Boko Haram regroups, invades Borno towns

C M Y K

PAGE 2—SUNDAY Vanguard , JUNE 23, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY

C M Y K

Vanguard , JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 3

PAGE 4—SUNDAY Vanguard , JUNE 23, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013 — PAGE 5

BY LEKAN BILESANMI

F

ormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar wants President Goodluck Jonathan to raise a non-partisan committee with “authority and autonomy to devise appropriate strategy to resolve the on-going turmoil once and for all, and rescue the PDP from extinction.”

Atiku, in a statement, yesterday, added: “If the special committee established by the President to address the current crisis does not include representatives from the PDP various factions as well as the founding fathers, it will fail to create a sustainable solution.”

He spoke in response to the committee set up by Jonathan to resolve the crisis in the ruling party.

“As one of the founding fathers of the PDP, I cannot afford to be indifferent to these regretful developments within m y party. The escalation of sectarian and tribal threats over the up-coming election is embarrassing and has only diverted the focus of the PDP from the welfare of the Nigerian people. At the outset our idea was to establish a party committed to democratic values that were greater than the individual and accountable to the people. Any deviation from the PDP’s founding principles will result in the party losing domestic and international credibility as the guardian of democracy in Nigeria,” the erstwhile VP stated.

He continued: “The task of rebuilding the PDP is urgent and we cannot afford to stand akimbo while the democratic foundation of the ruling party is disintegrating. Any group or persons charged with the responsibility to rescue the PDP should be able to freely and objectively explore all options to resolve the crisis without the imposition of a single individual. If the President’s committee does not seek to include the voices of the founding fathers and other independentminded members of the party, it will be unable to maintain the impartiality required to address the considerable task before them.

“Most Nigerians perceive the

HRH Ambassador Eheneden Erediauwa, Edaiken N'Uselu, Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, flanked by Governor Adams Oshiomhole (left) and Deputy Governor, Dr Pius Odubu, cut the cake to celebrate the Oba's birthday in Benin City, yesterday.

PDP crisis: What Jonathan should do, by Atiku PDP as a party that does not respect the provision of its o w n constitution. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is currently investigating the PDP leadership for failure to abide by the provisions of the PDP constitution. The INEC claims that the PDP failed to hold free and transparent elections when selecting members of the National Working Committee. Worse still, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of

the party has not been meeting as required by the PDP Constitution. Whim and caprice has replaced the governing laws of the PDP Constitution.

‘Ekwueme, Nwachukwu’s sacrifice’ “ D r. E k w u e m e a n d Gen. Nwachukwu have done a good job of restoring the PDP to its original democratic glory. Ekwueme and Nwachukwu’s committee members sacrificed their time and energy to help the party with constructive and viable solutions that can help

the party move forward. It is curious to many of us why the party leadership lacks the moral courage to implement those recommendations. Can impunity a n d imposition ultimately replace the will of the people? In the words of George Washington, one of America’s founding fathers, “No man is good enough to govern another without his consent”.

“There has to be a better way. As a stakeholder and a founding member of the PDP I

call on other PDP elders to join hands in pulling the party out of this needless crisis. It is time that we restore the sanctity of the PDP Constitution and remind one another and all of Nigeria as to what the PDP stands for – democracy and a better future for the Nigerian people. I call on President Jonathan to concentrate his energies and time on governing the country, where turmoil abounds, and remove himself from any direct affiliation with the resolution to the crisis.

“The President has no business setting up any committee on party matters when his interests are widely believed to be central to the ongoing acrimony within the party. It is therefore imperative that we establish an independent committee comprised of founding members of the PDP, independent-minded party members,and representatives of the various factions to create a lasting solution to the crises at hand. This task is urgent and the party can ill afford to play the ostrich in the face of political challenges from the opposition parties.

‘Saving PDP from disintegration’ “We have a duty to save the PDP from disintegration while preserving its democratic principals and its vision for a better Nigeria. A house divided cannot stand. These threats are real and we need a more credible committee to do the job than a committee that is subservient and driven by a narrow agenda.”

Boko Haram re-groups, invades Borno towns Continues from page 1 President Goodluck Jonathan from their Sambisa Game Reserve camps, appear to be fighting back.

Sunday Vanguard was made to understand, yesterday, that they have not only regrouped, they have also sacked at least two major towns in the state.

One of the towns is Bama, where the insurgents struck in the weeks before Jonathan imposed the emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, killing 40 policemen, 13 prison warders, three sol-

SOLUTION

diers and several civilians.

The other is Gwoza.

Bama and Gwoza, located along the Sambisa offshore, are said to be the strongholds of Boko Haram, the Islamist group fighting to impose Islamic values on Nigeria, a secular state, and campaigns against Western education.

Military forces, who launched a campaign against the insurgents, including air raids by the air force, following the emergency rule imposed in Borno, had claimed that the Boko Haram members had relocated to Mandara and Gwoza hills among others desert areas of Borno State.

But tales from fleeing Bama and Gwoza residents arriving Maiduguri, the state capital, yesterday, showed that the insurgents had regrouped and launched fresh attacks on Bama and Gwoza.

“The insurgents are moving from house to house, issuing threat letters that civil servants and Christians must leave Bama within seven days or risk their lives,” one of the Bama residents who arrived Maiduguri, yesterday, told Sunday Vanguard.

‘How we escaped’ Another resident, who claimed he escaped through Dikwa via Muna Road, said, “We paid N7,000 each to be transported to Maiduguri instead of the N300 normal fare, since the MaiduguriBama -Gwoza Road has been rendered impassable as it was blocked by the JTF since the emergency rule”.

A civil servant, Alhaji Fannami Abba , a Bama resident who claimed to have taken all six mem-

bers of his family with him to Maiduguri, said, “ I paid N50,000 for the taxi cab which I hired to transport my family. Bama has become something else as the Boko Haram insurgents carry arms openly to intimidate law-abiding citizens in the town, especially civil servants”. Abba added, “Most residents, who could afford to pay their transport out through Dikwa have left Bama while others who could not afford had to trek through the desert/bush.”

Those who escaped from Gwoza said the town had been taken over by Boko Haram insurgents while villagers at the hilly areas had crossed over to Cameroun Republic to escape the insurgents.

Mr. James John, a retired civil servant, whose brother in-law was said to have been shot dead by Boko Haram in Bama, on Thursday, told our correspondent: “When we took the body of my late in-law for burial to Gwoza, we were advised to leave town immediately after the burial to avoid any contact with the insurgents if we valued our lives.

“Gwoza has fallen to Boko Haram and unless there is mil-

itary reinforcement in the area, I am afraid the insurgents will remain there indefinitely.” Sunday Vanguard efforts to reach the military authorities to comment on the twist in the emergency rule in Borno State, yesterday, were unsuccessful.

The youth manhunt for Islamists Meanwhile a volunteer youth group, tagged, “ Civilian JTF”,

assisting the men of the Joint Task Force, ‘Operation Restore Order ’, to sub due the Boko

Haram insurgency in Borno, yesterday, embarked on “Operation Stop and Search” of vehicles in Maiduguri, a situation which led to the arrest of several sect members. The youth, who carried cutlasses, knives and sticks, positioned in different locations, searching all vehicles including their engines, while the JTF personnel watched. This came barely five days after one Abu Zinnira, who claimed to be spokesman for Boko Haram, said, in a statement emailed to newsmen, that they will launch a manhunt for the youth. ”We have established that youth in Borno and Yobe states are now against our cause.

They have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We have also resolved to fight back, “ Zinnira said. However, some of the youth promised to fight Boko Haram, saying they were not deterred from carrying out their mission.

One of the leaders of the youth group said, “What the Boko Haram said is an empty threat because terror, war of attrition and killing of innocent

people with impunity is over.

We have resolved to take our destiny in our hands and will continue hunting the insurgents.”

PAGE 6 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013

Africa’s youngest billionaire to invest in Cross River G

IVEN the conducive business environment put in place by the Cross River State Government, Africa’s youngest billionaire, Ashish J. Thakkar has made known his intention to invest in Calabar.

Thakkar, who is president, Mara Group stated this while delivering a key note address at the 2013 edition of the Africa CEO Roundtable and Conference on Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (AR-CSR) at Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar.

According to the Ugandan, the decision to establish his presence in Calabar was based on what he has seen and heard of Cross River, which remains a veritable place to invest.

He explained that his investment in the state will be part of his effort to encourage young entrepreneurs to improve their capacity.

The billionaire said he was prepared to bring his wealth of experience to develop Nigeria, adding

that “it is only when you give that you can have more, especially when giving to a group or society” Thakkar disclosed that he professes Nigeria anywhere he goes as the best country and Cross River

has further convinced him about that because of its available human and natural resources couple with the conducive economic environment put in place by government to attract investments and investors.

Restore the rights of the less privileged, FG told

BY CALEB AYANSINA

A

group, Christian Care for Widows, Widowers, the Aged and Orphans (CCWA), yesterday, called on the Federal Government to restore the rights of the less privileged.

The Founder of CCWA, Prof. Deborah Ajakaiye, who made the call at the CCWA 21st anniversary celebration, tagged: ‘Arise And Shine’, in Abuja, also called on the National Assembly to ensure timely passage of all bills seek to promote the rights of widows, widowers, the aged and orphans.

She told Sunday Vanguard that society had not

been fair to them, noting that they had potentials to contribute to the development the country, if they were empowered.

The university don decried that most of government empowerment programmes were designed in such a way that the less privileged find it difficult to fully participate in it.

Ajakaiye disclosed that it was their neglect that informed the establishment CCWA “to minister the love of Christ to widows and orphans to cater for their spiritual, physical and emotional needs, to make them what God intended for them to be, so that, they can contribute to the country’s economy.”

From right: Africa’s Youngest Billionaire and President, Mara Group, Mr. Ashish Thakkar, Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, and wife, Obioma, and Ms Ini Onuk, MD ThistlePraxis Consulting,at the 2013 edition of Africa COE roundtable & conference on corporate sustainability & responsibility (AR-CSR) in Calabar.

Delta CPC affirms Chairman, others’suspension

BY FESTUS AHON

D

ELTA State chapter of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, has re-affirmed the suspension of its Acting State Chairman, State Secretary, State Assistant Secretary, Mr. Precious Enuenweayol, Mr. Patrick Emuobuvie and Mr. Aghogho Igini, respectively.

Mr. Vincent Efeakpo was also suspended.

The stakeholders, who had earlier in a suspension letter to the National

Secretariat of the party dated 7th of June, 2013, accused the state chairman and the three others of “engaging in anti-party activities and failure to hold meetings.”

Rising from a meeting held at Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area, the party stakeholders said the suspension was aimed at salvaging the party from drifting.

The CPC, in a communiqué signed by Engr.

Raphael Oghene- Tobore, state Publicity Secretary,

Mr. Ovoh Phillips, State Coordinator and Delta South Vice Chairman, Mr. Rex Okwa and 24 others, said: “We affirm that the suspension of the four officers was in order.”

NNPC to tackle environmental degradation

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

N

IGERIAN Nation al Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has tasked its staff to imbibe self-consciousness and the spirit of preservation and friendliness toward the environment across the country as part of measures to prevent environmental degradation.

The corporation, under leadership of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison Madueke and the Group Managing Director, Engr.

Andrew Yakubu, in commemoration of the World Environment Day, sensitised its staff on the importance of preserving the environment.

Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, Manager, NNPC Lagos Zone office, Mr. James Adebola, said the corporation, on yearly basis, observes the World Environment Day in order to educate its members on the need to protect and save the environment.

“As you are aware, every June 5 is World Environmental Day and NNPC year in year out has always been observing it in order to sensitize our members on the need for them to be aware to protect, save the environment and ensure that it is not abused,”Adebola said.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013 — PAGE 7

NGF: Political party without crisis is dead —Ndoma-Egba

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

S

•Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, flanked by former governor of Imo State, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim (left), and the widow of Professor Celestine Onwuliri, Viola, Minister of State 1 for Foreign Affairs, during the first Memorial Service on Onwuliri’s death at Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

From left: Dafe Okpaleke, Emmanuel Agu, both officials of Nigerian Breweries Plc., Roselyn Monday, one of the winners of the Legend Dubai Shopping Experience, and Funso Ayeni, also of Nigerian Breweries Plc, during the 3rd Legend Real Deal promo raffle draw at Amuwo -Odofin, Lagos State. Photo by Lamidi Bamidele.

ENATE Leader, Chief Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, says the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as a result of the controversial Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, election, was an indication that the party is not dead.

Ndoma-Egba, who stated this in an interview with Sunday Vanguard in Abuja on the crisis in the PDP, especially as it concerns the Rivers State chapter alleged to have been ignited by the victory of Governor Chibuike Amaechi in the NGF election that has now factionalized the forum with Governor Jona Jang of Plateau State leading a faction, said that a political party that did not have internal crisis was dead.

He said, “When you don’t have crisis in a political party, it means that the party is dead. A living party should anticipate crisis, the important thing is that do you have the mechanism of resolving the crisis and I say yes.

“The PDP has the mechanism for resolving the crisis than what we

are seeing now and all the crisis in the past were resolved and I believe that we have the resilience and the facility to resolve crisis as they confront us and this will not be an exception.”

The Senate Leader said that the Nigerian Constitution made provision for everybody to associate, adding that, “the Constitution allows them to come together as an interest group,so they are at liberty to associate

Shell, LIMGE join forces against fire in Lagos

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

I

N a rare collaboration, Shell N i g e r i a Exploration Company (SNECO) and Lagos Island Millenium Group on the Environment (LIMGE) are joining forces to end fire disasters in Lagos.

Consequently the soft launch of Ajele Fire Station in the heart of Lagos Island took place.

The occasion was witnessed by many eminent people.

Speaking at the soft launch, Chief (Mrs).

Taiwo Taiwo, the

Fire consumes family of six in Port Harcourt

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

A

family of six perished in an early morning inferno yesterday in Port Harcourt. Nobody could say what caused the fire but neighbors of the deceased family members told Sunday Vanguard that the fire started at about 2pm.

According to the landlord of the house, located at number 17, New Estate Road, Railway Quarters, they heard was a loud explosion.

What followed next, he stated, were balls of fire.

The residents claimed they ran out of their apartments in the confusion, adding that the explosion came from the apartment of the deceased family members.

They said three boys, a girl and their parents were those consumed in the fire. They put the ages of the children at twenty two, seventeen, nine and seven years.

According to a source, two other daughters of the deceased parents were not at home when the incident occurred.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the two other children relocated

from home to write the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE. Neighbors said the father was a taxi driver while the wife was a pet-

ty trader. At press time, there was wailing in the compound. The landlord, who did not want his name in print, could not hold back tears, saying he wished lives were

not lost in the fire.

“If the fire had only consumed the building leaving the lives, we would all have been consoled. But losing a family of six is a heavy

loss”, he lamented.

Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Angela Agabe, who confirmed the incident, said she was still awaiting details.

OSHIOMHOLE ON BENIN MONARCH’S BIRTHDAY

Oba Erediauwa is a bridge-builder

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

T

HE Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa, celebrated his birthday, yesterday, in grand style, with Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State describing him as the paramount traditional ruler in the ‘Heart Beat of Nigeria’.

Thousands of Nigerians, including the Oba of Lagos State, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu; Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr Pius Odubu; Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Samson Osagie; erudite lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN); member representing Oredo Federal Constituency, Rasaq Bello Osagie; and other members of Edo South members in the Nation-

al Assembly, were on hand to celebrate with the monarch.

Others are the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Barr.Patrick Obahiagbon (Igodomigodo); members of the Edo Executive Council; members of the state House of Assembly, traditional rulers from Delta State, Edo North and Central senatorial districts.

Oshiomhole said the Oba’s birthday celebration united the people of the state and Nigerians in general, asserting that despite the problems being faced by the nation, Nigeria will come out stronger at the end of the day.

The governor described the Oba as a bridge-builder and a great gift to the nation.

Oshiomhole and the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Ehenede Erediauwa, who rep-

resented the Oba, at the colorful occasion, cut the birthday cake to the de-

under whatever law.”

On the alleged interference of the governors on national matters, he said, ”I wouldn’t know. You know am in the legislature.”

Ndoma-Egba said the crisis in the ruling party will not affect the party in the upcoming elections and that the rumour that the opposition parties could cash-in on that to dislodge PDP was not correct.

light of dignitaries.

After his speech, he proposed a toast for long life for the Oba.

president of LIMGE, said the initiative was to make sure “that no building on Lagos Island is ever gutted by fire again”. Taiwo added: “This was one of our clear mandates from inception because we are aware of the fact that the Lagos Island area is densely populated with close clusters and has always been prone to fire incidents even from colonial times. ”What LIMGE is doing is showing an example of private public partnership for others to see and get involved in their communities so we can build a better Lagos and Nigeria.”

According to her, the project, which will be officially commissioned in June, boasts of a gym, recreational room, communication equipment, training facilities, four state-of-the-art fire fighting motorbikes, brand new fire fighting kits and top quality modern fire fighting. The LIMGE boss explained that 100 specially selected firemen have attended a comprehensive and extensive two weeks training facilitated by a fire chief from the New Jersey Fire Department.

UNIBEN sacks two profs, bursar

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

T

HE Governing Council of University of Benin (UNIBEN) has terminated the appointment of 18 senior staff of the university.

The former bursar of the institution, Mrs May Nwoye, was also asked to proceed on compulsory retirement by the Council. Nwoye was said to have abandoned his duty post after she left the office of bursar.

Meanwhile, the university has been ranked as the most sought after institution in the country with a total number of 102,900 applicants in 2013, while universities

of Ilorin, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe and University of Nigeria Nsukka came second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Those were contained in a statement by the UNIBEN Registrar, Mrs G.O.Ogboghodo.

20 robbers strike in Ogun, kill six

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

H

ELL was let lose on Saturday in Ifo community in Ifo local government area of Ogun State when armed robbers, numbering about 20, invaded the area and killed six people including five operatives of the Ogun State Vigilante Service.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the robbers were members of a

gang that specialized in robbing banks and allied institutions.

The robbers, who allegedly operated in an unmarked lorry, entered a filling station and shot the five men of the Vigilante Service guarding the place.

One of the petrol station attendants was also said to be unlucky as the robbers bullets hit him and he died on the spot.

PAGE 8 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013

From left: Alex Okoh, Chairman Resource Intermediaries Limited (RIL), Mo Abudu, Chairman, VLA Associates, Seni Adetu, MD Guinness, Dr Chidi Okpaleke, Jacqueline Odiadi, board member, Assciation of Outsourcing Professionals (AOPN) and Soji Oyawoye, MD of RIL at the 2013 Outsourcing Expo .

From left: the Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West, Methodist Church Nigeria Rt. Revd Isaac Olawuyi ,with his wife, Sis. Funmi Olawuyi, their son, Bro. Aduragbeminiyi Olawuyi (the King in the play), the Proprietress, Child Ville Schools, Ogudu Estate, Lady Gbemi Smith and husband, Sir Kehinde at the play, Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi of the former Benin empire, debuted by the school, at the UNILAG auditorium, Akoka.

Power outage aborts Abuja flight landing in Uyo

BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

A

n Arik flight, which took off from Abuja for Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday night, could not land on arriving at its destination due to power failure at the airport.

The pilot was said to have hovered over the airport for about 30 minutes hoping that power will be restored, but, when it became obvious that he was wrong and the runway was dark, he decided to return to Abuja.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the man with the keys to the generator house was nowhere to be found.

Responding, FAAN’s Head of Communications, Yakubu Datti, said the airport was not under the agency (FAAN).

“The agency has no business with whatever goes on at the Akwa Ibom airport,”Datti said.

Spokesman for Arik Air, Mr Banji Ola, confirmed the flight did make air return to Abuja due to power failure at the Akwa Ibom airport.

Akwa Ibom State government said, last night, there was “a slight technical problem with the airport’s lighting system”, but added that it was “rectified shortly afterward”.

‘Thank God we survived’ Flight W3 533 passengers were reportedly full of praises to God for saving their lives as their plane returned to the nation’s capital.

On the flight, according to a report, were about 50 passengers, including the chairman of the National Human

*Thank God we survived – Passengers Rights Commission, Prof.

Chidi Odinkalu, and some unnamed federal lawmakers, believed to be heading to Uyo for a retreat.

The report quoted Odinkalu as saying, “Thank God we survived. If it had been a rainy night with thunderstorm, anything could have happened to us.

Some people need to answer questions over that incident.”

The flight, originally scheduled for 6:25 p.m, left Abuja at about 7 p:m. It returned to Abuja at 9: 35 p.m. after hovering in the sky for over 30 minutes in expectation that authorities at

the Uyo airport would be able to light the runway to enable it to land.

Some passengers on the flight said the plane was only 500 metres from the tarmac in Uyo when the airport suddenly blacked out.

“As he re-engaged the engines to go up, the pilot informed us that the control tower had told him there was a power outage at the airport,” a passenger on the flight said. “So they needed a little time to switch to alternative source. So we were told.

“Meanwhile, the aircraft was in a holding pattern over Uyo. So we flew around and wait-

ed. After about 15 minutes, the pilot explained that the man responsible for turning on the back up power unit was about 10-15 minutes from the airport and had been reached. So he was on his way back to switch it on. So we kept holding.”

The passenger said after another 15 or so minutes, the American pilot announced that the control tower had informed him that the man expected to switch on the generator had arrived and that power would be restored to the airport in 10 minutes. So the plane held on, hovering in the sky.

But fifteen minutes

later, the pilot again informed passengers that even though the technician to switch on the generator had arrived, the airport authorities were unable to locate the keys to the source of the alternative power unit.

Officials didn’t say who took the keys away and at what point they realized the keys were missing.

They however advised the pilot to return to Abuja.

‘Lighting technical problem’ A statement by Akwa Ibom State government said, “On the reported lighting issue at Akwa Ibom Airport, there is no

cause for alarm. There was slight technical problem noticed with the lighting system which was rectified shortly afterward. The control tower was in communication with the pilot who decided on air return in the interest of safety. We wish to state that the lighting system was immediately restored and all scheduled and unscheduled flights are landing and taking off from Ibom Airport. Air return is not a new thing in the industry. Safety of lives is the most important issue. Meanwhile government has directed full investigation into the matter.”

I am not PDP Speak er ambuw al ffires ires bac ks at critics of his sstt at ement on Aregbesola Speaker er,, TTambuw ambuwal backs atement

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI ADO EKITI

T

he Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, yesterday, shocked his audience when he tongue lashed members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) who criticized him for speaking glowingly about the administration of the governor of Osun State,Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,urging them to see performance in governance beyond partisan politics.

Members of the Osun PDP had, some weeks ago, condemned the Speaker for eulogizing Aregbesola during his visit to the state.

Tambuwal was speaking at Ilawe Ekiti,headquarters ,Ekiti

South West Local Government area of Ekiti State, yesterday, during the first year coronation ceremony of Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Ajibade A l a b i .

He was installed the Bobagunwa of Ilawe at the occasion. According to him, he was not the Speaker of the PDP but the Speaker of a crucial arm of government of the n a t i o n .

Tambuwal said good performance by public officers should be acknowledged by all, irrespective of political l e a n i n g .

He equally lauded the administration of Ekiti State governor,Dr Kayode Fayemi, for bringing revolution to the state in terms of g o v e r n a n c e .

The Speaker urged Fayemi to keep up the good work.

Tambuwal expressed gratitude to the monarch and the community for the title and promised to uphold the honour.

In his own speech at the occasion, Fayemi extolled the virtues of

leadership of Tambuwal in the House of Representatives, describing him as a “leader I am very well pleased in.”

Fayemi, who commended the large turnout of the people at the event, noted that the occasion was a

demonstration of the love the people had for the king.

Speaking earlier, Oba Alabi observed that the event would have taken place on April 24 but postponed in honour of the late deputy governor of the state, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka.

Kaigama emerges TUC president

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

P

R E S I D E N T GENERAL of the Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigeria, ASCSN, Bobboi Bala Kaigama was, in the early hours of yesterday, elected the President of t h e Trade Union Congress of Nigeria,

TUC, at the 9th Triennial Delegates Conference, TDC, of the umbrella body for senior staff associations in the country, He defeated President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, in a keenly contested

election where close to 700 delegates from senior staff associations affiliated to TUC, the second labour centre in the country, voted.

Kaigama scored 356 votes to defeat Ogun who got 314 votes in the election which delegates and observers acclaimed to be free, fair and transparent.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013 — PAGE 9

Against all reasonable expectation got over my fear and found meaning in ministrations that lacked half heartedness and spiritual arrogance thats very common among the so called "Free".

When life brings you down on your knees, you get a new and clearer perspective. Worship has a new dimension to those who have no one on their side anymore but God. Most people in prison find out the hard way that life moves on, family move on, friends will soon forget. Prison either breaks you or shapes you. You harden to survive or you find the elixir of faith and discover hope. Hope that someday when the gates open, you are the one leaving.

I have always thought that grace is the separator between the dead and the living, the convict and the free, the rich and the poor. Our lives, circumstances and happenstances sometimes spin

out of our control and without the intervention of grace we would all without exception be consumed. Our greed, lust, rage consume us

,

E

VANGELISM is mandatory in Christendom. We are called to spread the good news of the gospel.

I have personally held the opinion that the greatest evangelist is the one whose life and general demeanour does all the preaching. Evangelism is humility, generosity, gentility of spirit, charity and empathy. Words are meaningless when acts run contrary. It has been my experience that kindness is the greatest preacher; showing love speaks louder than any words or even quotes we can spout. Being shy and self conscious made street evangelism a tad difficult for me. Being squeamish also meant I couldn't do the hospital rounds as I tend to pass out at the sight of blood but it turns out I was a bit bold as I totally fell in love with prison ministration. I won't lie and say I wasn't scared the first time but I

tainment". Hope always has an expectation. It's not always reasonable and may be totally undeserved but it is always fuelled by a very strong desire or faith. We wish for something and put all our faith in obtaining our desire sometimes against all reasonable expectation. Hope attains new status when the stakes are all or nothing and I saw that in action this past week. The one rule I observe in ministration is to never ask what people did; it only brings condemnation and judgement and I believe incarceration is judgement enough. With that mind set, I have come to see

Our lives, circumstances and happenstances sometimes spin out of our control and without the intervention of grace we would all without exception be consumed

,

and they can very easily pave the way that lead to captivity of soul, body and spirit.

H

ope is a word much bandied and I am sure we all use it many times a day. My favourite definition of it is "to cherish a desire with anticipation" or "to desire with expectation of ob-

inmates as friends, I see them more than I see some family members. I enjoy spirited praise and prayer sessions and their commitment to worship is a joy to behold.

I

learnt a few lessons in prison ministry, the first being that anger or, should I say rage, has put many decent people

in jail. We have all at one time reached a stage of provocation when we thought we didn't care for the consequences; so did a lot of prisoners! In prison, you will have all the time in the world to care about the consequences you damned.

You wake up in the morning to exercise or body search, you do chores and move around the same perimeter till lockdown at dusk. You share a room with people you can't afford to trust, there is no privacy or vanity and let's not forget you lose all the comforts. In prison you are a number and the society decides if you are boxed or erased. It is the nature of man to adapt for survival's sake and most people do. I find myself encouraged by the smiles and easy affection of my incarcerated friends. I wish them liberty, we pray about it all the time.

I can't stop myself from warning the young and carefree that there are consequences for fast living and recklessness. I sometimes wish parents would take their older children to the prisons to see young adults on death row or even serving life sentences to drum some caution into them!

So back to my experience this past week. I was on my way out of the female prison when I noticed a new addition to the blackboard on the wall. Three "CC"s (Con-

demned Criminals) had been added and I had enquired when and why.

To those who don't understand the implication, that means sentenced to death. The reality is that most people in prison are awaiting trial and where bail is denied they can spend several years till judgement is pronounced. It took the wind out of my sails to learn one of my young friends was among the newly condemned and I had to be encouraged from giving in to despair. She had been playing the drums during worship as usual and had shown no indication of any devastation during ministration just some minutes before. I was even more surprised to learn she had decided to earn her master's degree from the open University even after that judgement and her attitude gave me a deeper dimension of the miracle that is Hope. She has decided to put her fate in God's hands and abide in hope. And she is not just saying it, she is living it.

Other prisoners are encouraged by her abiding faith and they are also hopeful. Hope is God's gift to us all, its not a preserve of any class or even religion, its like the air; essential and free. We need it in every situation and circumstance most especially when its against all reasonable expectation.

PAGE 10 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

“To know that which before us lies in daily life is the prime wisdom; what is more is fume”. John Milton, 1608-1674.

HE Nigeria’s Gov ernors Forum, NGF, is not a constitutionally recognized body. But, contrary to the opinion in certain quarters, it is not illegal. The reason is simple. While everything in the constitution is “legal”; not everything that is not in the constitution is illegal. The reader should note the inverted comas in the word legal. Governments in democracies worldwide are under obligations to respect citizens’ rights to privacy; but for “security reasons”, these rights are violated in virtually every country. Governments, all over the world, including those of the US, Britain, France, Germany and India, not to talk of Nigeria, spy on their citizens, routinely, under various pretences labeled as security. In fact, Alberto Fujimori, former Peruvian President, who was later charged for human rights violations, might have a point when he declared that: “Traditional democracies will end up in the g a r b a g e h e a p ” . ( VA N G U A R D BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 37). That statement credited to Fujimori in 1998 has

T

proved prophetic today. No democracy in the world now operates with the textbook definition of the word anymore. Terrorism, however defined by each government, has forced governments and the people in many countries to trade off some of their rights in exchange for security. Illegal eavesdropping and wiretaps, email espionage conducted by nations is the mildest form of intrusion into our lives. Hacking into computer systems first started with the security operatives of nations before it became an all-comers affair. Central governments, worldwide have become a potential threat to their citizens, and to regional or state governments, even in countries where there are institutionalized checks and balances designed to protect citizens from intrusive Federal governments.

That was why, the formation of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, by the first set of civilian governors, in 1999-2007, was, to me a welcome development. Not because it was in the constitution, or because I was not aware of the adverse consequences of having another power block, but because, given the awful powers granted to the President of Nigeria by the departing military, only another strong power block

,

The real tragedy of NGF

can check the excesses of the Federal government – especially in fiscal matters.

And, let me declare that despite the few occasions when the NGF had brutally forced its will on the President, the governors, when acting in concert, had constituted the balance checking the Federal government from its excesses. Let me illustrate the point with two examples.

When the Federal Government unilaterally negotiated the Minimum Wage at N18,000 without seeking the consent of the gover-

To me Amaechi and Jang are two misguided individuals leading two factions of people who might be powerful but lack real wisdom

I

T has long been estab lished that Nigeria is a country of extremes. Many of its appellations is not worthy of praise nor its citizens got much to be proud of lately. I know Jonah brought out his score card and gave his administration a pass. Well, I am sure those who mark their own score sheet are biased and they would do so dishonestly, especially if they are failing miserably. The facts speak for itself; too many Nigerians have never had it so bad and it is unlikely to change their lot any time soon, unless this government can honestly acknowledge like the other administrations before it; they are squandering our national wealth.

According to the Financial Times, Nigeria’s GDP has increased by an average of 7 per cent for the past decade but poverty rates only declined slightly from 64.2 per cent to 62.6 per cent. The level of unemployment has risen, with Nigeria ranking 153 out of

186 countries in the 2013 according to United Nations Human Development Index. To think Nigerians accounts for 18% of the continent's total population; we are a sizeable number and should something go wrong, and I pray it does not, we will overwhelm our neighbours with sheer size of displaced people!

The World Bank stated that “Job creation in Nigeria has been inadequate to keep pace with the expanding working age population". Well, that figures doesn't give the true picture of the situation. The maths does not add up as the official unemployment rate indicates that there is an increase from 12 per cent of the working age population in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2011. This steep climb continues to rise and in some parts of the country like, up north, the working age population are as high as 70% to 80% are unemployed, not in training or in education.

So what is the government doing to tackle the great divide in unemployment level? With a third of the population without any opportunity or means to work them-

,

nors, whether PDP or not, it was committing governors who were not its servants to payments which most would find it difficult discharge without difficulties.

There is nothing in our constitution giving the President the right to negotiate wages and salaries on behalf of states. Governors immediately fell into two groups – those who could pat after making some adjustments and those who could not irrespective of what adjustments they made. The Nigerian Labor Congress was poised to

would have been faced with a serious constitutional crisis.

The point here is this: the NGF can, and has been, an instrument for constructive change and for moderating the excesses of the Federal government in the past – when it is allowed to govern itself. In the case of the amendments to the constitution on elections, they have actually helped the Federal government out of a difficult jam. That the NGF has now been polarized based on personal interests is the real tragedy.

selves out of poverty when would they tackle the deficit?

When I was growing up there was at least some distinction of some sort the working class, middle class and the seriously rich. Alas,

rhaging, losing its future potential of wealth and yet it is blatantly obvious that most states and the FG, for that matter, have systematically negated their duties by restricting and diverting funds earmarked for education, health, training and employment for young people to improve their lives?

Majority of these young people are on a self-destructive trajectory without any positive intervention. With rural poverty so close to 51 million of the general population it is about time we acted and fed our nation before there is nothing left for the poor but to eat the rich!.

Let’s do something “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” -- John F. Kennedy

raise hell against any state which refused to pay. It took the concerted efforts of all the governors, at the time, irrespective of political party to diffuse the tension.

Second, nobody can fail to give the governors in office in 2010/2011 most of the credit for the constitutional amendment which made the changes in the Election process possible and without which there might have been no election in 2011. Again, all the governors, irrespective of political party, rushed through their various houses of assembly all the amendments in time for the elections. If, the governors, especially non-PDP governors had strictly followed the constitutional provisions for amendment of any part of the constitution, the nation

it seems that was a lifetime away. It was inspirational then to strive to better your lot but now it is a pipe dream out of reach or many as people eke subsistence

,

There is no motivation and eventually resentment grows especially towards others who are more fortunate

living. What relevance is it to the ordinary man on the street? People cannot think that far ahead other than living from day to day. We know that work-productive work- is good for your emotional and physical well-being and if one is without work for a prolong time, one looses one’s confidence and self-esteem and gradually, it begins to affect one’s health.

There is no motivation and eventually resentment grows especially towards others who are more fortunate.

A lot of young peoples’ frustration then manifest destructively in negative activities because of lack of direction and aspiration.

Why is Nigeria haemor-

,

In the UK, the leaders of the G8 members met to discuss on how to reduce poverty to half by 2030. It is no mean feat but at least people are talking and giving materials and money to affect change. Most children in Nigeria go to school, I have been told, without having breakfast and they may be lucky to have a meal in school or have to wait later in the day to have a meal. The 1-0-0 or 0-1-0 is practised as a matter of fact and this is the reality in and around the country today.

Research has shown that a student deprived of food cannot concentrate in school, they become malnourished, it also stunts their growth and physical

The victims are the people of the states. With the governors divided, the Federal government can now do whatever it wants with the funds. Divided, they have fallen and failed the people who elected them.

To me Amaechi and Jang are two misguided individuals leading two factions of people who might be powerful but lack real wisdom.

The real winner is not Amaechi or Jang. On the face of it, someone might say that the only winner is Jonathan and the losers are the 167 million Nigerians who these people govern.

But, that will be inaccurate; Jonathan himself might still be a loser. There might still be an occasion when he will need the help of the NGF. Furthermore, there are already some collateral damages to zonal cooperative arrangements; the Southsouth Governors Forum, the Southeast Governors Forum, the Northern Governors Forum and the newly formed PDP Governors Forum are already fractured on account of this mess. Yet, there are zonal and rtegional problems e.g flooding which require multi-state efforts. How on earth will this be possible when every zone is engulfed in the NGF conflict? Don’t the people matter? Or must the collective welfare be sacrificed to the political ambitions of a few men?

However, there is still a way out of this needless crisis, one more than the President wants credited to his account. My suggestion centres around the “Missing Governor ”, Suntai of Taraba. Nobody knows how he would have voted. The fact that he did not vote and

has not spoken out in favour of either Amaechi or Jang is important. He should be encouraged to remain silent. Meanwhile, all well-meaning Nigerians should convince the two contenders to step down. Then Suntai or his Deputy, who was also absent, should take over the Chairmanship of NGF until 2015.

DISPARITY IN UNITY SCHOOLS CUT- OFF MARKS Governments take measures which solve a problem in the short term only to make them worse in the long run. The report in the PUNCH of June 19, 2013, stating that the Federal government has approved different cut-off marks for students seeking admission from various states of the country is the latest example. While this obvious discrimination regarding admission requirements might make it possible for more northern kids to gain admission, it will result in the same problem which automatic promotion created for all the stakeholders in the Southwest more than twenty years ago. In fact, the problems will be greater. For instance, the male student, from Yobe, who scored only two out of 300 possible scores and is admitted to secondary school, will never be able to cope with JSS1 work.

Then what? Will he be promoted to JSS2 all the same?

This is madness. To think otherwise represents the worst kind of self-deception we are capable of as a nation. Our education will take several steps backward from its existing dismal position.

development, not to talk of other emotional deficit the child is likely to develop and susceptibility to diseases and opportunistic infections as a result.

We remain quite deluded in our little corners with our blinkers on, convinced that unless someone puts a begging bowl in hand then, that people are not experiencing abject hardship. I know people find it difficult to admit that they are financially incapable of coping.

