21 assorted vehicles also loaded with rice early last month. We would continue to engage in aggressive patrol activities in all areas of the Command to ensure effective blockage of the entry of

The Command remains poised to keeping its resolve to arrest these saboteurs and make them face the full weight of the law of about N20million”.

He went on, “Already the Comptroller General of Customs, Dikko Inde Abdullahi, has directed thorough investigation into the issue, with a view to prosecuting those who would be found connected to this act of illegality and economic sabotage. The Command remains poised to keeping its resolve to arrest these saboteurs and make them face the full weight of the law.”

“In the face of Dikko’s zero

illicit goods. We sincerely appreciate the support of Nigerian Army, Policy, Civil Defence, the Directorate of States Security Services and other security agencies in the State. The public should see the synergy and cooperation with these government agencies as our resolve to stamp out smuggling.”

On if the recent government policy on rice production has any kind of multiplier effect on duty payment for rice, he said, “The rice policy is a good initiative

and must be supported. The intention of government is not just to boost food production in the country, but to enhance growth in agricultural sector, create jobs for the citizens, encourage local farmers and industrial development. We should support government efforts in expanding agriculture.

It is a matter of looking inward to build our nation, supporting our economy to thrive and appreciating what we have as a country, instead of smuggling contra-band items to the detriment of our local industries and the entire economy. For unrepentant smugglers who do not want to desist and allow sanity in our economic environment, prosecution waits them”.

Also, a security operative, who spoke with Sunday Vanguard on the condition of anonymity in the forest, said the ingenuity of the Customs in uncovering such a crime was laudable. “This area is within Olorunsogbo local government, and could take up to seven hours drive to get to the next community from Oyo town.

Even many people in Ibadan do not know that a place like Agbaja forest exists in Oyo State. The Customs officers demonstrated selfless service, even putting their lives on the line of duty to carry out that operation in such a dangerous terrain. For instance, some of the officers you see here have been in the forest for days mapping out strategies for the operation to be carried out successfully”, he stated.

PAGE 38—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

‘FG’s 70% duty on imported cars will trigger hardship’

BY EMMANUEL AJIBULU

A

lhaji Jimoh Aremu is a dealer in all kinds of German, Japanese and American vehicles. In this interview conducted by telephone from the United States, the auto merchant admonishes the Federal Government to rescind its decision on the new policy that requires vehicle dealers, who do not manufacture locally, to pay 70 per cent duty on imported cars. He maintains that the policy will continue to attract public outcry and, worse still; it will affect the nation economically and keep lots of Nigerians out of job.

Federal Government had, through the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said the policy, which came into effect on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, is necessary to check the activities of importers putting stress on Nigeria’s foreign reserves. The minister further disclosed that Nigerians spend about $3.4 billion (N544 billion) on importation of used cars and spare parts and that the few local vehicle manufacturing plants in the country would get extra concessions of being allowed to import vehicles at 35 per cent duty.

Excerpts: How are you faring in business since the introduction of FG’s new auto policy?

Honestly car dealers generally in Nigeria not only me are uncomfortable with the new auto policy, because it is taking negative tolls on our business, even the clearing agents and freight forwarders operating at the nation’s ports are apprehensive that they could be out of job with this new policy. To buttress my point, precisely on Monday, July 7, 2014, the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Clearing Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) come out to protest

My unbiased advice to the Federal Government and I believe they have good listening ears, is to consider the suspension of the new auto policy for now, because of the adverse effects the new policy urging the Federal Government to suspend it for now. The two bodies placed an advertorial in the media to condemn the policy, maintaining it can’t work in this present economic situation in Nigeria. I can vividly recollect that the advertorial highlighted the pain the new policy would inflict on clearing agents and freight forwarders. They reckoned increasing the cost of imported vehicles astronomically before making local alternatives available amount to paying more for the same product. An imported brand new car that sells for N1.5 million will rise to N2.55 million with the policy and used car that cost N700,000 would automatically become N1.19 million with the new policy and therefore unaffordable to many more Nigerians. The association also raised an issue that the policy will no doubt encourage smuggling while neighbouring countries will benefit more. They also feared there would be mass job

Alhaji Jimoh Aremu loss because if clearing agents and freight forwarders can’t work anymore, they join the army of unemployed Nigerians.

What would you consider as adverse effect of this policy?

My unbiased advice to the Federal Government and I believe they have good listening ears, is to consider the suspension of the new auto policy for now, because of the adverse effects. The tariff hike will have adverse effect in the sense that some people will prefer to use Cotonou port, where we all know they will smuggle it into the country illegally and that will make mockery of this new policy and render it unproductive. Besides, the new auto manufacturers do not have the capacity to produce enough cars that will be affordable by many Nigerians, especially the low income group.

Government should wait to see

in reality the efforts of the new auto companies in meeting demands, in terms of their capacity to produce enough cars that will be affordable before embarking on measures to protect them. Government should also consider that the auto trade remains a big employer of labour, and that the hike in tariff was capable of leading to closure of many businesses and in turn increasing unemployment in the country. Even here in America they manufacture cars locally, yet the government didn’t restrict importation of vehicles into their country and this influx is not affecting their local production and their tarrifs are pocket friendly.

Used vehicles, apart from constituting environmental and public health hazards, are also humanly degrading to Nigerians. What’s your take on

that?

There are regulations guiding auto business here in United States, I don’t know of other countries. Before cars could be exported out of here they go through checks and some form of inspection and certification before leaving the ports to their respective destinations. However, I always advice that people should choose their auto dealers carefully. Besides, other factors must also be factored in; the state of our roads, the kind of fuel available in Nigeria, the availability and affordability of spare parts as well as the technical expertise of our local mechanics who will have to work on the car on the long run are key factors that must be considered whilst going for used cars popularly known as Tokunbo cars or even brand new cars in Nigeria.

However, when manufacturers were designing these vehicles, there was no consideration, for example, on how deplorable some of our roads are. The belief was that all the roads of the countries in the world are the same, fine and motorable. But when the cars get to Nigeria and start going through all the potholes, the flood, water etc; all these factors definitely will impact negatively on these cars.

In Western countries especially in US, there are three grades of fuel, but in Nigeria we do not even know which grade we have.

You will recall that there was a time people were afraid to buy fuel into their cars because it could completely damage the engines, the days of ethanol fuel, you remember? I strongly disagree with that erroneous assertion that used cars constitute environmental and public health hazards or humanly degrading, this is absolute falsehood, even in advanced countries people still go for used cars.

Why we are supporting entrepreneurial skills – LASACO boss

BY AYODEJI AYOPO

A

SACO ASSURANCE has adopted its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)platform to create a positive image in the minds of the target audience. The firm is focused on building strong brand personality to align with its corporate vision. The areas of focus include security and education, which are critical platforms to contribute meaningfully to the society.

To deepen its brand equity, the company partnered the elementary school feeding programme of Osun State government. Through this partnership, the insurance company fed 10,000 students in one day. This, to LASACO, is a vantage platform to connect directly with the students who are future

leaders.

Speaking, the Group Managing Director of LASACO Group, Mr. Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, said the firm is determined to show more interest in the well-being of the children as future leaders.

“We are building a socially relevant brand that impact lives positively. The goal of the L ASACO’s brand is to deliver exceptional stakeholders value by offering first class innovative products and services. LASACO demonstrated commitment to improving social services by donating to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).The donation underscores our commitment to (CSR). This is a strategic avenue to build a virile brand relevant to the society ”, he stated.

He went on, “Our contribution to LSSTF is intended support

government’s efforts in tackling crime. The strength of any brand is to become active in the minds of the target audience and to generate favourable perception of its activities within the community it operates. This is a driving force for LASACO to remain a credible corporate entity. Years back, we donated block of classrooms to schools in Ikorodu and also renovated the staff block of another school.

“LASACO’s drive to remain relevant in preparing future leaders is further demonstrated on the CSR platform through financial support given to Lagos Empowerment and Resource Network (LEARN), to organise one of its main programmes- summer school.

The programme is designed to empower students with practical skills to ensure self-

reliance and inculcate entrepreneurial skills in different areas of endeavours.

Practical areas include shoe making, bead, event decoration, barbing, catering, soap making, photography among others. LEARN is an initiative of Lagos State First Lady and wife of the governor, Dame Abimbola Fashola.”

Enhancing Information C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Technology: On the area of ICT, the company has continued to ensure that its core business of insurance is as vibrant as the CSR. This can be seen in its market strategy driven by the use of information and computer technology.

LASACO has now made available its products online real-time. This is in addition to the fact that valued clients

are now able to obtain and pay premiums for their products on line. Once a desired product is purchased, several alternative channels are available to make payments easier.

Payments can be made through bank branches nationwide, Quickteller, POS, and LASACO’s e-commerce portal in a seamless manner.

These alternative channels of payment are built on a world class web-based integrated solution which combines the core insurance businesses with powerful administrative and marketing tools. No doubt this strategic initiative is a great boost to the Federal Government’s initiative aimed at promoting cashless economy, which is the best global standard practice of driving economy.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014—PAGE 39

.....CRIME AND NATIONAL SECURITY

Nigeria can overcome Boko Haram

S

ECURITY challenges, tourism, Nollywood, and the economy are among issues Dr. Austin Tam-George, a former lecturer at the University of Cape Town, currently the Executive Director of the Institute of Communication and Corporate Studies, Lagos, discusses with Sunday Vanguard. His PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, was based on the Niger Delta crisis. He spoke with JIDE AJANI, Editor Boko Haram is waging a war and seizing territory in Nigeria.

How did we get into the insurgency in the North East?

Boko Haram is not just a security threat. It poses the most serious existential threat to Nigeria since 1967. To continue to underestimate this insurgency is an extremely perilous mistake. But to tackle this menace, we must understand its origins. Despite their fundamentalist rhetoric against Western education, Boko Haram ultimately has its roots in politics and poverty. If the politics of a country is seen as a form of warfare, then masters of violence will dominate it. This is why thugs, the military, extremist clerics, ethnic bigots, touts and militia of all stripes have dominated Nigeria s politics since 1960. So you could say Boko Haram is the latest child of a toxic political tradition that is at least five decades in the making.

In its current form, Boko Haram is a vicious, nimble enemy with suicide bombers and a hateful ideology. It feeds on a global narrative of terror, and has aspirations for its own caliphate. There is credible suspicion that Boko Haram receives support from local politicians in Nigeria. They probably have jihadist networks that stretch as far as Syria. But Nigeria can defeat Boko Haram. We need to see a decisive, ironclad determination to confront this threat from its roots to its branches. All Nigerians must work to confront this threat, with President Jonathan acting as the tip of the spear in this fight. We cannot continue to watch in powerless perplexity as towns are razed, and hundreds of innocent men, women and children are murdered.

The President has said that the military is holding back from launching an all-out operation because it wants the abducted Chibok girls back alive.

I understand the President’s sentiment and the moral horror he faces with every hard choice he makes on this insurgency. But there is a fast-changing reality on the ground.

Since the abduction of the 219 Chibok girls, more than 400 innocent people have been killed, more have been abducted, towns have been razed, and thousands of Nigerians have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees. So why hold back?

Which is the greater evil? Why watch a virulent cancer spread? We need to stop this sickening barbarity by

Boko Haram.

In your opinion, what specific actions should the President take?

There are two main ways of resolving any conflict - negotiation during which the parties reach a compromise; or the greater force prevails.

In the case of Boko Haram, it is difficult to see the grounds for compromise since its goals are extreme. Boko Haram is driven not even by Islam, but by bloodlust. It wants to impose a medieval caliphate on Nigeria. It rejects any form of modernity. It rejects education for children, especially for women and girls. It kidnaps people, bombs crowded markets and schools, rapes and kills at random in pursuit of these goals. How do you negotiate these?

The President must do all he can to neutralise this threat. But the government must act urgently to create opportunities for the millions of jobless youth who feel an acute sense of economic alienation in their own country. We need to do away with the current economic system which seems to create only a few billionaires overnight, while leaving almost everyone else in desperate poverty.

Studies show that Nigerians had a better quality of life in 1960 than in 2014.

We need to invest massively in education through skills training and mentorship programmes for young people nationwide. If we eliminate or reduce the corruption and waste at all levels of government, we can pay unemployment benefits to the jobless, provide free, universal healthcare and other social safety nets that prevent people from falling headlong through the cracks. This means we will have to develop a broadly representative and accountable governments that truly serve the people.

Ultimately, we all need to work towards an egalitarian society where everyone who works hard and plays by a fair set of rules can have a good shot at life.

Do you believe our military can defeat the Boko Haram insurgents?

Yes, I think so. What it needs is the right political leadership, superior firepower and motivation. I do not think the insurgency is beyond our capability to overcome. We survived a civil war. With blood and treasure, Nigeria saved Sierra Leone and Liberia from their fratricidal wars. We helped liberate South Africa. We held off the French and Cameroonian gendarmes for decades in the Bakassi Peninsula until Obasanjo s disastrous handling of that conflict.

With ECOMOG, Nigeria showed an example of how a regional army could stamp out insurgencies. I believe our military can end this insurgency in a few months with the right motivation.

Nigeria is now rated the biggest

,

— Tam-George

economy in Africa, ahead of a South African economy that is diversified with strong tourism, mining, agricultural and other sectors, how can tourism, for instance, contribute to broadening Nigeria s economic base?

The tourism is under-developed in Nigeria. This is mainly because of neglect by government at all levels.

Even private investors have shown only half-hearted commitment to the sector. If we want to move beyond an extractive economy, then our current negligent attitude towards other sectors, like tourism, agriculture, education, health, needs to change. With over 400 ethnic groups, Nigeria has a rich cultural tapestry that we can showcase to the world. We must see Nigeria s vibrant diversity as our greatest source of strength. Since 1960 we have done little more than problematise our diversity. We need to change this perception that we are too different to live together. We can orchestrate a powerful national symphony out of our current jangling discord. But to achieve this, the divisive and anti-development character of our politics will have to change.

To boost tourism, we also need to

Dr. Austin Tam-George a colourful and episodic fanfare.

We need to develop, protect and inventorise traditional and other heritage sites across the country, and improve access to them. We need to standardise our hotels, airports, and

We all need to work towards an egalitarian society where everyone who works hard and plays by a fair set of rules can have a good shot at life

invest in infrastructure. For a country not at war, Nigeria has one of the worst infrastructure deficits in Africa.

We can change all that through a single-minded commitment to develop and standardise our roads, bridges, canals, airports and telecommunications penetration. These will create millions of jobs and increase mobility of internal and external tourists to all parts of the country.

Does Nigeria have a tourism development policy?

Yes, Nigeria has always hoped to develop tourism. A ĂTourism Master PlanĂ was drafted in 2006 under President Obasanjo. The problem has always been to actually implement a tourism plan. Even the best policy is meaningless without implementation.

So why has Nigeria not developed the tourism sector despite its huge potentials?

We have been over-reliant for decades on oil and gas which still accounts for over 80 per cent of Nigeria s GDP. Agriculture which is the largest employer of labour in Nigeria contributes less than 20 per cent to the GDP, because it is still at a largely subsistent level. Despite its vast potentials, tourism contributes even less to the overall GDP. A recent trend by state officials to equate tourism with simply organising carnivals in cities also complicates the problem for the industry. Tourism is much more than

,

other public spaces and improve customer service delivery across the board. Everywhere in the world tourism is an industry linked to national pride. National pride is like a totem that collectivises us. Do we have that deep sense of pride yet?

Can a family from Calabar go on a vacation in Maiduguri without trepidation? We must work to develop a country that we can all be proud of.

Further, we need to train and retrain workers Ă from hotel managers, translators, tour guides to transporters.

We need to improve private and public security, as well as review the legal framework for the sector.

Clearly, tourism is a huge industry with many stakeholders, including local communities. No government can run it alone. Government could catalyse progress in the sector through provision of infrastructure and regulatory oversight. But if you manage a hotel, you do not need a government official to remind you to have fresh bedding or faithfully return items guests forget in your hotel. We need to develop strong business ethics.

Why do tourists still flock to countries like Israel, Egypt and other countries in spite of their political and security problems?

No country is perfect, but each country has its attraction. America losses more people to gun violence every year in Chicago than the number of soldiers they lose in combat in Afghanistan. Yet people

seem to want to visit America at all costs. Tourists visit places for recreational, religious, historical or other sentimental reasons. Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have sites that have deep religious and historical resonance for many people across the world. So except their lives are directly threatened, tourists will probably always go there. Despite a 1rape pandemic and high levels of violent crime rate in South Africa, the country hosted probably the best World Cup in 2010 and continues to earn billions of Dollars in revenue from tourism each year. This is because despite its problems, South Africa works. It has world-class infrastructure Ă from hotels to roads, airports, universities. I schooled and worked there, so I know.

If Nigeria is not a tourist s favourite destination it is because, frankly, we are still trapped in strategic dysfunction. For example, the 3000MW of electricity we generate for a population of 170 million people is far less than what is consumed in Johannesburg alone. We have a leadership crisis, so we face tremendous problems on many fronts.

But we cannot let ourselves be hostages to despair. All these can change once we get our acts together. We are a creative, resilient and restless people. The best of our literature are studied in every corner of the world.

Nigerian professionals are among the most educated and distinguished immigrant groups in the USA and Britain.

Nollywood, Nigeria s vibrant movie industry is testament to our creative genius despite all odds.

Technically imperfect as it is, Nollywood provides employment to nearly two million people in Nigeria and is a $5-billion industry. We started a cinematic revolution in Africa from someone s living room in Aba. If we set Nigeria on the right course, we can achieve anything.

PAGE 40—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

ERIRI: Drama of the brotherly cord binding Nigerians E

riri (String) is a folk-drama written by Mike Anyanwu and presentation by children based on Nigeria’s SocioPolitical and cultural history narrative through 1914, when the present Nigeria was amalgamated by Lord Frederick Lugard. It addresses the socio-political and ethnic intrigues still going on today between northern and southern Nigeria.

Narrated by a grandmother, Ann Njemanze, “in a tale by moonlight style” to her grandchildren, a collection of kids, who are the participants of the 2014 long vacation talent development workshop tagged: “Children Creative Station” anchored by the National Troupe of Nigeria during the Command performance at the Cinema Hall II of National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos.

The show started with the grandmother who took the audience back in history, narrating the story of Eriri, a symbolic and abandoned black

child who incidentally finds herself in the home of the first Governor-General of Nigeria and his wife, Lord Frederick and Flora Lugard. They adopted the child and became her foster parents. This did not go well with clan heads of Nigeria. As there was so much doubt about the paternity of the child, and also, being black, it became a contention among the various clan heads drawn from the major ethnic clan of the nation during her naming ceremony.

,

By CHRIS ONUOHA DRAMA

A dance performance by the children from Eriri the biological parents.

So, Eriri followed her foster parents to England where she was trained. She returned to

Children were exposed to the complexities and difficulties facing the land in an atmosphere of detribalized social and cultural harmony.

Not until they were taken to a fairy voyage, that the true identity of the child was unveiled, linking her filial and genetic bond to all the contending royal families. The clan heads resolve to claim the baby, but didn’t succeed, because they could not produce

,

Nigeria later as a young lady, equipped with academic might, and then, helped to propagate political consciousness, nationalist movement and struggle for independence.

Directed by Josephine Igbaraese, the play traced the roles played by our nationalists

and past heroes and heroines in a struggle for independence and nation building and the subsequent decadence that befalls the nation today.

It is a simple narrative of historical details of our colonial emancipation but the sad irony is that the ideals which the independence struggle represents have no place in today's Nigeria.

Children were exposed to the complexities and difficulties facing the land in an atmosphere of detribalized social and cultural harmony.

The audience had a good feel of the day with a special Broadway-style dance

Jegede assumes duty as MUSON new artistic director s preparation for the 18th

A

edition of the annual MUSON Festival hits top gear, a new Artistic Director – Mr. Tunde Jegede — last week assumed duties at Nigeria’s prime art facility, the Musical Society of Nigeria, MUSON Centre in Lagos.

A composer, multi instrumentalist and musician par excellence, Jegede takes over from Mr. Thomas Kanitz, a German, who was noted for his exemplary service while at the Centre.

Mr Jegede is assuming duties just as the MUSON Festival committee is about to officially release the full programme of the festival, which in 18 years has become a yearly landmark in the Lagos and Nigeria cultural calendar.

The 10-day MUSON Festival 2014 featuring a potpourri of high-quality artistic and cultural productions, holds from October 16th through 26th in the premises of the Society at 8/9 Marina, Onikan L a g o s .

