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Senate gives Buhari two weeks to end fuel scarcity

Boko Haram: December deadline not feasible –CCC

...subsidy payment’ll solve crisis –NNPC

ABUJA

Saraki

Vol. 5 N0. 1253

Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Petroleum

enate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) has given the Minister of state, Petroleum Resources,

GEORGE OJI

Friday, November 27, 2015

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

...cautions MASSOB, IPOB on secession agitations

P.5

Buratai

National Mirror Online

N150

@NationalMirror

Kogi: PDP drags APC, INEC to Court

...demands Wada be declared elected

APC leaders adopt Audu’s son as guber candidate

OBIORA IFOH AND WALE IBRAHIM

eoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday dragged the Federal Government, All Progressives Congress, APC, and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to court over plan to substitute the candidacy of late Abubakar Audu in the inconclusive gubernatorial election in Kogi State. Rising from an emergency National Caucus CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Reps query Virgin Atlantic for sacking 100 Nigerian staff

P.6

LEFT: People rushing to queue for Mass in Kenya, yesterday. RIGHT: Pope Francis arrives on his Pope- mobile to celebrate a Mass on the campus of the University of Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday.

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Why corruption won’t end in police P..5 –IGP

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UPDATED 30/10/2015

News

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Kogi: PDP drags APC, INEC to Court CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

meeting in Abuja, the party also demanded that INEC returns the incumbent governor, Capt. Idris Wada as winner of the November 21st gubernatorial election, as the APC candidate, who was leading in the inconclusive election died during the process. The party also said the proposed supplementary election would no longer be necessary as APC is not backed by either the constitution or electoral laws to substitute its candidate within the election period. The resolutions of the caucus are that it: “Completely rejects the decision of INEC in yielding to the unlawful prompting of a clearly

partisan Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Mallam Abubakar Malami, to allow APC to substitute a candidate in the middle of an election, even when such has no place in the Constitution and the Electoral Act. “Insists that with the death of its candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, the APC has legally crashed out of the governorship race as no known law or constitutional provision allows the substituting of candidates, once the ballot process has commenced. “Insists that with the unfortunate death of Prince Abubakar Audu, APC has no valid candidate in the election, leaving INEC with no other lawful option than to de-

clare the PDP candidate, Capt. Idris Wada as the winner of the election. “Notes that the combine reading of the provisions of the constitution and Electoral Act does not in any war whatsoever support the substitution of candidates for election in the middle of the ballot process.” PDP also noted that if APC is allowed to substitute its original candidate, then the party would have fielded two separate candidates in the same election, a scenario that is completely alien to the electoral laws and to any known democratic norms and practice world-over. “Caucus observes that APC, fully aware that it has no case before the law is now orchestrating con-

fusion in the polity with a view to diverting attention from its glaring incompetence and failure of governance. “Observes that the leadership of INEC as presently constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has demonstrated that it is incapable of neutrality and as such cannot be vested with the conduct of the Kogi governorship supplementary election as well as the December 5, 2015 Bayelsa governorship election. “As a result, caucus demands the immediate resignation of the chairman and all national commissioners of INEC to pave the way for a new nonpartisan commission to conduct the forth-coming

elections,” it added. The caucus also reiterated its demand for the resignation of the Attorney General for deliberately misleading INEC into arriving at the unconstitutional decision of allowing APC to substitute its candidate in the inconclusive election. It notes that in order to save the nation’s democracy from imminent collapse, the party, as a critical stakeholder will immediately challenge the unlawful and unconstitutional decision by INEC in the court. “Caucus also alerts that the AGF, INEC and APC are creating a scenario where a loser in a primary will patiently wait for the winning candidate to finish election and then

L-R: Senator Mohammed Ndume; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; Senate President Bukola Saraki and Senator Godswill Akpabio (right), during a presidential dinner in honour of Senators at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.

Senate gives Buhari two weeks to end fuel scarcity CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Products Marketing Company, PPMC, and other government agencies involved in the fuel supply chain a two weeks ultimatum to restore normalcy in supply and distribution nationwide. The lawmakers also asked the affected government officials and agencies to ensure uniform pump price for the product across the country. This was also as it was revealed by NNPC that the most effective way of arresting the current scarcity was for govern-

ment to pay oil marketers the fuel subsidies due to them promptly. According to NNPC, once government assures the importers that it is ready to meet its own part of the bargain, they would flood the country with enough products. Chairperson of the committee, Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife handed down the directives yesterday when the Permanent Secretary of the Petroleum Ministry, Mrs. Jamila Shu’ara led top management staff of the ministry and agencies un-

der it to defend the N413bn fuel subsidy contained in the 2015 supplementary budget sent by President Muhammadu Buhari for approval. “The scarcity of petrol must stop. The discrepancies in price must also stop. Therefore, we are directing the Petroleum Minister, the Permanent Secretary, heads of agencies under the ministry to ensure that the situation is brought under normalcy in the next two weeks. “Nigerians are suffering. No matter what you are doing, Nigerians want

to see the fuel scarcity disappear. There is no reason why they should not go to the filling stations and buy the product at the official price of N87 per liter,” Ekwunife said. Both NNPC and PPMC had earlier briefed members of the committee on efforts they have been making to bring the scarcity under control. For instance, NNPC disclosed that since the current scarcity commenced about three weeks ago, it directed all its retail outlets to undertake 24-hour operation to ensure that

all those who want to buy the product have the opportunity to do so. The corporation’s Executive Director, Investment and Sales, Victor Babatunde Adeniran, who made this known, also blamed marketers for the persistent scarcity. He regretted that marketers have refused to import and distribute the product, leaving only PPMC, which accounts for just 48 per cent of the nation’s total domestic consumption needs to handle the imports at the CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

have him either poisoned or assassinated before the final collation of results,” it added. It called on the international community to prevail on the APC government to stop what it called ceaseless assault on the country’s democracy. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, who later briefed the press warned against any emotional or partisan interpretation of the Kogi situation. He said though PDP sympathises with APC over the death of its candidate but the position presently is that APC has no candidate and as such, has lost all its rights within the law for any kind of substitution. He further described the supplementary election a waste of time and money. “APC has crashed out of the contest regrettably and the gap between PDP and the nearest party, the Labour Party is so wide that supplementary election would no longer be required. “In a relay race, once your baton drops, you can no longer pick it up and continue the race. The matter before us is even beyond INEC, it is no longer in the hands of INEC. We have gone to court to do a simple interpretation of the laws of our land,” he added. Meanwhile, APC critical stakeholders and delegates from Kogi East Senatorial district have resolved that Mohammed, the son of the late Audu would be presented as candidate if the party goes for fresh primary. This was contained in a communiqué read by Kogi East zonal chairman, Daniel Isah, at the party’s secretariat in Lokoja yesterday. He said supporters of APC from the zone have decided to nominate Mohammed to replace is father. They commended INEC and APC leaders at both state and national levels for allowing the substitution of Audu. They expressed the hope that the request of the zone would be granted in the interest of peace, justice and fairness.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Friday, November 27, 2015

Photo News

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: Segment Manager, Women Propositions, Diamond Bank Plc, Olayemi Olusoga; Branch Manager, Diamond Bank, Asaba, Noma Imilar; keynote speaker, Pastor (Mrs.) Sodeinde; First Lady, Delta State, Dame Edith Okowa, President, 05 Initiative, (an NGO run by the First Lady’s office), Dr. (Mrs.) Ugwuanyi and Jemine Mejire at the launch of 05 Initiative in collaboration with Diamond Woman, in Delta State, recently.

L-R: Founder, Social Enterprise Report and Awards (SERAs), Dr. Ken Egbas; Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria, Mrs. Oyetola Oduyemi; Chair, SERAs Awards Jury, Indira Kartallozi; Officer, Corporate Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria, Rose Makinwa, at the SERAs Awards where Etisalat emerged first runner-up, Best CSR in Nigeria 2015, in Lagos, recently.

L-R: Non-Executive Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Bismarck Rewane; Company Secretary, Mr. Sesan Sobowale; Chairman, Mr. Babatunde Savage and MD/CEO, Mr Peter Ndegwa, during the 65th Annual General Meeting of Guinness Nigeria Plc, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

L-R: Head, Personal and Business Banking, Standard Bank West Africa, Lincoln Mali; Representative of Amuwo-Odofin Constituency 1, Lagos State Assembly, Dipo Olorunrinu; Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Obinnia Abajue and Head, Customer Channels, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Abiodun Gbadamosi, at the commissioning of the Satellite Town Lagos branch of the bank, yesterday.

National News

Fashola moves to fix power sector Chidi Ugwu

Abuja

inister of Power, Babatunde Fashola, yesterday informed operators in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, that one of the primary targets of the present government is to fix the sector. The minister, at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency in Abuja, explained that the functions of NEMSA, as directed by the Federal Government, is to ensure stable systems that would deliver reliable, efficient and regular power supply and at the same time guarantee safety of lives and property in the industry. He said, “We will therefore, continue to strive at all times to ensure that provision of electricity services in the country meet the best international practice. This administration is mindful of the sanctity of lives of Nigerians and other electric-

ity consumers and would therefore, not condone frequent incidences of electrocution and other forms of accidents in the industry due to use of substandard materials and equipment and poor state of electricity supply networks, as well as frequent systems collapse. “Let me avail the opportunity of this forum to appeal to owners of the privatised (power) generation and distribution companies to redouble their efforts at providing sustainable and reliable electricity to their customers. While we appreciate the improvement in electricity supply since inception of this present administration, I have to restate the fact that providing sustainable and efficient power supply in a robust electricity industry is one of the cardinal foci of the Buhari administration.” According to the former Lagos State governor, the forum was no doubt a major step in the effort of government, through NEMSA, to provide sus-

tainable and reliable electricity supply through the application of high technical standards, correct specifications, quality materials, safety and competence to guarantee a competitive Nigerian electricity industry. “As we continue to consolidate on the gains of privatisation of the Nigerian power sector, which took effect from November 2013, the important role of NEMSA in stabilising the industry cannot be over-emphasised,” he said. The minister stated

that the Act, which set up NEMSA, provided a guideline to its critical functions of providing enforcement, testing and certification. He said, “This is towards ensuring that electrical materials/equipment/instruments used in NESI are of the right quality, standards and specifications; that power systems and networks put in place have been properly planned, designed and executed before use; that safety of lives and property within the grid and offgrid networks is assured.” Fashola said NEMSA

would also ensure that meters and instruments were of the right type, class and accuracy for proper accountability of energy produced, delivered, supplied and utilised by consumers. He stated that the agency would ensure that only skilled and qualified technical personnel were engaged in the practice of electrical installations along the value chain in NESI and other allied industries. Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, NEMSA, Engr. Peter Ew-

esor, said the agency was ready to deliver on its mandate as captured in the Act that established it, adding that it would not hesitate in sanctioning errant power firms, particularly those that use substandard materials. In his presentation, a former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, urged NEMSA and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to interface in order to run seamless operations so as to avoid any form of operational interference between both organisations.

80% of maternal deaths caused by unhygienic deliveries –UNICEF

N Children’s Fund says 80 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by unhygienic delivery practices at Primary Health Care Centres, PHCs, nationwide. UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH Specialist, Mr Bioye Ogunjobi, disclosed this at the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Draft Hygiene Promotion

Strategy and Guidelines in Abuja. According to him, effective provision of WASH facilities will go a long way to promote safe health care. He explained that in Nigeria, many PHCs do not adhere to minimum WASH standards to provide adequate and safe levels of health care. He added that ‘‘reports say 80 per cent of maternal

deaths are caused by unhygienic delivery practices in PHCs across the country.’’ The WASH specialist said it was worthy to note that inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities were known to cause 10 of 100 hospitalisations in Nigeria. He stressed the need for stakeholders to see access to WASH as a human right,

saying ‘‘this plays a vital role in attaining universal health coverage.’’ Ogunjobi said it was saddening to see that there were no specific policies on hygiene promotion in PHCs, as it were. He said if healthcare facilities were overcrowded, lacked toilets, access to water, patients and health workers may be exposed.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Friday, November 27, 2015

Boko Haram: December deadline not feasible –CCC UBONG UKPONG ABUJA

entre for Crisis C o m m u n i c at i o n , CCC, has dismissed as unachievable, the December 2015 deadline for the military to end Boko Haram insurgency in the country. Executive Secretary of the Centre, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (rtd), while briefing the press in Abuja yesterday, said the time line on when to stop the insurgents from activating sleeper cells and

detonating bombs into soft targets in any part of the country, especially in the frontline states was therefore, not tenable in the current efforts by the armed forces. While agreeing that it might not be wrong to set deadline for military operations, Anas however stated that the target date was unrealistic following fact that the asymmetric warfare, which Boko Haram is prosecuting

against Nigeria was not such that could easily be stamped out. Quoting the just concluded United Nations General Assembly, Anas said: “That terrorism as an ideology is largely emotive because it has to do with the mind. Force has never been known to combat, in a precise manner, any issue that has to do with the mind.” The Centre therefore urged Nigerians not to see the

December target as sacrosanct date when all suicide bombings will end. Concerning the millions already displaced by insurgency, especially in the north eastern parts of the country, the Centre expressed concern about their plight, which it described as precarious and needing urgent attention. It suggested the establishment of a lead government agency that would develop a Marshall Plan

for the rehabilitation of all the displaced people in the region. The Centre equally noted the serious threats of secession by individuals and groups in parts of the country, including some Yoruba elders and Igbo groups. It said the development was not only grossly uncharitable, but unwarranted, coming at a time the country is not only consolidating its nascent

democracy, but also celebrated its 100 years centenary and its 55th independence anniversary. Buttressing his point with video clips of leader of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Daniel Kanu on his radio broadcast threatening to burn down Nigeria, which he described as “Zoo”, Anas declared recent disruptive protests in some South East and South- South as condemnable.

Why corruption won’t end in Police –IGP UBONG UKPONG ABUJA

nspector-General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase, yesterday, said the inability and unwillingness of government to adequately fund the Police was responsible for persistent corruption in the Force. Arase, who made this disclosure at a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs, in Abuja, said it was difficult to get policemen to stop corrupt practices in the face of poor and unattractive welfare package. Arase said over the years the police made serious efforts to solve the problem of personnel welfare, but this has been made difficult by the lean envelop it was receiving in its budgetary requests. For instance, the IGP said in 2010, the police asked for over N45bn in the overhead budget, but was given a paltry N15bn that was hardly able to take care of stationery. Equally, he said in the same year, the police asked for over N53bn under capital budget, but was given about N39bn. Arase told the committee that police operatives were working under very difficult and frustrating condition, living in dilapidated houses and working in offices not befitting of their roles as police officers. He said the police needed to recruit additional numbers to boost its staff strength to be able to provide security coverage across the country.

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of interior, Mr Bassey Ekpeyung; Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), and Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Martin Abeshi, during the Minister’s familiarisation visit to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters, at Sauka in Abuja yesterday.

Senate gives Buhari two weeks to end fuel scarcity CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

moment. Adeniran also accused the marketers of product diversion. Asked how the nation can address the scarcity decisively, Adeniran explained that the only way to restore normalcy in the sector was for government to pay the marketers their subsidy as at when due so that they can resume fuel imports and supplies. He said such action would instill confidence in the importers that at the end of the day, they would not be running at losses. Managing Director of PPMC, Esther Nnamdi Ogbue, decried the activities of pipeline vandals, who she also blamed in part for the current scarcity. She stated that following the huge disruption

caused by vandals, PPMC had to engage in product trucking to ensure proper distribution. She disclosed that this year alone, PPMC lost about 551 million liters of pms valued at N50bn to the activities of vandals. “As a result, we have to truck heavily from Apapa ports, creating serious traffic challenges in that area of Lagos,” she said. However, she said marketers used the opportunity to embark on criminal diversion of the products they received from PPMC. Ogbue, who described the activities of the marketers as economic sabotage called for their immediate prosecution by the Federal Government. She disclosed that following frustrations in the hands of the marketers, her company had to involve the Directorate of State Service, DSS, and

the police to help monitor the distribution of the products to avoid diversion. “With the involvement of the DSS and the police, we are beginning to have results. Apart from ensuring that the products get to their destinations, which is the filling stations, what we have done is to monitor the sale of the products from station to station,” she added. According to Ogbue, even when the products eventually get to the filling stations, marketers devise other means to frustrate sale, which increases the scarcity. Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, Farouk Ahmed, who also spoke during the budget defence, had explained that the N413b subsidy contained in the supplementary budget

comprises N120.52bn areas for 2014, while the balance of N294.43bn represents subsidy that accrued from January to December 31 this year. When asked by the lawmakers how his agency arrived at the figures, Ahmed disclosed that PPPRA has a template for determining the cost, which it usually submits to the DMO for certification. He said all claims are subjected to serious verification based on discharges at the ports, which are usually certified by other agencies of government at the ports, including the Nigeria Customs, officials of the Petroleum Ministry, those of the Central Bank, amongst others. On what government spends on subsidy at the moment, Ahmed stated that costs of delivering fuel to pumps is N100

(Open Market Price), including cost of importation and logistics. He said since the official price is N87.00, government pays N13 as subsidy for every liter of fuel. He put the average Open Market Price of fuel in 2014 at N139.40, making government to pay a subsidy of N42.45 on every liter consumed then. Ahmed said that because of the low price of crude in the international market, between November 2014 and January 19, 2015, when the price of fuel was reduced to N87 from N97, government was making a profit of N2 on every liter of fuel purchased. He however explained that the profit was wiped off by the exchange rate of the Naira against other international currencies, particularly the United States Dollars.

News

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Reps query Virgin Atlantic for sacking 100 Nigerian staff …summon Aviation minister, stakeholders Ubong Ukpong Abuja

ouse of Representatives, yesterday, queried the sack of about 100 Nigerian workers by Virgin Atlantic Airline. Consequently, the House summoned Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Virgin Atlantic and stakeholders in the sector over the sack. The Standing Committee on Aviation was therefore, mandated to probe the sack within 48 hours and report back to the House. The House decision followed a point of constitutional order raised by Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who said the management of Virgin Atlantic took the law into its hand by sacking Nigerians working in the company. Gbajabiamila said Section 14 subsection(2) of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Section 18, provided that government shall be responsible for the wel-

Court dismisses FG’s request on Dasuki’s presence in court Doosuur Iwambe Abuja

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed request by the Federal Government, seeking to compel the presence of former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Mohammed Dasuki in court throughout his trial. The application was brought before Justice Adeniyi Ademola through the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, DPPF, Mr. Mohammed Diri. Diri had argued that it was wrong by law for Dasuki to stay away on the three consecutive times the case against him came up in court. He said section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 makes the presence of Dasuki mandatory in court at all times.

fare of citizens, which in this case means to protect the jobs of the sacked Virgin Atlantic staff. He recalled that there was a motion passed by the House asking the Committee on Aviation to probe activities of the airline. But, according to him, in a manner akin to preempting the decision of the committee, Virgin At-

lantic went ahead to sack the Nigerian workers. He said the company was licensed under Nigerian laws to operate and must subject itself to laws and procedures in the country. Gbajabiamila, who prayed the House to consider the motion, being a matter of very urgent national importance, asked that in probing the com-

pany, the aviation minister and stakeholders be invited by the committee within 48 hours. He expressed annoyance that the company was inconsiderate to the Federal Government, laws and Nigerians, seeing that there was already unemployment crisis in the country. Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, in a point of order

cited House Rule 57 (6), saying the House had already stepped in to resolve the issues. He said matters relating to the sack were already being handled by the Aviation Committee, adding that Gbajabiamila should have passed the information at his disposal to the committee. Speaker Yakubu Dogara, in protecting the

Majority Leader and the motion, said it was a different matter entirely from what Ogor stated. He said the issue has just happened and that being the issue of unemployment, they could not shy away from it. Consequently, the motion, which enjoyed an overwhelming support, was referred to the committee on aviation.

DISCLAMER!!! CHANGE OF NAME

IT HAS COME TO THE NOTICE OF THE MANAGEMENT OF NICON LUXURY ABUJA. THAT SOME GROUP OF PERSONS COMING UNDER DISGUISE OF THE NAME BELOW, AGRICBIZ NEWS MAGAZINE NOBLE INTERGRATED SERVICE NIGERIA, ABUJA

HAS BEEN FRADULENTLY USING NICON LUXURY AS VENUE FOR AN EVENT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST TO SWINDLE UNSUSPECTED NIGERIANS. THEREFORE THE MANAGEMENT OF NICON LUXURY HEREBY NOTIFIES THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THAT THE HOTEL HAS NO BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WHATSOEVER WITH THE AFOREMENTION COMPANY. PLEASE BE WARNED SIGNED MANAGEMENT NICON LUXURY ABUJA

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News

Friday, November 27, 2015

Orubebe’s trial stalled as FG amends charges Doosuur Iwambe, ABUJA

rial of former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, over false assets declaration was yesterday stalled following Federal Government’s request to amend charges. When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, Federal Government brought an oral application seeking to amend three of its charges against Orubebe, even when the accused person

repeatedly insisted that he was ready for the trial to go ahead. Counsel to the Federal Government, Mr. Peter Danladi, leading the prosecution team, had sought to alter the charges filed against Orubebe, who was put on trial for allegedly receiving N70m bribe from a contractor and also for fraudulent declaration of his assets. The oral application to alter the charge was, however, opposed by counsel to Orubebe, Mr. Selekeowei Larry, SAN, who told the tribunal chairman that it was improper for

such an application to be treated orally. According to Larry, it was wrong in law for the tribunal and the accused to be caught unawares by the Federal Government, adding that the alteration to the charges has to be made in writing for all parties to see. Counsel to the Federal Government thereafter applied for two months adjournment, which was expressly granted by the tribunal chairman. Fielding questions from newsmen after the court proceedings, counsel to Orubebe dismissed

the charges against his client as being frivolous, baseless and unjustifiable, adding that the charge will collapse at the trial. The tribunal chairman has, however, adjourned the trial till January 27 next year. The Federal Government had last month arraigned the former minister for alleged N70 million bribes and non-declaration of assets. At the resumed trial last month, when the charge was read to the accused person, he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Buhari dares Africa’s public broadcasters to develop rich content Ayo Esan

resident Muhammadu Buhari has challenged public broadcasters in Africa to pay attention to the creation of content in order to take their rightful place and be a catalyst for growth. Declaring open the 9th African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) General Assembly in Abuja on Thursday, the president, who was represented by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said public broadcasters in Africa should use the power of their reach to invest in good quality content for the viewers, saying that in the media industry, ‘content is king’. ‘’Broadcasting is not just about equipment and technology, it is not an end itself but a means to an end. There has been too much focus on equipment without massive investment of time and resources into content,’’ he said. The president cited the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, as an example of a public broadcaster that has leveraged on content to dominate the media space, adding: ‘’They have become the catalyst for growth in the production and channel industry with spin-offs like

BBC FOODS, BBC PRIME, BBC WORLDWIDE, etc. Their catalogue of content they now sell all over the world is admirable.’’ He said the creation of content and world class production would create jobs, provide revenue for government and quality entertainment capable of increasing broadcasters’ share of the advertising pie. He also said African countries must not see the digital switchover as a simple crossover from analogue to digital, ‘’but an opportunity to provide enhanced services, quality programming, interactive content and a new and vibrant media industry that will help grow the economy of the various African countries and create jobs.’’ President Buhari said Nigeria had recorded significant achievements in her digitisation effort and was willing to share her experiences with AUB member countries. He urged the AUB, formerly known as the Union of African National Television and Radio Organisations, known by its French acronym URTNA, to retake the initiative of ensuring that more African viewers are able to watch global sports events like the FIFA World Cup.

Reps to stop tertiary institutions running unaccredited courses George Opara, ABUJA

C L-R: Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Isiaka Adeleke; Chairman of Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council (CAMMIC), Mr. Olutola Mobolurin; former Minister of Finance, Shamsuddeen Usman; Director-General of SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo; Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market, Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf and representative of Minister of Finance, Dr. Mahmond Isa-Dutse, during the inauguration of CAMMIC in Lagos yesterday.

Reps ask NUC to sanction VCs over unaccredited courses Ubong Ukpong, ABUJA

ouse of Representatives yesterday asked the National Universities Commission, NUC, to punish all Vice Chancellors, VCs, of universities admitting students into unaccredited courses in their various schools. The House also mandated its committee on tertiary education and services to undertake an inventory of all universities to ascertain accredited and non-accredited courses and establish why

they are not accredited with the view to proffering solutions to students studying courses not approved by NUC. The House also resolved that lecturers hired for the purpose of accreditation of courses in universities by NUC and sacked later should be investigated by the committee. These resolutions by the House was sequel to a motion entitled “call on Nigerian universities to stop the practise of admitting students into courses not approved by the NUC” sponsored by Hon. Samu-

el Onuigbo. Onuigbo, while moving the motion on the floor of the House said, “Many students, who were admitted to study those unaccredited courses were obviously misled by having seen the courses advertised in the brochure of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), only for them to be disappointed at the point of graduation when they realised they had wasted precious time and scarce funds chasing shadows as they cannot be awarded degrees. “This unwholesome

practise has kept several prospective graduates without degrees, thus leading to depression and bleak future.” He said as many as 104 courses out of all the courses offered in about 140 federal, state and private universities are not accredited by NUC. The lawmaker worried that this practise was going to worsen the unemployment situation in the country. The motion was adopted by the House after it was put to a voice vote by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

ommittee on Tertiary Education and Services would undertake an inventory of all universities and other tertiary institutions to ascertain accredited and non-accredited courses and proffer solutions on how to end the suffering of students admitted to study unaccredited courses. It was disclosed that 104 courses out of all the courses being offered in about 140 federal, state and private universities in the country are not accredited by NUC. Hon. Samuel Ifeanyi Onuigbo, PDP member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia north and south federal constituency, yesterday brought a motion calling on Nigerian universities to stop the practice of admitting students into courses not approved by the national universities commission and brazenly taking the students through years of teaching on such courses. The House described the act as an unwholesome

practice by some Nigerian universities, saying many of the students who were admitted to study those unaccredited courses were obviously misled by having seen the courses advertised in the brochure of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, only for them to be disappointed at the point of graduation. Consequently, the practice was viewed to have created a lot of problems to many Nigerian youths whose hopes of graduation were dashed, thus resulting in depression and bleak future among the affected youths. Such hapless situation, it was observed, influences high unemployment and crime rates in the country. However, the motion had some amendments seeking to sanction those institutions found in the habit of admitting some students into unaccredited courses, including tertiary institutions that also hire some lecturers for the purpose of meeting the requirements for accreditation only to lay them off soon after.

South West

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ASUU, NUT task govts on improved education funding

cademic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, yesterday urged the three tiers of government to increase their budgetary provisions for the education sector. ASUU National President, Dr Nasir Fagge, and his NUT counterpart, Mr. Michael Alogba-Olukoya, made the plea in separate interviews in Lagos. Fagge said the country was left with no choice than to improve its education. According to him, countries like India, China and others that have made it were able to achieve much through conscious investment in education. “I think there is need to give priority attention to education, especially in our annual budget. “This is to ensure that

Nigeria is placed firmly among the comity of nations that would be adjudged as being developed within the next five to 10 years. “Nigeria has no option than to follow suit,” he said. Also speaking, AlogbaOlukoya said education had over the years suffered poor funding. He said too much of politics and politicking had been hindering the progress of the sector. Alogba-Olukoya said the three tiers of government should, as a matter of commitment, increase their budgetary allocations to the education sector to reposition it. “I think with the change mantra of the present administration, it should be tasked to positive inclination in the sector,” the NUT president said.

2 in court over alleged gang-raping of 21-yr-old

wo men, who allegedly gang-raped a 21-year-old lady yesterday appeared before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court. The accused are a trader, Adeniyi Gidado, 25, who lives at 5, Osanyinpeju St., Agege, Lagos, and Simeon Nwaugo, 25, also a trader, who lives at 9, Akeem Boye St., IjuIshaga, near Lagos. The accused are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and rape. The prosecutor, Cpl. Felicia Okwori, told the court that the offences were committed on November 24 at a hotel situated at 156, Dopemu Road, Agege, Lagos. Okwori said the first accused, Adeniyi, who was a boyfriend to the victim, invited her for a date at the hotel. “On getting there, they both decided to sleep in the hotel since it was already late to go home but unknown to the victim, her boyfriend had invited the second accused. “It was after the victim had slept that the second accused came into the room and they gangraped her,” she said. The prosecutor said it was the screaming of the victim that woke the

people in the hotel and the duo was apprehended. He said the offences contravened Sections 258(1) (2) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate, Mrs. Taiwo Akanni, granted each of the accused bail in the sum of N250, 000 with two sureties in like sum. The case was adjourned till December 15 for hearing.

L-R: Chairman, Conference Planning Committee, Ms. Bose Adebayo; President, Portfolio Management Institute of Nigeria, Chartered (PMIN), Chief (Dr). Olusola Dada (MFR); former Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Wole Adetunji and First Vice President, PMIN, Usman Suleiman, during PMIN 2015 National Conference/Induction of new members in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

DPR seals ex-Senator’s filling station, 43 others in Oyo KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

epartment of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Oyo/ Osun field office, yesterday embarked on aggressive disposal of products at filling stations creating artificial scarcity. Officials of the agency, who worked in different teams, visited Ogbomosho and Ibadan and sealed off 43 filling stations, where the products were hoarded and sold at odd times. The teams also ensured that more than 50 filling stations caught selling during the inspection sold fuel at government approved prices. Among the filling sta-

tions sealed was that belonging to a former senator from Oke Ogun part of the state, and another belonging to a former governor from Ogbomosho. It would be recalled that some marketers across the state have been cashing in on the scarcity to sell fuel above government regulated prices. The few major marketers selling at official prices experienced large crowd with many people spending more than 10 hours on queue to get the product Some of the filling stations where the enforcement took place in Ogbomosho include TDB Global Venture Limited, Modern Options, Isale

General, Ballah Plus, Sabo, Rubbie Oil, Stadium Road, Musalat Integrated Resources Nigeria Limited and Saajad Resourses Nigeria Limited. The few marketers selling at government approved prices during the inspection were also supported in ensuring orderliness and promptness in the sale by the officials, who were stationed there by the team leader. The team had to intervene and restore order at Conoil and Oando both at Eleyele, when the massive crowd made dispensing fuel difficult for sales attendants. Some of the filling stations sealed off in Ibadan include Prolek, Molete, for selling at N130 per

litre and not willing to reverse sales, Alleluyah Oil, Idi-Arere, for selling at N140 per litre and Oando, Oritamefa, for hoarding the products. Operations Controller, Oyo/Osun Field Office, Mr. Olakunle Ogunlana, while speaking with journalists through Mr. Sadiq Ibrahim, Deputy Manager (Operations), said the effort was to cushion the pains fraudulent marketers have been subjecting members of the public to for pecuniary gains. He called on the marketers to show patriotism in discharging and running their business interest as government was doing enough to make the products available across the country.

Gridlock: Experts advise Lagos to adopt integrated transportation system FRANCIS SUBERU

xperts in the field of transportation yesterday advised the Lagos State government to adopt integrated transportation system as the only viable solution to the crippling traffic gridlock plaguing the city in recent times. The advice was given by experts, including Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, who converged on Lagos for a traffic summit. They agreed that diversification of the state’s

transportation system and strict enforcement of traffic laws was the only way out of the perennial gridlock in the metropolis. Speaking at the summit, which had Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his cabinet members in attendance, Oyeyemi said 30 per cent of vehicular density is from Lagos; just as most of the freights also come from the city. He noted that road transportation was not the only means of transportation available for use, adding that intra-modal system; most especially rail and water, was a viable alternative. He asserted that if wa-

ter and rail are effectively utilised, the perennial traffic in the city would be abated. Similarly, Prof. Olukayode Oyesiku of Olabisi Onabanjo University, who has over 30 years experience in transport planning, lamented the inability of the state government to explore the use of waterways, saying that was why armed robbers have taken to the use of waterways for their operations. He noted that part of what led to the early collapse of traffic at the time the present governor came in was the total collapse of enforcement for one reason or the other; saying no

matter how beautiful the highways and the flyovers are, law enforcement was key in traffic management. In his lead paper that dwelt on overview of current traffic management problem in Lagos, Dr. Gboyega Banjo, a traffic management expert, who worked with the World Bank for 17 years, stressed the need for urban renewal and strict enforcement of the law in tackling current traffic problems in the state by improving on the present infrastructure. Earlier, Governor Ambode had assured the people of his strong po-

litical will to take tough decisions and implement effective strategies to bring about a robust traffic management system in the state. He said as a government, his administration was keenly committed to making Lagos work for all, adding that effective traffic management, for him, was a good place to start. The governor observed that with the realities on ground, there is the need for practical and innovative solutions to address the traffic challenges confronting the state to deliver immediate dividends and future aspirations.

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Fulani herdsmen, farmers in fresh collision in Oyo Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

he last may not have been heard about the crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Oyo State, as they appear set on fresh collision course in Ido Local Government Area of the state. National Mirror learnt that the present development has heightened tension in the area as farmers whose farm holdings were allegedly ravaged by grazing cattle have threatened reprisals. The aggrieved farmers numbering about 400, drawn from various villages in the local government, including Abokede, Onikanga, Mabolese, Alatori, Agbetu and Olorode, yesterday mobilised at Omi-Adio in a peaceful protest against what they described as recurring invasion of their farms by Fulani herdsmen. The farmers claimed they had lost virtually all their farm yields to the invasions. The protesting farmers led by the Secretary, Osho Forestry Reserve in the council, Asimiyu Yusuf, further claimed that victims were also recorded from such villages as Adedapo, Olorode, Keji, Aboke, Pelu, Alagbe, Gbagba Elewure and Areyinjetu. According to Yusuf, among farm crops allegedly destroyed by the invading Fulani herdsmen, were cassava, maize, yams, tomatoes, potatoes, pepper, as well as assorted vegetables, which are their only means of livelihood. “Many of us have been ruined following incessant invasion of our farms by the grazing cattle of these Fulani herdsmen, as we have no other means of livelihood,” he lamented to newsmen. “This year alone, some of our members were macheted on their farms by invading Bororos, while nothing seems to have been done by the authorities to checkmate them.” The aggrieved farmers stated further that the invading Fulani herdsmen, who are always armed with knives and guns, have been striking at the various farms with their grazing cattle not only in daytime but also at nights when nobody dared stop them.

