Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade is dead

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 62459

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N150

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade is dead

•Born on January 1, 1930 in Ile-Ife •Oba Sijuwade ascended the throne in 1980 •Inherited an ongoing dispute over supremacy among the obas of Yorubaland zSaraki gets vote of confidence from 81 senators — Pg 8

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HE Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade is dead. He was 85 years old.

The revered Oba died in St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London at about 7.30 p.m. last night.

Both palace sources and close associates of the leading Yoruba Oba said he was rushed to London on Friday before he passed on last night.

Oba Sijuwade ascended the throne in 1980 at the age of 50.

Sijuwade was born on January 1, 1930 in Ile-Ife to the Ogboru ruling house, grandson of the Ooni Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He studied at Abeokuta Grammar School and Oduduwa College in IleIfe and worked for three years in his father ’s business, then for two years with the Nigerian Tribune, before attending Northampton College in the United Kingdom to study business management.

By the age of 30 he was a manager in Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate. In 1963 he became Sales Director of the state-owned National Motor in Lagos. After spotting a Continues on Page 5

Combating the scourge of kidnapping...

Late Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade Okunade

See Inside

Wike pays N712m for stranded How Buhari got House leader job Rivers students abroad 12

for Gbajabiamila

COLUMNISTS: An agenda for the North: Redefining culture and orientation •P.17 C M Y K

Should I have a conscience?

•P.44

5

A quick look at Buhari's US trip •P.19

DSS takes over monitoring of fuel 55 distribution

Mr & Mrs

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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POCKET CARTOON

TINUBU— President Muhammadu Buhari with All Progressives Congress National leader, Senator Bola Tinubu during a courtesy visit to the President at the presidential villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

How Buhari got House leader job for Gbajabiamila

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Emman Ovuakporie & Johnbosco Agbakwuru

A

BUJA — SPEAKER Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives yesterday succumbed to pressures from his All Progressives Congress, APC, and named Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila House Majority Leader, and by that, drew the curtain on the lingering crisis that has trailed the chamber since its inauguration last June.

Among those who put pressure on the Speaker, it was learnt yesterday, was President Muhammadu Buhari who reportedly put in a phone call to Dogara following a last-minute meeting with party leader, Asiwaju Bola

Ahmed Tinubu.

P r e s i d e n t i a l spokesman, Garba Shehu, however, denied knowledge of any interaction between the President and the Speaker prior to yesterday ’s pronouncement.

Following yesterday’s resolution of the crisis, Speaker Dogara charged the legislators to proceed to discharge the issues that brought them to Abuja, saying that they had wasted enough time on issues of personal aggrandisement.

Prior to the sitting yesterday, tempers had reached feverish pitch upon the resolution of supporters of the Speaker to adopt what they termed as the party’s “position as amended,” which would have led to the exclusion of Gbajabiamila, the party favourite who lost out in the leadership contest to Dogara on June 9.

Security was tightened

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

When you’re living the best version of yourself, you inspire others to live the best version of themselves — Steve Maraboli

S

TAYING true to yourself means to act in accordance with who you are and what you believe. Self-respect comes from being true to who you really are and from acting in accordance with your fundamental nature. When you respect yourself, others will respect you. They will sense that you are strong and capable of standing up for yourself and your beliefs. When you are true to yourself, you allow your individuality and uniqueness to shine through. You respect the opinions of others but do not conform to stereotypes or their expectations of you.

To be true to yourself takes courage, it requires you to be introspective, sincere, open-minded and fair. It does not mean that you are inconsiderate or disrespectful of others. It means that you will not let others define you or make decisions for you that you should make for yourself. Be true to the very best that is in you and live your life consistent with your highest values and aspirations. Those who are most successful in life have dared to creatively express themselves and in turn, broaden the experiences and perspectives of everyone else.

within the precincts of the National Assembly with the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, leading the screening of visitors into the Assembly complex.

The Speaker also had arrived the Assembly complex with the National Security Adviser, NSA, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd).

Allies of Speaker Yakubu Dogara who had in recent days consolidated their superiority over the camp of Gbajabiamila following defections from the camp of the latter, had at the end of a caucus meeting that ended around 12.30 a.m. in Abuja yesterday resolved to push ahead with their permutation of Ado Doguwa (Kano) for House Leader, Bala Jibrin (Kogi) for Deputy Leader, Pally Iriase (Edo) for Chief Whip and Chike Okafor (Imo) for Deputy Leader.

That plan was aborted midway into yesterday’s session following pressures from the Presidency, urging Dogara to kowtow to the party’s earlier stance on Gbajabiamila for House Leader.

Speaker Dogara who was presiding over the affairs of the House had to step down from the chair to allow his deputy, Rep. Yusuf Lasun to take over deliberations while he conferred with Gbajabiamila and Doguwa in the office of the House Clerk.

Following the deliberations that lasted for about one hour, the Clerk returned to the chair and announced the complement of principal officers of the ruling APC. He announced Iriase as deputy whip, Jibrin as Deputy Leader, Doguwa as Chief Whip and Gbajabiamila as Leader,

immediately throwing majority of the members into celebration mode as they congratulated the Speaker for reaching out to his rival.

Speaker Dogara also announced the complement of four officers to represent the minority Peoples Democratic Party, PDP as principal officers. Those announced were Rep. Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta) — Minority Leader, Rep. Wilfred Chukwuma (PDP, Anambra) — Deputy Minority Whip, Rep. Yakubu Badre (PDP, Kaduna) — Deputy Minority Leader and Rep. Binta Bello (PDP, Gombe) — Minority Whip.

The announcement of Gbajabiamila as House Leader was a departure from the earlier stance of the Speaker that doing so would violate the spirit of federal character given that Gbajabiamila is from the South-West which had already filled the position of Deputy Speaker. The development left the South-East as the only geopolitical zone not to have a representative in the APC’s complement of principal officers.

APC has abandoned us —S-East Reacting to the development yesterday, Rep. Austin Chukwukere (APC, Ideato North/ South), Imo State, said that the South-east members were not happy because the party abandoned them despite what they passed through during the election.

He said that their constituents had e x p r e s s e d disappointment over the injustice done to the South-east members and that there had been no explanation to them on why they should be treated unfairly.

“We are not happy over our exclusion and the way the party has abandoned us despite what we passed through during the election to ensure that APC has representation in our place.

Our constituents have been calling us over this development and we have not heard from the party why this injustice should be meted on us.”

What happened is politics ——Gbajabiamila But reacting to the composition of the Body of Principal officers and his selection as the House leader, Gbajabiamila said, “What you saw in the last 49 days was actually

democracy in action.

“That’s what politics is all about: everybody trying to outwit everybody for the greater good of the country. I’m glad that everything has panned out the way it did. You will now see the House you knew in the last four years back in action, working for the people, working for the nation. I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to say tomorrow (today).

We can’t afford to let Nigerians down — Dogara Earlier in his welcome remarks Speaker Dogara had called on members to project the interest of the country above personal interests.

“We can neither afford to abuse the confidence reposed in us nor can we dare to expose ourselves to the cruel judgment of history.

“We had started on an excellent note, or so I thought, having spent a whole legislative day conducting free, fair and transparent elections to elect the two presiding officers, at the end of which both those who won

and those who did not win exercised great maturity in respecting the will of the majority.

“How come then that this spirit of maturity and democratic culture suddenly appears to be eluding us in our effort to conclude the composition of principal officers to facilitate smooth take-off ?

“Our great party, the All Progressives Congress, along with Mr President and other party leaders exhibited uncommon democratic tradition by abstaining from direct interference in the process and given the manner we conducted the election in this chamber on June 9.

“I am persuaded that they do not regret reposing such confidence in us. In this regard we owe them, ourselves, and indeed all Nigerians a duty to prove that we can conclude this process rancour-free and without denting our party ’s democratic credentials.

This we can do and I am confident that we shall.

“Today marks the 49th day since June 9, it would appear it has been all about ourselves and our personal ambitions.

Oba Sijuwade is dead Continues from Page 1 business opportunity during a 1964 visit to the Soviet Union, he formed a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria, which became the nucleus of a widespread business empire.

He also invested in real estate in his home town of Ile-Ife. By the time Sijuwade was crowned Ooni in 1980 he had become a wealthy man.

Sijuwade is a Christian.

In November 2009 he attended the annual general meeting of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria accompanied by 17 other traditional rulers. He declared that he a was full member of the church, and said all the monarchs, who accompanied him would now become members. At his birthday celebration two

months later, the Primate of the Anglican Communion described Sijuwade as “a humble monarch, who has the fear of God at heart.”

When Sijuwade became Ooni of Ife in December 1980 he inherited an ongoing dispute over supremacy between the obas of Yorubaland. In 1967 a crisis had been resolved when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was chosen as the leader of the Yoruba. In 1976 the Governor of Oyo State, General David Jemibewon, had decreed that the Ooni of Ife would be the permanent chairman of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs. Other Obas led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi said the position should rotate. The dispute calmed down when Osun State was carved out of Oyo State in August 1991.

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Missing toddler: He's alive in ritualists’ den, says father

By Daud Olatunji

A

BEOKUTA—DANIEL Ogundele, father of the 20-month-old baby, Opeyemi Ogundele, who was allegedly abducted at a christening in Ogun State, Sunday, said yesterday his child was still alive in the den of suspected kidnappers.

Ogundele said the Ifa priest, Chief Olansile Ifayemi, who was accused of masterminding the mysterious disappearance of the child, had told him that his missing toddler was alive in his custody.

Ogundele, who spoke with reporters yesterday, said he had reported the matter to the state police command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta.

The toddler had on Sunday disappeared mysteriously during a naming ceremony at Inukosegba village, near Akorede Estate, Mile II in Abeokuta North Local Government Area.

The baby was said to have been kidnapped at about 1:30p.m. at the christening organised by the family of Mr. Olusola Osunleke for their newborn daughter.

In the process of searching for the baby, residents discovered a suspected ritualists’ den in the area, which was adjacent to Osunleke’s house.

The discovery made angry residents storm the area and vandalise the building, where human parts, effigies, fetish objects and masquerade regalia, among others, were, found.

However, the father of the missing toddler said he succeeded in reaching Chief Ifayemi on telephone, Monday night.

Ogundele stated that the Ifa priest confirmed that the “stolen baby” was in his custody at Isabo area of Abeokuta and that the child was alive.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said he was not aware of the claims of the toddler ’s father that the baby was with the suspected ritualist.

Man cuts off wife’s hand over adultery allegation

By Eric Ugbor

A

BA—A furniture maker, identified as Jacob Nwachukwu from Abala in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, has cut off his wife’s left hand over allegation of infidelity.

The man’s wife, Mrs Nwadiokeonu Nwachukwu, is now at a hospital in Aba, while her severed hand had been taken to her husband’s village at Abala for burial.

The incident happened, Monday, at Ogbor Hill Area

of Aba, where the woman had lived for years, while the husband lived at their Abala village.

A female co-tenant of Mrs Nwachukwu, who craved anonymity, told Vanguard that the couple had lived in the city for years before the husband lost his job and had to relocate to the village, leaving his wife, a trader, in the city.

She said: “The couple had always quarrelled any time the man visited his wife in the city, to the extent that all the

tenants are aware and intervened in their quarrels.”

The man was said to have visited the wife on the day and during their usual quarrel, brought out a machete, cut off the wife’s hand and left with it to the village, while neighbours rushed her to the hospital.

It was gathered that Mr. Nwachukwu’s intention was to kill his wife with the machete but missed the target as the woman was said to have used the severed hand to defend herself.

The suspected lover of the woman is said to be on the run, while her landlord reported the incident to a police station close to the hospital along Ogbor Hill, where the woman is currently on admission.

Area Commander, Aba Police Command, Mr. Peter Wabara, in a response to a text message, said the incident was yet to be reported to him.

However, a police officer at Ogbor Hill Police Station, confirmed the incident and said investigation into the matter had commenced.

VANDALS: Suspected vandals of Onibonoje Printing Press, Ibadan, paraded by Oyo State Police Command, yesterday. PHOTO: Dare Fasube.

Man dies after drinking 20 sachets of gin in N500 bet

By Eric Ugbor

A

BA—A middle-aged man, identified as Chucks from Imo State, has died after consuming 20 sachets of gin in a N500 bet with a woman.

The deceased, said to be a barber, is married with a child and lived along Ngwa Road area of Aba, Abia State.

An eyewitness said the deceased had on the fateful day, gone to a nearby local shop situated within the area to take a sachet of his usual brand of gin and boosted to the shop owner that he could finish 20 sachets of the drink.

This was said to have led to an argument between the deceased and the shop owner and other customers in the shop that morning.

The argument, it was learned, reached a stage where the deceased deposited N500 and the shop owner also placed her own N500 in a bet.

The deceased was then provided with the sachet drinks for consumption.

It was gathered that he successfully consumed the 20 sachets of dry gin and went away with the bet money.

The deceased was said to have left his barbing salon earlier that day to his house when he started feeling some pains in his stomach and asked his wife to put on their sitting room ceiling fan and sat directly beneath it.

When his condition got worse, his wife asked him what the problem was.

A source said the deceased told his wife he was okay, but just needed rest.

Died in sleep

However, the wife, it was gathered, became suspicious when she started perceiving the smell of alcohol on his breath.

She was said to have

reported to some of her neighbours, who advised that she should allow him to sleep with the hope that he would get better afterwards.

The deceased reportedly slept off. After about 10 hours of sleeping, the wife became worried and invited a nurse to ascertain what was wrong with him.

On arrival, the nurse was said to have confirmed him

dead. On hearing the news of his death, the woman with whom he entered a bet was said to have reported the case at the police station.

Although the Area Commander of Aba Police Command said the case was yet to be reported to him, a reliable police source confirmed the story, saying police had commenced investigation into the matter.

DSS parades gang of kidnappers

By Chidi Nkwopara

I

MO State Command of Department of State Services has paraded a three-man gang of kidnappers.

Director of the command, Mr. Francis Ejiofor, while parading the gang, led by Henry Chibueze, 28, alias Vampire, a native of Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State, said with the

arrest of the gang, kidnapping in the state would soon end.

He said the gang's operations traversed Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo and Abidjan, and that they were about to kidnap some judges at Disney Hotel, along Onitsha Road, Owerri, before luck ran out on them.

The DSS boss said another member of the gang, Akeem Bello, a soldier who allegedly left

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—7

ARRESTED: Suspected cattle rustlers and kidnappers paraded by Oyo State Police Command, yesterday. PHOTOS: Dare Fasube.

A truck carrying a container fell on a vehicle (inset) at Palm Grove Bus Stop, Ikorodu Road, Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTOS: Lamidi Bamidele.

4 dead as cults go to war in Abeokuta

By Daud Olatunji

S

OME people believed to be cultists have allegedly killed four students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Vanguard gathered that one Muraina Ibrahim, popularly called Elebe of ND II, Computer Engineering Department, was killed last Wednesday along the popular sap route, while another ND II student of Mass Communication Department, simply identified as Demola, was last Saturday killed along MacJob Street at Fowobi area of the state capital.

The identities of the two other victims were yet to be ascertained at press time, but one of them was reportedly killed at Mango area of Oluwo, also on Saturday, while the other was killed at Iyana Oloke.

Findings have shown that Eiye and Buccaneer confraternities had been locked in a supremacy battle in the areas.

Contacted, Public Relations Officer of the institution, Sulaiman Adebiyi, denied that the dead students were MAPOLY’s.

He said he was aware of the death of two persons, whose identities had not been confirmed as MAPOLY students.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relation Officer in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, said eight persons, suspected to be cultists, had been arrested in connection with the killings.

The PPRO explained that police had been facing security

in Imo the Army to join the kidnap gang, gave the gang security cover with his identity card as an Army personnel.

It would remembered that the kidnap gang had carried out series of operations in the state, during which they killed most of their victims.

Notable among the operations of the gang were the kidnap and subsequent killing of wife of a

zThey 're not our students—MAPOLY PRO z4 suspected cultists arrested—POLICE challenges at Onikolobo and some other areas of the state, adding that students should not abuse their status to get involved in cultism and attack police officers.

We'll get them—POLICE

He said: “We have been facing security challenges in Onikolobo for some days because of some suspected cultists clashing in the area and we would not fold our arms and allow brake down of law and order.

“We will continue what we have to do within the ambit of the law and any cult member found would be dealt with.

“If the students feel the police are not doing the right thing, they should follow the procedure and not staging protest.

“We have our targets, we know who we are looking for, we know the black spots and we will fish them out. Any student wrongly arrested would be released after being questioned.”

Meanwhile, palpable fear has gripped residents of Oluwo and Adigbe areas of Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The areas which are largely dominated by students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ojeere, Abeokuta, have turned a ghost town, following onslaught by police.

When Vanguard visited the areas, many of the houses were under lock as students had fled their hostels for safer areas.

‘My 4-yr-old son’s killer was paid N100’

By Esther Onyegbula

F

ATHER of the four-yearold boy, who was hacked to death last Monday at Ijanikin area of Lagos said yesterday that his son’s killer, Tajudeen Azeez, was paid N100.

Meanwhile, late Ibrahim Hassan was said to have declared several times that he would become the country’s president some day.

Vanguard learned that some leaders in the community had been lobbying the Divisional Police Officer of the station to release the suspect and nine others arrested in connection with the crime.

The bereaved father, Mr. traditional ruler and the assassination of a commissioner in the state.

Chibueze, 28, said he killed his girlfriend, Sandra, for stealing his N45 million, being proceeds from the kidnap of a man from Omoku, Rivers State.

He said his gang collected N110 million in the operation before the victim was released.

Meanwhile, relatives of the gang leader, including a pregnant woman, accused of aiding him, are also in detention.

Jamiu Hassan, disclosed that Kazeem’s first payment of N100 by the yet-to-be identified mastermind, was to provide the kidney, intestines and manhood of a child.

He said: “They have killed my president because he used to tell me that one day he would become Nigeria’s President.

“I was told by my elder son, Al-Amen that they were playing outside the house when the suspect came and lured him with sweets before he was later killed.”

“I want the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and Commissioner of Police to come to my aid because I do not want the case of my son to be swept under the carpet like other unresolved murder cases in the country.”

Felicia Hassan, mother of deceased, told Vanguard that when she was going to the hospital to deliver her fourth child, she never knew something terrible would happen to her son.

The grandfather of the deceased, Alhaji Taiwo Hassan, said he went to the police station where the suspects were detained, only to learn that they had been bailed by some chiefs in the area.

He said: “I came from Abeokuta. When I got to the station, I was told that some chiefs in the community were coming to bail some of the suspects mentioned by Azeez.”

Robbers pose as bridegrooms to escape

By Ola Ajayi

I

B A DA N — S O M E suspected armed robbers, who disguised as bridegrooms to escape arrest were yesterday paraded by Oyo State Police command at its state headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.

The robbers snatched a Toyota Highlander and pasted a poster with inscription ‘Groom’ on it to deceive security men.

This came just as the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Muhammadu Katsina handed over the recovered car and other items to their owners.

According to Katsina, who paraded other suspects, including kidnappers, pipeline vandals and cattle thieves, the suspects were arrested due to the security network he put in place.

‘Poverty made me go back to robbery after 6 yrs in jail’

By Ifeanyi Okolie

A

FTER spending six years at Ikoyi Maximum Prison, Lagos, a 27-year-old man, Ogaga Feja, has been rearrested by police in Lagos for robbing motorist at Mile 2.

The suspect, who said he went back to robbery due to poverty, is currently being interrogated by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, at Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan.

He was arrested alongside Daniel Thomas and Emeka Nkem, while attempting to snatch a car.

Feja, who is a native of Delta State, told Vanguard that poverty drove him into robbery a few weeks after his released from prison.

He said: “I was released in May after six years in Ikoyi

Prison awaiting trial over a case of armed robberry.

“I was granted bail by the court, but the case is still on.”

He said his journey to prison began in 2009 when antirobbery policemen, attached to Ajeromi Police Station, raided a criminal hideout in the neighbourhood.

He said: “I was arrested with some notorious criminals terrorising Ajegunle at that time and the police felt I was part of the gang.

“We were taken to Area ‘B’ Command, Apapa, for interrogation and was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, before being charged to court.

“When I came out of prison, there was no job and my family is poor. I needed to get something doing to help myself.”

8—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Saraki consolidates, gets 81 senators’ confidence votes z34 APC, 47 PDP senators insist on Saraki, Ekweremadu zWe can’t afford to fail Nigerians — Saraki zDon’t be used to harass us, our spouses, Senators tell security agencies

By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

A

BUJA — THERE was drama, yesterday, as senators took a decisive step to end the deep-seated leadership crisis ravaging the Senate. At the resumed plenary, 34 Senators elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and 47 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators passed a vote of confidence in Senate President Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and the entire leadership of the Senate.

The Senate also asked the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, DSS and other security agencies not to allow themselves to be used to harass, intimidate or blackmail the entire Senate, senators and their spouses.

These resolutions were sequel to a motion of vote of confidence in principal officers of the Senate by Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo East) in line with orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended).

The motion, which was seconded by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West), was co-sponsored by 79 other senators. The development may have put to an end the lingering political tug-of-war in the Senate between the supporters of Senator Saraki and Senator Ahmed Lawan, who was the APC national hierarchy's choice for the Senate presidency.

Interestingly, some core pro-Senator Ahmed Lawan’s supporters in the Senate Unity For um, SUF, like Senators Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central); Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West); Monsurat Sunmonu (APC, Oyo Central); Olanrewaju Tejuoso (APC, Ogun Central) and Bukar Abba Ibrahim (APC, Yobe East) were also co-sponsors of the motion.

Other APC senators who coauthored the motion were Adamu Aliero, Ibrahim Gobir, Mohammed Ohiare, David Umaru, Tijjani Yahaya Kaura, Ahmed Rufai Sani, Sabo Mohammed, Mallam Wakili, Ibn Nara’ Allah, Danjuma Goje, Francis Alimikhena, Salihu Egye, Ibrahim

leadership, their mandate was for us to pursue governance and bring solutions to their burning issues. It is time we remind ourselves of the solemn promise to deliver to our people real change.

“Our revenue profile has taken a great hit with the economic realities we face today. Aside the drop in the oil receipt, we have seen revenues plummet due to oil thefts, indiscriminate grants of numerous import duty waivers, concessions and grants.

Nigerians want to see the National Assembly tackle these obscenities in our revenue systems as it denies our people the right to good governance."

Worsening Boko Haram activities worrying

CELEBRATION: House members celebrating with Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, new Majority Leader, House of Representatives (middle) of the 8th Assembly. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Abdullahi and Binta Masi Garba among others.

No dissenting voice When the Senate President called for votes on the motion, there was no dissenting voice from senators who have been opposing the election of Saraki and Ekweremadu.

Even Senator Kabir Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central), Senator Ahmed Lawan and Senator George Akume (Benue North-West), who were also present, did not object.

The motion While moving the vote of confidence motion, Senator Anyanwu noted with dismay "the continued harassment of the Senate and senators, the National Assembly management and spouses of senators by security agencies of government.

“Determined to continue to perform its constitutional duties and responsibilities without fear or favour; "Further determined to focus on matters of interest and importance to the ordinary people of Nigeria in view of the enormous challenges facing the nation; "Considering the sustained interference in the internal affairs of the Senate by detractors and

media propaganda against the Senate and Senators by selfish politicians; "The Senate, hereby, resolves to pass a vote of confidence on: (a) the President of the Senate, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki; ( b) the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; (c) the entire Senate leadership as presently constituted; “To call on the Nigeria Police Force and all other security agencies in Nigeria not to allow themselves to be used by any person or persons to harass, intimidate or blackmail the Senate, senators and or their spouses.”

We can’t afford to fail Nigerians — Saraki Senate President Saraki, in his welcome address to senators from the four-week recess, urged the lawmakers to watch what he described as mind-boggling leakages in the nation’s oil receipt, adding that oil theft cannot become an acceptable part of the nation’s oil business.

He continued: “It is expected that the recess would have in no small measure helped us consolidate the stability of the National Assembly. Now it is time to move as one

house in one direction to fulfil the promise we made to our constituencies that gave us our mandate to deliver real change.

“Our country is passing through a difficult time. We cannot afford to watch the mind-boggling leakages in our oil receipt to go on.

This Senate is in tandem with Mr. President on this and is determined to turn every stone and shift every rock to ensure that all revenues due to the country from oil are recovered. We are not the only oil producing country in the world; oil theft cannot therefore become an acceptable part of our oil business.

“Furthermore, Nigerians are tired of the inadequacies in the power sector and want to see a reinvigorated power sector capable of delivering enough energy to power the new Nigerian economy. Our people dream to see a more open economy, they want to see legislative instruments that will help to open and stimulate private sector investment in i n f r a s t r u c t u r e development, and enhance the ease of doing business in the country.

“We have our work cut out for us, we cannot afford to frolic. Nigerians did not give us our mandate to come and pursue

On insecurity, the Senate President said the Senate was worried over the resurgence of the activities of Boko Haram and some other criminal elements. He said the Senate will send a delegation to visit Nigerian troops on the battle line and some of the internally displaced persons in the North-East.

Saraki said: “In recent times, we have seen resurgence in the activities of Boko Haram and some other criminal elements in our society leading to the death of many of our citizens. We cannot continue to let senseless groups cause untimely death to our citizens without hindrance. This is another sad addition to the cocktail of security challenges we can ill-afford at this time.

"In the coming days, I will constitute a high powered Senate delegation to visit our troops on the battle line and some of our internally displaced persons in the North-East to have a first hand appreciation of the challenges, the suffering and plight that has befallen our people in the area. Soon afterwards, we shall, working together with the House, develop concrete steps towards the rehabilitation and renewal of the battered local economy of the North-East.

“Make no mistake about it, the aim of these militant groups is simple, to test our resolve and disintegrate our unity. But let me reiterate the readiness and willingness of the National Assembly to support and work with President Muhammadu Buhari to comprehensively rout Boko Haram. We join Mr. President in saying ‘that we will defeat terrorism in our country and region, because we have the will to win this fight.’ Our resolve is collective, we urge all friends of Nigeria, including the United States and the entire international community, to join us.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—9

JAMB clarifies redistribution of candidates to varsities

By Dayo Adesulu

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AGOS — THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has clarified the new policy adopted on July 14 to redistribute candidates to universities.

JAMB Public Relations Officer, Mr. Benjamin Fabian, who disclosed this to Vanguard,

yesterday, in a telephone conversations, said: "Candidates should go and write the postUTME in their institutions of first choice.”

He, however, noted that after the post-UTME in their universities of first choice, JAMB would still redistribute them, if necessary.

He said: “When they write in the schools of their first choices,

they may wish to consider the other places we have taken them for admissions. The reason is that if they don’t get admission in the first universities of choice, they will get in the second."

He explained that JAMB’s efforts in redistributing candidates were only geared towards helping candidates of oversubscribed institutions gain admission to

other federal or state universities rather than wasting their scores.

It will be recalled that JAMB, had last week, announced its new policy to redistribute candidates to universities other than their first choice.

The development generated sharp criticisms from stakeholders and almost paralysed some of the universities sought after in the country.

FG spends $2.41bn on rice importation since 2012 — Emefiele zAs Customs seals warehouses of rice importers over N23.6bn excess levy

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BUJA — THE Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, yesterday, said the Federal Government spent $2.41 billion on rice importation between January 2012 and May 2015.

The CBN boss disclosed this on a day the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, sealed warehouses of defaulting rice importers over non-payment of N23.6 billion excess importation levy.

Emefiele, who spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting with officials of paddy rice producing states and rice value chain investors in Abuja, said the bank’s decision to ban foreign exchange for importation of rice; fish and other items would not be reversed.

According to him, the apex bank has no plan to reverse the ban, adding that the reason for inclusion of rice in the exclusion list was not far-fetched.

He said: “ Figures available with the CBN show that from the period January 2012 to May 2015, the country had spent over $2.41 billion on importation of this commodity.

“Unfortunately, this trend has resulted in huge unsold stock of paddy rice cultivated by our farmers and low operating capacities of many integrated rice mills in Nigeria.”

Emefiele said the CBN in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development would come up with a comprehensive financing model to support rice millers and other investors in the sector.

He said the bank decided to intervene in the sector through funding and other packages because the country would not achieve its true potentials if it imported everything it could produce locally.

He said: “The bank will make funds more accessible to farmers through some of its funding programme such as the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and the N220bn Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development fund. “ The funds will be made available to rice farmers through the Microfinance Banks at an

LAGOSSTARTUPWEEK: From left: Marcello Schermer of Seedstarsworld; Rixhard Tanksley, Head of Pulse; Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, guest speaker; Professor Pat Utomi, guest and Lampe Omoyele, Managing Director, Nielsen West Africa at the opening of Lagosstartupweek, a week with Africa's most promising entrepreneurs and innovators, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele. interest rate of nine per cent and any bank that charges interest above that rate should be reported to the CBN." “We appeal to the state governments to provide lands for the farmers on a large scale and we will work with them to clear some of these impediments. We are at a stage where we must feed ourselves and all hands are in deck to ensure this work.”

Customs seals warehouses of rice importers

Meanwhile, the companies sealed by the Customs Service are OLAM, Stallion, Masco Agro, Ebony Agro and Conti Agro

(Milan).

The NCS Public Relations Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said “the four rice importers are indebted to the Federal Government to the tune of N23.6 billion.This drastic action was taken to compel them to make payment.”

Adeniyi said series of advertisements had been made in newspapers to make them pay for their excess importation.

He added that an ultimatum was also given to them to pay the outstanding charges, which they did not comply with.

“Today, we are no longer

issuing ultimatum. We are ready to walk the talk with decisive action to recover outstanding duty due to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“That is why we have sealed their premises to prevent them from making importation into Nigeria.

“We have blocked them from our system so that they will not be able to make declaration and we will not allow them to discharge their imports in any of our ports.

“All these will be done preparatory to instituting full legal proceedings to compel them to pay what they owe Nigeria when the courts are back from recess.”

14 states benefit from N12bn World Bank erosion project

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ALABAR — THE Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP, says 14 states are currently benefiting from about N12 billion World Bank scheme to curtail the spread of gully erosion.

Mr Salisu Dahiru, National Project Coordinator, NEWMAP, said this yesterday in Calabar at the opening of a five-day workshop for NonGovernmental Organisations, Communication and

Livelihood Officers.

The workshop was organised by the Federal Ministry of Environment in conjunction with the World Bank and other partners in the implementation of Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP).

Dahiru said 21 badly affected gully erosion sites have been identified in the country and they are currently being addressed through the project.

He listed the states to

include: Cross River, Abia, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Gombe, Kogi, Kano, Delta, Oyo and Sokoto.

According to him, Cross River alone has five gully erosion sites which are the highest.

He said: “$500 million had been earmarked to tackle the 21 gully erosion sites out of which $480 million has been devoted for remediation of the gully sites.

NERC to revoke licences of 27 GENCOs

By Chris Ochayi

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BUJA— The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, yesterday, issued a threat for cancellation of licences of 27 power generation companies over failures to meet the terms and conditions for their licences.

To this ends, the NERC, after completion of an audit exercise of its licensees, asked the affected companies to within the next 30 days provide justification why their licences should not be cancelled.

The notice for cancellation of licensees posted on the commission’s website, was sequel to the discovery through an audit exercise that the affected firms could not meet the terms and conditions for their licences.

The regulatory agency explained further: “Most of the affected firms may be sanctioned for their failure to meet their milestones or commissioned their power plants within three years of being licensed.”

Contained in the notice are 63 generation and distribution companies rated as category one. They are in operations and have no issue with the commission. Forty other firms in categories one to four will, however, have to justify their continued ownership of their licences or get it withdrawn within the next 30 days to 12 months.

In category two are those licensees that have ceased operations. These are CET Power Projects being promoted

by West African Portland Cement Company, Ewekoro, Ogun State and Contour Global Solutions of Nigeria Bottling Company of Apapa, Lagos State.

The commission in its notice is to immediately “start the process of cancellation of these licences in line with clause 17 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005” which listed five conditions for cancellation of licences.

Thirteen other power generation firms in category three are “not in operations but have substantially satisfied their milestones.” These are Ethiope Energy; Supertek Nigeria; Mabon Energy; Bresson AS; Hudson Power; Knox J & L; Tower Power, Abeokuta; Zuma Energy Nigeria transferred to Itobe Coal 1, 2, 3 and 4 firms Others in this category are MBH Power; Delta Electric Power; Wedotebary Nigeria; Century Power Generation and Supertek Electric.

10 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

‘Fashola, Ipaye okayed tenure elongation for JSC members’

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

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AGOS State Head of Service, HoS, Mrs. Folashade Jaji, yesterday, told members of the State House of Assembly, that the former Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and the former Attorney General of the State, Mr. Ade Ipaye approved the renewal of a five-year tenure of office of members of the state’s Judicial Service Commission.

Jaji, was on Monday summoned by the house during plenary to appear before it, yesterday, Tuesday, July 28 to explain the rationale behind the elongation of tenure without due process.

This was in response to the resolution of the House on July 2, 2015 that the tenure of office of members of the commission had ended and that the board should be dissolved forthwith.

In her defence, Jaji said that she did not unilaterally send the letter renewing the five-year tenure of office of members of the commission, but that she got an approval from former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ade Ipaye and former Governor Babatunde Fashola on February 24, 2015, a week after she was appointed as HOS, that the tenure of office of the members of the commission should be renewed for another five years.

The Assembly then, pardoned Jaji for retracing her step on the matter.

She apologised for the mistake, and said that she has since written letters to the members of the commission including Mr. Teslim Animashaun, Mr. Kunle Othman, Mrs. Abisola O. Oshodi and Mrs. Folashade O. Iwajomo that their tenure had ended.

Buhari, APC have 100 days of honeymoon before executing ‘change' programme — TINUBU

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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B U JA — N AT I O N A L leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said that President Muhammadu Buhari and the party have at least 100 days of honeymoon before embarking on the implementation of “change” programme.

Tinubu, who spoke with newsmen after a meeting with President Buhari yesterday argued that it was a norm the world over for new leaders to settle in the office before unfolding their agenda for their country.

He added that change does not come by magic, stressing that it is driven by people and proper planning.

Said he: “May 29th was when this president was sworn in. It is an international norm all over the world, there is an honeymoon period, at least a minimum of 100 days honeymoon. Change is not by magic. It is driven by the people, the spirit and the character and the planning.

“We have had so much problem in this country in the past because we ran into policy blind folded without adequate and effective planning, you don’t have results unless you plan well.

“The time it takes you to plan, examine, rejig, re-evaluate is more important than the time you just rush into taking action because you are either being sentimental, being emotional and

F

being driven by other forces that are not expected. It is not fair to jump into those conclusions.

“There must be time to plan, to review and even listen to people. There is a separation between a campaign period, articulating your vision, expressing the promises to Nigerians. There is a time to look holistically at what you inherited, analyse it, distil and then take action.

“Even in 100 meters race, there is a time to say on your mark, set, ready, go. So you don’t even want a time to be on

your mark, set and go? No no no.

You are not being fair,” the former Governor said.

He stated that his mission to the Villa was to confer with the president on his recent visit to the United States of America to ensure that his government was right on the track.

Tinubu also denied that President Buhari’s meeting with APC Representatives over the lingering crisis in the National Assembly held on Monday was deadlocked.

“The purpose of this visit is to see my president and our leader. The purpose is to ensure that we are on the right track and coming back from

a very successful trip to United States of America.

“As a matter of fact when the National Assembly’s job starts, the job of lawmaking in earnest, the president needs to step in once in a while as he did to let people to understand the import of the expectations of the public and particularly of the international community on various Programmes and institutions.

