POLLS: FG shuts land, sea borders

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62370

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ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 26 , 2015

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POLLS: FG shuts land, sea borders

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POCKET CARTOON

CAMPAIGN: From left, Minister of State, FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide; Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Women Leader, Chief Kema Chikwe; Mrs Margaret Obi; wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan and Mrs Kemi Mimiko during the campaign tour of the Presdent's wife to Ibadan, yesterday.

Photo: Dare Fasube.

POLLS: FG shuts land, sea borders

By Kingsley Omonobi, Chris Ochayi, Luka Binniyat & Mayen Etim

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BUJA— ALL land and sea borders were closed last night while international flights to and from Nigeria will be suspended by midnight today as Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday to elect the President and members of the National Assembly.

With just 48 hours to the election, residents besieged the markets to buy foodstuff with prices of food items sky-rocketing, even as the Department of State Services has urged voters to be vigilant in crowded environments.

The United Nations on its part appealed to Nigerians to disappoint all the prophets of doom by conducting a peaceful election just as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Police and the Army have expressed their preparedness for the polls.

Announcing the closure of borders yesterday in a

statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji, the Federal Government said: “All borders will effectively be closed from midnight March 25, to midnight Saturday, March 28 to allow for the peaceful conduct of the forthcoming national elections.”

The statement added that the Nigeria Immigration Service had been directed to ensure that nonNigerians do not participate in any part of the election process.

COAS warns politicians

Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General KTJ Minimah has declared that any politician or group of politicians who instigate or provoke violence during the elections with a view to making the country insecure, should be ready to face organized violence in return.

He said that all security agencies, including the Police and the military were committed to ensuring that the elections were violencefree and that lives and property of Nigerians were not threatened.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

Everyone’s future is, in reality, an urn full of unknown treasures from which all may draw unguessed prizes —Lord Dunsany.

E

ven when you are totally psyched up about achieving a goal, your motivation can be affected by a number of factors, including disappointment in others, the loss of a loved one, hitting a plateau after a huge accomplishment, becoming overwhelmed, and failure to reap immediate rewards for your hard work.

Further, the condition of your personal surroundings, fear, and personal insecurities, unhealthy relationships that sap your positive energy, current projects, and even fatigue can drain valuable motivation.

Spend at least two hours this week in a motivating environment or engage in an inspiring activity.

Then use that energy to work on your worthwhile goal.

His words: "Regarding the question of security before, during and post elections, I want to say the Armed Forces, the Police and other security organisations have made adequate arrangements for security during the general and local elections in a few days and a few weeks coming.

“I do not envisage any issues because this is just an election and it will come and go; though we know there are also elements within the political class that will not want a normal election process to come and be put behind us.

“I will appeal to politicians and their followers and supporters to keep the peace; maintain the peace and ensure a violence-free election. I will appeal to law-abiding Nigerians to come out enmasse, vote for candidates of their choice without fear of intimidation, without fear for their safety. It is their right to vote.

“And whoever wants to invoke or provoke violence would meet organised violence waiting for him.

Whoever threatens violence will meet violence.”

Asked how he can reconcile presence of soldiers on the streets and court order barring them from elections, Minimah said: “I can interpret it this way. This is not our first elections in this country.

You have seen several elections in Nigeria and you have seen soldiers providing security for the elections. Have you at any time seen soldiers at polling booths? Have you seen soldiers counting ballots or carrying ballot materials, ballot papers, ballot boxes or whatever?”

DSS urges vigilance in crowded environments

The Department of State Services, DSS, on its part has urged eligible voters to be vigilant in crowded environments before, during and after the conduct of Saturday ’s elections.

The DSS in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, also called on the electorate to abide by all stipulated guidelines emplaced to ensure peaceful conduct.

Promising to provide adequate security for voters, the DSS charged that all forms of trading should be discouraged at the scene of voting.

The statement said: “The general elections are scheduled to commence on March 28, 2015.

Accordingly, we wish to advise all registered voters to go out and exercise their civic responsibility as security is guaranteed. It is imperative to remind all eligible voters to be lawabiding and security conscious while exercising their franchise.

“Equally, they should remain vigilant in crowded environments before, during and after the elections and abide by all stipulated guidelines emplaced to ensure peaceful conduct.

"Voters are advised to be wary of persons in loose or bulky midriff clothings, which are inappropriate for the weather, look out for unattended bags, luggage, dustbins, strange containers and other suspicious items. Similarly, all vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles and bicycles must be parked far away from the polling stations.

“All forms of trading should be discouraged, suspicious persons, activities and movements should be promptly reported to security agents.

The task of nation-building is our collective responsibility. Therefore, let us all play our parts and shun violence. Once again, we restate our commitment to ensuring a peaceful atmosphere for all Nigerians to contribute towards strengthening our democracy.”

UN Special Envoy calls on Nigeria to disappoint prophets of doom

Meanwhile, the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, UNOWA, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has called on all political stakeholders in Nigeria to disappoint prophets of doom by ensuring peaceful, credible, free and fair general elections in Nigeria.

Chambas, who spoke when he led a delegation of United Nations and ECOWAS diplomats to a meeting with the Rivers State PDP governorship candidate, Mr Nyesom Wike and other top PDP chieftains in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said if Nigeria concludes the elections peacefully and in a credible manner, it will be a source of pride to all black people and Africans.

He said: “I would like Nigerians to disappoint those who expect violence during the elections.

Though there was resistance about the earlier postponement of the elections, it has been admitted that the postponement is relevant.”

The UN Special Envoy noted that the international community is interested in the forthcoming general elections because of the position that Nigeria occupies in the region and the need for the country to peacefully conclude the elections so that it can further decimate the deadly Boko Haram that has committed series of crimes against humanity.

He charged the electoral umpire, the security agencies, political leaders and the voting public to remain committed to the peaceful and transparent conduct of the elections.

Responding, Wike assured the international community that the PDP in Rivers State remains committed to peaceful and transparent polls, which will see President Jonathan reelected and the PDP back to the Rivers State Government House.

Residents stockpile food ahead of Saturday polls

In a related development, amidst fear of violence and possible imposition of curfew, residents of Kaduna metropolis have been stockpiling food at home, and frantically withdrawing cash from banks ahead of Saturday’s elections.

Mallam Aminu Danmanir, Chairman, Meat Sellers Association, at

the Kaduna central market, in an interview said his members had noticed a huge increase in sales over the past few days.

Said Danmanir: “It came to us as a surprise when people started coming and buying meat in large quantities. It was later that we knew it was not because of the forthcoming Easter celebration because even Muslims were buying. It was because of the election.

In a day before now, I sell about 60kg of meat. But in the past four days, I have been selling between 90 and 110kg. We have not raised the price of meat. A kilogramme of solid beef is still N900. But, if we keep getting this pressure, the price may go up before elections.”

At Sabo main market, Mrs Agnes Sati, told our reporters that she had noticed an increase in her sales of grains.

Said Sati: “There was a day I sold three bags of rice, a bag of beans and almost three bags of Ijebu gari. It is the same for palm oil and vegetable oil. People are afraid of tomorrow.”

A visit to the United Bank of Africa, UBA, Yakubu Gowon Road; FirstBank and Skye Bank all on Yakubu Gowon Way in Kaduna, revealed many people on queue waiting to withdraw money. One of the customers told our reporter at the UBA that he was removing all his money from the bank because he may need the money should there be any problem.

Mr & Mrs

6—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

2 in police net over threat message

By Esther Onyegbula

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PERATIVES of Lagos State Investigative Bureau, SCIB, have arrested two young men for reportedly threatening the life of a man in Lagos (names withheld).

The two suspects, identified as Ayodele Omotayo, 22, and Morris Kentible Bishop, 27, were arrested by detectives after the victim reported that his life was under threat, having received strange calls and threat messages from unknown persons, asking him not to step out of his house.

The man reported to the police, who began to investigate the case and successfully apprehended the suspects.

It was learned that the victim accommodated one of the suspects, Ayodele, a Squash trainer at Country Club, in his apartment when he noticed that Ayodele had no home.

However, trouble started after the suspect bashed one of the vehicles parked in his benefactor ’s compound and the victim disengaged his services and asked him to pack out of the apartment.

Vanguard gathered that the suspects purportedly called the victim with a private number and later sent a text message that got the victim scared.

Confessing to the crime, Ayodele said: “I was aware of the threat message my friend sent to him; we did not actually plan to kill him.

“Trouble started when he began to make passes at my lover, Damilola, who I started dating in August 2013.

“He went as far as telling me that he likes my girl and would not mind if I would allow him date her.”

11-yr-old boy commits suicide over N200

By Peter Duru

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AKURDI—AN 11-yearold boy (names withheld), has reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree at Achusa village in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.

Vanguard learned from an eyewitness that the teenager allegedly took his life after being accused by his guardian of stealing N200, the only money

she had.

A source said: “It all happened on Sunday morning, when the boy ’s guardian (names withheld), was alleged to have complained that her only N200 was missing in the house she lived in with the late boy.

“She confronted the boy, who denied taking the money. But as she was leaving for church, she allegedly warned the boy that if the money was not found, she would be forced to return

him to his parents in the village.

“Unfortunately, when she got back from church later in the day, the boy was nowhere to be found. But after a search, the lifeless body of the boy was seen hanging on a tree at the back of the house.

“It was at that point that she raised alarm that attracted neighbours, who gathered at the scene.”

Corroborating the story, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Assistant

Youths protest alleged diversion of NDDC contracts in Rivers

By Jimitota Onoyume

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ORT HARCOURT— THERE was heavy traffic on the ever busy Aba Road in Port Harcourt yesterday, as aggrieved youths in the Niger Delta protested alleged diversion of water hyacinth jobs approved by President Goodluck Jonathan through the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for 100 youths in the region.

Armed with placards with different inscriptions such as “NDDC don’t divert our jobs,” “Where is our water hyacinth jobs,” and several others, the protesting youths accused the management of the commission of frustrating empowerment programmes initiated by President Jonathan for youths in the region.

Prince Amatari-Bipeledei, who spoke to the press during the protest, said 99 percent of those who applied for the water hyacinth jobs had not been given award letters, adding that one of the Managing Director’s aides allegedly diverted the jobs.

The youths charged the management of the commission to clear the air on the allegation by publishing in two national newspapers names of those who applied, those awarded and the criteria used to give out the jobs.

Effort to talk to the special adviser alleged to be behind the diversion was futile as he did not respond to messages to his mobile phone.

The protesting youths, yesterday.

Ogun residents invade INEC office over PVCS

By Daud Olatunji

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BEOKUTA—HUNDREDS of protesters from three local government areas in Ogun State, yesterday, stormed the state headquarters of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abeokuta, over failure to get their permanent voter’s cards, PVCs. The protesters were from Yewa North, Abeokuta South and Abeokuta North Local Government areas.

One of the protesters, a medical doctor and a three-time former commissioner, Mr. Isiak Salako, said: “I led my people from Yewa North, Abeokuta North and Abeokuta South Local Government Areas.

“Over 60,000 of us will be

denied our constitutional right to vote in the forthcoming elections, as we do not have our permanent voter’s cards.”

Addressing the protesters, Head of General Administration and Procurement, INEC, Ogun State, Mr. Olatoye Olufemi, said: “At the moment, we have sent our official to Abuja to collect outstanding PVCs. “The commission here in Ogun State has been able to distribute over 70 percent of the total number of PVCs received from Abuja, but we are still expecting more.”

Meanwhile, at 5.07p.m., yesterday, the state was still expecting the balance of 153,185 PVCs from Abuja.

The total registered voters are 1,795,794, while the number

Late Aishat laid to rest; autopsy reveals she wasn't pregnant

By Evelyn Usman

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HE remains of late Aishat Noble-Mustapha, the

Superintendent Austin Ezeani, said the matter was reported last Sunday at the ‘B’ Division of the state Police Command from where officers went and recovered the remains of the boy from the scene after which they deposited same at Makurdi Federal Medical Centre.

Ezeani, who said no arrests had been made on the issue, added that “we are carrying out serious investigations into the matter to unravel the mystery of the bizarre death.”

Silverbird staff, murdered at her Ogudu Government Reserved Area residence in Lagos two weeks ago, was buried at Atan

Cemetery, Lagos State, yesterday amid tears.

Meanwhile, autopsy report has shown that the deceased was not pregnant as widely reported.

Rather, the report showed that the 25-year-old lady died from internal bleeding.

She was reportedly buried at the insistence of her family, in spite of ongoing investigation into the circumstance that led to her murder.

However, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, said the burial would not

hamper investigation.

He said: “Crime has no time limit. I want to say that police is still investigating; some tests have been conducted and autopsy done.

“But we cannot add to the family’s trauma; they requested the burial and we allowed it.”

Spokesperson for the bereaved family and husband of late Aishat’s aunt, Mr. Abubakar Haruna, urged the police to unearth the circumstance surrounding her death and bring the killer(s) to book.

received from Abuja so far is 1,642,607.

2 guards docked for stealing

By Onozure Dania & Tayo Ogundipe

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AGOS—TWO guards, Simon Assom, 28, and John Inyang 40, were, yesterday, docked before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing their employer's laptop.

The defendants are facing a five-count charge of conspiracy, house breaking, entering into a building to commit a felony, stealing and neglecting to prevent a felony.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Ejime Okete, said the guards and some accomplices, who are now at large, committed the offences between March 21 and 22 on Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said the offences were punishable under Sections 285, 305(c), 306 (2), 408 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Magistrate A. A. Adefulire granted the guards a N100,000 bail each, with a surety each in like sum and adjourned the case to April 4. for hearing.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015—7

FG planning to arrest APC leaders—TINUBU zWe are confident of victory—BUHARI zHow Jonathan starved governors of funds—AREGBESOLA zJonathan lied on his achievements—FASHOLA

By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsuru Olowoopejo

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ATIONAL Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, said Federal Government was planning to arrest leaders of his party ahead of Saturday’s election.

Declaring that he was ready for arrest, Tinubu, who spoke at the 7th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos to mark his 63rd birthday, said the plot will not silence him.

Insisting that APC had a better ticket in Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and Professor Yemi Osinbajo than the President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo team of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Tinubu said despite the postponement of the polls by six weeks, President Jonathan will still lose the election.

According to him the postponement is “a stay of execution for Jonathan administration.”

The event was attended by a galaxy of APC leaders and stalwarts, including National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun; former Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; former Governor of Ekiti and Osun states. Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Segun Oni, respectively; wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun; mother of the Vice Presidential candidate, Mrs Bisi Osinbajo; Prof Pat Utomi and Chief Lanre Rasaq.

Tinubu spoke as Governor Aregbesola accused President Jonathan of starving governors of funds just as Governor Fashola said the President lied on his achievements in the last five years.

Buhari reacts Speaking at the event, Buhari said the seamless manner APC merger was consummated and the pedigree and long-time service of the leaders will yield electoral dividends for the party.

He said: “This was possible because of their personal service in their constituencies. They have served people so much that they have developed so much confidence in them.

“Though there have been previous mergers but they never materialized.

And the most interesting thing is that we looked at the opposition parties, and we realized that none of them can compete with PDP. “And during the merger, some of the parties had court cases that could delay the merger. So we constituted committees in each of the parties and they provided their terms of references. And I was told by Chief Bisi Akande that some of the parties are demanding for certain positions. But I said that the most important thing is that the merger must works. And after that, we will sit down and decide on each demand.

“All my previous attempt to defeat

PDP ended up at the Supreme Court.

But with this merger, we have done the right job. With the merger, we are witnessing progresses and come Saturday, we will succeed at the polls by God’s grace.”

Why I can’t pay salaries— AREGBESOLA

Aregbesola attributed his delay in the payment of five months’ salary arrears to Osun civil servants to “the economic strategy adopted by President Jonathan to shrink the monthly revenue of the state.”

Aregbesola lamented that the economic policy of the Federal Government had forced the state to take a loan of N12 billion from banks.

His words: “The reason for indicting the President was that when I assumed office in 2010, I met a state with an income of N2.1 billion and with a wage bill of N1.1 billion.

“Outside Lagos, Osun State is the next state with large number of civil servants under the state employ. By 2012 January, my wage bill jumped to N3.6 billion and at this time, the revenue of the state had increased to N4.6 billion.

Central government “And do not forget that the state inherited 50 percent of the entire civil servants in the old Western states. But

by July of 2013, the apex government announced an unusual decline in allocation to the state which was about 40 percent. So from N4.6 billion with which I could meet the wage need of the workers, the revenue of the state from the central government was reduced to N2.6 billion.

“Since then, the highest monthly allocation received by the government was in November 2013 and it was N3 billion. And since then, Osun State had to augment salaries. Sometimes, N600 million, N1 billion and N1.6 billion.”

On his part, Fashola said President Jonathan lied over the achievements recorded by his administration since 2011, when he was sworn-in.

He said: “As I was reading the newspaper this morning, I saw an advert published by President Goodluck Jonathan, where he listed as part of his achievements the ongoing construction of the Adiyan Phase 11 water works and the N40 billion loan for education, which the central government underwrote for Lagos State through the EKO project.

“The president claimed that they have fixed the Airport Road and built Primary Health care Centres in Lagos State. Those who use the PHC know the people you see there. There are many other things that were also said in the advertorial. That advert is a lie.

Lagos State government under my administration is the one building the waterworks. If the President wants to lie in order to win election, it is a very low point for the presidential election.”

8 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

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BUJA—CHAIRMAN of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, yesterday, said he has no regrets for insisting on deploying Smart Card Reader machines for the conduct of the general election, saying he knew that the decision would attract unwarranted attacks on his integrity as a person.

Would-be riggers the ones crying foul, says INEC boss

Jega, who stated this while unveiling the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room in Abuja yesterday,, maintained that it is only those that hitherto nurtured plans to fraudulently manipulate the outcome of the elections, that have been crying foul over the introduction of the technology which he said would only add credibility to the electoral process in the country.

He said that INEC had perfected all its strategies and put every apparatus in place with a view to ensuring a hitch free poll that will reflect the summative choice of Nigerians.

“Let me use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that we believe that we have done everything possible to ensure that the 2015 general election is successful. We are adequately prepared in terms of both logistics and manpower.

Likewise, all the security agencies, especially the police which have a lead role to play in terms of providing security during elections, have assured us that they are ready.

“Beginning from today, we are commencing the rolling out of nonsensitive materials. Likewise, from Friday, all the sensitive materials will be retrieved from the vault of the Central Bank Nigeria by our officers, accompanied by security operatives and representatives of the political parties”.

He said that the materials would be distributed to states from where it would be taken to local government areas and subsequently to the ward level.

Jega further highlighted the fact that the commission has provided and reasonably equipped Registration Area Centers, RACs, “to ensure that both our staff in various states and security agents spend few hours of the night on Friday there to enable them to be ready to deploy the sensitive materials on the election morning”.

He assured that there will be remarkable reduction in the delays that were previously experienced in the commencement of elections, as well as retrieval of materials at the end of election.

However, the INEC boss said it was regrettable that the results of the election will not be electronically transmitted to the collation points. He said though INEC initially piloted the procedure at two previous elections in Cross River and Niger States, “we decided that we will not put the electronic transmission of results to use in 2015 in view of the controversies the procedure might likely generate from those who

Why I'm being attacked over card readers — JEGA don’t see anything good in what we are doing as a commission.

“We can see the dust that the introduction of card readers raised. So we decided to keep piloting and improving on the system beyond 2015, hopefully, by 2019, the commission will introduce it for the general election”.

‘They know card readers 'll stop alteration of figures'

On the issue of the card readers, Jega, who stressed that the process will help address concerns about the alteration of election figures to fraudulently confer advantage on some candidates to the detriment of others, said no such thing would

happen this time around.

“This is indeed why they have been attacking me because they know that the card reader machines will help us to address all those irregularities, starting from the accreditation of voters at all the polling units. How can they manipulate the election when all the information with regards to the number of voters that turned out at every polling unit is automatically captured and transmitted by the card reader machines?

‘We have made rigging impossible for them'

He continued; “We have made rigging impossible for them as there is no how the total number

of votes cast at the polling unit could exceed the number of accredited persons. Such discrepancy in figures will be immediately spotted. This technology will further make it impossible for any corrupt electoral officer to connive with any politician to pad-up results”, he added.

Besides, Jega noted that in the past, dubious INEC officials usually delayed the entry of number of accredited voters until the end of voting so as to have the leeway to tamper with results, a problem he said would be obviated by the smart card readers.

He said that both the card readers and the result sheets

would be taken to the ward levels, “once there is evidence of tampering, the information saved in the card reader will be retrieved.

“To my mind, these are some of the reasons why many of them are opposing the use of the card readers. The crooked ways they used in the past to get away with manipulation of election results have been dealt with. This time, with the card readers, such fraud will be easy to establish.

“We have further made arrangement that all the results coming to local government collection centers will be scanned, transformed to PDF format and uploaded on our website so that anybody can go there and confirm result from his polling unit.

“We believe that this is an added value to our process, it is something that we have not been able to do in the past. Let me also use this opportunity to advise political parties to pay attention to the appointment and accreditation of agents they will deploy at the polling unit level.

They should not appoint people without credibility, who can be bought over by other party agents”, Jega stated.

Police promises adequate security

FOREIGN OBSERVERS OF THE 2015 ELECTIONS President Goodluck Jonathan flanked by the Head of African Union, AU, Observer Mission to Nigerian Election, former President Amos Sawyerr of Liberia (4th left) and the Head Commonwealth Mission, former President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi (4th right) while the National Chairman PDP, Mallam Adamu Mu'azu (3rd left) Information Minister, Senator Patricia Akwashiki (left) and others after the President met foreign observers of the 2015 elections at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida.

Earlier at the event, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, who was represented by the force public relations officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, expressed the readiness of the Nigeria Police Force to provide adequate security during and after the elections.

He said that particular attention was being focused on the protection of NYSC members that will work as ad-hoc staff for INEC during the elections.