South West

Friday, November 27, 2015

They also alleged that the invaders, at times, raped wives of some of the farmers. The protesting farmers, who claimed to have lodged series of complaints to the police and the State Security Services, SSS, then called on the state government to intervene without further delay, so as to save lives and property. The Sardaunan Yamma and Sarkin Sasa, Haruna Maiyasin, while speaking on the development, promised to wade into the matter before it gets out of hand. The Sarkin Sasa, who is leader of the Fulani community resident in South West, however, pleaded with the aggrieved farmers not to take laws into their hands as the issues at hand were being resolved amicably. It would be recalled that the leadership of the Fulani community resident in the South West recently rose from a meeting resolving to embark on compulsory registration of all Fulani herdsmen operating in various states of the geo-political zone, including their animals with a view to ensuring effective monitoring of their activities by their host communities and security operatives to guard against unwholesome behaviour. Maiyasin had also at that meeting called for cooperation by the host communities, including the various state and local governments in supporting the Fulani leadership to effectively implement the proposed registration exercise, just as he mandated Fulani parents to keep close watch on their children and wards to ensure they do not engage in anti-social behaviours or consumption of hard drugs.

Oyo lawmakers begin strike over unpaid allowances Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

risis between members of Oyo State House of Assembly and Governor Abiola Ajimobi has refused to abate as lawmakers yesterday embarked on what they called indefinite strike to press home the demand for their unpaid allowances. The legislators, who are being owed furniture and car allowances, two months running cost for the Assembly, while speaking on con-

dition of anonymity, said they last received salary in August. As a result of the strike, yesterday’s sitting was postponed for as long as it will take the governor to pay all their outstanding allowances. One of the lawmakers, while speaking with journalists, said they took the ‘no allowance, no sitting’ decision after all entreaties to have the matter peacefully resolved failed. He said, “During the last Assembly, during Governor Ajimobi’s first term, all the

lawmakers were bought cars. They were also paid furniture allowance. The running cost of the House was also paid regularly. These allowances are statutory. “We understand that crash in the price of crude oil has brought the economy to its knees. The consequent drop in revenue affects all the 36 states as well as the Federal Government. “But in spite of this dire situation, all other governors have sorted out the allowances of their Houses of Assembly. Only those of us

Traffic hold-up caused by fuel tankers on queue for loading at Western Avenue, Lagos, yesterday.

who are lawmakers in Oyo State are left languishing throughout the country. “Last week, we boycotted sitting to protest lack of concern for our welfare. Without the running cost, the Assembly cannot function. The running cost for the office of the governor is paid regularly. Why is the House left out?” It was, however, learnt that the unanimous decision to embark on strike was discussed at a meeting of the All Progressives Congress, APC, caucus in the House yesterday.

PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIEMHIN

Petrol: Apapa traffic jam won’t abate unless… —NUPENG

igeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, says the traffic gridlock in Apapa axis of Lagos will continue until scarcity of petrol is resolved.

It said petrol tankers across the country were loading at Apapa depot. South-West Chairman of the union, Mr Tokunbo Korodo, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday that NNPC depots had not been

Bode-George’s wife is new NDLEA boss

rs Roli BodeGeorge has been appointed the first woman acting Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, following the retirement of Alhaji Ahmadu Giade. Giade bowed out of the agency after serving two terms of five years each. Mrs Bode-George’s ap-

pointment is considered by observers as a significant gender balancing at a period when the Buhari administration is being leaned upon to appoint more women in position of public relevance and reckoning. Chairman of Women Initiative Group, WING, Mrs. Tinuade Joseph, has described the appointment as a good step in ‘‘redress-

ing the gender imbalance in the recent appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari.’’ Roli Bode-George is generally perceived as an unobtrusive goal-getter and a quiet but formidable achiever, who has the requisite field training and solid academic credentials to give NDLEA the cutting edge.

loading because of activities of vandals. He said tanker drivers were now coming to private depots in Lagos to carry fuel. Korodo said the traffic gridlock would have been checked if NNPC was using more of its over 50 private depots in Lagos to distribute the product. “At present, NNPC is using only six private depots in Lagos to distribute the product and they are all in Apapa axis. “They are Capital Oil and Gas, The Joe Oil and Gas, Folawiyo Oil and Gas, Eternal Oil and Gas, Wisco Oil and Gas and Nipco Oil and Gas. “All these depots are in Apapa; petrol tankers are coming from all states of the federation to Apapa for load-

ing. “Currently, Apapa is the only solution to the country’s petroleum problem. “Until the scarcity is over, traffic gridlock is inevitable on Apapa roads,” he said. The union chairman said officials of Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, were working with LASTMA to ease the gridlock. He assured the Federal Government that the tanker drivers would ensure the product was not diverted. “The PTD will ensure we work round the clock to get the products to their different locations on time. “We are now appealing to NNPC to increase loading depots because drivers are spending close to a week before being loaded,” he said.

South-East

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

N’Delta states don’t contribute to NDDC funding –MD Dennis Naku, PORT HARCOURT

L-R: Leader of Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra, Chief Ralph Uwazurike; wife of the late Dim Chukwemeka Ojukwu, Amb. Bianca, and Chief Chris Uche, during the 3rd memorial anniversary of the late Ojukwu in Owerri, yesterday.

Protests: IPOB warns S/East govs, Ohanaeze to steer clear

…IMC accuses Igbo body of selfishness Gloria Anaeze, ONITSHA

ndigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday warned South East governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo to steer clear of its activities. This was even as Igbo Mandate Congress, IMC, accused Ohanaeze of selfishness in piloting the affairs of the Igbo nation. IPOB, according to its leader in Anambra State, Emma Powerful, is not satisfied with the role the governors and Ohanaeze have been playing since the protests for the actualisation of Biafra started. “We warned the South East governors and Ohanaeze to stop discussing IPOB because they have disappointed us, Ndigbo and Biafrans in general. “You can only talk about

the unconditional release of our leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and not to talk of how to stop the worldwide and Biafra peaceful protests. “We will not stop the protest until our leader is released unconditionally. Those claiming they are representing IPOB and the Igbo nation should desist in their own interest, including the governors because we don’t know them,” he said. Also, Coordinator of IMC, a social cultural organisation, Rev. Obinna Akukwe, regretted that Ohanaeze has become a thorn in the fresh of the Igbo people. He said: “Ohanaeze has now turned to a moneyyielding venture as the leadership and elders have become money conscious while piloting the affairs of the body. “The crisis you hear to-

day in Ohanaeze is about money sharing and on two occasions during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s regime they quarreled over money sharing formula. “In the first quarrel, each of the executive members got N20m and the President General refused to take his because he was not interested in money but how to move the Igbo nation forward and those who got theirs threatened to eliminate him for being upright. “I have my documents and photocopy of the cheque they collected in the name of speaking for us. “If not for the protest by IPOB and MASSOB, which have put fear in them, they would have rushed to President Muhammadu Buhari for money, like they did in the time of the late President Yar’Adua and Jona-

than. “The Igbo politicians are not left out as they will also be held responsible for the infrastructural decay in the zone. Their sense of insensitivity keeps us in the condition we are today. “I was even told that some people ate the money for the rehabilitation of Enugu/Onitsha Expressway.” Akukwe stressed the need for the Igbo to keep their house in order prior to achieving Biafra Republic. “The Onitsha-Enugu, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Ikot Ekpene construction of 2nd Niger Bridge and Seaport have all become nightmares. “The about two million Igbos resident in Kano State, if they return to South East where are the infrastructures they will live on,” he queried.

The governor listed some of their members in the state’s service to include the Accountant-General, the Auditor-General of the State, local governments and a number of permanent secretaries and directors of finance in the state. “With such a strong presence in the bureaucratic structure of the state, members of the association have a key role to play in the effective implementation of the fiscal and other policies of government. “I wish to assure you of the readiness of the government to partner with the association toward the achievement of its objec-

tives especially those of them that would be of benefit to the people of Enugu State,’’ he said. Earlier in an address, state Chairman of the association, Princess Roseline Egbo, said members of ANAN constituted over 90 per cent of professional accountants in Nigeria and in Enugu State. She affirmed readiness of the association to identify with the administration following the governor’s aggressive infrastructure development within a short time of his administration. “We wish to be identified with your government by working closely with

you and by offering our services as professional accountants, having been part of the team that has been responsible for the prompt rendition of annual financial accounts of the state,” she said. Egbo noted that the association upheld transparency, accountability and prudence in accounting processes and procedures, which the state is noted for. The chairman said ANAN provided a platform for training and re-training of accountants for capacity building and development of members like any other professional body.

Ugwuanyi pledges to partner ANAN for accountability

overnor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has pledged to partner with the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN, to entrench accountability and transparency in the financial administration of the state. Ugwuanyi made the pledge in Enugu yesterday, when he received in audience the state’s chapter of the association in his office. According to him, members of the association constitute 95 per cent of professional accountants in the civil and public service of the state.

anagement of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has said state governments in the region do not contribute to the funding of the interventionist agency. The commission said it was neither doing the jobs of federal nor state or local governments in the region, but to complement the efforts of the three tiers of government. Managing Director of NDDC, Sir Bassey DanAbia, stated at the commission’s headquarter in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, yesterday, while briefing newsmen on the forthcoming Partnership for Sustainable Development, PSD, forum. The PSD meeting, which will attract governors of the nine Niger Delta states, oil firms operating in the region, chairmen of local government councils and several other international organisations, will hold in Port Harcourt between Sunday, November 29, and Tuesday, December 1, 2015. He said: “We are not do-

ing the jobs of local government councils; we are not doing the jobs of state governments; we are not doing the jobs of the Federal Government. We only compliment. “That is why we consider the PSD meeting very important.” The NDDC boss disclosed that under his administration, NDDC has been able to complete and furnish eight out of 19 universities’ hostels, initiated by the commission in 2004, during the tenure of Chief Onyema Ugochukwu as chairman. Dan-Abia said: “When we came in, we selected certain projects that were awarded by previous successive boards, which include ongoing and abandoned projects, to complete. “We found that contracts for the construction of 19 university hostels were awarded by the commission when Chief Onyema Ugochukwu was here. “That was in 2004. Out of the number, only one hostel located at the Imo State University, Owerri, was completed, more than 10 years after the contracts were awarded.”

Thugs hold journalists hostage in Delta Amour Udemude, ASABA

ight journalists from different media organisations yesterday received the beating of their lives and were held hostage for several hours by armed thugs from Okpai community in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State. Among the journalists held hostage were Felix Igbekoyi (Daily Independent), Paul Osuyi (Sun), Dominic Adewole (New Telegraph), Okungbowa Aiwerie (Nation), Ochuko Akuopha (Vanguard), Charles Shola (Rainbow), Vincent Anikushe (The Pointer) and Cyril Obi (DBS, Asaba). The journalists also in the process had all their belongings such as laptops, iPads, phones, handsets, digital recorders, Sony Video Z1 Camera and undisclosed amount of money carted away by the thugs. The journalists, our correspondent learnt, were at Ase-Omoku community to cover a protest against an oil exploration company, Sterling Global Oil Service, over alleged breaches of the Memorandum of Un-

derstanding, MOU, entered with the community when they were attacked. Trouble started when a section of the youths intercepted the vehicle conveying the journalists at IPP junction, Okpai, ordered them out and made them to sit on the ground for several hours while mobilising their colleagues to the scene. Explanation by the journalists on their mission fell on deaf ears as the thugs started humiliating them while making calls to Deputy Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Mr. Friday Osanebi, who represents Ndokwa East. “After a while, some leaders of the thugs pleaded with their colleagues to release us on ground that Mr. Osanebi had already intervened. “They forced us into their car, asked us to reverse and forget the mission. But just about two kilometres from the IPP junction, three of the thugs, who were apparently armed, waylaid our vehicle, hijacked it and led us into the beating arms of another set of thugs, who had blocked the road with about 40 motorcycles.”

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South South

Friday, November 27, 2015

Navy frees Ambowei’s kidnapped relative Osahon Julius YENAGOA

rs Tokoni TrustGod, a kidnap victim abandoned by her abductors in the creeks of Southern Ijaw, was yesterday rescued by operatives of the Nigerian Naval Base in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Commodore Yakuku Wanbai, commander of Nigerian Navy Base in Yenagoa, who confirmed the development, said the kidnappers struck on Thursday around 2am in Angiama-Gbene. “My men on patrol in the waterways got a distress call and the gunboat headed to the scene of the incident, where the kidnappers whose speedboat had developed a fault abandoned the victim and fled on sighting the patrol boat. “My men rescued the woman and brought her to the base. And in line with the existing inter-agency cooperation, we are handing the woman over to the police for preliminary investigations and to re-unite her with her family,” Wanbai said. Narrating her ordeal at the Naval Base in Yenagoa, Mrs TrustGod said the kidnappers, who were five in number and armed with gun and machetes, had invaded her residence at Angiama-Gbene in the early hours of Thursday and abducted her. “They broke into the house

and asked me if I was Professor Millionaire Ambowei’s sister and I told them that I wasn’t. They said I was lying and took me away to the waterside and into a speedboat. “When we got to Olagbene, their boat had a fault and ran out of fuel. And on sighting an oncoming boat, they fled into the bush. The people in the boat then hid me in a neighbouring community. “Shortly afterwards the kidnappers, who had fixed their boat, came to where I was kept and shot severally, threatening to kill the people if I was not produced, so they brought me out and left for the waterside. “We boarded the kidnappers’ boat again before we now heard the sound of a Navy gunboat. It was at this point that the kidnappers abandoned their boat and when the Navy people came, I cried out to them that I was held hostage. “They took me in their boat and brought me to Yenagoa,” TrustGod said, adding that Prof. Ambowei is her husband’s brother, who is based in Port Harcourt. The Yenagoa Naval Base Commander, Wanbai, handed over the freed victim to Mr James Ejure, a CSP with the Criminal Investigation Department, and Mr Richard Ogwuche of the Anti-Kidnap Squad of Bayelsa Police Command.

Oshiomhole signs 2 health bills into law Sebastine Ebhuomhan BENIN

overnor Adams Oshiomhole has signed Edo State College of Nursing and Midwifery Bill into law. The governor also signed into law the Primary Health Care Development Agency Bill to regulate activities of health care in the state. Signing the two bills into law in Benin City on Thursday, Oshiomhole explained that the two bills were needful to help address gaps in and fortify the health industry. “We have a bill establishing Edo State College of Nursing and Midwifery and other matters. Although we have a School of Nursing, but there were huge gaps; and we checked all the records with the Ministry of Justice and there was no law formally establishing the institution,

which raises legal issues about the status of the institution. And we agreed, and forwarded a draft bill to the House of Assembly to formally pass the bill to enable us, as it were, formally establish in law the School of Nursing and Midwifery. “The School of Nursing was established many years ago. It has produced several nurses and midwives over the years. Somehow, there was no formal set-up; and as they say, better late than never. I think at the level of the Federal Ministry of Health, there are issues arising from the absence of enabling laws with regards to the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Edo State.” The ceremony was witnessed by some members of the House of Assembly led by Deputy Speaker, Bright Osayande, and members of the State Executive Council.

Commander, Operation Pulo Shield, Maj-Gen Alani Okunlola (left), welcoming Managing Director, Port Harcourt Refining Company, Mr Bafred Enjugu, who visited headquarters of the Task Force in Yenagoa, yesterday. PHOTO:NAN

Court dismisses criminal charges against Sylva Doosuur Iwambe ABUJA

Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday dismissed the 50-count fresh criminal charges brought against former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, by the Federal Government. Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who dismissed the charge, held that the action of the Federal Government through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in the endless prosecution of the former governor constituted a gross abuse of court processes that must not be encouraged. The judge, while deliver-

ing ruling in a preliminary objection filed by Sylva against the fresh charge and third in the series preferred against him, said it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused person was first put to trial in 2012 and later in 2013 and now 2015 on the same subject matter. Justice Ademola said the action of EFCC constituted a desperate and clear case of bias and harassment by seeking to get the accused persons convicted at all cost. The judge specifically said the former governor was arraigned before Evoh Steven Chukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, where the charge

was struck out in 2012 and later re-arraigned on same issue before Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, who in 2013 dismissed the charge against the accused person. Justice Ademola said for the same case to be resuscitated in 2015 before the same Federal High Court was nothing but gross abuse of court processes and contempt against the Federal High Court. The judge said, having perused the charge against the accused persons in 2012, 2013 and in 2015, he found that the charges were based on the same subject matter and transactions and that the witnesses listed in the fresh charge were the same listed in the

previous charges, same with the proof of evidence and exhibits. He therefore, said no court of law will allow the reckless show of power by the anti-graft agency, adding, ‘‘To commence a fresh trial in 2015 is a complete abuse of court process that will occasion miscarriage of justice if allowed. “In this circumstance, this court lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the charges against the accused person. “From the foregoing, this court hereby dismisses the charges filed against the defendant in this suit for lacking in merit and for being frivolous and constituting abuse of court process.”

Refining company’s MD lauds ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ Osahon Julius YENAGOA

anaging Director, Port Harcourt Refining Company, Banfred Enjugu, has commended troops of ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ for its zerotolerance campaign against oil theft, illegal oil bunkering and related crimes in the Niger Delta. Enjugu made the commendation when Commander of Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Alani Okunlola, paid a working visit to NNPC and Petroleum Pipeline Marketing Company, PPMC, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

A statement by spokesman of the military outfit, Lt. Col. Isa Ado, quoted Enjugu as saying that the effective patrol along waterways of the Niger Delta by troops of Operation Pulo Shield has gone a long way in checkmating activities of oil thieves. Enjuju was also quoted as stressing that relative peace has been restored in the region, thus increasing production capacity of oil companies operating in Nigeria. He, however, called for the deployment of more troops in Okirika area to checkmate pipeline vandalism and kidnapping targeted at staff of the corporation.

In his response, Major General Akinola, thanked the NNPC boss for his words of commendation and reassured him of the outfit’s readiness to protect all oil workers and installation in Niger Delta. The commander also visited PPMC jetty in Okirika, Rivers State, where he was received by Manager of Port Harcourt Operation, Mr. A.A. Gunda, who took him round the facilities of the corporation. He commended the commander on the conduct of the troops in the area, which he said was in line with the vision of the company. Meanwhile, the Nigerian

Navy Ship, NNS Delta, a maritime component of Operation Pulo Shield patrolling Benneth Island in Delta State, has arrested a wooden boat laden with Automated Gas Oil (AGO) suspected to be illegally acquired. Five suspects and a fibre boat with 75HP engine were also arrested during the operation. The statement added that illegal oil distillery camp were also discovered at Bollo and NAFCON creek by NNS Pathfinder, where a total of 14 tanks containing 10,000 litres each of illegally refined AGO and four dumpsites of suspected stolen crude oil were also discovered.

North

Friday, November 27, 2015

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NASS to domesticate all pending treaties, MoUs –Dogara Ubong Ukpong ABUJA

peaker, House of Re p r e s e n t a t iv e s , Yakubu Dogara, yesterday restated the resolve of the legislature to domesticate all pending treaties, memoranda of understanding, MoUs, and agreements that would benefit Nigerians. Dogara stated this when a Korean delegation visited his office in Abuja. The speaker assured the delegation, led by South Korea ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-duk, that the double taxation avoidance agreement bill to implement the agreement between the two countries will be passed with urgency. He noted that the law was already in force in Korea, where Nigerian businessmen are already reaping the benefits. Dogara added that the committee overseeing domestication of agreements and treaties would

do everything possible within the ambit of the law and standing orders of the House to ensure the law is domesticated and that Nigeria reciprocates Korea’s kind gesture. While thanking the country for its interest in Nigeria’s economy, and plans to invest in the agroallied sector, he urged them to consider key areas of power, solid minerals and tourism. Dogara also assured them of the support of the legislature in the interest of Nigeria and expressed the desire to promote a cordial relationship between the two countries. Earlier, the Ambassador of Korea appealed to the Speaker to ensure that the Double Taxation Avoidance Bill is passed by the House of Representatives before the year ends. He also called for the establishment of parliamentary friendship groups between Nigeria and South Korea.

Vision 20:2020 possible through human development –CMD boss Rotimi Fadeyi

irector-General of the Centre for Management Development, CMD, Dr. Kabir Usman, yesterday said the country must focus on human development in order to become one of the first 20 economies in the world by 2020. Usman spoke at a twoday workshop on strategic leadership for change management for State House officers on Grade Level 1417 at the auditorium of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. According to him, Federal Government must ensure its workers go through regular training to improve capacity. He noted that the civil servants taking part in the training make key decisions and formulate policies for the country, stressing that they are the engine room for efficient service delivery. He said the present administration would be able to fulfill its electoral promises to Nigerians when civil servants support the government by contributing

their quota. The CMD boss stressed that the training was very important to educate workers, saying there can never be effective leadership without education and character. The State House Director of Administration, Abubakar Mohammed, said the training would help in repositioning the workers for better service delivery. He added that the State House civil servants in the Presidential Villa would work hard to assist the government in delivering on policies and programmes that would have positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.

Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura lying on a bed in boy’s hostel during his visit to Government College, Keffi, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

16,000 women to implement free Kaduna feeding programme –El-Rufai A za Msue, KADUNA

aduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai yesterday said 16,000 women will participate in implementing the administration’s free primary school feeding programme. El-Rufai, who stated this at the formal presentation of the final report of the 2015 APC Transition Committee in Kaduna, said 5,000 tailors will produce free school uniforms that would be distributed across the state.

He said heavy investments in security operations and equipment have reduced cattle rustling, killings in southern Kaduna and general level of crime all over the state. “No one can doubt our commitment to cutting the cost of governance so that we can invest more human and material resources in delivering public good for the people. We are embracing needed reforms of the public service, beginning from the basic necessity of establishing the precise number of public employees.

contracts for the renovation and construction of primary schools and supply of furniture. Those 5,000 tailors that will produce school uniforms and the 16,000 women we hope will participate in implementing our primary school feeding programme are waiting. “Don’t forget that we not only stopped payment of fees for basic education, we have ended the practice of making students pay for admission forms into any state-owned school, effectively saving our parents nearly N4 billion.”

Kogi group asks INEC to declare result, Faleke as gov-elect group, Concerned Voters of Kogi State, have appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare the result of last Saturday’s governorship election conclusive in the interest of peace and jus-

tice. Secretary-General of the group, Abdulkareem Jimoh, who made the appeal yesterday while addressing newsmen in Lokoja, also expressed the group’s condolences for the family and supporters of their great leader, Prince Abubakar Audu. The group further re-

jected the call for fresh primaries in the state, stressing that All Progressives Congress, APC, would not participate in any fresh primaries. It therefore, urged the electoral umpire, INEC, to declare the poll conclusive as the running mate to late Audu, Hon. Abiodun Faleke, takes over the position of governor and

signed on its behalf. Terms of the memorandum include an undertaking by the company to facilitate the state government to secure a 100 per cent commercial loan for the completion of projects agreed upon. Shortly after signing the document, Takema noted that Tongyi Hyper Consortium was the first to be given an opportunity to benefit

from the administration’s commitment to achieving its development blueprint of “Our Collective Vision for a new Benue.” He maintained that the signing of the MoU was to further confirm that it had become a valid document on which projects outlined therein would be executed expeditiously, assuring of government’s maximum cooperation to achieve set

targets. Chairman of the Chinese firm, Mr. Zheng, promised to execute the projects diligently and according to specifications. He expressed willingness to sustain the partnership with Benue government and expressed appreciation for the opportunity of entering into an agreement to carry out projects in the state.

Wale Ibrahim, LOKOJA

Benue, Chinese firm sign pact on infrastructure

enue State government today signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with Chinese company, Tongyi Hyper Consortium, for the provision of critical infrastructure across the state. Secretary to the State Government, Mr.Targema Takema, signed on behalf of Benue government, while Mr. Algreen Zheng, chairman of the company,

“Similar actions have been undertaken in verifying pensions. We have changed the paradigm of budgeting. Not for us unrealistic big budgets, which are notable only for the perfect performance of the recurrent expenditure side to the utter neglect of capital investment. Our young but dedicated Budget Commissioner is enforcing zero-based budgeting, orienting the public service to the need to justify every expense. “As the education agenda unfolds, we are energising the local economy with

appoints new deputy governor. On INEC’s declaration of the poll as inconclusive, the group lamented that the electoral body needed to convince APC supporters how the outstanding 35,785 eligible voters in the said 91 units could upturn the over 41,000 margin already in favour of APC. Whilst also rejecting all the statements credited to INEC, declaring the election inconclusive, the group called on the outfit to declare Falake governor-elect with immediate effect. The group therefore, urged the president, as a matter of urgency and national interest, to probe the action of INEC ‘‘in this circumstance, as we are already worried at the highwired conspiracy against the will of the people of Kogi State.’’

Friday, November 27, 2015

Obiora Ifoh ABUJA

he Bayelsa State governorship election comes up on Saturday, December 5, amidst fears that the exercise could be marred by violence – the state being a major election flashpoint in the country. The sad events which marked the recent Kogi governorship election appear to reinforce this spectre of violence. Some commentators believe that the turn-out of voters in the Kogi exercise was largely affected by the portentous activities of political supporters. Besides, there is a growing contention that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress,APC, Timipre Sylva, is not eligible to participate in the poll. This position is being championed by the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP and its candidate in the election, Hon. Seriake Dickson, who is the incumbent governor of the state. Both party and candidate took a legal step to pursue this argument since November 6 when they filed a case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking Sylva’s disqualification. According to them, Sylva had already been elected twice for the same office. In Suit No CV/70/15, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson & ANOR Vs Chief Timipre Sylva & ORS, the plaintiff wants the court to determine whether the APC candidate for the election, Sylva, is qualified to contest the poll in view of the provisions of Section 182 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). That Section bars any person who has previously been elected to the office of governor twice from further contesting for the position. Dickson and his party hold the opinion that if Sylva is allowed to contest the December 5 governorship election, it would be his third time, having twice been elected and served as Bayelsa State governor for a total period of four years and seven months. In addition, Sylva would ultimately serve more than the maximum period permitted by the Constitution, which is eight years, if he wins. The Acting State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, had issued a statement in support of his party, insisting that the PDP and its leadership took the legal decision to halt what he described as “recourse to impunity and disregard to law and order.” The suit, he argued, was not only intended to stop Sylva from contesting in the election but also to ensure that the constitution and the democratic process were not violated. In a recent advertorial in a national newspaper, the group, Truth Movement of Nigeria TMN, which has head office in Abuja, took a position in support of the PDP, noting that Sylva won both the first election that was nullified and as well as

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Politics

Bayelsa gubernatorial election and the contentious issues

Dickson

Sylva

the rerun election in 2007 and 2008 respectively, thereby being elected twice as the governor of Bayelsa State. In the statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Fred O. Amakom II, TMN said APC had no candidate in the December 5 governorship poll. It hinged its argument on the decision of the Supreme Court in Marwa vs Nyako (2012) 6 NWLR, Part 1296, Page 199 at 280F – G in which it was held that: “From the language used in Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution, it is very clear that the Constitution intended that the Governor of a State shall have a tenure of four years from the date he took the oaths of allegiance and of office and nothing more, though he may spend less where he dies, resigns or is even impeached. In all, a Governor has a maximum tenure of eight (8) years under the 1999 Constitution.” According to the group, when the election of a governor is nullified and he participates in a subsequent re run election ordered by the Court and wins, such a governor, whose election was nullified, cannot be said to be elected only once. The governor, notwithstanding the nullification of the first election, has been elected twice. The group drew attention to the fact that the Supreme Court settled the issue with finality in the said case of Marwa vs Nyako when it decided that “A person elected, following a rerun election, cannot be said to have been ‘first elected as Governor under this Constitution’ except he was not the winner of the earlier election or first election.” As earlier noted, Sylva won both the first election that was nullified as well as the rerun election, thereby being elected twice as the governor of Bayelsa State. Sylva was one of the parties to that case in the Su-

preme Court, and it was, in fact, that case that terminated his tenure as governor of Bayelsa State. Some observers, therefore, assume that the Supreme Court clearly recognized the earlier nullified election of Governor Timipre Sylva as having led to his first election. Thus, his success in the rerun election was obviously his second election. The Supreme Court, in acknowledging the reality of the annulled election as an election that actually took place, further stated: “I hold the considered view that to uphold the validity of the acts of the governors in office prior to the nullification of their election and reject the period they spent in office during which time they performed those acts in the determination of the period of their tenure is contrary to common sense and the clear intention of the framers of the Constitution. “The fact that there was an election in 2007 as a result of which the 1st Respondents (Governors) took their oaths of allegiance and of office are facts which cannot be wished away, just as the acts which they performed while occupying the seat. “The said Governors may not have been de jure Governors following the nullification of their elections, which is not supported by the acceptance of their acts in that office as legal and binding on all and sundry, they were certainly Governors de facto during the period they operated, ostensibly in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and Electoral Act and, as such, the period they so operated has to be taken into consideration in determining the terminal date of their tenure following, what I may call, their second missionary journey vide a rerun election, particularly as the Constitution unequivocally grants a tenure of four years to a person elected Governor of a State calculated from the

date he took the oaths of allegiance and of office, which was the 29th day of May, 2007.” Regardless, former Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Lagos State, Monday Ubani, believed that the case could go either way, depending on the court’s ruling on what constitutes a proper election. His words: “I would say it’s a little dicey, because the court’s ruling would depend on whether it accepts the first election which was nullified as having existed in the eyes of the law. I doubt if there is a judicial precedence on which the argument can be hinged. “As for the possibility of serving more than eight years, the court has ruled – as we have seen in the case involving ex-president Goodluck Jonathan – that the emphasis is on not serving more than two terms.” As it is, it would seem that so much is at stake as the court’s interpretation of the law in respect of the arguments adduced in the case would go a long way to define the pathway for similar legal conundrums as the present one across the states of the country. The final list published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and signed by the Acting Secretary to the Commission, U. F. Usman, shows that 20 candidates are to contest the governorship alongside their deputies, but observers are focused on the candidates of the PDP (the ruling party in the state), and its major challenger, the APC. Sylva, candidate of the APC in the present poll, was also candidate of the PDP in the 2007 governorship election, and succeeded Goodluck Jonathan who became presidential running mate to late Umar Yar’Adua in the election of that year. Sylva’s opponent in the 2007 election, Ebitimi Amgbare, of the Action Congress, challenged his victory in court. Although the Bayelsa State Election Petitions Tribunal upheld Sylva’s election, Amgbare took the matter to the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt and Sylva’s victory was overturned on April 15, 2008. Speaker Werinipre Seibarugo was Acting Governor until May 27, 2008, when Sylva was again sworn in as Bayelsa State Governor, having won the rerun election of May 24. Nevertheless, his tenure was cut short by the Supreme Court on January 27, 2012, thus paving way for the emergence of Dickson as governor of the state on February 14, 2012. It is the view of some political analysts that the legal issue regarding Sylva’s eligibility to contest the Saturday December 5 governorship poll deserves the court’s critical determination in order to ease current contestations and remove legal booby-traps in the administration of the state.

Politics

Friday, November 27, 2015

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DPC calls for fresh gubernatorial elections in Kogi N T

Lagos assembly honours staff

Robert Awokuse

he Democratic People’s Congress, DPC has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s position to continue the 21stNovember poll by conducting a supplementary election in 91 polling units on 5th December, 2015 saying INEC must conduct a fresh gubernatorial election. The party said following the death of Prince

Abubakar Audu, the All Progressives Congress candidate in the November 21 election, there is the need for a fresh governorship election in Kogi State In press statement issued by its National Chairman, Rev Olusegun Peters, the party said it is inappropriate for INEC to direct APC to choose another candidate to substitute the late Audu and

continue the governorship election when the people voted for the candidacy of Audu and not the yet to be selected candidate in the November 21 election. “We strongly oppose the attempt by INEC and the ruling APC to impose a candidate on the good people of Kogi State in violation of democratic ideals. We urge all lovers of democracy and good

governance to resist this anti-democratic stance of the electoral umpire in connivance with APC. “We demand a fresh governorship election that will reflect the will of the people. This is the only way the nation’s frail democracy will be deepened and strengthened to provide its dividends to the longsuffering compatriots,” he said.

L-R; Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly/Chairman, Conference of Speakers Forum, Hon. Abdulkareem Lawan; Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad at a workshop on Administration of Criminal Justice Act in Ilorin, yesterday.

Audu: AGF usurped powers of court –PDP Reps Ubong Ukpong ABUJA

he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives yesterday, chide the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami for usurping the powers of the courts in ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to replace late Abubakar Audu, candidate of the All progressives Congress, APC, in last Saturday’s inconclusive Kogi state Governorship election. Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor, at a press briefing in National Assembly, gave Malami the opportunity to amend his comments and apologise to Nigerians or face the wrath of minority parliamentarians in the House. Ogor, who said, “we speak as parliamentar-

ians and people that have the interests of this country at heart”, declared that the AGF clearly misled the INEC and entire nation by directing INEC to go ahead and conduct election when somebody that contested died in the processes. Ogor said that there was no provision for this scenario in the laws, which did not contemplate that a candidate could die when election was in progress. The Minority Leader, who said that the AGF acted in a haste, said that he also acted as if he were the AGF of the APC. “The law as he quoted has no bearing with the situation at hand. The scenarios have no relation. When you have an Attorney General that carry on as if he was the Attorney General of a political party, it is very worrisome. He acted so much in a haste. He ought to approach the courts for in-

terpretation”, Ogor said. Stating that the hour and time for substitution have come and gone, he said, “this is impossible. The best way is to seek some interpretation to this logjam. We sympathize with the family of the deceased candidate and Kogi people but there is need to caution those in authourity. “The Attorney General took the powers of the court and interpreted law he has no powers over. This is a clear usurpation of the powers of the court”, he said. The parliamentarian stressed that the doctrine of necessity as being canvassed has nothing to do here at this time because of the scenarios. Ogor reminded that the exercise had started and there was action going on and not yet concluded, thus, he said it was not for anyone to talk about substitution but to seek interpretation in court.

