Protests over Audu's replacement

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PAGE 2 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 3

•Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade (second left), his deputy, Professor Evara Esu ( OFR) , Secretary to the State Government, Barr Tina Banku Agbor (extreme left) and Commissioner for Information, Mrs Rosemary Archibong at the second Carnival Calabar dry run....yesterday

Siasia’s kidnapped mother regains freedom

By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa

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HE kidnapped mother of Samson Siasia, Nigeria’s Under 23 coach, has regained her freedom.

Madam Beauty Siasia, 72, was kidnapped about two weeks ago at her Odoni country home in Sagbama local government area of

Bayelsa State by three armed men.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the septuagenarian was rescued, yesterday, along the East-West Road by men of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command where she was abandoned by her captors.

Spokesman for the state police command, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the development.

He said the victim was rescued after a hot pursuit by men of the AntiKidnapping Unit.

“She is hale and hearty and has been reunited with her family. The Police has intensified efforts to arrest the fleeing suspects.”

Abia PDP chieftain alleges threat to life He pleaded with

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

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chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State, Chief Friday Nwosu, has alleged threat to his life and family.

Nwosu further alleged that strange faces suspected to be assassins were often seen on the road leading to his residence, trailing his movement and family, adding that his offence was his refusal to withdraw the tax forgery suit he instituted in court against Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu.

In a statement, the PDP stalwart who lamented that he had been under pressure to withdraw the matter from court, accused some leaders of the party in the state of being behind the threat.

security agencies to protect him and his family, vowing that the threats would not deter him from pursuing the matter to its logical conclusion.

KOGI ELECTION IMPASSE: Protests over Audu’s replacement

By Kingsley Fanwo & Boluwaji Obahopo

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ROTESTS rocked Kogi State, yesterday, following a report that a candidate had been picked by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Saturday ’s g o v e r n o r s h i p supplementary election outside Kogi East, dominated by Igala people where the Prince Abubakar Audu, the late candidate of the party, hailed from.

The report had said, yesterday, that the APC leadership had picked Audu’s closest rival in the party’s primary ahead of the Kogi governorship election, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to replace the deceased in the

Withdraw suit against Okowa, group tells Ogboru, Emerhor

By Festus Ahon

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RESIDENT of Okowa Must Rule Again, Mr Ogagaoghene Otikpo , has appealed to the governorship candidates of Labour Party, LP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 general elections,Chief Great Ogboru and Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, respectively, to withdraw their suits challenging the victory of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at the Court of Appeal in the

interest of Delta State.

Otikpo, in a statement, said the long and unending legal battle was not good for the state.

He said: “We cannot continue to live in acrimony dragging each other to the court anytime there was an election.

“With the judgement of the Delta State Governorship Election Tribunal, which upheld the election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the opposition should join the governor in the task of moving the state

40TH ANNIVERSARY: Lawmaker hails Oniba of Iba

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HE lawmaker representing Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ta j u d e e n Obasa, has hailed the Oniba of Iba C M Y K

Kingdom, Oba Yishau Oseni, who is celebrating the 40th anniversary since he ascended the throne.

Obasa praised the monarch for his development strides in Iba.

*Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State with Prof. Osato Osagie at the convocation of University of Benin (UNIBEN), yesterday. Photo by Barnabas Uzosike.

In a congratulatory message by his media team, the lawmaker urged indigenes and residents of the town to celebrate to the fullest due to worthy legacies of Oseni.

supplementary election.

Separately, the APC leadership denied that the party had given the governorship ticket to Bello.

Bello is Ebira, from Kogi Central, while the Igala people are rooting for one of their own and Audu’s son, Mohammed, to pick the APC ticket.

Protesting youths of Igala extraction, yesterday, blocked River Benue Bridge, to drive home their demand that Igala should get the APC ticket.

They threatened to destroy the bridge at a location called Itobe.

There were similar protests in Ochadamu in Dekina Local Government Area and Idah.

Meanwhile, youths of Kogi West, under the aegis of Okun Youths Forum, cautioned against throwing the state into crisis on the grounds of a non-Igala emerging as the APC candidate for the supplementary election.

At press time, police were said to be battling to disperse the protesters who took over River Benue Bridge as they grew in number.

The protest caused traffic gridlock on both sides of the bridge as motorists could not proceed.

One of the leaders of the protesters said any attempt by the Ebira to take power through the backdoor would be vehemently rejected.

“We voted for the late Prince Abubakar Audu, an Igalaman. We didn’t vote for Yahaya Bello.

Bringing in an Ebira man to replace an Igala will lead to chaos. The Okun and Ebira will need to wait for their time. APC should retrace its steps”, he said apparently referring to the purported nomination of Bello as the APC candidate.

Bonfires

At Ochadamu Junction leading to Anyigba, the nerve centre of Igala commerce, bonfires were seen on the road.

Some youths were also sighed protesting on the streets of Anyigba, Ajaka, Abejukolo, Ankpa and Ogbonicha, the home town of Audu.

The protest assumed riotous dimension at Idah where the youths were heard chanting, “No Mohammed Audu, no supplementary poll,” in their local dialect.

Also, the homes of those they claimed were trying to trade Igala interest were targeted by the protesters.

A leader of the youths told Sunday Vanguard they will make Kogi ungovernable if Mohammed did not replace his late father as the APC governorship candidate.

Okun back Ebira

However, the Okun Youths Forum, warned against throwing the state into crisis just because a non-Igala was going to be governor for the first time in the history of Kogi, saying the choice of Bello was constitutional.

The group called on the Igala to wait till 2019 when they would have another democratic window to be governor.

Speaking to Sunday Vanguard in Lokoja, the spokesman for the group, Adebayo Aaron, said Kogi is a collective enterprise belonging to three senatorial districts. He said the three districts are equal partners.

Alleged conspiracy

Also, yesterday, a chieftain of APC, Dr. Ohikere, warned the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, against any act

capable of setting the state on fire.

Ohikere, who was the Head of Media, Audu/ Faleke Campaign, during a press conference in Lokoja, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of injecting what he described as a northern agenda into the Kogi election.

Ohikere said the Presidency and APC leadership were fully aware of the law, that a running mate to a deceased candidate in an election should step in as the party ’s flag bearer.

“But it has been a grand conspiracy between the party leadership and the Presidency to ensure that a Muslim is used as a replacement to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, who died on the 22 of November,” he said.

“The state will not only catch fire, but also the late Prince Audu will rise from the grave and unleash terror on anyone involved in this conspiracy.”

The APC rebuttal

In a related development, the APC leadership said, yesterday, it had not settled for Bello as replacement for Audu in the supplementary election, saying a decision will be taken tomorrow (Monday).

The Acting National Publicity Secretary of t h e p a r t y, C o m r a d e Timi Frank, told Sunday Vanguard the APC was yet to decide on Au d u ’ s replacement. “ We are still consulting on the issue. We would take a final stand on the issue of Audu’s replacement on Monday and we are definitely going to issue a statement on the issue”, he said.

PAGE 4 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

KOGI GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION FOR LATE PA ANADUAKA

From left: Mr. Mike Ebonugwo, Mr. Tony Ubani, Group Sport Editor, Vanguard Newspaper, Miss Ebele Orakpo, Mrs. Chioma Obinna, Mr. Ken Ehigiator and Mr. Victor Ahinma-Young, singing a special song, during the Christian wake-keep for late Pa Thomas Anyaegbuna Anaduaka, former staff of Vanguard Newspaper, at his residence in Orile-Iganmu, Lagos, yesterdasy.

Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Cross section of Agbaja Abatete Community Association Lagos State, Women’s wing, during the Christian wake-keep for late Pa Thomas Anyaegbuna Anaduaka former staff of Vanguard Newspaper, at his residence in OrileIganmu, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Lagos first kidney transplant survivor stable — Health Commissioner •Lifestyle may kill 3 million people’

By Chris Onuoha

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AGOS State Commis sioner for Health, Dr. Olajide Idris, has raised the alarm that over three million people are at risk of contacting kidney diseases in the world today.

He said that the disease is caused by the indulgence in harmful foods and unhealthy life style.

He disclosed this during the inauguration of Sword of Victory Kidney Foundation held at Navy Town business arena, in Lagos.

The Commissioner, who was represented by Dr. Ismaila Abdulsalam, said the disease which, its only treatment is by dialysis and transplant, can also be prevented by adopting a healthy life style.

“There are 3 million people at risk of contacting kidney disease worldwide.

The essence of inaugurating this kidney foundation today is to raise awareness on the importance of the kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and the impact of kidney diseases and associated problems,” Idris said.

He also said that, “About 90 percent of this number is waiting for kidney transplant, yet only 2,500 patients are carried out each year. 3,000 people die every year while living in dialysis while 300 people die while waiting for transplant. Kidney disease kills and currently the only treatment to the disease is through dialysis and transplant or conservative care.”

Idris also mentioned that Kidney disease is common and harmful but can be treated. He said that the disease is developed through bad eating habits and lifestyles common to man. He said early detec-

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tion is very essential before it escalates to dangerous stage. He advised that public awareness for health check and early detection could reduce the frequency at which kidney disease and other related cases spread.

Meanwhile, Dr. Idris disclosed that the Lagos State

University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has successfully carried out its first kidney transplant and that the patient is doing very well. He commended the founder of the Sword of Victory Kidney Foundation, Pastor Ikechi Ameachi for establishing such an outreach that will avail the public the oppor-

tunity for early detection of symptoms for better treatment.

In his remark, Pastor Ikechi Ameachi, founder, Sword of Victory Kidney Foundation said the foundation was established to give opportunities to patients who fly abroad to seek medical treatments about kidney diseases.

Commerce Institute confers fellowship award on 75 Nigerians

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HE Chartered Insti tute of Commerce of Nigeria (CICN) has conferred fellowship awards on 75 eminent Nigerians at its 36th National Conference of CICN. The awardees were recognised based on their contributions to national growth in different business and academic endeavours.

Presenting the awards, Mr Wale Olasoji, President of CICN, said the awardees had distinguished themselves in business, commerce and

trade.

The recipients include Malam Wada Maida, Chairman, Board of Directors, Peoples Daily Newspaper and a former Managing Director of NAN; and Brig.- Gen. Paul Boro, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta.

Others are Alhaji Ahmed Idris, Accountant-General of the Federation, Col. Hammed Ali (retd); Controller– General of Customs and

Dr Godknows Igali, the Per manent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power.

Earlier at the plenary, Dr Adebayo Adedokun of Department of Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, IleIfe, presented a paper on “the Role of Commerce as a Panacea for National Economic Growth.”

Adedokun said that securing financial support was one of the greatest challenges the small scale enterprises were facing in the country.

DESOPADEC gives relief materials to flood victims in 66 oil-producing communities

By Emma Amaize

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HE Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, donated relief materials to flood victims from 66 oil-bearing communities of Ndokwa-Ukwani federal constituency in the state at the weekend at Aboh.

Executive Director (Social Services), DESOPADEC, Hon Ochor C. Ochor, Comrade Nnam-

di Ezechi and Hon. Flenjo Fidelis Oputa, both commissioners in the agency, all from Ndokwa ethnic nationality, distributed the items to the victims, some of whom were in IDP camps before the flood receded in November.

The relief materials included rice, mattresses, beverages, mosquito nets and toiletries, presented to the Community Development Com-

mittee (CDC) chairs of benefiting communities, who also received cash components.

Some oil producing communities, which benefitted from the donations were Aboh, Abuator, Abalagada, Okpai, Beneku in Ndokwa East, Umusadege, Umusam, Umusedeli, Ogbeani, Isumpe, Umusedeli in Ndokwa West as well as Umukwata in Ukwuani local government area, among others.

Stallion Group honoured at Nigeria Agriculture Awards

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ULTINATIONAL conglomerate, Stallion Group, has been honoured for its pioneering efforts in promoting agriculture in Nigeria, at the annual Nigeria Agriculture Award event held on the 25 November in Lagos.

Stallion Group won two major awards for its performance in Nigeria’s fully integrated rice value chain, contributing to the country’s goals for selfsufficiency in rice production.

Notably, Stallion has announced plans to expand capacities in Nigeria to 1.5 million tonnes in collaboration with farmers, institutions and other stakeholders in the rice value chain.

Stallion was honoured as the “CORPORATE

ACHIEVER IN AGRCULTURE” Stallion Group was also honoured as the “AGROBRAND OF THE YEAR”.

The Central Committee again noted that Stallion’s brand “Royal Stallion Shinkafa had maintained an unassailable Rice brand, providing unparalleled quality to the Nigerian consumer, such as outstrips even imported brands. We identify your success and commend it with this award”.

In 2014, Stallion Group was recognised by the Federal Government as one of the country’s second largest conglomerate considering the amount of taxes paid, the employment generated, Corporate Social Responsibility and the companies’ turnover.

Motailatu Church ordains 92, holds harvest today

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HE third Adoption Service (Adult Harvest) of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, Restoration Parish, Akute, Ogun State holds today at the church premises.

Ninety two members of the parish will also be ordained at the event.

A statement by Senior Superintendent Gabriel F. Akinadewo (Omo Jesu II) says a sevenpage calendar to honour the Patriarch and Matriarch of the 51-year-old

church, His Most Eminence, Archbishop Dr. Isaiah M. Akinadewo (Omo Jesu) and Superintendent General Apostolic Mother Mary A. Akinadewo will be unveiled.

General Overseer of Christ Pentecostal Evangelical Mission, Pastor David Adeoti, is the preacher while the Regional Manager of Nestle Nigeria Limited, Elder Isaac Adegboyega, is the chairman of the occasion.

Obituary

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HE burial ceremony of late Alhaja Sikiratu Ashake Ologbo holds today, Sunday, November 29, at the Teslim Balogun Stadium SuruLere Lagos, beginning from 11.00 am.

Late Alhaja Sikiratu is survived by seven children among whom is Mr. Lateef Alade Hassan.

She was aged 97.

Late Alhaja Ashake Ologbo

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 5

Appeal Court sacks David Mark

BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI

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•Hon . Bisi Yusuf , addressing Alimosho Constituency I stakeholders at Mosan Okunola LCDA, Lagos State, during a meeting on Friday.

HE Court of Appeal, Makurdi Division has voided the election of the immediate past Senate President, Senator David Mark.

The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct fresh election in the Benue South Senatorial District within 90 days.

Mark’s victory, at the March 28, 2015 senatorial election, had been chal-

Buhari seeks Commonwealth’s aid to curb terror

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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RESIDENT Muham madu Buhari has called for the establishment of a Commonwealth Committee to assist Nigeria and other countries battling terrorism to win, admitting that the countries have been badly affected. The President spoke at a banquet hosted by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II,

for Heads of State and Government participating in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta.

In a statement by the presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, while President expressing the hope that the committee would come on board before the next meeting of the body, also advocated for a fact finding trip to affected countries with a view to evolving

practical strategies for more meaningful assistance.

He also called for urgent assistance do from advanced member-countries to help Nigeria and other developing nations President overcome the challenges of economic development, security, terrorism and corruption.

He said: “With the improvement of global communications, terrorism has no borders now. What happened recently in France

had a profound effect on all of us, but very few countries realize that Nigeria has suffered terrorist casualties of over 10,000 killed in the last six years.

“Right now, we have over two million internally displaced persons, most of whom are women and children, and most of the children are orphans,” the President told the Queen and Commonwealth Heads of State and Government”.

Why we need state, community policing now — Ex-Rep

By Olufemi Ajasa

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S Nigeria reels under crime, criminality and terrorism, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abayomi Michael Ogunnusi, has called for the estab-

lishment of state and community policing structures across the country.

Ogunnusi, who represented Ifako-Ijaiye Federal Constituency in the 7th Assembly, said the country stood the risk of being overwhelmed by crimi-

THOUGHT FOR TODAY A TEAM(2)

By Richard Eromonsele

The leader,like other humans is limited.For example,the leader can't be everywhere at the same time.

The leader can't do everything by himself.That is why he needs a team.The team then becomes his ears and his face.The failings and failures of the team is his to bear.The success and achievement of the team is for him to celebrate.This is why, in the choice of his team,the leader must not give in to sentiment.A leader is as good as his team.Therefore, the rise and fall of every leader ,depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of the team.Think about it!

nals if it continued to rely on the Nigeria Police alone to fight crime.

As a lawmaker, he had sponsored a bill to alter the Constitution to provide for the establishment of state and community policing in Nigeria, but bureaucracy at the National Assembly stalled its passage before the life of the 7th Assembly expired last June.

He observed:”The challenge these days include the Boko Haram menace, militancy, kidnapping, armed robbery, jungle justice, rape and other criminal activities being perpetrated in Nige-

ria.

“These have exposed the institutional ineptitude of the police and other security agencies. The present structural set up of the Police obviously shows that the Nigeria Police are not equipped structurally to flush out crime or forestall the breakdown of law and order. That Nigeria police has been doing their best in maintaining law and order in the society amount to stating the obvious. However it is a general notion that the Nigerian Police force has failed in this aspect. The time to embrace state police is now.”

lenged by Daniel Onjeh of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who petitioned the Benue State Legislative Houses Elections Tribunal, asking for the cancellation of the election and an order to conduct fresh election in the district.

The Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu-led panel, on October 7, 2015, dismissed Onjeh’s petition on the grounds that evidence tendered before the tribunal was documentary hearsay.

In a unanimous judgement read, yesterday, by Justice Peter Ige, the appellate court dismissed the judgement of the tribunal and upheld the plea of the appellant that Mark’s election failed substantially to meet the provisions of paragraphs 39 and 40 of INEC guidelines and Sections 73and 74 of the Elec-

Delta LG legislative arm dissolved

By Festus Ahon, Asaba

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HE legislative arm of Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State has dissolved the House with Mr Chinedu Odu elected as new Leader.

Moving the motion, seconded by Mr Uche Kechi, the Majority Leader of the House, Mr Frank Maduemezia alleged that the leadership was not impacting on the lives of the people they represent.

The motion, unanimous-

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OVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has said the State Government has attained the universal health coverage and provision of quality and accessible health care services across the state.

He gave this remark in his welcome address during the annual conference of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP) held at South Gate Hotel, Asaba, Delta State.

The State has also sent an executive bill to the State House of Assembly to establish Delta State contributory Health Commission. The bill has gone through the first and second reading, as well as a public hearing.

The bill is expected to be passed into law before the end of 2015.

Delta State approach of using the contributory Health Scheme is to achieve Universal Health coverage which will significantly increase the demand for health services in the state.

ly supported my members, Maduemezia, also alleged that none of the resolutions of the House under matter of urgent public importance had been implemented.

While further alleging that the principal officers of the House have not met since inception, he decried that the leadership had not moved the legislative arm forward.

The councillors, in the dissolution paper signed by eight of 13 that attended the sitting, said the motion was in line with Section 51 of the Delta State Local Government Law 2013 as amended.

Nigerians yet to feel the impact of new government — APGA senatorial candidate

By Chinenyeh Ozor

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IX months into P r e s i d e n t Mohammed Buhari’s administration, Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the new government going by

How we plan to improve healthcare delivery, by Gov Okowa

By Theresa Ugbobu

toral Act 2010 as amended.

The panel of jurists also questioned the failure of the trial court to admit the evidence tendered by the appellant to canvass his case.

Meanwhile, Mark said, yesterday, he will win any election in the senatorial district even if it were to be conducted 100 times.

In a statement, the former Senate President urged his constituents to remain calm and be law abiding, just as he asked them not to be deterred by the verdict, but be strengthened ahead of the re-run.

In a statement by his Media Assistant, Paul Mumeh, he said he believed he won the election convincingly, adding that he had no doubt that his constituents would turn out en masses to vote for him again.

The governor said the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners NAGGMDP will critically partner with the state.

The State Contributory Health Commission bill is conceived to ensure that every resident of the state will have financial and physical access to quality and affordable health care services.

He said his administration is poised to tackle key challenges in the health care sector including but not limited to shortage of human resource and inadequate health infrastructure.

the All Progressive Congress (APC) campaign promise to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians”.

Speaking in an interview with Sunday Vanguard in Nsukka, Enugu North senatorial candidate for All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in the last general elections and Secretary, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu, said Nigerians clamoured for change from the PDP-led government of Goodluck Jonathan, saying the story seemed not to have changed under Buhari.

Ezugwu noted that Nigerians were in pains as a result of the 16 years of the PDP misrule, explaining that prices of food, fuel and gas had gone up. “A litre of petrol sells at N150 while exchange rate is now at cut throat level which was not what the country bargained for when the entire citizenry cried for change by electing APC into power to overhaul the system, but it has been six months of gnashing teeth and total disappointment”, he said.

PAGE 6 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Saraki’s wife bemoans ordeal of safe, quality education Chibok girls for•Seeks children W

IFE of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has bemoaned the continued ordeal of over 200 Chibok school girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram in Borno State, over 590 days ago.

Mrs. Saraki who is also the founder of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, stated this when she represented the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, as the Special Guest of Honour at the premiere of “Searching” – a film that vividly depicts the realities and struggles of the girl child in Nigeria.

She stated that while securing the release of the girls by security agencies is the most important step for now, schools must be protected to provide safe and quality education for all Nigerian children.

She also called for increased access to education and the protection of the rights of the girl child through the removal of social and structural barriers in girls’ education in the country.

While urging relevant authorities to make schools a safe haven for learning a priority, Mrs. Saraki recounted the ordeal of the 200 girls kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Borno State, over 590 days ago.

She said: “Their kidnap and the continued assault against the rights of young children to education by Boko Haram is part of a wider conversation that we must continue to have in Nigeria and all over the world.

“Securing the release of

every girl kidnapped by Boko Haram is the expected step, but we must return the focus to securing our schools and protecting the right to a safe, quality education for all of our children. This will ensure that the horrors of Chibok never happen again”, he said.

Expressing great concern about the plight of the girl child in Nigeria, Saraki’s wife further stated, “As a nation, we must focus on developing the policies

and initiatives that can empower girls and give them the tools that they need to lead.

According to the organizers, the theme of the movie “Searching” is both significant and timely, considering the commencement of the 2015 United Nations 16 Days of Activism on the 25th of November – the day which marked the 2015 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and girls.

Pope Francis, others extol Cardinal Arinze as he marks 50 years of priestly ordination

By Vincent Ujumadu & Chimaobi Nwaiwu

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ATHOLIC Pontiff, Pope Francis, yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, extolled the virtues of His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, who celebrated the golden jubilee of his Episcopal ordination.

The Pope, who was represented by the Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Kassuja at the wellattended Pontifical Mass at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, described Arinze as God’s gift to humanity.

Cardinal Arinze, who retired at the Vatican as the Prefect of the Congregation of the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament, served from 2002 to 2008.

In a homily, the Apostolic Nuncio to Central Africa, Archbishop Jude

Thaddeus Okolo, described Cardinal Arinze’s spiritual milestones as an evidence of divine presence in his service to humanity.

He said: “Good fifty years have gone by since Cardinal Arinze was ordained a Coadjutor Bishop, Titular Bishop of Fissiana to succeed Archbishop Charles Heerey.

“At his Episcopal consecration on 29 August 1965, at the age of 32, the young Francis Arinze became the youngest Roman Catholic Bishop in the whole world. Luckily for him, he was ordained just in time to join others at the closing session of the Second Vatican Council, and after the demise of Archbishop Heerey after a long period of illness, the young Francis Arinze succeeded him, on June 26, 1967.

“What we are celebrating today is a

Urhobo College old boys dinner/lecture

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RHOBO College Old Boys Association , UCOSA, Lagos branch holds its annual dinner night at the GoldenGateRestaurant,Ikoyi, today. There will also be a dinner as well as lecture to be

•Wife of the Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun (second left), holding samples of ATM cards along with other beneficiaries during the UPLIFTing the Aged Distribution of ATM Welfare Cards to the Elderly at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto in Abeokuta...recently.

delivered by the National Vice President of UCOSA and Professor of Law University of Lagos, Prof. Joe Abugu, titled, “State of Primary and Secondary Education in Delta State.”

The Chairman, Organising Committee of the event, Kingsley Abekware, disclosed that there will also be a fund rising for the provision of desks in the school.

•L-R; APC Diaspora Women Leader, Mesi Ada Usiade; Fashion Designer, Monalisa Okojie;R&B & Jazz Singer, Chante Moore and CEO, Red Ribbon Ltd, Tunde Shofowora, during the arrival of American Diva, Chante Moore for the Light up Music and Art Christmas Concert in Nigeria coming up on, today in Lagos.

combination of fidelity, heroism, determination, endurance, faith and joyful service of the Lord We are paying honour to whom honour is due: first to God, and appreciation to his Eminence.

“Your Eminence, when in 2005, the whole world acclaimed you a worthy Papa bile, it was not by chance. It showed that your capacity was recognized. If on that occasion you were not chosen as a Pope, surely it is not because of your incapacity, but because our continent was not yet ripe for such an election. You have been a sign of hope to many, even those who have not met you in person.” .

He appealed to the congregation to join him in eulogizing Cardinal Arinze with such names that befitted his achievements such as Ozi Uzo, (the leaders) Obubelu Chukwkwu Uzo, (One who puts God first), Ome Mgbo Oji , (One who gives out when he has) Ugo Eji Ejemba, (The Pride of a nation), among many other names.

Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon expressed happiness for the growth of Christianity and described Cardinal Arinze as one of the great minds that contributed to the growth and spread of Christianity in the world.

He said: “Cardinal Arinze, who is now 83 years old, has been very consistent in the service to God and humanity. I want to use this opportunity to urge him to continue being consistent in the service of God and humanity. He is a good sheppard that has been consistent in leading his flock. He is a true man of God and I urge him to continue, he is my elder brother, who is my senior with two years”.

Elated Cardinal Arinze, in his response, thanked the Pope and the Vatican for giving him the opportunity to serve God from Onitsha to the Vatican, and Dr Gowon for

attending the ceremony.

He described Gowon as a good Christian and a man full of humility, recalling that immediately after the civil war, he visited Gowon with Monsignor Obiukwu to plead with him not to drive the missionaries away

from Nigeria and how he (Gowon) received them.

He however regretted that the then Federal Government had already taken a decision on the matter before their visit, adding that Gowon could personally not reverse the decision.

We believe in Nigeria — Multichoice

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EADING video entertainment company, MultiChoice Nigeria, has reaffirmed its faith in Nigeria’s capability to overcome its challenges and really blossom.

Speaking on Friday at a dinner in honour of Nigerian winners at the 2015 CNN /MultiChoice African Journalism Awards, Mr. John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, said there are so many indications that Nigeria will blossom and fulfill its potential.

“There is no doubt whatsoever that Nigeria

will be great.

At MultiChoice, we believe that very strongly. It is the reason why we have kept investing in the country.

Without that belief, we wouldn’t be doing that.

Part of the belief is our support for the media. We are happy to do what we do and we hope to do more,” Ugbe said.

In attendance at the event were award winners Femi Asu and Arukaino Umukoro, of THE PUNCH, Adewale Emosu of Nigerian Tribune and Ibanga Isine of Premium Times. Also in attendance were editors of major newspapers.

ASUU urges FG to end killings and bloodshed in the country

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

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OTHERED by the spate of killings in the country, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has urged the Federal Government to take decisive steps to end the bloodshed in some parts of the country.

The acting Chairman of ASUU, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, FUAM, chapter, Dr. Bemgba Anjembe, spoke yesterday at a Special Congress of the union to mark the second anniversary of the death of Comrade Festus Iyayi, a former ASUU president, who was killed in an auto

crash in 2013.

Dr. Anjembe said, “Comrade Iyayi died in his struggle for the emancipation of the oppressed and the enthronement of a just society, in an auto crash while on his way to resolve a crisis between the ASUU and the Federal government at the Bayero University, Kano.

“We are pleading that his death should be the last needless death we are recording in this country because today Nigeria is confronted with issues leading to unwarranted deaths and bloodshed and the earlier this is resolved the better for our country.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 7

Letter To Mr President Dear Mr President, ay I seize this opportunity to congratulate you on your success at the last General Elections in which you won convincingly. Pardon me this is coming late.

This is the first in the series of letter I shall be writing to you, first as a Nigerian with the love of the country at heart and secondly as a Citizen in Diaspora. I should however, let you know that in my reasoning I shall take the position of a diasporan more than that of a citizen in Nigeria. This is not out of disrespect for a country of my birth, but to express my views from the perspective of a "voluntary outsider".

I represent a large number of Nigerians in Dispora who saw hope for a better future for the country in you. Our reasoning at that time was that you have had the opportunity, though short lived, of ruling Nigeria before, with enviable records among former leaders. So by reasoning, you knew the enormity of the job you were applying for and the fact that it takes more than mere desire.

Although many from the opposition warned us that times and situations have changed, we were too "loyal" to believe them.

Your Excellency, there is no doubt that the support you had in the Diaspora was unequalled in the political history of Nigeria.

Although we were aware that we were technically disenfranchised because of our locations, we did all we could to sensitise the Nigerian masses, through blogs, social media, etc that it was time for change. Our access to uninterrupted power supply and cheap broadband made it very easy for us.

Some of us did not limit our support to the internet.

We followed you every time you ventured outside Nigeria. One of such occasions was on the 26th of February this year at the Chatam House where we stood outside the doors to support you. On this day, there were three groups of Nigerians at the periphery of the venue. The first group were the APC sympathisers, the second were concerned non partisan Nigerians who believed in your Change Agenda and had come to support you by their presence. While the third group were the unruly crowd that were alleged to have been "recruited" all the way from Manchester to disrupt your presentation.

Immediately after the programme, a friend rang me and revealed his plan to go back to Nigeria and contribute towards the development of the country.

He was so confident in you and your change agenda that nothing could dissuade him from carrying out his

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plans, he said. His optimism for a new and better Nigeria was infectious.

My friend is not a politician. No. He is on the other hand a technocrat. He had ideas in his head that can move Nigeria forward.

According to him, the atmosphere at home (Nigeria) had not been conducive for him to explore the ideas, but his confidence in you knew no bounds. He was not the only one.

Your Excellency, your campaigns ideas were "powerful" for anybody not to be persuaded that Nigeria is in for a good deal immediately you are elected. You were suave, well spoken and knowledgeable of what the people wanted to hear. You knew what Nigerians were complaining about under the incumbent government, and all you did was promise them everything Goodluck Jonathan could not provide.

Mr President, we could not stop loving you whenever you stated that security and corruption would be your main focus, while steady electricity supply would be top on the agenda. For us Nigerians in Diaspora, there is nothing that keeps us away from the shores of the country mainly than these three "evils".

Sir, it is over (or almost six months) but nothing seems to have changed at all. I realise the fact that you warned us that you are not a magician, therefore Nigerians should not expect any "miracle". We are not demanding for much, than what you promised us

Mr President, what are your plans for the country?

Thousands of Nigerians abroad are asking this question.

They need concrete answers to security, power generation and distribution, jobs for all, Boko Haram, corruption and many more during the elections.

However, these promises seem to be taking "so long" to be fulfilled.

Your Excellency, after so many months of no information from my friend about his relocation plans to Nigeria, I ran into him last week. And it is sad to tell you that he is no longer relocating to Nigeria. He told me a few weeks after your inauguration he wanted to

visit Nigeria, but his family advised that he should "chill for sometime and let the President settle down" before coming. He said when he consulted with his family and friends on ground in Nigeria a few weeks ago about his plans, they told him he must be mad to still have the thoughts of coming back to Nigeria.

Sir, my friend is no longer coming to Nigeria with his ideas. His people told him nothing has changed in the country. They told him electricity is still as unstable as the availability of fuel in the country. He was told that the dreaded Boko Haram is still killing people in the north, despite your assurances that the group would be history immediately you win the elections. What about the endless queue at the fuel stations? The cabals are still operating.

Mr President, what are your plans for the country?

Thousands of Nigerians abroad are asking this question. They need concrete answers to security, power generation and distribution, jobs for all, Boko Haram, corruption and many more.

But all they are hearing on daily basis is how much the past administration had plundered the country's economy. They are also asking if you or your party did not do "your homework" properly before drafting the manifestos?

They want to come home and assist you in developing this great country, but the basics of life must be present before they can venture into it.

Sir, the only returnees now are the 500 Nigerians "allegedly" deported last week by the United Kingdom government.

What was your reaction to the number? Did you laugh it off or you shook your head and asked "is there any Nigerian left on the streets of UK?" Nobody has been able to explain the number, sir. But the "foundation" for it was laid by Nigeria's Acting High Commissioner to the UK, Olukunle Bamgbose, a few weeks ago.

Did you read his interview with the media after your deputy, Yemi Osibanjo visited the UK? He said the UK government was hounding Nigerians in their hundreds and desperate to send many back home. He disclosed that a total number of 29,000 Nigerians were Lagos bound forcefully, courtesy of the UK's Home Office. Some of them were reported to have lived in the UK for decades. Obviously they would have picked up one trade, career or the other that they can apply to the Nigerian situation.

In conclusion sir, many countries may be rejecting the "asylum" applications of Nigerians not based on fairness, but your promises of a "dreamland" called Nigeria after May 29.

Unfortunately, your dream is not coming through, on time. Based on your elections manifestos alone, these deportees need not worry on how to survive in Nigeria. But we have to understand the fact that reality is different from promises. Your manifesto has refused to leave the dream stage to reality.

What's happening sir?

God can still surprise you

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s the end of the year approaches, there may be a number of things that we have prayed for but which we are yet to get answers to. Does it mean God has forgotten us?

Definitely not. Does it mean those prayers will no longer be answered?

With God, all things are possible.

Our confidence is found in Luke 21 vs 23: “ Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away”.

Since we also know that God is not a man that tells lies, we should remain steadfast and keep faith alive. Keeping faith alive does not mean that one should begin to look like one that is mourning. On the contrary, keeping faith alive should make one radiate joy. It should mean that people will see the glory of God in your life.

It also means taking time to study the word of God, pray and fast. All of these are not done to impress any human being but to bring you closer to the God of man with whom nothing is impossible.

Keeping Faith Alive Keeping faith alive can be demonstrated in several ways.

The first is prayer. Fo r whatever we are trusting God for, prayer is crucial.

The word of God makes it clear: “ Ask and you shall be given”.

Don’t get tired of praying.

Break your sleep to pray.

Find time to attend important prayer meetings.

You don’t have to get hooked to a particular church.

Once you identify a genuine man of God hosting a programme, endeavor to attend.

Demonstrate Faith How do I mean?

A single lady believing God for a husband could purchase a bridal veil and begin to make prophetic declaration into it.

Take authority in the word of God according to Genesis 2 verse 18: “ And the Lord God said , ‘It is not good that the man ( woman) should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.’” (King James version).

For the couple trusting God for children, they may also buy a few baby things and begin to make prophetic declaration into them.

This seems too far from reality but I have seen it work for a couple who waited for over 20 years to have children.

The woman travelled abroad on study leave and, because she was expectant though married for about six years without a child, she went to buy a lot of items for new babies.

(They can be purchased in Nigeria too). She would wake up anytime after 12 midnight to make this declaration: “ I am a mother of children. God has said I

should be fruitful and multiply. I will have my own children. These items I have bought , I will not give them to any body. My own children from my own body will use them.”.

She persisted .

Though the babies did not come until about 15 years later, they came all the same. Not only did God give her a Samuel, he also gave her a set of twins. Some of those items which she kept on keeping in good condition have been used by her own children.

Another way of demonstrating faith is by sowing seeds into the children’s department of your church. Don’t see it as a waste.

Don’t be discouraged by thoughts like, “ I don’t have a baby yet, why should I contribute?.

Perish such thoughts and take positive action.

Whoever mocks you will rejoice with you in Jesus name.

Another surprise for the couple was that all the tests done in Nigeria did not show that she was carrying a set of triplets. In the United States where the wife went to put to bed, doctors said “children are formed but we are not sure of what we see

One of the preachers at the Holy Ghost Service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, while preaching said, “ For you to be fruitful, you must be seed full”.

Is your business going down? Are you in a situation where you used to make a lot of money and suddenly everything has gone down?

Don’t give up. Pray and call upon the Lord that maketh rich to have mercy upon you. Pay your tithes and serve the Lord.

Favour Having done all these, we need the favour of God. Why? It is the favour of God that gives us what we do

not deserve. Remember that millions are praying daily to our Father. Therefore, it is favour of God that singles you out.

Our authority for the Lord’s favour is found in Psalm 102 verse 13: “ Thou shall arise and have mercy upon Zion ( mention your name here) for the time to favour her, yea the set time is come”.

Repeating this severally could provoke God to answer speedily. By the grace of God, your prayer will not go into the voice mail. (Apologies to Pastor J.T. Kalejaiye of RCCG).

Testimony Let’s lift up our faith with the testimony a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God gave at the RCCG Holy Ghost Service.

According to the pastor, he had been married for about nine years without a child.

Just before December 2012, doctors told the couple that the wife was not responding to treatment and nothing could happen. His words, “ It was like the world will end but we believed in God”. Now, this is the limitation of medical science but God is UNLIMITED. He said: “To the amazement of doctors, she got pregnant in January 2012 “.

Another surprise for the couple was that all the tests done in Nigeria did not show that she was carrying a set of triplets. In the United States where the wife went to put to bed, doctors said “children are formed but we are not sure of what we see”.

Again, that is a demonstration that a miracle is beyond scientific explanation.

To shorten this story, the woman, who was said not to be responding to treatment, gave birth to a set of triplets to the glory of God in August 2012.

After delivery, according to the pastor, his wife developed some complications which doctors could not identify but she kept calling on the God of Adeboye to see her through and let her return to Nigeria with her children.

Now, this is a clear case of the enemy at work. The same forces that didn’t want her to have children were determined to stop her from nursing her babies but God rose for her.

Suddenly, doctors identified the complication and she had a surgery. As narrated by the husband, the doctors said, “if the complication had not been identified within a week, she wou ld have been unable to carry her babies”.

To the glory of God, the woman, her husband and the triplets returned to Nigeria safe and sound.

Are you saying, “Oh, that is a pastor?” Dismiss that thought. A pastor is a human being like you.

They have challenges and have breakthroughs. You too can.

Keep faith alive, take necessary actions and a joyful home is yours in Jesus name.

PAGE 8— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 rexmarinus@hotmail.com

Buhari and the Biafrans

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r. Chu S. P. Okongwu in his 2004 tributes to Ukpabi Asika, took an aside in his eulogies to emphasize the following: “The generation born after the civil war will not know that the former Eastern region, comprising EastCentral State, SouthEastern state, and Rivers state, enjoyed a highly developed road network, with probably the highest quality road density in subSaharan Africa. These had been damaged or neglected during the war. Ukpabi Asika planned to reconstruct and modernize these. Action was also taken to upgrade and transfer to central government responsibility some trunk ‘B’ roads (1, 240 kilometers) and introduce some new federal highways and alignments… .” Dr. Okongwu was East Central State’s Commissioner forEconomic Planning from 1970-1975, and presumably has the data.

But that’s besides the point.

The real point is that assertion that the East had the “highest quality road density in Sub-sahara Africa” before the damages of war and neglect ruined it all. The terrible state of roads and interchanges in the old Eastern region, particularly in the current areas now known as the South East zone, remain even now, a sore point; and hard evidence of the neglect of the East by the Federal government since the end of the civil war in 1970. Those who have challenged the current agitation for Biafra, talk of equal opportunity misrule of the federation.

But Biafrans present evidence of a specially targeted form of neglect.

There was no reason for agitation for a Biafra from 1970-1983, because in those intermediary years, the East was in recovery mode, and its key intellectual and political leadership, and its highly trained bureaucracy was still intact, and they had the requisite institutional memory to mediate some of the more difficult and challenging obstacles placed on the Eastern states, through both strategic negotiation and initiative. I do recommend Dr. Okongwu’s tributes to Asika to readers of the “Orbit” for a really good context, and a closer understanding of “ where the rain began to beat us.”