“We need to build the institutions, make it viral and effective for the entire country. To step in to douse any conflict is not a wrong thing or do you think is wrong?” he asked.

Nigeria, UK partner for capital inflows

By Peter Eguwatu, Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo

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AGOS—THE Nigeria delivery group of the Emerging Capital Market Taskforce, ECMT, and United Kingdom counterpart yesterday, promised to partner with Lagos State and Federal Government to provide robust capital flows for economic development.

Airtel emerges telecoms firm of the year Metropole, United Kingdom.

OR its laudable contributions to the growth of the telecoms industry in Nigeria, telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, has been named ‘Africa’s Telecommunications Company of the Year.’

The award was conferred on the firm over the weekend at the 6th African Business Leadership Forum & Awards 2015, which held at the Hilton London

PARLEY: Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State flanked by former Mayor of the City of London and Co-Chair, Emerging Capital Market Taskforce UK/Nigeria, Sir Roger Gifford (left) and his Nigerian counterpart, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede during a media briefing on the Emerging Capital Market Taskforce UK/Nigeria Project at the Lagos House, Ikeja, yesterday.

Airtel was also honoured with a Special Commendation Award from the US Georgia Legislative Black Caucus at the event.

Organisers of the awards, the African Leadership Magazine, noted that Airtel emerged the telecommunications company of the Year because of its “immense contribution to the growth of the Telecommunication sector in Nigeria and beyond.”

The UK government also promised to assist the Federal Government in tackling security issues affecting the nation.

Representatives of the Nigeria-UK Capital Markets Emerging Capital Market Task Force, who met with the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode stated that they came to launch the inaugural report on the state of the Nigerian Capital Markets, with detailed recommendations for the legal and regulatory environment in order to deepen capital market capacity and attract domestic and international investment into the country.

The delegation, led by Sir Roger Gifford, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, and President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) Aigbaje Aig-Imoukhuede, amongst others were received at Lagos State House, Alausa.

Sir Roger Gifford said the .report focused on four key areas including integrity of the market, regulatory infrastructure behind the market, market

incentives and barriers as well as market development in the areas of derivatives and commodities.

Gifford said since the last government came in, it has focused on developing financial services business around the world, adding that the British government highlighted the three partners that

she is particularly interested in, namely, India, Brazil and Nigeria.

“Stock Market capitalization to Gross Domestic Products, GDP, ratio in many of the markets is 22 percent, Nigeria inclusive, but in the case of UK, it is over 100 percent. There is a huge potential to develop in the capital market.

NLC lauds workers over polio-free year

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

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IGERIA Labour Congress, NLC yesterday commended health workers and other professionals who worked tirelessly to ensure Nigeria attained the landmark of being one year without new case of the wild polio.

NLC, in a statement by its factional President, Ayuba Wabba, equally lauded political leadership of the country for providing the direction to the relevant agencies of government for the campaign against the child killer diseases.

According to the statement “NLC rejoices with all Nigerians, especially health workers and other

professionals in the field who worked assiduously towards our country attaining the critical land mark of being one year without any new case of the wild polio. ''We wish to commend the political leadership of the country for providing the direction to the relevant agencies of government for the campaign against the child killer diseases.

“In the same vein, the Congress salutes the leadership of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, under Dr. Ado Muhammad, his team and partners for leading the pragmatic campaign against polio disease.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 11

AREGBESOLA: Judge, Assembly disagree

over probe modalities

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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SOGBO—Justice Olamide Folahanmi of Osun State yesterday, insisted that except she was given the copy of the reply by Governor Rauf Aregbesola to her petition, she would not appear in person before the panel set up by the state House of Assembly to look into the matter.

But chairman of the probe panel, Hon. Adegboye Akintunde, disclosed that Aregbesola’s response would not be made

available to the petitioner.

The panel began its sitting at the Committee Hall of the House of Assembly with heavy presence of security agents in and around the complex and with an armoured tank stationed opposite the Assembly Complex.

Justice Folahanmi was however represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Lanre Ogunlesi, who told newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the seven-man committee that

justice and fair hearing demand that the petitioner be availed with the governor’s response to the judge’s petition.

“Fear hearing demands that as a first step to defending the petition, it is necessary for the petitioner to be provided with the governor’s response.

“What we discussed with them was that for us not to waste time on this matter, answers to the petition by the governor should be made available.

“They said the committee was a

BRIEFING: From left; Olori Jelilat Oyetunji Abidemi, Olori of Oba Jimoh of Ataoja of Osogboland; Mr Yemi Akeju, President/Govering Council, Institute of Directors Nigeria; Chief Moshood Adeyemo, Aremu Otun Eesa of Osogboland during the press briefing on 2015 Osun Osogbo Festival Corporate Forum in Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Akeem Salau.

fact-finding one, but the issue at stake was a serious one and for the sake of posterity and people yet unborn, they need to forward the answers to her.

“She may even come out and say I am sorry, I withdraw my petition after going through the governor’s reply and may not need to see the committee again.

“But, I want to say that she will be here. We are not running away.

She is bold enough to write the petition and she is prepared to defend it. If she should have the reply today, she will be here tomorrow”.

Ogunlesi, who is a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State, however, expressed reservations at the attitudes of the committee members, saying with the way they talked, the committee is likely going to close the case.

“They said they have their rules but they are not forthcoming towards our demand. They said they will decide and that we will be hearing from them. It maybe that they have made up their minds on what to do,” he stated.

Reacting, Akintunde declared that his committee cannot provide the petitioner with Aregbesola’s response, saying it was a confidential document sent to the House of Assembly by the governor.

According to him, “The rule of the House is clear. Order 26 says that petition must come to the House through a member and again the petition must be signed page by page.''

Ajimobi bars newsmen from Gov’s office press centre

By Ola Ajayi

I

B A D A N — GOVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi yesterday showed his contempt for journalism practice as he barred journalists from gaining entry into the popular press centre of the Governor ’s office, Secretariat, Ibadan.

Presently, only newsmen from the Oyo State Broadcasting Corporation and few others, who cover the state are granted access into the centre, which has been there for ages.

This came about two weeks after the governor ignored some journalists, who asked him questions about his inability to pay workers of the state in Abuja.

The rumour about the incident was peddled a fortnight ago, but just yesterday, a list of the select few has been pasted on the door of the press centre.

Just some months ago, journalists were barred from

driving their vehicles into the premises of the expansive office.

When the newsmen got to the press centre for coverage of events yesterday which is a normal practice, a list entitled ‘accredited and unaccredited’ of the preferred journalists had been pasted on the door.

The list marked SEC 513/ T/151 and dated July 27, 2015 was signed by one Mr. Segun Abolarinwa who described himself as the Special Adviser on Security.

The list emanated from the Cabinet and Special Services Department.

The list of the accredited include BCOS, Ministry of Information, NTA, Galaxy, Channels, TVC, FRCN, Amuludun, Splash, Nigerian Tribune and Odua News.

Among the names pasted was a driver attached to one of the vehicles in the governor’s office.

The list of the unaccredited media houses includes OGTV, AIT, Parrot, Daily

Times and many others.

Newspapers like the Punch, Vanguard, Daily Sun, Daily Independent and Nation are nowhere to be found on the list.

Reacting on behalf of the governor, Mr. Olawale

Sadare, the State Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, APC, said the action would only affect those who “hibernate’ and those with no specific media houses.”

Amosun names Raji as Amir-UI-Hajj

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OVERNOR Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has approved the appointment of a one time Military Administrator of Bauchi and Sokoto States, Navy Captain Rasheed Adisa Raji as the Amir-UI-

Hajj to this year’s holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

As the Amir-UI-Hajj, Navy Capt. Raji is expected to lead the State delegation of pilgrims to perform a successful 2015 Hajj exercise.

Amosun, APC oppose Isiaka’s application at tribunal

By Daud Olatunji

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BEOKUTA— GOVERNOR, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, opposed an application seeking the inspection of the electoral materials used in the April 11 governorship poll in the state.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka at the Election Petition Tribunal challenging the victory of Amosun, claiming that he was the winner of the election.

At the resumed hearing yesterday, counsels to Isiaka, Adetunji Oyeyipo (SAN) told the court that he was in court to move his application dated 10th July 2015, seeking to inspect all materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election.

He, however, told the Tribunal that counsels to Amosun and APC, Dr Olumide Ayeni and George Oyeniyi informed him of two preliminary objections challenging the competence of the application.

Justice Olusiyi has, however, reserved ruling on the two applications for tomorrow.

12—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Wike pays N712m for stranded Rivers students abroad P

ORT HARCOURT— PARENTS of final year students of tertiary institutions abroad under the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA, Special Scholarship initiated by the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration can now heave a sigh of relief, as Governor Nyesom Wike has approved N712million for the stranded students.

A statement by Opunabo Inko-Tariah, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media And Publicity, said “All entreaties by the stranded students and their parents to RSSDA and Amaechi fell on deaf ears as the students stood the risk of being disallowed to sit for their final exams.

“However, respite came when Governor Wike, ordered the immediate payment of the sum of N712 million to offset the debts owed by the final year students to enable them sit for their final exams and eventually graduate “The governor had earlier on,

paid the sum of N 200 million as part of the money owed by the students which brings the total sum paid by the Wike’s administration to N712 million.

“The gesture by the governor has elicited reactions from many who

praised him for being sensitive to the plight of the students and their parents.

Respondents described the act as not just securing the future of the students, but that of the state as well since they are the future leaders,” the statement added.

EDO 2016: PDP c'ttee to submit report on zoning of gov ticket Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers State

RECEPTION: From left, Chairman, Arik Air, Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide and his wife, Mary, presenting a plaque to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, at a reception in honour of the Police Chief by the Sabongida-Ora Community in Edo State.

I didn't take N700m bribe, Rivers REC cries out zAs family raises alarm over her health

By Samuel Oyadongha & Ikechukwu Nnochiri

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BUJA—THE Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Rivers State, Mrs. Gesila Khan, yesterday, denied allegation by the All Progressives Congress, APC, that she was bribed with N700million to rig elections in the state in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In a statement by her lawyer, Mr Selekeowei Larry, SAN, the Rivers REC said she never received such money from anyone or party as claimed by the APC. Daring the APC to produce her statement of account that allegedly contained the huge sum of money, Mrs. Khan, insisted that she carried out her duty in accordance with the law and did not take side with any group, political party or persons.

Meanwhile, the family of Mrs Khan of Peretoru, Bayelsa State, has condemned what its described as the arrest and harassment of their daughter by the Department of State Services, DSS. A statement in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State by the family through their representative, Mr. Okubama Johnbull, raised alarm over her poor health.

The family which appealed to the human rights community and public spirited individuals to come to their aid over the unlawful arrest, expressed displeasure over the DSS, stating that the arrest of the REC under any guise was uncalled for and vindictive.

According to the family, “As a woman who was diagnosed of hypertension and diabetic, she was denied access to her drugs.

It is a well known fact that all matters or issues concerning the past general elections across the country are presently being handled by various electoral tribunals.

“We wonder why the REC of Rivers State, Mrs. Khan was singled out for victimization and intimidated by DSS, as all issues concerning the past general elections are before competent electoral tribunals

set up by laws of the country.”

The family called on President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly intervene and call the DSS to order and allow due process and the rule of law to prevail.

Denying the allegation levelled against her, Mrs. Khan's lawyer said “My client wishes to place it on record that she did not at anytime collect bribe from anyone and she does not have such money in her account as alleged by the APC. We therefore, challenge the APC or anyone who has her bank account containing that sum of money to

produce it.”

Khan described the allegation against her as “ridiculous, baseless and a calculated attempt to tarnish her hardearned reputation.”

She said that instead of commending her for serving the country, the APC rather chose to vilify her unjustifiably, adding that the DSS, never said that it found the alleged bribe money in her bank account.

She challenged the APC to tell the world the source of the “malicious information.”

Urhobo chief urges Buhari to sustain FG, Tompolo's relationship programme. Those calling for

By Emma Amaize

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ARRI—FORMER president of Urhobo Youth Council, UYC, in Delta State, Chief Sweet Eshenake, yesterday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to maintain the robust relationship between the Federal Government and ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, initiated by former President, late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua.

Eshenake in an interactive session with reporters in Warri, Delta State, said that the immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck

Jonathan strengthened the relationship with Tompolo, which went a long way in fostering enduring peace, sustainable unity and genuine development of the Niger Delta region.

Eshenake, a former member of Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, disagreed with the call by an another Urhobo youth leader, Olorogun Jaro Egbo, that the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, be scrapped, saying that his views do not reflect the true and present thinking of Urhobo youths.

He said: “President Buhari should disregard calls for the scrapping of the amnesty

the programme to be scrapped are merely being mischievous and do not wish the Niger Delta region any good.

Our error ON PAGE 12 of yesterday’s Vanguard, we published a photo with the caption which depicted His Royal Highness, Oba Okhishimede Idogu III, the Olokpe of Okpe, with Queen Eki Eshimokhai and Queen Dada Eshimokhai, during the annual New Yam festival in Okpe kingdom. We have since discovered that Okpe kingdom is in Edo State and not Delta State. The error is regretted. — Editor

By Simon Egbebulem

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ENIN CITY— AHEAD the 2016 governorship election in Edo State, the committee set up by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state to zone its governorship and deputy governorship tickets will submit its report this week.

Vanguard gathered that the committee may have zoned the governorship ticket to Edo South senatorial district while the deputy governorship ticket is zoned to the Central senatorial district.

A member of the committee and former Vice Chairman of the party (Edo North), Mr. Paschal Ugbome, who said that the committee will soon submit its report, added that the party will conduct free and fair primaries for the aspirants.

APC chieftain lauds Buhari on policy

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A L A B A R — PRESIDENT Mohammadu Buhari has been commended for his administration’s transparent policy thrust.

The commendation was given by an All Progressives Congress, APC chieftain in Cross River, Sir Sam Nkang, in a statement in Calabar.

He commended steps taken so far by Buhari administration’s to tackle the challenges of insecurity and insurgency in some parts of Nigeria and appointment of key officials of government.

Nkang said that the appointment so far into Buhari’s administration including those of service chiefs reflected fair play and equity and is consistent with the federal character principle of the Nigerian government.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—13

We're under siege by DSS, Akwa Ibom PDP cries out U

YO—AKWA Ibom State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Obong Paul Ekpo, yesterday, raised alarm over the spate of harassment of its members and the manner the Department of State Services, DSS, was aiding and abetting the opposition at the venue of the electoral tribunal currently sitting in Abuja.

Ekpo said in a statement, “We wish to alert the nation and the international community about the undisguised display of partisanship by agents of the DSS at the electoral tribunal currently sitting in Abuja. Our members and agents have been hounded, harassed, and threatened by agents of the DSS. “The State Resident Electoral Commissioner has been equally hounded and unfairly singled out for interrogation. We want to put it on record that what the opposition is doing in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states is against the spirit, ethos and values of democratic norms and traditions.

Nigeria is not a one-party state and any attempt by the

opposition to use the state security at the centre to subvert the will of the good people of Akwa Ibom State as expressly given on March 28 and April 11 respectively will be resisted squarely.”

The state party chairman said,

that his party men will refuse to be conquered or cowed and will protect the votes that were freely given at the last governorship election.

Noting that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been floundering at the tribunal and

is looking for whatever clutch it can hold on to, Ekpo said their witnesses thoroughly weakened their case when they spoke the truth and kept peace with their conscience and creator by puncturing the central narrative of the APC which they have been alleging that there was no election in Akwa Ibom State.

MERIT AWARD LECTURE: From left, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe, Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Etim Essien, Award winner/lecturer, Prof. Oye Gureje, and Prof. Akin Mabogunje, at the Nigeria National Merit Award Winners lecture, at the University of Ibadan, UI, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

Guinness raises alarm over alleged disruption of operations by council officials

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By Onozure Dania

ENIN—GUINNESS Nigeria Plc in Benin City, Edo State, has ‘raised alarm over the disruption of its operations last week by officials of Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, who mounted a blockade at the entrance to the brewery.

The blockade stalled exit and entry into the premises for several hours.

The contingent was led by Mrs. Itohan Ogbeide, Chairman, Ikpoba-Okha council, who addressed the media, claimed that Guinness Nigeria has been obstructing the council from collection of fees from third party logistics companies engaged in the provision of haulage services.

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Mrs. Ogbeide said that the protest was to demand their rights from the management of Guinness Nigeria to allow them collect haulage fee from trucks that convey their products.

Mr. Kingsley Imade, the Plant Manager at the brewery held a meeting with Mrs. Ogbeide, following which the blockade was lifted and operations at the brewery resumed.

Before departing the brewery, Mrs. Ogbeide, however, issued an ultimatum to Guinness Nigeria to comply with her directive on or before July 29, 2015, or face further disruptions to its business operations.

On his part, Sesan Sobowale, Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria, said: “We are

taken aback by this unlawful disruption of our activities ostensibly to blackmail the company to assume the role of an agent for revenue collection from the logistics service providers. The

blockade is also in violation of a subsisting court order restraining the council from mounting blockades at our premises and demanding levies allegedly payable by these companies from Guinness Nigeria."

Security firm boss alleges threat to life

By Gabriel Enogholase

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ENIN—CHIEF Executive of Erhengbo Okoma Security Services Ltd in Benin, Edo State, Chief Sunny Erhengbo has raised alarm over threat to his life and that of his family by unknown persons, who have been on his trail with different cars since his company was appointed to over-see security at Oliha market in the state capital.

Erhengbo, who appealed to the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 5, Edo State Commissioner of Police and Director of Department of State Services, DSS, to protect him and his family, said that since May 15, 2015, “Different cars have been parking around my house, with some of these cars with no plate numbers while some with number plates in the front and none at the back just to monitor my movements.”

He said that on June 20, 2015 and at 4p.m., when he went to wash his car on Mission Road, Benin, he saw some of the young men pointing at him.

Aniocha supports Okowa's DESOPADEC bill

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SELE-UKU—THE Aniocha Ethnic Nationality Host Community of Nigeria, ANHOSTCON, has thrown its weight behind the proposed DESOPADEC Law Amendment Bill already submitted to the state House of Assembly by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of the state.

In a statement after its stakeholders meeting, Chairman of the g r o u p , Chief Innocent Okofu, said that

after a thorough examination of the DESOPADEC Law 2006 and the 2010 on the principles of derivation, the Local Content Act, 2012, as well as the proposed amendment Bill 2015, they came to the conclusion that the facts regarding the desire of Aniocha nation to be included as one of the ethnic nationalities of communities producing oil and gas in the DESOPADEC Bill, was very germane.

The statement stated that the principle of derivation as enshrined in section

152 of the constitution should be amended to accommodate communities where oil has been discovered as beneficiaries of DESOPADEC. “We also state clearly that impacted communities which fall within the 30 kilometers radius from the core host communities where oil and gas explorations/activities are established, also suffer threat to fishing activities and pollution of portable water as a result of ecological problems within the local communities.

“There should therefore, be a provision in the bill to accommodate potential communities where oil has been discovered as members in order not to re-amend the bill when exploration works commence in communities not earlier included in the principal law 2006,” the statement added.

14—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 201515

Asagba of Asaba's 90th birthday and interdenominational service

From left, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Professor Chike Edozien, Asagba of Asaba, his wife, Agu Nwanyi, Modupe Edozien, during the 90th birthday celebration of His Royal Majesty,Professor Edozien, yesterday and interdenominational service at Oshimili Arcade, Asaba. Photos: Nath Onojake

From left, Mrs. Bola Obasanjo, Governor Okowa, Professor Edozien, Asagba of Asaba and Agu Nwanyi, Modupe Edozien

From left, HRM.Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor (ii), Obi of Owa and HRM.Ogbon From left, Chief Professor Epiphany Azinge, Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwumah and Mr. Sylver Oforgu Ogoni-Oghoro, the Ohworode of Olomu

Chief Sonny Odogwu (right) and Rt. Hon. Sam Obi

From left, Professor Azinge, Enyi Dora Giwa-Amu, Enyi Azinge, and Enyi Chinwe Monu-Olarewaju

Governor Okowa, presenting birthday card to the Asagba of Asaba.

Dr. Cairo Ojugbo (right), Vice Chairman, PDP South-South, Chief Edwin Uzor, PDP Chairman, Delta State and Rt. Hon Monday Igbuya, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly (left)

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—15

Uncle Sam: A book launch, day of honour at 80

By Mike Ebonugwo

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R. Sam Amuka, the widely acclaimed doyen of Nigerian journalism, easily comes across as a man who is contented to remain in the shadows of his prodigious achievements. But Uncle Sam, as he is fondly called, certainly will have nowhere to hide tomorrow, Thursday, July 30 when leading media professionals and industry chiefs gather to celebrate and honour him with a book launch and lecture on the future of journalism.

The Vanguard Newspapers publisher and life patron of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, will be the focus of attention at the event holding at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The book published by Diamond Publications Limited, and titled, Voices from Within: Essays in Nigerian Journalism in Honour of Sam Amuka (2nd Edition), is considered a

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befitting climax to the outpouring of tributes to commemorate his 80th birthday, which was marked last June.

With journalism practice and how to efficiently apply it for greater impact in society as its primary focus, the book features 22 experienced contributors who were selected for their commitment to the continued growth of the media. It is a sequel to an earlier edition published in 2005.

Roll call of contributors The roll call of contributors include Mr. Frank Aigbogun, publisher, BusinessDay; Mr. Debo Adesina, Editor-in-Chief, The Guardian; Mr. Azu Ishiekwene, columnist, Leadership; Mrs. Tinu Odugbemi, former National Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, chairperson, Lagos State; Mallam Mohammed Haruna, columnist, Daily Trust and The Nation; Mr. Gbemiga

Mr. Sam Amuka, Vanguard publisher Ogunleye, provost, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ; Mr. Jibade Fasina-Thomas, pioneer editor of Sunday Punch; Mr. Godwin Agbroko (deceased), former Editorial Page Editor, Thisday; Mr. Ebun Aleshinloye, editorial

cartoonist; Mr. Tam Fiofori, photojournalist and author; Mr. Ted Iwere, publisher, Business Dispatch and Mr. Stanley Egbochuku, publisher, Manufacturing Today.

Others are Mr. Tony Iyare, editor-in-chief, The Gleaner

Online and former SSA Media to Edo State Governor; Mr. Ben Lawrence, former managing editor, Daily Times and columnist, Tell magazine; Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, GM and Editor-in-Chief, Vanguard; Mr. Mideno Bayagbon, editor, Vanguard; Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, former editor, Sunday Vanguard; Mr. Muyiwa Adetiba, pioneer editor of Vanguard; Mr. Tunde Fagbenle, columnist, Sunday Punch; Mallam Ish’aq Moddibo Kawu, columnist, Vanguard; Mr. Kenny Adamson, editorial cartoonist and Mr. Lanre Idowu, CEO, Diamond Publications, who also is the editor of the book.

The lecture entitled, Today’s Newsroom, Tomorrow’s Newspaper: How to Survive and Thrive in the Internet Age, which is a complement to the book launch in celebrating Uncle Sam, will be delivered by Mr Ted Iwere. Given the huge popularity Uncle Sam enjoys within and outside the media, the two-pronged event is expected to draw a significant crowd of admirers and wellwishers many of who will use the opportunity to express their appreciation of his remarkable contribution to the evolution of journalism in Nigeria and the world at large.

16—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Anti-corruption: Groups in S/East protest EFCC’s role

By Austin Ogwuda

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NUGU—FOUR different groups which styled themselves as anti-corruption groups from the South East region, yesterday, staged a peaceful rally in Enugu calling for acceleration of trial of former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and his other colleagues that served during General Olusegun Obasanjo’s era.

The groups comprising South East Youth congress, Igbo Students Leaders Forum, Anti-corruption Network and Ndigbo Against Corruption said “the peaceful rally was in support of the recent renewed anticorruption war in the country. We are happy that the EFCC is now determined to banish corruption in the country. We are however in particular calling on EFCC to accelerate the prosecution of the former Governor of Abia state, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu who has a case still pending in the agency and who has been strutting about freely in the society.

Buhari did not slam Air Force– Alonge

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HE Nigerian Air Force has frowned at what it described as misleading headline in a story published on the front page of Vanguard yesterday titled “Why we’re yet to move against NNPC”.

The Air Force particularly complained about one of the riders that accompanied the headline that said President Muhammadu Buhari “slams Air Force for poor role in war against insurgency”.

In a statement issued yesterday by Air Commodore D.J. Alonge, Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force said “the comments of the C-in-C as reported in the body of the story are completely at variance with the said rider thereby deliberately portraying the Nigerian Air Force in negative light. This misrepresentation is capable of affecting the morale of our fighting forces who have contributed and in some instances paid the supreme price in the ongoing war against insurgency.

VISIT: GovernorIfeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (middle) with the National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Rev. Felix Omobudu (on his left) and his team, who paid him a courtesy visit, at the Government House, Enugu, yesterday.

EFCC grills Saraki’s wife for 6 hours over alleged graft •Reschedules Yar’Adua’s daughter’s probe on health grounds

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

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WO former first ladies of Kwara and Kebi states appeared before operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to answer questions relating to huge amount of money that passed through accounts of companies said to be owned by them.

The duo of Toyin Saraki, wife of the Senate president and Zainab Dakingari, wife of former Kebbi State governor and daughter of late President Umaru Yar ’Adua, were questioned by the operatives over how they dealt with public funds during their tenure.

However, while Toyin Saraki

was grilled for about six hours by the operatives, Mrs. Dakingari, who was accompanied by her husband, spent a few hours with her interrogators and left the premises with a retinue of aides in two cars.

She left the EFCC office at 4pm while the other agents were still grilling Mrs. Saraki in another building called Idiagbon House within the precincts of the agency in Wuse 2, Abuja.

A top source in EFCC said that Mrs. Dakingari was allowed to go and attend to her health since she provided evidence that she was having some health issues to deal with.

“Somebody undertook to

produce her on Tuesday and we allowed her to go and attend to her health since it appeared she would not be able to withstand the rigours of interrogation in her condition, a source confirmed to Vanguard.

However, the Senate president’s wife, who stormed the EFCC’s offices with hordes of supporters including serving senators, were still being grilled as at 6pm and was finally left off the hook at 6:15pm.

An aide of the Senate president, who was among the journalists that kept vigil at the premises during the interrogation of the woman, confirmed that the former first

PROBE: Buhari should expect similar treatment from his successor —Okorie

By Peter Okutu

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BAKALIKI—MEMBER representing Ohaozara/ Onicha/Ivo federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Linus Okorie, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take note of the natural law of ‘what goes around comes around,’ adding that if Buhari decides to be unfair to his predecessor, he should expect similar treatment when he leaves office.

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari lacked acknowledgement of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s legacies and achievements in the last dispensation.

In a statement issued in Abakaliki, Okorie called on President Buhari to acknowledge the contributions of former President Goodluck Jonathan especially in the fight against insurgency in the North East geopolitical zone of the country.

He cited examples of projects that were either completed or close to completion before ex-

President Jonathan’s exit, stressing that it was unfair and unjust for the Buhari administration to take credit of the achievements without acknowledging the role of the initiator of the projects.

“Just like the opposition must be constructive in criticizing the government in power, the sitting government owes its predecessor, itself and the wider Nigerian public the moral and social duty of acknowledging the positive accomplishments of their predecessors,” said Okorie.

Okorie also lamented that President Buhari has been all over the media celebrating Nigeria’s one year polio free anniversary without any reference to President Jonathan and his policy team that totally achieved the feat.

“The Jonathan administration introduced cutting edge anti-corruption technology-based Public Finance management tools including IPPIS, GIFMIS and TSA, which the present government is now laying claim to for ghost workers elimination, funds accountability and transparency monitoring, without giving credit appropriately.

“The Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) has also announced that the Abuja rail project, conceived and implemented by the Jonathan administration is 67 percent completed. This credit should also be formally attributed to the past government.

“I hold the view that the Buhari administration should imbibe the necessary humility and courage to give credit as necessary even as it continues to put the out-gone government to task in established areas of weakness or malfeasance. That is leadership. I also appeal to the media as social engineers to also encourage the Presidency in this onerous responsibility. We owe posterity that much,” Okorie stressed.

lady of Kwara was released at that time.

“Yes, she has been freed but we don’t know the conditions attached to it,” the aides said, adding that she was about to board her vehicle back home.

But a mild drama ensued as many journalists who had converged on the premises to interview Mrs. Saraki were not allowed such luxury by the operatives once the woman was allowed to go.

Mild drama EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the released of Mrs. Saraki, saying that she had been asked to report back on Wednesday for further questioning.

Uwujaren said the return of Mrs. Saraki to the commission on Wednesday was to enable the operatives to get to the root of the issues at stake with a view to determining the veracity or otherwise of the issues in the petition against her.

The daughter of former President Umaru Yar ’ Adua and wife of former Kebbi State Governor, Saidu Dakingari, Zainab Dakingari, has been invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged fraud to the tune of N2billion perpetrated during her husband’s tenure as governor of the north west State.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 17

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ATCHING Obama in Kenya, I’m brought to think about the African story and Nigeria’s place in this world.

Despite many of our self-styled and self-proclaimed heroes and founding figures, Nigeria is yet to figure out a unifying culture and purpose which if taught to our children would enable peace and prosperity, moulding our country into a global sphere of influence, a voice to be reckoned with on the world stage.

So many of the issues AfricanAmericans and Africans face, are made possible because a country like Nigeria, the largest Black nation on earth, isn’t playing its role economically or culturally.

However, it isn’t just about changing the narrative to include more positive, celebratory images about Africa.

Rather, it is about changing the African reality itself. Yet, we Nigerians have focused more on surface reforms and fickle changes, believing that luxury boutiques in Lagos or Abuja, for example, because they are mockingly referenced by foreign media, means we as a country are moving forward.

It categorically and absolutely does not, so far as the 1% who run said boutiques can only do so not because of any entrepreneurial brilliance but simply because our economy is a large enough racket run by socalled industrialists (often fronts for government) and their preening wives and girlfriends.

Common currency I am fascinated by the issue of culture, i.e. what is admissible in society, what sells, or what ideas are common currency and it is my firm belief that if state departments such as the National Orientation Agency or the Information Ministry played their role, Nigeria could have a premier role in Africa and the world, rehabilitating, modernising and exporting “blackness”, African culture, arts and values which would have both social and economic consequences for Black people all over the world. Finally, we could challenge a system that has always been unfair to Africans because fundamentally, it still sees “whiteness” as the de facto or mainstream, and everything else as inferior.

All of Nigeria’s institutions have great civilising potential, that is the ability to develop and promote our cultures by enlightening our own people and humanising us in the eyes of the world. Let us take the Northern Governors Forum. It should have been an engine room within which policies and ideas to develop and map out a plan of action for the North were birthed.

How is it that a region as dangerous as Latin America, known for drug cartels, vicious gangs and kidnapping (they make Nigerian crime look like child’s play) still attracts so many tourists and international attention?

Yet, Nigeria is seen as a sort of backwater, which the US snubbed till President Buhari’s inauguration. Knowing who you C M Y K

tprincewill@yahoo.co.uk

An agenda for the North: Redefining culture and orientation are is powerful. It’s no coincidence that the Greek philosopher Plato, like his teacher Socrates, marked “know thyself” as the supreme civilizing edict.

How has government helped Nigerians “know themselves”, integrate and cooperate?

Government has not provided Nigerians with a founding story or narrative to uplift us but instead has divided us, and kept us down, like domesticated animals.

The government agencies previously mentioned have failed Nigerians from inception.

FESTAC was wasteful; Nollywood cannot achieve its potential if our culture promotes not our true selves but a corruption based on petrodollars and greed. But what could we sell, you ask? There are very many things. In this article I’ll deal with the North because it is time we in Nigeria become our brother’s keeper.

According to myth, the Hausa city-states of present-day Nigeria were founded by the sons of a Baghdadi prince who married one of the matriarchal monarchs that ruled Hausa people in ancient times. In fact, Queen Amina, the Sultana of Zazzau is said to have united what is now Northern Nigeria under the ideology of a unified Hausa nation.

Second class citizens This makes me wonder (and question) what happened and how women went from being powerful rulers in African antiquity to second-class citizens in contemporary Africa, but that’s a story for another day. Queen Amina’s descendants used her mythology and trade based on the region’s unique gifts and attributes (such as gold, leather production, cloth, salt and henna) to hold the union together.

In modern terms, the Northern Governors Forum must work to unite the North in its ideology for peace based on regional trade to generate employment and stabilise the polity as a whole.

Every zone should have a sense of purpose based on history and culture: these stories we could sell to each other, and why not, also sell to the world, enabling our creative industry to truly take off.

Rather than focus on revenue accrued through oil sales, each

butter and yogurt?

Commercialising, massproducing the Fulani diet(or any traditional method, resource or cultural product) would give Nigerians, and Africans, confidence in themselves and their own inventions while developing commerce and employment. Why is there no real internal (or external) market for our local traditionally made produce? The scale upon which our agriculture operates is not befitting of our talents or potential.

Why is it that Arab countries have found ways to make their traditional culture benefit their development? What is so different between the rugs, leatherwork and beading in Morocco and Algeria and the work done anywhere in Northern Nigeria?

Three words: quality, standards and training.

Standards and training

•President Muhammadu Buhari

People come on holiday from London and Paris to Tunis or Algiers and purchase locally made goods. Why shouldn’t Kano be a famous holiday destination?

In North Africa, the beauty industry is controlled by female cooperatives that produce and export traditional beauty products.

Why isn’t this possible in Nigeria?

Something terrible happened under the military.

We lost ourselves, our soul, our essence, our belief in our own story. But we are writing a new chapter and I’m very optimistic.

Finally, we are beginning to analyse and review whom we are and where we want to go.

President Obama said in Kenya recently: “Just because something is traditional doesn’t mean it’s right”. The North in particular must think about this while it reinvents itself to create new pathways for the future.

Northern state (like every state in Nigeria) should be known for some sort of production for export (artisanal creations for example).

After all, in Northern African countries agriculture and tourism feed millions. The idea of tourism in Northern Nigeria is not laughable, if the North (again, like the South) is able to go back to knowing its history and make

its natural features attractive to people inside and outside Nigeria, much like many Moroccan cities such as Marrakesh have done. In fact, Marrakesh is famous not for petroleum products but for Argan oil, an all-natural beauty product which has been commercialised and exported around the world.

So why can’t Northern Nigeria popularise such typically Northern products as its milk,

The Northern Governors Forum must work to unite the North in its ideology for peace based on regional trade to generate employment and stabilise the polity as a whole

Aminu Tambuwal

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HE Governor of Sokoto State spoke of a scheme defrauding workers of their salaries and benefits by withdrawing 60% of civil servant’s entitlements and sharing them amongst top local government officials. Workers were afraid to lose their jobs by speaking out, hence why such a corrupt practice flourished for so long. Here is another issue

with our orientation: Out of fear we refuse to fight for our rights and play into the hands of the powerful. However, I think it is remarkable that finally, we are willing to talk about the gross mismanagement and corruption at the local government level.

Nasir el-Rufai

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HE political class of 2015 is an interesting one.

•Governor El Rufai

We’re about to see change in the North if El-Rufai’s denouncing of the practice of using children as beggars or Tambuwal’s attempt to criminaliseparents’ refusal to educate their children, are anything to go by. El-Rufai’s chief of staff is a woman.

Stereotypes about poverty and gender in the North are about to be broken. I truly hope these governors can get the cooperation of traditional leaders to explain the need for change to the man on the street. Change is in the air.

