Oil workers warn Buhari

C M Y K

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 5

LOOMING SUBSIDY REMOVAL:

Oil workers warn Buhari!

•List measures to protect Nigerians •NNPC assures: The people will not suffer

By Soni Daniel, Abuja

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MID indications that the government may have settled for the full deregulation of the petroleum sector in 2016, oil workers, under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), have expressed support for the looming regime.

Meanwhile, the support came with a caveat to President Muhammadu Buhari: Utilities for the full deregulation must be in place and Nigerians must be adequately protected from Shylock oil sector players.

Sunday Vanguard learnt, at the weekend, that the Buhari administration had decided that full regulation of the oil sector had become inevitable, and, consequently, made no provision for petrol subsidy in the 2016 budget.

“The non-provision for subsidy for petrol in the 2016 budget stemmed from the huge drain it had become on government finances and the fact that only a few people are benefiting to the detriment of the vast ma-

jority of Nigerians,” a source close to Aso Rock Presidential Villa said.

The source said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had assured that everything was in place to implement the new regime, adding that petrol should not sell more than the current official price of N87 per litre under the full deregulation regime.

PENGASSAN National President, Francis Johnson, throwing his union’s weight behind the full deregulation of the oil sector, at the weekend, said: “Some say it is ‘the answer ’ (to the complex problems in the oil sector), but we say it is only an answer.”

Johnson, who spoke in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, however, warned: “Deregulation is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If we understand to that level, then part of the problem is solved.

“Our stance has always been to put in place necessary structures that will enable and sustain the policy. When the sector has achieved full deregulation, there will even be a greater challenge than scarcity,

namely consumer protection.

“Post-deregulation, the first aspect of the policy that will be most felt is price liberalisation. That is the greater concern for us as a pressure group.

It is not enough to deregulate.

“What have we put in place to prevent collusion and predatory tendencies of operators?

“We do not have strong protection or cover for consumers in Nigeria.

See what we experience daily with service providers in aviation, telecommunications, etc. We seem to be engrossed with the quest to deregulate the sector, but no one is paying attention to the public utilities, like the pipelines, jetties, depots and even refineries.

“We seem to forget that the very reason for scarcity is the neglect and lack of maintenance culture with which public infrastructures were left unattended to for so long.

“So, deregulation yes, but it’s just an aspect of addressing the myriads of problems confronting the sector.”

•Full interview at page 43

•President Muhammadu Buhari, receiving a greeting card from the Chair man, FCT Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Israel Alamo, while the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki (l), and the Executive Secretary, Christian Pilgrims Commission. Mr. John Kennedy, watched as a delegation of Abuja residents paid homage on the President to mark the 2015 Christmas day celebrations at the Aso Villa, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida

R-L: Governor Ifeanyi Ughwuanyi of Enugu State; wife, Monica; wife of the leader of Enugu State House of Assembly, Mrs. Lilian Ezeugwu; and the Leader of the House of Assembly, Hon. Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, singing during a Christmas holy mass at Blessed Sacrament Parish, Independence Layout, Enugu, yesterday.

Release Kanu, dialogue with Biafran agitators, Owie tells Buhari

By Simon Ebegbulem

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former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to order the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),

Nnamdi Kanu, to reduce tension in the country.

While urging the President to dialogue with those agitating for Biafran, Owie asked Buhari to distance himself from those alleging that the IPOB is a militant group.

He told the President to

do his best to keep the nation together without alienating any group.

“I wish to remind President Muhammadu Buhari that every elected leader in Nigeria becomes a prisoner of palace jesters around him and become isolated from realities outside Aso Rock. President Buhari should open the prison door now and come out and face the reality.

“I urge President Buhari to release Kanu, the leader of the IPOB, now and dialogue with them.

The President should not listen to palace jesters who are telling him that they are militants like Boko Haram. They are not. While Boko Haram leadership is not visible, the IPOB leadership is visible. Buhari should act now. A Bini parable says the king that folds his hands while his palace is burning ends up being a tenant.”

•L-R: Comrade Issa Aremu with the Chief Imam of Imole, Ilorin, Abdullahi Abdulahmid, at the Fidau prayers for Aremu’s late wife, Hajia Hamdalat Abiodun. Photo by Olu Ajayi

YULETIDE: Publisher tasks FG on roads

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HE Federal Government has been urged to revisit the abandoned and on-going road projects across the country.

This, according to the publisher of Street journal, an online publication, Wole Arisekola, became necessary given the deplorable conditions of the federal roads presently abandoned or

ignored in every part of the country.

Aritsekola, who is also Chairman, Association of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (AMPON), in a press statement, noted that thousands of Nigerians currently traveling on such roads in a bid to celebrate the Yuletide with their loved ones are going through agony and pains travelling on such

roads because of their bad conditions.

For instance, he regretted that “travelling on Lagos-Ibadan expressway during this Yuletide is not a good experience. A good portion of the road are either uncompleted or abandoned by their handlers, leading to loss of man hour as a result of traffic gridlocks”.

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From left: Mrs, Toun Ajomole; a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; wife of Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Dame Abimbola Fashola; Mr. Babatunde Fashola and wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, during the 2015 Christmas Carol service and thanksgiving night, organized by Dame Abimbola Fashola and her friends, at Eagles Club, Surulere, Lagos…..yesterday. Photo by Bunmi Azeez

Nigeria's top rated disc jockey, Jimmy Jatt - 2nd left - with fans Regina Etuk, Franka Igbikis and Regina Inyangat the just-concluded Slide ‘n’ Bounce Concert held at the Emerald Event Centre in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Petrol station razed in Delta

By Festus Ahon

XMAS EVE TRAGEDY: Two killed, others injured in Ekiti bank robbery

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

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S preparations for the Christmas celebration peaked in Okemesi-Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State, tragedy struck, as daredevil armed robbers invaded the town, leaving two persons dead and several others severely injured.

The two persons, killed in the operation that lasted for an hour, on Christmas eve, were identified as Mathew and a private security guard attached to a bank.

The nine-man gang allegedly invaded an oldgeneration bank in the town at about 5.30 pm, shooting sporadically into the air.

Commercial activities in the ancient town came to a halt for about an hour while the operation lasted, as traders in markets and

workers of public institutions scampered in different directions for safety.

The bandits were said to have held the bank staff and customers hostage and carted away mon-

ey running into millions of Naira.

One of the victims, whose shop was located beside the bank, was shot in the head and died on the spot while the guard

died while he was being rushed to hospital.

Ten other persons, who hid, were reported to have been hit by bullets and were receiving treatment in a teaching hospital in one of the neighbouring states.

Members must always respect PDP’s position — Adeyanju

By Abiodun Alade

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HE Social Media Di rector of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Adeyanji Adedeji, has urged politicians elected on the platform of the PDP to always stand by the position of the party.

Adeyanju said it is important for the party to stand united as the face of the opposition and alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that

it is indiscipline and lack of respect for members to express different view from the official position of the party.

“The other day, two senators elected on the platform of the party were singing the praises of Buhari over the budget presentation. A budget that failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians, address core issues of the economy, unemployment and insecurity; an unrealistic budget, and a budget

that has been termed a fraud by our great party, the PDP, but only for our elected senators to take a disparagingly different view from the official position of the party and turn around to praise the president. Will a Republican or Labor party senator in the United States of America or United Kingdom disagree with the official position of his party on a fundamental issue such as this and make it public? The answer is never,” he noted.

Bethesda celebrates Christmas with less privileged children

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ETHESDA Child Support Agency, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation and educational arm of Freedom Foundation, organised a Christmas party for over 600 children currently benefitting from its scholarship program.

At the colourful event, which took place at The Dome, This Present House, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Miss Olusola Adeola, Executive Secretary of Freedom Foundation, said, “Bethesda’s success is directly linked to the support system of a vibrant, committed and active group of people who play different roles in sustaining the

project.

We are happy to see our collective efforts are yielding appreciable results; transforming lives and improving the wellbeing of

our children”. The event featured rendition of Christmas Carols by pupils of the four Bethesda Nursery and Primary Schools in Ikota,

Ijaiye-Ojokoro, Bariga and Matogun communities. Nigerian music celebrities – Tosin Martins and Tim Godfrey – sang alongside the children.

Dogara to Nigerians: Be patient with Buhari’s administration

BY Yinka Ajayi with Agency report

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PEAKER of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari if they felt that the change promised by the

government was not coming as fast as they wanted.

He stated that with patience, the country would overcome its challenges and Buhari would deliver on his promises. Dogara spoke during a Christmas service at the Church of

Christ in Nations, Gwarangah, Bogoro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

Represented by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, said, “Many people have been asking, where is the change? What is the future of this country?”

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ANDEMONIUM broke out in Asaba, Delta State capital, on Christmas day, as a petrol station and property worth millions of naira were destroyed in a fire incident.

A petrol tanker parked at the station was also consumed by the inferno alongside the building housing the administrative department and a supermarket.

Though the cause of the fire could not be ascertained at press time, sources said the petrol station went up in flames at about 1pm.

Troops arrest five sea pirates, two oil thieves in Bayelsa

By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa

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ROOPS have arrested five suspected sea pirates and two oil thieves in the creeks of Sangala in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of Bayelsa State.

According to the Commander, Operation Pulo Shield, Major General Alani Okunlola, the suspects were arrested by troops of Sector 2 three days ago in Southern Ijaw while patrolling the creeks.

Represented by the Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, Col Isa Ado, the Commander said the troops recovered four short guns, four cartridges and 12 mobile handsets and other valuables from the suspects.

He gave the names of the suspects as Gabriel Abel, 23, Ebiaredia Godday, 23, Samson Ezekiel, Gift Enihus and Richard Christian.

The suspects, in custody of the military, he said, would be handed over to the prosecuting agencies at the conclusion of preliminary investigation.

Labour hails FG’s plan to provide 500,000 jobs

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

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SSOCIATION of Senior Civil Servants of Ni geria, ASCSN, has commended the Federal Government on the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget just as it stressed the need for the content of the budget to be implemented for the benefit of all Nigerians.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday, the ASCSN President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and the SecretaryGeneral, Alade Bashir Lawal, lauded the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to recruit 500,000 unemployed graduates and holders of National Certificate of Education, NCE, as teachers to curb the escalating rate of unemployment in the country.

According to the statement: “We also commend Mr President for his decision to ensure that all the Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) are captured and brought under the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) because this will not only reduce the burden of manual preparation of payrolls but also curb cases of sharp practices in the system.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015 PAGE 7

rexmarinus@hotmail.com

Nwafor Orizu was President of Nigeria

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he mish-mash of Nigeria’s post-war history has permitted many sad revisions which in turn has made Nigerian historical studies and its statements therefrom to be lopsided, ethnic, and gnarled.

We have tended in Nigeria to celebrate the worst of us, and have confined Nigeria’s true national heroes to the dustbin.

Today, only in a place like Nigeria, with its twisted ethos, can a man like Ahmadu Bello for instance, have greater pride of place in the National rolls than Akweke Abyssinia Nwafor Orizu, one of the great spirits of the anti-colonial Nationalist movement.

While the likes of NwaforOrizu were in the trenches fighting for Nigerian independence, and pushing the British out, and in turn being blackmailed and jailed, the likes of Ahmadu Bello known collaborator with British colonialism and its neo-colonial aims n Nigeria, were vociferous against the independence movement, and the emergence of Nigeria as a free and United nation.

Here of course is not the place or the occasion to tell this story or do that analysis fully of events between 1945 and 1947 that continue to have implications for Nigeria even today. But as the future unveils the archives of colonial Nigeria, and as those invested in the “single story ” of Nigerian history begin to finally and fully exit from the stage, and down the line, as a true national history begins to shape with the solid formation of Nigeria, those coming in the future will see the true texture of that story; who did what, and who didn’t do what.

Who did what, from the end of the 2nd World War in 1945,

VIEWPOINT

By Michael Tidi VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The portrait of a democrat

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never thought my generation would ever live to see a day in Warri politics when a loser in an election would pick up the courage to not only approach the election tribunal for redress but also doggedly pursue her case to the Appeal Court.

Hon Omawumi Udoh has done just that in Warri South Constituency. I see that as a big plus for Warri South. She simply must be doing something right to have gotten to where she is today.

I respect her for her courage and conviction but more so now for her resourcefulness in grassroots politics and her command and control structure in Warri South Local Government Area.

As a party agent, I was the person detailed by the Peoples Democratic Party in Warri, to collate the

to free Africans in general and Nigeria in particular from the clutches of colonialism, and who collaborated with the colonialists to destroy the possibilities of political and economic freedom and independence.

Of course, those who are afraid of Nigeria’s true history have decreed that history be neither thought, nor even taught in our schools, but history ultimately has a way of freeing itself, because frankly, true history is like the moon shining, no palm can cover it from the face of the sky. It is important to let a new generation of Nigerians know their history. We must tell the story of Nigeria, from its colonial struggles, to its postcolonial situation.

Among those who have been strategically eliminated, or bowdlerized from the pages of Nigerian history is Akweke Abyssinia Nwafor-Orizu, President of the Senate of Nigeria from November 1963-October 1965, and President of Nigeria from October 1965-Jan. 16, 1966.

For three months Nwafor Orizu was Acting President of Nigeria, and in that capacity suspended Parliament sine die during the military coup, and handed emergency power temporarily to the military in a move that signified the temporary end of the republic. This should be a matter of public record. Dr. Nwafor Orizu should therefore be counted among the Heads of State of Nigeria, and accorded his due place in the National Hall of Fame.

The mere fact of taking the oath of the office of President, even in the acting role, places Nwafor Orizu legally as President and Head of State of the Federal Republic, and

in that wise, of a higher status and capacity over Ernest Shonekan, who served as Head of the interim Government for three months, and who has been accorded all the rights due a former Head of state of Nigeria. If Ernest Shonekan could be regarded as Head of State, what disqualifies Nwafor Orizu, who had a higher status in the republic, and whose position guaranteed under the law of an elected parliament of the republic gives him significant cache?

This is the question that should have long occupied legal historians, political historians, theorists of Nigerian jurisprudence, and scholars of the public system.

But the circumstance of Nwafor Orizu’s presidency has often countermanded his position. Nwafor Orizu was acting President of Nigeria in a particularly difficult situation. When Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, then president of the republic took his extended vacation in October 1965, he wrote to Parliament to swear Orizu in as President in situ, which legally transferred albeit in the interim, every power, obligation, and rights of office accorded to the president of Nigeria, to President Orizu. This should be reflected in the official annals of the Republic, and an acknowledgement of his official status as the President of Nigeria, albeit for a very brief and dangerous period, indemnified. Nwafor-Orizu deserves to be so considered for the clear reason that it is his constitutional right, and it is a historical fact, that he piloted the affairs of Nigeria legally as president for at least three months. Now, why has this not been done? Why has this bare fact of Nigeria’s political history not been reflected in its official national narrative and observances? Well, I suspect because Nwafor-Orizu was an Igbo from Nnewi. The circumstance of his presidency - his ceding of authority to General Ironsi has also often been regarded as quite controversial, and whatever is done to obscure his contributions to Nigerian history has been framed in the

context of his Igbo identity, and the national pastime of erasing powerful Igbo footprints in the making of Nigeria’s National History; and it is complicated by the fact that under his watch, power was transferred to the Army.

For those who do not know, Nwafor Orizu was among the great leaders of the Nationalist movement, who challenged imperialism both as students in the United States and as political activists in Nigeria. His story is actually quite remarkable.

Orizu was one of those nationalists whom Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe specially recruited from 1935 on his return to the continent, to be trained in America, and to

Nwafor-Orizu deserves to be so considered for the clear reason that it is his constitutional right, and it is a historical fact, that he piloted the affairs of Nigeria legally as president for at least three months form the backbone of his liberation movement in West Africa. Among those included Dr. Kwame Nkrumah whom he sent to Lincoln, his alma mater in 1935, followed Ako Adjei, who later became Ghana’s Foreign Minister under Nkrumah, K.A.B JonesQuartey, who later became Azikiwe’s biographer and Professor at Legon, from Ghana. From Nigeria sailed those Zik called the “Argonauts” in 1938, and these included Nwafor Orizu, Ojike, Mbadiwe, Ikejiani, Chukwuemeka, and Okongwu, and people like I.U. Akpabio, who had been inspired by Zik to seek the “golden fleece” in America...

These men became the critical vanguard of the West African movement for decolonization and political

independence. They all met at Lincoln and at Columbia – where Zik himself had been educated. Nwafor Orizu studied Political Science at the Ohio state University in Columbus, and earned an MA in Politics from the University of Columbia, New York. Orizu formed the Africa Students Association in America, which elected Nkrumah its first president, and Ojike after him in 1942.

From that year, Orizu was active in America, writing in American newspapers, going on speaking tours, and making numerous radio broadcasts and giving interviews; speaking out powerfully for decolonization in West Africa, and circulating Azikiwe’s message of Freedom. He founded the American Council of African Education, a move through which he secured thousands of scholarships for African students to be educated in America, rather than going to Britain, to receive what he called, “vertical education” which in effect compromised their minds and methods. He was jailed by the colonial authorities because of that on charges of fraud. In 1944/45, these “Argonauts” led the charge for the campaign for the re-interpretation of the Atlantic charter, circulating Azikiwe’s memorandum in the United States against Churchill’s attempts to exclude the colonies from its interpretation. While Ojike was in San Francisco campaigning for the African voice to be heard at the first meetings founding the new United Nations, Orizu, Mbadiwe, Okongwu, I.U. Akpabio were in New York, Pittsburg, Philadephia, mobilizing critical American public opinion. Orizu was on record to have threatened that West Africans will have no alternative than to resort to armed struggle, if they were excluded from the coverage of the Atlantic charter, and if no efforts were made to begin the transition towards independence. “We will enter the bushes and fight” he proclaimed. These sustained campaigns attracted the attention of the US government, and Mrs.

Eleanor Roosevelt, the activist first lady of the United States, who invited them – Orizu, Ojike and Mbadiwe – to the White House, brokered through Ralph Bunche, Azikiwe’s friend and former Professor at Howard who had been recruited into the Roosevelt administration as Under Secretary of State for African Affairs, to help the Roosevelt administration outline the American policy in response to Churchill’s stance on the Atlantic charter and on decolonization. That meeting was ultimately crucial because subsequently, President Roosevelt took the stance that American policy will not support Great Britain in the continued colonization of the colonies; and in that situation, affirmed the interpretation of the Atlantic charter to include not only what he termed the “Four Freedoms,” but the human rights basis of the charter as circulated by Zik’s own memorandum in 1944, and as propagated by his acolytes in the United States.

The settlement of the issue of decolonization by 1946/47 was largely the work of these men, whose agitations pressured the new global super-power to back the decolonization of Africa. In effect the decision to grant independence to Nigeria was fully taken by early 1947, everything else that followed, was Britain supervising the division of the meat of the great elephant, to cover its strategic interests from 19471957.

Orizu founded the militant Zikist movement, and theorized “Zikism” as the philosophy of African liberation. He was a thorough Nationalist, and a true soldier, among the party that fought Great Britain for the freedom of the African continent. He was President of the Nigerian senate, and for three months, the last President of Nigeria, in the first republic. He should be fully acknowledged and given his due as a Nationalist politician, but above all, as President of the Nigerian federation. That is the just and realistic thing to do. Happy Christmas to Nigerians.

Understanding new configuration gubernatorial result as well as those of the two state constituencies in Warri. At the INEC collation center, every party agent was present as issues related to the election results were debated and entries made based on verifiable claims.

The calculation amongst political pundits was that it would be a straight contest between the PDP candidate (who enjoyed a broad constituency appeal with a formidable political war chest) and the SDP candidate (who had the support of a few political bigwigs outside the constituency). In the course of the collation of results, I confronted the INEC Returning Officer with my misgivings about what could best be described as a sham.

It is essentially for that reason that we must commend the just reinstated Delta State

House of Assembly member, Udoh. In the wake of the declaration of Godwin Abigor of the SDP as winner, Udoh had a thousand and one reasons to complain about the process that led to her ouster, and thank goodness, the Appeal Court judgment vindicated her and her teeming supporters.

Few would deny that Udoh is a legislator par excellence who can always be proud of her achievements. Having sponsored an impressive array of bills including Delta State Waste Management Bill, Delta State Ecology Bill, Delta State Sickle Cell Bill, Delta State Micro-Finance Bill as well as Delta State Estate Regulatory Authority Bill, her productivity in the area of legislative representation remains both astounding and manifestly creative. They

demonstrate her grassroots orientation and unwavering dedication to the welfare of the masses.

This woman is a healthy and truly admirable admixture of beauty and brains.

Those of us who, in spite of intimidation, stood to be counted on her side, remain

even more proud that she has been vindicated as a true democrat. When she was conspired against by those she had always stood by, she chose the road less travelled in our constituency, relying on litigation, the same process that has helped to define democratic ethos in

civilized societies.

This,undoubtedly, is an act of true and mature s t a t e s m a n s h i p demonstrated by men and women of honor and integrity across the democratic space.

Tidi, a chieftain of the PDP, lives in Warri.

Yuletide: PDP chieftain preaches love, peaceful co-existence ...Urges Ogboru, O’tega to join Okowa to build Delta

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chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, preaches love and peaceful coexistence in Delta and Nigeria.

He used the opportunity, to appeal to Delta State Labour

Party governorship candidate, Chief Great Ogboru, and his All Progressives Congress ( APC) counterpart, Chief Emerhor O’tega their swords and join forces with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, to build the state.

Onuesoke, who made the

statement while addressing journalists at Abuja after the Court of Appeal upheld the election of Okowa, prayed for peace and love of the season to be with the people and also enable them to have hitch-free celebrations.

PAGE 8, SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015,

Prologue

2015: A year on crutches

BY JIDE AJANI

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ou can liken the year to the one on crutches. In the first quarter of 2015, it all appeared as if the year was moving slowly. This was in spite of the historic general elections coming up. Like a never ending wait, the year created so much anxiety, tensions and a lot of ballyhoo.

2015 is ending like no other year.

In fact, the year was almost killed even before it came. What with the academic prediction which suggested that the year would spell doom for Nigeria.

The politicians, ever so delinquent, did not help matters.

They appeared to be working in concert with the negative forces bent on immolating Nigeria. This forced a committee raised to compel the then President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammad Buhari, frontrunners in the impending presidential election, to sign a peace deal to abide by the result of the election they signed the peace deal twice.

But from May 29, the year moved at break-neck speed.

Enter Buhari as President and Commander-in-Chief.

Now, if one was to urge the incumbent President to concentrate on the advice of a philosopher, this week, as he turns 73, the most apposite reference would be to recommend Alexis de Tocquiville’s “Dangerous Moment”. In that treatise, Tocqueville argued that embarking on a reform process could prove a dangerous moment for a government that is not rated high in governance just yet. On Tuesday, December 29, the government of Buhari will be seven months in office. But more than half of the year already spent in a four-year tenure, the thrust of his government, although not clearly articulated in policy green papers, may be summarized as being on a two-pronged focus of financial transparency based on anti-corruption and economic diversification from a mono-product economy.

Meanwhile, in order to instigate economic policy, there must be an enabling political ambiance. On the political front, Buhari may not have helped himself in anyway, as he has continued to squander the goodwill he got on a platter of gold by fomenting unnecessary tensions and creating needless institutional and hegemonic enemies.

Tensions In the public sphere, his descent into tensions began during his visit to the United States of America for the United Nation’s General Assembly meeting, where he

implied that he would reflect his political appointments in the pattern of votes he got during the elections. Many, who thought he would follow the Mandela example by bridging national differences, were further shocked to see repeated appointments of his inner caucus working team and other appointments outside the Presidency deeply skewed and in a matter that reflected ethno-regional bias. Compounding the suspicion of a regional bias in his choice of close aides and federal appointments is the perception that he went solo, having secured power, in making these choices. He was seen in some quarters to be distancing himself from his former party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) merger partners and demonizing some such as the ‘newPDP’ members who sought key positions in the legislature.

To reduce the tensions arising from the latter events, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, proclaimed that the party will become involved in further appointments by the President, but his assurances were torn to shreds as Buhari kept not only his party but the whole nation waiting endlessly to form a federal cabinet. As the tensions from the issue amplified, the President deepened suspicions on a visit to France where he gave an interview in which he implied that ministers were redundant or surplus to the requirements of governance under him, calling them “noise-makers”. As these events played out, the opposition mocked the ruling party implying that the APC was disoriented and inexperienced in governance hence it could not form government.

Inconclusive INEC Board/Commissioners Appointments Further tensions led to accusations of eroding the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and notices to the effect that the Commission was planning to conduct elections illegally, being deficient in the number of Commissioners required by the law to form the Board of INEC. Responding to these issues, particularly Sunday Vanguard’s reference to a subsisting judgment that a minimum of five members of a full Board of 13 members was required for INEC to take a valid decision regarding the conduct of any election under Section 159 of the 1999 Constitutions, as amended, government embarked on an “inconclusive

appointment voyage” by appointing only a few National Commissioners to make the INEC Board members seven instead of the 13 required by the Constitution before you can make a determination of minimum five members for quorum. As it is, INEC Board is still not constituted as provided for by the Constitution because 1/3 of seven cannot be five except a full membership of 13, as provided for by the Constitution, which the government has not done.

Surprisingly, a shocking explanation that seems to have led to the suspension of Paragraph 14 (1) of the 1999 Constitution was that the composition of INEC Board Commissioners should now be staggard so that their tenure would not end at the same time. Again, the refusal to abide by the extant provision of the Constitution, without first seeking amendment by the National Assembly through an Executive Bill, is wrong.

Some lawyers described this as self-help and a suspension of a part of the Constitution by the President up till this moment. Regrettably and to the surprise of some Nigerians, the National Assembly has kept a loud oversight legislative silence over the suspension of the provision of the Constitution as it screened and confirmed the partial list of Commissioners and has neglected or failed to ask the President to comply fully to the Constitution and not to act partly in breach of it.

Furthermore, not less that 15 states, which had no Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) as at 30 June when Prof. Jega, the then Chairman, left office because their tenures had elasped, have increased to 20 states in the last six months and the government has been unable to appoint Commissioners. This has crumbled completely the argument for staggard appointment so that all commissioners tenure would not end at the same time because government has been unable to appoint Commissioners whose tenure ended six months ago in addition to the recent ones and no action has been taken so far. All these states are running INEC without Resident Commissioners.

Inconclusive Kogi and Bayelsa elections The inconclusive Board of INEC is what has become of an enviable election management body that Prof. Jega and his team built. The electoral body has conducted two elections that were grossly deficient in integrity, controversial and ended “inconclusively”. Worse still, even the usual updates and briefing during challenging moments, which were the hallmarks of Jega and his team, have all gone as no key official of INEC, either the Chairman or any of his colleagues, addressed Nigerians on events. Even meetings of INEC over the Bayelsa impasse were reported inconclusive, until Thursday, 96 hours later, when a press statement was issued that the election for just one LGA would be concluded on January 9, 2016.

