Presidency abolishes office of First Lady

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Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 3

Court stops Senate from summoning The Nation’s editor, reporter BY INNOCENT ANABA

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Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, restrained The National Assembly from compelling The Nation’s Editor, Gbenga Omotoso and a correspondent of the newspaper house, Imam Bello to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions over a story published by the medium.

Trial judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa granted the order following an ex-parte application moved by the applicants’ counsel, Mr Wahab Shittu.

Applicants in the suit are Vintage Press Limited (publisher of The Nation), Omotoso and Bello, the while the National Assembly and the Senate are the respondents.

The Senate had, in an August 4 letter, invited Omotoso and Bello to appear before it over the story: Motion: 22 APC

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Northern senators ‘working against Buhari.’

The Senate wrote another letter on August 11, threatening to invoke Section 89 (1) (D) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to compel the applicants’ appearance.

Justice Yunusa restrained the respondents, whether by themselves, their members, committees or agents from summoning or directing the appearance of the applicants or any of their agents before any Senate Committee.

The court barred the lawmakers from requesting the applicants to produce any papers, notes or other documents in respect of the story.

The judge also restrained the respondents from issuing a warrant to compel the applicants’ attendance before the Senate Committee set up to investigate the publication.

The order, according to the court is to remain in force pending the hearing and determination of the applicants’ motion on notice.

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ISENGAGED Academic Casuals/ Contract Staff of Petroleum Training Institute, (PTI) Effurun, Delta State, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to carry out a comprehensive staff audit of the institute to unravel alleged fraud, corruption and obvious injustice that characterized the 2014/2015 recruitment exercise in the PTI. The group made the call in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari titled “Gross injustice, employment racketeering and corrupt practices during the 2014/ 2015 employment exercise in the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), EFfurun,

Ekweremadu’s Committee to submit report to Secondus September 23 to bring to your kind

BY HENRY UMORU

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HE post-election assessment committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP headed by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has completed its assignment ready to submit the report to the Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus,

September , 2015.

In a memo to the Acting National Chairman dated 17 th August and sighted by Vanguard, the Committee Chairman, Senator Ekweremadu indicated that the report would be submitted on Wednesday, 23 rd, September, 2015.

In the letter titled, ‘ ‘’Submission of Report’ , Ekweremadu said, “This is

attention that the PDP Post Election Review Committee proposes to submit its Report to the National Working Committee on Wednesday, 23rd September, 2015 at the National Secretariat .

The Committee will appreciate a confirmation of this date and time.

Please, accept our highest regards.”

Sacked PTI workers accuse management of flouting MoU

BY JACOB AJOM Delta State,” and made available to newsmen in Warri, alleging that the management of PTI and its agent blatantly short changed the contract/ casual staff in the recruitment exercise after serving the institute for over five years.

The letter was jointly signed on behalf of other members fighting for their reinstatement by Chigozie Uchegbulam, Oseh Pius Omoloju, Oluwole Ezekiel, Comrade Michael Oboh, Henry Onotasamiderhi, Fred Ochonogor, Osaghele

Emmanuel and Ikikiru D. Friday.

It accused PTI Management of not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it entered with PENGASSAN over the perpetual exploitation of her members and nonconversion of qualified and experienced manpower in core academic and administrative functions of PTI, where it was agreed that the casual staff would be considered first in the recruitment exercise before other applicants.

Reps: States to have equal representation in house committees

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HAIRMEN of committees in the House of Representatives are to be picked on the basis of state representation and not on the basis of their political parties or their closeness to the leadership of the House.

A source close to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who spoke with Vanguard on the matter said the decision was to ensure fair representation of all members of the House from all the states of the federation rather than concentrating on party affiliations.

4 —SATURDAY

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Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 5

Presidency abolishes office of office of wife of president, First Lady •Plans but without govt funding

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

•Mrs. Buhari yet to be assigned any role

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HE presidency has said that official portfolio was yet to be assigned to Aisha, the wife of president Mohmmadu Buhari, overruling what hitherto was known as “First Lady’s office”.

Apparently renaming it “Office of the Wife of the President”, the presidency however stated that Mrs. Buhari would, for now, be saddled with women and youth related issues in the country.

The Presidency was reacting to allegations in some Nigerian media that the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari has moved into the First Lady’s office in the Aso Villa.

Describing the allegation as totally false and fictitious, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said that even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with Mrs. Buhari making use of the office space reserved for the First Lady, she had not done so in her capacity.

Shehu stated that under president Buhari, the office shall be completely different from what obtained in the past, saying that the era of the First Ladies issuing oil wells and licenses was gone.

“President Buhari promised that there would be a clear difference between the role played by his wife during his tenure and that played by many previous First Ladies. “All that ostentation, ubiquitousness and arrogance we have come to expect from the office are over and done with. Change has come. “The ideal platform from which she will be useful to Nigeria’s women and children is still being thought out.

Once this has been concluded on, Mrs. Buhari’s role will become clearer to all Nigerians. There will be nothing shady or hidden about it. There will be no access to public funds.

It will be purely private and voluntary”, he said.

The presidential spokesman recalled that the time Mrs. Buhari had to make use of the office was at the beginning of the present administration.

He added that the meeting during which she hosted the wives of governors was held in a section of the Villa’s banquet hall, not in the First Lady’s office. “Her only visit to that office was at the point of the take-over of the Villa by the incoming administration.

ANTI-Igbo comments: Junaid Mohammed working hard to destroy Nigeria –Uko *Asks North to prove it’s not a delibnobody is out to compenerate policy

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

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*L-R: Senior Vice President Maersk Group African Region Mr. Lars Reno Jakobsen; Group Chief Executive Officer A.P.MOLLER-MAERSK Mr. Nils Andersen;Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; during their meeting with the President, at the Presidential Villa Abuja.

Photo by Abayomi Adeshida.

Shocker for Buhari *Job creation drops massively *Oil & Gas, Cement industries score zero

BY EMEKA ANAETO, Economy Editor

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S President Mohammmadu Buhari begins action on his campaign promises one of the key promises, job creation, appears to have become further worsened as a high powered report indicates a sharp drop in that major economic front in the second quarter 2015 (Q2 2015), covering his first month in office.

In the Q2 2015 total number of jobs created in the economy was just 141,368, a massive 70 per cent decline from 469,070 jobs created in the economy in the first quarter 2015 and also 45.5 per cent decline against the position in the corresponding quarter of 2014.

Two of Buhari’s key campaign promises were anti-corruption and job creation which earned him massive voter supports that pull the victory at the pools in March 2015 presidential election.

The President has since inception of his regime on May 29, 2015 embarked on further measures to stem and stifle corruption especially in the oil sector, but no visible action has been taken on job creation and general economic framework.

A job creation report released yesterday was a result of the survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in col-

laboration with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, National Planning Commission and the Federal Ministry of Labour & Productivity.

The objective of the quarterly survey is to track the number of jobs being created in the economy within a given period of time, provide multi-sectoral and policy relevant data on the employment-generating sectors, seasonality in employment and the labour market.

In the formal sector, the report shows of that 51,070 new jobs were generated, representing 36.1percent of total jobs generated in the Q2 2015. This is a decline of 61.6percent (79,871) jobs when compared to the first quarter of 2015 and a 35.2percent decline when compared to the same period in 2014.

In the informal sector in Q2 2015, an estimate 83,903 new jobs were created compared to 332,403 new jobs in the Q1 2015; this signifies a 74.8percent decrease between the two periods.

The informal sector typically consists of jobs generated by individuals or businesses employing less than 10 or those businesses operating with little or no structures such as those in Agriculture and Wholesale and Retail Trade.

But in the public sector of the economy, there was a 11.7 percent (669) increase in the number

of jobs created making 6,395 new jobs generated in the public sector in the Q2 2015.

The jobs generated in the public sector represents 4.5percent of the total jobs generated during the reference period.

A major highlight of the report is that oil and gas industry had zero new jobs in the period under review despite all the cash flow in the industry. The other industry that scored zero in job creation report was the cement industry.

It is also heart warming that the highest job creation was recorded in the education sector which employed 17,124 persons during the period despite the lean resource allocation, total neglect and poor remuneration in the sector.

Also in the top employing sectors are Manufacturing with a total of 7,781 new jobs, Agriculture sector with 7,650 new jobs and Accomodation and Food Services with 4,694 new jobs.

The Quarterly Job Creation survey is a nationwide survey, covering all 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). A sample of 5000 establishments was taken across the country covering all sectors of the economy. This round of the survey, for which estimates are being reported, achieved a response rate of 92.3 percent from the establishments selected in the sample, which is highly commendable.

EPUTY SECRETARY of the Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), Evangelist Elliot Uko, has berated Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, over his advise to the Igbo to declare for Republic of Biafra, if they are aggrieved over President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments.

Mohammed made the statement while replying former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, who said the Igbo had not been treated fairly in terms of political positions and appointments in the President Buhari administration.

“I don’t believe Buhari or Nigeria owes any Igbo anything. I don’t care what Ezeife says - if they (Igbo) had seceded, there would have been no Nigeria today. As people who acted outside the interest of Nigeria as a country, to expect compensation is a very odd logic. If the Igbo don’t like it, they can attempt secession again. If they do, they must be prepared to live with the consequences - nobody owes them anything and

sate them for anything,” he said.

Reacting to Mohammed’s comment, Uko, who is also the President of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), said: “This statement confirms to the international community that the new administration could march along a very divisive path with the support of some persons in the North. That is some people have sworn that equity and justice will not reign in Nigeria. In other words, actions that lead to disenchantment among Nigerians to the extent of making secession an attractive option to certain sections is actually deliberate and encouraged by the North. I am sure the international community has taken note of that. ‘’The man does not deserve to be replied. He is consistently working very hard to destroy Nigeria by denigrating, abusing and overtly provoking Nigerians in order to prepare the ground for another civil war. Whether it is a deliberate policy of the North we don’t know, whether he will succeed or not in his quite spirited effort to make sure Nigeria does not survive, nobody knows.’’

IMMIGRATION RECRUITMENT SCANDAL:

Buhari suspends Parradang, Immigration ment into Immigration boss Service.”

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

THE Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina, yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari suspended the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), David Parradang, for unauthorized recruitment into Service.

Adesina, who replied Vanguard’s enquiry in a short code message (sms), dispelled insinuations in some quarters that Parradang was suspended because an ISIS chief, Ahmed Al Assir, got entry visa at the Nigerian embassy in Lebanon to visit Nigerian.

He said: “The suspension of Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), David Parradang, today (Friday), was not connected to the probe of how the ISIS chief got the Nigerian visa but for unauthorized recruit-

Recall that Parradang was appointed into office in June 2013 for a fouryear tenure. He was also indicted in the recruitment scandal which led to the death at least 19 job seekers across Nigeria, during a nationwide recruitment test conducted by the NIS, on March 16, 2014. Millions of job seekers who reportedly paid the sum of N1,000 as application fee, had thronged venues of the exercise, mostly stadia, for the exercise. The Federal Government has suspended from office the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr David Parradang, with immediate effect.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Interior, Mr Yusuf Isiaka Alhaji, on behalf of the permanent secretary of the ministry, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Ahmadiyya Muslims meet in London, discuss ways to end terror, poverty

By Ishola Balogun in London

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N view of the spread of terrorism in some parts of the world and the spiral effect of poverty in Nigeria and other African countries, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is currently discussing ways in which nations and Muslim individuals can effectively tackle terrorism and the scourge of poverty ravaging some nations in the world.

The leader of Nigeria delegation to the annual convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Dr. Mashuud Fashola disclosed that the members of the Jamaat world-over were compiling notes on ways of tackling these common problems.

Dr. Fashola stated that at the end of the convention currently holding in London, the Jammat will come out with possible solution to the two hydraheaded challenges of terrorism and poverty.

“We are compiling notes on how to bring peace to the world, spread the Jamaat and reduce poverty. In the world today, there is conflict and there is need to ensure peace in the world.

“The Jamaat wants to reach out to the world in order to stop the problem of poverty and terrorism.

“We want people to know that corruption will not do anybody any good,

but rather stultifies growth and breeds conflict in the world. So, our aim is to ensure peace in the world.

Earlier, speaking during a tabligh session on ‘how to effectively project the true Islamic teachings as a source of peace to all mankind’, Dr. Fashola highlighted three points in raising a good family.

“The impact of a virtuous woman is very important as she will be able to raise a good family. The parents again must be very close to their children in order to successfully nurture them to the part of righteousness. Thirdly, they must be cautious of the environment which can have negative effect on the upbringing of a child.”

He advised all Ahmadis to consider these factors in their efforts toward self reformation.

Again, Dr Saheed Timehin who is the head of tabligh in Nigeria, in his presentation of the situation in Nigeria, sought the visitation of the Khalifa and the Ahmadiyya world leader to the country, explaining that the visit would engender a huge spiritual benefits.

Timehin stated that Ahmadiyya in Nigeria has good relationship with the media adding that the healthy relationship has helped tremendously in spreading the

message of the Khalifa across the length and breath of the country.

Delegations across the world took their turn to make presentation on the activities of the Jamaat in their various countries.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is present in over 206 countries in the world.

Prominent among countries that presented papers was Canada starting with over 11,500 members, have done over 150 messages in the spread of Islam as well as over 410 tabligh stalls. New Zealand, Mauritus Gambia were also among countries that shared their experiences and activities to all delegates.

•Hoisting of flags of different nations where Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat is established, by the Huzur, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (middle), marking the opening of the 2015 Jalsa Salana in London, United Kingdom, yesterday, shortly after the Jumaat Service. Photo by Ishola Balogun.

UK Jalsa opens with over 35,000 delegates …as MTA gives live broadcast to the world in 16 languages

By Ishola Balogun in London

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S the 2015 convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat opens today at the Jalsa Ground, Oakland Farm, otherwise known as Hadeeqatul Madhi, Hampshire, London, the organisation’s television studio is ready to beam the event live on terrestrial broadcasting to different part of the world, alongside Nigeria’s broadcast station MiTV present here in London with its crew, while Vanguard newspaper and National Mirror also report the event for the print media.

Right now, over 35,000 delegates from all over 200 countries where Ahmadiyaa is established are already at the Jalsa

ground. The Vice-President of Serria Leon, Mr. Victor Bockarie-Foe is among other special dignitaries at the event. Others include non-Ahmadis and nonMuslim guests.

The event was declared open after the jumaat service held at the Jalsa ground yesterday.

The Muslim Television Ahmadiyya, MTA, has studios in 12 countries includ-

ing United States of America, United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, Nigeria and other parts of Africa. It also covers Middle East, North Africa and North America. It broadcast both live and re-

Slain Imo Catholic priest for burial Aug 31

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HE Provincial leadership of the Claretian

By Chidi Nkwopara

NLC locks Imo Assembly gates

By Chidi Nkwopara

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MO lawmakers were yesterday, locked out of the State Assembly Complex, Owerri, by the state leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC. The angry union leaders, who stormed the Complex and securely locked the

corded programmes in over 16 languages. The MTA is being led by Munir-ud-Din Shams, a British. With the growing Islamophobia, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat works with stronger passion and zeal to spread the true teachings of Islam.

gates before the arrival of both staff and Assemblymen, hinged their action on the alleged move by Governor Rochas Okorocha to sponsor an executive bill, to privatize and commercialize some selected parastatals and agencies.

Missionaries, Maryland, Nekede, Owerri West local government area of Imo State, has fixed the burial of the slain Rev. Fr. Dennis Osuagwu for August 31, 2015.

The hapless Catholic priest was gruesomely murdered by yet-to-be identified hoodlums, August 15, 2015, while he was on his way to the 34 Field Artillery Brigade, Obinze, to discharge his clerical duties.

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 7

B-R-I-E-F-S

Tribunal upholds Ugwuanyi’s election … throws out Ezea’s petition

HIEFTAIN of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State, Mr. Ebitimi Duduke, has advised the party’s bigwigs in the area to sheath their swords in their tussle for appointment into the State Executive Council.

Duduke, in a statement, decried that the tussle was tearing the PDP apart in the area, advising the party’s bigwig and their supporters to avoid acts capable of breeding division in the party.

“It is not only commissionership position that is meant for Burutu Local Government Area; there are several other appointments in the pipeline which our people can also gun for. We must embrace peace and seek the face of God before seeking any political office,” the statement said.

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Delta SUBEB to organise training for teachers Bad portions at Kirikiri Bridge created by Petrol tankers and trailers drivers for Illegal parking on the road and bridge, and need urgent attentions of Federal government. before of any disaster occur.

PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez people of the state for their support and prayers. Delivering the judgment which lasted for over three hours, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Kwajafa Hildad among other findings by the tribunal held that it had earlier in the course of the hearing struck out several paragraphs of Ezea’s petition for being imprecise,

vague, related to party nomination which is a preelection matter and contained criminal allegation against people who were not made parties to the petition.

He added that the petitioner’s allegation on over-voting and non accreditation through the manipulation of the Card Readers Machine by the

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other respondents were not sufficiently proved as it is only voters’ register that could determine the number of voters that participated in an election, stating that the petitioner failed to provide the voters’ registers to prove his case.

Anambra town unions ‘resurrect’ Zik, Ojukwu, Achebe, Akunyili, others with awards

By Vincent Ujumadu

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HE Anambra State Association of Town Unions, ASATU, the umbrella body comprising the Presidents’ General of the 177 communities in the state, literarily resurrected eight prominent citizens of the state who had passed on, by giving them posthumous awards in recognition of their services to the state while they were alive.

The ceremony was part of activities put together by ASATU to raise funds for the building of the unions’ N250 million cultural centre in the state.

Those who received the posthumous awards were the first president of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the late Biafra Warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka

Odumegwu Ojukwu, literary giant; Professor Chinua Achebe, former information minister, Professor Dora Akunyili, former senate president, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo; founding president of ASATU, Chief Chimezie Ikeazor and music legend, Chief Osita Osadebe.

Other recipients were constitutional lawyer,

•Victims call on FG for solution, as it’s beyond state government

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LOOD wrecked havoc in Ilorin from Thursday afternoon till Friday morning when it finally subsided as scores of vehicles trapped on the major roads during the heavy rain that lasted hours

By Festus Ahon

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OWARDS promoting mathematics and science education in primary schools in Delta State, a twoweek intensive training programme for selected teachers in the two subjects will commence on Monday, 24th August 2015, at the conference hall of Federal Government College of Education Technical, Asaba.

The Federal and the Delta state governments through the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC and the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB are co-sponsoring the programme with participants drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state.

A statement by the Chairman, SUBEB, Delta State, Comrade Elijah Ologe says, ‘’Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education, SMASE’’, is the theme of the training programme which will be formally flagged off on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 by the state commissioner for education, Barrister Chinedu Ebie.

Delta community honours crisis victims

By Ochuko Akuopha, Oleh

*Plan N250m cultural centre

Heavy downpour wrecks havoc in Illorin

By Demola Akinyemi

By Ochuko Akuopha

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By Louis Amoke HE Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu has upheld the election of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State in the April 11, 2015 governorship election. It struck out the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Okey Ezea on the grounds that it was frivolous, lacked merit and against court processes.

This was followed by a cost of N150,000 to each of the respondents in the petition.

As soon as the news of the tribunal’s decision filtered out to a large crowd of anxious supporters of Gov. Ugwuanyi, the entire court premises went into jubilation, singing victory songs in praise of the governor. Ugwuanyi on receipt of the news of the judgment drove round the major streets of Enugu in company of the local government chairmen to thank the

Delta PDP chieftain warns against tussle for appointments

were submerged in the rain while good Samaritans in the affected areas battled hard to rescue the occupants.

Weekend Vanguard reliably gathered that lack or near absence of functional drainage system in the major roads in the state capital also

caused the heavy downpour to freely entered homes,shops and offices leading to destruction of several homes and electrical appliances of residents and damages of several electric poles all running into several millions of naira.

Affected areas included, Adisco along Offa Garage road,Asa Dam road,CocaCola road,Muritala Road towards Maraba axis , Omoseebi, Royal Shekinah, Pipeline, Gaa Akanbi, Unity road, among several others.

Victims who spoke in an interview with Weekend Vanguard though lamented their woes however added that the flood could have recorded more serious casualties.

Professor Ben Nwabueze, Chelsea player, John Mikel Obi; Nollywood star, Chief Pete Edochie; former secretary general of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; business mogul, Prince Arthur Eze; former national chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh; human rights lawyer, Chief Olisa Agbakoba; Chimamanda Adichie, among many others.

National president of ASATU, Dr. Jude Okolo said the decision to honour the awardees was to appreciate their contributions towards the development of Anambra State, while the building of the cultural centre was to take the association to the next level.

Okolo, however, frowned at the acrimonies existing between PGs and traditional rulers in some communities, attributing it to improper definition of functions of the two important personalities.

He said: “In communities where these functions are not properly defined or where one or both of these stakeholders are not well exposed, friction, rancour and acrimony tend to be the order of the day.

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HE people of Irri, Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, have postponed to August next year, the 2015 annual conference of the community in honour of deceased victims of the intra communal crisis that erupted in the town.

The community, in a statement by the Chairman of its Development Committee, Mr. Goddey Igorigo and 22 others, said its leaders would within the period; settle all scores among aggrieved groups and individuals.

Beware of fraudsters, recruitment of 10,000 personnel yet to begin — Force HQ

By Kingsley Omonobi

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HE Police High Command yesterday disclosed that the recruitment of 10, 000 police officers promised

by President Muhammadu Buhari, with a view of enhancing the fight against crime and insecurity in the country, is yet to begin hence Nigerians should beware of fraudsters.

A statement signed by Force Public Relations officer, CP Emmanuel Ojukwu said, “Following the approval for recruitment of 10,000 Police officers by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigeria Police wishes to inform the general public that recruitment into the Force is yet to commence.

“The modalities for the recruitment are being worked out with the Police Service Commission and would be announced in due course.

“The general public is hereby warned to beware of online fraudsters who may take advantage of the recruitment information to defraud them of their hard earned money.

“The Nigeria Police Force will adequately advertise on all forms of media (Televisions, Newspapers, etc) when the recruitment commences. You can also visit the Police website on www.npf.gov.ng for necessary information”.

8 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Buhari to make Zik’s mausoleum federal institute •Presidency to renovate monuments, bury Zik’s son, Chukwuma

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

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S part of efforts to inculcate nationalism in Nigerians, the Federal Government has set machinery in motion to make Zik’s mausoleum and estate in Onitsha a federal institute.

Zik’smausoleum,theburial site of Nigeria’s first indigenous President, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, has remained a sorry sight in the last two decades.

Converting the mausoleum into an institute, Saturday Vanguard gathered, is one of the outcomes of a battery of meetings among Federal Government officials, the Azikiwe family and some stakeholders.

Apart from the mausoleum, President Muhammadu Buhari is also expected to play a leading role in the burial of Azikiwe’s first son, Owelle Chukwuma, who died recently, aged 75.

At one of the meetings held lastweek,SaturdayVanguard learned that attendees included: Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Housing, Arc. Okafor Onuorah; Director, Federal Ministry of Housing, Mrs. Patricia Odogwu; Amb. Azikiwe, Dr. Nwachukwu Azikiwe, Akunne Arah, Mrs. Obiesie, Mrs. V. Onuorah, Mrs. C. Iwobi, Mrs. Ifejika, Mrs. N. Emeaogwali, Mr. George Ossi, Nwanyelugo Azikiwe, Chuks Njaka, Mrs. Ifejika , Bar Emejulu, Bar Kate Onwe, Arah Nwobu, Umuada Azikiwe and Zik’s younger sister, Mrs. Molokwu.

Speakingontheoutcomeof the meeting, a source said: ‘’The Azikiwe family agreed that the responsibility for the burial of their son Owelle Chuma Azikiwe should be determined by his friend, President Buhari , who may assign any responsibility to any of the state governors that

B-R-I-E-F-S Governorship Tribunal: Ugwuanyi’s triumph, victory for the people — Ekweremadu

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HE Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has congratulated the Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on his victory at the Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Friday, describing it as victory for the people of the State.

Reacting to the verdict, he stressed that it is a reaffirmation of the overwhelming popularity of the Governor and the strength of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State in particular and the South East in general.

Senator Ekweremadu further observed that the decision of the Tribunal did not come as a surprise to the people of Enugu State and realistic political pundits around the country because Enugu State remained an indisputable stronghold of the PDP.

Avoid social vices, philanthropist tells youths ….. donates N2m to Nnewi Block Rosary Region

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

Outgoing Ambassador Shuaibu Adamu Ahmed receiving a state award from the deputy Prime Minister of Qatar in appreciation of his efforts in solidifying the Nigerian ties with Qatar. have shown interest in the funeral activities such as the Governors of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano; Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru ElRufai; Oyo State, Mr. Abiola Ajimobi; Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, whose headquarters is situated very close to Ile Zik, which used to be the home of late Dr NnamdiAzikiwe;andEnugu

State, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and so many other governors whoweredirectlyorindirectly linked with the Azikiwe family. ‘’President Buhari had already agreed after sending condolence messages that the Federal Government will embarkuponthecompletion ofthemausoleumproject,the library, the swimming pool,

the medical centre, and rehabilitation of the buildings which were destroyed by militantsandtoturnthewhole of Zik’s estate at Onisa Onire at Onitsha into a federal institute and a legacy immortalizing the father of the nation usually referred to as Zik of Africa for his contribution to Nigeria and Africa’’s colonial struggles.

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N Nnewi, Anambra state born philanthropist and Lagos-based industrial guru, Chief Louis Carter Izuchukwu Onwugbenu has advised youths to shun social vices capable of ruining their future and at the same time, leading them astray before God and humanity.

Onwugbenu, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Louis Carter Industries Limited who gave the advice yesterday during his 62nd birthday anniversary celebration, at the St. Louis Catholic Church, Nnewi, a church he built some years ago and handed over to Nnewi Diocessan Catholic mission, said the youths must imbibe prayerful spirit in order to succeed in life.

Onwugbenu who hosted over 2,000 members of the Block Rosary Crusade, BRC from the entire Nnewi region at the church premises, shortly after his birthday mass, also donated N2 million to the region to enable them spread the gospel of God and establish more block rosary centers within the region.

Chief of Army Staff solicits information Basin; are to fight the Old Anambra speaker, on Boko Haram insurgents not only in

BY NDAHI MARAMA

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HE Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai has solicited for the cooperation of all Borno residents and citizens of Nigeria by providing credible information on the “hideouts andmodusoperandi”ofBoko Haram to end terrorists activities and insurgency in the state and North East subregion before the end of this year.

The Boko Haram sect members, according to him, have refused peace to reign in the affected states of the sub-region,includingPlateau and Kano states.

Buratai spoke Friday morning in Maiduguri and monitored by our Correspondent in a special Hausa and Kanuri programme of FM Radio Lafiya (Radio peace), on how to ‘crush and end’ Boko Haram insurgency in the country; and as directed recently by President Muhammadu Buhari to the six Service Chiefs.

He said in strict compliance to President’s directives on terrorism that has claimed many lives and property, troops of the various Nigerian ArmyDivisions,includingthe MultinationalJointTaskForce (MNJTF) in the Lake Chad

Sambisa Forest, but continue topursueandchasetheminto their hideouts and cells, until peace reigns in Borno state and the Northeast by December.

Hiswords:“Letmetakethis opportunity of FM Radio Lafiya programme to assure all citizens of Borno state and the entire citizens of this country that Boko Haram, is crushed to the finish for peace, as the insurgents do not want peace to reign in Nigeria and neigbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger, which formed the MNJTF in fighting this war that has claimed many lives and property.

Enemchukwu dies at 75

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

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HE speaker of the old Anambra State House of Assembly during the second republic, Chief Ifeanyichukwu Enemchukwu has passed on. He was 75 years old.

Enemchukwu, who held the title of Oba of Oba in Idemili South local government area, was the speaker of the old Anambra State, comprising the present Anambra and Enugu states and some parts of Ebonyi State between 1979 and 1983.

The speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mrs. Rita Maduagwu read a letter from the Enemchukwu family on the floor of the House after which a minute silence was observed in his honour.

The lawmakers also held a special session in his honour, with most of the legislators describing the late Enemchukwu as a lawmaker whose contributions during the second republic helped to shape the country’s

Delta NGO lauds Buhari on Kachikwu

BY GODWIN OGHRE

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HE Nigeria Role Model Club, an arm of African Child Foundation, an NGO based in Mosogar, Delta State, has commanded President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Engr Ibe Emmanuel Akachukwu the new Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. It says in a release at the end of its meeting in Mosogar, through its President, Donaldson Onosokponome, that “Engr Akachukwu who is one of our 2015 role model award winners, is one of Nigeria’s best industry practitioners whose experience cut across several spheres of human endeavors.”

It also thanked Mr President, “for abolishing the era of godfathers, nepotism and tribalism, and going for the best industry players in his appointments, he has rekindled the hopes and aspiration of the masses of Nigeria”.

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 9

B-R-I-E-F-S Onuesoke faults Oshiomhole’s claim for obtaining $75m loan

‘Why our Police are failing us’

BY EMMA AMAZE

‘

•Group differs with Arase

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ARRI-CENTRE for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, CENTREP, Warri, Delta State, weekend, faulted the assertion by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, that lack of increase in the funding of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, was the chief impediment to effective policing nationwide.

Executive director of the group, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, in a statement, said the statement

by Mr. Arase at the National Security Conference jointly organized by the NPF and the Sun Newspaper in Abuja was far from the truth.

The group said, “The major obstacle to effective policing in the Nigeria State is the monstrous level of corruption presently ravaging the institution and not the level of funding per se.”

Its words, “We posit that corruption has dealt a cruel blow to the police institution in Nigeria such that it has not only eroded profession-

Members of 'Bringbackourgirls' (Bbog), Lagos State Branch with Sen. Oluremi Tinubu (5th-l), during a sit-out session with the Senator On the kidnapped 'Chibok Girls' And The Internally Displaced Persons (Idps), in Lagos On Thursday . alism but smeared its mage and prestige to the extent that an increase in funding without commensurate effort at checking the menace, will only transform the worsening level of corruption in the institution into a tsunami.”

“We submit further that an increase funding of the Nigerian Police Force would not by any

iota of imagination reduce corruption in the Force, as claimed by the police boss but would inflame the vice, hence our call on the police boss to furnish Nigerians with the measures he has put in place to check corruption in the Police Force. “This is because we are not oblivious of the fact that every police institution worldwide re-

quires effective funding devoid of corruption ethics for effective policing,” the group asserted.

CENTREP stated, “The call by the police boss on the National Assembly to pass into law the Police Trust Fund bill was a needless one, as we are all witnesses to a similar body that was set up under ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.”

Oil sinks to $40, logs longest weekly losing streak in 29 years Brent oil fell $1.28, or the week, its worst week-

U

S oil prices dived again yesterday, threatening to dip below $40 a barrel for the first time since the financial crisis and notching their longest weekly losing streak since 1986, as a drop in Chinese manufacturing rattled global markets.

World stock and currency markets joined an extended rout across raw materials this week, a slump accelerated yesterday by data showing activity in China’s factory sector shrank at its fastest pace in almost 61/2 years in August. With deepening gloom over demand growth from the world’s second-biggest oil user, and expectations for a significant build-up in surplus oil stocks this autumn, dealers said most oil traders were unwilling to fight the tide.

“The market is stuck in a relentless downtrend,” said Robin Bieber, a director at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

U.S. October crude fell $1.02, or 2.5 percent, to $40.29 a barrel, having touched a new 6-1/2-year C M Y K

low of $40.11 a barrel earlier. Front-month U.S. crude has fallen 33 percent over eight consecutive weeks of losses, the longest such losing streak since 1986.

2.75 percent, to $45.33 a barrel, threatening to break below $45 a barrel for the first time since March 2009. The U.S. S&P .SPX fell about 2 percent on Friday and is down over 4 percent for

ly decline in at least three years. The dollar .DXY also fell, lending a small measure of support to oil prices but also suggesting a lowering of expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike in September.

CSOs call for public hearing on removal of petroleum subsidy

BY EMMA AMAIZE

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IVIL Society Organizations, CSOs in Nigeria and other stakeholders have advocated a public hearing on the removal of petroleum subsidy to enable President Muhammadu Buhari take a final decision.

This is part of the resolutions taken at a round-table of CSOs and stakeholders convened in Abuja by the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) on the ongoing efforts of President Buhari’s administration to reform the Nigeria oil and gas sector, with special focus on the Berne Declaration. In a communiqué signed by the executive director, ANEEJ, Rev David Ugolor, Zero Corruption

Coalition’s Lukman Adefolahan and six others, the CSOs said, “Government should sustain the on-going reform of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and make it comprehensive.

Olanrewaju Adeoye of the 21st Century Community Empowerment for Youth and Women Initiative, Victor Emejuiwe, Centre for Social Justice, Debo Adeniran of Coalition against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Comrade Nelson Nwafor, Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy & Development, (FENRAD), Odion Timothy ( Nigeria Network of NGOs and Olukayode Majekodunmi of SocioEconomic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, attended the

seminar.

They urged the Federal Government to strengthen all the anticorruption agencies and fund them adequately to enable the recovery of all oil revenue looted by Politically Exposed Persons and prosecute them as promised Nigerians and also step up the crude oil refining capacities of the nation’s refineries to 100 per cent optimal capacity utilization.

The CSOs advocated immediate review of all Joint Venture Contracts of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation by the NNPC management just as they asked President Buhari to sign the 2015 Audit Bill passed by the seventh National Assembly into law.

D

ELTA State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has faulted Edo State Governor, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole’s reason for obtaining $75m Loan.

Oshiomhole, while addressing the media recently alleged the looting of the federal treasury by officials of former President Goodluck administration contributed to reduced revenue on the country which made obtaining loan necessary.

Reacting to Oshiomhole’s allegation while addressing newsmen in Benin Airport, Edo State, Onuesoke accused Oshiomhole of making spurious allegations against President Jonathan’s administration without any concrete facts, wondering if he was the only person in the country that saw the stealing? “Why are others not talking?

I do not support corruption in any form and I am of the view that every stolen money should be recovered by any means, but not in Oshiomhole’s manner of always casting aspersions on former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is not fair and it is becoming unbearable,” he stated.

He advised Oshiomhole to consult with former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi on funds management, adding that Obi received equal amount of allocation with other Governors and still left substantial amount for his successor.

Gun Shot Injuries: Police enjoin citizens, medical personnel to assist victims

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

I

NSPECTOR-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has enjoined members of the public including medical personnel to attend to accident victims and persons with gunshot injuries and thereafter, inform the Police for necessary action.

According to a statement from Force HQ, “This became imperative, following neglect and untimely death of victims in this regard out of fear of being implicated.

“The Police High Command also directed its Officers and men not to harass good Samaritans/Nigerians in this regard, but endeavour to elicit correct facts in relation to incident from them.

It said, “Doctors on duty are equally duty bound to treat victims of gunshot wounds and further inform Police of relevant facts.”

Compel Agip to step down IPP in our land, Ndokwa women urge FG

BY OCHUKO AKUOPHA

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OMEN of Ndokwa, have urged the federal government to compel the management of the Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NAOC, operators of the Independent Power Plant, IPP at Okpai, Ndokwa East Local Government Area, Delta State to step down the facility for the use of the Ndokwa people.

The women, under the aegis of Ndokwa Ladies Positive Agenda, NLPA, lamented the challenge of incessant power outage in Ndokwa, despite location of the IPP in their land.