We as people do not like losing face but we rather pretend everything is fine when in fact we are desperately in dire need. We need to look beyond the veneer, bravado. That we lack humanity in relating to our fellow Nigerians. It has been so long ago people help one another. Now even the Government wants absolute gratitude for providing its citizens with the essentials of living. We cannot expect adulation and exaggerated gratitude for what we should be prepared to do for the good of our country and the future generations.

No one is naive to think poverty can be swept away with all the greatest will in the world; poverty will always exist but we can help make a difference so that it is doable.

Poverty is everywhere in the world but we cannot afford to turn our face and pray that it will go away, it won’t and not doing anything about it is not an option.

before Bola Ahmed Tinubu happened on the scene. She was Iyaloja of Lagos before she became the Iyaloja General of Nigeria. She was active and articulate.

Because of that anybody who needs the voice of the women and traders had to have her hearing. In the turbulence of Nigeria- the Banbagida/Abacha era, she was being consulted and she went to Abuja for a number of times.

Abibat became more prominent when Ahmed Bola Tinubu first became a Senator of the Republic, then he went into exile abroad and finally emerge the Governor of Lagos and the Kingmaker of the West.

Abibat’s contribution was immense. A quiet worker: what she says, goes and her home became the Mecca of most Lagosians who wanted some of the actions.

Abibat was the mother of all of them. She might not have been an amala politician in the sense of Adedibu but her generosity was legendary.

And she could keep secrets. And some of them we will learn in due course.

Many people know Bola as the son of Abibat. She was more than that. She weaned him, trained him and taught him some of the worldly wisdoms. She probably taught Bola to be respectful of the elders and to give as much as he can to the needy and wayfarers.

She probably thought him to be straight forward and truthful. Abibat died at 96 going to 97. And she died among her children in the midst of love and affection.

We will all miss her.

-- Kola Animasaun

Tribute -Abibat, mother of all

I have heard and seen Alhaja Abibat Mogaji long

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 11

some critics condemned his alleged undue interest and asked him to leave the forum to its owners-the governors, others who were not comfortable with what they

described as Amaechi’s disloyalty, urged the President to look for another NGF chairman that he could rely upon. Now, which Governor can President Jonathan trust?

It would be foolhardy to ask the President to look for such an ally from non-PDP governors because they are the main pillars of the emerging political coalition which is seeking to take over the government at the centre. To even consider that as an option would be a major risk. So, is it safer to trust a fellow party member? Some would say yes but not Amaechi. But then, there is doubt if other PDP Governors are actually better than him, because if Amaechi alone was the problem, no PDP governor would have voted for him after the party had ostensibly anointed a different candidate. Oh yes they did and boasted about their feat only a few days ago.

The explanations of Governors Kwankwaso of Kano and Lamido of Jigawa clearly showed the two governors to be strong characters that could not be teleguided. Thus if PDP is looking for weaklings it must look at a different direction from these their two members. The same appears to be true of Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Babangida Aliyu of Niger and Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto.

The latter would not even take kindly to any purported disciplinary action against him by the party. If therefore, there are certain impending important par-

ty assignments, the President needs a back up team.

Unfortunately, the other PDP governors may not be able to do this necessary backing. Although some of them are always being portrayed as loyalists, there is danger in giving assignments to persons who are quite proficient in adducing “strong” reasons for why the assignments failed.

If we take the alleged mandate to unseat Amaechi as a test case, there are too many questions begging for answers. Is it true for instance that the party ’s anointed candidate changed from time to time making the party look confused? There is in fact the story that at a point, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State revealed that Governor Yuguda of Bauchi was to replace Governor Shema of Katsina as the President’s choice for the election against Amaechi; but later changed it to Jonah Jang of Plateau. This can easily go for a shoddy job. Who wants to give the handlers a second assignment?

In addition, some of the reasons being given for why Amaechi could not have won the election are more annoying. There is the claim that the man won because as a sitting chairman he didn’t step down before voting started. That would probably have been a good reason for why the anti-Amaechi group should have refused to vote. Instead, after voting, they said they didn’t and when a recording of the event sur-

faced, they said the filming was illegal. It is in retrospect more irritating to imagine that although, the group kept talking about 19 signatories who pledged to support Governor Jonah Jang, we have continued to see only 16 persons in the group as the results of the election reflected. The group has not been able to increase even by one member. It was the same figure of loyalists that took part in the search for legitimacy by paying courtesy calls on some leaders of only one party- the PDP. Why could they not visit elsewhere?

Why did the figure of those in the faction not change when the group opened its secretariat?

The implications of the Amaechi faction remaining the majority are grave.

As one member of the group said, the faction boycotted the meeting called to resolve the federation account allocation impasse to protest what it called the presidential recognition of the loser of an election.

Considering that the posture of the losing team can give the President a bad image, this is the appropriate time for Jonathan, a man with a pan-Nigerian mandate to discard sycophants and re-engineer his team notwithstanding the vote of confidence on him by his party some 3 days ago. In this search, he should remember the saying that “when a man is searching for his lost item, he may never find it if a thief is among those in the search party”

passionate, they would have, in concert with accredited representatives of okada riders, worked out an achievable plan to provide alternative means of livelihood for okada operators before the ban. But our governors are not bothered about the sufferings of human beings who depend on okada for survival, simply because okada riders are mostly uneducated and do not have the financial wherewithal and political connections to challenge government. In Lagos state, an ultra modern market is almost completed on the

shops to those who were operating in the market before the incident, wives and cronies of top government officials, business tycoons and privileged members of the society who do not really need the shops buy them up and sell at exorbitant rates to the public. In this way, most of the struggling Nigerians that previously owned stalls in the market lose out eventually. Usually, victims of disasters in the markets are breadwinners in their families.

Some are so frustrated, so disillusioned and devastated, that they commit suicide, whereas the younger ones become armed robbers, kidnappers and prostitutes. In the provision of affordable housing, the same disappointing story of the rich taking care of the rich obtains as well. At both

were from poor homes. For instance, in 2011, President Jonathan narrated that as a pupil he trekked a long distance to school barefooted because his parents could not afford to buy him a pair of shoes. Governor Babatunde Fashola, in a recent newspaper interview, admitted his humble background: as a young boy, he usually woke up at 5 am to help prepare Tower Aluminium pots and pans, which his grandmother would sell in the market. Of course, there is nothing wrong if one was not born with a silver spoon, and the stories of Jonathan and Fashola are not unique in that regard.

As I stated earlier, some powerful members of the ruling cabal rose from grass to grace, so to speak. Yet it appears, judging from their anti-people and anti-poor policies and programmes, that our leaders easily forgot what life was like when they were poor. Perhaps after escaping the devastating gravitational pull of poverty, Nigerian leaders have deleted completely from their minds the evils of poverty and the imperative of using their privileged positions to help the masses. In my opinion, members of the ruling elite are not acting wisely and responsibly, otherwise they ought to know that their primary duty is to work tirelessly to alleviate poverty first before anything else.

Probably, there is a subconscious or sublimated psychology of poverty at work here, which makes rich people who had tasted poverty before to despise the poor. All the same, inasmuch as government is under obligation to cater for all members of the society irrespective of socio-eco-

nomic status, we submit that the most important function of a democratic government is poverty alleviation, because majority of the population are poor.

I am not sure that our leaders are thinking in this direction. Nigerian leaders at all levels are Christians and Muslims. However, it is very doubtful whether they really understand the spiritual significance of the scriptural injunction to help the poor and the needy.

Certainly, religious observances by Nigerians, especially the ruling elite, are a caricature, which creates a false impression of attunement to spirituality. There is a world of difference between religiosity and spirituality - the latter is a vastly superior state of consciousness characterised by burning desire for knowledge, humility, contentment, self-control, tolerance, peace of mind, and kindness.

We conclude our discussion today with the following questions: if Nigerian politicians are genuinely spiritually cultivated, why are they so corrupt, materialistic, and indifferent to the sufferings of compatriots?

Why are they desperate to win elections, and when they are in power employ all necessary means to cling to office? If Mr. President, governors and so on actually intended to serve the people, why are they prospering while most of the people they are supposed to serve are perspiring due to relentless suffering? What is in political power that intoxicates Nigerian politicians? Must our politicians lose sound commonsense whenever they get into office?

CONCLUDED.

Which Governors can President Jonathan rely upon?

Anybody who has followed the recent activities of our Governors would probably answer the question with some ease. Until recently, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) was a united and powerful body of all Governors in Nigeria. For some strange reasons, the PDP which produced the majority of the governors suddenly set up another forum for its own

,

Q

UITE often, many State Govern ments in Nigeria openly express dissatisfaction with the sharing of the proceeds of the federation account. Last week, the trend took a rather serious turn when Commissioners for finance from the States walked out on the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Lawal Ngama who chaired the May 2013 Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja. As was expected of the father of the nation, President Goodluck Jonathan sought to resolve the bone of contention with state governors in a meeting in Abuja– a decision that would have presented a good opportunity for the aggrieved states to table their grievances. Surprisingly, most of the governors according to media reports refused to turn up for the meeting. Why would governors shun a meeting called by the President when he and a majority of them belong to the same political party- the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?

State making it appear that the problem of the PDP was not the Governors Forum but its leader-Amaechi. In due course, the plot to upstage the latter as Chairman of the NGF became the topical issue of discourse everywhere in the nation. The prominence which this gave to the body made people to assume that perhaps the President himself had a hand in it. While

For some strange reasons, the PDP which produced the majority of the governors suddenly set up another forum for its own governors as if to halt some anti-PDP feelings in the main NGF

governors as if to halt some anti-PDP feelings in the main NGF. Interestingly, the body was at the time also led by a PDP GovernorRotimi Amaechi of Rivers

,

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

O

NE fundamental point that emerg es from our discourse on criticism and the growth of democracy in Nigeria is that the ruling class does not really care about the wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians who have been enduring manmade hardships occasioned by mediocre leadership especially since the reestablishment of civilian rule in 1999.

This claim follows from the fact that our so-called democracy is actually a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.

Now, given that human beings are necessarily social, that every society at any point in time has a set of people empowered to administer the community for the good of all, it is imperative that political power must be exercised in a highly disciplined and responsible manner. If we evaluate the quality of leadership in Nigeria since 1999 with the utilitarian standard of the greatest happiness for the greatest number, it is clear that the outcome must be negative. An overwhelming proportion of the policies and programmes of the federal, state and local governments are geared towards the enrichment of the rich and powerful. Consider the quantum of public resources President Goodluck Jonathan, despite half-

hearted denials by the presidency, is allegedly spending to actualise his second term ambition, in addition to the huge amount the three tiers of government waste annually to maintain the appurtenances of office nationwide.

Meanwhile the vast majority of our people (the 99%) are struggling everyday to eke out a living in an increasingly inhuman environment. Government is alienated and disconnected from ordinary Nigerians, which implies that our democracy is really a caricature of what democratic governance ought to be. In many states of the federation, for instance, commercial motorcycle transport popularly called okada has been banned without a thought about human beings adversely affected by such a measure. Of course, some of the accidents on the highways are due to reckless driving by okada riders. Moreover, robbers often use motorcycles to rob.

Nevertheless, there is nothing in this world that cannot be misused or abused.

Car accidents occur daily, and armed robbers regularly rob with vehicles. Yet, no reasonable person would stop taxi or kabukabu drivers from doing their work. If the governors that banned okada in their respective states were com-

,

The spiritual poverty of Nigeria’s ruling elite

Government is alienated and disconnected from ordinary Nigerians, which implies that our democracy is really a caricature of what democratic governance ought to be

very ground where the old Tejuoso market stood.

Many victims of the fire which burnt down the market allege that agents of the state government destroyed it so that governor Babatunde Fashola and his cohorts would build a better one for the rich. Now, most times when a popular market is destroyed in Nigeria the state government concerned, in conjunction with banks and private investors, rebuilds the market. However, instead of preferential allocation of stalls and

,

the federal and state levels, low income housing schemes by government are deliberately implemented in a way that excludes the poor who really need the houses. Hence there is nothing connected to low income earners in those projects aside from nomenclature, because wealthy and highly connected people buy the houses and resell at cutthroat prices to the well-to-do. The irony is that a significant percentage of top political office holders in our country right now

PAGE 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

Our malaria, snake venom research breakthroughs, by UNIJOS VC, Prof Mafuyai *Says the notion of fallen education standard is wrong

By Taye Obateru Professor Hayward Babale Mafuyai, Vice Chancellor, University of Jos (UNIJOS), clocks two years in office today. He spoke with Sunday Vanguard on his efforts to re-position the institution and argued that the notion of falling educational standard in Nigeria is rather exaggerated. According to him, what is needed is to improve on the quality of instruction and provision of good physical infrastructure in schools to match the level of training in the developed societies.

Mafuyai also spoke on the outcome of some research programmes in UNIJOS.

Best pharmacy programme We made steady progress in achieving excellence in our academic programmes. Currently our pharmacy programme is rated the best nationally and Law Faculty is the third best in the country. We continue to work steadfastly toward achieving excellence in all of our other programmes.

It has been two years since you became Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos. How has the journey been?

The journey so far has been quite challenging; one

What are those projects that have been completed and waiting to be commissioned?

The projects completed and awaiting commissioning include the professorial building that was initiated by our Chancellor, HRH, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Aladesanmi III, a Faculty building for the medical school consisting of staff offices, lecture hall and laboratories. Two, beautification and land scaping projects at the Naraguta campus have been completed. Like I said earlier, there are others that are at various levels of completion and will be completed in the next two or three months, for instance, the Faculty of Arts, Theatre and Film Block A and C. C M Y K

•Professor Hayward Mafuyai, UNIJOS V-C Apart from the problem of funding, what would you say has been the major headache of your administration?

A major headache has been the security challenge in parts of the state which has now abated. Also, phase two land of the university which we are working seriously to be able to repossess for future growth and development of new programmes that are long overdue to be introduced by the university.

These are the Faculties of Agriculture, Veterinary and Engineering, which are in very high demand. For some reasons we were unable to start them at the beginning of the university but, now, we hope to do so.

,

had many issues to contend with.

The perennial issue of inadequate funding, against the backdrop of the race to move remaining Faculty buildings to the permanent site is an ever present one. But locally the main issue has been that of security. At the beginning, we had quite serious challenges, especially in the second half of 2011 and that came to a climax during the post-UME examination. But after that, in 2012/2013, it’s been very quiet for us, except for when we had to contend with the students who resisted the payment of revised development levy. Overall, the relations have been quite good with the students and staff.

In terms of capital projects, we thank God that a number of projects in the Faculty of Education (Block 13, 14 and 15) were completed and are in use.

Other capital projects are at various stages of completion, while new projects were recently awarded and are still within the contract duration period. We are hopeful that before the end of the year, we will have quite a lot of projects that would have been completed and commissioned.

mushroom in the management of sleeping sickness disease (Trypanosomiasis). The university, in collaboration with the University of Southern California, US, successfully researched into Pentecostal practices in Nigeria.

In the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the university emerged as the only one in Nigeria for Instructor Training Centre ( ITC) and CISCO Academic Support for West and Central Africa, English speaking countries.

University of Jos is Peason Vue Testing Centre which allows us administer certificate licensure examination for all professionals.

Another area of achievement was the organisation of the first ever peace sports competition among tertiary institutions in Plateau State as part of our contribution to the peace building process in the state. The competition attracted many tertiary institutions in the state and was supported by Plateau State government, Federal Ministry of Sports and Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau State.

This was closely followed by the successful hosting of the NUGA zonal preliminaries which was well attended by universities in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Plateau and Yobe States.

then we would do that, and hope that we are able to pass the stringent requirements of the NUC. W hat would you say are the major achievements of your administration?

We have been able to maintain harmony with both staff and students. We sent 74 academic staff for Ph.D. studies, 65 on master ’s degree programmes while also sponsoring 139 for national and international conferences; and further 141 staff were also sponsored by TETFund

Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at Mabudi, Langtang South in Plateau State. The university has demonstrated it can be cultivated in commercial quantities and we have data on the soil and other requirements. Active ingredient from the plant is being extracted in collaboration with scientists at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) Abuja and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. When sufficient data is generated, we hope very soon to call the scientific community to report our findings.

We have also made some breakthrough in the areas of antisnake venom research and m e d i c a l microbiology. One of our students, together with some staff, identified a new fungus strain Candidaafricana for the first time isolated from Nigeria, and in sequence, detected the mutation in the gene responsible forfluconazole resistance in Candiasis.

The research will be further carried out and expanded to cover related medical and health issues.

I think that is quite a big achievement. Researchers in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences developed Grema Gum for the formulation of tablets and also demonstrated the value of

We recorded modest achievements in research where our researchers reported findings on Artemisia annua , the plant with the active biomolecules required in the combination drug therapy formulation for malaria treatment

Can we talk more about the programmes you intend to introduce?

The new programmes in agriculture, veterinary and engineering sciences have been in the pipeline and we are proceeding about them in a methodical way to ensure that we meet all the regulatory requirements. We are also taking steps to ensure that everything is in place because we don’t want to make the mistakes that others made. We have also consulted with the regulatory bodies and we are continuing to go along with them; interviews have been held for the recruitment of staff and once we are in the position to invite the NUC to come for the final resource verification,

for national and international conferences.

We recorded modest achievements in research where our researchers reported findings on Artemisia annua , the plant with the active biomolecules required in the combination drug therapy formulation for malaria treatment .

The plant has been successfully cultivated at the Centre for

,

One of the things you introduced when you came in was the ethical reorientation of the staff and you even organized some form of training on the right work attitude for them. How has this paid off?

The feedback we are getting on that exercise is that there is a growing understanding that the business of the university has to be more efficient, effective and people are responding to this. I have positive feedback and we have tried to also reinforce it; we did a follow-up and it is a continuous exercise until we get a critical mass within the university workforce that is able to effect the desired transformation that we are seeking. As a university, we have desired as professionals to be excellent in all the things we do and that include our work ethics.

How has the university coped with the problem of cultism and examination malpractices?

Since I came to office, the issue of cultism has been quite low and I say that because there are one or two reported cases which originated off campus and spilled over to the campus. We have continued to work with security agencies to ensure that cultists have no base to operate from our campuses, and you would also know that often these problems get intertwined with the issues of robbery. But we are working round the clock to ensure there is no safe haven for cultists to operate in our campuses.

Talking about examination misconduct, the statistics available to me show that it has gone down dramatically and that was achieved by increased surveillance during invigilation;

Continues on page 14

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 13

JORDAN:

A Muslim State with a difference

BY FOLU OLAMITI

of Jordan was established in 1921 by Abdulai bin Al-Gysseub Ali. He was succeeded, in 1951, by Talal, his eldest son (1902-1972). Fate, however, scuttled Talal’s reign, as he had to abdicate in 1952 due to ill health. He died in 1972. King Hussein became the first crowned King of Jordan in 1953 at the age of 18. He died in 1999, and was succeeded by the incumbent monarch, King Abdullah II. He was crowned the second king in June 1999.

H

ave you been to Dutse, the capi tal of Jigawa State or Tel Aviv in Israel? If your answer is in the affirmative, then, you are on a familiar terrain. Hop into this flight and let’s cruise to Amman, the capital and the largest city in Jordan. Like Dutse, like Tel Aviv, Amman is a city of enthralling contrasts. A unique blend of the old and the new, this fascinating city is situated on a ring of hills located between the desert and the Jordan valley. It’s undulating topography, its unique architecture, its temperate climate and air of prosperity that swirls everywhere, and its people’s hospitality are some of the delightful features that not only make your stay enjoyable but tempt you to want to come again and again.

For 10 days last month (precisely between May 17 and 27, 2013), I had the rare privilege of savouring the beauty and alluring ambience of this distinctive elegant city that accounts for half of the population of Jordan.

The privilege came my way courtesy of the International Press Institute, IPI, which invited us, its members, to congregate for its 62nd annual congress.

Although, it sits right in the midst of countries touched by the fire of revolution that swept through some Arab countries until recently, otherwise known as Arab Spring, Amman is unfazed. In contrast, the city wears a quiet mien and beckoning tranquility that could be likened to calm in the midst of storm. Majority of the citizens give thumbs up for their American/Brit-

‘‘

Culture and worship I n Jordan, Muslims constitute 95 percent of the population while the rest are made up of Christians. The working week begins from Sunday while Fridays and Saturdays are free days, strictly devoted to Islamic worship. The city virtually shuts down during these two days while almost all social and commercial activities grind to a halt.

Jordan, like most countries in the Arab world, has its own peculiar charm and its own set of rules. And whether written or unwritten, cultural differences abound here too. To avoid any problem, IPI, organizers of the congress, alerted and ran participants through some of the norms as follows:

ing the injustice that the Palestinians have been suffering and that has kept the region in crisis.

Mobilizing help, global help, for the Syrian refu-

Nigeria should join the bandwagon of getting a befitting International Airport. The cosmetic renovations going on in some of our airports are insufficient

ish trained-monarch, King Abdullah IIwho was crowned as King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on February 7, 1999, and has used his education and management acumen to transform the country and meet the yearning of his people.

Despite that, his people still daily call for democratic change. In a speech he delivered to over 1,000 media executives for the congress on May 20, Dr. Abdullah Ensour, Prime Minister of Jordan, underscored this point when he said: “The past few years have been momentous in our region. The Arab Spring has opened new opportunities, created new needs and added more urgency to old ones: Generating jobs, especially for the youths that form the majority of Jordan and this entire region’s population, developing transparent and inclusive governance. EndC M Y K

gee emergency; and for a political solution in Syria, to stop the bloodshed and maintain unity and territorial integrity.”

In case you didn’t know, Jordan shares borders with Lebanon, Syria and Israel, and, as it has been stated, it is built on a ring of as well as a plateau. Moving round the city, you are confronted with a scenic view of several mountains, rings of hills, and caves that were inhabited by people till the early 1970s. If you are a Christian and familiar with the great Bible stories, you would see vividly how biblical sages, like Abraham, Esau, Jacob, Saul and David, had wandered among mountains and deserts. They lived in caves and had tents on dusty plains.

Our tour guide told us that Amman was the capital of the Ammonites, popu-

larly referred to, in the Old Testament, as Rabat-Amman. One of the revealed sites is named Jericho.

Hitting Amman At the start of the trip, I left Nigeria on May 17 aboard Ethihad Airways for the 12 hour-flight to Jordan, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, capital of United Arab Emirate (UAE). By the way, Ethihad Airways is the national carrier of United Arab Emirate, UAE, while Emirate Airline is privately owned. In the aviation world, these two airlines are rated and proudly referred to as “5-Star Airlines”. Flying in and out of Nigeria two times daily, Ethihad Airways has many brand new planes on its fleet and boasts of one of the best in-flight services you can get anywhere in the world. There was no waiting on my arrival at the imposing Queen Mia International Airport in Amman as a taxi was already waiting to take me to my hotel - Le Royal which also doubled as the venue for the IPI Congress. As I settled down in my room on the 17th floor of the hotel, I intuitively peeped out of the window and was struck by the enthralling beauty of this city that seems to fall behind the mountains as the sun recoils into its shell at sunset. Apart from these, one cannot but be over awed by the culture of the locals who showered us, and other tourists, with profuse affection at every point.

Political administration At the head of Jordanian adminis tration is a king. Known, in full, as the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, he is Jordan’s Head of State and monarch. He serves as the head of the Jordanian monarchy. According to Wikipedia, the Hashemite Dynasty

Greetings/salutations M AN GREETING MAN: Men usually greet one another using the phrase ‘Salaamu Aleikum’ (meaning: ‘peace be upon you’). The appropriate response is ‘Wa’aleikum assalamma’ (meaning: ‘and peace be unto you’). This is accompanied by warm handshake (always use the right hand.) This will follow with a series of three to five kisses to the cheek.

WOMAN GREETING WOMAN: Women greet each other in a similar manner to men. Handshakes (always use the right hand) and kisses are comm o n .

MAN GREETING WOMAN: Social interaction between non-related members of the opposite sex is not common. Consequently, handshake is usually not included in the introduction.

You will be able to tell if the person you are introduced to is leery of a handshake as they will fold their hand up and across their chest to let you know they do not intend to shake hands.

Always wait for the woman to initiate, if at all.

When meeting a group of people, greetings start with the person on the right and continue on to the last person on the left.

Transportation: Women do not sit in front seat of taxis. And it’s uncommon for an unrelated man and a woman to be seen alone together as this can lead to awkward or potentially dangerous situation.

Other laws are strongly enforced and can result in lengthy prison sentences.

Please, note that preaching about any religion other than Islam or speaking negative words against the royal family and the king is a serious offence.

Tourism as oxygen Despite the booming of guns and mortar fires in neighbouring countries,

Continues on page 14

PAGE 14— SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

A Muslim State with a difference Continued from page 13 Jordan is a country enveloped in peace. It is a country with huge potentials that could make less-endowed countries turn grey with envy.

It is not an oil- producing country yet it taps enormous wealth from tourism to keep the economy afloat. Of course, Jordan does not allow anyone to monkey with taxation. It ensures that every citizen pays his or her tax. It boasts of a strong currency as one US Dollar exchanges for 70 Jordanian Cents.

Crime rate is very low in the country, but advance fee fraud is nearing epidemic proportion.

The city called PETRA After the congress, the organizers took us on a guided tour of an old ancient city called PETRA which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, renamed The Nine Wonders of the World. The inhabitants, called Nabateans, were moved from their enclave and abode inside rocks and got resettled outside the enclave in modern estates and jaw-dropping buildings that had been furnished to the hilt with basic amenities. Little wonder UNESCO turned the once

‘‘

The working week begins from Sunday while Fridays and Saturdays are free days, strictly devoted to Islamic worship. The city virtually shuts down during these two days while almost all social and commercial activities grind to a halt

habited enclave into a moneyspinning tourist destination for Jordan. PETRA is a city carved in stones

by Nabateans in 400 B.C. A huge rock formation that grew from the ground forms an alley way to PETRA city. Horses and carriages line up on both sides of the way, waiting to transport people who could not walk down and up the alley into PETRA. In other to savour the scenic scenes spread ahead of us, I decided to walk with my colleagues-Maida Wada, Publisher/CEO of Peoples Daily, Kabiru Yusuf, Chairman/CEO Trust Newspapers and Garba Shehu, a prolific journalist and tested columnist. We also had in our company, Jim Clancy of the CNN and others.

Walking around PETRA helps to appreciate the awesome power of God, especially the wonderful manner He employed nature to protect the early inhabitants. How they comfortably lived in caves, got water running from rocks saved in rock shaped cisterns to cook their meals with make-shift cooking utensils, remains a marvel. On the average, our guide told us, more than 1,000 people visit the site daily. Our entourage also visited other areas like the Dead Sea, the Baptismal Site and the Nebo Hill where Moses went and never returned. Over all, and from whichever perspective one looks at it, it was a soul-lifting and unforgettable C M Y K

historical

experience.

Postscript am not a public I relations officer for Arik Airline and other private local airlines but what I saw on this trip begets this brief comment. I flew Ethihad Airline for the first time and was highly impressed by its services. I have flown many airlines, however, flying Ethihad was a thrilling experience. As I said earlier, it is the national carrier of UAE while Emirate Airline is privately owned.

But the two are blazing the trail in air travel. Both operate two flights everyday from Lagos. If these two airlines are flourishing from UAE and are enjoying rock-solid support from their home-government, I can’t see any reason why the government of Nigeria should not support Arik Airline and a few other private airlines that are doing well to expand and succeed even more. Up till now, Nigeria is yet to have a national carrier, a luxury that smaller and struggling countries like Niger take for granted.

It’s time the incumbent Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, translated her promise to assist private airlines into reality. Though I appreciate her vision to remodel and transform the nation’s airports, the situation is still far from what it should be.

This country still needs another international airport and a national carrier.

Those who designed Murtala Muhammed and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airports in Lagos and Abuja, respectively, were so myopic that they never thought of future expansion. See how transformation of major airports in the world is being pursued on daily basis. Nigeria should join the bandwagon of getting a befitting International Airport. The cosmetic renovations going on in some of our airports are insufficient. Let the Federal Government find a big virgin land for this structure.

Jewelry shop Y ou may be wondering what took me to a jewelry shop on my way to Nigeria on May 27, 2013. I had a sixhour stopover at Abudhabi International Airport. To ward off boredom, I decided to go window-shopping. I got to a jewelry shop where a Nigerian lady asking for the price of a pin-sized gold earring attracted me. The seller brought out his calculator to convert the price in local currency into dollars, and announced without looking up: U S $ 8 , 0 0 0 .

Holy Moses! Eight Thousand what?

I became curious. And I paused to watch the lady’s reaction. I thought she would hiss and walk away. How wrong was I! She calmly took out her Visa card and handed it over to the cashier who swiped it and smiled. Our young lady had paid US$8,000 in a jiffy. I was dumbfounded. Involuntarily, I looked at my wallet, I had less than US$600!!

The point I’m making is this: If I didn’t witness that purchase, there was no way I could have cast a second at that lady, especially to see those earrings. Even if I looked at the earrings, there was one chance in a million that I would, on the surface, know that she was wearing a fortune. That means that our ladies that adorn themselves with gold jewelries are actually wearing a fortune on their fragile ears. Imagine what you can achieve with US$8,000.

Imagine how far you can go in providing shelter for some poor people in your neighbourhood. Lord, have mercy!!!

Continued from page 12 we have also introduced electronic gadgets. We have done a lot more of talking to students before the exams. Let me say because of these measures the cases have dropped, but I regret to say that it has not gone down to zero because in every exam we have a few cases that have to be dealt with.

There is the belief that admission has been stiffer since you assumed office...

We have guidelines from JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board) and we insist that these guidelines are strictly followed. We have gone back to the practice of admission committees working right from departments to Faculty levels and right up to the central admission committee. That is the ideal process and we simply insist and go for merit. When we finish with merit and the guidelines, we look at the whole country, because we are a federal university and we even want an international university. In these days, talking about internationalization or globalization, University of Jos would like to have the full component of foreign students and staff on its campuses and therefore we look at that also and then talk about catchment states and educationally least developed states. We don’t have any other criteria except if and when recently staff made request to include the fact that they feel their children should also be admitted.

Usually that is the entirely insignificant portion of the whole admission exercise and they can only be considered when they have met the whole admission requirement.

How successful have the fund generating activities introduced by the university been?

As the Vice-Chancellor, I see myself as the chief fund raiser in the university.

The practice is world over, particularly for some of the best well-known universities in Europe, America, where the alumni are given a platform to return to their alma mater and make contributions. When I came in, it was a cardinal point of my programmes that we would mobilize the alumni to give them the platform and we have been working very hard on that.

We started state alumni branches in Abia, Bauchi, Cross Rivers, we have reinforced the ones in Plateau and taken it down to some local governments. The Abuja chapter has been strengthened and, we were supposed to be in Benin, Edo State this month, but, at the instance of the local chapter, they have requested we should come later in the year to inaugurate them. So the train is moving and we are giving our alumni the opportunity to give back to the university. Specifically, we suggested five key areas for alumni to give towards -endowment, infrastructural development, scholarship for brilliant students and the indigents who didn’t get some kind of funding, and, because the university itself decided to transform itself into a world class research institute, we have also suggested that our alumni can give towards research and, in other situations, we let the donors give to undesignated funds if they choose to.

These are the areas we suggested but they are not limited to that; anybody can come in as a friend of the university and carry out a project.

What is your projection for the university in the next three years?

In the next few years, we are focused in strategizing to be able to move more Faculties to the permanent site. We are also focusing on strategizing to repossess our phase two land, upon which we hope to continue to grow and expand. We also hope that we will be able to bring up more facilities through generated and solicited funds, so we

can build a central research laboratory, and conduct excellent research. We also want to strengthen all of our existing programmes so that we can achieve excellence in all of them. I hope that in the next few years more staff will acquire Ph.D. degrees in line with the national drive to have Ph.D. degree as a minimum for university academics. If we can get all our staff to have Ph.D within this period, that would be my great joy and accomplishment.

There are concerns that the standard of education in Nigeria is

‘‘

I don’t quiet agree that standard of education is really that bad the way it is painted in certain quarters. All we can say is that a lot needs to be done to meet up with the developed nations

dropping to the extent that universities are producing unemployable graduates. What do you make of this?

I don’t quiet agree that standard of education is really that bad the way it is painted in certain quarters. All we can say is that a lot needs to be done to meet up with the developed nations.

The difference is in the inadequate and or dilapidated infrastructure which is critical to a conducive learning environment. Once these issues are addressed, you will find that students and the academic staff will be at their best; because if you look at the situation we are facing now, even with the total collapse and dilapidation of infrastructure in teaching and research, we are still able to make some notable contribution to learning. Also, you will see that when our so-called unemployable graduates leave the land and go to other institutions outside Nigeria for further studies, they excel; some even make distinctions. So we should not be the ones saying that our students are not employable. Maybe there are some who turn out not to be good products, but we shouldn’t use that to condemn all.

So I don’t subscribe to the fact that our education is totally bad. What is very bad in it is that we need massive transformation and I will urge the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, develop infrastructure, particularly in science and technology and in the arts and humanities. Once this is done, in a matter of 10 to 15 years, you will see the reward of that investment. If you look at Malaysia and China and see where they are, you will know that it is a direct dividend of their investments in education. If today Britain and America still see education as number one, what makes us think that they don’t know what they are doing or that we know more than them?

Education remains the principal thing; it touches on all sectors of the economy.

Therefore no investment in all fields of education can be too much.

Who is Professor Mafuyai?

I will describe myself as a detribalized Nigerian, a Christian, a lover of peace and justice, an academician, a zoologist, a public health scientist who, by the grace of God, trained both in Nigeria and overseas and I expect to offer acceptable services to the nation.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 15

Tukur

President Jonathan

*Anenih

SACKING OF PDP NWC MEMBERS

The burden of compromise

The story of how the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, continues to act against its own rules and the price it is paying

By Henry Umoru

,

T

HE fate of those who would come after me would be worse than what the party is putting me through”. That was the curse placed on the Office of the Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. It was Barnabas Gemade who placed it.

In 2001, after the shambles that attended the party’s move to dump Gemade as Chairman, the latter wanted a competitive election.

Gemade sought to engender an electoral process that would produce the new Chairman. He wanted to re-contest, having failed to benefit from the additional one-year for the tenure of members of the PDP National Executive Committee, NEC. And because the maximum party leader of the time, President Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, no longer wanted to suffer Gemade, the latter “just had to go”. For the PDP, it sometimes obeys its own rules in the breach.

It was in bitterness that Gemade made what has now turned out to be negatively prophetic.

Therefore, when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, came up with its report that the conduct of March 2012 national convention of the PDP was not thorough, it became the most trying period for the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC – Tukur is PDP’s National Chairman.

It was first the case of INEC, the electoral umpire that conducts all elections and in some cases supervises or monitors, as the case may be, congresses, conventions and primaries of political parties, should go to hell as it had no such powers.

The players in the PDP, the self-acclaimed largest party in Africa, following the report

by INEC, heated the polity as there were series of press releases and press conferences from and at Wadata Plaza, National Secretariat of the party. It was the case of buying time against the backdrop that failure to adhere to the report was a time-bomb for the party ready to blow off any time.

The implementation of the INEC report became imperative for the PDP because it was geared towards regularizing the membership of the NWC as well as giving the leadership credibility and, failure to do this, subsequent

The leadership of the party knew the implication of the report by the electoral body, but pretended as if it didn’t matter.

,

elections or congresses conducted by the NWC may be questioned in court and, as the party prepares for the 2015 presidential primaries, the opposition may not only pick holes in it but also use it to its advantage.

Time-bomb The leadership of the party knew the implication of the report by the electoral body, but pretended as if it didn’t matter.

A PDP governor captured the situation succintly when he said: “When the foundation is faulty, it will produce a weak super structure. A faulty NWC cannot produce acceptable candidates in the primary elections of the PDP in 2015. INEC

has done its report and there is nothing else for the Commission to do. Let’s wait and see what the PDP will do with the report. This is a time-bomb”.

According to the INEC report on the PDP 2012 national convention, “The mode of election adopted for single candidates was not in accordance with the mode of election stipulated in paragraph 6.5 (i) of the guidelines for the conduct of the year 2012 congresses and national convention and therefore not acceptable to the Commission”. In the report, INEC stated that election of single candidates whose process of coming in was through affirmation was not acceptable to it.

Those affected by the report in this regard were the Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; National Organizing Secretary, Abubakar Mustapha; National Youth Leader, Alhaji Garba Chiza; Deputy National Youth Leader, Dennis Alonge Niyi; Deputy National Auditor, Senator Umar Ibrahim; Deputy National Woman, Hannatu Ulam; and National Woman Leader, Kema Chikwe.

Also affected were Deputy National Organizing Secretary, Okechukwu Nnadozie; Deputy National Treasurer, Claudus Inengas; National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwon; National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, and the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Binta Goje.

INEC declared that only four NWC members were duly elected while the listed eight members were elected outside the guidelines set for the convention. Those whose election met the guidelines were the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; former National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former National Auditor,

Bode Mustapha; and National Financial Secretary, Elder Bolaji Anani. Mustapha has since been replaced by Adewale Adeyanju as National Auditor.

