Flood sacks mortuary - Attendants pile corpses on roof top

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To stop Boko Haram, Shehu wants action on oil exploration along Chad Basin

BY NDAHI MARAMA

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O end the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State and other states in the North, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubukar Umar Garbai Ibn ElKanemi, wants the Federal Government to expedite action on oil exploration along the Lake Chad Basin; and job creation, while Borno elders will continue to hold quarterly meeting at the palace until peace is restored.

The monarch spoke, yesterday, at his Maiduguri palace while addressing traditional and religious leaders on how to ensure “peace, unity and security” of life and property amid the Boko Haram insurgency in the state.

He said the Boko Haram insurgency could be overcome with intensive “prayers and fasting,” while the Federal Government expedites action in the exploration of oil in the Chad Basin areas, so that more jobs could be created for the unemployed youths roaming the streets.

Speaking on the roles of traditional and religious leaders to overcome security challenges, El-Kanemi said: “Members of the Borno Emirate Council (BOEC) have resolved that elders along with their religious and traditional rulers will be holding a quarterly meeting at the palace. And such meeting is to fashion out strategies and means of ending the incessant attacks, bombings and killings of innocent citizens by the Boko Haram sect members. The meeting is however not enough to end this insurgency that has lasted for over three years. Government at the federal and state levels should intervene and contribute their quota by expediting action on the Chad Basin oil explorations and job creation

in the North-East sub-region of the country.”

He said one of the major reasons that gave rise to the Boko Haram insurgency has been ‘poverty and massive unemployment among youths, stating that the idle minds of the youths had created the devil’s workshops to launch incessant attacks and killings of innocent citizens in the state and some parts of the North.

He however noted that the people, irrespective of their religious and political affiliations, should continue with their prayers and fasting until the security challenges are collectively overcome.

Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko (left) and Ooni Of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade,Olubuse II, during the governor’s courtesy visit to the Ooni in Ile-Ife, Osun State yesterday

Flood washes away corpses from govt hospital Continued from page 1

health institution.

Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Otumara, confirmed, yesterday, that several other government hospitals were affected by the flood, including the one in Patani, but said he had not received any report concerning the movement of corpses.

However, coordinator of the Rural Health Africa Initiative, RAHI, a non-governmental organization, which is on ground, catering for the victims of the flood in Patani and surrounding communities, Dr. C h r i s Ekiyor, told Sunday Vanguard, “We saw corpses from the morgue of the Patani hospital affected by the flood floating on the waters, some were standing leg deep in the flood, and others in different awkward position”.

He added, “This was at the initial stage of the flood, but

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I must commend the mortuary attendant and other officials of the hospital; they understood the effect of the corpses that were washed away by the flood from the morgue, what I saw is not a mortuary, but they were embalming corpses there. They salvaged the corpses from the flood and loaded them up on an overthe –roof platform”.

Ekiyor, who spoke at the RAHI Relief Camp for Flood Victims, situated at New Town, Patani, along the East-West Road, continued: “My concern, among other things, is that there are many shallow graves in this area, and, besides drowned animals like dogs and goats, other dead bodies might have been dug up by the rampaging flood.

“Some of the villagers have not only been fishing in this contaminated body of water, but also cooking with it. It was not until we started educating them on the dangers of what they were doing that they stopped, because they took the floodwater as part of their normal river and were washing with it, fishing inside, bathing and cooking with it”.

The RAHI coordinator pointed out that if not that the mortuary attendant in Patani hospital acted quickly, the floating corpses from the morgue would have been decomposing by now and formed part of the mass of the floodwater that the people were cooking and bathing with.

“This is not a story, RAHI witnessed it, we have been here for more 22 days, there is no other group attending to the health of the victims of the disaster in this area, but us.

We also know the kind of cases that the patients are presenting; there are more than 3,000 flood victims in our camp. We feed them and attend to their health

problems.

Commissioner Otumara, who opined that there might not be an epidemic because of the measures the state government had put in place, said, “Many government hospitals in Patani, Bomadi, Ogriagbane and other communities were affected by the flood, but we are concerned, first and foremost, by the safety of the people. So, we moved them to government relief camps, there are about 20 of them, where doctors, nurses and other health officials attend to them”.

Functional morgue Specifically on the General Hospital, Patani, he said, “The Ministry of Health is not aware of the development you are talking about. I am not even sure the hospital there has a mortuary”.

Told by Sunday Vanguard that there was a functional morgue in the hospital and the corpses were embalmed and kept there, he said, “Well, no official report was made to the ministry”.

A source hinted our reporter, “The Patani hospital is an old structure and the way flood dealt with the hospital, the health institution is likely to cave in if any attempt is made to use it without major reconstruction. And that will mean that Patani may not have General Hospital for sometime”.

The health commissioner admitted that because of the cut-off of the East-West Road by flood and submerging of the Patani hospital, the state government did not open a relief camp in Patani, but it was collaborating with RAHI in the treatment of victims, as the Ministry of Health had sent drugs to the relief camp run by the NGO. He said the government ensured that there was proper sanitation and handling of health problems at the 20 relief

camps and with the measure of success achieved, he remained optimistic that there might not be an epidemic.

Besides, Otumara said it was initially rowdy in the camps because of the sheer population, but the ministry had been able to combat a lot of diseases by immunizing the children and administering polio vaccination.

The commissioner also said that public health educators from the Ministry of Health had been drafted to affected communities to carry out enlightenment and educate the people on the correct practices to adopt in a situation like the one at hand.

“For instance, people were defecating inside the floodwater but they have stopped it following the enlightenment campaign of the ministry”, he added.

“There is a standing instruction in the camps that if anybody coughs and notices blood, he should report to the health officials, but if the person opts to hide it, anybody who observed it should alert the health personnel so that they will handle it.

“We are also conducing general screening and making plans to handle cases of tuberculosis and cholera in the event that there is an outbreak. We have already ordered for cholera vaccines and like I said, basic hygiene is being observed in the 20 camps because we know that is what will solve the problem” Otumara said that all treatment carried out in the relief camps were free of charge and, since the governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, had set up a PostFlood Committee, he was sure government would do more and committee would recommend other ways of assisting the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.

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Pillar Oil, Aginighan donate to flood victims

BY JIMITOTA ONAYUME

ILLAR Oil Limited donated relief materials worth millions of naira to flood victims at Camp 1 (Utagba Ogbe Technical School relocated to Kwale Stadium), Camp 2 (Adege Street, Umusadege) and Igbuku in Delta State. Items distributed include mattress foams, bags of rice, garri, gallons of cooking oil (Palm oil), cartons of soaps, detergents, buckets, spoons, plates, waste bins and slippers.

According to Mr Humphrery Ijomoh, who presented the relief material on behalf of Pillar Oil to the victims,

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L-R: Mr Humphery Ijomoh, representative of Pillar Oil; Mr. Israel Ovekaunye, Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC); and Mr Chukwuka Nwadigbo (the Regent of Igbuku); during the presentation of relief materials by Pillar Oil Ltd to flood victims in Utagba Ogbe Technical School relocated to Kwale Stadium), Camp 2 (Adege Street, Umusadege) and Igbuku Communities in Delta State.

it was the company ’s own way of alleviating their suffering and also part of its social corporate responsibility to the society.

Mr Dan Ojugbo and other representatives of Delta State government, who received the items on behalf of the victims, thanked the company for the kind gesture.

Also at Camp 2 (Beneku), materials were received by representatives of Delta State government and community leaders who said there were very grateful to the oil firm.

Former Acting Managing director, Niger Delta Development Commis-

sion, NDDC, Pastor Power Aginighan, has donated relief materials to victims of the flood disaster in the three senatorial districts of Delta state.

Aginighan, who spoke after the donation, commiserated with the victims. He further enjoined public spirited individuals and agencies to identify with them.

“Today, I join all men of goodwill to commiserate with all the victims of the unprecedented flood that has ravaged our nation.

I exhort all of them not to despair but to trust in God for protection and provision.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 7

Delta flood: Officials warned against relief materials diversion

BY FESTUS AHON Ughelli

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A T I O N A L President of the Anglican Adams Preaching Society, AAPS, Evangelist Francis Usenu, has warned government officials and others entrusted with the management of relief materials donated to flood victims in Delta State against diversion of the items.

Usenu, who spoke shortly after he presented food and other relief materials on behalf of the AAPS to 13 flood victims camps across the state, commended the state government for not paying deaf ears to the plight of the displaced persons.

He urged the flood victims to give their lives to Christ, noting that the end time would be much more difficult than the travails they were going through as a result of

the flood. He told the affected persons not to see their present predicament as the end of life.

Similarly, City of Liberty International Church, Sedco, Udu Local Government Area, donated medical materials and drugs worth thousands of naira to flood victims at camp settlements in Ughelli North and South Local Government Areas of the State.

Presenting the items at the medical unit of the camps, the team leader, Pastor Sunny Aruwayo said the donation was part of the church contribution towards arresting emergency situations that could arise in the camps. Meanwhile, President General of Oviri-Olomu community, Ughelli South Local Government Area, Mr Simon Ebrobota yesterday appealed to the state government to come to

the aid of flood displaced victims in the community. Ebrobota,

who spoke yesterday at the camp set up by the community for the

displaced persons after conducting journalists round some flooded

areas in the community, described the flood as highly devastating.

Fayemi, Ihedioha hail Cardinal Onaiyekan

BY BRIDGET AMATA

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kiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has congratulated the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, the Most Reverend John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, on his elevation to the position of Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. Fayemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, described Onaiyekan’s elevation as a boost to Nigeria’s image in the international community.

The elevation, the governor added, has lifted Nigeria in the realm of international religious diplomacy and quest for understanding among the great religions of the world.

He noted that O n a i y e k a n ’ s appointment as a

Cardinal is welldeserved given his dedication to duty and his diligent service in the Roman Catholic Church spanning over 40 years.

The governor said the appointment has proved that Nigeria has men and women of integrity who can be entrusted with leadership positions locally and globally.

Fayemi urged Onaiyekan to use his new position as a Cardinal in the Catholic Mission to rededicate himself to the service of God and humanity.

Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, also, yesterday, expressed delight at the elevation of Onaiyekan to the position of Cardinal. The deputy speaker, in a statement by his media aide, Oke

Epia, extended hearty congratulations to the new Cardinal, describing his promotion as a reward for hard work, integrity and piety as well as a further confirmation of his peaceful nature and excellence of spirit.

He described Onaiyekan’s new papal status as a blessing to the country and an inspiration to all Nigerians to always seek to attain the best in their endeavours while pursuing peace and good neighbourliness with all men.

Gospel singer, Patty Obasi, dies of kidney failure

BY TONY EDIKE

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enowned gospel singer, Patty Obasi, died on Friday after battling with a critical ailment for over one year.

His two kidneys were said to have failed and was recommended for a transplant operation in India but could not embark on the operation

owing to lack of fund.

Obasi, whose popular album Nwa Mammy Water, shot him to limelight, died at his Enugu residence in the early hours of Friday after he reportedly slipped into unconsciousness.

Obasi was down with kidney failure since last year and his doctor said he needed not less than N10 million to transplant his two failed kidneys in India.

One of his sisters, who confirmed his demise on telephone, said Obasi gave up the ghost after the prolonged ailment without undergoing the recommended kidney transplant.

She could not say if any assistance finally came the way of the popular gospel artiste who had cried out to members of the public, the government and political office holders for financial assistance to enable him undertake the kidney transplant.

Radio One returns

BY BRIDGET AMATA

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adio One, the mother of all radio stations in the country, is back on the airwaves.

The Director of Lagos Operations of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN}, Alhaji Bola Agboola, who made this known in a statement in Lagos, said Radio One was the first radio station to be established in the country.

According to him, it began broadcasting in 1933 but was officially inaugurated in 1935.

Agboola said the return of the station would witness news at its best with investigative reporting and quality programming.

PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Man, 4 children die after poisoned corn meal in Enugu

BY TONY EDIKE MAN identified as Mr. Charles Nnadi and his four children have been confirmed dead at Mbu Apochi community in Isiuzo local government area of Enugu State after taking a corn and cassava meal believed to have been poisoned.

The incident caused panic among residents of the community while members of the Nnadi family were thrown into mourning.

Sources said that Nnadi and six children became sick and unconscious after eating the mixture of cassava and corn flour and were rushed to St. Mark’s Hospital, EhaAmufu by sympathizers

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but the family head and two of his children died few minutes later.

Following their death, four other members of the family, who were admitted along with them, were transferred to a tradomedical hospital at Enugu-Ezike, Igbo Eze North local government where two of the children later gave up the ghost.

The remaining two are now lying critically at the hospital and their condition is said to be precarious.

Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the death of the five persons in Enugu, yesterday, said that the operatives of the state command had already began full scale investiga-

tions with a view to unraveling the mystery and circumstances surrounding the alleged incident of food poisoning.

Meanwhile, some sympathizers and relations of the deceased persons have described the incident as tragic and shocking, urging law-enforcement agencies to ensure proper investigation of the matter to determine whether the food poisoning was masterminded by someone.

Such investigation, they said, was necessary to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book, lamenting that such mysterious deaths had become very rampant within Nsukka area in recent times.

TOP: From left: Mr. Dauda Esu; Timothy A. Anjide; Chief Charles Edosomwan (SAN); Chief Uhembe; and Hon Vincent Isiatu; who represented Alhaji Aliyu Akure Doma, a former Governor of Nasarawa State; during Edosomwan’s visit to the Oba of Benin, yesterday. BELOW: Edosomwan and wife during the visit.

Housewife: I contracted STD from my husband band always accused her Itori, Abeokuta, Ogun

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA & OLUWATOBILOBA ADEYEMI RS. Olushola Gbediga alleged that her husband, Mr. Mathew Gbediga, afflicted her with sexually transmitted disease ( STD). Before then, the woman said the husband kept away the STD from her for three months.

Olushola, who dragged her husband before an Agege customary court, claimed her husband was promiscuous to the extent that he was crazy about anything in skirt.

The woman claimed that her pastor was aware that her husband had STD, and he had been treating it for him.

She added that her hus-

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of flirting, despite the fact that he was the one that afflicted her with the disease.

Mathew denied the allegation, saying it was his mechanic that told him his wife was dating someone, but he did not believe him until she started complaining that her vagina discharge was smelling badly. ”I was surprised to be told that I had STD, when l went for malaria treatment; so I told my wife and the pastor, but to my surprise my wife did not go for the test, and that made her to conclude that l contacted the disease from her”.

The husband claimed that his wife lied to him that she was going to Agege only for him to discover that she went to

State.He therefore pleaded that the court should not dissolve the marriage because he still loved his wife dearly.

Meanwhile, the court president Mr. Emmanuel Shokunle adjourned the case till November 26 for further hearing.

Warning to wife ‘beaters’: Man to spend 14 days in Kirikiri

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA & OLUWATOBILOBA ADEYEMI FTER being warned to maintain absolute peace, Mr. Ibikunle Oluwadamilare went ahead to beat his wife, Mrs. Adesuwa Oluwadami-

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NPDC/SEPLAT JV Promotes Academic Excellence EPLAT Petroleum Development Company Limited, one of the foremost independent oil and gas companies in Nigeria, operator of the NPDC/SEPLAT JV assets, OML 4, 38 &41 has announced the commencement of another landmark social programme, SEPL AT PEARLs Quiz, aimed at promoting academic excellence in secondary schools in Edo and Delta States.

The education initiative comes barely five

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months after the implementation of the JV sight restoration project, “Eye Can See”. It is targeted at students in public and private secondary schools in the company’s states of operation.

The programme, provided by Seplat and her joint venture partner, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), is tagged Seplat PEARLs Quiz competition and it is expected to stimulate healthy competition among schools in the designated area, encourage

learning and reward outstanding academic performance.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Austin Avuru, said as a socially conscious corporate citizen, NPDC/ SEPLAT JV has continually demonstrated firm commitment to a long term infrastructural development of her host communities, as well as, to growing the human capital and intellectual aptitude of the people in these areas.

lare, mercilessly.

This, according to the judge, amounted to the contempt of court. He ordered that lbikunle be remanded in Kirikiri Prison for 14 days.

Adesuwa had dragged the husband before an Agege Grade A Customary Court over lack of care and constant beating.

She said that Ibikunle came to drop her children with her claiming that his pastor told him that one of the children was illegitimate, and that the child would die.

The petitioner also informed the court that her husband threatened to pour petrol on her and she ran away, adding that it was her husband’s friend who helped her. ”My husband started accusing the man (friend) of being my boy friend, and this led to a serious fight between them, and my husband running from the man”.

Adesuwa claimed that her husband later turned to her and descended heavily on her with a met-

al rod which affected her legs.

In his submission, Ibikunle said he had seen the man before in her shop several times, and that she had the guts of bringing the man to his house.

When asked by the president of the court, Mr. Emmanuel Shokunle, if he was fond of beating his wife, he responded in the

affirmative, saying he inflicted injuries on her legs. This prompted the court to warn the couple to keep the peace until the determination of the case. On their return to the court, however, the court established another attack on the wife by the husband. It was on the grounds of the attack that the court sent Ibikunle to prison.

Bank officials face legal action over alleged illegal account

BY CALEB AYANSINA PRIVATE company, Citi Stride Ltd, has threatened to institute legal action against a bank and its officials should it fail to give full disclosure of how an alleged illegal account was opened in its name.

The company also demanded the closure of the account, as well as N100 million damages.

Sunday Vanguard investigation showed that sometime in September 2011, the bank officials at

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Mararaba branch, Nasarawa State, in collaboration with an individual, allegedly opened an account in the name of the company (Citi Stride Ltd), without recourse to the norm of corporate account opening.

The Managing Director of the company, Prince Omonigho Sadjere, said the individual was neither a stakeholder or director in his company, but he maintained and ran account number 1200964734 in his company’s name.

SUNDAY

From left: Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer First City Monument Bank, Mr. Ladi Balogun, Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan and Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, at the finals of the 12th Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis sponsored by FCMB in Lagos yesterday.

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012,

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (right), Chief Lekan Are (left) and Justice Nurudeen Adekola, former Chief Judge of Oyo State, at a Sallah banquet organised by the state government in Ibadan yesterday.

Gov Suntai flown to Germany

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE & CHRIS OCHAYI NJURED Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai was yesterday flown to Germany from Abuja.

The governor was moved out of the National Hospital, Abuja, where he was receiving treatment at about 3:30 p.m.

Our correspondents, who monitored the movement, gathered that the governor was accompanied by security men and some top politicians from Taraba and were received at the local wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport by some sympathisers who had gone earlier to bid him fare well.

According to a FAAN official who spoke to our corespondents, the governor, on arrival at the airport, was immediate-

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ly taken to a standby air ambulance which took off at about 4 p.m. to an undisclosed Germany hospital for ‘’intensive treatment.”

The governor escaped death Thursday evening after a plane he was flying crashed near the Nigerian National Patrolmen Corporation, NNPC, Depot in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

The governor, his aidede-camp and chief security officer, who were

also in the plane that took off from Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, and three others, were seriously injured.

The plane, a Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ, which crashed at about 7.45 p.m; is owned by the state government.

The governor, who was brought in unconscious, was first taken to Yola Specialist Hospital for treatment, but was later moved to the betterequipped Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

Hospital sources said the governor sustained an injury on his arm, the head and abdomen.

Suntai was flown from Yola at about 12.25pm Friday to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, in an air ambulance from where he was driven in an ambulance to the National Hospital.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who visited the injured governor on Friday afternoon at the National Hospital, said Suntai was in stable condition.

.... I am not Taraba acting gov — Deputy gov M EANWHILE, the state deputy governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, yesterday, said he had not been sworn-in as acting governor as he remained the deputy governor.

Umar, who stated this

at Government House, Jalingo while answering questions from journalists, said Suntai was responding to treatment.

“I remain the deputy governor of Taraba State.

I am not acting. I can’t be sworn-in as acting

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governor because my boss is still alive”.

The deputy governor also said he was not attacked by thugs on the evening his boss was involved in the crash as reported by some newspapers.

Edo poll returned the sanctity of the ballot — Research Center

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM HE Justice Research Center has hailed the conduct of the July 14, 2012 governorship election in Edo State, describing the out come of the election as a solid reflection of the will of the people of the state.

In a statement on the re-election of Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria, the organisation said the outcome of the election had helped in the process of institutionalising the sanctity of the electoral ballot in Nigeria.

The statement signed by the chairman of the Centre, Mr. Inwalomhe Donald, noted that “unlike in Nigeria ’s previous elections, particularly the pre-2011 elections where dead voters and votes

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held sway, the Edo State election voters and votes were not robotically created.

“Oshiomhole polled 477, 488 votes to win second term , the Edo election is demographically and scientifically incontestable. It also passed the litmus test of common sense.”

The statement however regretted the “refusal of the losers of the election to accept defeat even when the facts were clear and credible, describing it as unhealthy for the democratic process.

“Today, for reasons of parochial and material interests, defeated politicians, their slaves and others have refused to adopt the natural and universal best parameters for determining credible polls and their results,” it stated.

Gowon hits Achebe on civil war, says: He wrote out of ignorance

BY WOLE MOSADOMI AR time Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has criticized renowned author, Professor Chinua Achebe, over his new book on the Nigerian civil war, saying he{Achebe }does not know the issue he was writing about.

Gowon said he was ready to face the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague on the

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matter if necessary.

“What role did Achebe play in the secessionist plans? Achebe must have been outside the country during the war and probably did not know what happened during the period otherwise he would not have written on what he was not sure of “, he remarked.

The erstwhile Nigerian leader, who was answering questions from journalists courtesy, visit to Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu at the Pres-

idential Lodge, Minna, Niger state, yesterday, said Achebe must have been talking out of ignorance, adding that he and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo had no regrets over their roles in the civil war, pointing out that if there was no secession, there would not have been civil war.

“In fact , if there was no secession by the south eastern part of the country, there would have been no civil war because right from the beginning of the crises, the war

would have been averted if not for the secession . It was something I believed we could have stopped,” he stressed.

Gowon also debunked the claim by the author that his administration embarked on the mass killing of Igbo, adding that the federal troops did not also use hunger as a weapon to dislodge the dissidents.

“It was the Igbo that objected to the creation of corridor for movements of medical aid and food supplies to the civilian

population at the period; on this, I am ready to face the International Criminal Court of Justice at the Hague for prosecution over the role played by me during the war and, fortunately, some Nigerians are still alive to bear witness to the roles played by both the leadership of the secessionist group and the then Federal Military Government under my leadership, “the war-time leader stated.

He also recalled that during the war, a ship named “Josina” and

owned by the secessionist group, which they claimed was carrying agricultural implements, was captured by federal troops and it was subjected to a thorough search and the cargo turned out to be a collection of arms and ammunition.

Gowon, who was in Minna for a 2-day prayer organized by Nigeria Prays, a group he leads, said that the massive deaths recorded by the Igbo during the civil war was caused by their own propaganda machine.

PAGE 10 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

MAILBAG

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

Nigerian banks and their staff Dear Sir,

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HE relationship between the banks and their staff could be likened to that of father and his son. A son is supposed to follow his fathers advice and instructions religiously for his own good and that of the entire family. Unlike the father and son, banks are not biologically related with their staff but they are being employed to work and serve the customers with a view to making profit.

Consequent upon that, banks and their workforce are legally bound to protect the interest of their customers.

Under this circumstance and in line with banking ethics every staff is supposed to complete oath of secrecy form every year. The essence of this is to make sure that all aspects of their customers transactions with the bank are kept secret from the public. The scenario helps to create a conducive atmosphere for a smooth banking transaction between the two parties, as customers' confidence is boosted the more once they know that their interest is protected.

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he spate of bank robbery in the country come into question as to whether banks observe the relevant protocols before employing their staff.

Bank robbery cannot happen just like that, for there is no smoke without fire.

Banks need to be fortified in this

area as no bank robbery is unconnected with a divulge of information from an insider. Banks should fortify themselves against this phenomenon by recruiting unquestionable people of characters in their outfit. They should insist that their employees, both new and old get reference from persons of good repute. And these

referees should be invited for interview.

They .should lay more emphasis on this than on entry qualification, since no graduate, no matter his or her discipline can just come into the bank and start working without being guided.

Banks should also encourage their

staff to enrol with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, which is the body that insist on the good conduct of their members.

Nkemakolam Gabriel (retired banker) 08072257360 Port Harcourt

Appeal to JTF commander on Amukpe, Okurighwe/ Gammon bridge road Dear Sir,

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E wish to thank the Commander and member of the Joint Task Force (JTF) for sanitizing and stopping the incessant robbery cases along the Oghara, Sapele, Warri express road. Before the arrival of the JTF on the road, it was a harrowing and bitter experience for motorists who ply the road. Hoodlums and robbers had field days subjecting the commuters to brutality and robbery.

The only snag and ugly situation currently is the brazen manner with your men (soldiers) at the Amukpe and Okurighwe/Gammon bridge check points are visiting suffering and agony on the road users.

Nearly every day, especially at the Okurighwe/Gammon bridge military

check point, the soldiers create artificial and unwarranted traffic holdups that lead to up to hours and the burning of the Nigeria’s expensive fuel, heating up of the vehicle engines and sometimes a breakdown of the

vehicles. It is also observed that they derive sadistic pleasure from seeing the commuters in agony as sometimes you witness frenzied and pent up angered motorists try to outwit themselves.

Sir, it is debatable whether these your men (soldiers) have conscience or not because they are capable of creating this artificial hold up from morning and mostly early evening till late in the midnight and on top of the dilapidated Gammon bridge which could collapse because of the weight of hundreds of vehicles

on the bridge. And because your men are soldiers and fully armed, nobody dares correct them. As I stated earlier at the beginning of the letter, your men along Sapele/ Warri express road are doing wonderfully well hence we are calling on you to stop those at Amukpe, Okurighwe/Gammon bridge from destroying the good name of the JTF. There is no excuse of hollow-chasing of robbers, kidnappers and others that can lead to subjecting road users to humiliation, degradation, intimidation, brutalization and man’s inhumanity to man as demonstrated by your men.

John Odeh, writes from Benin City, Edo State

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 11

Electricity in Nigeria: A disturbing dimension dred and sixteen years.

This revelation renders absurd, the charge that Nigerians are impatient about development and some level of improvement in their daily lives.

Could it then be true that official deceit more than anything else, is our real dilemma concerning electricity? As we shall show shortly, a new trend in the disposition of elected office holders to the activities of the Power holding

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PHCN disconnected power supply to the Government House over repeatedly demanded but unpaid electricity bills.

While there is nothing wrong in prodding PHCN to be proactive, to assault their staff in the process leaves the nation not just in the dark but indeed in the jungle.

Since no law permits government officials to manhandle fellow citizens, the above reports ought to draw attention to no less than 2 important issues. The first is the continued retention of immunity clause in our constitution which stops the common man from suing “Area-Boy ” governors who unduly inflict pain on the less privileged. Does the immunity clause empower elected executives to take the laws into their own hands and abridge the rule of law? The second issue is the vexed subject of State Police.

State Governors in Nigeria only remember that they have no powers over the Police when they are accused of not tackling insecurity in their states.

They don’t tell us why in spite of their acclaimed disability, they are always able to use the same federal police to harass their real or imaginary opponents. Can anyone imagine what would have happened to the PHCN officials in Sokoto if the Governor had what is called State Police?

that war “for unity ” fought even on the graves of other innocent children who were deliberately starved to death.

So, what is this Nigeria that General Gowon fought to keep one? For whom did he fight? The idea of a “One Nigeria” seems loaded with possibilities. Let me make a confession: I do not mind one Nigeria. I love the idea of a great and vibrant multi-ethnic nation interfusing the cross-current energies of all its parts to form a colorful and powerful whole. This was the dream and the

number of weeks of Achebe’s memoir for which Achebe has suffered contumely from certain parts demonstrate the broad divisions and the fault lines that continue to determine and characterize Nigeria.

There’s no real unity of insight that conceives of the common good.

There’s also the sad truth that the absence of a well-developed idea of nation has failed to materialize beyond the hollow concept of “One Nigeria.”

The question, again, is “One-Nigeria to what end? As we look closely at Nigeria, its past promise and its failure, something rings very hollow in Gowon’s birthday message. Here is why.

The “One Nigeria” that

generally resent the Igbo. But it has to be said also that the Igbo themselves are not without their own disdain of others. The worst of them are distrustful of the Yoruba, intolerant of the Hausa, and dismissive of the rest. Yet the Igbo seem to be the glue of the nation in many unique and important ways – in a sense far more tolerant of the rest perhaps because of their unique location and situation in the nation.

But this very fact seems to be the basis of their troubles.

The January 15, 1966 coup overthrew the government of the first republic. The Prime Minister was killed and so were the premiers of the North and the West, as well as senior military officers from the North and the West and one senior Igbo officer, who seem always forgotten and conveniently ignored in the annals of that coup. The coup failed, foiled by Ojukwu in the North, and Ironsi in the South. Ironsi became Supreme Commander and Head of state.

On July 29, he too was murdered in a coup masterminded by Northern officers led by Gowon but spearheaded by Murtala Muhammed and T.Y. Danjuma. Gowon became head of the military government in Lagos

with Ojukwu foiling the coup in the East.

Disputes about political succession and the pogrom of the Igbo led to war when the East and Nigeria did not press home the compromises arrived at in Aburi. Nigeria went to war with Biafra from July 1967, when Ojukwu declared the secession of the East.

Gowon led the federal government of Nigeria to restore the nation. Gowon fought on the grounds of “One Nigeria.” He won; reunited the secessionists, and governed till 1975 when he was overthrown. History shall be kind to the General for two reasons if “one Nigeria” survives: he led a war that restored Nigeria to its “oneness” and he supervised a post-war peacemaking process that was relatively without witchhunt and extreme bloodshed in spite of the pressures by the hawks within his cabinet; and he ran a comparably capable administration that was set on positioning postwar Nigeria on a keel towards economic and political stability and leadership in Africa. Although he may not escape the judgment of history on the charge of war crimes perpetrated under his watch, his personal apology to the victims will humanize him.

mon purse. Second, virtually all of the little power the nation can produce is always given to those in the corridors of power. It was so when the subject was handled by the Public Works Department (PWD) from the beginning of colonial times till 1950. There was no change from then till 1972 when it was under the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) and it has remained so since 2005 when the PHCN was established.

Interestingly, the leaders have a tendency of not paying for services ren-

Because our leaders have ‘light’ most of the time, they hardly understand the common man’s unending pains of darkness

Company of Nigeria (PHCN) tends to lend credence to the theory.

It would appear that because our leaders have ‘light’ most of the time, they hardly understand the common man’s unending pains of darkness.

First, they are serviced by generators from our com-

On one Nigeria R. Jacob “Yaku bu” Gowon was celebrating his 78th birthday on October 19. Reporters cornered him, and asked him for a comment on Nigeria.

The General, former Military Head of State of Nigeria said, in reference to his leadership of the civil war, “I’ll ever be grateful to all those who supported one Nigeria.”

To keep Nigeria one was his battle cry. He won a decisive battle over the secessionist republic of Biafra. He kept Nigeria one. For that, Jack Gowon deserves his place as a defender of the republic. I did say that Gowon and the Federal Army won the decisive battle.

But it seems it has not won the war. The war seems to be raging still in the quiet corners of Nigeria; in various homes; on the Nigerian streets, and up north and down south.

He won a war but not the peace because true peace is just and it is not merely declarative; nor does it thrive on the si-

dered to either their homes or offices. Whenever “there is a break in transmission” in their areas for a few minutes, a near war situation is declared on PHCN and their operatives are assaulted at will. This bizarre dimension is no doubt disturbing.

PHCN operatives- namely, Isyaku Daura, Officer 2 (Electrical) and Nuruddeen Mohammed, Staff 1 (Lines) were similarly reportedly manhandled.

On its part, the government denied the allegation. According to the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, Sani Umar, the Governor only demanded an explanation for the N17 million he gave to PHCN to install a new transformer in Wamakko which they failed to do.

We would have doubted the PHCN version of the story because it looked too barbaric and uncivilized to be credited to a Governor but for the fact that the allegations were made at an open Press Conference. In addition why should the lives of workers like Isyaku and Nuruddeen be in jeopardy on account of the PHCN’s alleged breaches? This is the second time this year that a report of assault by state government officials on PHCN staff has been made public. The first time was when officials of the Ekiti State Government allegedly beat up PHCN managers operating in Ado Ekiti. The Managers-Messrs, Julius Ige, in charge of Marketing and Ilori Kayode Brown, Head of Public Relations were reportedly abducted in the night of Friday June 29 by aides to the state Governor and ‘brutally’ held till 1.15am of the next day because

lence of the oppressed.

Wars are won when peace returns to the land.

But Nigeria is not at peace with itself, and many of us know why.

Nigeria is not destined to be at peace in Jack Gowon’s life time, and the signs are all there, because what Gowon won was a peace of the graveyard, in which he declared the hollow truce “ no victor, no vanquished.”

The fragility of Nigeria today stems from the irresolute and unfinished nation which Gowon and his war cohort left as legacy to Nigeria. As the Igbo would say, given the current situation, “onweghi ebe anyi ji azu eje” – we ain’t going anywhere soon. We seem mired to one spot. Even the General knows this, and that is perhaps why none of his children lives in Nigeria. His children are in some sort of permanent exile in the UK. For a man who fought to keep Nigeria one, it seems like an ambivalent gift to his own children –

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E

ACH time Nigeri ans grumble over the failure of successive governments to provide them with electricity, government officials are quick at pointing out that Nigerians are impatient adding that ours is a nation seeking to enjoy within a few years in existence what the developed countries got after hundreds of years.

No one makes effort to verify the accuracy of such ‘official’ statistics.

Instead, everyone tends to note the counseling by government with mixed feelings hoping for some change in the near future which has never come.

Getting the true position is however not exactly as hard as we imagine in view of the ease with which this writer gathered from one journal a few days ago that electricity was first produced in Lagos, Nigeria in 1896 less than 15years after it happened in England. Thus, we have as a community been dealing with electricity in the last one hun-

For example about a week ago, the management of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, KEDC, a subsidiary of the PHCN, accused the Governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko of personally assaulting its workers. According to the Acting Managing Director of the Company, Mohammed Adamu, Governor Wamakko, flogged a PHCN manager for failing to supply electricity to his community. Adamu at a press conference on the subject described the assault which took place on Saturday, 20th October, 2012, as an unusual and unfortunate event which was beyond his company’s comprehension.

He explained that his business manager for Gwiwa Business Unit, Sokoto State, Moses Osigwe, was invited by the Governor to his personal residence, over the issue of lack of power supply to his hometown, Wamakko, as a result of a failed 2.5MVA transformer. He added that as the business manager was trying to explain the problem, the governor brought out a horse whip (popularly known as bulala in Hausa language) and lashed him thoroughly. Two hefty mobile police men were allegedly ordered by the Governor to continue with the beating spree until the business manager fell on the ground and became unconscious. Two other

,

Wars are won when peace returns to the land. But Nigeria is not at peace with itself, and many of us know why

vision of the Nigerian anti-colonial liberation movement. As a Zikist intellectual, I’m stirred by that vision. But I’m equally not unaware of the cynical use of the word “unity ” that has shaped contemporary Nigeria.