Born in 1972 to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, Jegede had his education at

the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (19901992) and Purcell School of Music (1981-1999). His appreciation of African Diasporic culture was initiated and nurtured at the famous Keskidee Centre, Britain’s first Black Arts Centre. From an early age he was exposed to resident and visiting artists who worked in a multi-disciplinary mode such as Bob Marley, Walter Rodney, Edward Braithwaite, Angela Davis and Linton Kwesi Johnson.

It was here, his path as an artist began.

J

egede’s apprenticeship in African music began in 1978 and was further developed in 1982 when he first went to the Gambia to study the ancient Griot tradition of West Africa, with Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Master of the Kora (the Harp-Lute found in West Africa). The Jobarteh family are one of five principle musician families within this unique hereditary Oral

Bekova, Elma de Bruyne, Joan Dickson and Raphael Wallfisch at the Purcell School of music and later the Guildhall School of m u s i c .

I

• Mr Tunde Jegede

tradition, which dates back to at least the 13th century..

His appreciation of Western Classical music began with his grandfather ’s love of Bach and by observing his work as a church Organist.

Tunde also studied Cello from the age of eight and over the years was taught by esteemed luminaries from the Classical world including: Alfia

n 1988 Tunde became fascinated with Jazz and worked and toured with ex-members of the Jazz Warriors founded by Courtney Pine & Cleveland Watkiss. He formed his own Jazz Ensemble, The Jazz Griots, with the sole purpose of exploring the connections between African and African Diasporic forms of music.

In 1991 he pioneered African Classical Music in the UK with the first ever-national tour of the African Classical Music Ensemble, which nurtured his burgeoning composer credentials. In 1995 a BBC TV documentary, ‘Africa I Remember ’ was done on Jegede’s music and centred around his orchestral work.

performance by the youths led by one of the young lad from Ibadan, Daniel David. His electrifying dance steps like that of late Pop star Michael Jackson made the audience yearn for more as he gyrated out of the stage.

Perhaps, the most hilarious star on stage was Olise Eloka, the little fatso who took advantage of his size and used it to attract applauds from the audience. To him, there’s beauty and fun in size.

The mother of the day, Mrs. Emily Aig-Imoukhuede extolled the virtues of the children, seeing the workshop as a welcome development in letting the children know their culture and history. She stressed that there is a need for such a workshop to be replicated by the state government to help children grow with the knowledge of their history and develop talents from the foundation.

...as Akinsola Adejuwon takes over at NTN

T

he newly appointed Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Troupe of Nigeria Mr. Akinsola Mendra Adejuwon have formally resumed office as head of the National Troupe, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation. Mr. Akinsolu Adejuwon from Ekiti state takes over from Mr. Martin Adaji. He becomes the fourth Chief Executive Officer of the National Troupe of Nigeria since the Troupe’s formal establishment in 1991. Foremost theatre director Mr. Bayo Oduneye and the Dean of the College of Humanities of Redeemers University Professor Ahmed Yerima have at various times led the Troupe as Artistic Director.

A theory cum practically oriented Artist; Mr. Adejuwon was until his appointment as Artistic Director on Thursday September 11, 2014 a Museum Curator of the Institute of Cultural Studies of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun State. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Industrial Design of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a Master of Arts Degree in African Arts Studies of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 41 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

3rd Heritage group debuts with Our United Heritage

Mcphilipps Nwachukwu memorial lecture/ book presentation holds

T

Egwu Onwa, by Ekwueme Harriet, one of the works to be displayed

T

he Nike Art Gallery, Lekki, Lagos is always a beehive of activities judging by the number of visitors(both local and international) that visit the Mecca of African art on daily basis, but the centre will from next weekend witness unusual visitors as people from all walks of life especially art collectors, patrons and lovers will scramble to be part of what can be described as the mother of all exhibitions.

The exhibition which will open on September 27, and run till October 4th, 2014 is put together by a group of professional artists under the aegis of Black Heritage Group of Artists. The unique exhibition which promises to re-ignite the Nigeria art scene once again with the variety of works on display is tagged Our United Heritage.

Professional

touch

The exhibition which will feature about 60 works of paintings and mixed media is unique in many ways. First it is the first time that a group of professional artists from different zones of the country and one from Republic of Benin is coming together for such. Another striking feature of the exhibition is the calibre of works to be displayed as they are coming from the

coffers of many who has seen it all in the art industry.

Some of the participating artists includes; Kunle Adeyemi; Adeoye Silas, Akintunde Gbenga, Ekwueme Harriet; Kelani Abass; Oni Stephen; Idowu Abiola; Bimbo Adenuga; John Onabrakpeya

,

By JAPHET ALAKAM VISUAL

made up of 30 professional artists that participated in the visual arts competition of the 3 rd Lagos Black Heritage Festival in 2010, and after their meeting they decided that there was the need to form an organisation.

Continuing, Adeyemi , who

The unique exhibition which promises to re-ignite the Nigerian art scene once again with the variety of works on display will bring together 30 professional artists from different zones of the country and one from Republic of Benin

among others.

While interacting with Art writers about the exhibition, Kunle Adeyemi, chairman of the group disclosed that all necessary arrangements have been put in place to give art lovers the best of art. Some of the works have already arrived from their various destinations and come September 27th when it will be opened Nigerians and art lovers will see some of the works that address the theme which is Our United Heritage.

To him, in this period of insurgency, political voilence, self ceteredness on the part of the leaders, kidnapping and other issuesy to divide us, there is need to look at those things that binds us together. Speaking about the emergence of the group, Adeyemi said the group is

,

teaches arts at Yaba Polytechnic and has been in the vanguard of promoting art in the country disclosed that the exhibition was intended to hold after the competition in 2010, but logistic problems delayed it, “ we are now set to impact the art community with our works.

We are starting with this exhibition and after that since our mission is to influence and expose many painters, we will organise a workshop where we will sensitize the populace on many issues about art.

Through the group, there could be innovations in the art practice, guide our members on the best practices and have a good influence on the part of the professional artists themselves, the artists and his environment and the Nigerian art space.” He added.

he maiden edition of Mcphilips Nwachukwu’s memorial lecture series is billed to hold on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos (Entrance ‘D’ lobby).

Time is 10am.

The lecture, which will be delivered by culture activist, Mr. Toyin Akinoso under the theme, “Influence of Arts and Culture reporting towards nation building: The Mcphilips’ Example” also, will witness the public presentation of Nwachukwu’s collection of poems, “So Long a Night(Revised Edition).”

The event will be chaired by the publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Uncle Sam Amuka while the book reviewer is Toni K a n .

Mrs. Tina Mcphillip Nwachukwu, widow of the late former Arts Editor of Vanguard who is the brain behind the book presentation ceremony says, she intends to use the event to immortalise the name of her late husband, adding that all the proceeds from the

book launch will be channelled towards setting up a foundation in his memory. The event is being packaged by a group called ‘Friends of Late Mcphillip Nwachukwu in the Arts’ in collaboration with Arts Writers Organisation of N i g e r i a , A W O N .

A poet, writer and frontline journalist, Nwachukwu was the Arts Editor of Vanguard Newspapers till his death. He died at Golden Cross hospital, Festac Town, Lagos after suffering a choking cough in the early hours of Sunday, September 29, 2013 at the age of 47.

Chinua and the Miracle drops Afurumginanaya

By PRISCA SAM DURU MUSIC

T

he Nigerian music industry is about to experience a new groove and lease of life with the recent arrival of the duo of Chinua and The Miracle.

The siblings recently concluded work on their debut single, entitled Afurumginanya (I love you), which they also produced.

The Afro Pop crooners, who have been working underground for years, we can authoritatively report, are now ready to take their rightful place in the nation’s music industry Chinua, is a 23 year-old graduate of Biochemistry from the University of Lagos, while The Miracle, is a 19 year-old undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, G h a n a .

In a brief chat with us, they promised to change the face and rhythm of Nigerian music with their latest single, which is expected to hit airwaves

s o o n .

“We are here to make a statement after quietly studying the music industry for long. Aside singing, we are also producers, which is an advantage to our careers.

Afurumginanya is just a tip of the iceberg, we promise you, the industry, especially music lovers will see why we are unique and different.

Our full album is also ready, but we are just using this single to test the ground. Also expect our music video soon alongside other surprises from Chinua and The Miracle”.

•Chinua and The Miracle

PAGE 42—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 sameyoboka@yahoo.com

Young theologians explore ways of furthering ecumenical formation

N

EW forms of ecumeni cal formation, as well as ways of enhancing ecumenical contributions from young people in churches and societies, were discussed by fifteen young theologians in a meeting convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The meeting, held from 7 to 10 September in Geneva, Switzerland, brought together participants who previously served as tutors for the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI), a theological education programme held at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea in autumn 2013.

These young theologians came from the United States, India, Nigeria, Argentina, Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Indonesia.

Together in a four-day meeting they highlighted the importance of collaborations between young people working together on issues of social relevance, dialogue and constructive debates on issues of faith.

Speaking about their participation in GETI, they shared how this experience became integral to their work for churches and communities. Building networks and sharing of ecumenical ideas is vital for the ecumenical formation of young people, they said.

Participants in the meeting also learned about the WCC’s programmes, in particular, continuation of the GETI programme, which in future will be held at major ecumenical events.

They also discussed how the WCC’s work will unfold around the theme of a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”.

The GETI tutors affirmed their commitment in perpetuating “life-changing experience of coming from all regions of the world and engaging in dialogue on faith and the current state of societies”. This is crucial, said Sara Gehlin from Sweden, arguing that a space of ecumenical exposure for young theologians offers “learning on every level, for which receptive ecumenism can serve as an inspiring model.”

The participants discussed their learning experiences, themes and methodologies used in the GETI programme. They offered creative ideas on how to engage in dialogue at the global and local levels, with inclusivity and cultural sensitivity.

These young theologians called the GETI programme “an excellent way of building contacts, underlining students’ readiness to broaden the ecumenical movement”.

“I am hopeful that our work together persists and that we can continue, in this collaborative spirit, to improve ecumenical formation around the world,” said Derick Dailey from the USA.

08023145567 (sms only)

Catholic Bishops to FG: Tackle insecurity with same commitment against Ebola •As CAN President demands unity among Christians •Uduaghan appeals for sustained church prayers

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

T

HE festering wave of in surgency and terrorism in Nigeria could be curtailed if Government and populace fight the situation with the manner of commitment and collective intervention employed in combating the deadly Ebola Virus Disease President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama drew this conclusion yesterday while addressing the CBCN Second Plenary at its conference holding in Warri, Delta State.

Kaigama said the Church is worried at Boko Haram’s rapid spate of threatening sophistication, especially North East of the country, noting that terrorism is expanding rather than abating as reports from Maiduguri and Yola Dioceses of the Catholic church confirmed that thousands of internally displaced people from towns taken over by the insurgents are now taking refuge in different locations as refugees in their own country.

Kaigama, Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jos, said the nation must embrace change of mentality and orientation instead multiplying countries out of the present Nigeria in tackling the challenges of infrastructures decay, ethnic and religious intolerance among others bedevilling her people.

“We reassure government of our commitment in collaborating with civil and security operatives”, he stated, adding “With collective good will we could

*Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama

We must stop this culture of appropriation, insatiable greed and reckless misuse of our common patrimony among those who manage our resources. We are all guilty and responsible for the situation of our country easily catapult our nation to the highest economic/social level ensuring better living standards and mitigating the humiliating poverty many Nigerians suffer in the midst of plenty.”

Chiding Nigerians over greed to amass wealth at all cost, Kiagama said, “We must stop this culture of appropriation, insatiable greed and reckless misuse of

our common patrimony among those who manage our resources. We are all guilty and responsible for the situation of our country.”

Stressing the need for mutual love and religious tolerance, the Bishop “request both umbrellas, Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI and the Christain Association of Nigeria, CAN, to kindly do all they

can to enhance religious harmony in Nigeria. They should avoid trading blames and over reacting on issues in defence of their religious constituencies” Bishop of the Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. John Afareha, chief host at the CBCN urged the country’s leaders to wage war against injustice which ugly head he traced to when politicians failed to keep their electioneering campaigns promises as well as corruption which have given births to several challenges in the country.

Challenging Nigerians to remain faithful and undeterred in the face of various challenges, Afareha appealed to politicians to ensure conformity with democratic norms as 2015 draws near.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, observed on the occasion that the menace Boko Haram was not limited to North of the country as it is provoking mass migration of people to the south with mischievous motives.

Uduaghan while welcoming the Catholic clergy solicited continued prayers from the pulpit for abiding peace and progress of Nigeria, saying with the prayers of the church, the country is sure of overcoming the myriad of problems confront her.

National President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor stressed, “If there was any time the church needed to speak with one voice, it is now. When the church speaks with one voice we will be able to unite against corruption, greed and the activities of Boko Haram. The church must set the stage for a united Nigeria.”

Archbishop urges youths to be agents of transformation

T

HE General Superin tendent of Christ Holy Church International, His Grace, The Most Rev Dr Daniel Okoh, has challenged Nigerian youths to rise up and become the agents of transformation which God has called them to be.

The archbishop gave the challenge in Asaba, Delta State capital, during the Inspirational International Youth Conference of the Church.

The cleric however urged young people to summon the courage to resist overtures from politicians that would want to use them for evil deeds.

“Their (politicians’) children are overseas studying and they want to destroy other people’s children.

“I told parents and communities in Ghana that if anyone wants to use the youths as thugs or agents of destruction, they should summon courage to challenge those politicians

and ask them to get their own children.

“Some of their children are not here. They are overseas studying and doing other things. They should not take advantage of the poor.”

Rev Dr Daniel Okoh

On the state of insecurity in Nigeria, the bishop prophesied that the siege in the North will soon end. “The church is praying for God to touch the hearts of those the enemy is using to kill inno-

cent citizens.

“We have been urged to watch and pray. We are also encouraging our people not to lose hope or panic that all these things must surely come to an end. We pray that God will give those in authority the strategy to put stop to all the security challenges in the country.

“One day, God will touch the heart of the insurgents to drop their arms and follow Christ.

It was God that changed the heart of Saul who later became Paul and an apostle. He was the persecutor of the Church before he was transformed. We pray for the transformation of those the enemy is using now.”

Okoh said the essence of the conference was to bring the youths together and remold them to become transformation agents. The theme of the conference was, “Your Vision, Your Mission.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014---PAGE 43

Pastor Chris is going through a rough patch at the moment. His wife, Pastor Anita, has filed for divorce, accusing him of having inappropriate relationships with female church members, among other things. Instead of waiting for his day in court, Pastor Chris has resorted to bogus interpretations of the scriptures; even proclaiming he is a “man of God” and therefore above sin.

Pastor Chris declared to his congregation through a live telecast: “There are preachers and there are men of God. I am not a preacher; I am a man of God, and I go in the way I’m asked to go. You have to understand something about a man of God. A man of God is not just someone who worships God or preaches God. A man of God is handpicked

by God, set on course by God. If you study the scriptures, you will not find one man of God go against God, sinning against God.” What nonsense! Who made Pastor Chris a man of God? From which school of theology did he get his sinless distinction? John says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth

WHAT MAN OF GOD IS PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME? is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10).

David was a “man of God.” (2 Chronicles 8:14). Yet he committed adultery with Bathsheba. Balaam was a “man of God;” yet he became apostate. The “man of God” who came from Judah was killed by a lion because he sinned against God. (1 Kings 13:23-26).

But listen to what Pastor Chris says about himself: “We are not working in sin and living in sin and hoping that we can mix sin and righteousness together. We are the manifestation of his righteousness.”

This is standing logic on its head. If our marriage breaks down, we must not fool ourselves and others by insisting like Pastor Chris that we are standing in the righteousness of God. There is no righteousness in divorce.

False Christ In the bid to justify himself, Pastor Chris is fabricating similarities between Jesus Christ and himself. He said:

Akanbi sues for religious tolerance

BY SAM EYOBOKA

F

ORMER member of House of Representa tives and chieftain of the All Progressives Party (APC) in Oyo State, Hon. Rilwan Adesoji Akanbi, has called on Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of religious tolerance, saying that “it is necessary for development and the fostering of harmony in the country.”

The call was made by Akanbi who is eyeing the Oyo South senatorial seat, at a press conference following the spate of unrest in the country, stressing "we all know that this country is experiencing serious religious challenges and other social vices culminating in most cases in wanton destruction of lives and property, disrespect for the religion of others, disregard and infringement of other people’s rights and sometimes with impunity, corruption, misguided inflammatory utterances that more often than not occasion negative and unpalatable consequences.

“We have lived together for many years. Since 1914, we have gone through so much as a nation. It is important that we understand that religion should

foster peace and harmony and should not be used to divide. Religion remains one of the most potent weapons to fight disharmony since it teaches man how to love his neighbour and pursue the greater good.

“Every country in the world practices various religions and this has been instrumental to national growth and development," he further argued, calling on religious leaders to be mindful of what they preach, noting that it had become pertinent to ensure that each religion does not undermine the tenets of another.

“We live in interesting times and it is instructive to note that intolerance has become the order of the day. Religious leaders have a role to play and it is important that they take into cognizance what they teach their followers. No religion should undermine the tenets of another. No religion is superior to another.

We must all learn to understand this,” he said.

He, therefore, asked religious faithful across the length and breadth of the nation to cohere peacefully with others as this would further ensure a harmonious society.

,

CHRISTIAN pastors have become demigods. Their word is law; no questions asked. As Jesus said, they teach as doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:9). They come up with all kinds of self-serving principles that turn scripture on its head; just in order to justify themselves before men and control their lives. I want to discuss Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

Man of God

If our marriage breaks down, we must not fool ourselves and others by insisting we are standing in the righteousness of God

,

“Jesus Christ was accused by many – a lot of frivolous charges. There will always be those who would like for it to be true. But you know, in spite of the accusations against Jesus, it didn’t change who he was.”

However, Pastor Chris is not Jesus. Many accusations were indeed leveled against Jesus, but they were not made by his wife and they did not include inappropriate relationships with the opposite sex.

In short, Pastor Chris might be whoever he likes, but he is certainly not Jesus. Jesus says: “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.”

(John 5:31).

Yes, there are “men of God” in the Old Testament. However, Jesus created no such distinction in the New Testament; we are all “children of God.” Jesus says: “Unless BY

OLAYINKA

A

LATONA

HEAD of the 2015 gen eral elections, Bishop of Ife Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev. Oluranti Odubogun, has advised Nigerians to demonstrate high sense of patriotism and elect leaders with records of performance.

Odubogun said: "In choosing political office holders from the president to governors and local government chairmen, as well as lawmakers, ability to perform should be our watchword."

Odubogun made the appeal in a statement announcing the third session of the 8th Synod of the

you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3). Indeed, Jesus was implacably opposed to men like Pastor Chris, who sit on pedestals and claim to be holier-than-thou. He says: “Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next.

They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor ’ and ‘Reverend’. Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates.” (Matthew 23:5-8).

Male chauvinism While Oyakhilome was busy elevating himself, he was also snidely putting down his wife. He said: “If you are married to a man of God, it doesn’t make you automatically mature. You can make mistakes; you can do something that is wrong. But some people expect the wife of a minister to definitely be at the level of that minister.”

This is an arrogant statement. What makes Oyakhilome more spiritually mature than his wife? By what measure and by what criteria did he come to ascribe this superiority to himself? Anita Oyakhilome was also a minister.

She was a so-called pastor of a London branch of Christ Embassy. So why should Pastor Chris presume himself more “minister” than her.

If we are to accept Pastor Chris’ bogus self-appellation as a “man of God;” what disqualifies Anita from also being called a “woman of God?” Are women inferior to men?

Oyakhilome said: “If a man of God is married, it doesn’t automatically mean that the wife of a man of God is therefore a woman of God. That’s not the way it is in the Bible. That’s why you don’t really find the wives of men of God mentioned in the Bible…. You never find their names.”

What poppycock! When one of the female pastors in his audience asked why the names of wives of the men of God were not mentioned in the bible; Oyakhilome’s response was a classic. He exclaimed: “Why? You ask God when you find him. Ask God when you find him!”

But it was not God who fabricated this theory that the wife of a man of God cannot also be a woman of God simply because wives’ names are not mentioned in the bible. It was Chris Oyakhilome.

Therefore, it is up to Chris Oyakhilome to provide us with another bogus explanation.

Pastor Chris ended his diatribe by saying: “When it comes to Reverend Anita, what I will say to you is ‘pray for her.’” There is no doubt that, more than anybody else; it is Pastor Chris himself that is greatly in need of prayer.

2015 elections: Anglican Bishop urges Nigerians to be patriotic diocese themed: "To God be the glory" billed to hold at St. Phillip's Anglican Church, Aiyetoro, Ile Ife, Osun State from Thursday, September 25, 2014.

