CERTIFICATE SAGA:Buhari defends self

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62325

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ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

N150

Why we cleared Buhari — APC screening c'ttee 14

CERTIFICATE SAGA:

Buhari defends self •Katsina Ministry of Education releases WASC result •Jonathan asks him to withdraw from race for perjury

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Abdulsalam Muhammed, Henry Umoru & Dayo Adesulu

All BIRD FLU: BATTLE FOR VOTES IN THE NORTH CONTINUES Congress, LAGOS—THE Progressives APC,

11 poultry farms under watch —PAN

Presidential Candidate,

Continues on Page 5

COLUMNISTS:

14

President Jonathan finally visited Maiduguri

APC behind attack on Jonathan in Katsina — PDP

•P.17

Buhari, park! Show your certificate

•P.19

8

JP Morgan Index: CBN increases banks' forex trading reserves 9

Mbaka vs The Jonathans: N5m in an offering •P.19 bag?

Mr & Mrs

CAMPAIGNS—The Presidential campaigns battle for votes in the North continued ,yesterday, as President Jonathan of PDP (above) stormed Kano, while Gen. Buhari of APC hit home state, Katsina. Photos: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor & Abayomi Adeshida.

DEATH WISH ADVERT: NHRC to sanction Fayose9 C M Y K

2 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 3

C M Y K

4 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 —5

POCKET CARTOON

FORUM—From left: Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr. Folusho Phillips; Executive Director, UN Global Compact, Mr. Georg Kell; Chairman, Honeywell Group, Dr. Oba Otudeko; Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ben Akabueze and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, at the Africa Sustainable CEO Business Forum in Lagos.

Certificate saga: Buhari defends self Continues from Page 1

General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, defended himself over his school certificate saga. This came as his secondary school certificate result emerged, yesterday, when the Katsina State Ministry of Education released a certified statement of result of the presidential candidate’s 1961 school certificate examination.

Before the result was released, Gen. Buhari took a pause from his campaign schedule to address a press conference on the matter.

Buhari described as a mischief orchestrated by the Jonathan administration to distract him from the issues of corruption, insecurity and unemployment which he said were at the heart of the campaign.

The production of the school certificate result nonetheless, the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization was,

Buhari's University of Cambridge/WASC result provided by APC, yesterday. unrelenting as it yesterday called on Buhari to withdraw from

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts and others, is the meaning of life —Marianne Williamson Wayne Dyer a prolific writer and inspiration speaker, concludes from decades of research in his work that the most profound and important thing a person can do to erase fear and access the power of intention is repeating these five key words: I want to feel good! This is the same thing as saying, I want to be in harmony with the source of well-being.

It’s been proven that the thoughts we choose have everything to do with our emotions. I can tell you that a commitment to feeling good, he says can take away a stomach ache, fear, depression, sadness, anxiety—you name it. Any stress signal is a way of alerting you to say the five miracle words: I want to feel good. This is your intention to be tranquil and stress free—and it’s a way of connecting to spirit.

the presidential contest on the basis of alleged perjury. The body said Buhari’s earlier claim on oath that his credentials were with the army board had been contradicted by available evidence.

Speaking at a press conference in the Kano State Government House, yesterday, Buhari expressed surprise that the Army board claimed not to be in possession of his certificate. He said he had as such requested his secondary school, the then Provincial Secondary School, Katsina now Government Secondary School, Katsina to provide the result.

The statement of result as authenticated by the present principal and examination officer of the school showed that

Buhari who entered for eight subjects obtained five credits and one pass while he failed in two subjects. The failed subjects were Woodwork and Mathematics. He obtained credits in English, Hausa, Economics, Geography, History and Health Science and obtained a pass in English Literature.

Buhari defends self

Earlier at a press conference in Kano, Buhari flanked by his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and party chieftains had read out a press statement.

He said: “I only consented to address you this morning because of the genuine concern expressed by many

supporters and other well-meaning Nigerians that the issue be addressed. Otherwise, I would have dismissed it for what it is—sheer mischief— and would not have considered it an issue worth the nation’s while.

“I had assumed all along that all my records were in the custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army.

Much to my surprise, we are now told that although a record of the result is available, there are no copies of the certificates in my personal file. This is why I formally requested my old school, the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina (which is now known as Government College, Katsina) to make available the school’s copy of the result of the Cambridge/West African School Certificate. This will be made available to the press the moment this is available.

“However, before we obtain that, let me say for the record that I attended Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. I graduated in 1961 with many prominent Nigerians, including General Shehu Yar’Adua, former Chief of Staff at the Supreme Headquarters, and Justice Umaru Abdullahi, a former President of the Court of Appeal. We sat for the University of Cambridge/ WASC Examination together in 1961, the year we graduated. My examination number was 8280002, and I passed the examination in the Second Division.

“And although the ruling party may want to wish this away, the issue in this campaign cannot be my certificate which I obtained 53 years ago.

The issues are the scandalous level of unemployment of millions of our young people, the state of insecurity, the pervasive official corruption which has impoverished our people and the lack of concern of the government for anything other than the retention of power at all costs.”

Not long after Buhari's address, yesterday, copies of his WASC result were released, copies of which were sent to Vanguard by the APC.

Buhari should withdraw — PDP Campaign

Calling on Buhari to withdraw from the presidential contest on the allegation that he committed perjury on the basis of his earlier claim on oath that the certificate was with the Army board, spokesman of the President Jonathan campaign organization, Femi Fani-Kayode said: “Information reaching us now has shown that the Presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed today (yesterday) in Kano at a press conference that the affidavit he swore to in which he claimed that his credentials were in the custody of the military was not true after all.

“The implication of the action of this so-called “Mr Clean” is nothing but perjury and we all know that this is a grave criminal offence under our laws and constitution.

“We urge Buhari and his party to do the right thing and tender an unreserved apology to the Nigerian people, throw in the towel and report to the nearest police station for interrogation and prosecution. Anything less than that would be an insult to the collective intelligence and integrity of the Nigerian people.

"We also urge the Nigerian Armed Forces to consider the possibility of stripping him of his rank and privileges given the fact that he was never qualified to join the Nigerian Army as a commissioned officer in the first place because he never had the prerequisite qualification which was a school certificate. Given this, at best Buhari should never have been anything more than a non-commissioned officer.”

6—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Ghana Navy arrests 8 Nigerian pirates

By Godwin Oritse, with agency reports

G

HANA Navy has foiled a pirate attack on a Nigerian cargo vessel, MT Mariam, and captured all eight bandits.

The pirates were armed, but no one, including a nine-member crew aboard MT Mariam, was injured when the Ghana Navy crew aboard GNS BLIKA effected the arrest.

According to the Public Relations Officer of 1 Garrison of Ghana Armed Forces, Lt Maxwell Asola, all eight pirates are Nigerians.

Owners of the hijacked ship alerted the Ghana Navy about the incident and requested for assistance.

MV Mariam is scheduled to dock at the port on Sunday.

Lt Asola told the Daily Graphic that the arrest took place at about 10:30a.m. and that the owner of the vessel, in lodging the complaint, said the pirates told him via telephone that they wanted to use the vessel to carry out an attack and hung up.

This prompted the owner of MV Mariam to approach Ghana Navy for assistance.

Most Nigerian pirates have moved their activities to neighbouring countries because the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has made the nation’s coastal and territorial waters uncomfortable for them.

Reacting to the development, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime Matters, Mr. Leke Oyewole, warned that any Nigerian caught in any nefarious activity outside the country will have to face law of that country.

Oyewole, however, commended the collaboration between the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA in their effort to stamp piracy out of Nigeria.

He explained that by the time a sub-regional cooperation amongst the Navies comes into effect, pirates will have no hiding place in the entire West Africa region.

He also said the falling oil price will also checkmate the activities of pirates and smugglers.

6-year-old killed, as fire razes building in Enugu

By Austin Ogwuda

E

NUGU—A six-year-old child has been killed in a fire incident in Enugu, according to the state police command.

Command’s spokesman, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the incident, said

the fire, which occurred at 9, Umueze Street Awkunanaw, Enugu State, gutted two flats in a two-storey building and also burned a six-year-old child, identified as Sochimaobi Nwatu, to death.

“The cause of the incident,” he said, “is yet to be ascertained as full scale

Two trucks collide along Mokwa Road, Niger State, Tuesday.

PHOTO: Akeem Salau.

investigations have commenced.”

He also said the command was investigating the case of car snatching involving a passenger, who allegedly drugged a taxi driver he hired.

According to him, “the Uwani Division has

A petroleum tanker loaded with baskets of tomatoes crashes along Jebba Road, Kwara State, Tuesday. PHOTO: Akeem Salau.

My husband has gone mad; dissolve our marriage, woman begs court

By Onozure Dania

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AGOS—A fashion designer Abosede Lawal, has told an Igando Grade A Customary Court to dissolve her 20 years old marriage with her estranged husband, Demola Lawal, who she said was mentally deranged.

Abosede, a resident of 29, Ore Ofe Street, Governor’s Road, Ikotun, told the court that she had five children with her husband, a mechanic.

She told the court President, Rasack Ishola-Adeyeri, that when they got married, she did not know that he had mental disorder until she gave birth to their first child.

She said he started behaving funny and saying things nobody understood at the hospital where she gave birth.

The fashion designer said she thought it was something she could cope with initially, stating that she thought that her husband would get well one day until she finally moved out, following threats to her life by her husband.

Lawal said: “Whenever we go to bed, he always says he would kill me before he can be well, though some times when he regains his sanity, he behaves normal.

“Whenever my husband loses

his sanity, he always brings acid, cutlass and knife to the bed room and keeps them beside the bed and says that if he does not kill me, he will not be well.

“After sometime he will stop saying it. He also beats me mercilessly whenever he loses his sanity.”

Asked if she was married to another man that prompted her to seek for divorce, Abosede denied it, stating that it was because she could not live with her husband that made her ask for the dissolution of the marriage.

Asked further why she continued to have children for her estranged husband when she discovered that he was mentally deranged, she said she hoped he would get well, not knowing his case was hereditary.

She also told the court that her last child still lived with her husband, while the other four were living with her mother.

She was later advised by the court to get the children to live with her and the matter was adjourned to February 4 for continuation of hearing.

Cult war leaves 4 dead in Delta

By Theresa Ugbobu

A

GBOR—FOUR suspected cultists have been killed in a clash between Aye and Black Axe Baga at Owa in Ika NorthEast Local Government Area of Delta State.

One of those killed is believed to be a politician from Ute Okpu in same local government area.

Vanguard gathered that there had been rivalry between the two cult groups over who had control of the area, which had resulted in attacks, counterattacks and killings for about four years.

Investigations by Vanguard

commenced investigations into the incident where a passenger allegedly offered suspected drugged yoghurt to a hired taxi cab driver.

“The yoghurt made him sleep off, thereby paving way for the suspected passenger to drive off with the car to an unknown destination.”

showed that tension had gripped the people over incessant shootouts by cultists in the community.

When Vanguard visited the community, nightlife had been adversely affected as people rushed home before 7p.m., as if there was curfew in the town.

The Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Agbor Police Division, Albert Dike, confirmed the incident, saying police were investigating the matter.

Last October, a suspected cultist, on a motorcycle at Agbor, was shot in broad daylight by two other suspected cultists, riding a different motorcycle.

One arrested for invasion of Delta LP campaign office

By Egufe Yafugborhi

W

ARRI—POLICE in Delta State have arrested one Best John Igho, following an invasion and destruction of property at a Labour Party, LP, campaign office at Eku, Ethiope East local Government Area of the state.

Delta Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the incident, told Vanguard yesterday that it was “a case of malicious damage” at the campaign office belonging to Chief Evans Ivwurie, LP candidate for Ethiope East Constituency of the state House of Assembly in the coming elections.

Ivwurie said the suspect was caught by Eku vigilante team at about 2a.m., Monday, as he and other persons invaded the twostorey building housing the campaign office and set the top floor on fire after vandalizing and removing speakers of the public address system in the office.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—7

Rights groups condemn execution of Nigerians by Indonesian govt L

AGOS—HUMAN rights groups, Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, and Avocats Sans Frontières, ASF, France, have condemned the recent execution of two Nigerians by the Indonesian government.

The groups gave the condemnation, yesterday, in separate interviews with newsmen in Lagos.

Two Nigerians, Daniel

Enemuo and Solomon Chibuike Okafor, were executed alongside five others for drug trafficking on Monday.

Others executed were from Brazil, Indonesia, Malawi, the Netherlands and Vietnam.

Mr. Chino Obiagwu, National Coordinator, LEDAP, condemned the executions, noting that the organization was totally against death

penalty under any circumstance.

According to him, death penalty, whether in Nigeria or anywhere in the world, is very cruel, especially in a situation where there is no guarantee of fair trial.

On her part, Head of Office, ASF France, Nigeria, Mrs Angela Uwandu, said the organisation was in the forefront for the abolition of

death penalty.

She noted that the deceased persons’ alleged crimes did not fall within serious crimes under the international law.

Uwandu said: “We condemn the execution of the Nigerians.

However, it is an opportunity to remind the Nigerian government that death penalty should not have any place in our criminal justice system in the 21st century.”

FCT Minister impounds 2,900 Okada in 10 months

By Henry Umoru

A

BUJA—MINISTER of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Senator Bala Mohammed, disclosed yesterday that he had impounded 2,900 commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, in the last 10 months in Abuja.

According to him, during the same period, 807 tricycles, Keke NAPEP, and 280 unpainted commercial vehicles, Kabu-

Kabu, were impounded by the Special Task Team on City Cleaning and Management since inception about 10 months ago.

Disclosing this after reviewing the activities of the Special Task Team he inaugurated on Monday March 11, 2014, the minister said the Special Task Team was set to ensure the efficient and sustainable cleaning and management of Abuja through the enforcement of the provisions of the enabling

laws applicable in the FCT under the chairmanship of the FCT Police Commissioner.

On street hawkers, beggars and commercial sex workers, the minister disclosed that the Task Team had so far arrested 492 commercial sex workers, 1,108 street hawkers and 48 under-aged hawkers.

He added that the Special Task Team had been able to arrest 128 miscreants/urchins, 192 beggars/destitute as well as 17 mentally ill persons in and

around the FCT, during the same period.

He advised members of the public, who had formed the habit of not using the pedestrian overhead bridges for crossing the highways, to desist forthwith.

He also warned those destroying barricades erected by government to prevent people from crossing expressways to desist from doing so, stressing that security personnel had been directed to enforce it.

Drums of illegally-refined diesel impounded by Nigerian Navy in Port Harcourt, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.

Bayelsa APC accuses Police of indiscriminate arrest of members

By Jimitota Onoyume

P

ORT HARCOURT—ALL Progressive Congress, APC, in Rivers State has condemned alleged indiscriminate arrest of its members by Police in the state.

Director of the governorship

campaign platform of the party, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, in a statement, yesterday, decried the alleged action of the Police, saying members of the party were being detained by the Police over flimsy issues.

She accused the Police of being biased, adding that the

Inspector General of Police should call his men to order in the state.

Semenitari, who is also the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, said the arrest and detention of APC members in the state was part of alleged plot by Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, to use the Police to provoke APC members in the state.

She said: “Greater Together Campaign Organization has condemned the indiscriminate arrest and detention of members and supporters of APC in Bayelsa State.”

STRIKE: Health workers protest over rising cases of deaths in Bayelsa

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y

ENAGOA—HEALTH workers at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, in Bayelsa State, yesterday, staged a peaceful protest over the alleged continued refusal of the Federal Government to discuss and approve the demands of the Joint Health Sector Union and Assembly of Health Care Professionals.

According to the protesting health workers, led by the Chairman of University Teaching Hospital Research and other Allied Institution, SSAUTHRIAI, Mr. Save Bani, the strike, called in November 2014, had resulted in the death of about 100 patients in the state, including a nursing staff of the FMC, Mrs. Theresa Edet.

The protesters, armed with placards, some of which read “Jonathan save the health sector,” “Jonathan: Our health or your second term, choose,” called on the President to immediately take a break from his campaign schedule and approve the demands of the health workers.

They lamented that even after series of meetings through the Supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity and the Minister of Health, the administration was yet to fulfill the demands of the union.

He said: “It is sad that in the President’s home state, the effect is worrisome and has resulted in a rise in deaths of patients due to the strike action and resulting high expenses paid in private hospital for health care.

“In spite of the series of peace meetings with the union, the Federal Government has been treating our demands with disdain and levity, not minding that our members constitute 95 percent of the entire workforce in the health industry.”

8—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

BIRD FLU: No cause for alarm —FG

By Jimoh Babatunde

L

AGOS — DESPITE reported cases of bird flu in five states of the federation, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said Nigeria is not in a state of any epidemic.

A total of 139,505 birds have been associated with bird flu exposures, with 22,173 (15 per cent) mortality recorded since the incidence of bird flu (avian influenza) on some poultry farms in Nigeria was reported two weeks ago.

Speaking in Abuja, yesterday, Adesina said: “We are not in a state of any epidemic. Five states have so far reported cases of the bird flu: Kano, Lagos, Ogun, Delta and Rivers. To date, 15 commercial farms and 9 live bird markets have been affected in the five states.

“As at today, January 21, 2015, a total of 139,505 birds have been associated with bird flu exposures, with 22,173 (15 per cent) mortality recorded.”

He disclosed that the most affected state has been Kano, where the initial case of the bird flu was found, adding: “A total of 103,445 birds have reportedly been exposed to the infection in Kano State, with 15,963 (15 per cent) mortality reported. These cases were found in Gwale, Kumbotso, Tofa, Gaya and Ungogo local governments.“ He said, in Lagos State, the total number of birds under close watch is 31,195 and 3,347 (11 per cent) mortality has been reported.

He said the three confirmed cases were from Somolu and Eti Osa Local Government Areas, noting that all the farms have been quarantined and decontaminated.

“In Ogun State, Sagamu has reported two locations with one positive case (Ifo) and another negative case (Sabo). Of the 1,030 birds currently under watch in the two locations, 163 (15 per cent) have experienced mortality.

“Other states with positive cases reported are Rivers, Delta, Edo and Plateau with figures ranging between 200 and 1,550 mortalities.

“I wish to assure Nigerians that the recent reported cases of bird flu should not pose any real risk to humans. Research findings have confirmed that human infection with the H5N1 virus, although possible, remains a rare event."

APC, Buhari behind attack on Jonathan in Katsina —PDP zWarn of consequences of a repeat A

By Henry Umoru

BUJA — THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation have accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), of allegedly masterminding the attack on President Goodluck Jonathan, Tuesday, in Katsina State and asked the APC and Buhari to call their supporters to order.

Meanwhile, the Police in Katsina State have arrested 24 persons in connection with the attack on the convoy of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Presidential campaign in Katsina State on Tuesday.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, PCO, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, described the action of the APC supporters at Buhari’s home state as despicable, barbaric, shameful and highly reprehensible, warning that Buhari would be held responsible if anything untoward happened to Jonathan.

They also warned that the consequences of a repeat of such an act would be grave.

In his address, Fani- Kayode said: “Let us take this opportunity to also serve them notice that if anything untoward happens to our candidate or his supporters during the course of this campaign we shall hold Buhari and his party responsible and the consequences would be grave, unimaginable and far-reaching.

Despicable, barbaric and shameful

"Meanwhile, we call on our millions of supporters all over the country to remain calm and not to indulge in any form of violence or revenge attacks despite this massive and unwarranted provocation.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), while going to Katsina for his scheduled rally, a group of broom-wielding vandals, chanting 'sai Buhari', hurled stones at the convoy of the President and Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who, as you all know, is our presidential candidate in the February 14 election.

“We consider that action despicable, barbaric, shameful and highly reprehensible. It shows very clearly the violent nature, disposition and character of those individuals that were involved and the presidential candidate that they support.

“The Katsina show of shame

zAs APC condemns attack

VISIT: From left: Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Chairman, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu; President Goodluck Jonathan; Emir of Kano, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Vice President Namadi Sambo during a courtesy call on the Emir in Kano during the PDP Presidential campaign rally in Kano, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida was the first case of violence unleashed on our candidate by supporters of the candidate of the APC, General Buhari, after the signing of the historic Abuja Accord by the presidential candidates of all the parties participating in the election. The purpose of that accord was to discourage violence before, during and after the elections.

“The laudable intention of the accord has now been irresponsibly violated by a group of miscreants and vandals whose leader has proved to be wholly incapable of keeping them in check and restraining them from indulging in violence. It is worrisome that this kind of violent reaction would manifest when the election has not held and their candidate has not yet lost."

Buhari'll suffer crushing defeat

Speaking further, FaniKayode said Buhari and his party would suffer very serious defeat next month, adding: “We are taking this opportunity to serve notice today that by the grace of God and the support of the well-meaning Nigerian electorate, General Buhari will suffer a crushing defeat in the hands of our candidate, President Jonathan, at the polls.

“When we remember the postelection violence of 2011 after this same candidate lost, you must appreciate the reason why we are raising these concerns.

"Were it not for the gallant efforts of the security personnel, this small group of violent vandals would have harmed the President and caused damage to the vehicles in his convoy.

“It is pertinent for us to point out the fact that our candidate, our party and our numerous supporters have so far behaved reasonably and responsibly during the course of this campaign and the world can attest to this with the peaceful rally that General Buhari had in Bayelsa State, the home state of our candidate."

APC was never committed to the Abuja accord

Also, the national leadership of the PDP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, while condemning the attack on Jonathan, said the attack was “a clear indication that the APC is not ready to dial back on its rabid desire to attain power through violence despite signing a peace pact a week ago in Abuja.

He said the party would “no longer tolerate such acts of violence on any of its members.

"This brazen attack on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and our presidential candidate clearly shows that the APC was never committed to the spirit and letters of the Abuja peace accord which they signed in the presence of prominent Nigerians and international personalities.

“It is unfortunate that while the PDP and other parties are busy ensuring that their members and supporters remain committed to a peaceful electioneering, the APC has been hatching plots to unleash violence on our candidates and members.

“We invite Nigerians, friends of Nigeria and all lovers of de-

mocracy to rise in condemnation of this dangerous phenomenon. These early developments clearly demonstrate that the comments and declarations by the leaders of the APC that Nigeria would be thrown into chaos and bloodshed should it lose the February general elections were real.

“We commend the maturity and the ever peaceful disposition of President Jonathan and the leaders of the PDP even in the face of this unwarranted attack."

APC condemns attack

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has strongly condemned the reported stoning of the campaign convoy of President Jonathan in Katsina State, saying "violence of any kind is totally unacceptable to the party."

In a statement signed yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Jonathan should be free to campaign anywhere in the country without hindrance.

It said: "Even though the attack on the President’s convoy took place a day after the provocative death-wish newspaper advertorial that was put out in the name of the President, nothing justifies the stoning of the President’s convoy anywhere in the country."

The party restated its commitment to a continuous enlightenment of its members and supporters to eschew violence before, during and after next month’s general elections, and urged other parties to follow suit." ‘’We consider election as a celebration of democracy, not a do-or-die affair. Whether or not one agrees with the campaign message of any party, engaging in violence negates the very essence of democracy and should be condemned by all," the party said.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 —9

DEATH WISH ADVERT:

NHRC to sanction Fayose

zSays Mbaka’s message against Jonathan violates Electoral Act

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

A

BUJA — THE National Human Rights Commission, yesterday, reviewed the controversial advert placed in some major national newspapers in the country by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State with a verdict that the material amounted to "hate speech."

Though the commission may not immediately arrest and prosecute Fayose because of the immunity he currently enjoys as a sitting governor, the rights commission might recommend him for appropriate sanctions once he leaves office.

This indication emerged at a stakeholders’ roundtable organised by the NHRC for civil society groups, mainstream and social media partners in Abuja, yesterday.

Chairman of the NHRC, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, who addressed journalists at the forum, decried the death wish publication by the advertiser, saying it offended public decency and violated all known norms of decorum.

Odinkalu said the governor, who is a member of the National Council of States, which makes decisions for the security of the country, should have exhibited caution and statesmanship in sending out the message.

The NHRC chairman noted that the governor went too far in his controversial message not minding that even the children of the former Northern leaders he showed to have died in office might feel bad while the same party also expected them to cast their votes for them in the forthcoming elections.

Odinkalu pointed out that the governor’s advert was not only in bad taste but it also violated Section 95 of the Electoral Act and should be made to pay for such open infraction.

Section 95(1) and (2) of the EA says: “A political campaign or slogan shall not be tainted with abusive language directly or indirectly likely to incite religious, ethnic, tribal or sectional feelings.

“Abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language or insinuations or innuendos designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotions shall not be employed or used in political campaigns.”

Mbaka breaches Electoral Act

The commission also took up issue with the Parish Priest of Adoration Ground, Rev Father Ejike Mbaka, for using his pulpit to canvass support for and against President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Odinkalu said Mbaka

breached the Electoral Act by first prophesying to the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, last November that Jonathan would win the 2015 election and later predicting during his New Year day preaching that Jonathan

should resign and leave the stage for Buhari for not doing enough.

The chairman said the action of the Reverend Father breached Section 95 (3) of theElectoral Act, which states that “places designated for

religious worship, police station and public offices shall not be used for political campaigns, rallies and processions or to promote, propagate or attack political parties, candidates, their political ideologies or programmes.”

North under siege because of Buhari —Gov Lamido

By Tina Akannam & Aliyu Dangida

D

RALLY: From left: Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State; All Progressives Congress, APC, Vice Presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; APC Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd); Katsina State Governorship candidate, Aminu Masari and APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, at Presidential campaign rally in Katsina, yesterday.

Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

JP Morgan Index: CBN increases banks’ forex trading reserves zNaira depreciates by N4 in 3 days zDealers peg daily depreciation at 2%

By Babajide Komolafe

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AGOS — THE Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday moved to forestall the removal of Nigeria from the JP Morgan’s Government Bond Index as it increased banks’ foreign exchange trading position.

The apex bank also reversed its decision to ban invisible transactions from the official foreign exchange market, thus making it easy for foreign investors to enter and exit from the nation’s financial market.

The apex bank, however, banned banks from selling dollars purchased from the official market and interbank market to Bureaux de Change and other authorised buyers.

This is coming on the heels of further depreciation of the naira in the interbank and parallel market, where the naira depreciated by N4 and N2.5 respectively in three days.

Meanwhile, bank foreign exchange dealers yesterday agree to halt trading whenever the naira depreciates more than two per cent in the interbank market.

Last Friday, United States JP Morgan had placed Nigeria on a negative index watch on its Government Bond Index (GBIEM), threatening to completely

remove the country from the GBI-EM if there is no sufficient dollar liquidity in the interbank market to facilitate entry and exit of investors from the nation’s financial market.

JP Morgan said: “If we are unable to verify sufficient liquidity in Nigeria’s spot forex and local treasury bond market it will trigger a review. for removal.

“Conversely, if liquidity improves and investors are able to transact with minimal hurdles, Nigeria will be removed from index watch negative.”

To forestall this development, the apex bank yesterday in a circular signed by Mr. Olakanmi Gbadamosi, Director, Trade and Exchange Department, said: “The Net Foreign Exchange trading position has been reviewed upward, from 0.1 per cent of the shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses, to 0.5 per cent of the shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.”

This allows banks to hold more dollars for trading in the interbank market and thus increase liquidity in the market.

Naira depreciates

by N4 in 3 days

The naira depreciated by N4 in three days at the interbank

foreign exchange market even as bank foreign exchange dealers, yesterday, agree to halt trading whenever the naira depreciates more than two per cent in the interbank market.

From N185.10 per dollar at the close of business last Friday, the interbank exchange rate rose steadily to N189.1 at the close of business yesterday. Similarly, the naira depreciated by N2.50 at the parallel market as the parallel market exchange rate rose to N195 per dollar at the close of business yesterday from N192.5 last Friday.

Operators attributed the depreciation in both markets to increased demand for dollars.

“People are looking for dollars to buy,” an operator told Vanguard on condition of anonymity.

According to the Ecobank Daily market report, “Interbank depreciation was driven by stronger than expected dollar demand to cover import bills (energy and manufacturing sectors) and capital flight ahead of the elections.”

The sharp depreciation has widened the gap (premium) between the official exchange rate and the interbank exchange rate as well as the parallel market rate.

With the official exchange rate at N168 per dollar, the premium between the official rate and the interbank rate now stands at N21.1 per dollar, while the premium between the official rate and the parallel market rate now stands at N27.

UTSE — GOVERNOR Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has expressed disgust over what he described as the level of threat some northerners were facing for not supporting the presidential ambition of the former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, warning that the type of siege mentality being inflicted on the people was the beginning of the failure of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, at the polls.

“The fear of Buhari is the beginning of leadership failure; therefore Nigerians and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government must stand up to its mandate,” he said.

Lamido, who spoke during the party’s presidential campaign in the state, however, warned that the siege mentality under which the people were currently experiencing in the north because of Buhari would backfire.

According to Lamido, any northerner who is not supporting Buhari was being threatened an seen as an infidel.

Apart from northerners, Vanguard investigations also revealed that most residents, who wear caps depicting them as natives of some southern parts of the country were being molested by street urchins as "infidels."

