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Too many cooks:

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No survivors found on crashed Russian plane …224 passengers, crew killed Dozens of bodies recovered Air France, Lufthansa stop ights over Egypt ’s Sinai desert Ex-speaker decries new tax regime in Ekiti

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Wife of the Vice-President, Mrs. Oludolapo Osinbajo (2nd right), wife of Kebbi State Governor/Founder, MedicAid Cancer Foundation, Mrs. Zainab Bagudu (right) and others during the International Cancer Awareness Month road walk in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Telecoms operators lose 357,993 customers –NCC Building collapse kills 2 in Benin City News

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Nasarawa LGs in state of coma, says Al-Makura

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Seven Days TALKING POINTS OF THE PAST WEEK November 1, 2015

Plateau guber candidate, Pwajok, dies in hospital

The April 2015 Governorship and House of Assembly elections have been put to test in various tribunals across the country in the past few months. While in some states, the judgements upheld the elections, in

Passion

others, victories were cancelled or upturned. The first major verdict of the tribunals that configured the political equation was the ordering of a rerun in the Akwa Ibom State governorship election.

Governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Plateau State in the April 11 general election, Senator Gyang Pwajok is dead. Fondly called GNS by friends, Pwajok died yesterday in an Indian hospital at the age of 48 years after a protracted liver disease. Many of his political associates in the state were in sorrowful mood as soon as

news of his death filtered into town. It was learnt that the paramount ruler of his Berom ethnic nation, the Gbong gwon Jos, Gyang Buba, immediately summoned a meeting of traditional rulers in his palace upon hearing the news. Pwajok took ill in May and was therefore unable to join his colleagues in the valedictory session of the 7th Assembly.

How Nigeria, Africa can attract massive investments —Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday declared in New Delhi, India, that Nigeria and other African countries must work harder to achieve greater political stability and security before they could enjoy the full benefits of partnership arrangements such as the India-Africa Forum. Addressing plenary ses-

sion of the third summit of the forum, Buhari said to attract massive investment inflow, which they need to overcome the challenges of unemployment and wealth creation, Nigeria and other African countries must also establish policy environments that guarantee the sanctity of contracts on the basis of the rule of law.

Why FG is opposed to devaluation of naira –Osinbajo xxxxxx Wellness

‘Early detection is first step in battle against breast cancer ’

Coordinator, Pink October Lagos Walk, Race and Cycling Against Cancer, Chidiebe Runcie, said that in developing countries the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not survive because their cancer is detected too late. Many women, she

noted, arrive with late-stage tumors that could have been detected at the primary-care level. Detection is just the first step. The next step is to make sure the patient receives the results of appropriate tests and is guided to treatment.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, said devaluation of the naira was not an appropriate option in the current economic realities in the country, stressing that it offers no solution as far as the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned.

A statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande stated that Osinbajo spoke when he received the Italian Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr. Fulvio Rustico and the Canadian High Commissioner.

Boko Haram: Oyo to evacuate beggars In order to arrest the influx of Boko Haram members in Oyo State and check activities of criminals, who may be hiding under the pretense of being beggars, the state government has concluded arrangement to evacuate beggars in all major streets in Ibadan, the state capital, and other towns to check the menace of crime and other social problems. This was the resolution of the state Inter-Religious/ Inter Ethnic Committee held yesterday and presided over by deputy governor, Otunba Moses Adeyemo. The meeting, which had in attendance representatives of various ethnic groups and

PDP senators walk out as Amaechi is conrmed There was mild drama at the Senate yesterday as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators staged a walkout, while their All Progressives Congress, APC, counterpart confirmed the nomination of former governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and 17 others as ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. While the PDP senators wanted the confirmation of the former governor suspended as recommended by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, which investigated him over allegation of fraud and corruption, their APC

Executive Officer of NATCOM, Mr. Kamar Abass, disclosed that the new telcom would be building a tier three data centre in Lagos that would allow for a downtime of not more than 24 minutes in year. This implies that the new nitel double levels of redundancy on every component that service the data centre.

More Reps reject House committees ’ headship Attempt by some members of the House of Representatives to publicly reject their appointment as chairman or deputy chairman of standing committees was yesterday blocked by Deputy Speaker, Sulaiman Lasun, who presided over plenary. It would be recalled that Garba Dati at plenary on Tuesday openly rejected and withdrew his appointment as chair-

man, House Committee on Solid Minerals Development. Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, had on Thursday last week announced the composition of 96 Standing Committees, with All Progressives Congress, APC, having 48, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 45, while All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA and Social Democratic Party, SDP, have one each.

counterparts, raised strong objections against the position. The committee had recommended in its report that the screening and confirmation of Amaechi should be put on hold in line with order 53(5) of the Senate standing rule, which provides that the Senate should stay clear of all matters pending before any competent law of the federation. The PDP senators had also boycotted the screening of Amaechi last week, following the refusal of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to have the report of the committee debated before the screening.

D ’lyte

NATCOM to spend $1.2bn on NITEL ’s revitalisation NATCOM Development and Investment Limited, owners of defunct Nigeria Telecommunications Company, NITEL, has unveiled plans to invest additional $1.2bn to revitalise the moribund telecommunications company. Giving this hint yesterday at a media event where the new NITEL, known as ntel was unveiled, Chief

religions, including Alhaji Kunle Sanni (Muslim), Bishop Kehinde Stephen (Christian), Chief Fayemi Fakayode (Indigenous Faith) and Muktar Lukman (Hausa) resolved that “beggars should be taken off the streets of major cities as that violates the accepted norms and religious beliefs in the society. ” Reading the communiqué on behalf of his colleagues at the Executive Chamber, he said having understood that begging contradicts the teachings of Islam, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, had banned street begging, which he said had resulted in the influx of beggars into Oyo.

MUSICIAN

MON

Election Tribunals ’ judgements recongure political landscape

My Mondays are like Sundays to me, they are my rest days, Monday is a day I stay home to arrange and strategise my activities for the week. Only very important meetings or improptu studio schedules can move me out of my house on monday, its a day I work from home and have good quality time for myself. I work as a project manager apart from music and it has to be three times in a week.

TUE

Tuesday is one of the days I jog especially in the mornings to keep me energetic and ready for the day.

WED

Politics

This thrid day of the week is for studio session with my producer . Whether we have a song to do or not I must touch the studio 2/3 times in a week , it helps my sound because it gives me an opportunity to improve on myself and my songs, we could touch a song over and over again then at night I attend a Bible class or evening service and then I head home and continue with the usual home activitites-cook food, watch TV, listen to the news and rest till the next day.

FRI THU

What ’s new

Thursday is when I start getting ready for my weekends. Especially if I ’m invited to a show where I ’m supposed to perform.

SUN SAT

I attend events and shows especially the ones I ’m invited for.

I make sure I visit my designer for a new outfit, do my nails and hair just to prepare for the weekend events or shows , I also drop by the studio to work although there are times my studio work gets so tough I go almost everyday. If there is no performance on Friday I stay home and I read.

I go to church. This is important to me because it is God that renews my strength.

*By Adaeze Amos (08023012293)

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

THE

Big Read SUNDAY SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Too many cooks: Perils of duplication of police functions One conspicuous draw back in effective and efficient service delivery in public institutions in Nigeria is duplication or overlapping of functions of some ministries, departments and agencies. PAUL OMO OBADAN looks at the problems caused by the duplication of Nigerian Police functions as a case study.

oing by the way the Nigerian Police has been dismembered over the years as a result of successive government policies of duplication and overlapping of functions of some ministries, departments and agencies, there is no other time than now for the present government to restructure the Nigerian Police to a pedestal of envy amongst its peers, at least in Africa. Many wonder if it was really expedient to allow other agencies to compete with the Nigeria Police rather

than allow it to evolve as a vibrant and effective agency. The Federal Government have been known to set up agencies to duplicate the functions of most of its parastatals. But more worrisome is the Nigerian Police. Sunday Mirror investigation dug out several agencies of government presently doing the work of the Nigerian Police. These include the Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC, Eco-

‘IT’S WRONG TO REPLACE ONE AGENCY WITH ANOTHER’

nomic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Department of Petroleum Resources; Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC; National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Department of State Security, DSS; National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP and National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC. In the light of the above, the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan took a bold step to stop this anomaly. He set up the Steve Oronsaye Committee charged with rationalising and restructuring such public establishments through merger or outright scrapping, with a view to curtailing the waste of scarce resources and stemming the tide of distractive rivalries and conflicts among the affected bodies that have become a source of ridicule to the government. Although the White Paper from the Oronsaye panel

POLICE HAVE WIDE SWEEPING POWERS

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘It’s wrong to replace one agency with another’

Jonathan

Aranse

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 has not been implemented, one critical area experts say the present administration should consider with regard to the report, as a matter of urgency, is the duplication of functions of so many parastatal of government, especially, Nigerian Police Force. Constitutionally, the Nigerian Police Force is mandated to maintain law and order with a view to protecting lives and property, fostering civil peace and promoting a congenial atmosphere for political, economic and social development. In this wise, it should be seen as the first among equals as far as maintaining internal security is concerned. One example of rivalry and duplication of function of the Police is the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC. The upgrading of the once amorphous NSCDC into a full-scale law enforcement agency, not long ago, has spurred hot debates and controversies in many quarters. Following the issuance of firearms to the Civil Defence Corps to enable its special squad combat oil pipeline vandals, the controversies being stoked by the existence of the corps have gathered more resonance. This is especially with frequent violent and sometimes bloody clashes between the personnel of the NSCDC and those of the NPF, which are deeply rooted in role conflicts. Although the Presidency was reported to have waded into the matter, it is pertinent to note that behind such clashes is growing rivalry, which, if not quickly resolved, would continue to generate bad blood between the two organisations. Now excluding registration and supervision of civil guard companies in Nigeria, other functions of the Civil Defence Corps, as provided in the NSCDC Act of 2007 upgrading the status of the corps, clash with those of the Police. Notable in this regard are crime fighting, crime investigation, prosecution of criminal offenders, crowd control in public events, traffic control, protection of public facilities (including government buildings, oil pipelines and electric cables), quelling civil disturbances (including riots and communal violence), maintaining internal security in general, peace-making and others. Probably, some federal lawmakers did not envisage the current role conflicts between the NSCDC and wellestablished law enforcement agencies like the NPF when they took a hasty decision to elevate the status of the Civil Defence Corps from ordinary voluntary paramilitary organisation to a full-fledged security body. The frequent confrontations between the corps and the police in different parts of the country in recent times have heightened anxieties that the situation could spiral out of control with the issuance of the former with guns. Regarding the arming of the personnel of the NSCDC, this has generated a groundswell of controversy and unease in many quarters for several cogent reasons. A waste of public funds Policy analyst and legal practitioner Liborous Oshoma argues that “if government had channelled all the monies budgeted for the agencies into the Nigerian

Buhari

IF GOVERNMENT HAD CHANNELLED ALL THE MONIES BUDGETED FOR THE AGENCIES INTO THE

NIGERIAN POLICE, ONE

CAN IMAGINE HOW EFFICIENT THEY WOULD PERFORM IN THOSE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS.

Police, one can imagine how efficient they would perform in those various departments. Note must be taken of the determination by the Police never to abdicate its responsibility to any other agency. In serious countries we don’t have multiple agencies performing duplicate functions; we have a centralised police force with different departments to handle different elements of policing, inspection and maintenance of law and order. “Indeed, it is a fundamental breach of acceptable practice of good public sector governance to create a new agency or institution as a response to the seeming failure or poor performance of an existing agency in order to suit political or individual interests. “Such a practice has proved eventually to precipitate systemic conflicts, crises and even collapse at a substantial but avoidably high financial cost to government.” Barrister Ezeobi Chinedu, a Public Affairs Analyst corroborated Oshoma’s claim, According to him, it is absolute balderdash duplicating the functions of Police by other similar agencies thereby depriving Police of their functions as enshrined in the constitution and Police Act. “Public Funds is being wasted on duplication of functions of the Police to other agencies. There is nothing EFCC is doing that the Special anti-fraud unit of the Police cannot do if given the same support, encouragement and adequate funding. NDLEA apprehends dealers and consumers of hard drugs, so does the Police. Personally, I don’t think there is nothing the Nigerian Police cannot do even better than this Special agencies. I don’t really know the plans of the Nigerian Government duplicating Police duties to other agencies, Are they systematically facing out the Police Force,” he questioned. According to Mr. Collins Edo Osayi, a public affairs

Oshoma

commentator, rather than creating more agencies that perform the functions of the Police, the problems facing the force should be tackled headlong for effective performance. He argued that the fact that an institution was inefficient and ineffective should not be a basis for the creation of new ones. He recalled that the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force have been reputed for performing exceptionally well and winning laurels while on international peacekeeping and other missions. This, he said, implied that the problems of the Nigeria Police were not incurable. Considering the increasing rivalry with the NPF, He said it was a reaction to symptoms rather than the diagnosis of the problem that had contributed significantly to the proliferation of parastatals and agencies. He urged government to focus on addressing and removing factors that militated against the effective performance of its agencies.” Another case of overlapping functions is the enlistment of police officers by the NDLEA especially in critical states like Delta, Edo, Ondo, Katsina and Kano, Sunday Mirror gathered. Same is witnessed in the NPS, which has often found it difficult to put down major prison revolts or repel external attacks without police reinforcement. In the U.S, most of the federal law enforcement agencies, including the national Police (Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI) are plain-clothed and intelligenceoriented, hence their effectiveness in nipping crime in the bud through their undercover operations. Experts say what is desperately needed in Nigeria today is a proactive intelligence-driven security, involving continued assessment of crime threats and response, inter-agency sharing of information and deployment of detection, intrusive and surveillance technologies that are vital for curbing criminal activities. No doubt, the intelligence services in the country like DSS, NIA, Directorate of Military Intelligence, DMI, Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA and Federal InCONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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The Big Read

Sunday, November 1, 2015

‘Nigeria Police should be better funded’ Godson Ewulum was the former head of Operations Presidential Committee Police Equipment Fund. He sheds more light on the challenges of the police in this interview with PAUL OMO OBADAN What needs to be done to make the Nigerian Police better? In the attempts at reforming the police in Nigeria, various committees have been established by successive governments to facilitate such exercise but they have mostly been dominated by people with security background who view such assignments as their exclusive preserve. It is therefore no surprise that most of their reports have often focused on increasing policing capacity in the areas of personnel strength, materials for work and welfare; as though once these are right, the NPF will be effective and efficient. While not belittling the significant difference a properly resourced NPF can make in addressing the safety and security challenges currently confronting Nigeria, experience from other jurisdictions has shown that much more is required for the police to win the confidence of the people and be more efficient and effective at performing their core functions. It is our belief that an efficient and effective police will emerge if government takes most of these recommendations into consideration, including strengthening oversight functions, adequate funding, reward and recognition of excellent officers, building of model police stations in each of the 36 states of the federation; effective performance appraisal system and standard training for members of the force. More importantly, the need to improve the bartered image and public perception of the police is very crucial to the success of any reforms and recommendation. A modern police, able and equipped to tackle the emerging security challenges must consider active community participation.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE NEED TO IMPROVE THE BARTERED IMAGE AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF THE POLICE IS VERY CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF ANY REFORMS AND RECOMMENDATION.

ble. Generally, the success of these agencies is not due to any form of magic training or professional superiority since their personnel are indeed drawn from the Police Force rather due to proper equipment, high level of operational autonomy and adequate funding.

Ewulum

Do you agree with government’s duplication and proliferation of the Police functions through its various agencies? No. The Federal Government should give equipment and funding instead of unnecessary proliferation of law enforcement agency. For instance EFCC, ICPC, NAFDAC, FRSC and host of others all handle matters that fall within the purview of the criminal law for which the Police is statutorily suppose to be responsi-

What recommendations will you like to give government? Decentralisation of NPF structure (with powers and resources devolved to Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands to enable them effectively respond to the priority safety and security needs of their jurisdictions) can serve as a mid-point between pro-and-anti state police agitators. Also emphasis need be given specialisation and professionalism within the NPF while calling for the establishment of an inter-agency committee for the harmonisation of the functions of all agencies performing policing and internal security functions in Nigeria with a view to determining those that should be merged with the NPF to avoid duplication of duties and wasting of resources.

‘Inter-agency rivalry must be curbed’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 vestigation and Intelligence Bureau, FIIB of the Nigerian police could play an active role in this regard if adequately empowered. Oronsaye panel One of such parties faulting the performance of some government agencies is the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies. Chairman of the committee and a former head of service of the federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, whose panel had recommended the reduction of the existing 263 government’s statutory agencies in the country to 161. Although Oronsaye did not outline the complete list of agencies the committee wanted scrapped, he made specific reference to the EFCC and the ICPC, which he said were performing the traditional functions of the Nigerian Police Force. He argued that the Federal Road Safety Corps should not be in existence in its current form and that their functions were a replication of the mandates of two existing bodies. He said although the FRSC had been quite active, the committee observed that what the body was set up to do was a replication of the mandates of two existing bodies: the Highway Department of the Ministry of Works with respect to the maintenance of safety and orderliness on highways and the role of the Nigeria Police in ensuring law and order on the roads. “The setting up of the FRSC to take over partially the functions already apportioned by law to the Federal Ministry of Works and the Nigeria Police Force as a result of seeming poor performance and/or to satisfy

political and individual interests is a typical example of misadventure in the Public Sector at a great cost to government”, the report said. In all, Oronsaye said if the committee’s report was adopted and agencies reduced in accordance with the recommendation, government would be saving over N862bn between 2012 and 2015. Oronsaye’s argument against the EFCC and the ICPC stemmed from the fact that their duties are actually the traditional functions of the Nigerian Police. “It was noted that the functions of the EFCC and the ICPC are the traditional functions of the Nigeria Police. The Committee observed that even though the two commissions were established separately to address corruption, which the Police appeared to have failed to do, successive administrations have ironically continued to appoint the Chairman of the EFCC from the Police Force, while the methodology adopted by the ICPC in conducting investigations as well as the training of its personnel in investigation procedure is carried out by the Police.” He added that the committee, in the course of its assignment, noted duplication and overlap in the mandates of many parastatals and agencies. One of which was the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency which was created to perform a function already assigned by law to the Department of Petroleum Resources. However, as regards the possible solution to the rivalry between the Police and the agencies duplicating its functions, this could be found in implementing the recommendations of the Oronsaye panel as pertaining to merging the two law enforcement organisations.

Instead of entirely scrapping the NSCDC, as submitted by the panel, the Anti-Vandal Squad of the Corps should be fused with the Inspector-General of Police’s Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism to form a formidable arm of the police that would complement the efforts of the Joint Task Force, JTF and the Navy in tackling crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. This proposed special arm of the NPF, it was suggested, should also be saddled with the protection of public facilities like electric cables, communication masts, water pipes and such like. The other bulk of the NSCDC should remain intact, but without carrying arms, by regulating the activities of civil guard companies and undertaking other civic duties. This is seen as a pragmatic way of resolving the police – NSCDC rivalry, as well as strengthening the Nigerian Police, which the creation of parallel bodies like the NDLEA, Civil Defence Corps has atomised the force and deprived it of the much-needed resources for institutional and capacity building necessary for effective and unfettered maintenance of law and order in the country. Therefore, despite the problems militating against the police force, including inadequate funding, lack of requisite working tools, poor welfare service and indiscipline among the few bad eggs, the force should not be treated as a baby that would be thrown out with the bathwater. However, the Police has not just sat down with folded arms and be a spectator in this matter. In their own little way, they have tried to fight back. In 2012, the last probes in the House of Representatives and the Senate on the bid by the Federal Roads Safety Commission, FRSC, to issue new vehicle numCONTINUED ON PAGE 6

The Big Read

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Police have wide sweeping powers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 ber plates and driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s licence were already reaching resolution point when on March 28, 2012, the Nigeria Police put in an appearance at the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs. It came to remind the nation that the Constitution and other laws have long vested the Force with the power to maintain the central database for crime control, including that of vehicle licences. Speaking on behalf of the Police Force, Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Mr Olajide Akano, told the hearing point-blank that the law did not empower the FRSC to register vehicles. On the other hand, the former Corps Marshall of the FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka, had insisted his Commission had the right under the law to do so. The FRSC was set up in 1988 under Decree Number 45 of that year. In 2007, the National Assembly repealed the laws made by the military and enacted the FRSC Act, empowering it with maintenance of safety in the highways and educating the people on the safe use of our motorways. The Nigeria Police Force is a creation of the Constitution (Section 214 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999) to be the sole police force in the federation charged with the maintenance of internal security of lives and property and of law and order. Under this constitutional charge, several laws of the country emphasise the powers of the Police on this matter. Specifically, Section 30 (e) of the Police Act and Regulations gives the Motor Traffic Division of the Police the power to maintain vehicle traffic statistics. Also the Road Traffic Act Cap 548 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria empowers the Inspector General of Police as the Central Registrar of Vehicles to maintain the central registry of vehicle licences, including renewals whenever they are affected by the licencing authorities. Neither the Police nor the FRSC is empowered to issue licences or renew same. It is the Motor Licensing Authorities, MLAs that are empowered by the National Road Traffic Regulation, NRTR, 2004 to register vehicles. The work of the Police is simply to maintain a central database for the entire nation. The powers granted the Police under the Police Act led to the establishment of the Central Motor Registration, CMR, in 1958. Police now claims (even though not many members of the public seem to know about it) that the CMR has been digitalised since 2011 into a Biometric Central Motor Registration, BCMR, thus making it possible for an officer using a handheld device to within a few seconds verify the authenticity of vehicle particulars. However, nobody will dispute the fact that the Nigeria Police has often given Nigerians reason to worry about the ways their operatives sometimes go about their duties. This was perhaps what necessitated the establishment of the FRSC to take away some of the workload of the Police. At the same time, it is also often noted that Nigeria has not been fair to its Police Force in terms of equipment, motivation and funding. Whatever be the case, the Police clearly holds the ace to maintain the central database as far as the enabling laws are concerned. Where there is a clash with FRSC perhaps as a result of duplication of functions, the Police still have the ace because it is a constitutionally created body while the FRSC was created by an act of parliament. Besides, the Police is the only federal agency that has the duty to go in search of missing or stolen vehicles. The FRSC never gets involved in that. The Police is the only law enforcement agency that can enter anywhere to confront anyone in its duties of enforcing the law and safeguarding the lives and property of citizens. It makes sense that such a body must have the crime database, including the registry of vehicles and licences primarily at its fingertips. Even in other parts of the world it is the Police Force that maintains the crime database and makes it available to any other agency needing it for law enforcement. To achieve autonomy its top echelon has recommended limited involvement of the President and supervising Ministry in the operational duties of Police and a guaranteed security of tenure for the Inspector General of Police with one term limit of five years.

Chinedu

THE

POLICE IS THE ONLY

FEDERAL AGENCY THAT HAS THE DUTY TO GO IN SEARCH OF

Steve

MISSING OR STOLEN VEHICLES.

THE FRSC NEVER GETS INVOLVED IN THAT. THE POLICE IS THE ONLY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY THAT CAN ENTER ANYWHERE TO CONFRONT ANYONE IN ITS DUTIES OF ENFORCING THE LAW AND SAFEGUARDING THE LIVES AND PROPERTY OF CITIZENS.

Prior to the establishment of Federal Road Safety Commission in 1988, there was no concrete and sustained policy action to address the carnage on Nigerian roads. Experts note that earlier attempts in this direction were limited to discrete and isolated attempts by some states of the federation and individuals. Notable among the efforts to institute a formidable road safety program was the effort of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) between 1960 and 1965. The effort of the Nigerian Army in the training of its officers and men on road safety in the early 1970s also contributed to road safety ideas and consciousness in Nigeria: The Nigerian Army started the First Public Road Safety Campaign in 1972 when it initiated an annual Road Safety Week. The first deliberate policy on road safety was the creation in 1974 of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) by the then military government. The impact of the Commission was however, not sustained. In 1977, the Military Administration in Oyo State, Nigeria established the Oyo State Road Safety Corps which made some local significant improvements in road safety and road discipline in the state. That lasted till 1983, when it was disbanded by the federal government. With the continued dangerous trend of road traffic accidents in Nigeria then, which placed it as one of the most road traffic accident (RTA) prone countries worldwide (second to Ethiopia), the Nigerian government saw the need to establish the present Federal Road Safety Corps in 1988 to address the carnage on the highways. And in February 1988, the Federal Government established the Federal Road Safety Commission through Decree No. 45 of the 1988 as amended by Decree 35 of 1992 referred to in the statute books as the FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN). Passed by the National Assembly as Federal Road Safety Corps (establishment) Act 2000 FG may scrap EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, others In all, Oronsaye said if the committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report was ad-

Collins

opted and agencies reduced in accordance with the recommendation, government would be saving over N862bn between 2012 and 2015. The breakdown showed that about N124.8bn would be reduced from agencies proposed for abolition; about N100.6bn from agencies proposed for mergers; about N6.6bn from professional bodies; N489.9bn from universities; N50.9bn from polytechnics; N32.3bn from colleges of education and N616m from boards of federal medical centres. Oronsaye regretted that 12 years after the White Paper on the Ahmed Joda Panel Report on the Review, Harmonisation and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Institutions and Agencies, some parastatals and agencies, which government had decided should either be scrapped, commercialised, privatised or selffunding, were still receiving full government funding, which ran into billions of naira. He said the committee, in the course of its assignment, noted duplication and overlap in the mandates of many parastatals and agencies, adding that successive administrations established parastatals without regard to existing laws and, in some cases, outright replicating extant laws. The setting up of the FRSC to take over partially the functions already apportioned by law to the Federal Ministry of Works and the Nigeria Police Force as a result of seeming poor performance and/or to satisfy political and individual interests is a typical example of misadventure in the Public Sector at a great cost to government.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sunday, November 1, 2015

No survivors found on crashed Russian plane •Dozens of bodies recovered, investigations begin

•Air France, Lufthansa stop flights over Egypt’s Sinai desert

Russian airliner has crashed in central Sinai killing all 224 people on board, Egyptian officials have said.

The Airbus A-321 had just left the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg. Wreckage was found in the Hasana area and bodies removed, along with the plane’s “black box”. An official described a “tragic scene” with bodies of victims still

strapped to seats. Egypt’s prime minister said no “irregular” activities were to blame. Sinai has an active militant network, and yesterday afternoon, jihadists allied to the socalled Islamic State made a claim on social media that they brought down flight KGL9268. But Russian Transport Minister, Maksim Sokolov, told Interfax news agency that “such reports cannot be considered

true”. No evidence had been seen that indicated the plane was targeted, he said. Egypt’s civilian aviation ministry said the plane had been at an altitude of 9,450m (31,000ft) when it disappeared. Security experts say a plane flying at that altitude would be beyond the range of a shoulderlaunched surface-to-air missile (Manpad), which Sinai militants are known to possess.

But the German carrier Lufthansa said it would avoid flying over Sinai “as long as the cause for today’s crash has not been clarified”. On Saturday evening, Air France said it was following suit. British Airways and easyJet said their routes were regularly reviewed, but that they had no plans to alter their routes to and from Sharm el-Sheikh. Russian President Vladimir Putin has de-

L-R: General Secretary, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Ven. Israel Okoye; Coordinator, Divine Commonwealth Conference (DIVCCON)/Bishop of Ife Diocese, Rt. Rev. Oluranti Odubogun; Primate of Sudan/South-Sudan, Most Rev. Daniel Deng; Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nocholas Okoh, and Chairman, Publicity Committee, DIVCCON, Bishop Praises Omole, after a news conference on the forthcoming DIVCCON, in Abuja, recently. PHOTO: NAN

Telecoms operators lose 357,993 customers –NCC …as active users drop to 150 million

igerian Communications Commission, NCC, yesterday said that active lines in the nation’s telecommunications industry reduced to 150,660,631 in September.

The commission made this known in its Monthly Subscriber Data which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos. NAN reports that active lines in the country which was 151,018,624 for the month of August, reduced to 150,660,631 as at September 2015. With the reduction in number, service providers in the industry lost a total of 357,993 subscribers. According to the data, the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network which had 148,708,160 in August, was now left with 148,427,043 active customers in September.

The GSM network operators, which comprises of MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat, lost 276,117 users, in the month under review. The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators lost 83,926 active users, as their 2,125,941 customers recorded in the month of August reduced to 2,042,015 in September. However, the monthly subscriber data showed that the Fixed Wired/Wireless networks’ consumers increased to 191,573 as against 189,523 in August, hence, they added 2,050 customers to their networks in the month of September. The chart revealed that the teledensity of the country’s telecommunications industry also reduced by .26 per cent, from 107.87 per cent in the month of August, to 107.61 per cent in September. NAN reports that the teledensity statistics measure

the percentage of a country’s population with access to telecommunications services, as determined from the subscriber base. Nigeria’s teledensity is currently calculated by the NCC on a population of 140 million people.

NAN also reports that the reduction in the number of active subscribers in the month of September is as a result of the instruction given to operators by the NCC in August, to deactivate improperly registered SIM cards.

clared Sunday a day of mourning. He has ordered an official investigation into the crash of the flight, and for rescue teams to be sent to the crash site. Egyptian officials said 214 of the passengers were Russian and three Ukrainian. Russian authorities say the plane was carrying 217 passengers, 138 of them women and 17 children aged between 2 and 17. Most were tourists. There were seven crew on board. A commission headed by Mr Sokolov left for Egypt on Saturday afternoon. A criminal case had been opened against the airline, Kogalymavia, for “violation of rules of flight and preparation for them”, Russia’s Ria news agency reported. Yulia Zaitseva said her friends, newlyweds Elena Rodina and Alexander Krotov, were on board. “We were friends for 20 years,” she told AP at a hotel where relatives were meeting near Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg. “To lose such a friend is like having your hand cut off.” Oksana Golovin, a spokeswoman for Kogalymavia, said the company did not see any grounds to blame human error. She told a press conference that the pilot had 12,000 hours of flying experience. Kogalymavia did not yet know what caused the crash, she said, but the plane was

fully serviced. Police are reported to be searching the company’s offices. Initially there were conflicting reports about the fate of the plane, some suggesting it had disappeared over Cyprus. But the office of Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail confirmed in a statement that a “Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai”. Officials say up to 50 ambulances have been sent to the scene. Access to the area is strictly controlled by the military. One official told Reuters news agency that at least 100 bodies had been found. “I now see a tragic scene,” the official said. “A lot of dead on the ground and many died whilst strapped to their seats.” The plane split in two, with one part burning up and the other crashing into a rock, he added. Live flight tracking service Flight Radar 24’s Mikail Robertson told the BBC that the plane started to drop very fast, losing 1,500 metres in one minute before coverage was lost. Egyptian aviation official Ayman al-Mukadem said the pilot had reported technical difficulties before the plane went missing, the Associated Press reported. Local weather observations in the vicinity of the rescue scene suggest relatively benign conditions.

Buhari mourns Emir of Borgu

…says he was a great patriot, unifier

resident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday expressed sadness and deep feeling of immense personal and national loss over the death of the Emir of Borgu, Alhaji Haliru Dantoro, Kitoro III.

A statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Media mad Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said, “On behalf of himself, the Federal Government and all Nigerians, President Mu-

hammadu Buhari extends sincere condolences to the late Emir’s family and the people of Borgu Emirate over whom he ruled for many years with commendable wisdom, benevolence and an uncommon dedication to duty.” The President also commiserated with the government and entire people of Niger State on the death of the illustrious traditional ruler who would be long remembered and honoured for his notable

contributions to the development of his community, state and country, The President said he joined them in mourning Haliru, a friend and associate of many years, with whom he shared the vision of a peaceful, politically stable, united, progressive and prosperous Nigeria to which every citizen would be proud to belong. Buhari said he would forever treasure the memories of the late Emir as a great patriot, indefati-

gable unifier and bridgebuilder who did his utmost as a political leader and traditional ruler to strengthen the bonds that bind all Nigerians together in the interest of national peace, harmony and progress. The President prayed that Allah would receive Haliru’s soul and grant his people a worthy successor who would build on the laudable legacies of his life of service to community and country.

News

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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PDP needs urgent rebranding, APC insists AYO ESAN

he All Progressives Congress, APC, said the resort to crude, personal attacks by PDP spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh, in his latest statement is a clear vindication of the party’s stand that the PDP should urgently rebrand or go into extinction.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Moham-

med, the party said with a combustible and out-ofcontrol spokesman like Metuh, there was no way the PDP would survive in opposition. ‘’Metuh has shown, time and again, that he lacks the temperament, presence of mind, sobriety, analytical mind, decency in the use of language and panache needed for anyone to be the face of any organisation, not to talk of a political party.

‘’It was the realisation of this obvious fact that made us to offer to provide the excitable Metuh a crash course on how to function as an opposition spokesman. Unfortunately, it is too late now as he seems to have become totally untrainable. ‘’Instead of reacting to our sincere advice to his party to urgently rebrand or go down, Metuh chose to unleash his vitriolic tongue on the APC spokesman, just as he has done

to the judiciary and many agencies of government in recent times. ‘’In what is surely a looming tragedy for the PDP, a spokesman who helped write the party into opposition is now poised to further write it into extinction,’’ it said. APC insisted that the PDP should stop wailing and insulting the judiciary for the electoral tragedy which it brought upon itself by engaging in mindless rigging and vio-

lence in the last general elections. ‘’The doomed opposition should also immediately stop its failed strategy of trying to distract the

Buhari Administration, which is busy cleaning up the mess left behind by the 16 years of locust of the sinking ‘PDP,’’ the party said

Trapped bailout fund: NLC, TUC direct Kogi workers to stay home

ublic service workers in Kogi State have been directed to stay off work on November 2 to protest non-release of bailout funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in Lokoja yesterday. The statement, signed by the State Secretary of the NLC, Mr. John Faniyi, and his TUC counterpart, Mr Joseph Kolawole, expressed dissatisfaction with the non-release of

the N50.8 billion bailout fund due to the state. “This directive is to serve as protest against the non-release of the money.’’ In the statement, the unions said they were surprised at the silence of the CBN/the Federal Government. While asking workers to fully comply with the order, the labour unions warned commissioners, permanent secretaries, directors and other categories of senior public offices not to report for work to avoid embarrassment.

COREN warns Nigerians against quacks L-R: Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Oluranti Adebule; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni during the closing session of the State Leadership Retreat at the Golden Tulip Hotel, FESTAC, Lagos, yesterday.

NAFDAC impounds suspected fake cosmetics

he National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, yesterday reiterated its commitment to safeguarding public health by ensuring that only quality drugs, foods and products were manufactured, imported and circulated nationwide.

Chief Regulatory Officer, Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC, Mr. Idowu Joseph, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, in reaction to an operation that was conducted by the Agency on Friday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some officials of NAFDAC and some Anti-Riot Policemen attached to its enforcement directorate, had on Friday raided the International Trade Fair Complex in Lagos. The enforcement team of the agency was on a raid for suspected fake and unregistered Q7 Beauty Range products. The items included Q7 Gold Whitening Serum Strong Treatment Carrot

Extracts, Q7 Whitening Soap, Q7 Carrot Milk Active Whitening Serum, Carrot Extracts Whitening Body Milk Strong Treatment and Rapid White Skin Perfector Serum. According to Joseph, “We went to the Trade Fair Complex to remove some suspected fake Q7 range of products. “They included soap, cream and serum; the team went to a shop warehouse, it was locked but we had to force it open. We found it empty. “We had to open it by force because by the rules of NAFDAC, when you reasonably suspect, you can open by force. “We then proceeded to their main shop, where we saw one piece of Q7 soap. “On interrogation, the salesperson claimed that the product had not been sold for a long time. However, while going through the receipts, we saw that the soap was sold five days ago. Joseph said, “These products are suspected because a brand of it is registered with NAFDAC; these ones do not have the NAFDAC numbers

and that is why we suspect that they are fake. “This is just the beginning of the investigation; the owners of the shop have been invited to the office, when they come, we will interview them to find out how they get their products. “Subsequently, we will send the products to the laboratory for analysis, to determine whether it will pass all standard requirements for human use. “The outcome of the laboratory results will determine the next step,’’ he said. According to Joseph, the operation succeeded in getting about 40 cartons from shops in two different plazas in the market, as well as sealing some shops. Another Chief Regulatory Officer of NAFDAC, Mr. Uche Chidi, said that the Agency was carrying out its mandate by going to places suspected to have fake or substandard products. He said that the seized products would be released if the owners proved that they had authentic approvals and documentation for them.

Reacting to the incident, the owner of one of the shops that was raided, Shop No. D10 of the Rivers Plaza, who preferred to be addressed as Mr. EasyWhite Ventures, expressed surprise at the raid. He said, “The last time our shop was sealed, I had to go to Abuja and present our documents. “After the products went to the lab, we went and paid penalty fees for it and went back to NAFDAC Abuja to be cleared. “I am surprised that these same products that the Director General, Dr Paul Orhii, has approved and of which the documents are with an Assistant Director of NAFDAC, are being seized again. “We cannot resist this current operation as the officers of NAFDAC are doing their work. EasyWhite Ventures said, ``On Monday, we will go to the NAFDAC office to sort out issues and reach a resolution. ``The products are well registered and I believe that opposition will not succeed because I have my trademark.

he Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, has advised Nigerians to stop patronising quacks for building and construction jobs to avoid incidences of collapsed buildings and failed road projects.

The Inspection Officer of COREN in the state, Mr Daniel Adown, gave the advice when he inspected the 16km Ganaja-Otokiti Village by-pass road. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the road was being constructed by the Kogi Government to open up the state capital. Adown said the incidences of collapsed buildings in Nigeria in recent times could be traced to the use of quacks instead of professionals who were conscious of their calling. “One advice we give to our clients is that there are situations where jobs are given to non-professionals who do not know the basics of the job and the contractor in turn sublets the project to those who have the equipment. “The original contractor will like to gain, while the one to whom the job was sublet would like to come down to also get his own gain.’’ He noted that irregular practices and contracts would impact negatively on the finished project as quality would be compromised.

The COREN official described a situation where a petroleum engineer was recruited as a supervisor in a building or road project, while a civil engineer was given the work of structural design as highly irregular. He, however, said that the story in the industry was not all bad as there were well-trained Nigerian engineers who were living up to expectation. As regards the project he was inspecting, Adown said it was part of the functions of the council as established by the Federal Government to monitor and regulate engineering practices in Nigeria. He said that the Lokoja zone of COREN was carrying out one of its obligations by inspecting the road project to assess what was going on. “We are interested in seeing the professionals behind the project. Part of our inquiry is to know whether the engineers on site are quacks or properly trained. “We will also try to check some of their equipment and if they have a laboratory for testing the quality of jobs being carried out. “These are some of the things we intend to assess, and we are also going round the state to check all ongoing engineering projects for checks and balances,’’ the inspection officer said.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Building collapse kills 2 in Benin City SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN

ragedy struck in Benin yesterday when a part of a three-storey building under construction opposite the NNPC Mega Filling Station on Sapele Road, suddenly collapsed, allegedly killing two persons and injuring three others.

It was gathered that the incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. when the weather was bright and sunny and devoid of the wetness from downpour that often flood the capital city on daily basis since the raining season began. Our correspondent learnt that the victims were pouring concrete on a cantilever projection on the third floor when the formwork apparently caved in, owing to poor and substandard work. It was learnt that both the survivors and the dead were hired by a contractor to do the two-day job at N3,000 per day for each

worker. Our correspondent gathered that one of the deceased, identified as Mike, sustained a deep cut in the chest, when he and his colleagues fell from the third floor to the ground, where they were smashed by concrete slabs. He was said to have been rushed to the Central Hospital in Benin, where he was confirmed dead. An eyewitness said the other one allegedly gave up the ghost in hospital. Effort to confirm his identity was not successful, however, as at the time of filing this report. But a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Benin and one of the workers, Sunday Oniuvusa, who sustained injury, said he was lucky to have survived the building collapse. “Some of the blocks that fell prevented the planks

on the ground from harming us; I was lucky. But in the boy’s case, there was nothing to protect him so one of the planks pierced his chest,” he said. The work supervisor,

Mr. Morris Omoregie, who allegedly absolved himself from the poor work that led to the collapse, which he blamed on a different contractor, noted that the remains of the de-

agos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday urged the State Police Command to step up their surveillance and come up with new strategies to tackle the wave of criminal activities in the state.

The governor, who spoke at the closing session of the four-day ‘Leadership Retreat for the State Executive Council, Body of Permanent Secretaries as well as some heads of Parastatals’, urged the police to improve on their mode of operations to ensure the safety of lives and property in the state. Ambode, who spoke shortly after the Commis-

sioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, addressed participants at the retreat, also pledged the support of the state government towards effective policing of the state. He said the resources ploughed into securing the state must reflect in the reduction of criminal activities. “We’re not yet where we want to be. We have only just 33,000 policemen in Lagos for a population of over 20 million. Again, we don’t have control over these police officers. “We need to let the Commissioner of Police leave this retreat believing that the Police need to own their own business just the way we have told

Lagos shuts Marina workers’ mosque over environmental pollution

he popular Workers’ Mosque located at Marina, Lagos has been closed by the Lagos State Government over environmental pollution resulting from improper disposal of sewage in the worship centre.

Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr Samuel Adejare, ordered the closure of the mosque during the monitoring of the October edition of the monthly environmental sanitation at the Lagos Mainland Local Government.

The commissioner said the state government had declared a state of emergency on environmental nuisance across the state, warning market leaders, drivers and residents against improper waste disposal. He explained that the Workers’ Mosque was sealed off for discharging sewage into the drainage channel. Adejare noted that government had established a Special Command in Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, to ensure cleaner environment in Lagos Central Business District. He said the declaration

work collapsed. The form work was supposed to hold everything until 21 days. They are my persons. I am the one handling their medical bills so far,” he explained to Sunday Mirror at the hospital.

Ambode tasks police to review strategy on crime prevention

NYSC 2015 batch ‘b’ corps members in ‘happy cheers’ during their swearing-in ceremony at the NYSC orientation camp in Kangere, Bauchi State, at the weekend.

FRANCIS SUBERU

ceased had been deposited in a mortuary, while those injured were still receiving treatment. “I am directly involved because I lost someone. I called them to place the concrete and their form

of zero tolerance for pollution in Lagos was to save the metropolis from disaster, resulting from unkempt environment, saying all hands must be on deck to maintain, sustain healthier environment. Adejare explained that Lagos under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode would not watch the environment to be turned into dump sites, saying government would only cooperate with drivers’ unions who are ready to take ownership of parks through proper management of their environment. His words: “We will send them away if they

are not ready to take ownership of the environment they work by ensuring that they are clean and well taken care of, but if they are not serious about it, we will dislodge them and restore sanity in the areas. “We are here to make change and take the state to the next level. On Ilaje Otumora slum, in Lagos Mainland Local Government, we are going to sit down and find solution to it. In fact, one of the drainage systems that we channelled into the lagoon has been blocked. So, we are going to stop that from happening.”

ourselves that we want to own the business of governance. We need to see some things change, there has to be some form of paradigm shift, we want to see our police officers patrol in convoy between 12 midnight and 4 a.m. “There should be presence; we want to show presence, security agencies must also show presence. We need to enforce, see patrol vehicle moving, see stationary policemen, they don’t have to stay in the vehicle, we want to see something different from what it used to be. “It’s still the same style, but people must see improvement on it. That’s why we on our own part, have gone out of our budget limits, using our resources from the Security Trust Fund, to say that, yes, it might not be within our budget, but we would spend money to support the Police because if the state is safe, the economy will thrive,” he said. Ambode also charged his team to take the lessons learnt from the retreat and make a commitment to implement them in their various ministries, departments and agencies so as to better the lot of the people of the state. He said the resolutions

reached at the retreat will be brought before the weekly State Executive Council Meeting to ensure that they are implemented to the letter. “Let us see ourselves as a team, let us own our business, show presence, speak out, go out there and win for Lagos State”, he said. On his part, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, who read the resolutions reached at the retreat, said the participants agreed that the Police in conjunction with the state government would come up with a holistic and joint approach to tackle traffic robberies, cultism, street trading and menace of area boys in the state. “Participants agreed to proffer immediate, short and long term solutions towards unlocking traffic gridlock on major roads, highways and streets in Lagos. They also agreed on the need to deploy appropriate cutting edge technologies to improve revenue generation. “Participants urged the citizenry to embrace voluntary compliance to government policies, laws and regulations, i.e. payment of taxes, environmental and traffic regulations.

ANACOWA election: Lagos RTEAN chairman accused of bias DARE AKOGUN

ecurity of Ajangbadi area of Lagos State is being threatened over power tussle among officials of All Nigeria Autobike Commercial Owners and Workers Association, ANACOWA, Lagos State Council.

The association, which is affiliated to the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, almost plunged the area into crisis on Friday while holding an election of its state principal officers which was alleged to be sham by some members. The election was earlier stopped by injunction from Badagry High Court obtained by one of the con-

testants for the position of chairman, Chief Moradis Adisa Aliu. Reacting to the outcome of the election, Chief Aliu said the matter was before the court and he had also written a letter through his lawyer to the state government to stop the election based on the pending court case. He also accused the state chairman of RTEAN, Alhaji Musa Muhammed, of bias in the matter by supporting a faction in the said election. He urged the court to decide the matter quickly because justice delayed was justice denied. Meanwhile, efforts to get Muhammed for his reaction on the allegations proved abortive as several calls made to his phone were not answered.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Interview ENCOUNTER WITH A NEWS MAKER November 1, 2015

Buhari must revisit national conference report –Braithwaite Dr Tunji Braithwaite is a lawyer and Human Right activist. In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on issues of national importance. Excerpts:

IT IS NOW BE

How do you see President Muhammadu Buhari ’s fight against terrorism? We must all be concerned in this problem, the problem of terrorism. This is because terrorism is next to war, full scale war, since it kills people indiscriminately. So really it should be seen in its right context that it is some kind of war against the people. And its consequences can be excruciating for the country -refugee problem, displacement of old families, so really the fight against terrorism should be everybody ’s concern. Having said that however, the government has to lead by holistic and meaningful strategies so that the people can also join in the fight against terrorism. He gave a deadline of December saying by then the terrorists should have been chased out. How realistic is that? Buhari honestly must have been speaking based on genuine intention but genuine intention is different from reality. I think he was over the bar so to speak when he was definitive to say December he would have crush terrorism. Terrorism as I said earlier is a war, you can ’t put a date to when you would finish of a war no matter how weak you may perceive the adversary, you would be surprise that it is not something you can put a specific date . So In that sense, he is rather simplistic to put a date on it. He should have said well, we are doing our best to contain the terrorists, but putting a definite date is not smart. Okay let us look at Buhari ’s style of administration; he is already five months in government, what is your take on his style of administering the country Well I have said it before that when they took over the government in May they raised the hope and expectations of all Nigerians that they were going to effect change , that they were going to combat insurgency , that they were going to fight corruption but in the case of corruption, the people ’s expectation are being disappointed by Buhari ’s inaction in that theatre, that is fight against corruption. Every Nigerian knows that corruption had been one of the banes in this country that has robbed the people of peace and their rights to basic amenities of lives. It is corruption that makes

COMING SO OBVIOUS THAT PEOPLE IN HIGH PLACES BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CRUELLY STEAL WITH RECKLESS ABANDON.

THE EVIDENCE IS NOT DIFFICULT TO MUSTER, SO WHY

BUHARI HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO BRING THESE PEOPLE OUT FOR PROSECUTION IS INEXPLICABLE

Braithwaite

our road jammed, that would make you spend the long hours on the road, it is corruption that robbed the people of uninterrupted supply of electricity. It is corruption that had driven majority of the people of this country into poverty and suffering. It is corruption because people actually know that the bulk of the country ’s money is domiciled in the pockets or in the foreign accounts of few people. It is now be coming so obvious that people in high places both public and private

cruelly steal with reckless abandon. The evidence is not difficult to muster, so why Buhari has not been able to bring these people out for prosecution is inexplicable. And the expectation of Nigerian people are been dashed. As I said at a different place that Buhari is like a man riding the back of a Tiger. You raised the hope of the people and you failed to deliver, you are similar to a man riding the back of a Tiger. In the face of obvious evidence, he has

not been able to do anything. He came away from some foreign tours and announce publicly that he has the names of the corrupt people. Well, if he has the names of the corrupt people why doesn ’t he take action against them. If he has the names, if he has the evidence why didn ’t he take action. That is the question for him to answer. You claim you have the names; you have the evidence, what is stopping you from taking action. People also complained about the caliber of people Buhari appointed as ministerial nominees, they said many of them are corrupt. What is your take on this? There is no doubt that Muhammadu Buhari feel obliged to rewards his party members regardless of integrity or morality. There is no doubt about that, exCONTINUED ON PAGE 55

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics PROVIDING FRESH PERSPECTIVES TO ISSUES NOVEMBER 1, 2015

P 12 & 53

Amaechi ’s conrmation stokes danger for Saraki

THERE IS NO STATE THAT BELONGS TO THIS CATEGORY OF DEPENDING SOLELY ON THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT THAT WILL BOAST OF LEAVING MONEY BEHIND. –FORMER GOVERNOR OF BENUE STATE, DR GABRIEL SUSWAM SPEAKING ON ALLEGATION THAT HE LEFT NO KOBO IN THE TREASURY WHILE LEAVING OFFICE

Election Tribunals ’ judgements recongure political landscape

Wike

AYO ESAN

he April 2015 Governorship and House of Assembly elections have been put to test in various tribunals across the country in the past few months. While in some states, the judgements upheld the elections, in others, victories were cancelled or upturned. The first major verdict of the tribunals that configured the political equation was the ordering of a rerun in the Akwa Ibom State governorship election. The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja ordered a rerun in 18 of the 31 lo-

Udom

cal governments in the state. Giving its verdict, the tribunal said it was satisfied that there were discrepancies during the governorship election held on April 11. It further asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct the rerun elections, although it fixed no date for the repeat elections. After the April 11 election, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Udom Emmanuel, was declared the winner by the INEC. He polled a total of 996, 071 votes while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Umana Okon Umana, got 89 865

votes. In another judgement, the Rivers State governorship election which was criticised by local and international observers and which reportedly witnessed widespread violence before and after the polls was cancelled by the tribunal penultimate Saturday. The Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja ordered a fresh poll. The tribunal, headed by Suleiman Ambrosa did not give a time limit for a new election. Sacked governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, and his party, PDP, have however said they would challenge the rulCONTINUED ON PAGE 12

‘States, LG joint accounts should be abrogated ’

P 13

Briefly

APC presents ag to Audu

he National Working Committee of All Progressive Congress, APC has presented flag to the gubernatorial candidate of the Party in the November 21st governorship election in Kogi state, Prince Abubarka Audu. Presenting the flag to the candidate at the Lokoja Confluence Stadium yesterday, the National Chairman of the All Progress Congress, APC Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, stated that it is time for Kogi state to join the change train and move the state forward. Oyegun stated that the National Working Committee is ready to march on and deliver Kogi to APC, noting that the party is ready to take what it belongs to it. He urged the people of the state to vote en masse for the APC gubernatorial candidate, pointing out that the process of change has begun in Kogi state. The national chairman who was with other party hierarchy and APC state governors, told the crowd that the people will return to Lugard House to celebrate APC victory. Earlier, the state Chairman of APC, Alhaji Haddy Ametuo stated that it is high time to deliver Kogi State from PDP maladministration in the last 12 years. Speaking also , the the former governor of Kano state , Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso stated the change has come, and the people of the state must embrace change now. Kwankwaso pointed out that the governorship candidate was a man of many achievements, calling on the electorate to vote for APC candidate in the election. The chairman of Progressive governors and Governor of Imo State, Dr. Rochas Okorocha stated that Audu has done it before and he will do it better again. The national woman leader, Hajia Ramatu. Tijani stated that Audu is a pragmatic leader who has done much when he was governor.. Responding, the APC candidate, Prince Audu stated that he came on a rescue mission, adding that the state is the most backward state in Nigeria

Audu

Politics

Sunday November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Amaechi ’s conrmation The confirmation of the former Governor of Rivers State, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in the Senate last week may have pitched the Senate President against his Peoples Democratic Party backers, even as Saraki may not have heard the last from his traducers in All Progressives Congress. GEORGE OJI writes.

rom the look of things, and as the Americans would say, the fall guy in the just concluded ministerial screening exercise, would presumably be the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki. Political observers, however, believe that he was in a quandary right from the commencement of the screening exercise. As it were, he was torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. First, the Senate President needed to pander to two strong and equally contending interests. There was the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who he needed to use the occasion of the ministerial screening to pacify, having fatally injured them by the process that threw him up. There was also the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators, who Saraki owes a lot of gratitude, for his eventual emergence as the Senate President of the 8th Senate. So, from the outset, as the famous crime writer, Sydney Sheldon, said in one of his works, ‘Master of the Game ’,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

ing. The petition challenging the election of Wike as governor was filed by the candidate of the APC in the election, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, Presiding judge, Ambrosa, said the petitioners, Peterside, and the APC called 56 witnesses, while the respondents, Wike and INEC, called 24 and 16 witnesses respectively. He said the PDP, also a respondent, called no witness. According to the tribunal, the petitioners submitted three issues for determination. The tribunal stated that Wike ’s major argument was that most of the petitioners ’ witnesses gave “hearsay ” evidence. In his submission before the tribunal, Wike argued that the petitioners should have proven wrongdoing at each polling unit, instead of calling only a few polling unit agents; that non-usage of card readers could not be grounds for nullifying the election. The PDP on its part said that the petitioners accused the military of crimes, but did not join the armed forces in the case. The party also argued that non-usage of card readers could not be grounds for nullification of the ballot. Peterside who was the APC candidate at the election said the exercise was marred by intimidation of voters, nonavailability of result sheets, snatching of electoral materials, non-collation of results at wards and local government levels. In reaching a decision, the tribunal said it adopted only one issue for determination: whether the petitioners had proven their case. The tribunal dismissed

“Whichever option I chose, men must die. ” For Saraki, it was clear that either of the options he opted for in the circumstance, he would obviously be in for it. In other words, he was sure in “a deep problem ”. There is the school of thought that believes that he should have seized the opportunity of the ministerial screening to elicit serious commitments from his traducers in APC. But for reasons known to the Senate President, he opted for the pacifist option. How that option will address his challenges with the leadership of his party will play out in no time. Political analysts believe that matters were not made any better for Saraki because, shortly before the commencement of the ministerial screening, his traducers in the party had ‘engineered ’ his trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja over alleged violation of his assets declaration and money laundering while in office 12 years ago as the executive governor of Kwara State.

So far in his trial at the tribunal, PDP senators have not let him down. The opposition lawmakers have demonstrated more than enough commitment and solidarity with Saraki. They are the ones that have consistently accompanied him to the tribunal and provided the needed moral support each day the Senate President kept a date with the law. It was gathered that during all the executive sessions that preceded each of the sessions of the screening exercises, he had always mindfully taken the middle of the road position to accommodate both the interest of his APC senator colleagues as well as those of the PDP. Saraki deserved every imaginable pity last Thursday, during the confirmation of Amaechi. In the heat of the uproar generated by Amaechi ’s confirmation, he looked every inch confused and helpless. He could not rule decisively in favour of either side. So, when the PDP senators eventually took the decision and stormed out of the chambers, it provided great relief for him to side with the APC senators and conclude the exercise. The PDP senators felt betrayed that the Senate President reneged on earlier agreement to suspend the confirmation of Amaechi to a later date to enable his legal processes on the fraud allegations run to the end. The questions however by political

Amaechi

observers is, now that Saraki has played the good-boy role and cooperated with his party to confirm all the ministerial nominees, against the plans of PDP senators, would his “sins ” be forgiven him? Would those seeking his fall in APC be satisfied now and let the Senate President be? What if Saraki ’s traducers insist on his eventual fall, would the Senate President still

Election Tribunals ’ judgements MR. WIKE ’S WITNESSES DODGED QUESTIONS UNDER CROSS-EXAMINATION AND REFUSED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ON DOCUMENTS THE PETITIONERS CONFRONTED THEM WITH, THE TRIBUNAL STATED

preliminary issues concerning its competence raised by the respondents. It concluded that the evidence of the petitioners ’ witnesses were relevant and reliable. It ruled that INEC had the power to insist on card readers. “It is not open to anybody to act otherwise, ” the tribunal chairman said. “We don ’t see any conflict between the introduction of card readers and the provisions of the Electoral Act. ” According to the tribunal, Exhibit A9 presented by the petitioners, which is a report by the head of election monitoring team of INEC office in Rivers State, Charles Okoye, confirmed the allegations of the petitioners. He said a simple glance at the results (Exhibit A10) showed that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act. The tribunal said the character of witnesses called by Mr. Wike had been im-

pugned under cross-examination. Mr. Wike ’s witnesses dodged questions under cross-examination and refused to answer questions on documents the petitioners confronted them with, the tribunal stated. “We are in agreement that the evidence of the witnesses of Wike and INEC is incredible and unreliable, ” the tribunal said, before nullifying the election, saying the petitioners had proven their case. Also the Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Jalingo last Wednesday nullified the election of the Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Abel Diah, of the PDP. The tribunal ordered INEC to set aside a Certificate of Return earlier issued to the speaker. INEC in Taraba State had earlier declared Mr. Diah the winner of the April 11 elections for Mbamga Constituency in the state House of Assembly.

Pete ersid de

But the APC candidate in the constituency, Emmanuel Bongo, not satisfied with INEC declaration went to the elections tribunal to challenge the victory of the Speaker. The petitioner argued that the elections conducted in nine polling units in Mbamga constituency were marred by irregularities.

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Politics

Sunday November 1, 2015

‘States, LG joint accounts should be abrogated ’ Dr. Ichor Tersagh Smart is a lecturer at the Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi. The erudite scholar in this no holds barred interview with Henry Iyorkase in Makurdi, says states and LG joint accounts should be abrogated, among other things. Is President Buhari the messiah Nigerians were craving for prior to now? Before the advent of the present administration, headed by our very own President Muhammadu Buhari, you know that the nation was in a quagmire; a state of apprehension, a state of fear. The entire citizenry was in a state of confusion where nobody knew where the ship of the state was headed. The economy was down, and the things that we were hearing were different from what we were seeing. States could not pay salaries yet we were hearing that the economy was strong and there was a kind of confusion. But with the present administration, people are beginning to see hope by the pragmatic steps so far taken by the President. Security is still worrisome because of the issue of insurgency in the North East. There are still spate of bombings here and there and so we are hoping that as the president has promised, because the citizens have confidence in his leadership, they are waiting to see his promise manifest by way of the reduction or extermination of insurgency in the North East. That if done will restore hope, that will restore the economy, it will reduce fear, it will ensure free flow of movement and interaction which will improve market and it will also improve our interaction. Also, the issue of restiveness in communities has reduced; cattle rustling, though it is ongoing but is also reducing. And so if the president keeps pace, and as he assured Nigerians, if this insurgency is tackled we will be okay; Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief on problems that have be divided them for some time. There has been public outcry of hunger and poverty among Nigerians. What is your take on the issue? Thank you very much for that question. There is hunger, especially, here in Nigeria and you know the cause of the hunger. Now, for instance, in Benue State where I come from salaries were not paid and across the nation states were holding workers salaries in arrears. And you know our nation, we are a consuming nation. We have vast land for agriculture, which we don ’t utilise. We have industries that are moribund. Look at Ajaokuta Steel Mills, of course, if that company was in operation it could boost the economy of the nation. You will find car manufacturing companies coming in here to establish companies to reduce cost of production. For a civil service nation like Nigeria, when you don ’t pay salaries, what do you expect? You expect hunger, you expect starvation. In Benue State, I must be sincere with you, the rural economy crumbled. As we speak, though, the change mantra has set in, because of the boom around effect of Buhari ’s win. So every state, especially in the North went into change without knowing which change they were voting for, then, everybody wins under Buhari. Almost all of what you see in the far North and North central is run by the APC. And they have inherited debts which must be paid. When you are paying debts to civil servants, they are also settling the debts they have already incurred. You are advocating separation of state

Smart

AN ELECTION IS NOT SOMETHING YOU COME AND BEAT SOMEBODY, NOT SOMETHING YOU WILL COME AND KIDNAP SOMEBODY; IT IS NOT A DO OR DIE AFFAIR. IF THE ELECTORAL BODY GIVES SUFFICIENT EDUCATION TO THE YOUNG MEN ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT POSITIVELY IN ELECTORAL PROCESS and local government allocations. Perhaps, you may have observed a particular case for emphasis, say diversion of funds? Well it is not about diversion. I am not practically involved in the running of the system but I have made my statement and so clear too. If I know that there is diversion, I will say. For now, I am saying that caretaker committees or chairmen are not doing any protects. If you go to my local government now, no project is going on. I went home and the thing that they could celebrate was that the local government chairman was doing gate for the market; that is nothing to celebrate because in Jor-Mbatyough Market alone, the revenue that the local government generates will be enough to construct one gate each for either the state secretariat or the market itself. And when you ask the chairmen, they will not tell you anything more than we have not received allocation. They cannot cry out because they are involved. But if monies are released directory to these people and they are hiding, they should make it known to the people otherwise, we are in

a messy situation. That means the revenue sources of the local government are not very well utilised? Yes. I am especially bothered about what comes from the Federation Account to the local government. So I am saying that the grassroots economy has crumbled because of the system of passing the local government allocation through the joint account system. It should be abrogated, send money meant for the local governments straight from the Federation Account to the local government account and then the Federal Government should have a monitoring team that will be coming to supervise what gets to each local government and how such funds are utilised. As an active participant in the electoral process, what are those areas would you want sustained and those to be straightened? I want sustenance of the card reader because it brought hope. For the first time I saw this, because I have been involved in

elections since 2011 and also in the 2015 general elections. In 2011, of course it was celebrated. But you know where a party is strong, you can rig and where a party is weak, that party cannot rig. PDP can only rig where it is very strong; APC can only rig where it is strong; PDM can only rig where it has strong membership. Where you have small followership, you cannot rig. In 2015 however, it was an improvement from 2011 and for the first time we recorded clear, clean and near perfect elections. I can score the card reader 87 per cent comfortably because it brought sanity and for the first time, the people had their will done especially, here in Benue State, and I know across the country. Areas where there were massive rigging, they hid under the canopy that the card leaders were not working. The INEC boss did well by bringing the card reader. But I must say this, because I was a victim of electoral violence; I was beaten, harassed, molested, intimidated and kidnapped and taken into a bush. And this beating was organised by somebody I taught during the weekend programme; one of these study centers of Benue State Polytechnic. We are pleading that if there is any electoral education they can give is to these young men who have nicknamed themselves thugs to be able to look at elections as a game just like football where who has won the minds of the people gets the highest votes and is returned. An election is not something you come and beat somebody, not something you will come and kidnap somebody; it is not a do or die affair. If the electoral body gives sufficient education to the young men about their involvement positively in electoral process, it will be better and would reduce to the barest minimum, the incidence of violence that we witnessed. And I am saying that they should embark on this education as soon as possible. Also, we are watching for the prosecution of those that were involved in electoral offences. The president is criticised for being slow. What do you have to say about this? You know when you have a rickety car, you go slowly or you may end up having accident. If the president has taken Nigeria in this bad state and is running and may be a tyre removes, would he make the journey? He will not. If the President is running and the engine drops because there was no engine setting there to hold the engine, will he make the journey? He is not slow. He may be slow but let me quote him ‘ ’Baba is slow but steady ” because he is making progress. And so what all Nigerians need now is to give him that support and good will that they gave him at the election. The local economy is improving; welders are celebrating because the cost of running generator has reduced, the cost of running hotels has reduced, small shop owners are also smiling because of improved electricity. Today, we are buying fuel at N87 per litre and fuel is everywhere. Before now, it was not like that. When he started fuel was nowhere to be found but when he turned his eyes to it, fuel became everywhere. Today, cement from N2,500 has dropped to N1,500; I was surprised. The price for cement has dropped drastically and it will make housing affordable. And so if the President is very slow, I am happy that he is slow but steady and steadily we will see his performances manifesting. The issue of ministerial nominees is over but observers are still questioning the CONT ’D ON PAGE 54

Opinion

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Uncensored U nc

Sheriff S Folarin

E-mail: Sheryfffolarin@yahoo.com 07051653138(SMS only)

he screening exercise by the Senate of the Federal Republic of ministerial nominees has been the manifestation of politics on ‘per second’ basis. Before the exercise, the Senate through its president and the media arm had sounded tough, indicating that the exercise would be rigorous, impartial and based on the endorsement of at least two senators from ach nominee’s constituency. Expectations were high and some nominees were considered doomed if those advertised parameters would be the basis of clearance.

Days after, two weeks ago precisely, the exercise commenced and in the first week, when a controversial nominee, Rotimi Ameachi’s screening was put on hold, it all seemed the clearance process was going to be as tough as scheduled. However, the events of the first week, with easy rides for some senators, including those who were ushered in to ‘take a bow’ as well as the soft landing for few by manner of questions asked and the general body language, which showed acquiescence and the seeming premeditated inter-party consensus to give clean bill of health to all the screened candidates, barely complemented the nononsense stance that was flied hitherto as the disposition. The suspicion therefore was that at every second, paradigm shifted as lobbying and swaying of minds must have happened across party affiliations.

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Ameachi and the Senate ministerial screening The ‘trial’ of Ameachi began in the course of the first week, when Senate insisted that it would evaluate the merit of screening him based on the report of a panel of inquiry that looked into his administration as Rivers State Governor. The opposition PDP party had passed judgment and had pushed that Ameachi should be history based on the fact that he had been ‘indicted’ in the report. The party prevailed on its senators to push for a no-screening position. Ameachi has to be understood as a former staunch PDP member, who knew so much about that party and whose crossing over to the APC party was considered very hurtful by the former. He had nurtured people in Rivers, including Nyesom Wike, who chose, according to the ministerial nominee, to stab him in the back and glide on his (Ameachi’s) head to climb to the top in national and Rivers politics. Wike, from day one of his ‘election’ and subsequent swearing in, had been on how to unmake Ameachi, undo his legacies in Rivers and paint him black. It was the case of Judas betraying his master and whose major preoccupation since inauguration, aside operation fill-the-potholes, seemed to have been to cut Ameachi down politically and hurl him in the pantheons of infamy. But as fate would have it, as Ameachi was getting the clearance everyone had not anticipated in view of sharp divisions and the controversies trailing him, Wike was going down as his ‘election’ was nullified, having been described as a fraud. Ameachi himself made it clear to the Senate and to all of us that the panel report, which he was willing to present before the screening session, had only investigated and given a report on his eight-year administration without any indictment. The con-

fidence he exuded and the transparency he displayed endeared him to all, including the millions of television viewers. That he would be cleared was becoming quite evident. He had also sounded rather petty though by telling us he had never ‘met’ any other woman who was not his wife. No one needed that from the former student union leader. Indeed, that sounded rather pedestrian. But the flip side of it was that it brought some life and fun to the entire exercise and the PDP members probably forgot their party mandate momentarily and watched excitedly as Ameachi rationalized (and sometimes rambled) to clear his way to clearance. They had grandstanded hitherto, that they would not clear the way for his clearance and that if the APC-dominated chamber attempted to go ahead with the screening, they would stage a walkout. This did not happen. However, when Senate cleared Ameachi and confirmed him as minister of the Federal Republic, they recalled their agenda and then staged a walkout. My thinking is that these PDP senators put up a decent and another show of giving nominees soft landing, in the same manner that the APC members had gone a wild-goose chase on the eve of Bukola Saraki’s election and confirmation as Senate President. Staging a walkout does not diminish or undermine the potentials of getting a candidate endorsed. It is simply a show of non-agreement, which has no constitutional implication on the credibility of the candidate, particularly when a quorum is formed despite the absence of some lawmakers. It is victory for Ameachi and probably victory for democracy in the country. Looking back and objectively so, Ameachi is a

principled progressive and a ‘people’s soldier’. He stands firm on his beliefs and is loyal to his cause. As Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, he was minced words in showing loyalty to the Forum while hitting hard, when desirable and deservedly, at his own party and president. And he always carried everyone along about his grievances. He warned many times about anomalies that could spell doom before quitting the PDP, long after the warnings fell on deaf ears. And after joining the APC, he was again the vintage activist and principles man, giving all to his new party and presidential candidate. It is from such acts that one will appreciate the extent to which such a person would give his heart and best to his assignments and to the country he is called upon to serve. Ameachi is not a saint and he has been said not to have done as much as expected in Rivers State. He probably had spent more time fighting his old party principalities than governance; but such power struggle might also hamper good governance, particularly when the other side is stronger and has the federal might. One can only wish Ameachi proves his mettle as minister and prove wrong everyone who has reservations about his leadership in Rivers. As for the Senate, they can continue their drama and soft landings for all. Nigerians and the world are watching their credibility, integrity and competence. History and the people shall judge! •Sheriff Folarin (PhD), an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, writes from Sango Ota, Ogun State.

Is phoning behind the wheels insanity? Safety Tips with

Jonas s Agwu

Email: j.agwu@frsc.gov.ng Tel: -8033026491, 8077690055

know that driving behind the wheels is insanity. I think it is madness. I don’t know what you think but I maintain that it is pure madness to step on the wheels and accelerate above the approve speed limit like a good number do. It is even madder, if you will allow the use, to indulge on excessive speeding, dialing, texting, browsing and pinging among some other vices, maiming, killing and injuring innocent souls. These driving traits are mostly responsible for our road traffic crash profile. I know some readers would dismiss my view as unfounded. I know I, not a psychiatrist.

Some would even ask me for scientific proofs to conclude that motorists who drive and phone are insane or mad as if that would change their irresponsible driving. For such people, they can rest on the findings of the Transport Laboratories in the United Kingdom, which says that a man phoning behind the wheels is worse than one who has taken alcohol above the approve limit. I just hope that my former boss, Osita Chidoka, the immediate past Corps Marshal of the FRSC and Minister of the Aviation Ministry,

still shares my take, I recall sometime in 2007 just shortly after his first appointment, when I approached him to sound him out on my plans to compel some motorists to psychiatrist test at the National Hospital here in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory to check the increasing cases of distracted driving in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as Sector Commander, FCT. That encounter remains ever fresh in my memory as it afforded me an opportunity to know my new boss well. In his usual mein, when I approached on the subject, to get his buy in on the need for this novel strategy, he merely buried his head in the files on his table. Sine time was of the essence, I fired straight like Mesut Ozil would for Arsenal my favorite team in the UK Premiership League, saying that I believe strongly that people who commit such insanity are insane. My joy knew no bounds when he replied in his usual style of listening and not talking that he shares my views. A week later when I went to him for confirmation, ,I was still overwhelmed when he quietly said, please Jonas go on and do what you plan to as I still share your views. That singular discussion led to the over 316motorists in the FCT who were arrested and compelled to go for psychiatric test or evaluation at the National Hospital, Abuja. Of that number,16 were found to be mentally unstable; meaning

something that needed some further making other similar use of web on the testing was missing. Even though fur- mobile phone while operating a motor ther test or review done three weeks af- vehicle. This act is dangerous and has ter found them clean, it did not and has course fatal crashes globally, the act has outlawed in some part of the world or not changed my views on these set of motorists. And if we allow the wisdom restricted. In the United Kingdom, the of defensive driving to guide us in this use of a hand-held mobile or similar the discussion, it simply sums up that ev- device while driving or supervising a ery motorist on the road is mad and that leaner is illegal. This include when stop at traffic light your safety should depend on you and the only expecting are emergency calls not on the madman. Merriam –Webster defines madness as testing while driving has been out been behavior or thinking that is very foolish Lawed in good number of state in the or dangerous; a state of severe mental ill- Unite State such as Arisoma, Alaska, ness. Wikipedia says insanity, craziness Alaeama, Arkansas, California, Coloor madness is a spectrum of behaviors rado, Georgia, Louisiana and Maryland, characterized by certain abnormal metal among others the state of Texas prohibit school bus drivers from testing while or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations transporting a child under 17 years on of societal norms, including a person October 2009 the United state departbecoming a danger to themselves or oth- ment of transportation announce presiers, though not all acts are considered dent Barak Obama signing of an execuinssnity; liekewise, not all acts showing tive order directing federal employee not indifference towards societal norms are to engaged in text massage while driving acts of insanity. Madness, according to government owned vehicle. These according to the department the Cambridge dictionary is stupid or send clear signer American public that dangerous behavior. Like my learned colleagues would say, distracted driving is dangerous and unI put it to you that phoning behind the acceptable. On January 26th2010 the dewheels is mad, it is stupid and it is dan- partment announces a federal ban progerous. -,it then follows that we must al- testing while driving trucker and bus ways guard against such drivers for our driver. Continued next week own safely. What is texting while driving? According to WIKIPEDIA, texting while •Agwu, a Corps Commander, is Corps driving is the act of composing, sending Public Education Officer, Federal Road reading texting massages, and email or Safety Commission, FRSC.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Man in the News Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi

Enter the new Ooni of Ife, Aroole Odua AYO ESAN

successor to the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade who joined his ancestors after he went for treatment in London hospital on July 28 this year emerged mid last week . The emergence of new Ooni came to the open when the Osun State government announced the 40 years old Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi of the Giesi ruling house in the ancient city of Ile-Ife as Ooni designate. He thus emerged as the new Ooni of Ile-Ife, and the 51st monarch of the kingdom. The appointment of Ogunwusi has since put paid to the whole controversy surrounding the successor to late Sijuwade. A statement issued by the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, confirmed that the Kingmakers of Ile-Ife completed the required process and communicated the choice of Prince Ogunwusi to his office for approval. The Ooni was selected from 36 candidates presented by the Giesi ruling house for the exalted stool. Before Prince Ogunwusi ’s appointment, the last descendant of the Giesi ruling house that occupied the position was Ooni Derin Ologbenla who reigned was between 1880 and 1894. The formal announcement was made through a statement signed by the Secretary to the Osun State Government, SSG, Alhaji Moshood Olalekan Adeoti. In the three-paragraph statement, the government said: “The governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, has approved the appointment of a new Ooni of Ife. He is Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi of the Giesi Ruling House of Ile Ife, State of Osun. “This choice follows the completion of the due process by the kingmakers and the communication of their decision to the government, ” the statement added. One of the kingmakers and secretary to Ife Traditional Council, Chief Adetoye Olatunde Odewole, said that Prince Adeyeye Ogunwusi contested alongside 36 other contestants from the Giesi Ruling House and was unanimously voted winner by the 14 kingmakers and his name was submitted to the governor for official announcement. He further disclosed that the selection followed due process, saying that it was the turn of the Giesi Ruling House to produce the new Ooni. Chief Odewole also revealed that the Ifa Oracle was also consulted and gave its nod for the choice. While also reacting to Prince Ogunwusi ’s appointment, his father, Pa Ogunwusi said he had the premonition that

his son, Enitan would become the Ooni one day . He said: “To God be the glory. God has sent him on a message. He will give him the grace to do the job well. The Glory of God has been upon him right from childhood with the hope that his fame will be heard about in the whole world and that has happened today and he is going to be a blessing to Ife people. ” A prominent leader from the Giesi Ruling House and former Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Youth and Special Needs, Mr Biyi Odunlade, said that Prince Ogunwusi ’s emergence as the new Ooni was not by chance but by merit and popular vote by the kingmakers and the divine approval of the Ifa Oracle. He assured that based on his amiable character, integrity, humility and passion for the culture, tradition and development of Ife, his emergence would bring more peace, progress and unity to not only Ife people but also the entire Yoruba race. His announcement was received with palpable peace in the town, with everybody going about their normal businesses. Ogunwusi ’s emergence was not without controversy as it would be recalled

that since the death of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade on July 28, there had been tension and controversy in the race for a successor, a development which divided the four ruling houses, following the kingmakers ’ endorsement of the Giesi Ruling House based on the 1980 Ife Chieftaincy Declaration. In the circumstance, the Lafogido Ruling House went to court to challenge the decision.. Although it appeared settled that the Giesi house would produce the next Ooni, being next to the Ogboru ruling house in the succession order established by government declaration on the Ooni chieftaincy title of 1977, the Ogboru and Lafogido ruling houses challenged the decision of the kingmakers to restrict the search to Giesi . The Ogboru family contended that the Giesi ruling lineage should blame itself for conceding its turn to produce an Ooni to the late Oba Sijuwade, saying the concession to the late king was to him as an individual and not to the Ogboru clan as a whole. Two members of the Lafogido Ruling House also sued Governor Aregbesola, the Obalufe of Ile-Ife, the late Oba Solomon Omisakin and Lowa of Ife, Joseph

Ijaodola at an Osun State High Court over the decision to allow only the Giesi Ruling House present candidates for the stool. They asked the court to nullify the 1980 Ife Chieftaincy Declaration, saying it was “lopsided, unjust, unconstitutional and unfair. ” But the Osun State High Court presided over by the Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, dismissed the suit challenging the competence of the chieftaincy declaration. The court dismissed the suit, paving the way for the selection of Mr. Ogunwusi as Ooni. There are four ruling houses in Ile-Ife – Lafogido, Giesi, Ogboru, and Oshikola. Oba Sijuwade, who reigned between 1980 and 2015, is of the Ogboru royal lineage. Before Mr. Ogunwusi ’s appointment, Monday, the last descendant of the Giesi ruling house that occupied the position was Ooni Derin Ologbenla and that was between 1880 and 1894. Oba Sijuwade ’s predecessor, Adesoji Aderemi, who reigned between 1930 and 1980, came from the Oshikola ruling house. Born 40 years ago into the family of John Oluropo Ogunwusi from the famous Ojaja Lineage of the Giesi ruling house of the Agbedegbede Quarters in Ile-Ife, Prince Ogunwusi ’s mother, Margaret Wuraola Sidikatu Abegbe Ogunwusi, was born into the family of SojiOpa, a prominent Cocoa merchant in Ile-Ife. Ogunwusi attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accountancy. After school, he grew rapidly in business, becoming a successful real estate merchant. Mr. Ogunwusi is a graduate of Accountancy and a certified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and of the Institute of Management. A multimillionaire businessman, he has been involved in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts locally and abroad for over 11 years. He was involved in the development of the Northern Foreshore Estate, Cityscape International Limited ’s Buena Vista project in Lekki, Primewaterview Limited ’s projects, Westcom Limited ’s projects and the Ajaokuta Steel ’s and Delta Steel ’s resuscitation projects The new monarch is currently the Managing Director of Howard Roark Gardens Limited, which is undertaking multi-million naira Jacob Mews Estate project in Yaba and the Lakeview real estate development in Lekki. ”

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Wellness YOUR HEALTH AND HEALTH RELATED ISSUES November 1, 2015

‘Early detection is rst step in battle against breast cancer ’ TITILOPE MORAKINYO

oordinator, Pink October Lagos Walk, Race and Cycling Against Cancer, Chidiebe Runcie, said that in developing countries the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not survive because their cancer is detected too late. Many women, she noted, arrive with late-stage tumors that could have been detected at the primary-care level. Detection is just the first step. The next step is to make sure the patient receives the results of appropriate tests and is guided to treatment. “Many women won ’t come forward because they don ’t want to go through the surgery and the stigma. According to him, stigma and discrimination also severely hamper women ’s decisions and ability to seek medical advice if they find a breast lump. Women often struggle to come out publicly about their breast cancer for fear of being abandoned by their partners or of losing their jobs. What you need to know An important way to keep up with your breast health is to be aware of how your breasts normally look and feel, and know what changes to look for. Detecting breast cancer as early as possible gives you a better chance of successful treatment. But knowing what to look for is not a substitute for screening mammograms and other tests, which can help find breast cancer in its early stages, even before any symptoms appear. Below are some common breast symptoms and what they might mean. If you have any of them, get checked right away. A lump or mass in the breast is the most common symptom of breast cancer. Such lumps are often hard and painless, though some may be painful. Not all lumps are cancer, though. There are a number of benign breast conditions (like cysts) that can also cause lumps. Still, it ’s important to have your doctor check out any new lump or mass right away. If it does turn out to be cancer, the sooner it ’s diagnosed the better. Swelling in or around your breast, collarbone, or armpit

Chidiebe Runcie and her crew

Breast swelling can be caused by inflammatory breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease. Swelling or lumps around your collarbone or armpits can be caused by breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes in those areas. The swelling may occur even before you can feel a lump in your breast, so if you have this symptom, be sure to see a doctor. Skin thickening or redness If the skin of your breast starts to feel like an orange peel or gets red, have it checked right away. Often, these are caused by mastitis, a breast infection common among women who are breast feeding. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. If your symptoms don ’t improve after a week, though, get checked again, because these symptoms can also be caused by inflammatory breast cancer. This form of breast cancer can look a lot like a breast infection, and because it grows quickly it ’s important to diagnose it as soon as possible. Breast warmth and itching Like skin thickening and redness, breast

warmth and itching may be symptoms of mastitis – or inflammatory breast cancer. If antibiotics don ’t help, see your doctor again. Nipple changes Breast cancer can sometimes cause changes to how your nipple looks. If your nipple turns inward, or the skin on it thickens or gets red or scaly, get checked by a doctor right away. All of these can be symptoms of breast cancer. Nipple discharge A discharge (other than milk) from the nipple may be alarming, but in most cases it is caused by injury, infection, or a benign tumor (not cancer). Breast cancer is a possibility, though, especially if the fluid is bloody, so your doctor needs to check it out. Pain Although most breast cancers do not cause pain in the breast, some do. More often, women have breast pain or discomfort that is related to their menstrual cycle. This

type of pain is most common in the week or so before their periods, and often goes away once menstruation begins. Some other benign breast conditions, such as mastitis, may cause a more sudden pain. In these cases the pain is not related to the menstrual cycle. If you have breast pain that is severe or persists and is not related to the menstrual cycle, you should be checked by your doctor. You could have cancer or a benign condition that needs to be treated. All women age 40 and older are at risk for breast cancer, though most breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50. Some risk factors for breast cancer are avoidable. Taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy, not breast-feeding after having a child, having two to five alcoholic drinks a day, being overweight, and not exercising all increase the risk of breast cancer. But most of the factors that put a woman at risk for breast cancer are unavoidable. Getting older is one risk you can do nothing about. Being Caucasian is another. Having a family history of breast cancer in a sister or mother doubles your risk. The risk also increases if you had your first period before the age of 12, hadmenopause after the age of 50, or never had children. Many times a mammogram can pick up a tumor before it is even felt. Women should get a yearly mammogram starting at the age of 40 (earlier for those with a family history of the disease or a genetic mutation that increases the risk of breast cancer). Women between the ages of 20 to 39 should have clinical breast exams at least every two to three years and then annually after the age of 40. The early stages of breast cancer are completely without symptoms. But as a tumor grows in the breast, you might feel some lumps or very hardened areas of the breast or of the tissue underneath your arm, your breast might change in size as compared to the other, you might have some discharge from the nipple, the nipple might invert internally, or there might be some discoloration of the skin of the breast. While taken individually, these symptoms don ’t necessarily mean that you have breast cancer, they are all signs that should be brought to the attention of your doctor immediately.