PRESIDENTIAL POLL: Buhari survives disqualification scare ...As hearing on 10 suits challenging his eligibility suffers setback

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

A

BUJA—RESPITE respite came the way of the presidential candidate of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) yesterday, as hearing on 10 separate suits that sought to disqualify him from contesting against President Goodluck Jonathan this weekend, suffered a setback.

Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned hearing on all the suits till April 22 and 23, shortly after he declined to join two human right activists, Mr. Chukwuma Ochu, who is a member of the APC in Rivers State, and Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa from Lagos State, as interested parties in the suit.

The court struck out the two

joinder applications on the premise that the matter could be effectively heard and determined without the input of the two activists who the court described as “meddlesome interlopers and busybodies”.

Justice Adeniyi maintained that the duo failed to convince the court on how their personal interests would be affected by the outcome of the suits if they are not joined as parties in the matter.

“The parties seeking to be joined in the suit have nothing to lose if they are not made parties. I agree with counsel to the plaintiff that they are meddlesome interlopers who want to waste time of this court.

The two joinder applications lack merit, they are hereby discountenanced and accordingly struck out”, the court held.

Essentially, the deferment of

hearing on the suits has put paid to speculations that Buhari who was accused of supplying false details to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with regards to his educational qualifications, might be legally knocked out of the presidential race at the eleventh hour.

Investigations by Vanguard yesterday further revealed that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, was a major influence on the decision of Justice Adeniyi to subtly push hearing of the suits beyond the already scheduled presidential election.

A top source in the office of the CJN, who pleaded anonymity, told Vanguard yesterday that the CJN had sternly warned all heads of courts in the country, including the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice

Ibrahim Auta, to caution all judges under them not to grant or issue any order or injunction on any election related matter, capable of exposing the judiciary to unnecessary public opprobrium.

The CJN was said to have particularly warned two judges of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, who were said to have between them, issued over 50 exparte orders prior to the 2011 general elections, to put themselves on check or face severe sanctions from the National Judicial Council, NJC. The source equally told Vanguard that other heads of courts that the CJN also directed to closely monitor all political matters pending before Justices/Judges under them, included the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa and the Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice I.M. Bukar.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 — 9

Jonathan’s men out to demonize ex-military leaders — IBB

By Chris Ochayi

A

BUJA—FORMER military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, yesterday described as callous and wicked the attempt by promoters of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid to undermine the military institution by embarking on mudslinging campaigns against former presidents and leaders of military background.

General Babangida, who spoke while referring to an alleged onehour documentary aired by Silverbird Television on Tuesday night; March 24, 2015 in a statement issued by his media office in Minna, the Niger State capital, said President Jonathan’s campaign handlers were out to demonize and stigmatize former military leaders and cast aspersions on them in order to malign their reputation.

‘Documentary demeaned OBJ, Abacha, Buhari, Abubakar, myself'

He said the documentary “deliberately impugned the integrity of Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, my humble self; Ibrahim Babangida, late Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and T.Y Danjuma; all of whom have had the privilege of presiding over the affairs of this great country at various levels. It is either that those promoting the hate documentary are intellectually delinquent or they suffer memory loss; or a combination of both.”

“Apart from promoting hate campaign, which clearly undermines the modest contributions of these former presidents, the commentaries in the documentary against the

...Lauds policies made by military

MEETING: Chairman, National Peace Committee, General Abdulsalami Abubakar briefing State House Correspondents after a closed-door meeting between the Committee and President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, Abuja. To his right was; Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe and Fr Hassan Kukah (left) and Sultan Abubakar Sa'ad III (back row) Photo by Abayomi Adeshida. former presidents leave a sour taste in the mouth,” he said.

According to the statement “In clear attempts to whip up support for President Goodluck Jonathan, certain persons, groups and individuals have embarked on several campaigns of calumny against former military Heads of State and presidents who have had the opportunity to govern this country.

“Of particular reference is a one-hour documentary aired on Silverbird Television on Tuesday night; 24th March, 2015 that deliberately impugned the integrity of Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, my humble self; Ibrahim Babangida, late Sani Abacha,

Abdulsalami Abubakar, and T.Y Danjuma; all of whom have had the privilege of presiding over the affairs of this great country at various levels. It is either that those promoting the hate documentary are intellectually deliquent or they suffer memory loss; or a combination of both.

“I have my very strong reservations about the contents and thematic focus of the said documentary. Apart from promoting hate campaign which clearly undermines the modest contributions of these former presidents, the commentaries in the documentary against the former presidents leave a sour taste in the mouth.

“Nobody is stopping anyone

from campaigning for their preferred candidates contesting various positions in the elections, but to do that at the expense of the reputation, contributions, patriotism, loyalty and sacrifice of former presidents to the Nigerian state is, to say the least, immature.

“For record purposes, and without sounding immodest, the idea of a PDP that has now become the “largest party in Africa” started in my home, here in Minna. With the support of my fellow colleagues, we prepared the way for this democratic process that has now led us to where we are presently. We built the democratic infrastructure.

“Those who are parading

FG planning to accuse our chieftains of electoral fraud — APC

By Charles Kumolu

L

AGOS—THE All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the Federal Government of planing to plant Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs and card reader jammers in the residences and offices of some of its chieftains so as to accuse them of electoral fraud during the elections.

It also frowned at plans by the Dr. Fredrick Fasehun-led Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, to deploy its members to polling units during the polls.

Briefing newsmen yesterday in Lagos, the party ’s Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed called on voters to ignore the order given by the Inspector-General of Police that they go home after casting their ballots.

His words: ‘’On March 21st, our

themselves as democrats today, all participated in military governments. As a deliberate principle of remaining unsung, or blowing my own trumpet, I have elected over the years to maintain dignified silence on so many issues concerning Nigeria while I cultivate my access to each sitting President to pass across my advice in whatever form.

“It is on record and this is incontrovertible that the government I ran paraded some of the best brains this country can be proud of. I still remain eternally grateful to those wonderful brains who participated in our government to fashion a new roadmap for re-engineering the country.

party issued a statement in which we raised the alarm over a plot to arrest some of our leaders,, especially Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on trumped-up charges.

Though they rushed to deny it, we have it on good authority that they have not given up on that evil plot.

In fact, they have now cast their net wide to ensnare more APC chieftains, including Senator Bukola Saraki, Malam Nasir ElRufai, Senator Femi Ojudu, Hon Dakuku Peterside, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, Senator Sola Adeyeye, Senator Jajere, Senator Serika Hadi, Senator Jide Omoworare, Hon Nathaniel Agunbiade and Hon Bimbo Daramola. ‘’The plot is to plant ammunition, PVCs and card reader jammers, which they have dubiously acquired, in the residence, office or vehicle of these APC chieftains.

The APC chieftains will then be

arrested with fanfare and subjected to trumped-up charges. We have just learnt of the statement by Dr. Fredrick Fasehun of the OPC that he will deploy OPC members to every polling unit across the country to monitor the presidential elections. This is simply outrageous and nonsensical. ''In the first instance, Dr. Fasehun’s party, the UPN, is not even on the ballot because a court has ruled that it cannot contest the elections. Secondly, in what capacity will Dr. Fasheun deploy OPC members to monitor the elections? ‘’Is OPC accredited by INEC to monitor the polls? When did ethnic militias become election monitors? This is what President Jonathan has caused by drafting outlaws into the electoral process, all in a desperate

attempt to win. Now, those who should be in jail are calling the shots on national elections. What an anomaly.’’ ‘’Now, as Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday, we urge them to do so peacefully but resolutely.

Irrespective of the conflicting signals from the police, they should not just vote but stay behind to defend their votes. ''Police first said Nigerians should vote and go home, and later reversed itself and said voters may stay back after casting their ballots. This confusion is aimed at confusing them.’’ ‘’As we said earlier, voters should ignore the unlawful order from the IGP, voters should rather listen to the INEC Chairman, who said the electoral law does not state anywhere that voters cannot or should not wait to watch and ensure their votes are counted.''

“Some of our policies have remained unsurpassed till date and most of what the country enjoys today was a creation of the Military.

From primary healthcare to good roads, DFRRI, Better Life for Rural Women, housing, river basin authorities, MAMSER, new airports, agricultural development and other economic infrastructure, to mention but a few, were platforms where our interventions were felt.

“We achieved that much with very slim resources. If we had the several billions of dollars that are flying around today, we would have turned Nigeria to the Dubai of Africa.

“The military is an institution that is so dear to my heart. It is an institution that nurtured my growing up and my achievements in life. I am not only sold to the military institution and by extension the Nigerian state, I am betrothed to it.

“As a profession, retirees are bound to participate in politics and democracy as an all-inclusive process, same way that Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Nurses, and Civil Servants get involved in it. It is the reason why I ventured into politics in 2003 before I quit in 2010.

It is the same reason why General Obasanjo participated and got elected; and now General Buhari.

“It is therefore very curious that promoters of President Goodluck Jonathan’s aspiration would attempt to demonize and stigmatize former military leaders and cast aspersions on them in order to malign their reputation.

This is very unfair.

Praises military over Boko Haram

“Fact is; the military fought a civil war to keep this country together.

What I suffer today is a consequence of the injuries I sustained during the Nigeria Civil War. I am not sure there is any patriotism that is more than that.

Some of us were prepared to die for the country.

“The military is presently combating the dreaded Boko Haram sect to restore Nigeria’s territorial integrity. What law under a democracy forbids retired military personnel from participating in politics and presenting themselves for election?

10— Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

POLLS: Ekiti APC accuses Fayose of

coaxing workers zAs governor suspends two public officers

Osun doctors threaten strike

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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Gbenga Ariyibi

DO EKITI—GOVERNOR Ayodele Fayose’s plan to inaugurate an Appointment Committee to prepare ground for massive employment is a hoax, says All Progressives Congress, APC. The party also said it had uncovered a plan by the governor to coerce state workers to vote for PDP in the Saturday elections or be prepared to lose their jobs.

A statement by APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said the deceit was hatched Monday afternoon at a meeting in his Spotless Hotel where he told his loyalists that he would constitute the committee to sway aggrieved members of PDP so that they could join him to work for the party in the Saturday's election.

Olatubosun said Ekiti people should note that all the committee members that Fayose would announce at the inauguration ceremony slated for the Government House would be mainly aggrieved PDP members who are influential in their communities.

He said this is a grand lie and deceit Fayose is noted for, adding that the governor had no plan to appoint anybody as repeatedly said since he assumed duties.

“What is the job of the Civil Service Commission? What is the job of the Local Government Service Commission? Or does a

governor need any committee before he can approve political appointments? What has he done with job applications he asked Ekiti youths to write during his campaign when he promised that jobs would be available immediately after his victory if Ekiti people voted for him?

“Check his Spotless Hotel where he packed all the application letters and you will discover that all the letters have been burnt,” Olatubosun said.

Suspension or workers

Meantime, Fayose is said to have placed two public officers on suspension following allegation of illegal deductions from the salary of teachers in the state.

The two officials are Mrs Owoseni R.K, former Education Secretary and Mrs Kayode F.F, an accountant from Ido-Osi Local Government Area of the state.

The duo were accused of illegal deductions from the salaries of teachers in the local government under the guise of recouping money for the

repayment of laptops given to teachers by the former administration of Dr Kayode Fayemi.

Fayose said the two officials had four weeks to prove their innocence before a committee set up to investigate the matter.

“They have to go for suspension for four weeks, because the allegation against them are weighty, they would appear before a panel where they would show their innocence or otherwise,’’ he was quoted as saying.

MORTGAGE SCHEME: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos(centre), his deputy, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (to his right), members of his cabinet and winners of Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme at the draw in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

Ogun residents invade INEC office over PVCs A

By Daud Olatunji

BEOKUTA—LESS than three days to the general elections, hundreds of protesters from three local government areas in Ogun State, yesterday, stormed the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abeokuta, over their failure to get their Permanent Voters' Cards, PVCs. The protesters were from Yewa North, Abeokuta South and Abeokuta North Local Government Areas.

Leading the protesters, a medical doctor and a three-time former commissioner in the state, Mr. Isiak Salako, said over 60,000 registered voters from the three local government areas might be disfranchised if they did not get their PVCs before the election holding on Saturday.

He said: “I have come here leading my people from Yewa North and Abeokuta North Local Government, including Abeokuta South Local Government.

“Over 60,000 of us who have been denied our constitutional right to vote for the candidate

of our choice in the forthcoming elections by not having our permanent voters' cards.

“INEC has insisted that anybody who does not have a permanent voters card will not be allowed to vote. This is my own temporary voters.

Up till today (Wednesday),

we have not seen our PVCs.” Addressing the protesters, the head of general administration and procurement, INEC, Ogun State, Mr. Olatoye Olufemi, said the commission was working seriously to ensure that all registered voters get their PVCs, as a member of

staff was still in Abuja waiting for remaining consignment for the state.

Meanwhile, as at 5.07pm yesterday, the state was still expectingthebalanceof153,185PVCs fromAbuja.

The total registered voters are 1,795,794, while the total number received from Abuja so far is 1,642,607.

Jonathan 'll record landslide victory in Ogun —ISIAKA

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B E O K U TA — T H E governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka yesterday predicted landslide victory for President Goodluck Jonathan, saying Ogun people will massively vote for him and other National Assembly members fielded by the PDP. He, however, disagreed with some opinion polls that predicted victory for the All Progressive Congress, APC, presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in Ogun

State, saying such polls did not reflect the reality on ground but were manipulated for a predetermined purpose.

He said many electorate in the state did not see any fortune in Buhari’s presidency and they are determined to vote against it.

He said: “Even as some credible polls gave victory to President Jonathan, the PDP has not relented in its efforts to ensure that Mr. President wins the election convincingly.

“We laughed at the polls that said Buhari will win in Ogun State as the wishful thinking of

the sponsors of the polls. But unknown to them, Ogun people are already looking beyond the APC in the state because the party has disappointed them with unfulfilled promises and massive corruption going on in the state.”

Isiaka spoke while fielding questions from journalists at a PDP sensitization rally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

He said Ogun people are wiser than to fall for the antics of the APC, noting that the propaganda and sentiments that won them votes in 2011 are no longer tenable.

O

SOGBO—OSUN State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has threatened that it would direct its members in the employ of the state government to embark on strike should the state government fail to pay the five months salaries it owe them.

Chairman of the NMA in the state, Dr Suraj Ogunyemi who addressed a press conference in Osogbo yesterday hinted that the affiliate bodies of the association have notified the state government of the planed industrial action.

He explained that the state government paid medical doctors in its employ last in October, 2014, adding that members of the NMA in the state daily experience suffering following the nonpayment of their salaries.

Ogunyemi also alleged that deductions from salaries of his members were also not remitted to appropriate quaters by the state government since February last year.

However, the NMA boss stated that the association was ready to negotiate with the government, just as he expressed the readiness of the association to dialogue with the government on the matter.

Electoral materials arrive Oyo

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By Ola Ajayi, Bukola Ifegbayi & Fisayo Ogunwale

BADAN—RESIDENT Electoral Commissioner in Oyo State, Ambassador Rufus Akeju yesterday took delivery of ballot papers and other election materials which were brought by the officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The materials which were loaded in three articulated trucks were supervised by security agents, including the police and the men from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

They were received in the presence of representatives of political parties and other stakeholders.

The materials were led into the premises of INEC in Ibadan by the branch Head Controller, CBN Ibadan, Mr. Musibau Olatinwo.

He delivered the message from the INEC national chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega, that the materials should be distributed only according to permanent voters received in each local government in order to check electoral fraud during the election.

Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, MARCH 26, 2015 — 11

12—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

PDP alleges plan by Oshiomhole to monitor polls with helicopter

By Gabriel Enogholase

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ENIN—AHEAD of this weekend's presidential and National Assembly elections across the country, Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has raised alarm that Governor Adams Oshiomhole is planning to use a helicopter to monitor the elections despite the restriction on movement by the Police.

PDP also alleged that the governor spent an average of N500 million every month on security over the years when there was no Boko Haram insurgency or war in the state, more so when security reports show that the state was not facing security challenges as is the case in the North-East.

The party said there was no justification for the governor to spend over N500 million monthly or N5-6 billion annually as security vote.

It said that the government has a responsibility to develop the state but regretted that all overseas travels by the governor to attract foreign investors had not yielded any dividends.

‘Don't politicise pipeline surveillance contracts'

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AT I O N A L Chairman, Niger Delta Forum for Good Governance, Chief Satchie Etoromi, has carpeted those kicking against pipeline surveillance contracts awarded to ex-militants by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, imploring them not to play politics with it.

Speaking in Warri, Delta State, Chief Etoromi, explained that pipeline surveillance contracts were designed as a source of employment for exmilitants in the amnesty given to them by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, saying that at the inception of the contracts, pipeline vandalism was reduced and crude oil production rose significantly.

He expressed surprise that some cynics kicked against the contracts awarded to ex-militants and failed to realise that apart from protecting the oil facilities, they created jobs that kept the youths from the job market and kept their minds off social vices.

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Edo State PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, who addressed journalists in Benin, yesterday, said: “We heard that Governor Oshiomhole plans to use a helicopter to monitor elections on Saturday when there will be restriction on movement.

“I call on the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, to ensure that the restriction on

movement on election days is enforced. Nobody, no matter how highly placed in Edo State, should be allowed to move from one place to another in contravention of the restriction order.”

However, in his reaction, Edo State APC State Publicity Secretary, Godwin Erhahon described PDP’s allegation that the governor plans to use a

helicopter to monitor the election as mere speculations, saying, “I don’t know how they come about that.

“If there is restriction on movement on election days and the governor as the Chief Security Officer, CSO of the state decides to use helicopter for his movement to ensure the maintenance of law and order, there is nothing wrong with that.”

TOWN HALL MEETING: Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State (left), addressing a cross section of Hausa community during an interactive town hall meeting in Calabar, yesterday.

Oshiomhole tasks INEC on credible polls

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

ENIN—AHEAD of the March 28 and April 11 general elections, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure the delivery of voting materials to polling centres on time so as to guarantee credible democratic elections.

Meanwhile, the state government has alleged that it had uncovered plans by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to clone the voice of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, which would be used to send out messages in support of the PDP presidential candidate, Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement by the Special

Adviser, Media Affairs, to the governor, the state government urged people of the state and across the country to ignore such message as Oshiomhole was solidly behind the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and indeed all other candidates of the party.

The statement reads: “It has just come to the attention of government and the APC in Edo State that in a show of desperation, the PDP in the state has concluded plans to clone the voice of Governor Oshiomhole, by telling people and especially members of the APC, to vote for Jonathan.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we

wish to state categorically that Edo State is fully in support of Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC. The governor is unequivocal in his support for Buhari and all the APC candidates in Edo State and across the country."

Meanwhile, Oshiomhole, who spoke when the Edo State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, said: “One major area is the question of late arrival of materials. This has been a tool that INEC has used oftentimes, deliberately, to reduce the number of voters, but that is not the number that could have voted if INEC did not try to collude to delay the materials."

POLLS: FG to police N-Delta creeks with 30 gunboats

By Samuel Oyadongha

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ENAGOA—THE 30 gunboats recently acquired by the Defence Headquarters to boost the war against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta are to be deployed in the creeks of the region during the general elections.

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, disclosed this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during the commissioning of the gunboats

at the Bayelsa Government Jetty.

Speaking at the event which had in attendance Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Kenneth Minimah; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Usman Jibrin; Commander of the Joint Task Force, Major General Emmanuel Atewe; Bayelsa Police Commissioner, Mr. Paul Okafor and other service chiefs, traditional rulers among others, Badeh said

though the gunboats were acquired to check the spate of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in the region, they will be used to police the waterways during the polls.

He said: “Aside from curtailing oil theft, these boats would come in handy during the polls. The troops of the OPPs will use the boats to dominate the creeks as a warning to would be trouble makers. We all want peace to prevail, so trouble makers, be warned.”

Ikuru remains deputy gov, says Rivers govt

By Jimitota Onoyume

P

ORT HARCOURT— RIVERS State Government, yesterday, said the status quo still remains with Engr Tele Ikuru as Deputy Governor of the state, thus dismissing fears that the state government would initiate impeachment proceedings against him.

Meantime, the Deputy governor was absent at the second emergency state cabinet meeting at Government House, yesterday.

Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, who briefed newsmen at the end of the emergency cabinet meeting said it was presided over by Governor Rotimi Amaechi who is Chairman of the cabinet.

The commissioner who confirmed that the deputy governor, Ikuru who is Deputy Chairman of Cabinet was absent, added that no apology was received from him ahead of the meeting.

Pa Johnson Edematie (alias Chigbi, Make Am 2 JMJ) is dead

P

Johnson Edematie, 80, is dead. The late Pa Edematie who died on February 19, after a brief illness at Sapele, hailed from Jakpa and Utonla, both in Warri North Local Government Area, Delta State.

Until his death, he was a prominent community leader and businessman.

Burial arrangements as announced by his family are as follows: Wake keep at his residence, Ikomi Quarters, Sapele, April 3, 2015 and final burial rites at Utonla, April 4.

The late Pa Edematie is survived by 10 children, 24 grandchildren, numerous relations and friends.

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Late Pa Edematie

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015—13

Environmentalists, Shell differ on spills investigation reports

By Samuel Oyadongha

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E N A G O A — ENVIRONMENTAL Rights Action/Friends of the

EPZ: Navy beefs up security ahead of Jonathan's visit

By Egufe Yafugborhi

Earth, Nigeria, ERA/FoEN, and Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, have differed on oil spills investigation process in Bayelsa State.

ERA/FoEN, an environment non-governmental organisation, accused Shell of withholding Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, reports of oil spill incidents traced to equipment failure to evade payment of compensation but promptly reports sabotage induced spills.

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ARRI—AHEAD of today ’s visit by President Goodluck Jonathan to Delta State for the groundbreaking of the $16 billion Export Processing Zone, EPZ, the Nigerian Navy has intensified security along the state’s coastal line.

Commodore Musa Gemu, Commander, NNS Delta, who led a naval Show of Force, yesterday along the project's location in Warri South-West Local Government Area in preparation for the visit, said the exercise was intended to guarantee maximum safety of lives and property before, during and after the presidential visit.