Lamido said he would not be perturbed by any intimidation or name callings because of his support for PDP because he was a democrat and would continue to promote the truth.

Describing Buhari as the only individual decorating the APC as a party, Lamido said the greatest mistake Nigerians would make "is to give their mandate to an individual who does not believe in democracy."

He then faulted the APC for lack of political ideology just as he observed that the party did not have a strong team that can liberate Nigeria from its current political and economic problems.

“If you remove Gen. Buhari from APC, most of other members that rally behind him in the party lack sincere commitment and focus that Nigeria requires at this present time," he added.

10— Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

APC accuses NCC of halting campaigns through service providers zAPC is raising dust —NCC L

By Dapo Akinrefon

AGOS—THE All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the National Communications Commission, NCC, over its directive to service providers to stop running political/ advertisement promotions, saying the commission intends to prevent the party from legitimately raising funds to finance its campaign.

Addressing newsmen yesterday in Lagos, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, condemned the NCC directive, describing it as an act of intimidation and regulatory lawlessness.

However, in a swift reaction, an official within the NCC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said; “The press conference addressed by the APC is just raising dust over wrong practices by operators.”

According to Lai Mohammed “there seems to be an orchestrated plot to prevent us, the All Progressives Congress, APC, from using the new platforms of SMS, Ringtones and Scratch Card to raise funds for our electioneering campaign. By the way, legitimate fund raising is the norm around the world to finance electioneering campaign, hence we have not embarked on anything that is out of the ordinary by the measures that have been unveiled by Gov. Fashola.”

While accusing the Federal Government of encouraging NCC’s position, he said: “It seems the government of the day is not comfortable with that. While the PDP-led Federal Government has been mouthing its commitment to free, fair and transparent elections, it has on the other hand been doing everything possible to prevent that. Or how can you have a free, fair and transparent election if you won’t even allow the opposition to leverage the existing national telecommunications infrastructure to raise funds for its campaign? How can you have a credible election when the government of the day routinely uses national institutions as a tool to stifle the opposition?”

The party spokesperson, however, faulted NCC’s directive to service providers, saying “effectively, the NCC is seeking to block our ability to use the platforms of SMS, Ringtones and Scratch Cards to raise funds.

“Our party takes a very strong exception to the contents of the letter sent by the NCC to the service providers as well as the timing of such directive. There can’t be a clearer example of abuse of office.

"We are extremely concerned by this brazen act of intimidation and regulatory lawlessness towards legitimate businesses providing perfectly legitimate advertisement services, especially when the advertisers have not breached any law or

prevented their subscribers from opting out of such services.

“We are all the more appalled that the NCC seems splendidly oblivious of the fact that the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 does not outlaw advertisements. In fact, some of the Act’s subsidiary legislation/ guidelines do permit different advertorial media such as mail, licensee’s website, text messages, and electronic mail (where permitted by recipients).

APC is raising dust—NCC

When contacted by Vanguard, an official within the commission, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “It is not in our character to be behind a political party. We are not for politics, and we do not

SIGNING: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (middle), his Deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (right), and state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye,during the signing into Law the Registration of Title to Land in Lagos State, at Lagos House, Ikeja, yesterday.

AGOS—THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC, has said the strike by the judiciary workers was hampering its operations as it has crippled its arraignment of suspected fraudsters.

An official of the commission, who preferred anonymity, said yesterday that the ongoing strike had led to the granting of bail to suspects.

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, had embarked on

L

AGOS—THE Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, yesterday decried the ongoing strike by public sector health workers as unjust.

Deputy Secretary of the association, Lagos State chapter, Dr. Peter Ogunnunbi, said that the strike was driven by rivalry with medical doctors.

He said that the strike was not

in the best interest of Nigerians, accusing them of promoting anarchy and state of disorderliness in the health sector which could degenerate into quackery.

Ogunnubi, who is also a psychiatrist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, said: “Their, JOHESU, strike is illegal and they have

strike on January 2 to press their demand for enhanced welfare packages, thus stalling activities in the high and magistrates’ courts.

The source said that one of the latest offenders, Samuel Joseph, Managing Director of Vegefresh Company Ltd, Rhema Doormart West Africa Ltd and Plywood and Chemicals Accessories, had been granted bail.

Joseph was arrested in Lagos on January 12, for allegedly

secured from an old generation bank but is still under investigation by the EFCC. “There is a limited time the commission is permitted by the law to keep an offender and that is the reason for granting him bail.

“The commission has granted administrative bail to the offender, while investigation is still ongoing in the matter since the case is a bailable offence,” the source said.

no moral right and no cause to go on strike.

“Their action can only be described as biased, unjust and not serving anybody’s interest, but theirs.

“The health workers are unashamedly contesting for equality with the medical doctors.

“Their self-centred demands obviously discourage international best practices, professionalism and patient selfcentred care in the health sector.

“With their self-serving demands, quackery is going to be the order in the health sector and you will be unable to distinguish between doctors and support health staff.

Ogunnubi then appealed to the striking health workers to imbibe the international best practices and allow common sense to prevail for the common good.

“Healthcare delivery is critical to the well-being of any society and with this understanding, JOHESU should put the interest of Nigerians topmost in their demands," he said.

By Dapo Akinrefon

A G O S — GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje has promised to address the rising accommodation problem in the state with special emphasis on building low cost housing for Lagosians.

Speaking at a town hall meeting at Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area, Agbaje, who accused the state government of paying lip service to the plight of the masses in the state in the area of housing, noted that the All Progressives Congress, APCled government has only succeeded in building 25,000 housing units in the last 16 years.

Agbaje argued that some major challenges militating against affordable housing in the state is the exorbitant cost of land and the stress of obtaining permit from the state government.

He said: “I disagree with the excuses by the Lagos State Government that it is not easy to build for low income earners in the state. A former governor Lateef Jakande did it and I will do it if elected.”

Defence policy review c'ttee begins consultation

Health workers' strike unjust, driven L by rivalry —NMA L

JUSUN strike hampering prosecution of offenders —EFCC diverting N3.8 billion loan he

L

encourage anybody to put messages on recharge cards.

Whichever company is involved, is not an advertising company, it is not a broadcast media. It is the NCC that still regulates the telecoms sector and it has to be regulated with responsibility so that we do not cause trouble in this country.”

The source added that “the decision the commission has taken does not have to do with any political party. If there is any party raising dust over it, it is because that party has been encouraging the company to break the law and I am sure that the operator will pay dearly for it because what they have done is to assault the sensibilities of Nigerians.”

Agbaje promises low-cost houses if elected

AGOS—THE Presidential Committee on the Review of Nigeria’s National Defence Policy, which commenced consultation in Lagos said there was urgent need to bridge the gap between the military and civilians.

The committee was inaugurated by President Jonathan on November 20, 2014, to assist the government to assess the state of its defence organisation, mandate, capabilities and design.

The committee was also required to identify areas of the policy that needed review, as well as to suggest future interventions.

A member of the committee, Prof. Usman Tai, said at the opening of the two-day stakeholders’ interactive session in Lagos that the consultation was being held simultaneously in Kaduna and Enugu.

“Stakeholders in each of these centres are expected to contribute to the two-day interactive sessions on topics slated for the centres."

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 —11

UPN accuses APC of replacing its billboard with Amosun's zIt's untrue — Ogun Signage Agency A

By Daud Olatunji

BEOKUTA—THE Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, in Ogun State yesterday accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, supporters of allegedly destroying the billboard of its governorship candidate, Prince Rotimi Paseda in the Sagamu area of the state.

The UPN also allegedly accused the ruling APC of replacing the destroyed billboard of its governorship candidate, located in front of the Total Filling Station in Sagamu with that of Governor Amosun and his running mate, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga.

It was gathered that Paseda’s

campaign billboard was torn down and replaced with that of Amosun and his running mate between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Addressing newsmen in Sagamu at the site of the billboard, state UPN Director of Communications and Strategy, Chief Bola Omololu alleged that the destruction of the billboard

INTERACTIVE SECTION: Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, addressing students and other participants, at an interactive session with Ondo State students and stakeholders in Akure.

of the party’s governorship candidate was part of the strategies being adopted by the governor and the ruling APC to intimidate and oppress the opposition parties.

Omololu wondered why the billboard should be torn down and replaced with that of the governor when the necessary fee paid to the state agency in charge of signage had yet to lapse.

When contacted, state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Sola Lawal referred our correspondent to the state’s Signages and Advertising Agency.

But the General Manager of OGSAA, Mr. Akinlabi Bandele argued that fees paid by the agency in charge of the site where the UPN candidate’s billboard was removed was due since January 18.

According to Bandele: “The agency that registered that site with us paid for only four weeks and it expired on January 18.

We don’t really have any issue with them, UPN. It is only the outdoor advertising agency that we deal with. They should talk to their agency to find out if they have paid.”

NBC warns broacasting stations over coverage of polls

I

By Ola Ajayi

BADAN—NATIONAL Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has expressed concern over dominance of airwaves by inciting phone-in programmes by broadcasting stations across the country, saying henceforth erring station would be liable for any violation emanating from callers in such programmes.

The warning was given yesterday by the Director General of the commission, Mr. Chris Okoyomoh at a sensitization workshop entitled 2015 general election: "Towards decency and professionalism in political broadcasts," held in Ibadan yesterday.

He used the forum to advise politicians not to see the February election as a do-or-die affair and avoid other inciting, unpatriotic and unguided statements that could set the country on fire.

....As PDP alleges plot by Aregbesola to disrupt tribunal's proceedings

By Genga Olarinoye

O

SOGBO—THE Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that it has uncovered the attempt by the Osun State governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola to hide under the strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria , JUSUN , to truncate the adoption of written address by Osun state governorship election petition tribunal slated for tomorrow.

But the state government in a swift reaction described the allegation as a blatant lie and directed the security agencies to beam their

searchlights on the activities of the opposition in the state.

According to a statement by the media aid to the PDP governorship candidate in the last August governorship election, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Mr Victor Toriola said; “Series of meetings have been held in Osogbo by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, with the state standing army codenamed “state boys” to scuttle the process”.

But the government in its reaction through Mr Semiu

Okanlawon, Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Governor’s Office, Osogbo, said: “our attention has been called to a statement allegedly issued by the Peoples Democratic Party alleging a plot to disrupt proceedings of the tribunal

by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

“By the PDP’s allegation, we must view this as an alert to all security agencies to watch out for the party and its army of thugs who obviously must have concluded their plans to cause mayhem in the state."

Ondo earmarks N800m for council polls

By Dayo Johnson

A

KURE—LOCAL government election is to hold this year in Ondo State, six years after this administration assumes office.

To this end the state government has earmarked the sum of N800 million for the conduct of the election.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko said this while presenting this year's budget estimate of N130 billion to the state House

of Assembly in Akure.

Mimiko described as unfortunate that his administration has not been able to conduct council elections in the past six years.

According to him; "This is not unconnected with the legal encumbrances placed on our path.

“It is, however, gladding to note that as a result of the recent political re-alignments in the state, all the legal

impediments are being amicably resolved.

“The horizon has become clear that local government election will be a joyous reality this year.

“Hence the sum of N800m has been provided for the conduct of local government election this year."

Meanwhile, this years estimate indicated a sharp reduction of 23 per cent over last year ’s budget of N168 billion.

12—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

UNIBEN lawyers flay demolition of varsity's property

By Dania Onozure

S

ENIOR lawyers of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, have condemned the action of Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomole, in demolishing property allegedly belonging to the University without exhausting the due process of law.

An Edo State High Court had, on December 16, 2014, awarded the ownership of the property in contention to Edo State Government. Dissatisfied with the judgment, the university authorities appealed same on December 19 and also applied for stay of execution of the judgment The notice of appeal and the motion for stay of execution were served on the state government by the bailiffs of the court and duly acknowledged by the counsel to the state government on December 21, 2014, the university insisted.

The Dean, Faculty of Law, UNIBEN, Prof. Richard Iduber, who addressed newsmen on the development, said: “I feel very embarrassed with this whole thing, because it is one of its kind. This is really taking things for granted. The architect is believed to be the governor of the state.

“It is most under handled for a thing like that to be done at

PDP Grassroots Vanguard urges Isoko to support Okowa

By Emma Amaize

A

S A B A — N AT I O N A L Coordinator of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Grassroots Vanguard in Delta State, Mr Oroghene Agadaigho, has called on the Isoko ethnic nationality to vote for the party’s candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, in spite of the loss of the running mate position to the Ijaw.

Mr Kingsley Otuaro, an Ijaw from Gbaramatu Kingdom, finally emerged as Okowa’s running mate.

Agadaigho said: “Isoko’s turn will come in no distant time and they should not be disheartened by the loss but be futuristic in their political inclination, as their support for Okowa is still the best."

this point in time. If you want to gather honey, you don’t kick over a beehive. I sometimes wonder whether my otherwise amiable governor is actually working for his party. I believe, as it has been in my mind for some time now, that he is probably working for the interest of another political party.

“Now look at it, you had victory at the court and you waited for no minute to destroy

everything of value to the very building that you said that you gave out. It does not stand to reason in the first instance, because it amounts to destroying the wealth of the state, but there was no compelling reason for destroying the buildings. The former Vice-Chancellor had lived there for 30 years and a number of our staff have been living in their houses for the

same number of years.

“We understand the hierarchy of courts in this country from the court of first instance, to the Court of Appeal and then to the Supreme Court. So, a man who wants justice to be done should allow people to have the opportunity of exhausting it all before demolishing the buildings. People can say yes, he wants to enjoy the fruits of his successful litigation, yes, at whose expense?"

EXHIBITION: From left: Communications Production Advisor, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Andy Ejeneha; Subsea Hardware Engineer of Shell, Mr. Musa Mohammed; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Ernest Nwapa; Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Mr. Jonathan Okehs and Shell's Business Relations Manager, Mr. Kanu Ijere, during an inspection of Shell's stand at the opening session of the 2015 Offshore West Africa annual Conference and Exhibition in Lagos.

Uduaghan committed to Anioma gov —OGEAH

By Festus Ahon

A

SABA—DELTA State Commissioner for Information, Mr Chike Ogeah, yesterday, said that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was committed to the emergence of an Anioma indigene as his successor in the February 28 poll.

Ogeah, in an interactive session with journalists, said the state's Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate in the

governorship election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, was carrying a pan-Delta mandate and an Anioma mandate.

Noting that the PDP was still intact after the primary election, even though a few persons had decamped to contest election in other political parties, Ogeah said a good number of those that contested the governorship primaries and lost were still in the party working for its victory.

Saying that government was a continuum, he expressed optimism that the PDP would continue to rule the state because it has done well.

He added that the state would improve tremendously if Dr Okowa was elected and given eight years.

According to him, the state was predominantly a PDP State, adding that the defection of some of its members has not breached peace in the state.

Delta community petitions Conoil over employment slot

T

...threatens showdown

HE Executive of Okogho community in Delta State, has petitioned the management of Conoil, operator of Obodo Field OPL 2007, over alleged denial and refusal to grant them employment slots and contract benefits in the oil firm's ongoing project on their land after granting them recognition as host community.

In the petition addressed to

the Executive Chairmen of Warri North and South, Mr. Mofe Edema and Francis Maku, respectively, the community listed their grievance against the company to include surveillance of pipelines in the waterways, security of the rig and house boats, employment of different skilled and unskilled labour and catering slots.

They said the petition had

become imperative as their patience was running out with the company and called for urgent intervention before things get out of hand.

“This petition is to draw your attention to these injustices being meted out to Okogho community. This is a breach of agreement between parties and if not urgently addressed, we will take our destiny in our hands,” the community said.

Dickson qualified to run for second term, says Bayelsa govt

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y

E N A G O A — BAYELSA State Government has described as mere rumour and misinformation, claims by some politicians in the state that Governor Seriake Dickson was not qualified to run in the 2016 governorship election, insisting that he was qualified by the constitution and performance in office.

The government, through its Public I n f o r m a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Committee, headed by Dr. George Fente, argued that though the people of the state should be wary of misinformation and political mudslinging, Dickson was qualified for a second tenure based on the massive infrastructure and human capital development provided for the people of the state.

Urhobo youth leaders' rally for Jonathan, Okowa holds today

U

RHOBO Youth L e a d e r s Association will today, stage a rally for the reelection of President Goodluck Jonathan and the election of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as governor of Delta State.

The youth group, in a statement by Mr. Francis Arhiyor, said the rally with the theme, Urhobo Youths for Jonathan/ Okowa2015, will be held at Effurun, with Dr. Steve Oru, Minister incharge of Niger Delta Ministry, as chairman.

Arhiyor said the lead speaker at the rally will be Prof. G. Darah while Oronto Douglass will be guest speaker, and Senator Okowa, Senator E m m a n u e l Aguariavwodo and others will be guests of honour.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—13

APC'll rescue Delta from 16yrs of PDP misrule —EMERHOR

By Emma Amaize & Theresa Ugbobu

A

G B O R — A L L Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, said yesterday that the mission of APC in the state was to rescue Deltans from the 16 years of bad governance of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Emerhor, at the flag-off of APC's governorship campaign for next month’s election at Agbor, Ika North-East Local Government Area, the home base of PDP governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, said his party’s choice of Agbor was because the people were receptive to change.

The APC candidate and party chieftains, including his running mate, T. Abanom from Ndokwa ethnic nationality, state chairman, Mr Jones Erue, former NUPENG Secretary General, Chief Frank Kokori, leader of the Elders’ Council, Senator Francis Okpozo, former Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Donald Ugboaja (rtd), stopped over at the palace of the Dein of Agbor

Kingdom, Obi Keagborkuzi I, for royal blessings before storming the campaign ground.

Emerhor said: “We are here because we believe we have a better mission of improving Delta and Agbor Kingdom from the 16 years misrule by the PDP.” He said that all over the

country, it was obvious that APC stands for change and he and other well-meaning Deltans have taken up the challenge to effect change in the state, just as the party’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who every Nigerian was clamouring for, was set to defeat PDP at the national

level.

“We have resources that if well harnessed, Delta will be better.

With the resources we have, Delta should have put poverty and unemployment behind and engaged the youths. In my first 100 days in office, I will put N10 billion in place to address the empowerment of youths, women and people in small-scale businesses.”

BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE: From left: Bob Collymore, Chief Executive Officer, Safaricom, Kenya; Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary, MTN; Segun Ogunsanya, CEO & Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria; Elias Masilela, Executive Chairman, DNA Economics, South Africa and Foluso Phillips, Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, at the Africa Sustainable CEO Business Roundtable, at Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

FEB POLL: IYC, UPU youth wing hold talks

T

HE leadership of Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, met with the Youth Wing of Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, on the need for the Urhobo to support the reelection of President Goodluck Jonathan in next month’s presidential election.

Lamenting the alleged marginalization of the Urhobo nation, Udengs Eradiri, IYC President, described the Urhobo as a vital factor in the Niger Delta, adding that rather than anchoring the Uvwiamughe Declaration on politics alone, the UPU should focus on the liberation of the Niger Delta, which, he said, resulted in the emergence of Dr Jonathan as President.

He said: “Based on the achievements of President Jonathan, he deserves a pat on the back and the Niger Delta people should be proud of him as the most democratic president Nigeria has ever produced. His emergence as president is not a product of the Ijaw alone, but all Niger Deltans including the Urhobo.”

On his part, President General of UPU Youth Wing, Ovie Igho, while outlining the

political challenges of the Urhobo, commended IYC for associating with the Urhobo people, stressing that the Urhobo voted for President

Jonathan in 2011 not because he was an Ijaw man but because he is a Niger Deltan.

He said: “The executive of the UPU has given a standing

order towards the actualization of the Uvwiamughe Declaration and that is where we stand, but President Jonathan is our own and will align with him.”

Ayade assures on continuity as C-River PDP flags off campaign “As someone from a poor

P

EOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Cross River State, Senator Ben Ayade, has promised to sustain programmes and projects initiated by Governor Liyel Imoke.

Ayade, during the flag off of the party’s campaigns for the February elections at the Ogoja township stadium, told a crowd of supporters and party stalwarts, that he will ensure the completion of ongoing projects and others initiated by Governor Imoke.

He noted that the projects were laudable, as they were people-oriented, and as such he will use them as a takeoff pad to commence work as governor if elected into office come February 28.

He said: “I can attest to the fact that Governor Imoke's programmes are targeted at the down-trodden and the not

too known members of the society, I will not let him down or abandon the projects, but will continue to bring government to those who don’t have access to Government House in Calabar.

parental background but strived to achieve and attain all that I have in life, I am determined to improve on the lives of others as well as turn around the economy of the state by building the needed capacity based on my exposure and experience.”

Why we're backing Inegbeneki for Senate —IJIE candidate.

N

ATIONAL President of the National Association of Edo State Students, Mr Gideon Ijie, yesterday said they were backing the Edo Central senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress, ACP, Chief Francis Inegbeneki, due to his relentless support for indigent students.

The association and the Students Union Government, SUG, of Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma, during a rally of the party in Edo Central, endorsed Inegbeneki as their senatorial

Speaking to Vanguard, Ijie said: “We have said that we cannot support candidates who because of elections give people rice, or m o n e y.

We will o n l y support candidates who even before pursing t h e i r ambition a r e helpful to the poor."

Kumuyi predicts free, fair polls

By Davies Iheamnachor

T

HE founder and G e n e r a l Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi, has predicted that the votes of Nigerians in the forthcoming elections will count, adding that it would be a free and fair election devoid of rigging.

Kumuyi, who spoke, yesterday, at Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoni, Rivers State, shortly on arrival for a one week revival in the state, said that the February elections would be free and fair, adding that once the direction was cleared and the people know who they want to vote for and their mandate is accepted, there will be no violence.

He encouraged the people not be afraid of the election because God is on the throne, adding that his visit was for a purpose which God will not disappoint.

He noted that with the church programme being hosted in Ogoniland, the challenges of Ogoni people in Rivers State will be a thing of the past as long as the people accept God as their personal savior.

The clergy also called on all the candidates of the various political parties to accept the outcome of the elections even when not in their favour to avert violence.

14—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Digital surveillance to curtail pipeline vandalism coming, says Power Minister

By Sebastine Obasi, Michael Eboh & Jonah Nwokpoku

P

ROFESSOR NEBO said government is working hard to combat pipeline vandalism through digital surveillances system.

According to him, it is not as if government is helpless with the situation but that it requires huge capital investment to deploy digital technology in monitoring pipelines from vandals.

He said: “The government is not helpless in combating pipeline vandalism. The problem is that we have not fully deployed digital system of surveillance. It is very expensive but you must put in a surveillance system that is 100 per cent digital.

This is so that wherever you are, if there is any slight tampering or even touching of the line, it tells you exactly where and when it is happening.

"It is not a matter of what we are doing now, when if a hole is punched in a line, we will send the whole day looking for it. But this technology costs hundreds of millions of dollars and the President has already started doing something on that to make sure we stop vandalism.”

On the estimated billing by power distribution companies, DISCOs, vis-avis their commercial losses, he said: “We cut back technical losses substant ially. Unfortunately it is not so with commercial losses.

More than 50 per cent of Nigerians are not metered.

"Some who are metered circumvent the metres and do connections that are illegal. Also, many people are not paying their energy bills. Many people are using electricity without the knowledge of the electricity companies. And that is why some of these companies reported a colossal loss of over 50 per cent, some of them even 55 per cent.

"So who pays if there is a tariff adjustment? So at the end of the day, it is those who pay that are forced to pay more. This is because it is those you see that you will get your money from.”

He however disclosed that “the companies are committed to reducing commercial losses gradually.”

VISIT: From left, Mr. Eze Anaba, Deputy Editor; Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, GM Publications/Editor-in Chief, both of Vanguard Newspapers; Professor Chinedu Nebo, Minister of Power, and Mr. Adekunle Adekoya, General Editor, Vanguard Newspapers, during the Minister's courtesy visit to Vanguard 's head offices in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Why we cleared Buhari — Onu, Chairman, APC Presidential Screening C'ttee

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

A

BUJA — CHAIRMAN of the defunct Presidential Screening Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has said that the party ’s presidential candidate, General Mohammadu Buhari was cleared for primary election strictly on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Besides, he said that the affidavit produced by Buhari during the screening exercise provided every conviction needed to clear him.

Onu also added that the person of Buhari who had hitherto attended many military institutions both at home and abroad before rising to the

pinnacle of his career in the Nigeria Army could not have done so without passing his examinations at primary and secondary school levels.

He wondered why the certificate has suddenly been made an issue even when Buhari had contested previous elections without hitches.

He said: “Really that issue shouldn’t create the kind of problem that we are seeing today in the polity. When this matter came before us in the presidential screening committee, we had to rely on the constitution of our great country to qualify anybody to be president of Nigeria.

"You have to be a Nigerian by birth. He has to be 40 years of age.

He has to be a member of a political party and that political party must sponsor you and finally should obtain education at least up to secondary school level

....Security agencies pledge fairness

By Kingsley Omonobi

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BUJA — THE Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies, FOSSRA, has pledged to remain professional, non-partisan and apolitical at all times, especially during next month’s general elections.

In a communiqué on its first meeting for 2015 held in Abuja yesterday and signed by Major Gen. Chris Olukolade and Emmanuel Okeh, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the forum said its members would continue to ensure that press statements as well as official pronouncements of individual members as well as their organizations remained professional, non-partisan and apolitical at all times.

While stressing the need for efficient and effective inter-agency collaboration, members resolved not to be distracted by blackmail and intimidation in carrying out their statutory duties.

FOSSRA’s membership is drawn from Defence headquarters, Army, Airforce, Navy, Police, Department of State Services, DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Nigeria Prison Service, NPS, Federal Fire Service, FFS, Federal Road Safety Commission FRSC, and National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.

or equivalent.

“And our presidential candidate had attended military schools, in Nigeria, in India, in the United Kingdom, UK, and in the United states of America, USA. He attended the US army war college.

So, there isn’t any reason whatsoever to create this type of problems that we now have in the polity.”

Asked if the committee demanded a copy of the school certificate during the screening, Onu said the affidavit gave them the needed proof.

“No, we demanded for that, but there was an affidavit and you know once you swear to an affidavit, that definitely gives you whatever protection in any matter not just in this case.

“But the thing is that we were not doing this for the PDP, we were doing it for Nigeria. This is a man who will be president of Nigeria and there is a supreme law, the constitution that guides us and

the issue of qualifications is at least a school certificate.

“So if there is evidence that somebody has attended military schools that are tertiary institutions up to the war college of the USA, I mean why should you really go into school certificate and so on?

“But the Army has shown that he applied in Form 6. Many young people don’t know we used to have Form 6. I attended Form 6. I attended higher school that is what it is called then and you spend 2 years at the lower and the upper. You can’t go to Form 6 unless you completed your Form 5 and he got all the credits in the relevant subjects. So all those are in his file.”

The APC chieftain while dismissing the issue however said that Nigeria had other issues such as insecurity and unemployment yearning for urgent attention now than Buhari’s certificate

BIRD FLU: 11 poultry farms in 3 states

under watch ...as FG plans compensation for farmers

By Gabriel Olawale

I

N THE aftermath of the bird flu cases that reportedly claimed over 2, 500 chickens last week in Lagos and Kano states, at least three other states are currently under surveillance by the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, as part of the effort to prevent the disease spreading, even as the Federal government, has expressed willingness towards compensating affected farms.

Disclosing this development in Lagos, during a chat with newsmen, President, PAN, Dr. Ayoola Oduntan, who noted that the out-break was not unexpected, however, said 11

suspected farms in three different states had been under their close watch, even before the disease surfaced in Lagos and Kano.

Oduntan, who declined to mention the affected farms and the specific states under surveillance, added that the H5 strain of avian influenza virus found in chicken is being carried by a wide range of migratory birds and Nigeria happens to be seated at the junction of their migration.

On the plans by government for compensation, Oduntan disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has shown commitment towards compensating all affected farms.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—15

Crisis in Anambra PDP deepens over candidates Oladipo said: “The attention of the leadership of the PDP has been drawn to a law recently enacted by the BUJA — INDICATION emerged, Anambra State Government banning yesterday, that the Peoples people who had been screened out by Democratic Party, PDP, was heading INEC from campaigning as candidates toward a confrontation with the in the forthcoming elections. It is clear Independent National Electoral that this law is targeted at the members Commission, INEC, over its candidates of our great Party who have in Anambra State, as the national challenged the list of candidates leadership of the party, yesterday, ordered published by INEC in courts of competent all its candidates in the state for next jurisdiction. month’s general election to commence “It would be recalled that in accordance campaigns. with the Constitution of our country and Recall that list of candidates submitted the extant electoral laws, our great party

by PDP to INEC after its primaries in conducted primary election for the Anambra State was different from the list selection of candidates to represent the released by INEC. party during the elections.

In a statement, yesterday, by PDP "Following the conclusion of the exercise, National Secretary, Professor Olawale our party submitted the names of the duly Oladipo, said it was the sole nominated candidates to INEC as the responsibility of a party to nominate candidates of the party. However, in candidates for elections, contending deference to a court order, INEC that the PDP had no doubts that its published a different set of names as the duly nominated candidates would candidates of our party. This action has prevail candidates of the party. been challenged to court and indeed the order relied on by INEC has been appealed against.