Speaking with journalists in Kwale, President of NLPA, Mrs. Josephine Ndubishi, said that it was absolutely unimaginable that “an independent power plant that is sited in our land is serving the people of other states while we are in perpetual darkness.”

Ex-militant leaders express anger over JTF’s excesses

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IGER Delta ex-militants have expressed anger over what they called unprovoked and unwarranted harassment of ex-militant leaders under the Federal Government amnesty programme by the militant Joint Task Force (JTF), calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to call JTF commanders to order.

The JTF in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State had, a fortnight ago, allegedly detained the Delta State Chairman of Phase 2 ex-militants under the amnesty programme, Mr. Kingsley Muturu, for two days in their cell over a planned protest to call on the Local Government Council Chairman, Chief (Hon.) Oluwole Karetimi, to ensure that the over-one-and-a-half-year electricity blackout was sorted out in the council area.

Reacting to the incident, ex-militant camp leaders which include Mr. Collins Arigo, Mr. H.M. Ebirie and Mr. Godspower Mabiko, speaking on behalf of other Niger Delta ex-agitators, accused the JTF Commander in Bomadi LGA, Capt. Robert of playing partisan politics, stressing that molesting a gentleman and peace-maker of that status called for probing.

10 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

OPC members, suspected cultists clash at Osun shrine

By Gbenga Olarinoye, Osogbo

T

HE grand finale of this year Osun Osogbo festival yesterday was nearly marred with violence as members of the Oodua People’s Congress clashed with a gang of youths suspected to be members of a cult group.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the youths numbering about seven stormed the entrance of the Osun Grooves to distrupt the ceremony but members of OPC resisted them.

At the end of the skirmishes, one of the youths identified as Yusuf, was left unconscious after he sustained machete cuts on his head.

One of the worshippers who spoke to our correspondent alleged that the hemp-smoking youths came and harassed those who came to the shrine.

He added that the “ OPC members who sensed the mission of the youths challenged them and it resulted into a violent clash but the youths fled while one of them who was overpowered sustained injuries head”.

A factional chairman of the

OPC, Chief Gani Adams, while speaking with journalists said the resilience and determination of the people made Osun Festival to bounce back stronger this year.

He said despite the challenge posed to the festival in 2014 by Ebola virus which killed some people in Nigeria, the festival came back stronger in this edition.

According to him, Osun Festival was the most recognised festival in Nigeria even long before the shrine was recognised as World Heritage Site about 10 years ago.

He said, “ Osun Festival has proved to Africans in the Diaspora that it has a festival which is one of the best in the world. There was a

challenge last year because of the Ebola virus but Osun Festival is stronger this year.

You can see it from the large turn out of the people here. “ We are appealing to the Federal Government to invest in promoting of tourist sites. With this, the nation will generate much money.”

Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti, said the state would do everything to generate fund from the festival.

The Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, expressed gratitude to sponsors of the festival, saying the festival had proved to be recognised all over the world.

Kogi is for PDP —Awoniyi

K

OGI State Deputy Governor, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, said the Peoples Democratic Party, remain the party to beat in the November, 21 Kogi Governorship election.

Awoniyi who made the remarks at the National Secretariat of the PDP in Abuja while returning the

governorship forms collected by Capt Idris Wada on Thursday also said his boss remained the candidate to beat at the guber primary.

According to him, “The PDP remains the dominant party in the state. Capt Idris Wada is fully on ground.

T

HE Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has hinted that the Corporation may settle for the option of community based policing to protect the vast artery of oil and gas pipeline network across the country.

Speaking while receiving Ambassador Perry John Calderwood the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, during a courtesy visit to the NNPC Towers, Abuja, Dr. Kachikwu pledged to give a lot of attention to the perennial menace of pipeline vandalism and oil theft. “ I intend to give a lot of energy to the issue of oil theft

Pipeline protection: NNPC to engage communities and pipeline vandalism. We must keep the losses from oil theft to the lowest figure possible. I don’t believe in the arm -for-arm approach, we must engage the host communitiesandinculcatein them the need to see the assets in their domain as their own,” Kachikwu said.

The GMD noted that in the months ahead, the Corporation would initiate discussions with community leaders and interest groups with a view to fashioning a workable community oriented pipeline protection format with less emphasis on

Why we stopped paying WAEC fees of students in Oyo — Ajimobi development levy too was address”. We discussed with

By Ola Ajayi

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OVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has said that the stoppage in the payment of the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination fee for candidates in the state will be a temporary thing.

After government stopped paying WAEC fees, the state government also introduced N3000 annual Developmental Levy for each secondary school pupil in the school.

The governor said this

for sometime. He took the decision to reduce effects of economic crunch in the state.

He said, “With the paucity of fund in the state, we had to face the reality that we could not continue to sponsor children without involving their parents in a way. This is why we introduced the developmental levy. It’s just for a period of time, as soon as things improve for the state financially, we will put it down. It is an emergency situation that we must

2015 Osun Osogbo Festival

C M Y K

the use of brute force to secure the lines.

Onthestateoftherefineries, the NNPC helmsman solicited for support from Canadian companies and service providers stating that Nigeria could make do with Canada’s vast experience in refining and expertise in oil and gas operations.

In his response, Amb. Calderwood said the Canadian government and business entities are willing to work with the NNPC in growing the Nigeria oil and gas industry to enviable heights.

the parents and realised that because parents were not involved in secondary education of their children, they did not bother what happened to them. We set up a committee to discuss with Parents Teachers Association, community leaders, individual parents and so on. Interestingly, many of the parents felt that if they were also contributing by paying something, they would be more attentive to the education of their children.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—11

Did President Olusegun Obasanjo knowingly or unknowingly yield to the grand deception that cost Nigeria billions of Naira? Did he and other government officials also knowingly or unknowingly take decisions that killed Nigeria Airways rather than revive it? Aviation consultant Chris Aligbe who was Corporate Affairs Manager of Nigeria Airways concludes the special report we started last week. It’s a story that could help President Buhari as he attempts to revive our national carrier.

NATIONAL CARRIER:

How Nigeria fell to grand deception

•An aviation activis t, Capt Jerr gbey egbe went ttoo cour t, seeking ttoo ssttop Vir gin Nigeria, but ffour our da activist, Jerryy AAgbey gbeyegbe court, Virgin dayys ttoo the case coming up, Agbeyegbe was murdered in cold blood, a murder that remains, unexplained and unsung till date •This criminal act of deliber at ver experienced bef ore in the banking his deliberat atee concealment, ne never before histt or oryy, and per pe tr at ed bbyy an other wise per ceptively reput able fforeign oreign inves -gr oup, lef TB no option than ttoo perpe petr trat ated otherwise perceptively reputable investt or or-gr -group, leftt G GTB head ttoo the cour or ce pa yment. The US$1 5million is ttoda oda courtt ttoo ffor orce payment.

US$15million odayy par partt of the unsecured N35billion debt s t oc gin Nigeria held bbyy AMCON, whic ax pa e. ockk of Vir Virgin whichh Nigerian ttax payyer erss have ttoo liquidat liquidate.

BY CHRIS ALIGBE Kema Chikwe’s Air Nigeria – (2001): Our Failed Attempts aving secured a victory over IFC and BPE and indeed the touted hope of Atiku to acquire Nigeria Airways through the “New Co”, Dr.

H

Chikwe proceeded to float her own brand of national carrier.

The airline was to be called Air Nigeria.

The floatation process was carried out in a shroud. The core investor was “Air Wing Aerospace”, a Special Purpose Vehicle incorporated in UK with one British Pound as paid-up equity. Two Asians of unknown character and pedigree were C M Y K

behind Air Wing Aerospace.

The duo claimed a relationship with Singapore Airline. They indeed claimed having worked with the airline and that they were bringing Singapore Airline as a Technical Partner. They came into the country with no funds to invest, neither did they have capacity to attract investors. They had no start-up funds. Yet, they were to hold 40% equity of Air Nigeria.

Intriguingly, so many things went wrong from conception.

Some of these include: ·Air Wing Aerospace was appointed 2 months before it was incorporated. ·Not having any track record or financial resources as investors, Air Wing Aerospace was handed over six Nigeria Airways prime properties by the Minister as

collateral to raise start-up funds from Nigerian banks. ·Without even an Air Transport License, let alone an aircraft, acting on the order of the Minister, the NCAA, under the headship of late Engineer Oyudo, issued an Air Operating Certificate – AOC to a nonexistent airline in the name of Air Nigeria: an action that attracted severe criticism and chastisement

by ICAO. ·The roadmap and objectives were not clear. Was it a Turnaround of Nigeria Airways or an imitation of Joji’s concept?

Everything was shrouded in secrecy. ·What was very clear was that the two Asians who told Nigerians at the National Assembly Public Hearing that they were technopreneurs, had no iota of

Not having any track record or financial resources as investors, Air Wing Aerospace was handed over six Nigeria Airways prime properties by the Minister as collateral to raise start-up funds from Nigerian banks

knowledge in airline operation, let alone floatation.

By the 2nd quarter of 2002, industry outcry over Air Wing Aerospace had assumed an unimaginable dimension to the extent that the Awaal Tukur-led House Committee on Aviation instituted a Public Hearing on the issue.

This was after he carried out a due diligence on the two characters, one of the results of which was a letter from Singapore Airline denying ever knowing any of the two impostors. In fact, the Air Wing Aerospace point man was a former Pakistani policeman called Mohammed.

The 2-day Public Hearing

Continues on page 12

12 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

NATIONAL CARRIER:

Yuguda in another failed attempt Continues from page 11 was very heated as it pitched legislators’ political interests against each other. Some were honest about the spirit and intention of the Hearing while others saw it as a battle field to settle scores between the then Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ghali Naaba and the President – OBJ, during the impeachment saga. In spite of the political colouration by perceived “OBJ Boys” and “Ghali Naaba Boys”, the Hearing was very revealing as it exposed Air Wing Aerospace and the Pakistani duo as fraudsters and conmen. It also exposed the inadequacy of the Ministry in areas of due diligence, airline floatation and transparency.

Not long after the Hearing, the Minister had no choice than do the needful. She terminated the Air Wing Aerospace agreement on grounds of non-performance. Thus, ended the fourth attempt to float a National Carrier.

Kema Chikwe’s “Nigerian Global”: (2002) Our Failed Attempts Once again, undaunted and with Ulysesian determination, the then Minister, Kema, as fondly called, shrugged off the setbacks of a failed “Air Nigeria”, and set out for her next floatation; her second attempt which she called “Nigerian Global”. This contraption as it came to be, was to have a foreign core investor that would hold 49% equity while Nigerian Institutional and Private investors would hold 51%. The Minister announced the technical partner and core investor as Triaton A.G. ostensibly of Switzerland. She also said that Airbus Industries had indicated interest in the new venture.

At this point, the BPE and the National Council on Privatization had been shoved aside with the explicit approval of the President.

And Chikwe had been advised that unless Nigeria Airways was liquidated, it would be impossible to float another national carrier.

This was the sole reason for the unyielding quest to liquidate Nigeria Airways. Between 2002 when her “Air Nigeria” project was shot down, and the Hand-over date in May 2003, there was little or no time to professionally and diligently carry out any floatation of an airline. But the urge, inexplicable as it was, was irrepressible. And so the Minister, relentlessly put everything in the works side by side to liquidate Nigeria Airways and to float her new baby – the “Nigerian Global”.

The Minister was so much in a hurry to make the airline fly before the handing over date. And so, even before the elections were concluded, Kema had announced to Nigeria that her incubated airline would soon commence operations. As at this time, no airline company had been incorporated, neither was there an application to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority for an Air Transport License – ATL, let alone an Air Operating Certificate – AOC both of which are irreducible C M Y K

•Richard Branson

documents for any airline operation. In spite of these, in early May 2003, the Minister leased a 20-year old Airbus, put a sticker on it with a “Nigerian Global” logo, sought an approval from NCAA for a technical landing. This was granted since there was nothing odd. It is not even clear that 99.6% of NCAA officials knew what was coming as everything was wrapped in a cloak of clandestinity.

Then, just one fateful day, the Minister gathered the media at Murtala Mohammed International Airport to welcome Nigeria’s new National Carrier, the “Nigerian Global”. The rickety aircraft flew in as programmed and left after the media hype. The next day, the media was awash with the title “Enter Nigerian Global”.

Convinced that this was a fait accompli, Chikwe proceeded with the memo seeking approval for the establishment of her “Nigerian Global”. This was at the FEC valedictory meeting of Obasanjo’s first tenure in 2003.

This request was “shot dead” by a combination of Adamu Ciroma, T. Y. Danjuma and Abubakar Atiku and buried by NLC and Aviation Unions team led by Oshiomole and Nnorom respectively. The team met with OBJ and Kema at the Villa immediately after the FEC meeting during which they put a final nail on the coffin of the airline. And so, Nigeria’s supposedly new fifth “National Carrier”, “Nigerian Global”, a deception grandeur, as it were, like a home video movie, never saw the world of aviation.

Yuguda’s “Nigerian Eagle”: (2003) Our Failed Attempts Having won the election in 2003 and returned as President, Obasanjo appointed Isa Yuguda, Minister of Aviation with the mandate to float a replacement

national carrier for Nigeria Airways. Yuguda set out by appointing one of Nigeria’s most seasoned financial experts – Bismark Rewane the CEO of Financial Derivatives as the Financial Advisor for the new floatation. Yuguda’s new airline was to be called “Nigeria Eagle Airline”. Neither Yuguda nor Bismark had any exposure in airline floatation which is normal.

What was needed was to appoint an acquitted Consultant in airline matters, just as Joji and IFC did.

The Minister should have seen that IFC, in spite of its global exposure, found it imperative to appoint, along with Legal and Finance Consultants, seasoned Technical Consultants in Aviation, which included Nathan Associates, Ashurst Aviation and A.W Consultants Limited when it was working on the floatation of “New Co”.

Yuguda proceeded to advertise for bid for a Technical Partner cum Core Investor. At the end of it, only South African Airways bidded. We warned the Minister to be wary about South African Airways for many reasons, contending that the Airline did not possess the competence and reliability for managing an airline let alone for the floatation of a new airline. The reasons were so many, including the few below.

As at 2003/4, three years earlier, in 2001, the 5-man US Airways team led by Coleman Andrews hired in 1998 as CEO/President to turnaround post-apartheid South African Airways had left in 2001 and a new indigenous Management led by Andre Vijoen was appointed. The Management was then green and trying to find its feet.

Secondly, the inexperience of that Management showed in one of the worst airline acquisitions of that period when in 2002, it took a 49% stake worth US$20million in

Yuguda proceeded to advertise for bid for a Technical Partner cum Core Investor.

At the end of it, only South African Airways bidded. We warned the Minister to be wary about South African Airways for many reasons, contending that the Airline did not possess the competence and reliability for managing an airline let alone for the floatation of a new airline

Air Tanzania, an airline that was reputed to be the worst in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Its debt profile was high; it had no virile indigenous air passenger market to support its international operations to Dubai and London. At the domestic level, only Dar-esSalaam, Arusha and Zanzibar provided reasonable traffic that could support 75-seater aircraft while Dodoma and Mwanza did not offer much.

No wonder why South African Airways, in its published proposed routes then for Nigerian Eagle, a major one was Lagos-Dar-es-saalam; two cities that had no viable trade attractions. The objective was to feed Air Tanzania with Nigerian traffic to Middle and Far East via Dar-e-salaam.

Again, operationally, the airline’s performance was abysmal. Tanzania referred to it as “Air UDA”, a derogatory reference to the city bus service – Usafiri Dar-es-Salaam – UDA, which was always late and was named Úchelewa Saajji Dar-es-Salaam – UDA, that is, “the late-comer of Dares-Salaam”. On reliability question, Yuguda forgot or did not care about how South African Airways, in 2002, repudiated its Joint Venture operations with Nigeria Airways between Lagos and New York without any information to Nigeria Airways, thus leaving hundreds of Nigeria Airways passengers stranded; an action that brought out the finest elements and patriotic zeal in the then Minister, Kema Chikwe who, against the usual two months processing period, under 48hours, used her strong contact with Rodney Slarter, then US Transport Secretary, to secure clearance for Nigeria Airways to fly its own aircraft on the Lagos-New York route.

Yuguda was not deterred by all these question marks as he continued. In 2004, Viljoen was forced to resign following a currency hedging failure that cost the airline a loss of 6billionRand about US$500million as at today’s rate. For us who warned the Minister, it was “Quod Erat Demonstrandum”. Khaya Ngqula replaced Viljeon as CEO with Prof. Jakes Gerivel as Chairman.

Before this time, Yuguda did not know that his boss, OBJ, had his own agenda. Yuguda had no inkling until the day a British Airways team from UK went in the company of the Minister to pay a courtesy call on the President. In the course of discussion, the BA team promised to assist the Minister in the new national carrier, Eagle Airline, he was floating.

In his typical below-the-belt punch, OBJ startled everybody present when he retorted, “which airline”? Mr. Minister, I don’t think what you are doing will work. You better talk to this people (BA)”.

Weeks later, the President gleefully, on NTA network news, presented a miniature prototype of an aircraft with the logo of “Virgin Nigeria” – the new national carrier conceived by Richard Branson,

Continues on page 13

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—13

Continues from page 12 CEO of the Virgin Group, who stood side-by-side with the President at the Villa. Thus, ended Yuguda’s South African Airways adventure; the failure and closure of the sixth attempt at floating a replacement national carrier for the ill-fated Nigeria Airways.

OBJ/Branson’s Virgin Nigeria: (2004) – Our Failed Attempts Conceived by President Obasanjo and the CEO of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson in 2004, Virgin Nigeria was the 7th attempt to float a replacement national carrier for the liquidated Nigeria Airways. After the theatrical Villa presentation of the miniature aircraft bearing the insigma of Virgin Nigeria by OBJ and Branson, the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MOMU) was signed and the concept formally came into being September, 2004.

However, it was not until July 2005 that the airline commenced operations. To facilitate the operation of Virgin Nigeria, the government agreed to terms that stunned all discerning Nigerian aviation professionals and even the global aviation industry. Under the terms, the Virgin Group led by Branson was given a free hand to design and determine the structure of the airline even when its equity was to be 49% against Nigeria’s 51%.

The Group had the right to lease all aircraft, manage the airline, determine the roadmap, the routes and its focus.

Also Branson’s Virgin Nigeria was given the right to all Nigeria’s 64 BASA then and first option of choice on any new BASA. In addition, Virgin Nigeria would operate all its domestic flights from the international terminal of MMA where the “E” Wing was redesigned for Virgin Nigeria. The objective was to facilitate easy transfer of Virgin Nigeria passengers booked for international flights onto Virgin Atlantic; the Group’s flagship in which Nigeria had no interest.

Although, the then Aviation Minister – Isa Yuguda, had taken responsibility and had dragged Rewane of Financial Derivatives as Financial Advisor into it, all the planning processes were entirely the affair of Branson and his Virgin Group. There was no Board, the entire Management was drawn from the Virgin Group, emoluments were fixed by the Group and the only Nigerian brought into the Management on a façade was Larry Agose, one of the best Public Relations Professionals that ran Nigeria Breweries public relations.

But until then, he had no exposure in aviation. It is also true that UBA was both the Airline’s Banker and a Coinvestor; the bank had no scintilla of knowledge on airline matters and therefore had no input in the direction of the airline. The Ohiwere-led Board was a development that came after all major decisions had been taken for commencement of operations.

The entire industry from AON, groups and individual professionals protested the embarrassing antipatriotic terms given to Branson to no avail. Even letters written to the President received very non-positive responses. One such response which came from Profession Ahionbare, Special Assistant to the President, stated inter alia, “I assure you we will do what is in the best interest of Nigeria.” An aviation activist, Capt C M Y K

•Jerry Agbeyegbe

JERRY AGBEYEGBE:

Mur dered while ffighting ighting Murdered to save Nigerian Air ways Airw Jerry Agbeyegbe went to court, seeking to stop Virgin Nigeria, but four days to the case coming up, Agbeyegbe was murdered in cold blood, a murder that remains, unexplained and unsung till date.

In spite of all these, the airline commenced operations July 2005 around its strategic plan to be a feeder/distributor of passengers to Virgin Atlantic as well as an instrument to combat British Airways dominance in Nigeria.

The airline built one of the best infrastructures for airline operations and easily achieved dominance on the domestic and West Coast routes where it was easily the first choice airline.

But in keeping with its roadmap, in spite of the government’s pressures to operate international routes which it had no intentions to do, the Virgin Group though, started flights to London, Dubai and Johannesburg, it ensured that these routes were shoddily operated with a rickety B767 as against the modern A330 it was using for Virgin Atlantic. Again, in the case of London, it transferred Virgin Nigeria flights from Heathrow to Gatwick which was second rate to Heathrow.

Thus, the Virgin Group deliberately created conditions for poor patronage, poor revenue and operational losses, all of which it used as alibi to pull out from all the routes pleading lossmaking. It is informative to recall that Virgin America floated

by Branson made a loss of US$250million between 2007 and 2009 in its first 2 years, yet it continued and now thrives.

Right from the first year of operation, Virgin Nigeria went into heavy borrowing from its bankers – UBA. This was predicted as the start-up fund, was paltry and was irresponsibly used by the Virgin Group managers of the airline.

Between December 2005 and March 2006, UBA approved a fourmonth bridging loan of US$20miilion as working capital, financing and aircraft guarantee.

This was followed with another US$40million in 2006 and yet another US$100million zero coupon bond issue. There is also the US$100million facility from Cairobased AFREXIM Bank, obtained by UBA ostensibly on behalf of the airline. When the burden of debt became excessive to UBA, the Virgin Group managers sought a facility of US$15miilion from GTB in a manner that was so unethical and unbecoming of a Group whose global perception is that of a benchmarker. As at the time that the Virgin Group sought the facility, all the assets of Virgin Nigeria were encumbered in an unperfected “All Asset Debenture” instrument held by its bankers – UBA as security for the US$200million loans it granted the airline. The Virgin Group managers of the airline, not only concealed this fact from GTB, but presented some of the same encumbered assets to the bank as collateral for the

the Virgin Group deliberately created conditions for poor patronage, poor revenue and operational losses, all of which it used as alibi to pull out from all the routes pleading lossmaking

US$15million facility. Immediately the facility was granted, UBA perfected the “All Asset Debenture”, which included uncalled capital, thus rendering GTB’s US$15million absolutely unsecured. This criminal act of deliberate concealment, never experienced before in the banking history, and perpetrated by an otherwise perceptively reputable foreign investor-group, left GTB no option than to head to the court to force payment. The US$15million is today part of the unsecured N35billion debt stock of Virgin Nigeria held by AMCON, which Nigerian tax payers have to liquidate.

However, more contributory to the indebtedness and eventual failure of Virgin Nigeria were the lease terms of the aircraft the Virgin Group acquired for the airline’s operation, particularly the seven Boeing 737s.

From records available, the lease terms were inexplicably at variance with all known global standards and even the Virgin Groups standard.

Against global standards of 3 years lease tenure, Virgin Nigeria leased for 5 years. Against global standard of monthly lease term of 120 block hours, Virgin Nigeria’s was 200 block hours even when actual utilization was between 100 and 130 block hours monthly. Yet, the unutilized hours ranging between 70 and 100 block hours were paid for even when the aircraft were out of service due technical (AOG). Further investigations showed that as against the standard monthly lease rate of US$125,000, the Virgin Group managers paid US$181,000 in addition to US$151,000 monthly maintenance reserve, bringing the total monthly expenditure for each of the seven B737s to US$332,000.

Thus, annual payment for each aircraft came to US$3,984,000 and US$19,920,000 for 5 years tenure per aircraft and US$139,440,000 for the seven B737s for the 5-year tenure.

Industry projection is that Nigeria lost over US$60million to this murky lease arrangement; an amount that became part of the N35billion debt of the airline.

By 2007/2008, the Virgin Group had started complaining of its “lossmaking” Nigerian venture.

Consequently, it took a decision to exit having seen the imminent collapse of the airline it ran. UBA Capital had planned an IPO, which it projected would fetch them US$450million but the then Board led by Mr. Ohiwere saw through the “hidden agenda” in the plan, headed to court and botched the IPO. The Virgin Nigeria got its bankers to arrange a 2-year convertible bond of US$100,000. Once the sum was available, UBA took US$20million upfront as interest and charges, the Virgin Group took US$35million (US$24m+US$11m, ostensibly to cover respectively its equity contribution for its 49% stake in the airline and for brand royalty fee for Virgin Nigeria’s use of its brand).

The Group claimed it was for lease rental payment.

Once Virgin Group took this money, having more than recovered its investment, it withdrew from Virgin Nigeria, recalled the entire Management, all of whom were the Group’s staff (CEO, Conrad Clifford on June 18, 2009 and others on July 4, 2009) and demanded, under a threat of litigation that its brand be immediately taken off from the airline. This exit left the entire burden of the airline on UBA which

Continues on page 14

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

•Adams Oshiomhole •Kema Chikwe

NATION AL C ARRIER: How Nigeria ffell ell ttoo gr and deception TIONAL CARRIER: grand Continues from page 13 provided all the funding with the exception of the US$15million from GTB. The irrefragable fact is that, no matter the Virgin Group pretences, they ran the airline aground; collapsed it and left unscathed.

Thus, Virgin Nigeria, which the then President, OBJ, presented to Nigerians as in the best interest of our nation; an airline which the CEO, Conrad Clifford told the National Assembly in 2008 that by 2010, would acquire 40 aircraft and employ 6000 Nigerians collapsed, leaving an operational debt of N35.5billion in three years; an operational debt profile which Nigeria Airways did not incur in the last 10years (1992-2002) to its unfortunate liquidation. Worst still, the Virgin Group left without adding any value to the industry, no trained manpower, no assets; aircraft or structures.

The airline left us with so many lessons; it was a victim of low capitalization, well masterminded immediate returns to the Virgin Group, incredible faulty financial engineering based on quick gain aspirations, internal stakeholderwrangling and distrust, continuous non-application of due diligence in all deals, deception bothering on fraud, high profile impunity and opacity as well as utter disregard for indigenous professional patriotic advice. In all, it is a classic lesson of how not to hand over our patrimony, without a national oversight, to a foreign investor whose ulterior interest is not known. In fact, Virgin Nigeria was not a national carrier by its C M Y K

equity structure, as claimed by its owners but a private Nigerian flag carrier put together by a two-some with a foreign investor and a façade of involvement of some selected few. It was an appropriation of our common wealth, simpliciter.

Nigerian Eagle – Capt.

Olumide’s Rescue Airline (2009): Our Failed Attempts When the Virgin Group left, it left a debt burden of US$250million, had placed an order of 10 Embraer models 170 and 190 worth US$450million and with an option of additional 6; all these when it had a negative capital and zero cashflow and one of its B737 that went for a C-Check was grounded in Europe for the airline’s inability to pay US$1.4million for the checks. For the first two Embraers billed for delivery in November 2008 and June 2009, UBA had to pay the needed deposit of US$25million as well as cover the 60% balance on the 190 model on delivery.

As at this time, Virgin Nigeria had not only become a burden to UBA, but a toxic asset. UBA’s “AllAsset-Debenture” was hollow as the debt-ridden and mismanaged airline had no asset since all its aircraft were on lease. The order of 10 Embraer was a smart move to create an asset base on which the Debenture would sit.

When Branson ordered and effected a pull out, the AOC of Virgin Nigeria was to be withdrawn by NCAA but for the spirited effort of the then Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the beleaguered airline, Capt Dapo Olumide, who quickly engaged Ethiopian Airline as

technical partner. Olumide was eventually appointed Managing Director by UBA which, having inherited the airline’s total liabilities, literally owned the airline. As at this time, Virgin’s liabilities had been transferred to UBA Capital to save the bank from the Lamido Sanusi gale blowing through the banks as the entire Virgin debt was unsecured.

With an uncanny professional expertise and palpable commitment, Olumide engaged the challenges of the badly managed airline. He was determined to make a change; albeit, to leave a legacy.

Unfortunately, Olumide who neither understand nor has patience for intrigues, did not know that he was floating on a dense sea of intrigues whose outer layer was only a façade of normalcy.

On transition from Chief Operating Officer to CEO, Olumide engaged a Nigerian Consultant to renegotiate the monthly block-hour lease rental of the five operational 737s and succeeded to reduce it from US$181,000 to US$125,000. He restructured the routes, re-jigged service delivery and installed financial prudence. Olumide further negotiated the price of the Embraer from US$30million down to US$28million. To enable him drive the turnaround of the airline to a great end, sought a facility of US$70million from UBA without success. He had also tried to no avail to register the airlines new name of “Nigerian Eagle”. As at this time, Jimoh Ibrahim who was the Chairman of Corporate Affairs Commission, was already in discussion with UBA to buy over the airline. His choice name for the airline was “Air Nigeria” which he

When the Virgin Group left, it left a debt burden of US$250milion, had placed an order of 10 Embraer models 170 and 190 worth US$450million and with an option of additional 6

was already working on without Olumide’s knowledge. The truth is that, as at the time the Virgin Group exited, UBA was no longer comfortable with their investment in the airline. All the bank wanted was to sell off the toxic asset. Jimoh Ibrahim and his faceless colleagues were willing buyers. Olumide, who was driving the turnaround of the beleaguered airline with immense passion, only woke up one fateful day to hear that Jimoh Ibrahim had bought over the airline. It was then that Olumide realized that he was a mere transitory manager, ill-used and “abused” as it were, by an insincere owner/employer who had little or no regard for his effort, commitment and success. He picked up his bag and walked away.

Thus, ended the 8th attempt to have a virile national carrier in replacement of liquidated Nigeria Airways.

Jimoh Ibrahim’s “Air Nigeria” (2010) Our Failed Attempts From behind the scene, Jimoh Ibrahim emerged as the new owner of erstwhile Virgin Nigeria (Nigerian Eagle). On taking possession, Jimoh Ibrahim correctly noted in his first public statement that the finances of the airline were parlous and that its turnaround would require huge financial outlay.

He then affirmed his vast experience in “swimming in troubled waters”, more so as he had injected US$5million into the airline. He had also not only paid off all Virgin Nigeria’s debt worth N35billion and secured the US$70million facility from UBA, which the bank denied Olumide.

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—15

Continues from page 14 However, in my article published in Tell Magazine in 2010, I pointed out that “my first worry is that he financial waters of Virgin Nigeria are not just troubled, but are, like polluted waters of the Niger Delta creeks, brackish and dense, with undergrowths of badly finished, unfinished, maturing and yet to mature deals of immense financial relevance. Hanging over the waters, like entangling mangrove shrubs, are standing arrangements on leases, insurance and orders ...

All these not only impede vision, but also make swimming extremely difficult and slow even for the swiftest swimmer of troubled waters”.

Having lost the airline best turnaround manager, Capt Olumide, Jimoh now elevated the airline Chief Technical Officer, Kinfe, the Ethiopian who worked under Olumide to the position of Managing Director. This position was however titular as Jimoh was the defacto Chief Executive. This was the beginning of the end as it brought in its wake, two major collapse factors of many airlines in the country: OwnerManager syndrome and Executive arrogance. Very early in his take-over, many experienced senior personnel; Directors; Pilots and Engineers left after quarrels and disagreement over management model. Coupled with these, was the fact that Jimoh, sadly, had no reasonable knowledge of airline management. His only foray into it was his acquisition and collapse of EAS Airline, having re-branded it NICON AIRWAYS. The result was that the fortunes of the airline nosedived meteorically in just under one year from the height Olumide had taken it to. Few months later, Air Nigeria office became a battlefield between in-house unions and the owner/manager over unpaid salaries and allowances, maintenance issues and diversion of revenue and facilities meant for the airline to other businesses. Eventually, the airline staff went on long strike that crippled operation and led to their sack.

Before this stage, Jimoh Ibrahim had announced that he had paid off the entire debt of the airline worth N35billion to its banker – UBA. And indeed, UBA issued him a debt-free Certificate, a copy of which he tendered at the National Aviation Joint Committee Public Hearing on DANA crash. This payment was ostensibly made before the CBN N300billion Intervention Fund, part of which was created to help the banks liquidate their exposure to airlines. When this happened, Air Nigeria and UBA immediately resurrected and reestablished the N35billion debt in the Bank’s books on the basis of which it applied and secured, on behalf of Air Nigeria, N35billion from the Intervention Fund. How C M Y K

NATIONAL CARRIER:

That Obasanjo’s address!

•Olusegun Obasanjo

this money was deployed became the grouse of the staff who alleged that, instead of using it to enhance the airline’s operations, it was diverted to establish banks and other businesses in the West Coast. An allegation Jimoh Ibrahim denied.

The naked fact is that no further investment was made in Air Nigeria. The few “loyal” staff that were left were hanging on with great trepidation even after the former President; Olusegun Obasanjo went to NICON Group Headquarters to address them with assurance of revival. OBJ’s address created new problem as Nigerians questioned his involvement; was it out of milk of human kindness which normally does not flow in OBJ’s psyche or was it empathy for the plight of the staff or a kind of guilt?

Or, may be, Air Nigeria was the last of his triplets; the others being Virgin Nigeria and Nigerian Eagle, both of which have died?

Finally, as predicted, Jimoh Ibrahim’s Air Nigeria not only collapsed but its N35billion debt burden has been passed to Nigerian tax payers through AMCON. AMCON willingly and without questions, acquired an unsecured debt that, from all intents and purposes, was premeditatedly syndicated to end in its hands. The small assets of the airline which included two brand new Embraer 170 and 190 as well as others have even been left to rot by the Asset Manager.

No doubt, the trio of Virgin Nigeria – Nigerian Eagle – Air Nigeria like “Abiku”, all

died but they left us immense lessons and will remain the saddest and most retrograde segment in the annals of our aviation history.

“Nigeria One” – Oduah’s Unborn Baby: (2012) Our Failed Attempts Stella Oduah was appointed Minister of Aviation in the third quarter of 2011 under Jonathan’s first full term Presidency.

She was completely unknown in the aviation sector; a neophyte. On assumption of office, she did not waste time before she stamped her name in the industry. With her aviation roadmap, she established an image of a focused person.

Within 15 months, like a blitzkrieg, she stunned the industry with her remodeling and up-gradation of 22 airports. Oduah’s success elicited so much applause that she easily became the “poster minister” of Jonathan’s administration. So, when she announced her intention of floating a National Carrier, only a few antagonists doubted her and wished her ill-luck. Again like some of her past colleagues, she had no iota of knowledge in airline floatation and also, like them, the steely and selfconfident Minister did not think she needed the assistance of those who know. It is true that she assembled a team of

industry professionals, but ninety percent of them were acquitted professionals in other areas of aviation rather than in airline sub-sector.

Their inputs were neither original nor grounded, but

No doubt, the trio of Virgin Nigeria – Nigerian Eagle – Air Nigeria like “Abiku”, all died but they left us immense lessons and will remain the saddest and most retrograde segment in the annals of our aviation history

from secondary and tertiary sources.

To alleviate this inadequacy, Oduah ran from one part of the globe to the other and from one aircraft manufacturer to the other canvassing and selling her ideas without success.

Everywhere she went, the attendant lack of professionalism was noticed and this attracted unsavory comments from both domestic and global aviation environments. But she apparently did not know.

As happened with other attempts before Oduah, there were very stiff oppositions: some genuine, some from uninformed fixations and others self-serving from “dog-inthe-manger” operators.

As opposition and mischief thickened, the Minister opted for a guerilla warfare approach, called the “Tunnel Strategy”. She thus gathered her not-too-informed team into the “tunnel”, thus closing every avenue of information on her floatation plans. Unfortunately, this worsened the situation as rumours took over the air above Oduah’s “Tunnel”.