SPDC on its part, said that the company conducts Joint Investigation Visits of spill sites in line with government regulations, adding that whenever a spill occurs, efforts were made to contain the spill, with access to the spill site usually a critical factor in shaping the response.

But ERA in a statement by Mr. Alagoa Morris, its Head of Field Operation in Yenagoa, explained that SPDC has been engaging in the act of denying host communities in the Niger

Delta access to JIV reports indicting the company over oil spill incidents.

The group also accused Shell of deploying security operatives to intimidate the communities and deny them of vital JIV reports listing Ikarama and Biseni communities of Bayelsa State and Joinkrama 4, and Edagberi/Betterland communities in Rivers State as some of the communities the company had denied JIV reports.

BRIEFING: From left: Mr Rotimi Omotoso, Registrar/CEO, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN; Mr Olumuyiwa Coker, member; Mrs. Ada Chidume-Okoro, council member and Mr Chidi Ajaegbu, President, during the press briefing on the 50th anniversary of ICAN, in Lagos yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

S-South, S-East Professionals task presidential candidates on restructuring

By Ikechukwu Onyewuchi

nation vis-à-vis the 2015 electioneering campaigns, growing fears of post-election EARY of Nigeria’s violence and the state of dire economic situation preparedness of Independent and uncertainty lurking over the National Electoral Commission, polls, South-South, South-East INEC, were discussed, the Professionals, SSSEP, has urged group emphasised that INEC the presidential candidates of owed Nigeria successful, the different political parties to violence-free elections as much focus their energies on as each party knows what was restructuring of the country to expected of it. foster unity and peaceful coIt noted that any candidate existence. who was keen on restructuring Speaking at a general the country should give a assembly of the group, where commitment to that effect. assessment of the state of the The professionals said: “A

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sincere candidate should commit that he or she will use the first two years to restructure the country. What we expect on Saturday is a referendum on restructuring. After this, the candidate who wins will step aside. This will douse tension in the polity.”

The group said it hoped that Nigerians would cast their votes based on issues and not be swayed by personality attacks that have dominated the political campaigns, adding that though there were fears that there might be political

unrest if the election result does not favour some people, everyone should work to ensure that Nigeria remains united.

According to them, “If the election had been held in February 14, it would have been a very imperfect election. The distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards, PVC, was skewed with more than 35 percent of cards from particular sections of the country not distributed. As professionals, we hope things do not degenerate due to the issues that resulted from the initial postponement, because it is obvious that INEC wasn’t ready at that time.”

“SPDC often clandestinely denies the communities of the JIV reports, many of which are equipment failure-related oil spills. Shell has continued to deny the people of JK4, Ikarama and Biseni JIV reports craftily and, this is unacceptable.

“They withhold such reports from the communities and fail to post most of such incidents on the company ’s spill incident website; the particular spill incident numbers are often quoted when giving out clean-up contracts.

“One such incident number is 900866 and relates to a 2012 spill which occurred at Shell’s Okordia Manifold in Ikarama which is conspicuously missing in SPDC’s website.

“After signing the JIV, Shell refused to give out the community copy on the pretext that they needed to photocopy the report. On the way they would force the community representatives to get down from the vehicle and speed off,” the group said.

14 — Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, MARCH 26, 2015

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15 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MARCH 26 , 2015

Germanwings plane crash: Black box has usable data — Investigators •Search underway for second ‘black box’ •World leaders visit site

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R E N C H investigators yesterday said that usable data has been extracted from the cockpit voice recorder of Germanwings 4U 9525 plane even as it has so far yielded no clues as to the cause of the plane’s crash.

They said the plane hit the ground in the French Alps at great velocity, suggesting no explosion in flight.

Flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf had crashed after an eight-minute rapid descent on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board.

Remi Jouty, the director of the French aviation investigative agency, said there were sounds and voices on the cockpit voice recorder but that it was too early to draw any conclusions.

There had been earlier reports that the second black box the flight data recorder - had been found. But Mr Jouty said this was not the case.

Jouty said the plane’s last communication was a routine one with air traffic control. The plane confirmed instructions to continue on its planned flight path but then began its descent a minute later.

Mr Jouty said controllers observed the plane beginning to descend and tried to get back in contact with the pilots but without success.

He ruled out an explosion, saying: “The plane was flying right to the end.”

“The plane hit with great velocity, so parts are scattered over a great distance and have broken up into very small pieces.

“At this stage, clearly, we are not in a position to have the slightest explanation or interpretation on the reasons that could have led this plane to descend... or the reasons why it did not respond to attempts to contact it by air traffic controllers.”, Jouty said: While investigators

have managed to hear some audio from the flight data recorder, one of two so-called “black boxes” on the flight, the other “black box,” the flight data recorder, has not yet been found.

Meanwhile, the French interior minister has said hat terrorism can’t be ruled out but “is not considered the most likely explanation”

Victims:

Meanwhile, victims are from Germany, Spain, Australia, Britain, United States, Iran, Belgium, Netherlands, Colombia.

World leaders visit site:

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived together by helicopter yesterday in the remote Alpine region where an Airbus plane smashed into a mountain, ahead of an international tribute to the 150 victims.

Simlarly, Spain’s Mariano Rajoy later joined them in the village of Seyne-les-Alpes, headquarters of search operations.

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in Tuesday’s crash, the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris.

Spanish officials said 49 Spaniards were among the victims.

The discovery of the cockpit voice recorder has raised hopes that experts might be able to access the data within hours

Lufthansa speaks:

Earlier Lufthansa said it could not explain why the Airbus run by its low-cost Germanwings unit crashed. Investigators said the remoteness of the crash site meant it could be days before a clear picture of the tragedy emerged.

However they said the fact that debris was restricted to a small area showed the A320 was not likely to have exploded in mid-air, suggesting a terrorist attack was not to blame.

“It is inexplicable this could happen to a plane free of technical problems and with an experienced, Lufthansa-trained pilot,” Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr told reporters in Frankfurt.

Lufthansa said the 24year-old plane had on Monday had repairs to the hatch through which the nose wheel descends for landing. A spokeswoman said that was not a safety issue but that repairs had been done to reduce noise.

Police and forensic teams on foot and in helicopters investigated the site about 100 km (65 miles) north of Nice where the airliner came down en route to Duesseldorf from Barcelona.

Rescue workers and gendarmes assembled at an airfield near the crash site

Pupils at the school in Haltern-am-See, Germany, offered counselling

The German, French and Spanish leaders visit the site

Cause remains a mystery

A day after Germanwings Flight 9525 slammed into a remote corner of the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, as the cause of the crash remains a mystery.

M e a n w h i l e , investigators braved treacherous terrain to scour the scene for a second day as they searched for clues and the remains of the 144 passengers and six crew members who lost their lives, school children and two babies among them.

The discovery of the cockpit voice recorder has raised hopes that experts might be able to access the data within hours.

But conditions for recovery efforts were not ideal, with wind and low cloud in the area. Even

The recovered cockpit voice recorder was badly damaged in the crash without inclement weather, crews face an array of challenges: Near vertical mountain slopes. Tiny pieces of debris. Human remains strewn for hundreds of meters along a deep ravine.

The site is also far from accessible. The plane

crashed in an area known as the Massif des TroisEveches, near Digne-lesBains, where mountain peaks soar almost as high as 3,000 meters (1.9 miles).

Helicopters took off Wednesday from Seyneles-Alpes, the staging

ground for search efforts.

Officials say they need to fly copters to the crash site to allow teams to conduct search and recovery efforts. Some workers are being winched down to inaccessible spots, while others are using crampons to keep a grip on the frozen ground.

16 — Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, MARCH 26, 2015

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 — 17 “We, therefore, do not believe that a country should die because it held elections. On the contrary, elections should strengthen democracy, and reinforce national development. In view of that, we do not agree with any group or interest threatening fire and brimstone over the outcome of the elections. Nigeria belongs to us all, and is greater than all…

When the results of free and fair elections are released, let the loser be gracious in defeat, and let the winner be magnanimous in victory. In such contest, there is bound to be a victor, just as there would be a loser. Hell should not boil over. We repeat; No country should die because it held elections. Fair play, please.

And may these elections strengthen the bonds of our unity in diversity” – Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE)

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AM a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and honestly feel that the statement, this week, from our Standing Committee, was a most welcome summation of the minds of not just Editors, but a broad section of the Nigerian people and friends of our country, in other parts of the world.

I watched President Obama’s broadcast to the Nigerian people on Monday; and it underlined the hopes for our country from the outside world and the apprehensions that the world feels about the potentials for violence and even at the extreme, the unraveling of Nigeria, as a consequence of the outcome of our General Elections.

When President Obama, said he heard that there was a saying in our country, that “To keep Nigeria one, is a task that must be done”, he not only tapped into the troubled history of our country, which necessitated that remarkable slogan, but it was also a powerful reminder, especially to the nation’s political elite, that the world cannot afford the unraveling of our country.

Nigeria is far too important than many of its often, fractious elite groups even seem to understand.

That is why in moments of contestations of power and privileges, it is often the past time of some of them to even question the continued unity of the country.

On the other hand, there are absurd romanticisms of war and secession in other circles. All these forces have come to a head in the weeks leading to the elections that we expect to kickstart on Saturday.

These elections won't kill our country ways, from spirited discussions in homes and places of work and on various internet forums. No matter from which angle we look at the developments of the next coming days, Nigeria is poised dangerously on the edge of a future that is pregnant with a frightening possibility and a welcome departure, both!

What eventually triumphs between the doomsday scenario and the liberating possibilities of a deepening of democracy, largely depends on the choices made by the Nigerian ruling class. This is one election that I think people made up their minds about very quickly and early, in terms of who they would vote for.

I think it was that realization which deepened the bruising campaign and it is the frightening possibilities that some ominous tailwind will scupper the fragile democratic construct that in turn has led to the worries which Nigeria’s friends abroad and Nigerians themselves have been expressing.

Late on Tuesday night, I received a telephone call from Professor Abdoulaye Bathily, former President of the Senegalese National Assembly, who is now UN Representative in Central Africa. I have not heard from Bathily in four years, since 2011. But he had called, according to him, to ask what the situation in the country was, on the verge of the elections. From

Bruising campaigns There is no gainsaying the fact that we have seen the most bruising election campaigns in recent memory. The hate speeches; the names calling, threats and actual acts of violence and the killing of dozens of our compatriots around the country, underscore the very high stakes involved in these elections.

Never since 1999, have we seen the sharp division which characterizes our country today, just as a huge swathe of our population have been drawn into the political process, in many

A democratic electoral process will deliver one way or other; what we should not accept is to see democracy becoming the death of our country

abroad, the perspectives have been dominated by worries about what might happen, if we fail to satisfactorily manage the lead to the elections; the electoral process and the post-election outcomes.

Elections have always been a major source of worry all through Nigerian history, especially since Independence, in 1960. Our political elite employs the “Do or Die” attitude thus hardly ever leaving room for resolution which places at the heart of development the overall interest of the country; this is exacerbated by the winnertakes-all nature of Nigerian politics. It leaves the loser completely out of the loop.

The result of this attitude litters our history and the underdevelopment of our political and democratic culture is directly related to this malaise. The violence which trailed the 2011 elections, resulted in the death of people in several parts of Nigeria and the displacement of communities; the reverberations are still very much with us in places like Southern Kaduna, where a sustained peace building effort seemed to have eluded the government and the governed.

The stakes are higher this year than previously, because there are underlining and very complex problems which condition these elections. None has tasked Nigeria as much as the Boko Haram insurgency and the response of the government and the opposition.

This context has also fed into the manner that groups like MASSOB, OPC and ex-Niger Delta militants have been mobilized as part of the campaign strategy of the ruling party and President Jonathan.

The possibilities of mayhem from these quarters are real indeed especially because these groups have received huge sums of money and now have an interest in the continuation of the government and president that gave them access to fabulous enrichment.

That explained why many of these groups and individuals associated with them threaten Nigeria, if their preferred candidate is not “allowed” to complete a second term. In the long run, it is unlikely, that Nigerians will accept to vote with a gun to the head from these groups; and by late Sunday night, we should hope that INEC would be able to announce the result of

a Presidential election that will tell us whether Nigerians settled for the continuity that President Goodluck Jonathan pitched for or

the change that General Muhammadu Buhari promised.

I made up my mind who I would vote for, as long ago as 2003 and I am certain that other Nigerians have made up their minds too. One candidate will lose out and a candidate must win. If INEC delivers on its promise to make these the best elections ever, we must then rally round as citizens, to ensure that it is Nigeria that wins in the long run.

We will use our votes on Saturday, to make a definitive choice. When we have made such a choice, we should then be willing to face the consequences.

A democratic electoral process will deliver one way or other; what we should not accept is to see democracy becoming the death of our country.

I want to be optimistic by saying that these elections won’t lead to the killing of our country!

The political challenge in Kwara State

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Y the time you read these lines, I will be in Ilorin, ready to cast my vote in this year’s elections. I had deliberately registered in Ilorin, because it is the way that my state has been mal-administered since 2003, that has concerned me much more than practically everything else.

I voted in 2011 and came out disappointed, since the reigning hegemony was still able to steal the elections.

Democracy can be pitiless, especially where a hegemonic control has been foisted on a society; and the control of the resources of the community is carefully manipulated to deepen the impoverishment of the mass of the people and the consequent exploitation of the dire circumstances of the people, to reinforce the hegemon. Since 2003,Kwara state has been the honey pot of a single, pitiless hegemony.

Humiliating hegemony It is that insensitive, self-serving and poverty inducing, as well as humiliating hegemony, that I have ALWAYS been opposed to.

It is precisely the reason that I chose to register to vote in Ilorin.

My single vote has a deeply symbolic position for me. I will use that single vote against the continuation of hegemony that perpetrates the underdevelopment of Kwara State.

That rebellious cast of vote is to express myself as a LIBERATED citizen who REFUSES to be enslaved by this arrogant hegemony and hegemon.

Afterall, my forefathers provided the spiritual, intellectual and political leadership for the creation of the Ilorin Emirate.

I can NEVER forget these facts of history and that act of remembrance, is encompassed in the REJECTION of the political leadership and hegemony in Kwara today.

It is also significant, that as a Political Scientist and journalist, I can see through the deceptive

inaccuracy of political sloganeering. The ruling party in Kwara mouths the slogan of CHANGE. But we have been under the same hegemonic control since 2003. So how can a tendency in power since 2003, and which DESPERATELY desires continuity of the same hegemony, now say it is committed to change? This is a classic case of deceit. CHANGE in Kwara today, means CONTINUITY. I personally reject that form of change. Our eyes are locked so firmly on the presidential elections, and we seem to have forgotten that there are other positions up for grab in Kwara state, and in the Ilorin Emirate in particular (Kwara Central). So in tune with the statement that all politics is local,these positions are the Senate seat and the two House of Representatives seats, for Ilorin West/Asa and Ilorin East/Ilorin South.

Honestly, I think we do need CHANGE but NOT change that amounts to CONTINUITY of the SAME hegemony that holds Kwara, and especially our financial resources, in a suffocating bearhug. We CANNOT afford continuation of a leadership style constructed in the shape of permanent slave master, who determines the fate of millions of citizens of Kwara state.

The central kernel of this leadership is personal enrichment of the hegemon, his family and satraps on the one hand; and the immiseration of the mass of our people, their destitution and humiliating dependency on hands out from the hegemon, on the other.

I am a descendant of the historic makers and liberators of this community, so my vote will be given to candidates who also REJECT a STATUS QUO which falsely describes itself as committed to change. MY single vote as a liberated citizen of this community will NEVER be given out for the CONTINUATION of the enslavement, humiliation and pauperization of our people.

NEVER!

18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 VOTES counting would ordinarily mean that people are casting their votes with a certain wakefulness that informs their decisions. For politicians, votes counting would mean that adequate numbers of votes to ensure victory are in their favour.

Nigerians should ensure their votes count on issues that are central to our survival as peoples, and a nation. If Nigerians do not approach the elections with circumspection, 2015 would produce the same unsatisfying outcomes we have had since 1999.

We complain without addressing our concerns. The lengthening complaints about politicians have more to do with the individuals than political parties. The quality of candidates is regrettably low.

Across the parties, candidates who offer themselves for elections, and their supporters within the system, have cast methods that leave voters with minimal knowledge of candidates. We should vote for candidates with character and credentials, those have been willing to permit scrutiny of themselves.

We have paid dearly for ignoring candidates since 1999. We would pay the

For V ot es TTo o Count Vot otes same price again if we cast our votes without considering our past, present and future. Votes that count should produce strong voices, to represent the voiceless.

We need candidates, who, when elected, would work for the common good. They are in the pack, we have to find them. These issues are important, whether we are electing the president, governors or legislators.

It is important too that those we are electing would lead Nigeria out of economic gloom. Candidates we are electing should have clear milestones for assessing how they would re-direct Nigeria from further drifting. The glossy posters and promises

are sometimes veneers for the emptiness of candidates. We should look beyond them. Nigerians’ dissatisfaction with our current political system stems from two points, the near total neglect of the welfare of the people and the aversion of public office holders to accountability. The joint impact results in frustrations with almost all governments throughout Nigeria.

We can get out of this jam by voting out of a conviction that our choice, our voice, our vote would make a difference to the parlous state of Nigeria. We cannot vote out of fear. We cannot vote out of intimidation.

Our choices have to be made freely.

Candidates would be judged for their past, present and sketches of the future. They have sold themselves to a sceptical public.

People want to vote on their perception of candidate’s stand on issues: major, minor.

Most importantly, Nigerians want candidates to ensure a secure future for Nigerians, beyond current concerns.

Voters’ choices that are based on capacities of candidates to work for the common good should supersede the primordial considerations that keep slipping into the campaigns.

OPINION

I

By Odinaka Chukwuka

T is always an easy and simple task to write about Sen. Andy Uba. The man who represents Anambra South in the Senate of the Federal Republic has left clear and positive prints on the sands of time and the paths which lead to his many accomplishments are uncomplicated and straightforward. Even though mischief makers labour to derogate from the distinguished senator's impeccable references, what is not in doubt and had never been, is the fact of a great number of people, who have so many good things to say about the man’s life of enduring philanthropy, which has made him the champion of the masses.

As the senator campaigns for re-election into the Senate, as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), political opponents have resorted to mudslinging and distortion of facts, in a desperate bid to soil the reputation of a man who has, by his sincere commitment to the welfare of people, become the obvious choice of many people in this election. The desperate bids begin and end on the pages of newspapers.

A great number of students who have been given opportunity to go to school because of Andy Uba’s scholarships cannot be told that Andy Uba’s scholarship is a ruse.

What lies can be sold to the thousands of men and men who feed their families because of their thriving Keke businesses, which Andy Uba facilitated by giving them motorcycles and tricycles free. How do opponents of the senator intend to convince the widows not to vote for Sen. Uba, who before these elections, had given

Anambra South and the Andy Uba candidancy them grants to start up businesses, which have sustained them and their families?

Numerous hospitals and orphanages cannot forget in a hurry, how much Sen. Uba’s financial and infrastructural assistance made them more capable and efficient in the discharge of their duties to humanity.

It has been said that politics is a dirty game but I do know that there are some records that even politics cannot tarnish or diminish. Andy Uba’s record is one of such records. Countless number of persons who got discharged from various hospitals because Andy Uba heard of their plight and paid their hospitals bills will vote in this election and common sense suggests how all these people will vote.

It is against this background that I find the various attempts of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for the Anambra South election, to question the reputation of Sen. Andy Uba, very comic and infantile.

Few days to the election is not an auspicious time for rabble – rousing nor is it time to allow emotions to run riot. This is also not the time to sweep germane issues under the carpet or to be unnecessarily confrontational or disrespectful to the

This is also not the time to sweep germane issues under the carpet

person of a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic. I advise all contestants to treat the present occupier of the office with as much respect as they hope to get, if they ever get into the office.

For instance, on March 19, 2015, one Ozoemena Ikwueto, ended up admitting that Ndukwe was guilty as many of us had charged him. Hear what Ikwueto wrote, “Pray, what has senatorial aspiration of this statesman got to do with his inability to attend age grade and town union meetings ……”. This is unbelievable coming from the camp of a man who seeks to represent a people. If you do not mix up with the people and attend meetings with them, how can you represent them?

Ikwueto was not done. Again, he said: “It would have been pitiful to have seen how Okpala would have felt and reacted during one of his Oraifite Town Union Meetings, watching Ndukwe on television making a representation for Nigeria at the international Telecommunication Union, ITU in Geneva, Switzerland instead of sitting in one corner of his village square, arguing about some family land disputes”.

This is the height of ignorance. Ndukwe is not aspiring to represent Nigeria in Geneva. He is aspiring to represent the simple folks of Anambra South Senatorial Zone at the National Assembly in Abuja.

His knowledge of international telecommunications is not in dispute.

What is in dispute is his commitment to community service. If you cannot come down from your high horse and sit in one

corner of the village square to listen to matters concerning your community, you are obviously not going to the Senate to represent these people and how then can the people of that community and the entire people of Anambra South Senatorial Zone trust you to represent them? Even President Barack Obama of the United States of America nearly lost the opportunity to become the first African – American President of the US, irrespective of his distinguished profile as a highly successful legal practitioner because Americans questioned his commitment to community service, for the single reason, that he has no known record of military service. He now had to show Americans that he had an outstanding record of community service in his home state of Illinois. I challenge Ikwueto to come out and show the electorate of Anambra South Ndukwe's record of community service, even in his native town of Oraifite. The truth that must be told is that Engr. Ernest Ndukwe has a very, very poor record of community service.This is why Sen. Andy Uba remains the choice of many.

He spends time in his “village square” arguing about ways of improving the lives of his people. They know him and he knows them and because he was diligent over his small community, the entire Anambra South voted for him as they will vote for him again.