From 1983, a strategic neglect of the East became more pronounced. Every effort of the past made to rebuild it; including investments in new industry, new skills, and so on, were stripped deliberately, almost as if to stifle the resurgence of its people by Federal authorities. Two marked examples for me includes Dr. Okongwu’s claim that the East Central State’s Data Processing Center, the first of its kind presumably

in the continent, long before the current IT craze, was stripped and moved to Kaduna following the 1975 military coup. Here are Chu Okongwu’s words: “Immediately there was dispatched to East-Central State a mandatory proconsul in the person of the late Colonel Anthony Aboki Ochefu. His assignment: the dismantling of the EastCentral state. Colonel Ochefu dismantled the public service of East Central state. For good measure he declared that the mainframe computer of the Eastern Data Processing Center was unnecessary madness, beyond the needs and interests of the state. It was summarily dismantled and relocated to the Ahmadu Bello University where it found a necessary sane and needful home. Everybody in East Central state, except Col Ochefu, elements of the army of occupation and their touts, was a thief; the hounding campaign was

Easterners consider themselves victims of state-terror.

There must be both reconstruction of the East and reparation for the years of discrimination underway. Cheer leaders and Coryphaei were not wanting in East-Central State.” Buhari was a member of the Supreme Military Council of that regime in 1975. The same scenario played out following the December 31, 1983 coup at which Buhari was head. A little drama played out in Owerri when, according to close associates of the late Governor Sam Mbakwe, he held out at the Governor’s lodge, Owerri, prepared to call out a mass demonstration starting with street protests from Aba to resist the coup, until he was finally persuaded to give up that move. Buhari appointed his own proconsul, in the person of the then Brigadier Ike Nwachuwku. Again, his assignment: dismantle the gains made in Imo under Mbakwe.

Ike Nwachukwu’s first declaration, under what he called the “Imo Formula” was to dismantle all the 42 industrial installations embarked upon by Sam Mbakwe, which were at various stages of development, and to which financial commitments had been entered.

N w a c h u k w u ’ s

“achievement” was to consolidate the Imo state university under a single campus at Uturu, near his ancestral home, from the five-campus design which had been envisioned on a model of the State of New York University system, by Mbakwe and his team, to evolve into beautifully designed network of university campuses to stimulate strategic development, and carter to a wider range of students and skills development in the long run. The effect of these was to stultify development in the East and drive a growing population of highly educated and skilled youth out of the East, into the wilderness. Kids who grew up in Government Reserved Areas in the East, for instance, suddenly found themselves living with rats in the ghettoes of Lagos because all the systems created to afford them the opportunity of living productive lives in the East on equal terms with their peerselsewhere in the world were strategically dismantled. It is called diminution. Divestments, and lack of investments in both industry and infrastructure in the East, especially by the federal government has led to this moment. What these examples suggest is that Nigeria’s postwar domestic policies have, it has always seemed obvious to Easterners, especially the Igbo, been directed towards subduing, rather than reconstructing the East.

Even now, Buhari is talking about billions of naira to be earmarked for the “ reconstruction of the North-East.” What about the East that has suffered from a devastating civil war levied against it, and from the mindless exploitation of oil that has rendered what was the entire Eastern region, one of the world’s great ecological disasters, with incidents of new cancers, the result of massive pollution, possibly the highest currently in the world? Easterners consider themselves victims of stateterror. There must be both reconstruction of the East and reparation for the years of discrimination.

These facts will continue to drive the agitation for Biafra. And this is the point that Ohaneze and the South East governors meeting last week in Enugu failed to acknowledge, and which continues to make them irrelevant to the solutions for these agitations. The governors in the East and Ohaneze may make excathedra claims, but they do not yet speak for these young people, who have clearly defied them in staging their protests.

Again, whoever is advising this president must be plain in telling him that this generation considers him a great part of the Igbo problem, because under his watch as military head, progress in the East was stifled; and the East was isolated in his administrationfrom 198385; and as a member of the SMC in 1975, the first postwar moves to “dismantle” the East was set in motion. The onus is on him to show good faith, and dissuade the agitators, or he could show further proof, as some have suggested, that Buhari is rigid and does not listen.

News Extra Lagos Police Commissioner sends Area Commanders, DPOs after traffic robbers, erring drivers!

•We will deliver – DPO Osuji Ben Osuji is the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Idimu Division. About 7 am, on a particular day, last week, he, with some of his men, were strategically stationed around Isheri-Idimu in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, controlling vehicular movement and, at the same time, curtailing the now common traffic robbery in the state.

Sunday Vanguard, shortly after leaving the road for his office, spoke with him about his experience on the road.

By Olalekan Bilesanmi

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HAT brought out men and officers to be on the road, directing traffic?

There are many factors regarding that action.

First of all, we are working on the directive of the state Commissioner of Police who has directed that every Divisional Police Officer, DPO, or Area Commander must unlock the traffic in his area and he has equally directed that he wants officers more on the road than in the office. So, that is why we join our men on the road to ease traffic flow and deal with some other issues that may arise therefrom. In addition to the issue of traffic flow is traffic robbery where hoodlums take advantage of traffic gridlock to attack motorists; this is an act the state command is out to deal with. That is why most times I go out to join my men to motivate and direct them right there on the field. That is why you saw me in uniform, and at other times, I go out very early in the morning in mufti.

Like today (Thursday), I had left for the road in mufti at six o’ clock in the morning where me and my men took position in different parts of this axis, because we like to take position before traffic starts building up. By doing that, it is a lot easier to manage the traffic. The second factor for being on the road, controlling traffic is mainly because of the fuel scarcity issue in the country. Many of the fuel stations are not selling and the few of them that have are selling, at least within Isheri-Idimu axis, our people are not patient enough, everybody wants to buy fuel at the same time. By so doing, they block the flow of traffic by queuing up on the main road. And, until the police get there, there won’t be orderliness. So, these are some of the issues that gave rise to us being on the road, controlling traffic.

Many motorists, particularly commercial drivers, prone to breaking traffic laws by driving against the traffic, appear to have overwhelmed the police as nothing seems to have been done to curtail

•DPO Ben Osuji

Regarding lasting solution to the menace of the commercial drivers, I will say there isn’t any lasting solution to it or to any crime for that matter.

We can only apply measures that are effective to the point that it will reduce to the barest minimum the nuisance they create on the roads their excesses.

That is not true. We deal with them. Anytime we come across them because a lot of these commercial drivers are recalcitrant, we impound their vehicles, especially when we discover that the culprit is a habitual law breaker. It is an everyday challenge and we are dealing with it accordingly.

Have you had cause to charge any of them to

court?

Several of them have been charged to court for obstruction, reckless driving. Sometimes when we impound any vehicle for one or two days and we find that the driver is remorseful, we return it to him. His remorse is rewarding to us because that is exactly what we want.

That kind of action will restrain him subsequently from against traffic.

Regarding lasting solution to the menace of the commercial drivers, I will say there isn’t any lasting solution to it or to any crime for that matter. We can only apply measures that are effective to the point that it will reduce to the barest minimum the nuisance they create on the roads. That is why I said that, from time to time, we take measures that will pay in that circumstance.

Continuous enforcement and enlightenment education is key.

At a point, Diamond Estate axis was notorious for pipeline vandalism.

How secure is the axis now?

Since my assumption of duty here, I have not heard of any encounter with pipeline vandals.

Meanwhile, my attention has been drawn to a few places, and I have since visited them.

But it appears no activities is going on there anymore, because we now patrol the place day and night. So we have not recorded any pipeline vandalism in Idimu Division since I came here.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 9

It is time to support the Nigerian Military

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n January 2014, former President Goodluck Jonathan in his own wisdom, decided to appoint Air Marshal Alex S. Badeh as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Almost immediately, a United States-based Nigerian journalist Abiodun Ladepo circulated an opinion on the web suggesting that Badeh was too fat to head our military.

I thought my colleague’s opinion particularly his assertion that Badeh was “the most out of shape officer ” he had ever seen was rather harsh and uncharitable. When Badeh assumed office, he spent ample time pointing accusing fingers at a section of the press for being anti-government.

I imagined that he probably had people like Ladepo in mind. Two issues convinced me to further investigate Ladepo’s critical assessment of the then CDS. First, at a show in Lagos last year, one comedian said he

too could become Nigeria’s Chief of defence Staff. His claim to the office was that he was almost as fat as the incumbent. He also said that when Badeh was appointed CDS, Baba Obasanjo laughed for a very long time adding that the last time he saw the former President, Baba was still laughing over the appointment. Knowing the dangers of Obasanjo’s unending laughter, I convinced myself at the end of the show that Badeh was a man to watch.

After a while, I found too many problems with his management of the Military but felt that whatever went wrong ought to be overlooked in view of those difficult days of Boko Haram when our troops ran away from the enemy claiming that they were illequipped; while their families embarked on public demonstrations against the posting of their bread winners to the battle

PhD,Depar tment of Philosophy, University of Lagos 08116759758 opuruiche2000@yahoo.com

What has changed since Buhari became President? (4)

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he on-going protests in the South-East requires creative handling by the federal government, governors of states that comprise the zone and Igbo leaders of thought to avoid unnecessary escalation of the situation. But the arrogant, insensitive, and threatening comments by a few military officers and cowardly hasty condemnation by some prominent Ndigbo are disingenuous, because both sides are trivialising the key issues of marginalisation, exclusion and alienation raised by the Biafran agitators, which lie at the heart of the troublesome unresolved "national question". It must be pointed out that President Buhari's apparent indifference to the concerns of Ndigbo, from the time he was military head of state, through when he was Chairman, Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund to now that he is President, constitutes part of the remote and immediate causes of the renewed agitation for Biafra.

It would take a Eureka experience or epiphany for Buhari to change his attitude towards Ndigbo generally. It follows that, on the issue of security and containment of centrifugal ethnic irredentism, there is no noticeable positive change since May 29, 2015.

We now come to the issue of ministerial appointments, which has elicited considerable discussion for

quite some time. To begin with, although the President and many Nigerians presume that merger of ministries would save money for the government, there is no conclusive proof to that effect - there is even a report which debunks that presumption.

Basically, it is the approved budget that determines the expenditure profile of ministries, which implies that although power, works and housing are now under one ministry, for instance, instead of two or three ministries, budgetary allocation to the bloated new ministry must reflect the critical nature of the sectors under it, which are very capital intensive in nature.

Thus, under separate ministries power, and works and housing may get smaller budgetary allocation collectively than now that they are lumped into one ministry.

The delay by President Buhari in constituting his cabinet is uncalled for, judging by the fact that the list, when it was finally made public, is overwhelmingly a roster of politicians with corruption allegations hanging on some of them and individuals who helped APC capture power from the PDP. Consequently, the claim by Garba Shehu that the President was taking his time to select the very best to work with is a shibboleth intended to explain away the prolonged high calibre "wheeling and dealing" by the major power blocks in APC to appropriate instruments of ministerial office as reward

front. At a point, some soldiers were tried for mutiny and sentenced to death, as Badeh spoke tough at public fora to condemn the perceived cowardly act of those soldiers. But were they really well equipped? In an interview with the Nigerian Defence Magazine, Badeh did not only answer in the affirmative, he was reported to have also said that “the Nigerian military

The war is not only being prosecuted with vigour, the military is asking for the cooperation of the civil population to enable them conclude successfully. Such support in our view ought to include the clamour by the citizenry for better funding is very well taken care off.

We live in houses we don’t pay accommodation for.

We have buses that bring troops to work every day and take them back home.

We don’t pay for light; we don’t pay for water. Our salaries are good compared for their contributions to Buhari's victory. Anyway, by nominating ministers without assigning them to ministries prior to screening by the Senate, President Buhari merely repeated the mistake of his predecessors and wasted a wonderful opportunity to improve the quality of legislative screening of the prospective ministers. I think the President should have inaugurated a positive paradigm shift in ministerial appointment by attaching ministries to the ministerial nominees before sending the list to the Senate. Besides, there is nothing innovative or transformative in the President's list. Indeed, like every ministerial appointment since the administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Buhari's choice includes competent professionals and the-not-socompetent with questionable antecedents. Meanwhile, President Buhari should have tried the novel approach of appointing ministers to ministries strictly in tandem with their professional and academic qualifications plus cognate experience, as in the ministries of justice and health invariably headed by a senior lawyer and medical practitioner respectively. Take the case of Babatunde Fashola, an attorney and immediate past governor of Lagos State, who is minister of power, works and housing.

The way I see it, the President's amalgamation of power, works and housing in one ministry - three critical areas that require specialised technical knowledge and round-the-clock attention - is inappropriate: it constitutes an unnecessary burden for Fashola, which might create unintended problems with serious repercussions for service delivery. Some argue that, because a minister is the political head of a ministry whose major responsibility is to manage personnel and

with what is paid in the civil place. If someone with school certificate joins the army, by the time he is five years in the service, his salary has doubled that of a graduate.”

But the day he left office, the then CDS sang a new song as he blamed the failure of his military to defeat the insurgents on poor equipment. According to Badeh, the last time weapons were bought for the Nigerian Army was in 2006 while the military in his days flew the oldest fighter jets in the whole world.

Badeh also confirmed that Nigeria lost many soldiers who walked into Boko Haram’s ambush facilitated by collaborators from within. Why then were some soldiers tried and convicted for what their former CDS chose to confirm at his own convenience? Although he had argued that the military was well looked after, Badeh asked government when he was leaving office to build barracks for the military so that they can recruit more soldiers. With the benefit of hand sight journalist Ladepo and the Lagos comedian got their facts right It was a sharp departure from the gloomy picture of the past lasst Thursday at a public workshop in Abuja on the need for the media and our security operatives to build and sustain harmonious working

relationship that could facilitate the end to insurgency in our country.

The conference was organized by the National Orientation Agency which appears to have regained its mandate to vigorously pursue value reorientation of Nigerians. Brigadier Rogers Nicholas, the Chief of Civil/ Military affairs spoke with confidence accepting some limitations of his constituency while educating the forum on steps being taken to bring insurgency to an end.. It is indeed, heartwarming that the military had within a short period reversed the nation’s sense of hopelessness. First, unlike its predecessors that fought their own war in Abuja where there were no real adversaries, the present military leadership is at the heart of the war front purposefully leading its operatives. Our military is no longer on the defensive, instead, what comes out of the war zone these days, are reports of achievements to the extent that the target date of clearing the insurgents is looking more realistic. More importantly, the old order of lack of synergy between our different security operatives is now a thing of the past. The other day, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, publicly commended the Department of State Services (DSS) for effecting

the arrest of a high profile terrorist in Maiduguri metropolis.

On the occasion, Buratai revealed that the DSS had over time proven to be dependable partners in the quest for a secured Nigeria.

It can be argued that this piece of eulogy is too early.

There are indeed many Nigerians who will take our encomiums with caution bearing in mind that the abducted queens of Chibok are yet to be liberated. But for us, this is the best time for the rest of us to begin to show appreciation in view of the winning signs that are showing. The war is not only being prosecuted with vigour, the military is asking for the cooperation of the civil population to enable them conclude successfully. Such support in our view ought to include the clamour by the citizenry for better funding to make our military the perfect force of our dream. This writer in particular having incessantly criticized the military for its use of mundane tactics and obsolete facilities is morally bound to also lead in supporting such claims as well as helping to boost the morale of our fighters.

This no doubt explains why today’s piece is an appeal for us all to appreciate our gallant military hoping that such public support may turn out to be the required tonic for ending the insurgency.

resources in the ministry, there is no advantage in appointing, say, an experienced electrical engineer to head the ministry of power or a geologist with strong academic background and practice in that field as minister of solid minerals, rather than someone whose academic qualifications and

managerial skills and emotional intelligence manifested by a lawyer who performed relatively well as minister of power, which implies that the engineer's firsthand knowledge of technical issues connected to power generation, transmission and distribution is an added advantage for him as minister of power ministry when compared to the lawyer in the same post. In the formulation, evaluation and implementation of policies in science and engineering dominated ministries such as power, works and solid minerals, it is better to appoint someone with academic or professional qualifications and experience directly related to those ministries, especially in countries like Nigeria where institutions and traditions of public service have not advanced to the stage that specialist technical knowledge of the core issues dealt with by the ministries we mentioned above may not matter so much.

At this point, let us begin to harvest our thoughts. On the issue of fighting corruption, probably there is little improvement since President Buhari came into office because his anti-corruption reputation might have prevented some lily-livered public officials from stealing.

But there is increasing recognition by the President himself, judging by his lamentations that corrupt judges and lawyers are hampering his war against corruption, that dealing with high calibre corruption cases is a very frustrating herculean task in a ramshackle democratic setting such as ours. In terms of inclusiveness from both the ethnic and gender perspectives, Nigeria has regressed since President Buhari assumed office: there is an unjustifiable lopsidedness in favour of Northerners and men in Buhari's choice of his inner

core of lieutenants. The management of our oil and gas sector is still characterised by mediocrity, financial rascality and cronyism. The security situation has not really improved since Goodluck Jonathan left office, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the December deadline President Buhari stipulated for the liquidation of Boko Haram cannot be met by the gallant Nigerian armed forces.

Of course, defeat of the PDP, albeit in a flawed election, is the best change that has happened since the return to civilian rule in 1999, because it has cut the megalomaniac arrogance of the former ruling party to smithereens.

From now onwards, no political party will boast without serious consequences that it would rule the country uninterruptedly for decades come what may. I know that the Buhari government is still settling down, and some of the teething problems of the moment, if tackled with genuine patriotism and creative management of available resources, may be resolved soon. I am fully aware that as a dyed in the wool retired soldier and devout Muslim, it would not be easy for President Buhari to blend his entrenched somewhat inflexible habits of thought with the degree of mental flexibility needed to make our convoluted democratic system work without serious convulsions - he is a tiro or neophyte in democratic governance. To help the President, we must ignore the bunkum and sugary insipidities of sycophants and speak out whenever we have good reasons to believe that the federal government is derailing from its primary function of providing enabling environment for optimum unfolding of our productive powers in work, love and recreation.

Concluded.

Of course, defeat of the PDP, albeit in a flawed election, is the best change that has happened since the return to civilian rule in 1999, because it has cut the megalomaniac arrogance of the former ruling party to smithereens

professional experience have very little connection with the ministry in question.

Sometimes, instances from established democracies such as the United States and the United Kingdom are paraded to demonstrate that a lawyer can perform well as minister of power or of works and housing. Those who belittle the importance of cognate academic and professional background for enhanced performance in the relevant ministries forget that a seasoned electrical engineer can possess similar

PAGE 10—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Judicial robbery of electorate in Taraba State (1) “It follows that having found that the purported nomination of the 1st Respondent never took place, he was therefore in law not sponsored by the 2nd Respondent, he never participated in the Taraba state Governorship election held on the 11th and 25th day(sic) of April 2015.

Accordingly, all the votes purportedly cast for the 1st Respondent on the 11th and 25 day of April 2015 are wasted votes. [underlining mine]. Judgment of the Taraba State Election Tribunal, November 7, 2015, in Abuja.

OTE. Underlining the location of the judgment is deliberate because it represents a vital part of this case which amounts to denying the votes of about seventy-five per cent of Tarabans in order to impose by judicial sleight of hand a rejected candidate on the

N

people. End. I traveled at my own expense to Abuja to obtain a certified true copy of the Taraba State Tribunal’s judgment for two reasons.

First, the disjointed reports in various newspapers failed to c onvey a clear picture of the grounds for the verdict. It was vital to get to the source. Now I have a copy signed by Titi Garbas. PWUL, Mrs, Tribunal Secretary. Second, despite being a Lagos State indigene, I have a vital and personal interest in Taraba State. Three of my grandchildren, two girls and a boy, can rightly claim Taraba as their state of origin. One of my daughters is married to a nice family from Taraba State. I am obligated to serve the interests of Taraba state at all times. So, let nobody ask me: what is your business with Taraba; I am fighting

for my kids.

That said; let me quickly set out the principles on which I operate on matters like this. One, democracy remains defined as “government of the people by the people and for the people in all electoral districts (federal, state, senate, house of representatives, local government etc). Two, elections to office are decided by voting and allowing the wishes of the majority to prevail. Three, government includes three branches – the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; none acts or should act alone. Four, power belongs to the people and they alone can dispose of it as they wish and nobody else in the three arms of government can or should impose his will on the people by any means however elegantly disguised. Five, elections should be free and fair and only eligible voters should participate. Six, like Alfred North Whitehead, 18611947, I also believe that “Governments [including the judiciary] are best classified by considering who are the “somebodies” they are, in fact, endeavouring to satisfy.”

(ADVENT TURES IN IDEAS 1933).

Let us now turn to examine the Taraba State Election Tribunal judgment which was delivered in Abuja and not Jalingo by Honourable Justices Musa D Abubakar (Chairman), V.I. Ofesi (Member) and W.I Kpochi (member). One of two horrible nights. The first took the lives of over 40 in Beirut, the second took the lives of over 100 in Paris.

It also seems clear to me that to the world, my people's deaths in Beirut do not matter as much as my other people's deaths in

To thine self be true: Know your worth and value "We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves."— Malcolm X he Paris attacks made many people face the facts: the double standard that apparently exists when expressing outrage in the wanton terrorist activities that have become common place around the globe. It seems that some lives are more important than others and now the rest of the world knows it.

Let me stress that all lives matter and any life lost so tragically, is a life too many. The tragedy of today is that many are facing this terror and it's no longer happening in faraway lands. Our children are exposed to the daily diet of the news on terror and their childhood has been disrupted by the exposure to the heinous crimes by these deranged and delusional psychopaths.

The 130 victims of the Paris attacks were mourned

by France and many other countries across the world.

Unfortunately, this horror was not the only one, there were lives lost in Lebanon, Pakistan and Nigeria, except that these countries

T

were consigned to the corner of newspapers; nor was it given prominence and definitely not to the level of the Paris attack.

The social media played its role to give opportunity for many who wanted to show their support with tricolour safety check features but they did not offer this feature when the bomb blasts hit Beirut and that suicide bombers killed at least 43 people the day before Paris came under siege. And there were five girls killed in Nigeria and Cameroon in suicide bombings. And these attacks were claimed by the Islamic State and of course, Boko Haram. In Nigeria, there were multiple attacks by the Boko Haram in between causing countless victims. The outcry was muted in many parts of the developed nations and the rest of the other nations.

So we are all equal but some are more equal than others, it would seem. So with the advent of instant communication, people took to the social media and registered their opinions.

One which was from a Lebanese blogger Joey Ayoub: "These have been

Paris. 'We' do not get a safe button on Facebook. 'We' don't get late night statements from the most powerful men and women alive and millions of online users. 'We' don't change policies which will affect the lives of countless innocent refugees. In the meantime, many Nigerians had taken to the social media to register their solidarity with Paris but this could not be clearer." His entry was shared 10,000 times and counting.

In Washington, President Barack Obama dubbed the Paris bombings an "attack on all humanity", and of course, he did not mention other bombings elsewhere.

And even if he did , he would have done so with much gusto.

The Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was left to defend his company: "Many people have rightfully asked why we turned on Safety Check for Paris but not for bombings in Beirut and other places. Until yesterday, our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters.

We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety

the grounds for finding against the PDP candidate was stated on page 46, namely, “Primaries must be held in state capital”. Now everybody in Nigeria and the world could remember that at the material time Jalingo and the rest of Taraba State was under siege by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents and nobody ’s safety could be guaranteed It is doubtful if the framers of any constitution expect people to go and vote when the danger to lives is so

adherence to the law? If the law says an individual must appear on a particular date and there is an earthquake where he is expected, will it amount to a “flagrant disregard for law” if he does go and get killed? The law might be an ass but it does not need to be operated as if we are all donkeys.

Furthermore, by what stretch of the imagination can anyone assume that the people of Wukari, Mutum Biu, Jalingo,

Is it a case of “all human blood is precious; but justices’ blood is more precious than ours?” By their action they have proved the point that it was inadvisable, if not insane, for anybody to have staged any major event in Jalingo at the time palpable. Would English people have gone out to vote when German bombers were dropping explosives every minute? Commonsense would dictate that the best thing to do under the circumstances is to move the primaries elsewhere in order to comply with the INEC time table. That was exactly what happened; the party hearkened to the voice of necessity and went ahead with its primaries elsewhere.

Would the honourable justices have preferred to see several thousand dead people on account of a blind

Gembu etc were swayed to vote overwhelmingly against the All Progressive Congress’ candidate because the PDP primaries were held in Abuja?

Finally, on this issue, one must ask the justices who ran to Abuja to tell the whole world why they think other citizens of Nigeria must face the dangers from which they fled. Is it a case of “all human blood is precious; but justices’ blood is more precious than ours?” By their action they have

Check for more human disasters going forward as well. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with questions and concerns about this. You are right that there are many other important conflicts in the world. We care about all people equally, and we will work hard to help people suffering in as many of these situations as we can."

So, you see, if we do not put value on ourselves then other people will make the

Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has killed about 20,000 people and driven an estimated 1.5 million to 2.3 million people in the region from their homes. Why has there not been a bigger outrage and international assistance and support?

Do they value Nigerian lives or do we value Nigerian lives?

Let's be honest. It seems that lives are cheap and we do not value Nigerian lives. We need to make every of our lives matter, fight for our people, improve the lives of people and value each other and ourselves and then the rest of the world will do so too.

Prayers aren't often the answer.

The Dalai Lama has said prayer will not solve the issues surrounding the Paris attacks and those used the Twitter tag #PrayForParis in the aftermath of the massacre. This must have come as a surprise to those who know that the Dalai Lama, as a man of peace and mediation.

There is logic in his statement as he explained that it is 'illogical' to expect divine powers to help mend a problem created by humans, telling the world not to 'expect help from God and governments. We cannot solve this problem only through prayers. I am a Buddhist and I believe in praying. But humans have created this problem, and now we are asking God to solve it. It is illogical. God would say, solve it yourself because you created it in the first place" For those Nigerians, who after every disaster

if we do not put value on ourselves then other people will make the decisions for us and they will look after their own interest and they are most likely to place less value on us

decisions for us and they will look after their own interest and they are most likely to place less value on us. People with power in particular, the West tend to support their own, while other countries are ignored in this horror. But then we do not support our own.

So why was some social media more preferential in the way they urge its users to show solidarity with France's victims, and not Lebanon's or Nigeria's or Mali or Pakistan? We know that

proved the point that it was inadvisable, if not insane, for anybody to have staged any major event in Jalingo at the time.

We now turn to Whitehead’s exquisitely wise observation and ask the question with regard to Taraba state: who is the Tribunal’s decision supposed to satisfy? The winner polled 369,318 votes and the loser 275,984; the total for the two was 645,302. So, the majority casting fifty-seven (57) per cent were in favour of the PDP candidate and a minority casting fortythree (43) per cent of the votes supported the APC candidate. Together, the 645,302 voters represented the people of Taraba state on those days. It is therefore their wish as expressed that should be paramount in all considerations because that is the solid foundation of democracy. A Tribunal, which engages in legal acrobatics to tell the people of Taraba state that they have elected an individual rejected by the majority is unjust and its verdict ethically defective – especially when it had other options. Who are they trying to satisfy?

DON'T SHOOT OR PROSECUTE MASSOB MASSOB promotes an idea which can not be defeated by prosecution or arms If those instruments can eliminate ideas neither Christianity nor Islam would be around today.

Let’s think out of the box on this.

say: "only God will save Nigeria, I refer you to Dalai Lama that people created this mess and God has nothing to do with this"?

Deporting Nigerians Contrary to the mass hysteria, 48 Nigerians have been deported and not 500.

The 48 Nigerians have been sent home by the UK and deposited at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Should Nigerians home and abroad be concerned?

Possibly.

Nigerians did not make the decisions to leave the Nigerian shores lightly, many had no choice but to seek their fortune and future anywhere else but Nigeria.

Now the home Office have said that "those with no right to be in the UK should return home. We expect people to leave the country voluntarily but, where they do not, Immigration Enforcement will seek to enforce their departure."

It has been said that the UK intend to deport up to 29,000 Nigerians, that is a large number of Nigerians and what will become of them, when they return when many , depend on their overseas relatives to remit money for their day to day living in Nigeria?

The acting High commissioner to the UK, Kunle Akindele Bamgbose, said that the Nigerian High commission has been asked to help remove people who were sick, had immigration appeals outstanding, had no ties to Nigeria after living for many years in the UK and who in some cases were not even Nigerian. He said: "It's a big issue for us here at the embassy, there are cases where people have been here for decades.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 11

KASHIM SHETTIMA:

At last, respite from Boko Haram!

BY OLALEKAN BILESANMI

H

is background as a financial expert does not give room for pretences. Figures don’t lie, people say. In the same vein, Kashim Shettima, second term governor of Borno State, does not politicize issues because of the exigencies of the time; no, he would say it the way it is, especially if it will achieve the desired result. He was once criticized for his blunt assessment of the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram during the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, but the nation soon realized that there was no better way he could have said it if he was to get the Federal Government to act. A spade is a spade, and that was what Shettima called it.

Things have since improved in terms of the activities of Boko Haram particularly in Borno State, the main theatre of the insurgency where the Nigerian Army appears to have almost decimated the group.

Meanwhile, the military still has a month to go to totally take the terrorists out of our shores on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari. But as normalcy returns to the devastated areas, so is Shettima adjusting to the reality on the ground by putting up structures that would reintegrate the victims back to the society. First of all, let us put things in proper perspective. Borno was the headquarters of this insurgent group thereby making the state to be the centre of the war, and by implication, the most affected in terms of the loss of both human and resources.

Out of 27 local government areas of the state, only about five remained unconquered by Boko Haram. There are about eight emirate councils in Borno. These are Diakwa, Bama, Biu, Shani, Askra, Gwoza and Uba. Out of the eight, only two-Biu and Shani were spared by the insurgent group. Even at that, Shani emirate council is not at ease as the emir is said to be shuttling between the palace and an undisclosed abode in search of safety.

Boko Haram killed the emir of Diakwa emirate council, took over the emirate and made it its headquarters; same with Gwoza, whose emir was slain on his way to the burial of emir of Gombe.

Bama and Askra suffered the same date except that their

emirs are alive.

The group destroyed all structures in those localities, including homes of the residents who either got slaughtered in their sleep or ran for their dear lives. Unlike the pupils down South, many pupils in Borno are no in school because there are no schools. All the schools in the affected areas have been destroyed. The off-school pupils are lucky. Their counterparts at Chibok town, about 274 of them, are yet to be recovered as the terrorists kidnapped them for

close to two years now.

The Maiduguri airport, servicing Borno and Yobe States, was destroyed. Economic activities in the state came to a stand-still. Farming, the main occupation of the people was paralysed. For the past three years, there has not been any serious farming. The terrorists invade their farms regularly, carting away their produce and even kill in the process. For example, the Maiduguri Monday Market, the largest weekly market in North-East

and, of course, Borno, has since functioning for more than two years. Big markets in Diakwa and Biu suffered the same fate.

The insurgency, ordinarily, is enough to overwhelm any government. This perhaps is where true leadership holds sway. Shettima rose to the occasion. He swung into action.

Every other thing can be put on hold, not the lives and property of the people that voted him to power. In any case, lives and property, first and foremost, is the priority of any government.

He was not just dishing out orders, he was leading his lieutenants to all affected areas by insurgency, as he gave words of encouragement. He has now gone a step further.

He has established the Ministry of Construction and Rehabilitation which seeks to bring back the places, affected by the insurgency, to an appreciable settlement.It is also soothing to hear that the proposed North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill passed through the first reading at the National Assembly, last week.

The bill, when it becomes law, will, apart from the efforts of the various state governments concerned, help to increase the pace of development in the region. Northern senators, led by the Senate Leader, Muhammed Ndume, must be commended for their efforts to see that the North-East is given special recognition in terms of rehabilitation of the region.

Taking care of the victims of insurgency at the Internally Displaced Persons camps until they can be resettled to their original habitation may be commended, but the ultimate test for the Shettima administration would be, apart from the reconstruction and rehabilitation going on, to provide jobs. Closely followed is the internally generated revenue, IGR, of Borno. As a financial expert, it should not be too difficult for him to find creative ways by which the state can generate more revenue, especially now that the federal allocation to all states is dwindling.

There would be need for the state to borrow a leaf from the Federal government in adjusting it’s outlook about sponsorship of pilgrims, both Christians and Muslims, to the holy lands.

There would also be the need to adjust political appointments in terms of the number, salaries and emoluments.The people of Borno, with the help and assistance of the Federal Government, and, more importantly, the state government as led by Shettima, are gradually picking the pieces of their lives.

It may take a long while to get everybody fully rehabilitated, but the compassion and care Shettima regularly shows to the displaced would go a long way to assure them that, unlike before, this government will not leave them to their fate.

PAGE 12 — SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard , NO VEMBER 29, 2015 NOVEMBER

SELF-DETERMINATION AGITATION

N-Delta wanted resource control, now we want resource ownership — Annkio Briggs

ANNKIO Briggs, an activist, is the converner of Niger Delta Self-Determination Movement. Briggs, in this piece, speaks on why she is calling for self-determination for her people

By Olalekan Bilesanmi OU said the Niger Delta wants self-determination and Y yet you said you want compensa-

tion. Can you be fighting for freedom and asking for compensation at the same time?

I don’t see the difficulty in what we asking for. Nigeria is being governed according to the 1999 Constitution and whatever we are doing, within the law, is based on that Constitution. What we are demanding for, which the same Constitution guarantees, is our right to demand for those things. In terms of the compensation for the destruction of our livelihood, the Nigerian government, in partnership with oil companies, is responsible.

The state governments are not part of this business, it is the Federal Government, in conjunction with the oil companies, that has devastated our region, and whatever devastation they have done, it is important to ask for compensation even as we are demanding for self-determination and the control of our resources. In our requesting for self-determination, ownership of our land and resources is a basic right. We have been demanding for it for years now.

So, the two issues are extremely important such that one cannot override the other. This self-determination struggle will give us the opportunity to exercise our right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to our local affairs, including determination of membership, culture, language, religion, education, information, media, health, housing, employment, social welfare, maintenance of community safety, family relations, economic activities, lands and other natural resources management (onshore and offshore), our environment and entry by non-members, as well as ways of financing our autonomous activities, as this will enable us develop and grow at our own pace without any further interference, under any form, style or guise. It is antithetical for President Muhammadu Buhari, with all due respect, to call for self-determination for the Palestinian people and those of the Western Sahara, on behalf of Nigerians, and to oppose or criminalize the demand for the same self-determination by the indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta.

With different agitations, from various groups across the

country, including yours, what becomes of the future of this country?

I do not know what the future of the country is. But I know what I expect this country should be. I wish all of us, the different ethnic groups that make up Nigeria, will realise that this nation belongs to us and that we should make the changes we want, just as Buhari said we should be the change we want to see. So, we should stop listening to people who say they are bringing change for us. We should determine the change we want. The future I want for Nigeria is the one that ensures we stay together as a country and the different ethnic groups will find space in the country to operate, no matter how small or big they might be.

Some of your critics are quick to say that lack of will on your part is responsible for the non-actualization of the the Niger Delta self-determination agitation?

I determine what my will is and my behavior will determine whether I lack the will to achieve my action or not. I want self-determination because I am convinced that is the only way to go and that conviction has to be based on something; we were asking for resource control, but now we want resource ownership.

The two are totally different. People demand for something and they don’t get it; if what they are demanding for is half a glass full and nobody is listening to you, may be you should demand for a whole glass full. Since 1998 when Ken Saro-Wiwa died, I made up my mind that the Niger Delta people must realize that nobody is going to give us what we deserve, except we agitate for it and insist that we get it. So, if we have a government or group of people that will understand our issues based on our different interests and nationalities, may be Nigeria would have been better than the way it is now.

Do you think the implementation of the National Conference recommendations can address some of these national issues including your group’s demand?

Yes, I think it will address them.

The only thing we didn’t discussed at the conference was whether we wanted to stay united or not. For instance, when you take the issue of local government, it was suggested that it should be autonomous to the state so that

you can have 10 or 50 local government areas in your state but your state must fund it, the funding should not be from the Federal Allocation. If the funding for Kano, which has 44 local governments, is coming from state, we know they won’t be able to afford it, but it is done like that because Kano LGs are funded from the federal allocation.

If you say the president is trying to get funding for the rehabilitation of the Northeast region, some would also say that when your son Jonathan was in power, what did you make of it?

It has been said severally that he did nothing for Nigeria, particularly northern Nigeria. However, it is necessary to state that in the area of education, it is on record that former President Goodluck Jonathan introduced the new model of Almajiri system of education in the North when he initiated, constructed and furnished about 124 Almajiri Model Schools through the Universal Basic Education Commission and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, and handed them over to Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Yobe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kogi, Niger, Katsina, Taraba, Nasarawa states amongst others. Even though we,

It is antithetical for President Muhammadu Buhari, with all due respect, to call for self-determination for the Palestinian people and those of the Western Sahara, on behalf of Nigerians, and to oppose or criminalize the demand for the same self-determination by the indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta

the Niger Delta people, are not known to be associated with any form of Almajiri educational system, the then President Jonathan still built Almajiri schools in our area to accommodate the Hausa-Fulani. It should be noted that Jonathan never built floating and fishermen schools for the people of the Niger Delta who are predominantly fishermen and women, yet the Hausa-Fulani refuse to appreciate his contributions.

Still in the area of education, Jonathan created nine new universities and gave the North five. It was also during Jonathan’s era in 2014 that the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) acknowledged that Nigeria was the world’s largest producer of cassava with an output of over 45 million metric tonnes, and the giant strides in his agricultural revolution in Nigeria reduced Nigeria’s food importsby over 40%, and moved the country closer to self-sufficiency in agriculture. A contributing factor was the use of mobile phones for the distribution of fertilizer directly to farmers, which ended fertilizer racketeering that had flourished in Nigeria for over four decades.

If truly we are governing as one Nigeria, then it should not matter.

There are some things that Jonathan did that the North benefitted immensely from that he didn’t do for his people. I do not necessarily agree with people when they say he should have concentrated on his people. The same very people would have accused him of doing exactly that.

He purposely didn’t concentrate on his people, and yet he is being accused of it.

That is why when people are complaining that the current president was making appointments and putting his people there, I told them that he is doing the exact opposite of what they accused Jonathan of doing. The president says he is doing that for his people first based on how he was voted into power. ‘Those that didn’t vote for me, I care less about them’; now you are complaining. When Jonathan did the opposite, it still was not good. The way Nigeria is, is our fault. We allowed it. If Jonathan had concentrated on the Niger Delta, I expected him to, that was why I said we were disappointed in him. I said it at that time. But he did the right thing because he was not a president of the Niger Delta; in the same manner, Buhari is not a president of his region, he is for Nigeria. That he is now becoming the president of those who voted for him does not mean he

is right. So, today, there is nothing to show that we had a son from Niger Delta as president. And that is what Nigeria is saying to us that it was a crime. If indeed we are one Nigeria, should we have expected Jonathan to concentrate his effort on Niger Delta or Nigeria as a whole?

What is the difference between your group and Indegenous Peoples of Biafra?

From what I gathered, the Biafra people want secession.

They want a different country.

But we are saying we want selfdetermination so that we can control our land and take responsibility for whatever comes from there. We can then be paying tax to the Federal Government; we are not breaking up Nigeria, we just want to do for ourselves what nobody will do for us.

That is not different from confederation?

What is wrong in that? What do we have today? What we have is worse than that. How can the centre take everything and then decide what it feels belongs to you? Whether it is not enough or not, once you have taken your quota for the month, that is it. It is less concerned about what happens to you thereafter. That kind of attitude can never lead the country well. We cannot have cohesion with that kind of attitude.