“It is trite law (as attested to by several judicial decisions) that it is the responsibility of the party to nominate its candidates for an unemployed graduates to

By Anayo Okoli election. We do not, be placed in interested therefore, have any and demonstrated viable MUAHIA — THE companies where they doubts that our duly F e d e r a l would be mentored and nominated candidates Government has said it supported to develop or will prevail in the end as provided jobs for over strengthen their core the candidates of our 25,000 graduates under employability skills to party.

"We view with grave the Subsidy enhance their access to Reinvestment and quality employment concern the action of the Anambra State Programme, SURE-P’s opportunities.”

Government in legislating Graduate Internship Papka who was Scheme, GIS, saying its represented by Mr. on a matter that is beyond target is to engage Anthony Kalu, at a its competence and 50,000 by the end of this feedback interactive indeed sub-judice. The attempt to prevent our year. session with the Abia About 100 of these interns and the firms duly nominated and very graduates are engaged where they work, popular candidates from goes in Abia with 24 firms yesterday, in Umuahia, campaigning against the core tenets of partnering with the said the meeting was to democratic freedoms and Federal Government on assess how the interns a denial of the the scheme. were doing with their fundamental human Each graduate serves various firms. rights of the affected for 12 months and “The mandate by the receives N30, 000 GIS to engage 50, 000 candidates."

The statement added monthly stipend. within two years is no The scheme, according mean feat. So far, over a that “this cannot be to Mr. Peter Papka, GIS half of this figure has allowed to happen in a free society as ours."

Project Director, was already been achieved.

"Consequently we wish to designed “to enable our direct our candidates to go on with their campaigns pending the determination of the suits regarding the authentic candidates of our arty in Anambra State.”

By Henry Umoru

A

We employed 25,000 graduates under SURE-P in 2014 — FG

U

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—16

Uzodimma urges INEC to issue PVCs to constituents

By Evelyn Usman

S

ENATOR Hope Uzodimma representing Imo West senatorial District in the Senate, has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to issue Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, to wards in his constituency, lamenting that many residents are yet to obtain the PVCs to them exercise their franchise in next month's general elections.

The Senator’s appeal followed a confrontation by political leaders from Ikatta-Mbiri, Ward over the non-issuance of the PVCs by INEC during a tour of wards in his constituency in Imo State. He said if the electoral umpire did not act fast, most voters in his constituents would not be able to vote in the elections, saying “this will lead to their disenfranchisement”.

He observed that during the tour that, “no single PVC has been issued to those who registered and this is causing great apprehension and fear of disenfranchisement among the people”.

Uzodimma appealed to INEC to as matter of urgency commence the issuance of the PVCs to eligible voters in his constituency before the end of January 2015, to ensure that they participate actively in the forthcoming elections.

Anambra Assembly moves against candidates not cleared by INEC

By Vincent Ujumadu

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WKA—FOLLOWING alleged reports that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Anambra State is deliberately presenting multiple candidates for the each of the national assembly positions for the February 28 elections, the state House of Assembly has passed into law a bill prohibiting political aspirants whose names did not appear on the final list of candidates cleared by the Independent National Elections Commission, INEC,to stand for election.

But a former Vice Chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Ben Ezeibe, described the new law as a futile exercise, arguing that it would not stop anything.

Titled “Breaches of the Peace and Unlawful Assemblies Law,” the law, which took effect from January 20, 2015 stipulates in Section 3 (1) that: “A person shall not advertise, publish, and solicit for votes for or otherwise engage in any campaign for himself or for a person whose name was not duly published by INEC or Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission,ANSIEC, or any other electoral body within Nigeria as a nominated person for any election within Anambra State.”

Section 3[2] of the bill also states that ‘Any person who acts in contravention of subsection [1] of this Section is hereby declared to have engaged or to be engaging in an unlawful assembly with intent to cause public disorder and breaches of public peace.’

The bill, which was presented by the majority leader of the House, Mr. Harford Oseke, representing Awka South 2 Constituency, went through the first, second and third readings without any dissenting voice.

The sitting later dissolved into

How I was schemed out of Ebonyi gov race — ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU

By Gabriel Olawale

T

HE Former Minister of Health and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship aspirant in Ebonyi State, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has attributed his ouster from the contest to political manipulation by some individuals in the party.

Chukwu in a statement entitled “Ebonyi State governorship Race and other Elections 2015: My Stand”, alleged he was schemed out as a result of the faulty process undermining the proper conduct of the party primaries in the state.

In the statement, he said: “I have decided to seek redress within the PDP as a faithful C M Y K

member. Indeed, I petitioned the National Chairman of the party on December 9, 2014, a petition which I copied other party leaders. However, apart from an acknowledgement, the party has not responded to the petition. I am still hopeful that the party will grant me fair hearing as a member of the party.”

The former minister, who expressed loyalty to President Goodluck Jonathan, thanked Governor, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State for his endorsement, while urging his supporters to vote right.

“I have not recanted the statement I made at the Abakaliki Township Stadium on the 22nd of November, 2014 during the pro-Jonathan rally," he said.

FLAG-OFF: From left; Senator David Mark, Senate President; Alhaji Umar Muhammed Nasko, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship candidate, Niger State and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State at Nasko's campaign flag-off in Kontagora, Niger State. Photo by Akeem Salau. committee of the whole house for consideration and debate of the provisions of the bill after it sailed through the second reading.

The House also stipulated N1 million fine against those who contravene the law.

“This bill will solve a lot of problems especially about candidate impersonation. It will create the atmosphere for proper

campaigns and elections. It will avert chaos in the 2015 polls in Anambra State. ''The excesses the bill sought to curtail were such which INEC officials had pleaded helplessness because the lacuna in the electoral law was being exploited by some aspirants to declare themselves candidates,” some of the

lawmakers said.

According to the Speaker of the House, Mrs. Chinwe Nwaebili, the importance of the law called for its aggressive implementation.

However, reacting, Chief Ezeibe, faulted what he described as the curiosity of the APGA – dominated House over the PDP candidates for the state and national assemblies.

Okorocha tasks lawyers on election processes

O

WERRI—GOVERNOR Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, has called on lawyers to show more interest in the processes leading to the 2015 elections and in the campaigns of the presidential and governorship candidates to know whether their campaigns are issue-oriented or mere blackmails .

Okorocha spoke at the 2015 Law Week of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Owerri Branch with the theme, “2015 General Elections in Nigeria:; The Task Before the legal profession”.

He advised lawyers not wait until election cases were brought to them to handle, before knowing that they were key stake-holders in the electoral processes.

The governor urged the lawyers to come up with a communiqué that could address the issue of presidential and governorship campaigns and the need for those concerned to talk more about issues than talking more about non-issues and blackmails.

According to him, “What can you do for the people? What can you do to change the society, should be the issues and not religion or where one comes from. Indeed, I liken this to a man who is in a boxing ring and

wanted to face his opponent and instead of rising to the occasion, all he tells his opponent is, listen I am from so so place. That is not

the issue. You must wear your gloves, and give him a good punch because those sentiments won’t determine the winner."

Chime, an exemplary leader — EKWEREMADU

D

EPUTY Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has described Governor Sullivan Chime as an exemplary leader who has made Enugu State and its representatives at the National Assembly proud with his achievements .

While speaking at Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Nde Aboh, headquarters of his local government Aninri home, Ekweremadu said Chime had set record in good governance which the people would continue to respect and follow him even after he had left office.

“I am satisfied, excited and proud to be his Senator representing governor Chime in the Senate. ''He has made us proud, he is a good leader and we will continue to respect and follow him even after he has left office.”

Ekweremadu also lauded the choice of Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the party ’s governorship candidate, describing him as the hard working and committed leader set to take Enugu State to a greater height.

On his part, Governor Chime thanked the people of Aninri for their unrelenting support for PDP in all the elections.

Also speaking, Ugwuanyi urged the people to transform their support for the party into action by turning out enmass to vote for President Jonathan and all the party ’s candidates in the forthcoming elections.

The highlight of the occasion was the presentation of PDP flags to Senator Ekweremadu and other candidates of the party in the senatorial, House of Representatives and other positions in the area.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 17

I

THINK the lead story of DAILY TRUST of January 16th, 2015, captured the essence of the visit; it announced that: “Jonathan sneaks into Maiduguri”.

Because in truth, that was what President Jonathan did! Not because he truly loved to visit that city, but because the national and international contexts had become very inconvenient for him. All through the previous week, international media outfits like the BBC and CNN were carrying reports of Jonathan’s patently absurd position.

He was quick to send a condolence message to France in the wake of the CHARLY HEBDO killings but would not even acknowledge the massacre in Baga. While international human rights organizations reported that about 2000 people had been killed along with graphic satellite imageries of the carnage in Baga, the Nigerian Army countered that “ONLY 150” had been killed! The incredulity of that position escaped them; that it won’t matter if only one Nigerian were killed. What was important was the empathy and responsiveness of leadership.

And President Jonathan has, unfortunately, failed the test of leadership in the past couple of years with the carnage in the

President Jonathan finally visited Maiduguri trail of the Boko Haram insurgency.Obasanjo’s most recent book confirmed that Jonathan’s narrative had always been that it was his “enemies” that were killing themselves in Northern Nigeria. It flowed logically from that standpoint, that a lukewarm, almost disinterested attitude, suffused the leadership’s response to the insurgency, but especially the conditions of troops as well as the plight of the peoples of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and the North at large. It was clear, that presidential handlers hoped they could exploit the insurgency to isolate the Northern political elite; profit from regional and religious

suspicions, especially with an eye on the 2015 elections. As conditions worsened and Nigeria continued to lose huge swathes of territory, the oath President Jonathan swore to, to defend the country’s territorial integrity, became patently hollow, just as his government became increasingly unable, to guarantee the peace and security of citizens. The irony for Jonathan was that he carried on as if 2015 was not going to come, even when it was clear, that his refusal to fully commit against the insurgency was precisely because of hope to profit in the 2015 elections!

In the long run, this was the local context which forced his hands to finally pluck the

Table TTennis:W ennis:W e should celebrat e Aruna Quadri ennis:We celebrate

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N a season that Nigeria has been unable to qualify for the Cup of Nations football championship, thus forfeiting the right to defend the title won in South Africa, a young Nigerian table tennis player, Aruna Quadri, has given us a wonderful reason to celebrate Nigerian talent.A week ago, in Dubai, at its Star Awards, the International Table Tennis Federation, named our Aruna Quadri as its Male Table Tennis Star of the year. The award followed a poll of 60, 000 people conducted by an expert panel.

In winning the award as Male Table Tennis Star of the year, African Champion, Quadri, was judged ahead of XuXin, the world number one; Fan Zhendong, the Youth Olympics Champion and the European Championshipgold medalist, the Portugese Marcos Freitas.

It was equally noteworthy that in a year, Aruna Quadri’s ranking moved from number 237 to the world’s 30th ranked player. As he told WEEKLY TRUST in an interview: “The award means that my performances in year 2014 have been recognized by the International Table Tennis Federation. It means a lot to the whole of Africa”. And it does indeed!

I am very passionate about sports in general, but table tennis in particular. As a fourteen year old in secondary school, I wanted to become the first African world table tennis champion. And by my final year in GSS Ilorin, I was already the best player in school and on the fringes of the Kwara state team. My generation saw the remarkable rise of table tennis

in Nigeria in general, within the ambience of the sports revolution in our country during the 1970s headed by the late Chief Isaac Akioye. By the mid-1970s, under the leadership of Dr. Gboyega Efunkoya, Nigerian table tennis became increasingly dominant in Africa. A programme of development was instituted which took selected young people from all over Nigeria for a sixmonth camp in China. The late Lai Adegboye was chosen from Kwara State. The possibility of such exposures led to a remarkable bourgeoning of table tennis in Nigeria and in Kwara State, the ex-international, WahabSani, became our coach.

Kwara state eventually became the base of some truly outstanding players: Atanda Musa, KasaliLasisi, Segun Abiodun, Bayo Kadara, Ibikun Falashe, Williams Owolabi and many more! Of course, Nigerian men and women’s teams and individuals would become the toast of the game in Africa: Babatunde Obisanya, Ethel Jacks, Olawumi Majekodumi, Kuburat Owolabi and many more. There was a national sports programme and an accompanying sports infrastructure and individuals

We should celebrate Aruna Quadri

committed to creating national sports excellence.

Unfortunately, the rot took over as the national process of development gave rise to the promotion of mediocrity; the institution of monumental corruption and the gradual destruction of platforms and processes which helped our country to produce excellent sports men and women.

Practically all over the country today, the states sports councils don’t function with the effectiveness of old.

Painstaking effort The painstaking effort to discover and nurture talent from school sports; and even the effort pioneered by YSFON, has gradually given way. It is within today’s chaos that individuals like Blessing Okagbare and Aruna Quadri, have painstakingly and often by great personal sacrifices, have been able to emerge and by dint of hard work, found success, individually and for our collective pride as a country. We should celebrate Aruna Quadri. But above all else, we should re-jig our sports infrastructure to consciously rediscover the patterns of success that can be built up bringing the mass of our young people within the loop of national sports development and success.

That is how patriotism is engendered through sports. It is an imperative for a country like Nigeria, where the overwhelming majority of the population is young. Congratulations, Aruna Quadri!

courage to abandon the redoubt of Aso Villa, and make his whistle-stop trip to Maiduguri.

Restive troops have for months been running away from battle, often complaining about the insufficiency of resources to combat the insurgency; when they were not attempting to kill their leaders! The once proud Nigerian Army was rolling over under a regime of heist; and our country was becoming the laughing stock of the region.

Yet, the way Nigerian refugees were streaming into ordinarily poor neighbouring countries, was further straining life in

those countries. And as Boko Haram crossed Nigerian borders to attack in Cameroun, it became even clearer, that a local insurgency has taken a regional dimension! Yet, until last week, it seemed that President Jonathan was still living in denial, ensconced behind sandbags of delusion inside Aso Villa. The narrative of his “enemies” killing themselves was past its shelf life and Nigerians became much clearer in their minds, that the insurgency is a clear danger to our country. But the greater danger was the incompetent manner it has been managed and the buck of this incompetence stopped on President Jonathan’s table.

Condemned abroad and found wanting at home, and the 2015 elections a few weeks away, President Jonathan was finally obliged, as DAILY TRUST reported, to sneak into Maiduguri, last Thursday. He appeared like he had been dragged kicking and screaming, against his personal preference, to see his troops and confront the internally displaced citizens he had taken an oath to defend as president of Nigeria. It was good that he finally made the trip, but it was too little too late. Unfortunately!

On Kwara water supply problems and the APC slogan of change

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HE story goes that AbdulFatah Ahmed, Kwara State Governor,recently held a meeting with traditional rulers to be upgraded in a process targeted to harvest votes in the next elections. Each traditional ruler was told to contribute N500, 000 for the coronation ceremony that will herald upgrading. One of them plucked the courage to inform the governor that he and his community had not even been able to raise the N150, 000 to repair the community’s water tank! A friend was telling me on Tuesday evening, that as he drove out of River Basin road, he saw six well diggers prowling his neighborhood for people who might use their services, unable to pay the huge sums that borehole outfits collect. Borehole business is huge in Ilorin, because of the irresponsibility of government to complete work on the city’s water supply project. I spent N1.6million on three boreholes, right in the heart of the GRA, before finally getting water in my house!

This was apart from hundreds of thousands I initially spent futilely, trying to get water supply through the Kwara State Water Corporation. The desperate installation of boreholes in people’s homes is an indictment of Bukola Saraki’s irresponsible, self-serving and ruinous hegemony, given the billions of Naira that has disappeared into the blackhole of contracts for “water supply”.

Former Presidential Adviser, Senator Makanjuola Ajadi said billions of Naira has ‘retriculated’ into private pockets in Kwara, instead of ‘retriculating’ water through our pipes! The future danger to our underground water

reservoir also hangs on the conscience of those who turned water supply contracts into a conduit for theft. Yet Bukola Saraki is Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment!

In the past few weeks,Bukola Saraki has been going around with the Buhari Campaign, mouthing the slogan of “CHANGE”. He desperately hopes to cream off the credibility associated with General Buhari.

ButKwarans know better. Bukola has been ruling Kwara state since 2003. What manner of “CHANGE” can he promote?”CHANGE” from Bukola Saraki to Bukola Saraki?

Prostrate state From six to half a dozen? From a prostrate state to a completely bankrupt state? From a state existing to cater for Bukola Saraki’s creature comfort to a state that prioritisesBukola Saraki’s pension as number one item of expenditure? “CHANGE” the Bukola Saraki way in Kwara means more of the same: Kwara’s monthly allocations or loans taken in Kwara’s name will be used to start projects and Bukola Saraki will turn around to say those projects don’t belong to our state; no, but they belong to Bukola Saraki’s “private sector”.

“CHANGE” indeed! The person that promises to give out a dress, the African people say we must first look at what he wears. APC’s “CHANGE” slogan might be sincere in other settings but not with Bukola Saraki and Kwara.

Just with water supply contract heists alone, we can catch a whiff of the “CHANGE” in the offing under Bukola Saraki’s Kwara State APC from May 2015!

18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 AFTER the 2012 elections in the United States of America, our politicians bickered over the conduct of American politicians.

They accused each other of not following the American tradition of accepting defeat and congratulating the winner. “ The swift manner of congratulations and the graceful conduct of the defeated candidate is a shining example of patriotism and submission to the overall will of the people ,” Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said in a statement that recommended similar conduct to the opposition.

Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, now the All Progressives Congress, APC, in separate statements hit back. “ There is no lesson to learn except that if elections are free and fair, the losers will be willing to congratulate the winner ,” ACN said. “ Indeed, if elections are fair, we shall imbibe the culture of congratulating winners immediately. Can PDP really learn from this? ,” CPC asked. “ President Jonathan also hopes that the millions of people across the world, especially those in developing nations who watched the beauty and strength of

These Elections Are About Nigerians democracy unfold in the United States presidential elections will come to a greater and better appreciation of democracy as the key to building peaceful, stable and progressive societies ,” a presidential statement enthused.

Nigeria passed the “congratulations” threshold last year with the sterling example of former Governor Kayode Fayemi, who, on losing election as incumbent governor, congratulated Peter Fayose on losing the election. His momentous speech in which he referred to Fayose as his brother, and the speed with which they met to commence the transition to another government, are examples we recommend to politicians in the coming

elections.

We should not waste the Fayemi example which many admit saved Ekiti State from the type of violence that many dread as we approach next month’s elections. The plaudits awarded the US elections may not be more than a routine of governments and political parties issuing statements to leverage relevance from global matters. We have a home grown example with attributes that address our fears about post-election violence.

American politicians, who we tend to use as examples, understand the importance of the security and welfare of the people. They are the main issues they canvass in their campaigns. Are American politicians perfect? They would be worse than Nigerians, if their laws did not protect their society. American politicians are human with all the foibles, but they strive for a humane society. Our politicians are mostly concerned about power for themselves.

They exhibit their greed in expectations that once opponents concede elections; Nigerian democracy would have attained similar ranking with America’s. They never notice that American governance centre on people’s well-being.

OPINION

By Collins Obibi

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HE PDP presidential rally that took place in Imo State at the weekend was predictably a huge success. The massive turnout of Imo sons and daughters, aged and young and the genuine solidarity they expressed to President Goodluck Jonathan and his campaign team underscore this and set the stage for what to expect from the state in the February 14 presidential elections.

Few days to the Saturday rally, it was obvious that a great event was to take place in the state and since the late evening rally, campaign for the 2015 general elections has taken a new shape as more vigour and vitality indeed greater impetus has been given to it at all levels. Since the return of democratic rule in 1999, Imo has always voted for the PDP in the presidential election with the last one in 2011 recording almost 100 per cent vote cast for President Jonathan and nothing has happened to suggest a change of the order, the touted inroad of the opposition in the state notwithstanding.

One can boldly say that the recent appointment of the former governor of the state, Chief Achike Udenwa (Onwa) as the chairman of the PDP presidential campaign organization in Imo has helped to engender this turn of events, though many may argue that the closeness of the election has prompted the heated campaigns. The grassroots politician he is, he has in the characteristic manner dusted the opposition and completed two terms in office revived the PDP campaign in the state. Any semblance of disharmony in the party’s campaign has stemmed from the fallout of

Udenwa's slant to the Imo campaign the primaries particularly the governorship primaries in the state. This too he has devoted time to nip in the bud.

What makes Udenwa easily a rallying point in political activities in the state is obviously a big lesson to many, particularly political office holders. His large heart, humane and easy going disposition endear him to all who come in contact with him. Also very endearing is his tendentious disposition to making the whole state his constituency which made him spread appointments and projects including the lucrative ones while in any office. Not given to sanctimoniousness, he does not brood down on aides and subordinates and gives people opportunity to prove their abilities. Recall that he had a stint with the opposition party and yet was prevailed upon to return to the rightful political environment and is dully recognized.

Perhaps his greatest marketing trait is the grassroots appeal. Qualified in all respects as a professional and an elite in the state, he

Udenwa has been tried and tested and indeed as it were immersed in the over boiling point political hot water of the state

places this behind him and reaches out to the grassroots. He uses men and materials to achieve this and in as much as such delivery agents can be appreciated, the greater credit goes to him for identifying them and saddling them with responsibilities that yield the ultimate good.

World over, in politics, sagacity tested round about is a must have to arrive at the pinnacle. Suffice it therefore to say that Udenwa has been tried and tested and indeed as it were immersed in the over boiling point political hot water of the state. His survival which must have come with expected bruises like those of a general in a war front places him at a not too easily glossed over position in the politics of the state hence the current inroads. As long as one remains in political limelight, he must contend with criticisms and oppositions. It is fascinating to seeing how Udenwa handles and surmounts all these and outwit his opponents in the political turf.

Fight, yes political battles, Udenwa has fought them in the state. Time there was when as a sitting governor in a dispensation of a president who acted true to type as a retired military officer, ready to interfere in the administration of federating states, some Imo sons and daughters attempted to take advantage of that situation to secure some benefits for themselves. Some of them high profile politicians from the state in key legislative and executive positions at the federal level with sufficient tentacles in Aso

Rock the seat of the federal government under what was later ingloriously code named Abuja politicians began to generate heat for him in the state then.

Aside from becoming a clog in the wheel of progress of the administration, they threatened to halt his second term bid. In the battle royale that ensued, aside from Udenwa coasting home to overwhelming electoral victory and having a very successful eight year reign that laid the foundation for succeeding governors in the state, he made the Abuja politicians to understand and appreciate the fact that in the political arena there are masters. Till date many of them are yet to recover fully from that fight of the titans. You can only underrate udenwa at your own risk.

Since the President’s visit, the campaign train has continued its journey from Owerri to Orlu zone, Udenwa’s area where he is campaigning for all the PDP candidates and recording great inroads. Being a party leader and arrow head of campaign at state, zonal, council, indeed at any level particularly in an election year is not a matter of much speeches but ability to mobilize the people to vote for the candidate/s being presented for the election.

This is quintessential Udenwa and the arrow head of the Jonathan campaign in the state today. Needless therefore to probe into the direction of the campaigns so far and particularly in the next two weeks. Yet, I hasten to say that much more work is required as politics most times defile the clairvoyant predictions.

*Mr. Obibi, a journalist, wrote from Lagos.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015— 19

Buhari, park! Show your cer tif icat e certif tificat icate

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HE raging certificate scandal of General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a big show of shame. It is making Nigeria a laughing stock out there. It shows that our laws are not supreme. The law is made for some people, while some people are not only above it but also ride it like an ass.

Section 131 of the Nigerian Constitution (1999) spells out conditions for a person to qualify for the office of President of Nigeria. It says at 131 (d):”A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President if… he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent”. Elucidating upon this constitutional provision, the extant Electoral Act, Section 31 (2 to (5) holds as follows: “The list of information submitted by each candidate shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidate at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or the FCT, indicating that he has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office” (3) “The

Commission shall within 7 days of the receipt of the personal particular of the candidate publish same in the constituency where the candidate intends to contest” (4) “A person may apply to the Commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon payment of a prescribed fee, issue the person with a certified copy of the documents within 14 days” (5) “Any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given in the affidavit or any document submitted by that candidate is false may file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or FCT against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false” (6)” If the court determines that any of the information contained in the affidavit of any document submitted by that candidate is false, the court shall issue an order disqualifying the candidate from contesting the election.”

One does not need to be a lawyer

to know that this explicit law requires prospective candidates for election to show proof of their qualification to contest for any office. Certificates are usually proof of all academic qualifications. Because we have, over time, seen people making false claim of academic qualifications, that is why the Electoral Act demands that the documents submitted to INEC must be accompanied by an affidavit and shall be displayed where the candidate is contesting so that anyone who spots false claims can go to court and seek the candidate’s disqualification.

Rather than Buhari submitting copies of his certificates he merely swore an affidavit claiming that his certificates are with the Military Board. By so doing,

Each time officials and supporters of the APC come on radio and television to defend Buhari’s lack of compliance, they always flipflop and come out thoroughly wet.

That is what happens when you try to defend the indefensible

Mbaka vs. The Jonathans: N5 million in an of offfering bag?

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LEARLY, the Mbaka episode is multidimensional and it is getting messier by the day. It has reached a point where President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife cannot remain mute for too long, lest they will continue to be misunderstood. The theatricals are still unfolding.

Act I: Scene I – Dame Patience Jonathan visits the Catholic Adoration Centre in Enugu, a church headed by Revd Father Ejike Mbaka. Madam is pleasantly received and Father Mbaka eulogises her husband to the high heavens. So impressed was Dame that she dropped N5 million in the offering bag. And this was marvelous in the sight of Mbaka.

Scene II: Madam returns to Abuja.

Father Mbaka makes several unsuccessful attempts to see her.

Act II: Scene I – A short while later, Father Mbaka lampoons the Jonathan administration for abysmal performance.

In a New Year message titled “From Good luck to Bad luck”, Mbaka openly canvassed the rejection of President Jonathan at the 2015 presidential election, thus asking Nigerians to vote for a leader who can tackle the many challenges facing Nigeria. He lashed out at men of God who hobnob with the powers-that-be.

Mbaka went ruthlessly personal: “The Jonathan administration has failed…

When Goodluck met Yar’Adua, he got bad luck and died. When Goodluck met our oil, it poured away and met bad luck. When Goodluck met our Naira, it met bad luck… Look at you brilliant youth, nobody has any plans for you… 2015 cannot be the same. We announce change… Boko Haram has virtually crippled the

Northeastern part of the country… Many are saying that it is Buhari that said he would make our country ungovernable.

Even though Buhari never said such a thing, but if you are the President, will you not arrest such a person? Are you waiting for your own church to be bombed before you speak out? ... If my father will be leader and my siblings will all die, let a stranger be my leader and let my family live….”

Questions: Where did things go wrong?

When is a housewife who goes about throwing money around worth investigating? From the much we know, the office of First Lady is totally alien to our Constitution. Where did this housewife

But let no one be deceived into believing that religious leaders have no business in politics and governance.

One major problem in this country has been the failure of the church to live up to expectation as the conscience of the people and the representatives of God on earth

Buhari did not complete the primary requirement for qualification to contest the presidential election. If it were in those days when the INEC still had powers to disqualify candidates, it would have been duty-bound to disqualify him for failure to comply with the law.

We all know that it is the duty of a job seeker to supply all necessary documents to prove he is qualified for a post. He does not refer the body interviewing him to go and collect his credentials from his former institutions or employers. They will see him as an unserious candidate and shut the door in his face. Buhari is applying to contest for the office of Chief Executive of the Federation and he cannot even prove that he has School Certificate, or any certificate for that matter!

Each time officials and supporters of the APC come on radio and television to defend Buhari’s lack of compliance, they always flip-flop and come out thoroughly wet. That is what happens when you try to defend the indefensible. In one breath, they will say Buhari has been contesting presidential elections since 2003, why should the certificate become an issue now. They fail to realise that before now, the opposition was an easy ride for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The same thing cannot be said for the APC of today, which stands a very good chance, just as the PDP, of winning the presidential election. It is a different ball game. The fact that nobody cared to look before is no justification to question why they are looking now.

That Nigerians now take academic qualification so serious is not in doubt. That was what led

get all the money she is t h r o w i n g around? When are we going to have an Internal/ Inland Revenue Service that will be alive to its responsibilities?

In the United States of America, for instance, if you are unable to account for your source wealth, Uncle Sam would pursue you far into the bottomless pit.

Which offering bag would contain N5 million, even in our highest denomination of N1000 notes? Is it possible, albeit most unlikely, that the What would have transpired for the Reverend to exploded, and resolved to take his pound of flesh!

Only a good investigation would unraveled the truth here but given the pluralistic nature of our society, even the investigators are, ab initio, handicapped: if they push too hard, they are seen as supporting the opposition; and if they do not push hard enough, they are seen as working for the “oga at the top”.

Meanwhile, Father Mbaka has come under severe criticism from many quarters. He is accused of washing the dirty linens in public. Our counsel is to prevent the linen from dirt for, once the linen gets dirty, it can be washed anywhere – even on the pulpit!