According to him, the political class needs to be reminded that no one’s political ambition is worth the blood of one single Nigerian, noting that the challenges plaguing the nation remained unresolved.

Continuing, the bishop believes that government will take

note of this and other deficits and remove all obstacles in the way of achieving remarkable success in more aspects of the country's health services.

On the abducted Chibok girls, the clergy man is baffled at the ease with which Boko Haram carry out their deadly attacks on security bases, equipment and security operatives, and called on Federal Government to adopt new strategy to tackle insecurity in the country.

Group debunks decamp report on ldisi

A

political pressure group under the auspices of Ethiope East Realistic and Actualization Movement, has debunked a report on Barr.

Lovette Idisi’s recent decamp to the Peoples Democratic Party, saying that Idisi’s decamp to PDP is running about two years now and that he cannot decamp twice to the same party.

The group’s Publicity Secretary, Comrade Anthony Akpobome, who made this statement while reacting to a report

published in community newspaper, where their principal was reported as having recently decamped to PDP in Eku was misinformation and should be discarded.

The group said, “Our principal, Barr. Lovette Idisi decamped about two years ago at the PDP secretariat, Isiokolo, head quarters of Ethiope East in the presence of the State Chairman, Barr.

Peter Nwaoboshi, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Chief Bernard Edewor, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege,

Ethiope East Council Chairman, Hon Sunday Onoriode and a host of others, so how could he had decamped again to the same party.”

“As a member of the party it is expected that our principal, Barr.

Lovette Idisi will always attend meetings of the party when he is around and that was what the reporter, who hadn’t the idea that he is a member of the party, joined him among Chief Philip Eyagomare and others who just decamped to the party.”

PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Covenant University’s Vision 10:2020, by Professor Charles Korede Ayo, Vice Chancellor E very administrator desires career success, but not all of them have been able to achieve success in their various positions. Professor Charles Korede Ayo, Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Ota, finds space among the successful few. His determination to succeed where many have failed, his diligence and managerial ingenuity have made the Ota-based private university a reference institution.

Not many people who know about these antecedents and his philosophy about life would be surprised at the Vice Chancellor’s achievements since his assumption of office in November, 2012.

Ayo’s upbringing, his academic training, administrative experience and his determination to always work as an agent of positive change everywhere he finds himself have continued to set him apart from most of his peers.

Young Ayo had his primary education at Baptist LGEA School, Mopa, after which he proceeded to Titcombe College, Egbe, for his secondary education. He was at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for a bachelor’s of science degree in mathematics with computer science in 1984. Determined to add more to his knowledge, the visionary school administrator went to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 1993 to obtain a master’s of science

Professor Charles Korede Ayo degree in computer science and Ph.D mathematics (numerical computation) from university of Ilorin in 1999.

Established in 2002 with a vision to be a foremost institution that moves manpower development in the direction of self – apprenticeship and to be a first class private university in research,

knowledge, character and service to humanity, Covenant University, today, competes favourably with the first generation universities in terms of quality of education. It is on record that in the first and second editions of the Presidential Special Scholarship for Innovation and Development (PRESSID), CU topped the list of successful candidates by producing the highest number of first class graduates in Nigeria universities for sponsorship to 25 top universities in the world.

On some of the facilities and policies put in place by the institution to enhance learning and research, the Vice Chancellor said: “In pursuit of Vision 10: 2022, there are concerted efforts and policies instituted for enhances quality lecture delivery, research and learning environment that compares with some renowned world class universities. ‘’Presently, our lecture rooms are equipped with ultra-modern teaching equipment with facilities for tele-conferencing, collaborative teaching and real-time lecture recording and upload. Some of our laboratories are equipped with modern and current facilities that may not be available in ‘’Africa but a few world-class

universities.

We are committed to driving collaboration and linkages in a manner that is unparalleled. We recruit visiting professors who visit us mainly during our summer school (May – July) to teach postgraduate students, conduct research and organize conferences and workshops for the generality of the populace. ‘’Recall that the university organized the First International Conference on African Development Issues (ICADI) in May this year that hosted two Nobel Laureates at once. This feat is novel and unparalleled in the history of university education in Nigeria. One of them is listed as visiting professor to the university already. This academic session set another set is expected in areas that are germane to the emancipation of the Black Race. The chancellor has charged us to think the unthinkable and dare the unendurable.

We are set to take the world by storm”.

Proud of the height Covenant University has attained, the erudite scholar shares his goals for the private university thus: “Ever since I came to office, I was given the mandate tagged, ‘Vision 10:2022’ which is to get the university listed as one of the top ten universities in the world within the next ten years (2012 – 2022) which we have christened as ( 1 of 10 in 10). To accomplish this vision, we set yearly goals. This is the beginning of the third session and the goal for the session is innovation, impact and internationalization. In a nutshell, we are going to be innovating, teaching and research endeavours to impact positively on the quality of graduates and the community at large. And eventually to internationalize the operations and activities of the university with a view to attract international faculty and students to the university.”

Nasara wa Univ er sity industrial de vt goal, by Professor Nasaraw Univer ersity devt Muhammad Akaro Mainoma, Vice Chancellor

I

n this part of the world where many people still believe that the best way to achieve result is by cutting corners, Professor Muhammad Akaro Mainoma may not be accepted by all.

But those who still value quality tertiary education will always hold the Acting Vice Chancellor of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi in high esteem.

Known for his goal oriented approach to educational management, Professor Mainoma achievements, after just seven months at the helm of affairs at the Keffibased state university, has continued to earn himself the respect and love of the university’s management, staff, students as well as parents and guardians.

But those who know about the Acting Vice Chancellor’s academic pedigree, his professional experience, his exposure and desire to always be an agent of positive change have never been surprised by his promises of yesterday which have become the reality of today.

Born on September 26, 1965, the young Mainoma started his education at Dunama Primary School, Lafia, and attended Government Secondary School, Miango. The amiable scholar was at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Southern University Baton Rouge, University of Pittsburgh and University

College Cork, Ireland. This professor of accounting and finance is a member of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

He is currently a fellow of ANAN and CITN. He lectured at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for 13 years and served as commissioner for finance, Nasarawa State between 2011 and 2013.

The Vice Chancellor, in collaboration with the academic and non academic staff of NSUK, has worked assiduously to make sure that the university continually achieves its mandates, but the bar of academic excellence is being raised

by Mainoma through exemplary leadership approach, the rapid addition to the infrastructure of the school and staff motivation. ‘’When I came in, in February 2014'’, the Acting Vice Chancellor informed, “one of the major constraints faced by the university was inadequacy of hostel accommodation, coupled with the near absence of houses to rent which adversely affected the number of students who accept offers of admission. ‘’We needed to appeal to stakeholders

•Professor Muhammad Akaro Mainoma

and individuals as well as the state government to help in the provision of affordable accommodation within the university community so that the institution can attract the very best students and staff alike’’.

Asked what other challenges the university is facing, Mainoma said: “Another area of concern is the issue of water scarcity which government has rescued us from by providing additional tanker in case there is failure from public supply. More so, there are also additional boreholes that were sunk even at the off campus sites. ‘’These are part of what my administration is doing. We are planning and working to achieve more results’’.

There is still more to be done in order to make NSUK one of the best universities in Africa. His words: “We still have to build on what we have on ground. We have to do more researches and contribute more to our national industrial development, the management, staff, students, government and even the parents have different roles to play so that NSUK can continue to achieve its mandate”.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 45

New technology raises hope on treatment of parkinson’s disease

BY EMEKA AGINAM

T

HERE appears to be a ray of hope via a new program that combines big data, cloud and wearable technologies to find better ways of detecting and treating Parkinson’s disease, the nervous system disorder that causes tremors and affects movement in an estimated six million people worldwide.

Available data has indicated that about 90,000 Nigerians suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Just recently at the meeting convened by the Funmi Fashina Foundation (FFF) with the objective of training medical practitioners and care givers on neurological , Consultant Neurologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Professor Njideka Okubadejo said that people have been affected with the disease.

According to her findings, 67 out of every 100,000 Nigerians above 40 years old live with the disease.

Relevance of data in Parkinson’s disease: Throwing more lights on the disease, Mental Health and Services Consultant, Dr. Femi Olugbile, while highlighting the relevance of data in Parkinson’s disease management and research, urged Nigerian clinicians to make the best of the new innovation in which he said lies the possibility of local remedies, noting also that Parkinson’s disease has a significant presence among the Nigerian population, especially the elderly.

“Clinicians and researchers on the cutting edge are looking at the possibilities represented

by Gene Therapy, Stem Cell Transplantation, and the use of Neuroprotective Agents (principally glutamate antagonists and antioxidants) as the future treatments for this d i s a b l i n g neurodegenerative condition,” Olugbile said, while expatiating on opportunities that the new technology could deploy.

Also speaking on the innovation, a researcher and scientist, Dr. Dimeji Aliyu, a scientist with a research firm stated that the innovation is a welcome development and it would help to assist with early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

Tracking the disease: For nearly two decades, while researchers have been refining advanced genomics and proteomics techniques to create increasingly sophisticated cellular profiles of Parkinson’s disease pathology, advances in

*Wearable monitoring device data collection and analysis now provide the opportunity to expand the value of this wealth of molecular data by correlating it with objective clinical characterization of the disease for use in the development of the drug.

Research findings have also shown that the potential to collect and analyze data from thousands of individuals on measurable features of Parkinson’s, such as slowness of movement, tremor and sleep quality, could enable researchers to assemble a better picture of the clinical progression of Parkinson’s and track its relationship to molecular changes.

Wearables can unobtrusively gather and transmit objective, experiential data in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With this approach, researchers could go from looking at a very small number of data points and burdensome pencil-andpaper patient diaries collected sporadically to analyzing hundreds of readings per second from thousands of patients and attaining a critical mass of data to detect patterns and make new discoveries.

It is hoped that in the near future, the platform could store other types of data such as patient, genome and clinical trial data. It is also hoped that as well as enable other advanced techniques such as machine learning and graph analytics to deliver more accurate predictive models that researchers could use to detect change in symptoms disease.

MJFF and Intel’s technology intervention.

Perhaps giving credence to the saying that the greatest gift that technology has to offer is the power to improve people’s lives, the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and Intel are attempting to achieve that with a new program that leverages the latest big data, cloud computing and wearable technologies to monitor Parkinson’s patients; something that researchers have agreed is a giant step towards finding a lasting cure for the ailment.

MJFF and Intel had earlier this year initiated a study to evaluate the usability and accuracy of wearable devices for tracking agreed physiological features from participants and using a big data analytics platform to collect and analyze the data.

The participants (16 Parkinson’s patients and nine control volunteers) wore the devices during two clinic visits and at home continuously over four days.

Speaking on the technology, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Data Center Group, Diane Bryant said that, “The variability in Parkinson’s symptoms create unique challenges in monitoring progression of the disease,” adding that “emerging technologies can not only create a new paradigm for measurement of Parkinson’s, but as more data is made available to the medical community, it may also point to currently unidentified features of the disease that could lead to new areas of research.”.

Obiano to digitalize Anambra broadcasting service

A

S part of the preparation for the digital switch over next year, Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has signed contract for the modernization and digitization of the Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS. Speaking during the signing ceremony at the Governor ’s Lodge, Amawbia last week , Obiano said the contract signing ceremony was in fulfillment of his promise

to Anambra people to deliver a brand new broadcast organization with complete modern equipment.

“We are happy and excited to be signing this contract today. ABS is an important state institution, we have confidence that the contractor COMFAX having gone through a rigorous tendering process will deliver according to the terms”, said.

PAGE 46 — SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

LOPSIDED POLLING UNITS’ ALLOCATION

Jega’s northern agenda finally uncovered! zINEC Chairman insists on favouring the North zWhy National Assembly must understand the issues and not be taken for a ride In this piece, which is a continuation of the national service to ensure that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and its national chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, do not surreptitiously engender a policy that deliberately hands numerical superiority of Polling Units, PUs, which Nigeria’s Supreme Court described as “roots which nourish the whole electoral process”, to the North, further investigations have uncovered the details of the warped allocation process.

Mercifully, Jega’s visit to the National Assembly ended on a note that senators would study the figures and make up their minds.

Yet, every explanation by Jega has blind-sided the real issues and further exposed the real and perceived under-pining raison d’etre for the lopsided allocation.

BY JIDE AJANI JEGA’S BLATANT LIE OR CRASS IGNORANCE

D

oes the number of polling units confer political advantage on a state/region? The answer simply is ‘No’ – Professor Attahiru Jega, defending his illegitimate and lopsided allocation of Polling Units.

For an acclaimed professor and activist election manager of repute, it is either Attahiru Jega chose to barefacedly lie about, or is ignorant of the wonderful potentials for political advantage that a lopsided allocation of Polling Units, PUs, confers on a state/region.

Perhaps, blinded by a need to justify his mandate on the issue of PUs, Jega’s spirited efforts at defending the indefensible only continue to pour cold water on his every move.

To help Jega, Sunday Vanguard went as far as sourcing for and getting portions of a Supreme Court judgment which pooh-poohs

his claims.

The pronouncement of the Supreme Court, in Ajasin vs Omoboriowo’s case, January 8, 1984, as per Mohhammed Bello (JSC), declared that “polling booths (which make up PUs) are the base of the pyramid which forms the electoral process under the provisions of the Electoral Act....the booths are the roots which nourish the whole electoral process (and the manipulative parts thereof)...”.

The highest court in the land dwelt extensively on what it called the “manipulation” and “rigging” that polling units can be used for in determining the outcome of election.

New PU allocation in practical terms means the provision of voting facilities for 500 eligible voters. This means that when a state gets 1,000 new polling units it has new facilities to accommodate 500,000 eligible voters. In practical terms, it means that INEC has prepared new facilities for over 500,000 new voters in each of some 11 states in Continues on page 47

Professor Attahiru Jega

SUND AY SUNDA

Jega’s northern agenda finally uncovered!

Continued from page 46 the North that already have more than 1,000 new PUs, and only Lagos in the South (see table overleaf) The latter explanation means that the beneficiary states must have increased their previous figures of eligible voters by about 500,000 eligible voters.

Evidently, this is not the case from the outcome of the Post-Business Rules figure of the beneficiary states in the North.

More significantly, Borno and Yobe states got 1,333 and 790 new PUs. These are states with over 400,000 internally displaced persons who have moved to several states in the Middle Belt and mainly to the South That is not all.

THE CURSE OF SELECTIVITY

When you choose to engage in an argument and you believe and, therefore, insist that others are not equipped to read between the lines because of your seemingly saintly sense of propriety, you’ve got something else coming.

In INEC’s rebuttal of accusations of sectional bias in the creation of new PUs, the Commission embarked on wanton waste of public funds by publishing a speech which some have derisively condemned as lacking both in substance and depth in so far as the real issues are concerned.

Take, for instance, the issue of figures. INEC deliberately and understandably failed to publish its declared 2011 Registered Figures and, more importantly, the outcome of the PostBusiness Rule that shows clearly the massive reduction of figures across the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

Instead and attempting to be clever by half, the Commission chose to use the Post-AFIS figures without showing the progression from declared figures which, by its own admission, contains names of eligible voters but with

STATE

ABIA ADAMAWA AKWA IBOM ANAMBRA BAUCHI BAYELSA BENUE BORNO C-RIVER DELTA EBONYI EDO EKITI ENUGU GOMBE IMO JIGAWA KADUNA KANO KATSINA KEBBI KOGI KWARA LAGOS NASARAWA NIGER OGUN ONDO OSUN OYO PLATEAU RIVERS SOKOTO TARABA YOBE ZAMFARA FCT

So- called POSTAFISused for Creating PUs 1,387,844 1,682,907 1,621,798 1,784,536 2,502,609 590,679 2,340,718 2,570,349 1,169,469 2,044,372 1,020,011 1,593,488 688,950 1,313,128 1,208,927 1,672,666 1,817,087 3,743,815 4,751,818 2,928,046 1,459,734 1,305,533 1,125,035 5,426,391 1,291,876 2,427,081 1,796,024 1,472,237 1,318,120 2,487,132 2,082,725 2,466,977 2,113,698 1,279,394 1,203,324 1,802,301 892,628

incomplete registration data such as absence of biometrics and facial image.

This return to Post-AFIS figures was deliberate on the part of the INEC spindoctors given that the Commission’s clean-up of the register has brought daylight into the magic of many states that claim high population figures.

The question to ask Jega is, why did his Commission choose to use data that it did not employ for Anambra, Ekiti, Osun and would not be employing for the coming Adamawa State governorship election?

Mind you, INEC would not also be using post-AFIS

TOTAL

Existing PUs (EP1)

NO OF PUs AFTER ALLOCATION (TP2)

2,675 2,608 2,980 4,608 4,074 1,804 3,688 3,933 2,283 3,624 1,785 2,627 2,195 2,958 2,218 3,523 3,527 5,101 8,074 4,901 2,398 2,548 1,872 8,462 1,495 3,185 3,213 3,009 3,010 4,783 2,631 4,442 3,035 1,912 1,714 2,516 562

3019 3498 3476 4729 5185 1925 4832 5269 2569 4321 2212 3352 2316 3079 2621 3677 3920 7485 9809 6075 3079 2853 2406 11,023 2605 4868 3818 3231 3131 5311 4173 5204 4311 2673 2504 3679 1762

ADDITIONAL ALLOCATION TO EACH STATE ( p2p1)

344 890 496 121 1,111 121 1,144 1,336 286 697 427 725 121 121 403 154 393 2,384 1,735 1,174 681 305 534 2,561 1,110 1,683 605 221 121 528 1,542 762 1,276 761 790 1,163 1,200

for the 2015 election.

In addition, the Permanent Voter Card, PVR, is based on the Post-Business Rule and not Post-AFIS. More, INEC, by its own admission and based on returns, has been able to establish that it issued less PVCs than the figures in the Post-AFIS data.

So, why did it publish the figures therein to deceive Nigerians?

That is not all.

Does it then make sense to increase the number of Polling Units in many states in the North where INEC regionalist proponents have allocated whopping new Polling Units at the expense

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PPA AGE 47

of almost all states in the South?

DISTORTIONS AND FALSEHOOD

But this re-enforcement of the lie, is the foundation of the distortions and falsehood peddled in INEC’s feeble attempt to explain its disproportionate PUs allocation.

Because INEC is yet to conclude CVR in 12 states, Jega should explain to Nigerians why the Commission was in so much haste to allocate PUs. The table below exposes the lies that INEC has been trying to cover up with very little success.

PLAYING WITH

basically nothing, because all other states got 121 PUs before further new allocations were made § Imo State got 154 new PUs (almost nothing) whereas states in the North like Kebbi and Adamawa, which are at par with Imo State in terms of the Post-AFIS figure of eligible voters (see table above) used by INEC for allocation, got almost 700 or more new Polling Units. § Similarly, Oyo State got 528 new PUs whereas it should be at par in allocation with states like Bauchi, Borno and Niger States, given the figure of eligible voters used for these states which all got over 1,000 new PUs allocated to

Polling booths (which make up PUs) are the base of the pyramid which forms the electoral process under the provisions of the Electoral Act....the booths are the roots which nourish the whole electoral process (and the manipulative parts thereof) FIGURES FOR CONCEALMENT

INEC tried to conceal the facts by publishing state by state allocations to make it look as if there were insignificant changes; by disaggregating the whole into current number of Polling Units per state, the disproportions were swallowed up making it look as if most of the states had almost similar or proportionate Polling Unit allocations.

But from the table above, a simple subtraction of the change in existing Polling Units to the current number per states after the new allocations reveal the following disparities: § 11 out of the 12 states which got over 1,000 new PUs are in the North. § States such as Katsina, Kano, Niger, Kaduna and Zamfara, just like the FCT, each got more new PUs than the entire South-East. § All the five states which got 121 new PUs, namely Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Enugu, and Osun states, are in the South allocation of 121 units only means the states got

them. Specifically, Niger State got 1,151 Polling Units more than Oyo which has 50,000 more eligible voters than Niger State in the figures used by INEC above. How could it be explained that Oyo State, where you have Ogbomosho and Ibadan the second biggest city in Africa, now having less voters than Borno, the hotbed of insurgency and, worse still, Yobe, that has 790 PUs compared to Oyo’s 528 ? § By the same token, Osun State has about 40,000 voters more in the figures used by INEC above, than Yobe State.

But while peaceful Osun State got basically no new Polling Unit allocations considering that the 121 it got is a baseline allocation for all states, Yobe State, which is at war, where most of the population has be driven away by strife, got 790 new PUs allocated to it. The question is why?

It is unimaginable how far INEC is ready to go to try to gloss over this obvious inequity and iniquity; the more it tries to explain it, the more it impugns its integrity.