Today, she would be accused of plans to use Hak Air as National Carrier, another day it was Aero that would transfigure into her “Nigerian One”.

Worst still, the Minister went into the “Tunnel” without the fundamentals; she did not create an exit point, secondly, she did not post a sentinel above the “Tunnel” to constantly inform her about the goings on, and critically, those who go into tunnels in guerilla warfare situation are usually hardbaked, and tested professionals, but Oduah’s team was not so endowed.

The result was that the soft-andlittle-spoken Minister stayed too long in the “Tunnel” and exposed her “National Carrier-Baby” to gestational impediments, feotal suffocation, atrophy and death. By the time she emerged from the “Tunnel”, she had lost focus, floundered and had no airline to offer Nigerians. Thus, ended the 10th attempt to float a National Carrier.

In spite of all these, a National Carrier is as possible and feasible as it is imperative to avoid an impending devastating disaster that will wipe out Nigeria in the continental and global airline industry.

What is needed are strong political will, the kind that Margaret Thatcher of UK and Arap Moi of Kenya demonstrated to give their nations befitting National Carriers, honesty of purpose, national interest and use of relevant indigenous

professionals to guide and supervise a new floatation with absolute transparency.

And I am convinced that we are lucky to have a President and a Vice that are imbued with above virtues.

To kick start this process, a very strong 15-20-man Committee should be set up with the Ministry as a

Secretariat only. The Committee should report to the President through his Vice.

Chris Azu Aligbe Aviation Consultant kandimuwa@yahoo.com

16— SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

ISHI The pain of an adulterous woman in Ogwashi-Uku

BY CHARLES ADINGUPU

T

he loss of their son naturally brought grief to the family of Mr. Nwaeke Okolie (not his real name). And the entire community of Ogbe-Ubu Quarter in Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom, Delta State shared in their misfortune. The boy never fell sick. That cast some mystery on the death. He just went to sleep and did not wake up in the morning. While the whole community was still in a mournful mood, two weeks after Mr Okolie Nwaeke had buried his dead child, another of his sons died, also in a mysterious circumstance. As tongues began to wag on the misfortune that had befallen Mr. Okolie’s family, their first son died, also in a questionable circumstance.

This time, the sympathy from the community members turned to suspicion, that Mr. Okolie’s family might have offended the gods of the land. For a man C M Y K

to lose three sons successively in one month was one tragedy too many.

About two weeks after the third death, Mr. Okolie’s wife, Ijeoma, for fear of losing another child, confessed to her husband her flirtatious acts outside her matrimonial home.

Her husband had to expose her, not knowing what other misfortune could come their way if he kept her unfaithfulness secret. He still has three children left: two boys and a girl.

The three deaths were said to be a consequence for Ijeoma’s infidelity brought upon her children by the ofor; that is, the deity that protects the people of the community. (Every quarter in the kingdom has its own ofor.) In Ogwashi-Uku, when a married woman commits adultery, there are consequences, explains Rafiu, the oldest man in Umuti in Agediasie Quarters of the kingdom. In

If the unfaithful wife notices mysterious happenings to any of her children after the act, she may get scared that it is a consequence of her infidelity and may quickly confess and the cleansing takes place, to avert death

the traditional parlance, Rafiu is known as Diokpa. According to him, adultery is an abomination in Ogwashi-Uku and any woman legitimately married to an Ogwashi-Uku man would pay dearly if she engages in it. “The husband or relations of an adulterous wife may be ignorant of the woman’s extra-marital escapades but the ofor will expose her by the deaths of her children and eventually her husband”, explains Diokpa Rafiu.

Though death is the ultimate consequence for the unfaithfulness of a married woman, says Diokpa Rafiu, not all acts of female infidelity eventually lead to death. “If the unfaithful wife notices mysterious happenings to any of her children after the act, she may get scared that it is a consequence of her infidelity and may quickly confess and the cleansing takes place, to avert

Continues on page 17

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—17

ISHI: The pain of an adulterous woman in Ogwashi-Uku Continues from page 16 death”, he says. But if she is initially stubborn, like the case of Ijeoma, the children would die one after the other till the husband too would die.

However, he says, “it hardly gets to the stage of the husband dying as an Ogwashi-Uku man would immediately become suspicious of his wife if his children start dying in quick succession, and he would confront her.”

Interestingly, Ishi does not strike a family if the OgwashiUku woman is married to a non Ogwashi-Uku man. It will still strike if a non Ogwashi-Uku woman marries an OgwashiUku man. It is therefore not uncommon to find Okwashi-Uku girls preferring to marry from outside their place to avoid the consequences of Ishi in any eventually of a game outside the matrimonial home.

In the case of the marriage not having any issue, it is the husband who dies. Diokpa Rafiu adds that if eventually the husband dies, the wife must undergo all the purification processes before the man would be buried. He also says this death wage is only efficacious on a couple who are traditionally married; in other words, when a woman’s bride price was paid.

A people rooted in deep traditions “In Ogwashi-Uku, every quarter has its own chi or deity; that is, personal god that protects the interests of the people against external aggression or otherwise”, C M Y K

Diokpa Rafiu explains. “At Azugwu Quarter for example, they have Obida-Nwaegene.

At Ogbe-Ubu, Ubu remains the deity and so it is in virtually every other quarter.”

In the case of Ijeoma, ObidaNwaegene, the ofor at Azugwu Quarter, was responsible for the calamities that befell her family because of her adulterous lifestyle. But after the tragic deaths of three out of her six children, Ijeoma had woken up to reality one early morning and confessed her crime to her husband.

However, for the love of his three surviving children whose lives still hung in the balance, her husband had no choice but to forgive her, though under the condition that she must izo ishi; in other words, undergo the purification exercise before he could accept her as his legitimate wife again. The next morning, Mr. Okolie reported his wife’s adulterous act to the Diokpa and other elders of the community.

Ishi, the cleansing ritual “When a woman commits adultery and her husband is still interested in the marriage, the woman would be compelled by tradition to cleanse herself, that is ife-ahu.

Otherwise, she would have to severe relationship with her children. In other words, she would not cook and eat with them or have communication with them until she purifies herself before the children could fraternise with her,” says Diokpa Rauf.

The adulterous wife,

according to him, would be expected to go before the shrine of the quarter with the women folk known as umu ada, which consists of women from the husband’s community but married to men outside. At the shrine, a kola-nut would be broken and this marks the beginning of the woman’s confession. She starts mentioning names of those men who had carnal knowledge of her.

Diokpa Rafiu discloses that there is an expected fee to be paid for each of the men involved in the act. The umu ada make some demands from the adulterous wife at the shrine.

However, at this point, no man is expected to go near the shrine or partake in the purification exercise. Upon completion of this stage, the umu ada would report to the Diokpa what transpired at the shrine. First will be to disclose the amount of money the adulterous wife would pay to them.

The adulterous wife would then be taken to inyemedi; that is, women married to men in that quarter. They would perform certain rites on her and request that a particular fee be paid by her. Thereafter, the wife would visit the men folk in the quarter who would finally decide the punitive measures to be taken against the adulterous wife.

As part of the punishment, the woman would be required to cook. The woman and her children would jointly eat the food, which may not

When a woman commits adultery and her husband is still interested in the marriage, the woman would be compelled by tradition to cleanse herself, that is ife-ahu

necessarily be solid food like eba or pounded yam, but perhaps just kola-nut.

The next step would be for the men to fetch a boy of about five or seven years of age to sit directly facing the woman. The little boy would push the food with his hand into the woman’s mouth and the woman would be expected to do the same.

After this exercise, the men would eventually agree on a fee the adulterous wife would pay as a fine for desecrating the land. This fine is circumstantial because the woman could claim that she was raped and she never gave her consent to the advances of the man. In that case, the three parties involved, umu ada, inyemedi and the men folk would be lenient in deciding the total amount of fine as the adulterous act was not intentional. But the whole exercise will be futile if she lies. It is better to tell the truth and go through proper cleansing.

The fine is heavy if the man or men who committed sacrilege with the woman have connection or are related to the husband. In this case, the punitive measures taken against the wife would be very severe.

At the confession stage at the shrine with the umu ada, the adulterous wife must be sincere otherwise the cleansing process would be distorted and the effects of her action would rebound.

First, she must be compelled by tradition to surrender the clothes or wrapper she wore on the day she committed the adultery. The people involved in the act who she earlier mentioned would be visited and they would be fined a cock each. They are also expected to replace the clothes she wore on the day each one of them slept with her.

Similarly, if the men who slept with the woman are relatives of the husband, they are fined eight hegoats and expected to replace the woman’s clothes she earlier surrendered to the umu ada at the shrine.

In the same way, if the bed-sharers are not from Ogwashi-Uku, perhaps they are city-dwellers and cannot be reached as at the time she made her confession, Diokpa Rafiu says the woman becomes responsible for everything. “She has to provide all the materials for the purification exercise, including the goats if need be”, Diokpa Rafiu affirms.

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Obiano Support Group a catalyst to APGA —Emecheta

BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka

C

hief Jude Emecheta is the chief executive officer, CEO, of the state –owned Anambra State Signage Agency, ANSA. Recently, Emecheta along with some people formed the Obiano Support Group, which is aimed at projecting the vision and achievements of the Anambra State governor to the people at the grass root. In this interview, Emecheta spoke on the reasons behind the formation of the group and its relationship with the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the state. Excerpts.

What is the reason behind the formation of the Willie Obiano Support Group and who is qualified to be a member?

The Obiano Support Group is made up of people, both Anambra people and non Anambra who share the vision and mission of Governor Willie Obiano. His vision that is anchored on the four pillars of his administration. We saw those visions as ambitions that are realizable and which could move Anambra State forward and we thought we should support him by standing by him and telling people what His Excellency is doing.

Some people believe the group may ultimately transform to a campaign organization. Is it correct?

No. We have a political party, APGA, which is the campaign organization that will run the governor’s campaign for his reelection. So the Obiano Support Group can only be a catalyst to APGA by gingering party members to do the needful by mobilizing people before the election. We don’t have to wait until the election comes before we begin to tell the people what the governor has been doing. This group has taken it upon itself to tell our people what the governor has been doing in Anambra State. It is really an advocacy group.

Some people would see it as propaganda machinery. What do you think?

We have discovered that some people have done so much for their state, but at the end of the day it is perceived as if the governor has not done anything because people didn’t know what is on the ground.

I will give you an example. We have rural areas in Anambra where the people there don’t even read newspapers or listen to radio.

They only wake up in the morning and go to their farms and all they believe is what they are told. And if after two or three years, they see a road constructed in their community, they may not appreciate its importance and so they need to be told that it is their governor that has made movement easy for them. The immediate past governor faced the same problem of people believing that he wasn’t

C M Y K

•Emecheta

doing anything when he was doing so much. That almost cost him his reelection until he began to write books to showcase what the administration was doing. We don’t want that to happen again.

May we know some of the MoU already signed?

ANSIPA (Anambra State Investment Promotion Agency) has details of all the investments. But what I know is that many of them will soon take off.

What is the structure of this support group?

We have Board of Trustees, the state executive and coordinators at the local government levels with their executives. We also have coordinators in all the 326 wards. It has the same structure as APGA, but we are not taking the job of APGA. As a member of APGA, what I can do is to tell the party what we are doing in the field? We will be carrying out our programmes in collaboration with APGA in a coordinated manner.

In less than two years, another governorship election will be conducted in the state. What do you think the governor will do to ensure his reelection?

Let him keep doing what he is doing. He has set his target in agriculture, industrialization, commerce and industry and oil and gas. By the time the next election comes, the people would have bought into his vision and seen the need to return him for a second tenure.

This administration has been in office for about 17 months. What can you say have been the achievements of the governor, especially when some people in opposition are saying they have not seen what the governor has done so far?

Those in opposition should first of all understand what governance is about. I hear it too when some people say the governor has only been signing MOU. As a business man looking for investors, I can go out to look for such investors and bring them to sign MOU with them. Those that have signed MOU with Anambra State government are serious -minded people and within a short time, the impact of such agreements will be felt in our state. The funds to be invested will come from outside Anambra State and those attracting the business will also put in their funds. So we believe that in the next one to two years, they will begin to yield fruits because those involved are people who are tested and trusted.

Government cannot sign MOU with people who are frivolous as all of them were properly verified before they were signed.

Many projects inherited by this administration appear to have been abandoned. What is responsible, especially when the governor promised to continue with all the projects when he was sworn into office?

No project has been abandoned. The much I know is that the amount of funds coming to Anambra from the Federation Account has gone down.

At the time former governor Peter Obi was leaving, crude oil was still selling above $100 per barrel and it has dropped such that the amount of money coming to the state has reduced drastically. What the state government has done is to prioritize its projects. Every project is important, but there are some that are more important than others. For the purposes of security, social and economic values, there are roads you must do so that evacuation of farm produce from the rural areas will be easy. There are bridges that must be done, like the ones His Excellency is doing in Awka which have both ecstatic and economic values for the state capital. What I am saying therefore is that no road project has been abandoned in the state. Rather, what is happening is that because of the dwindling resources, roads that are of greater

importance are being handled. The government is also working hard to improve on the IGR (Internally Generated Revenue) of the state and our people must support government by paying their taxes and levies. It is unfortunate that the only people who pay their taxes willingly are the civil servants. The tax consultants that were sent to Onitsha could not achieve much as the traders would dash them money and they walk away. But now government has formed a synergy with the leadership of the markets, who pay their taxes and levies into designated accounts.

That is why the IGR has moved from about N550 million to about N1.3billion a month. With the efforts the governor is making, the revenue will improve further.

There is also the worrisome issue of local government expenditure where it is observed that nothing much is happening despite the huge amount each local government is allocated from the Federation Account. What do you think will be the solution to the lull in the LG system?

I am an advocate for the scrapping of the local government system. If you make the local governments fully autonomous by removing the state/ LG joint account, you would have created Emperors among the local government chairmen. We have seen it happen before. Between 1998 and 2002 when we had the first set of elected local government chairmen, they behaved like Lords because they were collecting their allocations directly from Abuja. We know them and we saw what they did.

Most projects the state government is doing are meant for the local governments as they are located in one local government or the other.

That is why the joint account is necessary. But if you allow the local governments to control all the funds, the EFCC will have so much on their hands. Between 1999 and 2002, the then Governor Chinwoke Nbadinuju was here suffering for lack of funds while the local government chairmen were busy fomenting trouble and forming opposition groups because they were controlling enormous resources but had little to show on their local governments. I advocate that the governors should be allowed to appoint administrators for the local governments who will be responsible to the governor to execute projects in their areas. The constitution should allow the governors to create development areas on their own and use the administrators to develop the entire state.

The Anambra Signage Agency which you are the CEO sometime ago removed bill boards not paid for, but we are seeing many of them returning. Does it mean the owners are now paying?

There is a plan by the state government to reposition the agency.

The agency is in a position to generate more revenue for the state.

Because of some inadequacies in the old law establishing the agency, it was difficult for it to operate fully.

With the new law, all illegal bill boards will be removed. There will be improved data collection measures and government has made funds available to us to improve its operations. Members of the Outdoor Advertizing Practitioners Association have been of great assistance to us in our efforts to sanitize the system.

Before the end of this year, people will see a new Signage Agency in Anambra State.

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—19

T

he NNPC has another Group Managing Director in the name of Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu who until his appointment, was the Vice-Chairman of ExxonMobil for Africa. He is about the fourth GMD for NNPC in half a dozen years. So volatile is this job, so open to abuse, political interference and pressure, that you wonder whether to congratulate the present occupant or commiserate with him. Yet, so important, nay, so vital is his job that it is in our collective interest to wish him the best.

Which brings me to the questions.

Why did the Jonathan administration appoint so many GMDs in quick successions? Was it a case of square pegs in round holes? Or a question of poor judgements or different expectations? And speaking of expectations, did the succeeding MDs fully understand why their predecessors were removed? And if they did, why did they take up the job? What was their expectation? To glory in the job and make as much money as they could or to genuinely seek to make a difference? And who is to judge them if the former—even if it meant they would last just one year—was their goal?

To understand these questions and the answers to them is to understand the psyche of Nigerians when it comes to public offices. It is also to understand why the noises around the appointment of Kachikwu, as annoying as they are, have come to be expected.

Sometimes in the history of Nigeria, we decided that the best way to fill public offices was by the quota system. This system in theory, was to ascertain even and inclusive distribution of available jobs without jettisoning merit. But we all know how it has panned out. The quota system thrived more in its abuses than in its uses. Equity and justice,

Should we envy or pity Kachikwu? the very reasons the quota system was introduced, suffered. Merit suffered.

Motivation suffered. The whole system went downhill thereafter. And as it always happens when merit is jettisoned, nepotism thrived; ethnicism thrived.

Our political leaders in uniform and out of it, took advantage of the fact that they did not have to justify their appointment on the basis of merit and competence, to appoint cronies to plum jobs. In fact, the juicier your appointment, the closer you were deemed to be to the big man. It got to a stage when a former President was alleged to have said to a crony: ‘don’t tell me you are broke when you leave this office’. And another regional leader once said of his protégée, ‘it is our oil money. Let him steal it’.

Unfortunately, the populace which should have cried foul at this open abuse of the commonwealth, took ethnic sides. Each time a prominent appointment is made, we look at where he comes from before we approve or disapprove. And when that person abuses his/her office by stealing the nation blind, the tribal war lords are the first to carry placards and advertorials on how their son/daughter is being

victimised. To the question, ‘did they steal?’ the usual answer is ‘everyone is stealing. Why should they be singled out for punishment’. It does not matter that these people have not added value to their country, their towns, or even their villages. Instead, they have in fact, compounded the woes of the common man by their selfish and selfcentred decisions.

Enter Dr Kachikwu. Everyone agrees that he is very cerebral, with a first class degree in law from the University of Nsukka and two Harvard law degrees under his belt. Everyone agrees he has the requisite experience having been in the oil industry virtually all his life and risen almost as high as he possibly can. Most people agree that he is very comfortable and therefore not desperate for a job.

It is also a fact that he is who he is by dint of hard work and a good use of God’s gifts. So by all obvious standards, he is qualified to do the job.

Therefore, all those claiming ‘ownership’ by referring to his ethnic background as if he is chosen because of his tribe and not on merit, should stop insulting him.

He is a Nigerian eminently qualified to do a job for all Nigerians. We also stop insinuating that a favour has been done. It is such a tough, thankless job that I almost pity him—as I would anybody with a name to protect who

The quota system thrived more in its abuses than in its uses

G

od is a faithful God and too faithful to fail you. He is dependable. You can put your whole trust in Him and He will never fail you. He has never failed anyone that puts his trust in Him. He will not start failing from you. Do you know that even if God tries to lie, He cannot lie because He is Truth?

Whatever He says comes to pass.

“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a friends, in-laws to a place he did not establish what He has promised you. great nation, and I will bless thee, even know. That is the height of faith Naturally, you may not qualify for it: and make thy name great; and thou and trust in God. If God gives us this Abraham was not qualified. Medical shall be a blessing: and I will bless instruction today, the first thing that will report had it that they were well past them that bless thee, and curse him come into our mind is fear. Abraham the age of bearing children, and God that curseth thee: and in thee shall may have feared. It may not have been was promising that impossibility. all families of the earth be blessed. easy for him but he had finally obeyed So trust God to do that seeming So Abram departed, as the Lord had God. impossible thing in your life. God is spoken unto him: and lot went with Come to think about it. Could you God. He has not changed. Whatever him: and Abram was seventy and five imagine how a man of seventy five years He say He will do, that He will do. But years old when he departed out of could leave all that he has ever known you must trust and obey Him. Haran,” (Genesis 12:1-4).

If you can just take a step of faith, for the unknown? Where would he start Imagine the mouth-watering from? He had no child; what if he dies you will experience His manifold promises that God doled out to trying to get there? In those days, it is blessing. Like Abraham, you will be Abram, a 75 - year old man whose a great hazard to travel. But if God is favoured anywhere you go. You will be wife was barren. But God was involved in a case, He will deliver what blessed and be a blessing to multitudes undaunted. He made the promises He has promised. Abram was able to and nations. Today, the whole world is to him all the same. How could God leave all and followed God, he was able leave people who had children to to trust Him and so God who is able to filled with great nations promise a childless man that He do what He promised blessed him who came from the children of a man who was childless would make great nations with his exceedingly. at 75. children? Does this not call for As you read this report, God is telling What has God promised laughter? Of course Sarai laughed at you the same thing; trust in Him to you? Maybe you are a God. But the ways of God are beyond full understanding of man. For more details, contact us at Christ Reality Church, beside Gossard However, this promise was Hotel, opposite First Bank Sports Ground, Community Road, Satellite Town a covenant and for Abraham or P.O.Box, 3196, Yaba Lagos. Tel: 08023062635 08168955932; 08033378769. E-mail: to access it, he had to fulfill Johnson_crm@yahoo.com. Website: www.christrealityministries.org. his own side of the Our account details are Pastor Johnson Omomadia, Guaranty Trust agreement. There are Bank, A/C Nos. 0005171407; Christ Reality Ministries, Zenith Bank A/C things that God demanded 1011711622. of him if he wanted to get Worship with us on Sundays, 1st Service: 745am-9:15am; 2nd Service 9:15the blessings. Abram had to 11:30am. Wednesdays Word Revelation 6pm. Counseling days Tuesdays, start by leaving his familiar Thursdays and Fridays. 11am-5pm daily or by appointment. Showers of blessing territory; parents, relations, every 2nd - 4th Sat. of each month, 6 a.m - 7.15 am.

It came to pass (2)

C M Y K

takes up this kind of job. A story is told of a Yoruba man who was weighing his options about taking a top job during the early post-independence period.

A group of Yoruba elders met with him to convince him that the Yoruba race would lose out if he declined. He looked them in the eye and told them he was being offered a job because he was qualified and not because he was Yoruba. End of story. Some people need to be told this more often.

Now, I do not expect that Kachikwu would be a six-month or one-year casualty. He has too much going for him. I also expect that he would have tried to find out the expectations of his employers and see if they tally with his own expectations. I assume he would have negotiated his freedom from unnecessary political interference. I also assume he would have found out why the tenures of his predecessors were short and ignominious and learnt one or two things from it. In spite of the above, there are some things he has to look out for if he is to have a truly memorable tenure. He has to realise that the expectations are high because of the importance of his job and the extent of the rot in NNPC. He is there to cleanse and not perpetuate that rot.

He will have himself to blame if he panders to ethnic sentiments; bows to the pressure which will definitely come from powerful oil barons; succumbs to political interference of any shade; or listens to biased foreign ‘advisers’ who just want to exploit the country. Above all, he has to resist the temptation to enrich and thereby compromise himself. His name will be written in gold if he can reposition NNPC and make it a corporation where integrity matters. He also has to put Nigeria first and not self in ALL his decisions.

The message I sent to him is the message I send to my friends who find themselves in sensitive public offices— ‘please make us proud’. Unfortunately, very few have. single lady and are aging quickly or you are a graduate and unemployed or your marriage is full of storms. God is still the same. God’s word for you is that you will surely get married and be fruitful in your body; you will not only be gainfully employed but you will one day be an employer of labour, your marriage will be for signs and wonders. Believe it, and it shall come to pass.

Do you want to experience fruitfulness of God in your life? Then you must receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Pray this simple prayer. Father, you said that whosoever shall call on the name of Jesus, shall be saved. I call on the name Jesus. Thank you for saving me and giving me the gift of eternal life.i also ask that you empower me with the power of the Holy Spirit to enable me be an effective witness of Jesus Christ. I praise you and give you all the glory.

For your praise report, prayer requests, testimonies and financial support, you can contact us through our contact details below. God shall surely change your situation and make you to experience His realities.

20—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

B

ishop Kukah is a thick-skinned social crusader. Christians from amongst the northern minority tribes have a reputation of commitment only life at the ‘battle front’ can impart.

But if Kukah was just a man of the cloth who had an innate fearlessness, he would not have the stature he currently possesses. He stands taller than many of his peers and bosses because besides courage and character , he manifests erudition which he has severally deployed to illuminate and enrich sociopolitical discourse in Nigeria. An intelligent , fearless and principled peacemaker is an asset to any community.

And perhaps because of his acclaimed forthrightness and perceived clout, he must be one of the very few who could have thought up and assembled a peace committee of that caliber, acceptable across board , when such a committee was such an urgent necessity. All went swimmingly well. So we can ask - “what did the peacemakers do sef”?

Peace makers often have heavy moral burdens imposed on them by the complexity of the endeavour. Because, many times, peace making involves some compromise with justice, fairness and other lofty values. And justice trampled or shortchanged , leaves the conscience a bit sore. But without peace what is anything else really worth?

However, can there be true, sustainable, peace without justice? Social contract theory would support the view that justice serves to preserve and promote societal peace. Justice and peace are therefore not mutually exclusive entities. But social situations sometimes demand that justice in legality be sacrificed to further peace.

The determination of what is just isn’t even always simple. It often requires complex moral judgments. Is it just to allow a few corrupt people go unpunished in exchange for tranquility for millions of Nigeria? Is it justice to grant Boko haram, mass murderers, amnesty and stop the killing of thousands of innocent people, if the government cannot contain boko haram immediately? Justice for the majority is often not narrow minded.

Justice is not necessarily legality but should the rule of law be so easily dispensable? Does the idea that peace can come at the expense of justice mean that some individuals are above the law?

Should we accept the sort of peace purchased at such a ransom? If the answers are context dependent, is our situation so precarious that we cannot enforce the rules against thieving politicians and retain social stability and flourish? What precedent would we set if leaders must retire to peace and comfort with their loots while poor Nigerians die from easily curable and preventable diseases? We are often reminded of Rwanda and Burundi and Ivory coast, many war torn African countries, decimated and reeling from poorly managed succession battles. Are such fears and comparisons well founded? Are they relevant cautionary tales? And do they then create room for incumbents to twist and tie the arms of potential successors? Those who have seen war would do everything to prevent one but that is not to say that when an incumbent president loses an election and concedes that he has prevented a war. And that his aides must go home with their bounty and our gratitude.

Should I be compensated for remaining sane?

The peace committee has been lampooned by millions of Nigeria . The gush of fury and vitriol should be checked. Kukah and the committee spoke to the contestants before the elections in a bid to check pre and post election violence. While the peace accord they managed to extract may have been a ritual on paper, the presence and weight of that committee must have in some way helped Jonathan with the decision to concede early.

But many have made a meal of that concession. Kukah labeled it a spectacular act. He considers it a favour that must not go unrequited. Many Jonathan’s supporters think it is singularly worthy of a Nobel peace prize. Many APC supporters however see it as routine and mundane. A roundly defeated incumbent president, they opine, should go home quietly. And they point to many African leaders who have C M Y K

Buhari, Bishop Kukah and the imperatives of Peace and Justice

•President Buhari recently acted similarly, effortlessly.

President Buhari has publicly acknowledged and praised that act ,severally. He says it is commendable statesmanship. But action they say speaks louder than words. And PDP supporters would want Buhari to act out national gratitude and let Jonathan and his people be. If that means forbearance of probes, they have lacked the boldness to say it emphatically.

But Buhari isn’t particularly that free. A man who ran on ‘anticorruption’ and won the elections because the people voted for change, cannot in the face of revelations of monumental corruption turn a dove.

‘Business as usual’ will be politically suicidal. His particular circumstance is not helped by the fact that the economy is in a perilous state and that the public support he presently enjoys is perhaps, possibly, potentially ephemeral. Boko haram is proving more difficult than envisaged, he has no excuses for any leniency with corruption. So while he has not been able to form a government, he has had his megaphone blaring anti corruption tunes. Federal agencies have been jolted out of slumber but their ‘rhythmless’ , attention seeking , ‘jambody’ dance steps have left some worried of the dangers of clumsiness and of overzealousness.

Buhari has a reputation. He says he is a ‘born again’ democrat but some insist he is too fixed to change. When he barks, people fret. The opposition welcomes, at least publicly, the probes.

They are worried that federal agencies who are now tumbling over themselves to please Buhari would have no regards for due process. And no one would care to rein them in. If Buhari were not Buhari, they may have been less worried.

So Kukah and his group propelled by rising tensions and anxieties met with different groups , the ex president and the president seeking to preserve the peace. Some say they were prompted by Jonathan to stave off the probes. Regardless of such imputations , the committee acted in good faith. A peace committee must be a peace committee, and must prioritize peace over legality or any such punitive considerations. Elders

•Bishop Kukah and peace makers exist to pull the society towards reconciliation rather than retribution, just deserts and punitiveness. But any one offended by the intervention of the committee is entitled to that contrary feeling too.

In the face of crippling poverty occasioned by mindless looting of the national treasury, revelations of the sort cannot be treated with kid gloves. Those who are offended by the intervention can insist on thorough probes , recoveries and punishment without impugning the character and reputations of the illustrious peace makers. I would expect activists to take to the streets to pressure Buhari to proceed with the probes. That is democracy.

And I say this for a reason. Kukah is a man of letters. And he chooses his words carefully. So when Kukah said “…….this is not a military regime…” he must have known the weight and implications of that statement. The opposition has continued to paint Buhari as a maximum dictator and Buhari seeks to distance himself from that history.

Kukah must feel that the opposition is either being badly maltreated or potentially faces such a risk. And he chose to sing from their hymn sheets of lamentations. Is it therefore unfair or unethical for a peace maker to reach that far if he thinks it would further the cause of peace? I don’t think so.

A peace maker must do all he can to achieve peace even if it means pitching camp with the oppressed, temporarily.

The neutrality of a peacemaker is a means to an end and not an end in itself.

Peace makers don’t stoke fires, they put them out. Kukah has not erred. But Buhari is not bound to accept his entreaties.

Many have labeled the members of the peace committee as members of the establishment and beneficiaries of Jonathan’s ‘food is ready’ government.

An objective evaluation, however, would yield the conclusion that the committee is currently pursuing a moral end. And that is what that matters. Standing up to Buhari and urging due process and reconciliation is in no way geared towards any narrow selfish or parochial interests. It is in recognition of the necessity and contributions of that committee that president Buhari has allowed it to transmute into a national

What precedent would we set if leaders must retire to peace and comfort with their loots while poor Nigerians die from easily curable and preventable diseases?

peace council.

Kukah and the peace council’s admonition must not be discarded without examination. The words of our fathers, they say, are words of wisdom. Kukah urged good governance , which is not synonymous with a preoccupation with anti corruption propaganda and prosecutions. Kukah didn’t just warn of deviation from due process and risk of rights abuses, he warned of drift in governance occasioned by a preoccupation with ‘anti-corruption’ to the detriment of effective management of the country’s resources and potentials. That may be a bit harsh and in a sense a bit rash but it is cautionary all the same. He warned of the consequences of laying down a culture where succeeding governments would hound their predecessors with probes.

If we want to cure the sit- tight syndrome of African leaders then we must make the relinquishing of power by incumbents not suicidal. Kukah made this point poignantly by reminding us that what Buhari sows , he will reap. That is no scare mongering. A peace maker is entitled to such pacifism and such prognostication. While no one wants an incumbent president to view a handover to the opposition as synonymous with a hounded life in jail or exile, no one would want those in positions of authority now to come away with the belief that they can loot the treasury and put themselves beyond the reach of the law by a self serving pact with their predecessors , a tradition that will bind their successors. Such an immorality will serve impunity, perpetuate corruption and enslave the masses.

President Buhari needs to get the acts of his anti corruption agencies together. They should be more methodical, more diligent and more subtle in their ways. The anti corruption war will fail if it is selective and vindictive . The war is a marathon and not a sprint , many of the cases will drag to the supreme court. Proper investigation, diligent and resolute prosecutions will bear fruits. Law enforcement is often difficult in settings where the criminal justice structures are decrepit. But ‘fire brigade’ maneuvers and ‘area boy’ tactics are impotent because they will only yield premature ejaculations.

The culture the nation needs to enthrone is that of accountability and rule of law.

Due process and rights of persons must be respected.

Elected officials must account for their actions even after leaving office. And if the degree of social cohesion of the constituent parts of the country cannot support an insistence on the rule of law then we must renegotiate our corporate existence.

SATURDAY

Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 21

id a s r e th fa y m n e h I felt terrible w e s u a c e b s r e s u o tr r I could not wea of my disability

om fr LI O K O S A M O C of y or st g in az am e Th • a school pauper to an employer of labour

BY FRED IWENJORA

T

he success story of Cosmos Okoli, a man who discovered his physical challenge at an early age of about 4 but went ahead with sheer determination to surmount it, becoming a voice for the entire aggregate of the physically challenged in Nigeria, will always be a source of inspiration to many who hear him tell it himself.

Armed with the God given belief that if he would ever do anything successfully, he must work extra hard, Okoli was not only top of his class in primary and secondary schools, but also went on to the university and passed out in colors, before becoming Best Corps Member in Nigeria during his one year of National Youth Service and winning prizes from Lagos state as well as from Nigeria. People still recall his photograph with President Babangida which made front page of national newspapers at that time.

Currently, Okoli who is an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), sits atop Mobility Aids and Appliances Research and Development Center,(MAARDEC), an NGO which he founded and through which he is realizing his vision of providing physically challenged Nigerians with mobility aid to move, run and drive their cars amongst other things.

Read his story:

•Cosmos Okoli,

C M Y K

Anyone who follows the snippets of what could be pieced together to be your life story and how you laboured to be who you are today would love you to trace this story..What kind of upbringing did you have?

I started school in my home community of Isiofia in Aguata LGA of Anambra State. I then moved to the Salvation Army Home for the Physically Handicapped Children in Oji River, Enugu, Enugu State now. I found out that of all the children in the home, I was the only one who had started school before coming there. My father didn’t know I could cope with formal education.

He had planned that I was going to learn shoe making. He set aside a piece of land for me to start a workshop.

When my elder brother started school, I called my father a year after and told him that I

wanted to go to school because I couldn’t hear him talk about my own uniform and school bag like he did for my brother. That was when my father who expressed surprise at my question said okay, you would start school tomorrow. I continued to pester him about my uniform and how I would be going to school. He budged one day and I started school. I was always on top of the class and he was happy I spent two years at the Salvation Army School. I had my surgery there and was taught how to use my clutches and walk for the first time. After I mastered the use of clutches and braces, I was discharged and I went back home and continued my education.

What do you remember of your disability? Do you have any low moments about the way you are? I mean your physical challenge?

I was barely four years old and I can’t say I was conscious about what happened at that time. But I know that when I became conscious of the disability I became conscious that I had to work extra hard to be anywhere successfully. If I tell you that there were no low moments when I asked God question why me then I would be telling a lie. But I came from a very wonderful family where I was treated like every other child so I never condemned myself as someone different from others. But during Xmas when my parents made clothes for all of us, they would make trousers for my other siblings and make shorts for me. It was only then that I felt different and bad. I kept asking God why. One day I confronted my father with the question and he told me that it was useless to make trousers for me because I would end up folding it up and crawling on my knees.

Then one day, such a thing happened again and I felt so unhappy and asked God again and he revealed to me; If not you then who …. I looked at my brothers and said no, God forbid, I love my brothers the way they are. God told me that I have been equipped to go through this. It was a wake-up call for me. From that day I had never looked back and faced my disability as a call to duty. When I realized that this is a call to duty, I have never looked back and God has been blessing me. I am passionate when I follow a cause.

You often tell of how you almost got stranded in the University..How did you wriggle out of the University with success?

It was indeed very tough for me. Lack of funds and other challenges almost made me drop out. The biggest challenge I had was access within the university.