“If the court says election should be allowed to go on, the question that would be asked is does the APC have a candidate? And if they say yes, they have a candidate, we will ask, who is the candidate?

o fewer than 66 workers of the Lagos State House of Assembly who have spent at least 15 years have been honoured by the assembly for their dedicated, industrious and exemplary conduct in the service of Lagos state. The award ceremony was held at an event tagged “House 4th Interactive Session and Long Service Award Ceremony” hosted by the lawmakers. The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa while giving his speech at the occasion emphasized the need for more co-operations between the staff and the lawmakers for better performance of the legislative arm, adding that the event would be marked annually to celebrate staffers who have been in service for over 15 years. The speaker while making reference to the mission statement of the assembly, urged the staff to live up to the house creed. “I want you to let us live up to our mission statement “…above the common standards of excellence”, “We shall not relent in training you to bring out the very best in you” .The standard has been set and only the best can satisfy the 8th Assembly. In his remark, the Clerk of the House, Mr. Olusegun Abiru enjoined the staffers to keep the flag flying, stressing that to whom much is given

much is expected. “I believe in you all and I know that this award will sprawl you to give more to the state. The management has vowed to continue to do the needful to ensure that the work environment is suitable for all and sundry.” The spokesman for the awardees, a director, Mr. Sikiru Ojora, said the beneficiaries are appreciative of the kind gesture of the House and promised that the best is yet to be seen in them. He however called on the management to see that all that is needed for more outstanding services is provided. Some of the staffs who bagged the award expressed their gratitude to God and the assembly management for its encouragement. List of the awardees ranges from directors to cleaners cadre. Amongst them are Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mr. Azeez Sanni who has spent 30 years in service , Director (Public Affairs), Miss. Bose Lambo25 years, Director Legal Drafting, Mr. Sikiru Ojora -24years, Deputy Director (Accounts), Mr. Moruf Tijani- 26 years , Deputy Director, Mr. Bisiriyu Wasiu-28years, Chief Secretarial Officer, Mrs. Patricia Bankole-22years, Mrs. Latona Folashade-16years, Mrs. Bisola Branco-Adekoya-15years, Mr. Adeyemi Akande-15years, Olalekan Onafeko-15 years, Abdushshakur Osoala15years.

Appeal Court upholds two Ekiti senators’ elections Abiodun Nejo ADO EKITI

he Ado Ekiti Division of the Appeal Court yesterday upheld the electoral victory of the Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Senator Fatimat Raji-Rasaki, and her Southern District counterpart, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, in the March 28 National Assembly election. The elections of the two Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidates had earlier been affirmed by the National and State Assemblies Elections Petitions Tribunal which sat in the state. All Progressives Con-

gress, APC candidate, Chief Anthony Adeniyi, had sought nullification of Olujimi’s election, claiming she was a member of the National Communications Commission, NCC board at the time she contested and thus not qualified. But Justice Sidi Bage, delivering the panel judgment, held that Mrs. Olujimi was eligible to contest having resigned her appointment as a board member of NCC within the 30 days allowed by the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). According to the panel chair, the stamp and date on the resignation letter showed that it was dated 26th February, 2015 while

the election was held on 28th March, 2015. Bage also ruled that all the votes credited to the PDP candidate remain valid as the second appellant (APC) admitted that its candidate came second in the election. The court also dismissed a separate case filed by the APC against Olujimi challenging her eligibility to run for the Ekiti South senatorial seat. Also the APC candidate in Ekiti Central, Gbenga Olofin, alleged that Mrs. Rasaki was not validly elected by lawful votes cast at the poll, adding that the election conducted in the senatorial district was marred by violence, corrupt practices.

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Politics

Friday, November 27, 2015

Ndoma-Egba finally joins the broom revolution Richard Ndoma CALABAR

he recent visitation of former senate leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba to the secretariat of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC in Cross River State has been described by his staunch supporters as an appropriate decision. The visitation brought peace and tranquility which had eluded the people of central senatorial district of Cross River state since he left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP out of anger, claiming he and his teeming supporters were shut out of the PDP by the cabal who ran the PDP as their personal estate. Since then, peace had eluded the Cross River people of central senatorial district leading to gale of defection from the PDP to the Labour party and to the APC thus destroying the soul of PDP in Cross River state. Only last month, the former PDP “big boy” officially made a visitation to the APC secretariat in Cross River state to receive his bundle of broom in the midst of his numerous supporters as he claimed that he went there to accept overtures made to him by top notch of the APC in the state. Political analysts said Ndoma-Egba`s movement to the APC is going to help reposition the APC in Cross River ahead of the Local Government poll scheduled for next year as his political tactics are going to help the APC re-strategized on how to outwit the PDP who had for 16 years seen themselves as having the birth right in the management of the affairs of the state. The new political scenario had led the PDP in the state to begin to feel jittery. A former senate leader in the 7th senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the then ruling PDP speaking while being received at the secretariat of the Cross River state APC said; “I am here today not to say I have joined or have not joined the party. But I am here to reciprocate the various courtesy calls that have been paid to me by the party. So let me make one in return. I am here also to make further consultations that have been going on in the course of the several visits. “For a long time it was said that Cross River State was a one -party state. For a long time it was but it is no longer tenable today, because from the action of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who created a large pool of ‘Internally Displaced Politicians’, IDPs who still have political life in them and must continue in the politics. So the IDPs must find a platform to carry on with their politics,” Ndoma-Egba added. “As we continue consultations with you I want to assure you that we are aware the party has a constitution and we must be bound by it. We want to come to the party with values of integrity, fair competition and a level playing ground. “Fortunately PDP has given a template of what should not be done, that impunity is not sustainable. They have had to pay a high price for impunity. Whether they have learnt lessons from their impunity is what I don’t know. “We want to come, when we come to join you offer the people of Cross River state a choice since a one party state is no longer tenable. Our desire is to be able to give the people of the state a choice because politics is about choices and we can no longer continue with this mantra of one party state,” he said. Ndoma-Egba said his mission and vision to the APC was not to alter existing structure of the party. Nor despise members who were already in the fold and pledged to build synergy with both stalwarts and faithful of the APC to take the party to greater pedestal. The full drama of Ndoma Egba`s exit from his former party the PDP, started prior to the primaries of the PDP when as a precursor to his removal, the erstwhile governor of Cross River state, Sen.Liyel Imoke connived with the party`s cabal in the state and got him and his staunch supporters shut out from the party. Since then he had been on the news.

Ndoma-Egba

Ndoma Egba attributed his defection from the PDP to the APC to injustice meted out to him and his supporters who at that time vied for elections into the House of Reps and state Houses of Assemblies in Cross River State particularly those the PDP had perceived as being his supporters in the PDP primaries. Out of anger he described the exercise as a flawed and “a sham” stage managed to favour Imoke`s anointed candidates, quarreling that the entire process was a shame and that it was influenced by militancy fiat and militants employed by the state party machine to do the hatchet job!

In a media chat with journalists at his residence in Calabar, he said that his major focus is to build and consolidate on the remarkable gains already made by chieftains of the APC stressing that he was certainly going to work closely and faithfully for implementation of strategic plan to position APC for optimal performance, effectiveness and transformational impact for Nigerians. The new APC man was a chief executive officer to Ndoma -Egba and Ebri and Co. Law firm before joining the murky waters of Nigeria politics. He played politics on the platform of the PDP where he rose to the position of Senate Leader. Apart from bagging the prestigious title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), he was among the famous Nigerians who gained recognition by Federal Government for rendering selfless service and distinguished himself in his human endeavour. As a leader of the 7th senate he raised and sponsored 166 bills. At the valedictory session to mark end 4th session, Ndoma -Egba proved to Nigerians that he is a man of proven integrity when he admitted the failure of his then party, the PDP in the 2015 general elections. He said, “for once a party in government had lost to a party in opposition, a milestone in our democracy, lesson to be learnt from the last elections therefore, is that second term is no longer taken for granted, incumbency has its limitations, impunity is unsustainable anywhere and internal democracy is the only assurance to electoral victory.” Based on several strides recorded by this man in different field of endeavour, federal government conferred him with two national honours, Order of the Federal Republic, OFR and Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, a kind of honorarium which is usually conferred on very outstanding personalities in Nigeria who may had excelled in their chosen careers or exhibited exceptional and outstanding qualities in their field of disciplines. Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) was born in 1956 in Ikom Local Government Area in Cross River State to late Justice E.T. Ndoma-Egba OFR (JCA) one time judge in the Court of Appeal Benin Edo state and Madam Regina Achi Nentui, Teacher, Public Servant and first woman County Council Chairman in the then Eastern Region.

Allow youths leadership positions –APC youth leader tells Buhari Obiora Ifoh ABUJA

he National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Ibrahim Dasuki Jalo, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to avail youths the opportunity to occupy leadership positions in his government Jalo said the present government should put an end to the practice of use and dump of the Nigerian youth after each election. The APC youth leader was speaking yesterday in Abuja at a workshop organised for the APC youth by his office in collaboration with the International Republican Institute (IRI), with the theme: ‘’the role of youths in post-election era.” Jalo said: “There is this saying that the youth are leaders of tomorrow but in Nigeria today, the tomor-

row seems endless. After all we are leaders of today not tomorrow because we have waited long enough and this tomorrow remains an elusive business. ‘‘It is my opinion that the young people be given the opportunity to serve in leadership positions especially by this government because of the role they played in ensuring victory during the last election. Yet the young people are clouded, therefore the imbalance needs to be corrected,’’ he said. The youth leader said the workshop sought to proffer solutions on how the youth can leave the realm of ‘’active spectators to active players’’. The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Solomon Dalong, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, John Pofi, urged the youth to embrace peace and engage in positive criticisms. Dalong said: ‘’I urge the youth to maintain peace,

be more creative, engage in positive criticisms to ensure the government succeeds. ‘‘Put your hands on deck, contribute your quota instead of engaging in militancy, terrorism and come up with a policy to drive the country forward.’’ While delivering his papers, the National Auditor of the party, Chief George Moghalu, admitted that his generation had failed the youth. ‘‘My generation has in many ways failed to do the right thing, we forgot that society is a continuum and the decisions we take each day affect not only those of us living, but generations that come after us. ‘‘For all these and more, I apologise from the bottom of my heart.we say of many things that they cannot be forgiven but it is from forgives that we can forget the sins of the past”. Moghalu expressed

worry that most Nigerian youths were not prepared to take up the leadership positions. “I must also confess that I am worried about certain things. I am disturbed by the knowledge that as there are many of you here gathered, there are many more others who are at this very moment being subjected to the dangerous manipulations of religious extremists, of mercantile politicians and purposeless agitators. “I am disturbed by the fact that as eager as many of you are to be agents of positive change and irreversible progress in a tumultuous world, you are also in many ways woefully unprepared for the challenges of leadership, the tests of character that will confront you as you step forward to inherit the mantle of leadership that must inevitably pass from one generation to another”.

Editorial

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

All the Facts, All the Sides A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, CFR PUBLISHER

SUNDAY OLAJIDE MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO BEN MEMULETIWON ACTING DAILY EDITOR GBEMI OLUJOBI SATURDAY EDITOR AYO OLESIN SUNDAY EDITOR DOZIE OKEBALAMA COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD CALLISTUS OKE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR OBIORA IFOH ACTING ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF AUGUSTUS IMEKAN ACTING HEAD, GRAPHICS

Adewale and UNTH doctors’ strike

he swift (but temporarily) resolution of the longdrawn industrial crisis that grounded activities at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State, following the intervention of the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, amply demonstrated the inherent gains in the change of leadership and injection of new blood into a crumbling system. As at the middle of September this year, for instance, UNTH doctors were on strike, and had vowed to continue their stay at home. A communiqué issued in Ibadan by the UNTH President and General Secretary of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Dr. Ugwuoke Aloy Ifedinso and Dr. Ndiokwelu Chibuzo, respectively, at the time stated: “The management has done nothing different from the state of things before the strike commenced”. Their complaints centred on some unpaid salaries and allowances; as well as the general rot in the hospital. They also advised UNTH management to liaise with their colleagues in other Federal teaching hospitals in the country to know how they handled such challenges in the best interest of the hospital’s numerous patients and industrial harmony. Towards the end of October, the ARD, UNTH chapter, again reiterated the position and renewed

its demands. The association did not just dwell on unpaid salaries and allowances this time, but enumerated the rot dogging the hospital; and called for the immediate removal of its Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Christopher Amah. The group said: “We have decided to embark on an indefinite strike over the entire failure in the system. The aims for which this tertiary hospital was established, which are service, research and training, have failed totally. UNTH being on strike is better. The hospital has been turned to a money-collecting centre, where patients are made to pay for oxygen when they did not use same. In times of emergency, common investigations like HB, CT scan and blood bank tests cannot be done in the hospital. Patients are made to travel 20 km to private hospitals in the metropolis (Enugu) to do these tests, which compounds a simple ailment to a complex one… patients die as a result. We carry out surgeries with torch and candle lights following power failure and dysfunctional generators. It is only the poorest of the poor that comes to UNTH as a last resort”. However, respite came the way of the hospital, its embattled management and patients less than a week after the new Health Minister resumed work; and the industrial action was suspended. Another communiqué jointly signed

LASTING PEACE BETWEEN THE

ARD IN UNTH AND THE HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT MAY ONLY BE GUARANTEED BY SORTING OUT THE KNOTTY ISSUES by the national leadership of ARD subsequently said: “The Hon. Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has in a meeting with the President of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Kayode Obembe; and President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Muhammed Askira, expressed his determination to look into and solve the problems of the Nigerian health sector, with particular interest in UNTH, being the only federal teaching hospital currently experiencing industrial disharmony. That the Minister in the meeting made passionate appeal that we restore services in UNTH, while he wades fully into our demands, assuring that he will do all within his powers to see that our demands are given the necessary and deserved attention. “Though the UNTH management has acknowledged the genuineness of our demands, the major reason why the strike has been sustained

ON THIS DAY November 27, 1989 Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, exploded in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three others on the ground. The Medellin Cartel claimed responsibility for the attack. Avianca Airlines Flight 203 was a Colombian domestic passenger flight from El Dorado International Airport in Bogota to Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport in Cali. It was destroyed by a bomb over the municipality of Soacha.

Letters tothe theEditor Editor Letters to

November 27, 2005 The first partial human face transplant was completed in Amiens, France. A face transplant is a medical procedure to replace all or parts of a person’s face. The world’s first partial face transplant on a living human was carried out in France in 2005. The world’s first full face transplant was completed in Spain in 2010. People with faces disfigured by trauma, burns, disease or birth defects might benefit from the procedure.

till now is because we have not seen appreciable intervention in the area of improving services offered and patient care… After painstaking deliberations, members unanimously resolved that in honour of the Minister; and in obedience to the directives of the President of our national body, Dr. Askira, who has also shown enormous support in the struggles of ARD, UNTH chapter, members have resolved to suspend the present industrial action with effect from 8am, Monday, November 16, 2015”. It is a welcome relief that the strike has been called off, but the obvious is that the breather was in deference to the new helmsman now manning the Federal Ministry of Health – Adewole. Therefore, the industrial peace is temporary and fragile. Consequently, lasting peace between the ARD in UNTH and the hospital management may only be guaranteed by sorting out the knotty issues that led to the strike as quickly as possible, while the romance between the ARD and the Health Minister lasts. In no time, the doctors may run out of patience and return to the trenches. We advise the minister to act fast and demystify the circumstances that made UNTH ‘the only federal teaching hospital currently experiencing industrial disharmony’, with a view to eventually addressing and resolving the problems.

x November 27, 2009 A bomb exploded on the Nevsky Express train between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, derailing it, killing 28 people and injuring 96 others. Nevsky Express (No. 165/166) is a Russian Railways express train, the fastest on the prominent route between the Leningradsky Rail Terminal in Moscow and the Moskovsky Rail Terminal in Saint Petersburg. The train has a maximum speed of 200 km/h (125 mph).

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Friday, November 27, 2015

Boko Haram and Paris terrorist attacks compared Counter-terrorism Tips With

Ethelbert Oney ethelbertoney@zissltd.com, 08029929121 (sms only)

ETHELBERT ONEY

ince the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France, many questions have been asked and several comparisons made between Nigeria and France. Some concluded that if an attack could be carried out successfully in France, what chances we have in the fight against the Boko Haram? Going down memory lane, the French experiences in the fight against terrorism began with the French Revolution, a period of far reaching social and political violence that lasted from 1789 to 1799. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy and established a republic that experienced political turmoil which culminated in a dictatorship by Napoleon. From this period the French began their struggle to contain left wing terrorists determined to destabilise their peace and harmony. Thereafter, the French policy on terrorism went through tremendous changes over the years. Therefore, there is little to compare between Nigeria and France. In reality, what can be said to be our policy on

terrorism in the first place? Can offensive approach, which is attack and counterattack, be justified as a policy on terrorism? The answer is no. No because offensive counterterrorism is a reaction put forward in an emergency situation for a period of time till such time when the terrorists are disarmed, arrested, deterred, delayed, denied or killed during particular operations. Before comparing Nigeria to France, we must have changed several strategies, policies and faced several oppositions like them to date. They have undertaken major vacillations from a hardline to a softline approach and then back again. For instance, when President François Mitterrand came to power in 1981, he took a softline and more conciliatory approach to terrorism. His administration abolished death sentence on convicted terrorists and instead granted amnesty to hundreds of terrorist suspects. This eventually backfired because some of them went back to active terrorism. As a result of these developments, a hardline approach was adopted by the French in 1982, which tightened counterterrorism policy in the country. In 1986, the Jacques Chirac government introduced further hard line approach using the Italian version of ‘pentiti’ legislation that ended the Italian Red Brigade terror reign in Italy. This law gave the judiciary and the law enforcement agencies the power to reduce the jail sentence of any suspected terrorist that could im-

NO COUNTRY IN THIS WORLD IS IMMUNE TO TERRORIST ATTACKS plicate other terrorists. Since the French Revolution, they have battled extreme left wing Action Directe (AD), GIA, ETA, AlQaeda and now ISIS. On intelligence gathering capabilities, it took the French law enforcement agencies between one and two days to make an arrest as well as identification of the master mind and other perpetrators of the November 13 Paris attacks. Her deployment of sophisticated technologies such as CCTV cameras in Paris and all over France made this possible. In our case, it is very complex to make such an impact immediately an attack occurs in any part of the country, including Abuja because of the absence of CCTV cameras. In the case of profiling, the French authorities have profiled almost if not all the terrorists involved in the deadly attacks, to the extent that even their family members have been simultaneously invited for questioning by the relevant security agencies without any cover up as has been the case with Boko Haram insurgents. Of all the attackers, only about three are still at large. The key event is that the French authorities rallied round and responded spontaneously as if they were waiting for the attack to happen. To date, multiple raids have been carried out in Brussels, the Netherlands and around Eu-

rope to show how prepared and equipped the European Union is on terrorism related issues. A puzzle could be how a developed western country like France could be so easily penetrated. The answer is very simple. Terrorism is an epidemic that can manifest at any place, time and manner. Terrorism is a disaster, although man made, which can occur at any time and place. What makes the difference is how you manage your own when it knocks at your door step. No country in this world is immune to terrorist attacks. The two most important policy issues are your stance on proactive and reactive measures. Proactive measures are about strategy intended to discourage terrorists from operating in a country. This ranges from psychological, social and economic precautions. Reactive measures deal with the level of preparedness, expertise, trainings and technologies available for security personnel to carry out investigation after an offence has been committed. Is there wider anti-BH cooperation in Nigeria before other nations will come to our aide? Given the facts on ground, it will be extremely ridiculous comparing Nigeria to France on terrorism issues. It will also be unreasonable to say with certainty what chance we have over Boko Haram if France could be easily attacked by ISIS. Our law enforcement workforce should henceforth extend its anti-BH campaigns to the South-East, South-South, SouthWest and other parts of the North to avoid further embarrassments.

Why Hillary Clinton might be US next president OLALEKAN WAHEED ADIGUN

f, in all, Africa has produced seven female heads of state; US neighbours in South America have produced nine (including the present ones in Argentina and Brazil); not to talk of those in Europe and Asia, then we are amazed at to why some people still fantasize about the possibility of Hillary Clinto becoming the first woman to brake that jinx in America! Let us forget about the feminine arguments for now; it seems a foregone conclusion that Hillary will clinch the Democratic ticket next February 8 with a rare in-house unity she will be enjoying from even her closest rival, Bernard “Bernie” Sanders. Understanding this, the Republican Party or GOP leaders appear to have laid some landmines on her way with the recently concluded Benghazi Inquiry. Apart from the way she has made the Republican House leadership look sore silly with her “interviewers” sweating more than the “interviewee”, do we need to still ask why the infamous inquiry winded up abruptly? If there was anyone who had a better dinner after that 11-hour session, then that person had to be Hillary! Though, GOP leaders will never publicly admit this fact, Hillary is the most experience of all the present contestants. Her experience as First Lady (1993-2001); two-term US Senator (2001-09); and Secretary of State (2009-2013) makes her more

HILLARY’S MASSIVE SUPPORT FROM LABOUR UNIONS CAN BE IGNORED AT ONE’S OWN PERIL

experienced than all GOP contenders put together. Who settles for better when the best is available? In addition to her public service experience, she is a skilled debater. Her ability to communicate effectively is one of the hallmarks of good leadership, which sets her apart from her GOP rivals. Save for, say Carly Fiorina, would have been able to match Hillary’s oratory prowess but can Republicans trust women? Donald Trump is known to be in the presidential race just to promote his business interest; he is not known to be a good debater. The same goes for the renowned neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, whose only deficiency will not only be his skin colour, but also the fact that his oratory prowess his at best mediocre. Hillary is ready for the debates with whoever emerges on the Republican ticket. No one needs to be told that Hillary’s is the most well-funded and professionally run campaign among those contesting. Carly Fiorina’s campaign is presently in shambles after it was discovered that her campaign against “Planned Parenthood” was based on a fake video; Jeb Bush campaign is presently reportedly suffering from cash flow issues with the campaign

staff told to take huge pay cuts. Donald Trump is not running any serious campaign because he is getting free ads from CNN because he supplies them the news. His travels across the country may just be some investments hoping to yield returns in fat bank accounts, not really the White House. A bad thin Trump is doing to himself is that he is his own campaign manager; secretary and spokesman. No one should be surprised when you hear his unguarded, clumsy and infantile attacks against the Mexicans (Hispanics), immigrants and recently African Americans. In fact the drama surrounding his declaration for the office alone can at best pass for an Academy Award in Hollywood. Carson needs a good manager if he is serious about challenging Hillary! Hillary’s massive support from labour unions can be ignored at one’s own peril. The Dem’s most important constituency group in terms of ground troops and campaign resources is now moving decisively towards her, also giving her more working-class credential and undermining one of Sanders’ strongest rhetorical plays—that she is out of touch with the economic grassroots. And long-invested unions will provide her important foot soldiers in the general election battlegrounds, as they have since time began for Democratic presidential nominees. The Republican nominee is more likely to emerge broke. A nominating calendar and delegate rules designed to avoid the

kind of extended intra-party fight that crippled Mitt Romney’s general election effort will almost certainly be no match for a 15 candidate field, a number of whom can make a decent argument that they’ll win the prize. The ferociousness and deep pockets of gladiators Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and the possibility that the party establishment will end up intervening with tens of millions of dollars in negative TV spots means a long, gory slog that might not find resolution until after the national convention in Cleveland in mid-July. Republicans appear to have based their entire campaign strategy on two wrong (or faulty) foundations. First, that Vice President Joe Biden will be running, hence deplete the Democrats support base. Second, the GOP nearly never attacks any other Democratic candidate except for Hillary. Since Biden have announced last month he will not be running there has been a major boost to Hillary’s campaign. Adigun, a political analyst and strategist, wrote from Lagos via adgorwell@gmail.com Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

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Friday, November 27, 2015

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On Tahav Agerzua’s unproductive cronyism

S Point and kill mentality As funny as this topic may sound, it seeks to address the challenges confronting Nigerians today, how these challenges came to be, and how they have immensely contributed to the sordid state of the nation. Perhaps, developing the conceptual framework is necessary. The word “point” here means identifying the problems will are facing as a nation, while “kill” means solving them. Our starting point is the colonial era and the concomitant brainwashing of all of us by the colonial masters to a point of subjugating our all to their value system. After they left we found out we were not good at operating the system and values they bequeathed to us. The problem of ethnicity is central to all our problems. The centralization of our commonwealth and the fierce competition engendered by the system has created a nation of divided nationalities. This has bred corruption, insecurity, lack of standards and the rot in our education and social sectors. In the killing process, that is solving our various challenges, we have had to devise the federal character principle as a necessary political balancing process to give a sense of belonging to all parts of the country. As pragmatic as the principle may be, there are drawbacks. They include lowering of standards, and alienation of groups more endowed but have to make sacrifice for the less endowed to be ‘settled’. Olusi Esther Omoleye, Landmark University, OmuAran, Kwara State.

ir, permit the use of your very powerful medium to comment on the undeserving cronyism my some aides of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State. I take very strong exception to the conduct of Tahav Agerzua, Special Advisor to the governor on Media and Information Communication Technology

Birds of the same feather flock together.

Letters to the Editor

structive criticisms. I took my time to read with keen interest an article written by one Mr. Emmanuel Bello, a former Information Commissioner in Taraba State and recently published in The Sun newspaper about the intrigues that played out before Samuel Ortom got the ticket of APC for the 2015 gover-

PHOTO:ADEMOLA AKINLABI

Why the mass failure in Entrepreneurship Course

t is common knowledge that the entrepreneurship studies in the universities, encouraged by the Federal Government, is meant to help alleviate the idleness of graduates after graduation because they are expected to look beyond paid employment, especially at this time of chronic unemployment in the country. Unfortunately, however, the authorities of Benue State University, Makurdi, are mystifying this good intention. After the release of the results of 2013/2014 session’s first semester, it was discovered that about 90 percent of the students who registered for the course and sat for the examination

Lagos is beginning to work again

he recent constitution of the Lagos State Executive Council by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has completely changed the tempo of governance in the state for good. Before now the new government of Ambode was beginning to experience the cynicisms with which Lagosians react to any government perceived too slow to addressing the numerous challenges of the boisterous and hyperactive state. One area of positive change is transportation. The past few weeks

(ICT). His pointless commentaries and eye-servicing statements are becoming troubling and the time to call him to order is now. Looking at his position, he is to advise the governor on media and ICT issues and not attacking the concerned citizens of the state and other people for advising his boss through their con-

have seen improvements in service delivery by the fleet of buses in the BRT urban transport template. Everywhere, Lagosians feel the change in the air. What with the new and sparking blue buses that are everywhere making sure that highly mobile Lagosians are provided the means to do so. And this is done at very cheap cost. The buses now arrive on time to cut down the waiting period for commuters. Lagos is now working. Eko o ni baje o! Tosin Adetayo, Alapere, Ketu.

failed woefully. The number of students who registered for this course is put at more than 5,000, but less than 1000 passed the EPS examination. I feel the entrepreneurship examination was too professionally approached, thus made difficult for the student. I do not think EPS examination was set to test the ability of the students to confront the challenge of handling business activities after graduation, which leads to one conclusion: The examination was programmed to make students fail! Personally, after the examination I was forced to say that the Federal Government had unleashed a time slowing demon on the students of Benue State University because most of what we were given to read were not cited anywhere in the examination questions; even those that came were too professionally inclined. At the release of the result, brilliant students who are known to have had 4 point GPA woefully failed the course, some scoring as low as 10 percent. Up till now, the Senate of the University has said nothing about the result. This nonchalance has led to a number of questions, one of which is if Entrepreneurship Studies is more important than other core courses that many of the students scored very high

marks in. One of the affected students in the Department of Sociology, expressing his grievance over the issue, said the 300 level students of department are more than 800 out of which only 36 students passed the course. He further called for the immediate intervention of the Students’ Union Representatives on the Senate and the EPS co-coordinator to apologise to the students, stressing that the members of the Senate were not showing serious concerns on the matter. He, however, blamed the Students’ Union Representatives for been too weak. I agree that the Students’ Union Representatives are indeed weak, if not something ought to have been done to mitigate the effects of mass failure of this EPS course on the students. My advice is that the handling of the EPS programme in the nation’s universities, most especially Benue State University, be made pragmatic enough to avoid the type of mass failure experienced in Benue State University, now that the course is made mandatory for the students to pass before graduation. Aondover James Ikyobo is a Mass Communication student, Benue State University, Makurdi

norship election in the state. I must acknowledge that what Mr. Bello narrated in that article was the truth. Without Bello even telling anybody through his analysis, we all knew that Senator George Akume, who claims to be the most powerful political gladiator in the state so far, did everything possible to secure APC’s governorship ticket for Ortom. However, despite this antics, Benue people were truly tired of the tyrannical leadership style of the then outgoing Governor Gabriel Suswam. This was why the people rejected Tarzoo, who he tried to impose on the state. It is very irksome that Tahav Agerzua denied this fact and attacked Mr. Bello in his rejoinder. I am not writing in defence of Mr. Bello, but rather lamenting the needless tirades of Tahav Agerzua against anyone who criticizes Governor Ortom. Mr. Agerzua has benefited from almost every administration from 1999 to date, yet I am yet to see his contributions to the development of the state. I wonder why he cannot remain in one party. He is always jumping from one party to the other and the motive is self aggrandizement. Tahav was the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Akume, now a serving senator. The same Tahav worked as the Director, Media and Publicity in Gabriel Suswam’s Campaign Organization from June, 2006 to February, 2007, and he got an appointment to the bargain. Today, Tahav Agerzua is on the central stage serving as the Special Adviser to Ortom on Media and ICT. He is like a rolling stone that gathers no moss, an AGIP (In Government In Power). Our Benue leaders and beyond are always after their personal gains, unconcerned about the wellbeing of the poor masses. I am tired of those people who claim to be saints but more dangerous than those known to be dangerous. These saintly people were in government and still in government but they are not doing any better from others. They keep blaming and accusing others of being corrupt as if they are better than those being accused. We all know that none of our leaders is a saint, both the former and the present ones; therefore, they should stop condemning and accusing others of being responsible to the problems of the state. They are all collectively responsible. This is the time for all Benue people to forget partisan interests, but collectively work for the better development of our state and country. Awunah Pius Terwase, Mpape, Abuja (08179289948)

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16 PAGES OF ARTS, REVIEWS, LIFESTYLE AND BUZZ TO START YOUR WEEKEND

African stars unite against human trafficking Ngozi Emedolibe

nations in the entertainment industry such as football, music, movie and comedy, literary works. We have travelled in the last one year and six months; from Liberia to South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, Cameroun to carry out a survey as to the present situation as it relates to human trafficking. We have the endorsements of reputable African stars who are ready to partner with us on this cause. We intend to have for the very first time, a convergence of African celebrities in Accra, Ghana, to have a celebrity walk against human trafficking. Each celebrity will carry the flag of his country to showcase the solidarity of that nation against human trafficking. We have the cooperation of Ghana police, the Ghana MTU (Ghana’s version of Nigerian Road Safety Corps) have mapped out a 15 kilometre road network for this celebrity walk. The Ghana government has given us the Independence Square for all the stars to converge before the walk against hu-

We intend to have for the very first time, a convergence of African celebrities in Accra, Ghana

2Face, Darey for Faceoff Celebrity Basketball

man trafficking will commence. The walk is to show the world that Africa is ready to fight human trafficking. We are now ready to compliment and even do more, what CNN and Al Jazerra are doing in that regard. After the walk in the morning, African legends will be playing against Ghana legends in an exhibition football match. Legends such as Senator George Weah, Roger Miller, Jay Jay Okocha, John Fashanu, and Lucas Radebe of South Africa among many other football legends will feature in that match. I wish to mention that our ongoing documentary against human trafficking that features Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN who have spoken against the menace and proffered solutions too as well as retired army Generals among many others.” “Today, we are glad to announce to you that we have one of the most credible churches in Nigeria, one of the most distinguished pastors of our time, Rev Biodun Fatoyinbo, the senior pastor of,

aceoff is an annual basketball game challenge among celebrities and a top Nigeria Basketball team to compete. The event is mixed with games, fun and music. This year’s edition of the event holds on 27th November 2015 at Oniru, Lagos. Music stars that will be performing include: 2face, Praiz, N6, Vector,Sound Sultan, Darey, Burna Boy, MI, Peter (PSquare), Kaffy, Iyanya, and jimmie to mention a few. Door opens by 05:00 PM and ends 10:00 PM.

WEEKEND STARTERS

Lagos Jazz Series 2015

he city of Lagos is going to be rocked to the last level this weekend as the Lagos Jazz series will rock different areas of the city. The event was set to bring large number of International Jazz musicians to the land by Nigerian homegrown music ambassadors. The event kicks off on Friday 27th at the Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island, Lagos by 7pm prompt and also on Sunday 29th the event continues at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island by 7pm. Artistes to perform include popular Grammy award winners like; Robert Glasper Experiment, The Innovative Yasiin Bey and Seun Kuti.

Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, COZA, have decided, because of the cause Next2None is fighting, to go into partnership with us, to bring to an end this notorious activity. They are concerned as a church that no human being or part of a human being should be placed on sale. COZA is not a corporate body, but they have decided to join in this fight because trafficking in humans is morally and religiously wrong. We have philanthropists, individuals, government agencies and corporate bodies that are supporting this cause. We are saluting the courage of those who have decided to work with us. Corporate bodies in Ghana, Liberia and other African countries are also partnering with us on this. We are also appreciating the role of UNODP, AU, ECOWAS and NAPTIP for their enormous efforts in prevention, protection and prosecution of human traffickers over the years.” Obu said Africa My Africa project is more than just a novelty match and a walk: “It is a project geared towards resuscitating the dreams of our founding fathers. We remember the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, Koffi Annan, Jomo Kenyatta. These are people who have laid a solid foundation upon which Africa is built.”

The Africa Meets Reggae event

he time for the international African Meets Reggae and World Music Festival is here as the event starts on Saturday 27th to Sunday 28thNovember at the Hockey Pitch National Stadium, Surulere , Lagos Mainland. The festival is organised to give music fans exposure and awareness to Raggae music. Door opens by 7pm.