PAGE 48 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

The Cash, The Jet and Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

BY FEMI FANI-KAYODE

M

uch ado has been made about recent events in South Africa concerning the Nigerianowned jet that was found loaded with millions of dollars and that was in the process of procuring arms and a fighter helicopter for the Nigerian military and security agencies.

As a former Minister of Aviation, I wish to assure the general public that the flying of large sums of cash by security and intelligence agencies for the purchase of arms in a time of war and conflict is something that is quite normal and that it happens quite often. As a matter of fact, it happened under successive Nigerian governments, both military and civilian.

Obviously in the case of the jet that flew to South Africa with 9.3 million USD, there must have been a breakdown of communication between the South African authorities and ours and a few lapses in procedure here and there which is what has led to the seizure of the money and all the ensuing suspicion and confusion.

However, the idea that there was anything untoward or sinister about the whole transaction has no basis in logic, sense or rationality. Perhaps the only failing was the fact that the cash was not declared to South African Customs as is required by law.

The fact that our intelligence

agencies have said that they were the ones that sent the money and that they have told us what it was for is good enough for me. It appears to me that this was a lawful and legitimate exercise and that there is nothing for anyone to worry about. I am aware of the fact that the British, the French, the American, the Chinese, the Israeli, the Saudi Arabian and the Russian intelligence and security agencies, amongst many others, have indulged in such covert ‘’cash for arms’’ transactions on numerous occasions in different parts of the world.

They either sell such arms at short notice and off the cuff or they procure them for themselves or for unknown third parties. Even the South Africans themselves have done so on numerous occasions in the past.These are legitimate transactions that are covert and secret in nature but they are certainly not illegal.

Such is the murky and dark world of intelligence and security worldwide. There is plenty that we do not know about their day-to-day operations and they have their own unique way of doing things.

We should not assume the worst or constantly denigrate them simply because we are not familiar or comfortable with their modus operandi. Suffice it to say that anyone that is in the process of getting arms to help our boys at the war front to fight Boko Haram and protect our citizens and our country ought

to be regarded as heroes and not villains.

The attempt by certain elements in the opposition and the Nigerian media to stigmatise all those involved in this transaction and make the whole thing appear like something that is out of the ordinary or sordid and criminal in nature really does nauseate me. Those who know no better ought to appreciate the fact that this is how the real world operates and they should learn to live with it.

The Nigerian intelligence services operate in no different a way to their colleagues in the international community and they do so with as much patriotism, professionalism and commitment as their counterparts from other parts of the world. And yes, we do have our very own ‘’James Bonds’’ in our intelligence services even though, more often than not, they are not recognised, celebrated or appreciated. I counsel that we should cut these men and women that work in the shadows and in secrecy some slack and that we should not be too quick to label them as sleazy rogues who are attempting to indulge in all manner of criminal activities.

Gun running Since we are on this topic, I would like to take this opportunity to say one or two things about the way in which Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),

has been villified, maligned and treated with the utmost disdain and contempt in this and other matters by elements within the leading opposition party in our country.

The truth is that, contrary to what some of the leading lights in the opposition would have us believe, he is not an arms smuggler, a money launderer, a murderer or a Boko Haram sponsor. Going to a foreign land and telling the parliament of that country that the President of CAN in Nigeria is the head of Boko Haram, as one or two of them have just done, is not only a pernicious and vicious lie but it is also utterly shameful and disgraceful. Worst of all, it is an affront to the Christian community in Nigeria and a reckless provocation.

On the South African matter, it is clear that Pastor Oritsejafor was not the owner of the 9.3 million USD and neither was he aware that the cash was being flown on the plane. Though he has confirmed that he was the owner of the plane, he has also pointed out the fact that he had leased it out to a company on a long term basis who were themselves subleasing it out to other companies for regular trips.

He has also said that he had no idea about who they were subleasing it to, where they were flying it to or who or what they were carrying in it in any of their operations. The two companies that were involved, both the one that leased it from Oritsejafor and the one that

subleased it from them for the journey to South Africa, have since confirmed and corroborated what he has said.

In my view, that ought to settle the matter. Yet some people, fuelled and egged on by a ravenous and desperate opposition, have refused to let go of the matter and allow sleeping dogs to lie.

Those in our land trying to divide our ranks and denigrate us by alleging that Oritsejafor is involved in gun-running, money-laundering, Boko Haram or any other filthy and unsavory criminal activity are the lowest of the low. They are wicked and cruel and I have no doubt that such people are in desperate need of prayer.

They need deep intercession and deliverance from the demons that have taken control of them and that are using them. The truth is that it is a grave insult to the Christian community for anyone to suggest that the leader of the umbrella organisation of the over 80 million-strong Christian faithful in Nigeria is a sponsor of a vicious and barbaric Islamist sect that has killed and abducted more Christians and burnt more churches than any other terrorist organisation in the history of the African continent.

Stirring the hornet’s nest The same people may as well tell us that the leaders of the Christian community in Syria and Iraq are the ones behind ISIS. They can also tell us that the Christian leaders in their respective countries are the ones behind Al Shabab, the Taliban, the Al Nusra Front, Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda, Daesh, and all the other terrorist organisations that have recently afflicted the world with their vile inhumanity, their sheer evil and their venal barbarism.

It is only in Nigeria that the leadership of the Christian community would be accused, by a supposedly serious-minded opposition, of wanting to wipe out the Christian faith, wanting to kill all the Christians and moderate Muslims in the country and wanting to establish an Islamic fundamentalist state where 6th century Sharia law applies, where little girls are subjected to serial rape and where women are enslaved.

Calling the President of CAN a money-launderer and armssmuggler and accusing him of murder and sponsoring terror will not help to create religious harmony in our country. As a matter of fact, it will completely destroy it. Those that are doing so and the political party that is stirring up the hornet’s nest and encouraging them ought to think very carefully about the implications of what they are doing.

Religious agenda We know that they have a religious agenda but they should not take this too far or push us to the wall. Our meekness and humility should not be taken for weakness or stupidity. It is in their own interest and in the interest of the unity of our nation for them to leave the President of CAN alone before matters get out of hand and before all hell breaks loose.

He deserves to be accorded the same level of respect from the Muslim community in our country as the Sultan of Sokoto, the leader of the Muslims in Nigeria, is accorded by Christians. What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander. A word is enough for the wise. *Fani-Kayode was a Minister of Aviation

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PPA AGE 49

BY SAM EYOBOKA

C

ONCERNED Nigerians have asked pertinent questions since the news broke of the Nigerian jet caught in troubled diplomatic waters in South Africa over arms deal. Lawyer, social crusader and critic, Mr. Festus Keyamo, led the pack of those who had resorted to pertinent questions; and he asked several.

He concluded that the explanation of the Federal Government’s involvement was, to say the least, “not only ludicrous, it is laughable, untenable and a story only fit to be told to the marines,” because “the position of the Federal Government is a cock-andbull story meant to be shoved down the throat of Nigerians.”

The initiator of Delta Force United, advocating a total change in Asaba in 2015, went further to pose several rhetorical questions: “Is it really faster and safer to do an international transaction of such magnitude by ferrying cash across the continent or by a simple wire transfer that can go through in a matter of few minutes or few hours? If, indeed, the matter involves security issues like the purchase of arms by a foreign government like Nigeria, why was the South African government not brought into the picture beforehand? How could the South African government be sure that the arms were purchased legitimately by the Nigerian government and not by insurgents if they were not officially informed beforehand? If indeed the manufacturer(s) of such equipment was/were expecting such large amount by cash, why did they not make adequate arrangements with the authorities in South Africa to declare and clear the cash on arrival? Why was money belonging to the Federal Government and meant for purchase of equipment for the Federal Government moved by a private jet and by private individuals and why were they not accompanied by the officials of the Department of State Services or the office of the National Security Adviser in official capacities? Why would a government at the peak of promoting the cashless policy in our economy be the chief breaker of that policy by moving such a large amount by cash? If, indeed, it was a legitimate transaction of the Federal Government, why were the officials of our embassy in South Africa not

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

A cleric and the $9.3m arms deal

on hand to make the entry easier and smoother? Since the South African government has said the amount is above the limit of cash allowed into that country, why would a whole government like Nigeria not know the simple immigration laws of a sister and friendly country before allowing that type of amount

friend and unapologetic ally of the President in the person of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor (my big brother in Warri), that was used to smuggle the cash? If, contrary to the above posers, the transaction was contracted out to a private company in Nigeria, does it not amount to the offence of money laundering under

“Furthermore the Green Coast Produce Limited has confirmed that the said aircraft (Bombardier Challenger 600 with registration no.

N808HG) has been leased to it, which we confirmed that this kind of transaction is NORMAL in the aviation industry of cash to be taken to that country? Why would the Nigerian government seek to smuggle cash into a country without disclosure if it was, indeed, for a legitimate transaction? From where did the Federal Government source that amount in Nigeria? Was it from the Central Bank of Nigeria or from the black market? Nigerians demand answers to this with proof. Is it just a wicked coincidence that it is the aircraft belonging to a personal

our laws for the Federal Government to have allowed that company to attempt to pay for the equipment by cash to the tune of that amount without passing through a financial institution? The truth is, any transaction the world over that is done by cash, in a huge volume like this and in this manner can only point to one thing: It is an illegal transaction or a transaction for an illegal purpose that is meant to be untraceable.

This was a covert, illegal

operation that went horribly wrong.”

This line of thought appears to find expression among several Nigerians who believe that something is amiss with the purported transaction. Some have even gone to the extent of thinking that the deal may have been concocted by some fifth columnists in government to smear a man they could not arrest, the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, and advance the cause of the opposition.

The Northern Rainbow Coalition, an almagam of 43 affiliate organisations across the North, expressed disgust about the smear campaign on social media about the possibility of Oritsejafor’s involvement in criminality.

The coalition, in a statement

by Abdul Ahmed Isiaq, maintained that, in fairness to the person of Pastor Oritsejafor on the $9.3 million arms deal money and his private jet, the question should be asked, who is afraid of the CAN President?

Nigerians, the Northern Rainbow Coalition argued, “are quick in judging and/or running into conclusions without examining details or the angle where certain

informations come from, most especially where group interest, sentiment and politics are used to blind people’s perception.

“We have it on good authority after examining and re-examining facts, that the private jet currently under investigation in South Africa belongs to Pastor Ayo Oritsejjafor and he (Pastor Ayo ) has a residual in Eagle Air (a company that manages the aircraft). That is to say the aircraft is not operated by him,” the statement said, stressing that the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, also confirmed that, based on his investigation on the arrangement between the CAN leader and the leasing firm, the cleric has no control over the use of the aircraft.

The statement went on: “On the 2nd of August 2014, the aircraft was leased to and is operated by a company called Green Coast Produce Limited and this company has been operating the aircraft since then, so all inquiries in respect to the day-to-day operations of the aircraft should be directed to the company.

“Furthermore the Green Coast Produce Limited has confirmed that the said aircraft (Bombardier Challenger 600 with registration no. N808HG) has been leased to it, which we confirmed that this kind of transaction is NORMAL in the aviation industry.

Green Coast Produce Limited said it hired (chartered) the aircraftth to one John Ishyaku on 5 of September 2014. Upon the following documented terms:1) Depart Abuja Johannesburg on the 5th of

September 2014.

2) Return to Abuja on the 6th of September 2014.

3) To wait and return with the passengers .

“We learnt and indeed imbibed a few salutary lesson in the past. We must therefore desist from fanning the embers of discord and disaffection; and focus more on national unity, social harmony, religious understanding and peaceful co-existence. This is the only way to move the country forward.”.

In a similar development, a senatorial aspirant in Edo State and economist, Mr. Egheomhanre Eyienyien, was at a loss as to why ‘Christians’ often take the gauntlet and feel no qualms castigating the person of the CAN President. In his reaction, he said: “I find nothing more absurd than when I read comments by ‘Christians’, who know nothing about God, pointing accusing fingers at genuine men of God of whom they also know nothing.

“If there is any Nigerian pastor who has been so viciously maligned and needlessly ridiculed by ‘Christians’ in Nigeria, it is Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. Here is a man who has put his life on the line to resist the advance of the Islamist jihadist agenda in Nigeria being mocked by people who do not even know him.”

PAGE 50 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 51

DIASPORA MATTERS

BY BABAJIDE ALABI

I

t all started as a joke, when in mid 2000s Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister brought up again the idea of a Scottish Independence. Although this has always been Salmond’s desire, it was around this time that it really gained momentum. All over Scotland, it was a common knowledge that independence was the propelling “ wind” behind Salmond’s existence. It was a badly kept secret of his.

However, this time around, not many of the opposition politicians made anw effort to hide their belly throttle laughter at the expense of Salmond. Many dismissed his plan as outrageous and as a desire of an arrogant and bullish politician desperate to carve an empire for himself. Scottish people were encouraged to see Alex Salmond, though the First Minister, as a dreamer who needed a rude awakening to reality. This did not deter King Salmond, as some call him. He hung on to the dream and deftly sought the realisation of it. Give it to Mr Salmond, here was a man who did his homework pretty well.

To give momentum to the dream of an independent Scottish country 2007 witnessed the start of what the Scottish National Party (SNP) tagged National Conversation. The idea was to get the Scots talking and also work out the modalities towards achieving the independence. At the end of 2007, the Scottish Holyrood Parliament kicked the ball rolling by creating a commission to oversee the realisation of this dream.

After winning the 2011 election with a convincing majority, Mr Salmond and his co-SNP travellers promised the Scottish a referendum. All the rest were history.

This split the nation into two camps - the Yes in favour of referendum and the Nos against. Yet politicians at Westminster still did not regard the referendum as a threat to the central government. However, the realisation of an independent Scotland dawned on everybody in the country in the last two weeks when opinion polls ‘flickered’ and narrowed the gap between the YES and NO groups. The Yes group moved so many steps up and almost closing in on the No

z Cameron

zSalmond

SCOTLAND NO INDEPENDENCE VOTE

Salmond Almost Changed The Face of UK to Independence campaign.

Then there was panic. The politicians in Westminster had to make mad rush to Scotland to allay the fears of the Scottish people. And in the process, there were a lot of concessions that ordinarily would not have been given.

The UK Prime Minister David Cameron had to make a passionate and tearful appeal to the people of Scotland while playing on economic fears on why the union should stay.

Despite these, Alex Salmod did not waiver in his commitment to the cause of Scottish Independence. He dismissed the Westminster campaign as scaremongering. But at the end of the day, the unionist won the election and Scotland stays in UK. It is a victory for Alex Salmond and the people of Scotland. The general large turn out and the forty six percent that voted YES have sent out notice that its no longer business as usual in Scotland. The vote has signaled a change. A change that I believe will be to the advantage of all.

The most impressive aspect of the referendum was the

peaceful manner in which it was carried out. According to a commentator on Sky News, the people of Scotland demanded for their country, not by revolution or by war, but by democratic means.

This was really commendable. The banter of ideas on TV, radio, newspapers, pubs, on public

questions. To be honest with ourselves, the question of whether Nigeria is better as one or broken is usually ruled by our emotions and not by reasoning. Therefore, it has to be stated categorically that Scotland is on a different level when compared with Nigeria. I have lived the two ‘ worlds’

The UK Prime Minister David Cameron had to make a passionate and tearful appeal to the people of Scotland while playing on economic fears on why the union should stay buses, trains etc was very encouraging. And if not for a few pockets of protests on the streets of Glasgow on Friday night it was all peaceful.

However as the debate on the referendum was going on, my mind was always on the Nigerian question.

Could a successful referendum have taken place in Nigeria? Could a properly organised agitation for separation be achieved in Nigeria? Questions after

My first interaction with the United Kingdom at the turn of the millennium was Scotland. For the first five years of my stay in the United Kingdom, the Scots were my primary contacts. I lived with them, toured the cities, learnt how to understand and speak the accent, involved myself in their sports, education and social life. I saw the UK only through the eyes of a Scot.

And within this period I learnt many things.

Coming to United Kingdom through the Scottish gates I have realised gives one a totally different look and feel of the United Kingdom. My first impression on arriving at Edinburgh was a totally different one I have read or told prior to my leaving Nigeria. The taxi ride to the city centre from the airport was a beauty in itself peaceful and serene environment. Looking out through the taxi window, the cold winter breeze blew gently against my face as I struggle to keep the nose dry.

The Scots are really friendly lots who are always ready to go out of their ways to assist, especially when they realise you have come from a sunny, hot country to live there. They always argued that it was madness for Africans to leave the warm continent to live in the cold of Scotland.

It is the love of immigrants and the desire to populate the nation that at a time most asylum seekers were sent up north to Scotland to settle down. The scheme Fresh Talent was also introduced to encourage more student immigrants to settle down by getting a two year extension to work visa free in Scotland.

I can imagine how immigrant-friendly an independent Scotland would have been.

In my interaction with Scots at work, in the University, my neighbourhood etc, there was a point I always get to realise, they do not have kind words towards the English as they do for other ethnic groups. I remember Barry, my Scot friend has as far back in 2001, was always going about the fact that Scotland needed to break away from the UK. To Barry, an aspiring teacher (at the time), there would be so many opportunities for people like him should go Scotland go its own way.

Over several pints of beer, Barry would propound many theories why his life and his family’s will be better off in a new Scotland. He cited the oil fields in Aberdeen as the financial pot for the United Kingdom. He logically or otherwise assumed that a Scottish independence will mean more money for the country.

Several years and especially during the recent campaign, all Barry’s and Salmond’s reasons were thrown overboard the Forth Bridge.

PAGE 52 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

EMMA UJAH & BY EMMANUELELEBEKE

I

nspite of the promise made by the Federal Government to foot the hospital bills of the victims of the Nyanya blasts and donations by individuals and corporate organizations to the Boko Haram Victims Relief Fund, Mrs. Monica Solomon, who suffered severe burns in the May 1 Nyanya blasts, has alleged being abandoned at the Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital. Her story: On May 1, I was going to work. I alighted from commercial motorcycle and decided to buy mango at Nyanya bus stop, after which I was waiting to catch a bus to town.

Not quite 10 minutes after, I turned and saw a man standing behind me while I was on queue. I became apprehensive and my spirit told me to move away from there. In fact, my spirit did not just like the way the man was standing. I could not ascertain whether he was a passenger or not.

Two minutes later, I heard a blast.

When I heard the blast I shouted ‘Jesus Christ’. I became unconscious, the next thing I felt was somebody pushing me out of fire.

He kept pushing me until it got to a point and I said ‘let me see the person pushing me’. When I opened my eyes I didn’t see anybody. At that point, I jumped up, and was shouting Jesus Christ’. That was when one man saw me and said ‘don’t jump again madam’, he made me sit on the ground until a vehicle came and conveyed us to Maitama General Hospital.

I was later transferred to Wuse Hospital. After two weeks at Wuse Hospital, I was again referred to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital.

We (blast victims) used to receive free food at the Wuse Hospital but since we came to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, the reverse is the case. Here we buy food and we buy most drugs.

When we asked, the hospital management said they do not have all the drugs needed for our treatment.

Even, often times, when we go the pharmacy for drugs, they tell us they don’t have, especially if it is more than N250.

The two FCT Ministers came once and promised that government will take care of our treatment, but, after that, nothing happened.

I ought to have been discharged, but because of the nationwide strike by doctors,

A loving husband beside his wife, Monica

TRAUMATISING LIFE AFTER NYANYA BLAST

FG abandoned me to die —Survivor my treatment is getting prolonged.

During the strike, only nurses were around to attend to me, though the consultant who treats me used to come once a while. The consultant promised to come and carry out a skin grafting on me before the strike but, since then, she has not come.

On how she copes She said she has been depending on her husband, well wishers and good spirited Nigerians.

Monica, a staff of a gambling firm, Demo Casino Company, said, “I have not been finding it easy. Lying in the hospital since May with pains. I always think of my three children, aged 17, 8 and 6.

I feel bad that government abandoned me, leaving my husband to bear all this burden.

What I need from government is financial support. I am always in pains especially in the night and during dressing. Again, if I eventually leave this place, I do not know what will happen. I may not be allowed to go back to my working place, so I will need money

with which to start life afresh.

Besides, I can’t go back to my working place with this skin.

If government can help me start up a business, I will be glad.

My husband sold his car for my treatment. I know he did it because he values my life

more than the car and I am hopeful that the God that delivered me from the jaws of death will also bring me out of this hospital and bring another car.

I am appealing to government and wellmeaning Nigerians to come to

One Senior Assistant to the First Lady came here once and has not come back since then. Another person from NEMA who said the DG sent him also came and said he was asked to come and greet my wife , that is all

Monica...needs a lifeline

my aid on the skin grafting operation rafting so that the pain will reduce.”

