...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61953

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

APC, other oppositionparties jittery —Jonathan•Says PDP has intimidating credentials•Tukur urges party leaders to lead by example•Obasanjo, Amaechi, others absent at meeting

COLUMNISTS:

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ADISAADELEYE

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DONUKOGBARA

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EDITORS' CONFERENCE—From left: Secretary to the Government ofthe Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta Stateand President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adesina on arrival to the open-ing ceremony of the 9th Nigerian Guild of Editors' Conference held at the Event Centre,Asaba, Delta State, yesterday. Inset: Information Minister, Labaran Maku (left) and formerGovernor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba at the event. Photos:Henry Unini.

P R E S S C O U N C I L :FG has no plans to gagthe press — Maku

PDP moves againstAmaechi's loyalists

BY HENRY UMORU

A BUJA — P R E S IDENT Goodluck

Jonathan declared, yes-terday, that the opposi-tion political partieswere already confusedand scared of the rulingPeoples DemocraticParty, PDP, ahead of the2015 elections.

Speaking at the 62ndNational Executive Com-mittee, NEC, meeting ofthe PDP, PresidentJonathan said that per-ceived opponents andenemies of the PDP, whoconcluded that the party

Shekau's death excites BRIC investors P.11

P.9 P.48

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POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—5

Continues from page 1

2015: APC, other oppositionparties jittery — Jonathan

As long as you have breath, you have a purpose!Trust God to order your steps. A living dog is betterthan a dead lion. Pursue your purpose actively.

SO let’s celebrate our anniversaries as theySarise. What we are really celebrating, though,is the present moment, the doorway into Spirit,and all there ever is —Elisabeth Gilberts

There is a fine balance between honouring the pastand losing yourself in it. For example, you can ac-knowledge and learn from mistakes you made, andthen move on and refocus on the now. It is calledforgiving yourself. Or you can carry a burden of guiltfor many years. You may occasionally fondly re-member events, places, or people from the past andwhile doing so, accepting the impermanence of allthings. Or you may wallow in nostalgia and seethe past as more precious than the present.

The future, too, needs to be honoured, withoutmaking it more important in your mind than thepresent. Of course, you can make plans, and youcan hold an intention in your mind of somethingthat you wish to manifest in your life, and then takeappropriate action. But the power for creating a bet-ter future is contained in the present moment. Youcreate a good future by creating a good present.How do you do that? By recognizing the goodnessthat is already inherent in the present moment, evenin the midst of challenges. Discontent, blaming,complaining, self-pity cannot serve as a foundationfor a good future, no matter how much effort youmake.

will be divided andcontinue in lingering cri-sis have been terribly dis-appointed. He noted that“the key thing that makeslife go on is our ability toresolve our crises."

The President stressedthat the ruling party, ir-respective of its differ-ences and disagree-ments which also occurin families, will alwaysresolve its problems ami-cably, adding that thosewho thought that theywill reap from politicaldifferences in the PDPhave been shamed.

Jonathan, who de-

scribed the emergence ofAll Progressives Con-gress, APC, and the Peo-ples Democratic Move-ment, PDM, as a bless-ing to the ruling party,however, stressed thatthe opposition politicalparties were already jit-tery based on what hetermed the intimidatingcredentials of PDP.

PDP must lead byexample— Tukur

Meanwhile, the PDPNational Chairman,Alhaji Bamanga Tukur atthe meeting, warned that

as a ruling party, PDPmust lead by exampleand act as a beacon oflight to other politicalparties and Nigerians,even as he boasted thatpolitical adversaries ofthe party have beenshamed, adding that thePDP as a party has con-tinued to grow fromstrength to strength inspite of challenges beingfaced.

Also yesterday the PDPNEC approved and rati-fied the August 31, 2013date for the Special Na-tional Convention, evenas it bowed to a court in-junction restraining theconduct of the SouthWest Zonal Congressearlier slated for Satur-day, August 24, 2013 andthereafter postponed thecongress as part of movesto uphold the rule of lawand in deference to thecourt ruling.

NEC directed the Na-tional Working Commit-tee, NWC, to followthrough the court proc-ess and when con-cluded, set a new datefor the South West ZonalCongress.

The NEC was veryshort as it took off whenthe President came in at2.42 pm and ended by3.35pm.

Speaking further,President Jonathan said:"I want to thank all of youfor finding time to attendthis emergency NECmeeting. I believe someof you got this informa-tion quite late, yesterdayand the meeting has tobe called because of theprovisions of our consti-tution as our chairmanrelated.

"I was not expecting tosee so many people es-pecially our senior party

members, but when Icame in and lookedacross and saw the faces,I thank God that thoughpeople believe that PDPwill have issues, that weare divided, they will allbe disappointed.

"Let me sincerely ap-preciate our party mem-bers for what they aredoing across the country.What the elders of theparty are doing, theWorking Committee. TheJerry Gana Committee,our governors and themembers of the NationalAssembly for all theyhave been doing in fly-ing the flag of the party.

PDP has intimi-dating credentials— Jonathan

"The chairman said itall that we thought thatpolitical activities will notstart so early in the coun-try, but because of theintimidating credentialsof the PDP, people startedmeeting, parties startedcoming together, andnew ones are beingformed which is a bless-ing for all of us all be-cause people are con-fused about how we man-age PDP and they willcontinue to be confused.

"Our party members, Icommend you and reas-sure that we will carry onthe mandate of the partybased on our manifestoso that no matter whatanybody is saying,things will be on groundfor them to compare whatthe PDP government isdoing.

"A number of thingsthat Nigeria almost for-got about like railways,we are bringing themback. I believe that by thetime we move into earlynext year, things will be-come very obvious. Eventhose who doubt us, willnot have anything to say.We promise that we aregoing to do that with theassistance of the party.

"In party politics, as Icame in, the Vice Presi-dent whispered some-thing to me about somelapses somewhere.There maybe disagree-ments and in all institu-tions even at the familylevel, there must be disa-greements and issues.But the key thing thatmakes life go on is ourability to resolve our cri-sis. No matter the disa-greement, no matter theinterests, politics theysay is a game of interests.We will resolve these dif-ferences amicably tomake sure that everymember of the party ishappy. That is the area Icommend the elders ofthe party via the commit-tees set up by the Na-tional Chairman for go-

ing round to see howsome of these differenceswould be resolved at thestate level. The chairmanof BoT has been meetingwith various groups tomake sure that we speakwith one voice, and wewill continue to speakwith one voice.

"Those who continue tothink that PDP cannotcome together, that PDPcannot manage success,they will be terribly dis-appointed. We will go toEagles Square and takethe right decision for ourparty.”

On his party, the Na-tional Chairman, Tukursaid: There are internalorgans and mechanismsfor conflict resolution inour Party. I encourageour members to explorethese avenues in venti-lating their grievancesand to, as much as pos-sible, avoid litigationswhich make a mockery ofour stand on peace andstability.

"My doors and indeedthose of all our Partyleaders are wide open toall members of our greatParty. I run an open doorpolicy that furthers theprinciples of triple ‘R’ i.eReconciliation, Reforma-tion and Rebuilding.

"We need peace andfriendly concord in ourParty. We cannot reachour destination in an at-mosphere of bitternessand rivalry.

"I therefore call on allour party members acrossthe country to sheaththeir swords and en-throne enduring peace.I want to commend theNational ReconciliationCommittee for the goodwork it is doing and en-courage our members totake their grievances tothe committee or otherorgans of the party en-trusted with the task ofrestoring peace in theparty.

"We must give the Presi-dent our unalloyed sup-port as he continues toimplement the manifestoof the PDP to the benefitof all Nigerians - OurRailways are workingagain, Power Supply isimproving and our Air-ports are wearing newlooks, etc. More greaseto your elbows – Mr.President!"

The Roll Call

At yesterday’s meet-ing, former Presidentand past Chairman,Board of Trustees, BoT ofthe party, ChiefOlusegun Obasanjo, gov-ernors EmmanuelUduaghan of Delta State;Theodore Orji of Abia;Ibrahim Shema ofKatsina; Gabriel Suswamof Benue and suspendedChibuike Amaechi of Riv-ers, were absent.

Fifteen governors andthree deputy governorswere present. They weregovernors Isa Yuguda ofBauchi; Idris Wada ofKogi; Sule Lamido ofJigawa; Ramallan Yero ofKaduna; AliyuBabangida of Niger;Martin Elechi of Ebonyi;Murtala Nyako ofAdamawa; IbrahimDankwambo of Gombe;Sullivan Chime ofEnugu; Jonah Jang ofPlateau; Liyel Imoke ofCross River; SaiduDankigari of Kebbi;Godswill Akpabio ofAkwa Ibom; AbdulfatirAhmed of Kwara and Act-ing Governor of Taraba,Garba Umar. Others weredeputy governors ofSokoto, Bayelsa andKano.

Also present were VicePresident NamadiSambo; Speaker, Houseof Representatives,Aminu Tambuwal; ChiefTony Anenih, DeputySenate President, IkeEkweremadu; AhmaduAli; Prince VincentOgbulafor, OkwesiliezeNwodo, Haliru BelloMohammed, IbrahimMantu, Jim Nwobodo,Hassan Adamu, BodeGeorge, Musa Babayo,Senator HopeUzodinma, Walid Jibrin,Maryam Inna Ciroma,General A.B. Mamman,Senator MohammaduMagoro, EbenezerBabatope, JosephineAnenih, Kema Chikwe,Jim Nwobodo, FelixObuah, Senator MargeryOkadigbo, among oth-ers.

VISIT—Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (Front row, 5th-left); Presi-dent, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr Femi Adesina (Front row, 5th right);otherexecutive members of the Guild and Delta State commissioners during theEditors' courtesy call on the governor in Asaba,yesterday. Photo: NAN.

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

CALABAR CC — A 42-year-oldCameroonian lady who gaveCC

her name as Evelyn Atemkengwas, Wednesday, arrested inCalabar with a three-day-oldbaby she allegedly bought forN1.2 million.

Mrs Atemkeng accompaniedby her 70-year-old mother,Anastasia Fambong, was said tohave bought the baby boy from amatron of a clinic in Delta Stateinto whose account she paid theN1.2 million.

Commander of the Cross RiverState Immigration Command,Mr Samuel Ichoi, who orderedthe arrest of the woman told Van-guard in his office that his mendaccosted the lady while boardinga ship to Cameroon and after in-terrogation, she confessed thatshe bought the baby.

He said: “The lady came fromCameron on Friday without anysign of pregnancy but this morn-ing (Wednesday) she was foundto be carrying a baby and whenmy men examined her therewere no signs that she just gavebirth, so she and the baby wereapprehended.”

According to Igoche, the ladyalso claimed that in May lastyear, she was given some herbsat Okigwe where she “miracu-lously gave birth to a baby girlwho is now in Cameroon.”

Lady buys 3-day-old baby for N1.2m,arrested

BY EMMA UNA However, the lady who saidshe is a teacher in the North-Westregion of Cameron told Van-guard that she gave birth to thebaby and that N1.2 million shepaid into the account of the ma-tron was for delivery and herbsshe gave to her to aid delivery.

She said: “She (matron) saidmy breast would start producingmilk in three weeks but for nowthe baby is taking baby food.”

According to her, she does nothave anybody in Cameroon totake care of her, that was whyshe came to Nigeria to deliverbefore returning to her country.

"I am married and my husbandis in Cameroon but there is no-body to take care of me inCameroon, that was why I cameto Nigeria to deliver,” she said.

The Anti Human TraffickingOfficer of the Nigeria Immigra-tion Service at the Calabar Port,Mrs Agbor Ojong Ogar, saidshe took time to examine thewoman and she does not haveany sign that she just gave birth.

She said: “The woman passedhere on Friday, she left on Sat-urday and returned to Calabaron Tuesday and was heading

back to Cameron with a baby andwhen we examined her she doesnot have any sign of havinggiven birth recently.”

Mrs Evelyn Atemkeng, the suspect and the baby.

IKORODU KILLINGS: IG calls for calm,takes over investigationBY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

ABUJA —AA THE Force Head—quarters, Abuja, yesterday,AA

reacted to the alleged killing of

a commercial motorcyclist by apoliceman attached to Rapid Re-sponse Squad, RRS, in Lagosand the subsequent protest thatfollowed, calling for calm andpromised to ensure that justicewas done.

A statement signed by newlyappointed Force Public RelationsOfficer, CSP Frank Mba reads:“Following the unfortunate deathof a commercial motorcyclist, oneOlalekan Ajayi on August 20,2013 and ensuing protests em-barked upon yesterday, 21/08/2013 at Ikorodu, Lagos by ag-grieved citizens, the IGP hascalled for calm to enable the po-lice authorities wade into thematter and ensure that justice isserved.

“Meanwhile, the police officerlinked with the killing of the lateOlalekan Ajayi has been arrested,detained and is presently under-going investigation.

“The IGP condoles with thebereaved relations, friends andcolleagues of the late OlalekanAjayi.

“While promising that the forcewill do its utmost best to ensurethat investigation into the deathis properly done and concludedin record time, the IGP calls onall aggrieved persons to remaincalm and patient.

“He has, therefore, directed theCommissioner of Police, LagosState to take proper steps to en-sure that justice is expeditiouslydone on the matter.”

A shrine at Egbeda bus-stop, Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

Five undergrads docked forcultism in Ogun

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — FIVE university students were, yes-AA

terday, docked at an Abeokutamagistrate's court for allegedlybelonging to a secret cult.

The accused are OpeyemiFakeye, 28; Samuel Popoola, 28;Oladejo Musiliu, 20; ChristianDada, 25; and Mustapha Disu,28. They are from various insti-tutions.

The accused who were not rep-resented by any counsel, are fac-ing a four-count charge border-ing on membership of an unlaw-ful secret society and breach ofpeace.

Vanguard gathered that menof the state police command ar-rested the five acussed personswhile 15 others reportedly es-caped after gathering in a bushfor a meeting.

At the court, yesterday, theprosecutor, Inspector AugustineOzimini, said the accused com-mitted the offence on August 4 at11.05 a.m. at Ijaiye-Obirinti areaof Abeokuta.

He alleged that the studentswith others still at large caused abreach of peace as members of asecret society, Eye Fraternity.

Ozimini said: “The accused and15 others at large assembled in a

bush at Obiritin area, singing,drumming and making noise.They were arrested by the po-lice following a tip-off.”

They pleaded not guilty to thecharges.

The magistrate, EmmanuelAdekunte, granted the accusedbail in the sum of N100, 000 eachwith two sureties each in likesum.

Further hearing in the case

BY ONOZURE DANIA

4 dockedover N5.9mtheft

LAGOS LL — A 32-year-oldman, IkechukwuLL

Onyekwuo, and three otherswere yesterday, arraigned be-fore an Ikeja magistrate's court,for allegedly stealing N5.9 mil-lion, belonging to Foltechs En-gineering Services Ltd.

The other suspects who weredocked alongside Onyekwuoare Tolulope Akinyemi, 28;Olalekan Agoro, 27 and YakusSodiq, 26.

The defendants who werebefore Magistrate EniolaFabamwo are facing a three-count charge of conspiracyand stealing.

The police prosecutor, ASPBarth Nwakoye, told the courtthat the defendants conspiredtogether and gained entranceinto Foltechs EngineeringServices Ltd's warehouse.

He said they committed thecrime on August 17, 2013, atabout midnight, at Plot 4,Limca Way, in Isolo area ofLagos.

He said they stole 3000pieces of MCB, valued N3million; 37 pieces of GSW val-ued N1, 739,000; extentionsockets which comprise of fourgang, five gang and six gangrespectively all valuedN303,400.

He also claimed that theystole 32 pieces of 63A indus-trial pin, worth N440,000,bringing all items stolen toN5,962,400, property ofFoltechs Engineering Serv-ices Ltd.

...3 remandedfor allegedrobberyBY IJEOMA NATHANIEL

LAGOSLL — THREE men,Emmanuel Oyedepo,

Jamiu Shodeinde and KayodeAdewuyi, were yesterday, ar-raigned before an Ikeja Mag-istrate's court for allegedly rob-bing one Adebayo Rachael ofhis property worth N158, 300.

The suspects docked beforeMagistrate A. O. Komolafe arefacing a two-count charge ofconspiracy and robbery.

The police Prosecutor, E. I.Nnamonu told the court thatthe defendants committed theoffence on August 1, 2013 atAgbado area of Lagos State.

He said while armed withguns and dangerous weapons,the suspects and others nowat large did rob one AdebayoRachael of her HP laptop, re-charge cards, N33,500 and alsorobbed one Biliaminu Fatimahof N6,000, all worth N158,300.

The magistrate, threafter, or-dered that the suspects be re-manded in prison and ad-journed the case to November5, 2013.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—7

Lagos govt rescues 25 children fromalleged child trafficker

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

The rescued children

The suspect, Mrs. Rosemary Nwachukwu

LAGOS LL — EIGHTEEN yearsafter it was established, an il-LL

legal orphanage home in theheart of Egbeda in Alimosho Lo-cal Government Area of LagosState, was shut down by LagosState government officials whoalso rescued 25 children from thefacility.

The Office of the Public De-fender, OPD, an arm of the stateMinistry of Justice, which carriedout the rescue mission from thepurported ‘Home for Orphansand Less Privileged’ said apartfrom keeping the children ille-gally, the venue was also usedfor child trafficking.

A statement from the OPD saidthe children whose ages rangebetween three months and 12years were found in the illegalhome located at 30/32, AbiodunAdebanbo Street, Egbeda, Lagosallegedly run by one Mrs. Rose-mary Nwachukwu.

The OPD disclosed that a com-bined team of Director of ChildDevelopment in the state Minis-try of Youths and Social Develop-ment, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo andofficers from OPD clamped downon the home based on informa-tion, from which the alleged ille-gal activities of the home and thedeteriorating condition to whichthe children were subjected towere exposed.

The rescued children who hadsince been taken to the LagosState Government welfare insti-tution for proper care and protec-tion are made up of three infantswho are aged between 3 and 6months and 22 others.

Whereabouts of two children unknown

OPD said: “Upon investigations, it was discovered thatMrs. Nwachukwu trafficked 27 children kept in a room,using them to raise money and defraud innocent mem-bers of the public who may need assistance in child adop-tion. Twenty five children were rescued and the wherea-bouts of the remaining two children remain unknown.

“Investigation also shows that there were no record oneach of the children and no evidence of how the childrengot to her and no form of police or security report.”

Asking Lagos residents to help the government in curb-ing such activities in the state, Mrs Fadairo, the leader ofthe operation, however, warned members of the public tobe vigilant and report such cases to the media or govern-ment in order not to fall into the hands of similar organisa-tions.

She said people/organisations that operate unapprovedor illegal orphanages would be arrested and prosecuted.

The suspect, Mrs. Nwachukwu, in an interview told theofficials that she had been running the home for the past18 years purely on charity but residents and landlord as-sociation in the community said they were not aware thatsuch home existed, adding that the children might havebeen brought by the woman under the cover of darkness.

Tanker driver arrested for defiling 2-yr-old girlBY EMMA UNA

CALABARCC — A 41-year-oldtanker driver identified asCC

Bashiru has been arrested inCalabar for allegedly defiling atwo-year-old girl and infectingher with a sexually transmitteddisease.

The incident happened inOkom Ita, Akamkpa Local Gov-ernment Area, Cross River State,when the two-year old girl (namewithehld) strolled from her moth-er’s room into Bashiru’s apart-ment to play with the man shecalls “uncle.”

Margaret, the toddler’s motherwho narrated the incident to Van-guard said she did not stop herddaughter from going intoBashiru’s room because she con-sidered him a neighbour whocould not harm her daughter.

She said: “We have been livingtogether for some time and now,so when my daughter went intohis room I did not stop her evenwhen she later came out and com-plained that she was havingpains in her private part. I thoughtit was ordinary pain until in the

evening when I wanted to bathher and she began to cry whensoap touched her private part.”

Margaret said when she re-

ported the incident to the police,Basiru was arrested and takento the Akamkpa police station .

Mr Hogan Bassey, the Cross

River State Police Commandspokesman confirmed the arrestof the man and said the matterwas under investigation.

Panic as lunatic sets fuel truck ablazein BayelsaBY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

YENAGOA YY — WORKERS ofthe Nigerian National Petro-YY

leum Corporation, NNPC, MegaFilling Station along the SaniAbacha Expressway in theBayelsa State capital and custom-ers who stopped by to refuel theirvehicles were reportedly throwninto panic, Tuesday, following afailed attempt by a deranged manto set a fuel tanker ablaze.

The incident which caused pan-demonium in the area, it waslearnt, occurred at about 11 am.

The deranged man identified asan indigene of Emede in DeltaState was also discovered by the

police to be in possession of pic-tures of prominent indigenes ofthe state, some kilogrammes ofcanabis and powdery substancesuspected to be cocaine duringa search carried out at a publicbus stop structure he was usingas a home.

It was learnt that the man popu-larly known as “Professor” gath-ered plastic and cartons to makefire and push it under the sta-tionery lorry loaded with 33,000litres of petroleum products.

Six fuel tankers, according toeyewitnesses, were waiting todischarge their consignment atthe mega filling station.

“Before we knew it, we sawthick smoke and fire engulfingthe tire of the oil tanker,” one of

the eyewitnesses said.It was learnt that some motor-

ists, hawkers, workers at the fill-ing station and the nearby churchtook to their heels for fear of pos-sible explosion.

However, some motorists andworkers were said to have madefor the fire extinguishers in theircars and others at the filling sta-tion to put out the fire.

The deranged man reportedlytook to his heel and boarded a tri-cycle popularly known as KekeNAPEP but was chased and ap-Pprehended.

Thereafter, angry mob de-scended on him but he was res-cued following the intervention ofmen of special police patrol team,Operation Doo Akpor.

How securityman stoleN160,000laptop, sold itfor N30,000

BY UJU MBANUSI

LAGOSLL — A SECURITYman attached to a com-LL

pany in Sabo-Yaba area of La-gos was recently charged tothe Magistrate Court sitting inYaba, for stealing a HP laptop,after he was captured by aClosed Circuit Television,CCTV, camera situated withinthe company premises.

An eye witness disclosedthat the 21-year-old man iden-tified as Mike Prince was onlya week old at the duty post onAugust 10, 2013, when hemade away with a laptop val-ued at N160,000, after he gotoff duty, thinking that no onesaw him.

The next day, the issue of themissing laptop led to the re-view of recordings by theCCTV which showed Mike asthe culprit.

The incident was then re-ported at the Sabo Police sta-tion and Mike was arrestedwhen he resumed duty thenext day.

After interrogation, the sus-pect reportedly confessed tostealing the laptop and sell-ing it to a computer engineeridentified as Adamu at Sabomarket for N30,000, out ofwhich he brought a Blackberryphone for N15,000.

It was also gathered thatAdamu took off when hesighted Mike in handcuff,leading a Policeman to hisshop.

Man dockedover allegedburglary

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA AA — THE OgunState Police Command,AA

yesterday, arraigned a 22-year-old Ibrahim Soremilakunbefore an Abeokuta Magis-trate's court for allegedlybreaking into the house of oneAkeem Alao and stole itemsvalued at N 90,000.

The accused person whowas not represented pleadednot guilty to a three-countcharge of felony, burglary andstealing.

The police prosecutor, In-spector Augustine Oziminitold the court that the offencewas committed on August 18at about 2 a.m. at SurulereCommunity Camp, inAbeokuta.

According to Ozimini, theaccused broke into Alao'shouse and stole three phones,a wrist watch, a necklace, apair of earring and N 70,000all valued at N 90,000.

8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

PDP'S 62ND NEC MEETING: From left— Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State; Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Chairman; President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo, at theparty's National Executive Council 62nd meeting in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: STATE HOUSE.

Patients lament as healthworkers' strike paralyses hospitals

mentation of their demandsafter the recent ruling of theNational Industrial Court.

Also, Chief Medical Direc-tor of the University of IIorinTeaching Hospital, Prof.AbdulWaheed Olatinwo, yes-terday, confirmed that the in-stitution was providing skel-etal services to save lives.

Members of MHWUN hadembarked on the strike afterthe expiration of a 21-day ul-timatum issued to govern-ment on August 1, to accedeto the 10-point demand andagreements reached on May10, 2012.

NMA’s statementHowever, in reaction to the de-

velopment, NMA, in a pressstatement jointly signed by theNational President, Dr. OsahonEnabulele and Secretary-Gen-eral, Dr. Akpufuoma Pemu,urged the doctors to remaincommitted to their God-given

responsibility of offering qual-ity healthcare services to the toil-ing and long-deprived peopleof Nigeria, in all public hospi-tals.

The duo further alleged thatplans by were being made bysome hospital support staff toprevent Nigerian doctors fromproviding healthcare services inpublic hospitals.

According to them, “while wehave nothing against the rightof people to determine how bestto actualise their demands, weshall, however, not tolerate anyattempt to obstruct medical anddental practitioners in the courseof rendering their official du-ties.”

They further called on allChief Medical Directors/Medical Directors to ensuresustained provision of clinical/healthcare services to Nigeri-ans in their various hospitals,by providing adequate secu-rity, and ensuring access to hos-rr

pital materials, equipment andother healthcare facilities in thehospitals.

They said: “Despite the fact thatNMA’s several demands for in-stitutionalisation of best practices,strengthened public-privatepartnership policy, professional-ism and better working condi-tions for her members are yet tobe attended to, we assure allNigerians that NMA shall con-tinue to promote professional-ism, patient-centred care anddevelopment initiatives withpositive impact on the healthof Nigerians.”

Chairman of the Kwarabranch of NMA, Prof. MikailBuhari, said skeletal serviceswere being provided in vitalareas of the hospital.

The chairman said that medi-cal doctors, nurses and otherhealth workers were renderingmedical services at the emer-gency department and attendingto those on admission.

HARDHH times await patientsseeking healthcare services

in Federal tertiary health institu-tions nationwide as the Medicaland Health Workers Union ofNigeria, MHWUN, has madegood its threat to embark on in-definite strike.

Meanwhile, the NigerianMedical Association, NMA, hasdirected all medical doctors na-tionwide to remain at their dutyposts to ensure uninterruptedservices, particularly for emer-gency cases.

The strike, which began yes-terday morning nationwide, tookpatients on appointment and onadmission by surprise as manyof them claimed to have had noprevious information regardingthe strike.

Vanguard investigations re-vealed that although normalhealthcare services took off onschedule in some of the affectedinstitutions in Lagos, such activi-ties were interrupted a little after11:00a.m. by aggrieved mem-bers of the striking unions, whoclaimed they were directed toenforce compliance in the vari-ous institutions.

It was gathered that lamenta-tion and confusion from unsus-pecting patients trailed theabrupt stoppage services.

It was a pathetic sight as thehopes of patients, who travelledlong distances to honour sched-uled appointments at the variousclinics, and some of those whowere booked for surgery and spe-cial diagnostic tests were dashed.

Abandoned hospitalsThe story was the same in all

the institutions visited on Lagosmainland from the Lagos Univer-sity Teaching Hospital, LUTH, tothe Federal Neuro-PsychiatricHospital, Yaba, National Ortho-paedic Hospital, Igbobi and Fed-eral Medical Centre, EbuteMeta.

At LUTH, most of the outpa-tient clinics were deserted whenVanguard visited shortly aftermidday.

Only a few patients were seenhanging around the corridors ofthe clinics, discussing the devel-opment. But the entrances of theclinics were firmly under lockand key.

Although there was calm inmost of the wards, only a few sen-ior consultants were seen attend-ing to patients.

Further investigation by Van-guard revealed that the centralpower supply had been shutdown leaving only few isolatedpower generating sets to supplyelectricity to different units of thehospital.

Officials of LUTH’s branch ofMHWUN could not be immedi-ately reached, but were said tobe within the hospital premisesto enforce the strike.

It was also gathered that thehealth workers joined the strikeafter receiving a directive fromthe national body.

Further efforts to reach the hos-pital management were fruitlessas they were said to be in a cru-cial meeting not unconnected withthe development at the hospital.

Some of the patients who spoketo Vanguard at the hospital ap-pealed to the hospital manage-ment and the Federal Ministry ofhealth to wade into the matter forquick resolution.

Patients’ fateRelatives of some of the patients

are considering withdrawing theirsick ones should the strike con-tinued.

They further argued that nursesare closer to the patients than doc-tors and since the strike beganthey have had to take on the re-sponsibilities of the nurses.

Federal Medical Centre, FMC,Makurdi, said through its ChiefInformation Officer, Mr. AlexOhemu that skeletal services werebeing provided by the hospitaldespite the industrial action.

At the Federal Medical Centre,FMC, Ebute Meta, and FederalNeuro- Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba,skeletal services were being of-fered, although many patients ex-pressed their frustrations.

Reacting to the development,Chairman, Nigerian Union of Al-lied Health Professionals, Mr.Uzondu Eke, said although theywere part of the union, they can-not paralyse activities and closedown totally.

MHWUN's demandsChairman, MHWUN, in La-

gos State, Mr. Femi Omoba, saidthe workers were aggrieved be-cause of the delay in the imple-

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE,CHIOMA OBINNA &MODINAT AMUSAT

Anambra guber: Soludo in court over disqualification

ABUJA—AA DETERMINED to——participate in the forthcom-AA

ing gubernatorial election inAnambra State, former Gover-nor of the Central Bank of Ni-geria, CBN, ProfessorChukwuma Soludo, yesterday,went before an Abuja HighCourt to challenge his disquali-fication by All ProgressivesGrand Alliance, APGA.

The erstwhile CBN boss, in

his motion, applied for a judi-cial review of his disqualifica-tion by the screening commit-tee that was set up by APGA toascertain the suitability of can-didates that applied to fly its flagin the coming election.

He is praying the court to setaside the decision of the com-mittee denying him the oppor-tunity to vie for the AnambraGovernorship seat on APGAplatform.

Justice Peter Affen, yesterday,overruled the oral submission of

Ezechukwu that the matter canbe entertained in the FederalCapital Territory, being the head-quarters of the party.

He ordered him to file furtheraffidavits citing authorities ofcases heard outside the jurisdic-tion of the cause of action andadjourned till today.

It will be recalled that APGA’sscreening panel had on August16, disqualified Soludo and fiveother aspirants from contestingthe November 16 governorshipelection in the state.

BY IKECHUKWUNNOCHIRI

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—9

NAEC CONFAB:FF From left— Engr. M.D. Bako, General Manager, Fronties Exploration Service, representing Engr.Andy Yakubu, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC; Mr. Mark Ward, Chairman/ManagingDirector, ExxonMobil; Dr. Tony Chukwueke, Director, Transcorp Energy Limited, Chairman of the occasion; Mr. Emeka Ugwuanyi,Chairman, National Association of Energy Correspondents, NAEC, and Engr. Ernest Nwapa, Executive Secretary, NigerianContent Development Company, at the NAEC conference on PIB: Harmonisation and Implementation for Economy Growth, inLagos. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

Gunmen kill5 vigilantesin Enugu

FIVE persons were shotdead by unknown gun-

men, who attacked the of-fice of Ogwuagor Commu-nity Joint NeighbourhoodAssociation in Enugu EastLocal Government Area ofEnugu State, Wednesdayevening.

Vanguard learnt thatthose killed in the attack,which followed the arrestlland detention of a suspectedcultist by the vigilantegroup, included a memberof the vigilante group, Sun-day Eze, two women andtwo other men whose iden-tities could not be ascer-tained at press time.

However, police con-firmed the death of two per-sons namely Sunday Ezeand Nebechi Mba, whosecorpses were deposited atthe National OrthopaedicHospital mortuary inEnugu, while five others,Messrs Uwadiegwu On-yegwu, Anayo Ifeji, AniBasil, Hyacinth Ugwu andOzioma Ezekwem woun-ded in the attack are cur-rently receiving treatmentin an unnamed hospital.