Spiralling economic tensions Delays in appointments to the federal cabinet, with government not naming interim economic advisers with commanding control over policies, left the economy in free fall for months. But even as government named its

Continued on page 12

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 9

2015: A year like no other!

By Clifford Ndujihe, Charles Kumolu & Abiodun Alade

January: Campaigns hot up

T

HE brinkmanship that marked the commencement of the campaigns ahead of the 2015 general elections in 2014, spiraled into 2015 as the leading political parties, the All Progressives Congress ,APC, and Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, reached feverish peak.

The PDP particularly had a non-issue based camping around the country, as it made the deconstruction of the APC’s presidential candidate, then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari the focus of its campaign.

There were also incidents widely assumed as deliberate clampdown on the then opposition in the build up to the polls. One of such was the invasion of APC’s data office in Lagos by the Department of State Security Service, DSS, for allegedly cloning Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, in readiness for the elections.

The APC was not also left out in the issues that got the polity overheated, as some of its electioneering languages were termed as aggressive.

In a fashion that could have given the trend away as acceptable, the parties through incisive statements, unfounded allegations, hateful advertisements, radio jingles, and documentaries, threw jabs at each other at the expense of peace and sometimes national security.

It was feared that the nation could go up in flames, whichever way the outcome of the elections especially the presidential poll, would go.

In acknowledgement of the fact that tensed campaigns had taken the country to an edge, the US dispatched its Secretary of State, John Kerry, to Nigeria in trouble shooting efforts.

He specifically met the two frontline candidates incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari separately in Lagos after which he allayed the fears of the nation.

“I came here today to deliver a very simple message and I have met with both major candidates to underscore that international community has paid a very close attention into this election and we are deeply C M Y K

Jonathan and Buhari on campaign trail

The March 28 presidential election was historic in every sense, as records were broken

Atahiru Jega, former INEC chairman committed to working with Nigerians with the hope that they will have an election that is free of violence and capable of instilling confidence in the future,” Kerry said.

February: Elections postponement

Bowing to the pressure from some quarters that the general elections should be postponed for security reasons, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on February 7, announced a sixweek shift.

The commission said the move became necessary to enable security agencies subdue insurgency in the North-East.

In addition, the then INEC Chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega, said the development would afford the commission the opportunity of finetuning some of its processes. ‘’ We are not being forced by anybody to take this decision. This is a decision that we had to take by ourselves. They were not pleasant decisions to take but we had to take the decisions. Nobody has forced us, nobody has coerced us. We stand by this decision,” Jega stated.

He also said the electoral management body could not guarantee the protection of personnel, observers and voters if the elections went on as previously scheduled.

“The commission is concerned about the security of our ad-hoc staff, the young men and women of the NYSC and students of the tertiary educational institutions who constitute at least 600,000 young men and women that we will use in the elections.”

March: Presidential election

The March 28 presidential election was historic in every sense, as records were broken.

In line with post-election prognosis, it turned out as the most keenly and bitterly contested in the nation’s history.

It was an election that played up ethnicity and religion.

Indeed, the novelty, inherent in the level of public interest in the process, played out in appreciable measures, as many eligible voters turned out for the poll nationwide.

However, incidents of disenfranchisement and logistic challenges reared their heads in the election, albeit in negligible proportions.

Nonetheless, the election witnessed the critical determination of Nigerians to be assertive in the process of electing who governs them.

From the voting pattern to the outcome, Nigerians were remarkably involved like never before.

Predictably, APC’s Muhammadu Buhari emerged victorious and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan lost.

Buhari won with a difference of 2.57 million votes.

The 73-year-old won 15,424,921 votes or 53.95 percent of the 28,587,564 total valid votes cast.

Jonathan, 57, had 12,853,162 votes (44.96 percent).

The triumph of Buhari was followed by sweeping victories of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in subsequently polls in all but one of the six South-West states and all but two of the North’s 19 states. In Jonathan’s South-South and the South-East states, the former President won impressively.

States won by Buhari are Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and Borno.

Jonathan emerged victorious in Rivers, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Imo, Enugu, Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Ebonyi, Cross River, Bayelsa, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Abia and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).

Jonathan put a foot in a personal march towards international statesmanship when he conceded defeat once Buhari was projected the winner.

April: Governorship and state assembly polls Initially billed for February 28 but later postponed to

April 11 to enable the armed forces suppress Boko Haram insurgents so that the general elections could be held in all parts of the country, especially the North-East, the nation was ready for the governorship and state assembly polls.

The governorship poll was held in 29 states. Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states were not due to hold gubernatorial election but the assembly election was held in all the 36 states.

The elections lived up to their billings and were characterised by surprises, upsets, controversies, claims and counter-claims of manipulation by the political parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the end of the fierce electoral battles, the APC dethroned the PDP as the dominant party in the country. Apart from retaining its core states of Lagos, Imo, Borno and Yobe, the APC made inroads into PDP strong holds. It added to its kitty Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Kwara, Adamawa, Bauchi, Niger and Plateau states which had been controlled by the PDP. The only states that remained PDP’s after the April polls, and which may be lost after legal fisticuffs, are Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Gombe and Taraba.

Already, the Court of Appeal has annulled the elections in Rivers and Akwa Ibom and ordered re-run within 90 days. In Taraba, PDP’s victory was not only nullified, it was also awarded to the APC candidate, Senator Alhassan.

The governors of the three

Continues on page 10

PAGE 10, SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015,

2015: A year like no other!

Continued from page 9 states – Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Taraba - are already at the Supreme Court to challenge appellate the courts decisions.

May: Historic handover Buhari assumed office as President on May 29, in an unprecedented ceremony after he won the first opposition victory by defeating a sitting President. The event was attended by all living former Nigerian leaders and over 50 world leaders or their representatives.

The 72-year-old took charge of Africa’s most populous nation, facing crises on several fronts, from severe economic turmoil to Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.

The inauguration came 32 years after the former army general seized power in a military coup. He was ousted 20 months later.

Civilian rule was restored in 1999 but the PDP had held power at the federal level for 16 years, at times appearing intent on staying on at all costs.

Buhari’s victory over Jonathan in the March 28 poll and the subsequent inauguration of a long-time opposition leader were historic. Despite the painful loss of the presidential election, Jonathan said he had no regret over his defeat, stressing that he sacrificed personal ambition for the good and unity of the country.

‘I belong to nobody’ In his famous inauguration speech, Buhari declared: ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody’, promising to fight corruption and address security challenges in the country all among others.

Immediately after he was sworn in, he directed the relocation of the military command to Maiduguri, Borno State to fight Boko Haram.

Earlier on May 28, the then President Jonathan had presented his handover notes and the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference to the then President-elect Buhari. The event, which took place at the Executive Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, was preceded by the guided tour of the State House complex. At the ceremony, attended by the joint Transition Committee, Jonathan said the documents were to assist the incoming administration to navigate and resolve most of the problems hindering the C M Y K

•Handover notes received

•Senate President Saraki and Ahmed Lawan nation’s progress.

After handing over to Buhari, Jonathan received a heroic welcome in Bayelsa, his state of origin.

June: Battle for NASS leadership th

With the end of the 7 National Assembly on June 6 and inauguration of the 8th Assembly, the tussle for the leadership of both chambers – Senate and House of Reps - which started in May, dominated the polity in June.

To the chagrin of the Presidency and national hierarchy of the APC, those they backed for the Senate presidency and speakership of the House of Representatives fell by the way side. In the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, favoured by the ruling party leadership, lost to Senator Bukola Saraki. The absence of APC senators, who went to honour an appointment with Buhari on the morning of the inauguration, paved the way for Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the opposition PDP to emerge as Deputy Senate President, a bitter pill APC leaders have found hard to swallow.

A similar scenario played out in the House of Representatives, where the party leadership-favoured Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila for the speakership lost to Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

Saraki and Dogara also rejected the nominees sent in by the APC hierarchy for leadership positions in the NASS. While Saraki argued that the Senate is independent and senators should be allowed to conduct their affairs without interference from the party, Dogara said that sharing of

•Yakubu Dogara and Femi Gbajabiamila

leadership positions should be made to accommodate all the zones of the country to ensure balance and equity.

In the Senate, the rift between Senators of Like Minds, a group of lawmakers loyal to Saraki, and those of the Unity Forum, loyal to Lawan, has been difficult to resolve. The Like Minds picked holes in the new Senate Standing Order on which the election of the President and his deputy was based and the

In his famous inauguration speech, Buhari declared: ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody’, promising to fight corruption and address security challenges in the country

rule which shares the 57 standing committees equally among the six geo-political zones of the country irrespective of political party affiliation. For many weeks, the aggrieved senators moved to get the alleged forgery of the 2015 Standing Order as amended probed and have gone to court over the issue.

The 2015 Senate rule book stipulates that each zone would be expected to get at least nine committee chairmanship seats out of the total 57 Senate committees.

The new Standing Order states: “The appointment of senators as chairmen and members of committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the six geo-political zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of senators from a few geo-political zones”.

This portion of the Standing Order runs contrary to the 2011 version, which favoured the then ruling PDP.

July: Bitter politics of NASS continues The leadership crisis in the National Assembly over the filling of the remaining principal offices by both the ruling APC and the opposition PDP continued in July and dominated issues throughout the month.

The Senate had adjourned after inauguration. It resumed plenary on June 23, but suspended plenary on Thursday, June 25 till July 21. The resumption was later postponed to July 28.

Senate President Bukola Saraki had, before the

adjournment, announced Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Borno South, as the Majority Leader and he assumed office immediately as the candidate for the North East where the position was zoned to.

Also Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah, Kebbi South, assumed office as Deputy Senate Leader (North-West) while Senator Francis Alimikhena, Edo North, took the seat of Senate Deputy Chief Whip (South-South).

The office of Senate Chief Whip was not filled following the inability of the South West to which it was zoned, produce a name.

Ahead of the resumption on July 28, jostling for the remaining leadership slots reached feverish peak with some aggrieved lawmakers threatening fire and brimstone.

Senator Isa Misau, representing Bauchi Central, attributed the crisis rocking the National Assembly to “external influence”, saying members of the legislature behind the crisis were merely acting the scripts of their godfathers.

Misau, a member of the Like Minds Senators, appealed that senators and House of Representatives members should be allowed time to work. According to him, the legislators were not elected for the purpose of fighting for leadership offices but “to go and pass legislation, motions, engage in debates and oversight functions which will lead to improved standard of living for the people.”

However, the leadership crisis in the House of Representatives was resolved on July 28 when Speaker Dogara bowed to the ruling party pressure, conceding the position of House Leader to Gbajabiamila, his erstwhile contender for speakership and the APC nominee, from Lagos State (South-West).

Dogara’s candidate for the House Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, from Kano State (North-West) got the position of Whip.

The Speaker also announced Buba Jubril as Deputy Majority Leader and Pally Iriase, Deputy Whip.

Leo Ogor is Minority Leader, Yakubu Umar Barde, Minority Whip, Chukwuka Onyema, Deputy Minority Leader and Binta Bello, Deputy Minority Whip.

The tussle for the House Majority Leader dragged on for several weeks, with the Speaker sticking to his guns that the South-west zone could not produce two principal officers as Gbajabiamila, from the zone,

Continues on page 11

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 11

•Rumble in the House of Reps

•PDP's Wada and late Audu of APC

•PDP's Dickson and Sylva of APC

2015: A year like no other!

Continued from page 10 has emerged Majority Leader.

In a post-plenary press briefing, the spokesman for the House, Hon. Sani Zoro, said that despite initial hitches, the crisis was resolved with the intervention of President Buhari.

Also, PDP named its principal officers in the Senate.

In a letter written by Ekweremadu on behalf of the PDP Senate Caucus to the Senate President, and read on the floor of the red chamber, a former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, emerged as the Minority Leader and Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), the Deputy Minority Leader.

Senator Philip Aduda (FCT) is Minority Chief Whip, while Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) is Deputy Minority Whip.

September: Mixed reactions greet Buhari’s style September was dominated by mixed reactions trailing President Buhari’s leadership. While some said he was too slow, others claimed he needed time to think through whatever action he wanted to take.

There were also claims and counter-claims over his alleged lopsided appointments in favour of the North, almost to the total exclusion of the SouthEast. So also were mixed views on Buhari’s delay in appointing his ministers four months after his swearing-in.

The ruling APC contended with internal disharmony over the President’s alleged ignoring governors and the National Working Committee, NWC, in the compilation of the ministerial list and composition of the cabinet.

The issue forced the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, to announce plans by the party to ensure that C M Y K

Buhari abided by the dictates of “party supremacy” in the ministerial appointments, hinting that the party was being carried along.

And presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on September 4, dispelled the insinuation and insisted that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Buhari will announce his ministers by September 30 at the latest.

Indeed, on September 30, Buhari sent the list of first batch of 21 ministerial nominees to the Senate.

In the first list were Chris Ngige (Anambra), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Abdulrahman Dambazau (Kano), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba), Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), Kemi Adeosun (Ogun), Abubakar Malami (Kebbi), Sen Hadi Sirika (Katsina), Barr. Adebayo Shittu (Oyo), Suleiman Adam (Jigawa), Solomon Dalong (Plateau), Ibe Kachikwu (Delta), Osagie Ehanire (Edo), Audu Ogbeh (Benue), Udo Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom), Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Ahmed Isa Ibeto (Niger), Amina Mohammed (Gombe) and Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Nasarawa).

October: Ministerial screening, fuel scarcity, MASSOB/ IPOB protests

Screening of the ministerial nominees dominated proceedings in the Senate in October. Buhari sent the remaining nominees to cover all states of the federation and dropped Ibeto (Niger) from the list.

The other nominees were Hajia Khadija Bukar Ibrahim (Yobe), Cladius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo), Prof Anthony Onwuka (Imo), Geoffrey Onyema (Enugu), Dan Ali (Zamfara), Barr James Ocholi (Kogi), Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna), Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia), Muhammadu Bello (Adamawa), Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno), Aisha Abubakar (Gombe), Heineken

The leadership crisis in the National Assembly over the filling of the remaining principal offices by both the ruling APC and the opposition PDP continued in July and dominated issues throughout the month Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi), Isaac Adewole (Osun), Abubakar Bawa Bwari (Niger) and Pastor Usani Uguru (Cross River).

The screening of Amaechi, who had petitions against him, raised dust in the Senate. There was tension in the air as PDP and APC senators bickered over the issue. This was as Senate President Saraki battled with his alleged false assets declaration case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Federal High Court and Court of Appeal.

In the long run, PDP senators walked out of the Senate chamber after the APC leadership ruled that Senate Ethics Committee’s report on the petition against the former governor of Rivers State should not be discussed.

Thereafter, Amaechi was screened, like other nominees, by the committee of the whole house. All the nominees were, subsequently, cleared and confirmed for ministerial appointment.

October also saw the beginning of protests by the Movement for the

Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the actualisation of Republic of Biafra.

Their protests were stoked by the Department of State Service (DSS) arrest of the Director of Radio Biafra and IPOB leader, Mr Nnamdi Kanu, on October 17 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on his arrival from London.

The nation also started experiencing biting fuel scarcity across the country.

Long fuel queues, attributed to non-payment of subsidy claims and rising dollar exchange rates, became the order of the day and fuel sold in the black market at N200 per litre on the average.

November: Dasukigate After months of siege on the home of the immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, by operatives of the DSS, Buhari, on November 17, ordered his arrest for allegedly siphoning billions of dollars earmarked for arms purchases.

The development followed the release of the interim report by the presidential committee investigating arms procurement.

The President had, on August 31, set up a 13-man committee to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the armed forces and the defence sector from 2007 to date.

Dasuki described the order as surprising and embarrassing, noting that he was never invited by the committee. He maintained that he acted in the best interest of Nigeria and denied any wrongdoing, stressing that he was ready for open and public trial of his stewardship rather than secret trial in the court as being canvassed by prosecutors.

It was said that no fewer than 20 top officials of the

previous administration, alleged to have played active roles in the pilfering of funds meant for the procurement of weapons for the armed forces, were taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for questioning.

Top among those held by the anti-graft agency were a former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, and a former Director of Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu.

Kogi poll and the death after A former governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the November 21 governorship election in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, was in the lead following the collation of results from all the local government areas of the state, when the election was

declared inconclusive by the electoral umpire on Sunday, November 22. Then Audu dropped dead. Governor Idris Wada declared seven days of mourning. If Audu’s death was surprising, his burial attracted some drama as there was jubilation in Lokoja on Monday, November 23 by supporters over the rumour that the former governor had “resurrected”. This followed the promise to revive Audu by a prophet. However, the prophet failed to resurrect Audu, prompting the youths to go berserk, threatening to kill the prophet.

The death threw the Kogi election into a constitutional crisis as Audu’s running mate urged that he be declared winner of the poll, noting that he carried a moral burden to defend his boss’ mandate at the poll. The candidate of the PDP, Wada, also asked INEC to declare him as winner since Audu, who was leading in the poll, was dead.

However, INEC asked APC to replace Audu, following the pronouncement to that effect by the Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami. While the PDP kicked against the pronouncement, the battle for

Continues on page 12

TURD AY PAGE 12, SA SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

2015: A year like no other!

Continued from page 11 the APC ticket resumed with Kogi East Senatorial District and state lawmakers from APC asking the party to present Audu’s son, Muhammed, to stand in the supplementary poll. The National Working Committee of the APC unveiled Alh. Yahaya Bello, popularly known as Fair Plus, as the replacement for the late Audu. Bello was the first runners-up in the APC governorship primary in the state. As expected, he won the poll but Hon. James Abiodun Faleke rejected his choice as deputy and approached the tribunal.

New ministers Buhari, on November 11, performed the inauguration ceremony of his ministers in Abuja, almost six months after he was sworn-in as President.

He also assigned portfolios to all the 36 ministers. This is contrary to the speculations that there would some ministers without portfolio.

HID The President, among other eminent Nigerians, attended the burial of the late Chief HID Awolowo in Ikenne, Ogun State on November 25. The widow of the sage and late Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had died in September, two months to her centenary birthday.

December: Naira at all time low The Naira continued its depreciation at the parallel market to an all-time low, exchanging at N280 to a dollar.

Budget Buhari, presenting the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly, said the government had not increased fuel price and that the pump price of fuel remained N87 per litre. The PDP described the budget as a big fraud and executive conspiracy tailored towards mortgaging the future of the nation.

Nnamdi Kanu The Federal Government filed a fresh six-count charge of treason and managing the affairs of ‘an unlawful society,’ against the embattled leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, days after the prosecutors withdrew criminal charges against him at Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2. Kanu was charged before the Federal High Court, Abuja alongside two others, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.

Fuel Scarcity The Federal Government blamed the Jonathan administration for the fuel scarcity in the country. The government said Nigerians were ‘paying for the sins of Jonathan’.

C M Y K

•Struggle for petrol •Agitators for BIAFRA. Inset: Nnamdi Kanu

•Late HID Awolowo

•Former NSA Sambo Dasuki, being led to court room

2015: A year on crutches Continued from page 8 cabinet, its early steps to get a foothold on the economy have been grievously harmed by several local and international factors; locally, a malignant and unremitting fuel scarcity emerged, followed by a drop in public electricity supply, a falling currency, failure of policies to allow Nigerian states and local governments to mine minerals in their jurisdictions, as well as public demand for government to actualize its economic and social welfare promises as life became more difficult for the people to bear.

On the international level, falling oil prices, possible scenarios of increasing oil glut with Iran and the United States of America set to join the global supply of crude oil in 2016, the falling value of international commodities in addition to falling global demands in China and other countries, portend a bleak future for Nigeria’s singleproduct economy. The issue of corruption and looted funds made the rounds in the last month of the year. In the interview with Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, on Channels Television and reproduced on pages 21 and 22, he explained how corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian nation.

Opening up new sociocultural battle fronts Despite the numerous political and economic challenges facing the President, one would expect that his government will attempt to conserve resources by diminishing internal sociocultural strife, but instead, government is compounding its woes in the socio-cultural hotbeds that are already existing in the North East by opening up new fronts in the North West, Middle Belt, South West, South East and South South. In the North, government has unwittingly created an impression that some leaders in the geo-political zone are

bound for jail, no matter what.

The situation in the North West has further deteriorated with recent clashes between security agents and some Shiite Muslims. In the Middle Belt, a previously calm post-election situation may soon boil over with the potentially unstable rerun election to the Senate in Benue and possible gubernatorial election in Taraba slated for 2016 with Wukari elements spoiling for a fight. In the South West, the fallout from the Kogi gubernatorial election has opened up previously veiled schisms in the APC, which has left prominent party figures from the region open to ridicule and scorn for their fruitless support for the APC. In the South East, government has created a monster by deifying Nnamdi Kanu from a rabble rousing expatriate to the rallying point of unemployed youths in the eastern states, whereas previous governments preferred to refer to more professional and mature bodies such as Aka Ikenga and Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, as the prominent spokes persons in the

socio-cultural issues of the zone.

The administration, by the actions of its overzealous security agents, has elevated a small group to national prominence. More dangerous, however, is the growing restiveness in the South South, where government seems determined to ride a tiger.

After the 2015 general elections, many people, within and outside Nigeria, had commended the country for peaceful transitional polls. Former President Goodluck Jonathan had accepted the outcome of the March 28 presidential election in good faith and retired to his country home in Bayelsa, but the new administration, unsatisfied with election victory, appears poised to humiliate the former President.

Apart from scurrilous statements from government and the ruling party members, the aides of the former President have continued to face harassments. Whereas it is expected that the rule of law should be the order of the day, court orders and judgments have been flagrantly disobeyed such as the recent humiliation of a former Director General of

NIMASA by security agents as they bundled him into a bus after he secured a court bail.

Additionally, the APC seems not satisfied with the many states it won in the 2015 general elections and continues to covet political territory in the South South, creating seismic tensions in the region that boiled into a gunfight in Ijaw South Local Government in the recent inconclusive election in Bayelsa State. Going by the determination of the ruling party and the resolve of the opposition PDP, as the people watch the actions of the ruling party as it further uses power to dominate all spheres, the Ijaw South election conflict may be a dress rehearsal for the battle front that may follow recent cancellations of several elections in Rivers State. These evolving instabilities, after relatively successful general elections, lead many observers to ask, why is the President embarking on needless battles on many fronts? How does he hope to sustain these instabilities in the face of dwindling revenues? Will the government concentrate on economic revival and diversification in 2016 to meet its welfare promises or dig deeper into crises and conflicts? Only the future will tell!

Tribute in Brief

Celebrating the life and times of an achiever Sunday Uhuarabona Egharevba (1945-2005) Few days into 1945, a son was born into a nuclear family of five sisters and two brothers in Benin City, Edo State capital. He was christened Sunday Uhuarabona Egharevba. His early childhood, including adolescent stage,was devoid of any challenge, as several members of society loved him dearly and craved to share his brilliant ideas.

Egharevba had good and qualitative primary and Eghosa Grammar School, Benin City for his

secondary education before proceeding for further studies to become an auditor, rising to rose to the post of Director of Audit, Edo State House of Assembly. A very reserved personality, Egharevba was a staunch member of St Peter ’s Anglican Church, Benin City and a regular member of Foundation Club in the Edo State. He spent over 30 years serving the state civil service as auditor. A man of high integrity, he detested bribery or accumulating of wealth through dubious means,

preferring upholding his good name to being rich. Indeed, the late auditor, popularly called Alan Parker by his peers, was an upright man till he passed on peacefully at the age of 59. Until his death on December 23, 2005, he was a lover of peace and preached peace in all communities. Egharevba is survived by Mrs. Ekinadoese Agorom, Mr. Festus Egharevba and Miss Hilda Osa Egharevba, and sisters and brothers who continue to miss his fatherly advice even a decade after his exit. Hilda said they were celebrating his accomplishments and legacies he bequeathed to those he had contact with while alive.

SUNDAY Vanguard, , DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 13

Rap star MI reveals his dating phobias

Basketmouth, Toolz, Do2dtun unveiled as #OLIC2 hosts

E

verybody has got their phobias. For some, it is fear of water and for others it may be fire or even the dark. The legendary Gaul tribe historically were renowned for their fearlessness but they had the mortal fear of the heavens falling down on them. For our top rap star, Mr Incredible Abaga, his fear has to do with the so-called light-skinned girls.

MI confessed to Potpourri in an interview that he lives in mortal fear of fair girls because he believes most of them are not natural. He said before he would take one for a wife he would need to see a picture of her as a vhild just to make sure she is naturally fair and not artificial. According to him, most girls have bleached their skins for so long that it almost looks natural. “ Talking about the physical side of what I want in a woman, I want my children to be tall, so, she must be tall because I am not tall. Then I don’t care about complexion. If she is fair, that would be a problem because I would have to see •MI her childhood picture to confirm if she’s natural or artificial. Most ladies that claim to be fair or appear to be fair these days get unnatural means to achieve it. So, getting her childhood picture would tell me all I need to know concerning her true complexion”, he declares He however conceded that he would take in any girl claiming to have got pregnant for him if he has the proof that they have had sexual relations before.

“Yes, if I have a proof that we have been together and done it because I believe that the best way for a child to be raised is for both parents to be around. Look at somebody like 2Face he has shown love to all his kids and they are very close.

Not only that, he has also maintained a good relationship with the mothers. When such situations arise, the best you can do is to make the most of it by staying true to yourself and be fair to all concerned” he quipped.

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•Toolz

uperstar comedian Bright Okpocha AKA Basketmouth has been unveiled as the host of this year’s Olamide Live In Concert show holding at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos on Sunday 27 December 2015.

Co-hosting the all-star event alongside him are OAPs Toolz and Do2dtun.

Speaking about the show today, Basketmouth remarked, “ Olamide Live In Concert was one of my my favourite events of last year and I think this year’s own is shaping up to raise the bar further so getting involved this way was a no-brainer for me. It’s going to be a fantastic event and I personally intend to have a lot of fun on that stage! I know Toolz and Do2dtun will be excited as well.”

Why we sponsor Rhythm Unplugged, Copa Lagos same day —Seven-up MD

L-R (Standing): Managing Director, Seven-up Bottling Com- L-R: American artiste Trey Songz, Paul Okoye, Head of pany Plc, Mr. Sunil Sawhney and South Africa’s High Com- Marketing, Seven-up Bottling Company, Mr. Norden missioner to Nigeria, H.E., Lulu Louis Mnguni Thurston and Pepsi ambassador, Wizkid

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anaging Director, Seven-up Bottling Company, Mr. Sunil Sawhney has revealed why his company threw their weight behind two major youth events in Lagos during the Yuletide.