P. 22

Gen. Lanre Apata, Amb Rachael Bakam, Ambassador John Fashanu, Barrister Ndukwe Sam Obu and Mary Next2None model

Inside FCT P. 28-29

Arty

ccra, capital of Ghana, will play host to an array of African stars as they march in solidarity against the social menace of human trafficking. The African ambassadors will also play a charity football match at the Accra Stadium after the morning match. Next2None support initiative, an NGO dedicated to fighting human trafficking across Africa and organizers of the Africa My Africa Walk Against Human Trafficking/Legendary Football Match has released the first 50 African celebrities billed to be part of the project. They are: Senator George Opon Weah, Ambassador Roger Milla, Lucas Radebe, Gen Lanre Apata (RTD),Chief Awa U Kalu (SAN),Rear Admiral Peter Ebeleheme (Rtd), Major Gen Yakubu Usman(Rtd), Prof Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), Rev Biodun Fatoyinbo (Minister-inCharge COZA),Pastor Mrs. Modele Fatoyinbo (COZA), John Fashanu, Rachel Bakam, Chief Acho Ukaha and Hajia Titi Abubakar. Others are, Christian Chukwu, Hajia Laradan Shuaibu, Keppy Ekpeyong, Zack Orji, Coach Samson Siasia, Juliet Ibrahim, Mrs. Mary NS Obu, Etoo Fils, Apostle Eucharia Anunobi, Sammy Kuffor, Anthony Baffoe, Paul Ajogwu Oseni, Abedi Pele Ayew, Monalisa Chinda, Shaffy Bello, Ireti Doyle, Garuba Lawal, Patience Ozokwor, Chief Kingsley Okeh, Lexy Mojo Eyes, Bimbo Akintola, Ruth Africa, Richard Mofe Damijo(RMD), Tuface Idibia, Yemi Blaq, Don Jazzy, Ben Iroha, Ben Kwasi, Frank Nelson, Zik Zulu Okafor, Justin Akpovi Esade, Uche Jumbo, Oshinbimbo Abimbola, Florence Onuma, Ngozi Ezeonu, Tonto Dikeh Churchill, Ufoma Ejenobor, Yvonne Okoro, Mercy Aigbe Gentry, Ice Prince and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah. The second list of Ambassadors will be released soon. Abuja based lawyer, Ndukwe Sam Obu, Founder/Chairman BoT of Next2None in an interview opened up on the oncoming event billed for the end of next month. “We are glad to announce to you that the event is 90 per cent ready. 90 per cent ready means that the very difficult part of it is as good as accomplished. The most difficult part was to travel many African countries to get the endorsement of the various Ambassadors of those

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Friday, November 27, 2015

Flavour

Critics

Artman In The House

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

New writers should keep to the

Some of his works like ‘Ghost of Zina’, ‘The King’s Clarion Call’ and ‘The Sage’ have garnered superlative encomiums by literary enthusiasts, and have garnered many awards and recognitions over the years. Poet, publisher and playwright, and one time general secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Charles Ayo Dada bares it all on issues about his life and career in this interview. Excerpts:

Showing love for arts and culture

Charles

hat was it like to be hosted by a President as one of Nigeria’s most creative writ-

ers? Without a doubt, it surely is to be considered a rare privilege and honour. I was rather elated. We witnessed incredible performances from some of Nigeria’s finest artistes and the cuisine, expectedly, was on point. All in all, it was a rather glamorous occasion. Your parents didn’t support your choice of career as a writer, but instead wanted you to work with an oil company which you did for a short time. Tell us your experience in trying to convince them. Was it difficult? My father virtually gave up on me initially and felt I was unrealistic considering the climes. I appreciated his concerns, given the state of affairs in the country, as he could clearly foresee the bleakness that lay ahead – which we are experiencing now. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to live my life for me and my path lay clearly before me. I started off with carpentry and an intense love for woodwork, which I took to artistic heights. In the process, every single thing I ever produced was sold. I then veered off into collecting art and then eventually writing. When I commenced my service in Mobil we were not communicating, and along the way it suddenly dawned upon me to send him a few things I had written. Upon receiving

them, he read through and immediately contacted me while expressing his great surprise. Eventually, he ended up managing my last book, ‘The Sage’, before he passed on. It was the difficult path – thankfully, it was the path which led to many significant fulfillments. How did writing begin for you? I had always scribbled a few things every now and again but kept them in my drawers when done. On a certain occasion, my sister stumbled into a poem I had written “Glimpses of Twilight” and asked me where I had found the piece. I told her that I wrote it and she was very surprised. She demanded on seeing a few more, which I showed her, and she encouraged me greatly to write more. That really bolstered my enthusiasm. Prior to that, however, I had experienced a grave traumatic experience which got me penning down my feelings and experiences. These jottings were kept by me and were eventually published. Tell us about the story behind “The ghost of Zina.”

Zina was my soul mate with whom I shared an uncommon affection at O.A.U. Ile-Ife. We dated for years and it was an “I go die” affair on campus, to which many a person was witness. As fate would have it, the affair wasn’t consummated and the fallout of the break-up saw me severely traumatized. In the throes of emotional agony, the poems in this collection were written. Your books are quite resplendent release after release. How do you keep the fire of creativity burning? It’s the only way to go. I am a stickler for beauty and concern myself a lot with research. Added to this, I am an avid art collector and can be said to possess a love for beauty. I try to let this reflect on my work. Ultimately, my spiritual beliefs grant me the conviction of the necessity of striving after perfection and harmony in all that we do. Your house is like a museum. What prompted you to keep myriads of art works? Whatever intrigues me in terms of beauty, which I can equally afford, I collect. Sadly, I am quickly running out of room and have to acquire a greater space. Truthfully speaking, I have little value for money kept in a bank account. Why not purchase a product that you get to consume everyday, which doesn’t depreciate, but gains in value instead. Artworks are treasures for the spirit which serve to inspire just as they possess a material value. Tell us about your family and background?

There’s a new writer on the block that intrigues me – Ayo Sogunro. I find his writings amazing; especially his collection of short stories “The wonderful Tales of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales

I was born into a healthy middle class family of Mr Ayodeji Dada Snr who happened to be a senior career diplomat, and thus had the privilege of touring many countries of the world. The exposure has proven beneficial and is applied in all my dealings with my fellow man. He was possessed of high spiritual values, an affinity that I shared in deeply. My mother is a beautiful woman and I consider her embodiment of distinguished womanhood. I have other brothers and sisters who are pursuing their dreams with significant delight and happiness. On marriage? Maybe I have, who knows. I think the heavens have sorted that out a long time ago; only, we needed to grow into a greater maturity that would define the deepest purport of marriage. Marriage is a crucial and determinate point in a man’s

Flanked by Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and Abimbola Fashola

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Artman In The House

Friday, November 27, 2015

narrow path –Charles Ayo Dada

life and he simply cannot afford to get it wrong. I believe my patience has eventually paid off. What is your definition of an ideal woman? One who is in tune with the Laws of God, and thereby seeks to fulfill her highest purpose within the confines of genuine womanliness. What does it take to be a successful writer in a country like Nigeria? Hard work, resilience and passion How was it like publishing your first book? Was it difficult? It was rather demanding process, but a rewarding one. I learnt all about the ropes and became a publisher in the process. What are your most memorable moments in your career as an artist? Too numerous to mention really! I have had great art exhibitions, staged wonderful plays, hosted several musical and literary gatherings; where do I begin from really? I also have received several local and international awards for my modest literary accomplishments, some of which include a Pat Utomi literay award, a special recognition award from the Redeemer’s University where I was honoured alongside Professor Ahmed Yerima and Professor Akachi Ezeigbo. All in all, we are grateful to the Lord for the experiences. What are your most difficult moments in your career? Finding a balance between passion and reality. At some point, at least at the early stages, it was difficult having to walk the ropes of passion and get others to pay for it. It’s a problem still confronting a lot of artists. With increased confidence, however, you get to put a premium on your talent. How is your book, The Sage, faring in the market? The first print has been sold out. We are looking at doing a reprint and preparing for the international market. You lost the Pat Utomi Literary Award in 2006. How was the experi-

ence like? Did I lose really? I was runner up in a shortlist that included three professors and on that strength my book was immediately recommended for use in many higher institutions. It’s also widely circulated around the world and I have received countless emails from my readers. It was an exhilarating experience for me; especially since it was my first published work. What books have you read that have swept you off your feet? And why? ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. I feel that he is telling my story. It harps upon the necessity of following ones calling in life by unearthing our hidden treasures and potentials. The narrative is very beautiful and the language is simple but elegant. How much do you budget for a book in a month? It’s abstract. But I buy a lot of books. Which writer inspires you, both Nigerian and foreign? There’s a new writer on the block that intrigues me – Ayo Sogunro. I find his writings amazing; especially his collection of short stories “The wonderful Tales of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales…” I admire Wole Soyinka’s craft greatly and another short story writer by the name of Chris Anyokwu. On the foreign scene, writers like Kahlil Gibran, Paulo Coelho, Marie Corelli, James Redfield are highly inspiring. If you are going to write a new book, what will it be about? Whatever arrests me at any point in time; cannot say really. The content, however, has to be uplifting and worthy of a genuine humanity. What are your hobbies? I like to play chess, scrabble, basketball and tennis. I also love travel and ad-

venture; especially to Nature resorts. Apart from writing, how do you relax? I like listening to music; I go to the beach a lot, play basketball or just enjoy good company. What is your advice to up and coming writers? They should keep to the narrow path. It might start out rough and rugged, but at the end of the day it is rewarding and fulfilling. They also owe it to themselves to develop themselves further; and this can be accomplished by reading widely, and more importantly, ensuring that

they have the discipline of penning down their thoughts. How does it feel when you remember that your books are widely studied in the academic circles both locally and internationally? It’s rather elating and one cannot but be grateful to the Good Lord for the privilege. Moreover, I do not have a literary background since I initially entered the university to study medicine. What is your philosophy of life? Do unto others as you expect others to do unto you. Keep it simple. Stay humble.

Making a speech

My mother is a beautiful woman and I consider her embodiment of distinguished womanhood. I have other brothers and sisters who are pursuing their dreams with significant delight and happiness

Critics

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

BOOK

Public debt management in Nigeria

Festus Nduwugwe, a journalist adds his voice to the burning issue of public debt management in this book, ‘Milestones in Public Debt Management in Nigeria: A Journalist’s Perspective’. Tola Akinmutimi

ver the years, the issue of public debt management has remained a mystery to students, journalists, politicians and the investing public. This subject matter is the focus of a book titled, “Milestones in Public Debt Management in Nigeria: A Journalist’s Perspective”. It is written by Justus Nduwugwe, an astute business and finance journalist, media consultant, publisher of Business Facts & Figures magazine, a former editorial staff of the Publications & Editorial Office of the Central Bank of Nigeria and also former Business Editor of Leadership Newspapers Group. The book seeks to simplify and demystify the subject matter through the systematic narration of the policies,

MUSIC Sean Tizzle’s songs from his album, The Journey, seem to be getting the nod from music lovers

strategies and initiatives put forward by the Debt Management Office (DMO) towards an efficient and effective public debt management at the national and sub-national levels. Beyond the milestones, the author gives insights into the historical development of the capital market, concentrating more on the bond market, subnational bonds and FGN bonds and their contributions to national development, as well as the frequently asked questions to guide the uninitiated. Moreover, the book provides selected press interviews, press releases, news stories and features, all in an effort to adequately educate and inform its audience about Public Debt Management in Nigeria. It equally introduces common words and phrases that aid navigation in the financial services industry for the student, social scientist, public analyst and journalist.

The book provides selected press interviews, press releases, news stories and features, all in an effort to adequately educate and inform its audience about

Public Debt Management in Nigeria

Sean Tizzle’s sound

he album, The Journey, is a very commercially arousing modern fusion of afro-beats, Yoruba high-life and afro-pop sound plagued by sameness and insubstantial lyrics. The 17 track LP wows at many stops though fails to have a super massive moment at its release in which Sean was blamed for working with other producers. Though its not a monster hit album, more nods are coming in especially at the release of some of the videos. More insight into what Sean Tizzle offered as his debut album; check out our track-to-track review of “The Journey”. Perfect Gentleman: The album kicks off with Sean singing in a drunken manner almost effortlessly over a modern Yoruba highlife instrumentation cooked by D’Tunes as he asks to be a “Perfect Gentleman”. The opening number is crafted in a manner that makes the gentleman inside the afro-pop star almost irresistible. Baby O: Heavily influenced by afrobeats “Baby O” is one of those shallow easy-to-digest pop songs Sean Tizzle is good at churning out. Take It: The production of “Take It” is the song’s saving grace, it might rock the charts if given a proper single treatment. Sean Tizzle singing “Take It, Receive It” repeatedly makes the chorus of the song where he talks about wooing a lady as usual, so do not expect to be deeply stimulated. Kilogbe Remix ft. Reminisce & Olamide: A remix of “Kilogbe” which preceded the album is the fourth stop on this musical journey. Although it is totally unneeded; Remi-

Indeed, the book reviewer, Yushau A. Shuaibu of the highly authoritative business and finance magazine, Economic Confidential, observed, “with this book, Justus (the author) has succeeded in providing scarce and essential resource for university students, researchers and economists with the latest developments n public debts, citing Nigeria as a reference point. It will serve as essential took for business and financial journalists including the investing public”. “The time (of the publication) is also appropriate when the catch-phrase of the current administration is bailout and public bonds as states are finding it extremely difficult to meet their financial obligations in view

nisce and Olamide’s spicy delivery gives the track several flashes of awesome. Could This Be Love?: Obviouslyinspired by 2face Idibia’s love ballads, Sean Tizzle brings his vocal chops to the table on the

romantic “Could This Be Love?” A love stricken Tizzle sings question; “Could this be Love?” in a manner very reminiscent of 2face backing a rich orchestration fuelled by strings. The emotional cut is nothing short of lovely and Sean’s singing and dynamic heart-felt delivery deserves to be applauded. Loke Loke ft. 9ice: Despite the fact that the album fails to boast major stand-out track(s), “Loke Loke”is one of ‘The Journey’s strongest moments. The bearing the same production and singing pattern that dominates the LP: the chorus of “Loke” is very catchy and highly intoxicating then 9ice armed with his husky vocals shockingly wows with his contribution. Komagbon: “Komagbon” is very similar to cuts like “Baby O” and “Kilogbe” but is shallower, yet the live feel of the instrumentation makes the weak filler enjoyable. All The Way ft. Kcee: Sean tries to serve an eastern highlife delicacy as he enlists Kcee for “All The Way”. Tizzle has his eyes on the prize as he goes the whole way singing lyrics in Igbo even over-powering Kcee’s shameful delivery of the appreciative number. Wizboy, Flavour or any other deep eastern highlife vocalist would have assisted Sean

Everything is just right except the over-use of auto-tune on Tizzle’s vocals. The saxophone on the instrumentation is refreshing

of the drop in their monthly allocations from the Federation Account”. Stressing the importance of the book, Barrister Ken Ukaoha, President of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) who chaired the book launch on Sept. 5, 2015 in Abuja said, “I strongly recommend this book to those seeking knowledge about Public Debt Management in Nigeria in particular and the financial services industry in general”.

in delivering a solid piece instead of a very average collaboration borne out of commercial reasons. Duro: This is the first song not produced by D’Tunes on the album and it is a refreshing break from the battered music making style Sean and Doyin showcase. “Duro” is a fast paced afro-pop ear candy that sounds like a solid left-over from Davido’s “O.B.O”. Sean Tizzle rides the brilliantly sythn enriched production credited to Prince Boom who worked with the host previously on “Your Body” as he asks if his object of attention will stay with him or leave him. I Got It ft. Ice Prince and Naeto C: This is another collaboration created for the intention of extending tentacles to the market of the guests; this time Sean has hip-hoppers and rap music lovers in mind as he calls on Ice Prince and Naeto C to join him on “I Got It”. Arewa: “Arewa” falls under the same umbrella as the second and seventh tracks. If tracks like “Sho Lee”, “International Badman” and “Boogie Down” did not make the album, one has to wonder who allowed “Arewa” to crash the party. Igi Orombo ft. Tiwa Savage: Sean Tizzle shines bright like a diamond beside Mavin songbird Tiwa Savage on the contemporary highlife love preaching “Igi Orombo”, which might just be Savage’s best feature yet. Everything is just right except the overuse of auto-tune on Tizzle’s vocals. The saxophone on the instrumentation is refreshing as well as Tiwa Savage’s runs and riffs. Komole: Cut from the same cloth as “Igi Orombo”, “Komole” sees Tizzle deliver a concrete Owambebanger. Sparse lyrics and a production oozing “naija party”; “Komole” might just stand the test of time.

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

15 Safar 1437A.H.

Call to Worship

On the authority of Anas bin Malik, the servant of the Messenger of Allah, the prophet said: “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” RELATED BY BUKHARI AND MUSLIM

Leadership and the struggle against corruption Honest leaders produce decent societies Leaders are like a spring of water and all your officials are like water-wheels. If the spring is pure, the filth of the water-wheels cannot harm it. If on the other hand, the spring is polluted, the purity of the water-wheel will have little effect (on the purity of the water).

Illegality of bribery and corrupt practices A ruler is forbidden to touch property acquired unjustly, such as through bribe obtained for appointing a judge or any other officer. The use of such property is unanimously regarded as illegal. It corrupts the religion and opens the doors wide to abuses and oppression of the poor. For the officials may feel that since money is obtained from them as a reward for appointing them to office, they in turn must recover it from the common people. Another thing agreed upon as being illegal, is the collection of bribes on behalf of the leader or other officials like the judges and other employees. That is the act of collecting something from one of the disputants or from both of them, whether before passing a judgment or after it. It is also illegal to accept gifts from the common people. For such action is the door leading to all types of calamities. When a gift finds its way to a man of authority, justice and goodness will find its way out of him; and what he does is to purchase for himself a place in hell.

One of the ways of their government is to delay in the paying of a debt, and this is injustice. One of the ways of their government is what superintendent of the market takes from all the parties to a sale, and the meat which he takes on each market day from the butchers. One of the ways of their government which is also well known is that whoever dies in their country, they take his property, and they

Corruption in 19th Century Hausaland And One of the ways of their government is the building of their sovereignty upn three things: the people’s person, their honour, and their possessions; and whomsoever they wish to kill or exile or violate his honour or devour his wealth they do so in pursuit of their lusts, without any right in the Shari’a. One of the ways of their government is their imposing on the people monies not laid down by the Shari’a being those which they call Janghali and Kudin gari and kudin salla. One of the ways of their government is their intentionally eating whatever food they wish, whether it is religiously permitted or forbidden, and wearing whatever cloths they wish, whether religiously permitted or forbidden, and drinking what beverages (ta’am) they wish, whether religiously permitted or forbidden, and riding whatever riding beasts they wish, whether religiously permitted or forbidden, and taking what women they wish without marriage contract, and living in decorated palaces, whether religiously permitted or forbidden, and spreading soft (decorated) carpets as they wish, whether religiously permitted or forbidden.

On trendy Masjid Nikkah 24

call i t ‘inheritance’, and they know that it is without doubt injustice. One of the ways of their government is to impose tax on merchants, and other travelers. One of the ways of their government which is also well known, is that if you have an adversary (in law) and he precedes you to them, and gives them some money, then your word will not be accepted by them, even though they know of your truthfulness, unless you give them more than your adversary gave. One of the ways of their government is to shut the door in the face of the needy. One of the ways of their government is the giving of a gift to one who conducts them before the ruler. One

Act right, dress well 25

of the ways of their government is lying and treachery and pride, and you cannot see one of them who does not give himself airs, and anyone who shows the least lack of respect (for them), they punish him for that.

Gifts to ublic officials As to the law concerning gifts offered to them, there is a Prophetic tradition in Bukkari’s Sahih that the Prophet appointed a man called Ibn al-Lutbiyya as governor. When the man returned to the Prophet, he said, ‘O Messenger of God, this is for you and this was given to me as present.’ The Prophet said angrily, ‘Why should a man whom we employ to perform a task for us say, “This is for you and this was given to me as present” Why should he not have stayed in the house of his father and mother to see if a present were sent to him there! Malik related that Umar b. al-Khattab use to confiscate half of the governor’s possessions when it became apparent that, after being appointed governors, they had wealth which they were not previously known to possess. That is due to the fact that, even though what a governor acquires without being bribed is lawful, nevertheless, he is not justicfied in taking it, because he is in a powerful position, by virtue of being a governor, and can gain lawfully what others cannot. So his surplus wealth has to be deposited in the State Treasury. Attab b. Usayd once said, ‘By God, the only thing I gained from the work the Messager of God charged me with, was two garments which I gave to my client, Kaysan.’ In Shurb al-zulal after (the verse) Leave everything which is taken (by the ruler) in return for passing judgment, even if the judgment is just, do not consume it, he said. “And the like of that is the gift given to the governors, for all of it is unlawful profit from error”. Among these illusions is that some people consider bribe as meaning ‘gift’. This is also false and an illusion according to consensus. For a ‘gift’ is (defined to be) something that is offered with the object of promoting (mutual) love; while a bribe is a thing that is offered in order to nullify a genuine right (of other) or to procure a thing that is illegal). Quoted from: Principles of Leadership According to the Founding Fathers of the Sokoto Caliphate Collated and edited by Hamid Bobboyi with the Compliments of His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar mni, CFR, LLD, Sultan of Sokoto

‘Competition should be in righteousness to win Allah’s pleasure’

Call to Worship

On trendy Masjid Nikkah

t is a trendy thing now to witness the conduct of Nikkah right inside the Mosque with many menstruating women in attendance, what an insult? Are there no other venues to be used for such purposes? Many scholars agree that it is not permissible for a menstruating women to stay in the mosque. They quoted as evidence for that the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (974) and Muslim (890) from Umm ‘Atiyyah who said: “He (the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) commanded us on the two Eids to bring out the virgins and those who usually stayed in seclusion, but he told the menstruating women to keep away from the prayerplace of the Muslims.” When menstruating women are not allowed to enter the mosque and it is not permissible for a woman to enter the

mosque when she is menstruating or bleeding following childbirth except in situation of necessity like for passing through, why are we desecrating our mosques? Some are even going to the extreme of not breaking for Salat on time as a result of this. Because it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to stay in the mosque, this habit must not be encouraged by our Ulamas. People can always argue for and against, but I feel so strongly that if it is not permissible to stay in the mosque even for acts of worship, then, what are we talking about? And it is proven that the Prophet (PBUH) told women to go out to the Eid prayer-place to pray and remember Allah (dhikr), but he told the menstruating women to keep away from the prayer-place itself.

Healthy Corner with

Dr. Yahaya

Causes of infertility • Eggs cryopreservation( eggs are kept intact in the laboratory until they are ready to become pregnant)in women in such circumstances without male partners • In young women at risk of Premature Ovarian failureor premature reproductive aging. • Healthy young women who anticipate delayed child bearing either because they want to pursue tertiary education or advanced carrier. This category of women can preserve their eggs until they are ready for child bearing. • Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in couples with no known genetic abnormality in an effort to identify and exclude numerical chromosomal (genetic materials) abnormality. Those with Increased risk are older women, those with recurrent miscarriages and in patients with repeated unexplained IVF failure.

Investigations Or Tests Before IVF Ovarian reserve tests (Basal FSH, AMH, antral follicle count) predict ovarian response to hormonal injections and helpful in planning treatment. It can identify women at risk for poor response and treatment failure. • Semen quality Infectious disease screening

for HIV, hepatitis B(Hepatitis B surface antigen) Hepatitis C (hepatitis C antibody) syphilis for protection of staff, babies and protection against risks for cross contamination of cryopreserved embryos or babies in storage. • Mock transfer Imaging of the uterine cavity to identify abnormalities that may affect pregnancy outcome. HSG within 6 months,SonoHSG orHysteroscopy are more sensitive. Hysteroscopy can identify and treat abnormalties of the lining of the wombs. Evaluation of pelvic organs and ovaries by Laparoscopy.

Stages of IVF • Counsellingto identify any marital disharmony that may affect treatment outcome, to evaluate the readiness of the couples for treatment, educate couples about the treatment and the likelyoutcome. This is an opportunity to carry them alongwhile at the same time reassuring them. • Ovarian stimulation, here patients are given hormonal injections to produce several eggs • Follicular growth monitoring, the fluids containing eggs are monitored by ultrasound scan • Ovulation triggering, at the appropriate time, hormonal

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15 Safar 1437A.H. Friday, November 27, 2015

The best thing is to keep the Nikkah outside the Mosques as much as possible because there is no way of screening people entering the Mosque to know if they are menstruating or not. Even the mother of the bride and groom too may be menstruating and you cannot stop them from witnessing the ceremony not to talk of other thousands of guests. Is it not better for us to protect the sanctity of our Mosques? We pray to Almighty Allah to preserve the Ummah and bring an end to terrorism all over the world by exposing all those hiding under the guise of Islam to perpetrate evil, Aamin. Let us exercise patience as their evil acts is affecting Muslims all over the world, even the use of Hijab by innocent Muslim women just because some idiots are putting on Hijab to throw bombs. Of course, injection is given to cause the release of the eggs • Sperm collection and sperm washing, to remove the debris and concentrate sperms for effective fertilization. • Eggs Retrievalor harvest, the eggs are removed and collected • They are then allowed to mature inside the incubator in the Laboratory • Fertilization • Embryos or Babies are then cultured in the Laboratory • PIGD or PGS • Laser Assisted hatching • Embryo Transfer and cryopreservation of excess embryos or babies • Luteal Phase support. Hormones are given to support the development of the baby. • Pregnancy tests 2 weeks after embryo transfer if positive • Ultrasound to confirm clinical pregnancy 3 weeks later • Treatment Options Include: • Intrauterine insemination • IVF • ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection), IMSI ( Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection). In both procedures only one sperm is injected directly Into the egg for fertilization, the difference is that in the latter procedure, the head of the sperm is highly magnified to differentiate between normal and abnormal sperms and the normal sperm is selected for injection. Dr G. L. Yahaya, is a Reproductive Physician and Medical Director, Continental Specialists Clinic( Ivf Centre) 08075004277, 07081312295

THE PLATFORM with

Sekinah Lawal t: 08055102994 e: sakinah207@yahoo.com

Because it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to stay in the mosque, this habit must not be encouraged by our

Ulamas

it is very easy for anybody to buy Hijaqb and out on all in the name of tarnishing the image of Islam and Muslims. One of the women caught in the Paris bombing was identified as being a non-Muslim, drug addict and

prostitute and she was putting on Hijab when she was to detonate explosives. Allah in His Infinite mercy will give us victory and bring peace to our nation and the whole world generally, Aamin.

L-R: Lagos Amirah, Hajia Aisha Iliyas; Guest Lecturer, Hajia Lateefah Shoboya; Alhaja Sa Idowu; Naibatul Amirah Networking, Hajia Rafat Salaudeen; Naibatul Amirah, Hajia Khadijat Abdulsalam at the 20th annual convention of Al-Muminaat, Lagos Chapter, in Lagos, recently.

Cross section of members at the 20th annual convention of Al-Muminaat, Lagos Chapter, in Lagos, recently.

Muyideen Bello to deliver AUD lecture

hairman Northern State Council of Missioners of Ansar Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Muyideen Ajani Bello will be the guest lecturer at the Grand finale of the Ansar Ud- Deen Society of Nigeria Mushin branch Golden Jubilee celebration on Sunday November, 29 at the Lagos State Secretariat Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja. Alhaji Ganiyu Bolarinwa said the celebration started on Sunday, November 22 with Quranic incitation, Asalatu and sanitation exercise at Coker Mosque

and was followed by Education/ Quiz competition for invited Ansar Ud- Deen Nursery and Primary schools among others. He also noted that part of the activities included a visit to SOS village, Jumat service today Friday, among others. Speaking on the anniversary, Mushin branch chairman, Alhaji Abdulazeez Okanlawon noted that all logistics have been put in place to ensure a successful conclusion of the celebration as he appealed to all Muslim faithful to be good ambassadors of the society.

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Friday, November 27, 2015

Act right, dress well

eople have refused to be guided by the laws of Allah (SWT). They have failed to abide by His standard of determining what is moral or immoral. Shaytaan has deluded their minds and thus made truth unacceptable to them. It is now a woman’s right to wear what will definitely propel sexual arousal or even uneasiness in men! It is now her right to display her nudity in the public through dancing or fashion parade! Then, would a man who is so infatuated by her sexual display and cannot resist his sexual urge be guilty of using any means to have sexual intercourse with her? Or what do you have to say about a master who uses perfume with a piercing fragrance and yet rules that his servants must not notice the smell while in the same office with him? Or is it that of a palatable food with a nice aroma, yet you are asked not to perceive it? When a woman dresses provocatively, she is like the master who uses perfume and one who brings the food. It is only natural for those around to be affected by the fragrance and the aroma respectively. A woman who “dresses to kill” will definitely attract or affect the eyes of men lustfully. Where people are still guided by a sense of morality, hatred or dislike will be registered in their hearts against

Call to Worship

15 Safar 1437A.H.

what she wears and the spiritual loss she has caused them. As for those whose hearts are beleaguered by immorality, if they will be candid, they will tell you they would have loved to have a way of getting closer and fulfill their sexual desire that has been sparked off by what they have seen. It can then be drawn out that when a lady “dresses to kill”, she is infringing on the right of the spiritually and morally conscious individuals. The spiritual losses emanating from provocative attires women wear these days can only be appreciated by those who uphold the divinity of God and have a sense of morality in them. It is explicit in the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that every part of the body commits its own fornication. “The fornication of the eyes consists in looking, of ears in

hearing, of the tongues in speech, of the hand in touching and of the foot in walking. The heart lusts and wishes and the private parts accord with that or reject it”20 Then, how does one quantify or account for the losses through the eye when it gazes at the opposite sex, especially if she is seductively dressed as thus far described? The Qur’aan has enjoined lowering of the gaze so that the heart will not be affected by what the eyes see. This is because the evil of what the eyes gaze at makes a sinful impression on the heart. More often than not, what a man sees affects his thoughts and then his action. This is corroborated by AI-Ghazzali when he said: “Our attention is caught by anything that happens to engage our eyes or ears. We begin to take our interest in it, then one thought

Our attention is caught by anything that happens to

engage our eyes or ears.

begin to take our interest in

it, then one thought leads to another and the process goes on and on

At the Zakat distribution in Delta State by Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation recently

Alhaji Mukhtar Usman, Special Assistant to the Governor of Delta State on Non-Indigenes Affairs presenting a generator plus Barber’s clipper to Ahmad Tebu

Mallam Mohammed Gambo representative of the Sarkin Hausawa of Delta State presenting a sewing machine to Kazeem AbdulQadir

IN HIS LIGHT with

USTAZ

A. ZAFARAN e-mail: zafabumuneeb@yahoo.com leads to another and the process goes on and on. Seeing gives rise to thinking, them one thought becomes the cause of another.”21 Look around you and see the various avenues through which women are on display - in the newspapers, on the televisions, in public transports, in the streets, in offices! Can you count how many lustful gazes you cast every blessed day? Whereas, a single gaze may lead one to hell. What a pathetic situation! Only a spiritually inc1ined believer can see the calamitous impact of what women wear on his soul. He is aggrieved. His heart bleeds. He is made to hate the society in which he lives. He continues to dream of a decent society where what women wear will not affect him in any way. He tries to genuinely lower his gaze but he is still occasionally caught in the labyrinth of what women wear. Every lustful gaze envelops the soul with a black spot of sin. The believer is thus ceaselessly struggling to salvage his soul from the evil of what the eyes see. How many women can sincerely and boldly say that their dressing and adornments are only to please Allah (SWT) and not men? Has what women wear not been aiding licentiousness? Is it not one the causes of increasing rape today? What they wear has actually been causing rivalries among the highly placed. They lose their senses due to their naked attires. Two or more men are set for a single lady. Of course, she knows how to play her card. She keeps on satisfying them or raising their hopes in different ways. It will be difficult if not impossible for such men to uncover or overcome her intrigues and plots. She sets them against one another. Some men can because of the

‘killing or killer lady’ embezzle or steal money, or even kill or trick any man serving as a clog in their wheel to death. Only Allah (SWT) can tell how many homes have been impoverished because the husband, nay the father is wasting scarce resources on the concubines which in turn jeopardise his attending to marital responsibilities on his family (wife and children). In the circles of lewd men, such a lady is given obscene and unprintable names. They discuss about her in such a way that an animal becomes more important than her. Most men who go out with such ladies only do so for sexual gratification. They know she is after their money, so they will not hesitate to avail of her as they will of their rags. If by happenstance, she becomes impregnated, she already has a hard knot to crack. The man may abandon her with the pregnancy. The hardhearted type simply goes for abortion even if she will die in the process. As for others, who may fear the dire consequences of an abortion, they often resort to apportioning paternity to another man (a function for the patsy amongst her ‘customers’!). Then she gives the unborn baby a wrong father. Women have become men! They wear male attires trousers, shirts, shorts - and actually appear like them. I wonder how a lady clad in a tight fitting trouser will ease herself in an open land while travelling in the company of men. Today, if you want to know whether a woman is responsible or not, you need not go far, just look at what she wears, there, you will find the credentials of sensibility or insensibility, responsibility or irresponsibility. It is therefore urgent for women to act well and dress well.

Al-Mu’minaat holds convention …presents awards of excellence

Mrs Habitat Adekola presenting 2 sewing machines plus Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, CEO ZSF presenting a cash N30,000 cash to an orphan Miss Rakiya Umoru sum of N90,000 to Mr. Abubakar Okieke Ogheneweware for poultry business

passionate appeal has gone to members of AlMu’minaat, the Believing Women Organization, Lagos State Chapter, to change their lackadaisical attitude towards da’wah work. Speaking on the theme; “Muslim Women in the Era of Change, Almuminaat on Call”, at the 20th annual convention of the group which took place at the Multipurpose Hall of Lagos State Secretariat Central Mosque, the Guest Lecturer, Hajia Lateefah Shoboya urged

members to engage in self-development programmes to be current with trends especially in the area of information technology by attending adult literacy classes. In her welcome address, the Lagos State Amirah, Hajia Aisha Iliyas called on members to be more punctual for tarbiyyah and take other programmes serious, contribute financially as well upgrade themselves educationally in order to be able to contribute positively towards the progress of the Ummah.