That is why it is very important we begin to recognize that it is necessary to realize we are a country made up of different tongues with different needs at different times. And, therefore, our development will and must be determined by our different interests, not by one person at the helm of affairs at the centre.

Government is to serve the people but as far as I can remember, government has always felt that the people are to serve it.

What do you make of the crop of ministerial appointments made so far by the Federal Government?

Whatever I say now, meanings would be read into it, perhaps because of the region I come from. These ministers have four years; may God give us life, let us wait and see. We saw what the ministers before did, let us wait and see how these ones too will perform.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 13

FINAL BURIAL RITES FOR OLU OF WARRI

The Atuwatse II we knew

by Gowon, Badejo, Eriko

BY SAM EYOBOKA

A

S activities marking the final burial rites of the 19th traditional ruler of the Itsekiri nation, Ogiame Atuwatse II, the Olu of Warri, who passed on, September 5, 2015, continue, Itsekiri sons and daughters, family members, friends and well wishers have been registering their presence at the various venues, pouring encomiums on the departed traditional ruler.

At the palace grounds, they turned out in their thousands as several sons and daughters of the nation relived wonderful memories of Atuwatse II who was installed the 19th traditional head of the Itsekiri on May 2, 1987. Atuwatse II was a lawyer and a top member of the Foursquare Gospel Church, a development that saw the construction of the church parish in the Olu’s palace. According to sources close to the Warri palace, there will be a commendation service in honour of Atuwatse II at noon today at the Convocation Centre, 200 meters away from the palace. The occasion is expected to be attended by Itsekiri sons and daughters, including the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, and the General Overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church, Rev. Felix Meduoye.

Prince Ebiyemi Pius Emiko, younger brother of the deceased monarch, described Atuwatse II with a quotation from one of William Shakespeare’s books, saying: “Some are born great; some achieve greatness, and some have it trusted on them”.

Emiko, a veteran journalist, public affairs analyst and a retired management staff of Chevron Nigeria L imited, noted: “It is a tough task to eulogise any man, to

capture in words not just the date and the facts that make a life, but the essential truth of the person, their private joys and sorrows.

“Given the sweep of his life, the scope of his accomplishment, the adoration that he earned; it is tempting to imagine that Atuwatse II would be detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men”. He recalled how members of the royal family used to gather in his garden to relive their formative years in the palace.

The prince, yet to recover from the shock of the demise of his brother, said Atuwatse II taught his kinsmen how to swim in the Okere creek to the mangrove trees behind the palace.

“Besides, he taught us how to bath and catch fish in those happy days which everyone would wish never came to an end”.

Drawing inspiration from Ecclesiastical that says, “There is time to be born into this world and a time to die”, Emiko believes that he who dies in the Lord would resurrect again.

“Ogiame Atuwatse II was not a bust made of bronze.

He was a man of blood and flesh, a son and a husband, a brother and a friend, a father, our king. And yet, that is why we learned so much from him and that is why we can learn from him still”, the Prince tearfully remarked.

Earlier, during service of songs that heralded the burial rites, a former Head of State and initiator of Nigeria Prays, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) described the departed king as a humble, selfless, hardworking and God-fearing leader.

Gowon, who is the patron of Bible Society of Nigeria, said the Olu of Warri should be happy and proud in any where he is for being a true leader.

The former Nigerian leader, who was represented by the Secretary General of the Bible Society of Nigeria,

He was no doubt a distinguished Christian who did not soil his hands. We are really proud of him for his selflessness, humility and ever ready attitude to worshipping God

Rev. Richard Ajiboye, revealed that when the Itsekiri Bible was made in 2015, Atuwatse II donated handsomely to support the project.

“He was no doubt a distinguished Christian who did not soil his hands. We are really proud of him for his selflessness, humility and ever ready attitude to worshipping God”, he stated. A former General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church, Rev. Wilson Badejo, in a sermon, extolled the virtues of the

departed king who he described as a father to all.

The Olori-ebi of the royal house, Dr. Andrew Duakpama Ayu, recalled the leadership qualities of Atuwatse II which he demonstrated early in life at Hussey College, Warri, where he had a seven-year stint from secondary through higher school where he was the senior prefect.

“You were our traditional father, mentor, a pillar of support, counselor and above all a friend of no mean repute”, Ayu said.

PAGE 14, SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

KOGI/INEC/APC/PDP

Incompetence, dishonesty, tribalism on steroids •Why Buhari must be helped to appreciate democracy more •Politicians and election management body behaving badly What makes a President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces believe that relating with the law the way he wishes is the best pathway to democratic governance?

Now, the consequence of President Muhammad Buhari’s seeming lack of appreciation of due electoral process, or his decided indifference to the imperatives of engaging the full complements of the composition of a board for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, or both, is the controversial outcome of the Kogi State governorship election held penultimate Saturday. In what is turning out to be a grand conspiracy fuelled by dishonesty and made worse by sheer incompetence, the decision of INEC to declare the election inconclusive is not only a rape on the electoral process but also dangerous to Nigeria’s democracy. From the pronouncement of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, to the belated but choreographed acquiescence of INEC and the consequential declaration by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun, on the issue of substitution, and the curious and the unintelligent push by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that Governor Idris Wada should be declared winner, it is, thus, appearing that critical provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, as amended, can be trumped at will by a government that benefited immensely from the modest but important strides in the journey to enthroning democracy in the country. This report will show why President Buhari, Attorney-General Malami, INEC, APC and PDP are all engaged in a gratuitous comedy of errors. It will also show why INEC should swallow its wounded pride and follow the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

BY JIDE AJANI

KOGI BY THE NUMBERS … DONT LIE

•Total number of registered voters = 1,350,883 •Total number of votes cast – 479,157 •Audu Abubakar of AP’s score’s – 240,867 •Idris Wada of PDP’s score – 199,514 •Margin of victory between Audu and Wada – 41,000 •Registered voters in canceled 91PUs – 49,000 •Total number of PVCs available in affected area – 35, 785 •Number of those who were accredited in the 91PUs – 19,178

WHAT IS KNOWN The issues arising from the figures listed above can be further interrogated by identifying whether 35,785 can ever be more than 41,000. If, by sheer common sense and arithmetic deductions, 35,785 is less than 41,000, INEC would have to explain to Nigerians the logic behind its declaration of an election inconclusive. This would be so because the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Abubakar Audu, had 41,000 votes more than his closest rival, Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In addition, Audu scored the constitutionally

required 25% in, at least, two thirds of the local government areas of Kogi State. The state has 21 LGAs and Audu met the constitutional provision in 16 LGAs, thereby making him the undeclared winner - he satisfied the provisions of Section 179 of the Constitution and Section 69 of the Electoral Act, EA. And the number of accredited voters in the 91 Polling Units where elections are to be held is even less than the number of PVCs available.

Section 179 - 1 and 2 – says a person shall be deemed to have been elected if he scores the highest number of votes and has, at least, 25% of votes cast in, at least, two thirds of the state.

Continues on page 15

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015—PAGE 15

'Why Buhari must be helped to appreciate democracy more' Continued from page 14 Section 1(3) talks about the supremacy of the 1999 Constitution.

Section 189 says a person deemed to have been elected, if he dies or cannot be sworn in, the person with whom he jointly went in as a ticket shall take over.

But the Returning Officer went ahead to latch unto one election guideline of 2015, that INEC has the power to make under Sections 73 and 153 of the EA which is a subsidiary instrument to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the EA. His reason was that the margin of votes between Audu and Wada was not in excess of the number of registered voters Meanwhile, registered voters don’t determine elections.

Those who do are voters who have their PVCs and have been accredited and have also gone ahead to vote.

You can be registered and not have your PVC; you can have your PVC and not go out to participate in election; and you can go out, participate in accreditation and refuse to go and vote.

So, on that score, INEC was wrong. The APC has already fielded one Yahaya Bello to replace Audu.

Another factor that is being overlooked here is that it just so happened that Audu is the one that died.

The 1999 Constitution and the EA provide Sections that deal with death of a candidate before and after election, not during.

But there is no anticipation of a candidate dying in the middle of an election.

WHAT IS NOT KNOWN Whereas Audu is dead, what would the APC be doing

Going by INEC's warped logic, the 2015 presidential election, which brought Buhari as President, should also be voided because the number of Nigerians who were registered but who did not vote last March are in excess - far in excess - of the margin between the votes cast for Goodluck Jonathan and those for President Buhari

by now had Audu been alive and INEC still went ahead to declare that the election is inconclusive.

Meanwhile, there have been many versions of the exact time Audu died.

There are allegations that the late Audu governorship candidate died much earlier but INEC delayed the announcement of the results. It is not known whether this is true.

Also, did the Returning Officer for the election, Professor Kucha, consult with the INEC headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, before making his declaration? Did he consult with the National Chairman of INEC, Professor

Mahmud Yakubu, before making his declaration? It would be strange if he did not.

What sort of communication took place between Dr. Amina Zakare, the co-ordinating National Commissioner for INEC who was on ground in Kogi State during the election, and the INEC headquarters?

Did the leadership of APC discuss anything with INEC officials to the effect that the election should be declared inconclusive - since, it would be recalled, President Buhari held a private meeting with the leadership of INEC just about a week before the election?

Whereas the Igalas have

always dominated the polity in Kogi, was the inconclusive declaration of INEC meant to stop James Faleke, Audu’s running mate, from becoming governor since a declaration that the election was conclusive would have automatically handed Faleke the governorship?

The statement by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Malami, SAN, has generated a life of its own and has been insinuated into the realm of partisanship. Is it true, as is being alleged, that the statement from Malami, INEC and APC, in quick succession, is the outcome of a choreographed political agenda?

APC, the law and the Kogi debacle •The ethnic dimension

BY KINGSLEY FANWO

T

he move to replace the late Prince Abubakar Audu as the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Kogi State continues to generate ripples in the state.

Immediately the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) notified the party of the need to replace its candidate for the upcoming supplementary poll in the state, the National Working Committee (NWC) released a statement that it would conduct a fresh primary.

The announcement by the NWC sparked mixed reactions. While loyalists of the new factors in the race, such as Mohammed Audu, the 43-year old son of the late Abubakar Audu, and Isah Jibrin Echocho, who defected to the APC in the aftermath of his loss at the PDP governorship primary, rooted for fresh election to decide the candidate, others like Alh. Yahaya Bello, the first runners-up in the primary that produced Audu, and Hon. Abiodun Faleke,

the APC running mate in the November 21 poll, would not subscribe to that.

Bello was of the opinion that, since he was next to Audu in the governorship primary, he has the constitutional right to step into the late candidate’s shoes. On the other hand, supporters of Faleke’s candidature argue that their man should be declared as winner of the election. They are of the view that INEC had no justification to declare the election inconclusive in the first place.

Ethnic War The calibre of the personalities who stormed Abuja for Mohammed Audu and Faleke shows the ethnic dimension of the struggle for the APC ticket.

While the Kogi East caucus resolved to back Mohammed to “inherit” his father’s mandate, many Kogi West leaders were said to be behind the struggle to install Faleke as the party’s candidate. A former acting governor of the state, Chief Clarence Olafemi, was the leader of the Faleke Support Group that stormed the national headquarters of the APC to press home their demand.

Bello was said to have lacked the bloc support of the

BUHARI’S COMPLICITY Exactly nine months after winning the presidential election and seven months after being sworn-in, President Buhari continues to prevaricate on properly setting up the electoral management structures as required by the Constitution.

What does it take and how long will it take to appoint a 13-man Board of a sensitive body like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which is a pillar of Nigeria’s fledgling democracy as well as 18 Resident Electoral Commissioners as required by the Constitution that

Continues on page 16

leadership of Kogi Central, a situation which robbed him at the primary in the first place. Some of the leaders of Kogi Central were either with Faleke or Mohammed, a situation against Bello’s bid for the ticket. of the ticket.

Kogi Central Conundrum Sunday Vanguard learnt that many of the Kogi Central leaders consider the governorship ambition of Bello as a threat to their political survival, hence the need to frustrate his ambition and position themselves properly for 2019.

The massive support of Bello for the presidential aspiration of Buhari through the Kogi Youths Arise Group, ahead of the March election, allegedly endeared the young politician to many in Ebiraland and also Kogi as a whole. The support, it was learnt also brought him close to the corridors of power in Abuja. The emergence of Bello in the politics of Ebira politics jolted many of the established politicians from the zone who had all along frustrated his nomination for governorship.

While Bello commands massive followership among the Ebira, the leaders see him as a threat. The fact that he is not a “conventional politician” also drives the suspicion that he might be independent-minded.

Continues on page 16

PAGE 16, SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Continued from page 15 President Buhari swore to uphold and defend? This is one question amongst many more on the lips of bewildered Nigerians who had thought that this regime, would certainly not trivialize INEC, given President Buhari‘s experiences since 2003,when he began contesting elections to the presidency.

This regime is the first, since 1999, to convene a Council of State meeting to ratify the appointment of only six members, less than half the required Board for INEC, in order to meet the public outcry for a full Board of the electoral body, In this half-hearted approach, government came up with a shocking selfindicting argument that it wants to stagger the appointment of the INEC Board members. In doing this, it dispensed with the fact that to execute such a piecemeal approach, it must first amend the Constitution so that the Board members’ tenure would not end at the same time. This constitutional violation is one amongst many that Nigerians have kept quiet over, despite the fact that the appointment of six members with one existing Commissioner, which INEC currently has, is not a quorum for a full Board of 13 the Constitution prescribes.

As it is currently constituted, the board of INEC is legally defective, being only a part of the full Board constitutionally provided for, a part cannot represent the whole and a quorum cannot be formed in lieu of a Board that has not been fully constituted .

Therefore, as thing stand today, INEC does not have a full Board, being made up of less than 13 members. The idea of appointing five members to represent a minimum quorum of the constitutional requirement is misconceived and misinterpreted and patently wrong. You must have a Board of 13 members first before determining a minimum quorum of five members for any meeting.

The way things are, at the moment in INEC, the

*Election officials checking finger prints at Agbnocha, in Ofu LGA in Kogi State

'Politicians and election management body behaving badly' lingering question is, is it a Board of six members, or a quorum of a full Board of 13 members that is not in existence? These questions have legal implications for the legality of the elections in Kogi and the one to be conducted in Bayelsa under the current Board.

Even as at today, some 18 states do not have their Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, leaving Abuja in the dark about what is going on at the state offices.

INEC, INCOMPETENCE ON STEROIDS AND ILLOGICAL LOGIC The Returning Officer for the Kogi election, using INEC’s election guidelines, declared that the total number of registered voters in the 91PUs is more than the difference of 41,000 between Audu’s votes and Wada’s votes, and, therefore, renders the outcome inconclusive. That is indeed true, very true.

But if we are to goby the jaundiced view of the Returning Officer, the total number of votes cast in the Kogi election, which is less than half of the

Continued from page 15

APC, the law and the Kogi debacle Presidential Influence Shortly after the declaration for fresh APC primary, President Buhari was said to have summoned the leadership of the party. A source privy to deliberations at the meeting said the President told the NWC to ensure their position on the Kogi supplementary election was in conformity with the Electoral Law. Thereafter, Buhari was said to have used his aides to push for the endorsement of Bello, when it became obvious that the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was rooting for Faleke.

A Presidency source, who craved anonymity, said the President was wary of the moves by Tinubu to control the structures of government, hence the need to checkmate him.

A pro-North group in the Presidency was said to have implored Buhari to take back the structure of the party in readiness for the 2019 presidential election.

Constitutional Angle Our reporter was reliably informed that the APC leadership was still consulting legal authorities before arriving on its candidate in the Kogi gubernatorial supplementary election.

The party’s NWC, according to sources, is not oblivion of the

total number of registered voters in the state, should automatically render the entire election inconclusive.

The logic of the Returning Officer is that 49,000 is more than 41,000.

By the same token, with a total number of registered voters in Kogi standing at 1,350,883, the number of votes that would have been cast in Kogi election, were we to even add the 49,000 the Returning Officer talked about, would still be just about 500,000, while the remainder of registered voters would be 871,726.

This over 800,000 being much more than the total number of those who voted, should, automatically, in the estimation of the Returning Officer, void the entire election.

That is the new logic of INEC. Going by INEC's warped logic, the 2015 presidential election, which brought Buhari as President, should also be voided because the number of Nigerians who were registered but who did not vote last March are in

excess - far in excess - of the margin between the votes cast for Goodluck Jonathan and those for President Buhari.

WHAT TO DO? From the foregoing, it is very clear that INEC erred.

The very reason election petition tribunals are set up is because errors are, sometimes, be made and INEC has just made one.

Had the error of declaring the election inconclusive not been made, Audu’s ticket should have been declared the winner.

That done, one James Faleke, Audu’s running mate, would have, by now, been the rightful beneficiary of the victory and there would have been no need for the controversy that INEC’s incompetence has plunged Nigeria into.

Worse still, this is nothing more than a throw back to the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election where Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was as good as winning the election but the same mentality that

peculiarity of the Kogi scenario and the possibility of the case going to court. To this end, the APC would take the safest legal option without yielding to sentiments and control from influential caucuses within its hierarchy.

Reconciling Warriors The last few days have seen the Kogi APC torn by power play. The different camps have embarked on campaigns of calumny, with Faleke alleged to have headed to court to press home his case. Analysts are of the opinion that it may be dangerous for the party to head into Saturday’s supplementary election with a centre that cannot hold.

Concerned party leaders are calling on the NWC to ensure that all aggrieved parties are placated before the poll.

Last-Minute Struggle to Retain Power Some political leaders in Kogi East (Igala) are said to be exploring the possibility of the zone retaining power beyond 2015 in the face of imminent threat to its political dominance.

A source informed Sunday Vanguard that a meeting, convened to map out strategies for retaining power, had “multi-partisan” attendance. The leaders were said to be looking at the possibility of voting massively for the

allegedly fuelled that situation appears to have fuelled the delay in the announcement of Audu, the insidious and incommodious pronouncement by INEC. The Igalas have not helped matters by insisting that it is their turn or nobody else.

Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly have thrown caution to the wind by actually asking for the hereditable, threatening that it is either Audu’s son benefits from the votes already cast or they would impeach whoever becomes governor from this voyage in wastefulness that INEC and APC leaders have embarked on.

Should Faleke be bold enough, as was Atiku Abubakar who relied on the courts to properly interpret the 1999 Constitution when Olusegun Obasanjo chose to act like a locomotive engine with a failed brake system, he would achieve a number of things.

One, he would further strengthen Nigeria’s jurisprudence.

Two, whatever the outcome, it would set an amendment on

what happens during an election when a candidate, who is as good as winning, dies.

Three, should Faleke win, as he would, it would serve to redesign the political architecture of Kogi.

If the system allows an endorsement of the rascality of the Igalas and their threat, or tolerate the seeming irresponsibility of members of the Kogi House of Assembly, then the state, like Nigeria, would be a mere microcosmic representation of the macrocosm that is Nigeria.

APC has already nominated Yahaya Bello as Audu’s replacement.

The question to ask the APC leaders in Kogi and Aso Rock Presidential Villa is: Were (God forbid) the situation that happened to Audu had happened to his closest competitor, what would be their position? Funny enough, rather than call for fresh election, the PDP is pushing that Wada be declared winner. What a joke!

candidate of the PDP in the supplementary election, Capt Idris Wada.

However, the margin between the APC and the PDP may not favour their position. Analysts believe that even if Kogi East gives all of its votes to the PDP, he might still not win the election.

Will PDP Participate in the Supplementary Poll?

As things stand now, the PDP may be toying with the possibility of boycotting the supplementary governorship poll in the state.

A source at the party secretariat told Sunday Vanguard, on condition of anonymity, that it might be a judicial suicide to participate in the poll, saying the PDP feels the decision of INEC to go ahead with the poll was illegal and already a subject of litigation.

“We are looking at the possibility of not participating in the election. We strongly believe the decision of INEC (to go on with the poll) is illegal. The moment Prince Abubakar Audu died, the votes cast for him becomes invalid.

Participating in the supplementary poll will amount to trying to validate invalidity”, the source said.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 17

Ini Edo’s battle with extra weight celebrated A KWA Ibom State-born Nollywood top actress has her seat in the front row of her career. So much so, fame and fortune are never too far cuddling her and giving her a blissful view of a world laced in oysters. Then the Nollywood damsel and Vanguard’s one-time first runner-up of Sexiest Woman in Nollywood contest, suddenly seemed to have lost grips on a lot of things. First was

her marriage that came tumbling down, then her celebrated bakery and her losing battle of keeping those extra pounds in check. For an actress, that’s like a dog without a sense of smell anymore.

Not many people really noticed the bulge in and around Ini’s waist because she was still beautiful if the puffy cheeks weren’t in the way for you. But the firstclass actress knew she had a battle to fight, she fought it secretly, daily,

religiously and hey, the extra pounds began to act her way, behaving themselves.

And when the battle seems to have been won the smashing ebony beauty made sure we all hear about it as she flaunted her new look in a new photo shoot on her Instagram page.

“Still, more amazing gifts in store for us.

Don’t give up, keep pressing forward, greatness is here” she glibly captions the photo, obviously telling us, achieving her new figure took some fighting.

“So impressed at @iniedo‘s transformation. Good job” mooted one of her fans.

“Wonder who said you were more gorgeous before you shed some pounds, then they don’t know what super gorgeous is, you are looking great & super gorgeous now, I love the new look more than before”another fan told her.

My boyfriend walked away when I started acting – Funmi Awelewa U

•Ini Edo

P and rising Yoruba actress, Funmi Awelewa is so beautiful that it is almost impossible to think a man in his right senses would walk away from her – for any reason. But the Ibadan-based producer of Ife O Dogba and Aromimawe will tell you this is something that nearly tore her apart when she was starting out on her acting path.

“Yes, I have been heartbroken before” she told Potpourri when asked if her heart has ever been broken.

“My ex boyfriend broke up with me because of my profession – acting. I don’t know what really happened, he just walked away, probably intimidated by the profession” “In life, we encounter the good and the bad side of love. All I know is that I am grateful that I am still capable of love” she said, but added that not every man gets intimidated by an actress.

Funmi’s beauty is not the type that sends electric wave at you at

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Nollywood actor, Dave Ogbeni, recounts how his car was snatched at gun point

first instance, it is the type that envelopes you in its embrace and cuddle you to sleep,without you even having any knowledge of it. She could very well be the most gorgeous Yoruba actress around but Funmi wouldn’t take that.

“Why would I say I am the most beautiful actress in the Yoruba sector when the beautiful ones are not yet born. I am not the most beautiful but one of the most beautiful actresses. We have got many beautiful actresses in the Yoruba sector.” she retorted When asked to name at least five Yo r u b a actresses she thinks are more beautiful than her, she n a m e d ‘Mercy Aigbe, Bidemi Kosoko, Liz Da’silva, Olaitan Ogungbile, Joke Jikan and many more’.

F

AST RISING Nollywood actor, Dave Ogbeni, who was recently on the set of Marrying a Campbell, alongside Hollywood actor, Hakeem Kae Kazim, of Hotel Rwanda fame, and Nollywood actress, Yvonne Jegede, has had his car snatched at gun point for more than two weeks now with the police clueless on how to recover it.

The incident occurred in Asaba on Thursday, November 13, 2015 at about 9.30pm at a barber’s shop opposite the Presidential Lodge. The actor narrated to Potpourri how the daredevils carried out the operation. “ I went to the salon to have a shave in preparation for an appointment in Benin, next day. I was barely seated when two boys suddenly came into the saloon. One, light-skinned in white T-shirt was wielding a pump action gun. The other boy, dark in complexion, had a pistol in his hand.

They pointed the guns at me and ordered me to lie down. I obeyed. He then asked me to hand over my car keys which I willingly surrendered.

They asked me for my phones and I told them they should be on the barber’s counter and when they couldn’t find them they thought I was playing tricks on them and threatened to shoot me.” he narrated.

•Dave Continuing, he said, “ I told them if they were not on the counter they should be in my car. Then, one of them dipped his hand into my pocket and took away N22,000 I had on me. They also took the barber’s handsets and wristwatch. Thereafter, they zoomed off with my car with all the photo books I made for my clients, my driver’s license and I.D. Card”.

He said he immediately reported the case at the control room of police headquarters, A Division. Describing the car, he said it is 2007 Camry (Spider) with registration number BMD 15 AA. “It is dark ash with white leather seats” he said.

•Funmi

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

PAGE 18, SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Actress Laide Bakare gifts music stars new Prado SUV

•Laide

S

INCE popular Yoruba actress, Laide Bakare, known as Alhaja tio common, launched her record label, Simline Records, she’s been up and about, not only to make her label one to reckon with but also one of the best out there. The beautiful actress recently broke the bank as she gifted her new signee B2L, the duo of Barmie and Lanre, new 2015 Prado SUV, running into some N15-18 million.

Laide Bakare Orilowo officially signed the duo some months ago in a mouth-watering deal running into millions of Naira. It seems the gift of the SUV is just an icing on the cake that is looking rather juicy for both the signer and the signees.

But it seems the duo are not on holiday just yet as they began their real music

journey with the release of their first single under the label titled “Sisi Laide” obviously, a song dedicated to the pretty lady boss.

Myro features Oritsefemi in new song plantain R

IDING on the success of his hit tracks like Ocha and Ngala, Oghenemairo Daniel Ozah, otherwise known as Myro, is storming the music scene with yet another hit bang, the remix of his single, Plantain. The multi-talented singer, rapper and songwriter is featuring another rave of the moment, Oritsefemi in the new song that is currently enjoying massive airplays across the country. The song, as gathered He mentioned the proof of his is produced by award-winning theory is evident on his page producer, Puffy T.

Video contents generate more engagement on facebook, says Gossipmill CEO

T

HE CEO of one of the fastest growing Facebook pages in Nigeria, today, Mr. Somto Monanu, confirms that video content generates more engagement on Facebook than any other content.

His confirmation is coming at a time when people are looking for ways of increasing audience engagement on their facebook pages. He stated that only those who can take the pain of consistently posting unique video contents can generate the desired engagement.

•Somto

C M Y K

“GossipMill Nigeria”, which currently has one million page likes, thus, the effect of posting video content cannot be over emphasized.

“Consistent video content is the key to increasing audience engagement and online community growth.

Video content posted should be hilarious, sometimes bizarre and fascinating, as all these video qualities possess the ability to produce immeasurable amount of likes, comments and share rate which are a measure of audience engagement.Increased engagement in-turn increases the reach of the page and eventually increases the popularity and overall acceptance of the the page. This also facilitates growth, and before you know it, there is tremendous increment in Facebook page likes which will eventually increase traffic directed to the site” he explained in a chat with Potpourri “On a final note, Mr Somto, urges Facebook Admins to channel their energy into video publishing as the world internet users are ready for vlogging (video blogging)”.

•Myro

The young graduate of Architecture from Caleb University, is the brain behind Phyno’s Alobam graphics concept. Myro has performed in many shows in and outside the country. He got a major breakthrough when the visuals of his song ‘Ocha’ which was shot in South Africa by Godfather Productions, got massive rotation on TV. Myro is an artiste currently signed on to Masterpiece Entertainment.

While speaking in a chat, the music act disclosed that he is planning a contest on Instagram, which is the Plantain Remix contest where anybody who can record a 15-second video, singing the chorus should tag him @yesmyro and @oritsefemi, the person with the highest likes goes home with an iPhone 6 and the runner-up wins a cash price.

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Beer and lifestyle symposium live in Lagos

By Aderonke Adeyeri

E

NTERTAINMENT is one of the most influential art forms of today’s society, and alcohol, especially to today’s youth, adds to the attraction of it all. The Nigerian entertainment industryisafastpacedglamorous worldthatmanymayneverwant to be part of, especially with the abuse of alcohol, drugs, and sex projected in our movies and music videos.

However, the biggest nation’s brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc. has taken it upon itself to preach the word “moderation”, especially as the festive period approaches, which also comes withlotstodrink, inasymposium withthetheme:Beerandlifestyle, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lagos, recently.

Dr. Henk FJ. Hendricks, a

biologist and project leader in the Institute for Food and Nutrition in Netherlands and one of the key speakers at the event, noted that moderation level of beer consumption is beneficial to cardiovascular health.

According to Hendricks, some of the inherent advantages of beer include: low percentage of alcohol, large quantities of water, its role in rehydration, a good source of minerals, a good source of polyphenolic antioxidants, contains anti-inflammatory xanthohumoles and a large variety of raw materials, including gluten-free’ Rich in fibres.

He averred that beer contains low concentration of alcohol and a large number of additional ingredients that are associated with health.

The MD/CEO Nigerian Breweries, Mr Nicolas Vervelde stated that sponsoring the

symposium reinforces their strong commitment to improving the understanding of beer and its inherent benefits when consumed in moderation. He also added the theme is quite apt and germane.

“Even though beer has been with us for thousands of years, the appreciation of its unique benefits are only beginning to grow. The knowledge about the benefits of moderate consumption of beer is multiplyingeverydaywithsomany empirical research findings from all over the world”.

Prof Tola Atinmo, Prof of Human NutritionatUniversityofIbadansaid many people are not aware that while imbibing beer, they actually benefit their health through some of the components present in beer.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 19 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

A

n emotional performance by one of the remaining contestants in West Africa’s hottest reality TV show, Dance with Peter, attracted the sympathy of show originator and judge, Peter Okoye of PSquare.

In last night’s broadcast of the show sponsored by Globacom, beautiful GXtreme put up such a moving performance that drew tears from her eyes and those of some members of the audience. She told the judges and audience that her dance was a tribute to her dad who was lying sick in hospital. His emotional display touched Peter who immediately offered to underwrite the cost of treating her father.

‘Whatever it will cost to get your dad well again, I will take care of it,” Peter declared as tears of gratitude rolled down GXtreme’s face.

It was the third time Peter had displayed such generosity in the course of the show. During the audition, the musician had given N100,000 to a contestant who said he was unable to go back to school because he could not pay his school fees. On another occasion, Peter removed his shoes right on stage and handed them over to a

Dance with Peter

gets emotional as Peter offers to pay contestant’s father’s hospital bill contestant who came wearing tattered shoes.

There was also a bit of drama last night as the three judges, Peter, Kaffy and Don Flexx, brought back crowd favourite Mali Hot Boi who was evicted from the show a few weeks back to rejoin the academy. The audience and other contestants cheered as the strikingly handsome dancer was ushered onto the stage.

Another exciting moment was when the three judges chose to save one of the four contestants who were up for eviction, after the voting public had earlier saved Tee Jay. Miracle was saved, while MX, Nekky and Messiah’s journey in the

show came to an end.

With the eviction of the three, the number of contestants left in the academy was further reduced to nine. Mali Hot Boi’s return however brings the number to 10. They will now perform in pairs in next week’s episode.

•Dance with Peter

Adokiye releases another single two years after last one

•Adokiye

C M Y K

V

irgin singer, Adokiye Kyrian, as they call her, because, according to her, she’s still a virgin, has returned to hug headlines again.

Only this time the focus would not be on her much coveted virginity but her talent as a singer. Adokiye has just released a new single featuring SYM 19 and it would be the only one after her last single ‘Back Up’ two years ago.

The title of the single is ‘Glory’, and already it’s beginning to rape the airwaves. In fact, Adokiye has recommended the song to her fans as an early morning devotion to start the day. Perhaps, this may be the nun in the singer, coming home to roost.

Remember, she once told Potpourri that she had wanted to be a Reverend Sister before fate took the matter out of her hand.

According to her, the song is expected to be the street anthem for the yuletide period and she and her crew believe ‘Glory’ ‘Glory’ is the way to go this Christmas and New Year. To make the song a clincher, they have even evolved a dance for it. See Adokiye digging it out here.

•Tomisin

•Ajoke Alabi

When the media stormed Next Movie Star house I

t was not business as usual when the gentlemen of the press and the media team of the NMS house stunned the 2015 Next Movie Star housemates last Sunday night.

The media men led by the NMS media manager, Sunday Adebayo, was ushered into the warm embrace of the housemates who shrieked and screamed on sighting them.

The house captain welcomed and introduced other housemates to the media men after which they thrilled the media personalities with a welcome number and it was really fun. Interestingly, one of the media men expressed his affection for the show, saying he had been an ardent follower since inception of the show After the session, the housemates selected four members amongst themselves to take the media guys on a tour round the Next Movie Star House, and explained what everywhere in the house represents, and thereafter engaged all the housemates in a chat.

Precisely, on Monday, November 16, 16 youths, drawn from across eight African countries entered the

Next Movie Star House in search of fame, pride and glory. In the first two weeks in camp, the housemates went through several training and grooming sessions by accomplished professionals as part of the organizers’ commitment to engender an informative, entertaining and educative show.

They were thereafter taken to the custom-built NMS house where they had the opportunity to socialise with celebrities including the world famous former Kennis Music Stars Jaywon,; Foluke Daramola, among others as part of the “Thank God It’s Friday” programme.

Conceived in 2005 to serve as a springboard for unheralded talents to enter the Nigerian movie industry in grand style, the NMS has over the years, produced countless movie stars including Tonto Dike, Annie Macaulay, Moyo Lawal, Eyo, who was also a Project Fame West Africa Alumnus, and Lydia Forson, the Ghanaian contestant in 2007 that went on to become a joint winner of the best actress award at the 2009 Africa Movie Academy Awards.

PAGE 20, SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Artistes take us for granted all the time, Nigerian DJs speak

By GBENGA OLARINOYE, OSOGBO

T

HE National Association of Nigeria Disc Jokeys, the umbrella body of Nigerian DJs with sole objective to play and promote music at events and radio stations, met in Osogbo, Osun State, for its 6th National DJs Conference, where the Osun State Chapter of the association was inaugurated.

The conference was attended by DJs from all the six geo-political zones of the country. The National president of the association, Tade Adeyemi, aka DJ Cool and some of the national officers of the association fielded questions from newsmen. Excerpts What is the purpose of this conference?

The conference is intended to reactivate members’ understanding of their roles and relevance in the entertainment industry, improve their values and service delivery to their clients with a view to maximising good patronage.

We discovered that in the realm of entertainment industry in Nigeria, DJs are the least recognised and least paid,.

Whereas we are the ones that promote their works by playing their music at events and radio stations. So, without DJs, artistes won’t be able to achieve their aims because they can’t get good patronage. For instance, if a musician spends millions of naira to produce music, without the DJs’ roles, their music can not easily get to the ears of the public,” But worryingly, while we complement their efforts to achieve their mission, we don’t get the required recognition and benefits but they smile to the banks.

That is why we decided to form a united stand and organise annual conference where we articulate our relevance and values to ensure that artistes realise our significance and do not just take us for granted and leverage on our talents without the proportionate benefits that we deserve

DJs never work alone. A typical professional DJ always has at least one or more boys that work with him and he trains them in the process

What are the efforts of the association to put it on a sound footing?

As part of our efforts to add value to the vocation, the association is already working on DJs academy where members can be trained for adequate knowledge and skills for effective service delivery.

The DJs in Nigeria contribute a great deal to the growth and development of the entertainment industry, which also enhances the socio-economic development of the country.

The DJs’ existence in the entertainment firmament in the country had gone a long way in reducing unemployment in the country, with the increasing number of the Nigerian youths embracing the vocation as a means of livelihood, the labour market is seriously being depopulated.

DJs never work alone. A typical professional DJ always has at least one or more boys that work with him and he trains them in the process.

In other words, many Nigerian youth are into Disc Jockey job. After the training, they also set up their own studios and also engage more trainees and the chain continues. This is to say that DJ jobs are a potential employment avenue.”

The PRO of the association, Abuja branch, DJ Alex also contributed: How has your association been able to reduce youth restiveness?

The government has the issue of youth restiveness to contend with. But with the employment opportunities available through DJ vocation, restiveness and other criminal activities have been reduced.

This is one of the reasons we are rebranding ourselves to add value to our profession in order to be able to influence the quality of music that is worth going on air.

Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), the regulatory body, is trying a lot to curtail the trend of vulgar music in the country. In any case, DJs, too, have a lot of roles to play in this regard.

For instance, we can not promote music that promotes violence, insecurity, promiscuity and other societal vices. We care about the messages that every music tries to pass to the people.

There are some music you can not play at certain places or event, especially children party or church or certain gatherings. The DJ is always there as a professional to regulate the quality of songs to be played.

But the bottom line is that whatever music we dish out must add value to the entertainment industry and even the listeners.

How do you monitor the kind of music you play for the public?

It is unarguable that it is not all music that makes sense. A lot of music do not pass any reasonable message to the listeners. As a result, DJs do not promote any music that comes their way. It is only a good music that can add value to life that we promote.

Mar Maryy J. Blige joins Maxwell, TTamar amar Br axt on, Braxt axton, Flavour Flavour,, other otherss ttoo per perfform at ‘Bet Experience Africa’ M Mary J. Blige

ULTI-GRAMMY award winning R&B superstar is to raise the roof with a trademark heartfelt performance at the BET Experience Africa at the Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg on 12 December. Blige, who last performed in South Africa in 2007, will join Maxwell, Raphael Saadiq, Tamar Braxton and Young Thug on the same stage as African superstars AKA, Flavour and Diamond Platnumz at what is shaping up to be the lifestyle experience of the year.

Pure, unadulterated and empowering - that has been Mary J. Blige’s calling card ever since her 1992 multi-platinum debut album, What’s the 411? In the ensuing years, the singer/songwriter’s musical strong suit has attracted an intensely loyal fan base - responsible for propelling worldwide sales of more than 50 million albums and 25 million singles.

Coming to Africa for the first time in 2015, the BET Experience Africa provides the perfect kick off to the summer season, taking over Johannesburg’s Ticketpro Dome for a non-stop, jam-packed entertainment fest, bringing together lovers of urban culture and music. Wowing visitors all day long, the BET Experience Africa will showcase great food, fashion, music, comedy, sport, sneakers and much, much more.

Inspiring, immersive and hugely entertaining, BET Experience Africa will feature stunning live performance on an out-

Mary J. Blige

door Festival Stage, while stand-up routines from comedy stars will keep the audience laughing.

Fashionistas will also be able to check out the hottest trends on the Sneaker scene from sneaker heads Hunting for Kicks and enjoy fashion shows from top South African designers. For inspiration, attend one of BET’s informative and instructive Genius Talks, curated by experts and opinion formers in various fields including Fikile Mbalula, Minister for Sports & Recreation. Driving fanatics will enjoy the Drift Zone with high octane displays of extreme driving to get the pulse racing.

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

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 21

Everything you need to know!

BY ONOZURE DANIA

H

ave you ever

been in a happy relationship with a man, and even though things were going well you started to worry about where it’s all going?

This worrying usually starts around the time

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when you feel that you’re connecting and starting to have strong feelings for him, You’ve naturally become exclusive with him and assume he’s exclusive with you, too You have a great time when you’re together He’s introduced you to his friends and maybe even

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

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

with a guy. But it isn’t long before it dawns on you.

You have a very special connection and you want it to last.

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suddenly “changing his mind” about you.

Maybe that sort of thing happened to you before or maybe you’ve been hearing too many “horror stories” from friends who have experienced this.

So even though things are going “great” and you’re really connecting, you’re also beginning to freak out just a little.

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PAGE 22, SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

How Ericsson is driving change in Africa through innovation

By EMEKA AGINAM

TUMI Chamayou is the Vice President and Head of Strategy, Marketing and Communications at Ericsson Sub Saharan Africa. She spoke to Technology Journalists via video conferencing recently on a number of the company's innovative solutions for Africa. According to her, Ericsson will continue to drive change in the continent though innovations.

Excerpts: Mobile penetration opportunities Mobile penetration has more than quadrupled within the last couple of years. I believe that penetration has opened the way, and led to an emergence of great innovations, thereby presenting significant business and commercial opportunities for both corporates and individuals. It has also provided governments and policy makers, the opportunity to make policies that create an enabling environment for technology and all its attendant advantages to thrive. We can see how that has positively affected different sectors of the economy, across board.