*Mr. Chukwuka, a political analyst, wrote from Awka, Anambra state.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015— 19

Concluding remarks (2): GEJ RESIDENT Goodluck who lost primary elections to Jonathan enjoyed, perhaps, GEJ in the People’s Democratic P the greatest goodwill of any Party (PDP) were bent on making elected president in the history of this country by this time four years ago. Everything was going his way until January 1, 2012 when he sought to remove the subsidy on petroleum products.

The world was going through the “occupy” protests, and the budding opposition, fuelled by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) political camp, tried to orchestrate an “occupy” revolution in Lagos hoping it will catch on nationwide.

It did not quite succeed. The president pegged the new petrol price at 97 Naira. But that was the end of the honeymoon and the beginning of the president’s bruising dates with serial embattlements. Shortly after this, a seriously crippled Boko Haram made a roaring resurgence and the cult of suicide bombings and manufacturing of improvised explosive devices made their ignoble landfalls in our country. Nigerians were attacked in their churches, mosques, homes, communities, motor parks, police and army barracks as well as prison confinements. It seemed as though the Northern politicians

good their threat to destabilise his government.

Shortly after this, crisis broke out inside the PDP. Some ambitious chieftains from the North who wanted to challenge the president for the party’s ticket were stiff-armed by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the then National Chairman, who felt that President Jonathan, having performed well in office, did not need a divided party on his way to a second term in office. Soon, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) split into two. Rebel governors of the PDP joined their opposition peers to form a faction under Governor Rotimi Amaechi, while the rest of the PDP governors pitched camp with Governor Jonah Jang. After a brief factionalisation, five of the seven governors of the “New” PDP joined the newly-merged All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP haemorrhaged profusely as federal and state legislators decamped to the APC. While that was going on, the Boko Haram insurgents became a multi-national force. They abducted the Chibok school girls in April 2014 and started

grabbing territories in the North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. The Nigerian Army was repeatedly sabotaged by fifth columnists within and outside, forcing the military to conduct series of court martials and purge itself. The President’s efforts to upgrade the equipment of the armed forces to face down the terrorists was maliciously sabotaged by enemies of the nation, and the president had no choice than to dump America and go to Russia to buy arms.

The kaleidoscope of conspiracies, sabotages, internal desertions, rebellions, collusions and fifth-columnism which President Jonathan has experienced in the past four years is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. Yet, even more unprecedented is the civility and equanimity with which he handled them all.

Jonathan deviated from the normal expectation that when a regime is embattled to the point

The kaleidoscope of conspiracies, sabotages, internal desertions, rebellions, collusions and fifth-columnism which President Jonathan has experienced in the past four years is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria

The longest 48 hours

I

N the same way that the darkest part of the night is just before dawn, the most important part of an election could also reside in some of the things we do, or fail to do, immediately before the election.

Evidently, a wise farmer does not spend an entire year gathering sticks without using them to stake the yams. In the next 48 hours, we shall be writing the examination for which we have been preparing all these years. This looks like the longest 48 hours.

One central prognostication that ran across the entire period, nationwide, was the early recognition of the fact that Nigeria has a history of election and postelection violence and that there was a crying need to nip it in the bud. Like never before, the attention of the people was awakened to the dire need for peace. There was the Abuja Accord in which the presidential candidates of the political parties contesting the 2015 elections gave an undertaking that they would take proactive steps to prevent electoral violence at all levels before, during and after the elections.

The Abuja accord later permeated all segments of society to the extent that some police formations at State and Local Government levels even got their people to enter into some accords.

Since then, people of goodwill have preached peace, talked peace, walked peace and lived peace. Barring some sporadic outbreak of squabbles here and there, the accords have worked. In any case, the real litmus test of the accords begins on Saturday when we get to the polling stations.

The Chief Peace Officer of the Federation, IGP Abubakar Abba, could not drive his point home neatly enough when he counseled that people should cast their

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votes and go home. This was apparently in his genuine desire for peace. But the stand of the law, which is what people want to hear, is that, you could go home, or you could stay at the centre to protect your vote but in doing so, you must remain peaceful.

The accord mandated the contestants and their parties to run issues-based campaigns. The ball is now in our court. Of necessity, our votes must also be issuesbased.

Essentially, the future begins today. The votes we cast today will determine our future and that of generations yet unborn.

If we vote wisely, we shall enthrone good governments that will take us out of the current quagmire. If on the other hand, we accept peanuts and vote in the wrong people, the result will also be there to see.

The choice is ours.

At the elections, there will be winners and losers. We have a word or two for each category: To the victor belongs the spoil of office.

This is an age-long philosophy. On the winning side, it will be jubilation galore.

The jubilation will continue far into the future. A word of caution is necessary: As the winners bask in the euphoria of their victory, they must not allow their jubilation to degenerate into violence and destruction.

People must know that the Election Tribunal is not a casino where gamblers go to try their luck

of going to war to recover lost territories it usually becomes harsh, dictatorial and tampers with civil rights of opponents.

Instead, it was under this atmosphere of freedom that four opposition parties and a breakaway faction of the ruling party came together to forge a formidable front that could very well threaten Jonathan’s second term bid.

When the ruling party claims that President Jonathan has performed more than previous presidents put together, it may be riding the crest of hyperbole.

But taking the quantum of achievements in various sectors of the economy, such as transport, power, agriculture, education, roads and infrastructure, there is no gainsaying that Jonathan has put in more in five years than any other president. There is no doubt that the boom of our oilfed economy gave us more funds than any other president ever got, but we also have to factor in the handiwork of political traducers, without which the nation would truly have made a quantum leap beyond emerging as the largest economy in Africa under GEJ. In many ways, the regime of Goodluck Jonathan contributed to its own poor perception despite its outstanding performances across the sectors. The President himself admitted that he neglected the importance of the media and failed to invest resources to propagate its own virtues. The same could not be said for the opposition, which has shellacked the regime and ruling party with its withering propaganda. It grabbed a media momentum for General Muhammadu Buhari that is not

justified by Buhari’s poor track records as a former head of state.

Though I am more inclined to give the result of the Saturday election result to President Jonathan because he has done well and needs to complete his good work, the election is too close to call. If Buhari wins the election, it will be the first time in our history that a sitting, performing president has been dethroned through a gang-up of regional forces of the North and West against the first elected Minority president of Nigeria. It will be a momentous dispensational change that will usher in new political overlords who have very little in common ideologically. We may spend the first four years going through expensive power struggles between the various factions that amalgamated into the APC. The main shootout will be between a putative President Muhammadu Buhari and a civilian, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) who will obviously want to prove he is the “National Leader” of the new party in power.

But if President Jonathan wins, it will be a triumph of gentility and civility over conspiracies, sabotage and sectionallyinspired rebellions. The next four years will be smoother and more decisive as he would have learned from his mistakes and purse his place of pride in the history of the nation. Moreover, the battle of succession in 2019 will no longer be between North and South, as both major political parties would likely be sourcing their presidential candidates from the North.

Here is wishing Nigeria FREE, FAIR, CREDIBLE and PEACEFUL elections 2015!

They must not take the law into their hands. No matter the amount of jubilation, the truth remains that jubilation cannot develop Nigeria. The development of the nation requires something else. It requires earnest, patriotic and ceaseless work from all of us. Every Nigerian, irrespective of party affiliation and irrespective of religious and ethnic differences, must quickly banish from his heart, all feelings of disappointment, all sense of chagrin, and, like the gallant soldier, fall in line, salute the colours and face the enemies.

Our enemies are many: They include unemployment, bad roads, extreme poverty in the midst of plenty, insecurity, health and educational institutions that are virtually comatose, infrastructural deficiencies, environmental degradation and so on. Indeed, Adlai Stevenson (19001965) is our perfect guide here: “Even more important than winning the election is governing the nation. That is the test of a political party; the acid final test. When the tumult and the shouting die; when the bands are gone and the lights are dimmed; there is the stark reality of responsibility.

On the debit side, people must realize that he who has never failed has never really succeeded. It is not falling that matters but the ability to rise each time you fall.

Evidently, losers must lick their wounds, particularly in the face of the prohibitive cost of running election in Nigeria today.

But they must not be tied down by the loss.

Neither must they allow their loss to becloud them into perpetuating violence and wanton destruction. Rather, they

should pick courage and return quickly to the drawing board. After all, elections are akin to the process of choosing class reps, except that general elections involve more people.

There is one evil that is common among politicians they rush to the Election Petition Tribunals as soon as their failures are announced, thus creating the impression of being bad losers. People must know that the Election Tribunal is not a casino where gamblers go to try their luck.

The tribunal is a serious business for serious-minded people who should approach it only on those rare occasions where they have good cases to present.

It is not good politics, and does not make for quick reconciliation, that a man who loses heavily at an election must also sink further millions into the hands of the men in silk on frivolous cases.

If the leadership of your party insists that you must approach the tribunal with a porous case, be man enough to tell them that you are not interested. Let them go to the tribunal and if they win, they can appropriate the victory to whoever they like.

On the side of the Judiciary, the time has come for us to insist on accelerated attention on all cases at the tribunal such that only actual winners are sworn into office. Instances where judgments on cases are delivered after the expiration of the tenures are totally unacceptable.

Happy voting, Nigerians.

20 — Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, MARCH 26, 2015

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 — 21

Unilever acquires N43bn shares of Nigerian unit *Plans to raise stake to 75%

By YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report

in the growth forecast comes as the West African nation’s dependence on oil revenue has left it struggling from the decline in crude prices. Unilever’s proposal is still subject to approval from the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission. Citigroup Global Markets Ltd and Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Ltd are acting as financial advisers to Unilever.

U

nilever is planning to raise its stake in its Nigerian unit to as much as 75 percent to benefit from expected economic growth in Africa’s most populous nation.

Unilever, whose detergents and deodorants are used by 2 billion consumers daily, wants to raise its stake in Unilever Nigeria Plc from its current 50.05 percent, with the parent company buying as many as 944.5 million shares at N45.50 naira. That’s a premium of 34 percent to Unilever Nigeria’s closing share price on Monday. The deal, at the intended offer price and with maximum acceptance, is valued at N42.97 billion (about $218 million), Unilever said. Unilever intends to keep the Nigerian company’s listing on the local stock exchange.

Bruno Witvoet, Executive Vice President of Unilever Africa, said in a statement that the move “demonstrates our commitment to the Unilever Nigeria business and confidence in the long-term growth prospects of the company and consumer goods sector in Nigeria.”

Nigeria’s economic growth may slow to 4.8 percent this year from 6.3 percent in 2014, the International Monetary Fund said March 5. The cut

Skye Bank to float N100bn commercial paper to boost liquidity

By Peter Egwuatu

S

kye Bank Plc has concluded arrangement to float N100 billion commercial paper (short term monetary instrument) in order to boost its liquidity. The commercial paper would be traded on the secondary market under the platform of FMDQ Over the Counter OTC. The Managing Director/ CEO, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, who disclosed this at the signing ceremony of the Commercial Paper programme of the planned N100 billion said

$137.70

-4.15

$2,772.00

15.00

12.37

From left: Chairman, Briscoe Technologies, Mr. Emmanuel Ekong; Technical Director, Briscoe Technologies, Mr. Ralph Schubert and Regional Marketing Manager, Overseas Marketing Department, Hytera Communications Corporation Limited, Mr. Jimmy Jin, during the SECUREX West Africa Exhibition, in Lagos.

-0.37

“The bank will issue the commercial paper in tranches starting with a N20 billion 90day fixed income that will be offered to domestic

It is one way the bank will boost liquidity other than deposits

Falling oil price: Nigeria, others risk N5.1tn in pipelines projects

By Ediri Ejoh

CURRENCY

BUYING

$54.98

-0.94

$47.39

-0.06

CENTRAL

DOLLAR 196 196.5 POUNDS 292.6868 293.4335 EURO 215404 215.9535 FRANC 205.0209 205.5439 YEN 1.6421 1.6461 CFA 0.3069 0.3169 WAUA 271.236 271.9283 RENMINBI 31.5835 31.6645 RIYAL 52.2583 52.3916 KRONA 28.8626 28.9362 SDR 272.7144 273.4101

197 294.1801 216.503 206.0669 1.6503 0.3269 272.6202 31.7455 52.5249 29.0098 274.1058

CBN Exchange Rate as at 24 /3/15

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institutional investors in a sale closing March 27, 2015. The instrument will be traded on the FMDQ platform so that it would allow investor who wants to exit to do so.”

According to him “It is one way the bank will boost liquidity other than deposits.

Liquidity is the blood of a bank; hence remains a challenge to the banks due to tight regulatory requirements such as the increase in public and private sector cash-reserve ratios. We are always in need of liquidity either for transactions or capital.”

He further explained that the commercial paper to be floated

N

IGERIA among other countries may risk over N5.1 trillion ($30 billion) worth of oil and gas pipelines projects due to the persisting decline in crude oil price. As it stands, some major infrastructure project pipelines are being threatened of being heavily curtailed, as falling oil prices force those governments reliant on oil revenues to make cuts, the Business Monitor International, BMI’s Infrastructure Key Projects Database has revealed.

The report studied major oil producing and dependent countries like; Iran, Iraq, Russia and Nigeria, as having at least $30billion of projects at risk.

The report said: “the current oil price environment will put a strain on infrastructure projects around the world.

We have already seen the cancellation of petrochemical projects in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and we expect that across most markets oil and gas pipelines and industrial construction projects in the refining sector will likely face similar prospects. However, forecasts predict that over the coming years, the impact will have a much broader effect on some markets in particular, adding that these countries risk project completions because of the falling oil strides.

“With this in mind we highlight Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Russia as markets with sizeable portions of their project pipelines ($30bn plus) in the planning stages which are vulnerable to cutbacks.

is an alternative instrument needed to boost liquidity and not capital. “We already have adequate capital” he noted.

Speaking as well, the Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC , Mr.Yinka Sanni said “ We commend Skye Bank for giving us the opportunity to package this transaction.

Stanbic IBTC is the adviser as well as agent of the bank in this commercial paper instrument. It is a landmark transaction as it is the second bank to do the commercial paper after 2009 when CBN abolished it.

Skye, which has $6.8 billion of assets, joins Nigerian lenders including Access Bank Plc in raising capital amid measures imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to bolster the naira. The CBN last year increased lenders’ cash-reserve requirement for public sector deposits to 75 percent from 50 percent and private sector deposits to 20 percent from 15 percent.

The yield on Skye Bank’s initial fixed income sale will probably be 75 basis points to 100 basis points above similarmaturity government debt, said Oguntayo. Yields on Nigeria’s three-month Treasury bills fell 96 basis points to 14.21 percent on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The regulator in 2013 named eight lenders as systemically important and said they needed capital adequacy ratios of at least 16 percent.

22—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

The reason most startups fail boils down to incompetence including lack of planning and no knowledge of financing

,

,

Challenges of entrepreneurship and way out T

hinking of starting your own business? Before you venture off into the great big world of business ownership, you’ll want to know the facts so you can ensure you are mentally and emotionally prepared to handle life as an entrepreneur.

About 25 percent of startups fail during their first year, and that percentage increases each year in the business’s lifespan until by the tenth year, 71 percent of startups would have failed.

Success is highly dependent on both the type of industry and founder’s experience level. The tech industry is the toughest to breakthrough, in fact, 90 percent of tech

Choose supportive people to invest what little time you have in

startups fail. But more than half of startups in other industries like finance, health, education, agriculture, services, wholesale and mining don’t make it either.

Unfortunately, the reason most startups fail boils down to incompetence including lack of planning and no knowledge of financing.

Unbalanced or lack of managerial experience remains the second most common reason for failure. As an aspiring entrepreneur you should be prepared for the worst.

See failure as opportunity in disguise: You might experience failure, but it is how you respond that will have the final say in what comes of your endeavors. In many cases, failure can serve as a redirection, leading you to a new pursuit you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Don’t get caught in a trap of negativity. If you fail, get up and keep going.

Your social life may suffer: Entrepreneurs often cite having relationship problems. While on the

journey to growing a venture many report not having the room or mental capacity to be fully involved in the lives of others. Long hours are spent at the office. In fact, the office may even be home, so an entrepreneur never truly leaves work. Phone calls will demand to be answered around the clock.

Friends and family might not understand. You’ll find yourself apologizing for being unable to breakaway.

It will be a continuous tugof-war between your personal life and career endeavours.

Surround yourself with supportive people: Your all-encompassing career endeavors might take a toll on your relationships, but with the right people in your life, your relationships will be strong enough to withstand even the most disastrous days.

Choose supportive people to invest what little time you have in. You’ll know they’re supportive when they show compassion and understanding when your plans change quickly. Dark times may tempt you to isolate yourself, but don’t.

Those are the times when you need to reach out to your friends and family most. If they truly belong in your life, they will be there to break your fall.

Take frequent breaks: The health of a startup founder can go downhill fast.

Lack of time due to long hours means less healthy eating choices, too.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, taking breaks actually helps improve productivity.

It’s easy to want to breathe every last breath of your life to help your business venture take off. But, before anything else, you and your health need to come first.

Otherwise, you might burn out and be incapable of taking care of the business long-term.

Don’t define yourself by your business: Several business owners lose their identity in their business, and it failed them. Their career was their whole life, their whole world. Don’t let anything as fickle as the economic market define your life.

BUSINESS NAIRA EXCHANGE RATES (24/03/15) Currency DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

Buying(N)

Central(N)

Selling(N)

196

196.5

197

292.6868 215.404 205.0209 1.642 0.3069 271.2363 31.5835 52.2583 28.8626 272.7144

293.4335 215.9535 205.5439 1.6461 0.3169 271.9283 31.6645 52.3916 28.9362 273.4101

294.1801 216.503 206.0669 1.6503 0.3269 272.6202 31.7455 52.5249 29.0098 274.1058

Commod Light Crud

Natural G Sugar Coffee Cocoa

Business enthusiasm: Nigeria tops global ranking

By Yinka Kolawole, with agency report

N

igeria leads the world in enthusiasm for business, according to a survey carried out by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Indeed, the report noted that, all across Africa, a growing wave of grassroots self-starters are taking risks and defying obstacles to bring their money-making ideas to life. Armed with a can-do attitude and hopes of striking it big, they’re navigating a conundrum of challenges to pursue opportunities at a time when many African countries enjoy unprecedented levels of economic growth.

GEM is the acclaimed largest study of entrepreneurial dynamics in the world, providing information to help policy

makers, civil society and the business community understand the obstacles to nurturing entrepreneurship, enterprise promotion and growth. GEM annual surveys arer carried out in 99 countries.

The GEM survey noted that Nigeria leads the world in the proportion of the population who believe they have the skills to run a business, with almost 90 percent of Nigerian adults believing they have the ability to become entrepreneurs. The result of the survey shows that out of every 100 Nigerian adults, 35 are involved in some sort of entrepreneurial activities. It added that Nigerians are not deterred by fear that their new enterprise will fail; only 21 percent were concerned by this risk.

The survey confirms Nigeria as an entrepreneurial nation, where most adult Nigerians see opportunities in entrepreneurship, believe in their own entrepreneurial

capacities and declare themselves ready to start and run a business. Indeed, 44 percent of the population intend to create their own businesses within the next five years. Of those surveyed for GEM, almost a quarter (22 percent) said they expected to create between 6 and 19 jobs over the next five years.

Growth and development In 2012, the report stated, 21.7 percent of Nigerians aged between 18 and 64 years of age were preparing to start a new business, which is the second highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa, after Zambia, and 14.9 percent of adults were actually running a new business.

GEM noted that Nigeria had taken a number of steps to support small and mediumsized enterprises and the federal government has established support for the private sector as a policy

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 — 23

,

& YOU

dity de

Gas

COMMODITIES (25/03/15) Last 48.24

Change ($) +0.73

% Change +1.54

2.75

-0.04

-1.33

12.56

+0.11

+0.88

140.50

+3.20

+2.33

2,793.00

+10.00

+0.36

priority. "A number of schemes to help small business are in operation such as the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Bank of Agriculture (BoA)."

Access to finance All new entrepreneurs report finding financing for their ventures is a barrier to creating and growing an enterprise, while lack of access to finance is the major reason for the discontinuance of an enterprise. There are few domestic equity sources, as well as limited sources of export finance, and SMEs’ participation in the stock market is minimal, due to their inability to meet the listing requirements, as well as their persistent tendency to operate as much as possible in the informal sector.

The commercial banks remain the primary formal source of finance for enterprises.

Though banks are already encouraged to give more money to entrepreneurs, but procedures need to be simplified and information about financing schemes should be more widely available.

Gender dynamics Nigeria stands along with the handful of countries with more women entrepreneurs than men and more early-stage female entrepreneurs than males. Africa leads the world in the number of women starting businesses, with

Out of every 100 Nigerian adults, 35 are involved in some sort of entrepreneurial activities

almost equal levels of male and female entrepreneurs. In fact, in countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia the women outnumber the men.

Overall, the continent has a much higher proportion of female entrepreneurs compared to other regions, with Nigeria and Zambia (both 40.7 percent) coming on top and countries like the United States (10.4 percent), the UK (5.5 percent), Norway (3.6 percent) and France (3.1 percent) lagging far behind.

According to Mike Herrington, executive director of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and professor at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the main reason for this is because women in Africa “need to earn an extra income to be able to afford to send their children to school.”

Young entrepreneurs About 82 percent of Nigerian young people perceive a good opportunity to start a business while 86 percent believe that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to start a business.

However, young males tend to have slightly higher intentions and perceptions of good e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l opportunities and capabilities than the young females.

Over 82 percent of Nigerian youths see entrepreneurship as a good career, 77 percent believe that successful entrepreneurs have high status and recognition and 78 percent are comfortable with the level of visibility that entrepreneurs enjoy in the media. The decision to go into entrepreneurship was mostly influenced by parents and friends. This is reflected in the fact that the majority of young entrepreneurs source their start-up finance from family and friends, and nearly half of them conduct their business from home or on the street.