•Gov Aminu Tambuwal

Tabia Princewill is a strategic communications consultant and public policy analyst. She is also the co-host and executive producer of a talk show, WALK THE TALK which airs on Channels TV.

18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 FROM the central parts of Nigeria are gory tales of wanton killings that should elicit shock and urgent action from all Nigerians. Indeed a sizeable part of the area has for years remained a killing field where hundreds of lives have been wasted, no thanks to the frequent clashes between local farmers and nomadic Fulani herdsmen. In fact, no week passes without media reports of fresh attacks resulting in the killing of several innocent individuals, especially women and children.

While most states in the area are affected, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau and, to some extent, Taraba are major flashpoints. For instance, between May and July this year, no fewer than 140 persons were reported killed when suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked some communities in Benue State. About 70 persons lost their lives during similar attacks in Taraba State, while 30 persons were reportedly killed in another attack in Plateau State.

Perhaps the most horrendous of these killings was the reported massacre of over 500 Berom people in Plateau State in 2010.

There have also been claims that about

Halt The Middle Belt Killings Now! 400 lives were lost at Barkin Ladi and Riyom areas of the state between January and July this year.

The frequency of the attacks and the high death toll which go on unchecked only reinforce the growing impression that human life now counts for very little to the government and law enforcement authorities.

At the root of the recurring clashes between farmers and nomadic Fulani herdsmen is the nagging issue of the availability of land for farming and grazing cattle. While the farmers have consistently accused the herdsmen of often encroaching on their farmlands and destroying their farms in the process, the latter have in turn responded with claims

that their cattle were often rustled by the farmers or natives of the communities along their grazing routes. They also accuse each other of initiating attacks which more often than not attracted bloodier and more chilling reprisals.

We strongly feel that the time has come to put a permanent halt to this recurring decimal of wanton killings. The Federal Government is constitutionally dutybound to move in decisively and stop this carnage.

Apart from urgently deploying more troops to the vulnerable communities, government should also come up with permanent solutions to keep the herdsmen from wandering aimlessly into people’s farms. The time has come to settle the nomads in ranches, or at least create grazing reserves for them all over the country.

Both the herdsmen and the farmers are important parts of the agricultural value chain. We must move in to check the criminals among the nomads and give the law-abiding ones the atmosphere to live peaceful, settled and profitable livelihood.

OPINION

Time to jettison petrol subsidy

By Eddie Mbadiwe

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UEL is any material used to produce heat or power by combustion and that includes diesel, gas, premium motor spirit, otherwise called petrol or gasoline; fuel oil materials from atomic energy, aviation fuel and rocket fuel. In Nigerian parlance however, fuel is synonymous with petrol so this discourse will be limited to PMS. Fuel to Nigerians is petrol.

Governance is about the welfare of the vast majority of the population. It is also about the courageto take the difficult and sometimes painful but right decisions in the overall interest of the people.

Some politicians known as populist, appeal to the shallow sentiments of the public and mask or refuse to reveal economic realities. A typical example is the current debt crisis in Greece where the government wrongly assumed that bravado will wipe out legitimate debts.

If you borrowed money, you can negotiate but the debt has to be repaid.

It looks a lot more humiliating when a government is forced to make a U-turn and literally lick its own sputum.

Nigeria currently spends N1.69 billion daily as subsidy on petrol. Diesel is deregulated so one assumes we are paying the economic price. If this daily figure is extrapolated for a

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year,Nigeriawill be spending more than 15% of our yearly budget of approximately N4 trillion in subsidising one product alone. There are, of-course other products that receive subsidies from the government. The World Bank report reckons that by the end of this year Nigeria will be spending close to N2 billion daily to make petrol available at the pump of N87 per litre.

The question every Nigerian must truly answer is whether we can operate at this level of expenditure without sacrificing other sectors of our national development. Can we really go for broke with our eyes wide open? There have been many valid arguments for and against petrol subsidy so I won’t rehash them. If we do not act, reality will catch up with us.

Some of the compelling points raised by ordinary Nigerians against subsidy

Price fixing by legislation, as is currently done for petrol, has never grown any economy and Nigeria will not be the miracle

removal is that it is their only dividend as owners of crude oil. Is this really correct? Our major transport systems – trailers,tankers, luxury buses, transport vehicles, trains which impact directly on the economic lives of the vast majority of Nigerians are powered by diesel which is deregulated. It is the elite and the oil marketers, who drive cars that benefit from the subsidy on petrol. These groups can also afford to pay economic prices for petrol: so why are we going round in circles. Subsidy, if at all necessary, has to be for the poor.

In some states in Nigeria, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Imo, Anambra, to name just a few, petrol sells at betweenN105 - N110 per litre. The people gladly buy; there is no shortage and there are no queues.

Who really is subsidising who?

The dispute between oil marketers and government about who owes what is always recurring and there is no end in sight. Malfeasance and the endemic corruption in that importation arrangement is ingrained so the only way out is to dismantle it now. It can only get worse and the petrol queues will become permanent. This is almost happening in Abuja and Lagos.

The simplest economic principle of all time of “Supply and Demand” will not change in Nigeria. If by tomorrow we fix all our four refineries in Port-Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna and possibly build new ones, petrol will flood the market and prices will crash; this is not rocket science.The entire dynamics will change when Dangote refinery comes on stream.

What the government must do is to go into town-hall meetings with organised labour, students, market women and convince them as to why the subsidy must go. There is no better time for this exercise than now when the National Assembly is in a state of flux.

Governance being a quid pro quo business must ensure that monies realised from fuel subsidy removal are channelled into building access roads, providing power and water in the rural areas. There must be village security.

The vast majority of Nigerians are proud and do not want hand-outs from anybody – not even the government. They will rather create wealth and pay taxes than stand in offices for hours waiting for LPOS. Apart from security of lives and property, the second most important duty of government in my view is to create an enabling environment so that serious minded citizens can create wealth and jobs.

There are many Nigerians who are anxious to set up cottage industries in their communities and employ people. They also want to retire to cleaner and fresher environs. Opening the rural areas is a sinequa-non in arresting youth restiveness and tackling insurgency. We will also arrest the rural – urban migration which totally distorts the Eco-system and stresses our cities.

Price fixing by legislation, as is currently done for petrol, has never grown any economy and Nigeria will not be the miracle. *Dr. Mbadiwe, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 19 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com

A quick look at Buhari’s US trip

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AYS before President Muhammadu Buhari embarked on his official visit to America at the invitation of the US President, Barack Obama, many Nigerians appeared anxious. It was clear they could not be sure what would be the outcome of that visit. Their anxiety level had been raised by some commentators who could neither see nor be bothered by what the trip would achieve. For many of these commentators, the president’s visit to the US was nothing but yet another opportunity for the Americans, especially their president, to issue strictures to Nigeria on how to tow the line drawn for us by America.

For them, Buhari’s visit to America was a clever ploy by Obama to impose his pet project of gay rights protection on Nigeria.

For many Nigerians already fired up by these commentators , the outcome of Buhari’s visit would be nothing other than to open the door wide for gays and lesbians to begin to look forward to that day when they too can say “I do” to those

they are in love with.

These commentators therefore drew up a shopping list of items for the president, several of them being failed projects of the Jonathan presidency. At the top of this was an arms deal for the Nigerian military in its fight against Boko Haram. In addition to opposing Obama on the gay right matter, Buhari was expected to return home with an arms deal and a few other things thrown in or his trip would be considered wasted. As it has turned out, Buhari returned from the three days trip last week without securing an arms deal, and those who never thought he would survive what they thought would be the rigour of the trip to say nothing of securing any arms deal are already describing the trip in unfavourable terms. What even appears to have got them really riled up is Buhari’s plan, declared during the US trip, to bring members of the Jonathan administration found to have been corrupt to justice.

After six years of the Goodluck

Jonathan administration, time during which the president appeared to have commanded little or no respect from Nigerians to say nothing of the international community, it is understandable why many of his supporters would think Nigerian leaders are condemned to second class status. America looks out very well for its interest and perhaps only those who share these interests or believe in the possibility of their achievement are seen as America’s friends. But America also knows those deserving of their respect. They certainly didn’t think Goodluck Jonathan belonged in that class.

And this was not simply a consequence of America’s usual arrogance. It has more to do with the near collapse of authority, moral or political, that characterised the Jonathan presidency.

Jonathan more or less ceded authority to his subordinates who promoted corruption to a level that could not have inspired confidence in him or his

The main reason America is refusing to sell arms to Nigeria is because of alleged violation of human rights

Behold the Kuru declaration

By Eric Teniola

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T was with the best of intentions that President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered the fourth retreat for Ministers and Permanent Secretaries at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos between February 23rd and 25th, 2001.

The retreat was co-ordinated by my former boss, Chief Ufot Ekaette (CFR) who was then Secretary to the government of the Federation. An Erudite scholar.

The following Ministers were present, Chief Bola Ige (SAN), Alhaji Musa Elayo Abdullahi, Alhaji Adamu Bello, Chief Chris Agbobu, Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe, Engnr.

Mustapha Bello, Alhaji Muhammad Arzika, Alhaji L. Ade Haruna-Elewi, Ms. Boma Bromillow Jack, Mallam L. Tukur Batagarawa, Mrs. Modupe Adelaja, Engr.

Dan Chuke, Prof. A.B. Borishade, Alhaji Bello Usman, Alhaji Muhammad Kabir Said, Dr. Imeh T. Okopido, Engr. Mohammed AbbaGana, Mr. Solomon S.A. Ewuga, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Senator Jubril MartinsKuye, Chief Dubem Onyia, Prof. A.B.C. Nwosu, Dr.(Mrs.) Aminat Ndalolo.

The rest were Chief Kolawole B. Jamodu, Chief Lawrence Nwuruku, Prof. Jerry Gana, Chief S.M. Afolabi,(JP), Dr. Mohammed Shata, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, Mr. Steven Ibn Akiga, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, Alhaji Danjuma Goje, Prof. Turner T. Isoun, Mrs. Pauline K-Tallen, Mr. Kanu G. Agabi,(SAN), Mr. Ishaya Mark Aku, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Mr. Isa Yuguda, Col. Mohammed B. Kaliel(rtd), Chief Precious Ngelale(JP), Hajia Aishatu M.S. Ismail, Chief Tony Anenih, Mr. Garba Madaki Ali, Chief Bimbola Ogunkelu, Mr.Yomi Edu, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Kida and Chief Phillip C. Asiodu.

The then Head of Service, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed(CFR) led the team of Permanent Secretaries to the retreat. They include Alhaji Guda A. Abdullahi, Alhaji Umar M. Abubakar, Mr. O.O.O. Ogunkua, Engr. D.B. C M Y K

Usman, Mr. G.O. Enukora, Dr. K.Nkumah,Dr. Aboki Zhawa, Mr. M.O. Onoja, Mr. Garba Buwaijmni, Dr. R.O Mowoe, Amb.T.D. Hart, Dr. M. Babangida Aliyu, Mr. A.E. Ogbuehi, Dr. B.K. Kaigama, Alhaji H.Z. Akwanga, Dr. O.M. Ojo, Rev. P.O. Okunromade, Mr. John P. Hirse, Dr. C.J.G. Orjioke, Alhaji Bello U. Maitambari and Mr. T.D. Oyelade.

Other Permanent Secretaries present were Dr. S.I. Muhammad, Ammuna LawrenceAli, Alhaji N.B. Dambatta, Alhaji Ibrahim Talba, Mr. O.O. Oyelakin, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Mr. L.N. Asugha, David O. Oyegun, Amb. G.B. Preware,Mr. A.O. Okafor, Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu, Mrs. A.M. Rufai, Ms. T.O. Akerele, Mrs. G.I. Archibong,Ms. A.I. Pepple, Dr. R.O. Adewoye, Alhaji Tukur Mani, Dr. B.A. Akinola, James Kayode Naiyeju and P.N. Akubueze.

Other top government officials at the retreat include the then Governor of Plateau state, Chief Joshua Dariye, Amb. Remi Esan, Amb. E.A Azikiwe, Bisi Ogunniyi, MajorGen J.N. Garba(rtd.), Dr. Stanley Macebuh, Tunji Oseni, Mr. Ad’obe, Dr. Goke Adegoroye, Mrs. T.O. Iroche, Mrs. S.A. Adeyeye,Dr. J.N. Obiegbu, Mr. F.O. Osobukola, Alhaji Ibrahim Jega, Dr. G.A. Gundu, Mr. O.S. Ogedengbe, Mr. Wuese Al, Mr. F.F. Ogunshaki, Mr. J. Okpo, Mr. K.J. Wudil, Mr. E.I. Onuoha,Mr. A. Mohammed and Mr O.I. Adisa.

I was present at the retreat.

Those who presented papers at the retreat include Prof. Akin Mabogunje, Justice M. Akanbi, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), Dr.Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Major General Joseph Garba(rtd.), Mr. Howard Whitton and N. Linton both of Transparency International.

All that should be done now, is to marry the Kuru declaration with the objectives of the War Against Indiscipline

administration. Like many Nigerians, serious countries couldn’t wait to see his government go. When those commentators in love with the former president took on the thankless job of instructing Buhari on what to say or not to say to Obama, they mistook him for the most part for Jonathan.

In criticising the purpose and outcome of Buhari’s US trip, his critics are bent on showing that he is not different from, perhaps even worse than, Goodluck Jonathan. Thus, they forget that two months is not the same thing as six years and criticise him for being too slow. Perhaps, Buhari is indeed slow but it may be too early in the day to come to such conclusion. He, however, is deliberate, he appears to know where he is headed.

Many thought that Buhari ought to “hit the ground running” but the man says the rot left for him by Jonathan is such that he would have to look very well before leaping. This is sensible enough. Even when it may be contestable, Nigerians will know for sure when Buhari becomes too slow for their liking.

For now, he should be given room to operate for if nothing else his US trip shows that America has respect for him and expect him to do much. Of course, they refused to sell him arms but he was also able to make clear that gay rights talk was not yet on the priority list of his administration. On either side what was obvious was mutual respect and dignity. There was no recrimination, or any sense that one person lorded it over the other.

The main reason America is

At the end of the retreat, a 12-point declaration was adopted.

Those present declared among other things that: “(1) We subscribe to the New National Ideology, which is, to build a truly great African democratic country, politically united, integrated and stable, economically prosperous, socially organised, with equal opportunity for all, and responsibility from all, to become the catalyst of Black Renaissance, and making adequate all-embracing contributions, subregionally, regionally, and globally. (2) We adopt the New Orientation as an agenda for: dealing with immediate and future issues of governance of Nigeria;Removing impediments to efficiency and effective implementation and execution of programmes initiated by the Federal Government; and Expeditious actualisation of Government objectives and vision of national renewal and re-construction. (3) We rededicate ourselves and those who serve under us to the values of patriotism,honesty,hardwork and diligence, merit and excellence, trustworthiness, personal discipline, tolerance and mutual respect, justice and fairness, love, care and compassion. (4) We pledge to eshew corruption, slothfulness, nepotism, indiscipline, bitterness,prejudice and other manifestoes of anti-social behaviour. (5) We shall undertake a critical review of practices and procedures in every Department of Government, so as to rapidly increase their productivity and service delivery to the public;(6) We shall foster a culture of efficiency in the management of funds and other resources; maintaining high standards of resource management; and reducing waste at all times.(7) We shall efficiently supervise all Government Departments and Agencies, ensuring timely returns and reports, and undertaking regular spot-checks;(8) We shall abide by the terms of the Code of Conduct which we all have signed, as expression of our commitment to the crusade against corruption, and working closely with all relevant agencies such as the Independent Corruption Practices and other

refusing to sell arms to Nigeria is because of alleged violation of human rights. A Leahy Act forbids sales of American arms to countries accused of such violations. However foolish this may sound given the atrocities being perpetrated by insurgents in the North-east, the real point at issue is that Nigerians must read between the lines to know why America would not sell arms to us.

Corruption was a major issue, and even the administration’s military commanders could not be trusted to be fighting insurgency wholeheartedly. If anything, many members of that administration were beginning to look like war profiteers. They were very well fishing in the troubled waters of insurgency.

It got to a point nobody could trust them. Even the edge they gained over the insurgents in the last days of the Jonathan administration looked contrived and left room for suspicion. What were they doing in the previous years, many wanted to know? By refusing to sell arms to Buhari, the Americans, it would seem, are just being cautious. They need to be sure he won’t go the way of his predecessor. This is not the era of handouts, when our leaders go abroad to be treated like younger siblings or children of foreign leaders. Buhari must win the confidence of those he wants to work with. He must earn his stripes and must be prepared to reject what he does not see as central to Nigeria’s interest. His US trip has definitely earned him and, by extension, Nigeria some respect.

All Buhari needs now is to build on the respectable outcome of his visit to America.

Related Offences Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Public Complaints Commission;(9) We undertake to strengthen the partnership in working with the private sector, since this partnership translates to a better appreciation of the wealth-creating capacity of this sector, and the need for Government, through its various ministries and legislative processes, create an enabling environment for the sector to function efficiently as the major driver of the economy.(10) We shall strive to strengthen and inculcate the culture of working closely and in consultation with the leadership of labour and Civil society organisations.(11) We shall mobilise, involve and promote the interest of all stakeholders, namely, the society in general; since, in the ultimate, all decisions and actions of Government are aimed at the promotion of public welfare, there is also the need for a new attitude that has that welfare permanently in focus, as the only goal, and the economic well-being of all citizens, under unfettered freedom, is of cardinal importance; and we shall design strategies and techniques of implementation for the New Orientation so as to ensure that the values being inculcated permeate all levels of management and staff”.

I am told that the think-tank currently advising President Muhammadu Buhari is recommending among other things for a similar retreat for the incoming Ministers, special advisers, special assistants and other incoming government officials, on the ethics of good governance.

The think tank is contemplating a workshop, seminar or retreat but I think another seminar/workshop/retreat may be a waste of time.

All that should be done now, is to marry the Kuru declaration with the objectives of the War Against Indiscipline which was in vogue during the era of Major General Muhammadu Buhari between 1984 and 1985. Such marriage if adopted, will push the country forward.

•Mr. Teniola, a former director at the Presidency, wrote from Lagos.

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 —

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AfDB plans women empowerment in agriculture through technology

By Jimoh Babatunde

Empowerment.”

The Special Envoy expressed the urgent need to go beyond conventional approaches in meeting the information needs of women.

“It is time to employ innovative ways in alleviating genderbased constraints in agricultural trade,” said Moleketi.

Just recently, the office of the

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he African Development Bank has held a highlevel consultation with the Dutch government about developing a platform for providing women with market information to enhance their participation in agricultural trade.

The discussions held at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan recently focused on designing, developing and implementing an Agricultural Trade and Investment Market Intelligence Platform.

The Bank’s Special Envoy on Gender, Geraldine FraserMoleketi and experts from the Centre for the Promotion of Imports (CBI) from developing countries, a unit under the Dutch’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, explored options of designing a user friendly platform to ensure needs of women were met.

Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi disclosed that of importance to the AfDB was how to address gaps prohibiting women from accessing relevant information that can help them reap maximum profits from agriculture, emphasising the need for timely, accurate and transparent information, and the economic empowerment of women in the sector.

She pointed out that the initiative was opportune, given the African Union Commission’s (AUC) declaration of 2015, as the “Year of Women Economic

$11.40

CURRENCY DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL SDR KRONA

Market downturn threat base regime — ASHON

0.85

$3,284. 00

-52.00

-0.03

$56.50 0.54

-

50.55

-0.40

BUYING

CENTRAL

196 196.5 304.2312 305.0073 216.7368 217.2897 204.6356 205.1577 1.5905 1.5946 0.3077 0.3177 272.3292 273.0239 31.5616 31.6426 52.2625 52.3958 274.0864 274.7856 29.04 29.1141

197 305.7834 217.8426 205.6797 1.5986 0.3277 273.7186 31.7235 52.5291 275.4848 29.1882

CBN Exchange Rate as at 28/ 07 /15

C M Y K

profitable and sustainable participation in agricultural trade.

CBI experts lauded the platform’s market intelligence aspect, saying it provided exporters/users with practical tips that had a direct boost to their businesses and sustained market share”.

The Bank’s Director of Agriculture and Agribusiness

department, Chiji Ojukwu, reiterated the initiative’s potential to contribute to improved intra-African agricultural trade and regional economic integration.

He described it as an innovative and transformative catalytic tool for Africa’s inclusive agricultural tradedriven economic and developmental growth.

AWARD: From left, Business Development Manager, Alagbaka, Akure, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Abiola Akinyemi; Area Manager, Ondo and Ekiti states, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Rasheed Yusuf, receiving the plaque of the 'Most Supportive Bank in Education' won by the bank from the Deputy Chairman, Ondo State Advertising and Signage Agency,Hon. Bisi Ogungbemi, at a ceremony in Akure.

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$126.80

SEOG completed a study on “Women in Agricultural Value Chains”, which identified gaps including information asymmetry, that compound market access constraints. The Market Intelligence Platform will serve as a knowledgedriven one-stop-shop, closing market access information gaps that deter women, youth and men from equitable,

he Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) yesterday expressed fears that the persistent downward trend at the nation’s bourse would affect stockbrokers’ recapitalisation plans.Mr Emeka Madubuike, ASHON President, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that continuous dilution in the value of equities was a big threat to the exercise.“The major issue we have in this recapitalisation programme is the dilution in value because the market has lost over 33 per cent since October,” he said.Madubuike said that some members who had shored up their capital using equities were in danger of going below the new capital base announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2013.He said that most stockbrokers’ assets were in equities, noting that the lull in the Nigerian Stock Exchange

to

SEC’s

(NSE) would affect their capitalisation exercise.Madubuike said that “there are people who, as of December, had met the requirement and are in danger of going below the required level due to the slide in the market.“This is something we need to talk about if the trend continues in the next few weeks, whether to use a prior date as the valuation date,” Madubuike said.He said that the association had drawn the attention of the

People would make business decisions to determine at what level they wanted to operate, whether as a broker/ dealer, broker or dealer or stockbroker

new

capital

commission to the development, noting that it would engage SEC if the trend continued.The ASHON president said that the association’s major objective was to ensure that all members remained in the market, operating at one level or the other.Madubuike, however, warned that people should not be frustrated out of the market in the name of capitalisation.He said that the classification of the new capital base for stockbrokers would help the market because people would be accommodated.Madubuike said that people would make business decisions to determine at what level they wanted to operate, whether as a broker/dealer, broker or dealer or stockbroker.NAN reports that SEC on Dec. 19, 2013 issued a new capital requirement for capital market operators with Dec. 31, 2014 as deadline but the deadline was extended to Sept. 30, 2015.

22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Over 11.5 million vehicles ply Nigeria roads; however, only about 3 million of these vehicles carry genuine insurance certificates

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INSURAN

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PenCom canvasses investment of pension fund within Africa

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he National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said it will continue to promote the investment of pension funds within the African continent in line with the vision and ideals of the African Union’s long term economic development plan tagged, Agenda 2063.

Director General of the Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, who made this commitment while addressing participants during the side event at the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently, said PenCom hopes to raise the number of workers covered under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) from 6.5 million this year to 20 million by 2019, using the Micro-pension initiative.

The AU Agenda 2063 is both a vision and an action plan, a call for action to all segments of African society to work together to build a prosperous and united Africa based on shared values and a common destiny.

It is expected to translate this vision and ideals into concrete objectives, milestones, goals, targets and actions/measures and it is supposed to enable Africa remain focused and committed to the ideals envisaged in the context of a rapidly changing world. In operational terms, the Agenda 2063 would be a rolling plan of 25 years, 10 years, 5 years and short term action.

Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in its 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration, rededicated themselves to the continent’s accelerated development and technological progress and laid down the vision and eight ideals to serve as pillars for the continent in the foreseeable future.

They mandated the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) to collaborate with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Development Bank (AfDB) and NEPAD Agency to develop Agenda 2063 through a people-driven and extensive consultation process.

Sharing her thoughts on “Leveraging Pension Funds for Financing Infrastructure

Development in Africa” in one of the discussion panels, she said PenCom is committed to the vision and ideals of the AU Agenda 2063 and would promote the investment of accumulated pension fund assets within the continent.

“PenCom is committed to promote sustainable pension fund investments on the African continent and welcomes the AU Agenda 2063 as well as the Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA). It would project same through the annual World Pension Summit (WPS) ‘Africa Special’ in collaboration with the WPS Amsterdam,” Anohu-Amazu said.

Speaking on the Contributory Pension Scheme, the Director General, who expressed dissatisfaction with the level of coverage of the scheme eleven years after it was established; said the Commission hopes to raise the coverage using the Micro-pension initiative, which it planned to launch very soon.

“The current position of 6.5 million contributors is low relative to estimated working population. There is plan to expand it to at least 20 million by 2019 through Micro Pensions. This is pertinent also due to inadequate social safety nets. This is a Pan-African issue that should provoke ideas sharing,” AnohuAmazu said.

She asserted that the Nigerian pension reform represents a major action in Domestic Revenue Mobilisation (DRM), an AU policy that stemmed from the realisation that Africa should take responsibility and indeed possess the resources, if properly mobilised, for its own economic development. This reform is mobilising funds which hitherto were untapped, she stressed.

“Applying these pension funds to economic development is being pursued through initiatives on infrastructure and real estate investments domestically. There is also ample room in the near future for same to be extended to viable African investments,” she assured.

Send comments & enquiries to insuranceandyou@yahoo.com C M Y K

WORKSHOP: From left, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr. Fatai Adegbenro; Chairman, Lagos Area Committee of NCRIB, Mr. Ayo Akande; NCRIB President, Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu and Director of Insurance Services, Lagos State, Mr. Gbenga Oluwole at the LAC mid year workshop, in Lagos.

You have right to demand for genuine insurance certificate Stories by Rosemary Onuoha

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VER 11.5 million vehicles ply Nigeria roads; however, only about 3 million of these vehicles carry genuine insurance certificates.

This sad situation has compelled operators in the insurance industry to initiate various strategies to ensure that issuance of fake insurance certificates is nipped in the bud. Therefore as a vehicle owner, you have the right to demand for genuine insurance certificates when you need one.

Insurance operators under the auspices of the Nigeria Insurers Association, NIA, have partnered the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Police and Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) on the Nigeria Insurance Industry Database (NIID) in order to nip issuance of fake insurance certificates in the bud.

The collaborating with security agencies is to rid the industry of fake papers. So far the platform has captured over 3 million vehicles and the association is launching the project in collaboration with state governments.

Recall that the NIID is an electronic platform designed by the NIA to store data of insured vehicles, aid verification of genuine policies and curb the menace of fake insurance certificates.

With the NIID, a motorist can send SMS to 33125 with policy number or vehicle plate

number or visit the NIID website to verify genuineness of his or her vehicle insurance papers.

According to the NIA, the current effort represents a steady improvement, considering the fact that NIA uploaded about 300,000 policies when the database kicked off in 2011. The association had deployed over 25 gadgets to VIOs in Ogun State to verify vehicles in the state through the NIID so as to speed up the patronage of genuine motor insurance policy.

Unfortunately, some experts believe that low government patronage and low awareness on insurance are some of the

With the NIID, a motorist can send SMS to 33125 with policy number or vehicle plate number or visit the NIID website to verify genuineness of his or her vehicle insurance papers

Niger Insurance grosses N11.1bn written premium

By Favour Nnabugwu

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iger Insurance Plc has reported a gross premium written of N11.06 billion in 2014 as against N10.44 billion recorded in 2013, representing a growth of 5.95 percent.

The company’s Chairman, Bala Zakariya’u at the 45th annual general meeting of the organisation in Sokoto on Wednesday, said the group profit after tax rose to N690.96 million in 2014 from N627.42 million in 2013 in spite of the challenges in the operating environment.

The management’s ability to cut costs also helped to increase the profit as management expenses

reduced by 29.27 percent from N4.68 billion in 2013 to N3.31 billion in 2014.

He also informed that the net premium income of the underwriting outfit increased by about 1.45 percent to N9.79 billion in 2014 from N9.65 billion in 2013.

Niger Insurance is increasing equity in the business and also improving on its insurance fund as investment income grew by 46 percent to N1.15 billion in 2014 from N790.54 million in 2013.

Zakariyau explained that the growth in investment income was due to strict implementation of NAICOM directives on “No Premium No Cover Policy” from January 1, 2014. The policy aims to stimulate liquidity within the system by reducing the huge receivables

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

challenges confronting NIID project but are confident that when government at all levels abide by the compulsory insurance scheme, which motor insurance is part of the database will robustly expose those with fake papers.

However, on the positive side, low insurance penetration rates, good growth prospects, a relatively stable political climate and an improving regulatory landscape, is making Nigeria to fast becoming a country of interest for foreign investors seeking to capitalise on untapped insurance demand.

Experts are of the opinion that domestic players are increasingly reassessing their strategies to achieve rapid growth and are likely to consider consolidation as a means to achieve further expansion. In the past two years, the industry has witnessed the entrance of a number of foreign players into the market.

However, international investors targeting Nigeria will need to remain mindful of the inherent challenges overshadowing the insurance market, including the uncertain economic environment. While the existing retail portfolios of domestic players may be considered attractive as these lines of business are relatively untapped, significant investment is required to establish strong distribution channels to enable insurers to build sufficient scale. This will require investors to have a long-term view of their positions in the market.

being carried on the statement of financial position of insurance companies.

A dividend payment of 3.5 kobo per 50 kobo share amounting to N270.88 million was approved by the shareholders at the yearly meeting. He added that Niger Insurance has been intensifying payment of claims to clients as its claims ratio increased to 37.88 percent in 2014 from 35.72 percent in 2013.Claims expenses in 2014 was N4.19 billion, representing an increase of 12.33 percent compared to N3.72 billion recorded in 2014.

Going forward, he said the company is determined to give more attention to the retail segment of the industry which is less volatile and diversify its investments portfolio, review and revamp product offerings.

He further assured that the organisation would hasten formation of new local and international alliances to further consolidate its position in the industry.

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CE & YOU

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As a vehicle owner, you have the right to demand for genuine insurance certificates when you need one

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Inadequate coverage, others plague contributory pension scheme

I

nadequate coverage of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), dearth of investment products, inadequate technological capacity as well as inadequate knowledge and skills on the part of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to conduct due diligence on developmental projects are some of the operational and regulatory challenges facing the pension industry in the country.

Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu pointed out these challenges during the side event at the justconcluded 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Sharing her thoughts on “Leveraging Pension Funds for Financing Infrastructure Development in Africa� in one of the discussion panels she noted that PenCom supervises and regulates the pension industry through regulations and guidelines, while the operators including PFAs and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) manage, secure and administer pension fund assets.

Some of the major challenges facing the Nigerian pension industry at the current stage of its evolution, according to her, have to do with the coverage of the CPS. She said the Commission hopes to raise the number of Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders from 6.5 million this year to 20 million in the next four year with the introduction of Micropension. “Current position of 6.5 million contributors is low

relative to estimated working population. There is plan to expand to at least 20 million by 2019 through micro pensions. It is pertinent also due to inadequate social safety nets. This is a Pan-African issue that should provoke ideas sharing,� she said.

The Director General also lamented the dearth of

investment products, particularly those that meet the strict criteria resulting in low activity in spite of pension funds availability. She blamed this on inadequate local expertise to structure and manage infrastructure funds within acceptable risk profile, adding that opportunities for partnership abound across

African nations where this expertise exists.

Mrs. Anohu-Amazu also complained about inadequate technological capacity to assure integrity of database of pension contributors, which she said is a prerequisite to some major initiatives such as transfer of RSAs between PFAs.

NAICOM releases guidelines for market conduct, business practices provisions of section 49 (1) of

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he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has released guidelines for Market Conduct and Business Practice for all insurance institutions in the country.

Commissioner for Insurance (CFI) Mr. Fola Daniel, represented by the Director of

Authorisation and Policy Directorate (NAICOM), Mr Piu Agboola, presented the guidelines at the 2015 Maiden Insurance Mega Conference in Abuja. The CFI said the Commission was releasing the guidelines in exercise of the power conferred on it by

National Insurance Commission Act 1997.

According to Daniel, the release of such guidelines is the beginning of Risked Based Supervision in insurance industry of Nigeria.

He said the guidelines were partly an extract from the World Bank Risk Based

AGM: From left, Mr. K. Sanathkumar, Director, Prestige Assurance Plc; Dr. Balla Swamy, Managing Director and Mr. Gopalan Srinivasan, Chairman during the 45th Annual General Meeting of the company in Lagos.

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Supervision. Daniels said the guidelines, among others, set out the framework for fair policies procedures and effective claims management.

They also include trade practices and fair treatment of customers, operations, pricing, commission and associated returns as well as foreign facultative reinsurance placement by brokers.

Others are appointment, operation, expansion and documentation, registration requirements, accounts, returns and International Financial Reporting Standard harmonisation.

24 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Investors to trade FCMB’s N26bn bond on FMDQ platform Babajide Komolafe & Peter Egwuatu

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NVESTORS can now buy and sell the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited N26 billion bond on the trading platform of the Financial Market Dealers Quote (FMDQ).

The bond, which will mature in 2021 with a fixed annual interest rate of 14.25 percent, was the first to be issued under the N100 billion debt issuance programme of the bank.

FCMB Capital Markets Limited, the investment banking subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc, is the issuing house and sponsor of the bond.

Speaking during the listing ceremony, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of FCMB Limited, Mr. Ladi Balogun, said that

‘’The significance of listing the FCMB bond on the FMDQ platform is hinged on the availability of a readily accessible liquid market to the bondholders, where the value of their investments can easily be determined and monitored on a daily basis. It also provides a platform to realise their investment when necessary’’.

He added that, ‘’the N26 billion Series 1, 7-Year 14.25 per cent Fixed Rate Unsecured Bond, provides a long term capital that will help us to reinforce our commitment to our customers’’.

Balogun commended FMDQ’s efforts towards creating more depth in the Nigerian debt market, while applauding the platform’s seamless processes and its drive to achieve market transparency by deploying technology driven

initiatives. He stated that the proceeds of the bond will be used in strengthening its capital base, enhancing its capital adequacy ratio, expanding its distribution channels and infrastructure as well as growing its risk assets with a view to enhancing income.

In his comment, the Executive Director of FCMB Capital Markets Limited, Mr. Tolu Osinibi, said that, ‘’in a relatively short space of time, FMDQ is clearly demonstrating significant value-add in improving the dynamism, efficiency and sophistication of Nigeria's growing fixed income market.

The contribution of the FMDQ platform to improving market information, liquidity and transparency is already proven.

MEETING: From left, Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement, Securities and

Exchange Commission, SEC, Sa’adatu Bello; Director General, SEC, Nigeria, Mounir Gwarzo and Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services, SEC, Zakawanu Garuba during the 2nd quarter Capital Market Committee, CMC, meeting, in Lagos.

Union Bank records 53 % growth in profit

By Peter Egwuatu

U

nion Bank Plc has sustained its profitability drive as it recorded 53 per cent growth in Profit Before Tax, PBT for the first half result ended June 30, 2015.

The bank’s result released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE shows that PBT increased by 53 per cent to N10.2 billion as against N6.6 billion in the corresponding period of 2014.

The Group Profit before Tax and gain on subsidiary grew up from N2.7billion in H1, 2014 to N7.1billion in H1 2015; Loan book up by 17 per cent compared to December 2014; Cost income ratio continues to improve in the respected banking franchises in Nigeria Commenting on the 2015 half year results, Mr. Emeka Emuwa, Managing Director/ C M Y K

CEO of Union Bank Plc, said “The successful implementation and migration to a new banking platform, Oracle FlexCube UBS, has provided a more stable operating environment for us to serve customers and process routine transactions quicker

Our gross earnings grew by 17 per cent in the first half of 2015 compared to H1 , 2014

and more efficiently. In spite of economic headwinds and regulatory changes impacting the financial industry, Union Bank remains on a stable growth trajectory as we implement initiatives to grow our core banking segments.

