You must die - Supreme Court tells Rev. King

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2—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

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4 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

You must die, S-Court tells Rev King

By Sam Eyoboka, Clifford Ndujihe, Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Olayinka Latona & Anozie Egole

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HE Supreme Court, yesterday, gave the General-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, CPA, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Rev. King an unpalatable birthday gift: You must die!

The wordings of the Supreme Court ruling were in contrast to the adoring words Rev King’s faithful used to salute him in tens of paid newspaper adverts.

In deed, on a day that the apex court okayed death sentence by hanging for Rev King, members of his church were oblivious of the judgement and were putting things in shape to celebrate his birthday, tomorrow.

In a unanimous judgement, yesterday, a five-man panel of Justices of the apex court led by Justice Walter Onnoghen, upheld the death sentence that was earlier handed to Ezeugo by the Lagos State High Court and Court of Appeal.

The Supreme Court, in its lead verdict delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, dismissed the appeal the convicted clergy lodged before it.

Justice Ngwuta, who noted that “the facts of the case could have been lifted from a horror film”, resolved all the 12 issues Ezeugo raised in his appeal.

“This appeal has no merit. The judgement of the court of appeal is hereby affirmed. The prison sentence that was earlier handed to the appellant is no longer relevant in view of the death sentence passed on him”, Justice Ngwuta held.

Church, CPA to celebrate his birthday tomorrow The atmosphere at 1 CPA Base, off Bishop Ojo Avenue, Ajao Estate, Lagos premises of the church was normal, yesterday, a few hours after the deadly verdict. Nothing seemed to be amiss as the area was having its normal evening look with passers-by going about their normal activities.

The mien of the members and passers-by did not indicate that the founder of the prayer ministry had been sentenced to death by hanging just a few hours ago.

One of the residential pastors, who identified himself as Pastor Ifeanyi, told Saturday Vanguard: “We are not aware of any Supreme Court judgement. He is our founder and father in the Lord. Besides the church is organizing his birthday service on Sunday (tomorrow). The church even held an all night programme on Thursday, as you can see we have been on with our

*Church, CPA to celebrate his birthday tomorrow *We are not aware of apex court’s judgement – Resident Pastor *Archbishops Ojo, Osa-Oni, Ajao residents, LASG react normal worship services.”

Some residents, who pleaded anonymity hailed the verdict and urged the Federal Government to carry out the Supreme Court judgement, saying that whosoever that kills should also be killed.

“We are even surprised that the man has not been executed all these years.

Men, who are servant of the devil but pretend to be men of God will learn lessons from Rev. King. Probably the population of the church members will now reduce if they get to know about the court judgement,” one of the residents said.

LASG hails judgement The apex court’s ruling, yesterday, elicited reactions from some religious leaders and the Lagos State Government, which hailed the verdict.

Reacting to the judgement, the Lagos State Government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, said the ruling was another confirmation of the seriousness of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration to be decisive in fighting crime in the state.

The Commissioner said: “This is just another confirmation that the government of his Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is going to be very strong on fighting crime. Wherever a crime is committed, no matter how long it takes, the government of Lagos State will ensure that the perpetrators of those crimes face justice eventually.

“I salute the institution called the Supreme Court for this erudite judgement and I want to assure the public that we will continue and we will not relent in our fight to make Lagos a safer, secure and more prosperous state.”

Archbishops Ojo, OsaOni speak Former National Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Archbishop Joseph Imariabhe Ojo, saying the ruling was a right step in the right direction because there is no doubt that Rev King did what he was accused of.

Rev. King’s church, Christian Praying Assembly is situated on Bishop Ojo’s Avenue in Ajao Estate and by implication the former PFN scribe can be described as their landlord and may have been in close contact with the leadership of the church while he was there.

“There is a law that says what you sow, you will reap.

It’s only a matter of time. If the Supreme Court failed to

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike with pupils of Santa Maria Nursery and Primary School, Port Harcourt shortly after inspecting work on the NLNG-NKPOGU Bridge yesterday. confirm the lower courts’ verdict, if he comes back, he would only come back to do worse things because as the Bible says, seven more deadly spirits would join him to come back to do much more deadly things.

May the Lord have mercy on his soul,” he prayed.

Asked why more and more charlatans spring up in every nook and cranny of the nation, the archbishop who now oversees his Calvary Kingdom Church along Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Lagos blamed the phenomenon of fake prophets on the growing rate of unemployment as a result of poor economy.

“There are many men doing worst things than Rev. King in this country and it appears there is not much we can do to arrest the development. I have said it before and I can repeat it over and over again, the economy is contributing as many people are jobless and want to do anything to earn a living. Pastoral work is extremely difficult. If there were jobs there are many people who are not called who would not dare to go into ministry.

“It is because they have nothing to fall back to, that is why you see all these things here and there.

When the economy was good you don’t find all manner of charlatans who should be doing other things; they are educated but frustrated as they cannot get gainfully employed jobs; so they do all manner of manipulations to attract people to their church. You often hear things like ‘It’s happening there’. What is happening? Manipulations! Occultism! They claim somebody died and resurrected; is that the end of the gospel? ‘’They can’t preach because they are not trained to preach; so they resort to all kinds of manipulations

to attract people. We are just praying for the economy to improve to have a true and Godly change so that all the charlatans will be gainfully employed in their areas of strength and not to give a wrong impression of the Kingdom of God, ‘’ Archbishop Ojo argued.

Also responding in a telephone discussion, Archbishop John Osa-Oni, the General Overseer of Vineyard Christian Centre also in Ajao Estate, also hailed the Supreme Court Judgement, saying that the apex court has amply demonstrated that there is hope for the common man in this country because the relatives of the victims of the

church leader’s cruelty will be vindicated.

The archbishop added that only such judicial pronouncements can mitigate the suffering of thousands of gullible Nigerians who are easily swayed by any wind of doctrine, also arguing that the missionary work has suddenly become an all-comers game that every Tom, Dick and Harry jump into to make ends meet.

Osa-Oni, however, hoped that the execution of the verdict will not be left to the vagaries of political considerations that will open windows for Rev. King to get an ‘arranged’ parole which will put the lives of victims’ relations in danger.

According to him, it took about 10 years for the judicial process to be concluded, the spirit of the deceased will be assuaged if the execution is carried out speedily and their relatives would be able to go about their legitimate businesses peacefully.

Additionally, other people with such tendencies who abound all over the nation today would also learn a lesson or two and know that it cannot be business as usual in the country, where they had operated with such impunity as though there are no laws in the land.’’

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$2.1bn arms probe: Metuh implicated Jonathan, EFCC tells court

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

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HE Economic and Fi nancial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, told an Abuja High Court sitting at Maitama, that the NationalPublicitySecretaryofthe Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, destroyed his “confessional statement|” upon realizing that it directly linked former President Goodluck Jonathan to the alleged illegal diversion of funds meant for the procurement of arms.

Theanti-graftagencymade the disclosure after it re-arraigned the embattled spokesman of the PDP on an amendedthree-countcharge bordering on destruction of evidence, mischief and obstruction of justice, contrary to sections 166 and 326 of the Penal Code Act, and section 38(2) of the EFCC Act, 2004.

At the resumed hearing on the matter yesterday, EFCC brought one of its lead investigators, Mr. Junaid S’aid, to testify before the Chief Judge

of the High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello who is presiding over Metuh’s trial.

The witness who was led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, told the court that he is a member of a Special Task Force Team that received and investigated the petition that led to the arrest of the erstwhile National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd.

He said the petition which was filed from the office of the NSA in January this year, alleged that Metuh, through his company, Destra Investment Limited, received N400million from Dasuki.

The fund was said to have beenelectronicallytransferred from an account the Office of the NSA operated with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, into account no.

0040437573, which Metuh’s firm opened with Diamond Bank Plc. The witness told the court that investigation by his team revealed that the transfer was donewithoutanycontractap-

proval.

He said upon the realization that there was no basis for the transaction, his team, on January 5, paid an unscheduled visit to the residence of Metuh at Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja, and subsequently invited him for questioning.

S’aid told the court that Metuh honoured the invitation and was interrogated by six EFCC operatives, namely, Ibrahim Musa, Michael Wetkas, Bello Umar, David Nkpe, Bello Adama and EuchariaIbrahim,afterwhichhe volunteeredastatementtothe commission. He maintained that Metuh had in his statement, disclosed that the N400millionhereceivedfrom the NSA had the approval of ex-President Jonathan.

The witness said: “My Lord, when he concluded writing his statement which was on four sheets of the EFCC statement form, I collected the statement and read Continues on Page 9

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Kanu: We’re more Nigerian than any other tribe —Ohanaeze Ndigbo •Appeals to Buhari to release Kanu, seeks dialogue over Biafra

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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ONTRARY to the widely held impression that Ndigbo of the south east geopolitical zone were craving for secession from Nigeria, the people have said they would remain in a united Nigeria.

They posited that their fore-fathers fought for independence of Nigeria, stressing that their stake in the Nigerian project was higher just as they would not leave their “house”.

The people’s resolve which was made known through the Youth Coun-

cil of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural body of all Igbos worldwide came on the heels of lingering protests for the realization of Biafra Republic and the detention of the Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government.

At a world press conference in Abuja on Friday, the Youth Council represented by its national president Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro and the Secretary General, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike amongst others appealed to president Mohammadu Buhari to consider the pleas of the people and release Kanu from detention to the elders of the land to further caution him.

Giving reasons for the agitation, the Ohaneze leaders stated that the

south east and south south had suffered political and infrastructural neglects, advising that the rehabilitation of moribund coal companies, dilapidated roads and job creation would take the minds of the people away from protests.

Reading the speech jointly signed by them, the national president advocated referendum and dialogue as most legitimate ways universally acknowledged to achieve any desired objectives instead of protests.

They revealed that in the spirit of oneness, they have reached out to Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Saa”d 111, Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and prominent Obas in the south west to further broker peace among the ethic nationalities.

While cautioning Kanu against hate broadcast, Isiguzoro pledged that the development would be history once the detainee was released to the leaders of Ohaneze.

2016 budget: Presidency, NASS break deadlock as VP Osinbajo heads monitoring committee tween the Presidency Soni Daniel, Abuja

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ATISFIED that it had weathered the storm over the 2016 budget, the Federal Government has raised a special committee that is saddled with the task of monitoring its smooth implementation in order to give Nigerians real value.

The committee, according to the Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, is headed by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is effectively saddled with the task of tracking the performance of the budget and reporting back to the President for necessary action.

This comes after a breakthrough appeared to have been made be-

Nigerian to undertake first Africa Solo Flight round the world

By Lawani Mikairu

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Nigerian pilot, Captain Ademilola Odujinrin is set to undertake first Africa Solo flight round the world in a specially configured single Cirrus aircraft.

The flight which is billed to take him to major cities in the world will commence and end in Nigeria.

Capt. Odujinrin, who disclosed this while speaking at a media briefing to herald the First Africa Solo Flight Round the World at the Murtala Muhammed

Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Lagos, revealed that about 114 pilots have flown round the world but that no African pilot has done it.

He said this is a dream which the organizers have been working assiduously to achieve in the last ten years. And one of the major objectives of the flight is to change the world perception of Africans and put Nigeria on the global map. In his words, “this is to change Africa narratives, inspire the youths and to support selected charities espe-

cially children in the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps.”

According to him, “It is a dream that we have been working very hard to achieve. No African has done it before .It is a big achievement.”

Captain Odujinrin also revealed that he would use SR22 CIRRUS aircraft with registration number N313CD and that the aircraft is nine years old, adding that the aircraft can fly 17 and half hours with special configuration before refueling. The pilot, said he has been flying these past 17 years.

and the National Assembly over the budget.

The two sides met on Tuesday night for some hours and deliberated on the controversial areas and resolved the thorny areas.

The meeting, according to competent source, was to deliberate on grey areas that had forced the NASS to return the fiscal document to the executive and generated untold tension in the land over the weeks.

Among those said to have attended the meeting, were ministers responsible for finance and national Planning, the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as officials responsible for revenue generation.

Also in attendance were heads of Finance and Appropriate committees in the National Assembly and other officials of the budget office.

A top source close to the meeting told Saturday Vanguard on Friday that it was ‘probably the last in the series’ to break the deadlock in the budget row even though it was the third to be held within the last one month.

“We are confident that a solution had been found to the controversial issues in the budget document before the NASS. The truth of the matter is that the controversy arose because some people did not want to go with President Buhari’s Zerobudget having been used

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 7

Blame executive for 2016 budget delay — Reps

$2.1bn Arms Scam: Buhari behind my ordeal — Dasuki tells court

By Emman Ovuakporie & Johnbosco Agbakwuru

By Kingsley Omonobi-Abuja

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HE Former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Mohamed Dasuki on Friday opened up at Abuja High Court alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari was behind his unlawful arrest and detention without trial since December 29, 2015.

Speaking through his counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), Dasuki claimed that President Buhari instigated his detention unjustly against the bail granted him by three different courts through his (Buhari) comment on Presidential Media Chat in December 2015.

In a further and better affidavit filed in support of his application at the court, the Ex-NSA claimed that the President betrayed the emotion during the Presidential Media Chat when he openly told Nigerians that he (Dasuki) and Nnamdi Kanu could not be allowed on bail because they would jump bail.

Claiming that he had been held incommunicado since his re-arrest, Dasuki therefore asked Justice Peter Affen to stop his fur-

From left: Hon. H. Pius, Deputy Executive Secretary, Badagry Local Government; Lion Stella Agbogun, Multiple Council Chairperson 2015/ 2016, District 404 Nigeria; Dr. Opeyemi Aihonsu, Medical Director, Badagry General Hospital; Lion Idowu Omolola Anobili, District Governor, District 404b-1; Dr Tunde Bakare, the Obee of Badagry kingdom; and Dr. Sojinrin Olumide representing the Commissioner for Health, during the foundation-laying ceremony of an Eye Centre at Badagry General Hospital, Lagos by Lions Club International, District 404B-1.

ther trial until the federal government purged itself of the contempt of court which prevented him from filing effective defence because of his continued detention by DSS without having access to his lawyers.

The defendant exhibited several newspaper cut-

tings in support of his motion to stop his trial adding that the newspaper publications were the comments of President Buhari during the Presidential Media Chat to the effect that he (Dasuki) and Nnamdi Kanu should not be allowed to go home even if granted bail by

any court and that the publications have not been refuted by the Presidency.

Daudu who led a retinue of lawyers on behalf of his client urged Justice Affen to enforce his order which granted bail to Dasuki adding that justice is for all parties in any court action.

Curfew in Taraba community as Fulani herdsmen kill 9, injure 10

By John Mkom, Jalingo

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S the menace of Fulani herdsmen continue to defy solution, nine persons including a personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSDC were reportedly killed while ten others sustained various degrees of injuries as the herdsmen attacked Ibi and Wukari local government areas of Taraba State Thursday.

This followed coordinated attacks earlier in Zando, Wusen and Gborucha villages of Wukari and Ibi town, the headquarters of Ibi local government area.

Saturday Vanguard reliably gathered that the attack on Ibi left five persons killed while five others were

* May override Senate on passage * Say budgetary allocation to solid minerals doesn’t reflect diversification of economy

killed in Zando, Wusen and Gburucha villages.

A check at Wukari General Hospital revealed that ten women said to be victims of Ibi market attacks by the suspected Fulani herdsmen were receiving treatment at the hospital just as government immediately imposed 24 hours curfew within Ibi local government headquarters.

The chairman Youth Vision, Taraba State, Mr.

Audu Kefas told Saturday Vanguard that farmers within these affected areas have deserted their villages for fear of further attacks.

Kefas also disclosed that the Fulani militants who carried out the attacks on the villages in Ibi and Wukari areas have their camps in Gishsrin Hasan and Tunga villages at the border areas of Taraba, Nasarawa and Plateau states.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Taraba

state command, ASP Joseph Kwaji denied knowledge of the attack on Wukari villages, he however confirmed that of Ibi adding that a member of NSDC and four others were killed in Ibi attack.

According to him: “Ibi town is under attack but the police command have deployed enough men to calm the situation. A member of NSDC and four others were killed in Ibi attack,” he stated.

Emefiele moves CBN directors

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

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ETERMINED to save the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, from the

current flood of criticisms over its handling of the foreign exchange administration, the Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has reshuffled some of the Directors of the apex bank.

It was learnt that the Director of Corporate Communications, Alh. Ibrahim Muazu, has been moved to the Strategy Management Department (SMD), leaving his Department vacant as no replacement has been named, as at yesterday.

Dr. Alvan Ikoku is the new Director for the Trade & Exchange Department, TED. That department is said to be very critical to the management of the foreign exchange market and requires some-

one the governor could trust.

Mr. Edward Adamu was appointed the new Director of Human Resources, Olasukanmi Gbadamosi, Director of the Legal Department; Chizoba Mojekwu, Capacity Development Department and oversee the International Training Institute (ITI) Learning Centre.

It was learnt that some members of the CBN top management have lived in apprehension following last week’s declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari, that there were responsible for the crisis in the forex market, as according to him, they opened Bureaux De Change which they use as conduit for round-tripping.

HE House of Representatives, yesterday, berated the executive arm of government for hampering early passage of the 2016 budget and promised to reconcile discrepancies in figures within one week to ensure that the budget is passed second week of March.

The House Committee on Appropriation will meet with the Minister of Finance and that of the Budget and National Planning next Thursday to reconcile all areas of differences.

This is just as the House Committee on Finance disclosed that the sum of N777.2 billion was recovered during the reconciliation of the subsidy payment last year.

Chairman of the Finance Committee, Rep Babangida Ibrahim gave the hint during the presentation of budget report from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMFAC, Accountant -General of the Federation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.

He also requested for additional sum of N118 million for personnel cost of the RMFAC, which was cut down by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning.

Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Abdulmumini Jibrin who accused the executive of slowing down the quick passage of the budget during the collation of reports from the 86 House Standing Committees also said that the House will no longer wait for the Senate for the conclusion of budget defence.

Jibrin who expressed worry over the way the executive arm is delaying quick passage of the budget through budget defence, said that even if the appropriation was to be rewritten, three and half months were enough to do so.

According to him, “It is the executive arm that is putting us under pressure to see the budget passed. Some MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies) have failed to appear for budget defence.”

Collaborating his position the Chairman of Appropriation Committee, the Chairman of Petroleum Resources, downstream, Rep Joseph Akinlaja disclosed that the Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachukwu failed to appear before the committee to defend the budgets of the ministry and that of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

B-R-I-E-F-S

70-yr-old man, 2 others rape 15-yr-old girl

By Emma Amaize

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HE Police in Delta State have arrested three men,

aged 70 years, 65 years and 58 years respectively for severally raping/defiling a 15-year-old girl.

The mother of the girl reported the alleged crime involving the suspects, Kenneth, Ability and Ogwe at the Police Stations, Agbor.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Celestina Kalu, in a statement, confirming the arrest of the suspects, said the mother of the girl reported that they took advantage of the state of health of her 15-year-old daughter. She said: “Based on the report, detectives swung into action and arrested the aforementioned suspects for investigation. Meanwhile, the suspects have been arraigned in court for prosecution.”

St. Michael Schools empower students with career talk

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N a bid to contribute its quota towards the devel

opment of education in the country, St. Michael International Schools Ibafo, Ogun State has organised a career talk show on “Empowerment for Greatness”, covering Sciences, Arts and Commercial studies.

Delivering the inaugural speech, the principal, St. Michael College, Mrs. Mustapha Adebola stated that the main objective for the lofty exercise is to effectively guide the students in making the right choice of career for their future. She disclosed that resource persons for the career talk were carefully selected from all spheres of human endeavour.

One of the resource persons, Dr. Ambali Gold, a medical practitioner who spoke on “Medicine and Surgery as Career ” also spoke on the effect of Lassa fever and possible ways of curbing it. Just as Mr. Fashade David, one of the prominent voices in BDC operations in Nigeria, lectured the students on the effect of federal government monetary policies on bureau de change activities and other eccentric commercial activities in Nigeria.

8 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

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Oil deals: How Diezani’s cousin was lured and arrested by EFCC operatives •Amamgbo not my front in NNPC – Diezani cries out

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

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ETAILS of how Mr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo, the cousin of the immediate past Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison Madueke, was lured and arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Lagos,on Thursday, emerged last night.

Amamgbo, who is the chief executive of Mezcor oil and Gas limited, Tridax Oil and Gas Limited, Lynear Energy Limited and Bulk Strategic Reserved Limited, is alleged to have used his companies to corner multi-million naira oil contracts from the NNPC because of his relationship with the former oil minister.

A source close to the operation, told Saturday Vanguard that a dummy was sold to Amamgbo that some EFCC operatives had swooped on his Abuja office on No 5 Sannar Street, Wuse 2, frisking anyone on sight.

Alarmedoverthereport,the man, who was in Lagos at the time, called EFCC to enquire why the operatives were ransacking his Abuja office and threatened to take action against them.

But the operatives calmed him down and assured him that there was no cause for alarm and pleaded with him to report to their Lagos office for explanations.

Butashearrived,Amamgbo

walked into the waiting arms of his interrogators, who immediately took him on, on how he came about the various oil deals he got when Diezani held sway and the documentsrecoveredfromhis office.

He was detained and questioned over night.

Amamgbo, according to EFCC, is believed to have acted as the former minister’s front by lifting Nigerian crude oil without any requisite experience.

They are asking the man to explain how the four firms

came by the major oil jobs ahead of other key players in theindustry.Hehasspenttwo days in detention.

I don’t have any front – Diezani ButasourceclosetoDiezani questioned EFCC’s claim of the businessman’s dealings with the former minister, asking whether there was anything in the contracts he got linking him with the former minister.

Thesourcesaidthefactthat Diezani was related to Amamgbo did not make him

a business front for the former minister.

“Let the record be put straight that despite the attempt to bring her down, Mrs.AlisonMaduekedidnot and does not have fronts in the Nigerian oil industry and nobody should attempt to impute what does not exist.

“Neither is she a shareholder in any of the companies being named as belongingtothepersonbeing investigated nor is any of the transactions by the said company traced to her,” the spokesman said.

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S the dust gradually settles down in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over chairmanship tussle, the PDP Rescue Group, has insisted that the tenure of the party’s National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, and other National Working Committee, NWC, members expires on March 28, 2016.

The group, therefore, called on the NWC to commence programme leading to the party’s congresses and the National Convention.

This was contained in a statement signed by the chairman of the PDP Rescue Group,Amb.WilberforceJuta, where the group said it will not rest until sanity is restored back to the party.

The Juta-led group stated that the NWC’s tenure will end by March 26, 2016, and that no authority has the power under the PDP Constitution to extend the tenure of any official or organ of the party.

Thestatementreadsinpart: “Although a joint meeting of representatives of the Board of Trustees, the National Working Committee, the

By Michael Eboh

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ENIOR staff of the Petroleum products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, under the aegis of PetroleumandNaturalGasSeniorStaffAssociationofNigeria, PENGASSAN, yesterday, accused the Federal Government of frustrating the efforts of the PPPRA to effectively regulate the downstream sector of the Nigerian petroleum industry.

The workers disclosed that the decision of the Federal Government, beginning from 2008, to always appoint executive secretaries of the PPPRA from agencies regulated by the PPPRA had helped in no small measure in rendering the agency ineffective and lacking in autonomy.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Comrade Victor Ononokpono, Chairman, PENGASSAN, PPPRA Branch, stated that the persistent deployment of staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to head the PPPRA is a flagrant contravention of certain sections of the PPPRA Act bordering on autonomy and independence.

He lamented that the practice of appointing officers from operating/marketing companies to head a critical regulatory agency like the PPPRA is unthinkable and is in bad taste.

He said, “Portions of the Act of the PPPRA had remained unattainable under the regime of having operatives of operating company head the regulator. How do you regulate your bosses? How do you query your pay master? How do we align with global best practices? How do we promote control and checks in corporate governance? These are the questions the protest seeks answers to.”

Police increase security alert in Edo

By Oghene Omonisa

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From left: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli 1, King Godfrey Ikenwoli Emilo, and a member of the Olu Advisory Council during the Governor ’s visit to the Olu of Warri at his Palace, Warri Kingdom, Delta State, recently.

Your tenure expires March 28, PDP Rescue Group tells Sheriff, others •••declares stance against impunity, promise sanity

By Gabriel Ewepu

Appointments: FG frustrating PPPRA’s effort to regulate oil sector — PENGASSAN

National Assembly Caucus and the PDP Governors’ Forum had offered a compromise to the current crisis, we affirm that no

authorityhasthepowerunder thePDPConstitutiontoextend the tenure of any official or organ of the party. The tenure of the current National

FG confirms Mtn’s N50bn lodgement as part payment

By Emmanuel Elebeke HE Federal Government has confirmed the payment of N50 billion by Mtn as part payment of the N1.04 trillion fine by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Confirming this to newsmen on Friday, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Communications, Mr. Victor Oluwadamilare, said the payment by telecom company was made with a precursor for an out of court settlement over the matter.

Oluwadamilare, who had on Wednesday told Vanguard that the development had not been made official as it was still under federal government’s scrutiny, said the development was in line with the promise by MTN to amicably resolve the issue

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with NCC. The Nigerian telecom operator, MTN Nigeria had on Wednesday announced the payment of $250 million as part of the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on it by industry regulator.

ExecutiveCommittee,NWC, will expire on 28th March 2016. We expect all leaders and organ to abide by that.

“Congresses and the National Convention to elect new party leaders at all levels canbeconductedinthemonth of March, 2016. Friday 26th February,2016marksthethird dayinlinewiththesevendays ultimatum handed down by the National Caucus to the NWC to produce a programme leading to the party Congresses and the National Convention.”

HE Edo State Police Command, still smarting from the spate of kidnappings that ravaged parts of the state in the recentpastandaspartofitsincreasedsecurityalert,havevowed to revisit some of the kidnapping cases in the state. Following newleadfromone of such cases that allegedly took place inUromi,headquartersofEsanNorth-EastLGAduringthelast state elections of July 2012, Saturday Vanguard gathered that the case is presently being reviewed.

Source indicated that followuing alleged confessional statements to the police by kidnap kingpin, Lucky OkonemenandOsolaseSydoffbeforetheywereallegedlykilled incontroversialcircumstances,police is currently investigating one Kingsley Osemudiahen Ihayere who is said to be a youth leader in the town and now at large.

Power Oil launches nationwide Health Camp

By Nkiruka Nnorom

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S part of efforts to increase the level of health consciousness and promote healthy living amongst Nigerians, Power Oil has announced the launch of Power Oil Health Camp Initiative.