Ericsson’s showcase at AfricaCom First of all, at the just concluded AfricaCom event held in South Africa, Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Ericsson subSaharan Africa, delivered a special keynote presentation; which set the tone for our participation, and announce some of our latest innovations.

As you probably know, Ericsson has been at the forefront of supporting innovation globally and locally, with a number of key initiatives, including the Ericsson Innovation Awards.

In pushing forward our agenda of supporting innovation, we hosted an innovation station named “Ericsson AHUB” in partnership with Informa at the AfricaCom event.

The innovation station brought together Africa’s leading entrepreneurs, tech start-ups and angel investor communities to encourage investment and showcase talent in the technology sector. We truly believe that the Ericsson AHUB will create a platform that will try and fill the gap that

•Chamayou exists between innovation and funding. One of the specific innovative solutions that we showcased is the Ericsson Wallet Platform, a standalone software solution that enables secure and convenient services such as payments and transferring money, in-store purchases, paying bills, salary payments, and more. With the rise of retail trade and ECommerce in Africa, you would agree that solutions like that are very important. This initiative also extends Ericsson’s commitment to driving the Networked Society in Africa through innovation.

Impact of increasing mobile subscription in the African continent We definitely see the numbers rising, and there is proven data

to back that up. In addition to the nearly 1 billion mobile subscriptions, there are also 21 million new subscriptions recorded. This monumental in-

Ericsson AHUB will fill the gap that exists between innovation and funding

ne of the world’s fastest growing smartphone manufacturers, Alcatel Onetouch has announced the arrival of the new its latest series Alcatel Onetouch pop start smartphone to the Nigerian market.

Commenting on the device, Nick Imudia, Alcatel Onetouch Regional Director, Nigeria and Central Africa described the device as “the smartphone the country has been waiting for”, promising that the phone would be unrivaled in satisfying people that seek top value for their money. The company, he said is partnering with Nigeria’s largest online mall, Konga.com for the online retail of the stylish new smartphone.

According to Imudia, “Functionally, the Dual SIM phone has a 5” HD screen display with IPS technology for detailed images and wide viewing angle, 8GB expandable internal memory, running on

bile phones, and all of that.

Which is why, Ericsson is committed to continually driving and supporting innovation across the communications spectrum.

Through an annual investment of USD $5 billion in research and development, Ericsson has been at the forefront of some of mobile technology ’s most significant advancements.

Ericsson live demos at the AfricaCom event Ericsson put forward a number of live demonstrations at the just concluded AfricaCom event, at the innovation station.

Visitors to the Ericsson AHUB had the distinct opportunity of engaging with Ericsson experts who demonstrated a range of innovative solutions. The solutions are designed to enable change-makers in areas such as mobility, broadband and the cloud, creating the foundation for new eco-systems, and transformation across industries such as transportation, education and even entertainment. Ericsson also hosted interactive demos of innovative solutions including the Volvo Connected Car, Ericsson’s Connected Vehicle Cloud solution, Remote Patient Monitoring and Stream, a 5Gready tool that enhances the concert experience through real-time sharing of live videos.

So as you can see, these are all interesting and innovative solutions that Ericsson attendees shared and experienced and we are doubly excited at Ericsson to have shared all this solutions.

Huawei to develop radio spectrum for better connectivity

T

o meet Nigeria’s growing need for broadband connectivity, Huawei has

Alcatel Onetouch to unveil pop star smart phone series

O

crease in mobile ownership has led to the rise of innovative solutions in different sectors, across board in Africa. Sectors like transportation, finance, banking, retail, healthcare, and even farming, have benefitted immensely from this growth. In this case, I would say that the AfricaRising narrative is not just a tagline, it is true and evident with the support of the right technology. Again, as I mentioned earlier, with the Ericsson AHUB, we are aiming to ensure that innovative ideas from the region are recognized and supported for the better growth of the economy.

How Ericsson AHUB contributes in encouraging innovation in Africa Through the innovation station, Ericsson is playing a part in creating an environment conducive to innovation, and more importantly, one that will address specific African challenges. On the other hand, we also recognize the fact that innovative companies grow where there are ecosystems in place, as this is what most guarantees a return on investment. At Ericsson, we understand and how innovation has shaped and improved our society.

For example, inventions which harness the power of mobile have empowered farmers to access important agricultural information, students to attend online universities via smartphones, nurses to share maternal health information and fight diseases, and consumers to access financial services via mo-

the Android Lollipop OS and a quad-core Mediatek Processor.

It also boasts an 8 MP camera with Auto-focus function for quality photos and selfies.

The attention to design detail continues with the curved back cover, which gives the phone an elegant slimness at the edges, and makes it a pleasure to hold.

The device , according to him, will come with an additional free 8GB memory card with every purchase on Konga.com”.

disclosed that it was working towards having a stronger radio spectrum, and development of a 4G/Long-Term Evolution network. The mobile phone maker also called for further cooperation among stakeholders to build the Information and Communications Technology ecosystem in Nigeria.

In achieving a stronger management of the radio spectrum, the Managing Director of Huawei Nigeria, Mr. Frank Li, said that the company would deepen the links between the Chinese and Nigerian telecommunications sectors, build alliances across the broader Nigerian ICT industry, and support progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He said that

Huawei had adopted three strategies to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals with Nigeria stakeholders, saying the first would be by giving the Nigerian people access to better quality communication networks and services.

“Huawei’s Network Operation Center for Africa is located in Nigeria. The fast troubleshooting offered by the centre has already helped Nigeria’s main telecoms operators to improve their service quality,” Li said.

He said, “By 2020, Huawei hopes to support 6.7 billion mobile broadband users, offering access speeds of up to a gigabit per second, and providing one billion connections on the cellular Internet of Things.

Senate confirms Danbatta as NCC EVC

T

he Senate at the weekend confirmed Prof.

Umar Garba Danbatta as Executive Vice Chairman, EVC, and Chief Executive of the Nigerian telecommunications regulatory authority, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Before his appointment, he was the Acting Vice Chancellor, Kano State University of Science & Technology, Wudil.

Following the expiration of the tenure of Dr. Eugene Juwah, Danbatta was appointed in

Acting capacity by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 4, 2015 After going through what has been described as thorough screening by Senator Gilbert Nnaji led Communication Committee, the Committee yesterday affirmed Danbatta for the job for the next five years in the first instance.

He was also a member of over 60 University committees and task forces, including numerous stints as Chairman.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 23

Just kicked your man out? It’s time to de-man your home!

Y

our home should be your castle - a safe haven you happily rush to for the peace of mind you deserve. For poor Samantha, this was not the case for the 15 years she was married to her husband, Joseph, an architect. “We met when I was redecorating a client’s flat,” said Samantha. “The client had recommended Joseph’s services for some of the landscaping and he was quite friendly and a thorough professional. He was a single father of two children from two different women and I had a five-year-old son I adored from a failed relationship.

“I was delighted we got on professionally and on a personal level. Inevitably, we became an item. I’d wanted more children – so had he and when I got pregnant, we got married. I lived in my own bungalow on a big expanse of land and Joseph lived in a flat in the only building he had then.

It made common sense for him to move in with me so we would have more room and privacy for the family we hoped to have. Within years, he became the father of my subsequent three children and life changed.

The house needed to grow to accommodate the children and we made extensions to the main

building, and that’s where the problems started. I was making a home with a man who loved clean, modern design to reflect his profession. I wanted something more homely, more feminine and more me.

“I wanted my home to reflect what I’d done to professionally improve a lot of homes and offices, I started cutting out magazine pictures of houses to show my husband but he wasn’t interested. ‘Our house is not shaped for frills like that,’ he would say, replacing my idea of carpeted floors with wooden floors and tiles. I began to feel miserable in a home I couldn’t stamp my personality on.

“Only four years ago, we separated. Joseph had a heavy schedule and my business was thriving too. When he got a big contract in his home state. he quickly built a convenient bungalow so he wouldn’t spend a fortune on hotel bills.

Inevitably. he met a younger woman to share his new life with him and that was it. We were both too realistic to be bitter. and once the pain had subsided, I made the decision to reclaim my home. To make it mine again by painting over all the bad memories and start new ones. It was a way of clawing back my independence. to draw a line under the misery of the past and turn my future into something fun and feminine. After all it was my house in the first place and in spite of Joseph’s spending time and fortune on it. he could hardly kick me out of my own home!

“My first move was to turn the bedroom into an en-suite one with an ante room that leads to a brand new exit from the house.

That way I would have my complete privacy my own front door key without the hassle of the children barging in. I was in my 40s and intent on having fun. I could hardly ask Joseph for help but Ifi, another decorator I met at the gym happily helped. The kitchen I hated because it looked and felt cold: almost impossible to clean was transformed

into something homely and warm.

“The children didn’t have time to dwell on the absence of their father as Joseph’s long absence from work had prepared them for his not always being around for any length of time. They were quite excited about the transformation of their rooms and toilets. For me, it was bliss walking into my bathroom, relaxing in a hot bath or shower and going out of the house without having to go through the main house.

And it was bliss sending a date out of the house without any of the kids being none the wiser.

“When Joseph visited the kids after the house’s been modified, he could see through my scheme. He wanted to know why I thought it necessary to have a second door leading to the front drive and I told him why. He no longer had control over the house. He joked he thought the door was designed to make my lovers have a quick getaway when cornered. By whom? He advised that ‘If you’re not careful two men could be slogging it out with each other when you twotimed them.’ 1 told him he was only jealous. But how prophetic he was when a couple of weeks later, my

‘steady ’ boyfriend was relaxing in my bedroom when my eldest daughter knocked discreetly on the door. Thinking she needed something urgently from the room, I opened the door to find this joker I’d only been on a date with twice, looking hopefully at me.

I was enraged. I discreetly sent my daughter back to her room. Thank God she hadn’t seen the other man relaxing on my bed. ‘What do you want?’ I asked this intruder, trying to suppress my anger. ‘I was in the neighbourhood, saw your car in the drive and thought I could say hello.’

‘You thought wrong: I told him coldly, flinging open my door. ‘As you can see, I have a visitor and I don’t like surprise visits. I would appreciate your calling first before you drop by - I wouldn’t come to your house without letting you know. Afterall, you’re a married man!’

“I didn’t care if he was embarrassed, he certainly embarrassed me. And I’d since instructed the children not to let anyone in without my telling them such a person is expected.

Afterall, it is my house with my own stamp on it and I don’t care who I let in - I don’t have to adhere to anyone else’s wish now but my own.”

The Locust

T

he Locust is a n important exercise that effectively deals with excess weight, firms, streamlines and develops the buttocks, hips, thighs and legs.

To p e r f o r m t h e Locust, lie face down with the chin on the floor and place the fists on the floor beside the thighs.

Breathe in deeply, regaining the breadth, push legs as high as you can. Remain a while like this, then bring down both legs and exhale.

Take a short rest and repeat. If it is

too difficult raising both legs in one go, take the described position, but raise one leg for a while, lower it, and then repeat with the other leg.

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

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

*Locust

P AGE 24 — SUND AY Vanguard , NO VEMBER 29 , 2015 SUNDA NOVEMBER

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

Sod the medics – This coming New Year I intend to eat what I like!

O

NE of the things that frighten a lot of us is dying before our time. To achieve our dream of longevity, experts advice we lead a relatively healthy lifestyle, exercise daily, drink in moderation, eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, and - most important of allshun fatty foods including butter and dairy products to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Unfortunately, all that’s turned out to be a huge waste of time! The truth is, we shall probably die at exactly the same age as our mums and dads, and we will have wasted decades on a virtuous eating plan, based on a lie!

Early in the year, we were told by these same ‘experts’ that the advice dished out by doctors around 1983 - that to avoid heart disease we must cut out fat intake drastically, and increase our carbohydrate correspondingly - turns out to be based on flawed evidence. Shockingly, they reversed their opinion and said they find it ‘incomprehensible’ that millions of us were advised to alter our diets because the conclusion that fats were bad was based on a small sample of ‘unhealthy men’. (Just as shockingly, women weren’t even included in the original survey!)

To those who always loved good food, they were rightly annoyed by this about-face of these ‘experts’, having spent all those years since 1983 eating slimy, flavourless, low-fat spreads, cutting down on meat (or avoiding it totally) and

never indulging in slapup pounded yam and egusi soup or the mouthwatering amala with ewedu/ gbegiri soup!.

Thanks to ‘official advice’ from ‘government health advisers’, they continue guzzling black tea, not eating trifle and spurning ice cream.

They were totally brainwashed about butter, along with local sugary diet. But then, when it comes to lifestyle advice why should anyone bother listening to the medical profession? “Doctors are usually over- weight, middle-aged men with paunches,” snorted Arit, a fortysomething foodie like me who’s sworn to eat what she loves - in moderation. “My own doctor on the other hand is an old friend and a fitness fanatic, a jogger so scrawling he looks on the point of starvation every time I walk through his door - I mean who wants to look like that!? He’s always had this fat-measuring gadget handy to check on my body mass index.

(Another discredited method, incidentally, of measuring how near to death we are).

“Both my parents ate thick slices of boiled;yam with savoury friend eggs dripping in oil. They loved (swallow) food with stew crammed with assorted pieces of meat and dried fish. Yes, we ate fish too cooked in rich stew; and the idea of a whole-meal grain, or a low-fat vegetarian meal was a complete alien concept to them.

They took sugar in their tea, and salt was always on the table. Yet both of

them were as thin as rakes and walked for miles well into old age.

Most of my parents’ friends were healthy looking pensioners over 80 who survive on rich traditional meals interspersed with the odd cigarette and a bottle of bear or gin (be it local or imported!)”.

“All of a sudden, we’ve decided we didn’t want to age like them or get wrinkly and stooped, so we adopted every life extending fad going, starting with no saturated fat. These days, you get a few of your friends trying to sell you different types of bitters and funnysounding teas to help you take 10 years or more off your age! a few of these items I grudgingly bought now sit on a shelf, next to other health rubbish I’d been arm-twisted to buy

because of their bogus claim that they are `cholesterol-lowering’.

And the tastes are horrible!

“Almost by magic, there was the fuss about the benefits of eating five fruits and veg a day. Last year, a nutrition survey in the UK concluded that only ten per cent of boys and seven per cent of girls had heeded that advice. According to a report: “Yes, a million people have downloaded the app, and 1.9 million families joined the scheme - but when it came to actually EATING fruit and veg, the average number of portions a day we consume remains three and, like the great Butter Scandal, experts can’t agree whether it should be five portions, or seven, or what even constitutes a portion.”

As for me, I’m too set

M —MARVELOUS DAUGHTER A —ADORABLE SISTER N —NICEST GIFT TO MEN FROM GOD Chris Onunaku 08032988826/08184844015. #KriSpiratiOn

Can't do without you

Y

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

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

Can a flapping bird do without the blue sky or a happy-jumping fish play without the river/sea? So that is how I can’t do without your love. As your name goes, you are a GIFT sent to me from God. I love you babe to infinito.

WOMAN MEANS :-

Ovie Ukochovwera, Ovis1302@gmail.com

W—WONDERFUL MOTHER O —OUTSTANDING FRIEND

My everlasting love

in my ways to change.

My longevity breakfast will remain either bread (a slice) with plenty of sausages or rashes of bacon; boiled yam with fresh fish stew or moinmoin! Yes, a pat of butter once in a while, then milk in my tea with sugar (or maybe sweeteners). I intend to spoil myself into the New Year too! The moral of this saga is: eat a little of whatever you like, don’t listen to ‘expert’ busy-bodies and remember that butter is not only delicious, it’s also officially good for you.

So follow your instinct and be good to yourself!

Simple Pleasures You Need To Beat The Blues There are some surefive ways experts have come up with to put a smile back on your face - and here are FIVE of the things they agreed

will make us happier ...

Make a new friend: Studies show that being able to count at least 10 people as good friends makes us happy. But having dozens of friends makes us even happier.

Researchers have also found that childhood mates are no more likely to make us happy than people we become close to later in life. So, it’s never too late to know someone better.

Put the radio on: Listening to music makes us so happy that it can perk us up even when we’re doing something we usually hate. Listening to gentle classical music can help keep us happy by calming us down.

Take a brisk walk: Even a single session of moderate exercise lasting 20-30 minutes can give our mood an instant and natural lift.

In addition to releasing endorphins - the body’s feel-good hormones exercise raises body temperature by one to two degrees.

Treat Yourself: Experts say that lots of small simple pleasures make us much happier than one big one. So, use any spare cash to give yourself a little treat every day or every week, such as a favourite magazine, a tasty snack or new music, rather than spending it on one slapup meal or trip to an expensive salon.

Count your Blessings: Psychologists say that simple techniques such as listing our strengths and using them in new ways ever y day, or keeping a journal where every night we write down three.

I have seen through your eyes the beauty of being loved, I have accepted to love you till death, I know you worth my love and care, Sweetie,I will always love and cherish you forever...

James N Okonkwo (Freesoul) ngesina363k@yahoo.com 08066043380

In need of love

My heart echoes...my mind is empty. My heart is heavy...the pain is much. I look up, it's cloudy. I look down, it's muddy. I try to move on, unseen hands seem to drag me back, pulling under. I reach out, seems like I am grasping on straw, sinking, drowning, fainting, fading. But no; I can't. I wont. I have to believe, trudge on. If only love can find me.

Help me. Believe in me.

Stan Stan stanfeelings@gmail.com 07035709315

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 25

CONFESSION OF EX-CULT LEADER:

I take responsibility for the killing of 34 colleagues!

By Emma Ujah & Omeiza Ajayi

29- year- old Levi Imoter was a notorious cultist for over 10 years.

He engaged in the worst crimes imaginable, including armed robbery, and operated from Benue, through Bauchi to Borno. In this encounter, he recounts how he led many university undergraduates into cultism and armed robbery; his waterloo during a robbery operation in Maiduguri; life in prison and how his death sentence was reversed through divine intervention. He says he would spend the rest of his life preaching the mercy and love of God through Jesus Christ who delivered him from the jaws of death. He is the brain behind Renewed Mind Foundation International.

Excerpts: How did you begin the journey into cultism? was in JS.S 3 in 2002 at the Federal Government College, Vandeikya, Benue State. At the time I was initiated, I never knew that I was entering into cultism.

Those days, we used to break bounds. We would scale the school fence. I was actually initiated during the period known as “mock extension”, where JSS 3 and SSS 3 students would stay back in school. I was initiated by my seniors. They loved me, always took me out and bought me drinks and cigarettes. I was introduced to partying. On one occasion, they took me to a party and, from the venue, somewhere in the bush.

What happened thereafter?

I was taken there alongside 14 other students for the initiation rites and I met 14 other students. The initiators stripped me to my boxers. The initiation held between 9:30pm and 4am. we went through a series of torture. In fact, one of my friends became deaf while the other had a broken leg due to the manner in which they dealt with us. Subsequently, we began to meet within the school premises for lessons on the cult codes and language.

Our meeting point could be in the hostel and sometimes in the orchard.

We had supervisors who our were not students; they came from higher institutions. There were times they even slept in our hostels.

Were you ever caught?

On several occasions I was caught. In fact, after I was caught with arms, I was expelled in SSS 2. That was the fourth time I would be caught and what happened in this case was that I was fighting some members of a rival cult group because of a girl. Our own cult was named Black Skull. I should have been expelled after my second suspension but, because of my academic

•Levi Imoter ...Cultism comes in pleasant packages but, in the end, it is destructive

I

C M Y K

We were getting our weapons from ghettos where Indian hemp and other banned substances were on sale brilliance, the school would normally give me another chance and, at a point, even made me a prefect with the hope that I would change from my evil ways.

After I was expelled, I went to the College of Advanced and Professional Studies in Makurdi, Benue State for my Interim Joint Matriculation Board IJMB. It was here that I decided to join the Black Axe cult group having been a member of Black Skull way back in secondary school.

My initiation into the Black Axe was not done in Benue because they had done theirs before I got admission into the school. So, since I earnestly wanted to join, I had to be taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University ATBU, Bauchi where the Black Axe men were having their initiation.

At ATBU, we had brutal and hardened criminals as members. The initiation process was more tedious.

What is the essence of the torture during initiation rites?

It was done in such a way so as to make us develop a thick skin so that when you are caught by the police, no matter the level of torture, you would

still be able to keep the cult’s code.

I got so wild that I rose through the ranks rapidly and even became the leader of those who initiated me.

What was the motivation?

Why were you attracted to cultism?

Love of supremacy over others.

Then there was the spirit of camaraderie. Although, I came from a very loving family with a Christian background, I just wanted independence.

Even politicians came to be initiated. I was one of those who initiated a former governor of one of the states. We also had a lot of members among security agencies. Once, I was to be arrested, and a policeman called to alert me and that was how I escaped arrest that day.

Were your members always by your side?

To some extent yes, but there was a day they abandoned me. I came under fierce attack in Makurdi during a counter attack by another cult group and they fled. My attackers were arguing as to whether to burn me or throw me into River Benue.

I was saved because my elder brother came to the scene and I discovered that he also joined them in beating me. I passed out. However, the beating only got me hardened. I felt I could do better than what I was doing before I was attacked. I felt I could do better as a cultist, and so, I took to armed robbery. We robbed even on campus.

How were you getting your arms?

We were getting our weapons from ghettos where Indian hemp and other banned substances were on sale.

Back to your studies.

Did you finish your IJMB programme?

My situation became very bad that Makurdi became too hot for me to stay. Rival cult groups were on my trail, the police were looking for me and

so was the school management too. So, I left town. Later, I gained admission to University of Maiduguri where I planned to hide because my thinking was that cult activities would be low up-North.

Unfortunately, someone recognized me as a cultist and he reported me to the Black Axe men on the campus that one of their members had joined the school but refused to “belong”. They came after me, and after some time, I joined, but I felt they were not well-organized as we were in Benue. So, I introduced them to the Benue system. I was the one who now introduced arms to them. At a time, we had a fight with the Vikings and they came to my residence to kill me, but I had already gone out to buy cigarettes and they mistakenly killed my bosom friend. I still take responsibility for his death.

However, news went viral that I had been killed because the fight lasted for over two weeks in 2008. I was studying geography but I could not also graduate despite being a brilliant student.

Were you eventually arrested?

I was arrested in Maiduguri metropolis for armed robbery and was sent to prison on awaiting trial. We actually robbed a bank, but I was arrested on my way to Jos and I was in prison for about a year. There, I learnt more tricks because I met equally hardened criminals and cultists. I got bail. It was as if I did not handle the operation well and so when I came out in 2011, we went on another operation even while I still had a court case. I was caught again.

How was it that you never got killed?

In all of these, I never killed anyone but I take responsibility for the death of some of my friends who I initiated into cultism. I lost 34 friends in two years. They were killed by rival gangs and the police. I never used charms, but I think what made the difference was that my parents never abandoned me. They stood in the gap for me, always interceding before God on my behalf. I was aware of that.

Some other parents would not stomach the level of disgrace I brought my family. Many would placed curses on such children.

I was in and out of prisons five times. It was after the fifth time that I discovered my true purpose in life. My father called me and said that was the last time he would offer me any form of assistance, that he was tired as age was not on his side. He spoke to me at length.

How did you renounce cultism and is there hope for others?

Yes, there is hope for cultists.

Many of them would want to opt out if they know the way or if given the opportunity, like in Benue where the state government has offered amnesty to them.

There was this boy called Stephen Mshelia. He was 17 years then and often came to the prisons for evangelism. On this eventful day, the prisons pastor brought Mshelia to my cell where I was naked and bound in chains. I was chained because I attempted a jailbreak.

Mshelia preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to me and told me how he loved me, how he raised the dead and that Jesus stands in the gap. It was as if I was hearing that for the first time. He prayed for me. After he left, I could not smoke cigarette again as what Mshelia told me began to stink. I thought the cigarettes had gone bad, so, I requested for another pack, but all of them were smelling. That was the beginning of my journey to a new life. As at then, I had forgotten the Lord’s Prayer and even Christian songs because I had stop going to church for many years. All I knew was the language and codes of cults. I became born again in November 2012 and even raised a church in the prison to the extent that people came from outside to worship there.

As a cultist, there was no where I could go without a gun. The only time I went to church as a cultist was for a wedding and I still went with a gun. So, after Mshelia’s visit, I made a vow to God that if He would deliver me and set me free of all the charges against me, there is no place I would ever go without a Bible.

How were you eventually released from jail?

My lawyer deserted me because he was angry that I kept coming back to court for all the wrong reasons after struggling hard to secure my freedom. So, I was assigned a lawyer by the Legal Aid Council. The judge said he had already written his judgment of condemnation but that somehow, something kept pushing him to give me another chance. At the end, he discharged and acquitted me.

During the proceedings, as against the convention of the court, I had raised up my hand to speak despite having legal aid. I begged the judge to set me free so that I could go back and serve God. I told him, all the offences I committed, that Jesus Christ had taken them away and that the life I was now living did not belong to me, but to God. The judge said God had dealt with him concerning my case, because each time he was to come for my case, something strange would happen in his house. Curiously, he decided to set me free and said although I had escaped his judgment, if I go out and refuse to serve my God, final judgment awaiting me would be terrible.

What do you have to tell other cultists?

Cultism comes in pleasant packages but, in the end, it is destructive. A gun has spirit and if you are exposed to it as a cultist, you would definitely take to armed robbery.

The evils of cultism should be taught in schools. The best way to stop this menace is to ensure that there is no recruitment.

So, catching them young the right way is the answer. Let us not wait for cultists to catch the youth in our society.

PAGE 26— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 08116759757

Unsafe abortions thrive in South-South, North-East – Report

By Caleb Ayansina

A

survey by United States (US) based Guttmacher Institute and Ipas Nigeria, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) that focuses on female reproductive rights, showed that, in spite of Nigeria’s highly restrictive abortion law, the estimated abortion rate was 33abortions per 1, 000 women aged 15-49 in 2012 and it has increased in 2015.The report said not less than 1. 2 million induced abortions take place in various parts of Nigeria annually. The report, presented in Abuja, showed that the South-South region is in the lead, while the South West is at the bottom of the ladder. North East is in the second position.

“The proportion of abortions is lowest in South West, at 11 per cent, and highest in the South-South at 17 per cent, and 16 per cent in the North East,” the report said. A consultant lecturer at the department of gynaecology at the University of Ibadan, Dr. Olutosin Owolude, speaking on abortion law and the consequences at a media training workshop on women reproductive health and rights, held in Abuja, explained that the study went through series of checks before its publication in 2015.

He said increased rates of abortions, done mostly through unsafe methods, have further heightened maternal mortality in the country.“As we all know, Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, presently

By Kennedy Mbele

H

e is full of compassion for distressed fellow human beings. This motivated the establishment of an NGO which, according to him, helped to secure the release of no fewer than 270 detainees from prison. Ndukwe Gordian, a retired. Master Warrant Officer in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and founder of Foundation for the Empowerment of Detainees, speaks on how the police actions keep innocent people behind bars, and how his NGO works to ensure their release.

Many NGOs are geared at reforming the society. What motivated you to establish your NGO? When I was in service, one day as I was going to Oshodi, I saw a black maria parked by the road side as a result of a fault that it developed on the way to court. The suspects in the vehicle were screaming because the vehicle must have carried twice its capacity and the weather was hot. As I was in uniform, I was privileged to talk to some of them through the window. And from our discussion, I observed that most of the suspects did not commit any tangible offence, yet had been in prison awaiting trial for months and even C M Y K

Unsafe abortion was responsible for 34.2 percent of all gynaecology deaths

put at 560 per 1000 births,” he said. According to him, the number of induced abortions nationwide doubled from a previous report in 1996, which gave the number as 610, 000 nationwide.

Attributing the reason for the increase to poor economic conditions, he said this had forced people to desire smaller families. In his paper titled: ‘Health System Response to Maternal Mortality from Unsafe Abortion’, at the workshop, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecology at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Dr Akaba Godwin, said there

is need for harm reduction strategy for women.“The goal of equality in health system is being eroded in Nigeria and this has contributed to high rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria,” Godwin stated. “In Nigeria, unsafe abortion constitutes at least 13 percent of the maternal mortality.“Of the women who survive unsafe abortion, many suffer acute and short-term complications including; haemorrhage, sepsis, peritonitis, trauma to various organs as well as long-term sequelae like infertility, increased risk of ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous

abortions.”Continuing,he said, “A review of maternal deaths in a tertiary institution in Nigeria’s federal capital showed that unsafe abortion accounted for as many as 15.3percent of all maternal death. Case fatality rate of 15.7 percent was reported among parents with abortion complication in Abakaliki, South East Nigeria.

Unsafe abortion was responsible for 34.2 percent of all gynaecology deaths”.

Hauwa Shekarau, Acting Country Director of Ipas Nigeria, insisted that the life of a woman is as important as that of a man. Shekarau, who is also the Chairman, Federation of Women Lawyers in Abuja, said a step to improve female reproductive health in Nigeria starts with the review of laws directly and indirectly related to maternal issue .According to her, it had become imperative for the Federal Government

We freed 270 prisoners in Abuja, Kogi – Gordian, Ex-Airforce officer will enhance their release.

Also, if a suspect rejects a judgment passed on him / her and wants to appeal but doesn’t have the resources at hand, we file an appeal for him or her, if contacted.

years. That day, I made up my mind that as soon as I retire from service, I will spend the rest of my life assisting detainees to the best of my ability.

How do you carry out your mandate without being seen as aiding and abetting crime in the society?

We do this by going to court to look at suspects case files with a view to finding nature of their cases. We confirm the charges with the prosecutors before inviting the families of the suspects to follow us and see what is happening.

In other words, your organisation facilitates the release of detainees. Is there any category of suspect your organization helps or does not help?

We don’t get involved in established cases of armed robbery, particularly those caught with fire arms. We also don’t associate with detainees suspected of engaging in terrorism. Those are the two major categories of case we

abhor. In other cases, we use our initiative.

Apart from facilitating the release of suspects, what other services does your organization render?

We render other services which may be classified as minor. For instance, we assist people arrested without the knowledge of their families to establish communication that

Is there any situation where by you advise a suspects to plead not guilty to an offence he actually committed?

Yes, in some cases, especially minor ones, we advise them not to plead guilty before the court and then follow it up by going to the complainant and asking him or her to forgive the suspect and settle the matter out of court. So far, no complainant has ever turned down our request for forgiveness or amicable resolution of matters. Upon withdrawal of such matters, we warn the accused never to commit similar offence again and that would be all.

What is your take on the level of crime in Nigeria today?

The police are about 95 percent responsible for the

to ensure strong abortion law reform to hurt the increasing rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria. The Ipas boss explained that instead of halt law on abortion to reduce maternal mortality, it encouraged unsafe abortion by quack doctors, stressing the need for the law to be adjusted to empower women to decide on unwanted pregnancy.“Because of the restrictive nature of the law regarding abortion in Nigeria, many women suffer, due to fear for stigmatization, among others. Yet every day the numbers of abortion continue to rise,” she stated.

On the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act 2015, she described it as comprehensive law, but VAPP could only be implemented in the Federal Capital Territory.“Shekarau maintained that for the VAPP Act to achieve it desire goal, the law must be domesticated by all the 36 states of the federation.“She called for a strong political will to enforce all laws created to improve women's sexual reproductive health in the country. A former Country Director of Ipas, Dr Ejike Oji, called on government at all levels to stop treating the symptoms but focusing on the real issue by making woman to have access to safe abortion through review of the law. He also advocated creation of family planning programs as well as increasing sex education as some of ways to salvage the situation, adding that promoting use of contraceptive products would also be helpful.

high number of inmates we have in prisons across the country.

How? If you check any prison today and find 50 inmates, 30 are innocent; only about 20 are criminals. How can the police see somebody going on the road and arrest him? They don’t investigate. Once you don’t have money to give them, they throw you into prison custody and that will be all, especially if no one comes to your aid.

Can you share with us some of the major achievements your organization has made so far?

We have done a lot of work that led to the release of several detainees. We have been to Ankpa Prisons in Kogi State where we facilitated the release of over 120 detainees.

In Abuja Prisons, we helped to secure the release of no fewer than 150 detained suspects.

They are currently calling us in Ebonyi State but we have not been able to go there. The number of detainees we have assisted in Kirikiri, Ikoyi and Badagry Prisons in Lagos to ensure their freedom cannot be accurately recalled because they are so many. You know, Lagos is our base.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 27 08116759757

Redeemed men’s succour for widows

BY KENNEDY MBELE

•Communication vital to effective leadership – Balogun, PiC, RCCG, Lagos Province 49

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edeemer’s Men Fellowship, RMF, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has distributed bags of rice to widows. The gesture came at the grand finace of the Family Week, held at Peace House, Lagos Province 49 headquarters, Isheri – LASU Road, Lagos.

Speaking at the event tagged, Father of All, the Pastor -incharge of the Province, Pastor Daniel A Balogun, said God is the Father of all and that everyone is a baby in the eyes of the Lord. He urged everyone to see himself as a baby before God because a thousand years is like a day in His sight.

Guest Speaker and Coordinator, Region II of the RMF, Pastor Ola Erogun, said God created everything on earth and, as such, deserves all the glory. The regional pastor emphasized the need for love and urged everyone to love one another because “God is love”.

He described ‘giving’ as the nitty-gritty of love and enjoined everyone to express love by giving out not just cash but also valuables.

Erogun revealed that the program was especially for men whom he described as builders, pace setters, coordinators, leaders, priests and kings because of the strategic roles they play in the family and society at large.

Earlier in his address, the RMF Board President, Province 49, Engineer Kolawole Bello, thanked all present and prayed God to bless everyone and allow joy to go round everyone.

BY DAYO JOHNSON, AKURE A member of the House of Representatives from Ondo State, Hon. Baderinwa Bamidele Samson, has donated over 3 0 wheel

*Board members of RMF, Lagos Province 49, at the occasion. From left: Brother Abereoje (Assistant Secretary), Brother Abimbola Sunmola (Treasurer), Brother Kolawole Bello (President), Deacon Adesanya (VP), Brother Adekunle Raphael- Monehin (Secretary) and Barrister Adesokan (Welfare Officer).

In a brief chat, the President explained that his executive would ensure that men in the region are committed to serving God. Assistant Pastor-in-charge of the Province, Pastor Olufemi Adebiyi, in his speech, noted that his task as Coordinator of the RMF in Province 49 is challenging but rewarding, attributing unhealthy competition amongst pastors to the failure to follow the manual of their calling, the Bible. He stated that some pastors inject their personal interpretations into the Bible which God forbids, saying it is one of the signs of the end time. He

advised Christians, particularly those working in the Lord’s vine yard, not to over rate or over bear.

The Pastor-in-charge of Province 49, Pastor Balogun, said pastors operate at different levels because of individual differences as well as differences in maturity. This, according to him, could be further compounded by lack of understanding of what the leader wants. He recommended communication as the key to effective leadership and advised every pastor to be more committed to the work of God. The Pastor stressed that there was nothing

as satisfying as God’s work. The high point of the event, which featured drama, comedy, special numbers, couples’ dancing competition, among others, was a family competition with a plot of land as star prize. Pastor Balogun dismissed the insinuation that the church was engaging in lottery, saying it only incorporated the family competition into the program as a way of assisting families that may win the prizes. Diya Adeola Taiwo (23), identified as a social entrepreneur, emerged the winner of the plot of land at Honeywells Garden, Agbara Phase III, Lagos, valued at N1.5m.

Taste of Lagos Food Festival

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he maiden edition of Taste of Lagos ‘The Original’, a national template for bringing stakeholders in the food industry together to celebrate indigenous foods, has been postponed.

The event, scheduled for December 2 – 6, 2015,and put together by Iconic Events Limited, was postponed because of uncertainties associated with current nationwide fuel scarcity.

Mr. Abiodun Fagbohun, Chief Consultant of Iconic Events Ltd, said: “We acceded to requests by signed on participants to postpone the upcoming Taste of Lagos ‘The Original’ because of the logistics challenge brought on by the current scarcity of petroleum products,” adding, “A new date will be announced after due consultation with the registered participating organisations.”

The postponed week-long Taste of Lagos would have availed food producers and manufacturers the opportunity to showcase their products and give Nigerians enough reasons to patronise them. Its core essence was to bring together the indigenous foods that reflect the cosmopolitan nature of C M Y K

Ondo Rep donates vehicles to the police

Lagos.

“We conceptualised Taste of Lagos as the first of our panNigerian initiative to popularise the rich food and beverage culture of our nation as well as help to reinforce the visibility of every State of the Federation on the world tourism map,” Fagbohun said, adding, “It is when we embrace programmes like this to appreciate our foods that our farmers will be encouraged to produce more and the economy will be the better for it.”

The Taste of Lagos food festival would have featured, among other activities, ‘celebrity kitchen’ where popular entertainment personalities would test their culinary prowess and professional discussions on the nutritional values of indigenous foods.

Taste of Lagos ‘The Original’ is a registered programme conceived for implementation in Nigeria by Iconic Events Ltd in accordance with the universal template of the worldwide event. It will roll out across Nigeria in 2016 with a view to reviving the indigenous food culture in the country as well as avoiding potential loss of huge domestic and foreign earning from tourism.

Rt. Hon. Friday Osanebi, Delta State House of Assembly Deputy Speaker, being decorated by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome as an Inter national Partner of Believers World Incorporated at the just concluded International Pastors and Partners Conference held at the LoveWorld Convocation Arena (LCA) in Lagos.

chairs, two pick-up vans to the state police command and agricultural chemicals to over 200 farmers.

Bamidele said in Igbaraoke that the gesture was to mark his 100 days in office.

The donor, who represents Idanre/Ifedore federal constituency, promised to donate two additional patrol vehicles to the police command.

The chemicals donated to the farmers include pesticides and herbicides as well as cocoa spraying pumps.

Bamidele said he donated the vehicles to enhance security of lives and property in his constituency.

“I did promise while seeking votes across the nooks and crannies of our constituency to work tirelessly and selflessly to better the socio-economic lots of our people through competent and qualitative representation if e lected

into office”, he stated.

“This is my covenant with the good people of the federal constituency.

Today marks the beginning of the official fulfilment of this covenant which spans a period of four years.

“I believe the patrol vehicles will enhance the performance of policemen in the federal constituency.

We need to assist lawenforcement agents to better secure lives and properties of our people.

“It is also my belief that a thorough application of the empowerment items by our farmers will in no doubt increase farm produce in the next couple of years.

“In our estimation, if the chemicals are well distributed, over 200 farmers within the two local government areas will benefit from the largesse. It is important to state that all the enumerated projects and empowerment items are personally funded by me.”

EU budgets N5.3bn to tackle human trafficking in Nigeria

BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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he European Union (EU) has budgeted •25 million (about N5.325 billion) to assist Nigeria and other members of the Economic Community of West African States to tackle human trafficking in the next five

years.

Ms. Geertrui Lanneau, Programme Manager of Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa, stated this in an interview with journalists during a workshop on its five years project in Abuja funded by EU. The project is an initiative of the Demand Driven Facility

for National Institutions in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. Lanneau said that the project was aimed at addressing the existing gaps in migration that revolves around human trafficking, slavery and prostitution abroad.