HEALTH NEWS

Medical expert counsel on effects of harsh weather NGO pledges support for new model for HIV management

r Kayode Oyebode, a medical practitioner in Osogbo, Osun, has advised Nigerians against exposing themselves to the harsh weather conditions to avoid contracting diseases. Oyebode told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently that most Nigerians were not mindful that the present weather was capable of causing ill-health. He enjoined parents to also stop exposing their

children to the cold weather without considering the health implications. “Most parents never care weather their children were exposed to cold or not and when the effect arouses, you see them running around for help. “There are clothes at the market sold at cheap prices, which they can afford, but because they lacked healthy tips, they never cared. “Also, exercising in cold weather can cause asthmalike symptoms even in peo-

ple who don ’t have asthma and also infections that are dangerous to our health. “So, there is need for every citizen of the country to take precautionary measures rather than falling a victim of the harsh weather condition, ’ ’ said the doctor. According to him, people need to be sensitised by the government on health tips, ways of preventing diseases in harsh weather condition, and the precautionary measures which must be adhered to.

athfinder International, an NGO, has pledged to promote the adoption of a new strategy in the management of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Country Representative, Pathfinder International, Dr Farouk Jega, made the promise when a coalition of stakeholders in HIV/AIDS management in Nigeria visited the organisation in Abuja recently. Jega told the team that

the new strategy known as the SAVE model was comprehensive and effective. He said any development that would lead to the effective control of HIV/AIDS management in the country should be embraced by all. According to him, Pathfinder International would support the course in spite of the increasing funding challenge was affecting the smooth implementation of the existing model. “SAVE model is indeed comprehensive and should

be embraced, but funding remains a challenge, ” he said. On her part, the Project Coordinator, HIV/AIDS, Global Fund, Dr Mary Mathew, said a review of models and strategies in the management of the disease was a welcome development. She, however, underscored the need to conduct a holistic analysis and a comprehensive research on the model before its adoption in Nigeria.

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

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

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

Gamaliel Onosode, a rare breed Nigerian (1933-2015)

eacon Gamaliel Offoritsenere OnosOnos ode, a technocrat par excellence and one of Nigeria ’s most accomplished private sector drivers, was committed to mother earth on October 23, exactly 25 days after his death at the age of 82. He died a day after he was flown back to Nigeria from the United Kingdom, where he had been receiving treatment for undisclosed ailment. His death was still a shocking one for many discerning Nigerians, who would have wished he stayed a little longer given the selfless life he had lived. Born on May 22, 1933 in Sapele, in the present day Delta State, to Urhobo parents, Onosode had his secondary education at the prestigious Government College, Ughelli (1947-1952), proceeding from there to University College (as the University of Ibadan was then known), where he graduated top of his class with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics in 1957. He later went to Cambridge University, England as a Jebb scholar immediately after graduation. For a man versed in Greek, Latin and Philosophy, his career path was well paved. He gave his best and made invaluable contributions in three key areas of national development: investment and finance, education and Christian faith. Mr Onosode ’s career in the corporate world began as an executive of NAL Merchant Bank of Nigeria. From the late 1960s through the 1990s, he was unarguably a force to reckon with in merchant banking, stock broking and manufacturing. Explaining this uncommon phenomenal corporate robustness, he had said: “My European employers who engaged me as management trainee over-trained me. They over-exposed me ”. At the relatively young age of 30, his indelible accomplishments had become glaring to all. He was already Secretary, Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), and at 40, he was appointed Chairman and CEO, NAL Merchant Bank. He meritoriously chaired the boards of many organisations, panels, committees and commissions in many areas of national life without any blemish. Among the companies he served as chairman are Dunlop Nigeria Plc (1984-2007), Cadbury Nigeria Plc (1977-1993), the defunct Commerce Bank Plc and Airtel (former Econet Nigeria). Onosode founded the first indigenous

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DEACON ONOSODE MUST HAVE TAUGHT

NIGERIANS THAT A LIFE OF HOLINESS AND GODLINESS IS POSSIBLE IN THE MIDST OF WORLDLINESS, WICKEDNESS AND PREVALENT PERVERSION

stock broking firm, Nigeria Stockbrokers Limited. He also chaired the Niger Delta Environmental Survey, a non-governmental organisation that conducted many scientific studies on environmental and social issues in the restive Niger Delta region. He also served on the Presidential Commission on Parastatals (1981) and was on the board of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG). He served the University of Ibadan Council as chairman in 2005 and for 30 years on the university ’s Endowment Fund. He was also one time Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the universities of Lagos, Uyo as well as Bowen University, Ogbomoso. During the Second Republic, President Shehu Shagari brought Onosode on board as Adviser on Budget Affairs. His exemplary devotion to public service was so apparent that Shagari later made him his Director of Budget. The hallmark of his tenure was uncommon discipline in the management of public finance. He identified and corrected major defects in public planning in Nigeria. Sadly, some of the problems

he identified remained h id tifi d have h i d unsolved l d by b successive Nigerian governments. One of them is what he called “inappropriate choices ” in fiscal and monetary policies with regard to resource management. The accountability and transparency with which Onosode approached the nation ’s public finance management came in good stead when after the fall of Shagari in 1983, his successor, General Muhammadu Buhari, and now incumbent president of the country, was compelled to retain him in that same capacity, a development that poignantly underlined his integrity. The life and times of Deacon Onosode must have taught Nigerians that a life of holiness and godliness is possible in the midst of worldliness, wickedness and prevalent perversion. The avalanche of tributes since his demise has confirmed the widespread acceptance of the values he had subscribed to in his 82 years sojourn on earth. President Buhari, acknowledging Onosode ’s larger than life status in corporate Nigeria, affirmed he was a “colossus in Nigeria ’s private sector ”, who “also excelled in public service on various occasions ”. “He operated ahead of his time, ” said former President Goodluck Jonathan, “by striving to introduce a controlled approach to public finance, at a time when prudent management of resources was largely ignored in many public offices ”. And for Mr. Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the departed corporate guru “was an exceptional, forthright and inspirational leader, whose life exemplified all the values dear to the NSE. ” The departed corporate administrator was a fellow of many organisations, among them, the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and the Nigerian Academy of Letters. The avalanche of tributes for Deacon Onosode has once again rekindled the controversy over the failure of the country to accord appropriate recognition to its best citizens. This paradox was again captured by the deceased eldest son, Ese, when he intoned: “Nigerians prefer celebrating half-dressed Nollywood actresses and actors and tattoo-bodied footballers to admiring honest people like my father ”. What a paradox!

Reminiscences NOVEMBER 1 IN HISTORY 1991: U.S. - Iowa varsity student in shooting rampage Gang Lu a student at the University of Iowa goes on a shooting rampage armed with a .38-calibre revolver and a .22 calibre handgun at the University killing five people on the Iowa campus in Iowa City; he then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. 1993: Treaty establishing EU starts The Maastricht Treaty formally starts, establishing the European Union (EU). By 1993, 12 nations had ratified the Maastricht Treaty on European Union: Great Britain, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. 1800: John Adams moves into White House President John Adams becomes the first U.S. president to move into the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. Before November 1, 1800, the president occupied Market Street mansion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1935: Canada shaken by earthquake Northern Canada was shaken by a violent earthquake. The centre of this earthquake was detected to have been just north of Lake Ontario. It was thought to be one of the worst in history that has occurred in this region. 1940: Fascist Italy invades Greece A 35-mile well-populated area of Greece (Ioannina) had been seized by Italian fascists. Further report indicated that Italy was moving towards the border of Albania. 1941: Roosevelt spells out role of U.S. Coast Guard President Roosevelt announces that the U.S. Coast Guard will now be under the direction of the U.S. Navy, and tasks will include escorting ships, providing port security, and inspecting ships for everything from illegal drugs to munitions. 1952: U.S. detonates 1st hydrogen bomb The United States detonates the world ’s first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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EDIFYING GOD

QUOTE It is clear that if Christ is in you, then his power is also in you, so, you can do all things in his name. Prof. Kunle Macaulay

Sunday, November 1, 2015

The necessity of craving Heaven, by Pastor Muokaa 24

They preached the early message 42

Head covering for Christian women

GGuard uard a ard m ndd,, coun mind, mi cou o PPro roo Olorunttimi Olorunt Oloruntimil

22 & 23

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Vineyard

News CCC, Mount Beulah Parish hosts thanksgiving

Celebration

ctivities which began on Friday, October 30, 2015 tagged “Nights of coast enlargement” to mark the annual adult harvest thanksgiving of Celestial Church of Christ, Mount Beulah Parish a.k.a. The Heart of God ends today Sunday, November 1 with special thanksgiving service which starts at 10am at 9, Adekanwonise Street, behind Mandela Garage, off Alli Close Mile12, Lagos. The host shepherd, Sup, Evang. H.O Michael revealed that this year’s thanksgiving service is initiated by God Himself, adding that it has been set apart to elevate all faithful of CCC worldwide, the parish as a whole and attendees in general.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

‘Lack of love, reason for global conflict’

Kumuyi on spiritual voyage to Osun State

he General Overseer of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William F. Kumuyi is set to tour major towns and cities in Osun State for crusade from November 17-29, 2015.

In a release signed by Mark Debo Taiwo on behalf of Pastor John Biola Adeniran, the Osun State Overseer of Deeper Life Bible Church, the spiritual exercise will offer life enhancing opportunities to the people of the State. According to Pastor Adeniran, Pastor Kumuyi, who is duly anointed by the Holy Spirit, with signs and wonders, will kick start the programme at St John’s Anglican Grammer School, Ikire, then would continue at Ipetu-Ijesa Grammer School, Ipetu-Ijesa, Deeper Life Camp Ground, Ejigbo, Oduduwa College, Ile Ife and othe towns in the state. On the myriad of problems and hard situations confronting the state, Adeniran said: “As this crusade is coming at this time in the state, it promises salvation, healing, breakthrough and lots more to the participants in particular and Osun State in General.”

The Good Samaritan holds Special Vigil

he Good Samaritan Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Irawo Osan headquarters is set to hold its annual special vigil deliverance programme Lagos tagged “Obey my voice and I will be your God and ye shall be my people” adopted from Jer. 7:23 scheduled for November 23 to 25, 2015 from 10pm- 3am at Irawo Osan Street, Beside Simart Oil, along Ijebu-Ode New Road, Ikorodu, Lagos.

The host, His Eminence Dr. Sunday Omoniyi (Baba Aladura the good Samaritan church, Irawo Osan Hqtrs.) said, the essence of this three nights of vigil deliverance is set apart for everyone and servants of God to listen and obey God and He will be your God and His children as you attend. Other features includes; Salvation, Blessing, Prosperity, Deliverance, Promotion, Fruit of the Womb, Healing, Losing of Bondage etc.

SUP. EVnangelist A.N.C. Ezeala flanked by Reverend Ayo-Oluwa Ogunyemi and other members

he General Overseer, Celestial Church of Christ, Saint Augustine Parish, Superior Evangelist A. N. C. Ezeala has said that selfishness and lack of love on the part of humans, is the major cause of wars and conflicts witnessed in the world today.

Speaking at fifth adult harvest thanksgiving service of the church, tagged “Harvest of transformation”, Ezeala further revealed that the church is celebrating the hand of God in the life of its members to witness the end of a miracle filled year. According to the cleric, the church is one in which Jesus Christ dwells, with his power of deliverance, healing and victory. “Our Church has been characterised with diverse miracles this year. The blind see, the deaf hear, the barren have become fruitful and several other breakthroughs abound”, he said.” He further said that the day’s highlight is basically the thanksgiving, adding that the church is thanking God for seeing them through the year and praying ahead to Him for the coming year. Throwing light on the dichotomy in Celestial Church of Christ, he likened the conflict and polarization to conflicts happening globally, reiterating that selfishness and lack of love for one another is the major cause of such conflict. “The reason for division in CCC today and by extension wars and conflicts globally is because human beings are

selfish and lack love for one another. In the Celestial Church of Christ, everybody is claiming to be the head, but many of them have no knowledge of Christ. The bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge. People don’t know God at all, not to talk of them knowing that God is love. People are selfish; they don’t think of others but their self alone. By extension, in our governance today, we are also facing same problem in Nigeria. People think about self alone, forgetting the saying that united we stand, divided we fall. You cannot unite with somebody when you don’t love that person. People should learn to have love for their neighbours and also seek Knowledge of God which is the beginning of wisdom”, he admonished. He noted that in relating with one another, in matters of religion and ethnicity, people should maintain neutrality. “We should ethnicity blind. We should not look at the colour, race, religion or tribe of a particular person or hate a particular people because they are not from the same tribe as you. We are all one from the same stock. You must be liberal and look beyond the fence of your house. Look beyond the borders of your town. Look beyond the boundaries of your state and look even beyond the boundaries of your country. So you cannot hate a people because of their colour, religion, tribe, the region they come from. Hatred or love should not be based on people’s race or colour. In

SUP. EV. A.N.C. Ezeala

fact, you should not hate. When you hate a creature of God He (God) wouldn’t be happy about that”, he noted. On people having progressive thoughts for one another, Ezeala said: “If you want to progress, you must put into consideration the progress of your neighbour. You cannot get on if you don’t look for the progress of other people. Irrespective of one’s tribe or region of the country, people should be able to be free to live in any part of Nigeria without fear of favour. I believe that with time, God will intervene as He would put us on the right part.” On factions that exist in the Celestial Church, he said “Celestial can be one, but where you put money first in anything you are doing, it would be very difficult. The same thing that is happening in celestial today is what is happening in the whole county, and by extension, the world. The moment we start thinking to be one in everything we do, the church, our country, Nigeria, and the world in general would experience lasting peace and progress. It is unfortunate that in the church today, nobody thinks of serving God and winning souls to God’s kingdom which is the major reason for establishing the church. What people are after now is money; they want to be rich by all means; this reasoning would take us nowhere. I pray that God intervenes in our matter and bring Celestial Church back to one fold”, he submitted.

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From the Pulpit 21

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Created to Worship

he word “Worship” is commonly used in a very loose manner these days. Bible reading, listening to a sermon, singing, and praying are not worship in and of themselves; but may lead to worship. Worship consists of one’s soul bowing before God in adoring contemplation of God. Someone said: “in prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, in worship we are occupied with Himself.” To worship God is to bow before God in adoring contemplation of God.

The Oxford Dictionary defines”worship” as “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” Webster defines it as “reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power” (Webster, 1988, p. 1361). Worship is an internal state of human consciousness, and inner human experience. Worship is our first duty to God. He is the All holy, All wise, Almighty, The Infinite, and the All Perfect One. Worship is adoring contemplation of God’s infinite loveliness, glory, attributes, and of Himself. We are created to worship God. We are created for God’s pleasure. God created human beings for the sole purpose of worshipping Him. We owe worship to God. It is His due. When we fail to worship, we owe the rent for our extended stay on earth and disqualify ourselves from the heavenly courts above! John the Revelator saw and heard the four living creatures surrounding the throne of God exclaiming ceaselessly, day

and night: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (Rev 4:8). The twenty-four who occupy thrones beside God also “fall down before Him and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being’” (Rev7:1011). “Worship is universal, and is a part of the very expressive nature of humankind” (Michael, 2000, p.11). Worship is the result of human beings acknowledging the greatness of Yahweh. We worship God in praise, adoration, thanksgiving, singing, and prayers both individually (Psa 22:22) and corporately (Psa 146:1). “Human existence and praising the true God are closely related (Ps 119:175) . . . The fullest richness of human life produces continual praise (Ps 84:4 [Heb 5])” (Coppes, 1980, p. 1:218). Worship is the personal and communal affirmation of the holiness of God. Authentic worship is about knowing God and making Him known. Through worship, God touches our hearts, opens our minds and ultimately changes our lives so that we leave the worship experience to share Him and His story with friends, neighbors, and ultimately the world. Worship enhances spiritual formation, enrichment, and growth. It is a faith journey of obedience to God’s will. “Worship is the place where the presence of God is felt and experienced” (Jeremiah, 1995,p. 22) and where we experience the “awe, delight, truthfulness and hope of God”(Salies, 1996, p. 14). “It is in the process of being worshiped that God communicates His presence to men . . .”(Lewis, 1958, p. 93). Worship ushers in the presence of God (Michael,

humanity that we shall become wholly fitted to worship God in sinless state as described in Revelation 7:19-15. Then shall we fall down and worship God, saying: Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto God forever and ever. Amen” (Rev 7:12). The blood of Jesus is our password to enter God’s presence for worship (Heb 9:7, 14; 10:19). The way to satisfy God is to worship Him most sincerely in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24; Ps 27:4). It is in worshipping God that humans shall find their greatest satisfaction and highest profound holy joy. There is no higher, no deeper, no purer joy than that which springs from true worship, asking nothing, seeking nothing from Him, while being occupied with and satisfied with Himself. The Psalmist exulted: “In thy presence is fullness of joy” (Psa 16:11). The worshiper is transformed into God’s likeness from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18; Exod 34:29). Are you a worshipper or a whiner or wailer? When last did you truly worship? Are you just entertaining or being entertained? Lift up your humble hearts and cry: “Teach me, Holy Spirit, to worship!”

2000, p.19). Worship is the process of discerning and acknowledging the presence of the creator through the Spirit while responding to the call and living-out the journey” (Hayes, 2008, p. 92). Worship requires that we crucify self just like Moses was required to take off his sandals from his feet in the presence of a holy God (Exod 3:5). Self is an unfortunate impediment to worship (Michael, 2000, p. 24). Furthermore, “we have gotten confused about who’s doing what in worship: we think of worshipers as an audience; pastors as entertainers; and God as prompter, [when] in fact, worshipers are performers; pastors are prompters; and God is the audience” (McCullough, 1995, p. 113). We should worship the Lord our God and Him alone. We may admire men, but we must worship God alone. No holy man, saint, nor angel should be worshiped (Acts 10:25-26; Rev 22:8-9). Jesus Christ overcame the devil with this eternal truth: “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt 4:10; KJV). God is looking all over the earth, seeking for true worshippers. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers.” (John 4:23). God’s supreme desire from His creatures is worship. Much more than obedience, service, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, God desires worship! Yes, we are saved that we may serve, but more profoundly, we are saved that we may worship God! The culmination and completion of the redemption

•Tunde Ojewole, PhD, is the Babcock University Pastor in charge: Division of Spiritual Life. Get your copy of the newly released book: GOD’S FOOTPRINTS. For enquiries, contact: ojewolea@babcock.edu.ng or call/SMS 08058299434/08060376577.

Seven things every kid needs to hear Let’s go

BIBLE with Favour

Tioluwani

Email: letsgobible@gmail.com

https://letsgobible.wordpress.com

ou can watch your daughter play “house” with her dolls and hear her say some of the same things her mom or dad tells her. It’s proof that she’s listening to what they say, even when it doesn’t seem like it.

Of all the phrases we say as parents, there are a few that I believe every child needs to hear. 1. God loves you: - The most basic and important truth we can instill in our children is the fact that God loves them. It’s simple enough that even a young child can grasp it. They will carry it throughout their lives. The Bible says to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). If you tell your children regularly that God loves them, there’s a pretty solid chance they’ll never forget it. If you never tell your children that God loves them, you are depriving them of the head start they deserve and leaving an open door for the Enemy to come in and tell them otherwise. 2. I love you:- This phrase probably goes without saying. Sure, we all love our chil-

dren. Showing we love them every day is important. And, yes, there’s a lot of truth to the saying “Actions speak louder than words.” For some, it means more hugs or nice words. For others, it means more quality time spent together. But, there’s no substitute for telling your children you love them. Don’t let the sun go down on a single day without them hearing those words. 3. I am here for you:- Children need to know that their parents are always there. We need to communicate with them and let them know that there’s no situation too big or scary for Mom or Dad. Just as we can take anything to God, our children need to trust that they can bring anything to us. God didn’t design us to be “besties” with our kids in lieu of being a parent. But, He did design us with shoulders to cry on, arms to hug with, and mouths to speak comfort to our children at the times they need it most. Our children need to understand we are always there for them, and in addition to proving it by our actions, we can tell them with our words. 4. I am proud of you:- A father was talking with his 5-year-old daughter about a situation she had at school. She was telling him how she handled it, and he was impressed. He said, “Honey, you handled that perfectly. I’m so proud of you.” Her face lit up in a way the father doesn’t see often. It was a perfect reminder for him that he didn’t say it enough. Be so proud of your kids, and I tell other people how great they are – not in an annoying way, of course. But, not so quick to tell them that you are proud

of them. It’s important for our children to hear us say the words. More important, perhaps, is the need for them to hear why. 5. I was wrong: - Our children need to see that we are human. Saying you were wrong and you are sorry communicates that you aren’t perfect. Our kids need to know that we make mistakes, and that making mistakes is okay. Admitting you were wrong shows them the proper response to making a mistake – fessing up to it. Beyond all of that, it lays the subtle groundwork to remind them that our imperfection is the reason we are in need of a perfect Saviour. 6. You were wrong:- One of the most important responsibilities we have as parents is teaching our children right from wrong. Too many children are raised without a true sense of what is right and what is wrong, and from my view, it’s largely because parents aren’t telling them. I’ve seen too many parents make excuses for their children, defend them at all costs and shield them from any negativity. When their children mess up, many parents want to find someone else responsible and shift the blame instead of facing the situation head-on. The result of a child who has never been told they are wrong is a know-it-all adult with a glass chin. We are all wrong from time-to-time. If we practice this and tell our children when we are wrong, it should be easier for them to do the same. It’s important for them to understand that being wrong is not the problem, as much as how they respond to it. 7. Let us pray:- Bring your children in communication with God. Call them to

THE RESULT OF A CHILD WHO HAS NEVER BEEN TOLD THEY ARE WRONG IS A KNOW-

IT-ALL ADULT WITH A GLASS CHIN.

ARE ALL WRONG FROM TIME-TO-TIME.

prayers always; let them get use to this so that it will be easier to do even when they are alone in the future. Being the only way to communicate with the Lord, it is better to let them experience it earlier. Our words are important, especially considering the impact they can have on our little ones. As parents, one of the best things we can do is remember this: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). And from our mouth comes both life and death, we must speak words that will make our children to live. •You can send in your QUESTIONS and the Holy Spirit will be set to give you the ANSWERS. Barr. (Mrs.) Favour Tioluwani Tel: 08050272259 or 07062738213. Email: letsgobible@gmail.com

Cover

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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Head covering for

n scripture, the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 11:3-16 addresses the issue of women and head covering. The context of the entire passage of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 is submission to the God-given order and chain of command. A covering on a woman’s head is used as an illustration of the order, headship, and the authority of God. This part of scripture focuses on the natural order of authority i.e. God the Father, God the Son, the man or husband, and the woman or wife. Here, Paul implied that the veil or covering on the head of a believing Corinthian wife showed that she was under the authority of her husband, and therefore under submission to God.

The idea of more Christian women not covering their heads today might be associated with the understanding which most people have that head-covering for women is an Old Testament practice, but they seem to forget that references to the custom are actually found in the New Testament too. Though the tradition has dwindled among most orthodox Christians, many mainstream denominations continue to promote head-covering for women. Taking a close look at the historical and current practices within Christianity regarding head-covering, basically, for large portions of the religion, wearing some kind of head-covering before the 20th century was the norm, even for Protestants. Among the Protestant reformers, Martin Luther’s wife, Katherine was recorded to have always worn a head covering in public worship. John Knox, John Calvin and a host of other reformed theologians, at the time, called for women to wear head-cover in public worship. In fact, until the 20th century, no reformed theologian taught against head-covering for women in public worship. While some like the Anabaptists, Amish and Mennonites advocated the wearing of head-cover at all times, as they argue that a woman may pray or prophesy at any time, the reformed teaching is that praying and prophesying refers to the activities taking place in public worship as the Apostle Paul explained with public worship in his first letter to the Corinthians. Despite the fact that some Christians are of the argument that wearing of head-cover is not a requirement at public worship since Paul himself stated that the hair is a covering for the woman’s head, so it should be a matter of choice, the practice is still promoted or required in a few denominations. Among these are Catholics who live a plain life and are known as plain Catholics, some Anabaptist denominations, some Pentecostal churches, such as Deeper Christian Life ministry. Though, most protestant denominations have no official expectations that women cover their heads, some individuals choose to practice head-covering according to their understanding of Apostle Paul’s statement in first Corinthians

Wearing of head scarves or hats by Christian women during religious services has been a norm for women since the Biblical days, but some of these modern women believe that the hair is enough covering for their head. Odinaka Uruakpa reports on the changing trend in Christian doctrine. chapter 11. According to Pastor Afolarin Adebola of Freedom Christian Miracle Assembly, Lagos, just as Saint Paul instructed the Corinthian woman in his first letter to the Corinthians, every Christian woman ought to cover her head to demonstrate that she is under the authority of her husband, and therefore under submission to God. “The issue of women and head coverings is mainly treated in first Corinthians 11:3-16. Verse three of this passage which is the key verse states ‘But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.’ The implications of this verse are found in the rest of the passage. The order mentioned here is God the Father, God the Son, the man or husband, and the woman or wife. Here, Paul also explains that the veil or covering on the head of a believing Corinthian wife showed that she was under the authority of her husband, and therefore under submission to God. Coming down to Verse 10 of this passage; it states, ‘For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. The angels are mentioned here because the relationship of God with men is something that the angels watch and learn from as revealed in first Peter 1:12. Therefore, a woman’s submission

EVEN NATURE ITSELF TEACHES THAT IF A MAN HAS LONG HAIR, IT IS A DISHONOR TO HIM, BUT IF A WOMAN HAS LONG HAIR, IT IS A GLORY TO HER; FOR HER HAIR IS GIVEN TO HER FOR A COVERING. to God’s delegated authority over her is an example to angels. The holy angels, who are in perfect and total submission to God, expect that we, as followers of Christ, be the same”, he explained. Quoting 1 Corinthians 11:14-15, Adebola explained that the covering for a woman not only means a cloth but also can refer to her hair length. He added that the verse should be taken in the context or the setting in which it is presented. “Even nature itself teaches that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. Therefore, in the context of this passage, a woman who is wearing her hair longer marks herself out distinctively as a woman and not a man. The Apostle Paul is saying here that in the Corinthian culture, when a wife’s hair was longer than her husband’s, it showed her submission to his headship. The roles of the male and female are designed by God to portray a profound spiritual lesson,

which is of submission to the will and the order of God. But why is hair an issue in this passage? The Apostle Paul is addressing an issue related to the Corinthian culture that was being allowed to disrupt the church; for a woman to have a shaved head was a disgrace, and in Jewish thinking, a sign of mourning, as expressed in Deuteronomy 21:12. As rightly stated in 1 Corinthians 11:15, a woman’s hair was her glory. In the Corinthian culture, women normally wore a head covering as a symbol of their submission to their husbands. Paul affirms the rightness of following that cultural mandate; to dispense with the head coverings on women would send the entirely wrong signal to the culture at large. In fact, Paul says in verse 6 that, if a Christian woman refuses her head covering, she might as well shave her hair off, too. A woman who refused to wear a covering in that culture was basically saying, ‘I refuse to submit to God’s order.’ Therefore, the Apostle Paul was teaching the Corinthians that hair length

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Christian women or the wearing of a covering by the woman was an outward indication of a heart attitude of submission to God and to His established authority”, he submitted. In his contribution, Pastor Peter Iloba Redemption Mission Church, Lagos, stated that though, there is no inequality or inferiority implied in the part of scripture which instructs women to cover their head as a sign of submission to their husband, the natural and divine order is that the husband is the head of the wife as God is the head of Christ. “God and Christ are equal and united, just as the husband and the wife are one. This passage i.e. Corinthians, chapter 11, doesn’t teach that the woman is inferior to man or that she should be submissive to every man. It is teaching God’s order and spiritual headship in the marriage relationship. In the Corinthian culture, a woman who covered her head during worship or when she was in public displayed her submission to authority. In today’s culture, we no longer view a woman’s wearing of a head covering as a sign of submission. In most modern societies, scarves and hats are fashion accessories. A woman has the choice to wear a head covering if she views it as a sign of her submission to the authority of her husband. However, it is a personal choice and not something that should be used to judge spirituality. The real issue here is the heart attitude of obedience to God’s authority and submission to His established order as stated in Ephesians 5:22. God is far more concerned with an attitude of submission than an outward display of submission via a head covering. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy 2:9-10, he (Paul) said he expects women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, and not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. Of what good is it if a woman covers her head, but lacks the virtues listed above; for me, what is important in a woman are good deeds and not the head or hair cover as the case may be”, he stated. When asked if it those Christian denominations who allow women to come to worship without a hair-cover are not intentionally going against scripture, Iloba said: “I am not against covering of hair for women, but I would say that if anyone decides to cover or not to cover their head at worship, it is their choice to make. I tell you that the heart is a very difficult thing to see, as many may cover their head and their heart is full of evil. Moreover, there are many denominations were some of the women choose to cover their head, while others don’t. One unique thing about some of these folds who do not cover their head is that they carry their natural hair devoid of the chemical relaxers that women use these days; they do not wear make-up and look natural and beautiful and I believe many will possess beautiful deeds,

IN THE PASSAGE I.E. FIRST CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER 11, APOSTLE PAUL WANTED THE PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT AUTHORITY OF CHRIST OVER MEN. unlike some who cover their head and expect people to see them as religiously perfect beings, but underneath the headcover, they have relaxed or braided hair designed with gold or pearls; so who is deceiving who here. So for me, there is no need using scripture that was meant for women of a particular tribe and tradition to compel women to cover their head, rather each woman should be left to choose whether to cover their head in public worship or not.” Also contributing, Pastor Pat Isong, Senior Pastor with Faith Evangelical Ministries, Surulere, Lagos, insisted that Apostle Paul’s instruction to the Corinthian women in Corinthians 11:310 does not only apply to women of that race and time alone, but to every Christian woman from all generations. “In the passage i.e. first Corinthians, chapter 11, Apostle Paul wanted the people to understand that authority of Christ over men. He also explained that the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. In verse four, he instructed men against covering their head while praying when he said ‘Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head and goes on in subsequent verses to say; ‘Every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, disgraces her head; for

she is one and the same with her whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. This passage is self explanatory; it explains the order of nature and what God expects from the two sexes (male and female). God created man in His own image, therefore, bringing about the establishment of the divine authority. Woman was made out of the rib of man which puts her under the authority of man, but not as a slave as also stated in the Bible. Women were instructed to cover their head in public worship as a sign of the ultimate respect and glory to God”, he explained. When asked if women of the present age are under compulsion to cover their head in public worship, Isong said: “Like I mentioned earlier, the practice is not applicable to the Corinthian women

only, but to every Christian woman from all generations. Some people think that because Apostle Paul mentioned in same chapter that the woman’s hair is covering for her head, therefore, the hair already stands as her head cover. This is not so because the apostle made it clear in that same passage that if a woman does not cover her head in public worship, then she could as well have her head shaved. But also makes us understand that it is wrong for women to shave their head. These are two different explanations which people should understand in the context they were made. As a woman, your head should not be shaved like that of a man; also, you are expected to cover your head with a head cover other than your natural hair in public worship.” On the appropriateness and reason some women in this present time cover their head in places other than public worship, Isong said: “There is nothing wrong in a woman taking the head covering injunction beyond places of public worship. If a woman decides to cover her head 24 hours of the day, better for her because this goes to show that such is not only prepared for prayer and prophesying which may occur in places other than public prayer centres, but she is also in total submission to the God-given authority over her, and glorifies God in the process.”

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From the

Pulpit Sunday, November 1, 2015

The necessity of craving Heaven, by Pastor Muoka General Overseer of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministry, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, in this piece, teaches on importance of keeping Heaven in view . Excerpts:

evelation 19: 1 says, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia, salvation, and glory and power unto the Lord our God”.

There is no contention whether heaven exist or not. This is because every believer and even the unbeliever believes that there is heaven, even though some may strangely believe that heaven is already filled up, while others believe that there is some particular number of people that will go to heaven, but nevertheless all believe there is heaven as the abode of God, and His angels and the final home of the righteous. Heb 11: 13- 16 says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city”. The existence of heaven was widely acknowledged by our fore fathers who died in view of the fact that there is heaven. They did not only live in the faith of making heaven after death but also died in that faith. They died looking upon this world as their pilgrimage, and heaven as their home and proper country, because there they believed they came from, there they have their inheritance, kindred and there will their longest abode be. Heaven is where the head and husband of all believers is, including their friends and kindred. The Scripture is laden with passages illustrating the existence of heaven. Christians should not only count but confess themselves pilgrims, and attest to it by mending their pace heavenward. God would have believers in all ages to live by and die in faith so that they will make heaven at last. It is a greater happiness to die in the Lord, than to die for the Lord. This is because if a man dies for the Lord, and be not in the Lord, he will not make heaven.. A man may die for the L o r d ’ s w o r k , which is working for God, yet not for the Lord’s

sake because he was there to satisfy his carnal appetite. And heaven is not meant for hypocrites. Matt. 6: 9 says, “After this manner therefore pray ye, our father which art in heaven hallow be thy name”. The above statement came from our Lord Jesus Christ and it denotes the existence of heaven and also an abode of God. All Christians hallow the Chief occupier of heaven, who is the God of Host. That God is said to be in heaven does not suggest that He doesn’t fill earth as well but because there is a special manifestation of His presence, of His purity, power and glory there. Matt. 5: 34 says, “But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne”. The above statement also clearly supported the fact that heaven exists and it is the abode and throne of God. To swear by heaven is construed to be an action geared toward the One sitting upon the throne of heaven, who is the God Almighty. Rev. 19; 1 says, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God”. Heaven is the final abode for the righ-

teous - for those who are saved and washed with the blood of Jesus, angels, Holy Spirit, Jesus and God. The first to sing the song of thanksgiving for the destruction of the wicked are glorified saints in heaven; and they are said to sing with a great voice, expressing thereby their united zeal and fervent affection in this duty of thanksgiving. If lots of saints are designated to give praises to God in heaven, it also means that heaven is a place of uncountable number of believers, thus, heaven cannot be said to be for one thousand people as some people suggest. Heaven is a place of the righteous and uncountable number of holy people. Although everybody including a sinner desires to enter heaven, not minding whether he will eventually make it or not but only the righteous shall be there. Of course sinners cannot make it. Except they repent, they cannot enter the kingdom of God. It is for believers who maintain holiness and righteousness in Christ. Hypocrites, compromisers, backsliders and their sympathizers will not m a k e it. Religious people that go to church but are not mindful of the word of God or give heed to His will and live right will

not make it in heaven. It is true Christians live here on earth, but they belong to the corporation and society of heaven. Their citizenship is in heaven; for they have a high esteem of that happiness, and their chief concern is to make sure of it, and they are pleased with the joyful expectation of it. Matt. 7: 21- 23 Says, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”. It is very clear that compromisers, backsliders, false prophets and miracle workers without righteousness; without being born again shall not make heaven. Heaven is a prepared place that exists for p p p prepared persons. Many who claime claimed to be children of God and do not live acac cording to the tenets of the Scriptur Scripture will surely be disappointed for they shal shall never be in heaven. Those that denied o or ignored the existence of heaven shall no not be there. Many will plead that they had ha done miracles, and preached or prophproph esied much, and will demand an entrance entranc into heaven but will not be granted th the privilege. If you have the proof of work working miracles and have no saving faith and an its accompanying righteousness, you will wil not enter heaven but will be asked to dede part from Christ. To depart from Christ is i the very hell of hell; it is the foundation of all the misery of the damned, it means mean to be cut off from all hope of benefit from Christ and His mediation. 1 Cor. 6: 9-10 says, “Know you not that tha the unrighteous shall not inherit the th kingdom of God, be not deceivers neithe neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulteradulter ers nor effeminate, nor abusers of themthem selves with mankind 10. Nor thieves , no nor covetous, nor drunkards , nor revilers reviler nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingking dom of God”. Beloved, men are very much inclined incline to flatter themselves that tha they may live liv sin, in sin

PASSION

A Lifestyle Maga Magazine zine

Sunday, November 1, 2015

APPLAUSE

‘Why I founded beauty pageant for plump ladies’ >>2 >>27 27

‘I have got wonderful curves’ >>26

Passion

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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‘I have got wonderful curves’ Beauty queen, Sandra Anthony, is ‘Miss Curvy Nigeria 2015’. She studied History and International Relations at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN. In this interview with ADAEZE AMOS, this genial personality unfurls her life as a beauty queen, her dress sense and pet project, among others. What is ‘Miss Curvy Nigeria’ pageant all about? The ‘Miss Curvy Nigeria’ is a pageant for plump ladies and this is the second edition. Before the night of the pageant, the beauty aspirants were camped for a week and that got me closer to the rest of the contestants as they were also intelligent and beautiful. But I beat 32 other contestants to win the diamond-studded crown. I was actually crowned on the night of October 18. I was thrilled when I emerged the winner. What gave you an edge over others? I’m beautiful enough to bag the crown. This doesn’t mean that other contestants weren’t beautiful. I would say it was the grace and favour of God coupled with the confidence I displayed on the stage. What do you want to use your platform to achieve before your tenure is over? I want to create more awareness to women on cervical cancer. This is the main thing I want to look into because most women have not been enlightened enough about this health anomaly. Hence, it’s killing so many women. I want to use this platform to create more awareness concerning this scourge. What part of your body can you flaunt proudly? My curves of course. I have got wonderful curves. Sometimes I stand before my mirror and smile because I’ve lovely curves. To those ladies who are getting set for one beauty pageant or the other, can you reach out to them? I would like to tell them to be bold. Believe in yourself, be confident even when you walk before the judges and audience. Believe you the best. are L e t

your dressing be regaling and be ready to answer correctly all the questions you are being asked in simple and correct English. Yeou must have a good command of English language. Remember no one is ready to crown an empty-headed queen. You must be brilliant and cheerful. These factors would help you. What would you change about your lifestyle now that you are a queen? I would not be involved in anything that would tarnish my image or the image of my family. As a beauty queen, integrity matters a lot. I would carry on with my life, making sure that I won’t do anything that would drag my image in the mud. I won’t be seen in the gathering of bad people. I will be a good example to others because I know that I’m now a role model, especially to the younger ones. Beauty queens are in the habit of dumping their male friends when they are crowned, how about you? I have not. I’m single and I’m not in any relationship, so I don’t have anybody to dump. Can you interpret movie roles if you are called? Yes, es, I can! I’m ready for that. I have always had special ial interest in Nollywood ood and acting. Any plans to opt for bigger er beauty pageants s in future? I would like to opt pt for bigger beauty uty pageants for plump plum mp ladies, why not?? beauty Some e be eauty queens quee ens d don’t consider cons siderr marimportant, riage e imp portant, what is y your take? ? M a r riage riag ge is is i m por-

tant. To me, it is the best thing that can happen to every woman. I would be ready to settle down once the right suitor comes. What are the qualities of your ideal man? My ideal man should be handsome, ambitious, classy and very intelligent. What puts you off men? Men who are not handsome,, not intelligent, g , less ambitious put me off. As a beauty eauty queen, what lesson has life taught you? Life has taught me to believe in myself, put my y trust in God and whatever I target, I want to achieve it. Whatt is your philosophy about life? My philosophy is never to settle e down for less in life. I would neverr settle for or less in all that I do, because I deserve e the best. mothers who frown at their To m beauty d daughters participating in be eauty pageants, view? p pa geants, what is your view w? telll such I want to please tel mothers to allow their daughters to participate because they never can telll

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where their luck lies. Plump or fleshy ladies feel they are not fashionable because of their size, what do you have to say about this? This is the wrong impression they have about themselves. They should learn to appreciate themselves the way they are. Always wear what suits your body. Ensure your tummy is not bulky thereby retaining your waistline. Can you define your style? My style is simple, classy and sometimes sexy. What Wh W at style of clothes do you prefer? skirts I prefer to be seen in fitted skir tthat th at would flaunt my curves. What Wh W at is your opinion about some semis ome ladies who post sem nude n nu de pictures on the net? Any lady who does do sense. tthat th at lacks good sens reasonable lady N No lad sshould sh ould drag her iinmud. ttegrity te grity in the mu IIt’s It ’s not proper.