The initiative, which is Pan-Nigerian, was organized to help the public access basic medical check-up at no cost. The health camp which consists of a team of medical practitioners and volunteers will be visiting different location across 13 states in the country which includes Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Owerri, Ogun among others.

Speaking on the initiative, Power-Oil Brand Manager, Disha Argawal, stated that the brand is focused on promoting healthier lifestyle among its valued consumers and the society at large.

She said, “As a brand, Power Oil’s total focus and commitment is the well-being of consumers. The Power Oil Health Camp Initiative is a reflection of our commitment to our consumers.

Traditional ruler docked for damaging N20m property

By Bartholomew Madukwe

A

TRADITIONAL ruler of Ilaje-Bariga Community in Lagos, Kayode Ayetiwa, has been charged before an Igbosere Magistrate Court for allegedly damaging an 18room apartment valued at N20 million, property of late Mr. JohnNwachukwu.

The traditional ruler was also accused to have forged a court judgmentwithsuitNo.ID/274/2011betweenPatrickIsanleme versusSalamiAlliFafaunkepurportedtohaveemanatedfrom the Lagos State Judiciary on November 30, 2012.

He (accused) was arraigned by the police on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, criminal damage, forgery, forcible entry and impersonation.

Prosecuting police officer, Eshiet Eshiet, informed the court that on March 9, 2012 at 11:30am, the defendant and others now at large unlawfully entered the 18-room apartment at No. 35 Rashidi Atokun Street, Abule Okuta, Bariga area of Lagos.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 9

Chief G.K. Animasaun’s 83rd Birthday

You must die, Supreme Court tells Rev King Continued from page 4 How the death journey began Ezeugo was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on January 11, 2007, for the alleged murder of his church member, Ann Uzoh. He was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

The charge against him was at the instance of the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

During the trial, the prosecution had argued that the convict poured petrol on the deceased, Uzor and five others. Uzoh died on August 2, 2006, exactly 11 days after the incident.

In her judgement, trial Justice Joseph Oyewole who is now a Justice of the Court of Appeal at Calabar, said there was sufficient evidence linking the accused person to the commission of the crime.

Consequently, Justice Oyewole convicted and sentenced Ezeugo to 20 years imprisonment for the attempted murder and death by hanging for the offence of murder.

Dissatisfied with the judgement, Ezeugo took the case before the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal. in his

notice of appeal dated January 16, 2007, he prayed the appellate court to set aside the judgement.

Aside16 grounds of appeal he raised through his lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, he was subsequently granted leave to argue additional 16 grounds based on an amended notice of appeal he filed on June 15, 2008.

Ojo argued that his client did not commit the crime and was not at the scene of the incident.

He insisted that the deceased, Uzoh, had in two statements she made after the incident and before her death, stated that she got burnt in a generator accident and that the cleric was not responsible for her injuries.

Ojo said the Investigating Police Officer, IPO, had tendered statements which stated that Ezeugo was not responsible for the burns that led to Uzoh’s death.

He alleged that the trial Judge refused to admit in evidence, the statements he said exonerated Ezeugo of the crime, adding that Justice Oyewole’s refusal to admit the exhibits in evidence “occasioned a great miscarriage of justice” against his client.

Appeal court concur After due consideration of the case, a three-man panel of justices of the appellate court, in a lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Fatimo Akinbami, dismissed Ezeugo’s appeal and upheld the high court’s verdict.

The other members of the appellate court panel, who concurred with the lower court’s verdict were Justices Amina Augie and Ibrahim Saulawa.

Determined to save his life, Rev Ezeugo lodged an appeal before the Supreme Court.

His appeal was challenged

by the Lagos state government, which through its Attorney General, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem and Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Idowu Alakija, urged the apex court to dismiss it and uphold the concurrent verdicts of the two lower courts.

Reverend King reigned horror on his church members, decapitating and dehumanising them in the course of his practice that was adjudged barbaric. There were also sex ordeals in his church as he abused both married and single women while claiming to be working for God.

From left: Olori Olanike Akiolu, Olori Kudirat Akiolu, Chief GK. Animasaun, Celebrant; his wife, Chief (Mrs) Yetunde; Olori Fadeke Akiolu and Olori Titilola Akiolu, cutting the cake, during the 83rd Birthday at Otta, Ogun State.

Metuh implicated Jonathan, EFCC tells court Continued from page 4 over it, I then handed the statement over to my superiors Musa and Wetkas.

“WhenIwashandingoverthe statement,thedefendantsaidhe wassurprisedthathehadwritten thatmuchandthathefelthehad given too much information.

“Because of the comment, I was worried so I gave him the statement sheets, one after the other for endorsement. After endorsing the first and second sheets, to my surprise, the

defendant tore the third sheet.

“Mylord,hesuddenlytorethe statement sheet into pieces, in great shock and surprise I stood up,Iaskedhimwhyhedidwhat hedid?

“He replied that he did that becausehewasnolongerwilling to give the information on that statementsheet.Ithenrequested the pieces of the statement, he declined and attempted to put them in his pocket, I then cautioned him and told him to respect himself but he insisted that he was going to dispose the tornsheet.

From left: Alhaji Jubril Ajanaku, Chief Imam of Bul-Bul Central Mosque, Ikotun, Lagos; Chief GK. Animasaun, Celebrant; and Alhaji Sikirulahi Amoo, Chief Imam of Hamddiyah Muslim Jaamah, during the 83rd Birthday at Otta, Ogun State.

Photos: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor and Bunmi Azeez

10—SA TURD AY 10—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016 FEBRUARY

Menace of Fulani herdsmen:

A nightmare to police too

•IGP Arase

By Evelyn Usman

A

s preparations towards the burial ceremony of their late mother drew nearer last March, the Onosetales printed invitation cards to friends from far and near, to honour the ceremony billed to hold in their hometown in Ukhun, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

But prior to the D-Day, an

incident which almost marred the painstaking preparation occurred, following an attack on some female invitees by Fulani herdsmen who were grazing in the community. The visitors, accompanied by a member of the Onosetale family, were on their way to a guest house, when all of a sudden, three wild-looking men later discovered to be Fulani cattle rearers appeared from nowhere, brandishing dangerous weapons such as daggers, bows and arrows.

They reportedly ordered the women to lie flat and dispossessed them of cash and other valuables. Thereafter, they attempted to rape them in turns. An attempt to resist them earned the women some slaps across their faces, with bruises all over their bodies as a result of the struggle in the bush they were taken to. Their frantic shouts for help alerted some hunters

• President Buhari

in the bush, who fired some shots into the air, which forced the invaders to disappear.

By the time the hunters arrived the scene, only two out of the eight women were reportedly seen shivering in fear, while others in their confusion, ran in separate directions for cover. It took a search team to locate them.

This scenario is not new in the activities of cattle rearers in virtually all the communities they are found.

For instance, two weeks ago, villagers in Tom Anyiin and TomAtaan communities, Mbaya Tombu in Burukutu Local Government Area of Benue State, were rattled from sleep by the reverberating sound of sporadic gunshots from some Fulani cattle rearers.

Report had it that at the end of the shooting spree, life was snuffed out of ten villagers while others were inflicted with varying degrees of injuries. Although Police in Benue State said no life was lost, it was affirmed that several villagers fled their abodes out of fear of a reoccurring attack.

Attacks on relevant authority

One would have expected the Fulani herdsmen to run into hiding on the approach of policemen to the community. But

in a brazen display of total disregard for relevant authority, they reportedly ambushed the Burukutu Divisional Police Officer (DPO), the Area Commander and the Council Caretaker Chairman, who were on assessment tour of the communities.

Surprisingly, that was not the first time they would ambush relevant authority. This violent twist was introduced in 2013, after they audaciously attacked the convoy of former Benue State Governor, Dr Gabriel Suswam, at Tse Aekenyi in Guma Local Government Area of the state.

The Governor who led a team of security men comprising the army, police, civil defence, and Department of State Security Service, to take an assessment of the destruction caused in the area by the Fulani herdsmen, was taken by surprise by the rampaging herdsmen who had destroyed over 72 villages and killed 25 residents in Ukpan, near Daudu. But the attack was repelled by security forces in the Governor ’s convoy, who forcefully led a visibly surprised and angry Suswam back into his car, before zooming off.

The incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen which have haphazardly sent several persons to their early

Continues on page 11

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016—11 FEBRUARY

Continues from page 10 graves, is increasingly becoming a worrisome phenomenon for government at all levels and Nigerians at large. These Fulani herdsmen said to have fled their home towns following activities of Boko Haram sect in some Northern parts of the country, have reportedly diversified into armed robbery in their host communities with security agencies accused of looking the other way.

Cattle rearing which has become an integral part of the economic mainstay of some Northerners, have no doubt contributed to a sustained production and sales of cow meat in markets across the country. Despite their diverse importance, the recent activities of Fulani cattle rearers in the country are obviously threatening the life and existence of those living within their areas of grazing, especially in the rural areas.

Wave of attacks

The attacks which were first witnessed in the Northern part of the country, have snowballed to other regions. The first region which tasted the pangs of the Fulani cattle rearers was the South- East. There is no community in the South-East region where the presence of Fulani herdsmen is not felt. Sadly, their presence has elicited fear in the minds of several persons in the host communities. This is not unconnected with the forceful way the cattle rearers colonize farm lands, destroying crops which took quality time and money to be planted. Aside this, they even go as far as killing owners of farmlands who dared to challenge, rebuke or chase them away from their vicinity, thus leaving their carcass to the birds of the air to feast on before they are discovered by their families.

Women are not spared either, as there have been cases of rape of both married and single women.

These have not only inflicted pains on the affected persons but have also made them to live in fear in their own homes.

… In Abia

The activities of these herdsmen in some communities in Abia State, for example, have become a source of great worry for the people. For instance, communities such as Uzuakoli in Bende Local Government Area, Ebem and Akanu in Ohafia and Umuchieze in Umunneochi, have had an unfair share of clashes with these cattle breeders. That the herdsmen dare them for a showdown when challenged is most provocative to victims of this menace!

In Uzuakoli area of the state, a man popularly known in the area as Ajambele, sometime in the past received a deadly attack when he met cattle destroying his farm in the Over Rail area of the community. As if that was not enough, the herdsmen were said to have used sharp dagger to rip his stomach open, forcing his intestines to gush out, when he confronted them.

•DSS DG, Daura

The first region which tasted the pangs of the Fulani cattle rearers was the South- East There are also cases of invasion of farmlands in Ebem and Akanu communities which almost resulted in a bloodbath but for the intervention of leaders in the community.

… In Enugu

Enugu State has also had its fair share of hellish experience with these Fulani herdsmen.

Report at Crime Guard ‘s disposal has it that there is not a single community out of the 482 communities that have not tasted the vile of cattle rearers. Ask people from Ezeagu Local Government Area and their tales will shock you.

One of the heart-rending incidents was that of the gruesome murder of an 85-yearold man, Tamggo Ogueji. The deceased, who was a member of the traditional rulers’ cabinet of Eke Community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, was reportedly shot in his house during an altercation with some herdsmen. Two other persons whose identities were given as Matthew Aniugo and Chiagha Chigbo, were also reportedly killed in their farmlands by Fulani herdsmen.

Again, a 20 year-old woman, Veronica Ezugwu, from Agum Village in Nkpologu Community of Enugu State was reportedly shot by some Fulani herdsmen who attacked a bus which was conveying the victim and other passengers home, in December 2014, at Camp Bus Stop. The victim reportedly died on the eve of 2015.

Another incident was that of a 23-year-old commercial

motorcyclist from Opi Community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Ogbonna Eze, whose life was almost snuffed out by two Fulani herdsmen whom he had conveyed from Opi Junction along Enugu-Makurdi Expressway, to their camp at Idodo Agu Ekwegbe, Igbo Etiti Local Government Area on a special drop.

Midway into the journey, Eze got the shock of his life following an order from the men for him to stop, on reaching a market close to the camp. But before he could fathom the reason for the order, he was attacked from behind with machete cuts all over his head and was abandoned in a bush to die, while his assailants made away with his motorcycle.

Disturbed by the worrisome development, the immediate past Enugu State House of Assembly began a public hearing for a bill to make provisions for the control of nomadic cattle rearing in the state. The bill which passed the second reading provides for the establishment of grazing areas in each of the three senatorial zones of the state.

The bill also proposes that nomadic cattle rearers shall ensure that the cattle are confined within the grazing areas as provided. It further stipulated: “Any person who permits cattle to graze in an area not designated as grazing area in the state, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a sixmonth imprisonment or a fine of

N100,000 or both.” It also states that “Cattle found grazing in an area not designated a grazing area in the state shall be impounded by the pound master or any other person duly authorized by the Commissioner.

Any cattle impounded under this law, which is not claimed within one week of the impounding, shall be sold in accordance with auction law; the proceeds of the sale shall be deposited in the government revenue.”

In Ebonyi, Delta, Edo and even Lagos states, activities of Fulani herdsmen are the same.

… In Delta

Activities of Fulani herdsmen in Delta State have become a source of concern and major threat to lives and property of the host communities in the state. The Obi of Onicha-Ugbo in Delta State, Agbogidi Victor Chukwumalieze, had last year raised the alarm over the atrocities of Fulani herdsmen whom he alleged ravaged farm lands, raped women and attacked farmers who dared to challenge them.

At Ogume, in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the state, about 27 persons were reportedly killed in April 2014 after the herdsmen were confronted by Ogume youths.

There have also been reported clashes between the herdsmen and youths in Ibusa. Although vigilante groups have been formed in the various communities around Delta State and other areas bedevilled by these attacks, unfortunately, they seem not to be able to match the fire power of these herdsmen who are usually armed to the teeth.

Vanguard’s Editor also

Vanguard’s Foreign Affairs

Continues on page 12

12—SA TURD AY 12—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016 FEBRUARY

Continues from page 11 Editor, Mr Hugo Odiogor, escaped death by the whiskers, following the merciless beatings he and other passengers on-board a 14-seater Hiace bus, travelling from Onicha-Ugbo to Asaba, both in Delta State, received from some armed Fulani cattle rearers who ambushed their vehicle in 2013.

Following the worried trend, the immediate past administration under the leadership of Emmanuel Uduaghan, established a committee responsible for the protection of lives of Deltans from these criminal group that disguise as herdsmen. Even with that on ground, there seem to be no end to the attack by Fulani herdsmen in the state.

Fulani herdsmen see themselves as masters

Falae too

In the South-West Region, activities of these Fulani herdsmen were unleashed on the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SFG) and chieftain of Afenifere, Chief Samuel Oluyemisi Falae, on his birthday last September. The septuagenarian received the shock of his life after the armed herdsmen invaded his farm in Ilado Village, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State and abducted him.

Confirming the possibly that his abductors were Fulani herdsmen, Falae had told journalists after he was released that the incident was not unconnected with his conflict with Fulani herdsmen who consistently grazed at his farm.

“The cattle rearers have been giving me a hard time for the past two or three years.

Because I have a dam on the farm, so they like to bring their cattle there to drink water; then the cattle eat other people’s crops,” he stated.

“This time they ate up my maize farm, two hectares. We took pictures, and it was videoed; the police went there.

The cattle rearers were asked to pay compensation, but they begged and paid half of what we claimed and we accepted it.

“That was about two months ago. Whether it was one of them who went to bring his brothers to come and deal ‘with this wicked man’, I don’t know.

It is plausible. Absolutely plausible.”

From the foregoing, it is obvious that these Fulani herdsmen see themselves as masters and if not checkmated , their activities may go beyond measures.

Arrests

In Delta State, several Fulani

supposed to be part of the grassroots security network.”

Concluding, the then police chief said: “The major problem we have is that those who come from outside the state come with rifles. They come at night, wreak havoc, and disappear in the morning.

Those that are resident are good because they know that they would be caught if they commit any crime.”

Crime Guard also gathered that the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase has detailed his Special Intelligence and Response Team to beam its search light on cattle rearers who foment trouble in the country.

The directive yielded result recently, following the arrest of eight cattle rustlers who confessed to several attacks on grazing centres.

Solution

herdsmen were arrested for robbery. Former Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, did not mince words on his position about these herdsmen, during an interview with Vanguard.

He said, “I must say that these Fulani nomads are a problem.

Since my arrival in March (2014), we have been having problems with them. But it has been contained. I have to say that we cannot count the number of them that we have arrested for armed robbery.

Some of them, particularly along the Ogwashi-Uku axis that you are talking about, have been hit fatally in crossfire with the police. Along the KwaleNsukwa axis too, especially where we have Obasanjo Farm, there have been problems too with these nomads.

“The problem is how do we contain them, especially with their peculiar mode of operation? The way these

people operate is amazing. They will strike within five and six minutes and disappear. But we have what we call visible security patrol. If you travel from Asaba to Agbor, up to the point where we have boundary with Edo State, we have not less than six patrol vehicles. But the way these herdsmen operate is baffling. There is no way the police can be everywhere at the same time.

“That is why we have been telling communities along this axis that they have to co-operate and collaborate with the police to tackle the menace of these Fulani nomads. The idea of the vigilante security is borne out of the realisation that we cannot rely on government to do everything for us.

“Some of these communities are supposed to have vigilante groups, but sometimes we wonder what these vigilante groups are doing? They are

A security analyst, Ebongabasi Ekpe-Juda, in a recent interview with journalists, alleged that politicians were behind the attacks. He pointed out that “They (cattle rearers) were not carrying sophisticated arms before. They were using machetes with their bows and arrows.

The politicians who sponsor these attacks only think about election because they want to annex the land because they know that they cannot win elections in these areas unless they occupy the lands. Look at what is happening in Plateau, Benue and Taraba states. That is what is going on.”

To restore sanity in the affected areas, he said there was need for government to ensure the presence of police in all remote areas and that government must track down those sponsoring the crisis. “Government must track down those sponsoring the herdsmen and punish them.”

However, the question which answer is not far-fetched is: Does government have the wherewithal to police every nook and cranny in the country’s rural areas? The earlier the activities of these Fulani herdsmen are checkmated with well-thought out solution, the better for all communities that are entangled in their claws.

For now their menace appears to overwhelm security operatives.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—13

UBULU-UKU: The mystique and majesty of a 17- year- old monarch

By Julius Oweh

T

he aura and grandeur of an African king is so overwhelming that his demise is announced in innuendoes as ‘joining the ancestors‘ and is usually discussed in hushed tones. But in Ubulu-Uku, a sacrilege uncommon happened when the icy hands of death snatched away His Royal Majesty Edward Ofulue III by unknown assassins. But despite the air of gloom that enveloped the ancient kingdom of Ubulu-Uku known for its traditional clothes weaving and alluring palm wine, the people rose with one voice and passed the symbols of royal sovereign, the crown and the spectre to the scion of the departed king, the 17-year-old HRM Obi Chukwuka Akaeze, making him one of the youngest monarchs on the face of the earth.

He is actually 17 and not 15 as widely reported.

The secretary to the Ubulu-Uku palace, Mr Joseph Obazei spoke on the importance of the ceremony, harping on the theme of eternal values of the king. Listen to Obazei: ‘The kingship has now been thrust on him and he has taken up the mantle of his late father.

Ubulu-Uku people are very happy that somebody has ascended the throne because king never dies. When it appears that there is no king, there is already a king. And that is what has just happened. By our tradition, you can wake up in the morning and see the heir apparent sitting on the throne issuing commands which must be obeyed. That will tell you that something has happened.

Thus apart from the principle of the first son of the king wearing the crown, the royal palace after the crowning on February 18, 2016 presented the young king to the Aniocha traditional council on Monday and the young king paid a royal visit to Government House, Asaba on Tuesday within the week.

The governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa welcomed the king and promised the royal entourage every assistance. Okowa promised the king thus: ‘We want to encourage you to know that as you study, you have your people back home that you have to administer their culture and custom as their royal father. And we hope that soon you will be through with your studies and bring your experience to bear on the administration of your kingdom‘. The king was highly appreciative of the roles played by the governor and the people of the state during the trying times of his kingdom, adding that he will continue to count on their support to succeed as the Obi of Ubulu-Uku. For a young man who recently lost his father, the new king is a study of dignity and nobility. After his coronation, he promised his people that he bore no ill will as regards the unfortunate demise of his father saying that ‘I am coming to do my work and work with all the people of the kingdom‘. This was also the line pursued by Pastor Eloke Ijeh, the national

•HRM Obi Chukwuka Akaeze

co-ordinator of Ubulu Christian Forum when he said that the king was just natural in his royal elements. Ijeh shared his sentiments on the regal bearings of the king :When I saw the strides of the new king, I realised the sayings that kings are really born.

Everything about him is regal and has a touch of royalty. He will be trained in the culture and tradition of his people‘.

As for Tony Eluemunor, a prominent journalist and a son of the soil, the notion of undying king was responsible for the crowning of the new king. He opened up on the

undercurrent themes that led to the crowning of the new king: ‘The throne is never allowed to be empty, that gave rise to the saying- the king is dead, long live the king!. But it is not just days, not just even weeks but almost a month for the king to be crowned. That does not represent undue haste by any stretch of imagination`.

When the reporter visited Ubulu-Uku and the palace during the week, the people while mourning their departed king were eager to move on with their new king and this was demonstrated by the show of love and solidarity during

the coronation of the king. This reporter‘s check indicated that the king was crowned with a bible in his hands, passing the powerful message that God was in control of the land and the affairs of the people. Pastor Ijeh explains the importance of God in the affairs of the kingdom :‘We thank God for everything. God does not make mistakes. God is in charge. We may not understand the workings of God. The former king ruled with the fear of God and it is a good thing that the new king has placed his trust

Continues on page 14

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Mysterious headache, stomach pain kill 16 in Abuja community

By Favour Nnabugwu

M

ysterious headache and stomach pains have killed 16 children and youths in Saburi 1, a village opposite Mopol Barracks along Kubwa expressway, Abuja.

Saturday Vanguard on Thursday visited the palace of the Chief of the village, Alhaji Mohammed Yamawo who was said to have traveled out of Abuja for an urgent assignment.

Speaking to Saturday Vanguard on the development, the Son of the village Chief, Alhaji Halidu Mohammed confirmed that 16 persons whose ages ranged between 10 and 25 years had been officially reported at the palace to have died within the last two weeks.

According to him, “families of the deceased persons came to the palace that their sons and daughters complain of headache and stomach pains and died just like that before they could reach Kubwa General Hospital or Garki General Hospital.”

“We do not have big hospital in our community except for few private ones that look more or less like chemists.”

“The chief invited some medical experts from town to come and uncover the cause of the sudden deaths but the Doctors could not pin the headache or stomach pains to any sickness or disease” A father who lost two of his daughters to the cold hands of death, Alhaji Ibrahim Nuhu said the senior daughter, Aminat died complaining of headache while her junior sister, Aishat died four days after.

Nuhu told Saturday Vanguard, “My senior daughter Aminat complained of headache and we administered

L- Aminat and Aishat daughters of Alhaji Ibrahim Nuhu, aged 12 and 10, who both died of headache ands abdominal pains within four days interval

Dickson, aged 15, son of Mr Joshua Abuwata who died of headache, confirmed died on arrival at a hospital

paracetamol on her thinking that it would subside after some minutes but it did not. We then decided to go to hospital for proper examination and treatment but before we got to the hospital Aminat died on the way.”

“We were gathered after four days for a prayer session for the late Aminat when her junior sister, Aishat, started complaining of a similar pain and she died almost immediately. It was a terrible blow on me and their mother.”

As to what could be responsible for the strange deaths, Nuhu said, he had no idea, adding that he left the whole thing in the hands of the Almighty Allah.

Another father who lost a 16 year old son, Mr Joshua Abuwata could

not hold back his tears while narrating his ordeal to Saturday Vanguard. He said his second son, Dickson started complaining of headache which he initially thought was a minor thing, sent for paracetamol for him and ensured he took it before the boy went inside their apartment only to come out some hours later looking dunce and staring in the air.

Abuwata went on, “When he started staring into the atmosphere without uttering a word or responding to me, it dawned on me that something was indeed wrong. I held him, yet he did not say a word. He went inside the kitchen served himself food but he could not locate where his mouth was and therefore mired his whole face with soup.”

Continues from page 13 in God by holding a bible during the coronation ceremony. There is no contradiction with the culture of the people. He is only saying that he is against fetish things and idolatry. The new king is a firm believer in the culture and tradition of his people‘.

Eluemunor also believed that the king is the focal point of the people culture and tradition and that the new king has demonstrated that modernity shall not erode the culture of the people. This is how Eluemunor puts the new cultural orientation of his people :‘The king is the cultural identification . The throne is the rallying point. It is the core of what makes you a distinct community. And monarchies play special roles , even the government recognizes that they help maintain unity in their domains‘. The people of Ubulu-Uku are looking up to the new king to fulfil that royal obligation after completing his studies in the United kingdom.

Currently, the king is doing his ALs that will prepare him for admission into any university of his choice. An ebony black, tall, bold and intelligent man with oratorical skills, the people of Ubulu-Uku could not have asked for a better king after the unfortunate incident.

It is also to the eternal credit of the Ubulu Uku people that there was no succession crisis because of the respect the people have for their

“At that point, l knew it was very serious, so l cleaned him up to take him to the hospital only for him to drop dead. I have never seen or experienced such death in my life.”

Some residents who spoke to Saturday Vanguard said government should help investigate what was going on in their village, arguing that neighboring villages were not experiencing such tragedy.

They alleged that that the sudden death started happening five days after the village head carried out a sacrifice during which he went round the village with some of his people.

They further alleged that the 16 persons were just the ones that were reported at the palace, that the number of children and youths who lost their lives in that circumstance in the last 14 days were up to 27.

However, residents of Saburi 1 community called on the council authorities to build a primary health care centre in the community to relieve them of the difficulties in accessing medical services.

The residents, who lamented that the absence of a clinic in the village constituted a source of worry for them, said the search for medical attention took them to distant places.

The village Prince said that the presence of a clinic in the community would be of great importance as villagers could easily access medical services anytime, lamenting that the benefit has eluded them, even with the size of their population.

Similar deaths were recorded in Lagos communities where about 20 children lost their lives. Cause of death was unknown until last Monday when authorities in Lagos confirmed the children died missiles.

Even medical officials and the media attributed the tragedy to mysterious causes. Now, Abuja community is experiencing same.

The mystique and majesty of a 17- year- old monarch

customs and tradition. Eluemunor explained the process better :‘The entire world just witnessed a seamless succession from father to first son as happened from Obi Ofulue I to Obi Ofulue II to Obi Ofulue III and now to His Royal Highness Obi Akaeze I. Second, it is not mandatory that only an Ubulu-Uku born wife should

produce a heir to the throne.

The immediate past Obi, Ofulue III had a mother that came from Ogwashi-Uku and there was no issue at all.