Again, the Mbaka sermon provides a most damning verdict on the Jonathan administration, particularly coming from the most unexpected quarters – the Southeast, where Jonathan’s second-term bid had become a foregone conclusion.

The Mbaka sermon has a lot of parallels in history. Right from biblical times, courage has been the stuff of which leaders are made. When Queen Esther saved an entire generation of people, asserting unequivocally, “If I perish I perish”, she demonstrated rare courage.

Salisu Buhari, a brilliant young man from Kano, to lose his seat as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999. The same certificate scandals have shadowed former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and others. We will not come to Buhari, a man who once ruled this country and could get elected in next month’s election, and waive it.

If Buhari forces his way to contest the presidential election without complying with the constitution and the electoral law, he will have trodden roughshod on our laws. His government will be an illegitimate one. He will lack the locus to swear any oath with our constitution. If he cannot comply with the requirements of the constitution to contest for election where will he obtain the legal or moral backing to swear the oath to defend the constitution?

Besides, what will the young people think of their president whose academic records are shrouded in mystery? Will they be inspired to go to school? Or will they believe that all it takes is for you to muscle your way like a thug into any position? What will the world see of a Nigerian president with questionable educational background? A country that produced Prof.

Philip Emeagwali, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Prof. Chinua Achebe among others? Dr. Kwame Nkrumah once rebuked Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo: “You won independence for your country and handed it over to cattlerearers”.

Here we go again, and some people are clapping!

When the Archbishop Olubunmi Okogie, as he then was, remained in the vanguard of critics of our military rulers, he demonstrated uncommon courage.

There is something that cannot be taken away from Father Mbaka – he has shown that the easiest way of perpetuating evil is for good men to do nothing. For too long, men of God have remained docile in the face of injustice in this country, oblivious of the fact that it is only when society is at peace that the church can be at peace. For instance, how many people can go to church in the troubled regions of the world?

There is no escaping the inevitable conclusion that the church in Nigeria today has become hopelessly compromised, commercialized and polarized.

But let no one be deceived into believing that religious leaders have no business in politics and governance. One major problem in this country has been the failure of the church to live up to expectation as the conscience of the people and the representatives of God on earth. We believe that many of the ills that have plagued this country would have been averted had our religious leaders been courageous enough to speak out as appropriate.

The situation here calls for a lot of restraint. Whatever the motivation mix and despite Mbaka’s apparent duplicity, there are aspects of his message that cannot be totally ignored. There comes a time when we must ignore the messenger and still accept his message.

20 — Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, JANUARY 22, 2015

Narrow escape for fire fighters: As Police foil their being lynched by mob

By Nwabueze Okonkwo, Onitsha

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UT for the timely intervention of a police team from Ogidi Divisional Police Station, fire service men attached to Nnewi Unit of Anambra State Fire Service would have lost their lives to a mob. Their offence? They reportedly failed to arrive on time at the scene of the fire that gutted a petrol filling station at the popular Nkpor Junction in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, an outskirt of of the commercial city of Onitsha.

The grouse of the mob was that the frantic phone calls put across to the fire service office in Onitsha on the fateful day did not get the desired quick response.

Consequently by the time the fire service officials arrived an hour after the inferno started, so much had been destroyed.

As soon as the fire fighters belatedly arrived the scene, they were greeted by pebbles hurled by the angry mob. The mob was also not impressed by the explanation given by the fire service men that it was not long they contacted by the nearby Onitsha unit which claimed not to have a functional fire fighting equipment. In fact, the mob did not just stop at throwing stones, it chased the fire service vehicle into a ditch with the personnel escaping with serious injuries.

It was indeed a narrow escape for the fire service personnel as the timely intervention of the police team, led by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Hassan Musa, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, saved their lives.

Confirming the incident, Musa told newsmen at the scene that on being informed about the fire, he quickly mobilised his men, rushed to the scene and assisted in carrying out a rescue mission, adding that even after rescuing the fire service men they still remained on the scene until 12 midnight when the fire subsided.

However, sources told newsmen that no fewer than 10 persons were placed on danger list in various hospitals within Nkpor.

As at the time of filing this report, the owners of the burnt goods are still counting their losses, while the injured are being treated in various hospitals. The owner of the burnt filling station whose name was given as Chief Patrick Okolo, could not be reached for comments.

The inferno, according to the source, stated at about 5 p.m. while the two tankers, one loaded C M Y K

Crowd of sympathisers at the scene of the fire with petrol and the other loaded with kerosine, were off-loading their products into the underground tanks inside the station.

Although the actual cause of the inferno was yet to be ascertained, there were three different claims being peddled by eye-witnesses as to how it started.

The first report had traced it to a phone call made while the fuel products were being discharged, sparking a fire in the process. The second claim has it that the

inferno was ignited by a spark from a high tension wire when electricity supply suddenly came on as the products were being discharged. For yet another claim, the fire was the direct outcome of a fuel hose being cut off while the liquid was being discharged.

Sources said the inferno

the heavy explosion that preceded the fire, fled the scene, abandoning their motorcycles which got burnt to ashes.

The resulting confusion also provided some criminal elements the opportunity to loot goods and vandalise vehicles parked by their various owners.

For Enugu widows, a New Year to remember

By Lucky Nwanekwu

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The first report traced it to a phone call made while the fuel products were being discharged, sparking a fire in the process

completely destroyed the two tankers, the fuel pumps and the entire office complex before spreading to neighbouring houses and shops, and destroying goods worth millions of Naira, including electrical and clothing materials.

Some commercial motorcycle operators who were jolted by

VER 20 indigent widows in Enugu State had reason to celebrate the New Year with smiles courtesy of the Caring Heart Foundation, a none governmental organisation, NGO. The widows who were drawn from two Local Government Areas of Ibeagwa-Agu and Nimbo both in Nsukka and Uzo-Uwani were promised cash donation to sustain their livelihood.

While presenting the gift items, Mrs. Joy Agbo, President of the foundation said the objective is to alleviate the sufferings of orphans, widows and elderly people in the society and in the process give them a sense of belonging.

‘Eight of us who are women and friends formed this NGO. Our objective is to assist indigent widows, orphans and elderly people who have nobody to care for them in Nsukka senatorial district. We are women married in Nsukka and we are living with our husbands in Lagos. This charity oriented foundation gives succour to those who have nobody to look after them. It’s

not that we have excess money but we want to use the little we have to put smiles on the faces of widows, orphans and elderly,” she said.

She added that she had one-on-one talk with the benefiting widows and what they said they needed was money to farm to enable them to get something to eat as well as take care of their families.

‘Before farming starts in March this year, the foundation will send some amount of money through a volunteer member of the foundation from the local government,” she pledged.

According to Mrs Amaka Ugwu, Secretary of the foundation, non-refundable cash donations will be made available to the widows which we will be monitored to ensure that the money was used judiciously.

“When the foundation gives out the money to the widows, we will monitor the use through our volunteers to know if the money is correctly put into use. You know most times when you give this money to the beneficiaries they may use it for some things other than what it was meant for,” she said.

Ugwu said two months ago, the foundation gave some gift items to some orphans, adding that today it was the turn of widows, while in three months it would be the turn of elderly people.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 21

By Godwin Oritse

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ORE than two weeks after the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) vessel ‘Magellan Spirit’ ran aground and effort to rescue her failed, stakeholders in the maritime industry have expressed concern over the continued presence of the vessel on the nation’s coastal waters and its effect on the nation’s ecosystem.

Efforts to savage the vessels since it ran aground on January 5th 2015 has proved abortive, as a result , LNG has engaged a world class ship rescue company to savage it.

Speaking to Vanguard on the development, President of the Nigerian Indigenous Shipowners Association (NISA) Captain Niyi Labinjo said that the continued stay of the vessel on the Bonny channel portends danger on the entire marine ecosystem in the country.

He warned that if urgent steps were not taken to rescue the vessel and should an explosion occur, it could lead to an overwhelming situation that take sometime before the country recover from it.

Speaking in similar vein, Captain Abiodun Omoteso, a chieftain of the Master Mariners Association of Nigeria, described the accident as the greatest marine disaster (considering

From left: Fatai Folarin, Lead Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, Deloitte Nigeria; Tawanda Gumbo, Transitional Leader, Deloitte Nigeria; James Douglas, Deloitte Global Head, Debt and Capital Advisory, and Charles Larbi-Odam, Head Valuation, Deloitte Africa, at the Deloitte global debt structuring and financing seminar in Lagos.

Grounded LNG vessel threatens ecosystem — Stakeholders the type of vessel involved in the accident) that has occurred in Nigeria.

Omoteso called for a probe into the accident with a view to avoiding a re-occurrence of such accident. ‘We need to know if the vessel ran

aground as a result of human or mechanical error that must be corrected.

“That ship is still aground, she cannot get out, they have used tugs, they used everything they know, the ship is still aground” he added.

Speaking on effort to rescue the vessel, Harbour master of the Bonny channel, Captain Nwobu said that moves are underway to re-float the vessel.

It was gathered that vessel was actually chartered by the

LNG company. Both the builder and the owners of the vessels are currently in Nigeria to see what can be done to rescue her.

Expert advisers are presently on location to consider steps that could be taken, such as lightening the vessel by way of a ship-to-ship transfer of a part of the cargo.

Unemployment hindering Nigeria’s growth potential — NIM

BY Michael Eboh

T

he Nigerian Institute of Management has lamented the rising unemployment situation in the country, saying it is undermining the country’s growth potential.

The NIM, in a statement by its President and Chairman of Council, Mr. Nelson Uwaga, announcing the second edition of its Breakfast Forumin Lagos, expressed concern over the unemployment situation and its effect on the entrepreneurial attitude of the youth population of the country.

He said, “The institute is deeply concerned about the rising wave of unemployment in the country which has continued to undermine Nigeria’s growth potential “The dearth of employment opportunities has led to a serious inertia on the part of the youths in terms of their innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities.

“The youth’s mental ability to focus positively with creativity has been negatively affected, leading to apathy, loss of confidence and psychological inadequacy compounded by lack of

C M Y K

adequate exposure to the outside world.”

Uwaga noted that the forthcoming forum, which has its theme: ‘Youth Empowerment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation’, is part of its intervention in the disturbing downward trend of youth unemployment in the country.

He said the NIM will be making

The dearth of employment opportunities has led to a serious inertia on the part of the youths in terms of their innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities

use of its partnership assets with the Business Schools of top Ivy universities across the world in the bid to prepare the youths for innovation and sufficient entrepreneurship skills acquisition as well as expose them to global opportunities that will enable them compete favourably in their chosen fields.

Continuing, he said, “In order to achieve this laudable initiative, the institute intends to sponsor Nigerian youths from all the local government areas of the federation to judge Business School of Cambridge University, United Kingdom, to undergo week long training on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development over the next few months”.

Uwaga further stated that the theme of the forum will be delivered by Dr. Nelson Olatunji Olaniyi, the Senior Advisor/ Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Africa Business Roundtable while Dr. Christopher Kolade, a Past President of NIM will chair the event.

$165.10

$-5.90

$2,923.00

-$19.00

$15.77

$0.44

$48.83 $47.18 CURRENCY BUYING DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

167 253.8233 193.4862 190.9663 1.4304 0.279 237.6897 26.902 44.4776 26.0242 238.3925

-$1.01 -$1.51

CENTRAL 167.5 254.5833 194.0655 191.538 1.4347 0.289 238.4014 26.983 44.6108 26.1021 239.1063

SELLING 168 255.3432 194.6448 192.1098 1.439 0.299 239.113 27.064 44.7439 26.1801 239.82

CBN Exchange Rate as at 21/01/2015

22—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Knowing how to reach your customers will make a huge difference in how effective you are at reaching them

,

,

How successful businesses determine target market

B

efore you can begin marketing your products or business, or even start a business, you will need to know who you are marketing to. Who are your customers?

There are a number of reasons that knowing your target audience is important, including knowing how to tailor your message to resonate with a specific audience and what marketing mediums would be the most effective in reaching that group of consumers.

Without knowing this little detail before promoting your products or services, you’ll be missing out on reaching a huge amount of people who would have been interested in what your company had to offer.

Less than 30 percent of businesses last more than 10 years

Follow these 5 tips in order to discover what demographic you should be trying to reach.

Look at your products The first thing you need to do is take a look at what your business has to offer to consumers. What problem would your products or services provide a solution for?

Who would benefit from your products or services?

Do your research The next step in discovering your target market is doing research on your industry and competitors. There are many resources available through the Internet to make this search easy for you, but you should be able to get a keen sense of what type of customer would be interested in your business.

Information you should try to collect is demographic info (income, education level, age, sex, and even location if it is a business that may do better in one area than another), buying patterns, and any other information that would be helpful in your search.

Most of this research has already been done for you, but

if you aren’t able to find all of the facts you are searching for, hiring a marketing research firm may be the best way to get all of the data needed.

Determine customers’ preferred method of media Although 52 percent of businesses have found a customer through Facebook, according to WebDam, the reality is that the same social media websites will not work for everyone. Believe it or not, there are still plenty of people who refuse to become a part of the social media scene, which may have to do with your target market’s demographics.

After completing step 2, you should have the demographic information needed to make the decision on how to sell your products or services. For example, if you average customer is retired and in their 60’s, there’s a good chance you won’t find them surfing their social media channels. Knowing how to reach your customers will make a huge difference in how effective you are at reaching them.

Network Knowing the right people can be a valuable tool to helping your business grow. Find and meet the right people through trade shows and other networking events, or by simply calling or stopping by local businesses that are related to your industry.

Analyze competition Not only should you evaluate your competitors in order to find out who their customer is and how they are selling their products or services, you should also figure out what makes you different from them. What do you have to offer that they don’t? While I highly suggest that you refrain from copying any of their marketing ideas, knowing what they have done in the past will give you some ideas.

Unfortunately, according to The Facts of Business Life by Bill McBean, less than 30 percent of businesses last more than 10 years. The primary reason for this is the owner doesn’t know how to plan for business success or simply doesn’t know how to run a business.

BUSINESS NAIRA EXCHANGE RATES (20/01/15) Currency DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

Buying(N) 167 252.8881 193.4528 191.0537 1.4067 0.2759 236.8538 26.8726 44.4622 26.0157 237.1233

Dyson Vacuums

Central(N)

Selling(N)

167.5 253.6453 194.032 191.6257 1.4109 0.2859 237.563 26.9535 44.5953 26.0936 237.8333

168 254.4024 194.6112 192.1977 1.4151 0.2959 238.2721 27.0344 44.7284 26.1715 238.5432

Commod Light Crud

Natural G Sugar Coffee Cocoa

Bubble Wrap

Successful products that resulted from failure

By Yinka Kolawole, with agency report

F

ailure is a part of almost everyone’s journey. Founders, inventors, great athletes, it doesn’t matter – everyone’s success is built on a previous failure. Here are some successful products that only exist because someone failed and dared to keep going.

WD-40 WD-40, abbreviated from the phrase “Water Displacement, 40th formula, was developed in 1953 by Dr. Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, in San Diego, California. Larsen was attempting to create a formula to prevent corrosion in nuclear missiles, by displacing the standing water that causes it. He claims he arrived at a successful formula on his 40th attempt.

WD-40 was originally

designed to repel water and prevent corrosion, and later was found to have numerous household uses. So the name comes from the fact that the formula represents the 40th attempt to create a degreaser and rust protection solvent.

Although it was originally used in the aerospace industry, it became so popular among employees that it was packaged into aerosol cans and introduced to retail in 1958. Can you imagine if the Larsen had given up after 39 tries?

Bubble Wrap Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material commonly used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres (bubbles) provide cushioning for fragile items. In 1957 two inventors named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were attempting to create a three-dimensional plastic wallpaper. Although the idea was a total failure, as was a

later attempt to market it as housing insulation, they found that what they did make could be used as packing material.

When the wrap was eventually used by IBM to package a newly launched computer during transport, it suddenly became an overnight success. Today, few people even realize that bubble wrap began as an abject failure.

Pacemaker A pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the heart’s natural pacemaker) is a medical device that uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contracting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart. The primary purpose of a pacemaker is to maintain an adequate heart rate, either because the heart’s natural pacemaker is not fast enough, or there is a block in the heart’s electrical conduction system.

Pacemakers used to be huge

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 23

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& YOU

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Gas

Change ($) +0.82

% Change +1.76

2.92

+0.09

+3.29

15.88

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165.05

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+0.46

2867.00

-58.00

-1.98

– the size of televisions. Then Wilson Greatbach made a mistake that revolutionized medicine. When building a heart rhythm recording device, he pulled out the wrong sized resistor and plugged it into the circuit. When it was installed he realized it sounded like a human heartbeat. With some work, he miniaturized the device to two cubic inches.

The result was an implantable pacemaker, which has since saved thousands of lives.

Apple If you’ve read anything about founder Steve Jobs, you might already know that this wildly successful consumer electronics company has been through an amazing number of ups and downs. Founded in 1976, the company had its share of failed products – even ousting its founder during a downturn in 1985. The iMac and iPod turned everything around, with Steve Jobs returned in 1997 and becoming an icon of the industry. But without the hard times and failures that preceded these successes, Apple would never have become what it is today.

Dyson Vacuums Currently, Dyson is one of the top-selling vacuums of all time. However, founder James Dyson’s road to the top was lined with failure. He tested

Everyone's success is built on a previous failure

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How much does your organisation value initiatives?

COMMODITIES (21/01/15) Last 47.29

One of the key functions of leaders is to motivate their people to always wear their initiative hats to work

5,127 prototypes between 1979 and 1984 before he finally found a vacuum that worked – but even then, he couldn’t find an American or European company to license and manufacture his product.

As a result, in 1993, he created his own manufacturing operation. Just two years later, Dyson vacuums were a worldwide sensation, demonstrating that it pays to never give up. Dyson Vacuums is the first vacuum cleaner without a bag.

Synthetic Dye Before the advent of synthetic dye, dyes were made from natural materials – and 18-year-old chemist William Perkin wasn’t out to change that. The first humanmade organic dye, mauveine, was discovered serendipitously by Perkin in 1856, the result of a failed attempt at creating an artificial version of the malarial drug, quinine. Unfortunately, his experiments weren’t successful, leaving behind a dark, oily sludge. But then, he noticed the sludge turned silk a striking shade of purple – a colour more vibrant than he had seen before. Perkin’s synthetic dye became the hit of the global fashion scene.

Nintendo Today, Nintendo is known as the gaming company that launched an era, but it certainly didn’t start out as a success. Nintendo’s first offering, the Famicom console, had to be recalled after only a few months. Atari’s failure in the mid-1980’s left the American video game market a mess, and the Nintendo NES barely sold when it was introduced in 1985. By the end of 1986, however, two little characters named Mario and Luigi had changed the history of American gaming forever.

By ‘Uju Onwuzulike “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do” Leonardo Da Vinci

M

ost times, the ideas that drive the organizations to greatness may not necessarily come from the top management.

As a matter of fact, the power can reside on any one in the organization regardless of his or her title or position. The problem has been that some organizations have not done so much to encourage their employees in one key area that will actually drive the growth and bring about the anticipated results they yearn for. That key area is initiative. The truth of the matter is that any one in an organization that makes use of his or her initiatives can actually turn the organization around for good.

Initiative has been made to be a dormant skill in organizations and yet it has the power to stir growth in organizations even in times of uncertainties. Like Victor Hugo said, initiative is doing the right thing without being told. That means taking actions for the good of your organization without being told is something that has to be made dominant and not dormant. It comes with a high level of commitment and also having a burning desire to do more for your organization. It is also very important for us to know that initiative is a pivotal element in any kind of growth or teamwork, because when people use their initiatives they bring about a chain reaction in others that leads to true synergy and better results.

Having worked in organizations before becoming a consultant and trainer, I have seen situations where organizations have lost business opportunities or contracts, missed deadlines,

BY ‘UJU ONWUZULIKE

Initiative is doing the right thing without being told

encountered service failures all because someone out there did not use his or her initiative without delay. I have also seen a situation whereby in the absence of the head of a department (who probably was sick) and on the spot decisions that were supposed to be made – that could have prevented the organization from a lawsuit was not made. That organization has to pay heavily for it. All the events mentioned above arose because people or employees are not being encouraged to use their initiatives or they lack initiatives. One of the key functions of leaders is to motivate their people to always wear their initiative hats to work. Making an organization to be an initiative driven organization cannot work unless the leaders begin to communicate it and also encourage everyone to live by it.

You might ask, how about those that lack initiatives?

The real solution should come from finding the root

causes. In finding the root causes, we need to ask ourselves the following questions: As a boss or manager, do I feel comfortable when my direct report takes actions or decisions in my absence whether good or bad? Do I reprimand my direct report for mistakes associated with actions taken? Do I view their personal actions or decisions as being inferior or without substance? Do I sometimes or always take my views to be the ultimate? Do I feel that nothing good can come from my subordinates?

Let us assume that a manager out there answered yes to all these questions. The truth is that there is no way someone working under that kind of a manager will ever use his or her initiatives no matter how he or she tries. A lot has to done by leaders and managers to ensure that they encourage their people to always be eager to use their initiatives and creative mind at work. One of the ways organizations can do this is to begin to recognize and celebrate employees who have used their initiatives at work. This will send a message to employees that their organizations value and recognize their creative spirits.

Final note: Having employees who can stand on their feet and think for themselves is highly needed in running a high performing organization. This means that making organizations to be an initiative driven organization should be the watch word of leaders and managers. They have to by all means motivate and encourage everyone in their organizations to have initiatives. When they do that, new ideas and new ways of doing things will emerge and your organization will be better for it.

Call or email us for your views or perspectives.

Email: uju@hainescentre.com Mobile: 09091142093 C M Y K

24 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Increase in export, panacea for Nigeria’s economic challenges —Agbaje

By Peter Egwuatu

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From left: Mr. Lanre Adesanya, ED South, Sterling Bank and Mr Emmanuel Emefienim, Regional Business Executive, South-South 2, Sterling Bank welcoming Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State to the official opening of the new Yenagoa III branch.

CBN introduces measures to curtail international card frauds

By Babajide Komolafe

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced measures to curb the rising incidence of international overseas card fraud against Nigerians.

The measures were announced by Mr. Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payments Department, CBN, in a circular titled, “Nigerian issued card present fraud in nonEMV environments” EMV environments refer to countries with electronic payment cards based on the magnetic stripe (magstripe) technology.

N o n - E M V environments like Nigeria refers to countries with electronic payment card based on the chip and PIN technology.

The CBN stated that, “The occurrence of Card Present Fraud in N o n - E M V environments is on the increase, especially when International hybrid cards issued by Nigerian banks are used in non-EMV environments like the USA. It has therefore become necessary for the Bank to issue the following directives: All

DMBs should do the following: “Collate all their card frauds abroad and send to CBN not later than January 30, 2015.

Subsequently, all data on card fraud occurring abroad should be rendered on the NIBSS fraud portal; Implement Anti-fraud solution on their cards management system, not later than January 30, 2015.

Ensure that from February 01, 2015, only customers that expressly indicated their intension of travelling to non-EMV

The occurrence of card present fraud in non-EMV environments is on the increase, especially when international hybrid cards issued by Nigerian banks are used in nonEMV environments like the USA

jurisdictions would have their cards default to the magnetic stripe and for the period indicated by the cardholder only. To this end, banks should ensure that their customers are adequately educated.

Carry out regular awareness campaign to cardholders on tips to avoid fraud in non-EMV environment. Ensure strict compliance on PCIDSS and their vendors/partners involved in card processing activities.

FirstBank achieves PCI DSS recertification

F

irstBank has achieved the recertification of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in 2014, having been one of the first top-tier banks in Nigeria to obtain the certification in 2013. The certification is renewable annually as demanded by the standard and regulators following a rigorous audit of the Bank’s payment card security processes environment.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure

companies that process, store or transmit credit/ debit card information, maintain a secure environment thereby guaranteeing the protection of cardholder data throughout the transaction process. The standard also facilitates the broad adoption of consistent data security measures globally.

The Bank met the six different security pillars required to achieve the PCI-DSS compliance which led to the award of a level 1 PCI certificate and the subsequent reaward after extensive audit by a leading Qualified Security

Assessor (QSA), ControlCase, from the United States of America, in partnership with its local partners Digital Encode, an information security management firm. The level 1 PCI certification is the highest rank available from the major credit card providers (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB) and this is only given to thirdparty providers who meet the Council’s stringent - and audited – credit/debit card transaction security protocols to protect customers’ personal transaction data.

he Senior Consultant/Chief Executive Officer, RTC Advisory Services Limited, Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje has stressed the need for the Federal Government to initiate policies and incentives that would encourage non- oil exports in Nigeria.

Agbaje said this while speaking at a forum titled: “Review of 2014 and Projections for 2015,” organised by the F i n a n c e Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), in Lagos on Thursday.

He said: “We have achieved significant diversification in terms of local production and consumption, but we are not competitive in exports. South Africa’s exports revenue is driven by South African companies such as MTN, DSTV, South African Breweries, and a lot of other companies, it is not the sale of commodity.

“So, the challenge for the Nigerian economy is for government to create policies and incentives that will allow our private sector to become exporters. If our export revenue was earned by thousands of Nigerian companies exporting their services, we would not collapse anytime the price of oil falls.

“We also need to start refining our oil domestically and exporting it. We should be one of the biggest exporters of refined petroleum products in the world.

“There are significant opportunities in Nigeria.

If you look at the structure of Nigeria’s GDP, you will see that huge opportunities abound in Nigeria.

“In terms of the structure of domestic production, we have done a good job of diversification, but the problem is that in terms of the structure of export and government revenue, we have not done enough.

“So, exports are still exclusively oil of about 90 per cent and government’s

revenue comes from that sale of oil. So clearly, two things would happen, we would have to diversify exports and domestically, government would have to diversify its income which means to increase focus on tax.

“From the point of business like I said earlier, there are still sectors that hold promise for significant growth. Look at the ecommerce space, look at Konga and Jumia and the growth that is going on in that sector, look at real estate which is now eight per cent of the economy, and look at entertainment, which is the fastest growing sector in the Nigerian economy.

“Look at some success in manufacturing around food, beverages and tobacco and cement, which has significant growth rate, look at hospitality, hotels, construction, all of which are growing above 12 per cent, look at the power sector.

“The implication by the time new investments begins to happen after the

The challenge for the Nigerian economy is for government to create policies and incentives that will allow our private sector to become exporters investors sort out their indebtedness.

“Those people borrowed heavily to buy power assets, so they will spend the next 18 months restructuring their finances by exchanging the shorter debts they quickly borrowed to pay with longer term debts so that they can breadth. “Till they do that, they won’t be in a position to make new investments in power generation.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 25

Quality of teachers, principals pivotal to education system — Exam Ethics

Cross section of pupils in Rivers State sitting inside one of the new classrooms.

W

By Dayo Adesulu

ORLD over, it is believed that nobody can give what he doesn’t have. This philosophy gives credence to why school owners should seek for best hands to handle students in school.

Leadership is difficult and complex because it involves managing many roles simultaneously.

Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshals International, Ike Onyechere , opined that the academic success of students is tied to the proprietors, principals and teachers. In his trainings, he urged

schools owners to seek for good qualities in principals and teachers during employment exercise.

Speaking on Best Practices in Education, Onyechere said: "When a doctor makes a mistake, a patient dies.

When an engineer makes a mistake, a bridge or building collapses and somebody dies. When a lawyer makes a mistake, justice is miscarried and somebody hangs. But when a teacher makes a mistake, a whole generation dies.’’

According to him, teachers are the

nucleus of human development noting that they have a heavy responsibility of transmitting ideas and knowledge from one generation to another. While education unlocks the door to progress and development, he insists that teachers hold the key.

Environment of a student “Besides parents, no other authority holds sway over the environment of a

student than teachers,’’ he added.

He noted that as mentor, guardian, coach, minister, educationist, consultant, adviser and counsellor, the teacher determines what the student hears, sees learns and thinks. The teacher, he explained, negotiates the meaning of ideas, concepts, objects, events, and determines the students eventual thought processes and beliefs.

Onyechere who noted that the teacher is regarded as the most powerful instrument of change, insists that they help to transform the education system.

Continues on page 26

Criticisms trail N10,000 entrance fees by Lagos govt into JSS

By Amaka Abayomi & Tare Youdeowei

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ORE negative reactions have continued to trail the N10,000 fees charged by the Lagos State government for parents who wish to register their child(ren) into the state’s junior secondary model colleges and upgraded colleges, saying the amount is tantamount to pricing education out of the reach of the poor.

Pointing out that two versions of the screening test - CBT and pencil-based - would be adopted for the 2015/2016 entrance examinations into junior secondary model colleges and upgraded colleges, the State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said parents and guardians are expected to pay N10,000 to designated banks before the candidates can be registered through a customised compact disc issued by the State Examination Board.

Describing as ‘scary’ the educational policies of the Lagos State government, the President, Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Kaamil Kalejaiye, said the burden of C M Y K

bringing quality or change in the education system should not be borne by parents.

Kalejaiye said “Lagos State is at it again with their antimasses educational policy. Why must parents always pay for things that government should do. It seems the government has misplaced its priority and it is absurd that the state government is asking parents to pay because it is not parents’ responsibility to sponsor educational innovation, unless if it is voluntary.