“Pepsi’s passion is also the heartthrob of Nigerian youths which is music and football that is why we are sponsoring Pepsi

Rhythm Unplugged and COPA Lagos on the same day. Pepsi thanks all its teeming consumers for supporting the brand and this year we are thanking and rewarding our consumers with the ‘Long Throat Bottle’ which is 60cl at the same price as 50cl.”

Pepsi Rhythm Unplugged 2015 was heralded with much

hype with the expected performances of popular American singer, Trey Songz and other Nigerian superstar artistes. Thousands of music lovers who thronged the event centre of Eko Hotels Lagos last Friday night were not disappointed as the music acts gave good accounts of themselves.

Trey Songz, who is also a rapper, songwriter and movie actor, thrilled fans with memorizingstagecraft as he performed a medley of 17 songs from different albums.

The Grammy Award winner later performed alongside Davido to the acclaim of the electrified audience. The fans were further thrilled when Trey

Songz announced he would be doing a collabo with Davido, an announcement he revealed earlier at the press conference.

Other big names that performed were Pepsi music ambassador, Wizkid, who got the audience singing along to some of his songs, evergreen group ‘Remedies’, rap talent, Olamide ‘Badoo’, MI, Runtown and Lil Kesh all gave the audience their money’sworth.

Mavin Record crew members: Reekado Banks, Korede Bello added more spice to the excitement and new act, Candy, winner of the Trey Songz instagram competition also got her chance to perform with the big players at the Pepsi Rhythm Unplugged.

Comperes at the event were ace comedians: Basket mouth, Bovi and I Go Die who introduced each act with humorous jokes. Other comedians that cracked ribs on the night were Okey Bakassi, Odogwu, Ajele, Baba K, Kim Josh and Buchi.

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

PAGE 14— SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

2015 Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce ends in grand style T

he 18-week premium concert of Globacom, the Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce, ended in grand style on Friday with a show attended by a mammoth crowd in Enugu. Held at the Golden Royale Hotel, Enugu, the show paraded top-rated Nigerian music stars like the inimitable contemporary highlife linchpin, Flavour, the sensational female vocalist from Marvin Records, Di’Ja, and the “sekem” crooner, MC Galaxy, who were all on hand to entertain the crowd.

Besides the trio, up-and-coming artistes within the Enugu metropolis and the neighbouring towns were also given the opportunity to showcase their talents. Among the budding artistes who performed at the concert were Ceaser, Prince Leo, Mr. Lin, Leo H, Formula, Chidexy, Stumer, Snperkay, B Shine and a

female dancer, Peggy, who dazzled the audience with her dance steps.

The concert was attended by dignitaries such as the Enugu State Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, Hon. Onah Solomon Izuchukwu, the Divisional CEO of Interswitch, Mr. Mike Ogbalu III, Mr. Dozie Okolo, a top business man and his amiable wife, Mrs. Ifeoma Okolo, and a host of others.

The Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce concert started in Ibadan on August 29, and the show was held in several cities such as Port Harcourt, Benin, Awka, Ikorodu, Ikeja, Abeokuta, Ijebu ode, Egbeda, Surulere, Victoria Island, Aba, Owerri, Anyigba, Nsukka, Makurdi and Uyo before coming to Enugu. The show was organised by Globacom to delight its teeming subscribers across the country.

:L-R: Globacom's National Sales Coordinator, South East, Mr. Gabriel Okoli; Glo subscriber, Miss Sommy Eze; Glo Brand Ambassador and highlife music king, Flavour, and Mr. Mike Ogbalu III, Divisional CEO, Interswitch, at the Enugu edition of Glo Slide 'n' Bounce concert

Taxi Driver continues to wow in cinemas

fter having stayed for a A while in Nigerian cinemas, Taxi Driver, a hilarious comedy drama

Femi Jacob and Ijeoma

about working in Lagos at night as a taxi Driver, which features popular Yoruba actor, Odunlade Adekola, AMVCA Winner, Femi Jacobs, MTN Ambassador, Saka and fast rising actress, Ijeoma Grace Agwu, has continued to remain one of the favourites of Nigerian cinema goers.

Speaking on the movie, the director, Daniel Oriahi said: “Taxi Driver (Oko Ashewo) is a personal journal of my admiration for Lagos Island and its popular streets, from Igbosere road to Broad Street, CMS, Obalende and vibrancy of its people. I relied on my own experiences as a foreigner in Lagos to influence my approach in telling this story of a man’s journey in

search of purpose. As fate would have it, the taxi became a metaphoric embodiment of Lagos and its passengers at night which Adigun, the main character of the movie, had to experience to discover his purpose. My hope is for the audience to feel the spirit of Eko through Adigun’s vintage 1979 Peugeot 504 taxi which has a prominent Eyo emblem on its bonnet and is nicknamed Tom Kruiz”.

Konga partners MultiChoice on subscription payment

igeria’s largest online N mall, Konga.com and the country’s leading video

entertainment company, MultiChoice Nigeria have announced a partnership for the provision of a new platform for making DStv and GOtv subscription payments.

MultiChoice subscribers all over the country can now make their subscription payments using KongaPay, Konga’s online payment solution. The announcement was made at a joint press conference held by the two companies at the Protea Leadway Hotel in Lagos on the 17th of December.

Addressing the media at the

event, JR Kanu, Konga’s Associate Director of Payments and Digital Goods said, “This partnership is in line with Konga’s commitment, ‘to leverage internet and mobile technologies to deliver topquality service delivery and ease of access across a host of relevant industries. With KongaPay, customers can now pay their DStv and GOtv subscriptions with ease.

“Unlike other payment channels, the subscriber does not need to pay any processing charges or convenience fees.

Payments can be conveniently made from any smartphone, computer, tablet or via the

L-R: JR Kanu, Associate Director, Payments and Digital Goods, Konga.com; Chioma Afe, Marketing Manager, MultiChoice; Olatomiwa Akande, Head, PR and Brand Management, Konga.com and Simi Osidele, Product Manager, Digital Goods, Konga.com

Konga mobile app.

Additionally, in line with the season of giving, Konga is offering a 5% discount on all purchases made through Konga for a limited time.

“KongaPay is a secure innovative solution that allows customers to perform one-click payments for their transactions, developed

by Konga in partnership with leading Nigerian banks. With KongaPay, the inconvenience of entering debit card or bank token details to complete each transaction is eliminated”.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria said, “MultiChoice is delighted that with this partnership we are further expanding the payment and accessibility platforms available to our customers”. He went on to say, “The inclusion of Konga in the suite of self-help options available to our customers, can only yield improved customer satisfaction, which is our key objective.“.

Ijeoma Grace Agu, the lead actress cast as Delia in the movie, in her recent interview with Bigsam Media, attributed the success of the movie to the support of Nigerians, who have accepted it wholeheartedly. “Nigerians are the reasons why we are still in the cinemas, their support is what has made us go this far. I wish them all a merry Christmas and a wonderful new year ahead”, she said.

•Remi Tinubu

•Musical youths

Remi TTinubu inubu explains reasons behind her Musical YYouth outh Fies Fiestta

By IYABO AINA

he indefatigable senator T representing Lagos West and wife of leader of the APC,

Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has explained the reason she initiated and continues to support the Musical Youth Fiesta Initiative (MYFI).

Speaking at the 2015 edition that held on Wednesday, 16th December at the Expo centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites Victoria Island, she said the event was an opportunity to showcase the creative musical talents of the youth and embolden them to perform publicly.

“This programme is of youth by youth and for the youth.

Being an educationist, you don’t know how far this can affect their lives and generations to come.“The strength of any nation is determined by the quality of its youth. And you can see in this nation presently, there is a problem of youth unemployment. And when we begin to encourage them let them have a voice and let them have confidence, they will keep their dreams alive” she said.

There were choirs, pupils and groups from each of the 57 local government and local council development areas across the state. Also, there were different colours of hats displayed by one group and the other. Present at the event were the executive secretaries of the local councils and government officials, which include; Deputy Governor Mrs. Idiat Adebule represented by Mrs Yetunde Odejayi, Pastor Josiah Bolarinwa, patron of MYFI, Mrs Kemi Soname, Mrs Bukola Faleke and Jide SanwoOlu, the chairman, organising committee of MYFI, were also present at the event.

Delivering a goodwill message, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s wife, Bolanle, commended the convener for their consistency of the initiative which she said was fast becoming a brand. She said; “What can we give God in return for his mercies? Nothing but praises and that is the reason we are here to give praise to the almighty God. Let us open our mouths and praise Him.” Also, the youths didn’t disappoint as each performance was outstanding. The choirs also played various beats; blue grass, reggae, and traditional music.

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

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 15

C M Y K

PAGE 16 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

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SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 17

Is the DSS misleading Buhari and leading Nigeria into political crisis? -- 1 “Are you going to hang him anyhow and try him afterward?”

Mark Twain, 1835-1910.

VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 85. he effectiveness of a national security organization is determined by the accuracy of its reports. By the time the FBI breaks into any premises, it had gathered sufficient and reliable information to violate the fundamental rights of the occupants. Scotland Yard would never arrest first, on spurious charges, and later run around for evidence.

That is standard operating procedure in any democracy.

The Department of State Services, DSS, in Nigeria, especially since May 29, 2015, still cannot understand that this is a democracy and there is a

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constitution and there are laws that must be obeyed by all – including the DSS. Its leaders seem to operate under the mistaken belief that since a former military Head of State is back in office, they have impunity.

I have bad news for them.

There had been a major change since May 29, 1999. We have been trying our best to practice democracy. We don’t want anybody to take us back to draconian governance.

And that is why I think the DSS is misleading the President.

They have done it at least four times in the last seven months by arresting various individuals, detaining them, making false or exaggerated claims about alleged crimes those individuals were said to have committed. They have followed this up, each and

every time, by going to court to oppose bail for offences that allow bail to the accused persons and refusing to release them when granted bail. The first question to ask is: in whose interests is the DSS acting?

That said let me list the four major assaults on individuals and buildings which have now become the subject of front page news nationwide – while creating tension everywhere. The first was the invasion of the Akwa Ibom State Governor ’s Lodge. After which a spokesman for the DSS made an announcement that, acting on reliable information, they invaded the premises and discovered arms and ammunition, as well as stacks of money in foreign currency. The arms we were even told were in such quantities as to threaten national security. More than five months after, nobody had been charged to court and the matter died a natural death. Why? The answer is simple: it was a lie. If not the DSS should come out and prove its charges.

“I disapprove of what you say, but, I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Francois Voltaire, 16941778. VBQ, p 218.

The second is the ongoing drama about Biafra and the detention of the leaders of the agitation for self-determination.

Personally, I think the agitation for Biafra is misguided and will not solve the Igbo problem.

But, all my adult life had been spent insisting on the fundamental human rights of people. That includes the right to self-determination. It will be sad if Igbo people leave Nigeria, but, like the Israelites leaving Egypt, Pakistanis departing India and Southern Cameroun bidding Nigeria good-bye, it will not be the end of the world. If the majority of Igbos still want to go, after a referendum, Nigeria should let them…

RIGHT OF REPLY FROM OGUN STATE. “The Ogun State Government noted with interest your article entitled

‘Bleak Christmas Ahead – Bankruptcy fear hits states’ in your Sunday edition of Vanguard, 13 December 2015. While we commend your efforts to address this issue, we believe there is an important omission which renders the presentation of Ogun State’s position incomplete.

We think this story would be accurate if you were to include a footnote stating

option of making lump sum repayments of principal whenever we have the capacity to do so, which gives us scope to save even more on debt service costs over the period.

Despite the apparent squeeze that this incremental repayment places on our finances in the short term, we think it is the best decision for the

people of Ogun State to have a much lower cost of debt overall, to allow financial resources to instead be directed towards the further development of our State.

The administration will make every effort to repay these funds in full by May 2019.

We took this decision because we are confident that the efforts we have made to date to diversify our revenue sources and strengthen our IGR base will continue to bear fruit as we proceed through our second term. Indeed, it is the fruit of these efforts that has enabled Ogun State to continue to pay salaries and pensions as and when due, despite notable reduction of funds from the Federation Account.

With regards Ms Adenrele Adesina H o n o u r a b l e Commissioner for Budget & Planning.

Ogun State.

JONATHAN SHOULD AVOID THE UK -- 1 “UK court blames Jonathan for $1.1bn oil scandal.”

According to the report, Justice Edis said: “…Fortunato was implicated [in the scandal] and I am told that this was a reference in code (not subtle) to the former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.”

If GEJ steps into Britain any time soon, he will join Diezani by being placed under house arrest pending the outcome of the case…

not to talk of the police. My name is Denrele and I am coming home very soon. I am making the trip in 2016 and hold me to it.

Follow the lead If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends.

You talk to your enemies.Moshe Dayan

order to implement the IMF aid deal to revive its finances. The country’s economy has faced high deficits, a widening public debt and unstable local currency. Its Finance Minister Seth Terkper told media that the cabinet is discussing a financial accountability bill and it is most likely to impose penalties such as dismissal or jail term for public officials who are found to violate it.

“It is expected to be clear enough to enable the general public to see malfeasance if there is any and hold the agency

Nigeria has the highest number of people with Diabetes in Africa. That according to WHO, Nigeria has the highest mortality rate for the disease and that 1,218,000 people are affected and 3.85 million have impaired glucose tolerance and in Nigeria there is over 6 million Nigerians with full blown diabetes mellitus and WHO has warned Nigeria that it will be a major threat to public health beyond the year 2030. That many are dying needlessly because they are unable to afford medication and proper health care and nutrition to maintain their condition.

That Nigeria accounts for 14% of the world’s total maternal deaths and 11% of deaths of children, shockingly, that is 2.5% of the world’s population.

That it means that one million children under five dies in Nigeria every year.

That the general hospitals are dilapidated; people cannot have access or the means to procure medical intervention. Yes, I know, GEJ has now signed the National Health Bill into law but it will be a long way before the people can receive a good quality health care.

And call me a cynic, at this eleventh hour? Why not earlier? Peoples’ lives do not matter before?This is a country where 22 governors have not paid their civil servants their salaries as it is believed that the salaries will be used for coming election”.

I wrote that last year, and some states are yet to fully pay their workers, our lawmakers continue to pay themselves stupendous and offensive amount of salaries and allowances, they have requested fleet of new cars for their over inflated status.

Nigeria is spending less on

health and not enough to create work for the young.

Incentivise foreign investment and encourage home grown industries.

Since I wrote the above piece, President Buhari has made some inroads in terms of ridding the country of Boko Haram. The army is more coordinated and they have taking the fight to Boko Haram, though the war against the insurgency has not been won yet, it is on its way to liberate the areas taken by the insurgency.

The war on corruption will take much longer but if the number of big names arraigned is anything to go by, there we should expect many more looters to be captured and purged of their ill-gotten wealth. In 2016, it will be prudent to put the monies recovered, put into good use , create jobs for our young people, affordable health care, better transportations and roads, more law and order and less of the corrupt public officials and private individuals, investment in alternative natural resources and explorations in renewable energy . For Nigerians, they need to hold their representatives accountable and make them work for them and not the other way round. We need to have a reconciliation hearing and put the feeling that some members of the country do not feel that they belong or they have been nursing some feelings that needs to be heard within the proper parameters.

It would not work if the country is divided, it can only be stronger if everyone has a stake in Nigeria.

All in all, Nigeria is moving in a different direction, towards a better tomorrow, we hope and this time, we can dare to dream and hope.

May I take the opportunity to wish you all a very merry Xmas and a prosperous 2016.

Home is not where you live... home is where you belong “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.” -Albert Einstein y father had thrown down the gauntlet and told me that he will no longer come to the UK to visit me until I come home. Home, meaning Nigeria. He does have a point. I haven’t been home for over 27 years. My son is 26 and my daughter is twelve and they are pretty savvy as to their culture and their identity but nothing will compare to first-hand knowledge of their homeland. Why did it take me so long? The call of home was never loud enough for me to respond to, so people come and go and then on their return they come with good and bad stories. None of the stories ever coloured my opinion of my home land. Well, I can very much make up my mind and I am immersed in the goings on in Nigeria. I write about it every week.

My home has always been where my family is; that is the UK. I have a career, a home and I actively participate in my community. It is very much as home as it should feel; stability, relative safety and access to amenities, that it is free at the point of delivery

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and with all it affords me and my family; a good quality of life.

I go on holidays and travel to far flong places, but not had the temptation of wanting to travel to Nigeria. I wanted to make a living without the aggro, I wanted to spend less time sitting in traffic or dealing with power outage and all the other irritants and menace to society. I really chose not deal with them.

Despite all my moaning and hesitation, I am warming to the call of home. It is more because of my father. He can be persuasive and knows how to pull at my heart strings. He told me that if I wanted to see him then I and my family have got to come to Nigeria to see him. He is not budging and so I have been giving it a lot of thought. With the way things are now, it might be the right time I come home maybe for two weeks and see how things are. I was told once I go back, I would be planning another trip before I even leave Nigeria. I would go as far as that. First, I need to plan my visit to coincide with my daughter ’s holiday, then inform my son, so he can take time off work and then, there are the tickets and then there are gifts for the extended family. Then I have to prepare passing through customs and the dreaded customs officers,

Nigerian Government, it’s time to follow its neighbours in Ghana. Its President, John Mahama has banned public officials from flying first class in a determined effort to cut ostentatious spending. I am sure there won’t be any of these officials shouting foul and stocking their sensibilities; they know full well that they have got to account to the electorate coming next year’s presidential and Parliamentary elections and the opposition has accused government ministers of inflating contracts and overspending in order to top up their coming campaigns.

Sounds familiar doesn’t?

Ghana is preparing to hold presidential and parliamentary elections next year and the government can ill afford the accusations meted from the opposition; that the government’s ministers have been inflating contract sums and inappropriate spending in order to use these activities to top up the forthcoming election expenses so the president has issued the directive asking all ministers and other top officials to avoid “unwarranted” foreign trips on the public purse.

You could say that the president is being astute and pragmatic but it is more likely because Ghana faces cuts in

that Ogun State opted for a repayment schedule of 10 years as opposed to the standard 20 years offered by the Federal Government and was indeed the only state to in the Federation to do so. If Ogun State conformed to the 20-year repayment plan, our monthly deductions would be reduced by in excess of N 4 0 0 m . M o r e importantly, we expect this decision to take a shorter tenure to save the people of Ogun State over N800m in debt service costs over the period of the loan. We also have the

The Department of State Services, DSS, in Nigeria, especially since May 29, 2015, still cannot understand that this is a democracy and there is a constitution and there are laws that must be obeyed by all – including the DSS. Its leaders seem to operate under the mistaken belief that since a former military Head of State is back in office

All in all, Nigeria is moving in a different direction, towards a better tomorrow, we hope and this time, we can dare to dream and hope involved accountable,” he added. There is no way that Nigerian ministers will follow suit, surely not! They will absolutely repudiate the move to curtail their luxurious lifestyles, this will be below them.

From my column; Change must come, they have no choice, Dec 28th, 2014 “The pathology of some Nigerian pubic office holders, is simply they lack conscience and thrive whenever there is mistrust and hatred. I mean, what is it to them that many of our young have no job, no training, or in education. What is it to them that our old and vulnerable are without support, that thousands of Nigerians are displaced and are refugees in neighbouring state or in the neighbouring countries? That

PAGE 18— SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Set free our soldiers jailed for mutiny

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he Nigerian military is fast becoming a ready topic for this column. I have no apology for it because if I couldn’t early in life summon enough courage to enlist in any of its forces, as a journalist, i ought to be able to write about the institution when necessary. Besides, since 1997, when I served as a technical expert on elections to coordinate political broadcasts for the first post civil war elections in Liberia, I have come to greatly admire our gallant military which effectively led ECOMOG to make our nation, one for others to look up to, in our sub region.

So, I was pleasantly delighted last week to learn from a statement by Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt- Gen. Tukur Buratai, has now commuted to 10 years imprisonment, the death sentences earlier imposed on some 66 soldiers who had been convicted of mutiny. While thanking

Buratai for his timely intervention, we believe, that bearing in mind the convoluted environment in which the soldiers were charged, he should have set them free The 66 soldiers were among those arraigned by the army last year on charges of “criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mutiny, mutiny; attempt to commit an offence (murder), disobedience to particular orders, insubordinate behaviour and false accusation, among others.”

The men were convicted early this year by separate military tribunals. We disagree with the decision of the tribunals because the soldiers were only engaged in ‘constructive’ munity-a term which establishes that the so-called offenders were instigated by their supervisors to act as they did. The term is not new. In 2003, when the Court of Appeal had to review a similar case involving one Yussuf and 22 others, the PhD,Depar tment of Philosophy, University of Lagos 08116759758

A critical phenomenology of Christmas (2)

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ny sincere openminded person who investigates Christmas would conclude that almost everything about the celebration is either non-Christian in origin or a distortion of what is written in The Bible.

Hence, Christmas is an accretion of myths and legends that allows Christians to celebrate the purported saviour of humankind. Sometime in the past, church leaders tried very hard to fight against “heathen” customs in Christianity. But as time went on, they changed their attitude and gradually condoned, and eventually embraced, those practices. That change came about because church authorities were much more interested in filling the churches with worshippers than with spreading spiritual truth and enlightenment, an aspiration that has even worsened today.

Pentecostal pastors especially have perfected the art of obtaining through false pretences and lies by teaching prosperity and instant miracles. Some of the big Pentecostal churches are regularly filled to the brim with gullible “customers” who are eager to swallow completely all that they are told by their pastors.

Thus, it is not surprising

that a celebration allegedly celebrating the birth of Jesus, a spiritual leader, has become an excuse for drunkenness and debauchery of all kinds. Supermarkets have become more popular than places of worship, which are now looking more and more like corporate headquarters of multinational companies. After Yuletide, many families sink further into debt buying mostly what they do not really need, and many Christians confuse fantasy with reality and Santa Claus with Jesus of Nazareth. In a word, the spiritual core of Christmas has almost been swallowed up by crass materialism. But it is not just the spiritual essence of the occasion that is endangered – more significant is that the whole concept of virgin birth of “saviour of the world” is open to question too. For centuries, serious investigators and scholars of the New Testament have attempted to answer the deceptively simple question: was there, in fact, a human being called Jesus, as described in the gospels? It is obvious that this question is of fundamental importance to Christianity, since if the gospel accounts of Jesus are largely fabrication

Court according to the irrepressible Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, quashed the life imprisonment passed on the soldiers who had rioted at the Cairo Airport in Egypt. The court rightly ruled that the offence of mutiny for which the soldiers were tried was instigated by their officers who had diverted the

The charges against the soldiers remain arguably spurious because at the time they reportedly took place, the then military high command in its selfdenial character publicly dismissed the mutiny story as false rumour

medical allowances which ought to have been paid to the soldiers while receiving medical treatment in Egypt.

In other words, rather than restricting itself to the charge of mutiny, the court appropriately found and dealt with ‘constructive mutiny ’- an offence instigated by the and myth, then the impressive edifice of Christianity would come crashing down. Put differently, any good evidence that the stories about Jesus are myths with very little basis in reality is a big blow to the Christian religion, and seriously undermines its claim as the only Godapproved route to salvation. Of course, no “genuine” Christian would cast aspersions on the gospel narratives concerning Jesus, knowing that unquestioned acceptance of the Nazarene as the saviour of humankind is non-negotiable.

Therefore, let us briefly examine the views of researchers on the subject-matter to help us arrive at a reasoned conclusion concerning it.

Alfred Reynolds, in his highly informative work, Jesus versus Christianity, stated clearly that, going by historical sources, we know virtually nothing about Jesus. He asserts further that the New Testament cannot be regarded as a historical document since the extant copies were written by believers, in foreign countries and in Greek language, over several decades after the events they describe occurred.

Without question, the socalled synoptic gospels contradict one another to the extent that it would be a grave mistake to accept them all as valid historical source materials. It is remarkable that the great Roman historians of the first and second centuries A.D. did not even mention Jesus in their works, which suggests that probably they did not know him.

Christian apologists usually cite as historical evidence of Jesus’ actual

complainants. Buratai should follow that persuasive judgment Is it really rational to convict anyone of a p r o f e s s i o n a l misdemeanour under the immediate past leadership of the military which in every respect had the disposition of a trader? In our view, the accused soldiers couldn’t have done otherwise as they were not even equipped to fight the insurgents. They said so severally but in vain. One of the world’s oldest and largest newsgathering outfit, the Associated Press (AP) at a point reported that “several soldiers told its correspondents that they were sent into battle with just 30 bullets each and no food rations.” Opinion leaders in the industry corroborated such indicting reports. Indeed, in a testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the year before, the American Air Force Chief of staff, Gen. Mark Welsh III, stated that the Nigerian military was, “quite frankly, becoming afraid to even engage”.

There was also the revelation by a former British military attaché to Nigeria, Col. James Hall that Nigerian peacekeepers in Mali at a time, had to buy pick-up trucks while their armor kept breaking down. If our soldiers themselves directly refrained from openly revolting, their spouses and existence the statement attributed to Josephus, a Jewish priest and historian who, in A.D. 93, was supposed to have written, inter alia: “Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a

The spiritual core of Christmas has almost been swallowed up by crass materialism.

But it is not just the spiritual essence of the occasion that is endangered – more significant is that the whole concept of virgin birth of “saviour of the world doer of wonderful works; a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.” But some scholars, for instance Edward Gibbon, the English historian (17371794), have questioned the authenticity of this passage, alleging that it was a later fabrication and interpolation into the text of Josephus. George Brandeis, in his Jesus Myth, puts forward the idea that Jesus never lived, and that all the legends concerning him are mere

immediate families did so by staging public demonstrations against what they described as the sending of their poorly kitted bread winners to go and die in the warfronts.

When this is added to the story that our military leaders deployed only 30,000 men to fight Boko Haram while 75,000 according to the All Progressives Congress, were deployed to secure the Osun State Governorship election alone, people are left to appropriately situate the allegation that some military leaders were not interested in ending the Boko Haram insurgency.

However, the charges against the soldiers remain arguably spurious because at the time they reportedly took place, the then military high command in its self-denial character publicly dismissed the mutiny story as false rumour. Does it then mean that the soldiers were tried on false rumour charges?

Denials notwithstanding, what we heard angered the now convicted soldiers was the directive that they should return to base one fateful night after a mission only for Boko Haram to have information on their movement leading to an ambush in which many of their colleagues were killed. Who gave the said directive? Was he put on trial for the resultant untimely deaths? What about the GOC whose life was accretions of mythical qualities on a composite figure. Similarly, an outstanding scholar of Christological research, Prof. G. A. Wells, in two remarkable books, Jesus of the early Christians and Did Jesus Exist? argued persuasively that the character Jesus, as presented in the gospels, is a myth. There is a tendency among modern theologians to reject the dogmatic components about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection; demythologising him without having the courage to acknowledge or accept that the churches will collapse if the myths and mystical elements in Christianity are so hastily abandoned.