PAGE 28 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

AYO ONIKOYI 08052201215

Vict oria Sobo wale: A ttoast oast tto o an oct ogenarian Victoria Sobow octogenarian

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rs Victoria Sobowale, sister of Dr Dele Sobowale, a . veteran journalist and Vanguard’s columnist was joined by her children and friends to th celebrate her 80 birthday. The grand event which held in Lagos also attracted some notable personalities like Chief Balogun Bisi Omidiora, who chaired the event as the chairman of occasion. Photos by Diran Oshe

L- R: Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay, Justice Bisi Akinlade and Justice Bukola Adebiyi

Fatima and Haleel

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L-R: Chief & Mrs T A. Oshin; Mrs Victoria Sobowale (celebrant); Dr. Dele Sobowale; Mrs Mojisola Olajide and Hon. Dele Obadina

L-R: Mrs Moji Olajide, Mrs Bola Sobowale, Funke Sobowale and Tunibi Sobowale.

edding ceremony between Dr Haleel Oladoja Giwa and Fatima Ololade, daughter of Alhaji Rotimi Adepoju, Registrar Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, held in Osogbo on 7th of November 2015.

Celebrant, Mrs Victoria Sobowale and children; and Fehintola Sobowale, Dr. Kunle Sobowale (l), Damilola Sobowale, Fehintola Sobola, dancing to the high table.

Har or odu at Holy TTrinity rinity Anglican Chur Harvvest of Ik Ikor orodu Churcch

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he annual adult harvest of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Diocese of Lagos West, Ikorodu held Sunday, November 22, 2015 at the church auditorium. This year ’s ceremony was celebrated with the theme ‘Harvesting the Favour of God”.

C M Y K

L-R: Mr Sammuel Sholabo, Mr Omolaja Bada, Mr Tunde Gbolade, chairman of the Har vest Committee and Rev. David Dudu.

L-R: Mr Dayo Odubiyi, Vicar Olaoluwa Adeyemi and Mr Sina Dipo

L-R: Bro Festus Oyekunle , Sister Esther Omotayo, Bro Reuben Olatunbosun and Bro J O Aina

L-R:Mrs Adeyemi Mojisola, Mrs. Olugboji Esther Oluyemi , Mrs Audu Rachael and Mrs Eyiowuawi Victoria

Dr Haleel & Lolade Giwa cutting their wedding cake

The couple flanked by Alhaji and Mrs. Rotimi Adepoju, bride’s parents (left), and Mr. & Mrs. Giwa, groom’s parents (right).

Father of the bride, Alhaji Rotimi Adepoju entering the Mosque with his daughter Fatima Ololade

SUNDAY, Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29 , 2015, PAGE 29

The Bisi, TTuo uo uoyyo nuptial bliss

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atest bride in town, Olabisi Abibat Ologunlado, daughter of Alhaji and Mrs Yaya Ologunlado sealed her love with Ebisan Tuoyo Urowayino, son of the late Hon. Godwin and Mrs. Margaret Urowayino, penultimate Saturday in Lagos. The couple took their matrimonial vows before their families and clergymen at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Gowon Estate, Lagos. Thereafter, it was refreshment galore for guests who witnessed the union. Photos by Biodun Ogunleye.

The couple, Mr & Mrs Tuoyo Urowayino flanked

by Mr & Mrs Richard Okotie with little Ayirioritse Urowayino.

The Medview maiden flight tto o London

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he top management staff of Medview Airline with some traditional rulers from Lagos State led by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu gathered at Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, Central London, penultimate Saturday, to celebrate the airline inaugural flight from Lagos to London.

Photos by Lamidi Bamidele

The couple, Mr & Mrs Tuoyo & Olabisi Urowayino with their parents.

Alhaji Muneer Bankole, MD/CEO, Med-View Airline (2nd l) with Oba Rilwan Akiolu, The Oba of Lagos (3rd l) and some other traditional rulers from Lagos State .

L-R: Mr Sola Ojo, Vanguard's Internal auditor, Mr Williams Moradeyo and Mr. Israel Amuka Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority officials at the event

The couple, Mr & Mrs Tuoyo Urowayino

L-R: Ms Olakemi Ojatola, Ms Adijatu Abiola and Alhaja Fatimo Obakadiri .

L-R: Mahmooda Khokhar; Rabia Aci; Dr Salman Haq and Ahmed Israr Haq.

RCCG family celebrat es P ast or A debiyi at 60 celebrates Past astor Adebiyi

P o

astor Samuel Olufemi Adebiyi, Assistant Pastor-in-Charge, Lagos Province 49, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), celebrated his 60th birthday on Friday in Lagos. The major highlight of the c c a s i o n was the presentation of a book authored by the celebrant. Photos by Akeem Salau.

L-R:Mrs Abimbola Esther, Mrs Ogunfemi Bola and Mrs Adebesin Funmi..

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L-R:Pastor Olufemi Adebiyi (celebrant), Dr Adebola Olubanjo and Mrs Kenny Olubanjo.

L-R: Mr Sanjo Ayangbayi, Mrs Busayo Osunfowora, Miss Omolola Adebiyi, Adebiyi, Mrs Adeola Ayangbayi, Mr Tunde Osunfowora and Mr Bolu Morebise.

PAGE 30—SUNDAY

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 31

PAGE 32 — SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

How is this not World War III? •Global tensions as Turkey downs Russian bomber in Syria

By Frida Ghitis

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URKISH forces shot down a Russian plane near the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday, dangerously escalating a conflict that is expanding ever more rapidly and unpredictably.

Take a step back and look at what Syria’s war has wrought: Only days after the Paris attacks — one of the worst terrorist attacks on European soil since World War II — and with the unofficial capital of the European Union, Brussels, still under a partial lockdown, a member of NATO downed a Russia fighter jet.

If this had occurred during the Cold War, we would be bracing for the possibility of a nuclear war. Thankfully, that conflict is over. Instead of dialing nuclear codes, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council while NATO C M Y K

summoned its own emergency meeting.

Don’t misinterpret the moves as evidence of calm; a furious Russia has called Turkey “accomplices of terror” and Putin warned of “significant consequences.”

And these are just some of the latest developments in the world’s most complicated conflict.

Just after the Paris massacres, Pope Francis said the terrorist attacks were part of a piecemeal World War III. But it is the war in Syria itself that is morphing into this century’s world war.

The Syrian conflict, which turned deadly in 2011 when President Bashar al-Assad responded to calls for democracy by massacring protesters, has become a global vortex of violence, a black hole that swallows other conflicts. Day after day the number of disputes and rivalries fueling the fighting on that part of the Levant grows, bringing new

Don’t misinterpret the moves as evidence of calm; a furious Russia has called Turkey “accomplices of terror” and Putin warned of “significant consequences.” firepower and more recruits.

It started with pro-democracy activists against Assad’s forces; it drew a competing collection of armed opposition groups. It pitted moderates against extremists, and then extremists against ultraextremists.

It rages with the sectarian fury of Shiites against Sunnis,

Arabs against Iranians.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, backed

by Iran, fights against militias backed by Gulf Arabs. Al Qaeda’s al Nusra Front competes with ISIS, the Kurds fight against ISIS and against the Syrian military and Turkey fights against the Kurds, while feebly taking on ISIS and viscerally pushing for Assad’s ouster.

And there’s much more, with greater geopolitical consequences.

There’s Russia, the U.S. and the “antiISIS coalition,” and soon a France-assembled bloc to fight ISIS. There is both more and less than meets the eye. While Russia and Turkey have boasted of fighting ISIS, the “civilized” world’s anointed enemy, the fact is that each has other objectives in mind, which is why Tuesday ’s shootdown won’t be dismissed as an accident in a crowded theater of war.

Russia is in Syria not to fight ISIS but to save the

Assad regime as a permanent Russian ally. Turkey has two goals: It wants to clip the wings of the independence-minded Kurds, but it also wants to see Assad fall.

And while Turkey’s goals differ from those of its NATO allies — particularly because Ankara has largely turned a blind eye to ISIS, an enemy of the Kurds — the NATO bloc mostly agrees on its antipathy towards Assad.

Then there is an even larger geopolitical contest at play.

Russia is working to erode America’s standing in the Middle East, advancing Putin’s agenda of challenging and defying Washington.

While U.S. President Barack Obama was trying to reassure America that its very measured efforts to contain and degrade ISIS were paying off, Putin sent a massive military force to Syria and recast the conflict. Assad may have been about to fall, Continues on page 33

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 — PAGE 33

How is this not World War III? Continues from page 32 but Putin, now working on the same side as Iran and Hezbollah, made sure that won’t be happening any time soon. And now that ISIS has launched attacks in Western Europe, Assad’s hold on power looks more likely to survive.

Confused? This is only scratching the surface.

Everyone in this fight has enemies and friends on opposing sides.

This is what a world war looks like: strange bedfellows, conflicting agendas, alliances of convenience. And if you think the core of the fighting, the issues and ideologies at stake, seem muddled, try to find out what World War I was all about. Clarity is not a requirement for a world war.

The Syrian World War already involves scores of countries. Last year, the U.S. assembled a wide-ranging coalition of more than 60 nations. From South Korea to Australia, governments have participated in varying degrees in the campaign to defeat ISIS. ISIS, meanwhile, has spread its area of operations.

It has also added franchises and its followers have attacked targets around the world.

The Syria-based organization not only controls territory in Syria and Iraq; its followers hold sway in Libya, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Nigeria and other parts of Africa. And the list of groups pledging allegiance to the selfstyled caliphate spans tens of thousands of miles, reaching as far as Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Algeria and the Philippines.

Many people of many nationalities have died in Syria and Iraq. But ISIS’ own terrorist propagandahas broadcast the murder of Americans, Britons, Egyptians, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese and civilians of other nationalities.

Refugees from Syria have settled as far away as Uruguay, and terrorist attacks from individuals linked to the Syrian fighters have not only killed people in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, but also inCanada, France, Australia, Nigeria, Denmark and elsewhere. And let’s not forget Egypt, where intelligence experts and Russian authorities believe a Russian passenger plane was deliberately downed just a few weeks ago.

Does it sound like a world war?

The term “ world war ” obviously conjures the two great conflicts of the 20th century. A striking parallel this time is the reluctance of the United States to get involved — the public wish to stay out, to say, “This is not our fight.”

Putin It’s impossible to know just how far the analogy will hold.

But it’s worth remembering that those conflicts only came to an end when the U.S. found it impossible to pretend it was not affected by a brutal conflict raging war thousands of miles from America’s shores.

Russia and Turkey refuse to back down Meanwhile, Russia sent an advanced missile system to Syria on Wednesday to protect its jets operating there and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.

Underscoring the message, Russian forces launched a heavy bombardment against insurgent-held areas in Latakia on Wednesday, near where the jet was downed, rebels and a monitoring group said.

The United States and Europe both urged calm and continued dialogue in telephone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a sign of international concern at the prospect of any escalation between the former Cold War enemies.

The downing of the jet on Tuesday was one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member and Russia for half a century, and further complicated international efforts to battle Islamic State militants in Syria.

President Tayyip Erdogan made no apology, saying his nation had simply been defending its own security and the “rights of our brothers in Syria”. He made clear Turkish policy would not change.

Russian officials expressed fury over Turkey’s action and spoke of retaliatory measures that were likely to include curbing travel by Russian

Erdogan

Russia is in Syria not to fight ISIS but to save the Assad regime as a permanent Russian ally. Turkey has two goals: It wants to clip the wings of the independenceminded Kurds, but it also wants to see Assad fall. tourists to Turkish resorts and some restrictions on trade.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described it as a planned act and said it would affect efforts towards a political solution in Syria.

Moscow would “seriously reconsider” its relations with Ankara, he said.

Jets believed to be Russian also hit a depot for trucks waiting to go through a major rebel-controlled border crossing with Turkey, Bab alSalam, the head of the crossing said.

Syrian jets have struck the area before, but if confirmed to have been carried out by Russia, it would be one of Moscow’s closest air strikes to Turkish soil, targeting a humanitarian corridor into rebel-held Syria and a lifeline for ordinary Syrians crossing to Turkey.

DO NOT WANT WAR But the Russian response was carefully calibrated, indicating Moscow did not want to jeopardize its main objective in the region: to rally international support for its view on how the conflict in Syria should be resolved.

“We have no intention of fighting a war with Turkey,”

Lavrov said. Erdogan also said Ankara had no intention of escalating tensions with Russia.

In Paris, where deadly attacks on Nov. 13 claimed by Islamic State prompted France to step up its aerial bombing of the militant group in Syria, President Francois Hollande expressed concern over the war of words between Ankara and Moscow.

Hollande was due to discuss Syria and the fight against Islamic State with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.

“We must all work to make sure that the situation (between Russia and Turkey) de-escalates,” Hollande told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

ADVERTISEMENT Putin said an advanced weapons system would be despatched to Russia’s Khmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province.

“I hope that this, along with other measures that we are taking, will be enough to ensure (the safety) of our flights,” Putin told reporters, in an apparent warning to Turkey not to try to shoot down any more Russian planes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was forced to fly missions close to the Turkish border because that was where the militants tended to be located. Russian operations would continue, he said.

M U T U A L RECRIMINATION Turkey said the downed jet had encroached on Turkish air space and was warned repeatedly to change course, but Russian officials have said the plane was at no time over Turkey.

The crew ejected, and one pilot was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted to the ground. A Russian marine sent to recover the crew was also killed in an attack by rebels.

The surviving pilot was quoted by Russian agencies as saying the crew “knew the region like the back of their hand”, that they did not fly over Turkish air space, and that there were no visual or radio warnings from Turkey.

The Turkish military later released what it said was an audio recording of a warning to a Russian fighter jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border. A voice on the recording can be heard saying “change your heading” in English.

The Turkish military said it had explained the rules of engagement that led to the downing of the jet to Russian military attaches and had tried to rescue the pilots.

At a business event in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey had made a “huge effort” to prevent such incidents but that the limits of its patience had been tested after repeatedly warning Russia about air space incursions in recent weeks.

“Nobody should expect us to remain silent against the constant violation of our border security, the ignoring of our sovereign rights,” Erdogan said.

Turkey has been angered by Russian air strikes in Syria, particularly those near its border targeting Turkmens, who are Syrians of Turkish descent.

TRADE TIES Russia made clear it could target Turkey economically.

“The direct consequences could lead to our refusal to take part in a whole raft of important joint projects and Turkish companies losing their positions on the Russian market,” Medvedev said in a statement.

Russia is a major exporter of grain and energy to Turkey, and sends over four million tourists each year to Turkish resorts, second only to the number of German tourists.

The Russian government has already said it will discourage Russian tourists from traveling to Turkey, though the immediate impact will be limited because Turkey is now in the off-season.

But while Russia may mothball deals with Turkish firms and curb imports of Turkish goods, it is unlikely to let the fallout affect energy exports that are the core of their economic relationship.

“Erdogan is a tough character, and quite emotional, and if Russia pushes too far in terms of retaliatory action, I think there will inevitably be a counter reaction from Turkey (like) tit-for-tat trade sanctions, perhaps extending to things like the Russia nuclear deal,” said Nomura strategist Timothy Ash. “But I think there is also a clear understanding that any such action is damaging for both sides, and unwelcome.

The ball is in Russia’s court now,” he wrote in a note.

Source: CNN, Reuters

PAGE34—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Why women liberation is in my plays----Dr Iwuchukwu Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu, is an Aassociate Professor of English at the School of Arts and Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Victoria Island, Lagos. She is a literary scholar with a bias for drama and theatre, and a playwright with varied experience. She has published eight plays:Sons for My Son; Into the World; Like father Like Son; Regal Dance; Whose Fault; Our Honourable Member; Enough is Enough; Choices; and other books. She is also the Director of NOUN Theatre and Cultural Troupe. But one thing that worries many, especially those that have come across her and her books is that despite her exploits in the literary and creative world, not much is heard about her. In this chat with Sunday Art, the multidisciplinary researcher bares her mind on a whole range of issues. Excerpts or no time. But, now my

By JAPHET ALAKAM children are grown, so I now INTERVIEW had more time to go back to my first love which is creative work. hen did you start And that paid off last year, I was writing? able to publish three plays and I started writing from my hoping that before the end of undergraduate days in the the year, I might be able to push university, precisely in the out one or two. third year when there was a Again, in NOUN here, I am course called Noon theatre, very grateful to Prof. Vincent and in the course, you are Ado Tenebe, for his great expected to produce a play encouragement to me in the with your group, so I toyed NOUN theatre,which has with the idea of producing helped to produce 5 plays another person’s play and on which I ‘ve not published. second thought, I said no, let Despite the number of me use my class project books, you have written, not because we write plays as part much is heard about you, why? of play writing courses. I used I will say first of all, when I that my 3rd year play which I started writing I did’nt know called an Only Son then and much about awards, I was in I was surprised at the way it Awka, just going about my job, was well received by both my fellow students and even the lecturers. The lecturers even I am also encouraged me , so in my final year, I wrote another play passionate about which was a class project, but girl child that my Only Son later metamorphosed into a play education, it is called Obiefuna when I went for my youth service in 1985 very important in Jos. I presented it and used that women be it with the students. But because they wanted roles, I allowed to go to have to create more roles and school expanded it and eventually, it turned out to be my very first play which was published in 1990 as Sons of My Son. How many books have you

By JAPHET ALAKAM published?

AWARD I have published 8 plays, but in terms of books because here t was extra fun and in National Open University, entertainment galore we also write books which are recently as former President of used as course materials, I Performing Musicians have written five too.

Association of Nigeria and Why did it take you so long Founder of Gaurapad Charities, to come up with new books?

Bolaji Rosiji, celebrated Nigeria’s Like I told you, I started Independence with members of writing before I got married, staff by unveiling a special as you can see the first five welfare package tagged ‘Heroes plays were written as Onyeka award’.

Onyekuba, my maiden name.

The event held at the Guarapad I started writing not even as a multi-purpose hall, Maryland, lecturer, but as an assistant attracted over one hundred and lecturer because I started as a fifty Gaurapad staff from across clerical officer, rose to the rank West Africa. The event attended of Assistant Registrar, before provided ample opportunity for I changed to academics. So Nigerians to relax and enjoy then my desire was just to themselves as Helen Paul, (Tatafo) write. I was happy to see my a stand up comedian plays in print. Fortunately, in extraordinare entertained the 1986, I got married and my audience. Another aspect that University, UNIZIK, posted changed the mood of the arena me to their outreach center in was another side attraction where Lagos, so it was not easy people in attendance had lots of between that time, 1991 and fun during the tying of ‘gele’ (head 2002. I had a lot of issues to gear) by men and knotting of tie contend with, my family, busy by women among other things.

Lagos traffic, my office and According to Dr. Efeoma Okeke leacturing jobs, so I had little (M.D.), head, Gaurapad Abuja,

W

I

society.

I am passionate about that, I am also passionate about girl child education. It is very important that women be

• Dr Onyeka Iwuchukwu, passionate about women liberation

writing books and my books were sold in the then Bendel, Imo and Anambra states. I didn’t know much about awards.

Presently, in Anambra state, they are still using some of my plays consistently and it is literary critics that will critize your works and make them known.

A Phd disertation has been writtien on one of my plays, I am coming out gradually, so I am praying that more people will pay attention to my works and talk about them. I have done my bit, have written the books, its left for critics to bring them out.

NOUN theatre.

You know this university is a non-residential university, I looked around and said in as much as it is a non residential, we should still be able to create time for past time, so I met the management and they gave approval to start NOUN theatre.

So from time to time, we create entertainment for the university.

If there is something like anticorruption day, they call us and commission us to do a play or during convocation, we do plays too. For example in the last book launch at Abuja, they invited us and we presented a dance.

NOUN theatre provides entertainment and relaxation for the university community.

Foray into film production.

Luckily, I got invloved in film production courtesy of NOUN ambassadors for the university. It is a university film actually, but it is an adaptation of one of my plays, Enough is Enough and we just concluded the shooting of the film and we wre hoping the film will be premiered in January 2016. I am the associate producer of the film and also played a very minor role waka pass, as they call it. That is my incursion into film production and I believe there is opening, we will do more.

Most of your plays talk about women empowernment, are you a feminine activist?

The truth is that I am passionate about women empowerment, let me just put it that way. If you look at Into the World, one of my books for instance, there is a line that says “the time of Oriaku is gone, the woman today should be Ogbata aku.” You should be able as a human being to contribute to the wellbeing of your family and

allowed to go to school. I am from a family where the first four children are girls, and at a point, I think there was pressure on my father not to train the girls but to keep the money for the boys. When I was growing up, I also saw families where the girls were told to stay at home so that the boys can go to school. A child is a child, that is my own philosophy of life. Give the children equal opportunities and then let them grow, you don’t know who will be the king. We have families that have males but women are the ones carrying the responsibilities, so give everybody equal opportunities, do not marginalise anyone.

Ofcourse, the issue of women liberation is almost in all my plays.

What can you say about Nigerian writers?

Nigerian writers are doing a lot, they are doing well, but we still have the major issue of publishing and circulating.

There was a playwright confab in Ife and Ilorin, though I did not attend, but I have the proceedings, its still the issue of readership, people are not willing to read. They are not reading. Another point is that some people are writing because they want to make money, some write because they have the talent to write, most of us are writing because we’ve something to say, which we want others to share and know about so that we can move the society forward.

Nigeria writers are trying, contributing to the wellbeing of the society because they look at some of the anomalies of the society and highlight it.

Some of them profer solutions, some just leave the audience to decide but poor readership, publishing and circulating are very big hinderance for Nigeria writers.

Ex-PMAN president, Rosiji, rewards Guarapad heroes “We kept receiving teasers on our Whatshapp about something taking place on October first, but management did not disclose details. Most of us thought we were being hosted to a grand Independence day party. But nothing could have prepared us for what our beloved founder, Mr. Rosiji, declared on that day”.

During the ceremony, Rosiji presented Gaurapad staff with Gaurapad Heroes certificates which entitled them to eight new benefits, including a handsome stake in the establishment, education grants, company support at times of difficulty, to name a few. No one was left out as security personnel, chauffeurs and

c o m p a n y cleaners were flown in from their respective b r a n c h e s .

“Hence forth all Gaurapad staff should be referred to as Heroes” enthused •Mr Bolaji Rosiji, a human event rights activist. you’re heroes because you’re changing lives in the tens of thousands. Helping the sick and providing economic freedom for the unemployed, widows and students from Cameroon to Nigeria, Togo to Ghana. The level of professionalism exhibited by these young men and women could rival work ethics and standards of the developed economies. Give Nigerians a great working environment and watch them blossom!” He concluded.

The motivational speaker for the day was pastor Jimi Tewe, who coached a hall full of eager

The Abubakar Gimba Literary Award postponed till 2016

People in attendance had lots of fun especially during the tying of ‘gele’ (head gear) by men and knotting of tie by women

Rosiji(2nd R) and others at the listeners about the importance of living a footprint wherever one works. “Gaurapad is a multinational that started in Nigeria”, he said, “and it is one of the few organisations that is truly adding value and building a vibrant economy, post oil era.

In his closing remarks, Rosiji charged all junior staff to further their education.

Meanwhile Gaurapad is warming up for its most ambitious welfare program till date, tagged Eco-mediq. It will feature free health centres in malls and rural areas across Nigeria and Ghana.

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 35

Abam in Chinua Achebe’s novels

By ABALI.O.ABALI LITERATURE

not lose it even if he steals”.

In chapter two of “Arrow of God”, Chinua hinua Achebe came in contact with Achebe presents Abam people as dreaded Abam through Myth during his days warriors, hired Mercenaries and as a student of Fisher High School (now plunderers. He narrates; «In the very past) Government College) Umuahia, Abia when lizards were still few and far between} State, Nigeria. Unfortunately, he the six villages - Umuachala, Umuneora, incorporated the Myth into his novels Umuaqu, Umuezeani, Umugwugwu and without question.

Umuisiuzo - lived as different peoples} and Until the last decade of the 20th century, each worshipped its own deity. Then the a common myth among the students hired soldiers of Abam used to strike in the population of Government College, dead of night} set fire to the houses} and Umuahia was that the people of Abam carry men} women and were human head hunters or killers, children into slavery. Things were so bad kidnappers and even cannibals who for the six villages that their leaders came relished serving as mercenaries or hired together to save themselves”. We even find warriors. This derogatory image of Abam a Diviner warning his client. «Do not remained what it was, a myth, yet it was forget..... that you are not to pass this way widely accepted among the student until morning even if the warriors of Abam population as truth. The result was that were to strike this night and you were many of the few students from Abam who fleeing for your life”. were lucky to attend that elite school, The picture Chinua Achebe paints of simply hid their identities behind Abam in his novels as shown above, neighbouring communities such as conforms with the myth about Abam which Ohafia, Abiriba and even Arochukwu. he was already familiar with at The origin of this myth is not clear but it Government College, Umuahia. Like is widely believed to be the creation of Chinua Achebe, I also attended students from Chinua Achebe’s old Government College, Umuahia. I Anambra State (now Anambra, Enugu and remember it was when I gained admission part of Ebonyi States respectively) who into that school that I came in contact with dominated the student’s population. The the myth about Abam being savages, people of old Anambra State which human head hunters, hired warriors, included Chinua Achebe’s Ogidi mercenaries and cannibals. All my effort Community had earlier contact with to convince my fellow students that the western education than most (if not all) derogatory remarks being made about other Igbo communities. Students from the Abam did not conform with the people I old Anambra State could therefore, afford lived with back in my village at Idima to demonize and condemn people of other Abam, fell on deaf ears. They readily Igbo Communities as barbarians and even countered my argument by waving Chinua cannibals. This derogatory view of other Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” and “Arrow Igbo communities eventually became of God” to my face. widely accepted especially where, as in the Chinua Achebe is correct in describing case of Abam, such communities were not Abam as a clan but every other thing he represented at all or were insignificantly says about the community is false. To begin represented among the students population with, there is no such thing as “Abam to challenge it.

Soldiers” or “Abam warriors’ contrary to Regrettably, in his attempt to make his what Chinua Achebe wants the reader to novels the primary reference for Igbo believe. This is because there has never been worldview, Chinua Achebe incorporated a common security apparatus or even any every myth however far-fetched. In doing form of centralized political authority for so, he did not bother to conduct any the entire Abam clan. Perhaps, a little research or investigation to ascertain the explanation of the veracity of the views he structure of the The purpose of this political adopted in his novels.

Abam clan will help drive Chinua Achebe never essay is to examine home this point. Abam is visited Abam yet he had the theme of Abam in made up of seventeen (17) no reservation in villages. These are Idima Chinua Achebe’s Abam, Ozu Abam, Ndi incorporating the myth about Abam into his novels vis-a-vis the Oji Abam, Amaeke novels.

Atan Abam, Ndi real Abam Abam, The purpose of this Ebe Abam, Ndi Okereke essay is to examine the community, if only to Abam, Amuru Abam, Ndi theme of Abam in show the falliability of Oji Ugwo Abam, Chinua Achebe’s novels Amagbu Abam, Ndi Chinua Achebe’s Okorie Abam, Ndi Agwu vis-a-vis the real Abam community, if only to novels as primary Abam, Ndi Ememe show the fallibility of Ndi Inya Abam, reference for Igbo Abam, Chinua Achebe’s novels Ndi Ebeleagu Abam, Ndi as primary reference for world view Okorie Abam and Igbo world view.

Odonyi Abam Abam features in two respectively. It is bound of Chinua Achebe’s in the North by Bende; in the South by novels to wit, “Things FalZ Apart” and Ohafia; in the East by Abiriba; and in the “Arrow of God” respectively, although the west by Ikporom (in Akwa Ibom State and name is corrupted in the former as Itu Mbuzo (an Ibibio speaking “Abame”. In chapter fifteen of “Things Fall Community) in Abia State. All in the South Apart”, Chinua Achebe graphically East region of Nigeria. describes the extent of barbarism among Each of the villages in Abam is selfthe Abame. The story is narrated by governing and until the late 1970s, there Obierika, a character in the novel thus, had never been an attempt to bring the “During the last planting season a white villages into a central administrative or man had appeared in their clan H e political unit. The villages constituting the was not an albino. He was quite different Abam Clan share three common ..... And he was riding an iron horse ..... And denominators, the Clan’s name “Ab am” , so they killed the white man and tied his the Abam dialect, and strong similarities iron horse to their sacred tree because it (but not uniformities) of customs and looked as if it would run away to call the traditions. Each village has its village head, man’s friends”. For Chinua Achebe, the a body of elders who advised the village Abame culture condones corruption and head, and a body of youths split into age thievery even among title holders. As he grades who enforce the decisions of the puts it in chapter seven of “Things Fall elders and the village head.

Apart”, «in Abame title is worth less than two cowries. Every man wears To be continued the thread of title on his ankle) and does

C

• A scene from the photo festival

Creativity, innovation as Africa designs tomorrow

By PRISCA SAM-DURU FESTIVAL

O

n Saturday October 24, 2015, Lagos State began enjoying another level of beautification with glowing colours from stunning images by Nigeria’s finest and award-winning photographers, as well as images from renowned international artists, courtesy of the Lagos Photo Festival.

The festival which ended on November 27, attracted an overwhelming turn out of art enthusiasts, art aficionados, Caucasians, artists and many more, who thronged the Escalator Entrance of the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, to have a glimpse of aesthetics, creativity and innovation at its best.

That was the official opening of the annual Lagos Photo Festival organised by the African Artists’ Foundation, AAF, now in its sixth edition.

Themed, Designing Futures, the photography festival, the first and only international arts festival of photography in Nigeria, affords artists a platform to express themselves through the lens, with the view to controlling Africa narratives.

The month long photo event featured thirty-five photographers spanning eighteen countries; Egypt, France, South Africa, Italy, Ivory Coast, UK, India, The Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Morocco, DRC, Ghana, Germany, New Zealand, USA, Switzerland, Guinea and Nigeria. It covered areas of exhibitions, workshops, artist presentations, discussions, screening, and large scale outdoor installations in congested public spaces in Lagos.

Some of the artists who exhibited were; Owise Abuzaid (Egypt), Kadara Enyeasi (Nigeria), Andile Buka (South Africa), Mehdi Sefrioui ( Morocco), Joana Choumali (Ivory Coast) Zohra Opoku (Ghana/Germany), Patrick Selemani (Democratic Republic of Congo, and many others.

Aside works that adorned Eko Hotel and Suites, satellite exhibition venues in arts and cultural spaces across Lagos metropolis extended to Omenka Gallery, African Artists’ Foundation, Stranger Lagos, Goethe- Institut, Nimbus Gallery, Alara Concept Store, A White Space Gallery, Yaba Tech, Quintessence, while outdoor exhibitions in public spaces in Lagos include; Muri Okunola Park, Falomo Roundabout (Ikoyi), Awojobi Park (Onike), and Freedom Park.

Special projects & satellite exhibitions in conjunction with LagosPhoto include: Congo by Paolo Pellegrin and Alex Majoli at Art Twenty One ,World Press Photo 2015 POPCAP’15 , LagosPhoto Summer School , Etisalat Photography Competition: I Love Nigeria!, LagosPhoto Mobile App, LagosPhoto award and a host of others.

Proudly sponsored by Eko Hotel & Suites and Etisalat Nigeria, LagosPhoto also

enjoyed partnership with World Press Photo. Supporters include Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency, Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Romarong, Pixers, Goethe Institut, Media sponsors; Hello Nigeria!, Brick Plus Magazine, Cool FM, Cool TV, Konbini and 54artistry.

LagosPhoto is additionally supported by the Ford Foundation.

“LagosPhoto aims to provide a platform for the development and education of contemporary photography in Africa by establishing mentorships and crosscultural collaborations with local and international artists. It presents photography as it is embodied in the exploration of historical and contemporary issues, the promotion of social programmes, and the reclaiming of public spaces. Considering the theme and conversation of interest, the festival is intended to explore contemporary dialogues surrounding design in Africa.”

Said AAF Director, Azu Nwagbogu.

Curator of the festival, Cristina del Middel, a past exhibitor in two previous editions, said “LagosPhoto has taken the arduous task to show the world all the new possibilities that the trinomial Africa/ Photography/Design can bring and of course it can’t stay away from the evident changes that the medium is experiencing lately.”

AAF Director, Azu Nwagbogu said “The Purpose of LagoPhoto since inception is Clear; to learn, observe explore and build a community around contemporary photography as it relates to Africa...By investigating the linkages between photography and design, we are introduced to new varied and exciting ways of visualising and realising a newer and hopefully a better future. The thirty-five exhibiting photographers with diverse range of projects were all selected because they further illuminate or perhaps not, this blurred boundary between contemporary photography and design. The 6th edition positions the relationship between Africa design, the design of Africa and our understanding of how we may design Africa, as the platform to discuss our past, present and future intentions.”

LagosPhoto has taken the ardous task to show the world all the new possibilities that the trinomial Africa/ Photography/Design can bring

PAGE 36— SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 Edited by: Morenike Taire

Elegance is next to godliness —Jackie Omotosho,

BY JOSEPHINE AGBONKHESE

E

ver heard of a minister who struts the runway and organizes secular fashion shows? They sure aren’t easy to come by but Jackie Omotosho is one. She has done fashion shows for respected brands like John Casablanca and Macy’s, both in the United States.

The graduate of Architecture who pastors a branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God alongside her husband in the US, was recently in Nigeria to unveil her book ‘The Practice, Influence of Elegance: Inside Out’.

We had a chat with Jackie at the event which was graced by A-list personalities such as the wife of the VicePresident, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, and the mother of five reeled out the many ways elegance can attract success in life when we queried why a pastor should be taking secular modeling.

US-based pastor and model

What brought about the inspiration for modeling?

It’s been in me long before I moved to the United States. I had the title of my book as well. I noticed I was always correcting people’s postures, walking patterns and much more. But when we got to the US, I became concerned about how careless and “excessively” informal many are over there. So, I made up my mind to intervene and that led me to John Casablanca School of Modeling in North Carolina, which was very unusual for a pastor’s wife.

However, there, I understood some of the corrections. I couldn’t help but write about them because they were already impacting the lives of many around me, especially in church where I often incorporate the knowledge in my messages.

image to fulfill divine destiny.

It also talks about the need to employ image consultants where necessary, to ensure a “sharper” and well-groomed personality. The book can of course serve that purpose as well, though. However, for more detailed personal grooming, I recommend that an image consultant who understands the use of colors, styles, accessories, hair, makeup, poise, posture, etiquette, good nutrition and exercise be hired.

He or she also carefully guides you on how best to manage your media and personal image, verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and also how to maximize your potentials. The benefits of these are invaluable because they boost your professional and personal life.

Is this your first book?

Yes, it is, and it’s a twovolume book. The Practice, Influence of Elegance: Inside Out is about grooming one’s

But do you know you’re one of the few pastors who preach outright elegance…

(Laughs) Beauty glorifies God. When we walk in the

•Jackie Omotosho wisdom or skill of elegance, it will bring the success we fervently pray for. But if we do not apply this wisdom, we may have to wait, and walk through rejections because we’re probably not good enough or not making good impressions at first sight. This

Puresouls takes autism awareness campaign to church •Dotun Akande

BY JOSEPHINE AGBONKHESE iving in denial can be extremely L dangerous when dealing with developmental disorders.

But

unfortunately, society is flooded with too many of such people who shun realities on the basis of spiritual belief.

This has inspired a change in awareness creation strategy for autism(a brain disorder) and related developmental disorders, and leading this initiative is Puresouls Learning Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Patrick Speech & Languages Centre, PSLC, Nigeria’s premiere school for children living with autism.

According to Mrs Dotun Akande, Executive Director, Puresouls Learning Foundation cum Founder of PSLC, the erroneous labelling of children on the autism spectrum as witchcraft and consequent neglect of such children, leaves them forever redundant and dependent on family members, as well as society, for everything.

“While hoping on your faith for

miraculous healing, you should understand that children on the autism spectrum are not bewitched, can learn and can become better people. They have cognitive abilities and I tell you this because my son is a testimony; he is now in a university studying Mathematics,” Akande said as she addressed a crowd at her first port-of-call, the Redeemed Christian Church of God Revelation Assembly parish, in Lagos recently.

She went on: “Even if you cannot afford therapy or private centres for your child, there abound several “do-it-yourself ” strategies you can employ so that they do not remain overly dependent in future.

“You have to love them and take responsibility for their outcome. Learn to use facial expressions and not cane. Key into their cognitive abilities and teach them to do things for themselves.

Stopping feeding them after serving them food and when they become very hungry, they will feed themselves. These were part of what I did for my son that helped him progress into mainstream society and even school.”

Chiding government for failing in its responsibility to support private special schools to enrol more indigent children on scholarship basis so as to help them overcome autism and lead normal lives in future, Akande said: “In the past, the State Universal Basic Education Board used to give grants to special schools for infrastructure purposes but we haven’t seen that for five consecutive years.

“Even at that, these grants are not for us to be able to help indigent families at

little or no cost. They are strictly for for infrastructure development. There is very little we can do about this because we also have to pay teachers and again, it is one pupil to a teacher. Meanwhile, most indigent children living with autism are wasting in public special schools where they are put together with children who have other disabilities.

“Government can, at least, give us land and if possible, build for us so that children of the poor with autism can also access good care and become better,” she added passionately.

However, affirming that there is always spiritual connotations to illnesses such as autism spectrum disorder, Pastor(Mrs)Adewunmi Onafanwokan, a seasoned educationist and wife to the parish pastor at the RCCG Revelation Assembly, said: “For this, the only spiritual side is that God wants to use this situation to glorify His name and that can only happen if it is well managed.”

The day-long seminar featured a wide range of lectures, including nutrition for children living with autism by Belgiumtrained Food & Science Technologist, Mrs Ijeoma Ugwu.

She said: “In feeding children living with autism, you have to go as natural as possible because most processed foods contain a lot of chemicals that cannot be easily detoxified due to their genetic predisposition.

“These chemicals lodge in their systems, move to their brains and make them behave like they are under the influence of alcohol.”

can be costly.

We could miss opportunities even though we may be qualified. While if we are polished and making good impressions on people around us, we may obtain better jobs, work fewer hours, earn more money, and accomplish more.

Isn’t this a deviation from your calling?

This wisdom is also found in God. Elegance is like God’s goodness- being good, doing right, faring well while rejoicing. The lord makes you glad and beautiful. True elegance must give glory to God. It should make people not just aware of you, but give glory to God for the beauty you radiate.

Who is your greatest role model?

Her name is Coco Channel and I talked about her in my book. Channel grew up in an orphanage but ended up being a fashion icon. She introduced black and elegance to fashion and I always like to talk about her. …and the greatest influence on your life?

My greatest influence is God. My husband is number two; he taught me how to correct people without shouting. He also of course let me go into modeling even though we are ministers.

Your advice to Nigerian women?

You do not need to be wealthy to be elegant or show your personality. Just strive to maintain your integrity and let it show in all that you do.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 37

The making of babies without conception in the bedroom •Our assisted pregnancy stories, by ASPIRE mothers

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

C

"

HILDREN cover your body better than clothes”, an African adage says. Infertility or the failure to achieve pregnancy and childbirth after a year of trying is a public health concern and socially destabilising for affected couples causing stigmas and marital disharmony.

In Nigeria, as a result of its high prevalence and personal, social and economic implications which go beyond childlessness, inability to bear children is a social and psychological stigma.

Culturally, womanhood is defined through motherhood, and infertile women usually carry the blame for a couple’s inability to conceive. Infertile women are frequently stigmatised, leading to isolation, neglect, domestic violence and sometimes polygamy.

So when a number of Nigerian couples attempted to conceive in the bedroom but failed, it was the women who took initiative to try the laboratory. After running from pillar to post for several years, one by one, along with their spouses, they went through technologically advanced but time-tested Assisted Reproductive Technology, ART, initiatives such as Invitro Fertilisation or IVF, and Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection, ICSI, among others.

In the end, science and technology triumphed where nature failed and all the couples are blessed with their own biological children. The women are elated and fulfilled. They want to share their stories and let the world to know there is solution to infertility.

Aspiring to motherhood

A few of them got together to form an advocacy group aimed at encouraging and enabling other infertility challenged couples to seek qualitative assistance from reputable ART centres in Nigeria.