Instead the marriage strengthened the ties between Ubulu and Ogwashi‘.

In the absence of the king, the uncle will act as the regent and after completing his studies; the king will come back to UbuluUku to take charge of the affairs of his people.

All those who spoke to this reporter maintain that the Ubulu Uku tradition abhors struggle for power and that every body is aware of his position in the scheme of things. Pastor Ijeh spoke the minds of the people in this regard: ‘There is no conflict between the regent and the king. The roles of the two men are well defined. The regent holds brief for the king and when he comes back to the palace, he will assume his traditional role as the sovereign of the people‘.

The people of Ubulu Uku while mourning the death of their former king, are equally happy about the smooth transition and transfer of power to the son of the last monarch.

As for those behind the death of the former king, some Ubulu Uku women steep in tradition for about seven days running, were invoking curses on the assassins. The Christians among the people in the mould of Pastor Ijeh believe that God as the ultimate judge shall dispense justice at the appropriate time. It is now incumbent for the peace loving people of Ubulu -Uku to enter a new chapter of history as their new and young king with bright ideas shall take the kingdom higher believing strong in advancing the frontiers of their culture and tradition. In Ubulu Uku, youth and modernity coupled with a firm conviction in the efficacy of culture and tradition are shaping the community. This is the song on the lips of every Ubulu man and woman as they try to forget an ugly chapter of their history.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016—15 FEBRUARY

Nigerian Navy rescues hijacked foreign ship, sends words to sea pirates • My close shave with death – Indian Captain

•Suspected pirates

•Rescued ship

By Evelyn Usman February 11, 2016 s they sailed on the turbulent tides of the sea off the coast of Cote D’Ivoire, several thoughts ran through the minds of the 18 crew members on board MT MAXIMUS, a Saudi-Arabian ship. Perhaps, some of the thoughts could have been when they would return home to their loved ones , having spent six months on the sea.

Then, an incident that punctured their thoughts and truncated the sailing escapade occurred, with the unprecedented invasion of some armed pirates right inside the ship!

Upon gaining access, two crew members; an Indian and a Pakistani with undisclosed identities were abducted . The pirates numbering 16, thereafter, ordered other crew members to lie down , hitting them with the boot of their guns , with a threat to shoot anyone who dared to put up resistance and feed the fishes of the sea with their bodies.

They took over the affairs of the ship, first by turning off the Automatic Identification System ,AIS , an automatic tracking system on ships used to identify and locate vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships. This action was apparently to evade arrest.

Thereafter, they deleted the name MT MAXIMUS on the ship, using a red paint and replaced it with a new name MT ELVIS 5.

At this point, all hope was apparently lost for the visibly fear stricken crew members who were of India, korea, Sudan and Pakistani nationalities.

A

Nigeria Navy to the rescue Then, providence beamed reassurance on them, following

the approach of an Americaowned ship which gave the hijacked ship a hot pursuit,thereby compelling the pirates to navigate South West . But the America-owed ship could not continue with the chase as the territory was beyond its maritime jurisdiction.

Crime Guard gathered that countries within the territorial area among which were Togo and Nigeria were contacted to be on the look out.

Briefing journalists on the role of the Nigerian Navy in the rescue operation,during which six suspected pirates were arrested with sixteen crew members rescued, as well as the 4700 metric tonnes of AGO in the ship recovered intact, the Chief of Training and Operation, Rear Admiral Henry Babalola, who coordinated the operation, disclosed that the ship was rescued off the Sao Tome coast February 18, 2016 The Nigerian Navy ships Centenary, Okpabana and Sagbama , he said , were used in the operation. The chase by the NN reportedly began last Thursday until it forced the pirates to stop off the Sao Tome coast, Saturday, February, 20, 2016 . It reportedly took the NN eight hours before the pirates bowed to their superior fire power.

Their apprehension was however not without stiff resistance. First, the pirates were said to have argued that the NN had no right to arrest them as they were on international waters. This was however rebuffed owing to the Memorandum of Understating between Nigeria and Sao Tome Principe . In the process, one of the pirates said to have opened fire on the Navy was gunned down.

Message to pirates , sea robbers Continuing, Rear Admiral Babalola said “The message to sea robbers is , it is no longer business

as usual . And this is as a result of the visionary leadership of the Chief of the Naval Staff . The trust of his administration is to get our assets, our ships to be at sea . Because when you don’t have presence at sea, it gives room for sea robbers to operate. We have invested so much into this. It is not enough to know something is happening in your maritime domain, you must have response capability to put the criminals to justice. That is the message we are passing - that anywhere you commit crime in the Nigerian maritime environment within the Gulf of Guinea, we will get you”.

My narrow escape Starring into space as if trying to fathom the whole drama, Captain of the rescued ship, Krisna Pillea , muttered when approached “ I would have been a dead man by now”.

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the pirates whom he described as deadly, Pillea said “ This is the worst experience I have had since I started sailing 20yearrs ago.

We were drifting 70miles South Abidjan when these dangerously looking men attacked us on February 11 , 2016.

“We were operating far away from the shores of fishing vessels. On this ship it was my second time to operate peacefully . We were not into anything illegal. Everything was moving perfectly until they (pirates) struck that night .Those people were well prepared. They were about 15-16 and they were professionals. They came with AK 47 and grenades . They came through the bridge. When they held us hostage, we could not contact anyone about our plight. We were beaten mercilessly . Those men were mean to say the least. I narrowly escaped the Somalia pirates in 2010,where other crew members were held hostage for four years before they were released”.

Praises NN “But for the Nigerian Navy we would all have been dead men. The Nigerian Navy is great compared to every other

Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ette-Ibass Navies. In fact when a bullet flew past my head, I thought I was already dead.

But I heard a naval personnel saying , Captain , I am ready to give my life , saving you. That word encouraged me even in the face of death”.

We were not offered food to eat during the period we were held hostage. They ate our chicken, wines and other kinds of food right in front of us without offering us anything. I cant wait to return to my family” said the 53 year-old Captain, with an expression of glee .

Scramble for safety Also speaking to Crime Guard , the Duty Officer of the rescued ship, Yogesh Bhindlee, an Indian said “ I was on the bridge when I saw a boat approaching. I was just watching, wandering if it was a boat because its light was switched off. It was around 8.30pm.When I turned on our light, I saw some gun wielding men in two boats . I raised the alarm . They had ladders which they used to gain access into our ship. Most of them were young men like me. Some of us hurriedly went to hide inside the engine room. But five of us could not get in on time, otherwise that would have been a safe place. But we were forced to come out of hiding when they threatened to kill our colleagues that were with them.

They forcefully collected our money, telephones, clothes and other valuables from us. That is nothing compared to life. There is no greater relief than going home to meet my parents and siblings alive.

How one pirate was killed Continuing, elated Bhindlee said the pirate that was killed was initially with us. When he discovered that the Navy was close to us , he ran to the bridge , fired some shots and came back to where we were , leaving his gun on the bridge of the ship. Later , he ran out to pick the gun, unknown to him that naval personnel were already inside. As he aimed at the personnel, he was shot dead”.

16—SA TURD AY 16—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016 FEBRUARY

Murdered MTN staff’s phone found with land agent I didn’t kill the victim, I bought the phone — Suspect

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

O

peratives of the Lagos state investigation Bureau have arrested a 46-year-old land agent for been in possession of a phone of an MTN staff who was murdered on his way to work.

It was learned that, the suspect identified as Abidioun Fabore, was nabbed after police investigations revealed that he was using the smart phone of David Olatunji Olawunmi who was murdered around tipper garage bus stop in Mowe.

Late David Olatunji Olawunmi left his house in Goshen Estate, Redeem Camp in Mowe at about 5:30 am to join their staff bus at Mowe tipper Garage but was robbed and stabbed to death by unknown hoodlums. His body was later recovered at tipper garage without his phone According to a close family relative (names with held) who spoke to Crime Guard. Said the source: “It was his wife who lives outside the country that alerted us (family members) that something was wrong, as she was speaking with him on the phone early that morning when all of a sudden the line went dead.

According to his wife they were

both discussing that morning when he was going to work. She said ‘Later I didn’t hear anything again from his end. I called his line back severally, but it was unanswered.

Later the line was switched off’. It was at this point she became suspicious and called us to help her reach her husband. True to her suspicion, when we called David’s line it was switched off and when we sent someone later to his place his corpse was found at the bus stop in Mowe. Thereafter we alerted the police and his corpse was deposited at the mortuary.”

It was gathered that after the ugly incident, one Mr. Wale , on behalf of the deceased family reported through a petition to the Commissioner of Police that on the 21st of October his brother named David Olatunji Olawunmi, a staff of MTN communication who left his house in Goshen Estate Redeem Cap Mowe at about 5:30 am to join their staff bus at Mowe tipper garage was robbed and stabbed to death by unknown hoodlums. His body was later found at tipper garage without his phones.

According to the police, during investigation, the analysis conducted on one of the victim’s phones

revealed that the phone was used on the October, 22, 2015 days after the victim’s death. It was further revealed that the said subscriber was one Biodun Fabore. He was consequently arrested and on interrogation, he admitted being the owner of the sim card. He claimed to have bought the said phone but could not produce the source. He also claimed to have given the phone to one of his boys who he could not produce.

•The suspect Abiodun

Suspect account According to 46-year-old Abiodun Fabore, “I am a land agent; I have two wives, and I have four children. My first wife, a hairdresser gave birth to three while the second who rents film bore one for me.

I didn’t steal the phone; neither did I kill the owner of the phone. I actually bought the phone from one Idowu for N11, 000. Idowu lives in my neighbourhood. I am not lying. Idowu is known as Yaya in Ikorodu while he bears Idowu at Mowe. We work together as land agents.

The annoying aspect is that sometime after I bought the phone from Idowu, he stole in one of the

•The victim David

building sites where we worked. That was when we chased him away. We had to meet with the Baale of the community and report the activities of Idowu to him; it was the Baale that chased him out.

Right now he has escaped to Ikorodu area.

Sometime in January, the police arrested my wife during investigation, they invited me but I refused to go because I didn’t know the crime she committed. I thought she was arrested because of a land issue . If I knew it was this phone issue I would have showed myself. I would have arrested the people who sold the phones to me. After my wife was granted bail she traced Idowu to his house in Mowe but he is at large.

I paid N480,000 to arrange special room for my husband in Prison – Wife of kidnap kingpin

By Jimitota Onoyumu

T

HE Police have nabbed the wife of a kidnap gang leader, Mr Prosper Nengi David, who coordinates the activities of his gang from the Port Harcourt prison.

A member of the gang, Mr Ifanyi Nwanfo, who spoke while in the custody of the Anti-Kidnap Unit of the Police, had said that David was in detention at the Port Har-

court prisons and coordinated the activities of the group from the prison with a phone.

According to Nwanfo, the group always gave David’s share of the ransom to his wife at a spot on Aboloma road.

Meantime, David’s wife, Clara, who was arrested by the anti-kidnap unit, told newsmen yesterday before the Officer In-charge of the Police Anti-Kidnap Unit, in Port

Mimiko takes centre stage as Lagos Business School Annual Conference holds

A

S the 2016 Edition of the Africa Business Conference (ABC) organised by the Lagos Business Schoolbegins, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has been named the Keynote Speaker at the event. Themed: “Africa Rising: Leveraging the Power of a Younger Generation”, previous keynote speakers at the conference include business mogul, Aliko Dangote, CEO, Dangote Group of Companies, Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and

Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation among others.

In a letter intimating Governor Mimiko of his choice as this year ’s speaker, and signed by the Dean and President of the school, Dr Enase Okonedo and Oladiwura Oladepo respectively, the organisers said the gesture would afford the Governor opportunity to be at the forefront of educating and enlightening business leaders on opportunities existent in Africa and to also showcase his government and its economic contribution to the continent.

Harcourt, that she collected money from a member of the gang at separate times, pleading that she did not know her husband was a kidnapper.

She said she only knew her husband to be an illegal oil bunkerer. She said the man was yet to perform all the marriage rites on her but they had a son and had lived together as husband and wife since 2011.

According to her, the husband, Mr David asked her to give N480,000 to a warder so they could arrange a private room for him and some other inmates in the prison custody.

She said she gave a total of N480,000 to the warder in three instalments.

Her words: “My name is Clara Collins, I sell wrapper. I am 26 years.

They arrested me, saying I collect my husband’s share of ransom paid by kidnappers. I did not know my husband, Prosper Nengi David is a kidnapper. When they detained my husband last October, one of his friends brought N950, 000 to me as support

since my husband was in detention. Later, my husband sent another money to me and told the person who sent it to me that it was for me to give a lawyer that was seeking his release. This time, they gave me N1.5 million naira. Then, I got one million naira again.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr Musa Kimo said between January and February four cultists were shot dead by his men, adding that a total of 46 kidnappers were arrested.

He said 18 AK47, 3 Pump actions, 3 English pistol, 9 magazines, 124

cartridges were among items recovered from criminals in January.

While assuring that there will be no hiding place for hoodlums in the state the state Police chief said 11 vehicles were also recovered from armed robbers between January and now.

DSS nab fake colonel, 2 others over N4bn bribery allegation saini A. Monguno (aka

By Chris Ochayi

T

HE Department of State Services, DSS, yesterday, paraded three suspected fraudsters over alleged claimed that the Director General of State Services, DGSS, Lawal Musa Daura collected the sum of N4billion from the PDP Governors of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia and Taraba States to influence the judgment of the Supreme Court in their favour in the recently decided electoral cases by the court The suspects, Usman Ahmed Danmallam and Nura Shehu Lawal Giwa (aka Marafan Zazzau) were arrested on 17th February, 2016 at Ungu-

war Sarki, Kaduna North LGA of Kaduna State, while Hussaini A. Monguno (aka Colonel) was arrested in Abuja.

Parading the suspects in Abuja, an operative of the Service, Mr. Abdullahi Garba, said the suspects were also to misinform President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian public that the DGSS had acquired choice properties in Maitama and Asokoro areas of Abuja.

Mr. Garba noted that the overall objective was to scare the DGSS and put him under pressure just for the group to extort money from him to serve their pecuniary interest.

He also revealed Hus-

Colonel), who never served in the Nigerian Army, had claimed that he was recruited and trained as a Body Guard towards the end of former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) regime, but served Late General Sani ABACHA (rtd) who addressed him as Colonel.

According to the statement; “The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to draw the attention of the public to the infamous activities of some unscrupulous elements who have resorted to condemnable tactics aimed at blackmailing and extorting money from unsuspecting and innocent people.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016—17 FEBRUARY

Lamentation of a bereaved lover

My fiance was killed like a chicken . I will kill him again if he rises from death - suspect

By Evelyn Usman

T

he peace experienced at 2nd Francis Ware house in Ajao Estate area of Lagos was Tuesday truncated following an uproar caused by the death of one Ifeanyi Eke. The lifeless body of Ifeanyi was dropped right in front of the gate of a building believed to be that of the assailant’s boss, with the aggrieved protesters spoiling for a fight .

Crime Guard’s investigation revealed that late Ifeanyi Eke (29), from Owerri West local government area of Imo state , was allegedly stabbed to death by one Raphael Nwonye during an argument over off loading of goods.

It was further gathered that the duo had been embroiled in a lingering quarrel, during which the suspects threatened severally to kill the deceased.

When Crime Guard visited the area Wednesday, residents complained of the high handedness of the suspect, disclosing that over four persons within the vicinity had scars of stab to show of the suspect’s brutality .

Described as a terror who usually got away with his escapades , residents said the suspects usually boasted that he could wriggle his way out of any trouble with the help of his boss who is an importer in the area.

In a meeting with Crime Guard, Ifeanyi’s fiancee, Charity Okpala, who was yet to come to terms with the reality of his demise , kept shaking her head in disbelief. At a point, she muttered “is this how one dies?”.

Casting a forlorn look at this reporter , she began by asking rhetorically , “where do I start from ? Is he actually dead? You mean I wont see him any more?”. At this point, everyone around her burst into tears, trying at the same time to console her.

After waiting endlessly , she started by disclosing that late Eke hurriedly left her apartment that fateful morning, with a promise to come back to eat his food which was abandoned on the table, unknown to both of them that it was his farewell word.

News of his death According to her “Ifeanyin C M Y K

I found my Ifeanyi in the pool of his blood. I noticed a deep cut in his neck and back. I called out his name severally, shook him vigorously , with the thought that he would respond but he didn’t .That was how Raphael killed my Ifeanyi like a chicken came to visit me that morning .

He said I should give him his favourite meal which was beans and bread. As I was setting the table, his friend Tony, came in and announced that a container had landed . My fiance was a loader. He used to offload goods from containers.

“He left without eating but promised to come back to eat.

That was never to be as somebody rushed in to inform me barely one and half hours later, that Ifeanyi was lying stone dead in the pool of his blood, at Omobolanke Adeoti street, which is not very far from my apartment.

I rushed down to the scene and true to the informant’s words, I found my Ifeanyi in the pool of his blood. I noticed a deep cut in his neck and back. I called out his name severally, shook him vigorously , with the thought that he would respond but he didn’t .That was how Raphael killed my Ifeanyi like a chicken “We were preparing to get married . He promised he was going to introduce me to his family members , while I have mentioned him to some of my family members. “, she said crying all over again.

Threat to life She further disclosed that the suspect had reported Ifeanyi to her twice, threatening that he would teach him a lesson with death.

Recalling the genesis of the quarrel between her late fiancé and his assailant, she said

•Late Ifeanyin Eke

•Fiancee

“sometime last year, Raphael’s girlfriend, accompanied one of my finance’s friends(Tony ) girlfriend to his (Tony) house.

Along the line, Tony and his girlfriend had an argument during which a louvre was broken, with its pieces piercing Raphael’s girl friend. I guess he (Raphael ) thought it was a deliberate act. Since then, he has had problem with Tony who is my husband’s best friend.

The quarrel was extended to Ifeanyi.

Last year, Raphael came to me twice and threatened that he would kill Ifeanyi. When I confronted my fiance he called my bluff. If I had known he would make do his threat, perhaps I would have acted fast by reporting to the appropriate quarters”, she said, shaking her head in regrets.

Meanwhile, after the dastardly act, Raphael was said to have escaped from the scene.

Attempt by a resident to resist him, earned the unknown resident a stab in the back, thereby forcing him to release Raphael. .

But policemen from Ajao estate later apprehended him, from where the case was transferred to the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department, Yaba.

Crime Guard gathered that while in the cell, Raphael did not show any sign of remorse.

Rather , he reportedly boasted that he would stab Ifeanyi to death again if he woke up from death.

In a chat with the 25 year-old

suspect, he claimed that the deceased accompanied by his friends Tony and Samuel, stormed his home that fateful day and ordered him to follow them.

He said “before then, they came to my house and seized my gas cooker and cylinder. I later retrieved them with N3,000. So, when they came and ordered me to follow them, I put up resistance.

One of them, Tony lifted his shirt and revealed a cutlass that was tucked inside his pants. I told Tony to put away the cutlass and face me man-to-man. That utterance offended him and we started fighting. When Ifeanyi saw that I had overpowered Tony, he launched forward with a dagger in his hand. Immediately I rushed

into the room and brought a kitchen knife which I used to stab him in the back and neck”.

Members of the bereaved family who were present , demanded that justice should be done . Their statement followed report that the suspect’s boss was allegedly boasting that he would effect Raphael’s release with N1m .

Spokes person for the Lagos State Police Command, Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the report, stated that investigation into the incident was still ongoing, assuring that the first step of justice was the arrest of the suspect.

Badmus, a Superintendent of Police , informed that the corpse had been deposited at the Isolo General Hospital mortuary .

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

By Evelyn Usman

U

pon assumption of office as the 18th indigenous Inspector -General of Police, on April 22, 2015, Mr Solomon Ehijiator Arase, came up with a six- point strategic policy designed for what the police would be now and in future.

Going by his intimidating resume and experience, Crime Guard decided to put the performance of the scholar of police history on scale , with a view to ascertaining whether his words were matching with action.

Monday, February 22, 2016, was exactly ten months Arase came into the exalted office of the number one policeman in Nigeria . It would therefore not be out of place to use the template of his strategic policing plan to analyse the extent to which Arase and his management team have gone in the journey towards realigning the Nigeria Police Force to citizen’s expectations.

Anti- Corruption Drive Corruption which is identified as the most critical factor holding the Nigeria Police Force back from the path of quality and professional service delivery has been one of the main challenges bedeviling the force .

For instance, practices such as payment for bail even when it is clearly stated on the bail bond that bail is free, as well as the brazen extortion of commercial bus drivers by policemen in the full glare of the populace , have dented the image of what ought to be a revered force.

Many IGPs have had plans of curbing this shameless act to no avail.

Crime Guard investigation however revealed that this act is being frontally tackled by the current Force Management, with the adoption of a three-pronged approach.

First was to target and ameliorate the root causes of official corruption by introducing a number of welfare programmes. Second, was to strengthen and make efficient, all anti-corruption enforcement modalities, with the aim of identifying, isolating and firmly imposing discipline on any officer linked with acts of corruption , in order to act as deterrence to others.

Third, was the involvement of the social media to involve the citizens in the monitoring and accountability process.

51 policemen dismissed Interestedly , this strategy seems to have made head way , as statistics at Saturday Vanguard’s disposal showed that 51 policemen were dismissed from the Nigeria Police between May and November 2015 , over proven corrupt practices while 56 others awarded various punishments which included demotion.

These practices are still ongoing in some police divisions and commands across the country .

However , in his determination to bring it to the barest minimal, Arase has charged his Monitoring Unit, XSquad and the Provost Marshal to sustain the enforcement drive, while the Policy of holding Commissioners of Police, Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers vicariously liable for such distasteful professional misconduct is still

C M Y K

CORRUPTION IN POLICE:

Arase dismisses 51 officers, demotes 56 •His strides to re-position the force being reinforced.

Road Block Although road block was disbanded by former InspectorGeneral of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, four years ago, it was Arase who is trying to enforce the directive with Safer High Way Motorized Patrol Teams. Saturday Vanguard gathered that between May 18, 2015 when the initiative was formally launched and 30th November, 2015, over 600 patrol vehicles were procured and deployed under the Phase I and Phase II of the Scheme, with over 2,400 specially trained and well-equipped patrol officers deployed to the Scheme.

In additional, Saturday Vanguard gathered that a welfare system has been emplaced for all personnel of this special national patrol outfit.

Complaint Response Unit The establishment of the Complaints Response Unit,CRU can be described as a positive and landmark initiative by the IGP , as it encourages citizens to monitor Policemen as well hold them accountable for their actions and inactions. Complaint on policemen conducts are sent. The CRU unit is monitored by policemen at the Force headquarters , Abuja and personally supervised by Arase. At the last count, Saturday Vanguard discovered that close to two thousand complaints were received from members of the public on its online platform; www.stopthebribe.com. . This platform has no doubt been an efficient mechanism for deterring some policemen from corrupt practices as well as for investigating erring officers, while communicating feedbacks to the complainants.

Welfare Poor welfare scheme for policemen has strongly been blamed for the corruption in the Police force. Since assumption, a total of 35,429 Rank and File policemen who had been stagnating on their ranks for several years, across all commands , have been promoted by the IGP and his management team,with the support of the Police Service Commission. A breakdown of this figure showed that 456 Police Constables were promoted to Corporals, 28,530 Corporals were promoted to the rank of Sergeant ,while 6,443 Sergeants were promoted to the rank of Inspector.

This figure according to Arase in a recent briefing, included personnel who have consistently risked their lives and courageously confronted insurgents in the North East.

In addition, over 5, 184 Traffic wardens said to have remained demotivated and agitated for years due to rank stagnation have also been promoted,while 995 senior officers from the ranks of Assistant Superintendent of Police,ASP to DIG also benefited from the promotion.

NPF Educational Scholarship Foundation In addition to further improve the welfare scheme of policemen , the IGP launched the NPF Educational Scholarship Foundation on Wednesday, December 16, 2016 at the Force headquarters Abuja. The Scholarship he explained , was envisioned as an official intervention scheme that could support the attainment of the educational desires of children of junior cadre Officers while also reducing the temptation to engage in corrupt practices propelled by negative urge to meet the financial requirements for the provision of quality education for their children.

Three hundred and twenty five (325) children received scholarships that memorable day for education from Primary School to University level.

Housing Welfare Project Also, several housing projects have reportedly been undertaken by the present Force leadership to provide low cost houses for policemen . To achieve this, the Police in partnership with the NPF Mortgage Bank are reportedly helping officers acquire soft loans to purchase these houses.

•IGP Arase

This platform has no doubt been an efficient mechanism for deterring some policemen from corrupt practices as well as for investigating erring officers, while communicating feedbacks to the complainants

The NPF Property Development Company was also recently established to oversee the development of Police housing projects. At the moment, Saturday vanguard learned that the UN Habitat Shelter Afrique, an International company, is building 25,000 houses in different States of the country, while the Police Housing Project has kicked off with one hundred (100) units of houses to be built in Enugu, Katsina and Edo States with 50 units in Adamawa State.

Human Rights/Intelligence -Led Policing Aside corruption, the abuse of Police powers has been a major issue facing the Force. Instances of extra-judicial killings, accidental discharges which have sent innocent and harmless Nigerians to unprepared graves and illegal undue detention have become a recurring decimal.

In addressing this challenge, Arase has introduced a human right- driven, intelligence-led policing.

This approach as explained by him , “is designed to prevent custodial violence occasioned by the practice whereby arrest and detention of citizens are effected before evidence are adduced.

Under the new orientation, evidence-gathering precedes arrest.

This approach places a maximum premium on non-custodial investigation and guarantees that arrested suspects are charged to court as quickly as possible.

Lamenting recently that he inherited a Force that had often been accused by members of the public of extra-judicial killings, Arase attributed the resort to lethal weapons as a first line of response by the Police, as a major contributing factor. Consequently, in line with his vow that ‘no Nigerian citizen will suffer any injustice on account of my actions or inactions ’, he informed that the Force was currently in the process of migrating from the use of lethal weapons to electro-muscular disruption technology (Taser/Stun Guns).

If this is achieved, it will be seen as a revolutionary and unprecedented initiative in the history of policing in Nigeria which in the long run will effectively reduce fatalities associated with Police actions.

Cutting-Edge Technology In what could be described as a move to equipping the Nigeria Police with the use of technology in relation to crime detection and prevention, Arase announced the use of the state of the art vehicles which equipped with modern technology to provide forensic support at scene of crimes. These vehicles he said, had been provided to Police Commands in every State of the federation and are currently being utilized.

But on whether Nigerians have begun to feel the impact of these equipment remains unclear.

From the foregoing, Arase may be proud of his efforts so far.