When plans are not integrated between various levels and functions of the organization, change fails to take place

,

Is your organization's strategic planning a waste of time and resources? (4) By ‘Uju Onwuzulike

“The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy”...Michael Porter

T

o wrap up this series, we need to look at these three areas: 1.

FAILING TO I N T E G R A T E PLANNING AT ALL LEVELS Every organization’s number one strategic management goal is to develop a plan, but unless the plan is integrated at all levels, strategic misalignment and disconnections occur, often resulting in frustration and conflict. When plans are not integrated between various levels and functions of the organization, change fails to take place and important activities fall between the cracks and blame occurs.

Solution: Cascade the Plan Down Through the Organization For strategic changes and key results to occur, the Strategic Plan, Mission, Vision, Values, Key Success Measures/goals, and Core Strategies must be cascaded through each level.

Targeted results and strategies must be cascaded down from senior management and the board of directors to middle management, from middle managers to front-line employees where it is reflected in employee objectives for which they are rewarded. If failure occurs on any level, only limited change can occur.

2.

KEEPING PLANNING SEPARATE FROM DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT The most common mistake in both public and private organizations alike

BY ‘UJU ONWUZULIKE

Unless the plan is reviewed at the end of each year and kept up to date, it becomes regarded as out of date

is treating Strategic Planning as a process separate from daily management, not as a way to reinvent the way we do business day–to–day.

Planning is frequently treated as an exercise to get out of the way in order to get back to the “real work.”

Solution: Integrate the Strategic Plan with Daily Management One of the keys to success is having a systematic, disciplined implementation process. It begins with a Plan-to-Implement day that signals to the entire organization the implementation process has begun. In addition to ongoing management processes, regular monthly check-ups and quarterly review meetings provide a process for accountability and to track progress with

the management team and key stakeholders. Both monthly and quarterly meetings are vital to maintain team alignment towards the plan, foster interdepartmental/ functional communication, and celebrate progress towards the plan. The implementation process, led by the organization’s Strategic Change Leadership Team, is responsible for initiating and maintaining the plan’s implementation.

3. FAILING TO KEEP THE PLAN CURRENT Under the pressure of “servicing today’s business,” it is easy for leaders to neglect the importance of keeping their blueprint or plan current and signing off changes as is done in construction. Most organizations are well intentioned but, without a deliberate process, implementation is typically delayed or done in a haphazard manner. Unless the plan is reviewed at the end of each year and kept up to date, it becomes regarded as out of date.

Think of these plans as “living, breathing documents.”

Solution: Put in Place a Self-Renewing, Perpetuating Strategic Management System Your organization needs to put into place a selfrenewing and selfperpetuating Strategic Management Process to keep your plan current and to ensure that your strategies will bring about change and results. As well as monthly and ongoing quarterly progress meetings, reviewing and updating the plan annually is strategic management goal #3 and is essential to ensure it is still strategic today.

For your views, perspectives or requests Email: uju@hainescentre.com Mobile: 09091142093 www.hainescentre.com C M Y K

24 — Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, MARCH 26, 2015

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 — 25

Cross section of participants listening to the lecture during WAEC's 20th Annual Endowment Fund Lecture held at the Multipurpose Hall, WAEC International Office, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.

WAEC set for CBT, as Liberia minister seeks teamwork into marking scheme

By Dayo Adesulu

T

HE West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has disclosed, it's high time secondary school students started preparing to write the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations, WASSCE, through Computer Based Test, CBT. This came as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Liberia, Mr Augustine Ngafuan urged WAEC to introduce Group-Work in classroom into their marking scheme.

Speaking with journalists during WAEC's 20th Annual Endowment Fund Lecture held at Multipurpose Hall, WAEC

GLOBAL RANKING: Nigerian varsities can't be among the best in 4 years — Experts Pg. 27

Hope rises as SURE-P storms Lagos for GIS training Pg. 28

C M Y K

International Office in Ikeja, Lagos, WAEC Registrar, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae said: “WAEC is ready to adopt technology based method in conducting its examinations across West African countries."

The Registrar who noted that the WAEC new international office in Lagos is equipped with internet facilities that can accommodate over 350 candidates per sitting, said JAMB used the centre in the just concluded UTME. He said that the centre was specially designed for candidates writing aptitude tests.

To achieve the goal of conducting credible examinations in West Africa

through the use of CTB, Uwadiae said the challenge with the adoption of the CBT is not the theoretical questions it sets. He, however seeks for the cooperation of secondary schools in submitting genuine continuous practical assessment results of their candidates to the examination body.

Asked when he hopes to commence the CBT, he averred that WAEC doesn’t rush its decisions, stressing that the highest examination body in West Africa has been conducting CBT exams in one way or the other for years.

He explained: “But we must know that we conduct achievement test not selection

test, we have to take our time to implement error-free examinations. We must also understand that because WAEC has five member countries, we have to consider each country’s capacity to move in the same direction before adopting a particular mode.”

Meanwhile, the guest lecturer, Mr Augustine Ngafuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Liberia, in his speech urged WAEC to adopt a system whereby students performance during SSCE will not only be evaluated by what they can do as individuals but also by their

Continues on page 26

Economy can only be as robust as its entrepreneurs — Odufuwa

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By Dayo Adesulu

HAIRMAN, Governing Council,

Lagos City Polytechnic, Engr.

Babatunde Odufuwa has stated that an economy can only be as robust as its entrepreneurs. Just as he also pointed out that the low level of entrepreneurial propensity among students of higher education is the bane of not starting their own business.

Stressing the role of entrepreneurs in an economy, Odufuwa said “It is the entrepreneur that makes things happen in an economy. They are the drivers of the economy and the creators of wealth.”

According to him, if we must make progress in this economy, our private sector would have to play a major role, just as the public sector would also have to create an enabling environment.

He maintained that entrepreneurs have

the rare ability to transform vision to reality, they are independence, self-confident, have a large appetite for risk and unrivaled inspiration.

Meanwhile, lamenting the low level of entrepreneurial propensity among students of higher education, Odufuwa said there are no white collar jobs anywhere.

According to him, the Nigerian in Entrepreneurs government, pursuit of vision 2020:20, has are the that drivers of the mandated all students in economy and h i g h e r education, the creators regardless of of wealth their discipline,

study an entrepreneurship course before they qualify for their degrees or diplomas.

Odufuwa who spoke during the 9th convocation of Lagos City Polytechnic held in Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday lamented that many undergraduates of tertiary institutions are yet to catch the reality of the vision of entrepreneurship as the key to employment.

He noted, while churning out 801 graduates from the Lagos City Polytechnic, that the aim of entrepreneurship was to create a critical mass of graduates better prepared for employment as well as well as creators of knowledge based enterprises.

The Chairman also made an allusion to the National Board for Technical Education NBTE stating that since 2007 it had designated the curricula and course

Continues on page 26

26 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

NTIC Maths contest raises hope for

By Tare Youdeowei

F

From left: Keynote speaker, Alhaji Ismaila Bello; Rector, Lagos City Polytechnic, LCP, Mr. Akinola Oki; and Chairman, Governing Council, Mr. Babatunde Odufuwa, during the 9th convocation of LCP in Lagos

Economy can only be as robust as its entrepreneurs Continues from page 25 specifications for entrepreneurship education for all tiers of polytechnics in Nigeria. He, however said: “If entrepreneurship education in higher education in Nigeria is expected to attain the desired goals, the take off capital or seed money required for some of these graduates to move forward should be provided.” He reiterated that capital which is the major challenge requires the attention of government at all levels.

This, he advised is possible by way of guaranteeing loans to these

graduates with the Bank of Industry to reduce graduate unemployment and restlessness among youths.

Odufuwa who urged every institution to imbibe an industrial culture that dictates and guides the ways things are done, averred that entrepreneurship is the critical culture with which polytechnic institutions need to be viable for future growth.

The expected outcome of developing an entrepreneurship culture, he noted means that graduates will instill in

themselves the characteristics of risk taking and perseverance. Current entrepreneurship skills would be of need to be strengthened by highlighting best practices, taking into consideration the strength and weakness of the existing practice of entrepreneurship skills in the polytechnics. External collaboration with captains of industry and chambers of commerce will need to be strengthened to help develop sustainable entrepreneurship culture in higher education in Nigeria.

WAEC set for CBT, as Minister seeks introduction of team-work in marking scheme Continues from page 25 performance during group work in school.

“What WAEC and school authorities could do to contribute to the holistic preparation of the youth before SSCE is to promote the value of team work in testing evaluation systems.” He said.

According to him, WAEC as it is structured now, assess the performance of students as individuals urging that consideration should be given to performance of students in groups. Evaluating students performance as individuals, he noted, reveals that at the end of the day, it is what you do as individual that counts and not what you do as a group.

Consequently, he said that every student knows by and large that his destiny is in his own hands. “The positive side of this is that it makes the student cultivate the attitude of independence or individualism which is useful for survival,” he added.

The Minister, however informed that the unintended consequence of this experience on individual performance and assessment is that the student will also develops an attitude of selfishness and in some cases arrogance.

Giving examples to drive home his point, Ngafuan said in the job world, our performance or destiny is affected by the actions or inactions of others.

“Many tasks have to be executed in teams in which there are smart people and those who are not smart.

Managers, especially officials of government appointed into a new positions, usually have problems

managing already recruited staff.

If you are to succeed your team is as strong as its weakest link.”

According to him, some people who have academic excellence, do perform woefully on the job, because when they were in school they did every thing all alone to earn academic excellence.

“In order to encourage team works and skills in youth, WAEC working with school administrators can derive a system whereby a student's final score in WAEC exam is the

combination of his scores plus an extra point that takes into consideration group or team performance. Thus, the student’s final score becomes an aggregate of the individual score in an exam, plus the score of the team which the student was a member."

Ngafuan proffered.

He maintained that such evaluation scheme placing premium on team work will make students look out for each other.

Knowing full well that their fates are tied to an organ of mutuality.

NIPOST lauds NTI over quality programmes

T

HE quality of graduates from the National Teachers’ Institute, in their work out-put has been described as exceptional. Nigerian Postal Services, NIPOST, Kaduna Area Postal Manager, Alhaji Yakubu Muhammad Mahuta, who made the remarks during a visit to the institute said that NIPOST staff who attended NTI progranmmes were outstanding in the performances.

Consequently, the Area manager disclosed that the Postmaster-General of the Federation has officially approved staff enrolling for NTI programmes.

While appreciating the NTI for providing the platform for some of the postal service workers to further their education, the Area Postal Manager said the workers now work with more confidence

and have been upgraded to Federal Government Salary Grade Level 7.

He said “NTI has been a partner in the Nigeria project, because since the creation of NTI, it has been patronizing NIPOST. And from our records, it has being a very good customer.” Mahuta briefed the NTI management of the Post’s innovative services which include partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria in Rural Banking, partnering with the Bank of Agriculture, to disburse loans to farmers, and the availability of Bulk Mails and Cargo Handlings for organizations like NTI. Responding, NTI’s DirectorGeneral, Dr. Aminu Ladan, said the NIPOST move would go a long way to encourage the institute to sustain and even key into the new ventures of the postal services that could enhance the discharge of its statutory duties.

EAR has been implicated as one of the major causes of poor performance rate in Mathematic among primary school pupils. And it is against this backdrop that the Nigerian Turkish International Colleges, NTIC, in partnership with National Mathematic Center, NMC, decided to rekindle hope through the institution of the Annual National Mathematics Competition for pupils in primary 5 and 6 classes.

The place of mathematics in virtually all human endeavors cannot be downplayed. This explains why government attaches premium to the subject in the academic curriculum, added to the fact that it is one of the compulsory subjects offered at both primary and post-primary levels.

Unfortunately, not many pupils and students alike seem to be in good terms with mathematics for reasons bordering on phobia.

It is for this reason, among others, NTIC and NMC initiated, in 2003, the Annual National Mathematic competition as a strategic scheme aimed at helping students overcome the deep-seated fear of mathematics.

Remarkably, the first round of this year’s edition witnessed the participation of no less than 26,500 pupils in the contest, drawn from 26 out of the 36 sates of the Federation and Federal Capital Territory.

Presenting awards to the winners of the first round of this year’s edition held recently in Abuja, the Group Managing Director, GMD, of NTIC, Mehmet Basturk, said that since the contest came into being in 2003, primary school pupils no longer felt rattled by mathematics and it has imparted the level of understanding of the subject in secondary schools as evidenced in the excellent performance of students in their Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

Represented by the Deputy Group Managing Director, Sabril Unal, the GMD underscored the importance of mathematics in relation to all other science subjects.

“We believe Mathematics is a key subject and if a person is successful in mathematics, the person will also do well in sciences, we have noticed that primary school pupils have a higher phobia rate for Mathematics, we decided to use the competition to encourage them and also motivate them in the subject,” he said.

Highlighting the order of the awards, Basturk said that N150,000 cash reward and other benefits would be given to winners and their teachers respectively. The best 8 pupils from each zone will enjoy 100 percent scholarship both in tuition and boarding facilities in Turkish Colleges, while others will enjoy varying levels of scholarships. Then from 8th position downward, they will enjoy different percentages of scholarships, ranging from 70 per cent, 80 percent boarding, among others.”

On his part, the Director and Chief Executive Officer of National Mathematics Center, Prof. Adewale Solarin, said a lot of effort and resources have been committed towards unraveling mathematics for primary school pupils, and that the positive impact of this commitment was beginning to manifest.

“A lot of has been accomplished by NTIC. We have spent a lot of resources, time and energy and we are seeing the impact. Every now and then we see beautiful performances by students and all their presentations”.

Stressing the importance of mathematics and its pivotal role in the attainment of Nigeria’s vision 20-20 -20 development plans, Solarin, who was represented at the occasion by Steve Oluwaniyi, Head of Olympiad, NMC, called on other schools to take a cue from the NTIC’s trail blazing example.

Malaysia to hang Nigerian student for drug trafficking

A

29-year-old Nigerian student at a private college in Malaysia, Luke Nnaemeka Ugwu, has been sentenced to death by hanging by a Malaysian High Court for drug trafficking.

Ugwu, who was found guilty of trafficking 725.4gm of methamphetamine in 2012, was sentenced by Justice Datuk Abdul Alim Abdullah of the High Court Shah Alam on Friday.

Ugwu committed the offence at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport arrival hall in Sepang at 9.45 pm on May 15, 2012, Malaysian National News Agency reports.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 — 27

Global ranking: Nigerian varsities can't be among the best in 4 years — Experts

LASU Students Union passes vote of confidence on VC

By Dayo Adesulu

By Amaka Abayomi

E

XPERTS in the education sector have described President Goodluck Jonathan’s optimism that Nigerian universities would be ranked among the best in the world in the next four years, as a result of the ongoing transformation of the education system, as an empty political statement meant to win votes as Nigeria still lacks real programmes aimed at revamping public education beyond the same old and disastrous capitalist neo-liberal agenda of putting the private sector in the driving seat of investment in education.

The President had, during the Presidential Debate organised by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG), expressed optimism that Nigerian varsities have been equipped to compete with their foreign counterparts and would rank among the best in the world in the next four years due to the ongoing transformation of the education system.

He said: “Education is the responsibility of both federal and state governments and the present administration supports the states through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). We all feel bad that no Nigerian varsity is ranked but we are working seriously to change the trend.

“We have equipped most of our varsities through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). We are talking about infrastructure that has failed over the years but with the way we are going, in the next four years, our varsities will compete with other varsities across the world.”

Deplorable state of Nigerian varsities: The Nigerian varsity system is in a difficult situation, and from the assessment of public varsities embarked upon by the Federal Government, these institutions have not been able to compete with their counterparts in the world due to manpower and infrastructure problems.

There is a steady decline in the quality of infrastructures like lecture rooms, laboratories, libraries, hostels, staff and non teaching staff quarters. Due to the deficit in quality lecturers, many varsities rely on the services of visiting professors.

Statement is politically motivated- Experts Pointing out that none of the presidential aspirants is offering any real solution to moving the education sector forward, the National Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign, ERC, Mr. Hassan Soweto, said the state of public education worsened under President Jonathan’s first term in office.

“From 7.3 million, the number of out-of-school children has gone up to 10.5 million. It is because of the struggles of ASUU, staff unions, students and groups like the ERC that public varsities have not completely collapsed.

“We need to ask how serious this government is. It has refused to follow up in good faith its own target, agreed with varsity lecturers after a 6-month strike, of revitalising public varsities by the year 2018 and now expects us to believe it can perform miracles if re-elected. Presently, only about N53m is voted for capital projects in the federal varsities this year, so without the little that TETFund is doing, these varsities would have collapsed by now.”

Continuing, the ERC boss said: “If government really wants federal varsities to be in the

We have to consider each country’s capacity to move in the same direction before adopting a particular mode

league of Harvard and the likes, not only would government invest massively in them but also demonstrate faith in them as none of the ex-Niger Delta militants whose education is being sponsored under the Amnesty programme is in a public varsity in Nigeria.

“Many of them were sent abroad to study courses that our varsities offer while the rest were enrolled in private varsities here in Nigeria. It is shameful that a government is sponsoring its citizens’ education in private varsities when its public varsities are there lying fallow.”

Describing the statement as a political one that should not be taken seriously, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga, said the President needs to tell Nigerians the position of any Nigerian varsity in Africa, the facilities in these varsities and whether they can match what is available in Harvard and the likes.

“Remember that one of the promises of government to appease ASUU during its last strike action was the release of over N3 trillion to refurbish Nigerian public varsities, but as we speak, only a fraction of that amount has been released and I am reliably informed that ASUU is warming up to embark on another strike.

“Is that how he intends to march Harvard’s standard? The President is just confused and lacks the technical know-how on running the tertiary education sector and it is part of the cluelessness of his administration.”

Noting that President Jonathan made the statement as the President/C-in-C of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a presidential candidate, the former Registrar, University of Lagos, Mr. Oluwarotimi Shodimu, said the feasibility of the ranking of Nigerian varsities can be looked at our ranking globally and within the African continent.

C

ONTRARY to the demand of ASUU that the Lagos State University Vice Chancellor, Professor John Obafunwa should be suspended, LASU Students Union has passed a vote of confidence in the Vice Chancellor, urging him to remain in office and complete his tenure.

The decision was reached after the Union congress held on 20th March 2015 at LASU MBA Hall.

According to the communique made available to journalists, four resolutions were reached by the students' union at the end of the congress stating that; the vicechancellor should remain in office and complete his tenure and the school academic calendar should remain the same and shouldn’t be postponed.

Others stated that the students' union should write the management on Monday 23rd march 2015 that the excess school fees be refunded before Friday 27th march 2015 and the students should not pay school fees until the university management refunds excess fees.

The Union arrived at the above decision after Comrades Fawale Ajibola, Ridwan Oyelakin, Oloko Sodiq, Abudulahi Mohammed and Aregbeshola Yinka critically examined the state of the institution and the performance of its Vice chancellor, Professor John Obafunwa.

Their assessment of Obafunwa pointed to some remarkable achievements since he assumed office.

Comrade Fawale Ajibola, a student from the faculty of education on his part deliberated on the issue of the school academic calendar, stating the importance of the VC to the good and perfect flow of academic activities in the school coupled with the online release of results. He, also called the attention of the congress to the developmental projects ongoing in the school, which were not possible without the presence of Prof John Obafunwa.

Also speaking, Comrade Ridwan Oyelakin, a student from faculty of science discussed the issues of regular matriculations and convocations, stating that he is not bothered if the VC leaves or not but he wants the university main gates to be open with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, Comrade Aregbeshola Yinka on his part stated that the management cannot be owing him and still expect him to pay another fee and as such the students should not pay school fees until refund is made available.

VC advises KWASU students against electoral violence

By Kofoworola Ogunleye

S

TUDENTS of Kwara State University, KWASU, have been charged by the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, to shun violent acts before, during and after the elections.

Speaking at the

sensitisation programme on Youth and Elections, organised

by National Association of Political Science Students, NAPASS, KWASU chapter, Na’Allah urged students to guard against utterances and behaviour that could trigger violence, adding that they should exercise their civic responsibility and be good ambassadors of the community throughout the electioneering period.

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Resear velopment esearcch & De Development

Health, skin care products from moringa "In every crisis, there is opportunity," says a Chinese proverb. Nations the world over are facing one crisis or the other. Nigeria's need to diversify her economy is very urgent as oil prices continue to plummet. It is believed that the only way to diversify the economy is to add value to local products and this can be achieved through research. To this end, Dr. (Mrs) Labo Osude, Managing Director of KALOS Health and Beauty Products Ltd , saw the potentials in moringa oleifera (miracle tree, drumstick tree , horseradish tree or ben oil tree) described as a goldmine waiting to be tapped.

She went to work on the plant and other local plants. At the end, she came up with various health and beauty products from moringa. In this chat with Vanguard Learning in Abeokuta, the 1985 graduate of Medicine from the University of Lagos, speaks on what propelled her to look into moringa. Excerpts: and used it and I felt it was a God-given plant. So I decided to

By Ebele Orakpo add value to it and make it readExperimenting with moringa: ily available and affordable."

Products: According to Dr. (Mrs) Speaking on their products, the Osude, KALOS Health and dentist said KALOS Health and Beauty Products Ltd is a "family Beauty Products Ltd has over 11 business with the primary aim of harnessing the health benefits products from moringa.

"They include Moringa Floral available in Moringa Oleifera.

Skin Toner, Moringa Face Mask, With over 17 vitamins and 10 esMoringa Glow Lotion, Moringa sential acids, Moringa really is a wonderful tree."My father was Tea, Moringa oil, Moringa powa manufacturer and I loved the der, Moringa seed, Moringa lip idea of manufacturing. Then I balm and Moringa hair oil. We heard about moringa and decid- also have Zobo (Hibiscus sabdared to know more. I read about it iffa), Papaya soap, bilberry soap

Crescent Varsity appoints Emir of Bauchi as new Pro-Chancellor CRESCENT University, Abeokuta has appointed Emir of Bauchi, Dr Rilwanu Sulaiman Adamu as its Pro-chancellor.He is the fourth pro-chancellor of the Pioneer Islamic University in Nigeria.