Call to Worship

The Chief Imam, Lekki Central Mosque, Sheikh Ridwan Jamiu, speaks to SEKINAH LAWAL on “The Ideal Muslim Family” What should we expect from an ideal Muslim family? Ideal means something exemplary, a standard of excellence to aim at. The ideal Muslim family is one bound in a common goal. Living for Allah is the best and real goal one can live for. Else, life will be meaningless. Life has no meaning without spirituality. Allah says, “I created jinn and mankind only to worship Me,” Q51:56. Choosing a life partner should be influenced by this consideration. A soul mate is a goal mate. Couple who share the same goal are likely to grow together and stay together. How can we achieve an ideal family? A family divided in goal may not grow or stay together. This is why Islam prohibits Muslims from marrying idolaters and atheists. It strongly recommends marriage to believing Muslims even if they are slaves, (Q2:221). Marrying for this goal will help achieve long-time goal of Islam in preserving Islam in generations to come. One of the best achievements in life is preserving Islam in our lineage. Children from Muslim parents often stick to Islam while children from multi religious families are always confused or end up becoming atheists or sceptics. Muslim women are absolutely forbidden to marry nonMuslims, (Q60:10). The Holy Quran also recommends marriage only to chaste and innocent people, not licentious or promiscuous ones. Allah says, “Corrupt women are for corrupt men, and corrupt men are for corrupt women; good women are for good men and good men are for good women,” Q24:26. Divided goal leads to divided interest, and divided interest leads to divided loyalty and arguments. Divided loyalty bears some degrees of resentment which may in the long run strike at the basis of marriage. A family founded on the basis of living for Allah is an ideal family for the ultimate goal in life is to worship Allah and struggle to attain eternal bliss in the Paradise hereafter. The Prophet said, “When a person whose religious commitment and attitude satisfies you comes to you proposing to marry your ward, marry him [your ward]. Failing, there will be corruption on the earth.” Sunan Tirmidhi, 1090. The ideal way to choose a spouse is to consider moral uprightness, religious commitment, financial capability [for females] and good lineage. Intention comes before any action. The proper intention of a Muslim in marriage should be worship. After all, Nikah is half of the Deen. A marriage committed to Allah is guided and will be blessed by Allah. When marriage is intended to worship Allah, couple will likely fear Allah in their conducts and their good conducts in the union will be rewarded as meritorious acts of worship. It is never too late to become what you should have become. Let us all set a goal for our families if we hadn’t set one, and we should all pursue this goal with tenacity so that Allah may bless our union. Couple should also try to have interest in what interests the other in order to strengthen the bond between them. What should be the goals and things to avoid? The ideal Muslim family is one founded on Allah’s guidance. Marriage is a life-long affair which should be informed by one’s goal in life and guidance from Allah. Level of success in life often depends on attitude and self discipline. According to the Qur’an, ignorance and injustice are the greatest factors of corruption in man, (Q33:73). A corrupt person does more evil than good. Seeking and relying on the verdict of future-tellers in choosing future partner is misguidance. Abandoning Salat on wedding day because of make-up or party activities is ingratitude to Allah. Intermingling of both sexes in party is inappropriate. Wearing see-through wedding gowns is against Islamic guidance. An ideal family should be founded on the pleasure of Allah. Q9:109-110. Also, the ideal Muslim family is one which is based on justice and commitment. Problems arise when one of the couple becomes selfish; they want to always take but never give. Selfishness has destroyed

15 Safar 1437A.H. Friday, November 27, 2015

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‘Competition should be in to win Allah’s pleasure’

Imam Ridwan Jamiu

great many marriages. Selfishness is injustice. Marriage prospers when the couple mutually care and share. Denial of legal right is injustice and oppression which has devastating consequences. Most of the hostilities in the world have been caused by injustice: neglect of duty and denial of right. What are the things expected from both parties? Duties of the husband in Islamic law are: maintenance [i.e., feeding, clothing and sheltering of the wife and children], sexual intimacy [only with wife], guidance and protection, and good companionship (kindness). Duties of the wife are: obedience, sexual intimacy [only with the husband], home keeping [she and the home must be clean and welcoming] and good companionship (kindness). Duties of the husband are equivalent rights of the wife, and duties of the wife are rights of the husband. Once a marriage is consummated these rights and duties are binding. Violation of them is disobedience to Allah and betrayal of trust. The ideal marriage is not necessarily to one wife or more, the watchword is justice and commitment. The Quran says, “...Marry women of your choice: two or three or four. If you fear that you may not be just then, marry only one...,” Q4:3. Islam neither introduced polygyny nor commanded it; it has only regulated it and allowed it. But justice is a condition. Treat the wife as you would want your daughter in marriage treated. Always perform your duty and then demand your rights. The ideal Muslim family is one where couple see each other as cooperative partners, not as competitive rivals. Marriage is supposed to be friendship. Successful husbands and wives are always cooperative and complimentary. Cooperation often necessitates sacrifice and compromise. Family is always given priority. We can always have our say but not always our way. What are other results of feminism and women liberation? Cooperation demands mutual loyalty and complete fidelity. Individualism and independence in marriage will only make the couple live like roommates, not as husband and wife. Feminism is promoting disloyalty and defiance. It wrongly stigmatizes obedience to husband as servitude

and being a house-wife as being prisoners. It thus worked for the so-called women liberation till Western women were finally liberated from happiness leading to family disintegration, single parenthood with its psychological and financial burden and guilty conscience, promiscuity and licentiousness, drug addiction intended to suppress trauma, juvenile delinquency because children lack parental care, high rate of divorce, increase in unwanted pregnancy among others. Your advice on ways of resolving issues sir? Door of communication should always be open. The closest person to one is the closest friend that one should be able to confide in and share worries with. If this door is closed little problem boomerangs and escalates into a big one. In situation where a man has more than one wife, cowives can fair good and comfortable if they see each other as cooperative sisters in Islam and not as competitive rivals. Competition should only be in righteousness and dutifulness to win Allah’s pleasure. The Prophet said, “This world is a [temporary] enjoyment, but the best enjoyment of life is a righteous woman” Sahih Muslim, 1467. When the Prophet was asked ‘who is the best woman?’ He said, “The one who obeys her husband’s command, whose appearance pleases him and protects her chastity and his wealth in his absence,” Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 7373. The Prophet said, “Women! Make much charity for I saw most of you in Hell...because you curse and are ungrateful to your husbands.” The five love languages are: gifts, quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, and physical touch. Care requires kindness and understanding particularly at challenging times. No condition is permanent. Couple that operates on the basis of understanding will not only thrive but will survive. Women go through frequent changes: menses, pregnancy and lactation all affect their mood and temperament. Tolerance and patience in this circumstance is a proof of care. Allah himself has waived His right of Salat and fasting during menses, and gives them concession in pregnancy and breastfeeding about fasting, why shouldn’t we be considerate?

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Friday, November 27, 2015

Call to Worship

15 Safar 1437A.H.

righteousness ‘Plan for marriage not wedding’ Sekinah L awal Caring for each other should be extended to caring for each other’s family. The Prophet said, “The best of you among you are those who are best to their families. I am the best of you to my family” Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith 3892. It is hypocrisy to demonstrate generosity, tolerance and courtesy outside and you are harsh to the closest people to you – the family. Charity –they say- begins at home. Your spouse can best tell about you. Easy times don’t define us. It is hard times that do. It is in times of challenges, temptation and provocation that you can truly prove your mettle. Don’t be a hypocrite. Let virtue be your nature, not rule of expediency. Try to be the best in your relationship. Adultery and promiscuity is the greatest breach of trust in marriage and the greatest cause of widespread moral decadence and divorce. This is why the punishment for adultery in Islamic law is stoning to death. All those who cheat on their spouses carry death penalty hovering on their heads. If they escape it here, the equivalent of that awaits them after death unless they sincerely repent. See Q25:68-70. Conflict is natural; it is part of life. No one is perfect. There can’t be a perfect marriage because there is no perfect human. Trouble is attached to the mouth. Many are the couples who become loose and impudent when they quarrel. They curse and insult. They forget or seem to forget all rules of decency and civility. They practically go crazy and mad. Worse, some do that in front of their children! Worst, some destroy their properties and physically attack the other like a ferocious animal. Actions done in anger are often regrettable. Anger has ruined some people’s happiness without repair. Be silent in anger; leave the spot and say (A’uudhu billahi mina shaytaanir Rajeem’). Correction should be done with soft words. Harsh words harden the heart. Correction after commendation has powerful result. Don’t capitalise on weaknesses; it may blind you to see virtues. Also, an ideal family serves as a haven for righteous children. The ideal couple realise they are the first teachers and leaders of their children and therefore struggle to be good examples to be emulated. Ideal couple pay attention to both intellectual and moral/spiritual development of the children. Let’s open the door of communication between us and our families. Motherhood is an honour, responsibility and worship. Righteous women who devote most of their time for the family contribute more to the well-being of the society than do their counterparts. Women who have compromised and given their role to the nannies are doing harm to their children than good. The ideal family is a microcosm of an Islamic state. Islam rules an ideal home in essence and ambience. Allah’s name is often mentioned. Salat is a common sight. Quran reverberates. Hijab features women outdoors. Islamic literature are read and taught. Islamic programs are attended, relatives are welcomed. Neighbours are respected. Charity, patience, honesty and chastity are guiding principles. The ideal family maintains ties of kinship How do we maintain ties of kinship? Love them and pray for them, console them in times of sorrow and rejoice with them in times of joy. Take practical steps to remove their difficulty, spend for them if they lack and give them gifts even if they have. Pay them visits to ask after them, and call when you’re unable to visit. Respect and tolerate them when they visit. Care for them when they are alive and for their family when they are late. Resolve disputes that ensue between them and be adamant on keeping the ties even if they boycott you. Correct them if they indulge in wrongful acts and invite them to Islam if they are not Muslims. This is because it is an obligation in Islam to maintain ties of kinship even if the kin are not Muslims.

uslims have been advised to stop wasting time planning for wedding day instead of preparing couples for lifetime marriage. Speaking on; “The Ideal Muslim Family”, the Chief Imam, Lekki Central Mosque, Sheikh Ridwan Jamiu, at the quarterly workshop of Lekki Muslim Ummah, LEMU held at Vice Admiral Jubrila Ayinla Multipurpose Hall, Lekki Central Mosque complex recently, lamented the idea of many couples not learning anything on their rights and duties in marriage not going for counseling, obtaining knowledge on interpersonal relationship and principles of dispute resolutions. “They are busy preparing for wedding, which is a day event and forget to prepare for marriage, which is a lifelong event. This is one of the reasons why marriage fails.” He noted that Chapter four of the Qur’an is

titled ‘WOMEN’ because many aspects of it discuss how to relate with women in general and married women in particular. “Also, Suratul Baqarah, chapter two of the Qur’an verses 221 to 242 are exclusively on marital issues. How many couples study this before marriage? To have a successful Hajj, one must obtain the knowledge of dos and don’ts of the rites of Hajj. Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Books of Islamic Jurisprudence all carry sections on Nikkah (Nuptials).” According to him, building Nikkah on solid foundation is building it on Allah’s pleasure. “Building marriage on pleasure of Allah is starting one family on the basis of law of Allah and guidance from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah by following the conditions for the validity of marriage: compatibility (legal and religious, especially), consent of the parties to it, formal consent of the guardian of the woman and presence of witnesses. Dowry and Walimah

are also required.” He also reminded Muslims that cohabitation before marriage is against Allah’s guidance. “Taking secret lovers is Haram in Islam (Q5:5). Homosexuality is a capital offence. Stipulating that the wife-to-be must be pregnant before the marriage is contracted is alien to Islam and a bizarre condition. Having more than four wives at a time is against Allah’s guidance. Forcing a ward into marriage is against the Sunnah of the Prophet. A marriage that was hastily concluded because the woman has been illegally impregnated is not an ideal marriage. Wrong start often leads to gloomy end.” In his welcome address, Vice President of LEMU, Dr. Waliu Braimo, said the da’wah workshop has been intellectually stimulating and spiritually fulfilling where issues affecting humanity, particularly the Muslim Ummah, are thoroughly examined, with a view to finding remedies to the numerous challenges confronting Muslims. “The theme was cho-

sen because of the seeming collapse of the family system globally. Our aim is to proffer solutions to this societal ill so that the world can be a better place to live in.” Sheik Muhammad Bin Uthman, Chief Imam and Khatiib to Sahaabah Masjid, Kundila in Kano, presented the topic; “Maintaining Family Ties: A non-negotiable Obligation”, quoted an Hadith that; “Whosoever that wants his provision/sustenance to be expanded for him and his life span extended, let him maintained his family relationship” and that; “He will never enter the paradise he who severs his ties of his relationship.” He commended the organizers for their foresight and insightfulness on the theme of the workshop. “The point here is as a member of a family, it is part of our sacred duty making sure that we keep the family tie by helping them when we have the opportunities. Sheik Muhammad Shuaib spoke on; “Collapse of the Extended Family System: What Went Wrong?”

Hijab in schools: MSSN disagree with Soyinka Olaseni Damilola

he Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, has shown its disapproval with what Prof. Wole Soyinka that wearing of religious uniforms in secondary schools should be banned. MSSN Lagos in a release by the Amir, Mallam Saheed Ashafa, expressed surprise that a person of Prof. Soyinka’s caliber could make an uninformed statement on education and human right. According to the group,

he erred by failing to recognize that the current uniform worn by students in schools was already faith-based. “It should be noted that the statement by Soyinka is one-sided and a calculated attack on the agitation for equality through request for the wearing of Hijab on school uniform. It should be clearly stated that the current school uniform in all government schools is already a Christian School uniform with beret for females and short for males as against Hijab and trousers for Muslims. The group warned Gov-

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ernors already respecting religious differences not to fall for ill-advice capable of disrupting the existing peace. “MSSN Lagos is more interested in peaceful coexistence through respect for religious differences.” It further clarified that it was not saying students of other religion should be deprived of their currently enjoyed rights, but that Muslim students should also be granted theirs. “Governments and principals in Lagos State are still flogging and harassing students for dressing modestly and following the dictate of

morality, despite the fact that freedom of religion is firmly entrenched in international laws and the constitutions of countries around the world, including the Nigerian Constitution. “It is high time we realized that certain ideologies can only operate as an illusion. They are philosophical and not ideal for societal growth. Such is the faithless campaign and school of thought of Soyinka. The outcome of such if preached among students will be cultism, thuggery, kidnapping, robbery and raping among others,” it noted.

Zakat Is 2.5% Of Your Total Wealth, Known As Nisab. After Having Fulfilled All obligations, pay your zakat

Call to Worship

15 Safar 1437A.H. Friday, November 27, 2015

Every Friday with

Khalifatul

Ahmadiyya

Baitul Ahad: The Japan Mosque

‘T

hose who, if We establish them in the earth, will observe Prayer and pay the Zakat and enjoin good and forbid evil. And with Allah rests the final issue of all affairs.’ (22:42) Alhamdolillah, today Ahmadiyya Jama’at in Japan is enabled to have its first mosque inaugurated. May God bless this mosque in every way and may those who attend the mosque be able to fulfil all the objectives for which a mosque is made. Indeed, some beautiful mosques are also built by non-Ahmadis spending millions and hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is the first Ahmadiyya mosque in Japan but not the first mosque in the country, there are about 100 mosques in Japan. Simply having a mosque built does not fulfil our objective in Japan. Our mosque is understood to be the largest mosque in Japan in terms of capacity. This is also not a very significant fact and should not make us think that we have reached our ultimate goal. Our objective will be fulfilled when, having taken the bai’at of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) we try to attain its objectives, that is, to forge a connection with God, to fulfil the rights and dues of worship of God and to fulfil the rights and dues of God’s creation, to elevate our practice to high levels and take the beautiful message of Islam to every person in this nation. Once Japan had religious freedom and its people became inclined to faith, they were also interested in Islam. When this fact was brought to the attention of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) he expressed an intense desire to deliver the message of true Islam to the Japanese. He explained, more than a century ago, that if Japanese people were inclined towards Islam, they should be given the message of true Islam. He asked why they should turn to a faith that was dead. Explaining, he said how could those, who do not have the spirit of Islam in themselves, be of any benefit to the Japanese people. Those who have closed the door to revelation and made their faith lifeless. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said agonisingly that other Muslims are not only unfair on themselves by following this creed they also make others distant from Islam by showing the erroneous creed. He said, what is needed is that this community should prepare some people for this task who are competent and courageous. He also expressed the desire to write a book for tabligh among the Japanese. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) came in subordination of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) to spread his message in the world which indeed includes Japan and Oceania and other parts of the world. It is a grace of God that Ahmadis have migrated to Japan and it is God’s grace that some run successful businesses

there. Almost all Ahmadis in Japan are those who benefitted economically after migrating from Pakistan. Many among them are those whose forefathers accepted Ahmadiyyat and there would be some among them, who, after listening to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) may have wished and longed to visit Japan and rest of the word to spread the message, but their longing remain unfulfilled. Ahmadis who are now in Japan and are given the opportunity by God to be there should spread that message. Surely, they have not migrated simply for economic reason? The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) was saddened that other Muslims, having closed the door to revelation had made faith dead, what message of Islam could they take to the Japanese for the Japanese were not in need of a lifeless faith. Now Ahmadis living in Japan can give proof of Islam being a living faith. Once door to God is closed what difference remains between Islam and other religions? If Islam’s pre-eminence is to be proven it is to be done by telling the world that the God of Islam still speaks to those He loves. Economic benefit should not be the only goal of coming to Japan, rather everyone should forge connection with God. Islam does not need any force or might to spread. It is in need of people who have absolute faith in God, whose standards of worship of God are high and who, rather than perpetrate murder and mayhem, engage in Jihad against their selves to make themselves better people. It is a great tragedy of the state of Muslims that on the one hand they reject that God can still send down revelation and on the other hand they try to spread Islam through force and oppression and by murdering innocent people. The recent Paris attacks were intensely barbaric. These people are not garnering God’s grace, rather they garner His chastisement. In this regard there is huge responsibility on Ahmadis to elevate their levels of worship of God as well as spread the message of the teachings of Islam. Their responsibility is to fulfil the rights and dues of the new mosque, to populate and fill it five times a day, to elevate their level of worship of God, to reflect and analyse their practice and to extend the fields of tabligh. Indeed, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said if you want to introduce Islam in an area, build a mosque there. Avenues of tabligh and introduction will open up. The mosque in Japan puts responsibility on Ahmadis who live there as regards standards of their worship of God and tabligh. Media has given quite a bit of coverage to the opening of the mosque as presenting peaceful Islam. It is up to the Ahmadis in Japan to avail this introduction. Of course building of our mosque is nothing new in Japan.

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Dignitaries at the quarterly workshop of Lekki Muslim Ummah, LEMU held at Vice Admiral Jubrila Ayinla Multipurpose Hall, Lekki Central Mosque complex recently,

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Honour for 2Face in Kaduna IMOLEAYO FATUNASE

opularly singer, Innocent Idibia known as 2Face Idibia became a new chief in Kaduna on November 24th as he was ordained as the ‘Tafindan Kudenda’ by HRH Bagudu Galadima of Kudenda Kingdom at Kudenda Palace, Kaduna State. The title which means ‘Ambassador for Peace’ was bestowed on him in Kaduna as a result of his charity, peaceful voting initiative and humanitarian efforts contributed in the state. He earned the honour, following the activities of The 2Face Idibia Foundation. The Benue State born singer deserve more as he functions in all aspects of life; he has won series of

Arty News

Friday, November 27, 2015

awards like one MTV Europe Music Award, one World Music Award, five Headies Awards (Hip-hop award), four Channel O Music Video Awards and one BET award for his musical work, four MTV Africa Music Awards, one MOBO award, one KORA award, two awards at the 2010 SoundCity Music Video Awards, the Channel O Music Video Awards, Best African Western award and the MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Male and Artist of the year. The event was glamorous as he was welcomed by a large number of students from Kaduna statebased institutions. After the chieftaincy occasion, he visited the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai in his full chieftaincy regalia, accompanied by his beautiful wife, Annie Idibia.

L-R: Gov. El-Rufai and 2face

All set for ‘Africa Meets Reggae’ concert VICTOR UDOH

he Africa Meets Reggae and World Music International Festival will be held in Nigeria this weekend, the 27thand 28th of November, 2015. The festival will be held in Lagos at Ember Creek, Ikoyi and Hockey Pitch, National Stadium, Surulere on the 27th and 28th of November, 2015 respectively. It will be showcasing the top names in Reggae and World Music. Festival headliners are Victor Essiet and The Mandators (Rat Race), Majek Fashek (The Rain Maker), Oritse Femi, Eljai (USA), Burna Boy, Pasuma Wonders( Oga nla 1), Ras Kimono(Dub Master), Orits Wiliki( Cool Man Revolutionair), Tee Mac, Righteous Man, Stella Monye, Black Rasta(Ghana), Redfyah(Ghana), St. Peters. Others billed to perform are: Black Face, Fadabasi, Safin De Coque band, Black Rice, King Wadada, C-Stroke band, Sweat Reggae band, Francis Goldman, Kupa Victory, Empero Zigzag. The upcoming artistes include: Delight, Realman, Young Gracy,

Akpana emerges Miss Heritage Africa REGINA OTOKPA

enedicta Akpana stepped into South Africa with high expectations of winning the crown, and not even the day light robbery of her belongings including her costumes, travel documents and money shortly after arrival for the competition could deter her from clinching the ultimate prize. Speaking upon arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, the smiling

Miss Heritage

queen said winning the crown was the best thing to have happened to her. She said: “I feel really great and fulfilled that I have done something great for myself and my country and it is really amazing. Reacting to the robbery experience in South Africa, Akpana noted that she never thought she would be able to emerge winner of the African crown after battling for two days to key into the competition alongside other contestants. “It took me two days to be able to kick into the competition fully, I was really traumatized but I thank God I was able to overcome it and like they say, everything happens for a reason so here I am as Miss Heritage Africa and I am happy.” With barely two months to complete her reign as Miss Heritage Nigeria, Akpana disclosed that she would be embarking on a tour round Africa early next year. Expressing their delight, the founders Miss Heritage Nigeria, Chinor and Valerie Emeka, disclosed that Akpana’s emergence as Miss Heri-

tage Africa speaks volume not just for the home pageantry, but also for the country. Chinor, speaking said “I feel happy, I am proud, she has done excellently well, she has made Nigerians proud, she has made the whole of Africa proud, she has also made we the founders proud as well. It wasn’t an easy task but we thank God and I am happy we didn’t make a mistake in the first place picking her as Miss Heritage Nigeria. On her part, Valerie noted that Akpana’s intelligence, smartness courage and her ability to showcase her African elegance, were among the attributes that helped her win the crown. “Akpana is outstanding; she portrayed who we are as a people. All through the competition she only wore beautiful designs made from Ankara fabrics unlike her counterparts who wore putting on both African and western outfits.” Valerie however lamented the lack of support from the government to the organization, towards financing a cause that involved showcasing and promoting the heritage and culture of Nigeria before the whole of Africa and indeed the international community at a contest.

Majek Fashek

Jayru, Diggy Dor, Rosey Bassey, Jethro Lion and many many more. Occation MCs: Da Queen, DJ Rattata( Wazobia FM), Comedian MC Soro-soro. Host / Comedian Koffi Da Guru. Africa Meets Reggae has been an annual musical event hosted by Echodelic Music and Dub Club in Los Angeles for the past years but now franchised to Victor Essiet (Mystic Records, USA) for Nigeria / Africa. This year’s Africa meets

Reggae music festival will be unique and memorable as it cut across all genre of music with good lyrical contents. It will be a two day event at two different venues in Lagos Nigeria. The first tagged “Executive Show” will be at Ember Creek, 32 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi on Friday, the 27th of November while the second tagged “The People’s Show” will be at Hockey Pitch, National Stadium, Surulere on Saturday, the 28th of November, 2015.

Fashion show unveils 7-year old super talent REGINA OTOKPA

he Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria, FADAN Abuja chapter, stirred up an audience of fashion lovers while showcasing different designs on Sunday evening during its maiden fashion show at the Barcelona Hotels. Among the highlights of the day was an early presentation of a seven year old designer from Port Harcourt, and 20 others, who brought out the beauty of African fabrics with exquisite designs. Earlier in a press briefing in Abuja, the President of FADAN, Mrs Fatima Sule (House of Blessing) said, “this is our maiden edition show in Abuja, we are looking forward to making it a blast, and we want to make a mark. We will be having a seven year old designer and over 20 designers on stage. She noted that the fashion show was a platform for designers known and unknown, to showcase their creative skills including those who were yet to become registered members of

the association. Fatima also said that it was a means to promote local indigenous content through the dresses and also the designs. The president called on designers yet to identify with the group, especially graduates who were not employed saying, “they have to discover themselves where you come out from the university and there is nothing for you to do.” She pointed that Fashion Designers are on daily basis contributing their quota by adding value to the country’s economy and persons. “My Vice President in Abuja have close to 250 people he has employed, others have 50 employees, while some have over 20 and to me that is working towards industrial revolution.” She said FADAN work as a team which inspired the theme of the event, ‘Fashion for Unity’. Lending her voice, FADAN’s Head of Organising Committee, Charity Ayedokpo said over 400 designs were showcased at the fashion show with beads and bags made from ankara.

Inside FCT

Friday, November 27, 2015

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Battling Schistosomiasis in FCT Adeola Tukuru

t was a cheerful moments for pupils at Local-Education-Authority (LEA) School in Karomajiji in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) , when a German Pharmaceutical firm, Merck donated 35 million tablets of Praziquantel to help Nigerian health workers treat children infected with the parasitic disease Schistosomiasis (or bilharzia). Schistosomiasis is caused by flatworms and spread through stagnant water and it the third most devastating tropical diseases in terms of public health burden and economic impact. The infection rate is especially high among children, and the chronic symptoms that result, such as learning disabilities and anemia,are particularly serious. A primary four pupil of the school, Ayan Egbado, who spoke to Inside FCT, lauded the firm for their goodwill saying that it will reduce the cost of treatment on them. According to him, his father died along time ago and his poor mother who is a pretty trader in Gosa market along Lugbe Airport can’t afford to threat him and his Three siblings when they are sick. The head teacher of the school, Mrs. Emilia Etim said this is a step in the right direction and the choice of her school is most appropriate. According to her, “The community have problem of running water from bathrooms and household use; the school is the dumping site and often used for open defecation by members of the community.

Fighting against Schistosomiasis

The school pupils also are force to urinate and defecate in the open because there is only one block of toilet shared between the teachers and the pupils. She further stated that as a matter of urgency, relevant authority should take steps to build additional toilets for the school and also fence the school to curb the menace of dumping refuse and open defecation which are the major causes of schistosomiasis. According to her, these children are mostly found in the school where teachers have been battling with complaints of ill- health showing the signs and symptoms of Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) as outlined in the flip chart. Merck chief executive officer , Dr Stefan Oschmann, who handed over cartons of the drug to the Federal Ministry of Health and children at a Lical-Education-

Authority (LEA) school in Karomajiji ,in Abuja explained that schistosomiasis is caused by flatworms and spread through stagnant water, affects an estimated 249 million people around the world, 90 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. According to him, Up to 200,000 people in Africa die from chronic infection with the parasite, and infection rate is higher among children, causing learning disabilities and anaemia. “The good news is that this disease can be treated effectively. Merck has decided to put as much PZT tablets for as long as it takes to eliminate this disease.

Celebrants who adorned themselves in local fabrics produced by the people of the area entertained their guests with cultural performances and traditional cuisine. Speaking shortly after the celebration, President of UPU, Abuja Branch Pastor Ikem Destiny explained “We are here to launch our 2016 historical calendar six pages that have all the names of our traditional rulers, about 14 kings from 1824 from creation of Umunede till date. “Because we believed in history, we believe in document, calendar is like a diary where you can see Agadagidi Civic Center, Model Hall and palace for people to see and those who have not been opportune to known Umunede they will be able to know it. “Also, we understand that man cannot live in a vacuum, we gave them award to appreciate their contribution toward our administration, they supported this group financial-

ly and we decided to appreciate them through this award for them to do more.”

We want to clear the barrier of affordability away by donating the tablets.” “The 35 million-tablet donation (worth more than $5m) to Nigeria is part of 100 million tablets of PZT the firm is distributing free around the world this year, with hopes of reaching an annual donation of 250 million ,” he said. Other parts of the firm’s commitment, he said is within the scope of public private partnership,as Merck is working to develop a pediatric formulation of praziquantel. Merck supports an awareness program at schools in Africa that uses comic booklets and posters to explain the causes of schistosomiasis, teaching pupils how to prevent the disease. Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Amina Shamaki who was represented at the occasion by Direct, Public Health, Dr Bridget Okoeguale, said Nigeria has the highest burden of Neglected tropical diseases in Sub Sahara Africa. She explained that the high burden of worms in Nigeria is a matter of concern. Praziquantel tablet is the medicine of choice for the treatment of bilharziasis (schistosomiasis) a disease that presents with passage of blood in urine, distended abdomen, and cancer of the bladder at a later stage, among other symptoms. “Endemicity of schistosomiasis has been largely determined in Nigeria with an exception of Borno and Adamawa states which have security challenges.

The prevalence in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory shows that about 43,544,818 persons are at risk and in need of treatment

Umunede community in FCT celebrates Joel Ajayi

embers of Umunede Progressive Union UPU, across the six area councils in the Federal Capital City converged at Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation NTDC’S Village Hall Area 1 Garki, over the weekend successfully climaxed a series of activities to celebrate end of the year party in a grand style. Umunede was a city located in Ika Local Government Area of Delta State, the ancient city that has its origin from Edo state is known for farming, transportation and business. This year’s celebration mainly focused on launched of its 2016 six pages historical calendar that have all the names of the traditional rulers, about 14 kings from 1824 till date. Another memorable activity that marked the event included presentation of award to over 12 Umunede sons and daughters who have contributed immensely to the growth of the UPU.

cause charity begins at home.” Sir Ebuka who was Director of Nigeria Tourism Development Cor-

While, speaking on the important of the culture to human race, Pastor Nkem stated: “What we display here is love, we preach unity, we display our cultural heritage and we have embarked on several project that had impact the lives of our youth, women as well as children, the love is here, the unity is here and by the grace of God we are going to launch Music Group next year.” He assured. One of the patrons of UPU Abuja branch, Sir Boniface Ebuka who was honored with award articulated: “I feel elated, I feel very excited that even with little contribution we have made we are recognized. “With this type of award one is motivated to do more. If I don’t incline to where I come from, I don’t know where I will probably look up to be-

Unfortunately, culture is gradually eroding in Nigeria and we are gradually imbibing foreign culture

Display d of culture by Umunede women

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Inside FCT

Friday, November 27, 2015

Need for infrastructure in FCT suburbs Joel Ajayi

rom all indications, many residents of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are day-to-day groaning under abject dearth of basic social amenities, in suburb and rural communities across the six Area Councils of the Territory. A short demographic survey conducted by Inside FCT revealed that, FCT have over 700 rural communities in the FCT, which require both government and corporate organizations’ attention for rapid development. And most of the satellite towns had grown beyond outlined projection, and the regional plan of the territory is as old as the territory itself. Also, about 75 percent of resident who have the place of their work in the city are resides in those entire suburb because of the outrageous accommodation fees. Overtime, there have been millions of complaint over the lack of critical infrastructural like access road network, drainage system, electricity, pipe bone water and hospitals in rural communities and Satellite Towns across all the six area councils of the FCT. Expectedly, for most residents living in rural settlements scattered around the nation’s capital, the situation has subjected them to lot of untold hardship, despite their proximity to the Abuja city, adjudged to be one of the fastest developing capital cities in the world. Many resident who spoke with inside fct, expressed dismay over poor quality of little or no projects initiated and executed by the respective councils in their

poration NTDC, voiced remorse over the way and manner many Nigerian imbibe even the wrong culture at the

Searching for water in FCT suburb

localities; as many found it hard to consider themselves among those living in the nation’s capital. A resident, Mrs. Esther Daniel, who lives in one of the rural communities called Kabusa in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), said despite the proximity of the settlement to the city centre, people in the area have been facing problem of water and access road, thereby causing a lot of hardship to them.

She decried that: “the only borehole in the community constructed by the area council was no longer functioning, we banked on ‘Meruwa’ to use water the road is bad, light is even forbidden fruit here. “We are appealing to council chairmen to provide transformers to boost power supply for the people of the community, as well as build more schools, in

It was unthinkable how people, especially those living in rural areas of the six FCT Area Councils do not feel the impacts of their government

detriment of our original culture. “Unfortunately, culture is gradually eroding in Nigeria and we are

gradually imbibing foreign culture that is very alien to us. In the country today, many people dressed nude in the name of fashion but in all honestly, in those day if someone dressed up like the way many are dressing nowadays they will bring such person to the center of the town and dressed you down and tomorrow you dare not wear such things again.” “I want to appeal to government to inculcate culture curriculum right from the primary school this will help them not to grab the alien culture. “We should not allow our culture, languages which is our heritage to die. Considering the fact that Nigeria has over 250 languages and if we harness them very well, Nigeria have a lot to sell to the world.” He urged. I want to assure you nobody can kill, eliminate or eradicate culture in Nigeria still stand, as you can see we have many ethnic group are struggling to preserve their culture from eroded away but as for people of Umunede our culture must be preserve.”

order to improve access to education in the community.” Another FCT rural dweller, Tanko Moses, who resides in Katampe just 10 minutes’ drive to the city complained of lack of standard health care facilities to carter for inhabitants in most rural communities of the Territory. “Government should to step up efforts at providing the ever needed facilities for the handful of medical centers constructed by the leadership of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the benefit of the rural inhabitants.” Likewise, a resident, Adedayo Isreal, who lives at Dutse Makaranta, a suburb settlement in Bwari area council, who expressed disappointment by the councils, said she was not aware of any road project in the area, being done by the council there. According to him, most rural residents do not place their hopes on interventions by the councils as previous projects executed by them failed to survive beyond its commissioning. “It was unthinkable how people, especially those living in rural dwellers scattered across the entire landscape of the six FCT area councils do not feel the impacts of their government, in charge of affairs at the closest level of governance in the FCT. “Times without numbers, rural people cried out to the government of the area councils and the FCT Administration to look into ways of ameliorating their plight, especially in the area of fixing the dilapidated roads, boreholes, healthcare centers and schools, but it seems that they (government) are not interested towards wiping off their tears.” Notwithstanding the obvious swelling developmental challenges occasioned by the accidental manner of expansion of the Territory, it’s important to note that by reason and experience, various executive chairmen and leaders at the grass root level of governance in FCT should endeavor to take decisive policy actions on the lingering drought of amenities within their domain in Abuja rural settlements, so as to make life more enjoyable for its inhabitants. Meanwhile, last month, the FCT Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) distributed the sum of N1, 501,176,445.24 to the six Area Councils of the FCT being monies accruing to them from the Federation Account. Accordingly, the sum comprises Statutory Revenue Allocation of N599,122,677.96; Value Added Tax of N893,892,259.86, and Exchange Rate Gains of N8,161,507.42 totaling N1,501,176,445.24. It was revealed that Abuja Municipal Area Council received the highest share of N353, 654,171; followed by Bwari Area Council that got N250, 226,160.05. Others are Gwagwalada Area Council with N232, 595,399.19; Kuje Area Council got N225, 553,845.96; Kwali Area Council received N227,405,902.23 and Abaji Area Council which received the lowest share of N211,740,967 for the month of August 2015.