The debate this past

,

his generation bequeathed us is a fractured, corrupt, flatulent, ignorant, impoverished, neo-colonial nation. It even stopped being a sovereign nation. It is buffeted by many hates.

Nigerians resent themselves.

Achebe says Nigerians

PAGE 12—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Can I have a private reply?

Dear Rebecca

T

HIS is my first time of writing to you . I would like to establish a relationship with you; one of trust, so that I can always feel at ease to share my problems with you. I would not want my problems published. They should be a secret between you and me.

Many problems are bothering my life. I am 18, and a christian from the northern part of Nigeria. I’m in need of someone to lean on . Do write to me, to tell me that it is alright to start writing to confide in you.

Musa, Niger State.

REPLY

T

HANK you for con sidering me capa ble enough for you to confide in.

I’m afraid that at Dear Rebecca, we don’t enter into a private correspondence with readers.

This being a very busy desk, we still endeavor to attend to every mail we receive. Entering into any special correspondence will hold up work. I understand that you may not want your problems published so that you will feel that secrecy is maintained, but no problem can ever be unique to a particular human being.

Nothing can happen to you that has not happened to someone else, or will not happen to anyone else. Most readers write to us using other names and other towns or states, anyway, so, other readers don’t really get to know who wrote in, unless the reader himself tells friends/relatives to look out for such a problem on our page.. Also, depending on the nature of the problem, we, on our own, may still change the name and location that the reader used to write to us, so as to protect his/her identity, in case the person forgot to do so.

You have absolutely nothing to fear about your problem being published, since we don’t know you personally.

Publishing problems and C M Y K

their solutions enable other readers with similar problems to get advice without having to write in.

So, write to us if you want to do so, and get advice from a neutral source. While it is good to confide in people in order to ease our minds and get help, one should choose carefully our confidants so that we get the right advice and support.

It is only on God that we can confidently lean.

He’s showing more interest in other girls!

Dear Rebecca

I

AM a girl of 19, a secondary school student.

The boy I’m in love with is an electrician, and we live on the same premises. We started dating about a year ago.

My problem is that he has started behaving strangely.

First there are two girls who live just opposite our compound, who he has begun to show interest in. He once asked me for their names but I told him I didn’t know. Later I got friendly with one of the girls and my boy seized this as an opportunity to get close to her.

He seeks her out every morning and makes sure he waves to her before she goes to school . Once I teased him about his new ‘girlfriend’ he was angry and told me that because he was my boyfriend didn’t mean that he couldn’t talk to other girls.

I didn’t respond to this Now he behaves to me as though he regrets the day he first set his eyes on me. When he comes home on break, he now seeks out the other girl to wave to, before leaving. I’m not jealous, but I just want him to place himself in my shoes and find out how such an attitude is like.

I give him whatever he asks me for; and this is not to say I have a lot of money, but I try to do my best for him. Another problem is that my exams are coming up soon, and I don’t know how my cur-

rent state of mind will affect me. Please tell me what to do because I don’t think I’m interested in the relationship any more. I used to trust him but not any more.

Winnie, Lagos REPLY

A

ny relationship, particularly a romantic one, involves joy and sadness, and you have to learn this now so that you can cope well in future relationships, particularly in marriage.

We do not own any human being, so don’t feel that once you love a man and he says he loves you, he belongs to you, and he should automatically cut off from other human beings, especially girls.

This is not possible, for even though to please you, a boy may ignore other girls in your presence, he would certainly want to chat them up when you’re not there.

The day you’d stumble on him being very friendly with a girl, or even in romantic posture, you may faint with shock. But if you learn now that you don’t own another person, and whoever is in a relationship with you is free to interact with your fellow females, you would be able to cope and not get jealous to the point that your studies and examinations would be affected. This man is neither engaged nor married to you, and to me, he’s not doing anything

wrong in trying to be friendly with a neighbour. Your self-esteem must be very low indeed, if you feel threatened by such a thing. No wonder you’re trying to bind him to you by giving him things, even though you’re only a pupil in a secondary school, and dependent on your own parents. You think he’d be so indebted and grateful to you that he would never take an interest in any other fe-

boys as ordinary friends. No attachment to any of them. Your parents should know who your friends - male and female - are. The sensible attitude if you find him your boyfriend chatting up your neighbour, join in jovially. If he’s waving to her, wave to her too. Have confidence in your self and pretend not to notice when your boy is seeking out other girls. After all, at your age, and

A man may get fed-up if you are too clinging and jealous and he will do things to make you even more jealous male.

You should know that most men throughout the world like to admire ladies and be friendly with them, so that these ladies can admire them too.

Your boyfriend is obviously one of these men.

This does not mean he is a flirt. He is just behaving normally- even a husband may do this.

Also, the fact that he’s your boyfriend doesn’t mean that you can’t have other boys as casual friends too. You should, but there should be no sex, and you should have several responsible

as a pupil in a secondary school, you’re very far from being ready for marriage. If he relies on you to give him money and things, it means he too is very far from being ready to take a wife. At this point in your life, any relationship with boys should be very light, and it should be with an aim of getting to study and understand boys more, so that you can know the type that you would like to date

and marry in future. I’m sure your parents won’t be happy to know that you’re so serious in a relationship, that the boy’s attitude is making you unhappy and your studies are suffering.

Your priority right now is for you to concentrate hard on your studies so that you can pass your examinations well, and you can gain admission into a higher institution of learning. This is not a time for serious dating, exhibiting jealousy, clinging to a boyfriend, etc. This is the time to build what will lead to a great future career for yourself.

It’s when you’re married or formally engaged to a man, that you can ask questions when you find him dating other girls, or, getting romantic mails from girls. The man too will have the right to query your relationship with any man he feels is getting too close to you.

When a boyfriend notices that you are not worried about his attempts to chat up other girls, chatting up other girls will lose its attraction for him. A man may get fed-up if you are too clinging and jealous and he will do things to make you even more jealous.

Since you’ve become fed-up with the relationship, I advise you quietly end it. If you’re no longer responsive to him like before, and he asks why, tell him that you want to concentrate more on your studies, and that your studies have been suffering.

Remain friends with him, saying ‘hi’ when you meet, but don’t stop to chat, or contact him any way.

I also advise you don’t give money to boys. It could be seen as if you’re trying to buy his affection.

This cheapens a girls, and anyway, a self-respecting boy wouldn’t ask a girl for money.

It’s a different matter if a boy is really suffering financially. There, you can help him even if he is not your boyfriend.

Your parents should be aware of any such help.

Do concentrate on your studies. They are more important to you now than relationship with boys.

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

SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 13

(l) PHCN PRIVATISATION CONTROVERSY

Dancing disco with DisCos *The angst of some state govs against bidding process subjected to full technical evaluation. Out of the 44 bids, 32 bids submitted by 20 different bidders scored the minimum of 75% that was required to progress to the next stage in the process.

The bidders that scored 75% and above then were asked to submit the post-qualification bidders’ guarantee following the approval of the evaluation results by NCP. At the end 20 bids met the 75% and went into the final round. However, four failed a post-qualification security in the form of a bank guarantee or a letter of credit, as required, leaving 16 to slug it out.

Interstate Electrics Ltd won the bid for Abuja DisCo; VIGEO Power Consortium defeated Southern Electricity Distribution Company to clinch Benin. Eko and Ikeja went to Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Ltd; Enugu was won by Interstate Electrics Ltd, Ibadan went to Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Ltd. Others were: Jos DisCo won

by Aura Energy Ltd; Kano won by Sahelian Power SPV Ltd; Port-Harcourt by 4Power Consortium; and Yola by Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Ltd. Kaduna DisCo did not have a qualified bid after evaluation and is therefore to be readvertised.

BY EMMA UJAH

T

Emmanuel Uduaghan

Adams Oshiomhole

receipt of EOIs to evaluation of proposals were observed by officials of the State Security Service, SSS, Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, as well as the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC. His words: “The 54 bids were assigned to the evaluating teams by balloting to ensure that no evaluator had any prior knowledge of which bid he/she would be evaluating.

The evaluation proper was then carried out in two stages as follows: “The first stage was to subject each bid to a test of completeness and responsiveness. At this stage, the bids were evaluated to ensure that they were compliant with the basic requirements of the RFP. For instance, the RFP provided that for a bid to qualify for

Kayode Fayemi

Olusegun Mimiko evaluation the authorized representative of the bidder must execute the draft Share Sale and Purchase Agreement, Shareholders

,

HE journey to the privatization of the 11 Distribution Companies created from the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, a product of the defunct National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, started in December 2010 when the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, through its secretariat, the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, advertised for Expressions of Interests by prospective investors willing to take up majority stakes in each of the companies.

180 EOIs were harvested in March, last year, in response to the advertisement. Only 80 were short-listed, after evaluation by the bureau and the Technical Committee on the NCP which currently has investment banker, Mr. Atedo Peterside as Chairman.

At the deadline for the payment of the data room access fees, 72 out of the 80 shortlisted bidders each paid the mandatory $20, 000 fee to purchase the Request for Proposals, RFP, in order to have access to the data room and proceed to the next stage of the transaction. The 72 bidders were eventually prequalified to bid.

This number was further whittled down to 16 bidders through a process which Mr. Peterside claimed was transparent.

According to him, “by the bid submission deadline of 5pm on 31st July 2012, the BPE received 54 proposals from pre-qualified bidders”.

The TC Chairman announced at the opening of the commercial bids for the DisCos on October 16, 2012, that three committees were formed to evaluate the bids that were received. Each of the committees had seven members drawn from the following agencies: BPE; Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC; Federal Ministry of Power; CPCS Transcom – advisers on the transaction; NEXANT/ USAID-funded power sector consultants providing support to the BPE; and NIAF/DFIDfunded infrastructure support programme to the Nigerian government.

According to him, the bidding process - from the

operation and maintenance of distribution companies; Experience in developing countries; Technical and investment plan;

The winners of the bid have little knowledge about the environment in which they want to operate. The BPE manipulated the process in favour of the preferred bidder

Agreement and Performance Agreement. Failure to execute any of these agreements would result in the rejection of the bid.

“The second stage involved detailed analyses of the compliant proposals. The main items being evaluated here were: Experience in

,

Management and staffing— human resources; and Financing plan and ability to raise finance.”

Out of the 54 bids that were received and evaluated, 10 of the bids failed the first test of completeness and responsiveness.

The remaining 44 bids were then

Oppiosition by governors Everything seemed to have gone well with the privatization of the DisCos until the governors of the four states of Edo, Delta Ekiti and Ondo, under the Benin Disco rejected the decision of the BPE and the TC to give that company to Vigeo Power Consortium which has Mr. Victor Gbolade Osibodu as its major shareholder.

Govs Adams Oshiomhole of Edo, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta and Kayode Fayemi of Ejkiti held a joint press conference two days after the results were announced, in Abuja, to denounce the TC and insisted that they would not allow Vigeo take over the DisCo which they claimed to have invested in heavily.

The governors insisted that the process that produced Vigeo with heavy Indian backing was a fraud and unacceptable and argued that Continues on Page 15

PAGE 14—SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

(2) LAGOS: END OF THE ROAD FOR ‘KILLER OKADA’

619 dead or injured in two years—Records No going back on the ban—Govt and

Some of the motorcycles destroyed by Lagos State government.

Amid the stand-off between commercial motorcyclists and the authorities in Lagos over the ban of Okada,mindboggling figures show high Okada fatality rate in the state OMMERCIAL motorcycle, popularly called Okada, came into being in Lagos State to mitigate the transportation challenges due to the chaotic traffic situation in the state. The state, classified to be a megacity, according to United Nations, UN, has a population of over 18 million people.

But the other side to the mitigation of the transportation challenges in the state is that Okada has brought in its wake high incidences of fatal accidents on the roads and cases of armed robberies.

A visit to orthopaedic hospitals in the state would confirm the commercial motorcyclist fatality as those who have lost limbs and arms litter the facilities while many children have become orphans by the recklessness of Okada riders.

No less than 619 people were among victims either killed or seriously injured in

C

commercial motorcycle accidents across Lagos in the last two years, a record by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) showed.

The records from the Planning and Research Department of LASTMA also revealed that out of the number, 107 people died while 512 sustained serious injuries as a result of the accidents showing further that of those who died in the two years, 71 were male while 36 were female.

Details of the accidents between January 2011 and October 2012 further revealed that a total of 442 commercial Okada were involved across the state during the period out of which 271 occurred in 2011 while 171 occurred this year.

Also, according to the records, in 2011 alone, 47 were killed and 98 others sustained serious injuries while from January 2012 to date 63 people have been killed while 59 others sustained serious injuries.

Police records also revealed that a total of 513 fatal accidents recorded in the state in the last two years were caused by Okada. According to the records, out of this number, 305 happened between January and December 2011 while 208

happened between January and June this year.

The records also revealed that of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in Lagos between July and September this year, 22 involved commercial motorcycles.

Details, according to the records, show that of eight robberies that occurred in July, seven involved the use of Okada while Okada was also used in 10 out of 14 robberies in September and five out of eight robberies in

,

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

bridges

in

Lagos.

’I AM RUINED’ The ban marked the beginning of a rough time between the state government and the Okada riders who argued that the government move was to deprive them of their means of livelihood.

Truly, the state government had resorted to the seizure of erring Okada and burning them. No fewer than 300 of the confiscated Okada were said to have been burnt by the state government. On Monday,the Okada riders took to the streets to protest the action in the course of which they destroyed at least 10 Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, buses along Ikorodu Road..

The protesters later converged on Mushin area where they engaged law enforcement agencies in another violent c o n f r o n t a t i o n .

One of the Okada protesters, who spoke to SundayVanguard without revealing his identity, said they resorted to attacking BRT buses because because they were owned by government which had forced them out of business..

He lamented that his bike had been seized twice by overzealous officials over flimsy traffic violation.

According to him, he had been in Okada business for over five years in Lagos during which he had been using the proceeds to maintain his two wives and children. “With this ban now, my life is hopeless. I don’t have any money to start a new business. I am ruined.”

The ban marked the beginning of a rough time between the state government and the Okada riders who argued that the government move was to deprive them of their means of livelihood

A u g u s t .

Governor Babatunde Fashola, on August 2, 2012 ,assented his signature to the Lagos Road Traffic Law partly to contain the Okada riders recklessness by stopping them from plying 475 roads comprising of major highways

,

Alarmed by the violence by the Okada riders, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly are contemplating outrightly banning Okada in the state.

Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, while condemning vandalisation of government property by the

Okada riders, frowned at the action, calling on the state government to further strengthen security agencies to protect lives and property.

Ikuforiji warned that the House would not hesitate to ban Okada out rightly if the riders continued to destroy government property and constituted nuisance in the state.

Hon. Bisi Yusuf, a member of the parliament, noted that Okada had been banned in Yola, Yobe, Kano, Abuja, Rivers and some parts of the Osun, saying Lagos would not be an exemption.

‘NO GOING BACK ON ENFORCEMENT’ Meanwhile,Fashola says the ban on Okada on the listed roads in the state has come to stay. The governor, speaking as a guest of the Metropolitan Club, Victoria Island,Lagos at a special session on law and order in the state, entitled, “Freedom from Fear ”, noted that a lot depended on the citizenry in ensuring an orderly society.

He said everyone must build a consensus that the idea behind the new traffic law is one that involves the quality of life of everyone, the protection of the assets of every resident of Lagos and his business.

Tracing the various well organized public transport systems that had existed in the past like the L.M.T.S and L.S.T.C, he said it should agitate the minds of citizens and members of the Club how the state arrived at its present state in terms of the unbridled operation of commercial motorcyclists.

According to Fashola, in less than two decades, Okada has gained so much prominence that it has become a phenomenon which should not have been allowed in the first place, stressing that the elites also contributed as many encouraged their staff and employees to start taking Okada to run errands quickly.

“The only way to stop the business from flourishing is by not patronizing them. It is a business that if the income from it dwindles, the business proposition of those in it will change”,the governor stated. ”As a governor, I always take it upon myself to fight against any attempt by Very Important Continues on page 15

SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 15

(2) economy by patronizing their Okada.

Noting that those who break the law with impunity are,often more than not, aliens with no respect for rules and regulation, Fashola revealed that within 24 hours,over 100 people from Niger Republic had been escorted out of Lagos, stressing that there was no going back on the enforcement of the State Traffic Law. According to him,the presence or

, Okada union protesting Lagos govt ban.

No going back on the ban —Govt Continued from page 14 Personalities to close roads and the people must be ready to fight against behaviours and conducts that are hazardous to healthy and secure existence.

“This is a law made by the State House of Assembly,a law that I swore on oath to defend and that is my duty.

I make no apologies for doing it and I will continue to do it. If we continue like this, we are on the road to Bangkok in Thailand”.

Fashola said there should be concerted efforts by everyone to ensure that Nigeria does not reach the notorious status of Bangkok in terms of traffic because Bangkok is a city that loses about one million dollars every

year to traffic congestion and where the training of the average traffic police officer includes the delivery of babies from pregnant women who are trapped in traffic.

Urging business executives and corporate leaders to rethink the types of ventures being supported, the governor said the tricycles known as Keke Marwa represents the sign of India’s age of poverty which the country is striving hard to move away from as it is now busy manufacturing TATA buses and wondered why that is what Nigerians are now embracing wholeheartedly.

He added that the same applies to motorcycles which originated from China, saying currently the Chinese are making fast trains for their usage while Nigerians are helping their

This is a law made by the State House of Assembly,a law that I swore on oath to defend and that is my duty. I make no apologies for doing it and I will continue to do it

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absence of law and order in any society is what determines whether the people will live in fear or without it.

He stated that traffic should not be viewed as a problem but rather a sign of of prosperity in any emerging megacity like Lagos because as more people move into the city there would be congestion.

The governor, however, explained that the traffic being complained about is the rush hour traffic which is not peculiar to Lagos, adding that in the

United States of America, it is better to walk in Manhattan than to drive a car, admonishing that Nigerians should stop feeling sorry for themselves whenever they are in traffic.

Giving an insight into some of the proactive steps being taken to manage traffic, Fashola said the state government had gone a step further by introducing the traffic radio to give advance information to members of the public on how they can plan their trips adequately.

He explained that the new road traffic law has made provision against drinking or eating behind the wheels because government believes that only split seconds stand between fatal accidents and surviving as any momentary loss of concentration could have catastrophic consequences.

On the suggestion that the Highway Code should be a subject of study in schools for children to learn at the formative stage, the governor said government was already working on how to develop a basic curriculum that would be developed from a book on same subject without encroaching on the basic school curriculum.

Sunday Vanguard gathered last week that since the aggressive enforcement of the road traffic law commenced after about three months sensitization and public enlightenment, many displaced Okada riders who are still lucky to have their motorcycles are relocating to neighbouring states of Ogun, Oyo, Osun to continue their okada business.

It was also learnt that there were about a million Okada riders, registered and unregistered, in Lagos though there are only two recognised associations, one of which is Motorcycles Association of Lagos State, MOALS.

(1)

The angst of some state govs against bidding process Continued from page 13 the company had no capacity to efficiently run the company and give the people of their states the desired results in power supply. ‘’The entire process was a racket that's inconsistent with running a transparent government. The BPE used a set of criteria that have never been used before. ‘’The figures put forward by Vigeo were shady and we observed that funny things started happening even before the bids were opened. We know the importance of power and we cannot allow a mediocre to take over the destiny of our people. A number of technical issues are at stake in this exercise. The winners of the bid have little knowledge about the environment in which they want to operate. The BPE manipulated the process in favour of the preferred bidder,’’ they claimed.

The Governors while wondering how Vigeo's technical partner, NDPL with operational scope of 510 square kilometres managed to win a bid to operate a 57, 000 square kilometres service territory in an area like the Niger Delta region without any knowledge of that volatile area, “they (Vigeo) do not even know the area, yet they want to do something in five years that they have not been able to

Atedo Peterside do in 11 years in an urban 500 kilometre territory they are currently operating in. Our consortium is led by the industry leader in India covering 4328 villages and 43 towns.

It won the Gold Shield Award for the Year 2011 for utility excellence, posting the highest loss reduction ever in Asia (6.6 percent in 2010) and (10.12 percent in 2011).’’

The four state governors lamented what they termed an attempt by the BPE to further cripple the power sector by manipulating the bid process in favour of individuals with the "right connection" but without the required financial muscle and technical know how to operate the project. ‘’In our region, you cannot succeed

in operating the utility without the participation of the state governments, knowledge of the environment and relationship with the different stakeholders like the youths, communities leaders and others. Our consortium passed all these tests but others did not. Our states have invested heavily in power generation, transmission and distribution across the length and breadth of our respective states as we recognise the importance of power as the precondition for socio economic growth and industrialisation of our states. It was for this reason that we participated in the bid process and came out as the most technically competent with the consortium that is most suited to the peculiarities of our region. The BPE should not play with our collective future,’’ the governors insisted.

FG’s defence However, handlers of the process have reacted to the position of the governors and insisted that the process was transparent.

The Minister of State for Power, Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku, countered the governors the following day, October 20, when he debunked claims that the process was not transparent.

According to him, “the bidding process for the sale of the DisCos was very transparent and credible. The

National Council on Privatisation, NCP and the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, have overtime put together a process that is highly fraudproof, reliable and efficient, and I can guarantee that the process was free, fair and transparent”.

Peterside’s and Onogoruwa’s defence The two key actors in the privatization of Discos, the DirectorGeneral of the BPE Ms Bolane Onogoruwa and Mr. Peterside, held on joint press conference in Lagos to tell the public why Southern Electricity Distribution Ltd, the company promoted by the affected states governments, lost out. The duo explained that Southern Electricity Distribution Ltd submitted multiple commercial bids for the same DisCo, which was a violation of the rules of the process.

Mr. Peterside claimed that the company’s envelope contained two different commercial bids with one called primary bid and the second called alternate bid, all signed by one Matthew Edevbie, (but) both the primary and alternate fell below the bid submitted by Vigeo and so neither bid would alter Southern Consortium’s ranking”. Effectively the DisCo does not belong to only the federal government.

PAGE 16—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Couples myths and the real deal

O

LD Rule No1: Never go to bed angry. Settle every conflict right away so that it does not turn into bigger fights New Rule: Sleep on it. Conflicts are best dealt with when you have calmed down and are well rested.

For happy co-existence, couple’s settling their disagreements before the day's end is a popular belief. After all the Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down on your wrath". Ideally, we would all be able to truly forgive every mistake and make up before bedtime.

But this is easier said than done, although doable but in reality, most spouses don't solve problems well when they are angry. In fact, "the idea that it's helpful for couples to air their grievances in the heat of the moment is probably one of the most dangerous marriage myths out there" says John Gottman, Ph.D."Often, nothing gets resolved - the partners just get more and more furious." When people are overwhelmed by emotions like anger, they experience what psychologists call "flooding," a physiological response that leaves their hearts pounding and their concentration shot, to say nothing of their ability to resolve arguments

fairly or amicably. Rather than stay up to debate the disagreement, Gottman recommends having a meeting each week on the state of your union . "Take turns telling each other something about your marriage or your partner that you appreciated that week, and then afterward each of you gets to bring up one issue."

Old Rule 2: Couples grow apart and fall out of love.

New rule: Marriages work because

spouses work hard on them.

There is the claim that couples with divergent interests tend to go the way of separation and divorce faster than others with similar interests. But experts say if you look closely at most happy homes, you'll be amazed at how little they actually have in common. She could be into creativity, and he might be a big sports fan. Yet they've discovered ways to be themselves and together at the same time: That means sometimes she knits in the sitting room to keep him company as he watches football. Experts say, shared interests or even similar temperaments are no assurance of marital longevity; if not couples who meet through matchmaking services, which try to pair singles by compatibility, would have a better chance of lasting marriages.

Most advanced couples have probably worked their way through many of disagreements, illnesses, financial problems, or even an affair. They survive because they understand that they are a team, and they work to find ways to live together.

Old Rule 3: As you both get older, sex will simply diminish.

New rule: Couples can become more sexually connected The idea that couples later settle into sexual hibernation might be untrue. In fact, many report that intimacy improves as the years go by as couples later find a sexual style that fits them And for many wives, sex certainly

doesn't deteriorate in midlife. In a recent study, 64 percent of women surveyed confirmed that sex either stayed on course or got even better after menopause. According to psychologists’ couples who communicate about what they wanted sexually are happier with their sex life. The safer couples feel in expressing what they like and don't like, the easier it is to make adjustments that can gear up the sexual satisfaction in bed.

Old rule 4: The home will become unbearable when the children leave the nest.

New rule: Marriages can flourish in the new freedom Most parents become lonely when their children are finally gone, moments when the house seems impossibly quiet and empty. Some couples enjoy themselves by finding ways to renew their commitment to each other.

"With the kids out of the house, marriages can bloom - when there is a sense of shared purpose," Gottman says. That communion can sometimes get pushed aside in the daily round of raising a family and making a living. "Some couples may have let that feeling of togetherness die," he explains. "Then it's not the kids' leaving the nest that somehow makes their marriages seem empty. They've already been empty a long time, and when the children leave home, the couple finally notices."

But for many couples, marital satisfaction increases during this period with more leisure time, more money, and more freedom to connect with each other. Compile lists of what you and your husband can do now that you couldn't before; which maybe vacationing or being more involved with church or town politics. Celebrate and share in your common interest because you have succeeded in life by raising children together.

SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 17

ODIA OFEIMUN AND THE ACHEBE CONTROVERSY (1)

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war

benchmark for praising or damning it.

I f e a j u n a ' s testimony fell into the hands of the military authorities quite early and has been in limbo.

As the controversy created by Chinua Achebe’s new book, “THERE WAS A COUNTRY”, Few Nigerians rages, social critic and poet, Odia Ofeimun - who has been thrown in the eye of the know about its storm because of his first reaction which sought to exonerate Pa Obafemi Awolowo, who existence. So many served as Vice Chairman to the ruling body of the Nigerian government and whom who know about it Achebe accused of war crimes because of the Nigerian government’s war-time policy have been which allegedly led to the starving of Igbos - presents in this piece never-before-revealed wondering why perspectives. This is the first part. the manuscript has not seen the light of day. he most comprehensive and The other almost cover-all organization of document, the the documents of the Nigerian second most Civil War remains AHM Kirk-Greene's forgotten of the CRISIS AND CONFLICT IN Nigerian Civil NIGERIA, A Documentary Sourcebook War, has had more 1966-1970 Volume 1, and Volume 2, luck than the published by Oxford University Press I f e a j u n a London, New York and Ibadan in 1971.

Manuscript. It Volume One, according to the blurb, happens to be the “describes the prelude to the war and transcript of the the succession of coups from that of 15 famous meeting of January1966 which initially brought a May 6th and 7th military regime to power in Nigeria”.

1967, held at The volume takes the story up to July Enugu, between 1967 when the war began. Volume Two Lt. Colonel covers July 1967 to January 1970, that Chukwuemeka is, between the beginning of hostilities, Odumegwu and when, as testified by the last entry Ojukwu, the in the volume, General Yakubu Gowon Military Governor made a Victory broadcast, The Dawn of Eastern Region, of National Reconciliation, on January and Chief Obafemi 15, 1970. No other collection of civil war Awolowo, Leader documents, to my knowledge, exists of the Yoruba and that compares with these two volumes. an old political And none, as far as I know, has opponent of the attempted to update or complement the leaders of the publications so as to include or make Eastern Region. public, other documents that are absent Awolowo attended from Kirk-Greene's yeoman's job. Yet, the meeting at the as my title pointedly insists, there have head of a been some truly 'forgotten' documents delegation of of the Nigerian Civil War which ought peace hunters in a to be added and without which much bid to avert a of the history being narrated will shooting war after continue to suffer gaps that empower the pogrom enormous misinterpretations, if not falsehoods.

CLOCKWISE: Ofeimun, Achebe and Awolowo: What manner against Easterners In my view, the most forgotten of civil war documents are we talking about? documents of the Nigerian civil war, which deserved to be, but were not unpublished so many decades after it which presaged the counter-coup of included in the original compilation by was written. The Manuscript had July 29, 1966. The transcripts of the Kirk-Greene - are two. The first is the begun to circulate, very early, in what meeting, never publicly known to have much talked-about, but never seen, may now be seen as samizdat editions. existed, entered public discourse formally when a speech by Chief Ifeajuna Manuscript. It was written by hey passed from hand to hand Obafemi Awolowo delivered on the first Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the leader in photocopies, in an day of the meeting was published in a of the January 15 1966 Coup that underground career that book, Path to Nigerian Greatness, opened the floodgates to other untoward events leading to the civil seemed fated to last forever until 1985 edited by MCK Ajuluchuku, the war. The author poured it all down in when retired General Olusegun Director for Research and Publicity of the “ white hot heat” of the first few Obasanjo, after his first coming as the Unity Party of Nigeria, in 1980. The weeks after the failed adventure that Head of State, quoted generously from speech seemed too much of a teaser. ushered in the era of military regimes it in his biography of his friend, Major So it remained, until it was followed in Nigeria's history. Not, as many Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the man by Awo on the Nigerian Civil War, would have wished, the story of how who, although not the leader of the edited by Bari Adedeji Salau in 1981, the five majors carried out the coup. It coup, became its historical avatar and with a Foreword by the same MCK is more of an apologia, a statement of spokesperson. Indeed, Nzeogwu's Ajuluchuku. The book went beyond the why they carried out the coup, and what media interviews in the first 48 hours bit and snippet allowed in the earlier they meant to achieve by it. It is still after the coup have remained the publication by accommodating the full

T

Transcripts of the meeting, never publicly known to have existed, entered public discourse formally when a speech by Chief Obafemi Awolowo delivered on the first day of the meeting was published in a book

T

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transcripts of the two-day meeting. Not much was made of it by the media until it went out of print. Partly for this reason and because of the limited number in circulation, the transcripts never entered recurrent discussions of the Nigerian civil war. The good thing is that, if only for the benefit of those who missed it before, the book has been reprinted. It was among twelve other books by Obafemi Awolowo relaunched by the African Press Ltd of Ibadan at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, in March 2007. Important to note is that among other speeches made by Awolowo, before during and after, on the Nigerian Civil War, the transcripts are intact. They reveal who said what between Chief Obafemi Awolowo, his Excellency Lt. Col. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Sir Francis Ibiam, Chiefs Jereton Mariere, C.C. Mojekwu, JIG Onyia, Professors Eni Njoku, Samuel Aluko and Dr. Anezi Okoro, who attended the meeting. Unlike the Ifeajuna Manuscript, still in limbo, the transcripts are in respectable print and may be treated as public property or at least addressed as a feature of the public space.

I regard both documents as the most forgotten documents of the civil war because they have hardly been mentioned in public discourses in ways that recognize the gravity of their actual contents. Or better to say, they have been mentioned, only in passing, in articles written for major Nigerian newspapers and magazines since the 70s, or parried on television, but only in figurative understatements by people who, for being able to do so, have appeared highly privileged. The privilege, grounded in the fact that they remained unpublished, may have been partially debunked by the publications I have mentioned, but their impact on the discussions have not gone beyond the hyped references to them, and the innuendos and insinuations arising from secessionist propaganda during the civil war. The core of the propaganda, which reverberated at the Christopher Okigbo International Conference at Harvard University in September, 2007, is that Awolowo promised that if the Igbos were allowed, by acts of commission or omission, to secede, he would take the Western Region out of Nigeria. In a sort of Goebellian stunt, many ex-Biafrans including high flying academics, intellectuals and publicists who should know better, write about it as if they do not know that the shooting war ended in 1970. What Awolowo is supposed to have discussed with Ojukwu before the shooting war has been turned into an issue for post-war propaganda even more unrestrained than in the days of the shooting war. The propaganda of the war has been dutifully regurgitated Continues on page 18 C M Y K

PAGE 18—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war Continued from page 17 by a Minister of the Federal Republic, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, twice on loan to the Federal Government of Nigerian from the World Bank, in the book, Achebe: Teacher of Light(Africa World Press, Inc,2003) co-authored with Tijan M. Sallah. They write: “The Igbos had made the secessionist move with the promise from Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the Southwest that the Yoruba would follow suit. The plan was if the southeast and southwest broke away from the Nigerian federal union, the federal government would not be able to fight a war on two fronts.

Awolowo, however, failed to honour his pledge, and the secession proved a nightmare for the Igbos. Awolowo in fact became the Minister of finance of the federal government during the civil war.” (p.90).

Forty years after the civil war, you would expect that some formal, academic decorum would be brought into play to sift mere folklore and propaganda from genuine history. But not so for those who do not care about the consequences of the falsehoods that they trade. They continue to pump myths that treat their own people as cannon fodder in their elite search for visibility, meal tickets and upward mobility in the Nigerian spoils system.

Rather than lower the frenzy of wartime 'huge lies' that were crafted for the purpose of shoring up combat morale, they increase the tempo. I mean: postwar reconstruction should normally forge the necessity for returnees from the war to accede to normal life rather than lose their everyday good sense in contemplation of events that never happened or pursuing enemies who were never there. Better, it ought to be expected, for those who must apportion blame and exact responsibility, to work at a dogged sifting of fact from fiction, relieving the innocent of lifethreatening charges, in the manner of the Jews who, after the Second World War sought to establish who were responsible for the pogroms before they pressed implacable charges.

Unfortunately, 40 years does not seem to have been enough in the Nigerian case. Those who organized the pogrom are lionized as patriots by champions of the Biafran cause. Those who sought lasting answers away from blind rampage are demonized as villains.

The rest of us are all left mired in the ghastly incomprehension that led to the war. Those for whom the civil war was not a lived, but a narrated experience, are made to re-experience it as nightmare, showing how much of an effort of mind needs to be made to strip the past of sheer mush. As it happens, every such effort continues to be waylaid by the sheerness of war propaganda that has been turned into post-war authoritative history. It is often offered by participants in the war who, like Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu himself, will not give up civil war reflexes that ruined millions.

In an interview in Boston on July 9th 2001, Ojukwu told a questioner: “We've said this over and over again, so many times, and people don't understand: they don't want to actually. If you remember, I released Awolowo from jail.

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Even that, some people do with the decision to are beginning to contest announce secession. as well. Awo was in jail Njoku writes that: in Calabar. Gowon “…most progressive knows and the whole of Nigerians, even before the federal him, saw 'Biafra' as a establishment knows movement, an that at no point was egalitarian philosophy Gowon in charge of the to put Nigeria in order, East. The East took a Nigeria where no orders from me. Now, tribe is considered how could Gowon have superior to the others released Awolowo who forever…….It was the was in Calabar? same Biafran spirit Because the fact that I which led Chief released him, it created Awolowo to declare quite a lot of rapport publicly that if the between Awo and Eastern Region was myself, and I know that pushed out of Nigeria, before he went back to then the Western Ikenne, I set up a Region would follow hotline between Ikenne suit. When Ojukwu and my bedroom in moved too fast Enugu. He tried, like recklessly in his ostrich an elder statesman to strategy, the same Chief find a solution.