BY TONY EDIKE

ANAA alleged plot to removet h eAA

remaining traces of Gover-nor Rotimi Amaechi in PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, com-menced yesterday with theevaluation of all party membersfrom the state in public officeby the Felix Obuah-led stateexecutive of the party.

The screening is to scrutiniseall those in public office on theplatform of the party, includingthe deputy governor, federaland state legislators, local gov-ernment chairmen andcouncilors, among others.

As the screening commencedyesterday, the head of theevaluation committee,Osinakachukwu Ideozu,warned that attendance wascompulsory for every politicaloffice holder as he warned thatabsence would be met withstrict sanctions by the state ex-ecutive.

However, loyalists of the gov-ernor alleged that the screen-ing was a final plot to ensurethat Amaechi’s loyalists werescreened out of the forthcom-ing special national conventionof the party due next weekend.

An associate of Amaechi said:“They know that no govern-ment official will attend thescreening, so that will be theexcuse to suspend senators,members of the House of Rep-resentatives, state House of As-sembly and council chairmenfrom the party and ensure thatthey are screened out of next

week’s convention.”Governor Amaechi, who

was suspended from theparty last May, and 27 of the32 members of the House ofAssembly loyal to him, whowere suspended shortly af-ter, have not been invited forthe screening.

ScreenedAt press time yesterday, of

all the invitees, only theerstwhile Deputy NationalChairman, Prince UcheSecondus appeared beforethe committee.

As he left, Secondus ex-pressed appreciation to theObuah executive for the ini-tiative, saying it was boundto take the party on the rightcourse.

Briefing newsmen on theexercise yesterday, Ideozusaid: “The reason for ex-cluding these persons issimple. The Governor and27 house members are sus-pended and so can’t be in-vited.

“This exercise would havebeen held earlier, but thegovernor took the party tocourt to stop our work. Weare starting now because aHigh Court struck out thesuit on Tuesday.

“Those to appear before usinclude the Deputy Gover-nor of the State, all senatorsand members of House ofRepresentatives currentlyrepresenting Rivers, the fivemembers of the state assem-bly who are not under sus-pension and all councilchairmen in the state.”

The list also includes thetwo former Deputy NationalChairmen of the party from

the state, Prince UcheSecondus and Sam Sam Jaja,current state Chairman, FelixObuah and PDP ministers andcommissioners currently serv-ing.

On those suspendedOn how the committee will

treat those who refuse to ap-pear, he said: “As PDP mem-bers, we don’t expect any in-vited person not to come. Butanybody indisposed is ex-pected to communicate to us.

“But it is strictly the place ofthe party executives to deter-mine the fate of anyone whofails to conform. Ours is to doour job and submit report.”

Meanwhile, the socio-politi-

cal group, Rivers Peoples Forum,RPF, also yesterday chided theGrassroots Development Initia-tive, GDI, and the Obuah-led ex-ecutive of PDP over their criti-cisms of the appointment of Jus-tice Peter Agumagu as the actingChief Judge of Rivers State.

The GDI is reportedly backed bythe Minister of State for Educa-tion, Chief Nyesom Wike and theObuah-led PDP, RPF.

In a statement issued by itsPresident, Charles Bekwele said:“If you look at the commentsagainst the appointment ofAgumagu, you will see one trend,one line masterminded and writ-ten by Wike. As far as Rivers peo-ple are concerned, there is no con-troversy over the appointment.”

PDP moves against Amaechi'sloyalists

BY EMMANUEL AZIK-EN, Political Editor, &

EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

Al-Bashir fled just before arrest— FG

ATTORNEYAA -General of theFederation, AGF, Mr. Mo-AA

hammed Adoke, has told theInternational Criminal Court,ICC, that the Federal Govern-ment was already making plansto hand over Sudan’s leader,Omar Al-Bashir, during hiscontroversial visit to the coun-try in July to attend an AfricanUnion summit, before heabruptly cut short his visit andleft the country.

In a letter to the registrar ofICC, Herman von Hebe,sighted by an online publica-tion, the AGF explained thatMr. Al-Bashir left the country“at the time officials of relevantbodies and agencies of theFederal Government were al-ready considering the neces-sary steps to be taken in respectof his visit in line with Niger-ia’s international obligations.”

Adoke said Nigeria did not

invite the Sudanese President,who is wanted by ICC on chargesof genocide in Darfur, adding thatAl-Bashir was in Nigeria to “os-tensibly attend” a two-day AfricanUnion, AU, Summit on HIV/AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria.

He said Al-Bashir, in line withAU tradition, does not need an in-vitation from to attend the AU sum-mit.

However, Federal Governmenthad given the Sudanese Presidenta red carpet welcome with a fullguard of honour, while the Min-ister of Police Affairs, CalebOlubolade, was at the airport toreceive him.

In the heat of controversy thatfollowed Nigeria’s refusal to carryout ICC arrest warrant against Al-Bashir, Federal Government,however, said it shunned the ar-rest warrant on Al-Bashir becauseof its commitment to AU positionon the issue.

RepswelcomeEzekwesili'scall fordebate over‘jumbo pay’

BY LEVINUSNWABUGHIOGU

ABUJA—AA THE House of—Representatives,AA

yesterday, accepted thechallenge by formerMinister of Education, Dr.Oby Ezekwesili, for a publicdebate over members’salaries and allowances.

In doing so, however, theHouse said that the formerMinister must be ready tocomply with certain rulesand divorce what it called“an out-of-office syndrome.”

But in another stance, theHouse carpetedEzewkwesili, describingher recent outburst on theNational Assembly asbeing prompted by avariceand unrestricted ambitionto re- launch herself intopolitical space.

The position of the Housewas contained in astatement released by theDeputy Chairman, HouseCommittee on Media andPublic Affairs, Mr. VictorOgene.

10—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013d

FG not ready to end strike—ASUU

CONFERMENT: From left: Mrs. Adebisi Sosan, former Lagos State Dep-uty Governor; Dr. Olawale Oole, president, Nigerian Institute of Manage-ment; leader, Yoruba Conflicts Resolution Committee, Olugbo of Ugboland,Oba Obateru Akinruntan; Alhaji Lateef Jakande, former governor of LagosState and Chief Lugard Aimiuwu, former President, Nigerian Institute ofManagement, at the conferment of Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Manage-ment, on Oba Akinruntan, in Lagos. PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

BY DAYO ADESULU &LAJU ARENYEKA

Protest byLagoscommun i t yhaltsactivities atstatesecretariat

LAGOS—AFTER 10 un-successful meetings with

the Federal Government, theAcademic Staff Union of Uni-versities, ASUU, yesterdaysaid government was notready to end the 8-week-oldstrike, lamenting that govern-ment displayed dishonestyand lack of integrity duringnegotiations.

At a briefing in Lagos, AS-UU’s President, Dr. Isa Fag-gae, claimed government haddeclared it would not imple-ment the agreed injection offunds to revitalise the publicuniversities, but was onlymaking a dubious statementof supporting some universi-ties with N100 billion.

He said: “Government hadalso declared that it will notpay university academics theirearned allowances which ac-cumulated from 2009 to 2013.Rather, it is talking about pro-viding N30 billion to assist var-ious Governing Councils ofFederal Universities to defraythe arrears of N92 billion owedto all categories of staff in the

university system.”Narrating the union’s expe-

rience at the last meeting withthe Government held on Mon-day, Faggae said: ASUU wasshocked by the level of deceit,dishonesty, and lack of integ-rity displayed by the Govern-ment. Never in the history ofASUU-Government relationshave we, as a union, ever ex-perienced the kind of volte-face exhibited by Govern-ment. At one stage in the in-teraction, the Secretary to theGovernment Federation ridi-culed the agreement, theMoU and the Needs Assess-ment Report, mocking theMinister of Education to “goand give them N400 billion,”at which members of the gov-ernment scornfully laughed.”

He argued that the Gover-nor Gabriel Suswam-led Im-plementation Committee wasbeing used as smokescreen to“deceive ASUU, Nigerian stu-dents andtheir parents,as well asother unsus-pecting mem-bers of thepublic on the

purportedly released N100billion for the implementationof the Needs Assessment Re-port. First, he said, “govern-ment plans to divert the reg-ular yearly allocations to uni-versities by Tertiary EducationTrust, TETFund, to make atleast 70% of the N100 billion.This is unacceptable to ASUU.It is like robbing Peter to payPaul, since the idea of revital-ization took full cognizance ofthe intervention role TETFundab-initio.”

“Again, contrary to subsist-ing operational procedures,about 75 per cent of the mon-ey meant for revitalizing uni-versities would not be re-leased to them as the SuswamCommittee plans to hand overconstruction of the hostelprojects to the Federal Min-istry of Education and/or theNational Universities Com-mission, for implementation.This is illegal; neither the min-

istry nor NUC is backed bylaws of Nigerian Public Uni-versities to divert moniesmeant for the development ofthese institutions into central-ly executed projects.”

Dr. Faggae questioned thecommittee’s motives for pro-posing to commit N1.6 millionto a bed space, instead ofN200, 000 to N400, 000, say-ing, “We see a continuation ofoutrageous contract regimesin the plan to centrally coor-dinate the construction of stu-dent hostels as done in thecase of the 12 newly estab-lished Federal Universitieswith TETFund resources. TheNUC has transmuted itselfinto a “Tenders’ board” whichawarded contracts for the con-struction of 560 bed spaceshostel for each university at awhooping sum of 1.2 bn. Thiscontract sum translates intoN2.143 million per bedspace.”

Filani emerges top contenderfor PDP S-West Chair

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

LAGOS—ACTIVI-TIES at the Lagos

State Secretariat, Alausa,Ikeja, were yesterday,brought to a halt when ag-grieved residents of theBadia communities, Apa-pa-Iganmu Local CouncilDevelopment Area,LCDA, led by a Lagos law-maker, stormed the StateHouse to protest the aban-donment of Lagos Metro-politan Development Gov-ernance Project, LMDGPPPin the council. The protesters, who wereled by the lawmaker rep-resenting Apapa Constit-uency II, Mr. OlumuyiwaJimoh, arrived the Assem-bly complex at about 9:00a.m., to express their dis-satisfaction over level ofwork on the projects.

PHCN sale: NCP, BPE still silentBY MICHAEL EBOH

& EDIRI EJOH

THERE is yet no official comment

from the Bureau of Pub-lic Entreprises, BPE,more than 24 hours af-ter the close of the com-mercial transactions forthe sale of 15 successorcompanies unbundledfrom the Power HoldingCompany of Nigeria,PHCN.

Wednesday 5 pm. wasthe deadline given tothe 14 preferred biddersapproved by the Nation-al Council on Privatisa-tion, NCP, to pay up thebalance of 75 percent oftheir bid values, havingpaid an initial 25 per-cent by way of commit-ment to the bids in

March 2013.As at Wednesday, 12

companies met thedeadline while the re-maining two werecaught up in interna-tional transfer challeng-

es with their respectivebanks, similar to whathappened to Glo MobileNetwork, when it bidedfor the Global System forMobile, GSM networkservice in Nigeria.

FOLLOWING thebreakdown of

plans to pick a consen-sus National Vice-Chair-man for the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,in the South-West in Sat-urday’s Special ZonalCongress in the zone,the outgoing Chairman,PDP Caretaker Commit-tee for the South-West,Chief Ishola Filani, has

emerged a top contend-er for the job.

Majority of the partyleaders and delegatesfrom the 6 states in thezone are supportingFilani to continue the jobhe started as Chairman,Caretaker Committee,given the tremendousachievements recordedby his committee withinits short stay in office.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—11

S-West PDP set to pick nationalscribe at mini-congress

BY GBENGA OLARI-NOYE

Akeredolu urges CJN to constitute panel onOndo guber election petition tribunal

BY DAPO AKINRE-FON

OSOGBO—WITH lessOthan 24 hours to

the South-West zonal con-gress of Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, sched-uled to hold in Ibadan,Oyo state capital tomor-row, the party, yesterday,failed to comply with theorder of an Osun StateHigh Court restraining itfrom filling the position ofNational Secretary of theparty at its mini-conven-tion.

The South West zone ofthe party had fixed tomor-row for its congress say-ing representatives of thezone at the mini- nation-al convention of the partyare expected to emerge.

Former National Secre-tary of the party, PrinceOlagunsoye Oyinlola,had on August 1, this year,sought an order of thecourt stopping the elec-tion into the office of theNational Secretary of theparty.

Ruling on the exparte

BIRTHDAYAA :YY From left, former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. OladipoDiya (rtd), and Senator Ashafa, during Senator Adefuye's 69th birthday, inLagos.

motion, Justice Falola re-strained parties involvedin the matter from con-ducting election into theoffice of National Secre-tary of the party earlieroccupied by Oyinlola be-fore a Federal high court,Abuja, nullified his elec-tion.

At yesterday’s hearing,however, Justice Adelekewho presided over thecourt, declined hearingthe motion exparte earli-er granted by Justice Oye-jide Falola who had beenhandling the matter be-fore his transfer to Ikirundivision of the court.

Oyinlola had claimed inhis application that hisremoval through the ver-dict by Justice Abdul Ka-farati of an Abuja highcourt on January 13, 2013,was being challenged be-fore the Court of Appealand hearing in the suit,according to his counsel,Realwan Okpanachi, isdue to commence by Sep-tember this year.

Counsel to Alhaji Gani-yu Olaoluwa, the state

chairman of the party, MrSunday Ojo-Williams, in-formed the court of anapplication for prelimi-nary objection to the mo-tion exparte stopping con-duct of election for the of-fice of national secretaryof PDP.

But, counsel to Oyinlo-la and the chairman of theparty’s mini-conventioncommittee, Professor Jer-ry Gana, Messrs Okpa-nachi and Yamta Yusufrespectively, indicatedtheir readiness to respondto the preliminary objec-tion.

In his ruling JusticeAdeleke told the partiesthat the matter could notgo on because it was newto him, saying he neededtime to study the case file.

He then warned partiesinvolved in the matter tomaintain status quo pend-ing the determination ofthe suit and subsequent-ly adjourned the case tillWednesday, September18 for hearing of the ap-plication.

Youths invadecommunity, set housesablaze

BY EMMA UNA

CALABAR —OKPOMA youths

in Yala Local Govern-ment Area of Cross RiverState, have invaded then e i g h b o u r i n gIgbekerokor communityover a land dispute.

The youths, accordingto eye witness, invadedIgbekorekor communityfollowing fresh misun-derstanding over thelong-standing disputeover a farmland be-tween the two communi-ties, which several ef-forts to resolve hadfailed.

Mr. Matthias Odey, aneye-witness, said theyouths with bands tied

round their headschanting war songs, de-scended on the neigh-bouring communityand set alight thehouses located on theircommon border, daringthe Igbekorikor youthsto come out for battle.

“Those of us whowent to work at thecouncil secretariat inOkpoma were held upfor several hours as noone dared to go near forobvious reasons,”Matthias said.

According to him, theaggrieved youths barri-caded the only majorroad between the twocommunities for severalhours and stopped peo-ple from crossing.

Mrs Efe Kofi dies at 44

MRS. EFE Kofi, is dead, aged 44.She died in Warri after a brief illness on July 24,

2013.

Late Efe Kofi

Shekau’s death excitesBRIC investors

BY UDUMA KALU withagency report

THE REPORTEDdeath of Abubakar

Shekau, the leader ofthe Boko Haraminsurgency, is makingforeign investors lookfavourably towardsinvesting in Nigeria.

Such investors aresaid to be frustrated bythe low level of profitthey are currentlymaking from the BRICnations of Brazil, India,Russia and China,authoritative USjournal, Forbes, hasreported.

The report, publishedin Forbes, yesterday,said success in crackingdown on securitythreats in the NigerDelta is also changingthe security situationfor the better.

And while terroristdisruption recedes,money keeps flowinginto Nigeria.

In the last six months,U.S. corporations likeProcter & Gamble PG -have committed at least$700 million to buildnew factories andagricultural facilities inthe country while theNigerian governmentitself announced a $1billion fund to nurturethe local softwareindustry, which officialsthink can ultimatelycapture $20 billion ayear from rivals likeIndia, the magazinecontinued.

The leading Americanbusiness magazine saidthough putting Lagoson equal footing withBombay or Sao Paulo asa global capital hub inthree years would bequite a feat, thefoundations for suchgrowth are already inplace.

However, Nigeria, itsaid, was one of theworld’s four best-performing markets lastyear with a 35.45 percent gain and is thebiggest and mostdynamic frontiereconomy in Africa, witha GDP at par withglobal capitals likeHong Kong andSingapore.

Lagos, it went on,reminds fundmanagers of Houstonmultiplied by four timesthe population.

The report written byHilary Kramer, who alsowrites for Wall StreetJournal as equityanalyst and investmentmanager, noted thatthough many investorsstill think of Nigeria asa dangerous marketengulfed by unrest andcorruption, “ the $31billion currentlymoving on the NigerianStock Exchangerepresents annualeconomic activity of$268 billion.

To buy the sameamount of productivityin Singapore, forexample, would cost

nearly $737 billion, or23 times as much.

Even in relativelymature emergingmarkets like Brazil andRussia that are unlikelyto enjoy much in theway of future growth,have domestic equitytrades at a 200 per centto 300 per cent premiumover what it would costin Lagos.

The Nigerianeconomy is growing atan annualised rate wellabove six per cent,faster than any of thetop-tier emergingmarkets, short of Chinaitself, Kramer noted.

Until her death, shewas a senior teacher atEkuigbo GrammarSchool, Ughelli,DeltaState.

She is survived by herhusband, five childrenand other relations.

According to thefamily announcement,she will be buried thisSaturday familyc o m p o u n d ,Erhuemukohwarien inUghelli North LocalGovernment Area..

GOVERNORSHIPGG canPdidate of the defunctGG

Action Congress of Niger-ia in Ondo State in the lastelection, Chief OlurotimiAkeredolu has appealed tothe Chief Justice of Niger-ia JusticeAlomaMukhtaria, Justice Aloma Mukhtarto constitute a panel thatwill hear his appeal againstthe judgement of OndoState Governorship ElectionPetition tribunal which af-firmed the election of Gov-ernor Olusegun Mimiko.

Akeredolu’s counsel,Chief Akin Olujinmi, in aletter to the Chief Justice

dated August 8, 2013, ar-gued that a letter had ear-lier been written to JusticeMukhtar on July 16 on thependency of the appealand it is necessary to con-stitute a panel immediate-ly, as “the 60 days pre-scribed by the Constitutionfor the hearing of the ap-peal will expire on August,29 2013 ”29, 2013.”

According to Akeredolu,in his letter, “the petitionleading to the appeals con-cerns the Governorshipelection held in Ondo Stateon 20th October, 2012. Themain appeal was filed onJuly 11, while the cross-ap-peals were filed on July, 12.By the provision of Section

285(7) of the 1999 Consti-tution, the appeals must bedecided within 60 daysfrom the date of the judg-ment of the Court of Ap-peal. Reckoning from July1, 2013, the 60 days willrun out on August 29.

“Bearing in mind that theSupreme Court annual va-cation usually falls between

early September,July and enecessary to inti-we find it nr Lordship of themate Your of the appeals sopendency

Lordship may setthat Your Ll for the hearingup a panelmination of theand determ

within the periodappeals wy the Constitutionallowed byAugust 29, 2013.i.e. before A

12 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 13

CMYK

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013d

9TH NIGERIAN GUILD OF EDITORS CONFERENCE IN ASABA, DELTA

From left: Mr. Oma Djebah, Senior Adviser Foreign Relations to Delta StateGovernor; Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, Editor-in-Chief/General Manager,Publication, Vanguard Newspaper; Mr Garbadeen Mohammed and Mr. FemiAdesina.

Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan (left) and PresidentNigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, Femi Adesina during a courtesyvisit on the Governor by executive of the NGE at the GovernmentHouse, Asaba.

Mr. John Momoh, Chairman, Channels Television (left) in a tete-a-tete withGovernor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State.

From left: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, his Deputy,Professor Amos Utuama, President of Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. FemiAdesina and Professor Sylvester Monye.

Mr Eniola Bello, MD, ThisDay Newspapers (left); Mr. Mideno Bayagbon,Editor, Vanguard Newspapers (middle); and other participants.

From left: Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka; Publisher of ThisdayNewspapers, Chief Nduka Obaigbena and Dr. Tony Iredia, former DG, NTA duringthe opening ceremony of the 9th Nigerian Guild of Editors Conference at the EventCentre, Asaba. Pix: Henry Unini and Nath Onojake.

Professor Sylvester Monye (left); Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly,Victor Ochie.Cross sections of participants at the conference.

CMYK

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 15

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

From left: Mrs Bukola Ladoja, President/Founder, Reading AwarenessSociety of Development in Africa, RASDA, HRM, Oba KamorudeenAnimashaun, Oloja of Epe, Lagos State and Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja, formerGovernor of Oyo State, at the grand finale of Read to Lead Africa RealityTV show, Season 2, at Neander International School, Epe, Lagos, yester-day. Cross section of students at the event.

RASDA awards N2mscholarship to winner ofRTLA reality TV show

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

LAGOSLL —IN its effort to take reading crusadeacross Africa, winner of the Read To Lead Africa,

RTLA, Reality TV Show, Season 2, Master AdegokeSimiloluwa, was yesterday, presented with N2 millionscholarship prize by Reading Awareness Society for De-velopment in Africa, RASDA.

RASDA is a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO,founded in 2007 with the aim of promoting reading cul-ture in Africa through sustainable awareness campaigns.

Speaking, founder of RASDA, Mrs. Bukola Ladoja,said the senior secondary school students were majortargets of the programme aimed at improving pass rateof the national examinations in the country through read-ing culture.

She said: “50 students from Osun State met the bench-mark, while 68 from Rivers State scaled through. Basedon simple ratio, the second stage selection test conducted,produced seven students from Osun State and nine fromRivers State. These 16 students made up the housematesfor Read to Lead Africa Season 2. However, one partici-pant did not turn up on resumption day in the House forthe reality show.

“While in the House, the housemates were tutored inreading and writing skills, public speaking, leadershipqualities, choosing a career and how to use a library.Using the various learning experiences, housemates es-caped eviction by engaging one another in various con-tests including quizzes, critical thinking, public speak-ing and debates, impromptu speeches, masterminds, li-brary tasks, essay writing and many more tasks.

“Evenings and spare times were spent on recreationalactivities like excursions to tourist sites, sporting activi-ties, moonlight games, and most especially reading.”

Dignitaries at the grand finale, held at Neander Inter-national School, Epe, Lagos included former governorof Oyo State, Sen. Rashidi Ladoja, Deputy Governorand Commissioner for Education, Osun State, Mrs.Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, the Oloja of Epe, ObaKamorudeen Animashaun, Chairman, Amuwo OdofinLocal Government Area, Lagos, Ayodele Adewale.

Mrs Tomori was represented by Mr. Olatunde Adebayo,Political Officer (Education), Deputy Governor’s Office,Osun State.

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 17

Responses to: donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk or to 0802 747 6458 or 081 1675 9752(texts only). PLEASE KINDLY NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU REQUESTANONYMITY, YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE PUBLISHED, WITH YOURNAMES AND CONTACT DETAILS ATTACHED.

,

,ACCORDING to elder

statesman, Alhaji YusufMaitama Sule, who was onceour Permanent Representativeat the United Nations, thecurrent Northern leadershiphas failed woefully because ithas neglected the legacy of SirAhmadu Bello, the lateSardauna and Premier ofNorthern Nigeria.

Maitama Sule recentlymade these comments at aworkshop for youths andclaimed that the Sardauna’sability to nurture bothMuslims and Christians wasone of the factors that hadmade the North a force to bereckoned with.

In an article that was writtenearlier on this week by myVanguard colleague,AbdulSalam Muhammad,Sule was quoted as havingsaid that he remembered theSardauna helping to form theNorthern Association ofChristians of Nigeria, whichlater went national andbecame the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria.

Ethnicbigotry

He reminisced about a timewhen the North was, in hisview, devoid of religious orethnic bigotry…and sadlyinformed his audience that theSardauna’s dream - thatNigeria would be fullydeveloped by l980 - had notbeen realised.

He claimed that Sardaunadied a pauper, didn’t have abank account or shares in anycompany and was so verydifferent from today ’s“treasury looters”.

I am not sure that everythingthis fine Old Schoolgentleman said can behistorically authenticated. ButI can feel his sorrow when hemournfully expressed ayearning for leaders who are“generous, kind andpatriotic.”

I wish I could cheer Sule upby assuring him that this

Failure of Northern Elders

country will changesignificantly in the near future.But I do not believe that asuperior status quo isimminent. Frankly, the onlyhorizon I see is a gloomy one.And I’ve abandoned all hopeof the land of my ancestorsfulfilling its potential in mylifetime.

Sule is right to berateNorthern leaders for messingup. But Northern leaders arenot, by a long shot, the onlyenemies of serious, high-

octane progress.Some Nigerian leaders are

undoubtedly better thanothers. But ALL Nigerianleaders, Southernersincluded, are not doing nearlyenough to drag we followersinto the 21st century andenable us to enjoy the bestpossible existences.

The majority of Naija leadersare blatant thieves,incompetent morons,u n i n s p i r i n gmediocrities…and primitive,vision-less, plan-less or justplain lazy.

Too many of them squander

their energies on ultimatelyfutile political shenanigans orirresponsible partying – as inwomanising and quaffing vastquantities of insanelyexpensive booze. Too many ofthem are reluctant to doggedlyconcentrate on their dutiesand responsibilities.Too manyof them allow their wives,girlfriends, cronies andrelatives to massivelymisbehave.

Even the few who are smart,well-intentioned and willing

to control their acolytes are tooeasily distracted and prettydisorganised andunproductive compared totheir counterparts in theWestern world.

The worst thing about anamoral and toxic environment(in which integrity is in shortsupply and power is routinelyabused) is that such societiesand systems rarely reward

decency or talent, make foolsof individuals who aren’tcrooks or half-wits andeventually, at the end of theday, corrupt almost everycitizen.

I have watched Nigerians -who are not naturallydishonest, cynical, greedy ortreacherous - wearily orangrily deciding, after they’veendured multiple frustrations,that it’s best to join “Them” ifone cannot beat “Them”.

I weep silently when I seepoets, actresses, artists,activists and academicspractically kneeling down forguys who are only “important”because they stole money thatbelongs to the general publicor got away with riggingelections.

I have personallyexperienced the negativeconsequences of NOTstealing government fundswhen the chance to do so arose(please note that instead ofpraising me for keeping myfingers out of the till, peopleirritably or mockingly accusedme of idiocy and refused tohelp me when I needed help,on the grounds that it was my“fault” that I didn’t have ill-gotten millions stashed away).

ANYWAY, Maitama Sule hasmade some valid points; and,at the risk of soundingsectional, I would like to ask

Northern leaders who havebeen chronically failing fordecades why they think theycan out-perform PresidentGoodluck Jonathan.

I grant you that Jonathan’sregime has beendisappointing. But whatevidence is there to suggestthat a Northerner will be anyless disappointing?

Colonialauthorities

Why, to cut a long storyshort, are Northerners sodoggedly convinced that theywill be morally entitled to takeover from Jonathan if he losesthe next election?

In 2010, when Nigeria wascelebrating the 50thanniversary of itsIndependence from Britishcolonial authorities, thePresidency had beencontrolled by Northerners for38 out of 50 years. And I don’trecall any Northern Head ofState performing spectacularlywhen Northerners were rulingthe roost.

So what is all thissanctimonious andhypocritical wahala abouthow Jonathan has screwed upso badly that we need aNortherner to rescue us frommisrule?!

I am not sure that everything this fineOld School gentleman said can be his-torically authenticated; but I can feelhis sorrow when he mournfully ex-

pressed a yearning for leaders who are“generous, kind and patriotic

Sir Ahmadu Bello Alhaji Maitama Sule

OPINION

18 — Vanguard,— FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

BY KINGSLEY EMEREUWAY

*Mr. Emereuwa, a commentator onnational issues, wrote from Umuahia,Abia State.

IN one of my recent articles published insome national dailies, I did raise

my discomfort with the wave of abusewhich the social media via the Internet ispresently enmeshed in. I took Abia as a casestudy. My reason for the choice of Abia isunarguably obvious. Not quite long aftermy position was made known, I read one ofthe most wicked and mindless postscourtesy of Saharareporters all calculatedat maligning the government of Abia Stateunder the stewardship of Chief TheodoreAhamefule Orji. In its latest onslaught, thegladiators in their usual manner stood thethe truth on its head.

The most bizarre of all was its poisonedchalice to readers that the beneficiaries ofState Youth Empowerment Scheme weremade to pay for the vehicles that wereissued to them. Of course such blanket liesdo gain myopia believers. The Internetcame alive with comments from mostlyjaundiced scoundrels who love to hate thename Ochendo. While recently I sat quietlyin a public gathering where commentatorsrose in strong discountenance of theworthless report, I felt inward joy that albeitall mundane efforts by detractors, theaverage Abia indigene is not unmindful ofthe political mixture of wheat with chaffotherwise known as “mixkogbuo” in localparlance to hoodwink ignorant masses.What has remained a puzzle to me andshould be to all discerning minds is whetherSaharareporters for its obvious disdain forAbia State woke up and went to town withthe story or that its reporters spoke to some

Deconstructing the Abia assault dogsg gg gDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsssDDDD i h Abi l dD i h Abi l dg gg gg gg gssssDDDDDDD i h Abi l dD i h Abi l dD i h Abi l dD i h Abi l dDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsDeconstructing the Abia assault dogsof the beneficiaries of the Scheme whomade such allegation.

I was and am still one of those whobelieve that the government was carryingtoo much burden in giving out a ToyotaSienna free of charge to any person underwhatever guise or considerations.Empowerment, yes. The government owesit as its obligation to its citizens but there isalso a corollary obligation on the part ofthe same citizens. There is no free meal anywhere and not even in Freetown. Even in theso-called developed countries, quite anumber of our frustrated nationals rush toescape perseverance, citizenship orresidency demands and obligations arenon-negotiable as manifested in systemand rate of taxation.

Like I stated in my expressed opinion, myknowledge of the feelings of the averageAbia man does not in any way suggest thatthese actions syndicating falsehood haveany bearing directly or indirectly on howthe people of Abia see their Governor. Thefellowship and follower ship are devoid ofany form of adulteration.

For record purposes, there are variousvolunteer agents on the “Project DestroyAbia” who would leave no stone unturnedto bring the state to opprobrium. Theycome in different styles and approachesarmed with their target missiles ofdestruction, without any regard for theircasualties. In military parlance, they arecalled mercenaries, while mediapractitioners brand them hack writers.

They write for their fee, not minding whoseox is gored. For these men, once the fee isright, they can kill their mothers and latergo begging to be admitted into the nearestmotherless babies home.

Take the case of one self-styledTT political poet with the mediaidentity, Odimegwu Onwumere. Each timehe is doing a “damage” to “ that Ochendoman” you will see a man at pain, like theBiblical Pilate, to condemn an innocentman but will however do it since someinterests must be assuaged and at the end ofit all “man must wack”.

It is in the state of this moral imprisonmentthat the man must find fault in every actionof the government, whether utopian orpolitical. What more? Each time he writes,he dedicates space to anticipated reprisalsfrom the government spokespersons becausehe knows he is being used to stir the hornet’snest. It is not unlikely that his command iswhere the reporters of Sowore will likelysee those unnamed sources who told themthey paid for the vehicles given to them. Inthe course of this mission to Abia, I haveread the likes of Onwumere allege whatgovernment was giving out to beneficiariesin terms of empowerment were tricyclesand I laughed.