Applause

Sunday, November 1, 2015

‘Why I founded beauty pageant for plump ladies’ Y

ou may wonder what really motivated Mrs Choice Hinkelmann to start a beauty pageant that is strictly meant for plump ladies in a clime that believes beauty pageants are meant for strikingly slender ladies. This affable woman is the founder of Miss Curvy Nigeria Beauty Pageant and CEO of June-July Marine Ventures. She studied Public Administration at Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma (AAU), Edo State and also bagged a certificate from House of Tara Beauty World as a makeup artiste. “Miss Curvy Nigeria Beauty Pageant was borne out of the zeal and passion I had when I lost a bosom friend. She was very beautiful and fabulous, but the society, family and lovers call her names because she was fat. Hence, she was not confident of herself and never therefore she never believed in herself. She went abroad for a surgery just to become slender. She was desperate, but do you know she never came back alive! She died while striving to be slim. Her death really touched me and the emotional pains I had gave birth to Miss Curvy Nigeria Beauty Pageant. That was how the vision started and I began to plann the pageant with the help of friends and family,” she recalled. This beauty pageant has today helped in restoring self confidence of

so many fleshy ladies. “I now assist plus-sized ladies regain confidence. I am always happy when I receive calls from such ladies on how they regained their self worth ever since I introduced this pageant. Such telephone calls have given me the zeal to continue doing what I have passion for. The reason is that the society has gradually started realising that fat ladies are the true African women,” she emphasised. Mrs Hinkelmann says she feels fulfilled in giving bold and beautiful ladies of this country a platform to better their lives and society as well. “Miss Curvy Nigeria is a platform to build self confidence amongst plussized ladies and to empower women in fashion, movie and modelling industries. With this pageant, people are beginning to realise that fat ladies are the epitome of African beauty! But don’t misunderstand me, I’m not in any way encouraging obesity, far from that. I’m in support of being healthy, firm and shapely with the right curves,” she stressed. Miss Curvy Nigeria pageant which came to life last year has gained so much popularity. “Miss Curvy Nigeria started last year in 2014. I remember going to so many companies and organisations for sponsorship. They turned me

down because they never believed in my vision. They thought I was stupid because this kind of pageant is a new concept in this part of the world. I remember going to a particular company for sponsorship. The managing director didn’t support my dream and I left his office in tears. But thank God I didn’t lose hope. I continued, forging ahead, believing that this dream would not die. Interestingly, my family and friends encouraged me, they believed in my dream. I continued. I invested all my money in the project and it came out successful in 2014. Ever since, I have not relented. It is now an annual event and it’s no looking back. Hopefully, I would have more sponsors next year,” she said smilingly. What thrills her most about her pageant? “ It is the way these plump ladies are excited about the pageant. It gives them life and makes them regain their selfesteem. You would see the glint of joy in their eyes and that makes me happy too in that I’m doing something to place a crown on womanhood. Maybe because I have always believed in the fact that I’m a woman in a male-dominated society. With what I’m doing, I believe I’m contributing my quota to empowering women in my own little way,” Mrs Hinkelmann said.

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

ANIMAL FACTS

GROWING UP with Hello Children,

Aunty Titi

I hope you are doing well both in school and at home? Don ’t forget this is the last term and you need to make mummy and daddy proud. Today promises to be fun-filled, with the entertaining articles and stories we have for you.

Once upon a time

The Jaguar

The Cocoon and the Buttery

beautiful and colorful butterfly usually comes from unappealing caterpillar. Here is the story of a butterfly that was never able to live a life like a butterfly! One day, a man saw a cocoon. He loved butterflies and had a craze for its wonderful combination of colours. In fact, he used to spend a lot of time around butterflies. He knew how a butterfly would struggle to transform from an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful one. He saw a cocoon with tiny opening. It means that the butterfly is trying to make its way to enjoy its world. He decided to sit over and watch how the butterfly would come out of the cocoon. He was watching the butterfly struggling to break the shell for several hours. He spent almost more than 10 hours with the cocoon and the butterfly. The butterfly has been struggling very hard for hours to come out the tiny opening. Unfortunately, even after continuous attempts for several hours, there was no progress. It seemed that the butterfly tried its best and could not give any more try. The man, who has a passion and love for butterflies decided to help the butterfly. He got a scissor and tweaked the cocoon to make larger opening for the butterfly and removed the remaining

cocoon. The butterfly emerged without any struggle! Unfortunately, the butterfly looked no longer beautiful and had a swollen body with small and withered wings. The man was happy that he made butterfly come out of the cocoon without any more struggles. He continued to watch the butterfly and he was quite eager to watch the butterfly fly with its beautiful wings. He thought that at any time, the butterfly may expand the wings, shrink the body and the wings can support the body. Unfortunately, neither the wings expanded or enlarged nor the swollen body reduced. Unfortunately, the butterfly just crawled around with withered wings and huge body. It was never able to fly. Although the man did it with good intention, only going through the struggles the butterfly would have emerged like any other beautiful butterflies! The continuous effort from butterfly to come out of cocoon would let the fluid stored in the body converted into wings. So, the body would be lighter and small and the wings would be beautiful and large. If we don ’t want to undergo any struggle, we won ’t be able to fly! MORAL OF THE STORY: Struggles make us shine!

Children, you can send your contributions and pictures through this email address jokkyisland@yahoo.com or call telephone number: 08050324794

he jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. The jaguar has a compact body, a broad head and powerful jaws. Its coat is normally yellow and tan, but the color can vary from reddish brown to black. The spots on the coat are more solid and black on the head and neck and become larger rosette-shaped patterns along the side and back of the body. As a carnivore, the big cat helps prevent overgrazing of vegetation by keeping its prey populations in balance. Jaguars are also important in human culture, frequently playing a central role in stories, songs and prayers of indigenous people. Diet Jaguars are known to eat deer, peccary, crocodiles, snakes, monkeys, deer, sloths, tapirs, turtles, eggs, frogs, fish and anything else they can catch. Behaviour Jaguars are solitary animals and live

and hunt alone, except during mating season. The male ’s home range is between 19 and 53 square miles and often overlaps with the smaller home ranges of multiple females. A male aggressively protects his home range and resident females from other males. The jaguar hunts mostly on the ground, but it sometimes climbs a tree and pounces on its prey from above. It has very powerful jaws and sharp teeth and usually kills its prey with one crushing bite to the skull. Unlike most big cats, the jaguar loves the water — it often swims bathes, plays and even hunts for fish in streams and pools. Like all members of the big cat family, jaguars can roar. The jaguar ’s roar sounds like a deep, chesty cough. Reproduction Kittens stay with their mother from 1-1.5 years.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Dude Style

victorudoh804@yahoo.com 07067124302

‘My style is simple but practical’ When did you start acting? I started acting about some five years ago. I guess I was drawn to it. Who do you aspire to be like in the movie world? I can’t say I’m aspiring to be like anyone in particular but I do try to learn as much as I can from great actors and film makers. I’m constantly seeking ng to learn and improve on myself and I feel eel we owe it to the audience to constantly ly give the best. Name movies you have starred d in? I have been in Ojuju, Apostates, ates, In My Father’s House, O-Town to name ame but a few. These are the ones I can mention off hand. Which of them is most challenging? ging? Every film or TV project ct I have undertaken has had its own unique set of challenges. Which actress would you like to o be paired with to bring out yourr best in romance roles? Every individual is unique and I feel if given the opportunity y to work with any actress, I would ould experience something distinct and hopefully we would create something engaging and entertaining. ning. Having said this, let answer your question since you insist. Off the top of my head, I would like ke to be paired with Chi Girl the e commedianne maybe because she is warm, intelligent and compassion What thrills you most in what you do as an actor? Getting the chance to entertertain an audience. What has acting taken from you? I really can’t say it has taken n anyhting from me, per se. But I have learnt a lot about the huuman condition since I started. Relieve your first time on a movie set? I was excited, nervous and eaager to do well. What lesson has life taught you u as an actor? I guess I have come to realize ize that there is quite a lot that I don’t on’t

Paul Chibuzo Utomi is an actor, writer, director and voice-over artiste. He studied Economics at the Lagos State University and took acting and directing classes at the Centre For Film and Video Excellence. In this interview with VICTOR UDOH, he talks about life as an actor and his dress sense.

know. What is your life philosophy? One of them is anything that is free either has a reason, a question, a secret, a beauty, a defect, a damage or a near expiration date.. Can you marry an actress? Yes. I could marry an actress.

What is the fashion ashion item that forms a larger er part of your wardrobe? Jeans.

Define your style? My style is simple but practical.

fashion Are you a fas shion freak? Nope! I’m not a fashbut ion freak bu ut I apprecidesigns. ate good desi igns. Who is your ffavourite Nidesigner gerian design ner and why? say I can’t sa ay anyone stands mind out in my mi nd at the moment. Fashion Fashio on covers your you ur flaws and flaunts fla aunts your yo our good

sides. What part of your body do you consider co c onsider nsider your best to flaunt? any I guess I haven’t given it an ny consideration, so, It’s hard for me to say. What W at part of your Wh your body is most sexy? Honestly I don’t know. Hmmm I’m not sure e but I have been told I have ha ave got great legs leg gs and a lovely torso to orso

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Weddings Engagements CELEBRATING THE JOY IN MARITAL BLISS

You have a story to tell us about your wedding/engagement, or your new born baby. You can call this line 08050324794

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Adetayo is a friend of God –Bukola

t will forever be a memorable day in the lives of the Families of Oludayo Akindiran and Emmanuel Adeniji as they played host to a large turn-out of family member, friends and well- wishers as they came from far and near to celebrate the union between their daughter Bukola Akindiran and son Adetayo Adeniji. The holy matrimony took place at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Royal Diadem, Isolo, Lagos State. While the striking reception followsed immediately at the Isolo Rotary Club, Isolo, Lagos State. The beautiful bride, who was looking amazing in her coral cord lace with a teal green headgear and accessories, while the groom complemented her with a matching teal green cap and a white native attire. On how they met, Bukola said “We met at the youth annual meeting called Standout at the province headquarters Redeemed Christian Church of God, Jesus-House, Ajao estate, Lagos State, we talked, exchanged mobile numbers and

BABIES OF THE WEEK Christiana Toluwalase Sanyaolu

B have been communicating ” Speaking with the couples, they elucidated on the qualities that attracted them to each other. According to the bride, who hails from Ibadan, Oyo State, she said, “He is God fearing, caring, a friend of God, he gives sacrificially and appreciates little thing ”. The groom, who hails from Aiyetoro. Ogun State could not hide his joy as he was full of smiles. He said, “I love everything about my damsel. I call

her my woman because she is my everything ”. On the proposal, the bride said we went on a date at Elegushi beach with his friends and he proposed in front of them, I was so shocked because I never had a clue to what he just did; I gladly said YES it was a day I can never forget. On the advice to singles, the couples said “singles should only stick and look up to God alone because he is the only one that knows tomorrow ”.

I was swept off by Oluwakemi ’s generosity –Babajide

t was indeed a beautiful atmosphere as Oluwakemi Oludele and Babajide Adebowale tied the knot of their engagement ceremony. The event took place at the bride ’s family house at Olopade Alakia Ibadan, Oyo state. It was witnessed by numerous guests among who are relatives, colleagues, friends and well wishers who came from far and near to felicitate with the union of the couple. The couple ’s joy was simply contagious as they happily exchanged vows and committed to spending the rest of their lives together as one. The guest minister advised the couple to always treat each other with respect and further, keep adapting and experimenting and having fun. Learn how to seduce and entice your partner. According to the groom, “it all started six years ago when I was ad-

mitted to the hospital where she works as a nurse, she was so kind and generous to the patients, when it was my turn she shown me same kindness so immediately I was swept off by her generosity. And as we subsequently talked we exchange phone numbers and instantly I said to myself that I have seen my missing ribs. ” On how the bride sees the groom she explains “He is adventurous; willing to take risks, and constantly teaches me new

things about life. He is indeed loving and caring at the same time, understanding things that most people do not. I ’m never bored for a second and feel more comfortable than with anyone else and above all he is God fearing. For pet name, the groom said they call each other love or honey, Invited guest danced in admiration to the tune supplied by the musician as they wished the day never came to an end.

aby Christiana Toluwalase Sanyaolu was born at 7:40 a.m. at Vine Hospital Ibadan, Oyo State. Her mother recounted her pregnancy period and experience to Sunday Mirror. On bodily changes, Mrs. Titi Sanyaolu said she had normal morning sickness, which most pregnant women experience at the first trimester of their pregnancy. Aside from this, she also had swollen legs towards the end of her pregnancy. “I didn ’t have the usual spitting, and this resulted in people not knowing I was pregnant until my last trimester, ” she said. Regarding the type of food she enjoyed eating; Mrs. San-

yaolu disclosed that she desired fruits and amala and took malt drink malt tea. On the choice of name for her baby, she explained that ‘Toluwalase ’ means ‘no matter what anybody says, God has the final say ’. She and her husband chose the name because they believe God always has the final say in any situation. As to what she would love Toluwalase to become in future, Mrs. Sanyaolu pointed out that she would let her daughter make that choice when it is time. “I am not a party to deciding for a child. She will choose her profession when the time comes, ” She emphasised.

Paul Uroguwe

or the family of Chief and Mrs. Paul Uroguwe of No. 7 Adams Johnson Close, Jakande Lekki, Lagos, the birth of their first son will forever be a thing of celebration. The obviously elated parents who spoke to ‘Sunday Mirror ’ explained how they had waited for a child 10 years after having their first daughter. Baby Paul was born in Remy ’s private hospital, Lekki and weighed 3.85 kg at birth. His mother described her pregnancy period as different from her first one. “It was just as if I had not experienced what it means to be pregnant before. This was totally different as I felt uncomfortable most of the time. In fact, people told me it was because I was going to have a male child, while some said it was because of the delay in having another baby, ”

she disclosed. According to her, she enjoyed eating fruits and sea foods mostly during her pregnancy. She believes her son will grow up to become a playful and cheerful baby as he is already showing the signs. The father, Chief Uroguwe, told ‘Sunday Mirror ’ that he enjoyed spending time to look at his son whenever he was at home. On his kid ’s future, he explained that he would support him as well as his sister in whatever they chose to do or become in life.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

What to wear …to red and black bash Sunday, November 1, 2015

ADAEZE AMOS

oday ’s events are named after the colour codes you are expected to abide with. Of course, you would look odd and easily be noticed if you dress differently. You better not attend than to be looked with scorn or derision. Thus, if you have this kind of event to attend and you are pondering on what to wear without appearing superfluously dressed, then consider what Michelle Dede wears on this page. Her dress is not revealing any part and she looks cute. If you ensure your accessories blend with what you wear, you ’d surely be the cynosure of all eyes.

Perfect Cut

African Look Print fabrics go continental

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Wear

ADAEZE AMOS

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

igerian fashion designers are making the country and indeed Africa proud. When you take a critical look at today’s African styles, you would agree that there is a tremendous improvement. Our designs no longer look primitive. Look at the models on this page for instance. Isn’t it amazing that our print fabrics are now used to design different styles, be it casual, dinner, beach and party wears. Our designers have made it practically possible for us to proudly wear styles made from our own local fabrics in no matter the country we find ourselves. It’s kudos to every Nigerian fashion designer!

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Perfect Cut

Sunday, November 1, 2015

it if you can walk it! ADAEZ DAEZE AMOS

f th the he shoe fits, wear it! This means that if you love a pair of shoes, how w high the heels are, wear it if you can actually walk on it. Shoes are part of our daily activities. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do without S you actually actua ally want to look elegant in your attire. High-heeled shoes a way of adding panache to your style. So, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ignore your footwhen are through with your dressing. A you Alensure that they blend with off wiith th the the h rest o accessories. fashion acce essories.

matter them if h a v e wear w ay s your

Sunday, November 1, 2015

OVE

TALK

with Yemisi

Adeniran

Rekindling the ames of your love life

ouples, especially in this part of the world, often deny each other of the fun that marriage is really all about. For crying out loud, marriage is far beyond procreation, it is about companionship, it is about keeping the bed warm and without mincing words, it is simply about love-making which is sex. Once the children begin to come, the focus, which they once had on each other is shifted to the kids. Don ’t quote me wrong, the kids are just as important as one might have envisaged but that is not to be at the detriment of the real players in the marriage. My message in this edition is that it is important couples had flames to their love life and stop living a boring life all in the name of giving more attention to the kids. There is one life, one marriage you and I have in a life time and it is just in our5 own interest to live it well. Well, the time is right, you can make use of these guidelines at this season of valentine to turn your love life around. Have your bath together : You simply won ’t get tired of making love if you will endeavour to have your bath together. It is a way of igniting your desire towards each other very often as love making gets so sweet. Besides, you can start off right there in the tub. Remember, sex can be sweet when it is done in odd places. It ’s like making love in the rain. The touch of the water has a way of sensitising the body and preparing it for the main exercise. If you are the type that is easily prone to cold, all you need to do is to mix the cold water with hot one

to have a relatively warm mixture. The feeling is simply good for the purpose. Rub your body slowly with a sweet smelling jelly while he looks on: If you cannot do it in the bath-tub, carefully take your time to rub your body especially the sensitive parts with some jelly to get the feeling sunk into your system. It will be best if your man will be bold enough to do that. If he cannot, let him await you on the bed, while you

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get yourself set. This way, the signal is well made and the blood vessels are already steaming hoe for a sex session. Let him take over: By now, the man, if he is still looking on should be turgid enough to complete the assignment from there. But, all rights are reserved for you as the woman here to manage him. You must ensure that he does not have you rushed as that will spoil the whole show. You need understand his plight and help him out. Guide him and lead him to where you want him to touch and be before the main act. He would not say no and the pleasure will end up as all yours. Always choose to rest on his chest: This way, you can caress and let him do the same. If you discover that your man is the type not given to a foreplay, you can tell him in a clear language. You don ’t have to be rude in your request neither should you be intimidated in any way. It is your right and you must not allow yourself to be denied. Shave for each other: As age increases, you and your partner should look for some extra spice to feel totally sexually aroused and gain maximum satisfaction. You may need to introduce something new and different from what you are both used to before. For instance, take your time to have him shave your armpits and do the same for him also on one of these Saturdays when no one is around. It can be fun and you will definitely love the result. Don ’t forget that the main goal of foreplay is for the man to have proper erection and the woman to become completely aroused to the point of begging for sex even before the offer is being made. Real love making makes you feel like a real woman, so you should not joke with it. Forget about how much time is spent on foreplay but the magic lies in experiencing the intercourse when you and your partner reach the peak of excitement and cannot control your desires any longer. You may think that unprepared sexual act in the absence of foreplay can provide a better sexual experience, however in general, more women will agree to the fact that experiences of a good sexual act always follow after a great foreplay. A more watchful form of foreplay will bring enjoyable pleasure to you and your partner giving you the most pleasurable moments in your love making process.

Sexual solutions and love products for adults

hank you so much for all your help. I read your articles regularly and I am no longer scared of any of these sexual issues now that I know there is a solution to everything. I have an enquiry to make on behalf of my uncle. He is in his sixties and cannot get an erection. He also just married a new wife and will like any product that enhances fertility. He also said that I should tell you that he does not have hypertension or diabetes. Thank you – Omotayo It is always best to hear from the person with the problem but I think we can work with the information he has provided. There are several supplements that can give him an erection. Stiff Nights is a good example and so is Libigrow. Any of these two supplements will help him get hard enough to have meaningful and long lasting intercourse. Regarding the fertility aspect, it is too early to conclude he has a fertility problem especially with no hospital test confirming this. The main issue I have gathered from the information he has given is that he cannot get an erection. However just to make him feel more comfortable considering his age, I will also recommend a supplement that improves semen quantity and quality. It is called Volume Pills and we talk about it regularly. Volume Pillsimproves virility by increasing semen quantity during ejaculation, boosting motility and sexual enjoyment. Motility means the speed with which the sperm cells reach the egg. He is an older man so he may need a little help in that department – Uche Hello sir. Sometimes I need a little help getting aroused. I am very hypertensive so I generally avoid erection drugs. I do get erections but it is not always easy to come by – Samuel

Samuel if you do get erections, then what seems to be lacking is just an arousal trigger and there are different ways to achieve this without supplements. Some men prefer oral sex to get them up. If you are one of those then I will recommend an edible arousal gel for men called the Dickalicious Arousal Gel. It is applied over the penis before oral sex from your partner and it contains a major arousal component called L-Arginine. So that is one option. Another option is adult magazines and films. Hospitals rely on this method when they want to extract semen for fertility tests. So I will recommend an adult magazine for you as well or adult movies if you prefer that. We have both and the films have more variety (black, white, feature, educational and Asian). Call the numbers below to indicate your preference – Uche My husband says I don ’t initiate sex so he is upset. This is a big issue causing fights between us. I am not sure what I am supposed to do. He always initiates sex which covers for both of us – Ifeoma Ifeoma understand this. Being stuck in a relationship with a woman who shows no interest in intimacy is a nightmare for men. It feels like rejection and imprisonment all rolled into one and this is a big reason many men cheat. Most people are just searching for that person that will make them feel wanted and needed and this is why women need to express their love and desire for their men as well. Everybody wants to feel loved. Cheating in relationships is rampant and can be prevented or at least minimized. So if you care about your family and you don ’t want your husband getting sexoutside, you need to reverse the situation. It is not a difficult thing to do if you consider it important. If it

means taking an arousal supplement or reading an erotic novel that will inspire you then do it. Supplements like Spanish Fly and Total Diva increase sexual urgency so I will recommend them – Uche I wanted a firmer erection and read about the supplement Stiff Nights. I ordered it before I left for Port Harcourt and I only just tried it when I came back over the weekend. It is not bad at all. Great stuff – Nyemike I used the Pirates Katsunis Vibrator and it was … wow! I didn ’t know what to expect at first and it is quite big and fills your up. I must have climaxed and squirted four or five times. This is wonderfully weird – Mary Thank you for the Forever Yours Delay Cream for premature ejaculation - Isa You are welcome – Uche And that is it

for today. Adults in need of these treatments/ novelties can call 08171912551, 08027901621 or 07086754515 for help or visit www.zeevirtualmedia.comZee Virtual Media delivers all over Nigeria. For enquiries email us at custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com-Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

ZEE VIRTUAL MEDIA LOVE AND SEX PRODUCTS For strong erections/performance, get Rhino 7, Libigrow or Man Up. For Penis enlargement get VigRx, Vimax, Extenze or Potent Pump. To maintain erection use Couple ’s Vibrator or Sta Hard Cock Ring. Stop premature ejaculation with Forever Yours Cream or Gladiator Cream. For painful intercourse use Mood Sensitive Lubricant or Colt Lubricant. To reach orgasm, get Nympho ’s Desire Arousal or Encounter Orgasm Gel. Female libido boosters are G Female Oral Tablets or Kangaroo for her. To tighten vagina use Liquid Sex Tightening Cream or Tighten it up V Gel. Women ’s Vibrators: Hunni Bunny Vibe or Fancy Night Heat Series. To attract a partner use Optimale Cologne or Sex Aphrodisiac Essence. Male Masturbators are the Real Skin Latin Pussy or Hustler ’s Choco Pussy. Female strap-ons are the Afro Wooper Strap-On or Limited Edition Strap-On. Male strap-Ons for weak erection: 6 inch, 8 inch or 10 inch Penile Extension. Educational adult lms are Adam & Eve Sex Positions & Maximising G Spot. Feature Films: The One, One Wild & Crazy Night or Young Hollywood We also have magazines, lingerie, games, love cushions and condoms. To order by phone, call: 08171912551, 08027901621, 08051924159, 07038845262 or easily order at www.zeevirtualmedia.com & pay online. Other payment options include bank deposits, internet transfers, phone Transfer or cash on delivery. We deliver discreetly all over Nigeria!

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Pregnancy Talk

Naughtiest Thing

with

The naughtiest thing I ’ve ever done

Adaeze Amos

Monica Friday

߾ࠆ߾ࠀࠁ߾߿ࠀࠀࠇࠁ ߶ࠡࠛࠡ ࠝࠜࠚࠧ߷

Why pregnant mums are antagonistic A

re you pregnant and you antagonise everybody around you especially your husband? You are not the only one in this. You often feel miserable after seeing that you have lost your shape, waistline and you look bloated due to pregnancy, not to worry. It ’s just a nine-months thing. Or are you feeling like the only non-glowing pregnant woman in the world? Here ’s why — and why it ’s totally okay. But first remember that you probably weren ’t expected to literally glow all through your nine months of gestational period. Or if the reason for being agitated is because of your nonstop peeing, the foot swelling, the possibility of stretch marks suddenly appearing in odd places... and of course, the dreaded morning sickness. Why not brace up and accept your bodily changes? Though it ’s not your fault to feel the way you are. Reason is that tons of mamas-to-be,have realized that pregnancy is not just about carrying protruded tummy around, it is inconvinencing. If you are feeling agitated and experincing dramtic outbursts, here are tips to help you out If you ’re experiencing fits of crying and anger, you can blame it on one main culprit: your hormones! Your progesterone and estrogen levels are changing drastically right now, as are other hormones, like relaxin (which helps to soften pelvic ligaments for delivery). It will all level out a bit during your second trimester, but the extreme moodiness could return with a vengeance toward the end of your third trimester. But it ’s not all hormones. Women who say they hate being pregnant may attribute their general misery to psychological factors too. Little wonder momsto-be often have tons of new (and not always so positive) thoughts floating

through their heads during pregnancy, and all can play key roles in affecting their happiness. For one, there ’s the notion that pregnancy is supposed to equal voluptuous beauty — and if you ’re not feeling so beautiful, well, the whole idea of the “glow ” seems like a farce, and that ’s enough to piss anyone off. There ’s also the pressure some women feel to live up to this mythical “perfect mom ” standard, perfect not just in actual parenting but in losing the baby weight as soon as possible too. Know it that except for a few women (whose body miraculously seemed to get hotter with each kid), that “perfect mom ” just doesn ’t exist. To add to that, it ’s common for pregnant women to start feeling detached from their bodies, says Dr. James Ukoh, a general practitioner: “As your belly gets bigger, it ’s almost like your body doesn ’t belong to you anymore. ” Sound familiar? Sure, maybe other pregnant ladies don ’t mind the fact that everyone from the home to the lady in the grocery store suddenly wants to touch their belly — but not you. And guess what? That ’s okay. How can you get through it? Remember that pregnancy only lasts nine months. Keep reminding yourself of that fact. After that, you can kiss the queasiness, the uncomfortable bloat, the embarrassing gas, and the ever-present feeling of a baby sitting on your blad-

der good-bye. (Now, that ’s a comforting thought …) In the meantime, try adopting to an attitude of “whatever happens, I ’ll get through it. ” Empower yourself. Never feel guilty for the way you feel. For many women, admitting that they hate being pregnant makes them feel ungrateful or unappreciative to even be able to be a mother, so they either keep quiet about how they feel or get down on themselves as a result. But that ’s not the right attitude to have. Hating pregnancy and being a good mother have absolutely no connection. Make time for youself You can overcome by making yourself happy. Make appointments with yourself — whether it is enjoying a prenatal massage or just sitting down to do things you love and make yourself happy. Scatter little pick-me-ups throughout the week to look forward to. Surround yourself with people. Okay, being around a crowd of people might be the last thing you want to do when you ’re feeling miserable. But that is the best thing for you — as long as you surround yourself with the right people. Invite a few good friends to lunch or take a walk in the park with your best friend. Keeping yourself busy and social will help squelch many of the negative thoughts before they even have the chance to crop up. Don ’t dwell on bad feelings. Surround yourself with a support group, yes.

Throw yourself a pity party, no. Make sure you don ’t cross that fine line of venting, only to constantly dwell on the negative. Keep your sense of humor. Pregnancy comes with its fair share of unsexy symptoms. The best way to deal with peeing your pants when you sneeze or waking yourself up in the middle of the night with atrocious pregnancy gas? Laugh. When should you call your doc? Knowing when you ’re just dealing with normal pregnancy emotions and when it may be something more serious can be tricky, since many common pregnancy symptoms and depression symptoms overlap. So look out for the following warning signs that may mean you ’re crossing the line and should talk to your doctor. Normal: Your mood is up and down, but there is generally a natural ebb and flow to your emotions. There ’s some occasional crying, but it ’s not extreme. Not normal: Your mood is by and large down, you ’re feeling gloomy day after day, and you have chronic feelings of hopelessness. Normal: In general, your self-esteem has remained pretty much intact and unchanged since becoming pregnant. Not normal: Your selfesteem is dramatically low, you often talk negatively about yourself, and you have feelings of guilt. You may often say or think you are going to be a terrible mother or that your partner will no longer want you after the baby arrives. Normal: Though you may have some trouble sleeping through the night, you ’re usually able to fall back to sleep again once you ’ve woken up.

‘I ate roasted sh and rice from a nylon bag on the road ’

have done a lot of naughty things in my life but I won ’t forget this one that I did. It happened when I had already grown and had started acting. I did it when I know my fans would see me and recognise me. You know one thing with stardom is that you don ’t do anyhting anyhow for the fear of the press getting wind of it. Yes, the fear of scandal is the beginning of wisom in stardom. So, I always have this at the back of my mind. But there was a day I had to throw that to the marines. I was very hungry that day and it had started burning my intestines. You know the kind of hunger that makes you feel as if you want to die. I saw where they were selling food at Idumota. That day I went to buy

some things. People lined up and were buy food. But when I saw that the line of those buy with nylon bag was faster, I had to join that line damning the consequence. So, I bought rosted fish and rice inside a black nylon bag on the road side. And I started eating it. My sister was watching me and there was this look on her face that reminding me about my celebrity status. I told her that to hell with packaging and celebrity. That I was starving and needed to eat badly. It was after eating it that I remembered that I actually ate on the road which a celebrity shouldn ’t have done. Thank God no journalist saw me. Monica Friday is an actress.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Rivers State native soup

Jordan wine

ordan Vineyard & Winery was founded in 1972 by Tom and Sally Jordan, who first purchased land in 1972 with the dream of planting a vineyard. The Jordan chateau, which overlooks 1,400 acres of hills and vineyards with three quarters of the land dedicated to natural habitat, was designed by the architecture firm Backen, Arrigoni & Ross and was completed in 1976 just before the first vintage of Jordan was harvested. Jordan’s winemaker Rob Davis

his native soup is very common and it is served in major restaurants and eateries.

Ingredient 1KG of meat 10 pieces of stock fish (nti okporoko) 2 cups of sliced uziza leaves 2 medium size dry fish Cocoa yam as thickener (see image) 15-20cl of palm oil 2-3 cubes of seasoning cubes 1-2 cups of periwinkles 1-2 cups of ngolo 1 cup of ground crayfish Salt and pepper to taste. Two handfuls of fresh prawns 2 spoons of ofor (alternative thickener) Preparation Wash and parboil the shrimps in a small pot, add half cup of water, a seasoning cube and a pinch of salt, allow to boil for up to five minutes, remove the head of the shrimp and set aside in a clean plate. Parboil the meat with seasoning

cubes, 1 bulb of onions, salt. Use this time to prepare the other ingredients; wash and slice the uziza leaves. Soak the stock fish and dry fish with boiled water and wash thoroughly to remove sand and center bone. Grind the crayfish and fresh pepper also, you can grind together or grind separately. Add the washed dry fish/stock fish in the boiling meat on fire, after about 30-50 minutes of cooking just the meat. Once they are soft and the water is almost dried (about 1 cup left) add about 5-7 cups of water, palm oil and the ground crayfish. Allow the soup to cook for another ten minutes before adding salt to taste, a seasoning cube Add the washed/cleaned ngolo, stir, add the cocoyam, allow to dissolve in 8-10 minutes, if it is still very watery you can add a spoon of ofor, cook for three minutes before adding the periwinkles, prawn and sliced uziza leaves which is likely the last ingredient while making River state native soup.Allow to simmer for another five minutes.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

has worked at Jordan his entire career. Davis was hired and mentored by winemaker André Tchelistcheff, who served as consulting enologist for Jordan. Today, the winery is owned and operated by Tom and Sally Jordan’s son, John. John Jordan’s older sister Judy Jordan owns J Vineyards. In September 2013, the 1,200-acre Jordan Estate became open to the public to explore for the first time in its history through an Estate Tour & Tasting experience.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sunday, November 1, 2015

DID YOU KNOW? 1. A broken clock is right two times a day. 2. There are no naturally occurring blue foods, even blueberries are purple. 3. The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present in all the important meetings of the University of London. 4. The elephant is the only mammal that can ’t jump. 5. Just like fingerprints, everyone ’s tongue is different. 6. The world ’s oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9,000 years old. 7. Scientists have tracked butterflies travelling over 3,000 miles.

TONGUE TWISTER

WORDS ON MARBLES

What makes Superman a hero is not that he has power, but that he has the wisdom and the maturity to use the power wisely. –Christopher Reeve

JOKE

YOUNG FASHION

Knotting your school tie Have you ever had the herculean task of knotting your tie? Especially if a tie is part of your school uniform. Not to worry as today on Young Fashion you ’ll be taught on the steps to knotting the perfect tie so that you can look good and presentable.

Did you hear the joke about the broken egg? (Yes, it cracked me up) What bird is with you at every meal? (A swallow) What bird is always sad? (The blue jay) What do you call a bird in the winter? (Brrr-d)

RIDDLES

If Pickford’s packers packed a packet of crisps would the packet of crisps that Pickford’s packers packed survive for two and a half years?

You use me from your head to your toes, the more I work the thinner I grow. What am I? Answer: A bar of soap. What do you call bears with no ears? (B) What do you call a bear with no teeth? (A gummy bear) Why didn ’t the teddy bear eat his lunch? (Because he was stuffed) What do you get if you cross a teddy bear with a pig? (A teddy boar)

FAIRY PUZZLE

WHO INVENTED WHAT? Frank Fleer produced rst Bubble Gum

rank Fleer, founder of the Fleer Chewing Gum Company, made his first attempt at producing bubble gum. The resulting product was a mess. It was so sticky that the bubbles would stick to everything and ruin your clothes. What ’s more, Fleer ’s product was so thick that it was hard to chew and, worse still, virtually flavorless. Few months later,they stumbled on the secret to creating the perfect bubble: latex. Bubble gum turned out to be such a novel product that the Fleer Company hired a team of people responsible for teaching customers how to blow bubbles.

Movies & Music

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

& usic M Movies With Victor Udoh 07067124302 e-mail: victorudoh804@yahoo.com

Project Asha: Alibaba, top acts storm Lagos today

ce comedian, Alibaba (GCFR), will lead other top acts such as Princess, MC Bambino, Timi Dakolo, Buchi, OkeBakasi, Kofi, OzzyBosco and Gordons to thrill Lagosians at Project Asha’s maiden Empowering Laughter Day and Award Night today. Billed for Oriental Hotel, Lekki, the project, which is in collaboration with OzzyBosco Smile Foundation, is all about transforming the lives of “society’s most vulnerable”, especially women and children. Those billed to speak at the event include Caroline Danjuma, Project Asha’s Vweta Chadwick, Segun Manuel and Ogee Steve Robinson. Robinson, who is also the project’s Head of Strategy, said the award will be in various categories and to reward 11 people including entertaine r s for

their contributions to humanity. “Project Asha is a youth-led NGO committed to advocating and securing the basic human rights and civil liberties of society’s most vulnerable through good governance, democratic values and principles. “We believe that when women are empowered, they can then truly contribute to the economic wellbeing of the household, support their children’s education and create a thriving national environment,” Robinson said. He added that through the award, “we hope to raise awareness and funds for our women and girl empowerment work in Nigeria, while also recognising g g notable citizens who champion women, girls and childrren empowerment.” On the Smile Foun ndation’s collaboration, mother of Ozzy yBosco Wonderkid, Chief Elizabeth Moje ekwu, insisted that laughter is essential to life and national development. She said d by making people to laugh and be happ py, one would have averted future kidn nappings, violence and other vices comm mon to street kids, and urged support for tthe initiative. Project coordinator in Nigeria, Tricia Obi, reiterated the nee ed for more of such laughter an nd empowerment programm mes toward eradicating the e evils of insurgency, hostage-taking h and the likes in the country. Alibaba

Yomi Fash appointed OPU cultural ambassador

Fash

s part of efforts to entrench its ideals in Yorubaland and beyond, using popular faces an nd voices, the Oodua Progressiives Union, OPU, has unveiled celeb brated crossover actor, Yomi Fash La anso, as it’s Cultural Ambassador. Th he Lagos native was unveiled during the Miss Olokun beauty pageant held re ecently. Spea aking on the appointment, Otunba Gani A Adams, National Coordinator, Oodua Peo ople’s Congress (OPC), said, “Yomi Fash Lanso is one of the foremost actors in the Yoruba sector of Nollywood. He ha as been consistent and dogged in his c career. He epitomises all the qualities we want as an ambassador for the OPU U. And we believe he can parlay his popularity for the rejuvenation of ourr culture and importantly, the betterrment of Yorubaland through the OP PU.” He disclosed that the decision to o establish the Oodua Progressives Union, OPU, was based on the need to sustain the Yoruba identity. Unlike the OPC which is a

self-determination association solely to protect the territorial integrity of Yoruba within the political geography of Nigeria, while the “OPU is a socio-cultural organisation is saddled with the responsibility of rekindling, re-awakening and resuscitating the dying embers of pristine Yoruba cultural values and heritage which are alarmingly heading towards extinction particularly among the Yoruba in the Diaspora.” Coming barely 10 days after losing his octogenarian mother, Fash-Lanso described the ambassadorial appointment as conforming with his own principles as a Yorubaman and a renowned and respected actor. “I am honoured to have been selected as the face of an association with millions of members straddling the entire globe. It shows that one’s efforts as an artiste for the past two decades have not gone unnoticed.” He said further, “The importance of preserving and promoting our culture and tradition is of enormous responsibility to all of us speaking the Yoruba language because our culture makes us an entity and not a nonentity. I say this because I believe fervently in the adage that a child that neglects his source has inadvertently worn the garland of trouble; a fact I believe is the cause of the troubles bedeviling us as a nation.”

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Movies & Music

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Ace guitarist, Kunle shines in new release

unle Olorundare, an international brand, whose stage name is Kunle is an acoustic guitarist and singer/ songs writer, whose folk and soul music bridges contemporary styles with roots in West African stories, Iyrics and rhythms. His new single “Ami N Rele” is another hit you can’t wait to listen to, and share…. its all about home. Kunle, the Nigerian born and currently based in Toronto, USA brings together his unique guitar tapping, harmonica, taking drum, global influence and rich vocals into what he terms “Music with no boundaries”. Kunle sings in Yoruba, English, Pidgin and once in while German. He has performed on various world stages such as the famous Mariposa folk festival, Habari African music festival and had one of his works “My little finger” awarded songs from the heart best instrumentals 2015 by folk music Ontario, USA. Kunle has also opened for Shaggy (Yes Mr. Bombastic himself) alongside other artistes such as Fred Penner, the famous French Classical guitarist-Thaibault Cauvin and host of others.