However, the challenges of the police force are still enormous and Nigerians appreciate the fact that the problems of the force cannot be solved overnight. Arase appears on course.

SATURDAY

Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—19

By Ifeanyi Okolie

I

n July 2015 when a notorious kidnapper who had terrorized the South-East/South-South regions of the country, Henry Chibuzor, AKA Vampire, was arrested by the DSS and paraded by the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, many thought that it would be the end of a suspect who was accused of abducting over 200 prominent citizens and killing some of them after collecting ransom for their release.

But that was not the case as the 27year-old man, who was accused of kidnapping and killing the wife of a royal father in Imo State and a senior official of the Imo State Ministry of Environment after the sum of N50 million was paid as ransom, had gone on to form a new gang from prison custody.

Vampire, who was also behind the gruesome killing of his girlfriend and other seven members of her family, in their apartments in Igando area of Lagos State in 2013, was said to have recruited an official of the Nigeria Prison Service, NPS, in Owerri where he is been detained on awaiting trial and made him form a new kidnap gang that would help him raise money for his bail.

The prison official identified as Chukwuma Agim, assembled a six-man gang headed by one Chiboy also known as Eze Ekudele and carried several operations in Imo State, and in one of their operations, they abducted a middleaged woman and a ransom of N5 million was paid to the gang.

After that operation, operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT), which was recently formed by the IGP Solomon Arase to combat armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism and other heinous crimes within the country and headed by CSP Abba Kyari, rounded up five members of the gang, including the prison official in various parts of Imo State.

The suspects who were currently being detained at the Imo State Criminal Investigations Department, were identified as Agim Chukwuma, Chukwudi Uzudima, Kelechi Andrew, Chiaotu Joseph and Aloze Chinonso .

They told Saturday Vanguard that greed, poverty and stupidity led them into the gang.

Agim, who said he was enlisted into the NPS in 2015 and was posted to Owerri Prison in November 2015, said he was stupid to have listened to Vampire when he approached him in prison as he was warned by his mother not to go close to Vampire.

Suspect s

VAMPIRE:

Intriguing story of kidnap kingpin who recruited prison official from prison

didn’t get the job with BSc. Those who secured the job with BSc earn close to N100,000. When I came for industrial attachment last year, our chief warder told us that there was a notorious kidnapper called Vampire who was arrested and would be brought to Owerri Prison. When I was posted to that prison, my mother who is also serving in that prison warned me to avoid interacting with the said Vampire, that he might led me into trouble.

“Early this year, I met one Nnamdi; he was being detained in cell 2 in ‘I Ward’, which is the same cell Vampire is kept.

He approached me behind the food store, and asked if I could help and get him a phone. He offered me N3,000. I told him that I could not do that; he kept pressurizing me and I refused. He then went and met another officer, who got him the phone. He approached me again. This time with Vampire and they told me that he wanted us to be friends.

We sat behind the food store and they told me several stories about their escapades in kidnapping and I found it attractive.

“They told me that they were rich “My ordeal” people and they normally visited several Narrating his story, the prison official popular bars in major towns within the said “My name is Agim Chukwuma. I South-East and South-South states, and am 27 years old, not yet when they observed rich people leaving married, and I am student of the bar, they went after them and Imo State University. I study kidnapped them. At the end of our insurance and I am in my conversation, they wrote a phone final year. I am a native of number on a piece of paper and asked Isiala Mbano Local that I should call the person. I didn’t Government of Imo State. save the number because we don’t use I joined the Nigeria phones in the prison. They told me that Prions Service in they wanted me to call the number November 2015, and the person would link me to was trained at one Chiboy, AkA Eze Ekudele.

Arms Squad He told me that Chiboy is a big kidnapper.

Training School, “When I called the person, he Owerri, Imo identified himself as Ejima. I State and I was Suspect then told him that I got his posted to Owerri Chukwuma number from Nnamdi from Prison. I am a Agim (Nigeria prison and he wanted us to link general duty Prison Service, up to Chiboy who could help us officer and I was official) set up a gang because he has posted on guns, experience and a vehicle to morning duty make the job easy. “Nnamdi also after one week gave me the number of one documentation. I Chukwudi Uzordima. I called him earn N43,000 as well and I met the two of them at monthly. I have no Control Roundabout in Owerri and choice over my we agreed that we should meet with salary; in fact I was Chiboy and when we did, he took us thankful because I to a hotel in Elele, bought us drinks C M Y K

and asked if we had done kidnapping before; we said no.

“He laughed at us and called us amateurs and told us that he was going to come to Owerri the next day. The next day he called us and said he was going to pick somebody at Mbise road, that the person had someone giving information. But the work did not succeed. He called us that he was coming to Owerri, and we met on Port Harcourt Road. We did not know that he had kidnapped somebody.

“He was driving a Nissan Pathfinder jeep. He normally worked with a policeman and when they picked me up at Avu Junction, I saw the victim inside the vehicle. A policeman was pointing a gun at a woman and he asked me get out of the vehicle. Then Ejima and Bright entered the vehicle. The next day, he called me to go and buy pure water, can malt and bread.

“On the day, they went to pick the woman. She wasn’t the main target, but she was picked up after church. She was traced to her house and was picked.

It was Nnamdi that called me to look after the woman in the bush. I borrowed money from a friend and took it to buy food items for the woman. I gave the food to Uzordima to give to the woman.

“I later learned that the woman stayed for two days. N1.1 million was collected as ransom and I was given N100,000. I bought clothes, settled the debt that I was owing and fixed my car. The remaining was what they got for the job and Chiboy told me not to bother that he had a way to give Vampire and Nnamdi their own share of the ransom.

“But a few days after that operation, the police came and arrested me. It was Ejima who led them to me. I regret getting myself into this mess”, he lamented.

“I was with the victim in bush, got N70,000 as my share from the ransom” Joseph Chiaotu, AKA Ejima, a 21-yearold suspected member of the gang who is from Ohumba Umuwayi area in Ohaji Local Government Area of Imos State. He had this to say: “I attended only primary school and I dropped out because I lost my father at an early age.

I became a hunter. Then I started farming before I went and learnt painting. I learnt painting for a year and six months. I met Nnamdi in Ugbuwaku Local Government Area, on

a bike, and he told me that he wanted to help me but before I knew what was happening, he was arrested.

“While in prison, he gave my number to a prison official who called me and said he was from Nnamdi and we needed to work and assist him raise money for his bail. Nnamdi also asked us to go to his wife and collect Chiboy’s phone number.

When I got the number, we called and met him in Elele; from there we agreed on our job.

“Then they went for their first job, but they did not succeed. Then Chiboy told me that he needed a driver to drive us. I introduced Anozie Chinonso to him and when he did the second job, he asked both of us to meet him at Avu Junction. When he picked us, we met the woman in his car and we drove on to Egbema Road and at the middle of the road, he dropped us and asked that we should take the woman into the bush “I fed the woman with Gala and Lucozade Boost. When I got calls to release the woman, I took her to the expressway before running back into the bush. I was given N70,000 after the operation. I bought shoes and clothes with N10,000 and hide the remaining in my apartment.

“I don’t know how the police heard about what I did and they came after me and arrested me. I led the police to arrest the Prison official and four other members of the gang, but we were unable to arrest Chiboy. He noticed the presence of the police and he attempted to escape.

He ran into the bus and the police fired several shots at him but they did hit him.”

Anozie Chinonso, 25, the last suspect, had this to say: “I am from Abom Mbise. I attended Apapa Nike Primary School, Enugu.

After my father, who was a soldier, died, my mother brought me back to Mbise and gave me to my father’s brother, who is a dry-cleaner to work with, but the man later died. I went to Aba and I started doing bus conductor and from there I learnt how to drive.

“My people sold my father’s land and bought a bus for me and it got spoilt after a while. When I met Ejima recently, I told him that I had no job and I needed assistance and he promised he would help me. On the day the woman was kidnapped, he called me that I should come out and secure the woman. I came out and we waited at Avu Junction and weenteredintoChiboysvehicle,wherewesaw the woman. But Ejima I and two of Chiboy’s brotherswerethepeoplewhostayedwiththe woman in the bush. The woman spent two days before the ransom was paid and we releasedher.

“I didn’t touch the woman but told her that I wasn’t a bad person, that all I was looking for was a little money to buy a bus on hire purchase.Evenwhenthewomancameand identified us after I was arrested, she also told the police that I was nice to her. After we released the woman, I was given N100,000. I also had N30,000 with me, but as at the time I wanted to pay for the bus on hire purchase, the police came and arrested me. It was poverty that led me into this crime. I am a very poor person struggling for myself and family. I have no one helping me. My mother is a very old woman. I pray this woman and family would forgive me.”

20—SA TURD AY Vanguard , FEBRU ARY 27, 2016 20—SATURD TURDA FEBRUARY

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he ascension of His Royal Highness, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi to the throne of Ile-Ife tends to incite the opening of several pages of Yoruba history that may be better glossed over. “Pages” in the context of what is largely only remembered, not really written, does in itself cast serious doubt on the facts of the narrative. It cannot, all the same, be argued that some of the highlights of what has been cherished by the people for decades as the basis of their heritage do not bear any semblance to their status as a distinct unit of homo sapiens with their own languages, culture and traditions. On the contrary, the pattern of a cultural development that identifies a people is more harmoniously blended among the Yoruba than in many other communities in the world. (That is written as a Yoruba man, whose mother was from the royal Edo family of Osula.…no apologies) This may be because of the expressive nature of the people which bubbled through their music. It is part of their heritage to give songs a role in social events as well as traditional occasions, so that that the kernel of history was inserted into communication, and was retained across, or over time. It is no wonder that the custom has faded in some degree with the establishment of newspapers and other retentive aspects of the mass media. The custom was still very vibrant, though, in the practice of very many families, especially those who are linked with royalty or highly-placed chieftaincy establishments. The communication was stringed into cognomens which extolled the virtues of the family or personality—oriki—from which the relatives may all share a portion of glory.

This came into play at the conclaves of the natural rulers which were organized by the colonial government, after they had been able to instil some peace and order over the Yoruba area of Nigeria. It was hardly more orderly in other areas also, and the effective installation of peace, mostly by force, could really be linked with the beginning of a country called Nigeria. It played out this way: one group of people, identified by their language and appearance, would be locked in battle with their neighbours in an internecine strife that could go on for years, then the Whiteman arrived with his superior weapons and kept both sides quiet. He would then establish his authority, recognizing one side as superior to the other. He was not always right. But in the way of colonialism, might was right.

In Yorubaland, this type of enforced peace was endured because there was no way of seeking justice. So the people express their resentment in other ways. In the conclaves which rotated from the •Odia Ofeimun towns acclaimed to be the capital of each province, local government took over the so-called paramount from the native authority, all rulers would gather with the powers which were in great pomp and the hands of the traditional circumstance, robed in the rulers. The obas had little costliest apparels, preceded constitutional powers to by their young wives, each parade after that. But the of whom looked enchanting veneration continued, and with her hair plaited in the their relevance has been latest style. The musicians sustained more by tradition would sing in praise of the than the meagre references lord and master, while the in the administrative women would scatter loud structures of the country. encomiums into the air. The The continuation of the company would wave veneration of the people has banners and flags encrypted provided the raft upon with slogans drawn from the which the pride and glory of rich cognomens of the royal the natural rulers have house pertaining either to survived today. Very the history of the family or in enlightened and wellpraise in particular of the educated young people oba on parade. Some of the have been absorbed into the slogans were cast in tones system of succession within that were pointed at the the past four or five proclaimed superiority of a decades. Many of them are rival oba who might have a devoted to the development counter-slogan of his own, prospects they see among but proceedings were carried Yorubas. The Alake of their people and the role out in an atmosphere of Abeokuta’s retinue was they are called upon to play fraternal union, and not once stylishly turned out with a to make a difference. This was the carnival air allowed banner that had the attribute has enhanced the regard in to be disrupted. of the royal house inscribed which the people have I remember one that took near the massive logo of an always held their natural place in the early 40s in elephant, “Omo Erin j’ogun rulers. One of the leaders Akure, The Alafin’s ola.” - “The Elephant’s son in this group has been the procession flashed a banner inherits the honour”. Even Awujale of Ijebu-Ode, His which had the slogan, the oba of Benin, Akenzua Royal Highness Oba Sikiru “Ogongo baba eiye”. It II, was prominent in the Adetona, who was plucked featured a flamboyant image royal processions. from his studies in Europe of an ostrich, to illustrate the There were several other and set on the throne of his legend which means, “The displays of wealth in the forefathers. The Alake of Ostrich is the father of all attire of the ladies in the Abeokuta, His Royal birds,” This was an obvious processions, but it all reference to the acclaimed seemed long ago now. It was Highness, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, will strive a bit position of his domain being, virtually back-heeled into a harder to be included in that as it were, the “father” of all corner just about when the

*the hierarchy of Yoruba kings

The Elephant’s son inherits the honour

C M Y K

scholarly deposition of Odia Ofeimun, I believe only those who have anything of value need raise the issue of supremacy among the children of Oduduwa any longer. It would amount to nothing more than an exercise in idleness.

list of progressive traditional rulers, rather than dabble in the exertions of a “sergeantmajor-general” which he has imposed on his royal head, by listing some other natural rulers in his perceived supremacy.

Frankly, I believe His Royal Highness must have run across one of the old almanacs which contained a diary, important dates and pictures of eminent personalities, especially high government officials and natural rulers. Perhaps the most popular was published by the famous pharmacist, Jacob Odulate, known far and wide as “The Blessed Jacob”. In one of those publications, the erudite gentleman grouped together the pictures of five natural rulers whom he termed, “The Big Five”. Featured were, in no particular order, the Alaafin of Oyo, the Oba of Benin, the Awujale Of IjebuOde, the Alake of Abeokuta and the Oni of Ife. There was no hint of rank of position beyond the title of their traditional thrones. This was in the late ‘30s and ’40s, in my primary schooldays, and the ideas of their hierarchy were kept to ourselves individually and collectively.

Anyway, I observe that Oba Gbadebo’s list even severely left the Awujale out of his list of four.

Anyway, having read the

I am still very much interested in football, local soccer; not so much in “Man U”, or “The Gunners”, though I cannot help moving to the gripping strains of “You will never walk alone.” But, for me, Nigerian football has only meant “The Eagles”. That was a team I loved with all my heart from its formation, and because of his founder, Jerry Ikpeazu , peace be to his shades. But after my second term as the Publicity Secretary of the NFA, it was no longer politic to be identified with any club in particular. It was sensible.

We members and officials were brought up to respect our positions and threat our responsibilities with all seriousness. We were therefore able to confront ministers, or commissioners or call-them-what at the head of affairs, as long as we knew we were doing what was right. And what was right was the success of the Eagles.

Now it all seems to be in a state of chaos. Since former President Goodluck Jonathan could concern himself with the administrative functions of appointing or retaining the services of a coach, we now having the minister involving himself overtly in such matters. And, admirably, the football body resigned then, but what is happening now?

I once resigned as the Vice-Chairman as I publicly said I would. A good friend of mine who did not know I had actually “ walked my talk” challenged me to so.

He found out to his surprised that I had. You can make no progress in a project where your vanity, or profit of your position become more important than your success. My good friend then was Paul “Sports” Bassey`. He too recently resigned, among others, over a commendable position in the quest to make our football thrive.

It will, if their resignation survives.

Time out.

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—21

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ou’ve got to love the social media; especially if you are no longer in your ‘active’ years and the phenomenon has grown on you as opposed to the other way round. The amount of creative work out there is simply amazing. A Nigerian friend who lives in the US said to me: “Nigerians are either very creative or very idle”. To which I added “or both”. According to him, most of the stuff he gets are from his Nigerian contacts. We seem to be able to reduce every situation we find ourselves in to words and graphics and in a language that is simple but profound; hilarious but serious.

I received one of such messages last week that I wish to share because it describes the situation we find ourselves in very aptly.

Here goes….

‘Ebele the hunter goes into the bush, kills a very big antelope and sells it to Mama Ngozi for 1000 Naira. He tells Mama Ngozi to make good pepper soup because he is coming in the evening with his friend to enjoy themselves. As soon as they get there in the evening, they order different parts of the bush meat. Ebele takes the head for N500; four of his friends take the legs for N500 each, while two take the intestines. Three other people buy different parts for N500 each.

At the end of the evening, Mama Ngozi has sold for N5,000 with what she bought for N1,000 from the same source simply by cooking (processing) the meat and still has excess to sell to other customers.

‘Let’s relate the story to our country Nigeria. We sell crude oil to the Western world for $110 per barrel and we are happy; so happy that we spend the money lavishly, then go back to buy the processed crude oil in the form of kerosene, PMS, AGO, aviation fuel, tar, petroleum jelly and petrochemicals.

At the end of the day, we end up

Mama Ngozi and Ebele the antelope hunter buying these products at 12 times what country ’s growth. Many abandoned we sold the raw material for. And then those dreams and went with the tide we complain that we are broke.’ Now, when they realised the reality of the Nigerian system. I still can’t forget the can any economist put it better?

Unfortunately, this is what we have story the late Chief Anofi Guobadia, an done in every facet of our lives since electronics engineer, past Vice-President independence. We enjoy chocolate but of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, and we cannot process our cocoa; we enjoy a complete gentleman to boot, told me good furniture but we cannot process many years ago. Filled with the desire to our timber; we enjoy good clothes but play his role in the development of his we cannot process our cotton; we father land; he came home from the UK enjoy good shoes but we cannot and set up Maiden Electronics to produce made-in-Nigeria process our hides and skin.

The list is endless. We spend electronic goods. He was already finding his niche in more on foreign education the market when the oil boom than what would have been needed to fix our universities. came, and with it came Udoji We spend more on medical Made in Nigeria at some point and the attendant massive tourism than what we need cars will importation of electronic to fix our hospitals. Even the products. You can imagine few institutions and factories generate pride we built or inherited have and employment where Nigeria would be if been destroyed through Maiden Electronics and many like it, had been greed, corruption and sheer while saving lack of patriotism. And the foreign exchange allowed to grow. You can imagine where Nigeria richer we became, the more irresponsible we turned out to be. Nigeria not only destroyed the would be if her doctors and indeed, her dreams of its forefathers and those who professionals had found accommodation agitated for independence, it also and expression within the Nigerian destroyed the dreams of their off- system. As if by sheer coincidence, a springs. Many of those who went news flash on my phone as I write stated abroad for the golden fleece in the 60s that a ‘Nigerian, Akinwande, is to be and 70s were so anxious to return honoured by Obama. The Akinwande I home immediately after their studies know though older than the one being to contribute their quota to the honoured, is no less distinguished. He

I

have always wanted to write on forgiveness since this column started, but never did. The opportunity came when I was chosen as the guest speaker at this year ’s “A Day with the Archbishop” to mark the St. Valentine Day in the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. The topic: The Importance of Mercy in a World Searching for Love.

Since forgiveness is a major component of mercy, I spent time reflecting on it. It then occurred to me why I have been unable to write on it. Writing on forgiveness is just as difficult as forgiving unless you are a hypocrite.

“Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim people who have not even agreed undergoes a change in feelings and that they are wrong, people who attitude regarding an offense, lets go have not apologized for their of negative emotions such as transgressions, people who are still vengefulness, with an increased ability very bullish about their wrongs and to wish the offender well” (Wikipedia). will do greater wrongs if given the Mercy (which encompasses opportunity. And I just wondered, forgiveness) is one of the bedrocks of “God, where is the equity?”

Then God reminded me that it is the Christian Faith. Mercy is also very not every time people ask for significant in Islam. forgiveness before He forgives them.

Daily, Christians are reminded in the Sometimes He does it because He Lord’s Prayer that our forgiveness from is God of mercy and compassion. He God is predicated on forgiving our expects us to follow in His footstep neighbour who wrongs us. Specifically, since we are created in His image ” Jesus said: For if you forgive other and likeness. To demonstrate this, people when they sin against you, your Jesus in Luke 23:34 looked down heavenly Father will also forgive you. from the cross and offered a prayer But if you do not forgive others their for those who hurt him: “Father, sins, your Father will not forgive your forgive them for they know not what sins” (Matthew 6:14:15). Also Jesus they are doing.” His traducers felt Christ said in the Beatitudes, blessed they were doing the right thing and are the merciful: for they shall obtain could not have asked for his mercy,” (Matthew 5:7). To tell us that forgiveness.

He means business, Jesus told Peter, Yet lack of forgiveness is the cause his disciple, who was also struggling of many marital break ups. with forgiving his neighbour, that he Forgiveness in marriage can be very should forgive 70 times seven, which easy and at the same time most means always (Matthew 18:22). difficult. It is easy because there is When we sin against God, God a bond, you have also taken vows of expects us to come to Him with a “for better, for worse,” “to love and broken and contrite heart to ask for and to cherish” and “until death do us get His forgiveness (Psalm 51). But part.” If you take these vows here we are being asked to forgive seriously, you will overlook your

Forgiveness spouse’s transgressions. When you truly love and care for somebody too, forgiving transgressions is easier. You also have forgiveness mechanism like food and spousal intimacy in matrimony.

At the same time, forgiveness within marriage can be very difficult, because, like death, you feel more pain if it involves somebody close to you. Spousal betrayal or breach of trust can be very devastating and difficult to forgive.

The biblical injunctions, notwithstanding, couples need to handle each other delicately and lovingly. They should realize each other’s taboos and no-go areas, and refrain from pushing their spouses beyond their limits. Do not make him/her cross the Rubicon. If it is sacred to him/her let it also be sacred to you, or at least respect his/her wishes. If you do anything to the contrary, you are not acting in love.

Some spouses see Jesus’ admonition on forgiveness as a license to commit “murder ” and expect forgiveness. Such spouses should also remember Jesus’ new command, “Love one another as I have loved you”(John 13:34). If God holds it against your spouse for not forgiving you, God will also hold you liable for not acting in love. God is God and man is man. We are all works in progress as far as forgiving and showing mercy are concerned. Do not make it more difficult

is a product of Government College Ibadan, University of Ife, and is currently the Professor of Electronic Engineering at prestigious MIT. He is an asset to any country and he is a Nigerian. But he like many, finds neither accommodation nor recognition at home. We should encourage and find roles for him and his ilk because if Nigeria is going to survive without oil, we have to look inwards. The tentative steps of the last administration in the auto-mobile industry must be strengthened. Made in Nigeria cars will generate pride and employment while saving foreign exchange. Local airlines will take us to places of destination for a fraction of Virgin, British Airways or Delta Airlines while creating employment. I have some made-in -Nigeria shoes, and believe me there is no discernible difference from the imported ones and my pocket is happier. A sizeable portion of my wardrobe are native wears that I don’t have to go to France or Italy to procure. These are but a few of the many low hanging fruits the growth of which the government can immediately nurture.

Then, as a matter of policy, all our products from solid minerals to agriculture must not be exported in their raw states; some processing, some value must be added. And once we have found a local substitute for any product, from tomato, rice and cornflakes to shoes and cars, importation must be discouraged. As for those who have developed a taste for caviar and champagne, they just have to pay for their exotic tastes. And who says we cannot make our Nigerian champagne?

These things will not only save us from the likes of Ebele the antelope hunter and Mama Ngozi the pepper soup seller illustrations, they will engage the minds and energy of our people and put the famed enterprise of Nigerians to gainful employment.

And what’s more, the Naira will gain value. for your spouse or cause him/her to stumble. But I must concede that some of us are unnecessarily bitter and vindictive. We are ready to cut our noses to spite our faces; we are ready to dance naked in the market square to make some useless points; our pride and ego are so gargantuan, we are beclouded from seeing reason.

Forgiveness is latent or absent in some spouses’ vocabulary. I heard of a couple who live under one roof, but have been quarrelling and have not spoken to each other for 25 years!

Today, some people are in bondage because they cannot forgive. Some people are bedridden with stroke, the product of an unforgiving spirit. We need to free others so that we can set ourselves free. Sometimes it is so ironic that the people you are bearing grudges against are even unaware and are living and enjoying their lives, while you have held yourself down.

Forgiving our transgressors is tough, no kidding, especially in a world where many people have made cruelty their watch word. But forgiving is one area where God expects us to meet up with His high standards without compromise. It takes the grace of God, time and a person with a large and forgiving heart to forgive. Maybe that is why God made forgiving others a prerequisite for our own forgiveness.

We need to look at ourselves too.

Perfect as many of us think we are, we hurt others deliberately and inadvertently and expect forgiveness.

So we should forgive. But like charity, let it begin from home with your spouse. Finally, always remember that “being kind is more important than being right,” especially when it involves your spouse

C M Y K

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Second Letter to My President

Dear PMB, am constrained to write you again so soon . Our sick economy ought to be receiving intensive care management. But it is at home receiving the sort of attention that street corner patent medicine dealers are noted for , and pity from passersby .

Even founders of Jonathan’s TAN have passed by , mocking our helplessness , touting their Ojuelegba ‘staphylococcal’ ideas . It is true that some of those weeping, cursing and feeling bereaved, raped and bled this economy. Others have lent their sympathy to the rapists. They will spit curses at anyone who doesn’t share the folly that the rapists are saints or that we are all too evil to condemn anyone. Be that as it may, we elected you to clean up their confusion and the filth.

To curse your luck is to trivialize our confidence in you. We handed you prerogatives and powers, and are entitled to some expectations. You have constituted a cabinet but we are yet to see a responsive, communicative, forward thinking, economic team. You are not to blame for the tragedy that has befallen the economy but it is your responsibility to initiate smart and effective containment strategies. You promised severe cost cutting.

You don’t have a chief economic adviser yet but you have four media advisers / assistants. Such incongruities invite mockery and despair.

Preoccupation with superficiality is not your style.

Propaganda is good but it cannot prop a bleeding and famished economy. The economy begs for some of the zeal in the anti- corruption

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fight.

Nigeria is presently fighting on two fronts. The war against boko haram is now intractable.

All hopes of a promised early, decisive and comprehensive victory have been tempered by the persistence of the monstrosity and its perpetually high casualty and destruction scales. We berated Jonathan for failing to contain the insurgency. The deadline you set has passed. We no longer mourn. Too many are dying and we can’t die mourning.

Are we to spare you our hopelessness? Is Bring Back Our Girls campaign now public nuisance? There is an urgent need to find a solution to the insurgency because our capacity to engage in a protracted battle with the insurgents has been hampered by a lean purse. Propaganda is a good war strategy but sometimes bluntness and forthrightness help to manage expectations and allow the people weigh options with sobriety. We depend on you for the truth about casualty figures so our fallen military heroes don’t die anonymously. The military has reclaimed all of our territory but the tenancy of the menace appears practically untouched. Even IDP camps have been violated. While the military’s mop up operations continue, you must work out adjunct solutions. It’s your duty to locate and interact with the heart and soul of boko haram.