Another serious scholar that expressed doubts about the actual existence of Jesus is the missionary, philosopher and historian, Albert Schweitzer (18751965), whose magnum opus, Quest of the Historical Jesus, is a groundbreaking work in C h r i s t o l o g i c a l investigation.

Despite the fact that he was a missionary, he was bold enough to aver that: “The Jesus who came forward publicly as the messiah, who preached the ethic of the kingdom of God, who founded the kingdom of heaven on earth, and died to give his work final consecration, never had any existence. He is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in a historical garb.”

Schweitzer, along with one of the most eminent researchers into New Testament history, Johannes Weiss, believe that the critical importance of Jesus does not lie in his

allegedly attempted by the convicted soldiers? Where is he? Is the rumour that he was retired correct? In any case, if his leadership role was deemed to be in order why was he transferred after the incident? Whether or not all these were considered by the tribunal which convicted the soldiers is not as relevant as the revelation by the former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) that our soldiers were not equipped to fight and that the last time weapons were bought for the Nigerian Army was in 2006. The nation has also now learnt from the former CDS that she lost many soldiers who walked into Boko Haram’s ambush facilitated by collaborators from within.

Consequently, the convictions are patently unjust. That it was done by a military court is irrelevant because no law is expected to be bad. In addition, the Nigerian Army is a societal institution run with public funds which can therefore not be an island unto itself.

The army was in actual fact set up not for itself but in the public interest. As a result, its activities must be a matter of concern to the entire society for whose sake it exists. We are therefore free to deprecate the conduct of the previous military leadership which sought to impose capital punishment on soldiers who refused to follow an irrational directive for them to commit suicide historicity but in the eschatological and messianic teachings attributed to him. The renowned English playwright, George Bernard Shaw, proclaimed that although there was probably a man called Jesus, his relevance lay in the political, economic, and moral ideas which he espoused. In Androcles and the Lion, Shaw argued that: “there is a man here who was sane until Peter hailed him as Christ, and who then became a monomaniac…his is a common delusion among the insane…and such insanity is quite consistent with argumentative cunning and penetration which Jesus displayed in Jerusalem after his delusion has taken complete hold of him. He was a communist…he regarded much of what we call law and order as a machinery for robbing the poor under legal forms.”

Josiah Royce, the American philosopher, suggested that the significance of Jesus of Nazareth is attributable to “the vital impetus” his teachings and activities had given to a powerful event, the emergence of Christianity. According to Royce: “in answer to the challenge, either you must believe that the founder of Christianity was only a man, or else you must accept Jesus as the Christ, the divine man; we must fairly reply…Whatever may be the truth about the person of Christ, and about the supposed supernatural origin of Christianity, the human origin of the christian doctrine of life, and also the human source of all the latter Christologies, must be found in the early Christian community itself.

To be concluded

SUND AY Vanguard , DECEMBER 27 , 2015, P AGE 19 SUNDA

Is It okay when it’s within the family?

I

SN’T it amazing what torrent of scandal a little event like being pregnant can unleash? For the four years Lisa was married to Nekan, her husband, she tried all she could to get pregnant. At first she thought it was due to her reproductive organs malfunctioning. After series of tests, it was Nekan’s turn to have his fertility investigated. It was an awful blow to the couple when he got the news he had a low sperm count.

“Lisa was devastated,” Funke, her elder sister and a mother of three children had said after she got the news. “I wish I could do something to help my sister ... “. “Something like what?”

I joked. “Get another man to perform the magic her husband couldn’t?” A few months later, Funke had come to mine, a bit angry and confused. “Lisa came for dinner last night with Nekan,” she said. “I was in the kitchen sorting out the dirty plates when Nekan crept up behind me.

Pressing hard against my back, he whispered. ‘Don’t you realise how much I want you?’ Horrified, I pushed him away and rushed back to the others.

I’d thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t.

Some few weeks

later, I bumped into him at a supermarket near the house and he suggested we went to the nearest fast-food spot to have a bite. He said he was desperate to talk to me.

“At first 1 hesitated, but he was my brother-in-law afterall. He and Lisa had been married for a while and they seemed happy in spite of their ‘problem’. Over lunch, he explained he’d been quite depressed after he’d been told of his low sperm count.

That’s why I had behaved badly at your house,’ he said. `I guess I was trying to prove I was a man.’

I felt really sorry for him and tried to console him. A few months after this incident, Nekan phoned me and it was obvious he was in a dreadful state. Kunle, my husband, was on night shift at work, so when Nekan begged me to come over to his place, I agreed. He was in a sorry state when I got to his place. He said he suspected his wife was having an affair, and after a mighty row, he’d hit her and she’d left to go to her mum’s.

“As I made the right soothing sound, he poured out his heart, told me how strained his marriage had become. I felt myself sympathising with him, even though I felt disloyal to my sister. Two bottles of wine later, I was the one revealing worries about my marriage. Kunle had been a bit preoccupied of late and I told Nekan he too might be having an affair. He shook his

head in disbelief as I told him Kunle seldom paid me attention. ‘I don’t understand how anyone could neglect a beautiful, kind, loving woman like you”, he sympathised. Before I knew it, we were all over each other ... months of frustration were released as our bodies got entwined. The sex was the most fulfilling I’d had for months.

“I didn’t feel any

guilt, especially when Kunle wasn’t home when I arrived.

He’d given some of his suspicious excuses on the answering machine. So, it was with little or no guilt that I continued my affair with my brother-in-law.

Each time Lisa phoned for a chat, or to visit the house, I fobbed her off in case my secret was revealed if I saw her face-to-face. Then came the news that Lisa was finally pregnant. I was really happy for her as I hugged and congratulated

her. She didn’t seem all that happy to see me but I put it down to her current state. Or did she suspect I was sleeping with her husband?

She couldn’t have, we’d been really careful.

“Lisa was almost due when I ran into a close relative who worked as a matron in a private hospital. I hadn’t seen her for ages and she was full of praise for my husband who introduced Lisa to their hospital. ‘He even brought her a few times,’ she blabbed,’ and helped with some of her bills. I tried to introduce myself to him but he was always busy with the hospital’s director who was his friend. I’m glad Ltsa’s finally pregnant ...’ On and on she went. The way she kept peering at me, I knew she was dying for me to give something away. Condemn my husband’s behaviour perhaps? Or let on I knew nothing about Kunle’s involvement with Lisa’s pregnancy? Why on earth would he put himself out so much for her?

“When I got home, Kunle was out as usual. Gave me enough time to look through all his things.

Eventually, I found one or two bills from the hospital.

That was when it dawned on me that my husband

couldn’t have been that involved in Lisa’s pregnancy if he wasn’t part of it himself. I was furious but had my wits around me. This wasn’t the time for being confrontational. My sister wanted a baby so badly she didn’t mind getting one from my husband! And where did Nekan feature in all this?

The poor man was virtually floating on air when Lisa got pregnant.

He was relieved that his sperm count wasn’t too low to father a child. So what blow would I be dealing him by telling him the truth? And what about my marriage that was now on shaky grounds, would my ‘True confession’ save it?

Fom then on, I knew I had no marriage - all I’m determined to do now is look after my children and see them to adulthood. I hate my sister to the point I could kill her. But then, I’d slept with her husband too. If I were in her shoes, would I do the same? - Her daughter even looked like one of mine when Lisa had her baby. Thank goodness it wasn’t a boy that would look like my husband.

Heavens only know how many controversial births exist all over the world .....”

08052201867(Text Only)

Yuletide: Keep yourself fit and in shape Taut Abdominals: The leg raise ECHNIQUE: Sit on the floor with the legs outstretched in front of you, place the hands just behind waist level and a little away from the body.

Inhale and raise both legs up diagonally, forming a ‘V’ with the trunk.

Once you are in the posture breathe normally.

Retain the position for five to seven seconds, rest and repeat a few more times.

T

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The Triangle: Firm Thighs and Butt Technique: Standing with the feet apart, bend the right knee to waist level with the toes pointing forward, keep the left knee slanted with the knee locked. Keep the hands at shoulder level and the trunk erect.

Count to 10 and repeat legs.

Strong Arms: The Bow Technique: Lying on your belly, bend both

knees and with the legs up in the air hold the feet with the corresponding hands. Lift up the chest and stretch out with the elbows straightened out. Hold the pose for a slow

down the body. As you get closer to the floor invert the left foot and keep the right heel down.

You may keep the hands on the floor so

you can hold your body up a bit if the stretching effect gets too uncomfortable. As usual, regular practice makes the pose easier and easier.

Inhale and raise both legs up diagonally, forming a ‘V’ with the trunk. Once you are in the posture breathe normally * The Bow * The Triangle Pose

Yoga Classes count to 10. Rest and repeat.

Front to Back Splits amazing Technique: Standing up straight, turn the trunk to the left and begin spreading out the legs as you lower

STARTED Physical Therapy Centre @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos.

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

* The Triangle

PAGE 20—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

Women know all men are obsessed with size!

A woman’s views “ Y ears ago,” recalled Lizzy a fiftysomething IT expert, “ when our house was always full of small children, I staggered downstairs with a few of fellow-mothers after a chaotic session with some of the children in the bathroom, all wanting to be refreshed at my toddlers birthdays. We found the visiting Dads were pouring well-earned drinks. We mothers reported that, just before we finished cleaning the children, all the three and four-year-old boys had been snapping at their pants’ elastic and comparing the size of their willies. The mothers all laughed. So did the fathers, for a brief moment, but then, almost in chorus, they asked: “Um ... and whose was the ... ?’

“Civilized, cultured, happily married men, not porn-hound among them, but they couldn’t help it.

Willie - worship, willypride is hard-wired deep in the male brain.

However, much they denied it, men do seem to care.”

Re-acting to last week’s report in the column about King’s College London’s measuring of 15,000 penises in 16 countries to determine an average size for men’s tackles, Lizzy wondered “Why else would King’s College London have bothered to trot around 15,000 men with a tape measure (one hopes not the hard, cold, sharp steel sort) and proudly report that the average length, unstimulated, is 3.6in and 5.6 in erect, if men weren’t so fixated on their tackles?

I do admire the chaps’ willingness to collaborate

in that measurement in the presence of researchers with a white coat and a ruler. But the very fact that 15,000 men were happy to go through this bizarre academic exercise shows that they mind about their little friends. And that they all secretly, privately hoped that their willy would be bigger than the average. ‘’To be fair, some women go over - the top admiring surrounding abs, pecs and glutes at social gatherings; we do like a man who looks healthy.

It’s a primitive need in the female to bond with a man who is going to be able to take the rubbish out unaided. But honestly, hand on heart, I suspect that every few of us during early courtship - or afterwards, or even after the golden wedding - are particularly worried about whether we are getting the full 3.6m average.

The idea that we are waiting with a ruler and a scornful frown for the willies to come up is miles from reality. I blame author Jilly Cooper for giving men that impression, with all her crazed descriptions of things rearing up like the Tower of Pisa or space shuttles.

“1 suppose the trouble is that writing sex scenes, you have few choices. You can resort to heavy innuendo, or do some Barbara Cartland Stuff about being carried away to heaven on wings of bliss. Or you can throw in the towel and pretend the female eye Ji!l only be delighted by the spectacle of something that would fit neatly into the skyline, not the groin! The porn industry is obsessed with size, but anyone with half

Y

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

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

30 RULES FOR GODLY WOMEN

1). Never raise your voice for any reason to your husband.

Its a sign of disrespect.(Prov 15v1) 2). Don't expose your husband's weaknesses to your family and friends.

It will bounce back at you. You are each other's

a brain and heart knows porn has little to do with the reality of love making. Most of us have never cared about size. We don’t carry on like the fearsome coven on TV’s Sex And The Cuty, shriekingly comparing notes on the back of taxis or at restaurants. It is worth noting, without comment, that much of the genius behind those series and films came from - ahem - men. Gay men in many cases. “In ancient civilisation, penises were considered to have mythical significance linked to male power and eternity.

At Pompeii, there is an ancient Roman mural of the fertility god Priapus walking around with the most tremendous todger, as long as a trombone.

Also there is the Ceme Abbas Giant in Dorset, cut into a hillside with his John Thomas riding high.

The eternity aspect of this symbolism is easily explained and the ability

to sire offsprings could bestow power, for the more sons you had, the better you were able to defend your household.

“But those were primitive concerns. The correlation between penis size and power in the modem era, even 200 years ago, is less persuasive. Napoleon was notoriously small.

For this information, we can thank a cruel pathologist who allegedly removed his ‘item’ after his death and pickled it in formaldehyde.

It was later auctioned in Paris. Heaven knows if the object in that jar indeed, belonged to the 19th century French emperor, but it was used against him posthumously as a way of diminishing his reputation. How trivial and cheap, to mock a great man after his death in such a fashion. Even if he was on the ‘petite’ side,Bona Prte was a mighty general with unarguable power.

keeper.(Eph 5v12) 3). Never use attitudes and moods to communicate to your husband, you never know how your husband will interpret them. Defensive women don't have a happy home.(Prov 15v13) 4). Never compare your husband to other men, you've no idea what their life is all about. If you attack his ego, his love for you will diminish.

5). Never ill-treat your husband's friends because you don't like them, the person who's supposed to get rid of them is your husband.(Prov 11v22) 6). Never forget that your husband married you, not your maid or anyone else. Do your duties.(Gen 2v24) 7). Never assign anyone to give attention to your husband, people may do everything else but your husband is your own responsibility.?(Eph 5v33) 8). Never blame your husband if he comes back home empty handed. Rather encourage him.(Deut 3v28) 9). Never be a wasteful wife, your husband's sweat is too precious to be wasted.

10). Never pretend to be sick for the purpose of denying your husband sex. You must give it to him how he wants it.

Sex is very important to men, if you keep denying him; it is a matter of time before another woman takes over the duty. No man can withstand sex starvation for too long (even the anointed ones) (SS 7v12)

“From the sublime to the ridiculous, that silly oaf John Prescott suffered something similar when he was caught having an affair with his typist a few years ago. I recall a front page of a national newspaper that featured an illustration of a cocktail sausage. Poor old Prescott. However, the mockery did not do his reputation any harm. If anything, it made the onetime deputy Prime Minister more popular.

“Last year, a statue of peacocking footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was unveiled in Madeira.

Necks were clutched and faces fanned when it was first shown to the public because the shorts featured an implausibly large bulge. And David Backham has been the subject of speculation after his numerous poses in underpant adverts. He claims he has never stuffed socks down his front to create a bigger impression. But if he did,

would it matter? Shrinks might say so, but I’m not convinced.

“In the real world, that’s not the way women carry on. The only ones I’ve ever known talk about male size were sad, angry girls, unhappy in themselves about their failure to bond happily with any of the possessors of the said tackle.

What we like is much harder to measure. I know a lot of women, and have been one for ages, and it’s simpler than you think.

We like hugs, we like tenderness, we like men who seem (often baffling) to be delighted and aroused by the very sight of us, even without makeup and a heavy cold. We really like to be laughed into bed and treated with affectionate consideration once we’re there.

“We like man who think our enjoyment is at least half the point of the exercise, if not a bit more.

We approve of chaps, of any dimension, who work out how to make the main event fun all round. We like men who chat and don’t mind being rolled over when they snore or hauled around when they have hogged the duvet, we like faithfulness and kindness, and a man who loves to cuddle the baby even when it’s leaking a bit. And we really like it when they grow out of caring about 3.6in, or expecting it to be worshipped.”

Last Word? (Humour) A guy and girl are getting intimate for the first time when the girl suddenly cools.

“I guess you’re waiting for Mr. Right?” the guy says, trying to be sensitive.

“Oh, no,” the girl replies. ‘’That’s silly nonsense I’m waiting for Mr. Big.”

11). Never compare your husband to your one time sex mate in bedroom, or an ex-lover. Your home may never recover from it if you do.(SS 5v9) 12). Never answer for your husband in public opinion polls, let him handle what is directed to him although he may answer for you in public opinion polls.(Prov 31v23) 13). Never shout or challenge your husband in front of children. Wise women don't do that.(Eph 4v31) 14). Don't forget to check the smartness of your husband before he checks out.(Prov 12v4) 15). Never allow your friends to be too close to your husband.

16). Never be in a hurry in the bathroom and on the dressing table. Out there your husband is always surrounded by women who took their time on their looks.( 1 Sam25v3) 17). Your parents or family or friends do not have the final say in your marriage. Don't waste your time looking up to them for a final word. You must leave if you want to cleave.(Luke 21v16) 18). Never base your love on monetary things. Will you still submit to him even if you earn more money than him?

To be continued

1

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 21

How Nigerians can help Buhari to recover stolen funds —Femi Falana

Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, in this interview, speaks on the efforts to recover the nation’s funds looted under the previous administration, saying Nigerians must own the ongoing war against corruption to make it effective.

T

he war against corruption, can it be described as cosmetic?

The war against corruption that is on-going deserves the encouragement of Nigerians, particularly the victims of corruption - soldiers who were deprived of arms to fight Boko Haram, the people seeking medical attention and could not get, the unemployed masses.

Nigerians should own the war because if you simply leave it to government, of course, you cannot remove allegations of prosecutorial selectivity and the rest of them, but Nigerians should insist that there has to be restitution from those who have stolen from our commonwealth, and reduce our people to a poverty stricken lot. Nigerians must be prepared to wage the war much more than the government.

What specifically are you asking of Nigerians?

When there was no EFCC and ICPC, in the 1970s, official corruption was fought by the media. It was a case of ‘if you Tarka me I will Dabor you’. It was a story of a very powerful minister under the Yakubu Gowon

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regime, the late J.S. Tarka and a business man, Mr. Godwin Dabor, who went to a Lagos High Court to swear to an affidavit that the minister was corrupt and, from there, the press feasted on it and would not let go until Takar resigned from that government.

But the situation is totally different now.

And because the media is not doing the same thing it did then, it is also being accused of aiding the untoward act.

Now, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and other forces of influence in the country are being accused of corruption and, therefore, Nigerians must own the fight against corruption or we will not get anywhere.

The issue today is that if anybody is accused of corruption, you don’t just leave it to the EFCC or the ICPC. We must restore ethical values. If a man has been found guilty of rigging an election, you do not celebrate him. Even some of those whose elections have been nullified are still referred to as former governors, as if they were elected. That is wrong.

I’m not blaming the press. I

belong to a profession that, perhaps, contributes more to the culture of impunity than the media. All of us have to agree that we have a serious crisis, much more serious than terrorism, kidnapping which are sometimes manifestations of corruption.

This arms scandal is spreading like wild fire and we have a President who goes out to tell the who world how corrupt we are…

Corruption in Nigeria is more than what I can tell you. It has reached a dangerous level. In most parts of the world, it is narco-terrorists, drug barons that are associated with moving humongous sums of money round, but what we have in Nigeria is a situation where officials of a modern state, officials of government will invade the central bank of the nation, like armed robbers, and allegedly order that huge sums of money, on one occasion, $37million, in 11 Ghana-MustGo bags, be taken out of the central bank or you order people to go to the central bank as if you’re operating an

ATM machine, to move out huge sums.

We have never witnessed this primitive level of corruption.

In most parts of the world, it is narco-terrorists, drug barons that are associated with moving humongous sums of money

round, but what we have in Nigeria is a situation where officials of a modern state, officials of government will

invade the central bank of the nation, like armed robbers

But are we so sure of this?

Abacha was accused of same.

In that instance, again very interesting, it was the office of the National Security Adviser that was also used and at a go they didn’t go beyond $100million. I have the records.

The Accountant General of the Federation reportedly claimed that they had only recovered $2billion from the Abacha loot.

But I have documented evidence that the money recovered from Abacha is about $4billion. $4billion?

Yes, $4billion.

What are the details?

The Abdulsalami Abubakar junta set up a panel of inquiry and the panel came up with a report that the late General Sani Abacha stole about $5billion from the CBN, but identified about $1billion, largely removed in cash and that government recovered

Continues on page 22

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Continues from page 21 and gazetted it.

It is Decree 53 of 1999.

President Obasanjo continued with the recovery effort.

In the second volume of his book, My Watch, Obasanjo stated, in black and white, that by the time he was leaving office in May 2007, he had recovered $2billion, 100million pounds sterling and, N10billion.

Now, when the N446billion theft case was going to be withdrawn against Mr. Mohammed Abacha, the Federal Ministry of Justice issued a statement to justify the withdrawal that this was meant to facilitate the repatriation of looted funds from abroad under the Jonathan administration and we were told that $930million had been recovered and that excluded the $458m that had been seized by the US government.

Even now, Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, following a publication, had now said that in one fell swoop she released $322m to the then NSA and that $700m was expected for development.

’More than $4billion Abacha loot stashed abroad recovered’ What about the people involved in the Halliburton case?

The Halliburton case went to court. A former NBA President prosecuted the matter and because the last administration did not mean to prosecute, after about a year, the court struck out the matter for want of diligent prosecution.

A former American Vice President, Dick Cheney, who was head of Halliburton, was charged here but the case was never mentioned and the case was struck out.

The US government made about $1.3billion from fines imposed on those who bribed the officials. In Nigeria, I think we made just about $120million.

In the US, all the suspects were prosecuted but here, because there was no political will, the case was bungled.

Nigerians must insist.

When does this issue of collecting money from the CBN become an offence? Is it when it is made public or when someone else takes over power and exposes them or when court of law adjudicates?

Once those who collected the money come out to admit that they collected the money, then it can be used in evidence.

Most of what we are seeing now, we’ve seen before and we are not justifying it? What raises your hope that this is real?

This one we are seeing now is extremely primitive.

The only hope is that on the part of the government, there appears to be a political will to fight corruption.

You cannot be certain? You said Jonathan fought corruption.

Whether he meant it or not can be based on the forces against him.

The difference now is that you have a President who says ‘I will not cover up for anybody’, there is a difference between that and another who tries to rationalise the difference between corruption and stealing. You allow people have a field day in terms of mismanaging the nation’s resources. Or a President who says he was in Kenya for a week and a number of private jets accompanied him so much so that Kenyans were debating the level of prosperity of Nigerians.

In that situation, you are likely going to have a problem with fighting corruption.

In 2008, the Yar’Adua regime simply tried to decapitate the EFCC. It was so bad that I know of a governor who was on trial who sent an aide to head a division of the EFCC. It was that bad.

What about the Halliburton case?

Good. An Attorney General once told the British people that ‘ you cannot cry more than the bereaved and that the so called money stolen is Nigeria’s money’. And other countries simply said ‘these guys are not serious’.

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The difference now is that you have a President who says ‘I will not cover up for anybody’, there is a difference between that and another who tries to rationalise the difference between corruption and stealing

Some people don’t believe this government has the will to handle the Halliburton case because it is seen as untouchable.

The Halliburton case is bigger than this administration, I must tell you.

President Buhari went to the US and told Obama that over $150billion had been stolen from Nigeria and the country would need the help of Western countries to get the money back for development. And the heads of those governments have said ‘ we will collaborate’ and Halliburton case is one of the cases that have to be reopened.

Why is it beyond this government?

You are asking for assistance from foreign countries, all those cases in which they have prosecuted people in their countries and you say you will not re-open the cases here.

It is like asking for assistance from people in the recovery of your looted wealth while you are turning blind eyes to the same cases.

This country can make over $2billion from the Halliburton case and, apart from the fines, the banks involved can also be fined for warehousing looted funds or funds from bribery.

What is the role of banks in

all of this?

I have often challenged Transparency International and Western countries that accuse us of corruption because it takes two to tango. If you make it impossible for the financial institutions to warehouse the funds from corrupt practices, it would not be this high because the monies will not leave the country, then you can domesticate it.

But where banks abroad - and in this instance - some of the funds removed from the CBN have been located in foreign banks and you must pursue them and charge them to court for violating money laundering laws in your countries and you cannot just say you are returning money that was warehoused in your bank and, therefore, we must clap for you.

What about the interests? What about the costs and damages suffered in the process?

There has to be a dedicated account for all the funds that are recovered so that, at the end of the day, it will not be like the Abacha loot that has been re-looted.

What roles will the court play There is no doubt that the courts are the theatre of this war. No matter what EFCC and ICPC do, the courts must be prepared to change because a new attitude is needed.

Why do you say so?

Between 2003 and 2007, nobody standing trial for serious case of fraud was granted bail. None.

Go and check.

Was it because the cases were not bailable cases or what?

No. The courts looked at the gravity of the offences but with Ibori’s case, in December 2007, the policy changed and so, today, it has become automatic that people get bail easily.

For instance, since 1970, no armed robbery suspect has been

admitted to bail in this country. The same policy can be applied to terrorism cases because of the dangerous implications of such offences.

We must look at the effect of corruption on the society and have a new thinking.

The Supreme Court has given leadership on the cases of corruption. There were cases attempting to nullify the laws setting up the ICPC and the EFCC, but the Supreme Court refused. But when you have High Courts now granting perpetual injunctions.

So what is the place of the NASS in terms of oversight function?

In all fairness, Senate President Bukola Saraki said something last week to the effect that if the NASS had carried out genuine oversight function, this scandal may have been avoided. I agree with him.

Military/Shiite killings.

When the killings in France occurred, our President was one of those who condemned it.

I also expected this time around that our President would have condemned the mindless killings in Zaria. It was uncalled for.

There must be a civilised way of controlling crowd since we are agreed that people have a right to protest; you must learn to respect that right.

Unless government comes out to insist that any member of the armed forces or security agencies that causes embarrassment to government or violates peoples rights and the cases go to court and damages are awarded against government, that the officers have to bear part of the responsibility, our armed forces will not respect anything.

In three cases, Odi, Zaki Biam and Gbaramatu, the Federal High Court a warded damages of over N200b against the government.

They still have the colonial training as set up pre-independence. We still call ours our police force whereas other nations call theirs police service.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 23

Kaleidoscope The new country we need, Continued from last week

But I must emphasize from the beginning that the fact that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic state is not unique to Nigeria or unique to Africa. It is not a negative phenomenon. Take a look at Europe: The interesting thing about this is that Europe which we all think of as a white undifferentiated continent, turns out to be a variegated continent with each country being a rainbow of nationalities.

The next issue to confront is what is often characterized as the artificial creation of Nigeria. This is in reference to the 1915 amalgamation of Nigeria

by Lord Lugard. Underlying this negative perception of the amalgamation is the mistaken belief that before the colonial intrusion, groups in Nigeria lived in splendid isolation. It is mistaken because to use Lagos as an example, long before the British colonization, you had the Nupe settling in Oshodi, the Epe settlling in Epetedo and the Ijesas settling in Ijesatedo.