I laughed because the writer was like theproverbial bird at the bush path dancing tothe tunes played by the spirits somewhereinside that bush. I laughed because if hewas the poet who brands himself, he should

know more than the ignorance headvertised. And if he knew, he would haveremembered that there was a time thosespirit beating the drums he was dancing towere empowering the youths of the statewith WHEEL BARROWS and we cheeredbecause that was what was within the visionand resources of those in-charge then. Thatis if our friend as a poet knew. What manyNigerians do surely know and pretend notto is that issue of pecuniary interests intoday’s writing and commentaries. Majorityof the Internet scam apprentices have foundan untapped revenue base in the area ofusing the Internet to blackmail. Thenegative advantages are quite unlimitedsince there is no minimal qualification toget on board and regulation is stillelementary. All sorts of stench are nowdumped on the site. Many failed writersand journalist are now successful bloggers.But that may be another innovationtowards strengthening our economy, but atwhat price?

Just recently, one notorious blogger wasaccused by no less a person than a man ofGod for making inappropriate financialdemands in lieu of a so-called damagingstory. What again is the surname ofblackmail other than this from the highlysanctimonious blogger who had in 2011made similar demands on the governmentof Abia State if the state wants her to soft-pedal on her position over the nowconfirmed false news of alleged gang rapein Abia State University.

AN erroneous belief that the relevance of oilapproximates to the life span of Nigeria’s oilreserves partially fuels the contentment withwhich the authorities treat the diversification ofthe economy. Concerns over the dependence ofthe economy on oil raged more than threedecades ago, now the issue is total dependenceon oil, yet the matter is discussed as one ofseveral issues beleaguering Nigeria.No, oil is about the only issue that makes and

mars Nigeria with a rapacity that is lost onNigerian leaders. Nigeria is mostly about oil andits depleting consequences on developing ournational resources, some of which are in moreabundance and could provide more multipliereffects on the economy than oil.Oil devastates with a rapidity few enterprises

impose on its surroundings. The billions ofDollars it heaves into national coffers killsthoughts for the perpetual penury its explorationordains for the surroundings. Agitations forequitable use of oil resources fail too in securingrenewal of the ruined environment.Perhaps more frightening, with all the positions

on laying more solid foundations for theeconomy, away from the volatility of oil, not muchy y y

Nigeria’s OilyEconomy

has been done in the more than 40 years oilassumed podium position in our economy.Oil could become irrelevant quicker than the

most optimistic predictions. Its damages to theenvironment, its unpredictable high prices thattask planning even for the most advancedeconomies, the West’s inability to control thevital resource, are increasing the pace ofsearches for alternatives to oil.Plans for the Nigerian economy are primed

on oil. They would have been as simple as re-investing some oil revenue in other sectors ofthe economy. They have remainedunimplemented.

According to the World Bank’s NigeriaEconomic Report for May 2013, “Despite the“recovery in oil prices, Nigeria expanded itsfiscal stimulus significantly, increasingconsolidated spending by an estimated 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product, GDP, anddrawing down the remaining balance of theExcess Crude Account at the same time thatmany other oil exporters were building backtheir reserves.”Oil still accounts for 95 per cent of exports

and 75 per cent of consolidated budgetaryrevenues. its mismanagement throws theeconomy into a spin. When the prices dip, ormore thieves help themselves to the oil, asseems to be the case now, the economy wheelsalmost to a halt.The annual conference of the Nigerian Guild

of Editors themed ‘Nigeria Beyond Oil’ thatbegan in Asaba yesterday is drumming moreattention to the precariousness of oil-basedeconomy.Without a thorough planning of the economy,

an indiscernible future awaits Nigerians. Ourgovernments should rescue Nigerians from theblight of oil.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013————————————————————————————————————————————————— 919191919991111919911919191999999111111919191919191919191919191919191919

CMYK

,

,

,

,BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

*Mr. Udegbe, a lawyer, wrotefrom Lagos.

Blame not ethnicity forNigeria's failures

*Mr. Shuaib, a commentator on nationalissues, wrote from Abuja.

BY YUSHAU SHUAIB

IT was in the days that followedthe January 1, 1966 coup that

the young officers that took thereins of leadership startedmaking some slogans popular.These slogans included: "NoNepotism", "No corruption", “Noethnicity ". All types of "isms"filled speeches from these youngmilitary leaders, and thus,ethnicity became one of themajor problems of Nigeria.

Is ethnicity the problem ofNigeria, or is it Nigerians thatchose to abuse ethnicity for theirindividual and group selfishinterests? The period afterNigeria’s independence in 1960saw a very healthy competitionbetween the major tribes inNigeria, with cocoa leading inthe economic growth in SouthWest, groundnut and cereals inthe North, with palm produceand root crops in the South East.Ethnicity was an instrument ofdevelopment until someone usedit to garner votes for political andeconomic gains of one of thezones, the South West, followingwhich, the military elevated theabuse of ethnicity to anunimaginable level. A mistake inthe execution of the 1966 coupwas viewed with a mind full ofvengeance, and desire to take

over the ruler ship and dominiumof Nigeria by some militaryofficers from the Northern zone,such that they launched acounter-coup, followed bygenocide against the Igbos in theNorth, leading the country to a30-month civil war. But theseofficers kept blaming ethnicity astheir reason.

Ever since the ‘Araba’ of 1966in the North of Nigeria, the lifeof an Igbo man means very littleto an average Northerner tilldate. That is why the Igbos couldbe killed in the North andnothing is done; foreigners wouldbe killed there and nothing isdone. Thus, they continued to thestage we are now where the onlypost a Northerner wants in anyelection is to fill the presidentialflag bearer slot, be it in PDP, APCor PDM. This is why thedeportation of Igbos by any statebecomes very infuriating,because it is based in ethnichatred. They kill you withoutprovocation, and say if they arenot made president, they will killeven more; Then they deport yourweak ones, and if you cry foul,you will be reminded that you arethe ethnic jingoist, you peddletrouble, you want to drag themback, or remind them of thingsthey have forgotten. Yet, they havemanifested more ethnic bias in

all they do!

There is nothing wrong withTTethnicity. It can make andTTcreate avenues for healthycompetition in economicdevelopment and growth, as itdid in times past. It can be usedto enhance the fair and evendistribution of the gains of goodgovernance. It can be used tobuild a great, virile andprosperous nation state. Theproblem lies not in the nature ofethnicity, but in the minds andhearts of those who use andabuse ethnicity for their ownselfish gains. The Bible declaresthat as a man thinks, so he is, thusas we have used ethnicity inNigeria. That is how we ended upin this rigmarole of failures, andwickedness.

You just asked how? The knifeand axe were invented by man,

to help him survive hisenvironment as a hunter, but onebad man started by killing hisown relation with the knife, andso, when a bad man handles aknife, his environment becomesdangerous for any one near him.You cannot blame the knife. Theaeroplane was invented toimprove man’s transportation onearth, but one bad man decidedto use the aeroplane as a weaponof mass destruction. Do youblame the plane or the manpiloting it?

After the Dayton shoot out inthe USA, where 18 children werebrutally killed, the GunAssociation in defense of the gun,came out with this slogan: "A gunin the hand of a good man cansave the society". You can't blamethe gun; it is the man carryingthe gun who makes it adangerous weapon.

Ethnicity has been used to fillthe Federal Civil Service withofficers who lacked merit andperformance. An officer wouldbe transferred from any Northernstate to the Federal Service, hewas quickly promoted, and ismoved ahead of his seniors in thesystem from the other zones,especially the South East. Theresult is mediocrity, darkness,bad roads, poor health facilities,terrible education system, poorPrison Service. We import oilwith no refineries, highunemployment, and list goes on.In most Federal Governmentdepartments, you often find aman with just a collection oftraining course certificates fromthe North bossing men from theSouth East, or other zones, withMaster ’s Degree and longerservice years, all because the boss

is from the North. Everyone isbenefiting from ethnicity yetblame ethnicity.

There are disputes, conflicts,and issues within each zone inNigeria, be it Yoruba, Hausa orIgbo, yet you still hear ethnicallybiased people say that the Igboman cannot become President,because Igbos are not united. Nozone is more united than the Igbopeople. Their problem is that theyhave not learnt to play theNigerian ethnic game.

Yorubas have two majorseaports, and airports. The Northhas two major internationalairports, while the Igbo zone hadnone at all. Only yesterday,Ethiopian Airlines announcedflights to Enugu, 43 years afterthe civil war. Not one singleseaport, yet over 40 percent ofseaport users in Nigeria are Igbomen! Prof. Chinua Acheberejected national honours on twooccasions to protest the gang-uppolitics by others against thepeople of Anambra State. Thus,we hope that the parameters andstandards used in the recentOndo and Edo states’gubernatorial elections will beapplied in Anambra State, comeNovember. There is no problemwith ethnicity per se, the problemis with the mind and hands thatare holding ethnicity as theirinstrument of oppression in thecountry.

ATAA a time when Nigeria’s PresidentGoodluck Jonathan was visiting

China and American President BarakObama was rounding off his tour ofselected African countries, excludingNigeria, a new book on the economyEmerging Africa: How the Global Economy’slast frontiers Can Prosperwas released.r

The book by Kingsley Moghalu, a DeputyGovernor at the Central Bank of Nigeriahighlights major causes of Africanunderdevelopment from what he called“failure to develop, articulate, internaliseand propagandise a world view.”

When it comes to image-building, anational leader must rise up and project thedignity of his country as a nation to bereckoned with in global politics withoutbeing too overzealous or confrontationallike the late Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya,Saddam Hussein of Iraq and RobertsMugabe of Zimbabwe. Apart from theundisclosed politics behind the Chinesetour, President Goodluck Jonathan, wholed a multi-sectoral high-powereddelegation comprising influential cabinetmembers, chieftains of industries, governorsand politicians to the Asian superpower,also met and invited top executives ofseveral Chinese conglomerates to initiatefresh investments in Nigeria.

At the end of the tour, Jonathan and hisChinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, presidedover the signing of five agreements to boostfinancial, trade, economic, technical andcultural relations that could expandNigeria’s domestic manufacturingcapacity.

The questions on many lips are whetherNigeria is now tilting more towards AsianTigers rather than its traditional allies inthe West. Moghalu’s book points out thatthe idea of socialism in Asia and capitalism

Emerging Nigeria: BetweenAmerica and China

in the West do not really matter as mostcountries practice different types ofcapitalism. He noted that state capitalismis practiced in China; crony capitalism inRussia and to some extent, Nigeria; welfarecapitalism in Europe and entrepreneurialcapitalism is practiced in the United States.

An African country like Nigeria, theauthor insisted, must develop its clearworldview based on fundamentalunderstanding of globalisation that willenable it to identify and protect its interests.He also warns African leaders againstturning their countries to a destination ofconsumers of the products of globalisation.

Nigeria as the most populous country inAfrica is a strategic partner to bothAmerica and China who are recognised asmilitary and economic superpowers. Arecent report in The Guardian of Londondisclosed that “China’s GDP per capita was$9,100, whereas the US boasted a figure of$48,900. There is also an extreme contrastin the respective current account balance -the US has the world’s largest deficitburden, while China has the world’sgreatest budget surplus.

In its series of exclusive interviews withtop diplomats in Nigeria, the EconomicConfidential magazine published interviewslwith US Ambassador to Nigeria, TerrenceP. Mc Culley and his Chinese counterpart,Ambassador Deng Boqing in Novemberand December 2012, respectively.

The two top diplomats in the separateinterviews agreed that Nigeria has enormousinternal and huge regional market forforeign investors. They also admit that oneof Nigeria’s most important resources,outside oil and gas, is its energetic,dynamic and diverse people who haveremained together despite speaking over250 languages by different ethnic groups.

While Amb. McCulley explained that

U.S. development assistance to Nigeriaexceeds $600 million with more than $5billion in U.S. investment, the ChineseAmbassador told the same magazine thatthe accumulated investment from Chinaexceed US$10 billion while its non-financial direct investment was $8.7bn asat December 2012.

Surprisingly while Nigeria is the fifthlargest crude oil supplier to USA,

its crude export to China is relatively lower,which only constitutes 1% to 2% ofNigeria’s total crude export. Meanwhile,Nigeria is the fourth largest trade partnerand the second largest export market forChina in Africa. In 2011, Nigerian farmersexported 1.1million metric ton of cassavachips to China.

The United States supports Nigeria’snational priorities, especially the nationalsecurity. Apart from supporting the healthsector in containing malaria, eradicatingpolio, and helping millions of Nigeriansliving with HIV/AIDS, through USAID, theAmerican government has an agric-sectorprogramme called MARKETS, whichsupports farmers needing technicalassistance to improve crop yield. It is alsocommitted to assisting Nigeria’s efforts to

reform the power generation andhydrocarbon sectors.

On the other side, China’s wide rangeinvestment covers sectors such as petroleum,free trade zone, iron and steel, agriculture,manufacturing, pharmacy and mining. Ithas offered to establish three petroleumrefineries in Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos statesand is committed to other projects whichinclude railway rehabilitation, powergeneration, telecommunications projectsas well as the provision of houses inNigeria.

Ambassador McCulley added that“Nigeria is a country blessed with bothabundant human and natural resources,and the United States seeks partnership notdependency; we seek to build capacity notundermine local initiatives.”

The Chinese Ambassador stated that“China has been an active player ineconomic globalization and integrateditself with the rest of the world with an openattitude, strengthened exchanges andcooperation."

While America is deeply involved indemocratic or political processes in manycountries, China is more concerned withbusiness interests, especially in developingcountries. As the second largest economy inthe world with the foreign exchange reservereaching US$3 trillion, China hasenormous capacity to invest outside itsshore. Its increasing investment in Africa isinfluenced by the reluctance of traditionaleconomic partners such as US, Europe toinvest in the continent due to their debtcrises.

Nigeria should not only look towards theEast or the West alone, it should also createan enabling environment to attract genuineinvestors devoid of diplomatic rhetoric andpolitical grandstanding. It should alsoencourage more export of non-oil item,especially agriculture products. Thegovernment should explore pragmaticmeans of turning Nigeria into a majormanufacturing zone in Africa.

There isnothing wrongwithethnicity; theproblem lies notin the nature ofethnicity, but inthe minds andhearts of thosewho use andabuse ethnicityfor their ownselfish gains

Nigeria should notonly look towards theEast or the West, itshould also create anenabling environmentto attract genuineinvestors devoid ofdiplomatic rhetoric; itshould also encouragemore export of non-oilitems

20—202020——22220202202000————222222020202020—20—20—20—20—20—20—20—20—20—20—20—20— gggVanguardddVVV——V dV dgggg ddddddVVVVVVV dV dV dV dVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard, FRIDAY,,,, FRIDAYFRIDAY,,,,,,,,,, FRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY,,, AUGUST 2333YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY AUGUST 23AUGUST 23Y,,,, 33333YYYYYYYYY AUGUST 23AUGUST 23AUGUST 23AUGUST 23Y, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23, AUGUST 23YYYYYYYYYY , ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 3201320132013201333222201320133220132013013013333332222220132013201320132013201320132013201320132013201320132013201320132013

•Seek intervention of Lagos govt to curb excesses of adherents

SOME call it Isemo, whileothers call it Igbele but

whatever it is called, the meaningis the same: An age-old Yorubatraditional rite that imposes arestriction of movement onwomen at a certain period oroccasion. Depending on somefactors, Isemo is an annualtradition in some Yoruba-basedcommunities observed toappease the gods and to wardoff impending danger.

At its inception in the oldendays, Igbele practice orobservance was the exclusivepreserve of the elders in thecommunity, though the youthswere carried along for thepurpose of instructing them onthe rules guiding the practiceand its strict adherence in linewith the rigorous demand oftradition.

The practice restricts women inevery capacity regardless of race,tribe or position. On suchoccasions, women are denied thefreedom to move from one placeto another and the erring onesare made to face the wrath of thegods, including being ostracised,maiming or loss of life as theevent is totally a men’s affair.During this traditional rite, whichusually starts by midnight when

residents have returned fromwork, some men, especially theelderly, usually take position atstrategic locations to ensure thatno unpleasant incident occurrs.This is said to account for whythe practice was widely accepted,especially in the light of theprotection extended to womenwhile it lasts.

Isemo is usually accompaniedby Oro’ or Eluku festival but thebottom line is that women arerestricted in every capacity as theorganisers use the occasion topray for the peace of the land aswell as security of lives andproperty, just as the gods arecalled upon to fight the cause ofthe land.

Hijack byhoodlums

In days past when the practiceheld sway under strictobervance, robbery, kidnapping,bombings were rare asperpetrators of such acts dreadthe wrath of the gods.Nowadays, the reverse is thecase, as the occasion has beenhijacked by hoodlums, especiallyin Lagos State. Believe it or not,Igbele is now an avenue toperpetrate nefarious acts likekidnapping, robbery, rape, theft,smoking of Indian hemp or

drunkenness. Apart from comingwithout prior notice, Igbele haseover the years been reduced to anotorious event during which thehoodlums take the law into their

hands, unleashing terror on theirvictims. A case in point was in2011 when some shops wereburgled overnight around Ebutein Ikorodu. Disturbed by the ugly

development, the traditionalruler had vowed then to deal withthe culprits.

In the ‘70s, my late mother, MrsAbike Oyedele, a trader, usuallyembarked on a business trip toOsun and Oyo states (usually anight journey) and on one of suchoccasions, she took this reporteralong on medical ground. Ongetting to a village calledElekokan, my mother and 12other women in the lorry, whowere deeply asleep were joltedawake by an unusual noise whichprompted the driver of the lorryto shout on top of his voice inYoruba language: Eewo! E d’ojuyin bo’le (This is forbidden!Please lie down and cover yourface!!).

Like a divine intervention,some elders in the communityintervened and assisted thesetravellers by leading them to theBaale’s house for shelter beforethey were asked to continue theirjourney through another route.If it had been in Lagos State oftoday, the nation probably wouldhave lost all the travellers,including children on that fatefulday. In another incident inAugust 2012, this reporter andmany other women slept on theroad to avoid falling victim tohoodlums masquerading asIgbele adherents at Igbogbo inIkorodu. Also, on June 3, 2013,many Ikorodu women wereforced to remain indoors, reasonbeing that Isemo was ongoing inoIkorodu town.

A couple of months back, somewomen in Itire were forced to stayindoors when the communityorganised the Isemo festival forthe year 2013. The same appliesto places like Egan, Ajah andIkorodu where women haveraised alarm over the curtailmentof their right to freedom ofmovement.

Iyana Ejigbo: At last, motorists heave sigh of reliefBY AZEEZ SANUSI

MOTORISTS and other road users plying the Jakande/Ejigbo/Ikotun route

presently have cause to sigh in relief with theon-going rehabilitation and reconstruction of thefailed and flood-prone road intersection at IyanaEjigbo that has been notorious for frequent traf-fic bottlenecks, a nightmare for several years.More heartening, according to residents androad users, is the current effort to fix the drain-age challenge believed to be responsible for thefrequent flooding of the place any time it rains. On why it has taken government this long torespond to the drainage problem at Iyana Ejigbo,the Local Government Chairman, Ejigbo LocalCouncil Development Area, Lagos State,Kehinde Bamigbetan, speaking through theCouncil’s Information Officer, Rabiu Hassan,said that portion of the road was always waterlogged, thereby impeding vehicular movement.He added that the situation was worsened bythe fact that “for years now, we have been expe-riencing serious flooding each time we are inthe raining season”. On why major actions were not taken in thepast to remedy the situation, he explained thus:“Initially, we thought the problem was a minorone; last year, we provided many palliative meas-ures on that spot but all to no avail, it did not

yield any solution. So he (the LCDA chairman)concluded that we needed to visit the Ministryof the Environment. When he approached them,they came to inspect the place and discoveredthat government needed to concretize the drain-age that was constructed to channel water to theEgbe bridge canal. So, we needed to dig belowthe drainage so that there would be more spacefor the water. This is the final solution or perma-nent solution to the problem of flood in that area”. Rabiu also informed that: “According to theconstruction firm, they will use about four monthsto finish up the job. And since the rain hasstopped, it is likely they will complete the workbefore that target of four months. What the com-pany wants to do in essence is to provide a con-crete channel, drainage outlet for the water tofind its way into the canal. It is after they mighthave completed their work that the road will nowbe tarred so that the problem will be over onceand for all”. Bakare Akeem, resident engineer Oshodi -Isolo informed that the dimension of the drain is1.5 by 1.5, that is 1.5 meter depth and 1.5 meterwidth, assuring that “I am sure that this drainwill actually de-flood this road because thecapacity of the flood is not much compared tothe capacity of this drain, it will definitely de-flood Iyana-Ejigbo.”

*Hoodlums on rampage during an Isemo festival

Isemo: When women lose freedomof movement to tradition

BY BOSE ADELAJA

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 22/08/2013

109.92 -0.23

104.65 -0.46

114.15 -0.8

2,417.00 -60.00

16.37 -0.1

DOLLAR 154.76 155.26 155.76STERLING 242.8803 243.665 244.4497EURO 207.2701 207.9397 208.6094FRANC 168.3272 168.871 169.4148YEN 1.5876 1.5927 1.5979 CFA 0.297 0.307 0.317 WAUA 235.1526 235.9124 236.6721RENMINBI 25.2706 25.3527 25.4348RIYAL 41.266 41.3994 41.5327KRONA 27.7861 27.8758 27.9656SDR 235.9007 236.6628 237.425

Vanguard,Vanguard, FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013, AUGUST 23, 2013YYYY — 2121

National ID card’ll enhancefinancial inclusion — MasterCard

BY YINKA KOLAWOLE

The partnership agreement between MasterCard Incorporated

and the National IdentityManagement Commission(NIMC) for the roll out of na-tional identity cards in thecountry will enhance financialinclusion and boost the cash-less policy of the Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN).

Vice President & Area Busi-ness Head West Africa, Mas-terCard, OmokehindeOjomuyide, speaking at a me-dia roundtable in Lagos, saidthat when the project becomesfully operational, it will be thelargest financial inclusionproject in Africa, adding thatthe company is providing pre-paid card payment technolo-gy on worldwide network, andm/chip 4 standards with EMVtechnology for security of theNational ID cards.

“MasterCard is providingbrand mark to guarantee ac-ceptance of the cards as apayment instrument in 210countries across the world, atover 35 million merchantlocations and over 2 millionATMs.” She noted that thecard will be available to everyregistered Nigerian citizenswho are 16 years old andabove, and enable holdersmake payments without hav-ing bank accounts. “The Na-tional ID card is pre-paid. Youdon’t have to own a bank ac-count to use the cards to makepayment, only need to load thecards,”she added.

Ojomuyide remarked thatthe use of card payment tech-nology reduces cost of cashtransactions, which accordingto her, ranges between 0.5 percent and 1.5 per cent of GrossDomestic Product of many cou-

Four years after BG Groupdivested from Olokola

LNG project, two other Inter-national Oil Companies, IOC,Chevron and Shell, have pulledout, a source has said.

Both companies have a com-bined shareholding of 39 percent in the project, having 19.5per cent stake each in the com-pany.

According to the source, a se-nior official in the company, thepulling out of the oil majors isdue to a number of factors,ranging from the lack of com-mitment onthe part of the Fed-eral Government to pursue thecompletion of the project andalso the non-passage of thePetroleum Industry Bill, PIB

However, efforts to get thecomments of the companies re-garding the development,proved abortive, as Mr. Pre-

CheCheCheCheChevrvrvrvrvron, Shell pull out of Olokon, Shell pull out of Olokon, Shell pull out of Olokon, Shell pull out of Olokon, Shell pull out of Olokola LNG prola LNG prola LNG prola LNG prola LNG projectojectojectojectoject

tries. These, she noted, in-clude costs of currency print-ing and distribution, securityand handling, as well as losttime associated with queuingto withdraw cash. She alsonoted that social costs asso-ciated with corruption andother vices such as robbery,terrorism financing and kid-napping are facilitated huge

cash transactions. All these sheasserted would be addressedby the use of the pre-paid na-tional ID cards, noting that theproject will reduce the numberof the unbanked and under-banked in the country, as wellas reduce the costs associatedwith cash transactions. Shefurther noted that the card canalso minimize fraud because

the integrated data base willserve as a form of credit regis-try, with all biometric data ofholders captured.

According to her, the pilotphase of the project will com-mence before the end of theyear with the issuance of 13million MasterCard-brandednational identity smart cardswith electronic payment capa-

bility by the partner banks inthe country. “All necessaryprotocols have been observedand the necessarytechnologies have beendeployed for the issuers,” shesaid, adding that there arepresently about 14 bankslicensed to issue the cardswhile licensing procedures forother banks are ongoing, withthe ultimate aim that all banksin the country will be able toissue the cards.

cious Okolobo and Mr. KayodeAdeboye, spokespersons forShell and Chevron, respec-tively, refused to respond toenquiries put forward to them.

When contacted, both menpromised to respond to the is-sue, but as at the time of goingto press, their responses wereyet to be received.

BG Group, the UnitedKingdom’s third-largest natu-ral gas producer, had in Au-gust 2009, said it was pullingout from the LNG exportproject.

The Olokola LNG project wasinitiated in 2005, with the Ni-gerian National Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC, as the majorshareholder, with 46.75 percent stake, while BG Group,which had earlier withdrawn,has 14.25 per cent.

The source said the project,which is the most cost-effectiveLNG project in Nigeria, if al-

lowed to come on stream,would have served as a majorcontributor to Nigeria’seconomy development.

According to the source, anumber of projects already un-dertaken at the site, risk beingabandoned, such as the pio-neer camp among others.

The source said, “The projectwas going ahead of schedule,all of a sudden, fundingceased.”

The Olokola Liquefied Natu-ral Gas project is located be-tween Ogun and Ondo States.The project was solidified in2007 with the signing of anMOU between the sharehold-ers. The plan of the project wasfor gas producers/owners tosend natural gas to the facilitywhere it would be converted toLNG for a fee and pumped intoowner ships for sale.

The source said the frustra-tion stems from the fact that

many years after thememorandum of un-derstanding (MoU)was signed, nothingconcrete has been re-corded.

According to thesource, the MoU andshareholders agree-ment were signed in2005 and 2007 respec-tively, Final Invest-ment Decision wasbilled for 2007, whileproduction was sched-uled to begin in 2009;till date nothing con-crete is seen.

“Presently, all theexpatriates have left;the only people re-maining are NNPC’sstaff on secondment tothe company and afew contract staff.”

From left: Lazarus Angbazo, President and CEO, GE Nigeria; Darryl Wilson, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer,Distributed Power, GE Africa; Akeem Agbaje, Chairman/CEO Entec Power and Utilities Company Limited, Nigeria duringthe signing of a Letter of Intent in Nairobi, Kenya.

By MICHAEL EBOH

22—Vanguard,gg22—Vanguard,,,22222 V d22 V dgggg ,,,,2222222 V d22 V d22 V d22 V d22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard,22—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013YY

President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Alhaji Kabir Mohammed (2ndleft); Mr. Akintaola Williams, immediate Past President of ICAN (2nd right); Mr. Adedoyin Owolabi andRegistrar/Chief Executive of ICAN Mr. Rotimi Omotoso during a visit of ICAN team to Akintola Williamson the occasion of his 94th birthday.

AUDIT AA Committee mem bers should not acceptAAmanagement’s assertionsand statements but askprobing questions andchallenge their conclu-sions.

This charge was given byMr. Gernot Hebestreit, Glo-bal Leader, Business Devel-opment and Markets, GrantThornton International Lim-ited, in a keynote addressdelivered at the Audit Com-mittee Conference organ-ised by the Audit Commit-tee Institute in Lagos

“Please allow me to con-clude with one aspectwhich is particularly im-portant to me, the courage

Audit c’ttees should challengeAudit c’ttees should challengeAudit c’ttees should challengeAudit c’ttees should challengeAudit c’ttees should challengemanagements’ conclusionmanagements’ conclusionmanagements’ conclusionmanagements’ conclusionmanagements’ conclusion

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

it takes to be an auditcommittee member andin making this statement,I draw on my own experi-ence as a non-executivedirector and audit commit-tee member. Our role is notto accept management’sassertions and statementsat face value. We need toapply a critical mind set,ask probing questions andchallenge conclusions. Inshort, we need to speakout and have difficult con-versations. Only when weact in this capacity and stillagree with managementshould we approve whatneeds to be approved atany given point of time,”he said.

Speaking on the theme ofthe conference, “The Audit

Committee as a Govern-ance Gatekeeper”, Gernotsaid, “Oversight function isa key aspect of gate-keep-ing. Oversight involveswatchful and responsiblemonitoring of the affairs ofthe entity. Gatekeepers alsoneed to be informed be-cause having all relevantinformation enables themto perform the role societyexpects of them. In thiscontex,t it is important tonote that the audit commit-tee should not just waituntil it receives informationfrom management, or ex-ternal or internal auditors,but should also proactive-ly request information fromthem as and when need-ed. Further, audit commit-tee members should not

shy away from difficultconversations with man-agement as part of theiroversight role. It is the na-ture of the audit commit-tee’s role to challenge man-agement and only to reacha conclusion after a robustdiscussion of the underly-ing issues.

“While these are all im-portant attributes, I believethat the most critical successfactors for an effective au-dit committee are the com-petence and integrity of itsindividual members. Ingate-keeping, competenceand integrity are equallyimportant, being multipli-cative in their relationship.It takes competence to dis-cern financial reportingflaws. But it takes integrity

BY PETER EGWUATU &MAGREGOR ZINO

AS part of its supportAAfor the cashless ini-AAtiative by the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN,eTranzact InternationalPlc, a quoted companyon the Nigerian StockExchange (NSE) hassigned an agreementwith MoneyGram onmoney transfer via mo-bile phone.

Speaking during thesigning ceremony, theManaging Director/CEO –eTranzact Interna-tional Plc, Mr. ValentineObi, who was represent-ed by Mrs. Eme Godwin,Head of Legal Depart-ment of the company,

eTranzact partners MoneyGram on moneytransfer

said, “ Today marks aturning point in the waywe receive funds fromour associates and lovedones abroad. Gone arethe days when we need-ed to travel long distanc-es and go through longqueues to receivemoney sent to us by ourrelatives. We now havea solution that makes itpossible for us toreceive our money assoon as it is sent, evenoutside the bankinghours- at night, on week-ends and on public holi-days.”

He noted that the mon-ey transfer via mobilephone will add excep-tional convenience tohow people receive mon-

ey at no additional cost.“We have reduced extracost you bear travellingfar to receive your mon-ey and we have made itpossible to receive yourmoney at any time of theday, including week-ends, evenings andnights “ he added.

Obi explained that forany person to enjoy theservice, the person mustregister as PocketMonisubscriber witheTranzact, stressing thatthe process of registra-tion is easy and that noperson is required to car-ry any identity valida-tion documents about toreceive money.

The Business Develop-ment Manager, MoneyGram , Kemi Okusanya,

the realisation that mobile phonehas come to stay and will becomemore powerful and integrated inour lives that prodded the movefor us to come out with this modeof money transfer .

“As we all know, remittancesare a key aspect of our financialsector and economy. Indeed,some estimates from the WorldBank indicate that we get morein remittances from friends andfamily than donor aids. Thattransfer from an aunt in London,a brother in Garbon , an aunt inthe US, a friend in France iswhat keeps us going.”

To this extent, she encouragedNigerians to be part of the Pock-etMoni in order to enjoy theMoneyGram money transfer,noting that eTransact is a house-hold name in terms of mobilemoney services.

IN its bid to boost the Nigerian econoNmy, Ecobank Nigeria Plc has concluded

arrangement to set up a microfinance depart-ment to support small business owners in thecountry.

These groups of people constitute the un-structured market and are small entrepreneurswhose businesses are below the range of amillion naira.

According to a statement from the bank, theDevelopment Finance Department of the Bankwould give out small loans to this category ofentrepreneurs at special and flexible rates andthe use of identification methods.

Ecobank Head, Development Finance, Fe-lix Oyakhamoh who stated this during a chatwith the media in Lagos, said small businessowners that cut across artisans, traders, smalltime farmers amongst others qualify for thisspecial window. The beneficiaries do not nec-essarily need collaterals, but guarantors to col-lect the loans.