There were a lot of architectural barriers and I took a strong decision to die in the university rather than leave without my certificate because at a point it was so tough that I decided to take out a full month to reassess the fact whether I should continue or leave. After the soul searching, I realized that if I left the university at that time, I would not be able

Continues on page 22

22 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Continues from page 21 to remove the word Drop Out from my CV. Secondly, I realized that the whole world of the disabled people who were inspired to further their education because of me would change. They could , also, very likely drop out and this would be disastrous. I served as their role model from the time I was at the Rehabilitation center at Oji River.

When I told them I was going to be a medical doctor, they laughed and wondered how I could cope with university education not to talk of studying medicine. When I got admission to study Medical physiology at the University of Lagos and stories went round that I was already in the University, many couldn’t believe it. Those who believed also started aspiring to get education. I thought of all those who would drop out of school if I dropped so I persevered. They all decided that if I could do it, then they could. It is that kind of iron will and resolve that saw me through. I had to climb staircases, slippery grounds and get to the lecture halls later than others.

I had to do extra work to cope and I eventually graduated to the glory of God. At what point did Special Sports which gave you your first break come into your psyche?

When my father couldn’t pay my fees any more after two years at Unilag, I discovered special sports. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to travel out of the country in 1987 for the special sports, the wheel chair Games. Since it was the first time that Nigeria was to feature in those sports, I was an observer and didn’t feature in any games even though I went to play Table tennis. I also had to finance my trip because of that. I traveled with the support of friends and well wishers who contributed. I recall the fare was N1,300 and a cousin of mine gave meN500 which I added up and traveled. During the trip, I bought ladies clothes and shoes while my mates were buying gifts for people. They wondered what I would do with female clothes but I knew my case was different from theirs. I needed to generate money for my survival and continued stay in the University. Again when we returned, my appeal to Anambra state Government for support had yielded fruits and I was given a refund and I became very buoyant.

You have always mentioned Late Commodore Emeka Omeruah in all your conversations, why would you always do this?

Late Commodore Omeruah played a role in my life that he is unforgettable to me. I had attended a seminar of the Nigerian sports Association for the disabled and asked several questions which made them recognize me as an asset to the association and recommended me for the trip to represent Nigeria in Table Tennis. Even when I was told that I won’t be financed for the trip, I decided to travel because I believed I was going to learn so much from the trip. And indeed that trip opened my eyes in the organization of sports for the physically challenged. I eventually became Chairman Special sports Federation. I had gone to Commodore Omeruah and told him that the original name no longer suited the association because we do better than people that are able and we needed to re-brand and he accepted my suggestion. He saw my reasons. I became President for this sports association for seven years C M Y K

‘My disability is an act of God’

her my girlfriend but she turned it down. She told me very humbly that she didn’t want to date any man.

When I asked how she was going to get married then she said if I have to date any man, how many would I date before I get married. She said there is no guarantee that the first man you date will end up marrying you. She said she won’t date before marriage. I kept observing her until I was sure she is the person. I proposed and she accepted. We got married in 1995.

She is working with me. She is the Vice President of the organization in charge of admin and finance.

and it was during those years that we did best in special sports. I led the troupe to Atlanta 96, and Sydney 2000 where we won a whooping seven gold medals. Since then, no one has beaten that record in that federation.

In this world when able bodied men have thrown in the towel on life; how do you feel with all you have achieved?

I think I am in this world to make a difference. I also think my disability is an act of God really.

God wanted me to effect changes so he created me like this. I see it happening because when I was Chairman of Special Sports Federation, I challenged others with my performance and excellence. I see the world as a place where everybody is created to make a difference.

Indeed I give God the glory.

At what point did you decide to set up MAARDEC ie Mobility Aids and Appliances Research and Development Center.

You may have been highly inspired by something….

I am naturally talented in Engineering. I made toys with anything I had in my hands.

May be that was why my father felt I would do well as a shoe maker. I started by working on things to help me move around. For instance I drive today and several others now also drive with what I invented. I realised early enough that if I needed to drive, then it won’t be with my legs.

I developed a gadget to drive. I later set up a workshop to produce it for people who needed it. Also my braces were a problem.

The ones I got from off shore were no longer serving me. I sat down and designed one that served me better and still serving me. I also started manufacturing it for others. But one event also sparked me off to think. In 1984, I encountered a very terrible experience where my room mates fought at night and used my clutches as weapons and broke them. I got stuck in my room that I couldn’t move for several days. I sent people out to buy me a new one but they came back with nothing. All over Lagos, I searched but there were none. I sent a message to my father that I was stranded in my room. My dad sent out my sisters and they stumbled at two pairs forgotten at a chemist and that assured me that I would actually complete my education.

That showed me that there was a vacuum and that something must be done to arrest the ugly trend of not having mobility aids. I started thinking of the idea that I could set up a research and development centre for mobility aids and appliances. And we are at it now and we thank God that we produce over 2000 mobility aid appliances including wheel chairs, clutches, mobile three wheel cycles etc every year.

Funding must have been a

Did she accept your proposal just like that…How easy was it to woo her?

It was not a problem for her to accept my proposal. It was however when she accepted that all hell was let loose.

Some people felt she was too beautiful for a disabled man to marry. People went to my father-in-law to ask why he allowed a disabled man to marry his daughter. Some of her siblings did not believe the unfolding scenario. Some were with her while some others were not. My motherin-law was behind her saying she should think about it very well and give her the answer. When she did she advised her not to listen to any other person from then. Rumours were flying about me but my wife stood firm.

You have been seeking to hold elective office and have failed…are you discouraged?

problem…how did you make it possible?

When I graduated from University, I had a little bit more money and I received stipend from NYSC which I saved. I became the best corps member in 1988/89. I also won the National honors and Lagos State honors. I met with President Ibrahim Babangida who conferred the honors on me. This honor gave me N25, 000 and I was buoyant. In 1990, I picked up a job as social development officer. I also won the National Science and Tech Innovator Award. I had a car and hired a workshop to produce the aids for a start. It has grown today to MAARDEC. Can we take a peep into your home front, how did you meet your wife in the first place?

I have a very fantastic family and we have four well behaved kids. I have a very responsible and responsive and loving wife who has helped me to have a stable home. She understands that I have to work from outside more often.

I look at her and I see a woman who is there to take care of my home.

It was in 1994 when there was national strike of Nigerian Universities. She needed to keep herself busy for those months. She came to work with my organisationMAARDEC. I found her God’s gift. She is well behaved, friendly, homely, disciplined and responsible. She is from the same town with me. The families knew each other. Stories said twins like her are snobbish and took no nonsense. When she came to work with me, I didn’t see any of such character that is alleged to be the ways of twins.

At the end of her stay, I tried to make

There were a lot of architectural barriers and I took a strong decision to die in the university rather than leave without my certificate

I am not plotting to get involved in politics. I am already in it fully.

I have contested elections and will still do. I realized that over the years, we have been clamouring for one thing or the other. I mean that Nigerians with disabilities have been fighting for legislation to improve on their right, and so many other things that have not been realized. I feel I have a lot to offer. I have gone through thick and thin. I have moved from the point when I am crawling on all fours as someone who was struck with disabilities as a result of polio which again is preventable. I blame the government for not providing adequately for the childhood preventable disease. I have also been at a point when I almost got stranded in the university because of lack of funds to complete my education. I struggled and weathered the storm including the problems of inaccessibility of infrastructure which made mobility very difficult. I went through all that up to the part that I picked up an appointment as a civil servant where I worked for 18months at the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development as it was known then.

After that I felt I needed to express myself better with my talent to improve the lot of the less privileged people like me.

So I set up the NGO, MAARDEC i.e.

Mobility Aids and Appliances Research and Development Center. Of course I organised another business by the side to support financially. It got to a point where I am today an employer of labor as President, Founder of MAARDEC. I see myself as someone who has seen it all and able to contribute to the stabilization of our democracy in our country Nigeria. It would be a disservice if I didn’t do this and say since I could take care of my needs, I would just relax.

No matter what happens, I am a citizen of Nigerian and it is my responsibility to ensure, with other citizens, that we get a Nigeria of our dream. I would not blame anybody if we do not get the Nigeria of our dream if I sit on the fence so I want to get involved and do my best.

I am not discouraged at all.

SATURDAY

Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—23

You will never see me wear bra and pant in a music video

What was it like working with Olamide?

Olamide is a big talent. I learnt a lot while working with him. He is the kind of artiste that doesn’t use pen and paper to write his songs. Once Olamide hears a beat, he starts singing on the beat. His freestyles are incredibly good.

What inspired For body?

For body is a song intended to make people happy. I just wanted a Yoruba song that would make people feel good. When I met Olamide in the studio, I just told him I would love to do a danceable Yoruba song. I played him two of my songs I had already done before then. He listened to them, but didn’t like the first one because he had done something similar.

When he heard For body, he loved it. He wrote his verse in a short time span. The song is doing well right now. I featured Olamide because I intended to leverage on his star power. It’s a song you will be forced to put on replay when you listen to it.

—Sunkanmi

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

W

hen you meet Sunkanmi, the first thing that strikes you is her bubbly persona and alluring stature. The light-skinned Olasunkanmi Rehanat Alonge is a graduate of Geophysics from the Olabisi Onabanjo University. She is a buddingAfro-pop artiste whose song, ‘For body’ is making waves.

The fashionable rising star is a nominee for the most promising act category, Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEA). In this interview, she talks about why Olamide featured in her song, why she can’t wear bra and pant in a music video, and the challenges of being an upcoming act, among other issues.

Why did you opt for the name Sunkanmi?

I chose the name, Sunkanmi, because I intend to come into the industry with total realness. I want people to know that there is a power behind whatever name your parent gives you. Olasunkanmi means wealth comes to me. My own definition of Sunkanmi is, it’s possible if you believe. Music has been part of me. I didn’t choose music, music actually chose me. Music consoles me when I am sad. Whenever that happens, I compose a song. I get solace from music. I didn’t come from a Christian home so I didn’t have the opportunity to join the choir.

How did you discover your ability to sing?

My singing ability comes natural to me. Whenever I hear a song, I instantly create my own remix of such a song. My siblings are always stunned; they tell me that the way I am singing that song isn’t the way the artiste sang it. I would have loved to venture into music when I was much younger.

What has music done for you?

When I came into the industry I was on the big side, but the music industry has helped me in working on that aspect in order to project a visually appealing image. Music makes me connect to God. Before then, I didn’t take God serious, but

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now I do.

Nothing gets d o n e without God. Are you saying you were not this beautiful?

Yes, I was not this beautiful, I was big. You know it’s showbiz. If you are not looking hot like Tiwa Savage, trust me no one will listen to your song. As a female artiste, you appeal more to the guys.

If you are not looking good, they won’t be interested in your music. They will tell you: “You try” and drop your CD. Once they know that you are attractive; they will be interested in listening to your music. I was just this carefree girl.

Music has helped me to be careful with my eating habits.

Have you ever had any wardrobe malfunction during a performance?

I have had it a couple of times but the one I am about to share wasn’t a wardrobe malfunction. When I was in Awka for Star Trek, there was this shirt I wore that I didn’t tuck in well .While performing, there was a way the shirt came out that didn’t really go down well with me. It wasn’t the image I saw in the mirror before I mounted the stage.

•Sunkanmi

What are the challenges of being an artiste?

There are so m a n y challenges.

Nothing good actually comes easy. There are some crazy things in the industry I don’t like.

Things like being affiliated to a group, before you can be heard.

What do you mean by that?

As a rising artiste, you need to belong to a known record label before you can be taken seriously. When you take your CD to a radio station, nobody will give you attention because you are not affiliated to any known label. You don’t get that respect even if you have a good material; I learnt that in this industry.

You have to know people like Don Jazzy or Banky W before you can have a smooth sail. I have been able to scale through that by God’s grace. I don’t have anybody I am affiliated to. The people at the radio stations will regard you when you are there, but once you take your leave, you will start hearing your song

just once in a week.

All that happens because one isn’t affiliated to a record label

As a rising artiste, you need to belong to a known record label before you can be taken seriously.

Have you encountered any flop during any of your performances?

I was scared when I first performed.

Someone once said in the crowd: “She is just fine, she just get swag”. Some parts of the audience wanted me to leave the stage while some others wanted me to stay. It hasn’t been a smooth sail for me. Some people have said that I am not a fantastic singer.

For me, I strive to improve with every of my performance.

How has the acceptance of your music been?

I mentioned earlier that it can only get better. These days all I get is the positive comments. People say I look and sound better.

When people meet you at first, what kind of reaction do you get?

People often tell me that I don’t look like a Yoruba girl.

They say I look like an Igbo. I am a Lagosian from Epe. My dad is from Epe, while my mum is from Idumagbo. I am a full Lagos girl.

Would you say your talent and sex appeal work for you?

The two work for me. People are attracted to beautiful things. I am a reserved person; I don’t always dress like an entertainer every time.

What is your opinion about entertainers who expose their bodies?

Some people believe in the philosophy of ‘if you have it, flaunt it.’

If the beauty is in you, it’s in you.

There is a way you can be classy yet look fashionable.

How far can you go?

I try as much as possible to look sexy in a moderate way. If I am wearing a short skirt, it’s not going to be all that short. You will never see me wear pant and bra in a music video. I believe so much in putting the attention on my inner beauty. I am not against people who flaunt their body, because that is their own selling point.

24— SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

With FLORENCE AMAGIYA 08053788974 email: daise4000@yahoo.com

D

r. Ifeoma Monye (FRCGP, MRCGP, DCH, DRCOG, DFFP) is chief consultant, family physician at the National Hospital, Abuja. She pioneered the establishment of that department in 2003 which now ranks as a premier at the hospital. Dr. Monye was head of the department between January 2003 to July 2013. In 2014, she founded the Brookfield Centre for Lifestyle Medicine. Her career focuses on preventing, treating and reversing the causes of chronic diseases, with the application of conventional medicine and lifestyle changes.

Today, Dr. Monye who has distinguished herself in the medical profession is a member of the Society for Family Physicians of Nigeria, Lifestyle Medicine Association of Nigeria, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, European Society of Lifestyle Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners, United Kingdom. Apart from a fulfilled career choice, Dr. Monye who just added one year to her age is a celebrated mother, a devoted wife, a caring sister and a quintessential philanthropist.

Enjoy!

Dr. Ifeoma Monye hails from Onicha-Olona in Delta State. She is the fifth of seven children and was raised in a strict Christian home.

Her parents, Sir and Lady Jonathan Obiajulu Keshi who were members of Saint Peter’s Anglican Church in Onicha-Olona State were renowned teachers who rose through the ranks to become headmasters in their different schools before retiring. Young Ifeoma and her siblings were taught from childhood on how to express love to one another.

Perhaps, this explains her innate interest from childhood in the business of caring for people. As a toddler, Ifeoma was shown so much love by everybody around her. Though not so fragile as a child, her mother feared that she might be spanked by her elder siblings that she had to carry her to school, her place of work every day.

Ifeoma recounted the episode that led to her enrollment into primary school. According to her, her mum was teaching primary one at that time. She would place her on a desk while she taught. In the

Proposed Brookfield Centre Hospital, Abuja C M Y K

DR IFEOMA MONYE:

A blend of beauty and brain

The family

process, little Ifeoma was learning virtually all that the mother was teaching. However when it was time for the promotional exam, Ifeoma who was barely four years old insisted on writing the exam with the other students even though she was not yet enrolled into the school.

To the chagrin of her parents and the school teachers, Ifeoma came out second position. That demonstration of brilliance earned her a promotion from non-student of the school to primary two.

This scholarly display trailed her footsteps all through her life as she finished medical school at the tender age of 21, a feat which was rare to accomplish during her time.

She attended Pilgrim Baptist Primary School, Issele-Uku in Delta State, from where she proceeded to the Federal Government Girls’ College,

Medicine as a course is for people who believe they are well above average. So you must put yourself in that pedestal

Dr Ifeoma and husband, Prof Slyvester Monye

Abuloma in Rivers State. She got admission into the University of Benin to study medicine. Upon graduation in 1987, she went for her compulsory National Youth Service Corps programme. She travelled to the United Kingdom for post-graduate training in paediatrics and child health. She thereafter did her residency in family medicine in the United Kingdom.

Challenges Upon her return from the United Kingdom, Ifeoma was confronted with the first challenge of how to reconcile both African and Western cultures.

There was no department of family medicine in Abuja, where she was employed. So, she was faced with the herculean task of starting the first one at the National Hospital. It took three and half years for her to set up.

It started from January 1, 2003,

when she resumed till June 2006 when the department was pronounced.

Achievements Dr. Monye is an expert in paediatrics and child health, obstetrics and gynaecology respectively. Before the creation of Brookfield Centre, there was no centre for lifestyle medicine in Nigeria and indeed in the whole of Africa, including South Africa.

So she was again in the frontiers of pioneering a new field of medicine in Nigeria.

She and her team had to invest so much in knowledge accession and acquisition in established countries like the US, the UK and the rest of Europe, Israel, Dubai, to mention a few. The challenge of setting up Brookfield Centre was an uphill task, but she finally got it right through God’s intervention and sheer hard work. Dr. Ifeoma Monye worked as the head of department between January 2003 and July 2013.

Quote “I have always agreed with Napoleon Bonaparte who said that ‘impossibility is only to be found in the dictionary of fools’ and I will add lazy people. There is nothing unachievable if you set your mind, heart and intellect to it.

How would a four-year-old nonenrollee have the courage to sit in an exam with regular pupils, and also expect to achieve something? It was simply and squarely belief. Just believe you have the capacity to say to this mountain ‘move’ and it would move. Medicine as a course is for people who believe they are well above average. So you must put yourself in that pedestal.

Books must be read and diligently, too.

There must be self discipline. Before all these though, you must put yourself within the confines of the grace of God. The choice is really yours.”

Ifeoma and her family as a child

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—25

By BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com

IN HER FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS

Inspiration makes the difference in my songs – Princess Abiola Balogun

BY OSA AMADI

O

ne desire of General Prince Adekunle, Shina Peters’ mentor, is for at least, one of his children to follow his musical footsteps. As a king scrutinizes every pregnancy of his wife in expectation of an heir, the Prince, over the years, had monitored his children closely, trying to spot the one who carries his musical DNA. One day, he was to shout, “Eureka!”

(I’ve found it!). What the music General was searching for, he found in her daughter, Princess Abiola Adekunle Balogun!

Her voice was electrifying.

Her sense of rhythm was beyond what mere training could impart, showing it was an inherited trait. Singing in the choir had re-enforced those musical talents. By the time her father said to her, “go and record some songs,” Princess Abiola Adekunle Balogun said

she had no song to record.

However, propelled by destiny, the Princess began to experiment with composition.

But she was to earn the trademark of all stars: initial rejection. Her choir rejected the songs she composed. “But I never allowed the rejections to discourage me,” she said.

“Rather, I became more dedicated to my work in the choir and focused on Jesus until I started receiving songs from Him.” The outcome for both the Prince and the Princess was a dream-come-true when in June 2015, Princess Abiola Balogun released the album titled Ore Oluwa Po, a five-tracker parading numbers like High Praise, Igbe Aye laisi Jesu, I need Your Help, Will You Make Heaven?, plus the title track, Ore Oluwa Po lori Mi (His goodness is immeasurable).

The album was produced at Glory Music Studios by the

•Princess Adekunle Obafemi Awolowo Universitytrained ace gospel music producer, Pastor Kenny Fasipe.

Before Ore Oluwa Po, Princess Abiola had released two other works, Mighty God (2005) and Worthy to be Praised (2007).

Princess Abiola Adekunle Balogun was born in Lagos.

She attended Oluwalogbon Primary School and Orishigun High School, Ketu, Lagos, where she served as school prefect. She later went to the

Word Bible Theological Seminary for her diploma in theology.

Asked what makes her music outstanding on the present day music scene which is flooded with musicians and their songs, Princess Abiola answered, “Inspiration,” referring to her source of inspiration – Jesus, who gave her the anointing to make good music, since anointing, they say, makes the difference.

The core of her message is that Jesus is the King of all kings, and that life without Him is vanity. “I would like to tell people never to give up on their dreams because quitters never win. Work towards your goal to achieve your purpose in life. Be kind, loving and caring to others, most especially the less privileged. And finally, put God first in all things,” she said.

I am the first rap artiste to rap in Ishan language — Blixxy D RapKing

BY EBUN SESSOU

F

•Blixxy D Rapking

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rontline artiste, Blessed Okoh popularly known as Blixxy D RapKing has debut with a new song “Irionor” meaning “Na so e be”, the song he composed in Yoruba, Edo, Hausa and English blend.

The Hip-hop/Afro beat artiste disclosed that, he has signed a deal with Money Gang Records to sell his style in the entertainment industry.

The artiste while stating his unique selling point, mentioned talent, competence, ability to mix different languages and produced music with global appeal..

According to him, he is coming into the entertainment industry with a trademark to make a different while projecting the music that is rich

in Africa culture and tradition.

He added that his lyrics are also hip-hop and R&B. “I am versatile and I have been consistent with my styles doing the rap thing in Afro and Hip-hop. I have been on the street and I know what it takes to sustain my style.

“I have come with good music and I am the first rap artiste to rap in Edo especially Ishan language. I am good enough to sell myself but I am ready to work with anybody who feels my work is good.

“I love swags and I believe that Money Gang is a record label that is good at promoting art from the grassroots. And I accepted the deal because it suits my style”, he added.

Meanwhile, the CEO Money Gang Records, Kunle Agboola said, the record label decided

to sign on Blixxy D Rapking because of his uniqueness.

According to him, Money Gang Record had being around for a decade now, adding that with the sign on of the artiste, the industry will experience unprecedented improvement.

Agboola stated that the music will project African culture, tradition alongside Hip-Hop, R&B. He added that the record label intend having clothing line with the labels brand symbol ‘knuckles’ and other African fabrics.

The Marketer, Ali Ibrahim, noted that the issue of piracy is avoidable if the product is well priced, available and affordable, citing his past feats in the successful marketing of ‘Oruka’ and some others as good leverage to build on.

26 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

By KEHINDE AJOSE 08054680266

lease e r I y h W ack songs b to back d e — Olami

Y

How MI, Cynthia Morgan, Wande Coal, Burna Boy, others set Benin on fire for Star Music Trek …Ibadan next stop

T

he historic city of Benin on Saturday August 15, 2015 played host to the crème de la crème of Nigerian music as several superstars including MI, Wande Coal, Seyi Shay, Burna Boy, Jesse Jagz and home girl Cynthia Morgan performed all night in front of a capacity crowd at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium during the Star Music Trek 2015 concert tagged #BeninRocks!

The show kicked off proper as Choc Boi Nation artiste Jesse Jagz took the stage and immediately launched into performances of his crowd pleasers including Bad Girl, Redemption, Summertime, Bend Down Low, Nobody Test Me, Sugarcane Baby, Wetin Dey, Son Of Abaga and Murder Dem. Seyi Shay was the next to hit the stage as she made her Trek debut in Benin. The singer performed hits like Murda, Crazy, Jangilova a n d Right Now to the amusement of the capacity crowd.

Then came a highlight on the night and one of the most

memorable moments of the Trek so far as a visibly excited Cynthia Morgan made her grand entrance onstage in her home city. The crowd went into a frenzy as soon as they caught sight of the red-haired German Juice hitmaker. Quickly she got down to business, taking the crowd to ecstasy with a 40minute set made up of hits such as Popori, Don’t Break my heart, Lead Me On, German Juice a n d I’m Taken.

DJ Neptune a n d DJ Switch then created a sensation of their own as they launched a 1 minute DJ clash which got the crowd pumped

up and ready for the next act to hit the Star Music Trek stage.

MI was that act and he created the story of the evening with the most spectacular stage entrance seen yet on the Star Music Trek 2015.

Dressed in the monkey costume from his Bad Belle video, the Chairman bounced onstage with the unsuspecting crowd not knowing who he was.

Suddenly he took off the mask and the fans at the packed Ogbemudia Stadium screamed in excitement.

Burna Boy and Wande Coal later joined the fray.

2. Timaya – Hallelujah

In Hallelujah, Timaya shows off his spiritual side.

Just like Bow Down, this gospel themed song is a praise tune that unveils Timaya’s heart of gratitude

3. Davido featuring Dammy Krane- Izzue

The self proclaimed Omo Baba Olowo is back with another song featuring the bubbly Dammy Krane.

This song is titled Izzue. The track is produced by Shizzi

1. KJV – Common Sense

Dancehall crooner, KJV is back with another tune titled Common Sense. Common Sense is a freestyle song he did after the song, Joyful. This song is produced by KJV himself.

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4. Adasounds featuring Puffytee-50/50

Adasounds shows her versatility in this Puffy Tee produced highlife song. The song focuses on the fact that if you show love to your partner, she will reciprocate. Her love is 50/50.Puffy Tee also flaunts his vocal ability in the song.

BNL boss, Olamide recently revealed in an interview why he releases singles back to back. The enterprising entertainer says he cannot do without music and releasing these singles work for him.

“The only thing I believe in is hard work and a lot of smart work. I am the kind of artiste that cannot do without music. Music is my only hustle; I don’t have any other job I do. For those who don’t like the way I release singles back to back, I say am sorry. It’s what I believe in that I will do and it’s been working for me. At the end of the day, I do it for my fans; they are the ones who buy my albums.

When asked about the challenges he encountered as an upcoming artiste he has this to say:”Everything I went through back then is just something every upcoming artistes go through. If those things didn’t happen I won’t be this successful right now.”

Commenting on his comparison w i t h •Olamide Reminisce, he says it’s okay to be compared to the Tesojue crooner. “It’s okay to be compared with Reminisce we are brothers, we don’t see ourselves like a competition.

5. Adol – Aye Mi

The Orin crooner returns with a new song titled Aye mi. This song might just bring him back to the mind of his fans. The song is produced by Spiritual Beats

6. Olawale- Demo

After serving his exciting his fans with songs like Jupa and Follow my lead, Project Fame Season 6 winner, Olawale is back with a new song titled Demo. The song is produced by Spellz.

7. Simi featuring Falz-Jamb question remix

Simi has officially released the rap version of her hit song Jamb Question. Recall that Falz made a cameo appearance in the video. The remix is amusing, romantic and entertaining.

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 27

By AYO ONIKOYI

Pounds for pounds: Who wins?

D’banj vs. P-Square Social media influence

H

e has 333,000 followers on Instagram as at the time of this report. He has 1.24m followers on Twitter as at the time of this report. His Feeling the nigga video featuring Akon has 797, 825 views on YouTube P-Square: The wonder twins frica’s leading twins in music, Peter and Paul Okoye popularly known as P-square are titans when it comes to the world of entertainment. The 33 years old twins have five albums to their credit and have clinched 17 awards in 18 nominations in total. Their hit songs, Personally, No one like you and Collabo still rule the airways across Africa.

A

Social media influence he pop stars are one of the most influential entertainers on social media. Peter has 514,000 followers on Instagram, while Paul has 421,000 followers on Twitter.

Collabo their hit song featuring Don Jazzy currently has 9m views on YouTube (As at the time of this report). As a group-Square are brand ambassadors for Globacom, while Peter as an individual, is a brand Ambassador for Olympics milk.

T

D

’banj and P-Square are heavyweights in the African music landscape.D’banj has morphed into an entrepreneur aside from his passion for music, while the group P-Square have created an irresistible showbiz brand for themselves. Between D’banj and P-Square, who is the king?

Dbanj: What is the koko?

The 35 years old entertainer with multiple nicknamesKokomaster, Eja Nla, and Kiniun Fun Fun is a bubbly artiste who continues to gain the attention he loves.

Though he has not been able to release hit songs in recent times, he has made up for it with his other ventures.

With three studio albums and 2 compilation albums to his credit, Dbanj has striven to maintain his status in the minds of his fans. His first endorsement was in the year 2005 with an energy drink called Power Fist. In 2008, he signed a bigger deal with Nigerian telecoms giant, Globacom estimated to be worth over N70m. The deals didn’t stop there. In December 2012, D’banj signed a ground breaking mega deal with Sony Music. May 2013, D’banj was named the Bank of Industry (BOI) Ambassador. November 2013, D’banj signed a multimillion Naira deal with Globacom for the 2nd time. Last year, D’banj was named the official African Ambassador for ‘Beats by Dre’ headphones. This year, he became Ciroc brand ambassador. He has won 29 awards and nominated for 58.

8. Samklef - Iyin

Ace producer and artiste, Samklef has released a gospel themed worship song titled Iyin. Iyin means praise.

The song is self produced

9. P.R.E- Baddest

P.R.E -Pretty Real and Entertaining is not a newbie when music is concerned. He once collaborated with 2face on Take it up. He takes it a notch higher in this afro-pop song .The video is directed by Sesan

10. Lara George –Oba Ogo and Imela

Soulful gospel artiste, Lara George is back with two wonderful songs titled Oba Ogo and Imela. The songs are produced by Dimeji Durotoye known as Jay. She says the songs are special to her because they are C M Y K

•D’banj

I don’t need to take off my clothes to gain attention —Karina T

•Karina

he name Katherine Kpina may not ring a bell, but when you mention Karina, music lovers in Port Harcourt can testify to her music ingenuity. The budding singer, who recently released Suddenly, an Afro-pop song, revealed in a chat with Showtime that she doesn’t have to be naked to gain attention.

“I know am sexy it’s a natural thing. I don’t have to go to t extent of taking off my clothes to be noticed .I am tall, got straight beautiful legs and fair in complexion, a little tease and eyes pop out everywhere. I am elegant and believe in myself. It has gotten me this far.”

As an upcoming artiste, she reveals the challenges she has encountered in the pursuit of her passion.

“There are lots of challenges, no adequate funds to push your jobs. If one is not smart you get duped by fake promoters.

Another challenge is that people want to sleep with you before they put you on their shows or produce a song for you. When you desire to feature some A -list artiste, they ask you to pay in kind or cash.” she reveals.

straight from the throne room.

11. Pasuma featuring Q -dot- Olorun o je-

with Olamide in this brand new tune called Islander. It is produced by Kukbeat.

14. Tekno - Duro

Talented and versatile Fuji artiste, Pasuma has once again showed his music aptitude by unveiling a new song titled Olorun oje, off his album, My World. He collaborates with Q-dot to deliver a brilliant song.

The song is produced by Antras.

Triple MG act, Tekno Miles drops the visuals of his song titled Duro. The video has crisp and humorous camera angles that will keep the viewer glued to their TV sets. It is directed by Patrick Ellis.

12. Blackmagic- Levelz

15. Olamide-Lagos Boys

Black magic unveils the visuals of his song, Levels.

The video boasts of cameo appearances from Falz and Jhybo. The video is directed by Myth

13. Karma featuring Olamide -Islander

The Nigerian music terrain gets competitive each passing day. Naija Ninja rapper, Karma collaborates

The Badoo crooner, Olamide has continued to up his game. The enterprising entertainer has released the video of his song, Lagos boys. The video shows YBNL acts and also the shakiti bobo dance .It is directed by Unlimited L.A

28 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

How my boobs g

Says “Sex is a beautif

*Nigeria has more producers Ghana’s movies have better qu

•Ella Mensah

BY DAMILOLA SHOLOLA

G

hanaian actress, Ella Mensah, who is currently in Nigeria shooting a movie, says she wants to be the best Ghanian actress in Nollywood. Looking at her busy schedules since she first hit Nollywood in 2012, it appears the actress may have an ace up her sleeves. Her most notable films include Educated Housemaids, 11am, Mirabel, Crime to Christ, Playboy, Couples on Fire to name a few.

But one feature you cannot miss about the Ghallywood star is her taunting big boobs with deep cleavage. In this exclusive interview with Showtime Celebrity, he talks about how her boobs got big,

C M Y K

her journey in Nollywood, and more: Are you working on any project now?

Yes. I just came back from Awka where I shot one Royal Glamour movie with Rise and Shine Productions. I’m in Lagos now and I have a shoot on Thursday (last Thursday) with another production house; I think it’s an independent production.

How has life in Nollywood been so far?

It’s all right. The only difference between Nollywood and where I come from (Ghana) is that they shoot more in Nollywood - you are always working. In Ghana, we don’t have many producers, but

there are many producers here and if you want to shoot everyday, you shoot everyday but not all the scripts are good.

The difference is that here, you work a lot.

Since I’m a Ghanaian and I want to be a household name in Nollywood, my team and I are planning on something big that would shake the whole of Nigeria

So, you are saying Ghana movies have more quality than Nigerian ones?

Obviously, Ghanaian movies have more quality than most of Nigerian films. The normal Ghanaian movies we shoot are what Nigerians call cinema movies but we in Ghana don’t call them cinema movies, it’s our standard way of shooting movies. Almost every movie shot in Ghana is a cinema movie whereas here, it is not.

What has been your most daring role in a movie?

The daring thing I did was one movie I shot last year where I had to take off my bra.

They didn’t show my front, they showed my back, like my back being bare, no bra and all that but I can’t remember the movie title now.

As a sexy actress, would you say your assets have helped you in getting roles?

No, I think I get many offers for roles; a lot of people always say it is because I am pretty or because I am endowed. Yes, you need to be presentable; you need to be pretty to be in front of a camera but at the same time it’s not all about that.

You need to be talented, you need to know what you do; you need to speak well and be

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 29

got so big —Ella Mensah

ful thing”

but uality

eloquent. You just have to have talent but beauty is more like icing on the cake.

What can you do to stun or ‘wow’ fans in a movie?

Funny enough I’m still thinking about that particular thing because Nollywood is a big industry and there are so many stars; there’s nothing anybody has not done. Since I’m a Ghanaian and I want to be a household name in Nollywood, my team and I are planning on something big that would shake the whole of Nigeria but for now, I think I’ll keep that as a surprise.

You said there’s a difference between romantic scene and sex scene?

Yeah, a lot of people get confused about romantic scenes and sex scenes. Being romantic to someone and having sex with someone is not the same.

You can be romantic to someone without sleeping with the person and sleeping with someone is not being romantic.

Sex is sex, romance is another thing altogether. Being romantic to someone is not having sex with the person; sex is different. Sex scenes and romantic scenes are different, people should just get it What has been your most daring sexual role in a movie?

I’ve had more than ten movies where I had to do a sex scene or seduced someone.

There’s one movie I did ‘Educated Housemaids’ where I had to seduce a millionaire’s son and I thought the only way to get him was to sleep with him. A lot of people think sex scenes are real but they are not real because there are so many people behind the scene. You might think that we are under the duvet doing something, we are not doing anything because we put on bum shorts, suits and all that faking things, acting like we’re moaning and all that. It’s all acting I think Ghana movies have crossed the lines many times when it comes to soft porn?

What people don’t get is that going nude in Ghanaian movies is not all nude. There’s something called ‘cuts and paste.’ If you’re shooting a movie and they say you should take off your bra and then the camera wants to zoom to your

front, it’s not your real breast they show, I just want people to know.

Then whose breast do they show?

It’s not real. What we do is that the camera would say action and then the camera would show my hand removing my own bra from my back and when I take it off, there’s something covering my face.

We have special effects directors and there’s this breast silicon thing they put across your breast with something to hold it to just let viewers think that it’s your breast. Mostly, we don’t even zoom the front part, it’s just the side and it’s silicon; it’s not natural.

How much are they paying us to go totally nude? This is not Hollywood that they give you a million dollars to go nude; like Angelina Jolie you feel comfortable showing everything because they give you like 15 million dollars but we are talking about Ghana and Nigeria. They don’t even pay anything close to that. So nobody is showing boobs for real here, it’s not true, it’s just cut and paste and they just join everything in the editing room to make it look real What has been your most successful movie to date?