The matter became dramatic and a case of PDP members fighting fellow members when three members of the party: Hon. Abba Yale from Borno State; Hon. Yahaya Aruwa Sule from Taraba and Barrister Bashir Maidugu from Borno, in suit no M/67290/ 13 and originating summons by Joni Icheka, sought the implementation of the INEC report and the sack of the NWC members concerned because, according to him, they never had the requisite constitutional requirements to occupy their offices.

‘Abnormal and sinister’ The party, while reacting to the INEC report in April through the then National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, took a swipe at INEC, describing its action as abnormal and sinister. Metuh, however, asked why the electoral body must wait for a year after the national convention before it came out with its report. The former ruling party spokesman, who noted that the action of INEC was a conspiracy and unacceptable, boasted that INEC was incapable of removing the leadership of the PDP, adding, ‘’Is INEC a supervisory body?

Why would INEC wait until after a year? Why did it not say it after a week? They are incapable of removing any NWC member.

There is nothing unconstitutional that we have done. NWC is not in conflict with the Presidency, with the PDP governors, also not in conflict with the leaders of the party in the Presidency and the National Assembly. We are confident that nothing will happen; we are focused in delivering good governance.”

He continued: ‘’The report is sinister, abnormal. There is conspiracy. Why is it coming now?

What is the motive? Why now?

Whose interest is INEC

Continues on page 16

C M Y K

PAGE 16 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

PDP: The burden of compromise Continued from page 15 protecting? Who commissioned them?

PDP is not INEC. Why the special interest in PDP? Those are the question Nigerians should be asking INEC. ‘’Consequent upon our uncovering of plans by undemocratic elements to discredit and destabilize the leadership of our great party, National Working Committee (NWC) wishes to assure all our members that it remains committed and focused and will continue to provide the necessary political direction so that the policy frameworks contained in our manifesto are fully realized for the benefit of all Nigerians. ‘’The NWC will never allow reactionary elements to distract it from carrying out its constitutionally guaranteed duties.” The Pius Anyim-led Committee, set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to look into the lingering crisis rocking the PDP, recommended that the Tukur-led NWC should resign.

As the crisis in the PDP deepened with the suspension of Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aliyu Wamakko, it became clear that all was not well in the ruling party, coming against the backdrop of the opposition political parties coming together to wrestle power from the PDP at the 2015 presidential poll. For this reason and among others, President Goodluck Jonathan, on June 8, set up the committee with Anyim as Chairman, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe; Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, Theodore Orji of Abia, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi, Gabriel Suswam of Benue and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; and the Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, as members to recommend ways of arresting the crisis.

Armed with the INEC report, the Anyim Committee recommended that the PDP must put things right and, therefore, said that the NWC members whose election was faulted by INEC must resign to give way for a proper convention. With pressure on Tukur, a meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, held last on July 19, 2012, was then fixed for Thursday, June 20, 2013. Prior to the meeting, tension was high at the secretariat and the nation. Many asked if the National Chairman of the ruling party will quit. t the end of the day, Tukur got a soft landing because the matter had A been sealed at the National Caucus and

Board of Trustees, BoT, meeting where it was concluded that the National Chairman must stay, but others must go for ‘peace’ to return to the party. At the NEC meeting, soon after the Chairman, Delta State PDP chapter, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, moved a motion for the affected members of the NWC to submit their letters of resignation, members immediately endorsed it and the NWC members were asked to leave the meeting.

The affected NWC members resigned and new ones, in acting capacity, were immediately put in place with former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana, heading the Special National Convention Planning Committee; Governor Akpabio appointed his deputy while Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu will serve as Secretary to bring in fresh members of the NWC on July 20.

Zonal Congress for the South-west was fixed for July 11.

The new PDP NWC members appointed to serve in interim capacity are; former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and loyalist of Minister of State, Education, Nyeson Wike, Chibudom Nwuche who replaced the Deputy National C M Y K

Chairman, Sam Sam Jaja, Amaechi’s ally; Remi Akintoye, Acting National Secretary; Senator Emma Agboti, Acting Deputy National Secretary; Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar, Acting National Organising Secretary; Tony Ceaser Okeke, Metuh’s associate, Acting National Publicity Secretary; Simon Jok, Acting National Legal Adviser; Barrister Tanko Beji, Acting National Youth Leader; Oyibo Nwaneri, Acting National Woman Leader; Yau Kwadon, Acting Deputy National Legal Adviser; Peter Adefunmilayo, Acting Deputy National Youth Leader; Nasiru Ibrahim Birchi, Acting Deputy National Auditor; Mrs Torkwase Ajoh, Acting Deputy National Women Leader; Mohammed Dandari, Acting National Treasurer and Deputy

National Financial Secretary, Awwalu Gwadabe. Others are Onyemaechi Ikechukwu Jideofor, Acting Deputy National Organising Secretary; Augustine Lugbenwei, Acting Deputy National Treasurer; Calib Yahaya, Acting Deputy National Treasurer; Chief Akin Taiwo, Acting Ex-officio; Tope Ademiluyi, Acting Ex-officio; Chief Mike Akinfenwa and Gbenga Oduwaiye, Exofficio.

Intrigues With the date for the convention fixed, another round of scheming, intrigues, and backstabbing is bound to commence in the zones against the backdrop that zonal elections and vicariously membership of

HOW PAST CHAIRMEN WERE HUMBLED

By Jide Ajani A peep into the deeply disturbing shambles that had surrounded the tenure of PDP Chairmen since Barnabas Gemade’s victory over the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi in 1999 – that was the only credible election ever held for the Office of the PDP Chairman. *Late 1999: Katakata over choice of Bernabas Gemade over Chief Sunday Awoniyi as the PDP Chairman – Gemade wins at national convention. To date, that has been the only keenly contested chairmanship tussle in the PDP. *Crisis over amendment of party constitution to extend tenure of the National Executive Committee of the party by one year but this leads to crisis over whether the incumbent exco members should benefit. * 2001: Gemade announces the suspension of Chief Anthony Anenih but this immediately backfires as the former was to recant the following day. He is forced out of office but makes a prophesy, that the fate that would befall his successors would be worse than his own in the coming years. * Audu Ogbeh, long-forgotten Second Republic Minister of Communications, is exhumed and made PDP Chairman but this also creates its own ripples * 2004: Signs of a divided PDP National Executive Committee, NEC – Obasanjo forces pitch against Atiku’s associates * Late 2004: Audu Ogbeh hits Obasanjo in an open letter, complaining about Obasanjo’s seeming overbearing attitude and the shambles that the President’s action was turning PDP into. Obasanjo responds and goes vulgar against his party Chairman, insinuating that Ogbeh may have made so much money after being made Chairman of PDP – mind you, between Obasanjo and Ogbeh, they flouted the PDP constitution which says a national officer of the party shall not accept an appointment in government at the same time: Ogbeh was made Presidential Adviser to Obasanjo on Agric. * Early 2005: Peace brokered between Obasanjo and Ogbeh forces at the PDP NEC meeting. The temperature in the polity reaches boiling point. Obasanjo had planned to publicly disgrace his party Chairman but forces loyal to the party Chairman, too, had their own response agenda, the consequences of which nobody could predict. * Shortly after, Obasanjo forces Ogbeh to resign ahead of the end of his tenure after he is cajoled to visit Aso Rock Presidential Villa and a resignation extracted from him, personally by Obasanjo * Ahmadu Ali of the ALI MUST GO fame is exhumed from private life and imposed as National Chairman of the PDP without an election in 2005 * PDP shocks the nation and the political world when Ali announces that members of the party would be re-registered and de-registers some – something akin to sacking all your workers and telling them to re-apply. * Yar’Adua takes over and sets up the Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme Reconciliation Committee with a view to bringing back members who were forced out but that committee work is sabotaged by people who see themselves as new kings. * 2008: Pre-national convention tussle between former Governor Sam Egwu and former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim tears the party apart – the matter is resolved and all aspirants for the post of National Chairman file behind Vincent Ogbulafor. * Ogbulafor shoots from the hips in one of his first public statements by saying PDP will rule for another 60 years – Nigerians tear him apart. * Ogbulafor’s statement about presidency and zoning sparks another crisis. * A new group emerges tagging itself PDP Reform Forum, insists that NEC and National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP should be dissolved. *A corruption case against Ogbulafor is exhumed in 2010 and a resignation is forced on him *Okwesilieze Nwodo is made National Chairman after a bitter battle between pro and anti-Jonathan forces *Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, tangos with Nwodo over imposition of candidates in the Enugu chapter of the PDP *At the PDP presidential primaries in January 2011, a series of schemes compels the party leadership to suspend Nwodo because of a court injunction that could not be vacated *Nwodo is forced out of office on the instructions of President Jonathan less than a week later *The convention that brought the Bamangar Tukur-led NWC to office is questioned

by INEC, leading to the sacking of over 20members *Tukur’s fate hangs in the balance in the days ahead before the party’s July 20 National Convention

the NWC are open to all and not only the NWC members removed from Wadata Plaza. Ex-NWC officers like the National Organising Secretar y, Abubakar Mustapha, a retired Head of Service from Kaduna State, is said to be sure of coming back to Wadata Plaza because of his closeness to Vice President Namadi Sambo and Governor Ramallan Yero. Metuh, as gathered, still has with him Anambra politicians who facilitated his election in 2012 as well as other politicians from the zone, though some persons are alleged to be showing interest in the job of the PDP National Publicity Secretary. Others like the ex-National Youth Leader, Garba Chiza; National Woman Leader, Kema Chikwe; Legal Adviser, Victor Kwon; Treasurer, Bala Kaoje; Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja have all gone back to their zones. Jaja will need for fight very hard to come back considering the political battle in Rivers State, just as, in 2012, he was picked by Amaechi who worked to ensure then National Organising Secretary, Prince Uche Secondus, was dropped for him.

Now, the question is, with Tukur escaping the hammer, is it Uhuru for him and the party? There appears to be more challenges ahead of him as the NEC solution only scratched the surface of the PDP crisis in order not to embarrass Mr. President, Chief Edwin Clark, Chief Tony Anenih and others who played prominent roles in the survival of the ruling party National Chairman in the plot to remove him.

Tukur will have a new set of people to work with from now till July 20 when new NWC members will be elected.

Many PDP stakeholders are hoping that all will be carried along and lessons would have been learnt especially from what he(Tukur) went through prior to the 61st NEC; many party members also hope that there will be no more pressure on the National Chairman to call for a NEC meeting after almost a year.

Reconciliation Hopes are also high in the party that Tukur will use the political baptizing he had during this period to reconcile with those he fell out with like his home state Governor Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); improve on his relationship with party members, stakeholders, elders like former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; and call for a meeting with all those who were forced to step down for him at Eagle Square, March last year. It may have also dawned on him that there was the need for healing of wounds, using what happened before the NEC meeting and the push for his removal as starting point.

Tukur must have realized that the need to implement the INEC report was not primarily targeted at others, but him; he was lucky to have escaped, but in politics, it is not over until it is over. His major challenge now will be the recalling of Governor Amaechi who was suspended before Governor Wamakko; he must learn to allow some things go by, using his own as a case study where the President, Vice President, Senate President David Mark, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, Anenih (BoT chairman); the governors, others, recognizing the fact that the interest of the party must be above personal one, allowed him to stay.

Ahead of the July 20 special convention, the PDP leader must not relax his political machinery as the evil day may just have been shifted to the convention ground. It is gratifying that after so much overheating of the polity, the PDP, through the governors, are working towards out-of-court settlement with Amaechi as a way of ending the crisis where the governor will be reconciled with Jonathan and other feuding party members.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PPA AGE 17

We can decentralise the police without compromising national security – Mike Igini

,

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

MIKE Igini is the Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner.

In this interview, he calls for the decentralization of the policing system in Nigeria, adding that it would assist current efforts at fighting insecurity. He also frowns at any form of appropriation that is not vetted.

HE failure of government at all levels to provide security has generated questions on what public officials like the president and governors do with security vote.

Indeed it is time to ask those questions, but apart from asking such questions, we also must start from the very conception of security needs as it pertains to our current needs. It is clear from the outcome in terms of security that much is being done, nevertheless whatever is being done has not been sufficient. But then it must be noted that where as there are two tiers and a local government structure of governance and we are concerned about failure of security of lives and property, it is first a failure of the LGA and state structure of governance before the tier of government that is far away.

In order of priority, we can say that we have three key security exigencies, namely the violent insurgency of the Boko Haram sect, its consequences on especially the North East geopolitical zone and the rest of Nigeria, and the rampant cases of kidnapping and the growing cases of vandalization, bunkering cum theft of crude and refined oil products. While these are top on the list, there are many other issues of security which also need to be addressed.

In terms of conceptualization, therefore, we need to take a deep thought to ask ourselves about how these problems came about, why they are persisting and what can be done to eradicate or contain them. These matters require not only security hardware but also security, administrative and social software.

The disposition of the civilian democratic dispensation to solving such problems must not be as knee-jerk as the approach of the military dispensation which, being a reflexively law enforcement arm, will normally think mostly about containment and control. Under a democratic dispensation, the plural dispersal of powers between different arms of government requires more sensitivity to decisional inputs and a better understanding of the preventative aspect of insecurity which often has its roots in social maladies.

So taking these priority issues, for instance, how much of security vote is expended on understanding the problem before or after reacting to them?

Kidnapping and oil theft, for instance, require significant use of transport and communication

The disposition of the civilian democratic dispensation to solving such problems must not be as knee-jerk as the approach of the military dispensation

T

resources, what are the gaps in the system that sustain such crime, how has the system dealt with the collaboration of security personnel and sometimes members of society who are involved with undermining the system? More importantly, when culprits are apprehended, what consequences do they face?

Similarly, regarding the Boko Haram insurgency, while many people have roundly condemned the modus operandi of the insurgents, we also need to ask why the sudden upsurge of such a fundamentalist fervor and how does it find home among people who have not been deprived the right to practice their religion with tolerance of other faiths for

,

C M Y K

Mike Igini....I do not subscribe to any form of appropriation that is not vetted where needed, as well as the application of administrative and social remedies. To do these things you cannot have the elite which considers security vote as a budgetary sleight of the hand, or the consequences will come home to roost. We therefore need a complete shift of mind-set on security at all levels both from leaders and the larger Nigerian society.

Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso, last year, said he had stopped receiving security vote, describing it as a smokescreen to divert public funds. Does this not conform with the mood of the people that security vote has not secured the citizenry

At the root of our insecurity, is the inability to have a common understanding of who we are as a people; we are too suspicious of ourselves and hence we protect the wrong people amongst us for the wrong reasons

many decades? While we prevent and remedy security problems, we should also ask if we have made room for rehabilitation of those in society who have been forced to create insecurity because there were no social safety nets to avoid doing otherwise, to do so is in our enlightened self-interest.

All these unanswered questions tell us that, while it is very important to have the security hardware to deal with widespread eruptions of insecurity, more often than not, a greater aspect of such expenditure should be preceded by security software requirements, a common agreement on social values and what levels of deviation are tolerable, professional security analyses, social analyses, the involvement of a wider aspect of society and eventually near accurate application of force

,

As I said earlier, much may have been done, but as long as the conditions remain insecure, all such efforts will be perceived as insufficient, because security is a binary conception. It has only two acceptable variables, secure or insecure, there is no middle ground. Unfortunately, Kano does not rank as one of the safest states these days, I would have said the governor made a very wise decision; nevertheless, it hardly matters how much is allocated to security if the outcome is ineffective.The concern of Nigerians has not been so much the amount allocated as the opacity of the process of utilizing such allocations effectively. If you say you want money to build five warships to go to war and the soldiers get to the war front to find only two ships with half the troops stranded, your own soldiers will kill you first before the enemy.

,

Importantly, we must keep the goal of security in mind, which is to be secure, all cases of insecurity do not require the same approach hence the quality of decisions taken is key. To divert important resources away from security is suicidal for any leadership at any level because security is the principal reason people come together to form a state. I believe the key concern of Nigerians is value for money, which boils down to three Es, n a m e l y , efficiency..maximization of security benefits from inputs, effectiveness and efficacy of security decisions and resources used.

As a lawyer, given that security vote is not provided for in the constitution, don’t you think it is high-time that the spending is outlawed?

What is unconstitutional is unlawful, I do not subscribe to any form of appropriation that is not vetted, it may be done before or after it has been applied depending on the need, but it should be susceptible to scrutiny if not by a large group but by at least a specialized group, the core motivation of democratic leadership is the necessity to be accountable to electors or the representatives of the electors.

At a recent forum, Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, argued that fighting insecurity does not end at having huge security vote, adding that there are constitutional flaws like the inability to truly function as a chief security of a state vis-a vis the control over the state police commissioner among others..what is your position on this?

He has made a very important point because the ambit of control of those who implement security should be reasonably defined at the different levels of need, for, as the basic principle of administrative control suggests, regarding the span of control of someone responsible for a task, such a person must be directly responsible to a single source of control.

However I must float a caveat, we have never heard of a local government chairperson who requires lawful use of a DPO

(Divisional Police Officer), or of a state governor who requires the lawful use of a state police commissioner who did not get the required response due to his or her authority. Moreover, the most strident opposition to the devolution of policing powers has unfortunately come from those who most need the devolution.

My view is that we should devolve policing powers on local issues to give elected people at lower levels sufficient leverage on security, allowing state and local governments to invest appropriately in security infrastructure according to local needs, but we cannot dispense with a national police service at our current developmental stage.

How best do you think the public anger against security vote can be doused?

Security is expensive, to train, deploy and maintain a single security personnel is not a cheap exercise, let alone a detachment of troops, but to do so must be effective and the process of doing it should not be opaque; besides, if you are doing so to secure people why should they not know what it costs and how you have expended resources to achieve it?

Nonetheless, to douse public anger, first, expenditure on security should be effective, then the appropriate personnel to address security issues should be used when dealing with security challenges; let the security personnel do their part, but where you require sociologists, psychologists, judicial expertise, economic and political decisions, the right people should be brought in; the use of force is only one aspect of conflict management, if we do not have such a paradigmatic approach, we would find ourselves using a motor saw when what is required is a lancet.

Second, security is what we do together ultimately, and I believe, therefore, that, at the root of our insecurity, is the inability to have a common understanding of who we are as a people; we are too suspicious of ourselves and hence we protect the wrong people amongst us for the wrong reasons. If we share common values and accept the areas where we have necessary differences, it will be easier to pick out the deviants who aim to destroy all of us. When we do that, we can be like the Bostonians in the USA who all stood together, locked down their state just to pick out a few people who refused to share their common needs for security which foster prosperity. But, ironically,in Nigeria at the early stages of this Boko Haram insurgency, we saw how the same people that security men were risking their lives to protect hailed and celebrated the killing of security men and the bombing of police stations. Could the Boston bombers been killed and the other arrested if the people had not co-operated with the security services ?

PAGE 18 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S

WOMEN

The Tale of a Paradigm Shift new book, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Champion for Women, transforming Nigeria with women in key positions, is set to be launched at a dinner this week. The work is a narrative about the paradigm shift engaged by President Goodluck Jonathan which seeks to ensure more participation of women in governance. The work also celebrates the successes recorded by the amazons in the Jonathan administration.

23rd out of 188 countries!

That is a good result.

And you can only appreciate what he has done when you peruse the statistics. At least here Nigeria is not being talked about regarding poverty index or mortality rate but about countries where women play an inclusive role in governance. And of 188 countries profiled, Nigeria came 23rd in terms of mobilizing and appointing women into positions in government.

Perhaps, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan may have read about the inherent transformational power of women hence his decision to make a pledge that once elected, he would ensure an “improvement in the lives, welfare and opportunities of Nigeria’s women and empower them politically and economically”. With patience, the President selected some accomplished women to be part of his team.

Indeed, however, with a wife, Dame Patience, that is both strong-willed and whose tenacity spiced with native intelligence can be infectious, the President may have been left with no option than to engage a paradigm shift for the inclusion of more women in his government.

Therefore, the coffee-table book, GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, CHAMPION FOR WOMEN, is a narrative which at once appreciates the vision of President Jonathan as well as puts in cogent and verifiable form, the exploits of the women he appointed into the present administration.

That there are 14 female ministers in an C M Y K

Executive Committee of the Federation, EXCOF, of 46 members, is unprecedented.

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, CHAMPION FOR WOMEN, transforming Nigeria with women in key positions, is a 321page book that would be launched, barring any last minute change of plans, on Wednesday in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

19 contributors’ support is acknowledged for this work which was published Sisley Limited, in association with Ancorapoint and Rimson Associates. The contributors are international journalists to management consultants.

The foreword to the book is written

by Diezani Allison-Madueke. Vice President Namadi Sambo wrote the preface. The epilogue is taken care of

by Anyim Pius Anyim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former Senate President.

The gloss print is excellent and the cover design enjoys the aesthetics of being gold-rimmed.

There are 320 photograph displays, one world map and two illustrations.

The book has five chapters: The first chapter catalogues the style of President Jonathan and the number of firsts for women in the Navy (Nigeria’s first female Rear Admiral, Itunu Hoto-

nu, is showcased); the first female Air Force pilot (Blessing Liman); and the first set of combatant cadets of Nigeria’s Defence Academy. The second chapter looks at the pace-setting role of Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan. The third focuses on “President Jonathan’s vision for women and the global context”; while the fourth lists and profiles “President Jonathan’s leading women” – all the 14 female ministers in his cabinet are also interviewed on the activities of their ministries. The fifth chapter is about “A President championing women in diplomacy – a profile on Nigeria’s top women diplomats.

The leading women in the administration are Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, GCON – Chief Justice of Nigeria; Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, CFR – Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance; Diezani AlisonMadueke (Mrs.), CON – Minister of Petroleum Resources; Mrs. Omobola Johnson – Minister of Communication Technology; Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafa – Minister of Environment; Hajia Zainab Maina, MFR – Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development; Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe – Minister of Water

,

A

By Jide Ajani

I hope to leave a legacy of proud and prosperous citizens where everyone is treated equally and women are able to reach their full potential in all aspects of human development

,

Resources; Princess Stella Oduah, OON – Minister of Aviation; and Lady Amal Pepple, CFR – Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

Others are Professor (Mrs.) Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, OON – Minister of Education; Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide – Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT); Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi – Minister of State for Power; Erelu (Dr.) Olusola Obada – Minister of State for Defence; and Professor (Mrs.) Viola Onwuliri –

Continues on page 19

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 19

Continued from page 18 Minister of State (1) for Foreign Affairs The women in diplomacy are Prof.

Joy Ogwu, Ambassador/Perm. Rep. of Nigeria to the UN; Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to the UN Sec Gen on Post-2015 Development Planning; Hajia Salamatu Hussaini Seleiman, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; and Dr. Aisha Laraba Abdulahi, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs The book also showcases Nigeria’s women ambassadors and high commissioners. There are 11 of them.

There are also seven female special advisers to the president.

But the book is not all about the faces of the women - though there is more than enough photo splash to suggest the contrary.

In terms of presentation and content, it is rich in the successes recorded by women in the Jonathan administration.

Of particular emphasis are the ministers of finance and petroleum resources, both of whom appear to have been choicer in terms of affinity to Mr. President.

As for Dame Patience, the madam at the top, she appears to be in wonderful company with the women in this administration who sop and dot all over her. She plays the mother figure.

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, CHAMPION FOR WOMEN also has intellectual verve as it puts in context the need for the mobilization of women in government. Just as the women, too, in their interviews, demonstrate a very appreciable level of intellect and performance on the job.

Though it is not all about effusion of accolades as the book sometimes appear to embark on a needless voyage in self-glorification, the accomplishment of being ranked 23rd in the world as a country that lays much store by women is worth celebrating; all thanks to Jonathan.

Yet considered: “As long as we are celebrating a woman vice chancellor because she is the first or a woman chief judge because she is the first, then we have not arrived. We look C M Y K

*OKONJO

*RUFAI

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S forward to the time when we will have many women in such positions and we will be celebrating so many of them” were the words of Professor Grace Alele Williams, OON, in 1985.

Supporting that claim with a clarion call for inclusiveness is no other than Dame Patience Jonathan: “There is no doubt that in order to change Nigeria into one of the world’s greatest economies by 2020, the women of Nigeria must be mobilized”.

President Jonathan’s response to that was swift: “Today, in comparison to men, women are under-represented in governments around the world.

However, women are increasingly being elected to head National and SubNational governments. More than 20 countries currently have a woman as the Head of State/ Government, and the global participation of women in national parliaments is just about 20%. A number of countries are exploring measures that may increase women’s participation in government at all levels, from local to national. I am

,

*MADUEKE

As for Dame Patience, the madam at the top, she appears to be in wonderful company with the women in this administration who sop and dot all over her. She plays the mother figure

,

*AKINJIDE

WOMEN

pleased that Nigeria is one of those countries.

“In 2011, when I campaigned for the Presidency of our beloved nation, Nigeria, I made a very important promise to our people. I vowed to appoint women to top positions in my government. This was in a bid to promote gender equality within our governance and create a platform for women’s effective participation, even in elective offices. Upon taking office, I immediately began the task of fulfilling my pledge by appointing 13 women to strategic ministerial roles within my administration, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, our Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as well as other United Nations offices. Also, our Commissioners at the African Union (AU) and at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are both women. Furthermore, I decided that female cadets should be admitted as regular combatants to the Nigerian Defence Academy for the first time, so that Nigeria’s Armed Forces can have the full benefit of women’s participation across all ranks, in the years to come. I also appointed women among my Special Advisers and appointed the highest number of female Ambassadors/ High Commissioners in our country’s history.

“I hope to leave a legacy of proud and prosperous citizens where everyone is treated equally and women are able to reach their full potential in all aspects of human development”.

The extent of the research effort that went into the production of this compendium is best captured by some of the narrative contained therein viz: “In1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to extend the right to vote to all adult women. Australia followed a year later, and was the first country to grant women the right not only to vote, but also to run for public office. Finland was the first European country to grant voting rights to women in 1904, and in 1907 it became the first country in the world to have democratically elected female members

of parliament.

“Most Western nations adopted women’s voting rights after World War I, with Germany and Great Britain, for example, granting that right in 1918 and the United States in 1920, while women in France had to wait until 1944; Switzerland proved to be a real latecomer, only granting women the right to vote in 1971.

“Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was the first African nation to allow women to vote, in 1919, albeit with a caveat: a husband’s financial status decided whether or not his wife was allowed to vote. “In 1954, women in the eastern regions of Nigeria were allowed to vote, and one year later, the western region followed – as long as the women were taxpayers.

“In 1931, Ceylon (known as Sri Lanka from 1972) became the first Asian country to grant voting rights to women, and to do so without any restrictions – economic, social or racial – other than age. Less than thirty years later, Sri Lanka became the first nation to have a democratically elected female head of government in Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who took office as Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1960.

“Today, women hold political office in some of the richest and most powerful nations in the world.

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, Angela Merkel became Chancellor of Germany in 2005, Madeleine Albright became the first female Secretary of State of the United States in 1997, she was followed by Condoleezza Rice, in 2005 and Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2009.

“In Africa, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Joyce Banda of Malawi became the Continents first and second democratically elected female Presidents in 2005 and 2012, respectively.

“While these are rather impressive individual examples of women wielding political power, the percentage of women in political office tells a rather different story. There are only two (very different) nations in the world with an almost equal gender

Continues on page 20

PAGE 20 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

*ODUAH

*MAINA

*PEPPLE

*JOHNSON

*OBADA

Of exploits and successes distribution in parliament – Rwanda and Andorra. In Finland, a historical champion of gender equality, only 42.5% of the parliament’s members are female, and although governed by a woman, only 32.9% of the members of Germany’s lower house of parliament (Bundestag) are women. Only 22.3% of MPs in the UK’s House of Commons are female, in the United States only 17% of the members of Congress are women, in Zimbabwe only 15%, in Sri Lanka – which started the trend in Asia – only 6%. And in Nigeria, the combined statistics of female parliamentarians in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, that constitute the National Assembly, show that only 7% of members are female.

“In short, statistics show that while women participate in politics, they don’t do so in equal numbers to men.

“The international average of women in elected office is only 20%. In other words, politics is still overwhelmingly a man’s world.

“Nigeria is a positive exception: President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s appointments at Executive level have historically increased the percentage of women in office, from 10% to above 30%, well above the international average.

“The growing number of women involved in politics is certainly heartening, yet a look behind the statistics reveals the troublesome reasons why fewer women than men hold office, illustrating the amount of work that lies ahead of women, on the road to achieving true gender equality.

In a 2008 study exploring why there were fewer active female politicians than men in the United States, Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox came up with some answers that were perhaps not entirely unexpected: “We link this persistent gender gap in political ambition to several factors.

Women are less likely than men to be willing to endure the rigours of a political campaign. They are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office.

They are less likely than men to have the freedom to reconcile work and family obligations with a political career. They are less likely than men to think they are “qualified” to run for office. And they are less likely than men to perceive a fair political environment.

“In other words, there are fewer women in office than men, not C M Y

necessarily because women are less successful candidates, but rather because fewer women even consider running for office.

This was true in the 2011 Nigerian elections as well, where only 9% of candidates were female. Lawless and Fox argue that in order for women to simply run for office, they have to overcome several hurdles not encountered by men.

“Chief among the obstacles women face are the lack of economic independence, the economy of care, and a gender gap (perceived or real) in overall education and political expertise, as well as the attitudes of political gatekeepers.

,

Continued from page 19

Though it is not all about effusion of accolades as the book sometimes appear to embark on a needless voyage in selfglorification, the accomplishment of being ranked 23rd in the world as a country that lays much store by women is worth celebrating; all thanks to Jonathan

,

“Running for political office costs money, and women, far more than men, are economically dependent on others such as their husbands, fathers or brothers.

In short, most women don’t have the economic basis to even consider a political career. In addition, women have far more trouble reconciling the demands of a political career with those of their home and family life, given the fact that the responsibilities of caring for family and children traditionally lie

with the woman. “This is the economy of care, which impacts social attitudes across the globe and creates a very real obstacle to a woman’s political ambitions. It is the mind-set that praises a man as a good provider when he focuses on his career, but scolds a woman for being a bad wife and mother if she does the same. In general, society still believes that a woman’s role is to provide care for the home and children, ensuring the welfare of the next generation. Clearly, this is a vitally important role, yet unless this role brings with it real status or power, women will continue to remain on the margins of society.

“The often religiously sanctioned attitude that women should care for the house and home, keeps young women and girls, in many cultures, from getting an education that would qualify them for a job that could offer economic independence. Yet both education and economic independence are necessary to seek and win political office, which in turn is necessary to be in a position to effect societal change.

This is a vicious circle, which needs to be broken.

“Over 100 years after women were first allowed to vote and run for office, there is still plenty of work ahead. Role models such as

those provided in this book are a step in the right direction. Girls across Nigeria will grow up seeing women at work in their government, and dream of following in their footsteps when they grow up. Real societal and political change effected by these women must come next, creating gender equality in education and the workplace, so that more and more of those girls have a chance to make their dream a reality”.

The launch of this work is expected to be hosted by President Jonathan.

Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf and Malawian President Joyce Banda (the two female presidents in Africa) as well as former Ghanaian President John Kufuor will grace the occasion. The book reviewer would be Dr. Doyin Abiola.

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, CHAMPION FOR WOMEN enjoys the not so common privilege of a book that serves both decorative and intellectual purposes.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 21

Attracted more to the married ones!

Dear Rebecca

T

HANK God for you and all you do. I am 28 years, and a graduate. I have two men in my life. Both of them want me for a wife. The first man ‘Mr G’, is very handsome and Godly but he only has a secondary school education. He says he loves me and he promises to marry me. He is a driver with an international organization, and he saving up to start a business . He is 33 years old, very jealous, and would not want to see me with any other man.

Though he is not a graduate, he speaks very good English. He promised to further his education, but I don’t believe him. I think he just wants to marry me, and said that to impress me. Do you think I should marry him and let tomorrow take care of itself ? I want a man I can be proud of.

The second man ‘Mr. Z’ is far older than I am, and he already has three children; two girls and a boy. The girls are aged 17 and 16; they are both in the university. He said he did not marry their mother, but she is now back into his house after she left him sometime ago for another man when he travelled. My mother is not ready to help me choose. She said she wouldn’t want to get herself into any problem in future, but that I should look before I leap.

I have not had sex with any of them. As for Mr. E, it it isn’t because of his money or position, that I’m dating him. I love him very much in spite of the age gap and his teenage children. I feel I wouldn’t mind helping to raise them as I believe in ‘live and let live’. I can’t go to his house because the woman lives there.

But how can the mother of a man’s three children live with him without a formal marriage? He says he doesn’t want anything to do with her and he wants to marry another woman,(me). He has not told her to leave his house. What should I do? I live with my family.

Worried lady, Kaduna.

REPL Y REPLY

M

UST you marry one of these two men? Let’s start with Mr Z, the father of three who lives with the mother of his

children that he’s not

married to. He has not asked this lady to leave his house, and you cannot visit him there. He says he wants nothing more to do with her and he wants to marry you. I know you said you haven’t had sex with him, and you have to tread softly so that you don’t get sucked into the mess in his home. How come indeed that he’s never been married, not even the traditional way, to the mother of his three children, with whom he used to live, and who left him for another man and is now back in his house and he seems powerless to ask her to leave. If he doesn’t have sex with you, and from the way he talks about the lady, he can’t be having sex with her; with whom does he satisfy his sex urge then?

Why is he allowing her to live with him? Is it because of the children?

Well, you’ll have a long wait if he’s waiting for them to leave, so he could marry you. Don’t be too sure that the teenage daughters would take to you and allow you

to take the place of their mother, no matter how good you are to them.

They are at the rebellious age. Think of yourself in their shoes at that age. Also it doesn’t seem as if their mother can be kicked out of the house at anytime. Or, are you expected to live on your own outside their home after the man marries you? Would you be happy as an outside wife? Do you believe all he tells you? Have you investigated around to

know the true situation in his home?

I suggest you do this before agreeing to marry him. Also consider what you li ke in him. Is he

kind, patient, tolerant, clean, honest and with a good sense of responsibility and humour?

Are you sure the main attraction isn’t the fact he’s an already made man and you don’t want to start marital life with a man who’s struggling for a decent life? This is no crime, but make sure

that you understand fully what you’re going in for.

Now, I know some happy and successfully marriage where the wife is a graduate and the man only a secondary school certificate holder.

A few of such husbands have even sponsored their wives for second and third degrees. It depends on these men’s self-confidence, self-esteem and attitude to life.

They are not intimidated by their wives’ academic qualifications or high-

powered job.

In your case Mr G is working as a driver, but hopes to go into business when he’s saved enough money. You are a graduate. In western countries, this wouldn’t matter much if life the couple love each other, and the man is able to discharge his financial responsibility and he enjoys his work and he has self-confidence.

The woman sees his character, not his paper qualifications. In our society this is far from being the case even where a couple are in love with each other. A driver who marries a graduate accountant would feel very inferior about his low academic status and his jobs, and he would do his utmost to make himself feel the master in the home. This may involve picking quarrels at the least instance with his wife, misinterpreting whatever she does and says, and then shouting her down and beating her. He would feel out of place in her work social circle and try to humiliate her and drag her down to his level, just to subdue her.

I’m afraid she might leave me!

Dear Rebecca

I

’M a regular reader of your column in the Sunday Vanguard. I was 20 years old when I left secondary school eight years ago.

Then, I started attending a fellowship where I learnt so much about wisdom, love and relationships. At the moment, I’m going through a problem.

There is this girl I love so much and care about. She loves me too and we cheer each other up during our leisure time. She has just left secondary school. Since our . relationship started, my family members and some if my friends have turned their backs on me. They want me to leave her and I cannot do that to someone who has been so kind to me, even though I’m not so financially buoyant.

Although we are from different tribes, we have decided to love each other as Christians. She is planning to further her education into the university and I’m scared. She may meet other guys

there and stop loving me. Please, help me.

Steven REPL Y REPLY

T

HIS life is so full of uncertainties that it doesn’t make sense to start worrying now about something you feel may happen to you in future. Let us analyze the situation.

You are a 28-year-old man who is not financially buoyant yet. You are in love with a girl who has just left secondary school. You are both Christians but from different ethnic groups, and your people are against your having a relationship with her.

You don’t want to leave her because you are grateful to her for remaining with you even though you don’t have money. Also, you both belong to the same Christian body. One commends your loyalty to her but where exactly would this relationship lead? You are not in a

position to take a wife yet, and you say that she intends to pursue a university education. Since you can’t marry her now, there’s really nothing for your relations to oppose, even if she decides to abandon going for further studies and decides to marry and settle down.

If you are fretting that if she goes to the university, she would meet other guys and stop loving you, it means you have no intention of acquiring higher educational qualifications and in the long run, she may not want to marry a nongraduate. If you really want her to be a part of your future marital plans, you would have to do something to make your future more financially comfortable, even if you don’t study further.

This girl may be fond of you now in her teenage years, but as she becomes exposed to a more enlightened lifestyle on the campus, you may no longer seem her ideal man.

So it is important for

you to accept now that there may not be a future for this relationship and it may end at any time.

The christian thing is not likely to hold you together if you don’t make an effort to improve yourself and gain selfconfidence, which would ensure that you are not

afraid that a girl would leave you for another man. There is no guarantee that this can’t happen even if you are the wisest and richest man on earth, but at least, you won’t feel inferior. So, enjoy the relationship as it is and leave the future to God.