There is yet another war. Peril has been forced upon us by the conspiracy of collapsed crude oil prices and very thin foreign reserves. The horizon is so bleak families live in palpable trepidation. The cost of ‘pure water ’ has just doubled. This economic war has potentially

more disastrous consequences than the boko haram war. But it would appear that the government has not appreciated the lurking calamity. Unlike the war against terror the public’s confidence in the government’s ability to contain the economic demons marshaled against us has waned. It’s no ones fault perhaps that crude oil on which our collective parasitism depends has lost most of its nutritional value. It’s also perhaps not your fault that

doused by calculated, proactive, reasoned , monetary policy administration and attitudinal changes. Nothing dissipates the confidence of the public more than taciturnity and pervasive haphazardness in the face of a progressively worsening situation. The rhythm has been disastrously staccato. Obama would have addressed his nation every other day. We must now diversify our economy. Our dependence on imports must be curtailed but we cannot shut down the existing economy abruptly. Businesses cannot import, manufacturers are shutting down, no one can explain why they have to die without a struggle. Their bewilderment is met with poorly reasoned, shortsighted, inflexibility. Naira has been devalued, effectively.

Replacement costs are fixing prices. Billions in dollar subsidy are being siphoned by a privileged few and their cronies in arbitrages. Where will all of these end? If economic management of treacherous circumstances like ours is not that simple, engaging the public so that an adopted strategy does not seem to depend on voodoo would help. One would have thought that an economic team with a functional chief economic adviser would have been deployed to manage the public to educate them on the reasons behind government’s decisions.

It took your government so long to know that the foreign reserves it was depleting to prop naira ended up in the pockets of BDC owners.

Unscrupulous Central and commercial banks’ officials have been left to mop up government’s dollar subsidy.

They and their friends are the sole beneficiaries of your cheap dollars. When the government wakes up to this perfidy, known by even bread hawkers on the street, our misery would have deepened. Littering the polity with opportunities for corruption is recklessness.

Since you haven’t dismantled bold signposts of corruption that confront our every gaze, why wouldn’t you be less carefree? Sir, do you believe the police have done anything to stop their men collecting bribes from motorists in broad daylight and ridiculing the country? Or you just don’t give

Sir, do you believe the police have done anything to stop their men collecting bribes from motorists in broad daylight and ridiculing the country? Or you just don’t give a damn? those who came before you were afflicted with prodigality and greed. You have rightly gone after them and their disgorgement. But you must keep your eyes on the slippery slope. The naira is hurtling down dangerously and its seeming refractoriness is complicated by the anxiety of a public that has been bamboozled by the incoherence of those handling the economy.

The frenzy with which prohibitions are churned out and the absurdity of the frequency of adjustments are enough to trigger a stampede.

Only a few still believe Naira is a dependable store of value.

Such an anxiety can only be

a damn? We have gradually come to accept that even you can’t touch that. You are being demystified sir.

Nigerians voted you because they wanted to banish certain ghosts. They wanted all forms of ostentation and frivolity in governance exorcized. They wanted you to set examples in personal sacrifice to further probity and frugality in public expenditure. Above all they wanted you to build institutions and change debilitating cultures. They may have wanted too much, it seems. Let us accept that your budget proposal filled with maggots was an accident . It’s unforgivable that you have not

tendered a national apology. It might be helpful , in your characteristic frankness, to let us know when our expectations are a bit inordinate. No one could have imagined that your aides would have to mount a “needful waka” cyber operation to address rumours of presidential truancy that your too frequent international travels have sparked. It was taken for granted that you would be preoccupied with our numerous domestic issues , that no one would call you Gulliver . We may have been misled by your pledge to curb the profligacy that the presidential air fleet represented. All these ‘ waka’ in the face of a botched budget, nose diving naira and rampant boko haram seem frivolous.

Our foreign affairs minister and ambassadors are paid to represent you sir. “No be only you waka come naw?”. Let the vice president stretch his legs too.

Our economy is in dire straits, but we can always blame it on the gods. Our politics is still rotten, whom shall we blame? I had imagined that you would reform the APC and make it a principled party.

Your admirable personal qualities must be transmitted. Good leadership is in sowing positive values in institutions. You have rubbed off on nothing. You have carried on as if the filth that party intrigues entail are beneath you. Like a white colonial district officer in an Ogiri (foul smelling Igbo seasoning) market. But we made you leader to sanitize the party. You only need to start, others after you will continue the process. If Obasanjo had not allowed ‘third term’ play tricks on him, if he had infused virtue into our politics, we would not have been this destitute.

If you finish your tenure and your righteousness has no impact on the way politics is done in this country then you would have failed us woefully.

What is your excuse now sir?

You have political capital. Set the right examples with your party. I had hoped that the governorship candidates of your party, after your ascension ,would come to look increasingly like you. Pastor Chris has affected his pastors, from their pointed shoes to their hairstyles. But Bayelsa and Kogi elections came and left many dispirited. When APC candidates talk about corruption these days, babies start laughing. Influence the party in such a way that only change agents of visible integrity would dominate elective positions. Change must start from within your party. Internal party democracy must be nurtured and steered to serve other moral values.

Lest I forget, do not allow the PDP to die. I don’t know how you will achieve that. It is a duty above all other duties for you to nurture and sustain multiparty democracy. Show magnanimity to the PDP. Extend a hand of fellowship to PDP politicians. Encourage them to stay and rebuild their party.

That is how to be the father of the nation. A one party state is a failed state. As we kill corruption, we must slaughter “ winner takes all” mentality and make political decampment look like basic prostitution, ‘ayilara’ grade.

This country yearns for a social and economic revolution.

Respectfully yours.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 23

How six Catholic seminarians died in auto crash were still in critical state.

Rev. Fr. Iroh who prayed for quick recovery of the injured wondered how the accident happened at Otu-Ozara which is barely fifteen minutes drive to Enugu, their destination.

By Charles Adingupu

I

t was a dark day last Monday for the entire Vincentian community of the Catholic Church as they were thrown into mourning as six philosophy seminarians of the congregation died in a motor accident with eleven others sustaining various degree of injuries.

The Vincentian philosophy students were travelling from IkotEkpene, Akwa-Ibom State to attend a compulsory human development programme scheduled at Enugu.

But unfortunately, this could not be as one of the two 16-seater buses conveying them had a burst tyre at Otu-Ozara just a few kilometers away to their destination.

In an emotion-laden letter announcing the sudden demise of the seminarians, who were students of Saint Joseph Major Seminary in Ikot-Ekpene, to members of the Vincentian community, the Provincial Secretary, Rev. Fr. Joachin Nwaorgu (CM) wrote, “We regret to announce the sudden death of six of our philosophy seminarians this morning along Enugu-Port-Harcourt Road.”

The letter further listed the names of the diseased students to include Emeka Osisiuri, Joachim Ehirmeyoma, Emmanuel Agbo, Emmanuel Adah, Michael Nwafor and Emmanuel Okoli.

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Rev. Fr. Nwaorgu who commiserated with his fellow Vincentian brothers, prayed God to grant eternal peace to the souls of the faithful departed.

How it happened An eyewitness account disclosed that the vehicle somersaulted about three times before it came to a halt.

“Immediately, people of the community (Otu-Ozara) swooped in on the bus on a rescue mission and to their dismay, six of the students had died on the spot while 11 other passengers sustained various degree of injuries”, the eyewitness said.

The hand of fate A priest of the mission who would not want his name in print disclosed that the tragedy would have been worse had not the Director, Rev. Fr. Akobundu (CM) insisted that they must attend the programme in two different buses.

“The programme the students were attending was compulsory.

Conventionally, we go with one bus. But nobody knows what came over the Director who persisted that the students would be conveyed in two separate buses. That singular decision helped to reduce the disaster. Perhaps, it would have been worse than this”, said the clergyman.

A senior priest of the mission and

professor of law, Rev. Fr. Basil Okoro (CM) disclosed to Saturday Vanguard while on a visit to the injured students at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku/Ozalla last Tuesday that they were gradually recuperating but lamented that they were still placed in the intensive care unit (ICU).

He disclosed that specialist medical doctors had been deployed to the hospital to administer treatment on the survivors as most of them were suffering internal bleeding.

Rev. Fr. Okoro who was emotionally depressed to make further comments, however hoped and prayed that efforts would be put to avert loss of anyone of the injured students.

Safeguarding the survivors However, an impeccable source hinted that one of the students as at last Thursday was not responding to treatment like his mates and expressed fear that except there was divine intervention he might go the way of the other six.

“Our eyes are filled with tears at the moment. It’s indeed a difficult time for us (Vincentian family). It was a monumental loss,” lamented Rev. Fr. Mike Iroh (CM) who disclosed last Wednesday that three out of the eleven survivors

Sad memories While recalling his last moment with the dead students in Nnewi last week during an apostolate programme, Rev. Fr. Iroh described them as humble servants of God with unquestionable commitment and total dedication in their various callings.

In a mass celebrated in Lagos for the reposed of the dead students’ souls, Rev. Fr. Jenfa Adedayo (CM) recalled with nostalgia his encounter with some of them in the past.

While praying God to grant them eternal rest, Rev. Fr. Jenfa in an emotion-laden voice disclosed his first meeting with one of the diseased students, Emeka Osisiuri.

According to him, “Emeka was an epitome of love and humility. Nobody would meet Emeka for the first time without the deceased leaving positive impression of himself. I remember telling him that he (Emeka) would be a good priest. And in his usual characteristic manner, he accepted the compliment with a broad smile and quietly walked away. That is Emeka for you.

“Unfortunately, Emeka was a toddler when his father died. His widow mother singularly brought him up. In other words, he barely knew his father. But as he grew up to become a teenager, he made up his mind to embrace the priesthood vocation. Unfortunately, he did not conclude his journey just like his five peers in the ill-fated bus.”

Resting in the bosom of the Lord The clergyman expressed optimism that all the dead students were currently resting in the bosom of the Lord just as he urged parishioners to pray for their souls. Rev. Fr. Iroh disclosed that the provisional council of the congregation would sit and take decision regarding the final rites of the dead students as their corpses belong to the Vincentians.

Already, plans have been concluded to bury the dead students on March 11, 2016 at Ikot-Ekpene. The Vincentians are the male counterparts of the Daughters of Charity. However as at press time, the Superior-General of the Vincentian in Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Cyril Mbata (CM) and the Superior of Ikot-Ekpene House where the deceased students belonged, Rev. Fr. Dr. Evarestus Igwe (CM) could not be reached.

24 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

ARA’S LAMENTATIONS:

Nigerian men don’t know how to woo women anymore *I’m not Omawumi or Tiwa Savage but foreigners appreciate my music more than Nigerians Nigeria’s foremost goddess of the talking drum, musician and stage performer, Yinka Ara, simply known as ‘Ara’ recently talked about the value Nigerians place on their culture, traditions and hearitage. In a recent chat with Showtime Celebrity, the talking drummer passionately poured out her heart on why she has not really been active in the Nigerian music industry, and spoke about her love life and what fans should expect from her in 2016.

BY ROTIMI AGBANA Her prolonged inactivity in the Nigerian music industry I have not been out of the industry; the pain in my heart is the fact that people don’t promote culture and my brand of music. People want to do hip-hop, and when you have something different and unique but doesn’t seem popular or commercial as they would term it, little or nothing is heard about you even though you are doing something or a whole lot of things. I would say that I’ve not been out, I’ve been working, I’ve been having a whole lot of performances, but you won’t see me on HipTv or Nigezie because they don’t appreciate my brand of music.

I’m not an Omawumi, Tiwa Savage or Wizkid. How many people want to listen to the talking drum? We’re more accepted outside Nigeria.

Maybe the perception is ‘it’s our thing’ but out there, they know what it really means for a female to play instruments. I play well over five drums.

Those who really appreciate Ara’s kind of music Its foreigners that appreciate my music because Nigerians do not C M Y K

place value on their culture, let alone promote it. Foreigners appreciate the Nigerian culture and my kind of music even more than Nigerians, and that’s the truth.

Perception of Nigerians towards Ara’s kind of music I do really want to change things because I’m a Nigerian and I’m a mother. I want my son and other children to enjoy what we enjoyed when we were growing up. These days, what is churned out there is beautiful music and beautiful sounds enjoying widespread support from the corporate community but our kind of music, which is more cultural in nature is not appreciated the way it should. We need corporate bodies to invest, to put in something to encourage us. And that is why you see the likes of Asa, Lagbaja, Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti are not really doing stuff here in Nigeria because our kind of music is more appreciated out there and we kind of play for a selected kind of audience who will appreciate that. Well, we are looking into it and hopefully, we would have people who would support what we do, then you would see us on all the music channels.

Fans’ expectation from Ara in 2016

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 25

Yeah, this year, if I have corporate bodies who want to partner with me, why not? I already have shows booked for 2016 in the United States, China and all of those places. Yes, they love our kind of music. I was in China last year and we are going to tour China again this year.

But I would love to have something here, maybe a drum festival, music and drums or something. Well, if we put a team together and our sponsors are ready, there is nothing wrong in having something like that. I look forward to having sosmething like that here, and I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to the new Ooni of Ife. He has revived my faith, and not just my faith but also the faith of every cultural practitioner or rather culturally inclined artiste. You know, he has reawakened that zeal to promote our culture, especially in Nigeria. He is Godsent to our race, so I say a big ‘thank you’ to him.

Her take on relationships and status I’m not married but I have a son. I’ve not been in a relationship for a long time now and I’ve not been dating for a long time, at all. It’s for a very personal reason. I strongly believe in love; solely in love. I’m very deep, I don’t believe in flings or short-term relationship; I go all the way. So, if I can get what I want why not. It’s unfortunate that our society has gotten so bad that our men don’t even know how to woo a woman anymore; really, men don’t know how to woo women anymore. So when women like me who are deep, who have substance, virtuous women, want a man to go a way he should go, they get scared halfway and pull out. So, until that man comes, I’m going to wait and if he doesn’t come I’ll adopt two more kids in addition to my son and move on with my life.

See, if you ask me all these questions about the industry, I’m out of the box. Well, whatever works for anyone, whatever works for them is okay.

I strongly believe in love; solely in love. I’m very deep, I don’t believe in flings or short-term relationship; I go all the way. So, if I can get what I want why not.

That’s it for me.

Opinion on 2016 celebrity beefs, scandals and controversies (Laughs) Well, sometimes it’s just a game, a gimmick to sell publicity and sometimes its real, but I wouldn’t know if what happened earlier this year was real or was some kind of gimmick.

On whether celebrity beefs are healthy or not for the entertainment industry

How she has managed to avoid scandals I’m out of the box, a lot of people see me as a drummer and the perception is because of the kind of music and instrument I play. People think something else, right? People think when you play the kind of instrument I play, being the very first woman to play it and be successful at it, people will believe that because you believe in culture and tradition you are fetish. But that is not the kind of person I’m. That is where they get it all wrong. My lifestyle is totally different from that, so you will never find me near scandals. I’ve made my mistakes as a human being, which is normal with everybody. And I have learned lessons. So, on a normal day, you will never find Ara near scandal. I don’t believe in pre-marital sex , I don’t believe in philandering, I don’t believe in a whole lot of things. I don’t believe in going naked to sell my music or brand. I don’t conform to that thing that is perceived to be the ‘in thing’ in the entertainment industry.

situation in the country I’m very passionate about this country; I am ready to contribute to the progress and national development of Nigeria whenever I’m called upon. In Nigeria, we criticise everything, the social media is not helping the matter, sabotage, propaganda, people don’t want us to see the light, the truth, there is too much propaganda out there and we are being misinformed intentionally.

This has to stop because this country is great, greater than you and I. The earlier you and I realize that the better. I tell people that we are too volatile in Nigeria, we are too angry against one another, we shouldn’t be.

What we need is reorientation, we need to show love for the love of this country. We need to love one another, show love to one another and neglect this crazy Nigerian mentality. We are a culturally rich people, our heritage is so rich and deep, we need to get out of this craze that is eating everybody up, this ‘get rich quick syndrome’; rituals, internet scams, prostitution, and a whole lot.

Personal opinion on the political and socio-economic

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26 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

By TOFARATI IGE 08068792241

N

igeria’s biggest i n d i g e n o u s telecoms operator, Globacom, has rubbished the reports circulating online that it has sacked one of its brand ambassadors, P-Square.

It should be recalled that blogosphere was awash with reports of the purported sack of the pop duo during the week. It was alleged that the company fell out with one-half of the group, Peter, over his conduct during the grand finale of his sponsored reality show, Glo Dance With Peter late last year. Peter reportedly insulted officials of the company for failing to keep to their own side of the bargain regarding the competition. And when the honcho of the company, Dr. Mike Adenuga heard about the incident, he was furious, and declared that P-Square should be dropped as ambassadors.

However, a trusted source in Glo revealed to Showtime that the telco is yet to take a decision on the fate of P-Square with the company. The source also stated that this situation is not peculiar to P-Square alone as the company is presently deliberating on whether or not to renew the contracts of the ambassadors whose deals are up for

Top 15

1. Mo’cheddah - Survive Mo’cheddah collaborates with ace music producer, Cobhams Asuquo in this new tune titled Survive. Mocheddah goes soulful in the song 2. Tomi Thomas - Waging Wars Tomi Thomas is new on the scene and recently unveiled his new song titled Waging wars. The song is produced by him.

Glo debunks sacking P-Square as brand ambassadors

*Says, ‘All ambassadors due for renewal under consideration’ renewal.

Speaking further, the source assured Showtime that a decision on the company’s brand ambassadors would be reached in a couple of days.

Orente is my favourite song — Adekunle Gold L

•Adekunle Gold

ike a father who is proud of what his children have achieved, YBNL signee, Adekunle Gold says he is immensely glad that his three singles, ‘Sade,’ ‘Orente,’ and ‘Pick Up’ are doing so well in the public arena.

However, in an exclusive chat with Showtime, he did confess that he has a favourite among his ‘children, meaning his songs’.

In his words, ‘Out of all the songs I have out there now, I love Orente the most,’ he said with a smile, leaving us to assume that perhaps he had a special someone in mind when writing and recording the song. Gold also stated that he has been overwhelmed with the success recorded by his latest effort, ‘Pick Up.’ He said, ‘I feel good about Pick Up; the response has been amazing. It has been number one for five straight weeks on the charts.’

I’m not Broke, DJ Switch cries out B

arely three years after she emerged winner of the first and only edition of music reality show, Glo X-Factor,

there are some insinuations in the rumour mill that DJ Switch is broke. The tale-bearers allege that her dire financial situation is the reason she has been functioning more as a DJ these days. As is our usual practice of getting the facts straight from the horse’s mouth, Showtime reached out to the dreadlocks-wearing singer and DJ, and she debunked the stories.

In her words, ‘With regards to the money, I invested.

You know, if you pour all your money in music and you’re not careful, you may not get the desired results. The fact that I play in different places as a DJ doesn’t mean I’m broke; I’m a total entertainer.’

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trending music and videos of the week

3. Jaywon featuring 9ice - Jolly Muke Talented singer, Jaywon has teamed up with 9ice in a new song titled. The song is off his forthcoming album titled 4. 2face Waje and Ice Prince- 50-50 The trio of 2face, Waje and Ice Prince collaborate on this song titled ’50-50' .The song is focused on gender equality.

5. Pryse - Jumpman Pryse is a budding female rapper signed on to Chocolate City.

She recently released a new song titled Jumpman.

6. Harrysong featuring Duncan Mighty- Akagum Afropop artiste, Harrysong is back with the visuals of his song Akagum. He collaborates with Duncan Mighty in this song. The video is produced by Adasa Cookey 7. Seriki - Good life Indigenous rapper, Seriki returns with the video of his song.

The video is directed by Cardoso Imagery and was shot in Lagos 8. Kay D - Kiss my heart Kay D presents the video of his song, Kiss my heart. The talented artiste preaches about true love in this song. The video is directed

by Ehis Ojie 9. Klever Jay- Owo Eko Afropop singer, Klever Jay has been off the music scene for a while now, the bubbly artiste returns with the video of his song titled Owo eko .It is directed by Clarence Peters.

10. Leriq featuring Wande Coal -Wish list The name Leriq may not be a household name yet, but the talented youngster believes he will make it big in the music world. He releases the music video for his song Wish list. The video was shot in Kaduna state and directed by Mex. 11. Enkay -Yes you are Lord Enkay is a gospel artiste who also happens to be a member of the group Tehila crew. She unveils her new video titled ‘Yes, you are Lord’ .The video is directed by Uvi Urogun 12. Burna Boy -Work Burna Boy is back with the cover of Rihanna’s song Work. As a result of fans request, he decided to work on the cover of the song.

13. Ceesky featuring Reminisce - Owo Ceesky presents the visuals of their song .They collaborated with Reminisce on the song. The video is directed by Frizzle and Bizzle films 14. Glory-Glory - Follow me Afropop singer, Glory-Glory unveils the visuals for her song Follow me. The video was shot and directed by Ike X. It was shot in Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland, USA. 15. Pinky J featuring Solidstar - Badman (Remix) Pinky J finally unveils the video of her song, Badman. She collaborates with Solidstar in the song. The video was shot in Johannesburg and directed by Mr Pepperest.

SATURDAY Vanguard, February 27, 2016—27

How Don Jazzy denied Ben Bruce birthday request

By Benjamin Njoku

S

ince they went their separate ways in 2012, after bestriding the world of popular music like colossus, D'banj and Don Jazzy have not been the best of friends.

But despite their lingering differences, it's the utmost desire of their fans to behold the former label mates and joint owners of one of Nigeria's biggest record labels, Mo'Hit (now rested) come together someday to perform some of their old hit songs as well as record a duet that would rekindle their relationship that is now strained strained.

However, while everyone was looking forward to seeing that happen last Friday, at the 60th birthday party of Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, reverse was the case.

The birthday bash, which held at Eko hotel and Suites,Victoria Island, Lagos, had in attendance the ‘who is who’ in Nigeria political circle as well as the entertainment industry. D'banj and Don Jazzy were among top Nigerian music acts that graced the glamorous event.

After several electrifying performances by other notable artistes, it was the turn of the “Oliver Twist” crooner to thrill the large audience. Dressed in black suite upon white shirt and bow-tie, D'banj had gone into the crowd to fish out Ben Bruce and dragged him to the stage. And while on stage, Bruce specifically asked for a special present, as he started calling out Don Jazzy to join them on stage. This could not come true as Don Jazzy had left the venue before D’banj mounted the stage to perform. People did not know that he had left.

“I will like you and Don Jazzy to do a duet,” Ben Bruce said, calling out Don Jazzy to join them on stage. But the the Mavin Records boss was nowhere to be found.

At that point, D’banj opened up, "Uncle Ben, what you are asking me to do, I have done already. As I was mounting the stage, I saw Don Jazzy sitting over there and I told him I would call him on stage for a joint performance, but now he has run away. If he brings the beat today, the song will be ready tomorrow,” D'banj said, after efforts to get Don Jazzy to join them on stage failed.

Meanwhile, defending his action, which has since gone viral

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online, Don Jazzy refuted the allegation that his action was a deliberate attempt to avoid performing alongside his former label mate.

In a series of tweets during the week, the MAVIN boss maintained that he had left the venue before D'banj mounted the stage to perform. He claimed that he had performed alongside D'banj about three times in the last one year.

According to him, “I have performed alongside D'banj about three times in the last one year. Moreover, I had left the venue way before D'banj's performance. I already announced that I am taking a break from being an artist. Hence, I didn’t perform “Surulere” with Dr Sid and “Concur” with Timaya.”

In as much as it would be difficult to exonerate Don Jazzy from blame, there were incidences in the recent past that pointed to the fact that the former label mates were not ready to give their fans a welcome surprise. It would be recalled that 2face among others once urged the former business partners to bury their hatchet and come together to do a duet to silence their critics.

Also, last year, D'banj hinted that he would be dropping a new song with Don Jazzy as their first collaboration since they rested Mo’Hits. But till date, that has not happened.

Beauty queens, Jeffrey Daniels, 2Baba, others pay tribute to Ben Bruce It was also a pay back time for Ben Murray-Bruce as top Nigerian musicians

took turns to celebrate the showbiz icon, who has done a lot for the entertainment industry at no cost.

On-Air Personality, IK Osakioduwa and comedian Bovi took the centre stage as comperes after the book presentation session which was anchored by former Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Odein Ajumogobia, who claimed that he had never anchored an event before then.

The day was spiced with a medley of musical performances from artistes spanning different generations.

It was a blend of the old and young musicians who thronged the venue to celebrate the man who is known as the game changer in the Nigerian entertainment industry.

Opening the floor that night was Fuji king, Adewale Ayuba, followed by Alariwo of Africa. But it was Ras Kimono's performance that got the audience singing along with him and dancing as he took them through the music of the ages. The Rub-a-dub master and reggae music legend rendered some of his evergreen

numbers including,“Under Pressure”, “What's Gwan?”, and the whole hall erupted with gyration.

Also, Ben Bruce's friend of 35 years, Jeffrey Daniels of Shalamar fame relayed how Bruce was insistent on bringing top notch entertainment to Nigeria when he could have easily done his ‘thing’ in the US. He later took to the stage and gave an electrifying performance of songs of the RnB vocal group that was active in the 1970s and early 1980s, with singer Yinka Davies backing him up. Displaying old school dance-steps, Jeffery Daniels thrilled, performing the songs that made the group famous in the 80s, “ Make That Move” and “Second Time Around.”

Other musicians that equally thrilled the audience were Ycee, 2Baba, Vector, Timaya, Olu Maintain, Ruby, Dr Sid, Sound Sultan, WizKid, MI, Jesse Jagz, Reekado Banks and Timi Dakolo.

Others that turned up but didn’t perform included Teemac and Darey Art Alade and a lot of Nollywood big wigs.

Reggae music legend, Majek Fashek was spotted at the event, but he did not make any stage appearance.

An excited Bruce joined Korode Bello, to dance on stage as he performed his wave making song, "God Win" which compere IK Osakioduwa revealed was specially requested by the celebrant.

The event also featured a colourful lineup of beauty queens from different countries, who presented special gifts to Bruce and wished him well in their different languages - English, French and Portuguese. SilverBird is noted for organising beauty pageants such as Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN).