Busiswa

Natheniel Bassey and co pic

Mario Ese launches

Worship of Yahweh

Kunle

AU honours Sarkodie, Busiswa, Tinubu at AFRIMA 2015 Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to be specially h Se honoure red d wi wit the prestigious award as “Pillar of Art and with a Cultture in n Africa” by the African Union Commisssion (AUC C) att the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA 20015, schedu dule led to hold on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at Eko E Hotel & Su S ites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. The e Internatio iona nal Committee of AFRIMA made this kno own in Lagoss during the ceremony of revealing the acttivities of th he aw award ceremony. Tinubu bu was former governor of Lagos State e in N geria (1 Ni (199 99999-2007). He’s known to have stimula ated conv co nv vers errssa e ati t on ns among Africans and between Afrrica and the rest of the an th h globe about the potentials and valv ues of the African an n culture and artistic legacy for the purpose e of creatin ng jobs, reducing poverty, inspirring social change and development, calling attention n of world le ead a ers to Afric ic ca and promoting the positive image of Afr fric ica to the wor ic orrld l for global competitivenesss. A staunch su supp p orter of art rttss,, culture and creatives iniitiatives for so ti oci c al change forr de decades. e He supported “F Fela on Broadwa wa ay” y to be staged d fo f r the first time in Afrrica in Lagos in 2011 20011 11. The honourr was mad ade known to Tinubu in se eparate lettterss from AFRI RIMA MA A and the African Union n as signed by Comm mm mis issi sion oner er for Social Affairs, AU, H His Exce ell llen ency cy, Dr Mus usta taph ha Sidiki Kaloko. Tinubu w was finall lly y sele l ct cted ed amo mong n a pool of hundreds of illusstring ous so ons and dau au ughters of Africa being considered d for the award, who o are lovers of arts and culture for soc cial change. In his acc ceptance letter, Asiwaju Tinubu statted, “I acc cept th hiss honour and look forward to the awa ard I id dentify wit i h the mandate of AFRIMA work king through th the e instrumentality of the African Union n to showcase, prreserve and globalise Africa’s rich herita tage in the aspec in ec cts of music and culture” In par artn nership with the African Union Comm misssiion on, (A (AU) U), U) ), the All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA A), is a mu m si sic c and cultural initiatives designed to celebrrate, rewa re ard rd and showcase the rich musical heritage of Africa ri can ca n race ra ace e and d seek to reward excellence in the co ontin nt ne nt’s ’ss mus usic ic and nd media industry as well as maxima ally expo ex pose po se Afr fric ic can n tou o rism and culture to a worldw wide audience.

oung gospel artiste, Mario Ese amidst glamour and grace has released an album titled Worship of Yahweh. In attendance were also music stars like Timi Dakolo, Omawunmi and Waje and gospel singers like Nathaniel Bassey, Modele, Tosin Martins, Freke Umoh, Gloreeyah Braimah and Enitan Adaba. Anchored by Joseph Benjamin, the album launch held at This Present House TPH in Lekki, began with an amazing ministration, ‘You Are The Reason’ by violinist, Victoria Orenze reminding us it was all about Yahweh and led everyone into spontaneous worship. The atmosphere was charged and that absolutely set the tone for Enitan Adaba who steered the ship further, pressing in to the overflow in a very passionate worship session. Mairo Ese came on stage singing his first song of the night ‘We Praise You Medley’ then He welcomed Modele back on stage to a powerful rendition of ‘Hallelujah, you have won the victory. After other

performances, Paul Chisom came on stage and led another rapturous worship session with songs like ‘Chioma’ before Nathaniel Bassey and Enitan Adaba ministered the popular song ‘Imela’ and ‘This God is too good’. Joseph Benjamin the co- compere for the night also spoke of what worship meant to him and spoke glowingly about his relationship with Mairo. Mairo sang 4 more songs from the album and the atmosphere was glorious. He blessed God in His native Isoko dialect with the songs ‘Onowo’ and ‘Oghene’ and he then introduced his friend and brother Nathaniel Bassey whom he featured on the song “ Ole Halleluyah “ The album dedication was anchored by Pastor Dele Balogun who introduced Mrs Nkoyo Rapu, wife of Pastor Tony Rapu and others including Pastor Godman Akinlabi of The Elevation Church, Lekki and Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo of David’s Christian Centre, Lekki. Led by Mrs Rapu, the pastors all prayed for Mairo and sent the album forth into the earth.

Sarkodie

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Lessons of Life TRUE LIFE STORY ON MATTERS OF THE HEART

ADAEZE AMOS Adanneamos@gmail.com 08023012293 (sms only)

My husband now interested in his son ’s mother (2)

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This is the continuation of Theo and Philomena ’s story started last week. It is true that Philomena married her friend Theo and their relationship waxed stronger. But the Devil threw in a spanner in their marriage, hindering her to conceive. She waited up ten years to conceive but all to no avail.

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n the tenth year of their marriage, Theo came home with shocking news which destabilised his wife. “Philomena (my wife), I had a phone call from someone I didn ’t expect. In fact, she travelled home and met my mother who called me on her own phone but handed it over to my strange caller. When I heard her voice, it rang a bell. I recognised her. She was a sister to one of my mother ’s tenants. They were living in my mother bungalow which she rented out. She used to sneak into my room and that very act landed her in an accidental pregnancy. I denied it when she told me for the fear of being rejected by my father. She was taken to her village by her brother and that was the last I saw her. It wasn ’t long her brother packed out. Now, she called to say that she had the baby eventually, a male child, ” he said, his face expressionless. “When he said that, I knew my world had ended. My heart sank and the first person I thought it wise to call was my mother, my number one confidant. But when I picked up my phone, Theo guessed what I was about to do and hushed me: ‘Please don ’t tell your mother this now, you know how frail she is already. Allow her be, we will sort out this ’. “Instantly, I dropped my phone and sank into the soft cushion in my living room and sobbed endlessly, ” Philomena bewailed. When she sobbed to her satisfaction, she wiped her tears and went to kitchen to prepare dinner which she served Theo. Ever since 10 years she had been married, Philomena had never hesitated preparing her husband ’s meals. That was one of the major advices her mother gave her when she was coming into her matrimonial home and she had always obeyed no matter the situation she found herself. Hence when it was time to serve dinner, she did so, without being told. But when his dinner was served, Theo couldn ’t eat well. He had already lost his appetite. The news shocked him as well. The only part of the story which he hadn ’t told his wife was that his mother would be coming to visit them in a week ’s time with his son and his son ’s mum. He reserved that aspect of the news to himself because that would break Philomena the more. “I noticed that he forced himself to eat. I ate with him and we didn ’t speak a word. The food was tasteless in my mouth and

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A model

seemed as if we were eating poison. We had no appetite. I had so many questions running riot in my brain. But I waited till dinner was over. I didn ’t want Theo to walk out on me abandoning his food. When we were through, we sat facing each other. He gazed into my eyes and noticed I wanted to ask questions. ” Theo opened up to her. “I can smell it that you are worried dear and you have a lot in your mind right now. So, feel free to ask. But before you start throwing your questions at me, know it that I have always loved you since ten years we have been married. I have never had an intension to hurt you and your good parents who have looked up to me as their own son. I have never called you names, never abused you in anyway because of our barreness. I said our barrenness because this situation is not your cross alone. Both of us are in it together. Also know it that I never knew the child existed, I would have told you before I proposed marriage to you so that it wouldn ’t look as if I had skeleton in my cupboard. Having said all these, fire your questions, ” he said, looking pitifully at his wife. “Theo, is there any other truth you are hiding from me? ” “Okay, yes! I will tell you now that you have asked. My mother is coming with them Tuesday next week to see me. Her name is Stella, the name of the lady who had a child for me and her son whom she named after me Theo Junior. ” At that Philomena broke down. “Oh that ’s his name? I never knew the son I couldn ’t give you was existing somewhere. I ’m happy for you Theo but I was thinking that I would have been

NOTICE: Please note that we don ’t do personal connections outside this column. Calls to connect privately are not allowed. Just send an SMS or email and we ’ll get your request published. The request is published on first come first served basis. Thank you!

the one to bear all your children but look at me, fate has been unfair, unkind to me. If the worst happens, I will leave you and join my immediate elder sister in Sapele who has been nursing her emotional wounds due to her marriage. I learnt God has blessed her with riches, maybe to pay her back for her marriage. ” “You will go no where, Philomena, you would do no such thing. You are my wife and nothing would change that. Mama has been sounding very excited on the phone ever she got wind of my son but her joy would not rub us of our own joy. ” When Theo ’s mother, Stella and Theo Junior came, Philomena welcomed them, served them food and drinks. When Theo saw his son, he hugged him. He knew on the spot that the boy was his. His mother turned his neck to Theo and showed him a birth mark, the same birth mark on her son. “Theo my son, this is a carbon copy of you. He has same birth mark on his neck. This was how you looked when you were ten my son. Gosh! Blood does not lie. I ’m so happy that I have a grandson, ” she said, beaming with smiles. She then turned to Stella, “my daughter, thank you for not aborting my grandson due to circumstances surrounding his conception, how you were denied, rejected and all that. I thank God you took the right decision, if not my son would have still remained childless, ” she said, throwing a quick glance at Philomena.

She beckoned on Theo Junior, “come my grandson, this woman here is your father ’s wife, ” she said, gazing up to Philomena. The lad and Philomena stood facing each other. The boy was smiling but Philomena was fighting within herself to hold back tears until the boy spoke. “Grandma, what should I call her? Should I also call her mum when my mum is alive ? Is that proper? ” The question was ignored as if she didn ’t hear it. She then called Stella. “The lady who would have been my daughter-in-law, please come. This is Philomena, my son ’s wife. She has been a good wife to my son, hmmm, but it ’s just that her womb has been under lock and key since ten years she has been married. She is barren and only God knows why. I think she has to thank you for coming to rescue her. Now that you have brought a grandson to me, I would give her less stress and let her be. But she must respect you. You have free access to this home, after all my son is the father of your son. Feel free to visit at any time, nobody would stop you because you have made me proud and made my son a father. I was a laughing stock in the entire Umuojima village because of Philomena ’s barreness but now I think I ’m fulfilled, ” she said, not giving a damn if Philomena was hurt. The two ladies (Stella and Philomena) stood looking at each other for a while before Stella dropped the bombshell. To be continued

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

From the Pulpit

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Guard your mind, counsels Prophet Oloruntimilehin S

piritual investigation and study reveal that whatever a person bears in his or her mind before going to sleep at night, he or she would dream about of it. If the person does not dream about it that very night, in a week’s time, the person would dream it. The person would have forgotten that he or she thought of it before going to sleep at night.

Similarly, if a person desires to eat a particular food before going to sleep at night and he or she could not get the food to eat, it is possible for the person to dream a week or month later that he or she ate that particular food in his or her sleep. Then the person would be worried and troubled that somebody gave him or her food in the dream. This is one of the spiritual researches carried out. If it is the food people claimed they ate in dreams that causes their problems and predicaments, then many people would not have been alive today or they would not be happy and enjoying their lives. Whenever a person is hungry and wants to eat a particular food which he or she saw another eating and the person could eat it before going to sleep, the eyes would have captured and recorded it in the retina and transferred it to the brain which would be played back as a dream while sleeping. A man or woman that is nursing the spirit of adultery in his or her mind would always want to have sexual intercourse with the opposite sex. Also, a mother that always thinks and shows too much concern for her child and could not sometime damn and ignore the child would always have problems. In fact, such mothers do not command any regard and respect from the children. Truly, mothers are to show concern for their children but not a burden in their minds. When a mother or father damns her or his child occasionally, the child would caution herself or himself not to offend his or her parent. A great prophet of God shared his experience with me during our discussion

General Overseer of Omnipotence Mission of God, Prophet Joshua Daramola Oloruntimilehin, in this admonition, harps on the need to watch what goes on in your mind. Excerpts: ing into the church with phone, he was on why people should be wary of giving not receiving distress calls and his church preference to worldly things than God members were not encountering problems. in their minds. Since the advent of moImmediately, he realised his undoing and bile phone 12 years ago, this prophet of stopped the act of coming into the church God had never entered the church with with phone. his mobile phone for service. On a parThe implication is that the man of God ticular Sunday, he came into the church had allowed the phone to be important than with his phone and placed it in his office his life. He was having the phone because he behind the altar. While the service was in wanted to receive distress calls and definitely progress, he entered his office and found distress calls would come in. God knew he was many missed calls of the same number putting his mind on vain things. on the phone. Then he decided to call the The spirit of God does not number and got response that a member stay in an unof hiss church had a fatal accident and the settled person on was in the hospital. Immediately, he called lled some of his elders and pastors to go and nd see the victim. He was so thankful to God od that if not for the phone he brought to the e church, he would not have known what happened to his member. After fter the service, the people came back and gave him feedback. About two weeks later, he came into the church with the phone ne again and went to his office and saw missed calls of the number. He dialled the number and got response that the church patroness was critically ill. He became ecame worried because the woman was not in the church. In the same vein, he sent nt some emissaries to the woman in the hospital. ospital. Later, ater, he noticed that whenever he did not come into the church with the phone, he was not getting ng distressed missed ed calls. Then he reflected eflected and thought ght deeply on the matter and noticed that priorr to Prophet Oloruntimilehin his com-

mind, so a doubtful mind does not create an avenue for the spirit of God to dwell in a person’s mind. Imagine Peter, a disciple of Jesus Christ, who had double mind. He and other disciples saw Jesus walking on water and Peter requested if he could come. Jesus obliged him. He then stepped into the water and found he was walking on the water. When he imagined himself sinking, he immediately started sinking until Jesus rescued him and told him he had little faith. Matthew 14 verse 25 – 31 says,”…immediately, he reached out his hand and caught him. You of little faith, he said why did you doubt?” Therefore, a person that believes that something would happen to him or her has already cursed himself or herself. Brethren, let your mind be very light. Do not allow anything to bug your mind. If a person’s mind is not light, there is nothing the person requests for that would be granted for him or her. If a person wants the spirit of God in his or her life, what is required is to relax the pressure exerted on the mind. In the process, start rejecting and forsaking certain things and allow your mind to be clean and pure to man and God. Do not fight, endure and tolerate that anger that is coming, and the stain and insult that are coming. Do not claim to be too wise because you might eventually be the foolish person. When all these are done, then the body and mind would become lighter. Avoid telling lies, committing adultery, greed, etc. All these are sins that make the mind to be heavy. Finally, endeavour to be doing what is godly so as to have free mind. •For more enquiries call: 08023020108, 08058110288.

‘The necessity of having heaven in view’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 yet wish they die in Christ and go to heaven. But one cannot hope to sow to the flesh and reap everlasting life. All transgression is unrighteous and all unrighteousness is sin. A sinner cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Only those who are saved, sanctified and whose names are in the book of life shall make it to heaven at the end of this life. Although sinners, including backsliders would wish to make heaven, but I want to let you know everybody will not eventually make it because it is prepared for those who will give their life to Jesus Christ. It is the good pleasure of God the Father to give heaven to His true children. Sinners will not enter into heaven; they shall rather be cast into hell fire. The compromisers and backsliders will be disappointed. Rev. 21: 8 and 27 says, “But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have part in the lake , which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 27. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or makes a lie, but they which are written in the lambs book

of life”. Take note of those that will not be in heaven and examine yourself with same application used in disqualifying them. Those who for fear of losing their property or lives disowned Christ will never be candidates of heaven. Those who revolted against Him, either refused to receive the Christian religion, though convinced of its truth and importance or, having received it, in times of persecution fell away, not being willing to risk their lives will not be in heaven. The abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and those who speak contrary to the truth when they know the truth, and even those who speak the truth with the intention to deceive, that is to persuade a person that a thing is different from what it really is, by telling only a part of the truth, or suppressing some circumstance which would have led the hearer to a different end to the true conclusion shall be damned, heaven will not accommodate them. Beloved, if you love your soul, follow not those aforementioned, for they are citizens of the world, and will end up at the end of this life in hell fire which was originally prepared for Satan their father. Make no mistake to believe heaven is meant for you except you repent. The only people who have right to heaven are the righteous who

have accepted Christ as their Saviour. I want you to understand our father in heaven has prepared heaven for His children and have desired that every one of them will make heaven and if that be the case, it is necessary for us to have a view of heaven through the word of God and then have it in our heart and do those things which will enable us make heaven at last. Now you have understanding based on the truth you leant from the Scripture, you should therefore as a child of God aspire to be in heaven. If you see how good a thing is, you will take a decision to take that good thing, you will take up a decision to do whatever that you are asked to do in order to take that good thing. That is exactly what we want you to do today. Heaven has been prepared for us and so many people do not know how this heaven looks like and if you do not know how this heaven looks like, you may not desire it, you may never do anything that will make you to enter it. You may be asking whether heaven is better than your house, is it better than your company, is it better than American or Europe? Beloved, there is nothing to compare to heaven. It is a city built by God for the faithful whose foundation was laid by God, whose work was supervised by God and whose finishing and commissioning was done by no other person than God Almighty. John 14: 1-2 says, “Let not your heart be

troubled believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my father’s house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you 3; and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am , there you may be also”. Jesus assured us of the existence of God in the above passage. There are many mansions prepared in heaven because there are many sons and daughters to be brought to glory. Heaven has been prepared for the children of God and for as many who will be born again and live right. As many people that will live their lives according to the will of God, heaven is for them. If our places are not prepared in the kingdom of God, Jesus would not have permitted us to indulge in a vain hope concerning future blessedness. So, there is a mansion for you if you believe in Him, enough mansions to accommodate both the holy angels and your predecessors in the faith and all that now believe and the great multitude that will believe later which no man can number. Do not be troubled how you will enter there, just believe in the person who made the promise and follow His footstep. If He has prepared the place for us, He will prepare us for it and take us there. Our responsibility and concern is to have heaven in view in all we do and say.

From the Pulpit Learn with Kunle

Macaulay

Email: profkunlemacaulay@ yahoo.com (08023032698, sms pls)

he Bible confirmed that God created the whole world and everything in it. The first man and woman were also created by God but the same Bible confirmed that they disobeyed God because Satan deceived them to do so. The work of Satan as stated in the Bible is to “steal, kill and destroy” Jn. 10:10, so no wonder he stole the freedom and the eternal life of man. God in his mercy decided to bring man back to his original position through the death of his Son – Jesus Christ.

Since the fall of man, Satan has been roaring like a lion seeking for people to steal, kill and destroy. Every man that has ever walked on earth has been burdened with sin, sickness, failure, poverty and every other damnable thing. We have all experienced the pain and frustration that comes from Satan. God decided to send a redeemer that will set free every man on earth from the shackle of Satan. A freedom that will cost him his blood “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” Heb 9:22. The great news here is that the Son will destroy the works of Satan completely and this will set man free. Jesus once went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath day and read from the Scriptures “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the

Desti Destiny Hour with Pastor Femi

Lanre-Oke

elcome to the month of November in Jesus name. We started the series on empowerment for the God kind of life and discussed extensively on the fact that lack of knowledge is a source of destruction as seen in Hosea 4:6 and we continued to the place of boldness in order to have the God kind of life. We said the first thing in contacting boldness is an understanding of our inheritance as children of God as seen in Ephesians 1:17-19.

Today, we continue on understanding our inheritance. Matthew 3: 16-17 gave an account of the baptism of Jesus; the bible said, the spirit of God came upon Him and a voice from heaven spoke and affirmed that Jesus is the son of God with whom the Father is well pleased. However, Chapter 4 of the same Matthew gave the account that after 40 days of fast, the devil came and his mission was to contest the inheritance and Lordship of Jesus Christ. Remember, we said the last time that the son of goat is a goat, the son of a man is a man while the son of God is a god. The bible just declared Jesus as the son of God where the Holy Spirit came upon him in the previous chapter and here we have the devil saying in Matthew 4:3 “If you are the Son of God,……..” what this means is that

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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They preached the early message Lord’s favour”. Lk. 4:18-19. What this message is confirming is that God had sent Jesus with his burden – destroying and burden – removing power to set man free. What many preachers of the Word of God do not know today is that the gospel of salvation or shall I call it gospel of freedom Jesus brought was capable of annihilating sin, crushing sickness, pulverizing poverty, braking bondage and destroying yoke. To understand this message means that people must first confess their sins, turn away from their present way of life to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and then God will put in them the Holy Spirit which will do the rest. God wants every individual to experience his glory. The Bible said, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” Col 1:27. Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God with the yoke – destroying and burden – removing power. It is unfortunate that this message of the gospel – the Good news is lost in transit. But the early church preached it and there were healings, miracles and transformation of lives. No wonder there were many miracles in the early church. It is because they preached the early message but what we hear today is a diluted message. When Peter got to Cornelius’ house, he preached the most basic – the foundational truth. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” Acts 10:38. Peter confirmed this by saying, “We are witnesses of everything he did… “. Vs 39. Philip who went to Samaria preached Christ to them and the people saw what he did. “With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many and many paralytics and crip-

ples were healed” Acts 8:7. The fact here is that once people accept the truth, God will confirm the message with miracles. The presence of Holy Spirit in man is the essence of God. It is what makes God to be God in man. It is what makes man to do what are impossible for an ordinary man. What we should understand is that the sin – destroying and burden removing power in Christ is also in all his believers. John warned, “See that what you had heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us even eternal life” I Jn 2: 24-25. Today many false teachers are preaching a new gospel different to the one given to us by Jesus. Many are deceived and the modern church is full of people looking for miracles from those who call themselves “Christian leaders” with all unimaginable tittles to decorate their positions. It is clear that if Christ is in you, then his power is also in you, so, you can do all things in his name. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” Matt 28:18, so, if Jesus is in you the whole “authority” is also in you. The gospel is the good news that Jesus is capable of destroying all works of devil. Paul said, “I can do all things through him (Christ ) who gives me strength “Phil 4:13 Christianity in Nigeria has been commercialized. Many church leaders are marketers or sales experts that do not preach but “sell the gospel”. Rich people enjoy Christianity because they can afford to pay. The young ones are exposed to temptation to do evil because they want to belong to the world. If we must change the present situation in our modern church, then the “early message mush be preached”. It is a transforming message with power.

Paul said to the Ephesians just as he is talking to us today, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received….In your anger do not sin. …do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen….. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Eph 4:1, 26-32). Our calling is that we keep ourselves holy so that with the power in us, we can go everywhere healing the sick and setting those that are oppressed of the devil free. You are actually called not only to live a free life from the power of Satan but also to pull down every power of Satan in the lives of others. You are required to go about doing good and healing all that are oppressed of the devil because God is with you. •Prof Kunle Macaulay is the Director of Studies of United Bible University, Lagos, Phone :0802 303 2698; email :profkunlemacaulay@yahoo.com Twitter :@KunleMacaulay1

•Prof. Kunle Macaulay is the Director of Studies of United Bible University, Lagos. Phone: 0802 – 303 – 2698; email : profkunlemacaulay@yahoo.com; Twitter. com/Kunle Macaulay1

Empowerment for the God kind of life (2) the devil will contest your god status and your son ship on a daily basis. As you go out to work and go about your daily task, the enemy will contest your status as a child of God, he will contest the right you have to live the God kind of life. Unless you know how to handle these situations, you will just find out that things are not going the way they should go. Symptoms of sickness will confront you, different desires will tempt you, failure will stare you in the face, and hardship will threaten you. Get this now, this things although they look real but more real is your status as a Son of God and as a god and more real is your inheritance in God. How therefore do you contact the required boldness to handle all the threats and confrontations of hell on your life, on your loved ones, your career, finances and many more on a daily basis? Remember, I said on a daily basis meaning the enemy will not stop but all you have to do is live above his confrontations. Hebrews 12:2 says “looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith…..” Jesus is the perfect example, because He lived the God kind of life to the fullest while on earth. Jesus faced daily confrontations but He lived above them. How? Continuing on the story of the temptation in the wilderness, Matthew 4:4 Jesus replied the devil by saying, “it is written.” Sir/Ma, you cannot live the God kind of life by your own power, you need the enablement that comes from the word of God. What do I mean, Jesus said it is writ-

ten, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Meaning living the God kind of life is made possible by the word of God. Access to your inheritance is through the word of God. Read carefully; God created this universe by bringing His word to life, everything we see according to Genesis 1 was created by the word of God, John 1 made us understand that one constant that was with God in the beginning was the Word. Furthermore, John 1:5 says the light shines in darkness and darkness cannot overcome it - meaning as long as you have this word in your life and in you, the devil and his cohorts cannot overcome you. The world was created by the word of God, meaning the fabric, the material from which this world was created is the word of God. This culminates in the fact that if you want to make any mark in the world created by words, you need to become a worded person. Whose words? The Word of God. Jesus said, the word I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life; meaning the word of God is alive and can make every other thing come to life. Your days of struggling with the issues of life is over in the name of Jesus, welcome to your realm of continuous victory in Jesus name. Hebrews 10:7 “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God” Jesus stayed on top of situations while

on earth because He understood the will of God for His life, he understood from scriptures what prophecies were written concerning Him, He knew from God’s word what His purpose was and that is why the passage above spoke about Him coming in the strength of God’s word concerning His life. When you engage God’s word over your life, you confidently walk in the midst of your enemies, when you know that God’s plan is for you, you focus your effort on becoming who God says you will be. However if you are not born again, you cannot access this empowerment we speak of. If you have not surrendered your life to Jesus, the process is simple: • Believe in your heart that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself. • Believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary paying the price for your sins and rose from the dead the third day to establish your victory • Confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord and saviour. • Repent of all sins before the Lord and forsake them. • Welcome into God’s family. Now you can enjoy and experience true healing of the soul. Please locate a bible believing church and share you new-birth experience with the church leaders. •For further prayer & counseling, Please contact: Pastor Femi Lanre-Oke, Jesus Praise Evangelical Ministries International, Plot A22 Power Crescent, Arab road, Kubwa. Abuja, +2348030752799, +2348053695097, Email: femi_lanre01@yahoo.co.uk

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Understanding Life with Pastor John

Oladeji

ife is a privilege, not a right. What role did you play to exist ?You did nothing to exist. So ,life is a gift, life is a privilege. When you see life as a gift, you will embrace life .When you see it as a privilege, you won’t despair of life. Life is all about contribution ,not collection ,it is all about responsibility, not dependence. As someone has said ,responsibility is a price for greatness. Life is all about relevance. How relevant are you to people, to your to family members and the society? Life is all about service ,not status. Jesus confirmed this when He said something in Luke 22:27.You maximize your existence by service .Life is about disposition ,not position .Life is all about sacrifice ,not surplus. Life is all about giving not just receiving (Prov 11:24-25)Life is a gift wrapped with responsibility. If you refuse to accept responsibility ,you dies as a liability .Do not turn your into pets ,move them into the main streams of life .If you don’t take steps today ,you won’t have a story tomorrow .Those who embrace the gist of life with its accompanying responsibities make the most of life. As long as you keep taking steps , you keep going up and you become a stars without stress . Diligence “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? .He shall stands before kings, he shall not stands before mean men “Proverb 22-29. Diligence mean working hard. Work is not in a physicals ability but it involves ours mental prowess and spiritual alertness . Working is not a curse ,it is a misfortune , it existed long before the curse was enacted [Gen 2;15 ]Inheritances is not a substitute for practical inputs .It

Scriptures That Changed Me with

EV. OLUWAROTIMI

PETER

Continued from last week

e are on the earth and in need of change and the angel is in heaven before God as an agent of change on our behalf, what are we going to do to connect with the angel? The angel that is representing us holding a golden cup, that cup in his hands most be filled before he moves, if the cup did not fill, nothing is going to happen to the person the angel is representing on the earth, example: I myself have an angel that represents me and my golden cup in his hands beside the alter at the presence of the Lord, and the angel can stand for as many years as possible if the cup is not filled up, until the cup is filled before any change can happen on earth .

What fills the cup is not water, or oil,

Understanding life (1)

does not enhance worth .There is a proverb that says any child that depends on inheritances has given himself over to poverty. Inheritance is not a holder of destiny . It is work that determine worth .What you have worked for does add to your worth. This is the undoing of those lazy people who are in quest of free money ,money never earned .They therefore ,live very cheap lives that crash on any kind of rock .Wake up ?Your work today determines where you sits tomorrow .It is your commitment to work that determines your attainment in the world .Things only work for workers . Work is the all-time cure for lack and penury .It is the gateway to all round fortune and a most effective physical –fitness device. Every delight –some worker ,by covenant mystery ,lives a healthy life .You are Gods temple and like any physical building ,idleness makes your body system begin to decay ,until gradually it to drop off . When you determine to put yourself into functioning in these three ways mentally ,spiritually and physically and with the grace of God upon your life ,you are pressing onwards stardom . The only substitute for hard work is hard life .Your destiny is determined by what you do with your hand .You can never get respect or respect without hard work .Do not let anything rob you of the ingredient needed to keep living your Life answers to the contributors not consumers .You can make your environment obey your destiny by diligence. It is not education per se but personal discipline .Please always be excited at what you are doing .You are dying gradually without knowing if you do not work .The bible says he who does not work should not eat. Those who don’t take life serious leave without any accomplishment . If you are thoroughly born again and you wish to shine ,go and get connected with the character of Jesus –purposefulness. Be a serious minded –person ,face your

purpose for living because life is exciting for those who know what it takes .There are certain things you need to know early before you expire in life .Every things is reversible except age. No matter how smart you are everybody add to your age . The football fans are there for fun but the players aim for prizes .It is terrible to be a spectator .I will be a player not a spectator .It is a crime not to participate but be a spectator now. Since you know now ,do something to affect your generation. Determine now to become a stars before it is too late. It is very important to look for quality people to work with .Let there be a written agreement between your coworkers and define your target before you start .No journey can begin without a definition of processes to undertake to get to the destination. Write down your expectations and don’t despise little beginnings because there is nothing too small to start with .Add faithfulness to your small beginning and there will be greatness .Growth is a process not an accidental occurrence .Addition is what bring compliment on path of becoming a star. Look inward To look inward simply means deep thinking or what the Bible called meditation . Meditation: Devotional deep thought on any divine step or revelation you want to receive for your spiritual direction. “This book of the law shall not depart out of the mouth :but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous ,and then thou shalt have good success “Joshua 1:8. Thinking is therefore a law in the kingdom .If only you will observe this law. This in line with God is what I am taking about, thinking through the word of God. Everyone who is not saved carries a reprobate mind. But everyone who genuinely born again has a regenerated mind.

but what fills the cup is “prayers” of the” saint” and prayer of the saint alone that can fill the cup,1. Not anyhow prayer 2. Not anybody’s prayer, now each prayer we prayed and all the prayer exercise we do on earth goes into the cup until the cup is fill up. The angel will leave the point at which he is standing, go to the presence of the lord, and shake the cup, the prayer in the golden cup will turn into an odor, and the odor will go to God, and immediately the smell goes to him (God) the same thing will happen on earth to the owner of the cup to make a change in his life. The bible said that earthquake will happen on the earth. Look at Rev 8v5, and the angel took the censer, and filled with fire of the alter, and cast it into the earth, and there were voices, and thundering, and an earthquake. Once more. So when I discover these I know that I must pray so hard and consistence in my prayers, since I got this secret I had never waste any time made available to me, I spent 50% of my time in prayers. Now let us ask our self, what kind of prayer precisely that can fill the cup? I

have to pray, fast for many days before I discover that it is not anyhow prayer that can fill the golden cup. What are the concept of the message? 1 .the prayers: prayer is the secret of change, not until it is prayed and prayed correctly and passionately, it will not make a change, it is true that many do pray but not all get answers to their prayers, what some people call prayer today is just murmuring, complaining and noise making. 2. prayer of the saint: starting from my last point of view, the prayer of anyone who is not a saint is just murmuring, complaining and noise making, the reason many are not having answer to their so called prayer is because they are not saints, you cannot become a saint until your born again. 3. kind of prayer: the kind of prayer you pray that will get into the golden cup is not self-prayers, but kingdom kind of prayers A .prayer for unsaved B. prayer for God’s work C. prayer for the leaders D. prayer for mission field E, prayer for the church

There are goods in the land but it is for those who reason and think deeply. The first book of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians chapter two ,verse sixteen made us to realize that we have the mind of Christ. So you have the way out. You cannot be stranded in any situation .Thinking is as strong as praying . “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all what we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.”Ephesians3:20.God answer our thoughts as He does to our prayers .Transformation of life is for thinkers .In history ,great thinkers have been known to be pacesetters .You can’t get more from life than what your thoughts pattern present .Thinking is a responsibility for any one that desires transformation .Deep thoughts will produce great result . The great character problem we have in the body of Christ today is as a result of the non-thinking attitude of Christian. Christians ,who think that things will change on their own ,pervade the Christian fold. Nothing change on its own. Every change is consciously effected .And no change takes place without thoughts .A thought gives birth to a decision, and a decision that is acted upon becomes manifestation .That is, when you think through the way of God, the plans of God and the purpose of God for your destiny ,you become moved to achieve this purpose and then you get results . Meditation always provokes inspiration and inspiration sparks off manifestation .When you are born again ,it is that same spirit that is fired into your mind ,to burn off the impurity there. This is what makes your mind superior to a natural mind. It is a mind that has a spirit in it.<Eph4:23> Continued next week PASTOR JOHN OLADEJI CHRIST DISCIPLES CHURCH.125B OPPOSITE OYEMUKUN COCACOLA MINI DEPOT AKURE ONDO STATA.08033542266,07065455267. Email:johnfoladeji@yahoo.com

Scriptures that changed me (2)

F. prayer for our land, e.t.c 4.consistency: this kind of spiritual exercise is not what you do for a shorter time and stop even if it has not start working, you must keep doing it until it erupt a change 5. And there were voices, and thundering, and an earthquake. A. voices: the voice of God will start coming to you that will lead you to a change B. thundering; whenever a thunder sticks, it appears to everybody, everybody will see when his begins E. earthquake: the earthquake simply mean social impart. I am able to sheer one out of the seven scriptures that make a change in my life and ministry, by the grace of God I will continue the rest in the next episode, and I wish you a change of life, Amen. To be continued…

EV. OLUWAROTIMI PETER, (General Overseer), CHAPEL OF THE REALITY OF HIS POWER, 40 Olafisoye Street, Off Sholagbade, Oshinle, P.O. Box 2031, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. Tel: +234 803 365 67977

From the Pulpit

T The voice o of wisdom

with Dr. David

Oyedepo

elcome to the penultimate month of our Heaven On Earth year. From scriptures, we discovered that God promised every redeemed child of God that He would crown the year with goodness and drop fatness on our paths (Psalms 65:11-13). In other words, God has vowed to give us a change of story before this year is over, but we must first believe all that He has spoken concerning us. May your own change come like a dream of the night in the name of Jesus! As we begin this new month, it is important to know that by redemption, every child of God is a child of destiny. We are predestinated to share same order of life with Christ and the end product of our predestination is glorification (2 Peter 1:3; Romans 8:29-30). We also discover that we have a glorious, enviable, royal, prosperous and mountaintop destiny in Christ. Therefore, as children of God, we are not permitted to live as destitutes. However, every destiny in the Kingdom is vision limited. That is, vision is the spiritual access to our glorious destiny (Matthew 5:14-16). It is important to understand that the Bible (God’s Word) is a Book of visions. That is, God’s Word is the custodian of God’s master plan (vision) for His people. As it is written: And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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Catching a vision of God’s plan for your life! he saith, I am not learned (Isaiah 29:11-12). We must also recognize that God’s Word is the spiritual mirror that reveals who we are in Christ. That is why the Word admonishes: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (James 1:22-25). That means, we must take covenant responsibility to translate the picture we see in the mirror of the Word into reality. Also, the Word shows us what redemption has made of us. By redemption, we possess greater potentials than all the Old Testament saints. As it is written: Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11; see also Matthew 12:42). In addition, the Word shows us our content, what we can do through Christ and how to do them. It is written: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13; see also Philippians 4:13; John 14:12). It is also written: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12; see also Ecclesiastes 10:15). From the above, it is very clear that God’s plan for our lives is locked up in the Bible. All we need is to engage the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Blood of Jesus for continuous access. Let’s examine some pictures of our

destiny in redemption We are redeemed to walk in dominion: ‘Dominion’ simply means living above life’s situations and circumstances. At creation, man was ordained for dominion after the order of God. After God created man, He said: ...Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:28). However, man lost his dominion to sin but Christ died to restore it to us by the mystery of righteousness. Thus, every child of God is redeemed to walk in dominion by staying on top of life situations and circumstances. Moreover, at redemption, we were raised up together with Christ and made to sit together with Him in heavenly places. That is, redemption is our translation from the earthly realm to the heavenly realm, which is located far above where all principalities, powers and circumstances of life dwell (Ephesians 1:20-21, 2:6). However, we must understand that the secret behind our dominion is walking in the revelation of the truth. As it is written: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Isaiah 60:1-3). Just as natural light has unquestionable dominion over natural darkness, likewise, spiritual light has unquestionable dominion over spiritual darkness. Thus, walking in the light of scriptures establishes our dominion on the earth. It is applied revelation as discovered from the Word that establishes our dominion over all life situations and circumstances. This is because God upholds all things by the Word

of His power. Moreover, the Word of God is the Rod of His strength that empowers us to rule in the midst of our enemies. We understand from scripture that Jesus is the Rod, which also signifies the Word. Therefore, it is by the depth of the Word that we command dominion on the earth. That means our dominion is a function of the depth of the Word of God at work in us. Therefore, the deeper our insight, the higher our level of dominion (Psalms 110:2; John 1:1-5; Hebrews 1:3). However, access to the living Word that guarantees our dominion begins with being born again. Are you born again? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” For further reading, please get my books: All You Need To Have All Your Needs Met, Exploring The Riches Of Redemption, Understanding Your Covenant Rights and Possessing Your Possession. I will conclude this teaching next week. I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have five services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. respectively. •I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

There is need to wipe out corruption

“

ow the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.’’Gen 6:11-13. What is corruption? It is the act of corrupting or impairing integrity virtue or moral principles; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity wickedness; impurity; bribery. You will agree with me that corruption is as old as the world itself. Corruption is also ubiquitous, it is prevalent in every section of the society be it private or public. Until and unless this ubiquitous called corruption is tamed and or wipe out in the family, church and the nation the chances of development will be a mirage. Corruption emanates always from the top which is copied by the followership; that is why it is considered cankerous and it is difficult or impossible to tame it. When the nation of Israel left the nation of Israel left the Egypt on its way to the promised land it was the Levites who were changed with the responsibility of managing the tabernacle and altar that engaged in getting married to foreign women contrary to the injunction handed down to them (Ezra 9:1-2) Various ways are devised to perpetuate corruption; one of such is false weight. A motorist goes to the filling station to buy fuel, he pays for ten litres but seven litres or less is dispensed. A bag of cement or flour that is supposed to contain fifty kilo as its content in most cases it had less

than forty nine kilo. ‘’A false balance is abomination to the lord; but a just weight is his proverbs 11-1. Inferior quality material is sold as superior quality at a premium price; in essence there is no value for such goods purchased. The effect of these goods to the buyer is that, it gives him no room to purchase another goods considered basic to his life. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good’’. Psalm 14-1(Psalm 14:2-4) There is no gain saying the fact that expensive cost of administration by the government, which leave little or nothing for other social service, has till causing untold hardship to the caused and is still olomon, in order to finance public. King Solomon, fe style, increased tax at his buoyant life ch led the people to impunity, which hoboam when their rebel against rehoboam ction on the burden plead for reduction placed on them failed. It was that rebellion that led to gdom into two: Northsplit of his kingdom nd southern kingdom. ern kingdom and (1 King 12:1-24) nt of salary to workers Late payment ng effect on both the workhas demoralizing ciety at large. The worker ers and the society eir children nor pay their cannot feed their ch may force them to take school free which as to abandon their bribe. Some has k for something duty post to look eby leaving else to do thereby

the job undone which is not healthy for the nation. ‘’For the workmanship is worthy of his bread.’’ (Matthew 10:10): 2 Timothy 2:6) Greed is the insatiable appetite to amass riches, and in the process, all sorts of untoward acts are employed to meet the morbid ambitionfor the greedy people, God’s advice is that man should eat of the sweat of his labour is ignored (Gen 3:19) the scripture counsels in Hebrew 13:5 that man should be satisfied with what he has. It is a known fact that Nigeria of today justice goes to the highest bidder-God insists on fair treatment of both the petitioner and dedisaf fender, failure which amy bring disaffection to the victim and may force him to use extra judicial power to justice. Surely oppression make a wise man mad; a gift destroy the heart.

Ecclesiastes7:7(Exodus 23:8) What then is solution to this despicable problem? Everybody m u s t Primate I.O Oyelowo agree

that he is guilty and can not be exonerated from this monster called corruption? There is an adage that says the acknowledgement of one’s fault is the beginning of improvement’’. All and sundry must agree that the deplorable situation in Nigeria must stop forth with.’’ Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint.’’(Isaiah; 1:5;1:6-7) Everybody must be ready and resolved that there must be a positive change in our beloved country, church and our respective families. (Isaiah 1:16-19)if there is going to be corrupt free society the move must come from the leadership. Leadership is the foundation upon which a virile society, church is built on. The foundation of the church was built on the confession of peter. (Matthew 16:18-19 1 cor-3:1011; Psalm-11:3). King As a had the courage to dethrone his mother Machah as the queen because of her idolatory. (2 Chronicles 15:16) The nation can not rise above its leader, ditto for the church. The current Leadership in Nigeria should hold the monster (corruption) by the horn with a view to dismantle it. (Haggai 2:22) Corruption is the kingdom of the heathen in this country which must be pulled down. Till then Shallom!

•You can contact us at: The Word of Life, Agbo Igbala Ti Kristi Aladura Church 70 Patey street Lagos State. Tel: 07040517413

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Self-imposed limitation

hen a man find himself in a situation that put a stop to further progress in life, it can said that he is limited. Limitation is situation in the life of person which places restriction on what can be achieved and what cannot be achieved. This can be the situation in any area of a man’s life. A person may experience limitation in marriage, career, business, and ministry. It can be expressed in both spiritual and physical dimension. Limitation can be extrinsically placed upon a life or intrinsically establish over a life. Whether limitation is placed by an external force or by an individual self, it determines amount of progress a man can command in life. We shall be dealing with self-imposed limitation - limitation placed by an individual upon their own life.