Cocktail

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Oddities

Varsity finds lost mascot

university in Vermont says the costume for its green-caped Spartan mascot has been found unharmed in the football stadium after it was reported missing. A spokesman for Castleton University, Jeff Weld, said Sparty’s costume was found yesterday during an inspection of Spartan Stadium. The costume disappeared from the Student Government Association offices between late

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September and the middle of October. The association bought the mascot for $1, 700 last year to replace one that was showing its wear. Weld said the school suspected that the mascot needed a break after entertaining more than 6, 000 people on homecoming weekend in late September. “This matter is considered closed by the university,” the spokesman added.

Rapper throws wads of money to fans

apper Fetty Wap is reported to have tossed wads of cash over a balcony at a New Jersey mall to the delight of screaming onlookers. Videos posted to social media yesterday showed the Paterson native throwing money as he walked through the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus. The rapper posted on Twitter that he was so happy to be shopping with his daughter that he

threw $2, 000 to fans. “I never know who needed it,” he tweeted later. Wap, whose real name is Willie Maxwell, has

had a breakthrough year with multiple hits, including the pop smash “Trap Queen.” His self-titled debut came in at No. 1 on the

Wayward student makes probation plea

former University of Connecticut student, Luke Gatti, who went on a drunken, obscenity-laced tirade about jalapeno-bacon macaroni and cheese has applied for probation. Gatti filed the application for accelerated rehabilitation at Rockville Superior Court, according to reports yesterday. The charges against himmisdemeanor breach of

peace and criminal trespassing-will be dropped if he is accepted into the program for first-time offenders and meets the required conditions. The 19-year-old former freshman from Bayville, New York, was arrested over his October 4 outburst in the Student Union where he ranted at and shoved a university food service supervisor for refusing to sell him the macaroni and cheese.

The altercation was caught on a video and has been widely viewed online, although the culprit later released his own video in which he apologized for his actions. Gatti is no longer enrolled at UConn. University officials, citing federal law, and declined saying if he left on his own or was expelled. But his attorney, David Kritzman, said he would not comment.

Rapper Fetty Wap performing at Barclays Center in New York

Billboard 200 albums chart this month, and his other Top 10 pop hits include “679” and “My Way.”

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Friday, November 27, 2015

NGO, FRSC partner on safer roads during ‘ember months’

non-governmental organisation, BeWise Community Empowerment initiative (BCEI), has announced its strategic partnership with the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC aimed at making the roads safer for motorists and others during the “Ember months.” BCEI convener, Mrs Susan Chisom, said her organisation would campaign against indiscriminate disposal of trash on the roads by motorists. The group, she said, has adopted a slogan: “Don’t be a killer,” to make many road users aware of how their actions, taken most times unconsciously, may lead to accident and eventual deformation or death of victims. She said: “We are saying to all road users, whether you are a motorist, or pedestrian that you should not be part of the problems. Don’t drop or litter the roads with things that could be injurious to other road users. Throwing things such as banana

Boboye Oyeyemi, FRSC boss

peels, water sachet, plastic pet bottle of drinks, out of the car windows, could be injurious to someone else, who might be coming behind or an unsuspecting pedestrian, leading to injuries, accident and even death.” Mrs. Chisom said it was curious that rather than use trash bins sold to commercial vehicles, motorists and passengers dispose refuse on the road, constituting not only a threat to the safety of others, but environmental menace -blocking of drainage – which causes flooding. The Head, Public Education and Enlightenment of the FRSC,

Mrs Olabisi Sonusi, who led FRSC officials on the road show, said the corporation was happy to partner with the group to make the roads safer. Sonusi said the indiscriminate throwing of waste and litters not only constitute an environmental nuisance, but is a causative agent of accidents on the roads. She praised the group for coming up with the initiative, which would not only address a major source of accidents, but ultimately help in sanitising the environment and beautify the nation. According to her, educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of keeping the roads safe and litter-free is a task for all Nigerians. BCEI’s media coordinator, Mr Nelson Ubong, said the road show would soon be taken to all motor parks and public places in Lagos State, Abuja and other parts of the country. Ubong said the need for attitudinal change among motoring public could not have come at a better time when Nigeria has started experiencing change in all areas of her national life.

megacrown1@yahoo.com 08025237926

CP tasks transport, market unions on security measures at parks

lateau State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adekunle Oladunjoye, has advised road transport and market unions operating in the state to ensure adequate security measures at markets and motor parks. Oladunjoye gave the advice on Wednesday in Jos during a meeting with officials of the various unions. He said the meeting was to remind the unions on the need for them to be security conscious in the wake of security challenges facing the country. He said that from the experiences gathered from happenings in some of the Northern states, the insurgents target crowded places like motor parks. ``This meeting is apt, because your various associations are very important stakeholders in our effort to curb insurgency.

``We believe that it is only through community policing and partnership that we can nip insecurity in our society. ``Parks and markets have become major targets for the insurgents; they have become vulnerable places because crowd always gather there,``he said. The CP said that security was everyone’s concern, adding that every Nigerian is a critical stakeholder. He urged officials of the unions to sensitise their members on the need to take adequate measures to ensure security of lives and property in the state. Stakeholders at the meeting include, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Association of Luxurious Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON), Association of Tricycle Riders, Association of second hand clothe dealers, among others.

VON reiterates calls for auto policy full

ON Automobiles Nigeria Limited, a Lagos based multiple vehicle assemblers has reiterated the fact that Nigeria stands the chance to benefit a lot from the various vehicles Assembly plants in the country. Speaking during an oversight inspection of the plant by the Senate Committee on Import Waivers, Concession and Grants at the weekend, VON Automobiles Managing Director, Tokunbo Aromolaran urged the Federal Government to concertedly execute the national automotive policy to rapidly influence capacity utilization and production of larger volume of passenger cars and commercial vehicles at the various vehicle manufacturing plants in the country. Aromolaran said VON factory has attained 30 per cent local content in bus production since it began operations in 2012. Aromolaran told the legislature that prices of locally assembled vehicles can only become competitive when policy and environment are right to justify economics of car production. “It is my ultimate goal to produce at least 1000 units of vehicles monthly so as to bring down unit prices of locally assembled vehicles but there is yet no volume to operate at optimal capac-

ity,” Aromolaran said. He particularly craved the indulgence of the legislature to enact policy that would restrict importation of used vehicles into the country to forestall emission consequences of old vehicles on the environment and intimidating breakdowns in vehicular traffic. According to him, “It is imperative government introduce proficient road worthiness act and vehicle emission standard to forestall wanton importation of unserviceable vehicles into the country. “If only you would help us to control tokunbo cars, we can produce a whole lot of these small cars at very low prices. And as you are aware, tokunbo vehicles pollute the environment and cause gratuitous breakdowns on the roads,” Mr. Aromolaran said. Also warning it was time Nigeria ceased to create Jobs in foreign countries where fullybuilt up vehicles are made, the plant managing director said: “We are not going to develop our local industries and our children won’t get to work if adequate measures aren’t implemented to raise the bar for local production.” “VON Automobiles can create substantial direct and indirect employment if the environment

Ghost limousine

Rolls-Royce announces airbag recall Aromolaran

is right, as all the safety materials we use in buses assembled at our factory are sourced locally. Some of these items include windshield, window frames, sealants and labour.” he said. VON Automobile has since it began vehicle assembly three years ago, improvised series of factory infrastructures currently used at the plant for production and these gadgets have saved huge foreign exchange cost, the managing director affirmed. “We started operations in 2012 before the auto policy was inaugurated and we have since then been determined to integrate backwards. A lot of our infrastructures are locally fabricated and this is because we are an import substitution industry.”

ith Volkswagen and Toyota recalling millions of cars in recent years to check for possible faults, luxury brand Rolls-Royce has announced a recall of its own - for just one car. The Ghost limousine sold in the United States in 2014 has been ordered into the workshop by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over an issue with the car’s airbags. The NHTSA’s letter to BMW-owned Rolls-Royce reads: “The affected vehicle has thorax air bags fitted to both front seats that may fail to meet the side-impact performance requirements for

the front-seat occupants. As such, this vehicle may fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 214, ‘Side Impact Protection’,” BMW said said the airbags on the R350 000 (R4.9 million) car would be replaced free of charge. Decent airbags are particularly important for Ghost occupants, since the car boasts dramatic performance, thanks to a huge 6.6-litre engine. Despite weighing 2.5 tons, the entry-level limousine can dash from a standing start to 100 kilometres per hour in 4.9 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 250km/h.

People In The Mirror

L-R: CEO, Bishop Entertainment Consult/Julius Agwuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Manager, Mr. Bishop Adejube;, Marketing Director, City of Riverdale,Georgia, Mr. Econuel Ingram; CEO, Julius Agwu Foundation Inc. Worldwide, Mr. Julius Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Genius Agwu and Event Services Coordinator, City of Riverdale, Georgia, Ms. Avis. Y. Jackson, at a thanksgiving and honorary Citizenship Recognition of Agwu by The Mayor of City of Riverdale in Atlanta Georgia, USA.

L-R: Managing Partner/Chief Executive Officer, Peace Consulting Limited, Mr. Ufot Ufot; wife of the award recipient, Folashade Temitope, and her husband, Managing Director, Kristal Digital Solutions Ltd (Kdsl), Ogunsemo; his twin brother, Taiwo, and Managing Partner KDSL, Olapeju Abiodun, during the presentation of the award in Best School Management Software Developer of the year 2015 to KDSL, at the Nigeria Technology Awards in Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: Rev Samuel Oshodipe, Mrs. Bola Oshodipe, Mr. Nathaniel Ekeleme, the celebrant, Mrs. Florence Ekeleme, Rev. Matthew Ubong, Pastor (Mrs.) Lina Ubong at the thanksgiving service to mark the 50th birthday celebration of Mrs. Florence Ekeleme at Assemblies of God Church, Aguda, Lagos.

Popular Saxophonist, Jerry Omole; Founder of SPAN, Mrs. Sarah Boulos; Ace Jazz Artist, Tee Mac and Vice-Chair of SPAN, Mrs. Olufunmi Olajoyegbe, during the Night of Musical Adventure in Lagos

Friday, November 27, 2015

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L-R: National President, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agency, Alhaji Aminu Agoha; Rewanda High Commissioner To Nigeria, Amb. Stanislas Kamanzi; former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu; Chief Organiser, Akwaaba/Project Coordinator, Naija 7 Wonders, Mr Ikechi Uko, and wife Rita, at the Akwaaba African Travel Market/Conference and Exhibition in Lagos on Sunday.

L-R: Civil Society Organization, Adviser, Justice for All, DFID, Mrs. Jan Knight; Deputy National President, International Federation of Women Lawyers, Mrs. Joy Ezeigbo and FIDA President, Barr Hauwa Shekarau, during the Review and Validation meeting of Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of FIDA Nigeria Project, in Abuja yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

L-R: Archbishop, Igbobini Archdiocese, Methodist Church, Nigeria, Most Revd Akinlose AkinDeko; Guest Preacher, Bishop (Prof) Dapo Asaju; Vice Chancellor, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo/ General Overseer, Prophet Oluwademilade Akpata and the Riye Archbishop, Methodist Church Nigeria, Most Revd Adegbemi Adewale at the 2015 Harvest Thanksgiving Service of the Divine Ewulomi Evangelical Church of Christ (C&S) Arowojobe Estate, Mende, Lagos, at the weekend.

People tasting different wines during the 2015 International Wine Festival in Abuja on Sunday

Friday, November 27, 2015

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Business Maritime

Nigeria has capacity to be leader in global maritime industry 窶的lori Engineer Emmanuel Ilori is a marine engineer and a consultant on maritime engineering and management with over 20 years of international experience. In this interview with Tola Akinmutim, he speaks on how to re-position the Nigerian maritime industry and make it a moneyspinner for the country.

ould you say that Nigeria has the requisite statutory instruments to protect the development of its maritime industry? The use of statutory instruments is not peculiar to Nigeria. These instruments are essentially Maritime Technical Development Regulations that require technical expertise for their effective utilization and implementation. In the United Kingdom it is called the Home Trade and it addresses trade, technical and human capacity development. In the United States, The Jones Act was designed to protect existing maritime industry and prepare it for growth. Nigeria has the benefit of two excellent instruments in the Local Content Act and the Cabotage Act. The first was adopted based on the internal technical local content gaps identified within the oil and gas industry. Its modest positive impact is largely due to its implementation by technical experts with thorough understanding of the industry. The Cabotage Act is the most important instrument that is capable of transforming the Nigerian maritime sector; both technically and economically. It makes provision for indigenization of ship building, ship repairs, ship ownership and local capacity development. This law also has a major and very important provision; that is an independent fund for maritime development in the form of Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund. Presently, an initial 200million USD is available in the CVFF. This is a great impetus for Nigerian engineers and technicians to build ships locally. Besides, the funds can also be channeled to enhance ship repair, procure new ships that are cabotage-specific and enable new companies to benefit. All these will definitely transform the Nigerian maritime industry over time. How can Nigeria maximize its potentials in the maritime industry? Nigeria is blessed with a net-

work of inland waterways that span the length and breadth of the country. Developed countries with such natural endowments have utilized them to accelerate industrialization and economic growth. Specifically, areas of opportunity are in ship repair, oil exploration, oil export and import, cargo import and export, short sea trade, fishing, support services including harbor maintenance. In Nigeria, there are immense opportunities not fully tapped for employment generation in areas like ship repair, ship building, inland water transportation and industries, offshore services and oil exploration. What is your position on developing local content policy? It is imperative that any seriousminded country must develop its own local content policy to maximize its potentials in maritime business. One must realize that 90% of the global trade is transported through the seas. The maritime industry is therefore a veritable industry which is an alternative to oil & gas industry in Nigeria. The world energy supply will collapse without sea transportation and the quest to sustain these trades has meant trans-national investment in the maritime industry. Nigeria must take its local content policy with the utmost seriousness. There is no reason why we cannot build and repairs ships on our shores. The relevant agencies of government engaged in the maritime sector can make up to ten times the revenue they make now from a fully developed, sustainable maritime industry. What advise will you give the government on how to reposition the maritime industry? Our road networks will last longer and lives saved through reduc-

tion of accidents when we organize and utilize our inland water transportation channels. This cannot and should not be funded by government alone; the private sector must play a prominent role. The strategic importance of this sector to national and international energy supply chain also means that external influence in this sector cannot be ignored. However, necessary measures must be taken to protect the overall national interest. The enactment of the Local Content Act is probably one of the most important steps taken so far to ensure that the oil and gas sector promotes national technical development including the maritime sector due to the high number of marine vessels covered by international and national regulations. It is to the credit of the Federal Government that the issue of security, peace and disarmament are taken very seriously and this will continue to enhance confidence in the maritime industry. Government has taken steps to fight the menace of piracy and armed attacks against ships. Greater collaboration with friendly international partners can only but help to establish Nigeria as the destination of choice in the maritime business in Africa. How do you react to the challenges of funding and how this is affecting indigenous capacity building in shipping business in Nigeria? The challenges of funding the Nigerian Maritime Industry can best be appreciated with an overview of Global Maritime Industry in context. It is globally accepted and UNDP established that 90% of global trade is carried out on the seas. The world energy supply will collapse without sea transporta-

The disbursement of the CVFF should be such that it will enable ship building in

Nigeria, allow for enhanced ship repair in Nigeria, procure new ships that are cabotage specific, enable many companies to benefit and transform the Nigerian maritime industry

tion. The quest to sustain these trades has meant transnational investment in the maritime industry and ships in particular. The global economic boom at the turn of the millennium accelerated investment in more vessels primarily boosted by increase demand for consumer goods. The desire for quick profit also attracted non-conventional investors into the Maritime Management and operation. Subsequent to the above, the Maritime terrain was complicated by the global financial crisis leading to abandonment of various new ship building projects and collapse of many ship ownership structures. This development affected indigenous capacity building in shipping business in Nigeria which is traceable to funding locally. The financial squeeze on operators resulted in sharp practices to improve financial cost base. Such practices may endanger life and the environment for which Nigeria is no exception. That is the crux of the matter. This is the most important act that would have transformed Nigerian maritime technical and economic development. It makes provision for indigenisation of ship building, ship repairs, ship ownership and human capacity development. But over the ten years of its enactment there is little to show for it in terms of technical and economic development. Whilst vast resources have been expended on its implementation, all the above goals are yet to be realised. The Act also has a major and very important provision that it has

independent fund for maritime development in the form of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund. Therefore this Act has all it takes for the establishment of a sustainable maritime development given the key goals of its establishment. The disbursement of the CVFF should be such that it will enable ship building in Nigeria, allow for enhanced ship repair in Nigeria, procure new ships that are cabotage specific, enable many companies to benefit, and transform the Nigerian Maritime Industry. An initial 200million USD which is presently available in the CVFF can achieve all the above. It depends on the funding and investment model adopted. The realisation of the goals stated above can contribute to job creation, poverty eradication and address the special needs of Africa. The Cabotage Act if properly implemented can help the National Agenda For Change and meet the Maritime dimensions of the MDG and the SDG goals of Rio +20. My stint working in the heart of Lloyds Register London, the global maritime force behind many great nations and economies including Britain, China, Greece and so on has been of particular advantage. Development of technical human capacity must be such that will provide the required quantum to support the various strands of the industry. A holistic national human capacity development initiative that cuts across the full spectrum of the industry is a necessity.

Business Maritime

Friday, November 27, 2015

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ISPS: We shut Obat Oil to prevent attacks on port facilities –NIMASA STORIES: FRANCIS EZEM

he Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, has said that its decision to shut Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited Jetty located at Ibafon in Apapa area of Lagos State over its failure to comply with the regulations of the International Ships and Ports Facility Security ISPS, Code was to forestall attacks on port facilities.

Deputy Director in charge of Public Relations department of the agency, Nigeria’s Designated Authority for the enforcement of the ISPS Code, Hajia Lami Tumaka, who spoke in Lagos, said that the management of the company over the years has failed to comply with the regulations of the code. This, according to her is to forestall a situation where security breaches in such non compliant facilities will negatively impact

the compliant port facilities. She said: “Henceforth, any port facility shut by the agency will remain closed until the management of such facilities totally address the identified deficiencies and pay the prescribed fine before they will be allowed to reopen for business”. According to her, the closure was in exercise of the agency’s powers in line with provisions of Part VIII of the ISPS Code Imple-

mentation Regulations 2014. “NIMASA, pursuant to its mandate as the Designated Authority for the implementation of the ISPS Code has shut Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited Jetty at Ibafon for non-compliance with the provisions of the code”, she also said. It was however gathered that the decision of the agency t0 shut the facility follows the failure of the management of the company to put measures in place to address its non-compliant status despite repeated warnings and several extension of the grace period granted its management for more than one year now. Investigations also showed that sequel to the shutting down of the Obat’s facility; the management of the agency has commenced a total clampdown on other port facilities that have persistently failed to comply with the regulations of the ISPS code. The Director General of the agency, Mr. Haruna Jauro had said recently while assessing the

implementation of the code in the last two years when it was appointed the DA, said that the agency’s target is to achieve 100 per cent compliance which will guarantee the security of ships and port facilities especially in this period. This is given the increasing menace of the terrorists’ activities, which have across the globe including Nigeria, a development that calls for continued vigilance on the part of stakeholders. The DG had disclosed that the agency has achieved about 80 per cent compliance for the 129 facilities in general terms for all the facilities, as against the former 10 facilities or less than 30 per cent compliance level the country attained before it was appointed the DA. Former President Goodluck Jonathan had in May 2013 formally, appointed NIMASA the DA following a 90-ultimatum given to Nigeria by the United States Government to comply with the code or face global sanctions.

Bill to lift US oil export ban clears another hurdle

Jauro

Amaechi

Importers, exporters back re-introduction of ICTN

igerian importers and exporters under the aegis of Shippers Association of Lagos State have thrown their weight behind the Nigerian Shippers Council over its decision to reintroduce the International Cargo Tracking Note ICTN. Executive Secretary/CEO of the council, Nigeria’s economic regulator for the port industry, Mr. Hassan Bello had said recently that over 80 per cent of cargo imported into the country are grossly under-declared, through which the government has lost huge sums from import revenue. President of the association, Rev. Jonathan Nicol, who spoke in Lagos, disclosed that contrary to early insinuations, the shippers are fully in support of the scheme, which he said would facilitate trade, being advance information in addition to blocking massive revenue leakages. According to him, the scheme will checkmate under declaration of the Gross Registered Tonnage GRT of ships by the high and mighty in the Industry as well as stop the deliberate falsification of

ship manifest by some multinational shipping companies operating in the country in a bid to pay relevant taxes and levies. “We are in full support of the ICTN because It will stop falsification of ships’ manifests, checkmate under declaration of imports by the high and mighty in the Industry and provide the actual cargo tonnage of each vessel. Therefore, the correct cargo tonnage will be manifested to break the back bone of the well organised crime of cheating the Nigerian Government”, he said emphatically Nicol also said: “The position of the Shippers Association of Lagos State is clear. Give us a guarantee that the shipping lines will not renege in the payment of the administrative charges in future as they did in Maritime Organisations for West and Central Africa MOWCA deal”. It was gathered that the shippers had in a recent letter to the relevant bodies indicated that it will not pay the administrative charges in the future. The shippers-boss also disclosed that at the moment, the importers

and exporters are reluctant to load their cargo because the clear position of ICTN was still unknown, and therefore called for calm. The president also said: “Shippers Association of Lagos State is not in any conflict with the Nigerian Shippers Council. We appreciate the support of all stakeholders in the Industry and wish to inform them that our nation will be better if some Nigerians stop the falsification of cargo throughput”.

he United States House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 31-19 in favour of approving legislation to lift the nearly 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports from the U.S.A. The bill is expected to be considered and passed by the full House later this month. ”The ban on exporting crude oil imposes an estimated USD 200-USD 600 billion cost to the U.S. economy, discourages crude oil production, prevents the creation of jobs, and causes higher gasoline prices for U.S. consumers,” the Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) said. ”We need to use our abundant resources for the highest and best causes – creating jobs, encouraging innovation, supporting our allies and being a leading player in

the world market.” The supporters of the bill claim that studies have shown that lifting the ban would create nearly one million new jobs across the United States and help keep prices lower at the pump. However, the bill has yet to face its biggest tests following the expected approval by the full House in the following weeks, as it still needs to secure support of several Democrats to clear the U.S. Senate. The White House said that it wouldn’t back the bill because that is ”a policy decision that is made over at the Commerce Department.” Instead, the administration expressed its belief in pursuing an approach that also invests in renewable energy.

figures. Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), the parent company of the ocean carrier APL, has confirmed that it entered into an exclusivity agreement with the French shipping line CMA CGM to negotiate a potential acquisition of NOL. The agreement grants CMA CGM exclusivity until 7 December to complete a due diligence and negotiate a final offer for NOL. Lentor Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek which holds a 39.5% stake in NOL, is part of the agreement with CMA CGM.

Temasek Holdings, the investment company owned by the Singapore Government, holds a further 27.5% interest in NOL that is not owned by Lentor. According to Alphaliner, this suggests that Temasek could be planning to dispose only part of its 67.0% stake in NOL. CMA CGM said that, should these discussions lead to an agreement, such a combination would contribute to the consolidation of the container shipping industry, at a time when scale is more critical than ever.

‘CMA CGM’s APL buy would set a record in container shipping’

he proposed acquisition of Singapore’s APL by the French shipping major CMA CGM would be the largest consolidation move in the history of the container shipping industry, based on the size of the fleet operated by the acquired company, according to Alphaliner. The combination of APL’s vessels (0.54 Mteu) with ships of the CMA CGM Group (1.79 Mteu) would create a combined fleet of 2.33 Mteu with an 11.5% global capacity share, based on Alphaliner

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Business News

Friday, November 27, 2015

FG plans $25bn infrastructure investment fund –Adeosun Johnson Okanlawon

he Federal Government yesterday unveiled plans to set up a $25 billion fund wholly dedicated to infrastructure investments. This is in recognition of the role of the capital market as very critical to the kind of economy the present administration intends to develop for Nigeria The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, gave this hint during the inauguration of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council, CAMMIC, National Investor Protection Fund, NIPF and the launch of the Corporate Governance Scorecard for quoted companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, in Lagos Adeosun noted that in the current environment of significant revenue squeeze and other budgetary constraints, these investments will clearly not come from government coffers alone. She said: “We believe this is where the capital market can really make itself relevant by stepping in to close the funding gap. Government is already looking to set up a $25 billion fund wholly

dedicated to infrastructure investments. A crucial assignment we have for the capital market community is to come up with other innovative ways of mobilizing the capital needed to address Nigeria’s infrastructure challenge. “Nigeria needs and deserves a capital market that is characterized by high levels of liquidity, depth, breadth and sophistication to enable rapid socio-economic development. Going through the Master Plan, it is heartwarming to note that this is the type of capital market you envision for our country and indeed we desperately need such a market to emerge in order to tackle Nigeria’s biggest challenges of huge infrastructure deficit and unacceptable level of unemployment. As you all know, to grow our economy, we require significant funds to modernize our critical infrastructure”, Adeosun added The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, said that efficient and vibrant capital markets remained indispensable feature of any modern economy, supplying affordable medium-to-long term capital needed for growth

AfDB Group, LAPO MfB seal $12m loan pact Isaac Asabor

frican Development Bank Group (AfDB) and LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited have signed a N2.364 billion (about $12 million) loan agreement in the bid to support inclusive growth in Nigeria and also support local SMEs in the country. The loan, which is secured to support the expansion project of LAPO MfB towards the achievement of its goal to render services to 5 million clients by 2017 in the country, will be disbursed to lowincome individuals that are predominantly women and micro/ small enterprises by providing affordable access to finance, saving, credit and insurance in urban and rural areas as well as by expanding its geographic coverage and number of branches. It is also expected that the fund enhance the microfinance bank’s development plan to increase the proportion of poor households and small businesses with access to financial services, deepen its financial sector infrastructure, as well as expansion of its branch networks nationwide. Other key targets of the MfB on the secured loan, are to promote an inclusive microfinance model that works for the poor; stimulate

product development aimed at meeting diverse needs of lowincome households and local enterprises including a soft loan scheme to provide clients a more convenient and safe lighting (solar power lanterns); enhance financial inclusion of women and female entrepreneurs; and support increased revenue of poor households involved in profitable microenterprises as well as create jobs nationwide.

as they facilitate mobilization of savings, accelerate capital formation, provide investment avenues and enhance efficient allocation of capital to growth sectors as no country has been able to develop without a thriving capital market. She expressed concern that

currently, less than three per cent of Nigerians invest in the capital market and even more worrisome, only 0.2 per cent of them invest in mutual funds. The Minister clarified: “Imagine the kind of savings to be mobilized, the liquidity to be injected and the sophistication to be devel-

L-R : Berger Paints Nigeria Plc’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Mr Peter Folikwe receiving certificate of Fellowship of National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria from the Institute’s President, Mr Ganiyu Koledoye, in Lagos recently.

China, Japan reiterate support for Nigeria’s infrastructure devt

hina and Japan have reiterated their commitment to work closely with Nigeria and provide needed support in the areas of infrastructural development, economic growth and human resources A statement by the Assistant Director Information, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Haiba Salisu, indicated the assurances were given by the two countries’ Ambassadors during

their separate official visits to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, in his office, in Abuja. While the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, GU Xiaogie, assured that China was ready to assist Nigeria in her infrastructure and agricultural sector’s development, his Japanese counterpart, Ambassador Sadanobu Kusaoke, said that his country had been supporting Nigeria in the areas

Kano Disco commences digital customer enumeration exercise

ano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), has commenced a digital customer enumeration exercise to ascertain the identity and number of electricity consumers within its system. Dislcosing this when a team from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) , led by the Director, Electric Power Department, Ibrahim Babagana, visited his company in continuation of the post-privatisation monitoring activities of the privatised PHCN successor companies, KEDCO Managing Director, Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna, said that the exercise would help in knowing the customers and

oped if we improve these numbers by bringing millions more Nigerians to invest in the capital market. For Nigerians of faith and people who prefer ethical investments, we must deepen the non-interest product space so they can be involved in wealth creation opportunities the capital market offers.

reducing inefficiencies associated with billing and revenue collection. He told the BPE’s team that the exercise was a prelude to the metering exercise that would commence from December 1 this year, and that the company had acquired over 90, 000 smart prepaid meters to be distributed to customers within its coverage area (of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States). A statement by the BPE’s Head, Public Communications, Alex Okoh, quoted the KEDCO boss as saying that the metering is not only in compliance with the performance agreement the company

entered into with the Bureau of Public Enterprises to meter over 500, 000 customers in five years, but efforts to improve the company’s revenue collection and to bring to an end as soon as possible, the issue of estimated billing. Gwamma, who put the company’s revenue collection efficiency was at 53 per cent, said that in order to improve revenue collection efficiency and ensure efficient service delivery to its customers, the company had acquired 68 branded vehicles and several tricycles and motorcycles to be used by staff to distribute bills to its customers and respond promptly to faults’ report.

of infrastructure, agriculture and human resources, promising improved support in the critical areas. In his remarks, during the separate visits of the two Ambassadors, the Minister described Nigeria’s relationship with both countries as a long standing and mutually beneficial and also expressed delight at the continued expression of support for Nigeria by both countries. Senator Udoma said that he was happy over the rapid manner at which China had developed over time, describing the level of its infrastructural development as very impressive, amazing as well as inspirational to developing countries. Similarly, the Minister thanked the Japanese Government for their various supports to Nigeria; especially their involvement in the Nigeria’s refinery project and solicited further in the areas of power, agriculture and transportation to help in reducing poverty and create employment opportunities. The Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, also commended the Japanese Government for their various interventions and support in the area of capacity building.

Business News

Friday, November 27, 2015

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Nigeria’s teledensity dips by 0.26% Isaiah Erhiawarien

he teledensity for mobile and fixed wireless telephone services in Nigeria, which had at the beginning of the year witnessed a rise, has begun to record a gradual decline falling in September low by 0.26 per cent. Teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within

an area. Nigeria’s teledensity is calculated based on a national population of 140 million based on the 2006 census figures. The statistics for September just published by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, the telecommunications industry regulator, indicated that the teledensity dropped from 107.87 per cent in August to 107.61 per cent in September. In June, the

figure rose from 106.27 million to 107.67 July. According to the statistics, the teledensity of for mobile and fixed wireless telephone services in the country has been on a steady increase since January this year when it hit the set target of 100 per cent, even surpassing it by 0.59 per cent. The teledensity rolled from

100.59 per cent in January to 104.69 in February and thereafter to 103.91 in March and from 102.81 in May to 101.85 in April. Following the deactivation of unregistered mobile phones by the mobile network operators in line with the directive of the Commission, the numbers of active mobile phones lines declined considerably. The declining trend started in August when it fell from 148,703,160 to 148,427,043 in September while the active lines for the CDMA went down from 2,125,941 in August to 2,042,015 in September. Total active lines for the GSM

mobile, fixed wireless and CDMA went down from 151,018,624 in August to 150,660,631in September. Meanwhile, President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, NATCOM, Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, has raised alarm over the nuisance of unsolicited Short Message Service, SMS, and blamed the NCC for the worrisome trend. He said subscribers were not happy with the trend, which has become a reoccurring decimal in the industry noting that the new trend is not that of short code but operators using mobile phones to deliver advert messages.

Johnson Okanlawon with

to further devalue the currency hard hit by the plunge in global crude prices.

Naira gains at parallel market agency report

T L-R: Jonathan Gigin, International Finance Corporation (IFC); Kate Okoli, Assistant Director Legal, Federal Ministry of Finance; Chuka Onwuchekwa, Chairman, Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN); Luqman Mamudu, Director of Policy and Planning, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC); Kevin Conroy, Team Leader, Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment (ENABLE) and Alex Mbakogu, Chief Financial Officer C&I Leasing Plc at the 13th National Lease Conference organised by ELAN in Lagos on Tuesday.

Experts chart roadmap towards extractive industries’ growth Isaac Asabor

n order to ensure that the mining sector is truly harnessed for national economic benefits, experts in the extractive industries have canvassed the need to develop all the mining ports nationwide as well as increase accessibility and awareness of the funds available to the extractive industries. In addition, the industry stakeholders, after the 4th Sustainability in the Extractive Industries (SITEI) Conference in Abuja, also mulled the idea of developing and enforcing a legal, regulatory and investment friendly framework that supports the private sector and would encourage foreign investment; aggressive data collection and analysis and dissemination in the solid minerals sector At the event, which was held under the auspices of CSR-inAction, in collaboration with the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), participants also agreed that opportunities in the sector should be showcased from time to time and that ef-

forts should be increased in order to promote accountability through a transparent reporting process. At the forum, which was well attended by key stakeholders in the sector, participants also discussed the need to address the existence of mineral resources on the Exclusive List, which poses the question of the efficacy of resource control over the derivation principle and the designing of an inclusive Environmental Impact Assessment Act to take care of host communities. Earlier at the forum, the stakeholders had identified several challenges hampering the development of the mining sector. Specifically, they noted that political uncertainty, absence of enabling environment, non availability of quality data that has the potency of engendering confidence towards reliable investment and the persistent neglect of the mining sector, were amongst the major constraints to growing the sector. Other challenges identified at the conference include, limited accessibility to capital and the slow pace of Return

On Investment, ROI, inaccessibility of mining sites due to the poor infrastructure that affects many other industries and lack of resources needed to add value to mined minerals before they are exported thus putting Nigeria under the same constraint as with crude oil where the product is exported and in turn imported as a refined product at exorbitant price. It would be recalled that SITEI has been providing a platform for brainstorming primarily for finding ways of moving the extractive industries in Nigeria forward and to large extent the Nigerian economy

he naira rose 2.1 per cent to N235 per dollar on the unofficial market yesterday after the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, moved to enforce documentation requirements on bureau de change operators prior to dollar sales. According to Reuters, the CBN asked all Bureau de Change operators to submit accounts showing their dollar usage at the start of each week before they can access future sales, a move traders say was aimed at curbing speculation. The naira had fallen sharply on Wednesday, a day after the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates to stimulate lending in Africa’s biggest economy, traders said. The currency was quoted at the pegged rate of N197 on the official interbank market. “It has been observed that a good number of bureaux de change purchased foreign exchange from the central bank without rendering returns on their utilisation,” the bank said The CBN had introduced currency controls to stop the naira weakening, defying calls

The bank asked BDCs to immediately return all forex bought at its Wednesday auction without documents to show how they used previous purchases. It cut dollar supply to BDCs last week to conserve its dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Yield on the most liquid 5-year bond fell 264 basis points to a five-year low of seven per cent while the benchmark 20-year bond closed 150 basis points down at 10.8 per cent. Bond yields had traded above 11 per cent across maturities prior to Tuesday’s rate decision, with the 2034 bond trading at 12.30 per cent. The CBN has been injecting cash into the banking system since October in a bid to help the economy. Banking system credit stood at N290 billion yesterday, keeping overnight rates as low as 0.5 per cent . Head of Africa Strategy at Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Samir Gadio, said bond holders could be exposed to future losses if the interest rate easing cycle suddenly ends with inflation currently trading 9.3 per cent below the yields

Nigerian banking system is sound, says CBN UDO ONYEKA

he Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday reiterated that no Nigerian bank was ‘experiencing stress’. The apex bank made this known in a statement by Director, Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Mu’azu,and titled ‘No bank is in distress’. Mu’azu stated that the attention of the CBN was drawn to a fictitious online publication purporting that some deposit money banks in Nigeria are ‘experiencing stress’. While debunking the authenticity of the re-

port, he said categorically that no Nigerian bank is experiencing stress and that the story as published was not only false and baseless but a figment of the writer’s imaginations. The apex bank therefore assured the banking public of the soundness of all banks, adding that they have been complying with both the regulatory and prudential requirements. It urged bank customers to disregard the flawed report of the online medium which it described as false, mischievous and aimed at throwing the banking public into unnecessary panic and to continue to do business with their banks without fear.