This was unveiled at the investiture of the Emir during the ninth founder’s day lecture of the university which also coincided with the 81st birthday of its founder, Prince Bola Ajibola.

Prince Ajibola described the new pro-chancellor as a round peg in a round hole, stressing that he was thankful to Almighty God who made Crescent University a ‘united Nigeria’ in terms of the diversified nature of its students’ spread across all states of the country.

Prince Ajibola said part of the vision of the university was to unite the North and South of Nigeria so that in the future, students who had lived, worked and played together on campus would be able to live in peace and harmony in different geo-political zones of the country.

Congratulating the Proprietor of the institution, the new Prochancellor Dr Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu expressed delight that the university kept breaking new grounds despite crippling challenges in education in Nigeria in recent times.

The Emir pledged to contribute his quota on the development and progress of Crescent University and “ to serve as a bridge between our people for unity and progress of our nation”, he observed.

The Vice chancellor, Prof.

Ibraheem Gbajabiamila, in his remarks, noted with joy that the university had produced more first-class female products.

Champions emerge at Shalom Schools sports meet

By Amaka Abayomi

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REEN House and Yellow House have emerged winners of the just concluded inter-house sports meet of Shalom Group of Schools, Baruwa, Ipaja, Lagos.

In a keenly contested games, Yellow House, with a total of 61 medals - 23 gold, 26 silver and 12 bronze – won the college category while in the primary category, Green House proved their supremacy by winning 13 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals.

In some of the events decided, Dibia Esther of Yellow House picked up two gold medals in the 100 metres senior girls final and 400 metres final. The 200 metres senior boys final was won by Green House's Sodiq Ishola.

Frank Madu of wine House finished ahead of Kelechi Onyekwere of Blue House and Isaiah Okoronkwo of Green House to win the 100 metres intermediate boys, while Yellow House dominated the girls version by winning gold and silver respectively through Esther Okoli and Nneji Chisom.

*All products from moringa

*Dr. (Mrs) Labo Osude made from moringa and other plants.

"All these are natural products, no artificial chemicals," she said.

Backward integration: To ensure a more cost-effective and reliable supply of raw materials, the company set up its own Moringa farm.

"I have a moringa farm in Ilisan, my home town in Ogun State. All the moringa I use come from my farm. We only import some of the raw materials for the cosmetics. We have just started and we are growing. We are producing on small scale but have the capacity for large scale production. We are in the process of getting another approval so that we can sell in shops and even export."

*Moringa. No part of the moringa is toxic which is very unusual for a tree

Multinational companies, 40 firms attend American varsity career/graduate fair

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

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VER 40 firms including multi-national companies in oil and gas, telecommunications and financial institutions that attended the 8th Career Fair of the American University Nigeria, AUN, have expressed satisfaction over the performance of students and graduates of the university.

Meantime, out of over 100 of the alumni of the institution that participated in the last edition of the fair, over 50 of them have been absorbed by the multinational firms and reputable organization, while the rest were either going to graduate school or setting up their own businesses.

This year ’s fair between employers of labour interface with students/alumni of AUN, enabled the students/alumni to interface with national and international firms from around the country such as Airtel, NIPCO Plc, PWC, Nadabo Energy, Skye Bank, Jumia, Deloitte, Education USA, Berger Paints, Main One Cable Company, Egypt Air, Teasy Mobile, Sci-fie Ltd, Transcorp Hilton, PZ Cussons, Nestle, Stallion Group, Voice of Nigeria among others.

In addition to participating in the fair, companies like Dangote Cement, McKinsey & Company (which tests AUN students and

alums every year), New Age Network, NTA, Sci-Fi Mobile Technologies, Teasy Mobile, KPMG, GE Energy, and Red Star Express, also took turns to administer aptitude and problemsolving tests to AUN students, alumni, and other prospects.

Representative of the companies also guided the participating students on career and requirements of the market.

Speaking at the event, AUN’s Coordinator of Career Services, Grace Nwokoma, said that the fair was organised to provide students and alumni exposure to career and internship opportunities, stressing that a university should go beyond granting graduates degrees to also helping them to chart career paths, make choices, and prepare them for careers.

Red, Blue Houses shine at Ferscoat inter-house sports

By Elizabeth Uwandu

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HE Director of Ferscoat Schools, Olude, Ipaja, Lagos, Felix Opata has urged all the Local Education District in Lagos State to look into the possibility of organizing an Inter Schools Sports Competition.

Opata stated this at the 8th Biennial Inter-House Sports meet of the School. He said that there are abundant talents in schools that can make Nigeria proud. ‘ According to to Opata, “There are talents in our schools but they go untapped and are lost to inactivity. Parents should support sports rather than castigating school owners. Let us look beyond primary and college sports and take it to the next level. They must not be left on their own.

Developmental programmes must be put in place for these young and budding athletes for them to develop their talents.”

At the event sponsored by

Haansbro Biscuit, Nutri-C, Milo and Dano Milk, Blue House and Red House emerged winners at the end of a tension soaked games which was watched by a large crowd.

Blue House picked up 11 gold, 10 silver and five gold medals to win the college category while Red House got eight gold, four silver and six bronze medals to finish second ahead of Yellow House and Green House respectively.

The primary school category was won by Red House who dominated from start to finish winning 11 gold, six silver and eight bronze medals. Blue House came second with seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals. Green House finished third while Yellow House won the march past event in primary section, while Blue House emerged victorious in the College section.

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BITS Bits Oshiomhole laments NLC's loss of prestige, influence

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ormer President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said Nigerian Labour Movement, particularly, NLC has lost a significant amount of prestige and influence in the eyes of the Nigerian working people and the Nigerian public Oshiomhole in a congratulatory letter to Ayuba Wabba after his election as NLC President, said among others, “It must be obvious to you by now, Comrade President, that the Nigerian Labour Movement, and in particular, the Congress has lost a significant amount of prestige and influence in the eyes of the Nigerian working people and the Nigerian public at large. The Nigerian people no longer see the Congress as the “voice of voiceless” and a bulwark against socioeconomic and political oppression and injustices in the polity. The Congress is essentially viewed as either being complicit or at best indifferent to the cries of the poor working class people and the middle class citizens who are daily at the receiving end of an unjust social order.

It is against this background that your leadership must see its historic role beyond the “bread and butter” issues, to re-assert its independence, re-connect with grassroots workers, including the forgotten rural majority and position itself as a major player in shaping Nigeria’s polity, e c o n o m y a n d society consistent with the true traditions of the Congress and the interests of the Nigerian working families.

There is no appropriate moment than now to also work assiduously to reposition the Congress and brace up to the challenge of revolution of expectations of the affiliates of the Congress and Nigerians as a whole, while also providing a focused and dynamic leadership that will chart a new course for the Nigerian labour movement as vanguard in the struggle for good governance, democratic consolidation and social justice.

Concomitantly, there is also the challenge of re-uniting and rebuilding confidence amongst all the affiliates of the Congress in the spirit of unity and solidarity that the Nigerian Labour Movement shares.

NLC CRISIS: Credibility burden of the rescheduled March 12 election

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

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HIS is not the best of times for Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, its members and even its admirers as Congress now parades two Presidents, following disagreements over the March 12, 2015 rescheduled election to conclude the 11th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference, NDC, that commenced on February 9, 2015.

For the records, the two presidents are Comrade Ayuba Wabba and Comrade Joe Ajaero.

The rescheduled election, rather than correct ills of the inconclusive February conference, worsened the division and disharmony in Congress as no fewer than 23 affiliates rejected its outcomes, claiming it was skewed to achieved pre-determined objectives.

The aggrieved unions have since elected parallel officers to run the affairs of NLC for the next four years and have been operating from Lagos.

However, if emerging allegations on how the March 12 rescheduled election was manipulated to favour certain individuals are to be believed, then electoral fraud might have taken place and the outcomes of such election lack credibility and the leadership that emerged, until proven otherwise, has no moral authority to remain in office a day longer.

In other words, there are more unanswered questions about the election than organizers are prepared to disclose and it is turning to a case of the more you look, the less you see.

What the gladiators may not know is that the injury done to NLC and indeed the labour movement both locally and globally by the raging crisis, will take decades, even after the gladiators are long gone, to heal.

Surplus votes What has remained a mystery is how over 100 surplus votes found their ways into the result of the presidential election declared by the returning officer and pioneer general secretary of NLC, Aliyu Dangiwa.

As exclusively reported by Vanguard earlier in the week, Dangiwa had announced that Comrade Ayuba Wabba of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, scored 1,695 votes to defeat

•Comrade Ayuba Wabba Comrade Joe Ajaero of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, who scored 1,400 votes.

This result was also confirmed by the advertorial the NLC General Secretary placed in some national papers on Monday, March16, 2015.

Chairman of the Credentials Committee that conducted the election, Dr. Isa Fagge, told Vanguard that 3,005 delegates and not 3,119 as earlier advertised by NLC secretariat were accredited to vote, saying two unions did not turn up for the election.

According to him, 10 votes were voided with the agreement of both Wabba and Ajaero’s agents.

General Secretary of NLC who was also the Secretary of the Credentials Committee, Dr. Peter Ozo -Eson, corroborated the chairman on the number of voided votes

And if it is proven that the election was indeed manipulated to favour certain individuals, no matter the cost, it should be cancelled and those involved in the fraud brought to justice

•Comrade Joe Ajaero and accredited delegates, insisted the declared results as announced by the returning officer at the venue of the election and published by him in some national dailies, were the outcomes of the election.

However, by simple arithmetic, if you void 10 votes from 3,005 accredited delegates, you have 2995 remaining. If you add the 1,695 votes credited to Wabba with 1,400 votes credited to Ajaero, it gives you 3,095 votes. If you subtract 2,995 from 3,095, you will then have 100 votes as surplus. The question is, where did these 100 votes come from?

Claims of Ajaero’s agent Again, the agent of Ajaero, Comrade Okorodudu Bension, had claimed that before he was allegedly attacked and taken to hospital, he had recorded 1,538 for Ajaero as against 1,460 for Wabba. He claimed that Wabba's agent immediately shook his hands and congratulated him.

According to him, “at this juncture, the chairman of the Credentials Committee asked Wabba’s agent what was wrong with him and he immediately switched over to Hausa language. While this communication in Hausa language lasted between the two, Omar rushed in and spoke to the chairman in Hausa Language. The next thing he said in English Language was that we should not count the ballots and that any form of documentation we had done was illegal. He

directed the chairman to withdraw all our jottings from us...”

There were also alleged induced power outages at the Eagle Square venue of the election where the generator was used to ensure uninterrupted power supply while the election lasted. The chairman of the Credentials Committee was equally alleged to have allowed several violations to the rules and regulations, guiding the election.

Most disturbing is the allegation that individuals that were not members of the credentials committee actively participated in the sorting and counting of votes.

Weighty allegations These are weighty allegations to be swept under the carpet. There must be an independent inquiry to determine the veracity or otherwise of these claims. It is only when these allegations are thoroughly investigated by a non-partial team, will it be established whether or not the election was manipulated.

And if it is proven that the election was indeed manipulated to favour certain individuals, no matter the cost, it should be cancelled and those involved in the fraud brought to justice.

If on the hand, the allegations were proven to be unfounded, all those involved in the false claims should equally be made to face the music.

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Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda: the would term excessive NEXIM bank example and, therefore,

By Mahmud Adegoroye

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HE President Goodluck Jonathan Transformation Agenda which has become a household name is intended to permeate a wide spectrum of the nation’s everyday life, ranging from housing, industry, energy, entertainment to the whole gamut of every facet of our social life. The present government is credited for the turnaround being experienced in many of the country’s productive sectors.

“Perhaps, the government of President Goodluck Jonathan has done more than previous administrations to ensure that various Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are empowered to effectively contribute to the national transformation agenda. The injection of billions of naira into the Bank of Industry, Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Bank of Agriculture and the Federal Mortgage Bank and others are pointers to this,” a policy analyst, Yusuf, said.

Laudable as the Transformation Agenda may seem, it would have remained comatose and a mere wish-list without the requisite funding needed to translate it to reality. What is of note is that all of the benefits that the transformation programme advocates require huge financial outlay. Besides, the programme requires long-term sustainable funding which the commercial banks are not enabled to provide, given the short-term nature of their credit portfolio. The good news is - NEXIM Bank has risen to bridge the gaps.

Administration's agenda In no other sector is the role of NEXIM in driving the Transformation Agenda of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration’s agenda more pronounced than in encouraging the manufacturing, mining and the agric sectors in producing non-oil goods for export. This way, the volume of external trade is being gradually shifted away from crude oil (upon which the nation largely depends), to non-oil items that are abundant and widespread in the country, but which have largely suffered neglect due to a multiplicity of factors, chief of which is funding.

The Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Robert Orya, is upbeat about the success so far recorded in the Jonathan Transformation Agenda of which NEXIM Bank has played a pivotal role. “It is evident that the important story of Nigeria’s advancement from where we are would not be told by earnings from our hydrocarbon reserves . Our success would be driven by a robust manufacturing industry;

avoid.”

New industries, new initiatives, people without financial collaterals, projects which cannot pay commercial cost of finance, among others, have been beneficiaries of funding by Development Finance Institutions, such as NEXIM, Orya said, adding that “this way, business formation can continue, people can strive to innovate, President Goodluck Jonathan bias against social self-sufficiency in agriculture for and reputational collaterals are food and processing so that reduced, and projects can be excess yields could tap export incubated and nurtured to when markets; world-class service sector they can attract lending from to serve domestic industries, commercial banks.”

He said that NEXIM Bank has global outsourcing and export markets, and commercial access risen to the challenge by to wider range of mineral deposits assuming this critical role in that dot every nook and cranny Nigeria where banking penetration is less than 15 per of our country,” Orya declared.

It’s not for lack of ideas that the cent of the population and where export of non-oil goods has commercial lending rates are remained at infancy, the problem, prohibitive, land titles are not amongst others, has to do largely even available to owner with the will and commitment to occupiers, but where innovators focus and redirect resources to the are born daily, and where we have non-oil sectors and take cognitive to eradicate action to actualize what is largely poverty.

He said as a recognized as a cash cow.

Although NEXIM was DFI, NEXIM established to play this role, Bank has to President Jonathan’s commitment assume its to focus on these sectors in his n a t u r a l bid to improve on the nation’s function in revenue profile, outside crude oil driving the sales and determination to create Transformation employment for the nation’s Agenda of the educated and skilled vibrant government, youths, played a key role. “What by supporting the Administration of President the exportGoodluck Jonathan has done, prone sectors, perhaps more than any previous i n c r e a s e regime, is combine commitment f o r e i g n with practical actions in e x c h a n g e diversifying the Nigerian earnings and economy away from its sole c r e a t e reliance on crude oil for external employment, so as to free revenue,” Orya said.

The inhibitions standing in the government to way of operators in the identified focus on the sectors from accessing finance provision and have to be addressed. NEXIM delivery of Bank, having identified the n e c e s s a r y drawbacks, intervened to set the infrastructural ball rolling in a manner that projects to aid facilitated the delivery of the implementation intended benefits of the of programmes programme. As the NEXIM Bank under the plan boss put it: “Development of structural Finance Institutions are bearers transformation of risks which commercial lenders of the Nigerian economy that cannot be delivered by commercial lending.

The role Orya, pointed Nexim Bank is out that NEXIM Bank playing is is the official unique as a and sole Trade development Policy Bank of the Federal finance Government, institution saying in this

regard, the bank provides financing, risk-bearing facilities, market information and valueadded advisory services to businesses towards deepening export-oriented investments in the country’s non-oil sectors of manufacturing, agro-processing, solid minerals and services, for job creation and economic growth.

He said the export-import bank has provided N12 billion in lending to Nigerian export manufacturers over the four-year period from August 2009 to April 2013, adding that it has funded agro-processing export businesses, to the tune of N6.6 billion over the same period.

Against the Structural Adjustment Programme imposed

by International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the ‘80s which emphasizes the need to restructure the fabric of the Nigerian economy, what the GEJ Transformation Agenda has done, perhaps more than any previous regime, is to combine commitment with practical actions in diversifying the economy away from sole reliance on crude oil for external revenue. “From the institutional viewpoint of Nexim Bank, I am excited at the prospects of playing a role in diversifying the Nigerian economy and harnessing the immense potentials of the sectors which had, hitherto, been neglected. Indeed, the role Nexim Bank is playing is unique as a development finance institution (DFI), “Orya stated.

Accordingly, in the solid mineral

sector, NEXIM Bank is working in partnership with industry stakeholders to take formal mining off the ground again, Orya said, adding that Nexim Bank has so far provided over N2 billion in early funding to help some commercial miners to develop their site in order to start operation and invite further funding from other sources apart from the longterm commitment of Nexim Bank to the nascent industry.

In pursuit of its drive to impact on other segments of the economy as part of the Transformation Agenda, the bank has taken on the management of the Nigerian Creative and Entertainment Industry Stimulation Loan Scheme (NCEILS). The fund which is lent at below commercial rate, is meant to fund businesses across the entertainment value-chain, including filming production, cinema operation, music recording, intellectual property development and recording studios, as a revolving fund with repayment terms.

He said to date, Nexim Bank has disbursed over N1.4 billion for the Fund, adding that Entertainment industry project proposals under review exceed N5 billion in value. Overall, disbursements to the creative and entertainment industry, including the services sector is about N8.5 billion, covering support to transportation and hospitality industries.

Adegoroye is an Abuja- based policy analyst.

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Ozil: I can win the Ballon d’Or at Arsenal RSENAL midfielder Mesut Ozil has his eyes

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on the Ballon d’Or. The Gunners star, who helped Germany to World Cup glory last summer, is “convinced” that he has what it takes to become the best player in the world.

While Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have divided the award between them over the last seven years, Ozil feels that he is in a good position to win the game’s biggest individual prize.

“If I continue to develop w e l l and stay healthy, I would like, in the next few years, to hold the Ballon d’Or in my hands,” he told Sport Bild.

“I am convinced that it can happen.

“I’m feeling very positive. I’m a world champion and I play at a top club in the Premier League.

“There is much more of a physical test here than there is in Spain or in the Bundesliga – I constantly have bruises but that makes me harder. I feel physically better than ever.”

•Ozil

Khedira gives strong hint of Real exit

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AMI Khedira’s Real Madrid career appears to be nearing an end after the Germany international stated “it will be hard to leave this club”.

Khedira is out of contract at the end of the season and has long been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu.

Arsenal and Schalke are among several clubs reportedly keen to sign the 27-year-old midfielder and they will have been encour-

aged by his latest comments regarding his future.

He told Marca: “I love Real Madrid, it will be hard to leave this club.

“I will give everything for this shirt until the last day of my contract, there should be no doubt about that.”

The World Cup winner, who joined the European champions from Stuttgart back in 2010, has started only seven games for Carlo Ancelotti’s side this season due to a combination of injuries and being out of favour.

Di Maria’s Manchester United future in doubt Juan Mata’s winner at Anfield and provided the pass that caused Emre Can to foul Daley Blind and concede a penalty, he struggled against the Merseysiders’ 10 men.

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NGEL Di Maria’s Manchester United future was plunged into doubt after it emerged he was berated by Louis van Gaal after Sunday’s win at Anfield.

Van Gaal was unhappy with Di Maria’s performance as a second-half substitute and gave the Argentinian a dressing down, report the Manchester Evening News.

Club record signing Di Maria is also believed to be keen to leave United in the summer, with Paris SaintGermain monitoring his development at Old Trafford.

Van Gaal’s blast is the latest setback for £59.7million Di Maria, who is experiencing a poor run of form in the United team and has lost his place to Ashley Young.

Although Di Maria assisted

•Di Maria

El Clasico: Ronaldo may face sanction over celebration

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Skr tel gets 3match ban

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IVERPOOL defender Martin Skrtel has been given a three-match ban for stamping on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea in Sunday’s Anfield clash.

In injury time of United’s 2-1 Premier League victory, the Slovakia international - chasing a through ball - stood on the right leg of De Gea as the Spaniard gathered the ball.

No action was taken at the time by referee Martin Atkinson and, after the Football Association decided to sanction Skrtel retrospectively, he denied the charge.

However, the 30-yearold was served with a suspension on Wednesday.

RISTIANO Ronaldo could face a sus pension over his goal celebration in Sunday’s Clasico defeat to Barcelona.

The Real Madrid star equalised after Jeremy Mathieu had put Barca in front, only for Luis Suarez to score a second-half winner at Camp Nou. Ronaldo celebrated his goal by gesturing towards the home fans to ‘calm down’ in a typically white-hot Clasico atmosphere.

And Spanish football chief Javier Tebas has revealed Ronaldo likely faces sanction, as authorities attempt to clamp down on violent behaviour.

He told supporters: “We have to be careful with provocative gestures by a player when he scores a goal or with any other provocation or conduct that could incite violence among spectators.

“It must be sanctioned, from a fine up to a suspension.

We will look into it.”

Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have been punished in recent weeks due to chants from their fans about Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in other games.

Real were reprimanded after their fans chanted insults about Messi in a game with Celta Vigo

Emenike returns to Istanbul

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•Khediral

ENERBAHCE’s striker Emmanuel Emenike has returned to Istanbul following a two day leave in Nigeria.

Emenike received permission to return

home from Fenerbahce’s manager Ismail Kartal. The 27-year-old striker is expected to participate in team training at the Cam Bartu training facility.

Emenike walked off during the derby game against Sukru at the Saracoglu stadium after being booed by his own fans.

at the Santiago Bernabeu, while Barca fans poking fun at Ronaldo’s infamous birthday party in the wake of his side’s 4-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid also drew sanction.

•Ronaldo

B16 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

7th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium & 63rd birthday celebration

From left, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, wife of Ogun State governor; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, and guest speaker; Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, National Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, and Celebrant; Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State; General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), Presidential Candidate of APC; Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice Presidential Candidate; Chief John Oyegun, National Chairman of APC, and Chief Ogbonaya Onu, during the 7th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium, to celebrate 63rd birthday of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at Eko Hotel, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez & Lamidi Bamidele

From left, Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola; Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti State and Mr. Dele Alake.