The husband, Adebosun Solomon, also spoke on the challenges that face the family as a result of the burns his wife suffered in the blast.

“This situation is above my power. I live in Nyanya and from there I come to Gwagwalada everyday to see my wife, with all the traffic gridlock on the road,”he stated.

“Before that, I have to take care of my three children. The burden is just too much for me to carry, two of my sisters-inlaw were with my wife, but after one took ill, she had to go home.

“For three months, she could not walk, we have to assist her to do everything, like a baby, even to feed her.

“I am appealing to wellmeaning Nigerians to come to our aid. We are two here but the other person has received some support from government and they did not come to us. I don’t know why they left us out, maybe they did not see us as Nigerians.

If the president’s wife can send N1.5m to the next bomb blast victim for treatment, then what is wrong with my wife’s case?

“I first mortgaged my car (a Murano SUV) to enable me assist my wife because we are asked to buy most of the drugs.

After initially mortgaging the car, I had to sell it outright, at a give-away price, since I couldn’t pay back within the agreed period of time.

“Managing the children and coming here has not been easy for me. It is so hectic that even when I fall sick I can’t sit at home when my wife is at the hospital.

My plea is that government should return the money I have spent so far, about N2.5m on the treatment and feeding, get this skin grafting done and she will be free. You can imagine the trauma she is going through. In fact she doesn’t sleep every night.

They brought us here with the hope and promise that government will bear the cost but where is the government now.

“One Senior Assistant to the First Lady came here once and has not come back since then.

Another person from NEMA who said the DG sent him also came and said he was asked to come and greet my wife , that is all.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 53

BY WOLE MOSADOMI

A

lhaji Hamidu Kadi-Kuta was appointed

Head of Service, Niger State about three months ago. He was Chief of Protocol during the immediate past administration. He also served as Permanent Secretary in some ministries.

In this interview, the Head of Service bares his mind on his appointment, challenges and his vision for the state civil service.

Recently, you were appointed as the Head of Service in Niger State.

How did you receive the appointment? Did you envisage it?

To be honest, I didn’t expect it. You may not rate me among the super ambitious individuals. I went through the service and put in my best. Anywhere I found myself, I did my best and I never looked beyond my nose in terms of progression.

I leave that to God and those who see me perform. I never imagined that I will become the Head of Service one day. For the Permanent Secretary position, I may have prayed and I got it. That I was sure, but Head of Service, I never ever thought of it and I will tell you why. In Niger State until now, that position, you don’t even know how to place it.

Is it a regular career civil service routine post or was it a political position. If you look back, you will see the office as political as far as I am concerned, so when my name was announced as the new Head of Service, I was lost because up till the last minute when my name was called, I was not sure.

How many years to go in the civil service?

I still have 4-5 years to go.

How have you been coping with the new office?

I see the position as an enhanced position to perform better with almost the same routine I have been used to. It is almost the same job a Permanent Secretary will be doing and I have been doing this because I have been there before. I was in that office for nearly five years as Permanent Secretary, Management Service and most of the things I am handling now were based on the circular I issued that time. So I find it easy. One thing with administration is that if you are dispassionate about it, you are not personal or emotional, you have no problem.

Everybody will come with his own issue and you treat it on merit.

My concern is the long standing inactivity of the civil service.

Despite the huge resources invested in the system, we are far away from where we are going. Not one third of the population of the civil service actually appreciates or understands the concept of the 3:2020 project of the Chief Servant aimed at placing the state as the third best economy in the country by the year 2020. Even some of the Permanent Secretaries don’t have that flair for the future. So all the training we are doing is to now bring them out of the pit because we are getting too far behind compared to other states. In terms of qualifications, I see a lot coming in. I have seen so much training going on but the implementation or application for the overall interest of the system is what is lacking.

Are you insinuating that those certificates are fake or not legally acquired?

I don’t think so because the schools, the institutions have been sensitized. The system has a way of rejecting fake certificates and I will

In Niger, the dead draw salaries — HOS cannot just move en-mass because, one, there must be vacancy and you must have qualified and you must satisfy the conditions laid down for the next grade. We also introduced retreat which is to sit for lectures, sit for examination and pass or fail; if you pass, you are elevated, if you fail, you are demoted to your previous grade.

This actually costs money especially to conduct promotion exams for all cadres; so what we are planning for Alhaji Hamidu Kadi-Kuta...Aliyu shocked me now is in-house retreat for the promotion of tell you how we do it. Before you those concerned and the state Civil leave for training, there are processService Commission is capable of es you have to follow. We have a doing this beautifully. policy and you go How do you differentiate politics within that training policy, i.e., trainfrom civil service because there are ing manual. Once you are in school, a lot of politicians still serving? you identify with the Department of That’s right, but, you see, politicians Establishment that you are o traincome from two directions. ing and the course you are going We have civil servants who opt to for has been identified already and serve at political level and they are the institution you are going is also allowed by the rule of the game. One understood and so can easily go in, serve politically and you cannot then come back with a come back. The only thing is that certificate either before you end the you must apply to be absent on leave course because, after the course, you for the period of serving. The law are to defend what you have acallows it even to quired and we also find out whether carry party cards but the only thing your certificates is genuine or not. is that you cannot contest without We are not talking about the certifretiring or resigning from your post. icate here but the productivity of What is the numerical strength of civil servants after attending coursthe civil servants now and what is es because it is being said that the exact requirement of the state? some of the top civil servants canThe numerical strength of civil sernot even raise a simple *MEMO. vants in the state now is put at thirty That is what I was saying earlier thousand but the ultimate number that one third of the civil servants of the civil service is determinable don’t understand the import of the by the quality of the population and entire thing. That is the truth and, not by fiat. If you give me the option, worse still, the directorate cadre, as I will say it shouldn’t be like that. Let we have it now, should be the driver

Not one third of the population of the civil service actually appreciates or understands the concept of the 3:2020 project of the Chief Servant aimed at placing the state as the third best economy in the country by the year 2020 of the civil service, but I can assure you that we still have a long way to go with the top cadre. Indeed, we have a lot of work to do.

After coming back from those courses, are civil servants subjected to examinations to qualify them for promotion and those who don’t live up to expectation, you do away with them or is there any law in the pipeline to flush out those who cannot make it?

Civil Service laws are already there.

You cannot attempt an examination more than three times on the same position and remain in service.

Until this administration, promotions were supposed to be mass.

Whether there is vacancy or you are qualified to be there, people just fill the gap, but now, it is not so. You

us see, first, how are they, where do they belong and how qualified are they?

We are not going for number but quality of service. For instance now, we have up to 40-50% that we can say are round pegs in round holes and this is not good enough.

And the state government cannot weed out the unproductive civil servants?

We can weed. Why not but the implications are vast. If you weed, what will they be doing in the community? It will then amount to robbing Peter and paying Paul. As far as I am concerned in this state, there is no any other source of employment except the civil service.

Though government is not a wel-

fare organization, it spends more money on paying salaries and other allowances than the development of the state. What is helping us out is the good initiative of the Chief Servant, Dr. Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, in the introduction of Public Partnership Project (PPP).

Another problem we are facing is that people just don’t want to leave the service. There are people known to have changed their dates of employment and other relevant information in the past simply because they don’t want to leave and they go on changing every time. Some even carry the CVs of their children looking for job in the same system. You know I have been there and I know what I am talking about. They don’t want to leave and they are asking government to take their children again. They should leave the positions for their children to take over.

One of the problems confronting most of these workers and why they don’t want to leave is the world of unknown especially how to get their pension and their gratuity after disengaging.

I don’t think so. In 2007 when the Chief Servant came in, that time coincided with the new pension scheme; so in Niger State, we are already 4-5years into that implementation. This is the first time in Niger that government dedicates fund every month for the payment of pension and gratuity. I can also assure you that 60% of civil servants in this state are on the new pension scheme. Only 20% that will soon retire are on the old scheme, so I don’t think it is the fear. What is the fear is that most of the civil servants don’t have an idea of what to do after service, i.e., post retirement programmes. Most of them don’t think of anything. In fact, most of them see their final package, i.e., gratuity as what to expend on what they want to do which is risky. It is really suicidal because no matter what they give you when you retire and you have no plans while in service, you are finished. You don’t have the skill to do business, you don’t have the acumen, you have the society to take care of, you have politics playing around you because another temptation is that the moment a civil servant gets out there, some of them go into politics and the money is gone, and the civil servant will be lost.

Are you then planning to organize a pre-retirement seminar for your people to get them prepared?

That is what we are doing now. That is the new style because since the assumption of office of the Chief Servant, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, he has always emphasized the need to renew our curriculum in schools to introduce skill and technology. ‘Go there and be self-reliant; when you finish school, you don’t need to come out and be looking for government jobs’, but it is only those who have between 10-15years to serve that can pick up that kind of skill, those who have less than 2years to go, what would they do? The work force now is about 40% of those to retire in the next five years. We should also remember that in the past administrations, there had not been employment until when the present administration took over. The Chief Servant when he took over looked at some critical service areas and he has allowed it. In other words, what we are dealing mostly with in the civil service are old and retiring public officers who have lost interest in the

civil service and who don’t have any skill at all and who you cannot sell the idea to. These are some of the challenges we are facing in post-retirement life.

Ghost workers have always been a problem at local, state and even federal levels; what is the situation like in the state?

That is another challenge which I can also refer to as a disaster and it all goes down to that life outside there. What do I do when I get out there and so let me acquire and acquire by all means?; so ghost workers exist, but serious efforts have been made to flush a lot of them out of service. In fact, as I speak with you, about four thousand have been identified and flushed out. However, we have realized that we have to review the style of flushing out. We go out and tell them to present their credentials to prove that they are civil servants, but still, some of them don’t come thereby making it difficult to identify and catch them. We discovered in the exercise that one person has four to five different accounts collecting money from government. These are people supposed to undergo serious punishments.

They will not only lose their jobs, they will also be prosecuted.

About how may many have been caught in that category.

Oh! Plenty. Why I cannot tell you the figure is because the firm handling the exercise is still on and I don’t want to pre-empt their report because they are almost finishing. Meanwhile, those caught are already listed and we know who they are. The first step is to deny them access to funds; they don’t even know what is happening to them now and they are going round lobbying and begging.

But the truth is that we cannot officially announce their names now since the report has not been officially submitted to government.

Is it not in collaboration with top civil servants?

Yes, it could be so. Anything can happen because the system of payment now is no longer like before where a Permanent Secretary had to see a voucher to cross check with the staff list or the where the Director had to come to submit the voucher. So, it is supposed to be a check and that was why this e-payment came in to correct the atrocities in the system, but again, the smarter you are, the smarter some people get.

Do you then say the e-payment which the state government invested heavily on to check fraud has failed?

No. In fact, it has helped a lot in checking fraud, but again, it has reduced the hands handling finances.

Now, finance will handle disbursement, Audit will check and Head of Service will handle variations; so you can see it is controlled and the system is working. The area of concern now that has not been captured is when a civil servant dies, when does his/her salary stop?

That is the area that is still very difficult to uncover. You hardly know who dies and when because someone can die six months ago and nobody knows. Even when you send the report, before it gets to the system, it takes time because someone or a clique keeps manipulating everything. They divert the money to some account and the dead keeps drawing salaries from government years after their demise.

This is unbelievable but it is a fact and we are working seriously on this to get to the root of the fraud.

PAGE 54—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

BY ROGERS EDOR OCHELA

T

hat the news of the out break of the dreaded Ebola Vir us Disease (EVD) has left Nigerians reeling with fear is no longer contestable. And that the situation has gotten so bad that brothers now fear to freely interact is equally a reality. What is however a matter of contention is whether Nigeria has the wherewithal to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Acc ording to medical ex-

perts, symptoms of EVD include malaria-like fever, weakness of the joints, vomiting, severe abdominal pains, bleeding from the mouth, nose and ear skin rashes. Death may follow.

EVD was first detected in 1976 in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku village around the Ebola River area of Congo Democratic Republic. After subsiding for a while, it reappeared early this year in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and now Nigeria. The disease kills almost 90 percent of its victims.

Because there is no known cure so far and all drugs developed to treat Ebola remain merely experimental, efforts have largely been focused on prevention.

This explains why the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), under the leadership of Senator Bala Mohammed, constituted a technical committee to manage and curtail its threat in the territory.

It is also probably in the light of this reality that the Minister, while inaugurating the committee, made it clear that the measure was proactive, stressing that the committee would have the responsibilities of working out modalities for responding to the threat of Ebola; create awareness on the nature and symptoms of the virus; prepare an action plan for its containment; work out ways for effective surveillance of the population, visitors and travelers and rec-

ABUJA: Containing Ebola

Tackling killer-disease

ommend tools and methods for managing cases if they arise among others.

To further give a boost to the fight against the virus, the minister, restated the decision of government to designate and isolate a ward at Kuje General Hospital for management of possible victims of Ebola fever, just as he allayed the concerns raised by some residents of the town over the choice of Kuje General Hospital as the centre for the management of victims. He stressed that all precautionary measures had been put in place to ensure that the designation of the ward will not endanger the health of medical staff and other workers at the hospital as well as residents of Kuje.

As it is, the real challenge of this raging health challenge lies in government s ability to overhaul our health delivery and preventive systems. It is the opinion of a high preponderance of Nigerians that considering the nation s enormous wealth, every part

For now, it is advisable that Nigerians maintain basic hygiene procedures more than ever before like washing of hands more often; washing of fruits with a bit of salt; avoid overcrowded places and body contact

of Nigeria, including the nation s capital city of Abuja, should have first class medical facilities whose impact on the citizenry is overwhelmingly comprehensive and embracing.

FG announces N213bn power intervention fund

BY NDAHI MARAMA, MAIDUGURI

T

O end Boko Haram in surgency and “inces sant power outages” in Borno State, the Federal Government, in partnership with the state government, is working “hand in hand” to tackle the challenges facing the people of the state for over five years, Minister of State for

Power, Alhaji Mohammed Wakil, has stated.

This is even as the Federal Government, yesterday, announced an intervention fund of N213 billion for private electricity companies to boost the supply of electricity in the country. With this intervention, the electricity companies are expected to ensure stabilising output at 5,000 mw, which would surpass the short term

target of early 2015.

Speaking in Maiduguri during a courtesy visit to Governor Kashim Shettima at Government House on power outages and insurgency, Wakil said to achieve the twin objectives of peace and steady electricity supply, the thought of government and citizens should be that of “unity rather than division.”

Be that as it may, even in the face of the intimidating challenges posed by this threat, the measures taken so far by the FCTA is encouraging and raises the hope of residents about the capacity of the authorities to give the deadly virus a bloody nose.

If the FCTA hopes to clinically execute its war against this virus, it must embark on massive public awareness campaigns in both English and major Nigerian languages in both electronic and print media with a view to sensitizing residents on the dangers posed by the virus and how to avoid contacting it.

In the same vein, it must commence immediate collaboration with Federal Authorities in the areas of procuring drugs and equipment that are highly critical in containing the virus.

Deliberate efforts should be intensified towards continuously soliciting the cooperation of traditional rulers and youths in the FCT to ensure

that government s well-intentioned measures in this respect are not undermined.

And considering the critical nature of this current health challenge, it is a welcome development that the Federal Government has requested for experimental drug from the USA and ordered that passengers be screened at airports.

Equally heart-warming is that President Goodluck Jonathan and American Vice President Joe Biden have agreed that both countries would collaborate towards curtailing the spread of the virus.

In addition, as part of its proactive approach to combat the virus, the FG has contacted the US Centre for Disease Control and requested for the experimental drug, Zmapp, that was administered on two American health workers who have shown tremendous improvement from their hitherto gravely ailing condition.

Commendable as the action of the FG and FCTA towards containing the virus is, the point must be stressed and overtly orchestrated that EVD still remains potently deadly, irrespective of the stories making the rounds that some victims receiving treatments have been certified okay and discharged from hospitals.

For now, it is advisable that Nigerians maintain basic hygiene procedures more than ever before like washing of hands more often; washing of fruits with a bit of salt; avoid overcrowded places and body contact. Above all, they should avoid indiscriminate hugging and kissing.

Ochela, a former newspaper editor and now media consultant, is based in Wuse, Abuja.

Ebiras in Lagos warn ex-leader

T

he Ebira indigenes in Lagos State have warned a former leader in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Apapa Zone to desist from further parading himself as their leader.

In a statement issued on behalf of the group by Sir Siaka Awe Ohinoyi, the group warned that the leader had been removed from office since last year.

Ohinoyi said:

“Last year, a letter was forwarded to Lagos State governor by the Ebira community that the leader had been removed from his position in the Ebira community but it is surprising that he is still parading himself as our leader claiming to be the acting chairman of council of chiefs, among other things.

I, therefore, call on the state Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs to use his good office to call this former leader to order.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 55

How Ikimi created problems for Oshiomhole — Idahosa zSays APC won’t miss him

T

he name Charles Idahosa, the son of Akakasiaka, rings bell in the politics of Edo State. The journalist—

turned-politician is the only man who challenged Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the governorship primaries of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN, now APC) in 2007. After the emergence of Oshiomhole as the party’s flag bearer, he became the Political Adviser to the Comrade Governor, a position he occupies since that time. As he clocks 61 today, he bared his mind on some political issues in the country and Edo in particular.

Excerpts:

How do you feel at 61?

At 61 I don’t feel any different, I feel the same way I felt when I was very much younger in my 20s; it is just that some things you used to do have slowed down. I used to stay out late but now I don’t enjoy night outings anymore, I just stay till ten or eleven and I am home. But it is still the same. I feel healthy, we thank God, but that energy of being on for 24 hours, you can’t afford that now. You need more rest now and the grand children are coming in, so I just enjoy hanging out with them and having fun. I still have the same fun and the same good friends.

Edo APC experienced some troubles recently when some leaders defected to the PDP. Do you think the coming primaries will not further split the party?

There will be no problem in the APC primaries. You just saw what happened in Adamawa, that was a test run of what to expect. The guidelines for choosing National Assembly members, governors and others are out. We are going to follow the guidelines, but the Constitution of APC also recommends consensus. What consensus means is that if we all agree on a particular candidate, it is okay. In a situation where we don’t agree, we go for congress.

The best candidate is going to win. There will be no imposition.

You saw what the Comrade Governor did during the congresses. What people must put at the back of their minds is that there are people who are just losers and they cannot accept losing. You saw what happened that led to the deluge of people decamping from the APC to the PDP. Congress took place, some people lost; they cried foul and the governor cancelled it. They

did a second one, it was a repeat performance and the person who lost said he was leaving, even when his village people rejected him. However, I can assure you that in the APC, we will not impose anybody; if there is a consensus candidate in any place; we will agree on that. If there is no consensus and they say no, we go for full blown primaries.

Those who defected to the PDP are boasting of defeating the APC in the coming elections. Are you not worried?

They have the right to boast, but, honestly, I am not worried because we know these people.

Most of them cannot even win election in their families, it was when Oshiomhole came that some of them who are today deceiving Jonathan that they will win Edo started winning election.

Some of them who are boasting today like super stars are always at the golf course playing golf during elections; after that, they will be crying and complaining that a godfather sent thugs to defeat them in their wards.

The PDP can never win Edo. A situation where people left due to their personal interest shows they are not for the welfare of Edo people. One of them said he left because he wanted to control his area, the other said they didn’t make him National Chairman of APC, I don’t know how that one affects the work on ground. I sympathize with a lot of our people who don’t have an idea of what is going on. The PDP is even worse off now.

There are three different blocs.

I was watching Tom Ikimi’s arrival the other day to Benin on television, I could see APC bloc inside PDP. The people that spoke are all APC decampees from APC. So, PDP has a problem already. Osagie IzeIyamu made a powerful speech in Ikimi’s house and one Mrs. Omokhodion. I could not see any strong leader in the PDP that they joined that was there. So, they have moved into PDP as a bloc and they are going to remain there as a bloc.

Those people they met in the house there who have been suffering now and these just came after enjoying this side and went there. The original PDP members are waiting, they are not fools . So there is going to be an implosion. Look at the people at the House of Assembly at Ring Road, nine of them, fooling themselves from morning till night. You are sitting down there, what they are saying have no meaning to anybody. You sit down there talking rubbish from

•Idahosa...nobody can toy with Binis

morning till night to summon a Commissioner, the Commissioner said who are you summoning? Yet you keep fooling yourself. It is unfortunate because they are betraying the people that sent them there. But judgment day is February. I cannot predict accurately, if we go less than we did in the last elections, then I am no longer a politician. We are going to beat them black and blue.

The people that will vote are not card carrying members of any political party. If Charles Idahosa as a leader of Uhunmwonde decamps tomorrow, I can assure you that my people will not go with me if I am not decamping because of

,

SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

pick somebody else. We even appealed to the old woman to go and beg Ikimi.