Friday, November 26, 2015

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Agriculture, key to Africa’s economic growth –Adesina SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

resident of African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said that improved agriculture could help Africa to solve its growing economic challenges. Listing lack of access to water, growing insecurity, air pollution and huge traffic congestions as major challenges facing African cities, Adesina noted that people, especially the youth leave rural arrears for cities, not because they like cities as such, but simply because they lack opportunities in rural environments. He said, more importantly, they do not get the expected returns from their agricultural activities; a situation he said was made worse by lack of basic services such as infrastructure, health and education. ‘’Therefore, one way of solving the challenges of cities is to slow down the flow of people to urban areas is to make rural areas attractive by turning agriculture into an attractive venture’’, he stated. According to him, there has to be a change on how agriculture is perceived. It should be seen as a business that can raise farmers’ incomes, and improve their status beyond that of simply managing poverty. The AfDB President said: “We must ensure that small farmers, the majority of whom are women, are supported to have accelerated access to improved farm inputs in order to raise agricultural productivity. If agriculture works we can keep the young people in rural areas. Making agriculture a business would then help solve some of African cities’ problems”. On traffic congestion, the former Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that so much productivity is lost in urban areas

when people spend hours in traffic on the highways to get to work. This is even as he noted that air pollution remained a situation that needed to be looked at seriously in terms of ensuring good quality of life in the cities.

To tackle these challenges, he suggested innovative financing solutions as well as capacity building for city planning and management, adding that “we need to manage our resources well, make sure taxes are well managed, and take good decisions. This will help solve our problems.”

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe (second left) and Kano State Governor, Dr. Umar Ganduje, inspecting an exhibition stand during the flag-off of the 2015 dry season farming for wheat and rice, at Kura, Kano State, on Tuesday

500 trained on cassava value chain in Oyo ABOLAJI ADEBAYO

o fewer than 500 women and unemployed youths, including graduates in Ibarapa zone of Oyo State, participated in two-day trainings in various skills along cassava processing value chain. Served as an avenue to empower farmers in Eruwa, in Ibarapa East Local Government Area, the trainings turned out to be a seminar on cassava processing, which also witnessed distribution of work tools to the

prospective farmers in the area. The initiator of the programme, Mrs. Bisi Adeyemo, declared that cassava processing was capable of generating employment opportunities for women and youths including graduates. Adeyemo produces vitamin A cassava products in Eruwa, Ibarapa area of Oyo State which is about 50 kilometres from Ibadan,Oyo State Capital. Speaking at the event, she said that over

German Ministry supports agric start ups in Southern Africa

he German Ministry for International Cooperation and Development (BMZ) supports the AMPION Venture Busa seven days startup bootcamp with 40 participants from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, France and Germany. The bus tour started on 13 November in Windhoek (Namibia) and led through Ghanzi and Gaborone (both Botswana), Johannesburg, Bloemfontein to Cape Town (all South Africa). In Cape Town, the 10 resulting startup teams presented

According to him, other solutions include, participation of citizens in the management of cities, arguing that this would make them more responsible as they become part of the solution as stakeholders and not just recipients of services.

their agri-tech solutions to an international jury of investors during AfricaCom, Africa’s largest ICT conference. During the Venture Bus tour the participating entrepreneurs have been mentored by experienced serial entrepreneurs and investors, including training in design thinking and lean startup methodologies. Site visits on the route included commercial and communal farms as well as local technology hubs and innovation centers in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

Ideas and business model developments have been shared and exchanged with the local startup communities during several stopovers. Africa’s economy is strongly dependent on the agricultural sector. 60 percent of all working Africans work in agriculture. However, the productivity is limited: up to 60 percent of all African farmers produce few or no products for trade. New technologies and digitization are crucial to sustainably develop the agricultural sector and to improve lives in Africa.

100 workers had been empowered through similar trainings provided by her organisation. The initiator, who is wife of a former lawmaker, Senator Peter Adeyemo, the vitamin A cassava flour being produced by her group is of very high standard. She said the preferred vitamin A cassava products included Gari, Fufu, Lafun, chinchin, among others. The former banker now collaborating with the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training to empower the trainees, said she had earlier collaborated with the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, in the state to train corps members on how to invest in agricultural products, especially the vitamin A cassava. The Director of Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, IAR&T, Ibadan, Prof. James Adediran, said that agriculture was the only means to eradicate poverty in the society. The agricultural scientist, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Dr. Ayodele Adegbite, pointed out that in recent time, researchers had discovered many things that could be done with cassava especially the vitamin A cassava.

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Capital Market

Friday, November 27, 2015

Investors’ traded 174m shares at N1.05bn

nvestors in equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday traded 174.85 million ordinary shares worth N1.05 billion in 2,127 deals. The volume was against the 143.69 million shares valued N1.43 billion traded in 2,406 deals on Wednesday, translating to an increase of 21.69 per cent. The All-Share Index recorded marginal depreciation, dropping by 16.24 points or 0.06 per cent to close at 28,203.20 points against 28,219.44 points recorded the

preceding day. Similarly, the Market Capitalisation lost N5 billion to close at N9.695 trillion compared with N9.700 trillion achieved the preceding day. Sterling Bank was the most sought equity, accounting for 37.74 million shares worth N74.73 million traded in five deals. Access Bank accounted for 29.38 million shares valued at N136.66 million exchanged in 99 deals, while FBN Holdings sold 26.48 million shares worth N132.34

million in 296 deals. Fidelity Bank traded 21.74 million shares valued at N29.42 million transacted in 47 deals and investors staked N101.50 million on 17.68 million shares of UBN achieved in 43 deals. An analysis of the price movement chart indicated that CAP Plc topped the losers’ chart with a loss of N2.02 to close at N38.93 per share. Nigerian Breweries came second having lost 59 kobo to close at N120.01, while 7UP dropped 45 kobo to close at

N183.55 per share. Oando dipped 36 kobo to close at N6.86, while Ikeja Hotel lost 16 kobo to close at N3.26 per share. On the other hand, PZ Industries led the gainers’ chart, growing by N1.25 to close at N26.25 per share. Cadbury followed with a gain of 95 kobo to close at N20.05, while Ashaka Cement chalked up 60 kobo to close at N23 per share. Portland Paint increased by 18k to close at N3.88 and E-tranzact grew by 11k to close at N2.46 per share.

Actis invests $62mn in Nigeria’s Sigma Pensions

rivate equity company, Actis, yesterday said it had acquired a majority stake in Sigma Pensions for $62 million to capitalize. The British-based company with a focus on emerging markets has invested more than $3 billion in African businesses spread over 23 countries, more than $570 million of which is invested in the fi-

nancial services sector. Sigma, founded 11 years ago, is one of 21 licensed Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, and has 650,000 customers. It operates out of 11 offices and 32 service centres and Actis said that its investment will help to create the platform for further expansion within the industry. Actis stated: “The pen-

sions industry in Nigeria remains significantly underpenetrated, with pension assets constituting only around five percent of GDP. The industry has demonstrated strong growth and is poised for further expansion. “There are currently only around six million pension holders in a population of around 170 mil-

zooka and Yellen to raise interest rates in the U.S., and then we will start to evaluate what will be the path for 2016.” The European stock gauge has gained 2.3 percent in two days. Speculation the European Central Bank will add to stimulus measures and that the global economy is strong enough to withstand an increase in U.S. borrowing costs has helped the rebound since a September low. With U.S. markets closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, markets were quieter than usual. The volume of Stoxx 600 shares changing hands was about 30 percent lower than the 30-day average. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December rose 0.4 percent. Europe’s stocks have regained more than half of their losses since a September low, with the Stoxx 600 closing 7.2 per-

cent below the record reached in April. While they’re up in November for a second month, miners have declined as commodities reached their lowest prices since 1999. Infineon Technologies AG jumped 13 percent after reporting betterthan-expected operating income. That spurred gains in peers STMicroelectronics NV and Dialog Semiconductor Plc. Bang & Olufsen A/S surged 31 percent after the Danish maker of high-end televisions and audio components said it was approached about a possible takeover. Delta Lloyd NV climbed for a third day, taking its jump to 15 percent for the period, after Rabobank pitched the idea of a purchase by NN Group NV. In turn, the Dutch insurer and asset manager spun out of ING Groep NV fell 2.6 percent. Remy Cointreau SA dropped 3 percent as its profit declined more

Inter-Bank Rate Naira

US Dollar

N196.98 Market indicators All-Share Index 27,697.12 points Market capitalisation 9.52trn

Stock Updates GAINERS

lion, with a median age of only 19, which supports the growth outlook for the industry.” Actis stated that it noted significant potential in the asset management industry in Nigeria and was willing to support emerging market consumers to secure their future by saving and investing appropriately.

Carmakers lift Europe stocks to 3-month high ptimism for further central-bank stimulus sent European stocks to a threemonth high, fueled by gains in carmakers amid a weak euro. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.9 percent at the close of trading in London. The euro trading near its weakest level since April boosted exporters, sending Volkswagen AG higher for a 10th day, its longest streak in five years. The optimism was broadbased among the region’s shares, with all industry groups climbing. “The market is in good shape, but any further upside will need some support from central banks or from a relief in commodity prices,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere, who helps manage about 250 million euros ($265 million) as head of trading at MPPM EK in Eppstein, Germany. “We wait for Draghi to reload the stimulus ba-

Source: NSE

than analysts projected. BHP Billiton Ltd. lost 2.4 percent after a United Nations probe into a deadly mine spill said steps that the company took to prevent harm weren’t sufficient. Abengoa SA tumbled 40 percent, following a record 54 percent plunge yesterday as the Spanish renewable-energy company said it’s seeking preliminary protection from creditors. Rate (%) Inflation

8.2

MPR

Crude oil price

$58.96

COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

GUINNESS

120.00

126.00

6.00

5.00

ETERNA

1.61

1.69

0.08

4.97

CUTIX

1.50

1.57

0.07

4.67

HONYFLOUR

1.99

2.08

0.09

4.52

FCMB

1.86

1.94

0.08

4.30

CUSTODYINS

4.05

4.20

0.15

3.70

PORTPAINT

4.05

4.20

0.15

3.70

CHAMPION

3.80

3.94

0.14

3.68

ACCESS

4.64

4.80

0.16

3.45

IKEJAHOTEL

3.39

3.50

0.11

3.24

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

TIGERBRANDS

1.70

1.54

-0.16

-9.41

FIDSON

3.00

2.85

-0.15

-5.00

VONO

0.86

0.82

-0.04

-4.65

UNITYBNK

1.08

1.03

-0.05

-4.63

LEARNAFRCA

0.65

0.62

-0.03

-4.62

GUARANTY

21.99

21.00

-0.99

-4.50

LAWUNION

0.54

0.52

-0.02

-3.70

AFRIPRUD

2.59

2.50

-0.09

-3.47

STANBIC

18.00

17.50

-0.50

-2.78

REDSTAREX

4.10

4.00

-0.10

-2.44

FGN Bonds

Offer

Bid

Description

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

15.10 27-APR-2017

1.44

106.60

10.04

107.60

9.31

16.00 29-JUN-2019

3.61

112.05

11.79

113.05

11.47

15.54 13-FEB-2020

4.23

110.02

12.41

111.02

12.12

16.39 27-JAN-2022

6.19

115.56

12.67

116.56

12.46

14.20 14-MAR-2024

8.32

108.17

12.58

109.17

12.39

10.00 23-JUL-2030

14.81 68.00

15.59

68.30

15.51

Closing Market Prices of November 19, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

Exchange

Rates (N)

18-Feb-16

3.53

3.56

WAUA

270

USD

196.98

26-May-16

6.36

6.58

EURO

214

20-Oct-16

6.59

7.01

CFA

0.32

YEN

1.64

Tenor

Rate (%)

SWISS FRANC

202

O/N

1.1267

POUNDS STERLING

293

12.2519

13.8564

SDR

273

15.2488

NIBOR

The Fixings of November 19, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Vincent Aghogho Happy, now wish to be known and addressed as Obroghovwotu Aghogho. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ALPHONSUS VINCENT CHARLES, now wish to be known and addressed as IYAMU EFE STANLEY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as MISS. OLABODE ADEDAYO OMOLADE. Now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ADEBAYO ADEDAYO OMOLADE. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti (EKSU) and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Orie Friday Jasper, now wishes to be known and addressed as Orie Frank Friday. All former documents remain valid. The general public, please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Amure Isaac now wish to be known and addressed as Akeredolu Olatunde Elijah.All formerdocuments remain valid. FCMB Bank,keystone Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME NWAIWU: I, formerly known as MRS NWAIWU EUCHARIA, now wish to be known and addressed as MISS UBOCHI EUCHARIA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as OLUWASEYI JAMES OBALAKUN, now wish to be known and addressed as OLUWASEYI JACOBS OBALAKUN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Rose Chinenye John now wish to be known and addressed as Rose Chinenye Nwafor. All former documents remains valid general public take note

Friday, November 27, 2015

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ISHOLA JOHN MUYIWA, now wish to be known and addressed as OLANIYAN JOHN MUYIWA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ADEYEMO BUKOLA now wish to be known and addressed as OLUWATIMILEHIN JANET OLAYEMI.All former documents remain valid.Diamond Bank and the general public should please take

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Oluchi Nduaguibe Steven, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluchi Echesirim Donatus. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Adebayo Bosede Dorcas now wish to be known and addressed as Adeniyi Dorcas.All former documents remain valid,FCMB Bank and general public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that CHIDOM UCHE FREDRICK is one and the same person as CHIDOM UCHE FRED. All former documents remain valid. UBA, First Plc and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as DAVID UMOKE ONYEBUCHI, now wish to be known and addressed as OKECHUKWU DAVID. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME MADU: Formerly known and addressed as MADU OPHYLIA CHINEMEREM now wish to be known and addressed as NDUKWU OPHYLIA CHINEMEREM. All former documents remain valid. General public take .

I, formerly known and addressed as

MR.

BAMISAYR

AYODELE

ABRAHAM, now wish to be known and addressed as ISRAEL AYODELE ABRAHAM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Kennedy Austine Ifeanyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Kuku Kennedy Ifeanyi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as MR. AJIBADE OLUDAYO, now wish to be known and addressed as MR. AFUWAPE OLUWAFEMI EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Olatunji Sunday Temitayo now wish to be known and addressed as Sunday Taiwo Temitayo. All former documents remain valid ,First bank plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as IMADONMWINYI GIFT UWAILA, now wish to be known and addressed as EDOSEGHE BILLY UWAILA ANITA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to notify the general public that am the same person bearing Okedigwu Solomon Oboryagwina and Oboryagwina Okedigwu. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as MRS OGUNBOYO BOLANLE OMOLOLA now wish to be known and addressed as MISS AJAYI BOLANLE OMOLOLA. All former documents remain valid.General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Miss Obajuluwa Abimbola Victoria now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adepoju Abimbola Victoria. All former documents remain valid ,NYSC and general public take note

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to certified that Opionachie Jonas Luke is the same and one person as Obasi Okwute Jonas that henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Obasi Opionachie Okwute Jonas.first bank LTD, UBA and general public take note.

OCHONOGOR I FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MISS OCHONOGOR NKECHI GLADYS, NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MRS NWADOR NKECHI GLADYS. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

CORRECTION OF NAME This is to inform the general public that,my correct names are, AJISEGIRI DAMILOLA HENRY.Instead of AJISEKIRI DAMILOLA HENRY.That was wrongly spelled in my valid INEC Voters Card.All former documents remain valid.First Bank PLC,Heritage Bank PLC and the general public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as EZEH JUDE ELOCHUKWU, now wish to be known and addressed as EZEOBI JUDE ELOCHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as AKINYEMI OLUWASOJI FATODU, now wish to be known and addressed as AKINTOKE USMAN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Cynthia Anya Egburonu now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Cynthia Mentor Uchendu. All former document remains valid general take note

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Beatrice Kalu now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Beatrice Emele. All former documents remains valid Astra instrument LTD , stanbic ibtc pension managers and general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as KADIR LEKAN ADEBAYO now wish to be known and addressed as ABDULKADIR OLALEKAN OLOYIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME IFEDUBA : Formerly known and addressed as CHRISTIANA IFEDUBA now wish to be known and addressed as CHRISTIANA IKEMEFUNA .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME INNOCENT: Formerly known and addressed as ESTHER INNOCENT now wish to be known and addressed as ESTHER OCHOLI. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as IFEANYI NJOKU, now wish to be known and addressed as AJAYI OLUMIDE ADENIYI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ISHAYA: Formerly known and addressed as ISHAYA ILIYA now wish to be known and addressed as ISAIAH ILIYA KASUWA .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME AYO: Formerly known and addressed as AYO RAHMAN YUSUF now wish to be known and addressed as AYOKU RAHMAN YUSUF.. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

ODIA: Formerly known and addressed as MISS UFOMA MARY ODIA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS UFOMA MARY OZAH. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME NURA: Formerly known and addressed as NURA MUSA MAGAJI now wish to be known and addressed as MUHAMMAD MAGAJI MAJIYA .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

This is to inform the general public that the above named body has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the part C of the Company and Allied Matters Act 1990.

TRUSTEES 1) EBENUWAH EDOZIE JERRY - CHAIRMAN 2) ODIBELI. CHUKWUEMEKA NKEMAKONAM. AIMS TO PROMOTE YOUTH REHABILITATION, EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL,ECONOMIC AND SOCIETAL DEVELOPMENT. Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Trigis Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama, Abuja,within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED EBENUWAH EDOZIE JERRY CHAIRMAN

OLABORODE : Formerly known and addressed as MRS BLESSING OLABORODE now wish to be known and addressed as MS .BLESSING SAMUEL IKOTT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME ONOME: Formerly known and addressed as SAMSON OJAKOVO KOVO ONOME now wish to be known and addressed as SAMSON OJAKOVO OFARN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHRIST FRUITFUL VINE DELIVERANCE MINISTRY.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ORIE. CHRISTIAN DESMOND, now wish to be known and addressed as SIMEON SUNDAY CHARLES. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to notify the general public that ALIYU ANGEL HASIYAT is the same person as ALIYU AVORSUAHI HASIYAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

This is to inform the public that my name was mistakenly written as Rafiu Yekeni, instead of Rafiu Yekini.All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as MISS GEORGE OMOLOLA VICTORIA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS FALADE VICTORIA OMOLOLA.All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly mr UKPA GIDEON now MR UKPA THOMAS UROKE. AII former documents remain Valid. Wema Bank Plc and general Public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Martins Risikat, now wishes to be known and addressed as Shobowale Risikat. all former documents remain valid. The general public, please take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Miss Tiamiyu Temilola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ajibulu Temilola. All former documents remain valid ,general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OKEKE: I, formerly known and addressed as OKEKE HYACINTH CHIDOZIE now wish to be known and addressed as AGALUDIKE CHIDOZIE HYACINTH. All former documents remain valid. First Bank and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME EMMANUEL: I, formerly known as MR OBIORA OGWUDILE EMMANUEL, now wish to be known and addressed as MR. IKWUEZE OBIORA OGWUDILE. All former documents remain valid. Diamond Bank, First Bank, Sky Bank and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as IKANDE JOHN OKOM, now wish to be known and addressed as IKONG JOHN OKOM. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as AKINBODE OLALEKAN, now wish to be known and addressed as MICHAEL JOSEPH. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to inform the public that Mrs Chioma Gloria Ogu and Mrs Chioma Gloria Oguka refer as one person but now wish to be known as Mrs Chioma Gloria Oguata. All former documents remains valid general public take note CHANGE OF NAME MATHEW: Formerly known and addressed as DAMIAN HILARY MATHEW now wish to be known and addressed as DAMIAN UZOMA NJOKU.. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Beatrice .O. Mejeh now wish to be known as Mrs Morgan Erondu Beatrice .O. All former document remains valid general public take note CHANGE OF NAME USO : Formerly known and addressed as USO PEACE MONDAY now wish to be known and addressed as AKPABIO PEACE INYENE. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME ESE: Formerly known and addressed as MISS JOHNSON JULIANA ESE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ERUBASA JULIANA ESEROVBHE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME BANKOLE: Formerly known and addressed as OLUADE BUSAYO BANKOLE. now wish to be known and addressed as OLUADE BUSAYO BAMIDELE .All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OKHAIDE: : Formerly known and addressed as ONIME JOSEPH OKHAIDE now wish to be known and addressed as ONIME JOSEPH OKHARUME.. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE HAVEN FOR YOUTH ENTERPRENEURAL DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. OMORODION OSAKIOYA PRECIOUS, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OMONIGHO PRECIOUS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME IKECHUKWU: : Formerly known and addressed as OKOCHA IKECHUKWU now wish to be known and addressed as OKOCHA OKPE UDE .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

PUBLIC NOTICE GOSHEN THE LAND OF GLORY BIBLE CHURCH.

This is to inform the general public that the above named body has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the part C of the Company and Allied Matters Act 1990.

This is to inform the general public that the above named body has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the part C of the Company and Allied Matters Act

TRUSTEES

1) OKOCHA PETER CHUKWUMA - GENERAL OVERSEER. 2) OKOCHA LOVE IFEANYI. 3) OKOCHA ABUMNKECHUKWU DANIEL. AIMS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST TO ALL NATIONS. Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Trigis Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama, Abuja,within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED OKOCHA PETER CHUKWUMA GENERAL OVERSEER.

1) VEN JAMES OGHENERO AMUKU - GENERAL OVERSEER. 2) PASTOR OGHENERO AMUKU EMMANUEL AMUKU JR. 3) EVANG. OKOTIE ONORIODE ABRAHAM. 4) EVANG. ULOH FREEBORN OROVWIGHO. 5) EVANG. MRS. UMUDJE EMAMOKE NELLY. 6) EVANG. MRS GRACE AMUKU. AIMS: TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD FOR GOD. Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Trigis Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama, Abuja,within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED VEN JAMES OGHENERO AMUKU GENERAL OVERSEER.

National Mirror

Friday, November 27, 2015 www.nationalmirroronline.net

CHANGE OF NAME ARINOLA: Formerly known and addressed as ARINOLA SHOLA now wish to be known and addressed as SOLA AREOLA ..All former documents remain valid. General public take note CHANGE OF NAME GEORGE : Formerly known and addressed as MISS DORA GEORGE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS DORA UGHE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ALEXANDER LUKE ALISON now wish to be known and addressed as OBINNA GEORGE ALISIGWE. All former documents remain valid general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Agamadu Joseph now wish to be known and addressed as Agamadu Ioraor Joseph all former documents remain valid Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OCHUBE: Formerly known and addressed as OCHUBE JERRY WISDOM now wish to be known and addressed as ALEXANDER LIYO. All documents, records and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME SADIQ: Formerly known and addressed as SADIQ MUHAMMAD now wish to be known and addressed as DALHAT MUHAMMAD. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

AkAJI : Formerly known as AkAJI Mary Eke now wish to be known as Samuel Mary Ogechukwu. all former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME IBEANUKA: Formerly known and addressed as MISS CECILIA IBEANUKA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS CECILIA ABAM. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FATORISA: Formerly known and addressed as FATORISA OLAUDE JOHN now wish to be known and addressed as JOHN OLAIDE FATORISA .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME MICKY: Formerly known and addressed as HENRY EBERE MICKY now wish to be known and addressed as OBI MERCY EBERE.All former documents remain valid. General public take note CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as miss Ogunsanya Olusola Rasidat now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Onimole Olusola Rasidat all former documents remain valid Justice Development and peace Commission take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Jackson Babra now wish to be known and addressed as Eghenegi Ufuoma Babra all former documents remain valid and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME IBRAHIM: Formerly known and addressed as IBRAHIM CHARITY UNEKWU now wish to be known and addressed as ADAMA CHARITY UNEKWU. All documents, records and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Miss OLUWAYEMISI ARIKE ODUMUYIWA now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs OLUWAYEMISI ARIKE ODEYEMO. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME BRIGHT: Formerly known and addressed as BRIGHT NWAGBA now wish to be known and addressed as JOSHUA SUNDAY ONUOHA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME EZEH  I formerly known and address as EZEH GODWIN , now wish to be known and address as UKWUAJA SUNDAY CHIDERA. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is To Confirm That ENEH AMAKA LINDA is The Same Person As AGUENEH LINDA AMAKA Now Wish To Be Known and addressed as ENEH AMAKA LINDA. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ADAMU: I, formerly known and addressed as ADAMU ABIGAIL, now wish to be known, called and addressed as PAUL ABIGAIL NJEB. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS BABATUNDE TEMITOPE DEBORAH . NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS ILEYEMI TEMITOPE DEBORAH. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME ANOZIE: Formerly known and addressed as MISS ANOZIE CHINASA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS NWEKE STELLA CHINASA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Saliu Dauda now wish to be known and addressed as Saliu Dauda Owoseni all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Fabowale Ruth Folasade Baisat now wish to be known and addressed as Ruth Afolasade Zacheus Fabowale all former documents remain valid Bureau of local government Pension and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as miss Olayinka Aina Rufai now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olayinka Aina Olusanya all former documents remain valid and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

ADVERT SPACE FOR SALE CHANGE OF NAME IBOL: I, formerly known and addressed as UDEY JAMES IBOL, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ABRAHAM JOSHUA. That the two names refers to the same person. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS ONYENZE OGECHI MADELEINE NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS NNOSIRI OGECHI MADELEINE. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE NOTE.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Yekeen Jamiu is one and same person as Akolade Amode Ade now wish to be known and addressed Yekeen Jamiu all former documents remain valid and general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME EMAGANI: Formerly known and addressed as MRS LUCY D. MAGANI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS LAUU HAMAS. All documents, records and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CORRECTION OF NAME

This is to confirm that TIEMO AYIBA is the same one person as TIEMO AYIBA PRECIOUS. That henceforth wish to be known and addressed as TIEMO AYIBA PRECIOUS. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ADEKALE: Formerly known and addressed as SHARIFAT ABDULRASAQ now wish to be known and addressed as SHERIFAT OMOLOLA ADEKALE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

UDEH I formerly known and address as MISS UDEH BLESSING NGOZIKA , now wish to be known and address as MRS OMERE BLESSING NGOZIKA. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

EGBUMOKEI: Formerly known and addressed as CHUKWUNIKE SOLACE CHUKWUMA now wish to be known and addressed as EGBUMOKEI CHUKWUNIKE SOLACE CHUKWUMA. All documents, records and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME CHUKWUDI: Formerly known and addressed as MR. CHUKWUDI CHRISTOPHER STEPHEN now wish to be known and addressed as MR. CHUKWUDI NWITE STEPHEN.. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

ASABIA: Formerly known and addressed as MISS GRACE OLUWATOMISIN ASABIA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS GRACE OLUWATOMISIN IGBINOSU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to fonfirm that OLISAH CHUKWUMA is the same one person as OLISAH CHUKWUMA RICHARD. That henceforth wish to be known and addressed as OLISAH CHUKWUMA RICHARD. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and General public should please take note.

AMADI I formerly known and address as AMADI MODESTHER CHIMAGBANWE, now wish to be known and address as AMADI BLESSING NNACHETAM. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OKOYE Formerly known and addressed as MR. IFEANYI OKOYE CHRISTAIN now wish to be known and addressed as MR IFEANYI ANUDILE CHRISTAIN ..All former documents remain valid. General public take note

UWASOMBA: Formerly known and addressed as UWASOMBA CHIDINMA MARY now wish to be known and addressed as ODOEMENA CHIDINMA STELLA MARY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

FADIYA: Formerly known and addressed as ABEKE FADIYA now wish to be known and addressed as OLUWAKEMI AWE. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Obah Augustina Nkiru now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Nwarache Augustina Nkiru All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OLAONIPEKUN: Formerly known and addressed as OLAONIPEKUN OLABISI KAFILAT now wish to be known and addressed as OKEOWO AZEEZ OLABISI KAFILAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

ANYOGU I formerly known and address as MISS ONYINYE LILIAN ANYOGU , now wish to be known and address as MRS ONYINYE LILIAN ONUKAIBE. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OKELU  I formerly known and address as OKEY OKELU , now wish to be known and address as OKECHUKWU EKEMEZIE. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MUHAMMED MURTALA USMAN NOW WISH TO BE REFFERED TO AS YUSUF MAMUDA.ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID,GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME IKUDAISI: I, formerly known as Miss. Ikudaisi Janet Omolara now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gbemi Janet Omolara. All former documents remain valid. Nursing Council of Nigeria, Babcock University Hospital and General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS NNENNA BLESSING ELEKWE . NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS NNENNA OBI CHIDI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Sonuga Omobolanle Omotolani now wish to be known and addressed as Akanbi Omobolanle Omotolani all former documents remain valid and general public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Olatunji Razaq is one and same person as Olatunji Razaq Ogunbajo now wish to be known and addressed as Olatunji Razaq Ogunbajo all former documents remain valid Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME AKOMBU: Formerly known and addressed as MR ALFRED AKOMBU now wish to be known and addressed as MR ANODARE AFRED JULIUS. All former documents remain valid. All documents, records and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public should take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

NWORNEM: This is to inform the general public that my name was wrongly spelt as JOY NWORNEM instead of JOY NNORUEM henceforth I wish to be known and addressed as JOY NNORUEM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME ADANNA: Formerly known and addressed as OGBONNA VICTORIA ADANNA now wish to be known and addressed as OGBONNA IFEYINWA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Miss Amao Funmilola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oladoyinbo Funmilola All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME NWOYE I formerly known and address as MISS NWOYE BLESSING ONYINYE, now wish to be known and address as MRS EZIECHI BLESSING ONYINYE. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UCHE  I formerly known and address as UCHE CHIDI UCHE , now wish to be known and address as UCHE CORNELIUS CHIDIMMA. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS GEOWAM MATHEW, NOW WISH TO BE CALLED MATHEW MIAPMA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN THE SAME. GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME GANIYU: I, formerly known as Ganiyu Saheed Olusegun now wish to be known and addressed as Adeleke Adewole Olusegun. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note. CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS ANAZODO MARYJANE. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS OKAFOR MARYJANE CHIBUZO ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE NOTE.

DODJI: This is To Confirm That EDAH DODJI And ALBERT DANDJI Refer To One And Same Person. All Documents Reflecting Any Of The Stated Names Remain Valid. General Public Take Note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that YAKUBU WAIDIDA is the same person as YAKUBU WAIDIDA BULAMA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME SODIQ: : Formerly known and addressed as MISS HIKMAT BISOLA SODIQ now wish to be known and addressed as MISS BISOLA OLADEJO ..All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ANGELA AZUKAEGO OKOLIE now wishto be known and addressed as MRS. ANGELA AZUKAEGO OHADEKWE. All former documents remain valid general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Fatubarin Elizabeth Oluwaseyi now wish to be known and addressed as Oluwatobarin Elizabeth Oluwaseyi all former documents remain valid Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Olayinka Ejeh is one and same person as Olayinka Solomon Cole now wish to be known and addressed Olayinka Solomon Cole all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME AHMED: Formerly known and addressed as ABDUL .M. AHMED now wish to be known and addressed as ABDULKAREEM MOHAMMED. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OKOLI: Formerly known as Miss Okoli Ngozi Blessing now wish to be known as Mrs Eze Ngozi Blessing. all former Documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME This is to confirm that GANIYU AJAO ZARUQ is the same person as AHAMAD ABDULGANIYU but now wish to be known and addressed as AHAMED ABDULGANIYU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Ojo Omotade Kehinde Mosunmola now wish to be known and addressed as Omotade Kehinde Mosunmola All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME OKEKE  I formerly known and address as MISS OKEKE IFUNANYA LOVETH , now wish to be known and address as MRS EMEREMNI IFUNANY LOVETH. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is To Confirm that OKOH DANIEL is The Same Person As NWEZE KENETH CHINEDU Now Wish To Be Known As NWOKWU KENETH CHUKWUNEDU. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS NWACHUKWU NGOZI NANCY . NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS NWACHUKWU NGOZI AUGUSTINE. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME GODWIN: I, formerly known and addressed as GODWIN ENE JANET, now wish to be known, called and addressed as AKOR JANET ENE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OBIWURU: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OBIWURU THERESA OBIAGERI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. UBOCHIOMA THERESA OBIAGERI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Mr Jimoh Adefila now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Nasiru Adefila Makanjuola All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UMEH  I formerly known and address as UMEH CHIBUIKE EMMANUEL , now wish to be known and address as ULASIKA CHIBUIKE EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is To Confirm That ONYINYE CHARLES UZOBUENYI is The Same Person As ONYINYE CHRISTABLE UZOBUENYI . All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note CHANGE OF NAME TOYIN: I, formerly known and addressed as TOYIN ISIAKA JOY, now wish to be known, called and addressed as LOUISE OLUWATOYIN MIRACLE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FAGBOHUN: I, formerly known and addressed as FAGBOHUN MOSHOOD AKANNI, now wish to be known, called and addressed as FAGBOHUN MICHEAL AKANNI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME SHORUNKE: I, formerly known and addressed as TIMOTHY SHORUNKE, now wish to be known and addressed as ISAAC ADIGUN. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Borno retrieves, buries 81 Boko Haram victims dumped in river Inusa Ndahi Maiduguri

hairman of Bama Local Council in Borno State, Ali Gujja, has said the remains of 81 victims of Boko Haram, killed and dumped into Yadzeram River, were yesterday retrieved and buried at a cemetery, according to Islamic rites. The remains, comprising mainly skeletons and skulls, according to military authorities, were retrieved and collated along the river beds by volunteers and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, JTF. Addressing newsmen at Bama on the ceremonial and religious rites of burying remains of the victims, Gujja said the bodies could not be retrieved earlier because of insecurity and capture of Bama on September 1, 2014, by the insurgents. “We had no option other than allow the 81 bodies to continue to float and eventually buried in river beds and sand for over a year, before some volunteers and

North

Friday, November 27, 2015

members of CJTF swung into action last week to exhume their remains,” said Gujja yesterday on how they were recovered for burials. He further disclosed that two cement wells in three wards of destroyed Bama town were also used by insurgents for dumping the bodies of killed residents. The affected wells, according to him, had been

sealed off and fumigated to prevent further outbreak of air and waterborne diseases in the town. On internally displaced persons, IDPs, he said: “The population of this camp is over 6,000 displaced people, comprising 560 households with 2,140 children under the age of five, while those below one year are 1,140. “The feeding bill of

these displaced persons is also being footed by Borno State Emergency Management Agency, BOSEMA, while the United Nations Children’s Fund takes care of their basic health care needs. ‘‘And today, the Victims Support Fund, VSF, has supported this camp with two grinding machines, drugs and recreational facilities for women and children in camp.”