A couple of them but one movie that I really like, that I got some fans from UK and Kenya and even Australia inviting me to come is one movie I shot for Tinsel. Tinsel is doing a short movie called Afriwood; they are not showing it on Africa Magic but they are showing it on DSTV channel 151, it’s a short film on its own.

The film is called ‘11am’, I was a celebrity newscaster which in real life I’m because I’m a Journalist; I studied journalism and media studies and I even worked in a TV station in Ghana before I delved into this acting thing. It was pretty much enjoyable since it was the real me and all that and that movie really went far; it was everywhere on the internet What has been your most embarrassing role in a movie?

One that comes to my head right now is one movie I shot in the East where I had to take off my wig, no makeup, no lipstick; they braided my hair and all that. We were shooting in a bush when I saw a snake; I just started running because I have mortal fear for snakes.

Then the cloth they tied on me just went off and everybody was around. I saw some leaves and it was more like Adam and Eve thing and I had to just use the leaves to cover my boobs because that was the most important thing. I couldn’t even continue the shoot because I felt so embarrassed What was your worst

experience growing up I remember way back in Junior High; it’s funny how I think adolescence or growing has changed my body. In Junior High, I didn’t have breasts; at the age of 15, I didn’t have noticeable breast on my chest and I remember that boys were always calling me a boy. I was more like a tomboy. Then, I went to Secondary School and all of a sudden my breasts started coming out and the boys would still tease me more. Even now, some of my colleagues from way back when they see me now they ask if I had done implants on my boobs. I don’t have implants. It was so embarrassing when you’re with girls but everyone calls you a guy because you’re a female with flat chest Did your boobs just start growing by itself or you did something?

I didn’t do anything, that’s the irony. I remember way back in 2003, I woke up one morning and I saw something there and I started putting foam in my bra, I didn’t even know I was going to wear bra all my life. My breasts really blew up after I gave birth to my child and I also added weight.

I was size 10 when I gave birth, soon after I got to size 18.

I was so fat because I ate a lot and a lot of people couldn’t recognize me. Being pregnant is a horrible thing, I ate like 17 times a day and I became so chubby. When I gave birth, to lose that weight was hell So you eventually lost weight but your boobs were still big?

Even though I lost weight, I think some of the fat went to the right places and I love it. Now it’s working for me.

See now, I’m so endowed now and I love it. You could say my son gave me a breast job; it’s a natural breast job. I didn’t have to pay any doctor, it was a natural gift from God and I have my son to thank for it.

Everyone knows you as a sexy actress, is it just for show or you really like sex?

Seriously, is there any human being on this planet who hates sex?

A lot of people

What turns you on sexually in the bedroom?

During sex, seeing my man’s face is enough for me

Being pregnant is a horrible thing, I ate like 17 times a day and I became so chubby. pretend they don’t like sex?

That’s the word you said, pretend. Life is too short to want to fake things. Sex is a beautiful thing when you are with the right person and you’re an adult. It is a beautiful thing if you have your partner, somebody you love and you trust and you respect, why not?

Sex is part of our life

Do you have any celebrity crush?

Yes, I’m obsessed with one guy; I love him so much but not more than my boyfriend. He’s the only one who can make me leave my boyfriend; thinking about him is even making me blush right now.

Who is that?

Lil Wayne.

You’re attracted to Lil Wayne?

So much, everything about him attracts me.

There was a time you dated Oritsefemi?

I never dated Oritsefemi, we were just friends.

Has any fan ever done anything crazy to you?

Oh God, it’s very bad. I don’t know how they get my number and I keep changing it and yet they get it again. There was a time a fan gave me like 87 missed calls in an hour and he would send me so many text messages that he had a dream he was making love to me and I came and was screaming his name, so we should make it reality. It’s that bad that when I tweet or post something on instagram he would trace it and go to that location to see whether I’m there or not, it was that bad. So many crazy people even on my Facebook page; being pretty alone has its consequences but being pretty and a star can be dangerous.

What transpired between you and Mimi Orjiekwe?

Mimi and I are cool; she was one of the first people I met on set when I first came to Nigeria in 2012. I shot five movies and she was in four of them, we clicked and became friends. It’s just that I have my own goals in life; she has her own goals in life and friendships always have its ups and downs. It wasn’t really anything, I don’t even know why it became a big deal; nothing really happened, we just realized that our directions were not going the same way and we just needed to go our separate ways. I don’t have any problem with her, if I see her on the street, I’ll say hello to her; we even shot together last year C M Y K

30 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Filmmakers sing discordant tunes over Jonathan’s N3bn grant

W

hen former president Goodluck Jonathan was leaving office on May 29, the fear that was expressed by major stakeholders of the nation’s motion picture industry, otherwise known as Nollywood, remained that of the preparedness of the incoming administration to support and fund the industry like its predecessor.

Jonathan’s administration was reputed to be the only successive administration in the country that heavily invested in the industry. While his administration lasted, the industry benefitted enormously from the initial $200 million loan scheme which he created in 2010, to support filmmakers in boosting the quality of their production. But following complaints of inaccessibility that trailed the loan scheme, the former president, in March 2013, announced a N3 billion ($115 million) grant called “Project ACT Nollywood” to develop the competencies of filmmakers and actors, with an ambitious target to trump India as the world’s second largest film nation after Hollywood.

To many, Jonathan’s support made a huge difference to the industry. Since launching the Project Act Nollywood last year, which was supervised by the then Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, the industry is growing by leaps and bounds.

But despite showing genuine commitment towards growing the industry by the present administration as the president recently directed the law enforcement agencies to step up efforts to curb piracy in the country ’s entertainment industry, there is still palpable fear among the stakeholders over the willingness of the Buhari-led government to sustain the Project Nollywood Act which is supposed to be a yearly grant.

While some stakeholders are calling on the present government to ensure that the project is sustained, many others are singing different songs, insisting that they should probe the disbursement of the

*Task Buhari on the sustenance of the project

By BENJAMIN NJOKU

President Buhari

Disbursement: Where OkonjoIweala erred!

Actors on set fund in the past one year.

Alex Eyengho, President, Association of Nollywood Producers, ANCOP, and Vice President, International Federation of Film Producers Associations, FIAPF while commenting on the sustenance of the project, frowned at the idea of government giving loans, grants, and other forms of intervention funds to the

Actors on set C M Y K

industry, describing as it “ secondary and one that should come only after the aforementioned enabling environment has been put in place.”

He said, it is a matter of putting the horse before the cart. Once this is in place, banks and other corporate organizations will be too willing to do business with the industry.

“If you ask me, I think that the genuine intention behind the setting up of the Project Act Nollywood scheme by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been practically derailed by most of our colleagues in Nollywood who have so far accessed the grant, the Federal Ministry of Finance then led by Dr. (Mrs). Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the socalled consultants the ministry engaged to manage the scheme.

The scheme was meant to energize and reposition the industry in three folds through the provision of grants to applicant-stakeholders in the industry to tackle key challenges of distribution, capacity building and contents production. But alas, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and her consultants got it all awfully wrong from the outset by putting the cart before the horse.

Now, let us 'historicize' albeit in capsule for the purpose of clear understanding of the issue at hand. After former President Jonathan announced the N3 billion grant scheme and Dr. (Mrs) Okonjo-Iweala as its

While some stakeholders are calling on the present government to ensure that the project is sustained, many others are singing different songs, insisting that they should probe the disbursement of the fund in the past one year

manager, she organized a couple of meetings with stakeholders in the industry on how we want the grant to be utilized. In order of priority, we itemized the following: putting in place effective distribution system to tackle the menace of piracy, capacity building for key practitioners in the industry (writers, directors, producers, camera handlers, editors etc) and production of contents.

Participants at these meetings unanimously endorsed this industry position.

Sadly however, and without consulting the industry, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala went ahead to engage consultants, most of them foreigners who know next to nothing about our industry, to manage the scheme. I personally wonder, what then is the role of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC)? What about the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC)? These are statutory federal regulatory agencies for the industry. Is there anything these expatriate consultants know about the industry or can do about the scheme that a tripartite Project Management Committee of the NFC, NFVCB and NCC would not have been able to handle and deliver on record time at no extra fee? Who, and from what source were these OkonjoIweala’s consultants paid or to be paid? From the N3 billion grant, I hope not! These are some of the unanswered questions begging for answers.

Back to my historical trajectory of the Project Act Nollywood.

The expatriate consultants decided to reorder the order already outlined by the industry

Continues on Page 27

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 31

Project Act Nollywood 'Most of the beneficiaries used the grant to marry new wives...'

Ejike Asiegbu

Continued from Page 26 This Sheriff has very short plug for corruption, economic and financial crimes.

We can no longer allow people to give the industry a

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

vis-à-vis the disbursement of the grant and general execution of the project. They now placed capacity building first, contents production second, and distribution third. Simply put, they now decided to put the cart before the horse, without having the courtesy of first consulting the industry. I think this is preposterous. The industry identified ineffective distribution as its major challenge yet, as I speak, not a kobo has been disbursed to any distributor or aspiring distributor in the industry from the N3 billion Project Act Nollywood grant. Why should you waste money on production of contents when there is no efficient, auditable and accountable distribution system in place? Are you not simply providing food for the pirates?

The distribution challenge should have first been tackled, followed by capacity building and then contents production coming last in the tripod disbursement strategy of the grant.

Another development that was extremely nauseating and unbearably choking to me is the fact that handlers of the Project Act Nollywood dangled it as a carrot to get stakeholders in the industry to become clappers and dancers for former President Jonathan at his various political campaign nd rallies during his failed 2 term project. Virtually all the beneficiaries of the capacity building and contents production legs of the tripod grant fall into this category. I dare to be contradicted on this score.

However, let me sound this as

Alex Eyengho a n advice and indeed a note of warning to all the exPresident Jonathan clappers and dancers in the industry who benefitted from the contents production grant to, in their own interest, go to location and use the grant for what it is meant for. Most of them collected the grant and went straight into new marriages, purchasing new cars, renting new apartments, servicing old debts among others. I must make it clear to them that the grant is taxpayers money meant for a specific purpose. It is meant to tackle some of the challenges of the industry, create employment and ultimately energize the industry. This has not happened thus far. For me, collecting the grant and not using it for the purpose it was meant for amounts to economic and financial crime. It also amounts to corruption. It is economic sabotage. Some of us will drop this issue at the doorsteps of the EFCC and ICPC in no distant future. Thank God a new Sheriff is in town at the federal level.

bad name by Zeb collecting money meant to be used for specific purposes in the industry but end up diverting it into other things. Each of the beneficiaries collected between N5 million to N10 million for contents production. They must show proof of such contents they have produced or be ready to face the law. Some of the beneficiaries are the same characters who destroyed the image of the industry before Eco bank with a failed N100 million project. This is no longer acceptable.

For me, I think President Muhammadu Buhari should first look into the books of the Project Act Nollywood before deciding whether to continue with it or not. Let the project managers and consultants first account fully for the N3 billion in their care vis-à-vis the journey so far and how it has impacted on the industry.

Thereafter, whatever is left of the scheme should be handed over to the NFC, NFVCS and NCC to manage in consultation with the industry. As far as I am concerned, President Buhari should strengthen the NCC, Custom and Police, to fight piracy headlong. There is no

need to set up any committee to achieve this. No n e w committee was set up before the late Prof Dora Akunyuli reformed NAFDAC a n d s e n t f a k e drug criminals packing.

The law must be reformed to hang death Ejiro sentence or life imprisonment without option of fine on

pirates and other intellectual property robbers. This offence must be criminalized. This is a sure way to go.

Romanizing the issue will take us nowhere

What the industry need from President Buhari at the moment is not grants or loans. This is least in our long list of challenges. The President should create enabling environment for us. He has started with a near stable power supply in most parts of the country. We must have in place a verifiable, auditable, open and accountable distribution framework in place. Sledge hammer must be slammed on pirates and other intellectual property thieves.

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

30—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST, 15 2015

IYABO AINA 08184172548

Top entertainers who went from super rich to flat broke in t anyone who can bring It is generally believed thafinitely be a millionaire until de millions of dollars would s. die e /sh he y da mous the th some entertainers. Fa But this is not the case wi their partying hard, living fast for to entertainers are known . They have been known than lity nta me ter and dying young fas gs dru d an es rti pa on throw their money away And this is, of course, just one of in. e cam er ev y ne mo the bankrupt. the ways entertainers go of famous celebrities who are Below is a compiled list now financially broke.

•MC Hammer

•Lindsay Lohan

•Toni Braxton

•David Crosby

•Willie Nelson

50 Cent

Curtis Jackson popularly called 50Cent has recently filed for bankruptcy.

The rapper listed his biggest unpaid creditor as Sleek Audio, a firm in Florida that sued Jackson for stealing their headphone design. The court verdict was in favor of the firm, making Jackson obliged to pay an apparent sum of $18,428,257, which he has been unsuccessful in fulfilling.

The second biggest creditor was listed as Lastonia Leviston, who sued Jackson for putting her private sex tape on the Internet.

Among other debts., it is reported that Jackson owes $1,737.33 to his grandfather and $137,880 to Bentley for the car he leases, as well as more than $1 million in legal bills.

Jackson, who has been described as one of richest hip hop artists with multiple companies, is said to have personal assets valued at $15 million, but no details have been filed about those.

Toni Braxton

The “Un-Break My Heart” singer has filed for bankruptcy twice, in 1998 and 2010. She says the first round was due to low royalties from her record label, and the second because she cancelled her Vegas show after learning she was ill.

MC Hammer

The rapper who’s worth was over $33 million filed for bankruptcy in 1996, when he was reportedly already delinquent after several year’s worth of taxes. By 1996, he’d amassed $14 million worth of debts and declared bankruptcy.

Recall that Hammer is known with outrageous spending on luxury cars,

•50 Cent airplanes among others. He has the largest entourage in celebrities history, and his $30 million mansion complete with a bowling alley, 17-car garage and a baseball diamond has served as a cautionary tale to the newly famous.

He recently joined Korean superstar Psy onstage at the AMA’s for a performance of “Gangnam Style.”

Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes was indicted in 2006 for tax evasion. He apparently tried to cheat the government out of almost $12 million and for not filing any tax returns for six years.

In the court case that followed, the claims were affirmed and Snipes surrendered for a jail stint in 2010.

Lindsay Lohan

After almost a decade of crazy-hard partying, arrests, car crashes, and rehab visits, the former Disney child star finally hit rock bottom financially in 2012.

The IRS seized the redhead’s bank accounts after she skipped out on paying over $900, 000 taxes.

In a super-cute move, her Scary Movie 5 co-star Charlie Sheen just hooked her up with a $100,000 to help her avoid bankruptcy, but it’s still not enough.

Willie Nelson

Despite being a countrymusic icon, Willie Nelson had to file for bankruptcy in 1990 after owing taxes totalling $16.7 million to the IRS.

David Crosby

•Nicolas Cage To help pay his debt, Nelson released an album entitled “The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories?” with all the proceeds going to the IRS. During this time they had seized his bank accounts and real estate holdings in six states. He paid off his debt in three years.

David Crosby rose to fame in the mid 1960s as one of the founding members of the psychedelic band The Byrds. In 1968, he met Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash of The Hollies and formed Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The next year the group added Neil Young into the mix. The band was highly successful and is often credited as being the pioneers of rock harmonies.

In 1982, Crosby was arrested for drug possession and spent nine months in prison. By 1985, he was broke due to a highly expensive drug problem. He was arrested again on weapons charges in 1985

•Pamela Anderson and in 2004. He was finally able to pull himself out of his drug addictions and begin making money. It is estimated that prior to 2004, Crosby had earned and spent over $25 million. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice both as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and as a member of The Bryds.

Pamela Anderson

After owing over $800 thousand to the construction company that built her wildly extravagant Malibu mansion and being hit with a $1.7 million tax bill, the love of Tommy Lee’s life was officially broke in 2009. She was forced to sell her manse, and then moved into a trailer park with Lee’s two sons.

Nicolas Cage

In 2009, the Oscarwinning actor skipped out on his taxes to the tune of $6 million, and was forced to put several properties on the market, narrowly escaping bankruptcy. He still hasn’t recovered the salary from most of his film roles, as it goes straight to creditors.

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—33

08 1 1 6759 759 081 6759759

Blindfolded woman strips down to her underwear in Piccadilly Circus...

B

lindfolded woman strips down to her underwear in Piccadilly Circus and invites strangers to draw hearts on her to promote positive body image Any Londoner will know that it takes an extraordinary act to capture the attention of the city’s busy crowds, however one woman’s courageous message was enough to bring the public to a halt.

Body image activist Jae West, from Perth, Australia, surprised passers-by in tourist spot Piccadilly Circus by stripping down to nothing but her underwear.

She then blindfolded herself and stood with her arms outstretched, with a marker pen in each hand and asked the public to draw miniature love hearts on her exposed skin to show their support of self-acceptance.

Jae, who is a member of a group called The Liberators International, explained her intentions by writing her message on a white board. In it, she revealed that she had suffered from an eating disorder, making her display all the more forceful. Jae wrote: ‘I’m standing for anyone who has struggled with an eating disorder or self-esteem issues like me... To support self-acceptance draw a ‘heart’ on my body.’

She filmed her powerful demonstration which saw strangers gradually approach her adding their love hearts to her bare skin. At first she stood alone, extremely vulnerable without any clothes and without being able to see, but slowly people began to walk to up to her. As they drew on her strangers congratulated her on her strong act

taking place beneath the iconic advertising display in the central London location. ‘It’s amazing what you’re doing’ said one with another, adding ‘Very strong message, you’re brave.’

The video ended to reveal that 60 per cent of adults report feeling ashamed of the way they look and encouraged others to share this video to change that.

Since its upload on last Friday the minute-and-a-half long video has received over 70,000 views and is racking up more each day.

She continued to explain that one of the most overwhelming stages of the experiment was hearing her story reach the younger generation.

She continued: ‘One of the most moving and inspiring moments for me was listening to a father explain to his children what I was doing. He was acknowledging the fact that everyone should love themselves exactly as they are and appreciate the bodies that they are given.

‘If everyone could know and appreciate how beautiful they are from childhood I think this world would be a very different place.’

‘Donald Trump was amazing in bed’ 'His good in the boardroom and the bedroom'.

Former Penthouse Pet Sandra Taylor claims that Trump was an amazing

Who says romance is dead?

S

peed dating can be awkward at the best of times, but even more so when the man starts measuring the woman’s breasts.

But that’s exactly what happened at a mass dating event in Hangzhou, eastern China, where the women were also forced to take off their make-up.

More than 30,000 people were looking for love at the waterpark, which held the event on last Saturday, C M Y K

reported the People’s Daily Online.

Organisers said the women were asked to remove their make-up so that men would not judge them on their appearance.

This idea seemed to be quickly ignored when the men were told to take a tape measure to the chest of the woman they were attracted to.

Participants also played a series of games while dressed in swimwear,

including tug-of-war and water fights.

The bizarre event has attracted widespread criticism on Chinese social media. One user posted on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter: ‘Degrading females… Does this mean only women’s faces and boobs are important?’

Another wrote: ‘It shows the freakiest side of a maledominated society. It’s funny when women don’t even respect themselves.’

lover when the two enjoyed a brief fling in 1991, gushing about the presidential’s hopefuls sexual prowess.

She said of Trump, who had his secretary track her down after spotting her on the cover of New York magazine; ‘Omigosh, he was great’.

Taylor - who at that time went by Sandi Korn - also said in her interview with Richard Johnson of the New York Post that Trump would make a ‘terrific president.’

As for their first date, she did not get too graphic with the details, simply saying that the two went for pizza and a walk around the city before ending up back at her apartment. ‘He was very sweet,’ said Taylor.

And it was not just a night of passionate lovemaking

Taylor got on that first date, as Trump also gave her a copy of his book - The Art of the Deal - and told her she needed to change her name.

‘I’ve been Sandra Taylor ever since,’ said Taylor. He also advised Taylor; ‘If you bet big, you win big. If you bet small, you win small.’

The two enjoyed a few more dates but split when their relationship became public.

‘I was sad when it ended,’ said Taylor.

She went on to marry her current husband - ad executive husband David O’Connell - 20 years ago, and now works as an actress. The couple have a child and live in California according to a recent interview Taylor did with Closer.

Indian court rules that divorced woman must never have sex with another man

I

ndian court rules that divorced woman must never have sex with another man if she is to continue receiving financial support from her ex-husband An Indian court has ruled that a divorced woman can only continue receiving financial support from her ex-husband if she never has sex with another man.

A high court judge in Madras, on the east coast of India, said that a woman having sex after divorce was virtually the same as adultery, it has been reported.

Justice S Nagamuthu passed his judgement after a case in which a husband said his wife had been living a ‘wayward life’ while she retaliated by accusing him of ‘illicit intimacy’ with his own niece.

Human rights activists have attacked the decree as ‘regressive’.

Despite stating that financial support was there to help divorcées, he added that women must also remain faithful to their former partners to merit being given the money.

The Times reports the judge as saying: ‘Even after a decree for divorce is granted, if the wife wants to retain her right to claim maintenance from her former husband,she is expected to continue to maintain the same discipline as she was expected to maintain during her marital

ties.

‘Since the man carries the obligation to maintain his divorced wife, the woman also carries the obligation not to live in a relationship with another man.

‘If she commits a breach, she will suffer disqualification from claiming maintenance. If she wants to live in a relationship with another man, she may be entitled for maintenance from him and not from the former husband.’

The Times says activists have taken to social media to attack the decision with the South Asia branch of Human Rights Watch calling for the ruling to be overturned.

She said that such judgements from state courts can sometimes be voted down by India’s supreme court which takes a ‘more enlightened views’.

34—SA TURD AY 34—SATURD TURDA

C M Y K

Vanguard, A UGUST 22, 2015 AUGUST

SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 35

Babaganaru in emotional Nasarawa clash

FIXTURES Enyimba v Taraba 4pm Bayelsa Utd v Sharks 4pm Lobi Stars v Ifeanyi Ubah 4pm Akwea Utd v Giwa 4pm Rangers v Dolphins 4pm Sunshine Stars v El Kanemi Warriors 4pm Warri Wolves v Wikki Tourist 4pm Abia Warriors v Heartland 4pm Kwara Utd v Shooting Stars 4pm Kano Pillars v Nasarawa Utd 4pm

Stories by JOHN EGBOKHAN

I

t has been one back and forth, end to end and dramatic campaign for teams in the nation’s top flight as the chase for the title has seen an exchange and interexchange of the top spots by Sunshine Stars and Enyimba in the last one month or so, which in itself, has rekindled the interest of fans in the Nigerian league.

Between Sunshine Stars and Enyimba, the margin for error is slim as both are involved in the keenest title chase ever seen in the top flight in recent times, with just two points separating the two at the top now.

Sunshine Stars have enjoyed being on top for long since the league commenced in March but started showing signs of fatigue lately when six-time champions, Enyimba started sharing the top spot with them last month. And events that unfolded midweek, which saw Sunshine surprisingly lose 10 to Dolphins and Enyimba’s 1-0 triumph against the reigning champions, Kano Pillars, seem to have tipped the scale in favour of the marauding Aba Elephants.

The relentless Aba Elephants, with 45 points from 24 games, go into this weekend’s round of matches with a two point cushion over their Sunshine Stars, and appear set to consolidate on their summit position given that they host bottom side, Taraba FC on Sunday at their Enyimba International C M Y K

E

motions will certainly run wild this weekend as Coach Mohammed Babaganaru comes face to face with his former team, Nasarawa United, who this weekend, play Kano Pillars at the Sani Aacha Stadium in Kano.

Since taking over the reins of power from Okey Emordi, Babaganaru has improved the fortunes of the reigning champions, who are now in the fifth position with 37 points, eight less than toppers Enyimba.

Until the midweek’s 1-0 loss to Enyimba in Aba, Pillars under Babaganaru had enjoyed a six-match unbeaten streak, a no mean feat to achieve in such a short time of being in charge of a team that have won three titles in the last three years.

And still licking the wounds of their loss in Aba, Pillars would be keen to bounce back with a resounding victory against Nasarawa United in front of their everboisterous fans, who will surely throng the stadium to cheer their darling side to a rousing home win.

And for Babaganaru, it promises to be an emotional reunion with his former teammates, who he left just about a month ago after Emordi was shown the way out by the Pillars management. Noted for his close relationship with his players, it is not in doubt that Babaganaru shares some kind of kindred spirit with his former Nasarawa players, who would be happy to reunite with their coach in such an unfamiliar situation.

But even as Pillars seek maximum points against their opponents, it seems that the celebrations by Babaganaru would be muted tomorrow as he confronts his former boys in an emotional reunion.

Enyimba vow to win title

stadium slaughter ground.

And the twin fact that they have played second fiddle to Sunshine Stars for a long time, coupled with Kano Pillars’s three-years straight title conquest have fuelled the former two-time CAF Champions League winners to resolve not to give up their top spot any sooner.

Speaking on what appears to be a routine whitewash of Taraba FC, Enyimba’s celebrated coach, Kadiri Ikhana, who was not on the bench in the game against Pilllars because of a visit to his dentist, admitted that it was not easy toppling Sunshine Stars from the summit, vowing that he his side are not ready to relinquish their top spot now.

“It has been a very interesting season and we are aware that the drama is only just starting as we would now be the target of the other teams because of our status as the top side on the table. We are aware of the challenges that are ahead of us and would not give in to anything that will take us away from this place”, said Ikhana.

And the likelihood of Enyimba maintaining their summit place after this weekend’s round of games is high as they host hapless Taraba, who are rooted to the last position on the table.

Though their opponents are flirting dangerously with relegation as they have a miserly 20 points from 24 matches played, Ikhana has

urged his wards not to play their opponents with kids gloves, urging them to use the sledge hammer to break whatever resistance they want to pose in Aba. And he is also aware that a drowning man fears no fall and would approach such games with higher intensity and greater desire, two factors which Ikhana is not unaware of, given that they were held to a 1-1 draw by 19th placed Bayelsa United in Oghara, Delta State at the last weekend.

“What happened against Bayelsa United showed that no team can be written off completely or played with kids

gloves. We were expected to easily defeat Bayelsa United but ended up playing a 1-1 draw with them, which was a big surprise to our fans, who saw Bayelsa United as an easy team.

“But they forgot that it is always difficult and tricky beating a drowning man than one that is doing well.

We expect Tarab to come with the same mindset of taking their chances against us but I am confident that my team will be decisive and get the three points that we want to remain on top”, added Ikhana, a former Champions League winner with Enyimba.

TABLE Team Enyimba Sunshine Stars Warri Wolves Wikki Tourist Kano Pillars Abia Warriors Heartland Giwa Nasarawa Ifeanyi Ubah Shooting Stars Rangers El Kanemi Akwa Utd Lobi Stars Kwara Utd Dolphins Sharks Bayelsa Utd Taraba

P 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 23 23 23 23 23 24 23 23 24 24 23 24 24

W 12 13 12 11 11 11 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 6 7 5 4 4 4

D 9 4 5 8 4 4 3 8 6 5 5 5 4 5 9 5 9 10 10 8

L 3 7 7 5 9 9 10 6 8 9 9 9 11 10 8 12 10 9 10 12

GF 33 36 35 28 32 28 33 26 25 25 24 26 22 19 24 21 22 19 15 20

GA 21 20 21 21 26 27 27 28 25 23 22 26 33 23 28 29 27 28 27 31

GD +12 +16 +14 +7 +6 +1 +6 -2 0 +2 +2 0 -11 -4 -4 -8 -5 -9 -12 -11

PTF 45 43 41 41 37 37 36 35 33 32 32 32 31 29 27 26 24 22 22 20

36 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 22, 2015

Keita tips Roma to beat Verona S

•Keita

eydou Keita has tipped Roma to beat Verona in the first match of the Serie A.season.

“The first match in Verona? Like last year, we will always play to win. I hope this is our year, by winning the Scudetto or another

trophy. We will have to work hard, give everything on the pitch and be at our best in order to win it.”

“Juventus are favourites for the Scudetto, mostly because they’re coming from four consecutive wins, It’s also true that Roma, Napoli, Inter and Milan can fight with them. We’ll have to perform like we did last year, but have consistency after January as well.

“Last season we had several problems after the winter break, such as the African Cup of Nations. These aren’t excuses, but they created difficulties”.

Marcelo:

•Buffon

Real must play Sporting on right foot M

arcelo isn’t expecting Real Madrid to walk over Primera new boys Sporting when La Liga returns this weekend.

The left-back, a scorer as Los Blancos defeated Galatasaray in the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu, warned his mates not to expect an easy ride at El Molinon.

“It will be a tough start, it always is in the first game,” he predicted, Marca reports. We have to prepare well for tomorrow. We want to start the League on the right foot.”Regarding his goal against Gala, Marcelo was pleased to be on target but insisted the focus has to be on competitive matches. “I’m very happy to score. But the most important thing is that we start the season well. We have a serious game,” he added.

Iniesta eyes exciting Bilbao battle Andrés Iniesta has urged his Barcelona mates to focus on starting the new La Liga season with a victory. The

N

Odizor, Okocha and Oliseh storm NCC Tennis Cup

igeria’s foremost tennis icon, Nduka Odizor, is one of the three national sports icons listed as special guests of honour at the final Blue Group round robin match between Team Civil Defence and Team Tombim taking place at the Package B tennis courts of the Abuja National Stadium from 10 am today.

The others are world renowned soccer maesto, Jay Jay Okocha and national team coach Sunday Oliseh, both of whom are very decent tennis players.

Odizor played in all the Grand Slams and attained a career highest ranking of 52. The high point of his career was when he reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon after beating C M Y K

champions start their campaign against Athletic Bilbao tomorrow, with Iniesta urging them to move on from the Spanish Super Cup defeat and concentrate

on getting it right at San Mames.

“Now we have to focus on the start of La Liga, which ironically begins for us against Athletic Bilbao. “,

the Barcelona captain tweeted.

Iniesta believes that there is no need for panic despite the team’s sextuple dream going up in smoke.

Rather than crying over spilt milk, he is adamant that the ‘Azulgranas’ must now look forward with optimism and turn their attention to “all the exciting challenges that lie ahead of us, starting with Athletic”

Guillermo Vilas of Argentina. He was thereafter named the “duke of Wimbledon” by the British press. Odizor is currently in Nigeria on a private business visit and has described the NCC Tennis League as “a huge opportunity and platform for Nigerian tennis players to make their breakthrough.”

Okocha and Oliseh, besides playing professional soccer at the highest level where captains of the Super Eagles at some point in their national careers and have taken to tennis as a recreational past time.

Team Tombim, which is hosting, is featuring some of the best emerging younger generation of tennis players with recent international exposure.

Moses Michael their lead player is the highest ranked Nigerian on the ATP Tour and won the Lagos Governors Cup last year. He also played in eight weeks of the Egyptian satellite early this year along with team mate Christian Paul. Former national champion, Henry Atseye and Onyeka Mbanu, a CBN Senior Championship semifinalist are also in the team.

For the women’s singles and mixed doubles, Team Tombim has Sarah Adegoke, the national No.2 seed.

Team Civil Defence, on the other hand, parades a collection of past and current national champions.

Clifford Enosoregbe and Christie Agugbom, current men’s

and women’s national champions respectively, lead the team.

They will be supported by former national champions, Shehu Lawal and Babalola Abdulmumuni as well as in-form Nonso Madueke and team captain Jonah Samuel.

The match has been described as the cream of the round robin stage and is expected to attract a huge crowd.

“This is like having five national singles championship finals – four men’s and one ladies’ – and a men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals over two days.” said Ubale Mohammed, the national junior tennis coach who is coming in from Kaduna to watch the tie. “I do not think I

want to miss that.”

ITF Certified white badge umpires, Aisha Hirse and Duke Onojeide are the officials designated for the tie which serves off at 10 am on Saturday.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 37

Buffon: It’ll be tougher for Juve to win title A

s Juventus start their Serie A campaign at home against Udinese tomorrow, goalkeeper Gigi Buffon feels it will be tougher for the club to win the title, tipping Roma, Milan and Napoli. “You can’t win indefinitely.”

The Bianconeri have won four consecutive Scudetti, the Coppa Italia and this month beat Lazio for the Italian Super Cup. They also lost stars like Arturo Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo, while Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and Sami Khedira arrived.

“We cannot say whether Juve are stronger or weaker now,” Buffon told TuttoJuve.com.

“It is a renovated Juventus, almost changed in its very foundations, because three important players left who went on a big journey with us and helped us to win a great deal.

“Others have arrived with different characteristics, but I feel with the same quality, plus they are younger. It will certainly be more difficult to win this year, but we’re not abdicating before the season has

•Muller

even begun.

“There are moments in history when a club has to take risks, to prove it has clear ideas and a long-term project. Juve want to teach us this and I think they’ve done very well.

“You can’t win indefinitely, even when you are the strongest side.

There are teams who have reinforced in Serie A and even begun a whole new era with great enthusiasm, so we have the utmost respect for the sides that will challenge us for the title.

“Looking at the transfer market, Roma are certainly the team who reinforced the most this summer,” continued Buffon.

“Amid the general transformation and the new project under Sinisa Mihajlovic, I also believe Milan will have a very good campaign, especially as they don’t have European commitments.

“I think if Napoli fans and players are open to learn from Maurizio Sarri, then they too can be a wonderful surprise.”

N

•Trapp

ew Paris SaintGermain goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is loving life in Paris, enjoying his new teammates and insisting that there is no tension between him and Salvatore Sirigu, whom he has replaced as the number one ‘keeper.

“I’m really happy to be here and to be a part of this team,” Trapp beamed. “Angel Di Maria has just joined us and the team is going from strength to strength. Of course we want to win titles in France but we also want to go as far as we can in the Champions League. That’s our objective.”

Coach Laurent Blanc’s preference for Trapp was confirmed when he fielded the German in his starting line-up at home to GFC Ajaccio, but the former Eintracht Frankfurt glovesman insists that his meteoric rise to first-choice

Volland expects emotional Bayern match

H

offenheim forward Kevin Volland has predicted an emotional Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich.

Registering only one shot on goal in a 2-1 defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, it probably wasn’t the start to the new season Volland had hoped for.

Indeed, as die Kraichauer welcome defending champions Bayern to the WIRSOL Rhein-NeckarArena on Matchday 2, the 22-year-old knows he simply has to improve.

On top of the physical battle to regain top fitness, Volland is also having to get his head around a notable positional change in the Hoffenheim attack.

“They’re two different positions, but it’s nothing new - I’ve always played there for the U-21s,” he explained. “Out wide you

I’m enjoying Paris life —Trapp

tend to just face one opponent and you can take them on one-on-one, but you don’t get that in the middle. It’s tighter, but it’s not like we have to stay in one position.

We’re free to roam and look for spaces. You can affect the game whether you’re in the middle or on the flanks.”

On the subject of gamechangers, Hoffenheim’s upcoming opponents Bayern will be bringing more than their fair share to the table in Sinsheim this weekend.

The ease with which the 24time Bundesliga champions dispatched of Hamburger SV on the opening day doesn’t exactly bode well for TSG, but then some things never change.

“Bayern only have good players,” Volland opined.

“For me Jerome Boateng is exceptional - one of the

best central defenders in the world. He’s a massive presence and his build-up play is incredible.

Douglas Costa has also put in some extraordinary performances since moving to Munich […]

They’re one of the best teams in Europe.”