According to Oyakhamoh, the Bank hasdedicated staff in select branches of the bankin the six geo-political regions of the countryto attend to customers who fall within this loanbracket. In his words “We are dedicated to re-juvenation of the wealth creation process inNigeria. Our ultimate goal is to empower aswell as provide financial services to the oth-erwise down trodden, being part of ourfinancial inclusion drive.”

Ecobank sets updepartment tofinance SMEs

CONOIL C Plc has recorded impressive result with a revenue growth

of N3.4 billion for the six months periodended June 30, 2013.

Specifically, the company’s revenuerose to N79.6 billion from N76.2 billion,while Earnings Per Share (EPS) in-creased significantly from 65kobo to 230kobo.

According to the result released on theNigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Conoilrecorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N1.6billion for the half year financial periodended June 30, 2013. This represents anincrease of 255 percent over N450.9 mil-lion recorded in the corresponding peri-od of 2012.

In a statement issued by the company,management stated that the performancedemonstrated the company’s resilienceto overcome the overwhelming challeng-es in the downstream oil sector.

The company also declared a whop-ping N1.98 billion as profit before tax asagainst N663.1 million recorded in thecorresponding half year period in 2012.

Revenue rose to N79.6 billion fromN76.2 billion, while Earnings per Share(EPS) increased significantly from65kobo to 230 kobo.

The company attributed this sterlingperformance to the adoption of robustgrowth strategies, efficient managementof resources and total elimination ofwaste in its operations.

The company assured its shareholdersof its optimism to sustain and grow theimpressive performance in the remain-ing six months of the year. It also as-sured juicier returns for shareholders atthe end of the current financial year

Conoil half yearrevenue up byN3.4bn

BY PETER EGWUATU &NKIRUKA NNOROM

in her remark said, ‘’It is

BY PETER EGWUATU

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 23

Onitsha, Lokoja, Baro Riverports to be concessionednext year — MINISTER

Aba Summittargets SMEs,infrastructure

RELOCATION — A male farmer, queuing to collect his cheque. INSET: Farmers queuingto collect their cheques.

Okomu Oil Palm CompanyOkomu Oil Palm CompanyOkomu Oil Palm CompanyOkomu Oil Palm CompanyOkomu Oil Palm Companyassisassisassisassisassists Edo migrts Edo migrts Edo migrts Edo migrts Edo migrant fant fant fant fant farmerarmerarmerarmerarmersssss

THE Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc has as-

sisted migrant farmers, whohave voluntarily relocatedfrom its Extension One con-cession in Ovia South-WestLocal Government Area ofEdo State with varying sumsof money to re-establish theirlivelihoods.

The farmers had occupiedthree camps namely: SundayCamp, Olomu Camp and Olu-wo Camp.

At the final disengagementceremony, the company dis-bursed a total sum of N11.5million to the 140 farmers in-volved.

Depending on their hold-ings, the farmers collected aonce off ex-gratia paymentvarying from N30,000 toN260,000.

The ceremony was observedby the Commissioner for Ag-riculture, Mr. Abdul Oroh aswell as other government rep-resentatives from the Minis-tries of Agriculture and Nat-ural Resources and Land andSurvey.

The farmers had encroachedon the company’s land and

THE Minister of Trans-port, Idris Umar, hasTT

said that the Onitsha, Oguta,Baro and Lokoja River Portswould be concessioned by2014.

Mr. Umar stated this in aninterview with the Europe cor-respondent of the NewsAgency of Nigeria in London.

Apart from Onitsha RiverPort, which has already beeninaugurated, the others arestill under construction.

“We have inaugurated theRiver port in Onitsha, and willconcession it next year, whilethe river ports in Oguta, andBaro will hopefully be com-pleted this year and conces-sioned to the private sectornext year.

“Also the Lokoja Port will becompleted by the third quar-ter of 2014, and will be givenout on concession to privateoperators immediately,’’ Umarsaid.

He said that the ministrywas also working on thedredging of the River Benue,and planned to construct riv-er port in Makurdi.

Meanwhile, the minister ina presentation at the Interna-tional Maritime Summit inLondon briefed stakeholderson government’s effort to de-velop deep sea ports in thecountry.

“This is the ultimate solutionto the over stretched existingports facility, a memorandumis being presented to the Fed-eral Executive Council to ap-prove the development of theLekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos.

“While in the case of IbakaDeep Sea Port in Akwa IbomState, a steering and projectimplementation committeehas been constituted.

“Also discussions are inprogress between the Niger-ia Ports Authority, Lagos StateGovernment and the privatesector to develop the BadagryDeep Sea Port.”

He also highlighted the var-ious investment opportunitiesin the maritime sector, andreforms put in place to safe-guard investments.

Dalhatu Tafida, Nigeria’sHigh Commissioner to theUnited Kingdom, U.K., in hisremarks said that the mari-time sector remained a key

area of the nation’s economy.“The sector cannot be under

estimated, because withoutmaritime sector, Nigeria as acountry would have been suf-focated, given the limits of railand road transportation.’’

“That is why there is a hugedevelopment strategy by Ni-geria to ensure that the sec-

tor improves, there is a grow-ing British interest in the Ni-gerian maritime industry,”Mr. Tafida added.

The summit was jointly or-ganised by the High Commis-sion, and the Europe Branchof the Alumni Association ofthe Maritime Academy of Ni-geria, Oron. (NAN)

planted crops like cocoa, cas-sava, and plantains.

According to the ManagingDirector of the company, Dr.Graham Hefer, Okomu OilPalm Company Plc hadserved the farmers a final no-tice to harvest their crops andvacate the land since 2009.

“But we knew it was not go-ing to be easy, so we starteda process of engagement withthem in 2010.”

Upon passionate request bythe farmers, the companygranted them time extensiontwice.

At the final disengagementceremony, Dr. Hefer ex-plained to the farmers that“what we are witnessing to-day is a demonstration of thecorporate social responsibili-ty of the Okomu Oil PalmCompany Plc.”

“In spite of the fact that theland belongs to the company,we have not applied the ‘win-ner takes all’ approach. Rath-er we adopted a ‘win-win’option of amicable settlement.

He thanked the farmers forconducting themselvespeacefully and wished themsuccess in their various en-deavours.

THE Aba Summitscheduled to hold

on November 20 to 22,2013 in Abia State is ex-pected to stimulate theactivities of Small andMedium Enterprises(SMEs) and create op-portunities for infra-structural developmentin the country accordingto the organisers.

The President, AbiaThink Tank Associationand organisers of thesummit, Mazi SamOhuabunwa, explainedthat the nation has ahigh concentration ofSMEs which needs to beinnovatively re-invigor-ated to sustain, deepenand expand their com-petitive edge in econom-ic and business dimen-sions.

The former Chairmanof the Nigerian Econom-ic Summit Group(NESG) at press confer-ence said the vision ofthe summit is to work forthe creation of a verita-ble investment windowto attract investors to Abafor its industrial, infra-structural and commer-cial transformation to alevel to make Aba a dis-tinct city with global in-fluence that will set AbiaState apart from otherstates and showcase thetechnological and com-mercial prowess of thecity.

He added that thetheme of the event,"Abia Development: Abaas a centre of entrepre-neurial excellence,” wasapt considering the factthat Aba remains an eco-nomic and industrial hubof Eastern states and Ni-geria with great poten-tials yawning for exploi-tation.

"Left alone for govern-ment to handle, the har-nessing of these eco-nomic opportunities inAba will remain in limbofor a long time to come.The amount of work to bedone is enormous andwould involve full partic-ipation of the privatesectors," he stated.

He said part of the rea-sons, why Nigeria hasnot developed, is due toFederal Government'sattitude towards the pri-vate sectors.

"Our first step when weconceived this summitwas to partner the gov-ernment which they haveagreed and the role ex-pected of them is to cre-ate an enabling environ-ment and more impor-tantly, to offer incentivesto investors. We are be-lieving that governmentcan do a lot in the coun-try through fiscal policiesand incentives in place,"he said.

Thailand to help Nigeria in rice,cassava production...............trade to hit $3bn

THAILAND is to ASSIST Nigeria to improve theT

local production of rice so asto reduce the importation ofthe commodity and to add val-ue to cassava production.

The Deputy Prime Ministerand Minister of Foreign Af-fairs, Kingdom of Thailand,Mr. Surapong Tovichak-chaikul, has said in Abuja,while signing a Memoran-dum of Understanding on theestablishment of bilateral con-sultations with Nigeria.

The Minister of Foreign Af-fairs, Ambassador OlugbengaAshiru, who signed for Niger-ia, expressed the hope thatthe bilateral engagementwould lead to closer coopera-tion between both countries.

The Thailand deputy primeminister was in the country incompany with a trade delega-tion from Thailand for highlevel consultations with Nige-rian businessmen.

Tovichakchaikul expressed

strong desire of his country tosupport Nigeria on rice farm-ing, cassava and gemstonetechnology.

He said: “We are mindful ofNigeria’s policy to enhancerice production capacity tosubstitute rice import; howev-er, I hope Nigeria will considercontinuing to import Thai rice.

“At the same time, we willlike to be of assistance to youby extending rice farmingtechnical cooperation to yourcountry as we have done insome other African countries.”

It was revealed during thesigning of the agreement thatthe volume of trade betweenNigeria and Thailand wasexpected to hit $3bn in thenext five years.

The consultations, which willbe at the level of the perma-nent secretaries, will centreon economic relations, secu-rity, political consultation andregional cooperation in WestAfrica and South-East Asia.

BY DANIEL GUMM

24—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

BY GABRIEL EWEPU

THE Federal Government hasconcluded plans to establish a

referral veterinary hospital in thenation’s capital, Abuja, to tackleserious animal diseases across thecountry and other African countries.

This was disclosed to Vanguard bythe Registrar, Veterinary Council ofNigeria, VCN, Dr. Markus Avong, whosaid the establishment of the hospitalwill enhance performance andproductivity of veterinarians, and willreduce animal diseases.

Avong said the project has a threeyear rolling plan, which will becompleted in 2015, and also capturedin the 2013 budget for execution.

Avong said: “We have the drawingof the proposed referral veterinaryhospital, and it is a three-year rollingplan from 2012-2015, and it was

The Nigeria Agriculture QuarantineServices says the adherence of

farmers to international standards hasimproved the country ’s trade withEurope.

Dr Mike Nwaneri, the Services’Coordinating Director, who disclosedthis in Lagos, said that Nigeria’s freshvegetables were now the toast of manyin Europe.

According to Nwaneri, theimprovement has remained steady inthe last six years.

“Before now, fresh vegetables fromNigeria were seized and destroyedbecause they were pest-infested.

“The international community wantsfrom farm to table-fresh vegetables andso harps on pest-free and packagingmethods.

“In the past, our farmers stored thevegetables in baskets, which was belowthe global standards, making thevegetables prone to pests and rot.

“As you know, the internationalcommunity has standards forconsumables and this shortcomingaffected Nigeria’s trading relations withEurope.

FG seekscollaboration withNCS in agric sector

BY GABREIL EWEPU

THE Federal Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development, yesterday

sought for closer collaboration with theNigeria Computer Science, NCS, totransform the sector.

The call was made by the PermanentSecretary in the Ministry, Mrs. IbukunOdusote while delivering a paper titled,‘Opportunities for Investment inNigeria’s Agriculture’, at the breakfastmeeting of the College of Fellows of theNigeria Computer Science (NCS) inIloko-Ijesha, Osun State.

Odusote said the support of NCSwould further boost the achievement andsuccess recorded in agricultural sectorunder the present administration,especially in digital management of thenew silos built by the federalgovernment across the country.

She stated that such support from NCSwill add more value to the performanceand productivity of the silos’management and staff in measuringcontent, quantity and output of grainscontained in each silo, and enabling theministry to efficiently manage anddeploy the contents to the people forconsumption.

Odusote said: “Our partnership withNigeria Computer Science ,NCS, willenable us to achieve a better and fasterresult, that will enable us eliminatecorruption in our system and empowera whole new generation of farmers whowere now seduced into farming”.

”We need to continuously update thedata and it is Information Technology,IT, that can help us to update andmanage the data at the newly built silos.

FG to establish referral veterinaryhospital in Abuja

captured in the budget of the FederalGovernment in 2013, and we arealready working hard to meet what isrequired for us to obtain the approvalof the Department of DevelopmentControl for the construction. Theproject will start in 2013, and will becompleted in 2015.

“Already an allocation has beenmade for the project in this year’sbudget because it has gone beyondmere proposal, and it is the greatestmodality taken. I would not go intothe details of the amount of moneybudgeted for the project because anadvert has been placed for the project,and whatsoever we are budgetingshould remain with us and I do notwant to make it public for now.

“Nigeria being a country with stronginvolvement in veterinary services inAfrica, we hope with time we will offerveterinary services to other Africancountries.

BRIEF

VEGETABLE EXPORT:Quarantine serviceslauds farmers

Vegetable farm along LASU road n Lagos.

Nigeria releases two extra-early maturing whitemaize hybrids

NIGERIA has released two extra-early maturing maize hybrids with

combined resistance/tolerance to Striga,drought, and low soil-nitrogen.

The extra-early hybrids, originallyknown as IITA Hybrid EEWH-21 andIITA Hybrid EEWH-26, are now des-ignated Ife Maizehyb-5 and Ife Maize-hyb-6. They were developed by the In-ternational Institute of Tropical Agricul-ture (IITA) and tested extensively inNigeria in partnership with the Insti-tute of Agricultural Research and Train-ing (IAR&T) through the funding sup-port of the Drought Tolerant Maize forAfrica (DTMA) Project.

Other collaborating institutions in-volved in the testing include the Insti-tute of Agricultural Research (IAR), theUniversity of Ilorin (UNIILORIN), theUniversity of Maiduguri (UNIMAID),and the National Centre for GeneticResources and Biotechnology(NACGRAB). The DTMA Project is ex-ecuted by CIMMYT and IITA in 13countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Both extra-early hybrids have desir-able grain cooking characteristics andoutstanding yield and stability acrossenvironments in Nigeria ravaged bydrought, Striga, and low soil-nitrogen.The potential yield of Ife Maizehyb-5in Nigeria is 6.0 t/ha and Ife Maize-hyb-6 yields 5.5 t/ha. Local varietiesyield about 1.5 t/ha.

Hybrid development and promotionis a promising strategy to appreciablyincrease maize production and produc-tivity and to revolutionize agriculturein West and Central Africa (WCA).

“Seed companies and farmers inWCA have been asking for stress tol-erant extra-early hybrids to reduce theinstability of maize yields, especiallyin the savannas, as well as during thesecond season in the forest agroeco-logical zone,” according to Dr BaffourBadu-Apraku, IITA Maize Breeder,who is also a member of the team thatdeveloped the hybrids.

Other researchers in the team are DrsS.A. Olakojo, G. Olaoye, M. Oyekun-le, M.A.B. Fakorede, B.A. Ogunbod-

ede, and S.E. Aladele.This is the first report on the release

of extra-early hybrids with combinedresistance to Striga and with genes thatconfer tolerance to low soil-nitrogen andto drought stress at the most drought-sensitive stages (flowering and grain-filling periods).

“The release of the two extra-earlyhybrids should contribute to a signifi-

cant reduction in the instability ofmaize yields in Nigeria as well as inother countries of WCA,” Badu-Apra-ku added. The adoption and commer-cialization of these extra-early hybridsreleased in Nigeria and of others pres-ently in the pipeline for release inGhana, Mali, and Bénin should con-tribute significantly to food securityand lead to improved incomes andlivelihoods for farmers in WCA.

BOA reiterates commitment to agriculturalfinancing

THE Bank of Agriculture (BOA)has reiterated its commitment toTT

ensuring that farmers have access toagricultural financing at an affordableinterest rate.

The Managing Director, Dr Mo-hammed Santuraki, gave this com-mitment in Abuja on Tuesday at athree-day Agricultural Lease Financ-

ing Workshop organised by BOAand the Equipment Leasing Asso-ciation of Nigeria (ELAN).

Represented by Mr Sam Eyinbe,the Executive Director (CorporateServices) at the bank, Santurakisaid that agriculture lease financingwas gradually becoming popular inthe sector.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—25

I try different food when Itravel—Menard

On how often she travels

Let me start by saying thisLLis my first visit to NigeriaLLbut not my first visit to Africa.Before now I had been to Egyptand Tunisia, but my first timeto west Africa.

I travel often in the course ofcarrying out my duty, I will saymaybe 40 %. I work in theMarine Conservation in the USDepartment of States, based inWashington DC. I have workedoverseas in the past 10 -11years.

I have worked in the USembassy in Abu Dahbi, the USembassy in Argentina , the USconsulate in Karachi and USconsulate in Munich and nowWashington DC.

On her first travel memoryMy first travel memory was

when I was 35years when I wentto Europe, Paris for the firsttime. So, that was my firsttravel.

On her favorite destinationIt is hard to say a favorite

place. The reason why I saythat is that sometime the mostinteresting places are placesthat are not popular for tourismand so every place has a beautyto it, so it is difficult to say.

I have been to everycontinents. I have visited Africanow, I have lived in the MiddleEast, I have visited Australia ,South America, Europe andNorth America. When I was inBuenos Aires , I went on acruise to Antarctica, everyplace is beautiful and has itsown strength.

On where she likes most

Oh my goodness. I have tothink about it. I don’t

know , because every place isgreat, but I love to see the citiesand also love to see the countrysides. For me what makes adestination thick is the peopleand the food. I love to trydifferent food.

On her best Nigerian foodI have tried jollof rice and it

is great. I love it. In fact, I gotthe recipe so I can cook it whenI get home.

On what she has learnttravelling

The most important thing I

…says Nigeria jollof rice greatMarlene Menard works with the United StatesGovernment. She has worked in several countries of

the world in the course of her duty.Now, she works with the Office of Marine Conservation

(OMC) in Washington DC. OMC is a part of the StateDepartment’s Bureau of Oceans and InternationalEnvironmental and Scientific Affairs (OES).

Menard was in Nigeria for the first time recently as part ofthe team that came for re-certification Nigeria’s fishery andShrimps industry.

In this interview with JIMOH BABATUNDE, she sharesher travel experience. Here is an excerpt.

think I have learnt travellingis that even though we differin different ways, in terms ofour societies, cultures andreligion that we all still haveso much in common.

I think if we look at what wehave in common then we canlive together in peace.

On her best travellingcompanion

My younger brother. Weknow each other so

well as we grew up together. Ihave six brothers and sisters,but my younger brother I lovetraveling with. Though I havetravelled with friends, I thinkI enjoy the company of himmore as brother and sister.

On her best readingmaterial

I tried to read somethingabout where I am. For examplemy recent vacation in July, Iwas in Galapagos Island inEcuador , because I was therefor meeting and work , I tookextra time for vacation and ona sail boat cruise it wasamazing and beautiful.

When I was doing that I wasreading a book about choice oftouring , you know something

that will make me have a better and fullerexperience on my travel.

On weather she likes departing or arrivinga destination

Oh!. I like to arrive, because everything isin front of me. I am so sad when I leave a

destination because the visit is over andthere is always more to do than the timethat I have.

So, the beginning of the visit, I will belooking forward and everything is great. Iprefer arriving to departing.

On her best hotel

Sigh!. I don’t know. Please can weskip this one. ( Laughter)

On best airlineI love Emirates airline. I think they have

wonderful services . I love Air Francebecause the food is fantastic. It is hard tosay my favorite.

On her favorite city in the worldMy favorite city in the world is Rome ,

Italy. It is so beautiful , there are so manyplaces to see in just walking around thecity.

On worst traveling experience.There was a time I received a friend in

Argentina , though it was fun, but we cansay it was bad as we got stuck in a mudvisiting a Peninsula Island to go see thewhales and it was raining, we got stuck inthe mud for an hour before somebody cameto help us.

Though it was okay as we had cookiesand water with us.On what she will not forget whilepreparing for a tour

I always packed too much . I tried to packonly what I need, but I end up packingtoo many clothes . So, if I have my vitaminsI can find everything else that I need. Myvitamins is the most important thing totravel with.

On next vacationI will like to come to Africa for my next

vacation, so as to spend time for tourismand go outside the cities to visit the countrysides.

THEHE anancicienent t cicityty o of f IlIle e IfIfe e wiwillll b beeagagogog M Monondaday y asas t thehe t thrhreeee d dayay c celel--

ebebraratitionon o of f O Oraranmnmiyiyanan, , ararguguabablyly t thehemomostst d deieififieded o of f ththe e whwholole e YoYorurubaba d deiei--titieses, , bebegiginsns..

OrOrananmimiyayan n isis t thehe ononlyly Y YororububaaKiKingng t thahat t wawas s coconfnfirirmemed d toto h havave e eses--tatablblisishehed d ototheher r totownwns,s, l likike e OyOyo o ananddBeBeninin,n, b bececamame e ththeieir r KiKingng a andnd l latatererreretuturnrneded t to o hihis s ababodode e anand d alalsoso b be-e-cacameme a a K Kining g bebefoforere h hisis e eveventntuaualltrtranansfsforormamatitionon a as s dedenonoteted d inin t theheOrOrananmimiyayan n CeCenonotataphph..

ThThe e OrOrananmimiyayan n CeCenonotataphph i is s a a rere--nonownwneded t tououriristst c cenentrtre e ththatat h hasasdrdrawawn n mimillllioion n ofof v visisititorors s toto I Ilele-I-Ifefeanand d hahas s cocontntininueued d toto d do o sasameme..OrOrananmimiyayan n isis a a r releligigioion n toto m manany y ininYoYorurubaba l lanand d asas i it t isis b beieingng w wororshshipipededwhwhilile e ththeyey v visisitit t thehe C Cenenototapaph h toto p payayhohomamagege a andnd r revevererenencece t to o ththe e dedeitity.y.

Ife celebrates Oranmiyan festivalSpSpeaeakikingng a aheheadad o of f ththe e cecelelebrbratatioion,n,

ObOba a A Abibimbmbolola a AkAkininyeyelele, , ththe e OlOlu u ofof FaFamimia a IfIfe e sasaidid t thehe c celelebebraratitionon i is s toto s setetththe e rerecocordrd s strtraiaighght t asas s somome e pepeopoplele a arereclclaiaimimingng O Oraranmnmiyiyanan a as s ththeieirsrs..

OrOrananmimiyayan n wawas s onone e ofof t thehe s sevevenen s sononssofof O Okakanbnbi,i, t thehe o onlnly y chchilild d ofof O Odudududuwawa,,ththe e prprogogenenititoror o of f ththe e YoYorurubaba..

ThThe e lelegegendnd, , OrOrananmimiyayan,n, d desespipitete b be-e-ining g ththe e grgranandsdsonon o of f OdOdududuwuwa a wawas s ththeepipiononeeeer r AlAlaaaafifin n ofof O Oyoyo. . HeHe w wasas f famamededasas a a s strtronong g enenigigmamatitic c leleadaderer w whoho l lededhihis s pepeopoplele i intnto o a a papathth o of f grgreaeatntnesess s ththatatlalaststeded s sevevereralal c cenentuturirieses, , leleavavining g a a heher-r-ititagage e ththatat l lasaststs t tilill l totodaday.y.

AfAfteter r esestatablblisishihingng O Oyoyo, , hehe l lefeft t ananddcoconqnqueuerered d ththe e BeBeninin n pepeopoplele a andnd a agagaininfofounundeded d ththe e BeBeninin n KiKingngdodom.m. A Aftfterer s sevev--ereralal w warars s anand d coconqnqueueststs,s, O Oraranmnmiyiyanan r re-e-tuturnrneded t to o IfIfe,e, t thehe c craradldle e ofof t thehe Y Yororububaaanand d wawas s ththe e 44thth OoOonini o of f IfIfe.e.

ThThe e fefeststivivalal w whihichch h hasas r receceieiveved d ththeeapapprprovovalal o of f ththe e OoOonini o of f IfIfe,e, A AlalaiyiyeleluwuwaaObOba a OkOkununadade e SiSijujuwawadede, , wiwillll brbrininggalall l IfIfe e inindidigegenenes s anand d ththe e enentitirere Y Yororububaaatat h homome e anand d inin d diaiaspsporora a lilikeke B Brarazizil,l,TrTrininididadad a andnd T Tobobagago,o, J Jamamaiaicaca, , CuCubaba,,UnUnititeded S Statatetes s ofof A Amemeriricaca t togogetetheher.r.

FoFormrmerer m mininisisteter r ofof A Agrgriciculultuturere, , EnEn--gigineneerer B Basasheheerer A Awowotetererebobo, , atat a a p preresssscoconfnfererenencece i in n IlIle e IfIfe e weweekekenend d s saiaidddidiffffererenent t p prorogrgramam h havave e bebeenen l linineded t tooenenririchch t thehe f fesestitivaval.l.

AcAccocordrdining g toto h himim, , ththe e ththe e plplatatfoformrmofof t thehe f fesestitivaval l whwhicich h wiwillll b be e ususeded t toobrbrining g toto t thehe f forore e a a ununiqiqueue a andnd b binind-d-ining g trtradadititioion n fofor r ththe e YoYorurubaba p peoeoplple,e,wiwillll f fututurure e a a papapeper r prpresesenentatatitionon w witithhththe e t thehememe: : WhWhatat i is s ththe e nanameme?”?” t to o bebededeliliveverered d byby a a r renenowownened d prprofofesessosor r ofofhihiststorory.y.

•Marlene Menard

THERE are two verydifferent views of the

International Monetary Fund.One view of the IMF is

positive: the IMF is an expert,trustworthy and experiencedinstitution that has led theworld economy through crisesand back to stability. The otherview is negative: the IMFsupports internationalbusinesses and investors butleaves citizens to pay the costsof economic trouble.

The IMF, therefore, has twofaces, depending on who’slooking at it. And recently theIMF made a comment on animportant piece of Nigerianregulation, the PetroleumIndustry Bill, PIB. The Bill isone of Nigeria’s most importantpieces of legislation, because itproposes massive industryreform. Right now, it is at riskof being picked apart byopponents. For the critics andthe supporters of the IMF, thisstatement is important.

Ultimately, of course, theIMF’s perspective doesn’tmatter: the decision will bemade in Abuja, not by the IMFin Washington. But the IMFcomment shows the weaknessof one noisy lobby that has

why should they, or indeedyou, care?

The reason is that the IMF hasbeen a great friend tointernational business. Someargue that the IMF has beenresponsible for underminingequality in the developingworld, by encouragingcountries to remove regulationthat was designed to protectcitizens. The IOCs no doubtexpected the IMF to opposeNigeria’s regulation, too. Butit hasn’t: when the oilcompanies are even more

26—Vanguard— , FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

BY ABIYE MEMBERE

PIB: IMF support revealsIOCs’ weakness

attacked the PIB from the start:the oil producer lobby.

Throughout the PIB’sjourney, several major oilcorporations have criticised thePIB, arguing that it will harmNigeria’s oil industry bymaking it uncompetitive. Theyargue that international oilcorporations, or IOCs, willleave Nigeria to make moremoney elsewhere, where taxesare lower and wheretransparency doesn’t matter.

These oil corporationsprobably hoped for IMFsupport in their argument. Butin fact the IMF said it “lookedforward to an early passage ofthe Petroleum Industry Billwhich would boost investment,government revenue, and fiscaltransparency.”

The IMF is fully supportingthe PIB - but why would thissurprise the oil producers, and

opposed to regulation andtransparency than the IMF, it’sclear they ’re being veryextreme.

This is how it looks to thosewho dislike the IMF. But eventhe left-wing ŽiŽek knows theIMF is also an “agent ofdiscipline and order,” a bodywith expertise that comes fromits many experiences ofsupporting troubled economiesacross the world. And for thefinance community across theworld, the IMF’s judgmentscommand serious attention.

The fact that the Fundsupports the PIB, anddismisses the oil majors’concerns, is therefore veryimportant. For those, like me,who take the IMF’s view as anhonest and neutral analysis itis excellent to have the supportof such a well-qualified body.

But those who dislike the IMF

,

,The fact that the Fund supports the PIB,

and dismisses the oil majors’ concerns, istherefore very important. For those, likeme, who take the IMF’s view as an honestand neutral analysis it is excellent to havethe support of such a well-qualified body

as does the Nigeriangovernment.

It’s important, too, toremember that the IOCs aredemanding a neutralinvestigation of the PIB by theWorld Bank. The inconvenienttruth is that there has been aneutral investigation already,by the World Bank’s sisterorganisation - the IMF. TheIMF’s judgment makesanother investigation a wasteof time and money. The neutralreferee has spoken, and spokein favour of the PIB.

should also see this as goodnews: it shows that the oilmenhave truly over-extended

improve the Bill and to judgeit for themselves: we reject thedivine right of experts. It is aclue, though, as to the IOCs’game: it shows us they havegone out on a limb, and areisolated even amongst thestewards of internationalcapital. We can now brush offtheir warnings now withincreased confidence.

ŽMembere is GroupExecutive Director forExploration and Production atthe Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation

An offshore oil rigA ff h il i

themselves,because theyare moreextreme thaneven the IMF.It shows justhow radicallyself-interestedthe oil majorsare being.

The IMF’sverdict on thePIB respondsquite directlyto IOCcomplaints,too. Althoughthe IOCsa r e n ’ tc o n c e r n e dw i t hgovernmentrevenue, theyh a v er e p e a t e d l ywarned thatinves tmentwill fall if thePIB is put inplace - theIMF arguesexactly theopposite, asdoes thegovernment ofNigeria. Someh a v ecomplainedthat thetransparencyagenda, too,m a k e sunreasonabledemands ofthe industry.The IMFbelieves it isworthwhi lenonetheless -

But, strangely,the IMFcomment hasn’tbeen reported inthe news since itwas releasedseveral monthsago. Thec o m m e n tdeserves to beh e a r d .Obviously, theI M F ’ sendorsements h o u l d n ’ te n c o u r a g elegislators toabandon theirresponsibility to

Petroleum minister, Deziani Madueke

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 —27

CMYK

I N S I D E:

a vehicle to celebrate ourselves.And part of what I do is try as much

as possible to use comedy not just forlaughing but to teach morals and fornation-building.

When you see talents like Bovi andFunny Bones, they are those that cancarry what we have to other countriesand say we are proud to be Nigerians.

So when is it holding?The London show holds on the 23rd

of August. And by the way, it’s the firsttime we will be having it at the IndigoO2. So as I clock 40, I decided to redo alot of things. I just decided to re-arrangemyself and re-package myself. We aredoing Manchester this year and it’sgoing to be the first time. For the Londonevent we have Bovi, FunnyBone,Senator, Akpororo, and anothercomedians based in the UK. On the sideof music, we have Kcee, May D,Harrison and other artistes, some of thembased in the UK. Over the years, Irealized that so many talents abound andthey don’t have the opportunity toshowcase. So I use this platform to

ce of using thisher the importane the image of theplatform to promotely as Nigeria iscountry especiallnary. You can’t talkapproaching cententhe image of thisabout laundering t

ng entertainment ascountry without usinfascinating abouta vehicle. What’s ftertainment. WhenNigeria without entwe know how manythey want to travel, wthem, people whocharlatans follow te they are going todon’t have any roler there! I’ve beenplay with them ove

ars that entertainerssaying it over the yeaors of this countryare the ambassadoation has failed us.because their generis no.1 in Africa.Our entertainment ipass through to getWe know what we p

st year, we weresponsors. LasAmerica because westranded in Agnore other foreigndecided to igpatronise our localairlines and

flew Virgin Nigeriaairline. We flFrom London weto London.

w York and we wereflew to Newto fly back throughsupposed t

We were in New YorkLondon. Wheard that Virginwhen we

as closed down. TillNigeria haobody is talkingtoday, nfunds and we can’tabout refue them, that’seven sufor you.Nigeria foke with Hon.AbikeSo I spobut she hasn’tDabiri

ed. Meanwhile, werespondeany of our artisteshave mapported us evenwho supaven’t paid them awhen I ht they’ll definitelydime bu.get paid

didn’t you stage theWhy d Lagos?show in appears to haveLagosll concerning theseen it adecided to starveshow. So I

ithLagosians wi Crack Ya Ribs forsee if they willa while and

. Lagosians are toocomplain or notd they seem to havefamiliar with us andon’t get excitedseen it all so they

n. So let me go toabout shows againstill appreciate meplaces where they ns are hungry thenand when Lagosian

k.we will come backyou know when toSo how would y

bring it back?We will know when they start

complaining. We did it for Laff 4 ChristrSake held a couple of weeks back andit worked.