If you really want her to be a part of your future marital plans, you would have to do something to make your future more financially comfortable, even if you don’t study further

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

PAGE 22—SUND AY Vanguard , JUNE 23, 2013 22—SUNDA

Adultery: The first time is the hardest!

T

HE first time I re ally thought of having an affair, I was very nervous..

But I really shouldn’t have,” confessed Sylvia.

“I mean most of my friends were in to it and they often gave me reasons why it was a marriage saver, especially if it was between seemingly happily married people wanting to meet up just for sex.

“I was almost 40, married for 15 years. For the first five or so years, my husband and I had been really happy. John was working in the production section of a big factory and life was simple, but good. As a graduate teacher, my income sort of complimented John’s and our three children wanted for nothing.

Shortly after, a sales managerial job was offered to John and he began spending more time away from home. As a result, we grew distant from each other. Although I loved him - I still do as a matter of fact - I found myself fantasising about other men. I’d even wondered what it would be like to sleep with Tony

- John’s best friend. But 1 couldn’t hurt my husband like that.

“Then I met Seye, this cheeky guy at one of the seminars I attended from the college I thought. He was one of the facilitators and he just took a shine to me. Was he able to read how sexually frustrated I was? He was a few years older than me and as we became more friendly, he made it clear he was a happily married man with four children. We had a few lunch dates - nothing grand,

just a few meals at a local canteen. He let it drop that since his wife had the last kid a few years ago, sex with her had been boring. He was therefore open to having sex with someone other than his wife, just for the thrill and the dirtiness of it.

“I found his attitude a bit brazen, yet I was excited. His feelings about unattached sex expressed exactly how I felt. After the seminar, we continued having chats on the phone about ordi-

nary things - our lives, our children and what we enjoyed doing. Then came his big challenge how would 1 feel about meeting up? Now the ball was in my court, the decision to take things further was mine. So I said yes. John was due to be away on his sales managerial duties the following week, so we met at a motel miles away from where I stayed.

“We both felt a bit selfconscious at first. So we had lunch and a few drinks to calm our

nerves, then went upstairs to the room he had booked for us. He’d come armed with a bottle of wine and we had a cup each from the plastic cups he brought with him. A few minutes later he stood up and started taking off his clothes. In that moment, I realised he wasn’t exactly Mr. Clean. He’d obviously done it before. That made me panic a bit wondering what standard he expected. But he slowly took off my top, and as we continued undressing each other, he had a condom ready and he kissed me urgently. L sank onto the bed and let him have ‘a full rein all over my body.

“I felt really self-conscious and weired to be making love to someone who wasn’t my husband.

There were differencs in technique for instance some good, some not.

But that just made it all the more exciting. Within minutes, he’d climaxed but I hadn’t. So, we polished off the rest of the wine and after we’d rested enough, we started kissing all over again. We made love

again and this time, I had an orgasm. It was exhilarating.

“Afterwards, he got up and he said he had to get home. I understood - so did I. That was a couple of years ago. We met a few times but neither of us wanted a long-term commitment. In the past five months, I’ve been seeing Max who is a few years younger than I am.

We get together twice a month for a few hours of passion. He has a goodjob, a wife who is very poorly and whom he wouldn’t want to pester with sex. He’s kind and considerate and we have this understanding never to send each other any texts that we might forget to delete. Once in a while, he gives me cash presents for me to buy whatever I like. That way, John would not trace any untoward present to my lover.

“John would never find out about my little arrangements so he won’t get hurt. I’d even recommend what I’m doing because the thrill I get means I can say I’m happily married once again ... “

and changing hands and legs, repeat on the other side.

Benefits: The Twist massages the abdominal organs improving digestion and elimination. It expands and strengthens the chest. It also increases flexibility in the hip and knee joints.

THE DEAD POSE Lie flat on your back.

Keep the hands a bit away from the body. Let the feet ‘fall’ side ways. Relax every strand of muscle in the body. Fix the attention on the breathing or some soothing music.

Lie completely still for 10-20 minutes before getting up. Practised properly, it gives a most calming effect-my favourite destresser technique.

08052201867(Text Only)

Forever in fighting form

C M Y K

forth reserves of sugars from your liver and muscles for a dip in blood sugar levels. When you don’t exercise, you tend only to experience a high in blood sugar with meals. And, as soon as the energy from the food is stored by the help of the hormone insulin produced by the pancreases, yawning and malaise takes over - there’s a false alarm of hunger. In such a case, all you need do is whip up a bit of sweat,’ a bit of a work out and presto, your fallen blood sugar levels stabilise, doing away with your false hunger and all.

It’s now an established fact that flexibility exercise which can be practised daily are best suited for relieving physical stress.

Let’s consider flexibility postures and a relaxation technique.

YOGA MUDRA Technique: Sit on your heels and interlace your fingers at your back. Bend forward the trunk and rest the forehead on the floor

and turn the arms forward and then downward.

Benefits: The Yoga Mudra limbers the whole trunk and the thighs get toned. The stiffness is got rid of in the knee and ankle joints. Like other forward bending postures, it has a calming effect.

THE SPREAD EAGLE Technique: Sit down and

,

O

VERWEIGHT may not be your problem, but, then, that’s not the only reason for exercising.

On account, life can rather be hectic, we all need to have a little bit more energy than we already possess. Practising relaxation techniques help us relieve stress brought on by everyday living. That way, we get quick results from exercise characterised by great energy and wonderful wellbeing.

Of course, it won't do to do all the right exercises and ignore to eat properly.

Quality aside, we must be modest in the quantity of food we eat. Eating great quantities of food means almost all of our energies go to digesting the food leaving us feeling lethargic.

One of the good things about exercise is the fact that we tend to eat less. The less active we become, the more food we tend to put away. Now, this is why: With exercise or increased physical load, you call

The Twist massages the abdominal organs improving digestion and elimination

,

spread out the legs as wide apart as possible. Bend down the trunk and with the left hand hold the left

foot from the inside with the left elbow touching the floor. Bring the right hand over the side of the head and hold the left foot from the outside. Keep your breathing normal. Retain the position for 10-15 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Benefits: The Spread Eagle stretches both hamstrings and inner thigh muscles.

The flanks get a good workout leading to fat reduction about the waistline.

THE TWIST Technique: Sit with both legs extended in front of you. Bend the right knee placing the foot flat down with heel touching the left buttock. Then, bend the left knee, placing the left foot on the outside of the right knee. Bring the right hand across the right thigh and clutch the right knee. Turn the head and trunk leftwards raising up the left hand with the elbow locked. Breathe deeply, retain the pose for 10 seconds

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

SUND AY Vanguard , JUNE 23 , 2013, P AGE 23 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Using the kids as bargaining chips

I

T’S easier to pick up the pieces of a bro ken marriage if no children are involved.

And if you’ve also fallen out of love with your spouse. Obioma was still savouring the perks of marriage when the rug was pulled from under her. “I was barely ten years married with three demanding children when my husband left me,” she recalled sadly.

“She was prettier, more educated and likely to enhance my ex’s political ambition. I was naturally upset, lonely and angry. We talked about the future of the children at length and he promised to keep in touch with them as often as he could. Only, that would take place in the flat he rented for us. He obviously didn’t want to upset his new wife by parading offspring of his first marriage at his new home.

“He was as good as his word as he genuinely loves the children, but he had no set days of visiting them. I asked him to arrange a day or two each week when he would see them but he said he’d phone when he wanted to visit as he didn’t know when he’d be free. Looked to me as if he wanted to eat his cake and have it. He’s gotten away with hurting me and I’m still upset and bitter. It is unlikely I’d be able to move on if I was always expecting him to tear himself away from his jailer to find the time to call. Whenever I complain, he tells me to get on with my life but how easy does he think that’s going to be?

“He was the only man I really fell in love with

rupt or jump in too quickly before you have heard the full story. Feed important points back to them and ask questions to make it clear that you are paying attention to them. For example: “so, you told him to leave you alone? And then what happened?”

W

and I still have feelings for him. I wanted things to work out between us and deep in my heart, I still do. I feel that by allowing him to see our children or phone whenever it suits him, I’m giving the impression that I don’t have a problem with how I’d been betrayed and that it is all right he’s with someone else. Even though he’s trying so hard to hide it, I believe he is uneasy about what he’s done.

“He’s right of course. I need to move on. I need to put the pain of my failed marriage behind me in order to make a quality life for myself. I can’t exclude him from my life because I need to protect the children’s relationship with their dad.

My friends have tried to counsel me, assuring that when 1 eventually meet another man, I’ll feel relieved that my unsatisfactory marriage came to an end. That’s why I’m now trying to,

accept we will never get back together again. I’ve also tried to encourage he sends the driver to pick the kids whenever he wants to see them. And if he comes to the house, I make sure I’m out, my younger sister who lives with me will always let him in.

T

he sad bit is that my wound is still raw. I was the good guy in our marriage, why should l be the one to now juggle looking after boisterous children with a demanding job while my husband who’s the culprit, have all the fun cuddling up to a much younger lover at night while I sleep alone every night. Why must I be the one who has to pick up the pieces of a broken relationship I wasn’t responsible for? It’s not fair!

But I intend to try with the hope that, with God on my side, I’ll meet someone better to make my ex green with envy!”

How to get your kids

to open up

YOUNGSTERS are bottling up their anxieties especially on drugs, alcohol, relationships, bullying ... “Many children find it very hard to talk to their parents, particularly as they become teenagers”, says Eileen Huyes, a parenting adviser, “but in an ideal world, every child could turn to his or her parent for support. With a little help from you, your children will be more open about their fears.” Here is how she advises you encourage them.

Don’t try to force answers out of them: If you ask a direct question and don’t get an answer, just say; “No problem. But remember I’ll be here if you decide to tell me.”

A

sk questions: Try to keep in touch with what’s going on in your teenager’s life. If you know that your

it is mine—ready to be filled with my words. Do you know that I’ve anointed your beautiful lips with the power to speak life to a lifeless world?

Cent Obama centobama@gmail.com +2348061379003WHAT IS LOVE?

Y

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

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

My Princess

My Princess, My Love, I love your mouth because

.

What is love?

It's in those SPECIAL Moments we shared together...

Those LAUGH we have together..

Those SECRETS we share...

Those PROMISES we made in our hearts...

Those DAYS you wait to meet...

Those Million SORRY I say...

Those CALLS that seem like seconds & we never knew that hours have passed...

daughter ’s favourite sport is netball, you will know that something’s wrong without even asking if she stops going to after-school practices.

Approach boys and girls differently: Girls will respond better to a sit down, eye to eye chat - they like to have your full attention. But many boys find this approach a bit off-putting and would much rather have a ‘side-ways’ chat. For example, when driving them to football practice or the gym, casually drop in the subject you’re feeling concerned about: So, how ’s the maths going then?” Or “you haven’t mentioned Lucy in a while. How is she?” Boys can be harder to reach as many of them still believe that a real man shouldn’t ask for help. Make it clear that there’s nothing wrong with needing support.

U

sing listening skills: Don’t inter-

hen your child has told you something that needs to be taken further, be careful.

If it’s something as bad as child abuse, you will have to tell them that you must act. If the problem is less serious, listen to the child. Often, they will want you to stay calm rather than act. You might want to storm down to the school and confront the headmistress about the matter, but your child may disagree. Don’t be upset if your child talks to someone else.

T

hey may decide to discuss things with their teacher or another adult they respect. It’s normal to feel hurt when you find out. But don’t be angry, it’s a good sign.

Your child is becoming independent and is trying to find his or her own solutions. Remember that everyone is different.

Some kids are secretive by nature and some tell everything. But you know your own child best, if he or she is behaving out of character, be concerned. Watch for signs of depression, such as locking themselves away for hours and refusing to say why. And be alert to other small signs - children often give clues in throwaway remarks like “I wish I was dead.”

Those MESSAGES in the INBOX you just can't delete...

Those MOMENTS I just can't forget...

Those LOVELY shy glances we exchange...

Those SPECIAL times when you look at that person specially...

Those EXPRESSIONs you make when I say "I LOVE YOU" while talking on the phone...

Those COMPLIMENTs, BLUSHES & KISSES...

Those JEALOUS expression when you see I was looking at another hot person...

Those CUTE ANGRY gestures of yours...

Those CONVERSATION that go nowhere...

Those TEARS when I miss you...

THAT IS LOVE...

IT'S UNPREDICTABLE.. -.!

Chris Onunaku dekris4real@yahoo.com 08032988826.

PAGE 24—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013

NEXIM Bank in Nigeria’s path to economic growth - 1

L

he sailed down the River Niger!

Each time the Managing Director, NEXIM Bank, Mr. Roberts U. Orya talk on the concept leading onto the project execution, he concentrates on the details, with uncommon passion.

NEXIM SEALINK Project is about leveraging on strategic competitive advantage; the establishment of a dedicated Regional Sealink…as the solution to challenges of road transport across land boarders.

ET us begin by setting the tone for this interaction. We also appreciate the increasing number of our readers, the growing number we derive from the rise in the new callers we attend to every week. The entire MC&A DIGEST team appreciate the time and interest all of our readers invest in going through our articles across the newspapers we are published, each and ever y week.

We also appreciate the fact that the options of readable publications open to you all are unlimited, so your interest and time invested in ‘fellowshipping’ with us, is quite a (real) cost.

A

s a consequence of the change in the global economy, and the emerging trend in relationship among nations, Nigeria, as indeed, every nation in the world, is at a crossroads; it is a time for nations to make decisions and take actions with utmost care. The decisions and actions taken by nations around the world, today, will have strong and critical bearing on the path of the given nation’s economic progression in the near future.

For Nigeria, the decisions and actions taken today will, to a large extent, determine the path of our economic growth in the future. The options open to our economy (bearing in mind its peculiarities) are either the path of Value-Added growth or a continuation on its present path of resource progression.

It is, however, important to immediately remind us, there is the urgent need to change the present economic path we tow for reasons we have listed in our articles in the past.

Worthy of re-note, global economy is witnessing change in pattern and dimension.

Economy of scale has shifted from size to sophistication.

That explains the investment pattern of developed and emerging markets, where attention is shifted to (1) Human Resource development – education, training and empowerment (2) Technological advancement (2) Economic democracy (3) Industrialization.

The emerging global trend is compartmentalization of the progressively inter-connected world we live in, along the

From left: Christopher Chuka Edordu, the !st MD/CEO of NEXIM Bank and Ist President of the AFREXIM Bank; Roberts U. Orya, MD/CEO, NEXIM Bank; and Victor Ake Odozi, former Deputy Governor (FSS), CBN, and the 1st Chairman of NEXIM Bank at the ongoing TWENTIETH GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS OF THE AFRICAN EXPORTIMPORT BANK, which opened at the UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE CENTER (UNCC),ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA. The Meeting lasts till 23 JUNE, 2013. lines of regional relativity, inherent resources and extent of economic development. So, in addition to the G8, G5… in addition to the old economic blocks, we now have the BRIC nations. All of these are indicators of the need for internally driven economic development, for survival in the new economic world and for relevance within the global space. Therefore, Nigeria, as a nation, need to give a more aggressive and focused attention to growing our economy by depending more on ourselves (and our resources), even as we consider the potentials of regional integration, economic diversification.

The projections are wellderived: consistent economic growth rating, growing employment rate (at least 90%), vibrant investment climate, private sector-driven industrialized economy, enduring and globally competitive economic structures and flourishing international trade - all of these add up to determine the extent of economic development (of any given nation) regional and/or global competitiveness.

A

s captured in Yr-2013 report on Africa Competitiveness, Competitiveness is about planning and investment.

Competitive economies are rated by a careful consideration of the state of health of all of the factors, institutions and policies that determine a given country’s level of productivity – sets the path of economic growth.

With the above-mentioned at the back of our minds, it becomes easy to appreciate the federal government’s efforts towards building a competitive economy, with the establishment of Nigeria Export-Import Bank – NEXIM. NEXIM as an economic development institution is driving our economic development,

,

It is on the strength of that realization, we have continually dug deeper, to create literary images that have potentials to add value in some way, no matter how distant. For some time now, we have focused on Nigerian Export-Import Bank, looking at the institution’s role, relevance and importance, in our nation’s process of economic repositioning.

T

improving on our regional and global competitiveness.

We have concerned ourselves with NEXIM Bank in the nation’s economic evolution, for the purpose of presenting a better understanding and appreciation of the institution’s role (and strategic importance) in the process. In our previous write-ups, we

For Nigeria, NEXIM’s Sealink project will quickly open up new opportunities for export-import trade. More and more private investors will take advantage of the coastal transport system and market access to invest in bigger value export trading

regional integration and global competitiveness by its direct involvement in growing our export-import trade.

Closely linked with its immediate objective of promoting the nation’s exportimport trade, are the multiplier effect impact of its direct achievements on the nation’s economy, in form of increased private sector engagement, industrial development, employment opportunity generation, diversification of the nation’s economy (aggressively stimulating investment in the non-oil sectors), and increasingly

,

had detailed the bank’s pluses. In this phase of our tracking, we shall run through the major milestones of the bank’s engagement, of direct benefit locally, regionally and globally, starting with NEXIM SEALINK Project.

A

s a concept, the SeaLink Project is a game changer for Nigeria, Africa and the world; a product of deep thinking, based on careful resource engagement for immediate and long term benefits, of life-long impact. It can be likened to the discovery made by Mongo Park, when

he benefits of an efficient water transport system across the coastal corridors of nations within the region include faster transportation, a more efficient, safer and cheaper access to markets across the region, increased trade volume and the opening-up of international markets across African region. Nations within the African region will experience greater economies of scale as a result of this strategic initiative. So, Mr. Orya’s initiative was attractive to some others who now partner with NEXIM Bank, to see the project through.

F

or Nigeria, NEXIM’s Sealink project will quickly open up new opportunities for exportimport trade. More and more private investors will take advantage of the coastal transport system and market access to invest in bigger value export trading. More employment opportunities will be generated for Nigerians, and finally, our large population will experience greater value rating. Mr. Orya’s NEXIM and their coinvestors are, together building a very important structure with potentials to aggressively stimulate a whole new level of economic growth opportunities for Nigeria and the African region. We should expect greater level competitiveness

when this Sealink project becomes operational.

The critical point to note here, beside the proactivity, creativity, hard work and daring investment ingenuity of the NEXIM team, is the potentials to actualize change and economic growth, this initiative has demonstrated. As we have always noted, NEXIM Bank is a change driver needing of greater investment. A financially healthy NEXIM Bank will enable a spin-off of greater economic gains for Nigeria, Africa and the world. Nigeria will enjoy a more advantageous competitive advantage at the global economic space, if NEXIM Bank is financially better positioned to exploit its potentials.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013 —25

Third da or the Iy aloja Gener al dayy pra prayyer ffor Iyaloja General

E

minent Nigerians from all walks of life, besieged the City of Lagos on Tuesday as they gathered at the Tafawa Balewa Square, for the third-day prayer for the late President/ Iyaloja General of Nigeria’s Market Association, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji Alhaja Mogaji, the mother of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, died last Sunday, at the age of 96 and was buried on Monday. Photos by Bunmi Azeez

L-R: Alhaji Tanko Almakura, Nassarawa State Governor and Gen. Buba Marwa[rtd]

From left: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd),Justice Usman Muhammad [rtd] and Aremo Olusegun Osoba.

L-R: Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), NSA, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment, and Alh. Lateef Okunnu

From left: Alh. Moshood Adeoti, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, former Borno State governor.

From left:Alh. Lai Mohammed, National Pulicity Secretary, Action Congress of Nigeria[ACN], Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, former Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Alh. Tajudeen Olusi and Amb. Babagana Kingibe.

L-R: Otunba Henry Ajomale, Chairman, ACN Lagos State, Sir Pius Akinyelure and Chief Demola Seriki

The parle parleyy under the umbrella

I

t was a parade of who’s who in Southwest Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday as they came together for the stakeholders’ meeting. Photos Diran Oshe

L- R: Chief Ishola Filani , Chairman , Caretaker Committee of PDP, South West, Senator Isiaka Adeleke , former Gov. of Osun State and Alhaja Salmot Badru former Deputy Gov. ,Ogun State

The AAAN funfair L-R: Alh. Rafiu Jafojo, former Deputy Gov., Lagos State, Chief Pegba Otemolu, Chief Biodun Aluko and Chief Ishola Filani , Chairman , Caretaker Committee of PDP, South West.

L- R: Senator Kofoworola Bucknor, Sen. Akinlabi Olasunkanmi , and Sen. (Dr) Bode Olowoporoku

L-R: Mrs. Serifat Aregbesola, the First Lady of Osun State, her Ekiti State counterpart, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, a guest and Princess Serah Adebisi-Sosan, a former deputy governor of Lagos State.

Asaba

AAAN funfair held last week at Elegushi Beach. It was a day of fun. Here are some of the faces at the event

F

L-R: Nelson Ononiwu, Head, Zero Degrees, Steve Babaeko, CEO,X3M Ideas and Taiwo Agboola, Head, Brand Management, X3M Ideas

L-R:Mr.Uba Ota Obuji, Asst.Director,Procurement, Federal Ministry Of Health, Abuja, Dr. Leo Erhumunsee, Medical Director, Dr.Victor Osiatuma, Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee and Mr.Omonigho Akpovona, Asst.Director, Finance.

ederal Medical Centre, Asaba ,Opening of Prequalification of bids for the execution of 2013 capital projects.

C M Y K

PAGE 26— SUND AY V anguard, JUNE 23 SUNDA Vanguard, 23,, 2013

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

C M Y K

CHOICE OF CHILD BIRTH: -

Need For Proper Counselling View-Point

Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor “Madam, it says here on your file that you had your first baby naturally without any complications. And there’s been no problem in this second pregnancy.

Excellent!” Without allowing me to protest he went on, ‘’You can do it again, by the grace of God. No need for surgery. So, let’s go! Push only when you’re told! My brother, hold your wife’s hand and encourage her any way you can,” he told my husband. Within minutes my baby was born! Praise the Lord!” We responded with claps and shouts of ‘Halleluiah’ She went on to tell us that a friend of hers who had wanted a natural birth that same time, was told she couldn’t have it, because it would be risky for both her and her baby. She had to have a CS, and she almost died from the experience. She spent eight weeks in the hospital afterwards, and for quite a while, was unable to attend to her baby. Please thank God for me.

The devil is a liar.”

The pastor summed up the experience wisely,

,

A

fter the Pastor had handed back the baby to its parents at this baby dedication at a Church, the mother said she had a testimony linked to its birth.

She was given the microphone.

“Praise the Lord everybody!” she shouted. We replied with a thunderous ‘Halleluiah’.

“My brothers and my sisters, help me to thank the Lord.

He’s so awesome and wonderful! The devil is a liar. He put a bad decision in my mouth, but Jesus reversed it for my good and safety. You see, I’m someone who cannot bear pain. Noone told me how painful childbirth was before I had the experience myself, through having my first child. I had a prolonged painful labour, and oh! The pain of delivery was so much that I told my husband that we would stop at just one child. He just laughed.

Soon, I wanted another child, of course, but dreaded the pain. What to do?I had had discussions with my friends and some of them said Caesarian Section (CS) was the best option; as delivery is very quick through surgery, and it’s actually safer for both mother and baby. You don’t need to go through all that labour and delivery pains, and you recuperate fast. With that assurance at the back of my mind, I had a very blissful pregnancy.

I was recommended this posh hospital where most of their patients deliver by CS.. I told only my husband of my decision and he rejected it straightaway. I stuck to my decision since I was the one going to experience childbirth; not he. My doctor gave me a due date to come in for the CS, but two days before that day, I went into labour.

We rushed to the hospital, and I was admitted and taken to the delivery room.

The nurses knew that I had opted for a CS, so they went to look for a surgeon on duty.

None was available; they were operating. I screamed!

Was I going to go through delivery pains again? As I groaned in labour, they assured me that as soon as a doctor was free, I would be attended to, and that my doctor had been informed, and was on his way. I waited in pain.

A nurse went out and soon returned with a doctor who smiled at me, but had a nononsense look on his face.

After examining me, he said

(07036819426)

decided on natural delivery for her from the beginning, and that was what He allowed to happen.

That may be true. We thank God that all went well with the lady’s delivery.

However, there’s the need for doctors at all maternity hospitals, both government ones and private ones, to draw close to the pregnant women in their care, and guide them to making the right choices about childdelivery. About forty years ago, natural child birth was all women knew, and some had many pregnancies and deliveries! They accepted that pains are associated with them, even though they could not have enjoyed them. That’s part of our deal from God when Eve disobeyed Him in the garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit. She blamed the devil, just like the lady with the testimony did above here, but it was still a personal choice. The Bible plainly tells us that in pain shall women bring forth their babies.

The pain is not on the same scale for every woman, but it’s there all the same.

However, when the baby arrives, usually, joy surges through the mother, and the pain is forgotten. That’s not the same with a CS with takes a longer time to heal.

I’m not saying here that women must have only natural birth, rather, I’m saying that if there’s no

Specialists should discuss in detail the birth choice a woman wants to make so that she can be well guided. There’s no choice in life which doesn’t involve some risks; some great, some small

saying that the devil had not been at work at all, but rather, God allowed her that false sense of security so that her pregnancy would be a happy one. God had

,

complication with pregnancy and the birth canal, they should try to go for natural birth, if the medical team gives them the

Young pregnant women in third trimester.

all-clear. Decades ago, Caesarian Section was carried out only when it had been concluded that natural delivery would pose a risk to either baby or mother, or both. It wasn’t carried out, like it sometimes is these days, simply on the whim and fancy of the pregnant woman, who’s trying to avoid labour/delivery pains, or the doctor/hospital who know that surgery brings in more money. It was a serious decision taken in desperate situations, and many people viewed it with dread, as pregnancy and delivery are normally seen as putting a woman’s life at risk. The thought of cutting up a woman for this, doubles the fear. I know that giant strides in science have been made worldwide, and the CS has become a choice to be made by the pregnant women themselves – to avoid painful labour and delivery, to hasten the emergence of the baby, or, simply to keep to a particular date of birth that they fancied and have chosen.

There are other options too, like the Epidural Anaesthesia childbirth pain relief, which is the injection of a numbing medicine around the spinal nerves in the lower back. It numbs the area below the point of injection and allows you to remain awake during the delivery. It can be used both in vaginal or caesarian delivery. I understand this proceedure is being refined all the time to make it safer, but we should remember the

case of a Nigerian lady who had epidural in the U.K some years ago, suffered paralysis because the area numbed didn’t come alive again, and she was in a semi coma for several years in a hospital she was brought to here in Lagos, before she finally died.

Specialists should discuss in detail the birth choice a woman wants to make so that she can be well guided.

There’s no choice in life which doesn’t involve some risks; some great, some small.

S

ome of us who are oldfashioned still think that natural birth is best.

Hospitals are meant to run pre-natal exercises for pregnant women, so that they can become supple in the relevant places, relaxed and fit for delivery. Husbands can attend too, so that they can guide their wives through the routine at home.

There should be post natal exercises too, given by physiotherapists, to help the woman’s womb return to its position, and also help her regain her figure.

These are things that the Ministry of Health at all levels of governance should see that the maternity hospitals put in place; in addition to establishing facilities that would ensure safe delivery for all our pregnant women, and safe birth for their babies too.

Figures for women and babies who die at childbirth/ birth in Nigeria, are among the highest in the world, we’re told.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013 — PAGE 27

C M Y K

PAGE 28 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013 — PAGE 29

C M Y K

PAGE 30 —SUNDAY Vanguard,JUNE 23, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 31

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

•Titilayo

H

er life reflects the scripture verse which says “Let us not be weary in doing good…”

Despite the loss of her beloved husband and only child to the scourge of death, Mrs.Titilayo Ramatu Ojeifo’s passion for impacting lives has continued to grow in leaps and bounds. Here, Titi, the current President of Soroptimist International of Lagos Mainland, who is the General Manager, Industrial Equipment Division, R.T Briscoe Nigeria Plc, shares her plans to intensify her service to God through service to humanity. Enjoy!

How do you feel about being president of the Soroptimist International of Lagos Mainland?

I’ve deferred it for six years but when I realised that one might never find time for a worthwhile course unless one is determined, I had to succumb. I also considered the fact that I’ve always been passionate about the progress of the girl-child and women in general. Even in my office, I make sure I employ skillful women. There weren’t many women in R.T.Briscoe but I made sure I brought skilled women into the organization, as a way of promoting the girlchild - which is the essence of Soroptimist International.

In fact, this was what attracted me to the organization when I stumbled on it while surfing the internet in 2003.

You mean nobody introduced you to the organization?

Yes! I just stumbled on their website and when I read what they stood for, I dropped a message. They responded from England and sent somebody from this clubSoroptimist International of Lagos Mainland the next day to contact me through the information I dropped.

,

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

I’ve always learnt to start with myself in the quest for a change. My late husband and I for example, always ensured we sent all our house-helps to school

,

Why the interest in Soroptimist? Were you in a group with same ideology?

Not really. Except that I’ve always learnt to start with myself in the quest for a change. My late husband and

I for example, always ensured we sent all our house-helps to school. My last help spent six years with us and left with her senior school leaving certificate cleared. That’s one way I serve humanity. While growing up as well, my parents always ensured our house-helps went to the same school we attended.

Everybody would gather in the car and even when it was time to eat, we all ate together on the dining table. I luckily married somebody who had the same mind. I however do not keep house-helps because my husband is late now.

How about the children?

I had one, but she’s late also. Helping women and girls through Soroptimist is now my passion.

empowering people, our National President, Best Sister Olufunmilola BuraimohAdemuyewo, is very passionate about giving free screening tests to women, considering the rise in breast, cervical and uterine cancer. As part of her programmes, Mrs.Buraimoh would be buying mammograms. However, because of convenience, I’ve decided to organize cancer screening tests for indigent women. We’re partnering with some doctors at the Lagos State General Hospital, and we’ll bear the cost. As many women that are available, we would screen; even if it’s fifty. If funds allow, we’ll also include cervical screening. So, what I hope to do now is embark on a very forceful fund-raising by talking to my colleagues and friends.

What legacy do you hope to leave behind after your 2-year tenure?

I’m building on the foundation of my predecessor, Best Sister Funmi Odunsi. By the time my tenure is over, I’m hoping that our school would have been at par with the best private schools in terms of facilities and educational standard. Secondly, I’m hoping that we would have been able to screen as many women as possible for cancer. Depending on the availability of funds also, we plan to give micro-credit to indigent women. I’m also

considering the adoption of a child because those are the kind of things we do in Soroptimist. Years ago, this club took a motherless baby and educated her to university level. The baby in question is employed and married now!

She actually graduated with a 2.1 from Bowen University. I think it’s time we adopted another baby, so, I’m going to look at that.

What’s your philosophy about life?

As a Catholic, I believe life is about service; and that’s what I’m here to do. I believe in serving God through my service to mankind. My mentor is Jose Maria Escriva and he has taught me so much about living a life of service. I’ve had a lot of tragedies, but I’m happy and contented because I believe life should be about service despite any misfortune. I’ve accepted my experience and I’m using it to impact other lives. I’m not sitting down moaning like one who has no God. My daughter was a month to her fifteenth birthday when she passed-on, and I miss her so much. The 21st of May, 2013 was the 7th anniversary of her demise, and that day was very depressing for me though it coincided with my installation ceremony as the president of Soroptimist International of Lagos Mainland. God has always been there for me anyway, so, I face each day, ensuring I impact lives everywhere I go.

I’m sorry about that. So, what are your plans for your tenure?

The theme for this Soroptimist year is ‘Inspiring Action, Transforming Lives’ while our focus is to empower and enable women and girls. So, the first plan I have is to work closely with our school, the Soroptimist International School of Lagos Mainland in Lawanson. We’ve got the highest standard of Montessori and adult literacy but we charge very little because we bear the cost of running the school.

Presently, we need to establish a very good standard library and sanitary facilities.

One of the ways we hope to ‘enable’ is to create a quality environment for the people we’re empowering in the school, and that’s why we’ve decided to embark on the establishment of a good standard library and sanitary Titi Ojeifo(middle) with Mrs.Funlola Buraimoh-Ademuyewo, National facilities.

Also, President, Soroptimist International(left) and Mrs.Olufunmilayo Odunsi, because healthcare immediate Past President, Soroptimist International of Lagos Mainland, is another way of during her installation as the club president.

PAGE 32 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

.... CRIME AND NATIONAL SECURITY

By SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

C

*No way for criminal elements... CP Adebanjo fielding questions from journalists

Cult war in Edo!

Udoka Simon I have never been involved in crime but I am a cultist. The day they kidnapped three people at NUT, they only told me they were taking me to a community to go and work.

But when I got there, I was surprised about what they were doing . When I wanted to leave, one of them threatened they were going to kill me as I wanted to expose them. And suddenly they brought the three NUT people they had kidnapped. They did not collect money from them but they collected money from a Lebanese man they kidnapped along the expressway.

They collected N6million from the Lebanese and gave me N320,000.

My job was to look after victims in the bush and sometimes they will ask me to watch out if people were coming. I did not participate in the kidnapping and that was why I got only N320,000 out of N6m”.

I joined secret group out of ignorance, suspected Eiye Confraternity member confesses Another says: From a furniture maker, I became cultists’ armourer The Edo Police Command is working tirelessly to make sure that the people sleep with their two eyes closed. We are doing everything possible to make sure that the state is peaceful. The police will not relent in its efforts. This is to warn all the criminals to leave the state because we are going to continue to pursue them. As you can see, we have so many of them here, kidnappers, armed robbers, those who are involved in recent cult related killings. We have recovered cache of arms and ammunition. We have so many cultists, murderers and armed robbers in our custody. But because investigations are ongoing, that is why they are not being paraded today.

I wonder why students will resort to killing themselves, it does not make sense and they will be treated as criminals.”

On the insinuation that the ban on Okada may increase the rate of crime in the state, the CP said, “The ban on Okada is for security purpose. There will be definitely complaints here and there from people but it is the best thing for the people. Many of the crimes being committed in Oredo and other parts of Benin City are bikerelated crimes. They use bike to rob people, kill people and even cultists use bike to operate. Nobody should be scared that the ban will breed more

,

ultists unleashed terror in Benin-City, Edo State last week. Some persons were killed in the process creating fear in the minds of residents. Apart from the activities of the cultists, armed robbers, kidnappers and rapists struck in the state capital but luck ran out on them when a team of mobile policemen arrested them.

The state police commissioner, Folunso Adebanjo, paraded the suspected armed robbers, kidnappers and cultists, numbering 36. One of the suspects confessed he was a member of the Eiye Confranternity, saying, however, that he joined the cult out of ignorance. Another, believed to be the armourer, said he kept guns for a cult without knowing the bag with him contained the weapons. Governor Adams Oshiomhole, worried over the activities of the cultists, last week, summoned an emergency security meeting and charged security operatives to fish cultists in the state, among other criminals out.

Adebanjo described the killings linked to two cults as unacceptable and vowed that the police would deal with the situation.

According to him, “We are not relaxing. We are in search of the cult leaders behind this, some persons have been arrested while some are on the run. The killings will stop because our members are all alert now. I can assure you that anybody arrested will be dealt with. All security agencies in the state are concerned, the governor is equally concerned, residents of the state are concerned, so we will go all the way to stop this madness. It is very sad that people no longer value human lives”. The Edo CP, who paraded the 36 persons allegedly involved in kidnapping, armed robbery and cultism in the state, including the cult leaders allegedly involved in killings, said they were arrested with cache of arms, including AK47 rifle, two AK 47 rifle magazines, twenty three rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, two horse magnum pump action guns, one English made cut to size double barrel gun and one hundred and seven live cartridges.

Adebanjo reiterated his call to cultists and other criminally-minded people to leave the state or be “crushed”, just as he solicited the cooperation of the public in giving useful information to the police. While hailing the ban on Okada in the state, the CP lamented that about 90 per cent of crimes committed in Edo were carried out on motorcycle. He explained that suspects were arrested in different parts of the state, saying that the suspected kidnappers amongst them were involved in the kidnapping.of some white men and members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers and were arrested in their hideouts.

His words: “I remember that when I resumed duties here, I warned criminals to relocate or repent. Those who tried to disobey the order are some of the people you are seeing here now.

kidnapper but the person whose vehicle I was driving is a kidnapper, his name is Shakira. I was somewhere when they (police) came and asked who owned the vehicle and I said it was me.

That was how the police brought me here. There was a day they took me to one community; I did not know that they were in possession of guns. The man bought a car for me to drive. They kidnapped a white man; later they gave me N550,000. Shakira and others told me to stay along Akure Road by Legbeka Road and watch any vehicle carrying a white man, that I should call them as soon as I see the white man. So when I saw one Jeep carrying a white man, I called to tell him. They now said I should go back to Benin. A few days later, they gave me N550,000".

I am a member of Eiye Confraternity. I bought a gun due to community crisis but I didn’t use it to do evil. I joined the cult due to ignorance and I am regretting it

,

armed robbers, we are fully prepared for them.

Some of the suspects arrested confessed to Sunday Vanguard in separate interviews.