Our gross earnings grew by 17 per cent in the first half of 2015 compared to H1-2014, and notwithstanding the significant volatility across the macro-economic landscape, the bank delivered PBT of N10.2 billion, a 53 per cent increase over the same period in 2014. Excluding the gain on the sale of subsidiaries, the Bank delivered Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N6.7 billion, a 134 per cent increase over the first half of 2014. Deposits also continue to move in the right direction with 8 per cent growth when compared to December 2014.

A building contractor’s liability and a structural engineer’s liability

A

BOUT 43 years ago, I trav elled through Bida, then in North-Western State and now in Niger State, on my way by road from Lagos to Kaduna.

I was struck by one person’s attempt to achieve a building structure with a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor plus roof using mud walls and timber for the floor levels and the roof structure.

I observed that partial collapse of the building had occurred from the second floor to the ground floor. There are quite a number of buildings in Western Nigeria with a ground floor, a first floor plus roof using mud walls and timber for the first floor and the roof.

These buildings have been in use for several years and I am aware of one such building which is more than 70years in use. The attempt in Bida to put up a mud building with a second floor was audacious, the attempt failed for reasons on which I shall not speculate here.

Modern building construction uses concrete, steel reinforcement and blocks for the walls made from sand and Portland cement. The principles and practice for the use of these materials are well-established and buildings using these materials should give more than a life time of service.

The collapse of modern buildings, especially with a resultant loss of lives, is avoidable. There is in this country a constitutional right to life, safety and security of persons and government has a duty to put in place measures that would uphold these rights for all citizens.

The Coroners’ System Law 2007 of Lagos State is one such measure. The law provides for a Chief Coroner who is a serving Judge of the High Court and

The Coroner, while investigating the circumstances of the death of any person, may require the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to perform a postmortem examination on the body and to make a report.

for Coroners who should be Magistrates not below Magistrate Grade I. The law provides for a report of death to be made to the appropriate authorities or to the office of the Coroner if the death is violent, unnatural or suspicious; accidental or misadventured; due to an industrial disease, accident at work or industrial poisoning amongst other causes of death.

The Coroner, while investigating the circumstances of the death of any person, may require the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to perform a post-mortem examination on the body and to make a report.

The Coroner shall hold an inquest and shall take evidence on oath.

Evidence on oath The Coroner can, as a result of the inquest, make an order for the arrest of a person for investigation by the appropriate authority if in the Coroner’s opinion sufficient grounds have been disclosed for making a charge against the person. Subsequent to the Coroner’s conclusion of an inquest, the Chief Coroner may examine the record of any such proceedings for the purpose of satisfying himself/herself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any finding or verdict and as to the regularity of such proceedings.

There was during the past year the unfortunate incident of a building collapse in the Ikotun area of Lagos State with the resultant loss of lives. This column at that time stated that we should follow the judicial route in order to unravel the mysteries surrounding this building collapse such that we have an opportunity to learn from our mistakes. A Coroner’s inquest into the death of persons at this building site has recently issued its findings.

The Coroner provides the identities of the dead persons and the cause of death of each person with the exception of a few persons who remain unidentified. One of the significant findings of the Coroner is that there should be investigations of the roles of the building contractor and a structural engineer associated with the building project in the events leading to the death of persons at this building site.

TO BE CONTINUED

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—25

only industry we have in Bayelsa state is Government House. If you are shut out of Government House for four years, of course, I am sure your guess will be as good as mine. So, the struggle here is to always to be in government.

But what about the aggrieved PDP members that were expelled?

Now as long as you are a product of a party, the party is supreme. If you are a product of that system, you must respect that party. If you sabotage the party, the party has a mechanism to discipline erring members.

There should be no sentiment about this. Some of them that were expelled did not do well.

From evidence available, they sponsored opposition parties against their own party and no party will accept that. Again as elders, we have intervened and those decisions have to be reviewed, and very shortly, too.

Working committee

•Alamieyeseigha: Governor Dickson, has done well

I've learnt my lessons for good — ALAMIEYESEIGHA •The North/Southwest alliance will always dominate Nigeria FORMER Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Elders Committee in his native Bayelsa State in this interview, reviews contemporary political developments in the state and affirms that the alliance between the North and Southwest will never benefit his Ijaw people. He also narrates how late President Umaru Yar’Adua saved his (Alamieyeseigha’s) life among other issues. Excerpts

By Samuel Oyadonga

D

O you think recent defections will affect the PDP during the forthcoming governorship election?

Again, I think our people need to be educated, I can tell you that I was one of them in 2003 that formed Action Congress. At that time, it was becoming clear that President Olusegun Obasanjo, was going to chase most of us out of PDP, so we came together.

About 18 of us. We said let us register a party and keep it in case President Obasanjo pushed us out of the party. We can have a platform to actualize our dream.

Also at that time, Obasanjo had cajoled the Southwest governors out of their seats. He deceived them. Bola Tinubu was very clever, he foresaw what Obasanjo

was trying to do, so he was the only one that survived because the agreement was that all the Southwest governors should all support him so that he will return them as governors for second term.

Obasanjo’s election came first and he deceived them. Obasanjo himself, very cunning, formed Accord Party. When you hear of Accord, it’s Obasanjo’s party.

Severance allowance Tinubu provided the secretariat for the Action Congress, I, Alamieyeseigha, attached my Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief T.K.O Okorotie, to that secretariat to put papers together. We invited Chief Tom Ikimi, to be the arrow head and

he registered that party for us. It is that AC that transformed into ACN and the present APC. So, there is nothing happening in APC today that I don’t know and they are the same people that are being recycled. So, my people should not be deceived. Politics is local.

And the whole thing is about self-interest. It is either they have not been given appointment, their severance allowance during Timipre Sylva administration has not been paid or they were not picked as candidates in the last general elections. Then I asked the question, must it always be you?

It is not right. Leadership is a relay race. You complete your assignment you hand over to another person. It cannot always be you alone every time. There is time for everything, so

basically that is the problem. By the time we go into the party primaries all the noise you are hearing will die down, because it is only one candidate that the party will present. APC will present one candidate. APGA will present one candidate. By then, they will better appreciate the political environment.

The expectations are high because we don’t have any industry in the state. Even the market woman at Swali Market will tell you how much is coming into the state every month. So the

I am not doing anything that is income generating per se. I am also not begging anybody for help. I am contented with the little pension I receive. I am a man with a contented heart

We shall review them, the working committee will sit down and review it on individual basis.

Some of them will be reprimanded, while some will be admonished. And at the end of the day, I think the matter will be resolved amicably.

Would you say Governor Dickson has done enough to deserve a second term?

Governor Dickson, has done well, what I have seen on ground in the last three years in the state is very encouraging.

Our problems has been the continuation of policies and programme of government. I served this state for six and a half years, Goodluck came in, served one year, the remaining six months he was campaigning for the office of the Vice President, Governor Timipre Sylva came in.

Of course I didn’t see anything visible on ground, I am not castigating him, but you could walk from Igbogene to Swali Market, I did not see anything that was added to what I left behind, even to complete the project I started was a problem. I feel very bitter when you come to government with good intention, you start a project for the good of the people and that project is abandoned.

So that period I think was a setback. Dickson has come in, we can now drive to places that were impossible before and we can see changes.

Are you worried by the strong followership the APC is drawing from the youths?

This state is a PDP state, we the elders will not allow foreign bedfellows take over this state.

An Ijaw man has never been conquered, we would not allow it to happen. You can call it any name. Weather they come from the Southwest, whether they come from the North to conquer Continues from page 26

26—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

•Emeakayi: Anambra PDP chairman

•Metuh: PDP National Publicity Secretary

•Abonyi: Conducted Anambra PDP congress

ANAMBRA PDP: A New beginning •As Emeakayi emerges state chairman MAJOR stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Anambra State put aside their historical differences last Saturday to enthrone a new state executive of the party. The notable exceptions were Chief Chris Uba and Comrade Tony Nwoye.

By Vincent Ujumadu

F

OR the first time since the current democratic dispensation, the Anambra State branch of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, held a peaceful congress, with most of the major stakeholders in the state participating directly or indirectly and ensuring that their foot soldiers formed part of the 27 – member state executive committee.

The only PDP group that stayed away was that loyal to Chief Tony Nwoye, the party’s governorship candidate in the 2013 election in the state and even at that, the group did not interfere with the process.

Expectedly, Prince Kenneth Emeakayi from Anambra South senatorial zone, who was the former state chairman of the party and who was supported by the national publicity secretary of

With the new leadership of the party on ground, the next task facing it is the unification of all the members to bring everybody was on board

PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, emerged the state chairman.

Though Emeakayi was the only aspirant for the position, the delegates from all the 326 wards who were elected during the

ward and local government congresses conducted earlier last week, still cast their votes as required by the party’s guidelines. At the end of the exercise, Emeakayi polled 958

votes, while nine votes were voided. The administrative secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the state, Mr. Godfrey Nsofor and other officials from the

commission monitored the congress.

Before the congress, Nwoye and his group held series of press conferences calling for the postponement of the exercise to give aspirants more time to purchase and complete their nomination forms. Nwoye’s reason was that the national

Continues on page 27

I 've learnt my lessons for good — ALAMIEYESEIGHA Continues from page 32 us.

If anybody tells you as an Ijaw man that these people love you, it’s a lie. I know them and they know me too.

The South-west and the North if they come together they will continue to produce the president of this country for life. We have no hope, so we must consolidate on what we have here.

We cannot afford to fall into that trap. We will perpetually be slaves to the bigger tribes. We should protect what belongs to us, we shall not allow our young men to be brainwashed.

This country must be restructured. We must practice true federalism, otherwise these people will continue to exploit us.

We had a President from here.

They just decided to take it back, and they took it. Is that the system the young people want to run into? What will even the Federal Government do to you if you decide to stay where you are. You are receiving allocation from the federation account, the federal government is equally receiving its share, what do you expect from them? Is it not better to utilize

what you have received and be able to be ingenious enough to attract investors to develop your local economy, than depending on the federal government? The whole thing is deceptive. What they did not get from the 13% derivation, they are getting through the back door through the local government system?

There is no federation in the world where local government is a federating unit.

Don’t be afraid, this youth population you are talking about.

They have leaders that control them. It is like my humble self, going to Amassoma and I say this is the direction we are going, which of my children will stand up and say no? They will follow my direction.

How has it been since you left office almost 10 years ago?

The Lord, Almighty God is Holy and has sustained me and my family effortlessly. Though the challenges are always there, but if you are serving God you don’t need to be worried about tomorrow. He has always sustained me. I am not doing anything that is income generating per se. I am also, not

begging anybody for help. I am contented with the little pension I receive. I am a man with a contented heart. I am always happy. My family has not also complaining.

Little pension This earth, where we are is a workshop. So, it is expected we must pass through certain experiences in life. I have learnt my lessons for good, a leader must also be capable of enduring pains when it comes. You can never have comfort all the time.

If what happened to me, if it were today I would have known how to handle it better.

So many things happened anytime I sit down and recollect some of these things I laugh over them. I thank God, I would not have been here talking to you, I would have been a dead man because several attempts were made to eliminate me. But thank God I am alive today and I also thank late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who saw it coming and called as a president and saved my life.

He said “Ganuwa Katsina” they will kill you, if you think anything will happen, nothing will happen. He said weeks after your death, your people will make noise. After, it is the same your people that will send CV’s for appointment and that will be the end of you.

This Nigeria, don’t argue with any body, if it requires removing your dress so to set your self free come out of it. I did not sign any paper that set me free, they signed everything by themselves, they took everything I had, I came out of detention with only N500. Everything I had since I was born was taken away from me.

Even this house we are in now, if it were located outside Bayelsa State it would have been taken away from me. They couldn’t try it because they would not have been comfortable in it, my people were ready to protect it. It is good, we are alive to be telling these stories so that the younger ones who have not experience these things will learn from our experience.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—27

How God, US made me — BUHARI

By Garba Shehu

S

HORTLY after the August 1983 military coup that brought a 40-year-old Muhammadu Buhari to power, he received a phone call from a top personnel in the United States Army. General Smith was the Commandant of the U.S. War College from which General Buhari graduated in 1980. The school’s 1979 set had graduated its first Nigerian, General Wushishi, who was the Chief of Defence in the just ousted Shehu government.

“Please, be kind to him,” General Smith said over the phone. The essence of the phone call was not just to congratulate Nigeria’s new Head of State, but to ensure that the first Nigerian to graduate from the U.S. War College would not suffer any indignity under the government of the second Nigerian to graduate from the same school.

Former classmates On Wednesday, July 22, members of the U.S. War College Class of 1980 gathered at the Blair House in Washington, DC, to welcome the man they had selected as their football team referee 36 years ago. “Being referee all those years ago taught me to be fair and just,” President Buhari said during the meeting.

Among the former classmates gathered were Lt. General Granrud (Commander of the U.S. forces in Japan Rtd), Brigadier General Jack Pellica,

of the collapse of the Soviet Union, breaking into 18 republics and how that influenced his decision to join politics.

“The collapse of the Soviet empire in 1980 without a single shot being fired convinced that the multi-party democratic system was the best for all countries.”

President Buhari then expressed appreciation to President Barack Obama and to the U.S. for the role the country played in Nigeria’s successful elections, recalling Secretary of State, John Kerry’s visit to him and to former president Goodluck Jonathan, as well as to Attahiru Jega, the electoral commissioner at the time.

The Class of 1980 gave President Buhari the full assurances of their support, stating that they were willing to use their experience to assist him in any way they can, particularly with tackling terrorism in northeast Nigeria

Electoral commissioner

took a wrong turn in Nigeria,” he said. “Your records no longer mattered.”

Some of the former classmates present at the meeting stated that at the time they met President Buhari back in 1980, they knew little about Nigeria or Africa.

They credited the Nigerian leader with giving them their initial enlightenment about the continent. Others recalled how he always overworked himself.

However, President Buhari described his war college experience as being responsible for his subsequent life of hard work, endurance and perseverance. “I contested for president three times and failed,” he said. “Then I did it the fourth time and won.” A roar of laughter followed the president’s apt illustration.

He then rendered his narrative

“Kerry read the riot act to all of us,” he said, “saying that the conduct of the election must be free, fair and in line with the Constitution.” He added that, without US intervention, the electoral malpractices of the past twelve years would likely have happened again. “God made me but America made me,” he said.

The Class of 1980 gave President Buhari the full assurances of their support, stating that they were willing to use their experience to assist him in any way they can, particularly with tackling terrorism in northeast Nigeria. They promised to put together and forward to him a compendium of their thoughts on the security situation in Nigeria.

In September, President Buhari will be meeting once again with his former classmates, at another event scheduled to take place at the United Nations.

•Garba is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

the team that conducted it. In the past, we all heard of stories of how those who came to conduct congresses in this state were smuggled out of the state at night for fear of being attacked by rival groups in the party.

According to him, the desire of the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, is to set up the party’s structure in Anambra State because the state was not being represented at the various meetings convened by the party.

Even though Abonyi explained that the national secretariat of the party had constituted a three – man appeal committee to entertain protest from aggrieved members of the party over the conduct of the congress, the chairman of the appeal committee, Mr. Collette Odenigbo, told reporters that there were no protests from any quarter, an indication that most members were happy with the outcome of the exercise. Other

members of the appeal committee were Alhaji Nuhu Sani and Mr. Buchi Ndiokwere.

Odenigbo said: “We made ourselves available since the commencement of the congresses on 21st July, 2015, but as we are talking, there was no complaint from any quarter. For this reason, we are going back feeling satisfied that Anambra people accepted the outcome of the congress.”

With the new leadership of the party on ground, the next task facing it is the unification of all the members to bring everybody was on board.

Political watchers had always admitted that PDP remained the strongest political party in Anambra State, but its problem had been the inability for the party to get its acts together.

The feeling of many delegates at the congress was that if the situation remains as it is, PDP will be the political party to beat during the next governorship election coming up late in 2017.

•Buhari: President General Ronald Griffith (Former Vice Chairman of the U.S. army central command ), Colonel Lany Gordon and Colonel Paul Summerville. General Smith has since passed on, as have all the directing staff and a larger percentage of the old students from the set. “This just shows that all of us are on the queue,” President Buhari said, “waiting for our turn.”

The Nigerian Commander-inChief said he hoped that the U.S. would continue its tradition of training Nigerians in the war college. At the time he attended the school, he was the only African in his class. The only other foreigners were from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, France and Japan. The Japanese student went on to become the head of his country’s army.

President Buhari then went on

to update his classmates on his life since he last saw them: his different appointments, his accomplishments and his family. “I have just received my 13th grandchild,” he said.

He added that the wife they knew him with at the time had since died, and that he had also lost a son and a daughter from his new wife. “Of all my eight children,” he said, “only one is a boy.” Some of his former classmates were curious to know if President Buhari would place his only son, Yusuf, in the army.

“I stopped him from joining the army,” President Buhari replied.

He explained that the military he joined was very different from what it is today, adding that he was the second Nigerian to be sent to the U.S. War College— based on his records alone, without connections. “Things

ANAMBRA PDP: A New beginning Continues from page 26 secretariat of the party did not give enough time, as the notice for the congress was published on a Thursday and election fixed for the following Tuesday, with the two working days in between - Friday and Monday - being public holidays for the celebration of Edel Fitri.

Similarly, some of the stakeholders allegedly tried to stop the exercise via the courts, but were unsuccessful and therefore decided to team up with the Metuh group.

Metuh, it was gathered, was able to convince the major stakeholders at a meeting held at his Nnewi country home before the state congress, that the cap for the state chairman fitted Emeakayi properly as he was seen as the best grassroots politician in the state capable of mobilizing the people anytime, anywhere for the party.

He was also said to have

informed them that having been a consistent PDP stakeholder since the formation of the party, he was the only person capable of reaching out to both his admirers and aggrieved members of the party to unite for the great task ahead.

With most of them agreeing with Metuh, the next issue was allocation of positions to supporters of the stakeholders, which was also successfully done. So, while Metuh himself produced the state chairman, former Governor Peter Obi produced the state secretary in the person of Chief Joe Martins Uzodike, while Senator Andy Uba produced Chief Egwuoyibo Okoye, who emerged the financial secretary.

Similarly, Senator Stella Oduah produced the deputy chairman, Mr. Goddy Ejiofor, while Senator Uche Ekwunife was said to have nominated Mr. Mike Ikebundu, who was elected the vice

chairman for Anambra Central.

That was how the 27 members of the state executive committee emerged and all the people who were present at the state congress were happy for the first time in the history of Anambra PDP. The large number of security operatives, including over 100 well- armed policemen, who were around to maintain peace, had little or nothing to do as the exercise went on smoothly.

Smooth exercise Chairman of the five –man congress committee led by Mr. Ike Abonyi, a veteran journalist from Enugu State, was elated that he was in charge during such a smooth exercise.

He said: “I am aware that this is the first time Anambra State PDP witnessed a peaceful congress and I am lucky to lead

28—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

DIARY zGartner

Symposium/ ITxpo 2015 Cape Town, South Africa November 812, 2015

Preview Woof Washer cleans dog in 60 seconds

•Eugene Juwah, EVC, NCC

Don’t bandy figures without facts, NCC blasts critics U

NLESS you’re lucky enough to have a dog that enjoys being sprayed, scrubbed, and rinsed, chances are, giving them a bath isn’t a fun chore.

While using the Woof Washer 360 probably isn’t fun, either, it should make the work involved during your pet’s bath time a whole lot easier.

A ring-shaped dog shower, it lets you bathe your dog by simply moving the hoop through the length of their body.

That’s it. No scrubbing necessary, so as long as you can calm your pet down long enough to run the hoop all the way through, they can get a proper bath.

C M Y K

•Says you misunderstand our role •We’re not empowered to jail erring telecom operators

By Prince Osuagwu

A

GAINST the backdrop of several criticisms that the Nigerian Communications Commission treats telecom operators with kid gloves in regards to their poor quality of service, the commission has advised its critics to study the Act of law that guides the commission’s activities.

Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Mr Tony Ojobo, as guest of some radio programs in the South – South and South East geopolitical zones of the country, recently, explained that

I N S I D E

there are limitations to the actions the commission could take against operators, based on the law that established it.

According to Ojobo, apart from its core functions of ensuring robust regulation of telecommunication service providers who are encouraged to treat the subscriber as king, the NCC is often seen by some critics as a law enforcement agency that should perhaps arrest and prosecute erring operators.

He said the critics, for selfish reasons, even bandy unfounded statistics just to lower the high standards and template the

You can build strong social media marketing campaign PAGE 29

commission has set in African, if not the world telecommunications regulation methods.

The NCC as a regulator of choice in Africa carries on its mandate according to the NCC Act of 2003

Give us more broadband or nothing, stakeholders tell government PAGE 31

“But this should not be so. The NCC as a regulator of choice in Africa carries on its mandate according to the NCC Act of 2003 with several regulatory templates and guidelines.

That is why we have embarked on the current phone-in-live program on radio stations across the country to explain to everybody in an interactive format what our activities and our limits are.”

What does the NCC do?

“The Nigerian Communication Commission is the agency of Government that is responsible for regulating the Telecommunication Industry and our role includes licensing of all Telecommunication Operators, including vendors of telecommunication equipment, it also includes Type Approval of telecommunication equipment and devices including cellphones. The NCC Type-Approves all of these kinds of equipment. The Commission’s functions also include Consumer Education, Consumer information and Consumer Protection, setting up of standards for

Continues on page 36

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—29

You can build strong social media marketing campaign

By Agbolade Omowole

S

OCIAL media marketing is one of the most effective tools in closing the sale and maximizing profit in the 21st century. To achieve maximum return on investment, you may apply the following rules: Define your ideal client: the first step in ensuring your message gets to end users is to determine their demographics: age, sex and location among others. Once you have defined your ideal client, you have to build your products and services to suit their taste. You should use their colours and their language.

Master the art of insinuation: purchse decisions are made in the sub conscious mind. To get people to place order on your products and services, you need to learn how to plant seeds in their minds. If you plant the seed of interest in your prospect’s mind, it

will germinate into purchase decisions.

Teach about your products/ services on social media: socrates system of persuasion includes the ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos is about credibility. If you always write insightful posts on a particular topic on social media, you gain more credibility in that area.

Advertise - Facebook’s adverts go a long way because it can be targeted. By getting the right message across to your prospect, you will get maximum result. If you want to win and attract

new customers for your business, start by creating a Facebook fan page, invite all your friends to like your page, the make some insightful posts and promote your website and Facebook fan page.

Make your hashtag trend on Twitter: if you are on twitter, trending hashtags are always on the middle left hand corner when you view on desktop or laptop computer. A twitter hashtag that trends will be seen by as many as 10million users from various part of the country. That’s huge visibility for you. Repetition: to get the maximum result, repeat your campaign, such as trending on twitter and Facebook adverts, weekly for a minimum of 3months.

There are a lot of marketing messages hitting your targets on a daily,weekly and monthly basis. You have to repeat your message consistently to get them to make that purchase decision.

Is the internet making infidelity easier?

recent report, 72% of men and 68% of women will cheat if they knew they would not get caught. And with a secure password, and thousands of sites to choose from, they just might have the opportunity.

A 2013 study estimates that there are more than 2,500 online dating services in the U.S. alone, with 1,000 new online dating services opening every year.

Online affairs •Infidelity

By Laju Iren IFE is short. Have an affair. This is the slogan of the recently hacked online dating website, Ashley Madison which specifically targets married people who want to cheat on their spouses.

It might sound incredible, but this is a legitimate business with a very large following.

Even in Nigeria. Online statistics reveal that about 680 Nigerians like Ashley Madison on Facebook. The actual number of registered users from this country may be revealed if the hackers, who call themselves The Impact Team live up to their threat.

L

They claim to have personal details of more than 37 million cheating spouses on the site and have threatened to release customers’ real names, credit card details, nude photos and sexual fantasies of the site’s clients unless it is shut down.

Although the number of registered Nigerian users on the site is not available, at least not yet, Nigerians constitute 1.8 % of the website’s Facebook fan base.

This may not be much to go by considering the fact infidelity is a largely private thing. In fact, with the internet, infidelity is becoming more and more private. According to a

Some estimates say there are 8.000 competitors worldwide.According to a 2005 study of 1,828 Web users in Sweden, the prevalence of cybersex and online affairs cannot be swept under the carpet. Over thirty percent of the participants reported cybersexual experiences, and people in committed relationships were just as likely to engage in cybersex as those who were single. However, while men’s interest in cybersex decreased with age, women’s interest increased slightly, with 37 percent of women age 35 to 49 reporting cybersexual experiences compared with only a quarter of men in the same age group.

Common mistakes that keep web traffic down

By Laju Iren

I

f you run a website or a blog, there is a currency that you desire above all else. You might have the best materials, the most sizzling pictures and the hottest videos…but if you don’t have the traffic to match, you might as well invest your money and time in something else entirely.

That might seem harsh.

After all, like the biblical lamp that should not be put under a bushel, no one uploads something online except he wants people to read it. However some common mistakes make it seem like that some bloggers and website proprietors want the exact opposite.

One common mistake is when adverts get in the way of what you are trying to say. There is no gainsaying the fact that online advertising is here to stay.

Virtually everything on the internet is free, but more often than not, it costs something to put it there.

Advertising is the only way

many online companies, blogs and sites, stand any chance at making their money back, and with the boom in the new media business, this has the potential of being a billiondollar chance-one that good entrepreneurs do not want to pass by. However, online ads can sometimes backfire. When your ad won’t let users gain access to your page until it is viewed, readers are very likely to seek for information someone else. Even worse, some websites ensure that you watch a video before you can access the site. One of such sites, which starts playing a video ad as soon as you get there, actually has a quote: “Exit this video if you can,” the proponents might think it funny, but precious data charges are added to the consumers account. Anyone who pays as much as the average Nigeria does for data will not go back to such a site in a hurry. The idea is to make sure that your ads don’t keep readers from your site, because that would mean less traffic and inadvertently, less advertising revenue.

Spectranet launches new website A

s part of efforts to give customers value for their money, spectranet 4G LTE has launched a new website, www.spectranet.com.ng to enhance effective and efficient broadband service delivery in the Nigeria.

The company’s Head of Marketing, Mr. Mike Ogor, recently at the launching of the website in Lagos, said there is need for more customers to get reliable information with a brand that is faster, smarter and reliable.

Ogor assured that the new website would keep customers abreast of the products and services including promotional offers, noting that it offers subscribers a selfhelp information centre.

“It saves customers time from calling customer care as most questions such as how to renew data plans, enjoy monthly rollover, use access devices and many more are all answered on the website.

The company says it has introduced an amazing offer of 30GB for every new modem purchased on the network and existing subscribers also get to enjoy rollover of unused data to the next month, he emphasised.

30—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—31

Give us more broadband or nothing, stakeholders tell govt

By Emmanuel Elebeke

D

issatisfied with the snail speed at which broadband penetration is going in the system, stakeholders in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), have urged the Federal Government to expedite action creating the enabling environment that would spur faster deployment of the needed backbone infrastructure for increased access to broadband.

The stakeholders made their position known at the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum 2015 held in Abuja recently.

They regretted that Nigeria has been lagging behind in terms of exploring her full potentials due to inadequate access to broadband internet, which they say could leapfrog Nigeria into super power in innovation and invention of technologies.

According to them, what Nigeria need is broadband access to transform the economy

into prosperity by ensuring that every Nigerian have access to broadband internet.

With broadband, they say, every citizen can actualize his dream and get almost everything done.

President of Association of Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi, while speaking on the issue lamented the poor penetration rate of broadband in Nigeria, saying that the current 70 per cent internet and 10 per cent broadband penetration is unacceptable to ATCON and called on government to eliminate all the bottlenecks that militate operators from attaining the 30 per cent set target by 2018.

I have my fears about the plan to achieve 30 per cent by 2018. The plan was between 2014 to 2018

On NCC new regulatory guidelines The ATCON President said, NCC has a job to do in ensuring strict compliance to the rules by operators, emphasis should not be more on punishment but on creating the right environment for operators to invest and deploy services.

“I would rather think that it is beneficial to Nigerians to create the right regulatory environment for operators to deploy services than to emphasis punishing these operators. There could be infringement, and it may not be wrong to punish operators violating the rules. The important thing here is that punishment should not be the major tool to

be used.”

30% broadband target by 2018, doubtful On the plan to achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, Ajayi expressed doubt given the present snail pace at which the country is going but said the dream can still be realized if government would heed to their call.

“I have my fears about the plan to achieve 30 per cent by 2018. The plan was between 2014 to 2018. At the time the plans were being made, broadband penetration was at 6 per cent, now it is merely 10 per cent.

I doubt the realization of 30 per cent in 2018 looking at the pace we are going. It will be very difficult except something changes drastically."

How technology is driving change in rural communities

By Emeka Aginam

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N the new world economy, innovative technology has been driving change, especially in education, healthcare and business ecosystems, making life better and easier for the rural communities around the world.

Narrating her experience how technology has helped her save a life, Josephine Udo, 40, a petty trader, had just left home for her stall beside the ever-busy road in Oban town, Cross River State.

On her way, she received a phone call that her youngest son has gone down with fever. She immediately aborted her journey to the stall and quickly dashed home, picked her son and proceeded on a 10km journey to the nearest hospital.

The illness cost Bassey’s mother lots of money and time but could have been

worse if not for that one phone call.

In India, for instance, Educom is providing solutions that can support every level of educational need from individual teachers, to large scale procurement for new educational projects, by working with schools, colleges, state bodies and teachers to provide advice and resource materials to improve learning outcome.

Similarly, Africa Indoor Residual Spraying programme (AIRS), since 2001, has also helped protect millions of people in Africa from malaria, by spraying insecticide on the walls, ceilings, and other indoor resting places of mosquitoes that transmit malaria, also ensuring that spraying does not harm people or the environment.

It is expected that Africans with the help of this program will spend less on the treatment of malaria and will be at a lower risk of death caused by malaria.

In Nigeria, Samsung Electronics West Africa had demonstrated its passion to help meet the demand for unique solutions in education, healthcare and electrification with it its digital village initiative.Accordingly, the digital village utilizes one resource that Africa has in abundance, “sunshine”. In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Samsung recently launched a solution, dubbed the Samsung Digital Village, in Oban, Cross River State.

The capacity building program which is first of its kind in Nigeria is made up of several solar powered innovations, which altogether provide holistic solutions to rural infrastructure challenges, such as those faced by people like Mama Bassey.

The Digital Village relies on alternative energy (solar energy) to power its

activities.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Digital Village recently, Mr. Brovo Kim, Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, told the gathering that a sizeable proportion of rural communities across Africa do not have access to electricity, a situation that denies people in these areas access to tools and resources to drive socioeconomic development.

“We are not only bridging the digital divide but also providing a facility that meets the most critical health and educational needs of the rural community,” he added.

The Digital Village has several components that the beneficiaries can leverage on to enhance their livelihoods. For instance, the solar powered generators are the heart of the digital village and are designed to power classrooms, small businesses and community facilities.

32—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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VOL. 1 NO 38

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Eulogies as Chinyere Asika is buried -Page 8 PAGE 8

•Arrested suspected kidnappers

Combating the scourge of kidnapping *So far, so good, but...

By CHIOMA GABRIEL

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IDNAPPING USED to be a highly lucrative business in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. About three years ago, the trend was so high that many wealthy South Easterners hardly travelled home and whenever they did, they tended to keep very low profile.

Kidnappers made as much as N750 million a year from ransom gotten from persons, including businessmen, industrialists, government personnel and they also made governance difficult for the South East governors, who began to witness mass exodus of people in their states and attendant economic set-back.

Despite the bulk money C M Y K

collected by the five states of the South East states, it was difficult for the zone to bring this outbreak to a halt. With massive unemployment that had enveloped the nation and with major economic, political and public service opportunities of the country at an all time low, the disenchanted unemployed graduates and school drop-outs of the region, took to a life of crime.

The situation was so bad that at least five persons were kidnapped every month with ransom ranging from N20m to N30m.

Anambra and Imo states had the highest incidents of kidnapping, especially within the commercial axis of Onitsha and Nnewi. In Imo, the reign of terror by Osisikankwu drove the indigenes nuts.

At least, about 938 prominent sons and daughters of the South East zone were allegedly kidnapped between January 2008 and August 2012, according to a civil society group,

Campaign for Democracy, CD, in August 2012.

The CD chairman and secretary respectively in the South East, in a statement, said the kidnapped persons paid ransoms said to be

valued at about N1.2 billion during the period.

Kidnappers reportedly collected substantial amounts Continues on page2

... Increased cases in Abia

BY ANAYO OKOLI & UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE

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MUAHIA—THERE have been in the recent past, increased cases of kidnapping in Abia, especially in Aba and its environs. It would be recalled that few years back, kidnappers virtually took over the commercial city, forcing some many residents to relocate to other states.

Worried by the rampaging activities of kidnappers, the then government of Theodore Orji in liaison with the Federal Government invited the military, who stormed the state and

battled the hoodlums who were also into other violent crime, to a finish.

Normal life subsequently returned to Aba and environs. Those who fled returned and continued with their day to day business activities. But of recent, kidnapping and violent crimes seemed to have returned to the state.

Though security operatives had foiled some attempted attacks and kidnappings, many were successfully executed by the criminals, with some victims, fortunate to be alive, paying large sum of money to secure their freedom, while the unfortunate ones lost their lives.

Continues on page 2

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Obiano’s gains against kidnapping

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA—ONE issue that engaged the attention of Governor Willie Obiano when he assumed office on March17, 2014, was the worrisome kidnapping incidents in various parts of the state.

The governor immediately took measures to stem the tide and one of the measures he took was to continue the demolition of buildings belonging to confirmed kidnappers, which was started by his predecessor, Mr. Peter Obi. He later set up a task force known as ‘Operation Kpochapu,’ which consists of the men of the various armed forces and the police.

So far, over 20 houses belonging to kidnappers had been demolished by the present administration and no fewer than 50 persons had been arrested. Several others also lost their lives, while attempting to kidnap people.

Some of the suspected kidnappers arrested in the state in the past one year included four persons arrested at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, 15 others paraded by the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, Awkuzu, among many others.

Following orders from the governor, various property owned or used by kidnappers were confiscated. For instance, in May 2014 alone, the joint task force set up by the

governor demolished three houses belonging to some dreaded kidnappers in the state.

The houses demolished included a bungalow valued at N17 million at Aguleri, the governor’s hometown, under the supervision of the governor ’s joint task force against kidnapping and other crimes.

The task force had continued to carry out similar exercises in many communities in the state.

Recently, the task force demolished two property used by some kidnappers in Umuleri, Anambra East Local Government Area of the state, just as four other buildings, including a church, said to belong to suspected kidnappers, were demolished.

They were all part of the state government’s continued clampdown on criminals in the state. Governor Obiano had also revoked the Certificates of Occupancy, C of Os, of the four buildings.

Some of the kidnappers often engaged the police in gun battle and in some cases, fell

to the superior fire power of the police. When many of them found out that Anambra was no longer safe for their operation, they relocated to the neighbouring states, which was why the incidence of kidnapping reduced considerably.

Again, two buildings, including a church, belonging to a fake pastor, Ifeanyi Nwaezeagu, who was the General Overseer of Unchangeable God Ministries, Awkuzu, was demolished.