That is the daughter of one of the highest and most respectable chiefs in this town; the Arala of Benin kingdom. We convinced her and she went. Do you know she was standing by the gate of Ikimi and Ikimi drove past her?

The state Woman Leader of the party? That congress would have been a disaster if not for the wisdom of Governor Oshiomhole. He was caged by Ikimi and because Oshiomhole wanted to respect him, the governor was helpless. Modino walked out of the congress because of what Ikimi did. That is why some of us were laughing when he was lamenting that

Ikimi is the godfather of imposition. All the problems Oshiomhole is encountering today were caused by Ikimi. The last congress we did in Edo, it was war. Ikimi wanted to impose people everywhere. I personally clashed with him on two or three occasions in some of our meetings

,

their problem. How can you tell people because they didn’t make you National Chairman you are leaving? That is rubbish.

Meanwhile Ikimi is the godfather of imposition. All the problems Oshiomhole is encountering today were caused by Ikimi. The last congress we did in Edo, it was war. Ikimi wanted to impose people everywhere. I personally clashed with him on two or three occasions in some of our meetings. He put Adams Oshiomhole in such a tight corner; the problem we are having around Esan is tagged around him because he believed that anything that has to do with that area must be zoned to him.

He insisted in this last congress that Modino Emovon must not be state Woman Leader. We resisted; at the end of the day, Ikimi prevailed on Oshiomhole to

Tinubu manipulated the congress that brought Oyegun. He drove Imsansuagbo out of APC, now he is going to meet Imasuagbo there with all the people he drove out. Oshiomhole did not sleep after the congress due to the problems created by Ikimi; meanwhile Ikimi was sleeping peacefully in his house. The governor was over protective of him and that made him feel like a super star. Now he is crying that because he did not get the national chairmanship of APC, he left, but they don’t know the implication. But we are very happy that it happened this way.

If Ikimi had defeated Oyegun, Oyegun would not have left.

Oyegun rose through the system to become a federal Permanent Secretary and the first elected civilian governor of Edo; who is Ikimi to compare himself with Oyegun? Ikimi has never run for

any election in his life. I saw it in one of his interviews, abusing Tinubu, talking about Otedola, but he forgot that Lucky Igbinedion, his candidate, lost to Oyegun. He did not make that example. How he feels that he is superior to Oyegun I don’t understand because he became a mouthpiece for one of the most useless military governments in this country. When you become a minister under a military regime, I don’t recognize you as a minister, I don’t see you as important because anybody can be anything under a military regime. So it means nothing.

‘Ikimi’s outburst has political implication in Edo’ But the implication is for the politics of Edo and we have recorded it; at the appropriate time, we will unleash it. When there were two political parties in this country; Anenih and Tom Ikimi were national chairmen.

The Binis who constitute over 60 percent of the population we didn’t quarrel. He is angry now that for the first time a Bini man is the National Chairman. I saw him on television; he said he has come to join his brother Anenih’.

We will see. Because a Bini man became a National Chairman, you have gone to meet your Esan brother, we are here, we have the population. We know the script they are trying to do to reduce our population. Prince Edun Akenzua already raised the alarm.

So we are waiting, he doesn’t know the war he has started. I don’t know the pedestal he can compare himself with Oyegun.

Because you served under a military administration, you think other people are not human beings.

So Bini people have become something people can toy with.

APC is even happy he left because we know how much it usually costs us to win his unit for him in Igueben. As long as we are concerned, Ikimi is a political light weight in Edo and he will lose his unit on the day of election. I can bet that.

PAGE 56—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

R

t. Hon Victor Onyekachi Ochei, an engineer, hails from Onicha Olona in Aniocha Local Government Area of Delta State. In 2003, he contested for a seat in the Delta State House of Assembly on the platform of the defunct United Nigerian Peoples Party, UNDP, won the election, and subsequently became the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, the position he held till 2006.

He contested for the second time, this time under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, got elected to the Delta House of Assembly and was made the Chairman, House Committee on thEducation till the end of the 4 Assembly.

Again, he contested in April 2011 and was re-elected into the House of Assembly for the third time. This time, he became the Speaker, but later resigned from the position.

Ochei, in this interview, bares his mind on why he wants to be the next governor of Delta, former Governor Ibori, Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta politics, his tenure as Speaker, his resignation, relationship with Chief Edwin Clark, the economy of Delta, his blueprint for the state, among others.

Why do you want to be the governor of Delta State?

I am in the race because I want to offer my service to the people of Delta based on track record, building a generation of Delta that is yet unborn and planning for them. I want to be governor, based on the pan-Delta approach where, at the end of the day, our diversities will turn out to become our strength. That is my first consideration.

Delta is a blessed state and very strategic in the nation. Definitely, there is quite a lot that is also expected of her and that very much lies in its leadership and what it has to offer. And I bring a leadership that will foster greater unity, a leadership that will bridge the gap between the old and the young. I bring a leadership that will bring us in tune with the realities of tomorrow. I bring a leadership that will make every Deltan proud.

I often describe myself as wanting to build on the foundation of the forbearers of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, who was the first PDP governor.

And, of course, at the effusion of time, came a successor who is the incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who, I believe, has also filled the foundation and done what you call the solid concrete German floor, which has prepared the state now, the foundation to carry up a solid building. I am coming to put up a super structure.

You are coming from an arm, going to another arm of government. How do you marry that? Has the legislative arm equipped you to function well in the executive arm?

Well, it is part of it because the legislature is an arm and I have been privileged to head the legislative arm as Speaker which gives me the opportunity to handle both administrative and political issues at the same time. At the risk of sounding immodest, a lot of people said I performed well, as Speaker. And having done well, I have no doubt that in the executive arm, I will be excellent.

The story of my resignation as ex– Delta House Speaker, by Hon. Ochei *’My plan to succeed Uduaghan’

Rt. Hon Victor Ochei I believe it has prepared me and I come with an offer to ensure that, at the end of the day, the experience I have through the legislative process is enough to be a good governor It is the laws that you make that you use to run the administration.

I am deep in the legislature area; now, coming into an area where you have to implement the laws, there will be a synergy in which you cannot imagine in the sense of experience bringing to bear that which you know and putting it into the realm of governance. I believe that gives me an edge of competence, performing maximally.

You come from Delta North.

How much of consultations have you carried out to woo your brothers and sisters from the South and Central?

Consultations are on-going.

Delta is on a tripod of the North, the South and the Central and no one senatorial district can go it alone. And for you to win, you must definitely reach out. For you to rule Delta, you must be somebody that is acceptable across board and that is where I come in.

Having been Speaker, it gives me the opportunity to see Delta as my platform and I have been able to reach out to all stakeholders both in the South, the North and the Central. I am still consulting, meeting our people, and I can tell you that there is a lot of support from the South and the Central. The North is where I come from and I have no doubt as well that, at the end of the day, I will get the support of the North.

We learnt that the governorship in 2015 has be zoned to Delta North, but there are insinuations that the governor has anointed a candidate. How do you react to

this?

PDP zoning principle favours Delta North because Delta Central has produced the governor; Delta South produced the incumbent governor, it is only fair and equitable that Delta North produces the next governor, which is an advantage comparatively even though you have other persons who are from other senatorial districts in the race. You don’t have to push out anybody, but, basically, the party has taken a position that its candidate will come from the North, so be it.

That the governor has a

,

BY HENRY UMORU

the candidate of the governor to slug it out with you?

Not at all. It is a contest. I wasn’t going to run for the office of the governor of Delta because I am close to the governor. That will not be what Deltans want to vote for.

Deltans want to vote for somebody who can deliver dividends of democracy, who can take them to the next level and beyond.

I am close to the governor. The fact that he has an anointed candidate like you said, he has told me. But he has the right as a Deltan to have someone he wants to support and it doesn’t has to be me.

But that does not take away the fact that we are close and we are still friends and we respect our relationship. I will respect his choice the same way he will respect mine. That doesn’t make us fall apart and it doesn’t mean that because the governor has a candidate, others will not be in the race. I am still in the race and very much so. At least I know if like you say he has an anointed candidate, fine, it means he will support his anointed and I also have other Deltans who will support me.

What is your blueprint for the people of Delta State?

The blueprint definitely is that Delta governance has many sectors. It has the economic sector, the social sector and all of that. So if I am going to give you the blueprint, I am going to start from describing a bulky document. But I can give you an overview of what I think.

In the past administrations, Delta was more like a virgin place and a lot has been done to put in place. But what we lack is the synergy to bring all of the agencies that we have or created to bring them into a sink so that we begin to derive the benefits therefore.

Now, this is one of the key things I intend to do, put them together so that Deltans will begin to benefit from this massive development that has taken place.

How do I do that? I intend to

I resigned in the interest of the state, because I have the capacity to also forment trouble and would get into a situation that, at the end of the day, it would be as if you have a certain interest

candidate, it makes it better; it makes the battle defined. That does not mean other candidates cannot run. It makes it easier for me because I now know who I will be contesting with. It is a contest, it is not a selection process and because it is a contest, I will come from that position.

The turning point that people seem to see in the governorship race in Delta is the issue you just raised about the supposed anointed candidate by the governor. You were close to the governor and there were speculations that you were the anointed candidate of the governor. Are you disturbed at this trend that a new person has now been supposedly anointed as

,

have an all integrated Delta development master plan. Now if you have a master plan for development, wherever you start from, even if the development does not get to the end today, you will have hope that there is a tomorrow following that master plan, your own area will be taken care of and keeping at it, you are very sure that you are going to get things done.

But when there is no development master plan, it means you will be developing on needs basis. Someone says I need this and you do it, someone says I need that and it is done, so there is no synergy. So you have money to spend, but you cannot harvest the projects that are beneficial to people, that are accruable to

people as development projects. So people just say we have not developed, but there is a lot that has happened, a lot has taken place, but you need to put them together and sync them. That is one major thing that I need to do.

And talking sectorally, we must begin to look at areas that are the strengths as a state and areas that are weaknesses. Now areas that are strengths today, we are an oil producing state, we are also a gas producing state and, at the same time, there is an initiative by the incumbent governor, the Delta Beyond Oil initiative, it is an initiative where you need to look beyond the resources of oil and gas that you have today and begin to develop those non-oil sectors so that, at the end of the day, those massive infrastructure that you have been able to put together on the ground for the oil resources.

If tomorrow oil depletes, can we sustain those infrastructures? What one needs to do is to have derivable resources from the non-oil sectors.

And now we must begin to develop them with the oil resources that we have so that they can now complement each other.

We have agriculture which is a massive industry which, before the advent of oil, was responsible for over 70% of the Nigerian income.

What happened to it, where did it go to? There are still countries today that are in agriculture and make money from it. Why can’t we do the same? So we can begin to develop all of these from the small microcosm of Nigeria to Delta and to showcase that to the world and that is what we have to export.

There is a whole lot on the blueprint that I come to the table with and begin to open the frontiers of the state. You must begin to learn to do business not as usual because, unconsciously in Nigeria, and Delta is not an exception; we have begun to see the abnormal become the norm. So when you try to even introduce the normal things to be done, people begin to look at you as, why are you doing this, “na you wan repair the place?”and all of that.

Some people believe that your resignation as Speaker was as a result of 2015.

My resignation as Speaker is all political. Maybe 2015 is part of it. It is only natural that sometimes you become a threat to certain persons or people as it were and they just want to ensure that you are not there because your presence there becomes too much of an influence for them to deal with.

Meaning you were forced to resign?

I was not forced. I resigned in the interest of the state, because I have the capacity to also forment trouble and would get into a situation that, at the end of the day, it would be as if you have a certain interest. And if you are Speaker, you are just first among equals, you are serving the state. It must be made known that the trouble did not emanate from the House because there was no problem with the House, it was an external influence and that’s not the problem. And to forestall the breakdown of law and order, I resigned.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 57

DELTA 2015: Who succeeds Governor Uduaghan?

BY EPHRAIM OSEJI

C

onsidering the achievements of G o v e r n o r Emmanuel Uduaghan whose tenure ends in 2015, the debate in Delta State rages around who will succeed him.

Those interested in succeeding him come from the three senatorial districts of the state as it has always been in every governorship election since 1999.

The issue of succession in Delta State is not as simple as it seems. Given the complexity of the state and the current competitive political realities of Nigeria, care must be taken in managing the process that throws up the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the simple reason, that if an unpopular candidate is imposed, it could plunge the party into crisis.

The ongoing debate on zoning which has never been implemented in Delta has unnecessarily raised the political temperature of the state.

The Urhobos of Delta Central, through Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, have taken a reasoned decision that they will present a candidate of their choice to run for the office of governor. The Aniomas of Delta North have similarly dug in their heels that it is their turn to produce the next governor. There are also candidates from Delta South Senatorial District.

T here is also the purported anointment of Sir Anthony Obuh by Uduaghan which has added a new dimension to the politics of 2015 in the state. Elder statesman Chief E. K. Clark, whom many aspirants, including Chief Kenneth Gbagi, Mrs. Esther Uduehi, Obaisi Ovie OmoAgege, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and Obuh, have consulted on their governorship ambition has warned against any imposition when he declared that “it will therefore not be fair for one individual to impose one person on all the others.”

For sure, it will not be fair to long time active members of the party like Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Hon. Victor Ochei, Dr. Mrs Olejeme, Hon. Ndidi Elumenu, Obarisi Ovie OmoAgege, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, Elder Godsday Orubebe, who have done more for the party and in the race for the party ticket, to now give way to

President Jonathan

Obuh, who, until last month was a civil servant in the state civil service.

Current indications suggest that most of these candidates have resolved to fight against the imposition of Obuh.

Equally offended by the rumored anointment of Obuh are the Urhobos, the majority ethnic group in Delta State.

They have been out of power in the state for eight years and their representation in the PDP Federal Government has been limited to two appointments compared to Delta North which has over 14 appointments. On the basis of demography, electoral value and the stated position of UPU for candidates of Urhobo extraction to seek nomination through only the PDP and APC, Urhobos, who controls over 60 per cent of the voting strength in Delta State, hold the trump card and PDP cannot afford to alienate them any further as they have made it clear that their bloc votes will go to the party that accords it recognition commensurate with its electoral strength and economic contribution.

If the Urhobos lose the governorship ticket of PDP, especially if the winner is imposed on the basis of zoning as Obuh candidacy suggests, the bloc votes of Urhobos will be lost to President Goodluck Jonathan, needlessly robbing the PDP of the landslide victory that denies APC 25% of the votes in the presidential election in Delta.

The peculiarity of Delta presents Uduaghan a historic opportunity to lead the state into the elections in 2015 united to deliver their votes to the PDP. There is no doubt that Jonathan wants that too and will do everything to prevent

Omo-Agege

the imposition of candidate or zone in Delta on the basis of non existing zoning arrangement.

So far only, Omo-Agege, the leading candidate from Delta Central, whom many people have written off because of his past opposition to Uduaghan, seems to understand that strategy rather than sentiment will determine who will emerge the PDP governorship flag bearer in the 2015 election.

Since 2011, this Orogun born son of former Chief Judge of Delta State, who came second behind Uduaghan in 2006 PDP primaries, has worked tirelessly to earn the trust and confidence of UPU and the Urhobo people. He is now regarded by the Urhobos as their best hope in their quest to reclaim the governorship position, an enviable position to be at this stage of the race to succeed Uduaghan, given that the Urhobos traditionally vote in bloc with the

Gov Uduaghan

governorship in mind.

Since joining the governorship race in May, he has also evolved a panDelta agenda to create jobs for Deltans which is resonating with the people across the three senatorial districts that make up the state.

However, many observers of Delta politics believe that the only obstacle in OmoAgege’s way seems to be Uduaghan, whom they believe may never support him because of their history.

But Omo-Agege appears confident that the governor will support him when he said in a statement he issued recently that Uduaghan and Chief Clark will support him because they will judge him as the best candidate “ who can win, not just the governorship election for our party but also whose candidacy can guarantee that APC does not get the 25% of

the votes in the presidential election”, a claim hinged on the assumed support of UPU and the Urhobo people who are determined to regain power in the state, after eight years of minority rule in the state.

Omo-Agege has also publicly declared to protect Uduaghan’s legacy by completing all projects which Uduaghan could not complete before handing over in 2015.

There is no doubt that Omo-Agege has done enough to deserve the PDP ticket. Uduaghan will carve his name in gold in the annals of political office succession in Nigeria if he can muster the political will and courage to allow a man who once opposed him fiercely to emerge as his successor rather than imposing a candidate who will significantly weaken PDP in Delta.

2015: Senator Delta North needs – Hon. Adigwe

BY TOMMY ANADUAKA

A

head of 2015 polls, a senatorial aspirant and former House of Representatives member representing Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency, Hon. Pascal Nwaoranine Adigwe, in this interview speaks on why Aniocha should produce the next Delta North senator and his chances.

Adigwe from Ogbeogudei quarters of Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South local government area of Delta State, also speaks on his plans for Delta North if elected.

We are informed you are seeking the support of your people to become senator in 2015. Can you throw more light on this?

Your source is correct. The name Pascal Nwaoranine Adigwe rings a bell in the political circle as well as other sectors in Delta North, the state

and the country. I am home grown and have firsthand experience and seen sensibilities of the circumstance, needs and aspirations of my people, as well as driven by a fervent desire to better the lot of the people of Delta North.

Why are you seeking the mandate of your people to represent them in the Senate having represented Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives?

It is true I represented Aniocha/ Oshimili in the House of Representatives where my service is clear for all to see. I decided to go to the upper level of the National Assembly where I am sure my experience would be fully utilized to provide an effective, resourceful and capable representation as a platform for the economic and social transformation of Delta North, Delta-State and Nigeria. My mission is to champion the interest and galvanise the unity and resourcefulness of my people for the

promotion of the economic, social and infrastructural development of Delta North.

My reasons for seeking the senatorial seat are as follows: To provide a credible and resultoriented representation and platform for the economic and social transformation of the entire district leveraging on my considerable experience and record of quality service; the necessity to galvanise the unity and resourcefulness of our people in teamwork and under the auspices of the PDP to advance peace and progress of Delta North; equity and justice demand representation at the senate by the Aniocha block (where I come from ) after representations by Ndokwa by Senator Patrick Osakwe, Oshimili by Senator Nosike Ikpo and Senator Francis Nwajei, Ika by Senator Mrs. Bernice Ken and Senator Ifeanyi Okowa with none from Aniocha.

PAGE 58—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Jonathan through the transformation lens

T

BY LEKAN BILESANMI

he nationwide rallies at the behest of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) have continued to showcase different qualities that each of the six geopolitical zones see in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

To quote the group, “President Jonathan has outperformed all other past presidents in their first terms”. He has driven massive revolution in all social, political and economic sectors of our national life using his novel transformation agenda programme as springboard.

When the South-East zone kick-started the rally, one thing stood Jonathan out in that Awka assemblage of the all who is who in Igboland.

They saw and described him as the contemporary Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe of the 21st century Nigeria, the new salt of Nigeria’s cohesion. The centre-point of our peace!

Evidently, the reason for this perception is simple, before the emergence of the goodluck-administration, the zone practically lacked any form of federal presence in terms of infrastructure. The most pressing 2nd Niger Bridge, seaport, dredging of the lower Niger, quality power supply infrastructure, international airport, extended functional rail lines and good dualized federal highways had remained issues for regular political campaigns by successive governments.

Because the people of the zone were naturally imbued with commercial ingenuity, generally widely acclaimed for industry, enterprise, the serial unfulfilled promises were loudly becoming a mockery.

Alas, none was provided until their second Zik, Jonathan, came on board. That was direct from their own lips. No fewer than 1.6million of them signed up TAN’s register within hours of its release to coordinators, urging Mr President to continue.

A week later at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, the Yoruba proved bookmakers wrong when they marched in their good numbers to add their voice to that of the Igbo to plead with the president to seek a renewal of his mandate. This, according to them, was to continue his massive life-enhancing transformation agenda for the nation. Of course this did not come as a surprise to many who had erroneously seen the

President Jonathan South-West as the base of Jonathan’s opposition. This hitherto misplaced belief was because of the activities of some elite who had carried on as champions and god of the Yoruba whereas they were merely feathering their own nests. Imagine, if they are governors, their wives would be senators and members of House of Reps while their children, grand-children will either be the chairmen of local governments or take prominent committee seats in their state’s Houses of Assembly.