“Why is Lagos' government always running from its responsibilities when it comes to education? The fear is that this is just the beginning as government may soon begin to ‘indirectly’ ask parents with children in public schools to start paying ‘token’ school fees. The high fee regimes in the state institutions of higher learning have made the educational policies of LASG scary and mostly anti-masses.”

Calling on concerned stakeholders to intervene, the MSSN

Continues on page 26

Commissioner tasks teachers on maximum output Pg. 27 Armed Forces Remembrance Day:

Ndiomu Foundation awards scholarships

Pg. 28

26 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Criticisms trail N10,000 fees

*From left: New NYSC Lagos State Co-ordinator, Mr Akhanemhe Cyril and the estwhile state Co-ordinator, Mrs Adenike Adeyemi during the handing over ceremony at the NYSC Lagos State Secretariat.

Quality of teachers, principals pivotal to education system — Exam Ethics Continued from page 25 The chairman averred that school owners who want the best for their students must look out for qualities and skills in teachers.

His words; "Teachers must posses the ability to explain things well in simple language.

He must be able to listen to students and colleagues, as well as be enthusiastic in working with other people. Other qualities include; strong knowledge in particular subject areas and a mastry of choice subjects.

"A teacher must continually research in order to be up to date, equitably handle pressure, be patient with students, fair and have a good sense of humor. He must be able to manage time well, cope with changes and stress and enjoy challenges.’’

On the need for schools to have good principals to managing schools, Onyechere said, the school principal is a major pillar that holds the foundation of the education system together. A good, dedicated and competent principal is a blessing to his country in particular and to humanity in general. One bad The principal principal can do a devastating damage can do a lot in to the entire advancing the education system. cause of Principals, he posited are ranked transforming among the most education with important actors in the campaign to his exposure to promote ethics, education integrity and best practices as a ministries, foundation for departments, transformational agencies, education.

His words: “The association of principal can do a lot in advancing the parents, cause of teachers, transforming students and education with his exposure to examination e d u c a t i o n boards ministries,

departments and agencies; association of parents, teachers, students and examination boards.

"From his vintage position, the principal can offer objective assessment that can change the direction of policies and programmes.

"Qualities of a good principal include: Ability to communicate what the school is about to different categories of stakeholders, ability to focus on important initiatives and culture that impact on student learning outcomesand take the initiative to keep trying new things until desired results are achieved.

By doing so, they easily identify where and how students and teachers can make improvements. To carry out these roles+ principals need the support of the proprietor to prevent them from failing in initial efforts Other qualities are: ability to address problems with a positive attitude. Good principals see solutions and not just problems. The ability to establish positive school cultures by treating people including parents, teachers and students with respect.

Informal training They hould be able to provide formal and informal training to teachers on the use of multiple instructional materials and strategies. Good principals need to create and sustain positive inspirational climate of high expectations and identify, interview, recruit, train, support, evaluate and retrain quality academic and non- academic staff.

He added; "Ability to organize and administer daily routines to maintain efficiency and safety in resource utilization, project high ethical standards that serve as role model to teachers and students and project professionalism in the best tradition of best practices are essential qualities of good teachers and pricincals.

In leadership, there is interdependence in every decision and action of leader because every thing is connected to every thing else. Leadership as defined by James MacGregor Burns is ability to induce followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivation, the wants and the needs, the aspiration and expectations of both leaders and followers.

Continues from page 25 President said the high fees would not have risen if the state government had judiciously spent the $90 million World Bank education loan.

Also, the Education Rights Campaign, ERC, through its National Coordinator, Mr. Hassan Taiwo Soweto, has called for the immediately reversal of the said amount in the interest of the good people of the state.

Soweto said; “Public education should be a vital social responsibility. Given the glaring deficit in Nigeria’s school population, especially to the disadvantage of the girlchild, it is expected that government ensures that less of the cost of education is put on parents and guardians in order to promote enrolment.

Public education “The fact that the cost of admission into model colleges and upgraded colleges in the state has always been high does not justify its acceptability. Public education can be truly free and affordable when such burdensome fees and charges are reversed. How can the state government claim it is implementing free education program when those who wish to progress into model colleges and upgraded colleges have to part with N10,000 in a country whose minimum wage is not more than N18,000 per month?

“This high admission fee can bring hardship to and force parents to make tough choices including considering other schools even when the model colleges and upgraded colleges are their preferred choice.

"Any policy that allows a child’s future to be bartered on the basis of ability to afford an admission fee is inhuman and not fit for any society.”

Questioning the state government’s decision to make entrance into secondary schools more expensive than that of tertiary institutions, the spokesperson, West zone of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Olatinwo Jeremiah; “The proposed N10,000 test fee is enough to

The payment of N10, 000 for the screening tests is not a new thing as that has always been the practice for the past years

pay for UTME and Post-UTME test fees combined. Though we acknowledge the reforms in the education sector in the state, but NANS frowns at the exorbitant charge being proposed for entrance fees into junior secondary schools in the state.”

Parents were not left out as they also called for the reversal of the high fees.

For Mrs. Joy Obika, whose two children are in a public school while hoping to enrol the third, said “It does not make sense, why is it then free education if we are being extorted from the very beginning. This is another scheme to rip of the masses, and I would rather patronise the affordable private schools than be ripped off.”

Saying he has never trusted the free education policy of government, a parent, Mr. Wale Ojo, said “I have never trusted the free education policy of government because we still pay for the education through buying of books, paying entrance exam fees and all sorts of funny charges.

It is not fair at all because if parents that send their children to public schools had the financial wherewithal, they would enrol their wards in private schools.”

Academic welfare But Mr. Celestine Terna, whose child is in one of the state secondary schools, said “The amount is a small price to pay since the entire six years of the child’s education would be free.

Why will I not pay it as a small contribution to my child’s academic welfare? I believe it is the cost of running those exams that has caused the need for fees.

You know the exams are for all comers and the materials could be an issue.”

Defending the N10,000 fees attached to the entrance examination, the Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mr Jide Lawal, said the money was for administrative charges for external examinations and not for the pilot CBT as claimed by some people.

“Our attention has been drawn to the objections of both the Education Rights Campaign, ERC, and the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) to the amount charged for the screening test.

“We wish to state categorically that the payment of N10, 000 for the screening tests is not a new thing as that has always been the practice for the past years.

“Hence, one begins to question the motive behind the objections of the two groups.

“It is pertinent to point out that the fee cannot in any way bring hardships to parents as the screening tests into model college and upgraded colleges are for parents who wish to have their children and wards in boarding schools.”

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 27

Oluyole Club gives bursary award to students

By Amaka Abayomi

I

Commissioner for Education, Rivers State, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi interacting with the pupils during her inspection of new classrooms.

Commissioner tasks teachers on maximum output

By Dayo Adesulu

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HE Rivers State M i n i s t r y of Education has urged teachers in the State to give their best to raise sound and educated leaders for the State.

The Rivers State Commissioner for Education Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi stated this during her inspection of some schools in the State. The Commissioner for Education, Rivers State said she was impressed with the performance of teachers in the out-gone academic session and tasked them to reenact the same spirit of diligence, commitment and dedication during outgone term.

Alice Nemi noted that all the necessary logistics for smooth running of the second term's academic session has been provided by the State Ministry

of Education and called all pupils and students to take full advantage of the free education policy of the State Government under the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi to better their lives.

"It is routine, we normally go round our schools, just to ensure that activities in the schools have taken off and I am very impressed with the schools especially the teachers. I am very proud of my teachers because they are always there and I am happy that the classrooms are already filled with children as you can see.’’ she said.

She also hinted that the Ministry would introduce an award for the best teachers and the cleanest schools before she leaves office.

The Commissioner revealed that the award will be a direct reward for excellence in the State.

Some of the Head teachers promised to give their best during the academic year. The Head Teacher of Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi Model Primary School, Elekahia, Port Harcourt, Mrs Irene Okparanta, said she will ensure the teachers put in their best this academic session. She also commended the state government for providing a conducive environment for teaching and learning, as she lauded the government for the prompt payment of the teachers’ salaries.

Also speaking, the Head Teacher of Dame Christy Toby Model Primary School, Mrs Edith Chike was full of praise for the State Government for making the teaching profession very interesting in Rivers State. She promised that the teachers will make meaningful impact in the lives of the children.

Cyprus varsity lauds Nigerian students' brilliance

By Dayo Adesulu

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IGERIAN students studying at the Eastern Mediterranean University, EMU, Cyprus have been described as a bunch of highly responsible students who are studious, hardworking and eager to break ground in any area of pursuit.

The school’s Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Professor Dr Ahmet Sözen, gave the commendation while receiving Otunba Gani Adams and his team during the official inauguration of Oodua Progressive Union, OPU in the school.

“We are delighted to have you here and in establishing this very essential contact with you. We will support OPU on the campus as it will add value and enhance the behavioural pattern and activities of members," Prof. Sozen said.

Otunba Gani Adams said they were in Cyprus on the invitation of the over 900 strong Yoruba students under the aegis of Egbe Omo Oduduwa, to witness the first ever

ANKARA Festival with the theme Exploring Our Cultural Heritage For Excellence.

Gani Adams said it was imperative, as a true sons of Oduduwa, to rise up and quash the scientific and systematic obliteration of the pristine Yoruba cultural heritage and value particularly among the new generation of Yoruba in Diaspora.

“It is a task which if we fail to do will bring upon the present generation, inter generational curses and denouncement by the next generation and generations yet unborn.”

Professor Soezen who received the Yoruba students award from the Zaki of Arigidi Akoko, Oba Yisa Olanipekun, attested to the fact that; “This is one of the most beautiful, exciting and spectacular social-cultural events ever held on the campus. I am proud of the Egbe Omo oduduwa in EMU. I am proud of Otunba Adams. I am proud of Oba Olanipekun, I am happy to see another beautiful side of Nigeria.”

N its bid to ensure that undergraduate from Ibadan, Oyo State, do not derail from their studies as a result of financial constraints, Oluyole Club Lagos, has given bursary awards to 10 Ibadan students in institutions of higher learning.

The benefitting students are: Olabisi Lawal, Adeyemi Ahmed, Oluwaseun Ajayi, Opeyemi Arowolo and Oladele Temitope, who are students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho.

Others are Muibat Olatunji, Adesola Adegbola and Oladapa Oladejo from the University of Ibadan. From the University of Lagos are Bolutife Adisa and Olayemi Agboola. Each went home with N50,000.

Presenting cheques to the beneficiaries at the 2015 Annual Lecture and Bursary Award in Ibadan, President of Oluyole Club, Professor Adeniyi Osuntogun, said the Club will always follow the dream of its founding fathers by pivoting the growth and development of Ibadan and championing the development of Ibadan City.

“It is our duty to assist the less privileged but brilliant students in our society. Oluyole Club Lagos has been at the forefront of advancement of Ibadan since it was founded in 1968. The main objective of the Club is to assist Ibadan indigenes to be successful and that is why we will continue to promote this Bursary Award for Ibadan indigenes.

“One of the ways to cheek civil unrest and violence in our society is to get these youths educated so that they will not turn to street urchins. Our position on education is very solid and we will not be deterred from supporting brilliant Ibadan indigenes.”

In his paper titled Paradigm Shift Thinking: Technical and Business Skills Acquisition as Panacea For Unemployment in Nigeria, the Guest Speaker, Otunba Olabisi Ogunjobi, listed poor implementation of government policies, lack of programmes to address job creation and over dependence on oil as the cause of unemployment in Nigeria.

He said the clamour for stomach infrastructure and sharing of goodies are not substitutes for the provision of physical and social infrastructure, employment generation, job creation and the security of lives and property.

The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Osundiran Odulana appealed to indigenes of Ibadan to contribute to the development of the ancient city.

INEC, NYSC to protect corps members during election

By Faith Olatide

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ATIONAL Youth Service Corps members who would be participating in the 2015 general elections have been assured of their safety during and after the elections.

This assurance has been stressed by both the leadership of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission Speaking with newsmen, The Director General of the NYSC scheme, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi, said provision has been placed on ground to ensure the protection of lives of NYSC members before, during and after the electoral activities.

He revealed that the NYSC was partnering with some Nigeria security agencies to see that the lives of all the corps members are protected and also to ensure that their welfare and logistics were adequately taken care of during the election.

INEC's Resident Electoral Comminnisoner in Cross River State, Dr Okay Ezeanyi, while visiting the NYSC secretariat in the state, equally assured corps members that they would be secure. “It is the duty of INEC to provide adequate security for corps members, who will be used as ad hoc staff for the 2015 elections.”

While advising corps members to be of good conduct during the 2015 elections activities, Dr. Ezeanyi noted that they would be paid for their services.

28 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Universities face the toughest year in Nigerian history (1) “Whoever reads history with application will perceive that the same scenes are often repeated and that we need only change the name of the actors”, Frederick the Great, 1712-1786.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 92).

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From right: Son of late General Charles Ndiomu, Mr. Didi Ndiomu; MD, Vetiva Trustees Ltd, Mrs Ifeoma Udom, foundation's Trustees Manager; Deputy Director, Command Schools Services, Nigerian Army Corps of Education, Col. Jonathan Nwasor; Mr. Patrick Ndiomu (son); Mr Charles Ndiomu (son) and representative of the foundation's technical consultants, Axiom Learning Solutions Limited, Mr. Charles Ani Bassey-Eyo, during the 2015 Armed Forces Scholarship Award by Charles Bebeye Ndiomu Foundation.

Armed Forces Remembrance Day:

Ndiomu Foundation awards scholarships

By Bashir Adefaka THE Charles Bebeye Ndiomu Foundation, commemorating this year ’s armed forces remembrance day with the Federal Government and particularly the Nigerian Armed Forces, in Lagos on Thursday, distributed scholarships to children of some of the deceased ranks and files of the Nigerian armed forces whose condition needed to be attended to due to the absence of their bread winners.

This was described as an effort by the family of Major General Charles Bebeye Ndiomu to immortalise the late military top brass through alleviation of pains and sufferings of the needy.

Managing Director, Vetiva Trustees Limited, trustee managers for the foundation, Mrs. Ifeoma Udom, explained that the programme, introduced during the armed forces remembrance day of 2014, was a social responsibility in memory of the late Major General.

She said; “Among a number of initiatives aimed at improving the standard of education and accessibility to quality education by the less privileged in society, the foundation has put in place this scheme in honour of our fallen heroes.

"The scheme is particularly aimed at giving back to the families of deceased armed forces personnel who lost their lives in the service of the nation, by awarding scholarships to children of such families annually.”

Udom said this year’s edition received 25 application forms of which 21 candidates were shortlisted and 11 applicants scaled through the screening process based solely on academic excellence.

“Three of the 11 current awardees applied for and received this award last year.

Notwithstanding it is the much desired aspiration of the C M Y K

foundation that the award scheme will grow year after year both in terms of number of recipients and reach across the nation,” she said.

In his remarks, Col. Nwasor who described the late General Ndiomu as 'our boss', said the deceased General stood for excellence and it was the singular honour for his service of the Army to be associated with the Charles Bebeye Ndiomu Foundation.

Mr. Charles Ani Bassey-Eyo, who represented the Technical Consultants, Axiom Learning Solutions Limited, described the programme as laudable and urged Nigerian military and the government to do more in supporting the foundation to grow.

Reacting to the awards, Mrs Waliat Abdulsalam, widow of late Lt. Cpl Salami Hakeem, said

words would not be enough to appreciate the great impact the foundation has made in her now one-parent home.

The presentation of the award was attended by the family led by a of the deceased General, Mr. Patrick Ndiomu and members of the delegation of the Nigerian Army Education Corps, led by director of command school services of the corps represented by Col. JC Nwasor, his the deputy director. Others in attendance were representatives of the scholarship Trustee managers, Vetiva Trustees Limited, led by its managing director, Mrs Ifeoma Udom and the technical consultants on the project, Axiom Learning Solutions Limited represented by Mr. Ani BasseyEyo as well as the award recipients accompanied by their parents.

Three inmates receive NOUN degree at 4th convocation ceremony

By Faith Olatide

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he National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, has awarded degrees to three serving inmates alongside over 7,000 others in its 4th convocation ceremony held on Saturday.

According to the Vice Chancellor, NOUN, Profesor Vincent Tenebe, who announced the inmates’ feat at a press briefing, all three graduates are serving time for various offences at the Kirikiri and Enugu Prisons respectively. “This year’s convocation, we are graduating three inmates. Two of the inmates are from Kirikiri Prisons and one from Enugu Prisons.

We will continue to award our certificates to inmates found worthy in learning and character” Tenebe said.

Pointing out that the institution has special study centres in Nigerian Prisons, Police, Army and paramilitary formations, the VC said NOUN is pursuing amnesty for graduates who earn degrees while serving jail time so as to enable them contribute to society.

Also honorary degrees were conferred on the Late Dr. Stella Adadavoh and former Inspector General of Police, MD Yusuf.

Dr. Adadavoh received Doctor of Science while MD Yusuf was conferred with Doctor of Letters.

On the honorary degree awards, Prof. Tenebe described Dr. Adadavoh as a lady who laid her life to safe many Nigerians from the dreaded Ebola disease.

DMITTEDLY, Frederick the Great, exaggerated a little bit.

The Prussian warrior and philosopher, who was faced with total destruction of his army, until he was saved by what, in history, had become known as 'reversal of alliances', still had a point. Several scenes, in history repeat themselves all over the world, sometimes in the same country, such that it is difficult to disagree with that broad generalization.

All the stakeholders of Nigerian varsities, private and public, face the toughest year in our history since 1948 when the University College, Ibadan, opened its gates to admit students.

The closest experience we have had to what we can expect from this year and several years after, was in the 1980s when the historical Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, was introduced by President Babangida. Then, as now, the global price of crude oil fell suddenly and uncontrollably – resulting in major upheavals on Nigerian campuses. The most noticeable then was the brain-drain, as hundreds of Nigerian academics, mostly the youngest, brightest and the best, fled abroad when their take home pays at Nigerian universities could no longer take them home.

Brain-drain is still a possibility; but, not on the same scale as that of the 1980s. Nigerian The closest certificates, including Ph.Ds have since been seriously devalued. experience we have One only has to listen to the utterances of some doctorate had to what we can degree holders in Nigeria these expect from this year days to realize how far we have climbed down the greasy pole to and several years mediocrity – even in academia. after, was in the But, that is subject for another 1980s when the day. Those under focus today, among the stakeholders are the historical Structural Visitors, the Pro-Chancellors, the Adjustment V.Cs, the Council Members, Ministers and Commissioners of Programme, SAP, Education and the Senates of the was introduced by universities. Without realizing it, they are in the trenches in the President front lines of what will definitely Babangida become several battlegrounds, currently called university campuses. Peace is the last thing anybody with sense should expect. The reasons are clear to those who have learnt anything from the verdicts of economic history everywhere.

But, first permit me a diversion, whose relevance will become clear later with respect to V.C Emeritus Professor Tekena Tamuno, OFR, former V.C of University of Ibadan, U.I, and one of the best historians the world has ever produced (history is my hobby, so I should know), set an enviable example as VC of U.I which others, in the perilous times ahead, might want to emulate. Offered a second term, my second favourite Prof (sorry my brother is also a Prof and blood is always thicker than water) in Nigeria, turned it down. He wanted to return to the classroom and teach history. To him, despite the perks of office attaching to the office of VC, history came first. What some of our current and future VCs might learn from Professor of Professors is a simple lesson, being VC is not a do or die affair. And, it might save your life. Professor Akesode’e story at LASU in there as lesson.

Let me now return to the matter on hand. Back in the early 1980s, when the first major decline in the price of crude oil was experienced, after a prolonged and steady increase from 1973, aggregate national revenue dropped drastically and the Federal and State governments were forced to slash allocations to universities sharply. All hell broke loose immediately. Now, let us pause to examine the similarities between our experience in the 1908s and the present unfolding drama.

First, in each case governments and the universities were locked into several agreements and plans covering several years based on the assumption that the price of crude oil, which had by then become dominant in our economy, would remain so. And, for almost a decade, that assumption was correct – until 1982, when the decline started.

Suddenly, agreements reached with academic and non-academic staff regarding salaries and entitlements could no longer be afforded by governments. That was sufficient cause for disruptions on campuses. Then, as the Federal Government introduced measures, aimed at stabilizing the economy, but, which had hyper-inflation as one of the unintended consequences, everybody’s salaries was no longer sufficient to meet their needs. Universities wanted more money to cushion the impact of devalued currency at the same time governments had less.

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Change your emotions! change your life!

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* The beneficiaries with members of Oluyole Club Lagos led by the president, Prof. Adeniyi Osuntogun, during the bursary award to Ibadan indigenes

Pupils in Rivers get new 20-classroom block T

HE Rivers State Government has opened the one storey, 20-classroom block for academic activities at the Model Primary School, Elekahia, Port Harcourt The Construction of 20 classroom block was necessitated to address the issue of out-of school children in the State. The State Government embarked on the project to ensure that every child in the State has access to education. The project is in line with the Education for All, EFA, and Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, vision of providing access to education for all children of school age by the year 2015.

The Commissioner for Education Rivers State Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi while moving pupils to the new 20classroom block stated that the new structure will accommodate more pupils than the 14 classroom block and noted that the one storey structure has a capacity of 600.

The

Commissioner hinted that more pupils will now have access to the free education policy of the current administration of Governor Amaechi.

The Head Teacher of State School, Elekahia, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ofoni said Governor Rotimi Amaechi has done a lot for the children of the State.

State of emergency She added that the facilities at the 20-classroom block will aid teaching and learning. "It is quite a glorious place, I do not really know how to thank the Governor, he has done great things for children of Rivers State. This is a spacious place, well furnished and I thank the Rivers State Governor for this project.’’ she said.

Since the declaration of State of Emergency in the education sector by Governor Rotimi Amaechi, in 2008, the sector has witness total turnaround from

decay to decorum. The decorum in the education sector has necessitated a surge in admissions into public schools in the State a situation that prompted the construction of 20 classroom blocks across the State.

The 20 classroom block is equipped with state of the art facilities like demonstration science laboratory, library, ICT, sick bays, reception class. The introduction of the science laboratory is in line with the new national curriculum which allows children between four and above to be exposed to science education early so as to have better understanding of science courses in the future. The demonstration class is where the teacher demonstrates for the pupils what they are learning. It makes teaching and learning easier for the teacher and the pupils.

OSCOTECH graduates 5,000 students

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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o fewer than 5,000 students from the Faculties of Management Sciences, Environmental Studies and Engineering of Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke have received various certificates during the combined convocation ceremony for graduates of 2008/2009 academic session to 2012/2013 sessions.

The Rector of the institution, Dr. Augustus Oluyemi Oke, who disclosed this said the categories of awards for graduands include: Advanced Certificates, National and Higher National Diplomas for both full time and part time students of the institution.

Briefing newsmen ahead of the 4th combined convocation of the institution, the Rector also blamed stakeholders in the education sector for the falling standard of education in Nigeria.

According to him, lack of commitment on the part of stakeholders was one of the major

factors responsible for the appalling state of education in the country.

He noted that the combined lukewarm attitude to education by government, teachers, students and even parents accounted for the dwindling fortune of education in the country.

Parts of the activities lined for the event include, convocation lecture entitled Unlocking the potentials of Polytechnic and Colleges of Technology for National Development, issues, challenges and prospect, delivered by Professor Mathew Idowu Ajibero, former Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic and current Special Adviser to the Kogi State Governor on Higher Education.

At the convocation ceremony, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, the first Executive governor of Osun State and Engr. Samuel Olatunde Fadahunsi, the first Chairman of Governing Council of the institution received fellowship award of the institution.

famous boxer was known for his aggressiveness in the ring. He was the middleweight champion of the world for many years. Whenever he engaged in a fight he would fight like a man possessed. One day after one of his victories, a reporter asked him, “James, what makes you so good? Why do you fight with such tremendous aggression and passion in the ring? The reporter expected the answer to be something like, “Well, you know, I’m just competitive. That’s who I am. I love to box” However, to the reporter’s amazement, James Toney gave an unusual response, “Do you really want to know why I fight with such anger and aggression?” asked the boxer. “It’s because my Dad abandoned me when I was a child. He left me and my brothers and sisters alone, fatherless, to be raised by my mother all by herself. And now when I step into the ring I picture my Dad face on my opponent’s.

And I have so much hatred, so much anger toward him, I just explode.”

James Toney probably had his bank account full with money and gained popularity in the Sports world but he was running empty on the inside. He gained the applause of the crowd but he never gained the peace within himself. He gained the acclaim of the Sports world but claimed misery on his inside. He was driven by anger and rooted in bitterness; hence, he was stripped of the joy of living. We can’t bottle-up anger, resentment and bitterness within us and expect to experience freedom to lead a happy life at the same time. Eventually those emotional poisons will contaminate our relationships and our entire life if we do not get rid of it. Your thoughts and feelings determine your conduct and the condition of your life. You can’t have negative thoughts and feelings and experience a happy and positive life at the same time. Whatever you harbor in your mind you will All negative labour to retain and will emotions are eventually become habitual; and for positive thoughts and learned beginning emotions to become habitual, you from childhood, must labour to train and retrain however, to lead a your mind in the positive.

All negative emotions are great life these learned beginning from negative emotions childhood. However, to lead a must be unlearned great life these negative emotions and positive must be unlearned and positive emotions must be learned and emotions must be relearned. Therefore, we must learned and learn to starve our negative relearned emotions and feed our positive emotions by dwelling in thought on positive emotions and quit thinking and talking about situations and people that make us angry or sad. The law of emotion states, “A stronger emotion will dominate and override a weaker emotion, and whichever emotion you concentrate on grows and become stronger.”

To get rid of negative emotions there is need to get rid of the “entitlement mentality”; feeling entitled to your anger; rationalizing the reason for anger and unhappiness. Justifying our anger and unhappiness and meditating on the negative situation keeps us in bondage and do not affect the other person or change the situation.

In the story above it did no good for James Toney to have justified his anger towards his father rather he could have used his intelligence and imagination to excuse his father’s behavior; probably his father may have experienced abandonment and rejection in his own life and knew no better. Remember, hurting people hurt other people.

Yes! His father was wrong in abandoning his family but at the same remaining perpetually angry at his father kept him perpetually imprisoned to his past. Therefore, excusing the other person makes you gain mental control and starve anger and resentment to death while at the same feeding positive emotions to become to become strong in your life. Reinterpret the unhappy events of your life in a positive way and learn the lesson it teaches. For instance, James Toney could have said to himself, “Because my father abandoned his wife and children I will be a loving father and husband who will always be there for my family.” There is an old saying, “No man is your enemy, no man is your friend, and every man is your teacher.”

Practice withdrawing your emotional energy from any person or situation that makes you feel angry or upset. Mentally separate yourself from the situation in order to view the situation objectively and make wise choices.

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Conflicting decisions from Appeal Court divisions legitimate —Sowemimo SENIOR advocate of Nigeria, Seyi Sowemimo, is one of the children of the late Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Sodehinde Sowemimo. He was called to the Bar in 1978 after he obtained his law degree at the University of Lagos. He latter proceeded to England for his Masters degree at the University of London and had since being in active legal practice. In this interview he spoke on the forthcoming general election, conflicting judgments emanating from courts, alternative dispute resolution and delay in administration of justice as well as other related issues.

Excerpts:

By Abdulwahab Abdulah

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HE general election is around the corner election, as a senior advocate like you may become a Vice President. What spectacular change would this bring?

I don’t have sufficient information about what must have informed the choice of Professor Yemi Osinbajo. I had read in the papers that the party was considering picking from the class of governors and it has come to me as a surprise that Osinbajo was picked. But, one has to see how things go, it may well turn out to be a very good choice, it may also turn out to be different.

However, it is possible that it is a very sensible choice depending on what the parameters are put in place by his political party. He is not a politician but maybe what they need for that post is someone who is not a politician.

Recently the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, expressed worries over conflicting judgments emanating from the Court of Appeal. What is your take on this?

The people who occupy these courts are human beings and it is natural to have different opinions in the interpretations of the law.

The only time you can criticize them is if a lower court derogate from the decision of the Supreme

Court which is the highest court in the land. But when you have a situation where two different divisions of the Court of Appeal come up with conflicting decisions then one can accept that situation, it is legitimate. It is only when they depart from the decision of the Supreme Court or when the Supreme Court gives conflicting judgment that we now feel uneasy.

Differences of opinion My take is that election petitions and election cases throw up such sensitive issues that it is very difficult at times to account for the differences of opinions being voiced by different courts.

Whatever the case is, it is not ideal that we should have decisions of the same court which are conflicting. This is because in that situation, we cannot provide good guidance for lawyers and litigants who will like to know exactly what the position of the law is.

Also, the CJN has expressed preference for Alternative Dispute resolution (ADR) for settlement of disputes. Do you think this will solve the problem experienced in court proceeding?