Enoma (alleged driver of a gang of kidnappers) “My name is Enoma. I am not a

Jolly Ighodaro (suspected armourer) My friend kept a bag in my house but I did not know what was inside.

I did not know it was guns, otherwise, I would have not accepted it. I am a furniture maker.

I did not check the bag because he is my friend. I did not receive any money from them.

Curtis Osifo I am a member of Eiye Confraternity. I bought a gun due to community crisis but I didn’t use it to do evil. I joined the cult due to ignorance and I am regretting it. It was my friends that led me to this.

I was not really involved in gun running or kidnapping”.

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 33

''A clear and present danger! Prelude to 2015?''

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

An appeal to Gov Fashola on Arowojobe canal/bridge Dear Sir,

M

AY I use this medium to draw the attention of the Lagos State Government to the Arowojobe canal/bridge which has been abandoned for sometime now.

As Lagos State is prone to heavy flooding during the rainy seasons, many people have started experiencing this ugly trend . Around the Arowojobe Maryland and Anthony areas, the reason for the flood is the broken down bridge at Arowojobe

which has caved in thereby blocking the flow of the carnal. As the canal gets filled and spill over to the neighbouring enviroment.

This issue has been brought to the attention of the government severally, but nothing has been done concerning it. About 5 years ago, the government came and fenced some part of the canal with wire nets. I'm yet to know what that has to do with repairing the canal and since then not much has been done, several articles have been written in the papers about this

problem and I remember watching a presenter on Channels Television stand on the Arowojobe bridge to draw the attention of government to the sorry state of the canal. Last year, I got some phone numbers to call on the Nation newspaper where we were supposed to complain concerning flooding in our area. I called the number relating to Kosofe Local Government Area and was told the contract for the canal has been awarded and the contractor was already on site for soil testing, that was last year, but we are yet to see the sign

A reminder to Foreign Affairs Ministry on the late Ogbonna Dear Sir,

T

HE family of the late Ogbonna wish to thank you immensely for your publication in Sunday Vanguard of 22 July, 2012. We deeply appreciate your unalloyed co-operation in publishing the interview which I granted your correspondent when I pleaded with your organisation to help my family, in view of the injustice meted by a foreign company and agent of the Malaysian government. In that interview, we were seeking justice over the death of my late father-Mr Felix Ogbonna.

In that publication, you did vividly capture the plight of the family over the death of our bread-winner arising from the challenges of shuttling between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Abuja) and Benin-City. You head-

lined that publication: “Injustice: a foreign firm is alleged to be frustrating a judgment - debt over a natural rubber contract with a Nigerian company that went sour. The principal of the Nigerian firm allegedly died in the course of the judgment debt recovery.

After the publication, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, contacted the family through their lawyer and, thereafter, some progress was made in an effort to recover the judgment debt.

The Ministry requested for some documents which included certified true copy of the judgment of the High Court. We had bright hope that due to your magnanimous intervention the judgment debt will be recovered.

However, for months, we did not hear again from the Ministry of Foreign Afairs or the Malaysian government.

As I had informed you during the

interview, it has been difficult for us to survive as there is no visible means of livelihood to sustain the family. The Nigerian government should be able to recover the judgment debt from the agent of the Malaysain government.

I am pleading with President Goodluck Jonathan to do something and put an end to this empty promise from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which they have been giving to the family of the late Felix Ogbonna since the judgment was delivered in 2001 by the court.

Thank you for your co-operation and may the Almighty God bless you.

Mr . Ifeanyi Ogbonna 212, Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City, Edo State.

of any contractor. This, therefore, is an appeal to the state government to fix this canal bridge if the state is really serious about the issue of flood prevention. Eko o ni baje o.

Olaolu Adebayo Anthony Village, Lagos.

The Fathers' Day message from Prof. Ilochi Okafor Please, kindly publish this Fathers Day message from Prof. Ilochi Okafor (SAN) which was read to us by our Chaplain on Sunday 16th June, 2013 being the Fathers Day in the Anglican Communion.

The message which eloquently highlights the vices that have become the norm and the bane of our society, reads thus:“This generation of fathers – the audacity of our corruption, the impunity of our greed, the emptiness of our leadership, the callousness of our money, the excessiveness of our materialism, the shamelessness of our vices, the hypocrisy of our religion, the vacuum in our character, our distance from integrity : oh yes, the godoms and somorahs of our times.

What remains!!

Ifeka Okonkwo Plot 44, Ahocol Housing Estate, Phase II, G.R.A Awka.

PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013

BATTLE AGAINST POVERTY

Nigeria needs radical political economy–Prof. Ekpo

BY UDEME CLEMENT Akpan H. Ekpo, a professor of economics and former Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo, is Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management.

He speaks, in this interview, on promoting inclusive development in Nigeria , issues of policy reforms and expectation, the nationwide extension of cashless economy, the move by the CBN to recapitalise mortgage banks, the regional course on management development and measures to address increasing rate of poverty in the country.

I

S the move by CBN to recapitalise mortgage banks to a minimum paid-up capital of N5 billion good for a growing economy like Nigeria?

Recapitalising the mortgage financial institutions is a step in the right direction. This will enable the institutions, all things being equal, to have enough funds to carry out proper mortgage activities. A situation where banks say they are in the mortgage business and yet potential borrowers are given between 5-10years to pay-off loans is not the best practice. I am sure that recapitalisation will follow strict guidelines from the regulatory authority. For example, the exercise, when effectively done, will streamline the operations of mortgage bank to focus also on real estate construction finance, acceptance of savings and time/term deposits to acceptance of mortgagefocused demand deposits to enhance growth in the housing sub-sector.

Considering the state of infrastructure in the country, do you think extension of cashless economy to other states will yield the desired result?

The extension of the cashless

policy to other states other than Lagos by the CBN is in the right direction. I am sure the apex bank has learnt from the experience in the places where the exercise started. I hope the infrastructures are in place. My advice is that only major towns with evidence of large formal activities should benefit from a test of the cashless policy. More time, awareness and the availability of the needed equipment as well as constant power supply are required before the policy should be experimented in most of rural areas in Nigeria.

What is the major objective of your recent programme on regional course on management development for senior executive across West African sub-region?

The senior executives play a vital role in organisational development and the economy at large. Their responsibilities range from resources management and technical delivery to facilitation of change and innovation. The course was designed to develop strategic management tools to enhance workforce and organisational performance.

Training provides common understanding on the latest techniques for creating innovative and high performance management systems. It enables managers to achieve maximum output from their available human and financial resources.

You delivered a paper recently as the guest lecturer on promoting inclusive development in Nigeria , at the distinguished public lecture series organised by Department of Economics, University of Lagos . What measures will you advise President Goodluck Jonathan to adopt in order to reposition the country for rapid economic development?

The Nigerian development calculus portrays an economy full of potentials, which can leap-frog into sustained growth and development if the

,

Prof. Akpan Ekpo....Dependence on revenues from commodity exports for economic development is not sustainable in the long-term

available human and material resources are optimised for the benefit of the citizens. The present economies of the newly industrialised countries of Singapore , Malaysia , Indonesia and Taiwan were in the 1980s at the same level of development as Nigeria .In fact, in some of the macroeconomic fundamentals such as the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its per capita measure, Nigeria surpassed some of the Asian countries in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Despite the efforts by successive governments in Nigeria to transform the economy and ensure improved living standards for majority of its citizens, the economy remains backward.

President Goodluck Jonathan has put in place a Transformation Agenda derived partially from the Vision 20:2020 with the main objective of laying the foundation for a ‘ new ’ economy that will be on a path of sustained growth and development.

The Transformation Agenda intends to address the challenges of both hard and soft infrastructural development in the country, various policies, programmes and strategies have been articulated by the present

system, massive corruption and security challenges. The provision of basic needs to majority of Nigerians remains a tall order. Consequently, the vast majority of Nigerians have been excluded from the development net and this has been the scenario since 1960 despite the revenues derived from the agricultural boom of the 1960s, the windfall from oil in the 1970s, 1980s and late 2000 as well as the financial boom of the 1990s. It is not healthy to plan an economy in the long-term on exogenous sources of revenue whose prices and output the exporter has no control. Dependence on revenues from commodity exports for economic development is not sustainable in the long-term.

How can Nigeria ’s economy be repositioned on the framework of structural transformation?

In early 2005, a group of economists, mainly from the Bretton Woods Institutions introduced the concept of Inclusive Growth (IG) to replace the erstwhile notion of Growth and Development (GD). Why was this necessary?

Does IG connote economic development? In the period of global economic crisis, most economies experienced robust growth without the dividends

The real challenge facing development is to formulate strategies for poverty reduction. This challenge lies in the interactions between distribution and growth and not in the link between poverty and growth on one hand and poverty and inequality on the other

government.

While the president understanding by Nigerians for his transformation agenda to bear fruits given the lag structure of most of the elements of the agenda, Nigerians are in a hurry to ‘benefit’ from the fruits of economic development.

Nigerians cannot be blamed for being expectant because they have waited for too long and, as Keynes asserted: “In the long run, we are all dead.”

Is the economy on track in terms of developmental strategies?

Implementation of the Transformation Agenda does not preclude the fact that the economy today is characterised by rising rate of unemployment particularly among the youths, decayed public school at all levels, lack of quality public health

,

of development such as structural transformation, poverty reduction, narrowing income inequality and other positive social changes. This scenario occurred during periods of sustained adherence to the market as the mechanism for allocating resources, rather than addressing the fundamental problems such as the structural rigidities in African economies.

An examination of IG concept shows that it is an attempt to run away from the need to accelerate economic development through deliberate policy interventions so as to move millions of humanity out of poverty.

Nigeria needs radical political economy framework consistent with the methodology of orthodox/ conventional economic

analysis but which also goes further to investigate the social and political variables that may influence inclusive development.

The real challenge facing development is to formulate strategies for poverty reduction. This challenge lies in the interactions between distribution and growth and not in the link between poverty and growth on one hand and poverty and inequality on the other.

The growth of the economy during the period 1980 – 1999 was sluggish, lending rates were double-digits except in 1985 when it was 9.5 percent.

During the period 1980, real interest rates were negative for the most part signaling some inconsistency between savings and investments as well as excess liquidity in the system.

From 2000 – 2011, there was evidence of an attempt to better manage the economy; inflation rate, though double-digit, was within the accepted threshold for Nigeria, though the economy grew by almost 7 percent, unemployment was consistently high from 13.1 percent in 2010 to 23.9 percent in 2011. The high rate of unemployment resulted in output loss indicating that the economy produced below its potential output.

Can you give us statistical analysis of the financial indicators?

The financial indicators showed that the growth of net credit to the economy dropped from 59.2 percent in 2009 to 10 percent in 2010, the credit to the private sector grew by almost 27 percent in 2009 but plummeted to -4.1 percent in 2010 and grew exponentially at the rate of 31.6 percent in 2011. The credit to the private sector as a share of GDP indicates increasing trend while credit to the core private sector/GDP shows a downward trend between 2010 and 2011.

The net credit to government for the period 2009 – 2011 was quite high which could result in fiscal risk.

The employment and poverty situation in the country show that, in 2006, out of a population of 140.4 million, 78.9 million were economically active; from this active population, the labour force was about 58 million and 50.3 million were employed while 7.1 million were unemployed.

The absorption from the labour force remains marginal from 2008–2011. Another disturbing trend is that, in 2011, unemployment rate for ages 15-24, 25-44 and 45-59 was 37.7 per cent 22.4 per cent and 18.0 per cent respectfully.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 35

$32 BILLION JAPANESE GRANT

Nigerian mining sector can benefit– Ekosin

BY EMMA UJAH & EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

Y

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that comes up once every five years and this is the fifth edition and the twentieth year. The conference was well attended. We had about 51 governments from African nations represented and Presidents from Africa were about 10 physically present.

The Vice President represented the Nigerian President and led the team that attended the TICAD conference.

The Japanese government is very interested in minerals from the Africa continent. They are looking at the continent as the nucleus that will sustain the world in terms of natural resources. From their findings, they believe that Africa holds the key to raw material in the world, and, as such, two major countries were very prominent in their discussion with the Japanese government: South Africa because of the zirconium product they have and then the Congo because of cobalt.

The unfortunate part of it is that the Nigerian mineral products are not well known to the Japanese. And because they

,

THAT Nigeria is highly endowed with a large volume of solid minerals is no news.

However, the sector has not made significant contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product owing to a variety of factors. In this interview, Mr. Sunday Ekosin, who has been in the mining business for over 20 years, explains what is wrong with the sector; how to remedy the problems; and how Nigeria can benefit from the $32 billion Japanese African Development Fund Excerpts: OU have been advocating for a Presidential Standing Committee on Mining to be set up. What does this mean to the Nigerian economy?

Like we have been advocating, mining is central to national development. When you talk about industrialization, economic growth, mining is central. It is a catalyst that affects other sectors of the economy. It is like a spiral that spreads to agriculture, telecommunication and to i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n .

All sectors of the economy one way or the other is affected by mining. But the unfortunate thing is that after decades of mining operations in Nigeria, the Nigerian mining industry is still at the scratching level, without mechanised operations.

The reason for this is not far-fetched. A country that is standing on one- legged economy basically, standing on monoeconomy of oil and gas, there is no way it can survive under such situation. We must look at other sectors of the economy, if we must have a sustainable growth.

Unfortunately, the situation in Nigeria is such that attention is so much focused on oil and gas to the detriment of other sectors of the economy. But thank God that this government recently started to come up with good policies and advocacy for the sector. To a great extent, they seem to be making some impact.

Like we all know, before the discovery of oil, it has always been agriculture and mining. And so, if you are taking agriculture, it must go together with mining. But without political will to pay attention and focus on the development of mining, the sector, for a long time to come, will be in the doldrums.

When you say mining is central, how do you mean?

Organic fertilizer, for example, is got from limestone, which is industrial mineral.

So, you produce this from mining. If you talk about metallic minerals, the raw materials used in cell phones and televisions and other electronic gadgets are got from ore and niobium. It is so central and you can’t talk about industrialization without looking at iron ore for road construction, fabrication of machines and machineries. As it now, Nigeria is more or less a dumping ground, where all manners of imports come in, whereas, from mineral products, we could produce most of these things imported for consumption by industries in Nigeria.

You just returned from a summit in Japan for development of Africa. How can the Nigerian mining sector benefit from the Japanese grant?

I was in at theTokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD. It is a programme that started in 1993 by the Japanese government. It was an initiative to forge a collaborative partnership between Japan and the people of the African continent. It is a programme

which we are currently doing, we must go to the next level of small scale and medium scale operation. We need a special intervention and this is where the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, comes in. The collaboration with the private sector is invaluable.

Since you have the raw materials buried in the ground and you have the market, why don’t you collaborate with Japanese investors by way of equity investment, so that you can make these raw materials available to them?

That is where the missing link comes in.

The way you lay your bed, that is the way you will lie on it. Charity they say begins at home. When somebody has got resources and is unable to harness the resources and to produce a meaningful quantity that is visible to whoever the investor would be, nobody would believe him.

We must do something that will boost the confidence of foreign investors to bring in their money and technological knowhow to be able to add value and produce the quantity that will meet their requirement.

That is why I said the NEPC must come in.

The NEPC is so critical. The Export Promotion Council of Ghana went to TICAD with 40 of their people, I mean the private sector and non-governmental agencies, took them there, paid everything on their behalf because they understand that the private sector is the driver of everything. The government’s duty is to create a conducive environment, formulate the policy while the private sector drives the economy. In our own case, we (miners) were 10 percent of the people that went from Ghana, not minding that we are the largest population on the African continent. We were four private operators that went from Nigeria with God knows how many that represented the Nigerian

The eyes of the developed nations are on African nations for their raw materials requirement. And if we miss it now, we have missed it forever

are not well known, the information available to them as investors is so skeletal. Statistics by the Japanese government showed they identified that Africa accounts for 89 percent of the world total reserves of platinum, 60 percent of diamond, 53 percent of cobalt, 37 percent of zirconium and 35 percent of chrome.

When we look at the enthusiasm of the Japanese government, we found out that these people are not interested in container- load or shipment of any raw material from Africa. About two of the companies that had discussions with us were more interested in large volumes that the capital outlay will be in the region of at least two million dollars. I can tell you that among all the indigenous miners in Nigeria, none has that capacity. Even when we have the natural resources available, we do not have the financial capacity and infrastructural capacity, including the equipment to meet that demand.

We now see a very great gap between us, the Nigerian miners and the Japanese endusers. By and large, I came to a summation that that if we must move from the current level of scratching the earth to beat poverty,

,

government in the TICAD. And this is where the missing link is and I ask some of the officials of the NEPC, why is it that you were not able to carry your exporters to this programme? They said the problem is that they are poorly funded.

NEPC should be properly funded to be able to promote and carry out its mandate of promoting exportable products of Nigerian origin to the international world.

Don’t the exporters have the capacity to attend such important summits on their own bill?

These are functions of information. These are also functions of a conducive environment. Where these two are missing, there is nothing anybody can do. The information must be available to you and the agency to promote the exporters. They are mandated by law establishing NEPC to add value and fund the exporters. If mining is to be properly developed in Nigeria for local consumption and for export, then the Federal Government must properly fund the NEPC. What would you say made the Ghanaian delegation to TICAD different from that of Nigeria?

The issue of patriotism and nationality has been at the public domain over a period of years. When you say you are representing your country and you go to such an event and you are representing yourself instead of your country, to me, that is lack of patriotism and nationality.

The whole issue to me is very painful. But, I think that whoever it is, no matter how highly placed you are, for the fact that you come from a nation called Nigeria, and you go out there with tax payers money, the number one thing in your mind should be the nation that brought you to that place.

You said that Nigerian mining products are not known to Japanese investors.

Why? The fact is that the products leave Nigeria without value added. Most of the time, they end up in China or India, where they will now do some upgrade. But Japanese, because of the advanced nature of the country, they want value added products. They are so concerned about environmental factors and other effects that result from mining, which developing countries can condone, which they can’t condone. And because of their land mass, all they require is value- added products and the interesting thing in dealing with the Japanese is that, they are very straightforward and have human face unlike the Chinese and the Indians. I have always made my position known that they – Chinese and Indians - are not investors.

They are more like ravenous wolves. They are just ravaging our landscape. What they do is to cart away as much as possible the resources until the sector becomes sanitised. That is why we are advocating to the President that he must of urgency and necessity set up a Presidential Standing Committee to drive and to harness the enormous wealth that we have in mining.

The earlier this is done, the better. The eyes of the developed nations are on African nations for their raw materials requirement. And if we miss it now, we have missed it forever. Our children will be the ones to pay for it and at the end of the day they will curse every one of us for not setting the standards that would enable them develop the God- given wealth in years to come.

There is a ministry of solid minerals.

Why can’t the ministry make sure that those who are in the mining sector play according to internationally acceptable standards?

A situation whereby there is no synergy between the public and the private sector, what do you expect? A situation where major stakeholders are excluded from the scheme of things because they are vocal, because they are talking about things that need to be put right in order for the sector to be developed.. This why we say, possibly, the ministry that has been in existence since 1995 might have run out ideas and, if that is the case, the President needs to step in.

And that is why he is the Commander-inChief. He has to step in as a commander and straighten out whatever is wrong in the sector and ensure that the sector contributes generously to the economic development of Nigeria. The intervention of the President in the sports sector is very interesting because he passionately intervened and we are now seeing the dividends coming out. In fact, we are not saying that the standing committee should be for the boys. It should be men and women, who are patriots; there should be no salary paid to them. He should make the committee act decisively and correct the things that need to be corrected in the sector. What is needed is just the platform, forget about the money. With time, from the operations of the committee, money will come. $32 billion from Japan as a grant to African, 10 percent of that will take us far. If we have $3.1 billion in Nigeria and you give $1 billion to mining sector, I can tell you that Nigeria will be on the world map of mining. We will turn the entire economy of the nation around for the better.

PAGE 36—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013

ONE YEAR AFTER:

Dangote and the stock market upward swing

I

NVESTORS and other stakeholders could not have had a better yield than they are presently enjoying in the stock market, following the return to the full grip of the bulls on the market from the bearish era after a long spell of lull.

Many investors lost hope following the global financial meltdown which ravaged economies across the world in 2008, and Nigeria not immune, as the downturn wiped off almost 70 per cent of the value of the market. Since then, the market has been struggling to recover.

However, investors began to have hopes rekindled when the market began to bounce back. In the second half of 2012, the market recorded a record growth of 34.5 per cent. The market began the upward swing precisely after the President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Aliko Dangote, resumed office on June 19, 2012 after an interregnum.

Dangote, a former Vice President of the Exchange, had been elected the President.

He had barely assumed office when his election became a subject of judicial dispute. He was however returned to the office after 22 months following the ruling of the Court of Appeal. His resumption, stakeholders claimed, opened a new vista in the life of the market which hitherto had been comatose.

Prior to his assumption of duties, the implementation of government policy on fuel subsidy in January of 2012 had stalled economic activities at the beginning of the first quarter, the result of which was felt in the capital market through the first half of the year.

However, there was more excitement in the second half of the year with steady growth across most sectors, and the inclusion of selected government bonds in the JP Morgan Government Bond IndexEmerging Markets (GBI-EM).

Consequently, international institutional investors flocked to the bond market, while local institutional investor” appetite for equities was reawakened.

After a superlative growth of 74.7 per cent in 2007, the market dipped by 45.7 per cent in 2008, 33.7 per cent in 2009. It recovered by 18.9 per cent 2010 before falling again by 16.3 per cent in 2011.

Towards the end of 2012, the market growth, measured by the NSE. All-Share Index (ASI) was already over 33 per cent.

The President of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Ariyo Olushekun, assured that there was no likelihood of any major negative development in the market that could reverse this performance and make the market to close negatively in the year.

Given the efforts of regulators aimed at repositioning the entire financial system and the capital market in particular, market analysts were optimistic that a positive growth would be recorded this year; however, they never expected the magnitude of growth that was about to manifest. In the beginning of 2012, analysts from three leading investment banking firms, FSDH Securities Limited, Meristem Securities Limited (MSL) and FBN Capital Limited, projected a growth of below 15 per cent for the year.

For instance, analysts at FSDH Securities Limited projected that the market would close at 13.3 per cent. Those at MSL envisaged 13.5 per cent while FBN Capital Limited projected a growth of 14 per cent. In projecting the robust outlook for 2012, analyst at MSL said their bullish sentiments were driven by expected

,

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

Market analysts and operators said the leadership of Dangote has created harmony in the Council and good atmosphere for the management of the Exchange to implement strategies which have taken the market to the new levels

,

performance of the financial service (majorly banks) sector of the market among others. Meanwhile, as at last week, the quantum leap in the performance of the market was beyond their expectation.

Most investors and other stakeholders are of the view that the business acumen, good leadership qualities and international contacts of the Exchange President combined have impacted positively on the stock market which grew by 77 per cent in capitalization within one year of his return to NSE. In the last one year, capitalization of the NSE has soared by N5.202 trillion, while the Exchange, All-Share Index rose by 76 per cent. Specifically, the market capitalization rose from N6.712 trillion to N11.914 trillion by the close of trading on Monday. In the same vein, the ASI grew from 21,028.39 to close at 37,085.11 Market analysts and operators said the leadership of Dangote has created harmony in the Council and good atmosphere for the management of the Exchange to implement strategies which have taken the market to the new levels.

Dangote had last year, promised to support the management and work with all

*Aliko Dangote council members to ensure restoration of investors confidence.

He, pledged that during his tenure as NSE president, he would be guided by five key elements: Transparency and improved governance of the market; improving the liquidity, turn-over and size of the market; enhancing market efficiency by ensuring clearer and updated rules, processes and procedures; provision of world-class infrastructure and technology for our market and massive capacity building and rapid skill enhancement of the staff of the stock exchange and investor education.

He promised not only to turn around the market but also to ensure it becomes the leading light in Africa.

The NSE President said: “We are one of the best in the sub-Sahara Africa. In fact we are number three in Africa but we are targeting to be number one and we will soon get there.”

Analysts said the NSE has made progress in achieving some of these milestones. The Exchange has improved disclosure and governance level in the market, introduced market making, retail bond trading and raised the level of investor education.

Commenting on the performance of the market under Dangote, the Chief Executive Officer of Lambert Trust and Investment Company Limited, Mr. David Adonri, said the NSE has undergone transformation

from a mono-product capital market to that with multiple products offering.

“Dangote has successfully restored a firm order to affairs of the NSE within the past one year. The Board room crisis that he inherited from the previous Council has become a thing of the past. The NSE is once more poised to taking its rightful position in the process of capital formation for the Nigerian economy,” Adonri said.

Another broker and Chief Executive Officer of Investment Centre Limited, Mr. Ifeanyi Odunwa, said the market has done exceedingly well in terms of restoration of investor confidence, quantum positive leap in market indices and return of local investors back to the market in the past one year under.

“The market that defiled various corrective policies put in place since the meltdown years suddenly started responding positively on a sustained basis since his return as the NSE President.

Dangote’s personifies investment, hardwork, integrity, resilience, humility, the Nigerian can-do spirit, goodwill, transparency, trust and confidence which are necessary ingredients that positively drive a stock market”, Odunwa said.

“It is not a surprise that his experience, charisma and global contacts were brought to bear on the market coupled with the professionalism and hard work of the NSE management led by Oscar Onyema that ensured the implementation of worldclass policies and best practices which finally turned the market around”.Chairman of Lagos State Pension Commission, Tunde Dabiri said he was not surprised at the exploits of Dangote’s leadership at the Exchange because of his ability, doggedness and antecedent. “I am not surprised at the extent of his success in the last one year at the Exchange. He is a well-focused business man and he knows what he wants at any particular time”, Dabiri stated.“His presidency is beneficial and don’t forget that he has a stake and he has to make sure the system works and improves. I wish him all the best as he continues to be a major driver of manufacturing in Nigeria. We can only encourage him to do more.”

Resort Savings and Loans floats N3.5bn hybrid offer

BY PEACE ONYEUKWU

R

ESORT Savings and Loans (RSL) Plc has offered for subscription N3.5 billion ordinary shares from the stock market through a combination of Rights and Public offerings.

The bank is expected to raise N3,500,000,000 via the issuance of 6,936,795,637 new shares made up of Initial Public Offer for subscription of 3,160,218,169 Ordinary Shares and Right Issue of 3,776,577,468 Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo each at N0.51kobo and N0.50kobo per share respectively.

Managing Director/Chief Executive, RSL, Mr. Abimbola Olayinka, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, saying about N3.5billion is expected to be raised at the end of the initial public offer of 3,160,218,169 ordinary shares of 50kobo each at N0.51kobo per share, which opened June 17, and will run till June 28.

Speaking on the opening of the hybrid at a forum held at the Muson Centre, Olayinka explained that the primary aim of the offer was to enable the bank meet the minimum capital requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria to enable it continue to operate as a national PMI. According to him, funds raised shall also be deployed towards the implementation of the bank’s strategic expansion plan,

upgrading of its ICT facility and also to meet its working capital requirements.

The net proceeds of N3.4billion after deducting the estimated cost of the offers of N110,005billion represented 3.14per cent of gross proceeds.

However, the MD explained that, out of the N3.4billion, about 3.69per cent of the proceeds, estimated at N125million, would be utilized for upgrading of ICT

infrastructures; 3.54per cent, estimated at N120million, for branch expansion; N400million at 11.80per cent for acquisition of head office building at Ikeja; 5.90per cent estimated at N200million for investments in mortgage refinancing company; mortgage creation takes 49.18per cent estimated at N1.7billion and 25.89per cent estimated at N878million for working capital.

Truck loaded with over 20,000 cartons of frozen products, worth over N98 million intercepted by the Oyo/Osun Customs Command recently

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 37

THE ARCHBISHOP MARGARET BENSON-IDAHOSA STORY

W

Beauty, virtue and a woman of God

hen last week an innocuous headline - AT 70, men still run after me - was published in this paper, the editors had thought they were doing God’s work by bringing out the qualities of a woman who has remained resolute and steadfast in the face of the tempting vicissitudes of life.

Of course there were many options open and there were two riders to the headline.

But in this business of interpretative journalism and the need to attract readership, the temptation to be responsibly sensational some times takes pride of place.

During the cause of the media chat with journalists, the Archbishop had dismissed the idea of re-marrying even while admitting that suitors who kept coming could not believe how beautiful she still looked even while aging call it aging with Grace.

This was the question that elicited the response: “You were relatively young when he passed on .What effect did it have on you?

Response: “My husband departed this world when I was 55 years old.

Today I am 70 years. God has helped me since my husband passed on; I have never lust after any man. I had my husband and enjoyed him. It is now time to focus on God’s

C M Y K

She has demonstrated that the work of God is the most important thing in her life; that is why she was never interested in those men who kept coming assignment than re-marrying. There have been men who wanted my hand in marriage, but I declined. Some would say, ‘Mama, you are looking good’. I always tell them, ‘thank you’, and that the way they see me has been through the backing of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that rejuvenates me. If you believe in the Holy Spirit, He will rejuvenate you.”

The context of her response was lost to many.

But even then, Sunday Vanguard still

got such responses regrading the headline, particularly the choice of photograph, a true representation of her present looks at 70.

“Here is a woman of virtue who is aging with Grace”.

“The Grace of God that has made this beautiful woman to look so young even at 70 is desirable”. “She has demonstrated that the work of God is the most important thing in her life that is why she was never interested in those men who kept coming”.

“That she could turn the men down is a sign that she has made her covenant with God”.

There were many more comments extolling her virtues and her courage as well as steadfastness in God Almighty.

However, concerns were also raised.

The concerns were hinged on the wrong assumption that the headline pre-supposed that she was flaunting her beauty as a woman of God or that she was proud that men were running after her or chasing her.

Perhaps, if the Archbishop had not been endowed with beauty, the immediate response to the headline in some quarters would have read like any of the following: “Who would run after a 70-year old woman”?

“What would any one do with a 70-

year old woman”?

But it is to the Glory of God that her endowment of beauty that only God gives, the photograph which was splashed on the front page, made her story all the more compelling.

Indeed, she would not be the first woman of God who would lose her husband.

But the strength of character, purpose and vision in the propagation of the work of God, which has kept her going in the face of her loss, should be commended and appreciated.

She looks so much younger! ‘A rare gem flying her husband’s flag even after his death’, that’s the description that best suits her.

Fifteen years after the death of Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Margaret Benson-Idahosa, the Archbishop of the Church of God International, has remained a symbol of grace and her strides have remained a proof of the power of faith. Archbishop Margaret Idahosa, who was in Lagos recently for her annual Christian Women Fellowship International-CWFI meeting with women, turns 70 on July 29.

Overall, the intention of the editors was never to portray her as less virtuous.

She was, by virtue of the publication, according to her aides, thrown in the public glare within a context that was less desired.

For this, we apologize.

- Editor

PAGE 38 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013,

he said, was always with him. For many in the family, his death was not a shock but it would be for those not close to his father, he pointed out. But one thing he admired about his father was his courage. The father, Ike said, did not allow his accident to affect his work.

The poet vs the emperor - There Was a Country furore On the controversy which There Was a Country generated, the son said it did not give his father any headache.

His father, he said, would write a book and said it was for the readers to deal with. “When he wrote something, he would push it out. He would not go back to it. The book will be on its own.

This was the case with The Trouble With Nigeria and when Awolowo died and the statement he made. He had just left the country. When he came back, after the burial, he wrote his comments.

And now his autobiography,” Ike said. His father had nothing personal against any of those named, he went on. “He was only pained that millions of children died because of the actions of some people. My father would say that it was the job of the writer (the poet) to give the emperor headache. It was not the job of the poet to dine with the emperor. My father called it the poet versus the emperor. The poet, according to my father, must constantly give the emperor headache, not to give prescriptions. My father said the leadership must end the carnage and bloodshed in the country, that those who led the Biafran killings must be made accountable. And there are models all over the world on how this can be done”.

REMINISCENCES Chinua Achebe had nothing personal against Awolowo, others — Ike, son Links father’s death to accident The Soyinka, J.P. Clark absence at burial t was a big shock to many when the news came that renowned novelist and ceberated author of Things Fall Apart, Prof. Chinua Achebe, was dead. This was so as the controversy generated by his autobiography, ‘There Was a Country’, was still fresh. The book had narrated Achebe’s experience in the Biafran war, accusing some principal actors of genocide against Igbo people.

Then, last December, Achebe was at his colloquium which hosted Lagos State governor, Mr. Raji Fashola, as keynote speaker. There was no hint that Achebe was ill. In fact, many of his admirers were waiting for him to respond to reactions triggered by claims in ‘There Was a Country’ . So when it was announced that the famous writer had passed on, tongues started wagging that, perhaps, the book’s controversy played a role.

Theories about the cause of his death were many considering the fact no information indicated he was sick.

Achebe was writing, lecturing, holding conferences, giving speeches, writing press statements, giving interviews.

He was active, even after the 1990

accident that paralyzed him from waist down, and at 82.

But a chance meeting with Achebe’s first son, Ike, days after his father ’s burial, explained the cause of his father’s death. Ike linked his father ’s death to the car accident he had in 1990 - 23 years ago. Achebe was rushing to Enugu to catch a flight to Lagos when he had an accident near Awka Anambra State. The car somersaulted and fell on top of Achebe, causing him serious injuries. This was months after the University of Nigeria, th Nsukka hosted an international 60 birthday conference in his honour.

Prof. Edith Ihekweazu, convener of the confab, also died the same year in an auto crash on her way back to Nsukka. It was a shocking experience to literary observers following the two accidents.

While Edith, a German married to a Nigerian, died in her accident, doctors gave Achebe no chance of survival. When he eventually survived, doctors now said his days were numbered. All these happened when he had no grand children. “But Achebe lived 23 more years”, Ike said.

In between the years, the celebrated author had about six grand children.

,

I

By UDUMA KALU

Igbo culture, Christianity in Achebe’s burial

My father would say that it was the job of the writer (the poet) to give the emperor headache. It was not the job of the poet to dine with the emperor. My father called it the poet versus the emperor

,

He published several books, he kept working even till he died this year.

The son said Achebe’s was a very private family man, and so many people outside the family did not know the extent the accident affected his father’s health. Even though he was treated after the accident, Ike said his father had internal injuries which kept bringing problems, coupled with the fact that he was paralyzed. The family,

Ike said there was no controversy as reported concerning Ogidi customs and the burial of Achebe. He said his father was a Christian. Though he was not regular in the Church, his father always prayed before any meal. His father was strictly a Christian under a catechist father. Achebe, he went on, was very receptive of Christianity until he went to the university and began to question certain things. “If a thorough reading of Things Fall Apart was done, it would be seen that the rhythm and language of the Bible had a great influence on him and it shows in the novel. My father said Africans should not throw away their own culture as there was so much in it. The new religion, telling the people the evils in their own religion without telling them the evils in its own, my father believed, should be viewed with suspicion. Many people thought because my father wrote movingly about African culture, he would be buried in the Omenana (cultural) way.

My father respected the ancestors, no doubt. The ancestors, my father said, gave the new generation everything, including language, dresses, proverbs, houses, medicine, sports. So, Africans

Continues on page 39

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, —PAGE 39

*Prof. J.P. Clark

*Prof. Wole Soyinka

‘Chinua Achebe had nothing personal against Awolowo, others’

,

Continued from page 38 should not throw their culture away.

Yes, it had its bad sides too, like killing of twins, killing of Ikemefuna and maltreatment of women. But that was not enough reason to throw away the culture”, Ike said about his father whom he constantly called Ugo n’abo- two eagles, Achebe’s title. In Igbo, it is said that it is difficult to see one eagle, let alone two at the same time. That was Achebe’s title- two eagles that appeared at once. Achebe was a titled chief of Ogidi.

However, it will be difficult to say Achebe had a purely Christian burial because he also had an Igbo cultural burial. While the Church had its burial own beamed to the world, the Ogidi cultural burial, though announced in the burial programmes, was not publicised as the Christian’s. But this is the most significant part of the burial.

While the Church said Achebe was going to heaven, the Igbo cultural burial was to ensure that the writer took his rightful place among his ancestors.

“There is nothing mysterious about how my father lived”, Ike said. “Many people wanted to see Omenala (culture) everywhere. But that wasn’t his whole life story. His life story was more complex than that. He grew up on the Bible. If the language of Things Fall Apart is studied, you will see that those rhythms are Biblical in the way the sentences are constructed—the clarity. I think that’s important. That was how my grand father trained him.

The rhythms— the short sentences. I also know that he was a family man.

He was not a regular Church goer. But he used to go to Church, of course. He

The conspicuous absence of two of Nigeria’s literary giants, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and notable poet and playwright John Pepper Clark, sent literary and other social groups abuzz

,

would not eat without praying. And in Jesus’ name. It was important to him that Africans don’t lose their way wholeheartedly. Because some of the consequences of that type of behaviour is self-denigration, losing confidence.

He was comfortable with the English language and with the Igbo language, as well as praying before his food and honouring his ancestors. Honouring them through his writing, or just honouring them because of their contributions. As a matter of fact, everything we have in Igbo culture came from the ancestors. There is nothing you and I added … We tried but we created little. There is nothing you and I have done that we did not inherit from the ancestors. Language, roots and leaves, palm wine, how to traditionally build a house, they taught us...everything. So, let’s not forget that. So, these are things he was

saying. And you have to balance. He won’t do that for you. He will also tell you that education was important.