How, then, does young Volland suggest Hoffenheim go about today’s task? “We have to attack and be brave.

That’ll make it uncomfortable for them because they’re not used to that. And that’s definitely one of our strengths, but it’s also risky.

They’re so good they can take apart almost every other team in the world. We want to spring a surprise, but that’s always really, really hard to do against Bayern. We need a perfect day.”

status has not caused any problems in the dressing room.

“Everything’s going really well,” he explained. “We train together every day. Of course there is competition, everyone knows that. We have to give our all, and that just makes everyone improve. There is absolutely no problem between us.

“I just want to take my place in the squad and the team.

Things are getting better and better. It’s to be expected that things are tough at the beginning; I was the only new face whereas everyone else knew each other quite well. But I was warmly welcomed by the team; they’re a great bunch of guys.”

Okagbare targets

gold

T

•Volland

eam Nigeria captain, Blessing Okagbare has set her sights on winning a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships starting today in Beijing.

Though she won a bronze medal in the women’s long jump in the same stadium at the 2008 Olympic Games, Okagbare said she would treasure winning a gold medal this time around.

She said “The stadium in Beijing means a lot to me because, that was the track I won my first and most priceless medal.

Before the 2008 Olympics, I never understood what it meant to be an Olympian and a medalist but I was able to achieve that at the age of 19 .

“I will say it’s more of an advantage than a disadvantage because, over the years, I have learnt so much which has really made me the woman I am today. I do not see any disadvantage being a global star, it only proves to the world that you are simply moving forward, improving and getting better at what you do. My goal for Beijing is to win that gold medal that my profile is missing.”

C M Y K

38—SA TURD AY Vanguard, A UGUST 22, 2015 38—SATURD TURDA AUGUST

Funeral ser vice ffor or Comf or won service Comfor ortt Jemibe Jemibew

I

t was a roll call of top socialites, government functionaries and a host of others at the funeral service held in honour of Late Chief [Mrs] Comfort Adunni Jemibewon [nee Oni] at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Christ Church, Gbagada, Lagos recently.

Late Chief [Mrs] Comfort Adunni Jemibewon [nee Oni] was the first wife of former military administrator of old Oyo State. Photos by Bunmi From right: Tunbosun Kola-Daisi, Tayo Kola-Daisi, Seun Somolu, Bimbo Somolu, Yomi Jemibewon and Patricia Jemibewon, Children and in-laws of Azeez the deceased

From left: Mr. Ayo Joseph, Mr. Tunde Ayeni, Chairman Skye Bank Plc, Prince O. Osunbote and Mr. Kunle Oni,

Ogunta e Oguntayyos dedicat dedicate child

T

he Oguntayos were full of joy and praises when they came before the Lord for the dedication of their new baby Adebukola Chimamanda Oguntayo on August 9, 2015 at the Assemblies of God Church, Peace Estate, OkoAfor, Badagry, Lagos.

From left: Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, Deputy Gov of Kogi state and his wife, Tokunbo,

L-R:Incoming District Governor, Otunba Bola Onabadejo. L-R: Chief Adebayo Akande, Chief (Mrs]) Nike Akande, Chief Bamidele Iku and Pastor Segun Arowobusoye

X3M Ideas mar ks 3rd anniv er sar marks anniver ersar saryy in style

X

3M, a digital advertising agency have said their mission goal is to change the perception of advertising in Nigeria. They gave a good hint of what they are capable of when they pulled the movers and shakers of the entertainment industry together in a serene bubbly atmophere to celebrate their third anniversary

C M Y K

L-R: Ndukwe Onuoha, Tope Ojo, Michael Udenna, Steve Babaeko, DawalolaThompson, Uduak Akpan and TojuTuedor.

L-R: Praiz, DJ Spinall, Steve Babaekoand Sammy Yakubu.

L-R: Angelone (CMO, Etisalat Nigeria), Vivian Nwadike and Gbemi Ogunkeye.

L-R: Nelson Ononiwu, Arinola Shobande, Nike Odutola, Olasunkanmi Atolagbe and Taiwo Agboola.

L-R: Mrs & Pastor S.O Olekaibe of Assemblies of God Church, Peace Estate, Oko-Afor, Badagry and Deaconess Nneoma Okoronkwo with baby Adebukola Chimamanda Oguntayo.

L-R: Deaconess Nneooma Okoronkwo; Pastor Mrs Olekaibe (with baby Adebukola); Mr. & Mrs. Adeyemi Oguntayo; and Deaconess Toju Oguntayo.

Child actors acting King and Queen, and other Children of Assemblies of God Churc

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, A UGUST 22, 2015 — 39 AUGUST

(Text Only)

The Rocking (Stage 1)

The Shouldingstand

The Rocking (Stage 2)

Workout for the busy person (1) The Shoulderstand Technique: Lying on your back, draw up your knees, and place both hands at the back with the thumbs to the hips. With a bit of momentum, raise the legs up and point the toes skyward. For the beginner, a halfminute in this posture will do until over the long haul you can stay for upwards of two minutes.

The Headstand C M Y K

Headstand Technique: To perform the headstand, sirshasana in sanskirt, get on your knees, interlacing the fingers, place the hands on the floor in front of you. Lean forward and place the head on the floor and supporting its back with the interlaced fingers. With the help of the feet raise the hips up in the air. Now, raise the feet and bend the knees until stillness is obtained standing on the head.

Straighten the legs rather slowly until the whole body is in a straight vertical line.

Benefits: •Gives the heart a well deserved

The Headstand gives the heart a well deserved rest, as gravity helps to return venous blood to the heart rest, as gravity helps to return venous blood to the heart.

• Regular practice helps to strengthen the respiratory system and the circulation, keeping them flexible and slowing down the rate of breathing and the heartbeat when at rest.

• The body is generally enhanced by the deep breathing and the brain, spine, and entire nervous system receive a rich supply of nutrients. This refreshes

and rejuvenates the entire body.

Rocking Technique: Sit with the knees drawn and place the hands at the back of the knees. Now thrust the feet forth and back in rhythmic succession like a rocking chair.

Don’t hesitate while doing the Rocking or you’ll get “Stuck”. Once you’ve got the hang of it you may do two sets of 10, resting briefly inbetween.

Benefits: The rocking firms the muscles of the abdomen and the upper thigh and the back.

It’s reputed to lead to sounder sleep.

Yoga Classes STARTED @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos.

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

40—SATURDAY

Vanguard,AUGUST 22, 2015

Just Female:

Four P’s of breastfeeding B

REASTFEEDING could be one of the most demanding but exciting experiences of motherhood. But it is not an automatic response because several women are confused about when to start or exactly what to do.

One such woman is 31-year-old Funmi who as a new mother is eager to breastfeed her son, but doesn’t really know how to start.Funmi is not alone. Although breastfeeding is a natural experience, it has to be practiced and learned.Experts say every new mother almost always has to learn positioning and their baby’s cues, and the baby in turn, has to learn how to suck on the nipple properly.The best advice that it is best to begin feeding when you and your baby are relaxed, calm, and alert.

Your baby does not always announce he or she is hungry by crying. Crying is usually the last sign of hunger. The baby initially gives visual cues like licking or smacking the lips or sucking the hands or fingers to tell you he/she is hungry.

How to begin Begin by getting into a comfortable position using pillows to avoid back and neck pain and helping to position the baby to be level with your breast. You may also use a pillow on your lap to support your baby. The goal is for the pillow to support your baby’s weight, keeping his nose in line with your nipple. Hold your baby close to you with the whole body facing you.

Scoop up your breast and hold it like a “C”.

Avoid putting your index finger too close to the areola.

Latching A common problem with breastfeeding is an improper or shallow latch of the baby to the breast. To get a good, deep latch, support your breast and help your baby get the nipple deep in the mouth.Then tease the baby with your nipple up and down and wait for the baby to open really wide, then lead with his chin and draw the nipple into the mouth.The nipple should end up near the soft back palate, C M Y K

behind the hard roof of your baby’s mouth.The rule of the thumb is that you bring the baby to the breast, not bring the breast to the baby.

The Cradle If your arm is supported and the baby is in nice alignment and completely facing you, this is called cradle position.Other positions you can try are the football or clutch hold. Your baby is placed on a pillow next to you and this position is good for newborns because it supports the baby’s head.It’s also good for women recovering from a C-section and those with large breasts.

The lying-down The lying-down position allows babies to attach easily. With your baby on his side facing you, draw him/her close.

You can cradle his/her bottom or head with one hand if necessary. This can be a good position to enable you get a bit of rest. See that the lips are flanged out and that he has a nice wide angle here.

Unlatching Every woman’s anatomy is different.

Some women’s nipples are larger, so

•Breastfeeding mother •Breastfeeding man

Tap the baby under the chin.

Just a couple little taps. The lying-down position helps in moving the chin on the nipple and the baby’ll feel that in his mouth and usually start up a little bit again.

It’s also normal for babies to go through spurts where they want to feed frequently.

Is your baby feeding well?

you have to go by about how much the baby has taken into the mouth.

There may be times when you need to help your baby unlatch —such as when you’re uncomfortable or your baby’s done feeding but is still sucking intermittently. You can help your baby release the nipple by breaking the suction with your finger.

The way to go is to put your finger in the corner of the baby’s mouth and just break the suction and slide the baby off. If your baby’s fallen asleep while feeding and you don’t think he’s had enough yet, you can encourage him to start up again.

If you wish to know if the baby’s getting enough, the best way to tell is by counting your baby’s wet and dirty diapers. About six wet and three dirty diapers in 24 hours means your baby’s getting a good amount to eat.Other signs your baby’s eating well include the softening of your breasts after a feeding and the sounds he makes while feeding.Babies can nurse anywhere from five minutes to 45 minutes. Most babies will fall asleep and self-detach when they’re full.

Breast soreness/engorgement In the first days and weeks, new mothers may experience nipple soreness, which can be eased by applying breast milk or nipple

ointment. If soreness persists, your baby may not be positioned or latching well. A lactation consultant can help. You might also experience engorgement.

Normal fullness is to be expected, but engorgement is not normal. Engorgement is a very hard breast. It can be very, very lumpy, and milk has a difficult time passing through the breast when it is engorged. The best thing to ward off engorgement is frequent feedings. For engorgement, use ice in 10-minute intervals on the upper breast after each feeding. If your baby isn’t able to drain your engorged breast, try hand-expressing some milk or use a breast pump to relieve the discomfort. If you develop a fever or a hot red spot on your breast, call your doctor. These can be signs of an infection.

SATURDAY

Vanguard,AUGUST 22, 2015 — 41

Vanguard, SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015 —41

Lifeline

What Use-by, Sell-by, Best-by dates mean

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hen you purchase food items at your local store or supermarket, you may notice a printed “Sell by” date, ”Use by” date or ”Best Before” date on the packaging or item itself and wonder just what that date really means. Getting informed about the true ”Shelf Life” of most popular food items, reveals that most food is still edible after these printed expiration dates have passed.

You may need to know that food can actually be sold after an expiration date. Stores are not legally required to remove food from the shelf once the expiration date has passed.

The expiration dates are strictly “advisory” in nature and are left entirely to the discretion of the manufacturer, thus not truly indicative of an items true Shelf Life.

So if you find yourself regretfully throwing away your food as soon as it hits that barely legible date on its packaging, you’re probably wasting way more food than you need to. Turns out, those

SEXUAL ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

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n continuation from the last edition of how to deal with sex problems in marriage, we are going to look at another way this can be done; 2) TALK ABOUT SEX IN YOUR MARRIAGE -A big part of strengthening the sexual relationship between you and your partner is maintaining open and honest communication between you and your spouse. Bringing up the sexual issues or challenges in your marriage will show you are trying to make sex top priority in your relationship, instead of an occasional occurrence. Perhaps you have grown distant from your spouse or your spouse has grown distant from you. Regardless, be proactive and get the conversation started. Let your spouse know that you realize it’s important to have an intimate connection in a relationship, especially in a marriage. It may be a bit difficult at the beginning, but don’t give up.

Hello Viewden, I’m an ardent follower of your article and I decided to try out Vimax with Gingko tea some weeks back to help fight my weak erection because I’m a diabetic 60 year old and to my surprise, apart from the fact my diabetic level reduced, I was able to get an erection after such a long time. Anytime I ejaculate, the semen released is very small and I’m not happy with this. What can you recommend I take? Boyo Hello sir, like I usually say on this tabloid, Gingko tea helps reduce the level of diabetes and hypertension and that’s why it also allows Vimax to take its effect in giving good erection. Both can be taken by people with health issues and men free from it, since its herbal and has no side effects. Volume

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dates aren’t necessarily hard expiration dates—and they definitely don’t all mean the same thing.

In a recent report for the Institute of Food Technologists, Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Dr. Bob Brackett breaks down the difference between those “use-by,” “sell-by,” and “best-by” labels.

Unless a use-by or best-by label is followed by the words ”for safety,” these dates refer to the quality of your products—so there’s no need to panic if you’re a few days past the “use-by” date.

“You can probably eat it and not worry about it, just understand it’s not the best quality anymore,” says Brackett. There is one caveat: If you’ve opened the product already. Once you do that, things become a little less precise because the food is at risk of being contaminated by your or the

environment, something the date on the

packaging doesn’t account for.

If you’re like most people, you rely on sensory cues like a sour smell, slimy texture, or weird color to tell if your food has gone bad.

But Dr Brackett says that disease-causing organisms are invisible and aren’t behind spoilage problems.

So just because your milk hasn’t gone sour yet doesn’t mean it hasn’t gone bad.

While Brackett says many are pushing for a more regulated system to avoid consumer confusion, there is no standardized rule that determines which types of products get use-by dates and which get sellby stamps.

Manufacturers do their own shelf-life studies and indicate the quality timeline of their products however they deem fit.

HOW TO DEAL WITH SEX PROBLEMS IN MARRIAGE pills is the best to help increase the volume of semen produced in men, both old and young; and you don’t need to be worried as Volume pills is also very safe without side effects cos its herbal.

I got a product called Plant Vigra from you last year which has been the only product that has ever given me strong erection after trying so many; I called in several times to order, but I was told it’s not available. Can I know when it will be available? Chuma Plant vigra is now available and you can place your order at any time. Good to know you got an amazing result with Plant vigra which doesn’t give headache and gives good erection at the same time.

I have been taking Prosolution for the past two months just as I was instructed to take so as to correct early ejaculation.

I must confess to you that I now stay longer than before and can even go for more than one round if I want. Now that I’m about completing the 2nd pack, hope I will not experience early ejaculation again? And the result I have will be permanent? JT In most cases, it takes two or more months for Prosolution to totally correct early ejaculation, it all depends on your body type. Permanent result can be enjoyed when you live a healthy lifestyle like not smoking, eating healthy diets, reduce stress and the likes.

I read your last article about the Gingko tea and Cleanshield helping to handle waist, back, leg pains with arthritis problems; I tried it and the result I got was amazing by the end of the first week of usage. How long do I have to keep using them? Emma Cleanshield and Gingko are herbal products that help fights arthritis or any

pain that has to do with bone. You have to take them for at least three months before you can stop, so that they can fight the root cause of the pain and repairs damaged bones too.

I’m a lady in my mid-thirties and I have given birth to 3 children. My husband is complaining that my breast is sagged and that my vagina is not tight enough, how can you help me? I don’t want my husband cheating on me.

Chinyere Hello Chinyere, being a mother of three should make you happy and proud and not feel bad about yourself or losing the elasticity of both your beast and your vagina. Breast active kit, which consists of the cream and pill is a herbal product to help fill up your breast and then firm it up and t takes about three months for you to get a good result; while for the vagina tightners, you can get O’natural tightening cream, Like a virgin gel and the likes to help tighten your vagina up.

You can also tighten up your vagina naturally by doing the Pubococcyceus squeezing exercise. When you want to pee ad you try to stop t, the muscle using to stop the pee is the pubococcyceus muscle. Ry squeezing this muscle for about 10 to 15 second as many times as possible in a day and you’ll get an amazing result.

These are all we can take for today.

Adults who needs any of these aphrodisiacs can call us on 08034666358, 07059294782 or place your orders at www.viewden.com . For further enquiries, send us an email at vieweden@yahoo.com, viewden@ymail.com Kemi Fawole (MD)

42—SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUSt 22, 2015 Dear Julie, I am a married woman with two children. My husband is an office executive and earns good pay. But I'm not getting sexual satisfaction in my marriage. I am also employed and working though I have a business too but lack of sexual satisfaction in my marriage has left a deep urge in me.

I am sexually attracted to a man at work and I have given him all the signs which he understood and followed up. He is also married but is equally attracted to me and we have been having sex in the office at the slightest opportunity. I know that very soon, tongues would start wagging and the gossip will spread.

Some of my colleagues have started giving me the 'I know something' look but couldn't say anything to my face.

What do I do about this?

Sekinat, Abuja Dear Sekinat, Are you asking for my opinion on whether you should continue this workplace dalliance? Sexual at-

Should I make the first move?

juliecoker100@yahoo.com

I'm sexually attracted to a man at work traction in the workplace is readily combustible and often hard to resist or extinguish once the fires start raging. Let me tell you something; when you continue and this gets prolonged, it would rarely stay neat, sweet and discrete.

Both of you are married and none of you would leave his or her spouse for a variety of reasons, ranging from the psychological to the financial. Then the guilt eventually becomes a disruptive third party making the rendezvous increas-

ingly conflicted and neither lover is absolutely immune, whether married or single. It's also possible that you are acting out anger toward your spouse with an affair as you are not getting sexual satisfaction in your marriage. Usually, it's better to confront the problems in your marriage, decide if you can or cannot make the marriage work and start over, sadder and wiser, in your marriage or on your own.

I'm stuck in this marriage Aunty Julie, I have been following your column and now, I have a problem that I need to be solved. I've been in a relationship with my female partner for approximately 22 months, and it's been going downhill since the beginning. Lack of communications and commitment seems to be the main problems. I work in an oil firm and occasionally travel offshore and that is where most of the problems occur when we don't see each other that much.

Sometimes when I'm at home, she has to go to work in another town.

It's not a far distance but I manage to see her as often as possible.

Both of us have suffered temptation and I have this feeling we have both given in to it at different times.

Lately we've been talking about breaking up, but the problem is we fear being lonely. Help me out here.

Dapo, Lagos

Dear Dapo, Lack of communication and commitment are big obstacles. But what worries me is why each of you are afraid to be alone when you are without each other most of the time.

And talking about lack of communication, why is this lacking?

Usually, people have difficulty with being alone when they are anxious and they have to distract themselves continuously and when they are not feeling good about work or their social life or when they have not developed any creative outlets .

Does that mean that outside each other, you do not have one or two close friends you can share genuine issues with?

Of course, let's not minimize the 22 months the two of you have been together. That's a significant period of time, even if the relationship has been sliding downward for awhile. You both

Aunty Julie, I'm not really sure where to begin. I came from a happy home, even though my parents were divorced. I'm a 300 student at the University. During my first semester, I was raped-date rape, alcohol related. I moved on with my life.

Two months later, I got married but nine months into my marriage, I got pregnant, then miscarried. I still tried to move on in life and continued my education. Almost three years after the first rape, I was raped again. This is where I feel like I am going literally crazy. I reported this one to the police, but I think that was a bad idea. I can't handle the stress this has brought on! It is affecting my education and I feel like quitting. I would hate myself if I gave up. I have to finish school. I just need help rearranging my life.

Ada, Benue

may need the help of a friend, family member, teacher, spiritual advisor or, maybe, a counselor to help you grieve the end of the relationship.

It doesn't mean you can't be friends.

But clinging to each other out of some dysfunctional fear will just block your ability to emotionally grow and fully move on with your individual lives.

It has also been discovered that often, young adults have several unfinished emotional issues and conflicts with their families of origin.

Sometimes, these conflicts linger and can contribute greatly to communication difficulties. Your current partner is a catalyst for stirring up your old emotional "hot button" issues that predate her. And being unfinished emotionally with family also correlates with being unsure of one's self-esteem and sense of identity. This vulnerability will certainly make commitment a daunting prospect.

His wife on his mind Wife: "How would you describe me?"

Husband: "ABCDEFGHIJK." Wife: "What does that mean?"

Husband: "Adorable, beautiful, cute, delightful, elegant, fashionable, gorgeous, and hot."

Wife: "Aw, thank you, but what about IJK?" Husband: "I'm just kidding!"

C M Y K

Dear Henrietta, It's possible, like you, he doesn't feel comfortable taking the first step. Was he also working for the academic? Some folks become more reserved socially in work settings.

Also, I believe a female has as much right and responsibility to initiate or engage in social feedback and even a little flirtation. Clearly, a smile or hello is just fine.

At the same time, I don't want to overlook his behaviour.

Maybe he isn't sufficiently selfconfident; perhaps he feels a bit intimidated. Maybe you both are sensitive to rejection. And, yes, it's possible staring may have some hostile implications.

He might be angry with you because he doesn't feel worthy of you.

I've been a rrape ape victim se ver ally sever verally Dear Ada, I really feel for you and I suspect you are struggling with post-traumatic stress. There's the horror of the rape, then the added anxiety, if not trauma, of the police investigation, especially if not handled sensitively.

Also, if you were intoxicated on the date rape, then you may have guilt feelings about your "contributory negligence." Remember, even if you had too much to drink, you weren't "asking for it," you weren't asking to be raped!

And the second rape can also stir unresolved grief

C O C K - T A L E S Breast Implants The following conversation took place between a husband and wife at the dinner table.

Wife: Can I have $20’000 to get some breast implants to make them bigger.

Husband: Why don’t you just rub toilet paper on your nipples.

Wife: Does that really work?

Husband: Well it seems to have worked on your ass.

Dear Aunty Julie, I was really impressed with some of the answers you gave to the questions posed to you.

I need an objective third party to help with my situation. I was working for an academic, and I noticed a male student around 26 years old who seems interested in me. Several times, there have been intense eye contact between us and he has stared at me many times. I wonder if I should make the first move of walking up to him.

But if this guy could have enough nerve to stare at a woman like that over a period of several months, I feel that he would have the guts to approach her? Does that mean he didn't hold a sincere interest in the first place? Should I forget having any interest in him whatsoever?

I am 25 years old.

Henrietta, Port-Harcourt

Couple dance Husband takes the wife to a disco. There’s a guy on the dance floor giving it large – break dancing, moonwalking, back flips, the works. The wife turns to her husband and says: "See that guy? 25 years ago, he proposed to me and I turned him down."

Husband says: "Looks like he’s still fucking celebrating!!"

The silence treatment Not too long ago, there was a woman who wanted to know how her husband would react if she left without telling him where she had gone. She decided to write him a letter saying she is tired of him and didn't want to live with him any more.

After writing the letter, she put it on the table in the bedroom and then climbed under the bed to hide until her husband got home. When he even-

around your miscarriage. Now, I'm not sure where your marriage comes in regarding the sequence of rapes. But I'm sure this is also tortuous for your husband.

Get some individual counselling with a woman who has expertise in rape/sexual abuse and, perhaps, with women who have miscarried . Next, some couple counselling to help you and your husband cope with the traumas. Please don't allow shame or unfinished grief about the rapes, the miscarriage or your disrupted school performance keep you from getting the help that you need and deserve. tually came back home, he saw the letter on the table and read it. After a few moments of silence, he picked up the pen and added something to the letter. Then he started to get changed, whistling happy tunes and singing and dancing while he did so. He grabbed his phone and dialled a number.

His wife listened from under the bed as he started chatting to someone. "Hey babe, I'm just changing clothes then will join you," he said.

"As for the other fool, it finally dawned on her that I was fooling around on her and left. I was really wrong to have married her; I wish you and me had met earlier. See you soon, honey!" Then he hung up and walked out of the room.

In tears and very upset, she climbed out from under the bed and stumbled over to read what her unfaithful husband had written on the end of her letter. Through teary eyes, she read: "I could see your feet you idiot, I am going out to buy bread."

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, A UGUST 22 AUGUST 22,, 2015—43

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Stars believe you ’re mature when you find the right balance...

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OME few months ago, members of a job-assessing panel in one of the ministries were a bit surprised when Fayo turned up for yet another promotional interview. “How old are you”, a member of the panel challenged.

“52 sir”, Fayo replied, not quite as confident as he sounded. “We have in our presence here yet another affidavit you’ve just signed, reducing your age”, continued the panellist. “But look at you, my dear man, your grey strands are fighting against the dye you’d obviously applied some days ago. We quite understand why you’re hanging on to paid employment, but we would want to encourage younger managers.

Unfortunately, you have not reached the 35-year ceiling where you must retire whether you like it or not.

“We’ll do you a favour and approve this promotion on condition that you apply for retirement immediately after period of my life when I felt your promotion or you’ll be like I was going to run out of forcibly retired.” Fayo gave air if I wasn’t rattling around his word knowing his in bed with somebody. But retirement benefits would be I’ve gotten more comfortable determined by his new salary. with solitude. I appreciate it “Aging isn’t easy, is it?” observed a sixty-some-thingyear-old recently. “How many of us haven’t freaked out when we turned 30? Or 40?

Or 50? All our lives, we are bombarded with photos of gorgeous youth models with olive skin, no wrinkles and not a gram of fat on their worked-out bodies. You might be that way once, but age eventually takes its toll”. If you are wondering how some of the internationally acclaimed celebrities always manage to thumb their nose at aging, then take a cue from Jack Nicholson, now pushing 80 and a three-time Oscar winner “I stopped thinking about age or aging a long time ago”, he says. “When I was still in my 30s, people were writing that I was wrinkled and bald. All those guys were younger than me at the time. Now, those guys have gotten bald and wrinkled and, as every-one can see, I don’t have any hair plugs or tucks or this or that.

I have never felt the need to mutilate myself to appear younger. The good thing about getting older is that your character improves whether you want it or not”.

Continues the actor.

“Nature forces you to become a better person and that’s a good thing. I’ve learnt to be alone, with age, and I like it.

I had to learn how to be alone. There was a long

Nature forces you to become a better person and that’s a good thing

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as a luxury. It was much easier turning 65 than 50.

That landed on me like a ton of bricks. That’s when I really realized my mortality. As far as I know, 42 is probably the

best age to be. You’ve been around, you’ve probably achieved some of your goals, but you still have all of your physical capabilities.

Although I ran into Sidney Poitier at the gulf course a few years back and he gave the last piece of good news I’ve had in a while. He says that you get a huge burst of energy at 70.

So, I waited for that, hanging on by my ringer nails! And you know what? He was right! As for Sophia Lonen, the 60s sexsymbol, now 78 and a grandmother: “Getting older is wonderful. You mature. Why should I fear growing old?

Everyone gets older—if you’re lucky. One is born in a certain way and can only make the

best of it. I try to keep in shape as much as I can and I’m still open to new experiences and I’m enthusiastic about my life and the new things I can learn”.

“Love is necessary for happiness”, says the ageless beauty who gets up at six in the morning, goes for a 90-minute walk and goes to sleep at 8.30pm. ‘In life, things are all sorts of love. It’s not just one love.

You have to love not to dry up and die. When you reach the age of 40, if you’re unhappy inside, it shows so much on your face.

“Find out what you need to make you happy and tranquil. If you know that, you will be content. People become mature when they find the right balance within themselves and with the lives they want to lead”.

When life gets you down!

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ccording to Elaine foreman, a clinical psychologist: “Every one is feeling anxious these days.

We all struggle to make ends meet and are fearful of what lies around the corner. The world is full of doom and gloom. May be you worry from the moment you wake up. Will you keep your job? What about the family? Are you facing disaster? And when you go back to bed you lie staring at the ceiling unable to sleep.

But is there a cure? Here are some key worry-busting techniques she developed.

These self help strategies can not only stop us fretting about the things we can’t change, they help us clear our minds to deal with those we can.

Worry-busting stage1: Become a thought detective. In order to deal with your worries and the way they make you feel, you first need to track down the culprits that spark them off—your thoughts. Think about what was happening when you started to feel anxious.

Perhaps you heard a rumour at work that management was about to start laying people off.

Then ask yourself the following questions and write down your answers: What’s the worst that could happen? How could this affect my life? How could this affect the way others see me?

Does this remind me of anything in my past that bothered me? What would my parents say about this? How might this affect the way I feel about myself?

Worry busting stage 2: Hold a thought court. Most people don’t question their thoughts.

By putting your anxious thoughts on trial, you may be surprised to find that many of them don’t hold up under cross examination. Draw two columns— one for evidence supporting your anxious thoughts and one for evidence against them. Now come up with as much evidence for and against as you can and write it all down.

Worry busting stage 3:Take a thought remedy. Think again about the worst thing that could happen and ask yourself the following questions. This will help you see that you can deal with the vast majority of your worries: Have I ever dealt with anything like this before?

How much will this affect my life a year from now? Do I know of anyone who has coped with something like this? How

did they do it? Can I think of something good that could result from this challenge?

Worry busting stage 4: Axe your anxiety. Be your own best friend. This works because it helps you pull back from the overwhelming emotions that block good, reasonable thinking. Pick something that has been worrying you. Now imagine that a friend has the same problem and they are sitting opposite you asking for support. Talk out loud and try to help. You’ll be surprised at the amount of useful advice you come up with. Afterwards, write it all down and follow it yourself.

Worry-busting stage 5: Create calm. Draw up two columns, putting your anxious thoughts in one column and a realistic alternative in the second.

Don’t get carried away make sure it is believable.

For example, if you’re worried about losing your job, it’ll cause some hardship but the odds are good that you’ll find another one. And your husband could offer to increase his hours if you need him to.

44—SATURDAY

Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

YETUNDE AREBI

Who is a prostitute?

Of all the messages and reactions I received last week, this contribution by Mr. Emeka Nwadiora caught my attention. He wanted to know my views about prostitution and if the ‘lazy’ girl who resorts to prostitution as a genuine way of living can be excused.

Dear Yetunde, Your piece on this topic (The sex of a woman) is well researched and carefully written, without omitting anything about a woman. You have represented the women folk very well, presenting their condition to the male chauvinists that descend on them with loads of blame at every instance. This beautiful piece calls for pity on women at all times, maybe some day someone will present the men’s angle for the world to see and either admire or scorn them. All the points projected by you notwithstanding, am tempted to ask you to make suggestions to the world on how to view that lazy girl that resorts to prostitution as a genuine way of living in this modern times.

Thanks Emeka Nwadiaro wrote from Lagos Thank you sir, A couple of years back, I had conducted an extensive research and interviews on prostitution and from my findings, this is not something that can be easily discarded with a wave of the hand as right or wrong, or good or bad. In understanding prostitution, you will need to take into great cognisance many factors, ranging from the circumstances, psychology, economy etc, rather than just a moral and religious posture.

What exactly is prostitution? According to Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary, it is the act, practice or profession of offering the body for sexual relations for money. In a broader term, prostitution is described as the act of exchanging sex for money, favour or gratification. It is not in all cases that money is the lure. So, simply put, a prostitute is that woman who uses her body or sexuality in the manner described above.

Today, men are also into big time prostitution all over the world. And how is this act perpetuated? In Nigeria, as in many other countries of the world, prostitution thrives in many forms. There are several C M Y K

categories of prostitutes. Unfortunately, the more crass and visible, the more condemnation by the society. From the dingy walls of a brothel to the most complex glamorous and sophisticated high societies. From the prostitute in the brothel to the street walker, the escort and the professional who lives a double life, prostituting in the shadows and those who simply have no obvious compelling reason for doing it. Perhaps with the exception of the last group, every class of prostitute will have a reason and a circumstance to her story.

Princess Adetola Adesida, CEO, Lydia Grace Foundation, an NGO with several years experience in counselling, rehabilitation and empowerment of

Can a married woman who offers sex in exchange for groceries to feed her family be compared with a man who turns a blind eye to his wife’s adultery with a highly influential political godfather in exchange for a juicy post of his own? young women, listed the several categories of women who prostitute as follows: Brothel based prostitutes: These are more likely to be women without education or vocation to pursue any other means of sustenance. Most of the time, they live in the brothels and wait for potential clients who want to patronise their wares. Many of them come from the villages and rural areas.

According to her, we must understand that apart from the South West, for many years, priority was not given to the education of the girl child. Most young girls went to the farms and also, as they grew up, the responsibility of the families fell on their shoulders. So, for them, it is mainly for survival reasons.

The street walkers: This category of girls often have some basic education but lack the financial

capacity or support to pursue their next goal.

This could be vocation or education or a form of trade. Many of them engage in prostitution in order to save up to be able to move on.

Sexual curiosity does sometimes get the better of some girls and they go in for the experience with the hindsight that they can also make money from it. Some street walkers are recruited by others voluntarily, by force, or blackmail. It could be a pimp or madam who will manage their affairs and provide protection for them. Some, like those trafficked to other locations or countries are forced to take to the streets to offset phantom huge sums of debts by their traffickers.

Escorts: This is a big money spinning business enterprise that caters for a cross section of sexual preferences across societies.

The innovation of the internet has added to the sophistication of escorts. Like some street walkers, escorts are managed by pimps and madams who act as the contact points for business. They act as middlemen, negotiating between the women and the potential customers. Most of the women are educated and/or employed, while large percentages are also university students. The money from this trade is used for whatever is of value to them and this could range from payment of school fees to pursuing a certain lifestyle and taste.

However, sexologists are finding it increasingly difficult to classify what constitutes prostitution and who a prostitute is today. It is not all the time that women who engage in sex for money are in dire need of money. It is not because they are poor and helpless but for sundry other motives. Take for instance, a Nigerian girl in her teens schooling abroad, all bills paid for by her parents, yet is in a sexual relationship with a married man who pays for her holiday trips around the world and buys her exotic designer labels. Or her counterpart in a Nigerian university who is an ardent follower of the Aristo movement? Yet, this form of prostitution has been excused by critics as peer pressure influence and a result of our dwindling moral and societal values.

Neither the girls nor their clients think of this as prostitution but a mutually satisfying and benefitting arrangement. So, what do you call a woman who agrees to sleep with the boss for a raise or promotion in the office? A married woman carrying on a relationship with her boss to secure her position? A student having sex with the lecturer to raise her scores? Can a married woman who offers sex in exchange for groceries to feed her family be compared with a man who turns a blind eye to his wife’s adultery with a highly influential political godfather in exchange for a juicy post of his own? Is he her pimp or her husband? The truth is that sex is a very potent weapon.

Those who engage in it do so for a reason, obvious or remote. Even marital sex is manipulative most of the time, especially by the woman.

While I do not know this described ‘lazy ’ girl’s circumstance and background, I am in no way justifying prostitution also. There are no doubts many dangers associated with prostitution, especially sexually transmitted diseases and those who expose themselves, do so with knowledge of its implications. But faced with severe economic hardship and no helper in sight, people tend to switch to survival mode. It is unfortunate that most of us are self seeking hypocrites and many live double lives while applying double standards in judgment of others. The story of Jesus and the prostitute who was about to be stoned to death aptly captures my views on prostitution. He who has no sin should cast the first stone!

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

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Vanguard, A UGUST 22, 2015 — 45 AUGUST

ecently, I came across a number of writeups from Europe and America questioning the relevance of the marriage institution.

This thinking is mainly borne out of the increasing rate of divorce, and people now living together without being married and having children outside wedlock. In their thinking, if the primary purposes of marriage are companionship and procreation, why go into it when you can cohabit and procreate without being married?