After all, even when their kinsmen were presidents, all the federal roads became death traps, the ever busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Benin-Ore road, Ibadan-Ilorin, Ilorin-Kaduna, Lokoja-Abuja, Otukpa-Lokoja, Enugu-Oturkpo-Makurdi and many other federal highways remained a nightmare for motorists. Then came Jonathan who gave Nigerians a new lease of life and the people are happier for the wonderful intervention with the resultant effect of yearning for more of it, irrespective of where he hails from. After all it’s just for another four years, not eternity. About 1.8million of them signed up Jonathan to continue. The South-South rally at Port-Harcourt would not have been surprising, after all, Jonathan is their very own. But one must not forget quickly that Rivers State, especially under Gov Rotimi Amaechi, has remained a strong base of those who decided to turn blind eyes to

the good works of the PDP led Federal Government.

Fortunately the forces of opposition was not strong enough to prevent the people from trooping out to identify with the call on Jonathan to accept to run for the 2015 presidential election. At that important friendship rally for Jonathan, TAN raise nearly 4million signatures in his support. It is also important to consider the message sent to the rest of North from the TAN’s North-Central rally at Minna. Historically, SouthSouth zone has always

performed wonders. This, he acknowledged, has made Nigeria to be the biggest and fastest growing economy in Africa. He also established the fact that Jonathan created a niche for himself as a respecter of fundamental rights/freedom of all individuals in the nation which some people now capitalize on to rain abuses on his person and position without being afraid of any consequences.

Another senator, Barnabas Gemade, who represented the Senate President at the Minna rally, described the president as a leader with impeccable character who deserved to have his constitutional second tenure based on his remarkable achievements.

The icing on the cake of the North-Central rally came from the speech of the Chief Servant of Niger state, Gov Aliyu Babangida Muazu, who observed that Jonathan, through his mature administrative style, has been able to unite the state governors in the country contrary to the divide and rule tactics employed by some of his predecessors.

From the on-going, it has become a fact that Jonathan represents different quality to different individuals, groups and zones and can as well be described as a very big political elephant in the polity.

Little wonder his sagacity and ebullience has befuddled the opposition into willing submission. Nigerians are speaking and pleading from

“President Jonathan has outperformed all other past presidents in their first terms”.

He has driven massive revolution in all social, political and economic sectors of our national life using his novel transformation agenda programme as springboard supported the aspirations of the North and it is time to reciprocate that good gesture by giving a solid backing to the call on their son, Jonathan, to complete his eight years tenure as done by the South-West, after which power would then rotate to the North. Senator Ibrahim Mantu, a very experienced National Assembly player and former Deputy Senate President, speaking in Minna, attested to the fact that in equity, justice and liberty, infrastructural development, human capital development/empowerment and upliftment of the nation’s economy, Jonathan has

the depth of their hearts that the president should declare his interest for a second tenure. One can only hope that the president will answer the millions of Nigerians yearning for him.

So, as the TAN, other peace loving citizens and patriots take their message of hope, goodwill and friendliness to the good people of the North East states at Gombe, it is expected that the outcome would be heart-warming as in other zones. And to borrow a leaf from an amalgam of voices, groups and divides from all segments of the whole North Central, North East and the North West zones under

the aegis of the United North for Greater Nigeria(UNGN) led by Abdulganiy Adebiyi and Mohamad Shehu Zaria, certain points need be highlighted for the benefit of those willing to confuse other citizens in the name of politics. According to this group clearly made up of lettered men of honour and record, attention of sincere minded Nigerians need to be drawn to the details hereunder: ON BOKO HARAM: They noted that the biggest challenge facing the North today is the menace of Boko Haram which is destroying lives and property and slowing down development.

Unfortunately, when those who should be elders were busy threatening to make Nigeria ungovernable if a Northerner did not become president in 2011, they only succeeded in pouring fuel into the insurgency. Instead of working with President Jonathan to save the North from this devastation, the socalled elders are very happy to play politics with it and hope that it will make Northerners vote them in 2015. We wish them luck.

PINE: The President has launched the President Initiative for the North East (PINE) to tackle socio-economic challenges facing the North-East. He has launched the safe Schools Initiative as well as Victims Support Fund for Boko Haram Victims.

These thoughtful and humane initiatives have taken off, with all equally committed and kind Nigerians and corporate institutions as driving force.

ROADS: President Jonathan is accelerating the dualisation of the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road, which was started before him but had witnessed a slow progress.

He is constructing (or has constructed/rehabilitated) the Gombe-Bye-Pass, LokoOweto Bridge in Nassarawa/ Benue, Mararaba-Bali Road, Kano-Maiduguri Road, Hadejia-Kirikasama in Jigawa State, Kano Western Bye-Pass Flyover in Kano State, Kaduna Eastern ByePass, Lafia-Awe-Obi-TungaRoad in Nassarawa State, Ilorin-Omuaran-Kabba Road, to mention only a few.

Two more important axial roads have just been approved.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, Page 59

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

The reality of automatic ticket for the president

W

HEN, early last year, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, mooted the idea that the PDP should consider granting automatic ticket to President Goodluck Jonathan as the Party’s candidate in the 2015 presidential election and gave expression to the idea at two important meetings of PDP stakeholders, first in Asaba and second in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, some members among them former Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, had declared that Anenih was on his own.

Only Gulak knew and still knows what was propelling him at the time, but here is a quick recap of what Anenih said at the meeting of selected leaders of the Party at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, May 30, 2013: “I would like to repeat what I said in Asaba about our party primaries. I did say that, over the years, our primaries have been the most serious sources of rancour and disunity in our ranks, and, that we usually invest so much resources and energy fighting ourselves in the primaries that should have gone into the larger battle against our political rivals.

“I had admonished that we could not continue this tradition of internal warfare and hope that we would have enough energy left to win elections.

Consequently, I proposed that we must evolve a new system of selecting our flag-bearers at

VIEWPOINT

BY YUSUPH OLANIYONU

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

The gains of democracy in Ogun

I

N an interview published in the August 30, 2014 edition of some national newspapers, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, spoke about the danger that the growing army of unemployed youths pose to the country. The Governor should know. While superintending over a state like Ogun with 22 public and private tertiary institutions, and many more still under construction, Senator Amosun estimated that there must be about half a million unemployed graduates presently living in the state.

The natural follow-up question is what the Governor is doing in the area of job creation. While the Amosun administration has directly and indirectly created over 50,000 jobs through employment in the public service, helping small scale entrepreneurs with soft loans to develop, sponsoring skill acquisition programme for youths, empowering traders to gain access to cheap funds and creating opportunities in agriculture for young graduates, it has also pursued with vigour one of its five cardinal programmes, which is Increased Agricultural Productionleading

2015 Presidency: Anenih, PDP and Jonathan’s endorsement the presidential and governorship levels that would preserve our unity and reserve our energy and resources for the

Whether there are opponents or not within the Party, Jonathan’s candidature is already surefooted

,

greater battle for political power.

Soon after my address, I read in the media the positive reception and reactions to my proposition by some of our members who believed that one of the ways to do that should be the granting of automatic tickets to sitting presidents and governors who are seeking their second term.

“I concur with them, provided that the sitting presidents and governors must have performed creditably with tangible results. The same may apply to performing members of the National Assembly although they enjoy indefinite number of terms.

The proposed arrangement would, I believe, help to forestall frictions and acrimony in the nomination process, in the overall interest of our party and the nation.

“Party leaders, brothers and sisters, listening to reports of

Ministers of various sectors at the Democracy Day celebration held at the International Conference Centre yesterday, the 29th of May, 2013, I felt proud that Nigerians have not been disappointed by this administration. Fulfilled by his own achievements, President Jonathan confidently asked Nigerians to develop their own criteria in judging his performance during the last two years.

“I do not see anything wrong, if the PDP considers automatic tickets for the President and its Governors who have performed well and are seeking for a second term. It is my view that with the outstanding performance of President Jonathan in the areas of Power, Rail and Water Transportation, Road Construction, Aviation Reforms, Education, Agriculture, Job Creation, etc., the party should not find it difficult in granting him the opportunity to serve a second term, if he so desires.”

With the emphatic endorsement of Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate by the various decision-making organs of the Party at their meetings in Abuja some few days back, it became clear that Anenih, a very experienced senior member and leader of the Party, was just playing the role of a perceptive forerunner, preparing the ground for the inevitable process of consultation and decision that would eventually culminate in the coronation of Jonathan as

the Party’s sole candidate for the 2015 presidential election.

The shape and texture of the sole candidacy deal had already been fine-tuned by the man who is reputed to have the peculiar gift to make impregnable political prognoses about presidential power politics in Nigeria; and the ratification of the deal by the National Executive Committee (NEC) was the crown capping of the process which has delighted all stakeholders, most especially the beneficiary of the endorsement-President Jonathan. Anenih must be very excited about this development as it has further reinforced his August 5, 2014 declaration in Calabar that President Jonathan would contest the 2015 presidential election.

In Calabar, the Oracle of Uromi and acclaimed Nigeria’s political Nostradamus, who has built a formidable consciousness for himself in the politics of Nigeria, had moved a step ahead of other PDP stakeholders, who were still dancing round the issue of Jonathan’s second term bid, to make a categorical statement, something more of a fait accompli, to the effect that Jonathan would contest the presidential election. The occasion was strategic: the maiden zonal tour of the Southsouth by the new National Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; and the terse message was clear: “I want the new PDP chairman to go home

The silent industrial revolution to Industrialisation.

In achieving the objective behind the industrialization programme, the Amosun administration deliberately set out to profit from the state’s contiguity to Lagos, the commercial capital of the country and the border it shares with Republic of Benin, which by inference made it a gateway to the over 300 million-population in the West African sub-region.

The strategy therefore is to attract multi-national industries, both those already existing in the country but have expansion plans and those that are just coming into the country afresh. The state has abundant land resources, 16,432 square kilometers, available for industrial, commercial, agricultural and property development. This is a key factor that an investor will actually consider in deciding on a location for his new industry.

More than that, the state government has equally liberalized the process of acquiring land, particularly for industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes.

Add this to the fact that though industries located in Ogun State have easy access to the air and sea ports in Lagos, the state also boasts of having 84 percent of the strategic Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which is a link

,

BY JOHN AINOFENOKHAI

,

VIEWPOINT

The result is that in the last three years, the state has become the industrial hub of Nigeria

,

between Lagos and the rest of Nigeria, located within its territory.

The numerous tertiary institutions in the state also provide a ready pool of skilled workers to industrialists. All these advantages have been harnessed by the Amosun Administration to create a bi-annual Investors’ Forum through which it shifts the focus of investors from across the world to investment potentials in the state and the benefits the state government offer.

In addition, the state government has invested heavily in upgrading the infrastructure in the state. The emerging road network in Ogun State is comparable to the ones in many developed countries. The security system is so good that it is reassuring that one’s investment is secured in this environment,

despite the challenge that its multi-border nature ought to pose.

The result is that in the last three years, the state has become the industrial hub of Nigeria. The popular question in the investment community about Nigeria now is not ‘ who is in Ogun State’ but ‘ who is not in Ogun State’. With 47 multinational industries having opened shop in the state in the last three years, Ogun State is now the industrial capital of Nigeria.

According to Otunba Abimbola Ashiru, who handles the Commerce and Industry portfolio in the state, the new industries have altogether invested in excess of $8 billion in the state.

The new manufacturing plants that have commenced production in Ogun State belong to the biggest industrial concerns in the world. These include May & Baker, Lafarge Wapco, Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Dangote Cement, among others. In the next few weeks, ten new industries, including Olams and Apple & Pears, will also join the train, as they are set to commission their industries. In fact, in the last three years, President Goodluck Jonathan had visited Ogun State three times to commission big

with a word from the father (of the President) that come 2015, he (Jonathan) will run for a second term.”

The import of the declaration was not lost on people who know how close Jonathan and Anenih are to each other: the father-son relationship, the mutual respect and trust, which perhaps underpinned the support Jonathan gave to Anenih to become Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees after he (Jonathan) had appointed him to chair the very important Board of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). To those who do not know Anenih as being flippant, Jonathan was already in the race.

The larger picture has now emerged. Jonathan is the PDP sole candidate. There is no need for electioneering within the Party for the ticket. Jigawa Governor, Sule Lamido, who had given an inkling of his interest in seeking the ticket of the Party, appeared to have sunk his plan. Whether there are opponents or not within the Party, Jonathan’s candidature is already sure-footed.

Significantly, he is saved the distraction of electioneering.

He can sufficiently and wholeheartedly still focus on governance issues until the electioneering for the 2015 poll that he and his Party are expected to pursue with a single-minded purpose, which finds anchorage on the basis and rationale elucidated in Anenih’s proposal for automatic ticket for Jonathan, as captured in the introductory quotes in this article.

•Ainofenokhai, a political analyst, contributed this piece from Benin-City.

industries. Today, Ogun state is the cement capital of Africa. With an annual total of 13 million metric tons of cement produced

by Lafarge Wapco and Dangote Cement from their plants located in the state, (same as the total national production figure for South Africa), the state can rightly claim that appellation.

While commissioning the Procter & Gamble Industry in Agbara, the largest American investment in Nigeria outside the oil sector, President Jonathan declared Ogun State as the most industrialized state in the country.

Also, while commissioning the WEMPCO Steel Company Limited in Ibafo, the President praised the Amosun administration for creating the enabling atmosphere for industries to be trooping into the state. He added that in the nearest future, there will not be a single person who is willing to work but cannot get a job in Ogun State.

The President’s testimony brings us back to the plan of the Amosun administration to systematically tackle the problem of unemployment among the youths, thereby laying a solid foundation for the socioeconomic development of the state.

•Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State.

PAGE 60—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Costa ready for City despite injury concerns D

IEGO Costa will play for Chelsea against Premier League champions Manchester City despite not being 100 percent fit, manager Jose Mourinho has declared.

The £32 million Brazil-born Spain striker, who has scored seven goals in four Premier League games since joining from Atletico Madrid, is struggling with a hamstring injury and played only a bit-part in last Wednesday ’s Champions League draw against Schalke 04 at Stamford Bridge.

“Diego is not in the best condition but he will start the game,” Mourinho told reporters. “He plays this game, he won’t play against Bolton (in the League Cup), and he plays against Aston Villa. Let’s see his evolution.

“The medical department are doing their best, the player is fantastic in trying to play and being available for the team. We have to try to protect him until he gets completely fit.”

Veteran striker Didier Drogba, back at Chelsea for a second spell after scoring 157 in his first, is in no doubt that Costa is now the main man at Stamford Bridge.

“Diego is the striker we needed this season,” he said. “When I look at him, I can see the desire to win every challenge, to score goals. He’s hungry for goals and that’s the best thing for a team like us.”

Even with a misfiring forward line last season, Chelsea managed to win at City, although ultimately Mourinho’s side stumbled in the title run-in.

After adding the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Filipe Luis and Loic Remy to their ranks during the summer, Chelsea look a perfectly-balanced side this season and with four straight Premier League wins look like being the most serious threat to City’s hopes of retaining the title.

Yet Mourinho said the importance the clash at The Etihad should not be blown out of proportion.

“It’s one more game, three more points,” Mourinho said.

“Obviously when matches are between title contenders every point makes a difference.

“Last weekend Arsenal and City got one point each, nobody got three. These matches in the end can be important, but if you analyse with a simple pragmatic view it’s one game, three points, no more than that.

“For the title it’s not just City, there are other teams in this race. Other clubs have exactly the same ambition.

“Last season we had the experience and we know what it is to win there and to lose there.

I’m not exhaustively going through every second of these two matches with the players.

“Last season is last season; C M Y K

Barca looking like Barca, says Levante coach

L

Costly Injury... Diego Costa not 100 percent fit to play. statistics belong to history, not to the future. What happened last year has no relation to this season. Can we go there and win like we did last season?

Obviously we can. But we can also lose.”

Victory would be Mourinho’s 164th in charge of Chelsea, equalling Dave Sexton’s total

and leaving him behind only Dave Calderhead on the alltime list.

Saved as Costa 19/9

Don’t crucify Toure for our failings — coach A S Manchester City pre pare to tackle Chelsea in today’s premier league clash, manager Manuel Pellegrini has hit back at criticism of Yaya Toure by insisting that his side’s performances are not solely influenced by the midfielder.

The 31-year-old was subdued during City’s 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich in the Champions League last Wednesday, while former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes believes Toure’s lack of defensive contribution has become a “major problem” for the Premier League champions .

“It is not fair for me to criticise what Yaya did in the last game. That is my way of thinking,” said Pellegrini.

“Normally, when we win or lose, it is because all the team played well or badly. Everyone knows which are the best performances of the players

Yaya Toure said he was disappointed with the speculation that surrounded his future at the club during the summer.

In May, Toure supported claims from his agent that City “disrespected” him on his 31st birthday, having previously dismissed Dimitri Seluk’s comments.

But, speaking to Football Focus, he said: “My agent made a little joke about it and people took it seriously.

“I was quite surprised about the way people and the media reacted Stop Bugging Me... Yaya Toure to that.”

Now, the former Barcelona man and we are trying to reach that level has moved to clarify the controversy, of performance for all of them as a saying: “Over the summer there team.

“I don’t agree that Yaya has [to was a lot of speculation about shoulder] all the responsibility birthday cakes and rubbish like that. about the game we played. Yaya It was disappointing for me.

“I’ve been in Manchester for four always has commitment with the team, the squad and with his team- years now and I have never mates.Hedoesnothaveaproblem.” demanded a birthday cake.”

Assou-Ekotto pays N13.3m for Anelka salute

T

Assou- Ekotto..

OTTENHAM defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto will miss today’s clash against West Brom as he has been banned for three games and hit with a fine after sending Nicolas Anelka a message on Twitter following his controversial ‘quenelle’ gesture last season.

Anelka, playing for West Brom at the time, made the gesture having scored against West Ham on December 28 - with the Baggies sacking the striker following their own internal investigation.

The gesture was deemed by the

FA to have an anti-Semitic element to it.

Assou-Ekotto was charged after sending a tweet to Anelka congratulating him on the gesture and, despite the 30-year-old’s denial of wrongdoing, he will now serve a ban and pay a £50,000 (about N13.3m) fine.

The Cameroon defender said he was pleased that the FA agreed that he had not intended to cause offence, having thought the gesture to be anti-establishment, and apologised for the incident.

EVANTE boss, José Luis Mendilibar said that Barcelona are starting to look like their old self under Pep Guardiola.

Barca will visit the Ciudad de Valencia stadium today.

Mandilibar stated that their current manager, Luis Enrique “doesn’t do favourites” and has put together a more aggressive team.

“Barcelona have brought more aggression to their game, possibly like they had early on under Guardiola, especially because they win the ball back very quickly having lost it high up the pitch”, he told a press conference before training.

“Luis Enrique doesn’t favour big names or anybody else for that matter. He’s picked kids for the squad, even after the press reported the names of some players set to be the club’s new stars and who have since been sent out on loan”, he added.

Mendilibar said he knows full well that Barcelona are going to besiege his Levante side in their own half at times during the game and insisted that they mustn’t “give the ball away cheaply, because if you lose it at the back they can hurt you a lot”.

Bale eyes Spurs return

R

EAL Madrid star Gareth Bale has admitted that he could make a return to Tottenham in the future.

The Wales international, who left White Hart Lane last summer for a world record transfer fee, has confirmed that Spurs remain in his heart and that he will never forget the club.

Now lining up as one of Madrid’s most recent Galacticos, Bale has told the Metro that he wants to pull on the famous white jersey of the north London club once again in the future.

He said: ‘Tottenham will always have a place in my heart.

I hope the fans still love me even though I’ve moved on,’ he said. ‘I love Spurs fans. You never know, I could come back one day.”

The former Southampton youngster has continued his impressive displays since his move to the Spanish capital, and last season scored in Los Blancos’ Champions League final win over city rivals Atletico. The 25-year-old scored 42 goals during his six-year spell at Spurs, and became a fans favourite with his explosive speed and dribbling ability.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 61

Nigerian football: Without govt funding,

'interests' will die

BY PATRICK OMORODION

V

ETERAN sports jour nalist, Sam John put it succinctly on Mon day September 1, 2014 in his piece graciously published by another veteran journalist I love to call Egbon, Tayo Balogun, in his column, Talking Turf, which he entitled “Who will save our Sports Minister”?

Egbon Tayo numbered the piece Number 1, as he wrote “Today I am starting a series on the current crisis (of the Nigeria Football Federation) by publishing a write-up sent to me by SAM JOHN, a colleague of mine.”

After reading the piece, I doffed my hat for SJ, as we fondly call him, because he laid it bare the way it is, which of course, the warring parties queuing behind either Alhaji Aminu Maigari or Ambassador Chris Giwa will not accept as the true and honest way out of the logjam.

Sam John hit the nail on the head when he wrote that “The argument (that government must withdraw its support/management control from sports , football especially) is not new, but it has always been overwhelmed by the “stronger” voice of charlatans who are benefitting from the mismanagement of the game. Their counter reasoning laced with corrupt and frightening adjectives, has been very strident. They will tell you that sports, especially football, will die should government withdraw its support/funding.”