From left, Chief Demola Seriki, former Minister of Interior; Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker, Lagos State House of From left, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, Governor Babatunde Fashola, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Assembly; Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos State APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), Professor Governorship Candidate, and his wife, Bolanle.

Yemi Osinbajo, and Chief John Oyegun.

From left: Dr. Oluranti Adebule, deputy governorship candidate Lagos state, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, commissioner of Finance and Hon. Gbolahan Yisawu, member Lagos state house of assembly.

From left, Chief Ayo Opadokun, Chief Henry Ajomale, Chairman, APC Lagos State, and Chief Abiodun Sunmola, APC chieftain..

From left, Chief Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, Iyaloja general; Chief Kemi Nelson, APC Women's Leader, South-West, and Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora.

From left, Sir Pius Akiyelure, Chief Segun Oni, former governor of Ekiti State and Mrs. Bisi Osinbajo, mother of Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

42—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

•Dr Frederick Fasehun

The story of my oil contract — Dr Fasehun •There'll be no post-election violence DR Fredrick Fasehun, national coordinator of Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, in this encounter talks about the coming election, the alleged oil contract he got from the Federal Government, the Unity Party of Nigeria he founded and other issues. Excerpts:

By CHIOMA GABRIEL and ANOZIE EGOLE

W

HAT is your true stand on this election. I asked because recently, it was rumoured that your organization is in support of President Jonathan?

There are only two people to vote for in this election. So, every Nigerian has a chance to either take A or B. I don’t want one so, I am left with the other choice and that is why I chose to support Jonathan. I was not comparing Jonathan with anybody because, there is nobody, past or present to compare him with in performance, transformation, democracy. I find him an addict to democracy and that is the type of person we want now to lead Nigeria. And as an intellectual, I think he knows what Nigeria and Nigerians need. He has been working on education and he has founded about 14

universities in four years. He has been building schools for Almajaris, he has improved on agriculture, he has improved on the economy. When he came in, the economy was nothing to write home about but he has transformed the economy of this nation under four years. Now, the nation’s economy is the first in Africa and he had done that in four years without jailing anybody for writing the truth.

East west road off the drawing board We know people who say any journalist that writes the truth that embarrasses the government will be jailed but Jonathan has not done that. He is building roads, airports, railways and bridges for us. The Onitsha bridge has been in existence for a long time and he is building the second Niger bridge. I think that is an achievement. The east-

west road that has been on the drawing board for decades he has built it. He has also resuscitated our dilapidated railway system. He has not convicted anybody since he came in. He said his ambition would not be at the expense of a drop of a Nigerian’s blood while others said that theres is characterized by the mixture of the blood of dogs and baboons. Somebody who loves Nigerians and somebody who does not bother about Nigeria and the people, which one would you prefer?

That is why I chose to support Jonathan. People think that I chose to support him because I have collected money, at least you are aware that I don’t take money from anybody for anything. We became friends when people started alleging that I collected money from Obasanjo. And Obasanjo himself apologized to me for not deflecting that rumour.

I have always challenged

Nigerians, that if there is any Nigerian alive that I have taken money from, let him or her come out and tell the Nigerian people and nobody has done that.

But in a situation where your organization, the OPC is against your support, what will you do?

The OPC is not against my support for Jonathan. So there was no such story of OPC protesting against my decision to support Jonathan.

There is rumour that you collected a multi-million Naira contract from Jonathan and that is why you are supporting him?

That is a very ugly rumour. If I’m asked to watch over the life and property along a hundred kilometer worth of pipeline, would it be me, Dr Fasheun that would be physically present at the place to supervise that or would it be some other Nigerians? And if these other Nigerians are youths, don’t they qualify to accept contract from Nigerian government? And that contract was awarded about two weeks ago. That contract is supposed to have been awarded 3-4 years ago. And as I am talking to you now, there are over three thousand youths along the pipeline. And for the first time, today is the third day they have worked there, there have been no sign of vandalisation since they started work as was in the past when NNPC was losing N7billion every month to vandalisation. We applied to be given that contract in October 26th, 2010 and politicians were making campaigns of calamity against it and I kept my cool. But NNPC must have realized that it is now becoming unbearable losing N7billion every month.

Are you saying the contract has no link with Jonathan but from NNPC? No, it is not a direct contract from Jonathan, it is an NNPC contract. The story came from politicians who don’t want anything good for the youth of this country. I am not going to work on the pipelines, it is the youths who are there. Three thousand of them are there already some days ago and they

Yoruba leadership is never purchased, it is never for sale.

And the Yoruba people know their leaders

must have increased in number now. Mind you, that number leaves a dent on unemployment statistics. It causes a ripple effect on the citizenry because each of those working on the pipeline has family to take care of. I champion the cause of Nigerian youths and I am tired of seeing hungry people, I am tired of seeing unemployed graduates, I thank NNPC for granting the contract not to Dr Fasehun as a person but to the Nigerian youth as a group.

You registered UPN, what is the role of the party now in the coming election. Who is contesting, which candidates do you have now?

Other political parties started 10-15 years ago, and UPN as a political party was registered a few months ago. There is no way we will have the capability to flex muscle with those who have been in the business for a decade or more. We are cutting our coat according to our cloth. Now, we are not contesting presidential election, it is a heavy and expensive position.

Expensive position We must not go for every level of the election. So, where we think we can fit into, we will go for like in the local governments and state level, not at the gubernatorial level, and the presidency. We are looking at 2019 and in that year, the country will feel the impact of the presence of our party UPN. We are also taking part in the national assembly.

The way I know the Southwest, they are always united when it comes to pursing a common agenda. I am surprised at what is happening now. We see Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as somebody stepping into the shoes of Awolowo..

I don’t believe that story.

Because I know there are many respectable Yoruba leaders in existence. The likes of Ayo Adebanjo and many of them.

Yoruba leadership is never purchased, it is never for sale.

And the Yoruba people know their leaders.

Do you think there will still be peace in the country after the election?

The election will come peacefully and go peacefully.

The wrong thing we always do is that we anticipate fear.

It is alleged that some of the insurgents being driven out from the Northeast are coming Lagos. Are you concerned?

It is their desire or their ambition to come to the Southwest but the South-westerners have contained their ambition.

And they have continued to contain their ambition. Nobody is going to enter one inch into our own territory by the grace of God.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015—43

How I'll revamp Nigeria — Okoye PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Barr. Godson Okoye, in this interview spoke on his mission and plans for Nigeria. He said among others that he will reposition the country declaring a state or emergency in five key sectors of security, health, agriculture, power and education, if elected.

By Jude Opara

H

IS experience in the race so far It has been a rough one, very challenging and difficult but we have to stay on it because difficult things are also done by people and with the kind of bad precedent we have which is also a carry-over of the normal Nigerian attitude. We have bad attitude to very serious and sensitive things and that creates a multiplier effect in other negative directions.

It is only in Nigeria that you are running an election and people expect you to give them money instead of raising money for you. In other climes and civilized places, people come together to raise money for you.

Running election is likened to pregnancy and child birth, a woman who is about entering labour, you can’t tell her to make you dinner or to go and fetch water for you, that is how election is.

You led a team of political parties and stakeholders to ask for the postponement of the election initially scheduled for February 14 citing some lapses on the part of the INEC. Today, are you satisfied with the level of readiness for this election?

There is no person that will say he is not happy with the recent development in the country and the acceptance of INEC and of course the general opinion of Nigerians that it is good that at least more people have been able to get their voter cards.

Important election In other climes that will be an item for me to campaign with because I made it possible, together with some of my colleagues, for over 15 million voters to have their voters cards ahead of a very important election. They would have been disenfranchised.

Some people said you were speaking for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who probably didn’t want to be seen as pushing for the postponement.

That is another bad attitude. why would you want to input what is not there? I should be able to explain my position and then it should be understood.

This party has been existing since 1998, I have not joined the PDP, I have not joined the APC and if I want to join the PDP, I have a lot of friends there but I have been here.

We have had not had a senator, not had minister or a governor but I have been using my resources to run the party and I think it is unfair for people to input such things to me. We

Whether I win or not what is important is that I have been able to pass my message across to the people.

If I win fantastic, a Kenyan is not going to be the president of Nigeria it will still be a Nigerian

•Okoye are people that should be celebrated and that is again the bad attitude I talked about, people like us are not remembered, we are not celebrated.

But they will celebrate somebody who jump from one party to another after eight

years and then because he just left his party he has become a saint. How do you do that and say you want to encourage democracy?

Do you see yourself as a candidate to beat in this election?

Whether I win or not what is

important is that I have been able to pass my message across to the people. If I win fantastic, a Kenyan is not going to be the president of Nigeria it will still be a Nigerian and that is why I say we need to imbibe the right attitude to politics and political contest. We do everything in the interest of Nigeria and there is nowhere in the world where you use tribal and religious sentiments as the main issue and truly develop.

What will be your cardinal points if you win this election?

We will declare a state of emergency in five areas: security, health, agriculture, power and education. If we tackle these five areas we will have a quantum economic leap to move to other levels because security, health, agriculture and education are key factors of development.

The Chinese spent $22 billion dollars to build three gorges dam that generate 22,330 mega watts of energy. We have spent about $25 billion dollars and we have not even scratched the surface.

So we must open up the place to allow those that have the capacity and will to come in. It is a scandal that we are still battling to have 6,000 mega watts. Again look at our Army, you don’t have up to 200,000 battle ready men in the Army, Navy and Air Force, that is scandalous why can’t we have one million soldiers and two million policemen?

So, the system must change in line with those who understand the problems of the country not those who are guessing or those who entered there by accident.

Buhari is the change Nigerians are yearning for — Eloka ERNADINE Ifeoma Eloka, a seasoned accountant is the CEO of Clarion Shipping West Africa, a business woman and grass root women mobiliser who is mobilizing the business community for change. She spoke on her passion for change.

Amoji Women Association, Umoji, in Anambra State during our annual New Year Get together party in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos. Since then, we have been mobilizing effort that will boost APC chances at the poll.

Presently, we are mobilizing both women and men in all our areas of influence to support and vote for change.

WHAT informed your decision to throw your weight behind the APC candidate? Why now?

My decision to threw my weight behind the candidature of the former military Head of State and mobilize support for General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) through massive mobilization of Nigerians most especially women is borne out of my conviction that what we need in this time of our nation’s history is true change not mere promises. We started by mobilizing the Igbo women of

Are you saying that APC is the party for the change that Nigerians want?

Yes. APC is the true change we want. It is the party for change.

We have discovered that APC is the right party with the right candidate to give Nigeria and Nigerians the needed change for a better Nigeria. There is no doubt that APC is a party for change. We are tired of empty promises, which our politicians have always failed to fulfil. This is the opportunity we have to tell

By Olayinka Latona

B

other women what we have discovered about Buhari. We need a man who is angry at the state of the nation as it affects the masses, to bring positive change.

Does this mean that you do not share the sentiment that President Jonathan should continue with what he has started?

It does not matter where a candidate hails from, especially if the person possesses good leadership qualities to salvage the country from its predicament for a positive change that is missing. Too many things are wrong with this government.

Look at the challenges of doing business or of investing in the country, foreigners don’t have confidence here anymore, because they are not sure of tomorrow in terms of government policies and security. As business people, what we are looking for

•Eloka is a government that would build confidence in foreigners. What we want is constant power supply and security that will attract a lot of foreign investors into this country. You’ll find out that if we achieve this, the issue of unemployment will be addressed.

44—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

Fire incident: Family seeks N5m to settle medical bills

T

Chioma Obinna

HE Onyeanube family is currently in dire straits following a mysterious fire that engulfed Chinyere, and her five children in their home in Ikotun, a Lagos suburb last December 23.

The victims who were badly burnt in the inferno, were rushed to a nearby hospital where despite spirited efforts by medical personnel, the only son of the family died of his wounds.

The 6-year-old boy gave up the ghost following excruciating pains from severe burns few days after the incident even as the mother and one of the sisters are still battling for life.

Ever since, Desmond, 45, husband and father of the victims, who was not at home at the time the unfortunate incident occurred, has been living out the agony as members of his entire family languish helplessly in hospital, amassing bills running into millions of naira.

Desmond has been running from pillar to post to salvage the situation but he is now heavily in debt and unable to settle the huge hospital bill.

Worse still, indications show that the Onyeanuibes may remain in hospital for a long time yet because their wounds are far from healed. The family of seven that has been reduced to six is in a quandry.

Even as you read, the family has an outstanding debt of N5 million excluding the total amount required to obtain compete treatment for the over 90 percent burns.

Narrating his plight to Health & Living Features, embattled Desmond said the fire erupted from a kerosene lantern that

• Chinyere (left) and one of her daughters on admission after the fire incident. exploded as Chinyere attempted to refill it. The incident occurred around 9pm on the fateful day while she and the children were having their dinner. Strangely, nothing in the apartment, including the lantern was affected by the fire, except Chinyere and her children.

In tears, Desmond said he had no premonition of the disaster, rather, was basking in the euphoria of the yuletide.

“Little did I envisage that all members of my family would end up in the hospital with varying degrees of burns."

Desmond who narrowly escaped the fire, was on his way home from work when it happened. “Life has not been the same again. The fire caught my wife, daughters whose ages range from two to nine and

my 6- year-old son. “While others were struggling to put out the fire, my son who was completely engulfed, sustained fatal injuries. The doctors have been treating them for over two months and my wife and second daughter are still nursing severe burns, but the medical bill is in millions.

We have spent over N1.5 million."

Desmond who hails from Imo State is pleading with the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, corporate organisations, NGOs, and good hearted individuals to come to his aid. “These are children under nine years, what sin have they commited?

The first, Nneamaka is 9; second, Chianamerem, 8; third, Chimzuruoke, was six (late); fourth, Ifeyinwa is four, while the last child, Oluomachukwu, is two years

old. "I need help from the good people of Nigeria. I appeal to the Governors of Imo and Lagos States to help save my family.

Also speaking, the kind-hearted Medical Director, Angels Hospital, Coker, Orile Igamu, Lagos, Dr. Alex Okonkwo, confirmed that it was a miracle his team was able to stabilise the burnt victims.

Okonkwo who related the event, said it happened within the period public hospitals were on strike.

“We accepted them on humanitarian grounds. We were able to stablise them but unfortunately, the only son who had over 90 percent burns died two days later.”

He disclosed that two of the children had been discharged but still remained in the hospital. In fact the whole family now lives in the hospital.

"We have gone past trying but lack of funds has been a major problem.

Currently, the wife and second daughter who have 60 percent and 70 percent burns respectively are responding to treatment but there are no funds to continue treatment. Their bill has run into N5 million but he (Desmond) cannot afford it.

"The dead child alone incurred about N950, 000. The wife and daughter have about 70 percent recovery. They require minor surgeries to correct the contracture under their armpits to allow their hands swing very well and other advanced surgeries.

“We have continued to treat them on humanitarian grounds and that is why we are appealing to good spirited Nigerians to assist,” he explained.

If you are touched by the plight of the Onyeanubes, kindly send your donations to Onyeanuibe Desmond, Account N0.6007554674, Keystone Bank or call 081813784806 or call 08055251071

COMMON SEXUAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR NOVELTY BASED SOLUTIONS (ADVERTORIAL)

I

am 64 years old and in the past, I have always enjoyed sex. My first round may be short but once the subsequent rounds come up, sex for me can be a life on its own. But in recent times, my sex life appears to be nose diving. For months now it appears I am not getting an erection.

Honestly I am a womanizer and convincing any woman whatsoever to get into bed with me is the easiest thing in the world so not getting an erection right now is terribly bad. At best when I get an erection after trying so hard to get aroused, as I am taking off my clothes to get the action started, I lose the erection again. This is embarrassing and I am scared of intimacy now. Please note that I have been hypertensive and been on drugs for 16 years now – Baba Tope What is happening to you is typical and is known as age related erectile dysfunction. It is not a big deal in the sense that it is not as if you are ill. It is just that as we get older, our blood vessels shrink and limit the flow of blood to the penis. This makes it difficult to get a functional erection. Most people will get to experience this in their old age eventually. So this is the point where you will need drugs to be able to have an erection and a sex life.

All our supplements are natural and can be taken by hypertensives. So for a start, you can begin with the milder aphrodisiacs like Magic Mike and Hard Times. If these give you results that you like, then continue taking them. Any of these supplements will work in your system for up to three days with just one capsule or tablet to give you hard erections when you need it and the stamina to have multiple rounds of performance. But if it turns out that your body needs something stronger, then go for X Again Platinum Enhancer. It is the most powerful of these supplements and in addition to giving you strong erections, X Again will stop premature ejaculation and enlarge your penis as well – Uche

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Back in the day we used to do it up to four times in a day and in strange places. Now she hardly feels like it. I don’t know what happened – Okey Well Okey, you forgot to mention your wife’s age and whether or not she has had kids. These are all factors that can affect a person’s sex drive. Work stress and family issues can also cause the libido to wane. In any case, there are supplements that can help her under a variety of circumstances such as Kangaroo for Her. It is very powerful and can bring the worst libidos back to life. Also ensure that both of you have adequate foreplay during romance. For women, sex doesn’t just happen. They need to work harder to get aroused oftentimes and one sure way to speed up the arousal is through adult feature films which women love. So you can get her a movie like Wild Honey or Dr. Culitos. They will help get her in the mood quick – Uche And that is it for today. Adults in need of the above novelties and treatments can call us on 08027901621 or 08051924159 or any other number here to order or they can order online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. We deliver to you wherever you are in Nigeria.

For enquiries email us at custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

6, 2015—45 Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26

C M Y K

46 — Vanguard, THURSDAY THURSDAY,, MARCH 26, 2015

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015—47

ELECTIONS: APC directs supporters to

monitor their votes at polling centres

By Demola Akinyemi

I

LORIN — THE ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kwara State, yesterday, directed its supporters in the state to defend their votes on Saturday by waiting at their respective polling centres after voting and ensure that their votes were counted.

State Publicity Secretary of the Alhaji Sulyman Buhari in a statement in Ilorin, said “We urge the good people of Kwara State to troop out en masse on March 28, the rescheduled date for the Presidential and National Assembly elections to vote and defend their votes.

“Kwarans should not only vote but also wait at their polling units to ensure that their votes are counted. The clarification becomes necessary due to a confusing and unlawful “vote and go home” statement reportedly made by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba.

“We reiterate the position of our party that voters should ignore the unlawful order and rather listen to Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC

Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, who said the electoral law does not state anywhere that voters cannot or should not wait to watch and ensure that their votes are counted.”

The APC said the aim of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, sponsored violence in Kwara State was to scare people away from voting units and cause voters apathy but assured

Kwarans that the APC-led government in Kwara State will do everything within its powers to protect the people before, during and after the general elections.

RECEPTION: Wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan in a handshake with the Enugu State PDP governorship candidate, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Enugu State Deputy Governor, Rev. Ifeanyi Nwoye (right), and wife of the former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Dorothy Nwodo, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze (left), look on, during a reception for the President's wife, at Akanu Ibiam International airport, Enugu, yesterday.

PPA adopts Jonathan its presidential candidate

By Chris Ochayi

A

BUJA — BARELY 48 hours to the presidential election, the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, has adopted the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan as candidate of the party for the Saturday’s poll.

The party’s National Chairman, Mr Peter Ameh, who addressed newsmen on the decision of the National Working Committee, NWC, at the PPA national Secretariat, yesterday, in Abuja, said members of the party were determined to work round the clock to ensure Jonathan returns to office May 29, 2015.

Ameh also denied that the party was being blackmailed, bribed or pressurised to adopt Jonathan, saying that the president’s adoption was based on merit. He explained “We adopted President Jonathan in line with the spirit of progressive continuity.”

He said that members of the party were unanimous in their stance to back Jonathan in the

interest of sustaining democratic and national development.

Ameh explained that “the party’s declaration of support for Jonathan’ re-election on March 28, was based on merit as the decision was taken after

considering the level of development strides, the Transformation Agenda this administration has brought to bear on the lives of our people.”

According to him: “This Transformational reforms cuts

MORTGAGE SCANDAL: PWV, Imperial Homes'

negotiations at LMDC break down

By Bartholomew Madukwe

N

EGOTIATIONS ON a mortgage scandal involving a property developer, PrimewaterView Limited, PWV and Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank Limited, at the Lagos MultiDoor CourtHouse, LMDC, has broken down.

It was gathered that a number of meetings were convened in due course of time between PWV, Imperial Homes and Cornerstone, when the project schedule was stalling, and PWV was also defaulting in its payment obligations to Cornerstone.

The scandal is in respect of

transactions on some apartments at Safe Court Estate in IkateElegunshi neighbourhood of EtiOsa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Imperial Homes, formerly known as GTHomes Limited, had

PRO-DEMOCRACY group, Benue North East Forum For Good Governance, has raised alarm over the desperation of a serving senator from the state, who the group said, has “become a major obstacle to the right of the electorate to freely choose the candidate of their choice in the elections slated for this C M Y K

weekend.”

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Bartholomew Akpa, and Secretary, Caleb Shinyo, the group alleged that members of a militia group enlisted to disrupt the elections had been trained and mobilised “to snatch ballot boxes with a view to causing mayhem and illegally abort the elections for

bought off-plan, 30 units of the 47 units of apartment from PWV. PWV marketed the remaining 17 units to other members of the public, while payments were received as early as 2006 from some of the subscribers.

Dep Majority Leader commissions transformer to boost Okowa’s bid

E

MOVOR — HON. Leo Ogor, Deputy Majority Leader, House of Representatives, yesterday, commissioned a 500KVA transformer donated to Emevor community in Isoko North LGA of Delta State by PDP Chieftain, Mr. Ochuko Odugba.