Let me say this- it is sad that we don’thave event venues. We are always atthe mercies of hotels. Entertainment inNigeria has passed the stage of lack ofvenue. Do you know that it costs N16mto stage a show in Eko Hotel. So if Ispend that much on the venue, what

By OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMMI

InII Nigeria today, the name JuuliusnAgwu has become a houseeholdI

name. A comedian, singer and author,he shares some of his plans andexperiences in this chat. Excerptss:

showcase them.Do you already have sponsors?We tried to get Diamond Bank because

they just opened their UK branch. Butafter a lot of hurdles, they agreed tosupport us but it hasn’t been fullysigned. Another is Cargo services, acompany based in the UK and Liberia.

Why is Arik not supporting this year?We already wrote them and we

believe they might still come up to dosomething. But what they did is toremove N10 000 from each ticket so whatit means is that we are buying ticketsthis time.

What about the Abuja show?When we return from UK, we will hold

the Abuja show. But Hon.Abike Dabiriwho is my friend, I called her and told

What is it about this year’s ‘Crack Ya RRibs’?It was something we started here in Nigeeria but at some

point, we just thought it was necessary tto take it acrossto, not just Nigerians in diaspora but to thhe whole world;that Nigerians have something to offer.

Some negative stories other countriess have about usshould be erased. Of course, every counttry has its goodand the bad side. But ours have been ovver-celebrated.So Crack Ya ribs is a way to let them knoww that we havesomething worthwhile to offer. We use enntertainment as

NiteshiftColiseum

elevates GHRfor Alake ofEgbaland

•Julius Agwu

— JuliusAgwu

The goThe goThe goThe goThe govt doesn’tvt doesn’tvt doesn’tvt doesn’tvt doesn’twwwwwant Nigeriansant Nigeriansant Nigeriansant Nigeriansant Nigeriansttttto be happo be happo be happo be happo be happyyyyyananananany morey morey morey morey more

Continues on pg 28

Hon. Makindemarries MissOsun State

How not toentertain theFirstLady

28 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

about adverts? The Nigeriangovernment doesn’t wantNigerians to be happy anymorebecause they charge us foreverything. And even when wecall for sponsors we don’t get. Sothat was why we had to move itout of Lagos because we haveloads of challenges facing us. Sothe Abuja show is on the 29th thenwe end it in Port-Harcourt.

I’m also planning the JuliusAgwu Ruff,Rugged and Raw showin November. It’s going to be thelast vulgar show I’ll be holding.

Why the last vulgar show fromyou?

Trust me, it’s something thatpeople look forward to. I believethat God is calling me but hehasn’t called me directly becauseI can’t decide on my own.

Why are you into music becauseit doesn’t seem to be as strong asyour comic side

Let it be known that I’m not intomusic to be judged by my dexterityor be placed at par with the likesof Banky W. I do it because it’s mypassion and it gives me joy. A lotof people wonder why I spend somuch money on music and I tellthem it’s just a way of catchingfun.

I’ve come to grow with comedyand that’s how I came to meetcomedians like FunnyBone. I met himat a show . Then I heard there’s a youngman in Kaduna who claims to be me asa role model. So anywhere there was ashow they would call him and he wouldgo and dance Okombo for them. I didn’tknow about this until I went for a showin Kaduna and after the show, someonesaid FunnyBone wanted to see me. Bythe time I saw him, he looked tatteredand wore a Dunlop slippers. He wantedto faint when he saw me. And that was

Jagz , and the album have lots of greatsongs in it. So I’m proud of myachievement in music.

What about your book?

It’s titled Jokes Apart. If someone likeKing Sunny Ade can still be an

entertainer at is age, then why should Igive up? God knows the right time foreveryone of us to blow on this job eventhough we have been around for solong. Some Goodluck Jonathan’sfriends became rich at old age as a result

of Jonathan’sinfluence. Sothere’s no hurry inlife because you’llget to where Godwants you to get to.At this stage Ishould know thatentertainment is mycalling so I can’tchange to anothercareer.

The only thing isthat more young

people come into the field everyday. Theonly thing is to rebrand because theremust be challenges in everything we do.So the book is about everything I wentthrough on my way to stardom.Anybody can become a star but noteverybody can manage stardom.

How do you handle your femalefans?

My wife understands the kind ofbusiness that I do. I have anunderstanding wife and I know whereto draw the line. That’s the truth. Godhas been the bedrock of our marriage.That understanding that we both share;understanding of each other ’stemperament and shortcomings hasbeen made possible by God.

what an albumdid for me, itmade me ahousehold name.So when he toldme he wanted todo comedy, I toldhim to first go toschool. Now he’sa Theater Artsgraduate from theUniversity of Jos.

When westarted the game,we were poor children trying toconvince our parents to allow us becauseeducation doesn’t guarantee wealth,that we could make it with our talents.But now, even rich men allow theirchildren go into comedy. Now it’s easyto be a star and it was not so during ourtime. So we have met the standard ofAmerica.

So after my first album, some said I’mnothing without Awilo because they feltI copied his music and can’t sing. So toprove to them that I can do my thing, Ihad to release another track called MyStyle.

So I released an album Julius DeJunius in 2011. In it, I have tracks withthe likes of Tuface, Efya, M.I and Jesse

BY AYO ONIKOYI

DNA Twins declared shortly aftertheir eviction from the X Factor

singing reality television show lastFriday night that better days areahead for them.

“This is not the end for us as we aregoing to use this platform to build onour musical dream. People shouldlook out for us in the near future,”the duo boasted.

They said Glo had through X Factor

Continues from page 27

AS one of activities markingthe 70th birthday celebrationA

of the Alake of Egbaland, ObaMichael Adedotun Gbadebo,CFR, leading celebrity hangout,Niteshift Coliseum, will behosting the respected monarch toa Grand House Reception.

The event, elevated to a 7-star,will hold on 7 September at theclub arena in Opebi, Lagos.

Ken-Calebs Olumese, Guv’norof Niteshift Coliseum, said after along absence of GHR, the clubconsiders it an honour havingsuch prominent personality asAlake as guest on its return.

Olumese promised that thecoming GHR will be a high profilecelebration of the Alake.

“With citation, presentation ofplaque, an interactive sessionlaced with comedy and music byleading performers, the eveningpromises to be exciting andrewarding,” he said.

Olumese, who has since retiredfrom night clubbing business, alsoassured that the GHR for theAlake will parade glamour andglitz in huge doses as it’s thecustom of the Coliseum.

GHR is Coliseum’s flagshipevent and notable Nigerians andforeigners have been honouredduring the events. They include:President Goodluck Jonathan;former Vice President Atiku

Abubakar; Former Ghanaian PresidentJ.J Rawlings; former Lagos Stategovernor, Asiwaju Bola AhmedTinubu; former Finance Minister Dr.Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; and Lagos Stategovernor, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

Oba Gbadebo, the Okukenu IV, willbe the first monarch to be honouredby the club’s prestigious GHR.

Nigerians, Africans wherever youare, watch out for DNA. Don’t besurprised to see us doing a songwith P-Square,” Blair added.

Blair and Clinton Robert turned17 on June 16. The twins come froma polygamous family of 13 childrenand attended Madonna ModelSecondary School, Owerri, ImoState. They had just finishedwriting their final exams when theX Factor audition started and theydecided to participate at the Abujaauditions.

Niteshift Coliseum elevatesGHR for Alake of Egbaland

X Factor: This is not theend for us – DNA Twins

•DNA Twins with Toolz

given them aplatform which hasprojected them tonational andi n t e r n a t i o n a laudience. “We weredisappointed thatwe have beenevicted, but webelieve everythinghappens for apurpose. we believethat God whobrought us this farhas a plan for ur.For us anything ispossible now,”Clinton said.

“We want to tell

By AYO ONIKOYI

•Oba Michael Adedotun Gbadebo

,

,I’ve come to growwith comedy and

that’s how I came tomeet comedians likeFunnyBone. I met

him at a show

I believe God is calling me

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 29

Kaffy, Dance Queenexpectingbaby no.2

BY OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI

Nigeria’s no.1 dance queen, Kaffy iscertainly in for another break. At themoment, we scooped the vibrant dancer

is expecting her second baby with husband,Joseph Ameh.

Although before now, she’d been sighted atfunctions looking all preggy but trust Kaffy’snaturally flat stomach to play the perfect deceiverjust like the case of her first issue.

Making to confirm the gist, a call was made toher camp and we gathered her baby bump canno longer be hidden, as she’s truly in her secondtrimester.

According to gist, the dance queen has kept alow key as a result of the pregnancy. She isexcited and is looking forward to the birth of theirsecond child.

Kaffy and Joseph welcomed their first childKamal Ameh in December 2011 and got marriedin June 2012.Kaffy

By IYABO AINA

Adokiye Kyrian Yvonne popularly known as‘’Adokiye ‘’started her musical journey at an early

age, after being influenced by music icons such asOnyeka Onwenu, Aretha Franklin, King Sunny Ade,Lauryn Hill and Bob Marley.

The Caritas University graduate of architecture justdropped a new single titled ‘Back up’ produced by IkOgbonna an ace producer.

However for the talented and energetic artiste signedto AEON Music; singing and writing songs are not theonly things that keeps Adokiye busy as she flexes hertalent as an entrepreneur by mastering the art ofmarketing and also enjoys empowering the lessprivileged from all works of life. In her words, ‘I’ve beenon the charity movement since high school with anylittle thing I have . I enjoy taking it out to share withless privileged’

Adokiye disclosed that within the short period of hersojourn into professional music in 2012, she has workedwith producers like Charles, Embrace, Yiseng, Preccy P,and Breezy; and artistes like Splash, Black70, Sym19,Hitmaker Tep (New York), Evil (London), Flyer (NewYork) and Olamide (Nigeria).

With an unflinching love for Nigerian kind of musicAdokiye who adores musicians like 2face Idibia, D’Banjand Rihanna (whom she dreams of working with someday) says, ‘I wanna do music for the rest of my life’ adie-hard assertion and belief for her.

Adokiye unveilsnew song ‘Back Up’

grew tired of Mor when he discovered hersmoking habit was on the higher side thanhis. Upon seeing that he couldn’t cope withher anymore, he ended his affair with thesingle mother of two.

Fred and Mor met in the US in 2011 andstarted dating a few months later.

Mor, a single mother with two kids, is aSoul/Jazz artiste who contested in singingreality show - X Factor UK a few years back.She’s currently a management consultant.

IF the gist flying around town is anything togo by, it means Nollywood actor Fred Amata

and girlfriend, Mor Okonkwo have called itquits.

The relationship which started less than a yearago, packed up just after Fred celebrated his50th birthday in June.

According to what we heard, Fred allegedly

Fred Amata endsrelationship with girlfriend

By OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMIy

•FredAmata

Hon. Makinde marriesMiss Osun State

BY AYO ONIKOYI

Nollywood actor turnedpolitician, Hon. Rotimi

Makinde, representing the IfeFederal Constituency in thelower House of the NationalAssembly has taken hissomewhat whirlwind romancewith the reigning Miss OsunState, Miss OyebankeOyelami to the level as thecouple is set to be united manand wife this Saturday at theAdah Golf Course, Ile-Ife, inOsun State.

Their romance has attractedsome criticisms from peoplewho believed the Honourablelegislator dumped his formerwife for the beauty queen. Butthe Honourable has come forthwith a strong defence at arecent discuss where heexplained why he has decidedto marry the 23-year-olddamsel.

“Naturally, it is not in myhabit to discuss my familyespecially my wife who boreme my grown up kids but justfor the records, people needto know that my wife has leftme ever before I got electedinto the federal house ofrepresentatives and I’ve sincegiven her the benefit of doubtfor reconciliation but all wereto no avail, hence my decisionto move ahead and notwithout the consent of mychildren...can you believethat, it took me a while tochase this lady, I have neverseen her rare type before,that’s why I didn’t waste anytime when she eventuallygave me the chance” he said.

The wedding reception

•Hon. Rotimi Makinde •Miss Osun

followed by a night party isbilled to hold at same venuefrom about 6pm where topentertainers, Sir Shina Petersand Obesere are expected tothrill . Ankara Aso-Ebi which

sold for about N4000 is theuniform for the day. TopNollywood stars and highprofile political personalitiesare expected to grace theoccasion.

CMYK

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08050498513

HoHoHoHoHow now now now now not tt tt tt tt to ento ento ento ento entererererertaintaintaintaintainthe Firthe Firthe Firthe Firthe First Ladyst Ladyst Ladyst Ladyst Lady

Thursday last week, First lady, Dame PatienceTT

Jonathan attracted over 30.000women from across Nigeriaand other African countries tothe Eagles Square, Abuja fora rally tagged “Nigerian Wom-en Rally for Peace and Em-powerment”.

The event was meant to sen-sitize women in the countryon the gains recorded so farin enhancing peace and wom-en empowerment.

The traffic snarl caused bythe rally, provoked angry re-actions from workers and res-idents of Abuja, who had totrek long distances. While theevent has drawn flak frommany, others also believe thatit was also expected of anevent of that magnitude, es-pecially, considering the secu-rity situation in the country.

Entertainment flawTo lighten the atmosphere,

the organisers laced the eventwith entertainment and as-sembled an array of popularNigerian entertainers madeup of Stand up comedians andmusicians, apparently toshowcase the huge talents inNigeria, the Giant of Africa.

This was unfortunatelywhere the major flaw of theevent manifested.

Although this is not to criti-cise the rally, but one wouldhave also expected that for anevent that attracted such dig-nitaries and engaged theprime time of Nigerian Tele-vision Authority, NTA, for overan hour, the organisers wouldhave used the latest audio/vis-ual equipments.

For instance, in this 21st cen-ttury where everything is go-ing mobile, it could only havebeen in Nigeria, that an eventof such magnitude, would seethe use of a wired microphonerather than a wireless system.

In fact, event or conferenceorganisers,today decoratespeakers and entertainerswith Easy Talk wireless USBmicrophone system consistingof a belt pack transmitter,Lavalier microphone (com-monly known as lapel or Clipmic) and wireless receiver.The Clip Mic and the belt packtransmitter, interactt with theaudio reinforcementt mountedsomewhere in the veenue.

While a wireless micro-phone will give coonfidenceand ease of movemment, thewired microphone wwill distortmovement, distract and limitperformance. And, this wasexactly what happpened toboth the entertainerrs and thelady compere who handledthe day.

How they entertaiinedTo the credit of thhe event

organisers, entertainners likeBose Ogunboye, the famouse famouscomedienne popularly knownas Lepacious Bose ; Iyanya,the popular hip- hop star ofTukere fame; renowned Hausamusician Sani Danja and de-lectable lady of songs, OnyekaOnwenu, performed at theevent.

However, the beauty ofBose’s performance often de-rives from the way she moves

•Lepacious Bose•Ayefele•Iyanya

her big frame on stage whiletelling her jokes. But Bose, onthat day, was a shadow of her-self.

So also was the Akwa Ibomborn music star Iyanya, whohas attracted numerous fans tohis music due to his Tukeredance steps. On this day, the

crowd never got the dancecrowd never gosteps.

Live BandAbsence of Lappeared that As a viewer, it aimed to theirthe musicians mperformingCDs instead of

live.he organisersHere again, thkoning as thefell short of reckment could notplay back equipm

um perform-give optimsome of theance to s

CDs.nce Iyanya’sFor instanon the play-CD output one was veryback machin

poor, making his mime poor,poor, making hiflat and uninteresting. Mean-while, that of Sani Danja wasloud and helped his mimes todeliver sweet tunes to the ear.

However, Danja who isfamed for his sonorous voice,unique,mesmerising legmovements and acrobaticdance steps, could hardly dis-play any of these due to thelong ropes of the microphone

limiting his movements.Popular gospel artiste,

Ayefele was another musicianthat performed at the event.Ayefele has made name in themusic industry despite being

physically challenged. Withhis customised wheel chair, heusually wows his audiencewith deft movements whileperforming, but not on thisday. Ayefele could not domuch movement, unless hewas prepared for a fall.

Why poor performanceAll these entertainers could

have given more if the audioequipment to support theiracts were standard.

That this happened in thegrowing world of mobile tech-nology where Nigeria is alsoblazing the trail, particularlyin telecommunications, wasworrisome. It was embarrass-ing that all that happened inthe presence of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan, his wifeand his Vice, Namadi Sambo.

It definitely was not the bestway to entertain the First Lady,nor a president that may haveapproved some of the hugefunds that sponsored theevent.

•Onyeka Onwenu

•Clip Mic... Shouldhave been used

•Wired Mic...distracts and limits movement

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013— 31

,

32—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

Seeds of hope and harvestsof despair (2)

Bashorun Randle in this installment arguesthat the biggest forms of corruption are at thelevel of economic sabotage and politicalcorruption

Map of Nigeria

THERE was once a time inTTthis country in NigeriaTTduring the Buhari-Idiagbonregime when people normallyqueued up to enter the bus.People started queuing on thestreets because they knew theconsequences. We need drasticmeasures, draconian measureseven if just for five years. That isthe only way Nigeria can moveforward.”

This was followed by astatement by Professor DanielBabayi, Executive Secretary ofthe Christian Association ofNigeria (19 Northern States):“Our country is being assailed byinsecurity, particularly throughthe evil activities of Boko HaramIslamic sect. We objectstrenuously to any talk of amnestyfor Boko Haram as it would betantamount to rewarding evildoers. We urge compensation forvictims of Boko Haram and wedemand that Sharia Law shouldbe expunged from the nationalConstitution or in the alternativeChristian Canon Law should beincluded in the Constitution.

“The scourge and menace thatis Boko Haram continues to castlong shadows over our nation’saffairs. In the second quarter of2013, the Federal Governmentfinally accepted the inevitableand placed the struggle againstterrorism in the country on aquasi-war footing; a State ofEmergency was declared inBornu, Yobe and Adamawa statesin the north-east of the country.

,Jonathan did not create corruption. Thosewho say this administration is not fightingcorruption are not speaking on the basis offacts

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION:AA

BY BASHORUN J. K.RANDLE

BASHORUN J.K.RANDLEBASHORUN J.K.RANDLEBASHORUN J.K.RANDLEBASHORUN J.K.RANDLEBASHORUN J.K.RANDLE

Since the declaration of a state ofemergency the terrorists in thosethree states have come undersevere and sustained pressureand have been placed firmly onthe back foot. The tales andtestimonies of woe that haveemanated from people of all faithsprovide ample evidence of the

targeted other soft underbelliesin an attempt to keep up thepressure; they have also shownthemselves no respecters of thestate with some particularlyoutlandish attacks in Baga andBama. While congratulating theFederal Government on takingoverdue steps, we would counselthat the ambit of the use of a stateof emergency be kept continuallyunder review both in terms of itsmodus operandi and itsgeographical spread. No longeris kidnapping restricted toparticular enclaves of thecountry; it has become the crimeof preference for a growing armyof misfits and malcontents.

True and enduringnationhood

“Carried out with variousdegrees of violence, it is a newthreat to the rule of law andanother manifestationof a societyat war with itself. It is the duty ofboth federal and stategovernments and the citizenry toshine a light into the dark cornersfrom whence this evil anddysfunction emanates. Wedeliberately place the onus ofresponsibility on both thegovernment and citizenrybecause that sense of civic dutythat is an essential block for trueand enduring nationhood issorely lacking in our country andits restoration is a necessaryprecondition for redemption,even where we cannot be ourbrother’s keeper, we must be hisoverseer.”

The intervention of ChiefEmeka Anyaoku, the formerSecretary-General of theCommonwealth, was verymeasured and thoughtful:“Administrators in every countryare the linchpin of development.They are the very group onwhose shoulders the task ofimplementing policies rests.These can be the nationalpolicies of governments, or thepolicies of organizations in theprivate sector or the civil society.In this age of technology andspecialized operations managed

and directed by appropriatespecialists, there is a growingneed for administrators whosetask, especially at the top level,is to coordinate the multi-facetedactivities of a government or aprivate corporate organization.

“The present structure of 36federating units with an allpowerful centre compels adisproportionate deployment ofthe national resources onrecurrent expenditure; andworse still, compels adestabilizing competition for thecontrol of the centre, acompetition that fans the embersof the peoples’ primordial ethnicand religious sentiments.”

Religioussentiments

Perhaps, it was inevitable thatDr. Reuben Abati, the SpecialAdviser to President GoodluckJonathan and his colleague, Dr.Doyin Okupe, the Senior SpecialAssistant would jointly step upto bat for the President:

“Jonathan did not createcorruption. Those who say thisadministration is not fightingcorruption are not speaking onthe basis of facts. The Jonathanadministration did not createcorruption in Nigeria. It is aninherited problem. Corruption isalso not limited to Nigeria. Eventhe countries and individualswho shout most about corruption,you will see that it is a challengethat they too have to deal with.President Jonathan had admittedrecently that corruption is present

ernment money. Over thegovers, previous governmentsyeare created a community of renthaveectors and this administrationcolled this is pure economicsaid

sabotage and it must end. But thesabot

unawares by the militaryintervention by Major-GeneralSam Momah (rtd), formerMinister of Science andTechnology under late GeneralSaniAbacha: “As a formerAdjutant-General of the NigerianArmy, it is my patriotic duty towarn against the breaking up ofNigeria. The repercussionswould be too disastrous. I mustmake it clear that it is better forNigeria to remain a unitedcountry despite its manycontending tribal, ethnic andreligious entities. Although wemanaged to survive a civil war(1967 to 1970), we would not beable to survive disintegration.

Unthinkableprospect

“A disintegrating Nigeria is anunthinkable prospect. However,should it occur, the war thatwould ensue may last for overfifty years like that of Sudanwhich lasted for fifty-eight years.But the glimmer of hope is thatsince Nigeria has survived for100 years, what is required is forher to build on that successutilizing her enormous resources.In doing do, Nigeria wouldrestore hope, gain her pride andrespect in Africa and the rest ofthe world”.

Major-General Momahpondered on the contradictionsthat had dogged every facet ofthe nation’s life, pointing out thatNigeria remained the only placewhere US $16 million could bespent on electricity, with thenation still wallowing indarkness. He also said it was anirony for the country to bespending a fortune on securityvote only to reap more securitychallenges. He lamented that the

p r o p a g a n d amachineries of thebeneficiaries andtheir collaboratorsinsisted that itwon’t work. Thebiggest forms ofcorruption you canhave are at thelevel of economicsabotage andsecond are politicalcorruption.

“Once you allowp o l i t i c a lcorruption, you

will create a lot of problems. ThisPresident decided to fightpolitical corruption by insistingthat elections must be free andfair. It is only when elections arefree that those elected can beaccountable. The 2011 generalelections were acclaimed to befree and fair. Every subsequentelection conducted under thisPresident’s watch have been free

and fair and so adjudged by bothlocal and international observers.In Adamawa, Kogi, Sokoto, Edoand Ondo, there were noproblems when elections wereconducted in those states.

“The truth of the matter is thatthe Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission made itclear that last year alone, itsecured over 200 convictions.Nobody is noting that they arelooking at the cases that have notbeen resolved.

“The truth is that there is a cleardoctrine of separation of power.Once the agency has initiatedaction, it is for the judiciary to lookinto those issues and we all knowthat in Nigeria the wheel ofjustice grinds slowly. Those whosay this administration is notfighting corruption are notspeaking on the basis of fact; theyare speaking on the basis ofemotion and selectivereasoning.”

We were caught totally

nation was planning a centenarycelebration jamboree while itsN640 billion textile industryremains comatose.

The Governor of NassarawaState, AlhajiTanko Al-Makura’sconcern was directed ateducation: “I advocate thedeclaration of a state ofemergency in respect of ournation’s education sector. It is anecessary step towardsaddressing the overwhelmingproblems in public schools. Thelevel of infrastructural decay ingovernment-owned schools hasreached an alarming rate. I havesaid it before; those publicschools are now heading towardsemergency situation. I saidemergency because virtually allthe infrastructure needed inschools are non-existent and thatis the reason there is noattainment of excellence in publicschools.”

in Nigeria as it iselsewhere but that is achallenge hisadministration istackling. There aremany concrete ways inwhich thisadministration isfighting corruption.

“This administrationtook up the challenge ofthe fuel subsidy scamheadlong. People willcollect allocation to bringin fuel, they will not ownany vessel, they will notimport any fuel and theywill still collect

cancerous anddebilitating natureof life under siegefrom Boko Haram.

A notable effect ofthe state ofemergency is thatthe terrorists have

•President Goodluck Jonathan

To be concluded

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013— 33

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,,

Oh People, just as you regardthis month, this day, this cityas sacred, so regard the life and

property of every Muslim as a sa-cred trust. Return the goods en-trusted to you to their rightful

owners. Hurt no one so that no onemay hurt you

The Prophet's first and lastsermons

Salaudeen becomesWakeel-ul-Muslimeen ofOgun State

THE League of Imams & Alfas of Ogun State has concluded arrangements to install a top Islamic cleric, Sheikh

Abdul-Razak Ishola Salaudeen as the Wakeel-Ul-Muslimeenof Ogun State.

The turbanning ceremony will hold tomorrow Saturday 24August at the hall of the Ijebu-Ode Central Mosque at 11.00a.m. It promises to be a five star event as Governor IbikunleAmosun of Ogun State is billed to be chief host, while royalfather of the day, the Awujale Ijebu, HRM Oba Sikiru Adetona,Ogbagba II, leads other eminent royal fathers to the event.Paramount traditional rulers expected include Alake Egba,HRM Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, Akarigbo Remo, HRM ObaMichael Adeniyi Sonariwo, and the Olu of Ilaro, HRM Oba Ke-hinde Olugbenle. Potentates of lesserntates of lesserranking will also grace thhe event.

Listed as chairman of occasion is anengineer who is also Alarranse Adinniof Ijebuland, Alhaji Sikiirullai BosunOke, while the chairpersson expectedis famous socialite, Princess KhadijatKuburat Adebisi Edionseeri.

High point of the turbanning ceremo-ny is a lecture to be delivered by SheikhHabeebullahi Adam Al-Ilory, theMudeer Morkaz Agege. Shheikh Sa-laudeen's ascension to thhe postof Wakeel-ul-Muslimmiincomes to few as a surprise,having devoted his entiirelife to the furtherance oofIslam in the immediatecommunities of Ijebu-land, Ogun State, and Ni-geria in general.

THISTT week, we decided tobring to you the famous

first and the last sermon ofProphet Muhammad (s.a.w) sothat we can remind ourselves ofnot only the duties and respon-sibilities of a Muslim but also re-assure us of the benefits and re-wards of what we do.

FIRST SERMONThis sermon was delivered

when the prophet (s.a.w) first ar-rived in Quba-Madinah and be-fore he (s.a.w) built his mosquein Madinah.

Ibn Ishaq reported on the au-thority of ‘Abdur-Rahman IbnKa’b Ibn Malik that he said (partof the narration): “After the Mes-senger of Allah arrived in Madi-nah and he stayed in Quba’ onMonday, Tuesday, Wednesdayand Thursday; he built a mosque,before he left on Friday, the timefor Friday prayer overtook himin the land of Banu Salim Ibn‘Awf, and so he prayed it. In themosque which was in the middleof the valley before the buildingof his mosque.

Ibn Ishaq said: “It was the firstsermon which he delivered; ac-cording to Abu Salamah Ibn ‘Ab-dur-Rahman – he said; ...and weseek refuge with Allah from at-tributing to him anything whichhe did not say – he stood upamong them and praised Allahand extolled Him, then he said:

“Oh, you people! Send forth foryourselves good deeds; youknow for sure, by Allah, that aperson among you will be struckdown unconscious and he willleave his sheep without a shep-herd, then his Lord will surely sayto him – and there will be neitherintermediary nor screen be-tween them: “Did not My Mes-senger come to you and commu-nicate (the Message), and did Inot give you wealth and favoryou? And what did you send forthfor yourself?” And verily, he willlook right and left, but he will seenothing; then he will look in frontof him and he will see naught butthe Hell-fire. So whoever is ableto shield his face from the Fire,even if it be only by giving a pieceof a date in charity, let him do so;and whoever was unable to doso, let him shield it by saying agood word, for the reward of agood deed is multiplied by tentimes seven hundred times. Andmay the Peace, Mercy and Bless-ings of Allah be upon you.”

Ibn Ishaq said: “Then the Mes-senger of Allah, delivered a sec-ond sermon, saying:

“All praise and thanks be to Al-lah, I praise Him and I seek Hisaid. We seek refuge with Allahfrom the evil of ourselves andfrom the wickedness of ourdeeds. Whomsoever Allahguides, there is none can mis-guide him and whomsoever Al-lah sends astray, there is none

can guide him. And I testify thatnone has the right to be wor-shipped except Allah, Alone,without partners. The best ofspeech is the Book of Allah. Hewhose heart has been beautifiedwith it by Allah and whom He hasadmitted to the fold of Islam af-ter he had disbelieved will be suc-cessful, for he has chosen it (Al-lah’s Speech) over that of all ofmankind. Truly, it is the best ofspeech and the most eloquent.Love what Allah loves; love Al-lah with all of your hearts. Do notbecome tired of Allah’s Speech,nor of mentioning His Name anddo not make your hearts hard to-

wards it. Hence, amongst every-thing that Allah creates Hechooses [something]; Allahwould call it: His Khaerah (best)in terms of deeds; His favoriteones amongst the servants; thatwhich is good and useful in termsof speech; So, worship Allah anddo not associate anything withHim and fear Him as He shouldbe feared and be sincere to Allahin the righteous words whichpass your lips and love one an-other with Allah’s Spirit betweenyou. Verily, Allah hates that HisCovenant should be broken. Andmay the Peace, Mercy and Bless-ings of Allah be upon you.”

(Source: ‘Zad Al-Ma’ad’. Men-tioned by Ibn Hisham in ‘As-Seerah An-Nabawiyyah’ fromIbn Ishaq, but without anychain of narrators. See ‘Zad Al-Ma’ad’ vol. 1, page 374 pub-lished by Maktabah Al-ManarAl-Islamiyyah)

LAST SERMON

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)PPdelivered his last sermonPP(Khutbah) on the ninth of DhulHijjah (12th and last month of theIslamic year), 10 years afterHijrah (migration from Makkahto Madinah) in the Uranah Val-ley of mount Arafat. His wordswere quite clear and concise andwere directed to the entire hu-manity.

After praising, and thankingAllah he said:

“O People, lend me an attentiveear, for I know not whether afterthis year, I shall ever be amongstyou again. Therefore listen towhat I am saying to you verycarefully and TAKE THESEWORDS TO THOSE WHO COULDNOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.

Oh People, just as you regardthis month, this day, this city asSacred, so regard the life andproperty of every Muslim as asacred trust. Return the goodsentrusted to you to their rightfulowners. Hurt no one so that noone may hurt you. Rememberthat you will indeed meet yourLORD, and that HE will indeedreckon your deeds. ALLAH hasforbidden you to take usury (in-terest), therefore all interest ob-ligation shall henceforth bewaived. Your capital, however,is yours to keep. You will neitherinflict nor suffer any inequity.Allah has Judged that there shallbe no interest and that all the in-terest due to Abbas ibn ‘Abd’alMuttalib (Prophet’s uncle) shallhenceforth be waived…

Beware of Satan, for the safetyof your religion. He has lost allhope that he will ever be able tolead you astray in big things, sobeware of following him in smallthings.