Awolowo led a Awolowo is a funny delegation of Western one. Don't forget that and some Midwestern the political purpose of leaders to Enugu on the coup, the Ifeajuna 6th May, 1967 and coup that began all this, pleaded with Ojukwu was to hand power over not to secede, to Awo. We young men reminding him that the respect him a great Western Region was deal. He was a hero. I not militarily ready to thought he was a hero follow suit in view of and certainly I received the weaknesses of the him when I was Ojukwu (above), Ifeajuna Western Command of governor. We talked (below)... Controversies the Nigerian Army and and he was very aplenty the dominant position vehement when he saw of the Northern troops our complaints and he in the West. Ojukwu My one great rationale turned a deaf ear to this said that if the Igbos were forced out by for wanting to see the advice maybe because Nigeria that he would his wrong documents 'outed' is to of take the Yorubas out concept”.(p.141) help shore up nationalso. I don't know what Anyone wishing to, anybody makes of that sense among Nigerians or refusing to, take statement but it is word for it and a necessary revolt Ojukwu's simple. Whether he did may do worse than against all the read what I am calling or didn't , it is too late.

There is nothing you forgotten shenanigans of national the can do about it. So, he documents. I am of the coyness and the culture view that there are said this and I must have made some of unspoken taboos that immovable grounds for appropriate responses to take have beclouded and refusing too. But it didn't quite Ojukwu's word on faith. ruined national Or, may be, faith would work out the way that we both thought. be excusable if one has discourse Awolowo, evidently, not read the transcripts had a constant review of the Enugu meeting of the Yoruba situation and took in addition to the mileage of different path. That's it. I don't blame information provided by many post-civil him for it. I have never done”. This was war narrations since Alexander A. quoted in Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo's Madiebo's opener, The Nigerian article, reporting the Okigbo Revolution and the Biafran War. What International Conference, on page 102 seems to be unknown to hagiographers of The GUARDIAN, Monday, October of the civil war is that the meeting about 1, 2007. Quite an interesting one for which they have told so much was anyone who wishes to appreciate the actually documented. The transcripts folkloric dimensions that mis-led many of the meeting are no longer secrets. who listened to Radio Biafra or have They have been in the open for more followed the post-war attempts to win three decades, providing a basis for the war in retrospect instead of recasting the seduction of the preparing the survivors, on both sides propaganda which pictured the of the war, to confront the reality that meeting as a secret one with mauled them and could maul them participants being the only ones who again unless they shape up. could vouch for what was or was not Against Ojukwu's self-expiatory said. Arguably, dependence on sheer remarks, it is of interest to read Hilary memory, living in a folklorist's Njoku, the head of the Biafran army at paradise, may well have enabled all the start of the war. In his war memoirs, and sundry to feel free to mis-describe A tragedy without heroes, he declares what transpired, to build an industry that the meeting between Obafemi of deliberate falsification, leaving Awolowo and Ojukwu had nothing to common everyday information to be

whispered about as to their earthshaking impact, as if a loud comment on them would bring the sky down.

Indeed, it can be imagined how the old propaganda lines about what happened at the Enugu meeting helped to shore up morale on the secessionist side during the civil war while, on the Federal side, absolute silence or 'rogue' mis-use and abuse of their supposed truth-value, powered official indifference, somersaults and snide reviews, in speech and action.

Since there are many on both sides of the civil war who have had rationales for not letting the whole truth survive, it may be seen as quite convenient to have found a man like Awolowo, too much of a thorn in the flesh of many, as a necessary scapegoat. It explains why no proper history of the Nigerian Civil War is to be found which looks with dispassion at the issues and without contrived gaps. Few, without the benefit of the light that the two forgotten documents bring to bear on the issues, have been able to interrogate the purveyors of the falsehoods - the big men who did not know the truth but have had to say something authoritative about it; or those who know it but have had reasons, personal and public, for not vouchsafing it. Besides, there exists a gaggle of revisionists and post-war hackers who do not want the truth to be known because it hurts their pride as inheritors of the falsehoods. They prefer, through a brazen parroting of unfounded folklore, to swindle generations that, as a result, have become unavailable for the building of genuine nation-sense that can accommodate all Nigerians. So overpowering has been their impact that logically impossible and groundless historical scenarios, deserving of contempt by all rational people, are trussed up and served as staple. I believe that given such poor historical accounting, the benign, intelligent, form of amnesia that, after a civil war, helps people to deal with the reality, has been repressed by voluble folklore.

Therefore, let me make a clean breast of it: my one great rationale for wanting to see the documents 'outed' is to help shore up nation-sense among Nigerians by rupturing the culture of falsehoods and silences that have exercised undue hegemony over the issues. I take it as part of a necessary revolt against all the shenanigans of national coyness and the culture of unspoken taboos that have beclouded and ruined national discourse. What primes this revolt is, first and foremost, the thought of what could have happened if the forgotten documents had seen the light of day at the right time. How easy, for instance, would it have been to stamp the January 15, 1966 Coup as being merely an Igbo Coup if it was known that the original five majors who planned and executed it were minded to release Awolowo from Calabar Prison and to make him their leader - as the Ifeajuna Manuscript vouchsafed in the first few weeks of the coup before the testimonies that came after? What factors - ethnic frigidity, ideological Continues on page 19

SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 19

Continued from page 18 insipidity or plain sloppy dithering could it have been that frustrated the coup-maker's idealistic exercise since they were not even pushing for direct seizure of power? I concede that knowing this may not have completely erased the ethnic and regionalist motivations and overlays grafted by later events. But it could have slowed down the wild harmattan fire of dissension that soon engulfed the initial salutary reception of the coup. Were the truth known early enough, it could have obviated many of the sad and untoward insinuations, and the grisly events to which they led, before during and since the civil war. At the worst, it could have changed, if not the course of Nigeria's history, at least, the manner of assessing that history and therefore the tendency for much civic behaviour to derive from mere myths and fictional engagements.

To say this, I admit, is to make a very big claim! It suggests that the problems of nation-building in Nigeria would have been either solved, ameliorated or their nature changed rather dramatically if these documents had come alive when they were most needed. This claim curry's sensation.

It casts me, who can make it, in rather un-fanciful light in the sense of putting an onerous responsibility on me to explain how come the manuscripts were not made public when they should have had the implied impact. And what role I have played in their seeing or not seeing the light of day! This was actually what was demanded by a writer in The Sun newspapers in 2007 who argued that only I had claimed in public to know about the existence of the Ifeajuna manuscript and only President Olusegun Obasanjo by quoting generously from it in his book , Nzeogwu, had proved that he, among the well-placed, knew about and could rely on the document. The writer had threatened that if President Obasanjo would not release the documents, I owed a responsibility to do so.

I

wish to be upfront with it: that what has been known about the documents in Nigeria's public space largely surfaced as a result of decisions I had taken at one time or the other. As Bari Salau points out in his own preface to Awo on the Nigerian civil war, I was active in turning the Enugu transcripts into public property.

I should add that I was later responsible for the outings that the Ifeajuna Manuscript had, whether in Obasanjo's book or in newspaper wrangles in the past two decades. Almost ritually, I drew attention to the forgotten documents in my newspaper columns as Chairman of the Editorial Board of the now defunct Tempo magazine and in interviews granted to other print media and television houses. During the struggle over the annulment of the June 12 1993 elections, I placed enormous weight on the evidence of the manuscripts in attempting to correct some of what I regarded as the fictions of Nigeria's history. All the while, I found myself in a quandary however because I based my arguments on documents that were not public property. They were like mystery documents that I seemed to be pulling out of my fez cap to mesmerize those who were not as privileged as I was.

All the effort I had made did not appear sufficient or proficient enough to relieve me of the obligation to complete the circle of their full conversion into public C M Y K

Awolowo and the forgotten documents of the civil war property. It has been quite bothersome to see that the issues they contain remain ever heated and on the boil. They are issues that have stood in the way of due and necessary cooperation between Nigerians from different parts of the country. I happen to know that in some quarters, merely to mention knowledge of the existence of the documents is viewed as raking and scratching the wounds of the civil war. It is a preference, it seems, for the murky halftruths and out-rightly contrived lies, much of them horrid residues of war propaganda, that have mauled our public space and ruined civic projects so irremediably since the war. Yet so insistent are the issues, so inexorable in everyday political discussions, so decisive in the sentiments expressed across regional and Ironsi ethnic lines, that to (below) continue to let them fester in limbo is to be guilty of something close to intellectual treason.

To meet the challenge of the propaganda, it has become necessary, in my view, to provide a natural history of the documents, first, as a performance in genealogies, to audit the processes through which the documents passed in order to arrive at where they are. I consider this important so that those who may wish to dispute their veracity can do so with fuller knowledge of their odyssey. I am minded to distinguish between offending the sensitivities of those who shore up

traducers, is almost churlish. It is certainly not enough to break the silence by outing the forgotten documents. The way to begin to discharge the responsibility is to narrate how I came to know about and have followed the career of the two documents.

(above),

Nzeogu

The Poet Lied, was part-response to the Nigerian crisis and civil war dealing with a segment of the political class, all those, including writers, politicians, religious leaders and soldiers - who were in a position to change the images and symbols by which we interpreted our lives but who flunked their roles during the civil war.

the myth of we never make mistakes, and others who simply wish for bygones to be bygones. As against bygoners, I think a country is unfortunate and illserved when it carries a pernicious history on her back that has been garnished by rumour peddlers and fiction-mongers who may or may not derive any benefits from traducing the truth but have been too committed to a line that makes looking the truth in the face unappealing. To keep silent, or to shelve a corrective, in the face of such

To begin with, it was in Ruth First's book, Barrel of a Gun, that I first encountered hints about the existence of the Ifeajuna Manuscript. Ruth First was one of the most daring of the instant historians who took on the writing of postindependence Africa as the continent began to be mauled by those whom Ali Mazrui would describe as the militariat and who operated on an ethic that Wole Soyinka has described as the divine right of the gun. She, who was so determined to uncover the roots of the violence that was overtaking African politics, was fated to die later through a parcel bomb sent by dirty jobbers of her native Apartheid South Africa. Her narrative took on the insidious goings on behind the scenes in several coups across Africa at a time when the issues, participants and sites were still hazy. It was like looking ahead to a future that a free South Africa needed to avoid. In a way, it prepared me to pay attention to the footnote to

line 16 of JP Clark's poem, ‘Return Home’ in his collection, Casualties, published in 1970. In the footnote, JP wrote: “A number of papers. Major Ifeajuna left with me on the night of our arrival at Ikeja the manuscript of his account of the coup, which after due editing was rejected by the publishers as early as May 1966 because it was a nut without the kernel”. This footnote made him post-facto accessory to the coup as he could have been charged

by one later-day military dictator down the road. But how did the manuscripts get to be handed over to JP? Which publishers rejected the manuscript?

This was left to the grind of the rumour mill for decades. Nothing more authoritative on what happened came from JP Clark until twenty years later when in his Nigerian National Order of Merit Award lecture of December 5, 2001, serialized in the Guardian between 10th and 14th December 2001, he filled in a few more gaps. He said: “My main encounter with the military , however, was played off stage many years before that. In Casualties, my account in poetry of the Nigerian Civil War, so much misunderstood by my Ibo readers and their friends in quotes, I said at the time that I came so close to the events of 15 January 1966 that I was taken in for interrogation. Shinkafi was the officer, all professional, but very polite. Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna had given me his account of the coup to edit and arrange publication. The authorities thought I had it then in my custody”. JP does not quite say how the authorities knew. Or show that they knew where he kept it.

M

y first inkling of what happened, regarding the Ifeajuna Manuscript, came to me as a result of a quirk in my biography that made me write a poem, The Poet Lied, which pitched me into the maw of an unwitting controversy on the wrong side of JP Clark. The Poet Lied, was part-response to the Nigerian crisis and civil war dealing with a segment of the political class, all those, including writers, politicians, religious leaders and soldiers - who were in a position to change the images and symbols by which we interpreted our lives but who flunked their roles during the civil war. JP Clark was riled by the poetic imputations, convinced that, as the poet agrees but not the poem, he was the one, or among the ones, satirized. He importuned my publishers, also his own publishers, Longman UK, to withdraw the collection from the market. Or face dire consequences! It was in the course of negotiating with the publishers, between the UK office and the Nigerian branch, how not to withdraw the manuscript from the market that I ran into stories of how one manuscript proffered by JP Clark had brought so much trouble to them two decades earlier. From bits and snippets in informal conversations, here and there, I got to know more about the Ifeajuna Manuscript which JP Clark sent to them to publish. As I gathered, the Longman office in Nigeria had sent the

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK QUESTIONS: Which book did Achebe write which captured all but a coup, of all that was happening wrongly in the country during the First Republic? Was Nnamdi Azikiwe sounded out by Igbo officers on the possibility of carrying out a coup in 1964, two years before the January 1966 coup? What was the plan of the coup makers of 1966 for Awolowo? Was Awolowo privy to what the eventual coup makers planned to do with him? What was so important about the Emmanuel Ifeajuna manuscript that Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to get to read it?

There are many questions but the ones above are dealt with in the next part of this series

PAGE 20—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

MIGRATING FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL BROADCASTING

A 98-year old woman and her TV set •Expert says Nigeria is losing time

By Jide Ajani and Adekunle Adekoya

I

T was Friday 12 October, it was afternoon, and the place was Soweto, the black township in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Earlier on Thursday, we had participated in a Digital Dialogue Conference powered by global pay TV leader, Multichoice Africa. The issue was migration by African countries from analog to digital broadcasting.

What's more, not many Africans (especially Nigerians) know that a 2015 deadline slammed by the International Telecommunications Union exists in this regard. Thus, in three years from now, everybody would need a set top box (decoder) to be able to receive signals from freeon-air TV stations. More about that later!

The day had begun on an equable note; the cool weather that nearly sixty journalists from nine African countries had endured was getting colder, especially at the rooftop of Multichoice Africa’s headquarters in Randburg. The journalists had been on a tour of the sprawling complex, and split into three groups, walked through various aspects of Multichoice operations. For some, they were seeing for the first time the processes and operations that ensure how what comes on TV at home or in the office, gets there.

After the tour, the newsmen gathered at an amphitheatre where they took in yet another presentation which was to be the last of formal presentations in the event.

Thence, it was time for lunch, and from Randburg, we took off for Soweto. After the lunch, it was time yet for another tour; we were to see households already using the set top boxes to receive free-on-air TV in South Africa. Multichoice had sample households that did not have DsTV but just plain, ordinary TV sets and depended on what SABC and others broadcast for their viewing entertainment.

The first house we got to, the occupants were not available. Three houses from there resides an old woman who participated in the Multichoice sample but she had gone to the market.

Eventually, our group got to House no 10386 A, Maliwa Street, also in Soweto. There we met an old woman, a septuagenarian who warmly welcomed us and showed us into her pleasant but homely, if cramped living room. Against one wall reclined a divider in which nestled a 21-inch

Mrs Lydia Moyo

•Alumona....We are losing time.

•Ugbe, MD, MultiChoice Nigeria concave screen TV set. On top of it sat a brownish small box, which we later saw was the set top box, or STB.

The woman, Mrs Lydia Moyo told us that ever since she had the STB, images on her TV had become sharper, and devoid of static when switching between channels. In fact she listed her favourite channels which she now enjoys as if they were pay TV stations.

But Mrs Moyo is just a sample. Like Nigeria, much of South Africans are just getting into the Digital Terrestrial Technology thing in TV broadcast and reception, but it seems those who can afford pay TV are less bothered. That leaves poor folk, who in most cases form bulk of the population, in the lurch.

For Nigeria, what are the issues?

Managing Director, South African Digital Broadcasting Association (SADIBA), Koenie Schutte, while presenting a paper, entitled “Preparing for the Transition of TV Broadcasting Services to Digital,” was categorical that Africa would not meet the 2015 deadline but said it was safer for Africa to take longer and get it right.

“Digital broadcast means there will be at least a 36% increase of spectrum and the mobile operators have their eyes on that; not switching will make life very difficult. Not switching to digital will eventually affect the economy, hence, limiting development because of the vast revenue generating opportunities that come with digital,” he added.

Supremo of Strategic Outcomes, Jenkins Alumona who led the Nigerian delegation to the talkshop wants the Nigerian government to take the digital migration issues more seriously if the country must enjoy the benefits, which include freeing frequencies and sale of spectrum, among others.

“I believe government needs to take the digital migration process more seriously and take a lead from what companies like Multichoice are doing.

One of the most vital aspects of the process is communication. Our more than 150 million people and our more than 20 million TV households need information and education on what digital migration is and how it will work and the time to start is now.

“Government has huge financial

benefits from the sale of free spectrum and so should ensure the people understand exactly what is happening,” Alumona added.

He said it was imperative that consumers were aware of what was happening as this would help them in making a choice of the kind of television sets to acquire to save money.

But intriguing was one of the questions raised during the main presentation at the Sandton Conference Centre.

During one of the presentations, specifically the one by Beth Thoren, the lady who headed the publicity subcommittee for the migration in Britain, one of the editors from Nigeria had asked for suggestions on how to handle the usually complex politicosentimental dimensions embedded in almost every policy of government.

The question centred on the mid-2015 deadline for digital migration and the challenges envisaged in a country of conflicting interests and egos to wit: That the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government which sits atop the affairs of state at the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja is never going to meet the deadline but would be sure to introduce shambles into the process of engaging a migration; that in the run up to catch (which it would not in an orderly, simple manner), it would engage a frenzied mode by the third quarter of 2014; that in the run up, some areas of the country (read urban areas) may migrate while other parts of the country may be left in the lurch; that the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, a party that appears to have mastered the art of propaganda may draw an inference from an alleged attempt by government to deliberately cause some of its potential areas of support signal disconnect (which in simple terms means advertisement on television for the areas yet to successfully migrate may either be useless or unproductive since they may not be aired; and that how can such a scenario be effectively handled? Confused?

Sure, after the question, even the compeer, Aki Anastasiou, a South African journalist, could not come to terms with the realities of the question and such a far-fetched possibility.

Because this is Nigeria, anything is possible.

Though Nigeria may be thousands of kilometers away from South Africa, the 98year-old Lydia Moyo is still watching her television, oblivious of the potential shambles Nigeria would subject the same experiment she is enjoying in Soweto, to.

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard , OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 21

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Nigerians abroad: A case of a fool and his money?

A

recent report in the British Daily Mail had this to say about our lovely countrymen!: “Move over the Peking Pound, Lagos Lolly is taking over the West End. Nigeria’s booming oil industry has resulted in a flourishing middle class looking for somewhere to spend their money. Thousands from the West African nation are flocking to London, following the lead of wealthy Chinese, Arab and Russian shop-

pers who have already become hooked on Britain’s favourite pastime.

“However, unlike other tourist-shoppers, Nigerians eschew designer labels such as Burberry and Gucci in favour of mid-market shops like M & S and John lewis.

Debenhams in Oxford Street has put up signs in Nigeria’s principal language, Hausa, to make visiting shoppers feel at home. Hitherto, foreign shoppers have flocked to Bond Street and Knights bridge. Indeed, visitors from the Middle East were such big spenders that highsend stores began to time their sales around the pre-Ramadan rush of foreign shoppers to London. But now, Nigeria is giving them a run for their money.

“The country is set to become Africa’s biggest economy next year and the globe’s fifth most populous by the middle of the century - and the number of Nigerians visiting the U.K. now stands at almost 150,000 a year.

Visitors from Nigeria are now the U.K.’s forth biggest foreign spenders, splashing an average £500 (about N125,OOO) in each shop they patronise - four times what the average Brit spends.’

“And while wealthy Chinese shoppers tend to drop by in the two weeks after Chinese New Year and buyers from the Middle East spend time in London during the summer, Nigerians - and their wallets - arrive all the year round ... “ Much as this write-up is stating the obvious, the sad fact is that the average Nigerian rich is a selfish megalomaniac. There is scarcely any week you switch on the telly or the radio without one or two appeal to these rich bigheads, urgently asking for a drop in their wealth to cure cancer, kidney or heart disease patients.

But very, very rarely do we hear of such bills being settled by ‘anonymous’ donors.

“Some monttis back,” recalls Ravmond, a small-scale businessman, “I went to an uncle for a soft loan of less than half a million to boost my fledging business. The tales of woe he told me were so pathetic that if I had the type of money I believed he had, I would gladly give him a chunk of it.

“Not long after, he had a lavish show-stopping wedding reception for his daughter that left everybody gawping at the extravagance. Waiters had a field-day ignoring most of the guests and ferreting bottles of very exclusive champagne to various hiding corners. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I congratulated my uncle and offered to be put in charge of his guests. He showed me to where the choice drinks were and by the end of the reception, I’d helped myself to quite a number of bottles.

The security men did not even bat an eyelid as I

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"

I want real love!

I am sending this message to that special damsel that is still single just because of me, that real love is not based on romance, candle light dinner and walks

to you. You’ll begin to feel like a celeb.

K

took them to my modest car - they thought it was with my uncle’s authority.

I made a small fortune from their sale!”

When the average Nigerian comes into money, he gets an itchy palm to spend and spend. First, some designer clothes, then exotic cars, one or two impressive property, some friends’ wives they’d once admired from afar, followed by a string of parties that leave guests thanking their stars they were either invited or had successfully gate crashed.

Talk about a fool and his money being responsible for the best parties!

Being a celebrity is so easy!

You too can be a celebrity!

We all want to be seated at the best tables in restaurants and walk on red carpet, but would we really enjoy a posse of paparazzi snapping at our heels? Celebrities pay a price for being on the public stage. But if you want it, you can have it without paparazi following your every move. All right, you may not even make the list, but this isn’t about fame. This is about mak-

ing people feel that the lights have suddenly brightened just because you’ve entered the room Here’s ‘how to be on the A-list in your own world by people who have actually tried and succeeded:

Make work your stage: Whether you’re briefing your team on a new project or selling clothes in a shop, you need to give your job the same kind of oomph the celebs give theirs.

Wherever you work, that is your stage. Perform on it well and you’ll steal the show.

Make a name for yourself: Celebs are more than what they do. They are names. Editors know that names in headlines grab attention. Decide what name you’re going to have. Imagine it on an invitation to a first night, or on the list of employees put up for promotion. What name do you want to see there - the nickname everyone knows you by or your fool moniker? What would we think of Hilary Clinton if she’d called herself Hills?

And would Catherine

along the beach. In fact it is based on respect, compromise, care and trust. Love is loving someone not just for the good things about them but embracing their flaws and imperfections as well, real love is all I want.

Osademe Joseph, Ozoro, Delta State. josy4obama@yahoo.com, O8036065302.

You are unique There is only one you created by God,do not try to be another person in your life.

The key to yourself esteem belongs to you.Only if you have self respect and believe in you,no one will ever look down on you.Feel free,think big,walk tall,pose,dance,sing and dress to greatness.Do what brings you happiness but do not fool youself because no one feels your pains more than you do.Care more about God commendation and care less about peo-

Zeta Jones be such a name if she’d styled herself Katie Jones? When you’ve picked your name, use it whenever you can. Answer the phone with it and sign it on everything you can.

Get YQur name about: Getting your name known is easy if you’re prepared on what you read - write a letter to the editor. Or write an article and see your name on the byline. Give talks. Set up special interest groups and make sure your name is on the publicity. Be the spokesperson for the group you’re involved with. The more you get your name about, the more people will claim to know you.

Friends you haven’t spoken to in ages will ring to say they saw your picture in the paper when you were handing out prizes at your eldest’s school.

Conference speakers will seek you out during the break to discuss the question you asked in more details. Soon, you won’t be the one glancing around a room wondering who to talk to.

People will want to talk

eep something back: Now that your name is getting known by a wider audience, you can’t afford to slip back into being just one of the gang. By all means, go for a drink after work, but don’t stay too long. People will gradually come to understand that they have to share you with others. Don’t automatically accept all invitations. You’re now on a very busy schedule and have lots of demands on your time from lots of people. Whoever gets you will need to feel that they ’re lucky to have you, they’ll treat you as the star guest.

D

on’t let it go your head: No one likes a big head and the best loved celebrities are those whose generosity of spirit wins our hearts.

True stars have a radiance. When you talk to people, give them your undivided attention.

Don’t look around for someone more important to talk to. For two minutes or so, you can make the person you’re with feel special, and after you’ve gone, they’ll feel a warm glow for having been in your presence.

One Woman’s Poison!

(Humour) Ann arrives home early from work and hears strange noises coming from upstairs. She rushes up and bursts into her bedroom. There she finds her best friend having frantic sex with her fat, spotty husband. She looks at them both with disgust. Then, turning to her best friend, says; “For God’s sake Carol, I have to. What’s your excuse?”

ple's condemnation, always remembered that you are. . . . . . ."UNIQUE" Chris Onunaku dekris4real@gmail.com 08032988826/08184844015

True friendship The authencity of friendship can be perfectly elucidated by the conscientious feelings of two or more caring hearts. Friends who are much of a muchness.

Who can be stoical in the face of hardship, who wouldn't throw the other to the wolves or leaves the other out in the lurch, who wouldn't run-away when the balloon goes up & then come back when the dust has settled. But will be of service to themselves without leaving anything under wraps come what may.

Udoka K.C. Eze emeraldson4u@yahoo.com.

0813 625 1188.

PAGE 22—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

vestigate nature scientifically as an act of piety in order to understand the workings of selected aspects of God’s creation. But the contributions of religion to science cannot atone for the irrational obstacles religion placed, and continues to place, on the path of scientific progress and learning. For instance, the Church fought against Galileo in the seventeenth century, Darwin in the nineteenth, and Russell in the twentieth. Even up to now, Islamic extremists do whatever they can to suppress the education of girls and

women. Religion opposes science mainly because religious leaders benefiting from it are afraid that scientific knowledge would undermine dogmatic belief in religious superstitions which is the source of the psychological power they have over believers.

Thus, it is in the interest of the Pope, Chief Imam, Pastors etc. that the faithful should remain ignorant and fearful so that they would continue exploiting the latter by acting as anointed servants of God. Secondly, religion, especially Abrahamic religions, has a very dark side. Just think of the cruelties, particularly in the form of tortures and human sacrifices, committed in the name of various Gods from prehistoric times to the present.

Consider the evils of the Inquisition, Crusades, jihads and other forms of religious persecution.

The “holy” books of dominant world religions prescribe atrocious punishment for essentially harmless actions such as blasphemy, homoeroticism, and sex outside marriage.

It is to the eternal shame of Britain that one of its great mathematicians, Allan Mathison Turing, committed suicide in 1954 while undergoing court-ordered hormone therapy after being convicted for “gross indecency” as a homosexual.

On September 3, 1992, Sadiq Abdul Karim Malallah was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia as lawful punishment for apostasy and blasphemy. Recurrent incidences of religious violence and destruction in various countries, including Nigeria, amply corroborate the claim that there is no limit to the degree of cruelty and wickedness believ-

ers can perpetrate as long as they are convinced that their action “is for God.” Hence, it is not surprising that, for religious extremists and fundamentalists, God is a perfect alibi for killing “infidels” and destroying their property. Another reason why belief in God is abhorrent is that it fosters discrimination and intolerance. Different religions worship different deities with contradictory attributes.

Adherents of exclusivistic proselytising religions consider their various Gods to be the only genuine God deserving of worship. As a consequence, the devout who invariably see themselves as “the chosen ones,” feel obliged to convert non-believers. The feeling of exclusiveness compels them to employ any means necessary, including violence and murder, to avoid being contaminated by so-called pagans and atheists. In this way, religion serves as an instrument of social instability and discord. On the economic front, the worship of God is a monumental waste. If we discount the number of irreplaceable and priceless human lives (and other living beings) that have been sacrificed to various deities since the beginning of religion and concentrate on the material resources wasted thus far in the name of God, the currency equivalent in pounds, dollars, euros, you name it, would be astronomical.

Again, consider for a moment all the land, extravagant buildings and other physical paraphernalia of worship, together with the productive man-hours wasted daily to worship one God or another – you will agree with me that God (or

Gods) is the most wasteful fiction invented by the human mind. The psychology of utter dependence on a divine being who, according to the British philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, “is the suffering companion who understands,” is repugnant. Similarly, the sight of healthy and intellectually cultivated men and women debasing themselves, cringing before a mere fiction because of existential fear of the unknown and imaginary hell fire is utterly ridiculous and tragic.

Belief in God is a classic recipe for self-abnegation and self-enslavement. At a more profound level, it allows parents and guardians to cripple the intellectual and moral development of children by indoctrinating them with nonsense culled from religion.

I am convinced that it is very immoral for parents and guardians to teach children unquestioning belief in the antiquated worldviews of ignorant peoples of old documented in purported “holy” books or handed down orally from generation to generation.

The intellectual and emotional damage done to children brought up on a diet of religion is incalculable.

There are other valid reasons for rejecting the God hypothesis. But we cannot present all of them here.

The essential point I wish to reiterate, by way of conclusion, is that, contrary to popular belief that atheism makes one sad and hopeless, I testify from personal experience that it is the best way of liberating oneself from the tyranny of God and religious superstition. Have the courage to become an atheist today and experience its exhilarating effect!

CONCLUDED

plementation of law and justice that is a daily occurrence. It has become a mere irritation to watch obviously guilty politicians and lately bankers who have robbed the coffers set free while petty thieves are sent to the gallows. Judges and legislators are muzzled to do the bidding of the real powers that be and that same level of impunity is trickling down.

I had an experience this week that opened my eyes to the desperation of

my movement to coincide with the flow of traffic in the direction of work and suffer the extra long route back home. Last wednesday would have been a normal day like any other except for the almost Nollywood tragic occurrence that almost befell me. Approximately 300 meters before the bridge, my driver had slowed down; we were both wondering why it wasn't opened but before we could even ask the officials anything, we

scene out of a mob movie.

When we asked what our offence was, I was told we were guilty of parking on a bridge. My car wasn't parked and the engine was running till they forcibly broke the key in the ignition. Police harassment is not new and its worldwide so I probably would have brushed it off except for what happened next.

From behind us a man I can only describe as a hoodlum, without any identification or uniform jumped behind the wheel and if my driver and I hadn't scrambled into the car he would have sped off. He drove at break neck speed into a very scary area of Lagos Island and I began to regret not letting him just have the car. By now my anger and indignation became fear; I was either being kidnapped or about to be robbed of more than my car.

The next 30 to 40 minutes opened my eyes to the new lagos. Unfortunately or fortunately I wasn't carrying enough money to feed the demands of the man with a gun.

My ATM cards also

decided not to work and he did not want my phones or jewellery. I was eventually rescued by the fish monger I knew who gave me all the money she had before I was let go. I should mention that I was not the only one caught in this almost deadly web and one other driver suffered a fate worse than I did.

Right before my eyes, he was dragged out and beaten; he was being stripped when the fish monger came to my rescue. Later on I recalled the man with the gun saying to someone that "he had a HOT" , it seemed he was actually pleading with them that it was just some girl and not worth their time and that may have explained why I got off so lightly. I have faced the barrel of a gun before and I cant say which one was worse, being robbed by robbers or being robbed by men in uniform. I tried to report it and you can imagine my frustration and even desperation when state officials said nothing could be done as they had no control of the hoodlums they had empowered!

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

The case for atheism (5) walking with crutches which she or he does not need. Up to this point, I have argued that there is no good reason for believing that God exists. Now, I want to disclose why belief in God, and religion generally, is harmful to the pursuit of peace, happiness and well-being. First and foremost, the dogmatic attitude fostered by religion is inimical to the growth of scientific knowledge. Fundamentally, acceptance of

Belief in God is a classic recipe for self-abnegation and self-enslavement

knowledge-claims in science is based on logic and evidence. Therefore a healthy degree of scepticism and critical attitude are prerequisites for acquiring scientific knowledge. But religion, at its best, requires devotees to dogmatically accept propositions as unquestionably true simply on the ground that they are contained in a “holy” book.

By encouraging dogmatic acceptance of propositions which contradict reason and established knowledge, religion tends to discourage devoted quest for truth and knowledge of re-

Jesus, take the wheel

L

IVING under con stituted authority presupposes that there would be laws put in place to protect and defend an acceptable standard and way of life.

The laws would require everyone to obey the rules that govern society and there would be a recourse to an established arm of the same law to enforce its statutes and punish those who break the law. It is not genius to assume that for the society to run peaceably and harmoniously, everyone would be subject to its laws but what happens when the enforcers of the law manipulate and break the law for personal gain or as a blatant show of ego and power? When the law is made an ass and it becomes a tool of perversion, mayhem and murder then there is trouble.

Against this background

ality, which is extremely important for intellectual development and enlightenment. But we stated earlier that religion has contributed to the growth of science and art. Yet, whatever contribution religion has made to science is definitely not in terms of methodology – methodologically speaking religion is antiscientific. During the Middle Ages especially, some talented believers were probably motivated to in-

I am reminded of a song title, "Jesus, take the wheel'.

I am slowly becoming convinced that Nigeria as a country is a car, moving at breakneck speed; with no designated driver. If you can picture in your mind a car, speeding along bumpy roads, changing drivers without stopping or slowing down, almost crashing and to make it worse is laden with too many unhappy passengers. My analogy may not be obvious to casual bystanders of the Nigerian situation but the past few decades have left nigerians in no doubt that the godfathers behind the scene often wield more power than the designated and duly elected office holders (election fraud is a story for another day). By now my analogy should be clearer with the selective im-

,

,

C

OMPARED to all these, together with the technological innovations and possibilities embedded in contemporary science, the God of religion appears vanishingly small and insignificant. It is incorrect to say that science deprives us the sense of mystery which we ought to feel about the universe.

World-renowned atheistic scientists like Albert Einstein, James Watson, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg etc. readily accept the inspirational character of scientific discoveries without the antiquated baggage of religious superstition epitomised in the anthropomorphic concept of God. Therefore, it is quite possible, and desirable too, that people should “tune in” to the awe-inspiring dimensions of the universe, from the very small to the very big, the extremely slow to the incredibly fast.

Each one of us has the potential to contemplate the universe without the obscurantism of religion. But because everyone was born in a cultural background dominated by irrational faith, the notion that one needs to believe in God seems deceptively credible. The way I see it, belief in God, for whatever reason, is intellectually stultifying, morally crippling and spiritually degrading. It is like a healthy, able-bodied person

,

It has become a mere irritation to watch obviously guilty politicians and lately bankers who have robbed the coffers set free while petty thieves are sent to the gallows

the Nigerian situation and it brought a feeling of total helplessness. I commute to work against traffic and the most convenient route would be through the 3rd Mainland Bridge in lagos.

This bridge however has limited flow because it is currently undergoing maintenance work. I time

,

were surrounded by police men shouting and threatening to shoot us!

It was unfolding very fast and my driver was dragged out of the car while I was ordered out with a gun aiming and periodically touching my chest. LASTMA officials and mobile policemen seemed to be enacting a

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 23

A

FTER decades of war mongering, one of the most powerful women ever to walk the earth discovered the truth – war often does not pay; winners and losers pay horrible prices.