Continuing, he wrote, “This position is nothing but a poisonous ideology that portends only death to the sports industry. It is the greatest lie that has ever been told in this country. What will die, if at all anything will, is the interests of those “hustlers” that have seized our sports by the jugular and are bleeding it to death.”

Before Independence and after, up to the early 1970s, football was being run by individuals and organizations who had passion and love for the game. That was when we had men like Father Slattery and then Israel Adebajo who floated one of the most popular football clubs in Nigeria, Stationery Stores Football Club of Lagos.

Other prominent Nigerians who later joined in owning clubs were late MKO Abiola who floated Abiola Babes Football Club based in Abeokuta, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu with Iwuanyanwu Football Club of Owerri, Chief Jude Ezechukwu with Gabros Football Club of Oba, Chief Oscar Udoji came with Udoji United Football Club while Chief Patrick Osakwe had Flash Flamingoes based in

C M Y K

Benin.

During this time, Leventis Group of Companies had their share with their famous club, Leventis United Football Club which gave Shooting Stars of Ibadan and other clubs in the land a run for their money the way New Nigeria Bank and Julius Berger FC also made waves .

These men and organizations had deep pockets laced with the love for the game. MKO or John Mastouroudes didn’t only put their money, they also went to the stadium to mobilize support for their teams. Today most of these privately owned clubs have folded up not because the men were tired of the game but because they were frustrated by the system which made management of the clubs unprofitable.

How? Because most of the clubs were run by government officials who didn’t spend their personal funds to run the clubs, they didn’t play by the rules and sometimes cut corners to secure victories used to massage the egos of their bosses, governors of the various states who equally relied on the clubs’ achievements to boost their political profile.

It is the bulk of these club chairmen and State Football Association Chairmen who form the bulk of what is now known as football stakeholders, who have a say on who becomes a member or even president of the NFF Board.

It is very ironic that these same

Girl Power... Asisat Oshoala and team mate Ugo Njoku shaking their little tails at the FIFA tournament in Canada. Both girls have been invited to the camp of the Super Falcons to fight for a team place to the AWC in Namibia.

men who are government appointees and paid by government money who run to FIFA at the slightest excuse, crying that the same government through which they came on board as members of the football family is interfering in the running of football and therefore force FIFA to threaten or ban the country out-rightly.

Before now, the transition process in the NFF was never rancorous because before the D-Day, the electorates who are mostly government officials knew who the governmentwantsaschairmanand play along for him to emerge. The resultisthussenttoFIFAwhichthen endorses it.

Todayhowever,thesegovernment

Oshoala, Eaglets get national awards S

UPER Falcons midfielder Asisat Oshoala,will receive a national award from President Goodluck Jonathan on September 29, in Abuja.

Asisat who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the Golden Boot winner at the just concluded FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada on hearing the news thanked the Almighty for making it possible that she has been recognized.

“Well I am really happy about it and I feel appreciated because it’s a good thing for one to be appreciated by her own Nation” Asisat said.

The Rivers Angels player is currently in Super Falcons camp in preparation for the Africa Women Championship (AWC).

Also included in the list is captain of the U-20 silver winning side,Patience Okaeme.

Other recipients of the national award are members of the all-conquering Golden Eaglets class of 2013, as well as coaches and backroom staff of

the team.

List of recipients and class of awards: Asisat Oshoala - highest goal scorer, 2014 under 20 FIFA female football competition (MON) Patience Okaeme - captain of U20 women’s team (MFR) Manu Garba, OFR (OON) Peter Dedevbo-coach, 2014 U20 women’s team (OON) Emmanuel Amunekeassistant coach, 2013 U17(MFR) Nduka Ugbade-assistant coach, 2013 U17(MFR) Emeka Amadi - Golden Eaglets goalkeeper trainer (MFR) Egbaiyelo Temitayo - team secretary, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Ayodeji Olarinoye - team doctor, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Gabriel Oyenuga - team physiotherapist, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Morakinyo Abodunrin -team media officer, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON)

Suleiman Abubakar - team coordinator, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Mohammed Kafa equipment manager, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Musa Muhammed - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Sunday Alampasu - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Abdulazeez Abubakar player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Uzoho Odinaka - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Zaharadeen Bello - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Aliu Abubakar - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Obasi Chigozie - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Musa Yahaya - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Samuel Godwin Okon player, 2013 national under 17

officials have tasted the sweetness of governmentmoneywhichtheynevergiveaccountofandhavetampered with the rules guiding the NFF elections to suit their selfish agenda.

And when they find it difficult to manipulatetheirwaytoofficeorretain power,theyorchestratereactionsfrom FIFA, at times leading to threats of ban or outright ban.

football team (MON) Chidiebere Nwakali - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Akinjide Idowu - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Salihu A. Baba - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Godwin Saviour - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Alfa Abdullahi - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Makanjuola Habeeb player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Chidera Ezeh - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Success Isaac - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Kelechi Iheanacho - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Awoniyi Taiwo - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Dennis Okon Nya - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON) Japhet Raymond - player, 2013 national under 17 football team (MON)

PAGE 62 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

First Bank gears up for African women club basketball

BY EDDIE AKALONU

F

IRST Bank Basketball club of Lagos head coach, Aderemi Adewunmi has defended the early commencement of his team’s preparation for the Africa Club Women Championship qualifiers later this year.

The The team has been training at the the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos First Bank, which for ten years were undisputed champions of Nigeria, in the immediate past season returned to the top by winning the women league, after playing second fiddle to First Deepwater from the 2010/2011 season. The 2003 African women champions beat Dolphin of Lagos in the final of 2013/ 2014 season in Lagos.

According to Aderemi: “We began preparation on August 18 because we do not want to wait until a FIBA Africa notice before getting things done. We actually do not know when a FIBA Africa letter will be issued.”

“So, I decided we should start early for the championship and on-going,” he stated “We have rookies whom we need to work on all year round, so as to turn them into keen and

•D’Tigers drop in world ranking focused players. Therefore, whenever anytime the FIBA Africa gives the go ahead to play, we will be almost ready to play.” he said.

Besides, Adewunmi said a big club like First Bank with a rich history in women basketball in Nigeria does not leave things to chance.

“We have a tradition in First Bank Basketball club, we do not wait for official notifications before getting things done even if it’s about local league, we do not wait for Nigeria Basketball Federation to announce the commencement date for the league.”

Meanwhile the national men’s basketball team of Nigeria, D’Tigers, have dropped six places to 24th in the latest FIBA World rankings released after the FIBA World Cup in Spain.

Nigeria, despite dropping 6 places maintain 3rd position in Africa behind unmoved Tunisia in 23rd and African champions Angola, who dropped one place to 16th.

West African neighbours Senegal emerged the biggest movers in the world ranking moving up 11 places to 30th and 4th in Africa after an impressive World cup in Spain.

Basketball delight... Coach Aderemi and his players

Murray backtracks after demand for independent Scotland

Golf: After 260 years, its yes for women at R and A

A

T

NDY Murray took side with those who wanted a Scottish independence in referendum.

But that notwithstanding he still wants to play for Great Britain, even as he risked a nose-dive in popularity stakes.

When asked about the Scottish independence debate during last year ’s Wimbledon, Murray promised that he would get involved – but not until closer to the time. True to his word, he chose the last possible moment to jump in with both feet, sending a strongly worded tweet in the small hours of Thursday morning that backed the Yes campaign.

“Huge day for Scotland today!”

Murray tweeted at around 1.30am.

“No campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. Excited to see the outcome.

Let’s do this!”

However, the nays had the vote.

And Murray was quick to demostrate his readiness to play for Great Britain in next year’s David’s Cup tie against the USA. He received the backing from Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith on Friday morning.ve.

Tennis commentators questioned his wisdom in entering the fray, suggesting that his future earnings through

sponsorship and popularity south of Berwick-upon-Tweed would tank.

Questions were also raised about whether or not Murray would want – or be welcomed – to play for the Great Britain Davis Cup team, if Scotland failed in their bid for independence, as has happened.

But captain Smith, a fellow Scot who coached Murray at junior level, moved to allay such worries and has publicly supported the world No12, and confirmed that he will spearhead the team in their World Group home tie with the USA next year, in early March.

HE Royal and Ancient golf club has agreed to open its doors to women, ending 260 years of male-only membership at one of the oldest clubs in the world and paving the way for women to play a role in the sport’s governance.

More than 75 percent of the club’s 2,400 worldwide members, voting in person and via proxy and postal votes after being encouraged by chief executive Peter Dawson and the club’s committees, took part and 85 percent were in favour

Lamido Adamawa, Kwankwaso eulogise MTN Polo

T

HE Lamido Adamawa, HRH Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa and the Executive Governor of Kano State, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso have distinguished MTN polo train that is spreading excitements across the north, as a veritable tool that has enriched lives positively among the youths.

Lamido Adamawa, who made this declaration while receiving delegations of the MTN top shots C M Y K

and Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF) officials in his palace in Yola Friday, urged MTN to foster greater ties with the noble game of polo and not to relent in its promotion of sports generally in Nigeria.

The Royal father who hails the partnership between Yola Polo Club and MTN, further declared that the entire citizen of the ancient Adamawa Kingdom and the State government are grateful for the company’s promotion of Nigerian polo over the years, The company’s involvement in

the promotion of polo in Nigeria and beyond, has also received official thumps-up from the Kano State Government.

Kano State Governor, Alhaji (Dr.) Rabiu Kwankwaso stated that the unequaled involvement of the communication giants in the promotion of polo and sports generally in the state, has helped redirect energies of the youth away from societal vices.

Dr Kwankwaso made this declaration in Bompai, venue of the ongoing MTN international polo tournament.

Michelle Wie... Ready to play at Royal and Ancient golf club.

of the change.

“This vote has immediate effect and I can confirm that The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is now a mixed membership club,” Dawson, who retires next year, said in statement.

“This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

“The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men.”

Founded in 1754, the Royal and Ancient’s members play on the St Andrews links course regarded as the “home of golf ” and host to the British Open a record 28 times.

Although women have been able to play on the course, which staged the women’s British Open last year, they were, until Thursday’s vote, not allowed in the clubhouse and played no significant part in the sport’s rulemaking arm, the R&A. That body, separated from the club 10 years ago, controls golf around the world apart from in the United States and Mexico and is made up almost entirely of R&A club members.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, PAGE 63

Apam joins Obafemi at Sounders S

EATTLE Sounders have confirmed the signing of former Super Eagles defender Onyekachi Apam. The player is only awaiting his international transfer clearance and work permit to join fellow estranged Eagles team mate Obafemi Martins in the US Major Soccer League club.

The 27-year-old joins the MLS side on a free transfer having had his contract with Stade Rennais rescinded back in January, but the length of the deal was not disclosed.

The highly rated centre back has spent his entire career so far in France, having joined Nice back in 2005. He went on to make 105 Ligue 1 appearances for les Aiglons before moving to Stade Rennais in the summer of 2010.

Apam so far has earned 14 caps with the Eagles. He won a silver with U-23 team at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and also played at the 2010 Nations Cup..

Seattle Sounders coach, Sigi Schmid, said Apam was the type of defender they were

NFF congress Continued from BP CAF Ethics Committee, Amanze Uchegbulam called for unity among members of the football fraternity. “We must remain united, no matter what happens, not even the outcome of the forthcoming elections should divide us,” Uchegbulam, who is also gunning for the NFF Presidency said. He told delegates that government cannot be extricated from football and its role “should

Warri to host Sept 30 NFF elective Congress Kicking.. Onyekachi Apam breathing life into his soccer career looking for.

“Usually, we want to see players live or bring them in on a trial, but the way the deadline was and everything else, it was something we could get done,” Sounders coach Schmid said on Friday.

“There’s nobody else that’s really on our radar right now that’ll work as well, so we’ll

do this.

“I can’t think of another time where we’ve really done it sight unseen, but we felt it was a big opportunity.” “(Martins) spoke highly of him,” Schmid said.

“He’s got a good pedigree.

He’s got pace, which is something we’re looking for in a central defender, as well.''

T

HE Nigeria Football Federation Congress rose in Warri, Delta State on Saturday with a resolution to return to the oil city for its elective Congress of September 30.

The motion, for Warri as host of the elective Congress, which later received the blessing of the house was moved by a delegate from Ekiti State FA. Presiding, the NFF President Aminu Maigari had reminded delegates about the resolution of

Uche fit to play against Rayo — Coach V

ILLARREAl coach Mar celino Garcia Toral, said that his main striker Uche Ikechukwu was fit and may be available as Villarreal host Rayo Vallecano in today’s Spanish League cup tie.

Uche had picked up a knock in their Europa Cup fixture against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The unwanted Nigerian striker came off the bench and canceled the German club’s lead on Thursday.

“He got us our equaliser But he got an injury, which hurt our chances.

“But it is nothing serious, he had a dead leg,” said the coach.

He was full of praise for his team stating that it was a difficult match.

“I’m proud and very satisfied with my players. The draw is a fair result because it’s true that Borussia dominated a little more than ourselves in the first half, but without many clear chances on goal. In the second half though, we were far more superior, we created more opportunities and had more shots on goal. We deserved the draw and maybe something more.”

Giving further analysis, Marcelino felt Borussia had just about shaded the first half, but was in no doubts that Villarreal

C M Y K

be seen as collaboration and not as interference.”

Taiwo Ogunjobi, a former Secretary General who is also standing for elections as Maigari’s replacement spoke in the same vein. The aspirants for the NFF hot seat who were at the Congress include Shehu Dikko, Dominic Irofa, Amanze Uchegbulam, Taiwo Ogunjobi, Mike Umeh and Amaju Pinnick.

were much stronger in the second half and possibly deserved to edge a win.

“Their goal came in a predictable way and we should have avoided conceding it, from back-pass which they took advantage of. Two minutes before that however, we had had a really clear chance, which if we’d taken it, would have made things completely different. It was a tough blow but we made a good reaction.”

“In the second half we made a tactical change, mainly to contain their passing and I think we nullified them tactically. The team responded really well to that and the second half was completely ours.”

Ebomhe heads new electoral committee

B

Well Done... Ikechukwu Uche and his coach Marcelino Garcia Toral in a happy mood.

NFF presidential aspirant launches website

N

FF Presidential candidate Shehu Dikko broke new grounds Saturday when he launched his official website in Warri after the NFF extra-ordinary congressthere.

The website, www.shehudikko.com, houses among other innovations Dikko’s mission,visionandvaluesfortheNFF as well as his blueprint, policy thrust and action plan for the football federation.

It also captures all the milestones

the Congress held last year which stated that Warri would host the 2014 elective Congress.

He reminded them that the resolution was documented, well publicised and a copy sent to FIFA. There were initial misgivings about the chioce of Warri because it is the home town of one of the Presidential candidates, Amaju Pinnick .

Delegates demanded for assurances from the host FA that there would be a level play ground for all contestants.

Delta State FA Chairman Amaju Pinnick, who was at the centre of the argument assured the full house that Delta State believes in fairplay. “We are a state that observes the best international practices. Warri is the safest place to be in Nigeria,” Amaju said, adding, “It is not a do or die affair. Our club, Warri Wolves lose home matches here in Warri and no hell is let loose.”

On hearing Amaju, the Congress unanimously agreed to return to Warri for the September 30 elective Congress.

he has achieved as a football administrator,fromfacilitatingthetour of mighty Manchester United and PortsmouthtoNigeriain2008aswell as landmarks in league sponsorship andinternationalagreements.

“Thiswebsitewillbeaveryinteractive channel to reach and be reached by thefootballcommunityinNigeriaand beyond,” he said at the launch.

“It is not just for the presidential campaign, but hopefully beyond because I wish to be judged by the various positions I have taken over

the years as regards marketing, sponsorship drives, administration andpartnershipwithbothprivateand publicsectors.”

He further said: “If elected presidentoftheNFF,Iwillendeavour to open all channels of communicationwithallstakeholders because I have always believed in carrying everyone along.”

Shehu Dikko is a successful businessman who holds an MBA withspecializationinmarketingand finance.

ARRISTER Samson Ebomhe is the chairman of the new NFF electoral committee saddled with the responsibility of conducting the September 30 election into the new Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation.

Other member of the committee include Barrister M. T. Ahmed, Adamu Sani Usman, Sadiq Yusuf Zaria, Rev. Onyeaghala Obioma, Engineer Adeola Adelanwa, Alhaji Sani Dahiru Yakassai, Mrs Sarah Jumoke Adebisi and Barrister Awal Mohammed.

Secretary General of the NFF, Musa Amadu will serve as secretary of the committee.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Cameroon, Cote’d Ivoire, Guinea to host Nations Cup C AMEROON, Cote ‘d Ivoire and Guinea were named as future hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) yesterday, by the executive

ACROBATIC: Welbeck (centre) produces an acrobatic effort on goal as Villa defenders Alan Hutton (right) and Senderos try to block the ball during their Premier League match yesterday at Villa Park. Arsenal won 3-0

committee meeting of the continent’s soccer ruling body meeting in Addis Abba, Ethiopia.

Cameroon will host 2019 finals and 2021 edition will be in Cote ‘d Ivoire. In an unscheduled announcement CAF also decided to hand Guinea the right to host the 2023 finals. Algeria and Zambia lost out in the bidding process. Cameroon, who will stage the tournament in 2019 previously staged the Nations Cup in 1972. Ivory Coast, awarded the 2021 edition, are also former hosts, having staged the Cup of Nations in 1984.

Zimbabwe is bidding to host the 2017 edition. But CAF has not made any decision.

A Caf spokesperson told the BBC that, on the basis of Guinea’s presentation “and commitment”, the committee “decided to exercise its power to make an immediate decision.”

The Executive Committee of Africa’s governing body of football met on Saturday to vote on the bids.

The Committee also decided to give unanimous support to Sepp Blatter at the next Fifa elective assembly in 2015.

NFF Congress sues for peace •As Danagogo backs new efforts

BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE in Warri

T

HE Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Dr Tammy Danagogo has thrown his full weight behind the Nigeria Football Federation Congress when he appealed to stake holders not to allow detractors truncate the steady growth of the sport in Nigeria.

Speaking at the NFF General Congress in Warri yesterday, the Minister who was represented by a director in the ministry, Dr Bolaji OjoOba said football was Nigeria’s biggest product and all hands must be on deck in selling the product he described as “symbol of unity in Nigeria.”

The Minister has been

QPR Aston Villa Burnley Newcastle Swansea West Ham Deportivo Coruña

variously accused of fueling the current crisis in the nation’s football house, but the delivery by Ojo-Oba in Warri yesterday marked a direct opposition as his gestures and mannerisms clearly portrayed.

“If The Republic of Benin, Togo or Seychelles with a population of 170,000 can get it right, why can’t Nigeria of 170 million people?”

Danagogo asked, rhetorically, amidst applause from the packed hall.

“If all sports federations are under the ministry, then football is certainly one of them. And if football is our baby, then it is our responsibility to ensure the baby grows,” the minister said.

Alhassan Yakmut represented the DG, National Sports Commission, Hon. Tunde Elegbeleye

RESULTS 2 0 0 2 0 3 2

Stoke Arsenal Sunderland Hull Southampton Liverpool Real Madrid

2 3 0 2 1 1 8

From all ramifications, it was a successful congress as delegates from all the states, the Nigeria Referees Association, the Nationwide

League, the Women’s League and Coaches Association were present at the Brownhill Events Centre in Warri, venue of the Congress.

NFF President, Aminu Maigari presided over what has been described as one of

the best congresses of the federation in recent history.

There were speeches by various delegates, prominent among whom were Imo State FA Chairman and member of

Continues on Page 63

Today’s Matches Leicester Tottenham Everton Man City Villarreal Levante

V V V V V V

Man Utd West Brom Crystal Palace Chelsea Rayo Vallecano Barcelona

1:30 pm 1:30 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 5.00pm 8.00pm

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. House of Reps Speaker (8) 5. Assistant (4) 7. Praise (5) 8. Upright (4) 9. Lantern (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 15. Exclamation (2) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 18. Agent (3) 20. Glitters (6) 24. Forward (5) 25. Nigerian state (6) 27. Boring tool (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 31. Perform (2) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 36. Vow (4) 38. Musical quality (4) 39. Inclination (5) 40. Eager (4) 41. Damages (8)

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)

See solution on page 5

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Advert Dept: :01- 7924470; Hotline: 01-4544821; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. Email website: sundayvanguard@yahoo.com, editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com. Advert:advert@vanguardngr.com.

Internet: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: JIDE AJANI. 08111813023 All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.