28—SATURDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Julius Agwu

Wizkid, Linda

attacks Charley Boy for calling his show ‘boring’

Ikeji mock each other

BY ROTIMI AGBANA

P

BY ROTIMI AGBANA

T

here seems to be no end to face-offs among entertainers this year. The latest is between afro-pop singer, Wizkid and popular blogger, Linda Ikeji. You may recall that Linda once published an unverified report on Wizkid late last year, alleging that the Caro crooner failed to show up for an event he was paid N8million by the management of American University, Yola in Adamawa. When the story was debunked by the management of the university, Wizkid didn’t spare the blogger as he lashed out at her and family. As an obvious pointer that the afro-pop singer is still livid with anger towards Linda, he recently threw jabs at her on Twitter. He tweeted a link to an article written by a Lagos based legal practitioner, Olamide Akinola, which claimed Linda has “poverty mentality” for showing off her Hermes bag, be it original or fake and captioned it “Nice Read”. The ever ready blogger wasted no time in responding as she retaliated by blasting Wizkid, using another article where American rap artiste, The Game, responded to an online troll who threw jabs at his baby mama. Linda titled the article “When Your Baby Daddy Is Not A Deadbeat”. She stylishly alluded to Wizkid not being man enough to live up to his responsibility when she wrote “a deadbeat father who hasn’t started to cater for his child”.

An intelligent Wizkid took a cue from Linda’s allusion and promptly took to Snapchat to further mock her. He wrote “Almost 40, Lonely and Bitter” with a photo of the blogger to drive home his message.

•Wizkid

•Linda Ikeji

opular Nigerian Comedian and entertainer, Julius ‘The Genius’ Agwu, has joined the bandwagon of entertainment celebrities in the ‘no-chill-pill’ crusade.

The talented Comedian recently responded to the jabs thrown at him by Charly Boy. Julius Agwu staged a show on Valentine’s Day, tagged ‘Life as I see it’.

Charles Oputa, a.k.a ‘Charly Boy, Area Fada’ in his usual fashion was at the show to show support for the lucky comedian who missed death by the whiskers.

After the show, on February 20th, 2016, Charly Boy bore his mind on the show in a piece he titled ‘Haba Julius, Where Is the Genius?’

Addressing Julius Agwu, Charly Boy wrote; “I wasn’t sure whether we were at a music/comedy show or in a Pentecostal revival ground…My dear brother, it is good to have a grateful heart when the Lord delivers one from the jaws of death, but a comedy show is not a revival and the people in the hall can’t all be Christians. There are many people also that the Lord has saved, giving thanks therefore should be a personal thing with your Master, don’t get it twisted with Comedy. I felt ripped off…God has saved people like us and we are grateful for what He has done in our lives, but we don’t go around terrorizing people with Bible verses and the word of God. And just in case you want to start your own Church, all well and good for you but biko, don’t do it on the heels of people who have paid their hard earned money to watch a comedy show, either alone or with family and friends. My brother, I no yab you o, I just advice you as my person.

Next time, let the comical genius in you come out, not the preacher”. As would be expected of any human, Julius Agwu didn’t find the message funny, amusing or as a brotherly advice, he obviously saw it as a taint to his personal respect and dignity. The comedian took to his Instagram page to humorously clap back at Charly Boy; he uploaded a funny look alike of Charly Boy and backed it up with the caption “Charly Boy’s Role Model” and added #ALLthatGLITTERSisZINC#.

The comedian’s brief response seemed even worse and more demeaning than the jab Charly Boy threw at him. Will these celebrity beefs ever come to an end this year? Are they all a new tactic or ploy to attract more traffic to the entertainment industry? We never can •Julius Agwu tell.

I Go Dye to celebrate 20 years on stage with world tour

BY ROTIMI AGBANA

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•I Go Dye

C M Y K

fter two hilarious decades of thrilling his fans with his spontaneous rib crackers, Popular Nigerian comedian and United Nations ambassador, Francis Agoda, a.k.a ‘I Go Dye’ is set to celebrate 20yrs on stage as a comedian.

The comedian revealed to the media that he will be embarking on a world tour to commemorate his 20years of being a comedian, taking his brand ‘I Go Dye Standing’ to European cities, America, Asia, Canada and finally wrap it up in his home country, Nigeria. He stated that he is embarking on this tour basically to express his profound gratitude to his fans around the world and in Nigeria for their love and support all through his career from inception till date. Come Easter Monday, 28th of March, the ace comedian will be on a ‘Diplomatic Mission’, hosting an event themed ‘The Last Man Standing, I Go Die, Expect The Unexpected’. It will be an event of fun, comedy and music; hosted by American star, Michael Blackson with performances from Aphrican Ape, Chris Mapane, IamDulo (from the United States), Timaya, I Go Save and a host of others. According to his UK event promoters, Akinlolu Jekins and Co/Cococure App, the show will be unveiled as one of his world tour, starting with the UK tour at theIndigo, O2 London, UK. The UK tour includes Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

•Charly Boy

SATURDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—29

Cynthia Morgan begs Psquare not to break up •Pens an open letter

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

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orthside Entertainment artiste, Cynthia Morgan who has been dragged into the ongoing saga between the Psquare brothers has expressed her opinion on the ongoing drama. The German Juice sensation in a series of posts on her Instagram page pens an open letter to her mentors, Psquare.

According to her: “I know the issues going on is none of my business and I don’t know if my opinion matters. I just want to say I beg you guys in the name of God, I am one of the people you are ruining their childhood memories If Psquare should really split up.

Growing up, I spent countless hours at nights trying to mime your songs and perfect your dance moves.

Psquare has inspired me and so many other people in so many ways. “ She further adds that Psquare is the reason she takes her craft serious.

Music Festival Lagos set to hold in March

•Cynthia Morgan

s e h s a r h T e c a f k Blac ’ z n i T d e d o ‘C ’s e 2Fac

BY ROTIMI

•Obrien Ufondu

AGBANA

r of defunct ormer membe‘Plantashun music group is at it again. ce, Boiz’, Blackfaancehall rapper /d ae g The reg agram page to took to his Inst ’s new hit single thrash Tu FaceHe posted a funny ‘Coded Tinz’. ded “W h en picture and ad erdemmmmm #Killah#Murdey still fighting already but th r wack tunes Ain’t back with theided about being n ot h in g #co’’. #wack#BFN

F

Emma Nyra •Blackface

bounces back with a new collaboration

BY ROTIMI AGBANA

Kwara State Governor appoints Femi Adebayo as SSA

BY ROTIMI AGBANA

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opular Yoruba actor Femi Adebayo a.k.a ‘Jelili’ has been appointed SSA Arts, Culture and Tourism to Kwara State Governor. The appointment took place on Monday 22nd, 2016. The actor made the announcement on his instagram page, asking his fans to support him in transforming his state into a tourist state.

C M Y K

“Psquare is the reason I take my craft serious, I compete with you guy’s success even in my sleep. My fantasy on having stadium shows across the continent isn’t perfect and colorful without you guys in it. I dreamt of it and now it’s a reality because you guys did it first. We are waiting on a new album and new killer videos. Please guys, let the big two (Peter and Paul) be aware they need to get back in the studio. We are not begging anymore, we are giving an ultimatum because hey! You guys are ruining people’s lives and giving people a failing option. My boss Jude Okoye isn’t aware of this, because he has warned me not to put out articles without consulting him, so I know he might kill me for this one. Well I don’t mind. I am sorry in advance daddy.”

Over the years, fans and friends of Psquare have pleaded with the pop duo to settle things amicably and not allow fame, fortune and family pressures to come in between them. Neither Paul nor Peter of Psquare have responded to Cynthia Morgan’s plea.

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alifornia born Nigerian R&B/Afro-pop singer, Emma Chukwugoziam Obi, also known as ‘Emma Nyra’ is back with something new for her fans and music lovers. The 27-yrs-old diva dropped the remix of her hit single ‘For My Matter’, featuring Reggae/ dancehall artiste, Patoranking, on Wednesday 24th, 2016.

That same day, she hosted her friends and allies to a party at Excape Night Club.

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

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he biggest entertainers in the country are set to thrill their fans at this year ’s edition of The Music Festival Lagos. The music fiesta is an annual music concert that celebrates and showcases music talents in Nigeria. Over the years, the event has been held in Festac Town, Lagos because it is considered the representation of arts and culture in Nigeria. The organizers are leaving no stones unturned in order to make this year’s edition a grand success.

According to Obrien Ufondu, the CEO of Music Festival Lagos:” We discovered that we don’t have a platform that brings Nigerian artistes together .We need to have that platform where upcoming artistes can showcase their talents .At the last edition of The Music Festival Lagos, we had over 12,000 people at the event .I want to assure you that 2016 edition will be better than that of •Emma Nyra 2015.

King Sunny and Patoranking Ade, Pasuma, Olamide, Kcee and others will be performing at the event” The event will be held on the th 18 of March 2016 at The Golden Tulip Hotel, Festac town.

30—SA TURD AY Vanguard, FEBRU ARY 27, 2016 30—SATURD TURDA FEBRUARY

Hajia Buhari commissions fact or factor oryy in Lagos Adetimirin bags

Ibadan Mogaji title

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he wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, was recently in Lagos to commission a 450,000 metric tonnes per year tomato paste factory built by Erisco Foods limited. The CEO of the company, Chief Eric Umeofia said the tomatoes paste factory will stop the annual wastage of over 75% of fresh tomatoes across Nigeria.

L-R:Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode; wife of Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki; wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari; Mrs Nmachukwu Umeofia; President & CEO, Erisco Foods Limited, Chief Eric Umeofia, and the Oluwo of Lagos, Chief Ibikunle Bailey-Jakande

L-R:Hajiya Aisha Muhammadu Buhari receiving gift from Chief Eric Umeofia,and wife, Mrs Nmachukwu Umeofia

L-R:Hajiya Aisha Buhari (right), Mrs. Bolanle Ambode (middle), and Mrs Toyin Saraki

IT was celebration galore for the entire family linage of the Ige Modi (Idi Arere) area of Ibadan when the Olubadan – in – Council approved Chief Adebayo Adetimirin as Mogaji and he was finally installed Mogaji Ige modi family by the late Olubadan (Oba Samuel Odugade CFR,JP). Mogaji Bayo Adetimirin, a retired chief Statistician of the Federal office of statistics.

Chief Bayo Adetimirin Mogaji (Ige Modi), and his wife Mrs. Ayoola Adetimirin

Mogaji Bayo Adetimirin flanked by his wife, Mrs. Ayoola Adetimirin (L) and the representative of the Olubadan of Ibadan

Bel P ap yrus/Impe o 50 Pap apyrus/Impe yrus/Impexx boss dances int into

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t couldn’t have been a more deluxe and posh gathering of corporate executives when Mr Riad Joseph Baloukji, Group Managing Director, Bel Papyrus/ Impex Limited, Boulos Enterpises th Limited celebrated his 50 birthday. The party which held at Protea Hotel, G.R.A., Ikeja, Lagos was filled with merriment and memorable moments.

Photos by Kehinde Gbadamosi

Mogaji Bayo Adetimirin (m), with the representatives of the Olubadan of Ibadan

L-R: Comrade Charles Gerrard, National Treasurer, NUPPPPROW, Comrade Kareem Habeeb, Deputy General Sec, NUPPPPROW,Mr Riad Joseph Baloukji, celebrant, Comrade Olajide Odeyemi, Union Chairman Bel Papyrus Impex Unit, and Mr Mathew Olanrewaju, Admin Manager

Mr Riad Joseph Baloukji, GMD, Bel Papyrus/ Impex Ltd, Boulos Enterpises Ltd, celebrant, and wife, dancing.

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.L-R; Mr Alex Gendis, Mr Elias Scaf, and Mr Robert Ugbaja, Chairman, Boulos Limited

Akingbade’s ordination

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itilayo Akingbade, wife of Ajibade Akingbade, printing manager, Vanguard was recently ordained a deaconess at Christ Body on Earth Mission, Abule-Egba, Lagos.

Deaconess Titilayo Akingbade receiving her certificate from Pastor Akinremi

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—31

08 11 6759 759 081 6759759

TOWIE’s stunning new girls Chloe Meadows and Courtney Green send temperatures soaring...

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hey are the new girls on the TOWIE block. And Courtney Green and Chloe Meadows are ensuring they make themselves known as they were spied stripping down to their bikinis as filming of the new season commences.

The stunning duo were rocking near-identical red bikinis as they paraded around the pool in Gran Canaria, Spain on Wednesday.

Exisiting cast might want to be on red alert... they’ve upped the ‘crazy poolside fashion’ game.

Blonde Chloe, 23, wore a halterneck bikini top which despite the added support from the underwired cups, seemed strained by her buxom physique.

While flaunting plenty of flesh, she threw dodgy tanline caution to the wind by teaming her look with high-waisted bottoms featuring cut out panels on the hips. Meanwhile brunette

Courtney, 20, sported a similar design, but went for a low-cut and triangular tie string bottom half.

The gal pals each opted for white coverups and accessorised with sunglasses and silver body chains. They were all-smiles as they larked around in the sun by the pool on the Spanish island. Viewers will be formally introduced to Chloe and Courtney when new episodes of the BAFTA award-winning show air later this year. They should have no problem fitting in with the other cast as they were already friends with some of them prior to joining. Courtney knows Mike Hassini and Liam Blackwell while Chloe is friendly with Lewis Bloor, Jake Hall and Dan Edgar.

Both ladies are currently single so the men of Essex had better watch out.

The one with the funeral service

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villager in east China’s Shandong province has held a ‘living funeral’ for himself in a bid to see whether or not people care about him. The 66-year-old who has never had children wanted to know how many people

would turn up to say their final goodbyes, the People’s Daily Online reports.

Over 40 his relatives and hundreds of village neighbours ended up attending the £1,708 fake funeral in which added entertainment including

dancers was put on.

According to the report, the man, known as Zhang Deyang, worked in the fishing industry.

In 2015, he helped to fund a road building project that gave the village better connections to other areas allowing them

easier access to transport goods to market.

He said he was depressed after quitting his job. Zhang wanted to see how many people would appreciate what he had done for the village after his death.

Because of this, he held a funeral for himself that was full of action including performances from dancers. Hundreds of people turned up to the mock funeral including some from other outside villages. During the ceremony, he even climbed into a fake tomb, dressed in traditional longevity clothes, and pretended to marry a dead woman.

It is thought to be bad luck to go to the afterlife without having married.

Attendees even bowed, praying for the man. According to Chinese media, Zhang spent 16,000 yuan (£1,708) on the entire ceremony.

That's one way to get the beach to yourself!

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ydneysiders have been doing what they can to cope with the intense heat on Tuesday including one man on Bondi Beach who dared to don nothing more than a unique black G-string for swimwear.

His bare-faced cheek clearly caught fellow beach-goers unaware on a seriously scorching late summer’s day.

One man in blue shorts is seen coming to a shuddering halt as he spots the swimmer C M Y K

approaching on the sand.

The lightly-clad bather seems to have gone for a swim to cool off after an early morning jog.

As the man bends over to collect his belongings, including his newspaper and runners, another man in more traditional swimming attire walks by.

And judging by the quizzical look on his face, the minimalist approach to swimwear may not exactly

catch on at the world famous strip.

With the temperature hitting 30 degrees near the coast and 35 in Sydney ’s west as Australia’s south-east basks in a week-long heatwave, most of Sydney ’s beaches were busy.

And some of those who did got more than they bargained for.

The swimmer, however, has three more days to give his new look another crack.

32—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27 , 2016

B-R-I-E-F-S

60,000 job seekers scramble for 1,200 LASTMA jobs Stories by Olasunkanmi Akoni

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s the scourge of unemployment continue to bite harder, over 60,000 university degree and Higher National Diploma, HND, holders have applied for the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, jobs in the State.

Saturday Vanguard’s checks revealed that the state government intended to fill only 1,200 positions in the agency.

The move to recruit more officers into LASTMA was informed by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s plan to beef up manpower of LASTMA and the Vehicle Inspection Service, VIS, aimed at enhancing effective and efficient traffic management in the state.

The state government, through the state Civil Service Commission had earlier placed an advertisement sometime in January in some national newspapers seeking qualified interested members of the public for recruitment into the traffic agencies.

Unexpectedly, sources disclosed that Governor Ambode was shocked over the number of

applicants for the few slots available, but promised to absolve them into other sector in order to reduce rate of unemployment in the state.

The state’s Ministry of Science and Technology which coordinated the process and

designed for the online application job portals, it was gathered, captured over 60,000 applicants for the vacant positions on its database as at press time.

It was also gathered that after the closure for the applications several applicants, numbering about 20,000 further applied for the job, but their applications were rejected due to late submission.

Subsequently, some desperate candidates were seen within the Alausa, Ikeja Secretariat, this week, lobbying government officials for possible consideration for

employment.

According to the Head of Service, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola, 1,200 successful applicants from the lot will be employed into LASTMA, VIO and other unidentified positions in the civil service.

The last stage of the interview for the shortlisted candidates would be fitness test as they would engage in a short distance marathon to ascertain their fitness for the LASTMA and VIO jobs. That has been scheduled for a later date. Though, the process is ongoing, it was gathered that the screening for the senior cadre had been concluded, while the screening process of junior cadre commenced this week at the PSSDC, Magodo. At the end of

the exercise, source said successful candidates would be called for further documentation and deployment.

Lagos moves to outlaw ‘Omo-onile’, land grabbers D

etermined to stop the illegal activities of land grabbers popularly called Omoonile, a bill to prohibit forcible entry and occupation of landed properties, violent and fraudulent conducts in relation to landed properties in Lagos State has scaled through its second reading in the state House of Assembly.

Sanai Agunbiade, the Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly, who raised the bill,

explained that it is a Private Member Bill jointly, sponsored by him and Bayo Oshinowo representing Kosofe constituency I. He went further to express that the bill was came up during the last Assembly but did not go beyond the public hearing after the second reading Agunbiade added that since the bill did not go through the entire process, it was necessary for it to be started all over again.

The bill sets to treat prohibition of forceful land take over, violence for security entry, adverse occupation of property, use of land agents, illegal use of law enforcement agents and trespassing with a weapon offence. Others include: sales of properties without authority, unprofessional conduct of legal practitioner, commission, frivolous petitions, demand for fee, acquisition of land, power of arrest and special offences court.

Ambode renews offensive against pipeline vandals, criminals

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agos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, during a security inspection tour of Owutu, Ishawo, Oke Oko and other adjoining communities in Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of the state recently, assured military/ security operation in the area code named ‘Operation Awatse’ of his administration full support in eliminating pipeline vandals and other criminal activities from the state.

Ambode while directing security agencies to apply appropriate force to clampdown on pipeline vandals, miscreants and cultists, warned criminals to stay off the streets of Lagos, saying that his government would stop at nothing to ensure the restoration of peace in the area, which had hitherto being disturbed by the activities of vandals and miscreants.

It would be recalled that the abduction of seven Department of State Security (DSS) operatives in the area sometime in October last year and other criminal activities of vandals necessitated Ambode to request for a military/security operation in the area.

The Governor not only requested for C M Y K

Ongoing construction of a pedestriabridge, being built by the Lagos State Government at Berger Bus Stop, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway the operation, but also briefed the President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the Chief of Defence Staff on the criminality going on in the area, after which they approved the military operation.

Thus, the visit by Ambode, who

supported the military operation with funding, was a follow up to boost the morale of the security forces and assess the possibility of opening up the road as a permanent solution to dislodging all criminal activities in that axis.

Irate residents attack LASAA officials over debts reconciliation

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he Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, LASAA, has warned members of the public to desist forthwith, from physically assaulting officials of the agency while carrying out their lawful duties within the state.

Speaking to newsmen on the development, LASAA Managing Director, Mr Mobolaji Sanusi condemned a recent attack on official of the agency. Saying, “An attack on the Agency’s team was led by a security guard attached to one of the hotels in the state.

He noted that the armed guard on duty on the fateful day descended on LASAA officials in their effort to remove an illegal banner within the hotel premises.

Sanusi further revealed that the security guard threatened the officials of LASAA with a pump action rifle in his possession which was later seized by the Police Monitoring Team attached to the Agency.

“Those behind the last attack have been arrested and handed over to the Lagos State Task Force for necessary legal action.” Sanusi disclosed.

The visit by LASAA was part of effort to ensure quick settlement of all the outstanding debts owed the agency. It will be recalled that the agency officials experienced similar attacks in the wake of the last general elections.

LASEMA adopts surveillance, monitoring strategies to avoid disaster

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agos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, has embarked on monitoring and surveillance of domestic, industrial and public facilities to reduce risk of disaster when it occurs.

LASEMA General Manager, Mr. Michael Akindele, while, disclosing this to the media, explained that the shift from search and rescue to disaster risk reduction, through emergency prevention, mitigation, early warning and advocacy are new strategies the agency is introducing as part of disaster management strategies.

He explained that the new approach was a practical one towards reducing emergencies/ disasters thereby reducing the huge expenses borne by government on relief assistance to victims of disasters.

Akindele stated that the Agency is taking proactive steps to carry out immediate monitoring/inspection of reported distressed and thereafter, work in partnership with other government agencies to prevent disasters from occurring.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 33

NIGERIAN CLUBS IN CONTINENTAL ASSAULT

Enyimba set for bloody Vipers’ duel Stories by John Egbokhan

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he Garden City of Port Harcourt will literally lose its alluring splendour and atmospheric beauty tomorrow as Enyimba battle Vipers SC of Uganda in CAF Champions League preliminary round match. The Nigerian champions are trying to overturn a 1-0 first keg deficit suffered about two weeks ago in Kampala and need to win with a clear two goal margin to progress to the next stage of the continent’s flagship club tournament.

Having lost their last three matches against Akwa United in the season-opening Charity Shield, Vipers in the Champions League and last weekend’s loss to Rivers United in the Nigeria Professional Football league, this weekend’s tie against the Ugandan champions is one that Enyimba can ill-afford to lose. The prospects of a preliminary round exit are one that the Aba Elephants can not imagine at this time of the season, where they are just starting a new life after the easing out of Coach Kadiri Ikhana, who guided them to an unprecedented record seventh league glory last November. Indeed, the disengagement of Ikhana by Enyimba is still causing ripples in the Elephants camp, with some players yet to adapt to the methods of new handler, Paul Aigbogun, who crossed over from Champions League fellow campaigners, Warri Wolves before the start of the new season. And the pressure is mounting on Aigbogun to get his first win as Enyimba coach, with the Vipers clash seen as the litmus test for the usually confident and self-effacing tactician, who has promised Aba fans a smooth progress to the next round of the tournament. “I’m aware of fans worry that we have not yet won a game in three matches but they have nothing to worry over again as we are going to bounce back with a strong performance and victory against Vipers SC”, Aigbogun said. His confidence is shared by defender Ugwu Uwadiegwu, who urged fans to keep hope alive by turning out in their thousands to trudge on the Elephants to a rousing victory over the Ugandan champions.

“Football is a two-way thing.You win some and lose others. We have some matches this season but it was not that C M Y K

•Vipers right •Udoh

Confederation C up:

Akwa eye doub le over Vita Clu O n e o f N ig b e ri a

’s tw o re p Confederati re se over Vita Cluon Cup, Akwa United n ta ti v e s in th e C A F a b tonight’s pre de Mokanda from C re set to do the double on liminary rou The Nigeri nd second go, who they host in Club 1-0 in a Federation Cup cha leg tie in Uyo. Noire and athe reverse fixture held mpions defeated Vital stage of CAFre looking good to bre two weeks ago in Point of the Cong ’s second tier club comast the tape to the nex t ole petition at th Coach Mau se outfits. e expense ri ce C oore imposing A kwa Ibom S man goes into tonight’ home fans se tadium, oo s tie at the however no ek an encore over th zing of confidence, as t go down w e Congolese ithout a fig Even as te , who will winners ovempting as it seems to pht. ro r tw n not over unti o legs, it would be fo ounce Akwa United olhardy to d l It is until ce it is over. o so as it is Francois Bir ntre referee from Cote d start celebrao blows the final whistl ’Ivoire Kouassi Frederic is high hope ting their passage to the that Akwa United can Point Noire, in Uyo that the boys ha e next round but there making tonig ve ht’s tie more done the hard job in of a formality game.

we didn’t play well in those three games but were unlucky.

We could have won those games. But we are now dwelling on what has been lost and hope our fans will forget about those defeats and come out en masse to support us to victory against Vipers.

“I believe that we will win that match. The players are not happy and so too are the technical crew. We want to go out and win our next match, God willing. Our fans our worried right now but this bad form wont go on much longer. We will show the world again that we are Enyimba, that we can be the winning team again”, added Uwadiegwu.

Nasarawa walk on thin ice at Generation Foot

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•Igbinoba

ven as tempting as it seems to write off Nasarawa United’s chances to go beyond the preliminary round of the Confederation Cup on account of their slim 2-1 first leg victory over Generation Foot in Abuja, the Lafia boys go enter tomorrow’s tie with their Senegalese foes holding slim hopes of qualifying.

Nasarawa have had an indifferent start to the season, slumping to a shock loss to MFM last Sunday and now face one one of the toughest test yet against Generation Foot at the Leopold Senghor Stadium in Dakar. The word around town is that Coach Kabiru Dogo boys have hit dead end but speaking before travelling to Dakar, Dogo warned his critics not to count their chicks until they are hatched by mother hen.“We are still in the Caf Confederation Cup and it is unfair to rule us out too quickly. My boys should not be judged by our past result because you can’t win all the time. Although, the situation going to Dakar is not ideal, but we have to keep working hard and I’m very sure we will scale through Generation Foot hurdle,” he said. Dogo will be looking up to the likes of striker Esosa Igbinoba for the goals that will make up for the away goal conceded by his side almost two weeks ago at the Abuja National Stadium.

34 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Ikhana ready to douse MFM’s fire

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ew boys, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries are having a fun ride in the top flight, winning two games on the bounce to top the two week old league with six points, same as Lobi Stars, who however have a goal shy of MFM on goals differentials.

For a team playing with the big boys, for the first time since being founded in 2007 by the General Overseer of the thriving evangelical church, Dr D. K Olukoya, they could not have prayed for a better start than what they are experiencing now, beating CAF Confederation Cup campaigners, Nasarawa 2-1 last weekend, followed by 2-1 win against Rivers United at the Agege Stadium in Lagos.

Surely, Coach Fidelis Ikechukwu’s head is in the clouds after going unscathed in two games but he will be hoping that Shooting Stars don’t take the twinkle out of his star when both sides clash this weekend at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan.

Ikechukwu’s dream of three wins in a roll will come under strict test from a Shooting Stars’ side out to to snap out from a poor start to the 2016 campaign and move out of the bottom three.

He also comes up against one of the best coaches in the land, Kadiri Ikhana, who as Shooting coach, finds

himself in an unenviable position of losing his first game in Ibadan and must now bounce back with a win to appease Ibadan fans.