As regards the issue of the artificiality of the Nigerian nation, the 2014 National Conference, in a Report adopted without dissent paid tribute to the efforts of the colonial authorities in clubbing together the disparate nationalities into what is now called Nigeria when the Conference said that it was “persuaded that when the administrations of the Northern and the Southern Protectorates of Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914, the framework of a potentially great nation was laid”, and called on all Nigerians “to ensure that the amalgamation achieves its full intendment of building a fully integrated nation”. This was a Report adopted by 460 representatives of the Nigerian people.

Again, the artificiality of Nigerian boundaries is not a Nigerian phenomenon. Apart from Islands such as New Zealand, Australia whose boundaries are natural, all boundaries in the world are artificial, being determined by wars, conquest and treaties. European boundaries have been determined by a series of conferences namely; the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, Congress of Vienna, 1815, Versailles Peace Conference, 1915, and the post-Second World War, not to mention the civil wars following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The frontiers of the United States were formed as a result of wars between the British and the French authorities over the Canadian/United States border, and wars between the United States and Mexico to define the southern frontier.

The net effect of my submission is this: while admitting that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic state and that its boundaries are artificial, that should not pose existential threats to Nigeria.

I am not saying that they could not because obviously, they can and have posed existential threats in Nigeria and in other places in the past. But it is like fire. It can cook, and it can burn.

This then leads me to ask a pertinent question: Should Nigeria have the free for all political system which we operate? During the First Republic, we had three major political parties: the NPC from the North, the NCNC from both the East and the West even though in public perception, it was regarded as an Eastern party and the Action Group was from the West. All the other parties were just ancillary parties. During the second Republic, the pattern was repeated. The NPN was basically a Northern party, the NPP was basically an Eastern party, and the UPN was basically a Western party. All the other parties were again ancillary parties.

The putative Third Republic was the only exception. The military regime decreed a two-party system. There was no Northern party, no Eastern party and no Western party. All of us had to C M Y K

by Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi (2)

•Prof. Akinyemi

•Rev Etteh

find room in one party or the other rather than to keep setting up ethnic parties.

Each African state shaped its own response to multi-ethnic politics. But I have attempted some sort of classification into four groups. The first group is made up of those states who adopted a One-party system as a solution. Examples are:

•Liberia (True Whig Party) 1878–1980 •Madagascar (National Front for the Defense of the Revolution) 1976–1989 •Malawi (Malawi Congress Party) 1964–1993 •Mali (Sudanese Union – African Democratic Rally) 1960–1968, (Democratic Union of the Malian People) 1976–1991 •Mauritania (Mauritanian People’s Party) 1961–1978 •Mozambique (FRELIMO) 1975– 1990 •Niger (Nigerien Progressive Party – African Democratic Rally) 1960–1974, (National Movement for the Development of Society) 1989–1991 •Rwanda (Parmehutu) 1965–1973, (National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development) 19751991 •São Tomé and Príncipe (Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party) 1975–1990 •Senegal (Socialist Party of Senegal) 1966–1974 •Seychelles (Seychelles People’s Progressive Front) 1977–1991 •Sierra Leone (All People’s Congress) 1978–1991 •Somalia (Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party) 1976–1991 •Sudan (Sudanese Socialist Union) 1971–1985, (National Congress Party) 1989–2005 •Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) 1977–1992 •Tanganyika (Tanganyika African National Union) 1961–1977 •Zanzibar (Afro-Shirazi Party) 1964–

•Angola (MPLA) 1975–1991 •Benin (People’s Revolutionary Party of Benin) 1975–1990 •Republic of Upper Volta Upper Volta (African Democratic Rally) 1960– 1966 •Burundi (Union for National Progress) 1966–1992 •Cameroon (Cameroon National Union) 1966–1985, (Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement) 1985– 1990 •Cape Verde (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) 1975–1981, (African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde) 1981–1990 •Central African Republic (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa) 1962–1980, (Central African Democratic Union) 1980-1981, (Central African Democratic Rally) 1987–1991 •Chad (Chadian Progressive Party) 1962–1973, (National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution) 1973–1975, (National Union for Independence and Revolution) 1984– 1990 •Comoros (Comorian Union for Progress) 1982–1990 •Congo-Brazzaville (Congolese Party of Labour) 1969–1990 •Zaire (Popular Movement of the Revolution) 1970–1990 •Djibouti (People’s Rally for Progress) 1977–1992 •Equatorial Guinea (Worker’s National United Party) 1970–1979, (Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea) 1987–1991 •Ethiopia (Workers’ Party of Ethiopia) 1984–1991 •Gabon (Gabonese Democratic Party) 1968–1990 •Ghana (Convention People’s Party) 1964–1966 •Guinea (Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally) 1958–1984 •Guinea-Bissau (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) 1974–1991 •Ivory Coast (Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire – African Democratic Rally) 1960–1990 •Kenya (Kenya African National Union) 1982–1991

Theoretically, a one-party system did not recognize the rainbow variety of the state. But in actual fact, in the allocation of offices, both elective and appointive, it practiced affirmative action.

But by the 1990s, Africa enjoyed its democratic spring when hundreds of new political parties sprung up especially in those one-party states

1977 •Togo (Party of Togolese Unity) 1962– 1963, (Rally of the Togolese People) 1969–1991 •Uganda (Uganda People’s Congress) 1969–1971 •Zambia (United National Independence Party) 1972–1990 •Some Middle Eastern and North African states; •Algeria (National Liberation Front) 1962–1989 •Egypt (National Union) 1956–1958 and 1961–1962, (Arab Socialist Union) 1962–1976 •Libya (Arab Socialist Union) 1971– 1977 •North Yemen (General People’s Congress) 1982–1988 •South Yemen (Yemeni Socialist Party) 1978–1990 •Tunisia (Neo Destour) 1963–1964, (Socialist Destourian Party) 1964–1981 •United Arab Republic (National Union) 1958–1961.

Theoretically, a one-party system did not recognize the rainbow variety of the state. But in actual fact, in the allocation of offices, both elective and appointive, it practiced affirmative action.

But by the 1990s, Africa enjoyed its democratic spring when hundreds of new political parties sprung up especially in those one-party states.

The second group can be classified into those states that run a fully functional open space system with an open multi-party system. Nigeria between 1954 and 1966, 1979-1984 will be an example of this. Between 1954 and 1966, there were three major parties in Nigeria, namely the Northern Peoples’ Congress,(representing the North), the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (with a national spread, but with the catchment area being in Eastern Nigeria) and the Action Group (representing the West). But there were also several mini parties.

Between 1979 and 1984, there were the: •Greater Nigerian People’s Party (GNPP) •National Party of Nigeria (NPN) •Nigeria Advance Party (NAP) •Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) •People’s Redemption Party (PRP) •Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) •Movement of the People Party (MPP), Of which the GNPP, NPN, NPP and UPN were the major parties, while the others were marginal The third group will be those who run an open space system with a restricted multiparty system. States which typified this system are states which originally ran a one partysystem but on opening up the system, used their original position to maintain a dominance of a contrived system.

Examples are the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, the Zimbabwe African National UnionPatriotic Front, the Parti Démocratique Gabonais or the Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais)

•Prof. A. Bolaji Akinyemi, CFR, delivered this lecture at the Maiden Edition of Engr. (Rev) Et Ikpong Ikpong Etteh (OFR) Annual Distinguished Lecture held, at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, on Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

Continues next week

PAGE 24— SUNDAY

Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015 08116759757

I bled profusely,

fainted as ‘suspected

ritualist’ raped me —11 -yr-old girl

Family says police asking for bribe to prosecute assailant

By Esther Onyegbula

W

hen Mrs Lawal sent her 11-yearold granddaughter (names withheld) on an errand to deliver okro to a customer, she did not envisage that the girl would be ambushed not to talk of being raped.

The fate that befell the grand-daughter on November 29, 2015, at Pure Water Bus Stop along LagosBadagry Road, was better imagined than experienced; she was found lying on a culvert unconscious, with blood all over her body.

It was learned that victim was ambushed on her way to the next street when a 27year-old bakery worker, identified as Sule, allegedly ambushed her, dragged her to an uncompleted building and raped her.

It was alleged that Sule then abandoned the little girl there. She regained conscious and barely able to walk out of the uncompleted building when she collapsed on a culvert near Adebola International School, along palace road.

The suspect allegedly ran away after the rape, but police officers from Morogbo Divisional Police Headquarters apprehended him a week later.

Narrating her ordeal, the Primary 3 pupil said: ‘’After my grandma returned from the market that day, she sent me to her customer who sells cooked food at the other street. She asked me to supply her fresh okro which the customer had ordered for”. ‘’It was while I was on my way there that uncle Sule, who works in a bakery at Itoro area, called me. He said he wanted to buy okro for his wife. I told him the okro was not for sale, and that my mother’s friend had C M Y K

ordered for it. He said I should follow him, but I refused. All of a sudden, he grabbed me and dragged me to an uncompleted building.

When I tried to shout, he used his hand to cover my mouth. As I tried to struggle, he tore my clothes and removed my pants. He also used his nails to injure my back as I attempted to escape, he over powered me and raped me.””

Mrs Lawal, the grandma, also gave her perspective of the incident. She stated: “After waiting for about 30 minutes for her to come back from the errand, I started looking for her because the place where she was supposed to take the okro to was the next street, less than 10 minutes’ walk. It was around 2pm that I asked her to go and give the okro to my customer who placed the order. After waiting for her to come, I started looking for her before an Okada man came to alert me that they had found my granddaughter at about 2:30pm, and that she was lying unconscious on a culvert close to Adebola School.

When I got there, onlookers had gathered at the scene. I was pained at what I saw; my little girl soaked in her own blood, her clothes torn.

It was obvious she had been raped, as she was bleeding profusely, but because she was unconscious we didn’t know who was responsible.

Immediately, I called my husband and he asked me to report the case to the police.

When we got to Morogbo Police Station, they gave us police report and referred us to the General Hospital, Badagry.’’

She continued: “A doctor’s report from the hospital confirmed that my grand child was raped, as she had deep cuts and severe injuries inflicted on her

All of a sudden, he grabbed me and dragged me to an uncompleted building.

When I tried to shout, he used his hand to cover my mouth. As I tried to struggle, he tore my clothes and removed my pants virginal which caused the bleeding. The doctor stated that because of complications arising from the rape, her womb had been affected and that she needed urgent surgery. So they referred us to Igando

General Hospital, along Iba -LASU road where they said they had the facility to handle her case.”’

Also speaking on the incident, Mr Lawal, the grandfather of the victim, said, “I was not at home when my wife called me that something terrible had happened. Immediately, I asked her to go the police station to report the case. I met her at Morogbo Divisional Police Station.

“From Badagry General Hospital, I had to charter a cab that took us to Igando General Hospital, but because of traffic, we did not get to Igando until around 11pm and, by 12 midnight, she was in the theater because of the serious nature of her case. She was on admission from that day till Sunday when she was discharged. ‘’All we want is for justice to be done. Sincerely, we

don’t know the effect of this rape on this little girl. We don’t know if the rapist did it for ritual purposes. We want justice because we don’t know the outcome of this. Already, we have spent about N150, 000 on the treatment and surgery she underwent. Currently, the police at Panti are demanding money to continue the prosecution of the case. One of them asked for N20, 000.”

It was gathered that the case was transferred from Morogbo to Lagos State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, Panti, for further investigation and the girl’s torn clothes stained with blood are being used as exhibits.

It was gathered that the victim, who is the first child of her mother, has been living with her grandparents since she was six years old.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 25 08116759757

Lagos doctor dies after

Suspended lawmaker dissociates self from suit against House

attending to patient •Death comes two days after 70th birthday

By Kennedy Mbele

A

Lagos-based senior doctor has died shortly after attending to a patient.

Close relations blamed the death of Dr Akingbade of Veritas Clinics Limited, College Road, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos on stress, but nonetheless said he had a history of hypertension.

The deceased worked at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for 15 years before retiring as a Senior Medical Officer in 2004, after which he set up his private clinic.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the senior doctor suddenly died in his office in the clinic, after attending to the patient.

One of the nurses on duty at Veritas Clinics Limited on the fateful day, Mrs Toyin Ifesan, narrated: “Our boss died at about 10.30pm shortly after he had closed for consultation.

He went to see a patient on admission. Thereafter, he retired to his office and sat down. A nurse later went in there to ask him to go upstairs, where we have sleeping facilities, to sleep, having been working since morning.

“On getting to the office, the nurse spoke to him but she got no response. She then pushed him, only to find that Dr Akingbade had passed on. The situation attracted everybody in the clinic”.

Nurse Ifesan went on: “He was not sick before death.

The only thing we noticed was that, on that day, he was not jovial as he used to be.

Unlike him, he talked to the staff without looking at their faces. He looked at the floor while talking to the staff.”

Saying Akingbade was well liked by his staff and patients, the nurse stated: “Our late boss was a very jovial person. He joked a lot with the staff as well as with patients before attending to them. He would ask the patient where he came from, and when he told the place the patient came from, always had one or two things to say about the patients place and people.

“He was a problem solver when it came to illnesses. If you cry to his office, you will smile coming out.

“He hardly attended social functions because of the fear that a critically ill patient that may be bought to his clinic may die before returning. So, he was always in the clinic most of the time.

C M Y K

“Even anytime he hired a doctor to help attend to patients, most of patients still preferred his consultation because of his wide experience. Some would wait, no matter how long, to see him. Others would go and come back.”

Another nurse at Veritas, Patricia Nwabusi, described Dr Akingbade as a father to everybody, but added: “Daddy always said he would not like the type of old age that would warrant wearing diaper or to be carried from hospital to hospital for treatment.”

The last born of the deceased, Akinola Akingbade, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said his father was committed to his

T

•Dr Akingbade... dies suddenly work and always ready to sacrifice whatever he could to help patients recover from ailments.

“He didn’t like people suffering in avoidable situation,”the son said.

Sunday Vanguard learnt

that his colleagues at LASUTH include Doctors Oshinuga, Wilberforce Aina, Oluseye, Amosu, Adeyemi, Ibirogba and Udofia.

Akingbade would be buried on January 7 after a funeral service at the City of the Lord Church, Ifako-Ijaiye.

he suspended member representing Isoko South II Constituency in Delta State House of Assembly, Hon Johnson Erijo, has dissociated himself from the litigation by a group of persons against the state legislature over his suspension from plenary.

Erijo, in a statement, said he knew nothing about Mr Ernest Osima and three others who dragged the House and its leadership to court over his suspension, adding that as a law abiding citizen and an experienced legislator, he always abide by the rules, including rules and regulations guiding the state House of Assembly.

The lawmaker, suspended from sitting alongside the member representing Oshimili North, Hon Pat Ajudua, for two months, said: “Despite the group’s notice of discontinuation of the litigation, he completely dissociates himself from the said litigation”.

Erijo assured that he will always accord due respect to the government of Okowa and his party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

Aisagbonhi Unveils 49th Anniversary

T EPC 80 Set reunion: From right: Mr Adameji Babalola James, Mr Gboladele Ogunruku, Pastor Sunday Moses Oladapo, Mrs Olayinka Ojo Adedamola, Mrs Oluyemisi Amoke Ajayi, Mrs Bimbola Yusuf, Mr Kayode Bamgboye, Mr Olufunso Adekaunsi, Mr Wale (Oluwole) Akinola and Mrs Florence Omotosho (Milayo) – nee Okoya … at the EKPACO, Ido-Ekiti Old Students Association (80- Set) reunion meeting, held in Lagos, last week.

Also in attendance were Mr Sola Ojo and Mr Adewale Adeoye.

Elizade Varsity matriculates Dayo Johnson Akure

O

ver 300 students of Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State have matriculated with a warning from the authorities of the institution that corrective actions would be taken on any of them who contravened the rules and regulations.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof Kunle Oloyede, gave the warning during its 4th matriculation ceremony. “ You should note that being free from parental control and

guidance places responsibility on you to maintain discipline, make right and informed choices to avoid vices that will truncate your aspiration of becoming graduate of this university; he stated.

Oloyede advised the new students to be good ambassadors of the university bearing in mind that degrees are awarded only when you have been found worthy in both learning and character.

He said that the institution has designed an entrepreneurship oriented

curriculum, built a strong relationship between the university and some industrial and commercial establishments where students would be sent for practical knowledge and acquaintance with the work environment during every long vacation.

According to him the goal of the university is to produce self reliant, ethical and globally competitive graduates who can compete with their peers Worldwide while serving as effective agents of change in the country.

O appreciate God for His mercies and blessings, Chief Omochiere Aisagbonhi, the President/ Chairman of Omais Investments Company Limited, has unveiled a week-long activity, with a thanksgiving service at Catholic Church of Presentation, Oba Akinjobi Street, GRA Ikeja today at 12 noon. Omais Investments Company Limited specialises in real estate development.

On Friday, January 1, next year, he would have a love feast with prisoners at Ubiaja, Edo State, where a thanksgiving service would also be held, in addition to a thanksgiving church service on Sunday, January 3 in the town. From January 4 to 7, there would be a free medical service for the indigent in Ubiaja, including medical screening and surgeries to remove cataract in the yes, as well as other health challenges, such as dental problems.

PAGE 26— SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

ITU members agree on international standard for Big Data

By EMEKA AGINAM

B

UILDING on cloud computing to provide Big Data services, the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Telecommunications Union, ITU, members have approved the first ITU standard on Big Data.

Big Data is a paradigm for enabling the collection, storage, management, analysis and visualization, potentially under real-time constraints, of extensive datasets with heterogeneous characteristics.

The international standard details the requirements, capabilities and use cases of cloud-based Big Data as well a high-level ‘system context’ view and its relationships with other entities.

The Big Data paradigm provides an effective, scalable solution to deal with growing volumes of data and uncover patterns or other information capable of making data manageable and profitable.

“New frontiers in ICT innovation are coming within reach thanks to advances in data collection and analysis,” the ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, said, adding that, “The ICT industry will welcome these advances and ensure that their benefits can be achieved on a global scale.”

Also speaking, Chaesub Lee, Director of the ITU Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n

A

From Left: Deacon Ojinta Ojiala, Provost, College of Fellow, Nigerian Computer Society, Prof. Ganiyu Adesola Aderounmu , Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu and Mrs. Veronica Owoalabi, NCS Vice President at the weekend during the foundation laying ceremony of the Technology Innovation Centre of the NCS . Photo by Emeka Aginam Standardization Bureau said that, “This new ITU standard provides internationally agreed fundamentals of cloudbased Big Data,” said. “It will build cohesion in the terminology used to describe cloud-based Big Data and offer a common basis for the

development of Big Data services and supporting technical standards.”

The ITU-T Y.3600 describes the meaning of Big Data and the characteristics of the Big Data ecosystem from a standardization perspective.

The standard outlines how

cloud computing systems can be leveraged to provide Big Data services, assisting industry in the management of large datasets incapable of being transferred and analysed using traditional data-management technologies.

Ericsson launches NuVu subscription video-on-demand service RICSSON has its first end-to-end subscription NuVu’s content offering, which is Eannounced the launch of video-on-demand content service, expected to grow significantly in the NuVu. The service will be coming years, will span a wide marketed in close collaboration variety of genres including Concept Nova unveils IT sales with service providers.

Hollywood and Nollywood movies, The first service will be TV series, kids, music, gospel and launched in partnership with education. Ericsson is working with consultancy programme leading telecom operator Airtel a number of leading international NE of the Nigeria’s fastest Broker’s portal to begin training. Nigeria in Q1 2016 to more than distributors to acquire TV and film Ogrowing information After registration and adequate 30With million subscribers. content for the new service. technology service and software training, brokers become IT the solution, subscribers NuVu is a complete end-to-end developmentcompanies,Concept Nova has unveiled an independent consultancy programme that provides opportunity for IT sales consultants to earn extra income while helping small and medium enterprises, SMEs, bridge technological gaps and solve operational issues with the use of the firm’s IT solutions.

Known as Concept Nova Broker’s Portal, the platform allows independent sales consultants drop leads on individuals or companies that are looking to purchase the company's products and services.

Speaking during the unveiling of the programme in Lagos recently, the Head, Concept Nova Operations, Uche Okoli said that to be part of the sales consultant team, interested persons have to apply through the Concept Nova Brokers’ portal by uploading their credentials and filling out the application form.

According to her, “Once registration has been done, brokers will get an activation email which will prompt them in activating their profiles on the

C M Y K

Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3 smartphone wins award

consultants and awarded IT consultant certificates and marketing materials like brochures and business cards.”

Explaining further on how the programme works, she said: “To ensure a seamless process, the Concept Nova sales team follows up on the leads generated by these independent sales consultants.

Once the deals are consolidated, the sales consultants are awarded up to 15 per cent brokerage of transactions accrued. Accordingly, the more transactions consultants close, the more cash they earn as they get better rewards for volume transactions.”

She also noted that the consultants will also have the opportunity of owning a Concept Nova franchise that would enable them to earn higher profit margins.

She added: “To make the brokerage process easier, independent it sales consultants would be provided with intensive trainings at the beginning and refresher courses as time goes on which will go a long way in deepening their knowledge of all Concept Nova’s products and services.”

will have access to around 3,000 local and international TV and film titles spanning a wide variety of genres.

With this solution, subscribers will have access to around 3,000 local and international TV and film titles for a small monthly fee.

They will be able to download content directly to their smartphones or tablets at no additional data cost during offpeak network times, and access the content offline for up to 30 days after downloading.

A core feature of the service is the built-in ability to distribute content to consumers during offpeak periods.

This is expected to minimize data costs for both operator and consumer, addressing the cost challenge that has so far been an obstacle for video-on-demand uptake in Africa With the new solution, Ericsson and telecommunications services provider Airtel Nigeria are planning to jointly launch NuVu in the first quarter of 2016 to more than 30 million Airtel subscribers in Nigeria.

technology and content service.

The platform, which has been developed by Ericsson and leverages the company’s extensive over-the-top capabilities, will be fully integrated into the operator’s customer relationship management and payment systems.

The service will be launched initially as an Android app for smartphones, providing subscriberswithapersonalizeduser interface, bookmarking and p e r s o n a l recommendations.

Ericsson will continue to roll out the service on other platforms and operating systems.

Speaking on the new solution, Thorsten Sauer, Head of Broadcast and Media Services, Ericsson, said that, “The launch of NuVu is a significant landmark for Ericsson and is uniquely positioned to help our operator customers to address a significant untapped market for video content.

LCATEL Onetouch Idol 3 smartphone was recognized with a 2015 Good design award by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.

One of the main factors for the awards selection , according to the organizers of the award is whether or not a product can enrich society and people’s lives through its design.

“We’re extremely gratified that our flagship IDOL 3 was recognized for this prestigious award,” said CW Park, Alcatel Onetouch's Chief Designer and General Manager of the Global Design Center, adding that, “Our best design thinking went into this device and we are pleased that it has been recognized by our peers in the field.”

Developed at the company's Global Design Center, IDOL 3 boasts unparalleled elegance thanks to a series of well-considered design choices, including a slim, 7.5 mm body.

The back contour gives the phone a slimedge, which not only looks thin but also enhances the in-hand experience The expansive fully laminated display appears to be one complete surface when turned off, accentuating the IDOL 3’s balanced form.

The designers also paid attention to the minutest details, such as the refined casing, featuring a brushed metal frame with a dual-color diamond-cut effect, which is unique in the industry, and the fine-hairline-brushed back surface. The device comes in three colors: dark gray, metallic silver and soft gold.

IDOL 3 offers users a simpler overall product experience in a premium package. One of the most innovative aspects of the IDOL 3 is that users can answer their phone any way they like: the interface always rights itself.

The 100-percent reversible interface allows users to answer calls, surf the Web, take a photo and mix tunes right-side up or upside down.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 27

community that the Sultan of Sokoto, as leader of the Nigerian Muslim Community would be physically present and handle the official turbaning ceremony of President- General, League of Imams and Alfas, South-West, Edo and Delta.

Acknowledging this great move, President of the Muslim Ummah of South-West of Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji S. O. Babalola, said, in his address at the ceremony: “It is evident in that for the first time the Sultan is personally doing the turbaning of PresidentGeneral, League of Imams and Alfas of South West, Edo and Delta, that the unity of Muslims in Nigeria has come.”

At Ibadan

The Sultan’s message of peace!

By Bashir Adefaka

S

ultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, no doubt, is a uniting force, not only in Nigeria but also in the world.

As a revered monarch, the retired Army General-turned king’s many contributions to national, continental and global peace must have been responsible for the loud ovation that rented the air at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria,recently, where he was installed Chancellor of the prestigious university.

The atmosphere exuded not only erudition but also C M Y K

glamour. Honoured with the Sultan was a former Vice Chancellor of the university, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, who was decorated as one of the first duties of the new Chancellor (Sultan) with a doctorate degree honoris causa.

It was a week long stay in the South West, which afforded the Sultan to visit Ekiti State where he was welcomed on Thursday, November 19,

by Governor Ayodele Fayose. He later attended a Jumat service accompanied by the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, who he described as “my brother.” Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar was in the Ekiti State capital, Ado-Ekiti for the installation of Sheikh Jamiu Kewulere Bello as President-

General, League of Imams and Alfas, South-West, Edo and Delta, which took place on the third day of his arrival (Saturday, November 21).

That occasion too reverberated the Ibadan honour but here is the Sultan, who never allowed the accolades influence his attitude of humility and simplicity. He saw all of those things he is celebrated for as doing his job, saying, “I am doing what I am supposed to do for the country.” In all his speeches, it is one message - peace. He emphasized, in Ekiti where he asked Muslims and Christians to expose the bad eggs in their midst that Nigeria may finally find security, rest, peace and development.

It was the first time in history of Yoruba Muslim

Delivering the Visitor ’s speech on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo congratulated the Sultan on what he described as his well deserved honour to be installed as Chancellor of the university.

Osinbajo said: “We are encouraged by the recent ranking of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and Africa as the university, as you heard, was rated first in Nigeria and eighth in Africa by Journal Consortium. More over, The Times Higher Education World Universities ranking of all universities put the University of Ibadan among the 600 and 800 top universities in the world”.

Ajimobi says Sultan is pragmatic

He saw all of those things he is celebrated for as doing his job, saying, “I am doing what I am supposed to do for the country”

In his own goodwill message at the occasion, Governor Abiola Ajimobi eulogized the Sultan, saying, “I’m very, very impressed that today we are honouring His Eminence Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, who is now the Chancellor of the University of Ibadan.

And there is no better time than to have the man of such a pedigree to be the Chancellor of the university.

He is a revered, seasoned, exposed, peace loving, God fearing and, above, an industrious monarch.

He is a very pragmatic person. To me, this is the right time to have such a man for change.”

PAGE 28 — SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

The Ooni of Ife / Iwo ties relived as new Oluwo takes the crown

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

T

he history of Iwo in Osun State will be incomplete without looking at her antecedents.