The group, known as the Association for the Prevention of Infertility and Promotion of Reproductive Health and Rights, ASPIRE, is currently on a crusade to stop the C M Y K

The Okusanya children ... All IVF kids stigma and break the silence surrounding infertility, and also drive the need for effective treatment and awareness creation.

But their decision to undergo assisted reproduction technology did not come easy, ASPIRE’s Brand Ambassador, Mrs Ifeoma Emekwe, told Sunday Vanguard during an encounter.

As the first woman to undergo IVF successfully at The Bridge Clinic , she described ASPIRE as a voluntary advocacy organisation with a noble cause, arguing that for the In the end, science Nigerian family if there is no technology child there can be no and happiness. triumphed where “ASPIRE is engaging on a renewed membership drive nature failed and all with the aim to break the silence and drive the need for the couples are treatment, awareness blessed with their creation, encouragement of biological partnership with corporate own institutions so we can reach children out to the less privileged with treatment options. We want to shatter the silence. We are letting people know that there is nothing to be shy or embarrassed about infertility.

It is just a passing phase and there is the right help in the right place.”

She said the radio shows, every second Thursday of the month, an open forum which encourages demystification of

prejudices associated with infertility. “We want everyone, particularly those trying to get pregnant, male and female, to get involved to join us and spread the message. We are partnering with The Bridge Clinic and they are giving us technical and financial support. We have screened women who cannot afford IVF and are hoping for a success story from one or more of them before long”.

Recounting her experience, she said: “I have a set of twins, a boy and a girl, that will be 16 in January 2016.

My children know they are products of ART, they can talk comfortably about IVF. Everyone knows and they are at peace with it.”

Emekwe, who confessed she started out by not seeking the right help, initially had an ectopic pregnancy and lost it.

“To get pregnant in the bedroom was very difficult. I tried it for six years and it did not work. Whenever I saw a pregnant woman, I would burst into tears. At any baby shower or baptism, I would be in tears. Several of these women got married way after me I was going from pillar to post, believing everything I heard and was misled severally.

Talking the talk

“Then a friend introduced

me to The Bridge Clinic, Lagos. I went there and got my babies. It was a long battle and I had challenges but I had my mind set to achieve what I wanted. I borrowed, begged, saved, and, along with my husband, I raised money for the IVF cycle. It was team effort.”

Initially when they started IVF treatment, she and her husband kept it to themselves, but from the day she had a positive pregnancy test, she started talking about it.

“When I was pregnant, everyone knew I went through IVF because I talked about it.

I did not hide it and when I finally had my babies, it was like a circus. I overcame whatever stigma from the day I got pregnant. That is why I have not stopped talking about it.

“IVF is no longer strange, yet couples are still reluctant.

People who had their children in the bedroom can talk about it freely, and so should not condemn IVF because condemning it will discourage those who have had children through IVF to keep it to themselves and deny others from benefiting.”

She lamented that many women are going about trying to get pregnant, but often go

Continues on page 38

PAGE 38—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

The ASPIRE team: From left : Mrs. Titilayo Aketi; Deputy Brand Ambassador; Mrs Ifeyinwa Kpajie, Brand Ambassador; Mrs Ifeoma Emekwue; Mrs. Jibor Patricia and Mrs. Ifeyinwa Okusanya

Our assis assistted pregnancy ssttories, bbyy ASPIRE mother motherss Continued from page 37 to the wrong places and do not know about IVF and other ART procedures.

Emekwe stated: “What I tell couples is this: When you want to try IVF, go to a standard clinic where they will explain everything to you.

Look beyond the packaging and insist on verified success rates. For instance, a good clinic should not combine fertility treatment with antenatal care. Look for testimonies of those who have patronised thee clinics and benefited.

“At every stage you’ll be carried along. Ask questions and you’ll get the right answers. Of course there are limitations and at a stage they tell you how far they can go and that the rest is up to God. Battle with purpose.

Being a married woman who has experienced infertility, Mrs Lanre Kazeem-Abimbola knows where the shoe pinches. Lanre, Secretary of ASPIRE, has had six IVF cycles and is a proud mother of two children. “Six years after marriage, I had no pregnancy.

It was challenging, but after a few people I knew told me about ART, I decided to try it. I got to know about the group through The Bridge Clinic and a referral by a friend. It was not a difficult process although I experienced what is described as ovarian hyper stimulation.

“This was a battle I had to endure at every cycle I went through, but by measuring my medication. I got to appreciate the process more and was able to maximise my chances. I saved use some embryos, frozen embryos, I needed to tell the world to encourage people that this works. I had the IVF procedure six times, some did not work, but I have two children. I always had a C M Y K

purpose in mind and that was to have my own children. I was determined to succeed. I had seen it work for others and so, with prayers, I knew it was going to work for me as well, even when it didn’t, I didn’t lose hope. Kazeem-Abimbola who utilised her own frozen embryo for her second son said because finance is one of the biggest challenges for couples undergoing infertility, it is helpful if people have the right information. “It’s all about awareness promotion. The technology is very key, awareness is also relevant. It is all about being open minded going for assessment and that it’s out there. We need to pass the era of stigmatisation, and get informed. Information is the key. Awareness is important. It’s archaic to still be thinking that infertility is a woman’s problem without actually going to find out what the problem really is.

It has to go both ways. Mrs. Ifeyinwa Kpajie, the ASPIRE Deputy Brand Ambassador, has had four assisted pregnancies and one natural pregnancy, but wished she had known about IVF much earlier. “I waited eight years then got to know about the clinic and IVF through a friend. After the first cycle, I had a baby girl through IVF/ ICSI in May 2002, and then I went back a year later did another cycle and was blessed with a baby boy on May 23 2004.” Although a third attempt failed, it did not deter Kpajie who went for a fourth attempt that resulted in birth of twins (a boy and a girl) on May 7, 2007.

I would not have waited this long. There are so many clinics that claim to have solution but really have nothing. They only deceive you, take your money and waste your time. If you don’t go to the right place, your problems are compounded.

The main problem is going to the right place and getting the right treatment. “Eight years were wasted, if I had known earlier, I would not have waited that long. I’m part of ASPIRE to give back to society and try to put a smile on the faces of other couples looking for the miracle of childbirth”. Kpajie wants more men and women to come on board their platform in order to give back.” Let’s be enlightened that these medical procedures are here to stay and, for those who cannot afford it, let the treatments be subsidised”.

When Mrs. Ifeoluwa Oluwafolakemi Okusanya got married, her expectation,

When the twins were seven months old, I got pregnant naturally and gave birth to a baby girl that is now aged 7.

Natural birth after 4 I’m praying for IVF cycles God to bless others “When the twins were seven that are still months old, I got pregnant naturally and gave birth to a looking for the baby girl that is now aged 7. I’m praying for God to bless others fruit of the womb that are still looking for the fruit of the womb. If I had this knowledge earlier, if I knew what I know now about good clinics,

like every other bride, was to have a child as soon as possible, but it took her six years to achieve the feat.

“My own clause is that I got married to an only child and so I was under pressure to conceive quickly. By the time I got introduced to The Bridge Clinic, I had gome practically everywhere. I went for series of tests and, in the process, an abnormality was discovered.

“There were so many tests, and it was while they were trying to transfer the embryo that they found that I have two holes leading into my uterus instead of one. I was told that I was born like that and that it was not acquired. But that was what was making it difficult for me to conceive. I also had blocked fallopian tubes and they were flushed four times.

If hadn’t gone for treatment, how would I have known that I had two holes in my womb?

If they had not discovered the abnormality, I don’t think I would have ever got pregnant.

Fulfillment

“Today, I’m a working mother of three children. I did two IVF cycles in two years consecutively, in 2012 and 2013 which produced three children”. Okusanya had the first IVF cycle and had her first baby, a baby girl, October 7, 2012.

No regrets

Mrs Patricia Jibor who was married 10 years without any issue has no regrets whatsoever that she eventually tried IVF. Jibor told Sunday Vanguard that she had actually been pregnant naturally twice previously but lost both pregnancies. “Mine was 10 years, no issue. I had been pregnant before, but it was an ectopic pregnancy. I was so unlucky because the ectopic pregnancy ruptured and they had to cut out one part of my fallopian tube.

When the second pregnancy came, it was still the same ectopic and I was operated again. I had the operation at Military Hospital, Yaba, from where one of my doctors referred me to The Bridge Clinic with a letter. At The Bridge, Jibor was advised to have an operation for fibroid at another hospital.

“I was not cut open and, after about 2-3 weeks, I went back.

I was injecting myself; so the first cycle failed. I did not give up because I had faith that it was going to work for me. I went for the second chance.

The second one resulted in my baby girl.

“I have no regrets. I am fulfilled, that is why I can share my story with you, and I believe I should still have more time to talk to others who can benefit. I would like to educate and enlighten more people about availability of fertility treatment. It is to encourage those with faith to stand by their fate and not give up. First time success After her wedding in 2002, Mrs Titilayo Aketi, waited for something to happen in the form of pregnancy and eventual childbirth, but nothing happened. “The following year, it was the same thing. It was a very serious challenge for me, because I was seeing women getting pregnant everywhere and asking myself, God, why me?

What have I done?”, she narrated to Sunday Vanguard.

However, in 2004, the Aketis went to the hospital, did all the tests and discovered there was a low sperm count issue.

“We kept hoping, but it was in 2005 that IVF was introduced to us. We couldn’t afford to pay for it but God used my boss in our favour because he actually sponsored the cycle”. Before undergoing the first cycle, she urged her husband to inform the family they were going for IVF. “The first time I went to The Bridge Clinic was in September 2006.

I told God that I was going to do the procedure just once and have my baby because we had no money for another cycle. I started my treatment around November 2006 and took in January and put to bed on 1st September 2007.

My twins, both boys, are a replica of my husband and their grandmother. Although I’m a newcomer to ASPIRE, the purpose is to break the silence. To make people who have benefited to come out, I have been encouraging couples with infertility challenge to take informed action. There is so much ignorance and a lot of misconceptions about IVF, including myths that children born through IVF are not normal. But that is far from truth. There is no need for any stigma and discrimination about IVF children. My children are healthy and so intelligent”.

Unfortunately, Titi lost her husband when the twins were just five months old. The boys are eight years old and in primary five.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 39

D.S.P Alamiyeseigha: A simple man caught in a complex dilemma

BY LINDSAY BARRETT

I

f you stand in the centre of the Swali Market in Yenagoa on the busiest of its well paved internal streets, which is known as the Alamieyeseigha Line, you might gain a little insight into the reason why D.S.P Alamieyeseigha (or “Alams” as most of the ordinary people in the state fondly called him) came to be regarded as something of a folk hero.

When he came to power in 1999 and took office in 2000 the Yenagoa main market was a confusing jumble of local vendors spilling into the middle of the public thoroughfare in the small hamlet of Ovom near where the sports stadium stands today. In the first few months of his tenure DSP commenced the building of a modern market complex on the then outskirts of the town.

Today it is no longer on the outskirts but is instead a central facility that serves as testimony to his visionary awareness of the ordinary people’s needs. By the same token the major and most successful housing complexes yet built in the state, at the so-called Black Market site, and the Ekeki/Azikoro Road lay-out and Opolo Commissioner ’s quarters (now an estate occupied by the middle and higher income purchasers of the units) serve as testimony to his desire to encourage and attract the people of the state to settle at home.

It is not that these efforts were without problems, but the priorities that DSP chose to focus on early in his tenure as Governor showed that he had simple and realistic goals.

He wanted to provide the basic services and amenities that would make life at least tolerable for the average citizen as his first objective. Because of this he often fell on the wrong side of those who felt that he should be initiating prestige projects that would enable him distribute political largesse as a major objective. He did not always resist this temptation and unfortunately some of the most distressing consequences of his earliest forays into governance emanated from this practice. He was however an open and brutally frank individual. Whenever he felt cheated by the inability of some of his political cronies to fulfil the commitments that he entrusted them with he could be highly vocal in his protestations.

DSP was a surprisingly unsophisticated political operator who always seemed ready to say exactly what he meant in any discourse. He never chose diplomacy where frank talk could suffice and this may have earned him more enemies than friends, but he was always smiling. He had a simple and straightforward ap-

D.S.P (centre) at home with community members in Amassoma.

proach to human relationships that often disarmed those who interacted with him and he once explained to me that he felt life was too short to maintain grudges against those who might wrong him.

According to this philosophical attitude as proclaimed by him those who do you wrong do themselves more harm than good especially if you forgive them. It is a sad fact that this viewpoint of his was eventually to be put to the test in no mean order by the ordeal that overwhelmed his governorship experience.

Regardless of how many interpretations or twists in the facts are applied to the narrative the inescapable truth is that DSP was targeted by political adversaries when he was shopped as a transporter of cash without regulatory revelation to the UK authorities. Those who claim to be approaching the story from a viewpoint of objective truth say that he deserved to be caught, but they never ask why he was selected to be shopped when he could hardly have been the only guilty party at the time. In addition to this it later became clear that DSP had been engaged in political contestation that made his removal from the scene desirable for the machinations of several powerful groups and individuals in the Nigerian political arena and the unseemly glee with which they pounced on his misfortunes tended to suggest that they might even have been responsible for initiating his troubles. Surprisingly some of these same people later surfaced as allies of their erstwhile victim in political groupings that were meant to build a consensus of opinion in which his stalwart championing of the cause of Ijaw solidarity was of particular relevance. It was in such gatherings that his vital importance as a bridge builder

DSP Alamieyeseigha may very well be remembered in the wider context of Nigerian history as a disgraced public figure but he will always be regarded closer to home among the people of Bayelsa State in particular and the Ijaws and other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta as something of a martyr

and a valuable mobiliser of support especially at home came into play. No matter how complex the political scene in which he participated became DSP’s relevance was always directly linked to his support and credibility at home, which his ordeal at the centre did little to change and might even have strengthened.

The fact that his military career shaped his approach to human relationships is an integral and instructive element in reaching any understanding of the Alamieyeseigha phenomenon as a political symbol. He was determined to remain at the centre of affairs of the state that he had served with exemplary attachment to the grassroots ethos in spite of several lapses of principle on the part of some of his

close allies. This assumption of indispensability reflected his past as a member of the elitist traditions of the military institution but it also symbolised his concentrated attachment to the consolidation of the communal experience that the establishment of Bayelsa State represented for the Ijaw peoples. In many respects the fact that he became the first elected Governor of the state placed an almost unbearable burden on his shoulders. He was expected to be much more cautious in his approach to intercourse with the almighty Federal Government than his nature predicated, and when his problems arose it soon became clear that he was being targeted for destruction rather than enjoying the privilege and protection that his status should have provided.

Nothing could have defeated the populist sentiments of DSP Alamieyeseigha more than the spectre of the formerly loyalist members of the state assembly being coerced into creating an impeachment case against him. When this was finally crafted and his disgrace was effectively consummated he appeared to be resigned to his fate but happy that he had escaped the original charges in the UK. However this was bound to be a shadow hanging over him because of the circumstances in which he absconded from the British justice system and when it was announced recently that the UK was about to seek his extradition it appears that he was thrown into deep distress.

Chief Alamieyeseigha for all his bluster and show of bravado was a very sensitive and humane person and it was always obvious that he felt that his ordeal was the product of betrayal and treachery on the part of those he had tried to serve rather than any attempt to discipline him for financial

misconduct. He always maintained that the cases brought against him were replete with circumstantial rather than empirical evidence of misappropriation of funds. Both in the UK and here in Nigeria in fact he was charged with unexplained expenditure and transference of substantial amounts but strangely enough the cases brought against him were largely silent on whether these funds were siphoned off from traceable public accounts.

DSP Alamieyeseigha may very well be remembered in the wider context of Nigerian history as a disgraced public figure but he will always be regarded closer to home among the people of Bayelsa State in particular and the Ijaws and other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta as something of a martyr. His personal generosity to several individuals and his concern for the welfare and empowerment of young people in the neglected communities of the Niger Delta are on record. He succeeded in installing several infrastructural initiatives against the greatest of odds, such as when he decided to deploy state funds to dualise and expand the main road into the state capital even though it was a Federal Highway. He was proud of the fact that he was able to complete a major highway to his hometown of Amassoma at a time when even his own party ’s top advisers were still claiming that such roads were uneconomical and almost impossible to construct. He also considered the founding of the Niger Delta University, located in his hometown of Amassoma as one of his most valuable achievements.

In the final analysis Chief Alamieyeseigha may very well have fallen victim to his own simplistic response to a highly complex situation in a country where all the leaders are in a constant contest to share the revenue from a single resource, oil. The fact that this resource is the most substantial contribution of his new state to the central coffers might have been regarded by him as justification for his confrontation with the powerful forces that eventually defeated him. But one thing that is certain is that he never regarded himself as working for the simple rewards of personal aggrandisement. In everything he did he sought to build a structure that would enhance the collective empowerment of his people. His downfall might have come about simply because he regarded himself as a symbol of the neglect and disenfranchisement of his people and sought to show off the improvement in their status by exhibiting his own success at acquiring property. This might be an unforgiveable presumption but those who know the depth of “Alams” commitment to his people will find it easy to forgive him, and this might even include many of those who betrayed him in his struggle with the political forces that undermined his career.

PAGE 40—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

TRIBUTE The Quintessential T.O.T: An Unrepentant Zikist

By Uchenna Nwankwo

I

T was at about 6am, Tuesday, October 13, 2015 that my friend, Chief Torch O. Taire, sadly, passed onto the great beyond. It has been so unsettling that I could not write a word to his name until I was recently persuaded by a mutual friend, Mr Peter Arigbe, to do so. I, therefore, took cognisance of the import of the situation and the need to share my thoughts and feelings about this great man of our time that had come to represent different things to different people.

TOT, as he was fondly called, was born in Ekenwa, near Benin City, on November 26, 1933. In his early life, he sojourned in virtually every part of southern Nigeria. This enabled TOT to speak so many languages, namely: his native Uvwie-Urhobo, standard-Urhobo, Itsekiri (the language of his mother’s people), Bini or Edo, Efik,Yoruba and, of course, English very fluently as well as a smattering of Igbo and Bekwel, the language of the Bakwele people of southern Cameroons. Of course, his upbringing and deep interaction with so many different peoples and ethnicities left a huge mark on his personality and worldview, making him one of the most detribalised Nigerians I have had the good fortune to interact with.

Little wonder, therefore, that TOT had bosom friends from every part of the country and beyond; men like the poet, Christopher Okigbo, who was his best man when he wedded his heartthrob, the elegant and gracious Abeke Adefemi (nee Williams) - one of the queens of Queen’s Hall, University of Ibadan, in the 1960s.The marriage is blessed with two sons, Jolomi and Tajin, and a daughter, Eyitemi, and now many grandchildren.

Some of his other friends include Prof Ben Obumselu, the great literary critic; the late Segun Awolowo; the late Lisa of Ondo, Bayo Akinnola; the late Femi Jibowu; Isidore Okpewho, prize winning author and novelist; Amb Tayo Ogunsilere; the late Tayo Akpata; BrigadierGeneral Bayo Oduwole; the late Brigadier-General Ibrahim Bako; General Wushishi; Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu; Dr Uma Eleazu; Senator Onyeabo Obi; Aminu Abdulahi, the Katsina prince; the late Dr Ibrahim Tahir, distinguished Cambridge

academic who was Shagari’s Internal Affairs Minister; the late Ajie Ukpabi Asika; Lindsay Barret; Sam Amuka; Eddy Agbahor; Chief Bengy Apollo; the late Hope Harriman; Prof EgetonUvieghara; Emeritus Prof J P Clark; the late Chief Bola Ige; Fred Mowoe; Broderick Bozimo; Dr Osude, founding DG of NAFDAC; reverred artistes, ErhaborEmokpae, the late Ben Enwonwu and late Ben Osawe; the late Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, exstudent of Hope Waddell Inst., Calabar;Festus Odimegwu; Felix Ohiweri, former Chairman, Nigeria Breweries; Paschal Dozie, founder, Diamond Bank & Chairman, MTN (Nigeria); the late Brigadier-General George T Kurubo, first Chief of Staff, Nigeria Air Force & later Nigeria’s Ambassador in Moscow, USSR;Otunba Mike Adenuga, Chairman, Globacom; Brigadier Mobalaji Johnson, pioneer Military Administrator of Lagos State;Enzo Ekangaki, a former Secretary-General of OAU who was TOT’s primary school-mate in Victoria, Cameroons and later at the Hope Waddell Inst., Calabar; the late President Milton Obote of Uganda and the late Prime-Minister Margaret Thatcher. TOT was an international citizen in many respects. His relationship with Ghanaians was sometimes a little too disconcerting.

Successful pharmacist, businessman

TOT was a highly successful pharmacist and businessman. In his days, he was very wealthy. He was a

He was a philanthropist of note, who provided many Nigerians and Ghanaians the support base that saw them through schools and colleges, and made many successful in both the public and private sectors

•Chief Torch O. Taire... successful pharmacist and businessman

philanthropist of note, who provided many Nigerians and Ghanaians the support base that saw them through schools and colleges, and made many successful in both the public and private sectors.

TOT was a financier of great causes. He financed, housed and catered for political exiles and dissidents from Jerry Rawlings’ Ghana both in Lagos and London. But it was not his wealth that brought me close to TOT; which is not to say that I do not care about material wealth. What actually endeared TOT to me were his intellectual depth and vigour, and his politics; I think, even though TOT was not a politician. TOT was well-read and studious. His rendition of Benin history and the Bini roots of the Oyo Empire, the Ife, Lagos and Itsekiri kingdoms qualify him, in my opinion, for a serious award from the Nigerian Historical Society, if there is one; ditto for TOT’s mastery of the chieftaincy landscape in Calabar and environs. Similarly, his knowledge of the world armament industry, stockpiles/quality, sophisticated naval shipyards, aerospace gadgetry, etc was in-depth and intimidating. TOT’s library was the envy of all around him. He was one of the greatest art collectors Nigeria has ever produced.

His sprawling house in Anthony Village, Lagos is a permanent gallery for

connoisseurs and students alike. Indeed, his houses everywhere were Mecca of sorts to his collection of equally distinguished friends – top diplomats, military people, retired and serving senior public servants and top executives of multinationals, etc. His people at UvwieUrhobo held him in high esteem, especially for his indelible contributions to the struggle that led to the creation of their Uvwie Local Government Area during the Abacha regime. The traditional ruler of Uvwie, Eruowho II, conferred on him the prestigious title of “Eni of Uvwie”- Elephant of Uvwie – in appreciation. The boys called him “King of the Boys” because TOT loved and toasted them and they too loved him.

Talking about TOT’s politics, one is reminded of his remarks at the launch of Joe Igbokwe’s book, Ndi-Igbo 25 years after Biafra, in 1995 or so. TOT was “quietly enduring the noisy exaggerated speeches at the occasion about Igbo marginalisation in post-war Nigerian politics” when he was commandeered to the podium by the Chairman of the occasion, Chief Bola Ige, to launch the book. TOT opened up by reminding the distinguished audience, largely made up of Ndi-Igbo, that in the Second Republic (1979-1983) and largely resulting from Azikiwe’ sin sight, the old Eastern Region

– the supposed losers in the Nigeria-Biafra war-produced the Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and a good number of powerful ministers and important functionaries of the Shagari presidency while he and his fellow Midwesterners, who were supposed to be part of the winners in that war, had practically nothing to show for their much-vaunted victory. In effect, although the North took the one and only available position of President or number one citizen, the old Eastern Region, the erstwhile Biafra, took the numbers two, three and four positions, amongst others, yet we talk about Igbo marginalisation.

You could almost hear the pin drop while he spoke; the audience did not find TOT’s commentary particularly flattering or funny, for notwithstanding the fact that it ran counter to the grain and mood of the audience; it was also incisive, true and unassailable.Actually, TOT was indirectly telling the Igbo that if they adopt neo-Zikist methods, they will not need to cry about political marginalisation in Nigeria anymore nor hanker after Biafra.

The Okigbo remembrance

TOT passed a night at my Onitsha residence when we both travelled to Ojoto, Anambra State, for a Christopher Okigbo remembrance. That night, we spent much time discussing the large Nigeria countrystate. He was unequivocal in his advocacy for Nigeria’s return to the parliamentary system of government as a veritable part of the way forward for the country. His nostalgia and admiration for the nationalism of Zik is not in doubt. Like Zik, he had spent much of his life outside his home-base. This might have affected his worldview, adaptability and appreciation of other cultures and Nigerian nationalism!

Beloved TOT, you have made your mark and I know that your contributions will continue to bear fruit for a long time to come. As we commited your remains to mother-earth on November 26, 2015, which was your posthumous 82nd birthday, I salute you, my courageous friend and gem of the UvwieUrhobo Kingdom, and wish you unfettered passage to the land of the golden light!

Adieu TOT!! May your gentle patriotic soul rest in the bosom of the Lord!!!

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 41

crossfire STAND OFF IN BAYELSA

‘Federal might will fail you!’ ...Go kson att ac ks ex- Go ...Govv Dic Dickson attac acks Govv Sylv Sylvaa •Calls APC candidate ‘Guy Man’ Bayelsa State governorship election is only six days away. In this interview, Governor Seriake Dickson, who is also the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the poll, hits his rival, Chief Timpre Sylva, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party at the centre, saying ‘federal might’ will not make him Sylva win the election.

W

hat difference have you made in the lives of the

people?

We have changed the face of politics in this state by putting the people at the centre of development. Our attitude to accountability is second to none. For example, every month we announce what we receive in terms of revenue and how we spend it to empower the people.

I believe this will be a standard moving forward as far as governorship and other elections in this state are concerned. I heard that my good friend (APC governorship candidate Timpre Sylva) has intensified his campaign.

That is how it should be, not threatening our people with ‘federal might’,hoping that INEC will write results for him, that SSS operatives are his errand boys and the JTF will handcuff people for him. He is flying around in helicopter but I am going around as a simple governor in boats and trekking with the people because, to me, the people must be liberated from these greedy persons that do not care about the development of the state. I am taking our message of peace, security and development to the communities and telling the people their future is in their hands, not in Abuja or Lagos. I am very happy about the warm reception and the endorsements I have received. I am just coming from Agudama Ekpetiema and the women came out to tie wrapper on me, the men gave me presents. So many of these people( our opponents) are disconnected from voters. I am busy with the persons who will vote and, as we move towards the election, Bayelsans will know that the ‘federal might’ and security they are using to intimidate people will not work.

We are sensitizing the people that no one wearing uniform will intimidate them. They will

vote with their PVCs and protect their votes. There is no magic that can be performed for the APC to win.

In the course of your campaign, you have preached peace and security, yet there was a clash between APC and PDP supporters in Ekeremor that led to the death of one Andrew John.

Let me use this opportunity to condemn any act of confrontation, particularly violent confrontation, that leads to loss of life or injuries irrespective of the party of the person affected. As governor, it is my responsibility to protect everyone. A situation where a minister goes to his community and openly threatens that if people do not keep an eye on their children on election day, the children will be killed is criminal. We should condemn that kind of utterance. On the incident at Ekeremor, based on the preliminary report at my disposal, the gentleman who died was the one who attacked PDP supporters who wanted to erect a banner. From the report I have, he was rushed to hospital for treatment and remained there for two days and then, against medical advice, returned home believing he was well. Then he developed complications and died. The police are investigating, so we await the full facts. In Gbarian Ekeptiama, PDP supporters were attacked and, as we speak, two have been hospitalised. In other parts of the state, such attacks are taking place but I condemn all of these. We should focus on winning the election, galvanizing supporters and telling the people to reject the government of killing and Famotangbe.

Bayelsans must not hobnob with discredited people. This man (Sylva) could not do the intervention I did that enables him to drive to Nembe, he could not dualize the Azikoro

*Dickson... I am out to do more in second term

He is more travelled than I am, so he is right when he refers to me as I hear as a bush man. I say he is a ‘guy man’, but our people say I am a ‘country man’ because a ‘country man’ will use boat and canoe to see his country people which is the same transportation system they are used to Road which I did. Under him for five years, the road to Amassoma was impassable, he could not dream of electrifying communities.

Unfortunately,because of greed, even people that were on exile during his government are supporting him. Why did they not join APC from the beginning? I do not know how many of them will be in NDDC. I do not know how many of them he will make Directors and Board members as he has promised . They do not mind handing over the future of their own children. I condemn violence and I want to call on Sylva and his party to also

condemn it.

How confident are you that you will win this election and have you done enough in your current term to deserve another mandate of the people?

I have performed better than my good friend if we consider the number of schools we have built during this tenure in spite of the short fall in allocation. If I do not feel confident that I have done enough, then I do not know the governor that should run for second term because, frankly, if a governor were to do the sort of things I have done, he will win.

Talking about PDP losing traditional strongholds, there is nothing like that. The way the last general elections went, our party made mistakes in some areas, and, in politics, when you have been in power for this long, you make mistakes; and there are consequences. Bayelsa is different. We have a performing governor and, given free and fair election between myself and Sylva, forget the parties. That is why I am not surprised that communities are endorsing me. I have achieved what if a governor does in eight years, you will clap for him. Our people know it,people outside know it. And I am out to do more in second term; so I will get the second term by the grace of God. You once described yourself as the ‘Countryman Governor ’ and your good friend of the APC as the ‘guy man’.

What ideological connotations do these terms have?

It is a ‘guy man’ who unleashes violence on the people to intimidate them while purportedly campaigning for their support.

He has held political offices and was a governor for almost five years and does not have a house in the state capital to sleep in, not to talk of a hut of his own, even in his own local government or community?

Who is to develop your community for you? He is more travelled than I am, so he is right when he refers to me as I hear as a bush man. I say he is a ‘guy man’, but our people say I am a ‘country man’ because a ‘country man’ will use boat and canoe to see his country people which is the same transportation system they are used to. And I have slept in all local government areas including his own local government which he has not done. I slept in Southern Ijaw.

‘Guy man’ should sleep there, not hop in and out. Even as a governor, he was hopping in and out of the country. In fact, he has no vision. You do not come to be a governor because of ego, because you want to blow siren or because you have friends in high places that can help you get it. I was prepared for governorship.

That is why when I came in, you could see how we have established a paradigm shift and, if God helps and the people realise the need to protect their future, no ‘guy man’ in Bayelsa can be governor again because this

Continues on page 43

PAGE 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

crossfire STAND OFF IN BAYELSA

‘You are afraid of your own shadow!’

...Ex-Go ires at Go kson ...Ex-Govv. Sylv Sylvaa ffires Govv Dic Dickson •Says

PDP candidate is ‘Bush Man’

Former Governor Timpre Sylva hits Governor Seriake Dickson in the battle for Bayelsa State.

The governorship election in the state holds only six days away. Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the poll, says Dickson, flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will fall at the election. The APC candidate spoke in an interview.

Excerpts:

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA, Yenagoa

T

here is the question being asked by many, including your opponent, and that is, what did you forget in the Government House since 2011 when the court annulled your tenure?

Anybody that asks that question is ignorant. I left Bayelsa State Government House unwillingly and all Bayelsans know the circumstances under which I left, and, since then, no other opportunity has presented itself for me to recontest for that office. This is the first opportunity and so I don’t know why anybody will ask me if I forgot anything. Actually, the event of 2012 should be fresh in the mind of every well-meaning Bayelsan. I was disqualified by the powers, that-be from contesting an office I was occupying at that time. Most well-meaning Bayelsans think this is the time for God’s justice and justice being done by bringing me back and that’s why you see this overwhelming support.

I didn’t forget anything in Bayelsa State Government House but government, as far as we are concerned, is occupied by a usurper who came and used federal might. Today, when they shout about federal might?.

Look at Yenagoa; do you see army check point? Now, take your mind back to the election in 2012, we had over a hundred check points in Bayelsa, manned by fierce-looking soldiers. The Government House was blocked with an armoured personnel carrier, APC, and, of course, military helicopters were flying over Bayelsa. Now, nothing of

Today, those people who barred me from contesting that election are no longer in office; so the Bayelsa people have the opportunity of choosing their rightful leader and that is why I have presented myself such is happening and yet they still scream because they are scared of their own shadows. The people of Bayelsa would have given me a second tenure if I had been allowed to contest but I was barred from recontesting that election.

Today, those people who barred me from contesting that election are no longer in office; so the Bayelsa people have the opportunity of choosing their rightful leader and that is why I have presented myself.

Your party, the APC, dislodged your brother, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, from the presidency; don’t you think this might affect your chances at the poll?

I don’t think this will have any impact on the election.

Every Ijaw man should be fair to me and the APC. The former President set the scene for his exit from office

by bringing war to his home. He started the fire and he didn’t start the fire in any other place, he started it from home. After I was removed from office, I went on exile and, when I came back, I was arrested many times. They never left me alone, they wanted to kill me, they wanted to jail me, they wanted to do everything to me. I was visited by elders from different parts of the country and the question on the lips of all those elders was, ‘do you not have elders in Bayelsa State who can intervene between yourself and the President?’ And I had no answer to give them.

Now, I was pushed to the wall, I was pushed out of PDP. I didn’t leave PDP, I was pushed out and they were very joyful about it.

Now, I saw an opportunity to find a roof over my head in the APC and the Lord crowned our effort. Now, the former President is history.

If he had brought everybody together, I mean put his own house together, Amaechi (former Rivers governor) wouldn’t have left probably, I would not have left probably. In 2011, we all supported him but, unfortunately, he himself and those who were around him felt we were no longer needed. Jonathan lost the election and the people of Bayelsa must move on.

So, well-meaning Bayelsans need to look my way and, I think, many Bayelsans know this and that’s why they are already looking my way. And that is why we are definitely going to win the December 5 election.

What informed the choice of your deputy, because people say he is over 70 years. Is it because you want a man who is not ambitious?

*Sylva... This election not about Dickson or me the Ijaw nation? Nothing.

Change means so many The person who loves Ijaw things to different people people must take Bayelsa to but, to me, there is only one the centre and this is what definition of change. is going to improve the lot Change, to me, means a of Bayelsa people. So, if we different way of doing are talking of Ijaw patriot, I things. Stupidity is defined consider myself one and, I as doing the same thing and think, today, that some wellexpecting to get a different meaning Ijaw people are result. We must begin to do quite happy with me things differently if we because they believe that expect a different result. without me, there would What informed my choice of have been no link with the a deputy was the fact that if centre, there would have I carried on with the same been no bridge-builder. So, ticket as I had before, then it I think that, on the will amount to doing things contrary, the APC is the the same way. I am 51 years patriotic party and I am the old and I thought I need an patriotic one. And I think older person with experience the Ijaw people should to be a counter balance. That embrace the APC because is why I chose this very this is our time to really get experienced retired school to the centre, we have to teacher. He is also a very live in this same country, good Christian. whether our president lost the election or not. It is not Your opponent, the the Ijaw people that lost the incumbent gover nor, has election because Ijaw said that the election is people did not contest not going to be about election. I saw the PDP and him or you, but about the PDP presidential the people of Ijaw which candidate, who was an Ijaw cast your candidature as son, but he lost and we have anti-Ijaw interest. How to carry on in this state, we do you react? have to carry on in this In a way, I agree with the country. governor that the election is not about me or about him, Let us go back to the but it is about Bayelsans and era when you were about the Ijaw people. But gover nor. There is the when you take it further, you insinuation that you did can see the state of mind of not perform and left a the man we are talking lot of abandoned about. He is confused. I had projects, including the said that none of APC or airport project. What do PDP is an Ijaw party, they you say? are national parties. What That, to me, is the can he do for the Ijaw nation continuation of my on his own? What can he opponent’s frustration and possibly or what can Bayelsa, on its own, do for Continues on page 43

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 43

crossfire ‘Federal might will fail you!’

Continued from page 41 job is a serious job. When he was governor, he surrounded himself with people who led him to abysmal failure instead of guiding him and then they abandoned him. Instead of taking responsible as the leader of his government, he says we should hold other people responsible for the atrocities of Famotangbe. Up till now, he does not get it that leadership is about responsibility.

On security at the polls, security agencies are working on that and I want to use this opportunity to warn those who may be attempting, out of desperation, that it will not work, it will land them in trouble. Security agencies are no. fools and you young people do not believe when people tell you lies. I want to advise our young ones to go and vote whoever they want, instead of being used, because that will not work.

What form of assurance can you give to the people of Bayelsa State regarding their safety as they file out on December 5 to cast their votes?

I have confidence in the security forces. I always say that the security officers in Bayelsa are the best any governor will want to have. All I am asking for as governor and candidate is peace. I know that the citizens of this state have nothing to fear as far as their security is concerned, before, during and after the election. And because this is an individual election, not a national one, the security forces here will have a lot of support. Any criminal who decides to be used and those who choose to use criminals will not succeed. My assurance is that Bayelsans should not have any fear. But you are under no obligation to cooperate with any security official or personnel who plays partisan politics or who has been suborned to intimidate you,that one is a bad egg. I want to use this opportunity to call on APC and their leaders not to undermine the security of the state. They should not see security officers as an extension of APC merely because APC is in control of the Federal Government.

They should allow them to do their job.

They should leave security agents out of their politics so they can provide security for all of us.

What is your response to the allegations by your rival: that you accused him of master minding the killings of Bayelsans through Famotangbe, his security outfit, that you are not accurate on the debt his administration left behind,that you took more loans than his administration and more?

On loans, I had opportunity to set up an enquiry as he did to expose everything he did as a governor, but I did not do that and I am not planning to do it. I respect the office of the governor.

I accord him the respect that is rightly due to him because it takes the grace of God for you to be a governor out of millions. I take him up on issues.

Bayelsans know the amount of money he took. If you were to know the pressure I was under from some of the people around him as to how I should handle and deal with him, he will be shocked. But I do not think we should go that way. The people know about the loan I took. But taking a loan is not a problem. He took a bond. The issue has to do with what was done with the money that was borrowed. For example,

*The electorate... to decide Dickson, Sylva’s fate the airport that he could have done, he did not do. When we were dualizing Isaac Boro Express Road, some water pipes had to be removed. But I have not heard any testimony that water was running continually before the dualisation.

He also said the road we are doing to Ekeremor is a political gimmick. Well, if to construct a road within this short period I am here and to the extent I have done it, something he could not do and his minister could not do, is a political gimmick, then I want to have more political gimmicks like that because we believe in constructing roads. He does not have anything to campaign with.

Talking about why I am saying his government did not do enough on security, that is what I was trying to say that when you are a leader, you take responsibility. If you set up an organisation like Famotangbe and you put people in charge, as someone in ultimate authority, as the chief executive officer, you take responsibility for the decisions you take. So he cannot run away from that. I want to use this opportunity to ask that he apologises to Bayelsans for the atrocities his government committed. He shouldn’t rationalise it. It is annoying when he says he did not know, because some of the victims were killed in Government

House. I do not want to call names.

People were arrested and taken into Government House instead of police stations.

In going round the communities, what are those things you noticed on ground that will influence your next tenure if you are re-elected?

Will there be a need to develop the communities?

My tour has opened my eyes more than ever before to the realities of rural life and particularly to the possibilities of our people. God bless our women, mothers and grandmothers!

As we tour communities, we see them happy, showing heartfelt appreciation for one school or health center that was built or renovated. When you compare that to some people in the cities, the socalled political elites that get billions of naira worth of contracts and the fact that there is a delay in payment makes them your enemies instantly and they want to bring you down; people you have given platforms to serve talking as if they never knew you and you are their worst enemy, you will be shocked.

I believe that with what I have seen in the course of my tour, in the next tenure, community development will be a priority because I have seen that one little investment in your community touches many lives and changes their lives and the way they perceive government. I will find a way of emphasizing community needs in the budget, particularly the issue of women empowerment.

‘You are afraid of your own shadow!’

Continued from page 42 paranoid. When I came into government, there were a lot of ongoing projects, and I did not call them abandoned projects. Every government starts a project and if it doesn’t finish such project, the incoming government finishes it.