Speaking ahead of the game, the former Enyimba coach said ‘’my mission at Shooting Stars is to win games and I hope we win our next match against

MFM. ‘’MFM have started the season well but this is a long journey of 38 games and so many twists and turns are yet to come, so they should be careful not to feel on top of the world”, warned

Okpotu probes for goals against Ikorodu Utd T

ony Okpotu loves the limelight.

As the main striker of Lobi Stars, who are joint top of the league, with Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Okpotu is always up against defenders, whose job it is to stop him from hitting the back of the net during matches.

But hard as they try to stop him, Okpotu still manages to delight his fans by getting

behind his markers to scoring sumptuous goals, which is why he remains the danger-man of the Makurdi-based side.

With just two games played in the 2016 season, Okpotu’s name is all over the place, all thanks to the brace he got during the midweek’s 2-1 defeat of Sunshine Stars. Those goals see him top the scorers’ chart alongside Rivers United forward, Fredrick Obomate, who scored for the second straight time on Wednesday.

It seems the contest for the top scorer award is heating up ny match between Wa amongst the front-men, with and Rangers is surel rri Wolves Okpotu set to come up against y go Ikorodu United defenders, when produce fireworks. Both teamsing to both sides clash tomorrow at the strong followership in the co have untry, Onikan Stadium.

The contest is not just about goals for Okpotu, as a Lobi win will see them record their third TABLE straight victory and Teams P W D cement their top MFM 2 2 0 position.

Lobi Stars 2 2 0 Commenting on Abia Warriors 2 1 1 the match, Warri Wolves 2 1 1 Okpotu said Wikki 2 1 1 “ o u r Rangers 2 1 0 mission is Ifeanyi Uba 1 1 0 to win Pillars 2 1 0 and to Rivers Utd 2 1 0 do, one Plateau Utd 2 1 0 m u s t Heartland 2 0 2 s c o r e Akwa Utd 1 0 1 g o a l s , Ikorodu Utd 1 0 1 which is what Tornadoes 2 0 1 I owe Lobi Sunshine 2 0 1 fans”.

Giwa 2 0 1 Nasarawa 1 0 0 Enyimba 1 0 0

Fireworks in Warri ffoor Wolves, Rangerrss crraacckker

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C M Y K

Ikhana, a former CAF Champions League winner.

But Ikechukwu fired back, vowing to sustain MFM’s perfect record, taunting their hosts that Ibadan was just a stone’s throw from their Prayer City ground on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where prayers have been rendered by faith champions ahead of this duel.

“Being on top comes with its own challenges, which we welcome as we face Shooting Stars. We are not afraid of them and have done our home work to get all three points”, said the MFM coach.

with Rangers repute with the more fans bad to be the club se spread across the land.

Rangers are one of teams yet to be releg the traditional league started any ye ated since the ars suffered a dip in for ago but have than a decade. Sceptictunes for more that those holding ou s are of the view of the Rangers of thet for a resurgent could as well wished good old days ride horses, an indica for beggars to things have been andtion of how bad will be to beat the battehow difficult it red horse back into life.

An d tom or ro w at th e Wa rri Ci ty Stadium, Rangers’ bid in to to p ra ng e fa to get back examination against ce s a to ug h who with four points Warri Wolves, are a point better thfrom two games an the visitors from Enugu.

Having lost their open ing game by 2- 1 to Pi lla rs in Ka re tu rn ed to wi nn in no , Ra ng ed Plateau United 3-1 g wa y, be ati ng Azikwe Stadium, withat the Nnamdi Am ak pa ka bo fa nc yi Coach Imama ch an ce s to ni ck a ng hi s sid e’s su rp ris e wi n, granted his strikers are not wasteful in front of goal.

L 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1

GF 4 3 3 1 1 4 1 2 2 3 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 0

GA 2 1 2 0 0 3 0 2 2 4 0 1 1 3 3 2 2 1

GD +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 -1 0 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1

PTS 6 6 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 35

Ighalo gets license to kill Bournemouth E

agles forward, Odion Ighalo has been handed the license by Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores to plunder in goals in today ’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth at Vicarage Road.

The former Granada hitman has netted 14 goals in the top-flight this term but has not scored since a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest in a FA Cup match on January 30.

Despite noting being able to find the back of the net in the last five games in all competitions, the Spanish coach of Watford is tipping Ighalo to find his range against today.

Speaking ahead of this

afternoon’s match, Flores told the Watford Observer that “Ighalo has the ability to score and I believe he will put on a good show at Bournemouth.

I see him scoring because he works hard and plays well”.

Also speaking, Igahlo said “the goals will start coming again by God’s grace against Bournemouth.

“I am not under any form of pressure to score goals. As a striker, I always want to score goals but sometimes you don’t get the goals. But as long my team keep winning, I am happy because that is the most important thing.”

Ighalo has been linked with a summer move to Arsenal, something which has come as no surprise to his manager.

Hernanes wants Juve focus against Inter J

uventus midfielder Hernanes h a s called for f o c u s ahead of tomorrow ’s Serie A match with Inter.

The Bianconeri lead Serie A by a point from the Partenopei, with Inter, Roma and Fiorentina having fallen off the pace in recent months.

The Old Lady face Inter on Sunday night, with the opportunity to put the pressure on Napoli, who don’t play until Monday.

“It’s an important game for us, but they also have objectives to achieve,” Hernanes cautioned.

“After the last game [a 3-0 Juve win in the Coppa Italia] they’ll be more careful and cautious and I expect a tough match.

“We just have to focus on our qualities and think about playing our own game.”

C M Y K

Flores said: “Speculation about Ighalo is very normal.

He has been one of the best strikers of the season, so it’s very normal.”

Ighalo, who has scored just twice in his last 10 games, has formed a deadly partnership with Troy Deeney, although he too has endured something of a barren spell in recent weeks.

Deeney ’s double in a 2-1 league win at Crystal Palace on February 13 ended a six-game wait for a goal, although Flores is adamant he was never unduly concerned.

He said: “I know that other players need to support the goals of he and Ighalo, of course. We have a very good second line with [Etienne] Capoue, with [Almen] Abdi, with [Jose Manuel] Jurado, with other players who can score.

“But the situation is that we create attempts, but the players who score are Ighalo and Deeney. But the most important thing is that when we finish the match - we shoot maybe 12, 14 times and have other players shooting also, but the evidence is it is Ighalo and Deeney.”

50 schools for Ajeromi-Ifelodun private schools sports A

ll is now set for the private schools sports festival of Ajeromi Ifelodun local government It starts March 3rd at the Kirikiri Sports complex in Lagos. Speaking to reporters, the chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Ajeromi Ifelodun chapter, Mathew Aniniba said over 50 private primary and secondary schools in the local government area have

•Presentation of trophy by NAPPS signified interest to participate in the fiesta.

Also speaking, the chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Abiodun Samuel was of high expectation that the sports festival will throw up alented athletes for the country.

“We want to use this sports festival to discover new and talented athletes for this country”, he said adding that

‘’Much more, it would also help to create love, peace, unity and long lasting relationships, as well as the much needed social interaction amongst these young Nigerians,’’ Equally speaking, General Coordinator, Richard Jenmi, was upbeat about the success of the sports fiesta, which he believes would be historic.

36 —SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Aunty Julie, I think a shameful thing has happened to me. I have a crush on my best friend’s brother. I’m 18 and he is in his 20s. I’ve known him and my best friend since I was 10 and I started to like him when I was 12, just because we talk to each other so much and make each other laugh. There was a time where I was at my best friend’s house and she went to have a shower and I was outside and he came outside and we talked and started laughing and playing basketball and having a good time. I just haven’t ever met a guy like him.

Recently he asked me out and I didn’t know what to say at the time so I told him I’d think about it which was stupid cause I have a massive crush on him, but I know my best friend would hate it and it would be awkward for us. I still haven’t gotten back to him about hanging out. Should I? Ufuoma, Edo Dear Ufuoma, I think you did the right thing by telling your best friend’s brother you’d think about it. I don’t think it’s stupid. You’ve got a lot to consider before you take

SATURDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—37

My dad shouts at me all the time

juliecoker100@yahoo.com

I have a crush on my best friend’s brother any action here, and you clearly are a good friend.

If you want to go out with this guy, you need to talk to your best friend about what is going on because it wouldn’t be right to start anything up behind her back. She’d just end up feeling betrayed by her brother and her best friend.

So, tell this guy that you are interested but need some time to talk to your friend about it. He should understand this if he

wants to do the right thing by his sister.

Just be honest with her and see what she says. She may initially be shocked or against the idea, but if you tell her how you feel, hopefully she will come around to the idea. Her brother could even talk to her too, just so she understands that this is something that matters to both of you.

It may take her some time, but if she just can’t feel comfortable about it, you will need to decide whether it is worth damaging or even losing your friendship with her to be with him.

How do I stop my parents from fighting?

Dear Julie, My parents fight all the time and this is becoming embarrassing. I cannot invite my friends to my house when my parents are around because it really bothers me that something can break out between them and you can imagine my shame. Why is my own case different? I visit my friends at their homes and even spends weekends with them but none of my friends can come to my place. It’s not that they don’t want but I cannot let them because my parents are always fighting. How do I stop my parents fighting?

Laila, Auchi Dear Laila, Everyone disagrees from time to time. Even people who care about each other a lot may not always agree on everything. When people feel really strongly about something, it may be difficult to stay calm and arguments start which can become more heated.

Seeing your parents argue or fight can be difficult. It may seem, and may even be that they don’t love each other anymore. You might be worried that they are going to split up. You may also be worried that you’re to blame for them arguing. Sometimes, parents end up feeling differently about their lives and each other to

how they did when they they got married. It may take them a bit of time to work out how to deal with it and they may need the help of a professional, like a counsellor.

Some parents find that the only way to sort things out is to live apart. The most important thing to remember is that it’s not your fault. How your parents feel about each other is not your responsibility.

It’s not unusual in these situations to feel forced to take a side. Do your parents ever try to involve you in their arguments? It important that they understand how you feel and how worried and upset you are over what’s happening between them. If it’s

She’s in love with another man

Aunty Julie, The lady of my dreams is in love with another man. I don’t know what to do.

I really like her and I think she likes me.

The problem is that she is dating someone.

The bigger problem is that she is dating my friend. I cannot come between them because I’m the one that settles their love issues.

What do I do?

Tobi, Akure Dear Tobi, As I see it, you have two choices - let the girl know you like her, but lose the friendship with your friend. Or, keep the friendship and

Spaghetti A wealthy man was having an affair with an Italian woman for a few years. One night, during one of their rendezvous, she confided in him that she was pregnant. Not wanting to ruin his reputation or his marriage, he paid her a large sum of money if she would go to Italy to have the child. If she stayed in Italy, he would also provide child support until the child turned 18. She agreed, but wondered how he would know when the baby was born.

To keep it discrete, he told her to mail him a post card, and write “Spaghetti” on the back.

He would then arrange for child support.

One day, about 9 months later, he came home to his confused wife.

“Honey,” she said, “ you received a very strange post card today.”

“Oh, just give it to me and I’ll explain it later,” he said.

The wife obeyed, and watched as her C M Y K

difficult speaking to them about this, you could try asking an adult you trust, like a grandparent, teacher or school counsellor. It’s sometimes easier to speak to someone like this, about problems involving your parents. Such a person may also be helpful in getting your parents to understand how you feel.

Sometimes, fighting can go too far, like when there’s yelling, name calling and insulting language. It’s not okay for anyone in the family to be treated with disrespect. If this is happening, then it would definitely be a good idea to get someone else involved.

But always remember, your parents’ arguments are never your fault. Parents are responsible for their own actions and behaviors, no matter how much they are provoked by another person.

go find another girl to focus on. It all depends on how important the friendship is to you.However, you are working on your belief that the girl loves you but the truth is that she may not feel exactly the way you are feeling.

She may be friendly to you because of your friendship with her boyfriend and you should not misconstrue that to mean she feels the same love you feel for her.

So, be careful and take it easy. Don’t spoil your friendship with both of them.

Sincerely, you should look for someone else.

C O C K T A L E S

Dear Aunty Julie, I think I’m beginning to hate my father. He is too rude to me all time. He shouts at me and doesn’t seem to regard me at all.

I can’t find happiness when he is around me . I have two brothers: one bigger and one smaller. Whenever my bigger or smaller brother does something, he always turns their fault on me. He doesn’t let me play games or watch TV. My brothers have mp3s, TV games but I have nothing . Are you sure I’m his child. I’m 19.

Azeez, Ondo Dear Azeez, It appears you are going through a difficult time with your dad. This may be having an effect on your happiness and how you feel about yourself, especially if your dad is yelling at you, putting you down or calling you names.

At some point in their lives, most teenagers will say they hate their parents. We say this for different reasons, such as feeling like our parents are not being fair, are being too strict, or aren’t letting us do the things we want to do.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have not been getting along well with your dad for a long time now. From what you have said, it’s difficult to say why your dad may be picking on you and favouring your other brothers over you.

Parents can be difficult to get along with at times, but remember they were young once as well. Your dad may have had similar issues with his dad and may not know how to act any differently.

If you haven’t already, try being kind to your brothers, and being polite to your dad even if he is rude to you. This can be really hard to do, but two wrongs don’t make a right. If you think you can, try being open and honest with your dad and finding a good time to talk with him about how his behaviour affects you. Try also talking to another adult you trust about how you feel and what’s happening to you.

husband read the card, turned white, and fainted.

On the card was written “Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Two with meatballs, one without.”

saw them take part in a dozen activities with utter glee. “I just can’t believe this,” said the distraught husband.

“What’s not to believe?” the detective said.

“It’s right up there on the screen!”

“I simply can’t believe my wife could be so much fun!” the husband replied.

So much fun A suspicious husband hired a private eye to check on the movements of his wife. In addition to a written report, the husband wanted a video of his wife’s activities.

A week later, the detective returned with a film. They sat down together and proceeded to watch it.

Although the quality was less than professional, the man saw his wife meeting another man! He saw the two of them strolling arm in arm and laughing in the park. He saw them enjoying themselves at an outdoor cafe. He saw them dancing in a dimly lit nightclub. He

Cupid at law A guy walks into a post office one day to see a middle-aged, balding man standing at the counter methodically placing “Love” stamps on bright pink envelopes with hearts all over them. He then takes out a perfume bottle and starts spraying scent all over them.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he goes up to the balding man and asks him what he is doing. The man says “I’m sending out 1,000 Valentine cards signed, ‘Guess who?’”

“But why?” asks the man.

“I’m a divorce lawyer,” the man replies.

38—SA TURD AY 38—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, FEBRU ARY 27 FEBRUARY 27,, 2016

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

When you realise that long-distance relationship isn’t going to work!

W

hen Joanne left the comfort of her parents’ home to study pharmacy at the university, she wasn’t in the least apprehensive. A bubbly girl just turning 20, she looked forward to making friends.

Inside a few months, she’d not only made friends, she found Alfred, a boyfriend she fell madly in love with! “He lived off campus,” explained Joanne,’ and I moved in with him in my second year. The rest of my stay at Ibadan just flew by, and in no time at all, I had a degree under my belt ready to go back to Lagos for another stage of my life.

“Alfred, who was studying architecture carried on studying, and it was a massive shock to go from living together to hardly seeing each other.

Nevertheless, we decided to give the now long-distance romance a go. We rang each other most days, but it wasn’t the same. Travelling to see each other every other weekend was stressful. The car I had wasn’t top-notch and the roads were a nightmare. Apart from the highly unpredictable traffic, pot-holes often ruined my car and I had to rely a few times on public transport. We were often under pressure to make the little time we were together brilliant, but it was such an effort. I began to realise the relationship might not work long-term. I was never going to go back to Ibadan, and I couldn’t expect Alfred to move to Lagos.

“In the end, I had to make the awful decision to say goodbye but I had no choice, I told him how I felt one weekend just after Christmas, after I’d spent hours on the Ibadan-Lagos expressway trying to get to his digs. It was very late when I eventually made it and I was really grumpy. He was very upset but I think he also realised it wasn’t working. I drove away from his place the next morning in tears and felt really sick. I couldn’t bear the thought of never speaking to C M Y K

him again.

“We did carry on talking for a while, but about a year later, I got a boyfriend I was serious with and felt I had to be honest with him. We’ve managed to stay friends and he

will always be a part of my life. I was genuinely happy for him when he told me about his new girlfriend when he eventually found one and how happy he is now. He’ll definitely be one of the first people I’ll invite if I ever get married, and I

hope I get an invite if he does too...”

Alfred was really sorry distance had to permanently separate him from his first love.

“From the moment I met Joanne, I found her very easy to get along with,” he said. “We got on so well, I thought it was the real thing and that our relationship would last forever.

I always knew she would eventually move back to Lagos when her course finished and I supported her decision to go back. I didn’t realise a longdistance relationship would be that hard. I tried to make an effort to see her in Lagos, but I was broke most of the time, and despite everything, we both found it very difficult to keep the relationship going. Joanne broke up with me around Christmas, and it was the worst time for it to happen, but is there really a good time to sound a death knell to a relationship?

“The end, when it came, was sudden because even though I’d seen it coming, we’d never

talked about it. After we broke up, we still spoke almost every day at first, but it was me doing the calling. I was still emotionally dependent on her.

She moved on more quickly than I did, and it did hurt when she told me she had a new boyfriend.

It took me ages to meet someone else because I wasn’t really looking. I thought I could never be happy with another woman, but now, with Rolake—my amazing girlfriend—I’ve realised I can!

“Time is really a good healer and now, six years on, Joanne and I consider ourselves just good friends rather than exes. I try to see her three or four times a year, and because of our shared history, she will always be part of my life. If I ever need anything, I know I could call her. We have similar personalities and beliefs— which is why we got together in the first place. My university years were some of the happiest times of my life, and a lot of that is down to Joanne, my first love.”

Boozy nights are no excuse for men to grope women!

A

Travelling to see each other every other weekend was stressful. The car I had wasn’t top-notch and the roads were a nightmare

CULTURE of heavy drinking has led to sexual molestation becoming the norm on a night out for young women— and they feel they have to put with it, an academic report warns.

In a disturbing insight into how 18 to 24-year-olds behave on a night out, a survey has found one in three girls received inappropriate or unwanted physical attention or groping, but few were surprised. Academics said that excessive consumption of alcohol has turned a lot of clubs into a ‘permissive social arena’.

The findings are revealed in a report for the charity Drinkaware, which is urging women to stop tolerating behaviour which would be considered unacceptable when sober. Researchers found that 31 per cent of young women said they were touched inappropriately on a drunken night out. But only 19 per cent said they were surprised by it. In addition, more than a quarter (27 per cent) have put up with inappropriate sexual

comments or abuse on a drunken night out. Young men are not exempt —with one in ten saying they had to deal with unwanted physical attention or groping.

Researchers who interviewed and surveyed just over 2,000 young people pointed to a culture of heavy drinking, in which large amounts of alcohol are consumed before youngsters even leave the house. Many young people believe they cannot venture out to bars at night unless they have been drinking first.

T

he report warns: The drunken night out provides an arena within which much more extreme social interactions are permitted. A lack of clear boundaries means that people may easily be caught up in interactions which go further than they wish —or in which they do not wish to participate at all. In particular, problems can arise around sexual behaviour, with molestation appearing to be a common and, to some extent, accepted

part of a drunken night out.

‘Low-level sexual molestation in particular appears to be becoming a norm. Young women reported putting up with it as part of the culture of drunken nights out yet also say they find it unpleasant. Rebuffed sexual advances can also lead to violence: young men who are rebuffed in an approach are particularly likely to attack male friends of the woman who rebuffed them, or more generally start looking for a fight. The researchers found alcohol is commonly being consumed just to get drunk, rather than for pleasure, as youngsters work out the cheapest way of becoming inebriated.

According to a police spokesman, the consequences of excessive drinking are witnessed across the country in the hospitals and police stations of our towns and cities every week.’

SATURDAY

Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—39 YETUNDE AREBI Yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk tweeterhandle@yetundearebi 08054700825

Who owns the man? (2)

I

s it possible for one woman to possess all the super qualities required to hook a man? Who determines these qualities, the man or the soci ety? Below is the concluding part of what our respondents had to say.

Segun, (41), an Engineer/Civil servant, says good sex is the key to owning a man: I find it difficult to restrict my comparison between the two common theories. Based on my personal experience and observation, children don't hold people down.

It is not all parents that are committed to their children.

It is not all parents that truly love their children. This does not mean that they will not care for them and wish them well. But it is not because they have special deep bonds between them and so cannot do without them.

For majority of our women, yes, because they are biologically created with the maternal instincts. Men are not like that and so, very few will stay devoted when faced with serious challenges in a relationship because of children.

How is this?

You see, having children is simply a part of our social obligation. It is because it is expected of us. It automatically comes with the package as a human being. Once you marry, you must have children. Where a woman is unable to get a man to marry, she must go ahead and have a child for any man willing to do that. Just have a child that will bear your name and keep the family tree alive. Those who can't have children are resented by their family members, no matter how nice they are. This is especially true of the in-laws. The emphasis is never what happens to the child, who cares for it or if it will be raised properly. It is simply, get a child to prove that you are a complete human being. So, for me, having children for a man does not guarantee his love and attention at all. There is an adage that says, a woman has children for herself, she says they are for her husband. If she fails as a mother, they become her problem.

I will support the second position but only to an extent, because it fits into my opinion. The woman who shows love and cares for a man is the owner of the man.

Such a man would surely love to be in her company at all times. A woman who cooks good meals all the time, no matter how simple the menu is, will earn his attention and subsequently his love. Even if it is ordinary Eba, the presentation of the Eba matters a lot. Many of today's women lack presentation. And you can't really blame them. Many, combine office work with caring for the children and also doing house chores. How much energy is left in such a woman that she will have enough to put in special effort to preparing and presenting a meal? The few who can pull this off successfully should be praised.

An uncle of mine has a girlfriend whom he visits almost on a daily basis. Unless he is out of town, he only takes his breakfast at home, he eats lunch or dinner at C M Y K

A woman who cannot satisfy the two special needs of a man, the pleasures of his loins and stomach cannot lay claims to him this woman's house. All the family members, including his wife and children, know this woman and what they have together. She is a single mother with two children. I have accompanied my uncle on a number of occasions to go and eat in this woman's house and I must confess that I felt like a king eating at her table. The first time he took me there, I went home excited and I narrated my experience to my wife, who rather than see the merit in what I told her that could be of benefit to her also, jumped at me and went for my head. Anyway, the high point of it all was that this woman served my uncle on her knees. As he ate, she massaged his ego. That, is caring. Even if the meal was not so tasty, the care and affection she showered on him will earn her a point above the woman who thinks because she has been allowed to have children, then she can parade her lazy self arrogantly around the house.

Many married women are too busy chasing shadows that they forget the real thing. There is no doubt that a woman who can cook a good meal will most likely be a killer in bed. The ability of a woman to have good sex is very important. Many of our married women don't have enough knowledge about the importance of sex in a relationship and are too hypocritical and lazy to find out. Many of those who know are still held back by hypocrisy from exploring and practicing what they know.

There is a lot of pretence about sex and I think the society is partly to blame also, especially our Yoruba people. Yorubas are the only people in this Nigeria that I know of who do not have any special training for young women going into marriage. I may be wrong but I have never heard of it. The Ibos have the famous fattening rooms where young maidens are trained on caring for their husbands. This is what they teach them there, not make them fat. Same for the South-South people. The Calabar women have an incredible reputation on husband management. Even what they need to take care of the passage is taught to them. Though the fattening rooms may have lost it popularity over time, the main content of this cultural practices is still being passed down the generations by the older women. Otherwise, you will not still

be hearing about how good Calabar or South-south girls are in bed. There is too much hypocrisy for the Yoruba race. That's why everything that cannot be explained must be attributed to juju. The Hausa people prepare their young daughters for marriage too and even send them off with loads of herbal aphrodisiacs to help with their sexual duties. A woman who cannot satisfy the two special needs of a man, the pleasures of his loins and stomach cannot lay claims to him. Children are very minor in the equation in this game. As a woman, you must be able to successfully feed his mouth and manhood, if you want to own him.

Victoria, (31), Telecom staff, says these days, men are after money: Money is the key these days, Aunty. Guys don't want to settle for ladies without good jobs or from at least average families. You will see a guy from the village aspiring to marry a girl from a very rich family who has no ties to the village on her own side. Everyone is trying to raise the standard of their families. Do you know that song, Otedola does not have two heads, so, why should I also not drive a Bently like him? Without money, you cannot survive in Nigeria, please. That is the problem many young ladies are facing now. Men don't want to be the only ones chasing after money for their families again. They want to be pampered by women too, or, at least, get adequate assistance from them.

There are many examples. In fact, in my office, there are several instances. A guy had been dating one of the ladies in the office for almost two years and we had all assumed that nothing could go wrong. This guy met the daughter of a top politician and in less than six months, he was talking of being madly in love and serious about this girl. They got married in less than a year and are now living in one of the posh estates in Lagos. You need to see this guy now.

Girls who are in position to offer guys a helping hand financially or through connections are better positioned to hook them down for marriage faster. This does not mean that the marriage will be a success. It's the same things many women look for that the guys are looking for now. Look at the way guys now go for older women for relationships. Look at how popular Sugar Mummy business has become. Some of these guys have perfected how to sweet-talk these older, married women into affairs, even if the women were not interested in the first place. Some of them just look for very rich or influential ones, talk them into unholy alliances and thereafter, the women become their ATM for life. So, if a woman finds a good man, you have to bend over backwards to keep him by her side.

Christiana, (70), retired Civil Servant, says a woman must be dynamic to keep her man at home: Life as we all know, is not entirely a bed of roses. It takes the grace of God to keep a family as there are many factors mitigating against this from happening.

In the old days, the issues were not as many as we now have them, so, one could conveniently talk about winning a man's attention with food or children. But back then too, we had men who did not care for their children and the women went through hell while raising them all alone. Some did well at it, some didn't. The 'soup', most of the time is provided by girlfriends of these men, not necessarily their wives. Often times, the 'soup' women don't have children for them. When the women with children and the ones with 'soup' become wives, the man will still get himself another 'soup' woman elsewhere.

In most cases, there is nothing he is really searching for out there, except the thrills of the adventures. This is natural with men, it's their thing.

Most of the time, no single woman can keep a man down or claim to own him entirely to herself, unless the man wants to stay down. Many who have made such claims have been disappointed at the end of the day.

The same applies to a man who wants to keep watch over a woman, he will only give himself hypertension.

So, a woman must just do her best and pray that it is enough to keep her man. Therefore, she has to be everything to her man without forgetting her responsibility towards her children. Those who can't do all that are naturally required to seek spiritual powers to achieve their goal. Again, this could be anything from juju to alfas, prophets and whatever. It depends on the conviction of the woman. Above all, a woman also has to be smart and possess a discerning spirit. You must know when to tell lies; good or bad lies, how much to reveal, when and how to reveal them and what you must never say. Men are like babies and need to be treated as such if a woman wants her peace. That is why if you see a woman with a successful marriage or at least, who has managed to keep her man under her wings, I tell you, don't mess with such a woman. You don't know her story.