Some limitations are of the enemy (devil) and when you seek the face of God; they will be destroyed.Then said I, what come these to do? And he spake, saying, these are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head….(Zechariah 1: 21) but when a person place limitation upon himself/herself it takes understanding to be liberated. You cannot win a race (sprint) with a bag of cement on your head. The bag of cement will limit the speed of such a person. That is how many people are in life, there are some things that they are doing or believe that is limiting them in life. God had told Abraham to leave his father’s house to a new place he was going to show him. Abraham left truly but took Lot along with him. This singular action placed limitation upon Abraham until God came to his rescue. And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated

The Bride’s voice with Pastor Moses

From the Pulpit

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Alu

ome people are wondering if God will actually destroy them but let us read 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment

Praise the Lord. Rev. 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’’ Homosexuality is an abomination, so is tattoo. Prostitution is an abomination. And who is a prostitute? A prostitute is that woman that opens her leg for a man that has not married her. Hebrews 13:4 says “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” I am preaching this way because this type of messages is no longer preached in churches. On the Day of Judgment, you will have no excuse because you are hearing me now. What I am saying will stand as a reason for somebody to repent and escape or for somebody to harden your heart and go to the hottest part of hell fire. And when you are burning, you will be hearing the sound of my voice and this message. That day, you cannot say Satan deceived you. Satan will even deny and a demon will tell you, ‘I told you and warned you’. You will say when? And the demon will say, ‘When you were in the night club, I showed you

Bishop Opayinka

from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. (Genesis 13:14-15).What determines how far you go in life depends on who travels with you. Abraham carried so many loads on his head and he travelled slowly but God helped him to shed these loads. Many are stranded in life because of selfimposed limitation. Isaiah was a prophet that once experience spiritual limitation until God came to remove the limitation upon his life and his ministry took a new turn. There are many ways a person can place limitation upon their life. Few among them are: • Bad character: Bad character of some people is the limitation that is preventing them from moving to the next level in their life. A person’s character can be a limiting factor to their success in life. The example of Isaiah above was unclean

lips. This character can be expressed in many ways such lying, exaggeration any form of deviation from the truth. Isaiah had unclean lips and this limit the ministry of Isaiah. Saying negative things with our mouth can limit our success and even limit how far God can use us. Unclean lips can damage and kill a man. When the lips of a man is functioning well that is the time his voice can carry power and authority. Isaiah had a polluted mind set and that is the reason dirty words come out his mouth. Until our mouth and lips are cleansed, we cannot rise to the top. (James 1:26) when you do not clean your lips, mouth and heart your prayers cannot be heard. When a man has a dirty lips, mouth and heart the authority given to him cannot function. Power will always flow in a clean lips, maintain clean lips, heart and mouth, and condition your lips, heart and mouth to speak whatsoever that is glorious, clean and divine. Psalms 52:4, a man’s mouth is gate that can opens to life ordestruction. The reward of what we speak will surely come back to us a multiple fold. Proverb 6:2 your words can trap and destroy you, do not be fool by your wrong words. Learn how to say the right words always even when facing challenges in life. Stop speaking bad words about yourself because you are the number one prophet of your life. What you say now can be used against you the days to come. So avoid bad and dirty words and keep yourself from keeping bad association and every self-imposed limitation over your life will crumbled. • Wrong association: Who travels with you in life determines how far you

will go. Bad association will finish you. You don’t have keep friends by compulsion.When you know where you are going you cannot stay too long in the bus stop. When you keep right association and company it brings blessings, anointing and fire from God. When you keep bad association it brings evil forces to a life. You have the power to choose which association you will belong. • What you believe: Some people believe that they cannot progress beyond a certain limit due to some reasons. It may be due to their background, level of education, race, and social status. What you believe will go long way to determine how far you can go in the journey of success. When the children of Israel where moving to the promise land; some believe they cannot achieve it because of challenges on the way while some believe that despite the challenges, they can make. This was what differentiated the success from the failure. When you place a limitation upon your own life; grace and anointing may not be able to do much for you until you realised it and deal with it. Whatsoever that is limiting you, will also be pressing you down and leading to backwardness in life. A limited life is a backward life. See you next week as we journey to the throne together. Bishop Joshua KolawoleOpayinka is the presiding Bishop of Glorious Tabernacle International located Behind Ondo State Cultural Centre, Akure, Ondo State capital. Share your testimonies and prayer points with me at: O8060297831 joshuakolawoleo@yahoo. com

Homosexuality: An abomination (8) what hell fire will look like’. If you have gone to all these classy night clubs, you will notice that what you see there is Satan simulating hell fire. At a time you will see that the bulbs have changed to red, then everywhere will be filled with smoke. So you have no excuse on that day. You are reading this passage yet you are involved in all the abominations. It is because you are an unbeliever; you do not believe in hell even with our constant warnings. But one day, you will remember. The Bible in Heb. 10:26 talks about sinning willfully. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. There is therefore willful sin. Heb. 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. And talking about willful sin, I have said something here that there are some sins that are not willfully committed but there are a weakness of the flesh. You can’t control them, for instance, those who suffer from anger. Once they get angry, they react spontaneously. Before you know it, they have removed somebody’s teeth with a blow. It is after they have reacted that they become instantly sober and try to make amends. This is bad but it is a demon at work. Everybody can see that you committed that sin though the Bible says, “Be angry and sin not”. So try and fight this demon. But the Bible talks about willful sin. This is something you know that is an abomination before God and you willingly do it. For instance, certainly, homosexuals, fornicators and adulterers don’t go into this sin by mistake. You can’t say you didn’t know what

was happening until you finished. This sin is planned and executed. It is not spontaneously done. It is agreed between the two people. There is enough time for you to reason that you are doing something wrong. And that you reject what your conscience is telling you makes that sin a willful sin. Some years back while we were still at our former place at Anthony Obey, Mafoluku, a young man came to me and confessed that he was a homosexual. He told me how rich men use to hire them and give them lots of money. He said for a night, they can give each of them one hundred thousand Naira. He said it was the life he grew up with. From his confession, I knew he didn’t like the lifestyle and wanted to withdraw. I did deliverance prayer for him and showed him in the scripture how God hates it and how he would end up in hell. I then prayed with him. Four years later, he was still a member of this church until we moved to the present location of the church. He came to me and asked if I still remember the prayers I made for him concerning his former lifestyle. He said the demon has come back upon him. He asked me to pray for him and I asked him to have his seat. I said I won’t pray for him. I asked him if he knew sulphuric acid. He said he does and I asked him, ‘If they put a glass of water and a glass of acid, would you be able to differentiate between the two?’ Again, I asked him, ‘If you are feeling so thirsty to the point of death and he rushes into my office and sees a glass that is filled with what looks like water, and he picks it to drink and I shout that it is acid, since he is so thirsty, would he still go ahead to drink it?’ He said no and I told him to leave my office. I told him the way to hell is wide open; that I had opened the Bible and

showed him where homosexuals and lesbians will end up. He left my office and I came to the altar and preached a message about it. They are not honest. How can you say you cannot resist something that will lead you to hell? How can I keep praying for someone that is not ready to change? Every fornicator will go to hell. Every homosexual will go to the deepest part of hell fire. I have told you to repent. It is God’s mercy that has kept you this far; that is why you have not died. Somebody sent me a text saying that from his very young age, he has been a fornicator. He said I should preach a message on fornication. I said he was not serious and I deleted the text. He sent the text yesterday. You are the reason I am preaching the message now. He said I should preach it hard so he can repent. But I am saying it now that there is no hard message that can make you repent! You are not ready to repent. Man has the will power to stop anything you want to stop. God gave us strong will power. I told you several times. I stopped smoking before I became a Christian. I started smoking from the age of 15 while in secondary school. I was also smoking marijuana. We were the bad boys in the school. But one day, I saw a glimpse of what smoking marijuana was going to do to my life. I was not a Christian and I was a very stubborn young man. The only thing is that God helped me with a very strong will power to stop going on that road to self-destruction and that is why I always like to talk to the young ones.

•Pastor Moses Alu; The Bride Assembly, Odofin Park Estate, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Ijesha Bus stop 08033524903 : Email: pastormosesalu@yahoo.com

From the Pulpit

Chapel of Holiness and Testimony with Pastor K. I.

Bona

aving unfolded the mystery behind polygamy, the demons attached to polygamy, how they operate their names, and primarily their foundational base. The question is “What else do we do?” Those who are already victims of polygamy should seek the face of God for guidance and deliverance. While those who are not already in it should guide against it. We are all aware that in every polygamous setting there is always a hidden battle. Thus we must access our spiritual life and ensure that we did not give room to any spirit of lust of flesh, or that of lack of selfcontrol. We should learn to live a commendable life in the fear of God. The problem of polygamy in solomon’s family “But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh. Women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and Hitities. Of the nations which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, ye shall not go into them, neither shall they come unto you, for surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, and princess and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart” 1 Kings 11:1-3. Solomon went against the instruction of the Lord and fell a victim to the demons of polygamy. His wives had his heart turned against serving the true God. Right from the time of creation, when God denied the devil, the privilege of fulfilling his ambition, by casting him to the earth, he has not relented, to still have his ambition fulfilled on earth. We still give glory to God Almighty, who in his infinite powers denied devil such opportunity in heaven, even here on earth he frustrated his dominion by sending his only begotten son Jesus. Who came to this earth and casted devil down from his throne? In heaven his ambition was not allowed even here on earth it was frustrated by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. In Luke chapter 10:18-19 “And he said unto them, I

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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The mystery of polygamy (4) beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the powers of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” That we have been empowered to tread upon the enemy is because the presence of Jesus here on earth has casted him down from his exalted position. Dear child of God, I prophecy on you, that the lust of the enemy on you and your household, will never be consumed upon you in Jesus name. The wives of Solomon had his heart turned against God. Beloveth, what negative effect had the foundational of polygamy had on your life. This was the very consequence God warned the children of Israel against. God knew that if the devil is given a chance, he would establish his ambition upon his captives. Unfortunately, Solomon fell a victim to the powers of foundational polygamy. A great man, who God gave riches, honours, glory, power and wisdom in such high magnitude, that before him and after him, no man had been so honoured by God. What an awful end of a good story. Solomon began very well, in fear of God aiming at fulfilling the vision of his father David, to build a magnificent temple for the God of their fathers. This vision he diligently pursued and accomplished. The temple foundation was laid and completed. A man who prayed and fire came down from heaven. Whose prayer drew down the glory of God visibly. The Bible said, that the glory of God so covered the temple that the priest could not go into the temple. The richest man, on earth, the world has ever produced, full of grace and wisdom of God. The man who was highly regarded and respect in heaven, was suddenly rejected by heaven, and the kingdom was taken away from him. He started well as a warrior but did not die as a conqueror. This was because he was careless and allowed the demons of polygamy to cast his honour to the ground. The devil’s ambition was accomplished on him and his throne established. 1 Kings 11:9-11 “And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go

after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.” Please pray this prayer point very aggressively - You powers in my father house fighting to accomplish your ambition on me be roasted by fire in the name of Jesus. The ambitions of the devil against the institution of holy marriage There are six numbered evil ambition of the devil against every institution of Holy marriage. They are as follows: 1) Thou has said in thine heart 2) I will ascend unto heaven 3) I will exalt my throne above the stars of God 4) I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in sides of the north ….. 5) I will ascend above the height of the clouds …… 6) I will be like the most high …….. Isaiah 14;13-15 The wicked intention of devil against every holy marriage are six in number. Which is the number of the beast. Which is why generality of people these days experiences greater level of temptations in marriages than before marriages. If the devil could have such wicked thoughts against a holy ordinance of God in wedlock, that is conducted within the parameters of God which is one man, one wife, how much more would his wicked thoughts prevail over a faulty marriage, which is polygamy. Which is why I strongly believe that those who go in for polygamy, extends a hand of fellowship to prince of darkness. (2) Please pray this prayer point violently: Anything I have in common with the prince of darkness, which has lasted for years today, in the name of Jesus, I command Blood of Jesus to break it. After these prayer point in this message, I am sure you must have dreams, please call me and tell me your dreams. The consequences of polygamy Judging from the three Biblical characters, whose experiences in polygamy we have

studied, we observed that each of those experiences had terrible effects on the generality of their households. In this our present generation, countless numbers of polygamous families have had great number of bitter stories to tell. Many have been torn apart, broken down, scattered and or soled into great jealousy, enviness, malice, hatred, and various degrees of household wickedness. Many victims of polygamy are today living a life of regrets because their destinies have been victimized. The souls of father and mothers who are in the grave today, whose lives were ended abruptly, because of the challenges they faced in polygamy when they lived here on earth have sworn in their graves, that if given another chance to live on earth, they will never fall to the temptation of polygamy. The consequences are as follows:1) It is not common for those who had polygamous foundations to marry and keep only one wife 2) Those from polygamous foundation experiences more fightings, quarrellings and misunderstandings in their marriages 3) Cases of divorce are common among them 4) Most of those from polygamous foundation suffer from curses, spells, and jinx as the result of household wickedness 5) They are mostly addicted to sinful lifestyle 6) Most of them live in bitterness, hatred and unforgiveness Testimony God blessed me and my family with a jeep The man of God in one of the Sunday ministrations prophecised that four people has been given a key to new cars. I claimed it and keyed into it with my seed. Today, the Lord has done it, in the way I did not expect. Brethren, here is the key of my jeep, praise the Lord! Bro. Akagbue •ADDRESS: Pastor Kingson I. Bona General Overseer Chapel of Holiness and Testimonies Ministries No. 6, David Egbetuyi street, Fagbile Estate, Ijegun-Ikotun, Lagos 08023404926, 08038206508 Website – wwwchapelofholiness.org

News

UAMC Isale-Eko celebrates 80th Anniversary AFOLABI GAMBARI

he United African Methodist Church, 7, Iga-Idungaran Street, Isale-Eko, Lagos will be celebrating its 80th anniversary and unveiling of its renovated church building. The theme for the anniversary is “Our God in ages past” According to a member of the Anniversary’s Planning Committee, Olaseni Akapo, the program for the celebration began last Sunday, October 25 with evangelism and continued on Saturday, October 31 with the Women and Youth Forum and training on how to make soap and air fresheners for members of the church. There will be a Bible quiz competition on Sunday, November 1 in the church hall while on Saturday, November 7; there will be dinner/award night at the auditorium of the United African Methodist Church Cathedral, 17, Jebba

Street, Ebute-Metta West. This will be followed by choir concert on Sunday, November 8 at the church in Isale-Eko. There will be a two-day revival program at the church between November 11 and 12 and a Communion Service on Friday, November 13 by 10am at the church before a Praise Night service same day on Friday, November 13. Saturday, November 14 has been set aside for sports activities among members of the church which will include football, athletics and table-tennis. This will come up at the Isale-Eko football ground. The grand finale of the celebration will be the official unveiling of the renovated church billed to hold on Sunday, November 15 by 10am. “We are inviting all and sundry to come and celebrate with us because we are full of joy and praises to God for bringing us this far and unto Him alone we can give thanks to,” said Akapo.

L-R: Bishop Lagos West, Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. (Dr.) James Olushola Odedeji, the Diocesan Bishop of Lagos, Most Rev. (Dr.) Ephraim A. Ademowo, Mrs. Oluranti Ademowo, Ven. Seyi Pirisola, Mrs. Olushina Pirisola, Dr. Mrs. Olumakaiye, Rt .Rev. J. A. Odedeji, Mrs. Olubunmi Odedeji at the 50th Birthday celebration of Mrs. Olushina Pirisola heldrecently in Lagos

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The Banner of truth with Evangelist Chibuzor

Ukaonu

e are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1John 4:5-6. The Final Exodus: This is the only way we can correct some of the errors in this last age. For the benefit of the True Bride of Christ, sincerely asking for truth, in like manner as Elisha asked where the God of Elijah is. God by His mercy, has brought this truth your way for the purpose of His love to liberate you. Prayerfully go through it, as it is written: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”- John 8:32 A true Christian is not the person that follows man or Church doctrines, rather, he is that follows Jesus Christ by the STANDARDS of His Word (Read 2Peter 2:1-5; 1Timothy 4:1-6). “And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee. For thou hast rejected the WORD of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being King over Israel” 1Samuel 15:26. Many Christians today go to church without minding the stand of their leader with God, even when they know, because of position, personal interest, relationships, money etc. They can not take a stand for truth and rebuke error. Samuel, Moses and the rest will stand as a standard of judgment against such ones Heb. 11:24-27. Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a reason. Your enjoyment in that error is but for a while. Some of these errors shall be outlined as you read on.

From the Pulpit

Sunday, November 1, 2015

The banner of truth (1) The errors i. Woman Pastor: Does your Church approve of a woman Pastor? Or is it headed by one?, then you are in error. In the beginning it was not so. Nowadays, we see and hear of women being ordained as priests, we hear women adorn titles such as Reverend Mrs., Bishop, Apostle Mrs. So and so, the question is, where in the scripture was such a thing ever mentioned? Such women take on responsibilities that’s not given to them according to God’s perfect Biblical will. God has placed every believer in a specific position to serve Him. This is the manifestation of the spirit of the Laodecian age (people’s right). The Church of Jesus Christ is not a political or social organization where everything goes, making Christian women emulate their worldly counterparts, as the world clamors for “Women liberation”. The same, once crept into the Corinthian Church, Apostle Paul came and put the church in order and warned all the churches of the Saints, till Christ comes to desist from that error (1Corinthains 14:33-38; 1Tim. 2:11-14). The bible says in verse 38 of 1Corinthains 14 thus: “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” Don’t misunderstand Joel 2:28 which talks on the manifestation of the gift of the Holy Spirit which was fulfilled in Acts 2:1-9 as a fulfillment of the prophecy. Gift operation and not priesthood office, these are two different things. A woman can actually operate her gift, but when it comes to taking up leadership position in the church (any of the five-fold offices in Eph. 4:11, then it becomes erroneous). ii. The Bar Of Holiness: Go tell them (Church Leaders) to stop lowering the bar of holiness just to enable them get members (customers). How can a normal daughter of a man come into the presence of her father appearing naked or with the attire of prostitute?, how much more in the Church of God, wearing show

belly, mini skirts, tights, Shaba, see-through, show breast, body hugs etc. No true Church will allow their women to put on trousers when the bible condemns it, Deut. 22:5 says it is an abomination unto God. It is evil for the opposite sex to exchange their wears against one another Prov. 7:10. Dressing like prostitute Matt 5:28. iii. Tell Your Pastor: they should stop making merchandise of the people 2Peter 2:1-3. The gift of God is given freely to God’s people. The gifts are not for money-making Matt. 10:1-8 it is wrong for any minister to charge anyone before such one is prayed for, some charge their “customers” even before they see them, the question to these so-called Pastors and gifted ministers is, how much did you give God before He gave that gift, it is contrary to the scripture to trade with the gift of God. It is wrong to print tithe cards only to know those who pay tithes and those that do not Mal. 3:8-11. It is wrong to collect offering and tithes from fraudsters, prostitutes, thieves, swindlers and occultic people. It is wrong to tell people that God ask them to sow so and so amount when the Lord has not spoken. Matt. 23:1-13. They will ask you to do whilst they will not do. iv. Ask your Pastor: Where did he get these title he is bearing? Title such as: “Supreme head, spiritual head, Arch Bishop, His Holiness, His eminence, Most Reverend, General Overseer, etc. We have seen how people are ignorantly and smartly removing God from the Head of His Church. The gate of hell shall not prevail. No revelated servant of God will answer any of these titles. We are made overseers of our local assemblies Acts 20:24-29. Apostle Paul prophesied that after the departure of the Apostles, that grievous wolves shall enter into the church, not sparing the flock (the people) Matthew. 23:1-30. v. Do you know?: That it is wrong to run the church as a family business where the

husband is the general overseer (Chairman), and the wife is the treasurer even the second in command, then put the children and other relations in charge of other positions to move the business forward. It is wrong to operate a one man show ministry. The church is a body, with many members, no superman in the Church, you cannot be the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher at the same time, (Eph. 4:11-16). Please allow others in your church, that have anointing, to manifest their gifts and use it to perfect the Saints 1Cor. 12:1-13 Love among us will take away envy 1Cor.13:4, to perfect the church, we need the five fold ministry today. Notice how they are cleverly grooming their wives to take over their “business empires” when they die. What was the position of Peter’s wife in the Apostolic era? The true Church of Jesus Christ is not run as a family business. vi. Tell Them: There is only one spiritual baptism Eph. 4:5 that is baptism by immersion in the NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you find yourself in error, one thing left for you to do is to flee from such and make all wrongs right. If you were baptized by sprinkling of water, infant baptism, or you passed through the canal exam of you Church’s baptismal class, come out of such and baptized scripturally or you will end up in hell. Continued next week Save yourself and the rest of your household from this ERRORS. This words did not come to you by mistake, God has directed it to you. You can locate us at RESTORED BIBLE CHURCH (The Ministry of Perfection), 3, Vicky Akhabigime Drive, off Pastor Ojediran Street Opposite NIPCO Filling Station by Adide, Orilowo, Ejigbo, Lagos. 08035750415, 08174820536.

Obedience the key to escape poverty Prophet Lai Bamidele, General Overseer of Christ Glorious End-time Evangelical Church, Abule-Egba, Lagos, in this sermon, teaches about solving problems. Excerpts:

overty is not a sign of humility or humbleness, poverty is not for people who dwell in the Word, but poverty is meant for people who dwell in the World. When your heaven is closed poverty is manifested, but when your heaven is open you blossom in prosperity. In the book of Malachi 3:17-18 the bible emphasized that “from the days of your father’s ye have away from my ordinances, and have not Kept them. Return unto me, and l will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, wherein shall we return? ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? ln tithes and when you carry out his instruction he open your heavens unto you. When you refuse his instruction you and up in destruction. When you pay your tithe as at when it is due, you will not suffer. Lack, but when you refuse his instruction, by not paying Tithe, you end up in abject poverty. Listen to me the true measure of success can only be found in his word and not in the world. Wealth is different from money, a person can have money without having wealth, but a person cannot have wealth without having money. Money has to do with the currency while wealth is unlimited. Wealth can purchase what money can buy and what he cannot buy. Money cannot give you health but wealth has abundance of health attached to it. Our God is an all sufficient God when your heaven is closed the door of wealth is closed against you, but when your heaven is open you enjoy an unlimited wealth. When you operate only by what he has commanded you become a commander, but when you operate by what he has not commanded, you will be commanded.

If you want to be a commander then obey is law. When you disobey is law, then you go low in life. When you obey his law, you fly hight in life i.e your become a high flyer Remember the adage that says “Health is wealth”. Get this clear from me today, you may be rich and not be successful. Not every riches is rich. When your wealth is acquired wrongly then you are not a successful man. You cannot cut corner {dubious} and expect to go scot free from man or you bribe your ways from man, you cannot bribe your way from God. Remember the bible says God is not mocked whatsoever soweth he shall reap. Success is when you are rightly positioned,and prospering in your place of destiny and assignment. You cannot be a success, without you discovering your purpose in life. Take for instrance l was an engineer for so many years, but l wasn’t a success Not until l was called to ministry and l answered the call, it was then I discovered my purpose in life, and l begin to pursue that purpose and God begin to work his wonders in my life by priviledge. You must know where and what God has in plans for you and where he wants you to be. If you are not at where you should be, you will end struggling with nothing to show for it. When you operate by where he has commanded you, you will definitely blossom there. You cannot cut corner with God. You cannot as well play acky pancky with God. Every short cut will cut you short. In the book of 3 John 2 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth”. The reason why so many that has money often go down again is because many don’t pay their tithe, many

don’t believe in it, while some see it as a waste of money. Many believe when your tithe is paid in church they felt it is the pastor that owns the money and they will say how can l give such a huge amount of money to a pastor. Don’t forget his instruction, many tend to twist God’s word to suit their purpose and give his word a wrong interpretation. No one can change what he has written. When you operate under open heaven, you definitely have surplue as your possession when God decide to class a man or bless the work of his hand the man will be living the paradise on earth, why? Because the works of his hand will no longer be ordinary but an extra ordinary. It will no longer be seen as natural but a supernatural. When you operate by what God has commanded you will live a fruitful life. When your life is fruitful whatever your hand torches will definitely prosper. You’ll be profitable in your business; God will multiply you and the works of your hand. When you fulfill your obligation with God you will live a debt free and live free life. Also when you operate by what he has commanded you you will naturaly be the head and not beneath. You become authority in all you do or found yourself. Once you and the head you will always remain on Top. Headship is a place of authority and control, ln the natural, The head is an important part of the body when the head is in trouble, the whole body will naturally be in trouble. You can live without a hand, you can also live without leg, but you cannot live without a head. The head is a sensitive part of the body. The head consist of all parts of the body that help

Bamidele

us to sense things. When your head is in place your destiny will be displayed. The head is the control room of the body. It is theead that help us to see thingstaste things hear things when you operate by his comment you cannot fall into the traps of the devil, when you head is in place you will be able to talk of the goodness of God with your mouth. God has ordained us to be the head and not the tail. The most humiliating part of an animal’s body is the tail God has ordained us to be the head and not the tail. When you operate on the tail you will remain humiliated, rejected, dejected, disgraced, Abused etc. When a man is operating on the tail he is operating at a low level. When you are chipping your hand in what is not right in his presence, then you will end up being rejected by him. Samson was destined to be great but sin made him to end up in disgrace instead of Grace. Once you refuse his direction you end up in destruction. Samson went with a strange woman “Dellilah” his destined was ruined. In the journey of a xtians life you don’t need too much of stress you only need too much of sense. Samson lost his sense because of a strange woman, he lost his head and up in disgrace. •For counselling, contact: Pst_lai@yahoo.com.

From the Pulpit Endtime Revelation with Bishop Bernard

Ojemeni (JP)

mos 4:12 “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel” The greatest preparation mankind must embark upon is the one that concerns eternity. Everybody should ask himself or herself where will he or she spends eternity. The Bible made us to understand there are two places in existence in the world beyond. One is Paradise in the region of Heaven and another is Hell fire beneath the earth. The preparation is very necessary in view of the judgment that awaits every man. Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Man was created in the image and likeness of God. After God molded Adam from the dust He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” The breath of God inside man is what makes man to be a living soul and also it is the aspect of God that makes man an immortal being. And so when you hear that man is made in the image and likeness of God, it means that man is like God in aspect of immortality in particular. The spirit and soul of man is immortal. The spirit and soul is the spirit-man, while the flesh or body is the physical man. Man is a tripartite being. Man is a spirit having a soul and living in a body. It is the physical body that dies and goes back to dust while the spirit man or soul returns to his Creator for judgment. Ecclesiastes 12:7 “ Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”; Hebrew 9:27. The Bible made it clear that we have no dwelling place in this world. Hebrews 13:14 “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come”. Men are strangers and pilgrims in this world. I Peter 2:11 “Dearly beloved, I beseech you

Sunday Mirror Sunday, November 1, 2015 www.nationalmirroronline.net

Prepare to meet the Almighty God Bishop Bernard Chukwuma Mbamalu Ojemeni, General Superintendent of Endtime Believers’ Ministry Inc, in this piece, gives an insight into God’s judgement of nations. Excerpts: as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul”. We came into this world naked and naked shall we go. Job 1:21 “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD”, I Timothy 6:7-9 make it clear that “ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition”. So talking about preparation for meeting God, you must first know that the Almighty God you want to meet is holy God. And man by nature is a sinner. And man cannot save himself. As a sinner man cannot stand before God in judgement without being condemned. No matter how righteous we may want to portray ourselves, we are still far from meeting God’s standard. No wonder, the Bible says that our righteousness is like a filthy rag before God. Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away”. Self righteousness cannot justify us before God. That is why God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross of Calvary for our sins. John 3:16-21 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that

they are wrought in God.” And so faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross is what guarantees our salvation. Anybody who fails to give his or her life to Christ as his or her personal Lord and Saviour is not preparing to meet God Almighty. The first step of preparing to meet God is to repent and give one’s life to Christ. That is the beginning of the preparation. After you have repented and given your life to Jesus Christ, then you make sure you join a Bible believing and practising church where your soul can be nurtured. You will embrace the fear of God. Proverbs 1:7. Then serving God in holiness and righteousness Luke 1:74-75; I Peter 1:1516; Hebrews 12:14. But it is very unfortunate that the people of the world can devote much time in preparing for the mundane things like preparing for marriage ceremony, building of houses, opening of houses, foot-ball match, naming ceremony, independence day celebration, inauguration of political parties, etc. They even spend a lot of money and energy to ensure the success of these programs. But little or no attention is paid on the preparation to meet God after death. So many people live their lives on earth as if there is no death and judgment. In fact, as if there is no God. That is why they do so many abominable things without thinking about the account they are going to give to God when they die. Many of these people, who kill their fellow human beings for money rituals, etc. In fact all sinners, fornicators, thieves, armed robbers, deceivers, all liars, etc have not really sat down and ponder what spending eternity in the lake of fire entails. It is for ever and ever. The fire does not quench and the souls in hell fire and final lake of fire do not die. It is a place they will be crying and gnashing of their teeth and the worms that will be eating them will not die and fire will not be quenched forever and forever. Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 21:8; 14:9-12; Psalm 9:17; Isaiah 5:14; 66:22. Any-

body who does not believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, sent into the world to die for our sins to save us, has automatically lost out. This is because Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. John 14:6; Acts 4:12. He is the passport to heaven. Colossians 1:27. While living the life of holiness and righteousness after you have received Jesus Christ is the visa to Heaven. I Peter 1:5-6; Hebrews 12:14. In fact, the first question on your arrival at the gate of Heaven is where is Jesus Christ in your life? If the answer is NO, then you have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven. If the answer is YES, you will be allowed to enter, once your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Revelation 20:10-15 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

•For further information, contact us at: Endtime Believers’ Ministry Inc.16/18, Johnson Street, off Kajola Street, Yakoyo, Lagos. Tel: 08023261219, 09095268897, 08036116881; Email: bishop.bernard@yahoo.com

God’s presence removes obstacles and challenges (4) Miracle Arena with Bishop

Theo Ugochukwu

salm 114:3–8, “The Sea saw it and fled, Jordan turned back.

The mountain skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea that you fled? O Jordan that you turned back? O mountains that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth at the presence of the Lord. At the presence of the God of Jacob Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters”. Obstacles and challenges are real in any man’s life, and they will not fear you, but will always come to you as long as you have a vision to affect your generation. The outcome on how you will face these challenges would be determined solely by the presence of God you carry.

When you carry God’s presence in your life, what is pursuing others, killing and destroying their destinies will see you and flee. There were several occurrences that have kept me coming close to God. Let me share just two of the several encounters of God’s presence in my life. December 27th of 2012, just a day to the opening of our Imo State Regional Headquarters, I instructed the brick layer to help me plaster the inside of the soak-away and two toilets. He went in and plastered the soak-away only him, and when he came out, somebody drew my attention that he refused to plaster one small portion before coming out. As I called him and before I opened my mouth to ask him to return back in there and finish it, I heard the Spirit of God say to me “LEAVE IT” and I asked him to go back to the toilet, behold as he just entered the toilet to finish the work there, the whole soak-away caved in. People of God if not the presence of God at work, the man would have been buried in that pit. That would have generated a communal war, because this happened in my village, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ would

have been turned to a negative statement, but His presence delivered us from all the satanic plans. Before this time the structure fell two times. When the prayer team was returning from that programme, the breaks of the car stopped functioning, but they managed to come back that night. The following morning when the mechanic came, in the process of losing the tyre, the whole nuts fell off. He asked whether somebody had loosed it before, and I said no, which means only the Holy Spirit was the one holding the tyres for them that night. This happened because the devil wanted to take the glory of all that happened. And all these were revealed to me by the Holy Spirit ahead of that journey and we really prayed all through against it. John 16:13 says “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears; He will speak; He will tell you things to come”. When His presence is with you, you will have an understanding even

more than those planning to set you back. Psalm 119:99 “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation”. When God’s presence is with you, you will escape the net of the evil doers. His presence makes you a solution provider. Joseph was in prison yet he was giving out solutions to men, because he became a solution to man, and it turned out that his own solution was embedded in the same solutions he gave out to others. When God’s presence is with you, you will see clearly. I prophesy His presence will not depart from you in Jesus Name. All that God is doing today in our services are simply the presence of God in manifestation. Amen. •For more information, contact: Bishop Theo Ugochukwu – General Overseer, Miracle Assembly Bible Church, a.k.a. The City of Joy, 80, Ajose Street, Mende, Maryland, Lagos; Tel: 08033461482. Email: bishopgracemiracle@ ymail.com

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Business FRESH BUSINESS NEWS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Sunday, November 1, 2015

NAFDAC seeks end to Europe’s ban on Nigeria’s food exports ABOLAJI ADEBAYO

eing worried about the serious negative implications posed by the recent ban on Nigeria`s value-added agricultural exports to Europe its already battered economy, the Nigeria`s leading Quality Control Authority, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has risen to the challenge with the current move by its DirectorGeneral, Dr. Paul Orhii to deploy cutting-edge technology as part of the Federal Government`s rescue package. It is estimated that Nigeria loses over $4billion annually from rejections of its non-oil exports at international markets. Poor quality and low standard of over 60 per cent of its exported food products has denied Nigeria`s inroad to the heavily untapped trillion dollar food product markets in Europe, America and Asia. This, according to the agency, is apparently a gold mine, which has Nigeria has prevented from exploring by previous bad agricultural policies and lack of strong political will. In a statement by the Director, Special Duties, NAFDAC,

…says Nigeria loses over $4billion annually to non-oil exports rejections

Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, Orhii is spearheading government’s intervention with a robust plan of acquiring 100 mobile motorised laboratories that will traverse remote farm and produce markets centres all over the country. According to the statement, the one-stop multipurpose mobile laboratories

would be deployed to all the 36 states of the Federation and FCT Abuja with special consideration for states with high volume of agricultural activities. The mobile laboratory testing will also encompass intensive training of farmers and produce marketers on food storage, packaging and other quality control issues.

Apart from tackling headlong the problem of food contaminants, analysis of medicines and packaged water would also be undertaken by the mobile laboratories, which had already been deployed by Chinese State Food and Drug Authority to revolutionise its control and regulation of food and pharmaceutical products.

takeholders in the Nigerian economy yesterday said that entrepreneurship remains a key solution to enhance economic growth across the African continent. They posited that the main driver of economic growth across the African continent has been growth supported by private sector activities. This, among others was the focus of the speakers at the 19th annual stockbrokers’ conference and investiture of fellows/associates holding in Lagos with the theme: “Entrepreneurship and the

Nigeria. Cocoa, cashew nuts and some other food products were rejected in Japan, USA and other countries on the ground of poor quality. The agency insinuated that the temporary ban, which tends to end on 30th June 2016, may be extended by the EU Commission if urgent and decisive actions are not taken by concerned government agencies, adding that the situation may worsen the decline in foreign exchange earnings from oil signifying economic recession.

KPMG faults FRC on suspension of Stanbic IBTC directors …bank grosses N104bn in Q3 JOHNSON OKANLAWON

PMG Financial Services has said the decision of the Financial Reporting Council, FRC, is erroneous on its merits and

the process that led to the suspension of the Stanbic IBTC directors. The FRC had last week requested that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,

investigate Stanbic IBTC and KPMG Professional Services for financial misstatements. A statement signed by KPMG’ Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Yomi Sanni, noted that the suspension is significantly flawed and not in compliance with the requirements of the FRC

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, BTVA Media Limited, Mr. Rotimi Pedro, Executive Director, Abuja & North Regions, Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Niyi Adeseun, the bank’s Company Secretary, Mrs. Oluwatomi Ojo and the Group Head Product Division of Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Davidson Regha, at the official opening of BTVA Media Limited, a customer of the bank in Lagos yesterday.

Stakeholders link African economic growth to entrepreneurship JOHNSON OKANLAWON

It stated that the proposed on-the-spot quality assessment and monitoring of value chain agricultural exports would boost quality of food consumed in Nigeria and also save the country embarrassment of a permanent ban on its non-oil exports by the European Union and other countries next year. In June this year, the EU placed a temporary ban on export of some food products such as Beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish, meat, pea nuts and palm oil from

capital market: Fast Tracking a new economy for Africa”. The Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema explained that many African countries are struggling with poverty, homelessness, crime, unemployment and noninclusive growth because of increase in the levels of social inequality and environmental degradation that has accentuated the importance of a more inclusive model of progress. He added that over the last decade, with the growing understanding that these societal problems cannot be solved or prevented only by

the Government or development organizations, adding some businesses, business leaders and talented individuals have tried to transform capitalism, to use the market to solve social problems. According to him: “The business community has come to realize that, rather than being burden, social responsibility needs to be embraced and driven by an intrinsic incentive rather than an external compulsion. “Africapitalism argues that all economic activity should be value-adding and have a social impact that creates wealth. Through longterm investment and the

creation of social wealth, the private sector can solve Africa’s development challenges more effectively and with greater sustainability than either the philanthropic or public sector. “As homegrown businesses meet social and economic needs by creating goods and services with an innate understanding of the local environment, they can bring private capital to vital infrastructure like road transport and power generation. And they can create jobs for Africans, which will in turn create an African middle class— a new generation of African consumers”, Onyema stated.

Act. The firm said, “We wish to state categorically that KPMG does not agree with the decision taken by the FRC, as it does not reflect the true position in this matter. We reassure all our stakeholders - clients, regulators, vendors, etc. that KPMG will take all necessary lawful steps to address this situation. “KPMG will like to reiterate that it is an organisation that complies with the requirements of all regulations, acts and policies that govern its business. KPMG will continue to deliver its services to its clients with the quality, integrity and objectivity required from an established and reputable professional services firm.” Meanwhile, the Stanbic IBTC has declared a gross

earnings of N104.4bn, an increase of 10 per cent when compared to N94.6bn recorded in the same period of 2014. According to the third quarter result presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday, net interest income of stood at N32.9bn, a decline of five per cent from N34.7bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2014. The bank’s non-interest revenue fell by two per cent to N41.3bn, from N42.0bn in 2014, while total operating income stood at N74.3bn, down three per cent from N76.7bn in the nine months of 2014. The operating cost rose to N46.3bn, an increase of four per cent from N44.7bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2014.

Africa ready to support Silk Road Initiative –CAPP President

he possibility of a winwin relationship in the economic future of Nigeria-China relations of the 21st century was reemphasized far away Beijing, capital city of People’s Republic of China during a recent three day conference on the objectives of the “Silk Road” project for a dynamic Afro-Asian relationship. The summit held under the auspices of International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) at her 25th Standing Committee Meeting in Beijing is a re-awakening process for major governments and political parties who drive

the socio-economic policies in the relevant regions of the world. The conference, which was themed “New Vision of the Silk Road: Action for Common Development” explored issues of political leadership, economic integration, cultural bond and new impetus for emerging economies which are all ingredients of a successful regional economic development. The event brought to the fore once more, the role of China as an emerging world power in Afro-Asian diplomacy and that of Nigeria as the center-piece a prosperous Afro-Asian economic revival.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NEMA begins distribution of ood intervention package LIVINUS MENEDI YOLA

irector General, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mallam Sani Sidi, has inaugurated the distribution of relief materials to victims of the

2015 flood disaster. Sidi, who performed the official presentation of the relief items meant for victims of this year ’s flood disaster in Yola, said the gesture was undertaken by the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to bring succour to

the victims of this year ’s flood disaster. Sidi, who spoke in Yola the Adamawa state capital, prior to the presentation of the relief items to the Adamawa state government for onward distribution to the victims concerned, condoled with

the state over the deaths of three persons in the flood disaster which ravaged 15 council areas in the state. The NEMA DG, who was accompanied by key officials from the Agency to perform the flag off of the FG intervention pack-

L-R: Head, Enforcement and Compliance, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mrs. Joy Okuna; Manager, Regulatory and Monitoring, Lagos Zonal Office, Mr. Ita Calix; Consultant and Adviser, Chief Ebi Adeigah; Training Manager, NLRC, Mrs. Adaeze Okochi and Director, Alum Ikaka Estate Ltd, Prof. Dominic Badaiki, during the first phase of Alum Ikaka Nationwide Housing Development lottery promo in Lagos, at the weekend.

Edo seeks reform for teachers ’ optimum performance SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN

he Edo State Government has revealed that it is planning to carry out a reform of the process of recruitment, deployment, promotion and posting of teachers of post-primary and primary schools in the state in order to ensure fairness and promote optimum performance. Governor Adams Oshiomhole disclosed the plan at the weekend during a meeting with the chairman and members of Edo State Post Primary Education Board at the Government House in Benin City. Comrade Oshiomhole stated, “The key issue in appointment is competence and in recruiting these numbers, we would

start from the top, from those who score the highest mark. The idea here is to give priority to the employment of the best in our schools. Our teachers must be the best. ” “In those days, when you are very brilliant, you go into academics. Since things have changed now, the brilliant ones go into banking, oil industry, Customs, Immigration and all of that. But we need the best brains to impart knowledge and that is why we are ready to pay special incentives to those who are involved in Science subjects. But to do that, I must be convinced that these people would make a difference in terms of the quality of knowledge they will impart and we can measure it through per-

formance of our kids in various examinations and assessments. ” “We can even work out bonuses for schools that have done well and for pupils that have done well; because, like they say, if the child has not learnt, it might well be because the teacher has not taught. One is a consequence of the other and I need us to tie rewards to efforts. If we can tie reward to efforts and people see that effort pays, I think they will be greatly motivated and I am sure that our children in both primary, junior secondary schools and senior secondary school will do well. “So, we have to carry out fundamental reforms in the way we recruit, deploy, promote and transfer

teachers. There must be order; there must be fairness; there must be balance. No favouritism; no lobbying; no political consideration, ” he added. The Governor urged the Board to bridge the manpower gap between the Junior Secondary Schools and Senior Secondary Schools in the state so as to effectively engage qualified the teachers. “We have merged the Education Ministry to one now. So, this issue of Basic, Junior Secondary School, and Senior Secondary School has to be reviewed. You should find a way to bridge all these dichotomy of Junior Secondary Schools and Secondary schools so that we can use our man power more optimally. ”

age with a courtesy visit on the Adamawa State governor, Sen. Jibrilla Bindow, at the Government House, Yola, over the weekend, disclosed that over 130,000 persons were displaced from 15 Local government areas of the state after flood waters submerged some of its communities lying along River Benue trough. The NEMA DG observed that the intervention package, which he was presenting on behalf of the FG is meant to assist the victims of the flood disaster and also help ameliorate the hardship suffered by them. He urged all those still living on flood plains to move to higher ground, stressing that indiscriminate dumping of refuse in water ways still remains a contributory factor to perennial impact of flood waters overrunning the banks in most of the affected states.