Western education, but don’t go and read all the books in western canon as though... because that’s what he was doing until he realised that, ‘these people are denigrating me”.

Ike said titled Igbo men used to be buried in the night. But that was ancient Igbo and for those who largely practised Omenana (culture), unlike his father who had a Christian background. Even, he said, there was the Ikwa ozu”, Igbo traditional burial which took place immediately after his father ’s interment, on 24 and 25 May. Among the Igbo, it is believed that without the “Ikwa ozu”, which means “celebrating the dead”, Achebe would have been forbidden from taking his rightful place among his ancestors. It is believed that no matter how accomplished he was in life, the literary icon would not be accorded an iota of respect in the next world. There was therefore a harmony between the two cultures.

Clark, Soyinka boycotting of burial The conspicuous absence of two of Nigeria’s literary giants, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and notable poet and playwright John Pepper Clark, sent literary and other social groups abuzz. Was it a boycott? Were they not invited by the Achebe transition committee? Did the duo just ignore the funeral?

Even Culture Minister Edem Duke was not there. He neither sent a word nor a representative to the ceremonies as Soyinka and Clark, some writers

who are members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) noted.

The anxiety among writers and others was amplified by the fact that moments after the literary giant died, the duo of Soyinka and Clark released a press statement, about their quartet: Christopher Okigbo, who died in the Biafra war, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and John Pepper Clark.

Later, in an interview, days to Achebe’s burial, Soyinka explained the statement, that “... JP and I were however paying a tribute to a colleague within a rather ‘closed circle of interaction’, which these others •ProfessorofHayward Mafuyai (Mabel Segun, Flora Nwapa, Cyprian Ekwensi, etc] were not members”.

With this sort of a statement, the duo’s absence raised a lot of questions.

Some people asked whether the duo were invited. But some writers said formal or no formal invitation, comrades’ commitment to one another cannot be tampered by mere courtesy.

Reports said Clark was invited by the committee to write a tribute for Achebe at the Monday symposium in Abuja.

But the poet was quoted as saying the invitation came 72 hours to the event and so he could not write it. Clark did not reply to a text sent to him by Sunday Vanguard on the claim.

On Soyinka, while a member of the committee said the Nobel Laureate was not invited and he could not explain whether it was done informally, Chairman of the committee, Prof.

Uzodinma Nwala said the Nobel Laureate was invited. Nwala, who spoke on phone, added that Soyinka was invited formally and informally. In fact, Ike, Achebe’s son, reportedly, first called him on that. Nwala followed suit, and sent him a mail inviting him to the funeral.

But Soyinka did not attend. In fact, days to the week-long funeral, Soyinka gave an interview which some people saw in bad taste, among which was that Achebe should not have written There Was a Country, and that he was not the father of African literature, a tag even Achebe shrugged off.

However, a source close to the transition committee said Soyinka’s absence was not a surprise as both were not friends. The source said the release about a quartet was a just a public relations stunt and that Achebe and Clark also were not close friends.

“Yes, there could be some invitations but that did not mean the trio were friends”. The source wondered why people thought Soyinka and Achebe were friends, their being fellow writers, from same university and Biafran connection among others notwithstanding.

A writer and scholar, Prof. Obi Iwuanyanwu, who lives in US, said,” All these talks about a pioneer quartet is totally made up and a fiction of a hyperactive imagination. It doesn’t exist; it never existed. And in spite of all side shows, Achebe’s funeral has come and gone. Smaller masquerades always angle for a ray of sunshine when the big masquerade is at the village square. But literature is about eternal conversation, even when we have little to talk about. So, your question is valid. The speculations that follow it are likewise valid.”

PAGE 40 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

By FEMI FANI-KAYODE

I

N an article titled, ‘’On A False Premise - U.S. Looks To G8 Summit For Consensus Over Syria’’, American journalist Shawn Helton of the ’21st Century Wire’ wrote the following“Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Adviser to President Obama, declared Thursday that the Syrian army had used sarin gas on its own people. These claims have been unsubstantiated. Just one month ago, Carla Del Ponte, a member of the U.N. Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria concluded that it was the rebel forces inside Syria that had in fact used chemical weapons. The U.N.’s findings were supported by medical staff and victims after a recent chemical attack.

So why the sudden rush to judgment? Is the White House ‘’highly confident’’ of the chemical weapons narrative because it provides easier access into Syria and to its oil and gas reserves?’’ This is indeed the question of the century when it comes to the crisis in Syria.

The G8 met in Northern Ireland on 17 June, 2013 in an attempt to agree on what to do concerning the Syrian civil war.

The world is watching with deep concern as the conflict widens and different countries are beginning to take different sides.

I urge the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians and Hezbollah to stand firmly against the reckless adventurism of the Americans, the British, the French, the Saudis and the Turks in Syria.

To arm the Syrian Islamists and rebels, the majority of whom hate ethnic minorities, secularists, moderate Muslims and Christians and who kill those that do not share their narrow and primitive world view is utter madness. Bashir Al Assad will NEVER be removed by force and the secular state of Syria where ethnic minorities and those who share other faiths are protected will never fall. The British, the French, the Americans and their allies will not achieve their objectives in this conflict despite all their lies and disinformation about what Al Assad is supposed to have done and is supposed to be doing.

I do not believe for one minute that Al Assad has used chemical weapons against his own peoplerather I believe that it is the rebels, armed by the western powers, the Turks and the Saudis, that are doing so to those that are supporting Al Assad. For once, the world must not be fooled with lies and they must stand up against the traditional bullies of the world, those that believe in regime change and those that destabilise and destroy the nations of others for economic and pecuniary gain.

I do not blame Al Assad for the 90,000 people that have been killed in Syria since this conflict began but instead I blame the western powers, their allies and the Syrian rebels who are actually arming, encouraging and funding Al Qaeda Islamist fighters to lead the fight in the battle against Al Assad. How Barak Obama can stomach the stench of those that slit the throats of so-called ‘’unbelievers’’ and commit these C M Y K

*Islamists masquerading as freedom fighters?

Syrian Rebels or Syrian Beasts? atrocities and actually fund and support them I don’t know.

Yesterday it was Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Today it is Syria.

Tomorrow it will be Lebanon and Iran. After they have finished with the Middle East, they will take the battle to the gates of Russia and China. And of course one day it will be the Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia.

Their lust for power and determination to control the entire world is insatiable and it has no end. It is time for people to wake up and stop being taken in by their evil lies and disinformation which is being churned out on daily basis by the international news networks which they control. It is time for the world to wake up and say “enough is enough”. It is time for the truth to prevail.

Oh Lord Jesus, return soon and save this world from the evil of those that seek to rule it and wipe out your counsel in the name of the devil. These people are the natural enemies of all believers whether they are Christian, Jewish or Muslim. They do not believe in God. They believe in the power of the devil, the gods of the New Age, the usage of money, brute force, murder, disinformation, lies and deceit.

They are the agents of the Illuminati who seek to establish a one world government and a new world order where no monotheic religion and no faith has any relevance and where the Living God is relegated to the background and is described as a powerless relic of history.

It is the duty of every believer, whether Christian, Muslim or Jewish, to resist their evil and their desire to control and dominate the world and its resources. May God open the eyes of the people of the world to their evil, sheer callousness and greed. Satan works through them and he seeks to enslave us all by empowering and

enthroning them. They have all the power, all the armies, all the money, all the media houses, all the international television networks, all the satellite and space-based spying systems and all the sophisticated telecommunication networks.

They control virtually everything on earth. Yet we have God, who never sleeps and who has never lost a battle.

In the end, His counsel alone will stand, His will shall be done, His purpose shall be established and His name will be glorified.

Even if they kill half the world’s population in their evil quest, at the end of the day, the righteous shall be vindicated and the truth shall prevail because God is with us. I weep when I see the

support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras. Is it them you want to supply with weapons?’’. These are wise words indeed and a legitimate question. We should all take a little time out to ponder on them. Another interesting contribution came from the respected American war hero General Wesley Clark who was the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces in Europe during the Kosovo war. He said that America had drawn up plans to invade Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan and Iran as far back as 2001 just a few days after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on 9/

After they have finished with the Middle East, they will take the battle to the gates of Russia and China. And of course one day it will be the Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia innocents that are slaughtered on a daily basis in Syria. I cry when I see children being beheaded and blown apart and when I see the bodies of women being mutilated. I groan when I see deranged and callous men doing the will of America and destroying their own beautiful country and heritage for no just cause. I shudder when I see socalled rebels hacking their compatriots to pieces and eating their hearts and organs with joy.

Vladimir Putin’s words to David Cameron during their joint press conference at 10 Downing Street after a meeting on 16 June are instructive. He said, ‘’I think you will not deny that one does not really need to

11. It follows that what we are witnessing in Syria today is a script that was written many years ago and which is being executed with ruthless determination and clinical precision. No matter how long it takes and regardless of the cost in terms of loss of civilian lives and the shedding of innocent blood, those that believe that it is their manifest duty and destiny to rule and dominate the entire world are determined to carry out their sinister purpose and evil agenda and bring Syria down to her knees. This, surely, is not only a travesty of justice but it also a tragedy of monumental proportions.

Yet the American-made Shakespearean tragedies of the

Middle East just keep on unfolding. Let us go back a little.

According to George Galloway, the utterly irrepressible, exceptionally intelligent and deeply courageous British Member of Parliament for Bradford, no less than one million Iraqi people, mainly women and children, died as a direct consequence of the economic sanctions and the ‘’oil for food’’ programme that the west imposed on Iraq when Saddam Hussein was still in power. Yet it didn’t stop there.

When Iraq was eventually invaded and Baghdad was carpet-bombed by George W. Bush’s and Tony Blair ’s ‘’coalition of the willing’’ in 2003, no less than 150,000 Iraqi civilians, again mainly women and children, were slaughtered within the space of just a few days. What a terrible price that had to be paid for the sheer mess that we have in Iraq today where the minority Sunni Muslims are waging an all-out jihad against the majority Shia.

That is the kind of carnage, confusion and mayhem that America and her allies are spreading all over the Middle East and it appears that Syria is in the process of being consumed by it and of sparking off a major regional conflict which is brewing in many other countries.

This beleagured nation has been turned into a blood-soaked arena and a blood-drenched theater for a proxy war which is bound to spread to the neighbouring Arab countries.

What an utter shame.

Yet like David Icke, Naom Chomsky, Alex Jones, Norma G. Finkelstein and millions of other deep thinkers and great minds from all over the world, I stand by the Syrian people and the legitimate government of their sovereign and independent state at this difficult time. I believe that no matter what the agents of Satan say or do, God shall defend their noble cause and He shall vindicate them and deliver them from the evil that stalks the world and that seeks to take control of their land.

Permit me to end this contribution with some interesting questions that were put by Yele Odofin Bello, who is a Nigerian Canadian and who has captured the mood of the moment rather well. He wrote, ‘’Why would the west arm rebels in Syria against a recognised government whilst they did the exact opposite in Colombia and Sri Lanka? Who decides what is evil and what is not? And what yardstick do we use to make these determinations? Why should Iran stay on the sideline when the Saudis and other despotic Arab regimes support rebels in this conflict? I still maintain that objective journalism died in 2007. The BBC, CNN and other western media houses continue to claim that Al Assad has ‘killed over 92,000 of his own people’.

Does it mean that all those casualties were rebels and civilians?

Why is the western press so eager to marginalise the Syrian army by referring to them as ‘regime forces’ or ‘Assad forces’?’’ The answers to these pertinent and insightful questions are selfevident. *Fani-Kayode was Minister of Aviation

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013—PAGE 41

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

T

he FCT administration banned commercial buses called Araba from entering Abuja township, causing hardship to commuters as few luxury buses are deployed by government to the city roads. In this interview, National President of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), High Chief Musa Shehu, says the action will affect government in the 2015 elections. Excerpts: What is your reaction to the recent ban on commercial buses coming to town?

It is unfortunate; we forget that we are in democracy. Before the ban, the FCT Minister was supposed to have made sure there were sufficient vehicles on ground. You do not have enough luxury buses and you went ahead to ban the mini-buses. The FCT minister should remember this is democracy and have a rethink because the people including those who voted for his party to come on board are suffering.

What is your advice to your members in Abuja on the mini-bus ban?

I will advise them to be calm for now, we are on top of the situation, we don’t want crisis, we don’t want demonstration, we don’t want anybody to carry bottle and say ‘I want to die’. I am sure something tangible will come out from government because Bala, the FCT Minister, is not such a bad man, he is a politician. I am sure he will give us a listening ear.

What are your plans to ensure adequate security in the parks?

The park that suicide bombers attacked in Kano is a private park for luxury buses. I was based in Kano before I

‘The pains of Abuja without Araba’ *End of the road for mini-buses in the FCT

became the president, I was the chairman of RTEANin Kano State and the attack happened at the Eldorado Suleiman luxurious bus park. I think it was a mistake to hand over that park to people though they are transporters; the park is supposed to have police station. There is supposed to be a bomb detector and search conducted before passengers enter vehicles. As soon as the bus is full, they should ask everybody to come out and line up with their bags for checks because of the security situation in the country.

There is the need for thorough check before one enters the vehicle. I will also advise the drivers not to stop along the road to pick passengers. It is greed that is causing death because as you carry people on the road, you pick up people that were not screened. We will be serious by screening passengers before they enter vehicles.

Erecting police posts in motor parks In all the parks, we are call-

*Welcome metro taxis ing on the Inspector General of Police to direct police commissioners to make sure there are police outposts and members of the CIB to screen passengers before any vehicle moves. This will not only stop suicide bombers, it will stop robberies too.

It was alleged that some past leaders of your union embezzled your money.

The matter is already with the police. We set up a committee to look into allegations of fraud in the association, a former lead-

er started pleading that he was going to refund N10 million. But the amount we are talking about is N179 million. You cannot say because you don’t have money, that you are going to pay N10 million; bring at least N50 million, then we will enter into agreement on how you will pay the balance gradually. The matter has been referred to the police. I will push for the case to be investigated and he will return our money; if we have that kind of money, we can build our own secretariat.

What is your blue print?

If we recover this huge sum of money and it is deposited in a commercial bank, we can get a soft loan to give vehicles to our members for four or five years. That is taking care of the welfare of our members apart from building the secretariat.

How do you ensure the safety of passengers?

Passengers are our partners in progress. I am going to draw out a plan that is going to take care of the passengers.

If you are travelling and the vehicle breaks down, we make sure there is an alternative vehicle for you to get to your destination; not a situation whereby the driver leaves you and jumps into the bush. If you are a passenger and anything happens in the course of your trip, come to our office and report, we will help you in so far as you know the vehicle’s number.

We don’t want our children and pregnant women to die —Dame Fashola L

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

agos State First Lady, Dame Abimbola Fashola, has called on community leaders, traditional rulers and nongovernmental organization in Lagos to use their influence to sensitize residents, especially pregnant women and children, to the need to use primary healthcare centers in their locality in order to reduce maternal and child mortality in the state.

She made this call at the Lagos West II Senatorial District town hall meeting on maternal and child reduction programme at Awuwo Odofin Local government secretariat, noting that more people would use the services provided by the primary healthcare centers if community leaders as well as traditional monarchs would make public

announcement.

“To enable all targeted groups take advantage of these services, community leaders needs to be actively involved.

We don’t want our children and pregnant women to die young. I appeal to Lagosians to take advantage of this opportunity by ensuring that every member of the family, particularly children under five years of age and nursing mothers, are involved”, she added.

According to her, the town hall meeting is a way to fast track the achievement of the millennium goal in Nigeria using child mortality reduction as a measure. The 10 local government and local council development areas involved in the interactive town hall meeting include Ajeromi, Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin, Oriade, Ojo, Iba, OttoAwori, Badagry, Olorunda and Badagry-West local government.

Dame Fashola

PAGE 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013 Abu Michael,Chief Press Secretary to Kogi State deputy governor, looks at the hardship faced by people and commuters who ply Lokoja- Kabba- egbe - Ilorin Road and stated the need for the Federal Government’s timely intervention to end the suffering of the people.

AD roads are responsible for most of the accidents that happen on our roads. At the same time, bad roads hasten the process of tear and wear of various cars and impoverish the owners.

Also, pothole infested roads are increasingly becoming the operational zones of criminals particularly, armed robbers.

This is true of the Obajana-Oshokoshoko-Kabba-Mopa-IsanluEgbe Road. This is a federal road that links most parts of the West Senatorial District to the rest part of Kogi State. It is also the fastest link between Kwara and Kogi states. The road is now in a deplorable state and it has also become a safe haven for armed bandits who now subject motorists plying the route to harrowing experiences.

First constructed in 1974/75, the road boosted economic activities in the present Kogi West Senatorial District. This district consists mainly of rural communities whose main occupation is agriculture. With the deplorable condition of the road, the farmers are now facing economic hardship as they find it difficult to transport their produces to the market.

Also, because of the high volume of traffic that the road used to enjoy, there were petrol stations and other businesses. Similarly there were so many eateries on the stretch of road which were stop over points for motorists. But, today, many of the eatery operators have either closed shop or been forced to scale down on their operation. The only good portion of the road is that which repair was

B

Federal road in Kogi becomes haven for robbers, rapists The only good portion of the road is that which repair was undertaken by the Dangote Group from Kabba junction to the Dangote Cement Factory site at Obajana undertaken by the Dangote Group from Kabba junction to the Dangote Cement Factory site at O b a j a n a .

Governor Idris Wada, who has obviously been worried about the deplorable state of the road, took advantage of the occasion of the commissioning of the third phase of the Dangote cement project last year and the presence of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to appeal to the Federal Government to

make the road a priority in 2013 considering its social and economic importance.

The President of the Company, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, during a visit to victims ravaged by flood in the state last year, also pledged to complete the remaining stretch of road up to Kabba once the grey areas had been sorted out between his company and the Federal Government.

This road has become a major

source of concern to many people in Kogi State because the various alternative routes they have been forced to take in order to connect to Kwara State and some other states in South West often elongated their journey. For those that still ply the route, they have often have to bear high costs of repairs on their vehicles and often fall victims of armed robbers.

Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf, member representing Kabba/Ijumu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, said he will remain unfulfilled as a federal lawmaker if the road is not fixed.

Hon. Funso Olumko, the former Liaison Officer 1 for Ijumu Local Government Area, is also as worried as other indigene of Kogi State particularly, at the failure of the Federal Government to include the project in the 2013 budget.

Hon. Afolabi Oluyori, member representing Ijumu Constituency in the state House of Assembly, shares similar opinion on the state of the road.

He lamented the number of robbery and rape cases on that road as worst in recent time. He called for urgent steps that will help protect lives and properties of motorists on that road.

The traditional ruler of Obajana, home of Dangote Cement Factory, Oba (Engr.) Joseph Idowu Isenibi JP, and the Council Chairman of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, Hon Funsho Olorunfemi, also spoke on the deplorable state of the road and its implications for Kogi and the nation. They called on the Federal Government to as a matter

of urgency fix the road in view of its socio-economic importance and the hardship faced by the people of the area.

Oba Ayodele Irukera, the Baale of Egbe, said the road, which was flagged off in 1974/75, opened up the entire area to a flood-gate of economic benefits, but added that since the last couple of years, those opportunities were no longer available because of the deplorable state of the road.

Hon. Shola Adebola, a former Liaison Officer 1 for Yagba – East Local Government Area, one of the local council areas linked by the road, said his area had made several position papers to the appropriate quarters all to no avail and called on the Federal Government to make the road a priority in the next budget.

It is a gamut of issues. Transporters and commuters alike have their own pains also. So, it is for farmers, market women and business men and women who see the deplorable state of the road as the worst pain and suffering inflicted on them by the government not fixing the road after it became bad years ago.

The Obajana – Oshokoshoko – Kabba – Mopa – Isanlu – Egbe Road, according to Yomi Awoniyi, Kogi deputy governor and an indigene of Mopa, a town the road passes, is one road that is central to the socio-economic life of Okun land, Kogi State and Nigeria.

He added that since transporters abandoned the road because of its deplorable state, many businesses along the route have packed up.

He added that the state government was not resting until the road was fixed.

His words,”I have visited the Minister of Works on several occasion regarding that road and I am optimistic that he will soon live up to his promise”.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013—PAGE 43

Eleme monarch’s succour for the less privileged

BY ALEX KOLA FOLORUNSO

BY ETOP EKANEM

One of the living heroes of the June 12 advocacy and revolution is Honourable Ibrahim Olanrewaju Balogun, the Executive Secretary of Ilesa East Local Government in the State of Osun. Since assumption of office, the Council Chairman has given his best to the people.Balogun is emulating his boss and mentor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the Executive Governor of the State Osun, by writing his name in gold and endearing himself to the people. Some of his giant strides include the following:

P

resident/Founder of HRH Appolus Chu Foundation, Chief Appolus Chu, says the initiative was to give succour to the less privileged and make them self-reliant.

The inauguration, which took place in Okori Town Square, Eleme, Rivers State, was special in various ways, one of which was that it was the first registered foundation to be inaugurated with a track record of achievements having impacted on the lives of the community in the past years.

The occasion also witnessed the donation and presentation of items to individuals and groups. This included the presentation of brand new patrol vehicle and a mobile cell van to the police, Eleme Divisional Headquarters and award of scholarships to nine Eleme undergraduates while each student went away with N800, 000. The event also witnessed the empowerment of 50 pettytraders, indigenes and nonindigenes at Akpa-oeh market, Ogale as well as the issu-

Chu and his chiefs ance of 100 brand new laptops to 100 graduates of the foundation’s free computer literacy programme.

A landed property with total area of 1,453.88 square metres worth N22.5 million was presented to the community to use as the Okori Town Square.

The inauguration, which featured a public lecture that addressed sensitive societal issues, also saw the presentation of a mobile clinic/health

delivery van to assist patients that require immediate attention within Eleme land.

The desire to establish the foundation, Chu said, was necessitated by the pains the less privileged of the society go through.

Presenting the items to the beneficiaries, Chu said since they had been given nets to fish, they should put the nets to fish and never keep their fortune to depend on others.

Victoria Island community cries out over six years of road blockade

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

C M Y K

Works and Transport The administration has completed the legislative house with chamber, conference rooms, press lobby and offices; renovated the local government secretariat; installed transformers at Babalola Memorial Grammar School and Unique FM, Okesa; constructed a bridge along the local government secretariat; massively graded earth roads across the local government which include Wesley Guild hospital/secretariat/Iyemogun road, Ironu Ikoko/Bolorunduro/ Ademokoya road, Orogba/Wesley bye pass,Adebayo Abon, Obisesan close, Ijowa Community (Ireti Ayo), road beside Kunle Odeyemi (Imo Street), Ifofin/Igando/Ogbon Arogbo bye pass, renovated staff quar*Hon. Olanrewaju Balogun ters; procured four fairly used cars for the use of the local government officials; constructed culverts at Oke-Alafia, Odi-Olowo, Biladu, Odundun and Bolaji Avenue.

Primary Health Care

Screening and provision of eye glasses to visually-impaired people; monthly maintenance of health centres; monthly purchase of drugs for distribution to health centers (maternity centers) and routine immunization.

Water and Environmental Sanitation

In this area, Balogun towers high among his contemporaries. As a mark of honour, he was recognised by ICT Watch Network as the Best Council Boss in Nigeria on “Best Application of IT in the Management of Environment at the Grassroots”, during the 2nd Biennial Africa Digital Forum and Awards (ADA) 2012 in Lagos. Such environmental feats of Balogun cover bi-monthly environmental sanitation, regular clearing of accumulated refuses with wire fence, weekly environmental sanitation, regular clearing of road verges, fumigation of local government secretariat and local government staff quarters, regular chlorination of wells and boreholes dredging and channelization of five major Oora Streams and its 11 tributaries.

A

s their predicament be comes apparently unbearable, residents of Taslim Elias Close, Victoria Island, Lagos have cried out for urgent government intervention over alleged acts of indiscriminate parking that have plagued the community for six years.

One of such residents is a naturalised Nigerian of Italian descent, Floriana De Stefani, Managing Director of Animex Industries Limited, a hospitality firm on the close. Floriana, who claims to have operated on Taslim Elias since 1992, said the environment had lost its serenity since staff of corporate organisations in the close began parking their vehicles with reckless abandon.

Lamenting the toll of the development on her hospitality business, she said, “My guests would appreciate an environment that is devoid of unnecessary traffic and bottle-

Lease of life in Ilesha-East

*Vehicles everywhere on the * road necks caused by double-parking on both sides of the road and trading indiscriminately on the T-junction leading to my premises. There are days I spend over 30 minutes between my premises and Ahmadu Bello Way. I have approached these organisations and I have written to the Lagos State Transport Management Agency-LASTMA-to save my business from collapsing as a result of inaccessibility to my premises. In 2010 when one of the firms last re-

sponded to my letters, it assured promised measures were being implemented to alleviate the situation and that we would observe the changes in no distant time. But since then, nothing has been done.

There was a time when I had to pay heavily for mobile security personnel to man the road for over one year!”

Another resident who spoke on anonymity chided the corporate bodies over what she described as ‘total insensitivity’.

Education, Youth, Social and Community Development The Balogun-led administration has distributed relief materials to flood disaster victims, distributed 25,000 copies of exercise books to pupils and donated reasonable amount of money towards Armed Force Remembrance Day, as well as inaugurated community development association.

Agriculture and Natural Resources Many feats were recorded in this area including cultivation of 50 acres of land for maize plantation, release of monthly feeding for pigs, distribution of farm inputs to farmers and massive treatment of small ruminants against rinder pest Human Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation This includes purchase of motorcycles for Okada riders as part of poverty alleviation, regular provision of logistics for security personnel as well as financial assistance to the needy.

PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013 sameyoboka@yahoo.com

08023145567 (sms only)

Nigeria leads the world in prayer *’The most unifying experience since Pentecost’

By LEKAN BILESANMI & OLAYINKA LATONA

PASTOR Emmanuel Ehimika, popularly known as the Preacherman, is the founder and president of Fruit Integrated---an encompassing network of ministries with headquarters in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. He is the initiator of “The Jesus Dream” project that mobilised prayers for unity worldwide. Preacherman also writes and publishes Ministers Alive Magazine which encourages ministers of God while fostering unity and instilling integrity in the Body of Christ. In this interview with OLAYINKA LATONA, he spoke on The Jesus Dream project, leadership tussle among church leaders among other issues.

What is The Jesus Dream (TJD)?

The ultimate desire of Jesus Christ that His Body (all Christians) become one is what we now designate as The Jesus Dream. That was Jesus’ greatest desire before He died as recorded in John 17. It was accomplished when He shed His blood; and the dividing wall between the Jews and Gentiles was broken (Eph 2; 4); thus uniting the two into one. In totality, The Jesus Dream event is expressing the manifestation of the oneness of the Body of Christ through thanksgiving and praise.

Why Thanksgiving and Praise?

The Body can never be united outside focusing on God. The accounts of the early church recorded in the Acts of Apostles show plainly that the first manifestation of unity was that they were declaring the wonders of God. (Acts 2:11).

So it’s not different now; as unity can only be achieved when we focus our attention on thanksgiving and praise to God. Second, the atmosphere of thanksgiving and praise is God’s habitat and that’s what He permits in Heaven, day and night. So, since He lives in the atmosphere of praise, that is the only thing that will make Him dwell with us.

Praise is the fruit of our lips and its God’s “food,” so it’s an hour to give back to God; yet when He dwells within us, miracles happen.

What makes the event of this year different from past years?

In the last three years, the focus was on the unity of pastors (John 17:11), but this year and forever, it will involve unity of all Christians as in John 17:23.

The Bible declares that God inhabits the praises of His people. Therefore in that hour of June 30, God will inhabit our praises. Jesus will look down from heaven and find satisfaction for shedding His blood.

Miracles will happen. Therefore people should not miss the programme.

C M Y K

Where will the event take place?

Anywhere. Pastors who believe in unity of the Body are organizing it in their churches and inviting others to join their congregation for the event.

People can pray in their homes, offices or gather in open grounds, in streets, estates, etc. to pray at the same time using the same prayer and praise points.

That’s the beauty of it.

Same praise points, same hour world-wide.

Where will participants get the prayer points to use?

They can go to the w e b s i t e www.thejesusdream.org to download.

How has the preparation for this event been?

There was this particular day when we were not expecting any visitor. As I wanted to shut the door of our premises, God said to me:’ leave it open’. Shortly after, a woman walked in to drop some Naira and Pounds in the c h a p e l .

Last Sunday, we were praying for the

•Emmanuel O. Ehimika world from Nigeria.

Why the date June 30?

It’s exactly half way into the year and represents the centre of unity. Six months to the left, six months to the right.

Again, you will notice that Christ always dwell in be-

Therefore in that hour of June 30, God will inhabit our praises.

Jesus will look down from heaven and find satisfaction for shedding His blood programme. As I was rounding off, the Holy Spirit said to me, “Take the anointing oil and pour it on top of the world map globe on the altar ’. As I poured the oil on the map globe and it flowed down over all the nations of the world, everyone in the room suddenly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. It has been a most remarkable moment. The oil of unity is flowing all over the

tween. The Bible declares that God dwells in between the Cherubim. ‘It is written that where two or three are gathered, there am I in their midst’.

Even between the thieves that were crucified alongside Jesus, he was hung between them.

In the Old Testament, the high priest used to wear 12 colourless stones on his

shoulders…six on the left, six on the right. Shoulders represent strength and the Bible says government shall be on his shoulder. Government, we all know, represents unity.

What’s the level of response like all over the world?

The participation is building up yearly. In 2011, the pastor of the largest church congregation in the world, Dr David Yonggi Cho, of South Korea, sent in his prayer point and also said that he was coming in agreement with me concerning the TJD vision. God showed him ahead what was about to happen . Knowing the impact of that man worldwide, it was significant that he came in agreement with me even though we had never met. In 2012, the world renowned apostle of faith, Dr Frederick K.C. Price of the United States, prayed for those who would participate in the world prayer day programme.

In 2009 before the commencement of The Jesus Dream, Pastor Sunday Adelaja of the largest church in Europe said that was set to use me to heal the Body of Christ

worldwide. So I’ve received encouragement from renowned church leaders worldwide whom I had never met. I just mentioned a few here.

A man sent out e-mails to 6 million people last year in the US. Same year, our phones were jammed by callers who were either on the streets held up in traffic and they wanted the prayer points. So this year the Lord provided a call centre 0700JESUSDREAM. That organization said God told them to offer the services free for His Body.

This year, Israel was the first nation to respond when two Nigerian women who are partners with me went there to spread the vision, giving out TJD magazines to churches.

Churches began to put it in their bulletins and to spread it to neighboring Palestine.

Also the Global Campaign Executive of The Jesus Dream travelled to Australia and from there the vision spread to Fiji Island and other Islands which are in the outermost part of the earth thus, fulfilling the scriptures of Israel and the Gentiles coming together and the Gospel reaching the ends of the earth. Right now it is spreading like wild fire across the nations of the world.

What encouragement are you getting from Nigeria?

When the first Jesus Dream programme was announced on June 23, 2010, Bishop David Oyedepo phoned to encourage me. A few days ago, the CAN president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, when I visited him promised to encourage Christians all over the nation to participate in the world prayer day of June 30.

Just a few days back, a minister from Kaduna said to me they were running with the vision of TJD as if they met Jesus physically and got the vision from Him. He said they believed that God had to use me (a vessel) to start off a work; but it’s an assignment for all genuine children of God. How did TJD start?

When I was to turn 50, my way of celebrating was to ask the Lord what He wanted me to do.

He said I should call for prayer of unity of Christians worldwide. Before then, I had been ministering to pastors on reconciliation because of the unhealthy breakaway syndrome that had existed in the rank and file of the church. I do that by giving out free magazine monthly to as many as I can reach within and outside the country, though with total sacrifice. I have not had any comfort of sort but it is coming.

When you have a vision from God and want to do it God’s way, everyone will first overtake

Continues on page 45

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 45

Nigeria leads the world in prayer Continued from page 44

THE PROBLEM WITH PAUL (1)

J

ESUS says his sheep know his voice and follow him: “They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:5). Paul’s voice is the voice of a stranger. When you point this out to Pauline Christians, they lose all rationality and become abusive. Jesus says: “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (Matthew 18:16).

Listen to these eminent bible scholars. Surely, they are not all as ignorant and unspiritual as I am.

False disciple William Wrede, famous German Lutheran theologist, observes in his book, Paul: “The moral majesty of Jesus, his purity and piety, his ministry among his people, his manner as a prophet, the whole concrete ethicalreligious content of his earthly life, signifies for Paul's Christology nothing whatever. The name ‘disciple of Jesus’ has little applicability to Paul.

Jesus or Paul: this alternative characterizes, at least in part, the religious and theological warfare of the present day.”

In the book Christ or Paul? Rev. V.A. HolmesGore writes: "Let the reader contrast the true Christian standard with that of Paul and he will see the terrible betrayal of all that the Master taught.

For the surest way to betray a great Teacher is to misrepresent his message. That is what Paul and his followers did, and because the Church has followed Paul in his error it has failed lamentably to redeem the world.

If we apply to Paul the test ‘by their fruits ye shall know them’ it is abundantly clear that he was a false prophet.”

Soren Kierkegaard, Danish Christian philosopher and theologian, observes in The Journals: “What Martin Luther, in his reformation, failed to realize is that even before Catholicism, Christianity had become degenerate at the hands of Paul. Paul made Christianity the religion of Paul, not of Christ. Paul threw the Christianity of Christ away, completely turning it upside down; making it just the opposite of the

“Of this band of dupes and imposters, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.” (Thomas Jefferson) original proclamation of Christ.” Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish essayist, novelist and playwright, writes in The Agony of Christianity: “During Christ's lifetime, Paul would never have followed (Jesus).”

Dubious gospel Frederick Engels, German philosopher and father of Marxist theory, writes in On the History of Early Christianity: “Attempts have been made to conceive all the messages of John's Revelation/ Apocalypse as directed against Paul, the false Apostle. The so-called Epistles of Paul are not only extremely doubtful but also totally contradictory.”

Mahatma Gandhi, the renowned Indian prophet of nonviolence, in an essay titled; Discussion on Fellowship, writes: “I draw a great distinction between the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus and the Letters of Paul. Paul's Letters are a graft on Christ's teachings, Paul's own gloss apart from Christ's own experience.”

Bishop John S. Spong, Episcopal Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, USA, writes in his book, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: “Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul---a vast difference.”

Rudolf Bultman, a theologian, writes in his Significance of the Historical Jesus for the Theology of Paul: “It is most obvious that Paul does not appeal to the words of the Lord in support of his views.

When the essentially Pauline conceptions are considered, it is clear that Paul is not dependent on Jesus. Jesus' teaching is--to all intents and purposes---irrelevant for Paul."

Impostor Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence; writes in his Letter to William Short: “Of this band of dupes and imposters, Paul was the

great Coryphaeus, and the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.”

H.G. Wells, famous English science-fiction writer, observes in The Outline of History: “It is equally a fact in history that St. Paul and his successors added to or completed or imposed upon or substituted another doctrine for---as you may prefer to think--- the plain and profoundly revolutionary teachings of Jesus by expounding a subtle and complex theory of salvation, a salvation which could be attained very largely by belief and formalities, without any serious disturbance of the believer's ordinary habits and occupations.”

Gene Savoy, American theologian and clergyman, declares in his The Essaei Document: “Paul's Christianity is another matter. He taught a different kind of theology than that shar-ed by the original disciples who were schooled under Jesus. Paul was the father of Pagan Christianity; a movement based on a concept completely foreign to Jesus. The teachings of Jesus the Messiah were overshadowed by the teachings of Paul.”

Thomas Cosette, a Christian scholar, writes in Hebrew Prophecies of the Coming of Paul: “This man Paul hijacked what is called the church. But he can only keep those who do not love the truth.

Those who still have conscience and will compare his teaching and his testimony to Y'shva's and the prophets without granting Paul's testimony (is) the Word of God but (is) just another man's testimony in light of Jesus' teachings. Then they will discover that Paul usurps the truth.”

Patrick Henry writes in New Directions in New Testament Study: “There remains in the popular mind a strong suspicion that Paul corrupted Christianity (or even founded a different religion).

Paul imported into the Christian community a form of religion characteristic of the ‘my-steries’

religious movements of initiation into secret rites and esoteric knowledge.”

Heretic Walter Bauer, an eminent German theologian and scholar of the development of the early Christian churches, writes in his Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity: “If one may be allowed to speak rather pointedly the Apostle Paul was the only Arch-Heretic known to the apostolic age.”

Michael Baigent, author and speculative theorist declares in The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception: “Paul is in effect the first Christian heretic. Paul had never had such personal acquaintance with the figure he'd begun to regard as his ‘Savior.’ He had only his quasi-mystical experience in the desert and the sound of a disembodied voice. For him to arrogate authority to himself on this basis is, to say the least, presumptuous. It also leads him to distort Jesus' teachings beyond recognition, to formulate, in fact, his own highly individual and idiosyncratic theology, and then to legitimize it by spuriously ascribing it to Jesus.”