I don’t think ADR is the way out. There are some types of

ASF secures release of 3 torture victims —PG.38 C M Y K

Seyi Sowemimo (SAN) disputes that can be settled by the ADR process. There are some that are more complicated and need to go through a trial process. This delay is not confined to Nigerian courts alone, although we are justified when we complain of delay. All we have to do is to continue to appeal to our judges, particularly those at the high courts to be more industrious in performing their functions. I think that some judges could handle matters more speedily than they do at present. We need to

Whatever the case is, it is not ideal that we should have decisions of the same court which are conflicting

appeal to judges at the trial courts for some increased productivity and that those who are appointed to the Bench should be seasoned practitioners. Most especially, those who are appointed should be people from the Bar, people who have active practice. With that sort of background and experience they can perform more efficiently at the high court level.

It is a different thing when you have someone who is coming from the practicing Bar and somebody who is coming from the ministry or other places. Those coming from the ministry are not well exposed to the rigour of the trial process. You find that the output differs depending on where they are coming from.

Not enough lawyers are being appointed from the practicing Bar. Most of the people being appointed are either from the ministry or the magisterial Bench and other administrative positions. Naturally, it takes them time to come to grip with the duties they need to perform at the high court level. That is partly what is contributing to delay in our courts. They are not appointing the right caliber of professionals to man the high court Bench.

A country like England is doing so well because for people to go to high court Bench, they pick

them from the rank of Queens Counsel which is the equivalent of Senior Advocates that we have in Nigeria. These are people who have reached the peak of their professional career. They have distinguished themselves at the Bar.

Experienced professionals They are the cream of the Bar and by the time you put them on the high court Bench, they are very much at home with what they are doing. They are very experienced professionals but what we have in most cases here is that people who are yet to make a mark are appointed to the Bench and that reflect on the work they do.

In what way do you think delays in the administration of justice could be eliminated?

Those are the sort of reforms we are also calling for. In the age when we have the use of cell phones, we have SMS, we have internet and so many technological devices by which you can make contact with people, it can’t be justified that you have these sorts of things happening and you wouldn’t be able to correct it. So, it’s one of those things I believe the judges

Continues on page 37

LASU law honours Atrib, others at dinner —PG.38

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Conflicting decisions from appeal court divisions legitimate — Sowemimo Continues from Page 36

and those involved in the administration of the court should look into.

You have a situation for instance, lawyers furnish to the court their telephone numbers and email addresses, and I think the main reason for doing that is because they want to utilize the information to address the sort of issues you have raised. It is important that these kinds of complaints are dealt with, so that we can reform the system.

A lot of measures are being put in place but it appears to me that we still do not have sufficient number of judges to deal with number of cases that are being filed in our courts. We also need a situation whereby our judges will really apply themselves more seriously to the disposal of these cases. So that we don’t have as many adjournments and longer sitting hours.

Recently, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, (BOSAN) which you are the Secretary condemned the attack on judicial officers in Ekiti State, describing it as a grave assault on the temple of justice. Are you satisfied with the way the situation was handled?

I don’t think the matter has been settled yet.

Result of the investigations At that time, there was a complaint that people who were acting for the present governor stormed the court and molested judges. I am aware that a report has been made to the National Judicial Council, and that the matter is being investigated. I am not aware that there is report or recommendations which have been made as a result of the investigation by the NJC. As it is now, I am personally quite uncomfortable with the situation under which the judges have to perform their functions in Ekiti State. This is because without some indictments, it means that judges in Ekiti cannot act with much independence until some decisions are taken by the NJC. What do you think BOSAN can do to prevent future

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•Sowemimo occurrence?

You know the NJC is actually better positioned than any other organ to investigate this matter because it concerns the conduct of judges of the high court. I think the Body of Senior Advocate has to await the outcome of the investigation being made before it can take a decision on this matter. I recall that Fayose said he had nothing to do with the people who invaded the court. So it will be wrong to begin to take a decision on the assumption that he was the one who instigated these people to invade the court. I think we should wait for the outcome of NJC’s investigation.

How do you see the recent mass failure at the Nigerian Law School Bar exam?

Well, from what I have heard about that mass failure, it only reveals that there are some problems with our educational system. I strongly think that in this case the blame should be with the universities. If the students being churned out by the universities are really up-tostandard, they should not have problems at the Nigerian Law School. I tend to believe that the university authorities where they teach law as a discipline need to be more up-and-doing to ensure that the faculties they have are stronger than what they are at present in order to withstand the rigorous of the Nigerian Law School. From what I have heard, in the past years, they have been able to avert this sort of situation

by probably lowering the pass mark. What we have now is a Director General of the Law School who insist on very high standards and it is that insistence that has revealed that most of the graduates of the Nigerian universities are not up-tostandard in terms of what is required of them before they are called to the Bar. What is you assessment of the Judiciary in the last 54 years?

I think the judiciary started well and has been doing well, out of the various arms of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, you find that the judiciary has performed its best. It is because of their performance that we have enjoyed a measure of stability in this country. But, I must observe that in the past few years, like ten years ago, the performance of the judiciary has been opened to questions. There are instances where people have strongly suggested that judges have been compromised. This has been more pronounced in the politics of the third republic. I think a lot needs to be done to ensure that our judges carry on their duties responsibly and without political

Today, the perception of the judiciary and the status that they used to command in those days are not what you have today

interference. That is why I think the NJC really has a lot of job to do in ensuring that the very robust reputation which the judiciary used to enjoy is preserved.

What is your relationship with the late CJN, Justice Sodehinde Sowemimo?

The late justice was my father and he was Chief Justice between 1983 and 1985. He inspired me to opt for a legal career.

Does it mean that he influenced your choice of legal career?

No, he inspired me. He was not the sort that dictates the choice of a career. But, I was inspired by his achievements to also toll the legal line.

Among his children, are you the only one that studied law?

No, I have a sister who is also a lawyer, although she is not in practice. I am the only one in full time practice.

If you have an opportunity to go to the Bench, will you do so?

Well, what I am interested in is breaking new frontiers. My dad ended up as Chief Justice, even if I were to go on the Bench today, the most I could also achieve would be Chief Justice of Nigeria, that would be simply treading along a beaten tract. I would rather break new grounds. I think I have more contributions to make through the practice of law than a Bench appointment. Today, the perception of the judiciary and the status that they used to command in those days are not what you have today. Really, if I had wanted to go to the Bench it would have been many years ago.

Today many people who are junior to me occupy positions on the Bench. My own mates at the Law School are on Bench of the Court of Appeal and at the Supreme Court. Even you have people who are junior to me at the Bar who are now at the Supreme Court level. So when you ask whether I will consider a Bench career, I would ask myself where do I start from. It is too late in the day even to think of a career on the Bench. But, above everything else, I am quite satisfied with the Bar, it gives me greater inspiration and greater flexibility and more opportunity to contribute to the legal

profession.

What is your advice to younger lawyers?

I think any junior who wants to make quick money will find that practice at the Bar is not the place for him or her. It has always being the case that when juniors are starting out, they may not earn the sort of remunerations that they consider adequate for their purposes. But, I think most seniors will pay what they can afford. If a junior finds that a senior is not able to pay what he is really looking for, he is not oblige to work for that person. He can always look for some other law firms.

Quality of law graduates But part of the problem I find these days is the low quality of law graduates being turned out.

When they come into chambers they don’t make a difference.

You spend a number of years trying to tutor them, trying to make-up for the shortcoming of the education which they have received at the university.

You end up vetting and vetting letters which ordinarily are responsibilities which you would have delegated out absolutely to a junior. You find yourself doing the very same thing which you were doing even before you employed the junior.

Most juniors don’t reduce the burden of the work, so the value which they are bringing to chambers is not much. Probably that is what is reflected in this pay they are complaining about.

Because if you have a junior that add so much value in terms of what he can contribute, you will not likely want to lose that sorts of junior. But I think the problem also is that the juniors that are coming from the law school are not of such quality as to attract optimal income from chambers.

So my advice for them is that they should not be in a hurry to make money. Hard work should be the basic consideration for the new lawyers. They should be more interested in getting some satisfaction in the work they are doing, and they should me more committed.

38—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

LEDAP opens office Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, a civil society organisation, opened its National Office at Lekki area of Lagos State, recently.

ASF secures release of 3 torture victims

By Innocent Anaba

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S part of its efforts in eradicating torture in Nigeria, Avocats Sans Frontières France, ASF, has successfully enforced the fundamental human rights of three victims of torture in Kaduna State.

The victims are beneficiaries of ASF France’s pro bono legal aid on the platform of the “Promoting the United Nations Convention against torture project” in Nigeria, ProCAT. The cases of Isaiah Sunday, Halima Umaru and Babangida Na’ado were all handled between the months of October and December 2014.

Isaiah Sunday was arrested on charged for conspiracy and armed robbery. He was detained at the Sabon Tasha Divisional headquarters in Sabon Gari, Kaduna and then later transferred to the Kaduna State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID. At the Sabon Tasha Police station, severe acts of torture and inhuman treatments were meted out on him. This include being deprived of food and water for three days and being brutally beaten with a metal rod with specific attention paid to his ankles, waist and his knees. At the Kaduna state CID, he was intermittently beaten with a baton, gora and an iron rod. The incident left him with three deep gouges on his thigh.

Prison custody ASF France tendered an application on Mr Isaiah’s behalf citing the violation of his fundamental human rights. His entitlement to the respect for the dignity of his person and his right not to be subjected to torture as contained in section 34(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was clearly breached by state actors in the police force.

Secondly, ASF contended that he was remanded in prison custody far beyond the dictates of the law. In addition, he was arraigned before the chief magistrate court which had no jurisdiction to try the matter.

In a judgment delivered by the Kaduna State High Court, the acts of torture and inhuman treatment meted out on Isaiah were

deemed as unlawful and unconstitutional. His prolonged stay in prison without trial was also described as a violation of his fundamental rights. He was granted bail and awarded damages for the violation of his rights. He has since been released from prison.

Similarly, the case of Halima Umaru, who was charged with culpable homicide, elicited a favourable outcome after an application for the violation of her fundamental human rights was filed before a Kaduna State High Court

by ASF. Halima was arrested by the Police at Hunkuyi in Kaduna State where she was stripped to her underwear and physically beaten with a baton and whip.

At the Kaduna state CID where she was later transferred, she was bullied into admitting that

He was taken into police custody and later transferred to Jaji cantonment where he was cruelly beaten with sticks until he lost all sensation of pain in a bid to get him to admit to stealing three phones and N10, 000

she was 18 years old, despite the fact that she was 15 years.

The court ruled that the actions of the respondents were unconstitutional and illegal.

The sum of N2 million was awarded as damages for the violation of her fundamental human rights.

The third victim, Babangida, Na’ado was arrested in 2010 and charged for conspiracy and armed robbery. He was taken into police custody and later transferred to Jaji cantonment where he was cruelly beaten with sticks until he lost all sensation of pain in a bid to get him to admit to stealing three phones and N10, 000.

Babandiga was then transferred to the Kaduna state CID where he was viciously whipped with a cable wire for two days for refusing to append his thumb print to confessional statements prepared for him.

He was also deprived of food and water for three days.

Babangida was unconditionally released from prison after ASF filed an application on his behalf enforcing his fundamental human rights. He had been in prison from 2010 to 2014 without charges being brought against him.

Commenting on the case, Angela Uwandu, head of Office ASF France, said “The terrain for enforcing fundamental human rights in Nigeria is far from ideal by international human rights standards especially as it pertains to torture. The absence of a law criminalizing torture makes it extremely difficult for the perpetrators of the crime to be held accountable especially in light of the fact that some of these crimes are committed by security agents.

“What international human rights laws afford us is the opportunity to place that inalienable and universal value on human life so that the respect for the rule of law as it relates to all other rights proceeding comes with ease,” she added.

From left: Mrs Adaobi Egboka, Executive Director, LEDAP. and National Coordinator, LEDAP, Mr Chino Obiagwu.

From left: Williams Owodo, Christopher Okolie and Sopuchi Obed, all death row inmates, whose freedom was secured by LEDAP, which got the appellate courts to quash their sentence.

From left: Stanley Ugwuoke, Opeyemi Mabarorku, Pascaline Emeh, Olajoke Olafisoye, Toyin Titilola, Mrs. Pamela Okoroigwe and Ayo Ogundeji, all staff of LEDAP.

Widows Trust Fund for the International Women’s Society, IWS, held its 2015 widows endowment and empowerment programme in Lagos, recently.

LASU law honours Atrib, others at dinner

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agos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, is expected to be the special guest of honour at the 30th Anniversary / annual law dinner and awards ceremony of Law Students’ Society, Lagos State University, LASU, in honour of a distinguished Leadership Personality of Late Chief Michael Atrib which comes up today.

Others expected at

the events as special guests are Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa, Vice Chancellor, LASU, Dr. Derek Adetokunbo Obadina, Dean, Faculty of Law, LASU and Elias Atrib - Director, Rocky Sporting Club Ltd. Late Chief Atrib was the founder of Rocky Sporting Club Limited and a philanthropists who had created job opportunities for Nigerians in the late 1990’s.

From left: Mrs Gbemi Shasore, chairperson, IWS; Mrs Abimbola Fashola, first lady, Lagos State, and Mrs Folashade Oyeniyi, President, IWS.

From left: Mrs S h a s o r e presenting items for businessopening to a beneficiary of the endowment and empowerment programme.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—39

Registered voters 5,426,391 Population (2006) —17.5 million

Showdown in Lagos!

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

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NARGUABLY, the fulcrum of the country ’s economic power, Lagos State which until recently was fully imagined as the enclave of the All Progressives Congress, APC is witnessing what could be its most competitive election since 1999.

The state has since 1999 been in the political grips of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who governed the state between 1999 and 2003 and subsequently bequeathed power to a handpicked successor in the person of his former chief of staff, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

Grassroots mobiliser

•Agbaje: PDP candidate

•Ambode: APC candidate

Handpicked successor Though Tinubu’s alleged imposition at that time stressed his former party, the Action Congress, AC, but the outpouring was quickly contained and the party moved on to victory, triumphing over the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s Musiliu Obanikoro and Jimi Agbaje of the Democratic Peoples Allliance, DPA. Agbaje was reputed to have made a fashionable campaign but without a solid structure he was shoved aside by the dominant AC and PDP. Ahead of the 2015 elections,

Solomon accepted Ambode and it is thus interesting that the APC is going into the election as a united body.

In the PDP, party leader, Chief Olabode George remarkably was on the same page with his perennial foe, Tinubu on religion and sought for a Christian candidate.

In his search he also reached a rapprochement with his former party rival, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe and the two were able to woo Agbaje the 2007, DPA candidate to cross over to the party.

one crucial factor that shadowed the thinking of

The contest for the party’s governorship ticket turned out to be a democratic exercise contrary to the imposition many supposed it would be

political stakeholders was the matter of religion.

Tinubu and his successor are both Muslims and with the trenchant call for a Christian to succeed Fashola, Tinubu was quick to move ahead of the agitation and picked the one time accountant general of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode to succeed Fashola.

The primary contest was keen and laced with many subterfuges as many of Tinubu's disciples in his new political platform, All Progressives Congress, APC rebelled.

The contest for the party’s governorship ticket turned out to be a democratic exercise contrary to the imposition many supposed it would be.

Tinubu and Ambode worked for their victory. Asiwaju as he is popularly called, worked the phones, cajoled and begged and had his way despite the last minute push by some core associates of Fashola to position Olasupo Sashore as the APC candidate.

At the end Fashola and even the long time governorship aspirant, Senator Ganiyu

But Obanikoro, himself a popular grassroots mobiliser who had left office as minister of state, defence to again seek the governorship was unyielding.

With the support of George and Ogunlewe, Agbaje got the ticket to Obanikoro’s fury.

Obanikoro’s fury turned into toxic condemnation of George who retaliated in Lagos boy fashion until outside party elders intervened leading to Obanikoro’s withdrawal of his court action and acceptance of Agbaje. The icing for Obanikoro, however, is his possible return to the cabinet as a full minister.

With the APC and PDP going into the election with near unanimity in their respective camps, the stage is thus set for an unprecedented political showdown in the nation’s economic power base.

40—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

AMBODE'S LAGOS LAGOS L-Leadership A- Accountability G-Governance O-Opportunity S-Service

SNAPSHOT Ambode was born on June 14, 1963 in Epe. He had his primary education at St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebutte Meta, Lagos.

The governorship hopeful was at Federal Government College, Warri for his secondary education.

Ambode studied Accounting in University of Lagos,where he graduated in 1984 at the age of 21.

He performed the mandatory National Youth Service Corps,NYSC, at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sokoto, where he started his relationship with the public service.

•Ambode: APC candidate

Ambode’s plans for L.A.G.O.S

By Charles Kumolu

A

KINWUNMI Ambode’s programme to sustain what he has espoused as the success story of Lagos is pegged on five key enablers summed up as LAGOS; Leadership, Accountability, Governance, Opportunity and Service.

With every imprint of progressivism which the All Progressives Congress (APC) lays claim to, Ambode’s blueprint gives priority to job creation, economy, free education, housing, agriculture, transportation and healthcare.

Other areas of focus in the road map include; tourism, sports, entertainment and arts, security, infrastructure and rule of law.

A comprehensive breakdown shows that Ambode would boost the State Security Fund.

In addition to that, there are plans to continue with the city lighting project by expanding the Independent Power Project, IPP, to enhance the security of lives and property across the state.

Also, the APC candidate promises to embark on the acquisition of the latest advanced security communication technology that will track and

monitor activities in the state.

To ensure that the state’s full economic potentials are maximally optimised, he promises to introduce a 24/7 economy that is typical of a city state like Lagos.

As part of his desire to address the problem of unemployment, Ambode promises to set up a Lagos Employment Trust Fund, LETF, with N25 billion over four years, to allow entrepreneurs access to finance with a minimum of N1 billion naira annually across the five divisions in the state.

Ambode plans to boost internally generated revenue by improving the collection mechanism through e-governance. He also intends to encourage the creation of a Corporate Social Responsibility Trust Fund, CSRTF, by the private sector, to be managed by a board of trustees

Adequate finance The import of that, is that it would allow youths and unemployed people have access to adequate finance for entrepreneurial ventures.

Remarkably, small and medium scale enterprises would be protected through tax incentives.

Government policies that would encourage the private sector to employ more citizens and foster economic development are also part of the plans.

Since the state is known to have the capacity of self-sufficiency,

Questions on whether the electorates would be swayed by these promises, would be answered by the outcome of the February 28, governorship election in the state

charged with the responsibility of identifying growth opportunities yearly and financing such opportunities to further boost economic development.

On education, Ambode plans to provide free education up to senior secondary school level to ensure that no child is denied his right to education, and endeavour to provide one meal per day to students to guarantee a healthy learning environment.

The state’s bursary and scholarship initiative, was also factored in, as the private sector would be encouraged to partner with government in this regard as part of its corporate social responsibility. In the housing sector, where the present administration has received so many knocks, Ambode pledges to create communities that are self sustainable for residents that will encourage even development across the state.

To him, this would allow for easy access and reduce congestion at the city centers.

Still on the contentious housing issue in Lagos, Ambode promises to provide affordable housing schemes by collaborating through Public Private Partnerships, PPP, to increase the available housing stock.

Policy on home ownership If elected, he proposes to improve on the current policy of home ownership through Lagos HOMS and provide ownership options, such as Rent to Own Program, R.O.P. On healthcare, there are assurances of free medical care for children from birth to age six.

Also, healthcare would also be free for pregnant women, including both pre-natal and ante-natal care, while senior citizens above sixty-five years would also enjoy free healthcare.

The Primary Healthcare system was also factored in, as he promised to improve on its quality, thereby reducing the over dependence on general hospitals.

In line with calls for the revamping of the agricultural sector nationwide, Ambode's blue print on agriculture showed that he would build on the current administration’s efforts on agriculture by opening up the

virtually untapped aquatic and seafood resources in the state.

Realising that a densely populated state like Lagos, deserves an efficient public transport system, he pledged to pursue a fully integrated transport management system that takes into consideration roads, rail, water and walkways as means of mobility for ease of movement of residents in the city centers and the suburbs.

To make that possible, he plans to improve on traffic with construction of new roads and maintaining existing ones, as well as placing directional signs in strategic places. In furtherance to that, Ambode promised to introduce officially designated bus stops/routes in Lagos.

Highest standards On infrastructure, there are plans to ensure the provision of good and motorable roads across the State, excellent by-passes, pedestrian bridges, traffic intersections, public and amusement parks, and ensure that all public institutions and facilities are of the highest standards and quality.

The tourism sector under the road map, through increase in the avenues to showcase the distinct and diverse Lagos culture and traditions through the establishment of museums and heritage centers.

The APC standard bearer, wants to make Lagos the hub of entertainment and arts in Africa.

In achieving this, he said that grants would be provided to producers in the movie and music industries to encourage growth in the sectors.

To ensure that the entire business of governance functions properly, the need to make the law work was not left out.

Hence, the assurance that all ministries, agencies and parastatals, would be made to uphold the rule of law, by rendering services in accordance with laid down rules and procedures, to guarantee the protection of the rights of all citizens. Questions on whether the electorates would be swayed by these promises, would be answered by the outcome of the February 28, governorship election in the state.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—41

Agbaje’s bold SHELTER plan

By Dapo Akinrefon

J

IMI AGBAJE, in coming up with his manifesto entitled: “Bold Ideas, New Opportunities”, posits Lagos can be better managed than it is presently done.

Unveiling his manifesto recently, he said that Lagos has been recognised by the vast number of residents to be in bad shape.

Perhaps, this informed his decision to embark on town hall meetings across the 20 local government areas of the state.

Agbaje explained that his decision to hold town hall meetings is to meet with artisans, market women, religious leaders, community leaders and the youths “so that we can sit down with and get their views on how to move this state forward.”

He has framed an eight point agenda towards realising his vision for a better Lagos framed as SHELTER. The key elements of the SHELTER plan are Security, Health of the body and environment, E – Education and Youth empowerment, L – Leadership and Governance, T - Transportation, E – Economic empowerment and R – Residential Housing.

Flagship policies For Agbaje, “the different aspects of the SHELTER framework work together to ensure that our vision is achieved. In every area of the framework, we have our flagship policies which we believe will be catalysts for the dynamic change that will enable Lagos leapfrog competitor cities in Nigeria and abroad.”

According to him, “the flagship policies will be delivered effectively through our policy themes. We intend to give the people value for money; build an efficient and dynamic economy for today and the future; do things differently and effectively and; develop a kinder more humane Lagos. These policies will have an effect on the key areas of the economy.”

Picking holes in the APC-led administration's handling of the state, Agbaje noted the dismal performance of the state in the education, healthcare, housing, youth empowerment and the civil service sectors

among others.

He also accused the Lagos State government of failing to improve the education sector saying “education is the key that provides access to opportunity – the evidence is irrefutable. Therefore I am alarmed that after a decade and a half of administration by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the overwhelming majority of our children still do not pass WAEC exams.”

He vowed to make corrections in that regard if voted into officer.

“Our Lagos will have the development of our children and youth – across all ages - at the forefront. Basic education will be free and of demonstrably high quality, matching the best standards in the world. We will also ensure that within these four years all our children attend and stay in school. They will achieve skills and knowledge driven by current and future needs and demands of industry and the economy,” he said.

A pharmacist, Agbaje says he is disturbed that Lagos still contends with inadequate health facilities.

In addition, he said “whilst we remain a commercial and industrial hub, there is little doubt that our economy can do a lot better. On-going expansion and upgrade of infrastructure must be accelerated to enhance the competitiveness of our economy and ultimately the creation of jobs for our people.

Our Lagos will have the development of our children and youth – across all ages - at the forefront. Basic education will be free and of demonstrably high quality, matching the best standards in the world

Jimi Agbaje was born on March 2, 1957 in Lagos State.

In 1982, Agbaje, a Pharmacist, founded his own company, JAYKAY Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company Limited.

He was a member of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (1999 – 2006); National Secretary of the Nigerian Association of General Practice Pharmacists (NAGPP) from 1987 – 1990; National Chairman NAGPP (1990 – 1993) and Chairman Pharmaceutical society of Nigeria Lagos State (1994 – 1997).

Jimi Agbaje also sits on the Board of other organizations including Oakwood Park Ltd, Atlantic Hall Secondary School Epe, Jimi Agbaje Outreach (a project dedicated to helping the less fortunate) and has served as business mentor at Fate Foundation.

•Agbaje: PDP candidate The water resources of our State must be harnessed to add the dimensions of an Ocean Economy to our current character.”

To further encourage investment in the state and create employment, he promised that “entrepreneurial governance will be the approach of the PDP Administration inaugurated in Lagos after the forthcoming elections.

Monitoring of performance Our approach is that while the government will provide direction, determine priorities and monitor performance, the private sector will, as far as possible, be charged with bringing our ideas to life.

Enlargement of the Private Sector in this way will create work for our people and provide revenue to the government.”

As a way of improving the Civil Service, Agbaje said “a PDP-led Administration in Lagos will work closely with various communities and Civil Society groups to ensure rapid development of our State. Ours will be an inclusive Administration, providing widespread access to information about the processes, opportunities and developments in the government - accountable to the people of Lagos for our every action and omission.”

To ensure Lagos becomes safe, law-abiding and conducive to all, he noted that his administration will ensure the comfort and safety of all –

Agbaje’s key policy themes •Citizens' resources to be used efficiently and transparently with full accountability to the people •All projects must have clear, achievable goals and are monitored from inception to completion •Value for money, doing things differently and effectively •Build an efficient and dynamic economy for today and the future •A kinder, more humane Lagos •Sustainable development that focuses on the needs of Lagos as a megacity today and in the future •State policies that are people friendly and are always for the benefit of the people and the state visitors, residents and indigenes, adding that “to enable us all successfully pursue our legitimate ambitions, we will continue to strengthen our judiciary and capacity of law enforcement in order to restore respect for law and order.”

Recalling how the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo governed the old Wester Region of the country, Agbaje said he is optimistic that his administration will prove critics wrong.

“For those who are doubtful that the kind of long-lasting change towards which we will work can be achieved in 4 years – the example of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s government in the old Western Nigeria is instructive. Much of the unique and foundational developments were achieved in slightly over 4 years”, he

stated.

While he called on the electorates to support him in his quest of governing the state, he promised to pursue state policies that are people friendly and are always for the benefit of the people and the State.

While he vowed to pursue sustainable development that focuses on the needs of Lagos as a megacity today and the future, he said “all projects must have clear, achievable goals and are monitored from inception to completion.

Citizens resources to be used efficiently and transparently with full accountability to the people Value for money Doing things differently and effectively A kinder more humane Lagos Build an efficient and dynamic economy for today and the future.”

42 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 43

44—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

33,364 benefit from free eye care services in 6 states

By Sola Ogundipe

T

OWARDS reducing the high proportion of preventable blindness in Nigeria, six states, Osun, Niger, Delta, Taraba, Sokoto and Abia have completed implementation of the EyeSight Restoration Intervention Scheme, MTNF EyeRIS, a partnership between the MTN Foundation, MTNF, and and Eye Foundation Centre for the Prevention of Blindness, EFCPB. The project intervention targeted 2,000 cataract surgeries in each state of implementation, aimed at increasing the total number of cataract surgeries in Nigeria by 12,000 thereby significantly increasing the cataract surgical rate in line with the WHO Vision 2020 Right to Sight initiative. The intervention also provided treatment to screen patients for common allergies and other ocular infections such as refractive errors and presbyopia who were provided reading glasses.

Courtesy of the project, a total of 33,364 beneficiaries emerged in the first phase of the intervention. Out of this number, 10,610 had free cataract surgery, while 11,964 reading glasses and 10,808 drugs packs were distributed.

With the project now in its second phase, Ogun, Imo, Ondo and Akwa Ibom states have been pencilled down and the two outstanding states would be selected in 2015. The target, in the 2nd phase, is to reach out to over 34,000 beneficiaries. with cataract operations, distribution of glasses and drug packs.

• Cross section of beneficiaries of free cataract surgery during the programme.

A study by the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Study Group shows that 1.4 million Nigerians over age 40 will lose their sight over the next decade

"MTN Nigeria takes it corporate social responsibility very seriously which is why we are perhaps the most visible Foundation in the country going to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to implement key intervention programmess in the areas of Education, Health and Economic Empowerment," noted Chairman of MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie.

A study by the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Study Group shows that 1.4 million Nigerians over age 40 will lose their sight over the

next decade, and the vast majority of the causes are either preventable or treatable.

The study noted that groups that had less access to health care were particularly vulnerable to preventable visual impairment.

According to WHO, Nigeria has a relatively low Cataract Surgical Rate of 400 per million population as compared to Gambia at 2,000 per million, India at 4,000 per million, United Kingdom and USA at 5,000 per million population each.

As part of efforts to make the execution of project EyeRIS seamless MTNF sought the endorsement of the Federal Ministry of Health and various beneficiary State Ministries of Health.

The beneficiary states were evenly spread across the six geo-political zones of the country. Selection was done through public notice of Expression of Interest, EOI, in national dailies. Following the response from the EOI, a qualitative and quantitative analytic process was carried out to determine the beneficiary states.

Adequately prepared to achieve its target for the intervention, MTNF and its partner deployed necessary human resources for these outreaches ranging from Lead Consultant Ophthalmologist to community ophthalmic nurses and technicians.