Pastor Nwaezeagu was said to have generated millions of naira as kidnap proceeds and was involved in the kidnap of many wealthy Anambra men, including a priest.

The surprising thing was that the fake pastor was operating at Awkuzu which is the headquarters of SARS. In other words, he was operating under their nose without being detected. His confessional statements led to the exposure of members of his gang before Governor Obiano revoked his C of O, leading to demolition of his church and buildings.

One of his houses was marked Ozo Igbo Ndu (Life Saver) suspected to be his shrine, while the church was marked ‘’Unchangeable God,” with some Biblical quotations inscribed on the walls. An indigene of Awkuzu, Mr. Chukwuchebe Nweke, said Pastor Nwaezeagu started his church in 1999, and for a long time, nobody knew he was into kidnapping and robbery.

There was also an incident at Eziowelle in Idemili North Local Government Area, where in a bid to collect ransom, suspected kidnappers encountered the police and in the ensuing exchange of fire, five of them were gunned down and several others arrested.

Beating his chest on the success of the battle against kidnappers, Governor Obiano said that no kidnap attempt had been successful in the state in the last one year, adding that those arrested were facing prosecution. He warned criminals to remain outside Anambra because the state "has zero tolerance for crime."

Combating the scourge of kidnapping across the states Continues from page 1 from their victims, ranging from N5 million to N30 million per individual.

During the said period, Anambra State was reported to have the highest incidence of kidnapping of 273 persons.

Imo State was next with kidnapping incidence of 265 cases, while its residents lived in heightened fear.

The next was Abia with 215 cases, followed by Enugu which recorded 95 and Ebonyi 90 within the same period.

But the governors of the states suddenly woke up and took on the problem with a practical approach of demolition of established structures or buildings used by kidnappers to advance their operations.

In Anambra State, the approach worked as many buildings were destroyed during the era of Peter Obi as governor and continued with his successor, Willie Obiano and this approach significantly reduced the scourge in the state.

Over the years, the police across the South East states stepped up action in combating the menace.

In this edition, South East Voice correspondents filed in reports across the states on the issue.

... Increased cases in Abia Continues from page 1 Surprisingly, the state has a stringent law against kidnapping made by the State House of Assembly. The law permits the government to revoke and demolish structures on the property used for kidnapping.

So the question the police and courts should answer is: How are some suspected kidnappers paraded in the past being prosecuted?

Just last week, the State Police Command said that in collaboration with its counterpart in Imo State, it rescued one Ifeanyi John of Obigbo, Rivers State from the hands of kidnappers just as the command arrested a suspected member of a kidnapping gang in Aba which has been terrorizing residents of the city and its environs. The suspect, Michael Agbai and other members of his gang, attempted kidnapping one C M Y K

Chidozie Onwuka, but he escaped from them while they snatched his car.

However, worried by the rising spate of kidnapping, Abia State government had set up a special security operation centre to check kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes in the state and gave out the following telephone numbers to the public to assist with useful information- 08080897172, 0816981056, 09095687884, 08079260355, and 08163267708.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu had also launched a special security outfit comprising the police, army and Department of State Security, DSS, to help in the fight against crimes in the state, especially kidnapping and Abia people cannot wait to see security returned to the state, especially in Aba.

•Police team against kidnapping

Still a phenomenon in Ebonyi

BY PETER OKUTU ABAKALIKI—THE incidence of kidnapping is not a regular phenomenon in Ebonyi State, often referred to as the most peaceful state within the South East geo-political zone.

Most incidences of kidnapping that had been recorded in the state were usually politically motivated and nothing more as victims of such tragic episodes are often times released or killed by their captors. The usual trend is for politicians or business moguls to plot the kidnap of any individual who they feel poses a threat to their political ambition or success in a particular field of human endeavour.

Incidences of this social vice usually occur when electioneering campaigns are around the corner.

Most interestingly, the local government areas in the state with high profile of incidences of kidnapping or with locations where victims are often kept include: Ezza North, Ishielu, Onicha, Edda, Afikpo North and Abakaliki.

Meanwhile, the state has records of prominent Ebonyi people who had been kidnapped and eventually lost their lives in the hands of their captors even as security agents had equally contributed to the rescue of some victims.

The former coordinator of Okposi Development Centre, Chief Ihebunadu Okorie was killed by his captors; former Senator Chris Nwankwo was equally kidnapped and rescued; former House of Assembly member and in-law to former Governor

Sam Egwu, Hon. Kennedy was also kidnapped and released by his captors, and a host of others.

The most recent case of kidnapping, however, took place in Ivo Local Government Area of the state within the boundary communities between Ebonyi and Abia states.

Recall that between July 14 and 15, the boundary communities of Iokpanta and Lokpaukwu of Abia State and Amata and Amaeze of Ivo LGA in Ebonyi State were reportedly in crisis following a land dispute that had lasted 50 years.

In a chat with South East Voice, member representing Ivo state constituency, Hon. Oliver Osi accused the boundary communities of Abia State of masterminding the kidnap of one Chukwuma Akwa and a host of others from Ivo to Umuahia.

Residents of Abakaliki also added: “kidnapping is not a common criminal incident in Ebonyi. Its occurrence is not regular. It is usually politician against politician or businessman against businessman. Although, not all kidnap cases are investigated by police as some are often rumoured across the state.”

In every kidnap case that had taken place in the state, security agencies including the police, Department of State Security, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, among others, had always contributed their quota towards the release of the victims and arrests of the suspects.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 3

....Escalating cases in Imo State

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

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WERRI—TO say that the resurgence of criminal activities, including kidnapping, armed robbery and car snatching, are giving Imo people sleepless nights, amounts to stating the obvious.

Some kidnap victims may come out of their kidnappers' dungeon to tell the sordid tale of their life, but some others die in the process.

In some cases, the crime remains unresolved, even ad infinitum.

The case of Emenike Ihekwoaba, an architect and a principal secretary in the Deputy Governor’s Office, Owerri, is one of such unresolved matters. He was kidnapped on his way to his country home, Nkwerre. His whereabouts had remained uncertain till date.

Similarly, a protocol officer in Government House, Owerri, Mr. Lazarus Anyanwu, was brutally murdered and carelessly dumped in a lonely bush, because he gave his abductors a stiff resistance.

The two officers served the present administration.

After taking a hard look at the crime situation, a civil servant that did not want his name in print, said: “Dare-devil kidnappers appear to be having the upper hand in Imo State, as no day now passes without reports filtering in about kidnapping or armed robbery.”

His feelings largely represents the thinking of most Imolites, as police record on reported cases can reveal. Indeed, the list of kidnap victims in the state is very long, but a brief recap of some of the incidents would suffice at this juncture.

The Head of the Reportorial Department of News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Imo State, Miss Chidi Opara, was kidnapped as she was driving into her residence in Uratta, Owerri North local council area of the state. Her Lexus sports utility vehicle is yet to be recovered from the rampaging hoodlums, long after she was released by her abductors.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. John Ihebereme, like Miss Opara, also counts himself fortunate because he passed through the lions' den and returned alive to tell his stories.

There had been cases of robbing and kidnapping of unfortunate commuters at 'No Man’s Land,' Ogbaku, along the ever busy Owerri-Onitsha expressway, and the gruesome murder of a serving Commissioner in Imo State House of Assembly Service Commission, Mr. Tobias Onyekele, and a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, at Ugwu Orji, Owerri North local council area of the state.

Confirming the sordid incident to South East Voice, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, said “the hoodlums wanted to kidnap the deceased at a point near the flyover at Ugwu Orji.”

The story that made the rounds was that the woman was kidnapped by armed hoodlums, from the family’s residence at the Redemption Housing Estate, off Port Harcourt Road, Owerri. It

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was also gathered that the hoodlums forced the woman into their waiting car and sped away to an unknown destination.

The Agbaso dynasty was equally not spared in this orgy of kidnapping when news of the kidnap of one of their own, a Pentecostal pastor, Austen Agbaso, rent the air.

A story that trailed the kidnap had it that Agbaso, who runs his church at Umuekpu Agwa, had finished his Sunday service and was mid-way into his usual deliverance and counselling, when the near tragic drama started.

It was also gathered that a young lady, whose identity could not be ascertained at press time,

approached Pastor Agbaso and requested that she be delivered from undisclosed spiritual trauma.

A villager, who spoke on strict grounds of anonymity, said that “not long after the lady joined the lot that were waiting for deliverance and counselling, some armed gangsters stormed the church premises.”

The villager equally disclosed that “on properly identifying their victim, the hoodlums seized Agbaso and whisked him away.”

According to the villager, the hoodlums started firing indiscriminately into the air to scare people from mounting any form of resistance.

“The firing rather attracted more people to the scene and they quickly decided to give the fleeing hoodlums a hot chase. This led to the capture of the lady that

initially asked for deliverance and counselling,” the villager recounted.

South East Voice also gathered that the angry youths pounced on her and mid-way into her ordeal, she confessed that she was friend of one of the hoodlums.

“She was given a telephone to call her boyfriend, a native of Umuomi, Agwa, and on arrival, the boy equally confirmed the lady’s claim. The youths were on the verge of dealing with the duo when security agents stormed the area,” the villager said.

Another female villager that simply identified herself as Ngozi, told South East Voice that on being interrogated, the lady and her boyfriend rolled out the names of their accomplices said to be residing in Ogbaku and Orogwe.

A chieftain of All Progressives

• Foreigners were the early targets of kidnappers

Enugu residents heave sigh of relief

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

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N U G U —A LT H O U G H there are still incidences of insecurity due to other criminal activities including kidnapping in Enugu State, the menace is no longer as alarming as it was in the past.

Today, the residents can heave a sigh of relief as there is a considerable drop in the act of kidnapping in the state as the tide has been stemmed.

South East Voice gathered that the police had adopted some proactive measures in fighting kidnapping in the state which was almost overwhelming them. One of such strategy is reliance on intelligence gathering and increased presence in flash point areas.

That gave rise to the recent setting up of a police post along the Nsukka Opi Road where a lot of havoc were done by the dareDevil kidnappers on that particular axis, which is paying off.

State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu confirmed that early this month, operatives of the AntiKidnapping Unit raided a suspected kidnapers' hideout on Ugwuogo Nsukka Opi Road linking Abor forest axis of Udi

Enugu State.

According to him, the raid was as a result of “intelligence gathered by the state police command. It was gathered that in the course of the raid of the hideout, operatives encountered a suspected notorious kidnap gang leading to exchange of gun duel which left three of the gang members fatally injured while some fled,” he said.

But before the stem, a Catholic Reverend Father, a local government official were among the numerous victims that fell into the kidnappers’ net on that Ugwuogo-Nike-Opi Road, noted as a notorious den of kidnappers.

PPRO Amaraizu on his part revealed that the command had been having serious encounters in the fight against kidnapping

which he said led to the arrest of a notorious armed robbery and kidnapping kingpin towards the end of last year, nick named, Akidi, who was picked up at Udi Siding axis of Enugu metropolis following a tip-off.

“We have been battling to stem the new wave of kidnapping in the state, especially Nsukka axis,” said the PPRO. Recall that a former Enugu State Head of Service was kidnapped on the same new Opi Nsukka- Ugwuogo Nike- Enugu Road constructed by the immediate past governor Sullivan Chime while Professor James Adichie, the father of award winning writer, Chimamanda Adichie was also a victim of kidnapping in the state.

...Ugwuaji forest, den of kidnappers

S

even kidnap suspects were arrested at Ugwuaji forest, Enugu State by men of the state police anti-kidnapping squad after abducting several victims, including reverend sisters, on Enugu/Port Harcourt road .

Opinion poll showed that the wave of kidnapping has dropped.

A resident, Eze Gogo told our reporter that “the rate of kidnapping in Enugu is low especially when compared with other South East states. This is so because of the peaceful nature of the state and the security network put in place by the state government.

Grand Alliance, APGA, Mr. Ben Anyanwu, was towards the end of June, kidnapped from his country home, Umuchoko, Egbelu Obube, Owerri North local council area of Imo State.

South East Voice gathered that Mr. Anyanwu, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Chrisben Nigeria Limited, a Lagos based clearing and forwarding company, was picked up at about 1.30 a.m. that eventful Sunday, by some armed hoodlums.

It was also gathered from some villagers, who were at the scene of the incident that the gangsters scaled through the kidnapped victim’s perimeter fence with the aid of a ladder.

One of the villagers recalled that since the hoodlums could not gain entry into the building from the main door, after firing at it severally, they again used the ladder to gain access to the balcony.

“From this point, they shot at the door key, ripped it open, entered the house and took away their hapless victim to an unknown destination,” the villager said.

Royal fathers and the clergy were not spared as criminals reportedly abducted Rev. Fr. Francis Ugoo Egbebu, the Parish Priest of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Umuola, Amaigbo, Nwangele local council area of Imo State.

Strong feelers from the Catholic Diocese of Orlu, where Rev. Fr. Egbebu is serving, indicated that the ever cheerful priest was last seen driving out of the Parish that Monday morning.

In one of the kidnap cases affecting a royal family, the traditional rulers in Mbaise converged at Ahiara Junction to unleash curses on the person or persons involved in the recent kidnap of their colleague, Eze P. I. P. Onu and his wife, Ugoeze Onu. Eze Onu, who is the traditional ruler of Nnemere Mpam in Ahiazu Mbaise and his wife were kidnapped by a gang of armed hoodlums about March 15, 2015, at the Chukwuma Nwaoha/Egbu Road Junction, Owerri.

While the royal father was released after some days on payment of unspecified ransom and dropped by his captors along the Ohii-Orogwe Road, Owerri West local council area of Imo State, his wife was still held captive.

The Njaba Local Government Area Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Theo Ezeala, was similarly kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

Addressing newsmen during last year’s Democracy Day briefing, Governor Rochas Okorocha accused students of being the brains behind the high level of crime and criminality in the state.

Chief Okorocha disclosed that “over 60 per cent of criminals in the state are students.” Although the governor fell short of giving details of how he arrived at the figure, he was insistent that “the level of kidnapping and prostitution has gone down,” since his administration floated the free education programme.

“The level of kidnapping has dropped. The level of prostitution has gone down. Of the criminals in the state, 80 per cent of them are students and most of them do these things because of money.

When you help them out with money, their needs drop,” Okorocha reasoned.

4 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,

JULY 29, 2015

Communities on the verge of caving in to erosions

BY ANAYO OKOLI

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MUAHIA—UNLESS something very urgent is done, many families in IsiAnyanti, Ahaba-Ehuma of Ahaba Imenyi community in Isiukwuato Council area of Abia State, may have their homes caved in into the rampaging deep erosion gully dangerously threatening them.

Besides the houses in the community, the erosion is also seriously threatening the busy single lane of Umuahia-AkaraOhafia-Arochukwu Federal road.

Already, a portion of the road has been barricaded and red cloth and other materials

hoisted at the caved in spot to warn road users of the danger poised by the erosion gully.

Despite the warning measures, accidents still occur, almost on daily basis at the spot, as motorists find it difficult to dodge the gulley which was very close to a sharp bend, making it difficult for road users to notice.

Residents of Ahaba-Ehuma said that they now live in perpetual fear, especially during the rains as they are afraid of being washed away by erosion.

According a resident whose house is under close erosion threat, John Onuoha, “any night we noticed sign of rain fall, we usually vacate our house and sleep in our brother’s house which is a little

•House almost caving in far from here. We don’t want to take chances as you can easily see how dangerous this menace is to our house.” The residents disclosed that they have been suffering the menace of erosion for over 25 years but had over the years been battling it with communal effort which unfortunately had not been sufficient to control.

They lamented that no government in the state has given the problem proper attention, saying that it was the reason it had continued to expand. They have therefore cried out to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to come to their aid before “we are wiped out by erosion”.

A community leader, Prince Iyke Ukennaya told South East Voice that the community has been making its little effort to combat the erosion

Residents of AhabaEhuma said that they now live in perpetual fear, especially during the rains as they are afraid of being washed away by erosion.

Monarch declares 4-year leadership squabble over in Obosi community ...administers oath of office to newly elected 19-man town union exco

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

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NITSHA— HIS Majesty, Igwe Chidubem Iweka III, the traditional ruler of Obosi Kingdom in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, the home town of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, has at last declared the four-year old protracted town union leadership squabble and legal tussle in the area over with the recent administration of an oath of office to the newly elected 19-man town union executive committee.

Igwe Iweka who made this declaration in his palace recently while inaugurating the Sir Dan Chimezie Igbokwubili Obi-led executive committee of Obosi Development Union, ODU, said he was particularly impressed that the town union leadership is now in place to

play its own developmental role, while the traditional cabinet takes charge of its own customary role.

The monarch therefore charged them to not only work with courage and diligence without fear or favour, but to also carry everybody along, maintain absolute neutrality and avoid partiality even among some pockets of opposition elements existing in the area.

He also charged the new executive to support the state and local government of the day, liaise with the royal cabinet and place priority attention on security and youth development, adding that once their youths are empowered with employment opportunities, security of lives and properties would be guaranteed.

Responding, the newly inaugurated President-General of ODU, Obi, commended the royal cabinet and the entire people of Obosi for the

•Igwe Iweka blessing the new ODU exco members C M Y K

confidence reposed on them and pledged to make a great impact on welfare of the people and development of the community, more than their predecessors.

He therefore warned criminals to steer clear from the area henceforth, giving an assurance that their hands of fellowship would be extended to all the opposition parties, irrespective of whatever injuries they might have inflicted on the town, adding that they would also maintain a separation of power between the royal cabinet and town union executive.

In their separate speeches, two prominent members of the royal cabinet, Chief Okwudili Oguegbu (Aka Eze of Obosi) and Chief Dom Onyeire, described last weekend’s election that brought the new executive into power as credible and transparent, adding that they should try as much as possible to empower their youths in which ever way they can to make them self reliant and at the same time, dangle olive branch to all the perceived opposition in the area.

but lamented that the magnitude is much more than what the community could handle.

The erosion has almost cut off the Ihenzu-Ahaba link road between the community and their neighbouring communities, making it difficult for their usual local intercommunal businesses to go on.

According to a youth leader in the community, Ezelu Chukwuemeka Elvis, the community had put over 100 trips of sand to check the erosion all to no avail.

Worried by the growing magnitude, the member representing the area in the Abia State House of Assembly, Mrs. Uloma Onuoha has brought the matter before the House, calling for government’s intervention to save the people from imminent disaster.

ICT policy: Anambra ministry sends staff to computer class

By VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA—AS part of the recently–introduced computer education programme of the Anambra State government for all its workers, the state ministry of health has assembled its programme officers in charge of various desks into a computer room to impact the knowledge in them. Those participating in the programme include programme officers in charge of HIV/AIDS, malaria, primary health care, maternal and child health, among others.

The commissioner for health, Dr. Josephat Akabuike said at the commencement of the training, that on assumption of office, he saw the need for all the staff of the ministry to be computer literate, adding that it was for that reason that he appealed to the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano, to allow his ministry

mount the computer programme for his staff.

According to him, the ministry subsequently acquired 18 computers for the programme officers and hired a consultant who has been training them on computer appreciation, Microsoft word, Microsoft excel, power point, coral draw, computer appreciation, among other areas.

Akabuike said with the approval of the governor, all staff of the ministry would ultimately be exposed to the ICT programme in line with the policy of the state government that all workers in the state must be computer literate.

He said: “This is an important programme for our ministry. The world has gone global and if one is not computer literate, he would be lost. We had to start with programme officers because they interact frequently with international organizations that collaborate with Anambra State.

•Commissioner Akabuike (wearing cap) with programme officers in his ministry participating in the ICT programme

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 5

National Orientition Agency takes campaign for hygiene and proper refuse Disposal to schools

BY CHIMAOBI NWAIWU

T

O—INCULCATE the habit of cleanliness and observing proper hygiene in school children and their teachers, the National Orientation Agency, NOA, has taken its Campaign for Hygiene and Proper Refuse Disposal to secondary and primary Schools in Anambra State, with the Onitsha South Local Government Area NOA flagging off the campaign weekend at Urban Girls Secondary School, Fegge, and Zik Avenue Primary School Fegge, Onitsha respectively.

NOA said it is worried that Nigerians have relaxed the culture of hand washing and other hygienic practices they imbibed during the time Ebola Virus Disease was ravaging the country and other African countries probably because Nigeria has been declared Ebola free, and therefore it decided to remind Nigerians again that hand washing and other hygienic practices should be part of their lives.

The Agency is also using the campaign to remind and educate Nigerians on the flood alert/ warning given to fifteen states of the country by National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, of which Anambra State is inclusive, saying that it accounted for the sensitization and the awareness campaign.

Speaking with South East Voice, during the campaign, Chief Orientation and Mobilization Officer, for Onitsha South Council Area, Mr. Ndubisi Nwokeabia said that they chose secondary and primary schools to flag off the Hygiene and Proper Refuse

Disposal campaigns because it is the students and pupils that fall into the age bracket of people that are involved in refuse disposal in their respective families.

“These programmes are expected to inculcate in the people the habit of cleanliness and proper hygiene, just as it is also designed to discourage indiscriminate dumping of refuse into canals, drainages and water ways. It is expected that these children and teachers will carry the message to their family members and friends and help in stimulating the opening of drainages” he said.

On flood alert, he said that it is part of NOA’s function to sensitize and enlighten the people on

aggravates flooding of our environments.

“When we finish with the schools, we will be meeting with the landlords associations, then we will move over to the market, but we want to get the children informed because they are the vehicle through which the campaign will get to their parents and their siblings, their neighbours and again we want to catch them young.

If they get used to it when they are young, it will continue to be part of them when they become adults”.

Principal of Urban Girls Secondary School Students of Urban Girls Secondary School Fegge Onitsha listening, Dr. Mrs. Angela during the flag-off of Campaign for Hygiene and Proper Obumse and the Head Teacher of Ziks Avenue Refuse Disposal conducted by NOA. Primary School Fegge, Rose Nwaorah expressed satisfaction with NOA’s occurrence of flooding. government policies and decision to kick-start the all “We decided to educate these programmes, and the issue of important campaign in school children that the refuse they flood alert which Anambra state secondary and primary schools, throw into the gutters and water is one of the states earmarked for saying it was a wise decision ways were not disposed, rather possible flooding and Onitsha that will yield positive fruits in they transferred them to another South is within the river rine area, encouraging proper hygiene and person’s house and compound, and therefore, there is need to cleanliness in the schools and at and most of the refuse block the sensitize and mobilize the people homes of the students. drainage systems and to get prepared for possible

15 PMT drivers get buses on retirement

By FRANCIS IGATA

“These programmes are expected to inculcate in the people the habit of cleanliness and proper hygiene, just as it is also designed to discourage indiscriminate dumping of refuse into canals, drainages and water ways

E

NUGU—A leading land transport company,Peace Mass Transit,PMT,has given out 18-seater, fairly used buses to its retiring 15 drivers having attained retirement, on age limit or length of service.

The event which took place at the company’s headquarters at No 2 Destiny Layout, Emene, Enugu, brought smiles to the faces of the recipients even as the company management assured of better welfare scheme to its employees.

According to the company Public Relations Officer, PRO, Asogwa Joseph,”There was no formal agreement between the company and these retirees at

Women group sues for greater interest in family values •Frowns at same-sex marriage

By FRANCIS IGATA NUGU—Worried by the rising spate in collapse of family values and ethos, a group, Ladies of Ezindo has organized a one-day seminar to sensitize members of the public on the need to re-enact the trappings for which the family is built upon.

This is even as the group frowned at alleged moves to lure the Federal Government to repeal its laws against samesex marriage in the light of President Muhammad Buhari’s last week’s visit to the United States of America.

Tagged,”the Millennium

E

Family-past ,present and the way forward” the Ladies of Ezindo regretted that the family and marriages are under persistent siege from forces emanating from the contemporary societies.

According to the key note speaker,Mrs. Linda Okaibe, Ezindo Ladies are bent on reviving lost family values which had hitherto been responsible for the proliferation of vices in the society.

“We are committed to the development of women and family. The family as an institution established by the Almighty has come under attack in recent times. We

•Women during their seminar C M Y K

cannot sit down and throw up our hands in resignation.

“This seminar is meant to reawaken us to pursue the cherished values of love between husband and wife,fidelity among couples, care for children, practices of christian tenets in our day-today lives and above all, stand strong in resisting the whirlwind of same-sex marriage which is an evil billowing in parts of Europe.

“We will continue to sustain our efforts for cohesion in the family as smallest unit of the society, which will rob-off positively on the larger society towards a better life for all.”

the point of recruitment that there will be any form of severance benefit at retirement.

“This gesture, was made possible through the volition and philanthropic disposition of the Chairman,Peace Group,Dr. Sam Maduka Onyishi.

Onyishi while fielding questions from newsmen revealed that the idea behind the retirement package was to serve as a contributory pension scheme for the drivers who have served the company meritoriously.

“We are doing this out of love to motivate our drivers. After serving fifteen years,we give out fairly used buses to our retiring drivers.

We think that it will instill hope on the drivers to drive with safety, knowing that after fifteen years, they will be going home with fairly used buses of their own.

“That hope can keep the person alive and imbue necessary precautions on the person to do his job diligently in the cause of moving our passengers from point-to-point. If a driver does not have hope that after retirement that he will have a take-home package, he will say he does not have anything he is leaving for.

That feeling can be a problem for us in terms of safety.

“But when you have hope that

after fifteen years, you will own a bus, the tendency is that you will be more careful while driving so that you will be alive to receive your own bus after putting in fifteen years in service for the company. We are not just here to make money, we are doing this to say thank you for the services done,”Onyishi revealed.

Visibly elated Ozioko Christopher who was presented with the key to one of the 18-seater fairly used buses could not hide his joy adding that the gesture has established a strong footing for him to fend for his family in retirement.

Ozioko said,”No doubt,this gesture has provided me a means of livelihood. As drivers,we wish and hope to own our buses some day. That day has eventually come through the magnanimity of our boss.

“This gesture will serve as an encouragement to serving drivers to be diligent and apply safety while driving to enable them attain the benchmark of benefiting from the largesse.

Other land transport firms in the country should equally emulate this gesture as drivers are mostly not regular staff of these companies.”

•Chairman,Peace Group,Dr. Sam Maduka Onyishi, presenting the key of a fairly used 18-seater bus to a beneficiary.

6 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

CHIEf Emeka Diwe, an Ababased industrialist and President General, Imo State Association of Indigenous Town Unions, spoke to South East Voice on town unionism and how President Muhammadu Buhari can engage town unions to actualize development projects in the South East zone.

By UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE

A

BA—WHY are you so passionate about town unionism?

The Town Union is the only development-driven identity of the Igbo man that has stood the test of time. It predates the colonial era. The town union structure is an exclusive product of the Igbo man’s genetic configuration of unrepentant republicanism. It is the only genuine democratic structure in Igbo land with indisputable credible leadership. It is the only structure that has total coverage in the whole of Igbo land. In fact democracy started from Igbo land in Nigeria via the town union leadership. In my community, Akpulu in Ideato North LGA, for instance, the first documented meeting proceedings (minutes) of the town union was in 1936, when they produced the first person who could read and write. The modern version of the Igbo man’s ancient republican system of governance is what we are celebrating world over today as democracy.

Americans who are the father of modern democracy have just embraced the town hall meeting as a democratic mobilization process under Bush regime but town hall buildings and town hall gatherings (meetings) originated with the Igbo man long time ago.

Every living Igbo man today cannot say when the town union meeting of his town/community started. He grew up to see it. The age grade (Ebiri), nnoko umunna/otu umunna, nze na ozo,umuada, etc, were all forms of town unionism that existed in the past which metamorphosed and developed into the present modernized town unionism. The two most important things about the town union are that it drives development to the grassroots people mainly through self help effort.

80% of rural development in any part of Igbo land is through the town union leadership – the schools, hospitals, roads, churches, market squares, scholarship programs, etc. Secondly, the leadership is the willing choice of the people by all democratic and credible standards. The president generals are men of integrity with credible mandate of majority of the people.

What is the organization of this town union like, beyond the local community?

Besides the communities, there is a coordinating body at the local government level where the presidents -general meet to discuss the affairs of the town unions. It is headed by a President of Presidents. There is also the zonal structure for instance at Orlu where the local government presidentsgeneral meet from time to time to discuss the affairs of the zone. Then, C M Y K

Buhari needs to partner town unions to address devt issues in South East zone —Chief Diwe

there is the state structure where the 27 presidents-general representing each local government plus the zonal heads who form the state executives of the town unions which I am privileged to be the leader by God’s grace, meet. And recently, we have an amalgamated structure comprising the town union leaderships of all the Igbo speaking states under the umbrella of association of South East Town Unions.

What is the difference or relationship between the town union and Ohanaeze Ndigbo ?

Ohaneze is an elitist Igbo pressure group. I am a member too and I think all state leadership of town unions in Igbo speaking states are statutory members. But the town union, in addition to being an Igbo pressure group has a statutory function. There is only one town union) involved in the day to day administration of the communities to maintain peace and order via various vigilante groups, etc.

They are the closest to the grassroots and as such, the structure is the most effective agent of mobilization in Igbo land. Every genuine Igbo man including members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is a member of his town union.

Any Igbo man who is not a member or is expelled from the town union has a questionable character. In fact, the phenomena oftown unionism are deeply rooted in the psyche and culture of the Igbo man both at home and in diaspora.

Besides the mother unions that are based at home, all the major cities in Nigeria- Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Onitsha, Aba etc, all have branches of their various town unions. In US, UK, Germany, etc, there are Igbo town unions too.

Chief Emeka Diwe Eighty per cent of rural development in any part of Igbo land is through the town union leadership. The leadership is the willing choice of the people by all democratic and credible standards. The president generals are men of integrity with credible mandate of majority of the people.

Is this town union political, does it actively participate in partisan politics?

The town unions are political but not partisan. The town union is a father and welcomes all political parties. That is to say that town union as a structure does not belong to any political party even if it has Igbo tribal coloration. Individual members and groups could belong to various political parties of their interest.

However, the union can come out and take a definite position when the collective interest of the Igbo or that community is at stake. It can also be described as a non governmental

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 7

could be marketed and communicated to the grassroots and interpreted in the language they will understand.

The Igbo voted for Buhari both “actively” and “passively”. However, we have passed the stage of election politics; we are now in the politics of governance. Buhari has won the election, he needs to also succeed and win in governance. The two stages and scenarios are quite different organization.

What is the relationship between the government and town unions?

The association of Imo State indigenous Town Unions as registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is independent just like its counterparts in other states like Anambra. It is not an arm of the government. However, the structure should on mutual discretion support and partner with government in relevant areas to drive development to the grassroots. For instance, Anambra State especially under the administration of Peter Obi and Willie Obiano have partnered with the Town Union structure to develop the rural communities in the state. These town union structures both at the state level and zonal level in the South East are all duly incorporated with Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja with approved board of trustees and as such, are legitimately entitled to function and operate as registered. I advise President Muhammadu Buhari to partner with the town unions to achieve his development plans in the South East zone. If he can do this, I assure you that he will discover how efficient the town union structure can be in mobilization of the grassroots. .

Therefore, if Buhari wants to tidy up the governance of Nigeria based on integrity and credibility to fight corruption and ensure quality governance, this structure of town unions leadership must not be neglected at least in the Igbo speaking part of Nigeria. There is this adage that says “Ihe yiri ite ka eji ekpuchi ite” that is, you cover the pot with an identical diametric lid”. If you are looking for the eye of an animal, it is only in the head that you can find it.

Buhari has to look beyond his nose to see credible characters, remember “na only when you bend down, you go see Aba well well”. It is only through this town union structure that relevant government programmes and policies C M Y K

To what extent do you think the voice of the town union can be heard?

First, we have established that the town union is a generic and indelible identity of the Igbo man. It is one language every Igbo man understands.

Its administration covers all nooks and crannies of Igbo land and cuts across all political, religious, demographic barriers. We have also established that it has a credible leadership of president generals and their various executives who are selected by their various communities based on their integrity profile and genuine leadership qualities. No bribery, no lobbying, no thuggery, and no snatching of ballot boxes. There is this genuine and patriotic willingness on the part of the leadership to serve their people and they are generally not paid. I therefore want to state without fear of equivocation that this town union leadership as far as Igbo land is concerned has more integrity and credibility than the political party leadership we have today. I dare any Igbo man to challenge this fact. The only thing is that this leadership is not loud and does not have sufficient resources to be noticed; you know the Nigeria factor There are fears that Buhari may marginalize the South East as he got the least support from the zone?

Who told you the Igbo didn’t vote for him? You see, there are two types of voting and political support; one is active, the other is passive. If one deliberately refuses to vote for his brother who is your opponent, it’s a form of passive or latent support for you. If you compare the voting pattern in 2011 with that of 2015, especially in the South East, you will realize what I am talking about. Even at that, the Igbo voted for Buhari both “actively” and “passively”.

However, we have passed the stage of election politics; we are now in the politics of governance. Buhari has won the election, he needs to also succeed and win in governance. The two stages and scenarios are quite different. A set of people relevant for a successful election might not necessarily be the set relevant for successful governance.

Buhari like himself must bluntly appreciate this obvious fact.

Do you think Buhari can handle corruption?

I want to tell you that Buhari’s perceived integrity made him to win the presidential election. Before now, he has fought corruption and indiscipline to a standstill and can do it again. The most effective armour to wear in the fight against corruption is integrity being corruption free; that is leadership by example. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Buhari is widely known for having this armour.

I’m aware he can wage the battle against corruption. Buhari should be very careful because most people around him are all corrupt and disqualified from participating in this war.

C o rruption cannot fight

President Muhammadu Buhari corruption; when corruption fights itself, the result will be compromise.

But there are Nigerians who are not corrupt or whose level of integrity is within acceptable range. Buhari must look for such people. He can take his time to do this instead of hurrying into calamity. He must look beyond his party and tribal environment. Buhari should constitute credible search committees at all levels so that this reformation will happen simultaneously throughout the federation. Credible and potent anti-corruption task forces must be put in place.

Buhari has just appointed Service Chiefs and no Igbo man/woman made the list. Some Igbo leaders are crying marginalization, what is your take on that?

I think it is still not yet time for a loud suspicion. There are many other appointments yet to be made. The Presidential spokesman said the appointments of the Service Chiefs were purely based on merit. Let’s watch. Luckily, the Igbo are known for merit and have achieved a lot by merit. There are many appointment areas where the Igbo will excel on merit. Let’s see whether merit will turn to de-merit.

Critics have described Buhari as too slow and sluggish. Can we attribute his age at 72 which he openly admitted as a challenge?

I don’t know why people harp on irrelevancies. Buhari made an innocent, realistic observation about his natural limitations and some busybodies are making unwarranted issues about it. Tell me who doesn’t have limitations? Do we prefer a young energetic but corrupt president to an old president with sufficient integrity profile? Nelson Mandela was older when he gave South Africa the best leadership in history.

Buhari, Osibanjo and some state governors have either said they won’t take salaries for now or slashed their

salaries by half.

This has no impact on the economy or payment of salaries to workers.

Even if you put together all the official salaries of the President, governors and National Assembly members, it won’t create any significant impact on the economy. If they want to sacrifice, let them sacrifice all the allowances including security votes and retain their basic salaries. A labourer is worthy of his wages. That is the essence of basic salaries. We are talking of mountains of money and resources that corrupt officials stole and removed from the treasury and you are talking of salaries.

Let them take their salaries, but institute an enduring solution to corruption, that is the only the country can prosper. Even if they forfeit their salaries but do not confront corruption frontally, corrupt officials will hijack the forfeited salaries and it would defeat the essence of such forfeiture.