The tradition of the town attests to the fact that Iwo originated from Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yorubaland. Its kingship has also been traced to Ife. Iwo has all the characteristics of a Yoruba settlement. The Iwo people belonged to Ile-Ife from where they migrated sometime in the 14th century. The Iwo settlement was initiated by Adekola Telu, a prince from Ife. Telu was the son of the 21st Ooni of Ife, a female called Luwo Gbagida.

She, according to history, was so powerful and influential. She was also said to have had supernatural powers. You can imagine how strong she was to have emerged a female Ooni. That is the spirit with which Iwo was founded.

When Telu grew old, her mother, Ooni Luwo Gbagida, noticed his son’s ambition to become an Oba, and gave him a crown and other materials of kingship. Oba Luwo also provided some old men to follow his son in his adventure to discover his own kingdom.

Among the men that followed Telu on his journey were Ba-Gidigbo

C M Y K

and Beku. Telu and his men first settled at Ogundigbaro which was water-logged and they headed for a place called Erunmu.

The team again left Erunmu area because of wild animals and settled at Igbo-Orita, along Ibadan– Iwo Road and some five

kilometers from the present Iwo centre. After the death of Telu, Prince Parin, one of his successors, moved to a new settlement called Iwo. He was installed the first Oluwo of Iwo around the 16th century and he reigned for six to seven decades.

As the new Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II), was presented with the staff of office and instrument of appointment on December 7, Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi, the 16th Oluwo of Iwo, who is scheduled to be crowned and presented staff of office on January 16,

2016, has assured the people of the town that he will work in partnership with the new Ooni to improve the living condition of Iwo people and the people of Osun in general during his reign.

Speaking with newsmen, the monarch, who had lived in Canada for several years before his appointment, expressed appreciation to God and to the people of Iwo for their support during his three years litigation in court. Adeegunodo, one of the ruling houses in Iwo, had taken the Gbasee ruling house, where Oba Akanbi emerged, to court for determination of who becomes the Oluwo.

Subsequently, the court ruled in favour of the Akanbi’s ruling house.

“It is unfortunate that this history of Ife and Iwo has

We are going to see to the end of those challenges. We are going to come together with the new Ooni of Ife and the people to do it suffered neglect. That is why I said my coming is divine. I am the reincarnation of Telu. I am here to bring back the glory of Iwo land.

“I know the town has passed through some challenges. We are going to see to the end of those challenges. We are going to come together with the new Ooni of Ife and the people to do it. But as the traditional ruler, I have made a vow to lead by example. I am going to open Iwo land to the outside world. God has really blessed us with human resources

and we are going to leverage on this to make Iwo a hub of employment”.

Bemoaning the slow pace of development in Iwo, the monarch promised to facilitate investments in the town, assuring that, in the next two years, the town will be the

food basket of the state.

Akanbi called on Iwo indigenes at home and in diaspora to come and invest in the town by taking advantage of various investment opportunities available in order to develop and put the town in its rightful position in the country.

While saying that the growth of Iwo land remained of paramount interest to him, he assured the people of bringing his wealth of the experience he acquired in Canada to promote the growth of the town.

The traditional ruler expressed appreciation to God and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Osun State governor, for allowing true justice to prevail in the state, describing him as “a man of peace and sincerity.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 29

BIAFRA: Resistance’ll thrive if leaders deviate from laid down rules—Bishop Umunna Bishop Leonard Umunna, the general overseer of Ajegunle, Lagos-based Bible Life Church is a preacher of the Word, a gospel artiste, educationist and a philanthropist among others. In this interview with Sam Eyoboka, he took a look at the state of the nation and his conclusion is; until Nigeria changes the 1999 constitution to reflect the collective interest of Nigerians, the nation will continue to grope...Excerpts.

Now that ministers have received their portfolios; what are your expectations from them?

First, did President Muhammadu Buhari really pick the ministers by himself or on the basis of political compensation? APC came to power with loud propaganda with few achievements thus far.

PDP started well and ended badly. APC started badly after the election and appears to have no direction. Fuel scarcity has since returned to Nigeria. Don’t forget that except a divine miracle, things don’t change from bad to good overnight.

Nigerians must be prayerful.

Nigerians have been so disappointed in the past that they no longer trust any government that would preach to them to be patient. What is important is that every Nigerian must contribute in one way or the other to ensure the system works. However, no one should be deceived to think that any government can solve Nigeria’s problems, because the more hope you repose in them, the more disappointing they become. Early in the life of the administration, Nigerians began to experience improvement in electricity supply, and praises were heaped on President Buhari. Long queues also vanished from the filling stations across the country, but all of a sudden the situation has gone worse. Power supply in some areas is at its worst and fuel scarcity is nearly crippling the country.

It appears the Nigerian economy is worsening and poverty is increasing? How can Nigeria check this ugly trend?

Is there truly poverty in the land? I don’t think so. Is Nigeria really poor? Today, Nigerians are being ranked in the world as wealthy people with landed property and private aircraft everywhere. The issue here is that our wealth is in the hands of few. The lifestyle and expenditure pattern of Nigerians do not agree with the claim that there is poverty in the land? Who are those named among the most powerful and influential people in the world, are they not Nigerians? Who are those listed among the richest in the world; are they not Nigerians? Those who stash away our money in Swiss Banks, etc, are they not Nigerians? Nigeria is not poor in all its ramifications. The problem is that the entire wealth is in the hands of few who do not want it to go round. We have

enough to go round and take care of our sister-nations in Africa.

Is President Buhari’s deadline on Boko Haram realisable?

Deadline helps to achieve results but in the case of Boko Haram, there is no political machinery to curtain the situation. You cannot give deadline when the military is not fully equipped to fight the insurgents. Terrorism is worldwide and if Boko Haram is dismantled, other terrorist groups will emerge. But truth be told, I do not see the military ending the Boko Haram war this month. Insurgencies anywhere in the world are not defeated the way the APC government is trying to go about it.

What do you think about the body language of the President Buhari? Given what you have seen in the last seven months, does it seem to you that he is capable of delivering good?

I do not have trust in any human being, but I believe in people’s personal strength.

Buhari is trying to reconcile between his military and civilian lives. He has good intentions, but he can’t do it alone. Now, his body language is not speaking again. You can see what is happening—petrol scarcity is back, complaints everywhere, constant power outages, and general poverty in the land. Again, President Buhari does not need any more time to effect the change. It is said that ‘prior proper preparation prevents poor performance’ (PPPPPP). I don’t think that Nigerian leaders are making that prior proper preparation. If Nigeria must move its economy forward, tackle corruption, get it right on education, power and infrastructure, there must be conscious efforts to make adequate and proper preparation for leadership.

Many Nigerians have expressed fears that it may take a longer period before the much-talked about change would come, going by the economic situation of the country at the moment. Do you see it the same way? What went wrong?

By APC propaganda, things would have looked up by now. I have not seen it yet. The PDP came strong with many achievers in their team; the party offered hope initially, but

it ended the way we never expected. APC came with many propagandists and a few known achievers. It is said that morning tells the day. There was a wrong signal when a particular area began to be marked out for appointments while certain others were marginalised. Some people say such lopsided appointments and neglects gave rise to the agitation by some groups somewhere. Again, I told you before that Nigeria is like an airplane that successfully took off, but along the line it crashed.

It has refused to take off again.

Change the constitution that all Nigerians will be proud to say, ‘we the people of Nigeria do give ourselves this constitution.’ A referendum should also be conducted to get the buy-in of every part of the country. I have said again and again that the name “Nigeria” vibrates a dangerous number that has not enabled her move forward. We would be better off if we change it. In addition, appointment of leaders must be on merit and ability to deliver good service and not on where people come from. A Nigerian is a Nigerian no matter where he comes from.

Some people say that our large population is causing problem for us, but we are not the only nation in the world with a large population. We are not larger than China. We must not continue to deceive ourselves with the claim that it is because of the different ethnic groupings in the country that is our problem.

Some groups in the South East

Bishop Leonard Umunna have been protesting, agitating for Biafra. What do you think informed the recent campaign?

There have been agitations and complaints of marginalisation by virtually all the regions that make up the country. The Northern region said they had been marginalised and short-changed, and some people said keep quiet, what can you do? Boko Haram came, they said what can they do? Now Nigeria has been hijacked by some powerful powers, not just Boko Haram but the Al-Quaeda and ISIS. The South East is crying about open marginalisation and the Yorubas, the Isokos and in fact, every part of the country is saying the same thing. There has not been any conscious effort to address these illfeelings. We must stop the discrimination—I am a Hausa; I am an Igbo; I am a Yoruba, an Urhobo, etc. No. A Nigerian is a Nigerian no matter where he comes from. Every Nigerian can vote and be voted for in any part of the country. But sectional leadership has eaten deep into Nigeria’s leadership system over the years, causing so much trouble.

There are obnoxious decrees that were put together as constitution by certain elements, that’s why the constitution must be changed to reflect the wishes

and aspirations of the Nigerian people. Our leaders can conduct a referendum to seek the views of the Nigerian people. The agitators made reference to some appointments and decisions of government that tended toward marginalising certain parts. Leadership must embrace everybody. I don’t support violence, but we must abide by the federal character principle in the leadership system. Those in leadership position must not handle public matters as if they were private matters; just the same way it is not wise to wash private linens in the public. What happens to the federal character arrangement? So, when leaders neglect to follow the proper way of doing things, they receive some resistance. I think that’s what we are seeing now. The constitution recognises federal character in dealing with all the different geo-political zones of the country, but when it is not respected or when it is obvious that whenever some people want to score a clean goal, the referee would say, “No, No, no,” and changes the goal post, then it gives reasons for questions and agitations. That was what happened the other time that resulted in the civil war. War is an ill-wind that blows no one any good. And I don’t want to see war twice in my life.

BSN is 50, laments activities of pirates

By Olayinka Latona THE Bible Society of Nigeria, BSN, has called on the country’s law makers to assist publishers and other intellectual property owners in the country by reviewing general laws on piracy in Nigeria to put an end to the wicked activities of pirates. The General Secretary of BSN, Rev. Dare Ajiboye made the appeal while addressing journalists at the Bible Guest House in Lagos, on the activities lined up to mark the 50th anniversary of the Society come February next year.

Ajiboye lamented the worrisome attitude of some government agencies who collaborate with pirates to ship in pirated books and other printed materials including Bibles into the country.

According to him, BSN has decided to go spiritual since

government and other interventions have not stopped the activities of Bible piracy in Nigeria, noting that those in the business of pirating intellectual property must not be allowed to enjoy the option of fine but rather must be made to bear the full weight of conviction behind bars. He explained that such conviction will serve as a deterrent to others who might have been nursing hopes of venturing into piracy business.

“Piracy is a hydra-headed monster that we have gone spiritual and not waiting for government again because as you are quelling it in one part of the country, it’s surfacing in another part of the country in greater dimension”, Ajiboye said, adding “one thing I have realized is that these pirates cannot carry out

their nefarious activities without having collaboration with some government agencies at the port that would help them to clear illegal goods. “At times importers would declare electronic equipment, but what they have at the back of such packed goods are books or Bibles. If the Customs can do thorough investigation at the port, they will realize that there are Bibles hiding in such containers and arrest the importers. Chairman, National Planning Committee of the anniversary, Mr. Gbenga Olaleye revealed that the 50th anniversary will be celebrated with several activities from February 2 to February 8, 2016, adding that 100,000 free Bibles will be donated to prisons, remand homes, the visually impaired, students, orphanages and old people’s home.

PAGE 30—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

J

ESUS was not born on December 25. That is the date of a pagan festival of the sun god Tammuz merged with Christianity under Constantine. However, the evidence is overwhelming that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles.

or wise man is another expression for a “rabbi.” Daniel for example, who was named Belteshazzar, was regarded as one of the magi of his time.

(Daniel 4:9).

Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father, was ministering in the Temple when an angel told him he would have a son. He belonged to “the priestly group of Abijah.” (Luke 1:5). Abijah was eighth in line according to the Jewish time-table for priests ministering in the Temple: “The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah.” (1 Chronicles 24:7-10).

That means Zechariah would have been ministering in the Temple in June, when it was officially the turn of Abijah. If his wife therefore conceived in June, John the Baptist would have been born around March the next year during the Passover. It is the Jewish tradition to reserve a special glass of wine for Elijah during the Passover meal, in expectation of his attendance.

So it makes sense for John the Baptist to be born during the Passover.

The angel told Zachariah John the Baptist would come “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” (Luke 1:17). Indeed, Jesus confirms that John the Baptist is the expected Elijah. He told the disciples: “‘Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.’ Then the

Star of Bethlehem

JESUS W AS NO ORN ON WAS NOTT B BORN DECEMBER 25

Coming of Elijah

disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:11-13).

Birth of the Messiah If John the Baptist was born during the Passover, then Jesus must have been born during the Feast of Tabernacles.

There are six months between both feasts, and we are told Mary became pregnant six months after John’s mother, Elizabeth: “(Zechariah’s) wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, ‘What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.’ One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee with a message for a virgin named Mary.” (Luke 1:24-27). “Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son.” (Luke 1:36).

Think about it. Does it not make perfect sense that “the light of the world” should be born during the “Festival of Lights;” when lamps illumi-

to be a shortage of guest-houses in Bethlehem; accounting for the difficulty of Mary and Joseph in finding suitable accommodation.

Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles. He was not born on “Christmas Day”

Tabernacle of God nate the entire city of Jerusalem? That is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is also known as "the Season of our Joy;" so it makes sense for the angel to tell the shepherds he brings “good tidings of great joy” concerning Jesus’ birth during the joyful season of the Feast of Tabernacles: The angel said: “Behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you is born today, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

(Luke 2:10-11).

International feast Quite appropriately, the Feast of Tabernacles is the only Jewish festival which is for “all people,” both Jews and nonJews. It is for all the families of the earth: “It shall be, everyone who is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah

of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be, whoever will not come up from all the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, even on them shall be no rain.” (Zechariah 14:16-19).

The Feast of Tabernacles is also known as “the Festival of the Nations;” showing it is not exclusively for the Jewish nation. All the men of Israel are required to come to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Tabernacles: “Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles.” (Deuteronomy 16:16).

This means Jerusalem becomes filled up with visitors during the festival, and they spill over into the surrounding regions including Bethlehem, which is only about five miles away. As a result, there is likely

In writing about the incarnation of Jesus, John employs the terminology of tabernacles. He says the Word became flesh and “tabernacled” among us. (John 1:14).

Indeed, one of Jesus’ spiritual names means “God with us:” “‘A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23). It therefore makes sense that God would choose to come down to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to tabernacle with men during the Feast of Tabernacles.

It is also quite conceivable that the wise men from the east were Jewish rabbis, anticipating the coming of the Messiah according to Daniel's prophecy. (Daniel 9:24). At the time of Jesus' birth, the largest Jewish population was not in Palestine but in Babylon, where they had been carried into exile by Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon is east of Palestine; and a “magi”

During the seven-days of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jewish families live in booths built with branches of trees. It is customary to leave a hole in the roof so as to be able to look at the stars at night.

Therefore, the Feast of Tabernacles is the perfect time for Jewish magi east of Palestine to notice the appearance of the star of Bethlehem.

That is why it is important to note that the magi did not get to Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, as erroneously portrayed on Christmas cards. By the time they arrived, Jesus was already a young child: “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.” (Matthew 2:9).

It must have taken them up to two years to get there, which is why, in the bid to kill Jesus, Herod killed all the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under: “When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16).

All this point to one thing.

Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles. He was not born on “Christmas Day.”

RCCG out with official travel agency

By Olayinka Latona

T

o cater for the travel needs of its members as well as groups within and outside the church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), through Victory Travels and Tours recently launched her Internet Booking Engine (IBE) called 9aijatravel.com which will enable members worldwide enjoy discounted booking engine to book flights, hotels and cars from the comfort of their homes whenever they are going on vacation or on a spiritual voyage.

Unveiling the IBE in Lagos, the chief executive officer of Victory Travels and Tours, Mrs. Tolu Abiola-Lawal explained that with a mandate from RCCG, the outfit is working with some airlines to get good discount for travels booked on the platform and from the RCCG Church Management System platform, noting that with the application of technology in travel management and planning, the portal will address challenges faced by many travelers.

The CEO further explained that the portal was borne out of the need to comply with changing technology in travel from paper-based operations to electronic and booking engines, which is now in vogue, stressing that the firm has dedicated a section of the portal to meet the

travel needs of over 10 million Nigerians who are members of the church for evangelical, leisure, business and other reasons. According to her, with over 117 locations of the church worldwide, there is need to consolidate all travels to reduce expenditure through a booking engine that will offer attractive options.

“The travel industry has undergone change over the years. This revolution is what

has given birth to the design of a booking engine. As the official travel agency for the Redeemed Christian Church of God, we have unveiled this travel portal to cater for the needs of our over 10 million members. This is because we need a platform to assist in saving money for the church on travels. This has also become important because we do a lot of travels that border on education, missionary work,

medical needs, sports and other issues,” she explained.

Also speaking of the portal designed by global information travel solution provider, Sabre Travel Network West Africa, the head of RCCG’s Information Technology Department, Prince Abiodun Olaobaju explained that the travel and tour firm has partner with several financial institutions to facilitate easy payment options for clients that will be networked through the

portal.

He therefore called on airlines to support the endeavour to make the system work, adding “the unique selling point is that this travel portal will offer the least fare options. There is an immediate target market and other features that other portals do not have. We intend to harness discount on fares available to make the portal as user friendly as possible.”

Seventh-Day Adventist tasks churches on change

By Olayinka Latona

S

EVENTH-DAY Adventist Church in Nigeria, Lagos Atlantic Conference has urged the Church not to compromise its position as an agent of change.

Making the charge at the dedication of the church secretariat in Alagomeji, Lagos, the conference president, Pastor Jacob Umoru said there was moral decadence in the society and that the church ought to be change agents in various capacities so as to contribute their own quota to bringing about the change that the nation needs.

Umoru regretted that the Church has not done enough to impact the society positively, by emphasising character building and integrity, saying that church

leaders needed to step up efforts to help redefine their roles towards national rebirth.

The cleric said as Nigerians join the rest of the world to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as a country that hopes to flourish into a glorious future, all Nigerians have to contribute positively to the development of the nation.

According to him, “our nation is in trouble today because many people go to churches but majority do not follow scriptural instructions and because of this we have lots of challenges. If our children are well trained in the way of the Lord, corruption and all kinds of evil will not be pronounced as it is today.

Churches are in the world to make impact positively, our duty is to bring people to the knowledge of God and if

churches teach the true word of God, live by what they preach, there will be peace, harmony, prosperity and development in the nation”.

Also speaking, the executive secretary of Lagos Atlantic Conference, Pastor Yusuf Imam, advised Christians and Nigerian

youths to eschew selfishness and devote their time to the service of others, as Jesus Christ did for mankind, adding “Nigerian youths should watch their ways, put God first in whatever they are doing and rely solely on God.”

Insurgency is indication of end times —Cleric

By Gabriel Olawale

G

ENERAL Overseer of Tower of Praise Ministries International, TPMI, Apostle Paul Nwandu has said that pockets of resistance in different parts of the country was an indication of end times which cannot completely be wiped out.

Speaking during the 2015 TPMI’s great manifestation international conference, tagged; “Oneness in

Christ”, Nwandu said that the only way to reduce insurgency was for all to come together as one irrespective of religious differences and work together in love, arguing that the war against insurgency cannot be won if the country is divided. Presenting Christmas gifts to widows and the needy, Nwandu explained that giving was a commandment of God and has nothing to do with whether someone has in abundance or not.

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 31

Wor ds can heal or cause a Scar ords

BY ONOZURE DANIA

M

erry Christmas, as we are all in the mood of celebration, I would like you to also read this piece as it will go a long way to help your relationships. Here’s the truth about intimacy,

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08069035188,08160013248 •Larry, 26, handsome and fun to be with, needs a beautiful, caring and influential lady, for a romantic and serious relationship.07038678547, 08182828871 •Goodluck, 30, needs a lady, in Lagos for a serious relationship.08111115140, 08183118533 •Solomon, 58, needs a matured woman, aged 40 and above, who is divorced, busty and resides in Abuja, for a relationship.

09093952615,08033218709, 08062462432,07012942444 •Ben, 36, a graduate and a businessman, needs a slim, tall lady, who is educated, aged 28-33, for a serious relationship.08091411290 •Ifeanyi, a businessman, resides in Lagos, needs a God fearing lady, aged 3540, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.

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08170470795 •Timothy, 27, disabled, self employed, and resides in Oyo state, needs a disabled Yoruba or Hausa lady, aged 25-31, for marriage.

09022807100 •Mao, 58, employed and re4sides in Benin needs a fat lady, in Benin, for a relationship.

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Searching Male •Isaac, 25, from Delta state, needs a female friend, aged 18-25, who resides in Delta, Anambra state respectively.

08032527567,07039642584 •Goodluck, 29, needs a lady, who resides in Lagos, for a serious relationship.

08111115140, 08183118533 •Taiwo, 52, from Osun state, but resides in Ota, needs a pretty lady, aged 35-50, for a relationship.

08164537932,09091726090 •Josh, employed and resides in Benin City, needs a busty lady, with good backside, aged 20-35, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.08137470895 •Emmanuel, 40, from Warri, needs a lady who is a govt teacher or nurse, aged 25-35, for a serious relationship.

08170470795 •Isaac, needs a mature and lovely lady for a good relationship. 08128813744 •Dein, 38, from Delta state, needs a lady, for a secret relationship.07035840396 •Goodluck, 29, needs a God fearing lady, aged 20-25, for a serious relationship.

08148461421 •Peterson, 40, resides in Warri, needs a lady for a serious relationship.

07035812745 •Charles, 32, Igbo, fair, slim, tall, humble, caring, mature and resides in Delta states and a student, needs a lady that is romantic, caring, mature, educated, employed,

Sugar Cares Searching Female •Oluwakemi, 23, sexy, busty, pretty and from Osun state, but resides in Delta

DISCLAIMER! Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636

changes when something isn’t working. But most of us don’t know how to effectively use them, and lose control in the heat of the moment.

We accidentally do damage to our relationships with what we share, how we share it and how we respond, we get triggered and lash out.

We try to prove ourselves right and conversations escalate intofightsWe make ourselves enemies with only one “winner,” and we do huge

damage in just one sentence we didn’t mean to say.

We seek out others to get our emotional needs met, and feel better and safer around people who aren’t our partners.

Our feelings get hurt and we pull away inch by inch farther and farther over time, until we stop sharing all together, because we’ve stopped believing our partners can really “hear” us, anyway.

state, needs a wealthy, generous, sugar, daddy, who is caring and will to help her financially. 08142192898, 07015290879

resides in Warri, needs hot and sexy sugar mummy for a relationship.

0 9 0 8 2 2 5 1 0 8 1 , 08136447251 •Okoli, 25, cool, romantic and resides in Enugu, needs a beautiful sugar mummy, aged 30- 45, that is financially ok.

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0 8 1 0 1 5 9 7 9 2 3 , 09036038964 34, dark in •Ikye, complexion, handsome, average height, sexy, romantic a graduate and from Enugu state, but resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, that can help him, secure a better job.

09034469360,08025460744 •Barry, 38, needs a sugar mummy, who resides in Abuja, for a relationship.

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3051762770, first bank plc.07032742419 •Favour, 38, handsome, romantic, and resides in Abuja, needs a sugar mummy, that can sponsor his kerosene business financially, for a relationship.07059630483 •Demore, needs a sugar mummy, who can take care of him.08035224167 •Eka, 24, r6ft tall, dark in complexion handsome, gentle and resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy.

08075028188,08060423350 •Afolabi, 40, tall, resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy. 08180379476, 08077791638 •Meyiwa, 27, a student and resides in Benin, needs a sugar mummy.

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Searching Male •Prince-will, 24, from Imo state, dark in complexion, needs a sugar mummy who is caring. 08060985903 •Dennis, 30, tall, slim, cute, handsome, and a graduate, needs a caring sugar mummy.

0 8 0 7 1 4 0 1 4 9 5 , 08033772239,08079438900 •Emmanuel, 40, needs a sugar mummy who is God fearing and caring, for a relationship.

09084569461 •Lawrence, 36, tall, dark in complexion, good looking, and a graduate in Lagos, needs a caring and romantic sugar mummy. 08071566715 •JD, strong energetic, cute, average height and dark in complexion, needs a busty and romantic, sugar mummy, for relationship.

08097720156,08031876557 •Michael, 27, 56ft tall, slim and resides in Lagos, needs a pretty sugar mummy, aged 28-45, for a relationship.

08185760611 whatsapp08139627918 •Ederime, 36 and resides in Warri, Delta state, needs an exciting, romantic and fun to be with sugar mummy, for a relationship.08058415287, 08031928745 •Tony, 31, a graduate, handsome and resides in Lagos, needs a caring, sexy and rich sugar mummy, for a relationship.08074477852, 08038354008,08026087059 •Steve, from Anambra state, needs a rich, busty and humble sugar mummy, aged 35-50, for a relationship.

08078700966 •Ud, 33, a graduate and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship. 08120043810 •Joe, tall and handsome, needs a very rich auger mummy, in Lagos or Abuja, for a relationship.

0 8 0 3 8 6 2 9 2 1 3 , 08051226744 •Iloube, from Edo state, but resides in the east, needs a sugar mummy, aged 40-45.

08120853663 •Mike, 30, self employed and resides in Delta state, needs a caring sugar mummy.

07064622301 •Spencer, 23, needs a rich, sexy, busty, humble and caring sugar mummy, aged 30-40. 09051933160 •Geoffrey, 27, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy.

08085095475 •A guy, 34, handsome, tall, chocolate in complexion and

PAGE 32—SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Rise up, bow and take your award for non-performance

S

ometimes last week I had this beautiful idea of making myself the judge for a man or woman or agency of the year in Nigeria. This idea did not just come out of the blues, i was only trying to follow the tradition that is worldwide. At the end of a year, personalities are named as people who had one way or the other influenced the world or their corner of the world. An example is Angela Merkel who is Time's Person of the year 2015.

A very good idea which has all the years been inspiring people to want to do noble things. The interesting thing about these awards is that "baddies" are never named.

This has denied many underperforming personalities or agencies the opportunity of taking the centre stage for "recognition". I am aware that some are named and shamed for one reason or the other during the year, but they should also take their places on the podium at the end of the year so they can have as much publicity as they deserve.

I didn't realise that my self imposed mission would be tedious. I set about by pencilling down a few individuals I think deserved mentioning. From the former President Goodluck Jonathan, being named as the Hero of the 2015 General Elections to the enfant terrible Ayo Fayose, the new face of grassroots politics in southwest of Nigeria. Along the line, I abandoned the list as I discovered there was constant tinkering with the criteria for nominations.