Kwara Poly suspends three students over arms possession wara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, yesterday announced the suspension of three of its students for allegedly being in possession of live cartridges and charms. Deputy Registrar (Information and Publication Division) of the institution, Moshood Amuda, in a statement said the suspended students by their action breached the rules and regulation of the polytechnic. Kwara Polytechnic, he said, is determined to maintain conducive learning en-

vironment and has no room for students that would not conduct themselves in line with the school’s laid down rules. Reading the offences of the students, Amuda said, “The Polytechnic’s authority had received a report in which you were alleged to be in unlawful possession of live cartridges and charms after which you were handed over to the police for further investigation. In line with the polytechnic’s practice, any student under investigation is to be placed on suspension pending the outcome of investigation of the alleged

case(s). ‘‘Consequently, I am directed to inform you that management has approved your immediate suspension from the polytechnic pending outcome of the investigation by the police.” The affected students, according to him, are Bolaji Tunde of Marketing Department with matric no: HND/12/MKT/ PT/019, Abdullahi Wasiu S. of Marketing Department with matric no: HND/14/ MKT/FT/207 and F. Atanda Atoyebi of Business Administration with matric no: ND/14/BA/FT/132, all from the Institute of Finance and Management Studies of the institution.

CHANGE OF NAME

Wole Adedeji Ilorin

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as mayowa abiola olutunde now wish to be known and addressed as mayowa abiola alli. Former documents remain valid. General public pls take note.

EZURUIKE: Formerly known and addressed as EZURUIKE ABEDINEGO ODINAKA now wish to be known, called and addressed as ONUOHA ODINAKA WISDOM. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

Formerly known and addressed as miss amaechi vivian chinyere, now wish to be known and addressed as mrs. ihe henry vivian chinyere. All former documents remain valid. nysc and the general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as miss olabimpe niniola bolumole, now wish to be known and addressed as mrs olabimpe niniola bolumole oluboyo. All former documents remain valid. nysc and the general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Odufuwa Victoria Moteleola now wish to be known, called and addressed as Odufuwa Tawa Victoria. All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

I formerly TOSIN FEMI and OLAREWAJU TOSIN SUNDAY now wish to be called and addressed as MR OLAREWAJU SUNDAY TOSIN. All former documents remain valid. Zenith bank , UBA bank and general public take note.

SOARES: I, formerly known and addressed as SOARES OLUWAKEMISOLA FLORENCE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ADEDEJI OLUWAKEMISOLA FLORENCE All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ABDULSALAM: Formerly known and addressed as MISS ABDULSALAM IDAYAT ADEOLA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ADENIJI IDAYAT ADEOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OGUNMADE: Formerly known and addressed as OGUNMADE OLUWASHOLA AYOOLA now wish to be known and addressed as ADAMS OLUWASHOLA OLASUBOMI AYOOLA. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Sekinot monisola Ishola, now wish to be known and addressed as Sekinot Monisola Taiwo Ishola Ayanda. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as FREDERICK GODWIN ZIRRA, now wish to be known and addressed as JOSEPH ADAMU. All former documents remain valid. Ecobank , DIAMOND BANK and ZINETH BANK and general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME ALAO: Formerly known and addressed as ALAO BOLANLE BILIKISU now wish to be known and addressed as KADIRI BILIKISU BOLANLE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, MODILIM CHUKWUMA VINCENT and MODILIM SEBASTINE CHUKWUMA is one and same person as MODILIM CHUKWUMA VINCENT SEBASTINE. All former documents remain valid. Diamond, Skye and Guranty Trust Bank and the general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, LAMIDI DESOLA MUJI and SALAMI MUJIDAT ALAKE is one and same person as SALAMI MUJIDAT ALAKE All former documents remain valid. UBA , Skye Bank and the general public take note.

This is to confirm that I, Digbeu Epse Youin Likagnene Alphonsine is the same person as Youin Dorcas and the owner of Ivory Coast International passport with number 15AH18243. All authorities concerned & general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME USMAN: I, formerly known and addressed as IDRIS USMAN now wish to be known and addressed as GARUBA USOMA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

OWAN: I, formerly known and addressed as SUNDAY OMILKE OWAN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as SUNDAY OMAGU OWAN. All former documents remain valid. General

CHANGE OF NAME

FADUGBA: I, formerly known and addressed as FADUGBA OMOTUNDE OLUWABUSOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as ALFRED BUSOLA MOTUNDE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

IGBOBUOTU CULTURAL VALUES AND HERITAGE This is to notify the general public that the above named Organisation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for registration under the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 1 of 1990. The Trustees Are : 1. Valentine Udochukwu — Chairman 2. Sheriff Nwogu — Secretary 3. Emeka Iwuoha — Member 4. Kingsley Imo — Member

5. IKECHUKWU Ogwo — Member 6. Chukudi Ahiwe —Member 7. Luciano Ugochukwu Uruakpa —Member

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : 1. To redeem and salvage the dying Igbo indigenous cultural values and heritage. 2. To forge a strong Igbo unity through cultural awareness and orientation. 3. To revive and sustain Igbo heritage like Igbo language, cultural and tradition Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the RegistrarGeneral, Corporate Affairs Commission, 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitaima, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: L. U. C. URUAKPA, ESQ

CHANGE OF NAME

TOYINBO: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS TOYINBO FATIMOH ATOKE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. JIMOH FATIMOH ATOKE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UANSEOJE: I, formerly known and addressed as ABDULKADIR .O. FAITH/UANSEOJE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as EWAN FAITH. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Muritala kafayat Aina, now wish to be known and addressed as Adegbite Kafayat Ayomide. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Muda Akinola Adelayo Akinpelu, now wish to be known and addressed as David Adelayo Akinpelu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Afolabi Iretioluwa Abosede, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Daramola Iretioluwa Abosede All former documents remain valid. Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos & general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UGOBA: I formerly known and addressed as UGOBA GODWIN, now wish to be known and addressed as OGUDUVBE ERIC. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities concerned should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as OGO JACOB, now wish to be known and addressed as OKIKE DAVID CHINEDUM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as OSUOLALE-BABS Olamide Kuburat now wish to be known, called and addressed as ODEDE Olamide Kuburat. All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as miss adeola grace tejumade, now wish to be known and addressed as mrs ibietan grace tejumade. All former documents remain valid. nysc and the general public should take note.

Formerly known and addressed as miss yekinni iyabode morufat, now wish to be known and addressed as mrs balogun morufat iyabode. All former documents remain valid. nysc and the general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OKEKE: I formerly known and addressed as OKEKE UCHE FRANCIS, now wish to be known and addressed as DURU UCHE. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as mayowa abiola olutunde now wish to be known and addressed as mayowa abiola alli. Former documents remain valid. General public pls take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm to the general public that I, Miss JONES OLUWASEYI GANIYAT is same as one person as MRS. DAFERIOGH OLUWASEYI GANIAT. All former documents bearing my names remain valid. General public please take note.

That on some of my documents my name appears as EWERE VIVIAN while on my other documents my name appears as PETER PEACE UKAH. That any document bearing either EWERE VIVIAN or PETER PEACE UKAH belongs to me and remain valid. That I am the same person bearing both names. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Opedare Abiodun Risikat, now wish to be known and addressed as Kazeem Abiodun Risikat and that I was born on 2nd may 1973. Former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as ODUWOLE MODUPE OLUBUNMI, now wish to be known and addressed as ESECHIE MODUPE OLUBUNMI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as AFOLAYAN JOHN OLALEKAN, now wish to be known and addressed as AFOLAYAN AYO BAYO. All former documents remain valid General public plesae take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OTUONYE: Formerly known and addressed as OTUONYE NGOH CHRIS now wish to be known, called and addressed as ANYANWU NGOH CRITZ. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OKWARAUBA: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OKWARAUBA PATIENCE CONFIDENCE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. TIMOTHY AMAKA PATIENCE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONWUEYIKPE: I formerly known and addressed as MISS ONWUEYIKPE ANGELA CHIOMA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ONOJEDJE CHIOMA ANGELA. All former documents remain valid. General public should

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAMES I, formerly known and addressed as miss ikpo ine nnachi, justina nnachi, now wish to be known and addressed as mrs chima justina. All former documents remain valid. nysc and the general public should take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Ogunde Temitayo Eunice, now wish to be known and addressed as Agbamuche Temitayo Eunice. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

SANNI: I, formerly known and addressed as SANNI TITUS AREMU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as SANNI TAJUDEEN AREMU. All former documents remain valid. GTBank, general public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

AKPAN: I, formerly known and addressed as AKPAN REBECCA OKON, now wish to be known, called and addressed as OGUNDIPE BECKY. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

UGWA: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS UGWA JULIET LILIAN OBIANUJU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. EMEDSI JULIET LILIAN OBIANUJU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OJO: I, formerly known and addressed as PIUS OJO AHANMISIS, now wish to be known and addressed as ELDER PIUS OLOJA OJO. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take.

Friday, November 27, 2015

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that Joseph Ogbu, JOSEPH Oforbuike Ogbu and Gilbert Okoye belong to one and same person.all documents bearing these names to remain valid. general public take note CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Bolarinwa Yemisi Tundun, now wish to be known and addressed as YUSUF YEMISI ‘TUNDUN All documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as MISS. OMOYENI LUCY FEYISAYO. Now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AKINOLA LUCY FEYISAYO. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Baptist Convention and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS ADEKUNLE ISHAU ADEBAYO NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS AKINWUNMI AYOPO MICHEAL FORMER DOCUMENT REMAIN VALID PUBLIC NOTE CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as IBE Justina Nkechi but now wish to be known as Ugwu Justina Nkechi. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Lasisi Felicia Ayoni, now wish to be known and addressed as AZEEZ FELICIA AYONI All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Peter Ibe. Now wish to be known and addressed as PETER MADUANWUCHIO CHUEHI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as DJ Valentino Now wish to be known and addressed as GBOLAHAN OTITOLOJU BELLO. .OLD AGE 21 OCT 1987.NEW AGE .. 21 OCT 1982. CHANGE OF NAME

This is to certified that Sunday Alani is the same one person as Hammed Afolabi, that henceforth wish to be called and addressed as Hammed Afolabi. All former documents remain valid, Atakumosa West Local Government Osu

This is to certified that Adeniji Temitope Ayobami is the same one person as Adeniji Ayobami Temitope, that henceforth wish to be addressed and known as Adeniji Ayobami Temitope. All former documents remain valid, WAEC, Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to confirm that I Onwere Nwasunday Glory is the same person as Onwere Uzoamaka Favour. All former documents remain valid. IMPOLY and the general public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME OWOLABI:I formerly known and addressed as ABDULRAMON SAIDI OWOLABI, now wishes to be known and addressed as SAHEED OWOLABI RAMON. All formerly documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Nelson Uduak~Obong Racheal Paul, now wishes to be known and addressed as Racheal Nelson Paul. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Chinoso Ugochukwu Daniel and Okegwe Ugochukwu Daniel belong to one and same person.All documents bearing these names shall remain valid general public note CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and called Miss AMINA JIBRIN, henceforth wish to be addressed as MRS AMINA BABA JIBRIN GANA.All former documents remain valid.General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MISS OGUNLEYE FOLUKE MARGRET. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MRS. SOKEYE FOLUKE MARGRET. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Azeez Isa Olabode now wish to be known and addressed as Azeez Isa Oyeladun. All former documents remain valid. Access, GTBank and General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as OGUNLEKE JOHN ADEOLU now wish to be known and addressed as OWOLABI JOHN ADEOLU. all former documents remain valid, general public take note

Formerly known and addressed as USIM SEKINAT ADEWUNMI now wish to be known and addressed as OSINYEMI SEKINAT ADDEWUNMI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Ugwuanyi Sylvester, now wishes to be known and addressed as Ugwu Sylvester. All formerly documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Olushesi sherifat, now wishes to be known and addressed as Kosoko Sherifat. While my correct date of birth is 15 -9 1970 and not 15 -9-1968 as written. Former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as UGBEM SIMEON OKWEKA now wish to be known and addressed as UGBEM SIMEON OKEM. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS YUSUFF FLORENCE MORENIKEJI YETUNDE. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS SOETAN-YUSUFF YETUNDE FLORENCE MORENIKEJI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID.GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that moses stephen chiemela, moses steven chiemeka and moses steven chiemela belong to one and same person. All documents bearing these names to remain valid.general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed Olaifa Timothy Abiodun is the same person as Olaifa Babatunde now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Olaifa Timothy Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. Skye, First bank and General public take note

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as LOVETH DADA now wish to be known and addressed as LOVETH UMUKORO. All former documents remain valid.The general public should please take note.

This is to confirm that I,UZOCHUKWU UZOR is the same person as UZOR UZOR .That any document bearing any of the names remains valid. The general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Akinlade Kunnuola now wants to be addressed as Ibraheem Ayisat Dupe. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

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CORRECTION OF NAME-

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Omo Niya Yetunde Deborah Oyebanji, now wishes to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chikere Yetunde Deborah Oyebanji. All formerly documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to certified that KAYODE ADEWUNMI OGUNTOYINBO is the same one person as KAYODE ADEWUNMI SHOWEMIMO, that henceforth wish to be addressed as KAYODE ADEWUNMI OGUNTOYINBO. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Akor Samuel Gowon now wish to be known and addressed as Akoh Michael Momoh. All former documents remain valid. First, Access bank and General public take note CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Mr Sobayo Stephen Kolawole now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Oluwabayo Stephen Kolawole. All former documents remain valid. FMCA United Staff CMS Ltd and General public take note

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CHANGE OF NAME

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CHANGE OF NAME Formerly Olayinka Bolatito Onaolapo Arewa now wants to be addressed as Olayinka Onaolapo Bolatito Gabriel. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Civil Service Commission and General public take Note.

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CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as ODOLE JULIANA TRUST, now wish to be known and addressed as KUJE IGBEKELE JULIANA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Chioma Patricia InnocentNwosu, now wish to be known and addressed as Chris Chimamkpa Nwozuzo . All former documents remain valid. Access Bank Plc and the general public please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

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My name was wrongly writhen as Esther Effiong Monday instead of Monday Esther UKEM. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

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CHANGE OF NAME

ADVERT SPACE FOR SALE CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Kudoro Titilayo Ebunoluwa now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Abogunrin Titilayo Ebunoluwa. All former documents remain valid. Ogun state Ministry of Forestry and General public take note

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CHANGE OF NAME

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Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Bale’s agent hooks U17 star Nwakali

Manchester City obviously still needs to strengthen up defensively if they hope to make a good run-in in all competitions

Sport

–New York City FC midfielder, Frank Lampard

Osimhen will step into Yekini’s shoes, says Kingsley Onye Paul Erewuba

Dream Team sets eyes on Rio Olympics ticket …As team lands Senegal, settles in Framissima Palm Beach Hotel

he U-23 national team, Dream Team, have landed in Senegal for the start of their campaign to pick a ticket for the football event of next year’s Rio Olympics in Brazil. The delegation of 21 players, 10 officials, arrived the Leopold Senghor International Airport, Dakar at 1.00am local time yesterday aboard an Arik Airline

flight and were received by the head of chancery Embassy of the federal republic of Nigeria, Haruna Musa on behalf of the ambassador. After airport formalities, the team was immediately taken by road to M’bour, venue of its first two group games, and later arrived the hotel reserved for them, the Framissima Palm

Beach at about 3.00 am local time. The team later had its first training session under the supervision of coach Samson Siasia. Meanwhile with the arrival of the Dream Team, all the participating teams have now arrived Senegal as Nigeria were the last team to arrive.

former Super Eagles defender and member of the bronze winning Flying Eagles team at Sovie Union ’85 World Youth Championship, Kingsley Onye, has sensationally tipped Victor Osimhen to step into the big shoes left by goal ador, Rashidi Yekini. I watched Osimhen at Chile and he showed some traits of Rashidi Yekini but a bit more refined. He scored great goals and his positioning on the pitch is excellent. Some other members of the team like the goalkeeper Akpan Udoh, Chukwueze and Funsho Bamgboye also showed great talent display. Onye was however quick to add that caution should be the watch word as the Nigerian lad still need to be guided to achieve his dreams in the game. Onye, who is now a football scout based in Europe also im-

hari to include the USSR ’85 Flying Eagles squad in his reward list, as their set was never rewarded of anything. Speaking about the Emmanuel Amuneke-tutored squad that produced Osimhen and others, Onye commended the team handler saying he did a great job. ‘’I must commend Emmanuel Amuneke for putting together a great side that made us proud. Amuneke proved all doubting Thomases wrong by winning the trophy in Chile. Because nobody including the Nigeria Football Federation believed that the team would go all the way to the final and win. So, we must salute the team’s resilient and doggedness at the global stage.” In order for the country to reap the fruit of the young stars, Onye suggests that Amuneke should be promoted to the Flying Eagles with the team. “In my opinion Amuneke deserves to go to the Flying Eagles with the boys. He brought the boys t o -

Osimhen

plored President Mohammadu

Bu-

gether and understands the team’s chemistry.

Sports

Friday, November 27, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Paris attacks

Away fans banned in French football until midDecember

way fans have been banned from all football matches in France until mid-December following the Paris attacks. On 13 November, 130 people died in attacks across Paris , with three suicide bombs outside the Stade de France where France took on Germany. French league games went ahead the following weekend without away fans. The Interior Ministry has extended the ban due to a “lack of police forces available” during the ongoing state of emergency and upcoming climate summit. A French League (LFP) statement said no away fans would WADA says Russia’s Mariya Savinova, who be permitted at the 15th round won 800m gold at the London Olympics, of Ligue 1 matches and 16th should be given a lifetime ban round of Ligue 2 matches this weekend. It added another order would be issued soon applying the same provisions to all top football games in the country until at least the final round of Europa League group-stage matches on 10 December. Monaco have said they will prevent fans of Belgian side Anderlecht from attending their Europa League meeting. The United Nations climate that alleged “state-sponsored four-times Olympic silver med- Wada commission chairman summit is being held in the doping”. allist Frankie Fredericks. Dick Pound said has a “wow facFrench capital from 30 NovemAn inspection team will monThe IAAF, the sport’s govern- tor”. ber until 11 December. itor Araf as it bids to regain its ing body, is holding a meeting in That section of the report, IAAF membership. Monaco on Thursday to deter- likely to be released in JanuAraf confirmed it will coop- mine the measures Russia needs ary, has been held back after erate “fully and actively with to implement to be reinstated to a French police investigation the team”. world athletics. began earlier this month into Anti-doping expert Rune AnThe IAAF is also awaiting the former IAAF president Lamine dersen will lead the five-man findings of a report into the con- Diack and former head of antiearly 50 luxury watches inspection team that includes duct of its officials, which the doping Gabriel Dolle. confiscated from football officials who had received them as “gifts” ahead of the World Cup in Brazil have been donated to charity, Fifa’s ethics committee said yesterday. The watches, estimated to be worth 25 000 Swiss francs ($24 400, ayern Munich chair- mas with the Bundesliga set diola leaves one day, for sure 23 000 euros) apiece, were given to man Karl-Heinz Rum- to start the winter break on another excellent coach will street football world, an internamenigge stressed on December 20. come along, but first we have tional network of groups which Thursday that “no-one is irRummenigge confirmed to see what happens.” uses football to help young people. replaceable”, ahead of a de- that a decision would be anThe Spaniard has won 19 Ahead of last year’s World Cup, cision on the future of club nounced before Christmas. titles as coach with both Bar- the Brazilian Football Confederacoach Pep Guardiola. “It is not intended to move celona and Bayern and has tion handed out 65 gift bags each “No-one in the world is ir- that date. It was always said repeatedly been linked to a containing a Parmigiani timereplaceable at a given time. that a decision would be tak- series of English Premier piece to Fifa Executive CommitPlayers come and go. That en in 2015,” said the former League clubs. tee officials and members of the also goes for coaches,” said German international. Bayern’s 2-0 defeat at Arse- 32 competing associations. Rummenigge in Munich on “Maybe it’s good to have a nal in the Champions League The gifts created a furore at Thursday at the announce- bit of suspense,” continued last month is the only time the time but now disgraced Fifa ment of a new sponsor for the Bayern boss, adding that they have been beaten this bosses, including president Sepp the German champions. uncertainty concerning the season. Blatter, denied any corruption. Guardiola, 44, is in the coach would not prevent the They sealed their place However, the ethics committhird and final year of his players staying “very focused in the last 16 of the Champi- tee’s investigative branch has decurrent contract and has on their work”. ons League on Tuesday with termined that the watches were said he would announce his Captain Philipp Lahm said a crushing 4-0 win against “unauthorised gifts,” and called future plans before Christ- earlier this week: “If Guar- Olympiakos in Germany. on officials to hand them over.

Athletics doping scandal

Russia Federation accepts IAAF ban

ussia’s athletics federation has accepted its ban from international competition without requesting a hearing, the IAAF has confirmed. The IAAF voted to suspend Russia’s federation (Araf) on 13 November after the publication of an independent World AntiDoping Agency (Wada) report

FIFA donates confiscated watches to charity

Guardiola is replaceable - Rummenigge

Guardiola

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Bale’s agent hooks U17 star Nwakali

IFA Under-17 Most Valuable Player (MVP), Kelechi Nwakali, has been signed on by the United Kingdom’s biggest football agency, Stellar Group. The football agency also signed on three other teammates of Nwakali from the Nigerian Under-17 side that won the World Cup in Chile this year. The trio are Samuel Chukwueze, David Enogena and Joel Osikel. Nwakali, whose style of play is compared to Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure, has been reportedly linked with English club

Nwakali

Manchester City, who also have his older brother, Chidiebere Nwakali, on their books. Chukwueze also played a key p role at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Chile, where he scored three goals while Enogena played in all seven games and Osikel played for 61 minutes in two matches. Stellar Group, Africa head, Errol Olowu, explained why the football agency is highly regarded in the area of management of footballers. “Stellar Group not only caters for our players and ensures they get good value for their skills and top salaries, we also cater for their day-to-day needs to ensure they concentrate on their football. ‘’ As young footballers coming to Europe, far from friends and families, we help them settle down so they can shine brighter,” said Olowu. The UK football agency, apart from managing the world’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale, also have the likes of Joe Hart, Luke Shaw, Connor Wickham and Jonjo Shelvey on their books.

Aftermath of Fed Cup: Lobi Stars apologise to Gov. Ortom Ifeanyi Eduzor

he management and players of Lobi Stars of Markurdi have apologized to the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom for their inability to win the 2015 Federation Cup. Lobi Stars last Sunday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium lost by 1-2 to Akwa United in the finals of this year’s Federation Cup. General Manager of the Club, Barnabas Imenger told National Mirror that the apology became necessary considering the huge financial investment made by the Governor on the club since assumption of office about six months ago. According to him, the club has no business that day than

to win the trophy to reciprocate the Governor’s gesture but unfortunately they played with a depleted side which affected the fortune of the team. “We are very disappointed that we lost the Federation Cup finals to Akwa United, a team which we have no reason losing to.

MANDATE

THE

Sylvester Ikuejamoye

mopheys13@gmail.com 0805-407-1194 (SMS only)

Time to hit the nail on its head

or the very first time in a very long while, a minister spoke the mind of many about the much talked about rot and corruption in the sports sector. He was not mincing words. No double talk. He was frank and precise. He is not ready to bribe anybody for favourable press coverage. He was able to hit the nail right on its head. Do your job without expecting any gratification or ‘brown envelope’, and that he was not ready to bribe any professional bribe takers. This minister is surely down to earth. I just pray he will sustain this position and stand by it. I’m particularly glad that Sports Minister Solomon Dalung is really looking beyond the usual enclave of sports administrators as well as the immediate sports ’first port of call’–the disbanded National Sports Commission, now known as the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports. It has been generally agreed that the under-development Nigeria has had in the sports sector was caused by the massive corruption perpeyrated by sports managers and administrators. But other major culprits not usually identified or visible are the ones the minister was

bold enough to unmask. They are other stakeholders most of whom are powerful and some less powerful but gossipers with great tongues capable of pulling any minister down. The honest truth here is that any minister worth his seat can ignore them and dare the c o n s e quence. S o m e o f them have

noth-

Dalung

i n g t o offer. They are like vampires and pests without any value to the system. They usually premised their relevancy to the quantum of noise the made. The minister can afford to do without them and the system will be

Asoju-Oba tennis tourney serves off Nov 30 Ifeanyi Eduzor Ortom

Super Eagles star Akas set to dump Sharks

hima Akas is still undecided over his future following Sharks’ relegation to the National League, it was gathered yesterday. The left-back has been linked with a number of clubs after the Blue Angels failed to secure their top flight status following their 1-0 loss to Abia Warriors on the final day of the 2014/2015 Glo Premier League season.

Sports

Friday, November 27, 2015

The home- based Super Eagles vice-captain has however said he is yet to make up his mind on his next destination. “I have read several reports linking me with some clubs, but I want to state categorically that I have not make up my mind on the club I will play for next season,” Akas stated. “But one thing that is certain at the moment is that I will not play in the National League next season.

he 47th edition of the annual Asoju-Oba Molade Okoye Thomas table tennis championship will serve off on Monday, November 30 at the Sir Molade Okoya- Thomas Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. Disclosing this to the media during a press conference to herald the tournament, son of the late sponsor, Ayodeji Okoya- Thomas announced that the family in keeping with the request of the sponsor before his death decided to continue sponsoring the championship which has

now been changed to Asoju-Oba Molade Okoya Thomas table tennis championship and will be rounded up on December 4. According to him, in keeping with the tradition of the championship, a total of 22 titles will be at stake at the competition which will be in three categories; Cadet, Intermediate and senior categories even as he announced that there will be women and men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles while Para- table tennis will also be competing for the third time this year while there will also be administrators singles event, Coaches singles, and Sports Writers singles events amongst others.

better for it. What the minister needs right now is to be focused and to avoid institutionalized landmines. The sports arena should be sanitized. All traces of double standard should be discouraged. The obvious different camps within the then sports commission should be bridged. Favouritism and hatred as previously the order of the day can only pose a serious set-back for the new order of the change mantra of the present regime. The minister should not hesitate to show the exit door to those who are not ready to be part of the change agenda of his mission. I know that some people in the then disbanded commission thrive only in an atmosphere of crisis and confusion. But they have no choice now than to embrace the new CHANG order. The greatest mistake for the minister would be to succumb to blackmail. He must refuse to be pocketed either by the system or the perpetrators of the hurting system. I have said before that all genuine stakeholders should team up to help this frank and blunt minister to avoid some mistakes of the past. My advice to Dalung is to make a remarkable difference from the past, particularly by attending to the needs of all sports federations with equal affinity. No sport should be made to suffer any form of neglect. It is also important for the minister to seriously consider basic and fundamental autonomy to various sports federations in view of the very lean and scarce resources for the funding of the programmes and activities of the boards elected to run the federations.

Weightlifting Championship here in Houston I bring to you felicitations from the entire weightlifting family and particularly that of Team Nigeria in the city of Houston, Texas, USA where the world weightlifting championship is on-going. Details of Nigeria’s participation as well as other activities of the world body will be made next week. Keep a date with The Mandate column.

Hard but the bitter truth Your behaviour and attitude are a reflection of your inner mind. If your innermind is pure, that should reflect in your behaviour and attitude to people and society generally. If your inner mind is dirty or acidic, your attitude to the people could not have been otherwise. Hard But The Bitter Truth.

WORLD RECORD

Shortest useable pogo stick

Vol. 05 No. 1252

Friday, November 27, 2015

N150

The shortest usable pogo stick measures 46.15 cm (18.16 in) in height and was created by Udar Robinson (Canada) and Homagni Baptista (Australia).

Dele Cole and P. W. Botha on black people U ntil his latest outing: ‘Leave the Ijaw alone’, published in two parts by the ‘Vanguard’ in its editions of November 16 and 18, the last work of Dr. Patrick Dele Cole I read was his piece in ‘The Guardian’ of May 18, 2015, with the caption: ‘Federal Minister of Agriculture, Adesina’. In the said writeup, Cole tore Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the immediate past Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, to shreds at a time when Adesina was at his peak anxiously networking for his African Development Bank (AfDB) Presidency job. Had Cole’s rubbishing of Adesina weighed as basis for considering him for the AfDB plum job, Adesina would most probably not be the President of the bank today. Cole, a former Managing Director of the old Daily Times (1976); ex-Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil (1987-1990); Deputy National Chairman (South-South) of the

AAF president Lord Coe has ended his 38-year ambassadorial role with US sportswear giant Nike. Lord Coe also announced he would resign as British Olympic Association chairman after the Rio 2016 Olympics. It follows conflict of in-

FRIDAY WITH Dozie Okebalama

dozieokeama@yahoo.co.uk 08164966858 (SMS only) People’s Democratic Party (1998-1999); Special Adviser on International Relations to former President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2001); and Chairman of ‘africapractice’ West Africa, among others, has an uncanny way of exposing his truths (or falsehoods, if you like) and piercing through the underbelly of paradoxes. ‘Leave the Ijaw alone’, for instance, is one article in which he exposed a lot of truths; injected a lot of ethnic sentiments; and sounded dispassionate and detached, all at the same time. In the said piece, it seemed what he set out to impress on his readership was the point that all politicians in the land have stolen; and therefore, singling out politicians of his ethnic South-South for harassment, prosecution or punishment, was roundly unacceptable. When he spoke about the late Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State, his position was that “Alamieyesiegha was one of 36 thriving governors, one of thousands thieving politicians…Alamieyesiegha was hounded to death because he was a minority”. On former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, and others, Cole says: “My point, however, is not to defend her, but to point out the sorry state of South-South geopolitical area since the demise of Alams, Ibori and Odili. These three were in charge of funding PDP and its coterie of politicians…Indeed, if they

THEY ARE GOOD IN NOTHING ELSE BUT MAKING NOISE, DANCING, MARRYING MANY WIVES AND INDULGING IN SEX were to speak about how much help they gave to the PDP, then more people would join them in their lonely cells in prison… They were no more corrupt than all other governors, all politically exposed people who worked a system that was mired in corruption… ” But Cole said the piece was in no way meant to condone the corruption of South-South politicians or their alleged corrupt practices. It is, therefore, intriguing that he turned around to lampoon the same group he defended when he said in the piece: “If an Ijaw man is President or Governor, he will try to sleep with five or six women every two or three hours of the day. He will drink, usually with his friends, with complete abandon. It is not that he does not realize the weight of his office. He does. But it does not matter to his psyche…If it is a woman and she has money, she will spend it like water. She will order containers from China that will seat for six years without opening…If she still sees new things, she will order more; she has no recollection what she has ordered or

how much. She will beg her husband to kingdom come for more money for more orders. If she is rich enough, she will buy houses in almost all cities; and may never enter one of them. She will have no idea where her documents are”. A close friend, Bankole Aderinola, about five months back, drew my attention to a similar comment said to be a speech former Apartheid South African president, P.W. Botha, made before his cabinet in August 1985, reprinted and written by one David G. Mailu for the ‘Sunday Times’ of South Africa. Botha reportedly said: “By now, every one of us has seen it practically that the blacks cannot rule themselves. Give them guns and they will kill each other. They are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives and indulging in sex. Let us all accept that the black man is the symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence…” The rightness or wrongness of Botha’s observation has been canvassed across our circle of friends, the majority for, and a miserable few against. Now Cole has swelled the ranks of those that approve of the Blacks’ downgrade. For, in the same cobweb are not just the Ijaw, but the entire Nigerian and African black leadership. The parodox of Nigeria as a nation, for example, is that of a fool that is thirsty in the abundance of water, to the shame of her carousal leaders that perfectly match the descriptions of Botha and Cole. Leaders who, in place of giving good leadership, have left in their trail the bogey of heinous underdevelopment, extreme poverty occasioned by widespread unemployment, avoidable insecurity, desperation and frustration, as well as all manner of crimes, to list just a few. Some of such empty leaders are still being recycled in power and are very much around. But I totally disagree with Cole’s interpretation of corruption in the land as mere ethnic witch-hunt. His suggestion is that two wrongs can make a right, which is off the mark.

Sport Extra

Athletics: Coe ends association with Nike terest claims over the 2021 World Championships going to Eugene, Oregon, where Nike is based. The IAAF said Coe could remain in the role but he said it was “a distraction to the 18-hour days

we are working to steady the ship”. A BBC investigation this week uncovered emails suggesting that when Coe was vice-president of world athletics’ governing body, the IAAF, he lobbied former

president Lamine Diack with support for Eugene. The US city was awarded the 2021 World Championships without a bidding process, despite interest from the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

When asked about the allegations at the time, Coe told the BBC he “did not lobby anyone” over Eugene’s bid, but “encouraged them to re-enter another bidding cycle as they had a strong bid”.

Lord Coe

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