O People, it is true that youhave certain rights with regardto your women, but they alsohave rights over you. Remem-ber that you have taken them asyour wives only under Allah’strust and with His permission. Ifthey abide by your right then tothem belongs the right to be fedand clothed in kindness. Do treatyour women well and be kind tothem for they are your partnersand committed helpers. And it isyour right that they do not makefriends with any one of whomyou do not approve, as well asnever to be unchaste.

O People, listen to me in ear-nest, worship ALLAH, say yourfive daily prayers (Salat), fastduring the month of Ramadan,and give your wealth in Zakat.Perform Hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam andEve, an Arab has no superiorityover a non-Arab nor a non-Arabhas any superiority over anArab; also a white has no superi-ority over black nor a black hasany superiority over white ex-cept by piety (taqwa) and goodaction. Learn that every Muslimis a brother to every Muslim andthat the Muslims constitute onebrotherhood. Nothing shall belegitimate to a Muslim which be-longs to a fellow Muslim unless itwas given freely and willingly.Do not, therefore, do injustice toyourselves.

Remember, one day you will

appear before ALLAH and an-swer your deeds. So, beware, donot stray from the path of righ-teousness after I am gone.

Oh People, NO PROPHET ORAPOSTLE WILL COME AFTERME AND NO NEW FAITH WILLBE BORN. Reason well, therefore,O People, and understand wordswhich I convey to you. I leavebehind me two things, the QU-RAN and my example, the SUN-NAH and if you follow these youwill never go astray.

All those who listen to me shallpass on my words to others andthose to others again; and maythe last ones understand mywords better than those who lis-ten to me directly. Be my wit-ness, O ALLAH, that I have con-veyed your message to your peo-ple”.

(Reference: See Al-Bukhari,Hadith 1623, 1626, 6361) Sahihof Imam Muslim also refers tothis sermon in Hadith number98. Imam al-Tirmidhi has men-tioned this sermon in Hadith nos.1628, 2046, 2085. Imam Ahmedbin Hanbal has given us the long-est and perhaps the most com-plete version of this sermon inhis Masnud, Hadith no. 19774.)

One can heed words of wisdom

and guidelines from the last ser-mon (khutbah) of the prophet(SAWS). His sermons empha-sized on the following:

Sacredness of a Muslim’slife and property

The importance of propagatingthis message to all others (A Mus-lim’s responsibility thus does notend by following the religion)

A reminder that everyone isfully accountable for their deedsand Allah (God) will take everyperson into account. If everyoneheeded to this fact alone, theworld would be a much betterplace today.

“Hurt no one so that no onemay hurt you.” These words ofthe prophet are self explanato-ry.

The prohibition of dealing withinterest (Numerous accounts inQuran and Hadith prohibit tak-ing, giving or being a part of anytransaction dealing with inter-est).

“You will neither inflict nor suf-fer any inequity.” These wordsof the prophet are self explana-tory.

The awareness of satan andhow satan can make you to devi-ate us from the right path and do-ing evil things.

Rights of women over men andrights of men over women.

Treatment of women with kind-ness.

Modesty and chastity in wom-en.

The importance of worshipingAllah (saying your five dailyprayers (Salat), fasting during themonth of Ramadan, giving char-ity (Zakat) and performing pil-grimage (Hajj).

Equality amongst all (blacks,white, Arabs, non-Arabs, etc.)

The need to do justice and befair to others.

These are what Islam and theLast prophet have taught us. Let’sdo our part by following theProphet’s message and propa-gating the message to others.

Sheikh Salaudeen

ASK YOUR IMAMASK YOUR IMAMASK YOUR IMAMASK YOUR IMAMASK YOUR IMAM

Fasting after RamadanBY HARUN RAZAQ

THE Prophet isreported to have

said: “iman increases anddecreases…” it increasesas a result of good deedsand decreases as a resultof evil deeds. One of theways to increase ouriman after Ramadan isembarking on Sunnahfasting. The recommend-ed fasting after Ramadanare as follow:

ŽFasting of six days ofShawwal as narrated byAbu Ayyub (RA) that Al-lah’s Messenger, (SAW),said: “He who fasts Ram-adan, and six days ofShawwal, it will be as if hefasted a whole year.”

It is a misconceptionthat these six days of fast-ing must be undertakenon consecutive days, asthere is no hadith thatstipulate so. These sixdays of fasting afterRamadan fasts, are equiv-alent to fasting “perpetu-ally”, according to SahihMuslim.

ŽFasting on Mondays

and Thursdays (i) it wasnarrated from AbuQataadah al-Ansaari thatthe Messenger of Allah(SAW) was asked aboutfasting on Mondays. Hesaid: “On that day I wasborn, and on it therevelation came to me.”(Narrated by Mus-lim,1162).

(ii) The Messenger ofAllah (SAW) said: “Deedsare shown (to Allah) onMondays and Thursdays,and I like my deeds to beshown when I am fasting.”

ŽFasting for three daysin every month: (i) it wasnarrated that Abu Huray-rah (RA) said: “My closefriend- the Prophet(s.a.w) advised me to dothree things which I willnot give up until I die:fasting three days of eachmonth, praying Duha,and sleeping after Witr. Itwas narrated that theProphet (s.a.w) said:“Fasting three days ofevery month is likefasting for a lifetime, andayaam al-beed are the13th, 14th and 15th.”

ŽThe Day of ‘Arafat (thedays on which pilgrimsstand at Mount ‘Arafa forpeople at home: TheProphet said: “The‘Arafat fast redeems twoyears... one past and onefuture.”

ŽThe Day of Ashura: Ibn‘Abbas (RA) said: “I knowof no other day thanAshura, which theProphet fasted in recog-nition of its merits overall other days”.

The month of Muhar-ram: The Prophet (s.a.w)was asked about the bestfast next to Ramadan. Hesaid: “al-Muharram.”

ŽThe month of Sha’ban:‘Aisha (r.t.a) said: “TheProphet (s.a.w) used tofast for a complete monthonly in Ramadan. Nextto that he fasted mostoften in Sha’ban.”

However, fasting is fo-bidden on the doubtfulday, the day of ‘Eid-l-Fitr,the day the pilgrims offersacrifice, the days oftashriq (11th, 12th and13th of Dhu’l-Hijjah.

THE Muslim Council, TMC, Eti-Osa

branch has urged Muslimpoliticians to strive to-wards the propagation ofIslam in their various ca-pacities just as it com-mended the efforts of HonKazeem Ademola Alimimember, Lagos StateHouse of Assembly, repre-senting Eti-Osa Constitu-ency I, who sponsored Ra-madan lectures in the area.

Alhaji Harun Razaq, Di-rector for Islamic Guide(CFIG) and member of thegroup advised politiciansto emulate Hon Alimi evenafter the month of Ra-madan.

Strive towards Islam, TMCurges Muslim politicians

The event which washeld at Eti-Osa, Local Gov-ernment Headquarters,Igbo-Efon, Eti-Osa, Lagoswas attended by dignitar-ies including FadilatSheikh, Alhaji, Imam, Ab-dul Bari Y. Afinni- Chair-man Council of Imam andAlfas in Eti-Osa, PrinceAnofiu Olanrewaju Ele-gushi, Executive Chair-man, Eti-Osa, Local Gov-ernment; Alhaji, (Hon.)Yahyah A. Dosunmu, Seri-ki Adinni of Eti-Osa, HonIsmail Azeez (Ija Omode)members of the LagosState House of Assemblyamong others.

From left: Prof. Muhibudeen Opeloye, Chairman of the occassion; SheikhMustapha Zuglool Sanusi,Proprietor/Chairman,Governing Board, DaarudDawat Wal-Irshaad Arabic Centre; Sheikh Shamy Nushy, Director ,Wamy Ni-geria and Sheikh Idris AbdulAzeez, Chairman, Old Students Association ofthe school during the 40th graduation of the centre, in Isolo, Lagos.

Daarud-DaDaarud-DaDaarud-DaDaarud-DaDaarud-Dawwwwwat-at-at-at-at-WWWWWal-Iral-Iral-Iral-Iral-Irshaad Arabic Centreshaad Arabic Centreshaad Arabic Centreshaad Arabic Centreshaad Arabic Centre40th graduation: 40th graduation: 40th graduation: 40th graduation: 40th graduation: Photos: Akeem Salau

From left: Sheikh Ridwan Suenu, Senator Abdul-Ganiyu Olarenwaju Solomonand Abdul-Semiu Abdul-Hameed, Deputy Chief Imam, Ife, at the occasion.

A cross section of guests with the graduating students

THE President ofthe Association of

Industrial Security andSafety Operators ofNigeria, Dr. OnaEkhomu said that theunfortunate mosqueattack in Kondugha,Borno State was possiblebecause there was noAAAAAAAAAAAAcommunity defenceAAAAAAAAAAAAAAshield in place.

According to him, theCommunity VigilanceDefence Shield should beoperated on the localgovernment level andshould involve districtheads, traditionalleaders, clerics andother centers ofinfluence at the LGA,town village andcommunity levels. Theshield will also serve asa source of intelligencenot only for the JTF andits counter-terrorismoperations, but also forthe police agency and itsefforts to control crimein various ruralcommunities.

The security expertopined that thevulnerability ofMosques and otherplaces of worship hadbeen highlighted furtherby the attack onworshippers inKondugha which

Mosque attack: ‘No communitydefence shield in place’

resulted in the death of44 Muslim worshippers.

He called for theimplementation of asecurity initiative whichhe tagged “CommunityVigilance DefenceShield” (CVDS), whilealso urging mosques andChurches to put in placeS OSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSK YOUR IMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSK YOUR IMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMyS OUSK YOUR IMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURRSSSSSK YOUR IMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMSSKK YYOOUURR IIMMmeasures that willenable the detection ofterrorists before theystrike. He also

commended the JTF onthe elimination ofMomodu Bama, thesecond in command toBoko Haram leader,Imam AbubakarShekau. He said thatdecimation of the topleadership of theterrorist organizationAMAAMMMMMMMAAAAMMMMMMMMMMAMAAAAAAAAAMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMwould lead to earlyMMMAMAAMMAAMMMAMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMAAMMvictory in the war onterror and safety ofNigeria lives.

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36—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

08102479985 By Bartholomew Madukwe(nwamad@yahoo.com)PEOPLE SPEAK

Okpeindigeneraises alarmoverabandonedroad project

On ‘deportation' of Igbo from Lagos

Accord Party disowns Naladoover comments on Rivers crisis

BENIN—THE nationalleadership of Accord Party,

AC, has dissociated itself fromthe statement purportedly is-sued by one MohammedNalado on the crisis rockingRivers State, stating that thesaid Nalado-led executive ofthe party had been sackedsince July 29, 2010.

National Secretary of theparty, Dr. Samson Isibor, saidin a statement in Benin, EdoState, that the executive ledby Nalado was sacked bymore than two-thirds of theparty ’s National ExecutiveCouncil and National Work-ing Committee over allega-tion of gross misconduct.

He said: “Because Naladowanted cheap recognitionand favour from the Presi-dency, he impersonated andissued a statement on the cri-sis purported to have ema-nated from us (Accord Party).

“However, IndependentNational Electoral Commis-sion, INEC, and the publicare aware that since July2010, the Nalado-led na-tional executive ceased to ex-ist because it was removedfrom office by more than two-thirds of the national execu-tive council and NationalWorking Committee mem-

bers on July 29, 2010.”He said that their removal,

which was presided over bythe chairman of the party’sBoard of Trustee, Chief Au-gustine Maize, was done inaccordance with the constitu-tion of the party.

Isibor said: “They weresacked for gross misconductand anti-party activities, in-cluding misappropriation ofN92.8 million of our funds.

“Nalado and his cohortswere subsequently peti-tioned to Independent Cor-

rupt Practices Commission,ICPC, which is currently in-vestigating them.

“The same Nalado and hisclique bribed INEC head-quarters staff with N4.5 mil-lion for them to be recog-nised.”

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

APC chief blasts Edo teachersover Oshiomhole's comments

ANAA indigene of Jeddotown in Okpe LocalAA

Government Area ofDelta State, ChiefDickson Obirenfoju, hasappealed to the stategovernment to ensurethe speedy completion ofthe Jeddo/Ohorie Roadproject, which he saidhad been abandoned bysuccessive administra-tions.

The Warri-based busi-ness mogul and politi-cian in a chat with news-men during the swearingin of Mr. Moses Ekpokeas Unuevboro of Teddotown, noted that the com-pletion of the roadproject will ease theregular traffic jam on theone-way entry and exitEkpan/Jeddo Road.

He said: “Beside thisabandoned road project,Jeddo being the biggestward in Okpe, deservesmore government atten-tion but this has not beenthe case.

“The DDPA housingproject in Jeddo is theonly uncompleted one inthe entire state.

“The approved budgetfor these projects shouldbe fully implemented sothat the government willnot get a bad name.”

Present at Edion HallJeddo town, venue of theevent were Chief PobertOnome (District Head),Chief D. Enami-riewan,Chief O. Obaide, ChiefEfe Uko, Olotu Noble,Mr. Benson Umuokoro,Rev. Lucky Akatirika,among others.

A chieftain of All ProgresAsive Congress, APC, inEtsako West Local GovernmentArea of Edo State, Mr. AbdulSaibu, has berated the NigerianUnion of Teachers, NUT, in thestate for blaming the recent kid-nap of teachers on GovernorAdam Oshomole’s declarationthat teachers in the state werewell paid.

Protesting members of NUTOvia North-East council, hadattributed their members’ ordealin the hands of kidnappers toGovernor Oshiomole’s remarkthat teachers in the state werebetter paid, an utterance theysaid gave kidnappers the im-pression that they (teacher) werewell off.

Taking a swipe at NUT, Saibusaid that the union’s assertionand that of some musicians criti-

cising the ban of motorcyclesby the state government, had ahidden agenda as same was acampaign of calumny.

The Jagbe Ward 6 partyleader stated that rather thanapplaud Oshiomole’s efforts intransforming the state into amega city, a feat he said hispredecessors could not achievein eight years, his detractorswere busy engaging in de-structive criticism.

He said: “If Oshiomole’s ut-terances, as claimed by NUT,led to the kidnap of teachers,whose utterances led to all otherkidnaps in Edo State?

“I am not in doubt about thegovernor’s sagacity. Have wenot observed with keen admi-ration the developmental effortsthat have positively altered thelandscape of our beloved stateunder his watch? Edo State peo-ple have never had it so good.”

BY EVELYN USMAN

UGHELLI—FORMERgovernorship aspirant in

Delta State, Mr. SunnyOnuesoke, has said thatUrhobo must vote for PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in theforthcoming Delta Centralsenatorial by-election forthem to be in mainstreampolitics in the state and na-tional levels.

Onuesoke, who spoke whenUdu Youths for DemocraticMovement, paid him a cour-tesy call in his Effurun resi-dence, insisted that the forth-coming by-election was anopportunity for the Urhobos to

correct the political error theymade in the 2011 general elec-tions.

Lamenting that it was thefirst time in the history of Ni-geria that Urhobo have nomember in the Federal Execu-tive Council, FEC, he said thatthe only way to remedy thesituation was for them to alignwith PDP.

He said: “It will be anothererror if we vote for any otherparty other than PDP. The onlyparty that can make us rel-evant at the federal level isPDP. We must not allow thosewho are not grounded in poli-tics to put us in opposition forthe second time.”

‘Urhobo must vote PDP inDelta Central election'

BY FESTUS AHON

WE should en-courage ourpeople to return

home. How will a desti-tute be allowed to roamabout when he has a placeof origin? Go to Maza-Maza, Ajegunle, Seme Bor-der, Okokomaiko, Badagry,Songo-Ota, and so on.—Mr. Victor Amanchukwu,Businessman.

THE hallmark of amodern governTTment, as espousedTT

by Thomas Hobbes, is notmeasured by the numberof high rise buildings,tarred roads or exotic carsdriven by its infinitesimalprivileged class. The de-portation was unneces-sary.— Mr. ChucksMadueke,Web Developer.

IN my view, punish-ing a citizen becausehe or she is a desti-

tute is a crime against hu-manity and amounts toplaying God. Wherewould the destitute be ifman were God? There isnowhere in the world thatyou don’t have desti-tute.— Miss UdeakuNwazota, Student.

THISTT is a humanitar-ian and civic rightsTTissue. Lagos StateTT

Government should besued by the deporteesindividually and as agroup for enforcement ofhuman rights and com-pensation for illegal ar-rest, detention and im-prisonment.— Mr. JamesAgada, Businessman.

I wish civil rightgroups and NigerianBar Association can

pursue this. They shouldmake claims of losses andask for compensation fromLagos. Constitutionallyevery Nigeria has theright to stay anywherewithin the federation.—Mr. Eminent Agbo, Lo-gistics Analyst.

THIs is no news.Governor Fasholadid similar thing to

some South-Westernstates, Kwara and North-ern states. Why is that ofSouth-Eastern states be-coming news? Somepeople are trying to playdirty politics here.— Mr.Jimoh Atolagbe, Self-employed.

Coalition petitions ministerover ‘anomalies' at ISTH

A coalition of civil societies,AThe Rainbow Caucus andAAthe Patriotic Professionals, in con-junction with National Movementof Nigeria, have petitioned theMinister of Health, ProfessorOnyebuchi Chukwu, over al-leged abuse of office by the boardof Irrua Specialist Teaching Hos-

pital, in Edo State.Mr. Ihimekpen, National Pub-

licity Secretary of the NationalMovement of Nigeria, told news-men that the coalition has evi-dence of the perceived anomalies.

He said “seizure of hospitalvehicles,” was one of suchanomalies.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—37

Uduaghan tells policeto arrest fake monarchs

There is nocrisis in DPP—Delta Statechairman

Delta govt urged to fund ricefarmers

US state ofMaryland,Cross Riversign pact

Baptist High Schoolold students elect exco

BY EMMA AMAIZE &FESTUS AHON

WARRI—GOVERNOR ofDelta State, Dr. Em-

manuel Uduaghan, yesterday,directed the police to apprehendindividuals, who parades them-selves as traditional rulers with-out government recognition.

Uduaghan gave the order inIsiokolo, Ethiope East LocalGovernment Area of the stateduring the presentation of Staffof Office to the Ovie of Agbonclan, HRM Ogurime-Rime, Uko-ri I.

He frowned at situationswhere individuals ascribe king-

ship to themselves, espe-cially in Otu-Jeremi andOghara areas.

He said: “Except you arerecognised by the state gov-ernment, you cannot becalled a traditional ruler. Ifyou are calling yourself atraditional ruler, you will bearrested and prosecuted.”

Stating that only personswho have been recognisedby the state government astraditional rulers should beseen as such by the people,the governor urged theyouths of Agbon clan toshun criminal activities.

“Our youths should not usecriminals in the society asrole models. Why do youwant to be popular by carry-ing out criminal activities?There is no criminal who hasended well. This kingdomhas a very good name and Iappeal to our youths not togive this kingdom a badname.”

He reminded the youthsthat Agbon Kingdom had pro-duced prominent indigenesthat excelled in various fieldsof human endeavours andcontributed creditably to na-tional development.

ployed but qualified youthsin the state.”

The group said that thegesture would also boost thehuman capital developmentagenda of the state govern-ment. The group which list-ed Bomadi, Patani, Ughelli

South, Aniocha North, Anio-cha South, Ndokwa East,Ndokwa West Local Govern-ment Areas that favour thegrowth and production of thecommodity, equally called forprivate partnership in thisnoble task.

BY FESTUS AHON

UGHELLIUU —DELTA StateChairman of DemocraticUU

Peoples Party, DPP, Chief TonyPPEzeagu, yesterday, said thatthere was no crisis in the partyand described recent mediareport linking Chief GreatOgboru to “non-existent”crisis in the party asmisleading and mischievous.

Ezeagu said “our attentionhas been drawn to somereckless comments made byMr. Olisaemeka Akamukaleagainst our leader, ChiefOgboru. Firstly, we recognisethat Akamukale is defeatedand troubled on account of thefailed conspiracy to destroyDPP through the ill-advisedpolitical misadventure of agang of failed conspirators.

“Therefore, we see hismeddlesome diatribes thatChief Ogboru is responsiblefor a non-existent problem inDPP as just hateful, malicious,petty and outright blackmailby a man, who is seekingovernight fame using the goodname of our leader as a ladderto get there.

“Otherwise, why would anygainfully engaged man be soconcerned about the affairs ofa party that expelled himhaving considered him sounfit to be associated with? Wecategorically deny that thereis any crisis or faction in DPPPPThis false alarm has been laidto rest by IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, INEC.

“But Akamukale and his co-travellers will not rest. Sincethere is no crisis or faction asconfirmed by INEC,Akamukale’s claim that ourleader is responsible for a so-called crisis in DPP istherefore, baseless."

itse, National Publicity Secre-tary; Peter Anigoro, AssistantNational Publicity Secretaryand Sunnie Akporherhe, Na-tional Social Secretary.

Others are Felix Akpalikpo,Assistant National Social Sec-retary; G. Okoro, NationalLegal Adviser; Lemmy Alli,National Auditor and Mrs.Odiase Dorcas, National Wel-fare Officer.

Others are Pedro Ata-vwigho, Dickson Turtoe,D.D.D. Ogbisi Mrs. Nayo Aru-bi and Col. C.T. Eru (rtd), allnational officio.

THETT State of Maryland inthe United States ofTT

America and Cross RiverState, yesterday, in Annapolis,the capital of Maryland,signed a Sister-State agree-ment.

While Governor Liyel Imokesigned on behalf of CrossRiver, Governor MartinO’Malley signed on behalf ofthe State of Maryland.

This was just as GovernorImoke was given an award inrecognition of reforms he in-troduced to land administra-tion inhis state.

The award was bestowed onImoke by Thompson Reuters.

The Sister-State relationshipprovides for each state, a legalform of partnering andutilising each another’s bestpractices in research,technical assistance,curriculum development, in-vestments, among others.

With the signing of theagreement, Cross River nowpartners key institutions inMaryland such as the JohnHopkins InternationalMedicine, the University ofMaryland, Maryland Office ofTourism, Maryland Office ofSports, Maryland Center,Bowie State University,Maryland Department ofHealth and Mental Hygieneand Maryland Department ofBusiness and EconomicDevelopment.

Group calls fortransparencyin governance

Celebration

FIRST Baptist Church,Shasha, will on Sunday,

August 25, 2013, celebrate 20unbreakable and meritoriousservice for Revd. NoahAdigun, the pioneer pastor ofthe church.

Revd Adigun is currently theDirector of Counseling, LagosWest Baptist Conference andalso consultant of theGoodnews Baptist Association.

The moderator of GoodnewsBaptist Association, Revd TitiAjadi and AssistantModerator, Revd. Olajide Okewill lead the association'sdelegation to the programme.

FAREWELL—President Gooluck Jonathan (right) presenting a souvenir to the outgoingambassador of Czech Republic to Nigeria, Mr Jaroslav Siro during a farewell at thePresidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

DELTA State Governmenthas been called upon to pro-

vide funds for rice farmers in thestate, to enable them embark onlarge scale farming, so as tomake the commodity readilyavailable for consumption andexport.

The state government was alsourged to make land available inboth the riverine and the uplandareas of the state to boost theproduction of the crop.

G25 Assembly made the ap-peal in the light of Federal Gov-ernment’s decision to ban theernment s decision to ban theimportation of rice by the year2015.

The group in a statement byits Chairman, Mr. BenedictEbede, said “the urgency in thecall became necessary whenviewed from the point that oth-er states, especially our imme-diate neighbour, Edo State havegone far in this important en-deavour that will, in no smallmeasure, assist in creating em-ployment for the teeming unem-

BAPTIST High SchoolOrerokpe Old Students

Association, has elected itsnational executive with Dr.national executive with Dr.Solomon Osazuwa as itsNational President.

Also elected were LuckyTiemo, Deputy NationalPresident; Emuobo Miller,National Secretary; Best Umu-koro, Assistant National Sec-retary; Mrs. Grace Ejoh,National Financial Secretary;Elizabeth Eperusi, AssistantNational Financial Secretary;Chief T. Ogefere, NationalTreasurer; Engr. Efe Oghom-

PRESIDENTPP , Rotary Clubof Warri, Delta State, Mr.PP

Joel Idiahi, has urged thepolitical class to downplaypolitics of bitterness but ratherembrace transparency in theirdealings.

Speaking during hisinstallation in Warri, Idiahinoted that a genuine call toservices goes beyond thecurrent trend of in-fightingboth at intra and inter partylevels but on ideologies andgood intention any politicalparty or persons aspiring tohold public offices have for thepbetterment of the generality ofthe people.

“Considering our level ofcommitment over the years tothe service of humanity, we,members of Rotary Clubexpects that governmentshould emulate us for thegood and benefit of all andsundry irrespective of what-ever political differences thatmay exist among the politicalclass in the country".

38—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

BYABDULWAHAB ABDULAH &IJEOMA NATHANIEL

NBA wants sacked Abia acting CJprosecuted

Eastern Electric moves to take over EnuguDistribution Company

BYBARTHOLOMEWMADUKWECENT UJUMADU

Alleged breach of agreement: Customersowe us N700m, bank tells court

World Bankempowers110 Ebonyicommunities

BYPETER OKUTU

Passage

LAGOS—THE Nigerian BarAssociation, NBA, Ikeja chap-LL

ter, has called for the prosecutionof sacked acting Chief Judge ofAbia State for allegedly falsifyinghis age.

It also scored the administrationof President Goodluck Jonathanlow in terms of policies and meas-ures for the development of thecountry.

Commending the Chief Justiceof Nigeria, Justice AlomaMuhktar on the disciplinarymeasure meted out on the sackedacting Chief Judge, the Bar saidhe was not a worthy ambassadorof the Bench.

On the state of the nation,Chairman of Ikeja NBA, Mr.Monday Ubani, also berated thestates and local governments forlow performance.

Ubani said: “They are all guiltyas the people are not feeling theimpact of governance at all lev-els despite huge allocations col-lected by three tiers of govern-ment every month.

”We demand a reversal for thesake of this country and for gen-erations unborn. The people havea role to play by understandingwhat is going on in the first placeand demanding a change likeother countries are presently do-ing.”

A B A K A L I K I —EBONYI State Com-

munity and Social Devel-opment Agency, EB-CSDA, a World Bank-as-sisted project, yesterdaydisclosed that 110 commu-nities in the 13 local gov-ernment areas had so farbenefitted from the schemesince it started operation inApril 2009 in the state. It also stated that more

than N926 million hadbeen disbursed by theagency to the benefittingcommunities till 30 June,2013, adding that its activi-ties with all the communi-ties had been transparentand rewarding. The projects implementedby the communities are inthe areas of education, ru-ral electrification, environ-ment and natural resources,health, transport, water,and gender as 170 microprojects had been com-pleted and made functionalin the course of the exer-cise. Briefing newsmen at theagency’s office in Abakaliki,the General Manager ofEB-CSDA, Dr. Peter Mbam,stated that Governor Mar-tin Elechi of Ebonyi Statehad approved the forward-ing of a letter of expres-sion of interest to the WorldBank and IMF, Abuja, forthe state to participate inthe planned extension ofCSDP in the country.

ABAAA —MAINSTREET BankLimited has told an Abia

State High Court sitting in Abathat some of its customers andshareholders, who had sued itfor breach of agreement, wereindebted to it to the tune ofN697.9 million.

Meanwhile, the claimants, inthe substantive suit are argu-ing that they are not owing thebank in any way, contendingthat they had paid N50m on 10/7/07, another N120m on 10/12/07. They contended further that

ENUGU—EASTERN ElectricCompany, the reserve bidder for

Enugu Electricity Distribution Com-pany, has declared preparedness topay $126 million for the takeover ofthe company which provides powerto the South Eastern part of Nigeria.

The consortium’s willingness iscontained in a statement issued, yes-terday, by the communication con-sultant to Eastern Electric Ltd, Mr.C. Don Adinuba, following the in-ability of Interstate Electrics to paythe remaining 75 per cent of the bidprice at the close of payment at 5pmWednesday.

The consortium was formed by thefive South East state governments;Nestoil , a major indigenous opera-tor in the upstream sector of the Ni-gerian petroleum industry; AbaPower Ltd and Geometric Power Ltd,led by former Power Minister BartNnaji and Diamond Bank foundingchairman Pascal Dozie.

Other members are NRECA of theUnited States which operates in LatinAmerica, Pakistan, Sudan, Bangla-desh and controls 10 per cent of theUnited States 1 million Megawattgrid amounting to some 100,000MW,and the NETGroup of South Africawhich operated Tanzanian powerand maintains a significant presencein South Africa’s electricity business.

He pointed out that in spiteof the state of emergencies insome states and huge spend-ing on the issue, “insecurities,killings, violence, robbery,bombing and mass murder per-sist all over the country; itshows that we are not employ-ing the right prescription to

these intractable problems.”On lecturers strike, Ubani

urged the Federal Govern-ment to save Nigerians fromundue embarrassment by hon-ouring its agreement withAcademic Staff Union of Uni-versities, ASUU, immediatelyto bring the strike to end.

He said the fact that thestrike in the universities hadkept students at home formany weeks was a blow to theeducation sector “which hasdeteriorated so much that noNigerian University is cur-rently listed in the top 100universities in the world.”

“We have a robust and match-less combination of global bestpractices and the best experienceof emerging economies.

“We shall not have difficulty rais-ing the funds. The Bureau of PublicEnterprises is still holding on toour $10 million bank bond raisedwhen we were bidding for EnuguDisco.

“As all Nigerians must haveknown, the 141MW Aba inte-

grated power project built by Geo-metric Power and which cost over$450 million is about to be com-missioned,” Adinuba said.

It is unlikely that the FederalGovernment will change its po-sition on non extension of thedeadline for payment by pre-ferred bidders. Bids last year byboth the Dangote Group andJohnson-Arumeni’s Rockson En-gineering which is handling anumber of power projects for twogeneration companies for the

government were rejected forsubmitting them five minuteslate.

With the failure of InterstateElectrics to pay for the EnuguElectricity Distribution Com-pany, the legal battle betweenGeometric Power and Interstateover the latter’s attempt to ac-quire Aba and Ariaria MarketBusiness Units of the PowerHolding Company, PHCN, aspart of its assets may have beenbrought to a close.

it was the bank that was ow-ing them N144m and N10mbeing accrued dividends as atMay 2008.

The claimants are also pray-ing the court to restrain thebank from publishing them asdebtors with non-performingloan, in addition to N900 mil-lion as damages for breach ofcontract arising from failure ofthe defendants to sell 20 mil-lion units of their shares on orbefore 17/9/09.

Claimants are Singe ObiCons. Co. Ltd, Julius BenCons. Co. Ltd, Inroll Interna-

tional Ltd, Obi Chinonso, ObiStanley Ifeanyichukwu, ObiObi Maryann Onyinyechi,Okafor Obiageli Florence,Obi Ifeanyichukwu Sylvester,Obi Celestina Orjiugo, ObiIfeoma Glory, Obi InnocentOkafor, Obi Innocent,Afunanya Ifeoma Glory,Afunanya Uchenna,Afunanya Franklin, AfunanyaChidera, AfunanyaOnyekachi, Rosent Invest-ment Ltd, Obi Celestina, ObiOnyinyechi, Obi George andObi Emmanuel.

MEETING: Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State (right), receiving a document from EzeJoseph Nwabekee, during a meeting of traditional rulers from Osisioma, Isiala Ngwa South/North with the governor in Umuahia.

Late Ma Idudu Olotu

EVANGELIST IduduOlotu, aged 117, is

dead. She died on June12, 2013.

The final burial ritescommences on Saturday,August 24.