When the Japanese first attacked America at the start of World War II, they never knew that, in retaliation, two atomic bombs will land on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 – killing more than 4 million and maiming millions more in less than two weeks. The Americans, meanwhile carry, till today, the guilty conscience associated with unleashing that unprecedented horror on other human beings. War is hell. Must we waste our resources, including time, on it?

Despite the open declaration last week that I will neither defend nor condemn Achebe or Awo, but, instead, I will continue to plead with

the combatants on all sides, not two, (because unfortunately the memoirs have induced reactions from many ethnic groups apart from the Igbo and Yoruba), to let’s stop this needless controversy. Below are some of the replies which were received as a result. I reproduce them with a great deal of sadness because collectively they lead us further down the road to disunity – which will serve nobody’s interests.

Let me digress to draw our collective attention to two events which passed unnoticed because we were too busy raking up the embers of ethnic hatred. Rwanda, a tiny African country was elected to fill the African seat in the United Nations Security Council for the next two years. That such a monumental test of national prestige was in progress was lost in the recriminations about the past. And there was a second assault on our national image. Ghana is now busy enforcing their own version of “Nigeria must go” by passing a law which had indigenized certain categories of trade in that coun-

“Jesus does not do coins”

T

HE British mail newspaper ran a center page about the Winners’ Chapel. The head of the ministries, David Oyedepo, has an estimated £93 million fortune, a fleet of private jets and a RollsRoyce Phantom. The church has been accused of cynical exploitation with £16.7 million in donations and followers are told that God would give them riches in return.

In the Mail revelation, it was revealed that followers are bussed to the church and handed envelopes and their followers encouraged to make debit cards payments.This the min-

istries say will make them immune from illnesses.

The donations to the ministry in England almost doubled from £2.21 million to £4.37 million between 2006 and 2010.Mr Oyedepo’s super church in Nigeria received £794,000 or 73 per cent of the charitable donations paid out by the British Winners’ Chapel between 2007 and 2010.

This was despite claims in Africa that he is enriching himself at the expense of his devotees.

I have a lot of misgivings, when vulnerable people who go into these places seeking spiritual refuge and absolutions

“GSM Number withheld. I lost my father, mother and two sisters, when Baifra soldiers came to our town in Edo State. They raped my mother and sisters and killed my father. One sister died from abortion when she got belle from the Ibo beasts. Over 20,000 women and girls from 7 yrs were raped.

Na Hausa Fulani killed dem, but it was we they attacked. Awo did not kill

We seem determined to fall in defence of “truths” – the cores of which are not acknowledged by both sides while deliberately and vehemently arguing superficialities

,

message is presented.

“0815-260-7443. Oga Dele, at your level of development in age you should kwow that calling a spade by its only name a spade is not of impotance but very vital.

You've not turned to anything, mediator, or peacemaker because you are being economical with d truth. In Igboland, were two people are fighting, one must be

enough of them. We young Edos are waiting to clear Kobokobo people from our place.

are fleeced.

I know of several cases. One that comes to mind is that of a former client who was a victim of a serious crime. She had gone to a church to pray and at the end of the sermon the collection plate came round and she placed a £1 coin into the tray. She had saved the money but the usher was so scathing and she told my client that “Jesus does not do coins”! An old lady gave her last £5 and had to beg at the

everything only to deliver paranoia, penury and pain. Some of these places are nothing but a pyramid scheme only the top tier milks the proceeds while lowest tier remains deluded of spiritual deliverance.

,

“I must practice moderation and say that peace is better than the finest war in the world”, Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, 1762-1796.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 183).

try. Nigerians, especially Igbo and Yoruba, constitute the largest group likely to suffer hardships as a result. Forget Bakassi, which we lost to the same sort of internal discord. As the old saying goes, “united we stand, divided we fall”.

We seem determined to fall in defence of “truths” – the cores of which are not acknowledged by both sides while deliberately and vehemently arguing superficialities.

One of the senders had asked that his GSM number not be published.

As usual, that wish will be respected while the

,

Achebe/Awo war: A plea for sanity –2

guilty and the other innocent. Belive it or you forget it. JUSTICE is more important than your fake unity. Sir, if at your age you see two sons fighting and there and then you can't tell the guilty one shut up, then your FRANKLY SPEAKING is madness……

“0805-666-5544. Deeply disappointed with ur article of Oct 2I . R u implying that TRUTH has to be buried for the survival of Nigeria? R u implying that the presumed sin of Awolowo is taken as collective of all Yoruba? I would rather think

This is Chuka Ummuna.

“To be wealthy and honoured in an unjust society is a disgrace.”

-- Confucius I was commuting on a busy Monday morning

Some of these places are nothing but a pyramid scheme only the top tier milks the proceeds while lowest tier remains deluded of spiritual deliverance

door for money to buy her electricity. She had felt pressured into handing her money over.

Whatever the case, these places prey on the vulnerable and promises

,

in London. Transportation is generally a well oiled routine. So I crossed over to the train station, and I noticed a tall, slim and dark gentlemen (well, he really

0803-7I2-9538 What you have is a bunch of relevance seekers splitting hairs for no reason.

If we want to exorcise the ghost of the Civil War forever, we have to confront the truth…..

0805-77I-3057 If Achebe (80) believes in Nigeria as you do, he would, ab initio, have held his pen when he he knew that re-opening old wound at this time may likely turn the country upside down”.

0807-607-045I. Thank God Awo was able to defend himself before his death. He even stoutly reacted to Ojukwu’s diatribe before his demise…I hope the Prof is not warming up for another war as an Igbo leader. Layi.

0708-296-2679 Yorubas should drive Ibos out of the Southwest immediately starting with Lagos State”.

Now you have read the “truths” to which some people hold. There are more than I can publish.

But, none of them said anything new on both sides. And there is no “truth” that is not being contested. So how can anyone want to judge his own case based on his own “truth”? We will get nowhere this way.

Let me close this second part by recalling a real personal experience.

I drove from Kano to Lagos in I984 for the Christmas holidays; went to Campus area of Lagos Island and saw two fellows about to start a fight.

One told me to mind my business, because he was certain he would beat the other senseless.

The other also told me to leave them alone. It was going to be a fight to the finish. Each claimed he was in the right. I left them. Less than thirty minutes after there was a terrific knock on the door of our house. The two guys were bleeding profusely from cuts inflicted on each other and no taxi was willing to carry them to General Hospital. Those who came were there to plead with me to convey them to the hospital because only somebody like me could get them treated on a public holiday.

What would you have done in my shoes? War is hell; we better think again before we start another violent conflict on account of “truths”. If care is not taken another one is on the way. Even, to 08I5-260-7443 who descended into personal attack, my plea remains “give peace a chance”.

That is the best legacy we can leave for the dead, the living and the unborn.

However, if anyone is still spoiling for a fight, they are welcome to it. I have an idea whose blood will be spilled most because it will be an unfair contest – for reasons I don’t want to disclose.

was light skinned) .We both got into the cab of the train. So we took our seats side by side.

He acknowledged my presence and realised that it was me (a community leader in my neighbourhood we meet occasionally at joint events).

He asked after my son, and then my daughter and we talked for awhile.

Then we got into our journey. I know he has a busy day ahead so I buried my face into my free newspaper. After several stop, he was about to get up he smiled and bid me good day and extended his greeting to my family and I, You see, some of my fellow commuters recognised him but did not react.

Well, the man who just left the train was none other than Chuka Ummuna, Member of Parliament and Shadow Business Minister. It is quite normal to see our lawmakers and parliamentarians using the public

transport and mingling with the rest of the ordinary people. It makes them more accessible and brings them closer to the ordinary person in the street. So when I read that Okorocha’s ADC,Gabriel Onu, was jostling Governor of Anambra's man for warming up the seat for his boss.

Gov Okorocha punches Peter Obi’s aide for denying him seat.

You see, the event was in Anambra and the Governor of the state, would be given a place in the front row. But the Imo contingent did not think so. Okorocha's aides were defiant: “Why is it that anywhere we go, they always reserve a special seat for Obi. Is Okorocha not the leader of Ndigbo?” They did make a scene and what a carry on! Anyway, when Governor Obi arrived to the venue, he squeezed between Onyebuchi and Okorocha.

that Nigeria will be well served when the truth of the unfortunate is discussed..I’m Igbo and am the first to condemn Ojukwu for ruining us..

PAGE 24—SUNDAY VANGUARD,OCTOBER 28, 2012

Email: woman-vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

Re: Nigeria @ 52

I

T’S sad to note that there are that at 52, we’re still at the crawling stage of life. It wasn’t those who wrote in here to react to my piece on the matter who feel this way, but pieces published in other Nigerian newspapers and magazines reflected this too. I wondered if these people witnessed life before we got our independence, and compared it with the present time. Anyone who wasn’t at least five years old at independence cannot judge accurately, even where they are echoing what their parents told them. If they think that 52 is a great number of years, and we should have been catapulted to the rank of the highly developed by now, then they don’t know much about the history of the developed countries, and their pace of growth. Some of the articles I read talked about ‘retarded growth’ ‘still crawling at snail’s speed’, etc. Well, that’s to be expected because Nigeria has this peculiar problem of being made up of groups with very different views of life and development. So, development can never be even throughout the nation.

I’m still convinced that we’ve made progress on various fronts, and if we collectively make a total commitment to discard our cheating, greedy, dishonest and shameless nature, and become a people of integrity who put the nation first before self-interest, we will certainly make giant strides in development and peace, because we have the potential to be great. Coming out every October 1st to condemn the nation with a long list of its woes, when we’re very much part of the entire problem is dishonest and unserious. The young who are our future will not learn anything from this attitude. Instead, they will continue in these rotten shoes, and things will get worse. It’s time to effect a radical change for the better.

Some of those who wrote in, however, don’t share my view.

“Mrs. Ovbiagele, I’m not happy about what you wrote on Sept. 30th. The man on the street, whatever his/her character is not on the seat of government and is not involved in making the wrong policy and defrauding the nation. Instead, he/she is bearing the full brunt of the ineptitude of our rulers. I don’t think we’ve arrived at the point where we would raise glasses to toast a functioning Nigeria. Period! - Chike, Umuahia.”

“Madam, I agree a bit with you that the attitude to life of the average Nigerian, which involves a desire to get rich quickly by any means, is bringing down this nation, but that’s not why we’re still crawling at 52. A nation develop through sound policies. Even where there’s a sound policy, the implementation is shoddy, and at the end of the day, nothing is achieved. Our rulers over the years are mostly to blame. - Owu, Delta State.”

“Our rulers love only themselves, so, they can’t be bothered about doing things to improve the system.

The State money is there for them and members of their families to seek medical care in any foreign country of their choice. Why should they be bothered about improving healthcare here? Their children are in schools abroad. Why should they be concerned about the very low quality of education they make available here? They use our money to jet C M Y K

View-Point

Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor

Our rulers love only themselves, so, they can’t be bothered about doing things to improve the system. The State money is there for them and members of their families to seek medical care in any foreign country of their choice

off to other countries to enjoy a system which works. Why should they be overly worried about our bad roads, epileptic power supply, poor transport system, etc.?

They surround themselves day and night with security personnel. Why should they bother about the terrible lack of security of lives and property in the country? I’ve just read that students in Adamawa were called out by their names and then slaughtered! I’m sure no person in power or decision-making position lost anyone there! We haven’t made any progress in 52 years. That’s the truth. - Ese, Lagos. ” “Helen, I agree with you that we shouldn’t blame only our leaders for our failure to record appreciable development.

We point accusing fingers at them because they are in the decision-making positions.

However, we should remember that, first and foremost, they are from among us.

They are Nigerians, so, they have our character in them – to do less, and acquire money to last several generations of their descendants. When the current ones leave, they will be replaced by people with similar intentions. So, where do we go from here? A total overhaul of our character is needed for a healthier Nigeria. - Ade, Ife.” “Ma, I wasn’t born at independence, so, I’m not in a position to say whether we’ve improved under self -rule. However, I know that things were better in the coun-

try during my childhood than they are now. In the early nineties, graduates could still serve in any part of the federation safely. The main fear of parents then was that they were always travelling up and down, and could have accidents.

These days students are being killed anyhow in their posts in the north, while the northerners who serve down south, do so without coming to any harm. This is very distressing. Young people with promise and the future ahead of them, get killed in cold blood because of ethnic/religious differences which is not of their own doing. The government still insists on posting southerners to the north! Who will help develop the country if young people are killed in their prime? This is part of the reason Nigeria isn’t working, ma.

Also, in my childhood, criminal activities involving the young were not this many. The increase is due to high rate of employment. What is the government doing about this? One graduates and there’s no job for several years, unless you’re well-connected. In that case

a job would be waiting for you before you graduate. This isn’t fair on the poor! Some young people feel it’s best to go suffer abroad, than remain here and be a burden to one’s parents who have slaved hard to educate one. Thanks ma. - Terry.”

“Madam, only God can rescue this country from the clutches of those who are out to bring us to our knees through fraudulent activities. How can it be alleged that several thousands of electricity transformers bought with public money be hidden away, when cases abound where PHCN officials tell consumers that they have to supply money to replace the burnt transformer in their area, because they have none in their store? I haven’t heard of this sort of thing happening elsewhere on the globe. Incredible! When I was told this yesterday, I couldn’t believe my ears. Let’s see what explanation would be given for this. There’s no electricity supply in my area right now, and no-one knows the cause.

We’re too stressed out to do anything, so, we use torches as there’s fuel shortage. ” We thank all those who wrote in.

THE 11TH JAPAN FASHION WEEK WAS HELD IN TOKYO english.peopledaily.com.cn

PAGE 25—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

BY EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, SouthSouth Although, God, in the union of man and woman, admonished that no man (read nobody, force or power), should put asunder what He has joined; the unending flood ravaging the country appears not to be obeying the binding biblical injunction, as it has put asunder the South-South geo-political zone. Nigeria was carved into six geopolitical zones of which South-South is one, some years ago, by former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha. Since ‘every government that be, is ordained by God’, Nigerians accepted the partitioning and six states, namely Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Cross-Rivers, make up the oil-rich region.

Ever since, the people of the six states have been doing everything to live together as one and their governors had even formed a union, known as BRACED, an acronym for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, CrossRiver, Edo and Delta states to cement their unity and cooperation along regional line.

‘Un-divine’ separation

H

owever, by ‘und i v i n e ’ intervention, the region has been partitioned into three following the splitting of the East-West Road, the only major expressway linking the six states, by flood.

As at Wednesday, October 24, when Sunday Vanguard went on tour of the road, Delta and Edo states are on one side, having been cut off from Bayelsa, Rivers, AkwaIbom and Cross River states, while Bayelsa is standing on its own like an Island.

The state could not be accessed from the neighboring Rivers and Delta states. In fact, only Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Cross Rivers states were left together on the third side of the divide.

From Evwreni in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, where Sunday Vanguard saw the first “Jordan River ” created on the East-West Road to Rivers State, hundreds of vehicles that were trapped by flood, were seen either packed or submerged.

C M Y K

•Travellers in exodus across the road turned river at Evwreni.

FLOOD PUTS S/SOUTH ASUNDER

Mortuary attendants stack corpses on roof tops •East/West road split •Bayelsa; Edo/Delta; and A-Ibom, Rivers, Cross-River, stand apart Of course, there is no more transportation by road, as vehicles going from Edo or Delta to Bayelsa, Rivers and other parts of the South-South

have to pass through three other states of the South-East region, namely Anambra, Abia and Imo to get to their destinations.

•A gully caused by the ravaging flood.

Nobody knows when the flood, which is still flowing on the road would recede, but it is obvious that a lasting destruction has been left on the road. From what we saw, even if a m i r a c l e happens and the flood dries up next month, no vehicle can immediately pass on it.

Given the several years the Federal Government has been trying to repair the E a s t -We s t Road without success, you can imagine

how many decades it will now take to landfill the emergency rivers that have come up.

Jordan River on East-West Road Sunday Vanguard crossed the “River Jordan” created on the East-West Road at Evwreni community by flood on foot with our crew pulling off their shoes, socks and rolling up their trousers above knee level; and with their reporter’s notebook, biro and other writing materials placed above their heads, as if in surrender to the gods of nature, the crew marched with other frustrated citizens to the other side of the road.

One could feel the shove of the flood on one’s legs as one walked past the river.

However, having refused the teenagers, who demanded N100 fee for an executive canoe ride the pleasure they wanted at the first point of intrusion on the abandoned road, I swore not to give the enemy a foothold by not missing my step in the crossover.

The entire crew succeeded in crossing the Jordan River notwithstanding the weapons that were fashioned against them. Nevertheless, that was only the beginning, as there was no vehicle to continue the journey. Of course, the car that we used for the trip, which later had a gear problem, broke down on the return trip, was parked at the last bus stop, near the new Evwreni River, along the East-West road.

Throughout, the journey, I kept muttering prayers to God that the flood should not CONTINUES ON PAGE

PAGE 26—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

BY EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, SouthSouth Although, God, in the union of man and woman, admonished that no man (read nobody, force or power), should put asunder what He has joined; the unending flood ravaging the country appears not to be obeying the binding biblical injunction, as it has put asunder the South-South geo-political zone. Nigeria was carved into six geopolitical zones of which South-South is one, some years ago, by former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha. Since ‘every government that be, is ordained by God’, Nigerians accepted the partitioning and six states, namely Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Cross-Rivers, make up the oil-rich region.

Ever since, the people of the six states have been doing everything to live together as one and their governors had even formed a union, known as BRACED, an acronym for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, CrossRiver, Edo and Delta states to cement their unity and cooperation along regional line.

‘Un-divine’ separation

H

owever, by ‘und i v i n e ’ intervention, the region has been partitioned into three following the splitting of the East-West Road, the only major expressway linking the six states, by flood.

As at Wednesday, October 24, when Sunday Vanguard went on tour of the road, Delta and Edo states are on one side, having been cut off from Bayelsa, Rivers, AkwaIbom and Cross River states, while Bayelsa is standing on its own like an Island.

The state could not be accessed from the neighboring Rivers and Delta states. In fact, only Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Cross Rivers states were left together on the third side of the divide.

From Evwreni in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, where Sunday Vanguard saw the first “Jordan River ” created on the East-West Road to Rivers State, hundreds of vehicles that were trapped by flood, were seen either packed or submerged.

C M Y K

•Travellers in exodus across the road turned river at Evwreni.

FLOOD PUTS S/SOUTH ASUNDER

Mortuary attendants stack corpses on roof tops •East/West road split •Bayelsa; Edo/Delta; and A-Ibom, Rivers, Cross-River, stand apart Of course, there is no more transportation by road, as vehicles going from Edo or Delta to Bayelsa, Rivers and other parts of the South-South

have to pass through three other states of the South-East region, namely Anambra, Abia and Imo to get to their destinations.

•A gully caused by the ravaging flood.

Nobody knows when the flood, which is still flowing on the road would recede, but it is obvious that a lasting destruction has been left on the road. From what we saw, even if a m i r a c l e happens and the flood dries up next month, no vehicle can immediately pass on it.

Given the several years the Federal Government has been trying to repair the E a s t -We s t Road without success, you can imagine

how many decades it will now take to landfill the emergency rivers that have come up.

Jordan River on East-West Road Sunday Vanguard crossed the “River Jordan” created on the East-West Road at Evwreni community by flood on foot with our crew pulling off their shoes, socks and rolling up their trousers above knee level; and with their reporter’s notebook, biro and other writing materials placed above their heads, as if in surrender to the gods of nature, the crew marched with other frustrated citizens to the other side of the road.

One could feel the shove of the flood on one’s legs as one walked past the river.

However, having refused the teenagers, who demanded N100 fee for an executive canoe ride the pleasure they wanted at the first point of intrusion on the abandoned road, I swore not to give the enemy a foothold by not missing my step in the crossover.

The entire crew succeeded in crossing the Jordan River notwithstanding the weapons that were fashioned against them. Nevertheless, that was only the beginning, as there was no vehicle to continue the journey. Of course, the car that we used for the trip, which later had a gear problem, broke down on the return trip, was parked at the last bus stop, near the new Evwreni River, along the East-West road.

Throughout, the journey, I kept muttering prayers to God that the flood should not they CONTINUES ON PAGE

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 27

C M Y K

28—SUNDAY, Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

At GCIOBA’s 83rd reunion luncheon

T

he Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA) held their 83rd anniversary annual reunion luncheon and merit award ceremony at the college premises, lbadan, Oyo state, penultimate Saturday.

L-R:Chief Biodun Jolaoso, newly elected president of the Association , Mr Leye falore, 1st vice president, Mr Funso Ogunkeye, 2rd vice president and Mr James Engurube, Gen- Sec retary. Photos: Shola Oyelese.

As part of the activities highlighted to mark the special occasion a public lecture entitled “Capital flight and brain drain: Nigeria’s neo-colonial slavery,” was delivered by Dr Omololu Olunloyo, former governor of Oyo State. Here in pictures by Sola Oyelese are some of the faces at the event

Wedding bliss for Joy and Kenneth

N

otable engineer and businessman, Kenneth Onwuka has formalised his relationship with former Miss Joy Ewelike in a Holy wedlock at the St. Jude Catholic Church, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos. Family and friends of the couple graced the occasion which was as refreshing as it was entertaining. Photos by Biodun Ogunleye

The couple, Mr & Mrs Kenneth Joy Onwuka flanked by both parents

L-R:Mr Kayode Williams , Mr B. Oyekan and Mr TOS Akinrelere

L-R:Engr David Oyesina, Prof Yemi Badejoko and Mr Victor Abiodun

L-R:Mr Aramide Tola Noibi , Mr Niyi Owolade and Dr Ademola Majasan

L-R: AVM. Bayo Lawal ( Rtd) , Prof J B Familusi and Engr. Lekan Aina

Honours SIR Emeka Okonkwo, and his wife, Rose Ugochi Okonkwo were recently conferred with the chieftaincy titles of Aniyikalu and Yeye Aniyikalu of Ikole-Ekiti respectively by the Oba of Ikole-Ekiti, His Royal Majesty Adewumi Fasiku Aladesekole 1.

Sir Emeka Okonkwo, and his wife Rose Ugochi Okonkwo being blessed by Oba of Ikole-Ekiti, His Royal Majesty Adewumi Fasiku Aladesekole 1.

C M Y K

Birthday MRS Aramide Toogun recently celebrated her 50th birthday in Abuja with a thanksgiving service at the Baptist Church in Kubwa. Family and friends joined her and her spouse to celebrate the special occasion

Mrs. Aramide Toogun with her spouse

L-R: Mr Eze Moses, Azubike Udeoyibio, Nze Chuks Onwuka and Nze Chris Igwe

Donation MEMBERS of the Organazation For The Advancement Of Anioma Culture [OFAAC] joined other eminent Nigerians and institutions in reaching out to the flood victims at the St. Patrick College Camp, Asaba, Delta state.

Members OFAAC Presenting food Items to Mr.Tony Nwaka, Commissioner For Bureau of Special Duties,Delta State

SUNDAY, Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012 —29

Funeral fiesta for Pa Aghedo Ighodalo

I

t was indeed a celebration of life well-spent when the remains of the patriarch of the Ighodalo family of Ewohinmi, Ishan, Edo State and the Odion of the clan, Chief Jeremiah Aghedo Ighodalo was laid to rest in his hometown recently.

Eminent Nigerians from far and wide graced the fiesta-like funeral and for Pastor Ituah, founding Pastor of Trinity House and one of the sons of the deceased, their father deserved the razzmatazz and more.

Her Excellency, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola with Ms. Tolulope Amiehi Ighodalo

Ighodalo was until his death, the Okhonme of Ewohinmi, a hereditary title, which he was conferred by the Onogie in appreciation of his selfless service to his community and consideration as “a man with a broad mind from which he always served his people relentlessly.”

A devoted Christian, Ighodalo, was married to Nigeria’s first female permanent secretary, Folayegbe Mosunmola Akintunde Ighodalo, who passed on in February 2005.

Roll call of dignitaries includes governors of Edo and Cross Rivers states, the First Lady of Lagos state, notable business executives like Aliko Dangote, Sola David Borha of Stanbic Bank and a host of others.

L-R: Mr. Asue Ighodalo, Ms. Tolulope Ighodalo and Pastor Ituah Ighodalo

L-R:Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President, Dangote Group, former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke and Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole

Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole and Cross River Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke

From Left; Mrs. Fiola Omisore, Mrs. Ifeanyinwa Ighodalo, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo and Mrs. Ibidunni Ighodalo

R-L:CEO of Stanbic IBTC Mrs. Sola David Borha and another guest

Senator Lekan Balogun launches two books to mark 70

I

t was a parade of high-profile dignitaries and royal fathers at the Jogor Centre, Ibadan, when Senator Lekan Balogun celebrated his 70th birthday. The celebrant, who is the Osi of Olubadan launched two books to commemorate the special occasion. Photos by Dare Fasube

L-R:Prof Taoheed Adedoja ,former Minister of sports, Sen. (Chief) Lekan Balogun celebrant, Elder Wole Oyelese, former Minister of Special L-R:Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, Sen. (Chief) Lekan Duties, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, former Dep. Balogun Celebrant and Alhaji Lateef Gbadamosi, Gov. of Oyo state and Alhaja Bose Adedibu. representing former President Obasanjo.

L-R: Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, former Deputy Governor of Oyo state and Elder Peter Okebukola, former head of Service, Oyo state.

PAGE 30—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 28, 2012, PAGE 31

PAGE 32—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

By BEN AGANDE

development will spread and the state can now attract investments from people in the South-East and outside of it.

What worries me is the inability of the states to solve basic problems; provision of education, health services.

Because they are unable to do that, they have no moral right to now complain that the Federal Government cannot solve the larger ecological problem afflicting the states. If you cannot solve very little problems within your own area, how can you complain about Enugu-Onitsha federal road that is impassable, or the Port-Harcourt Enugu-federal road? There is a general problem of inefficiency. You can trace it to the federal structure we have but, ultimately, the inefficiency at the state level with a possible exception of Enugu has made it impossible for the people to celebrate their investment in democracy.

Talking about inefficiency, your state, Anambra, which is reputed to be endowed with lots of human and natural resources has remained controversial when it comes to its political leadership.

A

former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chudi Offodile believes it is too late for Nigeria to break up. Offodile also speaks on a wide range of issues including the clamour for power shift to the North, the erosion problem in the South-East and the failure of governments at various levels to meet the expectation of the electorate.

Excerpts: How would you assess our progress in both the economic and political spheres in the last four years?

I would say that we are on the right track from the point of view of democracy. We have had democratic rule consistently for about thirteen years now and we have a democratic government in place. Things have not really worked out so well but we must be grateful to God that the democratic experiment is still on course. We may not have achieved all we set out to do but certainly we are making some movements in the right direction; slowly perhaps, but surely I believe we will get to the right direction.

How would you situate this with the increasing level of corruption and insecurity in the country? Do you think that the leadership is not right or it is just part of the evolutionary process of democracy?

It is the evolutionary process of democracy that has given room to the challenges we are facing. Democracy is not easy to achieve. Once you have changes, people are bound to react to these changes. If you look at the history and political development of the country, you will agree with me that for a certain part of the country which has been in control of political power for long time; it has not been easy for some of the players to adjust to the changes taking place in the country. This issue of insecurity and heated polity is directly linked to those changes; so it will take time for some people to adjust to the reality of the situation.

Some people will come round to accepting the changes. It is just a matter of time. But we also have to be careful not to mismanage it because if we mismanage the situation we have right now, we will have an implosion and it will not be in the interest of any body in this country for us to have that kind of implosion.

Why are Nigerians not C M Y K

•Hon. Chudi Offodile

Why it’s too late for Nigeria to break up,

by Offodile *Says states are not helping to move the nation forward *2015: S/East is a strong contender for presidency feeling the impact of governance in the country?

Why have the roads in South East remained unattended to?

Why can’t the governors control the erosion in that zone?

As it affects the South-East, one of the things I try to point out is the structure of our federalism. If you look at the Abuja Airport Road or the Abuja-Kubwa Road, both contracts amount to over N500billion.The entire five states of the South -East put together cannot award a contract of half that sum. That means that there is something fundamentally wrong with the system we are operating because calling it a federal

system is a misnomer. The problem of erosion and other problems may sometimes be difficult for the states to handle.

But some of the problems that you expect the states can solve, basic problems like having clean, livable cities have been ignored. If you look at the South -East zone, there are only two locations that are livable: Enugu and Owerri.

Awka is not a livable city; Abakiliki is not a livable city; Umuahia is not a livable city; Aba is not a livable city.

Between Owerri and Enugu, you will see a clear difference.

Enugu State has been able to create a livable environment and you expect that

Why is this so?

I do not think that there is any controversy regarding governance in Anambra State.

If you study the state very well, you will expect that a state like Anambra that has Onitsha, a commercial city, then the industrial hub of Nnewi should be able to generate enough revenue to meet its recurrent expenditure at least. If you have a situation where Anambra, with all these industries and factories, cannot meet its recurrent expenditure, then something is fundamentally wrong.

It is also important that we look at the kind of government we have and, looking at that, government is not a

controversial issue. It is within the rights of citizens in a democracy to ask questions. If you go to the United States, for instance, and you watch the struggle between the Republicans and Democrats, you will think that the USA is going up in flames. It is the expression of democratic right.

When we question certain things going on in the state, there is nothing controversial about it. When we ask questions, what we expect are answers from government not attempt to cover up.

Various sections of the country have been clamouring to produce the president come 2015. What does this portend?

This issue of zoning and clamour by different parts of the country is not just the North. The South East is also interested in the presidency and the South-South may also be interested in retaining their position. I think we need to look at the performance of the president. The best time to assess this government is 2013. At the end of 2013, people can look back and say this government is either moving in the right direction or not moving in the right direction, then we can come up with arguments.

It is premature to give a fair assessment of this administration. I have heard all kinds of argument for and against but I believe it is premature. We will evaluate the performance in 2013 and people can come up with their positions as they affect their geo-political zones. But, as a Nigerian, I believe we need to give this administration some time and we also have to be clear that every zone reserves the right to aspire to the presidency of this country. The only problem is at what time do we begin this maneuvering? Is it now or 2013? I believe it should be the end of 2013.

Do you think that Nigeria can survive the myriad challenges it is facing now? Do you sometime fear that the country could break up?

It is too late for us not to survive as one indivisible nation. As far as I am concerned, being an Igbo man, I think those who believe we should not survive as one country are coming too late.

What we should be working on is how to manage the resources of this country in a fair and equitable manner; how to structure the country to make it efficient. We need to have an efficient system of government. These are things we should concentrate on. We

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 33

Email: woman-vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

My passion lies in adding healthy value to people’s well-being – Bisi Bright Mrs. Bisi Bright is a Social Entrepreneur in the Health Sector; a qualified Consultant Clinical Pharmacist and Public Health Practitioner, adding value to the ‘social space’ through the nonprofit organisation, LiveWell Initiative (LWI), a health empowerment organisation which has outreached over 1 million Nigerians and at least 3,000 Ghanians with free health over the past 3 years. In living her dreams as a health facilitator, she has partnered with different organisations and resource persons to bring about a healthy society. Mrs. Bright, a member of American Pharmacists Association between 2004 and 2011 and former Secretary General of West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, is currently the First Vice Chairman of LiveWell Initiative.

The mother of four, as well as a grandmother, believes that young people need to be properly mentored to guide them on the path of life’ success. In a recent chat with Vista Woman, discusses her life and work. Excerpts:

BY CHIOMA ANIEGBOKA Family background hail from Ilesha in Osun State but was born in Zaria. I had my primary school education there, and my secondary school education at Queens College, Ibadan.

My first degree was at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife. My dad, a Marine Engineer,was transferred to Lagos. Later on, I went to the University of Zimbabwe, Harare and West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (WAPCP) where I became a Fellow. I’m immediate past Secretary General of the College. I met my husband, Tayo Bright, after leaving school. We got married 34years ago in on the 16th of September, 1978. He is a Lagosian and I must thank God that my family has been doing well. I learned the way of God from my parents and in school as well.

So, I must thank my parents very well because they have always been there for me all through, making life easier for me; more especially my mum.

I

Career as a Consultant Clinical Pharmacist I chose to read this because of my desire to add value to the health of the public. Later on, I went to read Public Pharmacists Medicine. I then worked for government pharmaceutical. There, I was able to achieve my goals of adding value to public health. I later left to found LiveWell. That is what I run now in order to help the poor and put a stop to/ reduce illness like MEP, malaria, etc. This poverty ratio is very high in the country. As such, we run an academy on youth empowerment as well as other health education programmes like, drug abuse enlightenment scheme, nutritional consulting, and training in first aid, among others. Last year, the organisation introduced some new products including Diabetes in line with Michelle Obama’s ‘let’s move’ project which links diabetes with obesity and encourages children (and adults) to eat well. An offshoot of this project is the unique LWI nutrient and wellness training programme which is taught with a pragmatic, hands-on approach, to students and their teachers. And the product this year include the patient home visits, introduced in January this year, with a visiting team made up of a nursing officer, a health officer and a

logistics staff. This service is very useful for ensuring regular basic health checkups for people who are in need or are too far from medical facilities.

This project has escalated into a new product, the LWI easyhealth.

How do you combine your job and running the family?

Well, is not difficult running my home and my work because is like juggling.

Juggling is the life of a married woman.

You plan yourself ahead; for your job, and your duties in the home; and try to take good care of your children and your husband as you’re meant to. More especially, make sure your husband is well taken care of because he is the head of the family, and you will have to learn how to refer to your husband and every member of his family, and others as well. So, you balance love and attention to all.

Meanwhile, you strike a balance in outfits you wear to work and those you wear in the house, in order to retain your respect and dignity. Formal ones are for work, and informal ones for the house. Likewise, we should learn how to schedule our time for office and our home. Above all, it is by God’s grace that all goes well as planned.

Mrs. Bisi Bright....I’m extremely satisfied with my job.

Raising the children Well, because children are gift from God, you must have principles in order to be able to be disciplined and give them good training and good moral upbringing. Bringing them up is a labour of love and joy, and you can bring them up by teaching them the ways of the Lord because when you teach them the way of God, they will grow up in that way.

We shouldn’t train our children with material thing. What I mean is that, it is not everything a child demands or wants that you give him/her. Teach them good morals which will enable them to cope in the society today, and become responsible citizens in future. Still, allow them to take the initiative in some things so that you can help correct their faults when they go wrong.

The problem we are having today in the society is that many of our young people want to become rich over night without hard labour and I don’t blame them

Are you satisfied with your job?

Yes, I’m extremely satisfied with my job because if you are doing a job that is rewarding, you will be more than satisfied. So, we are adding a newer value to the public. We run this programme from January to August for free. But as from now on, we shall be obliged to charge a little token because it is very taxing and demanding financially as well, but I am very happy because this organisation is moving to a higher level.

However this organization (LiveWell Initiative) was 5 years old on 20th September 2012. We liaise with Stanbic

IBTC mobile money to run the program on easyhealth and the program will promote aged mother. Also, are you a lonely sick relative, need a monthly or quarterly basic health checkup? Are you a giver? Do you want to help someone somewhere and finally to enjoy a basic health checkup? Then partner with us.