Speaking at the occasion, the

Forum raises alarm over election in Benue North East

A

across all sectors of our society from power with the building of Dams in some major part of the country including Gombe, Taraba States amongst others to meet our agricultural and energy needs.”

the presidential and National Assembly.”

According to the group which held a meeting in Abuja, the senator planned to use the militia to disrupt the conduct of the elections in the Benue North East senatorial district, adding that the plot was conceived at a meeting at one of senator's hotels in Abuja.

donor, Odugba, stated that his gesture is to complement the laudable efforts of the PDP-led government to ameliorate the suffering of the populace.

He, therefore, implored the people to protect the project against vandalism, and urge them to vote for all PDP candidates at the polls.

Frank Oghor, on behalf of the youths, thanked the donor for deeming it fit to light up the community, assuring him that his labour would not be in vain.

Ogor on his part, commended the philanthropy of the donor, calling on other well meaning Isoko sons and daughters to emulate such act, no matter how small the project is, they should endeavour to contribute their quota to the advancement of Emevor community.

NEMA donates to Bauchi market explosion victims, IDPs

By Suzan Edeh

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AUCHI — THE N a t i o n a l E m e r g e n c y Management Agency, NEMA, has donated relief materials to victims of Bauchi Market Explosion and Internally Displaced persons in the state.

Presenting the relief materials yesterday in Bauchi, the Director General of NEMA, Muhammed Sidi, said that the donation of the materials by NEMA through the Federal Government was not a compensation, but to render succour to the affected victims.

The relief materials include 60 cartoons of detergents, 500 cartoons of bathing towels, 1,000 wax prints, 1,000 pieces of Brocads, 1,000 pieces of plastic spoons, 1,000 pieces of plastic cups, 1,000 pieces of mosquito nets, building materials amongst others.

Group sensitises Plateau tribes on need for peace

By MarieTherese Nanlong

J

OS — EFFORTS to achieve violence-free elections in Plateau State have received a boost as the Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives, PIDAN, has sensitised residents of the state on the need for peace during and after the elections.

PIDAN, an umbrella body for indigenous tribes at a workshop on voters’ education and strategies for elections and post election violence risk reduction for leaders of indigenous community development associations, said that the state was yet to recover from previous unrest hence the need for the workshop.

48—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

CONDOLENCE VISIT: Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State (right) addressing the wife of former Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mrs. Inem Okon Uwah and son, during a condolence visit to the family on the death of late Hon. Okon Uwah.

BELL RINGING: From left: Supply Chain Director, Guinness Nigeria, Cephas Afebuameh, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, MD/CEO, Guinness Nigeria, John O’Keeffe and Executive Director, NSE, Ade Bajomo, at the Guinness Nigeria Plc's Close of Business Bell Ringing ceremony in Lagos, yesterday.

AWARD: From left: Mr Christmas Joboy, Mr Michael Okeze, Mrs Foluwake Odole, Mr Patrick Udoh, cutting the 20th anniversary cake with the Managing Director, Promasidor Quality Food Products, Mr Olivier Thiry, during the long services award of Promasidor company in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe

PRESENTATION: From left: Nollywood actor, Sunny Alli, winner, MTN Cash Quest Promo, Mr. Ibeh Joseph, and Regional Sales Manager, Enterprise Solution, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Idowu Loye, during the presentation of prizes to winners in Ibadan, Oyo State.

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MATRICULATION: From left: Mr. Amiso Iniowuari, Acting Registrar, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, FUPRE, Delta State, Prof. Olatunde Damisa, Vice Chancellor and Mr. Samuel Inengite, Deputy Bursar, at the university's 8th Matriculation ceremony in Effurun, yesterday.

Photo: Egufe Yafugborhi

AWARD: From left: Prof. A.R.T. Solarin, DG, National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, Prof. & Mrs. Charles K. Ayo, Vice Chancellor, Convenant University, Ota, Akinleye Akinfoluhan Akintobi of St. Benerdette School, Ipaja, Mr. & Mrs. Samson Osewa, Chairman, Ambassadors School, Ota, during The Ultimate Mathematics Ambassador, TUMA, Prize and Award ceremony at the Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State.

TRADE FAIR: From left: Mrs. Maryam Bayi, Director, Consumer Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Tony Ojobo, Director, Public Affairs, NCC and Jasper Nduagwuike, Vice President, Trade Fair, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, at the just concluded Enugu International Trade Fair in Enugu.

COMMISSIONING: From right: Ovoke Oshasha, PDP chieftain, Mr. Ochuko Odugba, PDP chieftain and donor of the transformer, Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Leo Ogor and others, at the commissioning of the 500KVA transformer donated by Ochuko Odugba at Emovor community in IsokoLGA, Delta State, yesterday.

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Customs Zone ‘A’ decorates promoted officers, declares readiness for election

By Ifeyinwa Obi

L

AGOS—THE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has charged the newly promoted officers to be more dedicated to their jobs.

The service also said much is expected from them even as it declared readiness to assist the Nigeria Police Force in achieving hitch free election.

This was disclosed by the Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘A’ of the service, Victor Gbemudu while decorating the newly promoted officers at the zonal office in Lagos Yesterday.

According to the zonal coordinator, to who much is given, much is expected.

“Also, to whom much is given, much is expected. We expected higher revenue drive and we all know it is not only revenue but also trade facilitation.

Gbemudu said the promotion was basically to boost the morale of the officers.

“There is joy all over the place.

The promotion also served as a morale booster for officers. A lot of officers were promoted from this zone and as we all know, this is the largest of all the zones.”

Gbemudu said the promotion of the officers was also timely against the backdrop of the dwindling oil prices.

“This is why the promotion is timely. It means there is no room

for leakages in revenue collection.

Also, our anti smuggling is on in all borders to ensure that we acheive our objective.”

On the election, he said the service is ready to help the police achieve a hitch-free polls.

“Customs is paramilitary and we are there to assist the Police to ensure things go right. We have the officers to do the job and also police the borders, we act in accordance with the law, we do not act outside the law.”

About 1700 officers were promoted from Zone ‘A’ with 20 promoted to the rank of Customs Area Controller; 54 to Deputy Controller and 54 to Assistant Controller.

Edo group laments abandoned NDDC projects, appeals to Oshiomhole

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ENIN CITY—A socio-political organization in Edo state under the aegis of the Concerned People of Oredo, yesterday lamented what it described as the alarming projects allegedly abandoned by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, across the state.

The group also described the Federal Government SURE-P as a conduit pipe for leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to syphon money, calling on the Federal government to abolish it and reposition it in a manner that it will directly impact on the lives of jobless youths of the country rather than for political patronage.

Addressing newsmen in Benin City yesterday, spokesman of the group, Mr Curtis Ugbo, who also is the Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, regretted that rather than being a blessing to the people, the NDDC has become a nightmare due to the horrible state of the roads and other projects which were abandoned by the commission.

He listed some of these projects to include the BIU, Amagba and Erediauwa roads, all in Benin City.

According to him, “The PDP-led NDDC is a fraud. This commission was set up to accelerate development in the country, especially in the oil producing areas of Nigeria but what we have today is that the commission is being used by government at the centre to settle political scores.

56—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015

The Yoruba: Our politics, yesterday and today

By Doyin Okupe HE Yoruba in national politics: The Political era of the second Republic 1979-1983 saw the Yoruba playing a role which was not too different from the one played in the first republic. The only difference was that unlike in the first republic when the role of opposition was officially recognized in line with the Parliamentary System of government, the Presidential system created no specific role for the party outside government.

Even though the Unity Party of Nigeria, formed by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the first party to be formed after the Military lifted the ban on party politics in 1978, the party was generally regarded as an off shoot of the Action Group which was the main Yoruba party of the First Republic.

The revered Awo who was the defacto leader of the Yoruba people had earlier shunned an invitation to be part of a Constituent Assembly which provided a veritable platform for political leaders to establish crosscultural network of affiliates which later resulted in the formation of other political parties regarded as being more national in outlook.

Chief Awolowo no doubt represented the best of the Yoruba stock in terms of ideals, passion and commitment to building a

DO YIN OKUPE OYIN

education, health and rural integration in the South West cannot be wished away even by his most vicious critics.

However, some political analysts believe that the choice of Sir Philip Umeadi as the running mate to Chief Awolowo in the 1979 Presidential election was a nontactical political move which did not take into account the age-long North-South dichotomy vis-à-vis the numerical strength of the Northern voting population.

The result of the elections saw the Unity Party of Nigeria coming a distant second to the Northern dominated National Party of Nigeria which picked its running mate from the South; thus paving the way for Alhaji Shehu Shagari to emerge as the First Executive President of a Presidential system of government in Nigeria.

By the elections of 1983 when Chief Awolowo had a change of strategy in choosing Mallam Muhammad Kura from Bauchi state as his running mate, the NPN had become almost a behemoth and the political atmosphere had become so compromised that no credible elections were possible in the circumstance.

Not even the suppressed anger of the Yoruba elements in the NPN who had felt betrayed by the renunciation of an alleged pact by the Northern leadership to run for only one term and support the West in 1983 could help the cause of the Yoruba aspiration represented by Chief Awolowo. Not only was Alhaji Shagari declared winner of the disputed elections, a few states which were hither-to controlled by Awo’s UPN (notably old Ondo and

Nation where no component part will be subjugated. He was a frontline advocate for equity and justice. Awo believed that resources of the state must be used for the benefit of the greater number of people.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo understood the values of education and this informed his decision to offer free education to every Yoruba child. This undoubtedly helped in building and maintaining the Yoruba tradition of intellectualism that had been in existence over centuries. Yoruba passion for acquisition of knowledge through formal education is our hallmark and the outstanding feature which distinguishes us among other ethnic Nationalities.

Similarly, Obafemi Awolowo’s views of what a truly federal and prosperous Nigeria should look like were unmistaken. He believed in, and stoutly advocated a federal structure where each of the constituent units will creatively use its God given resources to provide the best opportunities for its people. The result of his visionary leadership in the quality of infrastructure,

Oyo ) were declared won by the NPN. By the time the second Republic was terminated by the Military junta headed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in December, 1983, the aspiration of the Yoruba Nation as a major stakeholder in the Nigerian Federation remained largely unfulfilled. It is the consensus of analysts that the coup against our then nascent democracy halted the political advancement of the Nation and inflicted a deadly blow on our political consciousness which we never recovered from for another sixteen years. Even today, the consequent scars of the 1983 Buhari led Military misadventure are still very much with us and may take a lot more time to heal.

The politics of Third Republic and the Abiola factor: The period often regarded as the third Republic in Nigeria was characterized by the Politics of the years 1989-1998. It was a period when the Nigerian Military carried out a number of political experimentations built around the mantra of ‘new breed’ politicians but which in actual fact was only

T

Map of south western Nigeria new in form rather than in Character.

The Military formed two political parties, the National Republican Convention and the Social Democratic Party to which Nigerians were to subscribe. Even though the party had no ‘founders’ in the sense of the political platforms of the earlier republics, there was a clear indication that old cleavages and alliances coalesced into the parties and gave them some degree of the old ethnic colorations. While the SDP was regarded as a little to the left and so represented the old ‘progressive’ fold, the NRC was a little to the right and so was the party for the conservatives.

The most interesting thing about the politics of the Third Republic however was that it led to the forced marriage of certain political elements who had no prior antecedent of electoral collaborations. While this had some obvious advantages in pursuit of building National consensus, it also had its down side in the eruption of virtually irreconcilable differences and serious intra-party conflicts.

In all these, the Yoruba Nation played a key role in the strengthening of the political parties and driving the process

The tripod of the South East, South South and South West that should hold the South together must be maintained and steadied . The Yorubas are a corner stone of that tripod and we cannot afford to destabilize it or throw it into disequilibrium

of restoring Nigeria to a democratic Nation. Most importantly, the period marked a turning point in the exclusive politics of the South West and eventually led to the emergence of a Yoruba man, the late Chief MKO Abiola as the flag bearer of the SDP and eventual winner of the June 12 1993 Presidential election which was annulled by the Ibrahim Babangida administration.

How did Abiola succeed in breaking the jinx? The answer is simple: He recognized the inevitability of a strong synergy between the Political stakeholders in all the political blocks of Nigeria. Abiola built his political aspiration on decades-long business, religious, political, personal and philanthropic relationship which he had built with key figures across the country.

Learning from history Unlike the previous attempt of the Yoruba for the Presidency through the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, MKO Abiola most probably learnt from history that anyone who aspires to lead a country as diverse as Nigeria must consciously seek the cooperation, acceptance and endorsement of all major stakeholders in the Federation.

This accounted for why even in the state which produced his opponent in the election, Chief Abiola won convincingly!

The annulment of Abiola’s victory, his eventual incarceration and death in custody put the country in a major political quagmire which necessitated the unprecedented national concession of the Presidency to the South West engineered and spearheaded by Northern political elites and supported by all other ethnic nationalities including the Oil rich minorities. This development threw up only two Presidential candidates Chief Olu Falae of the APP/AD and Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP. Under this arrangement, the inevitability of a Yoruba Presidency was clear ab

initio. This of necessity placed a political debt burden which the Yoruba Nation is bound to pay sometime in the future.

There is no doubt in my mind that without an agreement that the wrong done to the South West geo-political zone by the annulment of the June 12 election should be redressed, there might have been Obasanjo presidency in 1999. It is thus apparent that the Nigerian political system draws its strength from a collective, though unwritten agreement on National consensus and concession as evidenced by the inclusion of the Federal Character principle and Quota system in our constitutions.

We will all recall also how the agitation for immediate independence in 1955/56 was deliberately put on hold by the leaders of the Political South as a concession to the North which was apparently not ready for independence then. This same spirit of building a national consensus on critical issues and granting concessions at critical times had been displayed by almost all ethnic groups at one time or the other in our National history.

The true Yoruba spirit does not see politics as a means to a pecuniary end. Rather, politics is seen by our genuine leaders as a means to selfless service, building enduring legacies and instituting equitable systems of administration.

Electoral victory This was why sometime in 1983, even when he was uncertain of electoral victory in the upcoming Presidential election, Chief Obafemi Awolowo predicted in Bonny, Rivers state that in a no distant future, someone from the Ijaw minority ethnic tribe would emerge as Nigerian President.

It is in this same vein that the age-long agitation of the Yoruba people for a restructured Nigerian federation should be understood. These demands which include greater autonomy for constituent units and powers to exploit and control their natural resources, establish and maintain their police, establish and manage local governments as may be desirable, initiate and implement social, educational , agricultural and fiscal policies without undue federal hindrances and generally deploy their talents to the most basic needs as may be identified.

These are the time tested values for which a number of our great sons and daughters stood for, suffered for and to which majority of the Yorubas subscribe as a panacea to many of our socioeconomic challenges as a Nation.

The Yoruba does not want to be cheated but even more importantly, he does not want others to be treated as secondclass citizens in this great country.

It does not matter to which political party one belongs; as long as you are a Yoruba man, these are the credo which defines our politics. We are a value-driven race and our values are not subject to the whims and caprices of any political tendency.

To be concluded

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Jonathan shortchanged South-East, APC alleges

By Vincent Ujumadu

A

WKA — THE All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of consistently short-changing the South East geo-political zone since he mounted the saddle, arguing that Saturday’s presidential election would be an opportunity for the people of the zone to say enough is enough.

Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Anambra State, Mr. Chima Okafor, at a press briefing in Awka, yesterday, regretted that despite the neglect of the zone, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, appeared to be taking the zone for granted, even in the way its presidential candidate was treating the people of the zone in the build up to the March 28, 2015, election.

He noted that in the mid-term report of

APGA gov candidate calls on politicians to respect peace accord

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA — Governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has called on politicians in the state to respect the peace accord signed before the police and ensure the coming elections were peaceful.

Otti, who spoke in Umuahia after visiting INEC state headquarters to appraise level of preparation for the elections, urged politicia ns to ensure the peace accord was respect ed for the good of the state.

“We have elections on Saturday and I needed to assess the level of prepared- ness of INEC to be sure that things are going okay and I can say I

am satisfied. ‘’We had engaged the Resident Electoral Commiss- ioner, we asked a lot of questions and I can confirm that she is ready. ‘’The sensitive and nonsensitive materials are here, they will start the distribution within the week. She made adequate plans so I am satisfied,” Otti said.

President Jonathan, there was lopsided expenditure unfavourable to the South East.

According to him, the South East received only N74 billion or 5.2% investment, which is the least in the country, against N497 billion or 35% investment for the North Central zone.

Investments for the other zones, he added, were North West –N296 billion or 21%; South West –N216 billion or 15.1%, South South -202 billion or 15% and North East – N116 billion or 8.2%.

'Jonathan'll win even in places he didn't expect'

A

SUPPORTER of President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Donatus Nnochiri has said that President Jonathan will emerge victorious in the March 28 presidential election.

Donatus, who claimed God had spoken to him about the outcome of the

election said God told him that Jonathan will win even in places where he never expected he will secure a single vote.

He said God had also told him that President Jonathan will not leave office until he had placed "Nigeria in a position where God wants Nigeria to be."

Some politicians still want to impeach me, says Elechi

By Peter Okutu

A

BAKALIKI — GOVERNOR Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State yesterday alleged that some politicians have not given up on plot to impeach him from office.

Recall that the state House of Assembly had served Governor Martin Elechi an impeachment notice about a month ago.

The governor made this

known when he received in audience the Nigerian Youth Organization at Government House, Abakaliki.

“I’m never afraid of my shadows; if I misbehave I should be answerable but not when people see a political goal and the only way to achieve that political goal is to remove me. ‘’ They decided to remove me before they look for reasons to adduce to

convince the public that I should be removed.

“The battle is still raging and I know the feelings of Ebonyi people. If not that we appealed to them to douse the tension, Ebonyi State would have been on fire by now. ‘’Don’t mind those who burnt the House of Assembly to cover their illicit deeds and then turned round to point accusing fingers at others.”

Dream Team showcases GEJ as formidable keeper By: Chineneyeh Ozor

N

SUKKA — ENUGU State dream team Support Group for the Presidency and gov ernorship race in the state have showcased President Goodluck Jonathan with his

team players as the goalkeeper of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who would not give any room for the opposition to find his net in the final match of the election slated for March 28, 2015, in the country.

The co-ordinator of the group and former Chairman of PDP, Nsukka

Local Government Area, Oliver Ajibo, said the group decided to come up with the concept of football in politics to showcase President Jonathan and other PDP candidates as the dream team players never to be beaten by other political parties.

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Messi is richest footballer Top earning players

CHAN: Nigeria, Ghana battle again N IGERIA and Ghana, two long time rivals will slug it out in the same qualification group for the 2016 African N a t i o n s Championship.

Confederation of African Football will unfold the draws on

Sunday April 5.

Nigeria made its debut in the tournament in the last edition in South Africa, but the Super Eagles coached by Stephen Keshi were stopped by the Black Stars of Ghana in the semifinal.

According to CAF, 42 teams will be engaged for the draw to be conducted according to zonal distributions of the National Associations affiliated to it.

The qualifiers will start from the weekend of 1921 June 2015 through to 28-30 August 2015 where 15 teams will emerge to join hosts Rwanda for the final tournament from 16 January to 7 February 2016.

1. Lionel Messi £47.8m 2. Cristiano Ronaldo £39.7m 3. Neymar £26.8m 4. Thiago Silva £20.2m 5. Robin van Persie £18.8m 6. Gareth Bale £17.5m 7. Wayne Rooney £16.5m 8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic £15.8m 9. Sergio Aguero £15.6m 10.Robert Lewandowski £14.8m

Top earning managers 1. Jose Mourinho £13.2m 2. Carlo Ancelotti £11.4m •Messi 3. Pep Guardiola £11.2m 4. Arsene Wenger £8.3m 5. Louis van Gaal £7.3m 6. Fabio Capello £6.6m 7. Andre Villas-Boas £6.2m 8. Sven-Goran Eriksson £5.9m 9. Jurgen Klopp £5.3m 10. David Moyes and Laurent Blanc £5.1m •Mourinho

S-H-A-M-E! Eagles beaten in Uyo •Spoil Enyeama's 100th cap N IGERIA fell to a shock 1-0 defeat at the Akwa Ibom Stadium to Uganda in an international friendly

match played last night.

An 81st minute goal from Miya Faruku gave Uganda a famous

victory in Uyo. The Super Eagles desperately needed a victory to win back the Continues on Page B15

•Amokachi

•Pinnick

•Enyeama

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

FRI DAY'S FRIDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Spurn (6) 5 Bogus (4) 8 Utter (5) 9 Dog (3) 10 Chief (4) 11 Attack (4) 12 Following (5) 13 Wreckage (6) 16 Rip (4) 18 Paradise (4) 20 Tap (3) 22 Point (3) 23 Barrier (3) 24 Host (4) 25 Insect (4) 28 Monster (6) 30 Dock (5) 32 Threesome (4) 33 Jot (4) 34 Sick (3) 35 Performing (5) 36 Valley (4) 37 Knife (6)

DOWN 1 Ebb (6) 2 Wine-bottle (8) 3 Consign (6) 4 Ratified (9) 5 Twisted (7) 6 Learn (4) 7 Manufactured (4) 8 By way of (3) 14 Sailing (9) 15 Border (3) 17 Trouble (3) 19 Hanging (8) 20 Snoop (3) 21 Storm (7) 26 Fleet (6) 27 Fisherman (6) 29 Deer (4) 30 Broad (4) 31 Mist (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 3, Steep 9, Lessee 10, Dashed 11, Essay 12, Owed 15, Ride 17, Tarried 20, Red 21, Denim 23, Rued 25, Taxi 26, Divan 28, Ant 30, Rotated 33, Stop 35, Wire 36, Brain 38, Eleven 39, Covert 40, Deffer.

DOWN: 1, Allot 2, Aster 3, See 4, Tested 5, Edam 6, Pay 7, Chair 8, Added 13, Warrant 14, Dried 16, Deliver 18, Debar 19, Pit 22, Macaw 24, Dim 27, Novice 28, Ashen 29, Tower 31, Tired 32, Deity 34, Erne 36, Bed 37, Nor.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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