She was a communitywoman leader who liveda life of intergrity. She issuvived by Rev. V.OMuoghere (rtd) andEvang. (Dr) S.O. Olotu,JP, Chairman/CEO, S.O.Olotu Group of Compa-nies, among others.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013d —39

VISIT: TT From left, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; Minister ofCommunication Technology, Omobola Johnson, and Ondo State Commis-sioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, during the Minister's visit to theGovernor's Office, in Akure

BRIEFING: From left, Mrs. Hauwa Keri, Director, Drug Evaluation and Re-search; Mrs. Maureen Ebigbeyi, Director, Port Inspection Directorate, andMr. MacDonald Garba, Director, Investigation and Enforcement, all of Na-tional Foods, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, displaying someof the fake products, during press briefing on seizure fake drugs and arrestof their importers, in Lagos. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

CONFERENCE: From left, Managing Director, American Porters Water group, Mr.Richard Wukish; Managing Director, Osun State Investment Company, Mr. BolaOyebamiji; Managing Director, Safari Holding Solution, USA, Mr. Carole Obam, andOsun State Commisioner for Commerce, Mr. Jaiyeoba Alagbada, at the Osun Inter-national Trade and Investment Conference, in Osogbo.

BRIEFING: Cross-section of members of staff of 3R Technologies, during apress briefing on Smart Campus ,in Lagos.

FUNERAL: From left, Mr.. Remi Lakanu, son; Mrs. Gloria Lakanu,wife, and Mr. Tunde Lakanu, son, during the funeral mass for lateAndrew Lakanu, at Holy Cross Cathedral, Catholic Mission Street,Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe

LAUNCH: Prof. Sylvester Egwu (middle) and other dignitaries, duringthe launch of his book entitled, 'Stop Mass Failure in Mathematics,' at theLagos Resource Centre.

DSTV HOSTS DI MATTEO, FORMER CHELSEA COACH

CMYK

VISIT: TT From Left, Marketing Manager, Guinness, Mr. Obinna Anyalebechi;BBA Star, Ms Karen Igho; Guinness Football Manager Ambassador, Mr.Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea Football Club coach, and Senior Brand Man-ager, Guinness, Mr. Uche Onwudiwe, during the visit of Di Matteo of Chel-sea, to the DSTV Fan Park. Photo; Kehinde Gbadamosi

From Left, Marketing Manager, Guinness, Mr. Obinna Anyalebechi; Guin-ness VIP Winner, Mr. Onah Augustine; Guinness Football ManagerAmbassador,Mr. Roberto Di Matteo, and Guinness VIP Winner, Mr. AdeshinaUyeh.

40—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

4 arraigned foralleged theft

Ogun PDPdoubtsDaniel'sloyalty toJonathan

ASUU flays Okonjo-Iwealaover alleged comments

....I didn't say govt's negotiating teamincompetent — Gov Aliyu

NOUN reaffirms comittment toquality education

BY SUZAN EDEH

BY TAYE OBATERU

MEETING—From left: President, Public Interest Lawyers League, Mr Abdul Mahmud;Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Mr Auwal Musa and Chairman,Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Dr Sam Amadi, during the NERCmeeting with civil societies in Abuja, yesterday.

BAUCHI—ACADEMIC StaffUnion of Universities, ASUU,

yesterday, expressed shock anddispleasure with what it consideredhighly embarrassing the statementcredited to the CoordinatingMinister of the economy andMinister of Finance, Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, that the lecturerswere making a fresh demand fromthe Federal Government.

At a briefing, Zonal coordinatorof Bauchi Zone of ASUU, DrUsman Abubakar, said contrary tothe position of the minister, ASUUwas not making fresh demand, butasking for the implementation of

existing agreement.He said: “Contrary to the

minister's assertion that “ASUUis demanding for N92 billion”,we wish to inform the publicthat the said amount is a debt,not a demand. It is a debt theFederal Government is owingstaff of affected universities(both academic and non-academic) over a period of fouryears. The Federal Governmenthas to pay, if it has to show signsof a responsible andhonourable government.”

He said the minister ’spronouncement was adeliberate and calculatedattempt to blackmail ASUU,

confuse the public and reduceASUU's patriotic cause to a merepayment of allowances.

The minister’s comments,according to Abubakar,indicated that government hadno intention of honouring theagreement, saying “how couldthe minister have made theclaim of no money to honour theagreement when the financeministry was representedthroughout the negotiations inthe 2009 ASUU/FGN agreementand the MoU. What could bemore dishonourable anddeceitful by a government thanthis."

GOVERNOR Mu’azuBabangida Aliyu of Niger

State, has denied a media reportquoting him as saying that theteam of negotiators on the side ofthe Federal Government in theongoing talks with members of theAcademic Staff Union ofUniversities, ASUU, isincompetent.

A national daily (not theVanguard) had in a report, onTuesday, quoted Governor Aliyu as“doubting the abilities of thenegotiators on the side of theFederal Government to achieve anybreakthrough in the ongoingdialogue with the lecturers.”

But in a reaction, GovernorAliyu’s spokesman, DanladiNdayebo, described the story asuntrue, urging the reading publicto disregard the report.

He said the report was

misleading and did not reflectGovernor Aliyu’s comments atthe National UniversitiesCommission, NUC, in Abujawhere the Niger State’shelmsman addressed aorkshop on the third RegionalCentre of Expertise, RCE.

The statement said: “WhatGovernor Aliyu said was thatFederal Government can affordto offer free basic and seniorsecondary education whileheavily subsidizing tertiaryeducation if governmentofficials cut down on spendingpublic funds unnecessarily.

“Governor Aliyu encouragedconstant dialogue betweenlabour unions andgovernment, stressing thatstrikes were unheard of inother West African countriesbecause there was constant

dialogue between the unionsand government.”

OGUNOO State chapter of theNPeoples Democratic Party,OO

PDP, has faulted formerGovernor Gbenga Daniel onhis claim of being loyal toPresident Goodluck Jonathan.

The party spoke against thebackdrop of a statementcredited to Daniel that he was“irrevocably committed to theGoodluck Jonathan project andwill support his aspirationswherever and whenever.

In a statement by the StatePublicity Secretary, Mr. WaliuOladipupo, the party said “byhis comments Daniel seems tobe giving another meaning tothe saying ‘if you love me, lovemy dog.’ For, if he is trulycommitted to Mr. President, hewould associate with him wartsand all.”

The party wondered whyDaniel was pledging his loyaltyinstead of reaffirming hisdefection to the Labour Party,LP, saying if he could leave thePPPDP after the party made himpolitically, “he has alreadybetrayed Mr. President and theentire party”.

It urged the President not tobe taken in by what it describedas “Daniel’s Ziggy”, addingthat “his only loyalty is tohimself and SubsidyReinvestment andEmpowerment Programme,SURE-P, which he wants tocontinue to use to mobilize forthe LPPP

The party noted that thecircumstances under whichDaniel defected to the LP weredifferent from that of GovernorOlusegun Mimiko of OndoState.

It said: “While Mimiko’sdecision to leave the PDP forLP was by popular demand,Daniel’s adventure is driven byego and some parochialinterests. He wants to have ithis own way at all times."

BY ONOZUREDANIA

JOS—NATIONAL OpenUniversity of Nigeria,JJ

NOUN, has reaffirmedcommitment to providingquality education to studentsthrough a serious quality con-trol mechanism.

Director of the Jos StudyCentre of NOUN, ProfessorIsaac Butswat, told Vanguardthat this was been achieved bysubjecting its programmes toaccreditation by the NationalUniversities Commission,NUC, and relevant professional

LAGOSLL —A 32-year-oldman, IkechukwuLL

Onyekwuo, and threeothers were yesterdayarraigned before an Ikejamagistrates court, forallegedly stealing N5.9million, belonging toFoltechs EngineeringServices Ltd.

The other suspects whowere docked alongsideOnyekwuo, are TolulopeAkinyemi, 28, OlalekanAgoro 27 and Yakus Sodiq26.

The defendants, beforeMagistrate Mrs EniolaFabamwo, are facing athree-count charge ofconspiracy and stealingpreferred against them bythe police.

bodies.He said all the university’s

programmes had got full or partialaccreditation from the NUC andother professional bodies, notingthat the commitment to qualityhad resulted in a sharp rise inthe number of the students.

He said the centre now hadover 3,000 students as comparedto the mere 300 when he joinedthe centre in 2008, stressing thatthe Jos centre had now beendesignated a regional centrealongside Abuja for the NorthCentral Zone, to further boostactivities at the centre.

NigerianstudentsspendN100bn ontuition inGhanaianvarsities

BY PETER DURU

MAKURDI—OVER200,000 Nigerian

students studying inGhanaian universities arereported to expend overN100billion annually astuition outside sundry fees.

Former lawmaker andeducationists, SenatorDavid Iornem, whodisclosed this yesterday ata briefing to mark his 64thbirthday anniversary inMakurdi, said the figurerepresented a major capitalflight from the country.

According to him,“available figures show thatthe over 200,000 Nigerianscurrently studying inGhana, expend over N100billion annually on tuitionand sundry fees. Thissituation arose becauseofficial figures show that outof N1.7million Nigeriansseeking admission intoinstitutions of higherlearning, only 500,000 findplacements leaving manywith no other option but toseek admission in Ghana.The federal governmentshould take immediatesteps to unbundling thehigher education sector inNigeria by adopting theUnited Kingdom,American, Malaysian andGerman models whichallows for the establishmentof small university collegesby willing entrepreneurs.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 41

42—Vanguard— , FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

Enugu ready to welcomethe world—Gov. Chime

By IKEDDY ISIGUZO,Chairman, Editorial Board

AT the Lion Building,AAEnugu, the officialquarters of the Governor ofEnugu State, Sullivan IheanachoChime, was attending to hordesof guests - politicians,government officials and otherswith sundry interests. Close tomidnight on Monday, hegranted Vanguard audience ondthe prospects that the AkanuIbiam International Airport thatwould operate internationalflights from tomorrow hold for thecity, State and the entire SouthEast zone.

In tracing the journey thatresulted in the airport, he was

one of the least honoured of ourpast leaders and I know thatmany share my joy over thishonour that has been bestowedon him,” Chime said.

He also spoke about thecontributions that the EnuguState Government has made inensuring that the airport met theexpectations of the users of thefacility. “Enugu is ready towelcome the world,” he said.Though he was referring to theofficial opening tomorrow, hoursbefore the interview,businessman Arthur Ezeterminated his flight from Dakar,Senegal in Enugu.

His was not the firstinternational flight to the AkanuIbiam International Airport. A

Governor Chime was beingmodest, about Enugu’sreadiness. The 101-year-old citythat received His ImperialMajesty Emperor Ras TafariMakonnen Woldemikael HaileSelassie I of Ethiopia in 1972, hasjust become readier to welcomethe world, with an Ethiopianconnection, 41 years after theLion of Judah, as he was broadlyknown and called.

How journey began: PresidentYar’Adua had pronounced theinternational status of theairport. Not much happenedafter that, but it was an importantrecognition. It was underPresident Goodluck Jonathanthat the major works started. Itbegan with the closure of theairport to permit the extensionand widening of the runways forbigger planes. A new apron wasalso approved. The Minister ofAviation, Princess Stella Oduah,gave the project a tremendouspush. She is doing a great job,not only with Enugu, the changesin airports round the countrytestify to her efforts.

The President flagged off theconstruction of the internationalwing last March. We arewitnessing the fulfilment of thepromise that the President madeto the South East to deliver aninternational airport to it. I amhappy that that has been doneand I ask our people to join us in

important part in this project. Asa group, we made it a point tosustain the pressure byreminding the President aboutthe project. It was one of theimportant projects that we keptasking the President to ensurethat the people of South East got.The others are the Second NigerBridge and the federal roads inthe zone.

Impact ofthe airport

We spoke as one voice in theSouth East Governors Forum inthis matter and I thank mybrother governors for supportingthe project. I believe there wereothers, some unknown, whosekind words could have facilitatedthe realisation of this project. Ourgratitude goes to all of them.

How would airport helpEnugu: The impact of the airportwould not be limited to EnuguState. It would impact onbusinesses in the South East andbeyond. Travellers and business

people that find the airport inEnugu nearer to them would useit. So we are in a situation wherepeople in Delta, other SouthSouth States and the NorthCentral would use the airport.

We are confident that theimpact would be great. Theairport would facilitatebusinesses and we expect that asit grows and schedules includeother parts of the world, Enuguwould be the major hub in thispart of the country with a spreadof services that would benefitothers.

The impact of an airport,therefore, cannot be limited, theuses that result from its presencewould show and soon the impactwould be obvious with theattendant multiplier effects ofhaving such an important facilityhere.

SecurityIssues

Enugu is rated the safest Statein Nigeria, the Inspector Generalof Police, Mohammed Abubakarsaid so. We are still improving

Akanu Ibiam International Airport , Enugu terminal building

,

,generous with credits to severalparties.

According to him, Dr. AkanuIbiam, after whom the airport isnamed, deserved the honour.“He was the Governor of EasternRegion. In terms of thecontributions to the developmentof the Region, I would rate himalong with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiweand Dr. Michael Okpara. He is

Ghanaian governmentdelegation to Anambra Statelanded there last June. Formally,an Ethiopian Airlines flightwould operate from Enugutomorrow - landing there about1pm and taking off to AddisAbaba - and be recognised as theinaugural international flightfrom the Akanu IbiamInternational Airport.

our security. People arrivingEnugu for business or pleasureshould harbour no fears.

We are assisting the police inthe construction of facilities fortheir air wing at the airport. It wasone of the issues we settled withthe Inspector General of Policeduring a visit to Enugu. Thefacility would be in use before theend of the year. It would be usedfor air surveillance of the SouthEast zone.

Contributions of EnuguGovernment

We did not make any financialcontributions to the project.However, we have constructednew roads to decongest traffic tothe airport. The roads are part ofthe on-going road projects toimprove traffic managementthroughout the State.

His Message:We look forwardto welcoming you in Enugu.Come to Enugu and benefit fromthe improvements we have madethroughout our State. Enugu isready to welcome the world.

thanking thePresident forkeeping hisword.

South EastG o v e r n o r s ’contributions: Allthe governorsfrom the SouthEast played an

We are witnessing the fulfilment of thepromise that the President made to theSouth East to deliver an internationalairport to it

Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 43

CMYK

44 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 45

•Uba•Anosike •Ekwunife•Nwoye

THE Anambra politicalchess game enters a

decisive stage tomorrow with thegovernorship primaries in one ofthe three major parties in the state,the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP. The primaries of the rulingPPAll Progressive Grand Alliance,APGA. will take place in August26.

The third major party in thestate, the All ProgressivesCongress, APC it emerged mayalso have resolved to pick theformer governor of the state, Dr.Chris Ngige, setting the stage forwhat promises to be the mostkeenly contested political contestin the state.

The road to the primaries in thePDP and APGA was undoubtedlylaced with intrigues, the kindsthat are resplendent in AnambraState, a state fabled for its differentsorts of political oddities.

As at press time, the PDP wasstill embroiled in crisis emergingfrom the conduct of the wardcongresses.

The congresses conducted insome 91 wards penultimateMonday were annulled followinglegal and other politicalconsiderations brought to thenational secretariat which ordereda rerun in the affected wards.

The party is still faced with thespectre of a legal action from theIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC which chosenot to observe the congressesconducted by the Prince Ken

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR &VINCENT UJUMADU

Continues on page 46

Now the final lap

Emeakayi faction of the partyrecognized by the nationalsecretariat of the party.

INEC has rather chosen torecognize the Ejike Ogbuebegoled faction of the party. INEC’sinclination nonetheless,Emeakayi asserts the loyalty ofall 15 aspirants vying for the PDPgovernorship ticket.

While the PDP leadership wasconducting its congresseswithout the presence of INECofficials, the electoral umpire wassupervising another primaryconducted by Chief Oguebegoand the supervision was doneby INEC officials from itsheadquarters in Abuja.

Authentic statechairman

Political watchers are waitingto see what will happentomorrow, especially as a FederalHigh Court in Port Harcourt hasruled that Oguebego remainsthe authentic state chairman ofPDP.PP

APGA, which is the rulingparty, has also had its own fairshare of crisis. The party isentering Monday’s primaryelection with much controversyfollowing last weekend’sdisqualification of some of theparty’s most credible aspirants.

Two of the most credible, Prof.Charles Soludo and theimmediate past secretary to thestate government, OsalakaObaze were disqualified understill controversial circumstances.

The disqualification of Soludo,

some allege was upon pressurefrom top presidency officials whowere disturbed that he could winand then go on to oppose the PDPin the 2015 presidential election.Obaze’s disqualification wasbased on the lack of a voter’scard. His disqualification waseven more shocking given the factthat he only returned from theUnited States less than two yearsago and had been widely tippedto be the anointed successor ofGovernor Peter Obi.

Obaze told Vanguard that hedwas sure to obtain the voter’s cardlast Monday following thecommencement of the voter’sregistration exercise in the state.

For the 15 aspirants in the PDPand the dozen or so in APGA, itis very unlikely that the primariesin the two parties would end theirquest if they lose. According tocustom, many of them areexpected to jump to other partiesto continue their aspiration.

APGAThose that made it after the

screening are Mr. John Nwosufrom Anambra South, Mrs. UcheEkwunife and ChiefChukwuemeka Nwogbo, bothfrom Anambra Central, whilefrom Anambra North are ChiefWilly Obiano, Chief PatrickObianwu and Chief PaulOdenigbo.

John NwosuThe Nnewi –born businessman

could be said to be a new breedpolitician. He was one of thosewho indicated interest in the racevery early and he has manifestedhimself through his foundation

which focuses on theempowerment of the lessprivileged people in the society.

The permutation in somequarters is that Nwosu mightbecome a running mate if acandidate from Anambra Northemerges as the flag bearer.

Uche EkwunifeShe is an experienced

politician, having contested forthe position of governor in 2010on the platform of ProgressivesPeoples Alliance, PPA, andthough she did not win, she hada good outing.

discussed aspirant. He is nowgenerally tagged Governor Obi’scandidate especially comingfrom Fidelity Bank where thegovernor’s family is known tohave substantial interests.

His chances are also boostedby the fact that he is fromAnambra North, an areaGovernor Obi is activelysupporting to produce hissuccessor.

Chief Paul OdenigboHe was a former SSG in the

state and also from theOmambala part of the state. Hehas been a silent operator sincehe joined the race andindications are that he hasestablished tentacles in all the326 wards of the state.

One clear fact is that allgovernment delegates and partyofficials will vote for either Obianoor Odenigbo during theprimaries, leaving the remainingelected delegates for grabs bythe highest bidder.

She returned to the House ofRepresentatives after the 2010election and was reelected to theHouse in 2011 on the platform ofAPGA where she is currentlycampaigning to be comegovernor. She has the capacityto surprise those who underrateher.

Chukwuemeka NwogboHe is a member of the House

of Representatives from AwkaNorth and South federalconstituency. He was one of thelast to enter the race andpermutation is that he could beconsidered for deputy.

Willy ObianoHe was the last to enter the race,

but has become the most

,

,

AFTER months of hustling, the contest to replace the two term governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obienters its final lap tomorrow with the governorship primaries of the main opposition party, PDP, while thatof the ruling APGA will be on Monday. However, being Anambra State, the home of many politicalintrigues, tomorrow’s contest is expected to open political oddities that are bound to be exploited byAnambra’s professional politicians.

The road to the primaries in the PDP andAPGA was undoubtedly laced withintrigues, the kinds that are resplendent inAnambra State, a state fabled for itsdifferent sorts of political oddities

Patrick ObianwuHe is from Onitsha, Anambra

North. He is not known to bemaking so much noise, but theremust be something in him thathas kept him in the race.

The disadvantage he has is thathe is from Onitsha town, an areadreaded by politicians from otherparts of the state because of thebelief that the area already has agreat advantage over other partsof Anambra State in terms ofdevelopment.

There is the fear that anOnitsha governor might takedecisions that may adverselyaffect the fortunes of traders inthe commercial town.

46—Vanguard,— FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

•Anenih:

PDPThe cleared spirants in the PDP

are Senator Andy Uba, NzeAkachukwu Nwankpo, Dr.Obinna Uzor, Mr. UgochukwuOkeke, Mr. Walter Okeke andPrince Nicholas Ukachukwu,who are all from Anambra Southsenatorial zone. From AnambraNorth are Senator EmmaAnosike, Chief Tony Nwoye andDr. Alex Obiogbolu, while fromAnambra Central are Mrs.Josephine Anennih, Mr.Sylvester Okonkwo and ChiefCharles Odunukwe.

Senator Andy UbaThe former governor of

Anambra State for 17 days is theSenate committee chairman ofINEC and some allege that hisposition is influencing INEC'shandling of the present crisis inthe party. With the situation ofevents, Uba may become thePDP candidate without muchopposition.

However, if the other aspirantsdecide to conduct a parallelprimary and produce anothercandidate, PDP may have twocandidates as it did during theAnambra South senatorialelection when Uba and PrinceNicholas Ukachukwu claimed tobe the party’s candidates and two

the president on technical matterswas earlier touted to be theanointed Aso Rock candidatebecause of his closeness withPresident Goodluck Jonathan. Heis from Okija in Ihiala localgovernment area of AnambraSouth. It is not clear if he is stillenjoying that toga of being thepresident’s anointed aspirant,but he is making spirited effort

to win the ticket.Dr. Obinna UzorThe great philanthropist from

Ihiala has been eyeing thegovernorship of the state since2003. He is also connected inhigh places and there areindications that he may acceptwhatever will happen onSaturday, especially if Uba isdeclared the winner of theprimary. During the senatorialcontest that produced Andy Uba,he worked very hard to ensurethat his area was delivered toSenator Uba.

Chief Ugochukwu OkekeHe is also from Ihiala. He is one

aspirant that has remainedneutral in the face of the on-going crisis because of his beliefthat as a youth, the future has alot in store for him.

New face ofAnambra

He has made so many inroadsin all the wards in the state andother aspirants know that he issomebody to reckon with. In arecent interview, Okekedescribed himself as the new faceof Anambra.

Walter OkekeHe is a trained accountant from

Nanka in Orumba North localgovernment area. He too hasenticing programmes that couldhelp move Anambra Stateforward. But the problem is thatwith Uba and Ukachukwu whoare old warhorses in the race, hehas to work very hard to upstagethem in the primaries.

Nicholas UkachukwuHe is one of the most

experienced in the race and oneof the richest too. The Evangelist–turned politician has becomesynonymous with Anambrapolitics and that explains thelarge followership he has.

It was gathered that he was theaspirant that was amassing thelargest number of delegates inthe local government congress,but whether that exercise would

count on Saturday will be seen.Senator Emma AnosikeThe Umuleri –born politician

from Omambala area of AnambraNorth was running mate toProfessor Soludo in 2010. He isa quiet operator and he has oftensaid that the race is not a do -or -die affair for him.

Leadershipof the party

But one thing is clear and thatis that the governorship ofAnambra cannot be won withouthim being part of it.

Chief Tony NwoyeThe former state chairman of

PDP is loved by the youths andthose who have associated withhim say he has a large heart. Heis also one of those that madegreat impact in the localgovernment congress that wasconducted by the leadership ofthe party penultimate Tuesday.

His coming from Omambalaarea of the state is a plus for himbut with another Omambalaperson in the race in the personof Anosike, chances are that theirdelegates might be split if onedid not step down for the other.

Dr. Alex ObiogboluHe is from Onitsha in Anambra

North. He is also considered tobe a bridge builder in the partyas he is not involved in any ofthe controversies.

He has consistently been intouch with the grassroots and thismay go for him during theprimaries. If the delegates decideto stop the controversialaspirants, Obiogbolu maybecome the rallying point.

Iyom Josephine AnenihThe former minister for women

affairs is from Anambra Central.The disadvantage she has is

that she is married outside thestate and knowing the wayAnambra people view suchissue, which is that a woman,once married, totally becomes theindigene of her husband’s place,Anenih may face toughchallenges tomorrow.

•Okeke •Nwankpo •Nwosu

BY our constitution it is theBnational chairman thatsends the list of candidates tothe national body.

How many delegates are youexpecting for the primaryelection?

In all we are expecting about1,500 delegates.

So how far can you say thatthe crisis in the chapter is overgiven the continued assertionsof Mr. Ejike Ogbuebego?

Just like in every otherendeavour and even infamilies, you cannot rule out thepossibility that when the entirefamily has agreed onsomething one person may stillwant to say, “I do not agree.”

But I know for sure andauthoritatively that the meetingwhere the National WorkingCommittee resolved the issueof Anambra that all of us werein attendance. Ejike

Continues from page 45

of them were voted for, but oneperson was credited with theirjoint votes.

If this repeats itself, PDP maywin the governorship electionwith the connivance of INECwhich will likely come out laterto name one person as thecandidate of the party.

Nze Akachukwu NwankpoThe former special adviser to

We're set in PDP — Emeakayi

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

Ogbuebego was there inperson, his benefactor, ChiefChris Uba was there in person,Senator Andy Uba and all thefactional leaders were there.

After every consideration andwhen the national chairmanpronounced me as thelegitimate chairman and askedeverybody to work with me,Ogbuebego was the first tospeak in that meeting and heaccepted the decisions of thatmeeting and pledged to goback to Anambra to work withme. After him, his benefactor,Chief Chris Uba spoke in thesame manner and this isverifiable.

PRINCE Kenneth Emeakayi was few months ago adoptedby stakeholders including national officers of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP as the chairman of the Anambra Statechapter of the party. His emergence followed more than 10years of intractable infighting that led to multiplication offactions within the party. Since his emergence PrinceEmeakayi has attempted to cobble the different factionswithin a united body. In this telephone interview he spoke onthe party’s plans and prospects ahead of tomorrow’sgovernorship primaries. Excerpts:

Continues on page 47

It has been alleged thatSenator Andy Uba is notparticipating in yourprimaries. Why?

I cannot say so. What I meanby that is that in all themeetings I have called forgubernatorial aspirants in mycapacity as state chairman,Senator Andy Uba attended alland he signed and I haverecords of where he signed.

Response tojournalists

The only function he did notattend which people readmeanings into was the last rallywe held in Awka, but I read hisresponse to journalists wherehe said that he was part of thatrally and where he said that hehad flight problems.

By nature what I take frompeople is what they tell me.Saturday will be there for us toknow the truth. It is only whenSenator Andy Uba fails toparticipate in that primariesthat we can say otherwise.

Have you been able to linkup with Chief Chris Uba onthese insinuations?

Well, I have. You knowbecause he was at that meetingwhere the decision was takenand he pledged to work withme, so when I heard the

Now the final lap

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 47

07059197616

FROM the time when IndependenceFF(with democracy) was joyfully handedover to Nigeria and Nigerians on a goldenplate by the British colonial masters andto the period when the military rulersunder General Abdulsalami Abubakarrepackaged democracy in the 1999Constitution, Nigeria and its people havewitnessed many changes in social,economic and political spheres.

The country has seen good and also baddays. Sometimes, it looks as if Nigeria isstill in those dark days of colonialism.

It is observed that the problems of thecountry‘s present rulers is inability to lookinto the past because of poor recordkeeping and are thereby frustrated inunderstanding the present environmentand plan for the future. Before 1960, theBritish ruled us and directed our economyto their own advantage first, and then forour own survival. At independence, webecame clueless in a new but complexpolitical and extreme situation.

In post-independence Nigeria, attemptsby Nigerians to rule and understandthemselves ended woefully in a classicmisunderstanding which encouragedmilitary adventurism and later, the costlycivil war of 1967 to 1970.

The economic devastation of that war isyet to be reversed even with the post-warreconstruction efforts of the past militaryleaders and the blessings of oil money inthe 1970s. It could be said, perhapswithout equivocation, that oil money hasmade Nigerians mad – rulers and theruled.

The acquisitive instincts of the rulersbecame sharper while majority of thepeople have turned to be money hustlers. A fertile ground for the survival ofcorruption has been created and gleefullynurtured.

In the post-military era of the 1990s(1999 to be exact), the birth of democracywas born with the introduction of multi-party system – under a constitution thathad a federal and central faces in itsstructure. Since the first President in 1999was a former army general, the centralphase of the Constitution was morepronounced in its operation.

Since 1999 one of the political parties,Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been

in power, directing political and economicprogrammes of the country towards agoal of prosperity. The efforts so far havebeen adjudged to be a qualified successif not total success as many Nigerianswould have wished in an atmosphere offree flow of oil money and lack oforganized opposition (until the recentregistration of All Progressives Congress(APC). Even with the registration of APCand others, some Nigerians still doubt theeffectiveness of the opposition of what theyperceive as “birds of the same feathers”. Analysts are searching for ideologicaldifferences and methodology of operationson specific issues.

Of recent, President Goodluck Jonathanof the ruling party (PDP) has been on thereceiving end on many woes of Nigeria.It has become increasingly difficult todifferentiate the person of the Presidentfrom that of his office. As laymen wouldsay, “when you see fire and you jump intoit, what do you expect?.

It was in 2011 that President Jonathanpromised through his TransformationAgenda to make Nigerians smile. Theexpectation is that he would use a magicalwand to clear the failings of hispredecessors. If at the moment, there isno full employment bur massunemployment with its associated crimesof armed robbery, kidnappings, corruptionand insurrection, then the President and

marketers to buy crude oil, refine tospecification (according to their marketrequirements) and distribute productsthrough their retail outlets at prices agreedwith government (as representative ofconsumers).

It is folly and economic waste for an oilproducing country to continue to importin a refined form a product or productsfrom the proceeds of exported crude.

It may be necessary to point out anotherfolly in the application of governmentmonetary policy. It has been pointed outin this column how tight monetary policyhas affected the flow of necessary creditto the real economy and thereby preventedindustrial expansion. Of recent, CentralBank‘s decision to raise the Cash ReserveRequirement for public sector deposits inbanks to 50% (though thoroughly justified)might make lending even more difficultto the critical sectors of the economy.

The expectation is to make it moredifficult for the medium and small scaleindustries, in spite of the CBN‘s lifelineof N220 billion through the MicrofinanceBanks (with 9% interest for women). Myidea of over-all industrial expansion isthrough the concept of easy money (4% -5% interest rate) as it is being done indeveloped economies.

Igbo/Yorubarelations

Judging by the recent reactions of somewriters on the alleged deportation of someIbos from Lagos to Onitsha, some notablecommentators are not sure whether Iboand Yoruba could live together peacefullyin the “Republic of Southern Nigeria”. Yes,the two tribes have been living togetherin Lagos, Jos, Kano and many other areasin peace and harmony for more thaneighty years without any single incidenceof physical bloody combat.

What you are reading in the newspapersor media forum are what the Late T.O.SBenson, a popular Lagos Lawyer woulddescribe (in ungrammatical fashion) as a,“farrago of nonsensical effusions”.

But my fear is: If Awolowo was describedAAas a killer, and Obasanjo is no good, whowould lead the campaign for Ibo Presidentin Lagos? Certainly, not Orji Kalu

his government officials deserve rottentomatoes being thrown at them.

What about oil money and economicdevelopment? At present, oil moneywhich should be used to fuel the growthpoints of economic development throughinfrastructural reconstruction is sharedamongst the various tiers of government(with heavy outlay on recurrentexpenditure).

A part of the revenue is lost to oil thieves,pipeline vandals, and corrupt officialsoperating subsidy schemes. Recently,the sharp-eyed Minister of Finance, DrOkonjo-Iweala talked about the N232billion payments made to fraudulentmarketers and how subsidy payments rosefrom N256 billion in 2006 to N2.1 trillionin 2011. The number of marketerssuddenly rose from the familiar figures to143 oil importers to share in the booty.

There is no doubt that the dismal failureof the present government on downstreamsector of the oil industry is responsible forthe confusion and the misunderstandingby the public of the subsidy scheme.

First, the government should havenothing to do with procurement anddistribution of oil products; it should limititself to the provision of infrastructures andregularization of safety procedures.