What advice do you have for the youth of this century?

The problem we are having today in the society is that many of our young people want to become rich over night without hard labour and I don’t blame them.

It is because of what they see their elders doing, that is the get rich quick syndrome due to what they watch on the television, seeing those ritualists and those politicians that become rich over night. So, they think making money to be rich is easier. I don’t blame them at all. My first advice will go to my own generation , the older ones. We need to re-address the situation of this country, ourselves and integrity. We need to understand our integrity and pass it on to the youth to enable them know the way forward and, for them to understand that they are the future leaders of this country. I advise that they should be very hard working in life because it pays well. And mind you, what you did not work hard to earn can appear and disappear at any time.

Young people should hook themselves up in the schools or companies and organisations etc. And we need to catch them young. Every youth should try and have a very good mentor that can teach and direct him/her in the right path because if you have a good mentor, there is no how you cannot be a good future leader, whether in your home town or in the society.

Every youth should try and get a good mentor.

C M Y K

PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

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ECONOMY AND NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

How to make Vision 20:2020 happen, by Okey Nwosu

Goodluck Jonathan Nigerian politicians come up with flowery manifestoes, captivating slogans, and campaign themes and agenda.

But no sooner do they get elected than they abandon the promising statements and return to business as usual or worse; taking advantage of public office and the peoples trust to loot and squander their common wealth. This has been the direction and meaning of political power in Nigeria.

However, this time, it has been different at least at the federal level, and few states. President Jonathan has been resolute on

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Nigeria – A Failed State?

IGERIA is often rated in the bottom range of any global comparative chart for quality of life/economy of nations. In its 2011 Failed States Index, the United States-based Fund for Peace assigned Nigeria the 14th position out of 177 countries analyzed, only ahead of the world’s 13 most miserable and war ravaged nations. The American Bipartisan Centre on May 12, 2011, similarly, listed Nigeria among the world’s fragile states. The World Bank had also published reports in 2006 and 2007 ranking Nigeria among 15 “fragile states” in the world.

Whatever may be our opinion as individuals or we may feel as a nation, this is the way the world sees us and the indices are not arbitrary, they were derived empirically. For reality test, I will urge us to recount the major stories in most of our newspapers for any two weeks within the last 20 years or so.

The stories are of violent power struggles, insecurity, injustice, election rigging, group agitation, looting, hate crimes, unemployment, school closure, infrastructure decay, dearth of manufacturing, capital flight, food scarcity, poverty, infant mortality and maternal deaths, disease, conflicts, bombing, arson, and repeated failures of strategic projects like census, national identity card and privatization.

Against a battery of indicators, we look like a nation at war with itself. The institutions we have in place are ineffective to steer the country back to good health either. The decay is deep. It is shortsighted to heap the blame on the present leadership.

Changing executives or principal officers do not guarantee instant new life. We are not able to stop crime; that is the natural result of a police force that the powers that be have neglected for over forty years.

Joint military, state security forces and police are not able to contain Boko Haram and other forms of insurrection; true, because for forty years they have derailed from best practices in training, organization and discipline.

The Chief executives of the various military arms, state security and police are some of the best trained and disciplined officers in the system; and they are doing the best they can with the officers and resources they have. With 30 to 40 years of neglect, abuse and decay, there is no quick fix; it takes time to deconstruct and reconstruct. These institutions are human institutions; habits and attitudes take painstaking effort to defrost before new learning, retraining and retooling can take place.

Jonathan’s Transformation Programme. Quite often,

Okey Nwosu

Shamsudeen Usman

industrialized nations of Australia, Mexico, Turkey, and South Korea; the developing nations of Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa; and the 27-member European Union. Actually, there are no formal criteria for G20 membership; however, all member countries are among the top 29 economies as measured by their Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and top 25 as ranked by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Economic power is key to being a G20 nation; achieving this status

Under its transformational leader Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore soared; it now holds the records of the world most competitive country, world’s best business environment, and it’s among the best in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

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a National Transformation mission that would have government to be responsibly vision driven to take Nigeria to its rightful position as a world leader.

Vision 20, 20, 20 “By 2020 Nigeria will be one of the 20 largest economies in the world, able to consolidate its leadership role in Africa and establish itself as a significant player in the global economic and political arena”.

The leadership vision is that Nigeria becomes one of the 20 leading nations of the world (a G20 nation) by the year 2020.

The G20 nations consist of countries and regions of systemic significance for the international financial system.

They include members of the more elite G8, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain, and USA; the

requires stable, vision driven political leadership, along with a culture that breeds effective and forward looking leaders across the entire spectrum of societal endeavor: government, business, academia, industry, science and culture.

Global investment experts Goldman Sachs in 2004 identified Nigeria as one of the countries that has the potential for attaining global competitiveness based on their economic and demographic settings. They are not alone; the reality is that Nigeria’s economic potential and strategic importance in Africa and the world is well recognized.

Nigeria is the most populated African nation, the 7th most populated country in the world, with about 40 billion barrels proven crude oil

reserve, 10th largest producer of oil and 26th largest producer of gas. Nigeria is richly endowed with tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, and zinc and vast arable land for agriculture and coastline for trade. Compare this with Japan which has virtually no natural or mineral resource and is the world’s largest importer of coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as the second largest importer of crude oil. Japan is a member of elite G8 and G20 nations, it has a population of 127,650,000 (10th in the world), and is the 3rd most prosperous country.

CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION For a leader intent on lasting transformation, the nonnegotiable condition are authenticity; respect for law and order; trust and patriotism; abiding framework of equity and justice; integrity in all dealings; transparency, and good communication. To the chagrin of many, President Jonathan has begun to deconstruct the institution of the presidency starting with himself. He demonstrates authentic characteristics of a leader who feels good in his skin genuinely struggling to make a difference without hubris, no superhero or Mr. Know-it-all persona. At the recent World Economic Forum in Addis Ababa, he was emphatic that CEOs of African nations should count themselves privileged to have been chosen to lead and should not regard themselves as above the state. He said he is not the most knowledgeable, nor the most educated or most physically endowed in Nigeria; no swagger, no sanctimony. While some Nigerians would like to cast him in a particular mould, he has resisted all the temptations.

He has said that the Villa,

the presidency, and the country belong to the people of Nigeria.

He supported one of the nation’s eminent statesman and a charismatic leader to become the National Chairman of his political party. He did not look for a stooge, rather someone who could help sanitize the political process.

He has opened-up the villa; for two years running he hosted Youth Corpers in its Banquet hall. He has appointed the presidential candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria one of those who contested against him, Dr. Nuhu Ribadu, to chair a very important commission of the nation’s apex industry. We wait to see how he engages General Buhari; certainly transformation requires all hands on deck.

THE ROLE OF JUSTICE, EQUITY AND TRANSPARENCY In addition to leading with justice, equity and transparency, Mr. President must show greater courage. All the institutions need to be reconstructed, heads must roll, looters must be put where they deserve, and known roadblocks and bottlenecks should be dislodged to send clear signals that Jonathan means business.

It behooves the leader to assure effective stakeholder consultation and buy-in into the agenda. Nigeria is naked without the states and local government areas; there cannot be a strong Nigeria until our different states become viable through the strength of the composite local government areas, communities, towns and villages.

BETWEEN THE ECONOMY OF SINGAPORE AND NIGERIA Governors: As Chief Executive of the states, Governors should develop big picture thinking and make governance what it really is, leading with vision and integrity. Singapore remains a classical example of leading with purpose and discipline, and a model country for transformation studies. Under its transformational leader Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore soared; it now holds the records of the world most competitive country, world’s best business environment, and it’s among the best in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI). It receives over Continues on page 35

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 35

President Jonathan's waiver on airlines spare parts a big booster’ monotonous and causes serious set back for local airlines operators in the country. Aside from these charges, we also pay Value Added Tax (VAT) charges for

BY UDEME CLEMENT

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the sector. For instance, there was a public hearing on the issue and different Committees were set up by the Federal Government, which I was also a member of one of the Committees. We sat with relevant stakeholders in the industry and deliberated on problems facing the industry from different angles.

Previously, there was crisis in Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), about navigation charges, which NAMA wanted all local airline operators to pay. We threatened to close down the airspace but the then Minister of Aviation set up a Committee, which we met and discussed on the issue. We agreed that if government provides waiver for spare parts, we will be able to pay NAMA navigation charges.

Under that agreement, we decided to start paying the charges. Since then, we did not hear or see any action. The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and everyone complained that we were owing, but we knew the situation and did not say anything to those complaining, because that was exactly the reason we did not pay.

Aside from that, we knew that government has to follow due process in handling the issue because we have the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ministry Finance and other agencies to deliberate with.

Finally, government after exhaustive deliberation has granted us waiver for spare parts. It is a good initiative and a well thought out plan by government to enhance development of the sector.

Government has done well in this aspect and must be commended, because this is the only way through which we can compete with our foreign counterparts globally. I can

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BY TUNJI AFUWAPE Alhaji Mohammed Tukur is the Assistant Secretary General, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON). He was also a member of the Presidential Committee on Aviation. He speaks on the waiver granted by the Federal Government in 2013 budget for importation of spare parts for aircraft by local airlines operators doing business in Nigeria.

HE President in 2013 budget granted waiver on importation of spare parts for airplanes doing business in Nigeria.

What is your comment on this?

If you look at the details in budget 2013 as presented by the President on aviation sector, especially duty free importation of spare parts for local airlines, you will realize that the President must have done a thorough evaluation of the Dana plane crash and various challenges militating against t he development of

Alhaji Mohammed Tukur describe the action of government as a pragmatic step to restructure the sector for greater productivity. I am calling on all relevant stakeholders in the sector to support government at ensuring that this policy is effectively implemented for the benefit of the economy. One thing we must learn to do as a people is to commend government when a positive step is taken and certain things are done right to stimulate economic growth and development.

There is also a challenge of multiple taxations in the system. For instance, you can import an aircraft that comes with tyres, engines and other components, but if the engine of that same aircraft develops fault and you want to take it out for repair, you are compelled to pay another duty, separate from the 10 per cent import duty already paid on the same aircraft. It becomes

We have not heard anywhere in the world that an airline is grounded completely because of a crash

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the air tickets. We do not pay VAT for road transport, rail and maritime, but only air transport. It is totally unfair and is not helping the sector in any way. The next thing government should do is to remove VAT from air transport.

Are you saying that with the removal of import duty on spare parts, local airlines still owing can pay off their debts?

When they begin to benefit from the removal of VAT a lot will improve and they will be able to pay their debts. If the industry is doing well and these challenges are addressed, there is no reason for anybody to owe.

Also, the issue of smuggling passengers into an aircraft

without boarding pass and proper security screening must be tackled very fast. It is a very dangerous game because they can smuggle a person into the airplane with bomb, and you know the implications of this.

Any airline found guilty of smuggling in passengers into the aircraft without boarding pass must be sanctioned. I know a man who was smuggled into one aircraft and at the end of the day, he lost his bag and could not do anything because he entered through the back door. Also a situation where people stay in queues for two hours just to get tickets without boarding pass is very stressful and must be addressed.

Government has lifted the restriction placed on Dana Air, after few months of the fatal crash, while other airlines, which had similar issue were not treated the same way.

Does it mean government is bias?

The situations are not the same and we must be honest with ourselves. For instance, at present, Dana has paid compensation to the affected victims and they followed due process in handling the issue.

We had other airlines that their airplanes crashed and killed people and up till now they are yet to compensate the victims.

I Know an airline, which NCAA was even dragging about how much they ought to pay victims of their plane crash. At that time, the insurance they suppose to pay for a lift was $100.000 but they were still arguing about paying ordinary $10.000, as if they killed a goat.

They even refused to accept the $100.000 insurance compensation. So, you can see clearly that Dana airline has done the right thing and must be allowed to resume operations. Dana paid $30.000 the second week of the crash to the families of the deceased and later paid $100.000 as well as giving material support to the families involved in the accident. They really helped the families and this is the first time in this country that an airline is paying full compensation as at when due.

It is right for government to

ground an airline because one of the planes crashed?

We have not heard anywhere in the world that an airline is grounded completely because of a crash. It is like having three cares and because one had an accident you decide to stop the other cars from being used. It does not make economic sense because the airline needs money to pay compensation.

L- R :Nollywood Actor, Emmanuel France, Manager, Events & Sponsorship, MTN, Dola Bamgboye, one of the Winners of N2m Cash prize in the ongoing MTN Ultimate Wonder promo, Yakubu Issa, and Acting Director Regulatory Monitoring, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Emmanuel Jeminiwa at the prize presentation in Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja last weekend.

How to make Vision 20:2020 happen Continued from page 34

12 million tourists yearly, and records income from tourism of approximately USD$20billion yearly. Singapore occupies approximately 750sqkm, has near zero of the world’s natural resources, however, its GDP (PPP) is USD$59,900, and it has robust foreign reserve of $284billion, combined Sovereign Wealth Fund of $400billion, and an annual budget of $40billion. A great country; you can say that again.

Ironically, the population of Singapore is about 5million while Enugu state has a population of 5.6million. In Enugu, one would appreciate the fine layouts of the city road networks, good signs for a state in transition. Enugu, certainly, is well endowed for agriculture and tourism. It could be to Nigeria what the state of Florida is to the US; a place where people from everywhere could come and build vacation or retirement homes, and

experience and enjoy the wonders of nature signposted by the Milikin hills, the unending valleys and hilltops from Ninth Mile and the bye pass to Enugu city. With some creativity, the governor could convert this magical landscape to a global resort.

I believe too that the governor could collaborate with the Monks at Awhum to build up the scenic area that I have christened The Trinity Spiritual and Retreat Centre, a scenic place where humanity interfaces with God, featuring the Passion Mountain, Heavenly Valley, and Spiritual Waterfall. With these areas developed, millions of nonEnugu and international visitors can come for enrichment of spirit, peace and rest. With UNN, and other tertiary institutions, the state could be a Research and Academic centre for Nigeria and Africa. Enugu like many states in Nigeria holds a unique promise; 7,500sqkm of arable farmland, deposits of coal, lime stone etc.

The huge potential of the third tier of government is yet to be fully explored. The

grassroot is the foundation on which the entire structure of the state and nation rest; it is the pillar for development and industrialization.

State governors may unwittingly be stifling the growth and development of their states by not empowering the LGAs and rooting development there. Our states and nation are artificial/ constitutional constructs, the fulcrum are the clans, villages, communities, and towns.

Council Areas are strategic to Transformation, and must be driven to develop to full potentials.

Deliberate effort must be made to grow the LGAs and assure visionary leadership at this critical level.

The Legislature has a duty to drive transformation through oversight functions. This will help control corruption and make the executives and their agencies function more effectively. Understandably, we have many structural problems; the legislature in Nigeria is at infancy and should not be in a hurry to overhaul the entire constitution over night. It is

important to promptly sponsor critical bills to address major structural imbalances which impede trust amongst the federating units, as harmony is needed to enable the country power along with the full force of 167million persons.

The legislature should remove all hindrances to transformation and motivate the executive arm to better performance. Party or tribal politics will slow or derail the process.

Nigeria is far behind and we have a lot of catching up to do.

We win when the national GDP and PPP are comparable to those of the G8 and G20 nations, when electric power is in all our localities, and Nigeria youths are availed high quality education, when all our constituents are employable and employed.

The legislature needs to knock down and reconstruct the stereotypical and constraining aspects of our constitution, and lead transformation through enabling and qualitative legislation and excellent oversight.

PAGE 36—SUNDAY Vanguard , OCTOBER 28, 2012

0808 066 0660 (Texts only!)

Husbands who benefit from their wives’ bits-on-the-side! have used his muscles to get the redundant husband a job that had a car thrown in!

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OME couple of years back, Hec tor, a fifty-one year-old businessman and a colleague took up his daily paper at the breakfast table and gave an involuntary yelp when he got to the obituaries.

For, staring him in the eyes was the picture of a lover he saw only the week before. “My wife wanted to know what the matter was”, said Hector later “but I told her I’d read just a nasty report in the papers and she left it at that. Later that day, after I’d established that she was really dead and would be buried the next day, I had a talk with my wife. I had to explain to her why it was that important for me to attend Bose’s (that’s the lady’s name) funeral. She was a girl I was madly in love with, who swore she loved me more than she loved her husband. I’m sure my wife agreed that I should go because now that she was dead, she was no competition. I wouldn’t . have told her if there was no chance of the story getting back to her `well-meaning’ busybody friends!

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“But seriously though, I’d never met anyone as charming and loving as Bose was to me. She wasn’t an ordinary girlfriend. She was like a wife to me. Whatever I bought my wife, I always made sure I either bought her the same things or gave her money; equivalent to the amount of purchase. Part of me died when she did and that was no exaggeration”. Polyandry has never been an accepted thing in this country. In fact, nobody dares mention it in male circles, but

the fact still remains that for decades, married women have always had lovers they would stake their marriage on any day. A lot of women look on these lovers as second ‘husbands’. They see these men as men who make it possible for choice meals to be placed on their family tables.

Men who guarantee paid holidays. Men who have the grudging respect of the husbands of women they are involved with because such husbands -are helpless to stop the relationship.

The financial power they wield is enough to silence the husband.

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t a naming cer emony recently a few guests gasped as the new mother’s lover sauntered in with a handful of his friends. The guests looks became more incredulous as the husband made a fuss of the man and showed his entourage to a vantage spot! Furious whispers then followed regarding all the goodies the lover was able to throw into the couple’s path. On top of that, he was alleged to

Winding down after work

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VEN the journey home has con tributed its share in the overall tiredness of the work day. What with all the anxiety over the slow-moving traffic.

Once home you probably go straight to the kitchen for a snack or collapse into a chair for some television viewing.

You are just too tired.

Now, just as there is the need to start off the day with energy-releasing exercises so there is the need to wind down after work.

A fruit to assuage hunger while dinner gets ready is okay. What will not do is a poor combination of food groups which will only put even more stress on your back and exhaust you even more.

Another thing, digestion is not helped when eating is done while one is nervous or excited. We C M Y K

must always try to induce a feeling of calmness in ourselves before settling down for a meal.

For some people a little vigorous exercise does the good job of dispelling work-time worries and providing a new burst of energy. For those not in the mood for energetic work-outs, some stretches like the plough pose, the head-to-knee pose which rely mainly on the forces of gravity such that all you do is assume the posture, take it easy and breathe. No one is asking you to be a Jumping Jack Flash for fifteen minutes. A little mercy on your fatigued body.

But I tell you what. You will be sweetly surprised to find out that simple mild stretching exercises like those mentioned are improving the way you look and feel. And the

practice of the dead man’s pose, for say fifteen minutes after these exercises will spell as-

tonishing repose of body and mind.

The practice of proper winding down will even set up the body for a good n i g h t ’ s sleep. Or you will find you are not too tired to tango as the case may be!

W h a t stretching does for you * Stress relief: In a difficult situation your body resorts to the ‘fight of flight’ response, contracting muscles in readiness. The

*The Triangle

omen have their fun names for men that have come to stay in their lives.They call them “Shock-absorbers”, “Stabilizers”, “God-sent” amongst others, unlike the casual one-night stands they refer to as “interludes” and mere experiments! For the shock-absorbers, the sky is the limit. as to what their women would do.

For years, a wife and a mother of three always shopped for two sets of family. Then, she would cook her lover’s dinner in her kitchen using the best ingredients. The driver was always around at the dot of three in the afternoon to take the goodies away. The cat was finally let out of the bag the day the husband followed the driver to his destination only to discover that the man was also married. He was determined to put an end to the shameful affair before it got out of hand.

He made a lot of noise at the poor man’s house and the lover’s wife said she knew what was going on. She’d always been a lousy cook and if

situation gets over but you forget to relax the muscles.

Gradually, this tenseness to stress becomes the norm so that you do not even notice that you are tense. With tension there is a restriction in movement and a loss of youthful agility. * More energy: In contraction muscles cost you a lot of energy. Once you learn to replace contraction with relaxation of your muscles you save energy for better things. * Improve your digestion: Your internal organs are held in place by muscles. When your muscles are well-toned, they provide better support thereby assisting the functioning of all vital organs. * Better your body tone: Muscles work in antagonistic pains, when one is contracted the other is

another woman could make her husband happy, why begrudge him a happiness he could well afford? Moreover, her man’s lover was married with no likelihood of wanting to snatch her man. Looking at the complainant coldly, she told him to thank his stars her husband was happily s h u o l d e r i n g responsibiliities that were his.

“You are sick”, spat the husband as he charged out of the house.

Talking seriously though, if a man can have the stamina for three to five wives, couldn’t a woman have for just two men? A lot of them do already! Rita, one of such women sees it as having her own back at a husband who’s always days behind the house-keeping money.

“On the days he doesn’t meet his financial obligations and expects food on the table, I make sure he has more food than he bargains for,” she said.

“What I do is use my current lover’s money to buy food for the house and watch with relish as he wolfs it down. It always gives me sadistic pleasure he’s feeding fat on his ‘assistant’s’ generosity!”

relaxed. When a muscle is always tensed the antagonist becomes flaccid and bulgy resulting in undesirable physimeans you move with a lot more grace and ease. Here is a ‘hump’ and ‘dip’ exercise for the small of the back.

Kneel down with the hand on the floor without moving the body forward or backward, breathe in dipping the waist till the small of the back is hollow and at the same time raise your head. Breathing out raise the waist drawing in the stomach and dropping the head. Repeat consecutively 4 to 5 times. While you sit on the heels lean forward and support the head on the fists, placed one on the other.

Never you neglect the condition of your spine.

Keep it supple and flexible - always.

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

SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012— PAGE 37

BY JIDE AJANI

OBAMA/ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Last Chance!

One Chance *Mutual desperation on both sides *Obama at his useful best *Romney survived by not sinking self *Race still headed for the wire

I

n what was meant to be a decisive debate for incumbent President Barrak Obama, last Tuesday’s verbal tango between him and Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate turned out to be an anti-climax because whereas Obama was at his natural best on foreign policy, the much expected gaffe from Romney never came, thereby, inching the race in the direction of a now familiar phrase of ‘TOO CLOSE TO CALL’. But because 24hours, a week (or two weeks for that matter) can create a shift in the tectonic plates of political mobilization against a candidate, it may still be early days yet to predict that a clear potential winner has emerged from that debate.

C M Y K

Romney

,

A boxing contest of unevenly matched opponents!

That was how one of the analysts dubbed Tuesday ’s presidential debate between President Barrak (Hussein) Obama of the Democratic Party and Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate.

In his view, if you have a boxing contest of unevenly matched opponents, the best the weaker contender can do is to constantly hug the superior boxer.

That, in a nutshell, captured the spirit of the debate held at Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida – mind you, Florida it self was slowly headed the way of Romney before that debate.

Obama

Whereas the candidates needed desperately to woo and mobilize potential voters, the undecided among the electorate also needed desperately to make up their minds

,

But it was also a time of mutual desperation in America. Whereas the candidates needed desperately to woo and mobilize potential voters, the undecided among the electorate also needed desperately to make up their minds. Therefore, lies and manipulative postulations became the order of the day for both Obama and Romney.

And like the gang of armed bandits in Lagos and some

parts of Nigeria who would call passengers into a bus only to take them to an unwanted, hidden destination and dispossess them of their money, so too did both men attempt to capture potential voters.

While Romney, out of context blamed Obama for the reduced number of ships in the American Navy, the president misinformed Americans that bayonets were no longer a weapon of war in

the country’s military – this to make Romney look like an ancient candidate.

The Democrats were expecting their president to be at his useful best last Tuesday!

The Republicans were wishing for a safe outing for their candidate!

They both got their wish.

About the weaker contender always hugging the contender with a superior fire-power, this is a reference to the way and Continues on page 38

PAGE 38—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Last Chance! One Chance manner Romney suddenly almost always agreed with close to 65% of the Obama foreign policy initiatives on a night when many Democrats expected him to be feisty, bellicose and unsurefooted.

But Romney and the Republicans adopted a strategy of disappointment that he seemed to have conducted himself in a presidential manner.

For the democrats, this was not the debate they were expecting.

Moderated by Bob Schieffer, the man who anchors Face The Nation on CBS and who has over three decades of reporting Washington under his belt while having covered every presidential campaign since 1972, the debate was indeed moderated compared to the first one.

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uring the first debate, it was a shambolic Obama that appeared. He was just not there and he made the normally incoherent and bellicose Romney appear like a star – indeed a super star.

For the second debate, Romney blew it himself by getting his facts slightly wrong about Benghazi, Libya, where terrorists had killed an American ambassador and three other people.

That should have been an opportunity for Romney to drive in the nail on Obama. But flunked the opportunity! Romney lost the golden opportunity by not quoting Obama correctly.

“Act of terror ”, was the phrase Obama used to describe what happened in Benghazi the following morning. In fact, for almost two weeks, Susan Rice, the American Ambassador to the United Nations, speaking for President Obama kept linking the attacks to the anti-Islam movie. This is being viewed as a deliberate attempt to deceive the

American public – mind you an investigation is on and all findings point to the fact that terrorists had actually planned the attack.

Two weeks later, Obama called it a “Terrorist Attack”.

The point Romney wanted to make but which he failed to deliver on, was to distinguish between calling an incident an “Act of terror ” and a “Terrorist Act”.

When Obama said it was an “Act of terror”, semantically speaking, he was right. But in diplomatic terms, especially as Commander-inChief, he was vague, very vague, because what that suggested was that he, too, didn’t even get his facts right. It was after two weeks that it b e c a m e established that it was indeed a “Terrorist Act”, in which case it meant that terrorists planned the action and executed it – as

response to his opponent’s charge that the American Navy was back to its 1917 operational mode because it now has fewer ships, was an education engineered through sarcasm.

He reminded Romney that “we now have fewer bayonets too; there are these things we called aircraft carriers, where planes take off and land” because the nature of warfare is no longer in the realm of what existed in 1917".

However, Romney was able to avoid

against mere a demonstration that got out of hand.

After Tuesday ’s debate, the Republicans would have Americans believe that Romney passed the leadership test because he was expected to flounder and he did not.

True, (and as was expected) Obama took Romney on but he did not sink his ship.

Obama did not say anything new per se. But he demonstrated that as Commander-in-Chief, he was on top of the game.

Throwing jabs at Romney, Obama’s

foreign policy Obama’s approach was to attack Romney continually interrupt him.

When Romney acknowledged Obama’s success on the killing of BinLadin, the latter mellowed his antagonistic vitriol by also applauding Romney but was always wont to come back and hit.

For a while, Romney made Obama look focussless when he said “attacking me would not solve the problem”.

The first segment was on the MiddleEast and it centred on Libya and Syria.

Another was about America’s role in

,

Continues from page

During the first debate, it was a shambolic Obama that appeared. He was just not there and he made the normally incoherent and bellicose Romney appear like a star – indeed a super star

,

sinking himself by avoiding the posture of a war monger.

The consensus was that Obama won as was expected to win and he did.

Romney didn’t do badly and that was the prayer from Republicans because he succeeded in distancing himself from the cowboy posture of George Bush – and by and large Republican party hard line on

the world.

Romney said human rights, human dignity, free enterprise, elections that allow people vote for peace and not war are all he stands for. But “to fulfill our role in the world we need to have a strong economy”, he concluded.

On Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, both agreed that there are red lines. The President said an aAttack on Israel is an attack on US, stressing that we would do as we do for our allies; he also added that “if Israel is attacked I will stand with Israel. So long as I’m president, Iran will not get nuclear weapons”.

But Romney took on Obama on the weakness he presented by going to countries and criticizing America. He gave instances of how Iran became emboldened by seeing America as weak nation. “A President should make it clear from day one”, how strong he wants to be and how he wants to operate. Romney lampooned Obama for visiting Arab countries first and skipping Israel upon assumption of office. Romney said he would seek the indictment of the Iraninan leader for inciting annihilation.

But Obama responded by talking about credibility as a sine-qua-non as commander-in-chief and the need for clear eyed policies that would send the right signal. However, Obama didn’t explain why he didn’t visit Israel but explained that he visited Israel as a candidate. On Afghanistan and Pakistan, both seemed to agree on the way forward.

On China, Romney says Obama’s has been too soft and his approach continues to embolden China to ceaselessly manipulate its currency to the disadvantage of the US. In his defence, Obama said he agrees that China is a potential adversary but that he had brought cases against China regarding trade matters that have been won and helped the economy of America.

In the case of Russia, Romney reminded Obama of how he was almost on his knees pleading with Medviedev to cut him some slack until after the election. But this did not catch on with many because it was just a one liner from Romney.

The point Romney could have scored was to ask Obama why he would be seeking a lowering of the guard from a Russian President on an international issue just because of personal political ambition of not acting in a manner that may jeopardize his re-election.

Obama neither responded to it nor made any reference to it.

Why should he? How would he have defended it? If Romney did not steal moments, Obama did, especially when he tried to make Romney foolish on the issue of fewer ships and the changing nature of warfare.

There were many other issues like the use of drones to kill terrorist, Gwantanamo, the war in Syria and the greatest threat to the US. There had been six debates on foreign policy since 1976.

The challengers had won four.

Last Tuesday’s was the seventh – but the incumbent won.

In retrospect, had Obama not been absent at the first debate, the election would have been concluded by now and winner anticipated. But that slip

by Obama allowed Romney more traction on his campaigns and today Obama is fighting the battle of his life to retain his office.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 39

BAKASSI GONE FOREVER (2)

Actors in the Eye of History Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo

Late Umar Musa Yar ‘Adua,

Donald Duke

Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo President of Nigeria ENERAL Olusegun Obasanjo has often seen his role in Nigeria’s political and military history from a messianic point of view. As the War Commander who received the instrument of surrender, Gen. Obasanjo’s role in the concession of Bakassi is symbolic. He is fully aware of the strategic importance of Bakassi which was liberated from Biafran forces in the Calabar sector by the Third Marine Commando, led by Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, before it was given to Cameroon to occupy. It was Gen. Obasanjo who replaced Adekunle, after the fall of Port Harcourt in 1968 and can not be educated on Nigeria’s national security and economic interest in Southern Oil protectorate and the position of Bakassi peninsula in achieving these strategic objectives. But he was playing the script of those who argued that even though the Nigeria civil war had ended on a philosophy of “No victor, no vanquished” the ability of any of the ethnic groups in Southern Eastern Nigeria or the Niger Delta to fight future war, must be constrained.

Whether former president Olusegun Obasanjo was motivated by his selfish designs to please the Western nations to endorse his ill fated third term agenda or by a higher national interest and patriotic zeal, to accept the October 10, 2002, the ICJ judgment that awarded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, is now a matter of conjecture. He disdained legal and legislative opinions as he signed the Green Tree Agreement, GTA without

G

Koffi Annan recourse to the National Assembly, legal experts, leaders and people of Bakassi, public opinion and regard to the fundamental human rights.

Although the former President claimed that he had “sent a letter to the President of the Senate as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and other relevant agencies” to act on the GTA,” the legislature rejected the Green Tree Agreement, out rightly.

But the haste and the method adopted to implement the ICJ decision had left a sad taste in the mouth of Bakassi people and Nigerians in general.

Obasanjo brazenly disobeyed an Abuja High Court order to halt the implementation of GTA, which was rejected. He was posturing to show the world that Nigeria is the global peace maker and would do anything to sustain that image.

He had played key roles in resolving the crisis in Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and could not see why Bakassi should be different? As far as he was concerned those so called Nigerians living in Bakassi peninsula should be brought home just like those that were brought home from Equatorial Guinea in 1975. He pledged to release the sum of N4billion for the resettlement of the displaced people of Bakassi, but only N2billion was released; but his cronies are yet to give account of how it was spent. His memoir will not be complete if he fails to tell the world why he willing ceded Bakassi to Cameroon.

Paul Biya, President of Cameroon The long reigning Cameroonian dictator was smart enough to approach the ICJ in 1994 after reluctantly

,

President Paul Biya of Cameroon

signing the ICJ charter just a few years before dragging Nigeria to the World Court.

When Cameroonian President Paul Biya got France to invite Obasanjo to France on the eve of the ICJ judgment, to get the Nigerian leader “to commit to honouring the decision of ICJ regardless of the outcome”, it was another master stroke of Cameroon’s diplomacy which has continued to make Nigeria bite dust in international circles. Biya was a long time Vice President to late Alhaji Ahmadou Ahidjo, the first president of Cameroon who tricked Gen. Gowon to concede Bakassi to Cameroon. While Nigeria went to the ICJ with civil servants, political appointees, cronies in the media, Biya assembled a team of 15 Professors from different backgrounds and effectively exploited its colonial links with France. Cameroon signed the ICJ treaty just a fear years before taking Nigeria to the court, and the intrigues of

Gov Liyel Imoke goaded Nigeria into the Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission, which was contrived to hoodwink the people of Bakassi into believing that something good will come to them from dispossessing them of their ancestral home. Ironically his home country Ghana has been forceful in ensuring that the Ewes in Togo are not maltreated, neither has Ghana overlooked activities that take place at its border with Togo at Aflao.

Alhaji Umar Musa Yar ‘Adua, former President Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’ Adua was a self professed apostle of the rule of law. It was under his charge that a Federal High Court in Abuja in August 2008, made an order halting the FG from the August 14, 2008, handover of Bakassi peninsula until the substantive issues raised are resolved. The Yar Adua administration, like the Obasanjo administration before it, did not bother to approach

While Nigeria went to the ICJ with civil servants, political appointees, cronies in the media, Biya assembled a team of 15 Professors from different backgrounds and effectively exploited its colonial links with France

international politics played out in its favour with a French National Mr. Paul Guillume as president of ICJ. The evidential value of this move was lost on the Nigerian team that appeared to suggest that representation was more focused on the monetary takeaway of their assignment Dr. Koffi Annan, former UN scribe The Ghanaian born former Secretary General of the United Nations exploited the hubris of Obasanjo, in executing his role as the undertaker of ICJ. He successfully manipulated President Obasanjo to bow to pressures from witnesses to the GTA namely France, Britain, US, Germany. Koffi Annan who

,

the National Assembly to look into the Bakassi issue which had become a messy national and international affair. The displacement and resettlement of Bakassi people finally became a secondary matter when the president took ill and finally died in office. As observed in the book entitled Fraud at the Hague “It was President Umar Yar’ Adua who handed over Bakassi to Cameroon as his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo had instructed to do. This questioned his motives. The handover and compliance by the presidency had been a oneman decision. Bakassi is part of our constitution in the first schedule and section 8(4) and 9(3). The President had

breached the constitution, committing impeachable offences by supporting the lawlessness of his predecessor, irredeemably rubbishing his supposed commitment to the rule of law.”

Mr. Donald Duke, former Governor CRS Mr. Donald Duke, the governor of Cross River State is an Efik man and a victim of the politics of minority ethnic groups in Nigeria. He was preoccupied with attaining his personal ambition of becoming Vice president after the tenure of General Obasanjo, hence he played the role of Nero, the Roman emperor who was fiddling while his empire was on fire; but he was shoved aside when unfavourable security reports thwarted his scheming.