This thinking, though defective, is understandable. More than 50 per cent of marriages in the US end in divorce. The rest of the West is not

Is marriage getting outmoded?

too far behind in divorce rate. Among African Americans, especially, you see a girl of 25 already a mother of five children from three or more fathers. But this multiple-fathers trend is not peculiar to them. Here in Lagos, it is not uncommon to see a woman with three grown-up daughters living with her. Between the daughters, they have 10 children from five or more fathers. Some of these absentee fathers are agbayas (good for nothing. That is what you are if you abdicate your parental responsibilities).

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he rates of divorce and cohabitation are also increasing in Nigeria. So it is not entirely surprising to hear some Nigerian youngsters also saying that marriage is going out of fashion. Some of these guys “are having the time of their lives.” They “camp” girls in their houses without paying any bride price or performing any marital rites. They owe the girls and their families no allegiance, no commitments, no bond, no strings attached and they can float away like a butterfly anytime they want to. And the situation is perfectly okay with these daughters of Eve because they are either desperate, in lust or do not give a damn.

What is the fate of children brought up in these settings? I have been observing two of them over a period of four years.

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rise with a deep sense of immense gratitude and humility to express the appreciation of my fellow Awardees and I, for the honour to be considered worthy recipients of this prestigious National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award. At a personal level, I consider national productivity to be a huge challenge, and I regret that, as a nation and at all levels of the national economy, be it the public service or industry, we are not anywhere near the destination in the pursuit of a paradigm shift in Nigeria’s productivity profile, if at all we have started. I also sincerely wish that the NPMA will eventually build up a critical mass of Awardees that will become sufficiently intrigued as I am by Nigeria’s productivity challenge, and will become willing to throw their entire energies into transforming our national predicament. The idea of national productivity stands as the very core of Nigeria’s contemporary challenge as a nation.

Productivity cannot wait; it is essentially what defines national development and progress everywhere. A nation that puts little value on efficiency in the management of its national wealth; allows its best talents to walk the street and make do with third best in critical positions; lacks maintenance culture; lacks nationally acknowledged benchmarks in service delivery, work culture and labour standards; gives scant regards to erosion of the value foundation of national institutions in the dynamics of high politics; glorifies a culture of ‘something for nothing’ in wealth acquisition; etc don’t understand what development is all about, C M Y K

Even before chest out (sign of puberty), they had started making up and strutting the streets like adults.

Now they have reached puberty and gone full blast. They are between 14 and 15 years old, but I will not be surprised to see a protruding tummy tomorrow. May be a few abortions have already taken place.

The increasing rate of divorce all over the world is a major source of concern to everybody. In the last few weeks, I met about five wonderful American couples: two of them have been married for over 50 years, while the others have been together for over 40 years. They are even more worried than we are over here. They “can’t understand what is happening to youngsters. In our time, we married before we lived together, now everything has changed,” one of them lamented. Another said “patience and tolerance are no longer there.” It was gratifying to know that we share common values.

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to meet younger couples and get their perspective on marriage.

Is marriage going out of fashion?

To start with, marriage is an institution, not a fashion fad, so the question of going out of fashion does

not arise. It was instituted by God for companionship and procreation. But it offers more than the companionship that cohabitation gives, contrary to the beliefs of many youngsters.

Marriage is a partnership and merger for life. “And God said, ‘for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two but one” (Matthew 19:5-6).

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arriage is also a covenant, a binding agreement between or among the parties going into it.

Marriage, as a covenant is an irrevocable commitment and only death releases you from that covenant.

In addition, because marriage is a covenant it involves sacrifice and sacrifice involves death. The death, in this case, is death to self (putting your spouse’s interests before yours or subsuming your interests partly or entirely). Sacrifice requires you to give up something (time, money, hobby, etc.).

Marriage and family have always been central to the stability of the humankind. The family, comprising both parents, remains the best option to bring up children. Nobody can

wish that away. We need to hang on to those values and institutions that can help sustain and create a better world. We need to guide jealously that which is right with us.

People need to stop making excuses. More than half of new businesses do not celebrate fifth anniversary. Over time, only one in 10 businesses survives. This failure rate is higher than that of marriages, yet new businesses spring up every day. Painful as divorce is, it has become part of our lives, so the increasing rate of divorce should not discourage young people from getting married. Find out why marriages failed and learn from their mistakes.

Use our parents and others before us as guinea pigs.

Life is a race (life na waka).

Everybody runs her or his own race (everybody get e own waka). The English call it destiny; the Urhobos call it otarhe or urhievwe. That your parents’ or any other person’s marriage failed does not mean yours would also. If it does, may be you are a poor student of history. Sometimes it is due to circumstances that are outside your control. Marriage is tangling and it takes two to tangle.

What if your spouse wants out, what do you do? May God save us from marrying such people! Sometimes in marriage, you need save your head even if you are unable to save your marriage: But, only as a last resort.

No one should die because he or she or the other wants out, which is the reason for some of the gruesome spousal attitudes out there.

But no excuses; if you have other reasons for not getting married, say so or keep quiet. Do not tell us marriage is becoming outmoded because that is a big, fat lie.

Unending sear or new pr oductivity searcch ffor productivity par adigm and the National Merit Aw ar d paradigm Awar ard The need for change to institute a paradigm shift in our national productivity profile specifically through public service reform has essentially defined my reform concern, efforts and struggles through research, practice and advocacy. I saw a civil service that was making valiant effort to connect with national goals and objectives, but was barely making progress. My research revealed the dynamics that articulate the structural specifics underlying the needed reconstruction. The first level is the material/infrastructural level which include the system of production, distribution, consumption and exchange; The third, superstructural level involving social relations, culture, values, beliefs and attitudinal orientation of the people.

This seems like a beautiful play with words, but its productivity undertones should be immediately clear—even though the civil service is adequately staffed in terms of numerical strength, in qualitative terms, we are not achieving the much required our productivity objectives. I managed to have reworked this doctoral finding into a larger framework with new empirical observations in Public Administration and Civil Service Reforms in Nigeria. My doctoral thesis however did more than give me a catchy phrase about the essential problem of the civil service in Nigeria.

What would be the contingent changes to personnel policies, pay structure and operational cost

ratios that is most cost effective and consistent with the optimal productivity level of the national economy?

Are MDAs delivering significant outputs that, when measured, will meet their set policy targets?

It is within the dynamics of these critical questions that I eventually formed the trajectory of my career as a change agent and a reform enthusiast who is concerned with how the civil service system can become an effective and efficient component in Nigeria’s development effort.

I have since been involved with researching and reforming the Nigerian civil service for many years. But reform is a terrible business. It was helpful when it became obvious to me early that my reform philosophy is actually centred on the need for the evolution of a ‘productivity paradigm’ designed to generate a dynamic thinking process to resolve the productivity crisis.

Over time, I discovered that the productivity paradigm shift requires a workforce that is professional, confident, accountable and productive and a reform that effects critical structural and behavioural changes that motivates the redefinition of the Federal Civil Service in the pursuit of performance and innovation at all levels. The essence of the paradigm shift in productivity is therefore to redress the fundamental gaps—policy, capacity, performance, process

and resource—which hinder an efficient and functional productivity profile in Nigeria.

The challenge, which had then become the focus of my many years of researches and practical inquiry, is simple but not straightforward: Reengineering the MDAs management system into performance-oriented, technology-enabled and social compact or accountable business model. This is actually where the evolution of the Nigerian civil service, since its inauguration in 1954, as well as its many reform objectives, has been headed, albeit without significant success so far. To arrive at this productivity objective for me, requires committing ourselves to several tasks: Changing performance metrics and incentives by focusing on the service’s performance evaluation system and specific individual requirements to the strategy implementation; Bringing in new people with specialist but unique expertise to dilute current work culture, enable skills transfer and create new horizons of possibilities for learning and orientation; Strengthening learning infrastructure using benchmarking tools; and Going forward and within the framework of the government change agenda, convincing leadership by example of our President and transformative leadership model that is unfolding, the following are proposed for government to consider for

implementation: a) getting the critical sectors of the economy to articulate their productivity plans based on agreed national benchmark; b) strategic integration of the various productivity plans and targets into the national plan by the National Planning Commission; c) launch of productivity metrics and tools to be deployed to enable employers and employees to begin to sign on to productivity bargaining and gain sharing contracts, to institutionalise a new performancedriven compensation system and skills-based workforce pricing in a broad sense; d) value system reorientation in the wings of a national integrity system that the Presidential Anti-Corruption Expert Committee will institute; e)

national waste reduction strategy that is linked to a new national maintenance management policy and a new asset efficiency scheme around redefined guiding principles for the management of national infrastructure and assets; f) a new national qualification framework aligned to education, training, certification and skills pricing policies; g) input structure including capital-overheadpersonnel benchmarks and local content policy; h) SME expansion programme and new regional industrial benefits policy; i) research, development and innovation; j) wage concessions be henceforth based on negotiated productivity agreements, etc.

•Tunji Olaopa, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology delivered this as acceptance speech upon conferment on him of the National Productivity Order of Merit award by President Muhammadu Buhari

46—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Revealed: For the first time what the queen said on the day Diana died W

hen messages began to filter through from Paris to the Royal Family’s Highland retreat at Balmoral during the small hours of August 31, 1997, that Princess Diana had been involved in a serious car crash, the Queen could barely believe what she was hearing.

At first it was thought that, though the car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel was serious, Diana had not been killed.

According to one witness present when the Queen heard the initial news, she mused out loud: ‘Someone must have greased the brakes.’ That astonishing remark reveals something of the extraordinary and complex relationship between her and Diana — a relationship brought into sharp relief this week with the publication of never-before-seen photographs of Diana’s wedding day. Taken behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, they show Diana and the Queen walking side by side down a corridor in the aftermath of the ceremony.

Yet despite the joyous occasion, there is little evident warmth between the two women or even a flicker of happiness on either face — a glimpse, perhaps, of their underlying anxieties and the great emotional gulf between two such differing personalities.

So what did the Queen truly make of her daughter-in-law? The answer, I discovered while researching an in-depth new biography of our monarch, is utterly intriguing.

On September 9, the Queen will surpass the 63 years and seven months that her great-greatgrandmother Victoria was queen — making her the longest reigning monarch in British history. It seems unimaginable that anything could cast a cloud over her rule.

It is difficult now to realise how badly mauled the monarchy was just 18 years ago when — after years of marital feuding and scandal between the Prince of Wales and his estranged wife — the news of Princess Diana’s death traumatised the country. When Lady Diana Spencer first visited Balmoral, aged 19, she charmed all the Royals and the Queen especially. Her father, Viscount Althorp, had served as an equerry to the Queen between 1952 and 1954, and to George VI for the two years before that.

Her grandmother, Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a friend and lady-inwaiting to the Queen Mother.

The family lived at Park House on the Sandringham estate and the Queen had seen Diana growing up: her elder sister Sarah was a former

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for years.

The wedding at St Paul’s in July 1981 was a royal occasion on a scale never seen before, not even for the Queen’s Coronation.

Every detail was magnified beyond imagination: the palace ball before the ceremony was the most lavish in more than half a century, with just about every European royal, as well as America’s First Lady Nancy Reagan, and a raft of prime ministers and Commonwealth leaders on the guest list.

On the day itself, a vast crowd gathered in the Mall to see Charles and his bride appear on the balcony.

Listening to the roars, Diana said to her husband: ‘They want us to kiss.’

They did, and the moment was shared by a worldwide TV audience of 700 million.

That night, the Queen attended a party at Claridges, where video screens replayed the vows — watched by the monarch, the First Lady and Princess Grace of Monaco, seated together on a circular sofa.

But in the coming months, the Queen was troubled by the unflagging media attention. The Press simply couldn’t get enough of Diana and all other royal business paled by comparison — especially when news broke in November of her pregnancy. Pointedly, during that year’s Christmas broadcast, the Queen did not dwell on the wedding celebrations, but singled out what she described as ‘a very different scene’, a garden party at the Palace for 3,500 guests with disabilities.

INGRID SEWARD: When messages began to filter through from Paris that Princess Diana (pictured right) had been involved in a serious car crash, the Queen (left) could barely believe what she was hearing girlfriend of Prince Charles and the other sister, Jane, was married to Robert Fellowes, the Queen’s assistant and later her private secretary.

‘She is one of us,’ the Queen wrote to a friend. ‘I am very fond of all three of the Spencer girls.’

At Balmoral in 1980, Diana joined in with the after-dinner games, laughed at Prince Philip’s jokes, fell into bogs and got wet, and said all the right things.

She was accepted warmly into the royal circle.

But what the Queen did not recognise was the teenager’s shallowness.

Diana was naive and not given to looking beyond the moment.

By contrast, the Queen always had one eye on the future, even as a child. When she was told, aged ten, that her uncle, Edward VIII, had abdicated and her family, with her father as the new King, must move into Buckingham Palace, she asked at once: ‘What, forever?’

Diana was dazzled by the romance of her own situation.

With a magnificent oval sapphire on her engagement finger — the

same one, of course, now worn by the Duchess of Cambridge — she felt she had, in her words, ‘caught the big fish’.

It was not until she found herself with a permanent police escort and was living in the Palace’s former nursery suite on the second floor with all her old freedoms curtailed that she began to consider the reality of life as a Princess.

The Queen made a great fuss of her future daughter-in-law, trying to demonstrate that she was interested in Diana for her personal qualities and not just for what she represented, as the wife of the heir to the throne.

But Diana ran out of things to say to her. Understandably nervous, she didn’t want to have lunch on her own with ‘Brenda’ — her nickname for the Queen, taken from the satirical magazine Private Eye — and made excuses, even inventing non-existent friends to avoid the invitations.

The Queen could see the much younger woman was anxious, but had no inkling of her emotional problems or knowledge of issues such as bulimia, the eating disorder that would plague Diana

The astonishing words that lay bare her troubled relationship with the woman her son called ‘mad, mad, mad’

Concerned that Diana was not coping well with all the attention, the Queen instructed her press secretary to invite all Fleet Street’s editors to a meeting. In an almost unprecedented move, she appealed to them to rein in their coverage, speaking to them individually or in small groups. This plea from the heart worked — but not for long. It didn’t help that Diana resented any shift of focus away from her.

The christening of her first child, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, for instance, fell on the Queen Mother’s 82nd birthday, so that she and not the baby was the centre of attention. Diana later complained she felt ‘totally excluded’ and William, sensing his mother’s mood, cried throughout the christening.

Two years later, after a difficult second pregnancy that left her tired, overwrought and thoroughly miserable, Diana told friends she was not ‘made for the production line’. The Queen sympathised, but still felt sure her daughter-in-law would learn to adapt to royal life: the Princess’s relaxed, informal style in public, after all, meant her popularity was unparalleled.

In later years, the Queen would reproach herself for not seeing how much strain the Wales’s marriage was under. She knew she was not a tactile mother: like many aristocratic parents of her generation, she had delegated much of the childcare to nannies and to her own mother.

Though never giving way to mawkish regrets, she sometimes blamed the disintegration of not only Charles’s marriage, but Anne and Andrew’s as well on her own

Continues on page 47

SATURDAY

flower-covered railings. Dressed in black, she walked along the line of mourners in total silence until an 11-year-old girl handed her five red roses. ‘Would you like me to place them for you?’ asked the Queen.

Continues from page 46 remoteness when the children were growing up.

‘No, Your Majesty,’ replied the girl.

‘They are for you.’

The Prince of Wales must have felt it, too, because when he needed to pour out his heart about his troubles with his wife, it was to the Queen Mother he turned and later to Camilla Parker Bowles, never to his own mother. The depth of Diana’s unhappiness became plain only when she collaborated with journalist Andrew Morton on a book that became ‘a catalogue of marital grievances’, as one historian called it. She gave off-the-record interviews and authorised her friends and family to speak to Morton. When the book appeared, sparing no detail, the Queen clung to the delusion that Diana could not have been involved.

An aide recalled: ‘You could hear the crowd begin to clap. I remember thinking: “Gosh! It’s all right.” ’By the time she made her live broadcast that evening, the Queen was more her usual self.

The Princess lied to the face of Palace private secretary Robert Fellowes, her own brother-in-law, and denied all complicity. The Queen believed her.

But a week later the secret was out, when she pointedly visited one of the book’s named sources, Carolyn Bartholomew. Diana was a proven accomplice. Fellowes did the honourable thing and offered the Queen his resignation. She refused it on the grounds that he was not the one guilty of misleading her.

Six days after the story broke, Diana stood beside her mother-in-law on the Palace balcony after the Trooping the Colour, as if nothing was amiss. But the facade had to crack. At Ascot the following week, Prince Philip snubbed Diana in full view of everyone in the Royal Enclosure. Even then, the Queen believed in diplomacy. She ordered a six-month cooling-off period to let tempers die down. But she had again failed to understand why the Princess behaved in such an erratic, provocative way. Charles’s patience snapped when he arranged a shooting weekend at Sandringham with his sons, who were then at prep school, only to be told that Diana had taken them to Windsor by herself.

Ranting on the phone to his mother about his wife’s latest calculated outrage, Charles forgot himself and shouted down the line at the Queen: ‘Don’t you realise? She’s mad, mad and mad!’ Diana did nothing to dispel the accusation when she started hinting darkly that Palace courtiers were conspiring to smear her by using the Secret services to eavesdrop on her private conversations. The Queen dismissed this as nonsense, but refused to allow the family to discuss the Charles and Diana situation openly. Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister, confided in friends that the topic was so loftily off-limits that no guest would dare refer to it.

Like her own mother, the Queen has always coped with troublesome emotions by keeping the various difficulties of her reign in airtight compartments and never confronting the unpalatable. But the marriage breakdown could not be ignored forever. On December 9, 1992, Prime Minister John Major told the Commons that ‘with regret, the Prince and Princess of Wales have decided to separate’. The Queen was at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate with only a handful of staff when the announcement came. It was a poignant setting: here, in 1919, in this redbrick house hidden from view at the end of a tree-lined drive, her 13year-old uncle, Prince John, had died of an epileptic fit.

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Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 47

Revealed: For the first time what the queen said on the day Diana died Instead of watching the statement to Parliament, the Queen did what she often did when agitated, and took her corgis for a walk through the wintry woods and over the ploughed Norfolk fields. When she got back, she dried the dogs off — and almost immediately took them out again, dressed in her usual country garb of wellington boots, Loden coat and headscarf.

As she returned for a second time, a senior member of staff approached to offer his condolences. The Queen replied briskly ‘I think you will find it’s all for the best’, and walked out once more into the drizzle. The next five years brought little respite.

Especially upsetting was a biography of Charles by the broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, which presented his relationship with his parents as remote: the Queen was portrayed as cold; the Duke of Edinburgh as a bully.

The Queen was so concerned at the endless criticism of her and her family that she became convinced, in May 1995, that the country would turn against the Royals during the 50th anniversary celebrations of VE Day — and that the crowds would stay away from the Palace.

Throughout the early morning, she kept looking anxiously out of the window, to check whether her subjects were waiting to see her.

To her unspeakable relief, by the time she made her balcony appearance with her sister and their 94-year-old mother, the Mall was packed.

‘Her Majesty was thrilled,’ a member of staff revealed later. ‘When she went on to the balcony she remained stony-faced for fear of showing too much emotion. She was actually close to tears.’ The crowds that gathered outside the Palace two years later were in a very different mood. As days passed after Diana’s death and there was no word from the Palace, they were veering perilously close to becoming a mob.

Many people condemned the Royal Family vociferously for staying in Balmoral, instead of returning to London, and for refusing to fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace. The Queen was bewildered by these criticisms. The business of the flag was mere protocol: she was not in residence, so the flag was not flown. Far more important, she wanted the family to stay in Scotland to give her grandsons a chance to absorb the shock of their mother’s death as far as possible from the public eye. Her first priority was to protect them. On the morning that Diana died, Charles broke the awful news to his sons before the whole family went to church at nearby Crathie. After that, the boys were encouraged to mourn in private.

The Queen saw prime minister Tony Blair’s public statements were much better suited to the national mood, but his approach was not one she could adopt. She finally returned to London on September 5 and was driven straight to the Palace where, with Prince Philip at her side, she left the safety of her car and went to mingle with the throng beside the

She addressed the nation ‘as your Queen and as a grandmother’ and paid tribute to Diana: ‘She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her... especially for her devotion to her two boys.’ Seven years later, as she opened the Diana Memorial fountain in Hyde Park, she remembered her shock at learning the news of her daughter-in-law’s death. ‘Certainly the days that followed are etched on my memory as we as a family and nation came to terms with the loss, united by an extraordinary sense of shock, grief and sadness.’ During those years, she had become increasingly frustrated by the cat-and-mouse game that Charles played with the Press and his mistress.

The strong, loving relationship between the Prince and Camilla had long been public knowledge, but he did not seem to dare to make it official by marrying her.

Privately, the Queen felt her son’s indecision was ridiculous — particularly with regards to the succession. ‘What if I fell off my horse?’ she demanded of one relation. ‘The situation has to be resolved.’

It was, at Christmas 2004. Charles worked up the courage to broach the matter, and his mother happily gave them her blessing.

At the wedding reception on April 9, 2005, the Queen made a rare public comment on family business.

Comparing the many obstacles that Charles and Camilla had encountered to the Grand National racecourse, she told guests: ‘They have overcome Becher’s Brook and the Chair, and all kinds of obstacles. ‘They have come through and I’m very proud and wish them well. My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.’ It was a very long way from the darkest point of the Nineties, when the Queen felt she had failed Charles and Diana — and, one day, had turned to her mother in mock despair and asked where it had all gone wrong. The Queen Mother had been playing one of her customary games of patience. She looked up from her cards and said: ‘Don’t worry. It will be all right in the end.’

And it was.

• Adapted from The Queen’s Speech: An Intimate Portrait Of The Queen In Her Own Words by Ingrid Seward, published by Simon & Schuster on August 27 at £20. © Ingrid Seward 2015. To pre-order a copy for £14, visit mailbookshop.co.uk or call 0808 272 0808. Offer until August 22, P&P is free.

Culled from the daily mail

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48 — SATURDAY

Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Offer more favourable foreign trade policy, steady power to attract investors — Min

S

mith Min is the Chief Executive Officer, Lion King Integrated Synergy, a subsidiary of Lifemate Décor Industry.

Interestingly, he is one of those Chinese investors in Nigeria who are committed to ensuring progression in Nigeria-China bilateral relationship, by contributing his quota to growing the economies of both countries.

In this interview with Vera Anyagafu & Vivian Okafor, he advises Nigerian government to solve the issue of power supply and offer more favourable foreign investment policies that would promote foreign investment into Nigeria. Excerpts: His experience on the job My name is Smith Min, and after my graduation, my team and I have taken up the interior design and building construction for 15years. I got my masters degree fifteen years ago in one of the National Key Universities in China and I majored in Construction Engineering.

I have undertaken many big projects which have been successfully constructed and our customers speak highly of us.

What informed the concept of King Lion Integrated Synergy in Nigeria?

I want to describe what informed the concept with just one word, and that is, ‘Share’.

Our King Lion Ltd is trying to share our excellent quality products and

I think Nigeria economy will get better and better only if the domestic situation remains steady, because Nigeria is rich in many various resources, such as nature and human resources. In addition, Nigeria should use more of foreign investment, giving more favorable policy to foreign companies.

What percentage of your company’s raw materials is got in Nigeria?

Over 80 per cent of our company’s raw materials are got in Nigeria. It is cheaper, quicker and of good quality, and as such, we prefer getting them from here.

How much does your company spend annually on power generation?

The power situation in Nigeria is not very good. However, the company spends over three hundred thousand naira (N300, 000) per month on power genera-tion.

Reducing high cost at Nigerian P or ts Por orts major motive of the Seaports unbiased co-ordinator and referee A Reforms which include that has made it possible for the concession of the ports terminals to stakeholders in the sector to eschew

Min: Nigeria government has to do something on trade policy to attract investors. perfect services with local people.

We are trying to improve the living circumstance in Nigeria and also show the new International fashion type and taste and how it would be different through professional interior design and construction.

What are the major challenges facing your operation here?

The government’s policy for foreign companies is not good enough. The support for immigration, tax and customs is little. Also, the work efficiency is not fast enough and the power situation

Scenario Planning will resolve our socio-economic problems — Oyagbola —Oyagbola n order to strategically address laboratories help us to modulate community and brotherhood is still I the various socio-economic and temper the quality of our a huge strength”. problems facing Nigeria as a decisions. Thus scenario planning nation, experts have recommended the concept of scenario planning as a viable tool for policy makers and business leaders. The submission was lauded at the recently concluded workshop on “Scenario Planning for National Change” held at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos Plateau State.

The workshop, which is the first to be held in Nigeria, was organised by the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in collaboration with the REOS Partners from South Africa.

Speaking at the workshop, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, Human Resources Executive, MTN Nigeria laid a foundation for a purposeful application of scenario planning as a model that has been adapted and worked in solving socio-economic problems in some other countries across the world.

“We all know that we are most challenged when faced with novel and unusual situations. Our difficulties are greatest when our challenges are existential,” she said.

As an impetus to resolving these challenges, particularly for policy makers and business leaders in Nigeria, Oyagbola remarked that “Scenario planning helps us to escape such hopelessness or paralysis. In it, we are able to test the potential consequences of our choices and decisions through social laboratories. The empirical data we gather from such social

is not good either.

Essentially, I think the Nigerian government should offer more favorable policy for foreign companies and as well solve the power problem in the country.

What would it take one who wishes to be in your position to attain such?

I suggest they acquire professional skills in building construction and interior design. It is important for them also to understand how to lead a team to taking successful projects that will last the taste of time.

How many factories does King Lion Integrated Synergy have in Nigeria?

We are planning opening a factory here and intend opening 5 more showrooms within 5 years.

Where do you see Nigerian economy in the future and what do you think will bring about lasting solution to unemployment in Nigeria?

and collaboration is one of the best ways of solving problems”.

Reviewing the components of globalisation as a major factor that must be deliberated and adequately situated to resolve socio-economic issues, Oyagbola revealed that, “in Africa and particularly Nigeria, where rapid urbanization has torn the heart of our traditional social organization, we need to rethink our approach to solving social and economic problems. As a people, we have to start thinking innovatively and purposefully. We need to start using the things we have to achieve the ends we desire. Although it has come under heavy attack over the past few decades, our spirit of

Thus, “scenario planning is a tool for strategic thinking and planning.

It guides the way we think and helps to construct solutions to our problems. It draws heavily on communal and stakeholder participation, and helps to ensure that solutions are universally accepted and therefore easier to implement,” Oyagbola said.

The Scenario Planning for National Change workshop was declared open by the Vice President of the Federation, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by the Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi.

Participants at the workshop were drawn from the public sector, private sector and civil society groups.

the private sector by the Federal Government in 2006 is the need to reduce the cost of doing business at Nigerian seaports in other to accelerate the pace at which the country will emerge as a preferred destination for cargoes globally.

Stakeholders: Nine years into the implementation of the seaport concession scheme, the cost of doing business at the nation’s seaports cannot be said to have come down due to the alleged illegal charges of the terminal operators and those of the foreign shipping agents, multiplicity of levies on imports and the inadequacies of other stakeholders in the seaport sector.

Modernisation: Though the seaport reforms has led to the modernization of the operations of the ports and some level of efficiency, but the gains have not translated to reduction in cost per se, a development blamed on the fact that the Federal Government did not immediately appoint a regulator for the port sector.

This is why the Executive Secretary / CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council which is the Economic Regulator of the Seaport Sector, Barrister Hassan Bello said that despite the gains of the ports reforms, there has been a dire need for the Council to harness other potential areas of the port sector with a view to enthroning real competition and bringing down the cost of doing business at the Nigerian seaports.

Sanity: Maritime experts such as Chief Olisa Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar association ,Otunba Kunle Folarin , the Chairman of the prestigious Nigerian Ports Consultative Council(NPCC) also corroborated the views of Barrister Bello.

Economic Regulator: The consensus in the seaport sector is that the shippers’ Council has performed its regulatory function so effectively that it has served as an

the penchant for imposition of arbitrary and illegal charges.

Charges: As an economic regulator, the Shippers Council reviewed downwards in October 29, 2014 the charges of the concessionaires and the shipping line agencies but these stakeholders under the aegis the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and the Association of Shipping Line Agencies (ASLA) respectively took it to Court before the November 23, 2014 implementation date of the new charges.

Though, the Court recognized the power of the NSC as an economic regulator and directed the STOAN and ASLA to adhere to the directive of the Council on the reviewed rate , but hearing on the stay of execution sought at the Federal Court of Appeal by the STOAN and ASLA has however been slated for February 14, 2016.

Experts have said that the Shipping Line Agency Charge (SLAC), which the NSC is seeking for its review and which is collected by the foreign shipping agents in Nigeria is out rightly illegal, because comparative charges of the shipping lines in other west and central African countries showed that such charges are non- existent.

Solutions: However apart from the issue of illegal charges which must be tackled to reduce the cost of clearing goods at the Nigerian Ports, there is a need to stop the impossible targets given the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) as revenue target yearly, while the Service must use scanners to examine goods instead of the 100 percent cargo examination. The multiple levies on imports such as two percent NAC, seven per cent charge, five per cent VAT among others must be reduced, the high level of corruption at the ports checked while the problem of persistent gridlock on the Lagos seaports access road – Ijora, Apapa axis and that of the Mile 2- Tin Can Ports must be totally solved through electronic management among other measures.

Mediacraft partners FleishmanHillard on capacity building

leishmanHillard South Africa, F the world’s most complete global communications firm, specializing in public relations, public affairs, marketing, paid media, and transmedia and social content, has announced the expansion of the firm’s offering in Africa through a newly concluded affiliation agreement with Mediacraft Associates in Nigeria.

Mediacraft Associates is one of the leading full-service public relations firms in Nigeria, with a track record of working for high profile clients, and a culture of high ethical and professional standards. The official affiliation between the two

companies is the outcome of a rigorous selection process that involved an exchange of visits by both agencies, and the joint execution of projects.

Commenting on the affiliation, Kevin Welman, Managing Director of FleishmanHillard South Africa said, “FleishmanHillard, as a global firm, has had a foothold in Africa for decades. We are proud of our long-standing culture of excellent client service and innovation in communications. We go where our clients need us. With the increasing market demand for public relations services in Nigeria

from our current and potential clients, we have spent a considerable amount of time and resources to ensure that we find an affiliate in Nigeria that shares our values and dedication to global best practices.

We look forward to a long and fruitful affiliation with Mediacraft as we aim to service our clients even better”.

“The affiliation provides FleishmanHillard and its clients with a gateway to the opportunities in the huge Nigerian market, which has seen robust growth over the past decade and is currently rated as the biggest economy in Africa, with a GDP of over $500 billion”.

In his response, John Ehiguese, CEO of Mediacraft, said, “The Mediacraft team and I are very excited at the signing of this affiliation agreement with FleishmanHillard. We appreciate the pedigree and track record of FleishmanHillard globally, and particularly in South Africa, and are proud to be associated with this enviable organization in such a practical way.”

The partnership will include training and capacity building from FleishmanHillard for the Mediacraft team and also focus on new business opportunities.

SATURDAY

C M Y K

Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015 — 49

50—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

ps Esprit de Corrp Once Upon a Recent Time

This week, we continue the serialisation of “Esprit de Corps,” the second story from Ogaga Ifowodo’s work-in-progress entitled The Hostage. We began the series with “The Treasonable Parrot,” his fiction debut featured in the AGNI Portfolio of African Fiction, edited by E. C. Osondu and William Pierce, published in volume 72 of the magazine in 2010. Ifowodo, a lawyer, is an award-winning poet, columnist and activist.

At the heart of the work-in-progress is the title story, a novella. The stories are set in Nigeria’s recent history of dictatorship as experienced by characters privately and in unsavoury social encounters caused by the relentless logic of the radical curtailment of freedom. Keep a date with Saturday Vanguard!

Continues from last week HE knew that ogogoro, eighty per cent proof local gin, and Indian hemp, needed “to boost morale,” especially on night duty, were almost always in the patrol van and the men might be drunk or “high” on any given night. What if he ran into such a crew in an evil hour?

The thought was not to be dismissed, as he knew from experience. Yet he would sooner die than allow himself to be extorted.

And so, although the odds of his dying of “accidental discharge” at a checkpoint were remote, he always prayed that those three magical words would never lose their potency.

As Corpo Giwa pulled out of the checkpoint, the jingle came on again. Armed robber not be spirit o, na human being like you and me . . . and he remembered the day he would never forget. After two years of pursuing the vicious Axe Gang without netting a single one of “those Lucifers with Lugers” as he called them, even he had begun to entertain doubts. While not yet gone over to the side of those colleagues of his who had no doubt whatsoever that a human being with the right juju could transform into a spirit, he was no longer able to mock them.

After all, he had “a practical belief ” in juju, as just about everyone he knew in the force, a belief that cut across faith, creed and rank, fed by the hazards of the job. He had not thought twice about visiting a babalawo recommended by his commanding officer for “gun-shot insurance.” And even now, he still couldn’t tell if he owed his life to that insurance or plain good luck.

But that was where he drew the line.

After two frustrating and dangerous years of pursuing the Axe Gang, an anonymous tip had

proved dead right. He recalled the words scrawled with a blunt pencil by a laboured hand on a ruled sheet: “If yu wont to kach Axe Gang, go twomoro nite 2 oclok to Palm Groove motell, Shangisha. Go strait to challet from entrans rite wit carshoe tree in front.”

Although the gang carried guns, very deadly ones like AK-47s and Uzis, they never left a victim, dead or alive, without an axe wound. The Axe Gang robbed and maimed and murdered with a demonic fury.

When the trail got too close they laid low for some time, only to reappear and blazon a tale surpassing their last in goriness. But the police had made some progress. Three of its members had so far been shot dead and the two captured alive tortured till it was useless to kick in their ribs, break their shin bones with a hammer, burn their fingers with a cigarette lighter, insert hot copper wires in their genitals, lower them into the lagoon upside down from ropes tied to their feet from the Third Mainland Bridge in the dead of night, or devise any other advanced interrogation method to loosen their tongues. And then came the tip. Cornered at last, the gang went down fighting and in the shootout Corpo Giwa had the distinction of killing Red Axe, their leader. But Red Axe had made his mark with an automatic that shattered Corpo Giwa’s left leg.

Overnight, he became a national hero. Rich survivors of the gang’s mayhem who had lived in terror for two years vied for the chance to bear the cost of flying him anywhere in the world where his shattered leg could be put together again. He had been flown to Germany, to a military hospital in Dresden where, it was said, the uncanny secrets of putting together the limbs of soldiers which

had been so fragmented during World War II that the pieces had to be picked up and sent after them in surgical bags had been carefully preserved.

He returned three months later to a brief period of peace followed by an even more fearsome siege.

Desperate for a way to inspire his men and give the city some hope, the Inspector-General had come down from Abuja to personally present Corporal Giwa with his active duty disability reward. And to announce a new “no-nonsense antirobbery squad” code-named Operation Fire-for-Fire, OFF. Off with armed robbers. He warned robbers to quit the path of violent crime “before it was too late.” Then he added, “Always remember, armed robbers are human beings who live among us; they are not spirits.” The Inspector-General had also decorated Corpo Giwa with his new rank of Inspector, after which he was honourably discharged from the force. He had been due for promotion the last five years of his service and had finally earned it at the price of a leg. Well, better late than never. In any case, he preferred to be called Corpo. He had insisted on that when he attained the rank of Corporal in order to distinguish it from “Couple,” the corrupted pronunciation handed down by the illiterate pioneers of the force from colonial times when it was known as the West African Legion.

And it had become his nickname, so that when he attained the rank of Sergeant no one took notice. It hadn’t bothered him the least and, anyway, Corpo sounded like the name of a tough movie star.