All present facilities should be sold orleased to genuine oil marketers (withinternational connections) and allow

Oddity in economic andpolitical life of Nigeria

Continues from page 46

We're set in PDP — Emeakayi

G U B E R N AT O R I A Laspirant for Anambra

governorship on the platform ofAll Progressives Congress, APC,Mr Godwin Ezeemo, has refutedclaims that he stepped down forSenator Chris Ngige in theforthcoming state gubernatorialelections.

He also maintained that noconsensus candidate hademerged for the APC.

Speaking on the purportedstepping down for Chris Ngige,Ezeemo said: “I have notstepped down for anybody andwill never do that. I have alwaysbelieved in free and fair contestwhere the best candidate willemerge.

“I want to state unequivocallythat I am still in the race forAnambra Governorship underthe platform of All ProgressivesCongress; a party I and otherwell meaning Anambra peopleworked hard to build. Therumour making the rounds thatChris Ngige has emerged theflag bearer of the All Progressives

I’ve not stepped down for Ngige —Ezeemo

BY DAPO AKINREFON

•Ezeemo

Congress in the November 16Anambra election is baseless andunfounded.

“The attempt to impose acandidate on Anambra people isa deceptive ploy by RochasOkorocha who is battling to havea sound footing in APC in hisown state Imo State. Those whodo not want to go to the polls totest their popularity and want totake power through the backdoors are clearly scared of mypedigree. I challenge them to thecontest before Anambra peoplewho have the ultimate right and

final say on who governs them.”Stating the importance of

upholding internal democracy inthe newly formed APC, the guberaspirant said “I have a very firmbelief that a free and fairprimaries for the purpose ofelecting a flag bearer for our great

party All Progressives Congressin the forth coming Anambragovernorship elections willmake our party stronger.”

He also said the APC wasformed to wrest power from theruling PDP and right the severalwrongs it had unleashed on

rummour about his peopletrying to do somethingdifferent from that, I placed acall to him and he deniedknowledge of it.

As I told you, I take peopleby what they say to me in asmuch as his later actions didnot conform with what he toldme, but I am holding him towhat he told me that he standsby what he said.

But Chief Chris Uba has beenlaying relatively low in thiselection?

Well, Ejike is Chris Uba andChris Uba is Ejike. Why did Isay so? A lot of people who are

Nigerians since the inception ofthis political dispensation.

“Therefore, anything thatcreates doubt about the sincerityof that avowed principle in theminds of the party faithfulcertainly does not portend goodfor our great party. I stand forfree, fair and credible primaries.No more, no less,” he said.

supporting me may not haveliked my face but, people aresupporting me because theybelieve that in terms ofcapability that I can deliver.

On the other hand peoplealso feel that the PDP shouldbe a public thing, not a familything. This is because youknow that the last chairman ofChris Uba’s group was BenjiUdeazor, now the relationshipis that the woman that gavebirth to Benyi Udeazor and theperson that gave birth to ChrisUba’s wife are of the sameparents.

Now, Ejike’s mother happensto be the elder sister to Benji

Udeazor’s mother. What it thenmeans is that it is the sameparents that gave birth to ChrisUba’s wife, Ejike’s mother andBenji’s mother. And our peoplefelt, no way.

You can quote me, Chris Ubaafter that meeting at thenational secretariat, I heldanother meeting with ChrisUba, Senator Andy Uba,Senator Ugochukwu Uba,Chief Olisa Metuh and a fewothers from Anambra and atthat meeting Chief Chris Ubasaid that one of the reasons hewas happy with my adoptionis that I have the capacity todrive PDPPP

48 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

Press council: FG has no plansto gag the press — MAKU

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

MEETING—From left: Former Head of State and Leader of APC, GeneralMuhammadu Buhari chatting with former Ogun State governor, OlusegunOsoba, and Interim National Chairman of APC and former governor ofOsun State, Chief Bisi Akande, at APC leaders meeting in Abuja. Photo:Gbemiga Olamikan.

EDITORS HOLD 9TH CONFAB

Editors 've enormous roles in shaping democracy— Uduaghan

A S A B A — INFORMATIONAMinister, Mr. LabaramMaku, yesterday, spoke onthe controversysurrounding the formationof the Nigerian PressCouncil, assuring that itwas not meant to gag themedia as was the caseduring the military era. This came as Secretary tothe Government of theFederation, Senator PiusAnyim and Delta Stategovernor, Dr. EmmanuelUduaghan expressedconcern that the countrywas shifting from an oileconomy to a non oilearner.

They both spoke in Asaba,Delta State, yesterday, atthe 9th edition of conferenceof Nigerian Guild ofEditors, NGE, with thetheme, Nigeria Beyond Oil:The Role of the Editor.

Maku said: “Today, thepress is operating in anatmosphere of freedom, asit is free to discuss anddebate any issue and thatis what it should be. Thefreedom of Nigeria wasfounded by journalistssuch as Dr. NnmadiAzikiwe, Chief Awolowoand several others topropagate our freedom.

“But we must also beworried about the quality ofour profession and whereit is going to. This is notsomething that can beregulated from the top butsomething that we mustconcern ourselves about.Each time the Press Councilis mentioned, there are alot of misunderstanding, itis hard for people tounderstand because youknow that under themilitary, the intentions ofthe Press Council weredifferent. They were tocontrol and ensure that youwill not practice journalism.I remember journalistswere hounded intodetention because ofDecree 4. At a point, all theeditors of New NigerianNewspapers were in jailwhen Gen IbrahimBabangida took over inAugust 1985.”

Anyim on his partcharged the editors to lookat how best to cushion theeffect which non-oilapproach would have onthe country.

He said: “Whether welike it or not, we aretransiting from an oilNigeria to non oil Nigeriaand if we fail in this duty,the society will pay for it.What makes Nigeria thickis today found everywherein Africa. This means thatthe forces of demand andsupply will force the priceto fall.”

Governor Uduaghannoted that the Nigeriacrude oil production wasfacing a serious challengethat needed to beaddressed.

He said: “Our oilproduction is threatened ontwo fronts. First, illegalbunkering and there is nounderestimating the havocthis is causing. TheInternational EnergyAgency recently soundedthe alarm that Nigeria hasbeen losing about $7 billionannually to vandalism ofpipelines, oil theft andillegal bunkering.

“The chairman of theNigerian ExtractiveIndustries TransparentInitiative, Mr. LedumMitee, said recently whilepresenting theorganisation’s audit reportof the oil and gas sector thatbetween 2009 and 2011,the country lost about $11billion to activities of oilthieves. The figures maydiffer but the sums arehuge.

“Nigeria crude oilproduction is also facinganother challenge with thediscovery of alternative inShale gas. Right now, thatresource is evolving and itis believed that in future asthe technology to exploreit matures, it will becomemore commerciallysuccessful and a realcompetition to the crude oilin the international energymarket.”

Special Adviser to thePresident on PerformanceMonitoring andEvaluation, ProfessorSylvester Monye, in apaper entitled EconomicRenaissance in Nigeria: Anon-oil approach, said“although Nigeria’seconomic growth in the lastseveral years has beenanchored on growth in thenon-oil sector, PresidentGoodluck Jonathanrecognises that more workneeded to be done toentrench and sustain thecontributions from this

section and ensure thatthere is an enablingenvironment for privatesector investments.”

At the event werePublisher of VanguardNewspapers, Mr. SamAmuka; Publisher ofThisDay Newspapers,Chief Nduka Obaigbena;Dr. Tony Iredia; formerNigerian TelevisionAuthority Director General;former governor of OgunState, Chief Segun Osoba,who chaired the occasion;Mr. John Momoh,Chairman, ChannelsTelevision; Delta Statedeputy governor, Prof.Amos Utuama; Speaker,Delta State House ofAssembly, Mr. Victor Ochei,state commissioners amongothers.

Globacomcommends Nigerianmedia

Meanwhile, leadingtelecommunications serviceprovider, Globacom, hascommended the resilienceof the Nigerian press andurged media practitionersto hold tenaciously to theethics of the journalismprofession.

In a goodwill message tothe Nigerian Guild ofEditors, Globacom notedthat the Nigerian press haddone so well thatNigerians were proud oftheir achievements,especially as they havecontributed to the unity ofthe country.

The company promised toalways identify with theNigerian mediapractitioners in theirprojects that are gearedtowards building a bettersociety.

The company said in astatement “We wish tocongratulate our brothers ofthe Fourth Estate of theRealm on the occasion oftheir annual conference.Globacom is proud of theachievement of theNigerian media and wesalute the courage,fearlessness and resilienceof the media professionalsin this country. We areparticularly happy to notethat the Nigerian media cancompete favourably withtheir counterpartsanywhere in the world. Onour part, we will continueto identify with the mediain every way possible.”

There 'll be mayhem if Jonathan rigs 2015polls — Junaid Mohammed

BY LEVINUSNWABUGHIOGU

ABUJA—SECONDRepublic lawmaker,

Dr. Junaidu Mohammed,yesterday, lambasted thetrio of Mohammed Abba-Gana, Ameh Ebute andLawrence Onoja for askingthe North to tarry till 2019before angling for powershift to the region, callingthem political mercenaries.

Mohammed also statedthere will be mayhem inNigeria should PresidentGoodluck Jonathan and theruling Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, rig the 2015election.

It will be recalled thatGana, a former Minister ofthe Federal CapitalTerritory, FCT, and PDPchieftain from Borno State,Ebute, a former senator inaborted third republic fromBenue State and Onojawho himself was a soldierand military administratorof Plateau and Katsinastates, had made solidaritycomments for PresidentJonathan’s second term inoffice, asking the north towait till 2019.

Speaking with Vanguardin a telephone chat,Mohammed, who is alsothe National Coordinator ofthe Coalition of NorthernPoliticians, Academics,Professionals andBusinessmen, said Gana,Ebute and Onoja were notspeaking for the north butserving their own self-interests to earnthemselves a place inJonathan’s Presidency.

Calling him a politicalmercenary and sheerminority from the Middle

North, Mohammedparticularly regretted thatOnoja, who had acommendable career in themilitary and presided overthe affairs of two northernstates, Plateau and Katsina,could now stoop so low toplay politics of tribes andreligion.

He said Onoja lacked thetemerity to speak for thenorth, having been a serialloser of elections since hedebuted into politics.

He said: “First of all, Ihave some respect forOnoja, he is a soldier andnow trying to be a politician.But I think it’s an insult forpeople with similarbackground, opportunity,soldiers who play likemercenaries, as a formerGovernor of Plateau andKatsina states, who are nowrediscovering politics like abusiness and who can poseor could claim to speak forany part of the country".

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 49

Mubarak released from prison Mubarak released from prison Mubarak released from prison Mubarak released from prison Mubarak released from prisonFORMER Egyptian

President HosniMubarak has been re-leased from prison, thestate television said yes-terday.

The longtime autocratwas taken from Cairo’sTora prison by medicalhelicopter yesterday, fol-lowing a court rulingwhich ordered his re-lease.

He was initially takento a military hospital inMaadi, a suburb in south-ern Cairo. Footage on lo-cal television showedMubarak transportedfrom the helicopter to thehospital in a heavily-guarded ambulance.

Mubarak spent severalweeks in the same hos-pital during his two-year

detention, after lawyerscited poor conditions inprison. Authorities reno-vated a ward in Torawhere Mubarak was lat-er held.

A small crowd of sup-porters gathered outsidethe prison and cheeredas the helicopter took off.

Al Jazeera’s Jane Fer-guson, reporting fromMaadi, said that thescene was calmer out-side the hospital than theprison, without anycrowds gathered there.

The April 6 youthmovement has calledprotests on Fridayagainst his release.

But his release was metwith indifference frommany Egyptians, whoare more focused on the

country’s recent politicalcrisis and last week’smassacre of supporters of

deposed President Mo-hamed Morsi.

Mubarak still faces a

retrial on charges of kill-ing protesters during the2011 revolution, andthree other corruptioncases as well. But he hasalready spent more than

two years in pre-trial de-tention, the maximum al-lowed under Egyptianlaw, and so the courtshave ruled him eligiblefor release pending trial.

Opposition shunsMugabe’s inauguration

OUTGOING primeminister and oppo-

sition leader Mr Tsvan-girai stayed away fromthe inauguration cere-mony of President Rob-ert Mugabe who wassworn in yesterday for aseventh term in officeas Zimbabwe’s leader.

“Yesterday was de-clared a public holidayto allow supporters ofthe 89-year-old to attendthe inauguration. Theceremony had been de-layed by a court petitionfiled by his main rival,Morgan Tsvangirai, overallegations of wide-spread electoral fraud.

But the Constitutional

Court dismissed thecase, declaring MrMugabe’s re-election“free, fair and credible”.

Mr Mugabe won with61% of the presidentialvote against 34% for MrTsvangirai on 31 July.

Robert Mugabe’s inau-guration was witnessedby thousands of jubilantsupporters and invitedguests in Zimbabwe’sbiggest sports stadiumon the outskirts ofHarare, amid tight secu-rity. Many former headsof state and deputy pres-idents attended theevent, but tellingly veryfew of the continent’scurrent leaders.

FRANCE has said a“reaction with force”

could be needed if Syria isproved to have used chem-ical weapons against itsown people.

The comments from For-eign Minister Laurent Fa-bius come as Syrian activ-ists say hundreds of peo-

ple were killed in such at-tacks in Damascus onWednesday.

The UN has asked Syriato allow UN weapons in-spectors already in coun-try to be allowed to investi-gate. There is no sign asyet that Damascus will al-

low this. The chances of theUN chemical weapons in-spectors in Syria accessingthe true site of Wednesday’salleged chemical attack intime to make a clear judge-ment on responsibility areslim.

It took months to negoti-

ate permission for them tovisit other sites around thecountry. The Syrian gov-ernment, backed by Russia,is resisting calls to givethem access to the easternDamascus suburb of Ghou-ta where this apparentatrocity took place.

This will be President Mugabe’s sixth term as Zim-babwe president and seventh term as leader, as hewas first elected as prime minister in 1980.

•Mubarak

France considers option of force in Syria

Fukushima nuclear leakjolts Japan

JAPAN has been jolt-ed by the extent of the

current water leaks atFukushima which areworse than the authoritiesacknowledged.

The Japanese nuclearenergy watchdog raisedthe incident level fromone to three on the inter-national scale that mea-sures the severity of atom-ic accidents. But an in-dependent consultantwho has previously ad-vised the French andGerman governmentssaid the Japanese gov-ernment is taking a sec-ond look at the problem.

The chairman of Japan’snuclear authority saidthat he feared therewould be further leaks.

The ongoing problemsat the Fukushima plantincreased in recent dayswhen the Tokyo ElectricPower Company (Tepco)admitted that around 300tonnes of highly radioac-tive water had leakedfrom a storage tank on thesite.

This was an acknowl-edgement that the powerstation was in its greatestcrisis since the reactorsmelted down after thetsunami in 2011.

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EGBA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Egba PrincessBeauty, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. MartinsBeauty Akaninyene.All former documentsremain valid. NYSC,Rivers State Govt.,University of PortHarcourt and generalpublic please takenote.

O W U N N A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEzinne PearlOwunna, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Ezinne Pearl CharlesOnuoha. All formerdocuments remainvalid. N.Y.S.C. andthe General public please take note.

EYO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Eyo EdakBassey, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. James EdakNsikak. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Nigerian Securityand Civil DefenceCorps and generalpublic please takenote.

50 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013—51

MINISTER of Labour and Produc-

tivity, Chief Emeka Woguhas commiserated withGovernor Theodore Orjiand Abia State PDP Chair-man Emma Nwaka, overthe death of eight membersof the Party in a ghastlymotor accident on theAwka-Enugu Expressway.

The Minister also sympa-thized with members of thestate PDP and the South-East zonal chairman, Col.Austin Akobundu, over theincident.

Reacting to the news ofthe death of eight PDPmembers, the Ministersaid, “I received with shockthe sudden death of eightAbia PDP members whomet their untimely deathwhile on active duty for theDevelopment and suste-nance of Democracy in theSouth East Geo-politicalzone in particular and Ni-geria at large ”.

The Minister noted thattheir death would not be invain as PDP would contin-ue to champion the courseof democracy and goodgovernance in Nigeria.

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

LabourministercondolesGov Orji

THE Urhobo PoliticalTTInitiative has urgedTTUrhobos to be more cohe-sive in the task of engen-dering socio-economic andpolitical development of thenation. National publicitysecretary of the group, Mr.Mike Umukoro, who madethe appeal at the stakehold-ers forum in Agbarho saidthe Urhobo nation was be-ing shortchanged in thecountry and was not get-ting their fair share of thenational cake.

Umukoro who said thatthe Urhobo problem wentbeyond courtesy visit to thePresident, added, howev-er, that such visits shouldbe very frank and straightto the point.

He said, “What have wedone to deserve this kindof unjust treatment? Pres-ently, we don’t have a spe-cial assistant, special advis-er, permanent secretary,ambassadorial appoint-ment, board chairman, jun-ior minister, menior minis-ter, etc. “2013 represents anelection which will clearlydetermine where the Urho-bos vote will go in 2015 elec-tion. Whoever capturesDelta Central now willhave a firm grip for 2015.Hence the nation interestof PDP plugs the recent in-terest of APC.”

Group advisesUrhobostakeholders

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIEDCCLLAASSSSIIFFIIEEDD

ETIM—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss FeliciaAsuquo Etim, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Felicia IniobongUsanga. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Piccolo BrunelliEngineering Ltd. andCivil Defence Corpsand general public please take note.

AJUBA —I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Ajuba AngelaEbele, now wish toanswer Mrs EzugwuAngela Ebele. All formerdocuments remain valid.Canadian Deputy HighCommission, NnamdiAzikiwe University,Awka and generalpublic take note.

NWACHUKWU—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissChinyere CordeliaNwachukwu now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Chinyere CordeliaNwabuike. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Michael OkparaUniversity ofAgriculture, Umudikeand general publicplease take note.

O K E R E K E — I ,formally known andaddressed as MissOkereke SandraOnyekachi, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ukpah SandraOnyekachi. Thegeneral public andother relevantinstitutions shouldplease take note.

E Z I M M U O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEzimmuo ChidinmaMary Ozoemena,now wish to be knownand addressed asOkafor ChidinmaMary Ozoemena. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic take note.p

A B A D O M — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAbadom, NnekaPhylis, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Sokei, NnekaPhylis. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

G E G E R E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEjiroghene IsabellaGegere, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Ejiroghene IsabellaOgie. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

LAMBO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss LamboMosunmola Latifat,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Oduyebo MosunmolaLatifat. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public please take note.

M U H A M M A DSANI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas AishatuMuhammad Sani, nowwish to be known andaddressed as HajiyaAishatu SalihuAttahiru. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

A B D U L L A H ISANI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss AmirahAbdullahi Sani, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Amirah MohammedBello. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

UNOGU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Unogu VeraUche, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Amaechi VeraUche. All formerdocuments remainvalid. University ofLagos and generalpublic please take note.

OLANIYI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Olaniyi YetundeAdewunmi, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Agunleti YetundeAdewunmi. All formerdocuments remain valid.General public pleasetake note.

AKINFOLARIN—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissA k i n f o l a r i nOmoyiwola, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.O g u n s a n y aOmoyiwola. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Guaranty TrustBank (GTB) andgeneral public pleasetake note.

FEESE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss SandraDooshima Feese, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Sandra DooshimaFranklin-Azonabor. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

CHIMEBELE— I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissChimebele ObianujuAda Sandra Sharon,now wish to be knownand addressed asM i s sC h u k w u e d o z i e nObianuju Ada SandraSharon. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

C H I M E B E L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissC h i m e b e l eNkirukanma ValerieOlivia Kiki, now wishto be known andaddressed as MissC h u k w u e d o z i e nNkirukanma ValerieOlivia Kiki. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

C H I M E B E L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed asChimebele UgochukwuRichard Abiola, nowwish to be known andaddressed asC h u k w u e d o z i e nUgochukwu RichardAbiola. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

U S I O S E F E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissUsiosefe IguehideJuliet, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OnyeacholemIguehide Juliet. Allformer documentsremain valid, Collegeof Education, Warriand general publicplease take note.

ETAROGHENE—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissEtaroghene Onoriode,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsKingsley Onoriode. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OKIOTOR-TSERE—I, formerly knownand addressed asMiss Martha ObasOkiotor-Tsere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Martha ObasAdjedjor. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

AJETUNMOBI—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissKehinde ElizabethAjetunmobi, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Kehinde ElizabethLawal. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OJOBOR —I, formerly

known as Miss Ojobor

Ejiro, now wish to be

known and addressed

as Mrs. Essi Ejiro. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take note.

IZAH —I, formerly

known and addressed

as Miss Franca Izah,

now wish to be known

and addressed as Mrs.

Franca Ogun. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take note.

CONFERENCE —I,formerly known asMiss EjiroConference, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ejiro Ihunwan. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

A S A B O R O — I ,formerly known asMiss Asaboro EdesiriRebecca, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Akporherhe EdesiriRebecca. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

I M A N G B E — Iformerly known andaddressed as MissDivine EgerinseImangbe, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Divine Egerinse Eku.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

E M A K P O R — I ,

formerly known as Miss

Emakpor Enor, now

wish to be known and

addressed as Mrs.

Anuya Enor. All former

documents remain

valid. General public

please take note.

ODELE —I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OdeleRacheal Esidumi, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Onyekuru RachealEsidumi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O Y I B O K A — I ,formerly known asMiss ChristabelOyiboka, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Christabel Umuago.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

KUKU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Kuku SerifatAbisola, now wish tobe known andaddressed asAkinsusi SerifatAbisola. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S AT OU RL A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D

M E D I A L I M I T E D ( L A G O S O F F I C E ) K I O S K4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE

52 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013

Namibia.“Keshi was part of the

problem as regards thebonus saga in Namibia.He stood to lose moneyif the bonus was slashedas proposed by the NFFand so he needs to bewarned about his role inthat ugly episode,” a topofficial toldMTNFootball.com.

The panel submitedseveral ground breakingrecommendations to thesports minister in Abujayesterday.

Among these revela-tions are –

1) No more cash pay-ments for match bonus-es to the national teamsas has been the case.Players and officials willbe paid through theirbanks.

2) Draw bonusesshould be abolished.Players will only bepaid bonuses for win-ning a game, while par-

Ministerial panelContinues from BP

ticipation fees will bepaid for all nationalteam engagements.

3) Coaches will negoti-ate their bonuses andwill be paid a lump sumas qualification bonuseshenceforth and notmatch bonuses. This isto ensure that the coach-es are more profession-al in the discharge oftheir duties and have settargets to meet.

4) A code of conductbe introduced for the na-tional team. A draft ofthis has been producedby the panel.

5) The NFF must an-nounce the match bo-nuses for all their match-es at the start of each fi-nancial year.

6) Cash bonusesshould be discouragedfor the country’s juniorteams with the plan fora special pension fundto be opened for theseplayers and such mon-ies paid into such a fund.

Wengerond of £40,000,001, re-

jected for the unsettledstriker and there had beensome hope at the club thatthe situation could some-how turn in Arsenal’s fa-vour, despite Liverpool’srefusal to sell.

But Wenger gave shortshrift to the notion after histeam’s Champions Leagueplay-off first-leg victoryover Fenerbahce in Istan-

Continues from BPbul. Asked whether the bidto sign Suárez was over,he replied: “Yes. There isabsolutely no chance ofthat.” Wenger, who failedwith a £10m offer for New-castle United’s YohanCabaye, said that he re-mained in the market fora midfielder. “Quality-wisewe don’t need anybody butnumber-wise we areshort,” he said.

Okagbare better than Eagles — KaluFORMER Abia state

governor Dr.OrjiUzor Kalu has threatenedto embark on a One -Manprotest march to the Pres-idency unless medals-winning Blessing Okag-bare got rewarded asmuch as African champi-ons Super Eagles.

Said Kalu,”I feel forOkagbare. Never in ourhistory did anyone single-handedly win all thecountry’s medals in a sen-ior global competition.Okagbare achieved thatin Moscow, yet nobody isplanning a Presidentialreception for this great ath-lete.”

Speaking further, theex-governor explainedthat the Eagles got a gooddeal after their NationsCup glory, a far cry fromtwo World Championshipsmedals by an individual.

“Without taking awayanything from our belov-ed Eagles, I do not thinkthey are World class.Theynever won an Olympicmedal, never played inthe quarter-finals of theWorld Cup, nor in theSemis of the Confedera-tions Cup. Okagbare is onhigher ground, havingwon Olympic bronze in2008, and now silver andgold.

MARIA Sharapova kept the

shocks coming onWednesday night whenshe pulled out of the USOpen.

The pain in her servingshoulder that hasplagued her since beforethe French Open in Mayhas flared again, forcingher to pull out of the finalslam of the year just 24hours before the draw on

Sharapova pulls out of US OpenThursday.

The tournament direc-tor David Brewer con-firmed late on Wednesdaynight: “Maria has in-

formed us that she will beunable to compete at theUS Open this year dueto a right shoulder bursi-tis and has withdrawn

from the tournament. Wewish her a speedy recov-ery and look forward toher return to New Yorknext year.”

WADAWW has warnedAthe Jamaicans toWW

put their house in orderover the perceived lackof drug testing in thecountry. The director

Wada warns Jamaicans over druggeneral of the WorldAnti-Doping Agency,David Howman, saidthat Jamaican officialsneeded to respond toaccusations from a

former insider who al-leges drug-testing pro-cedures are lax.

Writing this week inSports Illustrated, ReneeAnne Shirley, the formerexecutive director of theJamaica Anti-DopingCommission, said theisland agency had noshortage of “troubling”problems during her ten-ure as the top official.

The commission didnot have the staff to car-ry out rigorous anti-dop-ing programmes, shewrote, and only one out-of-competition test wasdone between February2012 and the start of theLondon Olympics fivemonths later.

TURKISHTT club Rizespor unveiled Godfrey Oboabona on Thursday hours after French club rushed

a late but better bid for the Nigeria star.The 23-year-old player has completed a four-year dealwith Rizespor after he successfully passed the routinemedical, but MTNFootball.com can specially reveal hehad a chance to move to the more prestigious Frenchleague instead.

About a month ago, Bastia had come into the fray tosign Oboabona, who was a top revelation for Nigeriaat the last Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Reveals a top source, who was privy to the deal thatwould have seen the Sunshine defender start his Eu-ropean adventure in Lique 1: “Last month I got a callfrom an associate of mine in France that Bastia wantedto reinforce their central defence and had Oboabona inmind.

Rizespor unveil Oboabona

Okonjo-Iweala

training with goodnutrition and exposure. Ichallenge Abdullahi to dothis and see if a medalwill not come from boxingin Rio.

And for the staff at theNational SportsCommission, I will tell Ab-dullahi one thing. Youmay not sack everybodyto achieve results. Thoseyou know are the cogs,you avoid them. Those onthe same page with you,you engage them. And ifthere’s nobody to engagefrom the ministry, you andthe Director-General canset up a body that canexecute yourprogrammes for theOlympics. If you have theauthority to hire foreigncoaches or HighPerformance Directors,you should have theauthority to hire or set upa body to execute actionplans for Rio. That’s onthe interim basis whileyou develop thestructures for long termplan for our sports. Isuggest this because weare running out of time forRio. You must not allowthe bureaucracy ofgovernment to weighNigeria down.

Bolaji may not be ableto do all these without thesupport of OkonjoIweala. I understand shehas interest in sports. TheAbuja Sports Summit, Iheard, was her idea. Butwhy she keeps ondropping envelops tosports, is what I don’tunderstand. I wantNigerians to begin toattribute any failures andsuccesses to all the keyfactors. For us to succeedin sports, we cannotignore Okonjo Iweala.And that’s why I will stillreturn to her on anotherdate.

Continues from 54

ARS3: Airtel offers $100per goal scored

AIRTEL Nigeriaand organisers

of the annual AirtelRising Stars U-17Tournament haveannounced a goal-for-education incentiveduring the forthcomingNational Championship.

The company isoffering $100 for everygoal scored in matches ofthe national finals aslong as it was scoredduring regulation time.

At the end of theChampionship, aparticipating team willreceive the aggregatedmonetary value for thenumber of goals it scoredwith the liberty to choose

which charity in homestate or zone gets thedonation.

The Goal-for-Education initiative isaimed at furthering thecompany’s CSR spreadwhile enhancing thequality of living amongthe less privileged acrossits African markets.

•Sharapova

PRESENTATION: Chairman of the ministerial panel on Super Eagles bonusrow, Segun Adeniyi (r) presents the report of their findings to Sports Minister,Bolaji Abdullahi in Abuja yesterday. Photo Gbemiga Olamikan

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 53

CMYK

54—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013d

CMYK

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 — 55

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Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

RYESTERYESTERSYESTERRRYYYYESTERYESTERRYYESTERYESTERSS RRRRRYYYYYYYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTER SDAY'S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSS ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSSSDDDDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSSDDAY S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSS ANSWERSS ANSWERSSSSSSDDDDDDDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLEODAY S PUTODAY'S PUZZLEEETTTTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLEETTODAY S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLEODAY S PUODAY S PU EEEEEETTTTTTTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 , 2013

Ministerial panel fingersKeshi in bonus row•No more cash payments for match bonuses•Draw bonuses should be abolished•Players will only be paid bonuses for winning a game•No more match bonuses for coaches

See Centre Spreadp

A probe panel onthe Super Eagles

bonus row has fingeredcoach Stephen Keshi aspart of the embarrass-ment and said he shouldbe warned.

The African championsalmost failed to turn upfor the FIFA Confedera-tions Cup in Brazil inJune after they insistedthey be paid more thanwhat the broke NigeriaFootball Federation(NFF) planned to paythem for two World Cupqualifiers in Kenya andContinues on Page 52

•Okagbare better than Eagles — • Kalu

•Wada warns Jamaicans over drug•

•Sharapova pulls out of US Open•

•Rizespor unveil Oboabona•

Top stories inside

Suarezchase isover –Wenger

ARSENE Wengersaid that there

was categorically no pos-sibility of Arsenal reviv-ing their interest in Liv-erpool’s Luis Suárez be-fore the closure of thetransfer window. He hasseen two bids, the sec

Continues on Page 52

•Keshi

ACROSS: 4, Stray 7, Twelve 9, Bar 10, Ave12, Moody 13, Onus 15, Expel 17, Stance 19,Leer 20, Glean 22, Ham 24, Related 27, Won28, Auger 31, Aged 33, Agenda 35, Index 37,Eros 38, Sieve 39, Dip 41, Axe 42, Tussle 43,Chant.

ACROSS1 Compulsion (6)5 Slang (6)9 Bequeath (5)10 Purify (6)11 Lasso (6)12 Correspond (5)14 Rope (4)17 Clef (3)18 Shoal (4)20 Stop-watch (5)22 Wickedly (5)23 Ardour (7)24 Broom (5)26 Anew (5)29 Revise (4)30 Skill (3)32 Sea-eagle (4)33 Slumber (5)35 Reveal (6)36 Outcome (6)37 Furze (5)38 Wandering (6)39 Worn (6)

DOWN1 Straight (6)2 Change (6)3 Transmitted (4)4 Tell-tale (5)5 Merry (5)6 Off (4)7 Won (6)8 Inform (6)13 Spare time (7)15 Lubricated (5)16 Storehouse (5)18 Scope (5)19 Puckish (5)21 Butt (3)22 Serpent (3)24 Bewilder (6)25 Metal (6)27 About (6)28 Roosted (6)30 Distribute (5)31 Curt (5)33 Symbol (4)34 Equal (4)

DOWN: 1, Strong 2, Refuse 3, Ova 4, Same5, Troll 6, Audience 8, Even 11, Exchanged14, Star 16, Peat 18, Anew 21, Languish23, Mean 25, Load 26, Dude 29, Garish 30,Rasher 32, Divan 34, Exit 36, Next 40, Put

CMYK

TWO WEEKS TO LIVE