As a governor, he could not raise a voice to say that the Nigerian team was not inclusive enough as notable Efik leaders including the Obong of Calabar were not included. Mrs. Nella Andem Rabana, SAN, who was the Attorney General and the Commissioner for Justice was the only known Efik person at the Hague but even then, she was not vast in the history and the activities of colonial powers in the Southern Oil Protectorates, especially the nature and content of the various treaties that were signed by the colonial powers.

The subject matter also required people with deep history of Bakassi but the former governor was both too haughty and puritanical or too disdainful of other people who would have helped to save Bakassi. Duke ignored the geopolitical forces at work and concentrated on self glorifying projects that would become white elephant projects without viable access to the Calabar sea port.

Barr. Liyel Imoke, Governor CRS He was the first to put the Bakassi issue in the budget in 2008 and has been confronted with what he called the unintended consequences of the ICJ judgment. He has been faced with loss of revenue arising from declassification of the state as a littoral state. He built 208 blocks for the displaced persons in Ekpri Ikang and has been constrained to expose the dealings of the administration that he took over from especially as it affects the Bakassi case. He has also been restrained from being seen as anti-FG by his calm disposition to the issue that has pitched his state and its neighbours, Akwa Ibom State on each other’s jugular.

To be continued

PAGE 40 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

BRIEFLY.....BRIEFLY.....

NASS rates NCPC performance high WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE IN SODOM AND GOMORRAH?

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F we were to ask Christians what Jesus saves us from, many would say we are saved from the torments of hell. However, the hell Jesus spoke about is a real place called Gehenna; a valley outside Jerusalem where apostate Israelites sacrificed their children to idol gods, which later became a rubbish dump where criminals were burnt alive. Thus, while the hell Jesus spoke about was well-known to the Jews, it is entirely imaginary to us.

The hell we know today is in this world. Hell is Nigeria; where armedrobbery and kidnapping is rampant; and the Boko Haram increasingly blows up the innocent.

Hell is Norway; where Anders Breivik massacred nearly one hundred people in cold-blood.

Hell is Germany; where millions of Jews were gassed to death. Hell is the United States; which routinely rains down “shock-and-awe” bombs on non-Americans; including Iraqis, Afghans and Libyans.

Hell is in every home; every neigbourhood; every city and every country of this Godforsaken world. It is in the water we drink; the food we eat; and the very air we breathe.

Salvation from Egypt

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hile the Israel ites were saved from Egypt, for them a real hell-hole; it is this world which represents Egypt today.

Accordingly, Jesus saves us from this sinful world. But when we love the hellish Egypt of this world, the good news of salvation from Egypt becomes bad news. The gospel we believe is about how God will cause us to prosper in Egypt.

We want to be the multimillionaires of Egypt.

We want to own the best houses in Egypt; drive the best cars and wear the most fashionable clothes.

But if we hate Egypt, we can receive the gospel about how God will take us out of Egypt to his heavenly kingdom. The good news then is that: “the Egyptians whom we see today, we shall see again no more forever.”

C M Y K

The riches and glories of this world are counterfeit (Exodus 14:13). However, if we buy the lie, as many Christians do, that God is going to make us rich in this Egyptian world, then we cannot believe he is going to save us from the world.

The one belief contradicts the other.

If we believe Jesus is going to save us from this world, then we must know that the riches and glories of this world are counterfeit. In short, we cannot receive the gospel of the kingdom of God unless we first hate this world. Accordingly, Jesus warns: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25).

John echoes Jesus: “Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; for all these worldly things, these evil desires---the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance---these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself. And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever.”

(1 John 2:15-17).

Nevertheless, Christians remain, by and large, lovers of life and lovers of this world.

Unacceptable salvation

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or 120 years, Noah preached the gos pel but nobody believed him. Noah preached that God would destroy the whole world in a flood, but would save only those who sought refuge in the ark. However, the people could not believe him because they loved the world. At the same time as Noah was saying God would destroy the world, there must have been others saying God would

prosper his people in the world. Just as many pastors are doing today, they must have been preaching about forthcoming breakthroughs and showers of blessings in the world.

Of course, the people believed these false prophets rather than Noah. After all, why would God destroy the world when he himself created the world? Why would he destroy the world when there are so many wonderful things in the world? Not surprisingly, Noah could only persuade the members of his family. Even those he employed to build the ark were not “foolish” enough to go into it with him.

Jesus says: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man.” (Luke 17:26). That time is today.

Lot also preached the gospel in Sodom, but nobody believed him.

He preached that God was going to destroy the city but would save those who fled immediately to the hills. But the people were more interested in hearing about how to prosper in Sodom.

Their problem with Sodom was that NEPA was unreliable. They preferred the gospel about how to get a degree by grace through faith from the University of Sodom.

They were more inclined to the “gospel” about who wants to be a millionaire in Gomorrah.

Jesus warns: “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:32-33).

That warning is for now.

Salvation of Jesus Christ

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n short, the gospel fails woefully to ad dress the issues of primary concern to Christians. We want God to establish heaven on earth and make the world free of diseases; poverty; killings; floods;

earthquakes; and other calamities. However, that agenda is not included in God’s plan of salvation. When the Messiah finally appeared, he did not reform the world or enrich believers in the world. When Jesus failed even to save John the Baptist from Herod’s prison, he sent his disciples to ask him: “Are you really the Messiah or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).

Therefore, pastors have given Christians another Messiah. They recognise Jesus is not the kind of Saviour we want. So they have created a more politicallycorrect Jesus. This newimproved Jesus became poor that all Christians may be multi-millionaires. This Father Christmas Jesus is going to bring about a major transfer of the wealth of unbelievers to Christians. But all this remains till date a pie in the sky.

Jesus provides no solution to the problems of this world. All he offers is how to overcome them spiritually. Indeed he assures us the problems will increase and not decrease. He says: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

(John 16:33). What Jesus offers believers is peace in the midst of the vicissitudes of this life.

He then promises an eternity of bliss in the bosom of God the Father, for those who endure to the end. (Matthew 10:22).

Preferred salvation

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attended a wedding at one of the parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The guest pastor preached a passionate message of salvation. The crux of it was this: “If you give your life to Jesus, you too will buy a Pathfinder. ” One man answered the altar call and “gave his life to Jesus.” I sat there wondering which Jesus he received. Certainly, it was not Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the living God.

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OUSE of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs has scor-ed the performance of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) high in its implementation of capital projects for the 2012 appropriation. The Deputy Chairman of the committee, Hon. Dahiru Saleh and another member of the committee, Hon. Sekonte Davies gave the passmark during an oversight visit to the commission in Abuja recently.

The committee members were in NCPC specifically to assess the level of implementation of the capital budget meant for the building of Pilgrims Reception Camp and offices for staff.

Members of the committee were conducted round the Commission’s building by the Executive Secretary of NCPC, Mr. John Kennedy Opara and his management staff.

At the site of the reception camp which is under construction, the visitors expressed delight at the progress of work on the twostorey building.

At the end of the tour of the project, the deputy chairman affirmed that progress of work is about 90 per cent, advising the Commission to have a rolling plan for its capital budgets so that those that could not be completed in the 2012

appropriation could be carried over to 2013 for completion.

Earlier, the executive secretary of NCPC, Mr. Opara, briefed the committee members on the activities of the Commission, its progress and challenges, explaining that the Commission was able to acquire its corporate head office building through the co-operation of the members of the House Committee as appropriated then.

The executive secretary explained that the Commission was able to sign agreement with two air carriers for the 2012 Christian Pilgrimage as approved by Mr. President, adding that it signed agreement with eight tour operators in Israel during the state of readiness visit

by NCPC and officials state Christian Pilgrim Welfare Boards.

*CCC Ibusa holds harvest ELTA North Dioc esan headquar ters of Celestial Church of Christ, Ibusa, Delta State holds its annual adult harvest thanksgiving service today. A statement by Barrister Peter Lotobi, an Asaba-based legal practitioner, stated that the harvest with the theme 'Divine Blessing' will take place at the church auditorium along Ibusa/ Ogwashi-Uku byepass Road, Ibusa beginning at 10.00 a.m.

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Witnesses unveil new tools for Bible education

By FRANKLIN ALLI EHOVAH’S Witnesses recently released new tools to boost spiritual education of its members and lovers of the movement worldwide.

The new tools include: Good news from God, Who are doing Jehovah’s will today, and Become Jehovah’s friend, an animated video for inculcating God’s word in little children.

Unveiling the materials during the witness convention called “Safeguard Your Heart” in Badagry, Monday Obera, and Life Owu who chaired the convention, respectively unveiled the new tools to delegates at the district convention.

In a speech titled “Do you have a heart for working?” Obera disclosed that one person out of 1,000 people living on earth today is a witness, and, therefore, the organisation has produced these new teaching materials to help draw more people to the faith.

While the delegates cheered with thunderous clapping, Obera urged them to put their hearts in the disciple making work by using these new tools to draw honest-hearted people to the organisation.

Good news from God is being printed in 400 languages, while Who are doing Jehovah’s will today will be made available in 300 languages including Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Efik, Edo, Tiv including American Sign Language (ASL). They will be made available for download at the organisation’s website after December 31, 2012,” he added

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SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012— PAGE 41

C

hris Uche is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN. But he lives a simple life inspite of the many cases involving politicians who would have lost their electoral victories or those helped regain them. Uche, who is the prosecuting counsel in the famous “Apo Six”, can rightly be described as a scion of law, having come from a family whose parents were lawyers. His junior brother is a lawyer while his first daughter is also a lawyer and many more lawyers may still be on their way to join the family tradition. In this interview the Abia State-born legal practitioner speaks of his passion with law, how to bail Nigeria out of the present predicament and what President Jonathan needs to do in order to move Nigeria forward and write his name in gold. He says no constitution amendment or system of government can change the way things are going in Nigeria unless the government musters the political and legal will to tackle corruption. Uche also insists that the setting up of special courts to try corrupt persons will also not make any difference in the fight against graft because as he puts it ‘corruption cannot be divorced from Nigerian politics’.

Excerpts: What would you do if you were asked to design a template for the Nigerian Judiciary? And in any case, what is wrong with the judiciary in Nigeria?

Really, if you look at the structure, the framework and the procedure, there is really nothing wrong with the Nigerian legal system. Our legal system on paper is virtually the same with the legal system in the United Kingdom because that is where we received our laws from. But the only thing that is different is the operators just like any other thin in Nigeria. Like now, we are clamouring for a change of the constitution when our problem is not constitutional.

The constitution has nothing to do with what is happening today, it has nothing to do with insecurity, the constitution has nothing to do with lack of water, good roads and nothing to do with absence of all the good things that Nigerians are craving for in order to live decently like other human beings created

by God. It is only the Nigerian factor that is our problem. The current pre-occupation for amendment of the Constitution to me is a distraction to keep Nigerians busy till the next election.

Z

eroing in on the judiciary, the framework and its infrastructure are superb. The

what you mean?

Look at the Apo Six case, which I am prosecuting. The last time we went to court, the accused persons were not brought from Kuje Prison to the court on the ground that there was fuel scarcity. This type of excuse is laughable and was never envisaged by the Constitution or the Rules of Court. But there was nothing the Judge could do

The constitution has nothing to do with what is happening today, it has nothing to do with insecurity, the constitution has nothing to do with lack of water, good roads and nothing to do with absence of all the good things that Nigerians are craving for major problem afflicting the than to judicial system is the undue adjourn the matter. So we delays that arise also as a have so many of these things result of the Nigerian factor. which occasion delays in the administration of justice in this Please give examples of country.

My observation about the current template of the judiciary is that the work of our judges has been made to suffer as a result of handling electoral matters, which are becoming routine by the day.

You can now see that the work of the courts is being hampered because of a lot of electoral litigation matters. By law they are supposed to be given preference but that is affecting the trial of regular cases.

So I would suggest that a separate, distinct and specialized court which could be called a Constitutional Court be established to deal with electoral matters-pre-election and post election issues. If this is done, it would help our system because most of the electio tribunalls are constituted on ad-hoc basis.

The judges are pooled from various courts in the country to do the job and for the period of their absence all the cases pending in their courts are suspended or put on hold.

When they go back, they may be posted elsewhere or if they are not sent to other places, they are not used for new

cases arising from further elections so that the experience they garnered from their previous assignments is not utilised. And when the matter goes on appeal, the government constitutes new ad-hoc courts to hear them, thereby disrupting the work of the regular Court of Appeal.

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hese judges cannot really do much because of the sheer volume of work that they are supposed to deal with within a short specified timeframe. It does not help in anyway. This is a fire brigade approach which does not help the system at all. Even this time frame that the constitution has set for the determination of electoral litigations is very unrealistic. You now begin to wonder whether the whole essence is to discourage aggrieved parties from filing petitions against electoral malpractices. But then if you discourage access to justice through the legal system you are only pushing people to resort to self help and anarchy. So, that is another area that must be Continues on page 42 C M Y K

PAGE 42 — SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Continued from page 41 looked into. As much as we are saying that let electoral matters be speedily disposed of, we must also take into consideration certain components of this process that must be properly handled if our aim is to do justice at the end of the day.

Would you say the judiciary has done well?

I would say that the Nigerian judiciary has done well compared to the other arms of government. But then one can say it ought to be so because the operators of the judiciary are better trained for what they are doing. The executive on the other hand, is not trained to rule; the legislature is not trained to be lawmakers. Secondly members of the judiciary have been there consistently under military or civilian administrations. They are supposed to do better than the other arms of government.

We are also very happy at this point in time with the development of the judiciary and our nation to have a woman who is highly regarded by all as an incorruptible head of the judiciary in the country - Justice Aloma Muktar. We are very confident that she will bring in a lot of innovations and policies that will take the judiciary to the next level. What is most important now in our country, is to restore public confidence in the justice system. So many Nigerians have lost faith in the judiciary given

If you look at the way corruption is practiced in Nigeria and the way politics is practiced in the country, you will come to the inescapable conclusion that corruption is the oil that lubricates the machinery of politics in Nigeria

several incidents that have taken place in this country. We should not allow this country to degenerate to a point where people take the law into their hands.

What do you think about the establishment of a special court to try corrupt persons?

I

do not think that will solve the problem because corruption is a menace that requires holistic solution. We cannot solve the problem of corruption without adopting a holistic approach towards its elimination. It is not a question of just getting a special court to deal with corruption cases that would solve the problem. We would only be dealing with the symptoms and not the causes.

Corruption has eaten deeply in the fabric of the nation’s life and it requires corresponding tough measures and political will to uproot it from the foundation. If you look at the way corruption is practiced in Nigeria and the way politics is practiced in the country, you will come to the inescapable conclusion that corruption is the oil that lubricates the machinery of politics in Nigeria. It is extremely difficult to separate corruption from politics in Nigeria. It is difficult to practice politics without corruption in Nigeria. We have to deliberately restructure public office to really be a platform for rendering service to the people. We have to restructure political offices in such a way that the capacity to steal public funds is limited, monitored and scrutinized. And that

•Uche . . . plea bargain being abused.

‘Bakassi issue was not properly managed’ is why in Nigeria everything is done by quota. If you are talking about service you should not be talking about quota and national cake. Until we get to that point where the government is not thinking about the next election but about the next project because even though I am not a politician or a security expert it is not difficult to say that what is happening in this country today cannot be divorced from the election of 2015. But a situation where you use the fight against corruption as a tool for selective punishment and witchhunting of political opponents or people who have fallen out of favour with the system does not augur well for the country. It is painful that even as a country we do not know how much crude oil that leaves this country daily, we do not know how much

comes into our Consolidated Revenue Fund and how much the nation is getting monthly from all other sources.

What do you make of plea bargain in the Nigerian judicial system?

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lea bargain is a very essential tool for saving government from wasteful prosecution where an accused person can admit liability to a lesser offence and he is punished and that ends the matter. But in Nigeria everything is always abused. In other jurisdiction where things are done properly, it is a veritable tool for quick dispensation of justice but in Nigeria it changes from plea bargain to money bargain. It now turns to a situation where somebody who has looted billions is simply asked to bring back a little and there is no full disclosure of how much

You know the problem with Nigeria is that we always adopt a fire brigade approach to everything

was stolen and there is also no disclosure of other money that would be spent in the course of the plea bargain. So it is something that is being abused and because it is being introduced not with respect to general cases, but with respect to corruption trial that is why I fear that it will defeat the very essence of the fight against corruption.

Last week, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, said that it would have been diplomatically damaging for Nigeria to have sought to appeal the International Court of Justice judgment on Bakassi. What do you think about that?

You know the problem with Nigeria is that we always adopt a fire brigade approach to everything. Why should we use ten days to the expiration of ten years to start to talk about the review of this judgment? You must also admit that everything about the Bakassi matter was badly mismanaged by the government from the initial prosecution where the citizens, the native and knowledgeable persons there were not carried along in the process. Everything about it was mismanaged and it is worrisome that we never talked about review until ten days to the expiration of the deadline.

It is a very sad aspect of our life because no nation, repeat, no nation, in international law or in history ever cedes part of its territory to another nation. So, what was done in Bakassi even though there have been several accounts of how the place was handled by the British and the Germans and between Nigeria and Cameroun and how it was used to settle the Civil war commitments and all that - the truth remains that everything about it is sad.

We would have, as a government, considered the plight of the indigenes who are Nigerians, to do whatever was necessary to hold on to that territory until it becomes very impossible to do so. I think we did not manage it well and I think what the government did through the Attorney General was a face-saving device. If it was going to be diplomatically damaging (quoting Adoke’s words) why did it take them only a day to the expiration of the deadline to realise that? At the time Mr. President set up the committee to look into the possibility of appealing the judgment, didn’t they think it would be diplomatically damaging? Why was it only a day to the expiration of the deadline that they suddenly realized that it would be diplomatically damaging to file an appeal?

That takes me to the issue of governance in Nigeria. There seem to be a wide gulf between governance and government in Nigeria. What we have is government; we don’t have any semblance of governance in Nigeria because the government we have does not ever seem to have the interest of the people governed at heart. Now some days ago, we read that a government in this Federal Capital Territory, where the residents are lamenting that there is no accommodation, where people are dying daily in search of accommodation, demolished no fewer than 500 units of houses already completed by a private company who got the finances from the bank. Why did the government not even Continues on page 43

SUNDAY

Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012 —PAGE 43

‘Nigerian factor is bane of development’ problems would still be staring us in the face because we are Nigerians who have refused to do things the way things are done elsewhere. So I don’t think it is question of changing the system of government. It is a question of refining what we have to be able to do right what has not been done well for several years.

Continued from page42 confiscate the houses and give to people, rather than demolishing them? It is not as if the houses blocked any express road or services lines.

Maybe, I think the time has come for us to reconsider the way the Minister of the FCT is appointed. I think the time has come for us to have an elected Mayor in the FCT. Let us have somebody who is elected by the residents of FCT. The second thing is that there should be a House of Assembly in the FCT where things like this would come to the floor of the House and then they will be able to get whoever is the Mayor to pay his attention to matters of this nature.

This will also take care of desire of the people that such headship of the FCT but should rotate so that every Nigerian has a sense of belonging in the FCT. Let it be elective and rotatory among the various sections of Nigeria.

From what you have seen and known about Nigeria, what is the best form of government for this country?

I don’t think the disenchantment of people or the problems we have had as a country are attributable to the form of government in operation. I don’t think it is because we have a

I

•Uche . . . Let us have somebody who is elected by the residents of FCT presidential system of government that we cannot have employment, water, electricity, good roads, and functional educational and health facilities and so on. It is not because we run a presidential system. If we return to the old Parliamentary system, these same

would say that the proliferation of states has made some them economically unviable. I don’t see anything wrong with the zonal system we have. If we can re-enforce the zonal system, have a stronger form of economic and political integration, and elevate these zones to regional status, that may help us in a way so that states or region as they may be called would not be depending on monthly on statutory allocations from the Federal Government.

In other words the Constitution amendment is not even necessary?

To me, it is not necessary. That is not fundamental. That is not the cause of our problem. I don’t support constitution amendment at all. I see it as a distraction and something to keep us busy between now and 2015. We have no problem with the constitution the way it is. What we have problem with is the manner in which it is

operated.

Given all the issues you have raised what would you advise Mr. President to do in order to move Nigeria forward?

I would tell him all these things we have discussed in this interview.

One thing we must recognise though is that governance is not about an individual. We cannot lay on the feet of President Jonathan the blames for all we are suffering now.

Understandably, most of these problems did not begin with him. But then, he is our figure head and the buck stops on his table. So he has to think passionately about transforming this country. This is a very unique opportunity he has to do something about changing things between now and 2015. Let him not allow those around him to keep him busy thinking about the next election and the opposition. Let him think of how to make sure that we have good roads and steady electricity, good educational and health facilities.

These are the areas he should concentrate on. If he can change these areas he can say at the end of his tenure that he indeed had a transformation agenda that served the people of Nigeria well and history will judge him well.

PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012— PAGE 41

DELTA KIDNAP SAGA:

Gov, lawmakers tango over death penalty

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South

would be arrested and detained until the suspects surrender.

According to the SSG, Comrade Macaulay, “The landlords and relations of persons who hold other people in custody have no right to live in freedom either”.

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ast year, Delta State House of Assembly passed a bill stipulating death penalty for kidnappers, but Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, a medical doctor and Christian, citing religious reasons, declined to sign the bill into law.

Because of the relationship between the House of Assembly and executive arm of government in the state, the lawmakers reluctantly allowed the governor to have his way, but since then, kidnapping has developed four legs in the state, walking almost freely on all fours.

Sunday Vanguard in this report examines the officially permitted pyrotechnics of the lawmakers to tackle kidnappers and the dilemma of a governor, who appreciates the concerns of the assembly members, but believes that he would be flouting the injunction of his Creator if he signed a death warrant. Is the governor justified?

Why I’m against death penalty - Uduaghan Sunday Vanguard once confronted Governor Uduaghan, whose first name, Emmanuel, means 'God with us' on the matter. He said, “That law stipulates death sentence for kidnappers and I don’t believe in death sentence. I don’t believe that it will solve the problem because we have precedence; there was death sentence for armed robbers; in fact, it was open execution then, where the late Lawerence Anini and band were executed but that did not stop armed robbery.

“Indeed, what happened was that armed robbers became more deadly, so death sentence has not stopped any sort of crime. I do not believe in it. Therefore, I think we are going to meet ourselves midway to arrive at something.”

He continued, “Whether I sign the bill or not, there is already a law against

Uduaghan cannot discountenance our stand —Ochei

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•Emmanuel Uduaghan

The governor thinks that he does not want to stain his hands with blood. But the House has superseding power to pass a law by two/third majority

kidnapping, kidnapping is a crime (laughs), there is already law against it.

Therefore, it is not this one that we are doing now that will stop it, this one is just putting an extreme condition.

“They have to be sentenced to death, which I don’t agree with. Therefore, by our law today, if kidnappers are found guilty, they go to jail. What we are discussing with the House of Assembly is how long the person is going to stay in jail if found guilty.”

Tightens noose on kidnappers

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esides donating 60 patrol vehicles and communication gadgets to Delta State Police Command to fight kidnappers and other criminals, the governor met with traditional rulers in the state to map out strategies on containing kidnappers. The state government has donated over 150 vehicles, including 110 pickup vans, from 2007 to June 2012 to security agencies in the state to fight crime.

The Delta State Security Council, also resolved in a meeting, July, at Agbor, in Ika South Local Government Area, that parents, relations and landlords of fleeing suspected kidnappers and armed robbers

ut, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, commenting on the new antiterrorism bill, said the lawmakers would confront Uduaghan head-on, this time around.

His words, “The bill will scale through by the grace of God because we received memoranda when we carried out a public hearing. The government, through the chief law officer of the state, the Attorney General, made submission to the committee.

Other organizations (and) the public have all made their submissions. Therefore, we are coming out with a very robust bill. That is one bill signed by 28 members of the House.

“There is no way it will not scale through. If the governor, by the time the bill is ready, does not give assent, there is a constitutional provision of what to do and I am sure he cannot discountenance the opinion of 28 members of this House”.

We will use our constitutional powers — Majority Leader, Igbuya

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alls by Sunday Vanguard to the Speaker on Wednesday to know his latest position on the matter was not returned, but the Majority Leader, Chief Monday Igbuya, who spoke, asserted, “The House of Assembly passed a bill stipulating death penalty for kidnappers, but people have different opinions on death penalty for kidnappers, some are saying that there are

already laws bordering on such issues. Yes, the normal judicial laws are there, but you know our laws and our society, the laws are not stiff enough.

“But the governor thinks that he does not want to stain his hand with blood. That is his own belief that if he signs the death warrant, somebody will die and it will be a sinful act on his part. He thinks it is he (Uduaghan) who signed the death warrant and not the person who kidnapped that committed sin - this is his religious conviction”.

According to him, “The House has superseding power to pass a law by two/third majority and it will become a law, but because of the relationship between the executive and legislature, we decided to allow our powers to go when we passed the bill before. Later, we discovered that the criminality in respect of kidnapping has increased. It has increased tremendously that we feel that we will be failing in our duty if we did not take the challenge.

“That was why we brought back the issue of death penalty for kidnappers. The law will be passed any moment from now and if the executive fails on its responsibility in signing it into law, we will now execute our constitutional power.

“It is clear that we will not be breaching our relationship and, if we do that to sanitize the state, I find nothing wrong in such action. In addition, the executive ought to realize that we have given them enough time to have a rethink. It has gone beyond one person. You know what happened to the Head of Service, Uduaghan’s brother, the Speaker’s brother, Tobechukwu, in which the Speaker, who is the number three citizen of the state, was the main target, one or two members of the House, SSG’s son and others.”

No going back —Lawmakers

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he mood among mem bers of the House was that there was no going back on the passage of the bill. The Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Basil Ganagana, who sponsored the bill, alongside other colleagues, said it was timely, considering the rising wave of kidnapping in the state, adding that the enactment of the law in Delta would address the issue of kidnapping and hostagetaking and its penalty should be capital punishment.

From our findings, the entire Continues on page 45 C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012— PAGE 45

Gov, lawmakers tango over death penalty Continued from page 44

can atone for the destruction of the image of God in a murdered person.

Even if the death was truly accidental, the killer still had to flee to a city of refuge. But for one guilty of deliberate murder, there were no sanctuaries whatsoever to flee to, not even the altar of God”.

28 members of the House are unequivocal on the passage of the bill.

The lawmakers are optimistic also that when passed into law, the bill would checkmate terrorism in the state.

Bible scholars on death penalty

God's permission

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he morality of Uduaghan’s position on death penalty for kidnappers is understandable, especially going by the sixth commandment, Exodus 20:13, which states: “Thou shalt not kill” and the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, on love for one’s enemy.

However, the logicality of his continued opposition to death sentence for kidnappers falls flat on the face based on the provisions and spirit of the same Holy Book.

For instance, Bible scholars have been able to prove that the injunction in Exodus 20: 13, which is translated, “Thou shalt not kill” in King James and other versions of the Bible, and translated, “Thou shalt not murder ” in New International Version and others, does not forbid the putting to death of offenders.

In Wesley’s notes, “Exodus 20: 13 Thou shall not kill - Thou shalt not do anything hurtful to the health, or life of thy own body, or any other's. This doth not forbid our own necessary defence, or the magistrates putting offenders to death; but it forbids all malice and hatred to any. For he that hateth his brother is a murderer, and all revenge arising therefrom; likewise anger and hurt said or done, or aimed to be done in a passion; of this our Saviour expounds this commandment, Mt 5:22.

Mathew Henry Whole Bible commentary says, “The sixth commandment concerns our own and our neighbour's life (v. 13): "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not do anything hurtful or injurious to the health, ease, and life, of thy own body, or any other person's unjustly." This is one of the laws of nature, and was strongly enforced by the precepts given to Noah and his sons, Gen. 9:5, 6”.

“It does not forbid killing in lawful war, or in our own necessary defence, nor the magistrate's putting offenders to death, for those things tend to the preserving of life; but it forbids all malice and hatred to the person of any (for he that hateth his brother is a murderer), and all personal revenge arising therefrom; also all rash anger upon sudden provocations, and hurt said or done, or aimed to be done, in passion: of this our Saviour expounds this commandment, Mt. 5:22. And, as that which is worst of all, it forbids persecution, laying wait for the blood of the innocent and excellent ones of the earth”.

Also, John John W. Ritenbaugh, in his Forerunner commentary to Exodus 20:13, asserts succinctly, “The Hebrew of the sixth commandment is about

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•Ochei as terse as it can be. It consists of two words that are the Hebrew equivalent of "No killing." However, enough other scriptures appear in God's Word to let us know that the commandment means that God does not permit violent and premeditated killing of one perceived as an enemy. Exodus 21:12-14 clarifies this: “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

But, if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

“This clearly separates a premeditated murder from an accidental killing.

One can discern from verse 14 that, under this circumstance, constituted civil authorities are permitted by God to enact the death penalty.

“Verses 12 and 13 imply that no amount of money or property settlement

rom the commentaries of Bible scholars, a constituted civil authority, which is government, is permitted by God and has enormous powers to make laws and enact punishment, which include death penalty. In Romans 13: 1- 5, the Living Bible (Paraphrased) says, “Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So, those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. For the policeman does not frighten people who are doing right; but those doing evil will always fear him. So if you don’t want to be afraid, keep the laws and you will get along well. The policeman is sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course, you should be afraid, for he will have you punished… Obey the laws, then, for two reasons: first, to keep from being punished, and second, just because you know you should”.

God’s penalty for kidnapping

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he first kidnapping in the Bible was that of Joseph by his brothers in Genesis 37:28, “So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver, and they took him to Egypt”. Joseph said in Genesis 40:15, “For I was kidnapped from my homeland among the Hebrews, and now this- here, I am in jail when I did

The kidnapped A list (by no means exhaustive) of the high profile kidnapping incidents that have happened in Delta State recently.

It is no longer news that the governor’s 70-year-old cousin, Pa Samuel Uduaghan, Tobechukwu Ochei, a younger brother of the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon Victor Ochei; Mr. Markson Macaulay, son of the Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay; Head of Service, Delta State; Mr. Okey Ofili, and Majority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly; and Chief Monday Igbuya, were kidnapped in the state.

The bourgeoning list includes but may not be limited to Justice Marcel Okoh of the Delta State High Court; Mrs. Zokumor, a sister to the Minister of Niger-Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe; Madam Suzanne Elumelu, 80, mother of former Group Managing Director of the United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu; wife of the Commissioner for Basic Education in Delta State, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare; Super Eagles footballer - Christian Obodo; and former chairman of Aniocha South Local Government Area; Emmanuel Sorokwu.

The Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof Hope Eghagha, returned some weeks ago from the kidnappers’ den after his police orderly was shot dead and the latest, at the time of this report, is Mrs. Njoseh, a staff of the Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka. She was kidnapped on Sunday, while driving out of her residence with some family members to church at Obiaruku.

Information at our disposal indicates that the House of Assembly was not finding the situation comical anymore and have re-trieved the bill from where it was dumped.

The bill, now re-christened, “Delta State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Terrorism Bill, 2012, sponsored by 28 lawmakers, is billed to be passed soon.

A member of the House told Sunday Vanguard that if Uduaghan, for his religious beliefs, refuses to sign the bill, the lawmakers would use their constitutional power to veto him and pass it into law.

nothing to deserve it”.

God’s penalty for man stealing/kidnapping is death. In Exodus 21:16, He says, “A kidnapper must be killed, whether he is caught in possession of his victim or has already sold him as a slave”. In Deuteronomy 24:7, it states, “If anyone kidnaps a brother Israelite, and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die, in order to purge the evil from among you”.

Bible scholar, Barnes, explained further, “For menstealers - The word here used - ???????????????? andrapodiste?s - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means one who steals another for the purpose of making him a slave - a kidnapper. This is the common way in which people are made slaves. Some, indeed, are taken in war and sold as slaves, but the mass of those who have been reduced to servitude have become slaves by being kidnapped. Children are stolen from their parents, or wives from their husbands, or husbands from their wives, or parents from their children, or whole families are stolen together.

“None become slaves voluntarily, and consequently the whole process of making slaves partakes of the nature of theft of the worst kind. What theft is like that of stealing a man's children, or his wife, or his father or mother? The guilt of manstealing is incurred essentially by those who purchase those who are thus stolen - as the purchaser of a stolen horse, knowing it to be so, participates in the crime. A measure of that criminality also adheres to all who own slaves, and who thus maintain the system - for it is a system known to have been originated by theft. This crime was expressly forbidden by the law of God, and was made punishable with death.

(Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7).

Gill’s exposition puts it thus, “For r men stealers; who decoyed servants or free men, and stole them away, and sold them for slaves; see the laws against this practice, and the punishment such were liable to, in Exodus 21:16.

This practice was condemned by the Flavian law among the Romans (i), and was not allowed of among the Grecians (k); the death with which such were punished was strangling, according to the Jews (l).”

Dangers of not putting a kidnapper to death Contrary to the argument that death penalty would not deter kidnappers and other criminals; it is the failure of government to put offenders to death, as quickly as possible that makes others to want to venture into it. The Biblical injunction is that kidnappers should be killed in order to purge evil from the land. Not killing kidnappers is akin to condoning them, as jail term is not viewed as enough deterrent.

But the problem in the case of Nigeria is that even when death sentence is prescribed for an offence, it is not carried out promptly; it takes years after the sentence had been passed for the offender to be killed, and by the time it is done, it had lost its moral lesson.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

BY ESE OWIE

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Bringing climate change in line with global realities

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here were floods. Lives were lost. Property was destroyed. Victims are still living on a wing and a prayer. The government threw N17.6b at them. Curiously, throughout the recent national broadcast on measures being put in place to stem the tide, climate change – the primary cause of the problem – was not mentioned. This blatant omission can only be suggestive of a seeming cognitive confusion among policy makers as to the scope and reach of environmental regulation in Nigeria.

From the United Kingdom to India, Japan to the United States, governments have, in response to the menacing effects of climate change, set out far-reaching regulations that seek to promote biodiversity and sustainable development.

This rules-based approach not only guarantees transparency and predictability, but also ensures that the complex regulations required to safeguard the environment conform to international best practices.

VIEWPOINT

Flood Disasters, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development

,

VIEWPOINT

Government’s inability to adopt a rules-based, legally binding framework, as opposed to a procurement-driven approach is indicative of either a poverty of ideas or institutional malaise

Unfortunately, policy makers in Nigeria seem averse to the rules-based approach to regulation. They, instead, prefer a procurement-driven approach that allows for administrative discretion and one that achieves little or no regulation.

A classic example of the procurement-driven approach to environmental regulation in Nigeria is the process that led to the birth of the National Committee on Ecological Problems – the Ecological Funds Office. The Fund was originally established in 1981 through the Federation Account Act. The enabling Act has subsequently been modified by De-

,

crees 36 of 1984 and 106 of 1992 respectively. It was, most recently, modified by the Allocation of Revenue/Federation Account etc (modification) order of 8 July 2002. In 1981, the Fund received 1% of the money in the Federation Account.