The deployment of these personnel was made possible through trainings and capacity building provided by EFCPB. "Early detection can prevent blindness or any other eye diseases,” governors of the benefiting states agreed.

COMMON SEXUAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR NOVELTY BASED SOLUTIONS (ADVERTORIAL)

I

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Adult entertainment is their job and some of them make a lot of money and enjoy a lot of attention, which they love. These women are fully aware of what they are doing and are protected by their labor unions. There is no issue of exploitation here.

But if you are talking about sex trafficking and sexual slavery, that is a different matter. That is a totally different set of people who get kidnapped or forced into prostitution by their slave masters who will batter them to bits if they refuse to do what they are asked. Those are blatant crimes and yes that is pure sexual exploitation. So there is a clear difference between victims of sex trafficking and professional adult films stars – Uche Hello sir. I read your last column about the erection products Blue Fusion Enhancer. I am 64 years old and healthy. But I have not had an erection in almost two years. Can this Blue Fusion medicine help me – Funso Yes it can. Blue Fusion is used primarily for gaining erection, strengthening weak erection and sexual stamina – Uche I experience premature ejaculation and weak erection I will like a cure for it. But I don’t like the idea of being dependent on adult products all the time to be able to perform. By the way, I am 52 years old – Sam

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—45

Card readers'll eliminate voting with another person's PVC —IGINI ...says 137,000 card readers have arrived

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

ENIN—THE Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Edo State, Mr Mike Igini, has said that with the introduction of card readers ahead of the February general elections, the Commission has gone digital while politicians were still at the analogue stage in their thinking.

He explained that contrary to the belief that the commission may not be able to provide the card readers, a total of 137,000 of the card readers had arrived the country, adding that with the introduction of the card readers, it will now be impossible for anybody to use another person’s Permanent Voters Card, PVC, to vote on the day of election.

Igini said: “A number of people think that the card reader will not come. That is why they are still instigating people to snatch Permanent Voters Cards, thinking that they will use the old ways to deal with the new approach that we have developed. So, this is the card reader, the battery will last for about 14 hours.

“Once you come with your PVC, your face and everything about you will show on it, it will authenticate whether the face corresponds with the person that has the thump print. There is a speaker in it that will announce that everything about you is okay

before you are given a ballot paper. As a matter of fact, at the end of the day, we can print a new register with this.

“So, you can see that it is useless for anybody to be in possession of the PVC of another person. But when we were in the old regime when

INEC was using paper, it was possible without photo for politicians to pack all of them and thumb print. We have moved beyond that era. So, we have gone digital, while the political class are at the analogue stage in their thinking. That is what must have informed some of the unwholesome practices,” he stated.

COMMUNION SERVICE: First Lady of Kwara State, Deaconness Omolewa Ahmed, flanked by the Prelate Emeritus of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde (right) and Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Senior Pastor of Trinity House, at the Special Communion Service of Trinity House, in Lagos.

FEB POLLS: Put Uvwiamughe behind, work for Okowa, group urges Urhobo

By Festus Ahon

A

SABA—THE Urhobo Grassroots Political Forum, UGPF, has appealed to the Urhobo nation to put the Uvwiamughe declaration behind them and work for the election of the governorship candidate of Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

UGPF, in a statement by its President, Mr Charles Obada, said: “We have resolved to work assiduously for Okowa's emergence of as governor of Delta State come February 28.

Our resolution to work for Okowa's election came after a careful consideration of all the governorship candidates for the election. Of all the candidates, Okowa stands out considering his political antecedents and pedigree.

“We are very determined to work for Okowa despite the strong opposition from our kinsmen who are rooting for an Urhobo governorship. We, therefore, appeal to them to open their hearts to work for the victory of the PDP at all levels. PDP is the only political party that can better the lot of our people hence we have C M Y K

decided to lend our support to its gubernatorial candidate.

“Our members are scattered

across Delta Central senatorial district and we are moving from house to house

campaigning for Okowa. We are not going back on the Okowa project.”

....As Ndokwa rallies support for Emerhor

A

NGERED by the exclusion of Ndokwa with the outcome of Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship primaries, the Ndokwa Survival Project has thrown its weight behind the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, Mr. O’tega Emerhor.

According to the group, the emergence of PDP’s governorship candidate showed a deliberate attempt to deny the entire Ndokwa nation its proper place in the affairs of the state and the party.

Noting that despite Ndokwa being the oil producing part of Delta North senatorial district, the PDP has displayed open hostility and disdain for them.

He said: “We have suffered too much humiliation in the politics of Delta State and we are now determined to put an end to the what the Ndokwa

nation has suffered through the years.

“If we are not considered a bona fide component of Delta North, we will not beg to be accepted by our brothers from our own senatorial district.

“We are, therefore, resolute in endorsing O’tega Emerhor of the APC as the next governor of Delta State, having found in him the right material we need to take our dear state to the next level."

Oarhe to partner IYAMIDR on youth empowerment

M

R Dickson Oarhe, who emerged candidate of Social Democratic Party, SDP, at its primary election on November 29, 2014 for House of Representatives, Owan federal constituency, Edo State, yesterday, in Otuo town, Owan East Local Government Area, expressed his readiness to uplift the agro-finance base of Owan youths by partnering youth bodies such as the Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration, Immigration Development and Reintegration, IYAMIDR.

He said that when elected in the coming National Assembly elections, agro-financial empowerment of youths will be one of his major focus. He lamented the situation in Owan federal constituency, where the incumbent federal lawmaker, Pally Iriase of the All Progressives Congress, APC, had neglected youths in Owan, “thereby forcing the younger generations on a dreaded sojourn of seeking greener pastures elsewhere in an unpredictable environment under harsh condition.”

S-South group backs Jonathan for re-election

By Simon Adewale

P

R E S I D E N T G o o d l u c k Jonathan’s performance in the aviation, power, railways, education, sports, basic infrastructure and the maritime sectors among others qualifies him for re-election, a group, South South Democratic Vanguard for Goodluck Sambo 2015, SSDV, has said.

It appealed to Nigerians to vote him to consolidate the gains already made by his administration.

National President of SSDV, Mr. Friday Martins, who spoke to newsmen after a tour of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, College, Okoloba and Maritime University/Shipyard at Okerenkoko, praised the NIMASA DirectorGeneral, Mr. Patrick Akpoboloukemi, for complementing President Jonathan's vision.

Ijaw excouncillors drum support for Okowa

M

EMBERS of the Ijaw Former Councillors Forum, Delta State, have thrown their weight behind the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and his running mate, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, in next month's governorship poll, citing quality service delivery, accountability, excellent governance, equity and justice where prosperity will reign in Delta State, as their ground for total support to the duo.

President of the Forum, Amafini Akemetubo, in Warri, said they have members in five local government areas, including Burutu, Bomadi, Patani, Warri South-West and Warri North, adding that they were grassroots based.

He said the emergence of Okowa as the PDP flag bearer in a free and fair primaries showed his wide acceptance above ethnic lines and bias.

46—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Isoko PDP candidates launch campaign

Enugu PDP governorship candidate assures of ‘seamless continuity’

By Francis Igata

By Oboh Agbonkhese

E

N U G U — T H E governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday, assured the people of the state of his determination to better the good work of Governor Sullivan Chime, assuring of “seamless continuity ” if elected governor of the state.

He spoke during the flag off of the party’s campaign at Ikem and Nkwo-Nike headquarters of Isi Uzo, and Enugu-East Local Government areas of Enugu State, respectively.

Ugwuanyi explained that he had adopted continuity and consolidation as the theme of his manifesto to the people of the state, noting that “it will be wrong to deviate from the tempo of development already set by the Chime-led administration.”

While thanking the governor and PDP faithful for finding him worthy to fly the party’s flag in the governorship election, Ugwuanyi said the fact that the state had witnessed uncommon transformation and massive infrastructural development under Governor Chime had

T

HE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, flagged off campaigns for all its candidates representing Isoko in the national and state assemblies at Ozoro, Isoko North council and Oleh Township Stadium, Isoko South council, in Delta State.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Macaulay Ovuozorie, Secretary to the State Government and Chief Solomon Ogba, urged the supporters to vote for PDP candidates, noting that it was the only party that could move Isoko forward.

Mr. Matthias Etho, Commissioner, Public Complain Commission, introduced the candidates to the supporters.

They described Prince Johnson Erijo, Deputy Majority Leader, representing Isoko South constituency I in the state House of Assembly, as a good ambassador.

Other candidates at the flag off were Senator James Manager, representing Delta South; Mr. Leo Ogor, Deputy Majority Leader, House of Representatives, representing Isoko North/ South constituency; Mr. Tim Owhefere, member, Delta State House of Assembly; Mrs. Orezi Esievo, former Commissioner for Special Duty and Infrastructure; and Isoko PDP elders and leaders.

made his own campaign much easier.

He said: “Our party performed well in Enugu State, which is why it is easier for us to convince the people that we will do much more. It is easier for us to come back for more support. We are grateful to the governor because of the tremendous goodwill he has brought.

“The best we can do is to

continue from where he stopped. I can assure you that we will have seamless continuity.”

He also urged the people to vote President Goodluck Jonathan for bringing the much needed federal presence in the state.

Ugwuanyi, who also presented his running mate, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, member representing Ezeagu

consistency in the Enugu State House of Assembly, urged the people to collect their Permanent Voter ’s Card, PVC, to enable them vote for all the party’s candidates.

Governor Chime had earlier thanked the people of the state for their overwhelming support for his administration, adding that he was convinced that Ugwuanyi would sustain the tempo of development.

Anambra APGA urged to intensify campaign

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

N

NEWI—AHEAD of the February elections in Anambra State, an All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, stalwart, Senator Alphonsus Igbeke, has charged APGA’s candidates to embark on serious campaign to ensure total victory for the party.

Speaking when he hosted APGA stakeholders and candidates for national and state Assemblies elections in Anambra North Senatorial District, Senator Igboeke observed that the chances of the candidates of APGA were very bright, following the achievements of Governor Willie Obiano.

He claimed the governor had made positive impact on the lives of Anambra people, insisting however, that APGA was not taking other parties and their candidates for granted.

He said: “As the ruling party under a performing governor, APGA is not supposed to lose a single seat to opposition party in the Anambra North Senatorial zone in particular and the state in general, but I am afraid that our candidates are not campaigning.”

Corroborating Senator Igbeke’s observation, state Chairman of APGA, Chief Mike Kwentor, expressed the

hope that the people of the state would use their votes to appreciate the good governance being rendered by the governor by voting for APGA candidates.

Seek God, cleric urges Nigerians

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HE Senior Pastor and Founder of Grace and Glory Chapel, Pastor Mike Adabamowo, has called on Nigerians to seek the face of God, saying this year ’s general elections would be peaceful.

He made the call at a media parley ahead of the inauguration and commissioning of the church, which is scheduled for Friday.

Founder of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, is expected to minister at the thanksgiving on Sunday at the church auditorium in Ikeja, Lagos.

Uwabor canvasses support for Okowa

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Delta State-born Nigerian in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Vera Uwabor, has called on Deltans to rally round Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, and vote for him in next month’s election.

Uwabor, who spoke during Delta State PDP campaign rally in Asaba, disclosed that Okowa was a detribalized Deltan, who needed the support of all Deltans in his aspiration to offer selfless and purposeful leadership.

According to her, Okowa

had the administrative pedigree, vast wealth of political experience and managerial capacity needed to drive the economy of the state to a higher pedestal.

She added that Okowa could stabilize the political temperature in the state.

By Bartholomew Madukwe (08102479985) nwamad@yahoo.com

PEOPLE SPEAK

On the forthcoming elections

I

have listened to our politicians vying for various posts in this coming elections. All I hear is still the same things I have been hearing for the past 15 years now. No single change. I really wonder where we are going in this country.—Miss Bukola Okereke, Secretary.

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Y view on the forthcoming election is that Nigerians should go and vote wisely. We must not vote on the basis of stomach infrastructure, but for the future of the country, the future of our children and the future of all Nigerians. We either get it right now or never.—Miss Mabel Ogechi, Worker.

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ERSONALLY, I think Nigerians will go out and vote for whoever they want to vote for. We are matured enough now to know those to vote in and those to vote out.

The election will be peaceful and there shall be no blood shed. God rules in Nigeria.—Mr. Chuks Maduekwe, Computer Operator.

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Y view as regard the coming elections is that our politicians should tell us how they intend to achieve the promises they are making. It is not about saying you will do this and do that. How do you intend to achieve the promises you make?

Miss Chinenye Anyambuba, Worker.

I

don't think it is every eligible person that will vote because majority of them could not register. Most of those that registered are yet to receive their Permanent Voters' Card.

In other words, INEC should revert to the old voter's card.—Mr. Martin Dickson, Businesswoman.

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HERE shall be peace in the country, and no innocent soul shall go with the election. It is only those who are planning evil that the evil will meet. He that digs a pit shall fall into it. I know that God will give us the right President and governors.

—Miss Anne Oriaku, Fashion Designer.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015— 47

You can't conduct election in Adamawa now, Ngilari tells Jega zStakehoders oppose governor's position

By Joseph Erunke &

Jude Okpara

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BUJA—ADAMAWA State governor, Bala Ngilari, yesterday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to suspend the conduct of any election in the state till around April.

The governor said the security situation in the state has not improved to warrant any election, saying sustained attacks were still being launched on the state by the Boko Haram insurgents just as he feared that the dreaded insurgents could take advantage of the election to inflict severe attacks on the state residents that may be trooping out in their numbers to cast their votes during election.

Ngilari spoke in Abuja, at a workshop on Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, and the 2015 general elections, organised by INEC. He was , however, opposed by stakeholders from the North East, who insisted that if elections could hold in troubled countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan and others, no state in the region must be exempted.

The stakeholders meetings, which had in attendance, governors of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States as well as federal law makers, civil society organisations and security agencies, was to deliberate on some of the modalities drafted by

a task force set up by INEC to review ways of enabling IDPS vote during next month’s election.

He said: “I must first of all commend the INEC for doing a good job, trying to ensure that our electoral process is continued to be improved upon.

In Adamawa State, I am going to give you the facts and figures that would be fair enough to tell you the situation of the state.

“We have over 39,000 internally displaced persons in about 15 designated camps and

over 15,000 that are not registered and are still in the host communities. We are told that about 11,000 registered with families.

“In Adamawa State, I can sincerely tell you that we are under siege in about seven local governments. The supposed peace we have is just the peace of the grave yard. To say that the security situation in these local governments is sufficiently stabilised to have this elections on February 14, to my mind is not a fair assessment. That is my

own submission, everybody is entitled to refuse but that is our own position as a government.

I am the state chief security officer. Even as I am speaking now, this morning, there was an attack in Gulak which directly affects us in Adamawa.

“Before last Saturday, the situation was said to have been stabilised until this attack. With this attack which completely reverberated across these local governments, of course, people will be concerned about their dear lives."

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By Ndahi Marama

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By Peter Duru

AKURDI—NO fewer than 8,000 adhoc staff would be recruited in Benue State, by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the conduct of the forthcoming elections in the state.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Prof.

Istifanus Dafwang made this known yesterday in Makurdi, the state capital, at the commission’s public briefing and interaction with stakeholders on its preparations towards this year’s general elections.

The REC said: “We have already set in motion the process of recruiting the adhoc staff who would be drawn from serving National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members. Already we have received 7,000 Personal Voters’ Card, PVC, readers in preparation for the elections.”

Shinkafi assures Zamfara youths on devt ANNIVERSARY: From left: Pastor Oluwalende Kehinde, Deacon Adeoye Ademola, Pastor Judic Passion, President, CareGivers Christian Ministry lnternational, Pastor Olawale Akinwunmi, Prophet James Mustapha, Pastor Olalekan OLafare, Elder Wale Afolabi, and Dr. Timothy Ajani, cutting the anniversary cake, during the CareGivers Christian Ministry lnternational's 6th anniversary & 60 million Naira fund raising for the ministry's permanent site, at the White House Hall, Oshodi-Isolo LGA, Oshodi, Lagos.

Yobe spends N10bn in fight against insurgency AIDUGURI—THE Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Gaidam has said that his government had so far spent over N10 billion in the fight against insurgency since 2011.

Addressing gathering at a fund raising ceremony for his reelection as governor of the state in this year’s general elections, Gaidam also said that within the period, his administration had been playing supportive roles in meeting the logistics and other needs of security forces.

He listed the areas of the support to include; procurement of vehicles, payment of allowances, treatment of injured security personnel, and assistance to families of those killed in the war with the insurgents among others.

The governor, however, regretted that the money expended in the fight against insurgency could have been used for provision of social amenities.

“Our accumulated expenditure from the beginning of the insurgency to date is over N10 billion. It is obvious that the

INEC to engage 8,000 adhoc staff in Benue

security challenges have slowed down the implementation of our policies and programmes because funds that could have been used for the provision of social services are being deployed to support the fight against insurgency,” Gaidam said.

He also expressed concern that the Federal Government which controlled the security agencies had failed to permanently address the Boko Haram uprising.

Despite these sustained efforts, Gaidam, however, regretted that from November 3,

2014 to date, the state had suffered seven major attacks on Damaturu, the capital, Potiskum, Damagum, Geidam and Babangida pointing out that the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, had failed in that regard.

M-Belt monarchs renew call for own identity

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Nkiru Nnorom

AGOS—LAGOS State chapter of the Middle Belt Traditional Council has renewed agitation for recognition and assertion of Middle Belt Federation as a distinct ethnic group from the northern part of in country.

The Council is the umbrella body of all the traditional rulers of the 44 ethnic nationalities of Middle Belters residing in Lagos.

The Chairman of the Council and Onu Igala, His Royal Highness, Chief Yakubu S. Ejima, made the call while speaking to newsmen at the end of the council’s general meeting in preparation for the Middle

Belt Cultural Festival/Awards coming up on January 24, in Lagos.

He also called on the government to put a stop to the marginalization of the people

from the region, arguing that having made sacrifices to sustain the unity and peace in the country, they should benefit from the wealth of the nation.

By Salisu Maradun

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USAU—YOUTHS in Zamfara have been assured of all the necessary support and consideration in the development of the state in order to bring an end to the current instability bedevilling the area.

Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, made this pledge after inspecting some of his political campaign offices in some local government areas of the state.

Shinkafi said it was high time youths came on board to bring new ideas and to end idleness by the teeming youths who were mostly supposed to be in schools for their education.

Buhari not a sectional leader, says APC chieftain

By Salisu Maradun

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USAU—THE Director General of Buhari Campaign Organisation, Zamfara State chapter, Alhaji Bature Sambo has maintained that the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential candidate, General Muhammad Buhari is not a sectional leader.

Speaking during the APC governorship campaign tour in Bungudu town, the headquarters of Bungudu Local Government Area, Sambo also said that Buhari ‘’does not belong to any section of the country in terms of acceptance.’’

His words: ‘’Buhari is not a northern candidate or southern candidate, but a

candidate that is accepted in all the zones.’’

He further said that he was also, neither a Muslim nor a Christian candidate, adding he was a nationalist who had the love of the country at heart.

He debunked the insinuation that their candidate was promoting ethnic or religious sentiments.

48—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

PDP presidential campaign in Birnin Kebbi

President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, acknowledging cheers from PDP supporters, during the presidential campaign for 2015 general elections, in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State.

President Jonathan (left) and Emir of Gwandu Berni Kebbi Iliyasu Bashar, at the Emir's palace.

President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, and Adamu Muazu, acknowledged cheers.

Traditional drummers, welcoming President Jonathan and his PDP presidential campaign team.

APC presidential campaigns in Kano, Kaduna From left, Gov Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC National Leader, and General Muhammad Buhari (ret), APC presidential candidate, during presidential campaign in Kano, Tuesday, Photo Joe Akintola, Photo Editor Crowd at the APC presidential campaign in Kano.

General Buhari with his running mate Professor Osinbajo [left] and Nasiru el-Rufai (right), at Kaduna rally, Monday, Photos: Joe Akintola C M Y K

APC governorship candidate for Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai (right)with his runing mate, Bala Bantex (middle), and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 49

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50 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—51

Members of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, in Canada, celebrating TAN's record achievement in mobilizing for signatures of 17.5 million Nigerians and also campaigning for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja, on Sunday. TAN is the major mobilizing force for Jonathan's reelection.

PDP Campaign flag off: L-R: Hon. Tim Owherfere, Hon. Johnson Erijo, Ovuzuorie Macaulay and Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Leo Ogor at campaign rally at Ozoro in Delta State.

Delta 2015: Okowa is a reliable politician —Ogor

By Emman Ovuakporie

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SOKO—DEPUTY Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor, has described Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as a tested and reliable politician that the Isoko nation can trust.

Ogor who spoke during the Isoko North/South Peoples Democratic Party, PDP campaign flag off in Ozoro, weekend, said ”Okowa is one dependable politician that will certainly deliver his campaign promises if voted into office as governor of Delta state”.

He said “I’ve no doubt that our people will never regret if they vote massively for both President Goodluck Jonathan and Okowa as they represent our beacon of hope in our region”.

Ogor also urged party faithful at the rally to vote him and his fellow legislators in the Delta South Senatorial District of February 14.

Also speaking, Senator James Manager said ”when I was chairman of PDP you never disappointed me and now I know you will toe the same course as PDP is the only party we can count on”.

Manager lauded the Delta governorship candidate noting that he was“a man of his words that can be trusted to satisfy the yearnings of Deltans in all spheres of life.''

Barrister Tim Owhefere, the state House of Assembly aspirant described all the legislators in the race in the district as “gladiators that are capable of turning the situation of Isoko people into a joyful noise after recording success in the next general elections.

52 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 —53

BITS Bits NUEE tackles Port Harcourt DISCO over union membership

NLC 2015: We can't discuss alleged

betrayal of private sector unions —Omar

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ATIONAL Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, is yet to settle its differences with Port Harcourt Distribution Company, DISCO, over unionization of workers in the company.

General Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said the union and other firms in the sector have resolved the issues of union membership He said “There are about 23 or so but it is only one, that is Port Harcourt electricity that said no, that unionization will start afresh and they printed form, they became organizing secretaries to our union, they printed and shared forms, some filled and some didn’t and we told the management that when they finished, they should proceed to deduct dues, collect dues and spend. So, any moment from now, we will engage them.

At the beginning, two companies; Port Harcourt and Yola went to court. Yola later asked for out of court settlement and we resolved and moved ahead.

Aremu lauds Aregbesola on employment, education

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Vice President of Nige ria Labour Congress, NLC, and General Secretary of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, Comrade Issa Aremu, has commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, for his efforts at reducing the unemployment rate in the state and creating better public schools.

He spoke at the presentation of his four books; Labour and Trade Unions; Industry and Economy; Africa and Global Affairs; and, Friends, Comrades and Heroes, written by Mr. Aremu to mark his 54th birthday celebration, in Ilorin Kawara State.

Governor Aregbesola was the guest of honour at the event.

Aremu said, “Osun has the lowest unemployment rate because of the efforts of the governor. There is Omoluabi Garment Factory, which produces the free uniforms for the students. The state has also shown to us that public schools can be better, the governor is building better schools than some in Europe.”

Abdulwaheed Omar, NLC president

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

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OVES by some aggrieved private sector unions to bring the alleged betrayal of private sector by the public public sector, on the floor of Tuesday's meeting of the National Executive Council, NEC, of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, hit the rocks.

Labour Vanguard gathered that the aggrieved private sector unions had petitioned the NEC and the petition was circulated to NEC members by the petitioners at the the meeting.

It was gathered that as the meeting progressed,all entreaties to discuss the issue was rebuffed by Congress President, Abdulwaheed Omar.

Omar was said to have insisted that whatever that transpired in an informal arrangement was unknown to the constitution of NLC, could not be brought into a meeting of NLC organ.

It was gathered the petitioners were said to have expressed disappointment over the development.

One of the concerned union leaders at the meeting, lamented that it was unfortunate that the leadership of NLC lost an opportunity to discuss and possibly resolve a looming disunity and disaffection in the movement.

Recall that ahead of National Delegates Conference, NDC, of NLC taking place between February 9 and 11 in Abuja, some private sector unions are accusing the public sector unions of betrayal.

Labour Vanguard findings revealed both sectors had set up Unity Forum, UF, bringing presidents and general secretaries of affiliate unions together to hamoniously shared elective NLC's positions.

Peter Ozo-Eson, NLC General Secretary

According to investigations, several meetings were held leading to a meeting of December 30, 2014, at Planet One, Maryland, Ikeja, where elective positions into the leadership of NLC (National Administrative Council, NAC,) were shared between the sectors.

According to the sharing formula, Labour Vanguard gathered, having conceded the presidency to the private sector, the remaining positions were shared in the ratio of 9 to the public sector and 7 to the private sector.

The meeting was said to have adjourned to January 3, 2015, to finalise the above resolution.

The public sector unions were said to be merely playing for time and kept the private sector unions waiting to no avail, until it dawned on the private sector unions that they were not only betrayed by the public sector unions, but were at the verge of submitting their nomination forms late, which would have meant disqualification.

Individually or collectively, these unions have the capacity to collectively or individually cripple the economy of the country

Dangers ahead: From the list of contestants cleared to contest for positions during the conference, the implications maybe far reaching. Arguably, only a few of individuals in the list cleared can influence things that could take the movement out of the present doldrums.

In fact, there are fears that the incoming leadership may take the NLC deeper into oblivion and widen the increasing parallel lines between congress and the shop floor workers.

Mass action As it is, schemers in NLC may have successfully shut out Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN and National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW from NLC leadership.

And from all indications, equally likely to be shut out, from the leadership of Congress are Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE. Can one imagines a mass action or national strike declared by congress and NUPENG, MWUN, NUEE, NURTW and these critical private sector unions fail to give total support? The implication is better imagined than experienced.

By technically excluding these unions from the leadership of congress, the cabal and labour contractors holding congress hostage, may have successfully destroyed the unity and cohesion in the movement.

From any angle one wants to look at it, these unions are the most critical and potent affiliates of NLC. While government or employers may decide to ignore many other affiliates of Congress, they cannot afford the luxury of

a strike by NURTW, MWUN, NUPENG and NUEE. Individually or collectively, these unions have the capacity to collectively or individually cripple the economy of the country.

Under Oshiomhole For the records, under a forward looking and progressively minded Comrade Adams Oshiomhole leadership of NLC, strategically, NUPENG, MWUN and NURTW were parts of the leadership of NLC. Before Comrade Oshiomhole left in 2007, he made sure these strategic and critical unions including NUEE, remained part of the leadership of Congress.

It did not end there, Comrade Oshiomhole made sure that the leadership of NLC included labour leaders with critical minds, those who could influence things in their unions and also command the respect of their employers, not just those who wanted to use NLC platform as ego and vehicle for personal aggrandizement.

Delegates conference But today, even those that will retire this year are part of the incoming NLC leadership, those who should have ended their tenures as leaders of their unions, who refused to hold their unions’ delegates conference for close to two years, those who after serving as presidents of their unions, transmuted to unions’ scribes, those who deliberately undermined and weakened their unions’ secretariats, and those from their actions and antecedents, are nothing but labour contractors are part of the incoming leadership of Congress.

From all indications, the incoming NLC leadership will be dominated by individuals who are sit-tight, self-centred, labour contractors, government/ employers’ apologists who are without moral, intellectual and charismatic capacities to galvanise workers for mass action against anti-labour policies.

The unfortunate thing about some of these incoming leaders, is that in their previous responsibilities in Congress, besides where they allegedly helped themselves to feed fat, they were found wanting in core labour issues such as casualisation, retrenchment, unionization, and workers wellbeing.

There is no gainsaying the fact that these are armchair labour leaders without a history of struggle and have never been on picketing line.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—54

Glo reloads Overload promo …Doubles bonus airtime

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UBSCRIBERS to Nigeria’s National Telecommunications carrier, Globacom, will henceforth enjoy 400 percent bonus airtime for every recharge of N200 and above under the repackaged Glo Overload promo.

The promo which has been aptly re-named Glo Overload Reloaded has already produced 20 millionaires.

The first 20 winners of N1m received their cheques in an elaborate event on January 14, 2015 at the Mike Adenuga Towers Headquarters of Globacom.

Under the promo, subscribers were initially guaranteed 200 percent bonus airtime for every airtime recharge of N200 denomination and above.

This bonus has now been doubled.

With the Glo Overload Reloaded Promo, a subscriber who recharges with N200 will get a total value of N1000 automatically. Any airtime recharge of N500 will automatically give the subscriber a total of N2,500; N1000 will give N5000; N2000 will give N10,000; and N5000 will give a whopping N25,000 value.

Mark assures Jonathan of 85% votes in Benue

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

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B U J A — S E N AT E President, David Mark, has assured President Goodluck Jonathan of over 85 percent of the total votes that would be cast in Benue State.

Mark yesterday ahead of the party’s presidential campaign rally today in Makurdi, the state capital.

The Senate President and the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan also harped on a violence free election in the forthcoming general elections.

Speaking at his Otukpo country home in the state yesterday, Mark said that the PDP-led Federal Government had provided enough dividends of democracy to the people of Benue State to guarantee a resounding victory for the party.

He noted that the state PDP had maintained a winning streak in the state since 1999 and had every good reason to remain faithful to the party.