To save myself an unnecessary headache, I shifted my attention from individuals to agencies.

And with a twist I decided to search for underperforming agency or arm of government of the year 2015. Rarely do we scrutinise the activities of government bodies or agencies in Nigeria. To some members of the public, the executive is seen as the "government" without realising that there are actually three arms. This is understandable though, as the executive arm is the most prominent over the Legislature and Judiciary.

As a result of this public perception pf government, the legislative arm has therefore literally gone to bed. Therefore the 2015 award for the Underperforming Agency/ Arm of Government goes to the National Assembly of Nigeria.

Since the inauguration of the present legislature, the members have strengthened Nigerians' opinion that it is nothing more than a talk shop.

There is something about the Upper Chamber particularly that gives one an idea that it is not a place for serious business. I am definite I am not the only one who feels this way. The idea

in the constitution is that the Senate is the highest legislative body of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, yet it comes across as not a tad different from states houses of assembly.

This is not to say that the "junior" House of Representatives is any better or can be viewed as a ground for the "sharing" of intellectual ideas. No. You will be forgiven if you paint the two with same brush. I have never been on the floors of both houses, but I do follow proceedings on the broadcast media, and by the contributions there is not much to write home about.

The vibrancy of the Legislative arm of government in any part of the world is determined by the quality of individuals that populate it. In some countries, the best of the political class are always guided towards the legislature. We can say this is not the case in our beloved country. Therefore, the result that is produced is less than what can move the nation forward.

While the legislature is just a arm of the government, it is understandable that it is often referred to as the brain box. In here are bills designed to make governance easy expected to be discussed and passed into laws. In the principle of separation of power, the legislature should operate parallel to the other arms of government.

The Nigerian assembly is interesting. It lacks all the qualities of modern legislature. While in other climes, there are "intellectual" arguments, in Nigeria, the law makers are not in this league. Their arguments are usually rowdy and bother on either how to share available posts

The Nigerian assembly is interesting. It lacks all the qualities of modern legislature.

While in other climes, there are "intellectual" arguments, in Nigeria, the law makers are not in this league. Their arguments are usually rowdy or improving their own welfare. We can recollect how the legislature was almost shut down at the start of its tenure a few months ago. No thanks to intrigues displayed by these lawmakers who obviously are more interested in their pockets and affiliations than national interests.

There is a marked difference between the present day legislature and what was obtained in the

Second Republic, which was operated under the Presidential style of government. In those days, the conduct of the lawmakers was very dignifying while their contributions were matured than what we have nowadays. I remember those days with nostalgia.

My closest encounter as a teenager with the Legislature was mainly on the national television. I remember those days all news only came via the National Television Authority (NTA) before the advent of states and private television stations.

The Legislative arm of the government in the Shehu Shagari-led government operated from the grounds of the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. I remember a visit as a teenager where I got carried away with the illusion that I was close to a vital arm of government. I fell in love with the serene atmosphere around the place and the fact that I was close to the hall where political juggernauts meet to make laws for the country. In those days, the Senators and House of Representatives members were actually sponsoring bills and involved In the governance of the great country, Nigeria. The calibre of people in the National Assembly was quite impressive.

After this encounter with the "grounds", I was so sure a political career was on the table for me. It was a dream of a career that never came through. With the military intervention in 1984, all "affiliation" with politics came to an end. The pace at which the country travelled in the dictatorial "space of time" has been unprecedented in history.

Many observers have argued that this long period of military intervention has actually been a curse rather than blessings on the country.

They believe that this is what has contributed to the backwardness of the present political class. This is not far from the truth considering the fact that the present crop of politicians had no mentors or leaders to emulate. Those who were supposed to have learnt one or two tricks in politics were forced to look into another "trade" to survive.

Please discount the experimental type of government that the evil genius, Ibrahim Babangida "threw" up in those days. His contraption of civilian legislature under a military rule did no good to the polity at all. Rather, it bred a new set of desperate politicians with no ideology. It will be an understatement if IBB's attempt at democracy is described as disaster.

The award of incompetence and non performance for the present federal legislature is based on the proposed bill for the "gagging" of the Nigeria social media space by these legislators. I have tried as much as possible to balance the reasons as advanced by the honourable gentleman and his supporters. On every occasion I concluded that the house has only allowed the reading of this bill not for anything else but out of nothing to do.

Please let us rise and congratulate the federal legislative houses for the award of non-performer of the year 2015. They sure deserve it.

Your status is about to change

I

’d like to begin Joyful Homes , this week, in an usual way by asking a simple question: What is the state of your mind? Are you still expectant?

Whatever is your answer, I suggest that you should be expectant and thankful that you are still alive.

Only the living can be hopeful.

Now, let’s return to our focus.

By the way, did you find time to attend any of the special programmes organized by some churches last weekend? If you did, expect amazing testimonies in the mighty name of Jesus.

If you missed them, you still shouldn’t stop praying.

In some of the previous editions of Joyful Homes, I suggested that one of major ways of having a breakthrough is doing something unusual to please God. An unusual step During the just concluded special programme of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), a lady gave a testimony that confirms our earlier suggestion that taking an usual step could make one a quick beneficiary of the mercy of God. This lady, who had been waiting on the Lord for the fruit of the womb, said she participated in the RCCG 100 days fasting and prayer.

She didn’t conceive after this but she kept her faith alive and fulfilled her pledge by making her financial contribution to the building of the new auditorium. Even after this, nothing happened.

She remained expectant.

After these two major steps, she was not discouraged. She took another step. In her words, she attended the August Annual Convention of the RCCG but decided to stay back and do whatever she could to provoke God to attend to her challenge.

She told the congregation: “ I stayed back to pick rubbish ( which had littered the premises). I did it so much that my back was paining me”.

This was in August 2014.

This last action of hers provoked God. She conceived and, by September 2015, she became a mother with the birth of a baby girl.

Her story is inspiring; isn’t it? My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will lead you to take the step that will provoke the Lord to visit you in the mighty name of Jesus.

Remain expectant For whatever we are believing God: Marriage partner, job, restoration of joy in the home, winning back the heart of your marriage partner, boost in business, financial breakthrough, etc, we must remain expectant.

Whatever we are going through will come to an end one day.

Pastor Gbenga Oso of

Laughter Foundation often says “ every challenge has an expiry date”.

Proverbs 23 verse 18 states : “ For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off ” Jeremiah 29 vs 11 and 12 further assures us; “ For I know the thoughts that I think of you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil to give you an expected . Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will harken unto you”.

The emphasis her is “ Thine expectation shall not be cut off,” and. “ Pray unto me and I will harken unto you”.

It is clear that our God is desirous of having our expectations met but we also have a duty to pray and call upon him.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the RCCG, while speaking on “ Flood Gates of Joy,”asked, “ How much joy can you have?

He said, “ It depends on how much you ask?”

When the babies come, your status will change. When you get married, your status changes. When your long awaited financial break through manifests, your status will surely change.

He suggests, “ Ask till your joy be full”.

Adeboye stated that the biggest problem with us Christians is that we don’t pray enough.

This suggests to me that one can never be tired of praying, especially if our major expectation has not been met.

How do your respond to bad dreams?

A certain woman had been consistently having dreams of her babies being snatched. Anytime she had this dream, her pregnancy will be aborted.

Her case brings us to the issue of how we respond to This is our dreams. where the study of the Bible becomes relevant.

Whereas many of us have time to read gossip publications, we hardly find time to study the word of God, yet the word is our greatest weapon against the enemy.

Apart from worshipping under the right man of God, our study of the Bible is needed daily.

No one needs to be afraid of evil dreams.

We should be bold to stand up and nullify that dream with the word of God. Unfortunately, many prefer to sleep rather than rise up and use the words of God to cancel evil dreams.

Again, I’ll share an experience.

A lady had a dream in which she saw a coffin brought into her home.

She jumped up , held her Bible and began to reject the coffin.

She began to declare that she will not die, her spouse will not die, her kids will not die, etc.

She prayed so loud that her neighbour heard her and she too in her own apartment also began to pray.

Less than a month after that, her husband and others were involved in an helicopter crash. To the glory of God, all including her husband survived.

Imagine what would have happened if she had not stood up to pray.

May God give us the grace to stand up to our spiritual enemies in Jesus name.

Baby after 24 years of waiting As usual, let’s share this testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Adeoye who got married in 1991 . The couple gave their testimony at the monthly Laugher Foundation Day of Laughter Foundation International Ministry.

They had a set of twins: Two girls after 24 years of marriage.

How long have your been waiting? I have disclosed the identity of this couple so that couples waiting on the Lord can use them as a point of contact while praying.

God still in the business of miracles Another couple at the RCCG Holy Ghost Congress presented their second set of twins after 17 years of waiting.

The father of the twins said they had prayed for over 10 years and, during one of such prayer meetings, there was a word of knowledge from the pastor who said: “ The Lord said by the time I finish with your bareness, you will need more than one house maid”.

With two sets of twins, that word of knowledge has been fulfilled in their lives.

I suggest that you get ready, your status is about to change.

You are going to move forward in Jesus name.

When the babies come, your status will change.

When you get married, your status changes. When your long awaited financial break through manifests, your status will surely change.

In this season of yuletide, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will lead you to sow your seeds in the right place so that your harvest will shock our enemies and your friends.

It is well with you in Jesus name.

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PAGE 38, SUNDAY

Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

At Chief Apollo’s surprise 85th birthday party As they know that their father would have stopped them if he had known of it, all the children of popular businessman, Chief Apollo Oseragbaje (Proprietor of Hotel Apollo of Sapele and Lagos), invited his friends and family to his surprise 85th birthday party in Ikeja on Saturday. And the event turned out to be a thriller – most enjoyed for both the celebrant and his friends – from the church service at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, to the packed reception at the Events Plaza in Ikeja. Happy birthday, Uncle Apollo. Photos: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor

•Celebrant, wife, children, grandchildren and daughters-in-law.

•Celebrant and his wife, cutting the birthday cake at reception.

•From Left: Madam Oritsegbubemi Eruwa (celebrant’s sister), Chief ‘Apollo’A.B.B. Oseragbaje (celebrant), Mrs. Florence Oseragbaje, JP (celebrant’s wife).

•Chief ‘Apollo’ A.B.B. Oseragbaje (celebrant) holding beautiful plaque presented to him by his wife, Mrs. Florence Oseragbaje, JP.

•From Left: Celebrant and his wife presenting offertory at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos, at the birthday thanksgiving mass.

•From left: Mr. G.T.S. Adokpaye (former Managing Director, Mobil Oil Nigeria), presenting an exceptional 85th birthday card to celebrant, whilst his wife looks on.

•From Right: Chief Sunny Okpurhe, Prof. E. Uvieghara, the celebrant, Chief .A.B.B. Oseragbaje (Apollo), and Mr. Fred Dudu.

•From Left: Rev. Fr. Jude Udemezue of St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, congratulating celebrant and his wife.

•From Right: Mr. Nakpodia (MC of the ocassion), Mr. Peter Arigbe, Mr. Sam Amuka (Publisher, Vanguard Newspapers), Chief ‘Apollo’A.B.B. Oseragbaje (the celebrant), Mrs. Florence Oseragbaje JP (celebrant’s wife), Chief Sunny Okpurhe, Mr. Suru Daibo and Mr. Alex Taire.

•Celebrant and his wife with members of Orhorhomu-Okpe Ladies Association.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 39

• Buhari

The puzzle in the 2016 budget

BY DELE SOBOWALE

PREAMBLE n 1984, when Buhari presented his first budget as the military Head of State, the price of crude oil was sliding downwards from an unprecedented $38 per barrel towards $15 per barrel. In December 2015 as he presents his third annual budget, the nation is once again facing a grim situation. As Buhari announced to the National Assembly and the global community, “By June 2014, oil prices averaged $112 per barrel. But, as at today, the price is under $39 per barrel.”

With the budget based on $38 per barrel as the price of crude oil for 2016, the margin of error is very thin indeed. There ends the similarity.

In 1984, the federal government unilaterally announced the budget and commenced implementation at once. In 2016, Buhari will have to wait for the National Assembly, NASS, to agree with his projections. It will not be easy. In fact, it is unlikely that the budget presented on Tuesday, December 22, 2015, will survive, intact, the assault on it by the NASS. There are several provisions in it which would spark off disagreements and which will need to be modified.

I

BUDGETING: MIXTURE OF SCIENCE, ART AND LUCK Even when the global and national economic situations are favorable and fairly predictable, budgeting had never been an exact scientific undertaking. Invariably, it involves forecasting the future trends of several variables which are not controllable by those charged with the exercise. The margin of error rest on the sincerity, experience, diligence and rigor of thought of those charged with deciding the final outcome. Most Business Schools teach courses titled “Decision Making Under Conditions of Uncertainty” or some such title. Budgeting under conditions of several global, national and local uncertainties is the ultimate test for the officials saddled with those responsibilities.

Perhaps that explains the reason for the failure of governments in the last sixteen years to successfully implement their budgets.

Even a two-time Head of State, Obasanjo, like Buhari, failed woefully to execute the eight budgets presented. Under Yar ’Adua and Jonathan annual budgets became a hollow ritual. The current 2015 budget is probably the worst in history; it was presented by a President who was too pre-

occupied with the election campaign to provide the leadership the nation required as the price of crude tumbled rapidly. National budget preparation can be likened to trying to sew buttons on amala.

As we enter into the year 2016, the global economic situation and trends are the least favorable that Nigeria had experienced since 19831988. Added to those are the domestic economic, social and political problems, which would have taxed the governments of the Federation – Federal, States and Local – to the limit without the global components of the basket of uncertainties.

One example will serve as metaphor for the socio/ political uncertainties which waylay the successful execution of the 2016 Budget.

Insurgencies, both political and religious threaten to make the political environment less conducive to rapid economic growth and development – without which there can be no job creation and reduction of u n e m p l o y m e n t .

Unemployment, as former President Obasanjo had told us, “is a time bomb.” That time bomb can go off any time. But, it will go off sooner if other factors now visible on the Nigerian landscape render job creation impossible. Boko

Haram, agitation for Biafra and, now, the killing of Shi’te Muslims pose combine threats to security of lives and property which can set back all the attempts to accelerate the economic development of the country.

However, the major threat to the success of execution of the 2016 Budget remains the price of crude oil. Despite all the promises by various governments, since 1980, to diversify the economy and reduce the nation’s reliance on crude oil exports for revenue, Nigeria still remains largely a mono-product economy depending on crude oil exports for its economic survival. For that reason alone, the place to start examining the 2016 Budget is to take a critical look at the trends – past, present and future of the global price of crude oil in relation to the 2016 Budget.

CRUDE PRICE FORECAST FOR 2016 First, a quick glance at the recent past is required in this regard. The first draft of the 2015 Budget, proposed in November 2014, was based on a benchmark of $78 per barrel.

Our analysts at VANGUARD announced that it was unrealistic. The benchmark was later reduced to $73 per bar rel. Still VANGUARD pronounced that figure unrealistic. Finally, the Federal Government and the

National Assembly agreed on $65 per barrel. This again was considered unachievable by our people. Pressed to the wall, it was clearly stated here that Nigeria will be lucky to average $50 per barrel in 2015. Today, as the price of crude slides downwards towards $30 per barrel, Nigerians can see why the forecast of the benchmark for 2016 is the central issue.

Everything else is secondary.

Unless we get the figure right, with narrow margin for error, the 2016 Budget, like others before it, cannot be successfully executed.

So the first and most vital question to ask is: how reliable is the “benchmark price $38 per barrel and the daily production estimate of 2.2 million barrels per day for 2016”? The honest answer is: not very. The reasons are not hard to discover; but a few will point to the dangers ahead – as early as January 2016, in fact. Among the variables likely to waylay the budget are the following: •global economic downturn •over-supply of crude oil •plummeting average crude price With the exception of the United States and some countries in •Continues on page 40

PAGE 40 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Only reckless governors have difficulty paying N18,000 minimum wage — Onovo At a time the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is agitating for a review of the National Minimum Act of 2010 that raised the minimum wage from N5,500 to N18,000, some state governors are insisting that they can no longer pay the minimum wage owing to the poor state of the economy.

Engr.

Martin Onovo, presidential candidate of the Na- tional Conscience Party (NCP) in the last general elections, bares his mind on the raging issue. Excerpts:

By Akoma Chinweoke

T

he claim by the Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State that the N18,000 Minimum Wage is not sustainable is illogical and vexatious. Only reckless state governors have difficulty paying wages.

Effective state governors have been paying as and when due.

Recently (after the 2015

general elections), Anambra State government announced a general increase in wages in its public service. The National Conscience Party [NCP] had promised during the 2015 campaigns for the general elections, to increase the minimum wage by reducing maximum wage while maintaining the size of the wage bill. This would have compressed the inequality index by bridging the wage gap in the public service. It would also have reduced the pressure for corruption and boosted public service productivity. It would also have promoted a national ambience of social justice. The increase in its public service wages announced by the Anambra State government is a confirmation of the very obvious feasibility of the campaign promise of the National Conscience Party.

Corruption, waste, abuse of office and inefficiency in

•Onovo governance are what we must check in governance. Some specific measures we can take to check these include: Establishment of effective controls for the benefits and allowances of political office holders, firm control of corruption in public office, elimination of wastes in public service and improvement of efficiency in public administration.

Reduced value We must note that Anambra State government announced a general increase in wages and did not have to reduce any wages to achieve the increase. With the devaluation of the Naira, the minimum wage has painfully lost about 20 percent of its value.

Therefore an immediate increase of 20 percent is justified to restore the value of the inadequate minimum wage. Since even the minimum wage is clearly inadequate when compared to the minimum cost of living, it has become necessary to increase it to the level of a wage sufficient to sustain an employee for a month. This can reduce the pressure for corruption and boost morale and productivity of public servants. State governments can afford a significant increase as confirmed by the Anambra State government. To

achieve same, the errant states may have to control the outrageous benefits of political officials, control corruption firmly, eliminate wastes in governance and improve efficiency in governance.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has rightly rejected the claim of the governor of Zamfara State, that the minimum wage is not sustainable. The NLC also called it a declaration of war against Nigerian workers.

We agree with the NLCs. We recommend an immediate increase of the current minimum wage by 85 percent to raise the level to the minimum standard required for the sustenance of an employee for one month and, thereby, reduce the pressure for corruption, boost social justice, increase morale and boost the productivity of the workforce.

The puzzle in the 2016 budget Continued from page 39

Europe, the global economic downturn experienced in 2015 is likely to persist throughout 2016 and might even get worse as China’s economy slows down to a crawl. The demand for crude is expected to be significantly lower than this year ’s – which is the worst year for Nigerian crude in decades. Crude exports this year averaged less than 2 million barrels a day; and, unless we have discovered new buyers, nothing suggests that demand will be higher in 2016.

Just as the Federal Government was putting finishing touches to the 2016 unnamed budget, the United States of America, USA, was turning the screws on global crude supply. The US Congress had passed a law and President Obama had signed it into law allowing American companies to export crude oil for the first time in 40 years. That means unknown quantities of US crude will soon flow into the global market. In addition, Iran, which had been largely shut out of the world market, is getting set to start shipping crude again. More crude oil glut is expected and the price of crude is expected to drop further.

Nigeria will be fortunate if the average for 2016 settles at $2530 per barrel. And if that happens the 2016 budget will suffer the same fate as the current one.

Remember; our analysts told the nation, last year, that the nation would be lucky to receive $50 per barrel in 2015. Once more, they strongly believe that $38 per barrel is unrealistic and the nation is in for another shock in 2016.

D O U B T F U L IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2016 BUDGET That Senator Udo Udoma is the Minister for Budget and

Planning is the most re-assuring thing about the 2016 Budget. The Minister comes into office after years as Chairman of UAC of Nigeria, UACN – once Nigeria’s largest conglomerate. With over twenty divisions in several sectors of the economy, he had years experience managing a diversified economic unit in which, above all, budgets are taken seriously and implementation is fully expected from division managers as well as everybody in the organization.

That experience was apparent when shortly after his assumption of office, the N7-8 trillion first announced as likely budget for 2016 by the Vice-President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, was trimmed down to N6.08tn. For a nation struggling and failing to meet revenue estimates of N4tn for 2015, economists were alarmed by the announcement in late October. While doubt persists about the nation’s ability to generate the revenue for 2016, the presence of an experienced hand on the wheel provides some hope that the defects might be corrected during implementation.

Given reservations regarding the revenue to expect from crude oil, it is difficult to assess the relative importance given to the critical sectors – Power, Works and Housing (N433.4bn), Education (N369.6bn), Defence (N294bn), Health (N221.7bn), Transport (N202bn), Interior/ Police (N145bn). If the price and volume of crude oil falls below the budget estimates, it is certain that none of the sectors will receive what had been appropriated for them on paper.

The real concern is about capital expenditure, especially the plan to borrow N1.8tn to finance infrastructure. With crude prices and volume exports likely to fall short of estimates, the projected deficit will

The real concern is about capital expenditure, especially the plan to borrow N1.8tn to finance infrastructure.

With crude prices and volume exports likely to fall short of estimates, the projected deficit will probably increase, the cost of servicing debt will proportionately increase and lenders will be wary about the prospects of default

probably increase, the cost of servicing debt will proportionately increase and lenders will be wary about the prospects of default.

Furthermore, the low price of crude is not likely to end in 2016.

Experts warn that it might last until 2018-19. Meanwhile, diversification has not taken place; efforts to increase revenue

from other sources will not yield results immediately and some, like VAT, might actually shrink as companies’ experience low sales nationwide. Proposed energy tariff increase might actually send some companies out of business. Clearly financing infrastructure with loans might not be the best approach since the most certain result is increase in the debt stock. Are we not repeating the mistake of 1984/5 when the price of crude went down and we thought it was a temporary set back which turned out to be the case?

EMPLOYMENT OF 500,000 GRADUATES AND CONSEQUENCES This is either an exceptional social programme or it is the greatest gimmick designed to fool Nigerians. Apart from the fact that it might be difficult to assemble 500,000 Nigerian graduates who would accept teaching as a career, the cost of the project is staggering. Bearing in mind that the choices we make have consequences, the first thing to do is to look at the cost of the programme.

Assuming a modest monthly salary/entitlements of fifty thousand naira per person, the wage bill comes to N300bn per annum. Meanwhile the total allocation for Education in the 2016 Budget is N369bn. Under which heading is the N300bn for the new teachers captured? Even if the remuneration package is only half of that, there is still N150bn to account for; otherwise the entire thing is spurious.

Left untouched are other matters arising out of this decision to employ 500,000. The important question now is: where is the money?

SILENCE ON FREE FOOD AND FREE MONTHLY SALARY Two items which had been on the front page of the

government’s agenda and which everybody expected would be addresses in the budget are: free food for school children and N5000 per month to be paid to 25 million unemployed Nigerians. Government has not provided an estimate for the free lunch, but our financial analysts recon it will add, at least, N250bn to the budget at N100 per day per pupil. But, the free salary programme would have added at least N1.5tn to the budget. Where is the N1.75tn tucked? Have they been dropped or shelved? Have they, very quickly become two more examples of politician’s promises which like “pie crusts are made to be broken”?

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 203).

THE VERDICT President Buhari, unlike Obasanjo, Yar ’Adua and Jonathan before him, did not name his budget. Most observers consider it expansionary. The government is proposing to spend more even as the nation currently earns less revenue from all sources than it did in the first quarter of 2014. Some others will call it taking a huge gamble. It can only be a stimulus budget if the funds allocated are available – as and when due. That is why the 2016 Budget just presented is a puzzle. It is difficult to fault it; yet, it is also difficult to be enthusiastic about it.

Commendation or condemnation, both still depend largely on the direction of the price of crude in 2016. It might work if the price stays above $38 and the volume is achieved. It will fail if the price of crude stays persistently below $38. It will become an unmitigated disaster if the price dives below $30.

The fear here is that the price of crude might fall below $30 by June 2016 or before. The question is: is there a contingency plan if it does? That is the vital question at the moment.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 41

Yuletide: Prices of food items, transportation fares skyrocket .As Naira hits 298 per dollar

BY UDEME CLEMENT

A

s Nigerians are celebrating this festive period, the prices of food items in the market are skyrocketing beyond the reach of many Nigerians, especially the low income earners and individuals depending on small scale businesses to provide for their families.

When Sunday Vanguard visited some markets in Lagos, it was observed that different parts of the markets were very scanty, notwithstanding the fact that food items were displayed at every corner of the markets. For example, at the popular Ketu market, which serves as a depot for fresh tomato and pepper coming into Lagos from the

North and other parts of the country, baskets of tomato were seen on display at high prices. A small size basket of tomato previously sold for N8.000, went for N15,000, while the bigger basket load of tomato sold for N25,000, instead of N15,000, small size tuber of yam increased from N300.00 to abut N700.00, while a basket of pepper increased from N7.000 to over N13,000. Others items with increase in prices include, palm oil, onion, vegetable oil, garri, turkey, chicken and fresh fish.

In some shops visited around Oshodi axis, it was observed that the price of rice per bag increased from, N8,500 to over N13,000, while beans still sold at normal price.

At Ido (Oyingbo) market, located around Yaba area of

Lagos, where crayfish and stockfish are usually sold in bags, the prices of the items increased rapidly by over 30 percent. Even pumpkin commonly used in many homes was also expensive, as most traders attributed the high cost of pumpkin to the festive season.

At Katangua market, where different types of second hand clothes are sold, the prices of clothes and textile materials were not so exorbitant like food items, but the number of buyers seen at the market were very few.

Sunday Vanguard also gathered that the exchange rate is still on the high side. For instance, a visit to some Bureau De Change (BDC ) outfits within the premises of Airport Hotel, Ikeja and Allen Avenue revealed

$2.1 bn arms scandal: EFCC files charges against ex-PDP Chair, Haliru Bello, son over N600m alleged diversion bigwigs for benefitting from the alleged loot.

BY SONI DANIEL

T

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed charges against a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Haliru Mohammed Bello, and his son, Abbah, for collecting N600 million from the embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.

The purpose for collecting the huge sum was not stated but the EFCC alleges the money might have been diverted from the public treasury for political purposes.

The anti-graft agency has approached an Abuja Federal judge to press charges against the

father and son.

It was gathered that the two men are likely to be docked on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Abbah Mohammed is alleged to have received N600m from the Office of the NSA (ONSA) in the name of Bam Properties but the reason for the transfer of the money to the company was not disclosed.

The EFCC has already arrested and arraigned many top officials and companies related to the previous administration for receiving large payments from the ONSA from the funds set aside for the procurement of arms to tackle Boko Haram.