Paul Johnson, English journalist, historian and author, writes in A History of Christianity: “Writings by Christian Jews of the decade of the 50's AD present Paul as the Antichrist and the prime heretic. The Christology of Paul, which later became the substance of the universal Christian faith, was predicated by an external personage whom many members of the Jerusalem Church absolutely did not recognize as an Apostle.”

The last word belongs to Thomas Paine, one of the founding fathers of the United States. He writes in The Age of Reason: “Paul's writing is no better than the jargon of a conjurer who picks up phrases he does not understand to confound the credulous people who come to have their fortune told.

Don’t just take Paul’s authenticity for granted because he happens to be in the bible. Don’t just accept something because it is preached by your pastor in your church. Find out the truth for yourself. Your salvation depends on it. (Continued).

you ,but when God’s time for you comes, you will fly above.

When I announced that I was sent on this worldwide mission, people laughed at me because I had no church nor source of income except Christians whose hearts God opens to partner with me, but God kept telling me to say it boldly. Some hated me; indeed I was like a man dancing to a beat not heard by anyone but me. Because nobody could hear the music I was dancing to, they thought I was mad because my dance step seemed uncoordinated; but I kept on dancing. Wounded, rejected, despised, I kept advancing worldwide with the vision from a city under the rock because God was working it through me.

Gradually, God began to increase the tempo of the music and others began to join the dance. Now the whole world is going to dance because, you can’t despise praising God; otherwise the rocks will take your place.

Christians praise God in their churches; so what is so special about this event?

This event must not be missed by anyone; that is why people are linking up friends and relations abroad. All of us belong to an assembly but this is THE GREAT ASSEMBLY (Ps. 35:38). So if you praise God in your church, it’s just in an assembly but on June 30 it will be in the great assembly. This is God’s greatest desire. That’s why no pastor should deter his people from participating or else they will be grieving the Holy Spirit. All parents will want his children to be together at least once in a family union.

How do you finance this work?

I started publishing the free magazine first in 1989 but could not continue. It eventually took root in 2004. I sold all I had to support the work because it was like a crazy idea which you couldn’t invite people to join. However after a while, some Christians began to help but I believe many will join now as God is showing that He is behind it. When they see the world class quality of our literature, many are not supporting me thinking I have foreign partners to be able to do that. From abroad the best and only offering I’ve received is one hundred dollars so far. Nevertheless I say God has been faithful even with the little five loaves and two fishes people are giving. I depend on freewill offerings.

That’s why I’m trusting God to send mature Christians who understand the place of the Body to support me. He will!

Imagine a man of world class vision not having even a house or car yet. Everything has been poured into the vision but I believe it is time to have those things because the baby (vision) has been born and there are many now helping to train the baby.

Only God knows the trigger but I know that the result we are getting is alarming. It shows the hand of God on the work. People are willingly running with the vision from within and outside this country.

You are a Christian leader known at world level yet so simple, can you explain this?

Pastor E.A Adeboye explains it practically. When God wants to do a great thing, He usually uses very simple people.

When a man actually meets with God, he will live a simple life. Inferiority complex makes a man to put an air of importance around his life, but when he knows that it is grace that made him, he does not puff. Pride made Satan to fall and I know many would like me to fall and the easiest way for them to achieve their goal is if I allow pride, so I consciously go down to keep going up.

What do you think would be the impact of the programme on the image of Nigeria?

There has been so many bad things spoken about the country Nigeria, but we believe that as this program builds up it will swallow up every bad impression about Nigeria.

In due time, people will say this great thing came from Nigeria; it will turn this country around. God will bless us for raising the world to honour Him. After TJD 2013 and, before the 2014 edition, what next?

First of all I am on itinerary to God’s ministers. I minister in churches and conferences. We have magazines called “Ministers Alive” through which we minister to ministers of God, and Christian leaders, and the “Strategic Mothers” ministering to women on how to enthrone their children to fulfill divine purpose.

Also after the 2013 edition, we are believing for those who will partner with us every month to start off a radio ministry towards 2014 TJD. The Lord spoke through a respected minister of the Gospel in this country who told me that God said He has given us a world radio ministry; so we are going to start this by His grace, because I also had that knowledge.

Ademowo dedicates biggest Anglican Church in Lagos

D

EAN Emeritus of the Church of Nigeria (An

glican Communion), Most Rev. Ephraim Ademowo will today dedicate a new church building adjudged as the biggest Anglican cathedral in Lagos. The building, St. Paul’s Anglican Church is situated at Kirikiri Industrial Estate, Lagos.

In a statement signed by the Venerable of the church, Ven. Levi Opara, the church will have a pre-dedication thanksgiving service and an ecclesiastical award ceremonies where credit will be given to some prominent members of the church. The dedication is slated for 2:00 p.m.

The church is said to have an inbuilt modern chapel, two sizeable conference rooms, a spacious vicar ’s office and secretary’s office in addition to an imposing gallery at the west end and another two, flanking the sanctuary.

PAGE 46 —SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

VIEWPOINT

BY KAYODE OJO

A

t the recent Family Dinner held by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, called for the consideration of the idea of giving automatic tickets to the President and Governors who are entitled to a second term in office.

This is by any consideration one of the most courageous and profound ideas in political discourse, in Nigeria, for a very long time. It combines the insights of years of political experience with a sound understanding of Nigeria’s political culture and an appreciation of global political trends.

Primaries are a means by which political parties select their candidates for elections. They may be direct, in which case, all party members take part in the selection process through their votes, or indirect which means that party members select delegates who in turn decide, through voting or affirmation, those who will vie for the party in one election or the other.

Whereas, primaries are often contested by multitudes of candidates, it is neither a requirement of any constitution that they should be contested nor is it unusual for primaries to be no more than the affirmation of a candidate who is considered to offer the best prospects of electoral success.

It is therefore a fallacy to assume that contested primaries are an integral part of the democratic process. It is not necessarily true that giving an automatic ticket would amount to undermining democracy. Automatic tickets are the products of consensus which, in itself, results from wide consultations and general agreement.

Indeed, consensus is often regarded as the ultimate and most enlightened

Automatic Ticket:

An Idea Whose Time Has Come form of democracy. It is, nonetheless, a controversial idea and people will be quick to read motives into the proposal and this we have seen in the response of critics, particularly , the opposition parties, who ordinarily, ought not to have any business with what is purely an affair of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

Given the history and realities of the last 14 years, it would not be farfetched to say that it is an idea whose time has come. Over the years, PDP

,

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The danger of the capacity of primaries to undermine party ’s potentials

Oyo States, essentially, because of the unresolved differences which arose from the primaries of the party in these two States.

At the federal level, the selection of a presidential candidate for the PDP generated so much division, bitterness and bickering that almost engulfed the entire country. Apart from the tension which it generated, no one can say, for sure, how much it cost to eventually arrive at the choice of the party’s Presidential candidate. But it is sure that enormous resources were invested,

This danger of the capacity of primaries to undermine the party’s potentials in elections that has informed the growing culture in the American presidential system, of allowing a President, entitled to a second term, to contest without any challenge from within his party.

primaries at all levels, have tended to take the form of internal warfare. They have been fractious, rancorous, divisive, expensive and even debilitating. Aspirants often fight with so much bitterness that it takes considerable efforts to mend fences after the primaries. It is a known fact that substantial numbers of PDP members defect to other parties in the aftermath of primaries. Primaries thus cause electoral distress and even defeat for the party. In 2011, the PDP lost governorship elections in Ogun and

,

some would say wasted!

Significantly, in all the primaries that have been held within the PDP, at the governorship and presidential levels, no incumbent ever lost. Although, it is possible that an incumbent could lose, the balance of evidence points to the fact that up till now, PDP primaries are, largely, a fait accompli, that is, the coronation of incumbents. If that is the case, what sense is there in encouraging other aspirants to challenge an incumbent, disturb the peace of the party, stimulate

unwarranted investment of huge resources and cause division within the party, when the probability is that the challenger(s) is/are merely engaging in a futile exercise?

Clearly, primaries have been a liability for the PDP. As Anenih, rightly, pointed out, they have been the most serious sources of division, rancour and disunity within the party. Primaries cost the party almost two years of acrimonious competition before an election and another two years to manage the divisions and bitterness arising from them. Often, members of the party dissipate so much energy and resources into the primaries that they undermine the capacity of the party to compete in the general elections.

It is, perhaps, this danger of the capacity of primaries to undermine the party’s potentials in elections that has informed the growing culture in the American presidential system, of allowing a President, entitled to a second term, to contest without any challenge from within his party.

It would be wise, therefore, to consider Anenih’s proposal with greater seriousness than it is being presently received. The PDP will surely profit from adopting and implementing it. The temptation to personalise the proposal and reduce it to the interest of the President must be resisted for, it is the party that stands more to lose from contested, divisive and rancorous primaries.

*Ojo, a public commentator, lives in Ketu, Lagos.

Orbih got it wrong

BY DAN OWEGIE VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Ex-SSG has no hand in Edo PDP crisis My attention has been drawn to the response of the Edo State PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, to a harmless comment by the SouthSouth Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Pastor Osasie Ize Iyamu, who bared his mind at a lecture entitled, “Political Governance in Edo State:1999 till date”, organized

by Edo Political Forum where Ize-Iyamu reportedly told his audience that “the crises within PDP distracted the administration of a former governor, Lucky Igbinedion.”

Orbih, in a reaction to this innocuous comment by IzeIyamu, deceived the reading public by insinuating that “IzeIyamu was the principal actor

in parties that contributed to the falling of the said administration.” This is a blatant lie because Orbih was not a member of PDP during the administration of Igbinedion. Orbih and Matthew Urhoghide were

,

VIEWPOINTS

principal actors?

Whatever stories Orbih is telling today are cock and bull tales he got from those who contributed him from then ANPP to destabilize Edo PDP. Ize-Iyamu was very mild in his

Whatever stories Orbih is telling today are cock and bull tales he got from those who contributed him from then ANPP to destabilize Edo PDP. Ize-Iyamu was very mild in his comments at the forum

both in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) at that time, building their castles in the air.

They both were jostling to be governors of Edo on the platform of an almost non-existent party and government more than people they described as

,

comments at the forum. The fact remains that crisis destroyed Edo State PDP during the administration of Igbinedion. Nigerians are well abreast of how crisis destroys parties. They do not need Orbih or anyone else to interpret

it for them. So, when you are deceiving the people with language, they understand by reading in-between the lines.

Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, in collaboration with the then leadership of the PDP in Edo, destroyed the party. When they started their abracadabra registration and chose to de-register all party loyalists close to Igbinedion and Ogbemudia simply because Igbinedion refused “business as usual,” we were all de-registered and only those in the list of the other faction, led by Orbih, made it to Ogbulafor’s books at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja. That was how they nailed the casket of the PDP in Edo. The Grace Group, under the leadership of Ize-Iyamu, which comprised all those excluded from the PDP, was established to halt the manipulation of the PDP in the state.

Sadly, it is this manipulation of the PDP national secretariat under Ogbulafor that caused

the crisis that engulfed the Edo PDP and led to its death. Ironically, where is Ogbulafor today?

The Grace Group got likeminded people from Edo together and formed the Action Congress which defeated the PDP in the state in the 2007 general elections. The Orbihled PDP nominated three commissioners into the Action Congress government who later resigned.

A C N has since then won most elections in Edo. So, if anybody owes Edo people any apology, it is the PDP, not IzeIyamu. PDP has to tender an unreserved apology for destroying the Edo government under Igbinedion, just as Orbih is unsuccessfully trying to do to the Oshimhole administration.

*Owegie is the publicity secretary of Edo Action Congress of Nigeria.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 47

TRIBUTES T. A. Akindele, Headmaster

BY KAYODE SAMUEL TRIBUTE IN BRIEF The life and times of a dedicated school administrator

O

N Monday, 10 Janu ary, 1966, I went off to school for the first time. At that time, it did seem

like schooling was going to be a most dreary chore. A few months earlier, my brother and I had returned from Owerri in the then Eastern Region where I had spent the first five years of my life. They were delightful years, spent without a care in the world. As any child brought up by his grandparents would readily attest, these years, shared in almost equal measure with my maternal grandmother in the Abakporo compound at Okwu Urratta and my mother ’s paternal home in the Ogazi compound at Owalla Urratta, were most blissful. Despite the fact that the Abakporo compound was literally sandwiched between the Catholic vicarage and the local mission school, and that my brother had been enrolled in the school in 1964, going to school was the furthest thing from my mind. The ultimate delight of the place for me was as a playground. And so it was for a long while. It was a period of one’s life that one wished had never ended.

Getting to Lagos to re-join my parents and start school was therefore a big bother. But off to school I was marched on that cold January morning by my aunt Kosenatu who was in a senior class in the same school. To assuage my reluctance, my paternal grandmother, Iya Olobi,had promised me some of those little fried fish (yoyo) that she usually came home with from her stall at the Agege market. It was a reluctance that I am so happy I overcame. For going to school on that day marked the begin-

ning of a life-long relationship with Apostle Timothy Akanni Olusesan Akindele, my headmaster who passed away on 16 May, 2013, aged 90.

The Shilloh Primary School, Agege was not remarkable for its physical structures. Tucked away in a corner off Amoo Street, it was established by the Cherubim and Seraphim (Aladura) Mission to answer to the quest of its adherents for the education of their children and wards. However, as was Late Apostle Timothy Akindele the norm for many mission schools in those days, not all the pupils were of the church.

Many of my classmates were Muslims and I recall that I had a classmate whose father, Baba Dada,was a dreaded babalawo(native medicine man) in the neighbourhood whose shrine, right at the Okekoto traffic intersection, was a constant source of fright to residents and passersby alike. Shilloh was a functional school, made especially so by its headmaster who had the unenviable task of making a better lot of youngsters from such disparate backgrounds.

,

TRIBUTE

My encounter with Baba Akindele started on the first day in school. Echoes of his admonition at our first morning assembly at the start of the school year in 1966 have stayed with me to this day. After the usual formalities complete with a march past and a band set playing, the headmaster had addressed us. His message was understandably targeted more at the new pupils. As he admonished us, he warned us against errant and careless behavior. The school session in those days commenced right in the middle of the harmattan season; so it was natural that he stressed the importance of his toddlers keeping warm. Shilloh Primary School, he told us, was established by a church mission and that meant that we were all under the protection of God. But

My encounter with Baba Akindele started on the first day in school.

Echoes of his admonition at our first morning assembly at the start of the school year in 1966 have stayed with me to this day

,

that should not make us take liberty for licence. In Yoruba, he delivered that famous line that was to be his signature tune for years to come: “E ma j’oye Folorunso to nfi okun ogede gun ope”. Translated: Do not assume that because you are named Folorunso (one who is kept by God) you are therefore free to try to climb a palm tree with ropes made from banana peels!

It was an admonition that was to carry a poignant message by

the end of that week when our country erupted in its first military coup and subsequent dreadful events, including the counter coup of July 1966 and the ensuing civil war that claimed so many lives over the next three years. Sometime in 1968 as the war raged, the OmoPupaincident shook Lagos. A soldier on leave from the war front had boarded a bus, one of those ubiquitous moluesthat are now fast disappearing from Lagos roads, and refused to pay because he was a serviceman. The conductor and his driver had resisted and soon the matter reached the attention of the local leader of the transport workers union at his redoubt in the notorious Mushin area. A mobilization for mass action was soon in place and a free for all ensued between the soldiers and the transport union. The head of the transport union then was a roughneck called Omo Pupa(light-skinned child) whom the soldiers had insisted must be disciplined. The crisis was such that Lagos was in lock down for days and parents scampered to withdraw their wards from school and get them out of harm’s way. It was a tribute to Baba Akindele’s abilities that we only got to know of the details later. The school was kept calm as he organised an orderly withdrawal of pupils by their parents.

In all, despite the crises of the times, my primary school years, were spent in some measure of bliss. Baba Akindele was a recurring presence in that nirvana. The energy he put into stocking the school’s small library must have been quite remarkable and probably fired my love for books. Between him and Baba Onakoya and Mrs. Ajayi, a steady stream of elementary books, especially science and story books, were wangled into the small room that served as the school library. That made going to school such a delight. In later years, as I became a parent myself and paid through my nose for my children’s education, I would often tell them that I got for literally free quality ed-

ucation that I was now paying so much to get for them.

My later years at Shilloh were as delightful as the early ones.

Somehow, Baba Akindele seemed to attract quality hands despite the lean supply of those days. In Primary Six, my class had the curious coincidence of having another Akindele as its class teacher. He was no relation of the headmaster but they shared the same deep love and care for the pupils under their watch. It was with a measure of regret that we bid him farewell at the start of the third term as he took up admission into the University of Lagos. Mr. Jacob Akindele was to have a stellar career in the civil service, ending up I recall as Secretary to the Government of Lagos State. He is today a pillar of the Foursquare Gospel Church, which was even in our school days his passion.

I kept up my links with Baba Akindele till his last days. Sometime in the 1990s, he had been roused out of a well deserved retirement to oversee the start-up of the private school that the church mission had founded. He brought to that assignment the same zeal with which he had earlier run the main mission school.

He was also a steadying hand in the matters that concerned my family as both my late father and his brother, Professor Tunde Samuel, always deferred to him as an uncle. I recall that after my father passed on, I had visited him. His regret was that “Olu (my father) died too young”. For a man who passed on at 74, I thought that was stretching it a bit. No matter. Baba Akindele has now also joined the heavenly hosts. As he was buried last Friday, my recollection was of him was of a man who in the small corner that life allotted him was able to impact so many young lives positively. He will be sorely missed.

Samuel, a former Chief of Staff to the Governor of Ogun State, is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.

sent write-ups to him regularly from 1989 as far as I could recall.

Danladi Bako’s “Morning Ride” was a ‘must watch’ for us every Saturday morning on NTA Channel 5.

I met both Chris and Danladi for the first time at the National Stadium in 1991 during a match between Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

It was almost 20 years after that I met Danladi Bako at Daily Independent during one of our Editorial Board meetings. You could imagine my ineffable joy. But Danladi had no cheery tidings for me when I asked after Chris.

I never had any particular encounter with Pini but

always admired his incisive and cerebral opinions on national issues both in the print and electronic media.

Pini later had a stint as Media Adviser to the immediate past governor of Imo State.

It is interesting that I later became a columnist myself and a guest analyst on stations like Channels, AIT, TVC and Galaxy before my current post as Special Assistant on Media to the Governor of Ogun State.

I have no doubt that whatsoever is my story today, Pini Jason had a positive part in one way or the other.

Pini fought a good fight and ran a good race.

We all can make our lives subl i m e . . .

Good night, Pini Jason

BY SOYOMBO OPEYEMI TRIBUTE IN BRIEF Positive impact of the late Vanguard columnist

F

OR certain reasons, I never knew Pini Jason had exited our terrestrial milieu until I saw “Just Before Pini Jason Goes Home”

by Kanayo Esinulo in The News magazine of May 27, 2013.

I was jolted. Could it be the same Pini Jason? I ran through the piece and it turned out to be the same ace columnist.

I was an addict of Pini Jason’s column in the Vanguard in those days. I recall sending him a letter in 1990 or 91

,

TRIB UTE TRIBUTE

Pini was one of the few in the media of that era that excited my friend, Biodun Sodule, and I

,

on his criticisms of the then military government.

He acknowledged it was a rare occasion where he would take up a reader ’s reaction in his column.

Late Pini Jason Pini was one of the few in the media of that era that excited my friend, Biodun Sodule, and I. There was Chris Okojie of the “Blunt But Fair” sports column in the same Vanguard - I

Contribution of not more than 1,200 words should be sent to sundayvanguard@yahoo.com

PAGE 48—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23 23, 2013

chimeena@yahoo.com 08056180157

The Last Parade of the African Deity

Late Prof. Chinua Achebe

The body of the African Literary Icon goes home

B

RIGADIER One Leg Atamuna: Col. muster the Parade and give me the SITREP Col. Tongue Cutter Biko Harum: Sir, we have sad news.

Brigadier One Leg Atamuna: Give it to me! There is nothing like good or bad news in the Army. Good or bad, the boots are on the ground.

Col. Tongue Cutter Biko Harum: The C.I.C proclaimed A State of Emergency on three Sharai States of the bomb exploding North. The war is finally declared. The faceless insurgents crossed the red line when they blasted those three Luxury buses in Kano.

Major 419 Utueke: The quake of that blast was felt in China.

That Tsunami blast uprooted my containers in Malaysia.

Ewoo! Umu Israel will never see the end of their blood flow in this Niger Country!

Major Olakampo Olakankita: The Heavy casually list include, The Tribune Publisher. Nigeria lost the only surviving son of the Sage in a motor accident not very far from the spot where his only brother died some 50 years ago. On this particular spot, Ibadan fire eater and former N.C.N.C juggernaut, “Peculiarmess” Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu was crushed to death in another inexplicable auto accident.

Col. Atamuna:Remain on At-

tention Col. by my traditional placing as the Prince of Igalla land the next SITREP is entirely my call.

The New York Senate, The BBC, CNN, Sky News, Washington Post, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Ebony, London Guardian, The Shanghai Times, Nairobi Standard, Four Presidents, Mandela, the world; shriek with heavy hearts on the passage of the Last Book, The African Deity, The First World Citizen, Chinualumogu, Albert Achebe, Agaba Idemili.

You are ordered to cover his Memorial Program and secure his Casket from Abuja to his Internment at Ogidi.

Sergeant Okon Bassey: The Judases, those Governors of Rome are at it again. They are approaching the Casket, siren wailing and whipping the streets, behind an armored black column of 3,000 bullet proof Jeeps!

Major Olakampo Olakankita: Sir, there is an urgent call from a German Hospital….. “General One Leg Atamuna this is the Dame. The First Lioness of the African Tribe of Breasts, And Beasts. (ATBB) Abuja.

We are sorry for the death of the Professor. On behalf of my fellow widows, we demand for the professor’s lost legs, his brains, his sexy black beret, his body complete with his manhood.

Major 419 Utueke: Chineke! This Dame again!

She wanted Ikemba’s manhood. If she is seeking Umu Israel brains and body parts, let somebody call me.

I’ m 419 Utueke alais “Onitsha Black Market” I sell human tongues, fresh liver, kidneys and human heads once the market closes at dusk.

Major Olakampo Olankankita: (peering thru his military binoculars) Sir, I see movement to the right flank towards the direction of the Ogidi Kankafo. I suspect they are the well nourished RENIGRADE battalion.

Led by General Mark Golf, formally of the Abandoned Properties Ordinance Depot, Port

,

(At the African Command Headquarters of the Combat Regiment …. Enter the top Brass, Officers and men; The GSO, Col. Tongue Cutter, Biko Harum, Major Olakankita Olakampo, Major 419 Utueke, Brigadier One Leg Atamuna, the Prince from Igalla Land)

The Governors of Rome and the Senators of Rome have joined Forces and their armada and sirens have surrounded the Body of the African Literary Icon

Harcourt. Sprinting behind him is the Presidential Hopeful, Tombal boy, the permanently AWOL leader of the lower Asylum.

M

C.I.C has placed under Emergency Rules.

Major Olakampo Olankankita: I can identify those Okoro chop-chop Senators. I see their massive protoplasm covered by Russian winter red caps….okpu ododo Col. Tongue Cutter Biko Haram: Sir, The Governors of Rome and the Senators of Rome have joined Forces and their armada and sirens have surrounded the Body of the African Literary Icon. Sir, you must give the orders or the Renegrade Brigade will assault the Casket.

Sergeant Okon Bassey: S i r, the G.O.C is circling to land.

You must call the Parade to Attention! ….. the G.O.C , followed by a frightening array of monster Masquerades, whose sudden

ajor 419 Utueke: Deter mined to grab the body and deliver to the highest bidder my kinsmen Senators of Rome have overtaken the wailing Jeeps. These Roman Senators did not raise any fingers of concern when Umu Israel were bombed in Kano; did nothing when students of Umu Israel had their throats cut inside their dormitories in one of the States the

it started eating up the frying, and lightening live wires!. The Renegrade Brigade and their Kill and Go Officers were transfixed in wonder as the Ogba mgbada Akokwa sat on his box, (Akpati Ogwu) and right away from that box uncoiled a large spitting Cobra!

The Pandemonium was turning into an Earthquake when the G.O.C mounted the podium. Suddenly, the G.O.C was instantly transformed.

His military wear turned into an all white apparels of an Indian polo shirt on a Scottish quiltlike mbenu ukwu.

The G.O.C nostrils breathing out tons of angry African bees, se t the Renegrade Brigade to their heels as all eyes turned to Obodo Awu, the deadly Country Bee Masquerade from the dreaded Anioma Ewulu Community.

This is the king Masquerade that knows no friends or foes.

Before the G.O.C would cough out another bee, the monster all red and black Ogre had seized the Casket.

G

,

materialization from the thin air created a stir and retreat from all…. the dreadful Otakagu came from Imo, Evil Forest smoking from his head, came from Nnewi, Ekwensu, dangling a white clock, arrived from Uli. Reinforcing the dangerous company, Ojionu Abagana mystified the scene, by brandishing a basket, cupping some drinking water.

IyaAgba uku, Nkanu WaWa deadliest Spirit, from nowhere made only two jumps and instantly the ugly Masquerade was up there on the NEPA poles. Without much gravitas,

.O.C : Obodo Awu, the proud forward flag of our ancestors, I salute you.

Otakagu, Ajofia, the Evil Forest, Okwomma Enugu Ukwu, Emwere Aka Ogbumadu of Ogbunike… Members of the Masquerade Cult, on your behalf I seek to say Goodbye to our son Agaba Idemili. We do so in humble gratitude for the privilege of having come close to one of the greatest citizens of the Century.

Chinua Achebe as the Agaba Idemili is immortal.

Recently,I was initiated into that rarefied circle of immortality as the Onyeamuma Odezuluigbo, Ogbueshi Asaba. In the sacred language of the Ndichie Umen, I now seek to say Goodbye.

Agaba Ogilisi Idemili, I greet you, onye nkuzi uwa, agwo ndu Amuma Niger na ekene yi; Ka omesia Udo diri gi Egwu egwu ana

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 49

Queensland Academy marks 25 with art exhibition

By JAPHET ALAKAM VISUAL

T

HE art loving public and parents will be treated to a special art exhibition put together by the management of Queensland Academy, Okota, Lagos.

The exhibition which is aimed at creating a visual feast and celebrations around the school’s 25th year anniversary through the ingenuity of the children; intellectually and practically is the product of a three week art workshop tagged “Catch Them Young” which was coordinated by a seasoned art scholar, Kunle Adeyemi with other art facilitators.

The exhibition which is expected to change the image of art in the school is to open on 27th and run till 29th of June at the school auditorium. It will feature selected creative and beautiful exploration of works of art by the pupils and students of the school done in different genre. They include paintings, drawings , beads and others Addressing the press in

One of the products of the workshop, Pamela Ephraim,Yr 7 displaying her artworks with the Secondary School Principal , Mr Oni preparation for the forthcoming exhibition, the principal of the school, Mr Oni who confessed that there is nothing functional that anyone can achieve without art, disclosed that “art is not the aspect of our life that we should neglect so the school embarked on the mission in order to make the

children use creativity to achieve whatever they want to do.”

He pointed out that the idea was based on the need to educate, train and put together school children from her school to be independent thinkers with courage to go beyond group mentality, pla-

giarism, copying or repetition of works that extend the experiences of parents and observers.

The programme which is used as a platform to discover talents actually lived up to its bidding as it created a room for new expression in art production through newly discovered young hands that have never in life gone through the rigorous art training practice.

And the products of the workshop is what will be shown in the exhibition.

The head of primary school, Mrs Christiana Ogunkoya who was fascinated by the works of art displayed by the pupils and students of the school said that the idea was to project the image of the school through the work of art.

Also speaking, a board member of the school, Mr Siyanbola Oladapo said that the school does not belief only in academics so they combine all other things including art. “Nigeria is where they are now because they believe only on certificate. We want to make the students a total person that is why we bought the vision of Dr Adeyemi.” He noted.

On his part, the coordinator, Dr Adeyemi who is on the vanguard for an art advocacy to

Dafe bags UN Peace Ambassador award, others

Blaze of hope via children’s lens

By PRISCA SAM-DURU WORKSHOP

T

HE United Nations Glo bal Forum for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, on Monday in Warri, presented

T

The overall best work in Sculpture by Idiara Joshua.

The overall best painting in junior category by Chisom Nnerika NGA, Abdullahi Muku stated that the annual event affords NGA the opportunity to bring together children of different age groups and mentoring them in various aspects of Visual Arts, adding that it also provides participants with a platform cum conducive atmosphere for talented children to engage Nigeria’s social, cultural, political and economic circumstances while imploring Art as a perfect medium for achieving this goal.

The programme he said, also affords Nigerians a rare opportunity to view themselves through the eyes of the young ones whose art works rekindle the aspirations of cohabition and peaceful co-existence irrespective of the cultural and ideological diversity which often threaten to disunite the people.

,

HE 2013 edition of the annual ‘Children in Art Talent Hunt Exhibition’, organized by the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Lagos, took place penultimate week at the Aina Onabolu building Lagos.

The talent hunt exhibition is an initiative of NGA which seeks to implore visual Art as a medium to reposition the Nation’s creative spirit as well as promote the appreciation of Nigerian Art. With the need to ensure unity and peace, restore dignity and make Nigeria habitable for everyone, this year ’s exhibition was tagged ‘Hope and Creativity Through the Eyes of Children’.

Competing schools were drawn from both primary and secondary schools and they were grouped into three categories; primary, junior and senior secondary schools, bringing the total of competing institutions to 21.

Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, ST & T Regency College, Oloye Comprehensive College, Lagoon Secondary School, Agape Baptist Senior and Junior college, were some of the exhibiting secondary schools in the competition.

While in the primary category, Redeemers International School, Fame Hall Our school, Bacs School, Prime Montessori Primary school, Clervanx primary schools and Effortswill schools, joined their mates in the creative competition.

The Director-General of

be replicated in many schools in Nigeria said that he felt that after his Phd, there is need to create another image for the society through art, hence the workshop. Adeyemi, who was delighted with the support of the school authority stated that the workshop has enabled the children to discover the various gifts God has given to them. It has also helped in fostering the development and exposure of the children by creating and enabling them to maintain a decent life of hard work, etiquette and entrepreneurial practice.

The workshop was thrown open to all students both in the science and art classes but optional, so only the people that indicated interest participated. Their works will pass through a jury before the final selection of works to be exhibited on that day.

According to one of the students , who displayed her work titled Mother and Child, “the workshop was very enlightening and educative and I learnt a lot from it. It has really changed my perspective through which I see things. I thank my parents for supporting me.”

The children, through their lenses implored their creative devices to interrogate the challenges of the nation

The children, through their lenses implored their creative devices to interrogate the challenges of the nation. Most importantly, their stunning art works in diverse genres such as Painting, Sculptures, Ceramics, Graphics and Textile, also speak volume of the fact that children are not unaware of the present state of quagmire in which Nigeria finds herself and therefore, demonstrated the country as being in dire need of fortifying those bricks of nationhood.

In the Primary school category, work of Adesuwa Omosigho was adjudged the best in Textile, Awole Gabriel came first in Graphics, Chidiebere Obogbo (all from Redeemers Int’l sch.), also took first position in Sculpture while Oyelabi Oyinkansola from SOS Herman Gmeiner

,

Pry school exhibited the best painting.

The junior secondary school category had Ogbelenta Gift (Agape Baptist College), Davida Ozung (Lagoon Sec. Sch.), Okoro Uzoamaka (Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls), and Chisom Nnerika emerging tops in Textile, Sculpture, Graphics and painting respectively. Chisom Nnerika was also overall best artist in the junior category.

Idiara Joshua from Imoye Senior Sec Sch took the first position in Sculpture and also emerged overall best artist.

Others in the senior secondary category who came first in Textile, Painting, Ceramics and Graphics were Amtu Christiana (Imoye Senior High School), Ofoegbu Beauty (Vivian Fowler), Lawani Akinyemi and Ogbeyemi Segun respectively.

an award of Peace Ambassador to Prince Dafe Atua Obu, a prominent leader from Obiaruku community in Ukwuani local government area of Delta State.

Engr. Peter W. Ominijei, Director, Infrastructure/Works, Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission DESOPADEC, who is also Peace Ambassador, presented the award to Prince Dafe, in recognition of Dafe’s outstanding contribution towards peace, justice, human rights and nation building.

At the same ceremony, the National Youth Leaders Forum of Nigeria led by Barrister Godstime Okorobia, also conferred an award of Youth Icon on Prince Dafe, for his contributions to youths development in Nigeria.

Also, the Forum for Urhobo Survival and Emancipation led by Prince Mykel LotaAroko, conferred an award of Youth Icon and Prince of Niger Delta on Prince Dafe for his unrelenting contribution towards the development and upliftment of Nigerian youths.

Speaking at the ceremony, which was attended by top federal and state government officials, Prince Dafe, expressed joy for the multiple honour conferred on him by the various organizations, and assured that the awards would spur him to contribute more to the sustenance of peace and youths development.

PAGE 50, SUND AY V anguard , JUNE, 23, 2013 SUNDA Vanguard

H

Love

i, few things in life can cause us to experience such a broad range of emotions, from the floating in air feeling of being in love for the very first time to the pain and agony of our most recent broken heart. In between, somewhere we find the love we not only can live with, but want to live for. Cheers!

Networking/ Sponsorship

•Tom, from Cross River state, needs God fearing, rich woman or man that can sponsor his football career.

08081638905 •A guy, 21, needs kind and God fearing person that can sponsor his education.

08181032581 •Chekwube, from Delta state, needs financial help from kind hearted Nigerians to sponsor her education .Union bank acc number0038558013.Acc name-Odili Chekwube 07068613228

fair in complexion, handsome, employed and rich, who will love and take good care of her, aged 25-27 for a relationship that will lead to marriage.07081766291, 08136537101 •Anabell, 24, sexy and a stu-

complexion and employed, needs a woman, aged 20-50, who is beautiful at heart, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage.08123950189, 08097961684 •Chris, 24, dark in complexion, handsome and from Edo state, needs a lady for a serious relationship that may lead to marriage, aged 20-30.08065186134, 08182307694 •Freddy, 25, handsome, funny and resides in Delta state, needs a caring, loving and hot sexy girl for a seriousrelationship.

08063268118, 08126937746

Links

•Felix Ikechukwu Nwulu, wants to link up with Ifeoma Angela Anieke from Enugu state, whom he saw last at Sapele Delta state in 2003.07031026968

Friends Searching Female

•Angel, dark in complexion, average height, hardworking and a student, needs a hard working and God fearing man, for marriage.

08089515695, 08065868831 •Judith, 25, from Bayelsa state, needs caring friends.

08176887213 •Treasure, 22, needs male and female friends inside and outside Nigeria aged 18-30.08022851494, 08160072652

Searching Males

•Emeka, nice and gentle, needs a nice, hard working and decent male friend, aged 28-50. 07063309105 Bravis, 22, a student, form Delta state but resides in Abuja, needs a decent and outspoken female friend, aged 17-30.07055429261 •David, 24, from Delta state, needs female friends.

07031092628 •Leo, from Asaba Delta state, needs a mature lady, for friendship.08164897438

Lovers Searching Female

•Maryam, 26, sexy and busty, needs a man, for a relationship.08066396534 •Tasha, curvy, pretty, sultry, chocolate skinned, tall and juicy wants to meet caring and serious minded man.08101930391 •Happiness, 20, from Edo state, needs a guy, who is

dent, needs a sexy, strong and fun loving young man., for a relationship.

08107310599 •Mary, 22, needs a man who is loving caring and rich who will take good care of her.

08163077260 •Vivian, 25, sexy and needs a man, for a serious relationship.08068684663 •Chii, from Imo, state, but resides in Lagos, needs a sincere born again, tall, educated minister of the gospel or pastor of a Pentecostal Church for marriage.

08069193368

Searching Male

•Gabby, 36, from Benin City, in Edo state, needs a dark in complexion and employed lady, for a relationship that can lead to marriage, aged 28-31.08035162423 •Clem, 35, 5.9ft tall, dark in complexion, handsome and from Delta state, needs a rich lady, aged 35-45, for a relationship.08066414238 •Willis, 43, needs a slim, tall educated, lady, aged 28-35, for a serious relationship that can lead to marriage.

08055420940 •Harry, 26, from Benin needs a sexy, beautiful, intelligent and sexually active girl for a serious relationship.

07059325789 •Paul, 26, 5ft tall, fair in complexion, an undergraduate and resides in Lagos, needs a beautiful, responsible, sexy and wealthy lady, that will take good care of him financially, for a serious relationship, aged 36-40.

07036905033 •Toby, tall, attractive, fair in

DISCLAIMER!

•A guy, 26, handsome and resides in Abuja, needs a highly placed, politician lady for a serious relationship.

08063386256 •Babalola, 35, needs a religious Muslim girl, aged 30, for marriage.08087074640, 08138856900, 08170141833 •Devine, 34, from Rivers state, needs a rich lady, aged 26-32, who can help him financially.08065060649 •Sam, 50, educated, self employed and needs a lady companion, aged 50-60, who resides in Lagos, for a relationship.08097572628, 08033291659 •Eniola, 25, a student, needs a good girl, who is financially stable, for a relationship.