This was reviewed upwards to 2% in 1992. This Fund is meant to provide resources for the amelioration of ecological problems such as flood, drought, oil pollution, amongst others. The enabling statutes have, over the years, placed the Fund under the control of the President, to be disbursed and managed in accordance with such directives as may be

issued from time to time. None of the enabling statutes made any effort to establish a legal regime for an efficient and effective regulatory framework for environment and sustainable development. The primary objective was, regrettably, procurement and disbursement of funds.

Government’s inability to adopt a rules-based, legally binding framework, as opposed to a procurement-driven approach is indicative of either a poverty of ideas or institutional malaise. Otherwise, how does one rationalize a N17.6 billion ‘bail out’ without an articulate policy roadmap that addresses the regulatory challenges and proffers solutions for mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change? There is an urgent need to reverse this trend and Mr. President’s refusal to sign into law the 2011 Climate Change Commission Bill is salutary. The Bill, as it is, simply seeks to create another bureaucracy that would assume the functions of the ex-

tant Ecological Funds Office.

Unfortunately, the Bill fails to set out a precise and transparent legal framework for the regulation of the environment, especially as it relates to mitigating the effects of climate change. A review of the Bill, with a view to reflecting contemporary realities, is therefore imperative.

In reviewing the Bill before assenting, Mr. President should be guided by the United Kingdom’s (UK) experience on this score. In 2008, the UK passed the Climate Change Act, a legislation that introduced the world’s first long-term legally binding framework to tackle the dangers of climate change. The Act, among other things, created a new approach to managing and responding to climate change in the UK by setting ambitious, legally binding targets and strengthening the institutional framework for environmental social governance.

Pandora’s Box should be opened.

It is very sad that people lose enthusiasm anytime Abia is mentioned, but it was not like this under the government of Kalu whom he says he will probe and taking the goodwill of the people for a ride. Orji should have told us that he wanted to research on the government of Kalu so as to tap from the master strategist’s ever-present government, but he was perhaps shy to say it publicly, hence he characterized it as probe. Again, instead of Orji saying that he wanted to seek a motherly advice from Kalu’s mother thus, he said that was beaming his searchlight on the actions of the former governor’s mother.

Did he say “in relation to contracts awarded”? Is someone laughing? People should ask Orji who is the governor whose children are buying virtually every property in Abia State and beyond It is incongruous to join issues with the State Commissioner for Information, Eze

Chikamnayo, amongst others, whom Orji has been using to downsize himself hoping that he is molesting Kalu at will.

The records are there about Chikamnayo’s literary assaults on Orji before he was made commissioner.

So, Chikamnayo is no longer seeing those things he once saw in the inept government he is serving because of his job?

How chameleonic some people can be!

Yours truly have tried in some progressive ways, offstage, to bring peace to Abia by reconciling the perceived warring political groups in the state, but, as it can be deduced, some persons love their job so much more than seeing that everlasting peace is brought to stay in the state. Who are the Abia people whom Chikamnayo said were bundling immensity on Orji to probe Kalu? It is evident that Chikamnayo is the only Abia person that we have heard this from.

*Owie, an international lawyer, is Executive Director of Climate Change Africa.

Abia naive probe

BY ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

N

igeria is becoming a den of news. The Abia State government-led by Governor Theodore Orji is one of the most hit states in recent times.

His government is a beehive of off-beam news and he does not stomach criticism or make use of observers’ critiques. But Abia people can endure his foot soldiers’ show-of-aggression when the government is reminded of its clueless, visionless and clownish embarrassment in governance.

Ndigbo can endure his misplacement of aggression and remind him that governance is a serious business.

Anybody may say that it is pertinent to probe ex-government officials. But this orchestration by the Abia government that the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, would be probed is a show of shame, and depicts the

,

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The probe of a governor as an exercise in futility

It is very sad that people lose enthusiasm anytime Abia is mentioned, but it was not like this under the government of Kalu whom he says he will probe and taking the goodwill of the people for a ride.

direction of a derailed government. Many of us had kept quiet for sometime hoping that Orji would make use of some blueprints we had brought to his doorstep in the form of criticisms, but he is far from utilizing the opportunity. Let’s not delve into the pitiable condition of roads in Aba for a moment, because under Kalu he said that he wants to probe at least, there were roads he maintained and built new ones, but Orji has only succeeded in drawing tears out of the people’s eyes.

We are not holding brief for Kalu here, but the truth can be told that Kalu was a governor

,

that didn’t owe workers a single month of their salaries, unlike the tradition of no-payment-of-salaries we have now come to endure in Abia State, under the government of Orji.

Upon the fact that workers salaries have not been paid for over six months in Abia under this present dispensation, it would be very optimal to ask the governor where he has kept the money that was supposed to serve as salaries for the ‘nonindigenes’ he once chased out of the state.

While anybody may be misleading Orji to probe Kalu, it is better he is reminded that his case has no rival if his

*Onwumere lives in Aba. Email: apoet_25@yahoo.com

Contribution of not more than 800 words should be sent to sundayvanguard@yahoo.com

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 47

TRIBUTES

TRIBUTE

BY JAMES EZE

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF A tale of a life of achievements

Obiano: Another feather to honour-laden cap People, for his apocalyptic novel that prophesied the Nigeria civil war as Obiano. However, unlike Chief Honorable Nanga, Achebe’s central character in A Man of the People who was a noisy, flatulent politician who drew insincere adulation from his beggarly constituents, Obiano, who holds the title of Akpokuedike (loosely translated as the buzz

C

HIEF Willie Obiano carries a spark that lights up any arena he enters like a burst of fireflies in a dark, moonless night. And it has very little to do with his well cultivated sartorial style; or his regal carriage which was there long before he took his first chieftancy title. Nor is it his infectious humour and kindred spirit that strikes instant connectivity with anyone that comes his way regardless of age or class?. Obiano is far more nuanced than that. And it’s all perhaps because the Aguleri high chief has managed to squeeze into one personality, as much complexity as simplicity.

Perhaps no one in recent memory closely approximates what Chinua Achebe may have had in mind when he chose the title, A Man of the

,

Chief Willie Obiano

eign operations, oil and gas financing, telecommunications, aviation and several other businesses where he showed tremendous leadership skills. Prior to berthing at Fidelity Bank, Obiano had had an auspicious beginning at First Bank Nigeria and Texaco Nigeria Plc where he was the Chief Internal Auditor for years.

What mostly stood Obiano out was his rare human touch; a deep connection with the people which resonated throughout the bank

of the warrior), is a brilliant banker and astute administrator who is well loved by his Aguleri people.

Essentially, the story of Obiano is a tale of a life of solid personal achievements. Until recently, was the number two man at Fidelity Bank Plc, as the Executive Director in charge of Business Banking after a glittering banking career that saw him rise through the ranks and heading virtually every important segment of the bank including corporate banking, non-bank financial institutions, treasury, for-

,

At Fidelity, what mostly stood Obiano out was his rare human touch; a deep connection with the people which resonated throughout the bank and a large reservoir of knowledge of the subtleties of banking and a keen sense of the present and how it connects to the future, which most bankers who have fallen by the way side never seemed to have.

Obiano knew banking well enough to know that the banker’s reputation is like a house of straws; one bad move and all the years of struggle would go up in a plume of smoke. But

Obiano left Fidelity on a high.

He was well loved by the ordinary staff and respected by the management and the board. At the bank’s annual dinners and social events, Akpokue Aguleri, as he was fondly called, always stood out. Obiano’s social skills were also well known outside Fidelity Bank as most of his closest friends are members of the armed forces, para-military, royal fathers, professionals like doctors, lawyers, fellow bankers and brilliant architects and engineers among others. He is also deeply connected to the clergy and the church.

Chief is a devout Catholic whose commitment to the church is deep. It is perhaps ironic that a man with his high social skills and a profound love for tradition is also deeply involved with the church. It is all part of the high art of personality code-mixing which Obiano has perfected in his simple but complex personality.

All things considered, perhaps the most startling thing about Obiano is his astonishing brilliance. For someone with his profound social skills, it is almost unbelievable to note just how acute his intellect works. Obiano holds a Second Class Upper Division in accounting from the University of Lagos and an MBA in marketing from the same school. He is a class member of the Harvard Business School and Stanford University, both in the USA. He is

also both fellow and patron of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

In the course of his career, Obiano attended numerous courses including Credit and Trade Services at Citi Bank, New York, Treasury and Money Market at Northwest London, Emerging Markets at FIM Bank, Malta and Managing Integration Process at Houston Texas, USA in 2006.

As is the case with people who live a life of meaning, Akpokuedike Aguleri’s life is spiced up with numerous humanitarian gestures that heal the world. Obiano is a committed philanthropist, a cheerful giver who finds contentment in easing the pain of people in need. However, Akpokuedike has a different attitude to philanthropy – he never makes his interventions public. He likes affecting lives silently. Just recently, he made a bold intervention to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the flood that engulfed half of Anambra State.

Needless to say, more honours have continued to trail Chief Obiano. As the saying goes, if a man makes a better mouse-trap than his peers,the world would make a beatenpath to his door. People and society whose lives he has touched are beginning to look back in gratefulness.

It is partly for this reason and everything else that the Board of Governors and Trustees of Wisconsin International University, USA, has decided to confer on him, the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership, honoris causa.

It is a richly deserved honour for someone who has made his mark as a thoroughbred professional and as a man of means.

Claude Ake and the paradigm of alternative development in Africa(1) TRIBUTE

the power of ideas in the transformation of the Nigerian nation and the African continent.

This threesome and some others as well constitute the in-

BY TUNJI OLAOPA

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF

,

Reflections on the late Prof Claude Ake

I

had meant this piece for publication on November 7, which would mark the 16th year that Professor Claude Ake got ‘ wasted’ through a tragic death. But with Segun Ayobolu’s recent seminar rejoinder to my tribute to Professor Ojetunji Aboyade advanced within the framework of what he called “the alternative narrative of the Nigerian crisis provided” by the likes of Claude Ake, I thought this contribution is most relevant at this time, so that the valid perspective that Ayobolu presents for policy makers, and which is the substance of this article, will not be lost.

Amadou Hampate Ba, the late Malian griot, is reputed for his claim that when an old man dies in Africa, an entire library goes up in flame. Ake died early, and yet the metaphor of a library engulfed in flame appropriately sums his demise. When he died at 57 in 1996, an entire social science intellectual institution in

Professor Claude Ake Nigeria was jeopardized. Ake constituted one of the pillars of the generation Wole Soyinka considered to be wasted, and possibly one of the exceptions to that broad portrayal.

And he is the third in the trio of Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade and Prof. Akin Mabogunje that I have celebrated as intellectuals-heroes who not only confronted the trajectory of the Nigerian Project, but also its contradictions and possibilities. Ake celebrated Aboyade as a hero in my biography of the latter ’s life; yet, he is no less worthy of such a heroic celebration and assessment. If Aboyade and Mabogunje made their struggle in the attempt to achieve the synthesis of knowledge, power and responsibility, Ake held on to

Ake left behind a huge intellectual corpus that speaks robustly and insistently to the nature of power and its appropriation by the masses for their well-being

,

tellectual capital any nation requires to transcend its predicament and move into possibilities. Yet, the tragedy of our national existence is that our intellectuals have become the scapegoats of our collective failure.

I had two significant contacts with Ake that contributed to the moulding of my intellectual worldview. The first was as an aspiring student of the social sciences at the University of Ibadan where reading Ake’s work was a must for all stu-

dents of political science. The second was the review of some of his policy proposals and inputs as policy adviser to the government. This took place under the mentorship of Aboyade. The latter even once lamented his failure to bring Ake on board the evolving multidisciplinary policy platform that could enlighten the deepening political economy that the Niger Delta struggle was taking in the context of fiscal federalism and the contingent national question.

His death is tragic because it demonstrates, in a gruesome manner, how intellectuals and scholars are equally affected by the vagaries of natural circumstances and situation in the society they toil and sweat to understand and rehabilitate. Ake was one of the 147 passengers that perished in the ADC Airline plane that crashed into the lagoon in Lagos in November 7, 1996. He was returning to Yale University where he held a visiting professorship.

However, Ake left behind a huge intellectual corpus that speaks robustly and insistently to the nature of power and its appropriation by the masses for their well-being. “Every intellectual attitude,” according to Thomas Mann, “is latently political.” Claude Ake—political scientist, polit-

ical economist, development thinker and social activist—is renowned for his overriding concern with the African continent as a site for the contestation of knowledge production and development thinking. Ake is one intellectual whose life reflects his theories and postulations. He evolved in the complex dynamics of the global and local intellectual ferment of the 60s and the 70s.

This was the period when the marginalisation of Africa was already a deep issue in global political economy, and theories like liberalism, neo-liberalism, Marxism and neo-Marxism were already vying for intellectual supremacy in the attempt to understand the African predicament. From his original liberal persuasion, Ake later converted to a Marxist orientation on the relevance of socialism as the preferred ideological underpinning for African postcolonial development.

His entire life was therefore dedicated to the outline of a methodological framework for rethinking the development profile of Africa, especially from the perspectives of theory and practice. *Olaopa, a federal permanent secretary, can be reached via tolaopa2003@yahoo.com To be continued

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

chimeena@yahoo.com 0802635036

I plan to empower youths with truth of immigrant experience — Chidi Okoye

BY STARRYS OBAZEI INTERVIEW

Sculptor Chidi Okoye was a lecturer at Federal Polytechnic, Oko before he left Nigeria for Canada on the invitation of Canadian Art Society in 1994. Today, his fame in sculptural art has spread to America, Canada and Europe and his works speak volumes about his creativity and excellence.

In this online interview, the Institute of Management and Technology Enugu trained artist talks about his art.

Chidi Okoye.....I was captivated with sculpture as a kid.

,

Y

OU are Canada-based and also known internationally. How much were you known in Nigeria before you went abroad?

I did quite a bit in the field of art before leaving Nigeria for Canada on the invitation of Canadian Art Society in 1994. I did numerous sculptural commissions in public and private collections, taught sculpture at Oko Federal Polytechnic for six years, served as Secretary for Society of Nigerian Artist Anambra state chapter for three years. I had Ibrahim Babangida ex president of Nigeria and Cardinal F. Arinze unveil my works at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki and Holy Trinity Cathedral Onitsha respectively. And I have one of my works at Mobile Producing Head office in Lagos, to mention but a few. I had my national solo exhibition “Textures of Life” and launching of the book “Lamentation” at national museum Lagos in 1993 sponsored by Mobil Producing Nigeria.

Tell us about some of your exhibitions around the world.

I have participated in various creative competitions, like in the design of posters for the Festival Sundiata in Seattle, USA, which I won in 1995, 1996 and Sundiata Best Artist of the Year 1998. I also designed a poster and logo, “Spirit of the Nation”, for the Canadian Heritage Art Society in Victoria BC in 1997. I designed and created award statues for Black Historical Society in Vancouver BC in 1999, also in 1999, I won first prize in the Co-op Radio Poster Competition in Vancouver BC. I have had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Vancouver BC, Calgary AB, Toronto ON and Atlanta GA. I have been blessed to have sold out five limited editions on international cruise ships such as Carnival and Princess Cruise. My works have won the admiration of few local and international collectors. Among my list of works in private and public collections are in Delta Airline, Atlanta; Water Resources, Resurrection Life Center Montgomery, Alabama; President Office, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC Canada; Iowa State University, Iowa, USA, Villa Benzi, Caerano, Venice, Italy, to mention a few.

Your artworks in Facebook appear uncountable, how many are they really?

I use life experiences and human emotions to communicate God’s passion to the best of my ability, with the hope that He will use them in His own way to touch the lives of His people positively for His own glory

,

I am not in the habit of counting my works, but I will say that I have done quite a lot .

How do you get your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from God. I ask him for whatever I need including inspiration to create or else it will be practically impossible for me to do what I have done in art. All glory and honour goes to God who enables me

by Christ, to shade some light on his passion through art.

I use life experiences and human emotions to communicate God’s pas-

Sweet Mother: One of his works.

sion to the best of my ability, with the hope that he will use them in his own way to touch the lives of his people positively for his own glory.

With so many works on display, you must be very rich.

I don’t know about that, but I know that I am rich in Jesus, blessed and highly favoured Where do you get your greatest patronage?

US and Europe for now.

Is sculpture an innate thing with you or you started by learning it?

Akpabio the Great

BY UZOR MAXIM UZOATU BOOK REVIEW

I

T is a deeply felt knowledge that the death of a truly great man is akin to the burning down of a library. Most notable Africans of the past died without putting down their multiform activities into bound books. Succeeding generations could not therefore tap into their experiences that would have helped a lot in the march of civilization. In Ancient Greece, the great philosopher Socrates did not set down his teachings in print but he lives today all over the world through the offerings of his distinguished student Plato, and even Aristotle. It is against this background of passing on the legend of the past that one beholds this 336-page book, He Dared by Offonmbuk C. Akpabio, a resourceful reprisal of the life and times of Okuku

Udo Akpabio, the great colonial ruler of the Annang people of Nigeria in today’s Akwa Ibom State.

He Dared comes highly recommended with the words of the respected critic and editor Dili Ezughah: “Offonmbuk Akpabio has told the enthralling story of not just a man but that of his people in a time of transitions. He Dared captures the force of Okuku Udo Akpabio and his time – He is a force driven by integrity, justice, honour, and derring-do.”

A man of immense insight, Okuku Udo Akpabio had to surmount very daunting circumstances to emerge as the shining light and patriarch of the Great Akpabio family. He married as many as 29 wives, and the icing as it were on his matrimonial cake could be seen in the fact that many of the wives were married into the family by Udo Akpabio’s first wife Nne Eyen Mboho.

An old master who had sharp and

I was captivated with sculpture as a kid. I thank God for a creative father who encouraged me with all he had.

He was my hero.

For professionalizing your passion, which schools did you attend?

I attended one of the Nigerian best schools in art, Institute of Management and Technology Enugu. I graduated in I988, and majored in Sculpture.

What do you hope to do in the future in Nigeria?

By the God’s grace I hope to invest my time in the education of our youths.

I plan to empower them with the truth of the untold hardship of immigrants in the Western world, so that they can be better informed before giving up their empire for the hidden world of pain and sorrow. knowing eyes for good things, Udo Akpabio enjoyed wedlock to sundry daughters and sisters of associates and friends. Of course any new wife must pass the basic test of admission into the family, that is, scrutiny and acceptance by Nne Eyen Mboho. Not unlike Solomon in the Bible, Udo Akpabio reveled in the company of many concubines. Offonmbuk Akpabio limns: “Through these twenty-nine wives, Udo Akpabio begat a large family whose offspring would later form nearly the entirety of Ukana Ikot Ntuen village in now Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.”

Even as he lacked Western education, he gave the training of his children in the white man’s school pride of place. He was at birth named

Continues on page 49

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012, PAGE 49

Stakeholders condemn destruction of art works in public spaces Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi in his own contributions condemned the act of destroying art works, which he says tell story about how we value creative works. He also suggested the need to institutionalise art and let people know about its importance.

“I am staggered by the developments, we must change the story about peoples attitude towards art, we have to preserve the works for continuity so that future generations will benefit

BY JAPHET ALAKAM LECTURE

T

HE venue was the OYASAF conference centre and the event was an interactive forum on the current state of the visual arts in Nigeria. The forum which came up against the background of recent removal of art works mounted at strategic positions at the Murtala Mohamade International Airport, Ikeja , Lagos as a result of renovation works as well as the removal and destruction of art works and monument in some universities and other public spaces without the consent of the artist was put together by three stakeholders in the art industry.

Some of these stakeholders include; The Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation, OYASAF, Grillo Pavillon and Bruce Onabrakpeya Foundation. Also in attendance at the forum were, Dr Bruce Onabrakpeya, Rasheed Gbadamosi, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, Mrs Ronke Ashaye and Olu Amoda.

Speaking on the topic ‘’The current state of the Visual arts in Nigeria’’, Prince Shyllon told the audience that the issue started since Tajudeen Sowole of the Guardian Newspaper broke the news about his observation about the destruction of art works at the Murtala Muhammed International airport by the authorities as a result of the ongoing renovation works at the place.

According to him, it was ever since then that the members of art community have observed with dismay that apart from the case of the MMA, that similar issues have been going on in many places in the country,thereby bringing to the fore the non recognition of the import of creativity by Nigerians and managers of the State.

He pointed out the case of the Vice Chancellor of a federal university who removed the art works in his office and dumped them in the store, the destruction of Yusuf Grillo’s mosaic at the Adeniran Ogunsanya shopping complex in Surulere, the destruction of the art work at Warri round about and many others as cases in point.

Shyllon who is worried about the development stated that Nigerians, especially stakeholders in the art in-

Flood victims get relief

A

multinational, BROADLINE Construction Company, has donated relief materials worth several millions to flood victims in Delta State.

The items donated by the company to the flood victims includes 150 Blankets, 20 bags of Rice, 150 Bags of Pure Water, 25 Cartons of Tomato, 3 Bags of Ariel Detergent Soap and 50 Cartons of Indomie.

Managing Director of the company Mr, Fadi El Khoury, who made the presentation on behalf of the company, commended Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for catering for the needs of the flood victims.

El Khoury, accompanied by his partner Mr Jack Achkar, El Khoury were received by the Delta South Youth Leader of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Ambassador Andrew Igban,

,

Bruce Onabrakpeya

Yusuf Grillo

In the developed world, great artists are respected and treated well by the government. But here in Nigeria what we are seeing is the reverse

,

dustry are not comfortable with the developments and therefore canvassed the need to make relevant authorities understand that the government are not the owners of the the works in question but the artists.

“What our country is doing to the conservation and preservation of art is not good. How can the country be cry-

Prince Yemisi Shyllon

ing for the return of looted works while they have no plans about how to preserve them. In the developed world, great artists are respected and treated well by the government. But here in Nigeria what we are seeing is the reverse. ” He said.

Bruce Onabrakpeya who confessed that he went to the airport and saw Folarin’s work but could not recognise it because of the level of damage done to the work said that the issue should not be limited to the MMA but also to all the works of art in other public spaces.

Worried by such a sad treatment meted on such a quintessential master piece the work, the famous print maker querried whether there is any statue that governs the use of art works and if there is such in Nigeria so that it can be invoked based on what is happening to the artworks and monuments.

from them.”, adding that,”’the preservation of art works should be introduced as a course in schools so as to stop the Philistines from destroying the cultural heritage because there are lessons embedded in them.”

Chuka Nnabuife, the Secretary General of Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA,on his part said that what is going now is not only bad but distasteful to every body, he reiterated the fact that when a work is in public place does not mean that the owner has lost his patent right over it. He revealed that efforts have been made by SNA to make sure that the NATIONAL gallery of Art NGA bill on Art is passed into law but regretted that despite every moves the bill died after passing the first reading.

Other contributors harped on the need to update the cultural policy so that it will incorporate the protection of works and also urged government to fund the art industry.

Akpabio the Great the Spirit Movement but would not stop his sons from joining. There were riots across the Owerri and Calabar districts, but Udo Akpabio played a pivotal role in stemming the violence such that Margery Perham in her book Ten Africans singled him out as the only paramount ruler to “initiate and work committedly (sic) to preserve life and property during the riots.”

Continued from page 48 Essien, connoting “Essien Ubong” which means “the compound of glory”.

An astute businessman, he quickly made his wealth but refused to be introduced into the then reigning slave trading business controlled by the Aro Igbos of the Ajali, Arondizuogu, and Bende kingdoms. It was around 1903 that the white colonialists arrived in a forceful manner that was in no way peaceable. Okuku Udo Akpabio was elected by his people of Ukan Ikot Ntuen to be their representative as dictated by the British Administration Office at Ikot Ekpene. He thus became a “Chief by Government Warrant”.

Then the “Administration elected Udo Akpabio as the first president of the court, Obong Esop, in Ikot Ekpene – a position he held until his retirement from the administration.” His esteemed position as the president of the Native Court ensured that the other warrant chiefs paid deference to his judgment.

In 1918 Udo Akpabio was initiated into the prestigious Abie Owo Society.

His older sons, namely Akpan Udo Akpabio, Ibanga, and Ukpong were already leading the way in the acquisition of Western education. By 1920 Akpan Udo Akpabio began work as a court messenger in the Native Authority Court. Ibanga began life as a pupil teacher in the local Methodist School.

Ukpong on his part gained admission

A

He Dared – The Story of Okuku Udo Akpabio, the Great Colonial African Ruler by Offonmbuk C. Akpabio; Xlibris, USA; 2011 into the Methodist College, Uzuakoli, to pursue his secondary education. The death of Adiaha who was married to Chief Ekukinam was a major blow, but the child she left behind as Okuku Udo Akabio’s first grandchild – Ekukinam Bassey – was brought up in the home

by Nne Eyen Mboho.

The paramount chiefdom established by the British colonial administration put up Okuku Udo Akpabio as the first paramount ruler of the district. In 1927 Okuku Udo Akpabio relocated his family to a more expansive compound befitting of his status. He did not join

ccording to Offonmbuk Akpabio, “Strengthening the traditional institutions greatly enhanced the role of Okuku Udo Akpabio as an administrator of Ikot Ekpene District, a dispenser of justice, and guardian of the norms and values of the people.”

Okuku Udo Akpabio distinguishes the white man from the black man thusly: “The white men are great in their fashion of doing things. They like to do everything in order. They are not like some black men who jump from one thing unfinished to a fresh one, and by so doing, may be unable to finish both.” In his dotage he “did not suffer a protracted illness but slipped quietly away to join his forbearers.” The book is illustrated with unforgettable black-and-white photographs of yore.

In He Dared Offonmbuk Akpabio has given the world of learning a treasure-trove. The immense wealth contained in this eloquent rendering of the life and times of Okuku Udo Akpabio, the inimitable colonial African ruler, I worthy of celebration.

PAGE 50—SUNDAY VANGUARD,OCTOBER 28, 2012

F

Falling in love

alling in love may be one of the greatest feelings ever. There is an actual chemical process that happens to a person who is falling in love.

All of the senses have a greater intensity. Colours seem brighter, sounds more resonant and smells more powerful when you are in love.

When you are with your lover there is no greater feeling in the world, and when you are not you spend all your time thinking of each other. Falling in love is truly an awesome feeling. cheers!

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ri Delta state, needs a God fearing man, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08133358443, 07083842828 •Joyce, 24, busty, needs a man, who can satisfy her on bed.08074758993 •Stella, 25, needs a sexually active man to satisfy her.

08068684663 •Chilove,25, tall, slim, busty, beautiful,sexy and a model, needs a matured, intelligent, handsome, financially ok, man, who can take good care of her, for a serious relationship.08056200609 •Dora, a student and fat, needs a man, aged 40-55, who is wealthy, caring and generous, to see her through school.07067919826 •Nifemi, 31, humble, a Christian, educated and a mother of one, needs a wealthy, caring, educated, decent and employed man, who will love and take care of her and also marry her, aged 35-60. 08064274129 •Joy, 22, from Edo state, needs a God fearing man, who is ready for marriage, 08064877871 •A lady, 5.5ft tall, sexy and busty, needs a guy, aged 3845, in Warri and its environs, for a serious relationship, that

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can lead to marriage.

08188624661,08036750160 •Valerie, 24, from Edo state, needs a loving and caring man, who is financially stable that can finance her education.07088193985 •Faith, 24, needs a man, who is sexually active to satisfy her, for a relationship.

08165741029 •Ekaette, 22, fair in complexion, average height and a Christian, needs a God fearing, employed and good looking man, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage, aged 25-37.

08169827645 •Sarah, 26, tall, slim, dark in complexion, sexy, a graduate, employed, a Christian and from Delta state, Urhobo by tribe, needs a God fearing man, who is employed, caring, loving and ready for marriage soon.08181136431 •Princess, a student, resides in Benin, needs a sincere guy, as a lover.08057860923, 07037458650 •Andra, 29, a single mum, from Delta state, needs a widower or a single Dad, aged 38-50, for marriage.

08166595553 •Mirabel, 22,a student, needs, a guy who is caring and financially buoyant, for a serious relationship . .08060242497 •Rose, 5.8ft tall, slim, chocolate in complexion, a graduate, born again Christian, from Imo state, but resides in Lagos, needs a born again Pentecostal Christian man, who is educated, tall and goodlooking, aged 38-50, for marriage, divorcees and single fathers are not welcome.

08053410696

Searching Male •Ken, resides in Olodi Apapa area of Lagos, needs a girl, for a relationship, aged18-21. 08035659550, 08085178272.

•Olawale, a graduate, needs a lady, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08098474966, 07055963379 •Golden, gentle, handsome and resides in Warri, needs a beautiful, sexy and God fearing girl, aged 18-25, for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage.

08035649338, 08039216094 •Bayo, 35, employed, a Christian, from Osun state, but resides in Ibadan, needs a good looking, God fearing and employed lady, aged 3035, who is ready, for a serious relationship.07093733985 •Ufuma, a student, needs a beautiful, responsible and wealthy lady that will take good care of him.

08060544417 •Greg, needs a lady, for a seriousrelationship.

08052102513 •Goodluck, 30, resides in Delta state, needs a lady, aged 18-24, for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage.08134882092, 08179165201 •Lanre, 42, a teacher in Ogun state, needs a mature woman, aged 35-50, for companionship. 08073862010 •Jeffery, 19, needs a lady, in Delta state, for a relationship.08160939457, 08163055776 •Prince, 40, tall, slim chocolate in complexion, needs a fat, plumy and sexy woman, for a serious relationship, age, is not a bar rier.

08079057640 •Kc, 28, from Enugu, needs a matured Christian lady, for a healthy relationship that could lead to marriage.

08133566558 •Emma, needs a lady, for serious relationship, that can lead to marriage.

0 7 0 3 4 3 3 9 3 1 6 , 08098283052 •A guy, handsome, fair in complexion and resides in Delta state, needs a God fearing, fat, busty and sexy girl, aged 18-25,.for a relationship. 08181024111, 08034964615 •PP, tall, sexy and resides in Enugu, needs a sexy and generous, lady, who is either a widow or divorcee, aged 35-65, for a mature mutual affair. 08168440700 •Frank, 30, needs a girl, from Delta state, aged 20-22, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08124790228 •Jude, 29, resides in Asaba, needs a rich lady, to settle down with, aged 25-35.

0703238101 •Prince, 35, a graduate, needs a busty, tall, sexy, honest, fair in complexion, beautiful, responsible and God fearing lady, aged 4050, for a serious relationship.

08091014056 •Chika, a student from Anambra state, needs a sexy girl, for a serious relationship. 07032877004 •Oroh, from Warri, needs a wealthy and pretty lady, for a serious courtship that will lead to marriage.

07045195242 •Dele, 35, resides in Lagos, needs a successful lady, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage.08098780228, 08129970347 •Ade, needs a lady, aged 3545, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08027528535 •Stan, 28, employed, needs an employed and sexy lady, for a relationship, than can lead to marriage, in Lagos.

08035233898 •Dave, 30, resides in Benin, needs a lady, aged 28, for a serious relationship.

08033732574 •Tosin, 32, 5.5ft tall, employed and resides in Ikoyi, needs a romantic and beautiful lady, aged 20-25, for a serious relationship, in Lagos. 08093584210 •Chisoum, 35, a business man, from Enugu state, but resides in Lagos, needs a lady, aged 28-34, for a God fearing lady, with good relationship .08109026629 •Dammy, 35, a graduate, needs a lady, aged 32-40, for a relationship.07092680252, 08037014728 •Henry, 30, chocolate in complexion, average height, handsome and resides in Benin city, needs a sexy sugar mummy, who can take care of him, for a serous relationship, aged 35-40.

07033569016,08078131913 •Efe, handsome, tall and resides in Warri, needs tall, beautiful, sexy and God fearing girl, aged 18-25, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08035649338 •Godwil, 36, a student, in Imo state, needs a lady, from east, for a relationship.

08186387904 •Osy, 33, employed, from Delta state, needs a lady,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER, 28, 2012, PAGE 51

WEEKLY HOROSCOPE Joshua Adeyemo aged 25-30, who is employed, for a relationship.

08063901469 •Lucky, 35, from Edo state, needs a fat lady, for a serious relationship, aged 25-30.

08073452870, 08067066486 •Kelvin, 23, tall, dark in complexion, handsome and a student, needs a lady, of any age that will love and take good care of him.

07032473870 •Rapheal, 40, average height, chocolate in completion and resides in Lagos, needs a beautiful, dark in complexion, busty and a Christian lady, who is ready to settle down in marriage, aged 23-27. 08024439370, 08090833721 •Auhsoj, 48, tall, humble and employed, needs a lady, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage. 08065586189

Sugar Cares Searching Female •Ciara ,23, tall, ebony, slim, intelligent and down to earth, needs a sugar daddy, who is caring, understanding, financially buoyant and who can see her through her academicpursuit.

07064882995 •Erica, needs a nice, caring sugar mummy, aged 50 and above.08081856493 •Becky, 26, tall, busty, chocolate in complexion, sexy, beautiful and resides in Delta state, needs a rich sugar daddy, who will take good care of her.07032450053

Searching Male •Segun, 25, tall, handsome, dark in complexion and down to earth, fromWarri Delta state, needs an attractive and nice sugar mummy, for a hot adventurous affair, aged 30-50. 08127536175 •Precious, 19, needs a loving and caring sugar mummy, aged 30-38, within Benin City. 08068534068 •Nelly, needs a sugar mummy, within and outside Imo state.08164449297 •Snazzy, 21, an up coming artist, from Delta state but resides in Benin, needs a beautiful sugar mummy, from Rivers state. 08154975129 •Kevin, 22, gentle, cute and intelligent, needs a sugar mummy, aged 29-55.

08030813108 •Luther, 28, a graduate, resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy.08077885478 Derrick, 20, resides in Lagos, needs a caring sugar m u m m y, a g e d 3 0 - 5 0 .

08072720102, 08030886455 •Ruffy, needs a busty sugar m u m m y. 0 8 1 0 6 7 0 8 2 2 3 , 08106159942 •Kenvins, 38, needs a busty and decent sugar mummy.

08182671812 •Lawrence, needs a sugar mummy, for a relationship.08136914032 •John, 27, light in complexion, handsome, a graduate and from Edo state, needs sugar mummy for a relationship.07055986265 •Samuel,20, handsome, needs a good and rich sugar mummy, that will take good care of him, aged 20-48.

08178506114, 08151546571 •Mavin, tall, slim and handsome, needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship and financial empowerment.

07089531940 •Godwin, resides in Awaka, needs a financially buoyant sugar mummy. 08037492869 •Macaulay, 27, needs a rich sugar mummy, who is sexy.07032738583 •Jacob, 22, from Benin City,

for pleasure. 08153500902 •Ola, resides in Lagos, needs a rich and romantic sugar mummy, aged 35-50, in Lagos for relationship. 08075922804 •Zerox, 40, tall, slim, chocolate, in complexion, a graduate and a Christian, needs an accommodating sugar mummy, for care and support.