Banquet hall was one such project, it was started by Alamieyeseigha. I completed it. The treasury building was another I completed. The judiciary building, the library, I completed them. The way I left office, nobody would have thought I would have completed all those projects because I left in the middle of my tenure.

I wasn’t given time to complete the projects. When Dickson leaves now, he will leave a lot of projects also uncompleted. Does it mean I will consider them abandoned projects because he did not complete them? He has abandoned his own projects now, which is the real meaning of abandoned projects. All the hospitals he has been building have been abandoned. He has abandoned the Isaac Boro Road; he is the one that is abandoning his own projects.

Now if you ask me about the Musa Yar’ Adua Airport, I sited that airport there because I felt it is viable economically in that spot. When I did the feasibility study, we found out that spot was equal distance from Port-Harcourt and to Warri. So we felt an airport like that will be very useful to our people and people outside our state like Patani, Ughelli and Ahoada, and thus boast economic activities.

Governor Dickson says you are a ‘guy-man’ and that the income of the state does not need a ‘guy-man’; and another thing is the issue of debts from Alamieyeseigha to Jonathan down to you. Can you tell

Bayelsans how much did you inherite, how much did you owe, how much did you leave behind when you left office?

I wonder what Dickson means by a ‘guy man’ but I think I am a typical Bayelsan. Dickson is just a disgrace to himself and I don’t know what he meant by ‘guy man’, but everybody knows Dickson is a bushman. That is why he doesn’t have that self confidence, that is why he calls me ‘guy man’. He is ‘country-man’ and I am ‘guy man’.

You also raised the issue of debt burden. I really wish he could be truthful. Unfortunately people are full of lies.

The figures are there. I inherited debts from Jonathan. Now, what we did was to service those debts. I took 50 billion naira bond because we felt that if we serviced the loans alone to commercial banks, it was costing us a lot. And then we took part of the bond to pay contractors handling Brass Road and the Melford Okilo Hospital. The bond was structured in such a way that it was a long term; so it could be easier for government to pay the interest. We were able to put all the loans that we inherited into that bond.

I will never lie to Bayelsans. I had a commercial loan stock of N20 billion which I was hoping to finish paying

by May that year and I would have finish paying it if I, was there by then.

Now, the government of Jonathan was owing contractors N111 billion and, by the time I was leaving, debts to contractors were about N207 billion. I inherited a debt of N111 billion and what Dickson inherited from me was N207 billion contractors’ debts. In my first year in government, I received N99 billion from the Federation Account. The first year Dickson came, he received N191 billion. Second year I received

N154 billion, Dickson received N215 billion. The third year I received N106 billion, Dickson received N156 billion.

So what is he talking about? Now, he is taxing civil servants which I did not do.

He has got more to deploy for development but has he done so? Now, he says he has been paying N20billion commercial loan from 2012 till now?

Bayelsans should take note of this, Dickson has borrowed more money than any government. Do you know that those transparency buildings I built from the money we received from the EFCC have been given out as collateral to banks to borrow money?

The PDP has continued to accuse you of using the security outfit, Famotangbe, to maim and kill innocent Bayelsans during your tenure.

I have always challenged the Dickson government, if they make that claim, to show me a name, half a name or two of Bayelsans that were killed by Famotangbe.

Famotangbe was a security outfit; Dickson himself realizes that there was the need for a specialized outfit. The decision to establish the security outfit was taken in a security council meeting because we need to set up a specialized outfit to combat the rising wave of crime, especially coming at the time after militancy.

So we decided to set up a security outfit in collaboration with the police.

That outfit was overseen by Pererich, my security adviser, but under the police. If any crime was committed by Famotangbe, Pererich is now working with Governor Dickson and so I challenge him to arrest Pererich if or probably order for my arrest. Those are just sweeping comments made by a drowning man. As far as Dickson is concerned, it is just the name that is the problem and the name was not my suggestion.

PAGE 44 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

The reason we are suffering this lingering scarcity of fuel is because only NNPC is importing the product now. In reality, the NNPC system has collapsed, but the private sector players like the oil marketers are those assisting NNPC to bring in the product for domestic and industrial consumption

Picture of fuel scarcity in Lagos, Mr. Tunji Adeniji as inset

Nigerians groan as petrol scarcity lingers!

STORIES BY UDEME CLEMENT The scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, which started last month in same parts of the country has worsened as the product, at the weekend, was being sold for between N150 and N200 per litre, instead of the official pump price of N87, depending on the area. The scarcity affected transport fares in Lagos which went up.

In the metropolis, many service outlets were out of petrol, leaving people to patronise Jerry cancarrying black market dealers along the road. Whereas some mega stations sold at N100 per litre with long queues causing so much traffic on the expressway, smaller filling stations sold at N150 per litre and black market N200. At Agric-area of Ikorodu, the product was sold for N150 per litre. Along Ajah axis, after Lekki second toll gate, many stations were under lock and key and black market dealers were seen displaying fuel in Jerry-cans on the road. At Osapa-London round about, beside Chicken Republic, near Jakande, along Ajah road, Lekki, there was a miled drama, as a heated argument ensued between a commercial bus driver and a driver in Toyota Camry, who struggled to buy petrol from a black market dealer.

Around Ojodu-Ikeja, many stations were out of product and transport fare from Ojodu Berger to Ikeja increased from N100 to N150 as a result of the development. Similarly, at Ojota bus stop, transport fare from Ojota to Oshodi by mini-buses, otherwise known as Danfo, went up from N150 to N200, leaving many people standing on the queue for Tata buses. Also, a large number of passengers were seen on queue waiting for BRT buses at Ojota.

A former National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Tunji Adeniji, spoke, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, on the petrol scarcity.

W

hat is fundamentally wrong with the downstream sector of the economy that the nation keeps experiencing recurring scarcity of petrol, which is a product needed in almost every house hold?

Well, scarcity of petrol in Nigeria has become a recurring problem because as a nation we have refused the do the right thing, by addressing pertinent issues surrounding the downstream petroleum sector of our economy. In fact, there are a lot of problems militating against effective supply of petroleum products in the country. For example, when you look at the sector critically, you would realise that our policies are not right, therefore, we are bound to face some challenges.

Going beyond the issue of wrong policies, there is problem of inappropriate pricing system, which is also a major challenge.

Can you give us insight into what you mean by inappropriate pricing and how that affects supply of petroleum products across the country?

Inappropriate pricing in this context implies not giving the right pricing for the products, in

a way that can improve the margin of oil marketers to stay afloat in business. This is quite imperative because once we don’t give appropriate pricing for the products, the refineries would not function well in the country.

The economic implication of this is that, people would not enjoy good supply of products in the country, and the moment the products supply chain is not efficient to meet the increasing demand, there is abound to be scarcity in the system.

Some stakeholders in the sectors are speaking strongly against continuous importation of petroleum products by Nigerian government. Do you share similar sentiment?

As an oil producing nation, Nigeria ought not to be importing refined petroleum products into the country. Also, we suppose not to experience recurring scarcity of petrol, if

our government had address the issues of inappropriate pricing system, if oil marketers are paid subsidy claims as at when due and if other challenges facing the sector had been addressed.

Aside from oil marketers who are private sector players, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has the mandate to import products.

How come fuel scarcity is still persisting?

The reason we are suffering this lingering scarcity of fuel is because only NNPC is importing the product now. In reality, the NNPC system has collapsed, but the private sector players like the oil marketers are those assisting NNPC to bring in the product for domestic and industrial consumption. From the scarcity situation we are experiencing in the country now, it is quite clear that only NNPC cannot meet the demand for petrol consumption with a large population of over 160million people.

As a stakeholder in the sector, can you tell us exactly why fuel scarcity, which started last month, is worsening by the day despite Federal Government’s intervention and recent approval of N413billion to be paid to oil marketers, as outstanding subsidy claims?

At this point, we must be frank with ourselves. You see, in Nigeria, money approved is not the same as money released.

How do you mean?

This is because in our system when you say that government has approved money does not mean that the money has been paid immediately to those it is meant for. So, that money government approved for payment of outstanding subsidy claims that people are talking about has gone into supplementary budget in the National Assembly. Therefore, the money has not been paid to marketers yet. And until that money is released and oil marketers are paid the outstanding subsidy claims, fuel scarcity would persist, because marketers need the money to settle their debts with the commercial banks, for them to be able to bring in more products.

Since marketers who import products into the country have agreement with government on the method of transaction. Why do we always have issues of accumulation of huge subsidy claims and marketers not being paid as at when due.

Ordinarily, outstanding subsidy claims ought to be paid to marketers within 45 days after importation. But I can tell you that since March 2015, no marketer has been paid subsidy claims.

What is the way out?

The way forward is for us to do the right thing. Like I said earlier, our policies are not right.

Those polices should be reviewed with a view to enhancing efficiency in the downstream sector. We need the right and appropriate pricing system for the petroleum products. Deregulation is equally important and government should look at that as well. Even if government cannot deregulate the sector immediately, let us have appropriate pricing system now and government should ensure that marketers are paid subsidy claims on time.

Why government is giving market women interest-free loan — Gov Udom

A

s the government of Akwa Ibom State continues to put measures in place to boost industrial development in the state, Governor Udom Emmanuel has explained the rationale behind the interest free loan scheme, designed to boost the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the area.

Speaking, the governor stressed that the scheme was initiated to stimulate economic activities in the state, in order to create jobs for the people, especially the youths who need to be meaningfully engaged in productive activities. “We also create an enabling business environment for investors to operate, in order to boost economic activities in the state.

For instance, in Akwa Ibom, we issue Certificate of Occupancy (CoF) within 60days, to encourage investments in the state. We only hold equity as value for the people, while the investors work freely to fast track development in various areas,” he said.

He went on,”The first set of the beneficiaries were 1,000 people, mainly market women in the state. We decided to give the

market women first because they have the ability to pay the money back This is because most of them are into different productivity activities in the state.

Before selecting the market women for the scheme, we carried out a survey and we realised that many of those market women have a cooperative group, because they work under the umbrella of that cooperative, it is easier for them to pay back the money, so that it can be given to other entrepreneurs to expand the scope of their enterprises for greater productivity. For instance, if market women under the cooperative arrangement take a loan of let say N500.000, they can do a lot with it and return the money at the appropriate time.”

On why the loan is interest free in a country where interest rate from commercial banks is from 25 percent, he said, “Interest rate in the country is high, but we are making our scheme interest free to empower the entrepreneurs to grow their businesses for more outputs optimisation. This is because if we charge these entrepreneurs interest rate on

•Governor Udom the loan, as they are into small scale businesses, the interest rate would automatically wipe out their profits, making it difficult for their businesses to thrive. Also,we decided to give the market women first, because if you empower 1,000 women, you have indirectly empowered a large population in the state.”

On other developments in the state, he added, “In Akwa Ibom, we are running an inclusive government where attention is given to every aspect of economic development, including infrastructure. I have a blue print to develop the entire

state. Therefore, I started by setting up technical committees made up of experts to develop the state. For instance,I set up a technical committee to develop the sea port. We also have a technical committee on agriculture and we have launched the second planting season of agriculture, which we started in the state. Also, we have a technical committee on Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). This is to enhance influx of FDIs into the state, which is one of the reasons we issue CoF within a short period for investors to operate freely.

On why the government sent some people to Israel for training, he said, “We decided to send some of our youths to Israel because that country is good in agriculture. Infact, in Israel, they have natural water for fishery, they also have green house for growing crops. So, we want our youths to have this type of training, in order to replicate it in our state.

Interestingly, some of them who had the first training are going to have another round of advanced training to sharpen their skills on modern agriculture”.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 45

NEWS FEATURE

From left-right: Mogens Lykketoft, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Paul Maseli, Director and Representative of UNIDO to the UN, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the UN, and John Page, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development Programme, Brookings Institution.

Day Okowa took battle for SMEs to the United Nations

BY JACKSON EKWUGUM

N

igeria took centre stage at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, November 24, when Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, took the stand to deliver the Keynote Address of the 2015 Africa Industrialisation Day with the theme, “SMEs for Poverty Eradication and Job Creation for Women and Youth.” The Conference Room 7 of the UN headquarters was packed full, an indication of the interest which the international community attached to the subject of Africa’s industrialisation.

The elite gathering included Mr Mogens Lykketoft, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations, Mr John Page, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development Programme, Brookings Institution, and Mr Vandi Chidi Minah, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Sierra Leone and the Chair of the Africa Group.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Paul Maseli, Director and Representative of UNIDO, organisers of the event, did not mince words in assessing the current state of industrialisation in Africa. “After 25 years of celebrating Africa Industrialization Day,” he declared, “and two General Assembly-endorsed Decades of African Industrialization the picture is, unfortunately, all but encouraging. Africa remains the least industrialized continent. It also remains the poorest continent.

“Many reasons have been given for this poor state of affair.

They range from the externally imposed structural adjustment programme of the 1990s, to bad policy choices and over reliance on commodity exports. All these had particularly negative effects on technological accumulation, human capital development and manufacturing export performance.”

He was emphatic that “fasttracking industrialisation efforts in Africa in the post-2015 era is particularly imperative to create

jobs for broad segments of the population. With almost 200 million people aged between 15 and 24, Africa has the youngest population in the world. And it keeps growing rapidly. If the present trend continues, the continent’s labour force will be 1 billion by 2040, making it the largest in the world, surpassing both China and India. If Africa misses this opportunity to industrialise and create sufficient employment opportunities to support decent living conditions it could present a significant risk and threat to social cohesion and political stability in the future.”

In a joint statement read by Tete Antonio, the African Union (AU), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization observed that “this year ’s Africa Industrialization Day theme, which is focused on the development of SMEs for Poverty Eradication and Job Creation for women and youth, denotes the importance of focusing on productive drivers of economic growth that ensure inclusive and sustainable development.

SME development is among those key productive drivers. Empirical evidence shows that there is a positive correlation between a country’s overall level of income and the number of SMEs. Thus SME development with a special focus on women and youth remains a top priority for policy makers, development partners, the private sector as well as academia and NGOs in Africa’s quest to achieve sustainable development.”

The three organisations reiterated their call for “inclusive and sustainable industrial development through SME development” through “renewed and more intensified actions, for decision-makers to define adequate policies and strategies for SME upgrading, human resources development, innovation and strengthening capacities of responsible institutions that could promote productive and job-rich SMEs development in the context of inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth that

We are undertaking concerted measures for the integration of agricultural and agro-industrial development based on our comparativeadvantage commodities, particularly cassava, oil palm and aquaculture creates decent jobs with a special focus on women and youth in Africa.”

Delivering the keynote address, Governor Okowa noted that the relatively impressive economic growth in African countries in recent years has not been accompanied by improved living conditions of the people.

He argued that “Economic growth that does not result in job creation and poverty eradication is like building a house on sand.

It can neither stand the test of time nor withstand the headwinds of adversity.”

The challenge for African countries, Okowa pointed out, is to “take urgent and drastic measures to ensure their economies are made more resilient to external shocks and, more significantly, that the current growth momentum translates into economic transformation for the continent.”

With Africa’s population set to double by 2050, “unlocking the economic potential of the continent lies squarely with the development of SMEs as vehicles of industrialisation and, by extension, poverty eradication,” the Governor declared. He argued that “the

challenge is for African countries to adopt strategic and pragmatic approach to this vital sector of the economy. Economic and industrial policies must have clearly defined goals, the goals must be realistic, and they must contain monitoring and accountability mechanisms to facilitate effective implementation.”

In formulating economic policies, Okowa cautioned that the “focus should be on what works, not ideological convictions.” He then proceeded to present his administration’s modest efforts to create wealth and provide jobs for women and youth.

“Our strategic approach,” he said “is a comprehensive programme of youth training, development and empowerment in agricultural enterprises and vocational skills, microcredit to support small and medium scale enterprises, and the creation of a conducive business and investment environment.

“Also we are undertaking concerted measures for the integration of agricultural and agro-industrial development based on our comparativeadvantage commodities, particularly cassava, oil palm and aquaculture. Overall, we are responding to our social and economic development challenges through policy thrusts and programme priorities articulated in the S.M.A.R.T Agenda of our administration. The S.M.A.R.T Agenda embodies policy priorities for sustainable social and economic development through job and wealth creation, urban renewal, health and education reforms, agricultural reforms and development of agro-industries and accelerated industrialization, as well as peace building and security.”

Governor canvassed the support of the international community for his administration’s Job and Wealth Creation Scheme.

“In particular,” he said “ we would leverage financing and technical assistance from international and global agencies, including the United Nations, to enhance performance and sustainability

of our Job and Wealth Creation Scheme.

In rounding up his address, the Governor posed three questions to the audience. “In the face of the funding and energy gaps can Africa really compete in a globalised world? What is the impact of globalisation and trade liberalisation on the emerging African economies and their capacities to truly industrialize? What new policies or strategies will Africa need to put in place to stimulate industrialization seeing that they are latecomers to the industrialisation process?

While commending Governor Okowa’s admonition that the “focus should be on what works, not ideological convictions,” there was consensus among discussants that Africa’s potential to compete are hampered by infrastructure deficits, energy shortages, the high cost of credit and the political will to brave the odds.

Ms. Aurelia Calabro, Unit Chief, Agro-Industries Technology Unit, UNIDO, called on African countries to emulate the example of Ethiopia, which she described as “the rising star of Africa.”

Calabro informed the audience that Ethiopia has witnessed impressive industrialization leading to 10% economic growth in the last five years despite its limited resources. The secrets of their success, she pointed out, lies in their investment in the leather works industry, which has become renowned all over the world. Other African countries, she explained, can learn from Ethiopia’s success story in the footwear manufacturing industry by zeroing in on areas where they enjoy comparative advantage.

In addition, she stressed that Africa must urgently overcome the widespread problems of infrastructure, transportation, energy and education through massive investments in these sectors. Calabro, who has extensive experience in rural entrepreneurship development and relevant field experience in Africa, regretted that African countries don’t know how to promote themselves. “You have to brand your country,” she declared. “Ethiopia is, for instance, the motherland of coffee but nobody in the world knows that.” She advised African countries to identify their unique selling points and market it to the world to attract investments and boost their potentials for growth and industrialization.

In responding to the questions posed by Governor Okowa, Ayodele Odusola, Chief Economist and Head, Regional Bureau for Africa, UNDP, insisted that SMEs in African countries face a comparative disadvantage and therefore cannot compete because of high cost of credit and energy shortages. Describing the operating environment in most African countries as “SME unfriendly,” Odusola complained that local enterprises spend about 20-30% of their capital sourcing for alternative source of energy. He was also of the opinion that Governments in the continent are not “getting their policies right” because instead of offering protection to local industries their policies are “focussed on giving multinationals high incentives.”

Mr Odusola also condemned a situation where foreign businesses are allowed to operate in “areas where the locals have comparative advantage.”

Page 46, SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Deportation of 48 Nigerians: British High Commissioner writes Vanguard M

IGRATION Between the UK and Nigeria: A WellTravelled Path Op-Ed by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright The links between the UK and Nigeria are deep and far reaching and rooted both in our shared past and partnership for the future. Today up to 250,000 Nigerians are living legally in the UK, making a significant contribution and adding to the rich fabric of our society.

Every year around 130,000 Nigerians visit the UK from Nigeria for both business and leisure. Nigerians who come to the United Kingdom in accordance with our well publicised rules will always be welcome guests.

So it has been disappointing to read, in a few isolated incidents,

VIEWPOINT

By Lekan Ladigbolu

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

Making the former federal capital safer

L

AGOS is home to all.

Americans live here. Britons are in their legion all over the state of acquatic splendor. Citizens of different countries in Africa, such as South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe and so on, eke out their livelihood in Lagos. Also, Hausa, Igbo, Ibibio and Ijaw abound in their thousands in the state of excellence.

Like a typical African city, poverty is not in rarity. The big neigbourhoods have the slums to contend with. The rich have to cohabit with the poor. The good have to live together with the bad.

And the bad part of the city is my concern today. And this concern of mine, which is one of the challenges of the metropolitan state called Lagos, must have made the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria Fulvio Rustico describe

VIEWPOINT

By Mike Ebonugwo IT was a sharp but pleasant departure from the norm, especially based on common experience. Indeed, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly certainly took their constituents by surprise with an unprecedented co nstituency

stakeholders meeting that took place on Tuesday November 10, 2015.

And the fact that the programme was well-attended programme bore testimony to the general acceptance of the idea and appreciation it enjoyed from the constituents.

Maybe the massive publicity for the programme had something to do with it, the designated venues across the 40 states constituencies in the State, including halls, open

spaces and car parks were already jam packed before the 10am take-off of the programme, in spite of the fact that it was a work day. But there was no doubt

that most Lagosians who turned up for the programme obviously came to witness the

inaccurate media reporting of the UK’s policy concerning how we return Nigerians back to their home country when they have been present illegally in the UK. This week some media reported that 500 Nigerians had been deported from the UK, arriving on one flight to Lagos. Nigeria’s immigration service confirmed to the media that number was incorrect.

The actual number was 48 – all of whom were people who had broken UK law by remaining in the UK when they had no right to be there, and who had been given full right of appeal, and had exhausted that legal process. Unfortunately, I fear this will not be the last example of misreporting and I would ask all Nigerians to look with a critical eye when such statistics are presented as facts.

The UK cannot ignore those who choose not to play by the rules. Like Nigeria, the United Kingdom operates a robust but fair immigration system. The law in the UK is very clear: those who are in the UK illegally and have made the choice not to leave voluntarily will be required to leave. Decisions to remove people are not made lightly and we adhere to international obligations – particularly the European Convention on Human Rights – and our own clear domestic law.

Decisions made can be appealed and challenged under the scrutiny of an impartial judiciary in court.

Fairness and transparency are key.

We apply the same rules for Nigerians as we do for any foreign visitor to the UK. The UK has various support packages in place to help those who are illegally in the UK

but do decide to leave and return to Nigeria voluntarily. Enforced return of those who are present in the UK illegally is always the last resort and carried out only when the individual has made the choice not to leave voluntarily.

Sadly this issue always gets a lot of media attention when in practice those who abuse the rules are significantly fewer than the numbers of people travelling regularly, legally and without problems to and from the UK. In 2014-15 global demand for UK visas from Nigerian nationals was 168,000. Of these, 73% of visit applications were successful, a rise of 5% from the previous year.

In addition, 50% of settlement applications were successful. We are also proud to provide a quick service: 95% of visit visas were proc-

Lagos, street trading and crime Lagos as the most challenging and most fascinating state any public office holder can lead in the world.

The envoy spoke at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. He added that the enormous challenges of governing the state, which is not only the power house of Nigeria and the fourth economy in Africa, would continue to mount with the projection that it would be the second or third city in the world by 2050— with 450 million inhabitants. It has over 21 million people now.

“I envy you Mr Governor because you have one of the most challenging and most fascinating tasks anywhere in the world. You have a fantastic city,” Rustico said.

One major challenge of the state is security. But the aspect of it that I am worried about is street trading or traffic trading, a development which makes it difficult for residents to be able to clearly

distinguish between a genuine street trader and the traffic robber. Hooligans and armed robbers costume themselves as hawkers and cause pandemonium on the roads.

Of recent, the traffic robberies seem to have mounted, a development which made Ambode express concern. He made a statement that his administration would crackdown on motorcyclists and hawkers in the state.

The governor said: “The next hawker could be a robber or terrorist. You are now well-advised.

If we all cooperate and decide not to buy, gradually and collectively, the hawkers will not come to the highways and streets anymore.

Our roads will definitely become safer. Our security agencies have been directed to increase their presence on the roads and highways to ensure greater safety.

Once again, I am committed to a safer, cleaner and more

prosperous Lagos; a Lagos that works for all.”

The traffic robbers at times break wound up glass of vehicles with a sharp object before proceeding to grab all they can from their victims. They do this in broad daylight when gridlock forces motorists to move at a snail’s pace.

Aside the far reaching implication of street trading in terms of accidents, which in most cases are fatal, street trading also affects the free flow of traffic in the metropolis. It also contradicts the environmental sanitation laws by littering our streets with waste generated from the act.

But there is another angle to it that also calls for concern. This has to do with child labour. Many of the hawkers are kids who are supposed to be in school. Now, every major road now serves as trading spots for children below 18 years. They face the risk of death.

Reports of vehicles running into

essed within 15 days with an average processing time of 7.4 days.

We are pleased that we continue to attract the brightest and best students to our world class universities - with a 17% increase in the number of sponsored student visas applications for universities since 2010. The UK and Nigeria have an excellent commercial relationship with £6.1 bn worth of trade per year. We want the numbers of business people travelling to and from Nigeria and the UK to increase and so support the economies of both our countries.

Those who break the rules cannot expect to remain in the UK illegally but the UK is open and welcomes Nigerians who want to visit our country for business or leisure. them abound. This usually happens when they are running after moving vehicles to sell their fresh fruits, beverages, wrist watches and snacks.

Subjecting kids to street hawking is a negation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is also a violation of the provisions of the Lagos State Social Protection Services. The federal law concerning child labour, as enshrined in the Labour Act and the Child Right Act (CRA) (2003) are against this.

Trade regulation laws are against roadside trading and hawking. Issuance of trade licence, which is a standard practice in every civilised society, also frowns at such commercial activity.

If we all love Lagos and want it to succeed, then we have to key into the Lagos State Development Plan 2012-2025. And I am afraid that in this plan through which the government anchors its developmental programmes, there is no room for street trading.

•Ladigbolu is resident in Lagos

Speaker Obasa, fellow lawmakers meet the people fulfilment of a promise made to them.

It would be recalled that the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, had last June during his augural speech assured Lagosians that the Assembly would involve the people in its activities, especially in having their inputs form part of the 2016 budget. So, the constituency stakeholders meeting was a platform created by the law makers to rub minds with the people, who in turn were expected to use the enabling opportunity to table their desires and expectations and to assess the Lagos Assembly in terms of their commitment to this promise. And indeed while the event lasted the process afforded lawmakers the opportunity to listen with rapt attention as stakeholders across the 40 constituencies requested for schools, roads, hospitals, etc.

It all began after Lagosians from Ikorodu, Epe, Lagos

Island, Kosofe, Surulere, etc, trooped out to be counted, a development which inadvertently created traffic control challenges for officials. This was particularly the case wh en

Speaker Obasa met his people in Agege. Every available space was occupied, while security agents had a hectic time controlling the surging crowd.

The story was the same all over the state as people enthusiastically took their chances to ventilate their feelings. Of course, Obas, chiefs, various unions, traders, community development associations, CDAs, youths, market men and women were not left out; everyone had one thing or the other to say.

In his welcome address, Obasa told stakeholders the meeting was unique as it was first of its kind in the nation’s history, adding that the Lagos Assembly was the first to hold such a meeting simultaneously across all the

constituencies u nder its jurisdiction.

A pleasant fallout of the event is Obasa’s disclosure that Agege will soon be the beneficiary of a flyover bridge at Pen Cinema area of the constituency. This was immediately received with a resounding ovation as those in attendance applauded the happy news. This was obviously against the backdrop that a flyover at Pen Cinema would certainly alleviate the prevailing traffic confusion caused by riotous commercial activities in the place.

The scenario was similar on the Island as the Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshinlokun, told stakeholders that the House of Assembly was eager to know the desire of the people for onward transmission to the Executive for implementation.

The lawmaker was joined by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu and All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Prince Tajuden Olusi. Akiolu in particular could not hide his joy as he commended the Lagos State House of Assembly for giving the people a voice through the initiative.

It was a sentiment shared by Olusi, a veteran politician and leader of the APC in the Lagos Central Senatorial District, who called for more of such rapport between the Assembly and the people. At Lagos Mainland, the hall was almost filled to bursting point as Oladele Adekanye, aka Lado, engaged his constituents on their expectations. He also used the opportunity to commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for embarking on construction of over 100 roads across the State.

For former Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, chief, Mr. Monday Ubani, the Lagos State House Assembly deserves kudos in view of the timeliness, concept and style of the stakeholders meeting.

According to him: “ I want to commend the Lagos Assembly for holding this exercise. All we are asking for at UNILAG estate, Isheri Magodo is road construction and provision of street lights”. Speaking on the exercise, a rights activist, Mr. Michael Okezie said the Assembly has blazed the trail in participatory democracy.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 47

Future of Religion in Nigeria’s Politics,

by Matthew Kukah T

he thoughts of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto as expressed in a keynote address at the conference held under the theme, The Muslim Agenda for Nigeria: Challenges of Development and Good Governance.

The conference took place at Fountain University, Osogbo and organised by Islamic Welfare Foundation.

I believe that the challenges we face are challenges of national development. It is therefore important for us all to note that whatever may be the situation, we are faced with a predicament which was captured in Rev. Jesse Jackson’s concession speech to Michael Dukakis in the 1988 Presidential Convention of the Democratic Party. In his concession speech, Rev. Jackson said something like this to Mr. Dukakis, “Your great grand parents may have come to this country in ships of privilege while mine came in ships of slavery. However, whatever ships may have brought our great grand parents to the United States of America, you and I are in the same boat tonight!” Similarly, I have said over and over that Christian, Muslim, or unbeliever, we are all in the same boat called Nigeria. Our challenge is to steer it to safety.

Today, religion faces a serious crisis of identity around the world. Although conflict has been a part and parcel of the narrative of most religions, events in the last few years have created so much anxiety that it seems safe to say that ordinary believers and nonbelievers are visibly terrified by what is being done in the name of religion. The key actors, who have turned religion from a weapon of love to an arsenal of fear and savagery, claim that they are acting in the name of religion. They believe that they are acting to expand the frontiers of power and authority of their religion. They believe they are defending religion and working for God. As it is, they have become the worst advertisement for their religions and how nonbelievers see both.

In most situations around the world, crises have thrown a spanner in the already troubled relationships between Islam and Christianity. In almost all situations today, the wars fought in the name of religion are largely based on the unresolved issues in the larger questions of geopolitics and power play by the super powers. The wars, from Africa to the Middle East, are first of all, fought on the lands of the poor people of the world. They are also fought for the control of their resources. The Cold

War ended, but its intrinsic goals of power and domination have not changed. So, all of us, from Africa to Asia and the Middle East face double jeopardy: first, our people are dying while those alive are losing access and control over their lands and resources.

In Nigeria, the situation is almost the same only that it is related to the machinations of the internal colonial elite.

Right before our eyes, what we call religious crises are often crises over unresolved antagonisms within the cleavages of the political classes. In their pursuit of their personal

exploitations for accumulation, they are blind to the boundaries of religion and ethnicity. But in real life, our people are being held hostage by the darker forces of politics as politicians generate and deploy hostile narratives to divide the poor and the weak. The challenge in all this is that we, who are believers in the two universal faiths of Islam and Christianity, need to sit up with greater honesty and commitment. In this way, we can build a world that is in the image and likeness of our Creator. To do, this, I will list a few themes that require some reflections on our path as citizens and believers.

The face of religion and Boko Haram Although we all seem to pretend that Boko Haram has caught us unawares, the worst thing is that we continue to hide our heads in the sands of self-deception by further denying the roots of this ugly side of our humanity. That Boko Haram, its disciples and victims are localized to northern Nigeria should be instructive. What this calls for is an honest review of the root causes.

We need to ask what it is about the past or the present that has led us to this ugly and deadly path.

It is my considered view that northern Islam has to confront the realities of taking its religion into the modern world of democracy seriously. Muslims in northern Nigeria cannot accept democracy and reject the inclusive nature of its philosophy as it is the case today. The driving force of democracy is that it presents us with the best instruments for managing our diversity, creating inclusiveness and breaking down the boundaries of exclusion. Unfortunately, northern Islam has continued to privilege religion as a source of identity, power and control.

A hypocritical elite continues to believe that it can

*Kukah... Mini -- Ayatollahs have come of age claim the benefits of democracy but use it only to consolidate its hold on power. This is what has laid the foundation for what is now Boko Haram.

We must locate the current crisis of Boko Haram within the context of the inability of the northern Muslim elite to live by their own dubious creed of being Muslim.

They preached Sharia Law, but only for the poor. They preach a religion that encourages education, yet their own people are held in the bondage of ignorance.

They came to power on the basis of a democratic society, but they turned around and

We must locate the current crisis of Boko Haram within the context of the inability of the northern Muslim elite to live by their own dubious creed of being Muslim

declared Sharia to generate a false consciousness among the poor that they want a theocracy. They did not wish to live by the same standards, so they decided to live their own Islam in the capitals of the world away form the prying eyes of their own people. Boko Haram began as a revolt against this mendacity, subterfuge and hypocrisy.

Now, I hear Muslims in northern Nigeria hiding under the cover of the facts by saying: “These Boko Haram people are not Muslims. They do not represent us”. Well, first, they are your own children.

You must take responsibility for what has made them what they are today and to the rest of society. They claim they have been inspired by the Quran and no other holy book. They say they

want to build an Islamic state.

So, they are Muslims. After all, from the debates of the Constituent Assemblies of 1979, 1988, and 1995 and beyond, did their fathers and grand fathers not stage walk outs demanding Sharia Law? Was it not to tame them that President Babangida declared what he called, no-go areas in the debates about our Constitution?

Let us just have the honesty to ask, what has gone wrong?

Those the New Nigerian Newspapers referred to, in 1980, as mini-Ayatollahs have since come of age. They promised what they could not deliver and they have not had the honesty to tell their children that building an inclusive society demands tolerance and accommodation. However, since Sharia was discovered as a vital blue chip stock in the

stock market of Nigerian politics, the northern elite has continued to reap dividends on their investment. The promise to institute Sharia has become the most potent tool for political mobilization and organisation. Till date, the tactics may have changed, but the essence has not. Rather than face the tough questions of how and why over 15 million children in the northern states are on the streets, how and why the northern states are falling behind on almost every index of development, the northern Muslim elite continues to live for just the moment, with no plans for tomorrow. Should we pretend that a society that allows the forced marriages of its young daughters could frown at the idea of a group kidnapping and forcing young girls into sexual slavery? Islam must have an honest look at the mirror and have an internal discussion.

Contested histories, narratives and identities Somehow, we have a problem of a contested sense of history among our people especially in relation to British colonialism.

For some strange reasons, scholars of history have often tried to create the impression that there was somehow a correlation between colonial exploitation and missionary activities in most of Africa.

Sadly, an honest reading of the history leads to the conclusion that the colonial state was here to exploit our country and our resources. In the North, despite conquering the caliphate, the same caliphate worked out a modus vivendi, which first kept missionaries out of the Muslim areas while, at the same time,

Continues on page 48

PAGE 48 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Continued from Page 47 co-opting the rump of the caliphate into the business of running the state. They superintended the taxation regime during and beyond the colonial period.

Turning this injustice was at the heart of the late Aminu Kano’s philosophy, theology and politics through out his life. Indeed, I have argued elsewhere that Boko Haram is another name for the vacuum created by the absence of the Talakawa genre of politics enunciated by Aminu Kano.

In the process, the British created what I have elsewhere called, the AngloFulani hegemony which became a platform for the political ascendancy and dominance of Hausa-Fulani

hegemony. Frankly, not much has changed in texture and ideology.

The rest is history but our people have never been the same and national integration has remained a deferred dream. The rest of our history has been a fruitless but dishonest attempt at resolving these problems because the political elite has never been patriotic and honest both to its faith and nation. Rather than rebuilding our nation, we have spent a lot of time blaming and holding one another responsible for sins that are beyond us. There has grown a strange idea that, somehow, Christianity and the West have a relationship of sorts. Yet, those who hold this theory do not extend the argument further by logically claiming that Islam and Arabism should be the same!

It is this twisted logic that believes that, somehow, someone like myself should take the blame for invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya. For being a Christian, I should take the blame for some cartoons drawn in a country I have no friend in, I should be responsible for a Miss World contest even though no daughter from my village has aspired to participate in such a move. For all these, Mr. Chukwuma should have all his life’s work up in smoke. For all these, Christian churches should be razed to the ground. What do we hear?

The parents and uncles of these children do not raise a loud voice. They stutter about peace and tolerance and weakly plead that we move on. Happily, in his address to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference during his campaign, General Buhari stated that all these must end and every devil, hiding under religion, will be named and cast out.

Managing pluralism Flowing from this has been the problem of managing plural identities in Nigeria. We still continue to see ourselves only as Christians and Muslims.

Rather than focusing on our common citizenship, we behave as if our Islam and Christian

Future of Religion in Nigeria’s Politics, by Matthew Kukah

I hear people say that this is what Islam teaches, that the religion allows Muslim men to marry Christian girls (and hopefully make them Muslims) while Christian men cannot marry Muslim women. If this is not apartheid in broad daylight, I do not know what it is identities dropped from heaven and we are in a theocracy. While other people are living rationally and using these religious traditions to develop and grow, in our hands, religious identities have become tools for war and death.

They have become tools for access to political and economic power. These identities have now become markers that seem to determine where we shall be and how far we can grow in our society. It will be a great tragedy if we are unable to roll back this ugly misuse of religion.

Paul Kagame has banned the use of ethnic categories. The United States no longer speaks of Negroes or Blacks and Whites. We do not hear about White and Black coffee. The options are open because now, the stewards, rather than ask if you want black or white coffee simply say, “How do you want your coffee, sir?”

We require a language that incorporates respect not one

*Kukah... We must be free from distorted, antique world view

that divides. We should consider banning the usage of Christians and Muslims as categories for defining ourselves as the two words have become inherently divisive and conflictual and only trigger a sense of identity consciousness of Us and Them.

In your part of the country as in other parts of the world, I hear about families with Christians and Muslims living together, marrying and intermarrying and so on. In the North, this is anathema. Every time I bring this up, I hear people say that this is what Islam teaches, that the religion allows Muslim men to marry Christian girls (and hopefully make them Muslims) while Christian men cannot marry Muslim women. If this is not apartheid in broad daylight, I do not know what it is. If this is not a case of privileging one religious identity and making it superior to another, I do not know what else to call it. If this is not an assumption that Christian men and their women are inferior and by extension their religion, I do not know what else to call it.

If this is not a case of assuming that Muslim men, their women and Islam are superior to Christianity, I do not know what else it is. When we take this into consideration, can we then blame the members of Boko Haram which, at least, has had the honesty of following the script to its end by insisting that we all convert to their Islam or die? Can Muslims in northern Nigeria and elsewhere understand where all this hatred has come from? These are the roots of this intolerance in our society today and this is what Islam has been turned into.

Things will only get progressively worse if we do not have the honesty to make the laws that free us from this distorted and antique world view. It held racism together. It held apartheid together. It feeds on fear and now, black and white South Africans now feel they are in free society. How do we progress with this given that marriage is such a key institution for national integration?

Our lawmakers and the judiciary must seek to end this tragedy that bars national cohesion. Neither Islam nor Muslims are benefiting from this abuse.

Martin Luther King told us: “You will never be what you ought to be until others are what they want to be”.

The Constitution, Bible and Quran Nigerians behave as if our own brand of religious affiliations is different and distinct and, somehow, our sacred books are superior to the Constitution. From the point of view of our faiths, yes, but in reality, the story is more nuanced.

The Constitution, which is what holds us together, has assured us that Nigeria aspires to the ideals of a state where there is no favouritism of one religion over the other, or where people are discriminated against on the basis of religion. We spend a lot of time and energy debating over whether this is secularism, secularity or whatever. Whatever may be the case, we are running a democracy not a theocracy. The question is, how can the ideals of the Constitution guarantee the unity and common values of our citizens? In other words, how can we believers subordinate ourselves to the

Constitution as citizens without hiding under religious claims to behave as if there is any serious conflict? The Constitution guarantees us freedom of belief and this means believing what we wish, when we wish and how we wish, as long as we are within the law. This Constitution allows us to exercise these freedoms within the confines of the laws of the land. It is the duty of the state to support this. It is also the duty of the

state to support the exercise of these freedoms as a right to all citizens. It is the duty of the state to protect citizens when these rights are threatened or denied. Therefore, when Christians or Muslims are denied places to exercise their rights to worship or denied the rights to practice their religion, it should be the duty of all of us as believers to support one another. In this way, religion can play its role in society more effectively.