The former NSA himself was charged along with many senior administration officials and PDP

Many of them have however been released on bail while others are yet to fulfill their bail conditions.

that the local currency has depreciated up to between N298 and N299 to a dollar.

Moreso, fuel scarcity, which started since October, 2015 is still lingering, as some filling stations were seen under lock and key, while the few selling, had long queues, causing heavy traffic on the roads.

In a chat with Sunday Vanguard in Lagos, the National President, Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Mallam Mikail attributed the hardship facing Nigerians to policy inconsistency and lack of proper economic planning by the government.

He said, “This is the first time the naira has devalued so much to almost N300 per dollar. That

By Lekan Billesanmi

U

ke community in Idemili council of Anambra State has presented its newly elected traditional ruler, Igwe Charles Agbala, to Governor Willie Obiano for certification.

Christmas: Enugu residents groan amid fuel, food prices hiketampering,product adulteration and

BY FRANCIS IGATA

R

esidents and motorists in Enugu State are wearing long faces barely a day after Christmas occasioned by the acute scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit,PMS,otherwise known as petrol which has drastically affected prices of stable food items sold across markets in the state.

The Department of Petroleum Resources,DPR,had a fortnight ago, in a bid to check the activities of independent petroleum marketers who engage in hoarding,meter

diversion, shut down 86 filing stations spread across the SouthEast.

At filling stations, located on Ogui Road,New Haven axis of Enugu metropolis,motorists purchased petrol at N150 as against the official price of N87 per liter.

Major filing stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, witnessed long queues, even as motorists revealed that they slept at the station in a desperate bid to buy at the N87.

is to show the level of disconnection in the economy.

Infact, even during the administration of Ibrahim Babangida, when the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was introduced, the situation was not as bad as what we have today.

The major challenge SAP faced was that government tried to deregulate everything at the same time, even when infrastructure was not well developed to support manufacturing and industrial development.

“Why is government saying they want to borrow more money to finance the budget? How long would we continue to borrow to accumulate debt instead of looking inward to diversify our economy for optimum productivity? For example, now, nothing is happening in the capital market anymore, instead of investing in the market, some people are withdrawing their investments, and the economy is experiencing huge investments outflow as a result of this. And government is not doing enough to salvage the situation”.

On why he thinks that government is not doing enough despite the policies, programmes and efforts they are putting in place to rejuvenate the economy, he said, “The policies are not consistent, and uncertainty in the system is alarming, making it seems like nothing is working, For instance, even the 2016 budget that government is talking about appears to be more of a propaganda than reality, because if you look at the level of unemployment and poverty in the land, you can quickly conclude that those in authority are not taking the right steps. Imagine a worker who earns N18.000, with a family of four, how will he cope with such small income, with the present economic situation in the country? Government should not even think of increasing fuel price or removing petrol subsidy, with this type of hardship in the country.”

New monarch vows to tackle underdevelopment, crises The monarch emerged from a keenly contested election that attracted delegates from all villages and quarters within the community.

He was consequently presented to the Chairman of the Idemili North Council, Mr Idemobi, by the Uke town union leadership, led by the President General, Emeka Enendu, who took him before the governor for formal recognition amidst cheers from his supporters, family and friends, at the Government House, Awka.

The Governor, represented by the Special Adviser on Chieftaincy and Town Union Matters, Chief Ikechukwu Onyeabo commended them for carrying out the selection process with limited rancor.

Page 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Dogara:

qualities in him as the House has since gone far with its legislative functions and even set record of legislation on December 10 when not fewer than 130 bills were presented for first reading. Today, over 300 bills have been introduced in the green chamber and are at various stages of legislation. The House is cleaning up Nigeria’s statute books as some of the nation’s extant laws are 100 years old.

Worth mentioning here is his rejection of N500 million offer to defect back to an opposition party.

Indeed, it takes more than enough courage for anyone to

Providing quality leadership

By Turaki Adamu Hassan

D

ECEMBER 26, the day after Christmas, is also the 48th birthday of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Born in 1967 in Tafawa Balewa Province of Bauchi State, Dogara rose from a very humble background in that rural community where Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa came from.

He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2007 from one of the most diverse constituencies in the country with Christians and Moslems, and many ethnic groups co-existing. Yet, within eight years, he has been able to win the confidence of all segments of the people whose lives have been touched by him.

Close associates and family members would say he never struggled for anything in life.

While he acknowledges God’s divine favour over his life since childhood, Dogara never took it for granted that this divine grace may abound.

It takes only a courageous person like Dogara who, even

though comes from a constituency that was a stronghold of the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and without the support of his governor, defected to a newly formed opposition political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Many friends and associates came down hard on him as a result of that singular, far-sighted decision.

However, he remained resolute knowing fully well that the era of change was beckoning. He would go on to record a landslide victory on March 28.

His election as Speaker was not surprising to those of us who are close to him.

Whether friends or foes, or even his worst critics would admit, he is an embodiment of leadership.

To him, public office is never to be used for personal elevation, or pre-emptive and

prebendal accumulation of wealth but a call to duty, to serve God and country.

Whether in public or private, I always see a man who is in pains. His angst is not personal because he is a contented man.

resist the temptation to be induced or to enrich oneself in a society where majority of the ruling class are in competition to amass wealth while the mass of the people are languishing in abject poverty and deprivation.

Gentle and peaceful to a fault but hard as steel, the Speaker is too generous; yet unassuming and exceptionally intelligent and a natural orator. For anyone who knows Dogara, these

•Hon. Yakubu Dogara He has got what it takes to live a comfortable life, but his pains stem from the fact that, despite being blessed with abundant natural and human resources, Nigeria, our beloved country, has not been able to provide basic social services to its citizens-as a result of which a vast population of the people is facing existential threat.

His dream is that sooner than later, a better Nigeria will

emerge where both the haves and the haves not will have a place that will accommodate them in the system.

The Speaker strongly believes that a system is evolving where the people will be the centre of governance and that democracy in Nigeria will soon be able to deliver its promises to the people.

Already, Nigerians have begun to see the immense leadership

things are easily discernible about his character-humility, intellect, courage and a calm spirit. These same qualities were said of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of blessed memory and today Dogara is following in his footprints.

To this young gentleman, a lawyer of high repute, erudite scholar, family man and a devote Christian, I say a happy 48th birthday and wish him many happy returns of the day.

*Hassan is Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to the Speaker.

Mr Speaker and the 8th House of Representatives

By Emman Ovuakporie and Johnbosco Agbakwuru

S

ome, as the saying goes, are born great, while others acquire greatness by dint of hard work. The Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara,is a typical example of the latter. With a humble background and respect for elders, Dogara has been able to eat and wine with elders, having washed his hands clean.

The Speaker, who represents Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, was born to Yakubu Ganawuri and Saratu Yakubu on December 26, 1967 He began his education in 1976 at Gwarangah Primary School in the then Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Upon graduation in 1982, he proceeded to the Bauchi Teachers’ College for his secondary education, and obtained a Grade II Teachers’ Certificate in 1987. In 1988, he went on to the University of Jos, Plateau State, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB Hons.) degree in 1992.

From 1992 to 1993, Dogara was a student at the Lagos campus of the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar in 1993. He later obtained a Masters (LLM) in International Commercial Law at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.[1] Dogara also attended a course on Managing and Leading Strategic Change in 2006, the Oxford University Course on Negotiation in 2013, and a course on Leadership in Crisis at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2014.

He first took up employment in April 1988 as a teacher at the ATBU Staff School in Bauchi.

In 1993, during the mandatory National Youth Service Corps, he served at NCCF, Akwa Ibom state. Upon completion of the NYSC programme in 1994, he went into private legal practice until 2005 when he was appointed Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Transport. He held this position until 2006, when he decided to contest to represent the Bogoro/Dass/TafawaBalewa constituency at the Federal House of Representatives. His bid proved successful and he has been a

member of the House since 2007.

He was the Chairman of two Committees between 2007 and 2011, the House Committee on Customs and Excise, and the House Services Committee.

During this period, he was also a member of the House committees on Judiciary, Capital Markets and Institutions, Foreign Affairs, Rural Development and Power, among others.

Though he may not be the best and he was not the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the position of Speaker, providence has placed him the first among equals in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly as his colleagues found him worthy and capable to steer the affairs of the House.

His election as Speaker was not a smooth sail, but he has weathered the storm with humility, determination, team work and dedication to duty and the fear of God. In few months in the saddle as the prefect of the class of 360 members, Dogara has has restored the dignity and respect of the House by ensuring the independence of the legislature.

He is the first Speaker, since 1999, to organise retreat in collaboration with the National Legislative Studies, NILS, for Committee Chairmen and their deputies. The retreat was geared at acquainting the committee heads with the rules, procedures, and methodology of running the affairs of committees.

The retreat was also aimed at providing an opportunity to exchange views on the role of Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen in strengthening House Committees and increasing their effectiveness towards achieving the objectives outlined for itself in the Legislative Agenda of the 8th House.

In his keynote address at the retreat, Dogara said an efficient and effective legislature depended on the quality of its Committees and that the importance of the legislature and legislative committees towards strengthening democratic governance in Nigeria could not be overemphasized.

“A strong Committee system is the hallmark of presidential as opposed to parliamentary system of government. This is

because in a presidential democracy separation-ofpowers is a central tenet. That is why US Congress has remained by far the strongest case of the use of parliamentary Committees,” the Speaker said.

“Committees have played a central part in its deliberation

and executive oversight.

The Committee system is an efficient way of dividing up the growing legislative workload, which strengthens the ability of the Legislature to oversee and scrutinize the government (Ministries, Departments and Agencies).

“This retreat is also expected to expose Committee leaders to the rudiments of processing bills and Resolutions of the House through the Committees, the intricacies of Committee work such as policy and project oversight, and how to conduct Public Hearings, etc.

The most critical aspect has to do with the way and

manner both Chairmen and Committee members comport and conduct themselves as they are expected to project a good image of the House, always.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015, PAGE 43

Oil workers to FG: Deregulate but don’t

sell Nigeria’s wealth to exploiters

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor As Nigeria inches towards full deregulation of the oil sector, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), FRANCIS JOHNSON, says its members are fully in support of the planned deregulation of the sector by the Federal Government. But he is quick to warn that the action should not result in handing over the common wealth of Nigeria to a few shylock businessmen out to further exploit Nigerians.

Excerpts:

D

EREGULATION of the petroleum industry means different things to different people – government, investors, marketers, etc. What does it mean to oil workers?

Deregulation is a universal economic concept that promotes free market enterprise. When the regulator relaxes regulation and permits market forces to determine the means of production and distribution of an economic product, deregulation is achieved.

While deregulation is desirable, it must be approached with caution and highest sense of good conscience. For us in the oil and gas industry, deregulation would have been a non-issue if the critical issues of legal, regulatory and fiscal reforms as posited in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) were addressed.

Today, we are talking about deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry as a single item whereas what is required is a complete overhaul of both operational and policy frameworks in the industry.

The laws currently in operation cannot support the demands of the sector, because it is in dire need of reformation.

The 1968 Petroleum Act is what the industry is currently surviving on. How can the country rely on an obsolete body of regulations and still demand efficiency from an industry that has been stretched beyond its elastic limit? Why would Nigerians be talking of deregulation at all if we had a functional products pipeline operating at a user-fee basis?

If the nation had taken the intervention of PENGASSAN seriously enough in 2001 after the submission of the White Paper report on Supply and Distribution of Petroleum Products headed by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, the country would not have the problems it is facing today.

The union, at the time, had called for a systematic review of all aspects of the supply and distribution of products, including regular turnaround maintenance, TAM, of the refineries.

Today, we are talking of shutting down the refineries for a year to carry out a comprehensive TAM. This is the action needed 15 years ago, while fuel importation lasts.

By now, the country would have achieved self sufficiency in local fuel production and thin out the subsidy margin.

Some people say deregulation is the answer to the perennial fuel scarcity.

Does PENGASSAN share this view?

Some say it is ‘the answer’ but we say it is only an answer.

Deregulation is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If we understand to that level, then part of the problem is solved.

Our stance has always been to put in place necessary structures that will enable and sustain the policy. When the sector has achieved full deregulation, there will even be a greater challenge than scarcity, namely consumer protection.

Post-deregulation, the first aspect of the policy that will be most felt is price liberalisation. That is the greater concern for us as a pressure group. It is not enough to deregulate.

What have we put in place to prevent collusion and predatory tendencies of operators? We do not have strong protection or cover for consumers’ in Nigeria.

See what we experience daily with service providers, in aviation, telecommunications, etc. We seem to be engrossed with the quest to deregulate the sector, but no one is paying attention to the public utilities, like the pipelines, jetties, depots and even refineries.

We seem to forget that the very reason for scarcity is the neglect and lack of maintenance culture with which public infrastructures were left unattended to for so long.

So, deregulation yes, but it’s just an aspect of addressing the myriads of problems confronting the sector.

Do you think the country is ripe for deregulation policy?

Same as what I said earlier. The unions are not against the policy in any way, rather deliberate steps should be taken to address weightier issues of employment, sectoral development, corruption, inefficiency and profitability for the Nigerian state.

In fact, the labour movement in Nigeria has been in the forefront of restructuring of the downstream sector for a long time.

Sometime ago, between 2000 and 2003, the Unions participated in the various interventionist committees set up by government to address the problems in the industry.

At a point, we proposed phased deregulation of the downstream sector to enable the Federal Government fix the ailing refineries, grant licenses to private refiners, stimulate investment drive, improve human capital capacity, institute legal and regulatory framework and a whole lot of institutional policy to engender sectoral development.

If the proposals were taken seriously, we definitely would not be where we are today 15 years after. So, we are not ready for full deregulation yet until those concerns are addressed, otherwise we shall be riding in the air.

Deregulation works better in a free market moderated by competition. With regulated fuel price of N87 per litre, how would the policy work with subsidy in place?

Deregulation and subsidy are two different regimes. No system ever works that way. It is either we deregulate or we subsidize. It can only be one of the two, and not both.

Subsidy is an intervention aimed at moderating volatility of prices at the pump. It became necessary

•Francis Johnson

The unions are not against the policy in any way, rather deliberate steps should be taken to address weightier issues of employment, sectoral development, corruption, inefficiency and profitability for the Nigerian state

to subsidize premium motor spirit, PMS and household kerosene, HHK, because these products were closest to Nigerians in terms of use.

However, there was a moratorium for the subsidy regime when the Petroleum Support Fund, PSF, commenced in 2006. It was dependent on other variables including periodic TAM on the refineries to boost local production up to the point of complete sufficiency.

But, that has not been done. So, at what point can we now say we are ready for deregulation?

Then, we must be very careful

with this overt capitalist approach of market forces determining everything in free enterprise, especially in a developing economy such as ours.

The regulatory agencies are not fully independent and inadequately funded, yet we desire to free the market to operators to feed on consumers? No! The union will not subscribe to that conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

The combined products supply from the country’s refineries cannot meet domestic demand. How would deregulation work under a products import regime?

The major challenge in the refineries is feedstock. Crude supply to the refineries must not only be systematic, but statutory.

The daily fuel consumption is between 30 and 32 million litres per day, with provision for strategic reserve. If capacity is boosted to refine 80% of the domestic demand, and work towards bringing on stream private refineries to complement the balance, why should we still bother about importation? Now, why I said earlier that we need to put up structures that will sustain the policy of deregulation?

Under a products import regime, government will only put in place a mechanism that monitors the price parity to prevent oligopolistic tendencies of operators.

There are strong arguments for and against deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry. What’s the way forward?

Straight away, the way forward is for government to show the will in eliminating inefficiencies and corruption in the sector by strengthening the regulatory agencies by establishing their independence for greater efficiency.

This is where the much anticipated passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is important. Like I said before, the Unions are not averse to deregulation as a policy, but it must

be approached taking cognizance of Nigeria’s socio-economic realities.

For deregulation to thrive, all regulatory issues and laws capable of frustrating its effectiveness must be removed. Don’t you think the absence of the PIB could pose a major problem? What do you think the government should do?

Absolutely! The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) remains the panacea for the myriads of problems in the industry. We have heard government say it will implement provisions of the Bill piecemeal in order of needs and priority.

We don’t know how that will play out. Our expectation is for the Executive arm to re-present the Bill to the National Assembly and take advantage of the majority of membership for accelerated passage. Graciously the Senate President has promised to work assiduously at passing the Bill.

Crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism are two issues capable of frustrating the deregulation policy. How do you think these problems can be resolved?

We empathise with NNPC Management on the negative impact and colossal loss to the nation caused by the menace of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, which have become a major dent on the national and business integrity.

These criminal incidences are major causes of incessant shut-in production, force majeure, massive divestment, environmental degradation, and unbearable cost of maintenance and repairs.

Apart from causing unimaginable economic/revenue losses to the Federation Account, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft continue to deter confidence in industry’s operators and players.

Refineries’ operational and functional effectiveness are truncated by pipeline sabotage.

There should be a review of pipeline installation techniques and the maintenance policy, regular surveillance by core experts to evaluate pipeline integrity and proffer necessary solutions, well-coordinated security network, strict enforcement of Pipeline Right of Way, and review of enabling legal instruments for sanctioning violators/defaulters.

Troubled pipeline spots should be clear of all obstructions to ensure effective monitoring. We demand creation of a specialized security agency for monitoring and securing pipelines. Such specialized agency’s offices should be strategically located in troubled areas.

Do you think oil workers’ interest would be adequately protected under deregulation?

That is why Labour associations exist. The Labour movement in Nigeria will support anything that will advance the development of the country just as we shall resist attempts to mortgage our common wealth and hand them over to shylocks under the guise of a free market enterprise.

The oil and gas industry in Nigeria is endowed with some of the finest professionals and operatives the world can boast of.

Our engineers, geophysics, chemists, humanists, environmentalists’ are the finest you can find anywhere around the globe. So, who is afraid of deregulation?

Our laws are clear on job protection and wealth creation along the value chain, so we are not losing sleep over the effective implementation of deregulation.

44 — S UNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, DECEMBER 27 , 2015

Sokari hails Enyimba ahead of Esperance Bosso takes over showdown El Kanemi

K

INGSLEY Sokari has praised Enyimba boss Felix Anyansi-Agwu for making his move to Tunisia to go through just as he looks forward to today’s showdown against Esperance, who he would have joined earlier this year. Sokari made a winning debut for new club CS Sfaxien last Wednesday after a day’s delay in the coming through of his transfer papers.

“I thank the Enyimba chairman, Chief Anyansi, who gave me the chance to play top-flight football in Nigeria,” said the enterprising midfielder, who has signed a three and half year contract.

“He played a great role in seeing me come to Sfax.

“I will miss the fans, coaches and players in Enyimba I will really miss them but I need to move to the next level.

“I wish everybody at Enyimba the best and I hope they win the CAF Champions League next year.”

Sokari is likely to face Esperance in Tunis on Sunday (today) in continuation of the Tunisian league.

The former Enyimba star was set to join Esperance soon after

F

ORMER Abia Warriors coach Ladan Bosso has been appointed new coach of Nigeria premier league side El Kanemi Warriors.

Bosso takes over from Kelechi Emeteole, who ensured the Maiduguri club were not relegated this past season after they finished 13th on the league table with 49 points from 38 matches.

Former Nigeria U20 coach Bosso, who was linked with a return to hometown club Niger Tornadoes, has previously handled Wikki Tourists and Kano Pillars.

•READY...Former Enyimba star, Kingsley Sokari in Esperance colours (l) ready to explode. the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand in June but the Tunis club failed to come through with the payment of

his transfer fee.

Esperance, who are still reeling from a 3-0 loss at league leaders Etoile du

Sahel, are third on the table with 27 points from 11 matches, a point behind second-placed CS Sfaxien.

Oscar penalty miss denies Hiddink debut victory

O

SCAR missed a late penalty to deny Guus Hiddink a winning start to his second spell in charge of Chelsea as Watford claimed a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The defending Premier League champions beat Sunderland 31 last weekend in their first game following the departure of Jose Mourinho - Hiddink had a watching brief from the stands as Steve Holland and Eddie Newton took charge of the first team - and looked set to be maintain that momentum when Diego Costa put them ahead.

However, Quique Sanchez Flores’ side were unperturbed

Mikel

continued from B/P and even before I have the ball in those games he is already making his run.

“He is a player who likes to exploit the space behind the defence and is a good finisher around the box. He is someone we need to watch out for,” Mikel told Chelsea’s website.

The Super Eagles midfielder who was in yesterday’s game backed Dutchman Guss Hiddink to revive the Blues flagging season, after he took over from Jose Mourinho.

“He is still the same man. He likes to get involved in training, have a bit of banter with the players but at the

and drew level before the break when Troy Deeney converted a cool penalty following a needless handball from Nemanja Matic.

Watford continued to look dangerous after the interval and

moved ahead in the 56th minute, Odion Ighalo setting a new club record by scoring in the fifth successive Premier League match.

The visitors were denied a historic away win when Costa

equalised before Oscar passed up the chance to secure all three points and successive Premier League wins for the first time this season for Chelsea when he sent his spot-kick over with 10 minutes remaining.

Angola head to S/Africa for Super Eagles Negras returned to camp yester- deemed himself satisfied with friendly day after a brief break to spend their success. Angola’s camp in

A

NGOLA’S locally-based na tional team will travel to South Africa today, 27 December, to begin a 15-day training camp ahead of the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Rwanda. Palancas

same time it is all serious business and that is what we need,” Mikel told the official Chelsea website.

“He is always like a father figure to the team, speaking to the players individually, putting an arm around them and getting feedback from the team on what we think problems are and then trying to fix them.

“He knows exactly what he wants to do and he did it last time he was here and I think it is going to go the same way.

He is going to demand a lot from the players, push everyone to the maximum in training so that when we get to the games we can perform well.”

time with family and loved ones over the Christmas period, having had a preparatory spell in Luanda.

“The start of work was scheduled to be in Lubango, southern Huila province, but it did not happen due to financial difficulties,” lamented coach Romeu Filemon, who nonetheless

South Africa will be held in Johannesburg. They have scheduled three practice/friendly matches, including one against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The 2016 CHAN will be held from January 16 to February 7.

Angola will face DR Congo, Ethiopia and Cameroon in Group B.

Van Gaal

Asked whether he was the man to motivate the United players, he said: “That is now the big issue.

“I have tried to do everything but the pressure shall be higher and higher with every match. That is the problem now.

“It is more difficult because I am also part of the four matches we have lost so people are looking at me and I have to deal with that, but more importantly the players have to deal with that because they are the ones who have to perform.”

continued from B/P up Marouane Fellaini, but his shot was tame and Stoke finished the game in relative comfort.

Van Gaal, who hit out at the media in midweek over reports he would be sacked, told reporters after the match that he could consider walking away.

“We have lost a fourth game, so we have to wait and see,” he said. “The club doesn’t have to fire or sack me — sometimes I do it by myself.”

•Bosso

Eto’o continued from B/P with Barcelona in his five years with the club, said Neymar, who is already fifth on Brazil’s all-time scoring chart, has only himself to blame if he doesn’t eventually reach the heights expected of him.

“Neymar has a lot of potential. After the era of Messi and Cristiano, surely he will be No. 1,” Eto’o told ESPN. “But he has to remember that it depends on him a lot. He must remember that he hast the talent and needs to train, train and train, because others do not have his talent.

“Neymar is only 24 years old, I am 10 years older than him, but he is a leader in Brazil.

“I think, with all he has experienced, the pressure, he may be able to give advice to a 35-year-old who plays with him.”

Eto’o, a three-time Champions League winner, was appointed manager of Turkish side Antalyaspor earlier in the month. The former Cameroon international spoke about the transition from player to coach.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015— PAGE 45

PAGE 46 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015

SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 27, 2015— PAGE 47

SUNDAY Vanguard, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Bosso takes over El Kanemi —p. 44

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS Stoke City B/mouth Aston Villa Chelsea Liverpool Man City Swansea Tottenham

2 0 1 2 1 4 1 3

Man U Crystal West Ham Watford Leicester Sunderland West Brom Nor. City

0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0

Van Gaal hints on Man United exit L

OUIS van Gaal suggested he could resign after Manchester United lost 2-0 at Stoke City, marking a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions.

United, who started captain Wayne Rooney on the bench at the Britannia Stadium, fell behind to a Bojan Krkic goal after a poor defensive header from Memphis Depay, and Marko Arnautovic added a second soon afterwards with a fierce strike following a free kick.

United had a chance to reduce the deficit when Rooney, who replaced Depay at the break, set

continues on page 44

•Van Gaal

Mikel hails Ighalo’s scoring spree O

DION Ighalo scored his 13th goal of the season as Watford drew with Chelsea 2-2 at Stamford Bridge and John Obi Mikel was quick to praise Ighalo scoring form.

“I am not surprised Odion Ighalo is doing what he is doing. I have chatted with him and played with him in the national team and I can see the talent he has,

continues on page 44

Sokari hails Enyimba ahead of Esperance showdown —P.44

•UNSTOPPABLE . . . Chelsea’s Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (L) vies with Watford’s Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo during their English Premier League match yesterday at Stamford Bridge in London. Photo: AFP

Eto’o tips Neymar to beat Messi, Ronaldo •World's Best Player

•Mikel

CROSS WORD PUZZLE DOWN ACROSS 1. Sample (5) 1. Governor of Sokoto 2. Niger state town (4) State (8) 3. Observe (5) 5. Assistant (4) 4. Lecture (6) 7. Praise (5) 5. Everyone (3) 8. Upright (4) 6. Use (6) 9. Lantern (4) 10. Inquires (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 12. Carpet (3) 14. Colour (6) 15. Exclamation (2) 15. Resistance unit (3) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 17. Coax (4) 18. Agent (3) 19. Rollicked (6) 20. Glitters (6) 21. Hatchet (3) 24. Forward (5) 22. Satisfied (4) 25. Nigerian state (6) 23. Nigerian state (3) 27. Boring tool (3) 26. Cry of derision (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 27 . African country (6) 31. Perform (2) 28. Endure (4) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 29. Child (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 30. Spoke (6) 36. Vow (4) 31. Adorn (5) 38. Musical quality (4) 33. Baking chambers 39. Inclination (5) (5) 40. Eager (4) 35. Asterisk (4) 41. Damages (8) 37. Possessed (3)

S

AMUEL Eto’o has guaranteed that Brazil and Barcelona superstar Neymar will become the world’s best player after Barca teammate Lionel Messi

•Neymar

See solution on page 5

•Messi

•Ronaldo

and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo relinquish the title.

Neymar has scored 70 goals in 134 matches since joining Barcelona from Santos in the summer of 2013. The 23year-old Brazil captain was joint-leading scorer in last season’s Champions League which Barcelona won, and has been named a finalist for the coveted Ballon d’Or award given to the game’s best player each year.

Eto’o, who won two Champions League titles continues on page 44

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