THE TEAM Supervising Editor: Chioma Gabriel (08052201257; email, anyagafu@yahoo.com) Anayo Okoli, Umuahia Vincent Ujumadu, Awka Austin Ogwuda, Enugu Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri Peter Okutu , Abakaliki Chimaobi Nwaiwu Francis Igata Nwabueze Okonkwo Ugochukwu Alaribe Enyim Enyim Frank Igata Chinoso Alozie Emeka Odogwu Eric Ugwor Obialunamma Nwadiogbu Obialunamma Nwadiogbu

8 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,

JULY 29, 2015

Eulogies as Chinyere Asika is buried

BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka

T

HE BURIAL of the former first lady of the defunct East Central State, Mrs. Chinyere Asika in the ancient city of Onitsha on July 24, 2015, lived up to its bidding as it attracted very important personalities from across the country. Former military head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, who were prominent members of the burial committee of the former first lady, virtually relocated to Anambra State to ensure the success of the event.

Mrs. Asika died on May 3, 2015, at the age of 75 years.

Other members of her burial committee included Alhaji Ahmed Joda, a former federal super permanent secretary, Second Republic Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator Andy Uba representing Anambra South in the Senate, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, women empowerment leaders Otunba Basirat Nahibi, Dr. Esther Mangzha and two of the late Mrs. Asika’s sisters, former minister and PDP Women’s Leader, Ambassador Kema Chikwe and Reverend Obii Pax-Harry. The secretary of the committee was Mr. Enukora Okoli, former chairman of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, who was a close friend of the family.

The All Saints Cathedral Church, Onitsha, was filled to capacity and the famous Otu Odu women group of Onitsha featured prominently from the time the body of Mrs. Asika arrived from her maiden home at Egbu, Owerri, Imo State to Anambra State.

Speaker after speaker praised the late Mrs. Asika for her efforts in mobilizing Igbo women after the Nigerian Civil War and making them realize that government work was everybody’s work and should, therefore, be taken serious.

With her popular slogan, ‘Otu Olu Obodo,’ an Igbo interpretation of the Civil Service and service to the people, Mrs. Asika successfully campaigned for the Igbo women to take ownership of whatever project government provided for the various communities. Her programmes became so popular that most women at the time wore mostly dresses with her picture embossed on them.

After the overthrow of the administration in which her C M Y K

Obi Asika, son of the deceased; Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State and his wife, Ebelechukwu, during the funeral service of Chief Chinyere Ukpabi Asika at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha, last Friday.

Late Chief Ukpabi Asika

Chinyere

husband served, Mrs. Asika lived a quiet life until former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed her pioneer Senior Special Assistant, SSA, on NEPAD and the organization’s Chief Executive Officer in Nigeria. She was later to become the chairman, national steering committee of the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, and she led the organization in its mission to evaluate the progress and challenges of governance in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, who appointed Chinyere’s husband, the late Ukpabi Asika, observed that Asika succeeded as the administrator of East Central State because of the support he received from his wife at the critical period in the country’s history.

Speaking at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha during the funeral service attended by many notable Nigerians, Gowon said he appreciated the late Ukpabi Asika because he filled the gap at a very difficult time.

According to the former Head of State, when he proposed the post of Sole Administrator of

Gowon said: I did not know how to place Dr. Ukpabi Asika's wife, Chinyere, but when she arrived from Kenya, she plunged head-on to the idea. She was a courageous woman, caring and humble

Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State, his wife, Ebelechukwu; General Theophilus Danjuma, former Minister of Defence and General Yakubu Gowon, former Head of State during the funeral service.

East Central State to the then lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Asika told him that he would do it for the sake of Igbo people.

He said: “I was struggling to get an administrator for the newly created East Central State when the name of the late Ukpabi Asika came up. He was then a lecturer at Ibadan.

“When we met, I did not know which one of us was younger.

But he exuded strength of character and understanding, and wanted to start work immediately. Though I cautioned him to think about it, I told him, you must consult your brothers, and your wife who was there, to know if you would accept. I came away convinced that this was the man I needed.

“I did not know how to place his wife, Chinyere, but when she arrived from Kenya, she plunged head-on to the idea.

She was a courageous woman, caring and humble. I remember her efforts in 'Otu Olu Obodo'a public service initiativewhich she used as a tool of empowerment for her Igbo kinsmen and women.”

Also eulogizing Mrs. Asika, Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano urged the children of Asika and other members of the family to imbibe the virtues of patience, charity and humility from the late Mrs. Asika, examplified in all the assignments she had the opportunity of handling for the country.

•The former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi (left) and Sen. Ben Obi( right), during the funeral of Mrs. Chinyere Asika in Onitsha.

He observed that she was among Anambra women that set good example, worthy of emulation by the present generation.

In his sermon at the church service, the Anglican Bishop on the Niger, Rt. Rev. Owens Nwokolo dwelt on the need for people to live a life of service and lauded the life of service lived by late Chinyere Asika and her noble contributions to the development of humanity and development of the state.

Former Minister of Defence, General T.Y. Danjuma, who represented President

Muhammadu Buhari at the ceremony urged Nigerian women to emulate the late Chinyere Asika, who took whatever assignment she had to do very serious.

Other prominent Nigerians, who attended the burial ceremony included immediate past governor of Anambra State, Chief Peter Obi, first civilian governor of new Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa, as well as senators and members of House of Representatives.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—33

C M Y K

34— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

By Paddy Ezeala

B

eing the concluding part of an opinion by Paddy Ezeala. The first part was published last week. Read on: A technical analysis of our semifinal exit against Senegal in Mali 2002, against Tunisia in Tunisia 2004, against Cote d’Ivoire in Egypt 2006, and against Ghana in Angola 2010 will reveal in-depth tactical deficiencies on the part of the Super Eagles. Ghana 2008 is better forgotten while Super Eagles performances after the victory in South Africa 2013 have made a hard-won victory look like a fluke. Such analysis here would only serve to belabour the point. Why is it that the female national team, the Super Falcons have almost won every edition of the African Women Championship but have failed to make the knock-out stages at global tournaments?

Why is it that we have failed to impress at the higher echelon of age-grade tournaments, minus Saudi ‘89 and The Netherlands 2005?

The truth is glaring. We are operating under serious technical limitations. It should be noted that this write-up is not part of a campaign for a foreign coach to handle our national teams. It is also not geared towards running down coaches foreign or local who have contributed their quota to the development of the game in Nigeria. What should bother us is the question of how the game of football took a plunge to the level it is today. We just lost ten steps in FIFA ranking this month. Our team of the near future - the Flying Eagles - just came back from the global tournament earlier than anticipated reason being everything but the quality of the players. The FIFA Women’s World Cup just ended with the coach of the Nigerian team declaring that they had learned quite some lessons and were going back to the drawing board.

One continues to wonder the capacity of this drawing board and for how long we would continue going back to it.

The truth of the matter is that majority of our local coaches lack technical depth and since one cannot give what one hasn’t got, they also lack the ability to instill tactical discipline in the players.

How many match reports from Nigerian coaches are in the files of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF)? The performance of some of the coaches at post-match press conferences has been to say the least embarrassing. Some even shy away from press conferences after serious matches. A postmatch conference is a very simple way of evaluating a coach’s grasp of the game, his approaches and challenges.

If it were possible for me to conclude this piece without mentioning any names, I would have done so. But how possible is it? It is gratifying to note that C M Y

•Eagles

•Oliseh

the NFF has settled for Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh as the Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles. Oliseh is the most qualified among his peers in the business of coaching.

He comes closest in bridging the local-foreign coach dichotomy.

He played football at the highest level and in the most number of European football clubs for a Nigerian. He holds a Business Management Diploma, the U.E.F.A “B” (Basic) Coaches Diploma, the U.E.F.A “A” (Advanced) Coaches Diploma and the U.E.F.A “Professional” Coaches License. He however does not have much coaching experience apart from coaching a Division Two club in Belgium.

Little wonder the NFF has opted for a consortium of coaches to work with him including a foreign coach. There is no doubt that whoever thinks in this direction means well for Nigerian football.

I do not subscribe to the view of one ex-international, a former captain of the Green Eagles and a sports columnist that bringing in a European to work with Oliseh is improper since there are many local coaches capable of filling the position. This claim is not true. We do not have a coach locally who is capable of injecting the modern European technical flair into our game. We must accept this fact and then work towards developing over time highly technically sound and versatile local coaches. Our national teams should not be made rehabilitation grounds for

The truth is glaring. We are operating under serious technical limitations. It should be noted that this write-up is not part of a campaign for a foreign coach to handle our national teams

Nigerian football and the albatross of technical deficiency (2) our ex-footballers. There are still many ways in which they can contribute positively to the growth of the game of football in Nigeria.

Issues still remain. Does Sunday Oliseh have the temperament to lead a national team as a technical adviser? I am afraid and even tremble to say no. He appears to be a temperamental and highly volatile character concealed in outward docility and withdrawn mien. I stand to be countered, though. This is neither out of place nor intractable. What is required is a proper understanding by his employers of this disposition and professional handling. The presence of a highly qualified

psychologist should be imperative in ensuring the desired on and offthe-pitch conviviality and calm nerves required to achieve results.

It should be noted that the appointment of a coterie of coaches to handle our national teams remains a stopgap measure. A culture of sound technical development must be entrenched in our football administration. Partnerships with local and foreign universities and coaching academies and clinics must be developed to raise the quality of understanding of the game. Manpower in all ramifications should be

•Amodu developed in the interest of the game. Coaches and referees should start career development early enough in life and not just veer into them only as soft landing in retirement.

•Siasia

•Keshi •Garba

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 35

Vidal completes Bayern switch, signs four-year deal

Imo strike threatens Heartland return to Owerri H

eartland may be forced to call off plans to return to their home ground of Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri because of an industrial action by civil servants in Imo State.

Heartland have been playing their home games at the Rojenny Stadium in Oba,

near Onitsha, after the Dan Anyiam Stadium was declared unsuitable by the League Management Company (LMC).

Heartland media officer, Cajetan Nkwopara, bemoaned the fate that might befall the club should the

•Heartland

strike action be sustained for a long time as workers at the stadium have promised to lock all entries to the stadium.

“It is disheartening to come up against this obstacle as most of the upgrading demanded by the league management has almost been completed, but with this strike, I am afraid we might have to play some of our home matches outside Owerri,” said the team spokesman.

“We are praying for a quick resolution of the matters that led to the industrial action by Imo civil servants.”

He further said, “We have commenced training in preparation for the second stanza with all our players intact and rearing to challenge for a top-three finish in the league.

“It will be tough but we are not known to run away from challenges.”

Akande out of Dream Team, Congo clash

S

hooting Stars goalk eeper Abiodun Akan de has been ru le d ou t of N ig er ia ’s se co nd le g Championship quali CA F U -2 3 fier against Congo.

The goalkeeper just re saw him miss the fir covered from an ankle injury which st leg which Niger ia won 2-1 in Port Harcourt.

“I won’t play the game against Cong o this weekend because I just get back to fitness from the ankle injury which made me miss the “I talked with the co first leg,” he said. and get to full fitne ach and I was asked to stay away ss for the All Africa Games camping.

That since I am just re not to go for the seco turning to action, it will be better nd leg.

“It is painful that I will miss both legs God knows best. I against Congo, am solidly behind my team to beat Congo.”

Akande is back train ing with 3SC and m in the next game aw ay man the post ay at El Kanemi War riors on Sunday.

•Akande

A

•Vidal

Luis returns to Atletico Madrid

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helsea defender Filipe Luis has rejoined Atletico Madrid for an undisclosed fee, just a year on from his £15.8m move to Stamford Bridge.

Despite high hopes being held for the Brazilian, Luis made just 26 appearances for the club and failed to cement a permanent place in Jose Mourinho’s side.

The left back has signed a four-year deal with Atletico after being deemed surplus to requirements by the Blues.

Atletico’s sporting director Jose Luis Perez Caminero told the club’s website: “We all know Filipe Luis. We will be stronger with one of the most talented wingers in the world.

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•Di Maria

•Pillars

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Their first match in the second round of the league

will be at home against Lobi Stars on Sunday.

•Luis

PSG Boss confirms deal with Di Maria almost complete

Pillars announce new coach tomorrow hampions Kano Pillars are expected to name a new coach tomorrow.

Pillars sacked coach Okey Emordi after a laboured campaign in the first round of the league this season which has left them nine points behind the pace of table toppers Sunshine Stars.

Former coach Mohammed Babaganaru is top target for Pillars and he has given them conditions for his return from Nasarawa United.

Former Eagles assistant coach Daniel Amokachi has also been mentioned in connection of the top Pillars post.

Pillars returned from a short break on Monday.

rturo Vidal has completed his move from Juventus to Bayern Munich, signing a four-year contract at the Allianz Arena.

The German champions announced last Thursday that the two clubs had agreed a deal in principle for the transfer of the Chile international. Vidal, who won four successive Serie A titles with Juve as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2014-15, subsequently arrived in Munich for a medical before his switch - for an undisclosed fee - was officially confirmed by Bayern on Tuesday.

aris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc has backed the deal bringing Angel Di Maria to Ligue 1 from Manchester United to be completed imminently, as he told reporters he was confident the deal would go through.

Di Maria is set to leave United

just one-year after arriving for a British record fee of £59.7m, which came alongside high expectations following vast success in Spain with Real Madrid- but the Argentine international failed to live up to those heights.

Therefore United are prepared to offload the winger this summer and PSG, who held interest in the World Cup finalist last summer, are keen to complete the deal as soon as possible- with Di Maria remaining in Argentina instead of returning to preseason with United as he awaits the conclusion of a deal.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a clash against Manchester United in Chicago on Sunday, Blanc said: “The matter is close to being finished.I’m rather positive about it but, in transfers, we have seen what can happen — so as long as it’s not official…”

36—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Digitization holds the key to Africa’s devt —Cisco

By Prince Osuagwu

L

eading Technology Company, Cisco, recently released a study indicating that 75% of businesses worldwide will be digitized by 2020. However, only 30% of such businesses will ultimately be successful.

Further insight on the study lays emphasis on the future of Internet of Everything (IoE) in Africa, raising fears against the rise of cybercrime.

At the recently concluded Cisco One Africa partner frum in Limpopo, South Africa, HiTech confronted the company’s GM, for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Mr. Dare Ogunlade who gave more insights to the issues and more.

Recent Cisco reports stated that 75% of businesses will be digitized by 2020. Does that include African businesses or countries, and if so, what is the percentage?

Yes, it was a global statistics although I have not seen that broken down figure regionally, but there definitely could be an interesting discussion on whether it could be more in Africa or less because arguably there is a great deal of potential for upside across many African countries if they do digitize, whether it’s a small business or in the public sector. We do not have the data point here at the moment but there is every reason to believe that

the statistics does apply to Africa. Another statistics that we should not lose sight of is that about 30% of those businesses will fail and only 30% will succeed.

Is it worth it to digitize if at least 30% of those who digitalize will fail?

Well, you either do nothing and go out of business or you try to reinvent yourself, find out new revenue streams, try to disrupt yourself and maybe move into other markets and up your chances of succeeding and growing. It is pretty sure in our opinion that if companies do not do anything then the future will not look bright.

What does it actually mean when a business is fully digitized?

Defining digitization all depends on the vertical an industry is in. When a bank

Well, you either do nothing and go out of business or you try to reinvent yourself, find out new revenue streams

is fully digitized, it means that customers can access the bank and its products anywhere through any channel, whether it is through a smartphone or home broadband or whether it is actually having the customers go into the bank. For a retail bank, having access to the bank 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and being able to access products or insurance claims.

It is actually being able to do everything in a virtual world.

There are two opportunities really, one is the re-invention which is finding new opportunities that can exist without technology and the second is digitizing your business and streamlining that. One is about efficiency and the other is about growth opportunities.

One thing that caught my attention is the fact that we need to change the conversation, focusing on business rather than technology. Could it be that the uncertainty of disruption underneath innovation across the board is now part of why customers are now seeking business alliances?

Business leaders understand that without our strategy they are going to be disrupted so the good news is that there is an opportunity for us to go and have those different types of conversations. A lot of the customers do recognize Cisco as industry leaders and thought leaders in that area

•Dare Ogunlade so there is no shortage of opportunity to have the conversation. We cannot begin to have that conversation without being prepared; we need to understand what the opportunities are, what we are seeing in different parts of the world in the same industry.

There was an alarming report recently that Nigeria dropped in the network readiness ranking. With the position of Nigeria in Africa as one of the fastest growing economies, how do you think we can ever conveniently adjust to the era of IoE if we keep dropping in the ranking?

Can we just keep in mind that when we talk about the ranking of a country, it’s

basically talking about relative ranking to other countries? Nigeria has made progress under the previous government but there are other countries progressing faster, which is the key point of the networking index. The statistics is at least 18 months but we remember the statistics had 35% growth in ICT, which at the time was five percent to six percent of the GDP growing at 3.5% a year. There is a huge amount of growth going on in Nigeria, most of it is around the basic mobile subscriptions, mainly voice, some data and there is still so much work to do and we are anxiously waiting to see what the new government has in store.

Don’t bandy figures without facts, NCC blasts critics Continues from page 28 operators in the industry. It includes monitoring the compliance of operators and service providers to the terms, the conditions and obligations that we have in their licenses.

It also includes creating access and ensuring that there is access to telecommunication and that there is competition in the industry in such a way that the Nigerian Consumer has value for money for services that are provided for them . In a nutshell I will say these are the functions of the Commission” Achievements “We are absolutely proud of what we have done so far. As at January 2001, Nigeria had a population of 90 million to 100 million and all we could boast of were 400, 000 active lines throughout the federation, now as at May this year, 2015, there were about 146.5 million active subscribers on the networks and you know this is an industry that

operates on a 24/7 hour basis. It’s only in telecoms that someone wakes up at 2am and at 4am and there is an emergency, he picks up his phone and makes his calls. A few years ago, it was not easy; now, that is common practice.

In those days people in Lagos wanting to send a message to the village, will have to do a letter get someone that knows someone travelling to the village before the information in the letter will get home. But now, wherever you are, there is access for Nigerians to communicate.

Data statistics Ojobo said that besides the leverage one can get with voice calls, the growth statistics in data services is another area critics fail to properly analyse else they would be better educated on issues of their criticisms. “Äs at today, we have about 89 million active subscribers on the internet

in Nigeria which is one of the highest in the world, in terms of internet usage. I think that is phenomenal and has changed the way businesses are done in Nigeria. For instance, from the comforts one’s bedroom, banking transactions are now done.

Again, that we are a cashless society today, is because of telecommunication. Recently I needed to check into a hotel and my debit card was unavailable, immediately I sent a mail to the bank, in less than a minute, my account officer acknowledged receipt of the mail on phone and immediately sorted my problem out. The money was paid into the hotel account; that wouldn’t have happened a few years ago.

These things are practical and are changing the way that we live our lives”.

Cost of telephony generally “Well you know there are some things you get from armchair statisticians who just bandy the figures without doing any

empirical studies of the price index for telecommunications in Africa.

Nigeria neither has the highest nor the lowest cost of telephony in Africa or the world; we are somewhere in the middle, but I will just give you a picture of what has happened. As at 2001 when the mobile operators were licensed, people were paying fifty naira a minute as at that time, today you have as low as 11 kobo

We have about 89 million active subscribers on the internet in Nigeria which is one of the highest in the world, in terms of internet usage

per second, in a minute, that gives you six naira 60 kobo per minute. So when you speak for like 10 minutes, it is N66.00 only, so that gives you an indication of what has happened in terms of price reduction in the industry.

“We have actually done a study and soon we are going to come out with the publication, looking at the pricing of the Telecommunication services in Africa, especially in West Africa region.

Why treat operators with kid gloves “It’s actually laughable really, when people make such insinuations. As a regulator, we try to maintain a very delicate balance. For instance, could you just imagine what will happen, if we revoke the license of any of these networks, some have up to 63 million subscribers, and they shut down operations? It means that 63 million subscribers would actually be shut out of communications within that space of time.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—37

SOCIAL SECURITY: Fresh attempts at accommodating the old, unemployed

T

By Leke Adeseri

HE widespread poverty occasioned by massive unemployment especially amongst youths, rising cases of workplace injury and elderly lacking access to basic necessities of life combine to make adoption of social security an imperative.

With many migrating into the poverty population, governments in most parts of the world are introducing social security to lift their citizens off the lowest part of social floor even as the popularity of social security in West Africa subregion is still abysmally low.

While there are different reasons adduced by various governments for the low penetration of social security in the sub-region, which ranges from lack of resources to finance the programme to its expensive nature, the need to have one form of social security or the other especially for the vulnerable groups cannot be totally discountenanced.

Indeed, the International Social Security Association (ISSA) defines social security as any programme of social protection established by legislation, or any other mandatory arrangement, that provides individuals with a degree of income security when faced with the contingencies of old age, survivorship, incapacity, disability, unemployment or rearing children. It may also offer access to curative or preventive medical care.

Preventive medical care The technical seminar tagged, “impact of new information and communication technology in the performance of social security institutions” slated for Abuja this Wednesday and Thursday is organized by the ISSA Liaison Office for West Africa and hosted by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

Given the dynamics of socioeconomic problems, the creation of an inclusive and easily accessible social security for all has become a priority for all countries. This effort is further justified in light of the low coverage rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Improving both access to, and the quality of, services are concerns that must be addressed to promote social justice.

ISSA said in recent years, social security organizations have taken concrete action to extend social coverage, facilitate access to rights and strengthen obligations of employers and

• Abubakar: NSITF boss the insured and improve service quality. In this context and in response to these emerging trends, the need to reinforce the role of ICT in the operations of social security institutions is greater than ever. This capacity enhancement must be in line with the actual needs of the populations and the capabilities of the social security institutions.

Objectives of the technical seminar is to identify the impact of using new information and communication technology to manage social security institutions and client satisfaction and will have its main focus on allocation of resources to ICT, service quality and impact on contribution collection.

While explaining why Nigeria is hosting the event, the Managing Director of NSITF, Munir Abubakar said it is indeed a big step for the Fund in many respects.

“First, our Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has just taken off and secondly, the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) is ICT driven. These are the two principal reasons why the seminar is very important for us.

Objectives of the technical seminar is to identify the impact of using new information and communication technology to manage social security institutions and client satisfaction

During the operations of the defunct N S I T F s c h e m e between 1994 and 2004, one of the biggest challenges we faced was t h e computerization of our records. In fact, this took us into warpath with employers because they did not want to be part of the scheme because of the lack of computerization of our system,” he explained.

The NSITF boss stressed that Nigeria presently implements one of the nine social security arms and the immediate National Assembly has expanded that mandate by extending provision of social security to all Nigerians and that cannot be done that if there is no internationalized ICT, saying, “by the time the law is signed by the present government, implementation of additional mandates will be an easy ride for us because we are fully ready. ”

Additional mandates He explained that the ICT expansion into all the NSITF offices nationwide would be done in phases with the ICT component of the head office now completed, adding, “the next stage is to finish the ICT in our big offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano. Lagos is almost completed now. The plan is to have every office in the country linked up with the head office.”

The NSITF boss also highlighted that it is not safe to have ICT installed in rented offices as currently happening in most state offices hinting that plans are underway to acquire buildings in the states to ensure security of information in the care of the Fund.

Abubakar, who lauded the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said the two organizations contributed immensely to understanding of what the scheme is about within the stakeholders.

Though he said state governments are still not reluctant to adopt the scheme, the NSITF helmsman revealed that the Fund is adopting fresh

strategies to ensure compliance by state governments.

He stated that the conference would present West African countries opportunity to share experiences on how to engender the faster ways of implementation of social security schemes’ in the subregion.

O n mainstreaming ICT into t h e operations of the NSITF, the General Manager, ICT of N S I T F, M r s .

Catherine Ugbe, said s i n c e 2012, the F u n d decided to draw up strategies for its ICT implementation confronting formidable stumbling blocks as t h e implementation processes progressed.

S h e highlighted that the F u n d decided to adopt the I S O 270001 ahead of o t h e r standards to ensure safeguarding o f information; making it available for those who need it at the time it is needed by all the stakeholders, adding that for an I C T system to w o r k properly in terms of security a n d reliability, governance procedure needed to be put in place.

S h e hinted that NSITF prioritized three key services t h a t included registration, notification

and claim processing in its website to assist employers register their workers seamlessly without physical contact with the office.

She added that since the website became functional, the Fund has witnessed about 80% increment in the usage of emails for communication.

Mrs. Ugbe hinted the establishment of an information security forum where all head of departments come to discuss matters relating to information security.

38—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—39

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40—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Arunma Oteh T

HE one survivor of the Jonathan girls is the once embattled Aruma Oteh, the Securities and Exchange Commission boss who stood her ground while others stumbled. Last week, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim an-

nounced her appointment as Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, saying, Arunma has deep knowledge of capital markets and tremendous experience as the former Treasurer of one of our partner development

bank. We are very fortunate to be able to recruit an individual of Arunma’s obvious caliber.

Prior to joining the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria, Ms. Oteh was Group Vice President, Corporate Services, at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). Earlier roles at the AfDB, which she joined in 1992, included trading room management, investment portfolio coverage, and public sector lending.

In the World Bank, Ms. Oteh will manage and lead a large and diverse team responsible for managing more than $150 billion in assets. Her top priorities will be to maintain the World Bank’s global reputation, manage an extensive client advisory, transaction and asset management business, engage, in her capacity as one of the World Bank’s key representatives, with outside stakeholders and to collaborate extensively with the Finance Partners throughout the World Bank Group. The appointment is effective on September 2015.

M

Oby Ezekwesili

EANWHILE, a twitter battle ensued between Oby Ezekwesili and CNBC Africa, which had announced Aruma Oteh’s appointment by refering to her as Africa’s first female World Bank vice president.

The TV Station, which later apologised, had described Arunma Oteh as the first African woman to be appointed vice president of the

U

S President Barrack Obama’s visit to Kenya has received much global attention, but the star of the whole show is his Kenyan kid sister, who has followed him everywhere on the trip, particularly as his ‘girls’ have not accompanied him to Africa. this time.

But is is her speech on why she deserved a ride in the President’s vehicle- the beast- that has her breaking the internet.

My brother, your brother, our son, she said in introducing him.

Auma pointed out that she was worried when Obama told her he was running for President of US back in 2008. He however assured her that he had read the job description and was ready to take up the job.

Acknowledging the humility that Obama displayed when he visited Kenya in 1992, she remembers picking him up at JKIA with her small Beetle vehicle.

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Caitlyn Jenner

B

RUCE Jenner ’s alter ego- the award winning transgender, Caitlyn, seems to be permanently trending on the global blogosphere. Last week, rapper Eminem didn’t hold back during an eight-minute freestyle rap session on a radio show and he was no respecter of persons He saved one of his more searing lines for Caitlyn Jenner.

This is a true statement, I see the b***h in you, Caitlyn/ I keep the pistol tucked like Bruce Jenner’s d—k/ No disrespect though, not at all/ No pun intended, that took a lot of balls.

The 42-year-old emcee is well-known for taking down celebrities with his rhymes, sometimes sparking yearslong feuds but oftentimes causing little more than a few raised eyebrows.

C M Y K

Managing Director of the World Bank @obyezeks was VP of African region not VP of World Bank.

That prompted Mrs. Ezekwesili to school the station and blogosphere on a little lesson in civics, and the number of African women that have been appointed vice president of the financial institution: If only @cnbcafrica will stop digging into a hole.

Arunma’s great World Bank appointment was inaccurately conveyed.

Auma Obama

Iara Oshiomhole

logosphere, it appears, cannot have enough of Iara Oshiomole, Edo state first lady and hot new wife of the state’s governor, Adam, who was the lone executive that took his better half on the recently concluded visit of the presidential team to Washington DC. Iara’s dress is responsible for the controversy this time, with folks arguing over the appropriateness of the dress madam Oshiomole wore on one of the occasions. Everyone agrees that the dress is hot, and that she looked stunning is not in contest.

A commentator writes: small wives always get away with eveything.

Doubt if baba Oshio would have tolerated such from his first wife...

institution.

World Bank gets its first African woman vice president, the TV station had tweeted but Mrs. Ezekwesili was quick to point out the error in the tweet, suggesting that the TV station could have used google search to get its facts right.

Commentators had then mentioned the names of Ngozi Okonjo Iwealla and Oby Ezekwesili, to which CNBCA had replied, @NOIweala was

Stella Adadevoh Blogosphere is celebrating Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh at this time, in remembrance

of the fact that this time last year, the whole nation was gripped in fear over ebola The Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards is set

to honour late First Consultant Hospital consultant Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, and other health care workers who contributed significantly to the containment of the Ebola outbreak in the country.

Speaking on the initiative, Dr. Wale Alabi, Chief Executive Officer, Global Health Project and Resources, and Programme Director of NHEA said the honourees saved the country from a national crisis.

Adadevoh and her colleagues deserve to be celebrated for their noble role.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 —41

Acupuncture, potential aid to fertility

By Dotun Ibiwoye

A

CUPUNCTURE has been recognized as a fertility enhancing approach through its restoration of balance to the body and the internal systems responsible for regulating hormones.

Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a key component of traditional Chinese medicine involving inserting thin needles into the body and it's based on the theory that energy, flows through and around your body along pathways called meridians.

Nordica Fertility Centre's Acupuncturist/ Infertility Counselor, Dr. Esther Odiete, at the Physicians Roundtable in Lagos, recently with theme: 'Transforming Infertility Treatment- In line with global advancements' affirmed that acupuncture could benefit IVF patients beyond potentially improving rates of IVF pregnancy success.

• Dr. Esther Odiete.

Odiete said by giving a patient acupuncture before IVF is done has resulted into positive results from practical experience and several studies globally.

She affirmed that acupuncture stimulates the neurotransmitters that trigger the production of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, which controls the menstrual cycle and a woman's ovulation.

It is also believed to stimulate blood flow to the uterus and boost the production of endogenous opioids, inducing the body to relax.

Odiete said acupuncture is best before embarking on IVF, during stimulation, before and after embryo transfer. She said countless benefits of acupuncture include reduction of anxiety, stress, and hormones secreted during stressful situations which significantly decrease fertility.

It also increases blood flow to the uterus, thus thickening the uterine lining, which improves the chances of an ovum implanting on the uterine wall and normalises the systems that regulate ovulation, especially in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, PCOS.

3 LGAs in Rivers State obtain safe water

By Gabriel Olawale

I

N line with their collective determination to help rural communities in Nigeria access safe and clean water, Guinness Nigeria and Diageo Foundation teamedup with Concern Universal to deliver 10 boreholes in three Local Government Areas in Cross River State.

The initiative, aimed to help beneficiary communities improve their hygiene with access to safe water marked the 10 yearold ‘Diageo Water of Life project’.

At the unveiling of the new boreholes, the Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Sesan Sobowale said that Guinness Nigeria recognizes that millions of people still do not have access to clean and safe water.

“One in five people around the world cannot access safe drinking water; and in

Nigeria, 63 million people do not have access to clean water. This is why Guinness Nigeria and the Diageo Foundation teamed up with Concern Universal to provide clean water for rural communities in Cross River State. Our partnership leverages our collective strengths to help beneficiary communities improve their water, sanitation, and hygiene, and ultimately, their health.”

“In line with the objective of the programme, 10 boreholes have been provided for communities in Abi, Dekwara and Obandikwu local government areas of Cross River State to promote improve hygiene and sanitation for resident of these communities.”

“Since the flagship of our ‘Diageo Water of Life project’ which was launched 10 years ago, we have constructed water facilities in 35 communities across 14 states

in Nigeria and through this water project, Guinness Nigeria has helped thousand of Nigeria families access clean water and ultimately improve their overall health and well being.”

“Record shows that communities that lack access to safe and clean water witness several of deadly disease such as diarrheal, cholera and typhoid, by enable more Nigerians access clean water we belief we have play an important role in disease burden in beneficiary communities,” he added.

On his part, Country Director, Concern Universal, Tim Kellow said that with the new 10 added boreholes they have helped more than 6,000 people in ten communities to access safe drinking 'water while also trained 120 community members on basic borehole maintenance and water resource management.

It increases blood flow to the uterus, thus thickening the uterine lining, improving chances implantation “Acupuncture could benefit IVF patients beyond potentially improving rates of IVF pregnancy success, noting that it is relatively safe and inexpensive and may aid patients in coping with the emotional and psychological challenges related to IVF and infertility, she said “It regulates the menstruation and improve ovulation. Improves egg quality by nourishing the follicles with adequate blood supply. It terms of physiological effects, it increases circulation , decreased inflammation, relief from pain, relief of muscle spasms, increased T-cell count which stimulates the immune system.

Dr. Abayomi Ajayi on his part said: “The physicians roundtable is to bring doctors together to share knowledge and ideas on the latest happenings in the world of IVF. “It is supposed to be a quarterly programme and would be made more regular. People are more aware of infertility in Nigeria and are coming out for treatment, he said “You know there is a difference between awareness and knowledge. Although the knowledge is still very superficial and that is why we really want to address. To make everybody to understand IVF, know what to expect from it and nobody can take you for a ride in the name of IVF. He added: “The idea of this project was five years ago, I was in the USA and made some inquiries and I observed that acupuncture was beneficial and came with the question what can I do? So we had to send someone to China. But my surprise is the way people took it. They can see the benefits.”

Nordica, Lagos registered about 600 new patients every year with over 500 treatments in 2014.

Acute versus chronic pain P

AIN is an uncomfortable feeling and/or an unpleas ant sensation in the body. The presence of pain often is an indication that something is wrong. Pain can appear suddenly or can come about slowly.

Each individual is the best judge of his or her own pain. Feelings of pain can range from mild and occasional to severe and constant. Pain can be classified as acute pain or chronic pain.

What is acute pain?

Acute pain begins suddenly and is usually sharp in quality. It serves as a warning of disease or a threat to the body.

Acute pain might be caused by many events or circumstances, including: surgery, broken bones, dental work, burns or cuts.

Labour and childbirth Acute pain might be mild and last just a moment, or it might be severe and last for weeks or months. In most cases, acute pain does not last longer than six months, and it disappears when the underlying cause of pain has been treated or has healed. Unrelieved acute pain, however, might lead to chronic pain.

Differences between acute and chronic pain?

There might be no known cure for the disease (such as arthritis or phantom pain) that is causing the chronic pain.

The cause of chronic pain might be unknown or poorly understood.

How is pain treated?

Depending upon its severity, pain might be treated in a

number of ways. Symptomatic options for the treatment of pain might include one or more of the following: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a specific type of painkiller such as diclofenac or Ibuprofen.

Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol); narcotics (such as morphine or codeine); localised anesthetic (a shot of a pain killer medicine into the area of the pain); Nerve blocks (the blocking of a group of nerves with local anesthetics) and acupuncture.

Others are electrical stimulation, physical therapy, surgery, psychotherapy (talk therapy), relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and biofeedback (treatment technique in which people are trained to improve their health by using signals from their own bodies) Behaviour modification Some pain medicines are more effective in fighting pain when they are combined with other methods of treatment.

Patients might need to try various methods to maintain maximum pain relief.

Acute and chronic pain are different clinical entities.

Acute pain is provoked by a specific disease or injury, serves a useful biologic purpose, is associated with skeletal muscle spasm and sympathetic nervous system activation, and is self-limited.

Chronic pain, in contrast, may be considered a disease state. It is pain that outlasts the normal time of healing, if associated with a disease or injury. Chronic pain may arise from psychological states, serves no biologic pur-

doctor@lagospainclinic.com pose, and has no recognizable end-point.