Interfaith dialogue and making Nigeria safe for religion As I said at the beginning, religion is in trouble if I may put it that way.

We have a duty to rescue religion from the grip of secular forces who wish to use religion for empirebuilding and power brokerage. We need to rescue religion so it can become a tool for harmony, development,and celebration of our differences and the nurturing of our common humanity. Secular forces are waging a war against religions, not Islam or Christianity per se, but against organised religions.

We should be focusing more on our common human identity as citizens of Nigeria under a Constitution.

This is not a Christian country. It is not a Muslim country. There is no place here that belongs to Muslims or Christians, rich people or poor people. There is no part of this country that belongs to Yorubas, Igbos, Ijaws or any ethnic groups for that matter. Despite all our crowns, turbans, beads and so on, we are not presiding over any religious or ethnic kingdoms. All our so-called kingdoms exist because there is a country called Nigeria. We are still a semi-primitive and agrarian society on the road to modernity. It is the inefficiency and corruption of the political elite that has allowed what seems like the triumph of the centrifugal forces in our society.

There is only a country called Nigeria made up of 925,000 square kilometers of land which is being defended by the armed forces of Nigeria. This is why Boko Haram is a Nigerian war waged

by Nigerian soldiers from all over the country and not a war by Kanuri warriors!

The soldiers who are dying in the North-East are Nigerians, not Muslims or Kanuris. We need to become more imaginative in thinking about how to develop as a country. Religion has become an obstacle that now blurs our views of one another. We need to move away from this and see what we can do together for the safety and growth of our citizens.

Our goal should be to create a great country where ordinary citizens can live in freedom, peace and security, where their humanity, more than their religion, will be the basis for their acceptance. For, in the end, we must have a country before we can live as Christians or Muslims. With no country, being Christian or Muslim will simply leave us in the precipice of life. Why are the migrants from Syria and other parts of the Middle East not moving into Iran or Saudi Arabia if religion were more important that national security? Why are they seeking security in the lands of infidels? It is time for us to rethink the real role of religion in our society. One way is to rescue it from the clutches of ethno-religious entrepreneurs that stalk out landscape.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, PAGE 49

THE Lord often asks seemingly difficult questions with answers that turn out to be simple. So let me ask you one question that is not likely to come up in the average bible class.

What is the greatest thing Adam can give Eve? Don’t be too quick to answer. Always ask the Holy Spirit for help. The greatest thing Adam can give Eve is to forgive her for her sins. If Eve offends Adam, he should be quick to forgive her if she repents. The same applies if Adam offends Eve. Eve should promptly forgive him.

The greatest blessing God ever bestowed upon man was to forgive us our sins.

Therefore, the greatest blessing we can ever bestow on others is also to forgive their sins. Nothing is as difficult to give as forgiveness. Nothing commends man to God as much as the forgiveness of sins.

From old to new In the Old Testament, when God blessed a man, he became rich in goods and property. When he blessed a man, he became fruitful.

When God blessed Abraham, he made him the father of many nations.

When he blessed Ishmael for Abraham’s sake, Ishmael gave birth to 12 princes.

(Genesis 17:20). When Abraham left Egypt, he was materially rich in livestock; and in silver and gold.

(Genesis 13:2).

But it should not be forgotten that Abraham and all the people of the Old Testament were born of

THE BLESSING OF THE LORD (1) women but not of the Spirit.

It was imperative for God to deal with those who met his approval in those days in the currency they understood. Old Testament figures were natural and not spiritual men. They had the spirit of the world.

Therefore, God blessed them with things of the world.

However, New Testament believers are fundamentally different. We are not natural but supernatural men. We are not earthly but heavenly.

Therefore, God does not have to bless us with things of the world because we do not have the spirit of the world.

Because we now have the Holy Spirit and are spiritually alive to God, God can now bless us with his love, joy and peace.

Today, the believer is operating under a new and better covenant established upon better promises.

(Hebrews 8:6). For this reason, God does not have to bless us with temporal earthly things. Instead, he blesses us with eternal heavenly things.

Thus, Paul writes to the Ephesians: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly

The greatest blessing God ever bestowed upon man was to forgive us our sins. places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3). The true blessings of the Lord are, in the first place, spiritual and not physical.

They are in Christ Jesus and not in the world. They are in heavenly places, and not in earthly places.

Spiritual blessings This means the blessing of the Lord could never be a house, for example. The blessing might enable us to buy a house, but a house cannot be the blessing. A house is not spiritual, and houses are not in Christ Jesus. People who are not in Christ build houses.

Atheists have houses. If a house is what we are looking for, we don’t need Christ in order to get one.

Spiritual blessings are infinitely superior to physical, material and financial blessings. Since God is spirit, real blessings must by nature be spiritual. Spiritual blessings are blessings that endure. They are blessings that don’t grow wings and fly away.

(Proverbs 23:5). They are the blessings that thieves cannot steal, and fire cannot burn.

They are blessings that neither moth nor rust corrupts. (Matthew 6:19-20).

They are blessings that cannot be killed or destroyed.

(John 10:10).

The blessing of the Lord must be fundamentally different from the blessing of men. Jesus says to his disciples: “Not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27). God’s blessing is in a special category all by itself.

Accordingly, Solomon says: “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22). In effect, the blessings of the Lord are not riches, but they make one rich.

Can a car, for example, be a blessing of the Lord?

Certainly not! A car is manufactured with the wisdom from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Therefore, it has both the good and the evil in it. It can cause an accident at any time. It can kill someone and thereby bring sorrow.

For it to be a blessing of the Lord, under no circumstances can it ever be the source of sorrow.

Everlasting blessings Lateef Aminu told me a story. While on a trip with the late M.K.O. Abiola, Abiola phoned his wife, Simbiat, who was then in hospital in London sick with cancer. After asking after her health, he told her excitedly about the new plane he had just bought. He waxed lyrical about the wonderful high-tech gadgets in it. He told her how glorious it was to fly in it.

But what difference does it make to a terminally sick woman how glorious a plane is? I can understand it if he were telling her about a new wonder-drug he had just bought which could heal her. But a new plane he was flying in? I don’t think she would be too interested.

Pay a visit to the emergency ward in a hospital and give the patients the most expensive shoes in the world and they would not be excited. Give them designer-jeans, or Rolex watches, and they would not appreciate it.

Give a sick man his favourite dish and he might have no appetite. But give him Jesus and his condition would be transformed. This

ODM publisher counsels couples, singles

BY OLAYINKA LATONA

P

UBLISHER of popular dai ly devotional

booklet, Our Daily Manna, and general overseer of Manna Prayer Mountain, Bishop Chris Kwa kpovwe has described tolerance, patience and intimate love as some of the secrets of every successful marriage.

The cleric made this known while delivering a sermon titled: “Wedding gown robbers must die” at a special thanksgiving service marking his birthday anniversary

which held at the church auditorium in Ogudu, Lagos.

Like a class teacher giving instructions to his students, Kwakpovwe enjoined couples to always fear God in their undertakings and also espouse tolerance and understanding.

He further advised couples to have reasonable expectations of their spouses and not expect them to be like angels.

The man of God specifically advised wives to be extremely patient with their husbands and build their homes with

Godly characters even in the midst of challenges, adding that a wise woman guides her marital home diligently while unwise ones scatter their homes with ungodly characters, noting that a wise woman is the secret of any successful home.

He said: “Wives, take care of your husbands, adore them, be concerned after their health. Be his chef, mistress, let his outward appearance be your concern because most men are restless, aggressive, sometimes easily forget but as wives, please use wisdom to

relate with your husbands.”

In a candid advice to the heads of homes, the former pharmacist told husbands to consider women as weaker vessels hence the need for them to exhibit tolerance and love at all times towards their wives. He frawned at the idea of a woman staying home doing nothing, noting that such practice is not the best for a woman.

Kwakpovwe asked the singles to patiently wait on the Lord, praying that their wedding will manifest, stating that impatience,

is because Jesus is a blessing for all seasons. However, Jesus is not of this world.

For a blessing to be a blessing, it must always be a blessing. A blessing is a blessing is a blessing. For that reason, men would always want it. But if a socalled blessing is suddenly not a blessing any more, it must be because it was never really a blessing in the first place. It might have seemed like a blessing, but then it proved not to be so.

Divine blessings If on a man’s deathbed, you cannot interest him in lands and property, or in Rolex watches and cars, or in promotion and public acclaim, then it is clear none of the above is really a blessing. Indeed, if you give a man a Rolex watch on his deathbed it might make him sorrowful, knowing he would not be able to use it.

If you give him landed property on his deathbed, he might be upset knowing someone else would be its beneficiary.

But there must be something you can give to anybody anywhere and at any time that would always be a blessing to them. One thing is clear, that thing would have to be spiritual.

It would have to be something that pertains to this life and to the after-life.

It would have to be something that would remain relevant and invaluable in sickness and in health: in life and in death.

That thing is the blessing of the Lord.

CONTINUED

ancestral power, anger, bitterness, lack of favour, timidity as some of the factors that delay marriage.

Before his sermon, the children’s department of the ministry dazzled the congregation with orchestral musical ministration and read a recitation about the man of God, describing him as tried and tested man of God who received a strong and unique commission to write and liberate people who are victims of life’s daily battles and bruises.

As part of activities to mark Bishop Kwakpovwe’s birthday, the Ughelli, Delta State-born preacher visited motherless babies’ homes and offered free medical services to the aged at Our Daily Manna headquarters in Lagos.

Kogi: Onuesoke commends Okunbor for taking INEC, APC to court

P

eoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has commended human rights activist, Alex Okunbor, for dragging the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and All Progressives Congress (APC) to court to restrain them from conducting fresh primary to

elect a new gubernatorial candidate for the Kogi State supplementary election.

Onuesoke, who made the commendation during a visit to Okunbor in Asaba, Delta State, argued that for the fact that the APC governorship, Audu Abubakar, died in the process of the election, it is justifiable to automatically

pronounce the PDP candidate the winner of the Kogi election.

He wondered under what basis is INEC asking APC to conduct another primary for the election when the period of conducting the exercise had expired as enshrined in the Constitution.

“INEC action is

unconstitutional. There is no basis for INEC to ask the APC to conduct another primary. Primaries were conducted before the election.

And if it happened that the APC governorship candidate died in the process, it would be normal to automatically give victory to PDP

candidate Idris Wada as governor,” Onuesoke argued.

It would be recalled that Okunbor dragged INEC and APC to the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking the stoppage of another of Kogi governorship election after the demise of the APC candidate.

50 — S UNDAY Vanguard SUNDAY Vanguard,, NOVEMBER 29 , 2015

Ighalo keeps Watford going W

ATFORD striker Odion Ighalo continued his unbelievable season in the Premier League on Saturday, as the 26-year-old Nigerian international opened the scoring for the Hornets in their 2-3 away win at Aston Villa.

Ighalo’s latest strike was all about being in the right place at the

right time, as the Watford forward tapped home a simple opener after Villa’s offside trap completely failed, and a deflected shot fell into the red-hot striker ’s path.

The Watford striker is now collecting some amazing stats this season.

Ighalo has been directly involved in 10 of the 13 Premier League goals Watford have scored this season. That’s 77% of the

goals.

Moreover, Ighalo has now scored eight goals in the Premier League this season, while his tally in 2015 is even more amazing.

Along with Tottenham striker Harry Kane, Ighalo has now scored 24 goals in the calendar year: which is the highest amount of goals of any footballer in the top four flights of English football.

Iheanacho has impressed me —Aguero M

ANCHESTER City striker Sergio Aguero has backed Kelechi Iheanacho to reach his full potentials in the years to come at the club.

The teenage striker provided glimpses of his raw talent during Aguero’s recent spell on the sidelines through injury.

*Kelechi Nnachor in action for City.

Eguma predicts victory for Nigeria

F

ORMER Nigeria Under-23 team assistant coach Stanley Eguma has tipped the side to claim Olympic ticket at the ongoing Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal.

The Nigerian representatives will open their qualification ticket account against Mali on Sunday at the Stade Caroline Faye in M’Bour.

Eguma said the coaching crew acted cautiously and rightly with its decision to build the team almost wholly around the domestic players.

“I think with the situation on the ground Nigeria have a bright chance to pick up a Olympic ticket in Senegal.

“Coach Samson Siasia has kept a crop of players mostly around the home-based lads who overtime has blended perfectly well.

“That’s quite key for the side to excel in the championship unlike our own time that we built the team around foreign professionals only to discover lately that none of them would be available for the championship in Morocco and that was our greatest undoing.”

The Argentina superstar, however, feels he has seen enough of Iheanacho in recent weeks to believe the 19-year old will more than make the grade in a City shirt.

Iheanacho could soon find himself included in City’s revised Champions League squad list submission in January, following the long-term tendon injury suffered to midfielder Samir Nasri.

Aguero insisted: “Kelechi has impressed me.

He is proving time and again that he is ready for important things. “He did it in the Nigerian youth squads and he’s now proving himself with us whenever he gets on the field. “It’s no coincidence he was called into the Nigerian senior squad. He’s got a bright future ahead of him and it’s a good thing he is playing for our team.”

*TRACKING...Manchester United’s defender Phil Jones (L) vies with Watford’s striker Odion Ighalo an EPL match between Watford and Manchester United at Vicarage Road Stadium in Watford.

City break losing cycle M

ANCHESTER City came through a torrid spell to beat Southampton 3-1 at the Etihad and win for the first time in four games.

Early goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Fabian Delph seemed to have the points sewn up inside 20 minutes, but Shane Long replied and Saints were close to an equaliser during a long period of dominance.

Aleksandar Kolarov’s sweet strike in the 69th minute killed the visitors’ momentum though, ending their unbeaten away record.

The defensive frailties so ruthlessly exposed by Liverpool were again clear to see in the absence of Vincent Kompany, but a positive result was a riposte of sorts to those again questioning Manuel Pellegrini’s position in the wake of suc-

cessive defeats.

The Chilean prefers his players to talk for him, and they spoke pretty eloquently during an opening spell which threatened to overwhelm Southampton.

“It was important to get three points against a team who were unbeaten away. We were a little nervous until the third goal, but I’m happy with the performance and the result,” said Pellegrini.

CAF U23 AFCON: Senegal outclass S/Africa S ENEGAL’s Under 23 national team were too strong, too smart and too clinical for South Africa as they won 3-1 in the opening match of the CAF U23 Africa Nations Cup in Dakar, Senegal. The three top African sides of this eight-team event running over two weeks will qualify for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

The SA side got off to a bright start, though, with 18-year-old Wits speedster Phakamani Mahlambi – who was recently described as “better than Benni McCarthy at the same age” by his club coach Gavin Hunt – rattling the Senegalese defence with his exhilarating pace and skill.

Mahlambi won a number of free kicks around the penalty area, but the

free kicks and corners delivered were of a poor quality and didn’t trouble the home side’s defence.

The South Africans paid for their missed opportunities as Senegalese forward Ismaila Sarr, who was a constant thorn in the visitors’ defence, went on a powerful run on the left-hand side of the box.

SA captain Kwame Mngonyama couldn’t keep up with Sarr’s pace and pulled him down and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot, and striker Ibrahima Keita slotted the ball past goalkeeper Stuart Goss to give Senegal a 1-0 lead after 16 minutes.

Disaster struck five minutes later for the

South Africans as Keita and Samba Ndiaye combined brilliantly to unlock the defence after Ajax Cape Town midfield maestro Abbubaker Mobara uncharacteristically surrendered possession in front of the defence.

Ndiaye timed his pass to perfection to Keita as SA skipper Mngonyama was caught ball-watching, and Keita easily beat Goss to give Senegal a 2-0 lead. Senegal dominated the match from that point, with Goss pulling off a number of excellent saves to keep the score down.

But the South Africans managed to pull a goal back as Mahlambi was finally rewarded for his scintillating runs down the right when he was

fouled yet again, this time inside the Senegalese penalty area.

His Wits club teammate Phumlani Ntshangase stepped up and coolly beat Senegal goalkeeper and captain Pape Ndiaye, and the South Africans were right back in it at 2-1 down after 28 minutes. The South Africans’ hopes were finally extinguished four minutes from time when Senegalese substitute Sidy Sarr lashed home a terrific shot from the edge of the box to seal victory for the hosts.

South Africa’s next match is against Zambia on Tuesday, which is followed by a clash against Tunisia on Friday, with victory required in both games to advance to the semi-finals.

S UNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, NOVEMBER 29 , 2015 — 51

Zoff suffers neurological damage

We must play like champions, Mourinho tells players C

HELSEA coach Jose Mourinho has charged his players to play like champions for the rest of the season if they are to attain top four position.

Chelsea have endured a woeful title defence and are 15th in the table ahead of their visit to inform Tottenham this afternoon. Successive wins for only the second time this season, against Norwich and Maccabi Tel Aviv, have restored some confidence.

And Mourinho said: “We have to play every match as if we are fighting for the title, but the reality is we need points, the same way we needed them last season, when we were top of the table and almost champions and fighting to be

champions.

“In this moment, we are far from even the European positions. We have to play every game with ambition, with determination.

“Every point until the end of the season can make a difference. We have lost so many points already that now we have to fight for every point even more.”

Mourinho said Chelsea’s players were “focused on doing our job the best we can.”

And he added that his aim was to get to the end of December in a position where “we can smell the top part of the league and believe that, in the second part of the season, we will be able to reach the top positions.”

His focus until the turn

*Jose Mourinho of the year is on Chelsea finding momentum, continuing at a venue where they have one win in the last 10 visits and lost 5-3 on New Year’s Day in a performance which exposed frailties which are now familiar.

“We are in November and we are all focused on doing our job the best we can,” Mourinho added.

“We are not speaking about players, about buying, about spending.

“We are thinking about what we can do now.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham are unbeaten in the league since their opening-day defeat at Manchester United and come into the game on the back of a 1-0 Europa League win over Qarabag on Thursday.

Wenger wants Gunners to be positive H

AVING lost the opportunity to go top last weekend with a loss at West Brom Arsenal are determined to make up and keep up with the front-runners with victory at Norwich.

Manager, Arsene Wenger believes that result was more of an accident than a sign of things to come as Arsenal look to maintain a title push.

“In the last 38 games when we scored first, and we were 1-0 up, we won 37 times,” he added “In the last 25 games before West Brom, when we scored first we won

*Mesut Ozil

25 times.You have to consider that mathematically as an accident “I believe that we gave everything and that can happen. Football is as well fantastic because it’s not always predictable.”

Wenger acknowledged that it is crucial to have leaders on the pitch and, with the likes of Per Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez he has a number of in-

fluential players but he wants everyone in his squad to play their part.

“It is important,” he said when asked about leaders in his dressing room.

“You want all 11 players to be leaders and to take initiative, communicate and transmit to other players what they see on the pitch You want them to motivate the other players and be constructive and positive

*Bale and Ronaldo time whistle, but Benitez played down the significance of the Ukrainian side’s late comeback.

“I am quite positive about the way that the team reacted to the Barcelona defeat,” Benitez said.

“We needed to bounce back and that is what

the World Cup in 1982 — becoming the oldest winner of the trophy at 40 years, 4 months and 13 days. Juventus wished the goalkeeping legend a speedy recovery.

“Juventus has just learned that Dino Zoff, captain and legend of the Bianconeri and Italy teams, is suffering from health issues but that he is already improving,” said a statement.

Zoff played the bulk of his club career at Juventus from 1972-1983, where he won six Serie A titles, two Italian Cups, a UEFA Cup and reached two European Cup finals in 1973 and 1983, in the process becoming the oldest player, at 41 years and 86 days, to play in a European Cup final. The statement added: “Dino is someone who is used to never giving up.”

City fans fear for Aguero

That’s what it’s about in the leadership action.” Wenger has Aaron Ramsey available at Carrow Road while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could also be involved after both recovered from hamstring injuries While that still leaves fellow attacking talents like Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere sidelined, the Arsenal boss is looking at his frontmen to set the example on the pitch.

Benitez gives Ronaldo, Bale positional freedom EAL Madrid coach R Rafael Benitez says Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are free to change positions during a game.

Under previous coach Carlo Ancelotti, Bale usually played on the right wing but Benitez has granted him his wish to adopt a more central position.

Real lost 4-0 to Barcelona last week in La Liga before beating Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Benitez said: “I never said to Bale that he had to play on the left, Cristiano in the middle or Isco on the right.

“They have liberty to interchange positions.

Cristiano and Bale can exchange positions whenever they want.”

Real took a four-goal lead against Shakhtar but were left hanging on to a 4-3 win by the full-

ITALIAN champions Juventus rallied around Dino Zoff on Saturday after the former Bianconeri and Italy goalkeeping legend was hospitalised with a neurological condition that reports say has affected his ability to walk.

A report in Il Messaggero newspaper said Zoff, who won six Serie A titles with Juventus before coaching the club to the 1990 UEFA Cup, was “struck by an unspecified neurological problem which has left him with difficulty walking”.

It added that after initial fears over his condition, the 73-year Zoff was “showing signs of improvement”.

Zoff was considered among the best goalkeepers of his generation and, as captain of Italy, led the Azzurri to

happened. We moved the ball well, created chances and scored goals.

“We made mistakes after that with two of the goals we conceded coming from dead balls. That is down to a lack of concentration and not difficult to solve.”

*Aguero

M

ANCHESTER City fans and many fantasy league managers were holding their breathe once again yesterday after Sergio Aguero was limped off picking up an injury against Southampton.

Aguero, who has only just returned from a lengthy lay off after injury, seemed to injure his ankle when he rolled over it during the Saints game.

The Argentine star, who was last week selected in the 55-man shortlist for the FIFA Fifpro XI of 2015, was replaced by Wilfried Bony in the Sky Blues attack.

The 27-year-old has been the Citizens’ top attacking option when healthy, but he has already missed a significant part of the season with a hamstring injury

he suffered while away on international duty with Argentina. It is but the latest in a long line of knocks and injuries that have slowed down the former Atletico Madrid ace.

Aguero’s surging runs and killer instinct were missed back then, however, and things won’t be different this time around. The pocketsized striker is one of the most uniquely gifted players in the world and belongs to a small, elite group of players who simply can’t be replaced.

His absence may open the door for young starlet Kelechi Iheanacho to get some more minutes after his promising debut earlier this year, where he impressed by scoring the winning goal against Crystal Palace in his second-ever Premier League contest.

52 — S UNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, NOVEMBER 29 , 2015

Akwa United eye continental glory S

TILL basking the joy of lifting the Federation Cup at the expense of Lobi, players of Akwa United are looking forward to going far in the CAF Confederation Cup next year.

Akwa United will represent Nigeria in the CAF Confederation Cup alongside Nasarawa United while Glo Premier League champions Enyimba and Warri Wolves will play in the CAF Champions League next year.

Akwa Ibom captain, Otobong Effiong said he is fulfilled like his other teammates. But he admitted that the Promise Keepers will need to bring their A-game to bear on the continent if they want to make their debut appearance worth a mention.

“It is a big achievement for us, the players, coaches, fans and the club, that we will play on the continent next year.

This is a dream come true for me, and my teammates. But we must get down to work be-

cause playing on the continent is quite different and we need to make an impact and show that we are good enough to be there,” remarked Effiong.

The Akwa United man, who can play as a right and left full-back, says their survival from relegation and Cup-winning feat is “from God” like his first name Otobong when translated from Ibibio lanaguage to English means.

After playing a part in helping Akwa United win their first-ever domestic title, the Federation Cup, last Sunday, the captain of the Uyo club, Otobong Effiong, has told npfl.ng that he is savouring the chance of playing in the CAF Confederation Cup next year.

It is the first time that the Promise Keepers played in the Federation Cup final after almost two decades of their existence - 19 years to be precise. Effiong feels there is no better time to win a first domestic title

as it coincides with their move to a new home - the Akwa Ibom Stadium also known as the Nest of Champions.

The Akwa United defender also recalled that the club had a wretched season and escaped the drop by the whiskers on the last day. He believes that winning the Federation Cup has made up for their poor performance in the Glo Premier League.

“Whenever I look back to the season, I am happy that we were able to stay in the (Glo) Premier League despite our struggles,” said Effiong to npfl.ng. “I remember we started the season with a 0-0 draw against Enyimba in Aba but lost to FC Taraba at home.”

Giwa faults LMC’s players wage policy G

IWA Football club boss, Chris Giwa stated that the League Management Committee was not taking the issue of players’ wages seriously, as several de-

Osimhen gets CAF clearance G OLDEN Eaglets star, Victor Osimhen has been given an all clear by CAF to play for the Nigeria Under-23 team after he replaced Isaac Success on the list.

Success was denied appearance by his Spanish club and coach Samson Siasia recalled the Osimhen who he had early released from camp. Osimhen was the golden boot winner at the FIFA under-17 World Cup in Chile.

The changes were done in accordance with Article 66.2 of the regula-

tions of the tournament which states “A player on the final list cannot be replaced unless seriously injured at the latest twenty-four hours (24) at least before the beginning of the first match of his team,” a CAF statement read.

The rule mandates that CAF’s medical Committee approve the substitution in writing, after reception and approval of a detailed medical certificate. “CAF medical Committee shall write a certificate attesting that the wound is sufficient-

Full Bloom... Action photo between Lobi Stars and Akwa United FC, during the Federation Cup final in Lagos. Akwa United defeated Lobi Stars 21.Photo;Akeem Salau

ly serious to prevent the player from participating at the U-23 AFCON and will submit this certificate to the organizing Committee for approval.” it concludes.

faulting clubs have been left off the hook.

The LMC had threatened to deduct points from club owing their players, but at the close of the league, nothing of such has happened giving clubs like War ri Wolves, El Kanemi Warriors who are yet to pay their players for a period of 60 days. Article B9.45 of the 2015 framework and rulebook of the LMC states: “The terms of a contract between a

Osimhen

ORMER Golden Eaglets star Isaac Success has been named Granada FC player for the month of October.

During the period under review, Success was named in Granada’s starting line -up 2 times out of a possible 3, in games against Real Betis and Espanyol, while he was a second half substitute against Deportivo de La Coruna.

Success scored his sec-

Kanemi, finished 2nd and 13th with 66 and 49 points respectively in the 2015 league season.

“We are waiting for them (O&D) to hear what they will say,” Giwa said in Abuja. “It is not an issue of me just wanting them to deduct those points, but LMC is an organization and if they make laws and don’t implement it, it will affect the organization tomorrow and that is my own point.” Giwa said.

Sharks relegation: Odinga in pains

S

HARKS of Port Har court captain Odinga Odinga has revealed his pain at the relegation of the club from the Nigeria Professional Football League at the just concluded 2015 season.

Odinga, has been with the club for 15 years and

seeing the club drop on the last day of the league season left the player sad and confused after all the efforts to swim to safety. “I never believed it would happen (getting relegated),” said Odinga.

“For like four days after the result I did not get

Success is Granada’s player of the month ond goal of the season

F

Club and a Player shall be strictly adhered to and where a club fails to pay remuneration or entitlements due to players for a period of more than sixty (60) days, such Club shall be liable to a deduction of a maximum of six (6) points and a further deduction of three (3) points for every further thirty (30) days for which the remuneration or entitlement remains unpaid.”

Warri Wolves and El-

and his third in Granada’s colours in the 41st minute of the contest against Sporting Gijon on October 19.

The 19 - year - old was selected as one of the 21 players to represent Nigeria at the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations but was replaced at the last minute after the Spanish club failed to sanction his trip to Gambia to link up with the squad at a training camp.

*Odinga

myself. But some of my friends and family members came to talk to me and they tried to pick me up.

“They said I must accept it as the will of God and put it behind me. It was not easy but I had to put myself together and try to put everything behind me. I believe it is the will of God that this year Sharks must go down. The downfall of a man is not the end of his life”.

“Actually we prepared very well before the Abia Warriors match, we believed we were going there to win and that our brothers (Dolphins) going to Ibadan will also win. So we felt that the battle will now be between Akwa United and Lobi Stars. We even arrived two days ahead of schedule to get ourselves

ready to win the match.

If you watched the match, you will see the result did not tell the true story because we played very well. It’s just that the luck was against us,” he said. “What is more important first of all is to use this opportunity to appeal to our supporters and sponsors. They should have a place in their hearts to forgive us.

From the start of the season we have been struggling. It was not an easy season for us”.

Sharks made an abysmal start to the league season with only one win in their first 16 fixtures of the season. “Our problem was that we started the league away from home. Our games early in the season were poor,” Odinga explained while pointing the way forward.

S UNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, NOVEMBER 29 , 2015 —53

Vardy breaks Premier League goalscoring record I

Leicester forward Jamie Vardy hits his chest after becoming the first player in Premier League history to find the net in 11 consecutive matches

F you’re wearing golden boots, the expectation is that you will deliver. Jamie Vardy took that questionable sartorial decision yesterday evening. However, he also did the necessary deed and extraordinary tale gathered yet another chapter.

He already shared the Premier League record of scoring in ten successive games with Ruud van Nistelrooy.

So, it was fitting that it was against Manchester United, with their travelling support singing the old songs in praise of their legendary Dutch striker, that the Sheffield Wednesday reject and alumnus of Stocksbridge Park Steels, who was still playing non-league football three years ago, chose to go one better.

The new record is now eleven successive games and Vardy has actually scored 13 in that run.

Yesterday it felt as though he were trampling all over the established order, not just van Nistelrooy. Whilst Vardy was all energy and action, Wayne Rooney looked a much older man than his 30 years at the

other end.

There were a few snapped shots wide, a desperate dive on 35 minutes and an attepot to fling himself at a rebound. But, bruised and seemingly hobbling with a dead leg, he was substituted on 67 minutes. It may not be the case come the summer, but yesterday evening the comparison with his Leicester counterpart and England team-mate was unkind for Rooney.

The Vardy goal when it came was a classis of its kind from Leicester this season. Kasper Schmeichel bowled the ball to Christian Fuchs who advanced upfield to play a raking pass behind United’s extremely shaky back three for Vardy to run onto.

Such is his confidence at present, few inside the King Power Stadium can have doubted the conclusion once the man of the moment began that run.

He simply sprinted across a startled Darmian, took one touch and crashed it past David De Gea.. The stadium fairly erupted as Vardy raced off to celebrate, dashing

Neymar, Suarez, Messi sweep aside Real Sociedad Continues from B/P

in football and commercial terms. In this comfortable win, and with the Argentine still easing himself back from his two month lay-off, even Messi was in his shadow.

Siasia Continues from B/P

kidnappings for ransom are frequent. Siasia, who is in Senegal with his squad for the Confederation of African Football Under-23 Championship, told the BBC he was happy his mother had been freed safely and reunited with her family.

“We’ve already spoken and she’s happy to be home,” Siasia said.

“It’s been a crazy two weeks, but I would like to say thank you to the NFF and everyone involved in the safe return of my mother.

“Now I can completely focus on the business here, doing well at this tournament would be a perfect way to thank Nigerians for their love.”

Luis Suarez’s form is not too bad either. The Uruguayan scored another wonder volley and is just two goals behind Neymar for this season.

His 12 goals in the league have also come at a goal-a-game rate and

the stadium rose as one to salute him when cracked in Alves cross for the second goal between Neymar ’s two strikes.

Barcelona have now scored 160 goals in 2015 and 125 of those have

The kidnappers had initially demanded 150 million naira (US$750,000), but subsequently reduced their demand to 50 million naira (US$250, 000), and 35 million naira (US$175,000) for the release of the 72year-old.

Although Mrs Siasia was released early on Saturday, it is not clear if a ransom was paid.

Police in Bayelsa said the hunt for the kidnappers was still on.

Kidnapping, often for ransom, is common in parts of Nigeria and footballers’ families are increasingly becoming targets.

International defender Onyekachi Apam was kidnapped on 31 December 2007 in the south-eastern city of Enugu by armed men who

took his car before releasing him. Nornu Yobo, elder brother of former Everton and Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo, was famously kidnapped in 2008 in oilrich Port Harcourt.

Nornu was released after 10 days but it was never made clear whether a ransom was paid.

Former international Christian Obodo was abducted in Warri, southern Nigeria, in June 2012. He was rescued by the police twenty-four hours later.

A year earlier, the father of Nigerian midfielder and Chelsea player John Obi Mikel was kidnapped in Jos, central Nigeria.

Nigerian police, however, rescued Michael Obi senior from his abductors days later.

come from the boots of Suarez, Neymar and Messi. To put that into perspective – Real Madrid have only scored 110 this calendar year.

And in spite of the fact that injuries have limited Messi to three league goals the 30 goals scored between the three of them this season are more than another team has managed in the division.

They could have taken the lead in this one with a collector ’s item header from Andres Iniesta.

The midfielder got on the end of a Suarez cross after Messi had played the Uruguayan down the left but his header came back off the post.

When the goal came Messi was again the player who started the move this time finding Dani Alves down the right and from his cross Neymar broke the deadlock.

That was on 23 minutes and two minutes before the break Alves was the supplier again this time with a deep cross which Suarez volleyed past Rulli.

It was spectacular finish, hit sweetly with his right foot falling away as

he struck it. Alves’ contribution had been important and Suarez trotted around the back of the goal to salute the rightback who at 32-years of age has run into another rich vein of form of late and still looks like one of the best attacking right backs in football.

CAF U-23

Continues from B/P

paredness and it remains to be seen how they offlaod in their first match of the tournament.

Mali’s strongest point is their resolute defending and their quick counter-attack. They will be coming out strong against the ‘Olympic Eagles’, but Siasia must have taken good notes and knows just what to do to keep the Malians in check.

One man that may give the Nigerians a cause for worry is Nantes’ Adama Niane who emerged as joint top scorer in the qualifiers with four goals. The forward can shoot from long range and can also trouble the defence.

Siasia varies his system depending on the oppo-

briefly past the United fans, pointing at his chest and shouting something, presumably along the lines of: ‘I’m the man now.’

And he was but it was not just him. Leicester may have to share top spot with Manchester City after this draw, but their resilience as we approach December is remarkable. They aren’t going away and were magnificent in that first half, when United reverted to their stuttering shapeless alter ego, a parody of their finest sides. And when United improved, as they were almost bound too, Leicester proved equal to their defensive task.

Yet it was first half onslaught which truly exhilarated the King Power Stadium. Vardy and Marc Albrighton has already served warning on Darmian on 11 minutes, hounding him into losing the ball and being unfortunate to concede a free kick. Darmian and Paddy McNair in particular will not remember their first-half performances fondly.

But all over the pitch Leicester were embarrassing United, none more so than Riyad Mahrez, whom Ashley Young had to pull back as he raced away on yet another counter attack and thus earned a yellow card. United’s 3-5-2 formation, simply looked ragged. And when Mahrez broke through on 31 minutes it needed the steadfastness of De Gea to block his smart shot with his knees. nent, but usually sets his team up in a 4-3-3 formation or a 4-4-2 which can become as attacking as a 4-2-4 as the game might be.

Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick backed the team to achieve its primary aim at the tournament.

“Siasia has brought new, exciting faces to the group and there is confidence all around again.

The ticket to the Olympics is non-negotiable.”

“We won the U-20 Cup of Nations in Senegal at the beginning of the year; now, we are back there for the Olympics ticket and the trophy. We will achieve both, because Samson Siasia has put together a crack squad and he has the support of the NFF all the way.”

PAGE 54 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 — 55

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SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

Siasia’s mother released!

T

HE mother of Nigeria Under-23 coach Samson Siasia has been released after being kidnapped by gunmen 12 days ago.

CAF U-23 AFCON:

Three kidnappers took Ogere Siasia from the family home in Bayelsa state in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where Continues Page 53

Kick off: 5p.m.

Nigeria in crunchy tie against Mali *Samson Siasia

Osimhen takes over N Success No.9 jersey A S a result of his late registration for the U23 AFCON, U17 World Cup hotshot Victor Osimhen will wear the Number 9 shirt the player he has replaced would have worn.

Osimhen also wore No 9 shirt to score record-breaking 10 goals at the recent U17 World Cup in Chile.

Granada forward Isaac Success was replaced by Osimhen after Nigeria proved he has suffered a major injury that will stop him from the U23 AFCON, which starts today in Dakar, Senegal.

Incidentally, both strikers hail from Edo State.

Skipper Azubuike Okechukwu, who is based in Turkey, will maintain his favourite jersey number 14, while Taiwo Awoniyi keeps his No 18 shirt, which he also won when he led the Flying Eagles to win the African Youth Championship in Senegal in March.

BY BEN EFE

IGERIA will play their opening game of the CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations, when they face Mali in the group B pairing at the Caroline Faye Stadium in M’bour, Senegal.

At stake, is the 2016 Olympic qualification ticket. Having missed the 2012 edition and also missing the chance to win the gold medal at the 2015 Africa Games in Congo, the team coached by Samson Siasia is under pressure to deliver. The match against Mali will be a true test of their intention of restoring their dignity.

Mali, were whiskers away from beating Nigeria at the Africa Games, but for a late minute goal that rescued a point for the Nigerian team in that encounter. The Malians vowed to fight again at this tournament, even as Siasia groaned about his players inability to convert scoring chances.

But that was then, Siasia has reinforced his team with tested strikers in the mould of Junior Ajayi, Taiwo Awoniyi and FIFA Under-17 goal king Victor Osimhen fresh from his exploits in Chile 2015.

A ten day training stint in Gambia has given the Nigerian team some measure of pre Continues Page 53

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Governor of Sokoto State (8) 5. Assistant (4) 7. Praise (5) 8. Upright (4) 9. Lantern (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 15. Exclamation (2) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 18. Agent (3) 20. Glitters (6) 24. Forward (5) 25. Nigerian state (6) 27. Boring tool (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 31. Perform (2) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 36. Vow (4) 38. Musical quality (4) 39. Inclination (5) 40. Eager (4) 41. Damages (8)

DOWN 1. Sample (5) 2. Niger state town (4) 3. Observe (5) 4. Lecture (6) 5. Everyone (3) 6. Use (6) 10. Inquires (4) 12. Carpet (3) 14. Colour (6) 15. Resistance unit (3) 17. Coax (4) 19. Rollicked (6) 21. Hatchet (3) 22. Satisfied (4) 23. Nigerian state (3) 26. Cry of derision (3) 27 . African country (6) 28. Endure (4) 29. Child (3) 30. Spoke (6) 31. Adorn (5) 33. Baking chambers (5) 35. Asterisk (4) 37. Possessed (3)

Neymar, Suarez, Messi sweep aside Real Sociedad

See solution on page 5

N

EYMAR’s march to world domination continues apace. He got two more in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to make it 14 goals in 13 games in the league this season. He is La Liga’s top scorer and after scoring the first and the third he set up the fourth for Lionel Messi.

With various Spanish media reporting that Nike have agreed to make Neymar the face of their global campaigning in 2016 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, the 23-year-old now appears to have only his Argentine team-mate ahead of him on the world stage both Continues Page 53

RESULTS Bournemouth 3 - 3 Everton Aston Villa 2 - 3 Watford C/Palace 5 - 1 Newcastle Man City 3 - 1 Southampton Sunderland 2 - 0 Stoke City Leicester 1 - 1 Man United Torino 2 - 0 Bologna Barcelona 4 - 0 Real Sociedad A/Madrid 1 - 0 Espanyol B/Munich 2 - 0 Hertha Berlin Hannover 96 4 - 0 Ingolstadt Hoffenheim 3 - 3 Borussia Mgladbach Bremen 1 - 3 Hamburger Mainz 05 2 - 1 E/Frankfurt PSG 4 - 1 Troyes

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