“Given another opportunity, the PDP-led government would advance on its service delivery to the citizenry and make Nigeria much better,” he said.

According to a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Mark also appealed to the people of the state to come out in large numbers to welcome President Jonathan to the state just as he canvassed for peaceful conduct of all the elections .

He stressed that development can only thrive in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

Meanwhile, the Senate

PFN holds political summit on general elections Alimosho Province, Apostle David

By Dave Oso

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AGOS—THE Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, (PFN) Alimosho Province has held a political summit, with the aim of getting to know the candidates of various political parties in the province and their plans for the church, as a body, and the people generally.

The summit, which took place at the main auditorium of Gospel Flame Assembly, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos had in attendance Mr Jimi Agbaje, the governorship candidate of The Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, who was represented by Rev Shem-Enoch Mozia, of the Christian Committee of the Agbaje’s campaign team, Hon Prince Daniel Odenomare Bighoro, the Labour Party candidate for Lagos State House of Assembly, Alimosho Constituency 01, and a handful of others who came to represent their principals.

Explaining the basis for the summit, Chairman of PFN,

Ikhielea said the time has come for the Church to take its destiny in its hands and have a say in who rules over them, henceforth.

Apostle ikhihea said the Church will make its final decision on which way to go after meeting the candidates at a vigil programme on January 28, where it would seek the face of God. According to him, ‘’These days, it’s very rare to find a righteous politician, even among the Christians’’ and warned the people not to take money from anyone, as ‘’You will give account alone.’’

Rev Shem-Enoch Mozia said the Church is well represented in Jimi Agbaje's plans.

As for Bighoro, he promised change without tears, adding that, Labour as party of the masses will only come up with programmes that will benefit the people.

He said the overriding interest of the people will be uppermost in his policies and he will provide accountable, people-friendly governance, adding that he will amend obnoxious laws and policies injurious to the people.

MEETING: From left, Baba Oloja Somolu, Alhaji Yinus Basheer; Baba Oloja Aboyi- Ketu, Alhaji Sulaiman Adeyemi; Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Alhaja Iyabo Ahmed, Iyaloja General, Ikosi-Isheri, and Iyaloja General, Ibeju-Lekki, Alhaja Nosimot Elemoro, during the senator's stakeholders' meeting with Market Women and Men of Lagos East senatorial district, at Ikosi-Ketu, on Tuesday.

President and Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue state have canvassed for a violence free as well as credible, free and fair elections.

They spoke during the flag off of Mark’s 2015 senatorial bid at Och’Idoma’s Palace Square in Otukpo.

Specifically, Senator Mark said that PDP has remained the only national vehicle to deliver dividends of democracy to the citizenry and not what he described as the fringe parties or others with ideologies far from

peace, unity and development.

According to him, “We need to remain steadfast with the PDP. We need to consolidate on the foundations already laid. My mission and purpose is the welfare of our people. We want a greater Benue. We want a United, peaceful and Progressive Nigeria.

This is my dream.”

He listed educational projects, such as the establishment of university in his constituency, the multi-billion Naira Otobi water Dam, the Loko/Oweto bridge project as well as employment

opportunities to citizens which he said put the PDP in a better stead.

He said: “Together, we shall achieve our dream. I will not fail you. I will not let you down. I will by the grace of God continue to give quality representation.

You, my people, will always be my focal point.”

Suswam also told his people that Benue State cannot afford to be in opposition, adding that remaining in the ruling party had been a blessing for the state since 1999.

Katsina stoning: Niger Delta'll retaliate —DOKUBO

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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BUJA—LEADER of Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, yesterday, said that the attack on the convoy of president Goodluck Jonathan by some irate youths in the Kastina State during a campaign rally on Tuesday, would be reciprocated in the Niger Delta in due course.

Asari warned the Igbo and the members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, who currently reside in the North to return home as they would have themselves to be blamed should anything happen to them.

NDPVF leader, who addressed newsmen in Abuja, faulted the Abuja peace accord entered into

by President Jonathan and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Mohammadu Buhari with 12 others, saying it was unnecessary.

Asari recalled that the North has always had the penchant for causing election violence.

“There is an established pattern of pre and post election violence in the North. In the 50s when late Obafemi Awolowo was campaigning in the North, he went with helicopters and he was mocked. People said he was flying over the houses and peeping their

wives. That has continued and everywhere in the country, people say leave them alone, we don’t want any trouble. But I think the game has changed. The rules of the game have changed.

“For every action, there will be an opposite and equal reaction. I knew that the signing of the accord was useless and that the president subjected himself to sign such an accord. For me, it was out of place for a President and Commander

in Chief of the Armed Forces of a country. But the president is a humble person. He does things that even marvel some of us and make us sometimes to be very angry.

“To be frank, I was very angry on that day they were signing it.

The president has sworn to protect the lives of every Nigerian. So, why would he after taking a constitutional oath subject himself to another oath?

FG'll create business opportunities in Kano — JONATHAN

By Abdulsalam Muhammad

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ANO — P R E S I D E N T Goodluck Jonathan, has promised to create more businesses to checkmate youth restiveness and improve their living standards in the country.

Jonathan spoke in Kano yesterday while addressing a large crowd of party supporters during his campaign tour to the state yesterday.

President Jonathan told a mamoth crowd of party supporters during his presidential campaign in Kano, that the federal government has intervened in so many areas that could help

in developing the state.

The President while commending the people of the state on area of polio eradication disease, stated that the “The World Health Organization (WHO) would declare Nigeria polio-free this year.

He explained that “ what delayed the declaration last year was as a result of some challenges that we faced at the time.”

He said “We will make sure that rice is produced, processed and exported from Kano. Kano is known for business, trade and industry. ''We will make sure that we work hand in hand with the incoming PDP government in Kano to create more opportunities,”.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 55

56 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 , 2015

France reinforces security, spies Church backs Congo protesters, rights group says 42 killed agencies after attacks

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RANCE is to recruit thousands of extra police, spies and investigators to boost national security and intelligence, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced yesterday , two weeks after 17 people were killed by Islamist militants.

Warning the threat remained high after the most deadly Islamist attack on French soil, Valls said the state would hire 2,680 in the police, justice, intelligence and defense sectors by 2018 for anti-ji-

hadi work, surveillance and security.

Several thousand planned job cuts in the army are to be canceled and dozens of extra Muslim chaplains deployed to work with potential militants in France’s overcrowded jails.

“The fight against terrorism, jihadism and radical Islam will be a long haul,” Valls told a news conference after the measures were agreed by President Francois Hollande’s cabinet.

“The first requirement is that we further reinforce the human and material assets of our intelligence services,” said Valls, who after the Jan. 7-9 attacks conceded there could have been “shortfalls” in monitoring and justice arrangements.

France is struggling to monitor an estimated 1,200 radical Islamists and some 200 people who have returned from fighting with militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

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EMOCRATIC Re public of Congo’s powerful Catholic church on Wednesday backed ongoing protests against reforms that could extend President Joseph Kabila’s rule, denouncing a government crackdown which a rights group said had killed 42 people.

As anti-government demonstrations in the capital Kinshasa entered their third day, the leader of Congo’s Catholics, Cardinal Laurent Mosengwo Pasinya, strongly criticised any attempt to postpone a presidential election due next year.

Opposition supporters

took to the streets on Monday to try to derail legislation that would require a national census before the vote. The opposition says the count would take years to organise in a poor nation the size of Western Europe, although the government denies this.

With more than 40 percent of Congo’s 65 million people describing themselves as Catholic, the Church’s stance is likely to bolster popular resistance to the reform. Western powers including France and the United States have called for restraint and backed timely elections.

The proposed change to the electoral code, ap-

proved by the lower house of parliament on Saturday, is expected to be voted on by the Senate on Thursday.

“We disapprove of and condemn any revision of the electoral law that aims to ... illegally postpone the holding of the elections in 2016,” Mosengwo Pasinya said, adding that some politicians and the security services were stoking the violence.

“We condemn these actions that have caused deaths and make an urgent appeal: Stop killing your people; don’t march on the ashes of your compatriots,” his statement said.

Russia has 9,000 troops on Ukrainian soil, Poroshenko tells Davos forum

Hebdo: Paris honours Malian hero

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A

KRAINIAN Presi dent Petro Poroshenko yesterday said that Russia had 9,000 troops on Ukrainian soil supporting separatist forces there and he called on Moscow to withdraw them.

In a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Poroshenko said the Russian troops were backed by a range of heavy weapons, including tanks, heavy artillery and armored vehicles.

“If this is not aggression, what is aggression?” he asked.

Poroshenko said Mos-

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addresses The Future of Ukraine event in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos cow must comply with a peace plan agreed in Minsk, Belarus, last September between Ukraine, Russia and sep-

aratist leaders to end a conflict in which more than 4,800 people have died since it flared up last April.

Iraq War report: Publication ‘far better’ for me says Blair

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ONY Blair has reject ed suggestions he was behind the delay to the Iraq Inquiry report,

•Tony Blair

saying it would be “far better” for him if it was published.

The former Labour prime minister told the BBC that publication would enable him to restate his case that the 2003 invasion was the “right thing to do”.

He said he would be happy for his notes to President Bush to be made public.

Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot says there is “no realistic prospect” of publication before May’s election.

MPs have reacted angrily to the news while David Cameron has said the inquiry should have started earlier.

In a statement, Mr Blair, who took Britain to war in Iraq in 2003, said he had “ repeatedly ” made clear that he was not responsible for holdups to the inquiry and suggestions to the contrary were “incorrect and politically motivated”.

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Houthi: Yemen leader expected to accept demands

Y

EMEN’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was expected to yield to demands

yesterday for constitutional change and power sharing with Houthi rebels who took up po-

sitions outside his home after defeating his guards in two days of battle.

hero has emerged from this month’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

Malian immigrant Lassana Bathily risked his life to save people during an assault on a kosher supermarket. This week, he realized his dream of becoming a French citizen.

By coincidence, the assailant was, like Bathily, a Muslim from a Malian family. But the men present two very different faces of Islam and of immigration in France.

Bathily immigrated to France at the age of 16 and applied for citizenship several years ago. On Tuesday night, he got it during a highlevel ceremony in Paris.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls handed Bathily his new French passport and saluted him for his courage in saving customers during a gunman’s siege of a Paris kosher supermarket

January 9. Amedy Coulibaly, 32, took roughly 20 hostages; he killed four before he was shot dead in a police raid.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve applaud Lassana Bathily, 24, during his citizenship ceremony at the Interior Ministry in Paris, Jan. 20, 2015

Somali militants hail strikes at “heart of Crusader”

S

OMALI Islamist militant group al Shabaab on Wednesday praised al Qaeda over an attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo

Prosecutor calls for renewed effort to arrest warlord Kony

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HE International Criminal Court’s prosecutor called Wednesday for renewed efforts to arrest notorious militia leader Joseph Kony, after one of his top commanders was taken into custody to face charges of leading a reign of terror in central Africa.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that the victims of atrocities committed by Kony ’s Lord’s Resistance Army “have waited far too long and de-

During the hours-long standoff, Bathily, who worked at the market, hid people in a cold storage room.

serve to see justice done.” Dominic Ongwen, one of Kony’s top commanders, was transferred to the court’s detention center early Wednesday, two weeks after being taken into custody in Central African Republic.

His arrest came nearly a decade after he, Kony and other LRA leaders were indicted. The other indicted suspects have since died, leaving Kony the only fugitive among the shadowy Ugandan group’s commanders still on the run.

and urged further strikes at the “heart of the Crusader enemies”.

Al Shabaab, which has itself carried out attacks across east Africa, including a 2013 raid on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed 67, described two brothers who attacked the magazine and a third who targeted a Jewish shop, as “a wonderful example”.

“We encourage all Muslims, specifically the sons of Tawheed living in Europe, to follow in the footsteps of their brothers,” it said in a statement.

Two gunmen burst into Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris on Jan. 7 and killed 12 people. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 57

58—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

By Chris Onuoha

A

S the year sets in with promising activities in the visual art sector, several art projects are lined up to make it a remarkable one. From all sections of the art industry, artists are gearing towards all forms of art w o r k s h o p s , exhibitions, festivals and seminars to foster the development of the industry.

One of such projects that will raise the art industry and booster the image rebranding of Nigeria this year 2015 is the coming home to Africa for the first time, the iconic Martin Luther King Jnr. Statue which is expected in Badagry, Lagos, Nigeria.

Overseeing the transportation of the artwork are a non profit organization known as the All Dreams foundation, a brain child of a USbased Nigerian in collaboration with the Greatland of Nigeria Resort, tourism based outfit in Badagry, •Martin Luther King Statue Lagos.

The significance of Martin Luther King Jr. Statue coming to Africa is based on his unique ideology that Africans are one no matter where they find erected permanently as a themselves. The human right monument for historical activist who was assassinated purpose and art research. pursuing the cause of justice Speaking ahead of the and equality of all people and exhibition, the CEO of All races became an icon of African Dreams Foundation, Sir heritage with his famous Andrew Okokhere, disclosed Memphis speech “I have a that, “We will be taking the first dream” where he foresaw lots Dr. Martin Luther King statue of dreams, expectations and to Africa. Our mission is to accomplishments for the black become the catalyst in the effort race.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

Artistes in dilemma: How do we vote?

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Martin Luther King Jr statue lands in Africa

Selfless sacrifice African American’s image today came to reckoning through his selfless sacrifice and this same fit is what his statue will represent and bring to Africa, on Badagry soil precisely known for its historic connections to Trans-Atlantic trade.

The statue is been sculpted by a famous Bini Sculpture, Austin Peters in Benin City, Edo State and supervised by Greatland of Africa Resort, Badagry where it will be

We firmly believe that using the unique opportunity of tourism will enhance peace between several nations by embracing their different cultures, as well as exchanging ideas

of rebuilding African nations and the relationship with the United States through tourism. We firmly believe that using the unique opportunity of tourism will enhance peace between several nations by embracing their different cultures, as well as exchanging ideas. We will accomplish this by providing the avenue for cultural, educational and commercial enrichment.”

Speaking further, he said that there must be change in Africa as from 2015 and this project will gear towards that changes which will reverberate throughout the world.

He advocates that tourists should decrease their amount of travelling to the advanced nations while focusing on travelling within African nations instead. This initiative will encourage all citizens of advanced nations to start travelling to African countries to experience tourism, historical research, and educational programs.

E are force by conviction and the circumstances to vote for survival. We are allowed existence in the past, sustained by what the colonial masters called “beggars licence” which allowed artist to perform (entertainment) for peanuts or dash to beggars. That mentality was carried along by governments thereafter. It is time for a change to build a structure and proper guideline for the establishment of an entertainment industry.

With a broadbase large enough to establish our own broadway.

Let build a phenomenal bucks box office just like Americas second highest bucks earner.

Americas stage is booked ahead so regularly. It grew from broadway to off broadway and “off off “ broadway and booked ahead everyday It sad, if after 60 years of inheriting the proscenium theatre style and its commercial entertainment ability we cannot find Nigerians that can run the theatre, even with government subvention, until we can spread and build “Theatre Tradition”.

Theatre for every culture nation is a necessity, so every government should invest adequately.

All government parastatals,banks and telephone companies should make due contribution to build the nation. The Arts should stand its own grounds as a ministry but run like the military. established, recognized and identifiable artist should be granted retirement benefits not “lifetime Achievement Awards” on plagues and certficates, without financial backup.

Promises don't sustain a dying people. A tribe of professional artistes contained in the village generation of decades of practice is about to die off without passing their knowledge and entertainment pleasure to the generation to come. Selling the National Theatre Complex to the Arabs will devastate Nigerias arts life and uproot the moral fibre from the

No new or directives have reached the general forum of artists

people.

Nollywood needs to be fed from stage, you dont learn acting from front of camera. If Nollywood is doing well with “ten takes” for “a take”, then it needs more trained actors to build the screen.

By the way, even if the T.V screen is doing well, it requires the stage to boost its flight. No bird can fly with one bald wing.

In fact the entertainment industry cannot grow without the stage.

An Arts ministry will equip and educate the tourism industry.

Tourist should not come to Nigeria to see Arab style malls that will showcase Arab own goods and style at the choicest environment where we should be entertaining; and our cultural endowments displaying our wealth of culture to the roving guest in need of knowledge and our lifestyle.

We want to vote and hang our hopes with positive expectations.

As it is, our past has not been remembered, our dead have been forgotten. With the archives of their works lost or destroyed.

Our present is hanging on the balance like the “puppet on the string” with the sword of Damocles hanging over their lives and no bright light shining from the other end of the tunnel.

Story of doom Now we face the story of doom, the only “artist village” in West Africa, thanks to the foresight and a streak of creative thinking from the officers of NCAC, the National Council for Arts and Culture for making the empty offices available to recognized artists to occupy.

In fact, we still wonder why Mr President’s bonanaza is not accessed through the Arts council, instead of the secrecy of chipping out to individuals who manage to catch the authority’s favour. No new or directives have reached the general forum of artists. All I can remember is that I wrote an open letter to the President published in no less than five national dailies.

The thank you letter carried a suggestion to build a Hall of Fame which will give work to hundreds of artists, sculptors, fine and graphic artist, photo journalists, film makers etc. To ensure the past is remembered and preserved to aid orderly and inform tourists.

Also to build training institutions to train artists instead of wasting money and time training unemployable graduates of Theatre Arts in Universities. Of the twelve known universities offering acting course, we have not noticed twelve star actors in a year.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 59

60 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 — 61

Australian Open: Federer, Nadal, Sharapova scale through A

N ailing Rafa Nadal dug deep into his vast reservoir of grit to stave off American qualifier Tim Smyczek and stagger into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday on a day of great escapes.

Gushing sweat and stooping woozily between points, the Spaniard dragged his cramping body into a fifth set under the lights of Rod Laver Arena, breaking the 112thranked American in the 11th game before closing out a 6-2 3-6 6-7(2) 6-3 7-5 win in four gruelling hours and 12 minutes.

Nadal slumped to his knees on the blue hard court having narrowly averted a repeat of his Melbourne Park jinx.

“It was a very tough

night for me (and) ... a tough period of seven months without competition,” Nadal, who was out of action for several months during the latter half of the 2014 through injury and illness, said in a courtside interview.

“Today was a little bit humid conditions and I felt very tired after the first set, through the whole match.

“The fantastic crowd helped a lot so many thanks for that.”

Centre court was the backdrop for nerveshredding tests for some of the coolest heads in the business and with the temperature rising above 32 degrees Celsius (90F), Maria Sharapova showed ice in her veins.

•Sharapova

Martin del Potro undergoes surgery J UAN Martin del Po tro has undergone surgery on his left wrist for a second time.

The former US Open champion made his return to the tour earlier

Williams sisters pull out of doubles

B

EFORE even play ing in their first doubles match, sisters Venus and Serena Williams pulled out of women’s doubles at the Australian Open on Wednes-

day.

The duo were scheduled to play Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the first-round.

•Nadal

Venus and Serena both won their first-round matches Tuesday and a tournament official did not give a reason for their withdraw.

this month after going under the knife last March.

He reached the quarter-finals in Sydney but admitted he was still feeling pain when he hit his two-handed backhand and Del Potro sub-

S

HAKES Mashaba believes Bafana Bafana threw away three points in their opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations against Algeria last Monday.

Del Potro was again operated on by Dr Richard Berger, who carried out last year’s operation as well as the one on his right wrist that sidelined him for most of 2010.

AFCON 2015: Gervinho gets 2-match suspension

I

We have a mountain to climb — Mashaba South Africa squandered a 1-0 lead, handed to them by Thuso Phala early in the second half, and eventually went down 31 to the Desert Foxes in Mongomo.

sequently withdrew from the Australian Open.

In an effort to cure the problem once and for all, the 26-year-old travelled to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to undergo what was described as minor surgery.

Islam Slimani, Faouzi Ghoulam and an own goal from Thulani Hlatshwayo were what undid Mashaba’s men, who missed a penalty through Tokelo Rantie when they were 1-0 ahead.

•Gervinho

VORY Coast forward Gervinho was given a two-match suspension Wednesday and will miss the rest of the group stage at the African Cup of Nations.

The Roma player was given a straight red card on Tuesday after hitting Guinea midfielder Naby Keita during the second half of a 1-1 draw.

Because of the nature of the incident, the African soccer federation decided Wednesday that Gervinho would have to sit out the team’s two

remaining Group D matches.

Despite playing with 10 men after the red card, the Ivorians managed to equalize.

Earlier Wednesday, Gervinho apologized for his actions. He wrote on Twitter that he wanted to say sorry to his country, his teammates, fans and tournament organizers for his “angry gesture.”

The reaction was “not like me and has no place on the football field,” Gervinho wrote in French.

Tunisia coach cautious on AFCON his side to focus on Belgium boss Leekens chances qualifying for the

T

CELEBRATION . . . Tunisia's midfielder Mohammed Ali Moncer (foreground) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Cape Verde in Ebebiyin. Photo: AFP

UNISIA coach George Leekens insists his side are not Africa Cup of Nations favourites and expects a battle to qualify from Group B. Leekens’ side are ranked as the second best African team by FIFA, behind Algeria, but the Tunisia coach wants

knockout stages.

The Carthage Eagles opened their AFCON campaign with a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde Islands and all four teams in Group B are locked on one point after the first round of fixtures.

Tunisia take on Zambia on Thursday and former

believes the 2012 champions and DR Congo should not be underestimated in their final group games.

“At this stage every team in the group is the favourite to finish on top,” he is quoted as saying by Daily Nation. “Tunisia are not the favourites to win the group."

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62 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Odemwingie wants goals from Victor Moses V

•Moses

B/Faso, E. Guinea Continues from BP the same upright by keeper Didier Ovono.

The Burkinabe again came close after the break when Jonathan Pitroipa should have converted a far-post cross.

Doualla missed Equatorial Guinea’s clearest scoring chance when he blazed over.

IT was a rambunctious

game with frustratingly little quality in front of goal. Burkina Faso, in particular, bungled in the box and, having failed to score in either of their games so far, are in a dicey position at the bottom of the group. The hosts will need something from Gabon in their last game to progress, which looks unlikely

ICTOR Moses is under orders to bang in more goals now that he is fit again and shaping up for the final four months of Stoke’s season.

The order doesn’t come from manager Mark Hughes, however, but from injured team-mate Peter Odemwingie.

Moses has netted once in 13 appearances for Stoke and Odemwingie, running a sharp eye over proceedings from the sidelines, says that isn’t enough for a player of his ability.

“I’m delighted he’s back because he’s been instrumental in getting away points for us,” says Odemwingie.

“I just want more goals, personally. I told him that his crossing is good, but I want goals, however he does it, because he can score more.”

Odemwingie, who still hopes to feature before the end of the season after a cruciate knee ligament injury, admits to being frustrated at not being able to link up with this season’s newcomers such as Moses and Bojan.

But he is delighted to see Bojan scoring and everyone taking him to

their heart.

“It is very helpful to settle in when you score, the manager speaks well about you and the players want you in every game,” he said.

“I felt that way myself and so I can relate to him

for that and I hope he continues doing well.

“He is very hard working and even today he was in running by himself. He’s added a few kilos of muscle and so he’s also putting in the hours in the gym and we will all benefit from that.''

Goals, upsets at Bet9ja Mamora Cop In some of the games

T

HE eleventh edition of the Bet9ja ‘Senator Mamora Cup’ taking place at the Gbagada football pitch has indeed lived up to the billings with teams scoring goals with ease and some upsets have been recorded.

The grass-root competition organized to give players opportunity to express their talents has not disappointed soccer loving fans.

so far played, Current Fc played out a 1-1 draw with United Fc, but last year’s runners up were sent packing 4-5 in a penalty shoot-out after extra-time. It was the same fate that befell Royal strikers as they lost 4-3 on penalty after a 1-1 draw with 3pillars Fc. Emmanuel Oyebuchi is the leading scorer in the competition as he got a brace in his team’s Honor Fc 4-0 routing of Emirate Fc.

West Brom need wins, says Anichebe

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EST Bromwich Albion striker, Victor Anichebe says he is hoping their 0-0 draw against former club, Everton on Monday can spur them on to avoid the drop from the premier league this season.

The 26-year old, a for mer Everton boy, started the game at Goodison Park, but couldn’t help the Baggies to a win, but insists that the draw was a very good outcome for them and believes they can build on it.

“I thought we played well, we kept the ball well but it was a difficult game. Maybe we should have put a few chances away, but we didn’t.''

AFCON 2015: In Eagles’ absence, Pinnick soars football administrators

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HOUGH feeling the pang of the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for and participate to defend their continental crown at the 30th Africa Cup of Nations finals ongoing in Equatorial

Guinea, President of Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick has been soaring high in his role as Match Commissioner at the tournament.

There are a number of prominent Nigeria

Amun

Continues from BP

be bothered about sentiments of race and nationality, and hire the best man for the job.

“Michael Emenalo is a Nigerian who works at Chelsea as technical director. Nobody looks at his race or his nationality.

“So why should we be too concerned with where the Super Eagles coach come from? My opinion is that if you’re good, you’re good.

“If they say they want a coach from Sweden, I don’t mind.

Our coaches should also aspire to work in Sweden and elsewhere,” Amun said.

The Super Eagles are still without a substantive coach, after Stephen Keshi’s contract expired last July, even though the former Eagles skipper subsequently worked on an interim basis.

working at the tournament, including Etubom Paul Bassey (General Coordinator), High Chief Emeka Inyama, Chairman of the NFF Marketing, Sponsorship and Television Advisory Committee (who is working as a Media Officer); Ms Aisha Falode (also working as Media Officer) and Samson Adamu (Assistant General Coordinator).

However, the NFF President has been shining brightly, after he was appointed Match Commissioner for the Group D match between Cameroon and Mali, immediately he finished playing the same role in the earlier match between Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea in Malabo on Tuesday.

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015—63

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

Today's matches

Result E. Guinea Gabon

0 0

B/Faso Congo

0 1

Zambia C/Verde

vs vs

Tunisia 5 pm Congo DR 8 pm

Mourinho hints at loan bid for Gerrard

J

OSE MOURINHO has cheekily suggested he might bid to sign Steven Gerrard on loan in a year’s time.

Gerrard is quitting Liv-

erpool at the end of the season for MLS side LA Galaxy after deciding against penning a new deal at Anfield.

Mourinho is a big fan of

Eagles job: NFF must look beyond Nigeria – Amun F

ORMER Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation, Fanny Amun has advised the NFF to look beyond indigenous sentiments in deciding the next coach of the Super Eagles.

The NFF have claimed that they have offered a new contract to Stephen Keshi, after initially stating their resolve to hire a foreign coach for the Eagles, even though that decision was shunned after they came under pressure to have a Nigerian lead the team.

But Amun, who coached Nigeria’s U17’s to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Japan in 1993, says the NFF shouldn’t Continues on Page 62

GRUELING: Equatorial Guinea’s forward Kike (front) challenges Burkina Faso’s forward Aristide Bance (l) during the 2015 Afcon group A match yesterday. The match ended 0-0. PHOTO/AFP

the Reds legend, and came close to signing him for Chelsea in 2005 before Gerrard completed a lastminute u-turn and decided to stay on Merseyside.

•Gerrard

E. Guinea, Burkina Faso share honours

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URKINA Faso were twice denied by the woodwork as they were held by Equatorial Guinea in the first goalless draw of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Alain Traore curled a free-kick against the post on 19 minutes, and 20 minutes later his volley was tipped on to Continues on Page 62

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

FRI DAY'S FRIDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Fashionable (4) 4 Mouthful (3) 6 Shortage (4) 8 Gaol (6) 9 Character (6) 10 Cur (3) 12 Plant (5) 14 Brush (5) 15 Skinflint (5) 18 Consent (6) 20 Combined (6) 24 Sum (5) 26 Muzzle (5) 28 Clearing (5) 30 Beer (3) 32 Decent (6) 33 Imagined (6) 34 Slight (4) 35 Obscure (3) 36 Certain (4)

DOWN 2 Discordant (5) 3 Dress (7) 4 Remit (4) 5 Twinge (4) 6 Subsequently (5) 7 Rust (7) 11 Mineral (3) 12 Ocean (3) 13 Offer (3) 16 Fixed (3) 17 Groove (3) 19 Regulate (7) 21 Horse (3) 22 Sickness (7) 23 Expire (3) 25 Bird (3) 27 Higher (5) 29 Object (5) 30 Parched (4) 31 Cheese (7)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 2, React 7, Index 8, Expel 10, Build 12, Has 13, Steed 15, Defiled 17, Teller 19, Cab 20, Demonic 23, Late 25, Trip 26, Emerged 30, Awe 31, Dampen 34, Madness 37, Metre 38, Boa 39, Sprat 40, Petty 41, Geese 42, Under.

DOWN: 1, Unite 2, Rebel 3, Exuded 4, Cold 5, Exhibit 6, Beset 9, Pal 11, Decoded 13, Stall 14, Elite 16, Fan 18, Repress 21, Crypt 22, Spine 24, Emanate 27, Ewe 28, Damage 29, Label 32, Meter 33, Erase 35, Dot 36, Spin.

How to Play Sudoku

P

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

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

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

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