Acute pain Acute pain is pain with a specific, identifiable cause, like a slip or fall. An example of acute pain is the pain you feel when you stub your toe or touch a hot stove. Pain from an acute injury should resolve itself in two to four weeks with the help of rest, ice, heat and a visit to your primary care provider.

Chronic pain Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than 4 to 6 weeks.

An acute injury can lead to chronic pain, but sometimes chronic pain does not have an identifiable cause. If your pain persists for four to six weeks, you should see a pain management physician who can help pinpoint the cause of your pain and work with you to find an appropriate treatment plan. An example of chronic pain is back pain that lasts longer than four weeks.

Acute pain is the body's normal response to damage such as a cut, an infection, or other physical injuries. This type of pain usually comes on fast and often goes away in no more than a few weeks or months if treated properly.

Acute pain can become chronic when the cause is difficult to treat.

42 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY 5 WEDNESDAY,, JULY 29, 201 2015

By Marie-Therese Nanlong RESIDENTS of Jos, the Plateau State capital, are not new to calamity: from politicoreligious crises to bomb attacks and isolated killings, the trend is well known.

As the city was grappling with the recent bomb blasts whose survivors are still receiving treatment in the hospital, another tragedy occurred in the early hours of Saturday as a result of gas leakage from the Lamingo Water Treatment Plant which left eight people dead and over 100 others hospitalised.

The survivors who suffered from excess chlorine inhalation due to the leaked chlorine cylinder at the Plant are currently receiving treatment at Our Lady of Apostle, OLA Hospital, Evangel Hospital (Jankwano), Plateau State Specialist Hospital and Air Force Hospital, all in Jos. When Vanguard Features, VF, visited the Casualty Section of the Plateau State Specialist Hospital where most of the survivors are receiving treatment, they (survivors) were either sleeping, lying restlessly or spitting into buckets under the hospital beds.

With difficulty, some of them narrated their ordeal to VF .

They called on the relevant authorities to do the needful by evacuating the expired chlorine and other chemicals as well as properly handling the useful ones to avoid a recurrence of the incident.

The Chlorine cylinders

Death in chlorine cylinder:

Survivors recount ordeal

How gas leakage at water treatment plant wreaked havoc in Jos

Speaking with VF, a survivor, Christiana Paul, a fifth year Medical Laboratory Science student at the University of Jos, said she was jolted awake at midnight by a foul odour.

Christiana who lives behind the Immigration Quarters said: “We woke up from sleep around 12am and discovered the whole environment was polluted by a strong odour in the room. We thought it was bleach (liquid used in washing white clothes) hence we decided to open the windows. The odour became more toxic when we opened the windows; we rushed outside to see where it was coming from.

But it was worse outside. We couldn’t pinpoint the direction the odour was coming from; so we thought the safest escape route would be the Water Board. But as we were going, we discovered it was more severe, so we turned back and by this time, people were gasping for air,” she said.

Continuing, Christiana

narrated how they managed to escape. “Most of our neighbours who were not familiar with the route, forged ahead; unfortunately they never came back alive.”

Another survivor, who identified herself as Jacinta Kemwel, said she lost N11, 000 while trying to escape from the offensive odour. “I came from Maiduguri on a visit to a family two weeks ago. Few minutes to midnight, we woke from sleep to perceive some foul odour. We tried to trace where it was coming from but could not do much because the chemical entered our eyes. We were just shedding tears and having difficulty breathing. We became confused and tried to run outside; that’s how I lost the money I have been saving to attend to a need,”she lamented.

Jacinta’s host, Eunice Enoch, a student of Fly High College,

Jos with three members of her family , Goodluck, Mary and Magaji Enoch, were also affected. Jacinta was however grateful to God because “none of us died. Eunice complains of chest pain and is waiting for the doctor on duty to examine

People were gasping for air; most of our neighbours who were not familiar with the route, forged ahead; unfortunately they never came back alive

her”.

Narrating her side of what transpired, Eunice said: “I was not at home that Saturday night when the thing happened.

When I came back, I saw my guest, my mother and two other family members in the hospital.

I went home on Sunday to get some things for them. When I got there, I perceived some foul odour and since then, I have been having chest pain. I’m here to see the doctor. Five of us were affected but thank God, none of us died.”

Appeal

Making a passionate appeal for the situation to be addressed, Christiana who has a good knowledge of chemicals and their adverse effects, called for the regulation of temperature at the water treatment plant.

“We are all aware of how toxic chlorine can be when you get in contact with it. It will first

block your respiratory system so you can’t breathe and when the body is short on oxygen, you can’t live. I am appealing to those concerned to find a way of regulating the temperature in that place because the chemical reacts dangerously to hot weather. I know they may be running away from the financial expenses but it is safer and it will help to avert another calamity,” she said.

Lamentations of the bereaved

“I have been weeping over the loss of lives. Some of my neighbours are gone. I know a student of the Film Institute, another in University of Jos called Ify, we don’t know what they would have become in future, but they are no more.

In other places, you don’t just enter a place and get access to certain chemicals, you follow

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY 5 — 43 WEDNESDAY,, JULY 29, 201 2015

affected in anyway by the aerial contamination of chlorine from the exploded cylinder.

Government wishes to commiserate with the families of the victims of this industrial hazard and has taken immediate measures to address the issues of expired components of the Treatment Plant and to guard against future re-occurrence of this unfortunate incident.”

VF gathered that the leakage emanated from expired and obsolete cylinder components at the treatment plant which leaked poisonous gas to neighboring houses around the Lamingo Water Treatment Plant located along the Dogon Karfe– Abattoir-Old-Bukuru Road.

Acting General Manager, Quality and Assurance of the State Water Board, Stella Bugge gave a hint on what could have caused the leakage.

“The gas cylinder that caused the leakage was an empty one, which we had removed but was not completely empty.

However, with time, that could cause the nozzles to rust. We are suspecting that the pressure in the cylinder which was laid horizontally on the floor pushed the nozzle forcing the gas out and wreaking the havoc in the neighbourhood,” she explained.

•Christiana Paul on her sick bed in the hospital

Buhari orders investigation

•Simon Bako Lalong, Plateau State Governor

procedures because they know how dangerous such chemicals can be. Why is our own different in this country?” she asked.

While these survivors lived to tell their stories, the situation was different for Tobi Adebayo whose family is in deep mourning for their daughter.

She was one of the two female students of the National Film Institute who died after inhaling the chlorine gas while asleep.

Mr. Adebayo bemoaned the death of her daughter during a visit to the scene by the State Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonni Tyoden. “My daughter is dead, I saw her corpse this morning (Sunday). Why are we losing our youths, we are tired of losing our youths on the Plateau and in Nigeria,” he

cried.

These emotion- laden words drew tears from those who were

The gas cylinder that caused the leakage was an empty one, which we had removed but was not completely empty; however, with time, that could cause the nozzles to rust

Jacinta Kemwel on her sick bed at the scene.

The State Governor, Simon Lalong, the Speaker of the State Assembly, Peter Azi, Chief of Staff, Government House, John Dafa’an, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Hannatu Dantong and the State Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Oki, have all visited the scene and victims.

They described the incident as unfortunate and promised to work together to ensure no such calamity is recorded again.

The Acting Chief Medical Director, Plateau Specialists Hospital, Dr. Philemon Golwa who gave an update on the incident, disclosed that “some victims were placed on oxygen and other medications”.

“Some have been treated and discharged but others are still on admission but they are responding to treatment. The government has intervened strongly in terms of financial support to the victims. The matter is being investigated to ensure that there is no re occurrence,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government has assured citizens that the situation is now under control.

According to a statement signed by the Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Nanle: “The contamination has been contained and does not affect the water which has been supplied to public mains; water from the public mains is safe for consumption and is not

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has called for full investigation into the cylinder explosion at the Lamingo Plateau Water Board Treatment Plant in Jos. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also commiserated with the families of the victims, the government and people of the state over the incident.

President Buhari said an investigation into the incident was necessary to avoid recurrence. “The investigation should unravel the facts as to whether this was just an accident. Whatever is the case, we need to get to the bottom of this unfortunate and tragic incident,” the President said.

He prayed that God should grant the souls of those who died in the explosion peaceful repose and quick recovery to those who were injured in the tragedy.

It would be recalled that the immediate past administration of Governor, Jonah Jang, obtained an N8 billion loan in 2014 to refurbish the plant and replace old pipes. N2.2 billion out of this amount has reportedly been spent on water projects and rehabilitation of the three water treatment plants within the city.

44—V ANGU ARD, WEDNESD A Y, JUL Y 29, 2015 44—VANGU ANGUARD, WEDNESDA JULY

My friend's lover squealed Dear Bunmi, recently attended my close friend’s birthday party in her house and met her boyfriend.

They’d been on for a few months but that was the first time I met him in the flesh. After a few drinks, I went to use her ladies upstairs and found myself alone with him. He grabbed and kissed me and we made love there and then. You can imagine how embarrassed I was a few days later when my friend tonguelashed me for seducing her boyfriend. She said he confessed.

Can we ever be friends again? I like her so much and regret what I have done.

Amaka, by e-mail

I

Should I have a conscience?

Dear Bunmi, am over 25 and haven’t been able to find a suitable boyfriend for close to two years now, and I feel sexually frustrated. A few months ago, I met a man at work and I was immediately attracted to him. One Saturday morning, he turned up in my flat and we had mind-blowing sex!

Soon after, he got a better job and relocated outside Lagos.

He confessed when he called that he lives with his girlfriend, but made it clear that he still fancies me. I don’t want to break up the relationship with his girlfriend, but if he’s hell-bent on being unfaithful, why shouldn’t it be with me when I want him so badly?

Tara, by e-mail

I

Dear Tara.

Don’t even think about it!

This man is living with someone else. Popping round one morning for a quickie is

no basis whatsoever for any kind of satisfactory relationship. Nothing is purely physical. You’re both human beings with hearts, soul and all sorts of emotions.

Don’t imagine you can indulge sexually without your feelings becoming involved.

This is a recipe for a heartache and heartbreak for

Don’t know how it feels like to kiss woman Dear Bunmi, ’M 28 and I’ve never had a girlfriend. I haven’t even kissed a woman and now I feel that I never will. Everybody I know seems to be talking about sex, love and relationships.

Television programmes, newspapers, magazines and songs on radio constantly remind me of these things. It makes me feel so inadequate and depressed. As a result, I don’t feel like going out anymore only to watch other people have fun.

I

Can I control this drunk and violent boyfriend?

Dear Bunmi, Y boyfriend is in his late 30's, never been married, but a single father. We’ve been together for over four years.

Towards the end of last year, we separated for four months because of his excessive drinking. More than once, he has pinned me down and put his hands around my throat. He didn’t actually hurt me, but I was really frightened. I asked him to leave my flat but he apologized and we ended up together. He continued his excessive drinking but we got along better.

Recently, after a heated argument, I again walked him out of my flat but he came back later, roaring drunk. He forced his way in and grapped my throat with such a force that I almost blacked out. He suddenly let go and started crying that nobody loved him. Well, I do love him but I can’t live with his problems. He’s not frequent at my flat as before, but I’m worried that he’ll soon bounce back and the same thing will happen - and I might choke to death! I want to feel happy and safe with him or get him out of my life and meet someone better. I am 28.

Ngozi, by e-mail

DEAR BUNMI, ’VE been close to my best friend from our primary school years and we used to have loads of fun. She got married early this year and had a child shortly after. Now, she hardly ever returns my calls and makes excuses if I suggest coming over or going out together. Can I rekindle our friendship? I kind of missed her.

Marie, by e-mail.

Dear Ngozi, Asking your boyfriend to leave your flat when you’re dissatisfied with him is a display of power that seems every bit as threatening to him as his display of drunken anger seem to you.

It looks as if neither of you can tolerate the other’s behaviour and the acute insecurity it breeds within you. It is tragic that where

Dear Marie, When one friend goes through a major life change, such as getting married and having a baby, friendship can suffer. Remember that your friend is busy with new responsibilities, so try and bring the issue into the open.

Ask if she wants to keep in touch and discuss ways of

M

you and for him. Why not spend some time looking elsewher? Try working out the reason you haven’t had a boyfriend in two years. Pin down the problem and apply your energy to finding a man of your own instead of tinkering with someone else’s.

there was once a strong attraction in relationship, there is now mutual fear that will be hard to get rid of.

Each of you has to acknowledge your weaknesses.

By doing some serious thinking or seeking the counsel of more experienced people. Your boyfriend’s wounded pride might prevent him from agreeing to serious discussions as this might mean he will have to admit to his chronic abuse of alcohol. If that’s the case, I’m afraid he will remain a chronic alcoholic and as you suspect, you can have no future together. Be ready to distance yourself and move on.

Recently, I’ve toyed with the idea of visiting prostitutes just so that I could know what it is like to be close to a woman. I wish I could meet a girl and fall in love, but all hope seems to have been lost.

Kings/ey, by e-mail Dear Kingsley, It’s true that most men need the comfort and intimacy of female companionship and it is this feeling of yours that you are inadequate that’s preventing you reaching out for a woman’s love. There are tons of lovely women who want sex and a caring relationship just as much as you do. You need to accept that you are as loveable as the rest of us and that your desire for sex is nothing to be ashamed of. This will make you feel able to respond to the interest of the women you meet.

You are not alone as a lot of people have wondered if they would ever find romance, only to find it when they least expected. Instead of secretly aching for love, show some of the women you meet fhat you’re interested in them. Men who flirt and express their romantic needs have girlfriends. So go out there and find the love you deserve.

Don’t let one or two rejection put you off. More women are bound to say yes.

Have I lost my best friend?

I

meeting, that might be easier for her.

Perhaps she can’t see you at night because of her new family but would love to meet you at launch time. Realize that when you make the same life change, the pair of you will have something in common again and may renew the friendship.

So stop assuming the worst.

Your friend may be backing off because she’s jealous of the freedom you have, so don’t take her action personally.

Friendship often fades and it is no one’s fault. Don’t over react because if your friend feels blamed, she’s less likely to want to keep in touch. It’s not the end of the world, whatever happens. There are other friendships waiting for you if you are open to them

Dear Amaka, You really have been disloyal

to your friend and what happened between you and her boyfriend at the party will probably spell the end of your friendship. On the other hand, it takes two to cheat, Your friend's man is just as guilty as you are if not more so.

It’s best to keep out of the way for now while they sort things out between them. Then write an apology letter to your friend and wait for a reply. If one arrives, arrange to meet up and do your best to put your friendship back on course. Only, don’t be surprised if she doesn’t bother getting in touch with you. All I know is that a man who easily sleeps with his lover's girlfriend would trip up again sooner or later.

After a few drinks, I went to use her ladies upstairs and found myself alone with him. He grabbed and kissed me and we made love there and then. You can imagine how embarrassed I was a few days later when my friend tongue-lashed me for seducing her boyfriend.

My wife says she’s now born again Dear Bunmi, FTER almost 15 years of marriage and three well brought up children, my wife has suddenly became born again. She’s started going to a Pentecostal church. She wanted to take thc children, but I put my feet down. Before she found God, we never attended any churches. But she’s now changed almost overnight into a person I don’t know and can no longer relate to. Can we ever be the family we once were again?

She seems like a stranger to me.

Harry, by e-mail

A

Dear Harry, Do you know what prompted your wife’s conversion?

People can turn to religion if they’ve been seriously ill, someom close to them has died, they’ve had some sort of trauma or decided to radically change their lifestyle.

In these circumstances, religion is a type of therapy and a passing phase that’s helpful at the time; seldom a true longlasting belief.

Even if she were once perfectly happy and simply embraced religion, once she was exposed to it, it sounds very much like you’ve both grown in different directions and have stopped communicating. You need to ask her why she converted and what religion is providing what was missing before. Let her know that while she has every right to worship whatever God she chooses, it doesn’t mean you and the children have to be converted.

Let her know you love the relationship you had, and feel marginalized by this sudden change.

A lot of couples have coped with this type of change if the person who’s discovered religion doesn’t try to convert the other and is happy going to church while the rest of the family do their own thing.

However, if she’s so devout that things you used to enjoy together are now off the menu, you need to get counselling. If not properly handled, this could put your marriage in jeopardy.

Share your problems and release your burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 45

Ship owner accuses Navy of illegal detention of vessel L

By Godfrey Bivbere & Ifeyinwa Obi

AGOS—THE Managing Director of Mercury Oil and Gas Marketing Company and a member of Nigerian Ship-owners Association, NISA, Mr. Osita Onumonu, has alleged illegal detention of his 5,000 tonnes vessel, MT Sapphire 1 and her crew by the Nigerian Navy shortly after it was attacked by pirates.

The ship owner also alleged that the 1.8 million litres of AGO cargo in the vessel as at the time it was detained had since disappeared.

Spokesman for Central Navy command, Lt. Col. Ahmed, told Vanguard that the they do not have any vessel, particularly MT Saphire in their custody, noting that even if there was any detained ship, it may be by a unit of the command.

Ahmed said that what the Navy does is to hand-over all detained ships to the Directorate of Petroleum Resource, DPR, which in turn siphons the product of such ships.

Onumonu is alleging that the 5,000 tonnes Togolese flagged vessel was attacked by pirates after completion of its Ship to Ship, STS, operation. He said that the pirates boarded the vessel and diverted its course before the vessel’s Automatic Identification

System, AIS, alerted the Navy.

The NISA member noted that the pirates fled before the arrival of naval officials, who sailed the ship to Afomosu, in Bayelsa State because it was off its course.

According to him, ”MT Sapphire 1 has been under arrest by the Nigerian Navy. I trade with the vessel and sometimes I take products for individuals and companies including the company doing the bar beach construction.

“On one such occasion, my company sought for a Naval clearance from the Nigerian Navy for an STS off Agbama Offshore on two badges, we finished the STS and unfortunately we were attacked.

In the course of the attack, we alerted the navy and by the time they arrived, the pirates had absconded and abandoned the vessel.

“The Navy took over the vessel and did their investigation for one month; they took all my crew and put them in detention at their

base. After this, they came up with their report which they sent to Abuja, after this nothing was done.

“They did not charge the crew to court but they detained them for seven months. When the heat was much, they transferred the case to Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, which did their finding and released my crew and the vessel.”

He said that his greatest challenge at present remained how to get back his vessel, which should be active in trading or chartering to sustain his business.

REUNION: From, Deputy coordinator of Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, Class of '85, Ndubisi Owoghiri, Class of '85 members, Erebi Kia, Prince Tonye Princewill, George Ene-Ita and Ogonna Onyenora, during Class of '85 reunion, at Crust and Cream, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Oshiomhole congratulates new NUJ President

B

By Simon Ebegbulem

ENIN CITY—GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has said that the emergence of Alhaji Abdulwaheed Odusile as the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, was a reflection of the commitment of members to move the union to a higher level.

In a congratulatory message by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, the governor, said:

Passage

R

EMAINS of late Mr. Moses Onoyake who died on May 12, will be laid to rest in his home town, Okpare-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State on Friday. The late community leader was aged 70 years.

He is survived by brothers, sisters, nine children including Teena Oghenenyoreme Onoyake, Kelvin Onoyake, among others

“Waheed Odusile’s victory at the keenly contested election reflects the wishes of members to effect the desired change in the affairs of the union.

“I have implicit confidence that, with you as President of

“Your pedigree as a reputed journalist in many media houses and a unionist with experience spanning over two decades have prepared you for the onerous task of leading the NUJ to a higher level.”

Lawyer wants Naval chief jailed over contempt of court

A

By Festus Ahon & Ochuko Akuopha

SABA—A LEGAL practitioner, Mr Obefemi Ainerua, has prayed a Federal High Court sitting in Warri, Delta State to commit the Chief of Naval Staff to prison for disobeying its order to release a Vessel christened MT JOCHEBED to its owner, KUTI

Ltd. KUTI Ltd had dragged the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC and the Nigerian Navy to the court over the confiscation of the vessel with registration No: 377874 and IMO NO:7388578 by the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS, Delta after it was stolen in the creeks by suspected sea pirates.

The applicant, is also praying the court to order by the respondents to release its vessel seized by the Nigerian Navy on October 12, 2014 on bond or unconditionally.

Trial judge, Justice Abubakar Shittu, in a judgment delivered on February 4, 2015, granted the prayer of the plaintiff and ordered the Nigerian Navy to release the vessel to the owner on bond or on reasonable conditions.

Commissioner moves to tackle insecurty in A'Ibom communities vast rural communities.

By Chioma Onuegbu

U Late Moses Onoyake

the NUJ, the union will no doubt get a true and selfless leadership needed to key into the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari and bring unparalleled growth to members of your great union.

YO —THE Commissioner for Rural Development in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Ekong Sampson has said that plans were being made by his Ministry to tackle security challenges in rural communities of the state.

Ekong, yesterday, during the

inspection of the moribund Police Station facility at Ikot Umiang and Ikot Okoro communities in Mkpat Enin and Oruk Anam Local Government Areas of the state, said that the rural security strategy was part of the programmes of his Ministry, aimed at driving the socioeconomic growth of the state’s

He explained that the essence of the inspection tour of police facilities in some select rural communities was to determine those that require rehabilitation or re-construction, stressing that proper security facilities and equipment were essential to tackling security challenges in the state.

Don't dissolve NDDC board, N-Delta youths urge Buhari

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By Gabriel Enogholase

ARRI—NIGER Delta Youths for Peace and Development, NDPD, has described the call by those it called political jobbers on President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as mischievous, and an attempt to further exacerbate the crisis in the Niger Delta region.

A statement by the Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Kenneth Edayi at the end of its emergency meeting in Warri, urged President Buhari to ignore the call to dissolve the NDDC board, insisting that it was a statutory one where its members are expected to serve out their tenure as provided by the law setting it up.

He added that those calling for the dissolution of the NDDC board were ignorant of the Act establishing the body in year 2000 with defined objectives.

Urhobo youths task Okowa on employment

By Simon Adewale

U

GHELLI—THE Urhobo National Youth Voice, UNNV, has appealed to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State on the need to embark on massive infrastructural development and provision of job opportunities for the youths of the state.

Briefing newsmen, President of UNNV, Alex Idu, stressed the urgent need for the Okowa’s administration to revamp all the companies that had gone out of operations, in return help put the youths of the streets.

He added that by so doing, there will be employment for thousands of youths as same will further help reduce the alarming rate of crime in the state.

He urged Governor Okowa to focus on innovative ideas that will fashion out a clear path to follow in attracting development for the people of Delta State.

46 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Boko Haram not targeted at Christians alone, says PFN President

Ex-NIMASA DG, elected African Ship-owners Association President

…. Berates critics referring to Buhari as ‘Baba Go Slow’

By Austin Ogwuda & Francis Igata

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T

NUGU—PRESIDENT of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Dr. Felix Omobude has called on Nigerians irrespective of their religions or ethnic affiliations to see the hydra-headed Boko Haram as a common enemy that must be fought with a collective will instead of resorting to the blame game.

He also expressed disappointment over the verbal attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari by some critics who referred to him as ‘Baba Go Slow,’ saying that rather than hauling insults on the President, Nigerians should support and pray for him to succeed, which is biblical.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after his arrival in Enugu, yesterday, for the 5th Biennial Conference of the PFN, Enugu State Chapter, at the Grace of God Mission, Enugu, Omobude expressed concern over the renewed onslaught by the Boko Haram insurgents in the country

HE AFRICAN Shipowners Association, ASA, has elected Temisan Omatseye, former Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, as its President.

Omatseye, who is the first Nigerian to be so elected is very vast in maritime matters. He will in the next four years lead ASA alongside Mr. Stanley Ahorlu of Ghana, who was elected first Vice President, and Madam Caroline Masala, second Vice President. They will be assisted by 10 directors from other African countries.

Omatseye, in his first official assignment led ASA and key players in the continent’s maritime sector to the African Union, AU, Heads of State meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the decade of African Maritime Development was launched.

The event witnessed strategic meetings of all African ship-owners, all Heads of Maritime administration, port operators and Heads of States of African countries.

The task of developing the industry will not only be left to the nations but will be addressed at continental level.

"With the launch on Saturday, July 25, 2015, Africa will witness major changes in its maritime industry," a maritime stakeholder said.

and called for united action by all Nigerians against the group.

Said he: “I wouldn’t say that Christians are the only casualties; some Muslims are also being killed. Nigerians should see Boko Haram as our common enemy.

This is not time to trade blames; we must all come together to defeat this common enemy called Boko Haram. I believe that a fraction cannot be stronger than the whole, no matter how strong they are.”

On the leadership style of Mr. President and trailing criticisms, Omobude called on Nigerians to show him deep respect and regard, noting that “the stand of the PFN on the political situation in the country remains that Nigerians have voted and we have a President; we have a government in place.

“The position of PFN,” he went on, “is purely scriptural, that we should support the present government and pray and then

We followed due process in approving N30bn loan —Abia House

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA—ABIA State House of Assembly said it followed due process and legislative procedure in passing the resolution mandating Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to access N30 billion loan.

A statement by Prince Clinton Uba, the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House, Martins Azubuike, explained that the

House followed due process before passing the resolution supporting the state government to access the loan, which government later explained to be a bond.

According to Uba, the Speaker had clarified to newsmen that “there was no breach of any parliamentary process authorizing government to access the loan and that the House of Assembly is empowered by law to regulate

OBI TO IGBO IN DIASPORA: Do not forget your roots

T

HE FORMER Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi has advised Igbos in whatever part of the world they reside not to forget their roots, which, according to him, is anchored on their culture. Obi was speaking at the 2nd Igbo Festival of Culture at Staunton, Virginia.

The event took place at the Igbo village located within the Frontiers Museum. The typical Igbo 'village' was said to have been encouraged by the authorities of the State of Virginia alongside German, English and

that we might enjoy peace and progress in the nation.

“I will appeal to Nigerians to be patient with him (Buhari) and I think he is taking his time and so far, we should just wait and see; he is a man of his words," he counselled.

The PFN President said that the aim of his visit to the Enugu conference would be an avenue “to reposition the family, foster unity and ensure that we speak with one voice.”

Irish villages.

Represented by his media aide, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, Obi commended the organizers of the event, Council of Igbo States in the Americas, CISA, led by Mr. Chidi Asidianya.

He encouraged them to see the village beyond the physical structure but as an edifice that should encourage brotherhood among the Igbo and love of Igbo culture in its sublime essence.

Recalling his days as the governor of Anambra State, he said he worked assiduously towards the growth of Igbo

language and culture by offer of scholarship to those studying Igbo in the universities, offer of automatic employment to those that studied Igbo, optimal respect for the traditional institution and support to Subakwa Igbo group through the provision of office and bus for them among others.

The event was attended by Igbo from various parts of the world: Canada, Nigeria, South-Africa, Mali, Cameroon, among others.

HRM Eze Ilomuanya, Igwe Gibson Nwosu, Eze Uzu; Eze Neri, Igwe Onyesoh, and many other traditional rulers, graced the event from Nigeria.

its proceedings".

On the N30 billion loan, Rt. Hon. Azubuike stated that "based on a letter from Governor Ikpeazu seeking the resolution of the House, the Assembly painstakingly deliberated on the items requiring urgent attention, ranging from the dredging of the Aba River, construction of bridges across the three senatorial zones of the state, construction and rehabilitation of roads in Abia."

Others included "building of three modern hospitals across the three senatorial zones in Abia state, construction of comprehensive drainage system across the state, building of industrial clusters, and other necessary development foundations.

“The members, therefore, did the needful by first, handling the matter in the executive session before coming to plenary, without breaching any legislation or existing law,” the statement said.

Uba noted that the Speaker observed that the state of the Nigerian economy had put everybody on the toes, including all the states of the federation, saying it was compelling enough to put infrastructure in place to attract private sector driven economy and partnership.

By Bartholomew Madukwe (08102479985) nwamad@yahoo.com

PEOPLE SPEAK

What is yyour our vie w on Buhari's corruption w atch? view watch?

T

he present president is not a magician for our refinery to have started working within a few months in power, a lot of underground and hard engineering work has been done in the past administration. -Mr. Onoriode Seagal Umukoro, Engineer

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resident Buhari should appoint ministers so that he can award contracts for more refineries because during his campaign he promised to make fuel N40 per a litre. Until that is done, then I wonder what the common man has gained. -Mr. Albert Alagbor, Self Employed

I

am not saying Buhari is bad or not working, but this man has been travelling up and down without even organizing his cabinet and some people are bold enough to say he is working. We are yet to see the good of Buhari. -Mr. Ezeugo Ezedinachi, NYSC member

N

ow we have a government that is working diligently to make sure that our national economy is being worked on; not a government that thinks of getting whatever it can get out of the country without thinking of the rest of the country. -Mr. Ade Odus, Worker

W

hat I can say on whether Buhari’s corruption watch has started yielding results is to thank Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the seeds he sowed are bearing fruits.

The truth is bitter. Thank you Buhari for the harvest, we are better. -Mr. Ibinabo Bob-Manuel, Student

I

listened to Oshiomole, Edo State governor saying that the refineries have started working because Buhari has taken over. We all need to support the President so that Nigeria can move forward with less distraction and make meaningful input. -Mr. Audu Izuagbe, Worker

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 47

48—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

BREWERIES GOLDEN PEN: From left— Mr. John Ehiguese, Group CEO, Mediacraft Associates Ltd; Mr. Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc; Mrs Nkechi Alli-Balogun, member of the jurry, and Mr. Vindah Edem, Corporate Media & Brand PR Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, at the briefing on 7th Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Prize in Lagos. PHOTO: Diran Oshe.

Chief Adeyanju Ojo and Mrs Olayinka Ojo, Proprietors, Krisbethel College, Akinogun, Ipaja, Lagos, at the 12th valedictory service and prize giving day of 2014/2015 academic session in Lagos.

RELIEF: Mr. Oghene Egoh, House of Representatives member for Amuwo Odofin (2nd left); Mr, Shola Fakorede, President of Festac Town Residents Association, flanked by some of the beneficiaries during the presentation of relief materials to fire victims at 5th Avenue, P Close in Festac town. PHOTO: Simon Adewale.

POSTERSCOPE: From left— Bruce Burgess, Development Director, Posterscope, Sub-Saharan Africa; Dan Oshodin, Managing Director, Posterscope Nigeria, and David Gordon, Global Insight Director, Posterscope Worldwide, at the media launch of Posterscope Nigeria in Lagos.

INSPECTION: From left— Engr. Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director, FAAN; Hajia Binta Bello, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, and Dr. Ibrahim Idris, Director, Planning, Research & Statistics, during an inspection tour of Lagos Airport.

BRIEFING: From left— Air Vice Marshal Toni Adokwu, Commandant; Group Capt. Paul Masiyer, Registrar, and Professor Emmanuel Ezugwu, Provost, all of Air Force Institutue of Technology, AFIT, at the briefing on the institute's 44th convocation in Kaduna. PHOTO: Olu Ajayi.

ANNIVERSARY: From left— Prince Babatunde Onafowokan; Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye and Adepeju Adebajo, MD, WAPCO Operations, at the 25th anniversary of Oba Michael Adeniyi Sonariwo, Akarigbo of Remo.

KRISBETHEL: From left— Venerable Goke Agara, keynote speaker;

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VISIT: From left— Mr. James Fadokun, State Team Leader, Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria; Mr. Adeshina Byron, Regional Coordinator, Department for International Development, DFID, Nigeria, South West; Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, and Mrs. Magret Fagboyo, Regional Programme Officer, DFID, during a courtesy visit to Government House, Ilorin.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—49

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50 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—51

EKPAN COMMUNITY: Claims against Delta SSG false

S-East APC Assembly candidates laud Buhari over bailout to states ...wants him to appoint members to positions

—IFFIE

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

By Tare Youdeowei

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OMMUNITY LIAISON Officer, CLO, to JBN/NESTOIL PLC, Chief Napoleon Iffie, yesterday, attributed the apprehension and pandemonium that ensued at the company’s premises, weekend, to the over-bearing attitude of the Unuevworo of Ekpan, Chief Newton Agbofodoh. It would be recalled that Chief Newton in Vanguard Newspaper of July 25, 2015,claimed that Delta State Secretary to the State Government, SSG, erred in meddling in the CLO positions of companies in the community.

Refuting this claim, Iffie stated that the comments of Agbofodoh directed at the Secretary to the State Government, is part of the designs by Agbofodoh and followers to undermine constituted authorities and to constantly arrogate to himself the sole voice to Ekpan Community.

His words: “At such a time when discerning Deltans are keying into Governor Okowa’s peace and security agenda by providing the enabling environment for multinationals to operate, Agbofodoh threw caution to the wind by mobilizing armed youths to invade the offices of over 13 companies operating in the community. It is high time steps are taken to review and a stand taken against some undeserving recipients of certain titles, to restore dignity and confidence in our traditional institutions across the state.”

A

BA—CANDIDATES of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 State House of Assembly elections from the South East zone have commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the approval of bailout funds to states in the country and the slashing of his salary by half.

Addressing a press conference in Aba, Abia state, Chairman of the Forum, Comrade James Chibuzo Chikwendu, described Buhari’s action as a step in the right direction, stressing that it showed patriotism.

He urged state governors to resist the temptation of misappropriating the bailout funds and ensure that they pay arrears of salaries and gratuities owed workers.

“We commend the recent efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in promptly releasing bailout funds to troubled states in the country.

It is a step in the right direction; we urge the governors to use the funds judiciously. We further commend the President and Vice President for slashing their salaries by 50%. The President’s action will save a lot of wastages which the presidency has been characterized with in the last 16 years.”

While advising Ndigbo to support APC, the group urged Buhari to consider the South East zone in political appointments, particularly founding members of the party from the zone as they sacrificed

a lot for APC’s victory.

“We of the APC in the South East affirm our maximum support for the party and we are determined to ensure that the APC becomes a party of choice in the zone. We call on

PARADING: Governor Okorocha with the Director of Department of State Service, DSS, Imo State, Mr. Francis Ejiofor, after parading Mr. Henry Chibueze, a.k.a Vampire and kingpin of kidnappers, at the DSS office, Owerri, yesterday.

Instal speed limiters before September 1 deadline or risk arrest —FRSC boss tells motorists

By Austin Ogwuda, Enugu

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NUGU SECTOR Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. David Mendie has advised commercial motorists especially tanker drivers to hurry up by ensuring that they install the necessary speed limiters in their

vehicles before the 1st of September nationwide deadline or risk being arrested as the command was not ready to spare any offender.

He also warned that any vehicle driver or tricycle rider found driving without valid and genuine driver’s licence in Enugu State would be charged to court for murder in the event of any accident leading to loss of

life.

The FRSC boss told reporters that “the introduction of speed limiters in the country was to reduce the number of accidents on the roads to the barest minimum. The speed limiter is a mechanical device that regulates or gives the maximum speed of a vehicle and stored to prevent drivers from going

Foundation donates educational materials to govt school

By Funmi Olasupo

A

S PART of effort to imbibe reading culture among young Nigerians, a Non-Governmental International Organisation known as Gracelink Foundation, has donated educational materials to Federal government-owned secondary school, FGC,

Ndigbo to support APC at the state and national levels to ensure that dividends of democracy get to Igbo land. We also seize this opportunity to plead with the President to carry South East APC along in political appointments.”

Kwali in Kwali area council of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. The founder of Gracelink Foundation, Chijoke Ekweghariri said the donation was inspired by the high spirit to make the students know and understand geography in honour of his late father Chief Samuel Ekweghariri, who was the first geography

teacher of the school.

The foundation, he said, was donating the materials to the school to support Federal Government in providing facilities that will aid learning and ensure safety of the pupils.

The foundation focuses on children and youth to attain full humanity, through educational empowerment,

workshops and various skill acquisition programmes targeted at giving them a balanced perspective of the world.