08164052522, 07032503816 •Obaro, 25, fair in complexion and a graduate, needs a

needs a sugar mummy.

08133370891 •Danny, 30, needs a caring, romantic, sexy and wealthy sugar mummy, from either Abuja, Lagos port Harcourt or Delta state.07036032296 •Zebedee, 24, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, for a relationship.

07063653114 •Emmanuel, 24, a graduate, needs a sugar mummy, for serious relationship.

08062533941 •Henry, 28, tall and handsome, needs a sugar mummy, that is caring, for a pleasurable and romantic experience, in Anambra.

08039278389 •A guy, from, Delta state, needs a mature and God fearing sugar mummy to be, his Wife.08096021822, 07030727729 •Alex, 18, needs a sugar mummy that will help him in life.08131843616 •Ese, 32, from Delta state, needs a beautiful and wealthy sugar mummy, for serious relationship.

08065761904 •Kenny, tall, slim and chocolate in complexion, needs a sugar mummy.08059209593 •Shedrach, needs a sugar mummy, who is sexy, romantic and who will take good care of him and his career.08136852193 •Mike, 28, resides in Abeokuta, needs a caring, loving and romantic sugar mummy.

08166041620, 08120223667 •Timi, 25, resides in Warri, needs a sugar mummy.

07068410546 •Duda, 19, from Anambra state, needs a sugar mummy.

08132652763 •Ike, 28, a business man, resides in Lagos, needs a very rich sugar mummy, aged of 50-65 to assist him in his business. 07084574036 •Victor, needs a sexy and sweet sugar mummy. 08131843616 •Steve, 21, needs a sugar mummy, in Lagos.

07038839175 •Charles, 24, cute and chocolate in complexion, needs a sugar mummy. 07033547860, 08179444255 •Jeff, 6.2ft tall, a student, needs a lovely sugar mummy,

sugar mummy, for a serious relationship, aged 3560.08131985004, 08051238743 •Ifeanyi, 33, dark in complexion, cute, romantic, respectful and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, in Lagos, aged 35-47. 08077568531, 08069210278 •Ben, from Delta state, needs a loving, caring, and God fearing sugar mummy.

08032750447 •Avano, needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship.

07068794227 •Timi,21, cute, tall and resides in Port Harcourt, needs a rich sugar mummy in Port Harcourt.08090788972 •Kevin, handsome, tall, hard working, gentle, God fearing, chocolate in complexion and OND holder, needs a sugar mummy.08105524216 •Richy , 20, an orphan, from Imo state, needs a sugar mummy, who will sponsor his education.

07064561114, 08138509165 •Elvis, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy that is trusted.07031994257 •Jerry, needs a mummy, that will take good care of him financially.08088392213 •A guy, tall and a student, needs a tall and rich sugar mummy, for fun around Abuja. 07067317780 •Ebube, 25, resides in Onitsha, needs a sugar mummy that can help him financially, to upgrade his little business.08065993336 •Flexy, 27, from Delta state, needs a sexy, attractive, caring and loving sugar mummy.

07089932404 •Tony, 28, resides in Lagos, needs a good and sexy sugar mummy, for good and serious relationship.07044856146, 08096834208 •Maxwell, 20, tall, slim, handsome, a model, needs a sugar mummy, aged31-38.

08134857746 •Eddy, needs a sweet and lonely sugar mummy. 08060594378 •James, needs a sugar mummy, for serious relationship.

08080652542 •Sorez, 35, tall, romantic, honest and a graduate, needs an accomodating sugar mummy aged 35-60 for love care, attention and support.

08164052522,07032503816

08056180139

About the Moon

P

ERIODS of the Moon’s fluctuation as given here-under, are when unexpected frustrations and disappointments are possible .And those are the times when other people should not be taken for granted. However if I write that such periods/days favour you, you have no cause to worry. Therefore you are advised to plan your week carefully. Such periods/days are:

3.12.am to 4.20am of Tuesday (same day)* 5.20am to 4.56pm of Thursday.(same day) 1.24pm of Saturday to 4.55am of Sunday.

First of the three periods can be more sensitive, especially for the night crawlers.

During the week, Moon will go through Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 22) BUSINESS; Important development within your base indicated.

Be ambitious.

MONEY; Watch what you do around the mid-week. Be moderate.

LOVE; Travelling for love can become more exciting..

SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21) BUSINESS; Do away with unnecessary argument and/or bad agreement.

MONEY; Unless you exhibit maturity you would blow the top over money.

LOVE; The more family minded you are the better for your cause.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec21) BUSINESS; You are likely to become aggressive more than necessary. Be calm.

MONEY; U’ll succeed after initial challenges. Utilise Thursday fully.

LOVE; You can still have both your say and way. Avoid clashes please!!!

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19) BUSINESS; If you’re not confrontational, you’ll have cause to smile.

MONEY; Element of good luck will help your cause, on Monday and Saturday.

LOVE; Very soon you’ll have genuine cause to smile. Be patient.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) BUSINESS; As the saying goes “health is wealth” take care of your health.

MONEY; Friends can become helpful. Utilise Monday and Saturday.

LOVE; Take good advantage of this week because romantic Venus will go away from a positive angle to your Star after this week (on Saturday). Be adventurous.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 19) BUSINESS; It’s an ambitious week when things will work out fine for you.

MONEY; Monday and Saturday are your best days of the week.

LOVE; Unless you’re more tolerant, domestic water’ll boil up.

ARIES ( Mar 20 – Apr 19) BUSINESS; Unnecessary argument can hamper your progress.

Exhibit maturity.

MONEY; Be more careful on Monday. But Thursday is your good day.

LOVE; You just have to be as vigilant as possible within your home base.

TAURUS ( Apr 20 – May 20) BUSINESS; Do not sign important contract in a hurry. Be very practical.

MONEY; Last minute argument can break important business deal.

Whatever happens you will emerge winner. Tuesday’ll bring good opportunities.

LOVE; Your sex appeal is becoming stronger. Reach out to your loved ones.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 20) BUSINESS; Don’t rely on other people for the needed results; MONEY; Watch your steps more carefully on Monday.

LOVE; You may have last minutes opportunity.

CANCER (June 21 – July 22) BUSINESS; Don’t allow personality clashes and ego to destroy good relationship.

MONEY; Gamble not with money, especially around mid-weekWednesday.

LOVE; You may be pushed to the wall on Tuesday. Be patient please.

LEO (Jul23 – Aug 22) BUSINESS; Full-Moon may bring challenges on Tuesday.

MONEY; Mars in Leo can tempt you to become extravagant.

LOVE; Early part of the week’ll bring great excitement. Be more friendly.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22) BUSINESS; Mars comes into your Star and boost your confidence.

MONEY; Your being hard working’ll yield good result.

LOVE; Resist the temptation to gamble from mid-week. Be loving.

PAGE 52—SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Dokubo-Asari group raises dust over alleged extra-judicial murder of member

BY EMMA AMAIZE

T

HE Niger-Delta People Salvation Front/NigerDelta People Volunteer Force, NDPSF/NDPVF, led by activist, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, yesterday, raised eyebrows over an alleged extra-judicial murder of a musician and top member of the group, Tony Moro, by soldiers of the Joint Military Task Force.

In a notice addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan and copied the National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police, Director-General, Department of State Service, DSS, and others, signed by NDPSF spokesperson, Comrade Rex Ekiugbo Emojite Anighoro, the group said the military men acted in concert with an oil bunkering kingpin, hotelier and traditional chief.

It said the crude oil kingpin made unsubstantiated claims against the deceased and invited Moro, who went to visit him after speaking with him on phone.

The group demanded immediate arrest of the chief and the security officers who allegedly executed the murder on his authority.

“We also demand the immediate release of Comrade Tony Moro’s

A

N Umuahia High Court presided over by Justice Lillian Abai has adjourned, indefinitely, the case brought before it by some members of Correspondent Chapel of Abia State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, challenging the alleged imposition of a chairman by the leadership of the state council.

The adjournment

BY OLA AJAYI

F

O R M E R President Olusegun Obasanjo says until indiscipline is dealt with in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),

followed an application by counsel to the respondents, Mr. Anthony Agbazuere, that the matter be transferred to another court alleging bias on the part of the presiding judge even when the matter had not been mentioned.

Crisis erupted in the council when the election of Correspondent Chapel of the NUJ was botched by the chairman of the council, Mr. Hyacinth Okoli.

N/Delta group urged Jonathan to convene SNC

BY FESTUS AHON

T

HE Niger Delta P e o p l e ’ s Salvation Front, NDPSF, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to convene a Sovereign National Conference, SNC. Spokesman of the group in Edo-Delta, Comrade Rex Anighoro, who stated during the 9thanniversary of the group in Ughelli, Delta State, said the reluctance of President Goodluck Jonathan to convene SNC was an invitation to anarchy in Nigeria.

Anighoro said: “We have the right to know or

Host Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West, Methodist Church Nigeria, RT. Revd Isaac Ayobami Olawuyi (left), welcoming the Prelate, Dr Sunday Ola Makinde, to the Diocesan 2012, 3rd annual festival of Hymns & Songs at the Opebi Circuit Cathedral Opebi, Ikeja.

PDP can reclaim S/West —Obasanjo

Correspondents Chapel vs Abia NUJ boss: Delay tactics alleged

BY ANAYO OKOLI

corpse to his family for proper burial amongst others,” it added.

“Comrade Tony Moro, who had gone to visit the chief over a telephone invitation by the chief, who had levied unsubstantiated allegations against him vehemently denied the allegations, but was murdered at the chief ’s instance by power- drunk Joint Military Task Force officers believing to be on chief ’s pay roll”.

say who will govern us; what we feel is best for us but not as a conquered people in their own country. The group will continue to create awareness at the grass roots on the need for all Niger Deltans to support the convocation of a SNC in addressing the issues that bother us as a nation.

“If President Jonathan wants our support for him in 2015, he must convene a National a Sovereign National Conference”.

As freedom fighters, we will continue to agitate for a fair share in the distribution of the resources that come from the Niger Delta”.

meaningful progress and development would be elusive.

He said this at the South-West caucus meeting of the party held in Ibadan yesterday.

Obasanjo, who came at the tail end of the meeting, apologized that he had to travel by air for 20 hours from Tokyo through Dubai before arriving Nigeria.

Describing the meeting as very dear to him, he said the party must ensure that they come together and work in unity ahead of 2015 in order to reclaim the states of the zone from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

On the just-concluded governorship election in Ondo State, the expresident said, ”Whatever may be the shortcomings of the

election should be overlooked since such may not necessarily upturn the table. We should accept defeat and start looking f o r w a r d ” .

The meeting which was also attended by the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and other chieftains of the party discussed extensively on how the party would reclaim the South west in 2015.

At the caucus meeting of the party which was the first of its kind since the party lost all the states in the zone to the ACN, all the aggrieved chieftains of the party from Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos and Ondo States came under one umbrella and agreed to work together.

Institute decries large scale corruption in Nigeria

BY KAFAYAT TIJANI

T

HE President of the Institute of C h a r t e r e d Secretaries and Administrators of Nigerian (ICSAN), Mr. Olatunde Busari, has decried large scale corruption in the country.

Busari, who made the remark at the dinner as part of the Annual Conference of the Institute in Abuja, described corruption as a hydra-headed monster, which kept rearing its head in all the organs and agencies of government.

“The malaise further ridicules the system to the extent that even when culprits are apprehended, it does

not appear that we have effective machinery for thorough investigation, prosecution and sentence according to the law”, he said.

The ICSAN boss said there were various examples of private and public officers that engaged in corrupt practices and were today walking the streets as free men.

According to him, this gives an impression that corruption is rewarding in the country.

Busari said that to create the desired environment for investment, the government must develop effective legal regime and structures strong enough to apprehend, investigate and prosecute corrupt officers in Nigeria.

From left: Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Bravo Kim; Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Adunni Olayinka at the foundation laying ceremony of Samsung Electronics’ Engineering Academy in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Samsung to open engineering academy in Ado-Ekiti

S

AMSUNG Electronics West Africa has commenced the construction of its second Engineering Academy in Nigeria in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, in line with its commitment to the development of Nigeria’s information technology sector.

Launched in South Africa in March 2011, the initiative premiered in Nigeria with the opening of the first Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy at Government Technical College, Ikeja in Lagos State. The capacity-

building programme is an integral part of Samsung’s vision to fasttrack the entry of African youths into the electronics job market, with a view to developing 10,000 electronics engineers across the continent by 2015.

Speaking at the academy ’s groundbreaking ceremony in Ado-Ekiti, governor of the state, Dr. K ayode Fayemi, commended Samsung’s efforts and commitment towards facilitating youth empowerment in Nigeria.

53 — SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

BY JACOB AJOM

J

ONATHAN Akpoborie was one of the members of Nigeria’s legendary U-17 football team that won the first JVC-FIFA U-17 Youth tournament in China in 1985. He rose through the ranks and plied his club career in Germany and also played for the Super Eagles. Akpoborie has since retired from active football but has remained close to the game as players’ manager. He follows the national team closely and was in Calabar when the Super Eagles picked their 2013 Afcon ticket after beating the Lone Star of Liberia 6-1. The former international spoke to Sunday Vanguard sports in Calabar. Excerpts: Nigeria just qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations holding in South Africa, how do you feel now?

Very happy; Nigerians are very happy. We played, let me say, an average game. But the goals were scored. We won the game and we qualified for the Nations Cup which was our objective. So everybody is happy we would be at the South Africa 2013 tournament.

With this victory, the Nations Cup proper has come.

Definitely, we are bound to be in South Africa. Do you think we have a team good enough for the trophy?

Originally, I kept trying to let the coach understand that we need more presence from our players in Europe and, in this game against Liberia today(Saturday Oct.13), we

GOOOOOAL... Perpetua Nkwocha scoring one of the goals that made her the best female player on the African continent.

She is however not on FIFA’s list for the best world female player.

Nations Cup: Keshi still has a lot to do—Akpoborie could see the quality of the players we have though, they have not actually played to their full potentials which will encourage us Nigerians that we have something to look forward to. There is still a lot of work to be done and I am praying that we would be able to do it, the coach I mean.

Let’s go into specific now.

The team as you saw it this evening. Which department of the team worries you most.

We had a lot of problems with the defence; there were

so many elementary mistakes in the match. It is not everybody that would be able to say but the coach definitely, should be able to do that. It is very unfortunate that the two players that played in the central defence ply their trade in Nigeria. They are not as exposed as Yobo and the rest. So, it was kind of expected so we would just say that the power of the goals that we scored actually held our team together today.

There was a lot of talk that

the Liberians were coming to beat the Super Eagles in Calabar, were you disappointed by their performance?

That actually comes from the quality of our journalism. I have to say, because they actually talked about the Liberians as if they were better than England. With what they played here today, I could not see them beating our Super Eagles even if we played the game for two days. We were superior and even at a stage in the first half, they had the

Ballon d’Or: No African female player on FIFA’s shortlist IFA and France Football have Thursday announced the names of the players and coaches on the shortlists for these awards without a single African on the list.. The final decisions will be made, as usual, by the captains and head coaches of the women’s national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football.

The shortlists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or (best male player) and the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football awards will be revealed on October 29, 2012.

The winners of all of the awards will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala as part of a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on January 7, 2013, during which the FIFA FIFPro World XI, the FIFA Puskás Award – for the most beautiful goal of the year – the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play

F

C M Y K

Award will also be presented.

The list of ten female candidates has been drawn up by experts from the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as by experts from France Football.

The list of ten coaches has been drawn up by football experts from

Nkwocha with her trophy as CAF African Player of the Year award.

the FIFA Football Committee, the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as by a group of experts from France Football.

On November 29, 2012, FIFA and France Football will announce at a press conference in São Paulo (Brazil) the names of the three men and three women, as well as the three coaches for women’s football and three coaches for men’s football, who have received the most votes (without unveiling the winners).

The three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award and the FIFA FIFPro World XI shortlist for the best forwards will also be announced (the shortlists for best goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders will be unveiled on 19, 22 and 26 November, respectively).

The 10 women who are in contention for the title of FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year 2012 include Camille Abily

(France), Miho Fukumoto (Japan), Carli Lloyd (USA), Marta (Brazil), Aya Miyama (Japan), Alex Morgan (USA), Megan Rapinoe (USA), Homare Sawa (Japan), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Abby Wambach (USA).

The 10 coaches who are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football 2012 include Bruno Bini (France/ France national team), John Herdman (England/Canada national team), Patrice Lair (France/ Olympique Lyonnais), Maren Meinert (Germany/Germany U20 national team), Silvia Neid (Germany/Germany national team), Hope Powell (England/ England national team), Norio Sasaki (Japan/Japan national team), Pia Sundhage (Sweden/ USA national team), Steve Swanson (USA/USA U-20 national team), Hiroshi Yoshida (Japan/ Japan U-20/U-17 national teams).

lion share of the ball possession but they could not use it because their attack was not really vibrant.

However, even an attack that did not perform very well, we still made some avoidable mistakes. That is why I said our defence was not really compact. You could see from the goal they scored. That is where the coach really has to work hard on.

Would you say we missed Yobo today?

Yes. his experience, we did miss him. If he was there, maybe he would have been able to organize the defence better. When you watch the game live today you could see Mikel trying to direct the players on the field and that was what he was supposed to do and he did it very well.

Defenders behind are suppose to be the one doing the job, directing everybody but they could not do it. I believe in experience. That is why I said that we need the presence of the European based players.

Mikel lived up to expectations?

Yes he did. With him we could turn things around; we struggled when the game started but eventually we could hold the ball. I think one of the goals we scored, you could see the passes he made before the ball was now passed, I think, the goal Ahmed Musa scored; before he gave the pass he was marvellous, the double passes he played. With or without the ball, he command respect among the boys. This is something you need in the field and it is visible here today.

54 — SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Messi should be at Real, says Guti F

Anichebe: I want to score against Liverpool V

ICTOR Anichebe admits he is desperate to break his derby duck against Liverpool when they clash today in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old striker, is yet to net against Everton’s local rivals, and believes derby goals are the benchmark of any Goodison centre forward.

He suffered a head injury in last Sunday’s draw with QPR, but Anichebe is fit for selection.

Although as much as the Nigerian international covets personal glory in the 219th derby, he insists three points is more important as the Blues look to stay in the Premier League’s top four.

He said: “I was thinking about the fact that I haven’t scored against Liverpool recently. I really want to change that – it would mean a lot to me. Scoring is always nice no matter who it’s against but against Liverpool would be extra special.

“It’d be nice for me and the fans. Jela has done it and many of Everton’s best centre forwards over the years can say they’ve done it. More important though is that we win. That’s be perfect for us.”

However, David Moyes hopes Everton’s chances of victory in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool will not be unduly affected by refereeing decisions.

ORMER Spain international Guti feels that Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi deserves to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or following his fine performances this term, and wishes that the diminutive magician would wear the Real Madrid jersey.

Messi has already netted 15 goals in 13 official appearances for Barca this term after breaking numerous records in the first half of the year, and Guti believes it would only be right to reward him with the prestigious individual award.

“I would give the Ballon d’Or to Messi. The only problem is that he plays for Barcelona. I would like to see him at Real Madrid,” Guti stated to Punto Pelota.

The former Madrid midfielder then had his say on Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation at the Blancos, and stressed that the Portugal international should be treated with affection.

“Cristiano is fundamental for Madrid. He needs to be given a lot of love. He has been in incredible form and that’ll make him happy,” Guti said. “He’s a very special player and is a key figure at Madrid.”

Guti then went on to criticize Jose Mourinho for his reluctance to use players who come through the ranks of the club’s youth academy.

Mourinho wants no Dortmund hangover at Mallorca

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•Anichebe

AC Milan boss to spend 12 months in jail

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C Milan president Silvio Berlusconi has had his jail sentence reduced to just 12 mon ths, thanks to the application of a 2006 Amnesty Law aimed at reducing overcrowding in prisons.

The 76-year-old was originally han ded a fouryear jail sentence and •10 million fine on Friday, for his part in a tax fraud scandal.

Berlusconi, along with 10 others, was on trial after it was alleged that the defe ndants were involved in a scheme to purchase Ame rican movies for his company, Mediaset, through an firm and had failed to properly declare offshore payments so as to avoid taxes. It was also claimed that Berlusconi had relicensed the films, and pocketed the difference, making the Milan sup remo some 250 million euros.

The Italian has been involved in a number of legal procedures to do with his busines s ventures, but has either been cleared, or the case s have been dropped due to time constraints.

Berlusconi, who was not in court on Friday to hear the verdict, served as Prime Min ister of Italy between 1994 and 1995, 2001 and 200 6, and 2008 and 2011, but recently announced that he would not be running for a fourth term.

EAL Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is hoping his side’s Champions League defeat

by Borussia Dortmund will not put the brakes on their domestic revival.

Madrid were beaten by the German champions on Wednesday, dropping their first points of the group stages, but remain on course to qualify for the last 16.

Real Madrid are in Real Mallorca today, where they will hope to make it four wins from five league games following their dreadful start to the season.

The reigning champions managed only four points from the opening four games but since then only Barcelona have taken points off Mourinho’s side, with a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp earlier this

month.

The Madrid boss said: “We are not used to having so many defeats at the start of season but we need to take a look at the matches. Dortmund played more tightly than we did.

“We have matches in league and cup coming up and we need to go and win those.”

Mourinho was given more injury concerns last night after Sami Khedira hobbled off with a thigh problem to join Marcelo, Fabio Coentrao and Alvaro Arbeloa on the sidelines.

Mallorca sit three points and four places below Madrid in eighth place and will aim to bounce back after last weekend’s narrow defeat by Sevilla.

•Mourinho

Schuster shoots down Chelsea, Celtic F

ORMER Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has criticised European champions Chelsea, Scottish champions Celtic and says the Champions League needs revamping in the wake of the latter’s 2-1 defeat at Barcelona last Tuesday.

The former Barcelona and West Germany player was angered by Celtic’s defensive performance, which he said mimicked Chelsea’s negative displays in winning the trophy last season.

Shuster, who also played for and later managed nine-times European champions Real Madrid, said the current format of the tournament was wrong and should be changed to prevent the kind of match he watched on Tuesday.

Celtic took an unexpected 18th minute lead at Barcelona, then defended for much of the match

before losing when Jordi Alba scored a stoppage-time winner for the Catalan side.

Although Celtic were widely praised for their gutsy rearguard action, Schuster told Spanish radio station ABC Radio Punto: “I’m fed up of seeing these type of matches.

“There should not be teams like Celtic in the Champions League. We saw it last year with Chelsea. It was a very bad example for football and it is regrettable that they became European champions.

“You see Celtic defending with 10 men and almost snatching a point - that is not fair. There should not be teams like Celtic in the Champions League.

SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012 — 55

Nigeria 4x400m quartet disagree on Sydney 2000 gold Stories by BEN EFE

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EMBERS of the N i g e r i a n 4x400m quartet have disagreed on the mode of reverting the silver medals, the International Olympics Committee asked them to return, if they were to collect the Sydney 2000 Olympics gold medal that was

stripped from the American team and rewarded to Nigeria.

With only three days to the November 1 deadline given to the Nigeria Olympic Committee to retrieve the silver medals from the Nigerian team, it was gathered that the NOC was yet to make contact with the athletes concerned, but rather it

•4x400 relay quartets

was one of the team members, Enefiok UdoObong who contacted USA based Clement Chukwu, Jude Monye and Nduka Awazie.

However, according Chukwu, his teammate Udo-Obong has no authorisation from the NOC or the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and so the other members of the team do not trust him enough to release their silver medals to him.

“I am speaking for Monye, Awazie and Gadzama. Our resolution was that since OdoObong did not present any letter authorising him to collect the medals we cannot trust him with our medals. Also we have not been contacted by the NOC or the AFN alerting us that Odo-Obong has been given authority to collect our medals.

“What if the medals don’t get to their designation? This is Nigeria and we must be careful on how we handle delicate issues such as this,” said Chukwu during a phone chat.

He said that he was waiting for confirm from the NOC and once it is clear to him and others that Odo-Obong was legitimate they will send the medals through courier.

Ekpolo dreams topflight football with Barca seniors N

IGERIAN-born Barca academy star, Elohor Ekpolo is aiming high for a place in the starting line up of the Spanish giants as he continues to draw inspiration from Lionel Messi and others who were products of the academy.

The 17-year-old Ekoplo disclosed that he had been inspired by phenomenal rise from that same academy, stars such as Messi, Adreas Iniesta and Xavi. And according him, he is working extra hard to graduate into the senior team and taste topflight football.

“The fact that Messi and the others rose from this academy is something for me to behold. I want also to do the same with Barcelona, because they gave me the opportunity to play football,” said the young lad.

He was discover by a Barca scout at the age of ten playing football in the streets of Barcelona and he was promptly drafted and over the years he rose to be a regular with the junior team. Towering Ekpolo is a midfielder,

but can also function as a right full back. He is the only Nigerian player amongst the five Africans in the Barca Under-19 squad. The others are from Cameroon and they were there on recommendations of former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o.

Ekpolo who featured prominently in the Barca campaigns in the NextGen Series 2012-13 a junior version of the Euro champions league has warmed himself to European soccer scouts, but the he said he would rather stay in Barcelona, where his parents reside.

•Ekpolo

Odu’a cycling championship flags-off today

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HE first edition of the Oduá Cycling Championship is expected tobe flagged-off this morning in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital by the National Sports Commission, NSC, Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Steve Olarinoye.

Chairman of the Nigeria Commissiares Association of Nigeria, Chief Alfred Ale disclosed that over 50 cyclists from the Oduá States of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and host Oyo are expected to ride a total of about 120 kilometres around streets within Ibadan municipality.

Adieu ‘Prof’ Sylva WO people influenced my joining Vanguard Newspapers and remained more than friends. One is Tony Ubani with whom I served in the Executive Committee of the Lagos State chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN). He was Chairman while I was secretary.

We served two terms from 1995 to 1999.

The other is ‘Prof ’ Sylva Eleanya, who unarguably, took over from John Ebhota as Nigeria’s most versatile sports photo journalist until Saturday, October 20, 2012. He was Ubani’s bosom friend and worked hard to ensure Ubani was voted Lagos SWAN chairman.

From the moment we started work as SWAN executives, I became fascinated with Prof ’s, that was the name Ubani always called him, mannerisms and friendliness. I never asked why he went by the ‘Prof ’ sobriquet because I knew he was not a scholar or university don.

Some weeks after it became clear to me why the name stuck. Sylva was a professional to the core and knew the camera like professors knew the courses they took in the university. So it would not be wrong if you call him professor of the camera.

He was not a member of our EXCO but when he found out we were serious to turn Lagos SWAN around, he approached us and asked if he could introduce a businessman who has a soft spot for sports to support us as a Patron.

That was how Mr Dan Ngerem, became one of the Patrons of SWAN. The first meeting we had with Ngerem at his office somewhere off Eric Moore road in Surulere then was an eye opener. He was not one to readily give you fish but will teach you how to fish.

Our first major project was the annual memorial lecture in honour of the Late Sam Okwaraji. Ngerem ensured that we did not only use the occasion to discuss the failures of our football but also raise funds for Okwaraji’s mother who was hitherto forgotten by the Nigerian system.

Sylva did not end there. When the Lagos SWAN secretariat was half completed and was just lying fallow as a play ground for rodents and reptiles, he, like the business minded journalist he always was, approached the SWAN chairman, Niyi Oyeleke, then of NTA but now with Supersport, that SWAN could make some money by renting out part of the completed portion of the secretariat to someone.

That was how Old Skool came about and provided an alternative to O’Jez, a more expensive outlet, for relaxation at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

Sylva was a rallying point for sports photo-journalists and ensured they were never relegated in any function SWAN or the larger NUJ was organising. He equally represented them adequately before corporate organisations which sponsored one sport or the other. Because of his versatility, Sylva was engaged in other fields of photo-journalism and

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excelled. On the job, Sylva was a veteran who covered all major sporting activities under the sun, ranging from the football World Cup to the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games and the Africa Nations Cup where he competed with the best in the world. Even our local National Sports Festival and league matches caught his attention. The Sports Ministry as well as the Nigeria Football Federation and other federations relied on his professional skill to have their major activities documented.

As a family man, Sylva loved his wife and children. He never ceased to talk about them. He called them on phone regularly, either to find out how they were faring or to let them know where he was and what time he would be home.

Sylva was always there for me.

Through Sylva, I got to know one of the best and unsung private secondary schools in Lagos, St. Francis Catholic Secondary School which his son, Daniel attended. That was how my son, Victor joined Daniel.

On that fateful Saturday, Sylva was in the office to co-ordinate the downloading of photographs sent from our colleagues covering the Ondo State gubernatorial election while I was attending St. Francis’ PTA meeting and was to join him in the office later.

When I had not arrived, he was worried and called to know where I was, because he didn’t want me to delay the paper ’s production for that day. I told him I was on my way but held by the heavy traffic along the way.

Just before I rounded off my work that night, he had the opportunity to join Mr Bosun Oladejo, Vanguard’s Cooperative Society president in his car home but he chose to wait for me.

We always went home together in my car but that day I didn’t drive to the office.

He had cough and on that day, as we trekked along to the bus-stop, he told me his throat was dry and wanted some water to drink. We stopped over at a nearby store and he bought bottled water, drank from it and we headed home in a public bus.

We parted ways at the Cele Bus-stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. At 10.36pm, he wanted to know if I had got home because he was home, at his gate, he said. I told him no, that I was still at Igando, along the Iyana Ipaja -LASU road. I then told him good night. It was strange though because I’ve never told him that before. Our usual greeting in pidgin English was, we go see tomorrow.

That good night turned to be the final bye as his wife’s call woke me up after midnight to tell me my friend was in crisis and had been rushed to a nearby hospital. He never got there alive.

Prof, I still don’t believe you have left me. I see you every day. Your memory will remain etched in my heart. Adieu.

Rest in peace until we meet again in God’s kingdom.

SUNDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Chelsea humiliate former boss, AVB

NATIONS CUP:

Get Eagles ready – Laloko warns

By EDDIE AKALONU

F

ORMER Nigeria Football Association technical controller, Kashimawo Laloko, has said that for Nigeria to meet the target set for the African Cup of Nations in South Africa next year, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, must work hard to get the Eagles to be in super form.

He has also advised that those in-charge of the national team must not go by the assumption that Nigeria and Zambia already have automatic tickets over other group contenders, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. In the draws for the Nations Cup made by CAF on Wednesday, Nigeria landed in the Group C, alongside cup holders, Zambia, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso who were hosts and finalists in 1998. The draws prompted comments that tipped champions, Zambia and Nigeria to grab the tickets to the next round of the competition.

But Laloko, who is director of Pepsi Football Academy and a former coach of the defunct Super Stores F.C of Lagos, said a total no to such talks. “I think it’s absolutely wrong to assume Nigeria and Zambia will have automatic tickets to the next the round. That is giving room not to work hard. It leaves loop-holes

that could be exploited by other teams.

The key is to continue getting ready to fight to be the best,” he said. I say so because, right now, we do not know the strength and form of Burkina Faso or even Ethiopia since the competition is still months away. Let us also recall that Zambia who won the last edition was never considered by anyone among the top contenders. Rather than go by mere beliefs and empty talk that our team and Zambia will advance to next round from the group, what we should bother about right now is preparing our team to be very ready to compete against the other qualified teams.

I’m of the view that Zambia will go there with the sole aim of defending the cup very well and if any of the other teams should stand up to deny Zambia the the gift of retaining the cup, Nigeria should be that country.”

Winter fear grips Chelsea over Man. Utd

Results Aston Villa Arsenal Reading Stoke Wigan Man City

EPL 1 Norwich C. 1 QPR 3 Fulham 0 Sunderland 2 West Ham U. 1 Swansea

1 0 3 0 1 0

We must avoid defeat – Mikel C

HELSEA are desperate to

Today’s fixtures

avoid another winter Everton V Liverpool 13:30 meltdown as they host Newcastle V West Brom 15:00 Southampton V Tottenham 15:00 Manchester United in a Chelsea V Man Utd 16:00 premier league match today at

We can beat Guinea in Conakry, says Eaglets coach

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BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE:

IGERIAN Under-17 squad, the Golden Eaglets are ready to do battle with their Guinean counterparts in the African Under-17 Championship second leg qualifier today in Conakry and according to coach Manu Garba the boys are ready and will return from Guinea unscathed. The Eaglets were 3-0 better in the first leg decided in Calabar. The coach stated that the boys are not under any pressure but are focused on maintaining their winning streak.

“We are not under any pressure rather the pressure is on Guinea. However, we will keep our heads down and play like we did not win the first leg.

“I’m sure we can beat Guinea in Conakry,” Garba said with an unmistakably confidence before traveling out of the country.

Stamford Bridge.

Still smarting from their 2-1 Champions League loss to Freiburg 0 B/Dortmund 2 Shakhtar, Chelsea are determined to beat United and Mainz 3 Hoffenheim 0 keep their season on track.

Schalke 1 Nurnberg 0 Chelsea for two season have been unable to maintain the

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momentum during the winter rush. However, midfielder, John Obi Mikel stated that Chelsea must avoid defeat and avoid another case of winter backlash for Chelsea who made a bright start to their season amassing 22 pooints from 24 games.

“All of us know what has happened in recent seasons, so we have to make sure that this defeat doesn’t make that

happen again.

“We have to make sure we correct it very quickly and that starts with the next game against United.

“They will be very dangerous as usual and, if we defend the way we did [against Shakhtar], it’s going to be difficult for us.

“We have to defend as a unit, play together as a unit. As long as we do that we’ll have a very good chance.” Defender,

Branislav Ivanovic also admitted that there is plenty of ACROSS work to be done if DOWN 1. Classified (6) 1. W. African country (5) Chelsea hope to 3. Nigerian state (6) 2. Run off with lover (5) take all three 6. Lagos masquerade (3) 4. Plateau State people (5) points. “We’ve had 8. Spannish for ‘friend’(5) 5. Within (6) 9. Ways (5) 6. Rub off (5) two difficult 10. Fishermen (7) 7. Nigerian tourist resort (5) games, at Spurs 12. Spoilt (7) 11. West African town (5) and Shakhtar and 14. Big bird (3) 13. Yes (3) now we have to 16. Chemical element (6) 15. Niger town (5) 18. Spy (5) 17. Snooze (3) recover and 20. Adjoin (5) 18. Hatchet (3) prepare well for 21. Pry (5) 19. Female relative (5) Sunday.”

22. Surpass (6) 23. Speech maker (6) 24. Faucet (3) H o w e v e r, 24. Old Russian Kings (5) 26. Invalidates (7) 25. Asks God (5) Manchester coach 28. Esteem (7) 27. Monarchs (5) Sir Alex Ferguson 31. Coach (5) 29. Glimmer (5) has his own fears.

32. Yoruba people (5) 30. Have faith in (5) 33. Message in a bottle (1-1-1) He said that 34. Oppose (6) Chelsea’s talented 35. Hate (6) trio Oscar, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata are a real threat.

SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE 5

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