It's usually more than you can readily see. Good girls don't often make good wives because they cannot do most of the things required in manipulating or hoodwinking their men.

Hmmm! What do you think? If you wish to have your opinion published on this page, pleases send them via the e-mail address above. Do have a wonderful weekend!

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 passed off as a wholly nonpartisan, non-personal submission!

Sherriff: The real bewitchment Lawmakers: In their personal interest

It has been a long time that members of the House of Representatives who are procedurally lower in the order of precedence openly took on the Senate. It was sometime in 2000 at the peak of the Chuba Okadigbo crisis that members of the Ghali Umar Na‘abba led House of Representatives marched in a file to the Senate chamber to show solidarity with the then defiant Senate President, the bombastic Senator Okadigbo. Since the Fourth Republic was barely one-year-old at that time, many of the anti-Okadigbo senators were at that time perplexed, not knowing how to respond to the invasion.

Since then, rivalry between the two houses has periodically erupted, and it is recollected how in the Sixth Senate, members of the House Committee on Niger Delta were walked out of a joint sitting of the Senate and House committee screening nominees into the Niger Delta Development Commission,

NDDC. A shadow of the rivalry between the two houses manifested this week when some 11 members of the House of Representatives issued a statement denouncing what they alleged as the vituperations of Senator Kabiru Marafa, APC, Zamfara against the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki.

The House members were particularly miffed by what they claimed as the insistence of Marafa in fighting what they claimed as a personal battle using the institution of the National Assembly.

But given the background of the members who issued the statement, it was not difficult to also see that those accusing Marafa of using the National Assembly to fight a personal battle were also protecting their personal interests. Had Rep. Zakari Mohammed, the unrepentant acolyte of Senator Saraki not been among the signatories, it may even have

It is a tale that is still confounding many political stakeholders. It is the story of how a veteran 15-year oppositionist within two years of joining the former ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party, emerged as the National Chairman of the PDP. Real PDP enthusiasts who continue to oppose the emergence of Senator Ali Sheriff, SAS, as their national chairman, point at Sheriff ’s contentious politicking while a leading stalwart of the former ANPP. Reference is made to the fact that while a member of the ANPP that he supported many PDP projects, notably, the Third Term amendment for executive office holders. It is also remembered that even as a member of the opposition ANPP, that Sheriff was able to pull a sort of stunt on the PDP in the 2007 elections when he supposedly used his close relationship with the Obasanjo government to outwit the PDP in that election.

Those PDP members who contend that he was their mole in the former ANPP and All Progressives Congress, APC may now claim that

he is finally back at home.

Whether at home politically or not, many PDP enthusiasts are hoping that there would be no reason to suspect the new Sheriff of political infidelity.

Jonathan and his former ministers

With all the major organs of the PDP succumbing to the Sheriff charm offensive, former ministers who held office on the platform of the party had in the last few days become a sort of backbone for those insistent on stopping the former ANPP chieftain from lording over the PDP. Former ministers including Bala Mohammed, who was about leaving the party, gathered in Abuja last Tuesday to in their perspective, save the party from what one of them, Femi Fani-Kayode called the bewitchment of the PDP. The emergence of Sheriff has especially set many of the former ministers who served President Goodluck Jonathan at odds with him. Many of the former ministers including Kenneth Gbagi are apparently peeved by claims that the former president collaborated with some governors to throw up Sheriff.

Whatever is the logic, Dr. Jonathan has as at press time not openly come out to renounce the new national chairman nor to openly applaud his emergence. What is, however, clear for now is that many of the former ministers have drawn the battle line with Jonathan and the gist in town is that they are making moves to form a new mega party.

How Delta communities assist police in fighting crime Oghene Omonisa, Aderonke Adeyeri, Festus Ahon (Asaba) & Perez Brisibe (Ughelli)

T

he fight against crime has never been the singular responsibility of the police.

Members of the public help in their own ways to ensure the police effectively carry out their primary responsibility of preventing and fighting crime.

This has been in the form of reporting threat to lives and properties in their neighbourhoods to the police, and giving relevant information during police investigations.

The ante has been upped lately with the establishment of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), one of whose responsibilities is “to duly and legally establish means of raising funds so as to meet its financial obligations and commitments to crime prevention.”

Saturday Vanguard investigations revealed that some communities in Delta State, under the aegis of the PCRC, are doing their bits in assisting the police in achieving their set goals, both in terms of collaboration in crime fighting and provision of facilities for the police formations in the state.

Perimeter fencing of Ughelli Area Command According to a senior police officer at the Ughelli Police Station, in Ughelli North LGA of

the state, one of the projects executed through community efforts to assist the Ughelli Area Command about three years ago, was the construction of a perimeter fence for the Command Headquarters, when Mr. Awosola Awotinde was the Area Commander.

The police officer who pleaded anonymity, said the project was commissioned by the then Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba on April 12, 2013.

He said another project was the building of a conference hall also by the Ughelli PCRC. The hall was commissioned on August 7, 2015 by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Usman Akali.

Construction of office block, hall at Ebrumede Commenting on the good efforts of the PCRC, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Celestina Kalu explained that the State Command was synergizing and cooperating with them in achieving their objectives.

She said: “They have been trying within their capabilities.

Recently, we went to commission an office block building and a hall built at

Ebrumede Division by the PCRC; this was sometime in January.

The same was done at Ughelli sometime in August last year.

“There are a lot of things they have done in the state and they too cooperate with us, as well as even supporting vigilantes in their respective areas via provision of stipends and other basic items and logistics needed for the operations of these vigilantes.”

Construction of Administrative Block, Officers’ Mess in Warri The latest in the efforts of the PCRC in the state in assisting the police is the planned construction of multi-million naira Administrative Block and Officers’ Mess at the Nigeria Police B Division Headquarters, Okumagba Layout, Warri.

According to a source in the Division PCRC, the project is actually multi-phased with the construction of a security wall, the quarter guard and the charge room, which have already been completed with funds raised by some well-meaning individuals, corporate bodies, associations, trade unions and religious leaders in the community who are mostly members of the PCRC. A commissioning/inauguration/ appeal fund launching has been

•Delta Police Commissioner

planned for March 10, with the State Commissioner of Police expected to be in attendance.

Challenges On the challenges of the Delta State Police Command, Kalu sited the non-availability of communication gadgets as its major constrain, saying, “We basically need communication gadgets so that we can have effective communication across board.

“The gadgets we use presently only work in Asaba and not even in every part of Asaba. It is supposed to be all round Delta State because we have a lot of facilities in the state.

“If the communication is working well, when somebody is kidnapped, we would be able to communicate with all the patrol vehicles to be at alert, but for now, we just rely on GSM and you know that is very unreliable, so this is one of our major challenges.”

SATURDAY

Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016—41

Chime, ex-commissioner on war path over sale of property

BY FRANCIS IGATA

E

NUGU—Tension is brewing at No 3 Mount Street GRA,Enugu State, which was allocated as the official quarters to former Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Luke Mmamel which became his property after monitization process. However, the same property was allegedly sold to the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army by former governor Sullivan Chime after he(Chime) revalidated the quarters to Mmamel.

The ex-commissioner has dragged his boss,Chime, to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission, ICPC, for, allegedly “distributing/monetizing government quarters to his siblings, nephews and for graft”.

The Commissioner who claims his property was given out to a former GOC 82 Army Division Enugu by the former governor is also accusing the army chief of abuse of office for receiving a gift of his official quarters “knowing full well that the allocation is with me.”

He has further written the

•Luke Mmamel

•Sullivan Chime Chairman Nigerian Army Council through the Ministry of Defence, “to advise Maj. Gen. Shehu Yusuf to hand over my accommodation to me in the interest of justice, fairness and proper conduct.”

In his petition to the ICPC dated June 1, 2015 Engr. Mmamel alleged that Chime “abused his office by offering a gratification of monetization/sale of No 3 Mount Street GRA Enugu to the GOC contrary to the provision of the

Act”.

He further alleged, “nepotism and abuse of office by Chime in distributing/monetizing Enugu Government quarters recovered from the army to his siblings, Nephews, and for graft.”

He recalled how the governor approved the allocation of No. 3 Mount Street as his official residence. “I wrote to the GOC in memo ENS/MOT/COM.7/VOL.1/ 116 dated 13/7/09, requesting for

DRUG-FOR-HOT-SEX LATEST:

How randy married woman escaped arrest; offsets hospital bill •22-year-old lover-boy leaves hospital, prepares for university •Women now under hubbies’ intense watch

By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin City

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he last has definitely not been heard about the randy married woman who abandoned her lover-boy in a hotel room in Benin City, after giving him sexenhancement drugs and drilling him sexually for several hours. The 22-year-old lover-boy, overdosed with different sexenhancing drugs including Viagra, has been discharged from the hospital.

Randy woman pleads anonymity, offsets lover’s hospital bill Though Saturday Vanguard learned that the said woman never appeared at the hospital where her lover-boy was treated of the overdose of sex-enhancement drugs, she was said to have been in contact with the brother of the victim, through whom Saturday Vanguard learned the woman offset the boy’s hospital bill.

Saturday Vanguard learned that the boy is currently under severe pressure from the woman not to discuss the issue with people, fearing that she might lose her marriage. It

was learned that the woman started panicking after she saw the report of the incident in Saturday Vanguard, just as it was gathered that she queried the boy for discussing the issue with people at the hospital. ... Escapes arrest The woman was said to have contacted the elder brother of the victim and appealed to him to ensure that his brother did not expose her identity. The elder brother of the victim who was supposed to have reported the matter officially to the police for investigation was said to have been induced by the woman who gave him money to go and discharge the brother from the hospital. That was how the woman escaped arrest.

However, Saturday Vanguard learned that some human rights activists are working round the clock to get the woman arrested following what they described as her dastardly act in her bid to satisfy her sexual urge.

Real reason for overdose

possession. The GOC replied stating inter alia; “though the GOC highly considered your request...ejection...will bring untold hardship to the officer.... ““The GOC has reneged on our understanding and taken possession of my quarters allocated and fenced by me for his personal use contrary to section 66 of the armed forces Act.” The commissioner while urging the ICPC to look into the issues raised,threatened to go to court for redress and “to compel ICPC in the prosecution of this menace and abuse of office in order to preserve the sanctity of laws and build a better nation.”

A NEW TWIST Saturday Vanguard learned that the Army on reading the earlier publication where Mmamel briefed newsmen on his travails,quickly moved in and broke the entire perimeter fence erected by the excommissioner.

They(Army) however, embarked on erection of the same perimeter fence ostensibly, to assert authority over the property.

The ex-commissioner told Saturday Vanguard that he had reported the incident to the AI Road Police Station covering GRA. He revealed that the police came to the scene and accosted the military personnel used for the hatchet job only for them to refer the police to high authorities.

It was gathered that the last sexual escapade which landed the boy in the hospital was because the boy was given Viagra which is allegedly meant for elderly men, and that was why the erected penis refused to relax, giving the boy excruciating pains.

Saturday Vanguard also gathered that the boy confessed to someone that the lady was always mixing different sex-enhancement drugs in his drink before they had sex. But that on that very day when he passed out, he never knew it was Viagra which was too much for his age.

It was at the hospital that it was discovered that the woman administered Viagra and one other sex-enhancement drug that is common in the Northern part of the country.

Lover-boy prepares for university After his discharge from the hospital, the boy is said to have registered for extramural classes to partake in the forthcoming JAMB examination for which his randy lover had refused to pay fees, fearing that he might dump her the moment he got admission into the university.

Women now under hubbies’ intense watch After Vanguard broke the story penultimate week about the rising increase in infidelity amongst married women not only in Edo State but across the country, and highlighted the incident of the randy woman and her overdrugged lover-boy, the feelers presently are that most men particularly in Edo State have become more conscious of their wives’ activities following the shocking discovery of the women’s escapades.

Apart from the reported woman who is panicky today, there are believed to be fears among women who are known to cheat on their husbands as the men are alleged to be digging in to find out if their wives were involved in this immoral practice.

42—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

ELECTRICITY:

Who will hike in tariff serve?

Lai Omotola, energy expert answers •Says Nigerian banks can't fund electricity industry, profers solution

By Ishola Balogun

F

ollowing a breakdown of negotiations between the leadership of the Senate and the Federal Government over the 45 per cent increase, the Senate a few days ago stopped the implementation of the new electricity tariffs expected to take off on February 1. In the same vein, a Federal High Court in Lagos also ruled that going ahead with the implementation would amount to contempt. This was as a result of public outcry that greeted the announcement of the increase. The Labour unions had held mass protests across the country recently to register their displeasure over the new electricity tariffs, shutting down major cities including Abuja for several hours. The argument of the indigenous companies managing the distribution of electricity was that the hike would guarantee steady supply of electricity.

Previous hike in the past never translated into stable power. As Nigerians continue to groan under darkness caused by the poor management of the indigenous companies, Mr. Lai Omotola Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of CFL Group of Companies, an expert in the industry said the new tariff regime will not produce desired result the way the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola had painted it. According to him, the reasons really border on two main factors. Technical capacity of our indigenous companies as it were today and the financial capacity of the indigenous companies to bring together necessary infrastructure that can guarantee steady supply of electricity in the country.

“From the beginning, we said it was not enough for indigenous companies to just bring technical partners. It would have been better for indigenous companies to bring the technical partners who would also bring equity into that partnership. That is lacking today. The truth is that if the man brings equity, the difference is that he is not only a contractor to the indigenous companies, he is also an investor in the company. The indigenous companies will leverage on its technical competence and financial capacity. These were missing in this bid and that is why we are where we are today. We know

power infrastructure development is probably the most financial intensive project in Nigeria. So, we need people with deep pocket.”

Could it be that the primary aim of the increase in tariff was to help the indigenous companies augment its finances? Omotola argued that the federal government indeed understood the situation, it chose to use the tariff increase as a strategy to help the indigenous companies get more funds. “The federal government decided to use another strategy.

What is this strategy? The strategy is help the indigenous companies through the increase of electricity tariff. What is the tariff going to do? It will only achieve one objective. It will only help the indigenous companies service the loans at the expense of the consumers. When the loans are serviced, there could be a little of an opportunity for the banks to now raise adequate capital for expansion. Thatt lends credence to the twin problem of technical and financial challenges of the companies.

“If the minister is sure of himself, let him sign an indemnity or guarantee Nigerians that if the power is not stable in two years, he would resign because we have had enough talk. We have started counting again.

Nothing will change tremendously in two years, even with electricity tariff hike. Our stake in this matter is that of transparency and logic,” he stressed.

Omotola who is also Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of InfraWatch Nigeria Limited berated the companies for not deploying technical expertise to curb several leakages in revenue collection.

“The ability to collect revenue is not there at all. To successfully collect revenues, they must deploy technology. If the truth must be told, there are a lot of people using illegal electricity. Some are tapping from underground armour cables; many are by-passing the pre-paid metres. The revenues that the power distribution companies are supposed to generate are not

•Lai Omotola

coming due to all these acts of sabotage. Another issue is that estimated billing which is the cash cow of the business. It is the juice of the business. Now, the federal government comes with a plan that the indigenous companies must meter everybody in two years. It should be other way round. The indigenous investors should have provided stable electricity supply first before increasing tariff. What we find now is that we are giving you two years to meter all consumers. If the sweetener is the estimated billing and the billing will rise by 45 percent, then the cash flow will increase from estimated billing. It is simple arithmetic.”

He lamented that the proposal of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on disputed bills will not work. NERC had proposed that once bills are disputed, the consumers should not pay the bills. Rather, they should pay what he paid last. But the consumer can write a letter, stating that a body of people will look into their complaints. Omotola said this will not work. “Ikeja Distribution Company, now Ikeja Electric, has over 450,000 customers. How many people will they be able to adjudicate on issues arising from estimated billings? Do they have capacity? You can see that it is not going to work.”

Proffering solution, Omotola stated that the huge challenge is the existing business model. “The challenge we have today is in the business model. Really, the business model is not in the Electricity Sector Reforms Act. It is the business model of these indigenous companies. What are the brands of these companies?

How much can the brands attract globally in terms of investors? I will give an example.

Dangote is known for cement and that was why it was easy for Dangote to set up cement factories in different African countries. He has already made template that he takes to every country and builds his factory with the same team. That is what he has been doing for the past 30 years. Is it not amazing that the same Dangote that is building

“A proper business model should be deployed into the electricity industry and original players with established expertise and capacities in the electricity industry should be allowed in

$15 billion dollar refinery is not a player in the electricity industry in Nigeria? Not until recently.

“A proper business model should be deployed into the electricity industry and original players with established expertise and capacities in the electricity industry should be allowed in. The experts that have been in the electricity business generation over generation should be allowed to come in. An enabling environment should equally be created in a way that Nigerians will begin to see the future. Nigeria’s electricity markets cannot be compared to that of Ghana and South Africa. It is ridiculous to make that kind of comparison because our populations are different. The electricity market is enormous and attract huge profits. But the investors are not there.”

Explaining why the review of business model is necessary, he said: “Our banks can only finance between two and three years. That is the issue here. Between two and three years, our banks want to recoup thier funds. So, our banks are not suited to fund the electricity industry. The interest rate and tenor will not make it work. What we are suggesting is that the federal government should set up a finance development bank that is strictly for development projects. If our local banks will play any role, it will be in the area of providing working capital. They will just support these projects by working capital. This is a complete shift from what we have today because for those companies to survive, they need very low interest rate with very longterm loan tenor.

“Also, they need a robust capacity to handle these projects. Without being technical and ingenious, if you walk around streets anywhere in Nigeria, you will only see dilapidated transformers, overhead cables, old NEPA vehicles just repainted among others. These are signs that finances are very weak and this have not changed. Because when a new company comes in, it begins to pull down the old things and starts setting up new ones. You will see new transformers everywhere, new overhead cables among others. In fact, every person will see the impact.

But you can only see our people unhappy and the indigenous companies in crisis. From all said so far, electricity tariff hike is not the solution.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 — 43

OLISEH: How now Sports Minister?

W

Oliseh: Why I quit S

unday Oliseh has said he quit as Nigeria coach in the interest of the country.

After announcing his resignation on twitter in the wee hours of yesterday, the former Ajax midfielder has turned in his resignation letter, which was addressed to General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mohammed Sanusi, and dated February 25, 2016.

“Your contractual violations and the interest of the nation necessitates that I tender my resignation and recourse to the termination of our working agreement,” the resignation letter read in part.

A rented apartment in Abuja

promised he and his two assistants after he was appointed in July 2015 has yet to be fulfilled. He is also owed four months’ salary, while his assistants are also being owed for several months.

He further accused the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of not giving him enough support to prepare the team for next month’s allimportant AFCON qualifiers against seven-time champions and qualifying group leaders Egypt.

He said he received “so little help” from the NFF and has been soldering on under “unconducive working conditions”.

AS Sunday Oliseh professional in the ways he managed some issues while he reigned as Super Eagles coach?

He took to social media to address the issues with his player Vincent Enyeama who had to retire from the Super Eagles after hot exchanges with him.

Could he have done that in Europe no matter how provocative his player was?

Emmanule Emenike could not stand him and also quit the national team.

Oliseh also went public over some matters with the football federation and later called Nigerian critics “insane”, again in the social media.

Solomon Danlung, the sports minister who certainly was yet to grasp sports matters shocked all when he tried to defend

Infantino becomes football's most powerful man

G

ianni Infantino has been elected as FIFA president after a second round of voting in Zurich.

UEFA general secretary Infantino won the election with 115 votes, with Sheikh Salman receiving 88 votes. Prince Ali received four votes and no votes were recorded for Jerome Champagne.

In his victory speech, World Cup qualifier Infantino said: "I told you against Swaziland in I went through a journey, Port Harcourt in November an exceptional journey 2015, which the NFF had and a journey which and promised to pay players many people who and officials on resumption deserve FIFA to be of camping for the matches respected. against Egypt.

"We will restore the Chairman of the NFF respect people have in Technical and Development Committee, FIFA and everybody will Chris Green applaud us, and they will told thenff.com: “The new applaud all of you for crew has the mandate to what you do.

"We have to be proud of reach out to the very best Nigerian players what we do for FIFA. I anywhere. The matches would like to thank all of against Egypt would not be you and all of the other picnics and we need our candidates. very best for those "It was a great sign of contests.” democracy of FIFA. I want

NFF drafts Siasia, Amuneke for Egypt cracker Coach between

N

igeria has rea p p o i n t e d Samson Siasia as Head Coach of the Senior National Football Team, Super Eagles. He will work with respected tactician Salisu Yusuf, FIFA U-17 World Cup – winner Emmanuel Amuneke and Alloy Agu for the upcoming 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Egypt.

The combination was recommended by the NFF Technical and Development Committee following Sunday Oliseh’s resignation on twitter in the early hours of Friday.

Siasia served as Super Eagles’ Head

December 2010 and October 2011, before his contract was terminated following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Contrary to claims by Oliseh that he was being owed wages and did not receive support from the NFF, top officials c o n f i r m e d to thenff.com that he was this week paid the sum of N20 million, being salaries for three months (December 2015, January 2016 and February 2016) and halfyear rent for JulyDecember 2015. He was signed on in July 2015.

The only money he is owed is the bonus for the

•For breach of contract

By Tony Ubani

he Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, stung by the sudden resignation of coach Sunday Oliseh have asked their lawyers to study religiously his contract and come up with possible areas he breached the contract that will guide them in dragging him before FIFA and the Court of Arbitration, CAS.“Sports Vanguard gathered that Oliseh collected his backlog of salaries and allowances before throwing in the towel. “Already, officials pointed that payment of his accommodation funds C M Y K

to restore a new era in FIFA where we put football at the centre of the speech."

On Infantino's appointment, FA chairman Greg Dyke said: "I think he's very hard working, and I think he would make sure it was properly organised, properly structured place.

"I think he will find a good chief executive because that's the crucial thing here, finding a good chief executive to run things.

"But I don't think he's a politician, whereas we've just has a politician for many years."

In the first round of voting, Infantino received 88 votes, Salman 85, Ali 27 and Champagne seven.

A total of 159 votes was required for an outright win in the first round of

NFF to drag Oliseh to FIFA, CAS

T

Oliseh by saying that Oliseh’s outbursts on Youtube “were not as bad as Nigerians construed it.” Yet, what Oliseh said was in the public domain, so the minister either belittled himself or tried to defend insubordination and insult against Nigerians.

And while the issue was yet to die down the minister faulted the federation for disengaging Oliseh’s Personal Assistant in Tijani Babangida, his teammate at Ajax Amsterdam.

But was that not expected when the NFF submits almost all football matters to the minister instead of shouldering their responsibilities? The minister, until his appointment, a stranger to sports, either showed his bias or his poor knowledge in sports matters especially the technical ones.

And how was he feeling early yesterday when same Oliseh took to his twitter account to announce his resignation as Super Eagles coach? The man he unreasonably did everything to defend insulted him as the sports minister, the federation and the entire Nigerians by resigning his job on the social media.

and coaching the Super Eagles from Belgium as areas he breached the contract.“"The Lawyers are going to come up with those breaches but you know that he resigned with immediate effect without giving us the mandatory onemonthnotice.HecoachedtheEagles from Belgium and it was explicitly stated in the contract that he must coach the team based in Nigeria. He already collected money for his accommodation when he never stayed here. It is left for those with Eagle eyes to come up with the breaches", our source said yesterday on our hotline.

voting but that target was not reached and there was a second round for the first time at a FIFA presidential election since 1974.

Infantino will succeed Sepp Blatter, who had been in the post since 1998 but resigned last year under pressure amid escalating corruption scandals.

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term in May 2015 but has since been banned for six years over a "disloyal payment" of £1.3m between him and UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011.

South African candidate Tokyo Sexwale used his 15minute pre-election speech to officially withdraw from the race, leaving just four candidates on the ballot.

44—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

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SATURDAY

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Vanguard, February 27, 2016—45

46—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

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SATURDAY

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Vanguard, February 27, 2016—47

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

>>43

>>43

>>43 TODAY’S FIXTURES EPL West Ham Leicester Southampton Stoke Watford West Brom

v v v v v v

SERIE A Empoli AC Milan

v v

Sunderland Norwich Chelsea Aston Villa Bournemouth Crystal Palace Roma Torino

1:45pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 6:30pm 6pm 8:45pm

LA LIGA Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid 4pm v Celta Vigo 6:15pm Getafe Sporting Gijon v Espanyol 6:15pm Real Betis v Rayo Vallecano 8:30pm Real Sociedad v Malaga 10:05pm EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW Liverpool v Man Utd v Anderlecht Shakhtar Donetsk Villarreal v Leverkusen Athletic Bilbao v Valencia Sparta Prague v Lazio Dortmund v Tottenham Fenerbahce v Braga WEEKEND’S NPFL MATCHES Nasarawa v Giwa Rivers Utd v Ifeayi Uba Shooting Stars v MFM Lobi Stars v Ikorodu Utd Abia Warriors v Pillars Wikki v Plateau Utd Warri Wolves v Rangers

4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Ekundayo – (9) 5 Traditional Ruler of Ilesha – (3) 8 Adamawa State Capital – (4) 10 L.G.A in Abia State – (4) 11 Muslim Holy Book – (5) 12 Former Rwandan President, Mr. Gregoire – (9) 16 Country in Africa – (5) 18 Italy “Azzuris” Striker, Alessio – (5) 19 Ireland National – (5) 20 Former DirectorGeneral, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCCA), Mr. Benedict – (9) 24 United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha – (5) 26 Traditional Ruler of Nupe – (4) 27 Former Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu – (4) 28 Vapour – (3) 29 Super Sand Eagles Striker, Azeez – (3) 30 Citrus Fruit – (9)

DOWN 1 Fifth Month of the Year – (3) 2 L.G.A in Niger State – (5) 3 Dolphins FC Coach, Stanley – (5) 4 Ebonyi State Capital – (9) 5 Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Leonard – (4) 6 Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront & Infrastructure Development, Mr. Adebowale – (9) 13 Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz – (4) 14 Romanian Capital City – (9) 15 Medical Attendant – (5) 17 Colour – (4) 21 Manchester United Midfielder, Ashley – (5) 22 Sea Vessel – (5) 24 African Waterbuck – (3) 25 Former Minister of Labour & Productivity, Mr. Chukwuemeka – (4) 28 Number – (3)

Solution on page 8

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Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) EDITOR: ONOCHIE ANIBEZE. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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