NEMA has reduced the number of camps handling internally displaced persons in Adamawa state to five, which Sidi the DG announced had followed the streamlining of its operations in the state for efficiency. However, Bindow, who received the relief items estimated to worth hundreds of millions of naira kept at the state central store thanked NEMA, noting that without the support of the agency all of the successes recorded in providing succour to the internally displaced and mitigating the effects of insurgency wouldn ’t have been possible. He pointed out that 11 out of the 15 councils affected by the flood disaster in the state were completely submerged, adding that all the relief items will be distributed to the right persons and communities affected by the floods.

C ’River hasn ’t banned morning devotion in schools –SSG RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

he Government of Cross River state yesterday said it has not banned assemblies, prayers or morning devotion in schools across the state. A statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Ms Tina Banku Agbor, said a circular issued by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Anne O. Odey suspending assemblies in schools should be disregarded. “The circular issued by the Permanent Secretary was neither at the instance of the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade nor with his knowledge. The Permanent Secretary claims to have issued the circular based on the directive of the state com-

missioner of police, who was purportedly acting at the instance of the Inspector General of Police, over security concerns. ” The statement therefore, advised schools in the state to disregard the circular from the Permanent Secretary, saying she acted beyond her brief. “We wish to state categorically that it is not the policy of this administration to infringe on the freedom of worship of Cross Riverians and all who reside in the state, ” the statement concluded. Meanwhile, the governor has directed the setting up of a three-man panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the circular by the Permanent Secretary without recourse to higher authorities and recommend appropriate sanctions for this breach of protocol.

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Whither the Nigerian economic direction ABDUL RAZAK ODUNLADE

t is not in doubt that Nigeria is in crucial economic times. Any keen observer must therefore be concerned about the prospects of Lagos State which controls the largest share of the Nigerian economy. Lagos is, in many ways, the nation’s gateway to global business.

On a general note, the economic situation in the country has clearly worsened over the last few years for a variety of reasons. First is the decline in crude oil prices from $120 per barrel in June 2014 to the current $48 per barrel, which invariably has exposed the weakened structure of the Nigerian economy. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, GDP growth slowed to 2.35% as at this year’s second quarter, compared to the 6.54% in the corresponding period in 2014. The violence and acts of terror in the North-East part of Nigeria has also created an unprecedented instability, without forgetting the concerns relating to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which also added to the uncertainty in the country. These issues have resulted in, amongst many things, the funding crisis among the State governments, from which, remarkably, Lagos has been spared. Consumer demand is weakening according to our retailers and this suggests that we may not return to high single digit growth quickly, let alone the double figures that we desire. This current downturn just adds to the existing problems of inadequate power supply, poor infrastructure, more than half of the population living in poverty and significant levels of unemployment. The effects of the crisis are being felt at all levels of society but as is often the case, it is the poorest that are particularly vulnerable.

However, Lagos appears to be enjoying the presence of a strong private sector which is poised to consolidate the state’s clear edge over others especially in the key areas of job creation and thereby allow hundreds of thousands of young graduates and youths to enjoy brighter future prospects. It is pertinent to stress that while it is not the role of government to create employment directly - especially in a country like Nigeria with a small tax base and reduced oil receipts, there is still much that the government can do. The first important consideration, therefore, is the need to make Nigeria more competitive. The cost of doing business in Nigeria is high. We often think we are a low cost economy because wages are low but the truth is that businesses here face very high costs. The most obvious high input cost is power where manufacturers and other businesses have to pay twice the rate per kilowatt hour than the grid in order to provide the continuous power they need. There are other high costs too relating to infrastructure which means logistics are incredibly difficult for business. Even our wage costs are deceptive because we have low productivity. Foreign investors have a choice and if we don’t measure up, the investment and jobs will simply go elsewhere. Similarly our companies struggle to export with a high cost base - and if the Naira is strong this makes exports still less competitive. Another issue is that of our currency. The Naira has been under pressure since the oil price collapsed and has already suffered a 25% devaluation. The Black Market rates are suggesting a further devaluation could take place and that business is difficult to do at the official rate. This is causing problems for any compa-

ny that deals with the world beyond Nigeria - not just foreign companies. And new investors will not buy into the country if they fear a sudden devaluation. It makes sense for them to wait. Business leaders are saying that we cannot delay the inevitable and unnecessary pain is being caused in the meantime. Equally important is the need to do something about the ease of doing business in Nigeria. The World Bank ranks Nigeria at 170th in its index. This is not good enough for a country with our level of ambition and expectation. This is another factor weakening our competitiveness. In some crucial areas we are even worse –for example, on registration of property, we rank 185th. This is one of a number of areas where Lagos must revolutionize the current position through an ambitious investment in a new digital land administration system. We need bold moves like this to make a difference. It will pay for itself in extra land taxes and very quickly too. And then there is the issue of security. The perception of our country is tarnished by terrorist attacks and violent crimes. The public sector has a non-negotiable duty to protect its people and government must not tolerate unacceptable behaviour. Yet, we can glean from some foreign investors that Nigeria appears to be adopting an attitude which is too insular and protectionist. But opinions from other local producers favour protectionist policies such as tariffs and banning the importation of some products. However, in some cases rather than protecting local industry it can protect inefficiency, poor quality and high prices which create a significant cost for us all as consumers. Trade barriers are usually met with more trade barriers from neighboring countries, thereby increasing everyone’s costs.

What then should government do differently? We need the investors to come into our country. This will create jobs and wealth at all levels of the economy and all over the country. In the longer term we have a range of areas in which to invest to help drive the economy. The obvious ones, of course, are: more reliable power supply and the need to reduce the chronic traffic problems by investing in the transport system. Then concerted efforts must be made to lower the current interest rates. The average lender borrows at interest rates of upwards of 20% per annum, which really is not sustainable. The recent introduction of the Treasury Single Account by the Federal Government and some states like Lagos is a step in the right direction. We need to institute economic policies that engender an all-inclusive growth. An estimated 70% of Nigerians, 125million people, live below the poverty line. This is an important consideration for any economic activities to be instituted by the managers of the Nigerian economy. We must applaud and support the President’s drive to end corruption which has a corrosive effect on business at all levels. It is a critical weakness that makes it hard for everyone to do business in Nigeria. Equally we must not forget the long term drivers. Our youth is our future. Our demographics are seen as favourable as we have an increasing proportion of the population at working age and a smaller dependent population. We must invest in our youth - their education, their health and improve the security of the society in which they live so they are ready for the opportunities on offer. However, we cannot only invest in the long term. While we must be far sighted, we must also brave and take action now where we can.

Open letter to President Buhari: A call to Nigerian patriots CHARLIE ORIBAMISE

ongratulations to our new President, Muhammadu Buhari who did not let go of his dream to come back and be an instrument God is currently using to effect a profound change in Nigeria that will reverberate throughout the black race. A patriot is a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion. This is the man whom God has chosen to be at the helm of affairs in Nigeria at such a time as now. Just as PMB answered the call, so must he challenge other patriots to join hands with him to build a nation of our dream. Nigeria always invests in every man and woman in our armed forces for free. Our men and women who have sacrificed greatly, especially during the civil war to keep our nation united are greatly appreciated. Through the rank and file of our military forces, leadership is learned and utilized to the fullest, hence after their military service, majority of them, men and women usually become leaders in industries and also in politics. This is a cause for celebration, as PMB can, in esprit-de-corps., call on every military leader, Head of State, and Governors who had served Nigeria to be ready to contribute to the rebuilding project at hand. It is a time to give back to a nation that has given so much to them. The Bible says, to whom much has been given, much is required of him. Nigeria DO

NOT need to go cap in hand to IMF, World Bank, UN, USA, UK, China, Europe or anywhere else to borrow to execute the rebuilding of Nigeria that President Buhari will embark on. The resources are with us and within. I think we all know wealthy Nigerians who can give loans to Nigeria; they should patriotically step up to the plate and collectively be a part in rebuilding our dear nation, Nigeria. With the outcome of the most recent election, each geo-political zone of the country knows full well that NO ONE zone can win the federal executive without collaborating with other zones. There should therefore be no more BORN TO RULE mentality or it is our turn to ascend to the throne in Abuja. So, every Nigerian from all six geo-political zones must heed this clarion call of our dear Mr. President. This is the time of meritocracy, whereby the brightest among us, irrespective of creed or religion or gender should be celebrated to lead us out of poverty and underdevelopment that Nigeria has experienced for TOO long. To our new leaders, the task ahead is daunting, but achievable if we ALL join forces with you and I hope and pray we will. It is a clarion call that ALL stakeholders in the Nigerian project must answer. I will not enumerate what problems we face, because an average Nigerian will tell you in a heartbeat what those problems are. I think we should become a people who proffer solutions to those teeming problems confronting us.Nigerians being so religious know that money answereth all things. God has blessed us abundantly that we should not experience

poverty, but our kinsmen and women have raped our resources dry and stacked them away in foreign national vaults providing jobs, and loans which have added values to the living conditions of the nationals of those nations. So, President Muhammadu Buhari should, behind the scene, call on the Council of State members, including Gen, Danjuma, and canvass that everyone who is of means, should voluntarily give: i) Their oil block(s) back to the Federal government for 20years within which we would have established Nigeria on a solid foundation of prosperity for all. There was a list of oil block owners published awhile back. See: http://odili. net/news/source/2012/mar/9/601.html ii) Between now and December, 2015 every millionaire, and billionaire in Nigeria must tithe 10% of their net worth to the national coffer. iii) The 8th National Assembly must do away with the runaway salary that they voted for themselves in time past. All frivolous allowances they voted for themselves must stop. Effort to change them to part time legislators should be intensified, so they too can engage in businesses to generate employment and stop being freeloaders draining our collective resources for their lavish and extravagant life style. iv) The Governors must also curtail their extravagance in office and pursue people oriented programs that will lift our people out of poverty. v) The Chairmen and Councilors at the local government must champion austerity living and become custodian of grass-root development. vi) The President and his Vice have set the ball rolling by declaring their assets and will lead by example by slashing their salaries and

entitlements by half. vii) Every effort must be made to recover from foreign banks every dime stashed there by our corrupt leaders, and every nation that refuses to assist us, should be termed enemy of Nigerian nation that we should devise a means of reducing our trading and economic activities with. viii) Effort to establish a National Airline to counter revenue flight from our country that all foreign airlines are currently profiting from. We should demand from each of those countries the same frequency we grant to their airlines so that we can reap from this untapped revenue generator too. ix) We must develop our tourism and entertainment industry which government must promote to reap bountifully from x) Sport is another area that must be fully harnessed. We must professionalize our sports so that it becomes revenue generator. xi) All our inventors, scientists, IT gurus should have government backing and sponsorship that will translate us to producer and not just consumers so we can generate revenue and not depend on oil and gas only. xii) Agriculture must be fully mechanized so that we can feed ourselves and export the excess for needed revenue for other infrastructural development. xiii) There should be a tax regime on private jets, luxury yachts, properties valued over N100million from which proceeds should be dedicated to upgrading our airports to acceptable international standards. Oribamise wrote from Columbia Heights, Minnesota USA

Politics News

Sunday November 1, 2015

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N ’East rebuilding: Stakeholders demand strengthening of disaster management structure FRANCIS SUBERU

takeholders in the management of humanitarian crisis in the Boko Haram troubled North-East Nigeria had concluded their two-day engagement forum in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital with a demand to strengthen the disaster management structure of key players managing humanitarian crisis in the region. The North-East Humanitarian Multi-Stakeholder Engagement (NEHMSE 2015) with the theme; Coordination, Communication and Cooperation, was held at the behest of the

National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President and Borno State Government. The forum aimed at ensuring that activities of local and international humanitarian actors are well coordinated, monitored and evaluated, to avoid duplication of efforts and waste of resources. The forum which was held between October 27 and 28, 2015 pointed out that there is need to strengthen the existing disaster management structure in the country. In a communiqué jointly signed by representatives of the Office of the Vice-President,

International and Local NGOs, Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as security agencies, the forum agreed that coordination of humanitarian efforts by the lead government agencies need to be developed to fit into the overall coordination mechanism of the country. The stakeholders opined that State Emergency Management Agencies and Local Emergency Management Coordinators (LEMCs) are not effective and visible in some states during emergencies and need to be strengthened to work better. They also harped on the need for better management of communication

in emergency situations, just as they recommended the need for regulations as well as standards for monitoring, evaluating and transparency. The communiqué read; “National Planning Commission (NPC) is the point of entry for International NGOs and the United Nations system while NEMA and SEMA are entry points for local humanitarian actors. “There are frameworks for cooperation of relevant stakeholders which needs to be strengthened. The needs of the country have to be harmonized with individual organisations ’ operational plan while the regulation of National

and International NonGovernmental Organizations is carried out by National Planning Commission and NEMA ” Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had while declaring open the engagement forum commended the stakeholders for their efforts at proffering solutions to the humanitarian crisis being faced by displaced persons in the North-Eastern region of the country. He said the region has suffered tremendously in the past six years as a result of destruction of their infrastructure, farmlands, businesses, and trades; adding that “rebuilding, restoring and rehabilitation will cost money and time. But neither money nor time can fix the trauma of loss of family, relations and friends. “The tasks before us are many and profound, to fix brick and mortar and to mend hearts and minds damaged by senseless murderous violence.

But we are called not just to mend the hearts and minds of the victims but also of their traducers, and killers, ” Osinbajo said. In his address, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima said the new vista of Hope and expectation on the successes recorded in the fight against these insurgents is a testimony that the process of Peace and Stability has commenced in earnest, especially the rebuilding process which has seen thousands of IDPs returning to their homes and communities. The Director-General of NEMA, Mohammed Sani Sidi in his words to the participants said it is pertinent for all stakeholders to engage in robust relationship in order to achieve the intended goal of bringing succour to the people of NorthEast as well as assist in the eventual rebuilding and reconstruction plans and programmes in the North-East.

Ita Giwa denies involvement in Dele Giwa ’s murder

F Youths waiting to receive Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel, in Uyo Plaza, after the tribunal ruling, recently. PHOTO: NAN

FG should stop humiliating heads of anti-graft agencies –CACOL STORIES BY AYO ESAN

he Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL has called on the Federal Government to refrain from supporting the humiliation of Heads of anti-graft agencies and panels. This came on the heels of the recent directive from the Federal Government through its Ministry of Justice asking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate the allegation that its chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, diverted about N1trn proceeds of corruption recovered by the anti-graft

agency and new directive by the House members to its Committee on Financial Crimes to take over the investigation from the EFCC for a thorough and proper investigation since it would be impossible to separate the EFCC from Lamorde in the instance. According to the House, the EFCC could not be a judge in its own case by investigating the circumstances surrounding the non-remittance of the funds generated from the proceeds of corruption. The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Comrade Debo Adeniran while reacting to the new development has asked the au-

thorities to refrain from humiliating the heads of anti-graft agencies and panels noting that such practices is fast becoming a regular practice especially when highly placed public exposed person is under investigation or prosecution. He said the House, is not an investigative institution; and should continue with their oversight functions and not take this up especially when the wife of the senate president has a case to answer with the EFCC. “We should recall that both Nuhu Ribadu and Mrs Farida Waziri were humiliated out of office in similar circum-

stances while investigation and prosecution of some highly placed government officials both at the national and state levels were going on. The same pattern plays out in the National Assembly where heads of committees that tried to probe corruption allegations have been humiliated one way or the other. While we are not holding brief for these heads of agencies and panels, we believe that the substance of their findings that is the cases they are pursuing before their own issues came up should be prosecuted first before the hunter is hunted.

ormer Presidential Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, Senator Florence Ita Giwa has said that the recent “ revelations “ by the octogenarian former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Christopher Omeben, insinuating in one breathe that Dele Giwa ’s assassination via a parcel bomb may have been remotely connected to his “unhealthy relations with his “estranged wife ” and in the next breathe naming Kayode Soyinka, Dele ’s colleague who was the only survivor and eye witness of the dastardly act as the “ prime suspect “ is condemnable In a statement signed by her Media Liaison Officer, Mr. Jonathan Eze, she told the ageing clergy man that where she comes from the women are famous for valuing their men. The statement reads in parts: “It is very possible that the aged former crime fighter , is hallucinating on account of the blemish his shoddy handling of the case had cast on what might have been labeled an illustrious police career. Without a doubt the

“estranged wife ” referred to by our deluded former police chief is none other than the Distinguished Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, who was once married to the late Dele Giwa . “At the risk of sounding impetuous, it would appear that the former detective turned clergy man is now clutching at straws in a puerile attempt to cover up his crass incompetence with regard to the case. “Just because Christopher Omeben lacked the courage at the time to pursue the obvious suspects at the time , does not give him a right to bandy spurious allegations in the twilight of his life. Senator Florence Ita-Giwa was never considered a person of interest in the immediate aftermath of the murder, so for her name to be linked to this most reprehensible crime nearly 30 years after is preposterous to say the least. “The Senator categorically denies being with Dele Giwa the night before his death as the senator was in Calabar as a member of a state government empanelled committee.

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Politics

Sunday November 1, 2015

stokes danger for Saraki

Sara aki

enjoy the support and cooperation of the PDP senators who have sustained him in power so far, and whose interests he presumably has injured? Now that the ruling APC senators have demonstrated that when a party is in power, it has to exercise its majority to its advantage fully, the questions is, will the APC senators

now decide to use their strength to determine who becomes their leaders in the Senate? What if the PDP senators decide to withdraw their support for Saraki, what happens next? Here lies the Senate President ’s dilemma. National Assembly watchers believed that Saraki missed a serious window of opportunity provided by the two sides to have navigated a middle of the road position during the confusion leading to Amaechi ’s confirmation. For some observers, Amaechi remains the albatross of the APC Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari. For them, right from the time his name appeared in the ministerial list, it became obvious that he is a moral burden that the Government had to bear before Nigerians, particularly for an administration that rode to power on the crest of anti-corruption. The final confirmation of Amaechi at the Senate last Thursday was a true test of the democratic saying that while the minority will always have their say, the majority will ultimately have their way. There was mild drama at the session in the Senate as PDP senators staged a walkout while the majority senators of the APC confirmed the nomination of the former governor of Rivers State and 17 others as ministers. While the PDP senators wanted the confirmation of the former governor suspended as recommended by the Sen-

ate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, which investigated him over allegation of fraud and corruption, their APC colleagues raised strong objections. The committee had recommended in its report that the screening and confirmation of Amaechi should be put on hold in line with order 53(5) of the Senate standing rule, which provides that the it should steer clear of all matters pending before any competent court of the federation. The PDP senators had also boycotted the screening of Amaechi the previous week following the refusal of the Senate President to have the report of the committee debated before the screening. Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, had argued that the Senate could carry out the screening while debate of the report can come up later before the confirmation of the candidate. But efforts by the PDP senators to push for the discussion of the report before the confirmation last Thursday was again frustrated by the APC senators, prompting the opposition senators to walk out en masse of the Senate chambers. The upper house had earlier in the day screened and confirmed the appointment of the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu,

recongure political landscape BUT THE APC CANDIDATE IN THE CONSTITUENCY, EMMANUEL BONGO, NOT SATISFIED WITH INEC DECLARATION WENT TO THE ELECTIONS TRIBUNAL TO CHALLENGE THE VICTORY OF THE SPEAKER

Owa aji-Ib ban ni

Delivering its judgement, the National and Houses of Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal ruled that elections in eight out of the nine polling units, challenged by the petitioner, were conducted against the provision of the 2010 Electoral Act. According to the tribunal, polls conducted

in the eight polling units were null and void. The tribunal thus declared the elections inconclusive and ordered INEC to conduct fresh polls within 90 days, effective from last Wednesday in the eight affected polling units. The judges ordered the electoral umpire to keep back the certificate of return earlier issued to the Speaker. With the judgement, the APC candidate, Emmanuel Bongo, leads with 1,440 votes. Also last week, the PDP apart from what it suffered in Taraba also made some losses in Rivers as the Elections Petitions Tribunal, which sat in Abuja, nullified the elections of Speaker Owaji Ibani representing Andoni constituency and 20 other lawmakers in the state assembly. In its ruling, the tribunal faulted the declaration of the lawmakers as winners, insisting that the elections did not meet set standards. It subsequently or-

dered fresh elections. With nullification of 21 lawmakers out of 32 state lawmakers in Rivers State House of Assembly, a constitutional crisis has been created because the remaining 11 lawmakers cannot form a quorum. In a similar vein, the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja last Wednesday dismissed a petition by the APC senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District, Chief Inibehe Okorie, which challenged the election of Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, as the duly elected representative of the senatorial district. In a judgement which lasted about one and half hours, chairman of the tribunal, Hon Justice Goddy Anunihu, with two other justices dismissed the petition against the electoral victory of Akpabio, describing it as baseless and lacking in merit. Okorie had claimed that due to a cleri-

and five other National Commissioners of the commission. Consequently, the lawmakers went into a closed doors session that lasted one hour and 15 minutes, wherein, they discussed the issue of the procedure for the confirmation of the ministerial nominees. From what transpired on the floor of the Senate later, it was apparent that the senators were not able to resolve the issue of Amaechi amicably. Shortly before the confirmation exercise, Minority Leader, Senator Goodswill Akpabio, rising under personal explanation had reminded the senators of their previous agreement that any nominee that had a petition against him, such a petition shall be raised. Consequently, the Senate proceeded with the screening. When it got to the turn of the Imo State nominee, Professor Anthony Anwuka, the Minority Leader, rising under order 43 of the Senate standing orders, said, “We agreed that even though a nominee may have been screened, when it comes to confirmation, we shall raise the issue of petition if there is one standing against the person ”. Akpabio reminded the Senate that there were petitions written against Anwuka before the Petition committee and moved that the issue be discussed. The senator representing Imo North, CONTINUED ON PAGE 54 cal error, Akpabio was not the candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District, a position the judges said was untenable as it was only the party which sponsored the candidate that can determine who its candidate was. The tribunal held that the error in the nomination form was not enough reason to nullify the election. According to Justice Anunihu, the nomination of a candidate was the domestic affair of the political party and the court could not interfere with it. The judges also held that the petitioner had failed to prove that the alleged violence on the day of the election could be linked to Akpabio and dismissed an uncertified computer printout of accredited voters as not known to law. In the unanimous decision, the judges dismissed the case in its entirety and awarded a fine of N2, 500 against the petitioner, Chief Okorie. The Gombe State Governorship Election Tribunal that was charged with reviewing the election petition of the APC candidate in the last gubernatorial election, Mr. Inuwa Yahaya, ruled in favour of the incumbent Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo. The tribunal, presided over by Justice Suraj, charged Mr. Yahaya for “deliberately attempting to defame ” the integrity of the tribunal, as a result the APC gubernatorial aspirant was charged the sum of N3500. In Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, candidate of the Accord Party in the April 11 governorship election, lost his battle to take over control of Agodi govCONTINUED ON PAGE 56

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Sunday November 1, 2015

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Amaechi ’s conrmation stokes danger for Saraki CONTINUED FROM PAGE 53

Nneji Achonu, quickly rose up to inform the Senate that the petitioners had withdrawn the petition against the nominee, following which the candidate was confirmed. When it got to the turn of Amaechi, Akpabio again stood to oppose the confirmation on the grounds that the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition, which investigated the allegations against the former Rivers governor was yet to be discussed. Saraki invited the chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu (Imo East) to read the report. The 11-member report, which was signed by seven members of the committee recommended the suspension of the confirmation of Amaechi because the Senate rules bar the red chamber from doing so. Senate Leader, Ndume, rising under order 53(7) of the Senate standing rule book, argued that since the upper house rules prohibited it from confirming the nominee, the said rules should also bar the Senate from even discussing the report itself. “Since the report recommends that we should not proceed with the confirmation of the nominee, I suggest that we should not also proceed with the consideration of the report, ” Ndume said. Opposing Ndume, the Minority Leader insisted that, “The Senate should undertake proper discussion of the report presented before us first because the PDP had agreed on the day of the screening of the nominee that we can only speak when this report would be discussed. ” Akpabio ’s remarks sparked protestations from the majority senators who erupted in uproar. Senator Babajide Omowurare explained that since the matter is in court, the Senate should confirm Amaechi without delay. The lawmaker also argued that being the committee of the whole, which is the most important committee, the Senate can amend the report of any of its committees.

Ndume

Akpa abio

THE SENATE SHOULD UNDERTAKE PROPER DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT PRESENTED BEFORE US FIRST BECAUSE THE PDP HAD AGREED ON THE DAY OF THE SCREENING OF THE NOMINEE THAT WE CAN ONLY SPEAK WHEN THIS REPORT WOULD BE DISCUSSED

He cited section 147(2), which authorises the red chamber to screen and confirm ministerial nominees sent to it by the President and insisted that if any other legislation impedes it from carrying out this constitutional responsibility, the constitution must take precedence over that other law. Senator George Thompson Sekibo informed the Senate of its supreme responsibility of legislating for the interest of Nigerians, noting that, “The Nigerian people we represent are in the majority, so we must not do anything

that is against the interest of the majority of Nigerians. ” He noted that the report on Amaechi was very weighty and bordered on corruption, sale of public property as well as abuse of public office, stressing that, “There is a moral burden on all of us here and Nigerians are watching us. The President is riding on the crest of nocorruption. “The minority will always have its say while the majority will eventually have its way. Our say is that we shall join the President to fight corruption. ”

Attempts by Akpabio to respond further on the matter was frustrated by the majority senators who kept shouting that he should sit down to allow Senator Barnabas Gemade, who had been previously recognised by Saraki to speak, take the floor. When the majority senators would not allow Akpabio speak, he looked backwards and signalled his PDP colleagues and they all subsequently left the chamber en masse. The departure of the PDP senators provided the opportunity the APC senators needed to take over the remaining confirmation exercise. Once the PDP senators were out, Saraki continued with the confirmation exercise. Expectedly, the APC senators confirmed the nomination of Amaechi with a very overwhelming aye. While out of the chambers, the PDP senators proceeded to hold a press briefing at the Senate hearing room one, where they explained their reasons for walking out of the confirmation exercise. “We have a responsibility to explain to Nigerians the reason why we walked out of the confirmation. We did not want to be part of that charade. What they did was total breach of Senate ’s own rule. We had no option than to stage a walkout when it became clear to us that they were bent on performing illegality, ” Akpabio said. Also, Presidential Assistant on the Senate, Senator Eta Inang, who also addressed newsmen, commended the senators for confirming the nominees. He said the action of the lawmakers had confirmed that there is very harmonious, amicable and cooperative working relationship between the executive and the legislature. He particularly commended the APC senators for showing that when a party is in power, it has to exercise its majority. Inang also commended the PDP senators for erring their opinion in a most decent and democratic manner.

‘States, LG joint accounts should be abrogated ’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

rationale of some of the inclusion on Presidential nominees especially the inclusion of former Rivers state Governor Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi that it is the same old wine in new bottles. How do you reconcile these submissions? In Nigeria, there is nothing you will do that people will not blame you. If I am the president, you won ’t choose my team for me; you will not. There is what we call restitution. Even a devil, if the devil decides to be born again today, he will enter heaven. So if change has come, President Muhammadu Buhari has principles and anybody who accept to work with him must look up to him; must have been tested, tried and found capable of being nominated for ministerial appointment. They know who the man is. He can sack you any day any time you must key into the corruption vision of bringing hope to Nigerians, which is what the president is doing. For now, the Buhari I know from ANPP

to CPC, to APC has been dreaming Nigeria, talking Nigeria and desiring to bring Nigeria to be the Nigeria that everybody will be proud of. If he has assembled his team, the people should wait so that when he fails we will blame him that oh this is the change that you wanted to bring, not to blame the team that he is bringing. For example, people are saying that some of these ministerial nominees are corrupt because there is a mere petition, a mere allegation but they have not been found wanting in any court of law. So how do you substantiate that? Is it that somebody comes and look at you call you a thief and everybody come and stone you and kill you? You must be tried. We will be doing jungle justice if we say okay they say Amaechi is corrupt; he stole money and so he is a thief and because an individual or some crop of individuals somewhere have gang up to say that Amaechi is a thief and so we should get up and join them? No we should follow judicial process of getting who is corrupt. Let ’s try who and who

they are accusing and get to the root of these things and truth will be bared, and President Buhari has said this that in his anticorruption crusade, he does not mind whether you are in APC or whatever; it ’s not about witch-hunting, it ’s not about anything. Take for instance, the case in Benue State, which is not even a probe. I hear people say they are probing the former governor. No, I didn ’t see the Justice Kpojime Commission as a probe commission; it is not, it is just a commission of inquiry. Come and tell us what happened during your time in your ministry you come. If there are grey areas, they will make recommendations and those that will probe will come in. And so if there is a commission of inquiry and people and jumping here and there saying its probe, probe and are finding issues to come and say this thing is witch hunt and that; I didn ’t do that it is left for you. Yes it was that you didn ’t want to do it but whoever that wants it allow him to do it the way he want it. But Nigerians are there. If

he does it wrongly, we will tell the president, if they do it anyhow, we will tell them and the best way to tell them is to come out through the radio, newspapers and even the social media. If they fail to get the message, by 2019, the card reader will transmit the message better. Would you subscribe to the calls for election of legislators on part time basis? I will not; I will not support any call part time legislation. The issue of legislation here; we are not advanced yet. There are many things that are wrong with our system. If you look at the report of the national confab you will see that there is mutual suspicion in Nigeria from all the tribes. Just few days ago, Radio Biafra came on air. There is mutual suspicion and let these issues be addressed. So if we have people who are there as full time legislators they can address this and when we are advanced and reached that level, we can call for part time legislation. For now, the legislative business is tough because we have a lot of issues to look at.

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

‘Buhari must revisit national conference report ’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

cept for the fact that he had boasted that he would be ruthless when it comes to the question of integrity, a president under the constitution can nominate anybody for confirmation to his executive. So there is nothing constitutionally wrong in nominating people with questionable characters. However it is for the senate which in itself is populated by funny characters to say the least, to confirm or reject his nominees. Before the screening of the ministerial nominees started, the senate promised that the screening will be thorough and that it will not be like before. What is your assessment of the ministerial nominees ’ screening? Well, it is all partisan no doubt. The screening exercise is very much partisan .It has been along party lines. It has not been along objective criteria but under the constitution, the constitution allows for that. So even if senate confirms a dubious character as minister, you know a leopard cannot change its spot, before long under the watchful eyes of the public and the press, if the corrupt fellow escape the disapproval of the public then before long, as long as the watchdog, the press and the people do not relax, the fellow will ultimately meet his Waterloo so let just wait and see. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP leaders especially its senators are saying that Buhari ’s war against corruption is sectional and that it is targeted against its members. They also complained that the tribunals are not fair to them. What is your comment on this? In terms of the verdicts of the election petition tribunals it is true that only two governorship results have been stepped down, that of Rivers and that of AkwaIbom. Akwa Ibom they are talking of a considerable number of local governments which virtually means that the whole governorship thing is to be rerun. And incidentally those two states are the ones won by the PDP. These are facts. However if the grouse of the PDP is that there are APC governorship elections that are incorrectly upheld, they should produce the evidence for the people and the people will react. This is because this country is moving rightly in the direction that the people will have the final say. There is something that is called the sovereignty of the people. We are now moving, whether those in government realised it or not, we are moving inexorably towards that direction where the people will be ready now to take their destiny into their hands, a necessary soul for the country. There are many things that are wrong in this country where the people for years are being donkeyed and they have not been able to throw off the yoke. But make no mistake, because of endemic corruption and persistence oppression of the people; they are now reaching that stage. If the PDP are saying that justices or the tribunals are skewed towards protecting APC ’s corruption either in the tribunals or otherwise, they should continue

Braithwaite

LET EACH STATE KEEPS WHAT IT PRODUCES AND LET US AGREE ON A PERCENTAGE THAT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE FEDERAL. NOW THE FEDERAL TAKES EVERYTHING AND DISTRIBUTES LIKE FATHER CHRISTMAS.

WHERE ON EARTH IS THAT DONE? to produce the evidence to the public and the public will definitely act. You were at the last national conference and at the end of your deliberations, you unanimously wrote your decisions in a report to the then president, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. The present government is not saying anything about that report and many Nigerians believe that the report of the conference will solve most of the country ’s problems. Well in fact I heard Buhari saying he would not consider the report of that conference. I heard him saying so. That is very unfortunate and I hope he would reconsider that statement because to ignore the product of that nationalistic labour would be at the peril of any administration that shut its eyes to that work. To me the 2014 national conference was the best conference that was ever held in respect of the political and socio condition of the country. Yes I was a member of that conference and we worked for five to six months and every aspect of our national corporate existence were examined. We

broke into committees to examine various aspects of corporate Nigeria. The product may not be super perfect but as I said it goes a long way to confront and address all the thorny issues of corporate Nigeria. Issues like devolution of power, self determination, and the imbalance of the 1999 constitution which cloaks corrupt public office holders with criminal immunity. Nowhere in the World would people tolerate that kind of constitutional cover for rogues in office. We look into it, we removed it, issues of federal allocation using local governments which is in the Nigeria constitution and which is so inequitable that it robbed some states to provide for other states. Nigeria structural position as it stands now is a prescription for chaos. The imbalance and inequitable structure is a disaster waiting to happen. The future generation will not tolerate this prescription for chaos much longer. So in order to restructure peacefully without taking to arms, the conference tried to reinvent Nigeria in a way that every nook and cran-

nies of the country will prosper at their own pace. Instead of reliance on one commodity, petrol, the committee which I served enjoins people to look inward, that are there enough potential for every zone in the country to generate fund for socio development and enrichment of the state indigenes, instead of every states go to the federal for fund. For instance, now that some states cannot pay salaries and they have to go to the federal government for bail out is due to constitutional imbalance. Let each state keeps what it produces and let us agree on a percentage that will be given to the federal. Now the federal takes everything and distributes like Father Christmas. Where on earth is that done? That is why the potential of the peoples are not being realised and cannot be realised. Under this constitution, they will never be. There will always be brain drain outside because the constitution actually prevent realisation of the potential of the vast areas called Nigeria. All that, the conference looked into and plus more and addressed all the questions of this dangerous constitutional mines and for any president to say he would not look at it to say the least is unfortunate. And already certain zones of Nigeria are seriously looking into this issue that they are not going to tolerate imbalance federation. That this is not truly a federal system. There were so many things, even some of us actually proposed confederacy like you have in Switzerland, like you have in Canada, like you have even in Spain where there were what you might called self government, limited self government . We will still remain the same country but limited self government for each zone to develop at their own pace. I hope Buhari nearly said that as a political stunt for those who just shout change, change. You can change from good to bad for instance, it is still a change. So care has to be taken because some people are pressing nowadays for self determination, limited self determination. Nigeria was 55 at the beginning of this month. How will you assess Nigeria at 55? Not much has been achieved in our 55 years; we should have done more than this. Look at the Asian Tigers; they were behind us, Western Nigeria for instance was more prosperous than some of the Asian Tigers then. Today look at where they are, because of this imbalanced constitution and also corruption, we haven ’t really had a revolutionary leadership to offer leadership in national development. Corruption is everywhere; in fact all the institutions of government have been so weakened without any exception. Having identified all these problems, what is the way forward for the country? As I said earlier sovereignty belongs to the people. Peace, decadence and mediocrity can no longer sustain the underdevelopment of this country. I think if this administration fails to live up to it promise I think it will trigger off a revolution, a social revolution.

Politics News

Sunday November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

PDP, APC bicker over corruption, accountability WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

ogi State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has called on the All Progressive Congress, APC to desist from spreading misinformation about what it described as the burden of corruption. The Chief Communication Manager to the Governor, Mr. Phrank Shaibu who disclosed this said that the choice of Prince Abubakar Audu as the APC governorship flagbearer flies in the face of the President Muhammadu Buhari anti-corruption posture. “His ambition is a direct clash as it relates to the stands of his party, it

is a slap on the Buhari anti-corruption campaign. Yes, there is the presumption that a man/woman is presumed innocent until proven guilty ”, he stressed. “But yet, there is a moral burden here. The case has been going long for as long as you can think, with Prince Abubakar Audu was employing frivolous injunctions to stall the course of justice. “And now, he is trying to hide under the anticorruption mantra to seek immunity from justice. “ Let our dear President Buhari detach himself from Audu Abubakar ’s political quest. Emphatically, Abubakar Audu ’s dusty past of corruption

is a virus that will defame President Buhari ’s stature on anti corruption. The Communication Manager stated that Audu Abubakar ’s issue should be avoided because this is not about today ’s rampant politically motivated accusations, noting that records on Abubakar Audu date back to ten years before the formation of the APC. Indeed, if the APC is not careful, Abubakar Audu ’s ambition will ruin Mr. President ’s good agenda on change. In a swift reaction , the All Progressives Congress, APC in Kogi State has castigated the ruling Peoples Democratic Partyled administration for allegedly squandering over

N.5trillion in the past few years . This was contained in a statement by the Head Media Directorate, Prince Abubakar Audu Governorship Campaign Organization, Dr Tom Ohikere who said that despite the dearth of social infrastructure in the state, the PDP government under Governor Idris Wada has wasted over N.5 trillion without any proper financial record. The statement read in part: “The PDP government in Kogi State has received and spent over N.5 trillion since 2003 without proper financial accounting to the people of the state. The PDP government in the state has been operating as if the state is a personal enter-

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai (right) and Director, Amir Chand Institute, Dr. Savita Chandra, during the Kaduna State 2nd Health Care Summit, in Kaduna, recently. PHOTO: NAN

prise. “The Wada government in particular has refused to render any financial records to date and thereby negating the principle of stewardship and account-

ability. “It is neither a responsible nor a responsive government. It is a government that is deficient in integrity and bereft of modern democratic principles.

Bayelsa LP adopts Sylva as governorship candidate OSAHON JULIUS YENAGOA

he leadership of the Labour Party in Bayelsa state, yesterday announced that the party has adopted the flagbearer of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Chief Timipre Sylva as its candidate for the December 5th poll . The decision, which generated a walkout by the Labour Party leaders from Kolokuma/Opokuma local Government area of the state due to the perceived governorship ambition of the former chairman of the party, Ado Bobo. LP leaders, after an emergency State Executive Committee meeting held in Yenagoa on Friday, said the decision was influenced by the assurances from the APC flagbearer, Chief Timipre Sylva on the need to embark on pragmatic development agenda and accelerated youths empowerment policies. The Secretary of the party, Comrade Ebiowe Olomu, while reading the communiqué, argued that the decision to enter into a pact with the APC was not a merger but a decision to support the APC on the quest for verifiable change in the State. Olomu, stated that the

Labour Party received lots of offers from various political parties on issue of partnership, “having examined their plans for the development of our dear state, we are convinced that the APC is offering Bayelsa a better deal ”. According to Olomu, ”the relationship with the APC is not a merger but a relationship that is expected to benefit Labour Party, the APC and the people of the State. We shall ensure that the APC government takes practical steps towards economic diversification as shift from mere intellectual seminars and jamborees that have benefitted or made impact positively on the economic base of the State. ” “We took the decision to ensure that the State is moved away into a state where there will be no master and servant relationship between the Government and the Governed. A state where the government will not see her senior citizen as being unproductive. A state where culture of winner takes all is cast aside. We want to create a paradigm shift from the shackles of gloom, poverty and deprivation to an upward Mobile Society where our collective inputs will be harnessed for the benefit of all ”, he stated.