Corpo Giwa’s leg had healed very well and soon he was able to walk without crutches, and then to drive.

With his reward, he had bought his cab. But the new wave of terror washed Lagos anew with crippling dread. The helplessness of the city was spelled by the name Timmy the Spirit bestowed on the reigning king of robbers, Timothy Anenih. Corpo Giwa’s reminiscences were temporarily halted when his passengers who had been so quiet all along he thought they had fallen into a drunken sleep or drifted into a private heaven—they looked like the type that lived on Indian hemp— began an animated conversation about the harm armed robbers were doing to Lagos night-life.

“Musicians down on their luck,” he thought, and wondered if they would be able to pay the fare, if he had made a mistake stopping to pick them up, and at night for that matter. It was getting darker and the traffic snarling into a tighter knot as commuters seethed in steamy vehicles. By now Corpo Giwa had passed two more checkpoints and each time he had needed only to say the magic words esprit de corps to be waved through. The dashboard clock gave the time as half past eight. He had spent over an hour snailing through the gridlock traffic of Ogba and he wasn’t half-way to his destination yet. He decided that after dropping off his passengers, he would head straight home.

No, he did not fear the roads, and was still very much a policeman, but he was above all else a practical man. The mood of the Lagos cops had soured considerably since Anenih came to double the terror of the Axe gang days by targeting police officers. Besides, he really did not wish to get into an argument with his seventy-year-old mother who had finally agreed to move in with him and his small family of four but who wanted him home at twilight every day. A retired headmistress, she deserved the credit that he always claimed for the substitution of “spirit” for “stranger” in the crime-busting jingle of the police. Corpo Giwa had been one of the officers selected to preview the jingle and he never lost the opportunity to bring conversation to the point where he could boast of his role in “composing” it. “Armed robber not be stranger o,” went the original line, but the trial audience had unanimously agreed that “spirit” drove home the point with greater force than “stranger.” As more and more robberies began to occur in the less affluent parts of Lagos, Corpo Giwa had begged his mother to move in with him but she had insisted on living alone long after her youngest child married and left the house. She would concede only to have the ten-year-old daughter of a distant relative sent to her for education in exchange for cleaning, running errands and “another human voice in the house.”

Then there was a fatal attack on Iya Resi, the rice trader at the far end of the street in their low-cost government housing estate usually spared robber anxiety. Shaken, the old woman had asked her son what the police was doing to let poor people sleep at night. At first she had been sympathetic as only a mother could be towards an officer of a police force plainly failing in its duty while her son recited a long list of problems hindering their efforts.

To be continued

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—51

How my son was set ablaze by my landlady —bereaved father • says I was the target, calls on IGP to intervene

BY EVELYN USMAN

no doctor. Thereafter we went to Zolinga, where he was rejected again and referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital ,LUTH. He was eventually taken to Tolu Medical Centre, where doctors battled to resuscitate him. They had to cut off his manhood because it was completely useless. I told them to cut it off if that would save my son. He was on oxygen support but died later”.

At this point, he paused , shook his head in regret and bent it.

Lamenting , he said: “ My only son , my future hope was killed just like that”.

A

s he walked into Vanguard’s Corporate headquarters, at Kirikiri canal, Apapa, Lagos, it was obvious that all was not well with Pastor Mathew Asuquo , as he later introduced himself , following his downcast facial expression.

The 62 year-old Asuquo has indeed been thrown into anguish, sorrow and pains that will obviously linger in his memory as long as he lives, following the alleged killing of his 20 years son , Emmanuel, by his landlord and members of his family.

Emmanuel, a Computer Engineer and an only son , was allegedly set ablaze by his assailants , while he had gone to ease himself , penultimate Tuesday, at 13 Alafua street , in the densely populated area of Ajegunle, Lagos.

His assailants as gathered , laid ambush by his father’s balcony, waiting patiently for the best time to strike. It was gathered that their target was not Emmanuel but his father, who was to appear in court later that day with his landlord, over a matter bordering on assault and injury on his niece.

The genesis Narrating the painful exit of his son , Pastor Asuquo who tried hard not to betray his emotion, recalled that the relationship between him and his landlord went sour after he approached him to caution his wife over taking delivery of babies in the compound .

According to him: “My landlady popularly called iron lady has been taking delivery of babies in the compound illegally. Most times, the babies would die and at other times, both mother and child would not survive, with blood would littering all over the place .

At a point, I approached my landlord to advised his wife against carrying on with such practice since she was unqualified. But I never knew I was getting myself into trouble. The next thing he did was to tell wife who started picking quarrels with my wife.

In one of the instances , she stabbed my wife on the forehead on March 20, 2015 during an argument over change of the padlock to the access door in the compound . I reported at Ajeromi division but she refused to show up.

Thereafter, the case was charged to court. But till date nothing came out of it.

Build-up to latest trouble “ Then on August 8, 2015, my niece came visiting and was watching television with my children in the sitting room . When power went out,she decided to go outside . But immediately she stepped outside, my landlady burst into a rage of anger , saying ‘so you these Calabar people , you don’t want to pack out of this compound?’.

Next thing she did was to drag my niece down from the staircase and before people could go and separate them , my landlady stabbed my niece on the forehead and on the cheeks.

I refused to report the case at

Emmanuel Asuquo...on hospital bed before he died Ajeromi division because of the way the previous matter between my wife and the landlady was handled. Rather , I went to Area ‘B’ command, Apapa, where I met a senior police officer who sent two policemen to go with me and effect the arrest of the landlady . But when we got to the compound, she absconded , apparently on sighting us. I went back to Apapa, where the senior Police officer gave me a note to take to any senior policeman at Ajeromi that night. I gave the letter to an Inspector on reaching Ajeromi. He told me to put down my statement. Thereafter, he said I should go and treat my niece first in order to save her life and then come back the next day.

Alleged complacency by Police It took the Police at Ajeromi division two days to bring my landlady to the station. (Monday ).

The Divisional Crime Officer asked my sister (mother of the injured lady ) and her husband what they wanted the Police to do. My sister said since the landlady had disfigured her daughter’s face , all she needed was for her to pay her bride price , failure of which the case should be charged to court.

The Police said they would detain the landlady till the next day , from where she would be taken to court.

The DCO personally assured me that she won’t be released. But moments after I reached the house

*Pastor Mathew Asuquo

, the DCO sent seven people to me but I told my wife to tell them that I was not around because I did not know what their mission was.

To my shock, at about 11.30pm , my landlady was released but she did not come to the house, she went to number 10 on same same street, which is her family’s compound, to stay. I kept wondering why the Police should release her after assuring me that she would be taken to court the next day.

Deadly mission Later , I saw my landlord with two men entering into the compound at about 1.30am. His brother left the building moments later while the strangers remained. I was jolted from sleep with the shout of fire at about 2.45pm. I quickly woke my wife up, took our five-year-old daughter and ran out of the room.

Thereafter, I went to the children’s room where I saw my daughter Glory, standing. I asked what she was doing and she said she was waiting for her brother, Emmanuel Mathew Asuquo who was in the toilet, to come out so as to go and ease herself. I told her to go outside and wait and asked if she did not hear the shout of fire? “ False alarm Pastor Asuquo stated emphatically that there was no fire when he came out of the room , saying it was all a plot to get him.

*Asuquo’s niece alleged stabbed by his landlady

*Emmanuel Asuquo...before the incident Continuing, he explained: “The two men that were earlier brought in by my landlord were stationed strategically at my balcony , awaiting when I would come out because my landlord and his wife know I am diabetic and as such, I usually go out to ease myself.

What these men did was to pour kerosene in a room that was vacated by a former tenant three years ago..

The room was converted into kitchen where only the landlady and his family have access to. After cooking, the room is usually locked.

Never had the room been left opened for five minutes.

Inside the room was an unused television which was placed on top of the food locker . What these strangers did was to pour kerosene on the television because they knew if they poured it, the tube will explode. Immediately they poured the kerosene, they locked the room and went back to their position, only for them to shout fire! when the tube exploded. Their intention was that I would run out because I was their target but it was my son that was outside.

Son’s starling revelation “Before he breathed his last, my son told me that when he came out of the toilet, somebody whistled to get his attention and that immediately he turned, someone sprayed kerosene into his eyes. By then, the power meter had been disconnected. He said as he bent down, with both hands on his face, someone poured petrol on him while the other struck a match and set him ablaze. He described one of the men as a tall man who worshipped in our church recently. By the time my daughter went to ease herself, she found my son on the ground , useless and raised alarm.

Rejected We rushed Emmanuel to Prince and Princess hospital where he was rejected on ground that there was

Posers “There was no fire anywhere. It was a coordinated attempt to deceive people and attract their attention to a particular place. The question is, who put the fire inside a room that only the landlady and her family members have access to?

Who put off the metre? Why should such plan be hatched on a day I was supposed to appear in court with my landlady? From all indications, it was a well organised set up by my landlord and his wife. I was the target, not my son.

If they had killed me, I would have been very happy. I spent so much on him and for someone to have killed him in his prime is to render me useless . They have destroyed my family.

Right now, I don’t know where members of my family are.

Appeals to IGP to intervene “I am using this opportunity to call on the Inspector-General of Police and concerned Nigerians to come to my aid by ensuring that justice is done in this matter. This is because my son’s killers are still roaming the streets of Lagos, boasting that they are untouchable.

My son was my future hope . At 62 , where do I begin from? How do I give birth to a child that will grow up to be Emmanuel’s age?. I am currently homeless because I can’t sleep in my house at the moment, as I don’t know what their next plan is.

I am currently sleeping in the church .If I was asked to leave the house I would have gladly packed out. If I knew my only son and heir apparent was to be killed, I would have moved him out and die in his place . Where do I begin from”, Pastor Asuquo lamented.

Arrest Crime Guard however learnt that the landlady and a man alleged to have been with her the night tragedy struck have been arrested by policemen attached to Ajeromi division. A resident who spoke on strict condition of anonymity when Vanguard visited blamed policemen at Ajeromi for not nipping the situation in the bud until it led to Emmanuel’s death.

According to the resident: “I blame policemen at Ajeromi for the death of this young man. Several times Emmanuel’s father and the landlady have reported their misunderstandings to the police . But nothing was done to bring a lasting solution to the quarrel. Had they acted where they were supposed to, this would not have happened”.

52—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

BY EMMA NNADOZIE, Crime Editor

T

he bold inscription in front of the clean, freshlycoated mahogany door leading to his office at Zone11, Onikan, Lagos, is just like a portraiture of the personae called, Mbu Joseph Mbu. It reads unequivocally; ‘This is AIG’s office. Not CP Command and not DPO. Only Special complaints come here. We are not debt collectors or land speculators, please.’

That singular inscription sends wide signals to the length and breath of Zone 11 Area Command, comprising Lagos and Ogun States. The message is that it’s no longer business as usual.

In fact, the shock waves resonates not just in police formations under Zone 11, but also beyond.

Unmistakably, the reputation of AIG Mbu transcends the Zone. It dates back to his days in Oyo as commissioner and later Rivers State where he had a long drawn battle with Governor Chibuike Amechi. In Oyo he tried to build facilities for the Police, the same he did in even bigger dimension in Rivers but his battles with Amaechi made more news. AIG Mbu was seen as the e’nfant terrible of the force and this followed him to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where he also served as a Commissioner of Police.

So, when he was eventually, posted to the center of excellence, Lagos, which is widely known as the home base of the major opposition party, APC, as an Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police, eyebrows were raised. Different meanings were read to the posting.

Unfortunately, as soon as he assumed duties in Lagos, the perceived ugly trend reared its head again. He started making headlines after he allegedly confronted government officials posted to man the controversial toll gate at the highbrow Lekki area of the state.

However, Mbu Joseph Mbu, remained undaunted and focused in spite of what his admirers publicly tagged as ‘unnecessary distractions by disgruntled elements who were afraid of facing the reality of the time’. That was when the real perception of the man as a real professional police officer to the core started sinking into the psyche of many people.

The many adorable attributes of the man came to the fore no sooner than he resumed duties.

He swung into action by maintaining his calm and remaining focused in the face of hostilities and initial media battering.

His greatest trademark so far at the Zone includes; the way he sufficiently instilled discipline in the personnel of Zone 2 Headquarters, how he succeeded in discouraging frivolous petitions, land matters and debt collection from being handled at the Zone. He refurbished six pickups which included (4 Toyota Hilux, 2 Ford

•Mbu

UNVEILING AIG MBU:

Fighting uncommon cause in the Police Force double cabin), repaired the BMW outrider motorcycle that was abandoned for three years and put same to use, supervised election in Lagos on March 28 and April 11, adjudged to be peaceful and most credible since 1999 and took delivery of two brand new double cabin Hilux Vehicles from then Lagos State Governor, Barr. Babatunde Fashola for Escort.

Interestingly, AIG Mbu replicated similar enviable achievements in almost all the areas he served in different capacities in the country. While at the Directorate of Police Education, Abuja between 2008 and 2012, he carried out amongst numerous others, the immediate relocation of the

Force Education Unit from Lagos to Abuja for purposes of centrality and upgraded the Force Education Unit into the Directorate of Police Education, the regularization of over four thousand teachers into the regular Federal Civil Service, supervision of the promotion of over 160 teachers from GL 08 – 15 who have stagnated for over eight years, establishment of Administration, Human Resources, Inspectorate as well as Research and Planning departments , and the appointment of Deputy Directors to head each of the above Departments. He also increased Inspectorate Offices from four to ten and

Despite his seeming laudable achievements in all the places he served, AIG Mbu, unfortunately, remains one of the most misunderstood police officers in the country.

Perhaps, his great ideas in moving the force forward seem not to be recognized and appreciated.

But, like one great writer posited

established Research and Planning offices in Calabar, Minna and Akure and upgraded Police Secondary Schools Commandants from the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) to Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) with more experience and relevant qualifications.

As a Commissioner of Police in-charge of the Mobile Force, Force headquarters, Abuja, in 2012, the University of Lagos political Science graduate compelled forty-nine Squadron Commanders who have not gone for course since 2010 to attend a six week Conversion Course at PMF Training School, Ila Oregun Osun State. He also introduced a Unit in charge of PMF Ethics and Doctrine i.e. dress code and general conduct of Mobile Police personnel, introduced POLICY and COMBAT Unit in charge of acquiring new tactics, combat styles and serve as liaison with the Army to get more methods of training and tactical operations and visit countries like Malaysia, Isreal, South Africa, renovated Commassie Hall at PMF training School, Ila Oregun in Osun State and raised a memo to the Inspector- General of Police on the purchase of Caravans to be used by PMF personnel on operation outside their bases.

He replicated many other enviable feats where ever he served including in Oyo and Rivers State as a Commissioner of Police and at the FCT, Abuja, before coming to Zone 11, Lagos as an Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police. Amazingly, in Rivers state where he was widely perceived as an officer with a hidden agenda for the ruling party at the center, AIG Mbu achieved spectacular feats that amazed his critiques in later days. In the critical area of crime fighting, he also took up the gauntlet and recorded successes in all the places he served.

Despite his seeming laudable achievements in all the places he served, AIG Mbu, unfortunately, remains one of the most misunderstood police officers in the country. Perhaps, his great ideas in moving the force forward seem not to be recognized and appreciated. But, like one great writer posited; history has shown that the great ideas for moving a society forward do not necessarily come from the hegemonic groups that are happy with the status quo but from the ranks of the marginalized and excluded. It is obvious that these momentous insights are often wrenched at great personal costs and immense suffering. That, no doubt, is the lot of AIG Mbu Joseph Mbu and he personally acknowledged that after Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria, CRAN, gave him a prestigious ‘Distinguished CRAN Hall of Flame Award’ for conducting a crime-free election in an area widely perceived to be volatile. Stating that he had proved skeptics wrong, he said during the award ceremony: “I am a professional to the core and I have no reason to be biased towards anybody.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—53

CONFESSION OF A GANG LEADER:

We have killed many innocent people in Lagos

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

•They shot my son in my presences- victim’s mother

Operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery squad, FEDSARS, have arrested two notorious gunmen specialised in terrorising major parts of Lagos state including Surulere, Mushin, Oshodi, Victoria island, Ikoyi and its environs. Police sources said members of the deadly gang have claimed the lives of many persons at different times in Lagos State, in the past few months.

IGP Arase’s intervention Crime Guard gathered that the suspects were arrested following the directives of the Inspector- General of Police, Solomon Arase, over the restiveness in the state.

Consequently, a team of detectives led by Inspector Banjoko Oluwemimo swung into action after they received intelligence report about the nefarious activities of the gang in the state. The discreet investigation led to the arrest of one of the suspects identified as Murital Aweniya aka Horspain, a renowned cultist on April 17, 2015. His arrest further led to the arrest of the another suspect, Lateef Akinpelu aka Obey Idi Araba, the leader of a rival cult group. Sources said the activities of the gang led to the alleged brutal killing of Olasupo Abass, a commercial motorcyclist by Lateef Akinpelu aka Obey Idi Araba, and his gang at Apesin Street, Mushin Lagos on 21 of February.

Massacre on the streets According to sources; ‘’On February, 10, 2015, at about 7pm, Muritala Aweniya and members of his gang killed one Oluwasheun Babalola, a 16-year-old boy at OwoseniIshola Street, Ilasamaja, Lagos. On that same day, Mrs Mary Babalola, mother of the late Oluwasheun was shot on her right leg by the same gang. On April 9, 2015, Olayemi Mathew Eniola, aka Esi-Oluwo, was also killed by the same gang.

It was learned that Obey Idi Araba, was among the suspects arrested and charged to court in 2012, for the murder of one Wasiu Ajose, aka Apase, by policemen from FEDSARS. He was however, released through a motion for bail and he escaped prosecution.

Relation of victim opens C M Y K

•Suspects up The elder brother of one of the victims, Bamidele Abiodun, a vulcaniser at Apersin Street who witnessed the incident told Crime Guard: ‘’ The day my brother was killed, he came to my shop with a faulty plasma TV for repairs. After fixing the television, he took it and dropped it in his mother’s shop which was the next shop. Few minutes later, I heard sounds of gunshot.

Later, I heard Abass screaming, “ what have I done?” from where I hid inside my shop, I saw three men, one with a shot gun, the other with a cutlass while the third had no gun on him. The three of them were Obey, Agbaje and Omowest. It was the one with the short gun that shot my brother on his stomach and left him in the pool of his blood. They kept shooting sporadically to scare sympathisers as they escaped to Idi-Araba”.

Another witness of the brutal killing of the teenager, a trader at Amu Timber Market simply called AbdulWasiu narrated his own account. ‘’I was at Aborishade Street along Itire road, Mushin, on February, 2015, when gunmen held residents in the area hostage. They armed themselves in a commandolike manner and started

Crime Guard gathered that the suspects were arrested following the directives of the InspectorGeneral of Police, Solomon Arase, over the restiveness in the state

shooting sporadically and as a result, two people died instantly from stray bullets while many others sustained serious bullet injuries. One of the people killed was a driver of the pastor of a celestial church opposite Aborishade street and 16-year-old Sheun Babalola, who was shot along with his grandmother from

Abule -Igbehin area of Ilasamaja.’’

A 64-year-old victim who was shot on the right leg, Mrs Mary Babalola also narrated her heart-wrenching experience in the hands of the gang members. ‘’ I am a native of Ayede Village in Ekiti state. I have five children, including Oluwasheun Babalola, who was shot dead in my presence. On that fateful day, at about 7pm, a group of young men stormed the area and started shooting sporadically. One of their bullets killed my son while another hit my right leg. I can’t walk because of the stray bullet that hit me.’’

Account of suspect In his defence Muri denied being a member of any armed robbery gang but, admitted that he was a former leader of an ethnic militia group called OPC at Mosalashi Street, Mushin area of Lagos state.

Narrating the fracas between his group and a rival cult gang that led to the killing of innocent persons in Surulere area, 26-year-old Muri Aweniya said, ‘’ I am a school drop out. I dropped out of the Polytechnic Ibadan. I was initiated into cultism when I was a student by one Wale who was the leader of Bukania

confraternity in 2014. Our cult gang has several dangerous operational weapons such as pump action, single barrel gun and cutlass. It was my cult gang that shot and killed one Lekan at Ayilara street in Suru-lere in March. Other people who were killed by my my cult group in Shitta area were: Fatai, Afeez, Ramoni, Akeem and Saheed. These people were killed because of the fracas between my gang and Lateef Akinpelu aka Obey’s group. Lateef’s gang is also responsible for the death of many people like Murphy, Shitta, Raimo and Kabiru at Ogunmola area of Surulere, Kilo and Epo at Ayilara, Lekan and Larne at Suru-lere, Deji and Afeez at Shitta, Aisha and Ola at Lawanson. ‘’ The late Raimo was a pregnant Woman who was killed by a stray bullet while attending the birthday party of Murphy’s son. She was killed alongside Murphy on that fateful day. Early this year, in the month of February, my gang attacked and killed one Isiaka. On April 9, my gang was hired to assassinate Esi Oluwo, a Chairman of NURTW but I wasn’t part of the operation.’’

The second suspect, Lateef Akinpelu aka Obey Idi Araba, told Crime Guard: ‘’I am from Abeokuta in Ogun state.

Before my arrest, I was the chairman of NURTW, Idi Araba chapter. I was a former OPC member in Idi Araba chapter. I stopped parading myself as the group leader since detectives from Federal SARS came to arrest me in 2012, and recovered weapons used by my gang for operation. After my arrest, I was charged to court and there after, remanded in prison custody pending the DPP’s advice. Surprisingly one day, a prison warden called and released me. I don’t know how my bail condition was perfected and since then, I have never gone back to the court. I was not part of the people that murdered Abass Olasupo at Mushin It was my boys that killed him and they briefed me that they invaded the area with guns and killed the deceased on 21st February 2015. It was Biodun Akinwumi aka Aluta, Agbakun, Taiwo, Kehine and Wasiu Agbaje that were responsible for the brutal murder of Abass Olasupo. I stopped having anything to do with them since my release from prison.’’

54—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

A

s I write this piece on whether President Muhammadu Buhari has made the right choice in Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu to reposition the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), I remember my mentor, the late Major General Mamman Kontagora and his rescue mission at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

General Kontagora presented the report of the Administrative Audit Panel which he chaired to the then Head of State General Sani Abacha at the State House on the 10th of November 1995.

Kontagora was taken aback when he was given a marching order to bring sanity to the ailing ivory tower that had become a theatre of the absurd; apologies to dramatists. He was an administrator but not an academic. But I must confess as his Special Assistant, he recorded a resounding success in that assignment. The scenarios of appointment may appear different but there was a meeting point in transparency of leadership.

We found ourselves in the conundrum of leadership with the general operations of the Nigerian petroleum sector being hooded in surreptitiousness. With more questions, resolutions could not be found in the realm of selfexamination and ethics which apparently, are lacking in most privileged Nigerians in positions of authority. For amoral reasons they develop tendencies that make them inefficient on the job. As it is said in corporate governance, corruption and lack of transparency kill productivity in any system.

Our petroleum resources managers for egotistic reasons are not courageous enough to tell our people that there are as many as 6000 by-products and derivatives when we refine a barrel of crude oil.

This lack of information had not encouraged political leaders in channeling scarce resources to address our country’s refining problems; so the circus journey continued.

As I flipped through the biographical account of the newly appointed Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, it was quite fascinating. His pedigree caught my fancy so I became curious to examine the antecedents of this Onicha Ugbo, Delta State born, who had been saddled with the restoration of the NNPC to its past glory. I tried to peruse how, for about three and half decades, he had been in academics, law, business and administration.

Kachikwu is indeed an academic of repute who in 1979 bagged a first class degree in law at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, first class at the Nigeria Law School with multiple awards as the best graduating student. He had a Ph.D. with distinction at the Harvard Law School in the USA, specialising in Petroleum and Investment Law Strategy.

He taught Law at the Harvard Law School and had been a visiting professor to many world acclaimed institutions. He has written three books in investment law and contracts including Nigerian Foreign Investment Law and Policy published in 1988 and with many articles in reputable journals. He is a fellow of several institutes C M Y K

Can Kachikwu catch up with NNPC?

•Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu

There is no doubt that he is already being accepted as a sweetheart to many Nigerians who now view him as one not cut out for negative thinking and negative action, which are hallmarks of successful people including the Chartered Institute of Petroleum Policy, Society of Corporate Governance and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

After a stint work at the Nigerian American Merchant Bank Limited, he held policy making positions in the petroleum industry. He was General Manager/Legal Adviser of Texaco Nigeria Limited and Texaco overseas Petroleum Company Upstream and Downstream for eight years, General Counsel/Secretary Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Executive Director ExxonMobil Group, and Executive Vice Chairman/General Counsel ExxonMobil companies in Nigeria and oversight Counsel in Africa since 2009.

He was said to have influenced over $10 billion investment from ExxonMobil into Nigeria and other African countries. He has also set major policy planks in government relations, investment policy and

corporate governance for ExxonMobil in Africa and member of many highly influential policy and investment team for ExxonMobil Corporation.

Kachikwu served as lead negotiator on diverse issues for ExxonMobil in Africa including conclusion of lease renewal Negotiations for Mobil Producing and facilitated contacts in global energy sphere with many CEOs of multi- national corporations and secretaries of energy for over two and half decades. He is now poised to do that for the benefit of Nigeria.

To many industry watchers, his appointment ordinarily was a routine where oil super majors ‘donated’ their staff members to national oil companies to enable them (International Oil Companies) perpetuate their nefarious acts in regions they operate. That appears not to be as from his actions so far, Kachikwu exhibits puritanical and patriotic zeal on the project Nigeria; a trait of an efficacious person.

His pronouncements on the rehabilitation of the nation’s four refineries, a promise to publish periodic financial transactions of the NNPC and his thoughts to review the joint venture agreements in the various sectors as well as using his contact to make International Oil Companies (IOCs) to partner with our National Oil Company in relationships of business complementarity attest to his doggedness to soldier on at the NNPC. There is no doubt that he is already being accepted as a sweetheart to many Nigerians who now view him as one not cut out for negative thinking and negative action, which are hallmarks of successful people.

Kachikwu is exhibiting the expectant enthusiasm of one who knows how the

national oil company, the NNPC could be repositioned as a business concern.

With that confidence, many are quick to add that he is likely bringing the zest he founded the True Tales Publications Limited, publishers of the HINTS magazine which had survived a quarter of a century murky Nigerian publications business environment to bear on the NNPC. For the record, HINTS is one of the five romance, fashion and beauty magazines in his stable of Nigerian ladies bestsellers.

Was Kachikwu a legal icon really a ‘Romeo’ to have forayed into publications to expand the frontiers of Nigerian romanticism in 1989? Although Ibe as he is fondly called is yet to tell us why, suffice it to say it was a novelty and quite ingenious of him to have identified an investment portfolio in a ladies world.

Ordinarily he would have stashed his hard earned money in fat accounts overseas as some Nigerians would do by idolizing their monies that become sterile in strange lands. His series of investments in Nigeria had put him in good stead in his current assignment at the NNPC. He also cherishes time management in the publication business. A close associate recalls how Kachikwu, as Publisher, struggled in spite of his busy schedule to meet production deadlines on his editorial contribution: ‘’Fatherhood with Ibe’’ a column he (Kachikwu) anchored to share his experiences as a father in HINTS. There is this popular saying that anything big starts with something small. Kachikwu started small but had grown and developed to exude philanthropy as his humanitarian gestures know no bounds. About 900 persons have benefitted from his scholarship awards scheme in his native Onicha Ugbo and indeed Delta State over the years. He has built schools and contributed immensely in church and road development projects to the admiration of many that he holds two significant Chieftaincy titles in the Odogwu and the Omeudo of Onicha Ugbo.

As Kachikwu, a colossus, continues determinedly on to equity at the four towers of NNPC, I wish him luck with this famous quote by Thomas Jefferson, an American founding father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the third President of the United States: ‘’ Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.’’ It is also said that the currency of leadership is transparency.

No hope for Nigeria

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015—55

...as World Championship begins

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

W

•Blessing Okagbare

HAT has changed in Nigeria’s athletics in the last four years that could raise any hope of a medal haul at the 15th World Athletics Championship starting today at the Beijing’s National Stadium in China, with Team Nigeria still heavily reliant on Olympic medallist, Blessing Okagbare to spearhead its medals chase?

That is the simple question that athletics officials will hope to provide answers to even as watchers of the track and field game believe that nothing has changed in the country, with faint hope of medals from 23 athletes that will compete for Team Nigeria.

Set to end on August 30, the World Athletics Championship is football’s equivalent of the World Cup and holds every two years.

The last edition held in Russia.

Nigeria is featuring 18 females and five males this time around, with the latter looking hopeless to win any medal.

Returning to the scene where she first broke into world sphere after winning bronze in the long jump event at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Okagbare will be carrying the hopes of a nation, which in reality has been lagging behind I athletics and sadly still relies heavily on Okagbare, who it must be said is no longer the firebrand sprinter she used to be.

Now married to a former Super Eagles striker, Igho Otegheri, who last played for Heartland, athletics buffs believe Okagbare in nearing her twilight as far as top-notch athletics is concerned, consequently d i m m i n g Nigeria’s hopes of a •Rooney w i n n i n g

Henry: Pedro’ ll win titles with Chelsea A

RSENAL legend, Thierry Henry has tipped Pedro to win titles with Chelsea.

Henry, who played with Pedro at the Nou Camp between 200710, has no doubt he will make an impact in the Premier League.

Henry said: “The perfect teammate, the perfect professional — C M Y K

he is that guy. He can adapt to the English system, he won’t have to learn, he will understand staying wide, putting pressure and all that type of thing from the front.

“I think he can be a success. It depends on how the team is going to gel and how he has to adapt to the Premier League.

But he is definitely a great team-mate”, said Henry.

medals at this year’s Worlds.

In a country that has heavily relied on her to win medals in major athletics championships since 2008, Okagbare has done a lot for the country that has sadly failed to develop the sports to produce stars like her to take over the baton when legs become weary and family life sets in.

Okagbare will be competing in the 100m and 200m women events and Nigerians are expecting more from her following previous accomplishments. The heats start tomorrow, with the women’s 100m final holding on Monday night.

Okagbare, who won two medals at the last Worlds in Moscow, has won medals in the long jump, 100m, 200m and 4x110m women’s relay.

Her most memorable year was 2014, when the 26 years old Sapele-born sprint queen shone like a thousand stars at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She won the gold medals in the 100m and 200m, breaking the 100m games record of 10.91 seconds set by Debbie FergusonMcKenzie12 years earlier at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

And speaking on Nigeria’s prospects in Beijing, the Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Omatseye Nesiama said “Okagbare is our prime athlete with a lot of championship experience. She got Nigeria’s first medal in the long jump in 2013 after years of draught. She has a lot on her shoulders in this championship and I hope she would deliver the goodies”.

Nesiama has tipped USbased hurdler Miles Ukaoma for a podium appearance in Beijing.

“With what Ukaoma had done both in the Nigeria trials and other competitions this season, Nigerians are expecting greater performance at this championship. I’m personally optimistic that if he could stem stage freight, he would make a good impact here in Beijing.”

In today ’s opening events,fans are in for some fun as the men’s hammer throw, women’s 1500m, men’s 100m heats and preliminary round of men’s 100m hold while the women’s shot put final and men’s 10, 000m final take place in tonight.

The men’s 100m final holds tomorrow, with Olympic champion Usain Bolt set to defend his world championship crown against American Justin Gatlin.

Rooney roams for goals against Newcastle W

AYNE Rooney is keen to break his ninematch goal drought as Manchester United host Newcastle United today at Old Trafford.

The 29-year-old Red Devils captain hasn’t scored a competitive goal for United since he struck at Old Trafford against Aston Villa at the start of last April but is confident he can shoulder the burden of the personal examination.

“It would be nice to get off the mark. I’ve had one bad game this season and everyone’s all over it. I’ve had that all throughout my career, but hopefully at the weekend against Newcastle I can get off the mark,” says Wayne.

“I’m an honest guy, I know when I haven’t played well .It’s early on in the season. Everyone will write about the end of last season and the beginning of this but we’re three games into the new season, it’s down to me to keep going. I’ve experienced this before and the goals will come, I know that.

“I always set myself standards and I try to reach them. I understand it’s on me to get the goals I understand I need to be the one who leads that line for us and try to get the goals for us.

I’m still confident about getting 20-plus goals. I just have to keep putting myself in the right positions and hopefully one will come.

My mind’s clear. I know how to play the role. It’s just a case of getting the chances and taking them, which I’m hopeful I’m going to do soon.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 22, 2015

Enyimba vow to win title >>33

No hope for Nigeria >>55

...as World Championship begins TODAY’S FIXTURES EPL Man Utd Crystal Palace Leicester Norwich Sunderland West Ham

European Soccer Show >>36/37

v v v v v v

Newcastle Aston Villa Tottenham Stoke Swansea Bournemouth

12:45pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm

LA LIGA Deportivo v Sociedad Espanyol v Getafe Atletico Madrid v Las Palmas Rayo Vallecano v Valencia

5:30pm 5:30pm 7:30pm 9:30pm

SERIE A Verona Lazio

v Roma v Bologna

5pm 7:45pm

BUNDESLIGA Cologne Frankfurt Hannover 96 Hoffenheim Schalke Hamburg

v v v v v v

2:30pm 2:30pm 2:30pm 2:30pm 2:30pm 5:30pm

LIGUE 1 Lyon Bastia Gazelec Ajaccio Nantes Nice Toulouse

v v v v v v

Wolfsburg FC Augsburg Bayer Leverkusen Bayern Munich SV Darmstadt Stuttgart Rennes Guingamp Angers Reims Caen Monaco

4pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm

CROSS WORD PUZZLE

Odizor, Okocha and Oliseh storm NCC Tennis Cup >>36

ACCROSS 1 Chairman, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi – (7) 5 Lagos State Deputy Police Public relations Officer, Mr. Leima – (5) 8 Zodiac Sign – (3) 9 Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon – (5) 10 Indian Currency (5) 11 L.G.A in Kogi State (5) 12 Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Austin – (5) 15 Former Taraba State Governor, Reverend Jolly – (5) 17 Japanese Currency Unit – (3) 19 Taraba State Governor, Mr. Darius – (6) 20 Former Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud – (6) 22 Hebrew Alphabet – (3) 24 Former Lagos State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Leke – (5) 27 L.G.A in Kogi state – (5) 30 Former Super Eagles Assistant Coach, Henry – (5) 31 L.G.A in Lagos State – (5) 32 Chart – (5) 33 Bank Notes – (3) 34 Ebonyi State Governor, Dave – (5)

35 Country in Europe – (7) DOWN 1 Cross-River State Governor, Mr. Ben – (5) 2 L.G.A in Niger State – (5) 3 Super Eagles Striker, Brown – (5) 4 Managing Director, Public Affairs Department, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Oni – (6) 5 Muslim Holy Book – (5) 6 Greek Currency Unit – (5) 7 World’s Highest Mountain – (7) 13 Plateau State Capital – (3) 14 Bangladesh Capital City – (5) 16 Country in Asia – (5) 17 Addition Result – (3) 18 French Word for “Name”? – (3) 19 Abia State Governor, Victor – (6) 21 Fabric (3) 23 Kano Pillars Coach, Okey – (6) 25 Greek Alphabet – (5) 26 L.G.A in Anambra State – (5) 27 L.G.A in Kebbi State – (5) 28 State in Nigeria Known as “The State of Harmony”? – (5) 29 Insect – (5)

Solutionon on page Solution page2119

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