Educational materials such as as mathematics textbooks, geography textbooks, mathematical sets, Biro ,ball pens, among others, were donated after the laying of foundation of geography garden for the school.

beyond the pre-set limit.

“Therefore, speed limit is the maximum legal speed a driver can travel or drive on the road under an ideal condition and motorists including tanker drivers have been sensitized on the use of speed limiter so as to help them avoid road crash. From September, those who fail to comply or obey the instruction of the installation of the speed limiters would be convicted”, he warned.

Also while addressing the newly inaugurated executive members of the Association of Tricycle Riders of Nigeria, Enugu State chapter, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office yesterday, the Sector Commander frowned at the attitude of some people driving without driver ’s licence, insisting that it was illegal for anybody to embark on driving without a genuine driver ’s license, saying that his command would no longer tamper justice with mercy as anybody that violates the law would be arrested and drivers without licence who kill will be charged with murder.

52—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Obama to African leaders: I can win 3rd term but...

UK PM filmed snorting cocaine with prostitutes quits

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BAMA used his own history of electoral success to rib African leaders who overstay their welcomes by refusing to leave office after their terms expire. In his speech Tuesday at the African Union headquarters, he conceded unfamiliarity with that concept because as a second-term U.S. president, he’s constitutionally barred from running again.

“I actually think I’m a pretty good president,” Obama said. “I think if I ran, I could win. But I can’t!”

That’s just fine with the president. Obama said he’s looking forward to leaving behind the trappings of office, including his presidential security detail, and having more flexibility to do things like travel to Africa after he leaves the White House.

He said although he’s still relatively young, he knows a new president with new insights will be good for the U.S. “The point is, I don’t

•Obama understand why people want to stay so long,” Obama said with a sly grin.

“Especially when they’ve got a lot of money.”

He compared one of his personal heroes, former South African President Nelson Mandela, to America’s first president, George Washington, noting that both were willing to leave office and transfer power peacefully to their successors.

In Rwanda, lawmakers are considering removing presidential term limits from

Libyan court sentences Gadhafi's son to death

•Saif al-Islam Kadhafi

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COURT in Libya issued a death sentence Tuesday to Seif alIslam, a son of Moammar Gadhafi, in connection with the deadly response to the 2011 uprising that pushed Gadhafi from power.

The Tripoli court also sentenced eight others to death, including former spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi and former prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi.

Seif al-Islam was not in court Tuesday to hear the sentence. His verdict came in absentia because he is being held by a militia in the town of Zintan that backs the internationally recognized government in Tobruk and not the rival Islamist-backed government operating in Tripoli.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the trial was “undermined by serious due process violations” and called for an independent review by the supreme court.

Seif al-Islam is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on two counts of crimes against humanity. The ICC says he was the most influential person in a Gadhafi government that tried by any means, including use of deadly force, to put down popular protests.

The uprising in Libya began in February 2011 in Benghazi with riots inspired by other so-called Arab Spring revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.

the country’s constitution in a process that could see President Paul Kagame extend his rule beyond two terms. Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, was just elected to a third term although he is constitutionally limited to two.

“When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife,” Obama said, citing Burundi as a particular example.

“This is often just a first step down a perilous path.”

A leading African politician put Obama on notice as she introduced him at the African Union: “Although we welcome you as the president of the United States of America, we also claim you as our own.”

Nkosazana DlaminiZuma, who chairs the African Union Commission, said Africans are proud to be part of the “beautiful tapestry of humanity” in the U.S. She cited their contributions to history, literature, music, sciences, arts and sports.

“Today, there is no America without Africa,” she said.

Cameroon deploys 2,000 extra troops to fight Boko Haram

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AMEROON will send around 2,000 extra troops to the north of the country to fight Boko Haram, the Nigerian jihadist movement behind bloody cross-border raids and suicide bombings, state television said Tuesday.

“Almost 2,000 extra soldiers will be deployed in the Extreme North region,” on the border with northeastern Nigeria, according to the report on Cameroon RadioTelevision, which gave no timetable for the operation.

The reinforcements will raise to 8,500 the number of troops deployed to take on Boko Haram insurgents, who have been attacking villages and towns inside Cameroon for two years,

massacring and abducting civilians.

In the past fortnight, an unprecedented string of five suicide bombings by Boko Haram in Cameroon has claimed dozens of lives, including 33 people killed by teenage girls in three attacks on the market town of Maroua.

Since Sunday, seven people were slain in village raids, three of whom were beheaded, according to local security sources.

Cameroon has joined a regional campaign alongside Chad, Niger and Nigeria itself to battle Boko Haram, which has killed at least 15,000 people since 2009 in the name of founding an Islamic caliphate.

ORD Sewel Tuesda quit the House of Lords and finally apologised for the ‘pain and embarrassment’ he caused his humiliated family.

The disgraced peer caved in to pressure and resigned his peerage saying: ‘I can best serve the House by leaving it’.

He added: ‘I hope my decision will limit and help repair the damage I have done to an institution I hold dear. Finally, I want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused.’

It came after yet more lurid details about his sex life emerged, including his boast of bedding a mystery BBC presenter.

He told two prostitutes he snorted cocaine with: ‘I had her in the attic’.

Lord Sewel’s reputation is in tatters after a video

emerged of him cavorting with two sex workers in his central London flat, behind the back of his third wife Lady Jennifer.

The married father of four was filmed necking champagne and vodka before using a £5 note to snort lines of cocaine from a table and later from the breasts of a sex worker 45 years his junior.

Last night a Scotland Yard drugs squad with sniffer dogs raided the London flat where he held his sex and drugs parties. They searched the flat for three hours and left carrying several bags of evidence as part of their investigation.

Sewel, who has not been arrested, is said to have fled the property in Pimlico’s Dolphin Square development on Saturday night and has not been seen since. The next morning he

quit his £84,500-a-year role as deputy speaker of the Lords and chairman of the Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee in the wake of the scandal – but had refused to leave the Lords completely until today.

He is also to be stripped of his privileges and banned from using Parliament’s grand dining rooms.

Under rules drawn up to encourage older members of the Lords to stand down, retiring peers can apply for a special parliamentary pass, eat in exclusive restaurants and use the library.

Lord Sewel’s humiliated wife Lady Jennifer made it known to MailOnline yesterday that he was ‘not expected’ to return to their marital home in Aberdeenshire.

Lord Sewel snorting cocain

US releases human trafficking report

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HE United States took Malaysia off its list of worst offenders in human trafficking on Monday, removing a potential barrier to a signature Asia-Pacific trade pact despite opposition from human rights groups and nearly 180 U.S. lawmakers.The U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report also upgraded Cuba from its lowest rank for the first time since it was included in the annual report in 2003.

South Sudan, Burundi, Belize, Belarus and Comoros were downgraded to the lowest rank, Tier 3, where Thailand remained for a second year, alongside countries with some of the world’s worst trafficking records, including Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe.

Egypt was downgraded, to the so-called “Tier 2 Watch List” status, while

Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan were upgraded to “Tier 2 Watch List.”

Malaysia’s expected upgrade to the “Tier 2 Watch List” from Tier 3 removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama’s signature 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, or TPP, which Washington hopes to conclude this year.

Congress approved legislation in June giving Obama expanded trade negotiating powers, but prohibiting “fast-track” approval of a deal that included Tier 3 countries, as Malaysia then was.

After a July 8 Reuters report on plans to upgrade Malaysia, 160 members of the U.S. House and 18 U.S. senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to keep Malaysia on Tier 3. They said there was no justification for an upgrade and questioned whether the plan was motivated by a

desire to keep the country in the TPP. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Sarah Sewall rejected the notion that any political considerations had influenced Malaysia’s ranking.

“No, no, no,” she told a news briefing when asked whether the upgrade was connected to the TPP. She said it was based on standards for how well Malaysia was dealing with trafficking.

Sewall said Malaysia had made efforts to reform its victim-protection regime and legal framework, and had increased the number of investigations and prosecutions compared to 2013. Even so, she said: “We remain concerned that low numbers of trafficking convictions in Malaysia is disproportionate to the scale of Malaysia’s human trafficking problem.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—53

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54—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

CORRUPTION: Remove log from

your eyes, PDP tells APC zSays APC parades corrupt governors

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BUJA—NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, alleged yesterday that apart from President Muhammadu Buhari, who for now may not be associated with any sleaze or corrupt activity in this democracy, most leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, especially those who are governors, former governors, former ministers and labour leaders are corrupt.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP noted that it was on the same page with President Buhari in his fight against corruption and his move to probe the Dr Goodluck Jonathan government.

However, it said while it supports the move, it should not be a political witch hunt targeted at those who formed the former government.

Metuh who noted that it has become imperative for the APC to first remove the log from its eyes, said, “Apart from Mr. President, who for now, is not associated with any sleaze or corrupt activity in this democracy, most APC leaders are still those who as governors, ministers and labour leaders have been the worst corrupt set of Nigerians ever to bestride the political landscape of the country.

“It is a great miscarriage of perception therefore for APC leaders who are perpetrators of sleazes and corrupt acts to attempt to deceive Nigerians with imaginary holiness in this anti-corruption war by the President.

“Consequently, we counsel Mr. President, as the leader of the APC to remove the log in the eyes

of his party while we support his commitment to remove the speck from the eyes of others.

“In response to another diversion by the APC today, the PDP for the umpteenth time says it is on the same page with the Federal Government on the fight against corruption, but stated that due process must be followed to ensure that it is not used as a guise to victimize innocent citizens and curtail the freedom of Nigerians."

The party further said: “In the same vein, we want to state categorically that the anti-corruption war, whilst targeted at the immediate past administration should not by any means be blind to the impunity of the present leaders of the country either in terms of borrowing and spending without recourse to the statutory arms and organs of government and dictates of transparency and accountability, or in terms of nepotism in appointments in key institutions such as INEC and the DSS. “The anti-corruption effort must not be blind to the corrupting of the security system resulting in the intrusion by overzealous operatives on issues bordering purely on politics; the hounding, arrest and detention of Resident Electoral Officers and members of election tribunals in Rivers, AkwaIbom and other PDP states.’’

APC backs President Buhari’s probe of Jonathan Administration

Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed strong support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to probe the immediate past federal government, saying the revelations of mindboggling corruption that are just beginning to emerge have made such a probe imperative. ‘’Some people have insinuated that the Buhari Administration should ignore the massive looting of our patrimony and move on. We say no responsible government can afford to do that, because it will amount to endorsing corruption and impunity,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

It said in the oil sector alone, billions of dollars have been skimmed off by pathologically-corrupt public officials, wondering how the government of the day can meet its obligations to the citizens if it refuses to recover the huge funds taken away by thieving officials ‘’It is an irony that those who are suggesting that the Buhari Administration should turn a blind eye to the incomprehensible looting are the same ones accusing the government of not doing anything. It is even a cruel irony that the same party that presided over what is fast emerging as the worst governance in the history of our country is the same one that is daily badmouthing an Administration that is cleaning up its mess,’’ APC said.

Meanwhile, the All

PDP NWC members should resign fortunes for themselves at now —ONYECHERE the expense of the party.

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MUA H I A — T H E President, Igbo Question Movement, IQM, and former Special Assistant to Dr. Alex Ekwuemee, Mr. Ben Onyechere, has said the refusal of the remaining members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to quit after the chairman had long gone, was very regrettable.

According to him, the

value of the party has continued to “depreciate on a daily basis.”

He said: It is important for them to know that their exit from the head office is unavoidable because majority of the party faithful have lost confidence in them. Their continued stay is only a reminder of the era of impunity with which they deceived former President Goodluck Jonathan and made

“Recent events have shown that they cannot position the party for a virile oppositiontotheAllProgressives Congress, APC, because opposition is not about attacking everymoveofgovernmentinthe careless manner that characterized their campaign method.

“First and foremost, you must swallow your pride and accept that they have no moral justification to be at the helm of affairs."

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—55

By Clara Nwachukwu

Buhari worried over non-payment of teachers’ salaries

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HE Department of State Services, DSS, may have taken over the job of monitoring downstream petroleum distribution and marketing, as part of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s measures to stem the high level of corruption in subsidy claims.

Consequently, retail outlets found selling any petroleum product above the prescribed government price will be immediately shut down, while any depot selling above the exdepot price will forfeit his subsidy claim on the cargo that brought in the product.

The move followed the apparent inability of industry regulators, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, whose officials were apparently overwhelmed by supply shortages to check sharp practices and market excesses among the operators.

Consequently, the DPR has scheduled another impromptu closed door meeting with marketers and other industry stakeholders today (Wednesday) at its Headquarters in Lagos, to update them on the new development.

Confirming the development yesterday, a top industry source who also attended the meeting told Vanguard in a telephone interview that the decision was made known to stakeholders at a closed door meeting which held in Abuja on Monday.

The source, who spoke in confidence said: “DSS will lead the operations (monitoring), and marketers were also asked to monitor each other and to report any sharp practices.

“Government decided that enough was enough and will no longer condone any sharp practices in the system.”

The source, disclosed that the meeting was at the instance of the Federal Government, and had in attendance the representatives of the DSS, DPR, PPPRA, Major and independent marketers, depot operators and a host of other industry operators.

The source added that attendants sat for long hours deliberating on the best way to arrest the unofficial price hike of petroleum products in the market, occasioned by supply shortages following the inability of the government to pay markets outstanding subsidy claims of over N200billion.

Sudden hike in price

The source was responding to Vanguard’s enquiries on the cause of the sudden unofficial hike of both the pump price and ex-depot price of premium motor spirit, PMS, popularly called petrol and kerosene, and the helplessness of the industry regulators to arrest the situation.

Since the supply shortages set

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

A MULTICHOICE: From left— Mr. Martin Mabutho, General Manager, Marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria; Mrs Ivie Okundaye, actress; Mrs Chioma Afe, Marketing Manager, MultiChoice Nigeria; Banky W, singer, and Mr. Akinola Saliu, General Manager, Sales, MultiChoice Nigeria, during the re-launch of DStv Compact bouquet in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

PUMP PRICE HIKE: DSS takes

over DPR's monitoring job in some months ago, marketers and depot operators took the initiative to hike pump and ex-depot prices to reap enormous profit while waiting for government to pay off their outstanding claims.

As a result, practically every retail outlet sold petrol at above the prescribed N87/Litre, to peg price at between N100 and N150/Litre depending on the outlet and location.

Similarly, rather than the prescribed N81/litre ex-depot price, marketers accused the depot operators of selling at N96/litre instead, which they claimed forced them to also hike pump price.

He said: “Such practices will no longer be condoned especially with the involvement of the DSS, who will use their intelligence network to get to the root of the matter.

“The meeting decided that all marketers must sell at the regulated price of N87/litre of petrol. Anyone found to be selling above this, the DSS will track the outlet to the depot where the product was lifted.

“If it was discovered that the pump price increase is as a result of hike in ex-depot price, then both the outlet and the depot will be sanctioned.

“Originally, it was agreed that both the outlet and the depot will be shut down, but after considering the situation, it was agreed that the depot will not be shut down in order not to exacerbate the supply situation.

“However, the depot operator will be made to forfeit his subsidy claims on that cargo, as it will be assumed that he has reimbursed himself through the ex-depot price hike.”

“We are meeting with DPR again tomorrow (today) on the same matter for them to tell

everybody what is happening and the need for all to ensure compliance,” the source added.

DPR meets with stakeholders

Expressing shock at the takeover of parts of its functions by the DSS, a top management official of the DPR confirmed the upcoming meeting with stakeholders in Lagos today.

The official, who also spoke in confidence in a telephone interview told Vanguard: “The Downstream Unit only informed us about the meeting holding tomorrow at about 4p.m. today.”

He expressed shock that the Unit did not give them full disclosures on the reasons for the impromptu meeting saying: “It is sad that

everybody now do territorial claim when the whole roof is caving in. If there are new developments we should know firsthand and not from a third party.”

Agreeing that the DPR was overwhelmed by the sharp practices in the industry, he asked: “How can we effectively monitor a situation where the marketer shows us technical proof about the depots selling above the exdepot price, and the depot operators in turn show prove at selling under the regulated price?”

He, however, said that the involvement of the DSS was a welcome development as long as it will bring sanity to the system, seeing that DPR lacked the capacity to fully monitor downstream operations.

B U J A — PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, expressed regrets over the nonpayment of teachers’ salaries by states, saying it was unfair.

The President shared the concern, yesterday, after taking briefs of the activities in the nation’s education sector from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala, in Abuja.

Speaking to State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, Nwaobiala said that the President frowned at a situation whereby teachers were owed for upward of six months, stressing that states could not have preferred illiteracy to education.

He said: “The President raised the issue of nonpayment of teachers’ salaries in some states.

He felt it is something that is very unfair. Do you prefer your people to be ignorant?

“Some teachers have not been paid for six months in some states, some have not been paid for one year. The President felt very concerned about that.”

Insurgents kill 29, injure many in fresh Borno village attacks burnt down three churches, terrorists and ran out of Dille to

By Ndahi Marama

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AIDUGURI—NO fewer than 29 persons were reportedly killed at Dille and other surrounding villages of Askira Oba Local Government Area of Borno State, Monday,

by Boko Haram insurgents, while many others sustained gunshot wounds.

The incident took place at about 1p.m. when the terrorists, armed with AK-47 rifles and petrol bombs, stormed Dille, a predominantly Christian community that had witnessed series of deadly attacks in recent times.

Precisely on July 14, 2014, suspected Boko Haram insurgents invaded the same village, killed 14 residents and

including Church of Brethren in Nigeria, EYN, which has the highest number of worshippers in the area.

Also last week, another group of insurgents laid siege on Kopa Mai Kadir and Yazza villages of Askira Uba and killed 15 people before sacking the communities.

Residents, who were lucky to escape from the attacks, told Vanguard that the insurgents invaded Dille with sophisticated weapons in a convoy of five Hilux vehicles and motorcycles and wrecked havoc without restraint.

Mallam Paul Ali Dille, a resident who escaped the attack, said the death toll would have been higher but for the many residents who quickly noticed the

nearby bushes for safety.

According to him, there is no security presence in the affected communities.

Reacting to the incident, a member of House of Representatives in Hawul and Askira Uba federal constituency of Borno State, Jubrin Satumari, who hails from Dille village, said the rate at which Boko Haram insurgents were terrorising his communities was worrisome, and called on the new service chiefs, especially the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai, to step up action towards protecting lives and property of innocent citizens in the affected communities.

Satumari, who confirmed the killing of 29 people in the Dille attack by insurgents, described the recent attacks as callous, barbaric and unjustifiable.

56 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—57

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58 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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WEDNESDAY

Vanguard, JULY 29, 2015 — 59

By Esther Onyegbula

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he pregnant widow of Alhaji Olatunji Rasaq, aka, Alaso, who was murdered Monday, last week in Alagbado area of Lagos, Idowu Olatunji, has revealed that suspected killers of her husband in the community killed a cow to celebrate his death the next day.

Alhaji Olatunji was allegedly murdered during a protest staged by landlords and residents in the community over allegations bordering on land grabbing and gay practice. The protest was reportedly peaceful untill Alhaji’s driver drove him into the arena in his maroon- coloured SUV, and allegedly began to shoot a video of people with his phone.

How he died Reports said when the protesters saw him, they rushed towards him, only for Alhaji to order his driver to speed off and in the process, his vehicle hit one of the protesters called Raheem and they zoomed off. When some of the protesters saw that he had knocked down some people, they began to throw stones at his vehicle.

Eyewitness accounts said when it became obvious to him that he was not safe even in the presence of policemen at the scene, he asked his driver to proceed to the Police station so that he can report the attack, feeling the officers at the scene might have been compromised. On their way to the station, he called several top police officers to notify them of the attack.

Unfortunately, they were attacked mid-way in the presence of the police officers by thugs. They allegedly stabbed him in his hand and on the head with a poisoned knife. It was when the policemen saw him lying helplessly that they started shooting into the air, maybe to scare the thugs away to so that he can be rushed to the hospital.

The driver rushed him to his family hospital, Merit Hospital located in Alagbado, but they rejected him and directed them to Ile-Epo General Hospital.

Unfortunately, on their way , he died.

Widow opens up According to the 26-yearold young widow who spoke to Crime Alert: “About a week before the incident, I had a dream that something terrible was about to happen. When I woke up, I prayed because it was during the Ramadan period.

Unfortunately, I was at my parent’s house at Agbara when my husband was killed.

“On Sunday at about 4pm in the evening, he called to say he missed me, and that

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zWidowed: Mrs Idowu Olatunji

WIDOW LAMENTS: My husband was stabbed with a poisoned knife he needed me to come back home. I told him I will be back the next day which was Monday. At about 1pm in the afternoon, a friend of mine, Edith, called from Ogun State, saying she heard that the community organized thugs who attacked my husband.

Immediately, I began to call his phone lines but they were switched off.

Hurriedly, I boarded a vehicle from Agbara to First Gate. On my way, I kept calling some of his workers — Gani and Justo, their phones were ringing but they didn’t answer the calls.

I became very worried that something was wrong.

Finally, I called my husband’s elder sister ’s phone and she answered.

She asked me to come home. Immediately I got to

“The same Monday, these same thugs contracted by a prominent member of the community (n ame withheld) went and burnt one of my husband’s houses and car at Moses Olawale Street, Anchor, new site, Alagbado, opposite Aina Gold’s house.

Ile-Epo Bus-stop, Alagbado, I met a large crowd at the bus stop. From where I was

standing, I heard people saying that they have killed Alhaji. One of them said that it was a poisonous knife that was used to stab him , unknown to them that I was his wife.

Just like a nighmare “Shivering and wishing it was a nightmare, I prayed to wake up from it. At the bus stop, I had to plead with someone to escort me home.

My husband was neither gay nor homosexual. I have not seen him in such act before. Although I have always been a Muslim, it was my husband who made me a committed Muslim that prays fervently. My husband was a very caring man.

Olatunji was a good husband to me, he was very supportive of my business, and the allegations are not

true. They murdered my husband for nothing.

Passionate appeal “The same Monday, these same thugs contracted by a prominent member of the community (names withheld) went and burnt one of my husband’s houses and car at Moses Olawale Street, Anchor New Site, Alagbado, opposite Aina Gold’s house. When he was alive, my husband had complained about their hostility towards him. He had scheduled a peace meeting with the community on Tuesday and he was killed on Monday. I want the government to help me; the people that killed my husband should not go scot free,” she pleaded.

60 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

GOtv Boxing Night: Fijabi wins N1m O

Prepare for Enyeama’s exit, Rufai tells Oliseh

LAIDE “Fijaborn” Fijabi, the star Lightwelterweight boxer, won the biggest ever pay-out in the history of Nigerian boxing, as he was voted best boxer at the GOtv Boxing Night Sunday.

Fijabi also went home with the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy and plenty of adulation, following his defeat of Kazeem “Iberu” Ariyo, by unanimous decision, in the eightround contest.

From the first round, Fijabi, the clear crowd favourite, punished his opponent with deft combinations that left the huge crowd screaming his

F

ORMER Super E a g l e s goalkeeper, Peter Rufai has told newly appointed coach, Sunday Oliseh to have a standby goal tender that will step into the shoes of current number one Vincent Enyeama.

Enyeama, has been between the sticks for the Super Eagles since 2002. He recently indicated that he will not be there forever, when he announced that he might call it quits after the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

Rufai, a for mer Stationery Stores of Lagos keeper and one of Nigeria’s goalkeeping legends advised Oliseh to start shopping for a replacement.

“I think one of the tasks before him will be to find a replacement for Vincent Enyeama,” Rufai said.

“But Enyeama is still

THE CAT: Enyeama leaps for the ball in an international outing. around and we don’t have to panic. But the coach must begin to look for replacement because we need to have someone capable when he (Enyeama) is gone.”

Rufai said he will be in support of whichever

goalkeeper the Super Eagles coaches feels is the right one.

“I believe the coaches know what they are doing. I’m sure they must be looking at other options so whichever goalkeeper they choose eventually will be good I believe,”

Okpalla Continues from BP sacked by the Nigeria Football Federation.

The former Nigeria international who was guest of Vanguard Sports Desk yesterday said the NFF were unfair in the treatment meted out on Keshi, insisting that ‘’they should have allowed him serve out his contract.’’

Okpalla who is still out of job since his disengagement from the Super Eagles in 2013 said, “there is no law or FIFA rule that says that the football federation cannot sack a coach. But if they must do that there are obligations they must meet. Also, there is no law which states that a coach cannot seek another job when under employment.

Okpalla whose disengagement by the NFF resulted in his dragging the football house to Court of Arbtration for Sports, said the NFF was in a hurry to see Keshi out.

“If you seek my advise, I would have suggested that they should have allowed him(Keshi) to serve out his contract.

This is a game that has rules. So, when you sack, you do the needful.

“The smartest thing to do was to allow him go for the Ivory Coast job, if Keshi got it then they(NFF) would have reminded him of the contract he had with them, and then tell the Ivorian FA how much it would cost them to have Keshi. That would have been cool money for them.

Now that they have sacked him, I will advise they go for mediation. If they do that, they will spend less. But if they go to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, they are going to spend more money.”

Okpalla said the manner the NFF threw Keshi away was hasty, untoward and disrespectful. “It appears they have had Oliseh in mind for a long time now.

They should have been patient to see Keshi serve out his contract.

They should have built Oliseh up to the end of Keshi’s contract.

All they needed to do was to make Oliseh

follow the team by watching all their matches. He did not have to come face to face with Keshi or with the team.

All he needed to do was to come during Super Eagles matches and stay in the VIP box and see how the team play. His takeover of the team would have been smoother than now that he does not know much about the team,” Okpalla said.

He was, however, quick to point out that “Oliseh should not be judged in a hurry. He has just been given the chance. I hope he does well because every coach wants to prove his mettle. I knew him as a player. But as a coach, I can’t say anything about him. That does not mean he won’t make a good coach. To succeed he requires the support of the NFF and Nigerians in general.”

Okpalla spoke on several key and burning issues in Nigerian football. It is our exclusive and will be served ONLY on our pages. Stay with the best!.

Platini Continues from BP receiving indications of support from four c o n t i n e n t a l confederations - will be a candidate when polling takes place on 26 February.

The 60-year-old former France and Juventus midfielder could declare as early as Wednesday.

Switzerland’s Sepp Blatter, 79, has been in charge of Fifa since 1998.

Play media Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Platini talks to BBC sports editor Dan Roan He is standing down as a result of a corruption crisis at world football’s governing body.

Platini is the overwhelming favourite

to replace him.

As well as the backing of his own European confederation, he is understood to have gained support from:South America (Conmebol); North, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf); And, significantly, Asia (AFC).

If every football association within those confederations voted for Platini, he would secure 144 votes, which is more than enough for him to be elected as Blatter ’s successor.

That is unlikely to happen, however, given some football associations will back rival candidates or abstain.

Nevertheless, Platini is still expected to poll a significant number of votes.

Mourinho Continues from BP credit.

Terry’s career with the London side is gradually winding down and it means the English champions will have to select a new skipper and Mourinho feels Mikel Obi, the team’s second longest serving player may just be accorded the honour of wearing the skipper’s armband.

“Mikel is, after John, the guy with most years of Chelsea,” Mourinho told Dailymail.co.uk

“I think (Cesc) Fabregas has personality for a captain too. Eden is coming with big status now and was voted one of the top 10 players in Europe last year.

“In my opinion he should be in the top three not in the top 10.

Let’s see what is going to happen but we have these people. But let’s say John and Branislav are our captains and the others are ready to come,” he said.

name.

Ariyo, a decent boxer in his own right, however, found Fijabi too hot to handle.

In another big fight on the night, Sule “Tyson” Olagbade, National Light Middleweight champion, retained his belt, following his defeat of challenger, Rasheed “Afonja Warrior” Abolaji in their closelycontested 12-round bout.

All the judges called the fight in Olagbade’s favour.

Both boxers fought with gusto, drawing unrestrained applause from the crowd.

In the Lightweight category, the challenge bout between Prince Nurudeen Fatai and Chibuzor “T-Boy” Obi ended in the latter’s favour by unanimous decision.

Putin Continues from BP World football’s governing body is engulfed in a corruption crisis,including an investigation into the award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia.

Yet Putin is a big fan of the under-fire Blatter, 79.

“People like Mr Blatter or the heads of big international sporting federations, or the Olympic Games, deserve special recognition,” he said.

“If there is anyone who deserves the Nobel Prize, it’s those people.”

Blatter announced he would be stepping down on 2 June following the arrest of seven Fifa officials as part of an investigation that saw 14 people indicted on corruption charges.

A separate criminal investigation by Swiss authorities into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated is also under way.

Blatter has said he has a “clear conscience” and is planning to remain in office until Fifa holds an extraordinary congress to elect his successor next February.

“We all know the situation developing around Mr Blatter right now,” added Putin in an interview with Swiss television.

“I don’t want to go into details. but I don’t believe a word about him being involved in corruption personally.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 — 61

Mata: I’ll score many goals for Man U

Arsenal fans go gaga for Benzema

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•Mata

‘Reus staying at Dortmund’

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ARCO Reus will not be a target for Juventus, as the agency which represents him declares he’s staying at Dortmund.

“We’ve read the rumours which are circulating about a transfer for Marco,” a representative for SportsTotal told TuttoJuve.

“We can say with certainty that the player is having a wonderful time with Borussia, he’s flattered by interest from so many European teams, but recently decided to stay in Dortmund.”

•Reus

UAN Mata has set his sights on scoring more than 10 goals forManchester United next season to help relieve the burden on the likes of Wayne Rooney.

“I always try to score,” the Spaniard said.

“I have always done that. I used to play as a striker when I was a kid and every team I played for I had a good goals record and it is the same at United, too.

“This season I will aim again to score a good number and to help the team with assists and goals. I had a 21-goal season at Chelsea [2012/ 13 including internationals with Spain] and 14 another year with Valencia [2009/ 10] so I have always been lucky enough to score a good number for a midfielder.

“I always try to score more than 10 goals in a season. I have nearly always done that and I think that is a good number for a midfielder.

“Last season I tried to score as many as I could and it is always a big part of my game. I will try again to be in and around the box and score again.”

A

picture of Karim Benzema on a private jet has sent Arsenalfans wild as they convince themselves it is evidence he could be moving to the Emirates.

Benzema posting an image of himself leaving the Madrid pre-season tour in a private plane has only served to fan those rumours.

He captioned the post “let the past remain in the past” with the hashtags RIP and directionturfu, a Verlan phrase that means “next stop: the future”.

The photo alone has been enough to send Arsenal fans into meltdown on social media, with many using the hashtag #WelcomeBenzema, usually used by the club when they announce new signings, without any additional evidence that the player might even be heading for London.

Even legendary striker Ian Wright joined in.

•Fabregas

Fabregas: We can snatch Barca’s Champions League crown C

ESC Fabregas believes Chelsea can take Barcelona’s Champions League crown off them this season even though they have the best front three he has ever seen.

“I think they are the best team in the world, especially when the front three are on form.

I don’t remember a front three in Messi, Suarez and Neymar as powerful and talented since I was born. Obviously, they are a threat to everybody in the Champions League again this season.

“Barcelona have the best strikeforce in the world and against that you have to play as a unit, you have to play very well. But there are no doubts that we can compete against anyone.

“We have players like Hazard, Oscar, Costa and Willian who play in the attacking positions and for sure we have a great team.

“If we want to win Champions Leagues, we have to compete against the best. We will have to do well.”

Ramos betrayed us — Man U R

EPORTS in England quote a Manchester United source complaining Sergio Ramos has used the Premier League club to get a better contract at Real Madrid.

The Daily Star claimed that an unnamed person at United believes Ramos has manipulated the situation to win an improved deal at Santiago Bernabeu.

Perez and Ramos reportedly agreed to talk about a contract when all parties are back in Madrid after the club’s summer tour, leading the source to complain of a ‘betrayal’ by Ramos.

•Ramos C M Y K

•Benzema

Hazard can’t match Messi, Ronaldo — Wenger RSENE Wenger A says Eden Hazard needs to maintain some

•Hazard

Iniesta welcomes Barca captaincy

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NDRES Iniesta is enjoying being the elder statesman and captain of Barcelona, and responded to anyone who doubts him for not being Catalan.

“It’s not weird to be the most experienced. It’s nice, because it means

you’re still significant, and that’s what you want and what you hope for.

Really, I’m happy. Above all it’s a special responsibility [to be captain] and not only represent the team but much more: the locker room, the image of the club.''

consistency before he is considered alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as one the best players in the world.

Wenger said: “It is all about opinions. You have to compare the numbers. I must say players like Messi and Ronaldo still score 50 goals and that is exceptional.

“He [Hazard] can decide the games and you put the top players in this kind of calibre when they can decide the games with something special.

Hazard is in this category, now to reach the other two or three that are dominating world football at the moment I think it demands consistency which he is still to do.”

62 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015—63

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015

Blatter deserves Nobel Prize — Putin

F

IFA president Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize, says Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Continues on Page 60

NFF unfair to Keshi — Okpalla

BY JACOB AJOM

F

ORMER Super E a g l e s Assistant Coach, Sylvanus Okpalla has picked holes in the manner his former boss, Stephen Keshi was Continues on Page 60

•Blatter and Putin

Fifa: Platini to announce presidency bid

U

EFA president Michel Platini will announce he wants to be the next president of Fifa later this week.

The BBC has learned that Platini - after Continues on Page 60

•Platini

Mourinho backs Mikel for Chelsea captaincy

C

H E L S E A manager, Jose Mourinho has tipped Super Eagles midfielder, John Obi Mikel as a potential captain for the Blues after John Terry.

•Keshi

The 28 year old, who was linked with a move away from the Bridge this summer joined the London club from Lyn Oslo with over 224 caps and four goals to his

Continues on Page 60

Prepare for Enyeama’s exit, Rufai tells Oliseh — Page 60

•Mikel

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S ANSWERS YESTERDAY'S

ACROSS 4 Wander (5) 7 Summary (6) 9 Dog (3) 10 Enthusiastic (3) 12 Rustic (5) 13 Frozen (4) 15 Readjusted (5) 17 Oppose (6) 19 Respect (4) 20 Salute (5) 22 Sailor (3) 24 Wished (7) 27 Tankard (3) 28 Wear (5) 31 Cease (4) 33 Tarnished (6) 35 Angry (5) 37 Broad (4) 38 Delete (5) 39 Spike (3) 41 Brown (3) 42 Shy (6) 43 Viper (5)

DOWN 1 Season (6) 2 Drastic (6) 3 Vigour (3) 4 Certain (4) 5 Veracity (5) 6 Aroused (8) 8 Robe (4) 11 Penniless (9) 14 Act (4) 16 Asterisk (4) 18 Pace (4) 21 Renovated (8) 23 Stagger (4) 25 Drink (4) 26 Sketched (4) 29 Loathsome (6) 30 Team (6) 32 Ski-slope (5) 34 Precede (4) 36 Back (4) 40 Material (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Stem 4, Dim 6, Gasp 9, Lit 10, Reversed 11, Amen 14, Par 16, Seamy 19, Released, 21, Liver 23, Defiance 24, Start 27, Lip 31, Find 33, Imitated 34, Tee 35, Seer 36, Lie 37, Tent.

DOWN: 2, Teem 3, Meet 4, Diseased 5, Made 6, Glade 7, Aim 8, Steam 12, Cross 13, Liama 14, Pal 15, Revel 17, Amend 18, Yoked 20, Definite 22, Rip 25, Trite 26, Rider 28, Pill 29, Part 30, Seen 32, Nee.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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