Election Tribunals ’ judgements recongure political landscape CONTINUED FROM PAGE 53

ernor ’s office. Last Tuesday in Ibadan, the Oyo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed his petition and upheld the election of Governor Abiola Ajimobi. The unanimous judegment was read by the Chairman of the threeman panel, Justice Mohammed Mayaki. The tribunal held that Ladoja and AP “failed woefully ” to prove their allegations of rigging, electoral malpractices, violence and non-compliance with the Electoral Act among others, beyond

reasonable doubts. The tribunal resolved all the issues determined in favour of Ajimobi. It rejected the evidences presented by all Ladoja ’s witnesses, saying they were not specific to incidents as claimed and also that they failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubts. After the judgement, APC supporters took to the streets in jubilation. The Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba has also dismissed the petitions filed by the governorship candidates of LP and APC challenging the election of Mr. Ifeanyi

Okowa as governor on April 11. The candidates: Great Ogboru (LP) and O ’tega Emerhor (APC) challenged the declaration of Okowa of PDP as the winner with 724,680 votes, defeating Ogboru who polled 130,028 votes, and Emerhor with 67,825 votes. Delivering the judgement, Justice Nasir Gunmi, the chairman, dismissed the petitions for what he described as lack of merit and the inability by the petitioners to prove their cases beyond reasonable doubts. If there is one party that has suffered greatly from the decisions of the

tribunals in the last couple of weeks, it is the PDP. While reacting to the Akwa Ibom and Rivers states Governorship Election Tribunal rulings, the party cried out to its members, “supporters and lovers of democracy across the country to rise up and use all lawful means to resist anti-democratic forces, now using the judiciary and security agencies in their desperate scheme to subvert the will of the people and destroy the nation ’s democracy ”. The party said though it seeks peace, it was not ready to accept the peace of a graveyard, neither was it willing to surren-

der the mandate freely given to it by the people in any part of the country, particularly in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia, Taraba and other states where it won in the last general elections. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP stated: “Let it be known and clearly too, that no matter the strongarm tactics, threats and manipulations by the APC government, the PDP is not willing to and will never surrender the mandate freely given to us by the people in states where we won in the last general elections, neither

are the people of those states willing to allow sectional invaders to exert influence on those to be in charge of their affairs. ” The party said the desperation so far exhibited by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government in manipulating sensitive agencies of state like the judiciary and the security to further its bid to take over the rich states of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta is totally against the spirit of democracy and peace bestowed by the PDP in conceding defeat at the Presidential election, but instead, an affront to the people and recipe for crisis in the polity.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sunday, November 1, 2015

North NEWS

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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Nasarawa LGs in a state of coma, says Al-Makura IGBAWASE UKUMBA, LAFIA

overnor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa has said that despite the Federal Government bailout funds, local government areas in the state are still in a state of coma. The governor made this pronouncement at the Lafia Government House during the state’s Joint Account Allocation Committee, JAAC, meeting, adding that like physicians, they have to tell the patient his real ailment. He said that the N4.3 billion bailout given to the council areas in the state would only pay up to the month of September in full, but for the month of October, Al-Makura disclosed that the councils would only do with what it received from the Federation Account. His words: “Government wage bill for local governments in the state stands at N2.2 billion per month, and what local governments jointly are getting now in this month of October is N1.2 billion, so there is a shortfall of N 1billion of which the bailout has faded. “So local government workers should be thinking about receiving 50 per cent salaries in October, because we should be like physicians who tell the patient his real ailment, and they should know that despite this bailout, local governments are in a state of coma in the state.” He gave the essence of the JAAC meeting as an av-

enue to brainstorm in order to ensuring that the revenue which is accrued to local government is shared in accordance to the constitution and the guidelines of such

distribution. “It should not be misconstrued today that the state government has any dealings in the local government joint account. As far

as this administration is concerned, since it unfolded, we never had any financial dealings with the local governments,” he explained. The governor therefore

EFCC boss in Kano charged with contempt ABDULGAFAR OLADIMEJI KANO

Kano State High court sitting in Gezawa judicial division has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission boss, Kano zone to appear before it to show cause why the commission should not be held responsible for contempt of court and its head punished. The commission had initially appeared before the court over an alleged flagrant disobedience of an order issued by the court on May 25 to release vehicles in its

custody belonging to a Kanobased businesswoman, Zainab Usman Bichi, to the care of the deputy sheriff in the High Court of justice. The court gave judgement in favour of the woman and ordered the commission to release her property and further ordered EFCC to pay N3 million as compensation. Counsel to EFCC, Salisu Sani, requested the court to hold back the execution of its judgement, noting that the commission would appeal. In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Yahya granted the request for stay of execution

on the premise that the property belonging to Zainab be kept in the custody of the deputy sheriff pending the hearing and the determination of the appeal challenging the verdict by his court. Due to the failure to comply with the court order directing EFCC to relocate her properties to the office of the deputy sheriff, the Kano businesswoman through her counsel, Barrister I. I. Wangida, filed a motion requesting the court to commit the head of operations, EFCC Kano zone to prison for violating an order of the court.

MAIDUGUYRI

ow turnout marred Borno Central byeelections as most of the voters decided to remain

indoors despite the vehicular movement restriction on the Maiduguri metropolitan Council, where the elections of the eight local governments that constitute the senatorial district

were held.

Our correspondent reports that most of the voters within Maiduguri metropolis decided to remain indoors, but the turnout in the IDPs

camps were impressive, as the ruling APC government in the state mobilised the IDPs living within the host communities to the camps to cast their votes.

Igbo community endorses Wada for second term WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

he Igbo Community in Kogi State has endorsed the candidacy of the incumbent governor, Captain Idris Wada, for a second term in office. President General of Ndigbo in 19 northern states, Chief Joseph Enyeama, who disclosed this while receiving the governor at a town hall meeting in Lokoja, the state capital, stated that Kogi State had witnessed peace-

Counsel to EFCC told the court that the lawyer handling the matter could be in court due to he was away to Abuja on a special assignment, In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Yahya order the commission to appear before the court on November 9 to explain and show cause why the zonal head of the commission in charge of Kano zone should not be held for committing contempt of court and to further demonstrate, why the EFCC boss should not be punished accordingly.

Director General, National Orientation Agency, Mr. Mike Omeri (right) presenting a complimentary plaque to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, during a courtesy visit to the royal palace in Sokoto, at the weekend.

Low turnout mars Borno central bye-elections INUSA NDAHI

warned people who are bent on stigmatising his government that his regime would not condone that. “We would not want a situation where we will have

ful coexistence with other tribes. Chief Enyeama explained that the Igbo could attest to these because they are beneficiaries of the peaceful atmosphere in the state, noting that peace is very important to sustained development. “We thank God for you because you are the athlete of this peace which has boosted the moral of Ndigbo to diversify their investment in Kogi State,” he said. Enyeama pointed that the Igbo have been following

the governor’s developmental master plan which he believed would take Kogi to the next level after the governor’s second tenure. He highlighted some of the challenges faced by members of Igbo community which include the forceful revocation of titles to parcel of land meant to build schools, shortage of pilgrimage slots, non-patronage for government contracts and demand for two slots for post of special assistant in the cabinet, urging the governor

to look into all these as a matter of urgency. Responding, Wada commended the Igbo Community for peaceful coexistence with their hosts, stressing that Igbo community has contributed immensely to economic development of the state. He stated that the campaign season was already here, adding that people would tell what they would do and not do adding, “for us when we came out to campaign we speak the truth.

An INEC official at one of the units in Zannari ward said the turnout was low, as at 11:30 a.m., he only accredited 40 voters compared to over 400 during the general elections. When asked whether the low turnout could be attributed to the bombings, he said this was not the case as the polling units were properly secured, but acknowledged widespread voter’s apathy. Speaking shortly after casting his votes, the All progress Congress, Hon. Baba Kaka Garbai, said he was impressed with the turnout of voters and the security arrangement put in place by the INEC so far and called on the electorates to conduct

this sitting and some people would come to insinuate or go around spreading lies to cause confusion in the state,” Al-Makura reiterated.

Northern borders most porous, says ex-ambassador WILLIAMS ATTAH GOMBE

igeria’s former ambassador to the Kingdom of Kuwait, Alhaji Haruna Garba, has described borders in the North as the most used by people who illegally intend to get to Europe. He has therefore advised the Federal Government to devise means of blocking these illegal routes and checkmate unnecessary migrations of Nigerians to other countries. He told journalists in Gombe during an interview at the weekend that most Nigerians who embark on the dangerous and pathetic outing end up losing their lives without reaching their destinations. According to him, “people use the borders in the northern part of the country to travel to North Africa with the sole aim of going to Europe. The outing is very disastrous; most of them lose their lives before reaching their destination”.

themselves maturely. He said, “The election so far is impressive, as the turnout is encouraging and I have not received any complain from any of my agents. I think INEC, security and the electorates should be commended”. Also addressing newsmen at his family residence in Bolori ward, the senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Hon. Kaka Bolori commended the turnout of the electorates but however complain on the way and manner the INEC and the police were aiding the APC, alleging that no matter how they rig, he knows that he is going to win, as the electorate are with him.

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South NEWS

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Ex-Speaker decries new tax regime in Ekiti ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

ormer Speaker of Ekiti House of Assembly and All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship aspirant, Hon Femi Bamisile, has criticised the new tax regime in Ekiti State, saying it is imposing hardship on the people.

Bamisile said that “with the new unrealistic tax being levied, the state governor has alienated himself from the people of Ekiti”. The APC chieftain, who spoke during his visit to Igede Ekiti in the Irepodun/Ifelodun local council area of the state to distribute free petrol to commercial motorcyclists

in the council, spoke against the backdrop of the taxes rolled out by the state government as part of efforts to boost the revenue of the state. According to him, the series of taxes being allegedly imposed on the people by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government had distinguished the APC as a better political party to manage the state. Bamisile said: “This gesture is part of our (APC) effort to make life bearable to the people and contribute to their economy. Now that the present government in the state has derailed and started alienating the people,

then it will be easy for us to remove the PDP. “We have to start a process of rebuilding our party. We have done our findings on why we lost the June 21, 2014 governorship poll. We lost because we did not connect the way we were expected to connect with the people despite former Governor Kayode Fayemi’s good performance. “This is one of the reasons why I start campaigning now. We are interacting with artisans, civil servants, business people and politicians across party lines to aggregate their opinions on how best to approach the 2018 election. I want to

emphasise that the task of achieving this requires collective efforts and this we must do to get to the Promised Land,” he said. Bamisile added that the APC would draw inspiration from President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral victory and work assiduously to dislodge any candidate to be fielded by the governor and his PDP rather than being complacent. The APC chieftain told the supporters: “That President Buhari won the Presidency is not enough for our people here in Ekiti. We need to win Ekiti so that our members and the entire Ekiti people can have unfettered access to

L-R: Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; the Dagburewe of Idowa, Oba Adekoya Oladele Agbonmagbe II and the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba(Dr) Sikiru Kayode Adetona during Dagburewe’s 80th birthday and the commissioning of his ultra-modern palace at Idowa, Odogbolu, Ogun State.

Amosun congratulates new Ooni of Ife

...Yoruba kingmakers urged to ensure peaceful transitions FEMI OYEWESO AND ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

gun State Governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, has congratulated the new Ooni of Ife, Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi on his selection to mount the throne of his forefathers.

Amosun, while congratulating the new monarch, urged him to see his selection as a call to render selfless service to not only Ife people but the generality of Nigerians and indeed humanity. The Ogun governor told Ogunwusi, who would be crowned the 51st Ooni of Ife, to see his emergence as an opportunity to further promote the sense of unity and cooperation

among the Yoruba. Amosun also advised the Ife monarch, who was selected from among 21 contestants presented by the Giesi ruling house, to now use his position to bring all the contestants together and create harmony. He urged the immediate family members of the new monarch to be prepared to support him to make a success of his reign. Amosun also congratulated the kingmakers on the peaceful manner the new monarch was selected. Meanwhile, the Atayero of Aramoko Ekiti, Omooba Olusegun Aderemi, has advised kingmakers and stakeholders in the emergence of traditional rulers in Yorubaland to emulate the peaceful process of selecting the new Ooni.

Aderemi, a contender to the throne of the Alara of Aramoko, said: “If the kingship institutions in Yorubaland can emulate this, there would be peace. This will translate to development”. The Atayero, who spoke in Aramoko Ekiti during the yearly Ege Kaun (Egungun) Festival, said: “What happened at Ile Ife, the source where we came from, how Prince Enitan Ogunwusi emerged as Ooni without rancour, is a thing of joy which all Yoruba towns should replicate to avoid the messy turbulent succession crises in many communities”. He assured the crowd that gathered to be part of the celebration that justice would prevail in the matter pending at the Supreme Court over the Alara stool

which he contested. Aderemi described the festival as a celebration of success in remembrance of a mother, who hailed from Ado Ekiti and gave birth to an only son who became monarch of Aramoko Ekiti. Atayero, who led the carnival-like procession during the ceremony, said the yearly festival had been a source of joy to the community. Secretary of the Atayero Ruling House of Aramoko Ekiti, Prince Remi Adedayo, said: “The advantages of this festival are enormous. There are always solutions to problems such as barrenness, sicknesses and joblessness etc. All bad and untoward things in the community are washed away”.

good governance. “How many of our people can gain access to Buhari in Abuja? Though, the man has been doing well with the way he manages the country. We will work hard and ensure that we remove the PDP from the Government House in Ekiti.

“Very soon, we will start giving out Microcredit to women and youths to set up businesses. Our own kind of empowerment won’t be the same with the poorly packaged Stomach Infrastructure that being used to deceive Ekiti people at present,” Bamisile said.

APC chieftain lauds Senate’s confirmation of ministerial nominees RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

ome politicians in Cross River State over the weekend expressed optimism that government activities would pick up quickly following the confirmation of new ministers by the Senate.

Fielding question from journalists in Calabar, the All Progressives Congress, APC, deputy governorship candidate for the April 2015 guber elections, Mr. Sylvester Nsa, said with the confirmation of the ministerial nominees, the Buhari Administration “will soon settle down for business”. The APC deputy guber candidate, who lauded senators for clearing the nominees, added that he was optimistic that the ministers would put in their best in the service of the nation. “The senators did a good job during the screening and I have no doubt that the nominees will perform creditably on assumption of office’and I also commended President Buhari for selecting a team of technocrats and politi-

cians to serve in his cabinet”, he said. Nsa expressed appreciation to the President for appointing eminent sons and daughters of Cross River into exalted positions in his administration. “We are proud of the appointments of the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ibokete Ibas, and the Head of the Federal Civil Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, from Cross River State. We are extremely grateful to President Buhari for also nominating another great son of the state, Pastor Usani Usani, as minister,” he added. Also speaking on the issue, a community leader in the state, Chief Effiong Ita Umoh, also thanked the lawmakers for confirming the ministerial nominees. Umoh pointed out that the confirmation of the nominees by the lawmakers had calmed Nigerians over delay in the constitution of the Federal Executive Council and charged those given appointment to live up to expectation so as not to betray the confidence reposed in them.

Spanish companies woo more Nigerian partners

hief Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of Spain in Nigeria, Mr Pablo Segrelles, has said that Spanish companies are ready to have Nigerian partners for their investments and products.

Segrelles told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that their growing interest in Nigeria was due to President Muhammadu Buhari’s ongoing effort at fighting corruption. “More and more Spanish companies and investors are now seeing the need to come and invest and do business with their would-be Nigerian partners. “These companies have found out that there are good business and investment opportunities in Nigeria. “We value President Buhari’s current push against

corruption so much, and this is beginning to make more Spanish companies come to Nigeria to look for partners’’, he said. The envoy said that a business delegation of 11 Spanish companies from Valenciana and Andalucia, recently visited Lagos and had fruitful partnership discussion with their would-be Nigerian partners. Segrelles said the companies had the opportuny of introducing their products and services including agriculture development solutions and pharmaceutical products to some Nigerians dealing in them. Segrelles said that the business delegation also introduced Spanish food and wine, olive oil and interior decoration to their Nigerian partners.

Sport

Gattuso: It’s my turn to teach football P. 62

Sport KEEPING YOU ABREAST OF SPORTING NEWS Sunday, November 1, 2015

U-17 World Cup: Nwakali eyes more family glory I

t would be stretching the truth a little to say that Nigeria playmaker and Captain Kelechi Nwakali already knows what it means to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup. “I was in the pre-World Cup training squad in 2013 but I didn’t make the squad that went on to win the trophy,” he explained in an interview with FIFA. com. “My brother Chidiebere was there, though, and of course I felt proud and happy for the other players.” Nor did Nwakali have the opportunity to travel to United Arab Emirates to cheer on his brother, a defender who contributed two goals to the Golden Eaglets’ triumphant campaign. Explaining why, the younger of the two Nwakali boys said: “I had to train at the academy and it would have been impossible for me to go. I didn’t have any contact with him during the tournament because he had to focus on playing. Obviously, I watched all the games on TV though.” Eighteen months younger than his sibling, Kelechi was not even at home to welcome the returning hero, with football once again the culprit: “I was

away playing in a tournament and I only saw him a week later. We spoke about everything and he said that what drove him on the most was his desire to make the people of Nigeria happy.” So what is driving the No 10 on at Chile 2015? “Winning. We came here to retain the trophy. We want to win the title and we haven’t come for anything less.” On the basis of his side’s performances at Chile 2015 so far, Nwakali seems to have every chance of achieving his goal, with Nigeria going into their quarter-final duel with Brazil as favourites, not that he is getting carried away about that: “It’s a mistake to say that simply because we beat Australia 6-0 and they beat New Zealand 1-0. It doesn’t matter how they won. They won because they were better and that’s all we should be worried about.” The two sides faced off in a friendly in Korea Republic a few months ago, the Nigerians emerging 3-2 winners. Again, however, the Golden Eaglets’ skipper, who has two goals; both penalties and two assists to his name so far at Chile 2015, refuses to see that meeting as a pointer: “It was just a friendly,

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New Zealand beat Australia to retain Rugby World Cup P. 61

and this game will be totally different. It doesn’t matter what others say because we’ll never underestimate anyone, least of all Brazil.” Focusing on what the Nigerians need to do to win the game, he added: “We’re young players and the one thing we have to strive for is to get better in every game. The only way we can win this competition is to surpass ourselves in each and every match, and we do that by listening to the coach. He’s the one who’s brought us here and he has the experience that’s needed.” It is no surprise that Nwakali should mention coach Emmanuel Amuneke, given the key role he plays for the Nigeria boss on the pitch: “I am sort of his righthand man because he usually gives me instructions to pass on to the rest of my team-mates.” Yet, as Nwakali went on to explain, as soon as the whistle sounds, Amuneke lets the players take control: “The coach always tells us that when the game starts he can’t be on top of us all the time. He encourages us to think for ourselves and to make our own decisions.” Rare is the moment when Nwakali is not thinking about football. “It’s been that way since I was 11,” he said. “When I’m not on the pitch, I’m watching matches on TV or playing football games on my phone.” His role model is Yaya Toure: “I love watching him play because he loves to win. That’s all he wants. You can see it in the way he plays, the way he runs and even in the way he walks on the pitch.” Though Nwakali is still at the academy where he learned his trade, he has hopes one day of going on to bigger things: “I want to play for a side that’s going places, like Manchester City.” Should he do so, he would be following in the footsteps of brother Chidiebere, who has signed for City and is currently on loan with Spanish side Girona. Talking of his older brother again, did he get any advice from him before setting off for Chile? “None. We’re close but he’s got his own career to think about. We haven’t even spoken about it and nor will we. Just as he did two years ago, I need to concentrate on what I’m experiencing here. I have to focus on improving so that we can be champions.”

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Sport

Sunday, November 1, 2015

New Zealand beat Australia to retain Rugby World Cup

Knockout

ew Zealand are world champions once again after they held off a fierce Australian comeback to win a thrilling World Cup final and become the first team to retain their title. Wonderful tries from Nehe Milner-Skudder and Ma’a Nonu had given the All Blacks a 21-3 lead early in the second half before David Pocock and Tevita Kuridrani struck back. With 15 minutes to go there were just four points in it, but a nerveless long-distance dropgoal and penalty from Dan Carter snatched back control. And when replacement Beauden Barrett sprinted away onto Ben Smith’s clearing kick at the death history was made, with New Zealand also becoming the first three-time champions of the world. The achievement is a fitting farewell to their phalanx of retiring greats.

IFEANYI Eduzor

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08055829770 ifeduz24@yahoo.com

GOtv boxing: Stakeholders, fans hail organisers

S New Zealand Rugby team celebrates after winning the 2015 World Cup

Carter was outstanding under a ferocious Wallaby assault, landing 19 points from the tee, and his captain Richie McCaw was not far behind as their side was tested to the limit. They have been the outstanding side of this generation, and once again found a way to win when the heat came on from their

great trans-Tasman rivals. The All Blacks came out at pace, McCaw smashing opposite number Michael Hooper, Wallabies’ skipper Stephen Moore bloodied in the face and Carter curling over a testing penalty from out wide for 3-0 before Bernard Foley’s simpler effort leveled it up.

U-17 World Cup: Amuneke admits battle royale against Brazil he Estadio Sausalito in Vina del Mar will come alive again on today when Nigeria and Brazil for the first time in the history of the global cadet championship clash for a semi final ticket at the underway FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015. There is a healthy rivalry between both countries with Nigeria slightly ahead of Brazil with four titles as against three under the belt of the South Americans and Golden Eaglets’ Head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has admitted here that it will be

a battle royale when the two most accomplished teams at this level ‘trade tackles.’ “Our match against Brazil on today is not a cup final but I agree with you that it is not going to be an easy match either,” Amuneke told thenff.com “This is one more game towards our objectives; the Brazilian team is very good and over a month ago, we beat them 2-1 at the Suwon U-17 Youth International Tournament in South Korea.

Amuneke

takeholders and boxing fans in the country have lauded GOtv, headline sponsors of GOtv Boxing Night, for the successful organisation of the fourth edition of the six-bout professional boxing event and their contributions to the revival of the sport. The event, which held on last Sunday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, left stakeholders and the audience in raptures. Secretary-General of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), Remi Aboderin described the championship as the lifeline that has saved the sport from going into extinction. “Everybody associated with boxing must be grateful to GOtv for rescuing the sport from the doldrums. Without funding and high quality organization by GOtv and Flykite Productions, the promoters, I wonder what would have happened to boxing,” he said. Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, PresidentGeneral of the Nigerian Supporters Club and member of the NBB of C, shares similar sentiments. “GOtv has offered boxers the opportunity of fighting more regularly, something that was not happening before, and the sport is back on a sound footing. If we keep this up, the sport will fully recover in no time,” he said. Fans at the event were ef-

fusive in their commendations for the sponsors, with many of them hoping that the event grows and for the country to produce a world champion soon. Ottoh “Joe Boy” Joseph was the revelation of the fourth edition of the championship as he was named the best boxer of the event. He defeated Nurudeen “Prince” Fatai in a national lightweight challenge contest to win the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial trophy and the cash prize of N1m. Another winner on the night was Waidi “Skoro” Usman, the West African Featherweight champion, who knocked out Taofik “Taozon” Bisuga in the fourth round of their eight-round contest. Olaide “Fijaborn” Fijabi, first winner of the N1m jack pot also came out triumphant when he defeated Saheed “Happy Boy” Olayiwola by a fifth round knockout of their Light Welterweight challenge contest. Isiaka “Easy Lion” Yusuf was knocked out by Stanley “Edo Boy” Eribo in the third round of their national featherweight challenge bout. The night’s major bout saw Nigeria’s Isaac Ekpo, a former Commonwealth Super Middleweight champion dominating Burkina Faso’s Jules Kabore, who he knocked out in the fifth round of the scheduled 10-round bout. The first fight of the night featured Jamiu “Naval Man” Olabode against Pelumi “Haggler” Sodubi, who was knocked in the second round.

Abia Warriors battle Enyimba in Abia El–Classico IGWE ONUOHA

UMUAHIA

t is going to be battle royale on today, the 1st of November, 2015 when Abia Warriors Football club of Umuahia host league leaders, Enyimba international of Aba in what has been widely described as the‘Abia el-classico”.

The Peoples Elephant will be visiting Umuahia with the intention of breaking the jinx of never defeating their oriental brothers in the Premier league since the capital club made it to the elite class two seasons ago. In their previous three meetings, Abia Warriors have an edge with a win and two draws.

Wolves’ official banned from NPFL matches

he spokesman of Warri Wolves, Moses Etu, has been charged with improper conduct following his comments on one of the social media platforms this week. Etu had commented on a thread on Facebook by alleging that the Abia derby between Abia Warriors and Enyimba billed for the Umuahia Township Stadium will be thrown by the former. The Wolves media officer posted on Facebook saying: “Abia Warriors will sell out if not.” Enyimba and Wolves are regarded as title contenders in the Nigeria

Professional Football League (NPFL) this season with the former leading the standings with 65 points, six more than the Warri club in third place. The League Management Company, which oversees the Nigerian top-flight, has now charged Etu “for breaching Article C1 and Clause 1 appendix E of the Code of Conduct for club officials as contained in the Framework and Rules of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).” Etu has also been fined N100, 000 for his conduct and slammed with a stadium ban for the rest of the season.

In their first Premier league season, Abia Warriors, with 1-0 win became the only team to beat Enyimba in their fortress in Aba while the second leg encounter ended 3-3 in Umuahia. Earlier this season at the Enyimba International stadium, Aba, the two sides settled for a 2-2 draw. But on current form, Enyimba on 65 points lead their neighbours by 15 points and the six-time Nigerian champions are gunning for their seventh title and do not see the Warriors stopping them. On 60 and 59 Points respectively, Giwa FC of Jos and Warri Wolves are however giving Enyimba a run for their money but luckily, Enyimba’s last home match of the season is against the Seasiders in Aba. So Enyimba’s championship ambition is not actually tied to the Abia Warriors match on today contrary to the widely held view but rather the match against Warri Wolves where they have their fate in their own hands.

Action recorded at GOtv boxing night

Canelo: I’m totally focused on Cotto Former WBC /WBA Super Welterweight champion, Canelo Álvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs), said at his workout that he is fully focused on his forthcoming fight with WBC, Ring Magazine and Lineal Middleweight World Champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) slated for November 21 even as he promised that he is fully prepared for the bout. Oscar De La Hoya, chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, surprised Canelo at the workout with a special presentation to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Mexican superstar fighter’s first professional

fight, a fourth-round technical knockout that took place Oct. 29, 2005 in his hometown of Jalisco, Mexico. “We are very prepared for this fight. It has been a great training camp we have been working on technique to make sure we are not surprised on fight night. “I have had great sparring partners for this fight, focusing on Cotto’s style of fighting. We also know he is a southpaw and that has been something we always work on. “I am not afraid of any fighter, but right now I am focused on Cotto. Once this fight is over we can move on to the next big fight.

Sport

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gennaro Gattuso has never been known to shy from a battle. Whenever the going got tough, this famously combative midfielder would invariably get going, with few in world football able to match his tenacity.

Gattuso

Allied to energy, ability and tactical astuteness, this personality established Gattuso as an integral, even indispensable figure for a succession of Italy and AC Milan coaches. It also ensured that he ended a glittering playing career having won the UEFA Champions League on two occasions, earned 73 caps and conquered the world with both club and country. Now, though, this scrapper supreme faces a different kind of battle. Establishing his credentials as a top-level coach is the challenge he faces and, so far at least, it has been tougher than even his most demanding midfield skirmishes. Spells in charge of Sion, Palermo and OFI Crete have been short and less than sweet, and there were some who wondered whether Gattuso would ever return to the dugout after resigning his post in Greece last December. In this exclusive interview with FIFA.com, Gattuso reflects on his playing style, the midfielders he admires most and memories of Germany 2006 World Cup.

s ’ t I : o s u t t a G h c a e t o t n r my tu football How are you enjoying life at Pisa? I’m getting on very well. I work for an illustrious club that had some fantastic times for so many years. The city is beautiful, and it lives and breathes football. You’re unbeaten so far this season and sit third in the league. Are you happy with the way the team is taking shape? Well, we started late. We’ve been working together for barely a couple of months but we hope to continue the way we’ve started. Ten players arrived in the final days before the transfer window closed: some weren’t regular starters, others had little or no preseason under their belts. But I’m very pleased with the business we did. We can remember Pisa, prior to its financial problems, featuring frequently in Serie A during the 80s and 90s. Do you believe those heights can be reached again? I think we have everything it takes to do that. A lot of money has been spent in recent years, but to do well in football requires not just money but also the right expertise ; people who know how to crunch the numbers, who know how to spend wisely and especially how to buy the best players. With Fabrizio Lucchesi as chairman I think all of this is achievable. The main objective is to grow and get as high as possible. First and foremost, we have to become a group and I’d say that we’re on the right

track. But we have to keep working. How have you found the experience of overseeing a match from the dugout as coach, rather than being at the heart of it all as a midfield general? They’re two completely different jobs. Having been a good player can help you, but a coach’s job is much more complex. I’m no longer a student now; it’s my turn to teach football. The key to our success was definitely Marcello Lippi: he was our leader, we relied on him, he had charisma and made us feel valued and protected. You were a famously passionate, hard-working and determined player. Do those same characteristics mark you out as a coach? How would you describe your style of dealing with players? I demand a lot from myself, I’m picky and, above all, I’m someone who goes about things with a lot of professionalism and wants to do them properly. I’m a tough nut too and this flaw, if you want to call it that, has stayed with me as a coach. But in recent years I’ve changed my attitude with the players. I used to be tough on them too, whereas now my priority is to prepare the team in the best way possible. Once all the work is done I let the players have their own space; I’m not breathing down their necks all day.

You played under some truly great coaches. Is there any in particular you feel you learned most from? .Any closest to you in terms of style? With my personality it’s difficult to copy someone or adopt certain approaches. I have my own way of doing things and I have to convey that to my players. As a footballer I was lucky enough to play for big clubs and, when I got there, I knew exactly how to behave and what to do. As a coach I’m now working with a lot of young people, some of whom are coming straight out of the youth ranks: with them I can’t behave in the same way that my coaches behaved with me. I have to make them understand the importance of the work and professionalism it takes to get to the top. Many Italian players and coaches stay in Italy their whole careers, but you have moved abroad on several occasions ; starting when you were just 19, signing for Rangers. Do you feel you’ve benefited from your experiences in Scotland, Switzerland and Greece? Those experiences had a big and very positive influence on me. Whoever watches me working on the pitch immediately notices that my methods are slightly different from the Italian way , they’re closer to the English style. For example, I like to work at a very high tempo and on the day after a match

I prefer to get straight back into training. Going abroad enriched me as a player, but also as a coach. Please tell us about the 2006 World Cup. What do you remember most, and what was the key to Italy’s success? I have so many memories of that experience. I mean, for me, wearing the national shirt was always something special. When I was there in the middle of the pitch and I heard the national anthem, I got goose-bumps and thought back to my beautiful childhood. But perhaps my biggest impression of that World Cup was on our arrival at the training camp in Duisburg. In my 12 years in the national side, that was the only time that our training camp hotel didn’t have five stars and maybe that was one of the most important factors. But the key to our success was definitely Marcello Lippi: he was our leader, we relied on him. He had charisma and made us feel valued and protected. The chief architect of that World Cup victory was him. As part of an AC Milan team that won two Champions Leagues, do you see Rossoneri and Italian teams in general winning this prize again in the near future? To win major trophies like the Champions League you have to have champions in your team. At Milan in those years, we could afford to have the likes of Alessandro Costacurta, Jaap Stam, Rivaldo, Rui Costa and Filippo Inzaghi on the bench. We had a squad

consisting of 22 to 23 toplevel athletes. In order for Milan and Italian football as a whole to get back into contention, we have to start investing again. We need the economy to recover, new stadiums to be built and big personalities in the mould of Silvio Berlusconi, Massimo Moratti or Andrea Agnelli to make major new investments. You were seen as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of your era. Who do you admire playing your position these days? I really like Radja Nainggolan. Although we aren’t that similar, because he’s definitely better than me technically, I consider him to be one of the strongest players in that role. He knows how to link up the defensive and attacking phases of the game in a balanced way. Was there one central midfield partner in particular you feel you linked up with and complemented especially well? I’d have to say Andrea Pirlo. I played with him for ten years at Milan; I went through the whole national set-up with him, from youth level to the senior side. We must have played more than 500 games together. In the last few years we only needed to look at each other to know what the other was thinking. He started out as an attacking playmaker, Carlo Mazzone and later Carlo Ancelotti had the foresight to stick him deeper in midfield. I think I was important to him; in the same way, he made my own job in midfield that much easier.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

afael Nadal will meet top seed Roger Federer in the final of the ATP Swiss Indoors event in Basel on today. Nadal, the third seed came through a tight semi-final with France’s Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6, 9-7 in two hours and five minutes. Federer is on course for his seventh title at his home event beating American Jack Sock 6-3 6-4 in an hour. Earlier, Britain’s Jamie Murray and Australian partner John Peers reached the men’s doubles final. They progressed with victory over Britain’s Dominic Inglot and

Sport

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt 7-5 1-6 1210. Nadal holds a 23-10 lead over his old rival Federer, winning 6-1 6-3 their last ATP final meeting at the Italian Open in 2013. The Spaniard said: “I have played against Roger hundreds of times around the world, in Madrid a couple of times in finals, but I have never played him in his home.’’ Gasquet’s defeat to Nadal also settled the field for the eight-man World Tour Finals in London from November 15, with Japan’s Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer of Spain taking the last two spots.

Swiss Indoors: Nadal, Federer to meet in final

Chelsea suffer fresh blow as City stay top Gunners hot on C City’s heels A Mourinho

helsea’s miserable start to the English Premier League season continued as the troubled English champions crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Liverpool. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s mounting problems took centre stage on a dramatic day in the Premier League which saw Manchester City stay top after escaping with a late 2-1 win against Norwich City. Arsenal are second, behind City on goal difference, after defeating Swansea 3-0 in an especially strong second-half display, while misfiring Manchester United failed to find the net once again in a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace.

Van Gal

rsenal kept pace with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after going up a gear in the second-half to win 3-0 at Swansea. The Gunners were second-best in the first period but had a couple of narrow escapes and then took the lead through Oliver Giroud just after half-time. And the decisive moment of the match came in the 68th minute when Laurent Koscielny turned the ball into a gaping net and the goal was allowed to stand, although the Swansea players were convinced goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had been fouled.

Misfiring United draw blank at Palace

ose Mourinho believes he will be given time to turn around Chelsea’s fortunes after Liverpool fought back from a goal down to inflict a sixth Premier League defeat this season. The champions, who are also out of the League Cup, are 15th in the table following Saturday’s 3-1 home loss. Asked if he thought it was his last game in charge, he said: “No, I don’t.” The 52-year-old told BBC Sport: “The fans aren’t stupid. They know how much myself and the players are trying.” Mourinho has never lost more than six league matches in an entire league campaign as Chelsea manager, and says both he and the team will continue to battle. “The fight goes on, but sometimes there are fights very impossible to win. You go to a fight with different ammunition,” he added, having been

Wenger

Toure

Federer

I will remain in charge, says Mourinho

anchester United failed to score for the third game in a row as they held out for a goalless draw at Crystal Palace. It was the Eagles who created the better chances in a tight contest at Selhurst Park, with Yannick Bolasie hitting the bar after 11 minutes. Yohan Cabaye volleyed wide from close range in the second half before Scott Dann headed just past the post from a corner. David de Gea also saved from Dwight Gayle, while United offered little attacking threat at the other end.

aya Toure’s late penalty bailed out Joe Hart and secured three points for Manchester City in a narrow 2-1 win over Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium. Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring for City in the 67th minute, before Hart’s error allowed Cameron Jerome to tap home with seven minutes to play.

Late Toure penalty secures win for City But there was late drama as Manchester City were awarded a penalty and Norwich captain Russell Martin sent off for handball and the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity in the 88th minute. That gave Toure the chance from the spot, and the Ivory Coast international made it nine successful penalties out of nine in the Premier League to put City ahead.

N I G E R I A

N11.8bn

-The amount Katsina State received as bailout funds.

Vol. 5 No.43

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2015 www.nationalmirroronline.net

The ‘Everyone is corrupt’ alibi

Back Page

Comment E-mail:

nwaunah@yahoo.com Jim Unah is Professor of Philosophy, University of Lagos.

with Jim Unah

N150

ozie Okebalama’s back page comment (National Mirror, Friday, October 30, 2015) entitled, “On corruption: Dedicated to Adewale Kupoluyi,” aptly summarizes, rather clairvoyantly, my 46 page paper on corruption issues delivered on Thursday October 22, 2015 at the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation conference on corruption, at the University of Ibadan. From my paper, as well as a host of the other papers presented at the conference, a consensus was reached that corruption is pervasive in the Nigerian social order; that it happens everywhere and cuts across every strata of society; that children, parents as well as leaders and followers, and even teachers and students are complicit in corruption in such a way that almost everybody looks up to corruption for salvation. In this regard, it would seem that Adewale Kupoluyi might be correct in his diagnosis of the corruption virus and the collateral damage it has inflicted on the imagination of the average Nigerian. I think this is beside the point as it does not require rocket science or prophetic talent for anyone to discern that the scenario painted above is the correct narrative of corruption in the country and, indeed, in many African

states. What is problematic, and I think that is what Okebalama finds irksome in Kupoluyi’s narrative, is how to professionally isolate the cancerous virus for efficacious oncological surgery. While it has been identified as the contamination of character of anybody at whatever level of society, corruption is structurally interconnected with the exercise of political power and aptly characterized as the disease of power. Where convoluted ethnicity or tribalism and nepotism have combined forces to expand and consolidate the networks of corruption and make it almost impossible to track down offenders of the anti-graft law of the land and apply the appropriate punishment to deter would-be offenders, a resort to the excavation of all the dimensions, manifestations and ramifications of corruption, as Kupoluyi has done, is a disservice and merely a ploy to cause paralysis by analysis, and make a mockery of the fight against the cancerous and contagious virus. The battle against corruption must begin from the point where it spiraled out of control. That point is the power structure and power relations of the country; as corruption now wears the agbada and babariga of trbalism; connected, as it were, to the high network of convoluted ethnicity, thus making it heroic to be corrupt. Nigerians surreptitiously support their kinsmen accused of corruption enrichment and even flock to them for opportunities and for strategies to destroy evidence in their favor, even as they all openly condemn corruption. Another way of making the same point

I N

F I G U R E S

N233bn

-The sum the FG is set to spend to reconstruct North-East.

is that the fight against corruption must begin within the ranks of the powerful. It must begin with political leadership. It is simply because the political leadership of the country have incrementally betrayed public trust by failure to deliver public good and public welfare; looted the public funds allocated for public infrastructure delivery, and completely reneged on their electoral promises to empower the citizenry that the impoverished masses now look up to corruption enrichment by relatives, kinsmen and tribesmen as their liberation and salvation from corruption. It is unarguable that as children imitate and walk in the image of their parents so too do followers imitate and walk in the image of their leaders. Where the corruption virus has spiraled out of control as it has done in Nigeria, the first place to begin to attack the virus is the identified and indicted corrupt leaders who incidentally are parents; so that the project of moral regeneration will cascade from top to bottom, and thus, retrieve the Nigerian state from its inexorable slide into perdition. I have proposed elsewhere that for a holistic and successful fight against corruption to be waged, a curriculum review in the education sector to include character training of young Nigerians from pre-school age through primary and secondary school to tertiary education to inculcate sound ethical education and selfmastery for young adult citizens as a bottom top approach to complement the punishment of corruption offenders going on at the top. As this is happening, an urgent constitutional review to cede power from the center

Ighalo’s brace downs Hammers

dion Ighalo scored either side of half-time as Watford broke into the Premier League top 10 with a 2-0 win over West Ham. The hosts were worthy winners and although Ighalo’s first goal owed a debt of gratitude to a critical touch from Hammers defender Aaron Cresswell, his second was an excellent strike which ended the game as a contest early in the second half. To add to West Ham’s troubles, they had centre-back James Collins sent off five minutes from time for a clumsy challenge on Ighalo. Watford are now ninth in the Premier League as a result, while their opponents have slipped to fifth courtesy of Manchester United’s draw at Crystal

Palace. Ighalo will claim the first goal although his foot appeared to make a connection with the ball a fraction of a second before Cresswell’s did.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says his side was beaten fair and square by Watford as they lost 2-0 at Vicarage Road due to two defensive errors. The chance itself came about after a poor mistake by Andy

IT IS UNARGUABLE THAT AS CHILDREN IMITATE AND WALK IN THE IMAGE OF THEIR PARENTS SO TOO DO FOLLOWERS IMITATE AND WALK IN THE IMAGE OF THEIR LEADERS.

to the federating units will be an imperative to return the confidence of Nigerians to the act of governance. As the federating units are empowered constitutionally to exploit their resources in wealth creation and contributing to the center, the epic-center of the battle against graft is returned to the people in their ethnic nationalities. The different ethnic nationalities have effective ways of dealing with thieves and corrupt elements, including corrupt kings, in their midst. The ethnic nationalities are the epic-centers, the Armageddon, the final battle grounds for the ultimate decimation of the corruption tumor in the nation’s body politick. What will kill Nigeria is not corruption, as President Buhari is often quoted to have said. What will kill Nigeria is convoluted ethnicity, and the solution is the devolution of power from the center to the federating ethnic nationalities. It should therefore be set in motion peacefully by this incumbent President of change that majority of voters perceive to be incorruptible to prevent the impatient ones in our midst from falling into the temptation of compelling violent change.

Premier League Results Carroll, who failed to clear inside his own box and was dispossessed on the touchline by Nathan Aké, whose pass across goal arrived at the feet of Ighalo via a deflection off goalkeeper Adrian.

Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool Swansea 0-3 Arsenal Crystal Palace 0-0 Man Utd Man City 2-1 Norwich City Watford 2-0 West Ham

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