08094078130 •Kelvin, 25, a student and upcoming actor, needs a nice and romantic lady, who can assist him financially, for a serious relationship.

08135105914 •Ike, 35, needs a responsible lady, aged 27-34 for marriage.08153534778 •Paul, needs a beautiful and matured lady, for love and as a business partner, who is financially independent and productive.07033960870 •A man 51, educated and self employed, needs a lady, aged 45-60, who resides in Lagos, for a discrete relationship.

08097572628, 08033291659 •Habeeb, 39, needs a pretty, fair complexion, slim and busty, lady, from Akwa-Ibom, who is ready to settle down.

08035777119 •Maurice, 30, resides in Lagos, needs a pretty, sexy and fun loving girl, aged 21-30, for an intimate relationship,

Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636

in Lagos. 08084455865, 08103161908 •Davidson, 26, needs a lady, aged 20-30, for a relationship in Warri or Benin.

08035191168 •Steven, 33, self employed and needs a God fearing lady, aged 35-45, for marriage.

07065264219 •Kenneth, 27, dark in complexion, tall, slim and handsome, needs a girl, who is tall, slim, fair in complexion, beautiful, sexy and romantic, aged 20-25, for a serious relationship. 08160571089 •Olive, 36, gentle and honest, needs a girl who is honest, for a relationship.

08026442857 •James, 33, needs a hand working and responsible lady, for marriage.

08159904930, 08160048726 •Peter, from Delta state, needs a pretty lady, who is financially stable, aged 3035, for a serious relationship.

08103785062 •Ebuka, 28, resides in PortHarcourt, needs a simple and humble girl, aged 20-25, for a serious relationship.

08181624889 •Paul, needs a beautiful, and matured lady, as a business panther, who is financially buoyant and productive, for a relationship.07033960870, 08138969406 •JesuJimal, 31, employed and resides in Asaba, Delta state, needs a slim lady, who has good character for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08035306020 •Alex, descent and caring, needs a responsible, lady for a serious relationship.

08078240382 •Clams, 37, tall, dark in complexion, a graduate, Christian and a businessman, from Akwa Ibom, needs a God fearing, tall and busty lady, from either Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Anambra, for a relationship.08020904850 •Elope, needs a lady, who is beautiful, with good moral, up bringing, educated and from a rich family, aged 2530, for a relationship.

08070724865 •Ima, tall, handsome and dark in complexion, needs a lady, for a relationship.

07031841461 •John, 27, needs a caring, lovely and a God fearing lady, aged 19-25, for a serious relationship.08135578511, 08082572187 •Lanre, 43, needs a responsible woman, aged 3555, for a romantic affair.

08034206054 •Collins, an engineer and resides in Lagos, needs an intelligent, decent and beautiful lady, for a serious relationship. 08169525690 •Darlington, 45 needs a woman, for a romantic affair in Lagos.08137428084 •Babalola, 35, needs a religious Muslim lady, aged 30, for marriage.

08087074640, 08138856900, 08170141833 •Chibuzor, 27, good looking, employed and resides in Asaba, needs a rich and decent lady.08063880274 •Pasion, 28, handsome and gentle, needs a nice girl, for a relationship that will lead to marriage, aged 22-26.

07063937996,08059974975 •Frank, 50, needs a sincere and honest lady, who is

employed, aged 26-35, for a relationship.08137706231 •John, 23, tall, chocolate in complexion, a student and resides in Benin, needs a girl, aged 19-21,for a serious relationship..08061236886 •Nick, 35, tall, an engineer and from Delta state, needs, needs a romantic and God fearing woman, aged 21 -30, for a serious relationship. 08035767772 •Bodmas, resides in Lagos, needs an employed lady, for a serious relationship.

07011767177, 07037078797

Sugar Cares Searching Female

•Richi, 24, chocolate in complexion, fun to be with and from Delta state, needs a rich sugar daddy that can take care of her needs. 08108946645 •Ogechi, 23, 3rd year undergraduate, pretty, chocolate, petite, sexy, intellectual, smart and very endowed, active in bed needs a sugar daddy aged 40 and above for a sexual relationship.07013691811 •Faith, black, tall, sexy, well spoken, good manners, undergraduate, simple, good backside and wonderfulm boobs and fun to be with needs older men aged 40 and above for sexual relationship.08102212284 •Wendy, 24, sexy, pretty, light skinned, bursty and sexually active young girl, needs a generous sugar daddy for a relationship.07052978915 •A lady, 21, beautiful and intelligent, needs a nice and loving sugar daddy, aged 45-70, for a serious relationship.

08035674378 •Treasure, fair complexion, needs a nice and caring sugar daddy that can take care of her financially. 08065315456 •Rita, 22,, hot and sexy, chocolate in complexion and tall, needs a sugar daddy who will take good care of her and her education aged 40-50.

08028973327 •Kemi, 28, dark in complexion, chubby and endowed, needs a handsome, romantic and rich sugar daddy, aged 38-50, who resides in Lagos, for a relationship. 08076029565 •Joy, 20, needs a caring and loving sugar daddy, aged 40-50, for a relationship. 07052220546 •Winifred, fair in complexion and pretty, needs a rich and caring sugar daddy who can take good care of her like his own child.08032732565, 07038353080 •Toochi, 22, resides in Benin, needs a sugar Daddy, aged 3050, for a relationship.

07033419620

Searching Male

•Alvins, resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy that, who will be ready to take care of me and am ready to satisfy her.08029889101 •Samson, resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy.08102790024 •Ayorinde, 26, from Ondo state, but resides in Abuja, needs a sugar mummy, aged 30-45.

08071714982 •Chika, 32, good looking, dark in complexion, tall and resides in Onitsha, needs a decent, rich or comfortable, loving, caring and good looking sugar mummy, who can take care of him.08156679160 •Nathan, 26, needs a sugar mummy, that can take care of him, aged 36-44, either in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bayelsa, DeIta or Benin. 08066096130

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 51

JUNE 12 @ 20:

How pro and anti-annulment forces fought in the National Assembly – Ex-Rep Osawe *Says some Yoruba leaders were half-hearted in their support for Abiola

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

H

Hon. Ambrose Osawe ...There was an attempt by the military to actually use the House of Reps to scuttle the June 12 election.

Abiola for what he did to their leader. Even Mustapha, Abacha’s powerful chief security officer, said so many things which buttress the point that some Yoruba colluded with the military regime to annul the election. But then our own objective was to get the army out of power and the man who had won an election to be swornin. But when I discovered that a section of the Yoruba were not supporting him, we decided to support him and it was after they saw that we were supporting him that some of them now came out to support him. Most of them really did not want Abiola to be president; they only joined when they discovered that the struggle had taken a national outlook. So when I look at some persons in NADECO today, I can point out some of them who were not sincere. The truth is the true democrats are the Nigerian masses not the political leaders and that was why Abiola received massive support from the entire country. Some of us were battling in the House of Representatives and it was actually when the struggle was becoming weak that Kudirat came in to give it impetus Battle by the military to get lawmakers support There was an attempt by the military to actually use the House of Reps to scuttle the June 12 election. At a certain stage, members of the House were invited to Minna, this was when the then military president lost his uncle; most members of the House attended the event. It was later I learnt that there were moves to induce members of the House to support the annulment.

Hon. Aniekwe was the Speaker, so I called him and asked that I heard money was exchanging hands and he said that he was not involved. I said I was coming with a motion on the issue of national importance because the first thing in the

,

ON. Ambrose Osawe represented Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo State in the House of Representatives between 19921993 when the military struck amid the June 12 debacle. Osawe, a veteran journalist, was one of the confidants of the late Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 election who died in government custody trying to reclaim his mandate. In this interview, Osawe explains how MKO was betrayed by friends and political associates. According to him, the then military administration made attempt to induce National Assembly members in order for them to back the annulment of the election. He gave an insider’s account of what led to the annulment of June 12 and how an Edo man told MKO that some people abroad were after his life. Excerpts: You witnessed the annulment then as an insider. Can we know some of the issues that played up?

Several factors led to the annulment as I understood it while at the National Assembly. Abiola had problems with some people from his South-west region, while, in the North, they never expected a southerner to win the presidential election.

So the problem really was not a Muslim, Christian thing as some people want us to believe. So the issue was that the northern elite in the military did not want power to shift to the South. So by the time the military administration annulled the election, it was merely acting on behalf of the North and was aided by the crack among the Yoruba. The IBB regime did not want to be held responsible for being the one that gave power to the South. And, of course, you know that Abiola stepped on toes in the South-west; Awolowo’s followers were not happy with him, because when he established Concord Newspapers, the first front page story the newspapers carried was that Awolowo acquired 350 plots at Maroko and I think Jakande about 72 plots. The story unsettled Awolowo and his followers. But, before then, when I was in Observer and covering the Constituent Assembly, Abiola was the first person who came and distributed calculators to members of the Assembly. From that point, I think Awolowo’s followers started watching him that he could be up to something. So I came back to Benin and carried the story entitled, ‘Regrouping for National Movement,’ and I listed all those who were members of the Movement.

Abiola was now being watched closely by the Awolowo political family. There are some people today who pretend as if they were in the June 12 struggle but, who actually wanted to avenge what they felt Abiola did to their principal, Awolowo.

The struggle was not supported by a cross section of Yoruba because most of them had it at the back of their minds that if Awolowo could not be president, there was no Yoruba man that could be president and, unfortunately, Abiola stepped on Awolowo’s toes. Later you discovered that Jakande, Babatope and others went to serve in Abacha’s regime; that was to spite

June 12 was a national disaster. It was inevitable because of the forces behind it.

The North never wanted to give power to the South

,

House was for you to announce any event of national importance before any other motion. I scuttled the plan by the government to get the support of the House to continue in office. It was after Abiola knew about the part I played in the House to protect his mandate that he invited me for a trip to Cyprus for the Commonwealth Summit. On that day, he said Kingibe, his running mate, would lead us on the trip so that we could go and make case for the June 12 struggle. I was there with Wale Osun, Abiola’s in-law, Moshood Edewor. But he did not see Kingibe. So he gave me a letter for Anyaoku so that when we get there he could help us present it to the General House. But Anyaoku could not do that because he explained that the program of event had been distributed weeks before

we came. We now discovered that the military government had sent message to the Commonwealth that we were coming there to make trouble. So, the Cypriot security agents began to monitor our movement. We were not allowed to enter the conference hall but we were able to distribute the letters to most of the participants, informing them about what June 12 stood for. `National disaster’ June 12 was a national disaster. It was inevitable because of the forces behind it.

The North never wanted to give power to t h e South. During the struggle, there was a time I had to fly to Abuja from Lagos and later with Abiola in his personal jet to Benin to make contact with Chief Enahoro; that was his first meeting with Chief Enahoro. After seeing Chief Enahoro,we went to Anenih’s house because there was this suspicion that Anenih had compromised. He was the chairman of then SDP. But we found out that Anenih was not happy with Abiola; he said Abiola traveled outside the country without telling him. But Abiola replied with a parable that there was no bird that tells the other to run when a bullet is coming. Anenih said, as his presidential candidate, Abiola was supposed to inform him before leaving the country and the man explained to him that his life was being threatened. He said at the time he fled, it was obvious the military was after his life. But before then, behind the scene, a lot had been done and it was when some people started abandoning the struggle with a few of us left with Abiola that the wife decided to join the struggle. One day Kudirat explained to us why she decided to join the struggle. She explained that there was one day she joined her husband to visit Shagari after he (Shagari) became president, and, while they waited to see Shagari, some Hausa politicians, who sat around, said, ‘This man, whose eyes are as big as those taking Indian hemp is here again, he thinks he can buy the presidency because he has money’. They did not know that Kudirat understood Hausa; so she informed them that her husband was not taking Indian hemp.

She told them that as at that time, her husband had donated N5million for democracy. She said it was based on that, that she made up her mind to join the struggle. Secondly, when the military arrested all the civilian governors then, wives of the governors met with some top northerners in the military, they told the ones from the North that the annulment was not actually targeted at them but at southerners. Kudirat heard that and she was not happy. I am saying all these because I was an insider and it was then I came to admire Abiola. If you were not close to him, you will not know how intelligent he was; extremely intelligent and resourceful. Ever before I met Abiola, there was one of his class mates, my cousin, one Dr. Usenbo, who told me that Abiola and Obasanjo were brilliant students in Baptist High School; that

Continues on page 53

PAGE 52—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

‘Jonathan capable of securing re-election’ Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan deserves re-election in 2015 is one of the most controversial issues in the polity.

Chief Okhue Oboi, a traditional healer in Edo State and spokesman for the Community of Nigerian White Witches, joins the fray when he says Jonathan’s second term is possible. In this interview, he also says Nigerians should pray ahead of 2015. He speaks on the crisis in the PDP and June 12.

The crisis in PDP igerian founding fathers who have passed on, including Enahoro, Ahmadu Bello, Zik, Awolowo, cannot be happy about the country they left behind. We are in avoidable crisis. The country needs prayer. PDP needs prayers in order for it to be at peace with itself because if there is no peace in the ruling party, there can’t be peace in Nigeria.

Fear about break up Nigerians must engage in serious prayers so that Nigeria does not break up, because our politicians from

N

different parts of the country are working at cross purposes.

2015 If we don’t pray ahead of 2015, there will be no elections. And the PDP needs to organize itself well, otherwise it might stand no chance in the elections as the opposition parties are becoming stronger because of the merger. The people believe more in the opposition parties because they have lost faith in the ruling party. If the PDP is to stand a chance in the polls, it needs to prove to the people by doing things to alleviate their plight. The are no jobs, poverty level is high, no good roads.

Midterm report The president has done well, he is our anointed son. You see, in life, you cannot satisfy everybody; no matter what you do, there will always be criticisms. For a fair assessement of Jonathan, one must take into consideration the environment within which he has to operate. President Jonathan means well for this country, and he is doing his best to fix the problems; we must give him the necessary support to succeed. He stands a good chance of coming back for second term but that

leaders and you are talking about Democracy Day. What is Democracy Day? It does not mean anything to me. Our politicians are so self-centred, while corruption has become so pervading that people don’t see goodness again.

People are just satisfied with what brings them immediate dividends. Corruption is a tragedy that has befallen Nigeria and a burden on the common man.

Chief Oboi depends on Bamanga Tukur and Anenih reconciling former leaders of the PDP so that all hands can be on deck for the president’s re-election.

Emergency rule Emergency was the best thing Jonathan did. It was a right step in the right direction. I concur on emergency rule because that decision was taken such that all democratic structures in affected states are intact and that the Federal Government, in-spite of the emergency rule, extended a hand of fellowship to Boko Haram.

That shows that President Jonathan has a good heart and wants peace so that Nigerians can live as brothers and sisters.

Democracy The is no love among our

,

,

BY EPHRAIM OSEJI

For a fair assessement of Jonathan, one must take into consideration the environment within which he has to operate

,

Fresh cases keep coming to light on daily basis leading to shattered dreams and you talk about Democracy Day. Clamour for state creation Creation of states is not a

bad thing but we need to, first of all, deal with how to make the present states viable.

When they are viable and can survive without them going cap in hand to Abuja for funds from the Federation Account, then we can begin to talk about new states.

Predictions I started predicting in 1993 when I warned Chief M.K.O Abiola not to contest the June 12, 1993 election because he would not be given a chance to claim his mandate. It happened.We also told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from presidential race or risk being humiliated at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries. It also came to pass.

I warned the late General Abacha to forget his selfsuccession bid. We are all living witnesses to how the self.-succession bid failed. He died.

On Obasanjo, we warned him to forget about his third term bid when he initiated the process. For Chuba Okadigbo, his removal from office was a combination of cosmic elements which were interwoven to bring him down from the tower.

Factors that will shape Anambra poll, by Obiogbolu

BY BILESANMI OLALEKAN

Dr. Albert Obiogbolu is a medical practitioner of almost 30 years standing. In this interview, Obiogbolu explains why he is contesting the governorship election coming up in November and why the North Senatorial District of the state, where he comes from, is unanimously accepted and supported to produce the next governor.

I

T appears PDP in all states it controls has one problem or the other. Why is it so much enmeshed in crisis?

PDP is not synonymous with crisis, rather politics is synonymous with crisis. In my native tongue, the word for politics is “ ndoro -ndoro” literally meaning as struggle.

None of the major political parties is immune of crisis at any point and PDP, as the ruling party with the greatest membership, cannot be bereft of crisis. It is the ability to resolve these emerging crises that differentiates a strong united party from one heading for collapse and extinction.

Your state at the moment is calm but that is simply because the governorship election is still far.

Anambra State has in recent years witnessed relative peace in the political sphere though we have continued to battle with the surge in kidnap for ransom and other acts of criminality. The

Dr. Albert Obiogbolu election is not far off as we expect it to hold within the next seven months.

How true that majority of the state political stakeholders including the governor think that the next governor should come from the North Senatorial District?

It is definitely true that not a few political stakeholders including the governor of our state, Mr. Peter Obi, believe and are canvassing that the next elected governor of the state should be someone from Anambra North. The genuine agitation of Ndi Igbo for a president of Nigeria from the South East has influenced many to support the quest of Anambra North as we Igbo place so much value in fairness and brotherhood.

However, all of these personalities and including those who disagree still believe that such a person must be one who is competent and able to further the work his or her predecessors have done.

The genuine agitation of Ndi Igbo for a president of Nigeria from the South East has influenced many to support the quest of Anambra North as we Igbo place so much value in fairness and brotherhood

,

But it is not generally accepted by the people especially those forces(the Ubas,Ukachukwus, etc) that will determine the election.

I don’t agree with that statement. There are many diverse interest groups that shall determine who the next elected governor is apart from the few you mentioned.

However, you will glimpse from the recently concluded National Assembly organised constitutional amendments public fora, that, in all the three senatorial zones in Anambra, the people overwhelmingly voted and advocated for inclusion of zoning and rotation of the office of governor between the three zones in the state. I believe this is what has given Governor Peter Obi the confi-

dence to continue the advocacy knowing he is speaking the mind of his people not minding the public relations stunts by those who shall not benefit from the arrangement.

It is said that you are also gunning for the Government House.

Yes! I am offering myself to our people to serve them as the governor of the state. I had offered myself on two previous occasions but that has only propelled my passion to serve the more.

Knowing how expensive the governorship election can be, do you have the war chest to execute the election, that is if you are eventually the PDP candidate?

It is rather unfortunate that emphasis is placed more on the depth of the aspirant’s pocket than on the range of his vision for the state. This must not be encouraged as it blinds the electorate from discerning the best candidate.

Let me respond to your question by stating that on past two occasions I conveniently picked up my campaign bills, and this time around I have continued to pick our bills. We have rolled out publicity materials and remain the only aspirant who has visited the entire state, meeting with all the stakeholders of my party, PDP, at the twenty-one local government areas. We must not forget that the costs for elections are not borne by one

individual as friends, well wishers and supporters throw their support, and when eventually one becomes the party ’s flag bearer, the party throws in all its muscles.

Those who think that winning is centered around throwing money at people, compromising electoral staff, and turning the truth on its head shall definitely not have me on their plate. It is my belief that one can be an agent of positive change by living by those ideals you advocate not waiting till you take the power.

What are you coming to the table with?

In the public offices I have held, my strongest point has always been the ability to establish a clear objective and vision, inspire in my team commitment and delegate tasks with measurable mile stones to team members. I have served closely under two governors, and advocated even out of government on youth empowerment and transparency in government.

Do you think you can get your party ”s ticket and finally wrestle power from the APGA ruling party?

Certainly, I cannot beat my chest that I shall pick the party ’s ticket as it is the leadership of the party that has the final say, but I pray God that the party shall find me worthy to fly their flag.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013, PAGE 53

hysterectomy (removal of the womb), magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound.

FIBROID: A woman’s joy killer

By Yommy Dauda

O

NE of the deadliest ailments that affect women folk is fibroid. Research shows that 40% of women have fibroid or very high pre-disposition to it.

It wreaks havoc on the womb of the sufferer and when it grows, it leaves pains. Fibroid is a benign tumour of smooth muscle tissue which cause is rather unknown but can be aggravated by practices such as: • Aseptic abortion (unhygienic, often times, criminal abortion).

• The intake of falty foods especially high cholesterol (HDL) diets.

• Delayed cyesis (pregnancy) - when a woman has delayed pregnancy for a length of time, mostly spanning years. That is why fibroid is common among women who are or above mid-twenties upwards (25 years and above). The hormones that would have nurtured the development of foetus (unborn child)

may promote fibroid if pregnancy is absent over a long period of time. No wonder some cultures advocate early marriage and child bearing by ladies of child nearing age.

• Excessive alcohol intake which may up the body fat level due to high calorie content.

• Cigarette smoking hardens the blood vessels, thereby inhibiting blood circulation.

• Poorly managed infection in the female reproductive system.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF FIBROID • Irregular menstruation • Menstrual flow may be heavy • Increased frequency of micturition (urination) • Urgency of urination • Waist pain ranging from mild to severe • Back ache • Constipation • There may also be abdominal distention (enlarged abdomen) • There may be general feeling of heaviness • Pelvier discomfort or

pain COMPLICATION OF FIBROID Fibroid also varies in classes such as: (i)Miscarrage (of pregnancy) (ii)Severe Anaemia (shortage of blood (red blood cells) (iii)Infertility, which may be primary or secondary infertility (iv)Death, if not property managed.

CLASSIFICATION OF FIBROIDS Fibroid also varies in classes such as: INTRAMURAL FIBROID - Located within the uterus (womb).

It may present without obvious symptoms unless it is very large.

SUB-SEROSAL FIBROID - This type of fibroid grows beneath the peritoneal surface of the uterus. It can get very large.

Most times, sub-serosal fibroid may become high parasitic consistently flourishing through the hormones producal normally by the body of the woman.

That is why fibroids tend to shrink when a woman clocks menopause because of a lack of adequate hormone supply at that stage

HERBAL WONDER Our forefathers used natural herbs to treat fibroids by

shrinking them. Through modern research in herbal medicine, such remedies have been discovered and are being used by qualified herbal practitioners to shrink fibroids successfully without any side effects.

BUSINESS MART •Dr. Olasunkanmi Qumas

of the woman’s life.

SUB-MUCOSAL FIBROID - Located in the muscle beneath the endometrium of the uterus.

Sub-mucosal fibroid distorts the sha[pe of the uterus.

The growth may lead to severe bleeding especially during the days of menstrual flow and this is usually chiefly responsible for complications such as severe anaemia due to heavy bleeding, infertility and death, if not properly managed.

CERVICAL FIBROID This can be found in the cervix (neck of the uterus “womb”). It rarely occurs and can also extend to adjorning structures.

Common treatment for fibroid range from regular to outright invasive procedures. They include medications, uterine artery embolisation , uterine artery ligation, myomectomy,

'Some Yoruba leaders were half-hearted in their support for Abiola' Continued from page 51

Abiola may not have had money to buy books but when you gave him your book he would cram everything.

Motion scuttled When the group of lawmakers working for the military wanted to come up with a motion to kill June 12, I led our group to stop them. The group now went outside the House but they did not receive the backing of the majority and it failed. If the motion had succeeded, then military regime would have continued in office.

Abacha took over in November and dissolved all political structures, so we were now fighting from outside.

When Abiola was going to declare himself as president, after we had a meeting at Chief Rewane’s house and made the decision, I was with him. Chief Enahoro was there, Ndubuisi Kanu was there, Ayo Opadokun was there, Senator Bola Tinubu, TY Danjuma, Ebitu Ukiwe were also there. While we were battling here, C M Y K

people like Prof Julius Ihonvbere were in America working for NADECO. Infact he assisted our people who later went on exile.

Kudirat the warrior The very day I left Benin for Lagos to see Kudirat, they told me she just drove out when I got to the house, that she was going to the Canadian embassy. I said I was coming back in the evening to meet her. It was later in my car that I heard on radio that she had been gunned down. The day we decided that Abiola should declare himself president, he spoke to most of the people relevant in government on the declaration.

And they gave him the go-ahead. But when we were driving from his house to Epetedo, the declaration spot, one Okonzuwa from Edo State waved us down and asked us why white people were planning MKO’s elimination. I replied how white people could plan to eliminate Abiola when they were the people happy that democracy was coming to Nigeria.

I said I didn’t believe what the man was saying. But it later turned out that the c i r c u m s t a n c e s surrendering Abiola’s death were suspicious because it happened after Susan Rice visited Nigeria and they said he took tea and died.

And we also had this information that since Abacha died, Abiola had to die too to balance the equation. That was what they did and that is why Jonathan must know that the democracy he is enjoying today was made possible by Abiola.

Abiola sacrificed his life

for democracy and that is why when people are saying May 29 is Democracy Day, I say it is a shame, it is actually June 12.

This was a struggle that involved all Nigerians. This was the struggle that paved the way for Obasanjo, for

Jonathan, for all others to be in office today.

I would have expected that June 12 could have been declared as Democracy Day and a national holiday as it is done in America. June 12 was inevitable but a lot of people deceived MKO.

HOSTCOM: Ughelli, Ogor monarchs affirm Irimisose as chair

T

HE traditional rulers of Ughelli Kingdom, HRM Oharisi III, and Ogor Kingdom, HRM Onajite Igere Adjara III,have reaffirmed Chief Moses Irimisose, as the constitutionally recognized chairman of Host Communities of Nigeria Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, Delta Central, thereby putting to rest the lingering leadership tussle between Chief Moses Irimisose and Hon. John Ayoro.

In a letter dated 14 th June, 2013, jointly signed by the two respected traditional rulers, and addressed to the State Chairman of HOSTCOM, Mr. Ben Iwetan, the traditional rulers reaffirmed Chief

Irimisose as chairman of Delta Central HOSTCOM, by withdrawing their letter of recommendation dated 13 th November, 2012, in which according to them, they had e r r o n e o u s recommended Hon. Ayoro for same position.

Part of the letter read: “We refer to our letter dated 13 th November, 2012, in which Hon. John Ayoro was recommended to you to be chairman of HOSTCOM, Delta Central” The letter continued: “ S u b s e q u e n t information reaching us showed that we were misinformed about the recommendation as same was characterized with fraud and

misrepresentation of facts “In pursuance of above, we hereby withdraw our earlier recommendation of

Hon. Ayoro and enjoin you to discountenance same as it does not represent our clear intention”

First left: Member representing Ndokwa East Constituency, in the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Friday Ossai Osanebi, inspecting a 12 classrooms under construction, donated by him to Beneku Secondary School,in Ndokwa East LGA.

PAGE 54—SUNDAY Vanguard , JUNE 23, 2013

C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 23, 2013 — PAGE 55

Eagles disappointed me, says Paschal P

BY EDDIE AKALONU

E

X - INTERNATIONAL, Patrick Paschal has expressed disappointment at the Eagles 2-1 loss to Uruguay at the FIFA Confederations Cup on Thursday in Brazil, saying the situation means only a miracle would bring Nigeria back into reckoning in the the competition as they meet world champions, Spain tomorrow.

“The Eagles disappointed me because they had the game under control and could have taken advantage of chances created for a positive outcome. Based on what I saw of the game,it’s unpardonable to lose. I don’t even have any excuse to give before my friends of our team anymore. I was in

similar situations in the past but my verdict is, there is no excuse to have lost the game,” said the Atlanta 96 gold medalist.

“I had defended them against public criticisms over recent performances hoping that in this tournament they will prove me right in the eyes of friends and foes. I was p a r t i c u l a r l y disappointed in the team’s inability to convert chances and those chances could have turned the game around if they were taken. It was not as if Uruguay were fantastic or did anything spectacular than Nigeria. We had that game on our hands but wastage of chances cost us the match,” he stressed.

On the game against Spain tomorrow, Paschal said, “based on form in

•Keshi this tournament, it is only a miracle that can save Nigeria because Spain remains the most lethal and potent team I have seen.

They have displayed the same form and scoring ability we saw at the last

World Cup and European championship that they won and I have my doubts about what our team can do against a Spain side I see getting ready to add the Confederations Cup to their silverware but let us pray.”

Obije wins MTN World Golfers Championships again

T

HE soft-spoken aeronautic engineer, who took everyone by surprise last year, when he won the MTN World Golfers Championship at the Western Regional qualifiers, held on the same golf course, has, once again, been rewarded with another qualification to the national Finals, in Akwa_Ibom.

Torn between fixing of aeroplanes that convey so many passengers and playing the “gentleman’s game”, that he loves so passionately, Obije, chose to listen to his heart rather than go for self-glorification by fiddling with the engines of aeroplanes, that he worked so hard to get the number one ticket from the Western Regional qualifiers last year.

As a testimony to the fact that you cannot hold down a winner, Obije, a true “gentleman”, is now one of those going to the National Finals, in a bid to pick one of the five slots, for the World Golf-

ers Championship proper.

“I believe I am in the right frame of mind to win the MTN World Golfers Championship qualifiers, having won the tourney last year. I know what it takes to win and

this year, I will go all the way to the National Finals to compete for one of the five slots that is up for grabs”. Obije said.

The event ended with a prize presentation party, at the MTN lounge, which saw Nigeria’s busi-

ness and sports elite converge on the exclusive spot. Abuja, on July 6, 2013. MTN has been sponsoring the World Golfers Championship qualifiers for over five years and has helped the game to grow in the country.

L-R Augustine Aigbotsua, Adewale Oriyo, Christopher Obije, winner of this year’s MTN WGC Western Regional qualifiers and Matins the Bolaji, during the WGC qualifiers which took place at the Ikeja Golf Club, Lagos last weekend

Flying Eagles player, Ojaga for trial in Denmark

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

B

LESSING Sunday Ojaga is excited to ply his trade in Denmark following the arrangement by his agent Ted

Haggard for trials though for a club yet to be disclosed.

The Flying Eagles player did not make it at the just concluded training tour of the nation’s team,

but the Chief Coach of the team, John Obuh had told him to wait after the training tour, Ojaga told Sunday Vanguard Sports.

The Benue State-born player who was part of the Bayelsa United team that

won the Premier league in 2008 and who played for Abia Worriors before he had a fracture in 2012, expressed joy that his form has improved after the injury that put him out of circulation

RESIDENT of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Tijjani Umar has discussed issues of interest to the country with officials of the game’s world governing body, the Inter Basketball Federation, FIBA and its African affiliate, Fiba Africa.

The meeting, according to the NBBF president, was at the instance of FIBA and it coincided with the official inauguration of the new Basketball House as well as the induction of the ‘Class of 2013’ into the Fiba Hall of Fame on June 18 and 19, 2013.in Mies on the outskirts of Geneva in Switzerland.

“The Nigeria Basketball Federation was invited by the International Basketball Federation(FIBA) to attend the official inauguration of the new Basketball House in Mies on the outskirts of Geneva as well as the induction of the ‘Class of

Umar, FIBA officials meet on Nigerian issues 2013’into the Fiba Hall of Fame on the 18th and 19th of June,2013,”Umar disclosed.

“Among the inductees was the first African player,referee or contributor to be so inducted in the person of multiple African Championship winner, Jean-Jacques Conceicao of A n g o l a .

During the period, Fiba also conducted a workshop for the invited National Federations with special focus on ‘Administrative Organization of a National Federation’, ‘Good Governance’ and the new ‘Fiba Calendar 20172030,”the NBBF boss said.

Nigeria, Korea strengthen sports ties

T

HE federal government through the National Sports Commission (NSC) is working out modalities in sports geared towards strengthening closer ties with the government of the Republic of South Korea.

This formed part of the discussions between the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdullahi and the South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Choi Jong Hyun, when the latter led a delegation from the South Korean Cultural Centre to pay the minister a courtesy visit on Friday June 21, 2013.

The minister lauded the immense contributions of the Korean government towards the growth of global sports in Nigeria, especially the desire to further develop the Taekwondo sport which will be of advantage to the prospects of Nigeria’s participation at the Olympics.

According to Abdullahi, “this is another chapter in our relationship and support to sports development,” stressing that the programme could not have come at a better time than now when sports in Nigeria

•Bolaji Abdullahi was undergoing reforms.

The minister expressed delight in partnering with the Korean government in the development of sports in Nigeria.

He used the occasion to solicit the support of the Republic of South Korea in the area of calisthenics even as the Nation prepares for the Centenary celebration in 2014.

Earlier in his remarks Ambassador Choi jong Hyun expressed his country’s willingness to work closely with Nigeria in promoting Taekwondo in Nigeria.

He was full of admiration for Nigeria’s champion Chika Chukwumerije and was optimistic that with proper training and coaching Nigeria will produce more champions in Taekwondo.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 23, 2013

Confed Cup: Amiesimaka gives Eagles tip to beat Spain F ORMER Green Eagles winger, Chief Adokie Amiesi-

maka has eulogised the Super Eagles despite their 1-2 loss to the South

American champions, Uruguay in the on-going Confederations Cup in Brazil as he gave them a tip on how to handle World champions, Spain, their next opponent on Sunday.

According to Amiesimaka, a former sports commissioner in Rivers State, Stephen Keshi and his wards should review the tape of the Uefa Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Barcelona FC and “they will see the antidote to the ‘tiki taka’ style’ of the Spanish team.

In an sms to Saturday Vanguard sports, Amiesimaka who served as chairman of Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt at a time said, “they (Eagles) gave a good account of themselves despite the loss to Uruguay. I’m confident they can hold their own against any opposition including Spain.”

He added that “if they remain focused throughout the duration of the match (against Spain tomorrow), they can spring a surprise on Spain.”

VICTORY DANCE.. Super Eagles players go dancing after scoring a goal at the Confederations Cup in Brazil. Can they have a dance when they meet Spain today?

Eagles go for broke against Spain T

HE Super Eagles suffered their first defeat in 20 matches against Uruguay in the on-going Confeder-ations Cup on Thursday, ending a run which started in October 2010, while Spain became the first team to reach double figures in the tournament’s history after beating Tahiti 10-0 in Rio de Janeiro.

However, the African champions do have some history on their side. The only time the two sides have met was at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, when Nigeria defeated Spain 3-2 in the group stage.

That enabled them to

top the group and qualify for the last 16, while Spain finished third and were eliminated.

The game also brings together Juan Mata, Fernando Torres, Cesar Azpilicueta and John Obi Mikel who are team-mates at English Premier League side Chelsea.

In theory, both sides have everything to play for. Mathematically, Nigeria and Spain can still qualify for the semi-finals and also exit the competition. Spain need a point to be certain of taking top spot, while Nigeria need to win and hope their goal difference is better than Uruguay ’s at the end of

TODAY’S MATCHES Nigeria Uruguay

Confed Cup v Spain v Tahiti

8 p.m.

8 p.m.

U-20 WORLD CUP N/Zealand Chile Uruguay England

v v v v

Uzbekistan Egypt Croatia Iraq

3 p.m.

4 p.m.

6 p.m.

7 p.m.

the game.

Six players are treading a disciplinary tightrope. Bookings for the Super Eagles’ Joseph Akpala, Michael Babtunde and Kenneth Omeruo and Spain’s Alvaro Arbeloa, Santi Cazorla and Gerard Pique would see them miss a semi-final clash.

Spain are unbeaten in their last 14 matches at

major international tournaments (2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA EURO 2012, FIFA Confeder-ations Cup 2013). Brazil hold the record of 28 without a defeat from 1993 to 1998.

Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi is not giving up hope of still qualifying from the group, stressing in an

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Nigerian state (5) 3. Snarled (7) 7. Of the dark race (5) 8. Respond (5) 9. Consumed (5) 10. Wit (3) 11. Church part (5) 13. Entrance (4) 15. Stitch (3) 17. Deed (4) 19. Hope (6) 21. However (3) 23. Thanks (2) 25. Curve (3) 26. Class (5) 29. Important (5) 30. Before (3) 31. Revise (4) 34. Mate (4) 36. Italian City (4) 39. Push back (5) 40. Heed (4) 42. End of day (5) 43. Exposed (8) 44. Halt (5)

DOWN 1. Rubbish (7) 2. Go in (5) 3. Proceeding (5) 4. Eye-socket (5) 5. Fortune (4) 6. Faculty head (4) 14. Newt (3) 15. Heavenly body (4) 16. Damp (3) 18. Keen (4) 20. Treaty (4) 22. Goad (4) 24. Always (4) 25. Beer (3) 27. Grow old (3) 28. Stray (3) 32. Lucifer (5) 33. Fashion (5) 34. Schemes (5) 37. Leer (4) 38. Otherwise (4) 41. Pup’s cry (3)

interview to fifa.com that, “Anything can happen against Spain. Everything is achievable, it depends on how much desire you have in you.

How badly you want it

and of course an element of luck to be on your side. I cannot question the boys’ level of commitment and their loyalty.”

U-20 WORLD CUP RESULTS Colombia Mexico

1

1 1

Australia Greece

2

3

1 2

4

5

6

7 8 9 11

10

12

13 15

19

14

16

17

20

21

18

22

23 24

25

26

29

28

30 31

36

27

37

38

32

33

34

35

39 40 42

43

44

SOLUTION on page 5

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa.

Advert Dept: :01- 7924470; Hotline: 01- 4707189; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail website: sundayvanguard@yahoo.com, editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com. Advert:advert@vanguardngr.com.

Internet: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: JIDE AJANI. All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

C M Y K

41